No. 8J.] OH FEES, G R A T U I T I E S , & c.-( Excife Duties.) 28r No. 83. ( A.) The Examination of SAMUEL BRADSHAW, Esq. taken upon Oath, the 17th and 25th days of Nov. 1808. This F. xaminant faith, That he is Solicitor for the King's Rents in Ireland, to which office he was an pointed in the year 1797, at a falary of £. 120. a year, and an allowance of/. 70 a year for a Clerk. It is his duty to tranfid all Law bufinefs for the recovery of arrears of Quit and Crown Rents. Examinanr, in his Report, dated the 15 th February 180 c, amonglt other matters, ftated to the Commiffioners of the Revenue as follows : 11 If " your Honours pleafe to order me, ex officio, to examine ColleCtors Lifts of Arrears, < c of Quit, See. Rents, and to proceed as I may find occafion, I truft that I ffiall " havea betteraccount rendered of them than has hitherto been done." In confequence of this representation, the Board's anfwer dated the 16th February 1805, contained, among other things, the following order, viz.: tf and that you have recouife to the " ColleCtors lifts of Arrears of Quit and Crown Rents, for which purpofe the Board " have ordered, that the neceffary directions be given to the Clerk of the Quit Rents." When examined by this Board in February i8c6, he did not confider that this order authorized him to commence, without fpecial direction, any fuits for the recovery of fuch arrears, but fince that time he has conceived it fufficiently general to warrant his doing fo, and has accordingly, in many inftanccs, taken proceedings without confut- ing the Commiffioners of Excife, or having any particular direction for that purpofe. At the time the above order was made, there were 24 fuits depending, all of which have been fince determined, and arrears to the amount of £. 1,345 or thereabouts, in confequence thereof recovered, and paid in ; the cofts recovered from the parties to thefe fuits amounted to £. 240, for which Examinant has given credit to the Crown in his Accounts with the Commiffioners, heretofore fettled and paffed. Since fuch order was iffued, 54 fuits have been commenced by Examinant, and feveral of them previous to his examination at this Board above ftated, but under fpecial direction from the Commiffioners ; of thefe about 20 have been determined, and arrears re- covered and paid in, amounting to £. 2,241. or thereabouts; the cofts recovered from the parties in thofe fuits amounted to £. 450. of which fum about £. 200. remains to be acounted for by Examinant. The arrears for which fuits are ftill depending amount to £. 2,928. For the information of Examinant, feveral ColleCtors have, as he conceives, been directed by the Board to return to him from time to time a par- ticular ftate of the arrears of the King's Rents outftanding in their refpeCtive diftriCts; and Examinant, under the general order as before ftated, at any time he pleafed, re- forted to and inveftigated ColleCtors Lifts of Arrears in the Quit Rent Office, without waiting to have any return made thereof to him by the ColleCtors themfelves, but has in feveral inftances written to the ColleCtors for information as to the arrears out- ftanding; and in every inftance before the commencement of any fuit, he caufes fearches to be made in the office of the Auditor General, in the Regifter's, the Quit Rent, and other Offices, to afcertain correctly the lands in arrear, and all other neceffary particulars. Examinant furnifhes to the Board of Excife, once a year, a regular Bill of Cofts as an Attorney for all legal proceedings taken by him in his offi- cial capacity ; he alfo furniffies Bills of Cofts for his trouble in confidering and re- porting on all references made to him by the Commiffioners of Excife, and for other mifcellaneous bufinefs, and the difburfements attendant thereon. His Bills of Cofts of the former defcription are taxed by an Officer of the Court of Exchequer, who is alfo Solicitor to the Board of Cuftoms; thofe of the latter are not fubjeCt to any taxa- tion, but what proportion they bear to the former he cannot ftate exaCtly, but fome- times they exceed or are equal thereto, and from the nature of the charges therein are as capable of being taxed as the cofts on legal proceedings. Formerly, thefe Bills of Coft were paid, when furniffied, without further enquiry, but they have lately been fent for examination to the Examiner of Solicitors Bills. Examinant has rarely been called upon to produce any Vouchers for the difburfements in his Account, but would always do fo if required. Examinant verifies upon oath the different items in his Bills of Coft, ftating, that the fums charged as paid have been paid, or that he is acountable for payment thereof to thofe perfons to whom they are ftated to have been paid, and that the charges are thofe that have been ufually made in n. s office. Examinant delivered in his laft Bill of Cofts in the month of Auguft 180S, which was then fettled up to and including Trinity term in that year; the whole amount of cofts recovered from parties in the feveral fuits . which have been determined as above