2/ J ON THE LOCAL TAXATION OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN. 137 You have mentioned that the Wide- street Commissioners obtained part of the receipt by means of a house- tax levied by authority of the grand jury; can you give any information to the Committee how this money is levied and accounted for?— Yes, I can. I beg to hand in a copy of an official account, signed Thomas and David Sherrard, Secretaries to the Commissioners. I will beg to make a few remarks on this account. There appears here at the end of the account some observations, which I will read to the Committee; first, " a deficit of 334/. 16< s. 11 d. appears in the collection of the year 1816, arising from the default of a collector who has been dismissed." I understand there were three insolvent grand jury col- lectors of the names of Phillips, Ellis, and O'Shaugnessy, in the course of the last five or six years to a considerable amount, and that one of those collectors was defi- cient about 1200 I. I have heard that he made up his accounts with the treasurer 011 account of the grand jury cess out of the funds in his hands belonging to the Wide- street Commissioners. What reason have you to suppose so ?— The printed paper here ; stating that there had been a deficiency in one of the collectors, and that they had dismissed him, is one reason; and a very general report throughout the city is another; and under those two circumstances I have just mentioned I am inclined to think that the grand jury had failed in taking the necessary security from the collectors; and that the citizens have thereby lost so much of their money. I will read another part of this report: " A deficit of 8/. 9s. 6d. appears in the collection of the year 1818, arising from the default of a collector subsequently dismissed. It is to be observed, the tax is collected by persons appointed by the term grand jury, and solely under their control." I have already remarked, in my evidence of yes- terday, that the citizens of Dublin were unable to get any information from the Wide- street Commissioners as to the state of the accounts, notwithstanding appli- cations having been made to that effect; and I will now take the liberty to read what is in this paper, which is an official return made by the Wide- street Com- missioners : " Having ineffectually applied to the proper officers of the county of Dublin for a statement of the sum applotted by the grand jury within seven years to the purposes of their Board, they are unable to give any further information than the sums which have been received by them on this account, which are accordingly stated." [ The Witness delivered in the account, which is as follows;] WIDE STREET TAX :— An Account of all Sums payable by the Inhabitants of Dublin, on account of Wide Street Tax; of the sums actually received an account thereof; and of the Arrears solvent and insolvent, from the ist January 1814, to the ist January 1821:— Also the basis of calculation of said Tax. YEARS. CHARGE: Solvent Arrear from preceding Year. Applotment, or Sums payable. TOTAL. No return. No return. Mr. Isaac Stewart. ( 23 Way.) (' continued)