ON THE LOCAL TAXATION OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN. C 279 our duty, not to confine ourselves to matter that might be considered strictly as coming within that section, but to inquire into Sir Charles Coote's conduct as a public officer; in reference to those principles by which, independent of the special provisions of this Act, he and every other public officer filling a situation of trust and confidence, is bound by the general law to regulate his conduct. In this respect we have felt it our duty to consider how far his conduct was calculated to interfere with the utility of the establishment to which he belongs, or to have been preju dicial to the interests of the public service in that department. In the course of the investigation, some contradictory and suspicious evidence has been laid before us, but we have thrown all such out of our consideration, and have grounded our Report solely upon written documents; the admissions of Sir Charles Coote, and parol testimony wholly unimpeached. We shall now proceed to state how far any, and which, of the charges have been proved, what has been advanced by way of justification or excuse, and whether any, and what degree of criminality attached to the conduct of Sir Charles Coote. With respect to the first three charges, we think the facts stated in them, viz. " Putting " the artificers employed at the paving board factory, from the manufacture of public " utensils, tools, carts, & c. and employing them at various private works of his own."— " Converting the public property to his own private uses, such as timber, iron, oats, lea- " ther, manure, building materials, & c."—" Having frequently, and on various occasions, " employed the men and horses paid by the public, at his own private works, such as " ploughing, harrowing, rolling his fields, drawing manure, building materials, & c. thereby " keeping them from the public works, and deriving advantage to himself," are clearly and incontestibly proved in every particular; there was scarcely a witness produced before us that did not establish some of them, and indeed Sir Charles Coote's defence amounted to a distinct admission of them. But, in order to appreciate the nature of these charges, and of the defence applied to them, it will be necessary to advert shortly to some of the details of the different establishments of the board for carrying on its works. The Mespil factory, over which Mr. Finnerty has the superintendence, is the great depot of carts, harness, & c. and all manufactured implements necessary for the works of the establishment; it also contains the materials for making and repairing the carts, harness, and all implements used by the board in their different works; the manufacture of these articles is there carried on by artificers in the constant employment of the board, and when occasion requires, extra artificers are sometimes employed. At this place also are kept stores of hay, straw, & c.; the whole was under the care and superintendence of Finnerty; it was his duty to keep an account of all materials received and consumed at this depot, and also of the employment of the artificers, and to make returns thereof to the board. There are also in this depot stables, in which about half the horses of the establishment are kept, the rest being at the Board House in Mary- street; Finnerty had no control over the horses or carters, their work was regulated by officers, called overseers of works, who had authority from the supervisors of works to take such horses, & c. as they wanted; an overseer of works is appointed at each of the stables, whose duty it is to make daily returns of the employment of the horses, specifying the particular work of each; the overseer at Mespil for the last four years, was a man of the name of Cuthbert, who has been lately dis- missed by the board. Adjoining to Mespil factory there is another store, called the Mespil flag and stone yard, containing stones, flags, bricks, mortar, & c. and all materials necessary for the stone and mason work of the board ; there is an overseer in this yard, ( of the name of M'Kenzie), whose duty it is to keep an account of the occupation of the workmen employed in that yard, and of the materials received and given out, and to make returns thereof to the board. The Mespil factory and the stone yard last described, are situated near the canal, at the end of Leeson- street, adjoining which Sir Charles Coote has had some ground, and on part of which he has been carrying on buildings, during the time specified in the charges, and the rest of this ground ( which does not appear to exceed three acres) he has had in grass or tillage. For the purpose of carrying on those buildings, it appears distinctly, that Sir Charles, during the time specified in the first charge; viz. the last three years, has been in the habit of getting materials from the stores at the Mespil factory and from the stone yard, such as timber, stone, flags, bricks, mortar, 8tc.; that he has also been in the habit of employing the artificers of the board, both at his own houses and the factory, for manufacturing such articles of timber and iron work as he thought fit; the particulars of which will, in a great measure, appear from written documents hereinafter referred to; he has also, during the same time, used the public horses and carters, in drawing materials from the stores to his premises, in ploughing, harrowing, and rolling the land above mentioned, in drawing manure from Brunswick- street to it, and on various other occasions, as he found it con- venient, and sometimes at extra hours; he has also received, in the same time, oats from the Mespil stores for his own use, amounting to about forty- four barrels. His answer to, and the justification of the above statement advanced by him are, that either by money payments, or return of materials in specie, he has made ample compen- sation to the board and the public for every thing received by him, or that he intended to do so when his accounts should be furnished, and that for this purpose he directed accounts to be kept by Finnerty, the superintendent at Mespil factory, and by Mackenzie, the overseer of the stone yard, of all materials furnished to him from these different depots, of all work done for him, and of the time of the artificers and labourers employed by him.