Appendix ( B) Revenue for 17— 18. Office.] Commiffioners on FEES, G R A T U I T I E S , & c. ciii iiVoV^ nvn,?" f° efia!,) li!!: e, i aS, ( o Prcdude ^ from claiming ccmpenfation upon any o her grounds than a deficiency- of their profits, computed in that man- ner. On this principle the Clerk of the Lcinfter Road, whofe Agent kept regular Accounts of the produce of that lload and of its difpofal, appears infome years, lupfequent to the arrangement of 1802, to have accounted to the Revenue for - a turpi us ot profits according to their computed amount, at the feme time that Ibid, his actual income was deficient of the fum guaranteed to him. The aftual profits ot the Clerk of the North Road, as reprefented in his Accounts, have likewife . generally fallen fhort of their computed amount; and thofe of the Clerk of the KM? JSiunfter Road have been fo in fome inftanfes; but both thefe Clerks ftate, that '' ' conceiving the number of Papers circulated only, and not the adtual amount of Af, o, e0ndJ?.( B) their profits to be material to their claim of compenfation, they kept Accounts of A ".. the produce of their refpeaive Roads only to enable them to check the payments STi- il? of their Correfpondenls; hence the annexed Accounts of their receipts and pay- ments in the feven years ending 5th January 1809 are defe& ive, in as much as the fums which are ftated therein to be paid to Printers are, with a few exceptions, not the actual amount of fuch payments, but are eftimated according to the quantity of Newspapers they returned, as having been circulated by them in each year. So far, however, as the Accounts relate to their receipts, thefe Clerks have verified them upon oath; the Agent of the Clerk of the Leinfter Road has alfo verified his Accounts, both as to receipts and payments. To obtain the information afforded us by thefe feveral Accounts, it was neceffaiy to APPendlx( B) N,, 9- refort to the Clerks themfelves, there being no documents at the Poft- Office from which Accounts of the actual produce of the Roads could be framed; and it is but j u ft ice to them to declare, that they readily fubmitted their books to our infpeftion, and anfwered every queftion we put to them, not only without any evafion or reluctance to difclofe the truth, but with every appearance of zeal to forward our enquiry. Each Clerk's Account Handing upon diftinft grounds, we fhall proceed to point out the difference between the computed profits as lhewn in the annual Returns, and the aftual profits of each according to their Accounts of receipt and payment, at the fame time that, adhering to the principle 011 which they made up their Accounts, we ftate what the amount of their computed profits ought to have been, after corre& ing the errors in the original Returns, and fuch as we have had the means of discovering in their fuhfequent Accounts, arifing from the quantity of Papers circulated not being accurately afcertained ( wherever fuch inaccuracies appear to have operated to the di fad vantage of the Public) which in our opinions are the only grounds uiion which a charge can now be made againft them, It appears from the Accounts extra6ted from the books of the Leinfter Road, Appendix ( B) that the net produce thereof in the feven years ending 5th January 1809, amounted N° 7— 16. to .£. 5,985. l from which deducting £. 314. 10. 8. paid thereout to the other Clerks in aid of the Revenue, there remains for the Clerk an aflual profit of £. 5,671.8. o. being £, 149. 4. 4. lefs than the total amount of his computed Appendix( B) N° i6. profits within the fameTp^ riod. His computed profits, after deducing the fame II) id_ fum of £. 514. 10. 8. amounted in the feven years to <£. 5,506. 1. 8. being fliort Appendix ( A) N° 8, of the amount of his fixed income within that period by the fum of <£. 437. 7, 8. and N° i8. which he received out of the Revenue, but afterwards paid back ; and as the error committed in his original Return, in under- rating his average circulation of News- papers, was as before ftated in favour of the Public, we cannot fee any grounds upon which a charge can be fubftantiated againft the Clerk of this Road, on the principle of accounting which we have adopted. The actual profits of the Clerk of the North Road, during the feven years ending Appendix ( B) cth January 1809, as exhibited by the Account of his receipts and payments, N'n— 16. have been lefs than his computed profits by £. 621. 3. 3. We confider, however, that he has now no claim upon the Public upon that account, as he has received the whole amount of the compenfation lis was entitled to according to the mode of accounting we have defcribed, and which we conceive to be binding both upon him mid the Public. The lofles which this Clerk has fuftained are we apprehend, to be attributed in fome refpefts to his being obliged to give extenfive credit to his Correfpondents, but principally to his infirmities which feem to have rendered him incapable of paying fufficient attention to the bufinefs of his Road, in order to proteft him againft the frauds and negligence of thofe o whofe management he was under the neceffity of confiding it; for fuch loffes however, we do not confider the Public to be refponfible. In the year ending 5th January nrr dd I » 09,