Appendix, No. 28. Office.] ON FEES, GRATUITIES, & c. i? partment muft neceffarily be increafed, but a great proportion of the increafe of expence m the laft year appears to have arifen from the new arrangements that have been made m the Head Office m Dublin, and the augmentation of the falaries of the feveral Officers, the amount of which as they are now fixed, and likewife of the charge for the refpeftive eftabhffiments as they flood on 5th January 1800, will be found in the Appendix. y Previous to the increafe of the Officers falaries, efficiency in the conduft and management of the details of this department was fcarcely to have been expefted but the addition that has been made to their emoluments, is upon a fcale fo very liberal, as to make it incumbent on the Poftmafters General, in the exercife of the important and extenfive patronage confided to them Audiouflv to endeavour to felect perfons the moft competent to fill the fituations to which' they have the power of appointing, and to fee that they difcharge their feveral duties with ability and fidelity. Of the old Offices, that of refident Surveyor, which has been uniformly held as a finecure by its prefent poffeffor, ever fince his appointment in 1793, we are of opinion ought to be abolifhed, the duties of it being performed by the Secretary ; and of the new Offices, that of the Superintendant of Mail Coaches, might, we think, in the very limited ftate of the Mail Coach Eftablifhment, have been difpenfed with. This Officer's duty in Dublin feems to be principally con- fined to the examination and controul of the general and crofs- road Way Bills, which might, it would feem, be as effectually performed by a Clerk in the Secre- tary's Office, who might alfo fuperintend and report upon the ftate of the Mail Coaches on their arrival and difpatch. The conduCt in the Country of the Con- tractors for Mail Coaches, and of the Guards and Drivers, might when neceffary be controuled by the Riding Surveyors, whofe time we cannot conceive to be fo fully occupied with the infpedtion of the Poft Offices of their refpeCtive diftriCts, as that they ffiould not be able to difcharge any duty relative to this department, upon which it fhould be found requifite to fend an Officer from Dublin. Befides a falary of/. 2co a year on the Eftablifhment, the Superintendant of Mail Coaches has the fame allowance when travelling on official duty as a Riding Surveyor j and although the Poftmafters General upon recommending the eftablifhment of this Office, exprefsly ftated, that the allowance for the cuftody of the Mail Guard Arms, ffiould ceafe to be a feparate charge againft the Poft Office, he has been paid for that fervice at the fame rate, viz. ten guineas a quarter, as the perfon who had the charge of them previous to his appointment. In confequence however of our inveftigating this head of expence, we find that out of the feveral fums received by him in a year and a quarter on this account, he has repaid to the Poft Office Appendix, No. 32. £. 19. 18. if. retaining at the rate of 6f guineas a quarter, being the amount as he now alledges of his aCtual expenditure during fuch period, in loading and clean- ing the Mail Guard Arms, but we do not find that he has furnifhed any Account of the items of fuch expenditure ; and on his examination before us, he ftated that his difburfements for this fervice amounted only to half a guinea a quarter. ^ He Appendix, No. 31. likewife appears to have received, in the courfe of laft year, a fum of 64 guineas for providing ammunition for the feveral Mail Guards who leave Dublin, ( the Country Guards having a feparate allowance made to them both for ammunition and for cleaning their arms) but of the aCtual amount fo expended, he ftates, that he has kept no account, and the above fum, which is four times what was formerly allowed for this duty, feems to have been paid to him without any agreement previoufly made for that purpofe, or his having produced any voucher to juftify the charge. There are four Officers of this department, who have the liberty of circulating Iriffi Newfpapers free of Poftage through the country parts of Ireland, and two others who have the exclufive privilege of delivering in Dublin, as foon as may be after the arrival of the Britiffi Mails, Lottery Slips and Britiffi Newfpapers, hence termed Exprefs Papers, without waiting for the regular delivery by the Letter Carriers. This early delivery of Newfpapers does not, we find, by any Appendix, wo. 3 means interfere with or impede the delivery of the Mails to the Public, as the Exprefs Papers which are made up in London in one Packet, are forted and de- livered by perfons employed by and at the expence of the Officers entitled to the privilege, their fole advantage confifting in the receipt of this Packet, as foon as the Mails have been opened, and the Letters addreffed to the Lord Lieutenant or other State Officers, which have always a priority, from the Office have been dil- patched. Thefe privileges, which are the fource of confiderable emolument,, were Append,*^. » . ( 54-) E ° ngma y ,