No. 4 . ] ON FEES, GRATUITIES, & C—( Poft- Office.) 33 allowance to 3d. a mile. The Poll Office of Ireland does not maintain any regular Packets'! it having been agreed as Examinant underftands, at its feparation from that of Great Britain that until fuch an eftabhfhment was formed, which has not as yet taken place, the Mails ; be c0nVeye( l between Great Britain and Ireland by the Packets belonging to the Bntifh Office, and that a fum of ^. 4,000 Britilh fhouid be allowed to the Poft Office in Ire land m lieu of the Packet Poftage, the whole of which was to be received for the benefit of the Revenue of Great Britain. But in the year 1796, owing, as Examinant believes, to fome irregularity in conveying the Mails, principally from Holyhead, it was thought expedient by the Government of Ireland to eftablifli two Wherries, to which a third was afterwards added, for carrying Mails and Expreffes in aid of the Packets, and accordingly comi- acls were entered into by the Irifh Poft Office for that purpofe. Two of the Wherries were directed to be Rationed at Holyhead, and at firft they were prohibited from carrying any Pauengers, but alter fome time they were allowed that privilege. The whole of the expence incurred 011 account of the eftablifhment of thefe Wherries, has been defrayed out of the Revenue of the Irifh Poft Office, but in conference of the recent eflabliffiment of an ad- ditional Packet, one of the Wherries has been difcharged. When it happens that there is 110 Packet or Wherry to convey the Mail, an extra vcfTel has been hired for that purpofe, for which the fum of ten guineas has been ufually paid, but no charges has hitherto been made on that account againft the Poft Office of Great Britain. All Letters from Ireland for parts be- yond the Seas are tranfmitted through London ; if the Letter to a foreign Country, the full Poftage outwards muft be paid in Ireland, but that is unneceffary if it be to a Britiffi Colony or Settlement. Britiffi Letters are fent out for delivery to the Public on Sunday, and thofe that are addreffed to the inland parts of Ireland arriving on that day, or too late to be dif- patched by the inland Mails on Saturday, were not until lately forwarded before Monday evening, but now Bntifh Letters are forwarded to the Country by the Mail Coaches on Sunday evening ; for this fervice it has been found neceffary to make a feparate allowance to fuch of the Mail Coach Contraftors, whofe contrafls were entered into prior to this arrangement, but in all future contrafls that duty will be included. The Penny Poft does not at prefent pay the expence of its ellabliffiment, owing, as Examinant conceives, to its not being arranged fo as to afford fufficient accommodation to the Public; the number of deliveries are too few, there being only two daily for the Town and one for the Country, and there is a deficiency of Receiving Houfes and of Letter Carriers. The Revenue arifing from the Penny Poft amounts to about ^ 450 pel' annum. During the years 1806 and 1807, the amount of Bank Notes contained in Letters, and alledged to have been fupprefled in tho Poft Office, was enormous, and the complaints on that head very frequent, but fince that time there have been but few complaints. Examinant attributes thofe lofies in fome degree to the neceffity that exifted of introducing the Letter Carriers to affift in the Sorting Office, a practice that has been difcontinued, in confequence of an arrangement made by the prefent Poftmafters General. About two years fince, the number of Riding Surveyors was increafed to four, an addition was alfo made to their falaries and allowances, and to each was affigned the charge of a particular diftridt. Thefe Officers are frequently fent through their refpeflive diftri& s, with orders to make a general Survey thereof, and to report the ftate of the Poft Offices in each. Every Riding Surveyor has a fixed residence in his diftria ; while there he receives his falary only, not being entitled to any allowances for travelling or fubfiftence, except when he is on duty at fome Poft Town. Examinant conceives, that the principal advantage to be derived from the Riding Surveyors, will arise from their being required to make frequent and unexpe& ed vifits to the Deputy Postmasters, which will tend to produce regularity in the bufinefs of their Offices, and to detect any fraud or collusion that may be between them. All articles required for the ufe of the Post Office are supplied under the orders and direaions of the Secretary, and all incident bills paid upon their being figned by him as allowed, previous to which they are examined and signed by the Accountant General, thereby denoting that the tots are correft. Before payment of any bill is allowed by the Secretary, the Tradefman furniffiing it is required to annex to it an affidavit, ftating that the articles fupplied are of the beft quality, and that the prices are charged at the ufual rates. The great amount of the Stationers bills for the last year, was owing to the increafed quantity of printing work. The Poftmafters General are the only Officers belonging to the Poft Office who have any allowance of fta- tionary for their private consumption. Should any of the Mail Guards, belonging to the first stages from Dublin, be disabled by accident while in the difcharge of his duty, the per- fon employed in his place is paid by the Public, and the amount charged in the Account of Incidents, under the head of Extra Duty of Guards; but fhould the abfence of any of them be occasioned by sickness, his salary, under the prefent regulation, amounting to halt a guinea per week, is stopped and paid to the perfon who does his duty. The payments that appear in the Incident Accounts to have been made under the head of Extra Mail Guards, arole from the necessity of employing additional Guards in fome parts of the Country for the pro- tedion of the Mail Coaches; they are now, however, only ufed when the coaches travel in such districts by night. The rate of charge for conveying fuch Guards is at half the price ot an outfide paffenger. The tolls charged for the Mail Coaches paffing through turnpikes, are paid on the Quarterly Accounts, furnilhed by the Truftees or Contractors for the different Roads. The cloathing for the Mail Guards and Letter Carriers and Door Porter ( who of the Officers of this Department are alone cloathed at . he expence of the Public) isifupp. ied by contraa. No allowance is made to Officers for continuing in the difcharge of their ordinary duty to extraordinary hours, but fome charge has been incurred for extra duty in the Letter Bill and Dead Letter Offices, occasioned by the increafe of bufinefs therein, and in conle- ( 54) 1 qUenC 1