14S MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE djl". That presentment is not imperative on the grand jury ?— It is presented to us for molesworth Greene. this reason, from the knowledge of the grand jury that we are at much more expense —^ than what we receive . ,, i jc a u n ( H May.) It is not imperative upon them ; it is if they shall think fit ?— If they shall ^ What are the duties which you perform under that Act ?—' There is scarcely a grand jury that sits at each quarter sessions, that do not present for the taking down of old houses, and we ( immediately upon those houses being presented) are bound to serve the several parties interested with a conditional order, and then when that order is made absolute, it becomes our duty to give an order to the sheriff to abate all those nuisances; if they are traversed, which they frequently are, we are then bound to prosecute that traverse, and to come into court for the public to defend the presentment, and our costs upon a thing of that kind would be very great; there was a presentment a short time since respecting a steam engine, in which the costs would amount to upwards of too I. Are those costs paid out of the salary?— We cannot be presented more than what I have stated. Have you had occasion at every sessions, to make some charge for the presenting nuisances ?— There is scarcely a session that passes but what it occurs ; the surveyor of Dublin is always in attendance on the grand jury, for the purpose of making returns to the grand jury of all houses that are in a ruinous way, and if upon view by him they are so considered, they are then presented, and there is an order made to abate them within a certain time, forthwith, if they are dangerous. There is an item appears here of a fee on preparing traverses for presentments?— I did not say any thing yet about any charge we make the party traversing, as a fee on that occasion, but there are a great number not traversed; there are not perhaps, more than one in ten traversed. Are there any other legal duties with which you are charged by the grand jury, which becomes a source of emolument to you?— We had; we were ordered some years ago to prosecute a person by the grand jury, one of the officers of the prison, for suffering a prisoner to go at large, and there we were presented a sum of money on that account. There is a charge here for prosecuting William Mansfield, is that one of those cases ?— It is. Who is he ?— One of the turnkeys, that let a prisoner escape; but from that period to the present, I do not think we have had another instance. Can you inform the Committee of any peculiar duties which are cast upon your office, which distinguish your office from that of the clerks of the peace at large ?— The clerks of the peace in the counties, are merely bound to attend at sessions, and perhaps two or three days before, to prepare the necessary business; we are bound to keep our office open the whole year round, and from the vast quantity of business that is done in the office, it is impossible that it should be otherwise. Have you any account of the number of persons indicted and tried at the several sessions ?— I have a return that I made the very last return; there are two returns of this date. Here is a return of 1,904 in one year. [ The witness delivered in the same, the Abstract of which is as follows:] Total number of persons Indicted - - - 1,904. What are the hours of attendance at your office ?— Our office opens between 10 and 11 every day, and does not close till 4 ; then it is opened again in the evening from 7 till 9. 0 What are the fees to which you are entitled, by law, for publicans licences in the city of Dublin?— We are entitled to receive 25. 8id. for each licence, for which we give a printed certificate and enter the name of the person in a book kept for that purpose. Are you not entitled to fees upon the registration of freeholders?— We are entitled to one shilling upon each. There does not appear to be any return made of the amount of those fees in the return winch has been made to Parliament; how do you account for that?— It was an omission; the registration of freeholders in the city of Dublin, is not a thing worth mentioning, it does not amount to 5 /. a year. Do you not conceive, that a regulation with respect to your office, which would substitute