ON THE LOCAL TAXATION OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN. 225 U" } Would not the persons be equally interested in the collection of penalties, in case j c Graves the law was violated?— The collection of the penalties would then be for any indi- Esq. vidual, and the persons collecting the penalties would be merely volunteers; but v ^ there are now persons whose duty it is as car inspectors and carriage inspectors, to ( 29 May-) look after the thing, and their duty arises out of the licence system, and the collec- tion of the taxes. Is there a duty upon job carriages in the city of Dublin ?— There is both a duty and a rent. Is there not a duty also upon jaunting cars and inferior carriages lent for hire ? — Yes. Is there not a duty upon cars and all carriages used for the purposes of trade ? — Yes. Do you not consider, that the continuance of this duty upon cars and drays, for the purposes of trade, must operate as a restriction and difficulty imposed upon the individuals carrying on trade?— So far as the amount of the duty goes, it certainly is one of the circumstances lessening their profits. Do you know any other city in which there is a tax so collected upon cars and drays used for the purposes of trade ?— I can not now name one; but I am not cer- tain that such a tax is peculiar to Dublin. What establishment of constables have you in your office ?— One chief and three office constables, and twenty- seven peace officers. Are there not charges made for the purposes of the police, upon persons having stalls in the streets and markets ?— There are. Those individuals are, generally speaking, amongst the poorest classes of the community ?— Yes; those in the street particularly. Are many of the individuals, who pay the licence duty and the rent for cars, amongst the poorest classes in the community ?— No, I should think not; there are few people, I rather believe, who hold but one, they generally are proprietors who employ the drivers; and in point of fact, I believe, most car owners are pro- prietors of more than one car, some, I know, are owners of several; but of the whole class, I would be understood to speak doubtfully. Can you state the amount of the expenses of the watch and police of the city of Dublin, in any one year?— I take it, that in a year the combined expense is some- thing above 47,000/. Out of that sum, how much was the expense of the public offices ?— The total expense of the whole establishment; what I would call the expense of the offices ( including horse and foot patroles for town and country) is about 25,000/. What is the whole expense of the police establishment?— About 28,000/. to 30,000/. including all incidents; and I should observe, that by the Police Act, 1,000/. per annum is charged upon the police funds for the salary of the recorder. That does not comprehend the stationery?— Not all the stationery; some is charged upon the watch. Are you aware, what the expense of the police offices of the city of London amounted to in the year ] 821 ?— I believe, about 68,000 /. By a return laid before Parliament, the amount of the whole expenses of the seven police offices in the city of London, appear to amount to 21,000/.?— Then that must be the expense of the offices merely, without the patroles or any thing of that kind ; that must be as compared with 11,600 /. which is the charge of the five divisional offices for the city of Dublin ; for I believe, that the Bow- street office alone was above 33,000 /. for the last year. Upon any comparison of that kind it should be remembered, that the expense of those seven offices is exclusive of Bow- street and of the carriage office, which in London is a separate establishment; and also that it does not comprise the total or any thing like the total of the ex- pense of the London police, because there is besides the whole local department of the city of London, properly so called, and of the borough of Southwark ; the entire of the watch establishment should also be added, which in London is defrayed by the respective parishes. Who is the officer appointed by the police, in order to collect and pay the monies accruing from the police duties ?— He is not appointed by the police, he is appointed by government. What is his name?— John Cathcart Lees, receiver to the public offices,. What are the duties of that office?— The duties of that office are to receive from the chief clerks of the several police offices, the various collectors of those licence, 549. 3 L watch