Commissioners to revise Laws by which Monies are raised by Grand Jury Presentments in Ireland: report, minutes of evidence and appendix

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REVISE THE GRAND JURY LAWS, IRELAND. 
xiv 

County Officers. 
VI. 
Remedial 

Measures. 
We think that some County Offices may be abolished; but we think, consi-— 

deration being had to the peculiar circumstances of each case, that persons who 

Cmnty Qfflcers: now hold offices usually held for life, should be compensated for any loss which aSS^ they may sustain, by being deprived of them. 
The duties of the offices of Clerk of the Peace and Clerk of the Crown, are clerk of Peace, and now performed in several Counties by the same person; no inconvenience is Sg of^a^e felt from this, and we think' that duties which may, without inconvenience, be consolidated*7 performed by one Officer, ought not to be divided between two, as the division tends only to an increase of expense and patronage. 
Under this impression, it appears to us that one of these offices should be dispensed with, and the duties thereof transferred to the other. 
Tho duties of the office of Clerk of the Peace are by far the most weighty and extensive. 
We consequently think that the office of Clerk of the Peace should be continued—that the office of Clerk of the Crown should be abolished,—and that its duties should be transferred to the office of Clerk of the Peace. 
We also think that no person should hereafter be appointed Clerk of the Peace for any County without being previously approved of by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and that every person so appointed should be required to perforin his duty in person. 
The duties which at present appertain to the office of County Treasurer County Treasurer-. 
make the person holding it in fact not a Treasurer, but a Paymaster; and as Jjj^^JJJ1'6 Paymaster he has not to pay money, but to give drafts countersigned by another sectary of°Grand Officer on the County Bank. 
We think the main burden of the duty which he Jurv-has thus to perform may be transferred to the Secretary to the Grand Jury; but though we think the Secretary of the Grand Jury should prepare all drafts on the County Hank in future, and deliver or transmit them to the parties entitled to them; yet we think every draft should be signed by two Members of the Finance Committee, and countersigned by him, with the exception of drafts made by the Road Wardens, which should be signed by them, and countersigned by him, as already recommended. 
To protect the Public, and particularly the Poor, against false Weights and Protection against Measures, there should be several Inspectors in every County, who should be melsunai'lanba trustworthy persons, and whose inspection should be frequent and at uncertain committed to periods. 
But to provide the number of persons necessary for this duty, oxclu-Constabulary, sivcly, would lead to a considerable increase of charge. 
We have therefore considered whether it might not be advantageously committed to the Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors of the Constabulary, and having communicated with Colonel M'Grcgor, the Inspector-General of the Constabulary, upon the subject, we had the satisfaction to find that he thought it might be. 
It is a duty which could not bring the Constabulary into collision with the poorer classes, but is, on the contrary, one in which it must be seen and felt by all, that the Constabulary were acting specially for the good of the Poor, by guarding them against imposition or fraud, and which would therefore it may be confidently hoped, produce not popular opposition but support. 
Following out the suggestions we have offered with respect to the several Offices which wo have now noticed, wc recommend-

That the Office of Clerk of the Crown should bo abolished, that the duties ctokrf6wn to 

appertaining to it, shall bo annexed to the office of Clerk of the Peace, and that the future salary of the Clerk of the Peace shall be regulated by the Lord Lieutenant in Council. 
That no person hereafter shall be appointed Clerk of the Peace of any ^£ ^Fj^Jj6 County or place, who shall not have been approved of by the Judicial appr v 

Committee of the Privy Council. 
That no Clerk of the Peace to bo hereafter appointed shall be at liberty office of cieAo* to appoint a Deputy, except in the event of illness, or for other special performed ty cause, and then only for a limited time and by leave of the Assistant Deputy. 
Barrister of the County; and that no Deputy so appointed shallbe authorizedto act unless thoAssistantBarristershallhaveapprovedoi him. 
That the Office of County Treasurer shall be abolished—that all Pay-County Treasurer, 

ments to bo made out of tho County Bank on account of the Finance Committee shall be made on drafts, each of which shall be payable to -