6 (Ireland.)—FOURTH
REPORT ^ COMMISSIONERS on DUTIES, court OF From the preceding Table it will clearly appear how very much, in many instances, chancery.
the real charge to the Public exceeds the profit of the principal officer.
This is ~---" chiefly to be attributed to the separate fees, which the deputies and clerks charge to Offices in Courts of the suitors for their own services; demands which contain, in themselves, the origin Justice in disposal of the most material abuses which we have found to exist.
of '1 he Crown.
"WE proceed now to the consideration of the several Offices enumerated in the above Table, in the order therein stated.
I.
REGISTER OF THE COURT OF CHANCERY.
This office is at present held by Viscount Avonmore, under Letters Patent, for life.
In our First Report, we have already submitted to Your Majesty, that the office produced to the Principal :•—
1 NET,
After deducting the Salary GROSS.
of Deputy Register, and the Office expenses for Stationary, Housekeeper, Coals, Candles, &c.
£.
s.
rf.
£.
s.
cf.
3,992 1 8 3,480 — 10 4,103 16 11 3,550 9 5 3,982 19 2 3,412 8 9
In the Year ending Michaelmas 1813 In the Year ending Michaelmas 1813 In the Year ending Michaelmas 1814 The duties are divided into three distinct classes, and executed by two deputies, Mr.
Prendergast and Mr.
O'Keeffe; and one chief clerk, Mr.
Daly.
The emoluments of each of the deputies appear, on an average of the three years ending December 31st, 1814, to have amounted to about 495/.
exclusive of an allowance from the Principal, of 200/.
per annum to Mr.
O'Keeffe, and of 100/.
to Mr.
Prendergast; and, exclusive of their fees, on countersigning the Accountant General's drafts on the Bank of Ireland.
Of these fees they have ls.ept
no accurate account; but Mr.
O'Keeffe thinks they have produced to him about 100/.
per annum, and we presume they were equally profitable to Mr.
Prendergast.
The profits of the head clerk, Mr.
Daly, are stated by him, in one part of his evidence, to be about 500 /.
a year; but he speaks doubtfully, and does not appear certain that they may not occasionally have amounted even to 1,000/.
The real charges to the suitors for the performance of the duties of the Register, and the distribution of the sum which they produce, have been, so far as we have been able to ascertain it, on an average of three years ending December 1814, as follows :
Total sum charged to the suitors ...
--
which is thus divided: Net profits to the principal ------Net profits to Mr.
Prendergast, including salary from prin-cipal .......--
Net profits to Mr.
O'KeefFe ----ditto Net profits to the head clerk, Mr.
Daly, from 500 Z.
to 1,000/.
estimated at-------Payments by principal to inferior clerks, and"!
for office expenses ----J Like, by Mr.
Daly, head clerk, about --800 —
6 3
£.3,480
19 8
695 795 750
1,045 6 3
£.6,766
5 11
£.6,766
5 11 The duties, as we have stated in our First Report, admit of a three-fold division, which has actually prevailed in practice.
The attendance on the Lord Chancellor, by Mr.
Prendergast; the attendance on the Master of the Rolls, by Mr.
O'Keeffe; and the attendance in the office, by Mr.
Daly.
No official document, however, is held to be complete, until signed by Mr.
Prendergast or Mr.
O'Keeffe.
In confer-mity to this practice, we suggested, in our First Report, and we now again re-spectfully recommend to Your Majesty's consideration, that, hereafter, the office of
