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Volume 662, Page 8   View pdf image (33K)
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8 HIS LORDSHIP'S PATRONAGE

Under royal administration there were two Attorneys General, one
for the crown and one for the proprietary.

The Commissary's office was united with the Chancellorship in
1673 and thence separated, to form an independent place of profit,
twenty years later at the organization of royal government. At
that time the Commissary General, under a law of 1692, began
to appoint in each county a deputy to grant letters of administra-
tion and pass accounts of small estates.

The Naval Officers, originally three, were augmented in number
as shipping increased, and under royal government there were two
sets of them, one provincial and the other proprietary. The Judge-
ship of the Land Office, separated from the secretariat in 1738,
was after 1746 usually held by joint incumbents.

Now in addition to these offices, which arose by division from
the secretariat, certain others were set up as need arose. A pro-
vincial Agent was maintained in London for brief intervals.
Other officials were appointed to drill troops and care for the
public arms. To the provincial officers of finance were added in
1733 the Commissioners of the Loan Office and, later, certain
temporary Agents or Commissioners to handle moneys raised
under supply acts. Of the crown revenue officers more will be
said later.

2. THE STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT.

This rather intricate organization may be divided, at least in
theory, into four units, each with its own function. These were:
(1) a central governing body, which performed the executive,
judicial, and other nonfinancial services of government; (2 and
3) two local revenue establishments, one provincial and the other
proprietary; and (4) a crown revenue establishment, largely
separate from the others.

What we have called the central governing body included
the Governor and Chancellor, the Secretary in his essential func-
tions (that is, those remaining to him after 1738), the Commissary
General, the Attorney General, the sheriffs (in their executive
capacity), some minor officials, and the provincial and county
clerks.

The provincial revenue establishment consisted of the Public
Treasurers, the Naval Officers (as collectors of provincial duties),


 

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