[xxxvi. 23]

1821 April 25

First Lines

Constitutional Finance

Law concerning Finance - Financial Department of Government

The financial department is that which regards /by which is performed/ the extraction, custody, and expenditure of such money and money's worth as is employed or professed to be employed in the public service: viz. in the several other departments - in this and the several other branches of the public service.

Whasoever be the public function by the exercise of which service is rendered or professed /pretended/ to be rendered to the public, or to any part of it, money, or money's worth, or both, are, in a quantity more or less considerable, necessary to be employed and disbursed on the occasion of its being rendered: the financial branch is thus a branch which interlaces /intertwines/ itself and runs through the several abovementioned /other/ branches of the public service.

Of This branch of Government has for its proper end frugality /that branch of /or/ good economy which consists of/ - appropriate frugality.

In every department of the public service, good management has two perfectly distinguishable branches: the first peculiar to itself, being correspondent to the particular nature of the service: the other common to it with all the others: this universally applying branch of good management is frugality.

Considered in another point of view the peculiar and characteristic branch here spoken of may be stiled the positive branch: this, which is common to all, the negative branch: The dictates of frugality are conformed to in so far as, without preponderant prejudice to good management in other respects, money and money's worth is avoided to be disbursed or consumed.