4 Oct 1803

Evidence

Judicature

Anonymous

II. Official abuses. Public Offices themselves are /being/ so numerous and erroneous[?] on the one hand, the abuses they are exposed to so various on the other much precision and of that detail which is necessary to precision could not without a too extensive digression be attempted here. Offices judicial, military, administrative: among administrative, offices for receipt of public money as well as judicial offices for the expenditure of it: be termed servitors[?] - individuals having business to transact in their respective offices.

A[?] state of things which renders the task of open information particularly invidious /oppressive/ is that where the person to whom the information of the abuse would be to be adopted, stands in the situation of patron to the author of it, having especially in the case nor that an infrequent one perhaps introduced him into the situation which gave occasion to the abuse: the informer may in this case find himself in a situation little if at all different from him who should have his adversary for his judge.

When the mischief of the abuse bears exclusively or more particularly upon a determinate individual, the character of an informer is affirmed with less difficulty - without any proportionable /comparatively/ very violent opposition from that portion of public opinion which is predominant /bears rule/ in the office /particulars/, and the only little other enmity a man /the informer/ is exposed to by it is that which may come under the denomination of private enmity. But even in that case if either the situation of the oppressed, or his comfort in that situation is dependant in any shape upon the good will of the oppressor, the force of the restrictive motives which tend to withold him from performing any such compliant[?], may be much too great to be surmounted /overcome/ so great as to be insurmountable may be so great as not to be capable of being surmounted without an irreparable violation of the rules of human prudence. In /So far as/ this state of things, [...?] the notification of a standing disposition not to accept for what it is /may be/ worth the sort of information conveyed by anonymous indication is but a branch of that general notification which in some way or other might in every line of government to be made - the notification of a constant disposition to afford protection to the oppressed.