Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/42

 From the preceding table it may appear a very simple matter to know what one's allowances are, but experience will show that it is indeed a very perplexing one and subject to many anomalies. All accounts of pay, must sooner or later have the sanction of the Military Auditor General. In general, these accounts do not come under his eye for a year or two after their disbursement and retrenchments are made upon pretexts most unlooked for, and upon interpretations of orders, assented to no where but in the audit office.

The audit office is a sort of Court of Chancery, as well known in India as Doctor's Commons is in England, where equal skill is brought into play to ward off the just claims of its constituents by prolonged litigation, until forced to disgorge by an appeal to the Governor General in Council.

The Auditor-General's hand is in every man's pocket, and the good intentions of a liberal Government are often thwarted by the vexatious despotism of this official. Few officers have passed through the service without at one time or another feeling aggrieved by these retrenchments.

20. PRIVATE PRACTICE.—Young men come to India with the idea that they will soon make their fortunes by private practice, but generally speaking, fees arc rare. Now and then a well paid staff-officer or a civilian gives something handsome, but even such are much rarer than they wont to