[MALTA - ECONOMY]. Rappresentanza delli uditori de conti a s...

Hammer

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[MALTA - ECONOMY]. Rappresentanza delli uditori de conti a sua altezza eminentissima e suo sagro consiglio con la risposta del segretario del tesoro. [Malta: Mallia], 1788.
Memorandum shedding light on the financial organisation of the Order of Malta during the final decades of the eighteenth century. The work arose from an institutional dispute between the Auditors of Accounts, representatives of the various Langues of the Order charged with overseeing the Common Treasury, and the Secretary of the Treasury, who was accused of restricting their prerogatives. The Auditors maintained that the Statutes granted them the right to exercise prior control over purchases, sales and administrative acts of the Treasury; the Secretary replied that such an interpretation was contrary to centuries-old practice and would make the day-to-day administration of the Treasury impossible. In support of his position, the Secretary provides an exceptionally detailed account of the workings of the Common Treasury: he describes the responsibilities of the Procurators, the Chamber of Accounts, the Auditors and the Secretary, explaining the procedures followed for purchases and sales, the system for auditing accounts, the keeping of registers, the role of the General Ledger and, above all, the preparation of the annual Budget, presented as the Order's principal instrument of financial control. Particularly significant is his description of the administrative reforms introduced during his tenure, through which he claims to have cleared the substantial backlog of accounts accumulated in previous years.

Folio (360 × 230 mm). 9 leaves. Marbled paper wrappers (short at the lower cover). (1)