Page 177 - Mediterranea-ricerche storiche, n. 48, aprile 2020flip

To contain and control: work organization and poor government in the... 177

purposes, the balance sheets stressed the main items relative to the
nourishment of the inmates and the costs of silk manufacturing (to
which the prisoners were attached). On the other side, the income list
was clearly designed to deal with public funding institutions.
According to the original rules, the Real Albergo dei Poveri had an
income of its own through the sale of silk items, but the institution
was dependent on public funding, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Real Albergo dei Poveri: sources of funding (1791)
Funder Sicilian Onze
Ospedale Grande e Nuovo of Palermo (main
hospital of the city) 29
Bequest of Prince of Pantelleria 218.12
Bequest of Elisabetta Requisens Campo by 155.10
means of Baldassarre Conti
Bequest of Fabrizio lo Guasto 166.27
Suppressed Society of Jesus Administration
fund (Messina branch) 280
Suppressed Society of Jesus Administration
fund (Palermo branch) 1000
Suppressed Inquisition Office 1100
Royal administration 437
Total 3385.49
Source: Asp, Rsi, f. 5272 and R. Rossi, Poor government and work organisation in the
Real Albergo dei poveri of Palermo cit.

Table 2 indicates that almost all funding came from public sources,
with a small private funding of 539.49 Sicilian onze coming from the
bequests of Sicilian nobles. Meanwhile, a small amount came from the
Ospedale Grande e Nuovo, the most important and rich hospital in
Palermo. The result was that the Real Albergo dei Poveri revenues
came from three main sources:

(1) Variable fees (stated yearly), paid by public institutions (Royal
administration).
(2) Bequests and donations.
(3) Variable fees (stated yearly), paid by local institution (hospital).

C. Cordery, R.F. Baskerville, Charity Financial Reporting Regulation: A Comparative Study of
the UK and New Zealand, «Accounting History», vol. 12, n. 1, 2007, pp. 7-27; A.G. Hopwood,
P. Miller, Accounting as social and institutional practice, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1994; A.G. Hopwood, The Archaeology of Accounting Systems, «Accounting
Organizations and Society», vol. 12, n. 3, 1987, pp. 207-234.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XVII - Aprile 2020
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)