The Sun.
London, England, 1848-03-31 00:00:00

THE PUBLIC OFFICES.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH then rose to
call the attention of their Lordships to the abstract
of the annual account of increase and diminution in
the number of persons employed, and the salaries,
emoluments, allowances, and expenses in all pub-
lic departments, delivered on the 24th of March.
It appeared from the return, that in the course of last
year 141 persons additional had been engaged in the
different departments of the Govern ment,whose salaries
amounted to 70,000/. The total increase in the
salaries during that period was .56,000/. ; in
emoluments, 14,500/. ; in expenses, 31,000/. ; in re-
tired allowances, 7,867/. ; making the increase
he had named. In the Colonial-office the in-
crease had been 4,333/.; in the Admiralty, 3,2161.,
and in other departments there had been a
proportionate increase.—(Hear.) There was one
charge which appeared to be most important, namely,
the Customs, in which the increase had been 49,000/.
They had been told that the reduction of duty
that would take place would lead to the expense
of this department and the number of persons em-
ployed being considerably reduced. In the
Excise there had been a diminution of
6,609/. ; in the Stamps and Taxes 2,0181.,
which was satisfactory. In the Post-office a great
increase had taken place ; a great loss—
as much as half a million—had taken place
upen the transmarine department ; in the
Post-office 1,109 additional hands had been
taken on. Now, when a department like that of
this establishment did not pay, the greatest economy
should be practised. Having alluded to the
increased expenditure of the convict department
and in the exchequer of Scotland, the Noble
Earl moved for a return of the salaries paid
in 1847, specifying the various additions made
The entire increase was about 110,000/. in the year
during that period. If this return was not satisfac-
tory, he should move for correspondence and other
documents that ought to afford more satisfactory in-
formation.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE had not the
slightest objection to afford the fullest infor-
mation, and his Noble Friend (the Marquis of Clan-
ricarde) would be happy to consult with the Noble Earl
as to how the salaries in the Post-office, or number
of officers, might be reduced. No increase had
taken place beyond that absolutely necessary.
For instance, one old woman, at a salary of
101. a year, had been found necessary in that
department ; but so far from this appointment
extending his patronage, his Noble Friend had found
much difficulty in getting an old woman to fill the
office.—(Laughter.) Steam-boats for the conveyance
of letters had been found absolutely necessary—hence
the expense of which the Noble Earl complained He
considered that the return with respect to the Post-
office would be too minute to afford much informa-
tion. At present there was a Committee sitting in the
House of Commons, whose duty it was to inquire into
the salaries in the public departments, and no doubt
they would prepare an ample report and evidence on
the subject.
Earl GREY justified the increased expenditure of
the Colonial Department, and considered that the
return moved for would be too voluminous to be
valuable, and would besides, occupy several months
in preparation. He thought names should be ex-
cluded from the return.

The Earl of AUCKLAND, although not prepared
to enter minutely into the matters adverted to by the
Noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Ellenborough) with
regard to the augmentations which had been made in
the Admiralty department, was nevertheless able to
state that there had been no increase in that esta-
blishment beyond what the public service required.
On entering into office, he found that the books at
Somerset House were very much in arrear ; some
many months, and many more than a year. In order
to rectify this the clerks were employed many hours
in the evening, and often through a great part of the
night, for which an extra allowance was necessarily
made.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said that with
regard to the increased expenditure incurred on ac-
count of the Post-office, he was prepared to show by
the returns which had been made to the House that
that increase was fully justified by the increased re-
quirementoof that:establishment. He should have been
quite content to do this in the most general manner, if
the Noble Earl had not particularly remarked that the
increase of the expenditure during the last year hap-
pened to be coincident with the occurrence of a general
election. When the Noble Earl mentioned that fact,
it would have been but fair if he had called attention
to the amount of increased expenditure in other years
when there were no general elections.—(Hear, hear.)
The Post-office, it ought to be remembered, was not
an establishment primarily and mainly for the pur-
pose of raising a revenue. It was in the first instance
for the accommodotion of the public, though he was
aware it was also looked upon by many as a desirable
source ,f revenue as well as of benefit to the country
in other respects. But he would apply the same test
to the returns from the Post-office of previous years
which the Noble Earl had applied to the return for
the year 1847, and then their Lordships would be
able to judge as to the relative increase of charge in•
curred by and the increase of revenue derived from
that department. The net amount of revenue arising
from the Post-office in the year 1845 was 749,842/. ;
in 1846 it was 825,112/.; and in 1847 it was 984,496/.
The difference in increased revenue between the year
1846 as compared with the year 1845 was 75,270/. ; but
the difference of increased revenue of 1847 as compared
with 1846 was 159,384/. Therefore, if their Lord-
ships were to take the Noble Earl's test, he (the Earl
of Clanricarde) would have a right to claim the pri-
vilege of making double the number of appointments
and increase of salaries in the year 1847, beyond what
was made in 1846. But how stood the fact. In the
year 1846 the additional number of persons employed
in the Post-office was 1,241 ; and, in 1847, the addi-
tional number employed was only 1,109, being less
than the number appointed in 1846, though, accord-
ing to the increased revenue, it might justly have
been double that number. He did not mean to throw
any blame on his predecessors, but only wished to jus-
tify himself. He would now advert to the increased
accommodation afforded to the public by the
extended arrangements of the Post-office. The
increased circulation of letters in 1840, as com-
pared with 1839, was 169,000,000 ; in 1841 there
was an increase of 196,000,000 of letters over
the previous year. The plan for increasing the
rural post-offices came into operation in 1844,
and a rise immediately took place of 28 per cent. in
the circulation of letters, and last year the increase
was 30 per cent. upon the previous year. He now
came to the present year, and their Lordships would
see what had been effected by the increased expen-
diture to which the Noble Earl had called their
attention. No less than 400 new receiving-offices
had been established in the United Kingdom ; 417
messengers had been at once appointed out of the
1,109. In fact, 870 persons had been appointed in
the rural districts, and no less than 1,300 villages had
deliveries established where previously there was no
delivery at all. Their Lordships would thus see that
whatever the increased expenditure in the Post-office
department might have been, more than a commen-
surate return had been made to the public, both in
regard to the peculiar accommodation which that
establishment afforded, and to the addition it ren-
dered to the general revenue of the State.
Lord STANLEY observed, that although the pre-
sent snhject more particularly belonged to the pro-
vince of the other House of Parliament, yet they
could not but be thankful to his Noble Friend for
having brought it forward—(Hear, hear)—because,
while it was undoubtedly proper at all times that a
strict guard shonld be kept over the expenditure of
the public funds, there never was a year respecting
which it was more necessary to do so than the year
1847, when it appeared there had been an increase of
charge on account of the different establishments of
no less an amount than 110,0001. Noble Lords who
had spoken commenced by saying that they were
wholly unprepared to explain the papers before their
Lordships for want of notice; but he considered the
terms in which his Noble Friend had given