The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-06 00:00:00

enable a Government to get out of a scrape—to throw liP°l/
a Committee the reeponsibili:y which attached to a Govern-
ment, and this the Gevet nment had done with the Kafir war.
Ile w arned the House not to allow this subject to go to I
Committee.—(Hear.) There should not be an income-ta%
in time of peace.
Colonel ssIBTHORP said it was his intention to bring
for-
ward his motion on the report.
Sir B. HALL observed 35 Members on that (the Govern-
ment) side of the flouse voted for the motion of the Hon.
Member for Montrose with the intention of a Comissittl
being appointed. Hon. Gentlemen opposite spoke I'l4
tenant-tarmers were the only persons in the country I.'
were suffering.
many IVI r .
tradesmenF RE F
wereELD suffering
ahge f
rsaami d perfectlyhe effects
ofa
—they were suffering as well as the tenant-farmers, bu the!
they paid taxes only on profits, whereas the tenant-farm
paid whether they had profits or not.
Mr. WILLIAMS wished to know whether it was the la
tent ion to charge ineome-tax on the interest of the
debt psid in Ireland, as well as on the salaries in P
offices? Be also wished to know whether it was intended
extend the income-tax to Ireland? • a that
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rep
w freea r e
rtbee;
the question of the income-tax being extended tolreland we°
one her the whole House to decide. aer
Sir B. HALL wished the Chaneellor of the Ene.eolion
would name a day when he might bring forward his
for extending the income. tax to Ireland. sliced
The CHANCELLOR tot the EXCHEQUER s'e- d it
doingwaea
iah ss. oei.
intention
amended,
Whenever ederepdtp,howea
easit motion was brought
agreed to.
On clause 2 being proposed,
Mr. CHAPLIN moved the insertion of a proviso, by
wly
of amendment to the second clause, to the effect tbat, 11
a view to a just relief of the occupiers of farms chargeable
ss
to the duties under Schedule under
tion from duty be granted to all parties chargeable 5 4
B, the same privileges of exeraP
that schedule as are by the 133 d and following section
_To
forviar
the present Property-tax Act, secured to the parties prof
liable to duties by Schedule of the same Act, in resPec;ssa
the profits of trade, &c., in the events set forth in the 1-
133 d section. per
Mr. SPOONER suggested the postponement of t-Id'
,61
tion until the report was brought up. w' '
Ise to
Lord J. RUSSELL thought it would be very ti
svan' ld be
add a proviso to the Bill, the only effect of which --
to create great confusion.
Mr. HENLEY also urged upon the Hon. Member that he
should not press his motion at that time. took
The gallery was then cleared for a division, but none by
Cmlraujse.su3.
SMITHanI4 were
moved
place, and after a desultory conversation the motion Wes
leave withdrawn, and the zd clause agreed to-
the following effect : - That all appointments to onf se° etr
authorised to be made by local commissioners of ofte
tax should be subject to revision by the Lords 'Ttnent
addition of two dells::
sioners of her Majesty's Treasury; and that no sPr-sasde
to any office ender the provisiol of this Act should
be
of persons under twenty-one yeeaEXCHEQUER th?tleo, ers. gbt
The CHANCELLOR of thd
Hon. Friend had better not press the question, for it 9-11100.
to him to comprise one of the subjects which tileuisslf
dMee:nii
rrab.
jire. fortß .sPrasl Montrose
irTto
ustea
bhaeagsdgeeisdeuegti gecaeasvmtee dmt
ihtaetseneb. etoing P rt'c --
clauses, being satisfied to leave them in the
Committee.
Mr. MACGREGOR also withdrew his amendments' ea 1°
The House then resumedandthe erslere •
,
be b-ought up to-morrow (this da, on the under
that it was not to be discussed. poet'
The Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill W—
poned to Friday.
_ vitaitabriedreef
the

OFFICIAL SALARIES. 509°1'
On the order of the day for the House going into
mittee of Supply, WO°
Lord J. RUSSELL rose to call the attention of o°o be
to the report of the Committee on Official Salaries, 1:404
spoke in a low tone, and was occasionally indistinctit ' had
t
He was understood to say that considerable bertefinfoisl
flowed from the appointment of the Committee on vbea
Salaries from the circumstance of an opportinli7 olsei
afforded of placing on record the opinions 01 per
persons of official experience of various kind Peet
litical, judicial, legal, and diplomatic, with oil
to the salaries and emoluments attached to the otte•
in the various departments. Above all, the 03°f tl,°
had had the opportunity of hearing the opinion °,l con
late Sir Robert Peel, with his long experience 6%0°
pr.'hensive mind, on the subject of the salaries 01 abet
,
persons. On the other hand, the Committee, pursainftes or
was un'uckily the usual practice of Select Contillist pi°
that House, continued to take evidence during efi ntil y
of the session, and aid not come to their resolution ore
period when a large portion of Members, wearied o"The
out by attention to public business, had left toWn'oseciel
consequence was, that although the Committee 0,11,,„, Wl°
Salaries was composed of 15 Members, the Cominn`—e
to the decision on its final resolutions when there Wet .001
eight or nine Members present, and the voting 01 till
amounted to five or six, being an actual minority roof till
whole Committee. This, unfortunately, was the
tyft
with Select Committees generally; but it was desira'sienti
it should be altered, either by taking care that eridis se
should not run to too great a length, or that when it its
a Committee should postpone the consideration of it untilo
re-appointment at the commencement of the followilloge
sion. Having made these observations, he would net's'Astes
teed to state the opinion of the Government upon the ri.7560.
mendations of the Committee. It was the desire of ti'o9.4
vernment to defer as much as possible to the exert to
wishes of the Committee; and therefore they had sgr,e oft
some proposed reductions, which, nevertheless, did 11°1 „ tee
to them to be conducive to public advantage, though, %sot
other hand, they would not be attended' with anY boa
public detriment. The report of the Committee, after stas.iro
that it recommended no reduction in the salaries of the
Lord of the Treasury, a
the Chancellor of the Exchenner'doils
three Secretaries of State, and the First Lord of the sod
rally, proceeded to deal with the Treasury department' ilee
recommended that the Lords of the Treasury should recarfss
1,00, /. a year each, instead of 1,2001., and the two secretary,
2,0001., instead of 2,5C01. This recommendation the lo,' erl
ment had adopted, and had made the reductions lir"P—„set
The Committee bad not proposed any alteration with re:"see
to the offices of the Under-Secretaries of State. With
observed
spect to the President of the Council, the Committee obseroca
teat this office had attached to it duties of great imn°rttioe,
as President of the Committee of the Council of Edeuctople
and therefore they were of opinion that the salary 0' !joie/
was not more than an adequate corns ensation for the .„03.
to be performed. In the next place, the Committee resold
mended that the duties of the Railway Commission susydet
again be discharged under the direction of the Board 01,,T;sof
in short, that with a view to save the &Aeries of the oaird of
Commission, it should be consolidated with the lictkett
Trade. The President of the Board of Trade, having,. con'
this recommendation into consideration, had come to tue.orays
elusion that it could be adopted, and therefore the Bat To
Commissioners ceased to be separately paid officerteic e of
Committee then proceeded to recommend hat the wlited
Vice-President of the Board of Trade should beLslis-
with that of Paymaster of the Forces, and ,stu-s" the
stead of the present salary of 2 000/. for each 0wc„;•ttel!
salary for the joint-office should b 1,5001. The Comm
likewise recommended that the office of Lord Pri•fs uri
should be joined with some other office, and that 00 57 itshould be attached to that of Privy Seal. Another retails
mendation of the Committee was that the MastershiP,°f
;ery
Mint should no longer be a political office. The es.
of
ment had endeavoured to comply with these suggestionors
the Committee, as far as was consistent with the public
vice; but at the same time it must, be observed that
,
ese
were some important considerations in connexion wit", sad
proposals, suggested to the Committee by Sir Rs Fee. ire,
other persons who had had great experience in public se° t•
to which the Committee did not seem to have paid in/ the
tention. It certainly appeared to him advantageous to t
public service that some Members of the Govern
should hold offices the duties of which were not so labort
as to prevent them from undertaking the peons:lo°,lr
other duties not immediately connected with their own
expo'
rience It must be obvious to all persons 0f.70
rience in public affairs, that from day to day, questly.r.
arose involving the performance of duties not properly refer
able to any particular department, which, if not atteadenA
by some persons not overloaded with eviler duties, weuf;
have very little chance of being attended to at all. If IA!,
history, it was more peculiarly
to.
were true, as a general proposition, at
atformtheer
of the Exchequer, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and al.!,
when the offices of the Secretaries of State, the Chance ;
which he had the honour to fill, wee so much more loon
periods
st
oftin7lo
with busin ss than they ever were before. The quantity °'
writing and correspondence—the increase of business of Or
connected with their own immewt.„—
rious kinds in these offipecresos,nswfiasllinsog
tgreathem ttohdaitailarwgase.,lloti
duties
slyn
nut
immediately difficultgtp rbeftepo hl for the
rntaghtei
tno
marriages
oatn
departments. It frequently was necessary for the Gove,"lo-
- to consider and dispose of some important questions
ythedaenpneadfrotrbminaepnßit.i.ll, Faonofdrilhnseentaitei,
there
ir
ewassdpiedtc htnieno
which came under his coesiderAtion whenthsr° was PaY°lBs
of the Forces. If there were not some memeber of the 9,6;
vernment able, to some extent, to attend to those Olt
was not probahle—indeed, it was hardly possible---tlist
eenofotahe
such grave matters could receive sufficient attention,;
•
when they were prepare i i the manner he had inadl nateote
to a mdeemisbionrs p
tChaebtain.et
Twheiraewaabsle
otonecorneasisdoenr
wenhdicha-we
the
duced the Government to think it would be unwise to e„
important
fish all offices which had not onerous duties
these
tached to them. Another reason for maintaining
e.
offices way that it frequently happened on the formation 0';
new Government, or perhaps during the continuance of es
s
existing one, that persons who had paid great attention!!
public aflairs, and were fit for any office, were called intot°
service of the State at a time of life or in a state of health.
which precluded them from accepting offices that had hair,
lions duties connected with them. At the same time, ims,
opinions of these persons carried with them the utmost
weight, and would prove of the greatest service to
ile
public. It might be said that a Government could see i
s"..
the assistance of persons of this kind by giving them _
minal offices, such as that of the Privy Seal. without sa1!:
ries attached to them. This, to be sure, might be done
the case of persons possessing considerable fortunes. MFs
of fortune having establishments in London might be
induced to accept great offices without salaries, but .
thought the adoption of that course would establish a Do!
y
principle in the public service of this country. It was tr°
that the course recommended by the Committee in tbiO
respect ha 1 the authority of Lord burham in its favouf
Lord Durham, admitting that the duties of the officor
Privy Seal sometimes occupied seven or eight hours a day
nevertheless was of opinion that, if maintained, it should be
without salary. ,
The tendency of any change which would
reduce the salaries of the important offices to which re*
ference had been made would, he feared, be to make thole
offices attainable only by men of considerable fortune. Thet
would be an evil. It would throw an impediment in the
way of talent in the way of men of the highest abili'Ys
who, perhaps, had gained the greatest fame in this or 0*
other House of Parliament, but who could not afford t°
hold the offices in question. It would be miscbievo°'
to the public service, to exclude persons of small for-
tune from these situations. Thsre was another cos'
siderat ion which was entitled to considerable weight. A,l,
one who had marked the course of official life in WI.
country must have perceived that offices in the Cabinet
were frequently held by men of other pursuits, who en;
tered into politics with' a wish to take part in the serve_
of their country without entirely abstracting themselv!s
from their usual occupations and enjoyments. An examPl°
of this kind was the nobleman who filled the office of Lord
Privy Seal, and, subsequently, of President of the Conned
under under Sir R. Peel's Government—the Duke of Buccleuch, "
man of great fot tune, who could hardly be expected to abalk"
don all his previous occupations, for the purpose of "..t
charging the duties of a laborious office. It was a geef
advantage to attract men of this sort to official life, and
the offices in this country were filled, as in continents! _',lif..
tions, exclusively by a class of men who had devoted tne, I.
s
selves solely to official life, and were called •"Bureauc _
Bureaucrats,
would be an alteration for the worse. He remembered rem"
ing with interest the remarks of a Frenchman.of eminent"
why was much struck with what he PIT while attemwts