The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-03 00:00:00

STEAM PACKET MAIL CONTRACTS.

Mr. BOUVERIE asked the hon. and gallant member
for Berkshire when the house would be in possession of the
terms of his motion relative to the contracts made by Go-
vernment with steam packet companies for the public
service.
Captain VERNON said that hon. members would re-
ceive that information to-morrow.
CIVIL SERVICE EXPENDITURE.
Mr. WISE rose, pursuant to notice, to move that, in the
opinion of this house, it would be desirable to appoint every
year a select committee to inquire into the miscellaneous
civil service expendittire of the preceding year; into the
payments made out of the consolidated fund ; and into
those on account of the Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues.
He hoped hon. members would not consider it waste of their

tine to give a little attention to the subject of his motion

Whether they looked to the past expenditure of the country
or to the fact that £55,000,000 were now required for the
debt and defences of the country, the necessity for a strin-
gent inquiry into the expenditure was apparent. It had
been proposed that the estimates for the year should be re-
ferred to a select committee, but that he could not help re-
garding as a device to cast off from the Executive Govein-
ment the duties and responsibilities of their office. The
desirAbleness, however, of assisting the Treasury to exercise
a further check and control of the civil service expenditure
could not be denied. He should be satisfied if the house
would adopt the principle of his resolution, but at present
thinivil service estimates, as they came before hon. mem-
bers, were a snare to them. With the exception of the army
and navy, and the estimates for the British Museum, with
one or two others, it was impossible for the house to come
to a just conclusion, upon them. He was therefore disposed
to believe, without any want of confidence in the Govern-
- went of the day, whoever they might happen to be, that an
_ annual review by a committee of the house of the expendi-
ture and revenue of the Woods and Forests Department, of
the oharges on the consolidated fund, and of the miscella-
neous expenses in connection with the civil service would be
attended with a considerable reduction in the amount of out-
lay. He was convinced he only echoed the general opinion
of the country when he said that the miscellaneous estimates
were increasing with ear • s'lve and alarming rapidity. Inde-
pendent of the ordinary sources of expenditure there were
many secret drains upon the public funds, so mysterious' and
complicated, that they seemed almost to evade the control of
the Treasury, as they certainly defied the investigation of the
house. The people of the. try placed large sums of
money in the hands of the Country placed large sums of
money in the hands of the Gov with cheerful ala-
crity whenever they were afikedfortli:otrttirt national pur-
poses, but they had a right to insistl
be faithfully appropriated and frugally these sums should
expended.t He
thought hon. members were bound tolisenoithetrestions
. which were always being addressed to them
_stituents as to what was done with the moneyyvoteedd.reveeenr);
year" and prove themselves really and truly the
the public purse, by demanding a proper systenr ol'inlaqnulrpof
• Into the annual expenditure of the country. It was the
practice of the occupants of the Treasury bench to declare
that they were not responsible for the amount of expendi-
ture, and that it was forced upon them by the House of
Commons. Were hon. members willing to accept that decla-
ration and the responsibility which it devolved upon them ?
Were they prepared to admit that no inspection of expendi-
ture was required, and that no reduction m its amount could
be effected ? He believed most hon. members were agreed
that the Civil Sell ice estimates were too large, that many of
the charges upon the Consolidated Fund ought to be other-
wise provided for, and that the Lands and Forests revenue
fell below what it might be made by proper management.
He was satisfied thet the examination of a committee would
lea:d to the saving bf thousands, if not millions of money,
without any injury to the strength or efficiency of the pub-
lic service. (Hear.) He wished to call the attention of the
house to an important Parliamentary paper which had been
issued, giving an account of the increase in the Civil Service
estimates for the last 20 or 2.5 years. In the year 1839 the
total amount of these estimates was £2,651,000, while last
year they came to £7,880,000. In 1817, when we were at
peace, they were only £1,480,000, and before the Reform
Rilt, in 1830, £1,'172,000. The average for the 10 years
ending 1827 was £2,115,000 ; for the 10 years ending 1837,
£2,269,000; for the 10 years ending 1847, £3,016,000; and
for the last 10 years,-£5,710,000. The expenditure for the
20 years ending 1839 was £43,226,000; and for the 20 years
ending 1859, £94,955,000. It was instructive to compare the
t)tals of each class of expenwiture in 1839 and 1858 :—Pub-
lie buildings, parks, &c., 1839, £197,000; 1859, £793,000.
Salaries and expenses of public departments, 1839, C23,00(1;
1859, £1,413,000. Law and justice, 1839, 666,000 ; 1859,
£182e49,410.00.. Education, science, and art, 1839, £175,000;
,859., tia23,000. Colonial and consular, 1839, £339,000 ;
x2o,o'o'r;o2l Superannuation and allowances, 1839,
1859, 985Z9, £242,000. Miscellaneous, 1839, £217,000 ;
Parliament, new (Hear.) It was stated that the Houses of
than £2,716,00c and
temporary, cost the country no less
the trouble, he yet if any hon. member would take
would find that the s hid
tone was
to walk round the building, he
and that numerous swas already in a state of decay,
Palace, he was sorry to fissureswere apparent. Buckingham
ry
1): to look at St. Paul's, So t
tion. Bat they had oul say, was in much the same condi-
house, the Banqueter-
all, or the Horse uardisnetorsseee-
make such errors as we did
Somerset-
that their ancestors
the selection of stone.d id(llleoatr If there had been a inFinance
Cotamittee appointed rerrularl
aund carefully
this matter would have been mYhreuvteerly year he was sure that
enuiture might
into, and no doubt some of the enormous inquired
have been moved, or, at least, laid out tosbeextl)
doubt,
grant; for harbours of refuge were consideerraturP°" The
but they were for a great national object, and laelintehat was
asked wag, that they should be economically spent, and that
value shotod be got for the money. He found that as
as £26,000 a year was spent in hiring depertmentaletTiuceeeh
and could not kelp thinking that a miserable plan of carry"-
int on the Government of a great country like this. A great
many buildings ti'n'e also rented for the use of commissions;
and he might mention, by the way, that since 1830 no less
than £831,171 had been spent in commissions. During the
last 20 years the furnit `tire of the public departments had cost
£450,000. He freely adn:ipted that the gentlemen connected
with the Treasury and ti.'e offices of Secretaries of State
ided for in that respect.
wet.' generallynot extravaga Prlf