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

STEAM PACKET MAIL CONTRkCTS.

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 aaid 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 expenditure 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.
Ho hoped hon. members would not consider it waste of their
timo 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 shin-
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 Govern-

meat 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
the civil 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-
ment 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
Crarges on the consolidated fund, and of the miscella •
rioua expenses in connection with the civil service would be
attendede with a considerable reduction in the amount of out-
lay. He was convinced he only
tte echoed the general opinion
of the country when he said that miscellaneous estimates
were increasing with ex( e s:ve and alarmingd rapidity. Inde-
pendent of the ordinary sources ofe
funds,
sioture, there were
many secret ::rains upon the public fux mysterious and
complicated, that they seemed almost t o Ovadete control of
the Treasury, as they certainly defied the investigation of the
house. Tho people of the country placedlargo
Money in the hands of the Government with cheer Lura of
ala-
crity whenever they were asked fir important national pur-
poses, but they had a right to insist that these sums should
be faithfully appropriated and frugally expended. He
thought hon. members were hound to listen to thequestions
which were always being addressed to them by their con
stituonts as to what was done with the money voted every
year, and prove themselves really and truly the guardians of
the public purse, by demanding a proper system of inquirp
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 in its amount could
be effected ? He believed most hon. members were agreed
that the Civil Service estimates were too large, that many of
the charges upon the Consolidated Fund ought to be other-
wise provided for, a-ed that the Lands and Forests revenue
fell below what it might be made by proper management.
He was satisfied that the examination of a committee would
lead to the saving of 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
Bill, in 1830, £1,872,000. The average for the 10 years
ending 1827 was £2,116,000; for the 10 years ending 1837,
£,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
totals
1859, £94,955,000. It was instructive to compare the
each class of expenwiture in 1839 and 1858 :—P üb-
he buildings parks &,e 1839 £197 000 • 1859 £793,000.
Salaries a / ./ 7 7 7
1859na expenses of public departments, 1839, £723,000;
12,544, Law and justice, 1839, £666,000 ; 1859,
139, iG23,Adoucation, science, and art, 1839, £175,000;
1859, £428,000. • Colonial and consular, 1839, £339,000;
1200,000 ; 1859, I Superannuation and allowances, 1839,
1859, 983,000. (hear.) Miscellaneous, 1839, £217,000 ;
Parliament, new and temporary, It was stated that the Houses of
thin £1,716,000; and tryorary, cost the country no less
Vie trouble, as he had (lo anY
hon. member would take
was to walk round the building, he
would find that the atoneeealready in a state of decay,
and that numerous fissures were I!.pparent. Buckingham
Palace, he was sorry to say, war: in ;ouch the same condi-
tion. Bat. they had only to look li.Paul's, Somerset-
house, Guards to see
house, the Banqueting-hall, or the
that their ancestors did not make such
atilt caet
the selection of stone. (Hear.) If thcrehaxits as we did in
Committee appointed regularly every year he wenasasFurine
this matter would have been minutely and carefully in
into, and no doubt some of the enormous expenniturelu mi greld
have been saved, or, et least, laid out to better purposeTitist
grants for harbours of refuge were considerable, no doubt,
but they were fora great national object, and all that was
asked was that they should be economically spent, and that
value should be got for the money. He found that as much
as £26,000 a year was spent in hiring ilep-xtmental offices,
and could not help thinking that a miserable plan of carry-
ing on the Government of a great country like this. A great
many buildings were 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 fund ture of the public-departments had cost
£450,000. He freely admitted that the gentlemen connected
'with the Treasury and the offices of Secretaries of State
were generally not extravapntlyprovido for in that respect,