The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-04-08

groomed, and, like the colonial secretary.
ne mas fondness for flower in his but
tonhole. He was made Knight Com
mander of the Bath on receiving his ap-
pointment, and now is member OF the
patriotic fund commission, which, just at
present has its hands full. Treasury Cos
sip says that his duties under Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach are rather more onerous
than while his predecessor, Sir William
Harcourt, was in office, the latter states
man being pronounced less voracious in
the matter of details than Sir Michael.
That, however, is no reflection on Sir
William Harcourt, for the present chan
cellor of the exchequer usually Is re-
ferred to as having set a hotter pace in
the way Of business than any of the for
mer incumbents of the post except Mar.
Gladstone With it all, however, he Is
cool, long-suffering and collected amid
muddles that would drive more nervous
man into Mysteries. Whenever budget
time swings around, he makes it a prac-
tice to consult with the leading bankers
and financiers, foremost among them, US
ually, the governor of the Bank of Eng
land, and when he is familiar with the
exact status of things fiscal, calls his
treasury board together and discusses va
rious measures with them. When the plan
is all in shape it is laid before the cab
met, possibly amended there in some de-
tails, and then submitted to parliament.
A DOMINEERING DEPARTMENT.
That sounds as humble and modest as
| you please, and yet 1t is a fact that the
| treasury, since Mr.. Gladstone first held
| Office as its chancellor, has become purse
/ proud, and gradually has added power to
! its elbow until, as Premier Salisbury re-
Gently said, the7 permanent clerks of
the treasury are now engaged in govern
! ing every department of the govern
ment." 1.-THE treasury" he went on,
''now claims a voice in all decisions of
administrative authority or policy" and
he implied that If the treasury had not
shut off needed funds from the secret
service department England might have
known in time how strong the Beers
! really were.
Under the extraordinary system that
has grown up by chance and become sa-
cred by tradition, each minister has to
submit to the treasury department the
| list of the items for which he needs
money, and If the treasury says mo-
| to these requests the amount of red tape,
! effort and influence required to get the
veto overruled by the rest Of the cabinet
makes it practically impossible to fight
against the decision. And the most gall
ing part of it is that the decision usually
l comes from some of the permanent under
secretaries of the treasury, who know
! nothing whatever about the real needs of
I the department from which Che applica-
ton comes, but who merely say mo"
! on general principles. The chancellor
could overrule the decisions Of these I'M
der secretaries if he wanted to, but he
rarely wants to. AS scarcely anything
can be done by any1branch of the gov
eminent without money, it follows that
| the keeper of the money bags has be-
| come a yeritable autocrat among cabinet
! ministers and undoubtedly Yields more
! actual power in the government of Eng
land today than the prime minister. The
grievance of the other departments
against the treasury has become so
pronounced in the last few weeks that a
sweeping reform is likely to be brought
about soon.