Council divided into departments, each member thereof being charged with a particular branch, such as army, finance, public works, or the like, while the responsibility of the council, as a whole, remained unchanged.' This scheme of administration is conducted under the provisions of an Imperial Act passed in 1861, which empowers the governor-general to divide the business amongst the members of his council according to his own discretion. The authority of the governor-general, however, remains paramount and supreme, and can be in no respect limited or controlled by the action of his council. ministers. Having discussed the questions of the origin and Salaries of composition of the Cabinet Council, and briefly considered the various collateral points connected therewith, we have now to refer to the salaries and other emoluments appertaining to the offices held by the principal members of the administration. Formerly, the great offices of state were much more lucrative than at present. Various means existed, as by the possession of sinecures or reversions, or by fees and allowances, whereby the perquisites of office were increased. But all these have been abolished, in the gradual progress of economic reform. Up to about the year 1825 there used to be an allowance to the first minister, and to each of the secretaries of state, for a certain amount of plate, by way of outfit, on their first accepting office. This was paid for out of the Civil List; but it has since been taken away, together with all fees and gratuities of every kind. Since 1830 the salaries of the prime minister, of the chancellor of the exchequer, and of the principal secretaries of state have been severally fixed at 5,000l. per annum Evid. of Sir J. Graham, before Come. on Board of Admiralty, Com. Pap. 1861, v. 5, pp. 140, 146. See VOL. II. also Evid. pp. 206, 358. ૨ that of the first lord of the admiralty at 4,500l., and those of the other heads of administrative departments generally at 2,000l. per annum. This reduction was effected at the instigation of ministers themselves. Immediately upon the Grey ministry acceding to office, they placed the amount of their respective salaries under the consideration of a committee of the House of Commons, and accepted the recommendations for reduction which were made by that committee. These salaries come under the revision of Parliament every year, as they are included in the estimates, and voted in supply. In 1850 the official salaries again underwent examination by a committee of the House of Commons, but the committee were of opinion that, with scarcely an exception, the salaries of the chief administrative offices were settled in 1831 at the lowest amount which is consistent with the requirements of the public service.'i Most of the leading statesmen of the day were examined before the committee in 1850, and they concurred in the foregoing opinion, alleging, with regard to the offices for which a salary of but 2,000l. a year is given, that they did not compensate the parties holding them, and offer no pecuniary inducement to public men for their acceptance. Without advocat ing the increase of existing salaries, it was urged on behalf of their present rate, that it is of the greatest Necessity public advantage that men of ability, of small private means, should be enabled to enter into public employ salaries to instead of the professions, without being placed in an unfair position towards such of their colleagues as might possess private fortunes. Some of the most emi for adequate ministers. Mir. of Parl. 1833, p. 617. in Journal of Stat. Soc. v. 20, p. 102. Rep. on Official Sal. Com. Pap. 1850, v. 15. Evid. 91. nent statesmen of the past century were notoriously men of very small private incomes, as for example the two Pitts, Fox, Burke, Canning, and Huskisson.' opinions on In his evidence before the committee, Sir Robert Peel quoted, with marked approbation, the following opinions of Edmund Burke upon the question at issue: -What is just payment for one kind of labour, and Burke's full encouragement for one kind of talents, is fraud and discouragement to others: many of the great officers salaries. have much to do, and much expense of representation to maintain; a secretary of state, for instance, must not appear sordid in the eyes of the ministers of other nations; neither ought our ministers abroad to appear contemptible in the courts where they reside. In all offices of duty there is, almost necessarily, a great neglect of all domestic affairs: a person in high office can rarely take a view of his family house. If he sees that the state takes no detriment, the state must see that his affairs should take as little. I will even go so far as to affirm, that if men were willing to serve in such situations without salary, they ought not to be permitted to do it. Ordinary service must be secured by the motives to ordinary integrity; I do not hesitate to say, that that state which lays its foundation in rare and heroic virtues, will be sure to have its superstructure in the basest profligacy and corruption. An honourable and fair profit is the best security against avarice and rapacity, as in all things else a lawful and regulated enjoyment is the best security against debauchery and excess.' m salaries. Sir Robert Peel and Lord John Russell both con- Official curred in enforcing these enlightened opinions upon the committee, with many apt arguments and illustrations, drawn from their own experience in public life and their 1 Rep. on Official Sal. Com. Pap. 1850, v. 15. Evid. 260, 261. m Ib. 328. extensive acquaintance with political history. Some of their statements were to the following effect:-It has frequently happened that the possession of office, by engrossing the attention of the incumbent, to the exclusion of personal concerns, has occasioned the neglect and injury of the private affairs of men who were not themselves prone to extravagance. In considering the proper salary of a member of the administration, it is also necessary to take into account the precariousness of the tenure of office. Mr. Fox, after forty years' service in Parliament, only held office for about eighteen months, including the two administrations of which he formed a part. And yet upon accepting office, it is incumbent upon those who do not already possess suitable establishments, to provide the same without regard to the uncertain duration of official life. Admitting that men are generally influenced by motives of honourable ambition in entering on a public career, and are principally actuated by a desire to do the state good service, without regard to pecuniary considerations, it is the more obligatory upon the state to allot to them such a provision as will suffice to sustain the unavoidable expenses of office, and leave no temptation or excuse to abuse its opportunities; otherwise the choice of public servants would become too much restricted, and it would be impossible for men destitute of private means to accept office without serious risk of pecuniary embarrassment." Since the year 1850, it is notorious that the value of money has considerably depreciated, and the difficulty of living upon a fixed income has increased in a like proportion. Under these circumstances, the inadequacy of the salaries paid to the principal ministers of the crown has become a matter of just complaint. This grievance would be felt more keenly than n Rep. on Official Sal. Com. Pap 1850, v. 15. Evid. 345, 346, 1227, it is, were it not that the vicissitudes of party government render it virtually necessary that a leading politician should have considerable private means.° An important item in the expenses of a minister of state is that which is entailed upon him by the necessity for exercising hospitality. No inconsiderable advantage, in a public point of view, arises from the opportunity afforded for friendly intercourse between ministers and members of Parliament at official dinner-parties. It was stated in evidence before this committee, that the opportunity of meeting in private to a much greater extent than is now practicable among public men would be of very great service to all parties, and would materially facilitate public business.P And Lord Palmerston testified that when he filled the office of foreign secretary, and entertained foreign ministers in his own house, he had constant conversations with them on political topics. It is therefore essential that the official income of a member of the government should be, at all events, sufficient to admit of the frequent exercise of hospitality. residences In addition to their salaries, certain of the ministers Official are entitled to an official residence. This privilege was formerly granted to a number of persons in the public service upon insufficient and unwarrantable grounds." But consequent upon an enquiry into the matter by the House of Commons in 1834, it was afterwards limited, so far as the administration is concerned, to the first North, Am. Rev. v. 53, p. 175. Hans. D. v. 203, p. 784. P Rep. on Official Sal. Com. Pap. 1850, v. 15. Evid. 94. But during the sitting of Parliament, a cabinet minister is never expected to dispense much hospitality, or to visit much, except on the two days of the week (Wednesday and Saturday) when the Houses of Parliament do not sit in the evening. This principally applies, however, to the ministers who have |