of the standard trial pieces of gold and silver coins, and all books, documents, and things used in connection therewith-and which had been previously deposited in the Exchequer office-were transferred to the charge of the Commissioners of the Treasury, to be deposited in any place they may direct. They have been assigned to the care of a warden of standards, who is one of the assistant secretaries to the Board of Trade.t According to ancient usage, when the office of Chan- Seals of cellor of the Exchequer is vacant, the seals of it are de- Office. livered to the Chief Justice of the King's Bench for the time being, who transacts certain formal business appertaining to the Court of Exchequer until a new Chancellor is appointed;" when the duties in question are performed by the sealer and under secretary to the Chancellor,' an officer who is appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the time being. There are two seals used by the sealer; one, the great seal of the Court of Exchequer, the other a small one, containing the initial letters C. E. [Chancellor of the Exchequer.]" Appointments in the National Debt Office are in the Patronage. gift of the Chancellor of the Exchequer; and as a leading member of the Treasury Board he has necessarily much influence in the disposal of the patronage appertaining thereto. He also appoints to the nominal office of steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, and to other similar offices, which are bestowed for the purpose of vacating a seat in the House of Commons. His salary is 5,000l. per annum, with an official residence." X Treasury The Treasury Board. According to modern usage, the Treasury is regarded as the highest branch of the executive government. It has the entire control and management of the public revenue and expenditure; and exercises a supervision over all the revenue officers and public accountants of the kingdom; and, so far as receipt and expenditure are concerned, over every department of the public service.' The nominal constitution of the Treasury, under the patent issued to the Lords Commissioners thereof, is the transaction of business by a board of five members of equal authority, any two or more of them being competent to execute the authority of the whole." Originally, when the business of the Treasury was much smaller than it is at present, it was really transacted by the Board, in presence of the sovereign who occupied a chair which still remains at the end of the board-room. The First Lord, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the junior lords (then four in number) used to sit at the table: the secretaries attended with their papers, which they read; and the sovereign and the lords gave their opinions thereon; the secretaries taking notes of the proceedings, which were afterwards drawn out in the shape of minutes and read at the next board meeting. When business increased during the seven years' war, the American war, and especially the French war, it could no longer be disposed of in this way; and it then came to be transacted on the principle of individual responsibility. The passing of papers at Board meetings was still retained, however, in order to preserve regularity, and to comply with the directions of certain Acts of Parliament, and the usages of government, all of which had regard to that method, in the transaction of Treasury business. But gradually 2 Act 56 Geo. III. c. 98. And see ante, vol. i. p. 556. to the Report of the Committee on the Board of Admiralty, 1861, p. 657. See the Commission appended (Com. Papers, 1861, vol. v.) the Board ceased to be a reality; and the business was transacted by the junior members, the secretaries, and the permanent officials; all of them being personally responsible to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and to the first Lord of the Treasury for the due performance of the same. After the sovereign ceased to attend at meetings of the Board, they were presided over for a time by the First Lord, or by the Chancellor of the Exchequer." Then, for a number of years, neither of these functionaries ever met the Board, except on some extraordinary occasion, such as to take a loan; its formal meetings were attended only by the junior lords and the secretaries. The manner in which the Treasury business was transacted, during this interval, is described in the Report of the Committee on Miscellaneous Expenditure, 1847-8, Commons' Papers, vol. xviii. pp. 144, 423, &c. But for the last twenty years or thereabouts the Treasury Board has practically ceased to exist. Its formal meetings were found to take up a great deal of time unnecessarily. Therefore, although still in theory a power it never assembles, and its functions are now exercised by the secretary and the permanent officials, acting under the general directions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer who is the supreme authority of the Board in important financial matters— and also under the direction of other members of the Board, in particular cases, where certain branches of business have been entrusted to them. As a natural consequence, the position of the junior Lords of the Treasury has been materially altered. They are virtually set aside, and have no regular departmental duty to perform, excepting of a mere routine description, such as formally signing Board warrants pursuant to the directions of Acts of Parliament.d Report on Misc. Expenditure, Com. Papers, 1847-8, vol. xviii. p. 148. Ibid. 1860. Evid. 1370, &c. Report on Board of Admiralty, 1861, pp. 174, 316, 382. с d Report of Com. on Misc. Exp. 1860. Evid. 1370-1376. Report of Committee on Public Accounts, 1862. Evid. 774, &c., 1450, &c., 1766. Rep. Com. on Education, 1865. Evid. 611, 773, 774. Treasury business. The actual constitution of the Treasury at the present time is this: The First Lord does not concern himself with financial details, but leaves all such matters to be settled by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is the practical and effective head of the Treasury department.R The respective powers and functions of the several members of the Board, nominally of equal rank, but exercising widely different degrees of authority, has been determined by usage. This is partially indicated by the fact that while the salaries allotted to the First Lord and to the Chancellor of the Exchequer are each 5,000l. per annum, the junior Lords receive each but 1,000l. All the Treasury business is now transacted by delegation from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the individual officers who may be entrusted with the same. However objectionable this may appear in theory, in practice it works extremely well. Its peculiar advantage is, that with the name and authority of a Board-composed of great officers of statethere is combined a unity and vigour of administration by a single officer of the first financial ability. And this without disturbing the associations connected with the formal constitution of the office in the public mind, or its traditionary place in our political system. g Treasury business now-a-days, instead of coming before the Board in detail, as formerly, is transacted by the executive officers of the department. First of all the papers are dealt with in the divisions of the office to which they relate; they are then submitted to the assistant secretary and investigated by him. After he has satisfied himself of the correctness of the proposals they contain, he passes them on to the financial secretary for his opinion. If this officer feels in doubt as to the proper decision he should give, he consults the Chancellor of the e Rep. of Com. on Army before Sebastopol, 1854–5, vol. ix. pt. 3, p. 302. Rep. of Com. on Pub. Accounts, 1862. Evid. 783. f Rep. on Board of Admiralty, 1861, p. 382. Murray's Handbook, p. 131. Rep. on Misc. Exp. 1847-8, vol. xviii. pp. 144, &c., 423, &c. Exchequer, or perhaps, in certain cases, the other members of the Board. In all important or doubtful matters the Chancellor of the Exchequer would naturally be appealed to. Nevertheless, the position of the Chancellor of the Exchequer towards the Treasury does not resemble that of a secretary of state towards his department. He is not able to exercise the same direct personal control, because much of the current business of the office does not come under his notice at all; and he is obliged to rely very much in matters of detail upon his official advisers, who know the precedents and keep up the traditions of the department, and who are able to assist him very materially in the course which he may have to pursue.1 The business transacted by the Treasury is of the most multifarious description. It is the duty of the Lords of the Treasury to 'provide for and take care of the king's profit,' including everything that concerns the pecuniary affairs of the nation. The Treasury should be able to exercise an effectual control and revision over the whole public income and expenditure, and to maintain a superintendence, more or less strict, according to circumstances, over the finances of the numerous colonies and dependencies of the crown, in order to be prepared to afford any requisite information for the use of Parliament, the country, or the government. In this service, the revenue departments, the Boards of Trade, and of Public Works, and the Post Office, afford material assistance, and they may in fact be regarded as departments of the Treasury. It is an important part of the business of this office to exercise a controlling and revising influence over the great establishments employed in the receipt and expenditure of the public revenue, and over all other depart Rep. Com. Pub. Accounts, 1862. Evid. 1766, 1767. Ibid. Mr. Gladstone, 1640. |