The reforms, which Mr. Eden tried to institute during his
former period of office, should help these able and keen young men to retain their enthusiasm, since promotion will be much less dependent upon an ability to keep out of trouble until, with the slow passage of the years, the C.M.G. leads to the K.C.M.G. and the K.C.M.G. leads to dignified retirement somewhere in the country. Personally I welcome the new regulations most of all because they suggest a Foreign Office victory over the Treasury, whose power to over-ride the recom- mendations of Ministers about the treatment of members of their staffs has become a scandal and an obstacle to efficiency. It is a mystery to me why a Government department whose Minister has fought its budget through Parliament should con- stantly have to refer back to the Treasury for permission to allocate this budget as it thinks best. This financial autonomy will, one hopes, enable the Foreign Office to train its staff by awarding grants for travelling scholarships to young men who cannot afford to travel on their own. And the appoint- ment of attaches to deal with social and other non-political problems will make embassies and legations much more inter- esting places than they have been hitherto. Even if all the reforms cannot be introduced immediately Mr. Eden will, I believe, lose no time in appointing younger men to big jobs. * * * *
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