The Treasury is the most potent and the most mysterious
of all the Departments. Even Cabinets are said to tremble before it. The late Lord Salisbury, when Prime Minister, likened the Treasury's power over other departments to that Of the House of Commons when it challenged and overthrew King Charles. It is particularly interesting, therefore, to have a discreet revelation of the inner workings of the Treasury in a new volume of the "Whitehall Series" by Sir T. L. Heath, who was Joint Permanent Secretary to the Treasury during the War (Putnam. 7s. 6d.). To fulfil its duties as a watchdog over the spending departments, the Treasury is organized in eleven divisions, each with a considerable staff. But the first two of these, now called the Finance Department, have assumed exceptional importance since the War because of the stupendous loans which it has to administer. Sir Thomas Heath claims for a former Secretary of the Treasury, William Lowndes (1695-1724), the authorship of the very dubious maxim, " Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves "—to which the correct retort is " Penny wise and pound foolish."
Previous page
