On Tuesday in the House of Commons Mr. Chamberlain explained
his Civil Service Estimates of 557 millions. He said that the figure had been reduced by three-fifths. What further item could be left out ? The truth was that the Government did no more than provide as fairly as they could for what was demanded by the House of Commons. Until Members abated their demands the real responsibility must rest upon them. Sir Donald Maclean, who moved the reduction of the Vote not by the conventional £100 but by 100 million pounds, just by way of making everybody's flesh creep, asked that a House of Commons Committee on Finance should be appointed. Mr. Chamberlain opposed any such Committee on the grounds that it would diminish the authority of the Treasury, and that the Committee itself would be subject to popular influences much more than the Treasury is subject to them.
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