The question of the use of party political funds was
raised on Wednesday evening in the Commons by Mr. Belloc, who moved a Resolution deploring the secrecy under which such funds were accumulated and administered, and declaring that this secrecy imperilled the privileges and character of the House ; but the effect of his speech was largely discounted by the candour of the speaker, who frankly admitted that his own election had been paid for out of party funds. The Motion was seconded by Mr. Edmund Lamb, and supported by Mr. H. C. Lea in a violent speech in which he charged both parties with the indiscriminate sale of titles and decorations. The debate was raised to a higher level by Mr. Buckmaster, who moved an amendment condemning the manner in which "large sums, derived from the secret funds of the Tariff Reform League and other similar societies, were spent in electoral contests without being returned in the candidates' expenses." Such methods, he contended, were in fact, if not in the letter, a violation of the Corrupt Practices Act of 1883. Later on in the debate Sir Randal Cremer indignantly repudiated a personal charge brought against him by Mr. Lea. Ultimately the debate stood adjourned after Mr. Buckmaster's amendment had been carried by 134 votes to 60. The last word on the alleged corrupt traffic in titles and decorations was said long ago by Lord Melbourne when be declared that his experience had been that politicians were "not venal, but only d—d vain."
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