The papers on Monday, December 11th, published a memo- randum,
signed by 244 members of the House of Commons, urging the establishment of a Standing Committee on the Estimates. The proposal has the approval of Lord Welby and Sir Francis Mowatt. Just as the Standing Commitee on Public Accounts investigates the past expenditure of public depart- ments, so the proposed Committee would examine projected expenditure. To prevent waste would be, above all, the purpose of the Committee. We desire to give the heartiest welcome to this proposal. Nothing is more needed at present than a. cheek upon profligate expenditure. Extravagance is the besetting sin of the Government, and they are not provided with any conscience such as is provided by the Budget Committees of foreign Governments. What a spectacle we have to-day I The Government voted their Budget in December, and that without discussion, instead of disposing of it in the spring. It used to be the glory of British Governments to exercise the strictest control over their finance. The present Government have simply abandoned their trust as guardians of the public purse. It is high time that they were forced to resume it. The two questions, "What will it cost?" and "Where is the money to come from ?" ought to be applied to every new pro- posal, and if they cannot be clearly and satisfactorily answered the Government have no right whatever to proceed with the measure.
Previous page
