Mr. Rylande is worrying himself again about the Secret-Service money.
As Government wants information, and very often has 'to pay for it, there must be money spent on its purchase, and as all kinds of people might be compromised, it is impossible to ren- der Parliament an account. Mr. Rylands has, however, extracted one fact from Mr. Gladstone, that Mr. Hammond manages the fund, and that he has always had 1500 from it for doing so. There is not the smallest objeetion to the allowance, as the work must be done by Mr. Hammond himself, and as he has receieed it since 1824, -but the explanation is another proof of the monopoly of power allowed in the Foreign Office to a single irresponsible official. He manages all the important business, appoints all but the chief in the great Legations, and distributes, of course, not capriciously, but still with an initiative, the Secret-Service money. And lie didn't know a week before the Hohenzollern candidature that war was likely to break out in Europe.
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