In addition to the 233,000 granted to the Home and
Foreign Departments for secret-service money, 210,000 a year is charged on the Consolidated Fund to be expended on the responsi- bility of the Patronage Secretary of the Treasury. It is alleged that some of this money is spent in providing the expenses of candidates whom the Government desire to seat, and on Monday a sharp discussion arose upon the subject, Mr. Rylands raising the debate by moving a reduction of 25,000 granted for a similar object. The debate was a most confusing one, the Patronage Secretary having no power of stating what he did with the money, and nobody else knowing, officially at any rate, what became of it. There seemed to be an idea among the Unionists, expressed both by Sir H. James and Mr. A. Grey, that part of the money was heaped up to fight elections ; but no evidence was offered, and the assertion is not probable, though it is a little difficult to imagine what a Whip can want with so much cash. The Home Secretary has dynamiters to circumvent, and the Foreign Secretary has to pay for informa- tion; but what has a Patronage Secretary to do that could not be made public ? Mr. Gladstone, however, promised attention to the matter, and Mr. Rylands was snubbed by a vote of 319 to 44.
Previous page
