MR. VERNON SMITHsaid, he should ask the noble Lord the First Lord of the Treasury, as he did not see the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his place, whether during the recess the Government would take into their consideration the necessity of appointing a Committee or other tribunal to which the Miscellaneous Estimates would be submitted previously to the House being called upon to vote them in Committee of Supply. A constant increase was going on in these estimates, which required some efficient check. It was growing by degrees, not so much through the fault of the Government as of the House itself, in assenting to the increase, and not taking measures to prevent it. The Miscellaneous Estimates had certainly been rendered more intelligible of late years than they used to be, but they were still by no means so clear as they should be. He was anxious that Government should direct its attention to the subject during the recess.
LORD J. RUSSELLadmitted there was great room for inquiry, and early in the next Session he hoped that a Select Committee would lay down some principles on which in future it would be safe to proceed.