LEAVE. FIRST READING. (Hansard, 14 February 1867)

§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE

Sir, I rise to move for leave to bring in a Bill for abolishing the office of Vice President of the Board, of Trade, and substituting a Secretary, with a seat in Parliament; and in doing so I think I need not detain the House at any length. Of late years, as many hon. Gentlemen are well aware, the character of the Board of Trade and the duties which it has to perform have very materially altered. When the Board of Trade—or, as it is more properly called, the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Plantations—was first established, it was in fact a consultative department, to which questions relating to trade were referred as they arose from time to time, and which gave advice on such subjects to the different Departments. At that time the Board of Trade had very few Executive duties to perform, and the Office consisted of a considerable number of Privy Councillors, presided over by a President, and, in his absence, by a Vice President, who really had nothing to do except to take the President's place when he could not attend. But, of late years a very great amount of administrative work has been confided to the Board of Trade, and of a very varied description, with reference, for example, to railways, to merchant shipping, harbours, fisheries, and many other matters; and it has now really and thoroughly become an executive Department. Last Session a good deal of additional business was thrown upon it, because the management of the foreshores was transferred to it from the Office of Woods; and another important function, formerly exercised by the Exchequer—namely, in connection with the standards of weights and measures, has also been vested in it. Under these circumstances, it was of course necessary for the Board of Trade to apply to the Treasury for an addition to its staff to meet this additional work. The application was made in a formal manner, leaving the Lords of the Treasury to authorize the appointment of the officers who were required to discharge the additional duties. On receiving that communication the Treasury replied that they thought it desirable, before sanctioning any increase of strength to the Board of Trade, that there should be an inquiry into the constitution of the Department, in order to see 357 whether it was possible to effect any economy by a revision of the arrangements in the Office. Accordingly, my right hon. Friend the Vice President of the Board of Trade, and the Secretary of the Treasury, were appointed a Committee for that purpose; and having carefully investigated the matters referred to them they drew up an elaborate Report on the state of the Office, containing a variety of proposals. One of the most important of the alterations which they recommended was that, instead of having a President and a Vice President of equal rank and equal salaries, and both Privy Councillors—there being no distinct separation of duties between them—instead of having two such officers, and under them two joint Secretaries, and under those two joint Secretaries again a staff for the most part consisting only of clerks, it would be a preferable arrangement that there should be one head of the Office—namely, the President; that there should also be two Secretaries, one of whom should sit in Parliament; that the office of Vice President should be abolished, and that there should be as many assistant-secretaries as were required for transacting the business of the Board. The Committee accordingly proposed that there should be a subdivision of the Office into four departments, each having an assistant secretary,—namely, one for railway matters, another for matters relating to the Mercantile Marine, another for harbours and foreshores, and another for general commercial business—with a staff of clerks under them. The effect of this arrangement would be, that the office of Vice President, with a salary of £2,000 per annum attached to it, would be abolished, and that that £2,000 would be applicable to the additions which have to be made to the lower portion of the Office. The salaries of the two principal Secretaries would remain as before at £ 1,500 a year, and we shall be able materially to strengthen the Department, and obtain all the assistance we require, without adding anything at all to its total expense. I mean there will be no additional expense when the arrangement is complete. It is necessary that the sanction of Parliament should be asked to the proposal for abolishing the office of Vice President, and for allowing one of the Secretaries to sit in Parliament. For this purpose I seek to introduce the present Bill, which provides that the office of Vice President shall be abolished from and after the next vacancy in it. It was not in our 358 contemplation that my right hon. Friend the present Vice President (Mr. Stephen Cave) should be asked to resign. We certainly felt that that would be a very injudicious and improper proposal to make, and we should suffer much by losing the very valuable assistance which he is able to render. At the same time, my right hon. Friend in a very handsome manner said he was perfectly ready to place his own office at the disposal of the Government, and, if it would facilitate our arrangements, to resign immediately. That very honourable offer on his part, however, the Government thought it would not be right to accept; and I am sure the House will agree to what we propose—namely, that the office of Vice President should remain as it is under his tenure, but that in future, on its he-coming vacant, it should not be filled up again, but that a Parliamentary Secretary should be appointed instead. The benefit of the saving of the difference between £2,000 and £1,500 a year will not, of course, be obtained while my right hon. Friend continues to hold the office. We do not, however, recommend this change as a measure of economy, but rather as one which will place an important Department on a much more satisfactory footing than it has been for the conduct of the public business intrusted to it. I may add that the Vice President of the Board of Trade of late years has usually held the post of Paymaster General, without any salary on account of that office. It was thought that some provision might be made for some other person performing the duties of that office; but I believe there will be no difficulty in attaching those duties to the office of the Judge Advocate General. I propose, after obtaining leave to introduce this Bill, to lay on the table the correspondence which has taken place between the Treasury and the Board of Trade, in order that the House may have the whole matter clearly before it. The right hon. Baronet concluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill for abolishing the Office of Vice President of the Board of Trade, and substituting a Secretary with a seat in Parliament.