MR. WHITEsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he has any objection to directing that the Salaries and Expenses of the office of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Class 2), Consuls Abroad, &c. (Class 5), with the Salaries and Pensions of the Diplomatic Service, hitherto paid out of the Consolidated Fund, with Cost of Buildings (Class 1) and. proportion of Secret Service Money, and all ordinary or extraordinary items of expenditure, should be so arranged as to exhibit in one Estimate the total annual cost of our Diplomatic and Consular Services?
MR. GLADSTONE, in reply, said, he presumed the Question of his hon. Friend was not meant to relate to the Estimates for the present year, which were so far advanced that no change could well be made in them. As his hon. Friend was aware, it was impossible to give the various items of expenditure embraced in the Miscellaneous Estimates in a manner which would be perfectly clear and satisfactory in every point of view. If all the subordinate charges connected with the several offices named were set forth, confusion rather than the contrary would be the result. At the present moment he could not reply in full to the Question of his hon. Friend, which could be best answered when the Votes to which it referred came on for discussion.