RESOLUTION. (Hansard, 12 August 1871)

§ MR. RYLANDS
, in rising to move— That, in the opinion of this House, no payment should be made out of the Secret Service 1516 Money by way of salaries or pensions to persona on the Staff of the Foreign Office, or belonging to the Diplomatic and Consular Service, said, that Mr. Hammond, the Permanent Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, had, in addition to his salary for the duties of that office, an allowance of £500 per annum paid out of the Secret Service money, and that without the knowledge of Parliament. It was stated that the £500 per annum in question was intended to make up for certain perquisites arising from the performance of other duties than those which were provided for by the salary which he received as Secretary; but that excuse did not affect the point at issue, and which was whether the salary of a public officer, which appeared in the Estimates, and was so brought under the control of Parliament, should to any extent be supplemented without the knowledge of the House. The defence set up for the continuance of this practice was that it had been for a long time the custom of the Department, and having referred back to 1824, when it first came into vogue, in consequence of an arrangement made between Mr. Canning and the then Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, whereby the latter was to receive £500 per annum in lieu of a certain percentage to which he was entitled for the distribution of the Secret Service money. Now, it was rather hard upon them that they should be referred back to what took place nearly 50 years ago under the reign of the borough-mongers; but still he had gone back so far and found that the Permanent Under Secretary at that day was Lord Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, who, judging from all the appointments he held, must, indeed, have stood very high in Royal favour. In 1820 he was groom of the bedchamber to George IV. In the same year he was appointed a cornet in the Guards, the next year he became lieutenant, and in 1823 was promoted to be captain in the same regiment. In 1824 this young officer, then 26 years of age, was appointed Permanent Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs. [Colonel NORTH: What were has politics?] He could not tell; but he was now a highly respected Peer and Marquess of Conyngham. It was with him Mr. Canning had entered into the arrangement in question, and it had since continued to be acted upon, but without the knowledge of Parlia- 1517 ment or of the country. Now, the public had a right to know why this £500 per annum had been taken out of the public funds.

§ MR. WHALLEY
rose to Order. The hon. Gentleman had given Notice of a specific Motion, to which Government was willing to agree, and he had therefore no right to go into the history of the allowance.

§ MR. SPEAKER
ruled that the hon. Gentleman was in Order.

§ MR. RYLANDS
then went on to observe that when, a short time ago, he brought this subject before the House, the Prime Minister admitted the fact, and stated that it was Mr. Hammond's wish that it should be known. But that wish must be of very recent date, as great pains had been taken to keep the matter secret. A few weeks since the noble Lord the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs denied it, but said he would make inquiries with respect to it. Now, his own opinion was that it had been intentionally kept from the knowledge of the country, and his firm belief was that in several cases the regular Parliamentary pensions and salaries were augmented from this secret fund, and he hoped soon to see these payments done away with and the Secret Service Vote reduced pro tanto.

§ MR. MELLOR
seconded the Motion. He had the strongest objections to the payment of salaries or pensions out of the Secret Service money, and considered it was a most pernicious system.