§ COLONEL BARTTELOTasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Why the Legacy and Succession Duty Department should have a lower scale of salaries than other departments of the Inland Revenue Office; and, if he would state the reason that the recent application for an improved scale was refused by the Treasury?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, in reply, that the Inland Revenue Office consisted of several departments, which had been united at various times, as, for instance, were the Excise, Stamps, and Taxes, in 1848; and it very naturally followed that the same rates of salaries were not paid in all, nor was he prepared to say that there was any reason why they should be uniform. The simple question was, whether the pay in each was sufficient for the purpose. He did not see any reason why the salaries in the departments named should be raised up to the scale of other departments, any more than that the salaries in those departments should be lowered to that of the Legacy and Succession Duty Department. The truth was, there was nothing more dangerous to the public service than the attempt to make salaries uniform, merely because it was found that all were not alike. In the case of this particular department, the salaries were increased in 1866 by the sum of £7,000; and in 1871 another increase was asked, on the ground that there had been an increase in the yield of the duty; but he could not recognize that as any reason for acceding to the application.