HC Deb 30 April 1883 vol 278 cc1427-8
MR. O'DONNELL

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, What salary is attached to the Under Secretarial office accepted by Mr. Hamilton?

MR. TREVELYAN

Sir, the salary attached to the post of Under Secretary is £2,000 a-year. As long as Mr. Hamilton holds it, he will receive a personal allowance of £500 a-year.

MR. O'DONNELL

With reference to the answer lately given by the Chief Secretary that Mr. Hamilton was induced to give his "valuable services" to Ireland, may I ask the Chief Secretary whether the additional £500 was the inducement?

MR. TREVELYAN

Sir, I thought the hon. Member would probably say something about Mr. Hamilton, and I brought down with me two letters I have received from him, parts of which I will read to the House— I see Mr. O'Donnell has a Question about my salary. Of course, you know the facts. The post with an addition of £500 a-year was, as you know, refused by me so long as I had the option. When the thing became a matter of duty I accepted, but personally I would, as you know— And then he says one or two words which I omit, but which comes to this, "that as a pecuniary matter certainly £2,500 in Dublin is not so advantageous to me as £2,000 in London." One of the circumstances to which I refer is the extraordinary success which his sons have obtained in getting scholarships in schools around London, and another circumstance to which he would be the last man to allude is that something may happen to the successor of Mr. Burke, which is a serious consideration to a man who has a family dependent on him. In a letter written some time after he had accepted the position, Mr. Hamilton says— Now that matters are settled as regards myself, I begin to feel quite resigned to a life devoted to Ireland; but after all it will not be devoted merely to Ireland, for to take part in serving Ireland is to serve England also. Perhaps in no other position to which I could look could I have better opportunities of doing useful work. That is the spirit in which Mr. Hamilton accepted the post.

MR. O'DONNELL

begged to give Notice that on the Estimates he would call attention to the fact that the best paid places in Ireland were handed over to persons coming from England.