§ 2. Mr. HARMSWORTHasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affiairs whether, seeing that the staff of the Diplomatic Service numbered approximately 160 in 1914 and 270 in 1925 and that their aggregate salaries in those years amounted to approximately £455,000 and £1,000,000, respectively, he will explain why the salary total has more than doubled while the number of staff has less than doubled; and whether he is taking steps to reduce the figures substantially?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINI cannot reconcile the amount given by the hon. Member as the cost of salaries in 1914 with any figures in my possession. The correct figure for 1914 is £217,630. The figure which the hon. Member quotes as the cost in 1925 is approximately that for the Diplomatic Service and the Consular Services taken together. The correct figure for the Diplomatic Service is £440,276. The relation of aggregate salaries to the number of staff is, however, approximately correctly stated in the hon. Member's question. The increase in cost arises from two main causes. (1) As the result of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Civil Services of 1914 and of pledges given in Parliament, the "property qualification" for the Diplomatic Service was abolished and, as a corollary, emoluments are now paid which are designed to enable persons without private means to enter the service and to live in a manner compatible with their representative position, and (2) in assessing these emoluments, it is necsesary to take into account the fact that the cost of living in practically all parts of the world is far above the pre-War level.