Captain TERRELLasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the Department has actually before it at the present time any requests for further increases in the salaries or wages of civil servants; and, if this be the case, what they are and how much financial liability their acceptance would entail to the nation?
Mr. YOUNGThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. It would, in my opinion, be undesirable, and would tend to mislead the House, were a statement to be made such as that suggested by my hon. and gallant Friend about proposals while they are still in a preliminary and undefined stage. For the same reasons, it would not be profitable to give any precise estimate of the financial effects of such proposals. My hon. and gallant Friend may rest assured that all such proposals will be considered in the light of the urgent need for confining national expenditure within the narrowest possible limits.