CHAPTER XVI

MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS INTERVENE ON BEHALF OF PUBLIC SERVANTS WHO HAVE BEEN DISCIPLINED 302

Evidence presented before: The Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Civil Establishments, 1888; and the Tweedmouth Committee, 1897. Instances of intervention by Members of Parliament. Mr. Austen Chamberlain, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, in April, 1902, states that at a low estimate one-third of the time of the highest officials in the Post Office is occupied with petty questions of discipline and administrative detail, because of the intervention of Members of Parliament. He adds that it is "absolutely deplorable" that time and energy that should be given to the consideration of large questions must be given to matters that "in any private business would be dealt with by the officer on the spot." Sir John Eldon Gorst's testimony before the Committee on National Expenditure, 1902.