and London. He is the chief medium in one of the Houses of Parliament (generally the House of Commons) between the Irish Government and the House, and, assisted by the Irish Law Officers, has to advocate all measures needed for the maintenance of public order in Ireland and the general improvement of the country, and to defend them against objections. 18.-The Vice-President of the Privy Council. The functions of this official can be understood from what has been said of those of the Lord President of the Council. As the Lord President is always a member of the House of Lords, the Vice-President represents the Privy Council Board, especially the Education Board, in the House of Commons. CERTAIN SPECIAL GOVERNMENT OFFICES. Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service Commission consists of : 1. First Commissioner, salary 1,500l. 2. Second Commissioner, salary 1,200/. Their functions are to provide for the admission and examination of candidates for employment in Government offices. It depends upon the several Government offices themselves whether they will or will not adopt the scheme of the Commissioners. In some offices the appointments are open to general competition; in others the appointments are not open to competition, though upon nomination an examination has generally to be passed. The Charity Commission. The Charity Commission consists of:- I Chief Commissioner, salary 1,500l. 'Their work is : 1. Generally to supervise the management of, and occasionally to reconstruct, charitable institutions which have been endowed, that is, have had funds given and left to them for ever. 2. To give authority to the trustees of such institutions to sell or buy land, to make leases, and generally to deal with the funds of the charity. Such institutions are endowed poor-houses, hospitals, and schools. The Lunacy Commission Consists of six Commissioners, with salaries of 1,500/ Their work is : 1. To inspect and license all buildings used for the confinement of lunatics. 2. To secure lunatics in every way against abuses, either through undue detention or cruelty. 3. To provide that proper lunatic asylums, or houses for the confinement of lunatics, are built in places needing them. The Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commission. The "Ecclesiastical Commission " at present consists of the Archbishops and Bishops, and a limited number of Cabinet Ministers, Judges, Deans, and eminent laymen. The "Church Estates Commission" consists of two paid Commissioners (salaries 1,2007. and 1,000l.), and one unpaid Commissioner. The purpose of both these Commissions is to maintain a standing body of responsible trustees of funds or other property which, under different Acts of Parliament, or otherwise, arise from the sale, or surrender of Church property. The Commissioners have special powers given them of dealing with the funds placed in their hands in carrying out general ecclesiastical objects prescribed and limited by law. Such are the increase of poor livings, the building and repairing of churches, the foundation of new bishoprics and the like. The Mint and Coinage Department Has for its purpose the coining of money. It is under the superintendence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The National Debt Office Is concerned with the reduction of the National Debt. The National Debt is very large, amounting to about 760,000,000l. Some of it is constantly being paid off. It has arisen through the borrowing of money to carry on war. The yearly interest is abont 26,000,000/. When a nation finds itself engaged in war, there are two modes in which it can provide itself with money for the purpose one is by additional taxation, which is called raising the money "within the year;" the other is by a loan. In the last case, the money may be lent by persons who are members of the borrowing State or of any other State. The borrowing State usually pledges its honour and credit to repay the principal within some time named, and, till repayment, to pay a fixed amount of interest regularly. This interest is raised by taxation, and often absorbs, as in England, a large share of the taxes. The liability to pay the interest and to repay the principal passes on from one generation to another; and as a State always holds itself entitled to charge posterity in this way in order to carry on a necessary and just war (or what it holds to be such), so each generation is held morally bound to recognise the debts contracted by a previous generation. It is always a question whether the State at any given time should make special exertions to pay off the National Debt which has been transmitted to it. This must depend upon the comparative easiness of the terms upon which the money can be borrowed or obtained for the purpose, upon what access of taxation can be submitted to, and upon whether or not a better period for making such exceptional efforts seems likely soon to be at hand. The whole amount of the debt, looked at from the creditors' point of view, as a claim, and in which each creditor has a certain share, is called "stock," or "funds." These shares are capable of being transferred from one person to another with the utmost facility, and command a price in the market, which varies, like other saleable things, according to the supply and demand, that is the quantity at any time for sale and the number of persons wishing to purchase. The interest is generally about 3 per cent. Any circumstance which might affect the security of the country, or which might make it likely that the Government should need a fresh loan, and therefore might induce creditors in respect of the existing National Debt generally to sell their shares in order to buy more valuable shares in the new stock, tends to make the price of stock as it is called "go down." The opposite class of circumstances tend to make the price go up. The price of 100l. stock at 3 or 3 per cent. interest generally varies at the present day from 897. to 937. The National Debt was little over half a million at the time of the accession of William III. in 1689. Over 15,000,000l. debt was added in his reign. Over 120,000,000l. debt was contracted during the war with the American Colonies commencing 1775. Over 600,000,000l. debt was contracted during the French war commencing in 1793. One mode of reducing the debt practised of late has been by converting a portion of it into—that is, by sellingannuities for terms of years or for the duration of a certain number of lives. In this way the interest is increased while the annuities last; but when they expire, the part of the debt which they represented is extinguished with them.* Patent Office. A Patent right is the right of some one to produce and sell the result of a valuable invention, without other persons being allowed to produce and sell it. It is granted for a certain number of years. The invention must be new and useful. The "Patent " has to be described in a written paper, which is deposited under the care of the Government, and the Patent is registered. * Appendix D. The management of this is committed to the above office, under the care of the "law officers," that is, the responsible legal advisers, of the Crown. Public Record Office. This office has the care of all the public documents of the State. Of these there is an enormous number, dating from very ancient times. They are now deposited in a great building in Fetter Lane. A number of clerks (men and women) are attached to the office, and are daily employed in making catalogues of the records, and in assisting persons who wish to consult portions of them. Office of the Registrar of Friendly Societies. By certain Acts of Parliament, persons joining together for mutual assurance against the pecuniary accidents of sickness, age, or death, can, by complying with certain rules, become registered,-the effect of which is that they can be treated as corporate bodies, and bring actions at law, or hold property. The object of this registration is to afford a protection to ignorant or incautious persons against societies having a fraudulent purpose or based on unsound economical principles. The principle of these societies is that every member pays in a certain sum every week, month, or year, and if he becomes ill, or unable to work through age, he receives a large weekly or monthly payment from the common fund, or his family receives a sum on his death. Commissioners of Woods and Forests. These are persons who manage the Woods and Forests belonging to the Crown, that is to the State. Their function is to appoint subordinate keepers and servants, as may be needed, and to make the regulations under which the public shall make use of the Woods and Forests. They also have to undertake all business connected with selling wood, or selling, exchanging, or purchasing lands, forming, or to form, portions of the Crown Woods and Forests. |