Note 92 — Chapter V

The gentleman to whom reference was here made is the present Comptroller-General, the veteran public servant Sir Alexander Young Spearman. This gentleman, of whom all parties speak as a man of irreproachable character and eminent abilities, has now (1866) been fifty-eight years in the public service. To him is no little owing the efficiency with which his department is now managed, and the increased facilities which have been given to the public in all things connected with the provident habits of the people. It may not be out of place here to state, with reference to the office held by this gentleman, that it was formed about the commencement of the present century, whereas the Commissioners date from the creation of the Sinking Fund in 1786. Sir Alexander Spearman succeeded Mr. Higham in the position. As more than one of the witnesses at the Committee of 1858 did not know who formed the Board of Commissioners, of whom they were constantly speaking, and another did not know whether the Board ever met, it may be new to some readers, if we say that the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt consist of the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Master of the Rolls, the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery, and the Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England. The Board held a meeting once in each quarter. Three Commissioners form a quorum, and their powers are defined by Act of Parliament. The Comptroller-General acts in the capacity of Secretary to the Board, and is entrusted with the carrying out of its orders. The expenditure of the National Debt Office amounted, in 1856, to about 14,000l.; but must have increased considerably since that date.