Note 45 — LORD BEACONSFIELD. ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY; DELIVERED AT MANCHESTER, APRIL 3, 1872.

Note 45, p. 226.—The salaries of English ministers are fixed not by Parliament but by the ministers themselves. This subject was considered at length in 1831, and again in 1834, when it was held in Parliament that the determination of salaries of executive officers is an executive and not a legislative function. The salaries, therefore, are fixed by the government, and are included in the budget presented to the Commons. The ministers, of course, act in full view of their responsibility; but the estimates for salaries have never, except in one instance, been modified. The salaries of ministers in England are generally £5,000, though that of the Lord Chancellor, who is at the head of the Department of Justice, is £10,000. The salary of the President of the United States was $25,000 until 1872, when it was fixed by Congress at $50,000. On the salaries of English officials, see Todd, “Parliamentary Government in England,” i., 396–420. Members of Parliament, as such, receive no salaries whatever.