The Origin and Growth of the Government Departments Concerned with Scottish Affairs
| Published date | 01 January 1939 |
| Author | John Jeffrey |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1939.tb03023.x |
| Date | 01 January 1939 |
The
Origin
and
Growth
of
the
Government Departments
Cow
cerned
with
Scottish
Affairs
A
GENERAL REVIEW
By
SIR
JOHN
JEFFREY,
K.C.B.,
C.B.E.
[L-eclitre
to
the
Edinbtirgh
and
East
of
Scotland Regional
Group
of
the Institute
of Public
Administration]
subject upon which
you
have asked me to address you
outset
of
my remarks that
I
should define how
I
propose to deal with
it.
I
have assumed it to be your wish that the expression
"
Scottish
Affairs
"
should
be
interpreted as meaning those affairs which are
the subject
of
separate administration for Scotland; and, on that
assumption,
I
do not propose to include in my review such Depart-
ments
as
thc
Post
Office, the Board
of
Trade, the Inland Revenue
Department, the Customs and Excise Department, and the Ministry
of
Transport, who deal with matters affecting Scotland, but only in
the exercise
of
a
jurisdiction which extends equally over the whole
of
the United Kingdom;
I
also propose to exclude the Departments
concerned with the administration
of
law
and justice on the ground
that, although special
to
Scotland, they are State Departments and
not Departments
of
the Executive Government. Apart from a short
description
of
some
of
the old Scottish Departments still in existence,
my
review
will
be mainly confined
to
the Office
of
the Secretary
of
State
for
Scotland and the principal Scottish Departments
for
whom
he
is
the Minister responsible to Parliament.
THE
presents such
a
wide field for review that it seems necessary
at
the
I.
LYON
KING
OF
ARMS
The oldest Scottish Department is perhaps that
of
the Lyon King
of
Arms. The origin
of
the office
is
shrouded in the mists
of
antiquity.
20
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