Government
The Treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The Treasurer is generally the head of the Treasury, although, in some countries (such as the U.K. or the U.S.) the treasurer reports to a Secretary of the Treasury, or Chancellor of the Exchequer. In Australia, the Treasurer is a senior Minister and usually the second most important member of the Government after the Prime Minister. From 1867 to 1993, the Ministry of Finance (Ontario) was called the Treasurer of Ontario.
Originally the word referred to the person in charge of the treasure of a noble; however, it has now moved into wider use. In the UK during the 17th Century, a position of Lord High Treasurer was used on several occasions as the third great officer of the Crown. Now the title First Lord of the Treasury is the official title of the British Prime Minister.
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Famous quotes containing the word government:
“... Washington was not only an important capital. It was a city of fear. Below that glittering and delightful surface there is another story, that of underpaid Government clerks, men and women holding desperately to work that some political pull may at any moment take from them. A city of men in office and clutching that office, and a city of struggle which the country never suspects.”
—Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958)
“Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“We have passed the time of ... the laisser-faire [sic] school which believes that the government ought to do nothing but run a police force.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)