Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 11 March 1929.
Colonel Josiah Wedgwood
, Newcastle-under-Lyme
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will inquire from His Britannic Majesty's Minister in Bukarest whether, when the new Rumanian Government raised the state of siege in Rumania, they transferred to the civil Courts all the cases affecting Jews and other minority peoples which were pending for trial for the last 10 years before the military courts?
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
