Story: Treasury

James Esson

James Esson

James Jacob Esson (bottom right, pictured with the other members of the War Relief Association of Wellington’s emergency committee) was one of the most influential of the early 20th-century secretaries to the Treasury, although he only held the office for three years. After retiring from the Treasury in 1925 he was appointed financial advisor to the government, a position he held until 1930. Esson chaired the railways commission established in 1931 when the railways were moved outside the public service. He was also the driving force in the national expenditure commission of 1932, which recommended substantial cuts in public spending in an effort to balance the government’s accounts, which were in deficit because of loss of revenue during the economic depression of the early 1930s.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, S. P. Andrew Collection (PAColl-3739)
Reference: 1/1-018303-F
Photograph by Stanley Polkinghorne Andrew

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Malcolm McKinnon, 'Treasury - The Treasury, 1840 to 1935', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/34931/james-esson (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 20 Jun 2012