The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-03-20

e,
course, is official. Right at the Cabinet
door during one of Mr.. Gladstone's terms
OF offlce lay an old rug, which, being torn
and disreputable, sadly needed mending or
renewal Many a peer and many q COM
moner Of the Cabinet must have tripped
over that mat and cursed 1t inwar6ly and
outwardly, but there it was allowed to lie
and give annoyance until tie jauaty,
lnxury-loving Benjamin Dsraeli caught
sight of its defects and had the eyesore re-
moved. Mr. Disraeli understood comfort to
that extent.
THE CABINET CHAMBER
The Cabinet sittings are held in one room
OF very moderate size, where IL is unneces-
sary to talk louder than in a conversational
tone to be heard. We may well imagine
that no speeches are made in that apart
ment in throaty, believing voice, accom-
panied with gestures and fis:-thumping on
the table. That would not be the way to con-
vince the men who have 10 listen 10 the
speeches. The furniture is of the Dlainest.
A good-siZed solid table, such as would ac-
commodate a dozen Directors of ar lnSur-
ance company, occupies the center. Com
mon but solid chairs are placed around the
table. A CARPET of venerable aspect covers
the floor. Hansard's Parliamentary De-
bates" adorn the shelves over the fireplace
mantel somewhat heavily. few maps are
rolled up or unfurled at the door end, and
that is literally ali the room contains. eX-
cept pens and ink. bottiag-pads, clock
waStc-paper baskets, fireirons and a coal
scutte. The windows are double;
the door is double. Perhaps the
chimney is stuffed. that no sound may reach
eavesdrOppeTs. No one who is not OF the
Cabinet is allowed to be present at a meet
ing-not even a servant. Sometimes. how
ever, officials Of high standing are sent for
IN order To give information on matters
under consideration They do not remain
longer than is necessary. Not even a Secre-
n min mt iS
the general understanding is that no one
shall make notes of what passes, and that
if notes are made they shall be destroyed
before the meeting breaks up. This pre-
caution has Its uses, but 1t Is quite likely
members Of a Cabinet keep memoranda or
diary in which they enter many things
which appertain TO Cabinet debates aud d.
clsionS. Proof that this is done is found
In the books OF memoirs which from time TO
time see the light. There ara always some
members ola Cabinet facile in sketehing and
the blotting-pads bear evidence of their
skill. A landscape or the head of some d.
vine creature, in creating which age and in
trinity do not stand in the way, cannot in
the smallest degree afford clew TO the
secrets of state under discussion.
During important crises when the Cabi-
net Is awaiting kilograms from abroad, the
members may have nothing to do. Ii is re-
lated that during one such meeting Mr..
Foster and Lord Granville passed the time
Il = a
back of the Cabinet room.
THE SOVEREIGN KEPT INFORMED.
One person alone is regularly informed of
what passes at Cabinet meetings-the
sovereign. The Prime Minister writes out
a precls IF the business. but whether this
duty is fully or meagerly discharged the
public is not aware. How this information
is utilized by the sovereign is of no great
consequence. The crown may offer advice
in any difficulty. but cannot order or COM
mand the Cabinet to do anything. And yet
it Is the general belief that King would give
Cabinet much more trouble by interference
than Queen such as Ter present gracious
Majesty has proved. Before the Georges
came to the throne the monarch presided at
meetings Of the Cabinet George l and
George III understood so little English that
they were unable to follow the Cabinet
business, and absented themselves, and
when George III came to the throne the pre-
cedent Of conducting business in private had
been so well esiablshed that his Majesty
was excluded. Obviously the presence of
the sovereign would operate to stifie free
discussion and produce eonstraint. That
there is frequently much friction in a CabI-
net Is well known, and differences are set
tied by divisions, the minority being bound
by the majority. Ii always happens that
there are some members more advanced
than others in their views. Should i-recOn-
cliabe differences OF opinion aIlse, the op-
pOnent OF the general policy resolved upon
on any material issue IS bound TO resign.
No Cabinet can stand a number of seces-
sionS. Il is very improper 10 reveal how
Cabinet stands on any question. but very
shrewd gueSses are often made as to the real
situation. A Minister who, at the head of
his department, acts contrary TO a decision
arrived al by the Cabinet may be dismissed.
There was an instance of this when the
headstrong Lord Palmerston had the seals
of the Foreign Office withdrawn from him,
because of his own volition he had approved
Louis Napoleon's coup detAt 10 France
INFORMATION FOB THE PUBLIC.
If the public are not furnished in the
newspapers with any facts whatever As TO
what Cabinet does, they are occasionally
presented with some worthless information
as TO the movements of members. When
the Cabinet is assembling Downing street
has always few imaginative representa-
tives Of the press on patrol duty, keeping
up an animated conversation with a purtly
bobby" and in pauses making note of
who comes first; how the rest arrived,
alone or in pairs, and at what time the last
came. Then there is the thrilling informa-
lion of the adjournment OF the Cabinet, and
how the several members separated and
where they went tO-SOme TO their clubs.
others to offices, the Prime Minister to
Hatfield, Lord AshbouTne to Ireland, and so
on through the list. Nobody ventures to
buttOnhOIe a member. Not that the inter-
viewer would be sent to the Tower
off - be would simply be passed
by with freezing stare, such
Is is becoming to an official who, by sus-
tanning his own dignity, sustains the dignity
of the empire. When change of Ministry
| occurs the ubiquitous reporter has a
weary tine of it hunting for threads of
| information. He is put on picket
| duty outside the houses Of the eminent
! statesmen who are patching Cabinet up,
| and he draws differences Of humiliatingly
oha m INN ~ e K,a
| interviews The more important men are
| tracked 10 a hanson from destination to
| destination. Thus Lord So-and-So called
| upon the Prime Minister aid was closeted
| with him for hall an hour, AS Lord So
| and-So left Mir. Herbert and Mr.. Ashley ar
| rived. Lord So-and-So afterward called at
| Tayistock House and again visited the
| Premier in the evening. The Premier re-
maIned at home all day. A messenger from
the Queen arrived in the afternoon" And
| tOrica narrative follows for the instruction
| of a public hungering and thirsting for
| knowledge. Inside the clubs the tattle
| about defunct Cabinet and the weight of
| one newly born is trite more definite and
entertaining. The correspondent who has &C
cess to the Reform or the Devonshire or the
| Carlton. or who is on friendly terms with
| some of the members, wakes Oracular and
confident in his utterances He begins all
| his truthful statements with phrases quite
! as reliable as an oath-"I am informed" II
! believe" Il am 10 d, Il have reason TO be-
| lleve," 81 would not be surprised" etc,
etc. Next day. it is true, these various
| forms of belief are modified IN a most
| accommodating manner either by the cor
| respondent himself or some CT his brother
| hood equally attentive to the facts of
| history. When a statesman does want any
thing to reach the public he makes speech.
| Ii he really is a statesman il will be re-
| ported word for word faithfully and tele-
| graphed everywhere. But not all the men
| who enter a Government are statesmen or
| good speechmakers. They are classified by
| the newspapers variously. Some are Of inn
portance in all they say; others only hair,