Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1899-06-15
THE DUTIES OF A WHIP.
His Influence rs Greater Than That Of
Most Cabinet Ministers.

His Influence Is Greater Than That Of
Most Cabinet Ministers.
There Is nothing more curious In
English politics than the position OF q
successful whip, says the London Spec
tator, He In as completely unrecog-
nized by the constitution as the cab
met Ia and is usually paid either as
patronage secretary to the treasury"
or through some sinecure ONCE, but he
is, when efilcient, one Of the most Inn
portant wheels In the political ma
chine, He writes no reports he ex-
ercises no patronage OF any moments
he is responsible for no measure, and
he is rarely one OF the speakers re-
lied on by the government The pub
lie seldom knows anything about him,
and he 10, as a rule, only criticised In
the newspapers when he has made q
blunder; but he has more influence In
shaping the internal policy OF the
country than any cabinet minister
outside the two or three who really
rule, He Is the true power behind
the throne" and many a project has
been bafiied, many a grand programme
drawn up because a whip has shaken
his head or has urged that on such and
such a matter something must be
done"
His business is not merely, as the
public imagines, to warn, members OF
important divisions, and SO keep the
party together and enable business to
get on, or even, as Sir William Hay
ter once defined 1t, to conc'liate the
real masters by persuasive words,
small concessions, pleasant arrange
ments, or whispered promises OF pollt-
ical or social advancement He per-
forms those functions 1t Is true, and Is
lucky II In performing them he does
not become something Of cynic, and
doubtful Of the perfectlbllity Of hui
man nature; but he has higher func-
tlon than that. II is his business to
gather up In intimate conversations
the true sense OF the house OF COM
mons, and especially Of his own party
In It, to understand why a proposal
will not go down." to detect the half
formulated wish OF majority, to PEN
citrate, In tactic tnat inner wall which
80 often controls the conscious will,
and which Is possessed not only by
most strong individuals, but by all
great corporations, He conhdes his
opinion to the cabinet, and especially
TO the premier, and unless the head of
her majesty's government is q man OF
very resolute and independent judg-
ment, or the cabinet possesses within
Itself born whip, his report has O
greater weight than almost any speech
or even vote. The first contingency,
which practically reduces the use of
the whip to the smaller business OF
legislation, Is not, however, 80 COM
mon as one would expect, the strong
premier being often aware that he is
little out Of touch with the average
members, and sometimes dlstrusting
his own social knowledge. Both
Sir Robert Peel and Lord John
Russell are said to have felt GER
tain deficiency in this latter respect,
akin, perhaps, to Lord Melbourne's,
who, man OF the world as he was,
could not comprehend why members
cared so much about the things they
asked for. The second contingency Ia
less frequent, but 1t occurs. Lord
Palmerston, for example, always put
in the cabinet, II he could, Mr. Yer
non Smith, q man whom the public,
and In lesser degree the house, con-
sidered a well-dressed frlbble. He was
not frlbble, by any means, but a
cool-headed, observant man OF the
world, with q weak will, but possessed
OF a power which Lord Palmerston,
who understood men, had early de-
tected He had some faculty in him,
probably based on sympathy with the
average political mind, which enabled
him to tell almost unerringly what
the house of commons was thinking
and would think, and his chief trusted,
and, after his manner, nobly repaid,
his friends acumen. In the absence
Of such man within the cabinet, a
good whip who can be trusted to know
in crisis what the majority think,
what is wanted, possible or impossible
the house at this moment wants i'm
possible, because contradictory, things
in China-is invaluable, and Yields a
secret authority which has often serl-
GUS effects upon the course of events.