The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-01-05
BRITISH MINISTERS
CAN KEEP SECRETS
0ondon AIaii)

Nondon Maii)
J The reconstructed cabinet has held
its first sitting, but what passed with
/ in the chamber no one but the minis
/ tiers themselves know. The British cab
/ met, IN fact, is the most Important Sc
/ cret society in the world. and no meet
ing Is ever held that can compare for
sIaVlty OF possible issue with cab
met council.
The room in Downing street where
/ the cabinet meets is large. and furn-
7 lSned with the severity OF a city count
/ ing house. At one time cabinets were
| held in the dining room Of the prime
minister's official residence but the &C
J cOmnOdauon was ridiculOusly made
quate. Some of the ministers had act
ualy to squat on the floor: at any rate
I that is the story told
The members having assembled, the
sound-prOof doors are closed. and under
no circumstances are they TeOpened ex-
cept at the bidding of the prime min
lister. Occasionally a messenger is seen
TO leave the house carrying u dispatch
bcN. every document in which bears
the inscription Most secret. for the
use of the cabinet Immediately after
the close of the cabinet the premier
sends by special messenger to the queen
full account of its deiibera tons And
this is the only record of the cabinet
that is kept.
The taking of minutes or other mem
oranda would be highly dangerous.
There IS always a possibility of them
getting into undesira bic hands Sci
dom, indeed, does a whisper reach be
yond the double doors of the cabinet
room.
Only once within half a century has
a cabinet minister deliberately broken
his solemn oath of secrecy. It is a ro-
nance of the days of the corn laws. A
beautiful and fascinating lady cajOled
a minister into telling her what deer
sion Sir Robert Peel and his colleagues
had arrived at. and then sold the infor-
nation to the Times. The misguided
minister rendered his resignation, but
it was not accepted
Perhaps the cabinets record in pre-
serving a great secret was furnished
by the resignation OF Mr.. Gladstone
For three months the secret was kept
intact. one day the veteran statesman
appeared at Downing street. He who
had attended more cabinets than any
other man Of his time. and had in ar
successive ministries presided over the
deliberations of his colleagues had
come to bid them farewell He knew
it, and they knew it; but the outside
world was ignorant of the fact, and
was kept in ignorance, in fact, from
December to March The scene when
the last faTewells were said in the
tUulittl ClldUiDEl NdS Il lilUcL BdtLACLiG
one.
One of the ministers present on that
historic Ccc aston narrowly escaped some
time previously inadvertently revealing
a cabinet secret of supreme Importance.
He went to his club to write a letter,
and left on the table the secret draft
copy of the home rule bill printed for
the use Of the cabinet only. Shortly
after his departure a fellow member
of the club had occasion to use the
same table. and found the document
lying on it. This gentleman was him
self the private secretary to a cabinet
minister. He realized in d fash the
CONSERVATION that would be caused if
the contents of the document got
abroad, and enclosing the paper in an
envelope, and carefully sealing IL, he
called a cab and drove at once to
Downing street one can well imagine
with what relief the minister received
the missing document.