Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-06-02
ENGLAND'S CABINET
How It Is Formed-Prme Minister'S
Office Carries No Salary.


Of considerable interest to examine the
precise manner in which a cabinet is
formed. In practice, when n premier
resigns, either on behalf of q govern
ment that can no longer carry on
an adverse majority in the
house of commons, or retires PERSONAL
lv from any cause, as is the case in
the present instance, every office In
the government becomes technically
vacant AS a matter of fact, how
ever this is not the case. Every cab
met minister holds office directly un-
der the crown, and there is nothing in
the constitution of this country that
can compel any cabinet minister to
relinquish his seals Of Office save the
by the king in person OF
the warrant under which he was
originally appointed.
1t is usual, however, when the prime
minister retires for the remainder or
the ministry to place themselves un-
reservedly at the disposal of whoever
is selected to succeed him, and this
is what took place in the present in
stance, when each of the remaining
cabinet ministers handed to Mr.. AS
uuith letter intimating that they left
themselves entirely in his hands. When
this is done, it is for the premier-elect
then to decide whether the political
situation is such as to justify him In
taking over the administration of the
or whether it would be
more desirable for him to decline Of
fee and to take the opinion Of the
country by means Of a general elec-
tion. In the present instance, OF
course, there was no question Of Mr..
Asquith being unable to command a
majority i'm the house of commons, and
therefore he Immediately set about the
reconstruction of the ministry without
any unnecessary loss of time.
The selection of his fellow members
OF the cabinet is matter for the prime
minister alone, and there was no nee
essity whatever for Mr.. Asquith, If he
had been so minded to retain one of
those ministers who formed the cab1-
net of his predecessor in office, though
of course as a general rule, the new
premier consults with the remainder
of those ministers who formed the "in-
ner council" in the cabinet Of his pre-
decessor.
This small committee of the cabinet
is a growth of comparatively recent
years, and is usually composed Of the
premier and his five principal secreta-
ries of state--the chancellor OF the
exchequer, and the foreign, colonial,
naval, and military ministers.
The constitution of this committee,
however, varies slightly from time to
time, and is never quite the same in
any two ministers. 1t is this Inner
council that is responsible for the
whole of the legislative and adminis-
trative programme Of the government,
though, of course, the sanction and ap-
proval Of the remainder Of the cabinet
is obtained before any government
bills are presented to parliament, or
any important fiscal or other changes
in our national administration are in
troduced.
1t is the retiring premier who indi-
Gates to the sovereign for whom he
shall send and request to form gov
n;, StYin L.
ing, the king could send for any one
OF his subjects he pleased, whether he
be a member of parliament or not, and
entrust to him the task Of forming a
cabinet; but, needless to say, this is
a course tlat has never been taken,
since it's adoption would mean very
serious conflict between the throne
and parliament This practice Of the
prime minister naming his successor
is one that is always followed, wheth-
er the government is anxious to resign
office entirely or it is only +"e premier
who is relinquishing his position.
Supposing, for example, the govern
ment had been defeated in the house
of commons on, say, the education Dill
or the Budget, and it was clearly ap-
parent that it no longer enjoyed the
of the country or the house
of commons, Sir Henry Campbell
Bannerman, instead Of naming Mr..
Asquith to the king as his successor In
office, would have suggested Mr.. Bal
four. as the official leader of the op-
position, in his place, and Mr.. Balfour
would have been sent for by the king
and asked to take over the task OF
forming a ministry. 1t would then
have been quite open for him to have
declined to take office until a dissolu-
ton of parliament had been ordered
and he had been able to see whether
he could command working majority
in the house of commons or not.
Had he taken this course, the king
would have sent for Sir Henry Camp
bell -Bannerman once more, and would
have called upon the Liberal party to
retain office until after the general
tleCllOIl IlciN pIS'SO ethN - A''NN'
become known which party had the
majority in the house Of commons. If
the conservatives had won the day,
the king would have sent for Mr.. Bal
four again and asked him either to
resume the reins of office or to indi-
cate some other member of his party
who would.
Though holding the chief position
under the crown and ranking as first
minister of the empire, the premier
stands behind the archbishop Of Can
terbury, the lord high chancellor, and
the archbishop of York in that strict
table of precedency under which our
great ceremOnialS of state are organ
iZed. and it is only within the past
couple of years or so that any special
precedence has been granted to the
prime minister at all. This was dem
Onstrated at the coronation of King
Edward. when the late Marques Of
Salisbury. then prime minister, was
found by the authorities to have no
special place in the royal procession
assigned to him. and the difficulty was
SurmOunted by appointing him to car