The Washington herald., 1917-03-25

duties Laid upon the food controller, Lord
Davenport, have been the subject OF
much dispute. And Neville Chamberlain.
director Of national service: Sir Joseph
MacClay, controller Of shipping, and
other new appointees have found them
selves in constant friendly opposition to
the old departments such as the board Of
trade All this confusion Is inevitable,
and existed even under the old cabinet
system.
Must Get Together.
The need for coordination is OBJ
vious; the conflicting claims of the
army for men, Of the shipping yards
and the munitionI factories; and the
farms and the steel and transport and
coal industries must be reconciled. but
his cannot be done by any one depart
ment- And Lloyd George and his war
cabinet found soon after they took
over power that the war cabinet could
not do all this homo work and also
attempt to solve the great imperial
problems, the International misunder-
standings that have hindered the sue
cess Of the entente. the treatment Of
neutrals, the unifcation of fronts and
all the great secret tasks the COM
plexity Of which is inconceivable but
"ulCn Do dChloNeQ IL Ino alice
are to win the war.
Hence the introduction, SO quietly
that the majority OF EnEiishmen are
scarcely aware of its existence, Of a
new engine of government called the
"Secretariat"
It is probably that this system was
called into being by Lloyd George al
most unconsciously. and that Il has
gained in Importance by force Of cir
cumstances rather than by design. But
1t is now political force to be
reckored with.
Acquiring Vast Power
Lloyd George. or the War Cabinet
but 1t is understood that the secretariat
is the personal creation of the Premier
has delegated to large number Of pri-
vate secretaries tho function Of investi-
eating the workings Of the different gov
ernment departments and reconciling
their differences. Theoretically, these men
are simply personal agents otthe Premier
himself. to master data and to report to
their chief. In practice. 1t is said that
the secretariat is rapidly getting vast
power into its own hands.
Its operations are secret (deleted by
censor). II for instance the food con-
troller and the board Of trade arc work.
ing at cross-purposes, the secretariat.
through its Investigations. will discover
the fact, and proceed to straighten mat
ters out, perhaps by overruling the heads
Of both departments. The matter will be
arranged more or less informally and the
departmental heads II aggrieved can
complain to Lloyd George. Oeleted by
censor0
The system Is even yet IN fts infancy
If. for instance. the Foreign Once and
the Admiralty should feel the need Of dis
cussing blockade problems together. 1t
is absurd to suppose that . young sec
retary would mediate between Mr.. Bal
four and Sir Edward Carson: such an
issue would be decided BY the. war cabi-
net itself. Oeleted by censorJ
Cloud on Horizon.
There is q cloud no larger than a mans
hand upon Lloyd Georges political hori-
zon, In the resentment among these min
listers and their departments and in Par
lament against the new methods few
days ago revolt in the house Of commons
was stilled by Bonar Laws threat that a
fight on any such issue would be regard
ed by the government as a vote Of want
of confidence-in other words. that Lloyd
George would resign and fight a general
election II the house tampered with his
methods And an election in war ume
"OulQ pc a ndllOuh4 IL WOuIu
cause a diversion Of effort from the war
and much inevitable confusion that would
rebound to the beneft Of Germany.
The house of commons believes. too.
that the country II back OF Lloyd George.
so while there will be mutterings and
strings Of insurrection In the house over
the revolutionary changes the little
Welshman" Il making. II IL the opinion
of most good judges that he will have his
own way at least until there u some
startling change In the war.
Tho Loyd-George system of govern
ment, distasteful as It u to Englishmen
who reverence their venerable political
traditions, seems to be regarded by COM
mon consent as moro efficient for war
purposes than the cabinet rule It has
superseded.
And since the people are determined to
win the war they do not care what stick
is used to beat Germany with. and Lloyd
Georges position in spite Of a nominally
critical. II not hostile house OF commons.
appears far stronger than Asquith's was
after the formation OF the ill-starred
coalition in May, 1915. Asquith. too. had
to bear on his shoulders the burden Of the
many defeats and disappointments in
France and Gallipon. and the British
people are looking for victories under
Lloyd George. II he gives them victories.
they will not object to his secretar1ats, or
even more startling changes II he chooses
to introduce them.