THE KING'S MINISTERS 6l

which special information must be collected before the Cabinet
will be able to make decisions. The Committees inquire into
facts and report on them, but the rule that policy must be settled
by the whole Cabinet still remains. If a list were made of the
Ministers who most frequently do this work, there would
appear an unofficial Inner Circle not unlike the proposed smaller
Cabinet.

The Cabinet is sometimes criticised because it is chosen by
one man. Some time ago Lord Rothermere suggested that each
party leader ought to say, at election time, whom he will choose
for his Cabinet if the party is victorious. This would give the
Press time to hunt up the past speeches of some of the proposed
Ministers and run a personal campaign against them. There are
few men in public life who have not said some foolish things—
except those who have refrained from saying anything worthy
of note. Another view, put forward by the rank and file members
of political parties is that the Cabinet should be elected by the
M,P.s of the victorious parry. This would ensure that every
shade of opinion in the party was represented; the Prime Minister
would not be able to stock the Cabinet overfull with his personal
friends, or with those who could always be relied on 'to agree
with him. But if a party think that their leader will act like this,
they had better choose another. A Cabinet must act as a team,
and must therefore be chosen by someone who can see what the
whole will be like. No doubt this places great responsibility on
the Premier. He personifies the Government of the day, as the
King personifies the State. But he will only keep his power to
choose as long as he uses it prudently. If he offends one section
of his party too much, they may break away and perhaps vote
against his Government in Parliament. If a Minister becomes
unpopular with the people^ it will be wise to shift him to another
post, or out of the Cabinet. Sir John Simon was not a popular
Foreign Secretary; Mr. Baldwin reshuffled his Cabinet some
months before the 1935 Election and Sir Samuel Hoare took
Sir John's place. Later an extraordinary .outburst of popular