Cabinet. It often happens that members of the party are greatly opposed to some features of the Government policy, and feel strongly inclined to abstain from voting or to vote with the Opposition. This they can often do and still not endanger the life of the Cabinet. But such action always annoys the Cabinet. The Government has one pretty effectual way of bringing to its support the membership of its party. It may definitely give notice that the particular measure which is in hand is "deemed important" and that the Government proposes to stand or fall with it. This is a notice to the members of the party that if they do not vote with the Cabinet, they will have to incur the expense and the inconvenience of a reëlection to Parliament; and all who represent districts having small party majorities are confronted with. the prospect of possible or probable defeat. By this and other means a skilful Cabinet musters the forces of the party to support its measures. By parliamentary custom Wednesday of each week is devoted to the uses of private members and for bills introduced by nonCabinet members: the Cabinet assumes no responsibility. Many of these bills, however, involve legislation of great importance. They come from either side of the House, and in respect to such bills the members of the Cabinet are generally free to take any position they please. Yet if a private member should introduce a bill the subjectmatter of which trenched upon some measure for which the Government held itself responsible, then the Cabinet would either adopt the measure as its own, or would insist upon amending it in such a manner as to harmonize it with its own policy, or would unite in using its majority to defeat the bill. It thus appears that in a certain sense the Cabinet is responsible for the entire business of the House. It determines what shall be accounted Government business and what shall be left to private members. At any time the Government may determine to assume the responsibility for a private bill, or to use its majority to destroy it. Or the Government may decide to take for its own measures the time ordinarily allotted to private members. In thus partitioning the business between itself and private members the Cabinet is guided by the state of political debate among the electors. For example, a bill may be regarded as in itself of the utmost consequence, yet if there is little interest manifested in the measure, it is likely to be left to take its chances as a private bill. the other hand, a measure in itself trivial may have attracted such an amount of public attention as to induce the Government to adopt it. Yet in general it is true. that the measures of greatest popular interest are those of greatest importance. Hence the Government bills are usually those of chief importance. On From the foregoing description of the law-making functions of the House of Commons it appears that the members of the English Executive are not only members of the legislature, but, for the time being, are masters of the power of legislation. There are thus united in the same hands the powers of responsible administration and of legislation. When an English Cabinet loses its power to control legislation, it resigns the executive offices, and they are placed in the hands of a Government which can control legislation. It is an important feature of the English Constitution that the control of administration and the control of legislation shall be in the same hands. Financiering is conveniently discussed as a separate and important function of the House of Commons. Much of the discussion of this subject belongs rather to the science of administration than to the harmonizing and balancing of the separate agencies which we in America call the Constitution. But one feature of financiering is full of constitutional interest. It is when the Cabinet is securing a vote of supplies to meet the expenses of the Government that the various departments of the Executive come regularly before the House of Commons for criticism. It is the business of the Opposition to call attention to every weak point in the conduct of the Executive and to persuade the House not to vote supplies except upon condition of improvement in administration. I have said that in the matter of law-making the Cabinet is master of the House of Commons. It may easily be shown that, in a certain sense, the House is master of the Cabinet. The Opposition in the House is constantly forcing the Government to modify its administrative policy; and never does a Cabinet succeed in getting its Budget through the House without being compelled by adverse criticism to make many changes and concessions. The Budget often contains some new feature of taxation in which an influential class of taxpayers is interested; and the Opposition in the House is reinforced by an agitation among the electors. In 1888 the Budget contained a provision for taxing vehicles, called "The wheel and van tax." There was an agitation throughout the country against this tax, terminating in a grand demonstration in Hyde Park, and the Government receded from its position. In 1890 the Budget contained a provision that a portion of the license fees collected from dealers in alcoholic liquors should be set aside to be used in giving compensation to dealers whose business should be destroyed by the refusal of county boards to renew licenses. This led to such an agitation in the House and in the country as induced the Cabinet to abandon the measure. It should not be understood that it is only in respect to financial bills that the habit of overawing the Cabinet prevails. Any bill which the Government introduces is liable to contain provisions which elicit such a formidable opposition as to induce the Cabinet to yield. The Cabinet retains its mastery of the House by yielding to the wishes of the House, by being ever sensitive to the scourge of public opinion, by avoiding scandal in the conduct of public business; in a word, by representing the judgment of the country. Another feature of the business of the House has some constitutional importance. That is the daily questionings to which the Government members are subjected. Any member has a right to ask any question he pleases concerning the conduct of public business. These questions are printed on the paper containing the order of business for the day, and they are addressed to that member of the Government who is deemed chiefly responsible for the business which is made the subject of inquiry. That is, if it pertains to the government of Ireland, it is addressed to the Chief Secretary for Ireland; or, if the intention or conduct of the Cabinet as a whole is made the subject of inquiry, the question is directed to the Leader of the House. By this arrangement every member of the Cabinet and of the Ministry in the House of Commons lives in the daily prospect of being called to account before the country for any misconduct in his department. If a policeman has unduly interfered with the rights of a citizen, the Home Secretary may be asked to explain. If a postmaster has neglected his duty, the Postmaster-General may be called to an account for it. In this way the public is informed from original sources of the conduct of public business. The public is thus brought into very close relations with the powers of government. Many of the questions are asked for the purpose of calling attention to some weak point in the policy of the Government. Yet it sometimes happens that a member of the Cabinet wishes to have an opportunity of explaining some matter connected with his department. In such a case he may |