CABINET MEETINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 228, 27 September 1938, Page 8

CABINET MEETINGS.

PROCEDURE AT "NO. 10." VOTE 'SELDOMIfVp^N. ■ f * i~'■', Crisis in the air, and Brifisfit Cabinet Ministers wait in suspense ifitsttbae of the sudden calls taking them to'toofeilng Street should l»e the first note in |fchefoverture to the mad opera of war. Many time* in the past few weeks the men whjb, fj»r the time being, are the Government of Britain and controllers of the destiny of an Empire that covers more than one-quarter of wielding in fact all powers vested no|niriartjy in th-i Sovereign, have hurried to ' Those of us who have.-£be£n Cabinet Ministers in former Gove**in|en]ts have anxiously followed in our minds/.eveHjr familiar step they took, and awaited': eagerly every vital decision they made (says '$& Former Home Secretary" in the "Sunday 'Dispatch").

Cabinets are usually summoned' by a brief formal letter addressed to "His Majesty's confidential servants" as from the Prime Minister. They meet at X:>. 10; or, at times of emergency, they may hold a Cabinet anywhere.

Ministers may be fetched by ordinary telegrams, or, if necessary, by King's Messengers in R.A.F. aeroplanes, from boliday resorts at home or abroad, from business conferences, weddings, funerals or their beds. But usually they are summoned to Downing Street by ordinary letter, telephone or telegram, which may be received by any household servant.

As work! political crises are usually stagemanaged for a Saturday afternoon (after world 'Stock Exchanges have closed, so that the money market and public opinion may have Sunday in which to recover from the shock), some of the morst dramatic Cabinets in our history have been held on Sundays, or very late on Saturday nights.

It is on record that Ministers have been fetched out of church, and that, on other occasions, great nien have arrived.at No. 10 in incomplete attire and unshaven.. Sound-proof Walls. Once arrived at Xo. 10, Ministers leave their hats and coats in the hall, and attendant*, who have seen many crises come and go, quietly usher them into the Cabinet Room. This room, which is 50 Ion?, with a long table at which Ministers take their places as they arrive, is fitted with double doors and sound-proof walls, to ensure absolute secreoy pt those meeting* on which the world's future may hang. Except for the Secretary to the Cabinet, no one save Ministers is allowed to •be present, and even the Sovereign himself may not enter during a Cabinet. It is one of the few ini|K>Bing rooms of the 40 or so that are connected by endless. rambling staircases and twisty passages that foreigners say are a prototype of British diplomacy. It is said that Mies Ishbel MacDonald during her first days at No. 10 laid down her knitting in the rooms and could not find it again till permanent officials were called in to help.

The Prime Minister or his deputy sits at the head of the table. Other Ministers always occupy the same places. They arrive as they can, in no special order, and* if the meeting t is to cover several matters, an agenda is placed on the table, which can be studied -before proi ceedings commence. At last evenyone available is present, the double doors are "shut, and the Prime Minister makes a statement, followed, perhaps, by the Foreign Secretary, if the crisis is international, or else by the particular Minister concerned. NVi refreshments are brought during Cabinets, however long thev last. Urgent Messages. Outside the doors of the Ministers' entry, which no one else is allowed to use, a servant keeps watch. Through another pair of doors is the secretaries' room. Should any dispatches or urgent telephone or other messages arrive during a Cabinet, thev would be delivered there and the appropriate confidential secretarv would bring them into the Cabinet Room, vital discussions perhaps being suspended for a few moments until the doors close behind him. Then the new development is explained. Only in the most exceptional instances k anyone other than a Minister allowed to be present in the Cabinet Room during any discussion. The Cabinet never officially dis- l agrees. When difference of opinion is manifested, then the Cabinet, and probably the ' Government, is at an end. Any Minister who feels the need to do so may resign from the Government, and this has "been done in the past; but his lips are sealed as to the Cabinet arguments and dissensions which led up to his offer to resign his post. When Ministers who have special knowledge of the affairs on hand, or responsibility, have expressed their views, general discussion follows. When the majority of those present reach agreement about a momentous step to bo taken to meet the crisis, the Prime Minister considers whether a vote need be taken. This is rarely done. In the ordinary way Ministers are in agreement, and decisions are shown by indications ami opinions from each member, rather than more formally.

On occasion, however, a show of hands decides some great natter. Nothing is committed to paper, and a majority of one is enough to settle an Empires destiny But almost always everyone is in agreement as to broad lines of policy, without the need to