THE SECRETS OF STATESMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 December 1936, Page 3

THE SECRETS OF STATESMEN

FACTOR OF EXPENSE I sometimes wonder whether the public in this country have any idea of the whole-time job of our Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, or, indeed, of any politicians in a position of authority, writes Lady Oxford and Asquith in the “News-Chronicle.” They probably think they are paid a high salary, and have several clever and discreet private secretaries to help them in their work. They imagine they can dictate their speeches to their secretaries, who can open, address, or answer half the letters which accumulate daily. Were this an accurate estimate of what takes place either in 10 Downing Street, or in any other Government Department, life would be simplified and leisure ensured. But it is not a correct estimate. Most of our Ministers are overworked. As I lived in 10 Downing Street for nearly nine years, and have known ten Prime Ministers, I can speak with authority upon this subject. It is nut only the Prime Minister but dvery Cabinet Minister who is called upon to bear a burden of responsibility that is well-nigh intolerable. Imagine, for instance, having to take a decision which may mean life or death to another. I remember when my husband was Home Secretary that he spent many sleepless nights before he decided whether he should recommend a reprieve or not of a man condemned to death. The opportunities that men in public life have of enriching themselves, the temptations to which they are subjected, are endless. They are not necessarily the opportunities and temptations that readily suggest themselves.

Public men are the prey of every type of flatterer and busybody. I remember a charming young publisher who was sent to me by a friend from America offering me £7OOO if I would write a short, unsigned article on my husband’s intellect and character. He was then in office and, of course, I declined.

Then a successful manufacturer from the North of England, who really deserved much more than the knighthood he requested me to try to obtain for him.

“If you can do this for me, Mrs. Asquith, I will give you a large sum pf money which you can spend in .any way you like.” I replied that I was sorry that I could not possibly do that for him, but that I had no doubt that his services would be rewarded.

And now Tor a word or two about the Cabinet room, the room of secrets. A curious thing about it is that it has always remained precisely as it is. It looks out on to a large garden of fine trees and poor shrubs, the door of which leads on to the Horse Guards Parade. The room is lined with bookshelves, the books in which arc, I should imagine, quite unreadable, being mostly works of reference.

There is a long table in the centre of the room covered -with green baize cloth, around which all the members of the Cabinet sit. Fresh blotting paper is put on the table in front of the chairs eveijy day, and the solid glass ink-bottles have small cardboard tea cosies over them to preserve them from dust. Secrecy is suggested by the for-

midable double doors which make it impossible for anyone outside to hear what is going on within. There is another door which leads into the room of the Prime Minister’s private secretary. SOLDIERS ON DUTY. In former days there were soldiers placed in the corridor each side of the double doors leading to the Cabinet room so that no one should interrupt the proceedings. The only troubles that arose to worry us physically when we were at Downing Street were due to the fatuous antics of the suffragettes, who broke the glass of our motor-car wich monotonous regularity. Scotland Yard had to put detectives to guard us wherever my husband and I or the children went, whether in London or the country.

The threatening letters I received daily from these earnest females were another nuisance, and the fact that on more than one occasion they caught my husband when he was golfing, or going to church (once they tore the epaulettes from his shoulders), illustrates my point that the life ol a Prime Minister is not an easy one.

I am sure it is not generally realised by the public that their servants in high office are not only putting in a much longer day, displaying a great deal more activity, and shouldering far greater responsibility than the majority of business men, but many are obliged to live far beyond their income. For a Prime Minister, for instance, to do what is required of him in a proper way he should be paid a salary far higher than he attains. When my husband and I first went to Downing Street in 1908, Ad began entertaining on a large scale, it had not been occupied for some , time. Some of Lord Oxford’s predecessqrs had, in fact, never lived there. Lord Salisbury lived in Arlington Street, Lord Rosebery in Berkeley Square. It is true that Sir Henry CampbellBannerman had his residence at No. 10, but his wife was an invalid and they had no children. The case of Lord Balfour, a bachelor, was similar and, although I have no doubt that the expenses of these Prime Ministers far outpaced their salary, they did not feel it incumbent upon them to entertain to any considerable extent. For my part I was determined that every friend and every distinguished foreigner in this country should come to Downing Street* After the Coronation of King George we had the honour of entertaining His Majesty and Queen Mary at dinner. I may be wrong but I think this was the first time that any monarch of this country had ever seen the inside of 10 Downing Street. It was a great occasion. We arranged to have two little plays after dinner, and before these took place Lady de Grey and I showed Queen Mary the Cabinet room, my husband’s private sittingroom, my own drawing-room, and, in fact, all over the house. The entertaining daily of so many guests was a great strain on our financial resources. Had my father lived to see his daughter become the wife of a Prime Minister the expenses wouldn’t have mattered as he was both rich and generous. My brothers were very kind to us but when we left Downing Street we were very much poorer than when we went in. I have touched upon one aspect of a Prime Minister’s life—the question

of expense. To that you must add the necessity of making vital decisions at great speed, the need for patience and forbearance. I can truly say that between the years 1908 to 1916 there was hardly a day which did not bring fresh troubles upon my husband’s head —troubles that culminated in the tragedy of war, of which I think sufficient has been written TRIBUTE TO ASQUITH But, in passing, may I quote what a very great friend of mine who held a high position in Lord Balfour’s Government said of my husband only the other’ day? “My dear Margot, I do not think any other Prime Minister could have brought the whole Empire to take part in the last war, nor indeed any individual who had not merited the supreme confidence which the country felt in your husband,” I want to write a few words about one of the men of poorer means who took upon himself with so much whole-hearted devotion the burden of departmental responsibility. Mr. John Burns (selected by my husband) was the first Labour man to be a Cabinet Minister, and his wit, good looks, and good humour made him extremely popular with his colleagues. He had rare tastes, knew the names of ail the early Italian painters, and collected photographs of their pictures. I remember him saying to me of a colleague whom he disliked: “Bless your soul, he has no culture If you were to mention Giotto to him he would only think you were talking of a new kind of asphalt.” Many of the Ministers whom we have seen lately promoted to Cabinet rank have been poor men and have not had the opportunities of learning how to delegate their work? but however efficiently done by other people, a Cabinet Minister’s job can only be properly accomplished by whoever is at the head of a Department, We have the most competent Civil Service in the world: 1 may say the only Civil Service which makes it possible for a Prime Minister when reconstructing his Cabinet to change nis Minister in the Foreign Office into his Minister for the Home Office, or to enable a First Lord in the Admiralty to become the President of the Board of Trade.

There is no praise too high to give these silent, efficient, and unadvertised servants of the State; they are the envy of every foreign country, and until America creates a similar Civil Service she will never have a Government free of corruption. What other Government in Europe would have instituted an inquiry the moment that rumour reached it that there had been a leakage of Budget secrets? And are there many foreign statesmen who would have instantly come forward to put all knowledge of their private affairs at the disposal of the Tribunal appointed to judge them? I doubt it.