OF PRIME MINISTERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19031, 30 May 1925, Page 1 (Supplement)

OF PRIME MINISTERS.

HONOUR AND RESPONSIBILITY BY MATAN'G A. there is a passage in Blackstone, in the chapter of his famous "Commentaries" which deals with "tho rights of persons," that has been praised for the imprcssiveiiess of its language. It is particularly concerned with the King and his title. As Blackstone is little more than an august name to many, even within the legal profession that he so adorned in tho days of the Georges, the passage may be given here in full. We aro next to consider those brunches of the royal prerogative which invest thus our sovereign lord, inns all-perfect ami immortal m his kingly capacity, with a number of authorities and powers; in tho exertion whereof consists the executive part of government. This is wisely placed in a single hand by the British constitution, for tho sake ot unanimity, strength, and despatch. Were it placed in many hands, it would bo subject to many wills: many wills, it' disunited and drawing different ways, create weakness in a government: and to mute those several wills, and reduce them to one, is a work of more time and delay than tho exigencies of state will afford. Tho King of .Kngland is, therefore, not only the chief, but properly the sole magistrate of the nation; all others acting by commission from, and in due subordination to him; in like manner as, upon the great revolution of the liotmin state, till the powers of the ancient magistracy of the commonwealth were concentrated in the new Emperor: so that, as (.Iravina expressed it. in ejus unius persona ceteris republicae vis at,que lnajestas per eumulatas magistratumn potestas exprirnebatur. Impressive tho passage certainly- is; even the weigiit ot its, closing quotation will not be wholly lost on a generation eager to forget its Latinity as quickly as possible. But, as Dicey very bluntly says, it has one fault: the statements it contains are the direct opposite of the truth. Even in Georgian days thev were not true, a little unfortunately for the reputation of an honoured king's counsel and a solicitor-general to the queen. The executive of England was by that time placed in tho hands of a committee called the Cabinet; and, to cite Dicey's plain comment on the "Commentaries" in this partieuar passage, it is true, to-day as then, that "if there be any one person in whose single hand the power of the State is placed, that one person is not tho King but the chairman of the committee, known as the Prime Minister." Of clearer brain than Blackstone, Paley tho divine, contemporary with him, 'wrote in his "Moral Philosophy" a sage statement of the fact that "there exists a wide difference between tho actual state of the government and the theory." No such royal despotism as Blackstone lauded was in existence. Instead, "when wo turn our attention from the legal existence to the actual exercise of royal authority in England, we see these formal prerogatives dwindled into mere ceremonies, and in their stead a sure and commanding influence, of which the constitution, it seems, is totally ignorant, growing out of that enormous patronage, which tho increased extent, and opulence of the Empiro has placed in the disposal of the executive magistrate." Theory Following Practice. That practico can thus proceed ahead of theory and mould tho theory to meet the ever-increasing demands of the national need, is one of the advantages of our fluid British constitution. It is a little startling to remember, at this memorable timo in New "Zealand's history, when changes in our " executive magistrate " are taking place, that of a Prime Minister tho British constitution, largely unwritten, is " totally ignorant " in a ' Tc'gaPiiditt®- * Otil*litVtionMpfiicliciV Which' New Zealand shares fully as a Dominion with representative and responsible government, is to modify the methods in which the sovereign takes advice. The real power resides in the efficient, not the. dignified part of the constitution. It belongs to Parliament; and its director is tho predominant matt in the predominant party in the predominant house of the legislature. That man, from Walpole s day, has been called the Prime Minister. He is not elected, as is the American President, directly by the people although through an electoral college, but is the choice of the prevailing opinion among tho representatives ot tho people in the liouso that is the dominant force in legislative and executive function. Tlie Gov- , ernor-General sends, as His Majesty s representative, for tho Hon. J. G. Coates, in order to place tho country's business in his hands; but it is the people's representative, who, by indirect election, have made the choice. And, so long as his followers in Parliament can keep hint there, ho sits in Cabinet as its effective director. Although the GovernorGeneral presides at formal meetings of the Executive Council, there is no seat lor him in Cabinet, where the real business of the State is originally transacted. It was Queen Anne's practice to preside ;tt. wecklv Cabinet meetings. She could m her day write despatches to her generals and ministers abroad, and personally receive foreign envoys. But that day is "as dead as Queen Anne." As John Morlcy wrote, "no foreigu ctn'oy would now be allowed to address the personally on national business." Even when an"ambassador, entitled to personal access to the sovereign—as a foreign minister is not—is introduced by the Secretary of State to the monarch, the Secretary breaks the seal of the letter ol credit before the ambassador presents it to llis 'Majesty. So tho Cabinet, as an informal committee of the Privy Council, has become the centre of governmental authority, and m it tho Prime Minister, who has himself chosen its members, rules as chief. Imperious Necessity. The change so definitely brought about, although coining bv no precise enactment, was naturally resisted. Walpole's masterfulness provoked a minority protest by the Lords: "We are persuaded that a sole, or even a First Minister, is an officer unknown to the law of Liitain, inconsistent with the constitution of this country, and destructive of liberty in any government whatsoever." Even in the Commons objection was raised. Walpole was there called by his arraigners ' a second Strafford," and the leader (it the attack upon him declared--" According to our constitution we can have no sole and prime minister; we ought always to have several prime ministers or ofheers ol state; every such officer has his own proper department; and no officer ought to meddle in the affairs belonging to the department of another.' But these Partingtonian protests wcro unavailing before tho incoming tide of imperious necessity, and Pitt s words reasserted what was menaced in Walpole s fall: "There should be an avowed and real minister, possessing the chief weight in the council, and the principal place in the confidence of the king. In that respect there can be no rivalry or division of power. Th.'it power rnust rest the person generally called tho First Minister .... and the sentiments of that minister must bo allowed and understood to prevail, leaving the other members of administration to act as they may conceive themselves conscientiously called upon to act under the circumstances." So the Prime Minister has come to be tho repository of the nation's trust. 110 stands, in Gladstone's words, "between tho sovereign and Parliament. It is a great oflice. It is one of almost terrifving responsibilities. The most ambitious of men may hesitate to accept it, even in a land so small as our Dominion. Especially may one so comparatively unversed in Parliamentary leadership, however fitted by administrative genius, as Mr. Coates undoubtedly is, ask for sympathy to be accorded along with congratulation It will be given. Even in the hurly-burly of partv strife it will not be withheld. As the "First Servant of our commonwealth this just due will bo paid as our duty and his inalienable right.