travel books: persuasiveness is more effective to-day than brilliant feats of eloquence and invective, although some of the greatest Prime Ministers have been masters of this. But there are certainly times when brilliance is distrusted, and what is looked for above all is sincerity, honesty, and good judgment. IV All committees tend to expand in size, and the Cabinet has proved no exception to this rule. The view is frequently expressed that the Cabinet worked at its maximum efficiency when it contained about a dozen members. That was in the middle of the nineteenth century. If it be true that its efficiency was greater then, there are many other causes to which this might be attributed. Since that time the great increase in State activity has meant that much more comes up for ministerial decision, and that the minister's administrative duties are more complicated and numerous. Consequently he has far less time for discussing and thinking out the general lines of policy. Also it is true that political apprenticeship now seems to take much longer. The average age of the minister to-day is considerably higher than a hundred or a hundred and fifty years ago. These are two reasons why the Cabinet might be a less capable and less vigorous directive agency now than at some periods in the past. The actual growth in number is sometimes accounted for simply by the creation of new ministries, such as those for Labour and for Air defence during the War, and for Health, Agriculture, and Transport immediately after the War. The Ministry of Education was established in 1899, and the Dominions Office was separated from the Colonial Office in 1925. But the creation of a new ministerial office does books

Books > Old Books > The British Constitution (1938)

Page 117

THE CABINET

persuasiveness is more effective to-day than brilliant feats of eloquence and invective, although some of the greatest Prime Ministers have been masters of this. But there are certainly times when brilliance is distrusted, and what is looked for above all is sincerity, honesty, and good judgment.

IV
All committees tend to expand in size, and the Cabinet has proved no exception to this rule. The view is frequently expressed that the Cabinet worked at its maximum efficiency when it contained about a dozen members. That was in the middle of the nineteenth century. If it be true that its efficiency was greater then, there are many other causes to which this might be attributed. Since that time the great increase in State activity has meant that much more comes up for ministerial decision, and that the minister's administrative duties are more complicated and numerous. Consequently he has far less time for discussing and thinking out the general lines of policy. Also it is true that political apprenticeship now seems to take much longer. The average age of the minister to-day is considerably higher than a hundred or a hundred and fifty years ago. These are two reasons why the Cabinet might be a less capable and less vigorous directive agency now than at some periods in the past.
The actual growth in number is sometimes accounted for simply by the creation of new ministries, such as those for Labour and for Air defence during the War, and for Health, Agriculture, and Transport immediately after the War. The Ministry of Education was established in 1899, and the Dominions Office was separated from the Colonial Office in 1925. But the creation of a new ministerial office does