On Wednesday Mr. Ronald McNeill, not being satisfied with the
Prime Minister's repudiation of Mr. Henderson, moved the adjournment. In the following debate Mr. MacDonald showed no lack of courage, and laid it down that Ministers must speak with a proper sense of their position, and of the indivisible nature of Cabinet authority.
This is a simple but intensely important rule, which 324 lies at the root of all successful Constitutional government, and we would add, of all successful democratic govern- ment. Breaches of the rule have always led to compli- cations or humiliations, if not to disaster. Even within a few hours of Mr. Henderson's speech reverberations were beginning to be heard in France. The lack of adminis- trative experience in most of the Members of the Govern- ment—though there is no such excuse for Mr. Henderson, who has twice before been a Minister—gives, of course, easy opportunities for the breakdown of collective responsibility ; but it is satisfactory that the Prime Minister is plainly aware of this and keeps a tight hand upon his colleagues. They for their part have, so far, accepted his wholesome reproaches in a manner which shows that they stand in some awe of him. The paradox is, indeed, already established that a Socialist Prime Minister is exercising a more severe personal authority than can usually be looked for in British Cabinets.
