27 SEPTEMBER 1919, Page 2

What confusion is caused when the old plan of collective

responsibility is not scrupulously observed by the Government Here we have Lord Rothermere attacking Mr. Boner Law, who is the right-hand man of Mr. Lloyd George, while all the time it is being said that Lord Rothermere is himself a candidate for a place in the Cabinet. On what sort of terms would he work with Mr. Bonar Law ? Then we have Mr. Churchill being daily denounced in the Daily Express, in which Lord Beaverbrook is said to have a very large interest. And Lord Beaverbrook has been on many occasions the inspirer or the instrument of Mr. Boner Law. One might add to these mazes. It is all too confusing for us, and we give it up. But the cure for such rumours and stunts which undermine confidence in the Government is quite plain—the acknowledgment of collective responsibility in the Cabinet.