Lord Curzon, speaking on Wednesday afternoon, dealt chiefly with foreign
affairs. Mr. Lloyd George had Lord Curzon, speaking on Wednesday afternoon, dealt chiefly with foreign affairs. Mr. Lloyd George had exercised in foreign affairs an unusual and illegitimate influence. Mr. Boner Law had decided that the work of the Foreign Office should be done by that Department itself, " subject to the control of the Cabinet and the personal supervision of the Prime Minister." Lord Curzon then added a very important and sound generaliza- tion. Our foreign policy was not of this country alone- " It is the foreign policy of the British Empire." Perhaps, however, the most important thing in Lord Curzon's speech was his statement that the celebrated manifesto of policy in the Near East, issued by the Government on September 16th, " was issued without my knowledge and without the knowledge of the Cabinet." " It was," he added, " most unfortunate in its character and in its tone." Such things, of course, entirely put an end to the theory of Cabinet Government. No one wants to diminish the legitimate control of the Prime Minister over his team, but he must be loyal to his col- leagues. If he is dissatisfied, say, with the conduct of foreign affairs, he must demand the resignation of the Foreign Secretary ; he must not short-circuit him by a manifesto. No wonder that the late Government got matters into a hideous muddle.
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