3 APRIL 1959, Page 22

IJr ilPpertator

APRIL 5, 1834

IT is an unthankful office to speak disagreeable truths to a Prime Minister. "Through him the rays of regal bounty shine;" and they arc seldom suffered' to fall upon the friend whose brows are knit, and whose accents arc ungracious. As it generally happens that the persons who come in contact with the Premier are those who now arc, or expect at some future time to be, suitors for the good things in his gift, it is most unlikely that they should take upon themselves the repulsive task of disturbing the self-complacency of the great man, by telling him that his power is on the wane and his popularity departed.