Lord Rosebety addressed himself to the question of inquiry. Personally
he believed an inquiry was now rendered necessary by the action of the Colonial Secretary. But what was the inquiry going to be ? Was it to be a public inquiry to ascertain the facts and communicate them as quickly as possible to the nation, or was it to be a mechanism for keeping the Cabinet together ? This was by far the most important inquiry ever conducted in the country in his life- time, and it was essential that it should not be a hole-and- corner affair, but that the nation should be a party to it. In his own view, it should be by Royal Commission or by some recognised authority. But at present, under the new doctrine of Cabinet responsibility, the Government were talking in different voices to the baffled and puzzled country. Lord Selborne in reply declared that the question before them was not what was revealed truth or the natural law, but what was the policy which, in given circumstances, would best suit this country or that. The inquiry could not be dealt with by a Royal Commission. "It must be an inquest of the nation by all its parties, and by all its Press." Lord Goscben, who followed, asked what were the questions to be submitted to the inquest, and appealed to the Government to furnish information to the public as soon as possible. The Duke of Devonshire, speaking later in reply to Lord Jersey, stated that he could not state at present what course would be taken by the Government in regard to making any announcement as to the intentions of the Cabinet before the close of the Session
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