SCIENTIFIC PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 365 



that a trustful and confiding nation has deliberately placed 

 in their hands. Nor, perhaps, would it be altogether fair to 

 blame men who regard themselves as indispensable to the 

 country, for taking such steps as seem to them necessary to 

 entrench themselves in positions which they honestly believe 

 that they alone can adequately fill. 



Cabinet autocracy is not, however, solely dependent upon 

 the power of the Prime Minister to appoint and dismiss his 

 colleagues, nor upon the latent power of dissolution, though 

 the latter is probably its main support. It is reinforced by 

 all the influence of a vast and complex party, organisation, 

 in the House and in the country. The Party Whips administer 

 an elaborate system of rewards and punishments with a 

 single-minded devotion to the object to be achieved. It is 

 always pleasant for a member to be on good terms with these 

 gentlemen, who are generally courteous and considerate. 

 There are circumstances in which it is not only disagreeable 

 but dangerous to offend them, either by a pedantic observance 

 of pre-election pledges, or by the display of a temperamental 

 independence inconsistent with the proper working of a 

 machine which, if it grinds slowly, can often grind exceedingly 

 small. Little wonder that, after more or less resistance, the 

 average member ends by placing his conscience in commission 

 and renouncing an independence sometimes as little appre- 

 ciated by his supporters as by his leaders. One by one, the 

 troublesome members of a new Parliament succumb to the 

 threatenings or to the blandishments of their Whips, and thus 

 is preserved the solidarity of the Party, and thus, we are given 

 to understand, is the Empire saved from disruption. The 

 few whose individuality will not permit them to conform, in 

 all respects, to the wishes of their chiefs, maintain a precarious 

 Parliamentary existence whose rigours may, however, be 

 tempered by the approval of constituents whose respect is 

 often slowly won by qualities little appreciated at Westminster. 

 The power of the Whips, both Government and Opposition, 

 in the country, makes itself felt chiefly in the selection of 

 candidates, and so perfect is their control over the local party 

 organisations, that, in ninety-nine constituencies out of a 

 hundred, no candidate not approved at headquarters has a 

 chance of adoption. A " safe " man, who will vote the party 

 ticket and obey orders, is sure of a warm welcome when he 



