T= elasticity of the British Constitution is indeed remarkable.
Who would have thought it possible for a dozen Cabinet Ministers to lose Cabinet rank and for the Cabinet itself to drop out of existence without a sound? writes J. B. Firth in the "Daily Telegraph."
Even when the truth slipped out in the House of Commons it was accepted, after a momentary gasp of astonishment, as a natural development of these unnatural times.
Early. in September, it will be remembered, it was officially announced that a War Cabinet of nine members had been appointed—ten if Mr. Eden was counted in, for he was to have access to all meetings as the spokesman of Dominion interests.
The only. surprise expressed was that it contained as many as nine members, the experience of the last war having shown that safety did not lie in numbers.
But everyone assumed that the larger Cabinet would still remain in being and continue to function occasionally, though its meetings might be rare.
Nothing was said to dispel the illusion till a month ago, when the leader of the. Opposition happened to refer incidentally to "the larger Cabii The Prime Minister corrected him at once.
"I don't know what the Rt. Hon. gentleman means," he said.
"There is no larger Cabinet. There is only one Cabinet and that is the War Cabinet."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.