As a means of
obtaining the best men for the purpose under every change of
administration, they ought to be permanent: by which I mean, that they
ought not, like the Lords of the Admiralty, to be expected to resign
with the ministry by whom they were appointed: but it is a good rule
that all who hold high appointments to which they have risen by
selection, and not by the ordinary course of promotion, should
retain their office only for a fixed term, unless reappointed; as is
now the rule with Staff appointments in the British army. This rule
renders appointments somewhat less likely to be jobbed, not being a
provision for life, and the same time affords a means, without affront
to any one, of getting rid of those who are least worth keeping, and
bringing in highly qualified persons of younger standing, for whom
there might never be room if death vacancies, or voluntary
resignations, were waited for.
The Councils should be consultative merely, in this sense, that
the ultimate decision should rest undividedly with the minister
himself: but neither ought they to be looked upon, or to look upon
themselves, as ciphers, or as capable of being reduced to such at
his pleasure. The advisers attached to a powerful and perhaps
self-willed man ought to be placed under conditions which make it
impossible for them, without discredit, not to express an opinion, and
impossible for him not to listen to and consider their
recommendations, whether he adopts them or not.
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