Page:Paul Samuel Reinsch - Secret Diplomacy, How Far Can It Be Eliminated? - 1922.djvu/166



Crown's fundamental prerogative in which it must remain free from direct control of Parliament. William III was in fact to a very large extent his own Minister for Foreign Affairs. With the in- troduction of responsible Government under the Hanoverians, however, the situation changed. The dominant party being represented by the ministers was quite ready to submit to their guidance in matters of foreign affairs. It was the opposition who occasionally attacked the gov- ernment on its foreign policy, and particularly the opposition in the House of Lords. In a Lords ' protest of March 26, 1734, it was urged that ' ' the interposition of the British Parliament would be more effectual than the occasional expedients of fluctuating and variable negotiations." In 1740 it was moved that a select committee consisting of peers should be appointed to inquire into the conduct of the Spanish War. The motion was re- jected. Another Lords' protest in the same year opposes the argument that absolute secrecy is es- sential because this claim is often used in bar of all inquiries. Such secrecy is "much oftener the refuge of guilt than the resort of innocence."

Wyndham, in 1733, on a motion calling for cer- tain letters of instructions, argued for the neces- sity of giving such information to Parliament.