AT No. 10.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 30 October 1914, Page 8

AT No. 10.

A PEEP INSIDE THE PREMIER'S HOME IN DOWNING STREET.

Downing Street, it has often been said, symbolises our Britifjh habit of burying national treasures. This narrow, . quiet, fifty-yards cul-de-sac is the most famous street in the world ; its name is known and respected in all the great Chancellories and embassies ; it is part of the pilgrimage of the globe-trotter; yet the average Londoner passes it daily without noting that he does

The life of Downing Street dates back to 1663, when the baronet of that name built the houses that now represent the official residences of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Its memories make an imperishable landmark in the record of British history. The only meeting between Wellington and ?*e\sun took place in this •street. Both were waiting for an audience with the Minister for War and the Colonies. Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley) knew Nelson from his pictures ; Nelson did not know the soldier. They were introduced, and afterwards parted never to meet again—duty took Nelson to Trafalgar ! AS IN OLD LONDON. Externally, No. 10 and No 11 are amontf the dingiest-looking houses in London. For all the world, they resemble boarding-houses about to be let. Their bricks are dull and smoke-laden, their windows small and cramped, and their general appearance is suggestive of the old London that' is fast being destroyed. Just now No. 10 is as great a centre of national interest as ever it was. There is much activity in the world of politics, and Ministers are frequently in conference over the important issues involved in home and foreign affairs. Let us take a peep into the mysteries behind the door so jealously guarded by police. We enter the large hall. Here Mr. Asquith lias imparted a little relief to the dull aspect of officialdom by displaying- the heads of gazelles., buffaloes, and other spoils of the chase brought home by his son from the Soudan a year or two ago. A casual set of gold-clubs in the corner are the only other evidence of Downing Street's connection with the ordinary affairs of life. Green-baize doors lead from the hall down a corridor of such cavernous length that the air of secrecy comes over us. A plaster bust of Pitt is the only variation from the grey monotony of that long passage. Pitt's efligy stands as a sentinel to the rooms that have been occupied by thirty-four Prime Ministers in unbroken succession. Disraeli, Chatham, Canning, Pfilmerston, Wellington, Peel, Gladstone, down to Roseberry, Salisbury, Half our, and Campbell-Ban-"■'.tniiiin', have- talked over the destinies of Empire in the little room

beyond the second set of gakr&st* doors. ; IN DAYS OF DISCONTENT. While we are waiting for a peep into the Cabinet-room a photograph of Spencer Perceval reminds us of the seriousness of ancient politics. He was Prime Minister in 18.12, and was shot by the fanatic BelI lingham in the Lobby of the old j House of Commons. These wero r days of discontent and unsettle- \ ment caused by the long wars with Napoleon. Inside the home of the Cabinet, where only a few hours earlier Ministers had been discussing mighty matters, another surprise comes. For all the world, it resembles a very ordinary library in a very ordinary mansion. . A long room, about fifty feet by twenty, looking : into St. James's Park and the Horse Guards Parade, it contains nothing but bookshelves, a lot of "leather-seated chairs, and a greenbaize table. The books are uninspiring Hansards or dull official records. The only photograph is that of Francis Bacon, the first Viscount St. Albans, who thought it "a strange desire in men to seek power and loose liberty." Opposite the place where each Minister sits is a blotting-pad, clean and unmarked. All pads aro destroyed after each meeting, so that even the ink traces may .not live to furnish a clue as to what lias happened at the sitting. >To record, no evidence of any sort, is kept of the momentous discussions which take place at a Cabinet" Council. If only those walls could speak ! —"Answers."