342 THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT [PART 11
the decision from the Agent-General. Then again, apart from
that difficulty, there is the fact that Colonial Governments
change quickly, and that an Agent-General often accepts the
post when his Government is about to fall : the result is that
he cannot ever be said to be in the confidence of the Govern-
ment—a good example of such lack of trust being the case of
Mr. Jenkins, Agent-Generalfor South Australia, whoresignedin
1908, as the Government had unwisely attempted to negotiate
a loan in London behind his back, an attempt which resulted
in something like a fiasco, as owing to a premature divulgence
by a minister the London firm with which the negotiations
had been conducted broke them off. Nor can an Agent-
General, except in exceptional circumstances, ever be really
a member of the Government of the Dominion or State.
There is inevitably the result that he becomes an official
highly respected, but not exactly in the confidence of the
Government. Such a general statement is, of course, subject
to exceptions, but, broadly speaking, it will not be denied
to be correct by any person who has observed recent political
events in the Dominions.
The appointment of the High Commissioner for the Com-
monwealth has simplified in one way the position of the
matter. There are now in London representatives of the
Dominions except Newfoundland, all with the status of High
Commissioners, and all posts filled by men of high standing
in the country, Lord Strathcona, one of the most remarkable
men of the century, Sir George Reid, Sir W. Hall J ones, and
Sir R. Solomon. Except Lord Strathcona, each of these
officers has held high ministerial office in his Dominion :
Sir G. Reid has been Prime Minister of the Commonwealth as
well as of New South Wales; Sir W. Hall Jones has acted as
Prime Minister of New Zealand ; and Sir R. Solomon has been
minister in the Cape and the leading figure in the Crown
Colony administration of the Transvaal. It might therefore
* Cf. House of Commons Debates, April 19, 1911, xxiv. 961. A High
Commissioner may of course be technically a member of the Executive
Council (as in Canada, the Commonwealth, Victoria, and Tasmania), but he
caunot be a member of the Cabinet.
