NEWS OF THE WEEK.
IT was announced on Monday that Sir Henry Campbell. Bannerman, owing to the condition of his health— which, we regret to say, shows no improvement—had resigned the office of Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, and that Mr. Asquith had been sent for by the King. Mr. Asquith reached Biarritz, where the King still is, on Tuesday, and on Wednesday resigned the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and kissed bands on his appointment as First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister. According to the etiquette usually followed in such cases, Mr. Asquith's colleagues are understood to have individually tendered their resignations to him in order that he might have a free band in the reconstruction of the Cabinet. This does not, of course, mean that Ministers actually resign and are re- appointed. It merely means that they place themselves in the Premier's hands, and, in effect, tell him that they are willing, if be likes, (1) to resign, (2) to remain in the offices they now hold, or (3) to take some other office.
