Soho TOKUTOMI attributed the true failure of the cabinet to Saionji's excessive dependence on Katsura, his 'sworn friend'; Soho criticized the cabinet by saying, '(SAIONJI) depended on Buddha (KATSURA) and went down to the hell (resign en masse).' (Taisho seikyoku shiron [A Political History of the Taisho Era])
なお、徳富蘇峰は「（西園寺は）仏（桂）を頼んで地獄（総辞職）に落ちた」と評し（『大正政局史論』）、西園寺の度を越えた「盟友」桂への依存が政権崩壊の真の原因と評している。