The Dominion. Tuesday, January 28,1908. MINISTERS; AND THEIR WORK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 106, 28 January 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. Tuesday, January 28,1908. MINISTERS; AND THEIR WORK.

Ceutain recently . published statements made fy the' Premier and Mr. M'Nab incline us to believe 1 that no great time will elapse ere ell'ort is made to create further Ministers. The Premier says that the .time must come when the number of Ministers must be increased, and Mr. M'Nab has been •speaking very significantly of the rapid growth of the Department of Agriculture to such dimensions that it really requires the constant attention Df a Ministerial head who can give his whole time to it. Mr. Hall-Jones is expected to return fron* his sick-leave in a few'days, and although it is .pleasing to learn that his health is much improved, and. that. he. will be, sc completely restored as to enables him to resume his Ministerial .duties with his former zest,and energy, it is obvious that the severe shaking which he lias sustained will hot be left unmentioned by the people who are anxious to see the Ministry enlarged. It is notorious that the Government party contains many men who consider themselves entitled to a place in the Cabinet, and who, indeed, when the Premier brought in Messrs, Fowlds, Millar, and M'Nab, were deeply offended by the preference given to what they were convinced were men whose claims were, comparatively weak. If the Premier, therefore, were to submit to Parliament a proposal to. increase the number of Ministers, he could rely upon being assured by almost every one of his followers that a larger Ministry is a pressing public need of today. Perhaps this unanimity of thusiasm would disappear when the selection was made. We are not at all convinced that in this small country we require any further number of j\tinisters. Ever since the death of the late Mr. Seddon there has come from some quarters an almost unceasing agitation for the distribution of the Ministry's labours over a larger number of Ministers. The lesson of Mr. Seddon's death and the break-down of Mr. Hall-Jones is by no means what these people would have us suppose. Instead of creating new Ministers to copo with the business which is transacted by the Ministry, the Government should greatly reduce the activities of its members. It is rather unlikely, to say the least of it, that a iS T ew Zealand Minister has heavier responsibilities upon him than rest on a member at the British Cabinet. Yet the members of the British Government find time to attend to th6ir work, a,nd. still allow thonw selves sufficient leisure to cultivate social pleasures, and to make many really remarkable contributions to the non-political thought, and literature of the day. ' The secret is a simple one • British Ministers trust, more fully to the Departmental heads, and leave to them the supervision of that mass of fatiguing detail which our Ministers attend to themselves. Nor do British U ; Ministers waste their time and their

energies in those ceaseless, scurrying? over the country that <jre tlie distinguishing characteristic of NewV Zealand Ministers, TJiey do not visit obscure localities tq preside over petty functions, nor do they visit almost unlieard'Of hamlets to receive in persbn the demands of the local residents for public improvements t]iat 'sometimes would cost less than tlie visit' of the Minister; •. ■ <. . _ The truth is that ,Ministers in this country are doing a great deal of unnecessary and undignified worl?, If Great Britain's Ministry bore the Same proportion to population as ■ does our own Ministry, it would half fill the House pf-Commons, and when it met in Cabinet it would resemble a large public meeting. , The great obstacle in the way of Ministerial reform in New Zealand is the ■ affeetion of Ministers for. a way of life that 'enables them to keep their hold upon the small rural districts, and upon the distribution of petty political patronage. Every MiU' ister knows tlie political value of a personal visit to a rural centre. His presence is regarded as a high, complir ment, and as a significant mark of the affectionate esteem in which One Tree Hill isheld by the Government. After years of this .amusing make-believe, One Tree Hill is as susceptible as ever to the charm qf (< thei Minister himself "; and the result is /that the larger affairs of State are: constantly being neglected for the sake'of these petty vote-catching junketings. If Minjsr ters were tQ' abandon their practice of flying about the country to take part in trifling functions, and to hear petty requests and complaints, which' could be attended to quite as wellin Weir lington, and if they confined them-' selves to the broad concerns of administration, leaving to the Departmental officers' the control of details, we should hear less about the "overwork" that is alleged to be calling loudly , for new portfolios. . , ,*