The Dominion. THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1909. THE RECONSTRUCTED CABINET.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 399, 7 January 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1909. THE RECONSTRUCTED CABINET.

' The Prime. Minister is to bo' congratulated .upon,'the: fact; that; he has ;at last made known to the country the new members of his Cabinet whose, appointments wore required to fill tho gaps caused by the retirement-of Mr. HallJones and by the defeat at the general elections, of Mr. M'Nab. ; It has- been fully recognised that Sir Joseph Ward was. confronted with an extremely difficult task in choosing his new colleagues. In the first place,-' his following, though numerous, is singularly deficient in men of outstanding qualifications for office. Not one of tho dozen or more' members considorcd to have chances of selection could lay claim to any spccial political achievements or to any marked superiority ;over his fellows, and it 'is not surprising in the circumstances that " Sir Joseph dallied in order to study the situation, from other points of view than that of personal .fitness. Geographical considerations-were put forward; party services, no • doubt, were carefully 'weighed; the offect : of particular appointments on community. in>/

torestod in tho land question would bo balanced; the view'likely to be taken by the Labour party; the probable attitude of the many disappointed' aspirants in his own following would each have to be carefully considered. When, these and other aspects of the situation are taken into account, it is possible to understand the Prime '. Minister's . embarrassment and to-appreciate, tho surprising course he has finally followed in order to minimise tho difficulties of his position. ; Instead of appointing two Ministers, five have been offered office—two to fill the vacancies which havo existed for weeks past; , one to replace tho Hon. Jas. M'Gowan, who has suddenly retired and been called to the Upper House; and two additional Ministers without portfolio. In other words, the numerical strength of the Cabinet has been increased from eight to ten Ministers, and five of the number arc holding office for tho first time.

, The point which will most interest the country is the probable offecfc of the changes mado in 'strengthening or weakening tho Government in its legislative and in its administrative capacities. The Cabinet has lost the services of Messrs. Hall-Jones, M'Nab, and M'Gowan, who have been replaced by Messrs. R. M'Kenzie, Hogg, Buddo, T. Mackenzie, and Ngata. It , has gained in numbers, but the fact that, the Peime Minister considered it necessary to- so increaso the numerical strength of Ministers is in itself almost an. admission that tho calibre of the men now appointed is . less than that of the men whoso p'laces they have taken. We do not propose, however, to deal with that aspect of the question at the present time. The increase in the number of Ministers will probably prove a matter difficult to justify, more espfeeially when the allocation of portfolios is carefully gone into. What will surprise most people is the appointment of three Ministers such as Messrs. Hogg, T. Mackenzie,and Buddo, gentlemen who may bo claimed to have'some knowledge of the land question; and yet to pass over. each of these Ministers in alloting the portfolio of Lands in favour of tho Prime Minister, who has never given the question any special attention. Then again Me. Millar has been detached from the charge of tho Department of Labour; which he is specially qualified to control, and Mr. Hogg, who knows very little -of the subjcct, has been appointed to succeed him: Further, the responsibilities placed upon Mr. Buddo —Internal Affairs, Public Health, Valuations, and' Old Age Pensions—are absurdly light, and make it very plain that his elevation to' Cabinet rank was mainly influenced by the. desire to tender a sop to Canterbury. Mr. T. Mackenzie would no doubt have secured a bettor position in the Ministry but for his past party record. His comparatively recent conversion to the Government party will not make his appointment a popular one with loyal followers of the Government who have had to stand down in favour of this recent recruit. Mr. Ngata's selection looks rather ■ like a confession of weakness in the Government's past Native land policy. Ho has proved himself an earnest advocato of the interests of his follow Natives, but he has yet to show tbat his appointment was justified. As to Mr. R.\ M'Kenzie, the new Minister of Public Works,, wo are; inclined; to think' that Sir Joseph Ward, has ' embarked on a very daring experiment in calling' tho member for . Motucka to his ■Cabinet; 'In ;one sense of the word this Minister will prove a strong man—a stubborn, determined man, • headstrong and difficult to control. He : possesses possibilities 'of developing into a- capablo Minister—it is equally possible that he may prove a sourco of serious trouble to his party and a very indifferent: servant of the State. '

Taking the reconstructed Cabinet as a whole, we can find little cause for congratulating the Prime Minister or the country on the rearrangement made.. Sir Joseph Warl> may have had inferior material to work on, but we doubt whether he has made the. best use of the material available. Individually, the new members of the Government . ar6 . hardiy likely .to • inspire any great confidence in the officos to whicfi they have been appointed. At first sight the only changes in the distribution' of portfolios which make for are those of Kailways and Justice. The former Department badly requires attention, and Me. Miliar may prove himself capablo of instituting the reforms which are so urgently needed.- Mit.. M'Gotvan can hardly be said to have made a success of his tenuro of office as Minister of Justice, and De. Findlay should be much better equipped for the . position. We believe that the condition of the police force; of the. Dominion is far from satisfactory in several respects, and the new Minister of Justice can with advantage, devote his special, attention to this, particular section of tho Department under his oharge. But apart fvom these , two ,'changes and the .possibilit>y}of Mk. T. Mackenzie infusing some life into the. at present useless .; Industries and Commerce Department, there is little cause for- satisfaction in the rearrangement made. The Liberal party, looking back on tho names ■of the men who have'from time to time guided its destinies in Parliament, must realise the falling away in the calibre of 'its leader's; apd the country as a whole must feel that there is something wrong in our system of government when the highest offices within tho gift of the people are placed in the hands of men who, however admiiable their. personal qualities may be, have, shown so little evidence of- possessing even the elementary qualities .'of statesmanship.