A MINISTER'S CARES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1211, 21 August 1911, Page 6

A MINISTER'S CARES.

WHAT MR. MILLAR TOLD THE , ENGINE-DEIVERS. The annual .smoke, concert of the En-gine-Drivers' Union was held in the Railway Social Hall on Saturday night. Mr. W. J.'Hopkirk presided, and among thos9 present .were the Minister for R,iilwavs (Hon. J. A. Millar), Mr. F. M. B. Fisher, M.P., Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P., Mr. J. P. Luke, M.P., Mr. D. M'Laren, M.P., Mr. D. Buick, M.P., Dr. A. W. Izard, and Messrs. A. L. Beat tie, Pearson, and Gordon, I 'officers of the' Department. A. pleasant evening was spent in song and spieeches. . ,

The toast-list included that of the NewZealand Parliament, proposed by Mr. Makin,- and coupled with the names of the Hon. J.'A. Millar and-.the-other members of Parliament present. Mr. Makin said he knew more about the railways than about Parliament, but one. thing was generally recognised and that was that members of Parliament were good follows, who .worked long hours without grumbling.-, !'■■■'

. "Mr, Millar, in replying to tho toast, sai'd' that Parliament was not altogether .a-f>ed of roses. Sometimes fields looked green when' far away, but when seekers after those fields came up with,'them, they often had their minds disabused of the original idea. They had their troubles in the House, but they were able to keep them there, and only on one or two occasions had they been' carried beyond. Speaking of the present Parliament, the Minister said he thought it -was quite equal to ,former Parliaments. It was oftentimes said, that' the Parliament of to-day did not compare- with those of the past, and while he did not want to decry the men of old.'it had to be remembered, when' comparing thorn with : those of the present, day, that the latter had to deal with problems, of a, complicated nature such as. never, presented themselves to the men of old. Parliament had attempted to grapple with those problems, and had been.in the, fortunate position of having no vested interests to contend with. They had been remarkably successful, too. And in regard to the railways that had been laid would any of those - old surveyors' say they ooujd have done better?. Of course, in beating a new track, it was inevitable that they should make mistakes, but these had been rectified from time to .time, and it was very satisfactory to note that men were coming here from other lands to see for themselves the social conditions of this country and to study them. The way our methods wero being adopted in other countries was very' flattering indeed. Parliament was doing its best to see that certain' social conditions that were ruining other .countries could not come about in" New Zealand, and could anyone deny that the conditions here had greatly improved in the last 20 years? Any future Parliament would be compelled to go on similar lines, and whatever Government was in power must necessarily bo progressive, beeauso stagnation mSant death. Whenever they hoard. Parliament being condemned for not doing this, that, and the other thing, they, should remember •that Parliament had to consider the interests of the community as a whole.. In conclusion, the Minister said ho was glad to be thero among them, for being in closer contact might serve to bring about a better feeling than already existed. "You havo yonr troubles, and I have mine. I have had a few jobs in my time, from watching before the mast to Minister for Railways, and I never want a harder one than this. I will not be sorry when my time comes to hand over to someone else. But-I don't Worry. If anyohc, becoming Minister for Railways, worries, his life is going to be a very short one indeed." However, tho Minister, said, he was not going to talk further of railways, for they; ought to havo at least one night a yeai'vin which thoy couid lay all. their aside. Tho other 'members of Parliament .who were present gave their different impro-s-' sions of political life, and also spoke in complimentary terms of tho. New Zealand railway ■ employees, particularly . the en-gine-drivers, cleaners, and firemen.'