THE NEW MINISTER

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 195, 13 May 1920, Page 4

THE NEW MINISTER

1 — — MR. G. J. ANDERSON APPOINTED HOW THE PRINCIPAL PORTFOLIOS ARE HELD. The Prime' Minister announced jester- ' day that Mr. G. J. Anderson, member for Mataiura, had been appointed to the Ministry to take the portfolio of Minister or Internal Affairs. ... Mr. Massey also gnvo a list of tne Ministers, with their principal portfolios as they would bo when Mr. Anderson arrived to take up his new duties. The list ran:— . _ Mr. Massey, Prime Minister, Railways and Finance. , ' . Sir William Herries; Native Affaire, Marine, and Customs. . • Sir Francis Bell, Attorney-General and Leader of the Legislative Council. Mr. Gu.thri£, Lands and Soldiers Land Settlement. ° . Mr. Nosworthy, Agriculture and immigration. ' . Mr. Coates, Public Works and Post-master-General. . Mr. Lee, Justice and External Affairs. Mr. Parr, Education and PubliO Health. . Mr. Anderson, Internal Affairs. , • Dr. Pomare, Native member of .the Executive. . . , "This list includes only the principal portfolios," said Mr. Massey. In tlio meantime Mr. Coates will carry on Defence, but this portfolio and one or two others will be definitely allocated before the session commences. I do not say that another Minister will not be appointed later, but'the Cabinet as it is now is a good Cabinet; every member of it is enthusiastic and anxious to make a sue- | cess of the Department which he con* The new Minister, the Hon. G. J. Anderson, has been in the House of Representatives 6ince 1908, in which year he defeated the sitting member, the late Dr. M'Nab, then Minister of Lands, it was the year after Mr. M Nab, asi ho then was, had introduced lus Land xmi, which was considered to be a somewhat 6erious infraction of the freehold tenure of land in New Zealand. Mr. Anderson chose to fight the election on this issue, and lie did so, winning against n. very strong candidate by a majority of some TOO votes. Since then lie lias held the , scat quite safely, and be has held also to his very firm freehold views. Mr. Anderson was as a young , man a compositor, and later, when he an interest in the "Mataura Ensißn, a paper in Gore, be took a P" 1 /?, j; h ® " torial and business control of the news paper. 'As a worker in the printing trade "he was at one iime a trades unionist. He enter politics quite against his personal wishes. Ho had no thought of doing 60, but there were, many influential his district who were .iiisious that M . M'Nab should bo opposed, and they I} 1 , 0 vailed on Mr>,Andorson to contest the seat Once in the contest he fought it with the utmost, vigour and won. ,