The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 7, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1827, 7 August 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 7, 1906.

! In tlio selection of his Cabinet Sir J. G. Ward has dono tiio only thing that could possibly retain that Cabinet in power for any reasonable length of tiuio. '1 here was but ono man who could steer tho ship of Stato cloar of disaster with such a crow as composed the Seddun Cabinet, and that man is now with the angels. Sir Joseph has recognised tho hopelessness of continuing tho sorvices of the now deposed Ministers, and has taken unto himself other and stronger mon who are at least able to pilot tlioir departmental estimates through the House without the Premier’s aid. But tvhile he has excluded two of his former colleagues from Cabinet rank there are at least two others who might have been deposed also with advantage to the country. However, half a loaf is bo. ter than no bread, and tho exchange of tho two deposed onc-s for three better men will considerably allay the increasing pulsations of public dissatisfaction in regard to recent administration, although it will not cause them to entirely disappear. The inclusion in the Cabinet of the three new Ministers materially increases the prospects of purer administration and diminishes the inanity so ludicrously noticeable in the last and preceding Cabinets to such an extent as to givo Sir Joseph a reasonable ehanco of ovadiug defoat until tho

« rul oft ho proHont Parliament. Hir i"Hoph is poiHormllv popular in tlm Douso rr<l ho hits sho-.vn during his Into Uhiofs ahsonco from tho Chamber that ho posscssrs :t tactful command of the businaas >uul a ready method ol oxptid.ting its disposal without unduo or harassing debates. In this rospoot ho is a distinct improvement upon tho late IVI r SVddon, so that long-drawn out sessions may ho said to bo a thing

ol tho past, at auyrato for a time. Still much will depend on tho programme to bo decided upon by tho now Uabinot and tho toolings of dis appointed aspirants for soats on tho Government bonohos. Mr Ilogg, for instance, had claims to tho portfolio of Lands that woro not inferior oven to those of Mr MeNub, who is a lawyer and a loathor-bed Janitor. Mr Hogg too olaimod strong sympathy from tho Labor Party, greater porhaps than that accorded (o Mr Millar, who of lato years showed little repugnance to an alliance with ease and allluonco. Whether or not tho discontented and disappointed ones will exhibit their chagrin remains to bo seen, but there aro elements notwithstanding, that may cause a bubble of dissatisfaction, or, it may bo, disintegration in tho party following and a corresponding consolidation of tho labor vote. Ultra democrats and liido-boundparochialists will not fail to notice that five members of tho Ministry now represent 111,000 of a South Island population, while tlireo Ministers with minor portfolios havo boon allocated to a population of -177,000 North Islanders, and that Otago possesses as many Ministers as tho wliolo of tho North Island. Yet that is not a tangible reason why a Ministry should fail to possess tho confidence of tho country provided tho Ministry also possesses a suliiciont quota of that political honesty which would ensure a just distribution of public oxpondituro. Tho Ward Ministry havo now golden opportunities for showing that they intend to abandon tho deplorable record of tho past in the matter of political doles, and if they do that and allow common sonso to guido them in legislative progress thoy will gain tho support of the country. If, on the other hand, there is any semblanco of a perpetuation of tho methods that have brought Now Zealand politics to tho level of a Dutch auction for political support, tho lifo of the Ministry will bo a short one, and few will regret its demise. Meantime, the chance will bo afforded to Sir Joseph Ward and las colleagues to prove their bona lidos, for it is certain that even Mr Massey and his followers will hail with satisfaction any distinct improvement upon former experiences.