WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 May 1925, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

PASHIXC OK TH K PRF.AIIER. AVI lAT 'I'M E LOSS .M KAN'S. (Special to “Guardian".) WK 1.1.1 NOTON, May 11. To-rliu tin" passing ol the Prime .Minister i- tin- one topic ol eon vernation ill the litv. Among all classes oi the community, among political opponents as well as among political h'ieiids, there i- a feeling of personal loss. ,M r Ala-sey was no less tile father of the people than was .Mr Seihlon. as readily

aei ossible to the poor and the insigmlieant as to the rich and the renowned, and in that capacity lie is being mourned. The eoininitliity had htiilt high hopes on the encouraging biilletitis of last week. It had half persuaded itself thill a miracle had happened and that flic sorely stricken leader was to he rescued from the tell destroyer which had held him in its grip. I'A'cii alter the issue ol the less favorable bulletins of ’I hursdnv and Friday there were many folk who continued to hope apain st hope. I here had lieen eases of recovery before, they said, nod there would he canes a train. Tim Minister had the constitution ol ten men. the vitality ol a score ami the optimism ol a hundred. Hut the later news on Saturday shook even the faith of these .stalwarts, who had kept on helo t inp in spite of nil the pioiiomiceieents ol the medical men. and on Kmidnv it was known that tile end was at hand. Shortly after sin in the eveniup he passed on treed troin sufI'erinp that had been borne witli patience ami fortitude eharaelerislie of the man and leavinp behind him a nation immeasurably Ihe poorer lor his

Till.; CONSTITI TIONAI. POSITION. Hy the death of the Prime .Minister lli(. other Ministers oi the Crown aut matieallv cease to hold otfue. though of course, they will eoiilinue to administer the affairs of their respective departments till their successors are appointed. It is expected that the Gov-ernor-General will send for Kir Francis Hell, the senior member of the Cabinet, who has been serviup as Aetiiip Prime .Minister since Mr Massey’s ill-

ness entered upon ils more acute stupe and entrust him with the formation of a new Cabinet. Ihe more* recent precedent for liis Kxeelleiiev's elliel ndliser sitlinp in the l.epislalive Council dales back to the period helween April '-’I. LSS2. and September do. ISSA, ■ when Sir Frederick Whitaker tilled the office. Pre\ ions to that the I lon I). Pollen, si ll inp in the Council. was Prime Minister Iroiu duly ti. to February 10. !>?{>. Sir Krederiek Whitaker held the pnrtfnlio ul Attor-ney-General and Mr Pollen that of Colonial Secretary, an office similar to that of the Minister of Internal Affairs el' the present day. Sir Harry Atkinson. whin served as Prime Minister himself on live occasions—his first term of office extending over only thirteen days was Colonial r l reasuror (a title now clamped to Minister of Finance, in both the Pollen and the Whitaker Ministries and was pratcicallv the impulse behind his two nominal leaders. The precedents seanely aiipur a lonp term ul olliee lor Sir Francis Hell in the event of his succeeding Mr Massey, hut he is highly qualified hy knowledge and experience for the position and he probably will find both I’arliainenl and the country 1 nlcrnut. AT Till’, TItKASCHV. 1.1 is being assumed that Mr Donnie

Stewart will he hack from America in time fo take Ids place in the lintise when it meets at the end ol .Mine. The .Minister ol' Industries and Common *• was Mr Massey’s right-baud man in debate last session. Ids knowledge of finance and his facility ul discussing it making him indispensable to I lie Prime .Minister at a time when through sheer physical suffering he was unable to give adeipiate attention to the subject liimseiil. It would seem aimo-t inevitable Mr Stewart would lone charge ol Idle Trenxurv. which is likely to to the iim.-t important ol all Idle deeartnn*nts of Stale during the next leaf or two. Difficult times are before the occupant of the olliee and he must have vision and courage, as i ell as knowledge and understanding lo pilot the country through them successfully. The responsibility of lie* Minister holding flits portfolio is made all the greater by the fact that th re are not more than a dozen men in I’ar-

liameiit pretending to have more than a superficial acquaintance with public iiiaiuee, and not half that number pos-

sessing a good working knowledge of the subject. The electors since the first, extension of the franchise have required no such qualification tor their r'preseuLat ives and Parliament lias be-

come a reflection of their indifference. The re.sidt Inis been to hand the fiiinnees of the country largely over to the heads of departments having lo the taxpayers the pi Allege of paying: the piper. WHAT MAY HAPPEN. While there remained any hope of .Mr Massey resuming the active duties 0 1 his olliee it was perfectly perinissable for Sir Francis Hell to play the part of .feting Prime Minister. Willi that hope extinguished, however, and with Parliament- in session, the succeeding Government would he taking a hold stem and, it would seem a not ivrv judicious one, in facing the eoitiiIry with a member of ils uninitiated chamber as its leader. Almost two generations of electors have had time to forget that- such an expedient is possible. .Moreover, Mr Seddoti, Sir Joseph Wsird and Mr .Massey in succession have laid down the principle that the portfolio of Finance must, lie held hv the Prime .Minister, a dictum that lias been observed for thirty years, save during the existence ol the National Cabinet when the circumstances were quite exceptional. It is ‘iiconeeivahle that in these days the Dominion would tolerate a Prime Minister, irresponsible to the electors and yet clothed with authority to select his own colleagues and to do pretty well wlmt he pleased with the finances of the country. .Such an arrangement carried beyond the opening of the approaching session would be resented inside aml outside of Parliament, and would give point to much of the criticism of the Labour Party. A joint attack from the Labour and Liberal camps might find the Government in an extr-mely difficult position in which it con’ . not count upon very strenuous support front some ol Mr .Masseys old supporters. There can he no doubt ■ ]uit things will l*o happening in the political world in the near iuture.