WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 11 May 1926, Page 1

WELLINGTON TOPICS

CABINET A PPOINTMENTS

‘SOAIETHTNG MORE IMPORTANT.”

(Special to “ Guardian.”)

„ WELLINGTON May 7. On his return journey from the sout yesterday the Prime Alinister told th v inquiring journalist that it was improl j able any announcement relative t additional appointments to tho Cabine t would be made before next week. H made a somewhat similar statement, i will be remembered, two or three, o ( maybe, four months ago when the pul lie was eagerly looking for develop incuts. Now the public is busier jest ’ ing over the delay than speculatin' over the appointments themselves. Af |. Coates feels, however, that at th, I moment he lias a good excuse for fur I tlier postponing his decision. “Then is something more important than tha on hand,” he told the reporters win , asked for the names of the new Minis tors, meaning, it may bo presumed that the grave catastrophe which hac befallen, tho Alotlier Country over-shad ' owed all other mattors—for the time being. But while the public joins witl the Urime Alinister in deploring wliai is happening at the other end of the world it may not find it easy to under stand why these happenings should entail still further delay in completing his task of Cabinet making. The genera' • opinion appears to be, indeed, that the troubles at Home, which must affect the Dominion more or less, according to their duration, make it more important than ever that its administrative machinery should he in the highest state of efficiency. THE TWO .MINISTERS. Much amusement has been occasionjed in political circles here by the reports of speeches delivered by the Prime Alinister and the Alinister of Finance during their recent visits to Canterbury. Air Coates, though lie evidently studied to make light of the Government’s achievement, drew pointed attention to the surplus of from Cl. 100.000 to £1,240,000 on which he based his claim to have soeu the Dominion through a prosperous year. A million and a-quarter or thereabouts will ho a very nice little nest-egg to have on hand if the strike in Britain

indefinitely delays the floating of the Dominion’s anticipated loans. But ATr Nosworthy, always a pessimist, with a penchant for looking on tho dark side of things, thinks that neither the Prime Alinister nor tho country has any reason to regard with complacency the unexpected windfall. Following his Chief in the speech-making at the Rhodes banquet in Christchurch he said he believed in telling the truth and telling people where they stood. ITc was afraid that had it not been for the large increase in the imports to Now Zealand during tho year, and consequent increases in Customs duties, the expected surplus of £1,100,000 would not have been possible. lie had not budgeted for such an amount, and lie was of tho opinion that the large amount of imports might have had a bad effect in disturbing tho balance between imports and exports. It is not usual fop- n Alinister to traverse the statements of his chief in this fashion, and only a light-hearted leader could enjoy the jest as ATr Coates is doing. ’ CONTROL TN ANY CASE. Air T. C. Brash, the secretary of the Dairy Board, inspired no doubt, by his

principals, has made a statement concerning the outcomes of tho recent dairymen’s conference which is giving rise to a good deal of animated discussion. “If the recommendations of the conference are accepted by the Government.” the material part of the statement runs, without any patie.ular regard to the niceties of language, “each dairy company or proprietor in the individual wards would vote according to its tonnage, with certain restrictions on the larger outputs. Whether or no the suggested amendments to the legislation for the election of the board will necessitate a general election is a- matter for the Government to decide. As the present producers’ members on tho board are almost evently distributed throughout the Dominion, it is possible that legislation might provide that they each, hold their seats in the wards in which they at present reside. There is nothing in connection with the proposed legislation which will involve the postponement, of absolute control.” Of course the recommendations of ilio conference were the recommendations of the “absolute control” majority, the “ free marketing ” minority having retired as a protest against the rulings of the Chairman, and, judging from what one picks up ill the strceL and elsewhere, there still is a stiff battle to fight before they can be enforced. A POLITICAL QUESTION.

It looks now as if the whole matter of dairy control (hacl become a political question. The majority on the Board has made up its mind that there shall be ‘ absolute control ” at any price, that the franchise for the election of

members of the Board shall rest upon tons of flutter and not upon individual suppliers and that no concession of any kind shall, be made to the minority.

These are questions the Board could decide in its own favour very easily flyweight of produce : but if is very doubtful if it could do so by weight of in-

dividual votes. There seems to be no doubt, even on the admissions of the majority on the Board, that a referendum on the principle of one man one vote would find a majority of suppliers in favour of a modification of the com-

pulsory clauses of the present Dairy Act. which, admittedly, was put through Parliament under some misapprehension. This being the ease it is hardly credible that tho Prime Alinister with all the facts before him would countenance the substitution ol the tonnage system of voting for the individual system and so hand over the control of the whole business "to the few hands instead of to the many. At any rate recent developments have brought the controversy directly into the political arena, a proposed radical change in the franchise making this inevitable, and It is inconceivable that at this time of day the politicians would permit a reversion to a system now associated in the popular mind only - with the dark ages.