WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 22 December 1928, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS

NEW GOVERNMENT AT WORK. MASTERING DEPARTMENT'S. (Special to “ Guardian ”.) WELLINGTON, December 20. The continuance of practically tli£ same Government in office for so long a. period as sixteen years is not necessarily good for the State. It leaves all the intimate knowledge of administrative affairs with the leaders of one party. Mr Massey was placed at a disadvantage by this fact when lie assumed office in 1912, after the Liberals had reigned supreme for twenty-one years. Sir Joseph Ward is suffering the same experience just now, and probably two or three months will elapse before bo will become thoroughly acquainted with all the intricacies of the governing machine he laid down with the turn of the tide at the general election of 1911. Heads of departments are working harder than they have done for many a long day and the new Prime Minister is bearing his full share of the labour, helped, of course, by his previous experience, but still with a great deal of new ground to explore. The Parliament Buildings, as never before, are a veritable hive of industry on the very.eve. of the Christinas holidays. BACK TO THE LAND. The Bight Hon. J. G. Coates, who has been attending to bis private affairs here since the closing of the short session which determined his political fate for the time being, will leave for his home at Kaipara on .Friday, to turn his hand, as he jocularly puts it, “ to the plough and the cows again.” He obviously is in no way depressed by the impending change in his occupation and he carries away from Wellington no grudge against the electors .who have consigned him to the humbler walk of life. He is rather inclined to think, indeed, that changes of the kind he has experienced are good for both the country and the politician. While he is brushing up his>farming and refreshing his acquaintance with the needs of the men and women on the land, he suggests, Sir Joseph Ward will be extending his knowledge of the needs otf the country and devising means for their supply. Banter ot this kind may cover regrets, but it leaves them unhetrayed. BUSINESS IN PARLIAMENT.

During the progress of the recent general election pointed attention was drawn to the need for a larger sprinkling of business men in the House of Representatives. The subject was not taken up by any of the political parties, but it obtained some prominence in the newspapers and this publicity doubtless had something to do with a very marked increase in the number of business ,men occupying seats in Parliament, {sir, Joseph Ward, the new Prime .Minister, is essentially a business man with a. long and varied experience. The Hon. J. G. Cobbe, the Minister of Marine, Industries, and Commerce; the lion. W. B. Taverner, Minister of Railways and Customs; and the Hon. J. B. Donald, the Postmaster-General, are in the same category, while the Hon. G. W. Forbes, the Minister of Lands and Agriculture, the Hon. P. A. de la Perelle, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, all have had sound groundings in business affairs. Commercial men here, independent of party, are warmly welcoming their bettered representation in the new House.

DECENTRAL ISED COVER NM ENT. The announcement that “ the new Minister of Railways will continue his home in Dunedin,” and that “tin. matter of establishing ministerial offices in Dunedin and Auckland is receiving attention,” naturally has disturbed the Wellington public to some extent. “The announcement is so vague,” the “ Post ” says, “that if may mean anything, but ii it means what it appears to moan the Minister is proposing a dangerous innovation. . . . No important enterprise can be run on such lines to lessen the authority ol Wellington. Decentralisation is always desirable where possible, but not on a plan like this.” Whether or not there is any relation between Mr Taverner’s intention to “continue his home in Dunedin” and the establishment of “ministerial offices in Dunedin and Auckland is, as the “Post” states, not quite clear, but any dispersion, ol administrative authority certainly would disturb the amour-propre of the capital city. The removal of his home is a matter for Mr Taverner alone, but the reversal of a long-established railway policy is another affair altogether, in which Parliament may demand a voice.