THE GOVERNORGENERAL

Hokitika Guardian, 4 December 1930, Page 6

THE GOVERNORGENERAL

A GREAT INNOVATION.

DOMINION SECRETARY’S COMMENT.

LONDON, December 2.

The Secretary of State for the Dominions, Rt. Hon. J. H. Thomas, speaking at a farewell dinner to Lord Clarendon, referred to the appointment of Sir I. Isaacs as GovernorGeneral of Australia. He said it is “a great change and an innovation which, I hope and pray, will he a success. For the first time in the history of the . British constitution, the King has appointed as GovernorGeneral a very distinguished Australian.”

Mr C T. T. Water (South Africa), w lio presided, said that a. new confidence had been created in recent years, and a closer bond had been formed between the Governor-General and the Executive, resulting in the widening of the sphere of the Governor-General in t the future.

KING’S DECISION

LONDON, December 2,

The newspapers are giving great prominence to the appointment of the Chief Justice, Sir I. Isaacs, as Govern-or-General of Australia. The “Daily Express” describes it as ‘‘the first illustration of the historic change in the constitutional relationships between the Dominions and the Mother (Country arising from the Imperial Conference, in which a nativeborn Australian has been appointed Governor-General of the Commonwealth.” The paper proceeded to emphasise that the announcement of the appointment was made from Australia Rouse, London, and not as hitherto, in the “London Gazette.”

A third point of extreme interest, adds the paper, is the wording of the announcement, vizi.: “His Majesty the King, on the recommendation of the Rt. Hon. J. H. Scullin, has appointed, etc.” The paper also points out that, in the present case, the Dominions Office was unaware of the appointment' until the announcement had been made from Australia House.

SWEARING IN NEXT MONTH,

SYDNEY, December 3.

Sir Isaac Isaacs, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, will be sworn in, as Governor-General of Australia, about the middle of January. He is at present in Sydney, presiding over a part-heard case.

To-day Sir Isaac has received hosts Of congratulatory cablegrams and telegram^. V In acknowledging A the congratulations of the Bar/ Sir Isaac Isaacs said : 4—“ l am htpnbly, dutifully grateful to my King for'the very high honour he has graciously conferred upon, me, and I trust I shall be worthy of it.” ‘ ‘THE, TIMES’ ’ COMMENT. LONDON, December 3. “The Times,” in a leading article on Sir I. Isaacs’ appointment, says “Sir Isaac Isaacs’ name/ apparently, was submitted to the' King without, any alternative or any formal preliminary conversation, which is most significant to those who care for the maintenance of the Grown as ope of the, regaining vital links of the Empire. Australians may reflect on the disadvantage of leaving the Commonwealth’s highest post as a prize for men who have taken sides in party politics. They may also reflect that any step that would be quotable as a tendency of drift from the other Dominions. is hardly calculated to improve their standing and credit in the eyes of the world.” , . “The Times” continues: “The King was undoubtedly right in confirming the appointment. The risk of an election fought on a difference between the Crown and the Commonwealth Government enlisting all of the forces of republicanism, Communism, anti -imperial ism, and religious fanaticism is not to be contemplated. A weaker sovereign might have resisted his Minister’s advice, but Mr Scullin’s political embarrassments and manifest inexperience, and the fact that he had offered, the place to a friend, in all good faith, before he left Canberra, made the case all the stronger for His Majesty’s consent; hut it must be kept reserved for use if the Minister’s advice, anywhere in the Empire, should run counter to the interests of the people and the true interests of the country concerned.

BARRIER REMOVED. LONDON, December 3. Referring to the Australian Governor, the “Daily Telegraph’s” gossiper, “Peterborough,” describes the announcement as “one of the romances of the Dominions,” and adds: “To begin his career as Sir Isaacs did—a boy clerk in the public service—and to end as the representative of the King, is to join the select company of self-made immortals,” CAUSES A SURPRISE. SYDNEY, December 3. There has been considerable surprise. occasioned here by Sir Isaac Isaacs’ appointment as Governor-Gen-eral, although he is held in the highest esteem. Lady Isaacs recently returned from a-trip, abroad. There are two daughters, Mrs David Cohen, of Sydney, and Mrs Sefton Cullen, of Singapore.

The Sydney “Evening Nows” says: —“Certainly Australian opinion is not unanimous in favour of the appointment of an Australian, as Govern-or-General, hut this lack of unanimity lias nothing personal in it, for there is no more outstanding Australian, and no one better deserving of being tlie King’s representative that Sir Isaac Isaacs. He is a very distinguished lawyer, who has filled and adorned, many public offices.”

MERCENARY IDEA VAUNTED

SYDNEY, December 3

The “Sun” says:—“While the appointment of Sir Isaac Isaacs as Gov-ernor-General is a concession to Australian sentiment, it conies at a singularly unhappy time. It is perfectly certain to colour British feeling, and it is almost sure*, to affect the financial issue between the two countries. To many Britons, it will be as if we struck away a hand offered in fellowship ‘They wish to walk alone, we will not intrude’—that will undoubtedly he the response of the British people who tl'iink about these things.”