WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 January 1932, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS

END OF THEIR HOLIDAY.

MINISTERS BACK TO WORK

(Special Correspondent)

WELLINGTON, January 12.

After such Christinas and New Year holidays as Ministers of the Crown are allowed to enjoy, all the members of the Coalition Cabinet, with the exception of 'the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, are in their office again confronted by an accumulation of work which will keep them busy for weens to come. Mr Stewart, who is reported to have made a mutually satisfactory trade agreement with the Canadian delegate during their meeting in Honolulu, will set out. on hie return journey to-morrow, and should be here in time to report in detail at the end of the month. The Hon. J. G. Cob be, the Minister of Defence, Justice and Marine, has been the only Minister about the “House” during the holidays, a distinction conferred upon him, probably, on account of his being domiciled within a hundred miles of the Capital City. Any way he is entitled to much credit for the manner in which he has kept the political machine running during the absence of his colleagues. THE NEW MINISTER. Probably one of the earliest matters demanding the attention of the Prime Minister, now that the political hnliday is over, will be the appointment of a Minister in place of the Hon. David Jones, who was unfortunate enough to lose his seat in the House only a month or two after his assumption of office. Mr Jones, who was awarded the portfolios of Agriculture and Mines in the Coalition Government, and presumably still holds them, is handicapped by a brasque manner which does not help him at the polls; hut he has a wide knowledge of affairs and a lucid method of expression. Presumably his successor will he nominated hv the Right Hon. J. G. Coates, the Leader of the Reform half of the Coalition Cabinet, and in view of past associations it will not he surprising if the Prime Minister is asked to appoint the Hon. A. D. McLeod, who was Minister of Lands in both the Massey and Coates Government, and recovered his old seat at ithe recent election.

WHAT NEXT? The somewhat cryptic replies Mr Forbes has vouchsafed to the newspapers which have invaded his privacy at Cheviot do not throw a great deal of light upon the immediate intentions of the Government. Though the Prime Minister has indicated a desire to avoid the cost and inconvenience of holding a session of Parliament in the early autumn, however, it seems more than likely that when the Minister of Finance returns from his trip to Honolulu he will .wish to lay the report of his negotiations before the House as speedily as possible. Further than this he will want to know before the conclusion of the financial year how the Treasury stands and what additional provision must he made for the future. It already is being taken for granted that a further “out” will he imnosed in the higher branches of the Civil Service, and a story, is abroad to the effect that a further cut of £SO will be imposed upon both branches of the Legislature. FURTHER EXP LO R ATI ON. The prospect of additional “cuts” in the salaries and wages of Civil Servants has drawn attention to the incomes enjoyed by individuals who, after completing their terms of service, withdrew with pensions ranging from £750 a year to well over £IOOO a year, and beyond. Few of there lucky folk, it is alleged displayed any particluar ability in the service. The great majority of them “just gnn>ed,” and growing with the passage of time they finally reached the goal a sleeping public and country had provided for them. It was not these folk who subscribed to the Civil Service “cul” of a few months ago. They subscribed never a penny to the million and a quarter or so provided by their successors, who,se prospective pensions, for the most part, would run into hut a poor pittance. There are not a great many °f these lucky pensioners, not more than a hundred or two, hut surely such n.s they are they would sleep the better were they larger contributors to the publics need.