THE Kaipara Advertiser AND WAITEMARA CHRONICLE. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1912. THE HIGH COMMISSIONER.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 14 August 1912, Page 2

THE Kaipara Advertiser AND WAITEMARA CHRONICLE. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1912. THE HIGH COMMISSIONER.

THERE can be no doubt that a very suitable man has been appointed by the Government. The question arises whether he is the best that could have been chosen within the power of the government. Others who were mentioned in the time of the late government were Sir John Findlay and Sir Jos. Ward. Of thcr;e the latter though freely spoken of by outsiders, never was available for the simple reason that he had other designs ; political, of course not of service unpolitical. There remained then Sir John Findlay. When the new Government took office there was added, in public opinion, Sir William Russell, MiMackenzie, and Mr J. G. Wilson. Now Sir John Findlay had very few qualifications for the position not being familiar with the commercial problems looming larger every day in the scope of the High Commissioner's work. For the rest, a good speaker and a good lawyer familiar with international law too, he could have done well for the ornamental functions and for some of the diplomacy. But the lack of business experience and the want of grasp of the special problems of the office marked him out. If the government was to go out of the circle of government supporters, there was not sufficient inducement in the qualifications of Sir John Findlay to take them in his di- ; rection." Sir William Russell i was ornamental enough for the post, diplomatic enough and had been a Minister of the Crown. Also has he had considerable experience of the business problems. But he is not nearly so familiar with these as Mr Mackenzie, who has studied them on the spot and therefore could start with half the firework done. Sir William, moreover, is not of the strong fibre to support the new climate, nor has he the gifts of character required lor the doing of battle with " beasts at Ephesus." This qualification Mr Mackenzie possesses in great abundance, far beyond the average of mankind. The unwritten rule of prescription which has hitherto been followed by which the party in power is represented in London, was of course an asset of Sir William. But the balance of assets undoubtedly lay with Mr Mackenzie. Mr | Wilson is great on the agricultural side; it is his strong point; but in other respects he is very far behind the rival from the other side of politics. Thus it is plain that the choice narrowed itself down to Mr Mackenzie. It was a case of " v Eclipse first, the rest nowhere." The only point for consideration was the discarding of the political prescriptive tradition. Under .the circumstances the government must be regarded as having chosen wisely. There are men within their party who are unhappy about it. These are airing the sarcastic theory that' the Cabinet is weaker than the Prime Minister. Well that at all events is the best tribute to the capacity of Mr Massey for leadership. All we can say is that whenever he finds himself with i the merits of a great public questton behind him and his colleagues against him, he will continue to prove the stronger force. That there is some weakness in the party in consequence of this decision, we may judge from the curious fact that the organ of the party greets with disapproval the decision which a few days ago it approved in advance. It appears that the collective strength which has proved the weaker is approved by the organ after the decision has made approval too late. But this does not concern the country,The one thing for the country to consider with any effect is that the best man has been chosen for an extremely important public position.

A "UNIQUE BUDGET THE recent Budget presented to the House of Representatives by the Hon. James Allan (Minister of Finance) is, in many respects, unique and speaks for itself as embracing numerous proposals, which if carried out should prove to be of great benefit to this Dominion as a whole. At the present stage it is, of course, quite impossible to review so large a Budget in its entirety; consequently, we shall content ourselves by devoting due attention to a brief resume of the principal features involved. With regard to the latter, we may remark that the question of substituting an elective Upper Chamber in line of the ancient order of the past has always appealed to us as being not only imperative, but a movd in the right direction. From time to time the Legislative

Council has been adequately described as a refuge for the " weary Willies "on the keen scent of a soft seat to tied them over the final span of declining years, and, unfortunately for the general /welfare of the Country this some- [ what vituperative summing-up has been found in several cases to fill the bill to the letter. Naturally, there are those in the political arena, opposed to the change, as anything in the guise of there reform does not meet with their appioval; however the ousted Liberal Party, whose members have not yet recovered from the bad effects of the bitter pill they had to swallow on the occasion of the Prime Minisier (then looked upon as the Leader of an Opposition that is no more); putting forth his No-Confidence Amendment, should bear in mind the fact that they do not now occupy conspicuous seats on the Treasury-Benches with Sir Joseph Ward Bart., as the Monarch of maladministrative tendencies. Further, it is pleasing to note that the Budget contains, among other important proposals, something in the way of making the Civil Service more attractive, and eliminating the political influence that, hitherto, has utterly frustrated all efforts at even partial attempts approaching re-organ-isation, and keeping it clear from the stigma of bribery and corruption. Also,, the proposed amendments anent the Aribitration Act, although rather vague in their present unmatured state, clearly indicate that the vital subject of industrial unrest, and the best means by which labour disputes may be settled on a mutually satisfactory basis, will receive careful attention. Personalty, we have previously asserted that the Arbitration Court is the only medium through which employers and employees can expect to have fair treatment mated out to them ; but in the actual settlement of the troubles that fall to the lot of the workers, we have never advocated the ruling of a Supreme Court Judge." Hence, the suggestion that, in future, such jurisdiction be propelled by independent representatives —man who understand industrialism from every point of the controversial compass, and thus may be expected to give unbiassed dicisions —will enlist the sympathetic endorsement of all concerned. Apart from the features of the Budget to which we have referred, there are others equally interesting, but space at our disposal prevents us from dealing with them at the passing moment. In conclusion, we think that the Minister of Finance is to be congratulated on presenting a Budget that augurs well for the successful administration of the New Government, comprised as the latter is of thoroughly practical politicians with a practical sense of what is due to the people of this Dominion.