THE PRIME MINISTER AT WORK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 36

THE PRIME MINISTER AT WORK.

HIS ONE RECREATION. {Fsom Oxm Own Cobbespokdent.) WELLINGTON, January 15. The Prime Minister has' been unburdening himself to the Post about his daily round. This morning he had 250 documents of various kinds to deal - with before 10 o'clock. "Sufficient for the day 1b thft work thereof " is Sir. Joseph's goldten rule. He does not allow' things to accumulate and overwhelm him. The documents keep ; pouring in. and if they are neglected for i one day they remain to make the next 1 day's -burden very greivous. The Prime Minister abhors arrears. His temperament -leads him to be prompt, and " clean down decks " each day, so that his -.mind will be free for the morrow's events. The things of yesterday are not a. drag anchor on him. To-day and the things of to-day, will not be a shackle upon him. To-mor-row, " Into it " ia his battle -ory, though he does not express it that way. Therefore, when the work rises at .him he rites a 4 lie -work. Two or three times a week he ia up with the lark, and by 6 -o'clock he is in his study demolishing his pile of , tasks. That is the beginning of a 12 or 'j 13 hour day of official duty, and his seere- ' taries -work with him in Delays. Sir Joseph |is not a slave-driver. Necessity may make ', him invoke assistance early in the morning, but he takes care that his assistants have no more than~a fair share of the strenuous life. It is known far and wide that he is a most considerate employer, and he is generous yi his- recognition of, the' energy and intelligence of his helpmates. He squeezes in breakfast somehow and goes to his office at the Government Buildings at 10.30. There he is interviewed by heads of departments on important matters which 1 yeauiie discussion and conference, before

decisions on them, can be reached, and there are- other interviews before 12.50. T©-dtty Sir Joseph was listed for 14 appointments. People from near and far seek speech -with him on all manner of topics, which they regard as vitally Important to themselves or the country at large. Some of the persons who desire to approach the Prime Minister have very crude ideas about the demands on his time. They imagine- that all they need to do is to take the telephone, whisper to a secretary, and have the way cleared for conference with Sir Joseph. They are, of course, asking for the impossible. The Prime Minister is booked up like an express train, and cannot run into sidings. Appointments must all be made ahead. If Sir Joseph was "on tap" for afl the people who wish to talk to him during official hours he would have time for nothing else, and woulfl even find a long day all. too brief to satisfy the demands ttpon him. At 1 o'clock he escapes home v for lunch, and 2 o'clock or so finds him back «k his office with abundance of tasks .awaiting him. These keep him a3a<Mring-vigorou«ly till about-6.15, and then he. retreats, to AwaTua. .Bnt €he Jay of work is »ot yet done. " A. secretary conies to his office* at 7 o'clock, and' there is a bout with telegrams and other urgent- matters .that have arisen between 5 o'clock and •7. - The chief dictates ftßplies'" T f or half •an hoar, ted after tfaat^ he has a' little, leisure to look at his family," if tiho telephone will' permit him. The telephone starts early and -finds late. It' is only by a systematic' attack on his tasks that the Prime Minister can "hope to get any peace at all. A man who did not tackle these multitudinous duties with' a clear head would soon be struggling vainly beneath an avalanche. Sir Joseph is not a. lover of night-work. He believes in rising- early to meet the foe and oonqnexing it by nightfall. When he leaves Wellington by train x>r steamer he does not vary his system of coping with his duties. The work chases him. He has it sent after # him always. His luggage includes bulky packages of papers for perusal whencrver deputations are not waylaying him. When he stepped off the Tutanekai the other day three hampers of documents which he had been handling came -after him. -Just as the Russians look upon the Czar as their "Little Father," there are many people, in New Zealand who -regard the Prime Minister ias a sort of foster parent who will right .all their •wrongs and help them in any difficulty. Every day the mail brings him letters ■from persons- who desire advice on ■all possible and impossible subjects. Some of the topics are very -personal, And /the answering makes one of the Prune Minister's most difficult tasks. The burden of' it is' heavy upon him, but it is not bowing him down. " I recognise that the life is « very strenuous one," said Sir Joseph. "The work .entailed by the position, of Prime Minister is always increasing. The. .naim- i ber of extra, departments that have been created in the general interests of the community during the Jast, 15 years has become so* great that the growth of the work is simply prodigious, and although one is assisted %y active .and able colLeagues who have their fulLshare of work, yet under the system there is a. great focussing of all classes and. conditions of things upon the Prime Minister of the day, and. this cannot apparently be avoided. I recognise that a great deal more is demanded and expected from ono in this position than any one man sliould be called upon to do. If there is anything good on," concluded Sir Joseph,_ "there is nothing I enjoy more than a visit to the Opera House." However, the etress of work has been so greats during the pa«t six months that this pleasure has been limited to About half a dozen nigbte. •' There is no peace," he aidded, answering ■ a final query. " That is one of the diffi- • eulties of the position. There is no peace j in the ordinary sense."