CABINET QUALIFICATIONS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 150, 17 February 1932, Page 4

CABINET QUALIFICATIONS

Now that the appointment of Mr. C. E. Macmillan to j the portfolios of Mines and Agriculture has been officially an- 1 nounced, it is in order to comment upon this latest addition to Cabinet ranks. A chronicle of Mr. Macmillan's record diScloses that he has represented Tauranga since 1923 and has had what is generally described as an "extensive local body experience." ile has also been chairman of directors of a dairy factory, and secretary of the Tauranga Co-operative Dairy Association. These are in themselves meritorious achievements within a strictly limited field, but without any personal reflection upon Mr. Macmillan, do they constitute sufficient qualifications for the responsible duties of a Mnister of the Crown? We venture to think not. It is true that the many and varied accomplishments of our Cabinet Ministers render it increasingly difficult to determine exactly what qualifications are considered necessary to place a private member in charge of important Government departments and yearly expenditure of large sums of the tax payers' money. Directorship of a dairy company, however responsible the duties it may entail within its own narrow sphere, hardly appear to us to constitute the necessary qualifications for a Minister of Agriculture. In a primary producing country this portfolio is unquestionably one of the most important in the Cabinet, and its administration requires not only a sound and practical knowledge of the problems of the man on the land, but a breadth of vision which will enable the department to keep abreast of the times. It may be, of course, that "mute inglorious Miltons" have their political counterparts, and that from some strong and silent back-bencher, a new Massey, Ward, or Seddon may arise, and it may be also, that in this hope, and with characteristic optimism, the Government has made its latest appointment. It is true that Mr. Macmillan has not been elevated to his new dignities solely on his qualifications as a director of a dairy factory; be has also eight years of Earliamentary representation to his credit. The fact that other members of Parliament have also records of long service, may be raised, but perhaps these others were never directors of dairy factories. A southern contemporary commenting upon the appointment, remarks that two important considerations have apparently been overlooked in the selection of the new Minister — Mr. Macmillan is neither a South Island member, nor a representative of an urban constituency. The importance of the first consideration will be more deeply appreciated in the South Island, but so far as the nature of the constituency which the new Minister represents is concerned, we confess that vital as it may appear in some quar|:ers, it does not appear to us to matter a great deal. The primary question appears to be whether parochial and party considerations, or the national interests are to be the standards by whjch Cabinet is selected. Does it matter one ordinary tinker's expletive whether Cabinet is wholly constituted of South Island members or North Island members or solely made up of dentists or dairy company directors, so long as these North Island dentists and South Island dairy company directors are the best men for the position? The country has now had an opportunity of judging whether it was this last consideration, or considerations pf party and parish which actuated this latest selection, and the country may be relied upon