"WE HOPE WE ARE WRONG!"

Shannon News, 19 January 1926, Page 2

"WE HOPE WE ARE WRONG!"

THE CABINET DISCLOSURES. Under the heading "We hope we - are Wrong," the Pjalmerston Times says:— ' The announcement by the Manawatu Daily Times of tlie choice of his new Ministers by the Premier lias caused sometlnng of a sensation diroughtout New Zealand. The detailed message from our poUitiaaT observer has been reprinted by prac- . tically, every leading paper in the •>omi;nioh and has been freely dis-, cussed in all quarters. A rather silly attempt has been made by the obviously disgruntled "Dominion" M discredit the announcement, but both ;hat journal, and Mr Coates, to wjiom it appealed, have been very careful. to avoid a denial of the accuracy of any of the statements contained in the article, The Prime Minister, in response to a question said that pur observer's statement was ■■■ mere •'guesswork" and "kite-flying,'-' and added: "There is no foundation, froin any remarks of mine, tor the statements that 'have been published regarding the alleged new members of the Cabinet. The selection will be announced in due course next week, probably on Monday or Tuesday, arid he announcement will be accompan- • ied by a statement." This, it wall be noticed, is not a, denial of the accuracy of the information,' and we mjght say in passing that Mr Coates is quite right when he says that the statements were not.founded on any : lemarks made by Mm. However, we very much fear—for the good of the country—that, the information we were able to'publish from our political observer is only top time.' We hope—also for the good of the country—that as the official announce- 1 aient of the Premier's choice has been still further postponed, Mr;.,Coates will see .from the receptobn accorded our announcement that the country is profoundly disappointed at the decision not to scrap the inef : fectives in his Cabinet. His best advisers all along have demanded Cabinet reform of a drastic nature. Some of his staunch est newspaper supporters and well-wishers—including the ' "Times"—have 'continued to point out that the great vote of confidence given by the country to its young leader was largely the result of a conviction that-he was a strong man wfoo would not easily be turned aside from his obvious duty. And his first and most urgent duty was' to surround himself with the best talent his party could provide. Will. Mr Coates, while yet thei'e is time, listen to the ..voice of the people and show himself to be, what we believe he is, a strong man in a crisis? Or will he listen to the noise of office holders and office seekers and persist in confirming in office a number of Ministers who are fitted neither by ability nor. experience to handle the arreat tasks that have been allotted them?