The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1930. THE NEW CABINET

Southland Times, Issue 21095, 29 May 1930, Page 6

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1930. THE NEW CABINET

One of the few surprises occasioned by the announcement of the new Cabinet by Mr Forbes is the separation of Lands and Agriculture. Mr Forbes held these portfolios previously, and it was thought that the association of the two would not be broken, but Lands has been given to Mr Ransom, who is evidently the senior member after 'the Prime Minister, and Agriculture. has been given to Mr Murdoch, one of the nety members of the Ministry. It looks as if Mr Forbes had some difficulty in making his final choice, because the assortment of the portfolios suggests that he could have done with a Cabinet smaller by one without any undue loading of any individual. Most people will dismiss any suspicion that a superstitious distaste for the devil’s number was responsible for the addition. Mr Ransom will have charge of the Government’s land settlement operations, and probably he will be reminded of his definite statements in enthusiastic endorsement of the Taupo project for which the United Party Government has since shown little regard. Mr Ransom, it is to be hoped, will recognize the

fact that the essential quality in land settlement demand by this country is an increasein tho area Used for production, and not the subdivision of first-class lands already efficiently farmed. Mr.Veitch has been promoted to the Railways, a Department taken from Mr Taverner, who now takes over Public Works, and the new Department of Transport, which was Mr Veitch’s care in the previous Cabinet. Mr Veitch is an old railwayman, but .that fact is not enough to assure the public that he will bo a success in this office, but the public will prefer .to wait and give the new Minister full opportunity to display his powers in administering a difficult department. Mr Donald, who very suddenly lost the PostmasterGeneralship, has regained it, and Mr Cobbe has now succeeded to the offices held by Mr Wilford. Mr de la Pcrrelle has been given Industries and Commerce which will enlarge his field of operations, but we would have preferred a closer association between this portfolio and that of Finance. However, Mr Forbes has followed the lead of his old chief and has taken over the Treasury himself. Accompanying the announcement of the Cabinet is a statement by the Prime Minister, and this is the most disappointing feature of his first act as head of the Government. There has been so little change in actual fact that Mr Forbes cannot be excused on the score of lack of knowledge, or of the brevity of the time at his disposal. He has contented himself with the generalities and pious iterations, which show nothing of his intentions, except, perhaps, in the implication that the policy of the previous Ministry is to be carried on. There is some excuse for this since he is conscious of the fact that the United Party Government was installed on a programme framed by Sir Joseph Ward, and he, like his old chief, is tied to those promises. It is surprising, however, to find Mr Forbes seeking shelter in the declaration that a Government without a majority in the House must proceed cautiously with its programme. This sounds like making excuses in advance, like preparing soft cushions to break a fall, and especially so when for some time people have had dinned in their ears the bold statement that the United Party, owing to the divisions in the House, has been able to go ahead as energetically as if it enjoyed an absolute majority. Evidently the new Prime Minister is not so sure, or else ho wishes to prepare the public for some modifications. So far as the finances are concerned, Mr Forbes was extremely non-com-mittal and uniformative. His declaration, however, did offer some hope, especially in those sentences which promised that all consideration of requests for additional services and additional works will be started from the viewpoint of taxation. He might have added that some works actually started would be reviewed from the same standpoint, because evidently he wishes to convince the people of this country that many admirable schemes must be considered as dispensible luxuries if the Dominion cannot afford them at present. Will Mr I’orbes apply this hopeful assurance to such questions as the Wharanui-Parnassus railway? We wish we could be sure that he would, particularly as his own electorate is vitally interested in the work.