The Daily News SATURDAY, JULY 16, 1904. THE AGENT-GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 165, 16 July 1904, Page 2

The Daily News SATURDAY, JULY 16, 1904. THE AGENT-GENERAL.

In the event of Uu appointment of Mi- Scddon as High Commissioner, and the absorption of the Agent-Gen-eral's position, what will become of the Hon. W. P. Reeves ? The Lyttclton Times says he was not a wealthy man when he left the colony, and we may be sure that he has not accumulated riches during his residence in London. His official salary has no l been more than suliicieut to meet the necessary expenses of his position, and the earnings of his pen have not enabled him to make any very extravagant provision for the future. The Times, therefore, thinks it safe to assume that if he were thrown on his own resources again, he would, like any other prudent man, choose the sphere of activity in whkdi he was most likely to succeed. Our contemporary doubts if this would be found in New Zealand. Christchurth, lickle as it is, would gladly return him to his old place in the House of Representatives, but he could hardly afford to sit as a private member for an indefinite- time, and the Times does not know that the new leader would be in any hurry to sele:t him as a colleague. It is an oj>en secret, continues the paper, how that on the death of Mr John Hallance, Mr Reeves favoured the succession of Sir Robert Stout to the Premiership, and was quite frank in the expression of his preference to his colleagues. He did not know and appreciate Mr Seddon then as lie knows and appreciates him now. This particular difference ot opinion was never in any danger of producing an open rupture in the Cabinet, hut a few years later Mi- Reeves found himself in disagreement with his colleagues on two or three purely political questions, and he was probably grateful enough for an cscapo from an awkward predicament. At that time Mr Reeves certainly hoped to return to New Zealand and take part again In the pubHe life of tho country ; but, events have not shaped themselves just as he expected they would, and the now generation of politicians are more likely to remember his long absence from the colony than his signal services to its people. Rearing all this in mind, Mr Reeves might well hesitate to embark upon colonial politics again. He would be warmly welcomed by a host of friends, but he might have to wait a dozen years before he could reach hi,s former portion in the Ministry. In London, on the other hand, he could count upon remunerative employment for his pen ■at once, and, if ho choose to seek it, a place in politics that would l>e at least as attractive as a private member's seat in the House of Beprcssnta lives.