The Daily News MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26. THE CABINET APPOINTMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81894, 26 November 1906, Page 2

The Daily News MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26. THE CABINET APPOINTMENT.

To those who take an intelligent in- 1 terest in current politics tue Govern- ! mem's selection of a successor to the late Hon. A. Pitt will not have occa- ' sioued surprise, ft was obvijus tnat ' there were two logical course* open ' to the Government in the manner of ' filling the vacancy. It was open to ; ihe Government to have allowed the Attorney-Generalship which, after ' all, is in itself lhtle eke than a sinecure—to stand in abeyance, as was the case for some years prior to the late Colonel Pitl's appoiu.nient. Shoald that course have been followed —that is, had the quali heat ion of legal attainments been out of the way—the Government's task, so far as the present Legislative Council is concerned, in selecting the Minister would have been a comparatively easy one. Having decided to maintain Hie office of Attorney-General, the Government were immediately confronted with the position that there was not in the Upper House a lawyer to accept the position, nor indeed in the popular Chamber one of such high standing in the profession as to mark him out for what is—only nominally, peiu,tps —the supreme legal position in ihe colony. Certainly it was open for the Hon. Minister for Lands to have assumed the office, but no doubt his hands are already full enough. Tue only course remaining open to the Government, under lue circumstances, and the one which has been followed, was to appoint someone from without the roll .it the House. It will not be denied tliat an cxco.leut appointment has been made. It was generally understood that the selection of Attorney-General waa limited to about three, viz., Dr. l-'uidlay, Mr Oliver Samuel, and the Hon. J. A. Tole, of Auckland. The latter two gcm.emen had previous Parliamentary experience, in addition to ripe legal knjwledge, to recommend themAlthough the lion. Mr l-'indlay has not pteviously sat in Paikameiu, ite is well-known as an aide lit exponent of the Libera! side in politics, and theic is no doubt tue Cabinet has not been weakened by his appointment. At the same time there is a section of the party winch believes that, outside the AltonieyGtneralship, theie are gentlemen in the Upper Chamber wlio hail prior claims io the position of Leader in the Legislative Council. There is more than a probability, however, mat these claims have not been entirely overlooked by the Premier. The Executive Council Bill of iyoO introduced by Sir Joseph Ward last session, put posed increasing the numt ericd strength of the Executive. Had the Bill passed, an extra Minister probably without a pot .folio, would 1 have been appointed in Ihe Upper

House, and it was generally known who the appointee would be. The Bi 1 \va> killed, however, but not because the House was antagonistic to a lighter distribution of Hie burdens of the Executive, but because of a rumour that had gained currency that Mr. G. Laurensun would be the '•chosen" in the Lower House. Contending forces combined to prevent such an occurrence, and whether or not the Premier had his eye on Mr Laurenson—and subsequent events would seem to show he had not—the opportunity of increasing the number of members of the Executive Council was lost. There is every probability, however, that the l'temier will re-introduce the Bill next session, and with more hope of success if the correct whiper goes round in time, and it is not unlike'y that ere another session of Parliament has run its course, either the Hon. \V. Camcross or the Hon. T. K. Mac Donald will be occupying a seat in the Cabinet, to which thy former at any rate has an undoubted churn.