The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1912. THE NEW MINISTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 322, 11 July 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1912. THE NEW MINISTRY.

In the House of Parliament yesterday the Hon. W. F. Massey announced his Cabinet, the members of which were duly sworn in, and from to-day onwards we are faced with the difficulty of transposing Opposition to Government and Government to Opposition. The few people who write cheques and the many who write letters know how hard it is to write 1912 on January 1 after writing j 1911 for three hundred and sixty-five days and a quarter previously, but after over twenty years of a Liberal regime the difficulty of dissociating the very word Opposition from tlie Conservative Party becomes trebly hard. Still, in the event of' the new Cabinet lasting, we shall probably accustom ourselves to the innovation. Mr. Massey has certainly made an excellent start. He was frankly faced with an embarrassment of' riches when he set out to form a Cabinet, for if his party has displayed one virtue in the past it lias been its intense loyalty and its unswerving devotion to such ideals as it possessed. Under these circumstances Mr. Massey could have very easily filled the available portfolios twice over from the members of his party. Ignoring, however, with commendable wisdom, all geographical considerations, he has selected from the men associated with him a Cabinet which on paper is particularly strong. There can be no exception taken to its personnel. There will, of course, be disappointment for several members of the Reform Party, but they appear to be cheerfully realising the fact that where there were only ten portfolios to allot some of the twenty who have borne the burden and heat of the day must necessarily stand down. The fact that the Cabinet is identical with the one predicted by the newspaper correspondents yesterday morning is suggestive of the fact that it represents political opinion in the lobbies, and it may be safely assumed that it reflects the full strength of the Reform Party. Mr. Massey has 1 110 easy task before him in the present state of party politics, and it is only fair to realise that he and his colleagues will take a little while to "get into their stride" in the unaccustomed Tace which it is now theirs to run. They have played the game reasonably well while the Liberal Party was in power, and we have little fear of their not receiving equally generous treatment at the hands of the new Opposition. They have not as yet been hall-marked by the country, but in the meantime we shall hope to sec both Parliament and the press giving the new Prime Minister the Briton's privilege of a fair field without any undue favor.

WEST COAST LEASES. The West Coast Settlement Reserves Commission has made its report, and it is hardly likely that holders of the original leases, with whose grievance the Commission mainly concerned itself, will grow very jubilant over it. These lessees, about 140 in number, holding altogether about 18,000' acres of land, did not take advantage of the several opportunities they were offered between 1892 and 1900 to convert their leases into leases having a perpetual rigfit of renewal with revaluation, and as the term of the leases will be up in about eighteen months' time, they fear mat, helped as they will be by their own interests in the lands, the native owners will outbid them and so secure the places, in which case the Europeans would only be allowed compensation for improvements up to £5 per acre. In their evidence before the Commission, some of the lessees endeavored to show that they had been misled as to the terms of the leases, and that they were not aware of the provisions of the 1892 Act enabling them to convert, but the Commission discounts these .-statements, and proves that they were well aware of the position in both respects. We never did think the lessees had in equity a leg to stand on. They were offered chance after chance of coming under the 1892 Act, but they preferred to remain on a low rental through the period of their long leases. TliQse who converted bad,'of course, to pay increased rentals in return for the perpetual right of renewal. Very few of the holders of the original leases are now in possession. The leases have been trafficked in to a very great extent, and it is pure bunkum to say that those who have held and are holding them 'were unaware of the restrictions attached to the leases. As a matter of fact, the leases have, and have had, their market value, as the 1892 leases have and have had, and there is a big difference between the two. Some of the holders have long since sub-leased theif sections, and it is only necessary to scan the evidence given before the Commission at New riymouth to ascertain what a fat thing some of these fortunate gentlemen have been making out of the leases. Natural!}', with the high prices obtaining for land in tliese parts, the lessees desire ia better tenure, but the Commission says deliberately that they have no right to anything more than is contained in the provisions of their leases. To grant them the rights they seek would, the Commissioners affirm,' "be an interference with the inviolability of contract, a principle upon which the stability of contractual rights essentially depends." Whilst the lessees have no right, moral or legal, to the renewal of their leases without competition, there is> the question of public policy in connection with the lands affected to be -considered. Is it desirable that the Maoris should be allowed to resume these lands? It matters not who is in possession, pakeha or Maori, so long as the lands continue to be profitably worked. The Maori has considerable land of' his own on this coast. That portion left to his efforts can tje picked out without difficulty by the forsaken appearance and the prolific crops of noxious weeds the land produces. For the most jiart, it .is only, the land, "squatted" upon by pakehas that is profitablj - utilised. There are exceptions, of course. A few natives here and there, principally on the Waimate Plains, exhibit tile industry of the Europeans. It has' been said by friends of, the Maoris that they have never had a chance to show their mettle, owing to the lack of funds. The Commission enquired into this feature. At present the Public Trustee is .empowered to advance a lessee out of the common fund of the Public Trust Office a sum not exceeding three-fifths of the value of his interests. The Commission says it cannot suggest ans other provision than this one for enabling a native lessee to obtain financial assistance. The Public Trustee, however, states that the improvements would be a sufficient security for advances made by the Government, if such authority were given. If the Maori would only work, the prospect of his resuming the 140 farms in Taranaki would not be very disturbing. But so far he has, in the bunch, shown no capacity for work. The fact that lie has been able to draw rent from the land has operated as a positive hindrance to his progress; it has been a curse and not a help; but if he could 'be forced to "get down to it" or starve, his advancement would be as real as it would be rapid.