THE MINISTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 February 1921, Page 5

THE MINISTRY.

NEW APPOINTMENT NOT YET MADE. The name of Mr. W. Downie Stewart, member for Dunedin West, has been mentioned frequently of late in connection with the vacancy in the Cabinet caused by the departure for England of Sir William Herries. Mr. Downie Stewart is a keen thinker and an effective debater, and he has shown sessions that the injury he sustained on active service does not prevent his being a valuable member of the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister so far has given no definite indication of his intentions in the matter of the appointment, and he says the question has not yet been considered by Cabinet. The Ministry as at present constituted, omitting Dr. Pomare (Minister representing the Native race) "and Sir William Herries who remains a member of the Executive without portfolio), consists of five North Island Ministers and four South Island Ministers. The Ministers from the North Island are:—Mr. Massey, Sir Francis Bell, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Coates, and Mr Parr; and the Ministers from the South Island are:—Sir .Heaton Rhodes, Mr. Lee, Mr. Nosworthy, and Mr. Anderson. The addition of another southern man to the Ministry would give the islands equal representation as far ns the active “pakeha” Ministers are concerned, with Dr. Pomare to turn the balance in favor of the north.