THE NEW MINISTRY

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10684, 11 July 1912, Page 5

THE NEW MINISTRY

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT CONGRATULATIONS IN THE HOUSE.

(By Tckijiaph—Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, Last Night. T'lio .effcial ir.cnoimcement---of the -new Ministry wins .made shortly 'before iiKxmi to-day, arid wics as- follows : MR MASSEY, Premier and Minioicv for Laadti, Agriculture and Lab-

our. MR JAMES ALLEiX, Minister for FkLsice, Befonce w.:,d Educa-

tion. WBL HECRiRIBS, Minister ifor Hailways and Nailivo Affairs. IAB HERDiMAN, Attorney-Gccioral

Amd tMiristor .for Justice. MR, ERASER, Minister for Public

Works and Mimics. MR. EI<SfHiE(R, Mi-A tor for Custom a

and Mcirirre. MR, R. H. .RHODES, Postmaster-

deneral. MIRfH. D. BELL, Minister for In-

ternal Affair.s and Leader of the

(Legislative- iCounoil. BR PIOMAiRE', (member of the Executive Council represent ?ng the Native race. Tlife MCowang portfolios remain in abeyance:— Health., Commerce aoid Industries, Immigration. The«M&ni:t'try was c-worn (in this nv>r_ ».iing.

IN THE HOUSE.

When the- House of .Representatives met this afternoon, the Hon. W. .F. Massey rtose and said lie wouSd 'lake the opportunity of saying that he liad been occupied for the pai.rt f'iw jflayß in the formaticir.i of a p new Min--fbhry, arid had ibe«n EiKicessfHil. He mentioned that the' Cabinet was subject to alteration, borne of the portMj'os bad not yet ibeen allotted. Mr Herries, lie said, had Ibeen. offered the portfolio of Rafhvays and Native Miairs, and he (thought 'lie would accept three portfolios. He desired to ask for ami adjournment of the ib i'he 31st ki»t., to rlllow he and Ows Mmfeters'-to get acquainted wlit'h ■tfhear new duties, and arrange their

.MR MACKENZIE'S CONGRATULATION.

Mr T. Mackenzie eakl he wcuHd o"f-

.%r n'o obiecticn. to the (adgournmrortt. %-s wouJd ta.ke the opportunity of v congratulating Mr Matisey on the formation, of his Cabinet, and said he would .give all reasonable assistance to eJcatCe the iPtemier to carJry on the businces of the coun'tiry. TThey diould all be able to unite for fiihe benefit cf the c&unfivy.

SIR JOSEPH WARD.

f? : ;r Joseph Ward offered his congratulations to tli3 Premier and the •members of •his Ministry on his at•tainment of the high office he now occupied. As he had ripped .sworcb oa many occasions- ••witSi the boh. gentleman, he thought it was fitting that *he should>say a few weirds. He offered 'hf,s congra.tfHDatioma with .all sin(c.v>rity. No ont» 'c-n. the Oippcoltion side V«f the House was more entitled to the first position than, Mr Massey. Ho was the man who had Bought the bat■fea, and waif.' en'tlitled to the hon'our. He wioufld 4ike to say a fe'w words on the adjustment of portfolios. It hvas entirely Mr. Mrjssey's buein.?sy. Me waD raipvessed iby one very imipdrtant fact. That .was tfhat Mr Mas■iziy did not ibelieve in' the spii-it of prcvuncialkm. He .regretted ' t'o find rtlrat iSoutihvar.d, Westland, MarlbornugW,' .Nelscn, Taramaki, the East the City of Auckland, the •City of Clhristchurch, and the City Dnnedin, were not represented in itlie MSniistry. He congratukted Wellington b© the .-special ihonour coniferred upon.it in havin'g three members 6ni the Ministry. ATI me other idk'bricts lie had alluded to had no .special re.pr.csontation, All- the Minis-, rters, he woiild say, were well qualified for the important iposts 'conferred ii|pon« them. (He did not desire, in his to dif.pawvge tihem. He called attention to the fact tha there was one fin. th« Cabinet. He (referred to Mr Fidier, and he conigiratu'lated him. He also congratnilated the other (Ministers. He, referred ito the Lcacle'r cf the Upper ■H.0T156 'hioldimg a portMio, which would (brLiJg him into conflict in dealinig with important matters. mem<ber.s of the Hoiuso. He had learned (torn experience fthaft .such a course was n.ot advilsa'ble. Another peculiar' faature about the Cabinet was the *laet that tlhere -was only one farmer in •the new Ministry. Siurely such a <ib»te of affairs .waii nob in proportion, -considering the grea'i: .masses of farmera in the 'country. Then again, there »w»s no .representative cf Labour in -the Cabinet. He woukl .congratulate •the Piremuta- on taking v.he portfc'lio. ■He was sure the .new Aidmiinostration 'w'ould do good Avork; ibut he was en- ' 'titfled to draw attention to those mat>ters. Slpea'king as a private mem--be.r, and without personal amMtfons, •he would .ttiy it might be 'possible that flie would be of use to' the- tinv&, in matters of finance, for instance. Th? «Gover.nment wanted all tihe araiistance •it could get, not by way of adverse criticism, but by giving (legitimate ia.:rji.s.tance, and lie thought be could he of neilp in that direction. The new Minister of Finance would find he <-.ow!i:l not icomfcrol ddio imoney market, which was controlled .by those at the head of things in London. For his owni part, he -would not ibe a party to 'placing obstacles .in the way of the Addniiiniistration, which had assumed .and foad to carry o'ut a heavy responsibility.

MR W. A. VEJTCH.

Mr W. A. Veiteh considered ■. the Jiew Government isfliotifld have reason•ablo time to formulate a policy. If .it went for reactionary measure.?, its

ft'fa -would be very is-h'ert. If it wv-nt 'for reasonably progressive measure's it might exist -for years. He Imped the* G'overn.mc.rit would not overlook 'the 'interest*? of Labour, and would miike an attempt to improvo the ccu(diitioiiis of the workups. MR PAYNE. Mr J. T. Payne said the Government ccfiJ'P'icd the Treasury benches •«n a minority vote. Tlk) charges of irecldess borrowing had to fizzlo rut with a very poor ir///,h. He believed at the next election •tiro Liberal party would 'again come- into its own.

MR HAMAN.

Mr J. A. Hainan said that in what <had happened recenMy they had had •an* exhibition of violatioii of political ■■pfledgey that had degraded the political life of the country.

MR C. W. RUSESLL,

Mr 0. W. Rinscfl '■ifFemd Ire congratulations to the* now Ministry, eS» pochlly to Mr Maasoy, w'ho had fought a gaTTa-nt light for so many ■yams. He could say that hh< Ministry loft office without any "ill-fed 1 .- iugvS. He declared that every member of tho prefer*. Government, w.ith hut two exceptions, weire memiboris of ■thij old Tory party. There had bcesi •no inclusion of the younger members of tho so-called -altered party, \uth tho exception of Mt'jjrs Ffeher and •Pwmare. There we'iv no representatives cf tli-t new R.'ifor.m Party ijii .the Oabintt. Those who had imag'incd they were going under the fkig of rc--scx*m would find Uiat 'Hiey had been ■tripped -up, and were now following the ConservativeE.'. The Reform party .represented the- large landowners.

THE PRIME MINISTER RESPONDS.

The Hon. W. F. Massey said ho •hoped the fmlendiship which had at all times existed him and Jiis pofitieail opponents would continue- .till the end. .(He also hoped they would drop all pension al diifto-encce, auicl do something that .-would 'be - ei'cdi table-' •to them as representatives of the people. He strongly objected to the term Tory, and would point out the old adage that those in glaas houses should not itihro'w stones'.. He iheld itilsat <Mr Russell had no mere Might to call them (Tories than lie had Ito oaM 'himself a Liberal. Mr R'usiS'Cill'.s- leader iwas ;cne of the few r-s----imain'ing members of the old Co'n.se.rvative partly,, .which went out of existence (in 1891. 'Meatton had be;-n unad-e of the small farmers' representation in the Cablet. He was himiseif ai snr.iaM tfarmor, .and had .been so : aM his life l . Their policy, which had (been' 'laid .before the Hou.se three or four times, was Liberal, progressive, •and democratic. He said Sir Joseph Ward'y remarks had be?n .some.what factitious.. Tl:J:rjgh. the eleven districts he had mentioned 'had no direct '.rrp.itEenti.ition .io the Cabinet, every district would have justice done to 'it t?.o far as 'lay in the power of the iMfoiietry. .Reverting again to the mention !>f ifacimd'-s m the .Cabinet, he i&a'id ho nvat' a farmer, Mr Hernles was a faraior, /ind Messrs Fr,w;-r, iE.hodesta.nd Pomare were farmers. Agriculture had r.ever been so wciTt represented in any Ministry arj at present. ],n (regard to Sir Joseph Ward's reference to the Labour portfolio, lie could ment7.ni that the present Minister fed- labour li.:d been a worker, ill the very best sense of the word., fcfil his life. He Tonrmeuoed Hie as a •wage-earner. Ho had eVv'ry 'sympathy with tHie general asp'iraficas of Labour, lib l*ong rr, he was .-nrr.coted with' the Labour portfolio, they would ha.vo la square deal. As he hod metition'ed earlier, the distribution of •portfolios .was liable, to alteration. He war; quite (prerp'ared to face an election. He would not &a,y what the result wioiild ibe, but <v.<as confident. He pointed to a plte of telegrams 'on. h.is desk,. And said ho (had .received oyer three thousand of rflhem, since the. winning division, aud (they were istill pouring in at-the rate of a .hundred *.n 'hour. Thait surely was an indication id; the feeling of the country. He icouM not say whether t!heir term of office would be A.ng or short; but JUvcir Kighcct ambition /was that the ip'ecpb cf the oronbry .would be :;ble to .say tli'cut they had dcr.i& ft heir beet up to the tthghest traditions" of the past, Valid when tlv'c-y did leave:, tlh'e people could say ibhey had l?ft the country in!-a better condition .than they Qifad fonnd it. The House adjourned >at .5.25 until 2.30 on the 31st of tilic ment'h .

A FURTHER ADJUSTMENT. OF CABINET PORTFOLIOS. ("By Telegraph—Tress Association.) WELL-TXGTOiX, Last Night. After a> Cabinet meeting to-n?j»ht, th' 3 H'o'n. \V. F. Marsey announced-