THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 149, 23 June 1906, Page 6

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

BVMOTOS AND ANTICIPATIONS XHE INTENTIONS OF THE ';. PREMIER. , (By Telegraph—Special to tUe "Star.") WELLINGTON, Friday. The new Prpinier is the man of the hour, 'fhc public generally, and those connected with politic- more particularly, recognise the enormous responsibilities he has undertaken, :iiid the tremendously hard work he has to face, and ho seems to have tbc good wishes of all]\ir. Hall-Jones has always been one of the hard-worked members of the Cabinet, but just at present he is being taxed most, severely. Yesterday morning he arose at live, o'clock., and was in his i office at 6.30. His day's work finished at 12.30 a.m. to-day, and yet an early caller during the morning found him in Jiis office. The. Met and readiness with whifh he deals villi visitors, to whom he is as accessible as Mr. Seddon, have elready aroused eommeut. HOMAGE TO TUE LATE PRTStrTER. Tlie Ministers feel very deeply the personal loss they have sustained in the death of their chief, and the pilgrimage they made to his grave to-day, the anniversary of Mr. Seddon's birth, was quite a pathetic incident. All the members of the. Ministry present in Wellington, joined in this recognition of what would ia happier circumstances have been a day for congratulations and rejoicings. NEW PARLIAMENT'S FIRST WORK. It has now been finally determined that Parliament will prorogue directly it has finished the absolutely necessary business. The first business will be the election of a Speaker, and it is taken for granted that Mr. A. R. Guinness will be re-elected to the position. Then a resolution in connection with Mr. Seddon will be passed in both Houses. The ■trainers of the motion, and the gentlemen selected to move and second it. will have very great difficulty in doing justice to the great, man who has passed away. After that Mr. Hall-Jones will take supply for two months, and Parliament will be prorogued. It is considered unlikely that the Opposition will make any objection to the supply, asked for being granted. The prorogation will terminate the session, and leave the field clear for Sir Joseph "Ward to start from the beginning and declare, his policy in the Governor's Speech. Sir Joseph Ward is expected to arrive in the colony on t.h'> first or second day in August, and Parliament will probably be called for August 21. This will give Sir Joseph Ward three weeks in which to prepare to meet Parliament with a reconstructed Ministry, and to embody his poke}- in the Governor's Speech. MR. HALL-JONES , POSITION. The doubt that prevailed in some, quarters in regard to the Hon. W. UnliJonps' intentions, nnd which was fostered to some extent by his own somewhat cryptic utterance in the matter, never existed amongst those who knew him best, and it has been entirely dissipated by his recent statement?. He will simply hold office until he can hand over the reins to his senior colleague. While Mr. Hall-Jones' intentions are clear and delinitc, he would not be without support were he to decide to hold the Premiership agninst allenm-evs. He has received communications from all quarters, urging him to retain oflice, some no doubt from iJQeere friends, and others from, interested parties. HOSTILITY TO SIR JOSEPH WARD. A few people have «vcn gone so far as to write him anonymous threatening letters with the object of keeping Sir Joseph Ward from the Premiership. These people seem to have their objections to Sir Joseph Ward on religious grounds. Discreditable though such an attitude is, other less bigoted people liave taken up an attitude of more or less pronounced, hostility to Sir Joseph, because they allege he is not sound on the land question. The labour leaders are assuming right out that he is not sound, and are already preparing for a fight. Then there is a sort of undelined fear that .Sir Joseph's expressed belief in the advisability of completing the Trunk lines of railway with all possible expedition, will entail a loau of live or ten millions, and commit the colony to a borrowing policy quite beyond that "which a number o-f people think consistent with, safety and sound finance. This, of course, is pure speculation, and in any case thu Minisle.r for Railways is by no means alone in thus thinking that the present method of construction is not the most economical. Of course, discussion on these points is premature during the absence of Sir Joseph Ward from the colony, and it is certain that however capable a Premier he may prove, he will have to defer to his colleagues a great, deal more than did .Mr. Scddou. THE CHOOSING OF CABINET. His friends will advise him to choose colleagues holding popular views on the land, labour, and education questions, and to give the colony some definite assurance in regard to his borrowing proposals. In regard to reconstruction, the politicians consider that the new Premier has taken a very wise course in deriding not to interfere at till with the present Ministry. It is commonly believed that when Sir Joseph returns the reconstruction will be undertaken. This, it is considered, will be fairly extensive, and the Minister of Lands and "the Commissioner of Customs are indic:ued as member* nf the Cabinet, who are certain to rot ire from office. This yill make thine vacancies ill the Cabinet, and f<p!" one of these Mr Millar is regarded us a certainty. lie will prob- j ably take the portfolios of. Labour and Marine. The other portfolios are distributed by the authorities over twelve or fiiti'cn members: in fact, half of the members of the House seem to have supporters in their aspirations for Min-i-tcrial rank. Whatever the distribution of portfolios may be. there will certainly be an outcry in some quarter* for geographical representation. A section j of the members hold ili.it Ihe provinces should have equal representation in tin , ' Cabinet as far a- 3 possible, and this is « matter to which member!" utliivh more importance than do the el^-lor*. It is clear, however, that a Ministry so selected would not b< , the strongest possible, and mwny members hold the \ io\v expressed by a Xnrth Island member yesterday that the best men should be chosen, irrespective of provincial considerations. If Sir Joseph Ward should feel driven tn give effect to the principle >ii"ge.-ted. it may lead to the exclusion of MeNab. who hns heon confidently mentioned as a member of the new Administration. Sir Joseph Ward and Messrs Miliar and Mc Nab of course hail from the »ame part of the colony. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 'Two appointments to the Legislative

Thursdar. the Coiuidllorß who lose their , seats by the effluxion «" nMI being the t Hons. Gourley and F-H-Jraser. I ttv i ew * of the position of affairs, and also of 1 certain ciretmistances in connection with i the two other appointments which terminated some time ago, and have not b*en renewed, the vacanca" 58 -vriu not be filled immediately. The Bon. Lee-Smith : will no doubt be reappointed to the Council later on, and the Sen. J. j_ Twomev may be restored to his vanished honours. Sir Wm. Russell, by the way, has been mentioned m connection with the Council, and some Liberals and even staunch Radicals, have urged that his services to the colony entitle him to recognition, and that his absence is a real loss to the Legislatnre. It j s tin . de.re.tood that the members of the p _ e . sent Cabinet do not look with disfavour on the suggestion, but nothing bo done in the absence of Sff Joseph Ward. Several members of the House are strongly opposed to sucfl appointments on the ground that an appointment in- | tended as an honour should no t carry with it Legislative pov»«s, and that men I whose political views do not accord with those of the people should, not be placed in a position to amend or veto legislation approved by the peoples' direct representatives.