COLONIAL GOVERNORSHIPS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 34, 9 February 1914, Page 4

COLONIAL GOVERNORSHIPS.

The appointment of Mr. Munro-iFer-guson to succeed Lord Dcmman ac Governor-General of Australia, and the rumoured intention, of relieving Viscount Gladstone in South Africa and offering the position io Mr. Sydney Bnxton, have imueual significance. They mark a departure from the selection from the more or less modern peerage of the King's representatives in th-e larger oversea Dominions. In both instances it is probable that elevation to the peerage will follow, but thie does not lessen the importance of the translation of two able commoners from the field of active politics at Home to the less exciting but more ornamental position of colonial viceroy- Mr. Herbert Gladstone wae created a viscount subsequent to his appointment as first GovernorGeneral of South Africa in 1909, but although he had previously held Caibine-t rank in the Liberal Government, with-, all. allowance for honesty of purpose and application, he would hardly be accepted as of the same calibre as Mr. Sydney Buxton. The latter h-ae had a distinguished public career, culminating ia important ministerial rank in the Government, first as Postmaster General, and since 1910 ac (President of the Board of Trade. Hie appointment is a recognition by the administration thut an able man is needed in Sooth Africa in the present crisis, even if it ie in a positron wfceTc the opportunity to take an active part in the affairs of the country ie hedged ronnd by the almost complete measure of self-government enjoyed under the constitution of the unite of Empire. In the case of Mr. Munro Ferguson—who comes to Australia—we have again a very able man who has served the State in many capacities. He ie .associated very closely with land interests, being himself the possessor of nearly 30,000 acres, and hie strenuous opposition to the proposals of the Lord Chancellor may in a measure account for his translation to a sphere where he will not be a stum-bling-Wock to the passage of needed land reform. But while a variety of reasons may have entered into the settlement of these two appointments, the outstanding fact ie that two able men have been selected who are in touch with 'the latest developments of Liberalism at Home, and who may be expected to understand more fully the aspirations of a young country than many of the titled individuals who have accepted governorships, and who in numbers of cases are co Impregnated with the traditions of their class that they are quite ■ unable to assimilate the colonial viewpoint. In the evolution of tie relations of the Dominione overseas to the Motherland such appointments are of the greatest value, and the Aequith Government has, we feel, in this instance, made very judicious selection.