THE NEW MINISTERS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 208, 2 September 1919, Page 4

THE NEW MINISTERS.

The feature of the partial reconstruction of the Ministry which will excite most interest is the graceful retirement of Mr. Herries from the Railway Department. As is sometimes said when it is

desired to sweeten the pill of censure, Mt. Herries has been removed to a sphere where his duties will be less onerous. No longer will be have to worry about the coal shortage of the railways; as Native Minister his days will be pleasantly occupied in looking after the interests of a people who are never in a hurry. Mr. Herries has ability, a popular personality, and the advantage of a good education, but a disposition to take things too easily has been his bane. Mr. Massey takes over the Railway Department, and Sir James Allen becomes Minister of Finance. Whether Mr. Massey will be able to assert himself in the Department remains to be seen; he will be very busy as Leader of the House, and he may have to leave a good deal to his Departmental heads. Sir James Allen is the proper person to take over Finance, and any other arrangement would have caused speculation as to the relations between Mr. Massey and his first lieutenant.

Two new Ministers have been appointed—Mr. J. B. Hine (Stratford), and Mr. W. Nosworthy (Ashburton). Mr. Hine is not a brilliant man, but he has ability, and the public will be glad to see a soldier of his s service finding a J place in the Ministry. No reason is ' given for singling out Mr. Nosworthy for preferment; if the contention is to balance the South Island against the North, other South Island Reform members with a better claim could be mentioned. Mr. Nosworthy is a mediocre, narrow-minded man, who has lent whatever weight attaches to his position to the campaign of religious intolerance. We do not consider that a member of Parliament is fit to be a Minister who has expressed hostility towards the Roman Catholics as Mr. Nosworthy has done. What he has said amounts to a desire to exclude from any Government any adherent of a Church which in membership stands third among religious bodies in the Dominion. Other appointments are pending, and perhaps ambitions that have a more northerly home will then be realised. We may finally note that Sir William Fraser, to whom the Reform "insurgents" are said to object, remains in office. Perhaps there I was a clash of wills between Sir William and Mr. Massey, and the older Minister I won.