THE PRIME MINISTER'S CAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 220, 16 September 1924, Page 4

THE PRIME MINISTER'S CAR.

Viewed by itself, the gift to Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald of a motor car and a fund to maintain it seems to be quite creditable to both parties. The giver is an old friend of the Prime Minister's, though he opposes him in politics—an interesting illustration of the fact that in Britain such differences are no bar to close and long friendships. Noticing that Mr. Mac Donald looked ill, and finding that he was getting about in less than the comfort that was due to a Prime Minister, Mr. Alexander Grant, as he then was, provided him with an expensive car. Unfortunately, in the following June, Mr. Grant became a baronet. Mr. Mac Donald explains that this honour was conferred with no thought of the car, that it was in recognition of Mr. Grant's public services. This explanation should be accepted, but the thing is unfortunate. In these matters a Prime Minister should avoid even the appearance of evil. Nor is it altogether desirable that a Prime Minister should be beholden to a private citizen for what is really a necessity. It is a surprise to read that after he became Prime Minister Mr. Mac Donald travelled in "tubes" and took the train to Chequers. Not that there is anything derogatory in using "tube" or train; it is a question of convenience and comfort. The head of the Government is the busiest man in Britain, and Mr. Mac Donald, whose health, by the way, is not good, has suggested that there should be a new Prime Minister every twelve months. In the circumstances his getting about should be made as easy as possible for ..- p.

him. If he prefers to go by train, welland good, but, except for long distances, he should be independent of trains. One might think that on a salary of £5000 a year and his own private means Mr. Mac Donald would have been able to keep a large car in London—he seems to have had a Ford at Chequers—but ~we know that the expenses of the Prime Minister are heavy. Mr. Asquith was a wealthier man than Mr. Mac Donald, but he said a year or two ago that after his eight years in Downing Street he was a poorer man than when he went there. A Prime Minister should be free from private financial worry and have his material paths made smooth. The pressure of affairs on him is well-nigh intolerable, and the nation should sco that other burdens are made as light as possible. It was to make their lives more pleasant, to ease the strain- by giving them a place in the country to retire to, that Lord Lee presented Chequers Court as a permanent home for Prime Ministers, and" Lord Lee had specially in mind the case of the head of a Labour Government, who might be a poor man. The statesman who has the right to use Chequers should not be kept waiting , for trains when he goes there or returns to London.