A3IAN OF MYSTERY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11006, 2 July 1901, Page 4

A3IAN OF MYSTERY.

Mk Hall-Jones is rapidly becoming— we will not say a person of some importance— bot a person capable of arousing a certain amount of interest even in the rounds of a jaded public disinclined. to themselves about politics. He is iMf_t>nce a paradox and a man of mystery. What could be more paradoxical than hi* sudden fit of independence, not to say obstinacy, with regard to' the accommodation of the Royal suite? So far as the public are aware it was the first public indication he had ever given that he ed a will of his own. In matter, where he ©ttgh*_» to have stood firm he always gave in most meekly to Mr. Seddon. We know krto what straits his weakness in the matter of Mr. Sneddon's protege, Captain Jones of ths Dnco, led him. As 'Minister for Public Works it is notorious (hat he w. the mere echo of'his 1 chief—that he never ventures to give orders for erection of the smallest building without Mr. _Ed-

dbn > _*pprOv_l,3<t«BMr. Sed_o?i should order it to-be pulled down againi '", ,W_y, then. this suddenhow* of fimwws, not to, say ob-tin_oy, which mad* Mm refuse to give up his rooms at Saarie's' hotel for one of the colony-* goes**, when he had not only the. Premier hut the whole *of his colleagues urgin? him to do so? We cannot telL Mr. ' Hall-Jones's one act of fimness is as deep a mystery as the subsequent event- to which it bos given rise. When a weak man suddenly develops a fit of obstinacy it is always in a"wrong cause. -He becomes self-willed at the very moment when it i* most incum. h_pt on him to give way. So it has proved in Mr Hall-Jones's case. He has been grossly rude to coo of the colony's guest*. As a member of the Ministry he joined in inviting Sir John Anderson, the representa- , tiva of the Colonial Office, to take up his I quarters at dearie's Hotel. When Sir John arrived Mr Hall-Jones figuratively, if not actually, dammed the doors oT his rooms in his face, and the surprised and insulted guest had to find accommodation in another part of the building away' from the Royftl party. Mr. Holl-Jones's friends take grm!> comfort in the. fact that he told Sir John Anderson what he'had done, and that the latter made no comjplaint. As if English gentlemen, even if they think their hosts are iude, are at all eager to tell them so!

•But there is something even more mysterious about Mr. Hall-Jones than his sudden attack of determination. We- mean the strange proceedings in connection with bis supposed resignation. Ha_%a or' has he not sent in his resignation? On the ono hand we have the definite statement that the Premier in passing through Tiniaru, informed the chairman of Mr. Hall-Jones's committee that he had received a telegram from his private secretary in Wellington stating that he had received a telegram from the Minister of Public Works saying that he (the Minister) had posted his resignation as a member of the/Cabinet. At the Premier's suggestion, we aro further told, a telegram was sent to Mr. Hall-Jones requesting him to reconsider his decision. 'Mr- Hall-Jones, who is recuperating at Rotorua from the exhausting effects of his sudden fit of determination at Wellington, blandly replies— "Just received your telegram. Am mysti-

" fied. Arrived Rotorua last evening for a " few days' rest, and the baths will put mc "all right again- Hope you are keeping "well." Kind regards." If Mr. Hall-Jones himself was mystified, that is 'a, very niild term to apply to the members of his committee. They have given the Premier as their authority for stating that the Minister for Publio Works had resigned, and are now anxiously waiting further developments. Is the.whole thing a practical joke on the part of Mr. destined to "scare" his colleague from indulging in any moro freaks of insubordination? /Or is Mr, Hall-Jones shadowed by some mischievous spook who sends off unauthorised telegrams in his name? There was a j-pod deal of mystery, it will bo remembered, in the Marino Department case about a curious order on an envelope, which Mr. Hall-Jones was supposed to have written. Mr. W. T. Stead, it is well known, is haunted by a writing spirit, whom he calls Julia, who assists him in his literary labours and gives all sorts of mysterious messages from the dead. Has Mr. Hall-Jones a Julia also? Really the matter ought to be looked into, and we hope that his committee will not allow it to drop.