The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1908. TIME TO THINK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 202, 20 May 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1908. TIME TO THINK.

Not long' ago. Sir Joseph AVaud conr fided to a local, interviewer certain impressive details concerning the extraordinarily busy life he led. All day long, and every day, the moment ,he 'left his. couch until .he returned thereto, lie was occupied reading and signing documents, in speaking, interviewing, and ijt being interviewed. And then, too,' there was the travelling which consumed no inconsiderable of the' Prime Mint istee's time. No one, we are convinced, has doubts respecting' Sin 'Joseph "Ward's quite abnormal activity. Whether the. whole of his engagements are essential to his office, is, however, a matter whereon "he and .the general .public may possess more .opinions than one. In no otfter country we \know of does the Pkime Minister, busy himself ,with the more niinute ramifications of public life such as Sir Joseph Ward busies hiinself with at-the present time. A perusal of the newspaper reports of the' Prime Minister's! continual tour, as we have previously pointed out, arrests attention by reason of the unimportant, exclusively parochial, kind of business that, altpgether unnecessarily, he calls upon himself to perform.

' On reading of the Prime Minister's unending round of duties, one is forcibly reminded of Southey when, to an observant critic, 'he divulged'the scheme of his working day—so many hours devoted to the writing "of history, so many to the composition of poetry, so many to reading and to sleep. " But," queried his startled interlocutor, " tell me: when' do you think? ". Is this, we wonder, what is wrong with the Prime Minister ? Is he so busy in other directions that he has! no time to think? To many of his speeches, delivered during the past tivo years, this peculiar explanation seems neither inapplicable nor inadequate. We readily grant that Sir Joseph Ward exerts himself to the utmost in his efforts to secure the approval,'the good will, and the support of the electors, and that he seldom neglects the gallery. But that is saying no more than' could be claimed for any Premier who had not abandoned 1 hope, -and was bent on retaining, office. The differen.ee of method seems to depend largely upon the precedent cogitation. Our • Premier appears to be singularly liable to'those moments of exaltation and excitement which so frequently overtake the over-busy and the ill-prepared politician. Let us recall, for example, his highly original,proposition that the people of New Zealand should subscribe a guinea a head for the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament. Had he considered the meaning of his words he would have realised how pitiful was his suggestion. There was a pathetic ring in the final clause of the Press report, which embalm&d this unique invitation—" Sir Joseph's idea was received with enthusiasm "—it was an after-dinner oration —" but no contributions were offered." The Prime Minister's treatment of the Arbitration Court at Dcnniston must, in charity, be attributed to haste, as surely should hiß no-gaol Bpeech at K&itangnta, Now we have his scheme for " keeping

New Zealand and its resources prominently before the notice of newspaper readers in the United ; Kingdojn." We sincerely hope that propositions so ingenuous represent not the deliberate sense but the momentary caprice of the Premier. If Sir Joseph Ward over really expected that the men and women .of New Zealand •jvould giv.c freely of their possessions to erect a new Parliament House, and if he cherishes the belief that London newspapers are unable, of .their own initiative, to procure all the n,ews they desire concerning the Dominion, then we can only say that his expectations and his beliefs are in the highest degree curious and interesting^

Moreover, wo might remind the Prime Minister that, possibly, some sections of the community 'have not altogether forgotten that 'wonderful American Reciprocity Treaty wherewith he heralded his arrival at the Premiership. And what a tremendous, epoch-making event the signing of that treaty was, to be! \Vc yet vividly recall the periphrastic utterances 011 what after all was but a scheme which apparently had never been fully con r sidcred. At all events, the Reciprocity Trpaty' was dropped like , the proverbial hot potato. Why '? Folks who do not usually trouble much about .treaties, and about who make them, were doubtless led to Relieve that Ney Zealand was about to .derive some gigantic and lasting benefit because Sir Joseph Ward had been to see President Roosevelt, at White 'House. If so they hayp been sorely disappointed. The newspapers of '19.06, when this Treaty was gradually unfolded, will be read with feelings of amusement to-day. Fiji- instance: " Sir Joseph Ward thought it would be- a great advantage to both countries if New Zealand were .to senda representative to America during the sitting of Congress! .with authority to negotiate for the reciprocal treaty in regard to articles exported and imported by New. Zealand. The Americans, he said, are large buyers of N«y Zealand wool and gum. The latter 'is .already on the free list, ,b.u£ something else might take its place with-wool," and so on. Finally,,'the proceedings of the last few months may invite reflectiqn by those whose diurnal hours are less fully occu: pied than are those of the Prime Minister. What is to bo the outcome of all this .fierce motoring, and this flow of commonplace speech I Sir Joseph has been - virtually requesting applications .from country electors for monetary assistapce, fot fetter'roads at one place, a bridge at another, a railway, somewhere else." And how is ' ho to satisfy all the claims' tlfajt have ■,resulted 1 The, tjr.yth is t'hat the .Prime Minister,' despite his ability, his great in'dustry, and a remarkably good constitution, is overloading himself. Hq is attempting too much; he has not time to think out things and estimate the probable effects of his words and actions. .Obviously, •, Sip Joseph sjiopl.d hiiyc less' to dohe should, have time to tliink. , , > , ;