POLITICAL NOTES ALL MINISTERS BUSY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 11, 12 July 1912, Page 8

POLITICAL NOTES ALL MINISTERS BUSY

MR. MASSEY'S INTENTIONS. Mr. D. Guthrie, member for Oroua, lias been appointed Senior Government Whip, in succession to the Hon. R. H. Rhodes, now Postmaster-General. The appointment of a Whip for the South Island will not be filled until Parliament' resumes. It is expected that either Mr. N'osworthy (Ashburton) or Mr. Anderson (Mataura) will be appointed. NO REVISION OF THE TARIFF. The Minister for Customs (Hon. F. M. B. Fisher) made a statement laet night on the subject of the revision of the' Customs tapff. In view, he said, of the uncertainty that existed in the mind* of importers throughout the Dominion upon thl question ' of amending the Customs tariff, Cabinet had considered the matter, and had decided that there should be no amendment proposed thJ6 session. H« made that statement solely with a viewto allaying the anxiety of importers, whose business might be affected by the uncertainty created by remark* on the subject ot the tariff, which had been made recently in the House of Representatives. Meanwhile the Minister is considering the correspondence with Mr. A. Fisher, Prim© Minister of the Commonwealth, regarding the reciprocity proposals which have been put" forward by the Commonwealth Government. - OPPOSITION LEADER. No further steps to elect a leader of the Opposition will be made until Parliament resumes. Tho latest su'gge&tion is that in view of the divergences of' opinion, an executive should be appointed representing the various sections of the party. Meanwhile the Hon. T. Mackenzie will officially occupy the position. THE REFORM PARTY. The New Zealand Political Reform League will hold a convention in Wellington on Saturday, 3rd August, to devise a scheme for organising the supporters of the party in order to ensure the success of candidates at the polls. Advantage will aleo probably be taken of the occasion to entertain the Prime Minister and congratulate him on hie accession to office. IN HARNESS. All the newly-appointed Ministers are busily engaged in meeting heads of department* and acquainting themselves with details of the work that they will have to do. : With the exception iof the Hon. W. Fraser (Public Works) who occupies -quarters in the Government Buildings all^have been provided with accommodation in Parliament Builduf-gs. [ RACING PERMITS. Tho Hon. W. H. Herries, as a member of the Racing Conference, has declined to take over the control of racing permits — the position for which he was originally cast. Until any further arrangements are made the work will be carried out by the Prime Minister. | SECOND BALLOT. Questioned by a Post representative as to whether the Government intended to bring down legislation for the abolition of the Second Ballot, the Hon. Mr. Massey stated that instructions had been given to the Law Drafting Department to prepare a Bill on the subject, but as to the direction in which the legislation would go lie was not prepared to make any more definite statement. ■ THE NEW MINISTER. Nothing further has yet been done with. regard to the appointment of another*) j Minister. As already indicated in. Tho Post, the choice appears to be between/ Mr. J. B. Hine (Stratford) and Blr.* Okey (Taranaki), with the chances in favour of Mr. Hine. The Prime Minister was questioned on the subject by a Post reporter to-day. He pointed out in reply that when he was forming hi» Cabinet the choice rested with him. Now that the Cabinet was actually constituted all further appointments would have to be made by Cabinet and not by himself. So far nothing had been done. LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMME. The Prime- Minister went on to indicate that the necessary steps are being taken to prepare the legislative programme to be submitted to Parliament on resumption. He was not going to say anything about the details of tb.e programme, but h© made it quite clear that the Government had made up its mind that it would not adjourn until it had carried out its legislative intentions. CHAntMAN OF COMMITTEES. In answer to another question, the Prime Minister stated that no stepe had yet been taken towards filling the position of Chairman of Committees. It is federally understood, however, that Mr. '. W. Lang will be appointed.