The Evening Star FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1903.

Evening Star, Issue 11893, 22 May 1903, Page 4

The Evening Star FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1903.

The Ear! of Onslow, who ha-s been appointed President of the Lord Board of Agriculture in Ob«Iow. succession to tho late Mr

R. W. Hanbury, is well remembered in this Colony, where he filled the office of Governor, in an able and popular manner, for too brief a period. It may, we think, bo taken for granted that the new Minister of Agriculture assumes Oabin-t rink. The office does not invariably cany this rnnk; but Mr Hanbury and his predecessor (Mr Long) were both in the Cabinet, and the status of the position is not likely to have been reduced in the present condition of the agricultural interest. Indeed, Mr Hanbury's energy gave the Department a fresh importance, which is hardly likely to decrease as time goes on. Lord Onslow ha* had to wait long enough for his promotion. Born just half a century ago, he never sat in the House of Commons, as he succeeded to the Earldom when he was seventeen. His official career commenced in 1887, when he became UnderSecretary for the Colonies, a position which he left for the Parliamentary Secretaryship of the Board of Trade in the following year. In 1889 he succeeded Sir William Jervois as Governor of New Zealand, arriving in time to officiate at the opening of the Exhibition in this City. Despite an occasional misunderstanding with the Colonial Government, he was regarded as a highly successful representative of the Crown, his public speeches being much above the gubernatorial average, while he showed a good deal of enterprise in making himself acquainted with the various conditions of colonial life. He was specially attracted by the Maoris, and it will be remembered that he paid the native race a graceful compliment by giving his son (born in New Zealand) a Maori name. His return to England in 1892 coincided with Mr Gladstone's reaccession to power; and when his party came back to office in 1895 ! he had to be satisfied with the Indian Under-Secretarysbip, which he held til] 1900, when he again became Under-Secre-tary for the Colonies in place of Lord Selborne.. No doubt this change represented a measure of practical promotion, as by that time Mr Chamberlain had given a quite new import to the doings of the Colonial Office, and the war was then in progress. Naturally overshadowed by his brilliant and famous chief, Lord Onslow has nevertheless done a large amount of quiet and valuable work during the last three years; and he has well earned his present promotion. His political powers may not be of the first order, but he is an effective speaker, an unprejudiced and up-to-date observer, and an industrious and tactful administrator. Moreover, he is a practical farmer, and may be expected to make an admirable President of the Board '' Agriculture.