The Evening Star TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1909.

Evening Star, Issue 13150, 5 January 1909, Page 4

The Evening Star TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1909.

We have reason to believe that Sir Joseph Ward has been giving eeriI'mler. ous consideration to the Sj.-ratarlo idea of increasing the nu- "'" " Io »" r »T merical strength of the Go.>iini«ttn<. vcTisment, and it is probable that at an early date Parliament will be invited to make provision either for two additional Cabinet Ministers or for a couple of Parliamentary UnderSecretaries outside the Cabinet. Ministers -*ome of them at all events—arc undoubtedly overworked during the session under the present conditions; and though some improvement might be effected by inducing the less active ones to take rather more Dpon their shoulders, it is by no means certain that this would entirely remove the pressure. Even if the administrative work were to bo evenly divided, the chief parts in debate must necessarily be talien by those .members of the Government who are capable and acceptable speakers: so that it would he difficult to make a proportionate allocation ot labor unlaw the principal spokesmen are relieved of a portion of their routine tasks. 'I/he Prime Minister especially requires assistance—unless one of these days (to speak plainlv) he i< prematurely to go the way of Sir Harry Atkinson. Mr Ballance, and Mr Scddon. The people of New Zealand have no wish to see their public servants and leading men worn out by overwork before their time, and we believe that they are quite ready to make the small financial sacrifice necessary for avoiding such a painful result. Tt will be said, no doubt, that Ministers in general, and Sir Joseph Ward in particular, are in th« habit ot engaging in supererogatory work of various kindstravelling about tho country and so forth—and that personal relief could easily be secured by refraining from this special activity. As a rnle, however, such tions have a distinct tinge of partisanship. They emanate. tVi- the mest part, from opponents of the Government- who (for obvious reasons) would prefer that Ministers should all their time in Wellington or at their own homes instead of mailing themselves acquainted with the wants of the different, districts and explaining their policy to the residents in three districts. Our belief is that the majority of the electors approve the course adopted by the Scddon and Ward Ministries in this respect, and that the remonstrances of tho Opposition may safely be ignored. We are brought back, then, to the fact of Ministerial overwork and the desirability ot prompt relief. There will be some dif-lsr-mce of opinion whether the Letter plan would be to add to tho Cabinet or to appoint two lmder-S.-cicta.iei-—ene for each island. The Prime Minister, with his parliamentary e.tpprience and his special knowledge of immediate requirements, should .'<T!ut: B be allowed to tw,ve the chief say in this matter. But to.- our own part we should be strongly disposed to give a trial to the Under-SecreLtriil system. It ic no new idea as regards New Zealand. It was seriously mooted by Sir George Grey manyyears ago. and was strongly supported by Sir Robert Stout, Sir Julius V-ugel, and even endorsed by Mr Scddon, while the experiment has o.'h-n W-n recommended in our leading columns. It is true that Parliament has never taken kindly to tho project in question, and the motives underlying the resistance offered by the rank and tile of both pa;the h.:ve not been of a very worthy order. As in Lndand and elsewhere. Parliamentary Under-Secretary-ships would serve as a useful training school for the Cabinet, though from the start it .should be' clearly understood that the subordinate appointment involves no prescriptive right to further promotion. In New Zealand we have experimented with Whips, who seem under our system of party government to lie brought most closely into association with tho Government, collectively and individually, but the result has been wotully disappointing. We defy anyone to name a single member who, when promoted from tho Chief Whipship, made a satisfactory administrator; and for every such citation we undertake to produce a brace of conspicuous failures. Therefore, to look to the Whins' room for capable successors to members of tho Administration must for the future be abandoned as utterly hopeless; brisides. the path to preferment ought to lie in quite another direction. In the ranks of both political parties are to be found men of more than average capacity, but the exigencies of party warfare have kept them in the back ground or have failed to give their latent powers adequate scope. The time h;is surely come for devising some method by which the labors of the hading members of the Cabinet can be lightened, and. as wo have already pointed out, a. way must be found for rendering it possible for tho Prime Minister to devote more of his time than he is able to do at present to the general oversight ot the Dominion's affairs. The need for alteration of some kind has evidently forced itself on Sir Joseph',* attention, and we shall not be surprised if he takes courage boldly into his hands and proposes to at once appoint two '" understudies."—one for each island—with honorary rank in the meantime, leaving it to the new Parliament whether they shall have the dignity and emoluments of a responsible Minister of the Crown or continue to serve their party and the country in a subordinate position.