The Grey River Argus and Blackball News. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30th.

Grey River Argus, 30 January 1906, Page 2

The Grey River Argus and Blackball News. P UBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30th.

Veey little has been heard recently on the subject of the reconstruction of the Cabinet but it must not, there . fore, be assumed that it is dead or even moribund. Many anticipated that the Premier, in his policy speech at Kumara, would have referred to the matter but Mr Seddon having evidently made up his mind to allow the subject to rest till after he had fully recuperated after his arduous toils and travels during the election, left the subject seveaely alone. Some prominence has been given to the matter by the publication in the Auckland Weekly News of remarks by a correspondent "whb has recently returned from a visit ■ tc Wellington, and .who is usually well-informed as political matters." This gentleman states on "good authority," that it is "pretty well settled, pending confirmation by a caucus," that Mr W. T. Jennings, M.H.R., for Egmont, is to be the new Minister of Lands. The recent trip of the Hon T. Y. Duncan through Westland with the Premier was meant, says the same authority, to prepare him' for the "purer atmosphere" of the Upper House. The "well-informed" correspondent gives as the reason for the elevation of the present Minister of Lands the alleged facts that Mr Duncan cannot, well reconcile himself to the freehold, which is looked upon as a certainty during the next parliament and that the new Minister of Lands must be a Government supporter (this was surely an unnecessary detail) sound upon the freehold tenure and not a recent convert. We are afraid that the "well-informed correspondent" or his "good authority" had notperused the Premier's remarks at Kumara on the subject of land teni ure or he would not have been so ! certain that crown tenants under ■ the Lauds for Settlement Act, to whom he evidently refers, have the [ slightest chance <of obtaining the freehold in either this or the next Parliament. Another reason given by : him is probably nearer the mark. i Referring to the locked up native ' lands in the North Island', he says that this question, as well as the land tenure question, "necessitates • the appointment of a progressive and .;• able Minister of Lands from ■ the Auckland province or near it." The. Weekly News's correspondent has apparently forgotten the member for Masterton, Mr A..W. Hogg, -.who is generally supposed to have a mori gage on tha portfolio of Lands but he has not forgotten Mr R. McNab, M.H.R., for Mataura, who may, he says, becoms the Government nominee -for >tlje chairma/bship of i committees, the holder of that office ; in the last Parliament, .Mr J". 'A. • Millar M.H.R., for Dunlin Central, being looked upon as a certainty, subject to x caucus confuna- . tion, for the Ministry. Bufc, we would point out, it is generally con- . sidered that Mr McNab will not be 1 satisfied with anything short of Ministerial rank and that if there is any re-shuffling of the Ministerial cards, as is more than probable, the member for Mataura will have to - be reckoned with. The full value of. , the views and prognostications of the News's correspondent will, however,

be better judged by the following prophecy: "There is a l so a strong and general feeling amongst the few that know that, politically and Minis temny, we are U p On the eveofsome. 1 gieat and mysterious constitutional change, some political or Ministerial surprise- that has, so far, nev er been guessed at or anticipated, but I cannot get the strength of it I *ancy, however, that, 1 Government members have been sounded recently by the various Ministers personally cLn? A MiDisterial and other l ?W g ft I saVe5 aVe good reason t0 believe this. I would incline to the djttidiinon that it aH .means fcfco ilm ha lt aSO heard on rehab^ authority that four Auck*%fiK will also be 'approached' on this business, so ifc can hard] fa ™ but i ?°™ °V h .1 Le^ative 7 Council! but it may be the entire modification of it, as Sir J. Ward recently hinted succeed in P H Phet hy his indecision succeeds m these remarks in arousing considerable doubts in the Snd o the reader as to the accuracy of s "formation and the reliability , of his good authority." Prophecy ' b? GClal J y , P ? itical pVecy?mSt ; be conducted on very decided lines ; to impress the populace. In the pre- > abn f"f G pr °P het flound^S IfZ ■ ? U t' and the total efratLl 5 fl^ ° f a , P ° litical roman <* ► rather than a political forecast