The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Monday, June 11, 1900. THE MINISTER FOR LANDS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIV, Issue 135, 11 June 1900, Page 2

The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Monday, June 11, 1900. THE MINISTER FOR LANDS.

Upon the authority of the Hon. J. G. Ward, the Acting-Premier, we learn that it is most improbable Mr John McKenzie will be able to take an active part m the business of the coming session, and that, indeed, his state of health is such that it may be imperative for him to quit the political stage for some time to come. In common with most of our readers we have read the news of Mr McEenzie's continued ill-health with very sincere regret. The honorable gentleman has had a long and honorable political career, and it is a great pity that although not yet what we should call an old man he bas worn himself out m the struggle. Like many other men, Mr McKenzie m earlier life devoted himself to outdoor occupations, and found sedentary life and the close confinement of office work extremely trying. The late hours which our legislators keep, following therein a bad old custom which ought to be abolished, have also had much to do with the honorable gentleman's illness. Mr McKenzie is a most industrious worker, and m carrying out the manifold details of bis Land Act and tbe Land Purchase Act he bas been burning the candle at both ends with what has unfortunately proved p ruinous result upon a naturally strong constitution. It is pitiable, indeed, to think of a gentleman of Mr McKenzie's giant frame lying prone on a bed of sickness as the result of sheer over-work m the service of the country ; but such is his position. It carries with it the lesson and the moral that we should not expect so much from a Minister of the Grown. Surely this lesson Bhould have been learnt long ago. The late Bir Harry Atkinson and the late Mr John Ballance both went to unduly early graves, a re«ult of this very evil of over-strain, brought on by the compulsory discharge of duties really beyond the physical capacity of one man. The Premier himself has had to knock under and seek rest at Raratonga, and here again we have his colleague, his tried and trusty friend, Mr John McKenzie, threatened with having to leave the work be has done so well, simply because that work was far greater than we have a right to expect any man to do. The remedy is to be found m tbe appointment of two new Ministers, and, if necessary, the appointment of Parliamentary Under-Seoretaries on the House system. The sittings of the House should also be regularly closed at midnight. The House of Commons now only sits after midnight on very rare occasions, and what can be done m England m the way of setting down the avalanche of talk and re- ! ducing the working hours of Parliament to a reasonable limit can and should be done here. Returning to Mr McKenzie, we can only say that should it unfortunately prove that he will be compelled to relinquish the important position he now holds, universal regret will be felt. Mr McKenzie has a magnificent record behind him. No man has done so much to ensure the permanent prosperity of the colony as he has done. Hia Lands for Settlement scheme, adversely criticised and bitterly attacked at first, is now widely recognised as one of the chief factors m the present astonishing state of progress and prosperity with which Providence has been pleased to bless New Zealand. That during his administrative career tbe honorable gentleman has at times made mistakes is, no doubt, what he himself would bo the firßt to admit, but taken as a whole the work that he has performed is such as to make the people of this colony his debt rs m many ways. In no other colony m Australasia has close settlement gone as it bas in New

Zealand, and the best proof of its success is the fact that the scheme is being copied m Victoria and elsewhere. To Mr McEenzie also belongs much of the oredit due generally to the Government for the success of the Cheap Money Scheme, and the foundation of the Agricultural Department, which has done and is doing such good work m the encouragement of the dairy industry and m other similar directions. Outspoken to a fault ; brusque, maybe, m manner, but at heart a most generous man; always honest and frank; a hard hitter on occasion, but a staunch friend and the mo3t loyal of colleagues : Mr McKenzie's influence m our political life has been very great and nearly always for good. Even at this late hour we trust that the report as to his coming relicquishment of office may prove untrue, and that the burly form co familiar to all who witness the sittings of the House may once again be found on the ministerial benches.