THE CABINET CHANGES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17256, 4 September 1919, Page 6

THE CABINET CHANGES.

ALLOTTING PORTFOLIOS. DECISION PROBABLE TO-DAY. THE SOLDIER MINISTER. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Wednesday. The arrangement of the portfolios consequent upon the appointment of new Ministers to the Cabinet will be made tomorrow in all probability. At present nothing very definite can be said about the positions to be taken by the several Ministers. It has been practically decided already that the returned soldier members o. the Ministry, Major Hine and Major Coates, will ioin the Repatriation Board in place of Mr. W. D. S. Macdonald and Mr. J. A. Hanan. Mr. W. H. Hemes, who took the position of chairman of the board when Mr. Massey left to go to England at the end of last year, is likely to retain that position. Mr. Massey has announced that he intends to keep control of the railways himself, and the intention seems to be to leave Sir Francis Bell in charge of education. Agriculture will, in all probability, go to Mr. Nosworthy. The Prime Minister was not embarrassed in making his choice of new Ministers by demands made by old and faithful members of the Reform Party who might, under other circumstances, have considered that they had a right to promotion. Before he mnde any appointments at all he consulted with Mr. F. Mander (Marsden) and Mr. R. Scott (Otago Central), both of whom were in the party through much of the period of Opposition prior to 1912, «and they both agreed that it was necessary that the returned soldiers should be represented in the Cabinet, and also, they agreed that territorial representation ought to betaken into account in the distribution of the offices. For these reasons, they agreed not to press their own claims' and to accept in a proper snirit any choice that Mr. Massey might make under the circumstances.

The Reform Party is in the position at present of having no whins, and two whips— from each island— be chosen soon. Mr. R. Scott is to be the South Tfhnd whin, but the choice of a North Island member for this dutv has not yet b°en made. Mr. Scott will be senior whip. THE NEW MINISTERS.

OATH OF OFFICE TAKEN.

[BY TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION'.]

WELLINGTON. Wednesday. At a meeting of the Executive Council at Government House at noon to-d-v the three new Ministers— the Hon. Gordon Coatee the Hon. J. R. Hine, and the Hon. W. Nosworthy—were sworn in and took the oath of office, in the presence of the Governor-General.