SIR JAMES ALLEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17429, 26 March 1920, Page 4

SIR JAMES ALLEN.

The reason for the resignation of Sir James Allen as a member of the House of Representatives is well understood. The step was expected, but nevertheless there will be general and widespread regret that Parliament and the Government are losing the services of a man so experienced, so sincere, so fearless and so capable. There, is no surplus in Parliament, or in the Ministry, of men with qualities such as Sir James Allen possesses., He has been in Parliament for a third of a century and in the past half dozen years he has done work for the country such as few men have crowded into so short a period. His position during the war was a singularly trying one. It was inevitable that he should make enemies but he also made a great number of friends and admirers who before had known little of him. To-day no man in Parliament is better known and none can be said to be more highly regarded throughout New Zealand. His departure for London will leave the Government poorer in administrative ability, but it may easily be that he will be able in his new position to do work for New Zealand which will more than counterbalance the local loss. No intimation is made of Sir James Allen's resignation from the Ministry, and probably the intention is that he should continue to administer the Departments now under his control until the eve of his departure. As that time cannot be far distant, Mr. Massey has before him a new problem of Cabinet reconstruction. All the portfolios held by Sir James Allen present difficulties. It is understood that Mr. Massey, proposes to take Finance but that must surely involve the discovery of a new Minister for Railways. Defence would naturally have fallen to Major Coatee had he not accepted the heavy responsibility of Public Works. As to the-new portfolio of External Affairs, which embraces the care of Samoa, it may be noted that if the experience gained on the trip to the islands finishing to-day is to be regarded as a qualification, Mr. Lee, the new Minister for Justice, is the only eligible member of Cabinet