THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1921. CABINET RECONSTRUCTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17696, 3 February 1921, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1921. CABINET RECONSTRUCTION.

It is fully time the Prime Minister indicated the composition of the Cabinet with which he intends to meet Parliament next session. Sir Francis Bell will attend the Imperial Conference and Sir William Hemes will be in England at least until August. It is generally assumed that Sir William Eraser, who retains his seat on the Executive, without portfolio, will lead the Legislative Council, and Mr. Massey stated a few days ago that Sir William Herries will also remain on the Executive Council and may resume active Ministerial duties at his pleasure. It is easy to understand the reluctance of the Prime Mini&ter to part with those old colleagues, both of whom have been credited with a desire to retire from the Ministry, but the disadvantages of keeping their places vacant are so great that

personal considerations should be set

j aside. During the absence of Sir j Francis Bell and Sir William Herries j the Ministry will be reduced to ten, or, excluding Sir William Fraser, who can be expected to do little beyond leading the Upper House, to nine. This was its strength before the war, but reconstruction has doubled and trebled the work of | many departments, and a Cabinet of j a dozen is now none too large. In ' addition, Mr. Massey, for the greater | part of the session, will be without the services of any of the Ministers who entered the Coalition with him except Sir William Fraser and Dr. Pomare, both of whom have special duties which prevent them taking any considerable share in the general administration. There is reason to fear, therefore, that the Cabinet over which Mr. Massey will preside for the second, and therefore the working session of Parliament, will not only be numerically weak, but will fail to make up in administrative experience what it lacks in numbers. ' The reconstruction of the Cabinet has already been in process for a year. The defeat of Mr. Hine and the withdrawal of Sir William Fraser and Sir James Allen made three vacancies in the under-manned Ministry which had carried on from the break-up of the Coalition till the election. The first step toward a reorganisation was the appointment of Messrs. Parr and Lee in March. Two months passed before Mr. Anderson was raised to Ministerial rank, and this involved a certain readjustment of portfolios. Although Mr. Massey had earlier in the year announced his intention of having eleven Ministers, including the native representative, compared with nine before the war and thirteen during the period of the Coalition, he delayed completing his Cabinet until some weeks after Parliament met, Sir R. Heaton Rhodes being then appointed. In the meantime there had been an almost ceaseless readjustment of responsibilities. Mr.

Massey had taken Finance when Sir James Allen resigned When Mr. Anderson was appointed Sir Francis Bell transferred Internal Affairs and Immigration to other Ministers. In May, Mr. Massey made a tentative effort to relieve his own burdens by giving Labour to Sir William Hemes. In June Mr. Lee took over the Board of Trade from the Prime Minister, in July he assumed the new portfolio of Industries and Customs, and in August he relieved his chief of the Police Department, while in the same month Mr. Massey accepted Mines from Sir William Fraser. Mr. Coates had for some months an impossible burden in Public Works, the Post Office, and Defence, but when Sir R. Heaton Rhodes was appointed he was able to unload the lastmentioned portfolio. The weakening of the Cabinet for next session will be even more serious than is at first apparent. It is no secret that Sir Francis Bell \ exercises an influence on the Cabinet I out of all proportion to hiß portfolios, | and that his absence will be severely felt The redistribution of his portfolios will offer no difficulty, but those of Sir William Herries* will raise a very acute problem. Native Affairs are always difficult to allocate, Labour is important and would

be more important if the Prime Minister had not become a sort of extra-official Industrial Minister. Customs is normally a light portfolio, but this year, on account of the revision of the tariff, it will be one of the heaviest. To whom will the Prime Minister delegate these duties? There are indications that he intends personally to pilot the Customs tariff through the House, and he may be tempted to take Native Affairs. These, added to Railways, Finance, Mines, the general oversight of administration and half a dozen small portfolios, will constitute a burden so crushing that Mr. Massey's colleagues should dissuade him in time. The Customs Department will provide enough work for one Minister this year, and if it is placed under the charge of a Minister struggling with other tasks, tariff revision must be left almost solely to officials of the department. This will not be in the public inte.r!e.st" Ti } e country does not desire Civil Service rule, and it expects the new_ tariff to be drawn up by a Minister responsible to Parliament, who i a prepared to spend several months exclusively on this task. The Treasury will provide enough work for another Minister. If economy is to be enforced the departmental estimates must be scrutinised by a Minister prepared to make an analytical examination of the expenditure. Such a Minister would save the country thousands of pounds. Let Mr. Massey, before it is too late, realise the extraordinary character of next session's work and strengthen his Cabinet accordingly. The country is grateful to the Prime Minister for his effort to do the work of three or four Ministers, but it deems his exertions more creditable to his heart than to his head. No man could effectively control all Mr. Massey's departments and pilot a new tariff through Parliament. The Prime Minister would come nearer to doing it with success than any other man in Parliament, but the effort would be unfair to himself and to the country. New Zealand does not seek a political Atlas. It requires rather Ministers who will act as Talus in their departments, and they cannot do this if the Cabinet is undermanned.