AN ENERGETIC MINISTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18889, 11 December 1924, Page 11

AN ENERGETIC MINISTER.

ACTIVITY OF MR. COATES.

CANTERBURY LEFT " DIZZY."

The energy displayed in tho discharge of his multifarious Ministerial duties by the Hon. J. G. Coat«s attracted considerable attention in Christchurch on tho occasion of his recant visit to Canterbury. Tho Lyttelton Times of Monday says:—

"It is impossible to withhold from the Minister for Public Works, who is also the Minister for Railways, the PostmasterGeneral and Minister for Native Affairs, a tribute of admiration for tho celerity with which he attacks his duties—in the southern portions of tho Dominion at all events. Springing from the ferry steamer at Lyttelton on Friday morning he leaped to the footplate of a locomotive, sampled the atmosphere of our justly-cele-brated tunnel without collapsing; bounded from the engine cab to the driver's seat in a motor-car, and drove 72 miles to Lake Coleridge; rapidly inspected tho works there, even going down shafts in buckets; rushed 20 miles to the Harper River diversion and back again to Lake Coleridge, and so to bed. " On Saturday, Mr. Coates descended like a whirlwind upon South Canterbury, dashed from Coleridge to Rakaia Gorge, from Rakaia Gorge to Ealing from Ealing to Ashburton, from Ashburton to Orari, from Orari to Temuka, from Temuka toTekapo, inspecting things and receiving deputations. He will, it is expected, finish his self-appointed tale of tasks to-day and return to Wellington by this evening's ferry steamer, leaving all who have watched his progress slightly dizzy. There .never was such a Minister, and legends of his physical prowess will be told in departmental circles 50 years hence." There, however, is a small fly in the ointment. The paper goes on to say:— " But unless Mr. Coates' displays of energy arouse emulation in the breasts of his officers we may be permitted to doubt whether more is accomplished by such spectacular methods than was done without any fuss or flurry by the Minister's venerable predecessor. When Mr. Coates descended upon Lake Coleridge nobody knew for certain when the works in progress thero are likely to be finished. When he left, there was no more information available on the subject. When he went to Lake Tekapo nobody knew what part that power source is expected to play in the Government's plan of national development, or when it is likely to be exploited, and his visit is not likely to alter that position in the slightest. "As to the Lyttelton tunnel, after making up his mind on one aspect of that subject and being sternly rebuked in Auckland in consequence, Mr. Coates has referred the matter to a Royal Commission—a rather remarkable procedure after Parliament had twice given financial authority for the carrying out of the work. However, onp cannot have everything. Mr. Coates has a capacity for getting through Iris manifold and arduous duties very speedily, not by shirking them, but by working at very high pressure. We are glad to see him in Canterbury, however evanescent the glimpse may be, and we are sorry that he should have to be in such a hurry to leave us."