HIGH COMMISSIONER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21641, 6 November 1933, Page 10

HIGH COMMISSIONER

NO APPOINTMENT MADE GOVERNMENT'S DIFFICULTY Indications are that either there will be an interregnum in London or an extension for some time of Sir Thomas Wilford's Herm as High Commissioner before a new High Commissioner for New Zealand is appointed. Sir Thomas Wilford's extended term will expire at the end of this year. The Prime Minister was asked in Christchurch last week if he could indicate when a successor to Sir Thomas Wilford was likely to bo appointed. Mr. Forbes said that when he was in London Sir Thomas had indicated to him that he would like to be relieved of the High Commissionership when his term expired, as he was feeling the strain of a strenuous life. He hoped to live in England while enjoying a speli. However, it was being found difficult to obtain a successor for Sir Thomas Wilford, continued the Prime Minister. With the salary paid to New Zealand's London representative, it was essential for him to have private means to be able to live up to the financial standard set abroad, particularly as Canada, Australia and South Africa paid their High Commissioners much more than New Zealand paid he*s. New Zealand was a small country, but the High Commissioner has to keep pace with tho representatives of other Dominions. Mr. Forbes said that the Government was having difficulty in finding a man with private means and the necessary qualifications for the task. Tho appointment could not bo made for some yet, he considered, and certainly not in time for a new High Commissioner to take up his duties from the date on which Sir Thomas' term expired.