The N.Z. Times WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1908. RECONSTRUCTION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6495, 15 April 1908, Page 4

The N.Z. Times

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1908. RECONSTRUCTION.

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The first name that strikes in tho list of tilie new Cabinet of Mb Asqutth is, of course, the name of Mb Asquith himself. He takes office with a reputation as the strongest man who has held Cabinet rank for some years, and is therefore expected to show an exceptional record of practical achievement. The few press notices that have reached the Dominion indicate that the new Prime Minister has strengthened that expectation by the changes he has made in the course of his reconstruction of the Cabinet.

Tflie most notable of the changes is the promotion of Mb I/lotd George from the Board of Trade to the Exchequer. As the colleague of Me Asqotth who made the determination of the Government on the fiscal issue so clear, if tihe reverse of agreeable, at the Conferenoe of the Premiers of the Empire, his transfer to tihe head of the Treasury might have been foreshadowed, and as a matter of fact was. The transfer stands as a sign that Cobdenism undiluted will be the principle with, which the Cabinet will meet all the shades of fiscal change suggested by the Opposition. The maintenance of the ancient free trade faith without compromise by the liberals is thus proclaimed. Me "Winston Chtochim,'s appoint ment to the Board of Trade will be received witih a gasp of thankfulness, for the Board of Trade offers no such opportunities for failure as most of the other great departments of State. Wot unmixed with pleasure will be the gasp of the great dependencies to whose susceptibilities Mb OnuncHnx offers someiiing of the weird terror inspired by the " enfant terrible." At the same time, all are agreed that he deserves Cabinet rank, as well as satisfied that the safest plaoe wherein to experiment between success and failure has been found for tihe brilliant young man whose cJiims to promotion were undeniable. The promotion found implies sometihing like a Btroke of genius on the part of the new chief. The failure to disturb seven great departments of State will be widely accepted as a guarantee of continued good government.

No better Home Secretary than Me Gladstone has been seen for years, and Sm Edwabd Geet has won golden opinions from all shades of politics and from the nation at large as Foreign Secretary, following in the footsteps of im remarkably successful predecessor, and with his entire approval, as Lord liANSDOWNE has repeatedly testified in his place on important occasions, the last of them apropos of the attitude of the Cabinet on the vexed Congo question.

Mb Baldane's retention is a proof that his military reforms represent the best that can be got out of the voluntary system, and that they have come to stay, at least for a time appreciable enough to give it fair trial. Ms -J.OBLET —the new Viscount—has been by that change of his status—made as it was to enable him to continue in office at the India House—proved to be indispensable as Secretary for India; a conclusion impossible to avoid after his resolute, courageous,

and common-sense treatment of recent disaffection, and his consiafcmt jutftual

to turn his back on the frontier policy of severely leaving alone. Me Bierell, as Irish Secretary, emphasises the oontinued determination of the new Cabinet to govern Ireland without ooercion, and to come as near as possible to Irish wishes in the matter of Home Rule. For this policy there is a growing feeling throughout Great Britain, as may be guessed by the outspoken sentiments of Lobd Dudley—the new Governor-General of Australia —on a recent occasion, sentiments -which have been held consistently by the speaker against the convictions of his own party, but without loss of their respect. John Brass's retention of his portfolio is proof that he could not be improved on, and the same may be said of Mb Buxton at the Post Office, unless one might hope that, well disposed as he has shown himself for the amelioration of the condition of the rank and file, ho may soon give his practical work a shape more generous, and more in conformity with tihe enormous surplus for whioh the great department over which he presides is remarkaible. The Empire will be pleased with Lord Cbewe, especially as it has esoaped the Chobohili, experiment. Of policy there is nothing to indicate beyond the appointments we have just referred to, and the manifesto of Mb Chubchiix before the enforced election, which, by tihe way, is a relic of tihe barbarism of the days of bribery and corruption, a bulwark that has outworn its necessity, and ought to bo relegated to things archaic. In this manifesto it appears as if the Cabinet will stand, at all hazards, by their Licensing Bill without alteration, while they are ready to offer a compromise on the religious question involved in the Education Bill, so brilliantly introduced by Mb McKenna last February.

The ohange of that gentleman from Education to the Admiralty serves to give prominence to the idea of further compromise which he pronounced in that speech to be impossible. It also, we fear, seems to indicate that tihe removal of Lobd Tweedmouih from the Admiralty to the Presidency of the Council may imply a slackening in the maintenance of the Naval Estimates. It may likewise, in some quarters, be held to bo a censure on the main who received a certain letter from a foreign potentate without reminding him of the strict necessity for minding his own business. But this may prove 1o be merely minor detail. On the whole, the new Government has some right to be credited with an accession of strength and a better possibility of practical success.