THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1908. MR M'NAB'S RETIREMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14382, 27 November 1908, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1908. MR M'NAB'S RETIREMENT.

While apparently Mr Hall-Jones, ■though no longer a member of the Legislature, will retain office as Minister of Railways until the eve of his departure for Great Britain, the first step towards the reconstruction of the Government may probably be expected to-day in the resignation of Mr M'Nab, 'consequent upon his defeat far Mataura. That Mr M'Nab's retirement from politics will be only temporary may he taken for granted. ' Nor would the community as a whole have it otherwise. Mr M'Nab i,s N , in fact, a man of the stamp that supplies the best, type of politician. He possesses the advantage of having enjoyed a liberal education—Bot only in the sense in which education' connotes a wide and systematic course of training, but in the senso.also in. which it is the fruit of extensive travel,—and ho has the leisure and the means that enable him to devote his attention to the study of politics and to the practical work of legislation. While the fact that' he is thus favourably circumstanced places him in a position to offer to the State the benefit- of his services without special regard to the sacrifices that are commonly > entailed jjpoii any person Who enters 'public life, he has many qualities of a kind that the electors prize, in their representatives. He is a man with a rigid sense of honour who would, wo are satisfied, not wittingly associate himself' with any mean or questionable transaction. He is a man of a- good deal'of native ability, of tireless industry f and of considerable tenacity of purpose. He is a methodical worker, with that capacity for taking infinite pains which is sometimes, but perhaps erroneously, described as genius. He. may have no inspiring enthusiasm, and lie is notblessed with the gift of oratory, but he commands respect -by his straightforward utterances and. by the general impression of solidity and cautiousness which 'ho creates. We regret-, therefore, as a large section of the public will regret, that it- becamenecessary to exclude him temporarily from Parliament. He was the scapegoat for the Government in respect of a policy for which, unfortunately f<fr him, the responsibility bad to rest- oil his shoulders. We have ourselves felt compelled to criticise somewhat sharply some of the legislation which it devolved upon, him to introduce and certain features of the administrative work which he performed. We need not, however, at the time of his retirement from office, recall the mistakes which in our judgment lie committed. At the present moment we prefer to acknowledge the fact- that his administration of the Department of Agriculture has in various respects been of a. markedly progressive character. It has been his obvious desire, by the application of scientific methods to farming pursuits, to raise the standard of the rural industries in New Zealand. By an extremely handsome gift of money for expenditure in the importation of pure--bred stock lie lias personally offered an earnest of his keen anxiety to assist in the improvement, of the herds of the Dominion, And in various other directions lie showed that, he was, heart and soul, animated by a wish to promote the success of the important producing industries of the country. It is fitting that- this should be remem■bered at the time when he is vacating office and temporarily turning aside from las political career, But nothing ill his official life became him more than the spirit in which lie is leaving it. 1' 01' tile excellent taste of the references which lie has made en different occasions to his rejection by the electors of Mataura there can be nothing but admiration. It is not- a- very difficult matter to be generous in the hour of victory.' There are, however, comparatively fe-w men who are so constituted ; as to be able to be. generous in the

liour of *tinging defeat.. Mi' M'Nnb lias proved that lie is one of Uie comparatively few. The chivalry, tlio grit, and the m:\nlinpss which lie has exhibited since lie was defeated have we veiltui'e to .say, lifted him to « higher plane in the estimation of most people than lie formerly oocu'pied, .and they have gone far toeffaco the recollection of the causes which contributed to his undoing. His retirement from Parliament happily does not mean that there will be any cessation of the services he is capable of rendering to the country. His energies, will merely for the time-, being, be ) diverted from one channel into another. He will as lie lliis said, resume the literary labours which have formed for him an intellectual recreation during the occasional hours that lie has been able to snatch from the performance of his Ministerial duties. In undertaking the researches which, in his public-spirited effort to record the ' earliest history of thesa islands, he lias conducted in Europe and America lie has already rendered a distinct service to the Dominion. And we do not doubt that the period of his withdrawal from, politics, being devoted, as it will be, to the prosecution of the literary work which Mr'M'Nnb has commenced, mil be really fruitful of benefit to the country.