THE COALITION GOVERNMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21446, 22 September 1931, Page 6

THE COALITION GOVERNMENT.

The task which the leader of a party has to perform when he undertakes the formation of a Government is not so easy as it may seem. It is even less easy when a leader has to provide from his party only one-half of a Government. The selection of five members who shall occupy Ministerial positions out of a party of 27 involves the need of a careful weighing of the qualifications, and not only of the qualifications but also of the claims, of those who form the party. And when three of the party are in effect automatically selected, so that two remain to be chosen out of 24 the difficulty is not only not diminished but is appreciably increased. It is rendered all the greater, moreover, when the two are to be included in a Government of ten members, five of whom belonging to another party have already been selected. For, in this case, considerations other than those based on personal qualifications and on claims —claims which may be related, perhaps, to length of service or to exceptional quality of service, or to tested fidelity or to popularity in the House —must be taken ,into account. In the particular instance with which the people of New Zealand are at present concerned, the five representatives of one party and the three automatically selected members of the other party in- : elude four members sitting 1 for North Island constituencies and three for South Island constituencies, together with a Northern member of the Upper House. Further, with one single exception the “ certainties ” represent constituencies that are predominantly rural. These are circumstances that complicate the difficulties that would ordinarily attend the selection of two members out of 25 members of a party most of whom may be supposed to entertain the ambition of some day holding Ministerial office. Mr Coates has not, therefore, the most enviable of tasks in deciding which two members of the Reform Party shall complete the contribution it will make to the Coalition Government, and it may be assumed that this explains the fact that the complete per-j sonnel of the Government has not yet been announced. There is reason to believe that Mr Adam Hamilton will be one of the two favoured members and, since he is the representative of a southern rural electorate, it would seem reasonable to suppose that the remaining place in the Government will be filled by a representative of a northern urban constituency. I