CHANGE OF MINISTERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3030, 10 April 1912, Page 3

CHANGE OF MINISTERS.

STATE-GUARANTEED ADVANCES DEPARTMENT. WELLINGTON, April 3. Members- of the staff of the Stateguaranteed Advances Department assembled to-day to be introduced to the new Minister of Finance (the Hon. A. M. Myers) and to say good-bye to Sir Joseph Ward. Sir Joseph Ward briefly introduced the new Minister, remarking that it was not necessary for him to bespeak anything in the shape of loyalty to the new Minister, as he knew that the service generally was always loyal to the Administration of the day. In Mr Myers the department was fortunate in having a man of very considerable experience in financial operations, which would bs very valuable in controlling the affairs of the State-guar-anteed Advances Department, of which he would have control. —(Applause.) Mr Myers, in replying, said he approached his duties with very great diffidence. He was fully sensible of the fact that ho would not be able to do the same justice to it that Sir Joseph Ward ha.d done, but with the cordial co-operation and loyalty of the staff he would approach his new duties with enthusiasm, and at any rate endeavour to do his best in his new position. —(Applause.) Mr J. W. Poynton, the officer at the head of the department, said that they were also taking advantage of the opportunity to say good-bye to Sir Joseph Ward officially. They had all signed the following letter :—" To Sir Joseph Ward. —We, the officers and staff of the New Zealand State-guaranteed Advances Office, desire to express our sincere rgret at the severance of the relationship winch has existed between you reel f, as Minister of Finance, and the Advances Department, a department which owes its origin to vour statesmanship, in common with the rest of the public service. We are _ indebted to you for many privileges, kindness, and invariable courtesy." The-State-guaranteed Advances Department, he said, differed from the others in the respect that the others were-in existence before Sir Joseph Ward came into publiclife, but that department was created by hj,,-,—by his skill and foresight as a statesman it had been brought into existence. They therefore felt peculiarly related to Sir Joseph Ward in an official sense, and they could not allow him to retire from Ministerial life without expressing their appreciation of his services and kindness, and their own regret at losing him as their Minister.—(Applause.) Sir Joseph Ward, who was received with cheers, said he had always regarded that great department as one of the most valuable that had ever been established in New Zealand. It had done an onormons amount of good to a large section of the community who, without the assistance of the advances to settlers and workers, would in all probability never, or at any rate for many years, have attained the position they now occupied. Tt was something they all had a right to he proud of, especially when one remembered that many of those who had received benefits from the department were among the poorest members of the community. He knew cases in which navvies had provided homes for themselves from the advances obtained from the department, who _ under the- old system could never in their wildest imaginations have ! conceived the possibility of such prosperity. That was a fact of which they were' all entitled to be proud, especially when one remembered that the departI ment had been carried on clear of all political considerations as far as individu-

als were concerned. One of the ideas that existed in the minds of some of those who opposed the scheme was that only those who were supporters of the Government were likely to receive the of the scheme, but the department had existed long enough to fully demonstrate the fact that there was no such thing as political consideration. When one remembered that up to date there had been paid in loans under the three branches of the department £15,500,000 it did not need experience to realise what a tremendous factor the department had been in the prosperity of the country. He was perfectly certain that no one would ever be able to stop the work of tho department which provided cheap money for settlers, workers, and local bodies. Tho further fact that since the institution of tho department the losses were under £2OO was a great tribute to the State's working of the department, and completely answered tho misgivings of those who criticised it adversely at its inauguration. At that time he prophesied that the department would not make a loss, and his prophecy was discounted from end to end of the country. Now his prophecy had been found to be true. He hoped and felt sure that the department would be as successful in the future as it had up till now, and he hoped it would grow until it was found necessary to erect a separate building in Wellington in which its operations would be cari'ied on. (Applause.) Tho proceedings concluded with hearty cheers for Sir Joseph and Lady Ward.