HAIL AND FAREWELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3768, 1 June 1926, Page 31

HAIL AND FAREWELL.

POSITION OF HIGH COMMISSIONER. (Fbom Oub Own Correspondent.) > LONDON, April 16. Under the heading of “Hail and Farewell” the Empire Review thus refers to Sir James Alien and his successor: “There is no more popular representative of the great dominions in London than Sir James Allen, the High Commissioner for New Zealand; and Downing street, the press, and, indeed, all who have come in contact with him, will regret his impending departure. Sir James was bora in South Australia nearly 70 years ago, but bo is a youthful septuagenarian, and it is quite on the cards that he may return to the active politics of the Dominion. He ’ would certainly strengthen the not very strong Cabinet of Mr Coates, for he is\ not only a skilled administrator, but a rare ! parliamentary fighter with a habit of i hitting hard. As Minister for Defence under Mr Massey from 1914, he had the difficult task of piloting tho Conscription Act through Parliament, and the still more difficult task of carrying its provisions into effect. “Sir James Allen’s successor is Sir James ,Parr, who has been a member of the Dominion Parliament for 12 years, and has held Ministerial rank for six years. He is a staunch Imperialist of the true New Zealand school, and is keenly interested in naval affairs.”