A MINISTER'S DAY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18402, 21 May 1934, Page 7

A MINISTER'S DAY

MANY CROWDED HOURS RECENT EXPERIENCES . “TOO TIRED TO THINK” (Special to the Herald.) WELLINGTON, this day. / The Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, has gone into seclusion in remote Waiho on the West Coast, where, as he hopes he will “have time to think.” Mr. Coates has thus brought vividly before the public mind a serious problem which frequently faces Ministers of the Crown, who have lives so crowded with callers and important routine that there is little time left for constructive thought. And if happily they reach the point of leisure, they are too tired to think clearly. Parliament will shortly be at , work, taking up afternoons and evenings, and often the early hours of the morning in addition. But the Minister of Finance must somehow find time to take a broad and general survey of the Dominion’s financial position, to decide on what lines he will recommend the House to face the financial future. Estimates of probable receipts by the consolidated revenue for the year ending March 31, 1935, have been framed by responsible heads of departments, particularly the customs branch and the Land and In come Tax Department, and these have to be considered before the Minister takes the responsibility of framing hi# estimates of expenditure. On these dec! sions will depend whether taxation is to be increased, or whether the time has come to give practical effect to the belief that the country is on the up-grade, and .that some of the heaviest taxation burdens can be relieved because revenue will be more buoyant in future. CUSTOMS REiVTSION While finance is the major problem calling for thought,' the Finance Minister is qlso concerned over the launching of the Central Reserve Bank. Apparently its directorate has not been an easy matter to complete, judging by the long delay in announcing the ap pointments. As Minister of Customs, Mr. Coates has to take charge of a complete review of the customs tariff during the coming session, involving consideration of the voluminous mass of information collected by the recent Tariff Commission, its recommendations, and their bearing on the Ottawa agreement. Perhaps the problems of the dairy industry, which have involved laborious hours to Ministers for many weeks, can momentarily be put aside until the Royal Commission is able to contribute its, suggestions. Members of Parliament declare that Mr. Coates is the hardest man to see of all Ministers, and this is true, though it involves no suggestion that he is very exclusive to callers. His chief problem Srs to be the reception of a neverg series of deputations/ His day commences at 9 a.m. usually with a long conference with the head of the Treasury, and' the rest of the office hours are filled with inevitable routine, so that he is frequently obliged to return to his d,esk in the evening, when there are few interruptions. The Prime Minister starts his day a little later than his colleague, because he is very insistent on getting an hour’s walk after breakfast, and covers an almost invariable route which need -not be indicated here, for fear that business might be thrust upon him before lie readies the office. This week he ' wished to attend to some private matters at his home in Cheviot, and so urgent were the affairs of the Government that he travelled overnight to Lyttelton, rushed to Cheviot and back the next day, and caught the sane boat to. Wellington so that he could continue official work with only a 24-hour break. DEPUTATION DELAYED , But business had accumulated, and the first morning’s programme became so Crowded that a large deputation from all branches of the public service, anxious to present a request for restoration of wages, could not reach its objective, the Prime Minister and Mr. Cdates, until 40 minutes after the arranged time, which, was noon. Ten organisations had collaborated in the preV paration of the statement to these Ministers, and it had been printed, taking up 10 quarto pages of small type. ThCre was one speaker, and he react t.hift statement with occasional additions by way of emphasis. The field to be covered was so' wide and important that no exception could be made to its length, but lunch-time quickly came round, and he still went on. Half-past one, and Ministers were ; '-still listening. Mr. Coates was due to catch the Picton steamer leaving at 2.46 p.m. and he anxiously watched the clock without comment. However, when prospects of lunch, had drifted away, the Prime Minister suggested that some ot the general arguments in the case, involving high exchange and unemployment might be “taken as read”—-he was following the speaker with the printed this resulted iu some abbreviation. 1 Mr. Coatee was able to make a brief reply, mid hurry away to the steamer, while it is assumed that tW Prime Minister could get but a sketchy meal, for he had to complete a day’s work, address the inaugural xneetj ing of the Royal Society of New Zea- ■: land in the evening, and make an early start the following! day for Taranaki. There is a telephone wire running alongside the forest road from Hokitika to Waiho for about 50 miles, so that communication with the Minister of Finance is fairly uncertain. If during current stormy weather there is a breakdown, the ministerial party will probably not expect the Post and Telegraph officials to make very frantic efforts at prompt restoration.