THE NEW CABINET.

Southland Times, Issue 17003, 29 March 1912, Page 5

THE NEW CABINET.

ALL BUT ONE ANNOUNCED. AT LEAST ONE SURPRISE. ' Mr Hanan Education and Justice. MESSAGE FROM RETIRING PREMIER. (Per United Press Association).

WELLINGTON, March 28. Following is the new Cabinet ; HON. THOS. MACKENZIE. Prime Minister, Minister of Lands, Commissioner of State Forests, Minister in Charge of Land for Settlements, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Industries and Commerce, Minister in Charge of Tourist and Health Resorts and Scenery Preservation Departments. BON. A. M. MYERS. Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister iru Charge of Land and Income Tax Departments, Minister in Charge of State Guaranteed Advances Office, Minister of Railways. Hon. w. d. s, McDonald. Native Minister, Minister of Public Works, Roads and Bridges, Minister in Charge of Valuation Department, HON. J. A, HANAN. Minister of Education, Minister of Stamps Duties, Minister of Justice, Minister in Charge of Police Department, Prisons Department, Crown Law (including Law Drafting). ■ HON. G. LAURENSON.. Minister of Customs, Labour, Marine, Minister in Charge Of Inspection of Machinery Department. HON. G. W. RUSSELL. Minister in Charge of Hospitals and Charitable Aid Department, Mental Hospitals, Public Health, Immigration, Internal Affairs, State Fire Insurance, Electoral and Advertising Departments. EON. J. COLVIN. Postmaster-General, Minister of Telegraphs and Mines, Minister In Charge of Old Age Pensions and Government Printing Office. HON. TB RANOIHIROA. Minister in Charge of Cook and other Islands and representing the Native race, and in charge of Maori Councils, Government Insurance and Public Trust Departments. HON. H. G. ELL. Member of tho Executive Council and Minister in Charge of 1 the Friendly Societies* Department. HON. X. BUXTON. Minister without portfolio. One paid portfolio is still to> be filled. Mr Mackenzie makes no statement tonight. EXIT SIR JOSEPH WARD. A RETIRING MESSAGE." , POLITICAL CAREER REVIEWED. WELLINGTON. March 28, The Press Association has been handed the following message on his retirement ;

resentment, and, as a private member, I shall continue to feel the same love for this beautiful country, the same intense interest in its progress as I have always felt throughout the years of my ministerial life. My late leader went cut of office into the silence of death, the heroic victim of Ills own public devotion, ending that strenuous life of his as he himself would, perhaps, have chosen. My exit is different; but. were .ie living and in retirement,: I am disposed to feel that he to-day would have shaken me by the hand and cheered me with the assurance that, looking at my work, I had not been unworthy to succeed him, and I am gratified by the belief that those of my fellow-countrymen who read this message with fair impar-tial-minds will pass upon’my years of leadership an equally generous judgment. “Joseph George Ward, Wellington, 2Sth March.” bon. r. McKenzie’s resignation. OPPOSITION COMMENT (Special to the Times.) CHRISTCHURCH. March' 28. Commenting on the Hon. R. McKenzie’s resignation, the Press says:— “While Sir Joseph Ward is apparently clinging to office like a drowning man. Mr Roderick McKenzie, of all men, has s.ont in his resignation to the Governor. The Cabinet is like certain curious creatures which are said to take an unconscionable time In dying, and commence by shedding their limbs one after another. It is rather difficult to make out from the surface of things whether this, step on the- part of Mr Roderick McKenzie is a gentle act of self-abnega--. tion, Intended to soothe the feelings and smooth the path of his namesake, or whether it is an exhibition of mingled disgust and defiance betokening trouble. The redoubtable Roderick is not usually associated with meekness, which, when it is aekod for its cloak, it gives its coat also; and there is an ominous air abotu the statement that he intends to consult his constituents about the events leading up to his resignation. Meanwhile Mr McKenzie is to be, congratulated on having done his part towards terminating a fdreo which is fast becoming intolerable.” ' MORE BOOBS AHEAD. MR E. H. CLARK’S ATTITUDE. The member for Chalmers, Mr E. 11. Clark, is likely, so it is hinted, to reconsider his attitude towards the Liberal .party, which hitherto has been. one of general support of the Administration. Before Mr Clark left for the south the Star correspondent asked him if he were prepared to make public his views oh the political situation. While not denying the accuracy of the suggestion in •the opening sentence, he said that it was only fair to ibis. constituents that they should 1 be the first to know all about hie attitude.. ”1 will take an early opportunity of dealing with tho position publicly-’.’ he said. “Yes, there will be iuterdjstlng 1 developments. Matters political have gone just on the ‘lines I pointed out. forcibly at the Caucus,” Mr Clahjt will reach Dunedin by to-day’s first express. .

Fellow citizens, —To-day I lay down the duties and burden of the leadership of the Liberal Party. I assumed it nearly six years ago not without many misgivings that I would not maintain that unrivalled public record which the late Mr Seddon closed by death, in tire* less devotion to the land, and people he loved so well. ' As 'a ; statesman and a leader he left behind him no equal ; hence It was inevitable that I should suffer as his successor by contrasts and comparisons which showed his superiority. Whatever may be the world’s measure, a man’s measure of his achievements turns mainly upofi -whether he has done his best, and, whatever my shortcomings have been, I feel that I cannot unfairly claim to have used such abilities as I possess as well as X could and as industriously as 1 could in the service of this country, and In the promotion of what I conceived to be the best interests of the great mass of my fellow-countrymen. “It is a quarter of a century since I was elected a member of Parliament, and I became a Minister of the Crown over twenty-one years ago. I recognise that it is given to but few to hold Ministerial office for so long a time, and while I have never, where justice and the general welfare of the people demanded it, hesitated to limit or resist sectional or class interests, I have (as is always the case) created class enemies without always securing a corresponding support of the great mass of the community, for whose welfare I was striving. The most disheartening experience of leadership is that, while the classes of privilege and monopoly fiercely and often effectively attack a man for all invasions of their interests in the cause of the common weal, the great bulk of the people he is seeking to benefit not infrequently regard his efforts with apathy and indifference. And to-day, on talcing leave of the leadership and of all prospects of other Ministerial office, I am fully justified in saying that what incited the bitterness, misrepresentation and abuse poured upon me so overwhelmingly at the last election was mainly the uncompromising attitude I have always taken towards the forces of Conservatism, monopoly and privilege when and where I have honestly felt it was my duty to do so in the public Interest. “No man who traces the long series of legislative measures which began with Mr Ballance, which were continued vigorously by the late Mr Seddon, and which the Government of which I had the honour to he leader has passed, can deny that the whole trend and purpose of the measures has been on the side of the people, for the benefit of the people, and for the protection of the people against the possible oppression of the great vested interests. Mon of middle life have poor memories indeed if they cannot recall the hitter resistance • both ■ in the press and Parliament, which the members of the Opposition party offered to most of these benolicient reforms. On leaving the leadership to-day, I feel a sense of pardonable pride in a survey of the Statute book for the last five years, and that sense of pride is heightened by a wider survey of (he measures I have helped to make law during all the previous years I was a member of the Ballance and Seddon Cabinets. Amid the tumult of recent and present party conflict a man’s past public work is naturally forgotten ; but I believe that when the people of New Zealand later pass judgment upon what I have done and earnestly sought to do, and make up the account for and against me—‘nothing extenuate nor aught set down in malice’ —they will admit that my years of office have not been spent unworthily and that I have left behind me in the shape of administrative Acts and legislative reforms a lasting answer to the calumny which has for so many months past been directed against me in an ever increasing chorus by many of those opposed to mo. Those who Know me best will at least n{dmlt that I have not spared myself in doing the work of my public offices. "X am now past middle life, and from years of early youth until to-day my life lias been one of strenuous labour. The best years of this life have been given to my country ; hence it is that I accept with cheerfulness the retirement which circumstances have forced upon me. My prospective leisure comes to me the more gratefully in that I am no willing deserter from my post in the field. To me. whatever my bitter critics may say, my .party’s interests are dearer than any personal advantages, and while I shall no longer have the powers and privileges of leadership, I shall strive as a private member to assist in the fullest degree the party to which I have so long belonged, and which for river five years 1 have led. in all attempts that party may make to further the interests of the people of this country along the lines of safe, humanitarian progress. To-day I leave the leadership and office with of bitterness or

The member for Motueka told the Dunedin Evening Star correspondent that he is somewhat dissatisfied with the manner in which his resignation was published. It is well known to those who are behind the political scenes -that Mr R. McKenzie did not want to go into the new Ministry, as he had always intimated that he was prepared to render any assistance in his power to the Liberal party. But when invited by Mr T". Mackenzie to join the new Cabinet he imposed two conditions, which apparently were not acceptable to the Cabinet-ma-kers; consequently, the member for Motueka 1 took the matter into his own hands, and Immediately resigned as a member of the Ward Government. A BUrOBU SAU7, MR HINE HONOURED. MR MASSEY CONFIDENT. (Per United Press Association). STRATFORD, March 28. The Reform Party held a rally at -Stratford to-night. It was a most successful gathering, the Town Hall being filled to overflowing. Messrs Massey, Wilson, Newman, Pearce, Okey, Guthrie, and Hine, M.P.’s, were all received with cheers and applause. A purse containing £IOO was presented to the member for Stratford by Mr Hemingway, on behalf of his constituents.

Mr C. K. Wilson (Taumarunul) the first speaker.! said that there was in the King Country the best gold mine in the Australasian colonies, which the present Government had kept the best men and women of the colony from occupying. •The Reform Party were real Liberals. John Bright had said-that he considered the slower the pace in politics the better. The Reform Party did not want to rush into legislation and have to rush out again in the style of the present Government. He spoke specially of road necessities in the North Island backblocks. Mr Newman (Rangitikei) said that Mr Hlne's work in raising the level of politics ,would last for many years. At no part of the history of the colony was it so necessary to raise the level of politics. He denied the allegation of Sir Joseph Ward that the last election had been fought by misrepresentations and insinuation. He enumerated various things which people did not like and which made them reject Sir Joseph Ward. People did not like the Mokau block, refusal to give details of loans, increased taxation, and extravagant expenditure. It was these tilings and not personal feeling against Sir Joseph Ward which had defeated thd' Government. There was growing in New Zealand a party which had only the idea of placing ail taxation on land. The exports of the colony totalled twenty-one and a half millions, of which two-thirds was contributed by the people. Land legislation must be in the interests of the people on the land if the colony was to prosper. Single tax on land would he against their interests.

Mr G. V. Pearce (Patea) praised Mr Hine in connection with the Hine charges. At present members of Parliament were selling their properties to the Government, which he thought highly improper. Mr Pearce quoted the words of Sir Joseph Ward regarding interference by a member of Die House as regards his household. Ho remembered having in the House said that he would not hurry Sir Joseph Ward out of his nice house in Tinakori road. This remark might not have been in the best taste; but it hardly justified the hard remarks made in reply. Sir Joseph Ward’s details regarding a loan had been supplied under pressure, and it was shown that Sir Joseph Ward bad had a letter for sixteen months; yet he had said he had been accused of withholding a document which everybody knew he did not possess. Mr E. F. Hemingway, in making the presentation to Mr Hine, said that Mr Massey was entitled to the position of Premier: but Mr Massey would prefer to remain plain Mr Massey than to occupy the Premiership under the conditions in which it was hold at present. Mr Hine, in reply, said that the present Administration’s idea of taxing land was not against large landowners, but against all occupiers of land. Sir Joseph Ward had suddenly expended

votes which had been on the Estimates for years, with the Idea of embarrassing Mr Massey. Mr Mackenzie would have to hoe the hard row prepared for Mr Massey. Mr D. W. Guthrie (Oroua) said that never before was there In the politics of the colony a crisis fraught with such importance. The great Liberal Party could not pick one of Its own members fit to lead the party, and had to pick a man previously with the Reform Party. Mr S. J, H. Okey (Taranaki) attacked the Government on railway policy. Mr Massey said that at the last eleo* tion forty-one members were returned pledged to vote against the Government on a want of confidence motion; but two of those pledged broke their word. He did not blame men who broke pledges; but he objected to those who were mean enough to Induce them to do so. It was a bitter moment when he found people whom he had helped Into Parliament going against him; but that was all past now. At present the admlnstration was run by half a dozen members of Parliament. The new Cabinet, who might be untried men, would be allowed to run the Important business of the country for the next three months without a check. During the short session they had had presented to them tho most extaordinary Governor’s speech—a death rattle speech It had been called —ever presented to any legislature In the world. There was a bribe in every line. The speech was endorsed by th* caucus. He thought it wrong that t, democratic country should submit to .a caucus Government. There were only a few proposals regarding Important matters before the country. There was a proposal to reform the Legislative Council; but, bad as the present method was, the reform was worse. It wae obsolete and antiquated. The term Tory could not be used In New Zealand against the Reform Party. If there were any, he thought they comprised about half £ dozen on the Government side of th* House, who would probably be in the new Cabinet. The Reform Party were true Liberals. They held that the exe* cutlve existed not to control Parliament but to give effect to the desire of Parliament. The Reform Party hod never attempted to put class against class, but had worked In the Interests of all classes. The party had been accused of encouraging land monopoly; but he thought there were monopolies growing up in the colony of far more danger than land monopoly. These monopolies would be heard of later on. The real aim of the party was to promote closer settlement and to encourage the maa who made the beat of his land. The. party favoured the deferred payment system. Referring to alleged misrepresentation by the Reform Party at last election, Mr Massey said that he had addressed seventy-one meetings outside his own electorate, and nowhere did ho hear any misrepresentation. The party charged with being in league with landlords; but everybody knew that the administration had allowed large areas In native lands 'to pass Into the hands of speculators. The Liberals . thought tho other day that when won on tho Speaker’s casting vote they had tho Reform Party beaten. A party which believed that did not know the Reform Party Inside the House or outside tho 'House, and did not know the leaded of the party. It had been suggested that the Party's war cry should be ‘‘Ake! Ake! Kia! Kaha!” Whatevier happened tho party would fight for ever and ever. He thought that when the next general election came along, probably next year, tho Reform Party would get a majority. The following resolution was carried unanimously:—"That this meeting of electors of Stratford and district desires to convey to Mr Massey its deep appreciation of the statesmanlike manner In which he has for years past championed the people’s cause in the direction of sound Government on truly democratic principles, and also heartily congratulates Mr Massey and the members of the Reform Party upon the splendid fight put up by them at the last elec--1 tlon, and the great success achieved by them in their efforts to secure for the Dominion clean Government and honest administration of its affairs.