BRITISH CABINET

Southland Times, Issue 21101, 5 June 1930, Page 5

BRITISH CABINET

CHANGE ANNOUNCED

MR THOMAS SECRETARY FOR DOMINIONS

COLONIES POST SEPARATE

(British Official Wireless.) Rugby, June 3.

The Prime Minister in the House of Commons, referring to separating the offices of the Dominions and Colonies, said at present there were two Under-Secretaries of State for these offices, but they still had one head in common. He proposed now to put a head over each office. This ought to have been done before, but it was so inconvenient that his predecessors, as well as himself, had delayed it. Economic relations with the dominions had always been a matter of great interest to this Government. There had been exchanges of views on this subject with the dominions, and the whole question was being thoroughly examined in preparation for what would be one of the most important discussions at the Imperial Conference.

He was anxious that contacts already established between Mr J. H. Thomas and dominion ministers should be further and more effectively used by both for Imperial purposes and in connection with our own unemployment problem. He had, therefore, asked Mr Thomas to take the Dominions’ Office. That would necessitate a readjustment of machinery set up for dealing with unemployment and that would be announced in due course.

In regard to contacts established by Mr Thomas with the dominions mentioned by the Prime Minister, it may be recalled that Mr Thomas was Secretary for the Colonies in the Labour Government of 1924. There was at that time no separate Dominions’ Office. Mr Thomas has also visited Canada during his present term of office as Minister in Charge of Unemployment.

. Mr Thomas was Secretary of State for the Colonies in the last Labour Government. His office in the present Ministry was that of Lord Privy Seal, with special work in connection with unemployment. It was reported recently that Mr Thomas was likely to take the portfolio of Dominions Secretary, at oresent held by Lord Passfield, whose portfolio has been Secretary for the Dominions and Colonies, and that the unemployment problem would be in the hands of a committee of the Cabinet, with Mr MacDonald as chairman.