The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1929 LABOUR’S NEW TEAM

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 685, 10 June 1929, Page 8

The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1929 LABOUR’S NEW TEAM

PERHAPS it is not surprising tliat there were tAVO hundred applications for appointment to the new Labour Ministry in Great Britain. Fifty-five Ministerial places have to he filled, and of these half a hundred carry salaries ranging from £I,OOO to £IO,OOO a year. Eight of the usual score of Cabinet Ministers receive £5,000 a year each. Here and there, as particularly in the cases of the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General, the “extras” are very attractive, the first of these having obtained in past years as much as £17,000 a year in fees over and above his salary of £7,000, and the second similarly receiving £13,000 and £6,000. Hitherto, Avith an occasional exception, Scottish politicians have grabbed those prizes, but on this occasion, as in 1924, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald has gone outside the clansmen. The best of such revvards, incidentally, has been given to the former Liberal, Mr. Jowitt, K.C., Avho thus, in addition to the satisfaction of following the counsel of his political conscience, enjoys material compensation for the recriminatory abuse he will experience for having seceded abruptly from a battered party. But he is not the only ex-Liberal in the Labour Ministry. There are five others and also one former Tory member. It looks as though the Liberal Party might well take heed of the steady drift tOAvard and into Labour and hasten the ebb-tide of Liberalism. A return to the tAvo-party system Avould at least benefit the country. So far, only the better half of Labour’s second administrative team for the government of Great Britain has been chosen. The selection, like the curate’s egg, is good in parts, and certainly no Avorse than the administration Avhich shattered the Conservative Party. Primarily and purposefully, the new Ministry is democratic, but there is also in it a strong aristocratic leaven Avhich may be expected to raise the lump. One cannot help but notice that the representatives of the upper stratum of society are not far away from the highest honoraria. This may have been an outcome of high taxation. Since the second half of the Labour Administration must deal only with relatively minor affairs of State, it may he left to the shreAvd judgment of the Prime Minister, whose selection of nineteen Cabinet Ministers and eight other Ministers with no place in the executive council shoAvs an appreciation of both merit and loyal party service, the latter predominating perhaps too much, as usual. The strength of the Cabinet promises good work without any display of the fireworks of Socialism. It is clear that Mr. MacDonald means to folloAV precedent since the World War and maintain a numerically strong administration. Many people have thought that a Cabinet of at least a score of Ministers is an administrative extravagance, but in Great Britain, as in all of the Dominions, the post-war craze for looking to the Government for everything that involves big and easy expenditure has multiplied Ministerial and public service departments. In any ease, the British experiment of reducing the Cabinet to half a dozen Ministers during the war was anything hut a success. So, again, it is believed that twenty heads in politics are better than six, irrespective of size and shape. The appointments to Cabinet rank Avhich challenge the most attention are those covering the responsibilities invoiced in the conduct of Foreign and Dominion affairs. Those who have followed the heavy career of Mr. Arthur Henderson Avill not expect him to make a notable mark as successor to Sir Austen Chamberlain. The new Foreign Minister cannot he other than a stodgy diplomatist. Of course, he Avill have Mr. MacDonald’s guidance, but that could not at its best make up for lack of personality and ability. It is generally admitted that, so far, the surprise of the packet has been the appointment of Mr. Sidney Webb as Secretary of State for the Dominions. Since he has no place in Parliament he is to he raised to the peerage. One may not anticipate his title in the House of Lords, but his career would suggest that of Lord Pamphlet. Hitherto, he has been more of a philosophic and Socialist statistician than a statesman. If documentary service should help to develop the Empire the noble Labour lord-to-be will prove an outstanding success. His next book might well be “Socialisation of the British Empire.” But really, however, it will require only very little brilliant Avork to make him a better Empire administrator than his predecessor, Mr. Amery, Avho could circumnavigate and criss-cross the whole Commonwealth of British nations Avithout giving voice to a single new idea. Not even one of Mr. Webb’s books could hold all the Amery platitudes. Altogether, Mr. MacDonald’s second Cabinet leaves little to he desired in the circumstances of his party. It may play havoc Avith Empire trade and the safeguarding of British industries, hut this may he left to the reserved wisdom of Labour and to the formidable strength of the Opposition.

COALS TO NEWCASTLE

IF the deadlock on the NeAv South Wales coalfields continues mueh longer, the old proverb about carrying coals to Ncavcastle Avill lose its significance. The attitude of independent coal consumers to a centre of production Avhere industrial disorganisation is so frequent is summed up in the remark of Mr. H. H. Sterling, general manager of the New Zealand Railways, Avho is now visiting Australia, that, if he Avere arranging coal contracts, Newcastle would be the last place to Avhich he Avould go. The dispute is affecting the Sydney gas supply, and the sequel in such a circumstance is usually that another source of eoal is found, and often that, if the new source proves satisfactory, the old one is abandoned for good. Thus irreconcilables on both sides contribute tOAvard permanent loss both to themselves and their country. In the case of the present NeAV South Wales dispute, an unfortunate feature is that, while the mine-OAvners may be able to stand this loss, the miners certainly cannot. Australia’s experience of the gentle processes of arbitration has never been very fortunate, and the present idleness of the mines is a reflex of the complete breakdown of the system. Since arbitration has failed, the temper of men now idle over a period of months has not improved, and a crisis has been reached, with the men openly threatening obstructive tactics in order that such mines as are noAV working may be forced into idleness in company with those they have deserted. If these tactics are successful, complete paralysis of the largest coalfield in Australia Avill folloAV and in that case indirect railway, industrial and municipal dislocation Avill he inevitable. On the employers’ side the most prominent figure in the present dispute is Mr. John BroAvn, OAvner of several collieries, who has decided to take a firm stand against the irritation tactics that have so retarded the industry in recent years. His attitude has enabled the workers to describe the present trouble as a lock-out, rather than as a strike., and the fact that a prosecution against Mr. BroAvn Avas dropped in the interests of a possible harmonious settlement has enabled them to suggest political influence on the side of the mine-OAvners. On the other hand, it is fairly clear that the OAvners haA r e many grievances. With faults on both sides, the deadlock has been protracted by bad temper, obstinacy and the influence of labour agitators. Now it assumes a more formidable colour than ever.