GOVERNORS’ APPOINTMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 November 1930, Page 6

GOVERNORS’ APPOINTMENTS.

■So far as New Zealand is concerned the decision of the Imperial Conference that in future Dominion Governments will advise the King in regard to the appointment of his personal representatives is likely to make little practical difference. It is well known that the Imperial Government has, in recent years at all eveAta, been in touch with local Administrations before nominations were actually made, and the system has worked with perfect satisfaction in this country. In theory the new ruling is, no doubt, the complement of the equality of status between Imperial and Dominion Governments that was officially recognised four years ago. In practice, so far as New Zealand is concerned, little change in method is likely. There is a general feeling in this country that there are cogent reasons why the King’s personal representative should be other than a local individual. He must be a man of standing, and to have become that here necessitates an active career in politics or in a profession or in commerce. The (first essential for the position of Gov-ernor-General is that the one appointed shall bo free of the suspicion, whether justified or not, of being interested in local affairs to an extent which might warp his judgment of make impartiality difficult. In so small a community as . that of NeW Zealand it would *>e almost impossible to find a candidate for so high an office that could fulfil this condition. It is quite true that the Governor-General is in no way the ruler of a Dominion. He is but the executive head of .an elected Ministry, and in his official action -, will be guided .entirely by its advice. That does not preclude him from giving his Ministers tiie benefit of experiences gained elsewhere should hits personal advice be sought, and there have been, no doubt, occasions when the review of» a situation by a. well informed but wholly impartial observer has proved of value to the State. 'Whatever jurists may think of this latest acknowledgment of local autonomy so long as the calibre of appointees continues as high as in the past the people of this country are unlikely to desire any real change in the method of their selection.