The West Coast Times. TUESDAY JUNE 18, 1912. BRITISH CABINET CHANGES.

West Coast Times, 18 June 1912, Page 2

The West Coast Times. TUESDAY JUNE 18, 1912. BRITISH CABINET CHANGES.

o,\k of the most interesting Cabinet changes in the British Parliament lias boon brought about by the retirement of Lord Loreburu from the position of Lord High Chancellor, and the succession to that exalted position of Viscount Haldane, with the promotion of Colonel Seely to the head of the War Office l . All three men have had interesting careers, and have been in public eye on many notable occasions. A sigh of relief will bo uttered by almost the entire Liberal Party at Home at news of the retirement of the redoubtable nearer to the woolsack, for Lord Loreburu was the thorn in the side of the Asquith Ministry of late years. As Sir Robert Reid, he earned a reputation, at the English Bar, and in 1894 became Solicitor-General, laltcr on taking the more exalted position of Attorney-General. It was when ho was promoted to the notable post of Lord High Chancellor, however, .that h'-3 opponents declared that he was was hardly the man to fill so proud a position with distinction. Whatever ■nay have been his qualifications, Lord i Loroburn adopted an attitude of airy independence in carrying out his duties, to the very considerable ombarassmout of his party. Last year ho almost precipitated a crisis in the Liboi.i) ranks by persistently refusing to bo dictated to in 1 lie matter of appoint,n;i; country magistrates. It was the cortention of his party that there wore to;, many dignitaries of the wrong colour being appointed, and that ho was deliberately showing favour to the men of the opposite party. But the Lord High Chancellor refused to be dictated to in the face of the fnsilade from the Liberal press, which called him many uncomplimentary names and broadly hinted l at his unfitness for the position. Now that Viscount Haldane lias succeeded to the Chancellorship at least one grievance will be removed so far as the party in power at Home are concerned. The new Chancellor has had a varied career,the most notable period of which has just concluded with his departure from the War Office Lord Haldane was also' a distinguished member of the legal profession and was made a Queen’s Counsel in <IB9O. Ho came into great prominence, of course, when ho took charge of the much-abused War Office, which is the favourite object of attack in season, ana out of season among writers and speakers on the look-out for somethin* which makes a good target and which cannot very well be hit back. Public opinion in England having always been steadily against any compulsory system of military training, and the profession of soldiering having to a considerable extent gone out of fashion uny Minister who is compelled to maintain an army on the voluntary system , is likely to have a bad time. The re . 1 tmng Minister faced his unenviable task with a brave heart and attacked the problem of reviving the dying volunteer movement with some vigour and ingenuity than some of his successors, lie was the creator of the Territorial orco at Home, which has been comparatively successful—as successful perhaps as- any voluntary system is svei likely to be in an age when war s not surrounded by the glamour and umancG of other periods. Viscount - aidane’s last notable achievement vac llls unofficial visit to Berlin a few nonths ago in the cause of intornaicnal peace. Great hopes were enteramed of that visit, but unfortunately be results do not appear to be very atisfactory, for there has been ;„o lackemng m the armament rivalry and 0 friendlier feeling appears to prevail etween the great rival Powers Of 'olonol Seely, the new War Minister ttle need be said, but at least one lung is nr his favour. He has had ractical experience in the work of soliering, having seen active service in ie South African War, anr he may lereforo be relied on to bring to his Position a fund of knowledge mch should bo of great value to him 1 discharging a somewhat thankless ud unsatisfactory task.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. . According to a cable published in. the Australian papers there is unprecedented competition just now among the various countries for immigrants from Great Britain. Even Peru is making a great bid for the British immigrant and hag sent to London an orator who holds forth in Hyde Park daily on the attractions of the South American Republic as a field for those seeking new homes. This announcement is followed by a statement by Canada’s special immigration commissioner that Australia has become a formidable competitor of the the great Dominion in the matter of attracting the surplus population, and he has warned his country that immediate steps must bo taken to prevent the steady immigration stream being diverted from Canada to other lands. Sir George Reid the Commonwealth’s versitilo High Commissioner, has certainly justified his appointment as his country’s representative, for lie is mainly responsible for the success of the immigration scheme. So attractively has he set out Australia’s many advantages that the New South Wales Governmeit has been compelled to ask the immigration agents to stay their hands for a while for they are afraid that the thousands of new setters arriving will not be absorbed by the State. In view of these striking facts it is not out of place to draw attention once again to New Zealand’s vacant High Commissioncrship. New Zealand wants population badly, and consequently wants a representative in London who will be able to handle the immigration problem as successfully as rival countries. Will the Government use the position to reward a faithful friend or to servo the country’s interests P

Commenting on the whole policy of the Government in the matter of raising loans, and particularly on this latest transaction, the Evening Post says;— “Taking a lino through the five million loan, one may see that the annual cost of the two-year four million loan must work out at something over 3J per cent, and at the end of the absurdly short period the country will have to face a further heavy bill for renewals. The Government wont on the market at an unfavourable time in 1910, and at a worse time this year—during a period of great industrial disturbance. It is rather distressing that the hand-to-mouth financers manage to hit upon such times for their costly operations. 9 his short-dated system of doing business is becoming standardised into a working rule. The ‘ precedents ’ are piling up on an appalling scale—to the groat joy of underwriters and the other middlemen. There are other ugly aspects in addition to the cost. It is true that the Government can cite authorities' for the loans hy trotting out the warrants for unraised balances of loans sanctioned. The fact remains, however, that when the Loan Bill for £1,500,000 was being debated last year, the Government did not indicate that it would treble that sum (for the London Standard says that the loan will total £4,500,000). Under this system the Government may 1 save up ’ and ‘fertilise ’ the country with a golden stream at a time when such a cause may suit the Administration’s political needs. Wo are aware that, generally, it is more economical to go on to the market, at decent intervals, for a largo loan than frequently for comparatively small sums, hut there is no economy in four million propositions for two years. This is wasteful, demoralising, haphazard system of frenzied finance, which must cease. This colossal four million blunder cannot ho explained away by all the words of Webster.” ■ ,