SELECTION OF THE NEW LEADER

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXII, Issue 7217, 21 May 1925, Page 3

SELECTION OF THE NEW LEADER

REFORM PARTY’S CAUCUS FIXED FOR WEDNESDAY NEXT Special to Telegraph WELLINGTON. EWs day. k Watching and waiting to see what would turn up” just about summarised the political situation until Tuesday, when it was announced that the Reform Party caucus to select the person ‘ upon whom the mantle of leadership will fall would be held on Wednesday, May 27. The names of Messrs W. Downie Steward and J. G. Coates are on everybody’s tongue, and Mr A. D. Me Leod is also mentioned. Some - say that much weight will attach to the opinion of Mr W. Nosworthy as to the merits of the various nominees put forward, and that even Mr Nosworthy himself, as the senior member of the Reform Cabinet in the Lower House, is not wholly to be disregarded in the final selection. A POSSIBLE SOLUTION ' The Prime Minister (the Hon. Sir Francis Bell) has stated definitely that, as soon as the Reform Party has found its new leader, he will tender to His Excellency the Governor-General the resignation of the Government, and be in a position to name the leader to whom it is desired that the duty of forming the new Reform Government should be entrusted. While at the moment it seems unlikely to happen, the suggestion is made that, in the event of the reform caucus being unable to agree on a leader, Sir Francis Bell may continue in office and appoint someone to take charge of Government business in the House of Representatives. Such a situation would, without the slightest doubt, be fiercely assailed both in the House and in the country. In the hnal choice a great deal will depend upon the reports which come to hand from New York regarding Mr Stewart's health and the liklihood of his early and complete recovery. FORMING A MINISTRY One thing seems fairly certain, and it is that whoever becomes the new Prime Minister will have no light task fcb face in forming a Ministry, Within the past two years, at any rate, there has been no lack of claimants for __ Ministerial rank; and, so far as the North Island is concerned, there have been aspirants both in the southern portion and in the middle Auckland district. Those who have been passed over have nob always concealed their sense of disappointment, and if the now Prime Minister to be appointed in the event of the early resignation of the Bell Ministry decides to fill the Vacancy in the Reform Cabinet caused by the death of Mr Massey, there may be more disgruntled feelings. Such a possibility is not at all unlikely, and it may be that in certain circumstances appointment to Ministerial rank may be the price of loyalty. In any case, as one Reform member of Parliament put it, the “ situation is distinctly interesting.”