AT GENEVA
The Prime Minister has accepted an invitation to attend the International Labour Conference at Geneva an<l deliver an address on the legislation and future measures of the New Zealand Government. It is evidence of the widespread interest created by the enactments of the Government that the secretary of this body should have extended an invitation to Mr Savage, and he will have an exceptional opportunity to review the performance and the plans of the first Labour Administration of the Dominion. No one doubts that he will make the best possible use of the occasion, and that Now Zealand will, at least for that session, have a prominent place at the conference.
But the decision of the Prime Minister to go to Geneva raises the question as to whether it is now essential that another member of the Ministry should attend the conference. Last year the Dominion was represented by the secretary of a southern trades union, and if he could discharge the duties satisfactorily it seems hardly necessary for two Ministers to attend this year. Doubtless Mr Savage will have many calls on his time, when abroad, but lie might be able to spend a few days at Geneva and act as the New Zealand representative. If the attendance of someone at all the chief sessions is deemed necessary then the High Commissioner, after full consultation with Mr Savage and Mr Nash, would he ablfe to do the work capably, and the cost to the country would not be nearly so great. There really does not appear to be any urgent need for three members of the Cabinet to be at the other side of the world at the same time. If such a course had been followed by previous Governments the Labour members would have been pointed in their criticism, and there is a need for some official explanation of a decision that is puzzling. With the two senior members of the Ministry within an hour or two of Geneva by air the presence of a third Minister, simply to represent New Zealand at a conference, seems unnecessary.
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Bibliographic details
Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20125, 22 February 1937, Page 6
Word Count
351AT GENEVA Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20125, 22 February 1937, Page 6
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