The Labour Ministry.
The Hon. W. Nash,
Minister of Finance, Customs and Marketing.

(Written for the “N.Z. Railways Magazine” by “Autolycus.”)

“The Hon. Walter Nash, the strong business man of the Labour Government, has been described by a fellowmember of his party in Parliament as a type of “the great middle class, save that his first care is for the under dog.” His long and varied business experience, in England and in New Zealand, and his sound, and thorough grasp of commercial methods and of high finance will be subjected to a most severe test in his capacity as the chief selling agent for the Dominion's products. He will visit Great Britain in that capacity very shortly, and all New Zealand will follow with intense interest his efforts to improve and stabilize our business relations with the parent lands. It is indeed a heavy burden of responsibility that rests on the shoulders of our Minister of Finance and Marketing. It is his task to find the money for the national enterprises which his colleagues have so vastly extended. Funds must be allotted for a score of great undertakings and for the humanitarian reforms which the Savage administration has begun to put into effect. Most men would despair of ever understanding the intricacies of national finance which Mr. Nash must know as the ABC of his job. Many people no doubt consider themselves competent to discharge the duties of other members of the Government, but Dominion finance calls for a statesman endowed with more than ordinary mental capacity. New problems in commerce and the financial system are continually presenting themselves, and the Government has assumed the position of purchaser and vendor of the country's enormous volume of dairy farm and factory produce. That is just to begin with; the principle, if successful, as it must be, is to be extended.