a Moderate Liberal from an English point of view. He surrounded himself with col- 

 leagues who collectively made up the strongest cabinet New Zealand had possessed for a 

 generation. More than half the members of the cabinet were university graduates 

 a distinction unique in the history of New Zealand Ministries. The Ministry, which 

 had a good working majority, was constituted as follows: W. F. Massey, Prime Minis- 

 ter, Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Labour; J. Allen, Minister of Finance, Defence 

 and Education; W. H. Herries, Minister of Railways and Native Affairs; W. Fraser, 

 Minister of Public Works and Mines; A. L. Herdman, Attorney-General and Minister of 

 Justice; F. M. B. Fisher, Minister of Customs and Marine; F. H. D. Bell, Minister of 

 Internal Affairs and Leader of the Legislative Council; R. H. Rhodes, Postmaster- 

 General and Minister of Public Health; Dr. Pomare, Member of the Executive Council 

 representing the Native Race. 



The Massey government announced their determination to bring about closer settle- 

 ment of the" land and to make this the most important plank in their policy. They 

 proposed to lessen the graduated tax on estates of 5,000 unimproved value, and to pro- 

 vide that the graduation should be regular and increasing with every i increase in un- 

 improved value, while increasing the tax payable on estates of over 30,000 unimproved 

 value. The new law was to provide that the 25 per cent additional tax now imposed on 

 estates of 40,000, or more in unimproved value should apply to estates of more than 

 30,000. 



One of the first executive acts of the Massey Ministry was the appointment of Mr. 

 Thomas MacKenzie to the position of High Commissioner in London in succession to 

 Mr. C. Wray Palliser, who on Mr. MacKenzie's appointment resumed his office of secre- 

 tary to the High Commissioner's Department, which he had held during Mr. W. Pem- 

 ber Reeves' and Sir William Hall- Jones' tenures of office as High Commissioners. 



Obituary. SIR JOHN LOGAN CAMPBELL, known as "The Father of New Zealand," died 

 at Auckland on the 2 1st of June 1912. He was born in Edinburgh on the 8th of November 

 1817, and educated at Edinburgh University. After taking a medical degree he entered the 

 service of the East India Company, but in 1839 he left it and emigrated to Sydney. A year 

 later he went to New Zealand and there founded at Auckland the firm of Brown & Campbell. 

 In 1856 he joined the Stafford government as a member of the Executive Council. From 

 1 86 1 to 1871 he was in England; but he returned to New Zealand, and there held many 

 important posts, including the chairmanship of the Board of Education in Auckland and of 

 the Board of the Bank of New Zealand. 1 He was the author of Poenamo, a book on early 

 life in Auckland. He was knighted in 1902. 



SIR WILLIAM STEWARD, ex-Speaker of New Zealand House of Representatives, died at 

 Wellington, N.Z., on the 1st of November 1912. He was born at Reading, Berks., on the 

 2Oth of January 1841, and went to New Zealand in 1862, where for 30 years he was a journalist 

 and newspaper proprietor. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1870 and was 

 its oldest member. From 1893 to 1901 he was Speaker of the House, and in 1901 he was 

 knighted. He published Carmina Varia (1867) and The Vision of Aorangi and Other Poems 

 (1906). (L. J. BRIENT.) : 



SOUTH AFRICA r 



The area of British South Africa, according to 1911 official figures, is 1,204,358 sq. 

 m. In the same year the census returns gave the total population as 8,196,224 of whom 

 1,305,531 were Europeans or whites. Administratively British South Africa consists of: 

 (i) The Union of South Africa, a self-governing dominion comprising the Cape, Natal; 

 Transvaal and Orange Free State provinces; (2) The Territory of Rhodesia, adminis- 

 tered by the chartered company of British South Africa; (3) The Native Protectorates 

 Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, administered as crown colonies. South 

 Africa, however, forms one Customs Union, and the interests of Rhodesia and the Native 

 Protectorates are so intimately connected with those of the Union that it is best to treat 

 the whole area as a unit. This plan has been adopted below, but certain particulars re- 

 garding Rhodesia and the Protectorates are given in separate sections. 



Vital Statistics. Table I, compiled from the 1911 census return, gives details of the 

 area and population. Compared with the census of 1904 the increase in the white 

 population was 172,390. Of this increase 123,285 was in the Transvaal alone, the in- 



1 See E. B. xxv, 463 et seq. and allied articles. 



