1 DECEMBER 1917, Page 15

Lord Rothermere has been appointed to take charge of the

new Air Ministry. He has the reputation of being a very capable man of business. Whether his business talents are capable of bodily translation to a Government Department, and will have there a value corresponding to the value already proved in private business, is a question that remains to be answered. It is, or was till recently, the fashion to assume that a good man of business must be a good politician, or rather something very much better than a politician can ever hope to be. Lord Rotherinere's talents may be inter- changeable and serve both purposes. He goes to a most important poet at a moat important time. His work will be watched by the whole nation with the most sincere hope that he will "make good."