1 FEBRUARY 1952, Page 5

Everyone who knows Mr. Vincent Massey will recognise the appropriateness

of his choice as Governor-General of Canada once it was decided by the Canadian Government that the post should be held by a Canadian. Mr. Massey may fairly be regarded as the outstanding living Canadian, and the fact that his wife, who died in 1950, was a daughter of that notable Canadian Sir George Parkin drives his roots in the Dominion still deeper. And the fact that he knows this country so well, first as Oxford graduate, then as High Commissioner and through innumerable personal contacts, makes him almost a citizen-of the Commonwealth rather than of any single part of it. But it will be a pity on many grounds if the appointment means that the tradition of Dominion Governor-Generals from Great Britain is finally abandoned. The post in South Africa is held by a South African, in Australia by an Australian, in New Zealand by a New Zealander, and similarly with Pakistan. Ceylon alone holds to the old ways. It was hoped that Canada would too, but the matter is of course one for herself, and no one will be disposed to cavil at her decision.