ABSTRACT
Sometime about the end of the Second World War the present writer recalls hearing a conversation in Canberra about possible successors to Professor R. C. Mills as Chairman of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. The conversation was brought to a close by an authoritative assurance that ‘Chif. had his man’. Mr. Chifley's choice of A. A. Fitzgerald proved to be an inspired appointment, but at the time it must have come as a surprise to many who doubtless wondered what contribution an accountant had to make in a field that had hitherto been largely the preserve of constitutional lawyers, academic economists and retired politicians. They were soon to find out.
