CIVIL SERVANTS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19144, 29 October 1927, Page 16

CIVIL SERVANTS.

COMPULSORY RETIREMENT. SYSTEM CONDEMNED. "This Conference is of opinion that the compulsory retirement of all civil servants on their completion of forty t (40) years' service is not in the interests of the Dominion. It, therefore, ( considers that the Superannuation Act should be amended to allow for longer ' ; service where advisable.'' Tiie above remit, which was carried ; at yesterday's session of the annual ; • conference of the Associated Chambers j . of Commerce of New Zealand, pro- i i duceel an interesting discussion. j lii moving the remit, Mr A. E. i Rosevear (Dunedin) said:— I Tho remit calls the attention of the | Government to the fact that we, the j Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, con- j j sidcr'the compulsory retirement of i Civil Servants after forty years' comj jvletion of service is not in the best ] interests of the Dominion, and tho j Act should be amended so as to allow for longer years of service where desirable. At present the Superannuation Fund is being overloaded by compulsory retirement of men.who are in the early prime or life and who could give five or ten years of their best service to tho Government through the experience they have gained. Under the present system this experience is nonlost when it is most needed. i Too Young to be Idle. | These men who retire after serving j forty years, in a large number of cases j being too young to lead an idle life, put themselves in competition with others lor positions in commercial life This was never the intention of the originator of tbe fund, nor should the country superannuate a man in order that he may deprive another man of Ills means of livelihood. It has been brought under my notice that several men who are occupying fairly good positions in commercial life are retired public servants drawing large pensions. A few weeks since a public servant, a head of a DepartTiWnt, who was only 06 years of age, forced to retire after 'forty years' service, left his position on the Saturday evening and commenced business in a commercial house on the following : Monday morning. Through this overloading the Superannuation Fund is becoming a great tax on the country. , Three schemes are in force, State Railways, Public Service, and Teachers. ( I find that the Railway Superannuation ] Fund received a subsidy last year—as per tho railwav report for 1927 ~ of £170,000 from the working Railways 1 Department, and during the previous year £145,000 was received from the same Department and £20,000 from . the Consolidated Fund; \ Some Informative Figures. 1 The Public, .Service Superannuation " Fund, according to the annual report ' of the Government for the year end- * ed Marcli 31st, 1927, received in con- ' tributions from the Government £99,444. According to the Public i Service Superannuation Fund Actuarial s Report as at March 31st, 1924, as sub- t mitted to Parliament on September \ 21st, 192G the Government had con- ] tributed to this hmd, from January t Ist, 1920, to March 31st, 1924, no c less a sum than £ooo,ooo. The Actuary , reports that the average subsidy re- £ quirements for each vcar 1924-3, 1925- j. S, 1923-7, would lie £.193,000 per l auntum, and on account of these arrears to the fund, that he considered at least a.further sum of £27.000 per annum will require to be added to the v future subsidies of this account. To this v must be added a further sum of f £12,000 pet annum in respect of unex- t pected forced retirements in the past not provided for in the Actuary's past | estimates of outgo. If the 3ame policy | regarding retirements is to be main- j u tained during the next three years, j o the Actuary states, a still further sum j t should be added on this score. 1

The Teachers' Superannuation Fund, as per- tho New Zealand Year Book, 1927. reports that the Government subsidy for year ended January 31st, 1926. was £70,681. The total amount of the Government subsidy paid into the fund to January 31s£, 1926, is £538,f97. Tho total amount contributed by the Government to these three funds last year amounted to £340,125. It was reported in the daily Press during the present session of Parliament by a member'of the House that if things went on as they were, in twenty-five years one half of the population would be finding pensions for the other half. The growth in the number of Public Servants had made them a factor in polities.

From these facts it must be apparent that from the standpoint of economy alone the Government should consider the question of increasing tlw term of service.

This was seconded by Mr D. Seymour (Hamilton), who, however, dissociated himself in doing so from the reasons given by Mr RosevCar. He thought that the action of the man referred to by Mr Eosevear was to be commended, as New Zealand wanted all the good services it could get. Mr A. F. Wright (Canterbury) said that there was no Act in force to compel tho compulsory retirement of a Civil Servant after 40 years' service, although it was generally thought that such was the case. It came as a shock to the public that so many able men retired about 18 months ago. Many of these men were in their prime and were doing their best work. It was pertinent to ask whence came the demand > for such a wholesale retirement of Civil Servants as had taken place which was a great economic loss to the Dominion, the .personnel of the Service being of a high standard. Mr Wright also referred to the loss the Dominion would suffer by tho retirement of Mr Justice Stringer at a time when he was at tho zenith of his powers.