HOW THE WIND BLOWS.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 188, 15 February 1878, Page 7

HOW THE WIND BLOWS.

The Daily Times referring to tbe overgrown civil service, the undue political influence it exercises, and the obstructions thrown in the way of the present Ministry during and since lastsession of Assembly, suggests a remedy as follows : — Tt is true Ministers are most awkwardly placed in being during their noviciate in office so utterly in the, power of 'heads of departments and their subordinates for information, and for the discharge of their executive duties, but we do not hesitate to say that the sooner the difficulty is grappled with j the better, for grappled with arid overcome sooner or later it must certainly be if the business of the country is to be carried on, or if the present Ministry is not to be driven from office. And the only way in which it can be done is by making a clean sweep of the departments. We hold that every head of every department in the service, with one or two honourable exceptions, should be cleared out, together -with their immediate . assistants, aud every subaltern that shows sympathy with obstruction. Enough of treason was exhibited during the time when the fares of Ministers were hanging in the balance, and when members of the late Ministry and their supporters were openly prompted and aided during debate by memoranda from the various departments.. At that time not only did this impertinence of officials notoriously occur, but correspondence and general business were kept back from being submitted to Ministers on the grounds, notconcealed,but pretty clearly expressed, that there was no use — that " those fellows" would be soon out of office. All this might have been condoned, if this dastardly conduct had not been since continuing*, nor ; is there any necessity for going back to that troubled time tor reasons for legitimately sweeping : out the departments. If we are correctly informed by persons having transactions with Ministers, things are of constant occurrence which would give sufficient reason for suspending and dismissing many members of the. Civil Service without their having any recourse against tbe just punishment of their insolence and insubordination. We should be sorry to see the American system as a rule introduced into our public service, for according to it, on a change of administration, every officer down to the pettiest postmaster of a hamlet is cleared out. This, we have little doubt, has been found necessary by our sharp - witted cousins, owing to the extent to which political partisanship at all times prevades every stratum of society, and they have found that this method works better than having the public service disorganised by the administration being systematically thwarted through the intrigue and obstruction of subordinates. As a rule, we should be sorry to see this system in force in New Zealand, inasmuch as the great body ofthe Civil Service scattered over the Colony attend faithfully to the discharge of their official duties without active partisanship in contested politics. But in Wellington at the present time it is wholly different. There the Civil Service is a compact political ring that rules the Colony, and we hold tbat at this present juncture it is an absolute necessity for the Government to clear it out, and Ministers are moral cowards and unfit for the position if tbey do not at once perform a duty which the interests of the people of New Zealand have imposed on them. The Evening Star, in a leading article, after referring to the example set by the Berry Government with regard, to the Victorian Civil Service, says : — A perusal of the Estimates will show that the New Zealand Civil Service has assumed very formidable dimensions, and is, to say the least of it, out of proportion to our income, and any business man will be at once struck with the enormous staff employed in certain departments, the work of which can be fairly calculated by the amount of money* with which they have to deal or the character of the business with which they have to do. We may instance the Treasury, Audit, and Public Works, Jin all which the number of officers employed is so excessive as to enforce the conclusion that the system is radically bad, or that quantify is thought more effective than' ".quality." , The income ofthe Colony is not more than passes through the hands of many mercantile houses, which employ certainly not one-tenth of thenumber of clerks. we find on the Treasury estimates, whilst : the fegion of officials employed under "Public Works-" would ruin the richest railway company in Europe. Wdl the.preseht Cabinet have the pluck to apply the knife now, before the evil becomes greater -? If they, do not, we foresee that a coup d'etat like that of Mr Berry will one' day be a necessity, and have to be as ruthlessly accomplished. In a -previous article bearing upon the Victorian , question, -we indicated one, direction in, which, considerable economy .might reasonably, be. effected, namely, in ; the salaries, allowances, and expenses ofthe departments of" Law and Justice." In; Victoria: we notice thacithe Justices ihaye: buckled to; work and. -that no' iriconvenience has resulted jfrom the dismissal of the costly .„.statF of Police - M.agikratesi Are -louc.-* readers aware , that, the,* Resident Magistrates and Wardens /cost oyer ,L 42 ,000 a year in this' r (Mohy, Avhiisy there are a 1000 I gentlemen in the Commission. of the

Peace? The whole -L 42,000 .might' well ba saved and "the justices, made * to. form rosters and do the work. Then, again, Courts of Petty Sessions, which are provided' for under existing laws, might well supersede the costly system of District Courts with perambulatory judges. Let the expenses ot proceedings in the Supreme Court be. made less, as they indeed reasonably might be, so that it may be possible without ruination to take cases there with which Petty Sessions Court may be considered competent to deal. Resident magistrates all over the country are luxuries we are net. in a position to afford, but if in the chief towns it should be deemed necessary tbat the civil jurisdiction should be exercised by a counsel learned in the law, we would suggest that the office should be* amalgamated with that of Commissioner, of Crown Lands, by which another desirable object should be effected, namely, that the land laws would be administered by persons competent to understand them, who would neither make gross blunders, nor be continnaily running about after lawyers fbr advice and worrying the Government with childish questions, as the manner of some is. We shall have hopes even of Sir George Grey, if be carries out his pledges of wholesome administrative retrenchment.