Cromwell Argus. AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31.

Cromwell Argus, Volume II, Issue 103, 31 October 1871, Page 4

Cromwell Argus. AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31.

Why officers of t.ho Civil Service should hj ■l'cceivo pensions any more than any other I ! class of individuals who work for their ■ daily bread is a qussiioa that many.persons ask themsalves, without being abler to arrive at any satisfactory solution of; the prc'deui. Wo f.-il to see either the justieeoi cae necessity fiuHheindiscrimiiiate , pensioning of Civil Servants. It seems! co ua that it is ti most unwarrantable; proceeding We are aware that the ad vol cites of the system are a numerous .body, | and tn.it they adduce what the}' consider! strong arguments in favour of it. Theyl draw affecting pictures of long-tried, faith-1 ful, au.l vainaiile servants, who have spent] (he List years of their lives in a faithful j discharge of their duties and responsibilities. They say that the Civil [Servant, above! all other human beings, should have his declining years provided for. They assert j his connection with the Servieo tor any length of time uniits him for other par- 1 | suits, and they are fertile in all sorts of ] i unsound arguments whereby the Civil | Servant is, as it were, converted into a dif-j fereat being from ordinary mortals—some-: 'thing unique; to be spoken of with the; most profound respect; to be considered! (and thought of as if his construction were 1 upon an entirely different principle to that! of his fellow-men, and as if his connection! with this most mysterious of employments, I the Service, at once made it necessary tint [when ho was obliged to leave it thron.;h| old age or a.iy other contingency which might arise, except of course mUaoriduct, I he should bu liiorally provided for. Now; I why in the mare of common sensa should it ba made o'o.igiitoi'y on t!io Stite alone | to provid • or comp aisate iin employe whose; hr-rvices t'.iey choose' td disjiens.i with ? | i Civil Sfti'Viints hj i ve fir short t hours than any other diss of workers ; their work, as! la rule, is comparatively iight; their salaries are very respect ib!e o.ns ; and if they ] havo not tho chance of advancing to aj jrood position in a business of their own, they have not on the. other hand the harassing" care of business nieu; with the too t

often final result, after years of hard work, straggling, - and toil, often find—tteiTOSelves ia a worse position than wh»n they begun life on their own Members of the Civil Service hold' good relative positions in society without the anxiety and toil which are the necessary attendants of those who have to work themselves into a position by their own exertions. Wo cannot seoany reason why ollicers of the Civil Set-vice should not provide for old age and infirmities themselves, instead of looking forward to what is in reality nothing more nor less than charity. The fact of a .man having a liberal provision to look forward to on his retirement from the ServktJ his a bad tendency—a tendency to induce him to believe that there is no occasion'for him tc practise those thrifty and provident haMta which he would require to practise had he only himself to depend upon for a provision for old age. And in a youn" Colony like New Zealand there is even far less excuse for the inauguration and perpetuation of this to us obnoxious and very unsound principle than in lingglahil. In the home country candidates for admission into the Civil Service have to undergo a long course of study, and pass searching examination before they can be admitted. They have to submit to a protracted special training in order to qualify themselves to hold office in the Service. Here, any one possessed of sufficient influence among the powers that be, provided of course that he has received a decent education and is possessed of a fair allowance of brains (and even the latter qualification is not always essentially necessary), may enter the Service. At home the alarming increase in the immense sums of money that are annually paid as pensions and retiring allowances is exciting very considerable attention, and we think it is lieyond doubt that before long energetic and decisive measures will have to be adopted in order to put a stop to the further enlargement of this huge outgrowth of the Service. In regard to new Colonies we contend that the system should never be initiated. They have generally a hard struggle to keep the Treasury chest in a sufficiently healthy state to meet current expenditure, without the incubus of an ever increasing pension list. We grant that special cases do occasionally arisa where the State only does what is right and just-when it affords assistance ;.-but we must express our strong and unqualified disapproval of a system which pensions or compensates all and sundry because, they have been for a few years in Government employ. We were very pleased to notice that tlie subject was brought forward in the House of Representatives a few days back ; and although it was deemed inadvisable to take any active steps during the. present session, we have every confidence that at its next meeting the As-, sembly will endorse our sentiments by an unhesitating detachment of this one of the many millstones that hj mg round the necks of New Zealand colonists.