The Dominion. THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1909. THE PLAGUE OF DEPARTMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 459, 18 March 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1909. THE PLAGUE OF DEPARTMENTS.

The decision of the Government to send Messrs. Donne and Hamer to London to assist in the representation of New Zealand's interests there has not been unexpected. It has been common talk for some time that Mr. Hamer was likely to be given a post in the High Commissioner's Office on the retirement of Mr. Kennaway, and we forecasted last Saturday the dispatch of Mr. Donne to London as a first step towards the merging of the office of Tourist and Health Resorts in the Railways Department. ' By most people the High Commissioner's Office is consideredj and not unjustly, an expensive institution of no great service to the country in the directions in which service is most required. It has certainly never done much to dissipate the common belief that it is maintained chiefly for show, and that its work is chiefly mechanical and clerical. Years have elapsed since the suggestion began to be made that the country is not getting' .value for its expenditure on the London office, but nothing of a practical sort has been done to meet this complaint, probably ■ because the Government has never had any clear idea of what could be done. We are not at all satisfied that the appointment of Messrs. Donne and Hamer means that the Government lias acquired some new and valuable ideas on the point, however much it may indicate that tho Government has realised the necessity for some kind of improvement. The appointment of Mr. Haiier in no way promises an increase in tho valuo of tho High Commissioner's office,' and this not because Mr. llamer is not capable ,of useful work, but because he is not given much opportunity for useful work. AVanting information o£ any precise character respecting tho duties of Mr. Donne, we aro unable to say'whether we can expect him to stimulate New Zealand commerce as he has stimulated the exploitation of New Zealand scencry, or to charm tho immigrant as well as lie charmed tho tourist.

It may be taken as settled that the departure of Mr. Donne will be followed by the absorption of the Tourist and Industries Departments by the Railways and Agriculture Departments respectively. Cautious people have always doubted the wisdom of maintaining the Tourist Department, and nearly everybody is quite sure that much of the Department's expenditure has been a waste of money. Such a fact as that the Otira Goige, even so long ago as the 'eighties, was rushed by tourists from abroad makes it doubtful whether the present tourist traffic would not have been nearly as large as it is now if the Government had saved the money that it has lavished on the Tourist Department. As for the Industries and Commerce Department, the time has passed when it was possible for anyone .to say that it has not been a mere sink for tho wasting of the public's money. There are many other Departments which the Government can with profit destroy as soparate establishments. In Australia, we believe, each State gets along with six Departments; in New Zealand there are no fewer than thirtyseven. By multiplying its Departments in this ridiculous way, the Government has not only been able to find berths for those of its friends who have claims upon its goodwill; it has been able to make a show of progressiveness and enterprise. But it has all cost money that the public cannot afford. To this process of subdivision is largely attributable the enormous increase in the cost of administration. The trouble docs not, however, end there; the thirty-seven Departments mean a loss of efficiency as well as of money. Anyone reading our discussion of the subject on Thursday last must have felt that the Government almost acts on the principle of creating a new Department every time it has a fresh <idea about an old one. The titles of some of these small and expensive establishments would almost make it appear that every new Act must have a Department to administer it. There is. no reason why the purely mechanical work of the Land for Settlements Department should not be added to the work of the Department of Lands. Nor should it be necessary, even when allowance is made for tho Prime Minister's conception of what is "worthy of tho Dominion," to have a separate Department for the Registrar-General's work. 'The Department of Friendly Societies should bo absorbed in tho Department of Internal Affairs. Nor, unless we must regard Crown law as a different thing from plain: justice, should the two things bo kept separate. The Roads Department, the Valuation .Department, the Land and Income TaV Department, the Mental Hospitals Department, and tho Inspection of Machinery Department are all separate establishments. It should be quite easy for tho Government to recast the Departmental system, and,' by grouping, to reduce it to seven or eight large establishments. Co-ordination makes for efficiency just as the separation of allied concerns makes for weakness and waSte. The present state of affairs compares with'tho methods of other countries as the. army of that South American State in which the generals outnumbered the privates by eight to one compares with the armies of larger but less pompous States. A very considerable saying of money can bo effected by a right handling of the problem, and a real gain 'of efficiency Y'ill follow. The present is a time when no opportunity of saving money should be neglected. Signs arc not wanting that the Government is beginning to appreciate- this fact.