The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1911. "THEY CANNOT GO STRAIGHT."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1259, 16 October 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1911. "THEY CANNOT GO STRAIGHT."

An indignant Civil Servant, discussing tho latest trick the Ward Administration have played on the Civil Service in conncction with the classification proposals, declared his conviction that the Government could not go straight if they tried. There was a- time when such an expression of opinion publicly made would have produced something of a shock, and probably have provoked a storm of protest; but to-clay, unfortunately, it is an almost cvery-day remark, and is treated by a very large number of people almost as a truism—too obvious to be worthy of mention. No doubt the Government do "go straight" now and then, whether they try or not, but it has become almost habitual with some Ministers to gain their ends by trickery, and they seem practically incapable of carrying out the important duties entrusted to them in a straightforward manner even when there is no occasion for evasion and secrecy, i These lapses have become so common that they do not arouse the' interest they should with the public,'and very important issues are in consequence liable to receive scant attention. This question of the classification of the Civil Service is not only a matter 6f much concern to tho members of _ the service directly affected, but it affects very deeply the general public, first in their capacity as the employers and paymasters of the Civil Service, and second because it serves to illustrate the wretched methods of trickery practised by, and the utter insincerity of, the men who have been for so long entrusted with the control of the country's affairs. It is only one of many instances in which the Government have played fast and loose with their promises and professions, _ but it is one specially worth recording_ at the present juncture, when there is some hope of bringing the Ward Administration to book. In order that the public may obtain some insight into the methods practised by the' Ministry, it is necessary to go back a few years, to 1906, when Sib Joseph Ward bccamo Prime Minister. In the Budget of 1906 Sir Joseph Ward revived the question of Civil Service classification, which had previously been'discussed in Parliament. The Budget reference to the matter in 1906 was as follows: — Tho imporljinco of having tho Civil Service classified is generally conceded, and I hope to have the opportunity this session of placing before (ion. members proposals for tho classification and superannuation of tho whole, of the service. This can be done with advantage to the country as well as to its employees. Thus in 1906 t,he. Government was pledged to classification, which it was admitted was in the interests of the country as well as that of the Civil Servants. The year following the subject was again discussed by Sir Joseph Ward in the Budget. Amongst other things he referred to the classi-

fication of the Railways and the Post, ] and Telegraph Departments, and ; added: 1 Tho res ilts liavo been fdvanlageous { both to the Stale and tho officers con- j cerned. i And this expression of opinion [which J was associated also with proposals for I superannuation] was followed up in ] the same Budget with others as under : Tho classification scheme will in some j cases involve a slight increaso of salar- 1 ies. . . . Tho country is prosperous, 1 its finances are buoyant, and tlio Gov- i ernnient's proposals are a matter as j much of justice as generosity to the public servants, who labo.ir so loyally and so well in the service of tho State. ' That year, 3907, an Act empowering ' classification of the Civil Service was ' passed by Parliament, and the hopes ' of members of the service ran very ' high. The following year, 190S, was , election year, and it was quite in ac- ; cordance with the traditions of "Liberalism" under the re.gimc of ' Sir Joseph Wakd that the Prime Minister should trumpet loudly the ' success of his achievement. This is what he said [vide Budget 1908, p. 8]: As honourable members are aware, the Public Service Classification .Act, 1007, came into operation on Novemler 25 of last year, and by its provisions all Departments of the Public Service (except tlio Post and Telegraph Department, the Police, and the Government Railways Department, which have separate classification schtnics of their own) have to be classified. This was a boon long looked for by the servicc generally, and the fact of it becoming lav; has crcated a general fooling of satisfaction, etc., etc. This, be it hoted, was in election year 190 S. Tho boon long looked for by the Civil Service, we are told, had arrived, and had created a general feeling of satisfaction ! Our readers may or may not know it, but the fact is that '"the boon" has not yet come to liie Civil The Act passed in 1907 merely provided the machinery by which the boon could be granted —it has not even now been granted. The Budget of 190S led the Civil Service and the country generally to believe that the classification was practically an accomplished fact. The Estimates for that year—election year, it must be borne in mind—were bloated with increases of salaries and additional expenditure, the annual appropriations increasing from £5,135,872 in 1907 tei £5,658,003 in 1908. And the public will recall what followed. A few months later—after the elections—instead of a- classification of the Civil Service and the improved conditions promised, the service was thrown into a state of dismay by wholesale retrenchment. The Budget of 1909 contains no reference to the classification of the Civil Servicc; instead it records the sudden and unexpected retrenchment, of hundreds of offir-ers. The actual words used are as follow: — I may say, for Ihe information of the tfouw, * that the total number of wn-jvoyi-o.- who w :rc nflre't-il by the rcducti.w put ir.to operation was ol' all cias.-.es 950. The year following—that is last year —apology was rnaae for the delay in bringing down the report of tho Board provided for under the Act to carry out the classification, tho excuse being that the retrenchment carried out had upset the work already done. Also it was announced that as the work was heavy and tedious, it was proposed to set lip a smaller Board, who, with the work already completed by tho present Board, should be ablo to imvo the work ready tor tho next stscion of Parliament. That is to say, the report should be ready this session. It is not ready. Instead an absolutely useless set of figures is brought down which is of no use to anyone. The same old trickery. Sin Joseph ' Ward, when a' Government supporter, anxious to pacify the _ indignant members of the . Civil Servicc, asked if it was intended to bring clown a nominal list showing the name, position, and salary of every office and every Civil Servant, as is done in each of the existing Departmental classification lists, replied, "if it was ready before the end of the session it would be laid on the table of the House." Otherwiso it would be circulated during the recess—after the elections, no doubt. There is a great deal more evidence in black and white to show how dishonestly the Wakd Administration has behaved in connection with this very important matter; but is it necessary ? No one can read the facts of the case without realising the utter insincerity of the Government. It may be desirable, however, to add a further quotation, bccause it not only emphasises the methods of trickery practised by the Government, but serves admirably to illustrate a point we have frequently made, which is that the Ministry are not even clover in their trickery. They have exhausted all their originality, and so play the same old tricks over and over again. If anyone doubts this, let him read the two extracts, which follow, taken from the election Budgets of 1908 and 1911 respectively: — BUDGET, BUDGET, 1908, 1911. Tho work of the During the rccesa classification of the th-a Olassiification Civil Service liasnat Hoard appointed a so far been ratHci- committee to draw ently completed w up a scheme for tho enable the Board to classification of tlio send forward its re- whole of the Pubiio nart for prcsraita- Service, excludina tion to Parliament, the Railways and On that account, the the Post and 'J'elcUstimatcs submitted cranii Departments, necessarily do not which arc already contain any provi- classified, and tlio sion far such re- report of tho Eoard commendations as will bo presented to would, in the ordin- Parliament shortly, ary course, have It will not bo been cxDccted as the brought Into force outoomo of the this year, and ample classification of the time will be given Service. If the Board to all concerned to is unable to report anneal if so desired, before tho end of Increases of salary tho session, I will will bo provided on make provision for tlis Supplementary the various In- Estimates. croases upon tho Supplementary Esi timatcs. 1 The same old election trick, it will ) be seen. Before the elections in 1908 • the Civil Service were told that "if t the Board was unable to report before the end of the session"—implying that it might be able to report that session—increases would be provided for on the Supplementary Esti- ■ mates. Now, three years later, with tile report still unpresented. the Civil i Servicc and the public are told that - the report will be presented shortlu ■ and that "increases will be provid- , ed on the Supplementary Estii mates." Is it any wonder that people i have given up expecting the AYahd E Government to "go straight"?