THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1609, 28 November 1912, Page 5

THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

NON-POLITICAL CONTROL. THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED. MESSRS. D. ROBERSTON, A. D. THOMSON & R. TRIGG. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 'The Hon. A. L. Herdman (AttorneyGeneral) informed a Dominion- reporter Inst ovening that a Public Service Commissioner and two Assistant-Commission-ers had been appointed to control tho Public Service. The appointments ore made under the Public Service Act of last session, which provides that Ministerial control of the State Departments shall be replaced by a system under which tho Public Service, with tho exception, of the Railway Department, is to bo controlled by a commissioner independent of Ministerial control, and subject only to Parliament. G'oinpleto responsibility in regard to appointments, promotions, and the administration of tho service generally will be vested in the Commissioner. To this important office Cabinet has appointed Mr. D. Robertson, now Secretary to the Post Office. The Assistant-Commissioners appointed are Mr. A. D. Thomson, S.M., and Mr. Robert Triggs, at present Chief Accountant in the Postmaster-General's Department in the Australian Commonwealth. Tho salary provided for tho Commissioner is 4:1300 a year. The AssistantConvmissianers aro each to receive «fi]ooo a year. The Public Service Act comes into full operation on April 1, 1013. MR. DONALD ROBERTSON, 1.5.0. Mr. Robertson is generally considered to be .one of the most capablo officers of the public servuo in New Zealand. Born in Dunedin in 1860, he has spent practically the whole of his time in the service of the Postal Department, of which Department lie has "been the official head for some years. Mr. Robertson joined the Civil Service as cadet in the Chief Post Office, Dunedin, in 1873, and was for soma time in charge of the money order and savings bank branch of that office. In 1881-82 he was employed as mail agent on the San Francisco mail steamers; was appointed Senior Money Order and Savings Bank Clerk, Wellington, in 1882; transferred to Auckland in 1883, where ho filled a similar position for nine years, when he was promoted to tho Chief Clerkship of the General Post Office; became Assistant-Secretary to tho Department in 190G; and succeeded the late Mr. Gray as Secretary a few months afterwards. ■ Mr. Robertson has travelled in America and Europe and in 1909 made a report on his observations of post and telegraph affairs abroad, which enabled reforms to be introduced into the New Zealand service,.which not only resulted in efficiency, but were estimated to save the Department ,£IO,OOO per annum. Mr. Robertson's reputation as a post and telegraph officer is not confined to New Zealand. His services were recently recognised by the decoration of the Imperial Service Order, His reputation in business circles for his consistent advocacy of modern methods and the increase of postal and telegraphic faoilities throughout the country is well known. Mr; Robertson has been identified with the classification of the Post and Telegraph Department for twenty years, almost from the time of its inception. He lias had great experience in dealing with the many and complicated staff matters which necessarily arise among the five thousand officers employed in the Post and Telegraph Department. .Mr. Robertson is regarded as a just and fearless administrator, whose appointment to the position :f Public Service Commissioner will.give satisfaction to the public and the Civil Service alike. MR. ANDREW' DUNCAN THOMSON, . S.M. Mr. Thomson is a New Zealander, having ben born in Napier on May 31, 1864.. He joined the Public Service as a cadet in the AVanganui Court in 1878, and from then onwards has spent the bulk of his time in the service of the Government. Recognised as a smart, efficient officer, Mr. Thomson's career has been marked by his occupancy of several of the more important positions in. the Justice Department. In 1882 he was oppointed clerk of the Feilding Court, and on relinquishing that position in 1886 became relieving clerk for the colony. Subsequently—in 1890—he wns chosen as second clerk in the Magistrate's Court a Wellington; in the Magistrate's Court at Wellington; in 1900 he was transferred to Wellington, where he became chief clerk at tho Wellington Court. Three years later—in 1903 —Mr. Thomson was appointed a Stipendiary Magistrate, and since that year has officiated on the Bench at Palmerston North. Mr. Thomson is' p. barrister-at-law, and possesses qualifications which eminently befit him for the responsible position to which he has been appointed. . MR. ROBERT TRIGGS. Mr, Triggs is at present occupying tho responsible position of chief accountant in the Postmaster-General's Department in the Australian Commonwealth. Mr. Triggs has had quite' aiv interesting career, and in some respects it can be characterised as brilliant. In the various positions he has occupied, both in New Zealand and in Australia, ho has discharged his duties—which have been mostly of an onerous nature—with a marked degree of ability, and his progress to the top rung of the ladder has been rapid and meritorious. . . , For twenty-three years Mr. Triggs was a member of the staff of the New Zealand Railways, filling sucoesively the position of clerk, stores branch, bookkeeper and accounts clerk. New Zealand Railways; clerk, locomotive engineers' branch, Canterbury section New Zealand Railways; chief clerk and accountant, locomotive engineers' branch, Canterbury section New Zealand Railways; .chief clerk and accountant, locomotive engineers' branch, Canterbury, Dunedin, and Invercargill section.-, New Zealand Railways; chief clerk and accountant, locomotive, superintendent's branch, head office. New Zealand Railways. Wellington (comprising 2100 miles of track). In 1900 Mr. TrißgßTOsigned from the New Zealand R.iilwnys to accept an appointment in Western Australia, where he occupied the position nf chief clerk and accountant in the chief mechanical engineer's branch of the Government railways, and consequent upon his work in the m°ehanical branch wns subsequently promoted to the rank of chief accountant. _ Two-years after taking un th» position of _ chief accountant in the WeMern Australian railways, an accounts instruction book, outlining the practices to bd followed in accounting in considerable detail both as far as the internal and external aspects of accounting were concerned, was drafted, for which Mr. Triggs was primarily responsible. To this work many complimentary references were made. Mr. Davis, the traffic auditor, Queensland railways, wrote;—"l am very much impressed with the Accounts Instruction Book prepared by you for the AVcstern Australian Railway Departing." Mr. Charles Hudson, formerly assistant general manager, New Zealand railways, and latterly Railway Commissioner, Victorin, in speaking of the work, said:—"lt is the most complete document of its kind I have ever seen." Mr. Arthur Dillon Bell, engineer, Public AA'orks Department, wrote:—"lt is a monumental treatise . . . the completeness and thoroughness of tho information and directions, and the unmistakably complete-way in which it is all marshalled nnd sequenced." Mr. Davidson, the chief accountant, New Zealand Railways:—"! have examined it with much interest, and can appreciate the labour and care which have been expended upon its production. It appears to mo to be very complete, and I am sure will provo most useful and helpful in obtaining correct and satisfactory accounting." Mr. J. Pickering, the Comptroller of Accounts, South Australian Railways, wrote:—"You are first, as far as-1 can judge, of all the States in the completeness of the work." In October, 1903, the Western Australian Government decided to amalgamate tho accounting and traffic audit branches of the Department, and the joint control was conferred upon V& 4 Triggs. Uudrr his able management considerable ou.-iio-mies were brought about, and Hie internal work of tho audit revolutionised by the introduction'of un-to-dato inothods, repro-

during a reduction of some 40 per cc-nt. in Hie cost of administration, and f.t the same time providing increased security and efficiency. Generally speaking, it can be sniely said that every clement of the control in the positions which Mr. Triggs has itcupietl during the past ten years lias bf-eu brought as far as it has been prss!ble under roviow, and improved methods vitablished wherever safe and practimble. In addition to his ordinary rlitic] in Western Australia, Mr. Triggs at il'fTcrent times hns been selected as 'lie row ."-sen-a-tivc.of the Department with whiau be w«8 connected to act in the special capacities of:—Member of. Employees' Conduct Board, member of Stores Supply and Tender Board, member of Employees' Conduct Appeal Board, chairman of Selection Board or Stall' Committee, from its inception in February, 190G, chairman of the Western Australian Government Railways' Death Benefit Voluntary Fund, from its inception in March, 1907, when .membership started at zero—membership now 31100; chairman of the AV.A. Government Railway Provident Fund from its inception in September, 1907, when Membership started at zero—membership now 3220; member of Classification Board, appointed to classify the clerical staff of the Railway Department, 1009; member of tho Special Classification BoaTd appointed to assess and classify the various railway stations in Western Australia, and prepare a system of classification for stationmasters, assistants, and night stntionmastors, both in respect to pay and leave, etc., 1909. He was also appointed in September, 1909, by tho Premier of Western Australia to confer with Messrs. Jull and M'Gibbon (Public Service Commissioners), who had been. directed to inquire into the methods of accountancy in the Public Service of that State. On December 1, 1910, Mr. -Triggs was appointed to the position ho is about to vacate in order to accept one of the Public Service Assistant Commissionerships in the Dominion. In the Commonwealth Postal Department his work has shown considerable merit, and the Commonwealth Public Service Commissioner (Mr. D. C. M'liachlan), in referring to Mr. Triggs, describes him as a very forceful and capable man. STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Auckland, November 27. At the opening of the new r Reform Club's premises this evening, the Prime Minister made an announcement regarding the Public Service. Mr. Massey said political patronage was at an end. The Government had carried into effect last session's Act reforming the service. (Applause.) In that reform was contained a provision for tho control of the service by commissioners, and tho Government had just appoints']'those commissioners, namely, Messrs. D.- Robertson, A. D. Thomson, and R. Triggs. He thought these appointments would meet with, the approval of all. Mr. Robertson was an esteemed servant and he held the respect and affection of the whole of the 5000 employees of the Postal Department. Mr. Thomson was also a man of considerable experience and ability. Mr. Triggs was a New Zealander, and at present he held a very important position in the Federal public service. Mr. Massey went on to say that he believed that although there was a little anxiety on the part of some Civil Servants when the Act was under consideration, he-believed that in a year or two they would realise that the right thing bad been done. (Applause.) The new Commissioners would take up their duties on March 31 next.