The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1913. ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1659, 28 January 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1913. ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.

When we were urging the cause of Public Service Reform before-' the present .Government took office wo took as many opportunities as possible to keep the public informed of similar movements in other countries towards the improvement of Public Service administration. In France, in Britairi. and in America it was being realised that the national interest required that the personnel and management of the public Departments/should be isolated as nearly as possible froin,politics. Canada, under the hew Government, lias come into line \yith . thb world-wide reform movement, and tho London Times of December 19 last contains an interesting summary by its. Toronto .correspondent of the recommendations 1 made to the Governinent by Sir George . Murray, i' who was commissioned to investigate and report upon , the Dominion Public Service. Sir George Murray recommends many radical changes, some of which- ought to receivo the attention of our own members of Parliament. 'As,in .. New Zealand, so in ; Canada, the' pest of the Order-in-CqunciL; calls for some remedy, although wo should say the. pest is not nearly so bad in Canada as it is here. We- do not know' how many Orders-in-Co\mcil are ■ isstfe'd -in this little country, but they must be proportionately; more thai the three to four thousand: issued annually -.'in Canada, "ranging from .tho ratification of. international treaties to the appointment of lighthouse keepers." (Canada, it must be noted, is suffer-, ing, like New ifaaknd, from a- long spell of spoils politics and executive autocracy). Sir George Murray suggests,'as a means of taking from Cabinet the greater; part of the business of issuing Orders-in-Oouhcil, the establishment of a Cabinet Committee to define those executive duties, which may be left to the discretion of individual Ministers! -'■»

Canada is not ripe for, simply because it has'not been forced to discuss, the establishment of an independent Civil Service Commission, but Sir George, Hurray makes a movo _in that direction by 1 recommending that all Departmental appointments and promotions should be entrusted to a Board Consisting of three-Ministers and three permanent officials. We could not support such, an/arrangement here, but 'its significance lies in its recognition of the unwißcfonl of vesting all power in tho Ministry as a Ministry, that is, .in a political body. .' This criticism applies ulso, to Sir George Murray a suggestion, founded on his belief that much 'of tho wort now done by Ministers could bo discharged by, subordinates, that a political deputy should be appointed to relieve a Minister of Departmental work and interviews and . .negotia? tions with members of Parliament ■and others.' Tho conditions in Canada are doubtless sufficiently different from the conditions here bo make such a proposal workable, and effective in achieving the end of rescuing Ministers from the position of autocrats whose nod makes or unmakes. In this country tho Civil Service Act has effected part'bf. this necessary reform, and in due course, we trust, all parties will realise that t|ie reform must be extended by extending the. area—chiefly the area of, public worlds whioh there will be independent control, Other reforms recommended to tho Canadian Government' are, the curtailment of the practice of employing'"temporary ■ clerks, the extension of tho competitive system in respect of posts in tho Service, and an improved classification ,system controlled by a Committee of Depart-' mental heads. In conclusion, the Times correspondent says, 1 Sir George Murray, "emphasises particularly the importance of * relieving Ministers' from routine and administrative duty." We have so long and so often urged exactly this refonn that we are glad to commend it again to the notice of the Gov? ernment.