THE CALL FOR EFFICIENCY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3195, 20 September 1917, Page 4

THE CALL FOR EFFICIENCY

Ministers are so fully occupied with their Parliamentary duties and Departmental administration that the question of appointing successors to the late Efficiency _ Board seems liable to be thrust into the background. That is, so far as the Government is concerned. Outside the ranks of Cabinet thero is a movement afoot amongst_ business men to impress on Ministers the fact that whatever value politicians may attach to the work of the late Efficiency Board and the organisation it had built up, no doubt exists in the minds of those best qualified to judge, of the service it has rendered. There is a tendency in some quarters to overstate the case against the National Government, and to condemn Ministers in a sweeping fashion that is not justified. This is due perhaps to the fact that when Ministers do the right thing it is taken as a matter of course and quickly forgotten, whereas their failures arc kept constantly under notico in the hope of stirring them to action with better results. If Ministers would give closei 1 attention to public .sentiment, and if they could shake themselves clear of the political ruts along which their ideas have moved for so long, they might be expected to give a bolder lead to the country. A member of the deputation which waited on the Prime Minister on Wednesday last gave an excellent illustration of the attitude of the people generally in contrast with that of the Government. "The Government," ho said, "had asked the people last year for eight millions of money and the- people had given them ten millions. This year the Government had asked them for twelve millions and the people gave them sixtecu millions." The people have responded to every call made on them, and have given more than they were asked to give. The Government, on the other hand,_ has too often lagged l behind public sentiment, and has temporised and compromised with half-measures. It has riven less than was asked and exnected of it. In the matter of organising our resources for the promotion of National Efficiency the Government has done practically nothing. Tens of thousands' of our young men have gone overseas to fight the battles of the Empire, and thousands more are to follow. The work of the country must be carried on without them—production must l:o maintained. This can only be done by cutting off waste and by utilising our available resources to the best advantage. Up to the present the high prices ruling for our primary products have saved' us from financial worry. It is not duo to any efforts of the- Government or to any special organisation to meet war conditions that the 1 people are prosperous' and that money is plentiful. It is true that by tho special efforts of the farming community, assisted in recent times to some extent by tho organising work of the late Efficiency Board, that produc-

fcion has boon well maintained. But the task ahead of us is growing and will continue, to grow increasingly difficult, and it is at this stage, just as the Efficiency Board is demonstrating its value, that the Government by its action deprives the country of its services. At this juncture, too, the New Zealand Government Requisitions Committee, which has rendered valuable expert service as an advisory body, finds it necessary to tender its resignation. So it is that the Government hero dispenses with that outside assistance from men of high ability and special business training which in Britain and America is being eagerly "sought after, and which has proved of incalculable value to the Governments of those countries in organising the national resources. In their individual capacities and in the administration of their respective Departments the members of our National Government perform their duties in a manner wnich in most cases leaves littlo room for complaint. _ But as a Government dealing with general questions of public policy they unquestionably have fallen short of expectations, and particularly has this been the case in their seeming indifference to the question of National Efficiency. Before the present session ends we trust that members will bestir-themselves and endeavour to arouso the Government to the necessity for action. If it is still possible to induce the late Efficiency. Board to continue its work of organisation, an immenso service will have been rendered New Zealand. There is no question at the moment of greater importance- as affecting the future of the Dominion.