DR. FITCHETT RETIRES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 5, 1 October 1917, Page 6

DR. FITCHETT RETIRES

FROM PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE

STORY OF AN INTERESTING CAREER

SPEECH BY SIR JOSEPH WARD

" It is not cvijry, day that the head of a great State Department retires, and'the : retirement of Dr.. F. Fitchett, M.A., . XiL.D., from the important j position of l'ublic Trustee is an event of considerable moment in the Publio Service, particularly as his retirement marks the end of the single-man control, and p'aces it in the hands of a board (Messrs. 11. Triggs, T. H. Ronaldson, and J. W. Macdonald)." To'mark the event,' Dr. Fitchett' was. on Saturday farowelled by N the staff, and on behalf of tho officers of all branches of the office throughout

Now Zealand presented with a nand- . -gome cheque -as a token of "their respect '■" arid warm regard. The chair was occu- ■ pied by Sir Joseph Ward (Finance Min- ' ister), who was supjrarted by Messrs. Cr. : F. C. Campbell (Secretary to the Treasury), J.- H. ■ Richardson. \ (Government • life' Insurance Commissioner), and P. W. Flanagan (Valuer-General), who are > (members.of the Publio Trust Investment ' Boaru (with the trustees), and Mr. Con--1 "sidine (of the Military Service Board). I v j -The presentation was made by Sir Joseph "Ward,; who said they wero assembled to ' - Fay farewell to the Public Trustee (Dr.- .' Fitchett), and to convey to him the good 5;- i'- ifffsiies of the staff of the Public lrust • Department from end to end of New Zea- ; -land. : Dr. Fitchett had been attached to tho Department during a time of ' great expansion and great development. •. Sir Joseph Ward stressed the excellent "work tho retiring officer had done and ■. .the . regret felt at his'retirement. ■ An Interesting Career. "I cannot oil 'an occasion 6uch as this 3.7 ...finish the pleasant work, of speaking for : -. you' -without giving an outline of the S: J singular, remarkable and interesting ." career oJDt. Fitchett/' continued oir Joseph Ward. "As a young , man he v - went to. sea—l donjt thing he has been ' at' sea evry much ever since—and tor two iv years he was a eailfff before the. mast, f'- He left that, and ,he .took- up similar employment in Melbourne, and then in New Zealand, where he-, entered . the F- "Banket New Zealand. After some time 'he' left that bank and joined the wew Zealand Shipping Company. He also r ptarted University work, but finding that ■ : V Tfiis Sid not harmonise with the - com- ' pany's work, he gave up the company, -v and devoted himself entirely to the 1 " I:' ' versity. his courage was justified •, by the result .the University records J ' Bho>. I find from the calendar that lie 1-woii the Senior Scholarship in -Latin, -the Senior Scholarship in Greek, and the Bowen Prize in. English.'. He also_ took K 'first-class honours in political science, '. and left the University with the -M.A. l : - : and LL.D. degrees,, thus carrying with "Kim. just about as much learning- 1 as is t v good for a man to have.' He then qualiled for the Bar, and started in Dmie- £'•". ■: din. There he was elected a member, of ( the 'University 'Senate, and sat on that i .- "body for a greatl many yoars. For a t; : ' long 1 time he was one of the v. ' examinors .in 1 . Li- 1837 lie i .-'.stood, for Parliament for one ot t - , the Duriedin seats, and vvas returned. ... I Dr. Fitchett was a Liberal, and speedily I) ; ."became Whip of the party, which was then in opposition. - At.the next election he . . did not stand, although he had a per- ... icctly safe seat. I understand that the • .. reason -was he had taken to himself a ':>/<■ ivife, and felt it his duty to make an ) i income, rather than trifle with pclitics. ;-V-' The -Liberal Party swept the polls, and if the Doctor had been returned he must" \ •' -have received "a. seat in the Cabinet, his j V - position as Whip fully entitling him to it. 1 • Dr. Fitchett 1 joined the Public Service ' under curious circumstances. The Soli-citor-General, Mr. Reid, was suddenly .Maid aside by severe illness, and Mr. Sedw • don telegra.plied>.the Doctor asking if he r criuld come up and take over the work >■ while ' the Solicitor-General was away. He did so, expecting his/stay in Welling- ■ ton to he temporai'y. Mr. Reid, hewever, • ' did not return to duty for a good many - months, and, when he did, tho Governi . - 'iiient': being anxious to retain Dr. Fitp;|>Jchett's services, asked him to accept the ;' of Law Draftsman- and Crown" Law Officer, which he did. On s Reid's retirement in IJJOO, Dr. Fit- ' ' j qhett' succeeded him as Solieitor-GeneraJ; ;j.-;" and -held that important and responsible - -rVposition- for ten years. When Mr. royn-' | ton, the. Public Trustee, left this office J"; take' the Treasury, the Government I- ..'.'.rnsked Dr. Fitchett to take over the PubT'" ilic Trusteeship. He has held that posi- -. tion for over, seven years, and was now i retiring. In 1911 Dr. Fitchett vas ap--1 . pointed C.M.G. . - ■ • I Growth of the Public .Trust Office. | ''The growth, of the Office during his -.time has been remarkable. When fie 0 took charge, the net yearly. profits were fe -about - ill,ooo. Two years afterward? £' r ythey. exceeded ci.'25,01K), aud for the last '-financial year they were nearly 000. , : ' Moreover, the scute-of office charges was .i'. : largely reduced, and the rate, of interest payable by the Office was largely iiicreasi- l.'v. Ed, making a difference to the., estates of 1 over &1000 a year. The staff then was iS, ' , 112,-.nq'nf it exceeds 300. The. number of t] v 'estates':then was about 5500, now it is J i nearly ;.14,00i). Their value was then a i' little-.over; seven millions, now'it ex--.coeds-fifteen millions. The number of % willsjthen ; in the Office was 800 odd, now V;. it is - over 5000.- Last, but by no mtanu : of least interest to you, the yearly' sal- />' aries then totalled about £19,000, now • they exceed 455,000. There is no doubt r....._ that the Public Trust Office has got fully i.*' '"into its stride. It serves a most useful I'" . public."purpose, and with prudent raany -'agement must steadily grow. I.look upon . - it as one of the most useful Departments t of Government activities, and • sincerely ! trust that the ablo administration disf:;/ played by Dr. Fitchett jwill be contiuued 1- by his successors. The work, heretofore I ; borne by him alone will, under the new ! -J ''scheme, be shared by three gentlemen— ij'r'..the Public Trustee and two Assistant ; i'J:-.. public Trustees—and lam sure ti at in .' ..parting with Dr. Fitchett he will join ; : with me in wishing to them and to you all prosperity and success." < . r. V Before concluding, Sir Joseph Ward said he had to convey to Dr. Fitchett a ... r■. t.ineiblo expression of the goodwill of the staff conveyed from end to end cf the It, country. Many telegrams had-been re- ', ceived from the representatives of branch 1..-'offices of tho . Department expressing; ;' .-vtheir regret at not being alile to'lie rre- 1 I 'J: sent. He had groat pleasure in giving !; ■to Dr. Fitchett\a very substantial cheque i'-;; from the officers of the Department a.4 ' nn indication of the goodwill they show-. L V' -ed him. (Prolonged cheers:) / K - : Parting of the Ways, j": Mi". J- H. Richardson Teierred in eulogistic terms to . the manner in which Dr. ? - Fitchett had carried out his duties. : .They had been closely associated as members of the .boards of their rcspeci tive Departments, but now they had j. come to tho parting of the ways. In | connection with tho board matters, Mr. | / Richardson said he had always deenifid I ■ Dr. Fitchet.t's knowledge and method of [' dealing with the business of the Public '•.Trust Office as that of.a great business ' "man. He congratulated the new Public i Trustee and Mr. Macdonald and Mr. • • Ronaldson on their appointments to-the | very high position the Government had i - allotted to them, and he felt satisfied ' ' that these gentlemen would carry out " ° their duties faithfully and well. They i would certainly have the co-operation of I - (ho board. Ho wished Dr. Fitchett long i' ' 'life and prosperity. (Applause.) ■.: . --' A Political Habit. ' Dr. Fitchett. referred feelingly to the j '■ '. remarks made by Sir Joseph Ward, and ' " said'' M l 3- n" l ®' l appreciated the ex- !' " n'ression, given through liim, of the ' „ o odwiil of the staff, etc. He said that i : nnliticians bad a habit of saying, smooth j Pu; n ,, s _(laughter)--but he had worked '■ under Sir Joseph Ward for many years, nd really believed that he (Sir Joseph) n,Pint what he Vjfiid. Dr. Fitchett reforred to Sir Joseph Ward's interest in • l lie Public Service, and specially to the ncTabiishment of the superannuation ; cfheme Dr. Fitchett also referred to 111 fcy'alty of h' s sla f' 1:0 w ' lom ' le con * I' -VL-J the success of the office was due. ' Wn said that the work of the Dcpart- ; meat was of a special order, and very

stiff, and if every offi6er did not do his or her work well, tho result would be failure. Ho said that ho had at times been astonished at the way his staff had worked. It had ■ boen simply phenomenal. Ho also congratulated tlieni on their special efforts made when tho war made suoh enormous demands on its members. The men who had gone (120 in 411) were all superior men, well trained, and their places had to bo filled by temporary officers, and ho also wished to recognise tho work of those temporary oflioers, which, ill many cases, had been excellent. He 6aid that tho positions vacated by men called to the front must, of course, be held open for them, but lie hoped that, when it became necessary to engage more permanent' officers— as it assuredly would soon (on account of the steady, fast growth of the office business), the rights of iho temporary officers would be recognised, and that the Commissioners would give them special consideration accordingly., (Applause.) Continuing, Dr. Fitchett stated that the controlling of his staff had given him very inucn pleasure.. He said (hat nothing was so gratifying to a man as to feel the control of a machino when working! and he expressed, confidence that the staff would- continue their good work, and wished thtai all a very huppy time. Looking round, he said' that the number of the staff, when all fathered together as then, quite astonished him j and it was evident that they were outgrowing the accommodation they had in the office, and he trusted that when next he came to see them—which he assuredly was going to do —(cheers)— he would find thein in more commodious offices. (Applause.) At this point Dr. Fitchett took his chair, but hurriedly arose again, having, as he laughingly explained in apolr ogy, forgotten to thank the staff for the cheque hajided him by Sir Joseph Ward as a token of their esteem for him.

New Assistant Public Trustee Speaks. Mr. T. W. Macdonald referred to the great advancement of the Office during Dr. Fitchett's service, which he considered was due in a large measure to the enthusiastic efforts of Dr. Fitchett. ■ He also referred to Dr. Fitchett's efforts on behalf of the staff, who found themselves in a much better position, as regards salaries, etc., at his retirement, than on his entrance into the Office". He lnid particular stress on Dr. Fitchett's fairness, and absolute disinterestedness and impartiality to his staff and to the clients of the Office: he was able' to testify as to this, as he was perhaps brought invo contact with Dr. Fitchett more than anyone else in-the office. Before concluding, Mr. Macdonald repeated , Sir Joseph Ward's expression of good-will and wishes for j success, from the uliole of the s;aff of the Public Trust Office throughout A'ew Zealand. He hoped the philosophy of Habbi Ben Ezra would beM'ealised: "Grow old, along with me and The Best is yet to be, ' The last of life for which tile first was made." Cheers were' then called for Dr. and Mrs. Fitchett, and were 1-eartily given. The whole staff then joined in singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."