The Globe. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1878.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1231, 13 February 1878, Page 2

The Globe. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1878.

An extraordinary, but we hope unfounded, charge has been made against the Civil Service of the colony by the Otago Daily Times. The accusation is levelled, of course, principally against that portion of it located in Wellington. Theso gentlemen are accused of forming a compact political ring that rules tho colony, and Ministers are called upon to clear them out, or stand convicted of moral cowardice, which unfits them for the position they occupy. How much ground there is for the accusation, we are not in a position to say. Tho evidence adduced by our contemporary is certainly of rather a slender character on which to found such a sweeping charge. Two instances are referred to, but no particulars are given, and the assertion is then made that they are samples of what is constantly occurring. Then we are told that if the business of the country is to be carried on, a clean SAveep must be made of the departments, that every head of every department, with one or two honorable exceptions, should be cleared out, together with their immediate assistants, and every subaltern who shows sympathy with obstruction. The Civil Service regulations for the admission of cadets are further said by our contemporary to have been framed with the object of giving the advantage to appointees resident in Wellington ; and tho consequence is, we are told, that the extraordinary extent of relationship between the members of the Civil Service, especially residing in Wellington, is a matter of surprise to those who are not acquainted with the modus operandi. Ono illustration is given to show how the business is worked. Tho scale of remuneration is so fixed for cadets that persons coming from a distance have an extra allowance to those resident in Wellington. But when rival candidates present themselves those who can be got for the less sum are preferred, and so local residents have the preference, and the result is that the number of sens, nephews, and brothers, and cousins of heads of departments now in the Civil Service in Wellington is extraordinary. It is needless to say, remarks our contemporary, that all these think as one man. But the head and front of the offence of the Service is that the members of the present Ministry are not treated with that humble respect to which they are entitled. The Hon. James Macandrew, the Hon. J. T. Fisher, &c, are not regarded, we suppose, with that humble subserviency which they expect to receive in their rather unaccustomed position. But unless there is some more proof in possession of Ministers than has been divulged by the Daily Times, the wholesale dismissal of members of the Service would be harsh and cruel in the extreme. Insubordination cannot, of course, be tolerated for a moment, but, as far as wo understand the remarks of our contemporary, no specific charges, sufficient to justify active measures, arc able to be made. It is the passive resistance of the heads of departments which tho Times complains of. More serious charges are hinted at, but nothing more, and we suspect because there is no real grounds for them. But the matter ought not to rest in its present position. If the present condition of the Civil Service is unsatisfactory, the sooner a proper inquiry is made the better, and means taken to reform it. The difficulty under which Ministers are said to labour lies probably to a great extent with themselves. They appear to expect the heads of departments, not only to do the work they are paid for, but also to supply Ministers with brains and administrative ability. The Daily Times refers, in general terms, to the manner in which tho heads of the departments obstruct business. But men quite as capable of forming an opiuion as to the true cause of the present disorganisation of tho departmental Government of the country, are of opinion that tho blamo rests with Ministers themselves Tho truth is, their wa»t of ability ie n,g.

torious. Since Parliament was prorogued wo have heard frequent complaints of the manner in which public business is attended to. Nor is this to be wondered at. The majority of Ministers have generally been absent from the seat of Government altogether. At one time Colonel Whitmore and Mr. Fisher are in charge of the affairs of the colony, at another timo some other one or two take a run to Wellington to look into matters. Even Mr. Fisher's warmest friends will not credit him with a vast amount either of business capacity, or of ability to pick up that knowledge of public affairs necessary to govern the country. There may be a necessity for a reform in the Civil Service of the country, but there is greater need for a reform of the mode in which the responsible Ministers of the Crown conduct public affairs. The gross neglect of the present Ministry is notorious. With the exception of his visit to the Maori King, Sir G. Grey has employed the greater portion of his time in an electioneering tour; and making self-lauditoiy speeches in various parts of the colony cannot be looked upon as work for which the Ministry are paid. Making things smooth with their constituents in Otago, in which a considerable portion of the time of Messrs. Maeandrew and Larnach has been spent, is equally unprofitable to the colony at large. Another batch of Ministers are about to do the Middle Island. By their continued absence from the seat of Government they are not only neglecting their departmental work, but it is impossible that they can be givjng that attention to the great measures they have promised to introduce next session while they are travelling from place to place, and are unable to meet together in consultation. We can, therefore, well understand that the routine work of Government is frightfully neglected. But it is not necessary to seek for an explanation of this in the obstruction of the Civil Service. It, in all probability, lies at the door of Ministers.

In tho present state of affairs in Europe the movement of the Russian Pacific Squadron is of considerable interest to the inhabitants of this colony. The latest information we have on the subject is contained in a cable message to the Sydney Morning Herald, and dated London, January 24th. It states that the Russian Pacific Squadron has left Vladivostock for Japanese waters. Yladivostock, wo may add, is situated on the Pacific Coast of the Russian territory, not far from its southern boundary.