MR. A. E. MANDER'S CRITICISMS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 71, 10 April 1937, Page 15

MR. A. E. MANDER'S CRITICISMS

— Presa Aapoci &tioa. )

jSays Sgcret Reports Used By dovernment ELIMINATION ADVISED

(Br Telegittph.-

WELLINGTON, Last Night. "I 4o not yrieh to get at cross purpoges mth the Minister, w$o I hnow is honestly trying to id his hest for %e mamjfooturing indnstry," said Mr. A. E. Mander, the retiring BecKOtary of JTe^r £ealand hianiif actur erg ' Boderation, in a statement connnenting upton the xeply made hy riie of Induatries and Gosnmerce, the Hjon. . H. G." .Sullivan, to his pro'tegt against fihe uge of.secret report® hy the 3ovenunent and the Buxeaju. of industries. "i oaiy snggo®t th?t inatead of raw®aging ahWt ft he niight cLuietiy conatder Tyhether %e Goy.emanent capnot .elfnjinate the Pascist system (of judging apd condemning firms and iindp?.tries iargeiy on th® strength of reports not digcloaed to th^a) to wJ^icfi J. have dram atWhriPp. "I made a cloar, dofinite and xe.asoned criticism of the praetiee 0# Ministers and the Buxeau of InduBtry making de.cisions largely on the strength of ae.cret reports prepared hy departmental offi.cers. It is disappointing to find that i Mr. gulliyan in hi® hgsty xejoinder doe? ; uot-give any jndication that hfi ha? ; even seen the point of my argmnent. I ; am eontent to leave it for the puhlic ' to read my statement and Mr. Sulfj- ; van's yeply side hy side. j "The Minjfteris outhurst regarding ; the integrity and ahility of hif depart- ■ ! mental ofldcerB is undoubtediy 'wed ; jneant hut quite beside the point. Presumahiy the integrity of puhlic ser- : yants is about equai to that of the legal ? ; profession, the husinesf connnunity or ' any other repres'entative body of Nety Zealanders. In other yrords, generally , good hnt weak in some cases. The same is true of the level of abiiity in the ! Public Seryice. There is np reason for either politicians Or public servants to develop a 'superiority complex' with regard to the rest of the community. Qf New Zealand people as a whole, and of public servants as a representative sample of theni, we are bound, to recog- 1 nise that we are a mixed lofc. "However, in my statement I expressly refrained from raising the question of the abiiity of departmental officers to make reliable reports — reports on efficiency or the management of business. I expressly esclnded that point beeause it was irrevelant to the. particular question with which I was dealing. I was not Teferring to the conclusions arrived at, the decision jpade or the judgment passed upon industry. I was rcferring to the report upon whieh sueh conelusion or judgment was based. If the Gpvernment or Burean largely on the strength of a secret report makes a decision adverse to a particular industry or firm the ciear fact is that that industry has been cpudema--ed on evidence which it has npt seeu and not been given an opportunity to correct or rpfute. "It is a pity that Mr. Sullivan does not see this point. It is really mueh more important than worrying aa to whether members of the elerical divi. sion of the Public Service shpuld or should not be referred tp as public ser. vice clerks pr' whether uhdertakers ought not in future to be known as morticians. Surely the new snobDer^ has not deereed that the word 'clerk1 must now be regarded as a term of dis* paragement ' '