HOW THE BUREAUCRAT KEEPS US BUSY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 110, 26 May 1937, Page 9

HOW THE BUREAUCRAT KEEPS US BUSY

Control Leads to Endless Filling of Forms SYSTEMS FOR ALL 3n the following article a writer in The Wool Eecord and Textile World makes some satirical comment upon the effects of hureaucratic control, particulaxly in its increasing demands for information for tahulation and classification. When bureaucracy gets into the saddle the poor beast industry has a sorry rime of it. Progress is no longer a steady jog-trot along a familiar road, with a certain freedoxn of action to deal with such obstacles and diffieulties as xnay arise in the way, or to break into a canter when they are safely clearedj but it is a xnatter of obeying fixed rules and regulations from whdch the least departure is an offence which cannot be condoned. The main objeet of industry, which ehould be to produce goods and deliver them as expeditiously as possible to the men and women who require them, seems to be lost sight of. Greater importajice is attached to the registratdon qf the ininutest details of how, when and where they shall be produced, distributed, paid for, and so on. It is, I believe, part of a eystem known as planned economy, of which the first essential is the filling-in of innumerable forms. To the bureaucratic eye printed forms are apparently the outward and visible signs of inward grace and efiiciency. The greater the number and variety, the greater the assurance that everything is well. Only get all details of every imaginable description tabulated on paper, and the industrial machine may be considered to be running in the best possible manner, No doubt, if ever industry should become nationalised, the man who invents a new form wiill be counted of more importance than the one who discovers a new proeess of manufaeture or perfects a new mechanical device. Some disciple of Mr Epstein may be invited to perpetuate his memory in a statue, which will be set on a pillar dn the midst of a square eurrounded by examples of modern architecture.

- Form Research Department. There will, of course, be a Form Research. Department, where hosts of young men and maidens will be encouraged to produce novelties in shape, size, colour and questions, and where experiments will be inade in the devising of forms for collaring the information xeceived on existmg ones. Indeed, anyone can see that the exteheion of the system need have no limits beyond those that might be imposed by a shortage of paper, printing machines or labour; and if that were' to happen, the dssue of daily newspapers could be stopped for a time, and their staffls, stock and machinery brought temporarily under the Board of Trade, or the particular Governmont department responsible for control. That would be quite simple, It must not be thought that I have any personal grievance in this matter. I rather enjoy filling in forms, as long as I can understand them; and, although there is certainly a tendency cdl this country for them to multiply, the number the average man is called upon to complete in the course of a year is not really very great, ©ven if we include those we receive ftom nonofficial sources such as Inquiry Agencies, who want to know when our firms were first established, what kind friends have the courage to give us credit, whether our capital ds a plus or a minus amount, aird similar intimate and personal details. But on the whole, unless we happen to be unfortunate agriculturists under the watchful care of a batch of Boards, the form pest has not yet been so .prolific in its multiplication as has the rabbit. We can stdll carry on our daily business activities without having to add to our clerical staff in order to satisfy the demands of the Governfenent. Yet it is well that we should keep a sharp look-out and hold fast to our liberties. For in some countries economic control by the government is in full swing, and we may be sure that our own bureaiicrats are watching the experiment with envious eyes. One Example. The February issue of The Banker contains some very interesting information about the present condition of affairs in Germany, and in an article on "The System of Economic Control" it draws a picture which is, to say the least, alarming to a trader with individualistic ideas. Already the numbers employed whole-time in the various controlling offices exceed 500,000 — a striking inerease compared with the 1000 who were engaged in supervising foreign exchange regulations before full economic control was established. As might be expected, this tbick cloud of officials sheds forms as thick as a Mareh snowstorm on the head of tho business man. "The average number of forms which must be filled iu for a single transaetion is in the neighbourhood of 140." When at comes to foreign trade, however, this number appears to be exceedingly moderate. An example is given of " a certain deal which iuvolved the purchase of 10,000 pounds of wool against which German toys were to be exported. For this' about 680 forms had to be filled in; and it was eifchteon months after the actual transaetion had been carried ttirough before the burfeaucratie formalities were pompleted. ' ' Well. even tho most enthusiastie supporter of the bureaucratic method of conducting industry would, I- should think, consider this too mucfi of a good thing. No doubt it was an exeeptionn! case. or it may have been exaggerated in the telling. But experienco in our own country tells us that. whenever we have to deal with a Government department, the official form assumes an ^importance which is almost ludicrous,' nnd expert advnce is needed before we

can find out which particular variety has to be used. Should the day ever ariive when all our activities are subjeet to 'Government control — when our work and play, our food and drink, our leisure and entertainments are all under bureaucratic direction — what a time we shall have! Indents, applications for permits to buy or sell, to travel in bus or trajii, will, I suppose, have to be accompaiued by forms containing full details of oui age, sex, weight, measurement, employment and parentage, before they can be considered. There will be forms for everything, and we shail often look back with longing to the .dear old days when our annual income-tax declaration was our prmcipal source of annoyance in thas respect, and when a census paper every ten years caused considerable perturbation. i-laborate Tabulation. Even if we should be allowed to retain our individual freedom iu private Hfe, and only the means of production, dastTibution and exchange. should bt controlled or nationalised, the business man will have plenty to do to satisfy his masters, the bureaucrats. A sale. even of a sample ball of tops, will not be allowed to pass without at least oue written confirmation, and probably a good many more. Clerical work will inerease to an enormous extent. The whole proeess of manufaeture will be reduced to an elaborate system of tabulation. Every pound of wool will be accompanied by a gatherisg mass of forms as it passes from the sheep's back to the ultimate wearer of the garment, as an old property carries its ever-growing burden of title deeds. Yes, we shall learn how industry ought to be conducted — how it can be conducted when it is properly planned and organised hy the theorist. I am prepared to admit that experience might show my fears to be groundless; but, after all, one is justified in taking actual examples as the basis of one 's expectations of what may happen. And we need not go for these to other countries. We have only to look at any department of our national life in which bureaucracy 'has control, and if we have any imagination at all, we shall not be happy at the thought of its indefinite extension.