THE SCRIMGEOUR APPOINTMENT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 42, 12 November 1937, Page 4

THE SCRIMGEOUR APPOINTMENT

The Rt. Hon. M, J. Savage must have felt profoundly relieved when at close on 2 o 'clock this morning his colleague, the Postmaster-General, managed to get his Broadcasting Amendment Bill finally passed by the House of Representatives. The lengthy debate on the Bill has tnrned mainly npon the reasons for the creation of a new branch of the Broadcasting Department and upon the placing of this commercial branch under the control of the Rev. Mr. Scrimgeour at a salary of £1500 a year. It is possible that the discussion is not yet over, chance for its revival being afforded when a little later on the departmental vote, along with the annual report, comes np for consideration. Meantime it may be worth while to review, in some of its many weaknesses, the poor defence which the Government has put np. In the first place it may be noted that the Prirne Minister accepts personal responsibility for the creation of this comfortable little job and for the selection, without competition of any kind, of the person to fill it and enjoy its emoluments. From the fact that a ratifying Bill is now needed it seems obvious that, in the first instance, Mr. Savage acted entirely withont legislative authority. However, under Labour rule we have come to be quite used to this kind of assumption of autocratic powers. * * * * Next we have great efforts to cloud the real issues by making a big wordy fuss over the fact that two years ago the "Friendly Road" B Station, then condueted by Mr. Scrimgeour as a vehicle for semi-religious evangelism, was jammed because the terms of its licence were being infringed by employing it for politieal propaganda purposes. At election time a great deal of distorted use was made of this ineident, which served the Lahour Party well. But what'earthly bearing this can have on the prosent eontroversy it will be difficult for the intelligent eleetor to see, excepting, of course, that it pr ovides an explanation why Mr. Savage, in gratitude for having had this handy little election weapon placed in his hands has instituted a highly paid billet and pitchforked Mr. Scrimgeour into it, that reverend gentleman promptly accepting, .although the fulfilment of his new duties must almost necessarily detach him from the nplifting social mission to which his life had ostensibly been publiely eonsecrated. Thus we have what looks, on the face of it, just a nice little reward, at the taxpayers' expense, for politieal services rendered to the party. How many more of a like kind have been scattered about among the scores, hundreds, possibly thousands, of remunerative little new jobs of one kind and another Mr. Savage and his colleagues have devised? * * • » Then, again, we have the Postmaster-General himself trying to excuse this little politieal ramp by citing well paid apipointments in tbe railway service made by previous Governments. But in each of these cases the appointee concerned was a man admittedly fully competent for the duties he was to undertake. At this very moment the present Government is enjoying the advantages of the very thorough reorganisation of the Railway Department that one of them carried out,! and yet, under revived Government control, the losses on State railways have been going up by hundreds of thousands a year, thus adding fresh burdens to the taxpayers' load. Nor was there the slightest shadow of suspieion of politieal motive resting over these railway appointments. * # # * # Mr. Savage has been asked time and again to let the country into the secret as to how a minister of the gospel in the course of a few months aequired the qualifications for inaugurating and eonducting a commercial service which manifestly called for the employment of the best expert brains. To these questions Mr. Savage has failed signally to give any satisfactory answer. One is perhaps to be found, by implication, in the fact that as Controller of Commercial Broadcasting Mr. Scrimgeour has been provided with an assistant, at the same salary as his own, perhaps to do the practical work for him. * • • * Another smoke-screen is attempted in the suggestion that all this pot'her has been raised in the interests of the newspapers. As a matter of fact, advertising competition from the radio, as elsewhere, has long been expected by the New Zealand Press, but anyone with auy sense at all will understand that the less the competence with which that competition is condueted the better for the papers. So, as Mr. Savage himself would say, i 'Why worry?" * # • * On the face of things, it all looks a very pretty piece of business and from the light that has been let in upon it no very great intelligence is required to understand why the Government refuses to permit any public enquiry into its windings and ramifications, wbich extend even across the Tasman to Australia.