WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 November 1921, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

K( ONOMIES COMMITTKK. JR IS P< MIT CON FI DKNTI AL. SI'ICUIAL TO GUARDIAN. WELLINGTON, Nov. 2S The Prime Minister's announcement on Friday t-liat he did not see hi* was to lay the report of tlie Economies t'oiumittee on the tsi hie ol the House ol Keprcseniatives lias occasioned some surprise and much disappointment. No one seems able to recall any definite promise given by Mr Massey on i! c subject, hut many people had understood that the report, or, at any rate, its figures and recommendations, were to he made public. The Minister ha<J the document at his elbow when the deputation ol* business men waited upon him early in the month and during the course of his reply handed it to Mi Shader Weston for perusal. This was in confidence to the spokesman ot the deputation, tlie report then laing in manuscript form, hut most ol those present came away with the impiession that later oil they would have an importunity to see its material points in print. Mr Massey had indicated the constitution of the Committee and commended the report as one of the most valuable services of the kind ever modeled to the State. NOT KOI? PCbUCATiOX.

Hut on Friday the Prime Minister, in reply to a question put to him by the Hon ,J. A. Hamm, said in* was afraid he would not he able to place the report on the table. He had no personal objection to doing so, hut his difficulty was that a great deal ol the information the report contained war. confidential and il would be a breach of faith to make it public. It i- v ->i’y understood, ol course, that il the document is at all exhaustive it deals in some detail with the qualifications el officers and the character and table o) l heir services. I ofo: mati«ui «>t this nature necessarily would be confidential to the Minister, though this would not mean that an officer whose work was impugned should have n> opportunity to set himself light with his chief. Hut the main facts ol tin* report surely should he made public, as much in the interests of the Civil Seiviee and the Government itself, as iu the interests of the public. A scheme foj saving live millions a year in the cost of administration cannot h* regarded as ihe private property of the M inister.

NEED KOI? INFORMATION

While thee was a strong public opinion behind the deputation ot he * ness men that waited upon the Prime Minister at the beginning of the mouth with words of congratulation and confide nee, it would he idle to say the country is satisfied with the progress the Government has made along the diffifiih road ot e< nuoiii v and iet reneliment. Mi .Massey has spoken in general terms c.l staffs being reduced, supeitluous services being discontinued and subsidies being withdrawn, hut at tin* same lime he has asked Parliament to make provision for an iuerea-t* ot nearly t..n millions in the cost ui administration. It is true he has followed this request with an assurance that the additional sum will mu he requited if the economies he is proposing to Parliament a:e authorised. To business men this h oks very much like a reversal ot positions customarily allotted t*» the cart and the horse. They hold strongly that the necessary authoiity lor the economies should have been obtained before the Estimates were framed and that the votes should have been reduced accordingly. This certainly would have been the more convincing course. PCHIJC CONFIDENCE.

Hut whether Mr Massey’s actual savings are to amount to three millions or to live, whether they are to be effected at once or by instalments. Ids task would he made all the easier by the public being fully acquainted with the facts. Presumably the Economies Committee has set out in plain words and figures where and how and when savings could he made without impairing tin* efficiency of the Civil Service. Mi Massey stated to the deputation of business men that he thought the committee had rather, over-stated what could be achieved. Hut in his speech at tlie conclusion of the liudget debate he declared that all it had recommended would he required. In these circumstances it seems highly desirable that tlie public should see the facts and figures and have an opportunity to realise their import ami significance In the present crisis nothing is of more consequence than complete confidence between the Government and the country, and this can Ik* obtained only by candour on both sides. The Prime Minister will not he promoting this ideal by withholding information which obviously is the public’s due.