WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 February 1922, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

CIVIL SERVICE BONUSES. THE FACTS. SPECIAL TO GUAHDIAN. WELLINGTON, January 30. The current number of “Tbe Katipo” the official organ of the Post and Telegraph Officers’ Association contains the first plain statement facts concerning the much discussed £45 war bonus that yet has appeared in print. It seems there never wa 8 a £45 war bonus in tbe sense implied and doubtless believed by the Prime Minister and other high authorities. The first bonus that could be brought mid«r this category was paid as from April 1, 1916, and amounted to £ls for married officers and £7 10s for unmarried officers. In 1917 this bonus again was paid. In 1918 it was repeated, and, in addition, from October 1 was raised to the annual rate of £ls all round. On March 31, 1919, the payment of war bonuses of all descriptions ceased, the Sendee having been reclassified as from that date and | many officers having received additions to their salaries at least equal to the previous bonus payments. There appears to be no doubt about the accuracy of these facts, but apparently Mr Massey was in complete ignorance ®f them till he received a. deputation from the Officers’ Association the other day..

PLAIN TALK. The report of the meeting between the Prime Minister and this deputation appearing in “The Katipo” makes much more interesting reading than does the average account .of such funetions published in the daily papers. Early in the interview, Mr Massey interrupted the President of the Association, Mr J. H. McKenzie who was stating the officers case, by asking if it were not a fact that the bonuses the men received prior to April 1920 amounted to £45 per annum. Mr McKenzie replied that it certainly was not, and showed that only some £SO had been received in four years. Then Colonel J. J. Esson who was sitting at Mr Massey’s elbow, rushed in with the assertion that “the £45”, was incorporated in the scale salary, but the president of the Association scored. He had the assurance of the head of the department, he said that the bonus had not been taken into account in any way in the reclas- * sification. It had absolutely stopped. There were one or two sharp passages of arms between the Minister and the leader of the deputation, Mr Massey at on stage objecting to being “cross-ex-amined”, but no bones were broken and they parted with mutual expressions of goodwilll. LEGISLATION BY |EXHAUSTION. Not for many a long year' hae the House provided such a flagrant example of legislation by exhaustion as it did last week. Perhaps the Prime Minister had some excuse for employing forcing tactics in the case of the Expenditure Readjustment Bill.;' The official Labour Party lias announced its intention to contest-the passage of the Bill at every possible stage, and had received something more than mere verbal encouragement from the other sections of the Opposition. The division on Thursday night which left'

the Government with a majority of only four suggested that forcing tactics were necessary to save the mea.sure from greater perils. But there was no excuse at all for going .on with the Public Works Estimates on Friday night when the House had neither the opportunity nor the- inclination to make itself acquainted with the mass of figures that were thrown on the table. The leader of the Opposition protested and asked for delay, but the Minister turned a deaf ear to his appeal and the farce of authorising the expenditure of money already ex-

pended went merrily along. Owing to the delay in calling Parliament to-

gether the presentation of the estimates, of course, wa s several months behind the usual time. ANOTHER RAILWAY CUT.

The continued decline in the railway returns and the prospect of a further cut in the services were mentioned once or twice in the House last week, hut now-a-days, except when some local line is in question, members seem take only a perfunctory interest in such matters. There is a growing feeling outside Parliament however

that fare raising and service cutting lias been carried to their extreme length, and that i' any further move- s '~ ment in either of these directions will only aggravate the existing deplorable state of affairs. The motor car and the motor lorry, much to the vexation of the authorities that have to maintain the highways, are cutting (ting into the railway traffic everywhere, and still higher fares and still less frequent services would go a long way towards establishing them in the supremacy of the road. Already the ~ motor cars are competing successfully with the railway up to distances of 200 miles and their limit has not yet been reached.