PUBLIC SERVICE

Hokitika Guardian, 16 October 1930, Page 2

PUBLIC SERVICE

BUREAUOR ATIO TENDENCY. BURDEN OF COST. DECENTRALISATION URGED. Decentralisation as a means of - relieving "the.,burderi of taxation involved under the present system of admi istratiori, the 1 establishment of District Councils to administer the needs of the particular districts, and a policy of curtailed expenditure, both public and private, were, some of the reforms advocated by the Hon. J. A. Hanari in 'a speech in the Legislative Council on Saturday morning.

The desirability of relieving the Prime Minister of some, of his duties in order that he might devote his attention to national and international problems was stressed by Sir James Allen, who agreed with the views expressed by Air Hanan. A burcauratic system of Government was being built up, said Mr Hanan, and, to some extent, it was the bureaucrats who were imposing taxation on: ;ihe people in order to maintain their, multiplicity of departments and keep ’their huge- staffs in employment. AYe have been gradually taking away.jthe {powers of functions of local bof£ies and vesting them in Wellingdeclared Air D fin an. ’ "It is no exaggeration, to say! tliat' the civil servants {govern this country,' Many Ministers; of the Crown are merely rubber stri trips. They may go Home, they mrfyilgo to Australia, they may go to elections, but the Government goe s on. Tt is the civil servants who are running the' country., ....... “What are we to do in order to relieve this growing burden of taxation, and to reduce the evils of civilisation. One direction in which we may take action concerns our roads and bridges. If we could remove them from , the wing of Parliament, better results would be achieved. There should be some system of decentralisation. . .

Y;.?; DISTRICT COUNCILS. Pl*, believe in the establishment , of District Councils,” continued,, Mr Hainan, “I am not advocating the reestablishment of the old system Provincial Councils, but I do think it would be a wise step to establish-Dis-, trietiCouncils. By that way we would get rid of a large amount of expense connected with the running of small bodies. “We do nothing, else but create new departments,” said Air Hanan. “We are building up an army of civil servants.,, and., Aiicrensing.,. ithe.,...pow.er, of the" bur eaiiser ats. "We have been running the railways in this country on political lines. And what 1s the position of the railways to-day 1 1 am not blaming any; party. I am only referring to certain forms of administration. Are we to continue on the same lines and have the same results! I THE- NEED OF THE HOUR, “I want here to congratulate our esteemed deputy-leader, the Hon. Mr Alapters, who was chairman .of the Railway Commission, and his colleagues for the courageous, fearless, and. constructive report which they furnished to the Government. (Hear, hear.) AVe want fearlessness, moral courage, and the development of a sense of national duty. With those qualities behind us we will not hesitate to walk along the path of duty. Sir James Allen said he endorsed the views of Air Hanari in regard to decentralisation. To a certain extent decentralisation was going on at the present time. The Highways Board was a iypical ■ There was room, however, for a great deal of decentralisation and the placing of more power in the hands of the local authorities. Parliament ought to he more concerned about Imperial questions than abont roads and bridges. MORE EFFICIENCY WANTED. Sir Ja|ue^'advocated, an amalgamation of some of the departments. It was not right for the Government to increase the salaries of its high officers. He doubted very much whether the service was not larger than was required. ■ s The Hon. J. B. Gow stressed the need for more decisive control by the hapds of the departments. The civil servants, he said } seemed to have an idea that - it rested not with the head but with someone else as to whether they were kept on or not. The head should have the power to bring about greater efficiency in his department. There was no private business in this country that could he concluded on the lines of some of the departments without bringing it to the verge of disaster* . j replying to t v e debate. Air Masters' said that if the opportunity offered he would be pleased to. give the Council an opportunity of discussing the report of the Railway Commission. He agreed " ith what had been said about the desirability of relieving the Pri-m Minister cf some of his duties. The Prime Minister was engaged in helping in dealing with road hoard matters whpn he should be devoting his attention to national and international problems.