UNKNOWN

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 602, 13 September 1913, Page 2

UNKNOWN

COMMISSIONER'S REPORT. EXTRAORDINARY POSITION. RE-ORGANISATION NEEDED. ' The Public Service Commissioner's j report contains some trenchant re- j marks on the operations, of the Department of Agriculture, which he intro- ; duces as fellows: "This is a Department of great importance to the Dominion, which ;s conducted at a considerable cost. It ! is difficult to foresee the potentialities j of such a Department if properly j organised and conducted on business j methods which would give a maximum j efficiency for the expenditure involved. It is, unfortunately, the case that the organisation of hcDepartment is about the last which should have been adopted. During the past few years a policy of excessive centralisation has been adopted, which can only be des cribed as calculated to result in a minimum efficiency at a maximum expenditure. This is not a Department in which the country is likely to take exception to the cost, hut it is certainly one in which the organisation should be such as to obtain the greatest value from the services of every officer employed, and this can only be done by an entire alteration of the present organisation, for which should be substituted a welldevised scheme of decentralisation. "Under the present constitution of the Department there are four divisions which are practically separate Departments, over which is the head office, which repeats a good deal of the 'office work of the divisions. The divisions arv as rigid as it is possible to imagine, with the result that overlapping and waste of force is prerent in a marked degree, and, if the mass of evidence which has been obtained is to be relied upon, friction is altogether too much in evidence. "The two main divisions are the Live Stock and Meat Division and the Fields and Experimental Farms Division. Two others are the Orchards, Gardens and Apiaries Division and the Dairy Produce Division. The two latter are relatively small and compact, and present no difficulties of management. In the two large divisions the organisation is, broadly, as follows:—In the Live Stock and Meat Division there is a director who is a professional officer, an assistant director, a chief veterinarian, several qc-called supervising veterinarians, ordinary veterinarians, and a great number of live stock inspectors. In the Division of Fields and Experimental Farms there is a lirector, an assistant director, supervisor, and a large number of inspectors of rabbits and noxious weeds."

After referring to the "absurd position" of stock inspectors, Benior or junior whose salaries range from £l7O to £3OO, being actually responsible only to the head of the division in Wellington., and the duty oE the supervisor "to act as aßpy," the Commissioner goes on to say :

"Practically the same organisation obtains in the Fields and Experimental Farms Division. There are supervisors who have no control, and inspectors of rabbits and noxiou? weeds cannot be called to account except by the Director in Wellington. "It is not understood on what supposed principle the present oganisation of the Department was arranged a few years ago, but ic would appear on the surface that there was some idea of making the Fields and Experimental Farms Division as important as possible in comparison with the Stock Division; otherwise there seems to be no reason why inspectors of rabbits and noxiouß weeds Bhould not have been placed at the outset in charge of the Live Stock Division. This, however ; was not done. "Bearing in mind'the rigidness of the divisions to which I have referred the result is that inspectors of live stock and inspectors of rabbits are hopelessly out of touch with each other. While they are not actually forbidden to assist each other, it is a fact that if an inspector of live stock makes a journey from, say, A to a place far in the country, and observes a farm overrun with noxious weed it is no business of hiJ to take any notice of the fact whatever; while if an in?pector of rabbits notices an outbreak of disease among the stock on a farm which he is inspecting in his capacity of noxious weeds inspector, he haa no particular need to call the attention of anyone to it. As a fair proportion of the rabbit inspectors were at one time stock inspector* they are quite competent to act in the dual capacity of stock inspectors and rabbit inspectors, and there is no reason why the stock inspectors "should not be able to observe a failure to keep down rabbits ar noxious weeds. "The result of ail this is that there is a great deal of overlapping. If the stock inspector from A mentioned above is kind enough to drop a hint to the rabbit and noxious weeds inspector, the latter has to make a journey which has jivst been accomplished by the stock inspector, to ssy nothing of the waste of force. Is w. any wonder ' that the travelling expenses or the Department or Agriculture amounts to ■ .£24,0(10 per annum, or nearly : v JSO for every working clay of the year? "Even if rabbit and noxious weeds , inspectors were placed under the Live , Stock Division, there is ample work : for the most highly trained horiical- ; turist the Dominion con produce in | controlling important. experiments and generally advising farmers on the \ thousand-nnd-ona points which arise in ; connection with fie hi fanning; and to j make ;:urh a change would entail no ; of dignity on the Director. Un- i fortunately, at the present time there iy too much friction apparent, owing j to a divergence of opinion between the Director of the Fields, etc., Divi- ; don and the Secretary of the Depart- ; •ooiii on a purely professional rub"The Dairy Produce Division ap- i

leaves little opening for criticism. There is no need for uny change. "As regards the Orchard" Division, I am not prepared at present to express an opinion whether it, should remain ;is nn independent division cube merged into thai; c ,\ !:ie E:;perimontel F.'irra? (Horticultural) Division." It is, i'reciy atnt,■ a. says the report, that the district offices are practically useless., and in their present form may be regarded as nn unnecessary waste of money and force. ''The Commissioners see ;m diniculty aL all in devising n." perfect reorganisation. The Dominion should he divided into workable disirhhs, end a veterinary onieer who her seme gist ter adininistra! ion placed in charge of the Live Stock Division, p> which should he added the rahbiis and noxious weeds inspectors. He sh.ouid be given a thoroughly competent chief clerk and such staff as may be found necessary. This would immediately do away with the overlapping which at present exists, and enable tha inspectors in the district to be properly controlled. It is said (hat there is a good deal of fear, on th? part of many inspectors,' that if this happened they would be found unnecessary. It seems to me that if there are any incompetent or superfluous inspectors the sooner this happanß the better. "As this arrangement would leave the Fields Division in a workable condition, the present Fields supervisors could be placed in charge of districts similarly, with a competent chief clerk. There is no reason why all should not work in the same building." Reference is also made to friction at the head office, and the need of a business- basis of organisation, and reference to other matters is deferred, as the new Board of Agriculture will doubtless have some recommendation to make about the policy of .the Department which might affect to some extent the details for any re-organisation.