ECONOMY REPORT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 344, 4 October 1932, Page 7

ECONOMY REPORT

SHORT JQLTS RECOMMENDATiONS. AT 'RANDOM FROM WEEEttEftT SECTIIONS. RESTRICTING SPENDIN'G. The following ara among the recoirtme^dations aitd, W~ elitded in the .final rep.ort of the Natipnal Expenditiire Adjusthi-dt Commission: — The nurherical strength of the staff at the High Commissioner's Office in 1914-15 was 52, while at the 1st April, 1927, the staff numbered li5. It has now been, , reduced to 72, but while considerpble reductions have been; effected, it sbo.uld be possible to reduce the staff still further. Manyi pf the d.bties hitherto carried. out by • the High Coxnmissioner's office will now be done by the various. Produce Boards (Dairy. Control , Board and the Meat | Control Board, etc.), and w.efeel that I there should not be the same necessity 1 as existed previously for a compre- ! iensive organisation in the office of j the High Commissioner. The net expenditure provided for during 1931- : 32 was £5,511, while the net estimate : for 1932-33' is £26,338. .No reduction has been provided for, and the increase in the expenditure oyer the 1914-15 figures still approximates 150 per cen- ; tum. In our opinion there is nothing 1 to justify this huge increase, and we believe that a substantial measure of { economy should be possible. * » * * ! One of tbe reasons for the necessity ! for the State undertahirig deer-de- ! structio'n operations is Ihe failure of J cartain acclimatisation societies to ' use their funds for this purpose, and ' stricter control of the operations. of the acclimatisation societies should be 1 exercised in future, with':a view to ensuring that their functions in the dij rection of the control of pests, such as i deer, will be carried out. We would | also convment on the.fact that it has , been necessary for the Government j to take aetive steps to lceep down the | .ncrease in deer herds while at the ' saina time acclimatisation societies i in some districts proclaim "close seai sons" for the destruction of deer. This j seems to ba an anomaly, ,and we are of opinion that while the Government is expanding large sums on the destruction, of deer no restriction should be J placed on sialking by private indivi- ! duals. :> * * *.

Cars .are used much too frealy on i journeys that could be accomplished much more cheaply by railway, even by officers who have annual passes for railway travel. The control of motor- j cars is essentially a matter for rigid central control, under which the excessive number of cars and the huge expenditure could be very substantailly recluced. :J: * * V/e are unable to discover any instance right through New Zealand where the full cost of treatment in a public hospital is charged to a patient, whatever his circumstances, and much money which could be collected is lost on this account, conse-; quently the burden on loeal rates and on general taxation has continued to increase.

The annual cost of official telephones in Government offices exceeds £46,000 j per annum, and it seems that there is j room for economy in this connection, more particularly by the use of extensions or by the installation of domestic exchanges. >i: • * There are passenger-booking agencies at Auckland, Wanganui, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill. Until recently there was an office at Nelson, but this has been closed. This activity largely duplicafcas services already in existence. We recommenu that the Tourist offices be closed, and that the work be left to the Railway Department and j interested orgariisations. The Railway I Dejvartment has a highly organised admnistration which should enable it ;»to efficiently cater for travellers and ; protect its own intreests. This should i result in a direct saving of £4700. i ^ ^ ff.

j Wp are inclined to the view that technicai and professional men as a rule do not make the hest administrators, and in this view we are supported by the opinions of authorities overseas. * * * « We recommend that it be estahlish'ed as a definite rule that telephones in private residences he not paid for by the Government, except in a limited number of approved cases where officers could not he expected to install telephones at their pwn cost. * * * * , We consider that, under a suitahle administrative officer, the Department of nands and Survey and the Department of Agriculture should be ajnalgamated. They have common interests, and if effective amalgamation can.b.e arraiiged in the future the resulting establishment should be much more economical than the present departments. A very considerable saving , would result from the unificatiori of the field staff s of the two departments. * -jf * * ' Thp annual cost of allowances in ad* J ditiori to. salaries payahle to officers of the Public Service is no less thari £143,086, and this exceeds house allowances payable to teachers in the service of the Education Boards. We are of opinion that the payment of special allowances in addition tp salary is essentially wrong in principle, although we concede that there are cases where it is jusfified. We recomtmend, however, that the .payment of allowances to individual officers be suhjected tp c.lose overhaul by, a central authority with a view to the.cancellatxqn of- many of the allowances at present granted. * * * * We consider the matter of'sufficient importaiice to again stress the necessity for the abolition of the Main Highway s Revenue Fund, as . by 'this means only can real and gustaxned economy in roading expenditure be ohtained, and the commeneement of grandiose projects years ahead of the needs of the Dominion 'be avgided, We trust that political expediency will not

be allowed to stand in the way of the abolition of this and other special funds, which ; we are convinced are quite wrong in principle. * * * * ' We do not proj'ose to raview the items in the Justice Departnrent vote in detail, but would remark that the Prisons. Department some years ago was allied with tlxat of Justice .under one permanent head, and. on the retireme.nt of that. officer the Prisons Department agaixi beeaixxg a separate ehtity. There is no good reason for .two separate departments. and two controlling officers and administrative staff s. We recommend ■ that tlie two Departments be amalgamated at the earli.est possible date, and on such amalgamtipn -the head office staff s should he effeetively mei-ged. ■We recommend. that the law he amended to provide -that hotel license fees shall. he credited to the Gonsolidated Fund as a cpntrbiution towards the cost of the administration of the licensing law. * * * * We rec-ommend that jurors' fees.be redpced to 6s per day, and that the allpwances payable to witnesses ; in criminal prosecutions and at coroners' ixxquests he reviewed. ^ -Jf We regard it as essential .that when administrative positions. in the Public Service require to he filled, particularly those departments 'having technicai, professional, or scientific interests, the officer appointed should he selected chiefly because of his administrative abilities, and should be able properly to balaxxce and .co-ordi-nate the various policy axxd financial matters affecting the Department. This we regard as vital to successful and at the same time economical management of departments of State. * * * « We recommend that the publicity service be reduced in cost by at le.ast 25 per cent., or a saving of £5500. * * * c It seems quite obvious froxn tbe foregohxg that the goal so soon raach- | ed in New Zealand is years ahead of l its time, and we have no hesitation in | sayihg that the cessation of State afforestation operations in this Dominion in three years' time, as recomxxxexxded, is essential. >!• * * * R'egarding the app'ointment and gi'ading of teachers, the methods are unneeessarily coxnplicated, and contri-

huts towards the high cost of education. We recommend that the teach- ; ing service be suhjected to the same | control as the Public Service — viz., by i the Public Service Commissioner — axxd j also tlxat the Public Service Act be | extended to embrace the teachixxg service. This would automatically give the Public Service Commissioner control of the grading and classification of teachers. * * * * ! Teachers' emoluments should be on an all-inclusive basis, and the system of granting allowances of various , kinds should cease. The granting of ; house allowances or free hoqses in | addition to salary is undesirable, and, j apxart from appointments in remote j localities, we see no reason why houses should be supplied free for any special section of the Public Service. * * * *

We say definitely that the root causa of stagnation or partial stagnation in any industry cannot be remedied by a system of subsidy, and a gradual tap-ering-off of subsidies and concessions must be aimed at. % * * To put land-settlement on a sound basis a reserve of at least £ per cant. should be provided to meet contingent losses which are sure to occur. Ht * * * We are of opinion that the system of free railway carriage of lime, the partial free railage of fertilisers, and the subsidies to fertiliser-manufactur-ers should be discontinued as soon as possible, and greater attention paid to the possibi ity of furtber reducing all farming costs.