The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1927. THE RAILWAYS SERVICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 210, 24 November 1927, Page 10

The Sun 42 Wyndham Stre et, Auckland, N.Z. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1927. THE RAILWAYS SERVICE

THOUGH the patriotic watchfulness of Sir Joseph Ward in the interests of New Zealanders in his challenge to "some proposals in the new Railways Bill must he commended, there are considerations other than merely local and individual interests to be taken into account. Sir Joseph expressed himself in the House of Representatives last evening as opposed to power being given the Minister to employ outsiders as high officers in the service, or, as he put it, “to bring in outsiders and place them over the heads of capable and tried railway officers who were serving their country well.” The member for Invercargill, who also opposed the abolition of the right of veto now vested in the Minister in the mattermf appointments, was strongly supported by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Holland, declaring that several measures, “hitting Government employees over the head with a club,” had been introduced in the last days of the session. Surely it should not be necessary to fear that any sane Government would bring in outsiders to be placed over the heads of tried New Zealand officers, who are capable of assuming high positions with efficiency and credit! It would be a bold, as well as a foolish, Government that would attempt such a thing. But it may very well happen that a position becomes vacant for which there is no really suitable candidate already in the service. Ts the Minister then to go on the principle of “near enough”?

It must be remembered that the Railways Department has both to serve the public efficiently and to pay its way, and it has not been spared in criticism for not having paid. Such being the case, it behoves the department as a business concern, to obtain the best possible officers available for its executive, and if the best are not here, it must go abroad for them. And it must be prepared to pay high salaries for high-grade services. If the men are here, all the better; but the department cannot be run on the narrow lines of parochial preference. Only the best pays, either in men or material, and only the best must be obtained wherever it comes from. This is the policy that has built up the most successful railway concerns in Great Britain and in the United States and Canada.

Some wonder may be expressed at the proposal to abolish •the right ot veto. Ministers are not often to be found seeking to surrender some of their powers. Is it in this ease that the Minister, who has other portfolios to administer also, wishes to ease the load of his responsibility? If so, it may be suggested that there should be a Minister to devote all his attention to railway and transport administration; he would find quite enough to do, and his work would be better done without outside distractions. If a Minister may not have the right of veto in connection with appointments, what is the use of having a Minister? vo l he I™®”, wh ° make the railways and the Minister should have his hand on the men.