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The Daily News FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6. IRRESPONSIBLE BOARDS.

In what hj« claims to be, the public interest, Air. Jlasscy favours the appointnieiit of au irresponsible board whijh would take over the whole business of making appointments and dismissals from the public service. If .Ministers du ■not favour the adoption ol this proposal it is not because it is not in their interest; because, asurcdly, its adoption would at oucc relieve them of a vast amount of petty worry and trouble. When the .Uassey tiovernmeut—if such a combination ever comes into existence —has succeeded in passing a Bill for the appointment of a Civil Service Board, the duty will lie cast upon the then I'iemicr of discovering live or seven men who are entirely destitute of human sympathies; men who lane neither friends nor feeling; men who [ will address themselves to their duty

like cast-iron, impenetrable machine:. Mr. .Miissey linu leel quite conlideat that he can easily lind such men in the. Dominion, but most people ale surely to be excused if they entertain doubts about it. Under present conditions the colony has a Minister at the head of each department responsible to Parliament for every appointment-- 110 matter

how iiisignilicanl—lie makes, and then: are eight Ministers. In some departments, such as tile Native, .Mining, At-torney-deneraiX there is scarcely one new appointment made in a year. It is admitted that each Minister is not without iriends. Under the suggests! Civil Service Board there will he live or seven gentlemen irresponsible to Parliament, and it is a fair thing to conclude that every one of them will be blessed with his circle of friends. It

will be seen that the only, question is that of responsibility. But in the matter of the appointment of irresponsible public board.-, there is 011 c candidate for Parliament who (pule out-llerods Herod; who, as a matter of fact, leavc.s Mr. Ahusey us nothing bill u dim black speck on the far horizon. AJr. A. \j. llerdman, who for one Parliament sal as member for Mount Ida, and is credited with the possession of considerable ability, according to newspaper reports, advocates not only the establishment of a Civil .Service Board, but a Public Works Board, a Railways Board, and an Advances to Settlers Board. Perhaps New Zealand ought to feel grateful to this gentleman for his extreme modesty, his moderation—Mr. llerdman is a lawyer. He might just as well have gone the whole length at once and contended for th« establishment of an irresponsible Board over every department. Apparently the people of New Zealand are an idiotic, purblind race. Every man stands erect, juts out his chest, and rather plumes himself upon being a democrat, lie holds that responsibility, to the elected representatives of the people consti-

tutes the foundation of all free government. According to Mr. Herdman he is all wrong —he is fatuously stupid.

There is nothing like irresponsibility. A | system of irresponsible boards for everything human is the panacea for all the evils under which New Zealand now languishes. In other lands the people resist and groan under what is termed a bureaucracy; but they ale intolerably happy all the while, and their groaning is merely a blind. Let Xew Zealand have a bureaucracy; nay, not one bureaucracy alone, but a bureaucracy for every department, and then the whole Domillion will rejoice and sing. With irresponsible boards everywhere to manage our affairs, it is clear that so ;ar as administration is concerned we can altogether dispense with a Parliament. Certainly, so far as county councils, r.».ul boards, city and borough councils. :■ 1-pital and education boards—mainly ulniiuistrative bodies—why should there lie the trouble and expense of popular elections' There is nothing like a strong, healthy despotism for giving the people " clean government..'' We are al! on tlie wrong track. Sweep all our popular institutions away and give us a system of irresponsible boards. Mr. M'assey strongly insists upon the institution of a Civil Service Board; he is understood to favour also a Public Works Board. Why does he stand—naked and shivering on the brink wlijlst hi-; henchman. Mr. Ilerdman. boldly plunge, out of all reasonable sight? Surely the people of this Dominion. before tliey vote for his candidates. have a right to learn from the lips of the coming ll'rciuicr how far he is prepared to go in the establishment of the irresponsible boards apparentlv so dear to his Opposition heart. More particularly is this the case in view of the fact that at one time Xew Zealand had ail irresponsible Railway Board or (jiiiiuiissiuners, and tliev were heartily glad when they got rid of il. Do.>s ( experience teach!

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19081106.2.5

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 269, 6 November 1908, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
774

The Daily News FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6. IRRESPONSIBLE BOARDS. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 269, 6 November 1908, Page 2

The Daily News FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6. IRRESPONSIBLE BOARDS. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 269, 6 November 1908, Page 2

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