The Daily News MONDAY, APRIL 5. CIVIL SERVICE REORGANISATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 60, 5 April 1909, Page 2

The Daily News MONDAY, APRIL 5. CIVIL SERVICE REORGANISATION.

It must be evident to tlic most casual l follower of current events that the Gov-1 eminent lias been in deadly earnest in evolving the schemes for the reorganisation of the (Jivil Service, on which it has been known for some time they liavo been engaged. It could scarcely have been anticipated, however, that the Civil Service permitted of reorgauisa- ) tion on so comprehensive a scale as Sir Joseph Ward outlined at Upper Hutt on Friday night. Without interfering with the efficiency of the Service the Premier claimed that the scheme, to be put into operation will mean a savi'.ig of a quarter of a million sterling per annum. There is no need to anathematise on the Civil Service system that has developed along lines costing the country £250,000 a year more than the , Premier now says 'is necessary. With i the rapid advance of the Dominion dur- ' injf recent years, new State Department,* have been created, each with its own tetair, as the occasion calling them into existence arose. Obviously such a system, from its increasing eimibrousness and its expense, could not be extended indefinitely, hi thus honestly setting himself the disagreeable "j»siv m reorganisation and retrenchment in the Civil Service, not because of dire necessity consequent on depression, but as a business proposition, Sir Joseph has given evidence of strong resolution that will further commend him to the country. The argument that reform of the Civil Service should have materialised yca-s ago, which we do not dispute, cannot, however, lie used to the detrimnel of the Premier, who should not be held responsible for the omissions of his predecessors. Since he lias assumed the reins of oll'iee Sir Joseph Ward has given undoubted proofs of his possession of the essential leadership qualities of resource, resolution and slrewd business acumen, and in no instance have these qualities been more prominently demonstrated than in his scheme of Civil Service retrenchment. In the scheme of reconstruction the ramifications of the State are not in any way curtailed, but by a-process of amalgamations and absorptions the thirty-seven existing administrative departments are to be reduced to sixteen in number. The sixteen department's will accordingly require only sixteen heads instead of over thirty, as at present, and similarly a number of the sub-offices in existing departments will lie merged under the new arrangement. In this way a considerable saving in expenditure will be effected by the reduction of the number of high-salaried officers. Fortunately, this can be brought about with a minimum of inconvenience and hardship, as a large number of departmental heads and others arc about to retire under the provisions of the Superannuation Act. That the principal sufferers, will be minor officers, whose emoluments scarce exceed the living wage limit, may be. taken for granted, lint theic is no likelihood that the Government will act hurriedly or rashly, or in such a way as to unduly augment the ranks oi' the unemployed. The reduction of the number of departments and the centralising of' the book-keeping should tend to a very great extent to reducing rcd-tapcisiu and to the acceleration of business to an extent impossible under the present involved system. In tlie main, however, accepting the Premier's assurance that efficiency will not be sacrilieed, llie pulllis will derive the greatest satisfaction from the knowledge that the business of the Dominion to he conducted at a cost of C2."i0,000 per annum less than has been paid during the past year. lUeside that achievement, the contributing factors, with wliich we shall deal more fully on another occasion, are of little moment in the estimation of the taxpayers.

THE DEFENCE PROPOSALS. The Premier's statement that it is the intention of the Government to submit proposals to Parliament ensuring a national system of drill for the youth of the country ff ill, we feel sure, be received with satisfaction throughout the Dominion, as aleo will the intimation that the present ornamental and cumbrous Defence Council is to be abolished and the whole of the defence system remodelled. For a long time 'past the public lias been thoroughly dissatisfied, and more recently acutely so. with the ineffectiveness, or rather the. ijiadequateness, of our de'ience system, and alive to the dangers arising from the country's state of helplessess. In the past, the Premier, it appeared to us, failed to appreciate this danger. The turn tilings have taken in naval matters and the state of European affairs have evidently convinced liim that we really have been living in a sort of fool's paradise and that the time for taking action can no longer be delayed. Sir Joseph was not very explicit as to the shape the reforms are to take, The Government would, he said, "submit proposals, not of a compulsory character, "which would ensure a national system of drill for the youth of the country from the time they went to school, passing through cadet and volunteer corps, until they reached the age of 21 years." The Premier went on to afiirm that the proposals would "make it absolutely certain that the younger portion of the community would be equipped in this direction as efficiently and effectively as if they tried to force Upon them a system of compulsion which a great many people were opposed to." We hardly know what meaning to take from this. The Premier, ill speaking of n "system of compulsion," may mean the conscription system in vogue in Europe. This system, of course. British people, and colonials particularly, object to, and object to strongly, olid not without justification. ISut, the system advocated by the National Defence League and "supported liy, we believe, the great majority or those who have given the subject consideration, is a very different thing. The League aims at the compulsory military training of all youths for a certain period in every year till they reach manhood's estate. To this we cannot see how exception can be taken. The Premier wan more explicit in regard to the Government's intention regarding rille clubs. Provision is to be made for ranges'from one end of the country to the other, and every rifleman is to lie given a free supply of ammunition to the extent of 250 rounds. The Government eviilentlv realist the value of training men to shoot, and there are few who will quarrel with them in providing the facilities proposed. The iinaiu proposals-1 lie training} of the youth of Hie country—are what will count most, and further information on the subject will be awaited with considerable interest.