The Daily News. TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1920. AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEM.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 July 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1920. AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEM.

In a statement made in the House last week, the Premier referred to the enormous cost to the country caused by raising the emoluments of those engaged in the Public Services. Increases were to be made to the remuneration of judges, members of Parliament, magistrates, railway officials, post and telegraph officers, police and others, amounting in the aggregate to not less than two million sterling per annum. Large as is this total, it is probable that the taxpayers would cheerfully foot the bill if they were satisfied that good value was being obtained for the expenditure, and that the money was being fairly distributed according to merit. There has been, and still is, a feeling that in of a number of important officers of the State the salary paid is a long way short of what is required to attract to and keep in the Public Service men of the best brains and ability. The consequence of this unsound policy is I that the Dominion has lost the services of quite a number of its experts in various departments, who have been tempted to ldave

the service of the, country by offers of higher pay and improved status. At the same time there are others who are far more liberally paid than their services warrant. To a certain extent this state of affairs is much the same under other Governments, the problem being one that presents many difficulties that have grown up with the Service and been fostered by the bureaucratic system, instead of being checked by the personal control of the political heads of departments. It has always been a marvel why the business of the State should not bo conducted on the same lines as any large commercial or industrial concern, where organisation, economy and efficiency are made a special study | in order that the best results can be obtained and thorough success assured. This can only be brought about by a process of careful selection, encouragement of zeal, initiative, and economy. If it pays the large industrial firms to appoint managers whose sole business it is to organise every department so as to prevent waste and secure the greatest efficiency and results at the least possible expenditure of human energy, then it should also pay the State to follow the same course. It may confidently be asserted that if this expert oversight were exercised in all the departments the amount saved in the aggregate would b£ immense, and as departmental expenditure has been and is rapidly soaring beyond all reasonable limits, some practical steps ought to l\e taken to cope with the evil. It is quite likely that action in this direction might be resented by responsible members of the Civil Service. ! They entered the service, and. as a matter of course, adapted themselves to the conditions as ; fjiilitl them, well knowing the penalty that falls upon those wltb attempt reforms, or even suggest improvements. The public certainly desires that every useful man employed by the £>tate should receive a fair day's pay for a'fair' day's work. It is not a question of expecting one man to do the work of two men, or of cutting down salaries. There are, no doubt, a number of employees in the Public Service who are honestly deserving of more pay than they receive. These are the men who would benefit under a reform that encourages merit and eliminates two or more men who are impeding rather than forwarding.the conduct of departmental business, or wasting time over valueless returns. Great reforms and savings were hinted at by the Public Service Commissioner in the early days of office, but they have yet to materialise. Now that an additional two million sterling has to be provided by the taxpayers, on the top of the exceptionally heavy burdens caused by the war, they may well expect that a drastic overhaul of Sitate departmental management should take place. The Government is continually stressing the need for economy, and yet takes no practical steps to set an example that can be followed by the community. Present conditions present an ideal opportunity for the needed reforms to be carried out. It is an opportunity that should not be lost. .Because the problem is difficult is no reason for leaving it unsolved.