The Daily News. MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1922. A SUPPLIES BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 April 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1922. A SUPPLIES BOARD.

The announcement that the Government intends to set up a Supplies Board whose function will be to ensure that the various requirements of the different departments are purchased at uniform prices and on the best markets, will be welcomed as an initial step towards introducing business methods into the State Departments. Although the move is much belated, it is none the less acceptable; moreover, it will furnish a precedent for extending the principle in other directions of administrative work. It requires no effort of imagination to arrive

at a conclusion as to the waste that goes on under the present go-as-you-please way in which each department orders what it pleases. Over half a century ago the British Government awoke to the magnitude of this evil, and instituted at least a semblance of control over the purchase of requirements, and a. move in that direction was certainly much needed, for the waste was a matter of public scandal. Few people have any idea of the extent of this waste, and the need for close and effective supervision, as well as systematic buying at prime cost. If the proposed Supplies Board that Mr. Massey contemplates bringing into existence is constituted of business men of proved ability and possessing the requisite qualifications for the position, the public may confidently expect a great saving of expenditure, but if this board is to be merely a departmental affair that will speedily die of inanition it will be a delusion and a snare. The two main essentials of such a board are rigid control and ability to purchase what is required on the most favorable wholesale terms. The prime essential is that the board shall be absolutely independent of all influence, for unless that condition is observed it is useless to expect the functions of I such a body to be carried out in such a way as to justify its existence. The position has only to be regarded in the light of the fact that hitherto each department has conducted its own purchasing, in order to judge of the scope that awaits a General Supplies Board that will, in the first place, ascertain what supplies are absolutely necessary, how long they should last, what system is in force to check their use, and how waste can be prevented. Then will come the purchasing of what is needed and having careful and ceaseless vigilance exercised over the disposal of the goods. Practically the duty of the hoard will be to reduce chaos to order, to organise on business methods, and to supervise closely the use to which the supplies are devoted. The expenditure of public money is unfor- 1 tunately regarded in official circles j as a matter in which carelessness , or extravagance is no conse- < quence. The public pays, there- 1 fore why bother? It is not only 1

in the headquarters of each department that the principles of true and urgent economy should be carried out, but in every branch. Moreover, the systematic pcutrol Hud purchase of sup-

plies is very urgently needed in the case of schools of every grade, of hospitals and of public bodies. In times like the present it is imperative to save wherever and whenever possible, for money saved is money gained. If this problem of securing uniformity and effective control is to be solved it should be approached on a comprehensive scale in relation to all public services, and not to a selected few. There is urgent need for work in the direction indicated, and the Government will certainly obtain the approval -of the public by tackling this question in all its bearings.