THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 20 September 1913, Page 4

THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

When Sir Joseph Ward submitted the opinions of two eminent lawyers in. the House of. Representatives this week an the -question of the salaries of publio servants, a number of political fault-finders jumped to the conclusion that the Government had got ~itself into a tangle, and that Parliament toad ne right to pass estimates 1 affecting those Departments controlled by the Commissioners. It hae been clearly established by the So-licitor-General, however, that the Government has acted in a perfectly legal and legitimate manner, and that the opinions quoted by Sir Joseph Ward had very iittle bearing upon the actual position. The fact of the matter is that the Opposition is using all sorts of questionable methods to drive the Government into a corner, and to delay the business of the country. Ko unbiased person who has studied the proceedings of the past week can arrive at any other conclusion than that the obstruction of the Opposition was deliberately planned with a view to delaying the more serious work of the House. As we have previously stated, the responsibility "Tests with those who precipitated the obstruction, and who have placed party considerations before the general welfare of the country.