REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION APPOINTED TO INQUIRE AND REPORT UPON THE CIVIL SERYICE OF NEW ZEALAND.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 499, 25 June 1880, Page 2

REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION APPOINTED TO INQUIRE AND REPORT UPON THE CIVIL SERYICE OF NEW ZEALAND.

May it please your Excellency,—We,

the cofit of* such Service may reduoed i without- impairing or, lessening the effi-' ciency thereof,' and whether -the' said Service ought in any manner to be reorganised or reconstituted, hairing due regard to suoh efficiency as aforesaid," have the honor to'submit the following report to your Excellency:— It will not be supposed by any one capable of forming an idea of the magnitude of the Oivil Service pf New-Zealand that ymir, Commissioners have; been able,; in a few weeks, to procure all the information necessary to enable them to report on all the departments of that Service,-frfr less to recommend any complete system of reorganisation or reconstruction. We are conscious of having left some large and important'branches of the Service altogether uninvestigated, of having inquired very superficially into others, and of having gone exhaustively into none; but, believing that one great, object of our appointment was to collect evidence and obtain information uieful to the Government and to the Legislature during the present session, and that would enable us to make some recommendations for immediate reduction in the cost of a Service which is consuming so large a portion of the revenue of the colony at a time of great trial and depression, we now submit, to your Excellency the result of our inquiries so far as we have been able to - prosecute them, The extended power of investigation which your Efoellency was pleased-to' confer upon us, the wide range of our instructions, and the freedom from all directions or control with which we have been left to act, has placed upon us the entire responsibility of choosing our own course, of deciding upon the manner in which our investigations should be conducted, and of selecting the departments to which our attention should be first or principally directed. We considered ourselves at liberty to put an extended construction on the term, " Civil Serviceand we have thought it desirable, for our present purpose, to adopt such an interpretation of that term as to include all persons employed and paid for their services by the Government, comprising no less than 10,853 individuals.' RAILWAY DEPARTMENT, At an early stage of our inquiry we came to the conclusion that the Railway Department was the one which most urgently demanded reform, and in which the greatest amount of useless expenditure existed. We therefore determined that it should be the department which we would most strictly investigate during the limited time at our disposal before the meeting of Parliament, at whatever sacrifice of attention to other departments, where any mismanagement would iuvolve less serious consequences to. the colony. We first directed our attention to the railways of the South Island, the management of which, since 1878, has been vested in a Commissioner. With the exception of the short disconnected lines at Nelson, Blenheim, and tho West Coast, the system of railways in that Island is a connec--ted one, extendinsjSfrom Amberley to Kingston—the total length open for traffic, including branches, being 767 miles. Throughout this large and important section there is an evident tendency to extravagance, and, to say the least, a disregard of the recognised precautions.in the expenditure of publio money. Men with no special ability of training have been appoiuted to highly-paid offices, and to perform duties which are either quite unnecessary or within the capacity of an ordinary clerk. The service is split, up. into three distinot departments, with suoh an absence of definition as to their respective duties and- powers that business is carried on in a constant spirit of antagonism between them.

Whatever organisation exists has evidently not been arranged by one mind, but is the result of a series of com-' promises agreed to from time to time as a matter of expediency, to prevent open' rupture between the different sub-depart-, ments. We find, on inquiry into the system.pursued on the railways in other countries, that, after many experiments have been tried, the general conclusion arrived at is, that no line can be satisfactorily worked unless the person who has to carry on the traffic has complete control over every person employed on the line in such way as to affect the running of the trains, This principle we consider essential, and yet we find it has been ignored to such an extent on our railways that tho Traffic Manager is precluded from giving any order to the engine drivers, except through the Locomotive Engineer. So far has this been carried that on one occasion trains were brought to a standstill at the " points" because the pointsmen, under the control of the Traffic

Manapor, refused to comply with a regulation insisted on by tha engine drivers, acting under orders from the Locomotive Engineer. In many oases, we found that stationmasters arid guards were not carrying out the instructions said to be given to them, and.much inconvenience to travellers resulted from the neglect. In one instance accidentally brought under our notice, we saw much loss of time inflicted on the public, some danger incurred, and the time-table disregarded for a week, in consequence of a too-literal interpretation by engine drivers of an order by the South Island Commissioner. To us it appeared that, under proper arrangements, any such important misunderstanding should have been rectified in a few hours by the telegraph. , At the present time there are, in connection with the Railway Department in the Middle Island, two distinct bodies of angineera employed' on railway works, The Public Works Department has charge af and issues instructions to its staff of angineera in respect to all new works, not sxcepting additions to stations, &c,, on working railways, The Railway Department, on the other hand, employs a separ ite and distinct staff .of engineers—men with the same professional qualifications ;o undertake any alterations or repairs ffhich may be required on lines open for ;raffic, • . , The result of our enquiries has everywhere been to convince us that much evil ind no good results from the existence of >hese two separate authorities on all sngineering questions, The divided and >ften antagonistic opinions liave caused ;reat expense, as well as delay and collusion. _ We find that a really professional i pinion is very seldom sought for or retired by those engaged in the daily work if keeping the line in repair, For all iractical purposes the Inspectors of Pernanent Way are the working engineers in the. open lines, and would often be letter without the interference of less ixperienced men than themselves. Where , really professional opinion is requred, he nearest engineer in the Government ervice should always available for the mrpose. Since th# railways of the South Island iave been placed under the control of /the iresent Commissioner, a Railway Telegraph Department, has sprung into existence, Like all departments, when once constituted, it has shown a tendency to and the staff is already a large giving railway officials a claim to prece--dence over the telegraph wires in cases of urgency i and where the business is large 'a special wire appears desirable. As,' . however;- these facilities ;oan -be' efficiently::

AUhe'iametime werecognii# the «dv»n-' tage of railway, officers being instructed in telegraphy..