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

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 505, 2 July 1880, Page 2

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

(Continued.) • £ We think that 0110 permanent head of " the department would be better than two, and that, if a sufficiently Able and reliable man could be found to take that position, there are already enough officers ia the service to carry out his directions with energy and exactness. Beneath him, we think that every officer in the service • should be arranged in some well-under- 8 stood order, so that instant obedience i could be secured where necessary, and no ' confusion could arise, as it now appears to do, as to whose directions should be j obeyed. It is only by the appointment of ! an able man, who could devote his energies to his duties, and go with & will into the work of economy so evidently required, taking the supervision and responsibility of the whole department on himself, that our railways will aver be well managed, , and produce that return oa their cost which the public have a right to expeot. This permanent head of Ne<v Zealand Railways should be rather & man of business, with good organizing capacity, than simply an engineer, or even railway expert, and should be expected to arrange the business of the department, as a private proprietor would do, with a view to make the line pay and serve the publio. Such an officer would also form, what does not now exist, a proper medium of communication between the whole Railway Department and the Minister for Publio Works, and would act as a permanent director, whose presence would make political changes less costly and dangerous than under; existing arrangements they must necessarily be. We are o£ opinion that & reduction of not less than 12 J per cent, should be made ou the railway wages and salaries, though it is quite possible that it 'may not be desirable to be perfectly uniform in the application of this decrease of pay' to offi- ; cars and branches of, the service. This would effect a direct saving of £52,000, and would naturally lead indirectly to a' J;rsat reduction in the cost of new. works et by tender, which it would not be too much to estimate as likaly to reach at least an equal amount. . ■PUBLIC WOSLSS DEPARTMENT. Closely connected with Railways, and, for the present,'at least, scarcely seoond to them in importance,, is the Public Works Department. We have long believed New Zealand to' be fortunate: ia_ having in its service engineers devoted to: their profession, and ranking high in pro-' fessional ability; but, unfortunately,' there is no necessary, connection -between these qualities 'And that controlling and" organizing power required in the head of suoh a large and expensive staff; as that now employed oa our public- works, W# have been able to find very little to commend in the results of. its managements, ■ and have come to a vary painful conviction that New Zealand has not received good value for the large sums that have been expended. ** ' n most other departments of , the New Zealand Government, highly- ' P a 'd men are too often employed at work I requiring no uncommon ability,,and wigi-1 neers are found acting as accountants, or : as clerks of works.

Fifty-wen engitsaam ait high salaries, &ttd often with dxpißuiira offic6i y form ;i staff out of all {)roportioa to the work to bs done ; and it ?« evident that thece engineers, if fully employed-at all, mast be engaged on worlr not reqairiagi professional head, - i

In order to find any employment for this host of engineers;- the tfibat aboard regulations hare to be adopted. ' We hare it ini evidence that a, common siding cannot be put down on a working railway ;! without the presence of 'two enginL/wm."One must be called in from the tion department to decide! how such" sd important new work can be executed, abd a second must be brought from the maintenance staff to "ascertain how it can be . connected with the existing line. A much smaller number of engineers who were men of ability and {experience could evidently supply all the engitie<ering skill our public wonks are likely' to require; and a multitude of officers wfapse ■actual personal qualifications entitle them to the homage esac&nd by the profession, would be far better out of the way, as they now interfere with the exercise of the ordinary . good -sense which our cleverest practical" mechanise ao often possess. By selecting only tb« best engineers, retaining a far smaller number, and reqairinc them to give their attention to a»y Government their locality, either of 6r maintenance, the work would be man fixed and traced than it can be no/ raafly o! the present costly mistakeeTcould not ooettr. and a considerable satf nR i n wUriet alone would be effected^jff en such a stair would be the expenditure; borrowed mono* draws to a close. / v ■ Enginesrolling stock hare ljA«n largely by this department fo t u,e .® I V/he working railways, without and agreement » to inattentions to well-known , requ irem t\e want of adaptatioa the most suiti|»e descriptions : the result is, that they arlb condemned by the milway officials, ana\*ie answer to sU qne*> 8 'ubjeck.,!*, that '-the teepoMsibiuty rests with the other department." Large quantities of expensive article* axe now thrown aside by .the railway maoaft*menf as useless, and farther m,pmm incurred in importing or constructing what they believe to be better adapted for their special purposes, ~ . j (To be continued*)