The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 1890.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3593, 21 August 1890, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 1890.

While the House of Representatives l has been engaged in putting the ' Civil Service through a sausage ! machine, the members of'it have j beenocoupied in forming an asaoci- i ation to assert and conserve its inter- i eats. The object of the proposed ; organisation m, inter alia, to express I "the voice" of the service, to disperse 1 petty jealousies and differences amongst members, to promote social intercourse, and in the language of tho prospectus, "To vindicate the rights of the Service, and uphold its olaims; to disseminate a better conception of the work of the Publio Service; to promulgate the uncontested opinion of statesmen of all ages that a country which _ does not respect and fairly treat its Public Service, opens-the door to maladministration and corruption, and says at the root of that 'energy, zeal, and high standard of performance of duty withoutwhioli.no country can be well served and governed; to urge that the record ol the Publio Service of Hew Zealand lias been such ap to give no oause for detraction; to claim that the Publio Service of the colony should open a, well-a&sured and honorable career, and that the attain' ment of distinction therein by long and faithful duty is deserving of at least as much honor and reward cs are accorded to' those who become eminent in any other profession; to obtain recognition of the principle that there is no higher field of duly for a man than to faithfully serve the ' country;.an.d pf its. corollary, that the 'position of euql} a man should be held in the esteem and given the consideration due to it." The language of the above extract is somewhat high-flown, indeed it is very much above Hansard level, but it is not inappropriate to the occasion. It must bo home in mind that a large per centage of the ' civil servants of New: Zealand are

highly educated and exceedingly intelligent men, The cream of the service, for which the House of Representatives appears anxious to substitute skim milk, is taking the lead in the movement. H a radical politician be asked his opinion of an Under-Secretary or Chief Olerk he will

answer" lie costs £6OO a year and ] can fiud fifty men who will do his work for half tiie money," but if a subaltern i» foe service .earning a small screw were aiiked the same question his answer probably would ;be "lie is a splendid fellow, who manages his department wonderfully well." The civil seryants are often njisunderatoocl, und we ate glad to see them tafejug steps to explain themselves. Tney want ft ponstitutiont they need somo kind of local selfgovorowont and are

and pau be.trusted what is just by the colony' as well as by tliem- ' selves,' Ajcivil servant is not like'a 1 merchant's clerk'- liablci to dismissal at a or, a, fortnight's notice if he . does * not suit. Practically his subject, to good conduct, is in perpetuity, and it is only right that his scale of remuneration should be somewhat less than might-be earned, in a private establishment, where there, would be no similar guarantee of permanenoy; His position and income cannot be altogether guaged by' the ordinary law of supply and demand, and : for this reason it is desirable that he should be regarded as a' member of a duly constituted service and. subject to the special conditions whioh regulate it. Lastly, it does not appear that the civil servants are organising with a view to boycott anybody, Almost every new organisation that takes the field nowadays , seems to think that its first funotion is to, boycott somebody, and it is positively refreshing to find- a big Civil i Service Union coming out of the shell, without the remotest idea of' sustaining itself ,by ' : either * the complote or the incomplete boy-' ? COtt. :