15

H.—34.

examination equal to the Senior Civil Service. This anomaly was perpetuated in the Consolidated Statutes of 1908 dealing with the Public Service Classification and Superannuation and the Civil Service. The passing of this 1907 Act converted 334 temporary clerks alone into permanent officers, and gave a further 293 temporary clerks the right to become - permanent as soon as they completed their five years' service, or a total of 637; and as the total number of clerical officers in the whole Service at the time was under 2,000, practically one-third of them entered as temporary clerks. This system of filling positions from outside and putting the outsiders so appointed on a better footing than the members of the Service appointed by examination is looked upon, and we think rightly so, as a great grievance by the regular members of the staff who have entered as cadets by the ordinary examination methods. The legislation of the " nineties " created several entirely new Departments, and necessitated a large increase in the staff of the Public Service, and it is possible that to a certain extent it was necessary to appoint some outsiders to fill positions and cope with the large increase of work. At the same time we are satisfied that the number of appointments made went far beyond the bounds of necessity. It has, we think, become almost a recognized axiom in all large business concerns that if a loyal, contented, and efficient staff is to be maintained or built up (and this is a necessity if successful results are to be obtained) it can only be done by making all appointments, except those of juniors or cadets, from within. In almost all large business concerns the practice is to make all appointments from juniors, and whenever a vacancy occurs higher than that of junior to promote" one of the staff in a lower position to fill it, and this means a series of promotions from the lowest ranks. Where this method is adopted it is found to promote loyalty, efficiency, and general interest in the work by the staff in a marked degree. Nothing destroys the ardour and loyalty of a staff so much as an outsider being brought in and put over their heads, and this is now so generally recognized that many large business concerns make it a fixed rule, from which they will not depart —to make all promotions from within the service. In a large organization like the Public Service it should be quite possible to meet all demands for extensions by promotions from within, and we feel quite satisfied that if this method had been adopted during the years that we have referred to it would have resulted in a vast improvement in the efficiency of the staff, and there would not be the discontent that undoubtedly prevails in the Service to-day. During the last six years or so comparatively few of these outside appointments have been made, and there seems to have been an honest attempt to fill all vacancies above that of cadet from within the Service, and to keep the staff up to its necessary strength by appointments from the Junior Civil Service list. The anomaly, however, between those who joined as temporary clerks and those who joined as a result of passing the Junior Civil Service Examination, making it necessary for the latter to pass the Senior Civil Service Examination before they can obtain more than £200 a year, still exists, and the Public Service Classification and Superannuation Act, 1908, gives the Government of the day power to make appointments under what are known as the " expert" clauses, and also continues the power to appoint temporary clerks. So long as these powers exist they are capable of being abused, and after the experience of the " nineties " and the earlier years of the present century, the officers of the Service are suspicious, and perhaps naturally so, that these powers sooner or later may again be abused. Promotions and Salaries. There is no uniform system throughout the Service of making promotions and increases in salaries. The rule is for heads of Departments to make annual recommendations to the Ministers in charge of their particular Departments with regard to increases in pay to members of the staff. Some departmental heads go carefully into these recommendations, and obtain reports upon the members of the staff from the responsible heads under them, both at the Head Office and the various centres throughout the Dominion. In other cases depart-