11

H.—l4.

to £1,200 per annum, and Class II £700 to £850. So far, Government has not adopted the proposals J Appointments to the Public Service. 51. Under clause 60 of the Public Service Act, wherever in any Act it is provided that any appointment to the Public Service shall be made by the GovernorGeneral, or by a Minister, or by any other person, such appointment shall hereafter be made in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Act and not otherwise. Until recently this had been held to mean that provision for appointment by the Governor-General, a Minister, or any other person under any other Act passed subsequent to the Public Service Act, 1912, precluded the Commissioner from making the appointment. The Hon. the Attorney-General has now ruled that the provision in section 60 of the Public Service Act applies to Acts passed since the latter Act as well as before. Steps are being taken to regularize appointments made otherwise than by the Public Service Commissioner. Supervision of Staff. 52. While inspection has satisfied the Commissioners that discipline is generally well maintained, and that with one or two notable exceptions the offices visited presented an orderly and industrious appearance, it is still observed that there is a tendency on the part of some senior officers to occupy themselves too much with detail work and to neglect the more important duty of supervision and management. In such cases it is not unusual to find the staff working overtime. It cannot be too plainly stated that efficiency and economy are unlikely to be secured without proper oversight of the work of subordinate officers. 53. The Regulations provide that, whenever it is found that an officer is not giving satisfaction in the performance of his duty or otherwise, he shall be informed in writing of the fact and of the direction in which he is failing. The Commissioners regret to find that this regulation is not being given full effect to. It is very unsatisfactory when a controlling officer reports adversely against his subordinate that one of the Commissioners should, in the course of inspection, often be the first to call the attention of the subordinate to the fact. OVERSTAFFING. 54. When the Commissioners assumed office, arrangements were made as far as practicable to verify the need for additional staff by special examination of the office at the time the additional staff was asked for. It was not possible to maintain this during the war, but the more general inspections made by the Commissioners made it clear that, as a rule, Departments were working under difficulties owing to the absence of their trained officers, and this became more acute after the introduction of compulsory military service. 55. It is satisfactory to be able to report that, with minor exceptions, which have been dealt with, no instances of overstaffing were disclosed during the recent general inspection. Junior Officers of Exceptional Excellence. 56. Much has been said at times about the difficulty of specially promoting young men of unusual excellence. The Commissioners were impressed with the desirability of specially treating any such young men in connection with the regrading which has just taken place, and, in the course of their visits of inspection to offices, have endeavoured, by personal interview with officers and by questioning the Permanent Heads and Heads of Branches, to ascertain which of the young men in the Service who had not already received special promotion could be classed as being of unusual excellence. It was surprising to find how few young men were reported as worthy of special mention, the reason being given that, with few exceptions, the young men in the Public Service who have passed the necessary examinations are so efficient that it would be almost impossible to select any of them for exceptional treatment. It is gratifying to find that the rigid selection which has been made by the Commissioners since their advent to office has resulted in such a high standard.