GREATER GROWTH

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 93, 17 October 1939, Page 10

GREATER GROWTH

THE PUBLIC SERVICE

PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

QUIET DISPLACEMENT

Speaking at the annual conference of the Public Service Association, which he opened today, the Minister of Finance (the Hon. W. Nash) said he thought that the Public Service, in the best sense that that term was used, and particularly in so far as it was associated with employment, was inevitably the one section of national life that would grow as the years passed. It had been growing for some years, but was likely' to grow to a greater degree and at a. greater pace during the coming years. • That was to the good, Mr. Nash continued, provided that the-second term or name, "seryice," was followed. There were many things done today by pri- a vate enterprise that inevitably must be done as the years passed by by the Public Service, but the extent to which the growth of the Public Service would be maintained would be definitely worked on the basis that the Public Service, using the term for organisation, did the job better. If it did not do the work better, thea inevitably the old way would continue to be followed. But as the years, went by he wae certain the growth of the Public Service, in the best sense of the term, would continue and that it would gradually and quietly, displace some of the things that were done by other people. New Zealand was fortunate in its Public Service, and fortunate in that in general a higher standard was applied to those seeking entrance than was usually applied by the ordinary private organisation, so that there should be a better range of people in the service. He thought, without making bad comparisons, that that existed. Continuing, Mr. Nash said that it did not mean that educational qualifications were always the best guide. Education in the fullest sense of the term had a much wider application than passing examinations.. (Hear, hear.) . He knew of some people who could pass all the examinations in the world, but they were frightfully in-, effective, and he knew some who could not pass examinations who were brilliant in their achievements in administrative work. Still, that did not alter, the fact that they must regard knowledge as being a valuable thing. THE QUESTION OF PROFIT. Mr. Nash" said he would like te stress one point to the conference. When a person joined a private firm he must inevitably link his thoughts and his actions in the service" of his employer to making the business of the employer pay. That was,a handicap, and a help, as one saw it at different times. But in the Public Service it was not necessary for a public seryarit to'see if a certain action-WQU^d ■■ be ' ih the' money serisefltle oi" she should be watching to see whether it was. profitable in the real sense. Unless that were done, the Public Service would not be : of the type they thought it ought to be. Public servants were not' charged with seeing whether this or that would pay from the price point of view; their job was to determine profit in accord with the value of the service rendered. COSTS AND WASTE. i In private enterprise people must watch profits. A private business could not be continued unless there wtfire,profits. In the Public Service, however, the same need for watching profits did not occur. But at that - point the public servants must watch costs. The country had had a fairly good run during the last three or four years, and he thought there had been a reasonable appreciation in the standard of living, which, though in its distributive form was linked up with salaries and conditions, depended entirely upon the. services and goods brought into being. The war might result in New Zealand being able io bring larger quantities of goods into being for overseas export, but to some -■ extent it might result in a lesser quantity of goods coming in because of the needs of the Old Country. It had also to be remembered that war tended to destroy rather than construct. . It would be necessary, therefore, for all public servants to watch costs and waste and try to eliminate Waste as far as was humanly possible, in ite entirety. , After referring to the purpose of the Internal Marketing Department, and to the steps that had been taken. to make oranges available to the people, not, he said, on a profit basis, but because oranges were good for them, Mr. Nash repeated that he was certain that as the years passed the Public, Service would make more contacts with industry, and that there would be more planning and more work for the, benefit of others rather than for profit. * TRIBUTE TO PERSONNEL. The whole of the job in connection, with the Public Service and private enterprise was linked up with competent administration', and he had had some pleasing experience of the ability of the men in charge of the Public Service and of public servants generally. The more he had looked into the Publio Service in general, the more he had been satisfied that it was staffed with a magnificent personnel doing difficult work and measuring up to the highest standard of integrity so that it could serve the public Well. Mr. Nash added that he also liked the other term "Civil Service," for public servants were always to-be civil servants. . /*