NEW ZEALAND IN LONDON.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 205, 31 August 1933, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND IN LONDON.

The opinion of the member for Manukau, after his visit to England, that the work of the New Zealand Government office in London is being hampered by economy, should be noted. Most New Zealanders who visit Britain are appreciative of the work of the High Commissioner's office, though its services to them may be purely social, but in some quarters in the Dominion there is a disposition to regard the duties of the office as largely ornamental and the cost of maintenance as too high. There are always people who judge expenditure by its aggregate, without examining details of objects and organisation. The truth is that the office has far more to do than the average New Zealander realises, and that even purely "ornamental" duties can be hard work any High Commissioner will testify. Mr. Jordan found that' the officials were doing their work ably under difficult conditions, the office was understaffed and overcrowded, and the staff under-paid. Conditions in other Dominion _ offices were better, and it should not be forgotten that, to say nothing of foreign countries, these Dominions are our competitors. It was hardly to be expected that the London office would escape the pruning knife of general economy, but it is desirable that the risks run by keeping down expenses there should be pointed out, and that justice should be done to a hard-working and loyal band of officials.