The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1934. RECRUITS FOR CIVIL SERVICE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 2, 3 January 1934, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1934. RECRUITS FOR CIVIL SERVICE.

For the cause that lacks assistance. For the wrong that needs resistance For the future in the distance, And the good that Be can do

As the largest employer in the country, the Government should be able to attract the ablest men, to make the fullest use of their powers, and to pay sufficient to keep them in its service, but the annual report of the Public Service Commissioner reveals some difficulties -which stand in the way. It might be thought that a Civil Service which had in its ranks over 17,000 men and women would provide ample scope for a successful career, would attract the best talent from the schools and the universities, and -would not be in continual danger of losing its promising men because there were better opportunities elsewhere. But Mr. Verschaffelt must be aware that many who are highly qualified are unable to enter the Public Service for lack of opportunity, and that it is easier, often much easier, for able men to leave the service than it is for others of equal ability to find their way in. The reason appears to be that outside training and experience is heavily discounted when anyone is applying for a Government position, and the departmental habit of looking lower clown, regardless of the talent offering, is deeply ingrained. It is this habit that deprives the Civil Service of new blood; promotion from within the ranks . dominates the official mind. J

Up to a point, but no further, it is safe to follow the old method of filling vacancies from lower down, but such a promotion system should be coupled with a high standard for entering the service. Young men who are keen to learn, and are able to do good work, should not be tied to routine tasks and held back by cast-iron promotion methods which in tho end may make them unfit for the highest posts, may leave their latent talents undeveloped, and may reduce them to uncomplaining acceptance of a slow, monotonous, step-by-step process of advancement which produces the routine mind. As soon as expansion of the service begins again new openings will be numerous, and more youths should be offering than ever before. To raise the standard, then, should be easy. But the question remains, how are the cadets and juniors to be chosen? On this point the report of the Commissioner is disappointing. It fails to show that any definite standard of entrance has been adopted; there is, rather, a combination of standards, in which the matriculation pass seems the most important. Without any uniform standard, one might ask, how it is possible to compare the qualifications of applicants and to arrange them in order of merit? Where examination results are to be the guide, there should be one test, not several; otherwise there can be no proper competitive basis.

Once started on their Public Service careers, youths should be prepared to meet competition from outside in the same way as in business and professional life. Their chances will not be prejudiced thereby, for they will have the advantage of special training, and will be well placed, if they profit by their opportunities, to hold their own against outside competitors. It is a matter of keeping alive the healthy stimulus of competition, which has been so valuable in Britain. Some move in this direction must be made, or public servants in New Zealand will find it difficult to win the support of the community for any demand for a substantial rise in salaries. The remuneration of the higher officers is, in the opinion of the Commissioner, "woefully inadequate," but there is little point in emphasising this while failing to remedy the underlying weakness, the present unsatisfactory method of recruitment and promotion.