The Civil Service.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15337, 22 July 1915, Page 6

The Civil Service.

We aro amongst those who believe that the establishment of the Civil Service Commission was a large act of genuine statesmanship, not only because . it makes for the efficiency and economy peculiarly necessary in a country in , which the State- is an exceptionally large employer, but also because it keeps tie intriguing politician out of a field in which ho can work, and used to work, nothing but mischief. We did not, however, expect that the efficiency would come al] at once, nor that the now order of things would be honestly accepted right off by people accustomed 'since time immemorial t o the slackness and the antiquated methods fostered by a system which had at the top, in the shape- of the Ministry, men who had no incentive to insist on efficiency, and plenty of reason to refrain from disturbing the comfort and interfering with the habits of Civil Servants who were also electors. There is. nevertheless, no doubt that already the Commissioners have effected large visible improvements. In his report, which was presented to the House yesterday, the Chief Commissioner treats at some length the faults and weaknesses which still are to be found in the Civil Service, and which it is his business to cure. Disappointment is expressed at "the "comparatively slow rate of improve- *' ment in some departments," but the Commissioner takes a philosophical and common-sense view of this fact. "It is " difficult, M he points out. "when the " existing inefficiency is the result of " thirty or forty years' entanglement in " the meshes of unbusinesslike methods. " to produce greater efficiency without "vexatious dejay." Some of the departments aro loyally striving t o do their duty to the Stato. but in others the Coninissioners have found active and passive resistance io improvements likely to produce increased efficiency. Most people who know anything at all about tho Civil Service know that this ie triio\ and that there are Civil Servants wh 0 have lived so long with dulness, routine, and slackness, that they have come to hate briskness, progress, and modern methods. There aro incompetents who see in efficiency only something which wil] operate to their disadvantage. There aro others who rccicnfc supervision, and who long for their freedom under tho complacent rule of Ministers who did not trouble tliemsolves about efficiency or about anything but keeping tho Sorvico "contented." There aro others whose political affections cannot recover from the shock of tho events that led to the Commissioners being placed in command. All of these, it need hardly be said, mako

only a small minority, but they are grit in the machine, and it is a very great pity that the Commissioners lack, and must continue to lack, the power which every head of a large private concern possesses, and takes care to exercise, namely, the power of summarily getting rid of the incompetents. There is much yet to be done, ateo, before th>? Service as a whole can be got to uuderstand tho evil of waste. When economies have been made, hostile politicians and newspapers have spoken angrily of ■'skinflints'' and "'checsc-paring," but it is not the money of these politicians and newspapers that- is being wasted. It is the public's mon?y,- and it is the duty of the Commissioners to see that the public gets value for its money. On this point the report ony., that two years' experience shows "that given " prudent and carM'ul administration, " tho development of initiative, a closer " application to duty by officers, and '" stricter insistence on their punctual "attendant , ?, the-prevention of uiniec?s-"f-ary travelling, tbo e.xcrrise of proper "care in tin use of stores and station- " erv (in which great waste occurs), tho '" use to the fullest extent of mechani"cal devices, tho introduction and ex- " tension of modern methods, and a "judicious absorption of wine of tho '"'smaller departments, a saving of a " sum not far short of .€IOO.OOO per an"niim could brought about in tho ," expenditure of th-> Public Sorviee " without curtailing .services, impairing " efficiency, or incxarring the slightest " risk; in fact, it is considered that " many interests would be moro com- " pletcly safeguarded than at present, "and the public: better served." It-is a heaw task that the Commissioners are facing, but a task so obviously necessary to bo performed that it is the duty of overy honest man to support the Commissioners. Un/ortunatcly there are people still who have so little public spirit that they aro ready to encourage hostility towards the Commissioners, and to foment disaffection and opposition insido and outeide the-service. If these people think tho Commission has passed tho stage of trial, and is established as a settled institution, they are wanton mischief-makers; if they think the Commission is still on its triaJ, they should give it a fair trial.