THE HIGH COMMISSIONER.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17544, 28 August 1922, Page 6

THE HIGH COMMISSIONER.

SOME FACTS AND HGUto ABOUT THE OFfla GROWTH OF THE DEPASTHB^ lino* ora ow» comi WnßJo LONDON, Jul, a Gradunhy people in New %hL?' coming to realise the nit i£Z* and the scope of the work o {T*« Commissioner's Office i n ?* ngures which have come into »;? session may, therefore, bo <&Z*Z as showing the comptratiwCT* cost to the taxpayers of the DbZ. of this important Government &JZ? f F ° r the year 1920-21 the tots! ~ of the office was £45,000 wkS dudes £3612 for rents and H* *!■ comparison may bo mad* tetawtatii iiguro and tho amount Australian Government £119,424, which includes £25M8«1! interest on tho cost of tWAwSfi Government house in LondonS comparison is, however, rather hrt! the mark, because each State inX? tralia k represented in London hZ Agent-General and staff. Thw £ offi?e of the Agent-General for OuZ land cost in the same vear £lSta Xew South Wales, £12,000; Vfcffi £97-58; South Australia, £6864- J "Western Australia, £15,468 ' X total amount expended on the A* tralian representation, then. «L £160,871. ™"S. * It is difficult to make- a really «£* tive comparison of the the various Dominion offioa. ]£ New Zealand Department deals fft more subjects than any other M Commissioners or Agent-General'iS partmont. The Agents-General <J various States—Australian, Cmlm and South African—are not caliedma to consider matters common to jay combined Governments, which atefe province of the respective High missioners. On the other hud. ft New Zealand office deals with til n& matters, in addition to soma, (Sectf subjects, among others life wdlb insurance, and estates. In the case of some of the other 01 onial Government offices, there n special Departments, opt attached k their respective Government 'apA dealing with subjects, tho anTil which is not included in the Totals' the High Commissioners' or Afoi Generals' departments. Salaries and Staff. In 1912-13 forty-five pereona hrfti New Zealand High OommidonViS partment received £9572 in ul«k which gives an averago of £2lB Net person. In 1920-21 salaries tad bouses amounted to £33.792 for US pßsons, making an average of £264, a increase of 24 per cent. When ft* remembered that the cost of living lil increased nearly threefold the acwa» in salaries would seem to be kt) tin generous. Since then toe ers in their report on the Iteputngj readjusted salaries and KComauwjs a flat rate of bonus as from. April, IWI reducible in accordance with any W in cost of living. \> The heavy burden placed mobW Department during the war caHed lef increased staff, and even yet tiers in questions being dealt with wh«*in the direct result of the war. Tn» ports and hospital dups, paws, gratuities, allotments, enemy ora disposal of distress and war comfort funds, famine funds, war graves ng trntion and memorials are someolW legacies. Over and above ;thu, M, ever, the natural growth of the ofc and increase in work accounts Jot w larger staff. The tendency a to tm the Department with more .and W matters, while tt thee* stant and steady growth in aU pnwj subjects handled. An indication of m increase of work is readily araiW» In 1911 the cablegrams'deaJtwithW bered 1238, as agunst while payments through Foreiai » prest Account in 1911 wnWH covering £1,988,775. mmM* UP payments covering £5,699,532 aW The New Zealand offices WW* many years hidden away, a JgW street. It was w»*J drag them out of the darkness i rig them in the Strand, where «««* at large could see them gl WJ fine premises were built to the «•» ments of the Dominion GoverM»B» * a cost to the ground ja*M £30,000. For gr° und f# lH ffi paid per year, and rent £IH» l»£ cent, on £30,000), pins g*M» repairs, and insurance. i» WT is one'of the most centdtfUj pensive in London, and the!gg constitutes an excellent and eonW*" advertisement for New Zealand. Travelling and Allowanett _ Included.intheng^lhijWW me is an item of travelling expenses a certain report issued V*»g Commissioner there ocefflttjg :ng comment: "The amount«»WJ ato as to constitute in WTO of the careful manner in wBJJ expenses aro controlled. *m when tho great increase "JTji travelling is taken *****£» use of public wnwyuwi, "Jty omnibuses to avoid eost insisted upon whenever %**%#, lowancos and expenses a«> graded and rarutinised, the *»"T subject to pre;ancut. # To an outsider who tow ditions and expense of Wggi London and in England, «« wm $ £686 seems absurdly % indication of cised throughout the office, » seem that the run with an economy gjj that of any Government WPjngJ % the Dominion. _ How and at times how centre where State nffairi «• on with pomp and generosity, pj» be understood save by tho* "• experienced it.