THE RAILWAYS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 17995, 12 February 1924, Page 7

THE RAILWAYS.

COMPULSORY RETIREMENT OF OFFICERS. THE CASE OF MR J. B. MITCHELL ■.special to 'the rafiss.'') DUXEDIX", February 11. There lias been a good deal of discussion of late concerning the attitude of the Government in connexion with the compulsory retirement of railway .servants after forty years' service, and a "Htar" representative this morning .sought the opinion of a prominent local member of the New Zealand llailway Officers' Institute. This gentleman said that while his Institute was iir.ite in accord with the Department's statement that promotion should be !>v merit and ability, it was of the opinion that the svstem adopted was not yet perfect. The appointment of Mr Mason and Mr Stirling as assistant managers met with the general approval of members, particularly that of Mr Stirling. It had been recognised for some time that Mr Stirling would be called upon to till an important post in the service, and the local branch of the institute was unanimous in congratulating the Minister on this selection. As to the appointment of Mr Harris to be Superintendent of Transport, the Institute would rather not discuss the matter at the present juncture.

The .Minister's statement ('ncermng the retention of Mr J. B. Mitchell's services, said the officer, would bo received with dissatisfaction throughout the service, and it was regrettable that he (tho Minister) should depart from the general policy to retain a traffic manager when it was known there were many young and capable officers w' lo could be drawn upon to fill the position with credit. Mr Mitchell had been superseded by Messrs Mason and Stirling, vet these two gentlemen had six and eighteen veers', respectively, less service than Mr Mitchell. The Department must ultimately gain by the promotion of the younger members, as it, would have the benefit of their services for ninny years to come, and they had not yet had time to bo satura'cu with "red tape" ideas. The Institute had been pressing for compulsory rotircmcut after forty years' service for a long time, and now that it had a Minister who was propareel to deal with tho question, it considered he should plough a "straight furrow," unless, of course, an officer was without doubt essential and could not be replaced by a suitable young and up-to-date officer. The officer interviewed stated that many of tho lower-paid officers when called upon a week or two ago for their resignations demurred in handin"- them in, as they considered the "heads" should also go. When assured that they were "all in the same boat, the resignations were put in freely. Home of the puhljc might imagmo that the Institute looked at compulsory retirement from a selfish point of view, but this was not so. All tho present railway ( 'chiefs" were, or had been, members of tho Society, and lit therefore naturally desired to have the railways well managed and popular with tho public. The officer who was iintemewed pointed out that the railway service was a particularly trying one, and to i>e a successful servant it was necessary often to sacrifice a good deal. Ho declared that without exception every Second Division member retired as soon as ho was eligible to do so, and tho Institute members were satisfied that their own division should do likewise. The Dunedin branch of the Institute took strona exception to the Minister's proposed action, and the executive iti Wellington had been so advised.