PUBLIC SERVICE SOCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 73, 19 December 1907, Page 8

PUBLIC SERVICE SOCIAL.

GRATITUDE FOR NEW LEGISLATION SPEECH BY THE PREMIER. .' A ■ SUCCESSFUL GATHERING.'-.... ' The concert chamber. ...of.'tho Town Hall was filled last night,.when.tho.civil son-ants,, with their wives and friends, met to colehrato the. passing (during- tho last session of Parliament)' of the. Public Sorvico Superannuation and Classification .-Acts.-. Both, the concert chamber and the. large/ball, whither tho company adjourned during the evening for refreshments, had boon ' tastefully decorated under tho supervision ofMr/Walter Leslie. Tfio Right Hnii. the Premier (who arrived late in the evening) was : the ' principal, speaker. Lady Ward was. present throughout the evening. ■ '■'• ■•■"• Mr.. E.' Tregear, President of tho Council of- tho Civil Service Association,- read, apologies for absence/from the Hems. J. ■M'Gowan and J.- Carroll, several ;members 'of ■Parliament, Mr y<. C. Kensington/ yri'der-secre-tary ■ for Lands, and' other .invited guests. The Canterbury-Civil Servants'jSuperannuation also sent a congratulatory.message. ,'. THE VIEWS OF THE'sEfiViCE. ", Mr. Tregear"moved: "That--theibanks of this mooting'be aocordod- to-tho-.members of the late Civil Service"-Superannuation Com-' mittee for their-.indefatigable'slabours- during the past three years in ■ the-■interests of superannuation for the service:v; The mover said that at one time all that;.? civil servant, had to'look forward to at'.the -end of his career was a meeting withiDcathj.who would extend to him a-cold and.clatrujvy hand, and say, "Allow me to Avelcomo'you to a hospitable grave." That was-'changed now, and they were glad, not -only for- themselves,- but also, for their .wives, and - children. Mr: Tregear went on to speak appreciatively of the services" of the successive chairmen 'of the committee, Sir' Edward Gibbos and Mr. G. Allport, audits .secretary, Mr.-.Fiaser. Tho duporanmiation Act had insured- the future of tho civil servants to a: greate.-extent than had ever been the. case before. As for tho Classification-Act (which, sets up a'Bciard to classify.the sen-ice), he was-ydung and innocent, and knew of,'nothing wrong-with tho Public Sen'ico,- but be thoiight there would be : no harm in the Board letting-in-a'little daylight. . . : i,-. , -.,-.-.: , ! - ...- - Mr. H. J. H. Blow,'in..seconding,the motion, said that the Premier/had; gencroUsly submitted his Bill 'to; the; cbmmittce, and that -body had • made certain;/recommendations, most of which ; tho J- Government, had adopted. He was pleised that , the : chance of name from' " Civil Service;" tir.". Public Service"' indicated that' thc"Ci<jyerani'ent intended' to include all: the -servants" of ■ the Stato in the scheme. The!-general public did not realise, perhaps, that the: ■superannuation allowances wore not 'a gift to th-e civil servants. Every, one of them .was obliged-to make regular -payments to ;'the fund. Hβ himself had to pay 30s. a week.'.He thought that when any. of tham. canVe (o draw' their allowances, they would feel.-that'the money was due to them.-It seemed Ho ; him that the allowance for widows (£lB a-year).was rather slender, an-d- h-e; would suggest that-when an amending Act was passed the.'sum'would.be increased.' H6 also:', suggesfcd:' fcliat": thorb would be hardship in some cases of non-con-tinuous, service, .and .'he thought, the' Superannuation Board-should-.be empowered .to inquire into such c.-ises and-iina.k'e recommendation as to when-as-continuous. >•'./ ,:.'••;■ <;::; ■?.;..'. ; ■•■■!:;: : '■.air.. Georgia..Allport,••'i.n'.-'re.spjnding--..t0. the vote of thanks, said'.-the civil ;'Vei-yants r were not paying the fiill - -.amount providing, .the .retiring' allowances-'in'- full; and-they should therefore-be the'more grateful : tq--the:.Government; and Parliament. for granting. them- this -measure of snperanniiatiotf. -;Hβ was'sure the' country' would lose nothing.'by what .bail been done. . Oiie result would be that the best,talent would be drawn into the serrice. '/The': right'.'to: compensation was not-taken, awny/by the Act, but the conditions on-'- that matter -Were liberal ami attractive, --.Tn- regarditothe'iClassincation Act, he said they- must trust to the heads of Departments to make' proper recommendations- as to promotion.'- If -well -administered; it would, remedy, many-evils; including that of keeping'men as " temporary " officers; for a: lengthened period.' • The- two measures'were, good arid just,, and the'.service owed'a , 'deep: debt of gratitude ; to those responsible.' (Applause.) ■ •■-.■■',■ '■<■■• ■ Mr'.D. M. Luckie moved: "That the:members, of: the Public-Service present .at."this meeting resppxtfiilly desire to'express-.-their gratitude ■ to ; ' thef' R-ight"'•H6h : . v .Hh'e Prime' Minister; and the ! Government -for'- having caused the'-'Public' SeH'ice iSupernnnup.tfo'n and Classification Acts to be placed bn-the Statute Book." .---..' •.-.'... '

-. The motion was seconded by Mr. D'. Robertson, who said .the...value, of, a contented service could not be : estimated. Tests: had shown Miat." in .his own''department (Post and Telegraph) the average rate of speed in working was higher;.than in any other service in the world. rHe'sttribiitcd'this'to the better conditions, under which , the staff worked. ' . ' ■•■ :. •'■'"'; .'• .•'■■. ,'; ' ■The resolution was carried• by enthusiastic acclamation. ■„ ■:.•■'■•.■.:,: 1. , . " .•■

.SPEECH BY THE PREMIER. : ■ The Premier, in-responding,--said the Seryico; owed ■ a •■ great-deal'.to' -tneSuperann uation Committee. HeSrished to impress pn.all member's of.the Public-Service, ana especially the- young 'men, -that if,;the,y .stood"out of .the fund, and allowed the''six mdnths within which they ftould-join to'pass' by, they, .would be acting "unjustly: to' those dependent on them,'and doinc a rorv'foolish thing. ■ :,.,.,: .. °;...- ; . ..; :. - ■ .-':■■■ THE STATE'S. ASSISTANCE, ■ • o It. was very difficult to V - get': the Bailw'ay Siiporannuation, Act' on. the'. Statute.-. Book oh account? of the contribution • from' , the public funds that was^thought , necessary by the. Actuary, Mr. Morris:; Hi. : It: .was ; impossible, to start-if-on,-ffiat ■•condition, and had not Parliament cqn&ntejd' -oil -his. (Sir Joseph Ward's), suggestion: toVsubstitute the guarantee.." of. the State, .thn'; ! AVt'' would not have been passed. And , -if.'.that:'Act had'not been passed '■the Public Service-Su'pe'ranuua-tion Act of last sessio.n. wpnkl not-have ibeen introduced.. In regard to-the-. , age limit of sixty-five, he would point out.;!th'at, -owing to the age at which "public'•'■'servants now usually entered the service",! not-many would i require to reach the age '.of. '■sixty-five-, before receiving their retiring allowances.- Most of them would be eligible'at-:fifty-two, and no young - men' ought to stand'out on account of the age limit. Referring to the suggestion to treat broken .service. .'as if it were continuous in certain cases, the Premier said such a pronosal,. if adopted,, woiild have to apply to all brancnes of the? service. Tho Government had desired ,, a provision in tho. Railway. Superannuation Act, but they found, that , the rate;of contribution would have had'-'-tq,-be' raised!'' If' it were done under tho Public■'Sojr.yice' Superannuation Act the payments f 'w6nld 'have- had to, commence to 6 per"cent:,... .instead , of 3 por cent.,,and would have gone, up,abovo 10 per cent;, for the older, iiieii. They could not realise the additional burden 'tjiat would have .been imposed oh:, the 'country and'oil the.employees'.by; treating broken service as continuous. Ho would not. say, however, that something of the,kind might not bo done lator: .' ■ ■ i . •'•'■ i ■ THE .WIDOW'SI PORTION. :'As to" the "allowances' f6r iVidows) tho £18 a. year would have' been incensed' without pressure from anyone, if it coukl have been done. An inoxplicablo, difficulty, presented itself, inasmuch, as,, if the .lienbiitsj wore ,'in-ci-ffased .withpiit"increasing. tHoVcbntributionii, the scheme woiild : become 'unsound. lib pointed out'that there" w.\s an''nllowanco'for all children of a deceased contributor.as long' as they wore under .'.fourteen years of, age. In the railway service the widows recoiyod' £18 a year, iind if.'-an-increase' was made under tho Civil Service fic'li«mb,'< ajl' the 'rates under tho railway'scheme would'have to be raised,, so as to.iiiake.it Correspond, , Thoy. l\ad now on the.Statute Boole a.scheme .which no other country could .tougli.' ; liradditiqn to tho £20,000 a year.from the..Government, \yhatevor sum was- required . to keep;the ,fuud sound' must be pajd-Vo.it by the State. ..Tliiiy knew from Mr. Morris Fox,, t-h'if. actuary, tliat the. sum pa\d. must .increase £50,000. or £60,000 a year, To' put such'a thing on the

Statiito Book'must be regarded as'a groat reform effected oil behalf of the wives and children - of" the civil servants. '(Applause') Ho believed it would pay the country, to , make these contributions, because the effect would bo:to keep the young men attached to the service.. In regard to the question of-com-pensation, the Premier pointed out that the Act did not take away anything. Contributors would receive- any compensation for dismissal to .which they were'entitled, if it was not absorbed by .the pension. : '.- EXTENSION, OF THJE SCHEME. , f Sir'Joseph, paid, a tiibiiteto the' Actuary, Mr Morns Pox, for his. work in connection jvitli the scheme, arid'went: on to say that he hoped next session to introduce amending legislation, to .-give- the teachers and -the police advantages equal''to those now' - enjoyed by the Civil Service and the railway men. ihe Uvernment had a duty to' perform in putting all branches of-the service-in'-a'con-ditiort of contentment, with proper safeguards for the country; as provided' in the runlic service-.Superannuation -Act. ':. Moreover; as /.a, corollary to •.what'was being d6ne for the employees of the State, they:wbiild require to have a general system under whjcb anyone outside the service'would, be able -'to arrange through ' any post office to pay. in contributions and become entitled- to an annuity.. (Applause.) ■ .In conclusion, the iromier said; he hoped the service ; would continue to improve and give full .value to the country for what was being doneV and the country, -in its, turn;'; would .be grateful to the service for its efforts. (Applause.) •, j MUSICAL PROGRAMME.-.' >" The .musical .part" of the programme included . songs. by.Miss Eileen. WaraV-Mr. J. Council, and Mr. Leslie Hill:' A.vocal quartette was(contributed by Messrs; J;.. N.Hill, P. S. Waldie.W. Godfrey, and-G^-E. Smith, and-an instrumental trio by Messrs. T..Pip OT , A.'.H..' Haraortoii, and F. Rowley. -'A-'com-petent, orchestra- was conducted by Mri'-W M Laughlin. The moving pictures,- which were lent by the Tourist Department, to be displayed by , Mr. J: M'Donald; were omittoi owing to the lateness of-the hour. ;■ •.-'•