The Dominion. THUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1908. A MUCH-NEEDED REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 233, 25 June 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. THUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1908. A MUCH-NEEDED REFORM.

: It is perhaps in tho few days before the session that the interest of the, public in" political affairs is keener than at .any other time save in the heat of the election season. The present, is' therefore a favourable time for a broad survey of the political situation that lios beneath the . changing storms of dispute on tho political issue of the moment. -To a stranger, New Zealand laws, politics, aiid 'public'administration must present some curious puzzles. He finds some. daring experiments in legislation, some—shall wo say ?—contempt 1 for the laws of political economy, and an unique system of public administration. . Tho, most singular feature of our politics is the prodigious num.ber of tiny parties that seem to bo required for the .political salvation of the country. It was stated just prior, to the last General Election that, besides the Government and tho official Opposition, the following parties were in the field: — the New Liberals, the Independent Political Labour Loague, the Liberal and Labour Federation, the Political lleform League, the New Zealand Socialist Party, a Socialist League, the Bibie-in-Schools League, tho Schools Defonco League, tho Trades and Labour Councils, the Farmers' Union, the New Zealand Federation, ofEmployers, the Licensed Victuallers' Association, and last, but by no. means I,east, the No-License Party. Of thoso, the Licensed Victuallers' Asßopiatioil and tho Liberal and Labour League were frankly Government supporters, whilst the Political .Reform League was formally blessed by the official Opposition. What must strike one in a survey of tho programmes of these parties is the fact that while nearly all contain items of desirable reform, few of these items are of what may ,be termed ".urgent public importance," in comparison with one wo "shall discuss in some detail. Unfortunately, this does Tot seem to be realised in practice by the various " groups." Excess of conviction leads each group to magnify the immediate importance of its pet reform, and .disposes it'to underrate the relative importance of all others. It was at tho last General Election, and still is, a general complaint by the Opposition, and by most of tho " groups," that, it is almost impossiblo to defeat tho Government, because under the present system ■of public administration the latter has unexampled opportunities of "gratifying " districts with grants for railways and roads and bridges, and individuals with appointments in tho Civil Servico for their friends. During the past decade the Liberal Administration has not failed to use thoso opportunities with all the liberality usually found whore tho gift costs nothing to the giver.

While this condition of things oxiats I it is nearly certain that not one of tho

" programmes" of the various groups has any serious chanco of being carried. Yet, of all the groups, only one, tho Political Reform League, seems to havo realised this fact, and to havo included a remedy for it in its programme. Ono clause of the League's programme was as follows:—"Tho reform of the method of making, appointments to tho Public Service, by tho exclusion of political influence, with the .object of securing the services of able men of high character, and ensuring that promotion is dependent on merit." That there is a statistical basis for this. demand is clear from the growing cost of administration, which has increased by about £2,000,000 a year in ton years. In 1597-8 the cost was £3,389,456, and in 1006-7 it was £5,307,009. or an increase from £4 12s. lid. per head to £5 18s. 6d. per head. In a large majority of the twenty-three Departments of government no examination whatever is required from candidates for permanent clerkships. The chief qualification is tho possession of political influence. In the remainder the rule as to examination is moro honoured in the breach than in tho observance. The steps taken to bring about this result were simple, but ingenious. Porsons whom, or whose relations, the . lato Government, or a Government member,, desired to reward or to attract,,were made "temporary" clerks. As such they have continued for years, and have sometimes, it is understood, obtained promotion over the heads of better qualified but less influential permanent clerks. Emboldened by the success of tho manoeuvre, the Seddon Government ordained that all temporary clerks should bo placed on the permanent staff on completion of six months' continuous service. This transfer system, it is true, was nominally put an end to some months sincc. It is not an 'extreme suggestion that, collectively, the New Zealand Civil Service is, in proportion to its cost, the least efficient and the most over-staffed Civil Service in the Empire. But this is not all. Temporary clerks arc, of coursc, sometimes required, but whereas they wcro once chosen by tho lieads of Departments, latterly ■ Ministers have drawn to themselves most of tho functions of the Departmental heads. ■They oven claim that it is necessary for them, to travel through the-country todiscover tho needs of the people. The Prime Minister almost said in so many words the other, day that he would not havo learned tho state of a certain road if ho had not personally explored .it. But we need not enlarge upon a subjcct that the-public is quite familiar with.

The clause that wo have quoted from the Political Reform League's platform would have been better if it had..askcd in plain terms for what it only hints at, namely, that entrance to tho Civil Service, should be by examination only, savo where the applicant is possessed of a diploma of spccial technical'knowledge, and that the solo control of such examinations, and of all promotions,:should be so rogulatcd as, to sccuro them from any risk of political pressure. Tho steady accumulation of the public debt, and the growth of the State's ! obligations, will compel reform sooner or later. There is much to be said for the establishment of a' permanent'' Oommis&'on or a; Public Servicc Board, such as Mr. A. L. Herdman persistently advocated' when in Parliament. A. small Board of highlyqualified and well-paid qffieials, appointed for long 1 terms, and set'beyond the' reach of influence by any Government, would' quickly transform the'present, wasteful condition of things. . Under regulations modelled on thosb governing the English Civil Sorvico Commissioners the country would bo better served, and fewer clcrks, both permanent a,nd temporary, would bo needed, because the permanent staff, having at last a system in which merit would tell, would do bottcr , work. ' Individualism, in fact, . would, as ever, triumph over collectivism. The saving thus effected would amply justify the cost of the new control. Tho vice of the present system is not merely its extravagance, but its enlargement of the State's army of employees. 'i'Kat is a separate and a ; great evil, leading to the ultimate subjection' of the taxpayer to the privileged servants of the State. A saving in the cost of government is one of the most urgent needs of tho time. We shall deal on another occasion with a second very necessary reform: the rescue of the Public Works Fund from the control that has converted it into a great votei catching machine. ...