The Dominion. FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1908. THE NEED FOR REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 234, 26 June 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1908.

THE NEED FOR REFORM.

ls our issue of yesterday we discussed the case for a reform of tho civil service administration in this country. ;Wo showed that the' methods of the prfst | decade have gradually developed two great evils: wastefulness on the, one hand and an unduly large' army of State .servants on' the other: We have now to. press upon the. public attention the urgency of another reform, namely, the rescue of the Public Works Fund from its'position as a huge vote-catching machine. This reform was urged long ago by the Political Reform League, which set down as one of its'objects " the reform of local Government by the establishment of an assured system of local finance, with a view to the substitution of the equitable distribution ,and economical expenditure of public .moneys, for parliamentary doles and grants." Tho draftsman of this clause, in his desire for cconomy, was over-economical with his words, and, in Consequence, he produced , a rather invplved paragraph. 'If before the word ''parliamentary," ho had inserted tho words " the-present system of," his work wouid have gained in clearness of expression. The position in regard to the distribution of the Public Works Fund is no better than the position in regard to the Civil Service. In the opinion' of many people .competent to judge it is even worse.

While projects of' national importance—the North Island Main Trunk Railway has, for' many years, been a case in point—have been systematically starved until recently, any little district where a Government member's seat has been shaky, or any little district where it has been thought ,that an Opposition member might be beaten, has been able to obtain grants for railways or roads or bridges. Such an admission as " that it was unreasonable and unlikely for a Government to look with the same kindly eye upon those districts which returned non-Government members as upon those which did," seems too outrageous to ,be true, but it is notorious that that view was once expressed on behalf of the Government of tho day. Certainly, this most amazing statement was qualified by the reservation, " other things 'being equal," but as tho Government is the sole judge of the reservation, it has little practical value. The present system of administering the Public Works Fund is simply administration by the power of a parliamentary majority for the purposo of retaining that parliamentary majority without any serious pretencc of a fair or unbiassed inquiry into tho merits of the application. Parliament, as a Parliament, has neither time nor tho machinery for making such an inquiry. Far better value for this Fund could bo obtained if the present practice were radically re-modelled. Parliament might retain the power of voting specific sums for specific works of national importance, such as tho Main Trunk lines, with tho proviso that all moneys not expended during tho period covered by the vote should bo returned, or credited to the Fund intact. .Parliament might ~ also allot lump, sums under each of the foi-

lowing heads: other railways, bridges, roads, harbours, and general purposes. Tho practice of tho English Local Governinont Board in regard to applications for leave to raise certain loans might bo adopted. In Britain, when a district or a borough desires to raise, a loan chargeable on tho rates, an Inspector, a permanent official, is sent down to hold an inquiry on tho spot, and if he reports in favour of it " on the merits," to uso an expressive legal expression, the loan is sanctioned on terms laid down in the approval. Reports obtained in.this way from officials, who are immune from political pressure of all kinds, and from all local personal interests, can, obviously, be acted upon with real confidence. Under the present system here, something like one-half of the huge sums annually .voted for Public Works is illspent, for it is often spent on unworthy or on unsound. or on un-productive schemes. Were all Public Works moneys voted by Parliament vested in a Board of Commissioners, there would bo a check placed upon any inclination to use Public Works money to pay. for items more properly chargeable to revenue,- or to divert money not expended on one vote, to some other vote. A remedy which takes away from Parliament its powers of detailed expenditure, is a very drastic remedy, but tho manifold and acknowledged abuses of the present system are too serious, and too costly, to admit of half measures. ■ • .

It is not well for a country, young or old, that its Civil Service should bo used for the manufacture of Government votes, and for the rewarding of political services, or that its Public Works Fund —borrowed money, on which interest has to be paid—should be used as a,. Government election fund. New Zealand claims to be an up-to-dato country; she occasionally oven claims to lead the world; and vet in two' of the most important items that go to make up a well-governed country, she is more than half a century behind the times. The strength of : the supporters of the existing system is the exclusive devotion of the various political groups and organisations to their special ends. If ever there was a case for union, it is here. The question of party does not intrude. When a given state of things is recognised to bo tho common enemy, the wise course is for all the parties prejudiced to put aside, for tho moment, their various points of difference, and lose no time and snare no trouble in creating and maintaining a really efficient and strictly disciplined organisation, pledged to persevere until success has been attained. A programme consisting of tho two great reforms which we have discussed should commend itself to every patriot. It is short, a novel virtue in New Zealand , political programmes. It is practical. It is easily understood. It must appeal strongly to those supporters of the Government who place pure administration above all considerations of party. ■ > ■