THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 278, 17 August 1908, Page 7

THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

ITS SALARIES. A FEW FACTS FOR PARENTS. 'AND SOME ANOMALIES. Some day an enterprising individual with an abundance of patience and an aptitude for figures will submit 'to us the wages shcot of the largest employer of labour in New Zealand—the State. According to the Budget estimates this year thero are, in round,' figures, 18,000 permanent employees of the, State, whose salaries range from £31 per year to £1250 ptfryear. This list does not, however, include teachers of primary and secondary schools— a very formidable, additionv-neither <4000 odd railway employees, who are not on the D 3 list, co-operative and other labourers, temporary and extra clerks and cm- 1 ployoes, men engaged in State ; coal mines, and many others who, iii hackneyed parlance, are "too numerous to mention," and whose employment is, for, : the purposes of this article,' too difficult to trace. The total number in the State employ at a ■ moderate guess cannot be less than 30,000.' A Large Proportion. ' This is an enormous proportion of our industrial population, and it enables one to realise how • largely the State enters into the work-a-day life of the New Zealander. It provides, also, a sure avenue of employment for youths after parental brains liavo been racked' in vain for ■ something better at -• which to. engage them. The variety of employment, it appears, ranges from picl/ and shovel work to specialisation in ny>dicin<s ' and health matters, the control of Vne railways, the management of the post?'.[ affairs, etc. Possibly, in no. other- country in the .world does the. State employ so ] argo a proportion, of i,ts ; populatipn as 'in New ZeaTins; steJWßSirfc. m?/dj?. without any suggestion* as to, i£& bear-ing 'on the political or industrial! life of; the community, ■■ .which readers so, inclined, must ..calculate for., themselves according.. to their bent or bias. . Openings for- Youths., ' When, a, parent puts . a boy to a trade, profession, or ]le generally ( or , if the father does nofc J> the. mother surely does) looks .;? v %<V years and calculates exactly tvjiat thp, are for the lad. Will hei, be. able.to, rjf. j, to £500 or £5000? Naturally, every; par-ent thinks the topmost branch will just dp, 'nicely for his hoy. > How many or us in- our childhood did not expect to possess fortunes a t 25! The Public Service will permit its highest paid to'indulge | U motor-cars, but few people who remain on salary all their lives ever can!. , Nevertheless, l.itho Servico has some fairly ' ?, e )Dpting : plums on the topmost branches of i.cs tree. The General Manager of Railways, for instance, is paid £1250 per annum, the Solicitor-General £1000, the Balneologist at Rotorua £1000, the Chief Health Officer £800, Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals £925, the Government Insurance Commissioner £1000, the Secretary to the Treasury ' £950, Secretary to the Post and Tole- . grs.ph Department £900, chief mechanical . [engineer, of the Railway Department- £900, the chief traffic manager £900. Every junior on ontering the Service has ■ 'die opportunity ahead of him of gradually '.rising to any of these positions —at least, so 'tis said—and after enjoying his emolument ~ and the important distinction that accom- ■ panics, his eminent office to his full, may retire on adequate superannuation and live happily ever afterwards. Should he not attain to such heights, he may still find com. fortablq billets on the lower. branches. There arc, for instance, the following positions:— 1 Secretary for and Inspector of Customs, £750; .Under-Secretary for Crown Lands, '£750 ; Surveyor-General, £700;' Secretary for ; , Agriculture, £625 ; Valuer-General, £700; . Inspector-General of Education, £725; In-spector-General of 'Hospitals and Charitabk Institutions. £800; Land Purchase Officer, £800; Public £800; Actuary of tho Government Insurance Departments, £875, Secretary of 'tho Government • Insur- , auce, , £750; Manager of the Wellington district agency £700; general manager of tho State Fire Insurance Department £800; Land and Income Tax Commissioner £800; Assistant Secretary and Inspector of the Post and Telegraph _ Department £750; Inspector 1 of Electric Lines (Post and Telegraph Department) £850; : General-Maiiager of the Tourist Department and Industrial and ' Commerce Department £700; Accountant of tho Rail' way Department £700 ; Chief Engineer of the Railway Department £800; Government Printer £650; Commissioner of Stamps £700; ■ Under-Secretary for Native Affairs £600; Chief Judge of the Native Land: Court £700.; Under-Secretary for Justice_ £650; Inspector of Prisons £700; Commissioner of' Police.. £600; .Under-Secretary for Mines'" £650; Director of Geological Survey £800—and so, on.' Many of these positions entail a' considerable amount of travelling about and then of course "allowance" ana expenses are added. Some Comparisons. Leaving the parental attitude and observing the salary list as-'regarding the various offices, a, few interesting comparisons may be made. It is hardly to be expected in a servico. such as ours, which has grown up within comparatively a few years, and many departments of which are ramifications of the main branch—that there will be' found no anomalies! Probably in time these anomalies ' will'be repaired. • The Estimates disclose, for instance, that the Dairy Commissioner is being paid £450, whilo tho Chief Inspector of Stock gets £525, and tho Chief Veterinarian. : £750, the Secretary for Agriculture £625, the Assistant Veterinarian £450, and the Fruit Preserving Expert' £400. Indeed, though tho importance of tho Dairy Department is so great in New Zealand, the pay generally of that Department compares ba'dly with that. of others. Instructors receive from £275 to £350, and dairy Inspectors from £165 to £200. The Chief Clerk receives £375 and tho Accountant £250. The Chief Clerk in the Tourist Department receives £400, and in the Defence Office £400, the Government Biologist and the Dairy Commissioner are both remunerated at the same amount: Viz., £450. Tho salaries of clerks in tho Agricultural Department range ■ from £100 to; £220;. while in the Education department they range from £110 to £320, in the Public Trustees Office from £110 to £320; in the Insurance Department to £330; in the Trea- ; sury Department to £360; in tho Railway' Department up to £400; in the Justice De-. partment up to £360; and in the Electoral Department to £3SO. While on tho matter <- of clerks' salaries it might bo noticed that : tho Health Department pays its Chief Clerk £290, its accountant £230 and its clerks / from £52 to £206, but the Nativo Department is lower still with Chief Clerk £270, 'and-.clerks up to £140. " 1 Other Instances. While tho Government balneologist at'fto. torua receives £1000 a year, the Chief Health Officer of tho Dominion receives £900, the Bacteriologist £600, and district health ofli- • cers up to £540. Tho Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, again, receives £926, which is greater than the emolument of the ■ .Inspector-General of Hospitals and Charitable Aid- Institutions (£800), and 'of the Chief Health Officer (£9OO, as already stated above). Tho Insuranco Commissioner .receives inoro than ■ any of thoso officials (£1000)., including also the Chief Health Officer, more than tho head of tho Post and Telegraph Department (£900),; and more than twico as much as tho Dairy Commissioner (£450). j The Secretary to tho Treasury (who has also other positions) receives higher remuneration than the heads of any of the Departments except Railways, Insuranco, tho Government Balneologist, and the Solicitor-General.' .After reviewing these salaries wp come to the Justice Department, and find that'whilo the .Commissioner of Police receives £600, tho Inspector of Prisons is paid £700. Tho Commissioner of Police. legs - jfehan.' juf tho beads of

Departments, including the Mines, Customs, Tourist, Education, Printing Offico, Stamps, etc. Tho - Under-Secretary for Justice receives' £650. - < . ■ Magistrates aro paid from £450 to £650 (one Wellington. Magistrate receiving tho last-mentioned sum),.one Magistrato and District Court Judge in the Auckland district draws £700, and another Magistrate and District Court> Judge in the ,Cnristchurch and Wesfland' District £750. " The RegistrarGeneral receives £560. s In tho Defence Department a ' military member, of whom there aro three, has: a salary of £550, and house allowance (£75). Tho':headquarteni staff get from £215 to £500 and nouse allowance. A major of tho Permanent Force receives £325 with house allowance, and an officer commanding a Volunteer district £350 and free quarters. To bq Classified. By Act of Parliament last session it was proposed to classify the Public Service (ex-, eluding those Departments which already have their classification, others whose emoluments are fixed by Statute, and the police and defence), but the report thereon has not yet been submitted to Parliament to be passed, -which must be done before the classification can become law.