RETRENCHMENT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 453, 11 March 1909, Page 5

RETRENCHMENT.

ro:iTI3N OF SMALL DTP-CTEN'S.-

. HINTS OK AMALGAMATION. SOME ANOMALIES OF THE SERVICE. Seats of tho mighty arc soon to bo vacated in many Government Departments under tho '.aw, which says "Too old at 65/' It is a timo of hope and fear and tension in the Service. While the "elder statesmen" are pondering, *'ith mingled feelings, the decree which bids Jheni pass, the aspirants for promotion are viewing eagerly their chairs, and wondering upon Whom the mantles of authority will fall. The subject multitude aro also much concerned in tho prospects of succession, each hoping that a king will arise in his own Department who will both know and recognise Joseph... Cabinet has not shown any haste or excitement hr setting about the appointment of new rulers, but a scries of proclamations are expected to fall from it-this week. Moanwbilc, the Departments aii'ected spend most of their time in speculation and conjecture, and over tho sealing wax and tape a swarm of'eager tumours aro evolved, as to what Cabinet intends to do. •Petty Kingdoms. Ono of tho most persistent of these rumours is., tho suggestion that a number of sraal! Departments in the Service, petty principalities, which have sprung up in later times, ' will be amalgamated with larger states. In Australia, it is said, there pre about' six great Government Departments; in New' Zealand tho Departments number 37, and some of them are hardly large enough to go alone..: ■ For some years-past there has been a tendency to split up large Departments, arid raise subsidiary provinces to the state of independent kingdoms. It is an expensivjj tendency, and there are thoughtful leaders in>the Civil Service who think that it has been followed to a ridiculous extent. It 'is ■ expensive for several reasons. ' A small 'section- of- a large. Department ;i is made independent, and a clerk.ofithe'old Department or some fortunate one from another Department is promoted 1 to its head, with an increase.of £100 a' year in salary. As soon as the clork becomes'a Departmental head, ho requires a chief clerk to support his dignity. The chief clerk-has need of an accountant, and tho s.taff\ which satisfactorily performed the work of a mere section of a Department, is totally inadequate- for the, same' work when the branch attains new status. The system of having many Departments, instead of few;, is thus of necessity extravagant, and it is said'to.'increase also the opportunities of undue influence and interference from which the Service suffers. Half-a-dozen strong undor-secrotaries in charge of as many Departments can control those Departments on principles which mako for efficiency, and the Ministerial influence is reduced to general direction and advice. On tho other, hand, a dozen weak heads of small Departments are subject to every whim of Ministers, and cannot be expected to. resent , their undue interference. Thero may be:no weak heads at present, but the position is always likely to occur. Change of System Urged. These are tho - main arguments which aro put forward in opposition to a system of service sub-division, which has greatly increased of recent years. There have also been complaints that when a Minister, has succeeded m getting a now Department formed, it becomes' his special houby, which he has to justify, and the men of that; Department aro ( liable to. be better treated, in respect of sal- ] arios and, promotion, than their fellow Civil Servants of the larger, • older Departments. ' On broader grounds it is urged that the Ser- 1 vice is likely to be more united, more efficient, and more'amenable to-supervision and , control, when it is compactly grouped according to a'fewnatural when it is split'up-into'a crowd of' fragments, all' ! under different direction. But above all < things it is obvious that a comparatively s small n.mnber.iof large-Departments can bo conducted a'.' great' deal .more cheaply than a 1 large number of small Departments, of which the. "heads" form; a considerable proportion i of.the staff. And.it is-this reason which is j expected to actuate the Government in the amalgamation ot small Departments,' which ' a number of Civil Servants think will probably be proposed to Cabinet. The Prime Minister, has stated that a > large economy will be effected by the retirement -\ of so' many officers at the ago limit, and that many of. their positions will not requiro to be filled. Considering the generous pensions due to many of .tho. retiring officers; it is difficult to see where any_ great economy can come in, unless there is going to be an amalgamation of Departments, which will render many present positions unnecessary. Somo Diminutive Departments. The smallest independent province of tho Civil, Service is probably the Lands for Settlement which enjoys its separate vote from Parliament, and has a staff of two persons, when a typist© is not considered, necessary. . It is. the. business of this Department to investigate' and select lands for purchase. When the purchases are completed, the areas are handed over to: the' Lands and Survey Department for administration. This diminutive state has always maintained its 'independence, though, ■ apparently, it has never contained more than three members. ■The Dominion Musoum and Observatory are bracketed in the Year Book as though they constitute a Department, and their combined staff-is there given as two. The director of the museum has, however, assistants. In the Year Book for 1906, the museum and observatories are included es a branch of the Colonial Secretary's Department, which then included also' the Registrar-General's office, since raised to the Btntus of Department. The Department of Friendly Societies was a branch of tho Treasury Department till new dignity was conferred upon it in 1906. InoYear Book gives it a staff of eight. One m, els now re Wring at tho ago limit. The Inspector of Machinery Department, with a present staff of 32, was separately constituted m 1902. Beforo that it was attached to tho Marino. Department, and at earlier periods to tho Customs and Public Works Departments. The Crown Law Department, comprising the law draughting office, with a staff of three, and Crown Law Office, with a staff of six, was separated from tho Justico Department m August, 1905. The reason is not now very clear. . Earlier Amalgamations. The Prisons' Department, was once combined with'tho Police,/but that is about thirty years ago. The divorced parties would hardly be re-umted after so long a sepaiatidn, but their past relationship is interesting in view of a long-standing rumour, which? has no official countenance, that the .present Commissioner of Police may be appointed Inspector of Prisons, and in view of tho apparent difficulty of finding, in tho Prisons ! Department, an officer of sufficient experi-j ence to succeed Lieutenant-Colonel Hume. This is ono of the Departments which will bo hit hardest by the compulsory retirement rule. If no postponements are conceded, tho present head of tho Department, tho governors of the four city gaols, and tho senior warders of those four gaols, will all retire on March 31, and the former chief clerk rotired only a few months ago. Several other Departments which aro now self-sufficient were formerly subordinate . branches. Tho Roads Department, for example, originally came under Public Works, and later under Lands. The Mental Hospitals Department was joined, until two years ago, with the Department of Hospitals and Clmritablo Aid. The latter, by the by, has a staff of five. Tho Valuation and Laiid and Income Tax Departments wcro ono until quite recently. Since one of them is understood to he most busy when tho other is most slack, the suggestion has been 'mado that they could como together again without much hardship. Several other branches of the Civil Servico which are nominally subordinate are virtually independent, such as tho Audit Offico, which still appears in tho latest Year Book ns a branch of tho Department of Internal Affairs, and the geological survey branch, which nominally- is subject to the Mines Department.