The Dominion. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1900. A DANGER TO THE STATE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 557, 12 July 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1900. A DANGER TO THE STATE.

In - the discussions which, have taken place-on the subject of the removal of the Public Service from political control the advocates of a change from, the existing system have advanced many good reasons in support of their contentions. They have pointed to cases of gross favouritism;; they have shown how; political "pull", has proved of more value than merit in,securing advancement in the Service; they have; quoted the retrenchment with its attendant hardships as an evidence of the overloading of the "Service with political friends and supporters, or the friends of supporters, of ; those'in power. They have i dwelt at length on the discouragement of members of the Service resulting from this neglect of merit,. and the * detrimental effect.. of such treatment on the efficiency. of the Service.-But it has remained for the head of a recognised organisation of the Public Service to disclose, in the frankest manner possible, tho evil.of political control in a way that should appeal with convincing . force to every taxpayer throughout the length and breadth of the land; The gentleman wp refer to is the 'President of the Amalgamated Society of .Railway Servants, Me. ;W. A, Veitch, : and•;; his remarks; which are published in the current number of tho Railway ■ Renew,: are de-' scribed as "a' timely{and effective denunciation of the efforts now being made to Split the Society, and introduce sectional strife into the New Zealand Railway Service." ','■;■-. :',. . '';.."-,; . .'■ ~;' y;

■It is notour.: purpose in the; present article to teviow tho trouble which has arisen in -the ranks of the -Society ..''of Railway Servants. The facts ,ara ; that a number, of members of the locomotive branch .pf thetSpciety, dissatisfied with.the management,, of. tho Society's ; affairs, .or • the ,treatment,which they received,, at the hands of the managing,body, decided to seyor their .connection with it and form a separate-union, . Wo do not propose how to discuss the merits or demerits of their supposed grievances.' Whatjs of most interest at the moment is the address of the President of; 1 the, Amalgamated ; ; Society and the reasons put forward by. him 1 in deprecation of any splitting of the ranks of its members in ; sectionalstrife.- ;Mr. : Veitch was .-speaking', to. -the Wangan'ui ißranch'' qf the'. Soejoty at, tho Fire .-Brigade, Hall, there on June 20, and'the official report, pf ; his remarks.leaves ho-room jfor 'doubt .that, his views had. been: care'full.y,'thought out and his . words well weighed. The' address'is liicid, pointed, and forcible, and we have.no. doubt makes the • most of the -position from the" 'Society's point of view.' ; 'Arid.'this.'is what the hb'ad; of .this; great .organisation;., 'of State employees has' to say to his' fellow workmen oh the subject of .their .relations' towards their employer, thq: State:,,

v '.-At'tho present'timo there-,is retrenchment, in; thp air ' thrbupjh'out the '.various Gpy.orn--ment; Department*,;, and ,tho' : , Railways De; partment.-nas 'had: its'; share of the burden! I wish tQUfgo en yon all the groat necessity of kcopins[ ;our',figntlnp forces In as,,strong anil unanlmdus/a cciitlltlcn as possible, b'eoauso great 'political' changes aro always possible, and although W8 are .comparatively free from any,'retrogressive, movement from the present Government, there Is no telling how soon wo!.will have a ohange ofCovernmont, .'which may ; plaoo us In a different position."; Could anything bo plainer ;than this ? Is it n'oVquitc. obvious from' Mr, Veitoh's ,'outspqkbn;comments on.:the situation .that tho Society-regards tho future well-being of its members'as boing dopendont, not on: the merits' of their claims to consideration', but on the political exigencies of,the situation and their state of preparedness to take advantage of them 1 Ji is hot a question with the Sooiety whothar. or not retrenchment is'necessary in the interests of-the: country as a whole; it is not a question of .whether the members': of ■ the .Society.'have a just claim on,their em-; plpyqr, the . State—but.,,it: is Sorely, a question, of whether: they, .are strong chough.numerically to influence the pol\party in, power,, There: is no room for'doubt onVthis point. A little later-in 'his address'the President'of the Society, -ompH'a'sises.'his contention : ' .-."

"In view,"ho/says, "of the 'possibilities of the future, it if, with a very great deal of regret that I have to-day to place before you the position with rogard to tho members.of the loco, department,, for you may rest assured that should a retrogressive movement bo attempted at any time, the amount of retrenchment we. will have to bear will depend to a very great extent on the power of your Society to resist it. If our men will but stand true to caoh other, there 13 very little likelihood of any Government seriously attacking our but if we are divided amongst ourselves it is impossible to toll how much •we may suffer." "'',■-, ■''.•:.;

This is the attitude of the State employee with the Public Service under, political control.. This is the condition' of things that has ..developed in the railway service under Ministerial management.. 'No one can blame the railway servants—their at-, titude is the natural product of the system. But what can bo said of a Government which by its conduct has .forced the State employees to take -up such an attitude? ."If-we are strong enough there ia very little .likelihood of any Government attacking pur position." This in effect :ia the teaching that has grown out of political control. 'No question of justice; no consideration for the' interests of tho State should be taken into account. The only interests to be considered are the interests of the railway servants on the one side and the interests of a political party on the other, that party being the Government of the day. The State—that is, the people as a whole—which both the Government and the railway employees aro. appointed to serve, is quite,a minor matter. It is a good thing for the country that this false and pernicious idea is at last being stoutly contested and its malign influence on the Public Service'exposed. Wo hope to see oro long a system undor which public servants will receive justice bocauso justice, is thoir .duo, and not meroly in proportion. to < their voting strength; when morit and conscientious service will outweigh the corrupting influency of political patronage. When such speeches a? that, of the .President of the Society of Railway Servants will- be grotesquely out of place, instead of being regarded as quite natural and necessary in th 4 - interests of railway employees of the State. That time will not -cf,me,.howevor, so long as. the Public Sorvice remains under Ministerial control.