LABOUR AND BUREAUCRACY

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1101, 13 April 1911, Page 4

LABOUR AND BUREAUCRACY

Some interesting, though not altogether new, points arc raised in an article on "The Labour Party and Bureaucracy" in the Nation. The writer discusses, and to some extentadopts, the theory that the present widespread' tendency to supersede private enterprise by State and municipal action will shortly be checked by the very class in whose interest this growth of collectivism h supposed mainly to operate. This theory, which has been expounded by Mr. J. H. Harley in a recent book entitled The New Social Democracy, is based upon the fact that public policy renders it necessary for the cmplo3 - ccs of the State to forgo certain of the rights enjoyed by other workers. Me. Harley thinks that when tho workers realise this fact they will call a halt in the policy of collectivism. "If it is treason for the State railwaymen to propose a strike, or for the State match-box girls to be advised by the Women's Industrial Council,, then the workers in these industries will begin seriously to ask whether these Socialist proposals really confirm them in any valuable measure of economic freedom." Mr. Harley may think that no advantages which public employment can offer will compensate for the loss of what he describes as "some of the most important civil rights," but there can bo no doubt that it is the duty of the State, when fixing the conditions of employment, to provide, if possible, compensations which will generally be considered adequate. Thus the servants of the State should have security of tenure and should be able to count upon fair wages, an equitable system of promotion, and a proper superannuation scheme. It •is obvious that these-- advantages can be obtained more certainly and more completely. if the service, whatever it may be, is run on sound business lines. Our own State employees, for' instance, would fare better if Ministerial control, with its almost incm'table political concessions on the one hand, and cheese-paring on the other, and its tempting opportunities for making party or family appointments, were replaced by expert and independent management. Tho subject is one which opens up some very interesting possibilities and which is woll worth more serious consideration from the public than is generally given it.