WAR AND WORK

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3006, 17 February 1917, Page 11

WAR AND WORK

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE

INSTITUTION'S IMPORTANCE AND SCOPE

ITS MILITARY APPEALS

- , interesting discussion .. concerning the importance and the ramifications of the Public Trust Ofl'ico occurred before the Third Wellington Military Sorvico Board yesterday, when the Public Trusteo (Dr. Fitchett) asked tbat three months' leave of absence should he granted seven of his staff, ' J} 10 cases to be reviewed at the end of the leave period. _ Dr. Fitchett said the Office did not iflesire complete exemption for these • Ttion. It had at all times been anxious for the men to go if possible. On five or six occasions thoy had. secured extension of time through tho Minister . of Munitions. The male staff liumbered 175j 74 had gone to the front, and those gone and going totalled 99. He only asked for postponement of the fjeending of those men. The main pressure on the Public Trust Office was due to the war. The Government, had thrown on tho Ofiico a largo quantity of work. The bulk of it was riot re- , _ nyunerativo, but the Offico gladly un- ' dertook it because they ? recognised it 3iad a duty to do whatever it could. , Take the case of soldiers. A man from jjtlie'Publio Trust Office went out to "camp onca a week, and they now had in the office over 5000 wills, and in 99per cent-, of those casqs the wills had lieen prepared free of charge. Tho number of estates they were administering,for soldiers was nearly 2000, and the number was growing every day.' TOie estates were in many cases administered) gratuitously, and not even postage was charged. Then the Government had given tho Public Trust the administration of "'enemy estates, - and they had over 100 of them. Also the services of the Office were placed at tho disposal of/'tlie Defence Department for tho making of inquiries. •' ', •. _ The chairman: What sort of inquir- . ies ?.. _ ' Dr. l?itclietf>: About relatives of soldiers,', . __ .' An "Essential'.lnstitution." fcontinuing, Dr. Fitchett said that under tha!new, scheme for making advances to returned soldiers the sorvices of the' Office had! hceii placed at the disposal of tho-Stato to see that documents were executed, and that tho advances reached their proper . tioii. The work largely was done free, and he mentioned, these matters to show that the Office was not in the samo category as a commercial concern seeking dividends. Tho, capital placed in the office amounted to -£7,000,000, besides which they hdd a large "umber of mortgages. The Public Trust' was an essential institution, in the social arid eoonomio life of the community, t The charman of the board (Mr. W., H. S. Moorhoiise): What' wo want to get at is; Can those men be spared? Mr. J. W. Macdonald, solicitor tp the Public Trust, who. appeared as counsol in the case, said that' of the . staff of 175, fifteen were over military age, thirty-three wet'e in the Second Division, sixty-five in tiio Fi\'st Division, and sixty-two werp under ago. Tlie number who joined the reinforcements was 74; - There were twenty-five enlisted and wailing to be called up. The bulk of Ihe' mon mi whom the; principal work'fell were men in the First Division, and it would he easily understood that officers in . the Publio Trust service could not be replaced easily, and certainly could not be picked'Up off the streets, :/ f»f • thoestates in the ?|®'w essential, and that wis' a thing whiOli could only bo

Acquired iu months, and if a new man had to master those facts lie would' have to suspend otlier work meantime. So that nioro teclmical knowledgo was not the only qualification. Another thingwas that t.uere was an abnormal demand for men in the accountancy and law avocations. That meant that private firms offering higher wages could tako men out of tho servi6e; it had occurred quite recently. The operations also included the management of businesses of soldiers who had gone to tho front. Tho offico had recently had to advise tho Government to extend tho operations in that direction, and 1 ho could not say what was in store for tho office.-on that score. Then Tho chairman: You are still going into tho question of tho services of the office.' Wo quite admit it does essential work. All' we want to know is: Can- these men be replaced ? , . Meeting the crisis. - Mr. Macdonald: What you "want to know is how far the Public Trustee has endeavoured to meet the crisis'. We have got in 22 male temporaries and 9. female temporary clerks. The offico would not bo as well served by even twenty or thirty temporary clerks as by one well-trained clerk. Tho tecnnT= cal knowledgo needed in the Publio Trust, Mr. Macdonald said,' coMld not he gained otitsido that offico, >-as" the statutory powers of the Public Trustee were different to the powers of a private .trustee. The crisis had been met partly by the elevation of typists and partly through the staff working overtime. Qn January 27 the Publio Service Commissioner/ had been asked by the Public Trustee if men unfit for Expeditionary service oould be iiscd. After 'Mr. Macdonald had proceeded for some timo longer, the military representative remarked that all this oiUy went to show that the Office was important. The position was that appellants wero fighting men, and the wished to know if they could bo released and their places taken by others who were not fighting men. Mr. Macdonald then dealt with the case of the appellants in detail. Finally lie said tho position was that in tho nest' three months' evory effort would be made to replace these men. Capt'ain. Baldwin: This is only possibly a first application? •Mr. Maodonald: If we cannot .moot tile position we will have to ask again. Dr. Fitchett said it was absolute!,y hopeless to get in outsiders to fill these positions; . they were too technical. The only way would he to push on others who were already in the ofgoc.' / Captain Baldwin: Yqu will appreciate that these, postponements would be hard on someone else? Dr. Fitchett; I (Jo. ' Conscription a Drawback. Captain Baldwin: Has a scheme been fornndpfod .for dealing with the probablo.increase of work?' Dr. Fitchett said steps in the direction of saving labour, etc., had boon taken. ' ' Mr. Mack: Do I understand that the classification is standing in your way in filling positions? Dr. Fitchett: Undoubtedly. Mr. Maok: Then would you suggest that it should bo suspended in wartime? . Dr. Fitchett: It would be a very good thing if tho board would suggest it. . . . If I did so tho Public Service Commissioner would resent it. It would unddubtedlv be'better if the Publio Trustee had,a free hand to go anywhero and get anyone. Decision in all tho Public Trust cases was reserved. The men appealed for were: Harry Turner, assistant accountant and- examiner, Wellington; P. C. Dwyer, clerk, Wellington; Norman Melville Chesnoy, correspondence clerk, Wellincton; Percy U. Wincbcombe, cletk, Wellington; Stanley K.-Smith, clerk', Wellington ,- I l '. L. Barr, clerk, Wellington: l'\ M. Wliyto., cle'r.k, Ncu* Plymouth. !.Turner. had twice enlisted, Dwyer. tlireo times; Smith three, Barr once, and Winclieowbo once.