THE CIVIL SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 222, 20 June 1928, Page 14

THE CIVIL SERVICE

ESSENTIAL SECTION OF COMMUNITY

IMPROVEMENT IN SALARY, FORECASTED

The Hon. R. A. Wright (Minister of Education) touched ou various phases of the New Zealand Civil Service in his address at the opening of the fifteenth annual conference in Wellington- yesterday of the New Zealand Public Service Association, aud indicated that favourable consideration would probably be given to an : mnrovenient in the salaries "of Civil servants in the coming session.

The Minister stated that he had been requested 6y the Prime Minister to open the conference, an honour he appreciated, and it was a pleasure to get away from the hurly burly of politics to a gathering of that kind. He welcomed the delegates and hoped the conference would bear good fruit. Their chairman (Mr. J. H. McKay) had correctly stated that he (Mr. Wright) had not been unfriendly to the service, and had in the House done ailything he could to help them. While private members could not bring in Bills affecting finance, they could ■ make their views felt by giving, them strong expression, and as he had so expressed himself he thought, his remarks had had some effect on the Government. , Referring to the changes made in the course of the past year, he quite agreed with the amendment of the Act giving the right of appeal against dismissal and punishment. He believed there was also some feelirg in regard to the question of salai-. ies, but they might look forward to some proposals to improve them in- the course of the next session. Burden of Growing Service. ‘‘The burden of the criticism is that the Civil Service is growing in New Zealand yearly.” continued the Minister. ‘‘That may be so, but it is inevitable, if the country is to develop as we wish to see it develop, the service must grow too.”

It had been said that those who were living in the cities were not primary producer*. The insinuation was that there was really no necessity for big cities, and that they should not be in- existence. That was a fallacious contention. Whether a man was a primary producer or not did not matter. He referred to the railway system, and to Wellington’s fine harbour, with shipping to take aboard the country’s produce, and said that naturallv wherever there was a good harbour a town would spring up. “The argument that cities are not necessary,” he said, "is an argument that might have done in the days of Noah, before the flood, but it won’t do to-day. Everywhere in the world where there is a good harbour cities must spring up. The Civil Service is absolutely essential to the primary producer, who cannot get on without it.”

Mr. 'Wright mentioned the Post and Telegraph and other Departments, and concluded that, generally speaking, Civil servants performed their duties faithfully and well.

The chairman thanked the Minister for his address, and said they hoped to have, his .sunport in the House during the coming session when matters affectin;.' the welfare of the Civil servants were under consideration.