State Management

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 101, 23 January 1933, Page 11

State Management

Si r —Our troubles, past and present, have arisen through political meddling, bungling, and party politics. The systom is costly and inefficient, and the sooner a commission is appointed to clean up our affairs the sooner will we recover. In Svdney the aldermen were given the. run, and three level-headed men cleaned it up and made an example of those responsible for bad management. . . On the basis of three commissioners for one million people (the population of Sydney), it should be easy for six commissioners to straighten up this country, with a,population of one and. a halt mulion. As a matter of fact. New Zealand is now being run by commissions and the heads of departments at enormous cost. It would be necessary, of course, before any set of men could straighten up atfairs to scrap several hundred Acts or Parliament. The people at present, are tied hand and foot by a lot of experimental socialistic legislation of the most extreme nature. We lead the world m socialism, but in nothing else except debt per head of the population. Had our affairs been properly manager the position would have been the reverse Here we are up against it, and the same party wrangling goes on; the opposition partv looking for the fat Ministerial billets at next election (if there is ever one), waiting to take a fall out ot the Government at the least sign of a slip. The opposition banner bears the magie word Labour, and they call themselves the Labour Party, but it ends there. The Governments for the last twenty years or more have been Labour Governments, and quite right, too, for this is the Utopia for the working man, and it is natural that politicians should pander to the vote that will put them in. ■ The estimates have been passed, ana one is curious enough to wonder where the money is coming from. I our millions in cold cash to keep the Public Works Department going. W e are to.d this largely is for departmental charges. It must be so, for there are no works ot a paying or useful nature calling out to The sum of £22,000,000 has been passed to run the country. Tins little far-off grass country cannot tor much longer foot a bill of this size. Even half this huge sum would be all out or proportion. The absurd State-run departments, viz., Tourist, Publicity, Geographical, Meteorological, Agricultural, Commerce and Industries, Scientific Research. Transport, Forests, and others too numerous to mention, should be dispensed with until such time as their existence is warranted. T know this appeal to John Citizen to rouse himself will take a long time to mature, but it will come.. There are thousands of victims of political meddling with private contracts who are of my opinion and would vote for a form of management within our means. The National Expenditure Commissioners proved what half-a-dozen common-sense businessmen could do. Since that report was published it. has become very clear that the proposals will have to be dug deeper into the waste. I defy anyone to say that there is not a strong case tor a less costly form of management.—-I am. etc., Wellington, January 19.