The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3854, 23 November 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1883.

The appointment of the four Official Assignees has now been duly gazetted, aud thus the first step has been made toAvards bringing the new Bankruptcy Act into operation. As the time dniAVs nigh when tho Act Avill come into force commercial men generally are less inclined to regard some of the provisions of the existing huv as objectionable as they once did. They arc beginning to think that, perhaps, it Avould liftve been Aviser for creditors to ha\*e retained the power to elect the trustees of bankrupt estates. Hoav far this change of feeling has been brought about by the choice the Government have made of Official Assignees Aye cannot say, but a very uneasy feeling has been created. Tho Timaru Herald, in an article some time ago on (lie prospects of the administration of the ucav Act, had the folloAving remarkable passage:—" AVo shall be curious to sec Avhom the Government will finally pitch on for the first four Assignees. AVo greatly dread, avc grieve to say, from what avo have heard, that some of tho appointments at least will bo jobs; and that, Avith tho best intentions at tho outset, Ministers Avill end by entrusting the administration of tho ucav and reformed bankruptcy laAv to men Avhom no private person would for a moment dream of placing in charge of his affairs. If thoy should do so it will bo a very great shame, and the public ought to make their A'oices plainly heard about it." As soon as it transpired that the Government had selected for Official Assignees four gentlemen unconnected AA'ith either L*iav or commerce avo expressed our surprise and concern. AYe arc glad to see that avc arc not alone in our opinion, and that, while it finds expression in tho columns of our contemporaries, it is largely shared in commercial circles. Criticising tho action of the Government in making these appointments tho Timaru Herald states its couauctioii that the Official Assignceship has been giA'cn to most if not all of these men simply because they Avauted a berth and wore ablo to make interest Avith Ministers, and not at all on account of any particular fitness for the place. Our contemporary continues, that the powers of patronage given by tho Bankruptcy Act, in short, havo been emplovcd simply to giA'o a snug salary to four gentlemen having friends at Court. They may all four be highly respectable. Wo have exevy reason to believe that they aro so. But that is no reason why they are to be billctted on the public fit £000 a year each, and what is Avorse, to be entrusted Avith Aery important duties and a great deal of authority in connection with matters requiring special knoAvlcdgc and proficiency. As far as one or two of them arc concerned, at all events, avc cannot but fear that the bankruptcy business Avill get into confusion in their hands, and that serious loss and inconvenience to the public Avill result from their inexperience. Tho Avay to test the propriety of these appointments is to ask AA-hethci* any mercantile firm of good standing in a largo Avay of business would have scfected these men for tho control and direction of their affairs. If it can be sliOAvn that they aro men who would have boon chosen or readily accepted for such a position, then their appointment is justifiable and a credit to tho GoA'cvnmont, and wo will cheerfully Avithdraw every Avord avc have Avritten against it. But Aye are perfectly certain that it cannot be sliOAvn, and that no leading mercantile firm would havo confided the management of their business to any one of the four. Yot the duties of Official Assignee under the Bankruptcy Act are far more extensive and responsible, and require much higher qualifications, than those of the manager of any mercantile business. The appointment of inexperienced and altogether unqualified men, therefore, is neither more nor less than a gross abuse of patronage, and a gricA'Ous injustice to the taxpayers and the commercial public. AVo heard long ago of the wheels within wheels which were being set in motion to procure these offices for particular candidates ; but to the last moment 'we hoped Ministers would havo sufficient courage and rectitude to resist all pressure, and to appoint tho Official Assignees on account of fitness alone. The concluding _ portion of our Timaru comtemporary's article Avill commend itself to all classes of readers, Avhich we shall quote iv full:—" Ministers may seek to excuse their action, perhaps, on the ground that they could not got really fit men at tho salary ; and that since theyAvcre obliged to appoint men having no special qualifications, they Avere glad to got respectable men who wero strongly recommended to them by persons Avhoso judgment Avas entitled to weight. The answer to that argument, hoAvever, is so obvious that avo scarcely need mention it. In the first place tho Government had it in their discretion to offer Avhatevoi- salajy they pleased. Then, if the Official Assigncoships were not to be giA'cn to professional men or men of special commercial training, they ought clearly to have been given to deserving public sovants. The Government made a -Teat fuss last session about tho urgont necessity for a reform of the Civil Service Thoy undertook to elaborate a scheme of that nature during tho recess. From timo to time tho public have beep assured through the usual Ministerial channels that this scheme is making good progress, and that its most salient i'eaturo is the provision it makes for promotion by merit, and the abolition of direct patronage by which new men aro put by favor over tho head of old and faithful public servants. Tho Ministry, avo arc assured, aro determined to effect a great saving in the departmental expenditure by this highly commendable method. Yet at* the very time when they are dinning this stuff into the ears of the public, they deliberately pitchfork four new men, favorites and nothing else, into the public service, at £550 a year each, without the slightest regard to the claims or the deserts oflho numberless much fitter men already in the service. Nothing would have been easier than to save this £2200 a year, and at the same time to reward merit and effect reform in the Civil Service. Instead of doing that, Ministers have increased the

public expenditure by £2200 a year; increased the number of tho already overgrown. Civil Service by four highly paid officials ",r slighted and discouraged, a large body of deserving- men ; and, most deplorable of all, floAvn right in tho face of the very principle wliich they pretend to advocate. AVho can have any faith after this in their professions of anxiety for Civil Service reform ? AVho can believe that their boasted scheme is anything but a sham, or the published statements as to its pure and impartial nature anything but a blind ? An ounce of example is Avorth a pound of jirecept. AVhen the Atkinson Ministry leave off jobbing appointments, we may possibly begin to think there is something* in their professions of economy and reform. "