THE CIVIL SERVICE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 148, 19 December 1907, Page 3

THE CIVIL SERVICE.

■ft SUPERANNUATION AND ITS BENEFITS. -PREMIER ENTERTAINED. !ip.st " evening an entertainment was held in •, the concert t chamber of ■ the . Town Hall' to commemorate the passing of the Civil Service Superannuation and Classification Acts of last session. Mr. E. Tregear, president of tho Council of the Civil. Service Association, pre-. •ided, and eveYy branch of the service was .represented, in.' the audience. Amongst those present were the Premier, Sir. Joseph Ward and Lady \Vard, the Mayor (the Hon. T■\V. .Hislop), his Honour Mr. "Justice Button, Judge -Haselden, lh.e Hon. T. K. Macdonald, -Hon. G. M. Luke, -Mr. F. M- B. Fisher, M.P., Mr. J- G. W. Aitken, M.P.. Mr. C\ HI Izard, M.P., and' the heads of . varins departments.- The. Premier did not anive until after, 9 p.m.. and.'tks order of the speech-making had to be jchanged in consequence. The chamber was handsomely decorated with flags and evergreens, arranged by Mi\ Walter Leslie, and an- orchestra, under tho conductof»hip of Mr. W. M'Laughlin, played enjoyable music ' FROM THE CIVIL SERVANTS' POINT OF VIEW. Mr. E. Tregear moved — "That the -thanks of this meeting be accorded to the members of the late- Civil ' Service Superannuation Committee for. their indefatigable labours during the past three years in thft interests of superannuation for the service." Before the Act was passed, he said, • civil servant had very little to look forward to. Now; however; thanks to the Ministry and to' the efforts of the committee, a civil servant had something to look forward to. The committee had worked untiringly for three years, during which time it 'kept the subject it had at heart well before the Ministry of the^ day. ■ For a time the j committee worked under .the presidency of Sir E. O. Gibbes, and latterly under ' Mr. George Allport. (Applause.)' He particularly eulogised the work of. the secretary of the committee (Mr. Fraser). The Superannuation Act assured the future of ■ the civil sen-ant to a great, . degree. . As -for the Classification Act, .well, a little, daylight .would not be a bad thing. • THE MOTION SECONDED. Mr. H. J. H. Blow seconded the mot:on. In l a sense the committee did not require any, thanks. A man who had an oftject in' j view got his reward in the attainment- of his idea, 1 . They vere Content to know that a. great task had been well done. He' Was sura no persuasion was necessary to induce the meeting >to pass ' the committee a very hearty vote- of thanks. It was an open secret that the committee had something to do in the matter of putting the finishing touches to the Bill. Sir Joseph had the good gmce to submit his Bill to -the committee,, and -the majority \of the suggested amendments they had put forward had been adopted, and were now embodied in the Act. Until the passing to the. Public Service Classification Act the civil service was a narrow body. He knew of men . employed' in the service of the State for '30 or 40 years who . had . been regarded as "casuals" before, the Act was passed. All that k was remedied now. While 'the benefits* of 'the Superannua- • tion Act' were undoubted, he said', he would . like , to. emphasise the /act that -■» 'every civil " servant pafd for .the benefits be received. Personally, he had to pay over 30s per week.into the fund for the remainder of t his active career. In. addition, they were surrendering the compensation due r to them under the Act of 1886, so 1 when the time came for accepting the .benefits of the Act a civil servant would ,do so feeling that he was entitled to what he had to receive. (Applause.) He" referred to the '-small- -allowance (£lB per year) nia'de: •to- a--- widow . of "a. , public . servant in'" the case of the jdeatb of s s tier husband. sum. of £18 per year was too little for any •woman to 1 , live , upon. He hoped that the amount, -w.hen ,an. amendment was made, to -the- Act-r-and, the time would come .for . making amendments — would be Vaised to £50 -per annum.' -It 'would «lso, ' he, thought, be necessary tomak.e some provision -for 'officers with broken service.' There- -were- ■not', many cases,, but- he ,knew, 6f one in his own deparl - mini, wh'eio an'oflkeiviristcad'ofbeing credited, with- "thirty-five, years', service, wo.uld onty get the benefit of twelve. The board, might be empowered to in-vestigate-and make recommendations in ouch 'cases. > • (Applause.) ■ - • THE CHAIRMAN IN REPLY. Mr* : Gebrge. Allport' responded. He said' the.' committee was, pleased" at the fcytd ' references made ' regarding the •work "it", had 'dope. " .He 'gave the Premier, credit, for what he,,had done, and ■nfgefl "every civil servant to avail ' hini•elf r oi the -benefits o.f the "Act". r The country would lose 'nothing from .what it h,ad,done. (Hear, hear.) In the past fpiv rrjqst civil - servants the 'outlook had ■ been "dark ' indeed. They, were unable tn save"ior .their old age. 1 Could it, then,' be expected that- the" country could- expert, the best' service^ from such men? In placing .this. Act oij the statutebook New Zealand had made a good inveßtment. Something had to be done ,to entice the best talent .in .the .country ' into tho. service. Iti was hardly right to, say that com.pensat.ion. under the Act of 1886 was taken away. Until a public ' servant was entitled under new .Act to ,i sijm equalling the amount of. compensation 'that would have been due to him under other circumstances, his representatives were entitled 'to that sum. 4 This -was a most- liberal .concession Any civil servant who failed to avail himself- of the benefits offhr fund would bp doing a foolish thing. Speaking of. the' Classification Act, he said the only objection he had to it was thai, it placed every servant too much on a lever. 'They had, to trust to the board to. administer the Act in n proper manner, and look to the heads of departments to make recommendations in the case of officers of outstanding capacity. It would have its good effects, ' howeveV. Parliament had given to the civil ser- j vice and the country two good and jußt measures. CONGRATULATING THE. PREMIER. Mr. D. M. Luckie moved : — "That the members of tho, public service present at this meeting lespectfully desire to express their pmtitude to the Right" Hon. the Prune Minister and the Government for •having caused the Public Service Superannuation anft Classification Acts ,to be placed on the fetatutebook." He said he must necessarily hare one feeling : n certain reticence in' endeavouring to eulogise the first Commoner in his own presence. After what Mr. Allport had, said there was little left for him to add. He referred 1o the woiking of the Superannuation Act, and explained how its pension benefits -would .iccrue. JSIr. Luckie endorsed wbiit had been said by' the other speakeis, thanked the Premier for the kindness, courtesy, and consideration he had always shown, and said that as an ex- member of the House

of Representative?, it probably would not be out of place for him to extend a word of praise to the assistance which had been given by the members of the Opposition in passing the- Superannuation Act into law. The motion was seconded by Mr. D. Robertson. > He hoped the Civil Service, as a whole. _ would be as liappy with it.s superannuation scheme- as the Post, and Telegraph ttepaj-tmenf" had." ' The motion was canicd 1 amidst applause; -' ■ ' - fc. ' ' SIR JOSEPH JN REPLY. On rising to reply, the Piemier was received with cheers. .He expressed pleasure at" seeing Mich a, large gathering. He ventured tlie opinion that there were still a largo number of civil servants throughout the colony, who -did not* fully realise the benefit* to' be obtained- from the Superannuation Act. Sir Jpseph aqkno.wledged 'the good work done by the Superannuation Committee. They 'showfed a" wise discretion and discernment. .He asked his audience to, trv , and. recollect that the Civil Service in -New Zealand .was an old one, and there were men in every branch who had arrived at the 'time when they had to think what -they were going to do in private life. Under the Act, the country wasiiiqt only doing something for the seivants of to-day, but for those who had been in the service for 40 yeais. If a scheme had been commenced forty years ago,-a universal rate could be fixed. "But,"' said the Premier, "you are grown up, and higher, rates qf contribution had to he fixed unless the scheme was to be ruinous to the country and tho servants themselves. "' -Speaking with full responsibility, he said that if there .be a man who remained out of the scheme during the six months that he was entitled to avail himself of its benefits, then he was doing a foolish thing, and an injustice to his family. A great Struggle had to be made to get the railways superannuation scheme on the statute-book. The guarantee of, the country had to, be put behind- the scheme^ and if it had not been for the passing of that scheme, We would never have had- that -for. the public- servico. Before the railways superannuation scheme came into operation three" hundred men had arrived at the retiring age, but. they were, kept on untjl they could get the" benefit's oi Ihe scheme. Without the slightest reservation, he could also, state that there were men in the 'public service to-day who had been deliberately kepl^ on in the hope that there would be a superannuation scheme, and that they would have ease in their old age even if' they, only contributed to the, fund for a month or two. As. to broken time referred to by Mr. Blow, he said it was absolutely impossible for any Government in this country to make any exception or to give a board the power suggested. If, it w,ere done, it would have to be general. The difficulties, financial and otherwise, were very great. .So .far as the allowance to widows was concerned, he said that if the £1$ could haveibee'n increased, the thing would have been done. In addition there was a contribution for each child until it reached 'the age. of 14 years. If greater benefits were asked for and the scheme' was loaded'to'a greater extent, it would assuredly break downt The (superannuation* scheme for the Civil Service was ahead of that of any other country in the world. If improvement, could be made in the future, it would be done.- The Government's contribution of £20,000 per annum would have to be increased as the years went on. Theie would be ,a gradually recurring, and increasing subsidy from the State in order to keep the scheme rsound. He recognised tho need for a contented service, and the need for ensuring indepednence in old age. • With the superannuation scheme we 'would' have a powerful body of.,contented people, whose value to the state must be incrca&cd. After referring io the question of compensation, he again repeated that any civil .«ervant who lemained qutside the -superannuation scheme wa\s doing a wrong thing to himselL .During' next session of Parliament' 'it Svould be necessary to nittke. amendments to the education ?and " police i-upera'nnuation schemes in. older tha,fc. they r might' be placed on ' the tame* footing 'us. tlie civil servants... -He waspersnaded that it. could be done./. The people in 'the departments named , should' Ise put in a position of contentment, ' witV reasonable safeguards for the scheme from the. country. The natur.a.LcQrollqry.{6 w-hii'tj\vas..beii{g done now was that we -would eventually have a general Wfttem'' of annuities whereby any inUiyidua 1 wou'ldv- be ' ab'e * ip~ vrnlht into any" Post Office" Savings Bank and pay in a contribution -.which would make him entitled to an annuity. (Applause). Parliament aecog-'riised'. the value of n gpod public service, and lie was indebted for tlie kind references that had been made to what had been done. (Applause). ' .During the ■evening -refreshments were, served in the main hall, and.an.exlellent piogramme was contributed by Misses Eileen -Ward. f lyy : apd JMyitlo V'^ughlin, Messrs. C. Cimino,- A. H. Hainerton," H. M'Conijish, A. E. , Robertshaw,. /C K.Thompson, J. " Parkerr* Leslie -Hill, ' F. Rowley,. T. Piper, "and J. Connell. .' -' '. '. ' ' *. ". :i ■