PUBLIC UTTERANCES

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 152, 29 June 1935, Page 11

PUBLIC UTTERANCES

MR. M^COMBS'S POSITION

WILL HE BE RESTRICTED ?

The candidature of Mr. T. H. McCombs for the Lyttelton seat and the leave of absence he lias been granted from teaching to enable him to contest the by-election have raised some doubt as to whether teachers are entitled to take an active part in politics and whether they ate subject to the same restrictions in this respect as other public servants, states the Christchurch "Press." Under the Public Service regulations, issued by the -Public Service Commissioner, civil servants may take "no active part in politics," other than by recording their vote, and under the Finance Act of 1932 teachers may be dismissed if they say anything in public which seeks to bring the Government into durepute. It has been suggested that before Mr. McCombs, who is a member of the staff of the Hichard Seddon Memorial Technical College, Auckland, could take part in a political campaign, as in the present case, he should have been obliged to resign his position as a teacher,- but apparently the teaching profession, regarded generally as a branch of the Public -Service, is exempted from regulations governing the employees of other Departments of State. The Director of Technical Education (Mr. W. S. La Trobe), to whom the question was referred, said that Mr. McCombs's leave of absence was purely a matter for his school board, and that the Department of Education had no right to refuse leave in such a case. Mr. McCombs had been to Wellington to confer with Mr. La Trobe, but departmental officers with whom Mr. La Trobe had discussed the position agreed with him that no barrier could be placed in a teacher's way if he desired to stand for Parliament. His school board •could consent or refuse to grant him leave of absence without pay, and with the board the matter ended. The teacher was regarded s an employee of the board and not of the Department. A PREVIOUS CASE. The same view was held by Mr. L. E. Rowley, secretary of the Canterbury Education Board. He said that there was nothing to prevent a teacher or any other employee qf an education board standing for Parliament, provided he applied to His board for leave of absence. The board could grant leave without pay, but if the candidate were returned he would be expected to resign his position as a teacher. The Education Board was his direct employing authority. Mr. Rowley referred to the case of Mr. H., C. Lane, a former secretary of the Canterbury board, who had stood for Parliament in the Christchurch South electorate against Mr. E. J. Howard. Mr. Lane had not resigned his position, but he had secured leave to conduct his campaign. Apparently, then, the regulations controlling the political activities of civil servants do not restrict the activities of teachers. The importance with which the Civil Service regulations are regarded was revealed in Christchurch during the last Lyttelton* by-election. A member of the staff of the Public Trust Office attended a political meeting which was addressed by the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, and during the meeting addressed several rather pertinent questions to the Minister. Later there was an official inquiry and the offender was reprimanded for what amounted to a.breach of the regulations."; RESTRICTION BY ACT. If these regulations do not apply in the case of Mr. McCombs, however, there are other, restrictions which must influence his activities during the campaign. Clause 59 in the Finance Act of 1932, a clause which has already stimulated much controversy, gives' the Government special power to terminate the employment of the officers of certain public services. The relevant clause empowers the appointing authority, with the concurrence of the Governor-General in Council, to terminate the employment of anyone in the education service who "by public statements, or statements intended for publication in New Zealand or elsewhere, has sought to bring the Government of New Zealand into disrepute." For a Labour Party candidate that restriction might appear to offer difficulties. ' ' FLOTILLA LEADERS According to the French naval journal "Le Yacht," the new flotilla leaders building for the French Navy are superior in armament to the, latest British cruisers of the Arethusa class. The vessels are the Mogador and Vol,ta, of 2884 tons and 38 knots speed. It is now revealed that each is to be armed with eight 5.5 in 88pdr. guns, four antiaircraft guns, and nine torpedo tubes. H.M.S. Arethusa is of 7200 tons, and has a speed of 32£ knots, her armament comprising six 6in guns, four antiaircraft' guns, and six torpedo tubes. The comparative weights of metal discharged at each broadside from the main armament are: Mogador 7041b, Arethusa 6001b. But since the 5.5 in gun fires 14 rounds a minute as compared with a maximum rate of ten rounds from the 6in the French ship would develop a much greater/volume of fire than the Arethusa. France has now, built and- building, 32 of these huge ."flotilla leaders," which are, in fact, light cruisers in all but name. Great Britain is debarred by. the London Treaty from building any flotilla leader above 1850 tons.