ARE WE ON RIGHT LINES?

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 121, 18 November 1936, Page 10

ARE WE ON RIGHT LINES?

THE BEST MEN FOR PUBLIC

SERVICE

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—May I say a word about the Public Service Commissioner's statement concerning entrance to the Civil Service? When the Public Service Commissioner tells us that academic standards in the service "compare more than favourably" with those of any country in the world, he is saying something that is difficult to understand. Do the heads of our various Departments "compare more than favourably" in point of talent and character with the corresponding officers in England? It would be absurd to expect it. When he tells us, on the other hand, that the average level of competence in the service is high—some 2000 civil servants, he tells us, have degrees or diplomas—he is on firmer ground. The average level of competence is probably high and probably does compare more than favourably with some countries. But that tells us nothing about the men at the top. The average of routine competency may be fairly high and the leadership may still be quite inadequate. That the present leadership is in fact regarded as inadequate may be inferred from the haste with which successive Governments in an emergency have turned to outsiders for help. For half a dozen years we have seen a stream of outside experts called in to do what is the work of a highly-trained Civil Service. The question is not, are we doing the right thing by our Ehodes Scholars but /are we getting the best men for the Public Service? New Zealand, in common with all civilised countries, is committed to a vast system of public services, and it is of the greatest importance that these services should attract the best men. Are they doing so? Are we getting the best available men? The question allows a simple answer. The University of New Zealand has for a great many years, as a result of most careful selection, picked out its best men and women and sent them abroad for postgraduate study at the world's best universities. Will the Public Service Commissioner tell us how many holders of travelling scholarships of the University of New Zealand have been secured for the Public Service by the Public Service Commissioner. I stress the words "by the Public Service Commissioner." Will he give us the names, present positions, and salaries.' We scarcely need his reply to enable us to see that the Public Service Commissioner, like his predecessors, is suspicious of highly-educated men as such. He speaks of culture only in inverted commas, as if it were something spurious The distinguishing mark, he tells us, of members of the English diplomatic service—the envy of all other civilised nations—is a "classical polish," a shining surface with nothing underneath. He goes on to tell us that a system that allows admission to highly-quali-fied men on special terms is "not in keeping with our democratic forms. This seems to be the language of a man who goes through the world with his eyes shut. „..,£, Surely what we need is a Civil Service examination for men and women of from twenty to twenty-five, admitting after a period of probation, to an upper division from which eventually all important administrative posts shall be filled. It should be a very searching examination, of a general cultural character, by no means only in writing, and it should be open to members of the lower division as well as to others. (There is no reason why exceptionally promising young members of the lower division should not be given travelling scholarships to enable them to compete for admission to the upper division.) To say that such an examination, m a country where education is free and scholarships numerous, is "not in keeping with our democratic forms" is humbug. What the opponents of suca an examination dislike is not unfairness or "backstair influence" but simply ability itself. If democratic forms require the perpetuation of mediocrity then democratic forms are doomed.—l am> etC" HAROLD MILLER. [In fairness to the Public Service Commissioner it, should be explained that he did not make a "statement, but was interviewed by a "Post' representative. The quotation marks attached to "culture," "classical polish, and other expressions in the interview as published were not inserted by Mr. Mark, and should not be interpreted as displaying any intention to imply disI nsraeement or ridicule.—Ed.]