RELIANCE OF MINISTERS ON CIVIL SERVANTS CRITICISED

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 August 1947, Page 7

RELIANCE OF MINISTERS ON CIVIL SERVANTS CRITICISED

“It is astounding to me to know how little our members of Parliament know about the conditions surrounding things they are dealing with. They simply ask for reports from civil servants. In fact, I went so far the other day as to say that we will be governed by civil servants instead of our elected representatives,” said the chairman of the executive of the South Island Local Bodies’ Association, Mr E.. H. Andrews (Mayor of Christchurch) at this morning’s meeting at Greymouth.

Mr Andrew’s remarks were prompted by a report by Mr G. Rowley (Westland County Council) concerning the result of the association’s representations on the manufacture of white pine butter boxes on the West Coast. Mr Rowley had mentioned that, in an interview, the Commissioner of State Forests, Mr C. F. Skinner, had admitted that he was not aware that the Hokitika box factory had closed down. Reason for Complaint Mr Andrews added that he thought the members had reason to complain. Their representatives in Parliament should take a more personal interest in things referred to them, instead of referring them to civil servants. Mr Andrews went on to quote a case, of which he was aware, in which a Minister had dropped his own proposal for dealing with a certain matter to accept the suggestion of a civil servant, which proved a complete fiasco. “I do feel that we have some justification for criticising our M.P.’s in the South Island, who very often just take sides against us. They do not come down and investigate, but just take their officers’ word,” added Mr Andrews. “That is one reason why this association was formed and we are now getting somewhere, gradu-

ally, as the report given by Mr Rowley shows.” Outlining the negotiations which had taken place in regard to the manufacture of butter boxes on the West Coast, since the matter was discussed at the Dunedin conference of the association, Mr Rowley said that the reply of the “powers that be” that the humidity of the district made the industry unsuitable had been proved incorrect. Unaware of Developments Mi’ Rowley said that, in company with Mr W. M. Wallace he had visited Wellington and interviewed Mr Skinner. Mi' Skinner was not aware that the factory in Hokitika had closed down and had decided to take the mattex' up. Ultimately, a private company was formed and the factory was now operating, sending boxes to the North Island. Mr Rowley added that he could say it was through the efforts of the association that the factory had been able to keep going, and he felt sure that the association would advocate more boxes being manufactured on the West Coast.

In reply to a question by the chairman, Mr A. R. Elcock (Mayor of Hokitika) said he thought the private company was pretty well satisfied with its allocation of boxes.