BRAINS TRUST

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12254, 9 April 1935, Page 3

BRAINS TRUST

“STEPS in’ RIGHT DIRECTION.” ENGLISH REVIEW OF POLITICAL 'ij . TRENDS. Ahgnmonts .in ;,support of the. creation hit the New, Zealand Government, of a ‘brains .trust’—which term refers to- the ' Rt. ,Hon J; G. Coates’s staff of economic advisers— -are • con tainted in the March number of the British quarterly. ‘The Hound Table’ Reviewing .{he development of.‘government- by : commission- and committee” the article points to. the inevitability of this trend because of the paucity in the-Public Service of men wtih specialised knowledge requisite to the needs of the day.

“The (1934) session' was. noteworthy fo'r a pronounced change in the method of governmerit,’’ the ’ article stal os “During the fast few years government by’ royal commission or bv select, committees has boon the bugbear of:.the political critics, who for the most part Seem equally afraid of the growth of power in the hand's of the bureaucracy and the imminence of government 'by .committees of experts. It .seems that one. or the other is inevitable.,in these days, of difficift economic problems. , “The civil service, of . New Zealand has not' been very successful in producing within its own ranks officials with -the .requisite training for dealing with such 'matters.- Our Governments. rarefy include any. Ministers who have any training in economics and political, science. -Mr Dowmo Stewart I who was in the Massey and Coates -. Ministries from 1921 to 1928 and the Coalition of, 1931-33). 1 .was a conspicuous exception. Consequently they have had to muddle through by tho old rule of ; thumb methods or to turn .in desperation. tq, commission after commission of ‘business men’ to solve their problems.. y ALEE OF SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE “When-they suddenly realised that tliq Government 'was 'beginning to act on, its . own . sources of advice on economic matters, .-certain critics indulged in facetious remarks about what they called the ‘brains trust. 1 ' obviously'.a’now feature in New-Zea-land .politics. ■ For the last two or three years the Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon .J-.-G-t.Coatesi has had on his staff a young •nmipher of the New Zealand civil .serrir-e. Dr R; M. Campbell, who spent, four years studying economics and. political science in T,ondon and the United States-,' and who accompanied Ale Coates to Ottawa in 1932. ' “Since resuming the portfolio of finance Air Coates has increased this side of his staff, and there is ample evidence that, this is a- step in the. right direction. Normally a civil service should train officers for such duties, but the New Zealand civil service has rigidly recruited its officers at the door of the secondary schools, at the age of 17 or 18, so that their only means of widening their knowledge thereafter is by attending as night students at the nearest, university college. The number of officers who have risen superior t-o this system and equipped them selves for the solution of ihe higher problems of public administration obviously could 1 not he great. ASSISTANCE TO MR COATES “Air Coates, who must be -given credit for taking liis politic;*! responsibilities with great seriousness, has seen the advantage of attaching to himself men who have been given special study iin schools of stanchng abroad, to the problems that are troubling- the country, and are at any rate equipped with some understanding of economic theory,""which is so repugnant to many well-moaning business men. The surprisingly competent manner in which Air Coates piloted the Reserve Bank Bil] through Parliament last year was tho first fruits of this policy. In the present session ho lias exhibited the Same competent grasp of various intricate economic measures that have come clearly showing evidence of a- preparation which would have neen impossible without such help.”