MARGARET T. HARRISON.

Hawera Star, Volume L, 21 February 1931, Page 6

MARGARET T. HARRISON.

OVER-PAID CIVIL SERVANTS. (To the Editor.) Sir, —As a reader of your paper 1 came across a letter in your issue of the "18th over the non de plume of “Old ‘ Timer,” which interested me greatly. I am not prone to writing letters to the editor, but being one of those over-paid civil servants I feel that the least I can do is to give my support to “Old Timer.’’ He says that in order to partly meet the present depression the civil servants’ salaries should be. reduced by one-third. Sir, is this not a misprint? Should your correspondents statement not have read “civil servants’ salaries be reduced by two-thirds?” By what right should these sleek, silent and _ well-fed people be considered. They join the Government when in their youth, hang on to their jobs like leeches throughout the years, and when they are of no further use they are retired. Surely thev must (be aware that to-day long and faithful service is not rewarded. I quite agree with “Old Timer” that county engineers, clerks, school teachers and others are overpaid, in fact I would go further and say that everybody is overpaid excepting the few .thousands who are known as the backbone of the country. He is quite right when lie says that all this talk about standard of living is all bunkum. Of course it is. There was no “standard of living” in the Stone Age. In those days it was “the method of living” and, to quote “Old Timer,” “It was a matter of root, 'hog or die, or at survival of the fittest.’’ Now sir, why all this? Why not go hack to the times when a. knock on the cranium with a. club or spike was all that was required to keep peace and order? To me it seems as though we have become too civilised. Let ns get hack to our bullock drays—we can surely save enough from our reduced wages/to pay cash for one of these luxurious articles!—l am, etc.,