The Ensign. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1912. THE CIVIL SERVICE.

Mataura Ensign, 29 November 1912, Page 4

The Ensign. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1912. THE CIVIL SERVICE.

Against the Commissioners who havt been appointed under the Public Serviet Act of last session nothing can be sak personally. They are all men of ability —two of them exceptionally so. But w< must confess that we would have beer better pleased had a couple of huskies; men been appointed to the Board. T'lu gentlemen selected are all Civil Servants and have passed their lives ir that cramped environment. No doubt however, they have each shaken of their shackles to a large extent or thej would not have risen to their presem eminence in the service; for it cannoi be said that they have reached thai position by political preferment. Tlurj have not, however, rubbed shoulders with the workaday world 4 have not hat to devise the quickest and surest meani of getting 'through and pushing theii business when in competition with intellects as quick and keen as their own and they have not had the advantage of organising men under ordinary business-world conditions. The Roy a Commission under the chairmanship oi Mr W. D. Hunt appointed to inquire into the Civil Service was composed oi such men. It condemned the method: of most of the Departments of the Civi Service as costly, antiquated and wasteful, and recommended a Commission tr manage the Civil Service but considered that two of its members should bo obtained from the business world. It maj be that the Government eould not obtain these men. To appoint any bui the most capable would be folly, ant business men of great organising ability ask higher pay than the State is offering. Mr D. Robertson is one of the ablest men in the New Zealand Public Service, and will make a most efficient chairman. He is possessed of great tact combined with firmness and decision. He has made a thorough study of the principles, embodied in the Public Service Act, and we understand was of much assistance to the Ministry in its preparation, Mr Triggs has proved-him-self to be a man of outstanding worth. His selection from so many others for the position he at present holds under the Commonwealth Government is sufficient evidence of that fact. But whether he has the organising faculty where large bodies of men are concerned has not been proved so effectively as has been the case with Mr Robertson. Mr Thomson has to win his spurs m his new office. W'hile we wo\ild have been better pleased had the Government appointed two business men to the Board, we recognise the difficulty there would be in obtaining, at the "salary offered, men with the necessary qualifications. The new Commissioners will have ample opportunity of proving their capabilities, for the New Zealand Civil Service needs overhauling so that each individual may have an equal chance of promotion according to his or her ability. Although the minority of members oi the present Parliament have professed abhorrence qf the new departure, there is not one of them but will in his heart welcome the relief it affords from the persistent applications for Government billets. There is therefore very little chance of the Act being repealed if the Commissioners do their duty without fear or favor.