CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENTS

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 97, 22 April 1909, Page 3

CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENTS

The Civil Service Journal, the Civil Service Association's official organ, has something to say regarding the large number of retirements recently announced in the Government, service. It has a qualified kind of approval for the step taken by Cabinet, "There is no doubt whatever that the decision of Cabinet to retire all public servants who have reached the age of sixty-five years meets the approval of the service as a whole. Since the,vast majority of the public officers have not reached that age, to retire the elderis would naturally please those to whom such retirements open the gate of njromotion; of promotion not only to the few wilio succeed to the special offices vacated, but to each and every one along the upward-sloping lines of position. If, however, the present executive finds itself able to carry out the retirements without exception it wul have done more than any previous Ministry has beeii able to do, for the scheme is by no means an, original one, although the passage of tne Superannuation Act to the statute book makes the difficulty less than it has hitherto been. When it comes to the practical test of departure, many ■reasons will be proffered for its nonobservance in certain cases. There are not only varieties of pressure to be exerted —political, social and other — but there are two legitimate obstacles exceedingly difficult to surmount. The first is that when men have been State servants of importance for many years they have attained to much expert knowledge, and the suddem removal of such men to give place to others would be, if not necessarily embarrassing to the particular department affected, certainly a loss of much ripe experience and of valuable information to the country. The other is that in many cases, ©specially among the more poorly-paid officers and those of short service, the retiring allowance will be so meagre, and sovery near starvation, point that it will be a most unpleasant duty for those in authority to turn valued old public servants adrift to something like public charity. We shall have to wait to see the results of the circular ire retirement before drawing full conclusions, and it will probably be wiser to ' prophesy after the event.' " The Journal sincerely trusts that men retired through weight of yearns will not be succeeded by others nearly of the same age, if this is done simply to allow retirements on the higher salary.