Manawatu Daily Times WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1924. Unrest in the Civil Service.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3598, 2 April 1924, Page 4

Manawatu Daily Times WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1924. Unrest in the Civil Service.

A s the public pays the civil servant the public should know what la going on just now. There is unrest, and serious unrest, among the employees of the Slate. The Wages Board which has just concluded the hearing of evidence on the railwaymen’s demand for more pay is expected to present a report early next week. The deliberations of that Board have been marked by very plain speaking on both sides, and it is quite obvious that a report which will satisfy both sides will need to be a supernatural document. If the railwaymcn arc to be satisfied Mr Massey and his men will be required to find a big sum of money somewhere. If the railwaymcn are not satisfied, trouble of a very serious nature seems almost inevitable. To this little trouble must be added the obvious unrest in the other branches of the service

Unrest in the Civil Service. “A return to the 1914 standard of comfort per medium of the pay envelope,” practically sum's up the demands of that most efficient of all our big Slate services, the Post and Telegraph. As the public has to pay it is the duty of the public to make itself acquainted with the facts. Apart from the merits of the case it is quite evident that whatever is granted the taxpayers will have to pay. The claim made by the employees that they are instrumental in giving a fine service to the public will not bo gainsaid and their claim based on this record of service that the Industry should be able to pay a decent living wage to every man, woman and child employed should have very sympathetic consideration. It is certainly surprising, to say the least of it. to find that the skilled telegraphist of ten to’ twenty years’ service is drawing a smaller wage than third jclass carpenters working under present-day awards. On the facts as they are placed before the public there 'is certainly good ground for the P. and T. workers demanding a thorough investigation of their ease and as they are, at the moment, only claiming investigation of their claims they will have fairminded public opinion with them. ’ Soldiers and Foresters.

The association of convict settlements with Van Diemen's Land, retarded its development for' a hundred years, and eventually necessitated the change of name to Tasmania, before the world could get rid of its prejudice. The employment of extensive tree planting is an excellent departure in th e treatment of those who are afflicted by a criminal tendency But, already the very association of “tree planting" is regarded as a stain upon the family escutcheon. So evil arises from our best intentions, and the good work is at a d:scount. When the reproach is no longer applicable, there will be some hope of extending this splendidly unselfish work, and giving it a much wider scope. In war, our military operations destroy more trees than they do human lives. How appropriately then may those game military operations in peace time, be devoted to or combined with tree planting. The preparation of the land and the cave of the trees, combined with the necessary military discipline would form an ideal training for the defence of our Island home, and incidentally, would transform the profession of a soldier to one of useful Industry, worthy of the highest educational Ideals, instead ol its being as now, a costly and unpopular necessity to the country. Pastoral and agricultural, work are necessary to our immediate requirements, Tree planting is essentially

unselfish, it is a provision for future generations, Can w, not appropriately and profitably oumbino our forestry and military training departments? In Robin Hood’s day every soldier was a Forester, and in defence of his own country every Maori was a capable soldier because ho was a good Forester. A Worthy Step in Education. In collaboration with Mr Charles Warden, headmaster of the Queen’s Park School, the custodian of the Wanganui Museum, Mr R. G. Firth, has set an example which should be followed by every similar Institution in New Zealand. Once a week ‘Mr Firth addressed the senior scholars upon the history of New Zealand, from every point of view, whether R bo the Maori, the place names, birds, fishes, carvings, geology, etc. Each address is illustrated and rendered more interesting by the museum exhibits, of which, thanks to the late Mr S. H. Drew, Wanganui has a splendid collection, and Us exhibit of birds is said to be the best in New Zealand, This is one of the first instances in which a Dominion museum has been specifically used in this, the weakest branch of our education system. We would like to see this good thing come to pass in Palmerston North, where there are many men capable of assisting in c ach branch of our own history. The children eagerly assimilate the knowledge of their own home land, thus brought to the very door of their fresh young minds. .