AGRICULTURAL OFFICERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17112, 18 March 1919, Page 5

AGRICULTURAL OFFICERS.

METHOD OF SELECTION, | A SOUTHERN COMPLAINT. The reorganisation of the Agricultural Department appears to have been aittenc A I with a good deal of dissatisfaction— |j so much with the reorganisation it- | self a3 with the manner in wh cli fa it has been carried out, says a B Wellington paper. The work has bean i m I bruited to Dr. Reakes, who has been te< I vated from the position of director of i:io livo stock division to that of Direct- rGeneral. The appointments and changes I ciready made have occasioned the rem. Rfc J that first consideration has been gi\an | to officers who have been " connec: ■'.& fj with the division controlled by Dr. Rea ea 1 m the past, and that, in fact, a policy of 1 " spoils to the victors " has been i >1- 1 lowed. It is admitted that one or tra I positions have feen created to suit cer- i tain officers of the fields division w-io | would probably have been successful in | appeals against the firstt appointments | made. On tho other hand, it is said that I! several senior officers connected with the 1 division of fields, which is now absorl ed 1 ty the live stock division, have been left, | although by long experience they w. re I quito capable of performing the duties oi 1 the positions to which junior officers of iha I live stock division have been appointed at | much increased salaries. It is suggested t' -it j| Dr. Reakes should have entered upon t ;ij 9 task of reorganisation with quite an oj m g mind and have banished all ideas that ha jg may have formed during his experience in Iff the Department. A Southern paper las || strongly advocated that an entirely rcw jp and outside man should have been ;.p-< || pointed to bo head of the Department. _ | v It has been noticed that under the rW, I organisation the principal administrate .a || positions are held by veterinary surgeons, n The critics say that while they have ev* ry IS appreciation tor the qualified and ski. :ul jar veterinary officer in his own particu ar §J line, they question tho wisdom of this po- H cedure in a country where the success uii. B tilling of the soil fa paramount. Nrv 5 Zealand is a great agricultural country, a they say, and under a progressive policy of m closer settlement must become more fo; 1 agriculture, therefore, must be the cl ef | function of the State and to it the ot; er 1 branches, such as live stock, dairying, § horticulture, etc., must be subside | Thus the chief development of the coun 17 jfl must arise from extensive farming ope; a- (| tionß, and this can hardly be orou liti j| to a successful issue under vet-erin.i 17; IE science alone. jg Generally speaking it is held that tha jij existing state of things calls for immediate § inquiry. 9