RAILWAY APPOINTMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18630, 11 February 1924, Page 6

RAILWAY APPOINTMENTS.

With the list of appointments just announced, the process of staff reorganisation in the Railway Department may be said to have definitely commenced. Chief interest naturally attaches to the changes at the head office, and nearest to the chief executive position in the department. A new first-assistant general manager has been appointed. As no special reservation has been made, it. has to be assumed that he now stands- direct heir to the position of general manager whenever it falls vacant. If that be the serious intention of the Minister it is sincerely to be hoped that he will follow the course repeatedly urged, by sending abroad the general manager-desig-nate to study the methods and organisation of railways in the older countries of the world. A few months expended in this manner would;, without question, give results the benefit of which might well be felt in New Zealand for many years to come. The adoption of this plan would amount simply to equipping the new man for the task which he will be called upon to assume. The Minister has announced that the vacancies have been filled without regard to seniority. A glance at the grading list shows this to be so ; the men who have been given promotion have not by any means been taken from the next lower step on the ladder. This proceeding may be regarded with mixed feelings by the railway officers themselves. The man of routine will no doubt resent it; the young, keen and ambitious officers will welcome it. From the public viewpoint two advantages can be placed foremost.' The more years of service before a man, the better, when he reaches such places in the service. Too frequent changes by retirement are disruptive, with a tendency to act prejudicially upon efficiency. The younger officer, moreover, should possess more adaptability and more powers of assimilation than the man whose best years of service are probably behind him. A little time may have to pass before the staff thus reorganised can reach its highest possible condition of efficiency. Allowing for that, it may still be maintained that on the results shown by the railways for the past few years, this attempt to strengthen the staff at, or near, the top, by retirements' and promotions was the natural step for the new Minister to take.