RETRENCHMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20594, 19 June 1930, Page 14

RETRENCHMENT.

Sir, —Your correspondent "Why ?" asks, "Why not a 10 per cent, cut in the salaries of the civil servants ?" As ono of tho. public who sympathises with tho lot of the average civil servant it is, in my opinion, not a fair thing, whenever there is an economic depression,' to make a raid on civil, servants' salaries. .They have already suffered two cuts and most of them are underpaid. To refuse to pay a man the value of his services is, in plain English, daylight robbery, and I do not think the community will stand for this; I havo noticed that in prosperous times there is no agitation by tho well-to-do to have civil servants' salaries increased. From times to time civil servants are patted on the back and told that they are as : efficient as any service in tho Empire, but what the public wants to know is whether the New Zealand Civil Service is as well paid as any in the Empire. To suggest a further raid on the salaries of civil servants, who are not responsible for bad ttade, discloses such a bankruptcy of ideas on the part of people like your correspondent that it is no wonder trade is bad Even a tyro in economics knows that reduced salaries mean decreased purchasing power, which is obviously bad for trade "Why ?" says, "We havo far too many civil servants." Generalisations of this kind are futile—wo want details. Some people who havo more rapacity than sense seem to nourish an eternal grudge against civil servants ' How would the country get on without the civil servants ? As long as responsible Government exists there must bo a Civil Service, and tho greater tho. number of Acts placed on the Statute Book making provision for various social services in response to popular demands, tho more civil servants will be required to perform increased administrative and routine duties. If civil servants, then, are essential to a civilised community, why should they not be adequately paid for their services? Suuji CriQUK. June 18, 1930.