THE PUBLIC SERVICE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23113, 11 August 1938, Page 12

THE PUBLIC SERVICE

The Pyblic Service Commissioners in their annual report contend that increases in the number of servants of the State, concerning which there has been criticism, are due tc increased activities and changed working conditions, not to extravagant staffing of the departments. There is a good deal of force in the claim. It is obvious that the launching of new departments, the expansion of social services and the reduction of working hours all mean more staff, the increases being directly due to the policy of the Government. Last year's report gave figures and details illustrating these points. Two items alone, the establishment of the Primary Produce Marketing Department, and the creation of a Broadcasting Department, are significant of the developments which have helped to swell the army of State servants. These themselves have required still more expansion. It is explained, for instance, that the Audit Department has required more staff because the activities of other departments have increased, and because the Government has taken control of services not previously subject to Government audit—marketing and broadcasting being examples. A table given last year showed something of the growth in numbers between 1930 and 1937. The figures are for salaried officers, and cover only those under commissioner control, railways, and post office employees and teachers being excluded. The details are as follows Permanent Temporary Total 1030 7,803 '2,047 0,850 1033 7,302 1,783 0,175 1037 0,335 3,081 13,316 No comparable figures are given this year. The services expand when times are prosperous. If, or when, a downward turn comes, their reduction is a painful problem, because it is liable to affect the employment and the future of men and women who accepted appointment in good faith. These factors should be remembered by those who frame expansionist policies.