THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6396, 19 December 1907, Page 5

THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

SUPERANNUATION AND CLASSIFICATION. RECOGNITION OF BENEFITS. GATHERING AT THE TOWN HALL. The social entertainment of the New Zealand Public Service Association given at tlie Town Hall last night to commemorate the passing of the Superannuation and Classification, Acts for tho public servants o£ tho Dominion was a very successful function. The concert chamber was attractively decorated, graceful palms figuring in various corners, while flags were tastefully arranged throughout the chamber. From the ceiling of the platform, and surmounted with the national colours, hung a motto, bearing on it n portrait of Sir Joseph Ward and the "Floreat Dominio Dux florcat Dominionis.”

The president of the council of the association (Mr E. Tregcar) read greetings from the Canterbury branch of the association. Apologies for absence were received from tdie Hone. J. McGowan and J. Carroll, Messrs A. R. Barclay, Laurenson, and Wilford, M.P/s, and Messrs W. G. Kensington and Frankland. Amongst those jircsent were Sir Joseph and Lady Ward; Miss Eileen, Ward, his Honor Mr Justice Button, his Worship the Mavor (Hon. T. W. Hislop), Hons. C. M. * Luke and T, K. Macdonald, M.L.C.'s, Messrs Fisher, Aitken, and Izard, M.P/s. Under-Secretaries and heads of departments. THREE YEARS' EFFORTS.

Mr E. Tregear. moved — That tlie thanks of this meeting be accorded to the members of the late Civil Service Superannuation Committee for their indefatigable labours during the past three years In the interests of Superannuation for the Service. The mover said he would leave to other speakers references to the part played by the Premier in carrying through the legislation, the passing of which was being celebrated. Before the passing of the Civil Service Superannuation'Act members of the Service had very Httlo to hope for. After a Civil servant loft the State Service ho would then go cheerfully to meet Death, which would extend a hand and say,/‘Allow me to welcome you to a hospitable grave. Thanks, to the unsparing efforts of the Superannuation Committee in keeping the matter under the notice of tho Ministers, Civil servants now had more to look forward to at the end of their service. For two years Sir Edward Gibbes was the chairman, and then Mr ; George Allport took that office. By. the untiring efforts of its secretary (Mr Fraser) the work was 'kept going from year to year. The Classification Act would he a good thing. There was nothing wrong with the Civil Service, hut a little daylight would not hurt. Tlie fact' that all < positions, salaries and privileges in the Service would be reviewed by a Civil Service Board would be a very good thing for the Service. SOME SUGGESTIONS.

Mr H. .T. H. Blow, Under-Secretary for Public Works, in seconding the motion, said the committee had striven for a worthy object, and had the satisfaction of knowing that the Act was on the statute-book. They now rested from their labours with knowledge of their work well done, and no words of his could add to their satisfaction. It was very fitting that the Civil servants should accord the committee thanks for their persistent labours.; Tho Act was all the better for the suggestions made by the committee, who knew the needs of the service and its officers. It was with much satisfaction that the Civil servants saw abolished the word "temporary” from the designation of, many now in the service; notwithstanding that a man might '■have been in the service for thirty or forty years he was still called “temporary. By the Act recently passed every Civil Servant after five years’ service was declared to be a permanent servant, and entitled to the benefits of classification find superannuation. It was, ho thought, just as well the public should know that every Civil servant paid Into this fund for the benefits he received- One feature of the Act which required amendment was the Blender provision made for widows. The amount now allowed in such case was ,£lB per annum; no woman could possibly exist on that, and she would have to apply for the old age pension (,£26) as well. If the Government had added another £6, and thue made the possibility of ’the allowance .£SO, it would have been a liberal thing to do. (Applause.) "GOOD AND JUST MEASURES.”' 1 Mr G. Allport (chairman of the Superannuation Committee), in responding, assured his hearers that the outlook was not very promising when the committee commenced to work for a Superannuation. Bill. Some 'became disheartened when a Bill did not eventuate the first year, but thev were advised to go on, and thanks mainly to the present Prime Minister, a Bill was passed’in the third year. It had been said that Civil servants were paying for much of what they got, but they were not going to pay a sufficient amount, by a long way, to provide the pensions they would receive, and they ought to lie grateful to the Government and the country for having agreed to contribute in tho manner which was done, enabling a substantial pension to be paid to each member of the service upon his retirement. (Applause.) Tho country had made a good investment by inducing capable men to enter its service and remain there, for this was what tho Superannuation Act would do. Ho also regarded the Classification Act as a good measure which would give satisfaction. The only defect he saw was that it placed the members of the service too much on the same level, removing from the smart man the inducement to do his best if he saw less competent men placed on the Same level as himself. _ But they must trust to the Classification Board to do justice, and to the heads of departments to recommend clever men for promotion. They had to thank Parliament for passing two good and just measures. (Applause.) • THANKS OF'THE SERVICE.

Mr D. M. Luckie (Deputy Insurance Commissioner) moved—- " That the members ~of the Public Service preent at this meeting respectfully desire to express their frratitnde to the Hxffht Hon. the Prime Minister and the Government for having caused the Public Service Superannuation and Classification Acts to be placed on the statute book/’ 1

Mr Buckie remarked that It was difficult to eulogise the Premier in his presence, but Ins deeds spoke for him. The vast bulk of Civil servants joined as cadets, and would be able to retire long before reaching the age of GO years. It , was a pleasure to him to hear public testimony to the courtesy, kindness, and consideration extended by the Premier to those , interested in the passing of the Superannuation Act. and he would also like to thank those members of the Opposition who had helped it forward. Mr D.' Robertson, Secretary of Post and Telegraphs, seconded the motion. He said those of them in the service who remembered the'bad days of the eighties must feel very much as though tlm\' were dreaming a dream. However, the pleasant things of life lasted longer than the reverse, and he tbougnt the pleasant things they had got now would carry them on to the end of their term. It bad been said that the Civil Service had made a good bargain; but so had the State. The money value of a contented service wa** difficult to estimate, and by the hardening up of the service as a result of this legislation the State was

the gainer. According to a recent tost, made In his department, it was proved that the average rale of work in New Zealand was higher tha'n in any country in the world. If the same tot were applied to the Civil Service generally ho thought the results would bo exactly the same, owiug to the better feeling prevailing from improved conditions. (Applause). THE PREMIER’S SPEECH. The Premier met with an exceedingly enthusiastic reception. Ho expressed pleasure at seeing so large a gathering of Civil servants, and said it was a good thing do be able to hear expressions of opinion in regard to the Superannuation Act from leading members of the service. There were many Civil servants throughout the country who did not realise the full significance of tho Act, though they had a better knowledge of what was meant by classification because a scheme of classification had worked for a considerable. period in two departments. To tho members of the Superannuation Dill Committee lie would like to say that the service owed a very great deal. They were .reliable, level-headed men, and it was idle and futile for the whole service to have expected them to obtain from him, as representing the Government, acceptance of any proposals if they were of an extravagant kind. If ans’thing of the sort had been attempted there would have been no Superannuation Act on the statute book, but the committee showed wise discretion, discernment, and good judgment.

A DIFFICULTY. The Civil Service in ; New Zealand was old compared with the age of tho country. It was because of that fact that there was a supreme difficulty on the part of tl\e* Government in putting on the statute’ book a Superannuation Act, forty years after some of tho men had joined the service, the incidence of which must bo light in its burden upon the members of the service. If a superannuation scheme had been commenced forty years ago, probably tho Government would have been able to “fix a universal contribution, rate of 3 or 4 per cent, for everyone in tho service, but the country had grown np, tho old men in tho service ,were leaving, and those who remained must a fill the void. Thus higher rates of contribution were essential unless they wanted the whole scheme to break down. He impressed upon all' those in the service necessity of taking advantage of the scheme. If there was a man with any responsibility on his shoulders, or tho possibility of incurring responsibility, and he stood out from* the scheme on sentimental grounds, he would be doing what would be most unjust to himself and lus family, and doing a very foolish thing. (Hear, hear.) There was n very great struggle to got the Railway Superannuation Act upon the statute book, the task being very difficult indeed for the reason that a distinguished member of the service, Mr Fox, reporting upon the scheme, stated that there was no chance of placing it on a good footing with the contribution alon'e,' but tho alternative proposed by tho speaker, of providing a State guarantee, disposed of the difficulty. LONG SERVICE REWARDED,' For three yeaVs prior to the passing of the Railway Superannuation Act there were 300 men in the service who had arrived at an age when they could have retired, but they wore not called upon to do bo. Recognising the responsibility devolving upon tho country towards men who had served it faitufully, lie felt justified in. suspending the retirement of tho whole of them, so that they could secure the benefits of* the Superannuation Fund. In the present instance there were men who had been kept on deliberately in. the hope that there would be a superannuation scheme, so as to ensure them having ease in their old age, even though they lind not contributed more than a month or two. (Applause.) Could any man with responsibilities devolving upon him argue that he should stand aside from the scheme because of the ago limit? At the age most men entered tho service they would scarcely bo fifty or fifty-live when they would b© able to retire at their own Will;* Hardly any'member of the service would have to go-on until he was sixtyfive, for tho reason that ho would have served forty years long beiore that. BROKEN TIME. A In regard to the question of broken time, f there was an idea that tho Superannuation Board was to be empowered to deal with . individual cases of apparent hardship it should be dismissed, for It was absolutely impossible for any Government to make exceptions which would be invidious unless they propounded a scheme by which broken time was to bo counted for in all branches of tho service. There was only one way in which they could do it, and that was by Act of Parliament. He did not say that something could not be done, but he wanted to make it clear. that if they expected such a power to he conferred, unless they- made it general they would . create grave disaffection amongst a large section of the service—the railways. It it had been possible to have made the grant to widows higher than <£lß it would have been done without pressure from, anyone; hut ho v. an afraid some of them did not realise what conditions were contained in tho Act. If they did, th?y would see that the difficulty which presented itself to the Government in this , respect was almost insuperable- If they increased the benefits, they must have increased contributions, and if they did it with-, out increasing the contributions they would break down the scheme. With reference to widows, in addition to the amount allowed them there was a grant for each child until it reached the age of fourteen years, and the payment went on until then unless the widow remarried. They would not, have -been able to place idle measure on tho book if -they bad proposed the extra benefits suggested. Moreover, under the railways superannuation scheme ' tho payment widows received was .£lB, and the Government would require immediately to have lifted the rates in that Department to the contributors so as to have corresponding, benefits to those That were being -asked for" under the Civil Service Bill. They now had on the sta-tute-book a system that no other country could touch in its liberal benefits and the conditions of life provided for. THE STATE'S CONTRIBUTION.

The scheme, however, was not like the laws of the Modes and Persians, and was capable of improvement, but they must , remember this potent fact, that in addition to the J 320.000 a year which the country was now- contributing, at any time if that amount was found to bo insufficient, the country was bound by Act of Parliament to provide the increase, whatever that might be. They knew from the actuary that the amount in time must be increased to .£50,000 or .£60,000 a year. He believed that without a contented service the country did not get the full value in return. It was proper that the country should pay its servants well so as to secure attachment to the service, and thus retain its employees. He believed they would get that attachment as a result of this Act. He paid a tribute to the signal service rendered by the actuary, Mr Fox, in thus matter. He hoped that next session of Parliament two, other branches of the public Service,, police and school teachers, would be given the opportunity of coming into this scheme, and with .the support of members of Parliament, ho trusted an amendment would be made giving them the advantages possessed bv the Civil Service under the present Act. He was persuaded that the scheme could be made sound with these admissions. He recognised ’.hat this country would require to haye g. general scheme by which everyone would be able to arrange at any post office for an annuity on making certain payments and which would ensure tne same results to the general public as wore now enjoyed by the Civil Service.

Applause.) On behalf of bis colleagues and himself he thanked those present for.the kindly way in which the motion had been submitted and so enthusiastically carried. In passing the -Act. Parliament had recognised the value of a good public service, and bis own desire was that the sendee should be always as good as it was to-day, conferring full

value upon a country winch wns grateful to it tor the good wo vs it had dona. (Applause).

MUSICAL PROGRAMME. Several selections, which were warmly appreciated, were given by an orchestra comprising -Messrs W. McLaughlin tconductor), O. Ciniiuo, A. H. Hamertau, H. McOomish. G. A. Oormack, A, F. Robertehaw, T. K. Thompson, ,T, Parker, ami Misses Ivy and Myrtle MoLaughiin. The vocalists, who provided exceedingly enjoyable numbers and were encored, were Miss Eileen Ward, Messrs J, Connell, and Leslie Hill. An instrumental trio was contributed by Messrs Piper, A. H. Ilamerton, and F. Rowley.. On behalf of the committee, the .chairman, Ur Tregcar, thanked those ladies and gentlemen wlio had contributed to the musical programme, and ho also Expressed acknowledgments to Mr J. McDonald, of tho Tourist Department, and Messrs J. .W. Hill, P. S. Waldie, W. Godfrey, and G. E. Smith, who had undertaken to provide items, but which were crowded out owing to the lateness of the hour.