NATIONAL EFFICIENCY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 9998, 15 June 1918, Page 8

NATIONAL EFFICIENCY

GOVERNMENT CRITICISED MAINTENANCE OF STATE SERVICES URGED. STATEMENT BY TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL. An announcement recently made by the Government concerning the proposed curtailment of tho Post and Telegraph Service has been considered by the Wellington Trades and Labour Council. After discussing the problem of national efficiency in its various aspects, the council has made the following general statement:

"Probably the greatest catchword of tho day is national efficiency. All sorts of people are writing on this great subject, as one of the solutions of tho war and after-war problems. Unfortunately, the idea does not seem to get beyond mere words in commercial circles, and, more unfortunate still, where it is initiated or practised in the Government departments, it has become a by-word and a subject for jest. Those in authority seem obsessed with the notion that tho only man who counts in war-time is the* man with the gun in his hand. They lose sight of tne fact that there must always be a complete chain between the military units and the community from which those units are drawn. In our judgment, this country has now reached the stage when we must seriously consider how much further we can go on with the matter of stripping ourselves of those workers who are of greatest service to the community. ESSENTIAL SERVICES.

"There is now a proposal to further curtail the Post and Telegraph Service and also the Railway Service for the purpose of diverting the man-power of the community to the military camps. Tho remarkable fact is that private employers are allowed to keep on w "h business very much as usual, while the curtailment is being exercised in the useful and very necessary public functions of railways and postal services. Very little exception might be taken to some of the proposals of the Government if it could be shown that an actual gain in efficiency had been the result. What are the facts? Kecently the Government reduced tho suburban railway traffic, to tho great inconvenience of a very largo number of people. Instead' of reducing the number of persons engaged in this traffic the Government only succeeded in stultifying a great public service—the railways—and enabling private enterprise to open up in a new line of business—the motor service

"A FARCICAL POLICY." i.i "7 16 .most remarkable example-of the farcical nature of the Government's railway policy is the curtailment of raoo trains. We make no mention ner© of the wisdom or otherwise of allowing race meetings to be held in war-time. The Government had tho power to prohibit these race meeting if they chose to do so. They have not so chosen, but they have refused to cater for the requirements of the pubiio. The result of this has been that where a couple of dozen men could efficiently c ope with the passenger traffic on race days, between 500 and IUUO men are required to drive the race patrons out and back. Probably the cost is double what it would he on the railways. The wear and tear on rolling-stock and on roadways, and the ore d 3nUSt b ° enormous ly inBTATE ENTERPRISE HAMPERED. the hands of private enterprise, enormously increased the cost of travel and has not , succeeded in doing anything m the direction of curtailing the racing activities of tho country As with railways, so with Post and Telegraph and other services. Efficient and capable men have been drawn away from pu bho service; the utility of State enterprise has been greatlv hampered without any apparent ad vantage Wo eubmit that public flC r vices should be efficiently nSaiUed" We subirut also, that the efficient so far practised by State departments has ful SdT 18 ! 111 doin S Wthing useful, and has thrown discredit upon the State as to if, methods and Ciness management." uuainess.