PUBLIC EXPENDITURE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10868, 7 April 1921, Page 5

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE

AND CALL FOR ECONOMY DUAL DEPARTMENTAL CONTROL OF ISLAND. CALL FOR INQUIRY. Under the heading “Economise 1” a correspondent of the “New Zealand Times” writes to the editor as under : “Sir, —I notice that all members ot the Tory Cabinet are stressing tho need for economy, and all temporary employees of the Government, including those who have “done their bit,” are to be discharged. Public works are to be reduced to a minimum I At the same time, advertisements appear in the local papers calling for jobs for immigrants, who are arriving by the thousands. Expensive , royal commissions, the sure sign of a vacillating Government, are touring the country. What about a Royal Commission to inquire into the way State departments are mismanaged, and especially into the want of 00-ordination between different departments. If private concern were run on the lines of State departments, it would be in the Bankruptcy Court in three months. Very many instances could be cited of dual control, unnecessary positions, • etc., hut the instance I am about to give (and the aocuracy thereof my informant vouches for) surely beats the band. Motuihi Island, near Auckland, where von Luckner and other Germans were interned, has an area of less than 500 aores, and yet it is in charge of two Government caretakers, both in receipt of about £3OO per annum. One is employed by the Department of Agriculture, and the other by the Department of Public,Health. This may seem strange, but it is a fact that can be verified by referring to the Public Service Classification List. It appears that the Health Department required a .representative on the island during the time' of the epidemic, and since ftou have forgotten all about him. Prior to 1918, the Department of Agriculture had charge of the whole island, and-'looked after the interests of the Health Department, receiving, I understand, a few pounds per annum in payment therefor. This position obtains to-day, I understand, at Somes Island, and the requirements of each place are identical. “The duties of the Health Department’s caretaker consists of answering the telephone when the other fellow wants to communicate with .Auckland, and perhaps offering up a prayer -or two for a patient to be put ashore in order that he won’t lose his job. Good luck to - him if be findß time to run a poultry farm at a profit—the poor fellow must do- something. “The money washed on a spare care taker or two does not matter; but •ex--amine last Estimates, and you will find provision for a new bouse at Motuihi Island for the caretaker of the Agricultural Department, at a cost of £IOOO. What ’does it matter if there are several suitable, unoccupied buildings already on the are under the control of another departmajjt. and must not be need. Provi—sion is also ifiade for buildings at Motuihi to accommodate quarantine stock at a cost of several thousand pounds. The present buildings have served their purpose for years, but being now under the control of the Department of Health, must be pulled down and fresh ones erected a few hundred yards away. ■ “My informant has not stated whether these buildings have been commenced or not, but the fact remains that grants have been passed for them, while necessary works are stuck up on account of the necessity for economising. Now, Messrs Guthrie and Parr, ‘get into holts,’ and say whose fault it is:”