The New Zealand Times. MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1924. THE RAILWAY SERVICE

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12023, 29 December 1924, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1924. THE RAILWAY SERVICE

It is not altogether pleasant to the average' New Zealander, who is proud of his country and of the achievements within its borders of the people of the Dominion, to learn, that the railway authorities are looking around the world for a qualified engineer to fill the position of . chief mecbnical engineer v recently vacated by Hr Gillon. The reason is that New Zealand has. been enconraged to believe that the Bailway Service has bred large numbers of engineers capable of any constructive work required of them,, or any overseeing, ,or I any overhauling; ..*■ The management is based on the works designed and conj structed, viaducts,'spirals, and tunnels, one of them the longest in the Southern Hemisphere, and larger than any tunnel out of Europe. New Zealanders have been congratulating themselves on the fact that the technical requirements of jfbe Dominion are supplied from the ranks, of the men trained , in New Zealand. In law there are barristers second to'none in the world, who have received all.’their training in New Zealand, and many who, after. graduating in the legal profession, have-really! learned their work by practising in New* Zealand. The whole Bench of Justice, including the Chief Justice, is in one or other of these categories. In divinity New Zealand has not got quite so far, hut the distance of the level attained from the New Zealand ideas'of selfreliance is -not far. In medicine this' distance 'is greater considerably, because the development pf population.' is far from the point at which population is large enough to furnish the last word in medical training; At the same time,' it is admitted by competent authorities that the medical, training is good, and all of these express astonishment at the efficiency of all the local institutions. In the railway service the 1 idea holds that New (Zealand requires' no new Blood; that, in fact, the time' has come when the .promotions in the engineering branches of the Bailwky Service can be confined, with safety, to the service which has trained the .men. It is, therefore, a disappointment to learn that Mr Gillon’s position as 'chief mechanical engineer of the railways is not to he filled by promotion from the service. It appears, however, from the Railway Commissioner’s report, that the Commissioners think that' the mechanical side of the profession in the Railway Service has not fared so well as the constructive side. But even if this is correct—and we do not wish to raise any discussion . on that point—-it seems . to- us that the recommendations of the' Commissioners with. regard to senior, officers generally, would, if given effect' to, meet the case quite well. l Whatever! may be thought about the degree or ox-. tent of training of the mechanical en- f gineers in the Railway Service, there call;he hut one opinion about their! qualification—all must agree that their j training has. been good. Those who. know Mr Gallon's. work, and the work of his predecessors, and have had opportunities of seeing their suggestions as made to the railway authorities, and their reports on the suggestions made from; both inside and outside of the service, and all who have realised how the best inventions have been utilisedsuch, for example, as the Weetinghouse brake--are aware that the engineering standard on the mechanical side must he high. Is it high enough to rely on the travelling round the world recommended by the Royal Commission ? If so, all requirements of novelty can he met, and all positions, from the chief mechanical engineer downwards, should he filled by promotion from the service. The Commissioners had scant time to decide this most important ;point. .We cannot think the service

would be injured in the least by cancelling all the advertisements calling for applications for the chief position, and falling back on the practice of promotion from the service itself. New blood is a good thing, certainly. But to carry the desire for new blood to extremes is a bad- thing, even with the recommendation of a Royal Commission, of experts, who report without time to know the service, and begin with a bias in favour of the training they themselves have received elsewhere. /

When a new thing had to be done, the case for new blood is at the highest. A new system has become necessary for 'the control of the traffic and the distribution of rolling-stock. The Minister for Railways has decided that this requires that new blopd shall he brought in, which is conversant with such conditions as the new system involves. For seeking this new blood he must be held to be justified. He has but fulfilled a reasonable business condition of new development. “A hew position for a new situation’’ is reasonable proposition. Had. the filling of that position' been done according to the old rule followed in the case,of the chief mechanical engineer, it would have been better. The > competition of many applicants with unbiased, competent references for each would have secured the best man obtainable. In the absence of competition, who can say for certain that the best man available has been chosen? In the case of the man' selected as'the “only pebble on the beach,’ ’ there is nothing before the public that can obliterate the tinge of suspicion of ‘bias in the recommendations. Had the old open System been followed, the same man might hate got the appointment, and everybody would have said that he was “the only pebble on the beach.” We hope sinoerely. that the pebble will turn out the best possible for the public interest, and that when the time comes for judgment by results he will receive the fairest treatment at the hands of ail concerned.. That judgment would have to.be made in any case, but .with the old method of appointment the/ judgment would not have 'had the embarrassment duo to unprecedented preliminary procedure. For the- sake of the appointee himself we regret the new procedure, and for the sake oT the service we hope .that procedure l will not he fepeated.