PUBLIC SERVICE PILLORIED.

NZ Truth, Issue 475, 25 July 1914, Page 7

PUBLIC SERVICE PILLORIED.

COMMISSIONERS' REPORT CONSIDERED.

A JUMBLE AND JARGON OF PHRASES AND FIGURES:

# Females Barred From Public Positions.

At last "TonaP-' Robertson, Public Service Commissioner appointed by the Neroic Herdman and his other "old man of the sea," has brought down his second Annual Report, dated June 5, 1914. . , » k "Truth" has not the slightest hesitation m branding- it as a farcical attempt by "Tonal" to justify his and his satellites' appointments. It is sim,ply and purely an. "ex-parte" statement and. _ the reports of ; the Committees attached are on the same plane. The members of the various Committees . -were well chosen from friends of "Reform" m the service, supporters of the Commissioner system,' and even include ■•'.-.',. '■; ' A MEMBER OF THE COMMISSIONER'S OWN STAFF, -one Verschefeldt^ as alao a/ convert to -_th'e cause of Reaction, Jimmy Hislop, "'of the Internal Affairs Department' and late secretary to Sir Joe Ward. ■ This effusion Ist stated by "Tonal" to have cost £145 for printing; but the main cost of it— its preparation by Various . departments — is discreetly co,vered. This paper wonders how many departmental officers were engaged m its compilation, how much time was occupied and what was the extent of dislocation m the work of eacn office for the time being? Our readers may rest assured that these interesting and illuminating facts wiil never be disclosed, voluntarily. An attempt has been made to glean from the pages of the report what promised reforms, m an already cumbrous . Civil Service, had been effected, but . the . investigation .proved fruitless. Inquiries were,, then instituted through.out .the numerous offices m Wellington, when it,wsfs found that the consensus of opinion pointed' to the fact that the DOCUMENT .WAS ABSOLUTELY , -'I A SHAM. ' In view of the' conspiracy of silence • end suppression that has actuated the trio of highly paid Commissioners, it is { now our pleasurable duty,-for the benefit of' our readers, to point out a number of matters which "Tonal" Robert- , son has conveniently ignored. Re- • garding staff' records, -we have ascertained thatj under the previous system, where, each department managed its own staffing, and rightly so,- one clerk used to do the work m addition to his ordinary duty. Now, m many • instances, his time is solely occupied ; with the special work of the triplica- . tion and quadru^Ucation of the vari--1 ous forms brought: in. The extra ex^ pense incurred m this comparatively small item is, we are informed on the , most reliable authority, fairly considerable. ■•';:;.. The reported savings effected contain some half-lies. In the cases of a largo, number of messengers, who have been supplanted by boys on motor machines, the public, are asked, to believe % that the whole of the salaries paid to the messengers, bo dispensed with, . is ■■ saved. f'Truth" delicately points out to Herdie that such is ,not the case, because each messenger, on his retirement, COSTS THE STATE, ON ACCOUNT ■', OF PENSION, thirty shillings per week. An expamaruvian, m close touch with this paper, informs us that the biggest "schleinter 7 m the report is the claim for the saving of £200 m connection . with i:he closing of the Oamaru branch of the Government. Life Department. This was, he says, talked of m Oamaru some three years; ago. and the resl- ■; dents of that city are well aware of ( the facts. There are plenty of instances qt a similar nature m the report, but these two will suffice. A further saying is mentioned by Robertson m regard to the. amalgamation of departments. It is proposed to include the Old Age Pensions m the 1 Treasury and the National Provident and Friendly Societies with the Gov- , ernment Insurance. From a knowledge of the public service and its requirements, this paper is i>f opinion that, m view of the common principle's underlying these institutions, the three should be grouped into a separate ' Department to.be called, say, "The Mutual Provident Department" Then, again, we consider that ♦'Accident" and "Fire 1 ", should be amalgamated as neither of these sections * ■ IS SUPPOSED TO DECLARE.. A BONUSES. ■• > This arrangement would be more m keeping with the methods employed by outside business offices. If "Accident" j and "Life" were separated, tho policy j holders m the latter would bo ablo to get larger bonuses and not be held up to ridicule m comparison with tho Australian Mutual Provident and other ofces. A short tlmo ago* this was dono by an Australian paper, who contrasted j the A.M.P. and the New Zealand Go- j vernment Llfo, much to the latter'a dis-^ j advantage, and argued, from these premises, against tho inauguration of State Departments of a similar natura m tho Commonwealth, " ! Wo havo boon informed by a leadIng politician, who took a very promiincnt part m tho promotion of Govorn- I mnnt Accident Insurance, that tho ' "Llfo" policy-holders have had to carry tho "Accident" baby too long and ' should now bo freed from the burden, j He informs us that the big bulk of tho j "Accident" branch is charged against tho "Life" funds and that this point has been overlooked by Robertson and Co.-— strong EVIDENCE OF THE PERFUNCTORY • EXAMINATION of tho Life Department by him. There Is another suggested mix up— Trades and Industries are to Include, amongsL^pthcrs, Mines, Marines and l'atcntsPPs^w, theso Departments require spceuulsta In Mineralogy, Nautical matters and Law; but, though Robertson knows nothing practical of the mineral, nautical of legal aspect, ho has the cool, cheek to suggest such a conglomerate In charge of one head. Somebody has been pulling hla leg, aurely enough. "Truth" might nuggest, with Just aa much sanity as Robertson, that the whole Public Service cuboadlc m tho Dominion should bo grouped In three main dlvlHlon»~Law, Finance and Commerce—and that Andra Thomebn, Trlggs «^nd "Tonal" should be placed In chargo of each respectively. Complaints, m regard to Departments nojfc falling, into lino- .with the

Commissioners' suggestions, are not to be wondered at, because the general run of the Departments, who really are cognisant of. the asininity of many of Triggs's freakisms, are opposed to re- I volutionislng their systems, which they are just as, competent to value as "THE MECHANICAL FREAK." . This, of course, leads to the question of the game of "sucking departmental brains" which has been instituted by the Commissioners. A system of supposed awards for suggestions from members of the'service was created and officers were asked to 'send m the results of their interest, m their work. This was simply and plainly a paltry trick to hoodwink the officers. Suggestions were made by several, but, instead of receiving promotion or a monetary reward, some of them were practically told that their ideas were borrowed from other departments. In one case a reward was granted— in another, although the officer worked hard at his scheme for months, he was promptly turned down by -Triggs. Some of the small, fry have been promised that their names, will be published m the honors cplumn^of the "Public Service Journal," but there the business ends. Three members of "Tonal's" late department scored acknowledgments. In connection with, the case of A. G. Clarke, who is an officer of the Post and Telegraph Department at Auckland, it would be interesting to know ' , ' HOW FAR ROBERTSON FOSTERED THE IDEAS when he was' head of the Department On page 4 of the Report, there is a very amusing instance of cool .effrontery on the part of the' Chief Commissioner, who, m the past "was not recognised, by any means, as the most brilliant of Departmental heads, wherein ho sets out to criticise certain other "heads" from the commercial °br business standpoint. Here we would pause, for just a moment and pertinently ask the Chief Public Service Commissioner what he knows about modern commercial methods or what indeed, either of his " factotums, Thomson or 'Triggs, knows. The- Report recommends that members of District Offices should visit the head office to acquire up-to-date knowledge .of Departmental matters and that the "heads" should visit the outlying offices. This means extra expense and "Truth" wonders why, as a more sensible plan, "Tonal" did not suggest that none but thoroughly equipped officers should be sent out and the incompetent ones called m. We notice that "the Chief" has a tilt at the INCOMPETENCE OF THE POLICE , . , OFFICERS, m charge of certain public offices. Is this; a hint to -Herdie ' to ■•■ bring the "Johns 1 ' under "Tonal's" rule, or is it an attempt to show up the Ignorance of members of the "Foorce"? These questions engender thoughts 'on Departmental trickery and political collusion between "Rainbow" Fisher and the Neroic Herdman m the appointment of Constable Stevens to' the 'District Office of tho Old Ago Pensions Department over the heads of officers who have served for years m the department. ■ Wo do not question Stevens's character; but we strongly question the game worked by Fisher and Herdman m connection with a most unjustifiable infringement of a recognised rule against the transfer of a police officer to the Civil Service. The fact is that "Stevie" barracked hot and strong for Herdie at the, last election; and, as the head of the Police Department happens to be a strong friend of the "cop," fearing no protest from tho head of the Pensions Department — which assuredly should have been made-i— the political issue was "dead easy" for Stevens. The head of the John Department had > NOT THE SLIGHTEST OBJECTION TO PARTING with the "cop"— the average, man m blue can tell you all about that little part of the game. "Tonal" knows tho whoi© "ins and outs" of the "fix up" and it is not far away from the bull's eye when it says, as In the Royd Garlick affair, that the respective wives of the "heads" and "Steevle" may be very firm friends. , The Report then deals with Shorthand Writers and Typistes, and complains of their average abilities and deficiencies m general. Here, again, we have not the slightest hesitation In saying that the monetary inducement offered by the Commissioners is absolutely inadequate to tho proficiency expected. Tho tests submitted, professional typists who havo ;beo,n In private practice and. in the Public Service for 10, 15 or 20 years, declare to be exceedingly difficult, whilo the paper submitted for correction would have puzzled the "Dominion's" proof-reader. Anyhow, it is a significant fact that, since the Commissioner system came Into force, typistes fight shy of the Public Service. Cheese-paring and straw-splitting go on m connection with the smaller positions and offices, whilo the COMMISSIONER SWALLOWS A WHOLE "CAMEL" when dealing with tho big man. Anent this "Truth" wants to know why the Commissioner has barred the girls of tho Dominion from public positions and why the Public Service Examination list has been closed to females? Theso arc questions that every mother and daughter should put to "Reform" candidates during tho forthcoming election. On page 61 of this precious document now under review wo notice that one "sprat is thrown out to catch a mackerel." Thirty- three officers of tho Defence Department have £120 doled out amongst them for services In connection with the "spes-hells"' camp at Buckle-street, Perhaps Paddy Webb or John Payne, Ms.P., will Inquire what these services were. Wo notice that the great and only Majah O'Soollvan ngurcs for twenty- four quldlots out or tho dole, while others Jigure for a mode.it lutlf-sov. Machines loom larsuly »nd here we trace tho hand of TriggM. Tho report, In thl« aectlon. rovwils U«elf more «nd more a« an "ox-pnrte" statement. We havo before u« a wimple of a plcco of ..paper which purports to bo a receipt

from a machine. We unhesitatingly declare it to be ONE OP THE GREATEST MONSTROSITIES that ever came out of a business office. No decent Chow would use it, much less a reputable trading firm. Here is a copy of it: NEW ZEALAND , STATE COAL. DEPOT. 001 44 WELLINGTON. A C IT 113*0 A 0005 May 14 14 Coal ACIT • 5 0 A 0006 „ „ Slack AX 30 4 6 6A 0007 .. .. Coko AWX 10 0 A 0003 „ „ "Wood There are no name' of the purchaser, no signature, no initials. We can only conjecture what would happen should there be a rush of busy people and a block ensued. The clerk at the counter first writes out a statement m. pencil m a carbon book — this, of course, takes time. He then places it m a machine, presses the push button of the cash register and hands out the so-called receipt — incomplete as stated above — which , THE AVERAGE PERSON CANNOT . UNDERSTAND without a good deal of cogitation. It may bo questioned whether this un-buslness-like looking piece of paper is a legal document — surely it should be acknowledged by some authority and bear his sign-manual. Next m succession comes the question of Furlough and Officers' Leave. On page 17 will be found the ominous fact that Dr. Valintine, of the Health Department, is away on extended leave for six months — this is again playing to the big man with a vengeance. Side by side with this must be placed another instance which ,we noticed m a previous article — the absence of J. H. Richardson, Commissioner or the Government Life Insurance Department, carrying a salary of £1000 per annum, from his ofllcial duties while attending to Appeal Board work. On page $6, Richardson, referring to a "series" system, says, "inter alia": "My prolonged absence on the Appeal Board has naturally thrown a special strain upon my senior subordinate officers and thechange has been somewhat delayed." This is PRETTY STIPP ON THE POLICY HOLDERS, but, despite this admission that Richardson's undergrads are suffering, the Deputy Commissioner, W. B. Hudson, has left on a trip to the "Old Dart" fog a fcngthy period. If this is not playing "ducks and drakes" with the Department, whilo "Tonal" smilingly agrees, "Truth" wouid liko to know what is. A aluffed and oveV-staffed service next comes under review. The report is singularly interesting and lucid on one point at least, viz., the justification or its opposite of the statement made by Herdie, Rainbow Fisher and the whole Tory horde of "Reformers" tit the last general election. We were told that the service was Btuftcd and, m an article published some weeks ago, we gave proof of the Rainbow's stuffing m the caso of messengers. From gleaned Information, wo arc satisfied, beyond tho shadow of a doubt, that the "Reform" push has shoved a- whole host of Us friends \nto the service as "temporary" clerks. We know where they arc and it la being done under cover of tho Department of Internal — or Infernal — Affairs with Jimmy Hislop at Ita head. But we will take the Report, itseir, as our authority. On page 32 it Is said: In tho tablo It will be found that tho net increase to the staff during tho financial year was 431 and the amount £25,402, of which amount £18,109 REPRESENTS TEMPORARY CLERKS made permanent and £2400 adjustments on the first classification by the Board of Appeal. If the service was overstaffed and over-stuffed by th* Ward Government, why were these men made permanent? Tho Hunt - P«ler Burr - Macintosh CommlHHlon. composed of reputable and recognised business men,' not peculiarly Interested cx-ClvU Servants, who have to Justify their existence, ru-portt-U that, during the past six years —the period covered by, Sir Joo'a re-

gime—an honest attempt had been made to have positions lllled from the Civil Service List. This is more than "Truth" can say of the Massey regime, which we think we have conclusively proved to our readers to bo a mockery, a delusion and a snare. Wu could go on "ad inflnltum" on the report, but milllcient ha* bcon culled therefrom to substantiate the atfliemont that the Commissioners arc what wo always hold them to be—lncompetent, unJusiMed and unconstitutional.