COLONEL CAMPBELL

NZ Truth, Issue 1052, 21 January 1926, Page 6

COLONEL CAMPBELL

Watchdog of the States Accounts

""THE fierce eyes, 1 thin, obstinate lips, and features that generally express determination and the suggestion of autocratic power belong to George Frederick Colin Campbell, retired colonel of the Garrison Artillery Division. Though he lives up to all expectations as to what a -etired Army colonel should be like, soldiering' is not — or was hot — his regular occupation m life. Oh first impression he fits m quite naturally with the preconceived idea of what the Controller, and AuditorGeneral of a State should be like. That is exactly what he is. His position, is unique m the world of Public Service. He is the only man m the service placed by law m a position of independence of the Government and responsible only to Parliament. I n other words, he may, if he thinks the circumstances warrant it, literally place the Government across his knees and spank it for its sins of extravagance. Quite naturally his report to Parliament •is usually awaited with much interest by all shades of political thought Since it is just as jiK.eiy iis nui uu ve in me iiai.uic vi. a, uumuoucu iii-"; primed and .all set for an ever-ready leader of the Opposition, or a third and hostile partyii to fling into the political arena. . This is' exactly what did happen during the last Parliamentary session of hot air. His report contained a host of uncomplimentary statements about Government departments, and their methods of accounting for stores and other Government property. . The Prime Minister handed out some nasty jabs — m a perfectly dignified way, of course — on the question of tac and judgment from a man m the position Colonel Campbell occupied, and tb/en the matter -was referred to a select committee. Colonel Campbell is not the sort who smiles easily — a trait inherited, no doubt, from Scottish ancestry — but if his sense of humor is as deep as his sense of duty then he must certainly have chuckled over the noise his report created m a place where noise is more common than anything else. During his fifty-one years m the service, which he joined as a cadet, he has traversed the Public Works, Justice, and Land Tax .Departments. He was Deputy Commissioner of the latter department m 1894, Deputy ValuerGeneral and later Valuer-General. „ Since the formation "of the Athletic Football Club m 1878 this sternlooking gentleman has been its president, and m 1924 he was elected president of the "Wellington Rugby Union. He, holds the decorations C.M.G. and V.D. His association with the Volunteer Naval and Garrison Artillery lias been something more than a hobby — m fact, it may be -said to be his most shocking vice.