COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20867, 6 November 1929, Page 7

COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE.

A STEADY INCREASE,

65 PER CENT. IN FIFTEEN YEARS.

(From Odr Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, November 5, The coat of the Public Service has increased by 65 per cent, in the last decade and a-half, according to a statement in the annual report of the Public Service Commissioner presented to Parliament to-day. After tracing the expansion of the service from the staff point of view, the commissioner (Mr P. Verschaffelt) states that a table had been compiled showing the distribution of the net expenditure from the Consolidated Fund to the various purposes for which the taxpayer was burdened. The net expenditure in 1914 was £5,705,249, in 192! it was £15,971,726 and in 1929 £18,420,606. The rate per head of population adjusted to a comparable basis was £7 12s, £l2 16a Id and £l2 12s 4d in the respective periods. Discussing the expenditure increase of approximately 65 per cent. Mr Verschaffelt says: “ The increase in debt charges and pensions, which are largely a legacy from the late war* accounts for nearly threequarters of this expansion, in regard to public expenditure, which may be attributed to the cost of administration and the giving effect to tiie Government policy, the greatest increase has been in connection with the extension of the social services, the cost or winch has increased from £2,123 815 in 1914 to £6,202,930 in 1929. The cost of administration has not increased to anything like the same extent as the expenditure under the other headings tho 15 years it has risen from £882,060 in 1013 to £1,287,917 for the last financial year, while on the adjusted figures it will be noted that actually there has been a decrease in the cost . c f pl *? l the charge for general adper ca P ita being £1 Ss Cd - a " d 17s in 1828-29. General administration costs have not increased in proportion to the expansion of the total burden, for in 1913-14 the expenditure under this head represented 15} per cent. of the total expenditure from the Consolidated Fund, uhereas in 1028-29 general administration expenses amounted to only 7} per cent, of the total charges. These fi|u?es ever - CVl . den . ce of the care and economy exercised m matters pertaining to general administration, and in anv PnnsnrH 1 4 °j t £ o E row * n 6 burden on the Snd thnf ed fi F — H J hould he borne in r d mt th . lß la dlrc ctly related to tlie ever-growing demand for increased governmental , services, and that any curtailment is a matter of general - ath6r than a question of tightening up the slack ” in the general administration of the public ser-

A comparative statement of the j Dnel 0f the P ublic ser ’ the iSZl that *u UrinS the last decad * w raoo ™ the permanent staff has an 1428 while the increase in salaries has been £808,251. Considering the exyears° n the f PUb fu C : busin « BS in recent 2 the . growth m the staff in the to « ™ TT propor baa been kept down rea“j«r h Th oSer n egree tban is generally reaiised. There has undoubtedly been turo‘whS 6 g u oWth in P ublic Expend!turp w i B, ; ch a term includes expend! skin of siuof fi autbor i ties, but the induce”? of fh? P l"" r<?3 1,1 a criticism of the service J bo adlmm Btration oi the public control of her ? nfusCß the issue as the rest with +l, xi 1 - . ex P°nditure does not rest with the Ministers in charge of the wff'™"'’, 0, i er ««*S wno.aie responsible for, the economical exSSYr ° f the - publlc service - The htai w7 h V XpttnSion of activities bv the fa sis 4 ?; ss tt S& ss m salaries and wages to employees of 1028 it Ut hn°7 tl6S Wa3 £2 ’ 172 A y and in 1028 it had grown to £6,176,850 The t™t° U to the ld ln - s . a,aries to officers subject to the provisions of the Public SerSl 3 »S,™./,y si ’ 720 inf S £ ,239,071 in 1929. a considerably lower ratio of increase. In recent vears the complexity of modern life has created a whole new range of civic and national P S m % Cb !- fly in c °nnection with alth, education, and social amenities ? d a ," y criticism or review of the cost COTsid P r C Hn min - 5 7 ati0n must take tb <™ considerations into account.