THROWING OVERBOARD THE PILOTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3315, 26 September 1917, Page 8

THROWING OVERBOARD THE PILOTS.

When one nowadays hears of "resignations " being tendered, the general public interpret it as meaning a mild form of " dismissal " of certain officers —a fashion aptly caricatured by Sir John Tenniel in his famous cartoon, a fashion which has become in the public service a% the "present time fairly common. "Witness, for instance, the resignation of the Efficiency Board, and on top of that comes the intimation that the Requisitions Committee has " resigned." The work put in by this committee has been generally appreciated by wool-growers in so far that it was freely recognised" that the three men who constituted the committee piloted throughout the last wool season the scheme under which the Dominion wools were valued, and taken over on account of the Imperial authorities. It has now been decided that the Department of Imperial Supplies shall be the controlling body in the Dominion, under the Prime Minister's direction,, for all matters connected with the requisitioning of wool and other supplies by the Imperial Government in which the War Office is concerned, mean-* ing that the valuable experience possessed by the Requisitions Committee is set aside ; that the relations between the vendor's agents and the new nominees of the Government may quite easily become strained, and chiefly that there is a risk of wool-growers getting perturbed, and, instead of confidently submitting their wools for ap{>raisement this season, in the light of ast season's satisfactory experience, may question as to whether they will get all there is in the business; otherwise why change pilots when the old lot have proved their worth? In the Requisitions Committee the Government had three capable gentlemen whose time was devoted to making an unqualified . success of the requisitions, and who from practical experience were able to clear up numerous knotty problems that necessitated professional or expert knowledge rather than legal quibbling, which, in view of the varied ramifications of the avool business, should be avoided at all hazards. The people of this Dominion, it will be granted, have strenuously endeavoured to provide those necessary products required by Great Britain; but none has done more in their particular line than, those professional experts engaged in buying and selling. They have given practically "gratis" of their knowledge, which is virtually the most important part of their capital, to the Government service. Obviously, the keen desire to help out the requisition successfully was largely due to the very courteous and broad-minded attitude shown by the Requisitions Committee to all interested parties. Dealing in the primary products, it must be recognjsed, under totally changed conditions, cannot be carried on strictly under set rules and regulations by, any Government department without some likelihood of creating more or less antagonism between interested parties, which may possibly develop into looking for points to beat the Government. Hence a board of advice, which can exercise sound judgment on the varying phases as they arise, and has also the confidence of the growers and agents, is an indispensable condition of success. The Requisitions Committee (that was) filled this condition admirably. We regret that this useful committee has been dispensed with, as it is difficult to see how the officers of the Imperial Supplies—totally unacquainted with the practical and expert work —can adequately fill the position of the "resigned" gentlemen. A glance at our wool letter from Bradford will show how strongly those concerned in the manufacture of wool feel over the apparent want of tact displayed by War Office interference. By retaining the old committee we would be assured that the wool-growers' and their agents' interests were adequately safeguarded. Now, however, that they have been eliminated, it is another story, and one may well be concerned at the thought that the control is vested in those who can have little or no knowledge of the numerous practical difficulties which are bound to arise. It is an extraordinary thing how Governments will "trust the people" in big matters, but that in the smaller details they are more than suspicious. Constant pin-pricks will but irritate all interested parties, and tend to a lowering of the high standard of enthusiasm which has characterised the handling of the requisitioned products. If any recommendation

of ours has any weight with the authorities we sincerely trust that the Government will revive the Requisitions Committee as a Board of Advice, and thus preserve the spirit for "playing the game," which bo far has been so abundantly manifested.