The Pahiatua Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY, .JUNE 12, 1920. WHAT NEXT ?

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 2498, 12 June 1920, Page 4

The Pahiatua Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY, .JUNE 12, 1920. WHAT NEXT ?

Authentic statistics are valuable. They serve a useful purjxi.se. Their compilation is rightly regarded a-s a national duy. It is the business of the State to know the business of the State, and to that end the maintenance of a faithful and accurate record of all that happens within the State is essential. Hence our national Census and Statistics Department, charged with the important (duty of keejiing a. reliable account of till that concerns the community. Admitting the obvious utility of this l)e, lartment, j>ro\ iding that ite work is well and projierly done, it. must he ajijiareiit that utility will us-tirel-lv drift towards futility if the De--1 partiiHUit is permitted to Ixs-nme fanatically inquisitorial in its dealings 'with tile community. lYn|>retors ami 1 managers of manufactories and works |do not object to supplying the I)e- ---' jiartment with necessary and really | useful information: hut. they con- ! tend, and we think rightly, that th» returns which nowadays they are ral- • led up. lll to SUJijdy arc burdened 1111in < c-.-arily and iinprojHil v with a ; mass ot data so intricate and detailed | as to make the work of <-. -mpilnt ion unduly burdensome and co-tty. Ibis i lie ease with a return which lias ju-t been demanded h\ the IY-jnrt-iictit atul which In- aroused a howl !ol prot.v-t ill V h attl i as in <»th- r 11 »\\ ii- Tile 1\ a nga nil i tl l roll!- !• 1 jiorts that a sjvuker t a misting in that town, referring to the return in question stated it would cost hi' linn ian additional t'.lH) a y< ar to ooui|il\ I with tin' latest demands of the D,partment, and that for the most | . rt lit) i time and mom % would In w,.sled. for the reason that much ot the i 11:format.ioti asked for could he cl no leal value to the count I’.v lb- same speaker also mentioned t! 1 in response to his written prote-t. the (tuv■eminent St a t i-t iri.i u had replied In the effect that "lie could make uj> the return as near as lie could. a rather significant. concession which I surelv justified the retort that J'oiI .ini;i ll\ he objected t<> making up a ; r. turn unless In’ i-ould do it corroctil\." That the protest of ill,' Wair a 1111 i Kmjiloyers’ Association will he endoivn'd throughoul the Dominion w<> |,a\ c no doubt. \\ c have hetore us ! written evidence of the ojiinicuis held ib\ nianufuel.livers in other centres. Inr instance, a Dunedin manager writes: "Many returns asked for nowadays are troublesome to prepare, and, as far as one can see. not much use when they are prepared.” to which ho mhls. somewhat philosophically that- ‘‘if they do no good as returns they at all events provide work for sumo Government- officials who might otherwise be out. ol a billet.” Another southern onijdovor says: ‘‘Those returns give a tremendous ’amount of work, and 1 really think they arc not. worth a rap to the Government. Last, year we iv>mplied with the Depart ment.’s demands to the host of our ability, but our returns could tint, Jiossihiv be exact, as to have them absolutely correct would moan two or throe months’ hard work.” Still, another, tin' executive Inxid of one of the largest concerns of its kind in the 1 Dominion, w rite* : “The questions asked are inquisitorial and out of all reason. Tile Department does not seem to mind to what trouble and expense it. puts t.ho manufacturers, treating them a« criminal exploiters I instead of as belief actors of the jntlvlie ” When responsible business lien I express themselves in. these terms it I tuiust, bo apparent, that they have a genuine grievance and that, their protest is entitled to the earnest iwitiderntion of the Government. The matter call* for prompt, investigation by the resjxnisiblo Minister. To enforce the compilation of returns crow ril'd with minute and unneoesfKi t» details is to render inevitable what in the aggregate must amount to an

enormous waste of time and money For such a policy, even under Liu

happiest circastances, there could b* no justification. It* sanction under existing conditions would be at variance with the first principles of statesmanship. As one irate sufferer expressed it, ‘‘this kind of thing is ‘over the odds.’ ” This being the case, the sooner the Statistics Office is made to comprehend the fact tlu* better it will be for all concerned.