Patea & Waverley Press FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1919. REFORM NEEDED

Patea Mail, Volume XLIII, 1 August 1919, Page 2

Patea & Waverley Press FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1919. REFORM NEEDED

THD recent ensligution Avliich the (Jhairnmu of the Wanganui Mducatiou Board gave {tie Minis'!or of Bdnoation for his diiatorincss avilli regard to the school accommodation at Palmerston Norill, should servo lo convince the most sceptical that the time has arrived for a thorough overhauling of the Civil Service of the Dominion. Judging by the frequency that the plea of poverty is raised by the members of the Government a new arrival in the country ■would imagine New Zealand to ho one of the poorest spots on the face o f Ihe globe instead of one of the richest. Go lavish in fact has Nature been in her endowment of this conn,try that the Public Works, Railways, and other Slate enterprises should he models of efficiency for the vest of the world, instead of which they arc for the most part a byword. There must he something radically wrong at headquarters to allow such a state of affairs to eaist as that complained of by the Palmerston people in connection Avitli Ibeir .schools. Apparently the officials of the education Department from the Minisr Per downwards fail to realise that this is a growing country where schools above all things must expand Avith the population. It .‘-ays little for the departmental officers if they cannot arrange ma jors so that buildings such ns

schools ai*c allowed lo keep pace Avith the groAvlb of the Dominion. In a country where the eompu!r.ory at tendance of children at school is rigidly onforced, liuleast the authorities can do is to sec that the children are iauglil in decent surromurinfvs. At Manulahi recently the children aaccc being lanehl in the depth of Avitiler in a building that Avas scarcely tit for a stable, Avliiist in other places (hiiiys are even Averse. Mr. Vm T. Jennings, M.P., for example, some time ago drew attention to a disgrace!‘id slaio of aPVdrs in tho, Auckland district with regard to a school building and its condition may be ganged from the folloAving report of inspector McKenzie on the subject. He says : “There arc 112 children of school age and 24 under age at Paratuke. The building' . is a. rough shelter sited, the walls are only eight .feet high, and the ridge pole is eleven feet from the door. There is one AvindoAv at each end. The dimensions of the building are 24 feet by 42 feet. The room is ini cuts' cl y hot in summer, and the fighting is not good.” Judging by this report one avouUl imagine that the country Avas bankrupt and had not a shilling to spare on the proper housing of the school children of the Dominion. If the departmental officials wore not grossly incompetent limy Avould see to it that the necessary arrangements Averc made so that the children avlio arc compelled to at!etui school can at any rate he taught in healthy surroundings. There can he no excuse in a Areal thy country like Ncav Zealand for the cheese-par-ing policy that is iii evidence Avith regard to schools and outbuildings. The fault lies principally. avc believe, in the Civil Service Act for Avhich the present Mr. Justice llerdmnu is responsible. This measure placed the civil servants of the Dominion entirely outside of any political control —a very commendable feature it is true—hul apparently the fa el was overlooked that in bringing the Act into operation large number:; of political appointees were Imiiie: placed in an absolutely independent position, tints enabling them to muddle along ■without any interference from any Ministers of 1 lie Crown, avlio olhenriso Avouid have been able to compel thorn to keep up to date tinder pain of losing their positions. Prior io the passing of lie:' Act the civil servants were compelled for the saute reason to give of their best and servo their Almistovs faithfully and avcll, irrespective of their particular pehijieal creed or colour. To-day, it a civil servant is not of the same political colour as his chief he can go a long Avay loAvards marring I he success of the Minister by leaving' undone a large amount ol wort; that won hi have been done, mere the Minister of a different political colour. 11 seems lo us eont rary to human nature and opposed to all reason lo oxpeel a civil servant avlio oAvesJtis posilion to a particular political parly lo serve an opposition Minisi'er with the same enthusiasm and desire for success its be would were I ho Minister of his oaa'U col-our--more especially Avhen lie knoAvs that he is entirely outside Min isterial jurisdiction. Previously, as a matter of fact, civil servants were largely a I the mercy of Ministers, and. for their own sakes they helped to make a success of the Minisler’s work, hul to-day the boot is on the other foot. This slate of affaius will probably continue until the

present “tile barnacles” retire on a pension and their successors w ho will have been appointed on their merits and not by political influence take their places. In the meantime, thanks to such livings as the overcrowding of the •schools, tlie disorganisation of the railAcay traffic, and the comic opera methods adopted in connection Avith the public Avorks of flic Dominion, the A'arions depart men! s of the State avIII lie a by-Avord among the people and the laughing stock of other countries. The time is assuredly “ripe and rotten ripe” for reform.