THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Southland Times, Issue 19256, 21 June 1921, Page 4

THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Speaking at the conference of the New Zealand Public Service Association, the Acting-Prime Minister touched on at least two topics which are of direct interest to the public. Referring to the question of departmental expenditure, he reminded the association that the increase in the outlay was largely in labour, or in other words, higher salaries designed to meet the rise in the cost of living. Critics of the government usually manage to forget this factor, and talk learnedly about the marked increases in the departmental expenditure as if salaries can be advanced without a corresponding jump in the cost of carrying on the administration. Later on, of course, we may hear some ministers showing the public how they have reduced the cost of administering the affairs of the country because salaries and the general cost of labour have fallen. That there will be a reduction in the general scale of pay in the public service is beyond doubt, and in the gradual lowering process the association may do a useful work by keeping its members fully informed of the position and of assisting the government to make the fall as easy in grade as possible. The other topic introduced by Sir Francis Bell was the decision to prosecute in all cases where defalcations by public servants were revealed. Many people will be astonished to find that some unfaithful servants in the past have been able to escape. It seems to us that the maintenance of a public service in which the people of the country have confidence is one of the primary requisites of democratic government. New Zealand has been extremely fortunate in the high standard of its public service and we have no doubt that the Public Service Association, no less than the government, will be anxious to preserve the standard. Now and again some cases of misappropriation or other improprieties come to light, but when the size and the ramifications of the Public Service are taken into account, the general standard of probity is very high and the quality of the service something for New Zealand to be proud of.