EDUCATION AND A CAREER

Southland Times, Issue 22969, 15 August 1936, Page 9

EDUCATION AND A CAREER

ADDRESS BY MR C. A. STEWART INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION “Education in relation to the training for a career” was the subject of the inaugural address given members of the newly-formed Invercargill branch of the Institute of Public Administration by Mr C. A. Stewart, principal of the Southland Technical College, 'there was a good attendance of members. The president, Mr H. R. Mottram, was in the chair, and in introd.ucing i Mr Stewart, he discussed the aim. of I the institute which, he said, was to in- I troduce educational work in the form of prepared lectures and to form study circles. _ , £ ' Mr Stewart thanked the executive tor honouring him by allowing him. to be the first lecturer in Southland. He also congratulated the members on their initiative in being the first district outside the university cities to form a branch. He had read, he said, a good number of the addresses delivered to the branches of the larger centres of New Zealand, and was impressed by the high standard set. The youth of our country, its isolation, the smallness of our population, were definite handicaps, but each of them was a diminishing handicap. And if the quality of those addresses already delivered could be continued, he said, then the outlook seemed very hopeful. Origin of Institute. A resume of the origin of the institute was given and the development of the public service as a recognized profession and the promotion of the study of public administration were then dealt with. These two objects, the speaker said, were very closely connected. No really great work could be done by any body of men unless they had an exalted sense of the value of these services. It was natural, he maintained, and also in the interests of the State, that public administrations should be recognized as a subject for systematic study, and that the State services be recognized, in its administrative phase, as a profession demanding the full use of the best brains and character in the community. As free discussion and free continual criticism were essential marks of our democratic system, it was most desirable that goodwill and confidence be established between the Civil Service and the public. “The tradition of the Public Service,” he said, “is a very proud phrase, but, as far as the British Public Service is concerned, the claim is universally allowed.” Geneva, and its ramifications, were referred to, and although the political aspect was not all that could be desired, all observers acclaimed the unequalled efficiency, integrity, discretion and self-efface-ment of the British Civil Servants who appeared as expert advisers, he said. The political rights of Civil Servants, and the tendency to set up public utility trusts, was another heading handled by Mr Stewart, together with the subject of examinations. There was no doubt, he continued, of the usefulness of the institute for the systematic study of constitutional, economic and administrative problems, and if it lived up to its aims it was bound to have a stimulating effect on all who aspired to high positions, and was therefore destined to raise this standard of the service in reality and in public esteem. After the address Mr Mottram thanked the lecturer and announced the subject for the next gathering, “Civic Administration and Finance, which will be given by the Town Clerk, Mr W. F. Sturman.