THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Tuesday, April 6, 1909. THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12506, 6 April 1909, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Tuesday, April 6, 1909. THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

The speech delivered at Upper Hutt on ; Friday "evening by ;"- Sir ■ Joseph Ward touched upon a number of important matters, undoubtedly ' the most momentous- of which was ; the announcement of the Government's intentions in regard to the -Civil Service. It has been known for _soine time that the Cabinet has been at work upon a scheme of reorganisation, and the details have been awaited "with a good deal of interest. These as far as they liave been worked or t, show that the Government realises the necessity of reducing the departments to a more compact and centralised form, and on the whole the' method of doing so appears to have been well thought out and the most workable. The effect of the reorganisation will be to bring together all allied departments, dispensing with divided control, and effecting a: tremendous saving in expenditure. For instance, the Post and Telegraph Department --win embrace- the present Old Age Pensions and Stamps Departments, removing the confusion which is- unavoidable under tho_preserit system," through the connection of the business of the one. department Avith that of the other. Similarly the scope- of the Justice Departmentjvill be widened in a desirable direction by its absorption of the Prisons. Police and Deeds Departments, with all of which it is closely related, and in which much greater"" efficiency may be expected under single management. In this way all the smaller divisions will become assimilated in the departments from which an increasing volume of business formerly led to . their severance, or by which the more recently created offices may be best conducted. The entire abolition of the Council of Defence is not the . least desirable departure. There are at present-thirty-seven separate administrative departments, including jthe- Legislative Department. This number it is proposed to reduce to sixteen, and the expenditure- will be reduced by the salaries of those, officers whose services will rio longer be required. These in most cases are senior officers, the total of whose salaries will represent- a considerable saving. There will be adjustments^ which will call for the retirement of others, but the Premier says that /this will not be done hurriedly or rashly. On completion of the amalgamation of the various Departments, a careful and thorough review of the requirements of the combined Depart-ments-will be carried out by their heads and reported >to the .Government, This will reduce expenditure by substituting one setipf secretaries, accountants, J chief clerks, record clerks, and officers of "that kind to perform jthe. duties i which are now carried out.by a. large number of separate staffs. The -larger- Departments will then be able, without any great accession of clerks, to. carry out their increased duties. The economies outlined by the Premier are expected to result in a directsaving of more than a quarter of a. million sterling, and this, so far as the portion affecting the -pubic service is concerned^ without any loss of -efficiency, or inconvenience. The application of the pruning knife in the drastic fashion contemplated has, Hof course, a regrettable aspect. The throwing out of employment of large numbers of oJBBt ocrs cannot but be accompanied by much hardship, though Sir Joseph Ward has promised that every effort will be made to minimise thisr as far as possible. Groat sympathy will be felt'for the men with whose, services it had become necessary for thecoun try to dispense, and we hope that in many cases their retirement from the public service will be^" only temporary. As the public business of the Dominion, .increases in volume continual .additions to the Departmental staffs will be necessary, and retrenched officers will be given preference in future appointments.