POSTAL AND TELEGRAPHIC SERVICES.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 13971, 29 December 1915, Page 6

POSTAL AND TELEGRAPHIC SERVICES.

ORGANISERS ON TOUR

An effort is being made to thoroughly organise the postal and telegraphic servants of the Dominion, and a very' successful inaugural meeting of a tour which is to extend, through both Islands -\ was held afc the Theatre Royal, Hamilton (says +,ho "Waikato Times"),1 when the members of the Waikato and King Country branch of the Pos^ and Telegraph Officers' Association'were ad j dressed by Messrs. Camp (president of the Association) and Combs (the newly-: appointed .permanent secretary). .The attendance comprised nearly tho wholo of the 180 members of the branch, who listened to highly instructive addresses on the objects of the Association and ; the work it had done in bringing about I a betterment of the conditions under j which the officers of the service labour-' i cd. Among' the visitors present were Messrs. J. A. Young (member for thej Waikato), J. E. Hammond (Maybr of 1 .Hamilton)., and {.Mai-icnv (secretary of the Franktdri branch of the A.S;R.S.) The greatest enthusiasm was displayed throughout,the.proceedings, and prior to dispersing at midnight the gathering expressed its complete confidence in the executive, affirmed tho appointment1 of. Mr. Combs as permanent secretary and expressed the hope that the tour would result in the complete consolidation of the members of the service. The Associationjias been in existence [for 25 years and has steadily grown | from an unrecognised and rather apos- | trophised orphan to recognition by the I Departmental heads, the Government lof the day, and more recently by the Public Service Commissioners. Its proj gress all along has been steady and sys' tematic. Through its newspaper, "The Katipo," it has steadily educated its members to the recognition of their, duty to the public first and then as to the rights that were undoubtedly theirs in carrying out that duty. The present superannuation scheme was fathered by the Association in one way or anj other for several years prior to its inception under the Ward Government. !It not only instilled the necessity for a pension into the minds of tho Post and Telegraph officers., but it car-? ried the work into other branches of the Public Service. The Post and Telegraph Association was, in fact, the organisation upon which the Public Service leaned until the Superannuation Act was passed. This was a public I service of a high order, as many ex- ' perienced and, valuable officers were induced to remain in the service during . what is known in the service to-day as ; the "hard times." by the prospect of a I pension held out.

The progress of the Association has been steady, but it received its greatest fillip during the era of unnecessary and lr>in» examinations of a few years back. It steadily opposed examinations which had no bearing on the daily work and which were not appropriate to the future of the officers concerned. They wore Lariroly .KiK-'-wshi] ; n this, -and tlu v modifications which took place proved not only to the benefit of the men, but to the Department itself, and, of course, through the Department to the general public.

. It must be remembered that the service is recruited from all quarters of the community. All varieties of circumstances and a wide range of ideas and prejudices have to be acclimatised to the u^es of the Department.' In this task the Association is a good servant of the Department. It carejFully sifts all cases of complaint and grievance amongst the officers, aud having determined what is just and right, carries the case to the Departmental heads. Happily, to-day they are met in ■'th^ spirit in which they come. If their case is good the remedy is npplied : if it is indifferent they report the fact to the men they are working fn-i\ and. of course, a better spirit prevails. Many cases were quoted at the moot-ing whicj went to make this clear. Tho representatives of the Association, however, said enough to convince one that in r quiet, systematic way the Post and Telegraphic Association is quite capable of looking after its own, and at no time does it lose sight of the duty the service "owes to the general public.

Reference to the- fact that six masters of King's College, Auckland, had volunteered for active service, was made by "the headmaster at the annual breaking-up ceremony the other day. He added that two—Majors Stuckej and Bayly—woiiid never return, bui they left "a- mark deep in ih& life of tW sc-hool. They ii;;d been teachen or .exceptional ability, col"ie-as;iie.s. _ loya* and staunch, and men of the particnlai type that N«-.v Zealand education conic; ill r.i'i'orc! to lose. They bad infused their .->-,v;i enemy and spirit into count' lc>s lrv>-;, i!!i<l'l;nd gained a placo ol a-fiVotion in tho hearts of mastor-s. atst; pupils alike. Of the old boys of King's College, Konmera. 332. hud volunteereci for artive s-ervico, a record whici would compare very favourably with ,-;th,-r schools. Of the first 200 who iiao "ono only 2^ were loft at Uie front.

I At a sx>nd-off ti> soldiers Mr, Craigie, member for Timaru, broke neiY ground. He / said that while the voluntary system was all right, it was only spasmodic, and did not make for equality 6f sacrifice. - The Dominion's finance hauld riot bo carried on voluntarily, knd the war could not bo brought to a /■successful issue- under thb- voluntary system. Ho cited the caso of a widow \vho sent four sons to tho war, while, some- other, people . did not send any sons. All the people should be prepared to share in the, sacrifice, and thus have'equality! A pupil of tho Auckland Girls' Grammar School, Miss Elsie Vickerman, was presented at the- annual .oeremony of distribution of prizes, with'a cricket bat. In comment-big oii the presentation,' the headmistress, Miss Butler, said that in a recent miatcli \vith the Diocesan High. School team, Miss Vickerman had, -scored 101 runs; not out. She added that, tho boys might bo scornful about a girl -scoring 101 .runs, and ask who the bowler had 'been. Sho had, as a matter of foct, been a good. bo\uer y and one of a visiting: team who had come determined to conquer, so there had been no ■ .tempering of tho wind to a shorn lamb because thfe lamb happened to' be a girl witli a cricket bat. (Applause.)