POLITICAL NOTES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 144418, 4 July 1914, Page 3

POLITICAL NOTES.

PUBLIC SER VICE COMMISSION

A SECOND REPORT.

B: TELEGRAPH.—rOWN - CORRESPONDENT.

The second report of the Public Service Commissioner has been presented to Parliament, it is a bulky uocumeu i of ill pages and clearly uiuicatcs time Hie departure made by the Reform Goveminent is going to prove ol immense advantage to New Zealand, not omy m regard to the saving cha-t will boeli uciod in the interests oi the taxpayers, but also in the direction of a xuucii greater efficiency than has obtained in the past. One of the commissioners has been engaged almost entirely on work in connection with the sittings of the Board of Appeal for some months, and the current work of selecting the staff, holding inquiries, and the other manifold duties in connection with 11,000 officers has been by no means light. f i ho classification oi the service was completed within eight months of the commissioners assuming ofiicc, although similar work elsewhere, in connection wiih an equal number of officers, has often taken from eighteen months to two years. A great deal of time has been given to hearing and considering the of Oificcrs’ Associations. It is to be hoped that when the Board of Appeal has heard the appeals hi connection with the first classification the work of the commissioners will become sufficiently normal ‘to enable them to carry out a further Inspection of offices throughout the Dominion. The commissioner goes on to state with regard to efficiency and condition of the service: “I stated eight mouths ago that the service was not, ’ broadly speaking, found to be in so efficient a state as it should have boon, but that there was a marked improvement and an enthusiasm on the part of members of the service and a desire to improve the working methods which were not before known, i am glad to bo able to say that the improvement has been continuous, but there is much to be done. As was to bo expected among a body of eleven thousand officers, there has been a good deal of passive resistance shown by a few officers to the operations of the commissioners, but, on the other hand, it is difficult to praise too highly the enthusiasm with which new ideas have been supported by others. That an aversion tOj improvements should be' natural in men of mature years is not surprising. It is still less surprising when necessity for innovation is the result of slavishly following the methods of the post.”

COST OF LARGE ESTATES.

A- return presented to Parliament today gives particulars of the cost of acquiring estates under tho Land for Settlements Acts since 1894, including tho legal and other costs shown separately. The amounts paid for law costs in connection with rTaxbournc wore: Messrs. Findlay, Dalziell and Co. £13511, Mr. T. W. Stringer £311,, Mr. Xi. M‘Callum £927, Messrs. Mondy, Sim and Stephens £1022. Tho principal law costs in the Culverden estate .acquisition were: Mr. I). M. Findlay £5-15, Mr. J. A. Cassidv £93, and Mr. J. W. White £6B. In ■other large estates the principal costs were:—Hatuma estate: Mr. I’. E. Baldwin £537, Messrs. Findlay, Dabuell and Co, £1855, Messrs. Sainsbury and Logan £300; Lindsay estate: Messrs. Findlay, Dalziell and Co. £590, Messrs. Kenned}’ and Lugh £160; To Ami estate; Messrs. Dalziell and Findlay £504, and Air. J. W. Nolan £63 Tho following amounts •wore paid lor some of the bigger estates.- Argyll £158,030, Culverden £121,251, Edondalo £113,616, Flaxbourno £183,043, Hainma £141,393, Kauroo Hill £133,804, Kinloch £116,395, Matamaia £127,515, Otokaiho £113,299, Rosewill £246,022, Starborough £100,562, To Aral £113,949,: and AVaikakahi £323,314.

BIG HOLDERS AND SMALL FARMERS. WELLINGTON. July 3. “I have been in the House for seven years,” said Mr. Okcy (Taranaki) last evening, ‘‘and I don’t know one thing that we have done for the, large landowner except gradually to cut off bits of his land. If wo bring the screw down much lower wo arc going to affect a great number of our worthy settlors who are now the backbone of tho country. All our land legislation has been in the direction of allowing a man to take up C-10 acres of lirstclass land. If be takes up 640 acics in Taranaki, whore land stands at £OO or £7O an aero, yon will find that that man, the best class of settler that any country can have, will suffer by tho r,o.xt turn of tho screw. 1 fail to sec why any Government should' bring in such legislation. , It would bo the greatest possible mistake.” MR. HICKEY ON POLITICIANS. There is a prospect of n “sporting interview” between Mr. Russell, the member for Avon, and Mr. Hickey, an official of tho Federation of Labour. When Mr. Mandur was speaking: last evening in tho im-confidoneo debate he said that some Federation of Labour official had said “That Massey was an old Tory, that Sir Joseph Ward was worse, and that the Hon. ‘Riokctty’ Russell was worse of all.” (Laughter.) Mr. Russell: Who said that? Mr. Marnier said that he thought it was Mr. flicker. Mr. Vcrtch; "Do you take Hickey as your authority? Mr. Hander; No. but I thought it was such a truthful remark; that is why 1 quoted it.” (Laughter.)