Thames Star MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1936. THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 19660, 16 March 1936, Page 2

Thames Star

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1936. THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

“With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmnes* in the right, as God gives us to see the right.”—Lincoln.

Till! Prime Minister’s announcement. that the Cabinet has considered (he question of public service control and has decided to appoint a commissioner and an assistantcommissioner will relieve the anxiety caused by his previous statement on this subject, in which he hinted that the system of commissioner control might be abandoned. For the public service and for the country, reversion to any form of control which allowed political influence to affect appointments and promotions would be disastrous. Mr. Savage also indicated, though on these points he was a little vague, that his Government intended to “face up” to the problems of regrading, retirement and superannuation —problems, it should be added, which grow more difficult to solve the longer the attempt to solve them is delayed. Yet it is difficult to see that the Government, with its present load of urgent business, will be able to discuss regrading and superannuation adequately for many months to come. Even its decision on the relatively simple question of public service control seems to have been taken without adequate consideration of all the issues involved. Before long Mr. Savage and his colleagues will begin to regret that they declaimed so vigorously against the Coalition Government for appointing commissions of inquiry. It is beyond the power of any Cabinet, however widely informed its members may be, to sift thoroughly all the problems that come before it. Either some of those problems will be referred to commissions of inquiry or the Cabinet will dispose of them summarily and without any adequate knowledge of the facts. The present state of the public service is a case in point. For nearly 25 years no attempt has been made to review the problems of status, recruitment, grading and superannuation, despite the fact that during this period there have been immense changes in the volume and nature of government business. One result is that conditions in the service are chaotic. Grading is anomalous and unsatisfactory, the superannuation funds are insolvent, and the political rights of public srevants are not clearly defined. Another result is that methods of training and recruitment are antiquated and inadequate. It is most desirable that the whole posit ion of the service should be reviewed by a Royal Commission and that, on the basis of the commission’s findings, the Government should redraft and consolidate the public service legislation. Unfortunately there is not much likelihood that this will be done. Instead, the Government will deal only with such aspeets of public service status and organsintion as from time to time become too urgent to bo ignored.