CIVIL SERVANTS AND THEIR MASTERS

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 234, 7 March 1885, Page 3

CIVIL SERVANTS AND THEIR MASTERS

The fantastic tricks played by some proud men dressed in a little brief authority, more particularly in the up-country districts, would not only make the angels weep, but draw tears from even Bumble the beadle. In some of these rjlaces, where there is no lynx-eyed Press representative to keep a check on public abuses, the petty cliques and coteries who rule the roost perpetiate acts of tyranny which would evoke general indignation if attempted in a city where public criticism is keen, and the Press vigilant.

Such a case is- reported from a certain >7orthcrn township which has gained an unenviable reputation for tricks that are dark, and has frequently been referred to in these columns. The few local business men are at daggers drawn, and when tbey are not engaged in leisure hours admiring their pigs or poultry in the back-yard, fill up time by vilifying- their neighbours. If a new arrival lands in the Little Pecldlington his advent creates as much excitement as a white crane or any other ram ovix. A telegraph operator, ■who was ordered to tbe place some months since to take charge of the local office, became a victim to the pettifogging business jealousy to which I refer. He was civil to the public, and did his best to make the office what all telegraph offices should be — a public convenience. But, after office hours, he would go to one of the business men of the place, and a countryman of his, to while away time with a pleasant chat about old times and places.

There happens, however, township another business

to be in the man, who lias

j risen from obscurity, and lias attained the 1 distinguished honour of adding the letters i J.l\ to his name. To see the local teleI gir.phist holding a confab with a rival iv I business was gall raid wormwood to him. He i did not receive the homage that he considered due to his rank. Coming to Auckland, he cast himself in the way of Mr 13iss, the Chief Postmaster, and took occasion to suggest that the telegraphist was not a suitable jierson for the { place. 2\lv Biss, of cotii'se, desired the J.P. to put his charges into writing, but he refused. The insinuation- was enough for his piupose, and he followed it up by writing to the j member for the district, who forwarded a complaint to Wellington. Mr Rose, the Inspector, visited the place some time later and made inquiries into the matter, with the result that the telegraphist was removed back to the head office in Auckland.

The correspondent who sends me the particulars of this matter, and with whose remarks I cannot but coincide, adds the following comment : This shows how difficult it is for anyone with the slightest spirit to get on in such a place as this. Anyone who bows down and licks the boots of the petty tyrant would advance. The telegraphist asked for an inquiry, but was informed that the charges against him had not been put into writing. A paragraph from your pen might be the means of preventing such things in fixture, as I know of many abuses in this district that have been remedied by a hint through the Observer.