The Official Assigneeship.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6714, 29 November 1889, Page 3

The Official Assigneeship.

♦ WELLINGTON COMMENT. The recent appointment of Mr Thomas, accountant of the Public Works Department, to the position of Official Assignee in Christchurch, the Wellington Post says, has occasioned a good deal of unfavourable comment both, within and without the service. There is nothing to Bay against Mr Thomas personally. He haß for years been an exemplary Civil servant, and has kept the books of his department excellently, bo as to satisfy all the demands of the Audit and T;ca3ury. But what does Mr Thomas know of ordinary commercial business ? He haß been for many years in a very bad school to learn anything. The routine and account keeping of a Government office are not such as prevail in mercantile business, and no mercantile firm requiring the services of an accountant would accept service in a Government department as in itself much of a recommendation. In many cases it would be regarded as the very reverse. The position of an Official Assignee is a very responsible one. It demands a good deal more than mere facility in dealing with figures. Commercial knowledge is an essential requisite, and a knowledge of law would be very desirable. The Official Assignee is an officer of the Justico Department, and if the position had to be conferred on a Government official, we certainly think that an officer of that Department ought to have had the promotion. There must be in the Courts of the Colony several officers of considerable experience who are in every way qualified for the position, having been brought into constant contact with commercial business and knowing a good deal of law. There is, we know, considerable dissatisfaction in the Department at the way in which officers in it are passed over in favour of those from other Departments, or outsiders, when any chance of promotion offers. So far, indeed, from getting promotion, we believe that in a great many instances officers have had their salaries reduced, and, with the exception of a few in the Under Secretary's office, there have been practically no increases for a long time past. Now that Captain Russell has taken charge of the Department of Justice, it is to be hoped that he will insist on the rights of those I under his control being regarded, and will I act fairly and justly in the dispensation of I patronage.