THE WAIPA POST. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SATURDAY, 21st MAY, 1932. DEPARTMENTAL APATHY.

Waipa Post, Volume 44, Issue 3180, 21 May 1932, Page 4

THE WAIPA POST. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SATURDAY, 21st MAY, 1932. DEPARTMENTAL APATHY.

WHEN a member of Parliament appeals to his electors for assistance in securing departmental action it is a reasonable conclusion that the limits of patience have been reached. Mr Broadfoot, speaking as the Parliamentary representative of this district, told the audience at the Te Awamutu Town Hall last night that he despaired of action by the Lands Department, and he publicly invited the local bodies and kindred associations to use every means at their disposal to hasten negotiations for the opening of certain properties in this district. In particular the Waikeria sub-division proposals were in question, the indication at the moment being that after months of protracted negotiations the area would be made available for settlement too late for advantage to be taken of the next season. Mr Broadfoot's appeal is robbed of any suggestion of political bias as he publicly criticised a department under the direction of the Government of which he is a member. It is all the more striking on that account, and there is the plainest evidence that his patience must have become exhausted as a result of exasperating departmental apathy and neglect. Experience in this district, as noted in the past, justifies the belief that he has good cause for complaint. A department which should be most active, particularly at the present time, in seeking the adjustment of problems associated with the land, seems to have fallen down on the job, and fal-> len badly. It is one of the costly departments of, State, and it is one, as judged by outward evidences of performance, that has not emerged from the extremes of dilatoriness. According to the public service classification lists computed for the year ended March 31st, 1931, no less than 632 persons are on the staff of the Lands and Survey Department. The salary of the Under Secretary is not stated, but the Surveyor-General at £BOO per annum, four lesser officers at £715, one at £665, three at £615, and a number between the £SOO and £6OO mark serve to indicate that this is a costly branch of the public service, even if allowance is made for a ten per cent "cut" in the salaries, since the date mentioned. Is the Dominion getting a return adequate for such a large expenditure 1 Is the department top-heavy in consequence of being over-staffed? Is its administration at fault? These are immediate questions for public consideration. Judged by performance it is a department of slow and tedious action, and of very negative results. When eventually it does reach a point at which sub-divisions are announced it is, more often than not, the ridicule of practical farmers for it seems to strive for large figures instead of adapting itself to the modern tendency for one-family farms, Mr Ransom has a complaint to answer. This district will stand in support of its member. Mr Broadfoot would have failed in his duty had he not spoken out as he did last night. He was elected not to shield incompetence, but to demand and encourage action. The country is paying for service and is entitled to expect it. If expectations are not realised then the country can very properly demand it. And it is a demand that goes from this district to the Minister of Lands at this moment.