19

H.—34

thrown on to some one else. We think we can safely say that very few managers of large businesses, even when they have had their lives' training in the business, would attempt to cope with the mass of detail with which a Minister in charge of a Department, who has not had any lengthy training with that particular Department, attempts to deal. Ministers' should be free of all this detail, and have time to consider the broad policy lines on which the business of the country is to be conducted, leaving the general management and the carrying-out of the policy in other hands. Management. This is the most important matter of all. If an efficient head with the necessary powers is obtained, it will in time put the whole machine in perfect working-order. Without an efficient head, if the Service could be put in perfect order to-morrow, it would gradually drift into disorder again. Unless the question of the management is first put right, other efforts will have little result. We think that a Board of Management should be set up which would be the managing head of the whole Government Service. We would suggest that this Board should be composed of three men, one of w<hom, and he the ablest man that could be obtained therein, should be drawn from the Service. This position on the Board should be the prize position in the whole Public Service, and carry a higher salary than any other, with the possible exception of that of the General Manager of Railways. The two other members of the Board should be chosen from outside, and they should be men of wide business experience who have had training in large organizations, and accustomed to the handling of a large staff. One of these two should be Chairman of the Board This Board would therefore have as its members two men of thorough business training, chosen for their organizinp- ability, and one from the Public Service who would know its requirements and be thoroughly familiar with all its details, and who would possess a good working knowledge of the personnel of its officers. The members of the Board should give their whole time to their work, and have no other duties. Whatever system of control may be adopted, whether by Cabinet, Board, or individual, the personal element is a factor that cannot be absolutely eliminated, but we believe that a Board of three, with the conditions of office which we advise, would be as far removed from such influences as is possible to any human organization. One of the great difficulties of the present condition of affairs, according to the testimony of responsible officers, is that influence is constantly being brought to bear through members of Parliament in connection with appointments, removals, and promotions, and any Minister or Cabinet must find it difficult to resist such influence. The appointment of a Board such as that proposed, to which all applicants and objectors would as a matter of course be referred, would at once relieve members of Parliament, Ministers, and heads of Departments from most harassing importunities and provide an unbiassed tribunal. The Minister for any particular Department would, under Cabinet, be responsible for the policy of that Department, but the work of carrying out that policy should be left in the hands of the Board of Management. The Board of Management should, we think, be under Cabinet, and not responsible to Parliament only, and its actions should be subject to review by Cabinet. A single Minister should not be able to interfere in any way with the actions of the Board, but should have to carry Cabinet with him. We have given the question of whether we should recommend the setting-up of an independent Board responsible to Parliament only, or whether we should recommend, as we have done, a Board subject to Cabinet, a very great deal of consideration, and we have come to the conclusion that a Board subject to Cabinet would be the most workable organization. The other method would be setting up a dual control, and business experience almost invariably shows that a dual control, no matter what the ability of both the parties to it, is fatal.