The Bridgeman Committe Report
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1932.tb01857.x |
| Author | C. R. Attlee |
| Date | 01 October 1932 |
| Published date | 01 October 1932 |
The
Bridgeman Committee
Report
-
By
Major
C.
R.
ATTLEE,
M.P.
T
is with some trepidation that
I
have responded to the request
I
of the Editor of
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
to give my views on the
Report on the Post Office.
As
one
of
the most ephemeral of that
short-lived race, Postmasters-General,
I
feel that
I
am
intruding
in
submitting my views to the judgment of experienced practical
administrators. They may justly entertain towards me the feelings
displayed by the Indian Civil Servant to the cold-weather visitor
who passes easy judgments on problems to which he himself has
devoted years of study. However, in dealing on a somewhat slight
acquaintance with the Post Office
I
am only one
of
many. Even
more than
most
Government Departments the
Post
Office
is
con-
sidered to be fair game for the most indifferent shot.
No
special
qualifications are considered necessary
in
the
critic of
postal
administration, as the correspondence columns and, indeed, the
leading articles of the daily Press testify.
The Report is the result
of
an
agitation led by Lord Wolmer
against the Post Office and all its works. It was alleged that the
Post Office was seriously inefficient, that
it
was
a
great commercial
business being mismanaged by civil servants, and that from the very
nature
of
its constitution there could be no real improvement with-
out drastic changes. It was suggested that the real cure for all
its
ills was that it should be handed over to the management
of
those
business men whose success
in
providing for the material needs of
civilisation is
so
strikingly evident
at
the present time. Three
hundreds and twenty Members of Parliament signed a memorial to
this effect and prayed for a committee of inq-.
In Lord Bridgeman, Lord Plender and
Sir
John
Cadman the
memorialists have found a three-headed Balaam, who being called
in to curse has remained to bless, for the most salient characteristic
of
this report is its refutation of the charge of general inefficiency
brought against the Department.
While
admitting that some
criticisms are justified and recommending some far-reaching altera-
tions
in
the internal organisation and financial
status
of the Post
Office, the Committee state emphatically that they
wish
to place
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