New South Wales government administration increased four-fold during the first six decades of the twentieth century with population growth and greater community expectations. Ministerial Departments proliferated to manage and regulate various forms of social welfare that had been unthinkable in the previous century.

Employment of staff for this burgeoning administrative corps and teaching service became the responsibility of the Public Service Board, which exerted rigid centralised control over every aspect of administration.

Peter Tyler's history draws on the treasure trove of original material in the NSW State archives collection and other sources to show how the bureaucracy coped, and sometimes stumbled, during sixty years of massive social change.

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Phanfare, no.222, Jan-Feb 2007

Review of Humble and Obedient Servants by Pauline Curby

Peter J. Tyler, Humble and Obedient Servants, the Administration of NSW, Vol. 2, 1901-1960, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2006, 267 pages

Peter Tyler's Humble and Obedient Servants, published to mark the sesquicentenary of responsible government in NSW is the second of three volumes (the third is yet to come) dealing with the administrative history of NSW. It follows Hilary Golder's Politics, Patronage and Public Works, a history published in 2005 that synthesises some important threads of NSW's history. Golder is a hard act to follow but Peter Tyler rises to the occasion to produce a well written, exhaustively researched work that makes an important contribution to the history of NSW.

This nicely presented and very readable book will provide much needed historical context for those of us who delve into the files of NSW's numerous government agencies in the course of our professional work.

In his examination of the period 1901 to 1960, Tyler has made good use of a wide range of files held by State Records NSW - in addition to other sources. Focusing on three major agencies: the Premier's Department (formerly Colonial Secretary), Treasury and the Public Service Board, he provides a unique insight into the inner workings of government administration in NSW.

Each of the chronological chapters deals with several changes of government and includes a useful overview of the political background of the period. Events in the wider world are also highlighted as well as the internal manoeuvrings of the public service.

One of the recurring themes is the role of women in the public service. Their subservient role is demonstrated by telling details such as the fact that female tracers were only employed in drawing offices in the Lands Department in the 1930s to prevent 'mental stagnation' in well-educated young men (p. 13). Later in the politically incorrect 1950s an equal pay claim included the argument that women needed a 'good appearance' to attract men and this cost money. While this may still be the case, the argument would no longer be used in this context - hopefully! (p. 161)

A selection of State Records' 'special bundles' - always an invaluable source for the researcher - has been put to good use in features such as 'Slow relief or no relief' (pp. 114-115) dealing with depression-era 'begging' letters written to Premier Jack Lang. Tyler quotes some of these but concludes that, despite their plight, 'few people received any tangible support' as a result of their poignant letters. The whole process became 'bogged down in bureaucratic indifference'.

This volume is full of fascinating details such as the fact that Gordon Childe - later professor of archaeology at the University of Edinburgh - was Premier John Storey's secretary in 1921 (p. 72). Judging from Tyler's depiction of these 'humble and obedient servants' there seem to have been few men of this intellectual calibre employed in the public service in the years that followed.

In this otherwise carefully balanced history the author occasionally suggests how exasperating he finds some aspects of the old public service 'culture'. One example is with regard to the special arrangements made during World War II for the evacuation of politicians and public servants - including drivers - from Sydney should it be bombed or invaded. Those selected were to reside in the compact central western town of Orange. Tyler comments tartly, 'Why motor drivers were regarded as essential is a mystery - anywhere in Orange would have been within comfortable walking distance'. (p. 170) One gets the impression that for this author, who incidentally as a child lived in Sydney through the war years, such contingency plans - never implemented of course - smacked of rats leaving a sinking ship.

In the last two decades covered by this history the baleful influence of Public Service Board chairman Wallace Wurth, with his 'flair for cultivating influential patrons', is examined. Tyler - with an uncharacteristic lapse into colloquialism - describes Wurth as a 'control freak' during his 21 years as head of the Public Service Board.
Details of some of the penny pinching (pp. 137 & 208) that went on under this regime, while big budget items were ignored, are revealing. In 1952 - to cite just one example - it was decreed that one inch margins were no longer to be used in children's writing and drawing books to save paper in schools. Was this ever implemented I wonder? I would have liked Tyler to answer the question he poses towards the end of the book: 'was Wallace Wurth a puppet or the puppet master?' (p. 205) - the latter I surmise from reading this work.

While this is in the main a fine work of history, there are some shortcomings - perhaps inevitable in a work of such a vast canvass. I found a few 'typos' (pp. 101 & 192) and at times the structure seemed a little schematic. More space could perhaps have been devoted to a key issue such as the implications of the class background of much of NSW's public service.

The abandonment of the patronage system of the 19th century and the ascent up the social scale of 'middle aged men from relatively humble backgrounds' who made up the majority of the NSW's public service did not produce the improvements in public administration that were hoped for. Instead it led to the rule of mediocrity.

This is indeed an important - albeit depressing - topic that warrants further discussion. An Australian spirit of egalitarianism that led to an absence of a hierarchy of liberally educated upper bureaucrats, as in Britain, disappointingly produced a regime in which - Tyler concludes - 'conformity [was valued] rather than creativity in administration' (pp. 158-160). As he commented elsewhere, 'only conformity brought rewards' (p. 188). The fact that the size of office carpets were an indicator of status in the public service says it all. (p. 142) It is indeed a misfortune for our state that a career path such as this, more or less open to talent, should with some notable exceptions produce only lacklustre minions.

Two of my favourites from the range of well-chosen illustrations featured in Humble and Obedient Servants are depression images: one showing well-dressed families at 'happy valley' in the Sydney suburb of Brighton, while in the other children at Belmore North Public School line up for soup and bread. One little boy in tailored suit and hat looks like a miniature businessman but may well have ended up as a 'humble and obedient servant' in the NSW public service. (pp.112-113)

Pauline Curby
Professional Historians Association