LEADERSHIP IN COMMERCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 135, 9 June 1937, Page 10

LEADERSHIP IN COMMERCE

In a thoughtful address to the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce yesterday, the Governor-General emphasised the importance of the part which chambers of commerce ' are called upon to play in maintaining the prosperity of New Zealand and the Empire. By the sound leadership and wise administration' of all connected with commerce, he said, a happy future would be assured not alone in certain capital interests, but also as regarded the workers themselves. This viewpoint is sometimes overlooked, and there is a tendency to regard the interests of those on whom leadership in commerce and industry devolves as distinct and separate from the interests of the people who are employed. This is

not "so, for the good wages and high standard of living which his Excellency advocated can be assured only so long as there is energetic and capable administration. This cannot be dispensed with. National measures may introduce new methods of control and co-ordination, but the prosperity of industry and of the workers engaged in industry will still depend upon the capacity of those who direct the operations. The chambers of commerce recognise this, and recognise, we believe, that they have a duty to the public as well as to the commerce and industry they directly represent to apply their experience and knowledge in the wise guidance of the national business welfare.