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Hokitika Guardian, 18 November 1925, Page 2

[n- :i reprint oil nrticlc tlie other day tlie confessions of :i t-a pita! ist were lisclosed. Tlie confessions were from the pen of Sir Ernest Bonn. the publislior nml economist, so well known throughout tlie United Kingdom for his virile articles in the current press. A reviewer commenting on the work, which is tlie English rival to the liTcstory of Henry Ford, goes on to say that it is a pity that so few business men in Great Britain have the courage to “confess'' as does Sir Finest Bonn. the publisher. His candour is forceful, simple ill language, and informative. His latest hook tells the story of his life from the days when, aged 10.1, |,e started work in his father’s office ns a junior clerk earning 5s a week, and saving half that- sum every week. Now. as lie says in an “introductory apology. “I am a business man and enjoying a very substantial income. I own two motor cars. I live amidst surroundings that to many people would seem .luxurious. I control a fair-sized business, and. directly and indirectly. I suppose I am responsible for the activities of about ‘2,000 ‘wageslaves.’ ’’ Throughout this hook, in which Sir Ernest takes his readers over ;tl years of activity, even to the extent of opening the pages of his profit and loss account for public inspection, nn opportunity has been lost to show the fallacy of the modern disciples of Socialism and Communism in preaching the gospel that such business men. as he typifies are a menace to the “wage-slaves’’ ol to-day. Sir Ernest puts the position of the high-salaried leader of business in a nutshell, thus: “Income. £IO.OOO. derived from turnover of £IOO.OOO. Every year a largo number ol persons who think they like such matter as 1 publish, pay to me of their nnn free will, the sum of £ 100,000. Of this stun I pay away lo workers and to others £090,000. and retain for my trouble the £IO.OOO which is the cause of all this discussion. . . .

'/ ain providing work at a cost to the wage-earner of ltd m the £. I distribute wages on a far lower expense ratio than Old Age Pensions are distributed, rnemploymeitt pay costs much more to hand out over the counter of tlie Fahour Exchange than 1 charge for handing out wages to the large number of persons who have fe"oiiie involved in the enterprise which I have built up.”