FAITH IN FUTURE

Hokitika Guardian, 25 November 1930, Page 7

FAITH IN FUTURE

A CHANCE FOR ENTERPRISE. OPTIMISTIC VIEWS. I “One of the outstanding characterisI tics of our Government is its lack ot business men/’ declared Mr W. Morton Paterson, a former Canadian manufacturer now residing in Wellington, in an address at the Wellington Advertising Club luncheon last Thursday. “Measures relating to the great and small business of the country are framed and put into effect under influences which apparently heed not the voices of those whom they most immediately. affect. “Outward and visible signs lead one to believe that the man of business is looked upon with suspicion,” he continued. “Merchants, bankers, manufacturers, and all business men have knowledge of the business affairs of this country, and surely by virtue of this knowledge they are qualified to take part in the conduct of the increasing participation of the Government in the control and direction of business affairs. After careful study, no one will deny that the man of agriculture is still far removed from the man of business. These two still stand face to face on opposite banks of that mighty rivei, ‘Misunderstanding’, and until that river is bridged how can we expect a happy issue from out present political, economic, and other difficulties P

Less Interference in Business, “To-day our Government lias too much power over business and we must see to it that there is no enlargement of that power. If New Zealand enterprise is stagnant to-day, if enterprise is bashful, if capital is timid, there must be a cause just as surely as there is a remedy. The remedy is our immediate concern; we know the cause. “The remedy is not the raising or lowering of tariff walls, but less Government competition and interference in business ancj a reasonable assurance that if capital again, lights the candle of enterprise, the Government will not blow it out. “Advertising men arp men of commerce. .They are vitally\interestedl in the business of the country, arid when there is interference with industrial progress, it js necessary that they support such bodies as the Chambers Of Commerce, Manufacturers’ Associations, and especially the Associated Chambers of Commerce, who are endeavouring in, a practical way to obtain for industry relief from Government interference and competition and commercial and other taxation which, if increased much further, would have all the earmarks. of confiscation. . , n “It is only fitting that we should all get together, and help ourselves. Just because we are in the midst of a so-called trade depression, we should not let our faith in the future waver. New Zealand'has come through trade depressions great and small before this Are we to think that because 1930-31 are years in which we are again laboring 'through a difficult period, people will stop buying our wool, meat, butter, and other products? Are we as a country to give up the ghost? Are we to suppose that no more in ants will be born in New Zealand just because the stock market has dropped so many points? No. indeed! This country will continue to inarch forward on the feet of her children.

Facing the Issue. “Now is the time to get for bigger and better business. Now is the time you will find the far-sighted investor buying these stocks that shortvisioned people are only too eager to unload. It is not according to the rules of life that people, nations, or individuals should enjoy uninterrupted prosperity. When we do have prosperous periods what happens ? we become soft; we grow careless; we become extravagant; we become self-sat-isfied ; we over-expand; we get big heads. If such conditions continued indefinitely, our very prosperity would rend us asunder.

“To-day we must face the issue squarely. Governments cannot bring about miracles. Undoubtedly primary producers, as well as other industries, must spend more time and thought and money on selling, and must strive for a greater good-will in the markets of the world by an enlightened and sane policy of sales promotion. In England, Danish butter sells at a higher price than New Zealand butter. I do not believe that it is because theif product is superior to ours, but because of the extraordinary good-will which has been carefully built up over a period of many years through the medium of a steady, consistent, and sane sales policy. “To-day, I, as a New Zealander, am of good cheer, because I have faith in this country and its people, and T see renewed prosperity just o’er the bill, and I feel it in my bones that light will soon tint the darkness of the powers that be.”