PRODUCTION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10608, 5 June 1920, Page 3

PRODUCTION

THE PRESENT BAY NEED A NATIONAL PROGRAMME REQUIRED". Z On this subject Mr F. G.. Dalziell writes to tho "Times" as-follows:— ■■•■■ "There is general agreement among those in authority in the civilised -world to-day that "more production" is the groat need of this time, but there is no such agreement as to what ."production" means. May I, therefore, oat of some years' study of the question say a word to your readers on this subject.

"There is to-day among our leading scientists a fairly common agreement' that everything in the universe known to us consists of energy, whether it takes the form of .what we. call live or dead', (that is," animate or inanimate) natural substance. It is obvious, therefore, that 'production 1 can mean only the production of energy, because life as we know it consists wholly of the usa or enjoyment of energy in dilterenit forms or conditions. All thait each of us can hope for in life, therefore, is the development of his own energy and the energy of' those things ho uses or associates with in life, and it is obvious that the development of his own energy is dependent ..upon the development of the energy of these othert things. In other words one's own development is dependent upon the development of others. "In the course of six years' close reflection upon a fairly comprehensive practical experience of the operation J of our New Zealand enterprise, I have | nob found one case of the development of energy in a human being, or body of people, or in any created thing or body of any kind, save in accordance with a simple rule, or law, which regulates the energy of each body just in proportion as its members are organised in a common programme for the development of the body; and the development of the body means, pi course, the development of the energy of the individual members, because the power of a body can never be greater 'than the sum of the power of its individual members. The only way then, in which I have seen energy produced in our national life is by the members of a body concentrating their energies upon some service in a general programme of development, the result secured being always in' exa«t accordance with the degree in which the individual members, concentrate.-j their minds upon, the efficiency, of their respective: services or occupations. "The) only tiling wrong with our national organisation to-day is that,- instead of those in our national services meeting', together ■ and agreeing upon "a national programme of production and a generally acceptable basis of distribution of the produce, so that each miqmber may devote himself wholeheartedly to the efficiency of his service, we force those in every service to concentrato their minds largely upon a degrading scramble for the national produce; and our national power—and therefore our national production—is wasted at every point where an individual, in his occupation, concentrates his attention upon his Wii' interests' and not upon the efficiecy of his service.

- "When I realised in my experience ■the inevitable operation p£ this simple rule of life, I tested it by rci'erence;tp our standard works on human life, and fund that it is nothing' else'than thff law taught by Christ. ' I am not, however, urging its recognition merely because- Ho taughti it- He begged us to follow it sqleiy because it is the. governing law' of the universe; but it is obvious that while we are following it we are .living in His spirit,., which .is_ the only way ito production. *lt'"is clear also that while we are in this way each of us is developing into an ever-widen-ing life, tending to a. knowledge and enjoyment of all life. In other words, each of us is winning the enjoyment of all energy in an ever-developing oner nees of associates: or, as it is said, 'becoming one with God.' "The obvious way out of our trouble therefore is a general conference, ot those employed in our national,,,sei> vices, employers and employees, who must arrive at a general programme of development and use of the produce ot our national enterprise before we can avoid the friction, and the appalling waste, we are now involved m by our scramble for this produce. It is idle to say.this is impracticable,-because we have only secured what wo enjoy today to the extent we have come together as one people. What we need S not revolution. bub merely more etncient national organisation, in conformity with the governing rule or, tiie universe." '