THE PRINCE ADVISES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 32, 30 April 1927, Page 6

THE PRINCE ADVISES

ON INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS OLD METHODS MUST Go His Royal Highness the pjn Wales put into a nutshell the n,"" dustrial gospel which has received much attention from the English m. *° recently. -**633 Moreover the Prince can ten story, as witness the epic of the of paint, says "John Bull" j Poc Argentine a man went into an country store and saw another come m and ask for a tin of He was given a tin of English r l '- but neither he nor the stnr»i,PiU,ltcould transhite the English on which gave directions how to b * l paint. So he took instead' /? th( German paint which carried of ;. r /‘' UOnS printed ‘n several The incident typifies what has all t,, often been the contemptuous nr, , of the British manufacturer markets. Happily, this "take n R leave-it” attitude is going. The magnificent displav of the Irtish Industries Fair is a hid for n-ortj markets already more than justified Orders are pouring in. The wheels of industry will hum response for many months to com,. The crucial question is. Will th hum us into real industrial peace .3 prosperity, or will each turn bring nearer to another period of tremen dous upheaval and unrest' 1 The answer, if the advice of the Prince is followed, is not in doubt It implies that for which we i, av . consistently pleaded—nothing less than a real revolution in industry, with . new. and infinitely better, spirit ner vading it. y

To develop the idea of “concentration of units” involves the scrapping of small and selfish interests. It protects the welfare of the many against the greed and rapacity of the few. It means a shedding; of all sfliy w sulaxity, wider travel for the voun* and a willingness to profit by the experience and methods of other countries when these are good. Our present industrial development, originated in the mentality of a hundred years ago, does not satisfy the intelligence and ambitions of to-day. The human element does indeed “play an enormous part in industrial relations,” and it is when that human element is either wilfully or stupidly ignored that unrest begins and serious trouble breaks out. It is odd that it has been left to Royalty, from its detached standpoint, to drive home these things and warn us “that the status of being Consulted where appropriate and where possible, is the natural aspiration among the workers.” Probably every employer of labour, unless wrapped in traditionalism and deaf as an adder, has already taken it to heart. It strikes us that it would also be “appropriate and possible” as an improving study for the members of his Majesty’s Government