ROAD TO SUCCESS.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 366, 22 February 1937, Page 6

ROAD TO SUCCESS.

ONLY HARD WORK.

Lord Nuffield’s Meteoric Rise.

Press Association—ijopyrrght.

Sydney, February 12.

Lord Nuffield, the British motor-car magnate, whose trail from Fremantle to Sydney has been marked by munificent gifts in each capital to charitable and public institutions, it' to make his homeward journey via. New Zealand. "Are there any surprise packets for New Zealand?" he was asked on his arrival in Sydney. "Ah’" he replied, “that is a long way off, and I shall have to think it over very carefully before I get there." Lord Nuffield’s gifts started with £7500 in Fremantle, and it was thought that the £25,000 he gave in Melbourne would be duplicated in Sydney. To the general surprise, he named Sydney’s amount as £40,000. The total of Lord Nuffield’s benefactions so far is £85,000, and there is still Queensland to come, probably another £lO,OOO. Lord Nuffield’s gifts are not the only things to make his visit notable. He gave aiy interview in Sydney which, for frankness, philosophy, and general observation, must rank among the richest of its kind. “Hard work is the only real road to success for any youngster.” In these words he summarised his advice to youth. His is a philosophy based on experience. He speaks of it in simple, forceful words. WiThout affectation, he says that he has now made all he Wants to make. But he is eager to advise youth about •■’tie road to success.

“When I began work I had not had much of an education as far as school goes,” he said. "But my parents' were well educated, and what I failed to learn at school I picked up at home. From the time I began work, I supported my parents. I slogged hard then, because. 1 thought, and still think, that it is tTfe only way to get on. There are those who say that 1 set out to‘make money, but that is wrong. I had an ambition, and that was to build up a business. As the business grew, the money came along With it. That is all.

A Born Engineer.

“I was 1 born an engineer. I have never been taught engineering, yet when it comes to putting technical ideas on paper, I suppose I am as good as the next man. I have never had much time for figures, yet, strangely enough, I was able to finance my own business, and we passed through many troublous times. When I was a youngster 1 went to a phrenologist, and he did not miss one point. He said that I w.as an engineer. I think that there is a lot in phrenology. I believe that vocations may be read in the ffbad. People often say that the days of opportunities for young people are gone. That, in my opinion, is Wrong. There is no reason in the wide world why any lad, who sets himself to it, cannot build up a business as- big as mine. Boys l should learn as early as possible what they want to do. “The receptive age is between 12 and 20. After that the receptive powers begin to dwindle. What a boy absorbs between the ages of 12 and 20 is likely to stick with him for the rest of his life. Even to-day I can recite by the yard poems I learned at that period.. I can also recall the words and music of old songs. But many things after that are forgotten. I believe that a boy should not delay too long in embarking on his working career, especially in technical professions. If he gets beyond 20 and up to 25, the chances are that he will be lost in the race.

“You know I have taken part in a paperchase from Fremantle to Sydney,” Lord Nuffield went on with a smile. “In other words, I have received thousands of ’ letters from people seeking financial help. And I have been kept very busy, because it is necessary to read all those letters, for one does not know when there will be among them a personal one. These people who write begging letters to me receive no help. If you give gifts to private individuals they tend to lean on you for further support, and when the lamp-post collapses they go too. Gifts of money tend to wreck ipen.”