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certain conclusions which were presented to the following session of the Council, where they were approved and referred to the General Assembly. The General Assembly also adopted them and sent them here with a recommendation of the action we are about to take. Now, this is an orderly and fruitful proceeding. For myself, I stated at the General Assembly that there was a far better prospect of Governments accepting a Convention agreed on by the International Labour Organization with its tripartite representation than there would be if proposals reached them from any other organization whatsoever. And this is the view of the New Zealand Government. But I must add here that the mere adoption of a Convention by the International Labour Organization is inadequate. The Convention must be honestly accepted by Governments of member States and be properly administered. This involves the creation of an active, informed, and favourable public opinion, and in this connection every well-disposed citizen of the nations represented here must accept some responsibility. Governments exercise great power, but in the last resort the people possess the power and it depends on how they think and act as to whether or not Conventions become realities in industrial and social life. More than the Convention, even., is the popular will, and to ensure that the Convention will yield its best effect, that will must be publicspirited and enlightened. I now come to a section of the Director-General's report which I think has some pertinence to what I have just said. It is the section headed " Inflation, Wages, and Output." Its general argument is wisdom itself, and it will be accepted by all Governments that seek stability and the general welfare of their fellow-citizens. It may well be pondered by both workers and employers. What it suggests is that in such a world as now exists, in which war and post-war dislocations have handicapped the production of goods and services, it is as urgent to increase the goods and services as it is to effect their equitable distribution. After all, standards of life depend on the wealth available. If the production of this wealth is hampered or diminished because industry is looked upon as a battlefield in which those engaged in it fight for self-advantage, it is as certain as anything can be that improving standards of life will be impossible. For economic and social progress in the sense that all participate increasingly in the benefits of production, it is inescapable in the present state of human affairs that understanding and co-operation between the interests concerned are absolutely essential. What is needed is a new conception of the purpose of industry. It should be regarded as a public service, and primarily as a means by which a more abundant life may be given to the community. Acceptance of this view will involve modification of attitudes which have prevailed until now with both employers and employees, not to speak of Governments, and it will require patience, forbearance, and good-will, but to the extent that this conception becomes the rule it will bring its reward not only in material benefit, but in moral satisfaction. A principal objective of the International Labour Organization is to break down the barriers that divide us and to increase understanding, so that we might unite in the practice of a common helpfulness. Two of its recent activities are typical of the work the International Labour Organization is doing. One is the reconstitution of the Correspondence Committee on Social Insurance, and in this New Zealand will play an active part. The other is the Preparatory Asian Regional Conference, held in Delhi last year, which a full delegation from New Zealand attended. This Conference was an outward sign of the anxiety of the International Labour Organization to assist the peoples of Asia and the Far East, who make up one-half of the human family, and who five under frightful disadvantages. In the International Labour Organization the representatives of the Asiatic nations enjoy equality, and through this Organization, in which things are decided by free discussion and the exercise of reason, not only can they be assisted by more favoured

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