STATE CONTROL OPPOSED

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24983, 18 September 1946, Page 5

STATE CONTROL OPPOSED

PLEA by president f OF CHAMBER tECOGNITION OF PRIVATE " ENTERPRISE rtrong plea f° r the arresting of furAS State control and for recognition 1 !a>i place of private enterprise was ' LaW Mr J - K ’ Dench ’ retiring presii *7 o f the Canterbury Chamber of erce a the annual meeting of JJSamber last evening. Mr Dench. present world • ideologies, the choice at present seemed hp freedom of the individual on the 5 hand or absolute regimentation 5 ffite-wastery on the other. tf-Dpnch emphasised at the start of Address that for 87 years it had 8 s fL chamber's task to stand firmly ♦hP crotection and preservation of iciness ‘and industry, and that the I SSmhpr of Commerce movement was w ay political. He also made the iLnt that membership of the Canter- | rz, chamber was made up of mainly S businesses (83 per cent.), showrTThat the organisation stood for the election of even the smallest units. f Reviewing the history of private enJJise, he said that the very success JTeconomic growth of the Empire {“the last 400 or 500 years had been «L>d entirely on private enterprise, only judicial, political and other necessary to foster freedom of had been left to the GovernXit He traversed the growth of the ElLo Companies from 1500 onwards, ..jTSwthey had brought into exist-Jnce-the postal and currency systems, the banks had followed the suc-iLes-showing private enterprise as for fashioning the medium exchange, colonisation, industrial organisation, trading company growth, capital organisation, geographical discoveries. great inventions, and for infuencing constitutional reforms. He added that the outstanding success of private enterprise was exempli - led in the United States, and that on he other hand the European experiment in totalitarianism had shown it- •£' n a bad light. Regimentation Alternative At this time, Mr Dench said, the Choice seemed to lie between freedom the individual (subject to reasonable safeguards) and absolute regimentation and mastery by the State. Complete regimentation of a country tn' the result would mean one political jarty without anyone free from »rty-politieal influence, he said. PoliKai control and industry and business were incompatible. If the contention that regimentation meant one party was not acceptable, then under I democratic system changes in govtnunent would .render trading operations practically unworkable, and the thole economic structure and outlook could change with the fortunes of Government could not find successors, while changes in personnel, government or parties would result in changes of policy if the conduct of businesses touched on public interest and the electorate. Purely economic functions of the country would become involved in party political aims with dire results for those conducting business with State trading organisations. Personal liberty also disappeared in l State-coptrolled community, Mr Dench said. State control presupposed control of manpower, labour and wages, and therefore private lives, but while it was accepted in time of national difficulty workers and others in the. Dominion would not readily accept it in time of peace. Even if the principle of State trading was good, at least in a democratic state any further attempts at conversion from freedom of enterprise to. State cdxttrbl at present would be suicidal, he said, 'as it was impossible to rehabilitate returned servicemen nd women and place the displaced civilian workers without relying ainly on free enterprise. It was logial fo.reason that the process of-State control should be arrested and the fullest assurance given to industry and enterprise so that immediate steps could be’taken, to expand business to enable the placement of the maximuto of employees. Returned men themselves would expect economic freedom in the period of reconstruction. Mr Dench added that social security, bsurance, pensions and other benefits could be supported only by hard work nd-the most effective operation of the country’s economy, with increased production as the necessary counterpart ef improved wages and conditions. He also quoted of prominent nen—including Ihe socialist, Mr R. nelensky,- a member of the Northern >«hodesian Legislative Counn—in support of his case on the value « private enterprise.