INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27366, 3 June 1954, Page 7

INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE

Mr Watts Discusses Portfolio

PROBLEMS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(New Zealand Press Association) . WELLINGTON, June 2.

The Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr J. T. Watts) told the Wellington branch of the Institute of Management tonight some of his problems as a Minister. He said he was

“torn and battered between the representations of manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, retailers, consumers, and farmers, steering a course which pays attention to all the special interests of these people, and is in conformity with Government philosophy and with the hard facts of economic necessity . . Mr Watts said that, soon after he had been given his present. portfolio, members of the Board of Trade visited him. The chairman (Sir David Smith), referring to a particular subject, asked, “What is Government policy in this matter?” “I scratched my head,” said Mr Watts. “I did not know for a moment what he meant. Then I realised that what he meant was, ‘What do you think about this matter as the responsible head of these activities?’ Then I gave them what I thought should be Government policy in the matter under discussion. The role of government was no longer negative, said Mr Watts. Electors wanted a creative and positive policy. The move in the last 50 years had been toward a “service” State. There had been an equal change in the public attitude toward business. Responsibilities. of Business “The concept of laissez faire has now disappeared,’ he said. “Business today is conscious of its social responsibilities. There are people- who still believe they can solve the economic ills of. the country if the Government keeps its hands off business. “I have heard businessmen object to policy decisions of the Government on the ground that the decisions are contrary to the world-wide policy of a company. This is really a dangerous attitude. Businessmen must realise that the Government cannot be bound by any international cartel agreements. or by the nolicy of any company.’* The Community was faced with the forces of reaction on two fronts, the extreme Right and the extreme Left, said Mr Watts. Business should not be given a “special, almost mystic” position. Dangers existed in arguments put forward by the exponents of trade arrangements and trade associations. These could lead to the ultimate conclusion that in a jjreat many fields, planning was superior to free enterprise—in other words, that a planned economy was better than a free economy. “There is no room for argument as to where such a claim leads to. It must lead straight to socialism,” said Mr Watts. “If businessmen want socialism, they are free to make their choice next November, but they can hardly expect to have it both ways—to have freedom to regulate others within their own little field, without being subject to regulation themselves.”

Mr Watts said business should strive to improve methods of production and distribution. It should agree that it has a duty to give service to the community* It should devise and accept a code of ethics and business principles and adhere to it. It should also give wholehearted support to the private enterprise system, the basis of which was fair competition, and it should make a profit, not from greed, but as deriving from an incentive to effort.