The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1916. EMPIRE EFFICIENCY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2955, 15 December 1916, Page 8

The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1916. EMPIRE EFFICIENCY

'The space we devote to-day to the growing movement to. strengthen the position of trade and, industry throughout the Empire is designed to assist in promoting that greater efficiency which alone will enable us to gain, the mastery ■' in"the struggle for the, world's trade after "bhe war. . Our, purpose- has, been to- endeavour to show something of the thoughts which are stirring the nation's leaders in trade, and industry, and to indicate'as far as possible the lines along which their actions are likely to run. It will be seen that in many respects we are only at the -beginning of things. In some directions proposals for developing industries and expanding trade have already taken practical shape, but in the main the work now in hand is preparatory. Questions of finance, shipping freights, conditions of trade affect •us closely, and it is necessary not only that we should be kept fully abreast with what is afoot in Britain, but that we should, co-operato and assist to the best of our ability in the steps that are being taken in the development of Inter-Imperial trade and commerce. There are revolutionary changes in prospect. The State will certainly play a bigger part than heretofore in encouraging and assisting the development of the resources of the nation. Private enterprise will bo helped in unaccustomed ways— financially, by expert advice, information bureaux, and by other means;.'' The British,. Board of Trade is already active, and its functions "will in all likclihood.be further extended. The war : has stirred the nation to its deepest depths, and among other things it has shaken British manufacturers out of the old ruts into which they had sunk, of ton to their own disadvantage, and aroused a, spirit of enterprise which promises to find an outlet in vastly improved machinery and methods. In all directions there is a demand for increased efficiency. Higher efficiency 'in machinery, in organisation, in distribution; wider scientific research work; . better knowledge of Customers' requirements; hotter educational methods in the training of the rising generation. Thcre_ is a. new spirit abroad in Britain. It is something, more than' a recognition ■ that the nation has been put on trial to defend its existence; it is a stirring' of. national .pride, a determination to prove to the world that the freeborn Britisher can hold his own —and more than hold his- own— with the best; not. only on the battlofields of Europe, but. in the peaceful regions _/of industry. and commerce.- ■ It ■is a national revival, and is well described by an American observer in an -article, published elsewhere in. this 'issue. We in New Zealand must take.-our part worthily in .the coming trade struggle, and to _do so we must keep abreast of the times. ■ "Efficiency" is \ motto which we can with profit keep constantly before us. '.