The Dominion SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1931. THE PRINCE DRAWS SOME MORALS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 226, 20 June 1931, Page 6

The Dominion SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1931. THE PRINCE DRAWS SOME MORALS

The speech delivered by the Prince of Wales at Manchester shortly after his return from South America Was generally ■ as the most important event of that, particular, week. We cmn- , plimenting his audience of businessmen on the resources andjhherenJ.. efficiency of the British manufacturer .the Pnrice drew attention to certain changes in. the. psychology of trade which neither they no those occupied in the business of marketing their products could , afford to neglect. He has observed the effect of these changes in ; South America, and from his own personal impressions has drawn the morals with which ,he punctuated an excellent and stimulate#, spe ’ savin? that “we live and learn.” In these days of ; keen international trade competition, of highly-specialised, salesmanship and marketing, the truth is being, upon British manufacturers, and traders-.that they must earn in mder to. The traditional “You-can’t-tell-me-anything attitude which ' their indifference to dr contempt of suggestions that they.should . ; change their methods., is passing. Competition and disappearing, markets have forced, them to look around and see what others are. I doing, and to listen attentively and respectfully to the tales of who, without-, expert’ knowledge, are observant enough to note th ■ changes.which are taking place in ways of doing things, and intelligent: ' enough, to-realise their significance. . ■ - The Prince of Wales is not an expert, but he is a very highlytrained observer with: a;, profound and patriotic personal -interest mj the development of the-trade of his country. The deductions-he has drawn from what , he . has. seen and heard in his frec l u^ ; , oeregrinations in British and foreign countries have been incontestably sound, and of unquestionable value and inspiration to his country-., men.,;- Especially has .this been the case with his South American tour. Change, the love of change for the sake of change, « one. " of the most striking influences observed by the Prince in the psychology, of -modern buying, and because of the ingrained, British_dislike of ’ •change he dwelt with special'emphasis upon it in his Manchester Spee< The British tradition ,in manufacture is to, .build solidly and,: durably, to make something that, if perhaps dear, will last. . .Hence our reputation for reliability, a reputation which, said the Prince .in. his speech, is not a thing that‘should be lightly discarded or even risked. Nevertheless, he has noted a too rigid adherence to pre-war type. To quote his own words: ■.-

We forget what a change of taste has come over the world since the War. To-day the majority of people appear to desire goods that wi.ll not last so long. They are always looking forward to some new invention, ™d thesl°come abouWuickly. We always feel rather jealous; of anything our friends have got that we have not. In fact, the taste of the world is becoming as fickle as women’s fashions. There is no reason why we should not turn out this class of goods, maintaining at the same time a hlghe . quality than our competitors. We should sacrifice some of the high fl . and the solidarity of some our manufactures .without affecting then mechanical efficiency or usefulness. ’ ‘ 5

The moral of the. foregoing should be>as plain to the average, citizen of intelligence as it was to the Prince, and as it ought to be to the British manufacturer, namely, to study the-requirements of the customer and meet them as far as possible. , ;• •• ;. v . ■ Fbr the rest, the. interested reader is recommended to peruse the summary of the Prince’s speech which appears in another column. It is a bracing address, which must have brought into the conservative atmosphere of his Manchester audience a stimulating draught of fresh air. A great British trade revival would, change the whole aspect of the Empire’s economic position, and there is, every reason to anticipate that the Prince's appeal will bear fruit. There are, in fact, already signs that the upward movement has begun. It is a long lane that has no turning. >