Wanted—Leadership

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 242, 9 July 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

Wanted—Leadership

4 N the long run,” said Dr. J. R. Condliffe in his Halley Stewart lecture I on “The Distribution of Power and Leadership,” “power and leaderfl ship in the economic as in any other field of human endeavour depend JU, less upon circumstances than upon men, and less upon numbers than upon quality. “The essential problem confronting this or any other country in its effort to raise and make more secure the standard of life of its people is the development and training of men and women capable of grappling with changing circumstances. “In the difficult period through which we are passing it is the country which most successfully enlists capacity wherever it is found which stands the best chance of survival. Leadership is more necessary than ever, but it must be leadership based upon, and drawn from, an educated and stable democracy. The day has gone by When a privileged caste can command the acquiescent following of ignorant masses with any hope of final success. The problems with which we are confronted are problems of adaptation to a rapidly changing world.

“ ‘We sail a changeful sea through halcyon days and storm. And when the ship laboureth, our stedfast purpose Trembles like as the compass in a binnacle. Our stability is but balance, and wisdom lies In masterful administration of the unforeseen.’ “It is not by clinging to past privileges or by attempting to retain and protect group 1 interests threatened by their failure to keep pace with the times, but by shrewd adaptation and foresight that economic leadership is won. It cannot be kept in cold storage but must continually be re-won. Such a task demands that a nation must use all its capacity. “A greater measure of economic equality, improved nutrition, and physi cal fitness are all elements of the problem, but educational opportunity is at least equally important, opportunity not so much to acquire knowledge, though knowledge is important, but for mental training and social understanding Economic power will fall as it always has in the past to the nation that knows best how to discover and train its potential leaders, ‘building them fair and fronting to the dawn.’”