GOODWILL AMONG MEN.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3141, 30 October 1922, Page 2

GOODWILL AMONG MEN.

manifesto urging the supreme necessity at the present moment ol goodwill among men in the industrial as well as in the political sphere, has been prepared by the British Industrial League and Council, of which Viscount Burnbam and Mr G. N. Roberts M.I ~ are the presidents. It is signed by a large number of members of Parliament and others, who endorse the efforts of this organisation to improve the relations between employers and employed; and it is of interest to note that among the earliest of the signatures received was that of the Prime Minister. The theory and importance of individual responsibility :ire emphasised in the manifesto; if a spirit of mutual understanding is to be obtained, every class, employer and cmployed alike, must, it is urged, endeavor to fulfil its obligations. "GoodwilJ among men is ( the manifesto says) the one thing that can save civilisation. But this goodwill is not, and cannot be, limited to statesmen and their military advisers. The real . ruler of the world to-day is commerce. ' It is onlv the worker who can build up what'the soldier has destroyed.'' The full text of the manifesto is as follows: —

"All thinking men and women agree that the world is in desperate need of goodwill, that co-operation is a vital necessity if we are to gain a world of peace, prosperity, and happiness. Everyone realises' with something akin to distress that even the terrible war through which we have so recently passed has not satiated the human appetite for revenge and oppression abroad and dissension at home. The memory of those who died, the thought of the ideals for which they laid down their lives, do not avail to stay the spread of conflict in one or another of its many forms. It may be that the real cause of our inability to restore tranquillity to Europe is our failure to grasp the measure of our individual responsibility. "The world, after all, is made up of States, and States are represented very largeiy by associations created for political or industrial ends What we desire and demand is that the States should keep the peace as between themselves. What we forget is that a State is no moro than an aggregate of individuals giving allegiance to some form of government. There can be no war where individuals are united in the pursuit of peace. There can be no peace where large bodies of men are bent upon war. A perfect human relation between ourselves and foreign nations and a.t home between Capital and Labor is the real secret of future, prosperity.

"Tf people are concerned in their individual capacity with struggles and quarrels, if in industry they attach more importance to personal! questions than to those that are vital to the well-being of the community they create art atmosphere in which ill-feeling is the dominant factor, they divide themselves into camps, they look at every question from the viewpoint of their individual preferences. The result is that the industry suffers. With it human relationship suffers.

"As it is with industry so it is with the State. Tf the rulers think only in teinifi of their own coutitrry, then sooner or later the result is wan\ Only as they take wide views and develop a large vision, considering others as well as themselves, is peace maintained. We find States with divergent aims working in complete harmony. "We know to-day that goodwill among men is the one thing that can save civilisation. But this goodwill is not. and cannot be. limited to statesmen and their military advisers. The real ruler of the world to-day is commerce. It is only the worker who can build up what the soldier has destroyed. "There never was a time in the whole history of the world when the industrialist bad so much to offeror the world at large had so great a need of his services. Europe has received a staggering blow. Millions of its best citizens have been lost. The foundations of its coinincrc al life have been shaken as though by an earthquake. The whole Continent is full of suspicion end mistrust. Its energy looks in vain for a proper outlook. Men lack necessities and opportunities while there is a vast demand for everything that Europe produces. Given goodwill', that demand '•an be met. distress can be relieved. employment can be widened.

"We is Great Britain nave the factories, the works, the skilled men, the aililo direction. One of the most vital things wanting is that goodwill which '■< the real motive-payer. If we arc to obtain it. every class, employer and' employed alike, must admit the theory of personal responsibility, and must endeavor to fulfil its obligation?. "If every man would so shape his acts in times when industrial crises threaten that he can feel he is fulfilling his responsibility to those who died for their country, the quarrels that have made the path of industry so difficult in the past few years would not recur. We can a-lf afford an effort to forget the past and make endeavor to mould the future for the common good. Men in every political party look" forward to the time when there shall be a. real settlement in Europe. Not Until we achieve unity at home can we hope to achiye unity abroad. No until all ( lasses of the community recognise not. only their rights but also their obligations, shall we achieve unitv at home.