SHOULD TELL THE WORLD

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 47, 23 August 1930, Page 26

SHOULD TELL THE WORLD

BRITONS TO-DAY ARE TOO MODEST

**Tell the World" is a slogan that ought tff be pasted inside the hat of every Englishman," writes Sir Herbert Austin in the "Sunday News," Not long ago I was addressing an international organisation on the question of service, and I ventured to point bat that every Englishman should render important service to his country by becoming a "booster" for Britain, or —in other words —advertising his country to the world. . 'Advertising, to bo successful, must 'enter into every phase of the existence of every unit of any concern whose products or attributes need advertisement. Britons are a humble race, far too humble for the greatest good of their country; far too apt to hide their light ■under a bushel, and far too_ prone to deprecate themselves and their works. , Undoubtedly we might profitably take a leaf—or several leaves —from the book of our Transatlantic cousins and «tell the world." We have heard of a prophet having to honour in his own country, but with Ingland it is a case of the country having no honour of its own prophet. We are constantly afflicted by people who —following a brief visit to some other country—are anxious to impress on us that England is getting left in the race for progress. . We are told that for high efficiency, for outstanding achievement, for giants of the commercial and industrial worlds, the seßker must look elsewhere than England. Such talk is the vapouring tof a national humility, and is 99 per cent. «f piffle." There is no humility about my mesfeage, but I contend that my claims for Britain are justified by the facts of the ease, and can be cheeked by any xaan who care to appraise this country with the eye of an ordinary observer who is not hoodwinked by the bandage of humility. To find the exemplification of that 511-used phrase "high efficiency," the seeker must look to the country which for a thousand years has given a lead to the rest of the world;' to a country where giants of industry and commerce are trained in their gigantic growth and not hatched overnight; to a country where every specialist is also a general praeitioner (if need be), and where industrial structures are built on granite foundations and not on the shifting sands of mere speculation. The English business man is sound — he does nothing by guesswork; he makes no leap in the dark, dubbing himself genius if he finds foothold the bther side of the chasm.

Tha Englishman's forward progress may appear somewhat stolid —the mea-

suring of paces, the examination of the ground on which the next step must fall, the looking well ahead for possible chasms —tout there is a sureness about the stolidness.

He is no "lepper" this man—his training forbids; but should circumstances call for a long jump, then does he turn the spotlight of experience' on the distant bank and—his properly trained muscles responding to 'the call on them —the Englishman lands on both feet ready for the next stride. There has been a good deal of misunderstanding created by the "Buy British Goods" campaign. Some people have gathered the idea that Britain is pleading with her overseas Dominions for their business merely on the grounds of sympathy and sentiment. Nothing could be farther from the truth! British industry is in the happy position of being able to "deliver the goods." The Motherland is not in her dotage, and does not require any special or preferential treatment at the hands of friends or foes except when such preference is a business proposition both ways. As at the very beginning of her history, and as throughout the centuries that have merely added prestige to her supremacy, England stands four-square to the world, asking no favours of the world, but offering something to it. We need make no apologies for ourselves or our country—there is no call for them. What we need is to develop the art of self appraisement, and to be not backward in giving voice to the results of our introspective researches. This policy will not only do good elsewhere, but will be a tonic to ourselves. We shall become more convinced of our country's peculiar merits, and when we are in the market for goods of any kind we shall only purchase the home-produced article —not out of sentiment but because it is a wise policy. We have no call to be ashamed of our activities nor of our products. Englishmen of 1930 need some of that swashbuckling pride which characterised the Empire-builders of the sixteenth century and made the Elizabethan era one of the brightest in our history. Pride is not a crime! It is an essential to comfortable existence in this generation. A superiority complex may sometimes be objectionable, but its uses are legion. An inferiority complex is dangerous because it is like the old man of the sea—extremely difficult to shake off. We who are British are surely proud of it. Such being the case —"Let's tell the worldl"