THE PART—AND THE WHOLE

Grey River Argus, 18 April 1936, Page 2

THE PART—AND THE WHOLE

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. A LESSON FROM A COMICALITY. Some recent comments of Mr. A. E. Cut forth, president of the English Institute of Chartered Accountants, on the functions of that body can apply as well to other organisations in Great Britain and in New Zealand. “An individual,” he said, * may play a very small part, but no matter how limited his influence may be. i he makes a contribution, for good or ill, to the whole. “Some of you may remember an entertaining set of drawings which appeared in “Punch” some time ago and which purported to depict the events of ti day in the life of a flute player attached to a theatre orchestra. The musical score of the opera which was beirm plaved only contained one solifor the flute. The first picture showed the flute player leaping out of bed at the sound of his alarm clock; further pictures showed him at his breakfast, lunch and tea respectively. Then followed a dravvincr in which he was taking his flute out of its case and polishing and testing it. Next he was shown, with his flute case in hand, walking with an important air to the theatre. . In the succeeding picture, he was sitting- in his seat in the orchestra, with his flute on his knees, knowing that he had nothing to do f° r an our 01 SO, 1L next picture indicated that the great moment was approaching; the flute plover’s oyey were glued to the musical score in front of him, and he was beginning to put the flute to his lips. The next picture showed the great moment itself; he was playing the solitary note, his figure tense with concentrated effort, and his eyes on the conductor whose baton inclined towards him and whose glance rested on him for the space of a couple of seconds. By comparison the remaining pictures were undramatic. In one the flute player was seen putting his instrument in its ease at the end of the performance; in the next he was trotting home, case in hand; and in the last he was setting the alarm clock preparatory to leaping into bed ‘’The flute player was made to cut a comical little figure, and his selfimportant air contrasted with the very modest dimensions of his achievement But to me there seemed a moral in this pictured story. The single note on the flute was a necessary part of the performance of the opera; somebody had to produce that note, and it was surely meritorious that the musician should take a pride in what he did and determine to do it to the very best of his ability. ‘ ‘lf I may dare to compare the accountancy profession with a non-stop performance, I can surely liken us individual members of it to the little flute player. No doubt, in the eyes of a U —seeing Jove, our efforts seem puny and we cut comical figures at times. But a note well played or a note b-idlv played must have some effect on the standard of the performance as a whole, though its influence may be microscopic. I need hardly point the moral further, except to suggest that the standing of our profession in cencral. and of our Institute in particular,' only depends to a very limited extent on the acts and .conduct of those who are termed loaders or public figures. In the main its reputation is in the hands of the rank and file; their influence individually may be small, but collectively it is great. ■