TELL THE WORLD

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3967, 23 September 1930, Page 7

TELL THE WORLD

BRITONS ARE TOO MODEST “‘Tell the World’ is a slogan that ought to 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 1 ventured to point out 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 be successful, must | enter into every phase of the existence ! of every unit of any concern whose proj ducts or attributes need advertisement. Britons are a humble race, far too | humble for the greatest good of their j country; far too apt to hide their ! light under a bushel, and far too prone ito deprecate themselves and their i works. j Undoubtedly we might profitably 1 take a leaf —or several leaves —from ; the book of our transatlantic cousins ' and “ tell the world.” ! We have heard of a prophet having | no honour in his own country, but i with England it is a case of the eouu- ! try having no honour of its own i prophet. We are constantly afflicted ! by people who—following a brief visit j to some other country—are anxious to I impress on us that England is getting j left in the race for progress, j We are told that for bigh efficiency, ! for outstanding achievement, for giants I of tlve commercial and industrial worlds, ! the seeker must look elsewhere than i England. Such talk is the vapouring 1 of a national humility, and is 99 per ! cent. “ piffle.” | There is no humility about my mes- [ sage, but I contend that my claims for j Britain are justified by the facts of i the case, and can be checked by any ! man who cares to appraise this counj try with the eye of an ordinary observer who is not hoodwinked by the ! bandage of humility. To find the exemplification of that | ill-used phrase “high efficiency,” the seeker must look to the countrc - which t for a thousand years has given a lead ;to the rest of the world; to a country I where giants of industry and commerce ; are trained in their gigantic growth i and not hatched overnight; to a couni try* where every specialist is also a 1 general practitioner (if need be), and | where industrial structures are built ; on granite foundations and not on the shifting sands of mere speculation. 1 The English business man is sound ■ —he docs nothing by guesswork; he makes no leaps in the dark, dubbing ; himself genius if he finds foothold the ! other side of the chasm.

The Englishman’s forward progress may appear somewhat stolid—the measuring of paces, the examination of the ground on which the next step must fall, tiie looking well ahead for possible chasms—but 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.

j There has been a good deal of mis- ' understanding created by the “ Buy British Goods” campaign. Some peqi pie have gathered the idea that Brij tain is pleading with her overseas doI minions for their business merely on I the grounds of sympathy and senti- : ment.

Nothing could be farther from the truth! British industry is in the happy position of being able to “ deliver the goods.” - The Mother Land 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 foursquare 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 o. any kind we shall only purchase the homeproduced article—not out of sentiment but because it is a wise policy.

We have no call to be ashamed of our activities not 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 world! ”