LUNCHEON CLUB

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVIII, Issue 303, 20 November 1928, Page 2

LUNCHEON CLUB

ADDRESS BY SIR ANDREW RUSSELL. A short survey of the principles of profit-sharing in industry and the conditions which make for the success of the scheme, was made at the weekly gathering of the Citizens Lunch Club to-dav by Major-General Sir Andrew Russell, of Hastings, and close attention was given to the suggestions which ho advanced. Mi' V . Caecia Dirch presided. Profit-sharing, said Sir Andrew, was onlv one aspect of the industrial situation, in which extraordinary developments had taken place in the last six or seven years. During the uar yeans, difficulties steadily increased until an amelioration of existing conditions was sought. The process of earning ones daily bread was one to which lmpoi'.ance had to be attached, for after all. physical requirements had first to lie met Houses, clothing and leisure were wanted, and there was always a craving for, self-expression as well as the satisfaction of the artistic sense, and people were ahvaVs endeavouring ,lo adjust themselves t-o changing con- * The S "idea of co-partnership was that team work was essentially making headway in the world, and side by side with that was a growing recognv tion of the benefits accruing from payment by results There were some good maxims in *he Bible, and the oftused quotation that, “as a man sows, so shall he reap.” had to be borne m mind. After all, the Bible was the epitome of human wisdom. The question of payment by results had been discussed at industrial conferences, and co-partnership was constantly beinc; aimed at. added the speaker Profitsharing should he accepted by all as a matter for individual exploitation. No general system could be made applicable to any particular industry. The ideal sought was attained in ordinary contract work, but it could not be introduced into business or farm life, except by allowing workers to participate in the net profits, which constituted the actual surplus. Assuming the possibility of admitting workers into a share of the net piofits, that” would compel the disclosure of the actual figures in that connection, giving the wage-earners an insight into tho conducting of the -business, which was often found to he a stumbling block, and naturally so. “A good many years ago, continued Sir Andrew, “a celebrated ancestor of mine, Adam by name, at the instigation of his wife, I believe, partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and in consequence we have to go on with it. We cannot nave too many searching rays on the whole question.’ Confidence inspired trust, and the more that workers were taken into confidence by their employers the better the results achieved. An objection had been raised to profit-sharing so far as the matter of control was concerned. It was not possible or profitable for an ordinary employee to lie given governing power in that respect. A man’s supjxirt would go in the direction his interests lay. YYith more knowledge and participation in profitsharing, there would insensibly grow a greater interest in the management, and the other matters could be left to develop themselves. Anglo-Saxon civilisation, said the speaker, was built up by opportunism with the capacity to meet emergencies as they arose; and not by a cast-iron system. That was, perhaps, the reason why the Empire had survived under what some might consider chaotic conditions. The incentive to progress must come from within and not from without any improvement in industrial relations' between worker and employer must spring from mutual confidence. A. general law could not, however, be fashioned for all to follow regardless of 'differing conditions. Sir Andrew counselled his listeners to “read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” the principles enunciated in the Companies’ Empowering Act brought into existence by -Mr H. Valder, of Hamilton, some years ago. Replying to questions subsequently, he said it was unreasonable to expect workers to bear a proportion of the losses in a business should a debit balance occur. Their wages were in the form of a debenture in the business. He admitted that it might be difficult to create a wage-earner’s interest in the management of a business if losses were being sustained through factors entirely outside his influence. ~ In proposing a hearty vote of hanks to Sir Andrew Russell. Mr L. H. Collinson remarked that profit-sharing had many commendable features. During the height of success, several large business firms in New Zealand had encouraged their workers on various lines, but the slump in trade which followed made their schemes impracticable. The matter had many aspects and was a complex problem. It reached largely down to the question of basic wages and piece-work. He had heard of one instance at the railway deviation, though he could not vouch for its authenticity. The steam-shovel was being worked, he understood, on piece rates, and it was an object lesson in efficiency. Altogether, the subject of profit-sharing provided food for thought.