STATE IN BUSINESS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 304, 21 November 1934, Page 4

STATE IN BUSINESS

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE VIEW. WELLINGTON, Nov. 21. “I feel that it is the duty of the commercial community, and particularly of the chambers of commerce, to set out definitely to hold the fort. ... if we go down we go down, but let us keep the flag of freedom of trade flying.” This statement was made by the vicepresident, Mr M. G. C. McCaul, at the meeting of the Council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce last night, when a discussion took place on views expressed by the president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand, Mr A. M. Seaman (Auckland) at the recent annual conference of the associated chambers in Christchurch. Mr McCaul said he thought a considerable body of opinion woud agree witli Mr Seaman’s view that rather than oppose all Government interference in business the chambers of commerce should compromise and seek to guide that control, “but my own view is that it is very much like a child trying to guide a tiger.” All must agree that more Government interference in business was coining, but he thought 1 that was a passing phase. “We are coming up on a wave of socialism, hut we will come back again, and not be mere cogs in a great Government scheme, mero civil servants.” Very often the spirit of individualism led to much evil, but it was better to put up with those evils than beconie subservient to a Goverment machine. Mr J. Pearce Luke said he could not help being struck by the fact that Hon. W. Downie Stewart, in his address to the associated chambers’ conference, had touched on much the same ground as Mr Seaman had done. He believed that they were inevitably being pushed into the position of havingvarious forms of control of a greater or lesser extent, of which the proposed dairy legislation was an example. He was of the opinion that the pendulum had not swung to its fullest extent yet, but that ultimately it would come with a back swing.