UPWARD MARCH OF INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6864, 20 March 1929, Page 8

UPWARD MARCH OF INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS

Mr Alfred Seifert’s Address At Citizens’ Lunch Club

The march of mankind's industrial progress was dealt with by Mr. Alfred Seifert in the course of what the speaker himself termed, “A talk, not an address," to the Palmerston North Citizens’ Luncheon Club yesterday. 'i’ho chairman for the day was Mr. A. I). Campbell, who extended a wel- , come to Air. Seifert. In his opening remarks, the speaker stressed the fact that the world’s present high standard of industrial progress had not come about haphazard, but had been the result of research, sacrifice and endeavour. The greater part of the world’s scientific progress had come within recent years and had for the most part been only accomplished by painstaking experimental work. As an instance of this, for over 1000 years, men had exercised their minds as to whether a heavier or a lighter body would reach the ground first, if both were dropped from the same height, but it was only of comparatively recent times that experiments had . finally settled the matter beyond dispute. Thomas Edison, the great American inventor, was said to have carried out thousands of experiments in an endeavour to solve a particular problem and had failed. A friend, learning of this, had taxed the inventor with wasting his time. "No," replied Edison. "Now I know 8000 things will not do what I want. " Primitive Countries. "I suppose,?' continued Mr. Seifert, "that the two countries in the world to-day most nearly approximating to primitive conditions are India ana China. I once travelled in India and saw their primitive style of Jiving and their simple dwellings. I could not help reflecting that when Alexander invaded India about 2000 years ago he saw the same kind of houses, or even worse. I have not been in China, but . I understand that conditions are somewhat the same there. One way in which civilised man has advanced is in- means o'f transportation. At one time, if crops failed in one part of . the country it would cause a famine there, though there might bo grain to spare in other parts. The difficulty . was to transport it to the place where it was required. Civilised man can do this, whereas primitive men cannot. Only a few years ago, I believe, about 8,000,000 people died of starvation in the Volga Valley, but that was because the transport facilities _to jthe valley from other places were bad.” . Everyone of his audience could remember tho great and revolutionary changes which had taken place in their own time. Personally, ho could call to mind, the first reaper and binder used in Canterbury when the introduction of this now well-known farm implement, fyad constituted quite an event. At one time it had been said that it took four hours of a man’s labour to produce a bushel of wheat —now, with modern improvements, it took 40 minutes. Mechanical Aids. Another aspect of the economic problem was the growth of mechanical aids to labour. It had been said that greater spending per head of popula tion was a thing to be discouraged. While over,much luxury spending, was not a good thing, it must bo remembered that nowadays, men were producing moro and were therefore entitled to spend more. While in America, tho speaker had remarked that the people of that country were great spenders. - An American with whom he had been in conversation at the time had replied: ‘I hate to think what would happen if we were not; it-,keeps the money in the country." One of the most marked improvements of modern times was that in the means of trknsport. The growth of tho internal combustion motor and its resulting fleets of automobiles h;jd displaced the horse, while since Wright Eros, had flown the first aeroplane in 1903, tremendous strides had been made in aviation until the day appeared not far distant when air trade-routes would exist between all parts of the worlds To the speaker, it appeared as though the growth of aviation would work great changes in such countries as Bussia and China where the configuration of the land and the great populations rendered communication difficult. H.' G. Wells had given it as his opinion, in a recent article, that the American railways had prevented the disintegration of the country into a number of separate political states. At present, Eussia’s railway system was scattered and it appeared as though aviation -would be the solution of the country’s communication difficulties. * Other modern inventions which had '■ been responsible for great changes were wireless and the cinematograph. While it might be argued with some justification that the latter invention was not being used to the best advantage, it would be conceded that both wireless and the cinematograph had done a great deal for tho .propagation of knowledge. i Great Progress. Mr Seifert concluded by citing figures to show the great strides in population and manufactures which England had made within the past 80 years. In 1831, the total population of that country had been 13,900,000, but in 1901 it had grown to 32,000,000. Eighty years ago one million people had been engaged in agricultural pursuits, yet in spito of the great growth of the general population in 80 years, the agricultural population increased by only 100,000 in that period. Eighty years ago, there had been 799,000 agricultural labourers in England, but by 1901 that number had fallen to 612,000, despite tho fact that during the same period the population as a whole had grown by 19,900,000. All these figures went to show that in England, the growth of commerce and industry had been responsible for the growth of the populaion, and not the growth of agricul-

ture and primary production. The United States of America formed another instance of this growth, for in spite of the fact that this country was almost self-contained as far as food supplies, were concerned, for every three persons engaged on the farms in the U.S.A., one was engaged in transport work. Of the total population, about 30 per cent wore engaged in agricultural -pursuits. In our own Dominion also, this growth in the use of machinery and modern means of transport had been phenomenal for everywhere one found tractors and lorry transport being employed. On the motion of Air. A. Hopwood, a very hearty vote of thanks was acvorded Air. Seifert for his interesting address. ,