COMMERCIAL MORALITY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16231, 17 May 1916, Page 5

COMMERCIAL MORALITY

A BISHOP'S STRICTURES.

BUSINESS MEN IN REPLY..

ASSERTION RESENTED

The commercial morality of the community was declared by Bishop Sedgwick, of Waiapu, last Sunday night, in the course of a sermon at the Ckristchurch Cathedral, to be at a low ebb. The bishop added that a business man had told him it was impossible for a man to live a straight life and succeed commercially. The statements were made in support of the preacher's contention that it was clear that " we, as a nation, were so little chastened and humbled by the war that we were quite unfit for victory." In business circles in Auckland these remarks of the bishop are viewed with anything but favour, as indicated by the tone of the rejoinders thereto made yesterday by some prominent men who were questioned on the subject.

Mr. Ed. Anderson, chairman of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, said: " I can only express my surprise and regret that any public man in New Zealand should have made such a statement as to the commercial morality of the community, or should have seriously considered the views of the business man who told him it was impossible for a man to live a straight life and succeed commercially. If such were really the case, there might be some excuse for the assertion that we, as a nation, were quite unfit for victory. Speaking, however, as one who has probably had considerably more experience of the business community in New Zealand than Bishop Sedgwick, I have no hesitation in stating, as my personal opinion, that the commercial morality of the business men in the Dominion is quite equal to the standard of any other part of the world. No such statement should have been made merely on the assertion of an individual man in the street with whom the bishop was apparently acquainted. Possibly, Bishop Sedgwick has been misreported. I sincerely hope he has." "All Miserable Sinners." "Of course it is a safe thing to say we are all miserable sinners," said Mr. J. H. Upton. "We know we are, and we always have been, but perhaps we are not quite so bad as some of the clergy say they think we are. I do not believe for a moment that they really think we are as bad as they say we are. If so, we certainly could not live with them in the present conditions that exist between the clergy and the rest of the world. I notice that when a clergyman has anything particularly unpleasant to say abo'it the community at large he never says it from his own observations and inquiries, but always says someone told him so. So Bishop Sedgwick says a business man told_ him it was impossible to lead a straight life and succeed commercially. That is a very hard saying. There are a great many men in the commercial community of New Zealand, as in the rest of the _ Empire, whose characters are as high-minded, as pure and as benevolent as that di any of the clergy, much less the whale lot." Another Clergyman's View. '/ A similar attack on the commercial community some years ago was recalled by Mr. Upton. It occurred during a mission conducted by Canon Mason and the Rev. Mr. Boddington. "One day Mr. Boddington advertised that he would preach a i sermon in All Saints' Church on ' BusiI ness,' " Mr. Upton said. "As I thought I I knew something of business I determined to hear the sermon. Mr. Boddington opened his sermon with the words, 'Judas Iscariot was the type of business men. He carried the bag.' The implication of course was that business consisted of a system of treachery, greed, and lies." As he did not agree with this view, Mr. Upton, as he frequently did in those days, relieved his feelings by writing a letter to the Herald pointing out that Mr. Boddington's idea of trade was not correct, that there were many men in Auckland who had business with others in London whose faces they had never seen, yet their orders were sent for large quantities of goods, amounting to large sums of money, which were duly paid, and that the whole system of business was not one of treachery and cheating, but of trust and confidence, which every man with any knowledge of the world knew to "be the case. Mr. Upton showed the letter to Bishop Cowie, who declared that Mr. Boddington was quite wrong, and remarked that "if Judas Iscariot was a type of anything at all he was the type of a bad apostle." At Bishop Cowie' suggestion the letter was sent instead to Mr. Boddington, and the latter called on Mr. Upton. " I pointed out that successful trading was based on mutual confidence, and that his view was entirely wrong," Mr. Upton . continued. "He said he was very much interested, and admitted he was very much mistaken ir.. his ideas. He was not willing to repeat this admission publicly. Fundamental Error. "Bishop Sedgwick remarks upon the callous and thoughtless way in which the people of New Zealand are still living," Mr. Upton continued. "Is not the word 'callous' a little severe? Have not the people in New Zealand contributed quite voluntarily for the aid .of wounded soldiers and others who have been to the war the sum of £1,000,000, in addition to the great burden which it is known perfectly well will be placed on the people < by taxation ? Does Bishop Sedgwick think for one moment that this large sum has been contributed without sacri''fice? Is not his remark upon our callousness going a little too far? Bishop Sedgwick says we are not yet fit for peace or victory. Why not ? Have we gone to war for any sordid reason of self-advan-tage ? Are we not fighting, our men amongst the rest, for the groat cause of loyalty to our pledged word and freedom to live the lives we are able to live ? No,' I do not agree with the bishop. I think lie is fundamentally wrong in his view of J.ife." " Absolute Nonsense." Mr. George Elliot, a former chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, characterised Bishop Sedgwick's assertions as *' absolute nonsense." He went on to say: The man who told the bishop it was impossible for a man to live a straight life and succeed commercially must have been a poor business man. The most successful business men are the strajghtest men. In any case, as a rule, clergymen take the wrong view of business. They seem to think that a man, to be successful, must be very smart and very sharp, whereas the opposite is the case. A man must be very honest and very straightforward in order to succeed in business. A ' smart' man may make a temporary success, but it is the honest man who makes the lasting success." Mr. A. J. Entrican, acting-Mayor, who is the head of one of the leading mercantile firms in Auckland, dismissed the matter very briefly. "The sooner the man who made such a statement to Bishop Sedgwick goes out of business and into the Church the better," he remarked. / Personally, I see no reason why a man if he possesses brains and understands business, cannot do well in business and make an honest living." ,