NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19501, 3 December 1926, Page 12

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

MASS PRODUCTION. "Under the old industrial system, a skilled tradesman would have had a training under skilled guidance which would give him an*expert' knowledge of his trade," says Sir Edward Anson, director of the Birmingham Guild, in the Daily News. " Nowadays it is no uncommon thing to hear a man lay claim to being a skilled machinist because for a term of months or years he has worked a lathe or a drill that is so constructed that by no means can he make a mistake with it. It has been said that, half the misery of life is caused by monotony, and what could be more monotonous than spending day after day pulling the same handle or filling the same hopper ? It is incredible tot me that the human brain can stand such a test of idleness and not become completely atrophied. Craftsmanship and the pride of good work well done appear to me to be the greatest aids to production. The owner ,of a factory in which this spirit is prevalent should be a happy man, for his workpeople will be contented and satisfied. The manager of a mass production business can never know this spirit, for his method is in direct opposition to craftsmanship in any form whatsoever. Personally, lam of opinion that this point alone is sufficient to damn mass production in the eyes of any thinking man and especially in the eyes, of any, far-seeing factory owner. There are better ways, of increasing the turnover of a business than by converting good,'contented workmen into'men whose only pastime is grumbling, and whose only pride of work is in the feeling that without them some brand of standardised clothing would be one button short." , .

" IMPERIAL CONSULTATION. .. " All sorts of intricate questions may be asked about their position, if Great Britain is compelled to go to war, and they decide not to join," says. Mr. J. A. Spender, in the Westminster Gazette, in discussing the position of the Dominions in relation to Great Britain's engagements under 'the Treaty of Locarno. " But in reality the answer to these is, now as always, the very simple one that if they decide not to join, Great Britain will not compel them, nor even prevent them from seceding, if they conclude that being linked to a belligerent is an intolerable burden. We pat it thus bluntly, for it is the rock-bottom fact about a com monwealth of free nations, and there is no legal formula which will get over it ro round it. Frank acknowledgment of this condition is, in fact, the beginning of Imperial wisdom. For acknowledgment of it leads to the one working solution, which is to keep the Dominion Governments in step with the British by an un ceasing interchange of opinion and in-, formation. The machinery for this purpose can undoubtedly be very greatly improved, especially if the Prime Ministers and Governments are willing to dele gate some of their functions to their representatives in London. But whatevei the means adopted, the aim must be that no Dominion Government is ever taken by surprise by any important decision of the British Government. If that is secured, we may look confidently to the future to settle its own problems."

HUMAN PROGRESS. " Although it is necessary to separate the idea of material development and invention from the idea of human progress, and to remember that one does not necessarily involve the other; yet undoubtedly the one ought to conduce to the other. Every advance in material achievement 1 ought to react, and must inevitably react on mankind in general; and every increase in the control over natural forces must be whole-heartedly welcomed," said Sir Oliver Lodge, in a lecture, in London. "The most essentia] instruments of progress are the old historic human virtues of goodwill and cooperation. Fortunately this is being more and more realised} the mistakes that are now made are not made by vicionsness; they are. often the result of ignorance, misinformation, and stupidity. Some.times, indeed, they are the outcome of a self-sacrificing class loyalty, the antithesis of selfishness. The conscious aim and object of all our activities is„ or should be, not merely a more rapid pro duction of commodities, but the develop ment of a healthy, happy race of beings, who can carry on their work with enjoy ment, and develop their live., to the utter most. As a race we are still in the morning of the times. We have hardly yet begun to tackle the real problems which face humanity. We do not yet realise what life might be: and if each generation strives to leave the world a little \better than it found it, there is Od end to the good that can ultimately bo accomplished."