“ALL TOGETHER.”

Otago Witness, Issue 3755, 2 March 1926, Page 18

“ALL TOGETHER.”

ADDRESS BY SIR FRANK HEATH CO-OPERATION AND TEAM WORK. m “Let's all get together in everything we do.” With these most appropriate words—the line of a verse of a song sung by the Hotarians earlier in the proceedings—Sir Frank Heath, secretary of the British Departments of Scientific and Industrial Relearch, concluded his address at the weekly dinner of the Rotary Club held at the Savoy on Thursday. Dr Marshall Macdonald occupied the chair, and guests were present from London, America, Australia and all parts of the Dominion. Sir Frank Heath said they could hardly expect him in the few minutes at his disposal to cover in an adequate manner the vast field of science and industry. He would lake only a part of it, as indicative of the whole. He was going to plead with those who were the loaders of instructive opinion in che Dominion to do what they could to spread the spirit of team work and cooperations in which they as -Rotarians aiso expressed themselves. It was true, as they knew, that there was po class of men m the world who, if they were true to their profession, wore so devoted to service for others as the men of science.—(“Hear, hear.”) Ttav followed the unbeaten tracks in the Bearch for new knowledge with no idea of self advancement—indeed it was notorious that the best men of science were very rarely good men of business. It was rarely fchat they struck one like Lord Kelvin, who became a kind of myth.—(Laughter.) All that the man of science asked for, if he was true to his profession, was the means for his creative instinct, but he must have the means, and he must be secured against anxiety, because work of this kind required freedom of intellectual movement, and this was inconsistent with a state of anxiety. They in Britain, and also the people in the Dominion, appreciated under the stern stress of war the need of team work, and they had also realised that that team work must be carried into the days of peace, and if they did not show the same spirit in dealing with the problems which had to be faced in peace time they might have won the war, blit they had certainly lost the peace. In no field was the necessity for team work more obvious than in their industries, both primary and secondary -—(“Hear, hear”), and an organisation had been brought into existence in England under the Government which depended entirely upon the active co-operation of men of science, men of affairs, and men of business in the promotion of. greater efficiency for the benefit not only of the teeming millions at Home, but of the Empire as a whole.—(“Hear, hear.”) Ho raid the Empire ns a whole because a i>umber of their problems were Imperial problems. Some of those problems, in which they wanted all the whole-hearted support and cooperation could get, could not be solved in Britain without the brain work and the co-operation of the dominions, and if they could bo secured they would iia\e n stronger Conimomve-alth of Nations than ever before.—("Hear, hear.”)—They would be üble, if they were wise, without introducing any danger of international jealousies or friction, to make their common wealth us solf-s ,, ffieing ns the great community of peoples in ihe United States of Amei ten. One of the problems—and n vitally important one— l> bo faced related to the ioodslulFs. At Ilcjiue there was a population of 40.CG3.CQ0 neople to lx- fed- and only one-fifth of the food necessary for their life could be grown in the United Kingdom The rest hod to conte from abroad Whether came from foreign countries or from countries within the Empire it had to be handled in vast bulk pud also mint'd enormo is distances. These two things brought in difficulties which void just as serious in the end to the producer to tile consumer.

They knew r.f the diHi ul'ies New Zealand find c p.-riunecd iri l eginning to take

a part in the great apple trade of the world That trade could not be successful as an expost trade unless the apples could meet the conditions of transport, freedom from infection, and so on, right down to the point when they were bought by the housewife from the shop. That trade could not be successful unless in every link science was brought to bear upon the various problems. They had wished to tackle that question first, because it was such an important matter, but they had been constantly driven back in the process. They had studied the conditions of the shipping, and they had finally been driven back to the orchards where the apples grew and to the necessity of the study of the soil, the manures required, the bacteria in the soil, etc. Now that great work could not be done in England. They liau begun the study, and they were following on the lines of the admirable work being done in Washington by the American Department of Agriculture. They knew that some apples grown on two different soils, on the same stock — the same variety of tree—would have a different capacity for keeping, would have a different tendency to disease of one kind or another. That comparative study of the same varieties of apples had to be carried on in the country where the apples were grown, and if they worked together they would solve the problem, but neither of them could do it alone. Now, what was true o£ the apple was equally true of other food products—of dairy, products, of meat. The problems of meat were exceedingly difficult—some of the fundamental ones principally. But when the fundamental questions were solved, the question of the different results of the producing countries must be solved in those countries themselves. The food problem was in a very real sense an Imperial one, and it affected many industries, including the whole series of secondary industries. Another thing in which they must cooperate was in the study of fuels. It was the root of the whole of the secondary industries of a modern community. Without fuel, either natural or synthetic, it must always be impossible for a country to develop its industries. Work of that kind benefited all, not only the large users of fuel, but every man, woman, and child in the community. This was a problem that could not be done for the Empire merely by work in London. Natural fuels had an extraordinary variety of character. In New Zealand they had a much greater range of coal-1 ike substances than they had at Home, and they did not have very large supplies, if they thought of the future and if they measured the fields, not by their present population, but by the population to come. If they studied these fuels they would be driven backTo the mine, as sure as the disease of brown heart in London drove them back to the orchard. Work must be done here. Certain fundamental work could be better done in London, in their large laboratories, but a vast amount of it had got to be done here. It could not be done without co-operation—with the man of science, with the coal owner, and also with the experience of the user. The third illustration where science was necessary for the advance and success of industry related to timber. What wus the position of timber to-day? They were convinced in England of this—that in 20 years there would be a world famine of soft woods. He was sorry to think that the countries which bad produced timber—great forests of it—had most of them, not all, neglected to take care of that inestimable asset. In spite of nil the work done in science in America to-day very little progress, if any, was being made in the reafforestation of her great, timber areas. He had been in Canada in 1924, and had been told by the chairman of a great timber concern that in 17 years from then there would not ho a log on the St. Lawrence. The groat timber reserves of British Columbia were being called on in-cren-iintlv to make up the shortage in the United States. They at Home wore

importing £*4O,(XX), COO worth of foreign timber a year, and although they had set aside something like £5,000,000 or £6,000,000 for re-afforestation, they' could never hope, even if they planted every suitable care in the country, to supply on the present estimates more than about a third of their requirements. Now where was that balance to come from? For the first time, in 1924, two shiploads of timber had gone from the Baltic Sea to the United States. That was the writing on the wall. They need not expect that Sweden or Norway would cut down a single tree more than it desired, though the whole world were clamouring for it. and for every tree felled there another tree was planted. He wanted to plead with the dominions for their co-operation in the development of their timber resources. This country, he was glad to say, had wakened up to the need for a movement in this direction, but there was very little time to be lost, and more was required to be done. The position in Australia was still more serious. Australia .was spending £5,000,000 to-day in importing foreign timbers, and 20 years hence she would not get it for £5,000,000 or twice £5,000,000. And yet there was land in Now Zealand, in Australia, and in Canada suitable for planting any number of trees, and which land, if wisely used, ought to make the Empire entirely self supporting.—(“Hear, hear.”) The serious ness of the position was shown when the British Government had not only put aside a sum for re-afforestation, but it had also bought a site close to Oxford, and was building a laboratory there to enable it to deal scientifically with timber —its charac tcristics, its strengths, the best way of preserving it, the best way to season it. This laboratory would cost £IOO,OOO. The speaker referred to the work that must be done in the country, where the timber was grown, and to (he necessity of team work, lie closed his address amidst loud applause In moving a hearty vote of thanks to Sir Frank, Mr T. Somerville said that, in effect., their distinguished visitor had thrown down the gauntlet to the commercial men to assist the scientific work in their universities. lie also hoped that the Govern ment would become interested to a greater extent in the importance of scientific achievement as a result of the visit.— (“Hear, near.”) The motion was carried by acclamation and the proceedings dosed with the singing of the National Anthem.