FIFTY YEARS OF SERVICE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3804, 8 February 1927, Page 7

FIFTY YEARS OF SERVICE.

MR J. A. -JOHNSTONE HONOURED. A GLOWING TESTIMONY. o “The years slip by. but in the kindly heart of comrade, of friend, change can :-Vhave no part.” Fifty years have slipped by since the ..present head of the firm of Wright, and Co. (Ltd.) —Mr J. A. j Johnstone —first entered the employ of that 5 firm, and many of those who knew him . .'best in those days have passed away, but 'that a great many friends who have known rtiim best have had no reason to change their allegiance to Mr Johnstone through Iris lifetime in business was amply demonstrated by the assemblage which met in the Somerset Lounge in the Savoy on Tuesday evening to make a presentation to him on the attainment of his jubilee in business ■with the well-known stock and agency firm. City and rural interests were well represented at the dinner at which the presentation was made and at which Mr Alex. Heid (Clifton) presided. Many of the successful station owners present, . by their attendance, expressed the debt of gratitude they owed to Mr Johnstone for the services Tendered in the years when things were were not as easy as they are to-day. Several pleasing interludes were provided during the evening in the form of musical items -by Mr R. Cameron (Palmerston) and the Idlers’ Quartet.

J. lit. LON <ll . cio HL UII tv elusion of dinner, after which the chairman expressed his personal indebtedness to Mr Johnstone, who had fathered him as a raw and practically penniless immigrant, thus providing him with a chance to do somethin" worth while for himself in a country where everything was new and strange. He was sure that many others in Otago Lad experienced the same help from their guest, and although they might not be present they must surely -wish Air and Airs Johnstone the best of •everything in the evening of their lives. He would call upon Air I). S. Aliddleton to propose the toast f Air Johnstone. Air Aliddleton. in vising to propose the toast of “'Out Guest,” and t > present Air Johnstone with .1 handsome portrait of himself and a beautifully bound and signed illuminated address, referred in reminiscent mood to the years of acquaintanceship in 1 usiness with Air Johnstone that were past. As a young man commencing on the land in Canterbury, his father had told him a great many things about Air Johnstone which led him to believe he must surely find in him the perfect man. Since then business acquaintanceship had ripened into warm friendship, and throughout the years he had had no reason to discount any of the claims made for Air Johnstone by his father. The present gathering was in no way an indication of the number of people in all stations of life who laimed their guest as a friend, and there were many more who had died who would gladly have associated themselves with the present function. The speaker referred at some length to the progress that had marked Air Johnstone’s career with his firm, and gave one or two instances of the way in which Air Johnstone’s ability and business integrity had greatly helped the firm before it occupied its present high position in the community. In conclusion. Air 'Tddleton referred to the great debt of gratitude which agriculturists and pastoralists all over New Zealand owed to such men as Air John-

stone. Throughout Otago to-day there were hundreds who owed everything they possessed to tl : kindly guidance or sympathetic discipline of Air Johnstone, and he would venture to say that some of those present would not now occupy the position they held had it not been for the fact they had been associated in some way or other with Air Johnstone, who was still helping many, and who was always more than willing to assist anyone who was prepared to ro straight and work hard. When New Zealand lost the guiding hand of such men as Air Johnstone it would be a case of “God help the agricultural and pastoral industry.” He had great pleasure, therefore, in calling upon Air David Brice to unveil the portrait’ of their guest. When Air Brice had done tins Air Aliddleton presented the guest of the evening with the illuminated address which had been signed by a great many more persons than had been able to attend the gathering. Mr Johnstone, who was accorded enthusiastic applause followed by the singing of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” when he rose to reply, stated that this spontaneous and quite unlooked for act upon the part of his friends was a source of satisfaction, and at the same time of embarrassment to him, for he was at a loss to

find words that would adequately express his appreciation of the kindness and thoughtfulness that had prompted them to make this gift. Some of them had known him during almost the whole term of his service —now over 50 years —first with the old firm of Wright, Stephenson, and Co., and in later years with the company which still bore the familiar name. Others had known him for lesser periods, but whether their friendship had been of long or short duration it had been constant and real. He considered that the compliment they had paid him was really more than he deserved, for, after all. if one thought over the affairs of life seriously, one should not feel, no matter how great his efforts had been in the service of others, that one had done any more than his duty. From his school days onwards he had always tried to give the best services of which he was capable to his teachers, his employers, his partners, and his co-directors, as well as to the shareholders and customers of the company. This his conduct generally had met with their approbation .was evidenced by that presentation. During the manv years in which he had been engaged in business he had frequently experienced difficulties and disappointments, and doubtless he had made mistakes and errors of judgment which alienated some people, but he could truthfully say that he had always tried to do that 1 which he believed to be right. The man of business, however, did not exist whose knowledge of men and affairs was so perfect that he could claim to have attained a position in the community w'ihout having made mistakes, and without, experiencing the ups and downs, losses and disappointments inseparable from business and from life generally.

Mr Johnstone said he did not know whether they would consider this the proper occasion for him to speak as he proposed to do, but he trusted that, whether they were in agreement or not with the views he was enunciating, they would credit him with a sincere desire *■" give some sound advice in these troubled times, perhaps the most momentous yet in the history of Great Britain and her overseas dominions. Let them look around to-day. and what did they seej? They found that the carefully and painfully amassed capital of their forefathers had gone to pay the war debts, the eraploving class and the employed class were fr t dissipating trade and industry in an ineffectual strife, that various parts of the Empire were so little in harmony that they built up tariff walls between themselves, .md that whilst the people wrangled —mngst themselves and. tried to interfere with the great elemental ■ laws of supply anu demand and cause and effect their great heritage was slowly passing away from them. When one pondered on these things it was easy to see that thev had probably reached that point in their nationhood when they’ must take stock of ’.hemselves and try to bring about a better condition of affairs. Pessimism was no part of his creed, but he really did not see how they were to avert a great national disaster nless they faced the future seriously and practised in all earnestness the ancient virtues of industry, thrift, and duty to country and mankind. The conception of life that prevailed today seemed to him to be quite wrong, and to be all against encouraging the spirit of enterprise and goodwill that was so necessary to human progress. Such being the state of things to-day, it behoved them to see what they could do to better matters. First of all, he would plead for better understanding and more goodwill between the nations of the world, between the component parts of the Empire, between employer -nd employed, between parents and children. In connection with the plea for better settlement of disputes, both nation-.I and industrial, they should take to heart Sir lan Hamilton’s words when he said recently that “an agreement for peace is no sign of weakness or sentimentalism, but Christianity and common sense.” But goodwill alone was not enough to bring about the regeneration of the British Empire; it must be accompanied by determined efforts to secure economical production, and this could only be accomplished by means of earnest and intelligent work, whether of brains or hands or both. The United States of America to-day enjoyed greater prosperity than any other portion of the world, and this had partly been brought about by a new spirit that was permeating all sections of the community there. This .ipirit had grown out of the frank recognition, by all of the human elements entering into production, that only by mutual confidence, rather than by mutual distrust, could full cooperation between them be made possible. This was the spirit that they should try to bring about between Labour and Capital ir our lands, too, for then would the labourer become a capitalist also, and then would industrial war, with all its wreckage and senseless destruction and human misery, become an indefensible thing. Hard work was the only royal road to success in private life, in commerce, and in national affairs, and would achieve

almost any material thing in this world. Only by much toil in any walk of life—in science, in art, in literature, in commerce, could they attain to that success | which a pre-eminently successful London business man, Air Gordon Selfridge, had defined as “the favourable attainment of that object or series of objects which makes for a higher standard of civilisation, and which gives to the world higher ideals in those things that concern the everyday life of the multitude.” Other countries were civilised and powerful in the worlds of art, science, and commerce many centuries before the British Isles emerged from the wild state in which the Bomans found them, but by dint of initiative, indomitable courage, and enduring toil, their forefathers built up perhaps the greatest Empire the world had yet known—certainly the greatest power in commerce since the dawn of trade. And when all was said and done, it must be admitted that a nation’s sucess was gauged by the volume of its trade, for where there was no prosperity one did not find the arts and amenities of life flourishing either. As doubtless they were aware, a nation did not succeed by reason c. - its secondary industries alone, but must combine a right use of its land with right use of its manufacturing assets. As far back as 1728 the great Defoe thoroughly realised the sovereign part played by commerce in the upbuilding and maintenance of a country when he wrote. “In a word, as land is employed the people increase, of course, and thus trade sets all the wheels of improvement in motion; for, from the original of business to this day it appears that the prosperity of a nation rises and falls just as trade is supported or decayed.” Therefore, it behoved them to-day, when they possessed far greater opportunities than did their ancestors, and far more adequate means of reaching ends, to be up and doing in the world of industry, so that the great heritage they had received in trust might not pass from them, but might be consolidated and preserved, and so that it might continue to be a force for good in the universe. He might have entertained them with some personal reminiscences, but on this memorable occasion ho felt that perhaps it might be better and more helpful if he briefly gave them his views on matters, that deeply concerned all those that were not unnaturally anxious as to the future of the race and the Empire. In conclusion, he wished to repeat how deeply his family and he appreciated the ,very appropriate presentation they had made to him. They tendered their best thanks to those present, and to those that were absent, for their kindness in presenting him with that picture of him as a token of. their goodwill and esteem. — (Applause.)

lhe toast of the firm of Messrs Wright, K-tephenson, and Company (Ltd.) was proposed by Mr James Taylor, who expressed his great indebtedness to the thorough efficiency that had characterised the opeiations of the firm in respect of the produce or property of the largest or smallest client. As a young man he had had occasion to go to the firm on a business matter. He found the offices in High street, and was wandering about as if lost, when the late Mr John Stephenson had approached him and said: “Young man, if you want anything here see Johnstone; he runs tho whole show here.” 'With such a head he did not wonder at the firm's reputation. The toast was replied to by Air David Allan, who said the company was practicalley owned by Otago farmers. He spoke ”at some length of the influence of Air Johnstone in the firm.

Air P. Hercus, in proposing the toast of the A. and P. industry, added his felicitations to those already expressed. He said that the primary industries depended to a large degree upon the work of men like Mr Johnstone, and instances of such a keen understanding and appreciation of country problems as their guest possessed were rare.

Air James Gore responded to the toast. A reminiscent mood took him back over a lifetime’s farming, during which he had seen wool sold at 3d per - pound and 3s a pound, and after it all he was quite satisfied that the country’s future was brighter than ever it was. After the toast of “The Press” the Chairman called upon all who wished to add a few words of tribute to what had already been said. Several present took the opportunity to bear testimany to services rendered them and the community by Mr Johnstone. Air Walter Blackie punctuated his remarks with several amusing anecdotes of the days when their guest was not the presiding genius he was to-day. In answer to a request from the chairman, Air Johnstone went back over the years to. the days when he commenced with the original firm, when the cadet worked six months of his first year for nothing, being rewarded at the end of that period with the munificent sum of 5s weekly.

The gathering was brought to a close with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne.”