COMMERCIAL PROBITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1931, Page 8

COMMERCIAL PROBITY.

Speaking at New Plymouth in regard to the world crisis and the solution of the problems with which civilisation is faced, the Bishop of "Waikato, the Rt. Rev. C. A. Cherrington, dealt with what he suggested should be the Christian attitude towards present-day difficulties. He placed before his hearers certain lines of conduct, individual and national, that would, in his opinion, do a great deal towards solving the problems that are world-wide. An exposition of Christian ethics is outside the scope of a daily newspaper to criticise or commend, but in making it Bishop Cherrington referred to the commercial probity of the Dominion in a manner which must have caused pain and indignation in many quarters. He complained of “the large proportion of crookedness in business honesty and truth being, he said, the two crying needs of New Zealand to-day, and of other countries also. It would be interesting to know upon what facts his Lordship bases so sweeping a condemnation of tho commercial life of the Dominion. Closer acquainta.nee with it might convince him that his conclusion was not impartial and was not supported by the methods and ethics that control the commercial leaders of New Zealand. In every walk of life, not even excluding the Bishop’s own profession, there are those who fail to deal justly by their fellows. From the force of circumstances their wrongdoing calls for punishment, and often leads to publicity, but no such publicity is given to the doings of those who believe that honest trading is the only trading worth having and who are, after all,* the primary influence in the eommerci-y community. If the commercial life of'ihe Dominion be searched dispassionately and impartially it will be found to consist chiefly of men who condemn “crookedness in business” just as emphatically as any teacher of ethics, and with whom honesty in word and deed is not a policy but an instinct that has been developed by use into principles which are inviolable. The same may be said of the nation as a whole. Never in its history were economic difficulties greater than they are to-day. Yet, except for a handful of frothy politicians who are more ignorant than dishonest, there has never been a suggestion that th© Dominion should repudiate its liabilities either at home or abroad. So it is with the business community, to which Bishop Cherrington referred so scathingly. Even those who fail can, in very many cases, show that' their failure to meet their debts lias not ■been due to crookedness or lack of effort. The trend of legislation/ again, is all in the direction of making hard tile way of the transgressor, and as Parliament takes full heed of public opinion it is fair to assume that the community does stand for honesty and truth and does desire to make crookednos? in business not merely a shameful, but a very perilous, policy. The bulk of New Zealand’s dealings take place oversea, and the Dominion’s reputation for fair dealing stands highest where it is best known. That is the best rejoinder to any strictures that may be made.