A STAFF WELCOME.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18170, 7 November 1930, Page 6

A STAFF WELCOME.

BACK FROM ENGLAND. ■ * " i r • TRIBUTE TO MANAGING DIRECTOR. MR. AND MRS. MANNING HONOURED Eighty-one persons, comprising the whole staff of the Waikato Times, together with the directors, tendered a complimentary dinner at the Hamilton Hotel last night to Mr A. E. Manning, managing director of the company, and Mrs Manning, on their return from a visit to England, where Mr Manning attended the Empire Press Conference. The function was of a most cordial and enthusiastic nature. Following the dinner a musical programme provided entirely by the staff, was rendered. After the traditional loyal toast, a welcome was extended to the guests by Mr G. L. MacDlarmid, on behalf of the directors, and by Mr E. E. Hooper, editor, for the staff.

Mr Mac Diarmid said the staff- Snd directors had been looking forward keenly to that function, and they had taken the very earliest opportunity of extending a welcome to Mr and Mrs Manning, while their recollections of their visit were still vivid and while their return was still an event to their hosts. He was sure all would join in extending the guests a very hearty welcome.

Approval of this sentiment was marked by loud applause. The speaker said all were delighted to And Mr and Mrs Manning looking so well after their holiday and apparently none the worse for wear. As a matter of fact, although they had been on a holiday, the great hospitality lavished on them must have made it very strenuous for them to follow up the constant round of functions day and night. It spoke well for their mode of living that they had returned looking so well. (Laughter and applause.) On behalf of the assembly Mr Mac Diarmid assured the guests that all were extremely glad to have them back and for Mr Manning again to take up the reins. The speaker was also very pleased to be able to assure Mr Manning that during his absence things had gone well. The company’s business had prospered and the paper had been maintained at Its customary high standard, and he (the speaker) congratulated every member of the staff on the way the paper and the business had been handled. He expressed the hope that Mr Manning would see his way that night to give them a sketch of the things he had seen and done on his tour. (Applause.)

' The Staff’s Welcome. Extending a welcome on behalf of the staff, Mr Hooper remarked: "On the wall'of the reporters’ room in the Waikato Times Office was a picture of a staff jubilating. The cause for their elation was the fact that their boss, who was on an excursion abroad, had missed his boat. The Waikato Times staff were jubilating that night, not because their boss had missed his boat, but because he and his helpmeet were once more amongst them. “A little over six months ago the staff assembled around the stone in the news room, when they expressed the wish that Mr and Mrs Manning would have a good voyage; that their totir would be pleasant and proAtable, and that they would have a safe return. We are,” said the speaker, "gratified that that threefold wish has been fulfilled —that you had a bonny voyage going and returning, that the realisation of the joys of the trip exceeded anticipations, great though those anticipations were, and that no untoward incident has marred your tour.”

Addressing Mr Manning, the speaker said: “We regarded your selection as a member of the press delegation as a tribute to the standing of the Waikato Times among the journals of the Dominion, and we are pleased to know that as one result of your trip our journal is widely known throughout the Empire, and indeed in much wider fields, largely because of the contribution it has made towards the solution of one of the outstanding industrial problems of the day—a contribution for which you are certainly entitled to the major credit.

“We have missed you,” proceeded the speaker. “Some, of us at times would have given much to have been able to step into the boss’s room for a little friendly counsel and advice. As that was impossible we had to act on our own. We hope that our decisions have always been wise. / “Mr and Mrs Manning, it is my pleasing duty on behalf of the whole staff to extend to you both a warm welcome home. We are glad that our chief has resumed the reins, that he is once more moving in and out amongst us keeping us up to the collar, and steering the team along, the narrow, winding, and rutty road which economists tell us must be traversed by all industrial enterprises in the present and immediate future. We welcome you; we warmly welcome you home. We are glad you are here.” (Applause.) A Proud Man. In returning thanks, Mr Manning observed that the staff could not realise the pleasure and happiness it gave Mrs Manning and himself to receive the wireless, when on board the Marama, inviting them to be the guests of the staff. It gave them a thrill that was hard to describe. He did not know that he had ever felt a prouder man. He remarked that one often, when going away, had bouquets (usually undeserved) thrown at him, but there -was nothing to equal a welcome back and the delight of thinking that the men and women one had spent many years in close association with, were glad to have one back. From the bottom of his heart he thanked the assembly for the welcome extended Mrs Manning and himself.

Mr Manning said that during the whole period lie was away he never had one moment’s anxiety regarding the conduct of the establishment. When be told people in England that the business was in charge of the staff and that ttie chairman of directors, who was outside the business, was working in with ttie staff, they considered, and considered seriously, that things were not being run in other places perhaps as they should be. “1 do not say this in praise of ourselves,” added the speaker, “but we do know that too often the human factor in industry has been omitted from the management.” The Co-Partnership Scheme. Those people abroad who were taking an interest in the Waikato Times

were using the very fact that I.the * business had been: left in the- hands of the employees to run while the managing direotor was abroad, in their published letters and their speeches in advocacy of a change in industrial relationship. The speaker thanked the staff and the directors for the success and progress of the business during the past six months. When one considered the economic situation and what was'happening in ether concerns (many of them closing down), one was proud to get back and find that the business not only had held its ground, but that it had developed. This clearly demonstrated that if the human factor—the men and women who were responsible for the success of a business-—were made partners In it, satisfaction must result. He mentioned the interest .which Mr’Wickham Steed, one of the most prominent men in England, and a striking personality, a man who wa3 held in the greatest respect by his fellow journalists and by the public, was taking in the scheme. He had quoted the Waikato Times co-partner-ship plan freely in articles he had written and speeches he had made. Mr Wickham Steed was formerly editor of the London Times, but resigned some time ago to do free lance Work. Just before the speaker left England he received the following letter from Mr Steed:—

"Dear Mr. Manning,—Thank you for your note. You will, unfortunately, have sailed before I return' to town; b”t I am sending you, under separate cover, an early copy of this month’s Review of Reviews, with an article entitled “The National Game*” in which you will And some reference to the New Zealand schemes. In it I have not mentioned the Times scheme by name, though I have insisted upon and illustrated the principle of limiting the j remuneration of capital. - ■ “I am, however, publishing a precise reference ter'your scheme' (and am printing your Amended Articles of Association as an appendix) in a little book I have written on Stanley Baldwin. This will, I hope, gain wider and more lasting publicity for your scheme than my article could have given. I shall, of course, send you a copy of the book as soon as ,it is out, probably towards the end of September. “I,- too, greatly enjoyed our talk. I hope it will he only one of many. Please keep me informed of your progress. You and Mr. Valder have really found the way out. With kindest regards, very sincerely yours,— Wickham Steed.”

“I think,” added Mr Manning, "that is a very great tribute to the scheme we have in operation here.” (Applause.)

The Tour Outlined, Mr Manning proceeded to give an outline of his tour, which was listened to with the closest attention by his confreres. He dwelt for a time on the signiAeance of the conference, and mentioned that one or two of the 96 delegates at Orst were inclined tp tell England how she should run things, but after a month in England, when they had seen the efficiency of English industry, had observed the perfection of English organisation, and had marvelled at the way things generally were conducted, there was not one delegate who did not think and say that England was the greatest country in the world and that ihe English were the greatest people on earth, a people who thoroughly knew their job. (Loud-applause.) England was carrying the greatest burden of any nation, and nobody knew better how to carry a burden than the Englishman. For over an hour Mr Manning related incidents of the tour, and kept his audience highly amused with anecdotes and glimpses of things seen and done. 1 1

He concluded by remarking that although the economic situation everywhere seemed black, the Waikato Times would come safely through, for they had. amongst them co-operation, loyalty and goodwill. (Loud applause.) The gathering then joined hands and sang “Auld Lang Syne.” Scott’s , orchestra furnished the music for the evening, the piano being kindly lent by Messrs Arthur Eady, Limited. The catering was excellently done.