FACTS OF THE CASE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 6, 4 December 1926, Page 11

FACTS OF THE CASE.

A METHOD OF CLEAR THINKING. (Contributed by N.Z. Welfare League.) In these days, when life grows more and more complicated, when old values are continually changing, and when new ideas are germinating feverishly in thousands of brains, people are less inclined than ever to search for the truth by the laborious method of thinking tilings out for themselves. Few have any coherent and comprehensive theory of life. The majority are swayed this way and that by sentiment or prejudice or mass suggestion. They have neither sufficient knowledge to form correct judgments, nor sufficient patience to unravel the contradictions that obscure most issues. Somebody coins a phrase, invents a label or presumes an analogy which takes the public fancy. No matter how .shallow or illogical may be the idea behind it, the catch word runs from mouth to mouth until it is incorporated in the thought of the multitude and becomes a maxim possessed of a power out of all proportion to its real significance. Thus casual error crystalises into dogged beliefs, and factions grow bitter over the rights and wrongs of questions which are never so much as stated except in distorted perspective. No amount of discussion will clarify a contention which is based on false premises, and no real agreement between any two parties can be reached if neither understands the point of view of the other. The prime need of the day, therefore, is to get at the facts of the ease. But how is this to be done? The only truthful answer to that question is that it cannot be done in full. Who has the encyclopedic knowledge or the endless time that would be required for such a task? That docs not- mean for us to just muddle along. The first essential is to cultivate a habit of clear thinking on the few facts we do know, to make honesty of thought a matter of conscience, and to seek for tlio essential facts of any problem with which we are faced rather than' waste time on subsidiary matters which merely obscure the mental vision.

DIFFICULTIES OF INDUSTRY. In no field is there more complexity, leading to misunderstanding than in that of dealing with industrial problems. Mostly, men and women do not think on these questions ; they simply feel and conclude that this or that is wrong. In ease of a dispute between Capital and Labour, which becomes a public discussion, the lines of the direct issue are crossed by views held in economics, politics, religion, ethics, and class and personal ambitions until it becomes most difficult to know what is the immediate subject requiring attention. As a guidance through such mazes it is wdl to have a grasp of main essential facts relating to industry. One of these is that neither capital nor labour can live apart. Another is that stoppages of industry benefits neither but injures both. Strikes and lock-outs constitute a game in which only one thing is certain, and that is both sides will lose. By securing a close mental grasp of a few essential facts such as these we will all bo helped to clearer thinking, the consequent result of which will be of benefit to ourselves and the whole of society. There are old habits of thought which men in responsible positions hold which ought to be reviewed by them because thev do not at all fit in the conditions of the times in which we live. There are employers, for _ instance, who kick at any proposal to meet the workers’ representatives or enter into it with a grudge ns if it were a wrong thing to ask tuom to confer with those in the position of employees. The time has gone past for such an attitude to be taken by any one. The fact of partnership between capital and labour in industry is not merely a postulate; it is a vital feature that must be recognised. Industrial peace and progress can, only be maintained by thinking and acting with a clear consciousness of the relation of interdependence between employers and employed, Many difficulties which exist to-day will he got over if the fact is kept over in mind that it is human beings we are dealing with always, not machines. The greater industrialists recognise these facts. They do not play with industry, but act on essentials. The lesser minds have yet to learn, hut the process of education is working rapidly which gives hope for the future.