Challenge of Our Time

MR. JOYCE: It is a very great pleasure to have as the speaker at this meeeting one of England's leading industrialists ... a man who has won international fame as "a master negotiator" . . . The Right Honourable The Lord Baillieu, K.B.E., C.M.G.

Lord Baillieu has been Chairman of the Board of Dunlop Rubber Company Limited, of England, since 1949; Chairman of the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth since 1951; a member of the Grand Council and a Past President of the Federation of British Industries; Chairman of Central Mining and Investment Corporation Limited; a Director of Trinidad Leaseholds Limited; Midland Bank Limited, and of many other companies.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, 65 years ago, Lord Baillieu graduated from Melbourne University and then Oxford. He was admitted as a Barrister at the Inner Temple, London in 1914.

During World War I he served with the Australian Imperial Forces and the Royal Air Force. He was mentioned in dispatches and was awarded the O.B.E.

From 1929 to 1939 Lord Baillieu represented the Gov ernment of the Commonwealth of Australia on the Imperial Communications Advisory Committee. From 1930 to 1947 he was one of the Australian representatives on the Imperial Economic Committee.

In World War II Lord Baillieu served as an Executive Member of the Export Council, Director-General of the British Purchasing Commission in Washington, Head of the British Raw Materials Mission in Washington, the British representative on the Combined Raw Materials Board, Washington, and as a member of the British Supply Council in North America.

He returned to Britain in November 1943, to act as Chairman of the Fairey Aviation Company from 1943-45. Having been Deputy President of the Federation of British Industries from 1944-45, Lord Baillieu served as President from 1945 to 1947. In 1946 he was Chairman of a Departmental Committee on Establishment of a Central Institute of Management. From 1945-53 he was a member of the National Production Advisory Council on Industry. From 1946-48, a Member of the National Investment Council and from 1947-52 a member of the General Advisory Council of the British Broadcasting Corporation. In 1948 he lead a British Trade Mission to the Argentine.

Having been Chairman of the American and British Commonwealth Association from 1943 to 1947, Lord Baillieu became Deputy Chairman of the combined body on the amalgamation of that organization with the E.S.U. of the Commonwealth in 1947 and served as such until in 1951 he succeeded Lord Wakehurst as Chairman of the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth.

Created a C.M.G. in 1929 and K.B.E. in 1938, Lord Baillieu was raised to the Peerage in 1953.

I can assure him that we all await with keen anticipation his address on "The Challenge of Our Time".

Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Right Honourable Lord Baillieu.

THE LORD BAILLIEU: I was rather nervous when Mr. Joyce was giving you my record-did he really know anything about me that I did not myself? My motto is to move out before you are found out, and that adds to the enjoyment and zest of life.

May I say how pleased I am today to be the guest of this combined gathering of The Empire Club and the English-Speaking Union. It is not only a great saving of your time and of your patience to dovetail these two meetings, but for one who, at times, has to do a great deal of speaking, it is also a very agreeable concession.

I would like to start the few words I would address to you today by saying on behalf of my British colleagues today, how deeply moved we have been by the tragic loss of life and suffering which has befallen the citizens of Toronto as a result of the recent flood. My wife and I and many members of our party have seen something of the trail of destruction and our hearts go out in sympathy to those who have been bereaved and have suffered. At the same time our hearts have been lifted in admiration by the way in which the citizens of Toronto have rallied in the emergency and have brought comfort and aid to those in need. This is the stuff of which great nations are made.

I suppose that most people around here have to make speeches from time to time and when they are asked to do so they are first of all faced with the question, Shall I decline? ... Shall I accept? ... Shall I say Yes? ... Shall I say No?

I am reminded of the story of the difference between the diplomat and the lady. I suppose most of the ladies know it, but for the benefit of the gentlemen perhaps I may have your indulgence. You know, when a diplomat says "Yes" he means "Perhaps". When he says "Perhaps" he means "No". If he says "No" he is no diplomat.

Now, a lady when she says "No", she means "Perhaps". If she says "Perhaps" she means "Yes", but if she says "Yes" she is no lady.

Now, if I had said "No" I would have been no gentleman, because I was very much touched by the invitation I received from these joint Clubs. If, as I have done, I said "Yes", I ran the obvious risk of spoiling a very good luncheon, so I ask your indulgence and here we go. The next thing of course is to decide what you are going to talk about and having decided that, what you are going to try and say. My Speech is entitled "The Challenge of Our Time". Now, we come to that in a moment, but as you will see, I am billed as Chairman of the Dunlop Rubber Company, and also as Chairman of the EnglishSpeaking Union. I am not here to do a selling line for Dunlop. I am not going to tell my friends here that Dunlop tires, Dunlop golf balls, Dunlop mattresses are the best. Anybody who wants to break 80, anyone who wants to rest on an easy conscience at night, or ride comfortably in the daytime, knows the answers!

But I must say I have been thrilled to see something of my Dunlop colleagues here since I arrived.

I come then to my position as Chairman of the EnglishSpeaking Union, and if I may, I would take time off for just a moment to tell you something of that organization and why it is that hard-boiled people like myself and, my friend here on the right, Colonel Benson, take time off and considerable time off, to lend their voice for what it is worth to the purposes of the Union.

Before saying so, I would interpolate here what a very great pleasure it is to find at our head table this afternoon, Sir Evelyn Wrench, the Founder of the English-Speaking Union. He it was who had the vision in 1918 to create this body which has grown to one of considerable size, is destined I hope to grow much greater, and to exercise an increasingly important influence.

Why is it then that some of us ... I might say all of us who are linked with the Union give so much time to it? I think it is because in our lifetime we have seen the British Commonwealth and the United States linked in a partnership which has been the foundation of victory in two World Wars and must be the cornerstone of any enduring peace system. It is this basic thought which has moved us to do what we can in our time and generation to carry the implications of that message far and wide.

Let me add here that the Queen is our Patron, that the Duke of Edinburgh is our President, that we are nonparty and non-sectarian. Sir Winston Churchill and Mr. Attlee are our Vice-Presidents, the Lord Bishop of Canterbury, His Eminence, Cardinal Griffin, of Westminster, the heads of the Free Churches, the Chief Rabbi, are all members of our Advisory Council. We have linked to our day to day work a number of people of high standing who are governing the proceedings of our main committees. Some of these I shall briefly mention are those on Finance, of which Colonel Benson is Chairman.

There is a Common Purposes Committee, of which Lady Alexander of Tunis is Chairman and a very effective Chairman, too.

The Chairman of our Educational Trust Committee is Mr. Paul Chambers, a Deputy Chairman of the I.C.I. And the Chairman of our Current Affairs Committee is Mr. Francis Williams, who interestingly enough, was Chief Public Relations Officer to Mr. Attlee, when he was Prime Minister.

I just give you that brief picture of the personnel of the government of the Union.

We have been concerned, deeply concerned in England in recent months and years to do three things. First of all, to gather to ourselves the sinews of war in the sense that we must have funds to carry on our work. We started in 1947 by raising a substantial fund. I am glad to say as the result of the drive we have recently made we have received profound encouragement in subscriptions or covenants equal to $600,000 for the next six years.

In addition to that we have been deeply concerned to attract youth to our movement because no home, no club, no institution can live unless the vitalizing flow of youth is coming in from behind and in that I think we are starting to achieve a considerable measure of success. We have, for instance, over 3,000 members in the London Youth Committee. They are very active, not only on the social side, but in all phases of the Union's activity and they are represented on our Executive and Board of Governors, and we have two of them attending the World Conference, which I will refer to briefly in a moment, in New York next week.

In addition to that we have been concerned to carry the message to the factory door, to both sides of industry, and as far and wide as we can and to that end, we have set up what we call a Current Affairs Committee, headed by Peter Storrs, and advised and supported by a most interesting panel. For instance, we have representatives there of the Trade Union Congress, the Workers' Educational Association, all the great political parties, the Federation of British Industry, the National Union of Manufacturers, the Chambers of Commerce, the Rotary Clubs, and they meet and from time to time they suggest to Mr. Storrs and his working party the subjects which are hurting relations between the two countries. He proceeds to study it objectively, to get at the facts, to provide the speakers when needed, to produce all the literature that is necessary, in the belief that while there must be in this world of ours, diffrences ... we even have differences in the family ... there is no need for misunderstanding.

The whole purpose of this experiment, for experiment it is, a promising one as I regard it, is to soften the impact of these differences and at least to remove what very often is serious misunderstanding on both sides.

Now, we are proceeding from here to Ottawa. We shall be holding there the first All Canadian Conference on the E.S.U. We have branches, not only in Toronto and Hamilton, but in Quebec City, Ottawa, Regina, Edmonton and Vancouver. We are hoping to extend our branches elsewhere and we have very good friends, so I am assured, in Halifax, Fredericton, Montreal, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and Victoria.

We are hoping that one of the things that will come out of our talks in Ottawa is the organization of a centre which will enable the E.S.U. in Canada to speak as a national body to their friends in the United States and in the United Kingdom.

Next week we go onward to New York where a World Branch Conference will be held at which fifty-four Branches from the British Commonwealth and sixty odd from the United States, will gather together and we will discuss matters of common concern, particularly education activities, publications, current affairs, the extent of our branches and activities generally, and hospitality. There will be a magnificent dinner tendered to the Queen Mother in order to present to her the final story of the movement made by our friends in the United States to collect funds in aid of the King George VI Memorial Fellowship.

We have recently sent this country our first batch of Fellows. They have all been carefully hand picked. They have made an excellent impression and I am told the total collected by the E.S.U. in America will be about half a million dollars. So there you have on both sides of the Atlantic, just over a million dollars raised or in process of being raised, which I think my business friends here would signify a decent credit rating for the E.S.U.

I thought you might be interested in these facts because they touch the life of many of us very intimately.

The challenge of our time? What is it? I believe this to be nothing more or less than the preservation of our freedom.

"We must be free or die, who spake the tongue That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold Which Milton held."

and that goes for not only the folks in that Island set in the Northern Sea, but for Britishers and members of the British Commonwealth wherever you find them. It is as true of the two great races who constitute the Kingdom of Canada as it is of the United Kingdom itself. A vast literature in prose and verse has been written round it and great wars have been fought in its defence.

What is freedom? I suggest in simple terms it is nothing more than the old fundamentals . . . freedom of Religion, freedom of Speech, in which of course I include freedom of the Press, freedom of Assembly, freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and extra legal process, freedom from Want. These fundamentals, based on the rule of law and operating within the democratic process, in which we all believe, are the basic elements of freedom.

My own home lies within a very short distance of Runnymede and there if you go, as some of you may have easily done, you will see on the monuments at either end of the Meads, the following words written:

"In these Meads on 15th June 1215 King John, at the instance of deputies from the whole community of the realm, granted the great charter the earliest of constitutional documents where--under ancient and cherished customs were confirmed, abuses redressed, the administration of justice facilitated, new provisions formulated for the preservation of peace, and every individual perpetually secured in the free enjoyment of his life and property."

I think, and I think possibly the learned Judge opposite might agree, that is as good a summary as we have in the language of the purpose and intent of Magna Carta.

As we know, down the centuries the struggle to preserve freedom continues. It is a struggle against internal as well as external foes, and the ebb and flow of this struggle has vitally affected the character and the composition of the British Commonwealth, and its relations, not only with the Western World and Europe, but especially with the world of the Americas.

I am not concerned, even if I had the time, to trace the history of Freedom. I have briefly defined what I think it to be. Now, on what does its preservation depend? I would suggest, firstly, the rule of law. Secondly, a strong united British Commonwealth. Thirdly, an intimate, an understanding partnership in world affairs between the British Commonwealth and the United States of America and, finally, and this I believe to be crucial, policies deriving from that partnership which will carry confidence And understanding in the young nations now emerging east of Suez, throughout Asia and in Africa, and which will convince them that they have nothing to fear and everything to hope for by joining with us rather than attaching themselves to the Communist bloc.

Let us look, if I may, for a brief moment at each of these in turn. Two World Wars in the course of a generation, and the economic difficulties which of course have followed those wars have inevitably led to a vast increase in the activity and the powers of the state. The powers and responsibilities of the state today touch us all from the cradle to the grave. I think we can say, both in Canada and the United Kingdom and throughout the British Commonwealth, that generally speaking this responsibility has been discharged with wisdom and restraint, but there have been occasions in recent years when Parliamentary and public opinion has been disturbed. You may have noticed the uprising of opinion in what was known as the Crichel Downs case in England, which had its repercussions on the Cabinet there and elsewhere.

We have seen in some of the great bastions of Democracy there has been much irresponsible talk, false charges have been levied, individual rights have been restrained. What a Chief Justice of England called "the new despotism" has sought to act as prosecutor, judge and jury in relation to the subject. We have found an attempt to justify these methods, so repugnant to all our thinking and traditions, by the principle that the end justifies the means. But those who fail to defend liberty will eventually lose it. Eternal vigilance, in my view, is ever the price of Liberty, against all those, both from inside and outside the state, who seek to overthrow the basic freedoms.

Let us, therefore, be wary of all those, who, in the name of freedom, would reproduce in our communities some of the practices of the police state. Let us make sure that every individual has leave to live without leave underneath the law, and in the words of Magna Carta is "perpetually secured in the free enjoyment of his life and property".

The first essential basis of freedom, therefore, is the maintenance of the rule of law. The British communities as a whole must be true to themselves and guard carefully against the insidious injection of doctrines foreign to our thinking and our practice, if we are to continue to make our contribution to the orderly growth of democratic freedom.

Now, my next suggestion was that a basic element in defence of freedom is a strong, united British Commonwealth. Perhaps you will say that there is no need to labour this point. Twice within the course of one generation the British Commonwealth has rallied under the leadership of Britain in the defence of Freedom and to our lasting credit let it be said we were in the van ... we were first in the fray and not until the cause of Freedom was won did we sheathe the sword.

I would not weary you with any detailed analysis of the position and prospects of the British Commonwealth as a whole, but I think as members of that Commonwealth we can observe with pride its flexibility and its capacity to achieve great changes without violent ruptures or upheaval. Marshal Smuts, one of the greatest of our Commonwealth statesmen, once described the British Commonwealth as the "greatest human experiment in political organization, the proudest political structure of time". History, I believe, will confirm the appreciation.

Look at the picture today. We have within the confines of the Commonwealth two great Republics, Pakistan and India. We have six Kingdoms, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, South Africa, and finally, the United Kingdom. And on the periphery we have a vast dependent responsibility-self-government-and the heart and core of this unique system still remains Britain. The Crown remains the symbol of the free and voluntary association of its peoples, dedicated to the closest human co-operation. Within this vast collection of races and creeds, comprising the British Commonwealth, you find today clear evidence of that higher loyalty to a supra-national ideal, that community of nations, the growth of which I am assured is the best prevention of war between nations themselves. Britain is the heart, not only of this great constitutional and political group, but of the sterling area and it is around that area, on that currency, as you know, that half the trade of the world revolves and to which is attached the fortunes of at least a quarter of the human race. How then does Britain look? It is well for us to recall here the basic facts of her position, which are clearly understood by her leaders both in the political and industrial field. She knows her dependence on imports for two-thirds of her food and the bulk of her raw materials.

She knows she must pay for these by exports of manufactures which will compete in price and quality with the world.

She knows that her standard of living, her way of life, her position as centre of the British Commonwealth, the employment and happiness of her people, depends upon the productivity and efficiency of British Industry, and this is why her leaders have deliberately and consciously set out to widen and not to narrow the area of agreement on these issues upon which the progressive improvement in Industry depends.

There has been a conscious and deliberate effort by Britain, supported by the leadership of both parties, and from both sides of industry, to do everything within their power to reduce differences and to project their common action along common lines. You have had the Joint Industrial Council, the National Advisory Council, on which I was privileged to serve, the Administrative Staff College, the British Institute of Management, the British Productivity Council, the Dollar Export Board, and the widening rapid growth of our technological institutes, all working to that end, all going to prove the determination of British Industry to play its part in maintaining Britain's position at the center of the Commonwealth. In that, our opposite numbers in Industry, the leaders of the' T.U.C. are just as active on these various bodies as myself and others on our side of Industry. The British Productivity Council is today chaired by a leading Trade Unionist, Mr. Tom Williamson, and a very good Chairman he is.

I am not going to burden you with statistics. You know in 1951 we were running astern to the tune of four hundred millions a year. Since then there has been a grand come around. In the following year, our surplus was running at about two hundred and fifty-five millions. In 1953 and 1954 we were still running with a surplus of about two fifty to three hundred millions, which gave us the capacity to act as a central banker, to repay our debts and help develop the Empire abroad.

Now that come-around was achieved as a result of pretty severe import restrictions, by the restoration of what you regard and I regard as orthodox monetary restraint, by improvement in the terms of trade and also by the receipt of Defence Aid. Today it looks as if production and employment have risen. Export demand continues firm. Consumer expenditure has continued to rise and the gold and dollar reserves have continued the slow climb they started in 1952.

I think it is a fair thing to say that a review of all the economic indicators point to the conclusion that the expansion that got under way in 1952 and 1953 is continuing and this is a very vital and important fact for you and for my native country, Australia, and the rest of the Commonwealth. Unless you have a sound and stable Britain at the heart of the Commonwealth, then our task, your task, and the task of the rest of the Commonwealth is going to be very much more difficult.

Now may we turn for a moment to the importance of common British Commonwealth-United States joint action in the wide field of world affairs, that I suggest to you is a third great factor in the support of our freedom. I believe the events of the last nine months will constitute an outstanding record, not only in British diplomacy, but in collaboration between the British Commonwealth and the United States.

Let us look briefly at the picture. The cease fire in Korea and Indo-China . . . the settlement in Iran . . . a settlement in Egypt ... a settlement in Trieste and an amazing achievement in the Nine Power Conference. Now, that is a great tribute to the diplomats on both sides and you, my Canadian friends, must be greatly heartened by the proud role which Canada has played throughout in some of the most vital of these talks and these achievements. "Mike" Pearson happens to be an old wartime friend, and I have admired the way he has handled himself and has helped to guide your great country, since he took the helm at the office of External Affairs. It is significant that Canada is playing this vial role on the world stage. She is not only interesting herself in affairs in Canada, she is playing a vital part in the Far East. Her representatives there are trying to work out the details of the Indo-China Agreement. She was an active participant in many of the great talks, and particularly in the Nine Power Conference.

So when people say to me, "Oh, I am very sorry for the world position today ... We are in a tough spot . . . there's Formosa and China ... you are on a spot with the Americans in regard to convertability" . . . I say, "Stop a moment, let us look at all this. What about China? It is true we recognize China in Great Britain and the Americans haven't, but Canada hasn't, Australia hasn't, New Zealand hasn't, and South Africa hasn't. Are you going to suggest because these other countries haven't done so, that the British Commonwealth is going to break up, because if you do, I am going to tell you you are wrong. You had better take time, my friend, to work out these great issues. You had better remember it took nine years to get this agreement over Egypt. It took four years in regard to Iran, and four years in regard to Trieste. So let us be patient, one with the other, praising our common achievements, acknowledging our differences, but working constantly and purposefully to achieve agreement in the spheres in which we find differences exist. We need not think the whole world is going to collapse around us and that the main pillars of freedom upon which we depend, the Anglo-American working partnership, is going to crumble under us, just because we have some difficulties in the way."

I have no doubt that this great partnership will continue. I have no doubt it will continue because of the position of Canada as an interpreter, not only to the United States but to the British Commonwealth and the world. You have a greater responsibility, a greater challenge, I believe, than almost any country in the Commonwealth.

Then the fourth pillar of freedom to which I referred was the importance of dealing wisely,--profoundly--carefully, with these emerging nations in Africa and in the Far East, and the whole of that vital area east of Suez which constitutes for us the raw material strategic axis of the modern world. If we are denied access to this area, if it falls into unfriendly hands, then we have lost the battle of the future. We can only win that battle if we succeed in attracting into our orbit those ancient peoples who are now emerging as modern states and nations. They have naturally the fears pressing them that perhaps what is called the old colonial system may be revived. Of course, it won't, but we have got to demonstrate that it worked and indeed that they have more to gain from us than they have from the doctrine of Communism. I believe it can be done. There again, it needs time and patience. There again I suggest Canada has a special challenge in interpreting her great neighbour of the south to these Asian folks.

Now, I must draw to a close. But in doing so there is generally one point in a theme which constitutes the center. I feel, as an Australian, that the vital core in the structure of the British Commonwealth still remains Britain. You have had many speeches about Britain, I should say, in the last twelve months. I believe she is in pretty good heart, in good hands and in good shape. (Applause.) Despite the trials and tribulations through which she has passed in the last fifty years, Britain, believe me, is still young in spirit and outlook. When she looks back on those fifty years she has seen vast developments which have changed, as we all here know, the social and economic structure of the world ... the internal combustion engine, aircraft, radio, the entire field of domestic electrical appliances, synthetic fibres, plastics, reinforced concrete, tele-communication, etc. She knows this impetus still exists over a vast field. She is aware she is living on the edge of the fascinating uncertainties and deeper challenges of the atomic age. She realizes she will have to adjust herself to those changes, and that the changes she may face will be as far-reaching in the next fifty years as they have been in the past fifty years.

Scientific specialization will increase. Life will become more complex. Industry and Government will have more and more difficult problems to solve. It will place a greater and greater demand on our scientists, our administrators and our business leaders and technologists to simplify and make more fool-proof the actual operation of the system which supports our modern society. Knowing this, she will, as she has in the past, face the need for change.

It was Disraeli who said that "In a progressive country change is constant; and the great question is not whether you should resist change, which is inevitable, but whether the change should be carried out in deference to the manners, the customs, the laws, the traditions of the people, or in defence to abstract principles and arbitrary and general doctrines".

Britain still remains the center of that free and voluntary association of peoples, united in loyalty and allegiance to our gracious Queen, and which under Britain's protective mantle has grown to self-government and free nationhood, in the course of a hundred and fifty years. For me the most outstanding feature of Britain is the continuing character of her people. In Britain there is an underlying moral unity which transcends every difference of creed or colour or race. This has been the spiritual source of her strength and greatness as a world power. I believe, as a Britisher, that this will still carry her and the Commonwealth to levels of even greater achievement. Believing this, as I do, and believing history is only a prologue, may I finish by reading you some lines, written I think about a hundred years ago by a great American, Ralph Waldo Emerson. In writing of Britain, he says:

"I see her not dispirited, not weak, but well remembering that she has seen dark days before; indeed, with a kind of instinct that she sees a little better in a cloudy day, and that in storm of battle and calamity she has a secret vigour and a pulse like cannon. I see her in her old age, not decripit, but young and still daring to believe in her power of endurance and expansion. Seeing this, I say, All hail, Mother of Heroes, with strength still equal to the time; still wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which the mind and heeart of mankind require at the present hour, and thus only hospitable to the foreigner, and truly a home to the thoughtful and generous, who are born in the soil. So be it! So let it be!"

And so, Ladies and Gentlemen, it will be.

THANKS OF THE MEETING were expressed by the Rev. C. H. Dickenson, President of the Toronto Branch of the English-Speaking Union.