Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-07
BUSINESS REFORM
ROUSES ENGLAND
OLD METHODS DISCARDED FOR
NEW IDEAS
Seek More Trade Abroad--Merehant
Government Departments and
Colleges Join In Great
Movement
Special Cable to The Herald.

Special Cable to The Herald
LONDON, April 6.-"Wake up,
England
The now historic and oft-quoted
phrase with which the Prince of Wales
startled and thrilled his hearers at the
Guild hall banquet on his return from
his great tour through the British
colonies, which caused even the Inn
mobile sphinxlike face of Joseph
Chamberlain to light up with enthu
siasm, and which Is said to have been
the beginning of the inspiration of his
tariff reform" scheme, is now having
it's effect. A wave Of reform in busi-
ness methods is sweeping over the
country.
New ideas are being introduced
every day in the leading commercial
houses and industrial concerns of Lon
don. Even the government departments
and some of the higher educational
authorities are bestirring themselves
to foster the commerce of the country
and equip the newer generation of
business men with a scientic knowledge
of business,
In the. midst of the new movement
the country turns constantly to Amer
lea for inspiration and ideas.
ForeIgn Offlce 10 Ala
For instance. the foreign office will
institute at the end of this month a
new diplomatic order of Commercial
attaches" They will be stationed in
the capitals of the world to seek new
avenues for British trade and keep the
commercial office of the board of trade
in close and constant touch with busi-
ness needs everywhere.
A progressive step also has been taken
by the council of the University of
Birmingham, which has formed an adj
visory board of business men to CO.
operate with the professors of the
faculty of commerce in the university.
The university now boasts a professor
of commerce, a professor of finance and
a professor of accounting, as well as a
lecturer on commercial law, and there
are now many students seeking the
bachelor of commerce" degrees which
the university first granted last year
An instance of the scientific spirit |
among London business men is to be |
seen in the recent formation of a "sys-
tenn club which consists of the lead |
ing members of various trades, and !
meets to discuss business problems
and new solutions of them. Advertise
ments, catalogues and letters to prob
able purchasers are all co-ordinated in
a system which is calculated to lead |
the purchaser up to the particular
counter where the salesman is waiting |
with the particular article which the |
customer requires: in a manner un-
dreamed of few years ago.
Demand Place in Cabinet
In view of this waking up of the
commercial world, it is held by many
business men that the time is more
than ripe for the establishment of a !
minister of commerce. The associated |
chambers of commerce of the United |
Kingdom, which have been holding
their annual conference in London this
week, passed a resolution that this had
become imperative and called upon the
to consider without delay
such an appointment.
Swinburne Sheldrake, editor of Com
mercial Intelligence, indorses this
view. This is what he said in the
course of a conversation yesterday:
"It is doubtful whether many people
realize the extraordinary changes that
have come about in the business world
during the last ten years. We are to-
day so familiar with the idea of |
trusts, not only in America, but in
England, that we forget that ten years
ago the American steel combine was |
unborn.
"'Dumping' has become a household |
word, but ten years ago we were only
just beginning to discover that there |
were other people manufacturing |
goods besides ourselves. Today the |
idea that it is the duty of the govern
ment to assist commercial men is ac-
cepted by all parties. The only diff
ference between us is as to how far
the government can go.
American system and advertising,
American methods of calculating costs,
card systems for filing. loose-leaf
ledgers-American ideas generally, are
now almost universally adopted in this
country"