[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —The letter appearing in
your issue of October 5th signed " Z." draws attention to a subject of great importance in our national lifenainely-, the question of the competence of the directors in British- industrial concerns. '
One of the chief reasons for the success of American and German industry is that the control is usually vested in men who have themselves worked their way up from the ranks. How different is the case in many British concerns! Nepotism, influence, and titles have an undue share in the direction. If British industry wishes to meet its competitors on equal terms it will have to overhaul its methods drastically. There should be only one Consideration in appointing directors, and that is merit and experience.
There is also a moral question involved. How can a director, in a business of which he may not know the ele- ments even of the financial side, protect the interests of the shareholder, for whom he is 'in some 'sort a trustee ? Thus to accept a directorship under such conditions is doubly a breach of trust : once to the public who invest their money in the company, and once to the nation, whose existence largely depends upon the competent management of industry as a whole.—I am, Sir, &c:,
REFORMER.
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