Bringing New Blood into Association Work
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MAY I be allowed to endorse the views expressed in your able leader on the S.J.C.'s long-term policy, in
your issue dated July 31? I am particularly interested-in the latter portion of that article, wherein you suggest means whereby the personnel of the national council. and various committees of the proposed associations should be regularly, if not frequently, changed.
As you and the readers of "The Commercial Motor"
are aware, it is my privilege to have the friendship of most of the members of committees in the, associations as
they are composed to-day. I am also personally
acquainted with and have many friendships amongst the thousands of the ranli and file who have never served on committees and who appear very unlikely to have• that honour.
Those of the former category are constantly complaining of the apathy of their members who, they say, appear to take no interest whatever in the work of the associa tions, beyond complaining that, to all appearances, the associations do nothing for them. On the other hand, the rank and file react to any suggestibn that they should
more actively participate in the work of the associations, by saying that these are run by "the old gang" and
that it is hopeless for them to attempt to press for any reformation or for the execution of projects which they. in their minds, think should be dealt with by the representative bodies.
noth.of these points of view and the Lriticism would be effectively dealt with were some such plan adopted as is outlined in your leader. If the constitution of the new associations provided that the whole of each committee were to be replaced within a period of two, three or four years and that re-election should not be possible for a like period, the associations would be compelled to infuse rrew blood into the committees and national council, thus effectively answering the complaint that the associations are run by "the old gang."
This same procedure would have the effect of imbuing a very considerably increased percentage of the rank and file of the industry with some consciousness of the work which the associations are doing and of the limitations to the work which can be done by any association, especially if it does not have the active, whole-hearted And financial support of all the members of the industry which it represents.
There would be this further effect, that those who have passed through the committee and national council would be able to impart their knowledge to a consider... ably increased number of members of the rank and file, so that, besides eliminating the complaint that the Association is run by the same old gang there would be a considerable diminution in the amount of criticism levelled at the association, all of which would be for the common good. • I can foresee that there will be many who will raise objections to this scheme, but it is my belief that all of thetn can be met and overcome if the problem be tackled in a whole-hearted spirit and with good will. The most obvious of these objections is the lack of continuity in the personnel of both national council and committees, but I think that if the arrangements were such that any elected member could depend upon serving a period of three years, there would then, after the first year or so, always be a certain percentage of these honorafy officials, having at least two years' experience of the workings of the association, and that should be sufficient, with the effective aid of the pertlianent paid officials, to meet the need for continuity. At any rate I am very sure that the experiment is worth trying and I am almost certain that after a reasonable trial it will be found so' helpful that it will become a permanent feature of association working.
London, N.22. S.T.R.