30 STATISTICS 



figures through subordinate officials from subordinates ; and 

 the method suggested by the industry, which is to collaborate 

 with the big firms, and make them responsible for imparting 

 the knowledge which they already possess (and which in their 

 own interests they must make as accurate and complete as 

 possible) direct to central authorities, who are not in the least 

 likely to publish it until its value as a ' trade secret ' has long 

 since disappeared. To Business it seems as though there could 

 be no choice in the matter. The writer confesses that, speaking 

 as an onlooker who perhaps sees a good deal of the game, he 

 has long since been converted to the view of the business men. 

 Meanwhile it must be remembered that the figures with which 

 this book is overloaded are accurate only to the extent that the 

 deep-sea fisherman has resisted the temptation to ' pull the 

 leg ' of a landsman. 



