The Conference Board - 2 - Absent from this conference was the helpless wringing of the hands and in its place was the constructive attitude that this is the problem that is giving concern, and here is what we might do to solve it. Against this backdrop of the realistic approach there was silhouetted in this conference a heartening picture of top management in action, exercising courage, ingenuity, and resolution in meeting the problems of today and building for a better tomorrow. We heard of new businesses being born, old businesses rejuvenated, the character of companies changed through diversification and expansion into new fields, of companies in the throes of transition seeking to stand on their own without subsidy or government help, and of American companies seeking profit opportunities abroad. We heard of Management's constant search for new and better ways to serve his customers and his shareholders, to deal more effectively with labor and with government, and to expand in every legitimate way the contribution that companies operating in a competitive economy can make to the welfare of the communities they serve. Here again the record of successes was impressive and the failures few. Management is obviously at work and on the march, taking good advantage of its opportunities. The fourth impression that came to me was the changing attitude of Business Toward Government and the more sophisticated recognition of the role that government, like it or not, is playing and will probably continue to play in today's society. In times past in these conferences the government has been the subject of scathing criticism for many of its actions and its attitudes toward business, and I suspect that most of us here at this conference are far from satisfied today with the performance by government. However, whatever our grievances, there appeared here at this conference an acceptance of the fact that the government is an uninvited partner and even a co-manager with us in all our enterprises. Government takes more of the profits than the shareholders receive, sets the profit levels through taxation, tariffs, and in some cases through price regulation. Government has a loud and compelling voice in the relationships between management and labor, between business and the consumer and in regulating business conduct - from advertising to anti-trust. Wherever we turned in our discussions at this conference we met government in one or another of its varied roles - as a regulator, as a central banker, or as a protector or the public welfare, as an instrument of foreign affairs, as a tremendous customer. Whether we still feel that "the best government is the least government," we recognized without saying so that these are the days of Johnson, not of Jefferson. Being so, we as business leaders must make our voice more effectively felt by learning to work with and through government in ways that cause the government to make the right decisions. And this we must do in full realization that we lack the political power to enforce our will upon our elected representatives. We must