Morris tribune., 1885-10-28
The Aim and End Of Machinery,

service was held in the cathe-
dral, to which the members were in-
vited by the Dean and Chapter. An
address of welcome by the Bishop, DIR.
King, formed q part of the evenings
service, and in the course of his re-
marks the Reverend Doctor gave eX-
preston to his thoughts in u manner
which showed that he had studied
| the matter from correct standpoint.
Looking at the occupation ofthe me-
chanical engineers as one involving
the subjugation, of natural forces to
the will of man, it appeared to him
that we were tending toward a state
of things in which toll of severe ma
ture would be annihilated, as even
already time and di distance had been
annihilated by the subjugation of
electricity, so that by its action even
the very tone of the human voice
could be transmitted through long
distances. All this, in his opinion,
placed the mechanical engineer in a
high position among his fellow men.
Such was the general drift of the
Bishops remarks.
Let us consider how it is that, with
all the aid of steam and electricity,
we still toll as hard as we ever did. Is
it because machinery does not per-
form more work than could be per-
formed by hand? This certainly cam
not be the case, for it is self-evident
that machinery does work that 1t
would be impossible to do otherwise.
The truth is that we have gone the
wrong way to work. Quality has
been subjected to quantity. as one
consequence Of our original error.
Before the days ofsteam power, and
when the loom, for example, was
wholly driven by manual labor, one
individual worker could not possibly
attend to more than one machine, for
the constant presence of the worker
was required in order to keep the
machine at work. The labor was of
ten severe and protracted. What did
steam power do for the weaver? 1t
relieved him of his severe labor, and
left him with nothing to do but light
work of piecing broken threads. or re-
filling theshuttle and generally watch
ing the good performance of the work
of the machine. But it was very soon
found that one man or woman could
do more than this, and in place of
tending single machine it became
the custom for one worker to superin-
tend two machines; and as the ma
chine improved in quality, and the
turning of the steam engine also inn
proved in regularity, another and an
! other loom was added to the charge of
each worker, until now it is not un-
common for one worker to superin-
tend perhaps to7 looms, while at
the same time the rate of work of
each loom has progressed rapidly; the
number of picks, from being perhaps
20 to 40 per minute in the hand loom,
having attained from 100 to 300 in the
most modern machines of like width.
Thus the number of yards produced
has increased say fifty fold, and the
| only extra labor which has been en-
ployed to produce the steam power
which has done this has been the pro-
portionate fraction of the work of the
engine driver and fireman, and of the
coal carter or other carrier, and the
collier. Now, so long as large num-
Der of the earth's inhabitants require
clothing which they can not provide
for themselves, the above state of af-
fairs may, and will, continue; but
during the last few years, more es-
pecially we in this country, who have
for long had a supremacy in trade,
have been confronted with the fact
that many of our old customers have
begun to make for themselves and
not only this, but they also aim at
making for others who still buy from
US. AS civilization progresses, the
disproportion between makers and
users will become smaller still, and
perhaps finally disappear; and the
nearer we approach to the time when
all shall make for themselves, the
more tense will become the situation.
Long before such time comes, how
ever, we shall have some alteration.
We cannot go on making millions of
yards of cloth which no one will buy,
and the weavers will have to turn to
other pursuits. Such, however, are
not open, for every worker will be
confronted with the fact that his pro-
ductions are not required, and all will
be seeking other pursuits and not
finding them. It is therefore evident
that changes must be made before
| this state of affairs IS reached. The
| change required is lessened produc-
tion. AS the world now stands, it
| would not be practicable tor us as q
country to say we will at one reduce
| our productions one-half. It would
be the signal for our downfall, for the
Germans and the French would at
once seize the opportunity to produce
great part of our relinquished half.
| But the time even then would still
surely arrive when they also would
have to restrain production; and it
| is clear that some day all manufac-
| turers will haye to do this. When
this times arrives, 1t will then be seen
how machinery has reduced toll. So
far the employment of machinery ap-
pears to have simply tended to the
production of more goods. We have
used it simply as means to assist us
in doing more work, but not as we
ought to have done, to enable us to
Il o,o In., Tho xr1rI, ~ l.