The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-12-12

| was a deep thinker and man pos
sessed OF profound economic knowl.
edge. He did not want to misinterpret
| anything Mr Brandeis had said, and
IL he said anything not justihed by
what Mr.. Brandeis had advocated 1t
| was because he had misunderstood il.
| MIR Brandeis has been saying that
| some sSo0,000,000 u year could he saved
| by The railroads In tho cost OF trans
| portatlon, according to the newspa-
+ pers" went on Mr.. Mitchell "trhere is
( general belief that he advocates as
means TO that saving the premium
or bonus system OF paying the work
men. and further specialization in work
do not believe that the worl<men
employed by the railroads should do
any more work than they are now do
| ing. / do not believe that anything
can safely be saved on them. and thas
IL there is a waste OF $500, 00O. 900 n
year 1t lies outside the sphere of cost
occupied by the workmen. And j am
against the premium or bonus sys-
tom and against too much specializa-
tion
"Nirst as 10 specialization. The
thought should not he so much about
the machine as about the man In front
L j
the specialization of work beyond
which II is not safe to go, because of
he deterioration of the workman and
ultimately of the kind OF work he does
think that point has about been
reached in the railroads and in most
of the other large industries.
Speaking recently in an interview,
DR. William Mabon, superintendent OF
the Manhattan state Hospital for the
Insane, said that monotony of labor
is a frequent cause Of insanity. Let me
read you what he said"
The article quoted DR.. Mabon as say
ing, for example. that in a shoe factory
one man has a machine to punch holes
in strips of leather for the iaces: that
all day long, for six days In the week,
he punches holes. That kind of work
gets to be absolutely automatic. and
many workmen deteriorato while doing
It, The brain cells that are not used
In the piece of specialized work. which
are most OF those in the brain, finally
go dead from lack of use and then the
worker is ready for the insane asylum.
This horrible monotony OF special
tied labor" DR. Mabon was quoted as
saying, is doing a great deal to un-
balance the minds of the workers
1T Is best that the workman use all
the knowledge he has went on MIR,
Mitchell. There Is nothing so restful
at variety. Even IL the work itself
is not intrinsically hard, it dcteriorates
the workman If 1T is always one little
piece OF the same kind.
II don't know whether or not Mr..
Brandeis is an advocate OF the piece
system. Organized labor is against
that, because 1t speeds the men up too
fast and causes deterioration in the
man, who should always be the first
concern.
1T is sometimes charged that the
labor unions tend to level down work
men. This is not true. Labor unions
do not say that an employer shall not
pay an especially competent and effec-
tive workman something in addition
to what he pays the others; they are
but fighting for at least a fair pay
for an honest days work by the aver
age workman.
organized labor Is against the pre-
MUM or bonus system of payment TO
the workman, because that is designed
TO speed up the workman beyond the
safety line. That g bad economy. The
employer who uses the system may
notice an advantage at first, but it is
not long before the workman begins to
deteriorate under the strain; then his
work deteriorates also, and presently
lHt loss III MS productivity amounts
to much more than the temporary gain.
"Of course, there could not be a great
deal more specialization in the actual
running of the trains than there now
is. In the very nature of the occupa-
ton, a man must do work of consid-
cradle variety; but in the shops there
is opportunity for minute specializa-
ton, as in the case of the shoe factory
used as an example by DR.. Mabon.
There the specialization has already
been carried to the edge OF the danger
line and ii should be carried no fur
thor. Organized labor will oppose any
attempt to carry 1t further.
THE men who do the work OF the
railroads, both outside and in the shops.
are doing all they should do now They
are the fastest and most efficient OF
their kind in the world. IL there be
any waste then, in the railroads of the
country, II is not in the men | have
no criticism to make of Mr.. Brandeiss
for effecting further
economies in the running of the rail-
roads except in 50 far as they relate
to labor"
s----------