Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-02-17
ARSENAL men TO
ENTER APROTEST
Mass Meeting Called for Sun
day Afternoon to Discuss
the Taylor System.
NEW SHOP MANAGEMENT
Claimed Its Introduction At Local
Governments Plant Would Dis
qualify Workers.

Shop employees at Rock Island ar
senal, at a mass meeting to be held
next Sunday afternoon at Turner
hall, Davenport, will formulate a pro-
test against the introduction of the
Taylor system at the local govern
ment manufacturing post
THE Taylor system has been in
augurated in some OF the eastern
steel mills, and we have investigated
and learned that It is nothing short
of slavery to the men who are OBJ
Hzed to work under it," said an ar
senal employe. lit has been propos-
ed to enforce the system at Rock Is
land arsenal. The men here have in
formed themselves and they do not
propose to submit"
LAST OUNCE OF VITALITY.
An arsenal workman has prepared
the following statement for publica-
ton:
THE ordnance department is max
| ing preparations to inaugurate at the
Rock Island arsenal a certain sweat
shop system known as the Taylor Sys-
| tenn of Shop Management 1t is as
tonishing how the United States gov
lernment is willing to emulate the per
Iformances OF certain greedy and utter
lily heartless employers of labor in try
| ing to squeeze out of the workmen the
last ounce of strength and vitality he
possesses. Mr.. Taylor, the inventor of
this system, seems to have discovered
the claw. the talons and the lowest in
stincts in human nature and applied
them to shop practice in such a way
as to cause the weaker workman to
succumb to the avarice and greed OF
| the strong. Mr.. Taylor has conceived
the plan of dividing the work Of
plant into a planning department and
an executive department.
WITH MILITARY PRECISION.
'"The workmen in the shop are to
execute, with military precision, the
plans and specifi cations formulated in
the planning department. By thus sep
arating brains from Drawn he hopes 70
be able to supplant the skilled me-
chanic with unskilIed labor. since a
man is supposed to be able to learn TO
obey order in about six or eight weeks.
receive a little higher wages, but of
course not as much as the mechanic
that he supplanted. Each workman
under this plan of management has
eight different bosses, who by means
of Taylor's methods of encouragement
and persuasion, will succeed in driving
this laborer to do about three times as
much work as was done by the me
chanic
"The workman is to be timed by
means of a stop watch, and while the
standard time of doing job is being
calculated the workman is supposed
to work at highest speed. This speed
is of course expected to be kept UP all
day Mr.. Taylor has devised various
methods for the purpose of compelling
the workman to keep to this terrific
pace.
DAILY TASK SET.
when standard time has been Sc
cured as much as would satisfy the
most exacting, a certain daily task is
set for the workman. If he is able to
complete the task he gets a certain
wage; if he fails, he gets considerably
statement, advises that the task in each
case be made so severe that only
first class man can accomplish it. He
cited instances where he made the
days work so severe that only one
man. out of FIVE could stand the pace
Mr.. Taylor also proposes to apply this
same speeding system to the foreman
He states that at first at least twice
the number of foremen will be needed
than will be required after the shop
is systematized, but owing to the fact
that at least two out of three foremen
will either quit or get discharged,
there is no need for any good foreman
to fear of losing his job.
LIKE TEAM OF HORSES.
There is no danger OF a good pugil-
ist ever getting licked; all he has to
DO is TO lick the rest. Mr. Taylor OBJ
serves the movement of a workman
with that cold calculation with which
he might regard any other wealth pro
ducing mechanism A body of work
men seems to be to him like a team of
horses, a coop of chickens, or a hive OF
bees, of interest only for the honey
they produce (for him or his pals) In
fact, he comes right out in his book
and says that the workman must never
be allowed TO lose sight of the fact
that every shop is run first, last and
all the time for the purpose of produc-
ing dividends for the stakeholder"