The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-17
THE WAGE FARMERS AND
INDUSTRIAL EFFICIENCY
Continued from page Isl

Ati1 % NJ
up for the employer on the emploYe.
Tn highest limit Of a machine AMI
its human operator being aScerlaln@i
TO be entitled to the bonus above me
fat wage, this high point or one close
~ approaching it must be reached
and maintained by all emplo-es IN
gagged in the same class of worn.
When the stint is not reached snt
only the fat wage c~onSeQuentiy pad.
the result may be a confiscatlon hE
the employer of the production above
the usual fair days quantity. Hear
Mr.. TAYLOR on this point: With the
differential rate, If for any reason he
(the workman fails to do his full
task. he not only loses the larger ex-
ira premium which is paid for COM
plete success. but in addition he SUI
ferS the direct loss of the piece price
short" Now, it is easy for the work
to run BAD making it impossible
for the operative to attain the high
limit. This is the case. in the textile
industry, as found on investigation by
the trade union. Metal workers find
in the variable degree of hardness OF
the material a factor which battles
records. Weather counts both ways
in outdoor work. In all such cases.
who is to decide for or against he
worker who may attribute his short
age of output to causes beyond his
control? With no trade union many
abuses could be practiced with little
effective opposition.
The prospect of what may come
about through the introduction of
this system brings to the shop work
er's mind unpleasant recollection or
what he has seen taking place under
driving foremen and selfish employ
ers. For example, there is Mr.. Tay-
lOr'S own limited view of the mOrali-
ties, the social n patriotic objects.
the human influences possible to shop
work-an edifying conception. given
in these words: "All employees should
bear in mind that each shop exists,
first. last, and all the time for the
purpose of paying dividends to its
owners" Why. then. in employing
abo or in any other transaction
should the employer stop short of
anything that will not send him to
Jail? Or, again there are the views
Of President Harrah of the Midrale
Company, as expressed before the
Committee on Labor of h House OF
Representatives in 1900: I'VE have
the most improved kind of machin-
cry now; but we make it a rule to
run a machine to break" W have
absolutely no regard for machinery or
for men," or, again, there was the
Triangle Waist Factory, with its
speeded-up sewing machines. the OPP
N~OA D~O0 NV 'iSAA
hardly room to move. the operating
room doors locked, insufficient exits,
system of ines-every point consid-
cred and calculated to bring divi-
dends. Every point. kept the shop
afre.
Intensely unpleasant to the real
W~orkingman is the caricature Of the
workingman brought out on the stage
in the first scene of "Efficiency"-a
~loafer, studying how to avoid fulfill
ing his obligations with an employer.
Almost equally disagreeable is Mr..
TaylOr's ideal ola workman. as pre-
sented in the final scenes Of his work
"a human automaton, in the social
status of a convict. Nor has Mr.. ray
Tor been at all successful with the
other leading character Of his play
let-the employer. He brings him OF
the boards in too many d~isguiseS-as
~Benevolence, increasing wages; az
Science, working wonders in the stage
properties of bonus, p~iecework. and
stint; as Political Economy saving
the nation a lot of work-alI these.
only to let his hero take down his
mask in the last act and show him
SELF. barefaced as plain, Dividend
Hunter.
AS to the extent to which the prac-
tite OF enclency may unsettle trade
lnlonlsm, in the present subdivision
OF trades and the varying levels of
skilled and unskilled labor, the wage
workers hardly need to be over-anx-
ious. It takes two to FIVE years, &C
cording to Mr.. Taylor to get appreci-
able returns from his system, and
then 1t may tumble to pieces. like a
mouse OF cards. as it seems to have
done at Bethlehem. Some branches
OF efficiency, such as the bricklaying
require such a considerable pyramid
OF a force. with assistants at stage af-
ter stage in the work. that it may long
continue most profitable to depend on
just bricklayers to do the run of or
oInary jobs. In the trade of the ma
cninist. 1t can hardly be possible t.
abolish from use an noun of skill
and technical knowledge hat forms
one OF the elements OF the wealth or
our country, simply by turning over
10 iaborers certain movement that
take endless repetition. Nor are our
Well laid plans for Industrial e6uca-