Omaha daily bee., 1912-01-07
Famous Pleader for Business Efficiency

Industrial Efficiency"
AS l look at the watch | feel
greater regret at the brevity Of life than
ever before; because there has been
said by some Of thei speakers who pre-
Ceded me so much that was not true
and so much that shows failure to
understand what scientific management
is l shonld like to enter upon such
statement Of that science as would make
It possible for every one of YOU TO know
what II means, and what it offers to this
country; what the introduction of knowl-
edge as opposed to ignorance offers to
the great world Of human industry. II
means the opportunity to secure in q
much-neglected field advances in produce
ton which would enable our people to
satisfy those just demands of labor, the
satisfaction Of which is essential to the
development of American civilization.
Il am amazed to find a representative Of
organized labor as able and as enlight-
ened as Mr.. Duncan, taking, in ignorance
of the. principles OF scientific manage
ment, the position which he has. 1t is
a position which must necessarily rest,
IL II is to be taken literally, upon the
proposition which bellies everything upon
which American prosperity rests, and
which is necessary, and has been nee
essary, for that prosperity which we en-
JOY. 1t is as if he had said we cannot
make progress.
why We Prosper.
Isn't it a fact that the prosperity we
have in America today comes not so
much from illimitable or so-called illim-
liable resources of America, as because
we in America have advanced-Or had
until recently Acknowledgment all other
people, in eliminating the waste of human
labor? This is what we stand for. The
prosperity of the south began with the
cotton gin The prosperity of the west
lay not so much i'm her fortie fields as
= in her agricultural machinery, and in
her transportation system, which enabled
us to eliminate waste, to create a field
for profit out of which we, and all of
as, were able to get living, better than
was obtained in foreign countries. In our
New England, and in parts of the East
where manufacturing prevails, it has
been our necessities, and not our re-
sources, that have been the sources of
prosperity. 1t has been the necessities
the poor soil, which drove us to man
ufacturing, and high wages, fortunately,
which made us the mother of invention
Unfortunately that movement to invent
to save labor, was arrested. Why? Be
cause OF the illimitable resources Of
foreign labor. 1t was easier to tap the
foreign labor supply than to think, and
to work persistenty upon the lines of
saving labor.
Nothing to Boast OF.
1T is something to be proud of
that bricks were laid, and in most
countries are being laid, precisely as
they were laid in the days of Pharaoh?
No! Mr.. Gilbreth, after he had studied
Mr.. Taylor, came to think whether the
principle which Taylor had applied to
the machine shop and other things could
not be applied to bricklaying. What did
he do? He did just what Taylor had
done. He put the mind of the scientist
on to the operation. The great fnnde-
mental work of the scientist is to observe
observe and take nothing for granted.
SO Mr.. Gllbreth, who is a bricklayer by
trade, who fitted himself to that as he
did to other branches of the building
trade, began to dissect this operation of
laying brick. He began at the beginning,
and said, What is the first thing to do?'
Well, the first thing was TO reach down
to the floor of the scaffolding and pick
up brick; and it occurred to him, for
the building trade for nearly twenty-five
years, that it was a fool thing for a
man to bend down to the floor to pick up
a brick. 1t took a good deal Of effort.
1t took a good deal of time He said to
himself, The thing for me to do is not to
80 down and pick up the brick, but to
have that brick up where l am, and to
have it where l can just reach out my
hand and get it. 1t will save me a good
deal Of labor, and it will save me good
deal of>time.' SO he invented a shelf-it
was a very sigh invention-he arranged
that it could be screwed up from time to
time by a boy who passed around, so that
the brick would always be up at the
hand of the man who has to lay it, He
would simply have to stretch his hand
out, instead of going through the athletic
performance Of picking it up off the
ground Then he said, What is the next
thing l do? I take that brick in my
hand, and l take my trowel and test II
two or three times, If it is not a good
brick take it and throw it down on the
floor. j am up on the fifth or sixth
story Those bricks which have beer
painfully and extensively brought up &c
where I am are painfully carried dowr
again. Wouldn't it be better to have only
those bricks come up that are selected
instead OF being pitched on the hod, oil
raised by the derrick, and sent up without
being tested?'
To he Economic.
He concluded that would be economic
Then he said, What is the next thing
do? look that brick all over to get thu
face Of that brick and to get 1t just right
Wouldn't 1t be better when that, mar
down below is selecting the good brick
before 1t comes up to me, that he SHOULD
put those bricks in a packet right sid
up, so that when they come up they vii
be delivered right side up, right on thi
shelf right at hand, All l would hay,
TO do, /, the bricklayer would be to TAX,
each brick, knowing that all bricks wer,
sound, and knowing all were right sid,
up and to lay it, Then when the tim,
came when he was ready 90 lay H. IN
put 1t down on the wall; then he Tape,
II with the trOwel again Chat had Away
been done since the days Of Pharaoh. I
occurred TO him that perhaps that wa
not necessary. II the mortar was JUS