Bisbee daily review., 1912-05-25
THE MEANING and
PURPOSE of WORK
By Woods Hutchinson, A. NJ, M. D.

evening, and even far into the night,
just as II We still fought single
B handed. Our working day is still con-
structed upon farmland basis One
hundred years ago. the net efficiency.
/ the actual horse power o fthe average
I worker vas less than One-iifth what il
3 is today. But We work far more than
. onc-fifth as many hours a day and are
/ far short of making five times as good
| a living. We have enlisted the stars
/ in our service. but VIC haven't lifted
( ourselves half as far towards them,
! in consequence as We should While
We accomplish three times as much,
we have shortened our working hours
by a bare one-ffth and raised our
standard OF living a scant one-fOurth.
/ Though We have piled up enough OF
that dead mems labor called capital,
/ TO enable us to take full advantage
of all our new heritage OF power, if it
were only intelligently applied TO the
purpose.
The trouble is that We have never
seriously considered the problem from
a broad, racial point OF view. If we
were TO be asked why we 80 to work
at such and such q time, we could
only give the cuckoo like answer: Be
cause every body else does" We have
never asked ourselves the question,
in how many or how few hours d
day can the largest amount of most
efficient work be turned out, with the
greatest amount OF benefit 10 the
worker There are few things We do
so senselessly as work. To put in all
the hours OF daylight and steal one or
two from the night at each end, no
matter how stupidity or slayshly, our
selves, and to demand the same tale
OF brick from thae We have hired
that is the pirit of our boosted modern
industry
We know better than TO work an
OK, or a horse or even loom, or a
locomotive, on such principles, but we
lwill and do so work ourselves and our
fellows. The one thing that would
most increase the efficiency OF our
work would be an extra hour in bed
I in the morning, and from one TO two
hours of play between closing time
and nightfall Such unconscious, and
often most unwilling experiments as
have been made in this direction
Yield the same result with a positive
~ astonishing unanimity. Every time
that the hours of labor have been
shortened in given industry, the
actual output per worker, per diem
has increased and been followed by
that most incontestable of evidence
an increased wage Though this last Is
never in proportion 70 the gain in eff
ficiency. Those countries OF the civil
lied world, and those trades which
have the longest hours, have nine
times out ftcn, the lowest wages
. and the smallest output per worker
The best paid and most intelligent la
, Dor is In the long run, the cheapest
whether il be your own or that OF
, your employee. Only recently, fol
instance, the mills in a certain indus
. TRY in this country cut down theiI
schedule from six days week 10 foul
and a half, in order to limit produc
ito non account OF the high price o.
raw, material Within month, to.fheii
| tsurDrise and almost SdiSfnay, tliey
. found that tlrey We're turning out just
, as moch material as when WORKING
son,fulla time The more snap aud Ell.
ergy, yes, and cheerfuIness, you Of
your workers have to put into you
, work, the more and better quality o
, il they viii turn out. We know nov
/ that We cannot afford TO reap profit
+ from The labor of our children at th,
T risk OF stunting and impairing theil