Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-03-13


when in their judgment injustice is
done them thereby.
In an effort to stimulate the work
men to increased activity various
methods are used under different sys-
tems-such as discharge, fear of dis
charge. stop-watch time studies, and
bonuses. The fear of discharge exists
under any system and, no doubt, will
continue to exist and to act as stimu-
lus. The establishment of premium
or bonus presupposes the establish
ment Of a task. The bonus system is
large enough for an ordinary days
work and then holding additional COM
pensation as an inducement to a work
man to do more than he would ordinar-
lily do.
The proponents of the Taylor sys-
TEN assert that the workman will be
protected against any injustice either
in the amount Of work required of him
or the compensation for that work by
a change in the mental attitude
brought about by the introduction of
the system. A mental attitude which
produces a spirit of cooperation be-
tween the employer and the -employe
is much to be desired, but such a
spirit is not the result of any particu-
lar system of management, but is due
almost entirely to the personality Of
the management and employee and the
cv - ~, -, IL
to each other. CYcur committee is Of
the opinion that the mere mental atti-
tude Of the employer is too variable
and unsubstantial a basis upon which
to rest the material welfare of the
wage worker. Standardizing and sys-
tematizing of work can be introduced
successfully without any change in
mental attitude from that which exists
in the ordinary shop, but when it
comes to introducing stimulation, a
change OF mental attitude by which
the workman is-willing to give a great
er amount of energy for the same
amount of pay may be very desirable
to the employer of labor, but it is not
always so desirable to the employe.)
STANDARDIZATION.
The Taylor system undertakes to
standardize the tools, machines, nuts,
bolts, ETC., so as to eliminate as far as
possible the loss of time and waste en-.
ergy resulting from the lack of stan
dardization. This is "a contamination
devoutly to be wished" 1t was shown
to your committee that in the Water.
town arsenal prior to the change in
/ system there were several kinds of gear
cutters run by one man. They were OF
different makes, capacities, and ages
and operated on different principles. II
was also shown that the nuts and bolts
used were not standardized and conse
quently much time was lost by the
workman in searching for sizes for his
machine. This is not good practice
The machinery should be standardized
made alike in principle, if not in size
so that the time of the workman need
not be wasted over different kind Of
tools in an effort to find the right one
! II is an advantage to have standard
hand tools in our shops, so far as pos
sible, that the question of selecting
from among many need not come up.
Similar operations on similar worl
can be advantageous If done in sim
liar way. 1t is a great waste of effor
and thought to perform one operation
in one way today and in another wa.
tomorrow. 1t is a still greater vast,
to perform one operation in three o
four different ways at the same time
Where there is no standard a man new
er gets a chance to produce the bes