The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1914-04-17
TAYLOR SYSTEM
BITTERLY FOUGHT
Organized Labor Opposes So-called
Scientific Methods Of Shop Man
gement-Inventor Testifies
CONTRADICTs ITEM OF HIS BOOK
Industrial Commission, Hearing
Arguments at Investigation-Has
Reputation for Fairness
By Congressman G.. H. Tavenner

BY Congressman c: H. Tavenner
Washington, April II. There is
no such thing as hurry under the
Taylor System of Scientific Shop
Management.
Frederick w. Taylor, the inventor
of the system, so declared while tes-
tifying before United States Com
mission on Industrial Relations,
which is Investigating the so-called
scientific deficiency" systems of
shop management, which are bitterly
opposed by organized labor.
my object in life is to benefit
working men, declared Mr. Taylor.
81 want to see all workmen earn
higher wages. There is no hurry
ing under the Taylor system, posi-
lively none" Mr. Taylor then made
the somewhat remarkable; statement
that it is a scientific and economic
impossibility for a machinist to be
overworked. One of the members
of the commission sought to obtain
an explanation of this assertion, and
Mr.. Taylor became considerably
agitated, and beyond repeating again
and again that it is positively impos-
sible to overwork a machinist, did
not clear UP the point. One of the
members of the commission inquired
whether Mr.. Taylor considered that
any workman who did not drop over
from exhaustion, was not being over
worked. Mr.. Taylor did not reply.
When the witness reiterated his
statement to the effect no workman
is hurried" or "speeded up" under his
system, Commissioner James O'Con-
nell read the following statement out
of Mr.. Taylor's own book, describ-
ing his methods of installing the sys-
TEN:
''The tasks were all made so severe
that not more than one out of five
lyaborers (perhaps even a smaller
percentage than this) could keep
up"
1t came to light during Taylor's
testimony that he first installed the
service in the plants of the Bethle-
hem Steel Company and the Mid
vale Steel Company. This is con-
sidered important as Indicating that
General William Crozier, Chief of
Ordnance of the Army, who has for
years been striving to install the
Taylor System in the government ar
senals, has been cooperating with the
two steel companies to the end of
putting the governments O. K. on
speeding-up, labor-driving systems of
shop management, as we'll as award
ing these concerns government con
tracts. 1t has been claimed from
the first that Bethlehem, Midvale
and other big employers have for
many years wanted the Taylor, Sys-'
EN- Installed at the government ar
senals, so that when their employees
protested against the inhumanity of.
the system, they would be in the
strategic position of being able to re-
ply that the system had been INSTALL
ed by Uncle Sam in the arsenals and
was therefore officially endorsed by
the United States Government.
The Bethlehem and MidVale Com
panies are two Of the three firms
comprising the ammunition ring, to
which concerns General Crozier has
ben awarding the bulk of the fat
government army contracts for am
munition and other munitions of
war, paying the ring from 20 to 60
per cent more than the same work