Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-07-14

any mail rOr instance u
man should see guillotine beips ! s- :
up and he had advance informs,x,s ~
from the inventor himself tba, -
erection of the thing was for tbs -. 49,
pose OF guiliotining four out !, -
OF his people. and that he might No.
bly, be one of the four out of svs
would naturally being ayerse 10 sss.4 y
even the foundation being laid for 80
erection of the guillotine. ''
General Crozier. That can an
perfectly well answered. IL you hass
time for II.
Mr.. Tavenner. I would like to 49,.
what this committee reported. IR.sS
ingl:
There is need for production :, ..
lowest cost. but no economic neee.ss,s
can justify requiring workmen IN 49,
up to the highest point which thew -
continue from day to day and e.
year to year, even without iniurv !.
their health and strength. To plass
workmen in position of that kind i
to put them in the position of bea,,,
of burden, which are required to 20 fro-
day to day, performing a given tasts
| General Crozier. Certainly. we an
agree to that. and they are not mad
beasts of burden.
Mr.. Tavenner. This bill will ~.
vent the installation of these par,ier.
lar features of 1t that place men In ~,
position of beasts of burden, accora
ing to this report.
General Crozier. The report doe,
not say that anybody is made a beas,
of burden.
Had Heard From Workers.
Mr.. Tavenner. This report ON ~.
Taylor system was made after ,bs,
had been hearing witnesses who hal
been working under the Taylor system
| [Readingl:
There is margin between the vnrt
performed by the loafer and the mar.
mum task for man, and in that mar
gin lies a proper days work Wha.
| constitutes a reasonable DAYS vort
can only be determined by practical
experience and intelligent observation.
1t can not wholly be determined by
stop watch or any other time-measur.
ing instrument used only for a brief
period of time. By the stop watch
you may be able to determine the tina
in which a piece of work can pc done
but you do not thereby alone deter
mine the length of time In which Il
ought to be done. The time study Of
the operations of any machine can BE-
made with reasonable degree of ac
curacy, because all of the elements
can be taken into consideration IN
making the computation. A machine
is an inanimate thing-it has no life
no brain, no sentiment, and no place
in the social order. With a workman
it is different. He is living, moving
sentient, social being; he is entitled to
all the rights, privileges, opportunities,
and respectful consideration given to
other men. He would be less than
man if he did not resent the introduc.
ton of any system which deals with
him in the same way as a beast Of
burden or an inanimate machine.
I'm making a time study of the oper
ations of a workman, all of the ele
ments can be taken into consideration.
and consequently the computation can
not be made with mathematical ae-
curacy. There is no work that can be
performed, or that is performed, that
is not preceded by a mental process
on the part of the workman. The more
skill needed in the work, the greater
the mental process which precedes
the expression of 1t. So far as your
committee has been able to learn,
there is no method known to scien-
tific management by which time
study can be made of the mental proc
ess preceding the physical act.
"The elements of the mental process
not being susceptible of determination
by a stop-watch time study. the study
of itself must consequently be mac
curate, and the workmen are justified
in objecting to such a time study being
used as a basis upon which to com
pute their days work and compenss I
ton when in their judgment injustice
is done them thereby"
General Crozier. We all agree 70
most of those sentiments. The gen
eral run of them anybody can agree
with.
Mr.. Heating. Who drafted this re
port?
Two Now In Cabinet.
Mr.. Tavenner. Three members OF inc
house, two of whom are now members
Of President Wilson's cabinet-A'
and Mr.. Redfield.
Mr.. Heating. Did the COMMITTEES
recommend any legislation?
Mr.. Tavenner The committee oiu
not report any legislation, but the ~
Dor committee followed this about
month later with bill prohibiting 1s
use of the stop watch in government
plants. -,
The Chairman. Mr.. Wilson assisl01
n preparing the report here. He VIZ
he chairman of the labor commAlss
1t the time.
Mr.. Tavenner. Yes.
General Crozier. The committee
rained from making a recommend
ion for legislation upon the suo'es
Vow, If it was their intention 10 cos
lemn the Taylor system, having lou.
hat it ought to be condemned, u
would not have made that kina "
eport. OF course, no man WI"
reated as a beast of burden or u
.hine and thew should not be.