Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-04-09

NEW YORK. April S.-A new pro-
| fession which looks at labor unions
| from II new point OF view, has been
! established. Its attitude toward In
/ dustry is that an industrial concern
! should be Enthusiastically solvent" AZ well
! as financially sound. 1t believes that
| the day is not far distant when bank
: crs VIII demand Il certificate %; In
! dustrial health in addition to ccr;i,i-
Gates OF financial ability and ccrtin-
| Gates attesting to satisfactory build
ings and equipment
The representatives OF this new pro-
fcssion-thcrc are only few OF them
as yet, because the calling is so recent
| are known as Industrial counsclors"
Generally speaking. they bridge the
gap or are tho connecting link between
scientific management and tho labor
unions. Hitherto the fundamental diff
hculty has been that scientific man
agement has known noth:ng or labor
unions and labor unions nothing Of
scientific management, got each has
been trying to Instruct the other
The Profession Explained.
What tn. Industrial counselor Is and
| how he brings the principles Of scien-
title management to bear OH the solu-
ton OF labor problems Was explained
| in detail At a recent annual meeting IN
this city Of the society TO Promote the
Science OF Management. AN organiZa-
ton composed OF men Interested In
large Industrial enterprises, college
professors. consulting engineers and
other highly trained and specialized
men. The presentation was made by
Robert q. Valentine, OF Boston, who is
practitioner o; this new profession.
lie was at one time Identified with the
iustructing stan of the Massachusetts
Institute OF Technology. and latterly
was Commissioner OF Indian Affairs
FOR the United states government. He
has been engaged In the business OF
Industrial counselor for the last two
years, and in that time gays that he
has had thirty-onc different jobs in
sixteen different Industries.
The Industrial audit, Mr.. Valentine
believes, should play as big part in
commercial credit as the audit OF u
public accountant. In making such an
audit. he would first take up the task
o! Analysing the organization. and H.
for example. nothing was done toward
promoting self-governmcnt among the
employees. he would grant no certificate
against labor troubles. He suggested
that an industrial! counsclor's ccrtlu-
cate OF n concerns employment condi-
tons should read something like this:
A Model Report.
we have investigated the condition
Of the y. y. Il. Company, first. as to
the fundamental social forces at work;
second, as TO the personnel Of the fac
tory. covering the methods Of the Sc
lection and the development OF the
wages and the methods Of proper
tioning them; fourth, as 10 the atti-
tude toward labor unions. and, NTH as
to the company's attitude toward labor
laws and safety. sanitation, health and
the regularity OF employment: and we
find that the company is giving con-
siderable attention to human relations,
and is not carrying heavy burden OF
dissatisfaction costs"
When a new plant is about to be cs-
8. MI,
that before spade is stuck in the
ground the labor supply should be
studied. The labor leaders should be
conferred with at the very outset This
a a radical departure from the usual
and almost universal method Of decid-
Ing on the size Of the plant. the ma
chinery necessary to equip it and tho
system OF management. leaving the
question OF the supply of labor TO the
last. and considering that it will not
be difficult to obtain Mr.. Valentine
believes in settling the labor question
first OF all, even to establishing the
union wage as the base before the work
of building the factory is started He
would run preferential shop, taking
men first from the unions, and cstab-
fishing carefully guarded weekly
minimum wage.
If. owing TO Il depression in business,
the company could not maintain the
wages, he would declare the concern
industrially insolvcnt, putting II in n
similar position az if it had defaultcd
in the payment Of the interest OH it's
bonds. He considers that the moment
manufacturing establishment makes
cut in wages and ceases TO pay it's
men what they have counted on. it
should be classed as an enterprise that
has failed.
Scientific Hiring.
Another feature essential to the sue
cess of any Industry. he said is the lift
ing of the employment department to
the level Of the manufacturing ac-
counting and other similarly important
departments of the business by put
ting 1t in the hands of one of the part
ners. He argued that IL liz cardinal
| point of business administration to
keep pay and patronage apart.
The man who does the hiring, under
this new plan of management. is known
as the personal partner" If the bust
ness is small. all the more reason that
the owner should look after this end of
| il himself. Foremen should be teach
crS. not bosses: the jobs should be
| properly explained for the men, and
| the workers should feel that they were
n part of the business. The personal
| partner" should deal with the labor or
| CARNATIONS from a constructive stand
point and not be on the defensive. Also
| no should take an active part in the
| formation OF new labor laws. The bull,
! of those which have been enacted. in
| Mr.. Valentines opinion, are the work
! Of timid politicians and stupid philan-
| thropists. and have been placed on tho
| statute books because manufacturers
! have not sensibly organized to prevent
| such Legislation.
| In tho general discussion which fol-
! lowed, although Mr.. Valentines sug-
| gestions were regarded as revolutions
| airy. there was little dissent to the idea
4 of lifting the employment bureau to the