The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-02-09
SHOPS and PLANTS
FAVOR INDUSTRIAL
BETTERMENT WORK
Actively Aid Welfare Plans Of
Every Description For
Employees.
PHILANTHROPY NOT INTENT.
Comfort and Contentment of the
Workers Considered Paramount.


been expended during the past decade
by American manufacturers for those
forms Of industrial betterment, in be.
half of employees, that are generally
classed as philanthropic or beyond the
mere requirements Of laws and con
tracts.
Decent manufacturers-and they arc
in the vast majority-as are the decent
people of other classes-are opposed to
grinding child labor, and they strive to
pay living wage to all of their en-
plOyees. They go much farther than
that, as a study of American industry
will show. They devote time, money
and effort to provide every possible
supplementary means for promoting
the convenience, the comfort, the
health, contentment and happiness of
their workers and of the families of
employees. Very few manufacturers
consider such work or expenditure to
be philanthropy, but, rather, neces'
sary feature of their business. While
their motives may be as altruistic as
those of the average Of mankind, they
find that 1t is good, from the business
point of view, to promote as far as
possible the welfare of their employees.
Industrial betterment pays.
Industrial betterment means an at
tempt to provide the best kind of work
ing and living conditions, and 1t i'm
plies the cooperative responsibility of
the wage Garner and the employer In
bringing those conditions about and in
improving them from time to time. 1t
Is not a dole to be handed to the wage
Garner, but Is token of that spirit OF
mutually which, under right condi-
tions, should permeate industry.
A thorough description of industrial
betterment activities in the United
States would require more space than
Is contained in the most voluminous
encyclopedias to be found in the II.
braries. Indeed, volumes might be
written about the welfare work Of a
single corporation alone-the National
Cash Register Company, for instance.
or the International Harvester Com
pany, the United States Steel Corpora
ton, Cheney Brothers, the Curtis Pub
fishing Company, the Bethlehem Steel
Company, the American Telephone and
Company, the Eastman Ko-
dak Company, any one Of the leading
companies. the principal banks,
Wanamaker's, or any Of host of other
concerns which has developed activities
of the sort. There is hardly a concern
in the country doing business on a fair
ly extensive scale that has not initiated
some form of industrial betterment for
its employees. The honors do not go to
the larger companies exclusively either,
for many of the smaller business units
have developed this side of their ac-
tivities to q remarkable extent. Natu-
rally it is easier for the larger corpora
tons to put highly trained specialists
in charge of the various branches OF
industrial betterment work.
The fundamentals of Industrial bet.
are observed in furnishing
pleasant. sanitary. safe working condi.
tons. Educational and entertainment
features, facilities for study and recre.
alton. special opportunities for the ex
ercise of thrift and provisions tending
to remove the dread Of and to mitigate
the sufferings occasioned by sickness,
disability or invalidity are matters
which next receive attention. Well
lighted, well ventilated and otherwise
II. fo pl-; MI
taTants. reading rooms and libraries.
rest rooms, emergency kits and hospi
tails. club rooms. assembly rooms, gym
nasums, lockers and bathing facilities.
recreation grounds. bonus and profit
sharing plans, special housing accom-
facilities for the purchase
Of homes on easy payments. discounts
In the purchase Of goods. industrial
and other educational classes. lectures
for entertainment or instruction. NOV
ing pictures. excursions. field days.
medical attendance. safety committees
for accident and fire prevention. sick.
ness. disability and invalidity funds.
Insurance or benefit associations and
pensions are some of the customary
of industrial betterment work.
the variety of which has no limit.
Tens Of thousands of lives are saved
pach year and hundreds Of thousands Of
lesser accidents are prevented annually
through the accident prevention cam.
paign, and feature of industrial better
ment
The Eastman Kodak Company in FIVE
years reduced the accidents In Its
plants by over 70 per cent per annum
through progressive safety campaign
The Pennsylvania Railroad in ten
months decreased the serious injuries
of its 33,242 shop employees over GO per
rent by the installation Of safety de
vices and by the constant instruction Of
he workmen In exercising due caution
As a result of It's safety campaign the
United States Steel Corporation reduced
serious and fatal accidents In its various
plants by 80 per cent since 1906. Each
wear 2.3Co Of the men employed by the
orl'oritiou escape who would have been
Injured under the previous conditions.