The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-07-03
THE FEAR OF EFFICIENCY
Address by
~ MISS IDA M TARBELL DELIVERED AT
Speakers Training Camp for Education in Patriotic
Service.


Chautaqua, N. Y July 3.-Miss Ida
M. Tarbell. speaking here yesterday
on the topic ''The Fear of Efficiency"
at the great patriotic educational con-
ference being held here under the
AUSPICES of the National Security Lea
que, declared that this country should
learn lesson from the efficiency OF
Germany. She declared that the prln-
cfples of efficiency are not contrary
to, but should be the "handmaidens'
of. democracy.
Miss Tarbell said
"Qne of the most unpopular words
lin use today is the word efficiency
From having been something which
I'VE were inclined to call the American
need it has become the great Amer1-
can alarm. It has meant until recent
sly doing thing in clean, competent
fashion without unnecessary fuss or
WASTE 1t Is coming to mean doing a
thing In machine far.ion and in dis
irsgard of All human factors What
has brought about this change in our
nation Of the word efficiency?
IN has come out of an attempt to
create in Industrial life a science of
efficiency. In the last twenty years
ffhere has been developed in the in
4 dusty of this country new type OF
\ xnanAgement. From being more or
f! less haphazard and personal indus
trial management is now being har-
messed to fixed principles. These prin-
4 ciples have been worked out with
\ mathematical exactness and their
soundness is capable Of proof. Many
1nens have been interested in their
ldevelopment, but no to one man
abov all others Is due to the credit of
ttheir present scientific form. That
k1nan- is Frederick Winslow Taylor.
About thirty years ago, Mr.. Tay-
t1or found himself at the, head of a
f8hop which was not turning out near
3Iy 40 much product as he was conf
/: dent it ought. Gradually. he worked
Tout a plan for getting out of his ma
;chines and men all that there was in
t<hen1 He did this by completely rev.
ivolutionizing shop management He
41nstituted sytems of handling tools
land supplies SO exact that each work
er had put into his hands at the pro-
per moment the thing he needed. 1t
ia safe to say that In many shops each
I, worker gained upward of an hour a
day by this reform Mr.. Taylor de-
{5ised a planning system by which
each man knew in advance exactly
what work was waiting for him and
This machine. Each operation in a job
\ was routed so that 1t fitted into the
operation which had preceded and
the one which followed. That is.
operations follower Ia their proper
sequence so that they flowed together
i1lnally instead of being scattered over
q shop and time being lost in bring
ling them together. MS
mfr. Taylor studied each machine
IN his plant to know exactly how fast
Il AZ ought to- be run to give the maxi
mum product. Not infrequently he
tfound that time was being lost be-
cause machines were run too fast for
the best result
Each OF these steps made it easier
for man to do hisAwork and conse-
tquently made it possible for him tc
lido more work. Time.~which he had
lost because Of delays and friction
for which he was in no way respon-
sib1e. was now his.
1T was after these matters had
been settled that Mr.. Taylor, frs
turned his attention to the workman
,hirnself He studied the way he wal
doing his task Often he found tina
y his productivity was fessened becaus'
LOT his position at the machine or O
an awkward way of handling tool
The easiest and quickest way of per
forming each task was worked out
when this had been fixed, the work
\ ~ was- Instructed in the new method
The result inevitably was that tn
man turned out more work.
t'Under the old management, it hat
4 been the habit, whatever a man.
fprodnct, never to pay him more thai
the average daily wage That Is. h
never had an incentive to turn GU
All that he could do.sM Taylor mad
At rule OF his system that man
pay should increase with the amour
3 fiof his product He never allowed tn
rate per piece to be cut. The result
was that workmen under this ney
science of management earn fron
fifty to one hundred. per cent. NOR
than formerly.
Tin spite of the fact that the intel
1igent application Of these principle
resulted in large increase in prod
Ar1ct, in profits, and in wages, Their
had been many people to decry then
& labor particularly has fought then
We have even had bills in Congress
aimed at making it a crime for tn
government to use in its plants tn
tools OF the science Of management
Why should there be this fear of in
dustria1 efficiency? Possibly. fifty pc
cent. OF the reason lies sin the natul
n human attitude toward anythin
that is new. Men fear this scienc
fbecause they are ignorant of what
really means and does, and they d
B mot take. the trouble seriously to IT
vestigate. Here is the reason of muc
fof labor's opposition to scientif
management. Again, men fear it b.
cause 1t demands "a, change and nor
f-of us like too well to give DIP or col
Trect our ways of doing things. Sc
kentffic management cuts out RUTHLESS
h1y all of the privileges which grow !
ya carelessly managed undertaking
kdemands time, close attention, diseil
Uine, and the average worker or maj
lager objects to this.
But these are only the human oil
f5ectfons to anything new. The fes
}of efficiency in this country lies
jsomething much more serious 1t h;
5been enormously Increased in the la
Ahrec years by the development
the Great War. The most Aconspic1
sous exhibit of efficiency with whie
Hfe world is familiar is that of Ge
f1nany. In Germany. efficiency mea,
fitting every man into a task wi1ic
has been prescribed for him by a s,
fperior. In a country where militia
4sm rules, men must do and be VIII;
the government, orders. The syste
trequires training for special Sc
vice. 1t leaves little room for spo,
fxA /.