New Britain herald., 1917-09-04
SIX HOUR DAY IS
 URGED FOR BRITAIN
Baron LeYerhullne Would Also
 Make W0rkmen Partners

London, Aug. 20-(Corresponden of The Associated Press) .-Adoptio of a six-hour working day for labor and general establishment of copart- nership between British employers and workinEmen after the war are urged by Baron Leverhulme, formerly Sir w. H. Lever, a large employer of labor and formerly a mem Der of the Central Board of Control to deal with the drink problem.
 "Whatever attempt is made at set clement of industrial troubles said Lord Leverhulme in a statement on labor conditions after the war, 'I think the wages system cannot be abolished, it must continue to be the basis of the new conditions. But it needs improvement and modification. Wages should be on the highest pos sible scale, but no change ought to impair the supremacy of manage ment.
 "The first thing we must note in any effort at improvement of working conditions is the tediousness of me- chanical work. The remedy I pro- pose is the shortening of the days task from eight to six hours. I think six hours at monotonous work is long enough for any man or woman. It is a noteworthy fact that in the history of labor the shortening of hours has meant not a decrease but an in- crease in production. The successive changes from thirteen hours in the day to twelve and again to ten so re- suited. Even more marked were the results of the change from ten to eight. Production was <, augmented, loss of time from sickness and in- efficient handling of machinery was lessened. The loss under the old sys- tenn owing to absence from sickness alone was 25 per cent. I count on similar advantages from the reduction of working hour to six.
 How is that saving of hours to be turned to the workman's advantage? With a six-hour day he will not be too weary to take advantage of edu- cational opportunity. The state should insist on two hours daily be- ing spent in self-improveme The young workman should have his mind cultivated and his body exercised. In early manhood these hours might be partly used for military exercised. Beyond thirty he will find time for some hobby, say gardening. And all this time he will be gaining in eff ciency and character
 So we shall be opening up fresh resources for the good of the nation. The precious plant of inVentiVeness is not grown in a close atmosphere of prolonged labor, it is the product of leisure hours. when a mans mind Is free from taskwork.
 'The six-hour arrangement must not, I need hardly say, involve any reduction in wages. Personally speak ing, l want to see wages go higher, for higher wages mean more eff ciency and more production. The more machinery we have the greater the output.
 Along with shorter hours I look to partnership as Q great remedy Such a system brings employer and employed into family relations; i; gives the workingman a personal in- terest in his work. Strict care should be taken that it is not used as a de- vice for reducing wages, so that any advantages are neutraliZed. That would be a fraud and sham. The fierce objection men had to the piece work system was their fear of such device. 7~H
 "There are critics who would sub stitute higher wages for the benefits of partnership. That is not my idea