Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-15
Charles Edison Electrical Wzads Son. Has Perfected and Putting
1t Into Practice-ndVdual Justice-Scentiic Profit
Sharng-Misfis Fitted No Plant Secrets.

nj. SeCretS.
them Of their birthright as American
citizens, giving them in return the
use Of privileges in a few service
buildings which do not provide for
the satisfaction of their Individual
tastes. or giving them the right to
play tennis, which may not attract
them, upon courts owned by the en-
ploying institution. bis
"A worker may not be entirely UNI
justified in saying to himself and his
fellows as the result of such enter
prises: The cost of these things is
taken from my wages; the money
spent on them really is my money; it
is spent on them without my, advice
or consent; 1t is spent in ways which
I would not decide, upon if I were
given the opportunity of making
decision - .-t ,...,t B..
"A good many things must be
cleared up in workers minds Gust as
a good many things must be cleared
up in employers minds) before any
thing like ideal conditions can be de-
veloped in American industry. a..
Workers do not always realize the
exact relationship between their prod
uct and the employers profits. Take
man who gets $50 for a certain job
and see his output sold for 500. He
is likely to imagine that the employer
makes $50 profit on the work. He
doesn't realize the extent Of over
head charges against his product, the
amount of raw material the thousand
and-one things which enter into the
production and selling end, the many
prices which affect costs and profits.
often he has no conception of the
fundamental Of competitive business.
He doesn't realize that very likely the
employer who seems to be making a
fine profit may be and probably. is
walking the moor at night wonder
ing how he can meet his obligations;
IF the man at the bench understood
the fundamentals of the business
which employs him he probably would
see many things in lights quite differ
emit from those in which he actually
views them. 1t is not his fault. Capt.
tai. the employer, has fallen into the
silly habit of secrecy, and 1t may be
that this habit has grown out of
knowledge that there have been
things in bygone days about the con-
duct of business which must be kept
under cover for safety's sake.
Capital has not generally taken
labor into it's confidence. 1t has be-
come directors table superstition
that business facts must not get be-
yond the boards. have known of
enterprises in which actual costs have
been SO carefully concealed that not
even the sales managers have known
them. Such procedure may justify
suspicion when frankness would do
not the slightest business harm. 1t is
our belief that business should not
make itself mysterious.
I'VE, at the Edison plant, have de-
cided against secrecy. We shall lay
our cards upon the table at the other
side Of which our workers sit. We
want to know our workers. as have
explained, and we want our workers
to know us.
when we know our workers and
our workers know US we shall be in
a position tending toward real justice
on both sides. Until this mutual ac-
Quaintance Is achieved there will be
no actual basis for such Justice upon
either side.
but actual Justice some employer
now will rise to remark hurriedly.
will get you into trouble all along
the line. Actual Justice will mean
that you will pay the worker who
produces ably and generously more
than you pay the man OF minimum
production. and II you do q thing like
that you will be thrown into conflict
with the unions. who demand a
standard scale Of payment
I'VE think we may have found
way around that-a way Of basing
wages upon individual effort without
giving any one just cause for COM
plant. a means Of recognising merit
and q means Of obviating that mis-
fortune Of modern industry-delay on
the part Of good and able workmen
so that they will not produce above
the capabilities Of average or poor
workmen.
whenever q worker produces less
perfect product than he 10 capable Of
producing the employer IL a heavy
loser, not because the man might de-
liver more for the wage paid. but be-
cause he might deliver more for the