The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-21
The NIenace 10 British
 Shipbui|(Iing Supremacy
 By FREDERICK HENDERSON
By SIR FREDERICK HENDERSON
By Temple

than n their Scottish works There is food for reflection in British statesmen and British trade unionists surprise me- It is just what might be expected when compare American and British labor. Here wages have doubled, labor costs of production has trebledi In America the labor by the generous use of 1abor-aiding machinery The figures speak eloquently for themselves
 A Broken Bargain
 For years n Great Britain have been en- deavorng o introduce pneumatic riveting into our shipyards At length the war came Then at last under of war, manage to strike bargain with the trade unions for the of this labor-aiding plant. They agreed to pneumat rivetfng owing to the scarcity of men and the need for building in all haste They very good bargain from their point of view, good bargain indeed They admitted much. In their part to get the highest possible results Of the pneumatic rvetng So far it has prover, alas uni-lateral bargain of most disappointing char parts country the bargain IS not belng Kept by the men, do not complain of the good faith of the mems officials. They know what is the right thing to do but unfortunate " lack the power the will, and the courage to impress their view the who are, nominally their followers, but in reality, man has put 1t, their leaders. Pneumatic riveting is costing than the riveting, do get the otput which ought to get The exn1anatfon is sinon1e The worl.n1an csn r,si tain the which he formerly by hand he does not make the same effort If be 1Horted with pneumatic hands previously the output would increase mousy, then of labor would be less tiring and exacting
 Workman.
 So far, however pneumatic tools have been
 
 that if they increase their output the Hons share the benefit goes the employer. They To not realize that the of the business 0 which employer has to devote duction of his selling price only his markets, but to open up other words the reduction selling price be affected by increasing the output without reducing the wages of the Indeed, their wages may increase and still the total labor diminish
 shipbuilding there is of piece prices being by the being this. Every extra day vessel occupies the increases petition with rivals. These labor-aidins appli- ancesN introduced for the purpose of enabling workman to increase his output to permit of selling price being reduced without the o physical exertion. He may indeed increase his, wages and apply much less physical exertion.
 of Life Death.
 Another point We employers do desire resume pre-war disputes to wages to maintain the supremacy very appreciate this but the of do not. Thes must impress this their m- bers. They we'll any of the employers that and death matter for industry. men. We grim struggle hold against competitors, and must state the We must off, and workmen alike, and if the Brit ish workman takes his off he hasn't his in This may sound like flattery, It is something else; it is tho truth
 a pessisnst but shall be op- tinlist the British workman enters into fechter' supremacy of industry menaced, he fighting the Prus- began saying that afraid shall lose that feeling the moment the ness (Frbm The International News Bureau. Inc. Boston, Maas.9