Evening star., 1920-02-08
BUSINESS FIRM TESTS
SHOP COMMITTEE PLAN
Continued from Third page)

| SHUP CUMMI|lEE PLAN
Continued from Third Page)
stockholders stand half, or $4,000, and
the other $4,000 is at the expense of
the operatives. You all can easily fig
ure out for yourselves just about what
your individual share of this is and
can ask yourselves if you get your
| moneys worth. We are sure the
stockholders did not We haven't
written you a letter for some time,
but this subject sure did drag us out
of our she'll"
1t was no trouble for the 500 oper-
atives at the mill to calculate what
that piece of carelessness cost, on an
average, each of them. 1t was Sc. II
went through the mill like a shock,
and 1t was known just how and where
the damage occurred. 1t can be seen
what the public opinion of the mill
would be toward those workers who
mad been so careless as to reduce nv
30 the profits of every emp1oye in the
mill! " '"e
another thing the board of opera
tlNes mas done is to offer prizes for
! suggestions from workers. in order
10 get the minds of every one TO ,yorl,
ing upon the common problems of the
shop. This has already resulted in a
mum oer oi improvements. At the nav
,neht or each months dividend also
WI. ness proposes to hold a mass
meeting and go over all the affairs IF
the mill. and show the workers v,bara
they can improve processes. cut cor
ners and save money With botb
managers and men working at I'M
proVement of methods. something 10
oouhd TO happen at Wappingers Fails,
Goes One Step Farther,
BUT this is not all. The companv
mas mas now gone step further upon
IL mas reorganized it's own hoard of
directors. 1t has now five members
/ three representing capital and man
agement. one elected by the board of
operatives and one representing the
community OF Wappingers Falls. This
terests concentrating management
me workers. the town. Especially ia
the last novel idea-communitv
representation-for in all old mill
towns there Is heavy weight of dull
dosal suspicion of the mill and the
; company. II the town can know what
Is going on 1t is the theory of Mr..
Hatch that the town also will helm
he wants good will all the wav
rounu. The company has also made
arrangements to sell shares of it's
STOCK TO it's operatives at a low price.
suspicion and jealousy, leading to
war In international affairs, is secret
diplomacy. And so it is in Industrial
anairs-secret deals. back stairs
agreements. ae. sly bookkeeping. dishon-
the Wappingers Falls experiment
recognize this and have provided for
wide degree of publicity With rep
resentatives of the board of oper-
atives sitting on the board of man
n ha l.
TO the manufacturing end of the busi-
ness can be covered up-and now,
with a delegate of the operatives in
the board of directors. the entire in
side OF the company's business will
be known. This is a very advanced
| only two other employers: one the
Fflene- store, in Boston; the other
the Proctor & Gamble Soap Company
of Cincinnati. 1t is perhaps practi-
cable yet only in relatively small in
dustries. but it is tremendous DEM
onstration of the absolute sincerity
OF the employer in approaching his
problem. 1t also is the best insur-
ance to the employer that his indus
try will weather hard times and the
possible necessity of reducing wages
with the full cooperation of the
workers. for they also will be on the
inside and know of the difficulties
and problems that confront the in
dustry as well as he does.
Mr.. Hatch. Gives Views.
This, in brief. is the new plan as ap-
piled at Wappingers Falls. 1t is, of
course. very new-as are all of these
experiments. AS Mr. Hatch himself
says: s.s
I'VE cannot really know how it will
work until 1T has been under way for
| three or four years and we have
passed through a period of hard times
, and losses. That will be the test
Of it!"
The great point, however. is that
here the spirit of approach is honest
on both sides; there are the begin
nings of real cooperation, of real
democratic control. With such spirit
new difficulties. Like any other hu-
| man scheme it can be attacked and
criticised at many points (and I shall
show some of the points of attack in
the next article). but the great thing
here is that the problem is being ap-
| sire to know the conditions and a
spirit of good will in meeting them
| If this does not work nothing else
willard we might as well toss over
civilization. retire to the cynic's cor
| ner and rail at the wickedness of men!
I should also like to add just this
observation, and 1t applies as well to
most Of these new experiments, where
they are genuine. and that is that both
sides seem to be having the time OF
| their lives"-downright enjoyment of
| the new adventure. For 1t is real ere
ative work in a new field-the most
fascinating kind of creative work,
with human beings. AS one employer
in another industry said to me:
TITS the most interesting thing l
| ever did in my life. 1t beats mere
| money making all hollow
Like any other truly creative work
| its results exceed expectations, and
yield unanticipated rewards.
! Copyright 1920, by N. Y. Evening Post, 1nc.)
(The next article in Mr.. Baker s
| ea.;on ..-ilI ha Nh uhlished in TueSdaY'S s