New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1920-06-04
E|GHTH0UR DAY
DECLARED BEST
RESULTS OF CAREFUL INVEST.
CATION BY THE PUBLIC
HEALTH SERVICE.
TYPICAL PLANTS STUDIED
In the Matters of Maintenance Of Out
put, Lost Time and Industrial Acct
dents, the Facts Favor the Short La
Dor Day.
BY JAMES p.

BY JAMES p. HORNADAY.
Washington.-The American Fed
Grafton of Labor, which for years ha!
been advocating an eight-h0ur day
now has the support of the United
States public health service in its con
tention. Some months ago the publ,
health service undertook an inyesti
cation of the subject by sending mem
bers of its staff to factories in vari
Gus sections of the country. The in
veStigatOrS devoted time to factories
tfat enforce Il ten-hour day and plants
mat require their employees to WORK
only eight hours. The conclusion OF
the service is that the eight-hour dag
is not only more efficient than the ten,
hour day in industrial plants, but i
more economical. The plants surveyed
were selected after IA great deal of
care. Each n modern factory, EN-.
ploying such a large number of work,
ers as to make any conclusions reached
apply to industry in general. The 9th,
er consideration was that the machin.
cry, manufactured products and proc
esses In the ten-hour plant should be
sufficiently similar to those in the
elght-hOur plant to make a fair com
parisOn.
The advantages are all in favor of
eight-hOur days, or shifts, as com
pared with the ten-hour day, and re-
late to maintenance of output, to lost
time and to Industrial accidents.
Summary Of Conclusions.
Here are the main conclusions sum-
married.:
Maintenance of output: The out
standing feature of the eight-hour day
is steady maintenance of output. The
outstanding feature of the ren-hour
system is the decline of output.
Lost time: Under the eight-hour
system work with almost full power
begins and ends approximately on
schedule, and lost time is reduced to
a minimum. Under the ten-hour sys-
TEN work ceases regularly before the
end of the spell and lost time is fire.
quent.
Stereotyped output; Under the ten
hour system the laborers seem arti-
ficially to restrict their efforts and to
keep pace with the less efficient work
ers. Under the eight-hour day the
output varies more nearly according
to the individual capacity of the la
hOral. That ts zach &c mana IflynI,, o..
do his utmost. rather than an average
days work." regulated by a low stand
ard.
Industrial accidents: This phase Of
the study Is Of particular interest.
Ordinarily accidents may be expected
tn vary directly with speed of produc-
ton, owing to increased exposure to
risk. But when fatigue is taken into
consideration. there is a marked modi-
fcatiOn Of this rule. When there is
a reduction Of output due TO fatigue.
there liz a rise In the number of ac-
cidents; that is, in the last hours Of
the ten or t~welve-hour day, in spite
OF employees slowing up In work, more
accidents Occur. If for any reason
production is speeded up In the last
hours, when laborers are fatigued. the
number Of accidents rises so rapidly
as to leave no room to doubt that the
higher accident risk accompanies the
decline In working capacity of the en-
ployee.
These conclusions are based on so
20 raftl a sft.1v ~, aB,arc Of tta Vfn.s
ed States public health service and on
so large a number of employees that
they may undoubtedly be applied by
industrial engineers generally.
Want literacy Test Dropped.
The committee on immigration
of the house of representatives
is bein importuned to let down
the immigration bars. When this con-
gress met In special session a little
more than a year ago all the indica-
tions were that additional bars against
immigration would be put up. There
was even talk to the effect that immi.
grafton might be suspended entirely
for several years. Now the committee
on immigration Is besieged almost
by persons who represent that
the labor shortage in nan industrial
makes 1t imperative that the
government open the way for more
common laborers to come in.
As a specific remedy for the condi-
ton that Is alleged To exist 1t has been
proposed that congress repeal or modi-
fy the educational features of the ex-
isting law. In support of the argument
hat strong, healthy laborers be per-
to come in. regardless of
or not they ran read and
write, it has been pointed out to the
that, while illiteracy in
Great Britain and France may proper
v be regarded as indicative of lack of
character, the same thing is not true
IF many Of the European countries. 1t
las been asserted that many of the
most dependable laboring men in
southern Europe are illiterate. Those
persons who would open the way for
his class of laborers TO come in say
hat provision should be made for CIV
them a primary education on their
trivial here.
According to the representations
MAKING TBE < COOL n