Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-17
|REFUTES CHARGES
WORKMEN LOAF
Statistician Thinks Fair Con.
Sideration Should Be
Given.

the effect that workmen employed in
building operations are giving less
than one-half their pre-war produc-
tion and receiving twice the wages
is branded unfair" by Daniel Patch
statistician of the Aberthaw Eonstruc-
ton Company.
The first requisite of successful
dealing with the problem of labor,
continues Mr.. Patch. lis to think fair
ly concerning its larger aspects as
well as to deal fairly in dayto day
contacts. OF the 100 witnesses called
in the three-month housing investiga =
ton in Cleveland l wonder how many
had taken the trouble to get below
the superficial facts and reduce them
to terms that would make them com
parable with pre-war conditions.
The implication of the newspaper
statement of the Cleveland findings is
really that since building workmen do
wage they have increased the labor
element in building costs some 400 per
cent. This can hardly be. First. let US
examine the hour wage of different
classes Of building workers in 1914
and in 1919"
MasOns $685. 5000 to sl.oo ss.5 'd Ie :.
Laborers 70 80 to so 100 to 40
Commodity Prices Increase.
According to reports of the United
States Department of Labor whole
sale commodity prices increased dur
ing the same period by close to 100
per cent. No one needs % be told
that the necessities OF daily life have
increased in as great proportion. If.
therefore. we express the building
workers return in terms of means of
subsistence instead of in terms of
inflated dollars. it is pretty evident
that he is receiving no more per hour
now than he was before the war. In
fact. it is doubtful that in any case.
except that Of the day laborer, he is
quite so well on now as he was before
the war.
This. however. does not dispose of
the contention that he is doing half
as much work. But if he were doing
only half as much work as before
then the labor costs of various op-
erations If reduced to a fixed or UNI
inflated dollar standard should in
!sis-so be twice what they were in
1914 Records OF the Aberthaw Con-
struction Company prove that this is
not the case
Inc company estimates the work
ing efficiency of its forces by their
relative approximation to a standard
cost inquire. which is known through
out the company Offices as DOGGY"
sogey is theoretical labor cost
which would represent highly sat
isfactory accomplishment under nor
NAL operating conditions Since it is
always adjusted to an unchanging
monetary standard. it expresses it,
SELF really as unit OF expenditure per
volume OF production.
Unit Fluctuntes.
1t is interesting to observe the fluctu-
atoms IN this unit Of expenditure dur
ing the period from 1914 through 1919.
n Aoerthaw. operations for the year
eeeded DOGGY by 2 per cent the fol-
lowing year by % per cent. In 1917
the unit of expenditure had fallen below
that OF 1914. 1t rose again in 1918. fell
TO DOGGY again in 1919. and during the
tremenoous building expansion Of 1920
It is approximately 81 per cent above the
theoretical figure of 1914, or 10 per cent
above the actual figure Of that year
This is very far from being twice the
1914 cost Nor is this 10 per cent in
crease in cost to be attributed TO gen
eral lazincss and inefficiency. part nf
1t is undoubtedly due to the necessity of
employing semi-skilIed workers. thus
diluting the quality Of the total force
But there are other causes at work To
labor costs are charged the expense of
seeking out and bringing labor to the
1oo-an increasingly needful and ex-
penstve performance. To the same ac-
count are charged the expenses Incl
dental to the personal tracing Of de-
layed freight
Overhead Cost Greater,
Again, the overhead cost of the
shorter working week is proportionately
greater than that of the larger one. Ex-
ira costs for the rehandiing of material
stored in unusually large quantity be-
cause OF transportation uncertainties
add to labor charges. Pressure from
owners to begin work before engineers
have completed their designs and work
Ing drawings too frequently precludes
comprehensive planning and adds to la
Dor cost.
Why then blame labor exclusively for
these things? They are part and parcel
OF a general condition. the underlying
reasons for which are not difficult to
anatyze. but whose improvement is to
pc effected only by slow processes pa