The Topeka state journal., 1921-07-29
SHOWS BIC LOSS
Waste in Metal Trades Billion a
Year, Says Report.
Idle Men and Machinery Re-
spOnsibIe for Condition.

New York. July 2s.-IdIe men and
machinery are causing a loss OF near
Iy billion dollars year in the metal
trades industry. according to a report
isued today by the committee on elm
ination OF waste in industry of the
American engineering council. This
estimate does not include the value OF
materials that would be utilized If
productivity were increased.
instability Of labor employment, the
SOIiIllttee said, is the major cause of
waste IN the industry. which is the
largest manufacturing industry in the
United States, both in number of en-
pIoyes and value of products.
Study why Men Quit"
The average waste due to avoidable
iaDor turnover in the metal industry
IS computed a. si0U.00O,0VU. Modern
employment methods embracing the
seudy OF why men quit" are urged.
we nave 100000 unnecessary
separations the equivalent of two
mutton workers annually separated
ana re-hired," says the report.
Present industrial conditions in the
United States and abroad are declared
seriously to have affected the metal
trades industry. which as a whole is
normal
Manufacturers" the report adds.
4
normal conditions by producing goods
as economically as possible, SO as to-
nave selling prices low enough to at
tract buyers.
Rests With Management.
There are nearly two million peo-
pie engaged in the metal trades indus
Try and an enormous increase in total
production is possible 1t is estimated
that at present about so per cent OF
the responsibility for waste. or non
production. rests with management,
namely. with the managers and execu-
tives in the plants"
The report says that with the ex-
ception of the shipbuilding branch of
this industry. instability of employ
rnent resulting from strikes and / ck-
outs has not been as serious in the
metal trades as in some other indus
tries
AN open interchange Of ideas and
business results by managements," it
continues, both in the particular III
dustry and in other industries should
lead to a higher level of methods serv-
ice and general business ethics. If
carried on thru definite channels such
interchange might easily result in
combined study OF the possibilities of
the future and the avoidance in the
years to come of such conditions as
we are now facing"
1T is evident that management of
labor must be elevated 70 a higher
plane Because labor is the major
factor in most. if not all industries it
should be led by recognized intelH-
EcuCe rather than by radical agitators
on the one hand or by stupid reac-
tionaries on the other.
Remarkable and very favorable
results have been secured in labor re-
laticns and in improvement of eff
cheney simply by esta blishing frank
and open conferences and free inter
change Of opinions usually in genuine
open shops (shops in which no preju-
dice or discrimination is allowed to
exist either for or against men who
do or do not belong to labor organiza-
tions and sometimes by collective bar
gaining and dealing with a shop COM
ruitree to which is delegated all re-
sponsibility for keeping the men to
n aErcements fairly made between
management and employees"
VIII Take Time
Successful plants have mana nagement
systems, says the report, which con-
Cludes:
1T will take time to bring the en-
tire industry up to the higher level.
During that time. some establishments
will probably be eliminated by the
competition of the more advanced;
rut IN this direction lies the only hope
OF eliminating Industrial wastes"
The metal trades findings are a pat
OF the general report made by the
committee on its national assay of in
dustrial waste, directed by l. w Wal
lace of Washington a. vice chairman.
The metal trades investigation was in
charge of Fred J. Mile Of New York
and w. B. Ferguson of Philadelphia.
OKLA. AVIATORS ARE KILLED.
Plano Falls Durfu0 A T. CcIchratto,,