Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1922-12-29
THE TRAGEDY OF WASTE.

the TRAGEDY OF WASTE.
The greatest curse Of mankind to-
day is war. Probably the second
greatest is waste.
Machines have been invented dur
ing the last hundred Years easily
capable Of producing enough goods
to let everyone in the world live in
the comfort now enjoyed only by
the upper ten per cent. OF Il few
hiGhly industrializcd countries.
Thus far. mans collective inteili--
Gencc las not been equal to the task
OF releasing the energy Of these ma
chimes for the benefit OF all.
When We learn 10 abolish waste,
we shall abolish proverty. and half
our troubles will disappear. This in
cludcS war, which is the result of
international poverty, nations StruS-
Cling for the control OF raw mater
i:uS and markets in the belief that
there are not enough of these things
to 70 round.
We haven't yet learned how to
keep in operation the machines
which already exist. During the
war it was found over and over
again that a factory could double
its output with the same number of
mcn and machines. merely by in
tclliScnt planning OF operation. tax
ing up the slack and reducing lost
NlOtiOn.
The Federal American Engineer
ing Societies recently appointed a
Committee on Elimination OF Waste
in Industry. Its report. now publish
ed in book form. is perhaps the
most appalling indictment of indus
Try ever pcnncd. and all the more
effective because of its cold. scien-
tific style. Here are some of the
wastes rcportcd:
1hrcc-Quartt'rS of a million dol
lars a day is lost in clothing facto-
rieS in the Tinted States through incf-
icicnt operation. which wastes one
third Of the total working time.
(ThiS does not include shut downs.
One hundred million dollars q
year is wasted because newspapers
and magazines arc Of various shapes
and sizes. If the newspapers would
make their columns of uniform
width it would save three million
to five million dollars on typcSct-
ting alone.
ShOcmakerS lose thil'ty-fvc per
cent OF their time through badly
planned work. Building trades
wnrkmcn lose ihirty-Scvcn per cent.
Too much has been said. accord
ing TO this report, about the waste
Ft,tr I,.,l.
and 1909. onc-half of I'LL the strikes
i'll America were in seasonal trades
where the worker is employed only
part Of The wear. In such cases the
annual productivity was mol rcduC-
cd In New York State in 1916. in
duStry lost two days per man per
year because OF strikes. In the same
wear ten days Der man were lost be
cause Of illness. of which at least
forty per cent. was prcvcntabIc aud
needless.
Justice Evandci>. before he was APP
pointed to the Supreme Court, made
the statement that tho railroads Of
mis- country waste a million dollars
day because Of inCffici cncy. En-
gincc1S now believe that. if anything
he probably undcrstatcd the case.
One big reason for making the in
duSlrial machinery produce more.
and for getting Il wider and less
costly distribution, is that thereby
We can go a long way on tho road
toward permanent peace between
capital and labor. On the average,
the workingman gets between 80
and 80 cents out Of each dollars
worth Of production. This does not
generally mean that the capitalist is
g0uging the worker. Most of the bal
ancc goes for rent. raw materials. in
tcrCSi on investments and deprcCia-
ton. But if we could double Tie
production per man, We could afford
10 more than double the Share Of
labor.
ll,.c j. Il fine lig job for the n,Nt
generation 10 tackle Current orr.