The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-28
BY C w. BABSON

WASHINGTON, March q.
Wherever you look, you uncover
a growing tendency to replace
employees with machines. This
wldespreading movement calls
fer the closest attention OF wage
workers a d businessmen alike.
In its practical reactions upon
you and your family, the rising
pace of mechanization should
overshadow, by far, the gossip of
Hollywood and the debates at
Washington. This trend has been
gathering momentum so long that
we are likely to forget it. It will
not forget us. Scan the industri-
al news in detail and you feel the
vast sweep of today's tide. It
bears news of the future for both
job-holders and stockholders.
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE
Few groups in the nation will
be able to stand complacently At
the curbside and watch this for
ward March OF The Iron Men.
The robots are not confined with
n factory walls. Swift changes
are appearing in the farm
regions, where modern equipment
is taking over an ever-growing
share Of all farm operations. In
the trucking of heavy shipments.
there will be less of human strug-
gle and the old heave-ho. At the
tail-end Of the truck, muscle
power will be replaced by me-
chanical lift. In many of the
service trades, tn scene is
changing through introduction OF
pre- : packaging, sci: : serving,
coin vending, and other modern
ism.
Mechanical d e S a r in.
vading the last strongholds of
personal labor. For instance, the
Job of inspection. heretofore ha S
seemed to require human senses
for which no mechanism could be
substituted. Yet electronic and
other mechanical checks now per-
form with a speed and certainty
which outclass humans. Hereto
fore, the assembling Of parts into
a complete article has been very
difficult to mechanize; but / def
nitely forecast its accomplish
ment. The all . automatic pro-
duction plant is, more than a
comic-strip p%hantasy.
T0YvrrJ rYonsr
A white collar is no badge Of
immunity. Working in coop
Grafton with the Armed Services,
technical institutions have con-
trived brainwork machines. These
are now solving profile m S in
mathematics entirely beyond the
capacity Of any accountant. No
job or business can afford to ig-
mere this universal drift. For
better OR for worse. most of lie
are bound to collide, sooner or
later, with the hoodtide Of mocha
nism. It will influence all human
activities.
History reveals, with appalling
certainty, that the onrush of ma
chinery cannot be opposed success
sfully. It will override any OPP
position f labor groups, IN
dustria1 competitors, legislators,
or biologists. From earliest days,
m e C h a n i c a l revolutions have
rolled ahead against the most
savage opponents. This is because
machinery increases production.
Any agency which acan do that
is all-powerful. Mechanization can
be put to the service of oil
groups.
OUTWEIGH THE PERILS
As an industry becomes me
chanical, instead Of manual, it
tends to expand. In the end it
will open more jobs than it
closes. Furthermore, there is
every reason why such new jobs
should grade higher than the old.
Analyze the task Of %inventing,
making, maintaining, and betting
the machinery Of today and to-
morrow. Surely such. expert occu-
patton is a step ahead of primi-
tive toll. TO capitalize the oppor-
tunity, however, will demand that
all of us must moder-aize u at
titudes. Labor a d management