The Press Friday, January 9, 1920. Wages and Production.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16727, 9 January 1920, Page 6

The Press Friday, January 9, 1920. Wages and Production.

Years ago, in one of his lesser known poems, Mr Kipling uttered an appeal ■which found nn echo in many hearts:— "Send us tho men who do tho work tor which they draw the wage."

The cry is more insistent to-day than it was twenty years ago. The wago has reached levels that would then have keen regarded as impossibly high, hnt the output of •work has moved in the opposite direction. Under the pressure of war, and moved by a sentiment which did thom great credit, men and women in many branches of industry toiled as they had never tolled before, the necessities of tho nation counteracting the effect of tho high wages they received. Itoaction enmo with tho armistice, and nil ovwr tho world to-day there seems to "bo a general consensus of opinion that production has not only not kept pneo with tho greatly enhanced wages that aro paid, but in innnmernblo instances is bolow tho pre-war level. So far as we know, the United States is tho only country in which anything like :v careful attempt has been made to seenro the opinion of employers on this point. It was organised by a Xew York newspaper, which was thereby enabled to present n summary of tho labour production situation in the lending American industrial districts. This showed that manufacturers in the face of an unprecedented demand for goods of nil descriptions were maintaining production only by increasing their staffs and. raising wages, the individual output of tho worker having, with somo exceptions, decreased by from 1.1 to 20 per cent., and in one or two cases by 60 per cent. Tho falling-off had been most marked sirtce tho armistice, and it was generally remarked that with tho higher wages thrift was disappearing and dissatisfaction growing. Tho principal manufacturers' of Philadelphia reported almost unanimously that labour was producing betwoen 2.1 and -10 per cent, less than before tho war. The secretary of a manufacturers' association observed that thero was evident among workers a stronger disposition to loaf than over (xjfore, and an unprecedented demand Tor more holidays and shorter daily working hoars, ull being due, in part, to high wages, which ho believed always tended to decrcaso production. •• Kmployocs," ho continued, "aro now •' getting moro money than ever before.

It doesn't amount to more, in tho

List analysis, because of tho high cost "of living, but it seems more to them.

'Therefore, tlioy refuse to work hard, "and persist in spending recklessly. "Thrift among them is a waning " virtue.'' A clothing manufacturer remarked that his employees "simply will '• not work as they used to," production being at least HO per cent. l:*ss than formerly. The head of one of the largest, steel firms in Pittsburg expressed the opinion that in the "'open shops" the maintenance of production had been notable, Init tho tendency of organised labour had Keen steadily towards a reduction of tho individual daily output. Some other industries reported more favourably oil the situation. Restlessness arnnnc; tho workers, coupled with slackness and inefficiency in work, were reported in most industries in St. Louis, though m some cases there had been a Jnaiked improvement during the past three months. Labour efficiency was noted as having declined generally in the building trades in Cleveland, while a Baltimore builder said that whereas each of hi> men used to lay IL'OO to bricks a day. tin* average now was fOO. though wages were much higher. In tiie textile industry in the same city, wages had more than doubled in the past three years, hut production had decreased to 4(> per cent, of the normal output. New York shipbuilder said that, despite shorter hours and better wages, workers were not giving the same attention to their work as the war, and in the metal trades there was a distinct slackening of production. It is noteworthy that more and l>etter work was done in places where tho 'open shop" prevailed than in places where unionism was strongly developed. Jiio least unsatisfactory conditions v.erc found* in factories whore

th: premium and bonus systems ucro in force, and in establish, ments in which the relations . between employers and workers worn close anfl cm dial, or in which tho co-operative system was employed. In several instances an appeal is made lhat employer;-. and their men should "get " together," nnd in one case the head "f n large firm spoke very plninly to the >nen of his own class. "Many "manufacturers," he said. " hnvo not yet learned that they must develop "an understanding between them- " selves and their men if they expect "constant effort and goodwill. If we " aro to cure industrial unrest, wo " must leave our mahogany chairs and "get out and learn to know tho men, " and let them see that we have their " interests at heart." That is excellent advice, hut its adoption would not necessarily. we are afraid, indnco every worker to do the work for which he drnws his wage. Wo do not nttach great importance to the allegation that the workers are losing tho habit of thrift, for what is described as reckless spending may be only the satisfaction of a very natural desire for a higher standard of living, and in any caso if somo of tho workers are extravagant thev are not, from all accounts, the only people of whom tho same could bo said. The tendency to slackness in work, to do less for a high wage than they did is a much more serious matter, and one which, unless a radical change takes place in tho worker's conception of his duty to his employer nnd tbo State, must end in disaster for all.