A NEEDED WARNING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 263, 2 August 1919, Page 7

A NEEDED WARNING

HIGH WAGES AND SHORT HOURS

LORD LEVERHULME'S VIEWS

Under the auspices of the Industrial Reconstruction Council, Lord Lever : hulnie delivered an address recently upon •The Only Way lo Higher WagesShorlor Hours." lie prefaced his address with a grave note of warning. The labour problem, lie said, would be much more pressing six months heneo, than it was at- the present: time. He believed that the most difficult lime which this country had ever been called to steer through would be the coming winter. There would probably be a scarcity of food, of coal, and of somo other commodities. H was only because lie was before all else an optimist that ho dared to look ahead. Difficulties wero placed before man in order that ho l'uignt overcome them. War conditions had given birth to a fallacious theory that scarcity brought more prosperity to a nation than abundance Scarcity had meant art extremely rich harvest for both producers and manufacturers; and during the period of the war. man, woman, and youth had been able to find regular work at high Tates previously unknown.

The workers, however, failed to realise that the apparent prosperity of the country had arisen from the artificial demands of war, and that, whilst; finding employment for every citizen, we were simultaneously living upon our capital. If we were to have continued prosperity it was absolutely essential that wo should become a.i producing nation, nblo to hold our own'in open competition with the world. It must not bo forgotten thai: wo had to look to more favoured lands to. supply us with certain raw materials, which had tu be paid for by means of cur manufactures. If we oncn lost our ability to export from this country, we would assuredly also lose our power to import and to employ lahour. Consequently we would- become a backward and ruiued nation.. The whole of Hie work of Englishmen in the last century lav in availing theniseivcs of machinery and-intensive.production. It was an incontrovertible econrmie- law that any- ■ thins which was produced cheaply ■ benefited the workmen, the consumer, and, lastlv. (he man whose capital and enterprise had made it possible. In our prosent ■ factory sysicm the great desidoratMi was to bring about a relief from the monotonv which prevailed during the nineteenth century. Personally, he felt that he could not blame- any of the lareo employers of that era. ;for having neelcoied lo turn their attention to the conditions of labour. The whole of their time was of necessity occupied in attracting trade lo this country. The solid fact, however, remained that we mre producing heller and cheaper today under an, eight hours' system than they had done under a. twelve hours' regime Nevereheless, any reduction in hours which was mil accompanied by a corresponding inoronse in production- was- a fa-llacv and a snare.. He would like lo see wage* in England higher than in any eunptry on the face of the globe; hut' simultaneously we would have to increase our production. An educative campaign amongst Ihe workers on that subject was ■urgently required. Employer'and employee were in the same boat, and if thev attempted to row in opposite directions they would assuredly drift ovor some Niagara. They must go either up or down the stream together. In certain factories in this country, r-on-tinued Lord Leverhnlme, there had Wen continuous running of machinery for many yoars. But; the trade unions of the textile industries—and thero was no more highly organised industry in England i than'the cotton trade-opposed any attempt to introduco a'double shift. "Yet in alt productive undertakings where (other expenses equalled or exceeded tho wage-bill, more could bo produced liy a double-shift system. To make that system universal ,tho Factory Acts would have to bo amended by Parliament. But a still greater difficulty lo li-j removed was the suspicion of the operative himself that under a double-shift system ho would sutler. There was no question of "<•.'!.' camiv" 'in il'o Uniled Slates, and unless it 'were possible to convince our own workmen that their interests lav in making England tho cheapest and largest producing country in the world, wages in this country could novor rise in proportion to those paid across tho Atlantic. The interests of both capitalist and workman would liavo to bo mado a common cause, otherwise 'lie prosperity and wealth of our nation would inevitably decline.