A LIVING WAGE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 154, 25 March 1920, Page 5

A LIVING WAGE

$ CAN INDUSTRY AFFORD TO PAY IT? Sneaking on "A Practical Ideal for Industry" at a meeting in Manchester of the North-western district of tho Society of Technical Engineers, Mr. B. Seebohm Rowntreo said that science would play an increasingly important part in industry in the future. Tho terrible wastage of woalth of the past five or six years had to be made up in the least possiblo time, for wealth was essential to procress; and therefore it was of supremo lniDortanco that industry should rapidly increase its efficiency. We could not carry on industry by the old rule-of thumb methods; wo would have to put into it the. best brains and the best science that could bo applied. Tho position of the chnmist and tho ongineer was going to be much more important in tho. future than in the imst.

We should regard all industry as a form of national service. It was, ho submitted, socially desirable that, consistent with the welfare of the workers in overv particular," the highest possible outnuf. of wealth should bo secured. Tho restriction of wealth was entirely wrong even from the point of view of U'o welfare of the workers themselves. The more wealth was produced the bigger tha cake for division among all classes. It was all nonsenso to talk about over-pro-duction. It was impossible to produce too much wealth—what mattered was the manner of distribution. Eighty shillings a week—representing 355. 3d. a week in 1014.—was tlio lowest sum on which a man could be expected to carry on a homo mid bring tip an average family today, and vet industry in its present state could not. stand such a minimum. It was. however, a minimum that should be aimed at. and that it might be* secured more efficient production was nccesearv. In enabling the administrators of industry to produce more economically .Hid efficiently engineers would be doing a L'reat national service.