LORD LEVERHULME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17693, 2 August 1919, Page 10

LORD LEVERHULME

THE APOSTLE OF THE SIX-HOUR DAY. The Stop that Led to Port Sunlight.—Tho Responsibility of tho Millionaire.— Production and tho Six-hour Day.— Men and Machines. —" Prosperitysharing."—Happy Workers, Better Work.—A Live Man. Bv David Mast Kits, in the World's Work. Tho industrial forces of Great Britain, that were united to overthrow German power, are now united to fight for better conditions of pay and labour. Out of tho welter of war is emorging a now order, and the insistent demands of the workers voLley forth everywhere. Labour has tried its strength and has found itself a veritable giant, able to crush all opposition simply by doing nothing. ■ No longer is Labour inarticulate. It has discovered itself endowed with speech and a power undreamed of a few years ago. The miners' demands have been in a great measure granted, and Mr Justice Sankey's report is a living proof that " the old order changetli." The burden of tho cry that goes up all round is " Shorter hours, higher wages," and there seems little doubt that what now seems impossible to grant may ultimately bo easy to achieve. In the circumstances one would expect some grea't Labour leader to be the outstanding advocate of these new conditions, instead of which we find a man who is many times a millionaire and perhaps the biggest capitalist in this country pleading strongly for the most drastic revolution in our industrial life. That man, the colossal figure in the campaign for a six-hour day, is Lord Leverhukne. But whereas some of the claims of Labour are quite impracticable—l have heard them described as mad—the views of Lord Leverhulme are eminently sane, healthy, and, more than anything else, practical. Lord Leverhulme knows where the shoe pinches, and he is keen enough to try to ease it as much as possible so that Labour can stand upright and walk in ease and comfort.

When William Hesketh Lever was born on September 19, 1851, his father was a wholesale grocer in Bolton, and at the age of 16 the boy went into his father's shop, as many another shopkeeper's son has done before-—and since. The first task that was allotted to him required no great skill, yet it was destined to create such an impression on his mind that it led him to become the greatest soap manufacturer in the world. He was set to cut and wrap soap for the customers who patronised his father's establishment. Truly, small beginnings sometimes have big endings. For four years he assisted his father, during the latter part of the time in the office, and throughout this period the impulse to do something bigger and better kept stirring within him. The work he was doing could be done by anyone at a small wage, so he put the matter to his father, and suggested that he should be made a traveller and allowed to try his luck on the road. His father consented, and he took to the road that was eventually to lead him to fame and a huge fortune.

One afternoon he got through his work much quicker than usual, and, rather than fritter away the time gained, he determined to drive on to the next village, called Ince, and seek orders there. His persistence and luck on that occasion led him to make the journey regularly. Then there came a day when he had finished at Ince much earlier than he expected, and on the spur of the moment he decided to drive to Wigan to see if anything was doing. That drive was really the beginning of his amazing career, for when he arrived at Wigan he realised in a flash that it was very bad business to carry goods from Liverpool through Wigan to Bolton, and then to bring them back a few days or maybe a week or two later to Wigan to fulfil _ the orders obtained there. His reasoning was sound. It was bad business, a waste of time and money. But how was this waste to be overcome?

He considered the matter and decided that the right thing to do was to establish a branch business at Wigan. He had barely solved the problem when he heard of a wholesale grocery business for sale in the town. This he bought and ran with so much energy and acumen that it soon became bigger even than his Bolton business, and so he gave up his house in Bolton and took another in Wigan at a rental of £40 a year. He was very modest, you see. — The Step that Led to Port Sunlight.— It was 19 years since he first entered his father's shop. He was now 35, had a good business of his own, and was doing remarkably well. But he was not satisfied. Like Alexander, he gazed around for new fields to conquer, and so he thought of the first thing he did when we went into his father's shop, and that little tiling decided him to "go into soap." Now William Hesketh Lever was imbued with the will—a superabundance of it, in fact, —and he soon found the way of accomplishing his desires. Hearing of a small soap works in Warrington that was in rather a parlous state, lie went along and acquired it, and in January, 1886, started to manufacture soap. He soon had things humming along merrily, for he concentrated all his wonderful powers' upon the process of soapmaking, and he called in all his experience of the road to run a successful campaign for selling the soap. But never a moment did he let his ambition outstrip his caution. Always ambition- was curbed just enough, but not too much to stultify his efforts. He was careful, and the pros and cons of any new step were carefully weighed before that step was taken. He did nothing haphazard. Everything was thought out to the minutest detail.

Accordingly his business throve and his advertisements began to blossom about the railways. But there was nothing flamboyant about them. They were modest and very exact. Their excellence is proved by the wonderful results they achieved, for if these first advertisements had been a failure there would probably have been no Port Sunlight. But the advertisements drew custom and they sold the soap, just as Lord Leverliulme intended.

In less than two years the Warrington works were becoming too small to cope with the demand, and Lord Leverhulme began to cast about liim for a site on which to build another factory. He found what he wanted on the Cheshire side of the Mersey. Here was a waterway right to the door of his works—when they -were built—and if he could get the land. He had many difficulties to contend with, for the site lie desired was made up of several parcels of land owned by different people, and it is a truism that the more land-owners you have to deal with the more protracted are the negotiations. But eventually all the negotiations had a successful issue, and the day arrived when !"Lord Leverhulme could * survey those fields and say, like Caesar, " I came. I saw. I conquered." Just 31 years ago the first sod was cut, and the builders began to put up the works. There was nothing gigantic about them. They were big enough to cope with the business that was being done. Year by year those works, backed by the far-seeing intelligence of their owner, continued to expand until to-day thev have grown into a concern with a capital of £60,000,000, and abont 100 subsidiary companies scattered all over the world. It is a marvellous thing that this one man has "'accomplished in his life-

time. — The Responsibility of the Millionaire.— In discussing his' views, .1 have heard people remark sneeringly, " Oh, he is a millionaire; he can afford to do these

things!" Certainly a millionaire may do ■many things that the less fortunate mortal cannot do. yet the possession of millions is not without drawbacks, and it is the rule that a man's responsibilities grow in proportion to the increase in his bank balance. But I mav perhaps be permitted to point out that there are many other millionaires who can also afford to do the same as Lord Leverhulme. Why do they not do it? Undoubtedly it is because they think differently. But whether they think better or worse is a question the individual reader and worker may answer each in his or her own way.

The people who sneer that "ho can nfford to do theso tilings " have taken lip a stand ]K>int -which is the exact opposite of the true one. The fact that he is worth millions is not making him do theso things; but the fact that he lxaa done these things has made him worth millions. The sncerers have reversed tho cause and the effect, that is all—but it is everything! We have an abundance of preachers in this world, and many of them, I regret to say, preach with their tongues in their cheeks. But one of the outstanding characteristics of Lord Leverhulme is his absolute sincerity. He practises what lie preaches. Ho does not advise people to do 0110 thing while he himself does another.

His views on tho six-hour day have arouspd a great deal of comment and not a little hope. If he were a failure tryiiig to thrust his opinions upon, us we might perhaps be justified in brushing them carelessly aside; but because he has built irp a mighty business on his views— a business such as the world has never before seen—it behoves us to listen carefully to what lie has to say, for he may indeed be showing us the way to lay the foundations of a hew world where everyone , will be healthier, wealthier, aiid happier. That is what he himself wants to see—a people better housed and better clothed, with more leisure for social enjoyment.

He says that man is not a machine, but the master of machines, and that there is no sense or profit in overworking a man. for tired labour leads to decreased production and increased costs. All this is perfectly true, for it has been demonstrated up to the hilt during the war. The statistics of Dr Vernon have shed some wonderful light on this subiect. for they prove beyond gainsaying that it is possible for a woman to do more work m a 52-hour week than in a 72-hour week, and that the shorter week results in fewer accidents to the workers, for most of the accidents occur during the last half-hour of the long shifts when the operatives are tired ou't. — Production and the Six-hour Day. Lord Leverhulme was ouick to seize on tills evidence, for it accorded with his own views and more than justified them. He proved to his own satisfaction and the satisfaction of many others that an eight-hour day is more profitable for all concerned than a 10-hour day, and that the output of work during the shorter working day may equal and even surpass that of the longer-working period. Naturally he does not suggest that it is possible to go on cutting down the working hours indefinitely, but he sees no reason why men and women working a six-hour day should not produce just as much as they now produce in an eight-hour day. But there are naturally many factors to be taken into account, and he "warns us that we must go warily, and that it will not be possible to introduce shorter hours into all industries at once. Everything depends upon the cost of production. The cost _of production in some industries is so high that it is impossible at present to institute the shorter working day. The industries concerned cannot afford it. To force the six-hour day upon these industries now would ruin' them. They would go bankrupt. This does not mean that the workers in these particular industries are for ever doomed to work for longer periods than their more fortunate fellows. But it does mean that every effort must be made to cheapen production in these industries by the greater use of machinery and by the improvement of the machinery already in use. When this comes about and the •industries can afford the new conditions, then the transition will take place. Lord Leverhulme is emphatic in saying that the six-hour-day movement must be economically sound before it is instituted, otherwise it will fall to the ground. The great thing to bear in mind is that the new movement liolds out no sanctuary for the lazy man, for in the six-hour day the man must produce as much or even more than he does now.

Improved machinery and the introduction of new inventions will, it is hoped, assist him to attain this desirable end. In the era that is dawning, the inventor must be encouraged instead of discouraged, so that mankind may be supplied with machines that will do the work that the labourer has done hitherto, and the men "will learn to supervise the machines instead of being looked upon as machines themselves. All this is good, and it points to human happiness. — Men and Machines.— In the past countless people have been worn out with their labour; they have been worked to death. This is a sad mistake that impoverishes the State and reacts upon everyone in it. It is more sensible, more humane, and much more profitable to work a machine to death than the man who runs it. Many enlightened industrial administrators are beginning to realise this. The great thing is to work the machines for longer periods by the use of more shifts. For instance, by putting on four shifts of six hours each it would be possible to work the machines for 24 hours on end, allowing perhaps one day a week for overhauling and repairs.

A machine standing idle is losing money, therefore it is sound business to keep it running. If the potential earning power of a machine is £12,000, and its present life three years, we may reckon tlhe machine produces £4000 a year. But if we speed -up the machine and byrunning it continuously with relays of workers manage to wear it out and earn £12,000 in a year, we have created three times as much wealth to share among all concerned. Can anything be saner? Bolshevists and other cranks get little satisfaction out of Lord Leverhulme's views. He is much too level-headed for them. He tihunders forth the dictum that all wealth must first of all be created before it can be shared, and that confiscation of capital is just about the maddest folly that can be preached. What has happened in Russia confirms this.

Labour, management, and capital are all essential to the production of wealth. They have common interests, and it is to the advantage of all to work together. Team work is the work that tells. It was team work that won the war, and it will be team work that must win better conditions for the workers.

Before the workers can enjoy bigger wages they must first of all earn them; they must strive to be more efficient and less wasteful. They must learn to look after the interests of the firm that emplovs them, for by so doing they will be taking care of their own interests. °

Lord Leverliulme realises that efficiency is the key to success, and consequently he has always striven for it with all his power. The maximum of efficiency means the minimum of expense, it stands for an increased production at lower cost. These are the conditions that allow of Labour being better paid.

Profit-sharing schemes in the generally accepted sense carrv little weight with Lord Leverhulme, for he argues that if i they were fundamentally sound they would last for ever, whereas the Board of Trade returns show that profit-sharing schemes last on the .average only five years with the firms that start them. He points out, too, that if Labour is to share the profits during the good years, it must also share the losses during the bad years. Now Labour cannot do this, for it must have a sure income, something certain at the end of the week. A manufacturer may store his commodities until the market becomes favourable but Labour is forced to dispose of its services day by day, for a day's work lost is irrecoverable. Consequently al-e the first charge on all businesses, and Labour in demanding a certain wage sacrifices the prospect of bigger profits and does not incur any risk of losses. It is astonishing how many difficulties stand in the way of givinsr a worker an interest in the concern. Lord Leverhulme tried _ in_ the beginning the method of distributing shares to those associated with him, but he found that whenever the firm promulgated some schemc ' for opening Tip a business abroad those workers who held shares at once became nervous for fear their shares would drop in value. The result was that they put their shares on the market, and Lord had to buy them back, always at a premium—although in many cases he issued them below par.

— "Prosperity-sharing."— His experience compelled him to look for another scheme whereby lie could give the workers an interest in the business, an<l ultimately ho worked out a copartnership scheme, which has now been in existence 10 years. This scheme is simplicity itself, and any worker may become a co-partner providing he or she is not under 22 years of age and lisls been in the employ of the firm for four years. Co-partnership certificates are issued in proportion to the co-partner's earnings, the usual award being 10 per cent. Good work may bo rewarded by the issue of additional certificates. Theso certificates, I may say, cost nothing, so they liave no market value. Only for insubordination or flagrant neglect of tho firm's interest may the certificates be withheld from the co-partner, and when such a case arises there is a committee to which the co-partner may appeal. The co-partner is paid his dividends on these certificates in 5 per cent, preferred ordinary shares, and while the copartner is in the employ of tho firm, and so long as he retains these shares, the same interest is paid on them as is paid on the ordinary shares, so that they obtain a bonus of anything up to 10 per cent, a year. Engraved on the co-partner-ship certificate is the motto "Waste not, want not." Last year £200,000 was distributed to CQ-partners, who now hold certificates of the nominal value of ±1928,000. Altogether £570,000 has been shared out in this way. i( is what Lord Leverhulme terms prosperity-sharing." If the business made a loss the co-partners would receive no dividends on their certificates, and this is a strong incentive to make all concerned do their utmost to further the firm s interest. The workers have a personal interest in the firm—and a personal interest makes for success. . le model village of Port Sunlight, consisting of about 1000 delightfully designed cottages sot in gardens gay wtih flowers and shrubs, is justly renowned and praised, as are the labour-saving appliances and the rest rooms provided in the perfectly-equipped factories. Wherever you go about the works you will (see that the safety and the health of t> wor^ers . are the first consideration. But nothing annoys Lord Leverhulme more than to hear these things spoken of as philanthropy. He will tell you bluntly that there is no room for philanthropy in business that philanthropy and business will no more mix than oil and water. It is all business—keen, hard-headed business to look after your workers in everyway.

Happy workers .are essential to every successful concern. They help you to make the profits—and the more you share with them the more you will make together. It pays and pays handsomely to safeguard the workers in every way, to give them the highest wages the business can afford, to see that they are housed in decent • dwellings and have around them facilities for healthy social amusements. He knows it is all true. His actual experience has proved it. He is a far-seeing business man with a vision that takes in the whole world at a glance. His sharp blue eyes miss nothing. He works 17 or 18 hours a day himself, although he advocates a six-hour day for others. As for travelling, there surely never was a more-travelled man or a man endowed with greater energy. He looks ■upon a_ trip to the Solomon Islands or Australia or Uganda just as the average clerk looks upon a journey to town as quite commonplace and not worth mentioning. He knows the world inside out— which may perhaps account for his very broad views. He is endowed with a wonderful physique and a still more wonderful brain, and he is a delightful speaker, full of witty remarks and good stories. But he never misses the point. He can be forceful when he likes, and lie can present a strong case in a perfectly overwhelming manner, as is proved by the remarkable speech he made recently in the House of Lords. Few speeches in our time have created such a stir.

Above all, he has the courage of his convictions. He himself -is leading the new movement by instituting a six-hour day at Port Sunlight and I propose to give a few particulars as an indication of what we may expect the future to hold for the workers. The first shift will start at 1 o'clock _in the morning and work until 1.15, with one break of 15 minutes at 8.45 for refreshments. The afternoon shift will work only five afternoons a "week to • allow of th'pm having their Saturday afternoon |free as , usual, so they will work for seven hours' and a-quarter on four davs and seven hours on the fifth day. They will go on at 1.15 and work until 4.45, when tbev will have a break of half an hour for refreshments: restarting at 5.15 they will continue until 9 o'clock, stopping on Fridays 15 minutes earlier.

In continuous process departments there will be three shifts of five hours twenty minutes, arid a night shift working eight hours just as usual, because it is impossible to airrangT> tit (Otherwise. It is not politic nor sensible to awaken wives and children in the middle of the nieht or at 4 o'clock in the morning, so this shift wil go on at 10 o'clock at and work until 6 next morning. But after one weelc on the night shift the worker will change over and work three weeks on one of the day shifts of five hours and twenty minutes" a day, so that over the four weeks he will average 36 hours a week.

The wages wil be exactly the same as for a 48-hour week, i and the firm is going to provide the workers with their light refreshment in the shape of cocoa, tea, coffee, and bread and butter and sandwiches entirely free of cost. The refreshments will be served at counters, a few steps from where the people work, so no time will be wasted in getting to the meals. For workers desiring to purchase substantial meals instead of going home to them the restaurant will be open as now for breakfast or dinner at cost prices. Another fine improvement is the method by which it is proposed to pay the workers their wages. Instead of wasting time hanging round_ a pay office waiting their turn to get their money, each worker will open an account at a bank and the account will be credited with the wages earned by the worker, who will draw on the account for household or other expenses. If the worker leave some of his weekly earnings in the bank untouched, arrangements will be made whereby 5 per cent. ]>cr annum interest will accrue on the amount so left. These are the little things that go to make for happiness and prosperity. Lord Leverliulme is a live man with live ideas. He is not a visionary. He dreams, but he makes his dreams come true. He abhors Jr.'o hours, is very temperate, and he doss not smoke. His whole interest is wrapped up in the mighty business his genius has created, so much so that for many years he never thought of taking a holiday. Not that he looked upon this as hardship. It is simply that his business has always been his pleasure. Cautious in making a decision, he will hold to it firmly once it is made. He is inflexible in his business dealings, but socially he is a warm-hearted man with the simplest of tastes. Lord Leverliulme is admittedly one of the ablest industrial administrators this country has ever had, and it is not at all unlikely tha,t in years to come Labour will bless his name as the progenitor of the six-hour day and will erect a mighty monument in memory of his great humanity. Time will tell.