MEN AND MACHINES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 392, 29 November 1932, Page 3

MEN AND MACHINES

THE HUMAN FACTOR MODERN DEYELOPMENTS TEND TO IGNORE IMPORTANCE. MECHANISATION OF INDUSTRY.

(Pubfished by Arrangement with the Earmers, Union, Auckland Province.)

"While it is true that the present world unemployment is, in part, caused by international industrial disloeation, there can be no doubt that a contributing factor is the steady growth of the meehanisation of industry. "This m'ay be seen operating in two quite different directions — the first, by the creation of the great merger, with the gradual elimination hoth of competition and labour, and the second, the replacement of the' individual worker by elaborate meehanical alternatives," writes Mr. Angus Watson, J.P., who is a recognised authority on this particular problem, in the "Free Ghurchman." "Both of these developments are, in part, the fruits of the federation of labour which began the Trade s Union moveiment half a century ago," ladds Mr. Watson, "and which has steadily developed since that time, since when the labour movement became closely organised land increasingly dictatorial in its methods. Ona effect of thi^ development was a gradually decreased output per unit, and the other, a steadily increased wages cost. • "It is unneeessary to probe unduly into the reasons for this. At the moment we are only concerned with the result. Federated capital gradually realised that increasing distributiori costs were largely due to the artificial restrictions that had been placed on the productiveness of labour, and sought a remedy for this through the adoption of mechanical means of production, and with this the elimination of competition hy federated units of manufacture and sale. Capital Increasingly Free. "The industrial combine, which was in the process of being before the advent of the European War, has greatly increased in development since the cessation of hostilities, with the result that the financial merger, with large capitalisation and with impersonal control, has developed all over the world. At the present time we are, therefore, facing a position in which Capital is increasingly becoming free from the domination of federated labour, and the individual workman is being crushed between the upper millstone of the combine and the lower millstone of the Trades Union Federation. "The meehanisation of industry was probably inevitable. As mankind became increasingly expert in creating and controlling machinery, it was natural that he should adopt its extension in all productive methods, for alth'ough a standardised article can hardly ever be turned out with the same quality and finish that can be achieved by hand labour, the productive cost is so mueh smaller that it is natural that this method should he generally employed. "The federation of capital has, h'owever,. been a much less satisfactory expeiiment, and evidence is not wanting that industry is regarding with increasing scepticism the grouping of trades into large combines which have so fai generally resulted in enormous public losses and in very real hardships to the labour engaged in the enterprise.

The Unemployable Man°of 50. "Under ordinary circumstances, the working man of fifty is no longer a profitable employable unit, while in this country there is a great army of young men and women from sixteen to twenty years of age who have never yet been able to find ian opening for work of any lcind. Here is a problem that civilisation must face and solve, if it is to coritmue to exist on anything like permanent hnes, and it is a problem that presses in very closely upon the churehes, for at its basis, its implications are not economic or industrial, but moral. An order of society which keeps a considerable proportion of its citizens in enforced idleness while providing them with a State pittance, capital taking from the workmen employed whatever margin ,0f pro'fit can be extracted from them, without consideration of any kind, is a situation wnich, because it is destructive of the best elements in civilisation, can only be lmpermanent. Mankind is more lmportant than thie machine that he controls, and his exploitation must be pr«If7?t®d if, civilisation is to endure Whiat, then, can the organised Church' do to bring ahout ia new and a better condition'of our fellow citizens? The Trusteeship of Moniey"First, it is necessary that a new attitude should be created toward" the trusteeship of money. Few people recognise that they have any moral obligation in this direction. tf they are in the fortunate position of having any capdtal to invest, no matter how small the sum may be, they regard their problem as being simply to secure an investment which is as profitlahle and as permanent as can be found, with'out much consideration as to how their dividends are being tearned. "Some people, though they may not be large in numhers, would hesitate ahput investing their capital in the drink trade, or in dog racihg, or possibly in dance halls or cinemas, but it seldom occurs to them that dividends earned by industry can be open to challenge. "The enlightened Church members will, however, recognise that before he can aceept large profits as an inactive shareholder, he must inquire how these profits are earned, and unless ihe is sjatisfied that the conditions of labour employed in the enterprise are just and merciful, he is not entitled to aceept the fruits. At this time of day, this trutb should only need to he stated to carry conviction with' it. "S icondly — and this is a much harder saying— an emp'loyier is not justified in ifnposing upon an employee

labour employed in an enterprise and the eustomer who is being catered for are hoth entitled to the same consideration as the capitalists or shareholders who are fimancing it. Human exploitation is contrary to the law of life, and cannot he justified on any ground of so-called necessity. The Necessary Long Yiew. "On a long view of life, it would appear 'that iany enterprise which is working on lines contrary to moral law must inevitably fail, but it is still possible for a man to gain the whole world by losing his own souly, and there are many industrialists who are short-sightedly content to accept the imp'lications of this transaction. "There must be ia recognition of the fact that men are more important than machines, and' that, on a long view, any industrial activity which regards life from a purely mechanistic point of view is unsound. We iare living in a moral universe, and although, on a short view of life, this fiact would appear to be challengeable, a study of history will confirm this truth. "To fight for one's convictions on issues of this kind may call for great sacrifices, land sometimes may even be the way of the Cross; but at long last humanity, in its struggle toward a higher ideal for life, will always honour those who are prepared to blaze out a new trail, and because ,