The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1910. INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 14, 15 August 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1910. INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS.

Though possibly hard times may come to Britain after the war those in high places look hopefully forward, and are at least taking steps to better prepare for the altered industrial conditions which must then prevail. It was recently announced that the Imperial Government was consulting with English Labour leaders with a; view to formulating a post-war industrial policy intended to secure a fairer distribution of the results of industry to all Engaged in the work. It is an accepted truth that to meet the great drain on national resources caused by the war it will be necessary to produce wealth of all kinds as quickly as possible and to increase that produc-j tion in every possible way. A writer in the Round Table on “Economic Reconstruction,” shows very clearly that the remuneration of Capital, Labour, and Enterprise all come from one source, and one source alone—the product of their joint activities He goes on to say: ‘‘There is no other .source. If inefficiency of management, restriction of output, want of enterprise, extravagance, and mutual Hostility, diminish it, increase its cost, or retard its growth, there is so much less to go round, and either one party or all will suffer. On ‘ the other hand, by the harmonious co-operation of all parties, output is capable of almost indefinite expansion. It is a voir fed by the springs of genius, energy, efficiency, organisation, and saving. The greater its expansion, the greater the share of wealth which is available to each party.” It is very remarkable and very encouraging to learn that at this time, with all the great strain upon her, with some five millions of her most virile manhood actively engaged in actual warfare, and with millions of her most skilled workers doing nothing but manufacture munitions of war, Britain's export of manufactured goods is keeping u'p in a marvellous maim A', the ranks of the workers being re- | cruited to a large extent by the women of England. Further the Emj pirn’s need has, to a great extent, awakened the old spirit of doing one’s j best whether at work or at play. 1 From whatever the cause, before the war eiicononiists were troimle I by the I fact that the output per head in Eng--1 fish factories was not nearly so large | as in Continental and American iaeI tories. The output must he increased hut it must not he ajt the expense of the worker. He is entitled to a lull share of Hie fruits of his labour and here thought cud readjustment wUi| , he necessary?. . The Round Table reminds us that the most valuable and

most productive wealth of a nation consists in the natural and acquired qualities of its people, in their health, strength, knowledge, skill, and char-j actor. If it is economically wasteful to let machinery and plant run into disrepair and desuetude it is still worse to let the human capital of the nation deteriorate. With the growth of joint stock companies, the personal' contact of the employer with the ein-s; ployed has disappeared, and with 'it : some manifest advantages. In the 1 Government works where large mini- '■ hers of female workers are employed, there has been established “a wel- < fare department,” especially charged' with the duty of looking after the well-being of the workers. Such on example might well be followed in all the great manufacturing concerns of Britain, and Capital and Labour must work more amicably together than they have sometimes done in the past in tlie history of British industry.