BRITAIN SLACKING?

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 82, 28 June 1927, Page 13

BRITAIN SLACKING?

LONDONER’S INDICTMENT

GERMAN WORKERS SET DIFFERENT STANDARD

Writing to a London newspaper, a correspondent compares the industry and methods of the great German firms with those of the British, and asks: “Are our post-war methods and skill in business so superior to those of Germany, and is our grip on the world's markets so secure that we can afford to saddle ourselves with what is virtually a six-hour day and a five-day week ?” “Many shrewd judges,” he says, “have been astounded at the remarkable rise of Germany during the last few years, but to one like myself, who has had unique opportunities for extended and intimate observation of her methods, and the intense application and grasp of her executive leaders and workers during years of hardship and difficulty, the results achieved appear to be the inevitable fruits of hard work intelligently applied.” Start at 10 a.m. The writer complains that in London it is w'ell-nigh impossible to transact any business before 10 a.m., whereas in German cities the staffs of all offices have settled down to the day’s work before 8.30 a.m. He estimates that the average German business week day comprises eight hours of useful work, as against not more than six hours in London. “A large proportion of London Office principals,” he continues, “do not attend office on Saturdays. “The logical reflex of this is that many minor executives, and even purely clerical members of office staffs, are excused from business on Saturdays. Saturday Work in Germany “In Germany many trades and industries work until 5 p.m. on Saturdavs, and even on Sunday mornings the principals attend office and examine the mail. “In a cursory passage through London streets In the morning and afternoon one meets innumerable youths bound to or from the cafes, which do a flourishing business during such hours. “If the same cursory passage is made, in the streets of German cities, one is impressed by their relatively deserted appearance. Wrong Counsels “In Britain to-day there is a widespread and much-advertised belief that all that is necessajy for our deliverance from colossal unemployment an i the ‘cancer of the dole’ is ‘peace in industry.* “That this alone is sufficient ic surely a fallacy. Much has been written regarding the need for greater per capita production from skilled and unskiled workers and also from the much-abused miners.