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Taranaki Daily News, 9 February 1920, Page 4

INDUSTRIAL' DEMOCRACY. There may be many methods of dealing with human beings in the industrial world, but there are only two main principles, one being expressed in the words "square deal," and the other may be termed the "grinding" process. On the latter there is no need to dwell, for the time has passed when employers can grind the workers. It is the square deal that counts to-day, will count more and more as time goes on, and will eventually secure industrial peace if the extremists are eliminated from the voice of Labor. A striking book lias recently been published in America. It is written by John Leitch, and called "Man to Han." As the author claims to have introduced industrial democracy into twenty large corporations in the United States, bis views and methods should be well worthy of consideration in the solution of the Labor problem. He thus defines industrial democracy: "The organisation of any factory or otter business institution into a little democratic State, with a representative government which shall have both its legislative and executive phases. It is a definite and profitable plan of organisation. It feeds men with constructive thought, gives them more reason for active service, and makes them personally and collectively

Interested In reducing coats in slop, office and sales. It pulls them out of helplessness and builds up a spirit that brings co-operation, and hence, profit. It increases and develops the control over the investment by causing every member of the organisation to see that every portion of the capital is conserved and directed along the lines of more business and more profit." The Packard Piano Co. is Mr. Leitch's great achievement in the way of industrial democracy. This is what the president said about the system: "We used to build pianos. Then we stopped building pianos and began to build men—they have looked after the building of pianos. Our slogan now is 'lf there is no harmony in the factory, there will be none in the piano."' These Packard workpeople once took it on themselves to insist on the president taking a threeweeks' holiday, and when he came back he found all previous production and sales records had been, beaten. Industrial democracy had done these ten things for these men: Kediiced working hours, increased output, produced better instruments, increased the workers' incomes, put the whole men to work, done away with misunderstanding, given each man a share of responsibility, made real inventors of the workmen, inculcated a spirit of comradeship and established a new kind of democracy, while the men and the company being one, no room has yet been found for an outsider to wedge into. By eliminating labor antagonism and dissatisfaction the whole relationship between employer and 1 employed was changed. Mr. Leit' , li claims that not in one of these plants has there been a strike since his plan was carried out, while time-killing tactics have disappeared. Quality is the first element of this service, quantity being the second. The four corner stones adopted were justice, co-operation, economy and energy. Justice was placed first, because it was the basis of all dealings—business and personal. By co-operation alone could the greatest possible results be accomplished. Economy is defined as time, material and energy well spent, and in this way becoming masters of the workers' destiny, while energy is the power back of action, impelling concentration of all powers upon the most important work. It is easy to understand that employees actuated by, and living up to, these ideals reaped their reward, increased, production, lowered costs, earned higher wages, made larger profits, eliminated labor dictation and dissatisfaction. In every factory, shop, and office there lies buried under the dust of routine work, in the doubts of opportunity, in the lack of faith in the management, the dormant will to do a better and more profitable business. Industrial democracy, it is claimed, has produced a very large degree of intense happiness. What man has done, man can do.