THE VALUE OF MACHINERY AS AN INDUSTRIAL LEVER.

Waikato Argus, Volume III, Issue 224, 18 December 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE VALUE OF MACHINERY AS AN INDUSTRIAL LEVER.

The first meeting of the session of the South Staffordshire Institute of Iron and Steel Works Managers was held on Saturday night at the Institute, Dudley. Mr J. W. Hall (President) occupied the chair and delivered an inaugural address. —The Chairman announced the sudden death of Mr Thomas Morris, of 'Warrington, a prominent member of the Institute. Mr Morris "had read several very important papers to them. He was born in Bilston in 1832, was a self-mads man, and Wis success in life was due to his sterling merits.—On the motion of Mr M. Millard, seconded by Mr T. Ashton, a vote of condolence was pa-sed to Mr Morris's family.—Mr McMillian having been appointed secretary of the Institute of Electrioal Engineer*, resigned his ofEco of vice-president, and Mr H. C. Neve Foster was unanimously elected in his place. —The President, in his address, said that the Victorian Era had been essentially the era of applied science, and thut its most remarkable feature had been the extraordinary advance mado in the material well being of the people, more especially in that of our labouring population, by the employment of machinery which had rendered possible the production and distribution of the necessities and most of the luxuries of life at prices remarkably low, combined with the simultaneous payment to the workers of wagos so much higher than the world bad ever seen before. This advance indicated that their hope of material prosperity in the future lay in still further development along the sume path. It could only be by offering for sale to the inhabitants of the world articles produced by mechanical means-, at a price and of i quality whioh would induce them to purchase, and to do this they must increase by every pof sbile means the efficiency of their tools, and of their men who employed them. Their competitors abroad fully realised this fact, and were doing all in the race for manufacturing supremacy, they were aspiring to sell to England what England formerly sold to them. The introduction of some new labour-saving device might press hardly on the individual, but its use always eventually raised the scale of living of the community which employed it. The trades in which wages were lowest were thoso in which machinery had not vet come to the relief of the worker. Let machinery bo introduced, and the product of the worker was so much increased that the half civilised handicraftsman had no chance against him. The world could now afford to pay to the man who worked the machine much more for his services, and he was certain eventually to get more for his day's work. In this district they would find that thoso branches of the iron trade which were carried on in small shops, unaided by power, were miserably paid, or had t tally disappeared before the employment of machinery elsewhere. There were men to-day, who, in spite of all previous experience, serious'y proposed, as a means of increasing the comfort of the worker-, to limit as much as possible tho efficiency of the workman or the machine which he tended. They took up the argument that tho smaller the proportion of the work of the world which a man did, the larger would be his share of the world's incomo ; tho lets his output, the greatir his pay ; and they seemed seriously to exDect that a man could enjoy tho benefits of the products of machinery ivithout using it. It could not be too emphatically stated that upon England maintaining her manufacturing trade depended tho material prosperity of the whole population. Slould ihere be any material reduction in it, the first to suffer, and suffer most acutely, would be the workman, but it could not bo often pointed out that there was not an inhabitant of these islands, let his trade, occupation, or profession be what it might, but would find his ineome sensibly diminished were any serious falling-off to occur to Entriish industries for any appreciable period. Y- ivilcged or monopolised trado was no longer possible ; the " goodwill" of a business, once a valuable asset, had now almost disappeared. To supply the best article at the lowest pos-ible price was the one qualification for success in the markets in the world to-day. Circumstances had favoured England above evory country for the last three generations : but it"was the madde*t infatuation to itnigino that England was there superior to all competition from abroad. Were they t'oins: to bo blind until the trade, so lavishly thrown into their hands by fortunate circumstances, had once moro passed to its origiual owners, because they failed to realise the importance of adopting the best possible tools, and their workmon the absolute necessity of making the best possible use of them ? (applause.)— Mr H. M. Punnett moved a voto of thanks, which Mr Millard seconded, and it was hearthily accorded.