Shop Management

SHOP MANAGEMENT 41 that its very foundation rests upon deceit, and under both of these systems there is necessarily, as we have seen, a great lack of justice and equality in the starting-point of different jobs. Some of the rates will have resulted from records obtained when a first-class man was working close to his maximum speed, while others will be based on the performance of a poor man at one-third or one- quarter speed. The injustice of the very foundation of the system is thus forced upon the workman every day of his life, and no man, however kindly disposed he may be toward his employer, can fail to resent this and be seriously influenced by it in his work. These sys- tems are, therefore, of necessity slow and irregular in their operation in reducing costs. They “drift” gradually toward an increased output, but under them the attainment of the maximum output of a first-class man is almost impossible. Objection has been made to the use of the word “drifting” in this connection. It is used absolutely without any intention of slurring the Towne-Halsey system or in the least detracting from its true merit. It appears to me, however, that “drifting” very accurately describes it, for the reason that the man- agement, having turned over the entire control of the speed problem to the men, the latter being influenced by their prejudices and whims, drift sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another; but on the whole, sooner or later, under the stimulus of the premium, move toward a higher rate of speed. This drifting, accompanied as it is by the irregularity and