NO BONUS SYSTEM
4
Mitchell Opposed to Brandeis'
Economy Plan.
A MENACE TO WORKINGMEN.
Specialization of Work and Payment
of Premiums Tend to Mental and
Physical .Deterioration of the Toiler.
. Bad Business Policy. .
John Mitchell, rice president of the
American Federation of Labor, now
member of the executive committee of
the National Civic federation and one
of the most prominent labor leaders in
America, opposes what he believes to
be some of the means advocated by
Louis D. Brandeis to save $1,000,000
a day for the railroads of the country.
Mr. Mitchell in a recent interview
said he held Mr. Brandeis in the high
est esteem, that he was a valued
friend of labor, that he was a deep
thinker and a man possessed of pro
found economic knowledge. He did
not want to misinterpret anything Mr.
Brandeis had said, and if he said any
thing not justified by what Mr. Bran
dels had advocated it was because he
had misunderstood it:
Mr. Brandeis has been saying that
some $300,000,000 a year could be sav
ed by the railroads In the cost of
transportation, according to the news
papers. There is a general belief that
he advocates as a means to that saving
the premium or bonus system of pay
ing the workmen and further speciali
sation in work. I do not believe that
the workmen employed by the rail
roads should do any more work than
they are now doing. I do not believe
that anything can safely be saved on
them and that If there Is a waste of
$300,000,000 a year it lies outside the
sphere of cost occupied by the work
men. And I am against the premium
or bonus system and against too much
specialization.
"First as to specialization. The
thought should not be so much about
the machine as about the man In front
of the machine. There Is a point in
the specialization of work beyond
which it Is not safe to go because of
the deterioration of the workman and
ultimately of the kind of work he does.
I think that point has about been
reached In the railroads and In most
of the other large Industries.
"Speaking recently to an interview
er. Dr. "Win lam Mabon, superintendent
of the Manhattan State Hospital For
the Insane, said that monotony of la
bor Is a frequent cause of Insanity.
Let me read you what he said.
The article quoted Dr. Mabon as
. saying, for example, that In a shoe
factory one man has a machine to
punch holes In strips of leather for
the laces; that all day long for six
days In the week he punches holes.
That kind of work gets to be abso
lutely automatic, and many workmen
deteriorate while doing it. The brain
cells that are not used in the piece of
specialized work, which Is most of
those In the brain, finally go dead
from lack of use, and then the worker
Is ready for the Insane asylum.
This horrible monotony of special
ised labor. Dr. Mabon was quoted as
saying. "Is doing a great deal to un-
- balance the minds of the workers.
"It Is best that the workman use all
the knowledge he has. went on Mr.
MlcchelL "There Is nothing so restful
a rarlety. Even if the work itself Is
not intrinsically hard. It deteriorates
the workman if It is always one little
piece of the same kind.
! don't .know whether or not Mr.
Brandeis Is an advocate of the "piece
system. Organized labor Is against
that, because it speeds the men up too
fast and causes deterioration in the
man, who should always be the first
concern.
'It Is sometimes charged that the la
bor unions tend to level down work
men. This is not true. Labor unions
do not say that an employer shall not
pay an especially competent and ef
fective workman romething in addi
tion to what he pays the others. They,
are but fighting for at least a fair pay.
for an honest day's work by rthe avejg
age workman. -.- " - r ? ;
"Organized labor-is against, the Ipre
mium or borrus -system of. payment td-4
the workman because- that i designed
to speed up the workman beyond the
safety line. That is bad economy.
The employer who uses the system
may notice an advantage at first, but
it is not long before the workman be
gins, to deteriorate under the strain;
then his work deteriorates also, and
presently the loss in his productivity
amounts to much more than the tem
porary gain.
'Of course there could not be a
great deal more specialization in the
actual running of the trains than
there now is. In the very nature of
the occupation a man must do work
of considerable variety, but in .the
shops there is opportunity for minute
specialization, as In the case of the
shoe factory used as an example by
Dr. Mabon. There the specialization
has already been carried to the edge
of the danger line, and it should be
carried no further. Organized labor
will oppose any attempt to carry It
further.
"The men who do the work of the
railroads, both outside and In the
shops, are doing all they should do
now. They are the fastest and most
efficient of their kind in the world. If
there be any waste, then. In the rail
roads of the country it Is not in the
men. I have no criticism to make of
Mr. Brandeis recommendations for ef
fecting further economies in the run-'
ning of the railroads except in so far
as they relate to labor.
Hopeless.
Pat I say, Mick. I'm very hard up.
Can you lind me the loan of a pound?
Mick Sure, Pat, to tell yer the
thruth, I haven't a bob on me. Every
penny I get I give to my poor old
mother.
Pat Be jabers, Mick, I've just been
talking to yer mother, and she tells
me ye never give her a farthing.
Mick Oh. welL Pat. if I dont give
my poor old mother a farthing, what
sort of a chance have you got of get
ting any? London MaiL
An Inquisitive Scot.'
Scotchmen are fond of an argument
and delight to find flaws in an oppo
nent's logic. Two blacksmiths were
once conversing as to which was the
first trade In the world. One Insisted
that it must have been gardening and
tuoted from Genesis, "Adam was put
Into the garden of Eden to dress it
and keep it. "Aye, John, retorted
the other, who had stood up for his
own trade, "but wha made the
spades?
A Carlyle View.
Carlyle compared the advance of the
world to the progress of some drunken
man who, reeling from one side of the
street to the other, slowly and at the
expense of much wasted effort finally
arrives at his destination.
Cutting.
Maud Mr. Brownleigh tries to flirt
with every pretty girl he sees. Ethel
Fve seen him try to flirt with you too.
Boston Transcript. .
It takes ten dimes to make a dollar,
but one dime will unmake a dollar. Think
that over! By our system we help you make
the dollars, and as long as you make' them and
refrain from unmaking them, you are prosper- -ihg.
Independence is acquired by spending -
- less than you make, and then making the ex
cess work for you. Deposit your excess wages
jthjusand we will pay you Four Per Cenf.In
r teres t. The. interest will work for you while
you sleep." " Come in and let us explain ouf
system.
i
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