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'Cbe Conservative. 3
LEWIS M. HEAD.
Journalist.
Industrial combiiiatiou has introduced
a condition which is liable to somewhat
alter the relations which have hitherto
existed between employer and employed.
The symposium to be published by THE
CONSERVATIVE , will , no doubt , cover
this field to some extent.
The purpose of this article is not to
outline opportunities in journalism , but
is an inquiry into the effect of industrial
combination upon the employment of
labor in general.
It will be granted as a basic principle
that the two classes , employer and em
ployer , will continue as such. It will
also be granted that the proportion of
employed men to the number of em
ployers will remain , substantially the
same. It has been frequently asserted
that great concentration of industry
will deprive many men of certain classes
of employment. This may , possibly , be
true , but , not underestimating the en
ergy of American character , we must
conclude that the men so deprived of
employment , will be either reSmployed
or engage in business upon their own
responsibility. This increases the num
ber of employers , while the ranks of the
employed will be augmented by former
employers in industries merged into the
larger combination , who will be retained
in a great many instances by the new
company upon a salary basis.
Admitting that there will be a change
in the proportion , it will not be a mater
ial one.
It is also a patent fact that the op
portunities for engaging , independently
in commercial life are dimished in the
same ratio as the smaller industries are
combined in the larger. The conclusion ,
then , may be stated , that the opportun
ity or chance for the young man , or any
other man , to obtain a foothold in an
independent capacity is unfavorable.
We may continue the conclusion by as
serting that the opportunity to obtain
employment , with remunerative com
pensation , unusually favorable con
ditions and propitious occasion for
quick recognition is widening with
every added combination.
The question of the relationship of
combination to employment is practi
cally reduced to a question of the oppor
tunity of obtaining employment and
adequate compensation therefor.
The writer has often heard it said that
a multitude of positions , some paying
as much as $50,000 per year , are vacant
because of the woeful lack of experience
in the right kind of men. This is not
unreasonable. A properly qualified
man , in a position in which he could
either save his employer $100,000 or earn
for him a like amount , is a good invest
ment at $50,000. Business men , cor
porations or any other commercial or
ganizations are justified in their invest
ment of large sums of money in effi
cient assistance. Efficiency , quality and
competency are the component elements
of the employment question today. The
problem may be further reduced , then ,
to one of qualification.
Labor of all kind might properly bo
classified , first , as those whose service is
compensated upon the basis of a day ,
such as mechanics , carpenters , brick
layers , plumbers and we might even in
clude some , who are paid by the month ,
such as locomotive engineers and skilled
men of like character. Second ,
there is a class , clerical in its
nature , employed by the week or month.
Lastly , the class whose services are esti
mated at an annual rate. These di
visions , of course , are general , as the
frequency of pay-day cannot furnish a
definite basis for a division of labor.
Nevertheless , these classifications serve
my purpose.
For the first class , employment is near
ly always available. In some instances
it is permanent , but , generally , it is
LEWIS M. HEAD.
temporary , owing largely to the chang
ing commercial conditions which so
readily affect it and also , the varied and
heterogeneous class of people which
composes it. The question of opportun
ity is better called the question of vig
ilance , when applied to this first class.
The clerical division , just named , is a
stepping stone to higher usefulness. It
is the test of qualification. Given , a
man whose ability to keep books for a
small manufactory , is unusual and
marked , whose detailed expense account
is comprehensive and vital , whose cost
account includes every item of labor and
material , in such compactness and ap
plication to the products , manufactured ,
that profit-figuring is merely a matter of
subtraction , whose work is neat , rapid
and accurate , he may develop into a lo
cal or travelling auditor of the combine ;
he may be given authority over the ac
counting department of the new
company.
In the same manner , may the. stenog
rapher become private secretary ; the
correspondent , travelling sales-manager ;
the travelling man , local superintend
ent , and the local superintendent , resi
dent-manager.
Employment is easily obtained by the
ordinary man in this class. A plain
writer , neat in appearance , clean in
morals , and punctual , may always find
a clerical position.
But , alas , how true it is , that this
sifting process finds so much chaff and
so little grain. How meagre the ordin
ary devotion of a clerk to his routine
duty. Complaints against industrial
and social conditions are numerous.
The cry of the demagogue is echoed
among the clerks of lower ability. They
measure the condition of the times by
their own inability to pay their bills
and save their money. They shift , dis
satisfied , from place to place , restless ,
disconsolate and miserable.
But , there remains the small percent
age whose best endeavors they , them
selves , consider none too good. Their
horizon enlarges with their aspiration ,
and their "zeal is rewarded according
to their ability. "
Then , the third class ; the man with
power ; the commander of his own re
sources and the resourceful executive of
his own commands. This is the man
"who has charge of something. " Men
of this character are few ; while the va
cancies , demanding them , are many.
To this young man , properly qualified ,
whose conserving ability has commercial
value , the opportunities are plentiful ,
remunerative and waiting.
The present relations existing between
the employer and employed may possibly
be influential in breaking down individ
uality , commercially speaking , only , but ,
with due respect to those who believe
commercialism is not moral , this same
relation is developing a wonderful nation
of industrial activity.
Nebraska City , Aug. , 9 , 1901.
GRENVILLE M. DODGE.
Chairman of The Board Colorado and
Southern Railway.
Yours of July 10th. I find on my table
on my return to the city. It would be
impossible for me to find time to prepare -
pare an article upon what the "young
man's chances are in connection with
railroads. " If I were to do anything of
that kind I would have to give it a good
deal of thought , and I am really not in
the mood for such work , as I am en
deavoring to take a rest for the summer.
There is no question , however , but that
the young man's chances are far better
now than they have been before , and
that is especially the case in connection
with railroads. Thanking you for your
letter , I am , Yours very truly ,
GUENVILLE M. DODOE.
No. 1 Broadway , New York City ,
July 28 , 1901.