INDUSTRY 
 
 -R.C.FELD" 
 
^"^'a*'*^ 
 
 ^^^3^^ 
 
 EX LIBRIS 
 
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HUMANIZING INDUSTRY 
 
HUMANIZING INDUSTRY 
 
 BY 
 
 R. C. FELD 
 
 NEW YORK 
 E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 
 
 681 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1920, 
 BY E. P. BUTTON & COMPANY 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 
PREFACE 
 
 SIR ROGER DE COVERLY, whenever a question of 
 moment was propounded to him, used to say, "There 
 is much to be said on both sides." The present in- 
 dustrial situation boils down to that. There is much 
 to be said on both sides. Capital has been remiss 
 in its dealings with labor; labor has been remiss in 
 its dealings with capital. Both of them would have 
 us believe that they are Simon-pure. Neither of 
 them is. 
 
 Things, however, are happening in American in- 
 dustry to-day that it would be well for both the 
 extreme labor agitator and the arbitrary employer to 
 take cognizance of. The sound and successful in- 
 dustrial leaders of the country are in the van* of a 
 movement whose purpose it is to create a stronger 
 spirit of cooperation between themselves and the men 
 in their plants. This movement has sprung up 
 spontaneously throughout the various industrial cen- 
 ters of the country. It is impossible to keep track 
 of it, but it is there alive, vibrant and vital. It is 
 undirected and unharnessed, born entirely out of a 
 desire for understanding of the mutual needs of all 
 the factors in organizations and an appreciation that 
 
 V 
 
 527250 
 
vi Preface 
 
 we have reached a new era in the progress of civiliza- 
 tion, an era that demands new relationships and new 
 methods. The "human" element has entered into in- 
 dustry. In some instances, the doors have been thrown 
 open wide to meet it; in others, they are half -shut; 
 in still others, they are nailed tight. But a be- 
 ginning has been made and a trail blazed. Upon the 
 numbers who fall in line and walk that trail will 
 depend the health of the future industrial life of the 
 nation. 
 
 E. C. F. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. STEUTHERS ARRIVES - . . . 1 
 
 II. BEN HURLEY .^ . 22 
 
 III. ACCIDENT PREVENTION 44 
 
 IV. HEALTH MEASURES *. s' 93 
 
 V. CONSTRUCTING CONFIDENCE 139 
 
 VI. EDUCATION 152 
 
 VII. PENSIONS, DISABILITY FUNDS AND DEATH 
 
 BENEFITS 197 
 
 VIII. HOUSING 251 
 
 IX. PROFIT-SHARING 294 
 
 X. INDUSTRIAL REPRESENTATION 335 
 
 XI. HURLEY DECIDES TO STAY 371 
 
 XII. HARD WICK FALLS IN LINE , 383 
 
 Vll 
 
HUMANIZING INDUSTRY 
 
HUMANIZING INDUSTRY 
 
 CHAPTER ONE 
 
 STEUTHEES ARRIVES 
 
 THE train stopped at the side of the uncared for, 
 weatherbeaten and smoke begrimed shack that was 
 called the station at Eawburn. One passenger got 
 off; nobody got on and with a wild raucous shriek 
 that might by a stretch of fancy have been interpreted 
 into an insane laugh of derision, the two connected 
 cars that made up the entire rolling stock of the 
 Jimson County Railroad moved on. Peter Struthers 
 watched them as they turned the corner, followed the 
 smoke with his eyes until the last curling mist dis- 
 appeared, then turned his gaze toward the street 
 that stretched before him. Our English language 
 is limited. There is no word that adequately de- 
 scribes the hundreds upon hundreds of similar shack- 
 lined roads or alleys, highways or byways, that make 
 up the social communities of some of our industrial 
 towns or villages. The word "street" is used for lack 
 of a truer. Insofar as this was a roadway with two 
 
2 Humanizing Industry 
 
 rows of houses facing each other across an area 
 through which traffic might pass, this was a street. 
 
 A look of concern came into Struthers' eyes. He 
 let his eyes rove over the scene before him. Scores 
 of gray roofs monotonously alike, with nothing to 
 change their depressing similarity of pattern but an 
 occasional drunken chimney, met his gaze. The 
 yawning holes made by the missing bricks leered out 
 at him like toothless hags. Way and beyond these 
 domestic chimneys loomed tall, dark, black-velveted 
 smoke stacks that belched forth heavy folds of inky 
 vapor. Those, without doubt, were the company 
 buildings. 
 
 Struthers turned his feet in that direction. He 
 walked along the single row of sagging pavement that 
 separated the houses from the deeply lined mud of 
 the gutter, carrying his grip in his hand. Before 
 very long its ever-increasing weight began to tell on 
 him and he took off his soft gray hat and began mop- 
 ping his brow. A few yards ahead of him a woman 
 stood aimlessly leaning on one of the posts of her 
 house. Struthers walked up to her. 
 
 "Good morning," he began. "I have just come 
 in from New York. I am going over to the offices of 
 the Kawburn Machine Company. I wonder if you 
 know of a place where I can leave my grip. It is 
 very heavy and the way seems rather long." 
 
 The woman looked at him in a half-interested fash- 
 ion. According to her estimation he was about thirty- 
 
Struthers Arrives 3 
 
 five. He was slender and not very tall. His rumpled 
 hair was dark brown, his eyes, a nondescript gray. 
 His clothes were clean but not especially good. As 
 far as she could judge he was of her own class. The 
 soft collar was familiar to her, so was the creaseless 
 slouch in the trousers. Her lips responded to the 
 questioning smile in Struthers' eyes. 
 
 "You've come for work, eh? Well, I don't know 
 that there is any. I ain't got any room for any more 
 boarders, but if you'll walk on down to the end of the 
 street and turn into the third house on the right, I 
 think maybe the Hurleys will take you in." 
 
 Struthers thanked her and went on. Before he 
 had gone very far, he was halted by the woman's 
 voice calling after him. 
 
 "You ain't a Swede, are you? Ben Hurley hates 
 Swedes. Swedes and the Boss of the Works. Other- 
 wise, he ain't bad." 
 
 Struthers walked on. He had not thought of put- 
 ting up at the village in his original plans. The 
 feasibility of it, however, appealed to him. He 
 thought he could overrule any objection that the man 
 whom he was going to see might have. An amused 
 light came into his eyes. He wondered whether Mrs. 
 Hurley, the wife of Ben Hurley who hated Swedes 
 and the Boss, could put him up. He followed the 
 directions given him and came to the house he was 
 looking for. Externally it was the same as the scores 
 of houses he had passed on the way gray; crude; 
 
4 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ugly in its useful outlines ; pitiful in its open display 
 of having been made to order on a general pattern 
 that must have been worn thin in the constant repeti- 
 tion of its use. 
 
 Struthers knocked on the door. He waited a few 
 seconds. There was no response. He knocked again. 
 This time he heard a soft padding coming in his di- 
 rection. The latch was drawn and a woman's anxious 
 face peered out at him through the space made by 
 the length of the chain that held the door open but 
 which made admittance impossible. The face was 
 that of a woman of about forty and comely. Struth- 
 ers looked into the room as far as he could see through 
 the limited passage. The room though poor and 
 threadbare appeared clean. Struthers smiled with a 
 smile that started from his eyes. The man didn't 
 know it but that smile was one of his strongest assets. 
 The utter honesty and good cheer that radiated from 
 it served to disarm the woman. She smiled back 
 at him. 
 
 "I was told you might be able to put me up," he 
 began. "I have just come in from New York and 
 am on my way to the Works. It's very heavy carry- 
 ing this load and if you would let me leave it here, 
 I'd be very grateful to you. And, by the way, I'm not 
 a Swede." 
 
 The woman smiled in answer. 
 
 "You say you are going to the Works. And you've 
 
Struthers Arrives 5 
 
 come from New York. Well now, that's funny. 
 Seems to me a person wouldn't want to come here 
 from nowheres, especially from New York. I guess 
 you must have been pretty hard up. Well, you ain't 
 no worse off than we are, so that's all right. We 
 know what it means to be hard up, so I guess we can 
 help somebody who's in the same boat. What did 
 you say your name was?" 
 
 "Peter Struthers." 
 
 The woman unhooked the latch and made room 
 for Struthers to come in. 
 
 "You see, there are so many different kinds of peo- 
 ple here and they speak so many languages that Ben 
 likes me to have the door shut all the time. He thinks 
 it's safe. I don't know. It seems to me there ain't 
 anything much in here that anybody might want." 
 
 While she was speaking she led him into a room 
 that connected with the sitting room. It was a little 
 bedroom with nothing but a bed and a chair in it. 
 On the walls were some hooks. There were no closets 
 of any kind. One narrow window, neatly curtained, 
 looked on a dingy back yard that connected with an- 
 other back yard equally dingy belonging to the next 
 house. A few scraggly plants were trying to raise 
 their sooty heads out from the sandy soil. 
 
 Struthers turned to Mrs. Hurley. 
 
 "How much will it be?" 
 
 "Two dollars a week for the room without meals; 
 
6 Humanizing Industry 
 
 five dollars with meals. If you ain't got any money 
 now, I can wait until after your first week. I guess 
 you're all right." 
 
 Struthers thanked her, took out his pocketbook and 
 deposited a five-dollar bill with her. The suitcase 
 was reposing on the floor. As he turned to leave the 
 room his eye fell on it. 
 
 "Where do I put this? Is there a closet or any- 
 thing?" 
 
 Mrs. Hurley laughed, a bitter little laugh. 
 
 "No, there ain't no closets or anything. We put 
 those under the beds." 
 
 Struthers did as he was told. He went into the 
 kitchen and washed his face and hands. Then he 
 continued on his way to the Works. 
 
 He soon left the village behind him. Before him 
 stood the massed rows of buildings that constituted 
 the Kawburn Machine Works. They looked like giant 
 caterpillars stretched out at full length, low, long, 
 and smoldering with possibilities of potential 
 growth. 
 
 "Like caterpillars," the thought went through 
 Struthers' brain, "like caterpillars, low, dark and 
 crawling but with power to grow into something fine 
 and beautiful. Like a caterpillar hugging the ground 
 until it gains the power and the knowledge of how 
 to raise, itself into the air and sunshine and fly. Poor 
 old Hardwick! Monarch of all he surveys, but God, 
 what a survey!" 
 
Struthers Arrives 7 
 
 Struthers walked on, intently observing, all Ms 
 senses alive to the sound and sight of industry at 
 work. He passed from building to building, scanning 
 the doorways of the different shops until he came to 
 the one marked "Office." He turned the handle and 
 walked in. The room was roughly whitewashed. In 
 a corner at a desk sat a man bent over a few sheets 
 of foolscap. Struthers coughed. The man looked up. 
 
 "Building across the street for jobs," he called out. 
 Without waiting for a reply he turned again to his 
 work. Struthers looked at him in amusement for a 
 moment. The man was unaware of the scrutiny. 
 Struthers cleared his voice. The sound of it made 
 the man start. 
 
 "Good heavens, you gave me a scare. I thought 
 you were gone. I told you it was the house across 
 the street. We can't do nothing for you here. See?" 
 
 Struthers nodded his head in affirmation. 
 
 "I understand. It's the house across the street 
 where I am to go to for work. But I want something 
 else first. I want to speak to Mr. Hardwick. And 
 you're to go and tell him that I want to speak to him. 
 See?" Struthers good-naturedly mimicked the in- 
 tonation of the other man's closing inflection. There 
 was a sound of authority with a certain amount of 
 goodfellowship in his voice that was not to be de- 
 nied. The man rose slowly. 
 
 "People that come to see Mr. Hardwick make ap- 
 pointments and have cards. If you've made an 
 
8 Humanizing Industry 
 
 appointment or have a card, I'll be glad to go into 
 his office and tell him you are here. You understand, 
 sir, that we can't have everybody running in and out 
 and disturbing him." 
 
 Struthers smiled. 
 
 "I understand perfectly. But, suppose I ask you 
 to take a chance on me and go into Mr. Hardwick's 
 office and tell him that Mr. Peter Struthers of New 
 York has arrived. I think he will see me. We have 
 some mutual friends and interests." 
 
 The man looked up with a look of interest. 
 
 "Did you say Mr. Peter Struthers, sir?" 
 
 Struthers nodded. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, sir, for keeping you waiting, 
 but I didn't know. We didn't expect you until to- 
 morrow. Have you a car, sir, or baggage or anything 
 to be taken care of? I'll attend to it immediately 
 if you'll tell me." 
 
 "I have nothing. That is, nothing but a small 
 valise of which I have already disposed. I have no 
 car and no baggage to speak of. And now, will you 
 kindly tell Mr. Hardwick that I am here?" 
 
 The man quickly disappeared through the door 
 leading into the inner chamber and in a short while 
 emerged and motioned for Struthers to enter. 
 
 A man of his own age rose to greet him. 
 
 "Struthers, old man." Their hands met in a firm 
 grip. They stood silently for a few seconds, then 
 Stephen Hardwick motioned Struthers to a chair. 
 
Struthers Arrives 9 
 
 Struthers looked at the face opposite him. It was 
 not that of the man from whom he had parted five 
 years ago. It was harder, older, more careworn, tired 
 and very bitter. The hardness and the bitterness 
 were the most striking features. The men talked of 
 non-essentials for a few minutes. Then Struthers 
 steered the subject around to the one that was upper- 
 most in their minds. 
 
 "How goes it, Stephen? How does it feel being 
 the owner of all this wealth and all this industry? 
 How does it feel being 'the responsible head of a plant 
 that employs over one thousand people' ? Your father 
 used to be very proud of making that assertion." 
 
 "My father, yes," Hardwick replied. "Things were 
 different in his time. When a man owned a plant 
 of this sort he owned it. It meant something to him. 
 He could mold it and shape it according to his own 
 likes and dislikes. He could run it when he liked, 
 as he liked, and by whom he liked. He could give 
 an order and feel confident that it would be obeyed 
 irrespective of whether it suited the whims or the 
 tastes or the hours of the men it concerned. It had 
 to suit. That was all. He was the owner the men 
 were responsible to him for their livelihood, for their 
 homes, for their happiness, for everything, and they 
 knew it. There was a distinct line of demarkation 
 between the two. The employee could go so far and 
 no further. And " 
 
 Struthers interrupted him. 
 
IO Humanizing Industry 
 
 "And the employer could go all the way and some 
 more. What, Hard wick?" 
 
 Hardwick snorted. 
 
 "Bah, you make me sick. You and your theories. 
 You have always had this queer streak in you. You 
 always talked about the lack of understanding be- 
 tween people. I tell you there can't be any under- 
 standing between people so utterly and totally op- 
 posed to each other as these, my people, and I are. 
 My people! My people! Tommyrot. They are no 
 more my people than I am the Czar of Russia." 
 
 Struthers smiled. 
 
 "There's where you've hit the nail on the head. 
 By your comparison, I mean. They are no more your 
 people than you are the Czar of Russia. The Czar 
 of Russia is something that is obsolete. So is the 
 sort of relationship that existed between your father 
 or your grandfather and the people who worked for 
 him. A new relationship has sprung up. A better 
 relationship, if you please. A relationship that is 
 not one of damning paternalism and all the evils it 
 can imply and, in a good many instances, did imply, 
 but one of cooperation and understanding between the 
 two factors in industry which need not and should 
 not be what you are pleased to call them, 'opposing'. 
 I tell you, Hardwick, you have got to understand that 
 they are humans just as you are a human and that 
 you've got to reach them through the qualities that 
 
'Strut hers Arrives II 
 
 make them human and not those that make them 
 cogs in a wheel. 
 
 "You say that in the time of your father things 
 were not in the state that they are in to-day. Of 
 course not. If you want to, you can go back one step 
 further and say that in the time of your grandfather 
 things were even more satisfactory, from your point 
 of view, if you please, than they are to-day. But 
 Hardwick, man, you forget that we are going ahead, 
 that little by little the world is becoming a better and 
 a finer place, and that the sporadic attempts at rais- 
 ing the plane of existence of the kind of people who 
 are working for you and for the numberless men like 
 you are indications of the natural evolution of the 
 true relationship in industry. This world is a heavy 
 old body and true to the letter of the old saw that big 
 bodies move slowly, any progress it makes along any 
 line must necessarily be slow. Some people are clear- 
 sighted and they see the signs long before the rest of 
 us do; others are slower to understand that we are 
 moving ahead and getting on a bit further in this 
 game that we call civilization and they have to be 
 pushed and prodded and given strong lensed glasses 
 to see conditions as they are and to appreciate that 
 we have put another milestone behind us. I tell you 
 it is good to see these milestones of progress disap- 
 pearing behind you and good to see the new ones 
 shining ahead of you. And it is fine and wonderful to 
 
12 Humanizing Industry 
 
 be one of the atomic bits of power that help to give 
 the energy and the urge that makes the travel along 
 this road a little bit faster than it might otherwise be. 
 
 "There are men like this in American industry at 
 the present time, scores of them. In some instances, 
 it was their own foresight that brought them to an 
 appreciation of the fact that success in industry 
 and that means success in life, for life is based on 
 the industry of a country meant cooperation in in- 
 dustry and humanness in industry. In others it was 
 the war that brought it to their consciousness. They 
 saw the Toms, Dicks and Harrys and the Marys, 
 Susans and Kates, in a new light. They saw how 
 these people were made aware of their ability to help 
 turn the current against monarchial autocracy and 
 how they gave of their ability and their strength in 
 the fullest measure. In the face of such knowledge, 
 they, men like you, masters of industry, could not 
 help but see that when the carnage was over, life 
 would have to be started on a new basis, a basis 
 where an appreciation of this knowledge would have 
 to be shown in something lasting and constructive, 
 in milestones along the path of humanizing industry. 
 
 "Hardwick, I am talking business now. I am giv- 
 ing you hard business sense. You have got to come 
 off the plane on which your father used to stand, you 
 have got to forget the idea that capital and labor are 
 opposing factors, you have got to believe that they 
 are powers that run in harness, that you have a cer- 
 
Struthers Arrives 13 
 
 tain amount of the weight to pull and that the people 
 who work for you have a certain amount of the weight 
 to pull but that you are both pulling in harness and 
 pulling together. Together. Do you understand 
 me?" 
 
 Hardwick sat staring at Peter. His body was 
 slumped deep down into his seat. His hands were 
 pushed into the pockets of his trousers. Around the 
 lined corners of his mouth played a half -interested 
 and half-ironic smile. 
 
 Finally he laughed out loud. The lips of Struthers 
 tightened to hear him. It was not a pleasant laugh 
 and yet not an unkind one in its intent. 
 
 "Hear the child rave, hear him, will you. Hear 
 him talk about the things of which he knows nothing. 
 Hear him talk about the milestones in civilization. 
 Hear him talk about the new era in industry. You 
 will be telling me shortly that the millennium is due 
 within a week. 
 
 "Tell me what are you, Struthers, preacher, social- 
 ist, propagandist, fool or what? Or are you all these 
 combined . into an alley whose distinctive feature is 
 hairbrainedness and moonshine? Oh, I like you, 
 Struthers, I like you, telling me that you are talking 
 hard business sense to me. What do you know about 
 business sense? What do you know about industry? 
 What do you know about the men and women who 
 make up industry? What do you know about their 
 abilities and their intelligence and their powers? 
 
14 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Their ability and intelligence and powers ! God save 
 the mark! Do you know what I have been getting 
 in the way of ability and intelligence and power? Do 
 you know? Of course, you don't, else you would not 
 speak as you do. Substitute cowardice, stupidity and 
 stubbornness for those idealistic terms of yours and 
 you'll come nearer the truth. What have I been get- 
 ting in the way of service for which I pay? Strikes, 
 walkouts, threats to leave, to destroy machinery, to 
 destroy me, if you will, unless I accede to their de- 
 mands. And what demands? It would make my 
 father turn in his grave if he knew the state things 
 were in at the present time. I tell you, man, and give 
 heed to these words, I hate them every one of them 
 as they every one of them hate me. I employ them 
 because they mean the gaining of the things that 
 mean life to me as they work for me because it means 
 the possibility of life for them. It is an open contract 
 with no love lost in it. For value received, and noth- 
 ing more. 
 
 "You go out to my working people, gather them in 
 one of the public squares, talk to them in the spell- 
 binding way that you have, tell them that I have an 
 important contract to fill and that if they walk out 
 to-morrow they can force me to give them an increase 
 in wages, even though that increase would eventually 
 mean the ruin of the business and the ruin of the 
 industry that is the means of livelihood to them, and 
 I tell you, it will be the unusual man who will not 
 
Struthers Arrives 15 
 
 form in line with you. Where is the intelligence in 
 that? Where is the cooperation in that? Where is 
 the good business sense in that? Just as long as 
 men are what they are, impelled by no other desire 
 than the one of gouging, gouging, gouging, there can 
 be no running in harness, there can be no pulling 
 together. 
 
 "I tell you, Struthers, I would give a good deal 
 in my life to feel that some few of those men out there 
 in the shops and in the factories would in the face 
 of such a situation as I pictured stand with me and 
 with the industry. But they wouldn't, they wouldn't. 
 Why? Because they hate me and anything they can 
 do to ruin me up to the point of completely ruining 
 themselves, they will do. 
 
 "Bah, what's the use of it all? What is the use of 
 it? I hate the bicker, I hate the squabbles, I hate the 
 bargaining and bandying. I'm a tired man, Struthers, 
 a very tired man. And a very sick man. Mentally 
 and emotionally sick. I wanted to do big things. I 
 wanted to make the thing grow. I wanted to be able 
 to say not as my father said that he had one thousand 
 men, but that I have two thousand men working for 
 me. What have I instead? I do the same things as 
 my father did, use the same methods, give better 
 wages and what do I get? Nothing that is satisfac- 
 tory, and God, how much that is soul-sickening and 
 mind-harrowing." 
 
 The man paused for a moment, then went on in a 
 
16 Humanizing Industry 
 
 lower voice. "They hate me, Struthers, and I wish, 
 how I wish, they didn't. But they do and for no 
 other reason but the one that I am their employer and 
 they are my employees and there you are." 
 
 Hardwick flung himself out of his chair and began 
 pacing the floor. The eyes of the man at the table 
 followed him. There was deep sympathy there and 
 deep understanding. 
 
 "Hardwick," he began, "I am going to talk to you 
 straight from the shoulder. Straight, Hardwick. 
 Why in the name of anything that you call sacred, 
 should they love you? What besides giving them the 
 bare necessities of life have you done for them? By 
 your own confession you have done nothing but what 
 your father has done. You call it everything that 
 your father has done. There is a slight difference in 
 phrasing, but a mighty big difference in meaning. 
 You say you hoped to be able to say some day that 
 you employed not one thousand men but two thou- 
 sand men. If you had made your aim instead, the 
 one of employing one thousand happy men in a health- 
 ful, sanitary community you might more quickly 
 perhaps have attained some measure of satisfaction 
 and happiness yourself. What's more, you might 
 have reached the goal of the two thousand. However, 
 that was not your way. Instead of going ahead and 
 starting from where your father left off, you retraced 
 his steps and used the methods and machinery that 
 Ms dead body left behind him. Those methods and 
 
Struthers Arrives 17 
 
 machinery are outworn and outgrown at this date. 
 You have got to inject new life and a new spirit into 
 this plant if you are to make it any source of hap- 
 piness to you. You have got to substitute new meth- 
 ods for old ; successful methods for unsuccessful ones. 
 
 "You called me several uncomplimentary things. 
 Never mind. That is one of the privileges of friend- 
 ship. It's all right. No ill feeling. Some day, I 
 hope to be able to reciprocate. However, that is not 
 the point. You asked me to come out here. I take 
 it you did so because of some faith in my abilities. 
 Perhaps you are thinking now that you were mis- 
 taken. I trust you won't be. I have seen sicker men 
 than you, and more discouraged men than you. 
 What's more, I have seen sicker plants than yours 
 and I hope you will admit that yours is a sick plant. 
 I have tried my hand at a bit of doctoring, Hardwick, 
 and sometimes I have succeeded. I should like to try 
 my hand at doctoring you and this place that you call 
 your own. Will you or won't you let me do it?" 
 
 Hardwick stroked his chin. His eyes rested on the 
 desk in front of him. Finally he spoke. 
 
 "It's not a matter of will I or will I not let you do 
 it, Struthers. Thompson, the oil man, spoke well of 
 you to me. He said you were sane. And had business 
 sense. To be quite frank, I don't see it. When he 
 mentioned your name and I found it was my old 
 friend, for we are friends, Struthers, irrespective of 
 our clashing points of view, I decided to get in touch 
 
1 8 Humanizing Industry 
 
 with you and ask you to come to see me. You are 
 here, Struthers, and you speak of cooperation and 
 running in harness. I want something more than 
 talk. I want to be successful, I want to see this plant 
 put on a sane paying business basis. I don't want to 
 be unkind, Struthers, but are you the man to talk 
 sane business sense? Are you a man who knows any- 
 thing about sane business methods?" 
 
 Struthers laughed. 
 
 "You're very frank, Hardwick, and I like you for 
 it. I have always liked you for it. I am here and 
 I am going to stay. I am going to suggest changes, 
 lots of them, to you. Don't get frightened. I shall 
 not suggest a single change whose value I shall not 
 be able to prove by its having been incorporated by 
 highly successful business establishments of the kind 
 that you might be proud to direct. That's fair, isn't 
 it? I told you that there were men in American in- 
 dustry who could look ahead along the road of in- 
 dustrial progress and inculcate and inaugurate re- 
 forms that marked the milestones in the evolution of 
 the humanization of industry. I shall give you 
 specific instances of the success of these reforms from 
 a business standpoint. I shall not talk theory but 
 shall show you what has been done. You can accept 
 or reject, as you please. That's fair, isn't it?" 
 
 Hardwick smiled. 
 
 "You dreamer, you," he said. "Do you mean to 
 
Struthers Arrives 19 
 
 face me here and tell me that there are successful 
 business men who are full of your wild-eyed theories 
 and who have put them in their plants and found 
 them to work out successfully. Don't be an ass, 
 Struthers, it can't be done. I know because I am 
 acquainted with the material with which you intend 
 to work. However, I shall not condemn a thing be- 
 fore I have given it a fair hearing. But remember, 
 it's sanity I demand, sanity in business methods and 
 no milk-and-water coddling and kowtowing to the 
 men who are working for me. That's understood, 
 isn't it?" Struthers nodded. "Very well, we'll call 
 it a bargain." 
 
 The men shook hands over it. Hardwick lit a 
 cigar. He motioned Struthers to take one. Struthers 
 pulled out his pipe instead. Hardwick laughed. 
 
 "Same old smell-box. Why don't you stow it, 
 Struthers, and smoke a regular smoke? Oh, by the 
 way, of course, you'll put up with me." 
 
 "Sorry, Hardwick, but can't be done. I thought I 
 should originally, but I changed my mind when I 
 got into town. I want to get at this in my own way. 
 My own fool way, if you please. No, I've taken a 
 room with the Hurleys. And I'm going to take a 
 job in the shops." 
 
 Hardwick's face clouded. He frowned deeply. 
 
 "Of all fool things. And of all fool places. Why 
 any sane man should choose to live in the Dumps 
 
2O Humanizing Industry 
 
 when he can have a clean room and a private bath 
 is beyond my comprehension. Don't be an ass, 
 Struthers. You come along home with me." 
 
 Struthers shook his head. 
 
 "No, I guess it's the Dumps for me. By the way, 
 is that what they call that section of the town? It's 
 rather descriptive of it. No offense meant, Hard- 
 wick. But it is the Dumps, isn't it?" 
 
 "Well, what did you expect? You didn't imagine 
 that these people would be living in palaces and roll- 
 ing around in limousines. Oh, come now, be sensible, 
 for heaven's sake. Those shacks down there have 
 been put up for years, they are comfortable, that is, 
 as comfortable as the people who live in them can 
 expect to have them. They don't pay very much for 
 them and the fact that they are out of repair is their 
 lookout. It just proves my contention that you 
 cannot judge them on the basis that you would have 
 them rise up to. However, don't let's start that all 
 over again. There will be time and enough for that. 
 
 "Did you say you were going to stay with the 
 Hurleys?" he continued. "Queer, your having landed 
 there. Hurley is one of the most difficult men to 
 deal with. He's foreman of the drill shops. The 
 men like him, he turns out good work, but he's as 
 sullen as a Russian and as stubborn as a mule. 
 Hurley and I have had one or two talks. He event- 
 ually saw things my way, but it hasn't made him any 
 pleasanter. Going to work under him, are you?" 
 
Strut hers Arrives 21 
 
 "Might as well be there as any other place," 
 Struthers replied. "I'll be going along now. By the 
 way your old friend outside. You'll tell him that I 
 am just as broke as he seemed to think I looked and 
 that you gave me a job for old time's sake. What do 
 you say? I'll probably drop in on you some day next 
 week. I suppose you're here for a while after the 
 shops close. Good." 
 
 The men shook hands again and Struthers left. He 
 paused for a moment as he reached the street. 
 
 "Poor old Hardwick. Poor old Hardwick," he 
 ruminated. "The pity of that confession and yet the 
 hope in it. They hate me, Struthers, and I wish, how 
 I wish, they didn't/ " 
 
CHAPTER TWO 
 
 BEN HURLEY 
 
 
 
 IT was after the evening meal at the Hurleys'. Mrs. 
 Hurley was washing the dishes at the sink built in 
 at one side of the room which served in the double 
 capacity of kitchen and dining room. Hurley sat at 
 one end of the table reading a paper. At the other 
 end sat Struthers, smoking a pipe. He gazed at the 
 face opposite him contemplatively. It was not a bad 
 face nor a weak face. There was, moreover, a cast 
 of line about it that was strangely familiar to 
 Struthers. He puffed hard at his pipe trying to re- 
 call where he had but recently seen that same groove 
 of bitterness around the mouth, that same hard look 
 of being pitted against a force that was trying the 
 granite in him. There was no doubting the presence 
 of granite. The whole make-up and the set of the man 
 proclaimed its existence. Struthers wrinkled his 
 brow. Where had he seen that same facial expres- 
 sion, that same hard virility, that same attitude of 
 standing against the wall, unwilling to give or take 
 favor? 
 
 Suddenly he started. He had it. Hardwick, of 
 course. Hardwick and Hurley. Hardwick the man 
 
 22 
 
Ben Hurley 23 
 
 who refused to believe that America was well on the 
 way toward a newer, saner, more constructive epoch 
 in industry, and Hurley, who dimly aware of the new 
 forces in industry was straining at the yoke in a 
 manner which might eventually break it but which 
 would break him as well. Fundamentally, the two 
 were alike in their stubborn resistance to each other, 
 their refusal to see each other's points of view, their 
 bitter coddling of their misunderstandings which 
 nourished the roots of their antagonism. 
 
 Struthers had been working under Hurley for five 
 days and had had ample opportunity to study him as 
 well as the conditions under which the men labored. 
 Conditions in the shops were bad ; the eye of a novice 
 could see that. But that was of minor importance 
 to Struthers as compared with the conditions of the 
 men's brains. Men like Hurley, for instance. The 
 shop could be changed, that was purely physical, but 
 could Hurley be changed? And could Hardwick be 
 changed? And would new conditions in the shop 
 help to create the change? Would the physical en- 
 vironment have an effect upon the mental attitude? 
 
 Struthers' mind went on searching, questioning, 
 delving. Here was Hardwick, his friend, an exponent 
 of what the world was pleased to call capitalism. 
 Here was Hurley, whom he hoped to make his friend, 
 the exponent of labor. Here he was, Struthers, full 
 of the faith of the possibility, nay more, the need of 
 having these opposite factors meet in order that 
 
24 Humanizing Industry 
 
 American life and American industry might prosper. 
 Was that faith based on hopes and dreams alone? 
 No. Ten thousand times no. One by one the numer- 
 ous examples of the progressive elements, the human- 
 izing elements in industry, that he had seen success- 
 fully carried out passed before his mind's eye. 
 According to the statistics of the government's Labor 
 Bureau alone, and those statistics did not cover every 
 phase of industrial betterment work nor every at- 
 tempt on the part of the employer and his employees 
 to get closer together in a better and a richer under- 
 standing, there were some fifteen hundred represen- 
 tatives of industry in the United States who had 
 inaugurated industrial improvements of various 
 sorts. All these were on the road and although they 
 had not covered all of it, they had passed some of the 
 milestones. The passing of milestones, these were the 
 American methods of changing conditions. Con- 
 struction instead of destruction. That was the thing. 
 
 But that resemblance between Hurley and Hard- 
 wick. That was amusing. Very. Struthers chuckled 
 aloud. Hurley looked up and met his gaze. The 
 look was not unfriendly. 
 
 "What's the joke, Struthers? Pass it on. A joke 
 doesn't go half bad these days." 
 
 "Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking of the 
 general cussedness of human nature and the general 
 likeness of human nature. I was thinking of you 
 and Hardwick and " 
 
Ben Hurley 25 
 
 "Stop thinking of me and Mr. Hardwick. It'll be 
 doing me a favor if you will. I've got to work for 
 him. That can't be helped. But I don't have to 
 think him, live him and talk him, do I?" He stopped, 
 then laughed shortly and bitterly. "I don't have to, 
 but hang it, I do. I do, Struthers, and it isn't good 
 for me and it isn't good for him. I hate him, and 
 what's more, I'm beginning to hate myself for stand- 
 ing for the things that he forces down upon me and 
 the men." 
 
 Hurley's voice was low and well modulated. 
 Strangely enough, there was no passion or excitement 
 behind the words. They were spoken calmly, quietly 
 and conclusively. Struthers looked up in interest. 
 There was a deep sincerity and strength behind the 
 
 words that could not be denied. He waited for 
 
 I 
 
 Hurley to go on. Instead Hurley rose. He stood 
 staring down intently at Struthers. Struthers met 
 his gaze. Finally Hurley spoke. 
 
 "I can't talk in a house, Struthers. I can't talk 
 across a table when I see your face watching me 
 and waiting for the things I'm going to say. It makes 
 me feel like a kid reciting a poem. But I'd like to 
 talk with you. You're no fool. What do you say to 
 walking out a bit? It's all right if you don't want 
 to go, but I'd be obliged to you if you did. Once in 
 a while a man likes to get a few things off his chest." 
 
 Struthers got up and the two men went out to- 
 gether. For a long time neither of them said any- 
 
26 Humanizing Industry 
 
 thing. Struthers was afraid to speak for fear of say- 
 ing the wrong thing. Hurley was silent because of 
 the things that were struggling to be said, but for 
 which he could find no words. They had reached 
 the factory buildings before Hurley spoke. 
 
 "Here we are. The factory buildings. The factory 
 buildings of your friend. Stephen Hardwick. Fine 
 friend, great friend, isn't he? He expected to find 
 you a rich and prosperous man, was going to have you 
 live with him for a while, but you were poor and 
 broke so he gave you a job as a cheap mechanic. 
 Burke told me. He told me how he heard you talking 
 and arguing and how you finally came out and went 
 over to the employment office to get a job. Anybody 
 with half an eye can see you're too good for the job, 
 but friend Hardwick doesn't see it that way. No, sir, 
 when a feller's broke, then friendship go hang. That's 
 Hardwick's code of morals." 
 
 Struthers interrupted him. 
 
 "I don't think you understand, Hurley." 
 
 "No, of course, I don't. I can understand, though, 
 your saying this. You're all right, Struthers, and I 
 like you. You're no yawling baby. But let me tell 
 you that Hardwick is due for a fall one of these days. 
 He can't go on this way forever. He can't go on using 
 his high-handed methods very much longer. The man 
 in the shops is being educated to what is his by right 
 and one of these days, Struthers, he's going to kick 
 up such a row that your Hardwicks and the men 
 
Ben Hurley 27 
 
 like him are going to go up in smoke. And nobody 
 will miss them. Nobody. We'll run things our way 
 for a change." 
 
 "What is your way, Hurley? What exactly are 
 you going to do?" 
 
 "That will come later. First, we'll get rid of these 
 monsters that suck the lifeblood out of us, that 
 squeeze us so hard that every bit of human joy is 
 choked out of us, and then, well, we'll see what we'll 
 do." 
 
 Struthers smiled. 
 
 "Hurley, you sound like a page out of an I. W. W. 
 text-book." 
 
 Hurley colored under the words. 
 
 "Well, what if I do? Is there any other text-book 
 that sees our end of the bargain? Is there any other 
 text-book that dares to tell of things as they are and 
 where they are? Is there any other text-book that 
 puts into words the things you want to do, the things 
 that come into your brain like nightmares during 
 your waking and sleeping hours? I tell you, they've 
 got it straight, Struthers, and it's up to us to see 
 them through." 
 
 "See them through what?" 
 
 "Overthrow of conditions as they are." 
 
 "And then, what? Exactly what? What will you 
 do here in this plant after you have destroyed Hard- 
 wick and the buildings and the machinery and every- 
 thing? What exactly will you do? How will you 
 
28 Humanizing Industry 
 
 go about building up new things, new buildings, new 
 conditions? What specific changes do you intend to 
 make? What new features are you going to intro- 
 duce? What new arrangement are you going to in- 
 augurate? Who will direct and who will work? 
 How will you direct and how will you work? Tell me, 
 Hurley, tell me these things." 
 
 "Those will come later," was the answer. "I don't 
 know yet how they will work out, but I do know that 
 we need a change and need it badly." 
 
 "I agree with you there, entirely. But the change 
 will not and need not come in the manner in which 
 you describe. If it does, then heaven help you, Hur- 
 ley, and heaven help Hardwick as well. Hurley, you 
 are an American, are you not?" 
 
 "I am, five generations back." 
 
 "Very good. You will understand what I have to 
 say all the better. You have for some time been 
 feeling that the conditions under which you and your 
 men have to work are unsatisfactory. It is more 
 than a question of wages, isn't it? It's general dis- 
 satisfaction with conditions as they are and a desire 
 for change. Very well. But there is no point in cre- 
 ating a change just for the purpose of change alone. 
 A change is worth something when you substitute a 
 good thing for a bad thing, but when you have no 
 substitute to offer, then you would do well to hold 
 on to the thing that, unsatisfactory as it is, serves to 
 bring some definite results. There is no point in 
 
Ben Hurley 29 
 
 destroying things without practicable plans of build- 
 ing them up. I say practicable, with reason. 
 
 "You have been reading and listening to theorists 
 and fanatics who are suffering from fancied wrongs. 
 Oh, I know, I know, that you have definite and real 
 causes to desire changes here, but they are not what 
 these people would make you believe they are". These 
 people are suffering from wrongs, but they are not the 
 wrongs of American life and American institutions. 
 They are the remembered wrongs of a regime and 
 a system that are foreign to our existence. 
 
 "Let me be more explicit. In spite of the many 
 statements to the contrary, the people who are the 
 guiding forces of this class-consciousness movement 
 are not Americans. A good many of them are Rus- 
 sians. I repeat they have cause or, rather, had cause 
 to rebel against the conditions of life under which 
 they were forced to exist. A good many of these lead- 
 ers are men and women who personally had suffered 
 under the rule of the iron heel of autocracy. Many 
 of them had taken part in the Revolution of 1905. 
 Many of them had lived in the prisons of Russia. 
 Many of them had suffered the miseries of Siberia. 
 Many of them had felt what it means to be barred 
 from an education when every fiber and breath of the 
 body had called for a chance to develop the minds 
 with which they were endowed. Good minds, too, 
 Hurley. Brilliant minds. The kind of minds that 
 under more favorable conditions would have made 
 
30 Humanizing Industry 
 
 them the forerunners of progressive thought and life 
 in their country. 
 
 "But conditions were not favorable and what hap- 
 pened? They banded themselves together and wrote 
 a hymn of hate that was more deadly than anything 
 the world has ever known, a hymn of hate of destruc- 
 tion and dissolution of everything that spelled bond- 
 age to them. Mark my words, Hurley, I am not 
 condemning them on that score. That hymn of hate 
 was inspired by wrongs and sufferings the like of 
 which we here have no conception. As far as they 
 were able they were paying in the same sort of coin 
 that they had received. Again I say, I have no quar- 
 rel with them on that score. Don't for a moment 
 imagine that I am of the belief that the humble atti- 
 tude is the right attitude and that the individual 
 should allow himself to be submerged under forces 
 greater than himself without making an effort to 
 clear himself of them. 
 
 "Those men and women were suffering there for 
 lack of political freedom, religious freedom, educa- 
 tional freedom. Their minds as well as their bodies 
 were not their own. Under those circumstances they 
 were justified in using the methods they did use. 
 None other would have been understood in that coun- 
 try. None other were within their reach. 
 
 "Things came to a pass where they decided that 
 leaving the country was the best and the safest thing 
 to do. 'Discretion is the better part of valor' and 
 
Ben Hurley 31 
 
 under some conditions it is the wiser course to run 
 than to stay and suffer the penalties of representing 
 a cause that is lost. Especially when you can be of 
 greater good alive than dead. 
 
 "A good many of them came here. They had heard 
 of the land of freedom and wanted to make it their 
 own. They pictured it as a modern Utopia. Now, 
 Hurley, I am talking to you as a man of sense and 
 sanity. There is no modern Utopia. The world is 
 made up of human beings. Some of them are more 
 progressive than others. Some of them are finer than 
 others. Some of them have younger traditions than 
 others. The last, by the way, is the biggest asset a 
 country can have. We have that asset. Because we 
 are the youngest country in the world we have the 
 power to take the biggest steps in progress. Very 
 often we don't take them, it is true, but that is not 
 because we do not think of them and do not want 
 them. That is due to the fact that we are human 
 beings, the same sort of beings that people the entire 
 earth, open to the same mistakes, the same stupidities, 
 the same drawbacks, and the same reactions. The 
 big thing to remember is that we started out well, 
 with a clean bill of health and a good program of 
 freedom of life, liberty and action. We have gone 
 ahead following that program just as far as it is 
 possible for blind uncoordinated human beings to go. 
 And every nation is made up of blind uncoordinated 
 human beings. And every nation will be unco- 
 
32 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ordinated for time to come. I don't know but what 
 that is not the best way. Sight is good and co- 
 ordination is good, but allow it to go to an extreme, 
 and I verily believe you lose the joy of living. That, 
 however, is not the point here. 
 
 "The point is that as nations go we have much to 
 be proud of and much to be grateful for. However, 
 these people did not see it in that light. Because 
 they saw poverty, because they saw misery and dirt 
 and squalor and we will have these conditions until 
 we reach the millennium, Hurley, in spite of all we can 
 do to fight them they immediately arrived at the 
 conclusion that we here were in no way any better 
 off than they had been in Kussia. With eyes that 
 had been accustomed to seeing nothing but injustice 
 and wrong and serfdom, they interpreted the life here 
 in those terms. They saw political injustice, reli- 
 gious intolerance, industrial slavery, educational 
 bondage. They either cannot or will not see that 
 what they are condemning is no way akin to condi- 
 tions in their own country. Their perspective is 
 warped, their reasoning perverted. The virus of 
 hate has seeped through the bone and marrow of 
 them. No matter what the conditions and no matter 
 what the country, they will always find oppression 
 and repression of every sort. It's a case of 'seek and 
 ye shall find.' " 
 
 Struthers paused for a moment. Hurley, who had 
 
Ben Hurley 33 
 
 been listening quietly all this time, broke in with the 
 words : 
 
 "There is enough to find, heaven knows." 
 
 "True, Hurley, there is enough to find but not to 
 the extent that these people would make you believe. 
 Do you feel that you are being oppressed along politi- 
 cal, religious or educational lines? I admit there is 
 much to be desired in the relationship between the 
 employer and the employed, but, Hurley, there is 
 much being done of which you people are ignorant, 
 of which these leaders of the 'class-conscious' groups 
 desire you to be ignorant and, it may be, in a good 
 many cases of which they themselves are ignorant. 
 Changes are being made along American lines of 
 progress. They are not lines of destruction. They 
 are lines of construction, of educating the employer 
 as well as the employed in the need of better, cleaner, 
 healthier working conditions and the fundamental 
 truth that there can be no harmony or success in 
 industry without cooperation in industry. Coopera- 
 tion between the forces that build it up ; between the 
 mind that runs the plant and the hand that runs 
 wheels ; between Hardwick and you." 
 
 Hurley snorted. Again Struthers noticed the re- 
 semblance in the mental make-up between him and 
 Hardwick. 
 
 "Cooperation between Hardwick and me, did you 
 say? Hardwick and me? That's pretty rich. Man 
 
34 Humanizing Industry 
 
 alive, every time I have spoken to that man about 
 anything in the shops, it was to be told that he was 
 running things in his own place as he saw fit and if 
 the men didn't like it they could walk out." 
 
 "Very true. That sounds exactly like Hardwick. 
 But, Hurley, have you ever gone to him for any reason 
 other than the one that unless he does so and so, the 
 men will quit? Have you ever approached him with- 
 out a bludgeon of some sort in your hand? Without 
 a threat of closing up the shops, I mean. I know 
 it isn't your fault, that you are merely the spokesman 
 for the men in the factory, but Hurley, have you ever 
 been the spokesman for something that I call 'con- 
 structive?' Have you ever gone to him and suggested 
 necessary changes purely on the basis of shop 
 efficiency?" 
 
 "No, I haven't," Hurley admitted. "The less I have 
 to go to him the better I like it. Besides, what value 
 would he put on any suggestion of mine? You see, 
 his kind and my kind are on opposite sides of the 
 fence. His kind have always had a mutual sort of 
 union among themselves. There are so few of them 
 compared to us that they can work together with- 
 out actually coming together. Besides, they were 
 educated to the need of standing together for the 
 good of their own welfare. 
 
 "In the case of the workman this class conscious- 
 ness has naturally been of slow growth. There are 
 so many of us, you see. So many of so many different 
 
Ben Hurley 35 
 
 varieties and nationalities and languages. But we 
 are fast getting there and when we do, let me tell 
 you, things will be different." 
 
 "Things will be different but how different?" 
 Struthers broke in. "I understand fully and appre- 
 ciate the need of concerted and concentrated effort. 
 But, Hurley, direct that effort in the proper channel. 
 I once knew a very clever newspaperman who used 
 to say that what the world needed was not class 
 consciousness but social consciousness. What is the 
 difference between the two, you ask? This, that class 
 consciousness means a straining against human forces, 
 whereas social consciousness means a working toward 
 and with cooperating human forces. 
 
 "The point of the matter is that we have no classes 
 here in America and that the term 'class conscious- 
 ness' is a misnomer. It is something that has been 
 grafted upon us by the same people who have wrongly 
 seen all the evils of the whole world duplicated in 
 our industrial life. A man's son in this country does 
 not necessarily follow the same line of work that his 
 father follows. He does not have to depend upon his 
 father to teach him the trade that will gain him his 
 livelihood. He can branch out for himself and follow 
 his natural bent. He need not remain in the station 
 in which he was born. 
 
 "It's this feeling of class consciousness, however, 
 that will serve to keep him there. It's this hatred of 
 everything that means control that will foster the 
 
36 Humanizing Industry 
 
 seeds of class lines in this country. Instead of going 
 forward, we seem to be going backward. Instead of 
 giving to the older civilizations the best that we 
 can offer in the way of advancement and progress, 
 we are taking from them, through the channels of the 
 unhappiest members of their races, the worst that 
 they have in the form of retrogression and re- 
 action. 
 
 "What makes you imagine that these holier-than- 
 thou people who are opposed to anything American 
 and who refuse to see the value in anything American 
 unless they can rightly or wrongly trace its origin 
 to their own ranks, are going to bring you to the 
 millennium? What makes you think that power in 
 the hands of their leaders will be more desirable than 
 power and control in the hands of those that built 
 it up? Don't forget, Hurley, that people are, above 
 all, human, and that under certain conditions they 
 all act in the same way. 
 
 "Let me give you a specific instance. This is a 
 true story. I know a number of these leaders of the 
 ultra-radical movements. I have heard them speak 
 of the wrongs of the workers. I have heard them 
 stress the need of class consciousness. One of them 
 is a Russian. He came over to America about twelve 
 years ago. Like a good many of the rest of them he 
 immediately took up the burden of the oppressed. 
 In talk, only, if you please, but the talk sounded sin- 
 cere and I took him for a misguided but honest ideal- 
 
Ben Hurley 37 
 
 ist. He was a farmer. In order to gain a livelihood 
 he bought himself a few hundred acres of land. To 
 increase his earnings, he turned his place into a 
 boarding house for the summer months. The people 
 who came there were of his own nationality, speaking 
 his own language. According to him, however, they 
 were not as far advanced or as well educated as he 
 was. Maybe they were not. That, however, is not 
 the point. 
 
 "Three years ago, while we were in the midst of 
 the war with Germany, the papers were full of the 
 sufferings of the children and refugees in the Euro- 
 pean countries. You remember. Very well. This 
 man suddenly conceived the idea one day of making 
 a collection among his boarders for the relief of war 
 sufferers. That was the way he put it, 'the relief 
 of war sufferers/ I believe he managed to get some 
 twenty dollars together. The people were willing 
 and anxious to do something for the unfortunates 
 overseas. No, this man did not take the money for 
 himself. Neither, however, did he send it overseas for 
 relief work. Instead he made out a check for the full 
 amount to one of the Socialist leaders who had been 
 imprisoned for talking sedition during the war. The 
 check with his signature on it was sent as an offering 
 of sympathy to the man in prison. I daresay it 
 cheered him. According to our Russian friend he had 
 played a good practical joke on the people who had in- 
 trusted their offerings to him. He made the startling 
 
38 Humanizing Industry 
 
 contention when telling the story, that he had fol- 
 lowed the letter of the purpose of the collection by 
 sending it to a war sufferer of the highest type. 
 
 "Maybe he had. But if he or his kind had gotten 
 hold of such a story in relation to one of the captains 
 of industry, what do you think he would have made 
 of it? What about the talk of robbery and pillage 
 and swindle that you would have heard? What 
 about the oppression of the poor and the embezzle- 
 ment of funds? What about the need of standing 
 together to overthrow the yoke of bondage? Tell 
 me, is swindle by your own class any more commend- 
 able than swindle by the class for whom you are 
 working? I am using the term 'class' in the manner 
 in which you do. You understand what I mean. I 
 don't see it that way at all. Any right or wrong that 
 is done is not done by one class against another but 
 by one human being against another. We are all of 
 the same mold underneath the surface." 
 
 Hurley interrupted him. 
 
 "Hold on a minute, will you? Hold on. You are 
 damning the whole lot of these people by telling me 
 of your experience with one of them. That doesn't 
 seem to hold water to me." 
 
 "Maybe it doesn't. No more does your contention 
 hold water that all people who employ men are slave- 
 drivers and labor exploiters who squeeze you so dry 
 that every bit of human joy is choked out of you. 
 That was the statement that you made, wasn't it? 
 
Ben Hurley 39 
 
 Or something like it. On what are you basing your 
 judgments? How many men of this type have you 
 known? You call Hard wick one. I don't know that 
 he is. Hardwick is fundamentally sound. So I think 
 are a good many others like him. What they need 
 is what you and your kind need a better understand- 
 ing of conditions as they are. An understanding of 
 the finer and more progressive phases of industry as 
 well as the poorer and the more backward. 
 
 "It's a matter of ignorance on both sides," Struth- 
 ers continued. "Ignorance on the side of Hardwick 
 who doesn't know or refuses to know that many of 
 the successful business men of to-day are running 
 their plants on a new basis of kinship and cooperation 
 with the men they employ, and ignorance on your 
 part of the possibility of the existence of such a state 
 of affairs without first undermining and destroying 
 the complete structure of industry. To my mind it 
 is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. To my 
 mind you are both pretty black. Ignorance always is." 
 
 Hurley's face grew set. His jaw squared. 
 Struthers heard the click of his teeth and felt that he 
 had gone too far. The tone of Hurley's voice when 
 he spoke convinced him. It was thick with anger. 
 
 "That's where you've said something true. Igno- 
 rance always is black. And whose fault is it that we 
 are ignorant? Whose fault, I ask you? Hardwick's 
 and the men like him. Hardwick, who pushed our 
 fathers so hard against the wall, that learning of 
 
40 Humanizing Industry 
 
 anything but a trade wasn't to be thought of. Do 
 you think that being a foreman of a drill shop is the 
 thing I want to be? Do you think that living in this 
 God-forsaken hole is the place that I should have 
 chosen if I could have helped it? Do you think that 
 it makes me any happier to always have to fight, 
 fight, fight? But I'm going to, Struthers, I'm going 
 to, until either Hardwick or I am beaten." 
 
 Struthers put his hand on Hurley's arm. 
 
 "I'm with you there, Hurley. I'm with you there 
 with one little difference. I'm going to fight until 
 both Hardwick and you are beaten. And I'm going 
 to fight hard, just as hard as both of you are. But 
 I am going to fight with different weapons. I am 
 not going to threaten you or Hardwick. I am not 
 going to talk of strikes or cuts in wages. I am going 
 to present facts on the one hand and constructive 
 change on the other. Those are the only things that 
 will convince either of you." 
 
 "You think Hardwick will listen to you, do you? 
 After he gave you the show-down he did?" 
 
 "Come, come, Hurley, Hardwick gave me no show- 
 down. The fact that he let me work in his factory 
 is all the more to his credit. What would you have 
 thought of him and of me, if I, an able-bodied man, 
 capable of taking care of myself, would have been 
 content to live off the bounty of his hand? You doubt- 
 less would have made it another grievance against 
 him. You doubtless would have called me a para- 
 
Ben Hurley 41 
 
 site. Yon might have been right in a measure, in 
 both instances. Personally, I think it is none of your 
 business how Hardwick manages his personal affairs. 
 I think you will agree with me there, but nevertheless, 
 I'll wager it would have made food for talk and 
 thought to you. What?" 
 
 "Oh, I don't know," came back the brief reply. 
 There was silence for several moments. Hurley 
 broke it. 
 
 "I say, Struthers, I'm going to be straight from the 
 shoulder with you. You are working in my shop 
 and living in my home. I have a right to know. Are 
 you with us or are you we'll call it acting for 
 Hardwick?" 
 
 "You mean spying, don't you? I'm not. Be as- 
 sured of that. As for being with you, I am, just as 
 far as you are sane. After that, you have got to be 
 with me." 
 
 "What do you intend doing?" 
 
 "Make Rawburn a happy industrial community." 
 
 "Ha ! How the Hell are you going to do that? I 
 beg your pardon, Struthers, but how are you?" 
 
 " 'How the HelF is all right. And don't beg my 
 pardon for it. But it's going to be done. With your 
 help and Hardwick's." 
 
 Hurley turned about and faced Struthers. He 
 looked at him for several seconds. Then he laughed. 
 
 "You babe in the wood, you poor little babe in the 
 wood. Don't you know any better than that? Don't 
 
42 Humanizing Industry 
 
 you know any better? Hardwick and me. I like that. 
 Hardwick and me are on two different sides of the 
 fence and we stay there. He isn't the kind of a man 
 that teeters about on the fence and I'm not the kind 
 of a man who can do that stunt. We both stand on 
 firm ground and that ground is definitely divided. 
 You get me?" 
 
 "Yes, I get you, Hurley. And what you say about 
 that fence is very true. Except that neither you 
 nor Hardwick will have to do any teetering, for there 
 won't be any fence to teeter on." 
 
 "There won't be any fence to teeter on!" Hurley 
 repeated. "Bah! Come home, Struthers, your 
 brain needs a rest. Heavens knows it needs exercise 
 after a day on the drill presses, but you've had more 
 than enough and you're talking wild." 
 
 They turned about and walked silently home, each 
 in deep thought. At the door Hurley stopped. 
 
 "There's one thing I want to say, Struthers. You 
 mean well and you have a fine faith, but let me tell 
 you something. There will always be a nigger in the 
 woodpile in anything that Hardwick does. Take 
 that from me. Good night." 
 
 "Good night." 
 
 Struthers went into his room and closed the door. 
 iHe sat down on his bed and lit his pipe. His eyes 
 flpere fixed unseeingly on the wall before him. 
 
 Hurley and Hardwick. What mighty forces they 
 represented and what sources of strength they were 
 
Ben Hurley 43 
 
 if properly directed. But they weren't properly di- 
 rected. Hurley had said it. They were both on dif- 
 ferent sides of the fence. And neither of them was 
 the kind of man who could teeter about undecidedly. 
 Therein lay the resemblance between them that he had 
 noticed early that evening. Both came out boldly and 
 fought in the open. For a moment Struthers won- 
 dered what it was in Hurley that made Hardwick 
 keep him in spite of the constant clashes of antagon- 
 ism between the two. But that was like the Hardwick 
 of the old days. He had always liked a good fight 
 with the chances even. 
 
 "There will be a nigger in the woodpile in anything 
 that Hardwick does," Hurley had said. That was 
 untrue. Struthers knew it. Hardwick wasn't that 
 sort. But there would have been no use in telling Hur- 
 ley that. The suspicion and the lack of trust had been 
 fostered by a system that was ages old and a new red 
 literature that was only a few years old. Both had 
 cut deeply into the brain of Hurley. It would take 
 a long time and many things to cleanse and drain 
 the rut that was beginning to fester and send its 
 poisonous hatred throughout his system, but the game 
 was worth the candle. Hardwick was worth while 
 and Hurley was worth while. Of that he was certain. 
 That thought was good and Struthers smiled. He 
 looked at the clock. It was aften eleven. Remem- 
 bering the next day's work at the presses he set the 
 alarm and went to bed. 
 
CHAPTER THREE 
 
 ACCIDENT PREVENTION 
 
 THE men stood about in groups, talking earnestly. 
 All eyes were turned to the door anxiously waiting 
 for a sign of Hurley. Bits of conversation reached 
 Struthers's ears as he stood at the side of his press 
 with an idle tool in his hands. 
 
 "It was his own fault that ladder slipped. He 
 should 'a put something against the feet to keep it 
 from going." 
 
 "Own fault, nothing. The feet of that ladder are 
 so worn out they'd slip from under a mountain of 
 braces. It's a pity we can't afford to get a couple 
 of regular ladders." 
 
 "Yeh. That's right. Hope the kid ain't badly hurt. 
 He's a good kid." 
 
 "He sure is. It'd be a shame if he were finished. 
 It'll be tough on his old lady." 
 
 "It's a shame." 
 
 "It sure is." 
 
 From another side a more sympathetic group was 
 interested mainly in the extent of the injuries to the 
 lad. 
 
 "Wonder if it's his leg. Did you hear the yell he 
 
 44 
 
Accident Prevention 45 
 
 let out when Hurley tried to help him to stand up? 
 Poor kid, it'll be Hell for him if that's gone." 
 
 "I don't think it could've been broken. Maybe just 
 twisted or something. Anyway it's a mighty mean 
 deal to have handed out to you. I think I'd rather 
 be dead than walk around with a crutch. God, I hope 
 the kid comes through this all right. I'd hate to 
 think that he got that way on account of us needing 
 some of the stuff up there." 
 
 "Well, how the dickens could we have helped that? 
 We needed the stuff, didn't we? One of us could've 
 gotten it, sure, but the kid said he'd do the trick: and 
 there you are. Well, it's tough. I wish old Hurley 
 would come back and let us know what the doctor 
 said." 
 
 A third group walked over to the place where the 
 ladder had fallen and thrown the boy. Struthers 
 followed them. One of them bent over the wooden 
 contrivance. 
 
 "Look at this, will you? Just look at it. Anybody 
 with half an eye could see that this thing is no good. 
 Just look at those feet. Worn up to the first rung." 
 
 Struthers bent over to examine the thing more 
 closely. The men were right. The feet were worn 
 out to the first rung. He would never have taken a 
 chance at climbing a ladder in that condition. He 
 turned to the man at his side. 
 
 "No man in his senses should have tried to climb 
 up a thing of this sort." 
 
46 Humanizing Industry 
 
 The man, a worker on the press next to his, nodded 
 sadly. 
 
 "You're right. No man in his senses should have. 
 But a place where you work in isn't a place where 
 you use your senses. You use the stuff that's given 
 you and if you're wise, you don't make a fuss but 
 make the best of what you get. The men needed the 
 tools, Larry said he'd get them, that's part of his 
 job as an apprentice; the only thing that he could 
 reach them with was a ladder; the only ladder that 
 was right at hand was this one and he took it and 
 used it. That's plain, isn't it? That's sense, too." 
 
 The man looked at Struthers for acquiescence. 
 Struthers nodded. 
 
 "Yes, that's plain. But tell me, aren't there any 
 other ladders around the place, better ones?" 
 
 "Oh, I guess there are. In some of the other de- 
 partments. I guess Larry might have gone for one if 
 he hadn't been in such a hurry. But you see you 
 never think of these things. He had used the ladder 
 before and nothing happened. Who'd a thought that 
 anything was going to happen to-day? I call it a 
 shame." 
 
 "It is a shame. Oh, there's Hurley now. He may 
 tell us how the youngster is coming on." 
 
 Struthers and the man walked over to the group 
 that were gathering around the foreman. One of 
 them voiced the question that was uppermost in all 
 their minds. 
 
Accident Prevention 47 
 
 "How's the kid, Hurley? Nothing serious, is it?" 
 
 "No, small thanks to his own carelessness." His 
 eye caught Struthers who was standing behind the 
 man who had spoken. "And the carelessness of 
 others," he added. "It's just a bad bruise and a 
 twist. The doctor says he'll be all right within a 
 short time. There's nothing we can do anyway. And 
 there's no use standing around and talking about it. 
 Come now, let's get to work. The afternoon's almost 
 gone." 
 
 The men went back to their tasks but little was 
 done that afternoon. The hum of conversation kept 
 going constantly in spite of Hurley's exhortations 
 to the men to "fall to and keep going." Similar ac- 
 cidents were rehashed, personal escapes and experi- 
 ences gone over and the possibilities of similar mis- 
 haps in the future solemnly contemplated. There 
 was a tension and unrest in the room that spoke 
 poorly for the accomplishment of any work. 
 
 Johnson, the foreman of the shipping department, 
 came into Hurley's rooms and talked the affair over 
 with him. His eye swept the men as they stood dally- 
 ing over their work. 
 
 "They're not doing much work to-day, are they?" 
 he asked. 
 
 "No, they're not," Hurley responded. "You know 
 how it is when something like this happens. Sets 
 their tongues loose and their hands idle. Gives them 
 something to talk about." 
 
48 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Yes, I know how it is. We've been having a good 
 deal of it in my place. You certainly cannot get a 
 day's work out of a lot of men when you get some- 
 thing like this to disturb them. They keep going for 
 a long time, then bing, a man trips over a case and 
 beats himself up, and the whole place gets out of 
 running order and a day's work is gone. By the 
 way, that youngster wasn't badly hurt, was he? No? 
 Well, that's good. So long, I'll be trotting along 
 now. They'll be going at the old swing to-morrow. 
 I wouldn't worry." 
 
 "I'm not. I know how it is," Hurley replied. 
 Johnson left. 
 
 Struthers bent over his machine, thinking deeply. 
 He had heard the talk between the two men. He de- 
 cided to see Hardwick that evening. It was just a 
 week since he had first made his appearance in Raw- 
 burn. He wondered whether Hardwick was growing 
 impatient at his failure to appear. He thought at 
 first that he'd wait until he was more greatly familiar 
 with things, but the incidents of the day had made 
 the moment opportune to strike a blow at the enter- 
 ing wedge. 
 
 The five-thirty factory whistle let out its discordant 
 shriek and the men knocked off. Struthers got into 
 his street clothes hurriedly. Hurley was waiting 
 at the door for him. 
 
 "I may be late for supper, Hurley. Tell Mrs. 
 Hurley not to wait for me. See you later." 
 
Accident Prevention 49 
 
 He brushed past Hurley quickly and walked rap- 
 idly around to the building where Hardwick had his 
 offices. He caught him just as he was leaving. For 
 a moment Hardwick did not recognize Struthers in 
 the workman before him. His lips relaxed into a 
 warm smile when he did. 
 
 "Struthers! You certainly would make a fine 
 camouflage artist. Didn't know you behind that 
 sooty make-up of poor but honest toil. Glad to see 
 you. I've been waiting for you. I've been wanting 
 to talk to you but didn't want to send for you. I 
 thought I'd let you do this stunt in your own way. 
 Come over to dinner with me. The car's waiting. 
 It's only a short ride. Three miles out." 
 
 "I can't come to dinner in this make-up, Hardwick, 
 but I do want to speak with you this evening. I just 
 wanted to be sure you'd be in when I called. I'll 
 run along home now, wash up, get a bite and gather 
 some stuff together." 
 
 "Don't worry about how you look but come along. 
 It's three miles out and not especially pleasant walk- 
 ing. Besides you don't know the way. Come on." 
 
 "Can't be done, old scout. I really don't feel com- 
 fortable with all this grime. Besides I've got to get 
 the ammunition. Cannonade. Fireworks. Any- 
 thing you wish to call them. Don't worry about me. 
 Three miles aren't much. I'll get somebody to show 
 me the way. See you later." 
 
 Arrived at the Hurleys', Struthers went through 
 
50 Humanizing Industry 
 
 the program of washing up, eating and gathering his 
 material together. He delved deep into the bottom 
 of his suitcase and took out a large formidable look- 
 ing envelope. From this he extracted a number of 
 smaller ones. He glanced them over quickly and 
 replaced them all with the exception of one marked 
 "Safety.'' This he stuck in his breast pocket. On the 
 way out, he met Hurley. He looked at Struthers 
 questioningly. 
 
 "Going out?" 
 
 "Yes. How about walking a bit with me? What 
 do you say?" 
 
 "All right. Hold on a minute until I get into my 
 coat." 
 
 The two men went out together. 
 
 "Hurley," Struthers began, "I'm walking out to 
 Hardwick's place. Which way do we go?" 
 
 "Hm, I thought you would be. Going to tell him 
 about the accident to-day? If that's your purpose, 
 you're wasting your time. Hardwick won't bother 
 with those things. What's more, he'll find out about 
 the accident soon enough. There'll be a devil of a 
 row when he discovers that the scale of production 
 will be lower this week on account of the men not 
 working this afternoon. They never do work, you 
 know, after a thing like that." 
 
 "I know, Hurley. Tell me, how often do these 
 things occur at the shops?" 
 
 "Too often to be comfortable. First it's one thing, 
 
Accident Prevention 51 
 
 then it's another. Gears that catch, ladders that slip, 
 belts that break, electric currents that shock. There 
 are lots of things that can happen in a place where 
 work of this sort is done." 
 
 "Yes, I know, Hurley, but tell me how often would 
 you say these accidents happen; how many times a 
 month, a year or what?" 
 
 "How many times a week would be nearer it. 
 There's always something that needs mending which 
 is allowed to go without mending. I don't say the 
 fault there is Mr. Hardwick's entirely. Not all. It's 
 the men's as well. They're careless of themselves 
 just as he's careless of them. That boy Larry to-day 
 could just as easily have gotten a good ladder by go- 
 ing into the next building for one. He was in a hurry 
 so he didn't. What's he got as the result of his hurry? 
 Several days or, maybe, weeks of idleness. With pay 
 if Mr. Hardwick feels that way; without it, if the 
 thing gets him mad. It's up to me to recommend 
 whether or not I think the man is entitled to it. Of 
 course, I do recommend payment in most cases, but 
 sometimes I've got to admit that the fault is not en- 
 tirely on the side of the boss. But Struthers, why 
 can't he get rid of all the poor material, all the worn- 
 out ladders, for instance, and put in a sufficient supply 
 of safe materials? Why make it possible for a boy 
 like Larry to take a chance of breaking his neck? 
 Larry may not mean very much to Hardwick; he 
 can always get somebody else to take his place, but 
 
52 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Larry, careless as he might have been to-day, means 
 something definite and unreplaceable to his mother. 
 I am not getting slushy about this, Struthers, but if 
 people are careless, then you've got to do something 
 that will keep them from turning that carelessness 
 into a tragedy." 
 
 "Good work, Hurley, you're talking sense." 
 
 "Talking sense! Bah! You can't help talking 
 sense when you see the thing repeated over and over 
 again. If it isn't in my department, it's in Johnson's ; 
 if it isn't in his, it's in another's. Something's giving 
 way all the time. What does it mean in the long run? 
 I'm called before Hardwick, Johnson's called before 
 him, Foley is called before him, all the men in charge 
 of any special work are called before him and ragged 
 because there is a let-down in some of the work. 
 That's where it hits him and that's where he kicks. 
 Naturally." 
 
 "Naturally is right. You understand that, of 
 course. The thing that touches you closest is of the 
 most vital importance to you." 
 
 "Well, isn't the safety of the men of importance 
 to Hardwick? They mean something very definite to 
 him in dollars and cents, don't they? Why doesn't 
 he make it his business, then, to provide proper and 
 safe equipment for them?" 
 
 "Why haven't you suggested it to him?" Struthers 
 asked. "You know the shops as he doesn't pretend to 
 know them. You know what's lacking and what's 
 
Accident Prevention 53 
 
 needed to make them safe. Why do you wait until 
 things come to a point where they break before you 
 send in your requisition for new equipment? Why 
 don't you make yourself familiar with the things that 
 have been done in other shops along the same lines 
 and then propose a constructive change of that nature 
 to Hardwiek?" 
 
 "It wouldn't help, Struthers. First of all I don't 
 know as other shops are better than ours. You say 
 they are. Maybe it's so, but I'm willing to stake my 
 oath that we're all pretty much in the same bad shape. 
 Secondly, I tell you that there is no question of my 
 going to Hardwiek with talk of this kind. He's not 
 interested. When I go to him we both know it's going 
 to be about something disagreeable and the sooner we 
 get it over the better we both like it." 
 
 "I understand. You say that you're willing to 
 stake your oath that all shops are pretty much in the 
 same bad shape. I shouldn't do that if I were you 
 for you'd lose. I wish I could take you with me now. 
 But I can't. Not yet. You wouldn't be comfortable 
 and Hardwiek wouldn't be comfortable. And to be 
 frank, neither would I. I couldn't say what I wanted 
 to, as I wanted to, with you around. Just as I 
 couldn't talk to you, as I've talked to you, with Hard- 
 wick around. I hope you understand." 
 
 Hurley nodded. 
 
 "I get you. I'm going to leave you here. Follow 
 this road until you get to the river. Hardwick's 
 
54 Humanizing Industry 
 
 house is half a mile up the banks. You couldn't miss 
 it. It's the only one there. Good night." 
 
 Struthers found Hardwick waiting for him when 
 he arrived. He was sitting in a deep-seated chair in 
 front of a cheerfully crackling fire. There was a. 
 chair drawn up at the opposite side of the grate. 
 Hardwick motioned Struthers to it. The two men sat 
 in restful silence for a few minutes. The soft glow 
 of the room, the restful harmonizing shades of the 
 furniture and hangings, the warm comfort of the 
 hospitable chair brought a sense of ease and relax- 
 ation to Struthers that he had missed during the 
 week of noise and grind and turmoil. He slumped 
 down in his chair, and gave himself up to the sensu- 
 ous enjoyment of the feeling. The man opposite him 
 smiled but made no comment It was good to see 
 the fine dreamer's face of the man he loved opposite 
 him and good to see it there in repose and friendli- 
 ness. After a time Struthers lifted his eyes from the 
 fire and met those of Hardwick bent upon him. The 
 two men smiled at each other in kindly under- 
 standing. 
 
 "It's a shame to spoil this, isn't it, Struthers, by 
 bickering and arguing? How about calling it off this 
 evening? Come and see me to-morrow." 
 
 The smile on Struthers's face grew deeper. 
 
 "Afraid, Hardwick? Afraid? Come now, I won't 
 spoil this at all. I'm not going to bicker and I'm 
 
Accident Prevention 55 
 
 not going to argue. We'll go at this sensibly and 
 quietly. All right?" 
 
 "All right." 
 
 "There was an accident at the works to-day. One 
 of the apprentices got on a ladder to get some mate- 
 rial for the men, the ladder slipped, he fell and was 
 badly beaten up. Did you know?" 
 
 "No, I didn't, I should probably have heard of it 
 before the week was out. Hurley would have let me 
 have that as an excuse for the fall in production." 
 
 "Well get at that later. That ladder, Hardwick, 
 was pretty bad. Worn out clean to the first rung. 
 That accident was bound to happen under the great- 
 est care." 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Struthers," Hardwick inter- 
 rupted, "that accident would not have happened 
 under any care. I have some new ladders in the 
 shops that this precious apprentice of yours might 
 have used. Why didn't he take one of those?" 
 
 "Because the old one was nearer at hand. Because 
 when you installed some new ladders you did only 
 half the job, or rather, one-quarter the job. You 
 didn't buy half enough to go around all the plants 
 and you didn't remove those that were a menace to 
 the life and limb of the men who, in the mistaken idea 
 of saving a bit of time, foolishly risk their lives. Be- 
 cause of an inherent sense of economy which will 
 make a man resort to a makeshift in order to save 
 the few steps which will take him to the perfect tool. 
 
56 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Because of the same sense of economy that makes 
 you buy an insufficient number of ladders" or an in- 
 ferior grade of ladders because of the saving in so 
 many dollars. You and that apprentice are pretty 
 much alike in the expression of that trait. He loses 
 several days' work on account of it; you lose several 
 days' work on account of it. Proportionately, you 
 both suffer to the same degree." 
 
 "How do you make that out? Do you mean to say 
 that his absence from the works means the same to 
 me as it does to him? One apprentice more or less 
 doesn't make very much difference in the works. 
 Come now, be sensible, Struthers. I don't like these 
 things to happen ; that's natural, but when you speak 
 of the loss to me, and compare it to the loss to the 
 man or boy, I'm afraid you're pretty much off the 
 track." 
 
 "Just a minute," Struthers made answer. "You're 
 going too fast. You said a few minutes ago that 
 you would have eventually heard of the accident ; that 
 Hurley would have given it as an excuse for his fail- 
 ure to keep up the mark of production. You said 
 that, didn't you? Well now, don't you believe Hurley 
 when he makes that excuse?" 
 
 "I don't. Hurley and his kind will pick on any- 
 thing that sounds plausible to explain away shiftless- 
 ness and carelessness. To save my soul, I cannot see 
 where the fall of one man from a ladder will keep 
 one hundred men from turning out the required lot 
 
Accident Prevention 57 
 
 of work. That's a bit too much for my credulity." 
 
 "Hm. Well, that's too bad. Proper application 
 of a bit of knowledge of human nature would help 
 you a long way. Human nature as applied to busi- 
 ness. You're fond of your younger brother, Hardwick, 
 aren't you?" 
 
 "What's that got to do with it?" 
 
 "I'll show you in just a minute. Suppose you got 
 word that this younger brother of yours had fallen 
 off a broken ladder in his gymnasium at college. Sup- 
 pose you thought it meant the losing of his limb or 
 maybe his life, what would you do?" 
 
 "The comparison is far-fetched. I fail to see the 
 analogy." 
 
 "Maybe it is, but what would you do? Come now, 
 what would you do?" 
 
 "Why, why, I'd go off to see Jim, of course." 
 
 "And you'd raise a devil of a row about that ladder, 
 too, wouldn't you, if you found that Jim was badly 
 hurt?" 
 
 "Oh, what has all this got to do with an apprentice 
 who falls off a ladder in one of the shops?" 
 
 "This. You, the head of this plant, the guiding 
 factor in the work of this plant, would, on the 
 strength of a message of the kind we have just dis- 
 cussed, let everything here go by the board and rush 
 off to be near your brother. Your mind wouldn't be 
 at rest until you had assured yourself of his safety. 
 The question of the production of the plant would 
 
58 Humanizing Industry 
 
 not be of great importance then, would it? The fact 
 that things might not come up to standard during 
 your absence wouldn't be of very great importance. 
 Even the knowledge that your presence at his bedside 
 w r ould mean actual monetary loss wouldn't matter 
 very much under the circumstances, would it? This 
 hypothetical accident to your brother might I don't 
 say it would but it might affect the work of one 
 thousand men. Can you see that? And, seeing that, 
 can you understand how the accident to one man in 
 one of the shops might affect the output of all the men 
 in the shop? 
 
 "It's a matter of human nature, Hardwick. The 
 same sort of thing that would make you restless and 
 unfit for work makes your men restless and unfit 
 for work. I have seen it to-day; I have seen it be- 
 fore. It's not so much love for the boy that makes 
 them stand about and talk, although that enters 
 into the matter to some extent; it's just the fact that 
 something's happened, something that concerns them 
 intimately, something that is a part of their 
 lives, something that might curtail the duration of 
 their lives. It's not that they definitely set out to be 
 idle; it's not that their hands are unwilling to do 
 the work; it's not that they agree to cut down the 
 production of the plant because one single ladder 
 happens to be of inferior strength or quality; it's 
 simply that the thing sets the maggots in their brain 
 working and they begin to question and ponder and 
 
Accident Prevention 59 
 
 compare and make decisions. Hurley can't fight 
 against that sort of thing. Fortunately, Hurley is 
 wise enough to know it and makes no attempt to 
 drive them when they feel that way. He appreciates 
 that no production is better than poor production. 
 Eventually, he stands the brunt of your displeasure 
 and your lack of appreciation that an accident in the 
 shops may mean, and does mean, a let-down in pro- 
 duction, 
 
 "I was a witness to and a participant in the state of 
 idleness to-day. The boy fell down at about three- 
 thirty in the afternoon. The amount of work done 
 between three-thirty and five-thirty was negligible. 
 Two hours 1 work gone to the dogs. You have about 
 one hundred men in that shop, haven't you? That 
 means two hundred hours. Koughly speaking, those 
 two hundred hours are worth at least one hundred 
 dollars to you in labor and several more in amount 
 of production. I am right there, am I not? As I 
 understand it, this is not the first time such an acci- 
 dent has happened and neither will it be the last time 
 if some efficient measures to prevent their recurrence 
 are not taken. From the standpoint of sound busi- 
 ness sense, Hardwick, can you afford to go on in this 
 hit-and-miss fashion? 
 
 "It isn't ladders alone. It's everything and any- 
 thing that leaves the question of the safety of the 
 men at work a dubious one. It's belts and gears and 
 chains and floors and everything and every place 
 
60 Humanizing Industry 
 
 where there is a possibility for a man to be careless. 
 Man is naturally careless of his own safety. You 
 can't get away from that. The old proverb of 
 familiarity breeding contempt is as true of contempt 
 of danger as it is of anything else." 
 
 "What would you have me do, Struthers?" Hard- 
 wick asked shortly. "Go around the shops acting as 
 nursemaid to the men, warning them of the dangers 
 of working in the plant? I can buy new ladders of 
 course. But that same fool contempt of danger will 
 function just as strongly with a new one as with an old 
 one. Let me tell you that." 
 
 "True," Struthers agreed. "I agree. It needs more 
 than the installation of safety devices to make a thing 
 safe. It needs proper use of them and proper super- 
 vision in the use of them." 
 
 "Well, how are you going to get that supervision?" 
 Hardwick exclaimed. "Are you going to suggest that 
 I hire a corps of policemen whose duty it will be to 
 see that the men in my employ do not use an old lad- 
 der when I have bought a new one for them?" 
 
 "You are growing facetious, Hardwick. I don't 
 propose anything of the kind. First of all, there need 
 be and should be no old ladders. Secondly, the men 
 can choose their own supervisors from among them- 
 selves. That's the only supervision that is of any 
 value." 
 
 Hardwick rose up from his chair and began pacing 
 the floor. He stopped in front of Struthers. 
 
'Accident Prevention 61 
 
 "You are getting on to your old subject again, I 
 suppose you call it cooperation and all that kind of 
 nonsense. I told you last time that I am willing to 
 listen to good business sense but that I won't pay 
 any attention to wild theorizing. You have been 
 pretty sane up to this point but when you begin talk- 
 ing of safety supervision by the men then I feel as 
 though I were talking to a new-fangled kindergarten 
 teacher who gushes over the self-expression of her 
 little pupils." 
 
 "That's not such a bad thing either/' Struthers re- 
 torted with a grin. "Don't get impatient with me, 
 Hardwick," he continued, growing serious. "I told 
 you when I last saw you that I should propose noth- 
 ing to you in the way of changes that had not been 
 successfully tried out by firms that you would be proud 
 to direct. I shall abide by that promise of mine. Sit 
 down, will you, and make yourself comfortable. I 
 am ready with my facts if you are ready to listen to 
 them." 
 
 Hardwick sat down. Struthers put his hand into 
 his breast pocket and pulled out the envelope he had 
 extracted from his valise. He opened it and took 
 out a number of pages of closely written notes. At- 
 tached to most of these were illustrations of various 
 kinds. Struthers ran hurriedly through the papers 
 apparently searching for something. Finally he 
 found it. It was a thin pamphlet of eight or ten 
 pages. He held it out to Hardwick. 
 
62 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Take this, Hardwick, you may want it for future 
 reference. You remember my speaking of some of 
 the representatives of American industry who had 
 already passed some of the milestones along the road 
 of the newer industrial era. You were very much 
 inclined to laugh at me. A few years ago the United 
 States Bureau of Labor, very much interested in what 
 was being done along these lines, carried on a nation- 
 wide investigation with the result that it was enabled 
 to publish a list of some of the names of organiza- 
 tions that have inaugurated some forms of industrial 
 betterment work. The list is not complete; no list 
 of this nature could be complete. Nor is it entirely 
 accurate. It is impossible to conceive of a complete 
 and accurate census of all industrial organizations 
 and business institutions. But it serves the purpose 
 it was intended for insofar as it shows that there is 
 a progressive element in the industrial life of our 
 country. The list as it stands consists of some fifteen 
 hundred names of firms. It is divided into states and 
 cities so that you can tell at a glance the location of 
 the plants." 
 
 Hardwick took the booklet and turned the pages 
 casually. Struthers watched,him. Suddenly the face 
 of the former grew interested. 
 
 "Why, here's old Kivers gotten into this. Who'd 
 have thought that he cared a red cent about these 
 things?" He continued turning the pages. 
 
 "There's Smith, too. Remember him, Struthers? 
 
Accident Prevention 63 
 
 His father used to own that big dry goods plant. 
 Good old Smitli! I didn't know that he had turned 
 out to be a merchant of finance. It gives you a good 
 sensation, Struthers, meeting your old friends this 
 way and knowing that they're doing big things." 
 
 "They are doing big things." 
 
 Hardwick frowned at the implication of the an- 
 swer. He made no retort other than the one, "I'll 
 keep this, Struthers, if you don't mind. And now 
 we'll listen to what you've got to say." 
 
 Struthers began. 
 
 "First of all, I want you to understand that the 
 plants about which I am going to tell you have been 
 chosen for no other reason except that the work in 
 any special field is typical of the best in that field. 
 The best, that is, as far as I know. There are many 
 that are on a par with these, but a mere mention of 
 some of their names will have to suffice after an ex- 
 planation of the organization of two or three of them. 
 That's clear?" 
 
 Hardwick nodded. 
 
 "This subject of accident and accident prevention 
 has for a long time received the attention of industrial 
 experts. One of the mammoth organizations that has 
 been in the van of this movement was the General 
 Electric Company. They organized a Safety Com- 
 mittee whose duty it was to make a study of the gen- 
 eral subject of shop accidents. The members of this 
 committee were empowered to adopt means for the 
 
64 Humanizing Industry 
 
 prevention of accidents and to make recommenda- 
 tions to the local or shop Safety Committees. I'll ex- 
 plain that organization later. 
 
 "While the original Safety Committee was gather- 
 ing its data, it also took a series of photographs show- 
 ing the causes and effects of specific accidents. These 
 photographs were later utilized as illustrations for 
 lectures which were given the men in the factories 
 on the general subject of accident prevention. The 
 photographic slides were flashed on screens so that 
 the words of the foremen or the man who was talk- 
 ing to them made a direct appeal to them. 
 
 SAFETY EDUCATION 
 
 "Together with this, the firm inaugurated an edu- 
 cational program by means of magazine and poster 
 work. Large illustrated charts were placed in con- 
 spicuous places along the walls and corridors of the 
 buildings, teaching the lesson of care. There was little 
 printed matter; most of the material was passed 
 along by means of pictures. The local newspaper 
 cooperated in the movement, so did the Y. M. C. A., 
 so* did the public schools. You understand that the 
 men employed in the various plants that constitute 
 this organization run into the tens of thousands; an 
 extensive program of this size was necessary in treat- 
 ing with so great a number. 
 
 "The work did not end there. The heads of the 
 firm appreciated the fact that something more than 
 
Accident Prevention 65 
 
 words and talk were necessary to safeguard the lives 
 of the men. That something more was the installation 
 of mechanical safeguards of every kind that would 
 tend to reduce the possibility of accidents to the 
 minimum point. 
 
 SAFETY DEVICES 
 
 "The majority of protective devices for machines, 
 for instance, consisted of belt and life guards of many 
 varieties. The aim toward which the engineer worked 
 was perfect operation of machine combined with 
 adequate protection to the man or woman operating 
 it. These safeguards had to be improved upon many 
 times. Very often, for instance, a machinist in ad- 
 justing a screw or a belt in his machine would re- 
 move the guards and then neglect to replace them, 
 with the result that an accident would ensue. To 
 eliminate risks of that nature, the machines to-day 
 are built with fixed guards, so constructed that the 
 operator can make any change in the running of his 
 machine without removing the guards. 
 
 "The general principle upon which the men at the 
 head of this movement are guided is the one of bring- 
 ing the work to the tool and not the tool to the work. 
 The value of this is illustrated, for instance, in the 
 soldering processes at the plant. Instead of the work- 
 man carrying his heated iron to the parts that he is 
 soldering, thus running the risk of causing injury to 
 
66 Humanizing Industry 
 
 people who might unexpectedly come along his way, 
 the parts to be soldered are brought to a stationary 
 electrically heated soldering iron which cannot be 
 moved. The same methods are used in the melting 
 of sealing wax. 
 
 "There are a good many girls employed by this 
 company. The question of stray wisps of hair and 
 loose clothes is one of grave consideration with them. 
 All girls are provided with caps while at work on 
 machinery that have exposed moving parts of any 
 kind. One of the details in the safety work consists 
 of fixing a plate of sheet iron to the inside rim of 
 exposed or 'flying' pulley, as it is called, which shields 
 the spokes and makes it impossible for metal rods or 
 clothing to be drawn into the machinery. 
 
 "The matter of efficiency is closely aligned with 
 the one of safety. Not only is it much safer for a 
 man to drive nails by electricity but infinitely more 
 efficient. An electrical machine which makes it un- 
 necessary for the man to come into direct contact 
 with the nails runs at the rate of several thousand 
 nails an hour. It is beyond the question to make a 
 comparison between the number of nails that could 
 be driven by hand in an hour. Not only do you get 
 increase of output but safety in output. 
 
 "The handling of materials in carrying them from 
 place to place has also been done away with. Elec- 
 trically run motor trucks have been installed which 
 run all through the building carrying large loads and 
 
Accident Prevention 67 
 
 run by only one man. Again, a matter of efficiency 
 as well as safety. A good many of the accidents in 
 your shops as well as in all other machine shops are 
 due to careless handling of necessary material. 
 
 "Take the matter of the ladder accident in your 
 shop to-day. It couldn't have happened in a shop 
 equipped with safety devices. For several reasons. 
 First of all, Larry would have been educated in the 
 matter of safeguarding his life; secondly, his co- 
 workers would not have allowed him to use a ladder 
 of that sort, and thirdly and more to the point, there 
 wouldn't have been a ladder of that sort to use. 
 Every ladder of any sort in these shops is equipped 
 with a non-slip device which consists of a sharp- 
 toothed wheel attached to its feet. These teeth grip 
 the ground when the ladder is placed against a wall 
 and any danger of slipping is eliminated to the great- 
 est possible degree. When the little sharp-toothed 
 wheels become worn out they can be removed and 
 new ones are adjusted. Surely you see what this 
 means to the man who has occasion to use that ladder. 
 Surely you can see that he appreciates the thought and 
 the care that went into the planning of that safety 
 device. And surely you can understand that that 
 confidence means something definite in the spirit and 
 type of work done. 
 
 "Once the mechanical aids are supplied and in- 
 stalled, the greater part of the work consists in con- 
 stantly hammering into the minds of the men the 
 
68 Humanizing Industry 
 
 need of using them. The poster work which I men- 
 tioned is the medium which served to reach them in 
 this plant. The constant impression of facts through 
 picture presentation hits home with stronger effect 
 than the installation of safeguards. Posters are hung 
 showing the dangers from burns and nail puncture due 
 to wearing of improper shoes ; men are warned not to 
 wear flowing neckties when at work at their ma- 
 chines. 
 
 "The poster bringing this last warning home to 
 them most forcibly shows a young man being drawn 
 into the rolls of his machine by the catching of his 
 tie in the revolving machinery. The poster does not 
 grow too sensational. It shows the machinery being 
 stopped in time to avoid serious injury. Neverthe- 
 less, it serves to bring out the point of the need of 
 wearing proper working apparel. 
 
 "The subject of burns receives special attention. 
 To prevent steam burns, large red tags are attached 
 to steam valves, which if opened would result in a 
 rush of steam that would immediately scald the man. 
 On the tags are printed the words, 'Danger: Do not 
 open this valve without permission of the foreman.' 
 
 "Burns by acids are safeguarded by proper equip- 
 ment. Tongs are provided for the carrying of the 
 containers of acids so that the danger of their 
 dropping and spilling while being carried is greatly 
 eliminated. Kubber gloves and rubber-mounted 
 goggles are provided the employees where there is any 
 
Accident Prevention 69 
 
 chance of the acid getting over the hands or eyes. 
 
 "Goggles are also furnished the men who are at 
 work on machines where there is danger of flying 
 bits of metal, wood or stone dust entering their eyes. 
 The big task in this work is getting the men to wear 
 these goggles. The same is true of getting the men 
 to wear the colored goggles provided in electrical 
 work that might be harmful to the optic nerves. 
 
 "Every possible contrivance and combination of 
 contrivances has been introduced to insure the 
 safety of the employee. 
 
 "This work is not peculiar to this organization 
 alone. Hundreds, no, thousands of others are doing 
 the same thing at the present time. That is one of 
 the milestones they have passed. 
 
 "Swift and Company, whose problem with ma- 
 chinery is as nil compared to plants doing work of 
 your kind, publishes accident prevention rule books 
 in eight languages for the use of its employees, with 
 the result that the number of their accidents have 
 been cut in half. 
 
 MOTION PICTURES 
 
 "The work of the United States Steel people is 
 interesting tn that it makes use of the motion pic- 
 ture as a medium of accident prevention education. 
 Carried on by a slim thread of a story, the worker 
 who views the picture is made to see the results of 
 
7O Humanizing Industry 
 
 carelessness in industry and the need of making use 
 of the mechanical devices that have been installed for 
 his safety. For instance, a workman is shown grind- 
 ing at an emery wheel which is properly equipped 
 with guards. A warning sign tells him to wear his 
 goggles. He ignores the sign and neglects to put on 
 the goggles that are peacefully reposing in his pocket. 
 A chip lodges in his eye and a fellow-workman 
 sharpens a match and attempts to take it out. The 
 foreman calls attention to the dangers of such prac- 
 tices. A week later shows the worker being told by 
 his physician that his eye cannot be saved. Not 
 very thrilling as a story, I admit, but sufficient to 
 serve the purpose it is intended for : to teach the men 
 to be careful. 
 
 "There are pictures showing the wrong way and 
 the right way of doing things. A workman is pic- 
 tured ascending a ladder with an armful of tools. 
 A large wrench slips from his hand and strikes his 
 helper below him on the head. The correct way is 
 then flashed on the screen, showing the man ascend- 
 ing the ladder holding on to a rope attached to a 
 bucket. When he reaches the desired rung, he pulls 
 in the rope and lifts up the bucket which contains 
 the tools he needs. 
 
 "I can go on indefinitely telling you of the things 
 along these lines that are being done," Struthers went 
 on. "Here, look at some of these illustrations of 
 guarded gears, and slip-proof ladders and spark-proof 
 
Accident Prevention 71 
 
 goggles. I tell you they mean something in the effi- 
 ciency of the plant as well as in the safety of the men. 
 The men who inaugurated these changes are not 
 philanthropists or altruists. They are sound business 
 men and were prompted to make the changes by 
 sound business sense. And it paid, Hardwick, it paid. 
 There must be an appeal to you from that angle." 
 
 Hardwick looked closely at Struthers for a mo- 
 ment. When he spoke it was in a quiet tone of voice. 
 
 "There is. I can see the point you are driving at. 
 I'd like to go more deeply into this thing. But there 
 is one thing I don't understand. From what you 
 have said it would seem that the directors of these 
 plants are engaged in no other work but the one of 
 attending to the well-being of the men they employ. 
 You understand, of course, that there are other 
 things of importance that come into the running of 
 a plant of any sort, Other things besides running 
 motion pictures and painting posters. What you say 
 merely serves to bring out the point I have always 
 made, and that is, that the men cannot be trusted to 
 do anything for themselves; that they need constant 
 supervision and constant pressure of control from 
 above. I might be willing to install safety devices; 
 that appeals to me from the mechanical and business 
 point of view. I can see you to that point. But this 
 thing of constantly running after a child and pinning 
 up her skirts is quite beyond me. You understand 
 what I mean." 
 
72 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Struthers nodded. 
 
 "I understand perfectly. I can quite appreciate 
 how irksome is the thought of attending to work of 
 this sort. But there is no need of your attending to 
 it once it is started. The men can do that alone." 
 
 "What do you mean?" Hard wick asked. 
 
 "I mean that in the plants where the program of 
 safety has been launched to any great extent, the 
 work of supervision and control is left almost en- 
 tirely in the hands of the men. It is something that 
 touches them closely, something they are interested 
 in and something they can be trusted to do well," was 
 Struthers's reply. 
 
 "You are contradicting yourself. The very fact 
 that they need this constant hammering and educa- 
 tional work as you call it, proves that they can't be 
 trusted to do it well irrespective of the fact that it 
 touches them closely." 
 
 "Agreed. "But there again we are bucking up 
 against human nature. A man is careless of his own 
 safety, but place him in the position where he is re- 
 sponsible for the safety of the man who works next 
 to him and he makes that neighbor of his toe the line. 
 What's more, he will toe it too, by virtue of the fact 
 that the importance of his responsibility looms up 
 greatly before him and he feels that he must act as 
 an example to those about him." 
 
 "There's something in what you say," Hard wick 
 said after a moment. "I suppose you have some 
 
Accident Prevention 73 
 
 definite facts to bring out your contentions. Bring 
 them out. I want to hear them." 
 
 SAFETY COMMITTEES 
 
 "I have definite facts. The safety work in most of 
 the larger plants is organized on a well-balanced rep- 
 resentation plan which includes the heads of the sub- 
 sidiary plants where there are a number of them to 
 an organization, the heads or foremen of the various 
 shops, and the workmen in the shops. The Inter- 
 national Paper Company, whose activities cover a 
 number of states, stands out foremost among the 
 pioneers in this work. They have gone deeply into 
 this subject of safety management. From the point 
 of view of applying it to your own plant it may not 
 be especially valuable; from the point of view of 
 what has been done and what is being done by or- 
 ganizations of this size and scope, it is interesting. 
 
 "The arrangement is rather complex due to the 
 number of mills operating. At the head of the move- 
 ment is the executive manager of the company, to 
 whom the larger questions of policy and expenditure 
 are referred. As a matter of fact, once the plan is set 
 working, there is but little that he has to do. After 
 him comes the operating manager, appointed by the 
 executive manager and known as the General Super- 
 visor of Safety and Sanitation. Third, there is a 
 Local Supervisor who is responsible for the conditions 
 
74 Humanizing Industry 
 
 in the plant where he is employed. So much for the 
 individual responsibility. You understand of course 
 that with the exception of the General Supervisor of 
 Safety and Sanitation, the men do other work besides 
 the supervision of factory conditions. They keep go- 
 ing at their own individual jobs in the plant. 
 
 "Now for the committees. There are three of these. 
 We'll take them in the same order. The first is called 
 the General Supervision Committee and consists of 
 the General Supervisor as chairman and all the local 
 supervisors of the various mills. The second is called 
 the Local Safety Committee and consists of the mill 
 manager, who acts as chairman ; the local supervisor, 
 who acts as secretary; the resident engineer and as 
 many departmental foremen as the manager desires. 
 In some instances workmen are added to this commit- 
 tee. These are appointed by the foremen or managers. 
 
 "The third committee is called the Workmen's 
 Safety Committee and consists of a representative of 
 the various departments. Where there are English 
 and non-English speaking employees, the committee is 
 enlarged to the extent that each nationality is rep- 
 resented on it. The first group to act on this com- 
 mittee were appointed by the mill manager. The 
 work was new and that was the most expeditious way 
 to start it. After they had served for the designated 
 period, which was three months, the new representa- 
 tives were elected by the men themselves. 
 
 "The duties of all of these committees and super- 
 
Accident Prevention 75 
 
 visors dovetail each other. The Workmen's Committee 
 deals with the matter of safety insofar as it can see 
 how new devices are applied, recommend changes and 
 supervise in a friendly manner the application of the 
 rules of safety of the men in their departments. The 
 men make weekly inspections of the entire factory or 
 mill and report their findings to the General Super- 
 visor of Safety. In the report they also make recom- 
 mendations and suggestions regarding dangerous and 
 unsanitary conditions. Together with this, they act 
 as the medium of distribution for any information 
 relating to the general subject of safety. Upon sug- 
 gestion of the members of its committee or those of 
 the Local Safety Committee, it meets with the latter 
 for the purpose of discussing matters pertaining to 
 conditions in the factory. In the event of a serious 
 accident, joint meetings of the Local and Workmen's 
 Committee of Safety together with the local super- 
 visor are promptly called for the purpose of consider- 
 ing immediate measures to prevent a recurrence of 
 the act. 
 
 "The Local Committee and the local supervisor 
 meet at least once a month. At these meetings, it is 
 the rule of the company to have reports, recommenda- 
 tions and suggestions from workmen take precedence 
 over all other business. 
 
 "The General Supervision Committee meets every 
 once so often at the call of the general manager who 
 acts as chairman of these gatherings. These meetings 
 
76 Humanizing Industry 
 
 are held at the offices of a different mill each time so 
 that the heads of the safety organization are given 
 an opportunity to see what is being done in the vari- 
 ous plants. 
 
 "In the individual mills it is the Local Supervisor 
 of Safety who is responsible in fact to the mill man- 
 ager and in spirit to the men whose safety he guards. 
 His duties are manifold. He reports the need of 
 safeguards and the need of maintenance of safe- 
 guards. He corrects unsafe practices where the work- 
 man's representative fails to do so ; he attends to the 
 supervision of general cleanliness of the plant inas- 
 much as a clean plant means a healthful plant. Every 
 week he makes a thorough inspection of the plant, 
 during which time he is accompanied by the foremen 
 and members of the Workmen's Committee. In coop- 
 eration with the department foreman he gives special 
 and continuous attention to the subject of proper 
 instruction and observance of instructions of new 
 employees. There are other things which naturally 
 come into the sphere of his activities. I need not 
 elaborate on them. The point of the matter is that 
 the subject is considered of sufficient importance to 
 warrant a safety system of this kind. 
 
 "That there was a definite gain in business effi- 
 ciency was proven by the report issued by this com- 
 pany last year. There was a reduction of three hun- 
 dred and forty accidents as compared to the number 
 
Accident Prevention 77 
 
 reported the year before. That meant for them a 
 reduction in total time lost for the year of six thou- 
 sand seven hundred and ninety-eight days. The re- 
 duction in time lost per hundred employees was a little 
 over one hundred and six days. That means that in 
 a shop such as the one in which the ladder accident 
 occurred, under more efficient and safe conditions 
 you could count on an additional one hundred and 
 six production days. Not so bad when you come to 
 think of it. That, if you please, irrespective of the 
 fact that a little of the time of some few of your em- 
 ployees will be given over to inspection and care of 
 the conditions of the factories. 
 
 "The United States Steel Safety organization is 
 greatly akin to the one of the International Paper 
 Company. It, too, consists of a series of committees 
 whose work coordinates with one another. The first 
 committee consists of an officer at the head of the 
 corporation who sits in with representatives of the 
 subsidiary companies. This committee meets four 
 times a year either in New York or at one of the 
 plants or mines. It conducts inspections by sending 
 an inspector from one company to look over another 
 company's operations, which is another evidence of 
 the laxity and untrustworthiness of human nature 
 which is peculiar to the highest as well as the lowest 
 types of mankind. However, to go on. This commit- 
 tee makes a careful study of all serious accidents and 
 
78 Humanizing Industry 
 
 recommends methods to prevent their recurrence in 
 any department of the industry. It also passes upon 
 safety devices and recommends their use. 
 
 "The second committee, called the Central Safety 
 Committee, consists of important officials of each of 
 the subsidiary plants, mines or railroad divisions. 
 It meets monthly and its duties are similar to the 
 first except that its control is limited to the particular 
 company and the mills represented by the members 
 of the committee. A feature of its work comparable 
 to that of the first committee, is its inter-mill safety 
 inspection. 
 
 "The Plant Safety Committee is the third group 
 in this organization. This committee is made up of 
 important officials in the plant ; it meets monthly or 
 weekly and in some cases daily and makes inspections 
 of the plant at regular intervals. 
 
 "The Workman's Safety Committee consists of 
 members from the rank and file of the mills. It meets 
 monthly or weekly, makes regular inspections of the 
 plant and its departments, investigates accidents that 
 have happened and recommends means of prevention 
 of similar accidents. Its members are changed 
 periodically so that each man in a plant has an op- 
 portunity to serve in this capacity. Up to the end 
 of the year 1918, 22,000 men had served on the Work- 
 men's Committee. 
 
 "There is still another group or committee which 
 makes this organization unique among all others. 
 
Accident Prevention 79 
 
 This group is composed of foremen, master mechanics 
 and skilled workmen. The men meet weekly or 
 monthly, according to the regulations of the different 
 shops, make periodical inspections of the plant and 
 conduct special investigations of particular problems. 
 To me that last committee is one of the most valuable. 
 Here you have actual representation of all the fac- 
 tors involved in the working conditions of a shop ; the 
 foreman who represents the managements of the shop, 
 the master mechanic who is the expert on shop con- 
 ditions as related to mechanical devices and safe- 
 guards and the skilled worker who can intelligently 
 understand and interpret the suggestions and recom- 
 mendations and apply them to the men who work 
 with him. In a small group of men, such an arrange- 
 ment would be sufficient to direct and carry on the 
 safety program of a plant. 
 
 "The Phelps Dodge Corporation has worked out a 
 safety organization plan that is peculiar to the work 
 in which its men engage. Its Central Safety Commit- 
 tee consists of representatives of the employees of each 
 of the underground or mining divisions and represen- 
 tatives of the surface departments and the manage- 
 ment. Besides this, there are Division Safety Com- 
 mittees selected from among the employees of each 
 division. A Safety Inspector directs the work of these 
 committees, makes reports on all fatal and serious 
 accidents and organizes first aid and mine rescue 
 classes. 
 
8o Humanizing Industry 
 
 "The company has adopted a book of general rules 
 on the prevention of accidents. Every new employee 
 is supplied with one of these at the time he is en- 
 gaged. It is revised from time to time by the Central 
 Safety Committee. Any infractions of the rules by 
 the men at work are reported to the Shift Boss or 
 foreman by the Safety Inspector. The Safety Com- 
 mittee make monthly inspections of all the workings 
 in each division and reports of these are supplied to 
 the management and the Division foreman." 
 
 Hardwick interrupted Struthers. 
 
 "I do not believe that last example has much to do 
 with the subject under discussion. One can readily 
 understand why special measures must be taken in 
 work as dangerous as mining. The case is not com- 
 parable to conditions in my shops." 
 
 "I didn't say I was giving cases comparable to 
 those in your shops," Struthers replied quietly. "I 
 told you I was going to tell you what was being done 
 by progressive industrial heads. There was a time 
 when owners of mines even did not consider it of suffi- 
 cient importance to take any measures to insure the 
 safety of the men. It took them a long time to see 
 the light. As a matter of fact the case is comparable 
 to the conditions in your shops. Not in degree, I 
 admit, but in kind. The mines were being worked on 
 an unsafe, unsanitary basis ; so are your shops. The 
 mines were being run on an inefficient basis because 
 of those conditions; so are your shops. I repeat, 
 
Accident Prevention 81 
 
 there is a difference in degree but not in kind of 
 laxity and inefficiency, and resulting unhappiness, of 
 everybody concerned. , 
 
 "Do you want me to go ahead? I can give you the 
 safety programs of progressive plants of all sections 
 of the country. I can tell you of the work carried 
 on by the Workmen's Safety Committee of the New 
 Jersey Zinc Company. I can tell you of the safety 
 reforms inaugurated by the Boston Gear Works of 
 Massachusetts and the Goodyear Tire Company of 
 Ohio; of the Welsbach Company of New Jersey and 
 of the Clipper Belt Lacer Company of Michigan. I 
 can tell you of the measures inaugurated by the rail- 
 road companies. The movement is nationwide in its 
 scope. You can get a duplication of all of the details 
 I have given you from hundreds of the names appear- 
 ing on the list formulated by the Department of 
 Labor. 
 
 "What they have done is not all that can be done," 
 Struthers continued. "It is merely a beginning. But 
 it is a good beginning and lends itself easily to im- 
 provement. Not the least interesting of these improve- 
 ments is the suggestion system recently adopted by 
 a good many plants whereby workers are given a 
 small reward for suggesting any valuable improve- 
 ments in the safety system of the plant. This sugges- 
 tion system, by the way, has in a good many instances 
 been extended to other branches of the industrial 
 betterment work." 
 
82 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Just exactly what do you mean by a suggestion 
 system?" Hardwick asked. 
 
 "Merely this. One of the men in the plants work- 
 ing on a machine discovers a method by which he can 
 reduce the possibility of danger in operating it. Very 
 often it is a simple device that needs nothing but a 
 bit of wood or a scrap of iron. At first glance it may 
 be so simple and crude that it is hardly worthy of 
 attention. Nevertheless, it may serve the very valu- 
 able purpose of a shield or protection of some sort. 
 It passes the primary test given to most improve- 
 ments and inventions it works. Under a suggestion 
 system, the man feeling reasonably sure of the value 
 of his* crude improvement would feel impelled to speak 
 of it to his foreman, or better still submit it in writ- 
 ten form by way of the suggestion box. The term 
 suggestion box is self-explanatory. The matter is 
 then brought before a suggestion committee consist- 
 ing usually of the foremen and the managers. In the 
 event that the suggestion is considered valuable, the 
 worker is paid a certain stipulated reward. This 
 system is equally valuable in bringing forth sugges- 
 tions other than those of a mechanical nature. Its 
 chief value lies, of course, in the fact that it serves to 
 arouse the interest and initiative of the men in im- 
 proving their working conditions. And this interest 
 and initiative, bear in mind, is directed toward some- 
 thing constructive. You see the point in that, don't 
 you?" 
 
Accident Prevention 83 
 
 "I do," Hardwick responded. "I do." He sat 
 quietly ruminating for a short space of time. Struth- 
 ers watched him closely. After a while he spoke. 
 
 "Want me to continue, Hardwick, or have you had 
 enough?" 
 
 "Enough. Enough for this evening, I mean. You've 
 made your point, Struthers. It's a good one. I didn't 
 expect to find so many facts stored up behind that 
 frontal bone of yours. I take back what I said at 
 the beginning. But Struthers, how does one begin 
 at these things? Facts are facts, but how do you 
 turn them into working realities? You can speak 
 about these things but can you build them; can you 
 help me build them; can you help put them into 
 working order? The whole thing is so immense and 
 new !" 
 
 "Yes, I know," Struthers replied. "Sometimes I 
 believe that is the big reason that big men do not do 
 the big things they dream of. They are so immense 
 and new. They are afraid to tackle the thing that 
 has not been tackled by the people who came before 
 them. Tell me, Hardwick, are you afraid?" 
 
 Hardwick laughed nervously. 
 
 "Frankly speaking, I am. I don't know where to 
 begin, provided I decide to begin." 
 
 "No need to make that proviso," Struthers laughed. 
 "You will begin. You are too anxious to succeed to 
 allow yourself to lag behind once you have been as- 
 sured of the value of the methods used by progressive 
 
84 Humanizing Industry 
 
 leaders of industry. We'll let that go for the moment. 
 You want to know where to begin, you say. That's 
 easy. With a study of the needs of your plant gained 
 by personal inspection under the supervision of the 
 departmental foremen, followed by a conference with 
 the foremen, followed in turn by a rather big outlay 
 of money. That ought to turn the trick." 
 
 Hardwick frowned. 
 
 "I don't see that foremen conference business. I 
 do not see why I can't go ahead on this without get- 
 ting the undesired advice of the men in the shops. 
 You can tell me what's necessary, can't you?" 
 
 "I can, in a measure, but not in a full measure, 
 Hardwick. If you are going to do this, why don't 
 you do it in the proper way? Why don't you get the 
 interest and the brains of the men who are most ac- 
 tively concerned working with you on this problem? 
 Why don't you get Hurley and Johnson and the other 
 men as well as some of the workmen to tell you what 
 they think is necessary in the way of safety devices? 
 You'll do it in the long run, why don't you begin 
 now?" 
 
 "For this reason, Struthers. I don't believe Hur- 
 ley and Johnson and all the others will be interested. 
 If I call them into conference during the day, they 
 will wonder, the workmen I mean, whether they will 
 lose an hour's wages. The foremen will wonder about 
 something else. You see, Struthers, we do not meet 
 
Accident Prevention 85 
 
 on an equal basis and you can't get anything valuable 
 out of a conference like that." 
 
 "Very true," Struthers made answer. "You can't. 
 You can't get anything worth while without confi- 
 dence. But is there any reason why Hurley, for in- 
 stance, cannot assure the men of the purpose and con- 
 ditions of this meeting, and why he and the other 
 foremen cannot be made to feel that this is different 
 from the other, er, conferences, that you were wont 
 to call?" 
 
 Hardwick looked closely at Struthers for a moment. 
 His lips tightened at the implied rebuke. Finally he 
 laughed. 
 
 "We'll let that pass. Hurley's been talking to you. 
 Well, so have I. Never mind. But about that calling 
 the men together on this. Do you think you can 
 manage it, Struthers? I'm not much good at this con- 
 ference talk. There are certain things I can do and 
 may do, but I wish that you would give the thing its 
 impetus. As I said before, this thing appeals to me. 
 It is sensible and there's good business sense behind 
 it, even though it does come from you. I want to 
 think it over carefully but meanwhile will you let 
 out a number of feelers and see how it will take? 
 There's another thing I want to ask of you. Will you 
 leave some of your notes and leaflets here with me? 
 I want to look them over after you've gone." 
 
 "I'll do what I can, Hardwick. You know I shall 
 
86 Humanizing Industry 
 
 be glad to. This kind of work is my hobby. There's 
 nothing about which a man will so greatly exert him- 
 self as his hobby. It may be I can pass the fever on 
 to you. Once the germ gets into you, things will be- 
 gin to move. You see, you have the power to build 
 up something worth while. All I can do is serve as 
 a germ carrier. To you and Hurley, two fine excel- 
 lent specimens of humanity!" 
 
 "Whom you would lay low with a disease of your 
 own choosing," Hardwick continued. "You're a queer 
 old fellow, Struthers, mighty queer. How did this 
 fever of yours start? You weren't interested in labor 
 questions and industrial problems at school. You 
 w r anted to write. What's more we all thought you 
 could do it once you tamed that roving spirit of 
 yours. Is this part of the training ; are you gathering 
 copy or what?" 
 
 Struthers got up and stretched himself. He pulled 
 out his watch and looked at the time. It was after 
 ten. 
 
 "Sorry, Hardwick, but I've got to be marching on 
 like the truth of John Brown. Some day, maybe, I'll 
 tell you a story of the coming and the going of 
 germs. A small tale but mine own." 
 
 Hardwick laughed, a good rich laugh which brought 
 a responding smile to the eyes of Peter Struthers. 
 He looked fondly at the man before him and then 
 at the room about him. 
 
 "You've got a beautiful place here," he commented. 
 
Accident Prevention 87 
 
 "Beautiful. Fine warmth of colors. Who did it for 
 you in this forsaken place?'' 
 
 "Who did it? Myself of course/' was the reply. 
 "It was the only thing that did lend itself to beauty 
 in this 'forsaken place' as you call it. I simply had 
 to have some place where my eyes and ears and nerves 
 would not be continually jarred." 
 
 "True. Hm." Struthers paused and looked quizzi- 
 cally at Hardwick. Finally he broke out with the 
 following : 
 
 "Do you know, I rather imagine that a little bit of 
 this artistic instinct wouldn't go bad in business. 
 You know, sense of proportion, perspective, harmony, 
 human values, and all that business. Think it over, 
 Hardwick, it's not a bad idea." 
 
 Again Hardwick laughed. 
 
 "Good heavens, man, do you make capital out of 
 every idea?" He didn't wait for the answer but con- 
 tinued, growing serious, "I suppose there's a second 
 chapter in this series, isn't there? I confess you've 
 got me interested and almost started. When do we 
 hold the next private session and what's the subject 
 to be?" 
 
 "How about a week from to-day? I think we'll take 
 up the matter of health in industry. What do you 
 say?" 
 
 "A week from to-day is all right. As to the subject, 
 that's all right too, only as far as I can see we've cov- 
 ered that. What more do you want?" 
 
88 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "It's not that I want anything more. It's you who 
 will want more once I get going. I'll be here next 
 Friday evening. I'll arrange to come for dinner if it 
 suits you." 
 
 "Good. That sounds like old times. Oh, by the 
 way, Struthers, can I call on you on this safety con- 
 ference business? You're one of the men, you know." 
 
 "You can. I am one of the men. And when old 
 Hardwick gives orders, I guess it's up to me to fall in 
 line. Good night." The hands of the two men met 
 in a firm grip. 
 
 "Good night." 
 
 Struthers left. Hardwick watched him from the 
 window as he swung down the street. Once Struth- 
 ers turned and waved his hand at the figure in the 
 window. Hardwick caught a glow of the pipe as the 
 man stood there in the dark. For a fleeting moment 
 .the glow in the dark seemed to him to be typical of 
 the man. He waved his hand in answer and turned 
 his face to the room. It was a beautiful place. He 
 loved it, the grays, the touches of old blues and deep 
 oranges. 
 
 Suddenly he remembered that remark of Struth- 
 ers, "A bit of the artistic instinct wouldn't go bad 
 in business." And something else that had come 
 after it, something about proportion, perspective, har- 
 mony, human values. Hardwick let his mind play 
 with the thought. Proportion, perspective, harmony, 
 human values. Put some warmth of color in the 
 
Accident Prevention 89 
 
 place. The works. Warmth of color. No, that 
 couldn't be what Struthers meant. But warmth. 
 Surely warmth. That's what made this room so rest- 
 ful. Warmth. Warmth of feeling. That might be 
 it. Of course. Warmth of feeling in the works. The 
 works. Hardwick shuddered. The works were cold 
 and every thought associated with them was cold. 
 Bah! That dreamer hypnotized him and made him 
 dream things that were impossible. Impossible, and 
 yet, and yet. . . . 
 
 Hardwick turned to the material that Struthers 
 had left. He opened the booklet containing the names 
 of the employers gathered together by the govern- 
 ment. He turned to the page where his state was 
 given. His fingers carefully went down the list. L, M, 
 N, O, P, Q. At R he stopped. He pulled out his foun- 
 tain pen and drew a line under it. On the margin 
 he wrote "Rawburn Machine Works." He looked 
 closely at the inscription for a moment, his pen poised 
 in his hand. Slowly a flush grew upon his face. He 
 felt that he had done a childish thing. He crossed out 
 the line hurriedly, and put the book into his breast 
 pocket. He picked up one of the booklets that Struth- 
 ers had left with him and sat down with it in his 
 chair. He turned the pages and began to read. 
 
 Struthers found Hurley sitting up for him when 
 he returned. He grew embarrassed when the younger 
 man entered. 
 
90 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "I thought I'd sit up a bit to-night. Felt kind of 
 restless and knew I couldn't sleep. You going to bed 
 right away?" 
 
 Struthers gauged the meaning behind the halting 
 words. He was inwardly pleased that Hurley had 
 waited for him, pleased for two reasons. One, that 
 the man was interested in the result of his talk with 
 Hardwick, and two, that he, Struthers, could tell him 
 of the definite scratch he had made on the surface of 
 Hardwick's indifference to the well-being of the men 
 in the plants. Besides, he wanted to discuss this mat- 
 ter of Safety Committees with Hurley. To-night was 
 as good as any time. He sat down at the opposite 
 side of the table. 
 
 "No, Hurley, I'm not going to bed for a while 
 yet." He paused, then continued. "I suppose you're 
 interested to hear what happened at Mr. Hardwick's. 
 Suppose I tell you that we're going to have new lad- 
 ders in all the places, ladders that won't slip, and 
 special gear guards and sprocket guards and all that 
 sort of business, what would you say?" 
 
 Hurley pulled his pipe out of his mouth and stared 
 at Struthers for several moments. Finally he re- 
 placed it. 
 
 "I'd say," he sputtered between quick puffs, "I'd 
 say that you're seeing things and that you'd better 
 sleep it off. I thought you'd come back with some 
 sense pounded into you. Hardwick won't spend 
 money on things like that. And I won't believe any- 
 
Accident Prevention 91 
 
 thing you'll say to the contrary until I see things with 
 my own eyes." 
 
 Struthers rose impatiently. 
 
 "What I told you was the truth, Hurley. Now, can 
 I or can't I count on your help or is Hardwick right 
 when he says you men want no responsibility, you're 
 capable of no responsibility and that you've got to be 
 coddled and nursed like children?" 
 
 Hurley's eyes flashed fire. He retorted. 
 
 "Hardwick said that, did he? Well, has he ever 
 tried giving us any responsibility that he's found we 
 weren't ready to take it? Answer me that." 
 
 "He may try something now provided you show 
 some evidence of interest in the matter. Now can I 
 or can't I count on you?" 
 
 "What do you mean exactly?" 
 
 Struthers sat down again and outlined the plans 
 he had discussed w r ith Hardwick. He showed Hurley 
 the diagrams of safety devices used by the various 
 plants that had installed them. Hurley was inter- 
 ested in those, more than in the details of the Safety 
 Committee. The two men sat far into the night dis- 
 cussing the needs of the various departments. Every 
 now and then, Hurley would rise and pace the floor 
 with his pipe sputtering at his mouth. At these times 
 his statement would invariably be : "All this is very 
 good, but will it be done?" or "Do you mean to say, 
 Struthers, that he won't take it out of our wages in 
 some way?" 
 
92 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Struthers gritted his teeth with impatience several 
 times. His manner, however, gave no evidence of his 
 displeasure. Just once he came out with the half- 
 irritated expression of, "Stow that and listen to 
 sense." And then went on explaining and outlining. 
 
 Finally the two men rose from the table. Struthers 
 turned his tired eyes upon Hurley. 
 
 "Well, how does it strike you? Think we can do 
 something worth while with it?" 
 
 "I think we can. The machine parts interest me. 
 Johnson's the man for the Safety Committee. So's 
 Walters. Witlik can speak up for the men. It's all 
 right, Struthers, provided 
 
 "I know what you're going to say. I wish you 
 wouldn't say it and take things at face value. Hard- 
 wick will, without doubt, call on you fellows to come 
 to see him some day this week. For heaven's sake, 
 Hurley, don't bite and don't expect to be bitten. You 
 might tell the other men the same thing." He* yawned, 
 then continued, "I think it would be wise to get a 
 few hours' sleep before the morning. Think on what 
 I've been speaking to you and stop looking for snakes 
 in the grass." 
 
 Struthers turned and walked toward his room. The 
 voice of Hurley interrupted him as he was turning the 
 door-knob. It was a shy, halting voice. 
 
 "Eh, Struthers, I was just wondering. Do you 
 think he Hardwick, I mean will let me do the ma- 
 chine parts?" 
 
CHAPTER FOUR 
 
 HEALTH MEASURES 
 
 STRUTHERS found Hardwick waiting for Mm out- 
 side his office door when he arrived the following Fri- 
 day evening. The eyes of the latter lit up at sight of 
 the slender, oil-begrimed figure that came striding 
 toward him. The two men walked down silently to 
 Hardwick's car that stood waiting for them. Struth- 
 ers sighed as he sank into the soft depths of the 
 cushioned seat. Hardwick glanced at him in concern. 
 
 "Not sick, old man, are you? You really are going 
 at this too seriously. Suppose you let up for a while 
 and rest a bit." 
 
 Struthers smiled. 
 
 "No, I'm not sick. Just tired. What is it they say 
 in the books we used to read when we were shavers? 
 'They returned home, tired but happy/ Hm, that's 
 not such a bad ending to a story. Tired but happy. 
 It's funny, isn't it, that little children are never satis- 
 fied unless the ending is a happy one ; unless the peo- 
 ple in the story are made happy. 'They returned 
 home, tired but happy.' 'And so they were married 
 and lived happily ever after.' You remember, don't 
 
 93 
 
94 Humanizing Industry 
 
 you, Hardwick, all these last lines of the stories we 
 used to read? 
 
 "They mean such a lot to us when we're young," 
 Struthers went on, reminiscently. "We decide over 
 and over again that those are the sort of endings 
 we're going to have to our life stories and then we 
 grow up and what do we do? We forget all about 
 what the ending is going to be like; we don't think 
 much whether anybody is happy or not, we just dig 
 blindly in our own little holes trying to find a bit of 
 hidden treasure that we don't want after we've got 
 it and all the time we're digging we complain of the 
 cold and the darkness and the lack of human under- 
 standing. Good heavens, of course it's cold and dark 
 and stupid down there. Of course. Why shouldn't 
 it be when we've got our heads buried under the earth 
 and when we refuse to see the things around us, above 
 the earth, that might make the ending a 'tired but 
 happy' one? Hardwick, did you ever think of what 
 a mess we make of our lives? Did you ever think 
 how sorely disappointed those little fellows we used 
 to be must be if they can see us now? Do you ever 
 think what sad failures we must be in their sight? 
 The things they weren't going to do when they grew 
 up! The ogres they weren't going to kill and the 
 monsters they weren't going to slay! And instead 
 what do we do?" The question was purely meditative 
 but Hardwick answered him. 
 
Health Measures 95 
 
 "Instead we grow into ogres and monsters our- 
 selves. We do, Struthers, except people like you, 
 perhaps, who come out here with sword and saber 
 in both hands and knife between the teeth and kill 
 those of us who, you imagine, prevent the story from 
 ending happily. What?" 
 
 "Don't be an ass, old scout," Struthers answered. 
 "I wasn't thinking of anybody or anything in partic- 
 ular. I was just well, being foolish, I guess." 
 
 Hardwick smiled. 
 
 "It's all right, Peter. Sometimes I wish I could 
 put all this behind me forever and just be foolish 
 as you call it, myself. But you can't do it, or rather, 
 I can't do it. I've grown up, conditions have made me 
 an ogre, and I've got to play true to form and growl 
 and roar and eat up people. That's the game, isn't 
 it? Until some day the noble young man will come 
 upon the scene and beard me in my den and slay me 
 and hold my bleeding head up before the multitude 
 so that all may see it and rejoice. That's what is done 
 in books, isn't it? The ogre is never tamed as far as 
 I can remember. Is he?" Hardwick asked and looked 
 at Struthers smilingly. Beneath the smile there was 
 a note of seriousness that Struthers did not fail to 
 get. He answered in the same spirit. 
 
 "True, the ogre is never tamed. But don't you re- 
 member, Hardwick, that sometimes he is not an ogre 
 but a very mighty prince who has the power to create 
 happiness for all but who can't do it because he is 
 
96 Humanizing Industry 
 
 under a spell that a wicked witch has cast over him? 
 Don't you remember those stories?" 
 
 Hardwick looked at Struthers sharply. 
 
 "I remember. Now that you speak of it. Come 
 now, here we are. We've been talking nonsense long 
 enough. I suppose you'll want to wash up. 'Tired 
 and dirty' would suit you better than 'tired but 
 happy,' I should say." 
 
 "Honest dirt from honest toil," Struthers sang out 
 as he turned in the direction of the bathroom. And, 
 as the door was about to close behind him he called 
 out, "And, Hardwick, a bit of honest soap and water 
 in the proper place wouldn't go so bad, so help me 
 gawd." 
 
 A little later the two men met in the beautifully 
 equipped dining room. There was hardly any talk 
 of any import while the butler hovered around the 
 table. They moved into the room that Struthers had 
 so greatly admired the week before for coffee and 
 smokes. They sat in comfortable silence for the period 
 of half an hour. Finally Struthers knocked the ashes 
 out of his pipe into the fireplace. 
 
 "Well, what did you think of it?" he began. 
 
 "Think of what?" Hardwick parried. 
 
 "That meeting on Tuesday. What did you think 
 of the men, their minds, the way they gripped at the 
 thing?" 
 
 Hardwick puffed at his cigar for a few seconds. 
 Finally he spoke. 
 
Health Measures 97 
 
 "Struthers, these men would not have spoken or 
 acted as they did if you hadn't been there to encour- 
 age them by speaking as openly as you did." 
 
 "What exactly do you mean by that? Is that a 
 veiled suggestion that hereafter you would rather 
 that I didn't attend the meetings, or attending, that 
 I make myself less conspicuous?" 
 
 "Heavens, no, man, but I've been wondering what 
 it was in you that thawed them out," Hardwick an- 
 swered. "They've never spoken that way before and 
 they've been up before me innumerable times. I'll 
 admit the subjects under discussion were different 
 on those occasions, but then, they never suggested 
 things, they never planned things ; they always made 
 excuses, and gave reasons and offered complaints. 
 It's queer that," 
 
 "Xo, it isn't queer at all," was Struthers' reply. 
 "You get just as much as you give. It wasn't the fact 
 that I was in the room or that I spoke that made 
 them unbend. It was the fact that your attitude was 
 a receptive one and they responded to it. You'll have 
 to believe that, Hardwick. For every valuable, 
 tangible reform that you inaugurate or that any busi- 
 ness man inaugurates there is a definite but intangible 
 reaction in feeling and spirit among the men that in 
 the long run more than makes up for any loss in 
 profits. However, I don't want to go off on that angle. 
 That is a rule that will prove itself in time. Tell me 
 what do you think of Hurley. Will you let him 
 
98 Humanizing Industry 
 
 have a hand in the making of the machine parts? 
 What are your plans ?" 
 
 Hardwick lit another cigar before he answered. As 
 the match lit up the face of the man, Struthers caught 
 a pleased smile playing about his lips. The smile 
 was still there when he turned his eyes upon the man 
 opposite him. Struthers caught him consciously con- 
 trolling it. 
 
 "About him Hurley, I mean," he began, "I don't 
 know just how far I will let him go or whether I 
 will let him have a hand in the machine parts or not." 
 Struthers' face fell. Hardwick noted it. With satis- 
 faction, it seemed to Struthers. 
 
 "You see," Hardwick continued, "Hurley and I 
 have been antagonistic toward each other for years. 
 One small safety program, inaugurated even by so 
 great a man as you, won't change it. Hurley expects 
 me to 'play him dirty' as he might call it, and far be 
 it from me to disappoint him. I shall disappoint 
 him but not in the manner he expects." 
 
 "What exac.tly are you driving at?" Struthers 
 asked in concern. "You talk like a villain in a melo- 
 drama." Hardwick grunted in reply. He looked 
 across at Struthers quizzically, then began stroking 
 his chin in a reflective manner. Struthers grew un- 
 easy. 
 
 "What's happened?" he asked anxiously. "Hurley 
 hasn't said or done any darn fool thing, has he?" 
 
 "It all depends on the point of view," was the un- 
 
Health Measures 99 
 
 expected answer. "It all depends on the point of 
 view." 
 
 Struthers rose impatiently. Hardwick motioned 
 him to be seated. 
 
 "Sit down and don't act like a young colt. I'll tell 
 you all about it. Come on, sit down and don't look 
 as though you were ready to chew the ground. Sit 
 down." Struthers did as he was told., 
 
 "You see," Hardwick began, "that thing has fast- 
 ened on to my imagination. Or, perhaps, my good 
 sense. There was no denying the business value of 
 installing the things of which you had spoken. Tne 
 only thing about which I was really undecided was as 
 to whether I'd order the improvements from the peo- 
 ple who made a specialty of them or whether I could 
 have them made in my own machine shops. It was a 
 matter of business economics with which I think I am 
 conversant in spite of many indications to the con- 
 trary. After dinner on Wednesday evening I decided 
 I'd run down to the shops with some of the diagrams 
 and illustrated matter you had left with me and see 
 what was what. When I got there I noticed a light 
 in one of the buildings. The watchman wasn't 
 around. I decided to investigate for myself and went 
 in. There, if you please, was your man Hurley bend- 
 ing over one of the machines. I'll quite confess that 
 my first thought was not a pleasant one. I thought 
 he was using one of the methods so much in vogue 
 with people to whom the class of employers is 
 
IOO Humanizing Industry 
 
 anathema. Sabotage, I mean. Destruction of ma- 
 chinery. 'Hurley,' I called. The man looked up. He 
 had a foot rule in his hand. 'What are you doing 
 here at this hour? You know it's against the rules.' 
 The answer he gave was rather startling." Hardwick 
 smiled reminiscently. " 'I'm trying to show you, sir,' 
 he said, 'that you can build your own gear guards.' 
 There he was, if you please, drawing diagrams and 
 making plans of the guards." 
 
 "Well, what did you do?" Struthers asked. 
 
 "Do? What could I do? I examined his drawings. 
 They were good. Mighty good. Some changes were 
 necessary and we made them, but on the whole they 
 were as fine as any of the patented stuff made by 
 specialty firms. We stayed there until after ten." 
 Hardwick paused, then broke out with the sentence, 
 "Hurley thinks he can get the men to work on these 
 things overtime." 
 
 "What do you mean Hurley thinks he can get the 
 men to work on these things overtime?" Struthers 
 asked. 
 
 "Well, I told him it was all very well and good his 
 working on those diagrams, but that we couldn't stop 
 the work in the shops to begin building safety devices. 
 He saw the point and asked me how it would do to 
 have the men make them after hours. That has al- 
 ways been a sore point with Hurley and me. The mat- 
 ter came up some time ago. We couldn't agree on 
 
Health Measures 101 
 
 terms at the time so I decided we'd get along without 
 overtime work. I told Hurley about that and I rather 
 believe it held him for a moment. I told him I'd think 
 it over. I have. Hurley expects me to decide against 
 him. If for nothing else than to disappoint him, I'll 
 let him know the beginning of next week that he can 
 go ahead with his plans. Until then, he can soothe 
 his troubled spirits by railing against me and the class 
 he insists I represent. However, those were mighty 
 good drawings he had." 
 
 Struthers looked at Hardwick intently. Hardwick 
 met his gaze without flinching. He moistened his lips 
 and spoke. 
 
 "You're wondering why it is that I won't tell Hur- 
 ley sooner about this decision of mine. I'll tell you. 
 Because he dislikes me, and believes I shall not do 
 the right thing by him ; because he feels that there is 
 something I am hiding from him; because he won't 
 ask me in an outright fashion whether or not I intend 
 to let him do the work ; because it gives him some 
 satisfaction to feel that he is mistreated and down- 
 trodden. Well, let him feel that way a little longer. 
 Call it mulish stubbornness on my part if you want 
 to but that's the way I am going to do it. Home wasn't 
 built in a day, you know. That's a trite expression 
 but a true one. Well, you won't change the nature 
 of Hurley or me in a day either. We'll both go along 
 doing things in our way. Some day, perhaps, we'll 
 
102 .Humanizing Industry 
 
 meet on more equable terms." Hardwick paused to 
 light his cigar. "Now. suppose we go ahead to what 
 you've got to show us." 
 
 Struthers drummed on his chair for a while, then 
 made a movement toward the inside pocket of his 
 coat. Before he removed the wrapper from the mate- 
 rial he quietly remarked : 
 
 "You're nothing but a barking old dog, Hardwick, 
 but the Lord certainly gave you a mighty strong 
 bark." 
 
 Hardwick either did not hear him or made believe 
 he did not. 
 
 "You said you'd speak about health in industry to- 
 night. Very well, go ahead and tell me what's being 
 done along the lines in which you think me so sorely 
 lacking." 
 
 Struthers settled himself. 
 
 "Hardwick, have you ever figured out how much 
 time you lose in men failing to show up at the plant 
 on account of sickness?" 
 
 "No, I never have. It's impossible. It varies so. 
 But I know that a good deal of the turnover is due 
 to that. Also that the production would reach a much 
 higher point if I could count on a line of regular at- 
 tendance. However, as you have often so succinctly 
 put it, men are human beings and subject to human 
 ailments. You are not planning to heal physical 
 human ills as well as factory evils, are you?" 
 
Health Measures 103 
 
 "No, I am not planning anything; but don't you 
 think it would be a wise policy to keep your men in 
 good health ?" Struthers replied. "Don't you think 
 that an initial outlay in doctor's fees and health im- 
 provements would eventually pay for themselves in 
 better attendance and higher production, not to speak 
 of a better spirit among the men? What do you 
 say?" 
 
 "Explain more fully. Others have undoubtedly 
 tried it out. You promised to try to inaugurate no 
 efficiency measures or reforms that had not been suc- 
 cessfully experimented with. What are these meas- 
 ures and what have they done?" 
 
 Struthers began. 
 
 
 
 MEDICAL SERVICE 
 
 "One of the health measures taken up by a vast 
 number of establishments is the constant attendance 
 of a corps of doctors and nurses whose business it is 
 to keep the employees of the plants in a healthy con- 
 dition. The number of physicians and nurses varies, 
 of course, with the size of the plant. A large organ- 
 ization like the Metropolitan Life Insurance Com- 
 pany, for instance, has several physicians and a num- 
 ber of nurses. A plant like yours could without doubt 
 get along with one physician and one nurse. The pri- 
 mary object is to have a trained person on the prem- 
 ises in case of an emergency. A secondary object is 
 
IO4 Humanizing Industry 
 
 to keep the healthy employees in a state of good health. 
 The physician and the assisting corps pay for them- 
 selves according to the Chinese method of medical 
 treatment. That is, the doctor and the nurses are 
 paid for keeping the patients well rather than for 
 curing them. Not a very bad method, I should say. 
 
 "One of the first tasks of these medical corps is to 
 give every new employee a complete physical examina- 
 tion. The purpose of this is two-fold. First of all, 
 it bars any man from employment who has an in- 
 fectious disease that he might spread to his fellow 
 workers ; secondly, it fits the man with slight ailments 
 for tasks which he is best able to perform. Take the 
 man who is slightly hard of hearing. All the safety 
 devices that you might install would be of no use to 
 you or the men in the shops if he were placed in a 
 position where in an emergency he could not hear a 
 hurried command or warning. Such a man would be 
 of no value at an electric switch where an instantane- 
 ous turn of the lever might mean the saving of many 
 lives. He might, however, be a very valuable worker 
 at a task where the danger is reduced to a minimum. 
 The examination in no way acts as a bar to employ- 
 ment but serves rather to place the right man in the 
 right job. 
 
 "Another object the physical examination attains 
 is the one of discovering for the men any slight ail- 
 ments they may have which for lack of care might 
 develop into serious ones. A good many of the in- 
 
Health Measures 105 
 
 stitutions employing medical help for their employees 
 attend to these minor illnesses without charge to the 
 men, considering this work as one of the items in 
 overhead expenses. 
 
 "The most valuable result obtained from medical 
 service of this sort is immediate attention to im- 
 mediate needs, thus eliminating two evils at one time, 
 namely, the one of prolonged absence for slight ill- 
 nesses or accidents and the development of serious 
 results by lack of treatment at the outset. 
 
 "Among the best work done in this particular field 
 is that of the Norton Company of Massachusetts. 
 The physician in charge has outlined a course of 
 medical education and activity that might well be 
 followed by other progressive plants. He has divided 
 the medical problem into four main divisions. First 
 comes the physical examination of all employees ; sec- 
 ond, immediate attention of all defects found at ex- 
 amination; third, reexamination at regular inter- 
 vals of employees who have physical defects of any 
 sort ; and fourth, immediate attention to all employees 
 incapacitated by injury or illness with a view toward 
 getting them into normal condition in the shortest 
 possible time. 
 
 "The results obtained in that plant are many. 
 First of all comes the elimination of those practi- 
 cally unfit to work. The saving of labor turnover 
 is readily appreciated in that. Then comes the point 
 I have mentioned before, that is, the placing of the 
 
IO6 Humanizing Industry 
 
 proper man in the proper job or as he puts it, an in- 
 crease in the capacity of the partially unfit by slight 
 changes in work, introduction of medical treatment, 
 mode of life, etc. Third, comes the gaining of an 
 exact knowledge of the state of health of those who 
 may become partially or wholly unfit and a continued 
 effort to keep them at the highest possible point of 
 well-being. The next point he makes in tabulating 
 his results, is the prevention of sickness by advice 
 given to well employees and by immediate attention 
 to slight ailments. This is followed by what ought 
 especially to appeal to men who lose service through 
 occurrence of accidents, that is, a reduction of time 
 of recovery from injuries. It is readily understood 
 that wounds and abrasions treated at once heal very 
 much more quickly than those allowed to draw and 
 fester. The elimination of what is commonly called 
 'blood-poisoning' is of no small account in a shop 
 where handling of metals in all states of production is 
 necessary. The last point he makes as one of the 
 results of the physical examinations is the control 
 and prevention of spreading of such diseases as 
 tuberculosis, syphilis or other unhealthful conditions 
 that are either infectious or contagious. 
 
 "As is common in most plants where a medical 
 department has been installed, this company has a 
 special room equipped in a manner to meet examin- 
 ing as well as treatment needs. The doctor gives 
 about three hours' service every day. During his 
 
Health Measures 107 
 
 morning attendance he examines all sick employees 
 applying for treatment. If the illness is slight, he 
 prescribes for them ; if it is serious enough for them 
 to stop work, he advises them to call in a physician. 
 The point there is, that the firm does not superimpose 
 its physician upon the men in cases where cessation 
 of work is entailed. The man chooses his own doctor 
 under those conditions. Most of the afternoon is 
 devoted to making physical examinations. . 
 
 "Once a week for a period of ten weeks, the physi- 
 cian calls in all the foremen of the various depart- 
 ments and gives them a thirty-minute talk on the 
 treatment of accidents such as might happen within 
 the confines of the plant. It is readily understood 
 that in spite of all the measures taken to insure the 
 safety of the men, accidents of some sort are bound 
 to occur. In a chart worked out by the steel industry 
 it was shown that over forty-four per cent, of acci- 
 dents in the plants occurred in those branches of work 
 coming under hand labor, that is, where the worker 
 used a hand tool and not a machine. These hand 
 labor accidents are naturally due to carelessness or 
 lack of foresight of some kind. A man in driving a 
 hammer has his attention distracted while the ham- 
 mer is in the act of striking and smashes his thumb 
 or his finger. Or else, sudden blurring of sight might 
 make a man injure himself in spite of the greatest 
 care he may have taken to avoid an accident of this 
 nature. The lectures given to the foremen enable 
 
108 Humanizing Industry 
 
 them to give first aid treatment during the absence 
 of the physician. Instruction is given them in the 
 treatment of hemorrhage, burns and bruises, lacera- 
 tions and cuts, sprains, infections, fractures and dis- 
 locations, resuscitation from gas, fainting, etc. The 
 talks are given in simple language and are illustrated 
 by blackboard drawings and actual demonstrations 
 such as putting on bandages, splints, tying tourni- 
 quets and other simple emergency measures. Each 
 foreman is provided with a simple first aid equipment 
 service. 
 
 "Before the medical department became a fixture 
 in the plant a sick employee could go home no matter 
 how slight the ailment or how simple the treatment 
 to cure it. To-day he is sent to the doctor, who im- 
 mediately prescribes for him and in nine cases out 
 of ten makes it possible for the man to return to his 
 bench within a short time. The saving both to him- 
 self and his employer is readily understood. 
 
 "Various department stores all over the country 
 have established a similar type of medical depart- 
 ment. Lord and Taylor, and Altman's in New York, 
 John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Filene's in Boston, 
 Marshall Field in Chicago stand in the fore of the 
 work in this field. There are many others, besides. 
 
 "The Republic Eubber Company in Youngstown, 
 Ohio, maintains a complete emergency hospital at 
 its plants in charge of a physician and three graduate 
 nurses where employees and their families may get 
 
Health Measures 109 
 
 free medical advice. It would be impossible to give 
 all the instances where this milestone in industrial 
 welfare work has been passed. 
 
 DENTAL CLINIC 
 
 "Not a few organizations have installed, together 
 with a medical service equipment, a dental and 
 optical service equipment. The Metropolitan Life 
 Insurance Company is one of these. One of the fea- 
 tures of the dental clinic is the free cleaning of the 
 teeth of the employees twice a year. Emergency cases 
 are treated without charge. Examinations and ad- 
 vice are given without charge. The treatment of all 
 improper mouth conditions in an establishment of 
 that size is beyond the question, but a definite effort 
 is made to instruct the men and women employed in 
 the need of proper care of the mouth. 
 
 OPTICAL CLINIC 
 
 "The optical clinic is open to the employees every 
 afternoon. In addition to the oculist regularly em- 
 ployed by the firm, there is an optician in attendance 
 part of the time whose work is limited to fitting and 
 adjusting glasses. Glasses and repairs are made at 
 greatly reduced rates. 
 
 TUBERCULOSIS SANATORIA 
 
 "While speaking about the work of this organiza- 
 tion it may interest you to know about their work 
 
HO Humanizing Industry 
 
 with their tubercular employees. As far back as 1909 
 the company felt that the treatment of its tubercular 
 employees was a subject deserving especial attention. 
 Up to that time, the management of the organization 
 had made special provision for the men and women so 
 afflicted by sending them out to various sanatoria. 
 To deal most efficiently with the problem, they de- 
 cided to build a model sanatorium of their own in a 
 proper location. 
 
 "With this thought in mind, the company made ap- 
 plication to the Superintendent of Insurance of New 
 York State for permission to purchase real estate on 
 which to erect a group of buildings. This permission 
 was necessary as, under the New York laws, no in- 
 surance company may own real estate excepting that 
 which is necessary for the accommodation of its busi- 
 ness. The Superintendent of Insurance felt that he 
 had no legal right to grant the necessary permission. 
 It was agreed to take the case into court in order to 
 get an amicable and legal settlement of the question. 
 This was done and the Appellate Division of the Su- 
 preme Court of the State of New York decided that 
 it was not only the right but the duty of directors 
 of corporations to take reasonable care of their em- 
 ployees." 
 
 Struthers pulled a sheet of paper from out his 
 pocket. 
 
 "Here is a part of that decision. Ill read it aloud 
 to you." He read: 
 
Health Measures ill 
 
 "The duties of the employer to the employee have 
 been enlarged in recent years and are not merely that 
 of the purchaser of the employee's time and service 
 for money. The enlightened spirit of the age, based 
 upon the experience of the past, has thrown upon the 
 employer other duties which involve a proper regard 
 for the comfort, health, safety and well-being of the 
 employee. It is well within the corporate power to 
 assume, as it has done, the care and treatment of sucli 
 of its employees as are afflicted with tuberculsosis. 
 And unless it is shown to be wasteful of the company's 
 money and unproductive of beneficial results, the 
 practice may stand as well within the scope of its 
 business. The reasonable care of its employees, ac- 
 cording to the enlightened sentiment of the age and 
 community, is a duty resting upon it and the proper 
 discharge of that duty is merely transacting the busi- 
 ness of that corporation." 
 
 Struthers had lowered his voice as he slowly read 
 the last sentence. He paused for a few seconds after 
 he had finished, then repeated it: 
 
 "The reasonable care of its employees, according to 
 the enlightened sentiment of the age and community, 
 is a duty resting upon it the corporation and the 
 proper discharge of that duty^is merely transacting 
 the business of the corporation." He lifted his eyes 
 to Hardwick. "Not so bad, that sentiment, is it, as 
 an expression of cold, emotionless law." 
 
 "No, not so bad, but you will notice it says the 
 
112 Humanizing Industry 
 
 'reasonable care' of its employees. Where does reason 
 end and mollycoddling emotion begin, there's the 
 question?" 
 
 Struthers quoted again. 
 
 " 'According to the enlightened sentiment of the 
 age and community.' That ought to answer your 
 question. And the enlightened sentiment of the age 
 and community is interpreted by those in the van of 
 progressive movements of every sort. You will admit 
 that," 
 
 "Those in the van may be experimenting with 
 dynamite. It is those in the middle ranks who are 
 representative of the progress and growth of a na- 
 tion or a community," Hardwick retorted. 
 
 "True, when those in the van are experimenters 
 only. But when they are hard-headed, conservative 
 business men who are making a success of their 
 careers, then the vanguard is something more than a 
 hit-and-miss experiment station of wild theorists." 
 
 "Very well, "go ahead. We'll leave discussion for 
 some other time. What more are these industrial 
 torch-bearers of yours doing to insure the health of 
 their employees? And, by the way, was that sanato- 
 rium built or did they think the decision of the court 
 was sufficient glory and let the matter rest there?" 
 
 Struthers smiled. 
 
 "I'll answer the last question first. The sanatorium 
 was built. A plot of ground of four hundred and 
 twenty acres, ideally located in the Adirondack Moun- 
 
Health Measures 113 
 
 tains, twelve hundred feet above sea-level, was bought 
 and in 1913, the buildings, model in every respect, 
 were ready to receive their first patients. These were 
 the employees of the company. 
 
 "Now as to the first question. You have doubtless 
 heard of the work carried on by the National Indus- 
 trial Conference Board. This board is a cooperative 
 body composed of representatives of national indus- 
 trial associations and organized to provide a clearing 
 house of information and a machinery for cooperative 
 action on matters that vitally affect the industrial 
 development of the nation. The American Cotton 
 Manufacturers Association is represented on the 
 board, so is the National Metal Trades Association, 
 so is the National Boot and Shoe Manufacturers As- 
 sociation, so are the cotton people, the wool people, 
 the railway-car people, the paper and pulp people 
 and a good many others. From time to time they 
 carry on industrial investigations and experiments 
 among the manufacturers represented on their board 
 with the end in view of getting the best information 
 and results on problems that require a wide basis of 
 experimentation. 
 
 "Perhaps the most interesting of their investiga- 
 tions was the one involving the problem of fatigue in 
 industry. I am telling you this, you understand, to 
 show you that those questions are not merely theoreti- 
 cal, based on hypothetical conditions. Sane Ameri- 
 can business men have given them thought and atten- 
 
114 Humanizing Industry 
 
 tion because they appreciated that they had a definite 
 bearing on their production. 
 
 REST PERIODS 
 
 "Three hundred and eighty-eight employers who 
 had inaugurated a system of rest periods were asked 
 to report what effect these rest periods had upon the 
 output of tjie plant. In the large majority of in- 
 stances, the reports tended to prove that the work 
 was more efficiently and more quickly done where 
 rest periods were provided. An instance where rest 
 periods increased the output of work of a monotonous 
 character which at the same time required concen- 
 trated attention was that of a New England cloth 
 finishing house. The findings of the investigators of 
 that factory were unique. Let me read them to you 
 as they were given. 
 
 * " 'The first process at which women are employed 
 is that of keeping cloth running evenly through a 
 tentering machine. The machine holds on tenter 
 hooks the hooks of the metaphorical reference the 
 damp cloth brought from the process of bleaching and 
 rolls it through evenly into a drier, where it slips off. 
 There are two kinds of tentering machines. At one 
 kind two girls sit, each watching an edge of the cloth 
 and keeping it straight on the tenter hooks, so it will 
 feed evenly. The newer machines run in such a man- 
 ner that one girl, who may either stand or sit, can 
 watch both edges. . . . 
 
 "The tentering machines used to run slowly. This 
 
 * Clark, S. E., and Edith Wyatt: "Making Both Ends Meet." 
 
Health Measures 115 
 
 slowness enhanced the natural monotony and weari- 
 sorneness of the work. The girls used to receive wages 
 of $6 a week, and to rest three-quarters of an hour in 
 the morning and three-quarters of an hour in the 
 afternoon, with the same period for dinner at noon in 
 the middle of a ten-and-one-half hour day. After 
 scientific management was introduced, the girls sat 
 at the machine only an hour and twenty minutes at 
 a time. They then had a twenty-minute rest, and 
 these intervals of work and rest were continued 
 throughout the day by an arrangement of spelling 
 with "spare hands." The machines were run at a more 
 rapid rate than before. The girl's task was set at 
 watching 32,000 yards in a day; and if she achieved 
 the bonus, as she did without any difficulty, she could 
 earn $9 a week. The output of the tentering ma- 
 chines was increased about sixty per cent. . . .'" 
 
 "Another interesting report on this subject/' 
 Struthers said, looking up, "was made by the super- 
 intendent of the rag room in a vulcanized fiber fac- 
 tory who also observed that there was an actual in- 
 crease in production following the rest period. The 
 same observation was made by the general manager 
 of a typewriter factory. A thorough study of rate of 
 production had been made by this man and his report 
 ran to the effect that following upon the rest periods 
 the speed of the operators had increased sixteen per 
 cent, over the normal rate. The technical term for 
 this increase following upon a rest period or work 
 incentive of any sort is called a 'spurt.' An employ- 
 ment manager in one of the factories where the rest 
 
Il6 Humanizing Industry 
 
 periods were inaugurated reported that 'spurt fol- 
 lows and continues until closing time.' 
 
 "The prevailing practice among the establishments 
 reporting for the investigation made by the National 
 Industrial Conference Board was to provide one rest 
 period in the morning and one in the afternoon. Ten 
 minutes was the usual amount of time allowed, al- 
 though in some instances it was fifteen. The main ob- 
 ject arrived at in every instance is to secure real re- 
 cuperation from fatigue, at the same time not allow- 
 ing the period to grow long enough to interfere with 
 the speed obtained by making the movements me- 
 chanical. A pause of from five to fifteen minutes is 
 generally conceded to be the most valuable. 
 
 "The point has been made by a great many indus- 
 trial experts that little value can come from a rest 
 period spent in the devitalized air of a shop or fac- 
 tory. That point loses in force when it is taken into 
 consideration that in most of the factories where the 
 rest period has been inaugurated, the men and women 
 leave the room and allow the air in the room to be 
 changed. Where suitable rest room facilities are 
 lacking an effort is made to induce the employees to 
 go out into the open air. Where the employer, how- 
 ever, has been far-sighted enough to consider the 
 value of such recesses, he has also been progressive 
 enough to provide rest rooms or recreation rooms of 
 some sort Most of the department stores all over 
 the country have provided these. I know that all of 
 
Health Measures 117 
 
 them in New York City have them. So have the Tele- 
 phone Companies, so indeed have most of the indus- 
 trial establishments which have any large number 
 of women working for them. 
 
 "As a relief from cramped positions, calisthenics 
 or setting-up exercises have been introduced by 
 numerous plants. Sometimes a paid supervisor con- 
 ducts this work ; where there is an attendant nurse on 
 the premises, it is very easy for her to do it. A 
 hosiery factory reported the most elaborate arrange- 
 ments for spending the morning and afternoon rest 
 periods. In the forenoon, the recess is spent in setting- 
 up drills, dancing, games and singing; in the after- 
 noon talks were given on current events. Personally 
 I believe that studied arrangements of this sort are 
 not necessary and that the men and women will find 
 their rest and recreation in their own way. 
 
 "In numerous cases, it was found that rest periods 
 were granted for reasons other than fatigue resulting 
 from the monotonous or nerve-wearing nature of the 
 work. In one of the foundries, it was found, for 
 instance, that at almost any time between eight and 
 eleven o'clock in the morning the men knocked off 
 of their own account in order to take a bite at their 
 lunches. The foreman decided that it would be vastly 
 more profitable to have all the men stop work for a 
 short period at the same time. A rest period of ten 
 minutes was allowed them in which they could eat 
 their mid-morning lunch at leisure and without fear 
 
1 1 8 Humanizing Industry 
 
 of reprimand. The resulting saving in time and in- 
 crease of production due to the 'spurf gained by the 
 physical and mental relaxation was found to be highly 
 valuable. 
 
 "Still other employers introduced definite rest 
 periods in order to diminish loss of time resulting 
 from unregulated pauses. Two definite ends were 
 gained by this : first, lost time due to fatigue with its 
 consequent falling away from maximum production 
 was minimized, and second, the inevitable tendency 
 toward laxity in discipline due to undefined rest 
 periods was overcome. 
 
 "In operations where the attendance of a group of 
 people working in unison is necessary, the rest periods 
 have been of especial value. The absence of one 
 worker naturally holds up the production rate of the 
 entire group. Where the men and women can look 
 forward to a definite period of relaxation, the ten- 
 dency to leave the group is perceptibly lessened. 
 
 "Rest periods are not, however, the only solution 
 in eliminating the question of fatigue in industry. 
 The problem of ventilation enters greatly into the 
 subject; so does the one of proper equipment. The 
 Telephone Companies have given much thought to this 
 subject. The operators' chairs are of a type and con- 
 struction as to throw the weight of the body into the 
 most comfortable working position. The adjustment 
 of these chairs is carefully loked after, it being the 
 duty of each division supervisor to see that her opera- 
 
Health Measures 119 
 
 tors are comfortably seated. The Underwood Type- 
 writing Company is another establishment that has 
 made a careful study of chairs and back rests. 
 
 "A frequent substitute for rest periods is an ar- 
 rangement of work w r hich enforces change of position 
 at regular intervals. It is working on the fatigue- 
 lessening possibilities of this theory that the Tele- 
 phone Companies besides allowing their workers two 
 rest periods, also allow them to stand at their work 
 several times during the day. The manager of a 
 clothing-shop reported a similar system in his plant. 
 The work is so arranged that the machine operators, 
 most of whom are women, have to leave their tables 
 on an average of four times an hour for the purpose 
 of checking time slips, procuring new work and turn- 
 ing in finished work. This time taken by these 
 changes amounts to about thirty minutes during an 
 eight-hour day. It was found that in this plant, this 
 method of counter-acting the danger of over-fatigue 
 was more valuable than having fixed rest periods at 
 stated intervals. 
 
 "This question of fatigue in industry has been given 
 serious study by eminent educators as well as by -men 
 personally interested in industry. Certain definite 
 strides are being constantly taken to show that the 
 worker can go just so far and no further and that the 
 highest amount of production can be gained only 
 when conditions are such as to take into considera- 
 tion his physical well-being and the need of relax- 
 
120 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ation. Curves are being scientifically plotted to show 
 that there are certain periods during the day as well 
 as during the week, month and year when the powers 
 of the worker, no matter of what type, are at an ebb. 
 It is the wise employer who applies the results of 
 this type of investigation to the conditions in his 
 own plant. These questions of rest, change, light, 
 heat, ventilation, seem self-evident on the face of the 
 matter but the fact remains, nevertheless, that men 
 of apparent ability and education seem for some rea- 
 son or other to be blind to their importance when 
 applied to industry. In their desire to stimulate pro- 
 duction they lose sight of the means of stimulation." 
 
 Struthers stopped. Hardwick lifted his eyes ques- 
 tioningly. 
 
 "Is that all you have got to say about the matter 
 of health in industry or rather is that all that has 
 been done to insure health in industry?" he asked. 
 "This is all very interesting. I didn?t imagine so 
 much thought, scientific thought, had been given to 
 the subject." 
 
 Struthers smiled. 
 
 "I know. Therein lies the hope of the future. Let- 
 ting men of your type know what is being done and 
 then hoping that they will be inspired to use that 
 knowledge to the advantage of their men. In the long 
 run, this means to their own advantage. You ask 
 whether that is all that has been done along lines of 
 health? By no means. It would take a good many 
 
Health Measures 121 
 
 more evenings to go into every detail that has been 
 adopted. All I am trying to do is to give you a gen- 
 eral idea of the trend of industrial progress. Restau- 
 rants have been installed, in some instances meals 
 are given for nothing, in a good many others they 
 are sold at cost price. The Metropolitan Life In* 
 surance Company is an example of the first type ; the 
 Endicott Shoe Company of Massachusetts, the Joseph 
 and Feiss Company of Cleveland, The General Elec< 
 trie Company with plants in several states, the 
 Jeffrey Manufacturing Company of Columbus, Ohio, 
 the Altman Department Store in New York and a 
 vast number of others are instances of the second. 
 
 RESTAURANTS 
 
 "The work of the Metropolitan Life Insurance 
 Company deserves special attention. Of such high 
 standard are the meals that it is not unusual for the 
 managers of the different departments to come to the 
 company dining-room at luncheon time. Thousands 
 of workers are fed there daily. When a clerk is em- 
 ployed, a seat in the luncheon room is assigned him 
 and a luncheon ticket is supplied him. On this is 
 printed the name of the individual, the division and 
 section of employment, the hour of luncheon either 
 12 or 1 o'clock the number of the table and his par- 
 ticular seat at the table. The card has blank spaces 
 for non-fast days and for fast days on which the clerk 
 
r 
 
 122 Humanizing Industry 
 
 indicates whether, for instance, he or she wants meat 
 or fish on Fridays; where meat or .crackers and 
 milk with dessert is desired generally for luncheon; 
 whether tea, coffee, milk or buttermilk is wanted as 
 a drink. The dining-room is divided into sections and 
 each section is served from a separate pantry. There 
 are seven pantries. Each waitress serves twenty-two 
 or twenty-four individuals. The cards when filled out 
 are all turned into the Commissary Department where 
 they are grouped according to the section served by 
 individual waitresses and the information on these 
 cards is transferred to a little book which each wears 
 attached to a chain at her belt. Reference to this 
 shows her the number of portions of each part of 
 the luncheon she is to serve and to which seats they 
 go. So that there may be no confusion, the cards 
 held and filled out by the clerks having luncheon at 
 12 o'clock are plain white, while those having luncheon 
 at 1 o'clock have a red line printed across them. If 
 a clerk wants to change the general character of his 
 luncheon at any time, he may do so by simply giving 
 notice on a duplicate card. During vacation time 
 when perhaps two or three hundred clerks are away 
 at one time, notice of proposed absence is sent by di- 
 vision heads to the commissary and at the end of each 
 week he makes deductions from the number of por- 
 tions of each article of diet, thus preventing waste. 
 From the waitress's book of records, a transfer is 
 made to a separate sheet kept in the commissary de- 
 
Health Measures 123 
 
 partment which insures his knowledge of the total 
 number of meals to be served each day. A copy of 
 this record is sent to the pantry man, the chef, the 
 head baker and the storekeeper. 
 
 "More than half the clerks want ice-cream. All of 
 them want some dessert. Accordingly there is posted 
 in the luncheon rooms each day the choice of desserts 
 for the next day and on each table there are blank 
 forms which are essentially table diagrams on which 
 each individual indicates whether or not he wants ice- 
 cream on the day following. Within ten minutes 
 after the dining-room has been cleared an adding ma- 
 chine has indicated to the commissary chief the num- 
 ber of portions of ice-cream to be served the next day. 
 Those who do not want the ice-cream get the alterna- 
 tive. This is usually pie. This check up on the num- 
 ber of portions of ice-cream also serves as an indica- 
 tion of the total number of meals to be served on the 
 day following. Since the attendance at the dining- 
 room is not compulsory, a check of some sort is neces- 
 sary to gauge the amount of food to be cooked. 
 
 "I was very much interested in discovering whether 
 the salaries of this company were by reason of this 
 free luncheon system any lower than those of the 
 other insurance companies." 
 
 Hardwick bent forward with interest. 
 
 "Well," he asked, "aren't they? Surely there is 
 some nigger in that woodpile." 
 
 Struthers laughed. 
 
124 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Funny, Hardwick, that you should have used that 
 expression. I heard Hurley use it in reference to 
 something very much along the same line of thought. 
 No, there is no nigger in that woodpile. The salaries 
 are on a par with those given by other insurance com- 
 panies. The only nigger I could discover was an 
 honest desire on the part of the company to make 
 their employees satisfied with their working condi- 
 tions. I'll have some more to say on that subject 
 later on. What I have told you will give you some 
 idea of the work done with clerical forces. Let me 
 give you an illustration how this luncheon service 
 Works out with the type of men that you employ. 
 
 "The General Electric Company at Schenectady is 
 as good an example as any. About 3,500 meals are 
 served daily at a nominal cost. Some of these meals 
 are breakfasts, some midnight lunches, some suppers 
 and some midday lunches. Until recently they had 
 a waitress system, but this has been changed to the 
 more efficient self -serve system whereby each employee 
 helps himself as he passes the trays of food. Promptly 
 upon the blowing of the whistle at noon, for instance, 
 four lines of men form in front of four cash registers 
 to purchase their luncheon tickets. After they get 
 their tickets, they form in line at four belt conveyers 
 or moving counters which carry the aluminum trays 
 on which the men place their luncheons. The belts 
 travel at the rate of sixty -five feet a minute and allow 
 fifteen seconds for the man to select his food. Fifteen 
 
Health Measures 125 
 
 seconds may sound like a very short space of time, 
 but if you have ever been in a cafeteria you will ap- 
 preciate that it is quite sufficient in which to make 
 your choice. The man follows his tray which rests 
 on the conveyer and helps himself to either meat or 
 fish, then potatoes, tomatoes, pudding or pie and milk 
 or coffee. All of these things are ready for him on 
 a hot steam table which stands parallel to the belt 
 conveyers. By the time he has his complete luncheon 
 placed on his tray he is within five or six feet of the 
 end of the belt, where a checker sees that the amount 
 of his pay check tallies with his meal. After removing 
 his tray from the belt the man takes it to his seat. 
 Tickets are sold only to capacity, so that every man 
 is assured of a place where he can sit down to eat. 
 The dining-room is cleared at short periods and new 
 shifts of men pour in. 
 
 "The Underwood Typewriting Company has still 
 another system of providing food to those employees 
 w T ho wish to take advantage of their luncheon serv- 
 ice. The employees buy one dollar's worth of two and 
 a half cent stamps which have been especially printed 
 for this purpose. Every department has two boxes 
 within easy reach of the employees. One of the boxes 
 contains the menu for the day; the other serves as a 
 receptacle for signed and stamped menus. The em- 
 ployees who expect to eat in the dining-room select 
 their meals on the menu by checking those dishes they 
 desire, add up the total and paste the necessary num- 
 
126 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ber of gummed stamps in the blank space left for 
 them. The menu is signed and deposited in the sec- 
 ond box. At nine o'clock the orders are collected and 
 the food prepared according to the number of cards 
 received. In inclement weather special distributions 
 of menus are made at eleven o'clock in the forenoon. 
 
 "The average cost of the luncheons in every case 
 where the plant makes provision for them is far be- 
 low the level of that of ordinary restaurants or even 
 of meals served at home. The Joseph and Feiss peo- 
 ple, for instance, have box lunches consisting of two 
 sandwiches, a relish, pie and fruit, which cost only 
 ten cents. 
 
 "The average cost of luncheons at the Mechanical 
 Rubber Company of Cleveland is eighteen cents. The 
 same average holds true of the Cleveland Foundry 
 Company. 
 
 "This method of providing luncheons for employees 
 at a nominal cost has been adopted by hundreds of 
 establishments. The value of such a system in rela- 
 tion to the efficiency of the plant is readily under- 
 stood. Take a man like this Larry boy who suffered 
 the accident last week. I don't know what his wages 
 are, but being an apprentice, I can readily imagine 
 that they are not very high.' He supports his mother 
 on them. That makes it doubly hard. Under an ideal 
 system of society, his mother would, of course, not be 
 a burden to him. There would be some way in which 
 she would be provided for. By the way, was Larry's 
 
Health Measures 127 
 
 father an employee of yours? He was. Well, we'll 
 discuss that later. To go on, however. We are not 
 living under an ideal state of society and this young- 
 ster feels it incumbent upon him to economize in 
 every way to make ends meet. With an ignorant sense 
 of perspective and a lack of appreciation of values 
 and proportion, he stints himself on his meals. That 
 is not pure imagining on my part. You would be sur- 
 prised to know to what an extent the second meal in 
 the day is either eliminated or cut down. The natural 
 reaction on this is decreased vitality which means de- 
 creased or lower production for the afternoon's work. 
 The same holds true for the man who comes to work 
 on an unwholesome or deficient breakfast. 
 
 "The time of eating on a hit-and-miss basis is past. 
 Scientific research has proven that the healthy man 
 needs a certain number of calories of food to continue 
 healthy. What's more, those calories cannot consist 
 of potatoes alone or bread alone. They must be judi- 
 ciously mixed so that all of his fibers and tissues get 
 the proper proportion of nourishment. You may say 
 that you are not a food expert and that it's not up to 
 you to prescribe a diet for your workers. Very true. 
 But if you want to consider yourself an expert in the 
 work you are doing you will have to appreciate the 
 fact that the amount and kind of food your employees 
 eat have a definite bearing on the amount and kind of 
 work they turn out." 
 
 Hardwick interrupted with a question. 
 
128 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "What would you have me do? Go into the home of 
 every one of my employees and find out whether he 
 eats the proper food at the proper time and, if he 
 doesn't, take him with me and feed him at the plant?'' 
 
 "No, by all means, no," Struthers retorted. "All 
 you've got to do is to make it possible for the men 
 you employ to get a square meal at a low cost if they 
 want it. And by 'want' I mean the original meaning 
 of the word ; if they need it, if they are in want of it. 
 Don't you mix yourself up in it at all. In fact, keep 
 out of it altogether. Don't act the gracious, bounti- 
 ful host. They will hate it as much as you. Make the 
 meals a part of the natural workings of the plant, to 
 be taken in the same impersonal way as the machinery 
 or the furniture of the plant. Let the men grow to 
 appreciate the fact that a good luncheon or a good 
 breakfast is as necessary to a good day's work as is 
 a well-oiled bit of machinery or a well-sharpened steel 
 point. And remember always that you are doing 
 nothing for them ; that you are merely supplying an- 
 other necessary adjunct to the conditions that will 
 make for the success of your factory. 
 
 "There are one or two other things that I want to 
 touch upon while we are on the subject of health. 
 You noticed the condition that I was in when I came 
 out of the shops to-day. Under ordinary conditions 
 I should have been ashamed to greet any of my friends 
 in the mess I was in. I mean the dirt and the grease 
 and the grime. The conditions, however, are not ordi- 
 
Health Measures 129 
 
 nary. Much as I should have liked to come out with 
 a clean face and clean hands, I couldn't for the simple 
 reason that there are no facilities in the place for 
 proper washing up. 
 
 " 'The grime of honest toil' is a picturesque phrase 
 but it does not depict an especially healthy condition. 
 Some of the old country wells are picturesque places 
 but I'll be hanged if I'd take a chance or if you'd 
 take a chance at drinking the water out of them. 
 These things are obsolete, Hardwick, and you've got 
 to understand that they are so from the standpoint 
 of science and good health and not from the one of 
 mushy sentimentality. 
 
 "Now, I can stake my word on it that the men in 
 your place would much sooner go home to their 
 families in clean clothes and clean bodies. The smell 
 of a sweaty body added to the smell of the furnaces 
 and the oil and the soot of the shops is not an especial- 
 ly pleasant one to sit down with at the dining table. 
 You turn up your Patrician nose at that. The thought 
 is distasteful. It is equally so to Plebeian noses but 
 they have grown used to it. 
 
 "Why does every workingman's family look for- 
 ward to Sundays? It's not so much that they do not 
 have to work although that is intricably woven into 
 the thought it is because they can be clean and fresh 
 and eat and act like human beings. It's because they 
 can sit down at a clean table-cloth and feel that that 
 is the way the good Lord intended them to sit and 
 
130 Humanizing Industry 
 
 eat, I tell you, man, they revel in this Sunday sense 
 of cleanliness. 
 
 "There is no reason in the wide world why these 
 thousand men that you employ cannot go home every 
 evening in a condition that is clean and healthy. 
 There is no reason why I can't come to your home 
 after a day's work in the drill shop and feel that I 
 am not soiling the things with which you have sur- 
 rounded yourself. I do not expect to be able to come 
 in a dinner suit, but I do not see why I can't come in 
 something different than the clothes in which I work. 
 I do not see why I can't come with hands and nails 
 that do not smell of the lubricating oils. You catch 
 my drift, don't you?" 
 
 "I do. Go ahead. What do you want me to do to 
 turn my employees into sweet-smelling, Godlike 
 cherubs?" 
 
 "There you go again, Hardwick. It's your attitude, 
 man, that's all wrong. Just as long as you feel that 
 way you won't accomplish anything, no matter what 
 money you expend." 
 
 "All right, Struthers, I understand. I really did 
 not mean to be sarcastic but your idea that the men 
 want to be cleaned up is rather amusing." 
 
 "That idea is amusing. The men do not want to 
 be cleaned up. But give them the opportunity to 
 clean themselves up and you will see how quickly 
 they will take advantage of it. 
 
 "Your employees are no different from the em- 
 
Health Measures 131 
 
 ployees in the plants where cleaning up facilities have 
 been provided. What the men in other establishments 
 have done, your men will do. Human nature is the 
 same all over. Expect a man to be clean, provide him 
 with the means to be clean and he will most assuredly 
 come up to the scratch. The installation of lockers 
 and baths and basins would not be done on as whole- 
 sale a scale if the idea behind it that the men are 
 much happier when they can go home in a presentable 
 condition were not based on truth. 
 
 WASHING-UP FACILITIES 
 
 "Most of the steel companies have spent vast sums 
 of money on improvements of this nature. To-day 
 sanitary conditions in some of their plants are ideal. 
 They first provided lockers where the men could 
 change their street clothes for working clothes. These 
 lockers were situated in one part of the building and 
 the wash basins in another. The plan didn't work. 
 The men didn't like to walk from the sinks to the 
 lockers. It took too much of their time. In apprecia- 
 tion of this, new improvements were installed which 
 placed the lockers in close juxtaposition to the rows 
 of sinks. To-day, a man after work hours walks into 
 these wash rooms as a matter of course, gets out of 
 his working blouse, washes up, changes into Ms street 
 clothes and goes home in a condition no different than 
 that of the office help. The sinks are of the most im- 
 
132 Humanizing Industry 
 
 proved sanitary plumbing. The possibility of infec- 
 tion of any sort has been reduced to a minimum. Most 
 of the spigots are built with extensions that rise up 
 to the height of a man leaning over. A spray is at- 
 tached to these extensions so that the employee can 
 comfortably place his head under the water and let 
 the constant flow of it wash away the accumulated 
 dirt of the day. The water flows freely into a waste 
 pipe and is not allowed to accumulate into basins. 
 The soap in almost all instances is in receptacles in 
 either powdered or liquid form. 
 
 "Each man has an individual locker where he keeps 
 his street clothes. Some organizations have a system 
 whereby each man has an individual hanger which is 
 drawn up into the air by means of a pulley. A spe- 
 cially equipped ventilation system keeps these clothes 
 aerated and free from infection. Constant tabs are 
 kept on the efficiency of these different systems and 
 changes are made just as soon as it is discovered that 
 one is of greater value than another. 
 
 "The National Cash Register Company at Dayton, 
 Ohio, is another of the progressive organizations that 
 has taken an active interest in the study of the rela- 
 tionship between cleanliness and efficiency. They 
 have provided three hundred shower baths and fifteen 
 bath tubs to meet the needs of their employees. Dur- 
 ing the winter they allow twenty minutes of the com- 
 pany's time once every week for the use of this equip- 
 
Health Measures 133 
 
 ment. In the summer- time, they allow two such 
 periods. 
 
 "The Norton Company has most of its wash rooms 
 equipped with shower baths. The same is true of the 
 United Shoe Manufacturing Company and the Endi- 
 cott-Johnson Company and the National Carbon Com- 
 pany. The same is true of hundreds of other estab- 
 lishments where any attempt has been made to intro- 
 duce health measures of any sort. In fact, most of 
 these people speak of their showers and sanitary 
 basins and lavatories in the same breath as they do 
 of their rest rooms and hospital equipment. I could 
 go on indefinitely quoting instances where measures 
 along these lines have been adopted. 
 
 "A thorough investigation of that list published by 
 the Bureau of Labor would probably show the great 
 trend of this type of industrial work. You would be 
 surprised at the number of improvements introduced 
 in some organizations. Some establishments supply 
 their employees with umbrellas on rainy days. Others 
 have changes of clothes for the men and women com- 
 ing in from a storm. These latter usually have spe- 
 cial drying apparatus installed to take care of the 
 wet garments. You see, Hardwick, the things that 
 your grandfather may have considered in the light of 
 air-castles and a fool's paradise are to-day thought of 
 as primal necessities, working toward the success of 
 the plant. Even if you refuse to grant the conten- 
 
134 Humanizing Industry 
 
 tion that the men themselves want these improve- 
 ments, that their sense of innate decency pleads for 
 them, then as an engineer of a big machine, if such 
 you choose to call your plant, as an engineer, I say, 
 you ought to appreciate the value of having your cogs 
 well cleaned and well lubricated. Here, this stuff 
 may interest you," Struthers said, passing some pic- 
 tures over to Hardwick. "It shows some of the in- 
 teriors of some of the plants we have been discussing." 
 
 Hardwick smiled as he fingered the illustrations 
 Struthers gave him. 
 
 "Discussing, Struthers? Who's been discussing? 
 It seems to me as though this has been pretty much 
 of a one-sided affair. You have given a good deal of 
 attention to the workmen's end of it, but where do I 
 come in? Do you realize what carrying out a pro- 
 gram of this nature would mean in so many dollars 
 and cents? All this sounds very well in theory but 
 when it comes to actual practice, it's another story. 
 In spite of the fact that the men choose to see in me 
 the gouging exploiter of labor, I want to assure you, 
 Struthers, that this plant is not the storehouse of 
 wealth you may believe it is. The only reason I am 
 holding on is that it's been in the family too long for 
 me to let go. I can just about make ends meet now 
 but I do not see where I can make an outlay of the 
 sort that you suggest. I have been very frank with 
 you. I want you to understand." 
 
 Struthers leaned forward. 
 
Health Measures 135 
 
 "I understand, Hardwick. I understood when I saw 
 how things were running here. What you say of the 
 initial outlay is very true. It would amount to some- 
 thing. But, man, don't you see that the reason you 
 are no more than making things meet is due to just 
 these conditions which need change; that the success 
 of the plants that have incorporated these measures 
 is to a large extent due to that very lubrication of 
 human relationships arising out of better working 
 conditions? Don't you see that just as long as you 
 go in this slipshod manner for it is a slipshod man- 
 ner in spite of your skilled workmen and fine ma- 
 chinery you will not create the spirit out of which 
 you can build something new? 
 
 "The trouble is, Hardwick," Struthers went on, 
 "that you are tied down by traditions. You want to 
 make a success of life and you imagine that you can 
 do so by following family precepts. Cut yourself 
 loose from the dankness of the old system and try 
 your hand at the freshness of the new. I confess I 
 sound like a two-penny advertisement, but in the 
 name of all that is true, Hardwick, dankness, and 
 dirt, with its possibility of disease, never will suc- 
 ceed. You have got to give your employees more than 
 a machine to work on. You have got to create for 
 them an environment in which to live. I mean live 
 and not merely apathetically exist. The parting with 
 your grandfather's shekels may be hard, but it will in 
 the long run mean the happiness of his grandson. 
 
136 Humanizing Industry 
 
 These things will come to pass eventually; it is the 
 wise man who perceives the trend of the current of 
 the inevitable and enters into it before he is forced 
 into it. Thank the powers that be, Hardwick, that 
 you are not your grandfather; think what a wrench 
 these changes and reforms would have meant to him." 
 
 Hardwick groaned. 
 
 "To him, to him! For heaven's sake, man, what 
 do you think they mean to me? I can't say that you 
 are using any anaesthetic measures in showing me the 
 truth. The truth, that is, in the light that you per- 
 ceive it. By the way, Struthers, how many more 
 expenditures are you going to suggest? And will it 
 be all spending on my part and nothing that will 
 come in?" 
 
 "It will be all spending, Hardwick, until you catch 
 up in the race ; until you pass all those milestones of 
 which I spoke to you the first day I came here. You 
 see, you have neglected to do so many things that 
 should have been done. The returns will come in 
 gradually, in other ways be'sides dollars and cents." 
 
 "You mean . . ." Hardwick asked. 
 
 "I mean in confidence of the men; in an apprecia- 
 tion on their part that you are doing the right thing 
 by them." 
 
 "Hm. Y r ou think that will come? You think that 
 they will in any way alter their attitude toward the 
 thing I stand for? Well, Struthers, as the Scotsman 
 said, 'I hae me doots.' However, I shall want to talk 
 
Health Measures 137 
 
 this thing over with you in greater detail. We'll see 
 what's to be done. Will you come to see your boss 
 when he sends for you?' 7 
 
 The men laughed. They sat together until late into 
 the night discussing the newer movements of reform 
 in its social and literary aspects. Change, constant 
 change, characterized the features of all new life. 
 The world demanded realism, a more intimate under- 
 standing of human values and human relationships, 
 a more definite and satisfying adaptation to the things 
 that make life worth living. Everything was an ex- 
 pression of the demand to live and partake fully of 
 the richness and redness of life. The war had not had 
 a little to do with this. Just as all Ijad been ready 
 to make the supreme sacrifice during the red carnage, 
 even so all were now eager to take the full measure 
 of the peace that had come after it. Things could 
 not and would not go back to the old order. Wise 
 men saw the signs and used them as stepping stones 
 in the new relationship of men. 
 
 In the midst of their talk, Hardwick's servant came 
 in and told Struthers he was wanted on the phone. 
 He left the room. There was a smile on his face when 
 he returned. 
 
 "I didn't know it was so late. That old bear, Hur- 
 ley, was afraid something had happened to me and 
 called up to find out. I told him I should stay here 
 overnight. That will be all right, won't it?" 
 
 "Of course. You know I want you here. Hurley 
 
138 Humanizing Industry 
 
 called up, you say? Hurley mothering you? Hm 
 funny that. But who would have thought it of old 
 Hurley?" 
 
 The men talked for a while longer, then bid each 
 other good night and went to their rooms. When 
 Hardwick came down to breakfast the next day, he 
 was told that Struthers had already left. 
 
CHAPTER FIVE 
 
 CONSTRUCTING CONFIDENCE 
 
 * 
 
 Two weeks after the evening that Struthers had 
 spent with him, Hardwick had made arrangements to 
 have the proper sanitary facilities installed in his 
 shops. The men who had taken the contract for the 
 work had been working around the plant for over a 
 week, measuring and making plans. Hurley, who had 
 been placed in charge of making the safety devices, 
 watched them with interest. Occasionally he went 
 over to them and spoke to them, asking them about 
 the arrangements of the various improvements. The 
 men in the shops were all intensely interested ; Struth- 
 ers watched them closely to see what their attitude 
 toward the change would be and was pleased to note 
 that it was one of pleasure. The thought that they 
 would have a place to wash up before they left for 
 home was apparently a welcome one. 
 
 During the noon hour Hurley called Struthers 
 aside. 
 
 "Struthers, there's something I want to say to you. 
 I think you ought to tell Mr. Hardwick. It's about 
 that washroom for the furnace men. Those men will 
 never use it unless it's put under the roof of their 
 
 139 
 
140 Humanizing Industry 
 
 building. This man Smith tells me it can't be done. 
 I don't see why not. You can build an extension lead- 
 ing from the furnace room. The men won't travel 
 from one building to another. They'd much rather 
 go home dirty. It isn't fair to them. What's more, 
 it'll be a waste of money to Mr. Hardwick if he has 
 it placed in Building E, for it won't ever be used. 
 
 "If he's putting up these things he might as well 
 do it right and place them where they'll do the most 
 good. Come along. Let me show you what I mean." 
 
 Struthers followed Hurley over to the furnace room 
 and observed the justice of his remarks. From his 
 knowledge of the men in shops, he knew that they 
 would not take the extra steps to the next building 
 to wash up. He listened attentively to Hurley's plan 
 for adding a small extension to the men's own build- 
 ing and installing the equipment there. He nodded 
 in agreement as Hurley brought out the different 
 points. 
 
 "Then you will tell Mr. Hardwick about this, 
 Struthers. I think he ought to know." 
 
 Struthers looked keenly at Hurley. He bit his 
 lower lip contemplatively. Finally he spoke. 
 
 "What about telling him yourself?" He watched 
 the effect of the question upon Hurley, then turned 
 on his heel and walked away. Hurley looked after 
 him in astonishment. It wasn't like Struthers to re- 
 fuse to carry out a reasonable request. And, as he 
 saw it, it was all to the advantage of Hardwick to be 
 
Constructing Confidence 141 
 
 told. It was something constructive. The word caught 
 his imagination. "Constructive." Of course. That's 
 what Struthers had been talking about all the time. 
 "Have you ever gone to Hardwick with anything con- 
 structive?" he had insistently asked. Well, he had 
 something constructive now. He saw what Struthers 
 was driving at and smiled to himself. Hardwick had 
 been pretty decent about that safety work, but habit 
 was habit and the thought of approaching him of his 
 own accord in the man's private sanctum was not 
 without its difficulty to Hurley. He stood debating 
 the question in his mind for several moments, then 
 walked over to the plant telephone. He asked for Mr. 
 Hardwick. The man's voice came rumbling over the 
 phone. Hurley quickly made known his request for 
 a few minutes. His employer told him to come along. 
 
 The old bitter lines were around Hardwick's face 
 when Hurley entered. He looked up from the paper 
 before him. 
 
 "Well, Hurley, what is it? Things gone wrong in 
 the shops again, men making new demands or what?" 
 
 Hurley flushed. 
 
 "No, sir, it isn't that this time. It's something else 
 I wanted to talk about. It's the new wash rooms. 
 I think the men are making a mistake in the furnace- 
 men's room. I think you'll understand, sir, if you 
 see the conditions." 
 
 He went on to explain. Hardwick listened to him 
 with interest. Every now and then he nodded in 
 
142 Humanizing Industry 
 
 agreement. As Hurley pointed out the advisability 
 of building the extension, he rose. 
 
 "Just a minute, Hurley. Let's go out and see what 
 can be done over there. What you say sounds very 
 reasonable. However, I don't know whether we can 
 have the water pipes connected to an extension.' 7 
 
 The two men left the room. In a little while they 
 returned and sat down, making rough sketches on 
 paper. It was late in the afternoon when Hurley 
 went back to the shops. He said nothing to Struth- 
 ers until that evening when they were at the supper 
 table. 
 
 "I saw Mr. Hardwick this afternoon," he began. 
 
 "Yes, so I saw. He didn't bite you, did he?" ' 
 
 "No, he didn't. He was mighty decent about that. 
 He's going to build the extension if they can carry 
 the water pipes around. I think they can. But, 
 Struthers, there's something else I want to talk to 
 you about. He said something about having a doc- 
 tor's room and maybe a restaurant later on. It's 
 about this doctor's room. What does he expect to 
 do? What's this doctor going to do?" 
 
 "Why, what do you mean, Hurley? What do all 
 doctors do? He'll be around to take care of the men 
 in the shops -in case they need care. He'll probably 
 arrange to give all the men a physical examination 
 first. That's the proper starting point." 
 
 Hurley's mouth grew hard. 
 
 "I knew it," he exclaimed. "I knew it. Didn't I 
 
Constructing Confidence 143 
 
 tell you, Struthers, that every time that man did 
 anything, there'd be something behind it? I tell you, 
 you can't trust him to do the right thing. I knew 
 something like that was going to happen all along. 
 He may be able to hoodwink you but he can't do it to 
 me. What's more, the men won't stand for it and I'll 
 be hanged if I see why they should. I tell you, they'll 
 walk out first before they'll stand for any doctor's 
 examination of any sort." 
 
 Struthers looked at the man in amazement. 
 
 "What the Sam Brown are you driving at, Hur- 
 ley?" he asked. "Why should the men walk out? 
 What's the objection to having a doctor? Don't we 
 need one?" 
 
 "Heaven knows we do, but not the kind that he's 
 going to get and not for the purpose he's getting him. 
 You don't understand, do you? Well, I'll tell you. 
 The only reason Hardwick is getting a doctor is to 
 have the men examined so that he can fire the ones 
 that aren't just up to form. After having used them 
 until they aren't worth all that they were ten years 
 ago, he's going to throw them into the ash-heap and 
 get others to take their place. It's been done by 
 others and it will be done by him. A man is exam- 
 ined ; they find something wrong with him, he's either 
 fired for good or laid off until he's cured. And cured 
 by whom? By the doctor who lays him off. How 
 long does he stay laid off and how long does he lose 
 his wages? Until the doctor has gouged everything 
 
144 Humanizing Industry 
 
 he can get out of him or until there is a rush of work 
 and the boss needs him at the works. It doesn't mat- 
 ter then how sick a man is. Struthers, I tell you, 
 the men won't stand for it. If Hardwick thinks he 
 can pay for all those things he's putting in by laying 
 the men off, he's mistaken. They'll quit work right 
 now when he needs them before they'll see him come 
 pussyfooting around here with a paid leech. Man, 
 man, don't you see his plan?" 
 
 Struthers stood aghast at this explosion on the 
 part of Hurley. The deep-rooted suspicion that the 
 man opposite him voiced was beyond belief. The two 
 factors did indeed stand on two sides of the fence. 
 What's more, it was a barbed wire fence. The cutting 
 away of the tearing hooks was work that was trying 
 the soul of him. Hardwick, the stronger man, had gone 
 a good bit of the way ; his was the first step, it neces- 
 sarily had to be. But here was Hurley, bitter, an- 
 tagonistic and soaked with a spirit of suspicion that 
 was difficult to bend. Struthers knew of cases where 
 unscrupulous employers had indeed hired doctors for 
 such purposes as Hurley had described, but it had 
 never dawned upon him that Hurley would suspect 
 that he, Struthers, would stand sponsor for a scheme 
 like that. Struthers cursed the system that had given 
 birth to such bitter hatred and misunderstanding be- 
 tween men whose powers might be harnessed together 
 in the run for their mutual happiness -and'well-being. 
 His mouth closed in a hard firm line. Hurley had 
 
Constructing Confidence 145 
 
 never seen Struthers look just like that. He misun- 
 derstood the meaning of it. A hard bitter laugh 
 escaped him. 
 
 "It isn't pleasant, is it, when a man you call your 
 friend plays a dirty trick like that? You thought 
 Hardwick was all square, didn't you? Well, he almost 
 had me fooled and I should have known better. What 
 do you think of him now?" 
 
 Struthers motioned to a chair. 
 
 "Sit down, Hurley. I want to talk to you. First 
 of all I want to ask you a question. Do you trust 
 me?" 
 
 "Trust you? I guess I do, Struthers. The trouble 
 with you is that you trust others too easily." 
 
 "That's not the point," Struthers replied. "The 
 trouble with you is that you trust nobody who's su- 
 perior to you. It isn't Hardwick you're pitted against. 
 It's the thing you imagine Hardwick represents. Well, 
 suppose I tell you that Hardwick does not represent 
 that thing; that Hardwick is not exploiting you; 
 that on account of the constant bickering between 
 the men and him, this plant that means your daily 
 bread is being run on scarcely any profit at all and 
 that Hardwick is sitting close and not locking up 
 because of a bit of sentimentality attached to the 
 place. Oh, I am holding no brief for him. There is 
 no reason in the wide world why this place should 
 not be run successfully, but remember, please, that 
 even as much as you have cause to be bitter against 
 
146 Humanizing Industry 
 
 him, he has cause to be bitter against you. You are 
 letting loose your anger against the misjudgment and 
 dead methods of a past generation. At the same time 
 you refuse to accept the reforms of the new genera- 
 tion. Any effort that is made on the part of Hard- 
 wick toward bettering conditions in the plants here, 
 is taken up by you with suspicion and disdain. I 
 honestly believe you would much rather there were 
 no reforms. You are afraid of parting with your 
 grudge against Hardwick. It's something that you 
 want to nourish and coddle and pet. Well, let me 
 tell you, Hurley, you won't be able to nourish and 
 coddle and pet it much longer. Hardwick is on the 
 square in this and I know it. When you called me 
 up at his home that night several weeks ago we were 
 talking over plans for making the works clean and 
 sanitary and for installing a medical department. 
 Those were my ideas based on actual experience with 
 them in plants where they have been successfully 
 tried. And by success, I do not mean money added to 
 the coffers of the plant by laying off men but by keep- 
 ing the men who are employed in a healthy and whole- 
 some condition. It was they who were enabled to 
 make more money as well as the management who 
 directed their productions. Can't you understand, 
 Hurley, that a healthy man means more wages as 
 well as higher production and won't you understand 
 that Hardwick's motive in this is nothing of the 
 kind that you imagine? He will profit in the long 
 
Constructing Confidence 147 
 
 run, it is true, but only to the extent that you men 
 will. Why won't you see that you've got to work 
 together in this arrangement if you hope to make a 
 success of it? Why won't you stop growing suspicious 
 of him and impugning motives to him of which he is 
 not guilty? What makes you believe that only you 
 have the power to see the light of a new order of 
 things and that Hard wick is blind to that same light? 
 Hurley, Hurley, no wonder this old world moves so 
 slowly. It's men like you who do a great deal toward 
 retarding its progress." 
 
 The deep earnestness of the younger man was not 
 without its effect on Hurley. He shuffled uneasily in 
 his chair. Struthers walked up and down the room 
 impatiently. After a few minutes of silence, Hur- 
 ley spoke. 
 
 "Would you mind sitting down, Struthers, and tell- 
 ing me all about this? I'd like to know. And I'd like 
 to know straight." 
 
 Struthers sat down at the opposite side of the table. 
 The two men faced each other squarely. Struthers 
 began to speak. In a low voice, resonant with feel- 
 ing, he told Hurley about his talk with Hardwick. 
 He told him, as he had told Hardwick, about the 
 things that were being done by other large employers 
 of men; he impressed upon him the effect it had on 
 the work of the men and the happiness of the men ; he 
 showed him that in the mutual confidence of the men 
 lay success and that in lack of it lay failure. 
 
148 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Hurley remained sitting quietly when Struthers 
 had finished. Belief and disbelief were struggling 
 bitterly in his brain. It was all very well for Struth- 
 ers, an outsider, to talk about the need of confidence 
 between the forces that he and Hardwick represented 
 but what about Hardwick himself and what about him, 
 Hurley? Hardwick certainly knew, as he knew, that 
 this dream of Struthers was a mirage, something that 
 did not exist, something that was of the spirit only, 
 and that standing in the way of it, big, powerful and 
 lifelike, were the concrete facts of antagonism, and 
 hatred and natural enmity which could not be shed 
 in the same manner as a snake sheds its skin. They 
 could not be shed. And yet, and yet, what a fine 
 thing; what a wonderfully fine thing it would be if 
 the impossible could be attained and this dream of 
 Struthers would take shape. The faith of the boy; 
 the indomitable faith and courage of him. And the 
 power and strength of him. Hurley suddenly awoke 
 to a keen appreciation of that fact. The power and 
 strength of him. No matter what Hardwick's mo- 
 tives were, there was no gainsaying the truth that 
 Struthers had moved him to make changes in the 
 works. Constructive changes, as he loved to call 
 them. There was something in that. Something 
 worth while. If Hardwick had wanted these things 
 for selfish motives, entirely, he would not have waited 
 for Struthers to introduce them. What then were 
 Hardwick's motives? Or didn't he have any? 
 
Constructing Confidence 149 
 
 It was all a dark puzzle to Hurley and the only 
 light he saw was that of the honesty and sincerity of 
 the man sitting opposite him. Hurley smiled to him- 
 self at the thought that came to his mind. A ray of 
 light like that coming from the laughter of a child, 
 full of faith and trust. That was Struthers. Poor 
 lad, some day, maybe, he'd see things in the proper 
 way. Meanwhile he would try to play the game as 
 Struthers wanted him to and let things take their 
 true course. 
 
 And then, maybe the man was right at that. Hurley 
 knitted his brows. Maybe he was. He himself had 
 always preached of a new era in industrial relation- 
 ships ; he had always prophesied it. These things that 
 Struthers believed in; they were new things. New 
 things, of course. Safety, health, doctors, restaurants, 
 showers. New things all. The thought gripped his 
 brain. While he was talking, Struthers was doing 
 things. Building things up. Hammering at him 
 with arguments in the shame of things done. He won- 
 dered what it was he did to Hardwick. How did 
 Hardwick take all these new innovations? They must 
 have come hard to him. He had always done things 
 the old way. Hurley caught himself feeling sorry 
 for the man who stood at the head of the plant. Poor 
 old Hardwick, it was hard to give in to the new order ; 
 hard not to be suspicious of it. He knew. Of course 
 he knew. Wasn't it hard for him to trust Hardwick? 
 Hurley grinned into his pipe as he caught himself 
 
150 Humanizing Industry 
 
 making the comparison. Hardwick and he. Struth- 
 ers had said something about their being alike. He 
 had resented it. But there was something in it. 
 Hardwick had been suspicious of the motives of his 
 visit when he had come to talk about the change in 
 the furnace house and then had thawed out when he 
 saw the truth of the situation. He, Hurley, had been 
 suspicious when Hardwick had told him about the 
 new doctor and then Struthers had shown him the 
 truth behind that. Six of one and half dozen of the 
 other. Struthers had spoken about confidence. "Con- 
 fidence." It was not a bad word. Nor did it mean a 
 bad thing. If Hardwick had had confidence in him 
 he wouldn't have suspected him of being the mes- 
 senger of unpleasant information when he entered his 
 office that day ; if he had had confidence in Hardwick 
 he would not have suspected him of any subtle designs 
 when he left his office that afternoon. If if but 
 Hardwick was Hardwick and he was Hurley. It 
 would take time time to change the meaning un- 
 derlying the two names. But confidence was good. 
 Very. He, Hurley, had made a step in that direction 
 when at the instigation of Struthers he had gone to 
 Hardwick w r ith his suggestion. A light came into 
 Hurley's face. And he, Hardwick, had also made a 
 step when he had spoken about the doctor and the 
 restaurants. He had not seen it in that light before. 
 He saw it now. A smile passed over his face. He 
 looked up to meet Struthers' eyes. The chair op- 
 
Constructing Confidence 151 
 
 posite him was empty. His eyes went to the door of 
 Struthers' room. A shaft of light showed through 
 the crack. Hurley went over and opened it quietly. 
 Struthers was bent over a pile of papers and notes. 
 He did not see Hurley standing there in the doorway. 
 With the deep respect for knowledge common to men 
 of his type, Hurley quietly closed the door behind 
 him and left Struthers to his work. An amusing 
 phrase passed through his mind as he prepared to go 
 to bed. It was in description of the picture Struthers 
 had made leaning over his papers. "Constructing 
 Confidence." Hurley smiled. Not bad, that. Con- 
 structing confidence. Some day, he thought, he would 
 tell Struthers about it. 
 
CHAPTER SIX 
 
 EDUCATION 
 
 ONCE more Struthers was seated in the chair before 
 the fireplace at Hardwick's. He had come on special 
 invitation of his host. The two men were discussing 
 the improvements being made at the shops. Things 
 were going at a fair rate of speed. Hardwick made 
 comment on the interest the men were taking in the 
 changes. 
 
 "You know, Struthers, I didn't believe that an old 
 fellow, like Smith at the lathes, would be interested 
 in things like washrooms. I was passing his bench 
 the other day and heard him tell the young fellow he 
 works with that his old lady wouldn'jt know him when 
 he came home all clean and 'smelly of soap' as he 
 put it. He tried to be sarcastic about it, but hanged 
 if the old man didn't like the idea. Hanged if he 
 didn't and hanged if I don't. Well, now that you've 
 managed to put that across, is there anything else 
 that you want to be relieved of? Or are you all played 
 out? Frankly, I should like to know where this is 
 going to end. Or isn't it going to end? Come on there, 
 take that old pipe out of your mouth and stop look- 
 
 152 
 
Education 153 
 
 ing like a sphinx. What's next? Or is this all? If 
 so, Allah be praised !" 
 
 Struthers took a last long puff at the seemingly of- 
 fensive pipe. He faced Hardwick with a grin. 
 
 "I'll take up your questions in order. That is the 
 scientific way, isn't it? First of all you want to know 
 whether there is anything else I want to get off my 
 chest. There is. Secondly, am I played out? Far 
 from it; very far from it; farther than will be com- 
 fortable for you. What was the next question? Some- 
 thing about where it was going to end. Suppose I 
 tell you that it's not going to end ever, for the very 
 simple reason that you won't want it to end. You 
 want to know what's next? Very well. Here goes. 
 An educational program for your employees." 
 
 Hardwick turned around in his chair so that he 
 faced Struthers. 
 
 "What's that you said? An educational program 
 for my employees. Oh, come now, man, this is going 
 too far. I can understand the value of those other 
 things you talked about, but educational programs - 
 what do you mean by an educational program? Must 
 I hire instructors to teach them the A B C's and how 
 to count up their weekly wages and the number of 
 hours they work overtime? The Lord knows they 
 never make any mistake about that. Or do you want 
 me to give them something in the way of higher educa- 
 tion like Debussy concerts during working hours or 
 talks on the astral self? Or maybe more elementary 
 
154 Humanizing Industry 
 
 subjects like sociology or economics? Come, come, 
 man, be sensible. There is a limit even to a good 
 thing." 
 
 "True, but you haven't reached the limit," Struthers 
 made answer. "Not by a long shot. What's more, 
 you know as well as I do that I do not mean any of 
 those fool things you've mentioned. Debussy and the 
 astral self! Kot! There's one thing you've got to 
 say in favor of your people here. They do not waste 
 their time on balderdash of such nature. It's not in 
 their make-up. That's why their brain associations 
 are more sane. You say education to them and they 
 would neither think of learning the A B C's nor of 
 the higher arts. They think of it in definite relation- 
 ship to their work. Take our friend Hurley, for in- 
 stance. What do you think the word education con- 
 veys to him, eh? What do you think? Best assured 
 it is not dabbling in dilettante fashion in futuristic 
 arts. It's something real and definite and worth 
 while. It's something that he's missed in his life and 
 something that he's conscious of having missed. It's 
 t-squares, and blue prints and compasses. It's the 
 power to put upon paper the nebulous things in his 
 brain that seek expression. He gets along in some 
 fashion without them. True. He gets along. But 
 the root of Hurley's bitterness toward life in general, 
 and toward the thing you stand for, in particular, is 
 based on the fact that Hurley was robbed of the op- 
 portunity to be the man he might have been in 
 
Education 155 
 
 different . circumstances. What have you got to do 
 with those circumstances? Nothing, I admit, as far 
 as you personally are concerned; something, insofar 
 as the old system of which you are a product is con- 
 cerned. Hurley is to-day a foreman in a drill shop and 
 not a mechanical engineer because Hurley's father 
 could not make ends meet with the results of his toil. 
 The fault, then, lay with Hurley's father, you'll say. 
 Maybe it did; maybe it didn't. We would be going 
 around in a vicious never-ending circle if we tried to 
 trace the cause and effect of this problem. Neverthe- 
 less, whosesoever fault it was, you will admit that Hur- 
 ley as an engineer would have been vastly more valu- 
 able to society and you, than Hurley as a foreman. 
 And what is more to the point, Hurley as an engineer 
 would have been vastly more valuable to himself and 
 vastly more happy. After all that is the true criterion 
 of value. Personal happiness, I mean. You agree 
 with me there, don't you?" Struthers asked. 
 
 "True, so far as this individual case is concerned," 
 Hardwick agreed. "But take Johnson. Would you 
 have me turn Johnson into a mechanical engineer; 
 Johnson, who to save his soul couldn't tell you the dif- 
 ference between a right angle and an obtuse angle? 
 Or take Mawkins whose main interest lies in dabbling 
 with columns of figures. Would you have me turn 
 him into a mechanical engineer?" 
 
 Struthers impatiently brushed the last two state- 
 ments aside. 
 
156 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "What you say is entirely beside the point. About 
 Johnson and Hawkins, I mean. Johnson is happy 
 where he is. So is Mawkins. In some future state 
 of society perhaps the happiness of the Johnsons and 
 the Hawkinses will depend on more than the things 
 that satisfy them now. I am making no endeavor 
 nor holding any brief to raise the level of happiness 
 to which these people can attain. That is an entirely 
 personal matter. All this uplift stuff has always 
 made me see red. There is no need to tell people like 
 Johnson or Hawkins that the higher life lies in read- 
 ing Shaw or Nietzsche or Schopenhauer. They don't 
 want Shaw and Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. Neither 
 do they want to be engineers. They want to be happy. 
 As far as I know they have reached the limit of their 
 capacity for happiness. Hore money would make a 
 difference to be sure, in quantity of pleasures but not 
 in quality. As far as I know they fit into the niche in 
 which they find themselves. They can offer no more to 
 society than they are offering to-day. They want to 
 offer no more ; they are conscious of the fact that they 
 are capable of offering no more. They have a definite 
 place in the mosaic of life and they are filling it. 
 
 "Hurley's case is different. And when I say Hur- 
 ley, I am merely giving a name to an existent type. 
 I mean the individuals whose natural powers have 
 been dwarfed and distorted by force of circumstances. 
 I mean the men and women who have had to satisfy 
 themselves wifh giving mediocre service for lack of 
 
Education 157 
 
 opportunity to develop their powers and abilities so 
 that they could give expert service. 
 
 "Under an efficient order of society the Ben Hurleys 
 would have ample opportunity to cultivate their pow- 
 ers up to the highest possible point. In the days of 
 Ben Hurley's youth the expression of such a thought 
 might have been considered wild idealism or worse 
 still, arrant socialism. I am an apostle of neither, 
 Hardwick, but as I have iterated and reiterated be- 
 fore, progressive American industry is fast taking 
 into consideration the value of human relationships 
 and human happiness. And the education of the 
 young men and young women in industry is to my 
 mind one of the most important milestones that the 
 van of the movement has passed." 
 
 Hardwick interrupted Struthers with a question. 
 
 "Would you have me send Hiirley to college to-day? 
 And would you have me seek out the numbers of other 
 instances of square holes in round pegs and send them 
 through a course of training that will round their 
 corners? The thing is done, Struthers, and it can't 
 be changed. This world is not a place where complete 
 justice is done. One man gets too little; the other 
 too much. Nobody gets the right measure. Take 
 Hurley ; and take myself. We are about the same age. 
 I don't for a minute doubt that Hurley if he had the 
 same training I got would have developed to the 
 extent that I did. But, as you say, conditions and 
 circumstances did not allow it. I got more than 1^ 
 
158 Humanizing Industry 
 
 deserved from the point of view of idealistic theory; 
 Hurley got less. I admit it's a shameful injustice, 
 but that's life, Struthers, and you can't change it." 
 
 "You can't? Who says you can't?" Struthers flung 
 back. "Because the old lady you call life bungles and 
 makes a bad job of things is no reason why people 
 with foresight and power and time should follow 
 in her footsteps. The old lady has too much work to 
 do keeping this round ball in motion to take care of 
 individual cases. She does things carelessly, prolific- 
 ally, inefficiently. The happiness of one person or one 
 group of persons doesn't matter. It can't matter to 
 her ; she has too much to do keeping the breath of life 
 going, going, going all the time. 
 
 "She hasn't the time to grease the tracks for every- 
 body. Therefore they are hard and noisy and bumpy. 
 And then you sit back in smug complacency and do 
 nothing but blame it on her. You forget that she's 
 busy all the time creating new life and that she has 
 left it to you to smooth down the road and make the 
 going easier for some of your fellow-beings. She has 
 given you the ability and the training to do the job; 
 go ahead and do it. Don't waste your opportunities. 
 
 "There is no question of sending Hurley to college," 
 Struthers went on. "That thing is over and done 
 with. First of all, he is past the college-going age, and 
 pecond, he would laugh at the idea. But take the 
 embryonic Hurleys, the boys in your shops who are 
 employed at the little odd jobs. Most of them doubt- 
 
Education 159 
 
 \ 
 
 less do not want to do any more than they are doing 
 to-day. But five or ten or fifteen or more of them may 
 have dormant powers within them that need only a bit 
 of encouragement to fully awaken. Take that boy 
 Larry who fell off the ladder that day. Larry is work- 
 ing as an apprentice in the drill room, doing bits of 
 odd jobs, picking up things, handing over things, and 
 working on a machine occasionally. I have seen Larry 
 during lunch hour working over those machines the 
 way none of your older men do. Trying to find out 
 how the wheels go round. I have seen Hurley watch- 
 ing Larry with a dogged sort of understanding that 
 sympathized with the lack of efficiency of this world 
 which allows powers like his to go unexpressed. There 
 is no reason in the world, Hardwick, why you 
 shouldn't bring out these powers for your own good 
 as well as for the good of the boy. From the point of 
 efficiency, entirely. There is something vital and real 
 there that needs improvement. As a human engineer 
 you ought to appreciate the value of such improve- 
 ment work." 
 
 Hardwick broke in as Struthers paused for a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 "Come now, Struthers, as a human engineer you 
 know that when a big job is being done you can't pay 
 attention to little details, that I can't, and other em- 
 ployers can't follow up the natural propensities of 
 their apprentices and office boys and see that they 
 get the proper training." 
 
160 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Struthers laughed. 
 
 "I may have been carried away too greatly with the 
 subject and thus have given you a wrong impression. 
 I do not mean that you should send all these young- 
 sters to college. I do not mean that you should per- 
 sonally take it upon yourself to educate -them. What 
 I mean is that you should create the means in your 
 own plants for proper development where there is a 
 demand for it. Create the opportunities in the way 
 of apprenticeship courses. Those who have the latent 
 powers will come to them eagerly ; those who haven't 
 will stay away. Before very long you will have sifted 
 the wheat from the chaff. And the cultivation of this 
 wheat will, in time, mean something very valuable 
 to you." 
 
 Again Hardwick broke in. 
 
 "Before you go on, Struthers, I wish you'd explain 
 what you mean by apprenticeship courses. Is this 
 something new with which you want to experiment or 
 is it something that is already being tried out? This 
 business of educating your employees is one of the 
 most surprising bolts you have yet thrown at me." 
 
 "It's merely this, Hardwick," Struthers replied. 
 "A good many plants in this country as well as in 
 other countries have inaugurated a system of educa- 
 tion whereby the employee who is anxious to develop 
 himself along the lines in which the plant is interested 
 has an opportunity to do so during part of the work- 
 ing hours and at the expense and under the tutelage 
 
Education 161 
 
 of the company. For instance, in a case like Larry's : 
 If he were working in a shop where such a system 
 had been installed, Larry, who has only the rudiments 
 of a grammar school education, would doubtless be 
 attending classes in the shop for about two hours 
 every day where he would learn how to be a pattern- 
 maker or an expert mechanic. A special room would 
 be set off for this purpose where an expert in this 
 work would give the boys the theoretical education. 
 They would learn all about the wheels and cogs and 
 belts and power that make a machine go round. Dur- 
 ing the rest of the day they would, through actual 
 operation of machinery, see the theoretical rules put 
 into actual practice. 
 
 "If Larry had a high school education, he would 
 doubtless attend an extension course, still under the 
 company's time, that would prepare him for higher 
 technical work and give him the rudiments of an en- 
 gineer's course. Again, even though Larry has only 
 a grammar school education, he could, under condi- 
 tions obtaining in some of the plants where this educa- 
 tional program has been highly developed, take exten- 
 sion courses in the academic subjects fitting him for 
 the advanced work and thus prepare himself for the 
 higher vocation. 
 
 "In some instances these courses are given in the 
 plant, during working hours; in others, they are 
 given in the plant schools after working hours; in 
 still others they are given in the city or town high 
 
162 Humanizing Industry 
 
 schools and technical institutes which by special ar- 
 rangement with the plants allow the boys to alternate 
 between attendance at school for three months at a 
 stretch and attendance at work for three months at 
 a stretch. In every instance the boy receives a reg- 
 ular apprenticeship wage so that he does not suffer 
 for want of monetary assistance. 
 
 "In those few instances where the boy shows marked 
 ability along certain phases of work he is allowed to 
 complete his education to the extent of enrolling in 
 the colleges or universities that specialize in engineer- 
 ing work. 
 
 APPRENTICESHIP COURSES 
 
 "A definite instance of this type of industrial re- 
 form is the work carried on by the General Electric 
 people. The boy with the grammar school education 
 working in their plants can get the training that will 
 enable him to take a position as an all-around ma- 
 chinist, a special tool-maker, an expert molder, a 
 pattern-maker or a technical draughtsman. The in- 
 struction consists of classroom instruction where lec- 
 tures are given in the subjects of algebra, plane 
 geometry, solid geometry and anything else that may 
 be verbally explained and illustrated on the board. 
 The classes are kept small, generally not exceeding 
 twenty in number. 
 
 "For all beginners in the trade of molders, pat- 
 tern-makers, machinists and draughtsmen, the com- 
 
Education 163 
 
 pany provides special training shops where the boys 
 receive individual instruction under competent men 
 engaged for just that purpose. 
 
 "As the students become more advanced they are 
 transferred to the regular shops, where their educa- 
 tion is continued under the direction of the foreman 
 of the department and his assistants. 
 
 "At the end of the course in the machinist's trade 
 the boy, who slightly over four years ago was in the 
 grammar school, has become a full-fledged journey- 
 man and is fully competent to operate the machinery 
 found in the ordinary machine shop, such as drill 
 presses, lathes, planers, shapers, boring machines, uni- 
 versal grinders, gear cutters, and threading and mill- 
 ing machines. In addition to these machines, the 
 boy is able to work successfully on the bench with 
 file, hammer, and chisel. 
 
 "Equally skilled in the use of the tools of their 
 trade are the graduates from the molder's course, pat- 
 tern-maker's course, draughtsman's course, and black- 
 smith's course. Thus some men are trained to design 
 machinery and perform the necessary calculations; 
 others to make the patterns and the molds in the 
 foundry and pour in the molten metal, to machine the 
 castings to dimensions accurate within one-thou- 
 sandth of an inch ; still others are taught to work the 
 steam hammers for making forgings, or delicately 
 tempering certain parts, or making tools for turning 
 out other parts. 
 
164 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "For the boys from eighteen to twenty years who 
 have a high school education or its equivalent this 
 company has two specialized educational courses in 
 departmental schools. The first is the electrical test- 
 ing departmental school. This course, which lasts 
 two years, consists partly of work in the shop where 
 the boys are under individual instructors and partly 
 of classroom instruction of one hour or more each 
 week. Besides the classes which are attended on the 
 company's time, the students attend the night schools, 
 the vocational schools and the extension college 
 courses. In addition to the classes held during work- 
 ing hours, the boys are taken on inspection trips 
 through the shops, undergo examinations to test their 
 powers of memory, observation and reasoning and 
 receive special guidance in their reading program. 
 
 "The work differs greatly from the apprenticeship 
 course I mentioned before. In the armature depart- 
 ment, for instance, the students are not required to 
 wind armatures or coils, nor to perform any of the 
 processes of manufacture, but are there solely for the 
 purpose of becoming acquainted with the various 
 methods of design, construction and manufacture of 
 the article. While the apprentice is working upon 
 a machine tool as a machinist, these students are 
 studying and testing the winding of armatures, learn- 
 ing the theory of electric motors and dynamos, and 
 making themselves generally acquainted with the 
 laws of electricity. 
 
Education 165 
 
 "During all this instruction, the classroom work 
 and the shoproom work are closely interrelated. The 
 first gives the boy the why and the wherefore of the 
 shop work and the second gives concrete examples of 
 the theories explained during the lectures. The sec- 
 ond half of the course is spent, in part, in testing 
 safeguarding devices which automatically cut off the 
 electric power from machinery that is overloaded or 
 badly handled. The rest of the time is given over to 
 the study of the distribution and control of electricity. 
 The aim throughout the course is to give the boy a 
 practical working knowledge of electricity and elec- 
 trical machines. After an additional six months' 
 actual work as routine test men, during which time 
 the weekly classroom work is continued, a final exam- 
 ination is held which shows the fitness of the boys 
 for advanced engineering and commercial work. 
 
 "The second course given to boys of high school 
 education is one of Switchboard Department Test 
 Men. The curriculum is quite rigid and provides for 
 two hours each week of classroom instruction on the 
 company's time. Every student must prepare the 
 work required and master the subjects given. If a 
 man misses two or more lectures in succession, with- 
 out a satisfactory excuse, he is automatically dropped 
 from the rolls. If he is absent from four or more 
 classroom sessions during the entire course, he must 
 pass a special examination on the work missed. The 
 engineers in charge of these classes are available an 
 
166 Humanizing Industry 
 
 extra hour every week for giving advice, answering 
 questions, and consulting with the students. 
 
 "During the first six months of classroom work the 
 students are given simple problems teaching the ele- 
 ments and applications of electricity, and the elements 
 of trigonometry. After passing an examination in 
 this work, they enter a second six months' class deal- 
 ing with problems of electrical measurements, switch- 
 board design and mechanisms, and applications of al- 
 ternating current. 
 
 "After passing an examination in these subjects 
 the students enter a third class, likewise of six months, 
 and take up the study of switchboard materials, meth- 
 ods of machining, specifications, stocks, business or-, 
 ganization, the essentials of economics and the funda- 
 mentals of salesmanship. Following graduation from 
 this third class, they are prepared to enter the work 
 of the switchboard department. Any student who 
 after two years has not shown particular aptitude or 
 liking for switchboard work is, on request, shifted to 
 the routine test in the testing department. 
 
 "It is of course evident to you that neither of these 
 courses can give what is the equivalent to a college 
 education with its training in advanced mathematics, 
 languages, hydraulics, chemistry and cultural sub- 
 jects. But, after having satisfactorily completed the 
 work laid out for them, these students have obtained 
 a practical and intensive working knowledge of elec- 
 tricity and electrical apparatus, comparable perhaps 
 
Education 167 
 
 to that of the man entering his last year in a technical 
 college. 
 
 "A new course that owes its innovation to the war, 
 when so many women perforce had to take the posi- 
 tions left vacant by our soldiers, is the one that trains 
 young college women graduates for commercial and 
 semi-technical careers in the electrical industry. 
 
 "The course opens with a three months' probation 
 period during which the young women receive one 
 hour each day of classroom instruction in the subjects 
 of apparatus, theory and business. In the apparatus 
 classes the devices used on switchboards are brought 
 into the classroom for inspection and are thoroughly 
 described and discussed. The students are taken on 
 trips through the factory or through neighboring 
 power plants where they can see how the switchboard 
 apparatus protects the big machines and controls the 
 generation and distribution of electricity. Inspection 
 trips are taken to afford the students the proper per- 
 spective of the steps in the electrical scale of genera- 
 tion of power to harnessing of power. For instance, 
 trips are taken to waterfalls, .where possible, so that 
 the student can see the power plant w r hich harnessed 
 the waterpower, and the switchboard which dis- 
 patched the electric power to the adjacent city. 
 
 "Lectures are held on the development of switch- 
 boards and the applications of air, and all circuit 
 breakers, instruments, lever switches and all the rest 
 of the electrical rigmarole which is Greek, in a meas- 
 
1 68 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ure, to me. Instruction is also given on how to use 
 the slide rule; classes in elementary electricity alter- 
 nate with classes studying the mechanism of ap- 
 paratus. The young women are made thoroughly con- 
 versant with the subjects of electrical phenomena and 
 the principles governing them. I admit it makes of 
 them formidable creatures of vast erudition, but what 
 1 am trying to show you is that ample opportunity 
 for mental and commercial advancement is not con- 
 sidered impractical or in the light of philanthropy 
 by plants whose success is not to be doubted. 
 
 "Together with this work, these women students 
 are taught department organization and routine, how 
 manufacturing costs are obtained, how to prepare 
 specifications, quotations, and how to draw up con- 
 tracts. One hour out of each eight-hour day is spent 
 in classrooms and the other seven hours are spent in 
 commercial engineering work. 
 
 "In the earlier periods of the course they are taught 
 the use of price books, cost advices, and cost issues; 
 they correct these books and keep them up to date, 
 and thus familiarize themselves with the terms and 
 relative values of the items entering into switchboard 
 products. They also price and check proposals which 
 are later submitted to customers of the company 
 through the salesmen in the various district offices. 
 While doing this work, the young women act as assis- 
 tants to expert estimators or proposal engineers and 
 learn the details of estimating and the cost of build- 
 
Education 169 
 
 ing a switchboard far in advance of actual construc- 
 tion work. 
 
 "These young women are being trained as commer- 
 cial engineers, a profession they never could have at- 
 tained without the instruction given by the plant. It 
 took the war to bring out their capabilities, it is true, 
 but nevertheless it shows that the company was far- 
 sighted enough to train them to advantage. You can 
 readily appreciate what such advanced training under 
 plant tutelage means in added service to the company 
 and what it means in spirit of work on the part of 
 the young women. It is in no way a philanthropic 
 measure; it is an indication of the appreciation of 
 the fact that efficiency means getting the highest pos- 
 sible service that an individual can give through the 
 highest possible training. 
 
 VOCATIONAL COURSES 
 
 "Together with these schools that are maintained 
 during working hours, this company conducts what 
 is known as vocation school courses. The classes are 
 held inside the works and are open to employees only. 
 They convene immediately after the close of the work- 
 ing day. The curriculum and the courses of instruc- 
 tion are under the direction of both the company and 
 the various city boards of education. The tuition 
 and the use of books cost nothing if the students at- 
 tend eighty per cent, of the sessions. Courses are of- 
 
170 Humanizing Industry 
 
 fered in typewriting, elementary bookkeeping, stenog- 
 raphy, accountancy, dictaphone dictation and other 
 subjects of commercial vocational value. 
 
 "At some of the plants, the company has arranged 
 for its employees to take extension courses in mathe- 
 matics, economics, foreign languages and advanced 
 English at the state universities. 
 
 EXTENSION COURSES 
 
 "During the 1917-1918 semesters, eighty-five per 
 cent, of the total number of evening students at one 
 of the colleges were employees of this company. The 
 students are afforded the opportunity of sitting under 
 instructors and professors in the college classrooms 
 and in a college atmosphere. The subjects they study 
 are higher mathematics, physics, chemistry, elemen- 
 tary electricity, electrical engineering, Spanish, 
 French and advanced English. You may reasonably 
 say, then, that the credit of this work should, in just- 
 ice, not be given to the company but to the student 
 who is merely taking advantage of the proximity of 
 the schools. Apropos of that, it may interest you to 
 know that it is the policy of the company to return 
 half of the tuition fees to those employees whose at- 
 tendance record is eighty per cent. You can readily 
 appreciate what a help and an incentive that is to 
 young men who are anxious to gain an education but 
 
Education 171 
 
 who might be prevented from doing so by lack of 
 funds. 
 
 "The University of Indiana, Union College, the 
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston Uni- 
 versity, the Massachusetts State Board of Education 
 are some of the recognized educational institutions 
 with which this company cooperates. 
 
 "Where the plants are not immediately accessible 
 to colleges and universities, evening classes in ad- 
 vanced subjects are held in the works. Courses are 
 given in algebra, elementary drawing, advanced elec- 
 tricity, advanced mathematics, tool design and one or 
 two foreign languages. Individual cases are known 
 where graduates of these technical courses are now 
 holding positions that formerly required college 
 training. A small fee is charged at the beginning of 
 the course. This is refunded to all the men who pass 
 their examination with a mark of seventy-five per 
 cent. 
 
 "This company also maintains a research laboratory 
 which holds weekly lectures during the winter 
 months. The purpose of these lectures is to familiar- 
 ize the employees with what is being done in the field 
 of research. The plant library, which is one of the 
 big features of the educational work, cooperates with 
 the laboratory in having on hand all material bearing 
 upon the subjects under discussion. This library, by 
 the way, is one of the important institutions in in- 
 dustrial education work. As I shall later show you, 
 
172 Humanizing Industry 
 
 the movement to introduce them into factories, plants 
 and sales establishments has now become wide- 
 spread. 
 
 "The United Shoe Machinery Company is another 
 progressive industrial establishment which has given 
 this matter of apprenticeship education its earnest at- 
 tention. The manner in which these apprentices, so 
 called, are given the opportunity to train themselves 
 to become expert mechanics is unique. The city high 
 school and the plant directors cooperate in this work. 
 There are two groups of boys, ranging from fourteen 
 to eighteen years. These alternate between attend- 
 ance at the school and attendance at the works. One 
 week is spent by the first group at the school while 
 the second applies its theoretical education in the 
 shops. The second week they turn about and alter- 
 nate. The company hires competent instructors in 
 the factory who supervise the work of the boys. The 
 city in its high school provides instruction in shop 
 methods, English, mathematics, drawing, chemistry 
 and other correlative subjects. 
 
 "The boys receive one-half the wages paid to men 
 working on full time performing the same work, the 
 other half going toward the expenses of the school. 
 Even with half the regular wage going to the school 
 the company reports that it is compelled to make up 
 a deficit every year. Nevertheless it is willing to do 
 this, from the point of view of added service and bet- 
 ter type of service. It is training its employees in 
 
Education 173 
 
 its own methods and in its own work and the gain 
 more than makes up for the original outlay. 
 
 "The boys are under factory discipline, work fac- 
 tory hours, and have positions open to them at expert 
 wages as soon as they graduate from their courses. 
 
 ^Individual attention is given to individual pupils 
 and a boy is allowed to specialize on those machines 
 for which he shows a special aptitude. The subjects 
 taken up are mechanical drawing, machine designing, 
 shop mathematics, and electricity and chemistry as 
 applied to machinery. Special attention is given to 
 the cultural subjects so that the boy may find him- 
 self at ease among the business associates he may later 
 meet. 
 
 "The Massachusetts Commission of Education con- 
 trols the work in this plant. All courses are under 
 direct supervision of a board consisting of five mem- 
 bers of the school board and one representative of the 
 factory appointed by the mayor of the city upon 
 nomination of the directors of the plant. The com- 
 bination works for the good of the boys, inasmuch as 
 the two factors in industrial education can check each 
 other up in planning the training of the future me- 
 chanics. 
 
 "The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing 
 Company maintains a night school where its em- 
 ployees may study the fundamental principles of engi- 
 neering and shop work. They also have an appren- 
 ticeship plan whereby a man or boy can get four 
 
174 Humanizing Industry 
 
 hours' tuition every week under skilled instructors. 
 The Solvay Process Company is another company that 
 maintains a mechanics' school that is in a good meas- 
 ure similar to the one of the shoe organization I have 
 mentioned before. The boys work and attend school 
 on a half and half basis and are paid an amount suffi- 
 cient to meet their needs while being trained. The 
 Warner & Swasey Company of Cleveland, specializing 
 in astronomical instruments, does w r ork along the 
 same line. 
 
 "This work of educating and helping the employee 
 to advance himself along the lines in which he is most 
 interested is not peculiar to the mechanical or shop 
 industries. Organizations employing a large office 
 force and department stores relying upon large sales 
 forces have adopted an educational system to meet 
 their individual needs. 
 
 "Swift & Company has taken a special interest in 
 its office boys. Working in cooperation with the city 
 Board of Education, the company maintains a con- 
 tinuation school where the boy may take a course that 
 is practically the same as a two-year accounting 
 course in the public high schools. Two teachers give 
 their entire time to the work. The enrollment in- 
 cludes boys who have completed the fifth grade in 
 the elementary schools as well as those who have had 
 an academic high school education. Weekly lectures 
 are given the students by men interested in the vari- 
 ous departments of the large plant with the end in 
 
Education 175 
 
 view of making the boys familiar with the rules and 
 laws governing the smooth running of an organization 
 of this type. There is distinct effort made to prepare 
 the boy to take a more responsible position in the 
 firm just as soon as his ability warrants it. An interest- 
 ing incentive to make the boys attend the classes 
 regularly is the annual award of a week's vacation 
 at the expense of the company. 
 
 "The department stores have perhaps taken the 
 greatest strides in the work of educating their em- 
 ployees in sales and office practice. The Lord & 
 Taylor and the Altman shops in New York City, the 
 Wanamaker shops in Philadelphia; the Filene shops 
 in Boston; the Marshall Field in Chicago; the May 
 Company and the Halle Brothers shops in Cleveland, 
 all of these are representative of the work done by a 
 far greater number of them in the way of helping 
 the young men or women reach a higher notch in the 
 industrial scale. 
 
 "The Wanamaker Commercial Institute, for in- 
 stance, has now become a well-established educational 
 force in the life of the Wanamaker employees. The 
 organization maintains twenty-five instructors to 
 teach the three rudimentary subjects as well as the 
 more advanced subjects of bookkeeping, stenography, 
 business correspondence, commercial geography, com- 
 mercial law and general business methods. 
 
 "Boys and girls under sixteen years are required 
 to attend school for two hours every day, the time 
 
Ij6 Humanizing Industry 
 
 being taken off from business hours. The older boys 
 are expected to attend the Wanamaker evening 
 schools twice a week. They eat their evening meal 
 at the plant and attend the sessions afterwards. 
 
 "This establishment also conducts dressmaking and 
 millinery courses for its women employees. 
 
 "The Lord & Taylor shops and the Altman shop in 
 New York are doing admirable work along these lines. 
 The first has the entire eleventh floor given over to 
 the physical and mental betterment work of their em- 
 ployees. The second has several floors reserved for 
 this type of work. 
 
 "A visit to the upper floors of the latter is com- 
 parable to a visit to an educational institution of the 
 best type. The classrooms are equipped in the most 
 modern fashion with chairs, desks, blackboards and 
 charts. During the morning hours the junior em- 
 ployees of the firm are expected to attend the classes 
 where instruction is given them in the elementary 
 subjects which they were forced to miss on account 
 of the economic conditions which make them wage- 
 earners at an early age. The instructors are well- 
 trained, well-paid men and women who are on the lists 
 of the city board of education. All of them have 
 passed the none too easy teaching examinations that 
 the city of New York gives. The methods they apply 
 are based on an appreciation of the fact that their 
 students are already taking a place in the industrial 
 life of the city and that they must be appealed to from 
 
Education 177 
 
 angles differing greatly from those given to the aver- 
 age child in the public schools. Direct contact is 
 made between the work on the blackboard and the 
 work in the shops below them. The youngsters are 
 made to understand that a knowledge of the capi- 
 tals of the states, for instance, is of practical value 
 in making parcel post shipments and that in the 
 same manner ability at mentally computing simple 
 sums can be applied in figuring out the cost of postal 
 charges. The principle impressed upon the young 
 pliant mind of the child is the one that it is up to 
 him to make himself valuable to the firm and that 
 the firm is willing to help him up to the highest 
 possible point that he is capable of reaching. 
 
 "These classes, as I have said, are for the younger 
 people. There are, in addition, graded courses for 
 the older employees. Every phase of department store 
 activity, from the buying of a hat to the selling of 
 a picture, is made a subject of study. The ordinary 
 commercial subjects of stenography, bookkeeping and 
 typewriting naturally fall in here. The most inter- 
 esting ones, however, are those dealing with sales- 
 manship. The young man and the young woman who 
 show a marked aptitude and a natural appreciation 
 of human psychology in selling receive the oppor- 
 tunity to develop these traits under expert instruc- 
 tion. It is not a matter of engaging a college or 
 university professor here. It is one of obtaining the 
 services of the most successful salesmen and heads 
 
178 Humanizing Industry 
 
 of departments in the establishment, who can speak 
 to the students from the point of view of the man 
 who has tried out the methods which he is explaining 
 and has found them to work. Cost, profits and losses, 
 discounts, all the chapters of the romance of business 
 are made vital in the light of personal relationships, 
 personal contact and personal associations. 
 
 "The attendance is not compulsory. This naturally 
 weeds out those who have no marked ability. Those 
 who come are the ones for whom the classes were 
 originally planned the men and women who lost out 
 when that force you call life handed out the silver 
 spoons. The instruction is given during business 
 hours during that part of the day when there is a 
 natural lull in shopping. 
 
 "And it pays, Hardwick, it pays. It isn't done by 
 these people because it is the nice thing to do or the 
 Christian thing to do or the charitable thing to do. 
 It is done because it is a good business investment ; be- 
 cause it pays to work with trained, intelligent service 
 rather than with blindly seeking, unintelligent service. 
 
 "I have always seen this problem in the nature of 
 an old geometrical theorem. <A straight line is the 
 shortest distance between two points.' What's that 
 got to do with this, you say? A great deal. You as 
 an employer of labor are interested in the success of 
 your plant. The different Larrys that work for you 
 are interested in their own success. Success, then, 
 is the aim toward which both of you work. In the 
 
Education 179 
 
 long run, in the very long run, you may reach the 
 point toward which you are to-day aiming. In the 
 same manner in just as long a run Larry may reach 
 the point toward which he is to-day aiming. Remem- 
 ber I say, the point toward which you are to-day aim- 
 ing. Not the point toward which you may aim a year 
 from now. When you come down to rock bottom you 
 and Larry are really working for the same thing. 
 Neither you nor he may be willing to admit it, but 
 think it over and you will grant that there is a 
 definite relationship between the success of the two of 
 you: Larry, please take note, representing dormant 
 abilities and you standing for intelligent but drows- 
 ing directive force. 
 
 "Well now, what do the both of you do in this blind 
 effort for gaining success? Larry blind, because the 
 circumstances of birth and position have made him 
 so, and you because you will not see, or rather, do not 
 seek to see. You make many wasteful movements, go 
 many unnecessary distances, try many useless make- 
 shifts and then five years from now you reach the 
 point that you might, under more scientific and more 
 geometrically true methods, have reached in a year's 
 time. The same with Larry. Except that he cannot 
 educate himself to the extent that you can. He will 
 take tedious, tiresome, wasteful roundabout methods 
 and in five years from now, he too, maybe, will have 
 reached a point that he might under happier and 
 more favorable conditions have reached in a year's 
 
180 Humanizing Industry 
 
 time. It's waste, Hardwick, wrong and cruel waste 
 of human energy and human ability. A straight line 
 is the shortest distance between two points. Science 
 has made use of that theorem in industry. There is 
 no more need of searching blindly and experimenting 
 foolishly. Certain means have been discovered and 
 tested to be the efficient means toward reaching a 
 given point. By efficient means I mean those that 
 will give the best results in the shortest time. Edu- 
 cating the brains that are capable of education is one 
 of those short lines of efficiency." Struthers paused. 
 "You get what I am driving at?" he asked. 
 Hardwick inclined his head. 
 "I get what you are driving at. Go ahead." 
 "Another thing about this problem of industrial 
 education. Something that has failed to dawn upon 
 the eyes of our academic educators. The newer move- 
 ment in education insists on the application of psy- 
 cology in teaching. One of their tenets is 'Study the 
 natural bent of the child's mind and develop it.' An- 
 other is, 'Go from the concrete to the abstract and 
 explain the abstract by definite association with the 
 concrete.' Very good and very true. Both of them 
 are valuable in their requirements. What do we, how- 
 ever, get in our education system that is offered as 
 example of the value of these laws? A Montessori 
 system which is good as far as it goes. But how far 
 does it go? To the child in the kindergarten age. A 
 few other systems where the girl is given an hour's 
 
Education 181 
 
 training in a cooking-room and the boy an hour's 
 work in a school shoproom. But is this education 
 in the true sense of the word? Are those very valua- 
 ble tenets which the psychologists have unearthed 
 applied in those subjects that will mean the livelihood 
 of the boy or the girl? By no means. The girl who 
 expects to go into a business office sees no relation 
 between the sums on the school blackboard and the 
 work she expects to follow. The boy who is interested 
 in electrical apparatus is bored stiff with formulsa 
 that to him have no relation to electrical voltage. The 
 theory of education is there ; it is the correct theory, 
 but what exactly is done with it in the field that saw 
 its origin? Nothing. The schools to-day are going 
 on teaching subjects in pretty much the same way 
 that they were taught ten and twenty and thirty years 
 ago. Learned and erudite educators talk of the need 
 of applying scientific methods to education and that's 
 where the matter ends, to a great extent. Except for 
 a few abortive psychological tests that tend to prove 
 that the mind of a switchboard operator is of a higher 
 type than that of a farmer. That is no joke. Shortly 
 after we entered the war the army published a table 
 of brain values based entirely on mental reactions 
 to certain stimuli. In that table the farmer made a 
 very poor showing for the simple reason that effi- 
 ciency in his work is not based on rapid automatic 
 movements as it is in the case of the telephone 
 operator. L 
 
1 82 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Nevertheless, that table was taken as an indica- 
 tion of the caliber of the gray matter of the people 
 tested. So valuable was it thought that some of our 
 colleges have substituted it for their former entrance 
 examinations. I have no quarrel with them. They 
 have gotten hold of a new subject and are playing 
 with it. Some day, maybe, they will properly apply 
 it to their educational methods or admit that it can be 
 applied only in arrangements such as are possible 
 when working in cooperation with industrial, busi- 
 ness or scientific organizations. 
 
 "I have gone a long way round, but this is what I 
 am getting at. While these learned people have gone 
 about discovering laws and psychological truths, our 
 industrial world has been applying them. 'Study the 
 natural bent of the child's mind and develop it,' they 
 said. That in the main is what our industrial educa- 
 tional programs are doing. The boy who shows a 
 marked tendency toward mechanics is allowed to 
 develop that tendency. In those establishments, that 
 is, where there is an appreciation of the value of it. 
 'Go from the concrete to the abstract and explain the 
 abstract by definite association with the concrete.' No 
 better example of that can be given than in the 
 apprenticeship courses and the extension and commer- 
 cial courses about which I have spoken. I tell you, 
 Hardwick, that it is in industry that we are making 
 the biggest strides. The pity of it is that there aren't 
 more that are keeping up with those in the front 
 
Education 183 
 
 ranks. The pity of it is that more of you don't know 
 what the best of you are doing. The pity of it is that 
 all of you are not aware of what a fine, healthy, power- 
 ful and constructive thing American industry is in 
 its best phases. That will come in time, I suppose, 
 but, Hardwick, hear me. If people like you would show 
 what has been done and what can be done, then the 
 people, not like Hurley, for Hurley is a fine type of 
 man, but people like the ones who have been filling 
 Hurley with vile and vicious stuff could not make 
 capital of isolated cases of what has been woefully 
 neglected and has not been done. 
 
 PLANT LIBRARIES 
 
 "However, I want to go on and tell you what else 
 has been done along this work of stimulating the em- 
 ployee to grow to the extent that he cares to or wants 
 to grow. I believe I have said something to you 
 about the installation of libraries in industrial estab- 
 lishments. A recent report of the Bureau of Labor 
 statistics declared that ninety-nine establishments 
 reported work done along this line. I think this is 
 a very conservative estimate of the number of plant 
 libraries really in existence. Nevertheless, it is an 
 indication that the movement has gained an impetus. 
 These libraries are of various sorts. First of all, there 
 is the library whose books are bought entirely by the 
 management. Second, there is the one whose books 
 
184 Humanizing Industry 
 
 consist partly of those donated by the firm and those 
 lent from some adjacent public library, and third, 
 there is the one all of whose books are borrowed from 
 the public library. This last one is in effect a branch 
 of the public libraries. They serve to offer, within 
 easy reach of the employee, something that is worth 
 while in literature. If you are interested in psychol- 
 ogy, it is again the sensible application of the law of 
 selection. Substitute a valuable thing for a wasteful 
 or vicious thing to train the faculty of selection. 
 
 "Not a few of the books found in most of the plant 
 libraries are related to the work done in the plant. 
 Where there are apprenticeship courses they are of 
 great value in elaboration of the subject matter taught 
 in the laboratories or shops. They are of value in any 
 case. They serve to build up a pleasant association 
 with the shops. They are something apart from the 
 routine of the work and serve to show that the plant 
 means something more than so many hours of service 
 at so much per hour. 
 
 "Most of the insurance companies have installed 
 libraries of this sort. They have special hours when 
 the employee may come and have his book changed. 
 The same nominal fee is charged for lapses in return 
 as is charged in the public libraries. A good many 
 of the department stores are cooperating with the 
 public libraries in this work. Rest periods have come 
 to mean something definite in the case of the Altman 
 employees, for instance. They spend the time reading. 
 
Education 185 
 
 The steel companies also have incorporated the plant 
 library in their establishments. The Shredded Wheat 
 people, who give daily rest periods of from thirty min- 
 utes to one hour, have installed a public library for 
 their employees. 
 
 "Some time ago, the Cleveland Chamber of Com- 
 merce, composed of business men interested in 
 industrial betterment work, formulated a highly pro- 
 gressive program in which the shop library took a 
 prominent place. This program has been religiously 
 followed by some of the more progressive business 
 men in that city. Included among those are the 
 Warner & Swasey Company, makers of tools and 
 astronomical instruments; the Sherwin-Williams 
 Company, makers of paints and varnishes; the Me- 
 chanical Rubber Company, makers of rubber goods, 
 and the Kaynee Company, makers of children's gar- 
 ments. There are others too, but I am giving you 
 these few to show the variety of industries that have 
 arrived at an appreciation of the value of this form of 
 welfare work. 
 
 "There is no reason why this library work and the 
 elementary school extension courses should not be 
 part of the educational work of every organization. 
 Even if nothing else is done this much can be done. 
 The public education institutions are glad to cooper- 
 ate with the plants. This has been demonstrated by 
 the vast number of establishments that are to-day 
 reporting the fine results of the work carried on in 
 
186 Humanizing Industry 
 
 industrial organizations by public school teachers and 
 the public library extension branches. 
 
 RECREATION 
 
 "Rightfully coming under the head of educational 
 work are the recreational movements. These have 
 taken different forms in different organizations. Some 
 owners have introduced employees' club rooms into 
 their plants; others have built outdoor recreational 
 grounds, including tennis courts, baseball fields, chil- 
 dren's playgrounds ; still others have organized swim- 
 ming clubs, music clubs, glee clubs, bowling clubs, 
 baseball clubs, everything in fact that will give the 
 employee the opportunity for wholesome recreation 
 during those hours when he is not working. The 
 H. & J. Heinz Company, for instance, has a roof 
 garden for its employees ; the Western Electric Com- 
 pany has well-kept tennis courts and baseball fields; 
 the Endicott-Johnson Company, employing over fif- 
 teen thousand men, has introduced all forms of recrea- 
 tional equipment for its employees and their families. 
 It may be an interesting thing to note in this capacity 
 that this firm during the thirty-five years of its exist- 
 ence has had no strike. The United Shoe Machinery 
 Company has greatly developed the recreational feat- 
 ure of its work. Recently it decided to give one day 
 of the year to holding athletic meets. Contests are 
 staged in tennis, cricket, golf, baseball, and all the 
 
Education 187 
 
 other outdoor sports. Kaces of all sorts, games, ex- 
 hibits of poultry, vegetables and flowers, sideshows 
 and music, make it difficult to realize that it is all a 
 part of the life of the workers in a large factory. 
 
 "The center of all the activity in this company is 
 the clubhouse of the company athletic association. 
 This organization is composed mainly of the men and 
 women who work in the factory. There are in addi- 
 tion a number of the people in the community. Any 
 employee of the company is eligible to membership and 
 to all the privileges of the association on payment of 
 one dollar a year. It has been discovered that the 
 men and women feel much freer to make use of the 
 equipment to the best advantage when they pay a 
 nominal fee. The clubhouse contains a theater, an 
 auditorium, a library, card and lounging rooms, bil- 
 liard and pool tables, bowling alleys and other attrac- 
 tive equipment. Most of the social activities of the 
 town radiate from that. 
 
 "Recreational programs very much along the same 
 lines have been adopted by a number of the steel 
 companies. The United States Steel Corporation, 
 for instance, has an average daily attendance of some 
 eighteen thousand children in the one hundred and 
 forty-eight children's playgrounds it has built within 
 the limits of some of its works. Together with these, 
 it has musical organizations of various sorts. The 
 Clubhouse at Morgan Park where the men foregather 
 is one of the show places of the communities. It is 
 
l88 Humanizing Industry 
 
 equipped with a gymnasium, swimming pool, and 
 auditorium with a stage, lecture rooms and class- 
 rooms, a men's club section comprising a reading and 
 reception room; a women's club section containing 
 reading and reception rooms plus a kitchen; and a 
 juniors' club section for the boys and girls of the 
 community. 
 
 "Smaller establishments have adopted this type of 
 plant improvement work on a smaller scale. Note I 
 say plant improvement work, and not employee's im- 
 provement work or social work. It all reverts to my 
 old theory of efficiency. These people are made to 
 feel that their employers are interested in them to a 
 greater extent than just the amount of work that can 
 be gotten out of them. They can see proof of it in 
 a way that makes a strong appeal to them. The op- 
 portunity to play is given them. 
 
 "Again, Hardwick, I say that this is where indus- 
 'try is far ahead of our theoretical educators in the 
 practice of the best methods of relating human en- 
 deavor to education. Again, those learned professors 
 of ours talk, and rightly so, about the relation of 
 physical recreative activity to physical or mental 
 work. Where do we see it most thoroughly carried 
 out? In the best phases of industry. Our schools 
 inaugurate athletic programs of this sort, it is true, 
 but it entirely is a school affair, like an alma mater 
 song or a class yell. Once the men get out, there is 
 no attempt, no conscious attempt, that is, to continue 
 
Education 189 
 
 this work of educating the body so that the mental 
 and physical fibers may live. The result? These 
 fibers don't live. They die out and men grow weak 
 and old and tired. They call on their resources with- 
 out stint and make no effort to replenish them. 
 
 "There is sound common sense, besides a spirit of 
 good will, that lies behind the introduction of recrea- 
 tional work in industry. It is the same sort of com- 
 mon sense that makes a good engineer overhaul his 
 machinery every once so often without waiting for 
 the parts to break down. He appreciates that the 
 more attention he gives to the maintenance of his 
 engines the less money he will have to spend in repairs. 
 
 "Another thing about the results and effects of this 
 work. I have spoken to you about the apprentice- 
 ship courses and the extension courses. Just as soon 
 as a man definitely links himself up with one of these 
 he immediately becomes an integral part of the spirit 
 of the impulse that moved the organization to plan 
 the work. He belongs. He feels that something valu- 
 able has been placed within reach of him by virtue 
 of the fact that he is a member of the organization 
 and all that he must do is to stretch out his hand and 
 take it. 
 
 "This, however, applies only to the type of em- 
 ployee who is able to take advantage of such oppor- 
 tunities, the man who is mentally or mechanically 
 above the job that he holds. It does not, however, 
 hold true of the type of employee who has reached the 
 
190 Humanizing Industry 
 
 peak of his ability, the man who is a good mechanic, 
 for instance, and who is satisfied with being a good 
 mechanic, the man who under the most favorable cir- 
 cumstances would be and could be nothing else but a 
 good mechanic. He is a valuable adjunct to the 
 works; in his way, just as valuable as the man who 
 is studying to become a pattern maker or an electrical 
 expert. 
 
 "Something has been done to stimulate the interest 
 of the first type of employee by making an appeal to his 
 mental faculties. He is interested in the success of 
 the plant. Something of the same nature must be 
 offered to the second type of employee. The recrea- 
 tional program serves that purpose. Just as the first 
 type will take advantage of the opportunity to edu- 
 cate his hand and his mind, even so will the second 
 take advantage of the faculties offered him to recreate 
 his body. He may not appreciate that he is doing 
 that. He does, however, feel that something has been 
 done to make his leisure hours more happy and he 
 acquires the same sort of kinship with the plant that 
 the first group does. It begins to take on the outlines 
 of a factor in a rounded life and ceases to be an over- 
 shadowing and unpleasant specter that means noth- 
 ing but work. He, too, begins to feel that he belongs. 
 And that, Hardwick, is not a bad feeling to have 
 among your men." Struthers paused, then continued 
 quietly : t 
 
 "Neither is it a bad feeling for you to acquire." 
 
Education 191 
 
 Hardwick lifted his brows in question. 
 
 "What do you mean by that?" he asked. 
 
 "Just what I said," Struthers replied. "You under- 
 stand what I meant when I said that the man begins 
 to feel that he belongs just as soon as he begins to 
 use the opportunities offered him to improve himself. 
 Or maybe you didn't understand. I did not use the 
 word to indicate a possessive sense of any sort. I did 
 not mean that he belonged to anybody or anything. 
 I meant just what I said. He belongs. The way a 
 man belongs to a club or an order or a circle. He is 
 part of it; he is a member of it. He is interested in 
 its growth and well-being. Do you catch my drift?" 
 
 Hardwick laughed. 
 
 "Of course I catch your drift so far as the men are 
 concerned," he said, "but I don't quite get it as far 
 as I am. Haven't I always belonged? Haven't I al- 
 ways been interested in the growth and the well-being 
 of the plant? I am afraid you've steered a bit off the 
 tracks there, Struthers." 
 
 "No, I haven't," was the serious reply. "When you 
 say that you've always been interested in the growth 
 and the well-being of the plant you are right. But 
 when you say you have belonged you are wrong. You 
 have not belonged for the simple reason that there 
 was nothing to belong to. As a matter of fact the 
 plant belonged to you and that was where the matter 
 ended. You were interested in your belonging, in 
 your possession, with the accent on the 'your.' Apart 
 
192 Humanizing Industry 
 
 from that, the plant and the men in it have meant 
 rather little. Come, confess. I am not entirely 
 wrong." 
 
 "No, nor entirely right. Don't forget, Struthers, 
 that even just as I may not understand the workings 
 of the mind of my employees, they and you do not 
 understand the trappings of mine. On the surface 
 things may look pretty dark and black, but neither 
 they nor you know of the things that lie underneath 
 the surface. Understand, Struthers, that just as nec- 
 essary as it is for me to appreciate their needs, it is 
 necessary for them to understand that my path is not 
 all easy sailing and that there are rocks and reefs 
 of which they have no conception. And want to have 
 no conceptions of. And are incapable of conceiving. 
 If, as you say, I did not belong because there was noth- 
 ing to belong to, the fault may have been one of con- 
 ditions rather than the lack of desire. Surely you 
 understand that every man at the head of any sort 
 of a creative plant wants to make of it the best 
 thing." 
 
 Struthers nodded his head in affirmation. 
 
 "Of course," he agreed. "But it is a matter of defi- 
 nition of term there. To one man the best thing may 
 be one thing, to another it means something else. You 
 understand that, of course. What I am endeavoring 
 to show you is that the best thing is the thing that 
 brings the happiest result when viewed from every 
 angle. In your endeavor to make your plant a sue- 
 
Education 193 
 
 cessful one, you tackled the work from one angle only, 
 your angle, and let all the others go by the board. I 
 take it the results were not as happy as you could de- 
 sire them to be. I understand, too, that as the head 
 of a plant you have problems of whose nature your 
 men have no conception and, as you say, can have no 
 conception. But that is your prerogative as the con- 
 trolling factor of the works. That is your job. The way 
 in which you manage it proves whether or not you are 
 the right man for it. You have discovered that the 
 fact the plant was handed down to you by your father 
 does not carry with it the ability to efficiently run it. 
 Not according to modern standards, or, I should say, 
 not according to best standards. If you are too square 
 to fit into the hole that has been made for you and 
 you want to succeed at the job, then you have got to 
 do the same sort of things that I have suggested that 
 you let some of your employees do educate yourself. 
 In the best methods of industrial management; learn 
 the things that progressive men have inaugurated in 
 their plants and apply them to the best advantage in 
 your own. There will be something to belong to when 
 you've done that and not any sooner." 
 
 Hardwick's face grew stern. He made no answer 
 to Struthers. An awkward silence hung over the 
 room for a few minutes. Struthers finally rose. 
 
 "I am going, Hardwick. I am tired and there are 
 things I want to do before I turn in." He paused, 
 then added : "I am sorry if I hurt you in making per- 
 
194 Humanizing Industry 
 
 sonal reference to your own case. It wasn't especially 
 kind. But, man, the world is not especially kind to 
 the man who lags behind in any race. And heaven 
 knows, I want to see you in the lead. You can be 
 there if you want to. Good night." 
 
 Hardwick inclined his head in response as Struth- 
 ers left the room. He sat there in his chair for a 
 long time. Some of the words of Struthers kept ring- 
 ing in his ears. "If you are too square to fit into the 
 hole that has been made for you and you want to 
 succeed at the job, then you have got to educate your- 
 self. ... In the best methods of industrial man- 
 agement . . . Learn the things that progressive 
 men have inaugurated in their plants. . . . Ap- 
 ply them to the best advantage in your own." 
 
 Hardwick began questioning himself. Was he a 
 misfit in the job that he held in the hole that had 
 been made for him, as Struthers had expressed it? 
 Made for him. That was true. He had been right 
 when he had said that none of us got justice; that 
 some of us got more than we deserve and others less, 
 but that the balance is never equal. But the gift 
 of what Struthers was pleased to call a greater share 
 of justice was no indication that it meant a greater 
 share of happiness. Happiness, after all, depended 
 in the measure of a person's success. And he was not 
 happy. The plant had not made him happy. The 
 men weren't happy. Nothing connected with his work 
 was happy. 
 
Education 195 
 
 Hardwick furrowed his brow in pain. Was that an 
 admission of his weakness; of his inability to hold 
 down the job that had been given him? Was he too 
 small for it? Were his corners indeed too sharp and 
 too square to fit the needs of present day industrial- 
 ism? Was he a failure? 
 
 A failure! The word startled him. He hated it 
 and feared it. He had never had any sympathy for 
 failures. To him they were indicative of foolhardi- 
 ness and ignorance of appreciating personal powers 
 and their limits ; men who attempted more than they 
 could do in the stupid' conceit and belief in abilities 
 that did not exist. Failures. Was he going to be 
 one of them? He buried his head in his hands. The 
 world was not kind to men of that sort. Neither had 
 he been. Struthers had said something about that. 
 What was it? The world was not especially kind to 
 the man that lags behind in any race. That was true. 
 Hardwick winced under the truth of it. Slowly he 
 raised his head. There was something else Struthers 
 had said. Funny how the words of Struthers mat- 
 tered. What was that he said? "I want to see you 
 in the lead. You can get there if you want to." 
 Hardwick raised his head. Had Struthers said that 
 or was he only imagining it? He searched his mind 
 and dramatized the departure of Struthers. Yes, he 
 was sure the man had said it. Well, he would show 
 him. What was that he had told him to do? Oh, 
 yes. Learn the things that progressive men had in- 
 
196 Humanizing Industry 
 
 augurated in their plants and apply them to the best 
 advantage in his own. Hardwick closed his eyes in 
 relief. He smiled at the thought that followed. He 
 and Larry setting out on the same road. He and 
 Larry. To build up something to which they both 
 could belong. He was a sentimental child, was 
 Struthers, but Hardwick let out a soft oath. "Damn 
 it," he whispered, "we are all sentimental we are all 
 sentimental. Only Struthers' word is the better one. 
 Human, he calls it." 
 
CHAPTER SEVEN 
 
 PENSIONS, DISABILITY FUNDS AND DEATH BENEFITS 
 
 Two days after the evening that Struthers had 
 spent with him talking about the educational work 
 in industry, Hardwick came into Hurley's shops. The 
 latter, unlike his usual habit, walked over to greet 
 the older man. Hardwick smiled inwardly at the 
 change, but made no reference to it. He engaged his 
 foreman in talk about the improvement work in the 
 shops, then asked for Struthers, whose place stood 
 vacant. Hurley told him that Struthers had asked to 
 be allowed to work in the foundry for a while, and 
 that he, Hurley, had seen no reason for refusing him. 
 Hardwick nodded briefly in approval. After spend- 
 ing a few more minutes in desultory inspection, he 
 left the building and walked over into the foundries. 
 Richards, the foundry boss, came forward anxiously 
 to meet him. Hardwick waited for him to speak. The 
 man fidgeted around nervously for a few seconds. 
 Finally he broke out with the words: 
 
 "Nothing wrong, I hope, sir?" 
 
 Hardwick raised his brows. 
 
 "Nothing that I know of, Richards," he replied. 
 "Is there anything wrong that you have discovered?" 
 
 197 
 
198 Humanizing Industry 
 
 The man flushed. 
 
 "No, sir. It was just your coming here that made 
 me ask." 
 
 "I see." Hardwick looked around the room until 
 his eyes picked out Struthers. There was an amused 
 glance in them as he watched the man at the furnace. 
 He turned to Kichards. 
 
 "You've got a new man, eh? I mean Struthers. 
 How does he work?" 
 
 Kichards smiled. 
 
 "He's a friend of yours, sir, I understand. Mr. 
 Hurley told me. Hurley thinks a powerful lot of 
 him. He's a likable enough chap. But as a foundry- 
 man well, sir, he's not very much. He may pick up, 
 but I don't think this is his trade." 
 
 The smile in Hardwick's eyes grew deeper. 
 
 "No, Richards, I don't think this is his trade. We'll 
 have to fire him some day, I'm afraid." 
 
 With this he walked over to Struthers. The latter 
 looked up with surprise when. he heard Hardwick's 
 voice. He smiled in response to the look of amuse- 
 ment on the face of the man beside him. 
 
 "I was getting tired of the other work," he ex- 
 plained. "I thought I'd make a change and get ac- 
 quainted with these people. You don't mind, do, 
 you?" 
 
 Hardwick shook his head. 
 
 "No, I don't mind unless well, now, Struthers, I 
 do mind. Eichards there says you aren't much good 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 199 
 
 as a foundryman. As a matter of industrial efficiency, 
 I don't think it best for the firm to have you blunder 
 around this job when you might be of so much more 
 value as an operator on a drill press, let us say. You 
 see, you are a square peg in a round hole here." 
 The two men grinned at each other. 
 Hardwick's face was the first to grow serious. 
 "Struthers, I don't want to stand talking to you 
 here at any length. I came over for something defi- 
 nite. How about coming over to the house to-night 
 with some more of. your confounded theories? And 
 facts. I mean, I might as well have this in big doses. 
 Get over it sooner. What do you say?" he asked. 
 
 "I say all right," was the reply. "But I warn you 
 I shall give you some big pills to swallow. Without 
 any sugar-coating, too. I'll be there at eight." 
 Hardwick left the room. 
 
 That evening at eight Struthers appeared and took 
 his accustomed seat at the fire. 
 
 For a few minutes there was a repetition of the awk- 
 ward silence that had marked the close of his last 
 visit. Hardwick broke it. 
 
 "Struthers," he began, "you said some mighty hard 
 things last time you were here. They weren't meant 
 to be hard, I know, but you are naturally a blunt 
 fellow when it comes to telling the truth. I'll admit 
 there was a good deal of truth in what you said. It 
 had to be done and gotten over with. I understand 
 that. Now this is what I want you to understand.. 
 
200 Humanizing Industry 
 
 I am anxious to hear all about these industrial re- 
 forms. I am greatly interested in them. Compare 
 me to Larry, if you will, trying to get ahead. I don't 
 care what you do. But there is one thing that I want 
 you to bear in mind. In spite of the fact that I am 
 interested in them and desirous of knowing all about 
 them, I may not be able to incorporate all of them into 
 the plant at once. I mean, Struthers, that it will nec- 
 essarily have to be a matter of time before some of 
 the things can be started. Like like the extension 
 courses, for instance." The man paused for a num- 
 ber of seconds, cleared his throat, then went on. "I 
 wonder if you get what I am driving at. You see, 
 Struthers, I don't want you to think that I am deaf 
 and blind to the value of these things. But I can't 
 go ahead all at once. It's a matter of time; I'll get 
 there; get my corners rounded, I mean, but it will 
 take a little time. I want you to understand that." 
 
 The ice was broken and the two men settled down 
 to the work of the evening. 
 
 "Hardwick," Struthers began, "have you ever given 
 a thought to the subject of old age? As it affects your 
 employees, I mean. As to what happens to them after 
 they cease to be of any productive value." He leaned 
 closer. "What does happen to them, do you know?" 
 
 Hardwick shifted uneasily in his chair. 
 
 "There you go at it again, Struthers. I am willing 
 to listen to reason and to respond to sense, but when 
 you ask a fool question as to whether I know what 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 201 
 
 happens to my employees when they cease to be pro- 
 ductive you begin by rubbing me the wrong way. 
 What do you mean what happens to them after they 
 cease to be productive? They stop working and go 
 to live with their Henrys, Ivans or Joes. That's what 
 they look forward to, getting old enough so that they 
 won't have to work and let their children support 
 them. Isn't that the way the old age problem has 
 always been answered?" 
 
 "It is. Exactly," was the answer. "But did you 
 ever stop to think what an ignominious end that is to 
 a good many people who were skillful and faithful 
 workers in their days? It somehow seems to be an- 
 other way in which this illusory thing, Justice, we 
 discussed the other night, seems to have gone astray." 
 
 "Very true, Struthers, but what can we do about 
 it? The more thrifty of the workers look forward to 
 the time when they will be incapacitated and save a 
 part of their weekly earnings toward that end. The 
 others well, they are taken care of somehow. It's 
 the old ant and grasshopper fable again. You see 
 that, don't you?" 
 
 "I'm afraid I don't," Struthers replied. "For the 
 reason that very few of these old folks in the factories 
 and mills can be accused of having been grasshoppers 
 in their youth. They didn't have the money to hop 
 even if they had wanted to. Wages were never as 
 high as they are to-day, and it is the unusual man 
 who can manage to put aside a bit of his money for a 
 
202 Humanizing Industry 
 
 rainy day. The cost of living eats it all up. The 
 same was true of the past to an even greater extent. 
 Wages were low and families were large. This talk 
 of thrift and saving is all tommyrot under those con- 
 ditions. It smacks of the same kind of sanctimonious 
 judgments that are made by smug, well-fed social 
 workers who come to tell the poor hapless mothers 
 of the numbers of calories of milk their children ought 
 to drink. As if they didn't know it. As if they 
 wouldn't rather feed their babies on wholesome food 
 than on the dry bread and tea that they get. 
 
 "Those people, Hardwick, appreciate the value of 
 thrift and of putting a sum aside for a rainy day. 
 Nothing makes them happier than to be able to boast 
 of a bank account. But under the old order of in- 
 dustry, it was the unusual man and the highly suc- 
 cessful man who could make plans for a comfortable 
 old age. And even if he had saved up what may appear 
 like a tidy sum, just exactly how long will it keep 
 him? Say that a man of sixty, working in your shops 
 to-day had, during the course of his work, managed to 
 save up one or two thousand dollars. How long will 
 that keep him going under present living conditions? 
 What earnest has he that he will not eventually 
 land in the poorhouse? It somehow doesn't seem fair, 
 after a man has given to an establishment the best 
 fifteen or twenty or twenty-five years of life that he 
 be thrown into the discard like an old shoe. From 
 the point of abstract justice and not from the one 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 203 
 
 of its probable application to you, it does not seem 
 fair, does it?" 
 
 "Struthers, you make me tired with your abstract 
 justice!" Hardwick replied. "There is no such thing 
 as abstract justice. We have agreed on that. No, 
 it isn't fair. What are you going to do about it? 
 The world is not built on lines of fairness. Besides, 
 these men give the best fifteen or twenty or twenty- 
 five years of service to five, ten or fifteen different 
 men. If you know anything about labor conditions, 
 you will appreciate that the question of turnover is 
 the biggest snag against which the producers have 
 to fight. Change, change, change all the time. A 
 man doesn't like the tilt of his neighbor's nose; he 
 leaves. Another doesn't like the way his machines are 
 oiled ; he leaves. Still another objects to the voice of 
 his foreman ; he leaves. What's the result in produc- 
 tion? Men are constantly being changed, and pro- 
 duction is constantly being held up. There is no such 
 thing as dependence upon a steady stream of output. 
 
 "Every employer takes that into consideration in 
 figuring his costs. The item of labor turnover is one 
 of the most important in his calculation. 
 
 "Now let us take your valuable servants of indus- 
 try, with their temperamental goings and comings," 
 he continued. "What would you have the five, ten or 
 fifteen employers who have during the course of fif- 
 teen, twenty or twenty-five years given them employ- 
 ment do for them? Give them a parting gift when 
 
2O4 Humanizing Industry 
 
 the men go to work for his competitors? Tell them 
 that some day they are going to be old men and that 
 they will need that parting gift to live upon? Come, 
 Struthers, be sensible." 
 
 "Good work, Hardwick," Struthers responded. 
 "You yourself have given me all the arguments to 
 convince you of the desirability of providing for the 
 men who have given you service for any length of 
 time. Now we'll go ahead working on your assump- 
 tions. You say that labor turnover is one of the great- 
 est snags against which the producers have to fight. 
 Did you ever stop to think that you might control 
 this labor turnover by offering your employees some- 
 thing definite in the way of an incentive to keep work- 
 ing for you instead of seeking the doubtful benefits 
 of new jobs? Increase in wages won't do it, for your 
 competitor will increase his wages. That means a 
 corresponding increase in the selling price of the arti- 
 cle produced. As a result the cost of living goes up 
 and the increases are eaten up. Even if this didn't 
 happen, families have a happy faculty of taking care 
 of increases." Struthers paused to let the point sink 
 in. Then he continued. "What is it then that you 
 can do? This. Offer your employee the assurance 
 that after he has been employed s by you for a definite 
 length of time, he will be taken care of in his old age. 
 Let that assurance be one of the rules of the plant, 
 one of the things by which the plant is known and 
 not a nebulous affair whose carrying out depends upon 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 205 
 
 the whim or the will of the employer. Let him know 
 that when he reaches the age of retirement he can 
 depend on an annual income which is definitely con- 
 trolled by the years and the type of service he gave 
 you. 
 
 "Do you for a moment imagine that a man with a 
 family, and most of your men are heads of families, 
 would under those considerations leave your employ 
 for such petty excuses as the shape of a man's nose 
 or the sound of his foreman's voice? And do you won- 
 der that without the considerations that make him 
 feel that his service means something real and valua- 
 ble to you, for which you are willing to pay him even 
 in those days when he ceases to be a medium of pro- 
 duction to you, he is willing and ready to follow the 
 call of a job that for the moment holds out new charms 
 for him? Under those conditions, he has little to lose 
 and something in the way of new associations, new 
 environment, and possibly, new opportunities to gain. 
 
 "Your men are human beings, prompted by self- 
 interest, in the same manner as you are. How long 
 would you be attached to the work you are doing if 
 you didn't feel that it was yours? These men can 
 never attain that same degree of interest in the plant 
 that you have. It isn't theirs. It never will be. But 
 they can be made to feel that anything that they give 
 you in the way of service that will tend to increase 
 production will net them some definite reward. And 
 peace of mind as far as their old age is concerned is 
 
206 Humanizing Industry 
 
 readily appreciated by them. It is the rare man who 
 looks forward with any degree of pleasure to a future 
 spent as a dependent upon his children or grandchil- 
 dren. Assure your employees of the impossibility of 
 such a future, and the question of labor turnover is 
 to a great degree solved. 
 
 "There is no question of giving a man a reward 
 after he has been with you for three or five years." 
 Struthers went on. "He neither expects one nor de- 
 serves one. It's a simple matter of give and take in 
 that situation. He gives you a short period of service 
 for which you give him his due deserts. The arrange- 
 ment is a temporary one. But where there is a stand- 
 ing agreement to give adequate return in the way of 
 old-age pensions for a specified term of service, the 
 arrangement will of itself become permanent and of 
 mutual benefit to both factors concerned. 
 
 PENSIONS 
 
 "You see, Hardwick, this is another one of those 
 milestones that have been passed by the farsighted. 
 Happily, there is a goodly number of those who have 
 doffed their hats in greeting to this road post. The 
 National Civic Federation three years ago issued its 
 findings in tabulated form of the number of indus- 
 trial establishments that had introduced pension 
 systems. According to them, there were fifty-five or- 
 ganizations that at that time were making it possible 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 207 
 
 for their superannuated employees to retire at a com- 
 fortable income. There are a good many more to-day. 
 Most of them are not known. The fact of the matter 
 is that a good many employers do not like to speak of 
 their industrial experiments. For some reason or 
 other they feel that it detracts from the value of the 
 work they are doing ; that their employees will imagine 
 that they are sounding their own horns. I bucked up 
 against a man of this type in trying to get in touch 
 with the work done by a large tractor and plow manu- 
 facturing organization. He told me that his company 
 was doing a great deal toward making the life of their 
 men happier, but that he didn't like to speak about it. 
 It was part of the business policy of the firm, he said, 
 and was no more to be held up for praise than their 
 buying and selling methods. There may be something 
 in this, but at the present time when the ranks of 
 those who are employing these methods are not yet 
 overcrowded, it seems to me that a bit of prodding by 
 way of showing the more backward what the success- 
 ful and progressive business men are doing, is neces- 
 sary. 
 
 "All of the pension plans are based on a definite 
 minimum period of service. This varies from fifteen 
 years to twenty-five. Most of the firms also set a 
 definite age limit for retirement. This also varies" 
 with the different companies. In cases of emergency, 
 however, the retirement age is disregarded. I'll show 
 you how that works later on when I take up the indi- 
 
208 Humanizing Industry 
 
 vidual systems. The average retirement age for women 
 runs between fifty -five and sixty years; for men be- 
 tween sixty and seventy. Bear in mind, however, that 
 this does not mean that the man and woman coming 
 into a firm in early middle life and working for the 
 required period of twenty or twenty-five years is en- 
 titled to the same pension allotment as the man or 
 woman who has begun her industrial relationship with 
 the firm in early youth. There is a definite proportion 
 between the number of years of actual service and the 
 amount of annual income after retirement. 
 
 "In the majority of instances the formula upon 
 which the pension is figured is taken in this manner : 
 The average annual wage or salary for the last ten 
 years of service is first multiplied by the fixed rate 
 that the company agrees upon, this ranging from one 
 to three per cent. This product is then again multi- 
 plied by the total number of years of service. Let 
 me make this clearer by giving you a concrete ex- 
 ample. Take the hypothetical case of an organiza- 
 tion whose pension rate is two per cent. Let us say 
 that Hiram Jones has worked for them for a period 
 of thirty-three years, has made on an average of two 
 thousand dollars within the last ten years and is old 
 enough to be retired. What annual income is he en- 
 titled to? First of all, two per cent, of two thousand 
 dollars is taken, giving us forty dollars. This in turn 
 is multiplied by thirty-three. The product there is, 
 let me see." Struthers scribbled the figures on a scrap 
 
'Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 209 
 
 of paper. "Thirteen hundred and twenty dollars," 
 he said. "That is Hiram Jones's annual income for 
 the rest of his life. One hundred and ten dollars a 
 month. Not so bad for an old man and surely some- 
 thing to look forward to with a quiet state of mind. 
 
 "The American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
 has divided its pension system into four classes. Em- 
 ployees of the first class are those whose service has 
 extended over a period of twenty years or more and 
 who have reached the age of sixty, for men, and fifty 
 for women. These may be retired either at their own 
 request or at the discretion of the pension committee. 
 Employees of the second class are men between fifty- 
 five to fifty-nine years and women between the ages of 
 fifty to fifty-four, whose period of employment has 
 been twenty-five years or more. Employees of the third 
 class are men of less than fifty-five and women of less 
 than fifty who have been with the firm for thirty years 
 and more. The second and third class can be retired 
 only at the discretion of the company. The fourth 
 class consists of employees whose term of service has 
 been fifteen years or more and who have become 
 totally disabled by reason of sickness. To these are 
 granted disability pensions at the discretion of the 
 pension committee and the approval of one of the 
 executive officers of the company. In such instances 
 the pension continues only for such period as the 
 committee agrees upon. 
 
 "The rate upon which the pension is figured in this 
 
2IO Humanizing Industry 
 
 company is one per cent, of the average annual pay 
 for ten years, multiplied, as I have explained, by the 
 number of years of employment. The minimum pen- 
 sion is twenty dollars a month. 
 
 "The International Harvester Company has a class 
 division somewhat similar to the one of the telephone 
 companies. Its first class consists of male employees 
 who have reached the age of sixty-five who have been 
 in the service for twenty years. Its second class con- 
 sists of men of sixty who have been in the service for 
 twenty-five years. Its third class is made up of men 
 of fifty-five who have been in the employ of the com- 
 pany for thirty years. Its fourth class consists of 
 women of fifty who have been twenty years in service. 
 In all these instances, the employee may be retired 
 either at his or her own request or upon the initiative 
 of the Pension Board. There are two unique and 
 interesting features connected with the pension sys- 
 tem of this company. Its rate is one and one-half 
 per cent. This, however, is not taken on the average 
 of the last ten years of employment, but on the aver- 
 age of the ten most productive years of employment; 
 the period, that is, when the man or woman received 
 the largest wage or salary. It can be readily under- 
 stood that in piece work, these ten years do not come 
 within the last working decade of a man of sixty. 
 That is the first interesting point.- The second one is 
 a ruling in the pension manual which holds that the 
 pension may be continued for a limited period to the 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 211 
 
 widow and children of the pensioner in case of his 
 death. This, however, is not a standard ruling, but 
 is enforced only at the discretion of the Pension 
 Board. 
 
 "This company also makes provision for special 
 cases, subject to the approval of the pension com- 
 mittee. These cases consist of employees who have 
 been totally disabled and who have not reached the 
 required age or the minimum period of service. 
 
 "Let us see how this system works out in a definite 
 case. Take a man who has been working for them for 
 a period of twenty-two years. According to the re- 
 quirements he must be sixty-five years old at the time 
 of retirement, since he falls into the first group. You 
 see that, don't you? That means he started working 
 for them when he was forty-three years old. That has 
 given him plenty of time for rolling about from one 
 job to another. Let us say that his first ten years of 
 employment with this plant were his most productive 
 and that he made an average of eighteen hundred dol- 
 lars a year. One and one-half per cent, of that is, let 
 me see, twenty-seven dollars. That multiplied by 
 twenty-two is " Again Struthers stopped to com- 
 pute the answer. "Five hundred and ninety-four 
 dollars. That makes it almost fifty dollars a month 
 to live on after he is retired. It isn't much, but it is 
 more than a man starting a new working arrange- 
 ment at forty-three could accomplish for himself, by 
 himself. 
 
212 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Now," Struthers continued, "let us see how this 
 system works out with a man who starts in with the 
 plant at the age of twenty-five, let us say, and is re- 
 tired at fifty-five. It is a safe guess to make that a 
 person of that sort has made his stay with the plant 
 worth while both to himself and the company. It is 
 also a safe guess to make that the last years of his 
 connection were the most profitable. Let us take an 
 average case where the annual wage was twenty-five 
 hundred dollars in round figures. One and a half 
 per cent, of that multiplied by thirty-five is eleven- 
 hundred and twenty -five dollars, or almost a hundred 
 a month. Again, I say, not a poor sort of income for 
 a skilled mechanic who has not been able to put by 
 any of his earnings. In this instance the man is only 
 fifty-five years old. According to modern standards, 
 he is still a man in his prime. According to the rul- 
 ings of the Pension Board, his acceptance of the pen- 
 sion upon his retirement in no way prevents him from 
 engaging in business which is not prejudicial to the 
 interests of the company. He might very well invest 
 his money in some lucrative form of work. 
 
 "The minimum amount of income given as a pension 
 by this company is thirty dollars a month. 
 
 "The pension rates of the General Electric Com- 
 pany are the same as those of the International Har- 
 vester Company, with the exception that the retire- 
 ment age is fixed at seventy years for men and sixty 
 years for women. 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 213 
 
 "The rate of the United States Steel Corporation 
 is one per cent, of the annual average of the last ten 
 years of service. The age of retirement is the same as 
 that of the General Electric Company, that is seventy 
 years for men and sixty years for women. Upon spe- 
 cial request of the employee or the employing officer, 
 this age limit may be modified to sixty -five years for 
 the men and fifty-five years for the women, provided 
 the required term of service, which in all instances is 
 twenty-five years, is completed. 
 
 "The instances I have given you will serve to illus- 
 trate the pension plans based on percentage formula. 
 There are many modifications of these plans. 
 
 "Swift & Company, for instance, retires its em- 
 ployees on half -pay after twenty-five years of service. 
 The age requirement is from sixty to sixty-five years 
 for men, and fifty to fifty-five years for women. They 
 make a corresponding provision for retirement be- 
 cause of disability at any age after fifteen years of 
 service. I'll speak of that later, however. 
 
 "The American Brass Company computes its pen- 
 sion by taking two per cent, of the average annual 
 salary of the last three years of employment and mul- 
 tiplying the result by the number of years of service. 
 Their retirement age is sixty-five years and the re- 
 quired period of employment is twenty-five years. 
 Two of their limitations hold that in no case is the 
 pension to exceed sixty per cent, of the former annual 
 income nor is it to rise above five thousand dollars. 
 
214 Humanizing Industry 
 
 The plan of the National City Bank of New York 
 City is identical. 
 
 "The Crane Company of Chicago has adopted a 
 pension system in a great measure similar to this 
 one, with the exception that the rate is based on the 
 average of the last five years of employment. Also, 
 a definite minimum and maximum are fixed. The 
 former is thirty dollars a month, while the latter is 
 one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month. 
 
 "The E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company 
 at Wilmington has a pension plan which is figured 
 on the highest average monthly pay during the last 
 ten years of service. One and one-half per cent, is 
 taken of that and the product is in turn multiplied by 
 the years of service. Let us say, for instance, that 
 during a rush month, a mechanic has made some two 
 hundred and fifty dollars. This, then, is the basis 
 upon which his pension is computed. One and a half 
 per cent, of that is three dollars and seventy-five cents. 
 Let us say that he has been in the employ of the com- 
 pany for twenty-five years. His monthly pension is 
 therefore over ninety dollars. Another interesting 
 feature of this organization is, that a man may be 
 retired at any age after he has given fifteen years of 
 service. 
 
 "B. F. Goodrich & Co. of Akron, Ohio, has still an- 
 other modification. They figure their pensions on 
 ten per cent, of the average monthly pay during the 
 last ten years of service multiplied by the number of 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 215 
 
 years of service. They have a maximum of one hun- 
 dred dollars monthly pension and a minimum of 
 twenty dollars. 
 
 "There are two or three more interesting variations. 
 I am giving you all of these so that you may know 
 with what detail this question has been studied. That 
 is an indication of its importance. 
 
 "The New York Railways Company has a plan 
 wherein there is a definite proportion between the 
 number of years of service and the amount of the 
 annuity. A man who has been employed for thirty- 
 five years gets an annuity equivalent to forty per cent, 
 of his average pay during the last ten years of ser- 
 vice; a man who has been employed between thirty 
 and thirty-five years gets thirty per cent, of the aver- 
 age ; ^, man who has been employed between twenty- 
 five and thirty years gets a pension of twenty per cent, 
 of this same average. No employee is kept in service 
 after he has reached the age of seventy years. 
 
 "Somewhat similar to that is the plan formulated 
 by the Khode Island Company of Providence. They 
 also have a sliding scale of emolument based on the 
 years of service. From twenty to twenty-four years 
 of service, the rate of annuity is one per cent, of the 
 annual average of the last ten years of service multi- 
 plied by the number of years in the employ of the com- 
 pany ; from twenty-five to twenty-nine years of service 
 it is one and one-half per cent. ; from thirty to thirty - 
 five years it is one and three-quarters per cent. ; from 
 
2l6 Humanizing Industry 
 
 thirty-five years up it is up to two per cent. In this 
 case, not only does the older employee gain the advan- 
 tage of the added number of years, which makes a 
 difference in the amount of the annuity, but besides, 
 gets an increased rate. The difference is an appreci- 
 able one. For instance, take the case of a man em- 
 ployed for twenty years with an average annual 
 income of fifteen hundred dollars. His annuity will 
 amount to three hundred dollars. At the same per- 
 centage rate, it would amount to five hundred and 
 twenty-five dollars if he worked for thirty-five years. 
 But, under the increase in rate that automatically 
 follows as he increases his term of service, what he 
 actually gets is an annual pension of one thousand 
 and fifty dollars. An added inducement to perma* 
 nency of service. 
 
 "The facts that I have given you cover to a large 
 extent all the modifications of pension plans. There 
 is, however, just one more important difference that 
 I want to mention. All of the establishments that I 
 have named, and they are representative of the vast 
 majority of plants that have adopted the plan of giv- 
 ing their superannuated employees annuities, do so 
 out of the funds of the organization. It is considered 
 a part of their overhead expenses. There are a few 
 organizations, however, whose policy it is to have the 
 employee subscribe in part to the plant pension fund. 
 Armour & Company is one of these ; The First Nation- 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 217 
 
 al Bank of Chicago is another; so is F. C. Huyck & 
 Sons of Albany. There are a few more. 
 
 "In the case of Armour & Company, the employee 
 pays three per cent, of his monthly salary into the 
 company pension fund. The pension is figured by 
 taking two per cent, of the last year's salary and mul- 
 tiplying it by the number of years of service. The 
 required number of years of service in this case is 
 twenty. The dues paid by the employees do not, 
 however, in any way meet the requirements of the 
 pension roll. The deficit is metdby the company, 
 which has pledged itself to the support of the fund up 
 to the amount of one million dollars per year. 
 
 "The First National Bank of Chicago has the same 
 sort of arrangement. Here too, the employees contrib- 
 ute three per cent, of their salary. Upon retirement 
 they receive annuities amounting to fifty per cent, of 
 their salary at the date of retirement. There is no 
 limit that the bank sets toward meeting the deficit 
 that naturally arises. 
 
 "The employees of F. C. Huyck & Sons pay one 
 per cent, of their salary into the fund and the com- 
 pany meets the deficit that arises. Their plan calls 
 for an annuity of twenty-five per cent, of the last 
 year's salary when retirement is made after twenty 
 years of service. For more than twenty years, the 
 rate is increased by one per cent, for every additional 
 year. The limit set is fifty per cent, of the salary re- 
 ceived during the last year of service. 
 
2l8 Humanizing Industry 
 
 f 
 
 "I do not know how these last three plans strike 
 you. Personally I am not so very favorably in- 
 clined toward them. Just as soon as you make the 
 employee take part in a system like that it loses its 
 value, to a great extent. It is a different matter in 
 the case of mutual benefit funds which I shall explain 
 later, but in order to have the pension fund ac- 
 complish the result it was intended that of taking 
 care of employees who have shown their loyalty to 
 the firm by continued service it should be a spon- 
 taneous offering. > It is something the employee is 
 entitled to, apart from the wages he earns. You might 
 truthfully say that the money he turns in does not 
 and cannot meet the sums he may eventually take out 
 in the form of annuities and that in every case the 
 establishment meets the deficit that naturally arises. 
 I agree with you there, but just as soon as the man 
 or woman feels that he must make a contribution out 
 of his weekly wage for the movement, it becomes 
 abortive. Any sort of cut in the pay envelope is re- 
 sented, whatever its purpose. That, by the way, is 
 the fight the trade unions have to wage. The men, 
 much as they may be interested in uniting for what- 
 ever causes they choose to support, still are not suffi- 
 ciently keen about these causes to part willingly with 
 a percentage of their wages to pay for their dues. 
 The unions have tried to meet this situation by forc- 
 ing agreements on the firms which provide for the 
 extraction of the union dues before the pay envelopes 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 219 
 
 reach the wage-earners. That is known as the check- 
 up system. Let me assure you that it is a mighty 
 unpopular one. It is the natural tendency of human 
 beings to object to parting with the results of their 
 toil for benefits which may come to them in the distant 
 future. Those benefits are things nebulous and uncer- 
 tain, and fade into insignificance when compared with 
 the needs of the present moment which a man, right- 
 fully or wrongly, imagines he can meet by the money 
 taken out of his pay envelope. 
 
 "However, that is not the point just now. What 
 I have tried to do by giving you definite examples and 
 definite plans is to show you that this is an impor- 
 tant problem in our industrial life." 
 
 Struthers looked at Hardwick for confirmation of 
 his statement. He got it. Hardwick bent forward in 
 his seat, his face keenly alert with interest. 
 
 "I see your point, Struthers. You have made that 
 clear enough, but what I am wondering is, how can 
 these people afford to continually pay these vast sums 
 of money to dead letter issues. It is true that the 
 labor of these people may be worth more while they 
 are in the productive stage. But that, it seems to 
 me, is counteracted to a large degree by the large 
 overhead expense incurred by paying them these an- 
 nuities in their unproductive stage. I don't see where- 
 in these firms are the gainers. In fact, it seems to 
 me the other way round." 
 
 Struthers laughed. 
 
220 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Hardwick, if I were to read off these names to 
 you in rapid fire, would you for a moment say that 
 any one of them was in danger of going into bank- 
 ruptcy? And do you for a moment imagine that they 
 would inaugurate extensive annuity plans of the na- 
 ture I have described if it weren't a good business 
 venture? Keeping your plants working at full pitch 
 pays in any circumstances; keeping them working 
 at full pitch under a spirit that is spontaneously in- 
 terested in their success pays even better. There is 
 your answer. The proportion of men that fall off 
 into the ranks of the superannuated is small as com- 
 pared with the great number that stay busy keeping 
 the wheels go round. And just as long as the wheels 
 go round you can afford to pay for those who helped 
 lubricate them in their youth." 
 
 Hardwick chewed at his upper lip in contemplation. 
 
 "Maybe, maybe. I suppose it's so. These people 
 wouldn't be doing it, if it weren't," he half mumbled. 
 Then turning to Struthers he said: "There was 
 something else about which you were going to speak, 
 wasn't there? Go ahead, I'm listening." 
 
 Struthers did as he was told. 
 
 DISABILITY FUNDS 
 
 "It's about disability funds. The name is self- 
 explanatory. It is a fund either entirely or in part 
 supported by the plant owners or directors. Its pur- 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 221 
 
 pose is to take care of those employees who have been 
 disabled either through accident or sickness. 
 
 "Take the case of Larry, for instance. He was laid 
 up in bed for three weeks, I believe. During that time 
 Ire would have been without resources of any kind if 
 it had not been for your personal inclination to help 
 him. I happen to know that you did help him. I 
 also happen to know, however, that there are a good 
 many cases that you do not think deserving of help. 
 But whether they are deserving or not, the fact re- 
 mains that during the period of disability the family 
 of the man is pretty well on the rocks. High and dry. 
 
 "Working along the same trend of thought that it 
 pays to have the mind of your employee at peace, a 
 good many business men have inaugurated systems 
 whereby the employee is assured of certain stipulated 
 payments during the time that he is unfit for work. 
 In those instances where the employee takes part in 
 the support of the disability funds, it is usually called 
 a mutual benefit association. The employees pay a 
 nominal fee which is deducted from their pay enve- 
 lope and the employer adds to the fund to the degree 
 that he is interested. Very often, in order to encour- 
 age his workers to take an active interest in this 
 movement, the latter makes a stipulation whereby he 
 increases his donation to the organization according 
 to the percentage of membership. You'll understand 
 more clearly what I mean when I get to some con- 
 crete example. 
 
222 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "The American Telephone Company and the Stand- 
 ard Oil Company are both good examples of the dis- 
 ability funds supported entirely by the firms. 
 
 "The accident disability benefit of the former is 
 divided into two classes, the first for total disability 
 and the second for partial disability. In cases of 
 total disability due to accidents, the payments con- 
 sist of full wages or salary for thirteen weeks, and 
 half wages or salary for the remainder of the dis- 
 ability. The maximum payment after six years of 
 disability is fixed at twenty dollars a week. 
 
 "For partial disability, the payment is one hundred 
 per cent, of loss in earning capacity for the first thir- 
 teen weeks, and fifty per cent, of earning capacity for 
 the remainder of the period of disability. The period 
 of payments under those circumstances is in no case 
 to exceed six years. 
 
 "The sickness disability benefits depend on length 
 of service. Employees whose terms of employment 
 have been ten years or more, get full pay for thirteen 
 weeks and half pay for thirty-nine weeks. Employees 
 whose term of employment has been five years, or 
 more, but less than ten years, get full pay for thirteen 
 weeks and half pay for thirteen weeks. 
 
 "There is a third class for employees who have been 
 in the employ of the company for over two years. 
 They get four weeks' full pay and nine weeks' half 
 
 Pay. 
 
 "The sickness disabilitv rules of the Standard Oil 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 223 
 
 Company are somewhat similar to these, with two ex- 
 ceptions. An employee is entitled to sick benefit one 
 year after he enters the employ of the company and 
 the payment in every case consists of half salary or 
 wage. The employee who has been in service for less 
 than two years is entitled to half pay for a term not 
 exceeding six weeks; for less than three years, the 
 term is eleven weeks; less than four, sixteen weeks; 
 less than five, twenty-one weeks ; less than six, twenty- 
 six weeks ; less than seven, thirty-one weeks ; less than 
 eight, thirty -six weeks ; less than nine, forty-one weeks ; 
 less than ten, forty-six weeks; ten years and over, 
 fifty-two weeks. In the event of employees who have 
 been in service for over ten years being totally and 
 permanently disabled, the company continues the 
 payments for twenty-six weeks longer. 
 
 "Many of the accident disability funds supported 
 by establishments of this sort have, through the en- 
 forcement of the workman's compensation law, be- 
 come obsolete. Obsolete, in that they no longer are 
 a spontaneous effort on the part of the employer, I 
 mean, but are controlled by law. The sickness benefit 
 funds are, however, still a voluntary movement on 
 the part of the plants which have inaugurated them. 
 The two instances I have given you are typical of the 
 groups totally supported by the firm. 
 
 "The second group consists of the Mutual Benefit 
 Associations. These are perhaps the more interesting. 
 Unlike the pension funds toward which the employees 
 
224 Humanizing Industry 
 
 in some instances contribute, those are valuable in 
 that they are concerned with the immediate present 
 and the immediate future. Sickness is something with 
 which the worker is familiar. He knows the degree of 
 suffering it brings and is willing to contribute to- 
 ward its alleviation. 
 * 
 
 "The contribution in these Mutual Benefit Associa- 
 tions consists of a small percentage of the weekly 
 wages or a stated nominal sum which is sometimes 
 as small as six cents a week. This insures member- 
 ship in the benefit fund. When the Benefit Associa- 
 tion was organized by the International Harvester 
 people, the company pledged itself to contribute $25,- 
 000 to the fund at the end of each year provided fifty 
 per cent, of the employees became members. In the 
 event that seventy-five per cent, of its employees took 
 advantage of the plan, the company pledged itself to 
 increase its contribution to $50,000. Here let me say 
 that the contribution was raised to $50,000. The 
 benefits are to a large degree similar to those given 
 by the two organizations I mentioned before. 
 
 "The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company of Ohio has 
 a Mutual Aid Association whose dues range from 
 twenty-five cents a month to one dollar a month. 
 These rates are based on the wages of the members. 
 The benefits in case of accident or illness depend on 
 the class of membership. The man who pays one dol- 
 lar a month receives a weekly payment four times 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 225 
 
 as great as that received by the boy who pays twenty- 
 five cents a month. 
 
 "Compared to large organizations like the Stand- 
 ard Oil or the Harvester Company this firm is still 
 in its infancy. Small as the payments are, however, 
 they are nevertheless valuable. From two standpoints. 
 First of all, the sums, however trifling, help to make 
 matters easier for the man who is laid up. And 
 secondly, it shows that the firm is actively interested 
 in the well-being of the employee even after he is dis- 
 abled. 
 
 "This form of relief work has proven very popular 
 with workers in all industries. Many of the depart- 
 ment stores have inaugurated Mutual Aid Associa- 
 tions. So have the machine industries, and food 
 products companies. Bloomingdales, K. H. Macy, Best 
 & Co., John Wanamaker, Altman & Company, Sears 
 Koebuck, Gimble Brothers are representative of the 
 first. The Cleveland Twist Drill Company, Forbes 
 Lithograph Company, the United Shoe Manufactur- 
 ing Company and the Westinghouse Electric and 
 Manufacturing Company are examples of the second. 
 The H. & J. Heinz Company, famous for its fifty-seven 
 varieties, and the Shredded Wheat Company are ex- 
 amples of the third. Then there are the miscellaneous 
 industries like the publishing houses represented by 
 the Curtis Publishing Company, and express com- 
 panies represented by the American Express Company 
 
226 Humanizing Industry 
 
 and Wells, Fargo Company. You understand, of 
 course, that it is impossible to give you all of them. 
 But let me say this. There are, I think, more repre- 
 sentatives of this type of welfare work than for any 
 other. I use the term welfare because we have not 
 yet coined a better one. What I mean is this form 
 of humanization of industry." 
 
 Hardwick bent forward. 
 
 "Humanization of industry," he repeated after 
 Struthers. "Do you know, Struthers, that's not a 
 bad phrase. Humanization of industry. The ques- 
 tion is, can industry be humanized and does it pay 
 in its humanized form? Can a plant be as productive 
 of labor when the man at the head considers his em- 
 ployees in the light of a conglomeration of individual- 
 ities instead of a mass of man power? I don't know, 
 Struthers, I don't know. It all sounds very fine and 
 noble but I don't see how it can work out. However, 
 I am interrupting you. There w r as something more 
 you had to say on this disability business. You go 
 ahead now and don't let me interrupt you with my 
 querulous quaverings." 
 
 Struthers continued. 
 
 "In speaking of the pension work of the different 
 plants I believe I spoke of the disability pensions in- 
 troduced by some of the plants. Those are akin both 
 to the benefit funds and the pension funds. Their 
 flavor smacks of both of them. First of all they are 
 intended to meet sickness or disability on the part 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 227 
 
 of the employee, and secondly they are in a great meas- 
 ure, permanent annuities, and depend, as pensions do, 
 upon length of service. Most of them are voluntary 
 contributions on the part of the firm. In a few cases, 
 however, specifically, in those that require the em- 
 ployees to make some contribution to their regular 
 pension fund, the disabled man or woman has during 
 the course of employ paid a part of their wages into 
 this fund in anticipation of the possibility of some day 
 being disabled. 
 
 "The usual number of years of service that entitle 
 an employee to a disability pension is fifteen. The 
 age of incapacitation in the large majority of cases 
 not fixed. And very wisely and thoughtfully so. In 
 a number of instances, however, there is a minimum 
 age of sixty-five years. 
 
 "Almost all the Telephone Companies have inaugu- 
 rated disability pension plans. Their rules call for 
 pensions that are on a par with those of the superannu- 
 ated employees. The only requirement they make is 
 fifteen years of service. A man or woman in their 
 employ who is for some reason or other permanently 
 disabled after she or he has finished the stated period 
 of employment is entitled to a disability pension that 
 is computed by taking one per cent of the annual 
 average pay of the last ten years of employment and 
 multiplying the result by the years of service. The 
 smaller number of years of service naturally make 
 the annuity less than that received by the man who 
 
228 Humanizing Industry 
 
 has filled all the requirements of the regular pension, 
 but the principle guiding the introduction of such a 
 scheme into the plant is the same that of providing 
 for the employee after he ceases to be of productive 
 value. 
 
 "Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois, give their 
 employees disability pensions after a service of x only 
 ten years. There is, however, a drawback to this plan. 
 Due to the fact that the amount of the pension is not 
 fixed by a definite formula but is decided by a com- 
 mittee of the plant, it makes the allowance take on 
 the form of a philanthropic measure. Nothing is so 
 obnoxious to any individual who has formerly been 
 independent than to feel that he is being paid an 
 arbitrary sum by his superiors which has apparently 
 ,no connection with the type and kind of service he 
 gave. It may be of course that people like Deere & 
 Company give, in the long run, much more generous 
 disability pensions than those companies which have 
 a stated formula, but in order that the plan may be 
 put on the highest possible plane of dignity, it seems 
 to me that it should be controlled by a fixed basis of 
 computation. If the employee is to be made to feel 
 that length of service is to be rewarded by care of 
 him by the firm w r hen service is no longer possible, 
 then a definite pro rata principle is not only advisable 
 but absolutely essential. Else the very purpose of 
 the plan is frustrated at its inception. No employee 
 is satisfied to know that in case of an incapacitating 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 229 
 
 accident occurring to him, his employers will consider 
 the sum to give him annually in order to enable him 
 to live. He doesn't like the 'give' of the arrangement. 
 He wants to feel that the annuity has some bearing 
 on the service that he rendered when he was employed. 
 No man trusts another when it comes to judgments 
 that are as vital as future means of living. He wants 
 to know to-day what it is he will get if he is crippled 
 ten or fifteen or twenty years from to-day. 
 
 "The Equitable Life Assurance Company of New 
 York makes ten years' service the basis of its disabil- 
 ity pension but also sets a minimum age of retirement 
 at sixty-five. The drawback here is equally apparent. 
 The question of disability does not wait upon rules 
 or regulations of any firm but comes without apology 
 or warning at any age. However, this may in time 
 be changed. Just as long as an appreciation of the 
 employees' needs has been shown, a scratch on the sur- 
 face has been made. Something constructive has been 
 done and it is something that is worth while. In this 
 case, the annuity that the disabled employee receives 
 is two per cent, of his aggregate salary while in the 
 employ of the company, provided the annuity does not 
 exceed thirty-six hundred dollars. What with the 
 fixed age requirement, it really takes on more of the 
 nature of an ordinary pension than that of a disability 
 fund. 
 
 "The National City Bank of New York has a dis- 
 ability fund whose annuities are guided by the same 
 
230 Humanizing Industry 
 
 rules as its ordinary pensions. Here again, however, 
 the employee must have reached his sixtieth birthday 
 before he is entitled to an allowance. 
 
 "The Van Brunt Manufacturing Company of Hori- 
 con, Wisconsin, the B. F. Goodrich Company of 
 Akron, Ohio, the Virginia Bridge & Iron Company of 
 Roanoke, Virginia, are representative of the firms 
 which give their employees disability pensions at any 
 age, provided only that they have completed the re- 
 quired number of years of service. In the instances 
 given they are ten, fifteen and twenty years re- 
 spectively. 
 
 DISABILITY INSURANCE 
 
 "S. W. Straus & Company of New York has what 
 is perhaps the most unique plan for providing for 
 its disabled employees. On July 1, 1919, every man 
 and woman in the employ of the company received 
 life, health and accident insurance. All the premiums 
 and expenses of this are paid by the company. Just 
 now we are concerned with the health and accident 
 allowances. The provisions of this were as follows*: 
 
 " 'For any injury or sickness resulting in necessary 
 absence from employment for more than one week, 
 the person insured will be paid, after the first week, 
 seventy-five per cent, of the salary he is receiving at 
 that time. This will continue during such necessary 
 absence, up to fifty-two weeks. For the purpose of 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 231 
 
 this insurance the maximum salary considered is $5,- 
 
 000 per year. That is to say, those receiving more 
 than $5,000 will receive only the weekly payment 
 based on that amount, or $72.11.' This insurance, let 
 me add, in no way interferes with the salary of the 
 employee, which continues during the period of his dis- 
 ability, but is intended primarily to meet the in- 
 creased expenses accruing upon his illness. As far as 
 
 1 know this is the first attempt to consider the wel- 
 fare of the sick employee to this extent. 
 
 "So much then for help given the individual while 
 he is alive and capable of taking advantage of the re- 
 wards for service rendered. There are, however, two 
 more phases of relief work dependent upon an em- 
 ployee's loyalty to and interest in the work of the 
 plant. They both come under the general heading of 
 death benefits. The first is the issuance of life insur- 
 ance policies of the employees by the company. This is 
 popularly known as group insurance. The second vir- 
 tually amounts to the same thing with the exception 
 that the firm, and not the insurance company, itself 
 pays the heirs of the deceased a certain amount of 
 money upon his death. 
 
 GROUP INSURANCE 
 
 "The group insurance plan has found wide vogue 
 among large employers. Unlike the pension and dis- 
 ability plans, they do not call for completion of a 
 
232 Humanizing Industry 
 
 specified period of service before the employee can take 
 advantage of them. Let me explain more clearly. In 
 the various pension plans, for instance, the employee 
 knows that after he has finished twenty, twenty-five 
 or thirty years of service, he will not be cast into the 
 driftway tp take care of himself as best he may. It 
 is something that he looks forward to in the distant 
 future. The insurance plans, however, provide, not 
 for himself so much, unless it be in peace of mind, but 
 for his family after he dies. The question of number 
 of years of service enters into the arrangement in a 
 measure, it is true, insofar as the man who has been 
 employed ten years, fo* instance, gets a larger in- 
 surance policy than the man who has been employed 
 only one year. But one year or ten, the employee is 
 assured that his family will receive a certain fixed 
 sum from an insurance company after his death. Some 
 companies insure their employees immediately upon 
 their entrance into the firm ; others make six months' 
 service the minimum requirement; still others make 
 it a year. 
 
 "The American Sugar Kefining Company insures 
 its employees after three months' service. Five hun- 
 dred dollars is the minimum principal that the heirs 
 receive and one thousand dollars the maximum. With 
 each year of service the amount of insurance is raised 
 one hundred dollars until the maximum amount is 
 reached. 
 
 "The B. F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio, has 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 233 
 
 an insurance plan very similar to this one. It, 
 too, starts with giving its employees an insurance 
 policy at five hundred dollars. In their case, however, 
 the length of service before an employee is admitted 
 to the plan is one year. After that the principal of 
 the policy is automatically increased until it reaches 
 the maximum of one thousand dollars. 
 
 "The Guardian Savings and Trust Company of 
 Cleveland has a blanket plan which insures all of its 
 employees for one thousand dollars, irrespective of 
 the number of years of service. 
 
 "Late last year the American Woolen Company of 
 Boston issued a notice to all of its employees inform- 
 ing them of the inauguration of an insurance plan 
 which began with a principal of seven hundred and 
 fifty dollars and went up to fifteen hundred dollars, 
 depending upon the length of service. Its schedule 
 was seven hundred and fifty dollars for less than one 
 year of employment; eight hundred and fifty dollars 
 for more than one year, and less than a year and a 
 half ; nine hundred and fifty dollars for more than one 
 and a half years and less than two years; one thou- 
 sand and fifty dollars for more than two years and 
 less than two and a half years; eleven hundred and 
 fifty dollars for more than two and a half years and 
 less than three years; twelve hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars for more than three and less than three and a 
 half years ; thirteen hundred and fifty dollars for more 
 than three and a half years and less than four years ; 
 
234 Humanizing Industry 
 
 fourteen hundred and fifty dollars for four years and 
 less than four and a half, and fifteen hundred dol- 
 lars for four and a half years and over. 
 
 "There were one or two interesting provisos in this 
 plan. The first held that in case of permanent or 
 total disability before the age of sixty years, the 
 amount of insurance will be paid in either one lump 
 sum or over a period of years. Another assured the 
 employee that he would not have to undergo any physi- 
 cal examination in order to become a member of the 
 plan. That, by the way, is one of the favorable pro- 
 visions of most of the group insurance plans. 
 
 "The announcement of the plan of this company 
 made plain these facts : the insurance is provided at 
 the expense of the company. No deductions from 
 wages or contributions of any kind by the employees 
 will be required. The insurance does not in any man- 
 ner take the place of or interfere with the Workmen's 
 Compensation Laws or any other insurance the em- 
 ployee may have taken out for himself. The action is 
 voluntary on the part of the company and constitutes 
 no contract with any employee and confers no legal 
 rights on him. It does not change his freedom to 
 leave when he pleases, nor the right of the employer 
 to dismiss any employee. The insurance ceases upon 
 (ermination of employment. 
 
 "The New York Times insures its employees after 
 six months of service. The same conditions as those 
 announced by the American Woolen Company virtual- 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 235 
 
 ly holds true for them. There is this difference, how- 
 ever, a difference which, by the way, holds true for a 
 great number of the organizations which have adopted 
 the group insurance plans. When an employee leaves 
 the employ of The New York Times, his insurance 
 ends automatically in so far as payment of premiums 
 by the company is concerned. But, the employee can, 
 if he wishes, continue his insurance on his own re- 
 sponsibility. That is, he can arrange with the insur- 
 ance company to continue as a policy holder. The 
 rates, of course, are different. But there is something 
 gained in that the policy is still alive if he wishes to 
 continue it so. 
 
 "The Phelps Dodge Corporation, employing some 
 ten thousand men, insured all of its men for fifteen 
 hundred dollars. This sum is paid upon the death 
 of the employee irrespective of the amount given to his 
 heirs by the Workmen's Compensation laws obtain- 
 ing in the different states. The latter are compulsory 
 measures, controlled by the state ; the insurance plans 
 are voluntary ones arising out of a regard for -the 
 employee. 
 
 "The rules of S. W. Straus & Company call for the 
 payment of a sum equivalent to the yearly salary of 
 the person insured. The maximum amount of insur- 
 ance, however, is f 5,000. That is, every employee is 
 insured for the amount of his yearly salary, excepting 
 those who receive more than f 5,000 a year. These are 
 insured at the flat rate of $5,000. A total disability 
 
236 Humanizing Industry 
 
 clause is included, under which the amount of the in- 
 surance as outlined will be paid to the employee him- 
 self if, before the age of 60 and while in the employ 
 of the company, he shall become disabled to an extent 
 preventing further employment. 
 
 DEATH BENEFITS 
 
 "Similar to these insurance plans and differing 
 from them only insofar as the employer and not the 
 insurance company pays an allotted sum to the bene- 
 ficiaries of the deceased employee, are the death benefit 
 plans adopted by a great many organizations. Most 
 of these are still in a nebulous state. What I mean 
 is, that although many plants have made them a part 
 of their systems, few of them have made definite rul- 
 ings about them. Death benefits are paid by a vast 
 number of organizations, but they are very much 
 similar to the disability funds paid by some of them. 
 That is, each individual case is decided as it arises. 
 The employee has nothing definite by which he can be 
 guided. 
 
 "There are, however, a goodly number of companies 
 which have formulated a fixed scheme of action. The 
 American Telephone and Telegraph Company is one 
 of these. There is a special ruling controlling the 
 death of an employee by accident. This calls for the 
 payment of three years' wages to the beneficiary of the 
 dead employee. In no case is this to exceed five thou- 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 237 
 
 sand dollars. Funeral expenses to the amount of one 
 hundred and fifty dollars are paid in addition. 
 
 "Just now, however, we are not concerned with 
 deaths by accident. Those are the rare cases. There 
 is something dramatic and sensational about those 
 that in themselves call for special rulings. The com- 
 pany's legislation on ordinary deaths is the more im- 
 portant by virtue of the greater number concerned. 
 The amounts of the death benefits are controlled by 
 length of service. If the employee's term of employ- 
 ment has been from five to ten years, his beneficiaries 
 get an amount equal to six months' wages. If his em- 
 ployment has extended over a period of ten years, his 
 heirs get a sum equal to one year's wages. The 
 maximum amount of money in no case exceeds two 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 "The company has also laid down definite rulings 
 of precedence for paying the death benefits. The wife 
 or husband of the employee comes first. If there is 
 no wife or husband living at the time of the employee's 
 death, then the children of the dead employee or their 
 issue are entitled to the receipt of the death benefit. 
 If there are no children, any relatives who were de- 
 ...pendent upon the deceased employee for support, may 
 claim the death benefit. This claim rests upon the 
 condition that the relative making the claim received 
 at least twenty per cent, of the employee's wages dur- 
 ing his lifetime. Should there, however, be no such de- 
 pendent relative existing, then the amount of the death 
 
238 Humanizing Industry 
 
 benefit, minus the funeral expenses which are met up 
 to the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, revert 
 back into the Employees' Benefit Fund. It is out of 
 this fund, as you will remember, that sickness and dis- 
 ability benefits are paid. 
 
 "An interesting point contained in the rulings of 
 this company reads to the effect that should an em- 
 ployee die during disability from accident or sickness, 
 the death benefit payable to his family shall not be 
 subject to deduction of previous payments of dis- 
 ability benefits. 
 
 "The families of pensioned employees cannot, how- 
 ever, apply to the company for death benefits. In a 
 manner, the death benefit is to the active employee 
 what the pension is to the superannuated one. 
 
 "There are a number of companies, however, where 
 this pension distinction is waived to the extent that 
 the pensioner's widow either gets an additional death 
 benefit or a continuation of the pension annuities. The 
 National City Bank of New York is one of the firms 
 that continues the pension annuity after the death of 
 the pensioner. Armour & Company and Cheney 
 Brothers of Connecticut also continue the pension to 
 the widow and children of the deceased pensioner. 
 These last two, you will remember, are firms of the 
 type that pay their pensions out of a fund to which 
 the employees subscribe. 
 
 "To continue, however, on the subject of death 
 benefits of employees in active service. The People's 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 239 
 
 Gas Light & Coke Company of Chicago pays a death 
 benefit of an amount equal to one year's salary to de- 
 pendents of all employees who have given one year or 
 more of service. That is an unusually generous rul- 
 ing. The Cleveland Foundry Company, makers of oi 1 - 
 stoves, pay death benefits ranging from two hundred 
 to one thousand dollars, depending upon the length 
 of service of the deceased employee. Dependents of 
 employees who have been in the employment of the 
 company for less than three months are paid a death 
 benefit of two hundred dollars. Dependents of em- 
 ployees of more than three months' service get the 
 equivalent of one year's wages, subject to a maximum 
 amount of one thousand dollars. If there are no de- 
 pendents, then nothing but the funeral expenses are 
 paid." 
 
 Struthers drew a long breath. He dug his hand 
 into his pocket and drew out his pipe. He lit it and 
 took a deep whiff at it before he went on. 
 
 "So much for facts, Hardwick. They tell their own 
 story, of course. I don't need to rub it in. But un- 
 derstanding what production means to a plant, apart 
 from the appreciation of the human material with 
 which you are working, you can readily see what these 
 things will mean toward making the employee desirous 
 of continuing his connection with a firm. Take the 
 matter of insurance, for instance. A man will think 
 twice before giving up a job that will give his wife and 
 youngsters something with which to face the world 
 
240 Humanizing Industry 
 
 after he 'goes west/ It gives him a feeling of safety 
 and confidence that goes far toward building up a 
 warm regard between the man who is responsible for 
 the plan and himself. And, as I have emphasized 
 ^<;ain and again, you cannot discount the value of 
 this feeling. You can't afford to be superior to it. It 
 is something alive, vibrant, active. It brings definite 
 results in the relation between your supply of mate- 
 rial and the demand that your purchasers make. 
 
 "I understand fully," Struthers continued after a 
 few puffs at his pipe, "that all these reforms can be 
 turned to vicious purposes. What I mean is, that 
 some employers may inaugurate them for the main 
 and only purpose of attracting workers where the 
 other conditions of the plant would serve to repel 
 them. Unclean working conditions, dark factories, 
 long hours, things of that sort. It has been done, I 
 know. An unscrupulous employer will dangle the 
 bait of an insurance plan and the foolhardy and near- 
 sighted man-out-of-a-job will bite. He w r ill get the 
 insurance, or rather his wife and children will, and 
 much sooner than he might if he were working under 
 healthful and progressive shop conditions. I am not, 
 however, speaking of that type of employer. He is 
 certainly not the progressive one and most certainly 
 not the successful one. 
 
 "You see, Hardwick, there has to be something 
 more than a superficial gloss of humanity that mas- 
 querades over a deep feeling of enmity and bad faith. 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 241 
 
 You were inclined to think well of the phrase used 
 to designate the type of reform we needed in indus- 
 try. I spoke of the humanizing of industry. Well, 
 that's what you are doing when you make plans to 
 assure your employees that they and their families 
 will be cared for when that need arises. And what's 
 more, that they will be cared for, not because it hap- 
 pens to be your whim to do so but because you feel 
 that the employee is entitled to such care after he has 
 given you the best of himself in years of service. 
 Whims have nothing to do in industry unless they 
 arise out of a sense of justice and human fellowship." 
 
 Hardwick smiled. 
 
 "And yet it was a whim that made me ask you to 
 come to me here," he said. 
 
 "Oh, no," was the quick retort. "Oh, no. You're 
 wrong there. It was not a whim. It was sound com- 
 mon sense, business sense, if you will. Things were 
 at sixes and sevens; you found that the old methods 
 didn't go; you didn't know or were afraid to try 
 new methods; you decided like a drowning man to 
 clutch at a straw ; I was the straw, not because it was 
 a whim of yours to make me so but because Thomp- 
 son had spoken of me to you. Come, come, Hardwick, 
 confess. If this place is going to be changed, it won't 
 be because it was due to a whim of yours but because, 
 I repeat, you discovered that old methods didn't go 
 and that new methods had to come. Because, old 
 man, you hate a failure worse than you hate the 
 
242 Humanizing Industry 
 
 thought of Hell and because you wanted to know the 
 things that would prevent you from being one. Xot 
 that I can do more thaji tell you, Hard wick, for I 
 can't. Changing things is something that you have 
 got to do for yourself. What I can do is to show you 
 the things that are being done by successful men, by 
 men with vision ; by men who appreciate that the only 
 way to keep things humming with the song of things 
 being done is to step in line with the tune of the times. 
 And the tune of to-day is a very fine and beautiful 
 one, if you will only stop to hear it. It is the one of 
 understanding and cooperation among human beings. 
 You lose nothing in prestige and dignity by singing 
 it. You gain a wealth of power in increase of energy 
 and spirit." Struthers stopped and turned to his pipe 
 once more. Hardwick broke the silence that ensued 
 for a few moments. 
 
 "And suppose, Struthers, just suppose for a mo- 
 ment," he said, "that I follow your damn fool ideas 
 about singing and all that stuff, what good will that 
 do me if my men won't sing with me? You don't sup- 
 pose that the idea of being a soloist is a very attractive 
 one. It makes me feel, well, I can think of no better 
 comparison than that of dreaming that you're walking 
 around without your clothes on. You know that 
 dream. Lots of people about, dressed and decent and 
 you undressed and indecent. Suppose I do these things 
 that, to you, seem the be-all and end-all of success in 
 industry, suppose I do them and the men think me a 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 243 
 
 damn fool and laugh at me behind my back and call 
 me all sorts of a soft dotard. Suppose that while I 
 am singing this mighty song of yours of understand- 
 ing and cooperation, these men of mine are carousing 
 in a drunken brawl over the foolishness of the man 
 who is employing them. Figuratively speaking, of 
 course. How do I know they want these things? A 
 job's a job to them ; it's not a life work." 
 
 Struthers got up from his chair. He looked down 
 at Hard wick. 
 
 "How you argue, man. Around and around in a 
 circle. First you see the value of these things, then 
 you don't; you listen to facts that argue for per- 
 manency in a man's job ; you agree that there is truth 
 and sense behind them and then you grow fearful lest 
 you be taken in by something ; you are convinced that 
 other men have successfully tried out these experi- 
 ments and then you want to know whether your men 
 want them. 
 
 "Whether they want them or not is not so much 
 the point," he continued. "They want something. The 
 thought may not have found shape in their minds but 
 it is there. If they do get something valuable and 
 constructive they will be quick to appreciate it and 
 quick to understand it was that they were fretful 
 about. Stop wondering about what will be thought 
 of your schemes. Do things and find out. How do 
 you imagine the men who first started this work of 
 getting closer to their employees felt? Not only were 
 
244 Humanizing Industry 
 
 they open to the distrust of their employees, this thing 
 you so foolishly fear, but they were, besides, open to 
 the ridicule of their fellow-employers. There, if you 
 please, was the real fight. And was there any dis- 
 trust and ridicule? No. And why? Because the 
 movement was so basically sound ; so humanly sound. 
 For heaven's sake, Hardwick, stop being so damnably 
 self-conscious and introspective. Get out of yourself ; 
 stop appraising yourself and learn to be a human 
 being. It is going to cost you some money to begin 
 with, I confess, but it will be very much worth your 
 while." 
 
 Hardwick sat looking at Struthers a few moments 
 after the latter had finished. A curious smile played 
 about his lips. He moistened his lips with his tongue, 
 then drew in his upper lip between his teeth. The 
 smile still played around his lips when he spoke. 
 
 "Do you know, Struthers, that you have a curious 
 way of getting down to the bottom of things in spite 
 of your wayward digressions? That about my being 
 self-conscious and introspective, for instance. How 
 the blue moon did you know? And, by the way, where 
 do you get all of this? Where did you get your knowl- 
 edge of human beings and the method of tackling 
 them? Why is it that you can talk to Hurley and 
 Larry in a way that is not offensive both to yourself 
 and to them and that I can't? Where did you get 
 your philosophy of the humanness of human beings?" 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 245 
 
 Struthers went on puffing at his pipe. When he 
 spoke his voice was low and reminiscent. 
 
 "You want to know where I got this philosophy 
 of the humanness of human beings?" He grunted 
 amusedly. "By rubbing up against them," he said 
 after a While. "By rubbing up against them close. 
 So close that I could smell either their onion breath 
 or the odor of .the good clean soap with which they 
 bathed themselves. But whether it was an onion 
 breath come, don't look disgusted or the odor of 
 expensive soap, the make-up of the man behind it was 
 the same. To a degree, of course. Some were bril- 
 liant, and some were stupid, or perhaps only ignorant, 
 but behind it all, as I have said before, there was the 
 same human being with the same qualities for being 
 sad or being happy, of being satisfied or discontented, 
 of being successful or being a failure. Again I say, 
 in varying degrees and in different degrees. 
 
 "The opportunity was given me to discover this in 
 the newspaper work I was doing for a time. There 
 is nothing like a job on a paper, Hard wick, that will 
 make you see how few are the patterns out of which 
 kuman beings are shaped. How pitifully few. It 
 would seem to you that because of this scarcity of 
 pattern, human beings would more quickly recognize 
 themselves in their neighbors. But they don't. Each 
 one of them goes on with the very foolish belief that 
 what was once said of Lincoln is equally true of them- 
 selves. That the Lord made one image and then lost 
 
246 Humanizing Industry 
 
 the pattern. It's funny that. Except that it some- 
 times is sad." He looked up with a smile. "You and 
 Hurley are a good deal alike, you know. You resent 
 my saying that. So does he. But you are alike in 
 spite of the fact that he considers himself an intel- 
 lectual wage-slave or some such tommyrot and you 
 consider yourself a scion of nobility or some other 
 such nonsense. It all boils down to the same thing. 
 You are both wrong. There is nothing the matter 
 with either of you except that you are two human 
 beings. And there would be nothing the matter with 
 you if you both appreciated that. 
 
 "However, to go on. I used to be sent out on stories. 
 All sorts of stories which meant meeting all sorts of 
 people. At first I was scared, fearfully so. When I 
 was sent to see a big man I was afraid my mind was 
 too small to encompass him. And when I was sent 
 to see somebody at the other end of the social scale 
 I felt self-conscious for fear I should embarrass him. 
 It was tough work. But" he paused reminiscent- 
 ly "but I soon discovered that the mind of the big 
 man was not so overawing as I imagined and that 
 the man who might possibly be in his employ was not 
 so very greatly stunned in my presence. The fact of 
 the matter is, I suppose, that all men feel a kinship 
 to newspapers. They open up and grow confidential 
 to a newspaper man where they might not to an ac- 
 quaintance. There is a very good reason for this. 
 When a man has something to say for publication, it 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 247 
 
 usually concerns one of his pet hobbies. That is what 
 usually impels him to get into print. And there is 
 nothing about which a man will grow so loquacious 
 as a hobby, whether that hobby is politics or pet 
 canaries. And once you get a man talking, you dis- 
 cover the color of his make-up. 
 
 "It was not long before I came to the conclusion that 
 there was nothing to fear in meeting any man or 
 any woman, for that matter. Way down deep below 
 the surface, they were all the same, prompted by the 
 same desires, the same prejudices, the same ambitions. 
 That if they were given only half a chance they would 
 expand and show the human material out of which 
 they were fashioned. And all were human, Hardwick, 
 all of them. Without exception. All interested in 
 holding down and talking about his own particular 
 job and all anxious to show that without him the job 
 could not exist. All ready to talk of the little details 
 that go into the make-up of his life and all willing to 
 discourse on the need of changing this old world of 
 ours." Again Struthers paused for a pull at his pipe. 
 He slowly exhaled the smoke through his nostrils, 
 then continued. "It wasn't unpleasant all of this. As 
 a matter of fact, it was mighty pleasant. And inter- 
 esting. And warm. It gave you a feeling of kin- 
 ship with the world. Made you feel that because of 
 this quality of humanness there was some hope of ar- 
 riving at an understanding between the component 
 parts of society. 
 
248 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "I drifted into this employer and employee wrangle. 
 Here, too, I found that the employer was human and 
 that the employee was human. That they were both 
 men. That if given half a chance they might under- 
 stand each other. That under other circumstances 
 they would understand each other. That if the condi- 
 tions were different, if both men were owners of 
 plants or both men workers in plants, they would be 
 playing poker together, and have their wives visiting 
 each other and have their children quarreling with 
 each other. But conditions not being different, they 
 hid their humanness from each other. It was part 
 of the game they were playing, that of holding down 
 their jobs. John Brown felt that because he employed 
 Tim Murphy, he had to bark at Tim whenever he gave 
 him an order, and Tim Murphy seemed to think that 
 part of his job lay in snarling at John Brown when- 
 ever the latter turned his back. They thought, and 
 heaven help them, still think, that these were the rules 
 of the game. They forgot that they were human be- 
 ings, that they had hundreds of things in common, not 
 the least of which was their work. 
 
 "But underneath it all, Hardwick, John Brown 
 hates the barking and Tim Murphy hates the snarling. 
 They are human beings, you know, and this business 
 of performing the dog trick is not very satisfying. 
 John Brown is a human being who, by virtue of his 
 ability and force of circumstances, is in a position 
 to direct a big job. In the same manner Tim Murphy 
 
Pensions, Disability and Death Benefits 249 
 
 because of his peculiar aptitudes holds down a dif- 
 ferent kind of a job. Both their jobs, however, depend 
 on one thing the health of the plant, by which I mean 
 the degree of success of the plant. And the health 
 of any plant can be greatly improved by giving it 
 coordinated treatment instead of the constant 
 wrangling, tearing, backbiting that will wear down 
 the nerves of any organization. You may smile at 
 my speaking of the nerves of an organization. But, 
 Hardwick, every organization has nerves. You can 
 feel them the minute you come into a shop or a fac- 
 tory. Some of them are torn and mangled and some 
 of them are strong and firm. They are a reflection of 
 the shades and leanings and temperament and happi- 
 ness of the mass of human beings that make up the 
 group. But always, always, Hardwick, it is the 
 human being end of it that you've got to understand." 
 Again Struthers relapsed into silence. 
 
 Hardwick stood up, walked up and down the room 
 a few times, then stopped before Struthers. 
 
 "It all sounds so simple, Struthers, when you speak 
 that way. You with your great faith in humanity. 
 But it isn't really so simple. It isn't. Because 
 humanity is not so simple. They sometimes frighten 
 me, those different shades and leanings that you speak 
 of. You may strike a responsive chord in one of them 
 but the others remain untouched. How are you going 
 to get at all of them, and can you get at all of them? 
 Can you? Won't you always be open to suspicion of 
 
250 Humanizing Industry 
 
 underhanded motives? There's the rub, Struthers. 
 There it is. That no matter what you do and what the 
 motive that impels you to do it, it will be miscon- 
 strued by a good number of the men it affects." 
 
 "True," Struthers agreed. "Up to a certain point, 
 however. Once you have conscientiously done every- 
 thing that it is in your power to do to assure the men 
 that you are acting straight and aboveboard with 
 them and are giving them what they like to call a 
 'square deal 7 you have won the battle. For, Hard- 
 wick, you will have appealed to every type of in- 
 dividual among them. To some of them it will be the 
 educational measures that will bring you closer to 
 them; to others it will be the recreational; to still 
 others it will be the pension plans, and so on and so 
 on indefinitely. Each to his own liking. Each to his 
 own need. Human likings and human needs, Hard- 
 wick. Kemember that, always. Human likings and 
 human needs. They play an important part in the 
 life of the plant." 
 
CHAPTER EIGHT 
 
 I 
 
 HOUSING 
 
 THE factory whistle blew its shrill dismissal. In 
 response to it the men came pouring out of the doors 
 of the buildings. Hardwick watched them from the 
 window of his office. He noticed that a good many 
 of the men had apparently taken advantage of the 
 cleaning-up facilities which had been installed in the 
 shops. They were not half -bad to look at, these men 
 of his, with the dirt and grease washed off their faces. 
 Not a few of them had doffed their overalls and 
 changed into street clothes. That, too, was a decided 
 improvement. He noticed the boy, Larry, walking 
 along with a swift easy grace that his ill-fitting but 
 clean clothes could not hide. He looked like a capable 
 lad. Hardwick took in the clear-cut features, the 
 deep-set eyes, the high cheek-bones. It was a good 
 face made attractively expressive by a spirit of re- 
 sponsibility that hovered over it. The boy was near- 
 ing the window at which Hardwick was standing. 
 With an ungovernable impulse Hardwick pulled up 
 the lower sash and stood waiting for him to pass. As 
 he came within hearing range, Hardwick called out: 
 
 251 
 
252 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Oh, Larry." 
 
 The brisk tones of his employer caught the ear of 
 the boy. He stopped. A half -embarrassed and half- 
 worried smile played about his lips. 
 
 "Yes, sir," he responded and came closer to the 
 window. Now that the boy was there, Hard wick won- 
 dered what had made him call him. The two stood 
 awkwardly facing each other for a few seconds, then 
 Hardwick spoke. 
 
 "Your hip, Larry, how is it coming on?" 
 
 The boy flushed. For a moment it seemed to Hard- 
 wick that a quick look of relief spread over his fea- 
 tures. He wasn't sure, however. 
 
 "It's all right now, sir," the boy responded with a 
 smile. "It wasn't really very serious. Except that 
 I had to stay in bed for a while." The flush on his 
 face grew deeper as he continued. 
 
 "Mr. Hardwick, you've been very good to mother 
 and me. I want to thank you for taking care of us 
 those weeks. I didn't think I was going to be paid 
 for that time. The fault was mine. I knew that the 
 new ladders were in the next room." 
 
 Hardwick looked quizzically at the boy. The boy's 
 eyes met his. "Hm. You say the fault was yours. 
 Hurley says it was mine. That was the reason he 
 gave for having your pay advanced to you while you 
 were ill. What do you say about that?" 
 
 The boy shifted his weight uneasily. The young 
 mouth tightened in a manner that was much too old 
 
Housing 253 
 
 for it, Hardwick noticed it and wondered what was 
 coming next. Finally the boy spoke. 
 
 "I'll say this, sir," he said. "The fault was mine 
 because I was in a hurry to get at some work on one 
 of the machines and didn't want to run into the next 
 shop. It was Mr. Hurley's kindness that made him 
 tell you what he did. He thought he was being square 
 to me when he asked you to continue my pay. If you 
 think it was wrong, you can take it out of my pay 
 envelope, bit by bit." 
 
 Hardwick's brow knit together at the expression of 
 youthful courage and pride before him. He looked 
 at the boy with new interest. Here was fine human 
 material ; a fine human being in the making. Struth- 
 ers was right when he had spoken about developing 
 human potentialities to the highest possible degree. 
 Larry was worth an experiment. A movement of the 
 boy as if to go, arrested Hardwick's train of thought. 
 He turned to him again. 
 
 "Forget that about the money. Hurley was right. 
 It was no more than doing the square thing by you. 
 Suppose you come in and see me to-morrow afternoon. 
 At three o'clock. Tell Hurley to release you. All 
 right." He nodded to the astonished boy and turned 
 to some work at the table. The boy walked on. 
 
 Hardwick was interrupted by a shadow on his pa- 
 pers and the sound of Struthers' voice. 
 
 "Hello, chief. Thought I'd stop and say good eve- 
 ning to you same as young Larry did," he said. 
 
254 Humanizing Industry 
 
 It was Hardwick's turn to flush. He made no ref- 
 erence to the talk with the boy, however, but went on 
 to speak of other things. 
 
 "I was looking out for you, Struthers. I thought 
 I'd take you home with me if I saw you passing. Can 
 you make it to-night? And is there anything you have 
 up your sleeve? I am willing to be amused. And 
 instructed. Come along," he urged, as he saw Struth- 
 ers standing undecided. 
 
 Struthers bit his upper lip in contemplation. An 
 amused twinkle came into his eyes. It was gone, how- 
 ever, when he spoke. 
 
 "I'll tell you what, Hardwick," he said. "I'll go 
 with you if you'll come by the house and let me load 
 myself with some barrage. What do you say to that?" 
 
 "All right/' was the quick response. "I'll get the 
 car to run us over there." He made a motion to call 
 the chauffeur. Strutheru interrupted him. 
 j "No, old man, not with the car. We'll walk it. 
 Same as I do every night. It's not very far. And it 
 will be a good deal more comfortable. Your car 
 couldn't make it in those roads. Besides, it would 
 create too much of a sensation to have the boss's car 
 stop in front of the Hurley house. Come on." 
 
 Half reluctantly and half willingly, Hardwick got 
 into his hat and coat and started off with Struthers. 
 Before going he instructed his chauffeur to meet them 
 at the Kawburn station. 
 
 They said very little to each other on the way. 
 
Housing 255 
 
 When they came into the village proper, however, 
 Struthers began pointing out the ugly weather- 
 beaten houses, telling Hardwick the names of their 
 tenants. 
 
 "That house straight ahead of us, with the hanging 
 shutters and broken doorway, belongs to one of the 
 foundrymen. That is, he lives in it. Or tries to. He 
 isn't in it very often. Thinks the foundry a warmer 
 place. And when he's away from the foundry, finds 
 the saloon down the way, a bit, a cozier spot. Has a 
 wife and six kids. All under twelve. 
 
 "The one on the other side is Witlik's," Struthers 
 continued. "He's in our shops. A coat of paint 
 wouldn't hurt it. Neither would some new windows 
 and shingles and a chimney. It's queer how care- 
 less these people are with the property of another 
 man." 
 
 Hardwick looked sharply at the man beside him to 
 see whether he was laughing at him. There was noth- 
 ing in the face of Struthers, however, that could in- 
 dicate that fact. It was cool and impersonal. Its ex- 
 pression was that of a man acting as official guide. 
 
 They passed another ugly little shack, with a 
 drunken chimney perched at one end of its roof. A 
 window box with some half frozen flowers stood on 
 one of the crooked chipped sills. Hardwick noticed 
 the house. 
 
 "Who lives here?" he asked. 
 
 "Larry," Struthers replied. "Larry and his mother." 
 
256 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Hardwick made no answer. The two men walked 
 on silently. In the dusk of the evening, Hardwick 
 was not recognized and the possible stir that might 
 have been made by his presence in the village was 
 avoided. 
 
 At last they came to Hurley's house. Struthers 
 stopped. 
 
 "This is where I live," he said. "Come in. They 
 don't expect you but I imagine it will be all right." 
 Before Hardwick could stop him, he had knocked on 
 the door and turned the knob in answer to the sum- 
 mons from within. The light of the flaring gas out- 
 lined the two figures at the door. Hurley, who was 
 seated at the table, stood up in amazement. 
 
 "Nothing wrong at the works, is there?" he called 
 out, getting into his coat. Struthers smiled. 
 
 "No", Hurley. Sit down and don't grow excited. 
 There's nothing wrong at the works. I just came to 
 get some material that Mr. Hardwick wanted and he 
 thought he'd come with me to get it. That's all." 
 Struthers turned from him to Mrs. Hurley. "Mrs. 
 Hurley," he said with a fine courtesy, "this is Mr. 
 Hardwick." Hardwick acknowledged the introduc- 
 tion in the same manner as it was given. Mrs. Hur- 
 ley extended a hand that she had been wiping on her 
 apron. Hardwick took and shook it gravely. "I'm 
 glad to know you, sir," she said. "I've heard of you 
 often from Ben, there." There was an awkward pause. 
 
Housing 257 
 
 Hurley stood playing with the ends of the red table- 
 cloth while Mrs. Hurley stood gazing at the two men. 
 Struthers broke the silence by calling Hardwick into 
 his room. Hardwick, glad to get out of the hard 
 glare of light, followed him. He watched Struthers as 
 he pulled the suitcase from beneath the bed and ex- 
 tracted some papers from it. He looked around at the 
 bare room furnished with its bed and chair and with 
 little else. Struthers was soon finished. He looked 
 up at Hardwick. The man's face told him nothing. 
 Struthers wondered what he was thinking but asked 
 no questions. All he-said was: 
 
 "You'd better go out first. The two of us can't walk 
 abreast here." 
 
 "No, it's quite plain we can't," was the laconic 
 reply. 
 
 Hurley was still standing at the table when they 
 came into the bigger room. Mrs. Hurley was busying 
 herself at the stove. Struthers addressed himself to 
 her. 
 
 "I am sorry, Mrs. Hurley, but I shan't be home for 
 supper to-night. There's some work that Mr. Hard- 
 wick wants me to go over with him." Then he turned 
 to Hurley. "We're going down by way of the sta- 
 tion, Hurley. Do you want to walk down with us be- 
 fore you eat?" Hurley looked at Hardwick while he 
 fingered his coat. The latter grew aware of the look 
 and gruffly repeated the invitation. 
 
258 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Yes, come along," he said. "You doubtless know 
 the road better than Struthers," he added, half in 
 apology. 
 
 Hurley got into his coat and left with the men. 
 It had grown quite dark by this time. Here and there 
 a crooked lamp-post sent out its bleary light on the 
 ugly broken road ahead of them. Hardwick stumbled 
 in the dark a number of times. Every now and then 
 the voice of Hurley would call out, "Easy there ahead. 
 There's a bad place there," or "You'd better let me 
 walk ahead." The men walked on, Struthers still 
 pointing out the badly dilapidated houses to Hard- 
 wick. Occasionally he would turn to Hurley for con- 
 firmation of the names. They stopped at the dark- 
 ened windows of one house. 
 
 "Who lives here or who used to live here?" Hard- 
 wick asked. 
 
 "Wheeler," Hurley remarked shortly. "Wheeler; 
 his mother lived with him. Had four kids, three 
 boys and a girl. The old lady came down with typhoid. 
 No sewage system here, you know. Just scavengers. 
 They come along sometimes. The damn thing went 
 through the family. Except Wheeler. The old lady 
 and three of the kids died. Just about knocked 
 Wlieeler silly. He left with his boy six months ago. 
 Went to the city, I think. I haven't heard from him 
 since." 
 
 The men walked on in silence after he had finished. 
 Before very long the flickering lights of two lamp- 
 
Housing 259 
 
 posts lit up their faces. It showed Hardwick's, tense 
 and stern, between those of Struthers and Hurley. 
 
 "What are those two lamp-posts here for?" Hard- 
 wick asked. 
 
 "The station's around the corner," Hurley replied. 
 
 "I see/' was the quiet response. 
 
 As they turned the corner, the glare of Hardwick's 
 car met them full in the face. After the darkness of 
 the road, it was blinding in its effect. 
 
 "Queer what a difference a bit of electrical juice 
 can make," Struthers remarked. "It's as light as day 
 here and dark as the night back there. You going 
 now, Hurley?" he asked, as the man made a motion to 
 leave them. 
 
 Hurley answered in the affirmative. He mumbled 
 a brief good-by and left them. Hardwick was in 
 the car by this time. He leaned out and called after 
 the retreating figure. 
 
 "Good night, Hurley. Good night. And thanks for 
 helping me over the rough places." 
 
 The car sped away into the darkness. 
 
 The two men were too greatly taken up with their 
 own thoughts to say anything to each other on the 
 way to Hardwick's home. Dinner was spent in com- 
 parative silence. It was not until the men were seated 
 in the living-room that they began to talk. Hardwick 
 paced up and down the room while Struthers sat in 
 his old chair by the fire. Finally the former broke 
 out with the words: 
 
260 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "How can you live there, Struthers? How can you 
 stand that dirt and cheapness and squalor? Man, it's 
 horrible." 
 
 "Aye, it's horrible," Struthers assented. "But 
 where else can I live?" he asked. 
 
 "Here, of course, here. You pack up your things 
 to-morrow and come over to this place. Heaven knows 
 why I let you go there at the very beginning. I didn't 
 know it was as bad as that. You won't stay there any 
 longer. That's settled." 
 
 He stopped before Struthers' chair. The latter 
 shook his head in disagreement. 
 
 "No, Hardwick, that's not settled. I am going on 
 living there. Apparently the only reaction you got 
 to the conditions you saw, was a regret that a friend 
 of yours was living there. Well, a good many friends 
 of mine are living there. And a good many other 
 friends, of yours too, for that matter. What are you 
 going to do about those? You can't bring all of them 
 over here." 
 
 Hardwick continued pacing up and down the room. 
 Again he stopped before Struthers. 
 
 "Well, w T hat can I do about it?" he demanded. 
 "Those people are not used to anything better and by 
 very virtue of the fact that they stay there, are will- 
 ing to live under those conditions. Different people 
 have different tastes, Struthers. Some are more 
 fastidious and others less fastidious. Your tastes have 
 been trained. There is no reason in the wide world 
 
Housing 261 
 
 why you should be living amidst those surroundings 
 when you can live over here. Come, Struthers, don't 
 be an ass. Have your things moved over here." 
 
 Struthers shook his head a second time. 
 
 "Your crooked philosophy again coming to the fore. 
 Hardwick, do you for one moment believe that the 
 people are living in those houses because of any choice 
 in the matter? Do you for one moment believe that if 
 there were any opportunity to show an appreciation 
 of something vastly different, something clean and 
 healthy and wholesome and beautiful, these people 
 would not show it? Do you think that they want to 
 live there? That every mother's daughter of them is 
 not continually urging her husband or her father or 
 her brother to leave the works and go to a place where 
 they can live like human beings and not like so many 
 swine or cattle? Do you mean to say that you can't 
 understand what a case like Wheeler's, for instance, 
 does to families of the men in the works and what 
 the reaction is in labor turnover at the works? 
 
 "Hardwick," Struthers continued, answering his 
 own questions, "the people living in those houses are 
 staying there because they can't help themselves or 
 because they think they can't help themselves. The 
 men are afraid to try another place. That's why they 
 stay at the Rawburn works. It's not through love of 
 the opportunities offered here. They want to give 
 their wives and mothers and daughters something 
 better in the way of homes and environment but the 
 
262 Humanizing Industry 
 
 need of meeting the wolf at the door has them gripped 
 close by the throat and they are afraid to make a 
 move. That holds them here and nothing else. That 
 is one of the ghastly things upon which your supply 
 of labor depends. That is one of the ghastly things 
 upon which all labor in the less progressive plants 
 depends : Fear. Fear of not being able to exist with- 
 out the job. Just as soon as that fear goes, just as 
 soon as the men are assured that there is another job 
 waiting for them, they go, too. You fill their places 
 with men who have left their old jobs for similar rea- 
 sons. And in time the new men go. And more men 
 come on. And other men go. And so on and on, al- 
 ways shifting, changing, replacing. With the de- 
 crease of production that is naturally entailed. Again, 
 Hardwick, lack of efficiency. Lack of an appreciation 
 of the truth that it takes more than a bench and a set 
 of tools to make a man happy in his job ; that there 
 are things outside jobs that determine his value to 
 you as a worker. And not the least of those things 
 is the house in which the man and his family live. 
 Live, I say, and not quarter. Quartering does not 
 answer the need. The far-seeing men in business 
 have discovered that. The time of the tumble-down, 
 ugly, factory shack that used to make up the indus- 
 trial village is gone. To-day, the village built around 
 a plant is fashioned after the most modern plans 
 which include housing improvements of every sort. 
 'Town-planning' and 'industrial housing- are com- 
 
Housing 263 
 
 paratively new phrases, but they are vital phrases in 
 the industrial life of the nation in that they mark 
 one of the most important milestones along the road 
 of industrial progress. 
 
 "The war brought out clearly the relation between 
 proper housing and production. The men at the head 
 of the government and the men in charge of govern- 
 ment work soon came to a realization that in order 
 to meet the demand of the armies overseas for produc- 
 tion, more production and still more production, it 
 was necessary to provide proper housing facilities. 
 The situation in Craddock, Virginia, was one example 
 of this. Bridgeport was another. Let me tell you 
 what happened in Bridgeport. The manufacturers 
 in that city were faced with the housing problem long 
 before we entered the war. Bridgeport is a munition 
 center and supplied the allied armies with war mate- 
 rials long before America sent her soldiers overseas. 
 The demand for workers was sent broadcast and al- 
 most overnight that city became the Mecca of skilled 
 and unskilled workers of every kind. 
 
 "The men, with their wives, sisters, cousins, and 
 aunts, swarmed into the busy manufacturing town 
 and were soon put to work in the factories engaged in 
 war work. The Remington Arms Company employed 
 hundreds of them; so did the American Chain Com- 
 pany, and the Crane Company, and the Melville Iron 
 Company, and many more of them, all within a small 
 radius. The city thrived financially ; both the owners 
 
264 Humanizing Industry 
 
 and the employees made money ; but the spirit of the 
 work was not happy. With the ever-increasing amount 
 of business and the ever-growing influx of people 
 there came a perceptibly spreading feeling of unrest. 
 The cause was traced to the housing situation. 
 
 "The workers were satisfied with their wages, satis- 
 fied with their working conditions, but not satisfied 
 with the places they had to live in. As a matter of 
 fact, things came to a pass where there were no places 
 to live in. It was not unusual at the very highest 
 pitch of the work to have three men bunk in one room 
 on eight-hour shifts that is, a bed would be slept in 
 continually for twenty-four hours, one man clearing 
 out of the bunk when the second shift of workers 
 came in. 
 
 "Dissatisfaction with conditions soon manifested 
 itself in a sullen unrest among the toilers in the fac- 
 tories. They demanded suitable and comfortable liv- 
 ing quarters. The Remington Company was the first 
 to take the matter in hand. It began building houses. 
 The aim was expedition and quantity. The houses 
 were quickly completed, and although not things of 
 beauty, they served, nevertheless, to meet the imme- 
 diate problem. 
 
 "The other manufacturers watched the results with 
 interest and finally organized themselves under the 
 direction of the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce, 
 into an organization known as the Bridgeport Hous- 
 ing Company. The different plants put up a suffi- 
 
Housing 265 
 
 cient sum of money to insure the development of a 
 large number of well-built apartment and unit houses. 
 The city was studied from the housing angle, and 
 undeveloped plots of ground within the limits, and 
 immediately outside the city limits, were bought at A 
 the best possible prices. Appreciating the fact that 
 the work was in its main essentials a war measure, 
 the owners of the properties were generous in their 
 quotations, and it is testified that there was no prof- 
 iteering. 
 
 "A Boston housing engineer was placed in charge 
 of the work. The first unit of houses that went up 
 was a series of model apartments just beyond the 
 limits of the city. These consisted of three-room 
 apartments, intended to meet the need of the skilled 
 mechanic who was making good wages and wanted 
 to live with his family in a decent home. The flats 
 rented for f 10 a room, or $30 a month, which was 
 entirely within the means of the people moving into 
 them. 
 
 "While these apartment houses were going up, the 
 second development was started. A plot of ground 
 right within the city was purchased and building 
 started on a group of 144 homes built around a square, 
 comparable to a New England square, but in this in- 
 stance used as a playground for the children of the 
 community. The houses were artistically grouped, 
 the streets so laid out as to form a model village. 
 The number of rooms ranged from two to five, meet- 
 
266 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ing the needs of the childless family as well as those 
 of the worker who had several children. The aim 
 toward which the builders worked was privacy of 
 family life and beauty of environment. Modern con- 
 veniences and appliances were installed in every 
 home. The two-room house, or section of house, with 
 its own entrances, front and rear, was as comfortable 
 and well equipped as the five-room house. The dif- 
 ference was one of number, not of kind. 
 
 "Appreciative of the fact that the apartment houses 
 and the model village would not be sufficient to meet 
 all the needs, the builders started two additional vil- 
 lage developments a short distance out of the city, yet 
 sufficiently near to make the 'jitney' a possible means 
 of conveyance. These are situated west of Bridge- 
 port proper, in the cities of Fairfield and Stratford. 
 
 "The total number of families housed by means of 
 all the four projects was 250. The houses and apart- 
 ments were rented no sooner than they were finished. 
 
 "The Government at Washington got wind of the 
 Bridgeport housing work and noted the kind of 
 houses, the improvements on the property, and the 
 effect on the workers. 
 
 "The problem was not entirely solved, however. 
 Bridgeport kept on growing, and its population kept 
 on increasing. Workers poured off the trains in re- 
 sponse to the call for help in the cartridge and arms 
 factories. The request of the Government to the 
 Bridgeport Housing Company was to go ahead and 
 
Housing 267 
 
 build more. The initial funds of the building com- 
 pany were exhausted, but the Government thought 
 the work of sufficient importance to start additional 
 building under the supervision of the United States 
 Housing Corporation. With the four developments 
 of the local concern as models, the Federal authorities 
 went ahead on five new projects, which furnished 
 housing facilities for about 900 additional families. 
 
 "In almost every instance a plot was chosen within 
 walking distance of one of the large plants engaged 
 in Government work. The development of Seaside 
 Village, for instance, was intended primarily to meet 
 the needs of the skilled mechanics working in the fac- 
 tories in the immediate vicinity. The Melville Iron 
 Company was one of them. The Columbia Grapho- 
 phone Company, also engaged in war work, was an- 
 other. There were about fifty altogether. Two hun- 
 dred and fifty modern homes were put up in village 
 fashion. 
 
 "Another village community was built at Grass- 
 mere, just over the city line. One hundred and one 
 homes were built there. The development of Black 
 Rock was similar. 
 
 "At Hillgreen Park, the City of Bridgeport donated 
 part of the town farm and part of the cemetery to- 
 ward the housing work; result, 207 homes, within 
 walking distance of the Remington Arms. These con- 
 sist of single and two-family houses in units or in 
 groups. The houses run from four to six rooms. The 
 
268 Humanizing Industry 
 
 property faces a public park, and an open playground 
 has been installed by the housing company, acting as 
 agent for the Government. The City of Bridgeport 
 supplies a teacher for the playground, and thus in- 
 sures the care of the children during the possible 
 absence of their parents. 
 
 "To meet the needs of the clerical workers in the 
 Government Liberty Ordnance Plant, the housing 
 company put up what is known as the Connecticut 
 development, a group of apartment houses, accommo- 
 dating 108 families. These apartments are compar- 
 able to what are known in New York as the two and 
 three-room studios. 
 
 "All these houses, 1,100 of them, met the problem 
 of the skilled mechanic who was an American citizen. 
 That status, by the way, was a requirement in the 
 renting of the homes. Good character was the other 
 requisite. 
 
 "I had occasion," Struthers continued, "to speak 
 with the engineer in charge of this work. Owing to 
 the influx of workers of all sorts, Bridgeport had in- 
 creased its importance on the map. Bridgeport wanted 
 to hold these people. "I asked him how Bridgeport 
 was going to do it. 'Through her housing improve- 
 ment work/ was his answer. His plan was to allow 
 the men who rented the houses to pay for them in easy 
 installments. I remember distinctly the point he made 
 that the tie that would keep these people in the city 
 was the one of the ownership of beautiful property. 
 
Housing 269 
 
 " "The war is over/ he said, 'the houses have been 
 built, the Government owns the vast majority of them ; 
 the manufacturers the rest. The question is how best 
 to dispose of them. The answer lies in cooperative 
 buying on the part of the people who live in the 
 houses. 
 
 " 'We have created 1,100 beautiful homes to meet 
 the requirements of every type of family. We are 
 getting the best sort of families to move into them. 
 They are, properly speaking, the kind of people who 
 make the backbone of the nation. 
 
 " 'The City of Bridgeport wants to keep them. The 
 way to keep them is to give them some real tie that 
 will hold them here. The homes that we have built 
 in Bridgeport are as fine as any man could wish. 
 They are as good as the rich man can afford, with the 
 only difference that they are smaller. They are well 
 built, they are well equipped. We have paid f 13,000 
 for a special garbage convenience; instead of having 
 the garbage cans in the house, we have had them built 
 into the ground behind the shrubs in the rear of the 
 house. Screens, window shades, fireplaces, plumbing, 
 heat, electricity, are all of the best. The houses, above 
 all, are artistically built. They will not deteriorate in 
 value if properly cared for.' 
 
 "So much for this individual care when the im- 
 provement work became a subject of municipal in- 
 terest. 
 
 "The housing question is perhaps a more interest- 
 
270 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ing one for those corporations whose plants are es- 
 tablished in undeveloped areas," Struthers went on. 
 "The mining, steel, and oil industries come under this 
 category. Appreciative of the fact that the best re- 
 sults, gauged from the employee's point of view as well 
 as from the employer's, can be obtained only under 
 healthful sanitary and social conditions, the com- 
 panies have gone into actual building of towns around 
 or near their works. Unlike the larger towns of the 
 country which have grown up of their own volition, 
 these housing towns are products of short intensi- 
 fied work that has been planned to meet the needs of 
 the situation. 
 
 "As soon as a corporation takes over a parcel of 
 land to be developed along the special line in which 
 it is interested, advance surveyors and engineers are 
 sent ahead to map out the district and plan for the 
 building of the town. The size of the town depends 
 upon the number of employees expected to work in 
 the plants. Nearness to a railroad station and near- 
 ness to the works of the organization are two of the 
 first considerations borne in mind. Streets are laid 
 out and the numbers and types of houses drafted. In 
 all instances the comfort of the families of the em- 
 ployees, the sanitation of the homes, the educational 
 and religious opportunities, the recreation and the 
 civic life are taken into consideration. The houses are 
 of different designs and vary in size from three to ten 
 rooms, in order to meet the needs of different families. 
 
Housing 271 
 
 The most modern of these houses are equipped with 
 electric light and running water. Facilities are pro- 
 vided to keep the town in a healthful state. Sewerage 
 systems are built, and the garbage taken care of. In 
 many a town of this sort one of the first buildings is 
 the hospital. Schools and churches find their place in 
 the plan and in locations easily accessible. 
 
 "Where a town is greatly separated from the next 
 town within reach of it, the companies build places 
 of amusement and recreation to meet the needs of 
 population. Clubs, moving picture theaters, athletic 
 fields, all are included. The houses are let out to the 
 employees at a reasonable price, or are sold at easy 
 installment rates. The result in social and industrial 
 growth of the communities has, in many instances, 
 been amazing. 
 
 "In every instance where work of this sort has been 
 undertaken by a plant, there is a distinct effort to 
 build the town on artistic lines. Adjoining houses 
 vary in pattern and finish. Every effort is made to 
 give the house an appearance of individuality so as 
 not to make it look as though it were turned out of one 
 cheap mold which has monotonously and unbeauti- 
 fully been repeated. 
 
 "Morgan Park, in Duluth, Minnesota, is an interest- 
 ing example of housing improvement work that was 
 started with the conscious intention of meeting the . 
 demands of all types of labor and all ages of labor. 
 By which I mean that the unskilled mechanic came 
 
272 Humanizing Industry 
 
 in for as much thought as the skilled mechanic and 
 the unmarried man as much attention as the worker 
 with a family. The city was planned to meet the 
 housing needs of the Minnesota Steel Company, the 
 Universal Portland Cement Company and the local 
 yards of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Rail- 
 road. All of these are subsidiaries of the United 
 States Steel Corporation. 
 
 "Morgan Park is within the city limits of Duluth, 
 whose population in 1918 was estimated to be about 
 105,000. The city limits extend north and south for 
 some 25 miles, the Park being a little over 10 miles 
 south of the business center. 
 
 "The town is located on a plateau some 40 feet 
 above Spirit Lake and the St. Louis River. Wide 
 ravines separate it from the steel plant on the south 
 and from adjoining territory on the north. These 
 ravines have been turned into natural park areas. 
 
 "The street layout presents an interesting combina- 
 tion of straight, curved and radial streets. The long, 
 winding approach and the encircling drives and oc- 
 casional curved streets made necessary by local con- 
 ditions give a pleasing variation from the more eco- 
 nomical rectangular blocks which occupy the center 
 of the town. 
 
 "The main thoroughfare, upon which the street- 
 car line is located, divides the town into two principal 
 sections. This avenue is 80 feet wide, with concreted 
 driveways on either side of the car tracks. The busi- 
 
Housing 273 
 
 ness, educational and recreational center of the town 
 is divided by the thoroughfare. This thoroughfare is 
 paved throughout for some two and a half miles be- 
 yond the Park. 
 
 "The secondary streets are 50 feet wide. All streets 
 are paved with concrete, with park strips and trees 
 on either side, between curb and sidewalk. All side- 
 walks, housewalks and alleys are of concrete. 
 
 "Houses are set back 30 feet from the lot line. The 
 front lawns are sodded and planted with shrubbery 
 groups and the rear lots laid out for kitchen gardens. 
 Deliveries are made from the alleys. 
 
 "The lot widths in the present developed area vary 
 in accordance with the width of the houses built on 
 them, the purpose being to maintain a minimum width 
 of 20 feet between adjoining structures, whether they 
 be detached houses, flats or terrace houses. The north- 
 erly lot lines are placed close to the north side of the 
 building, to give maximum space on the south side 
 for the growth of flowers, grass and shrubbery. Vines 
 are planted around each house. 
 
 "All telephone and electric light wires are under- 
 ground. Spring water is obtained from two deep wells 
 some 700 feet apart, delivering into a central pump- 
 house and ground-level reservoir and from thence into 
 an elevated water tank. This supply is used for drink- 
 ing, washing, bathing and ice-making. Eiver water 
 from another pump-house is used for lawn-sprinkling, 
 toilets and fire protection. Separate storm and sani- 
 
274 Humanizing Industry 
 
 tary sewerS are provided, the sanitary system being 
 so arranged that a sewer-disposal plant may be put in 
 at the main collecting sewer. At present, the sewage 
 discharges directly into the public waters, as is done 
 elsewhere throughout the city. 
 
 "The materials used in the building of all houses 
 in the Park have been chosen with the view of pro- 
 viding dwellings that are attractive, practically fire- 
 proof, durable, comfortable and involving a minimum 
 maintenance and depreciation cost. Cement is used 
 throughout for the exterior walls, in the form of con- 
 crete blocks, both pressed and cast, and stucco. The 
 blocks, with the natural surface exposed, give a pleas- 
 ing texture and coloration to the exterior, which is 
 superior in appearance to any applied finish and en- 
 tails no maintenance cost. 
 
 "Special care has been taken to vary the outline by 
 avoiding a succession of similar house designs. There 
 are some 32 different designs in use, either as de- 
 tached houses, single and double flat buildings, and 
 terrace or row houses. Provision has been made for 
 every class of employee to a greater or less extent, 
 namely, the managing, superintending and adminis- 
 trative officials, technical force, skilled men and the 
 unskilled labor. The sizes of the dwellings range 
 from 4 to 9 rooms. There are also boarding houses 
 for men and women, and for the single men among 
 the unskilled workers. 
 
 "The floors everywhere are of concrete with either 
 
Housing 275 
 
 hardwood or cement finish. Inside walls are furred 
 and plastered. Some of the later houses are decorated 
 with a washable fabric, others are tinted and, in some 
 cases, painted. All exterior walls have air spaces, to 
 insure warmth. The earlier houses are roofed with 
 cedar shingles and the later ones with tile of various 
 soft colors. All doors and windows are screened and 
 provided with storm sashes. Complete provision is 
 made throughout for sanitary plumbing, baths, elec- 
 tric light, gas connections, and hot and cold water. 
 Hot-air furnaces are also supplied throughout, except 
 in a very few instances in the unskilled labor district, 
 where stoves are used. Every dwelling has a kitchen 
 garden, concrete housewalks, ash and refuse cans and 
 clothes poles, grassed lawn and concrete sidewalk in 
 front. Shrubbery is planted at corner lots and be- 
 tween the buildings, with vines on the sunny side of 
 each house, and maintained by the company. 
 
 "Of the 46 houses constructed in 1917 on the north- 
 ern limit of the residential district, a group of 30 is 
 laid out in the form of a residential park. The trees 
 and natural contour of the ground have been pre- 
 served as fully as possible and each house located to 
 obtain the best view from the living rooms. The 
 houses, which are all detached and on large lots, con- 
 stitute the most expensive type considered necessary 
 at any time in the town, being provided with glass- 
 inclosed porches, inclosed rear porches, fireplaces, 
 large basements with laundry, concrete coal and vege- 
 
276 Humanizing Industry 
 
 table cellars, tile roofs, and furnaces with automatic 
 humidifying device. Additional wall fixtures and 
 baseboard plugs for electric devices, ample closets 
 and trunk rooms and, in some cases, additional bath 
 rooms are also provided. The houses run in size from 
 five to ten rooms. 
 
 "The first unit of the low-rental houses consists of 
 a group of 42 family dwellings, three boarding houses 
 for single men and a neighborhood house or club for 
 the section of which this unit is the nucleus. These 
 were built in 1916-17, as the result of an attempt to 
 develop a type of low-rental dwelling for the unskilled 
 worker which would combine the features of inexpen- 
 siveness, durability, attractiveness, sanitary qualities, 
 low depreciation cost, resistance to fire and weather 
 and pleasant surroundings, with possibilities for so- 
 cial gatherings and recreation. 
 
 "In front of the houses, while the 30-foot setback 
 from the street line has been maintained, the front 
 sidewalk parallel with the street has been moved close 
 to the building, so that the area of front lawn between 
 house and sidewalk to be kept in good order by the 
 resident has been reduced to a space to which he is 
 likely to give proper attention. The remaining front 
 lawn is kept in order by the company. 
 
 "The dwellings are entirely of the row or terrace 
 type for the purpose of insuring economy in cost of 
 construction and in heating, but monotony of out- 
 line is avoided by the varied form of exterior, by the 
 
Housing 277 
 
 alternation of two and three-story dwellings, and by 
 limiting the rows to 4, 8 and 10 houses each. 
 
 "The houses vary in size from 4 to 6 rooms, some 
 with basements and some without, the latter predomi- 
 nating. Three methods of heating are used the 
 kitchen range, with heating drum upstairs in the bath- 
 room ; a heating furnace on first floor off the kitchen 
 where no basement is provided, and a heating furnace 
 in the basement. In the types without basements, 
 concrete coal boxes are provided on the first floor, 
 either in the kitchen under the stairway or in the 
 rear porch. 
 
 "Bathrooms with wash basin, bathtub and toilet 
 are provided for each house, hot-water tank with 
 water-back connections for range in the kitchen, fuel- 
 gas connections, sink, laundry tub, electric light, fly 
 screens, double glass windows, storm doors with con- 
 vertible glass or fly screen panel, metallic weather 
 stripping, soundproof party walls, and a washable 
 cloth fabric for all interior walls. The floors and the 
 stairs are of concrete, colored with a dark-red pigment 
 in the finish coat. Separate refuse cans for ashes and 
 kitchen waste are provided for each dwelling. 
 
 "In conformity with good housing standards, espe- 
 cially where boarders are considered, none of the bed- 
 rooms open into each other, though the practice of 
 taking in boarders is not encouraged. 
 
 "The three boarding houses for single men occupy 
 the north side of the block and are separated from 
 
278 Humanizing Industry 
 
 the family dwellings by a transverse alley and suffi- 
 cient grounds north of the alley for use of the board- 
 ers. The buildings contain accommodations for 26, 
 44 and 26 men respectively, each with its own dining- 
 room and family quarters for the housekeeper and 
 force, separated entirely from the boarders' quarters. 
 The boarders' sleeping rooms are large, equipped with 
 steel bed, bed spring, mattress, sheets and blankets; 
 chair, table, wardrobe, waste basket, laundry bag and 
 curtains, and with inlet and return registers. The 
 toilet rooms flave hot and cold water, shower baths, 
 wash basins with 'flowing stream' faucets, liquid-soap 
 dispensers, dental bowls, mirrors and shelves for 
 toilet articles. The general construction, interior 
 decoration and other building details are similar to 
 the dwelling houses. 
 
 "The Neighborhood House is located on the south 
 side of the block and separated from the dwelling 
 houses by a transverse alley, as on the north end. This 
 building is intended to serve as a recreation and so- 
 cial center for the district. The rooms are so arranged 
 as to give the greatest degree of variety in the use 
 of the building to meet the changing needs of the local 
 residents as the personnel or requirements of the resi- 
 dents vary from time to time or the district increases 
 in size. 
 
 "Four buildings of 37, 18, 11 and 8 rooms respective- 
 ly, have been provided for the single men and women 
 of the clerical and technical forces. The sleeping 
 
Housing 279 
 
 rooms are 8x10 feet generally, though some are large 
 enough for two beds or for sufficient extra furniture 
 when used as a study as well. Each room is equipped 
 with bed, writing table, chair, waste basket, chiffonier, 
 wardrobe, rug, window curtains and laundry bag, and 
 has inlet and return hot-air registers and storm win- 
 dows. The tables and chiffonier-wardrobes are of spe- 
 cial design to fit the rooms and to conserve floor space. 
 Shower baths are provided in each washroom and in- 
 dividual cabinets in the washrooms for storage of 
 toilet articles. The floors throughout, except toilet 
 rooms, are of hardwood, the corridors and stairs car- 
 peted, and telephones on various floors. The four 
 houses are located on an attractive plot of ground, 
 well wooded, and with adequate lawns and shrubbery. 
 "The one drawback that I can see to the improve- 
 ment work of this city is the fact that the employees of 
 the various plants are not allowed to buy the houses 
 they live in. The houses are definitely placed on a 
 rental basis. Leases are signed for a stated period. 
 These are always subject to retraction upon the work- 
 man's leaving the employ of the company. The rentals 
 are in every case, however, much below the level of 
 those charged by private renting corporations. One 
 of the reasons for refusing to sell their houses given 
 by companies that have inaugurated housing ventures 
 is that it would lay the work open to private monopo- 
 lies which would buy up the houses and then charge 
 
280 Humanizing Industry 
 
 extortionate rents. There is something in that, of 
 course. 
 
 "A good many of the housing developments, how- 
 ever, are run on the plan of letting the worker pay 
 for his home in a series of small installments. Indian 
 Hill, one of the prettiest industrial villages located in 
 Worcester, Massachusetts, and built on the New Eng- 
 land community plan where the streets and the houses 
 are grouped around a town common, is representative 
 of this type. The Norton Company, whose work I 
 have mentioned to you in connection with the hygienic 
 and sanitation movements in industry, is the sponsor 
 for this housing development. Its purpose was the 
 adequate and artistic housing of its thirty-seven hun- 
 dred employees. One hundred and sixteen acres of 
 beautifully wooded land were bought and developed. 
 "Buyers of the property at Indian Hill, that is, the 
 employees of the company, receive every reasonable 
 assurance of the stability of their purchase. They 
 know of the substantial materials that have gone into 
 the building of the houses. They know also that no 
 man can plant a factory or a store or a saloon adja- 
 cent to their property. 
 
 "The terms of purchase are unique and are such 
 as to meet two important requirements. They both 
 come within the comfortable limits of the monthly 
 payments that an employee in the company can pay 
 and they insure to the company the return of the 
 initial investment. 
 
Housing 281 
 
 "The Indian Hill Company requires from the pur- 
 chaser an initial payment of a certain per cent, of the 
 purchase price, whereupon a conveyance of the prop- 
 erty is made. For the balance of the purchase price 
 the purchaser gives two notes, one for $1,000 payable 
 in twelve years at 5 per cent, and another for the 
 balance of the purchase price payable on demand, with 
 interest at 5 per cent., both notes being secured by a 
 purchase money mortgage. 
 
 "The purchaser gives also a supplementary agree- 
 ment to the effect that he will purchase in a coopera- 
 tive bank five shares, and will continue payments 
 thereupon until his deposits shall have matured in the 
 sum of $1,000, which in local banks, at the prevailing 
 rate of interest, takes place in about eleven years and 
 ten months. This insures the payment of the twelve- 
 year note according to its terms. It gives the pur- 
 chaser a feeling of independence, inasmuch as he does 
 not make periodical payments on the principal to the 
 company, and enables him to become acquainted with 
 cooperative bank methods. 
 
 "In consideration of this agreement the company 
 agrees not to make demand upon the demand note as 
 long as the purchaser shall continue to make monthly 
 payments of interest to the company and monthly pay- 
 ments in accordance with his agreement to the 
 cooperative bank. The company further agrees that 
 if he shall die or become incapacitated within twelve 
 years provided that at the time he shall not be over 
 
282 Humanizing Industry 
 
 sixty years of age it will accept the surrender value 
 of his cooperative bank shares in full payment of the 
 time note. The result of this agreement is that the 
 purchaser may be assured that at the end of twelve 
 years, or upon his death prior to that, a sufficient pro- 
 portion of the purchase price will have been paid so 
 that he or his estate will then own the property free 
 of all incumbrances except a first mortgage for not 
 over sixty per cent/of the value of the property, so 
 that at his option he may resort to a bank for a mort- 
 gage and be entirely independent of the company. 
 
 "The company gives each purchaser a schedule 
 showing the required monthly payments. The pur- 
 chase price represents the actual cost of the house 
 and land without profit by the company. The original 
 purchase price of the entire area was divided by the 
 number of feet in the tract to determine the base price 
 per foot. To this was added a pro rata proportion of 
 the cost of improvements, such as sewers, highways, 
 sidewalks, engineering expense and architect's fees. 
 
 "Another interesting housing development is the 
 one of the Fairbanks Morse Company at Eclipse Park, 
 Beloit, Wisconsin. Here again, the aim has been one 
 of beauty of structure as well as comfort and con- 
 venience. The architectural style followed is the 
 colonial. Just as in the Indian Hill development, 
 the village has been built around a community square 
 surrounded by arcades of shops of various sorts. 
 
 "The whole area was laid out under the best city- 
 
Housing 283 
 
 planning principles. The tract was divided into 
 seventeen blocks, each one differing from the other 
 in size and shape. This was done with the set pur- 
 pose of avoiding the checkerboard type of village 
 where each street crosses the other at a monotonous 
 right angle. 
 
 "All streets except the main boulevard are fifty 
 feet in width. The boulevard is eighty feet wide. 
 Roadways are eighteen feet wide, and sidewalks four 
 feet wide ; on the roadway side of the walk is a grass 
 planting-strip four feet wide and on the house side 
 of the sidewalk another grass strip eight feet wide. 
 In addition, every house is set back at least twenty 
 feet from the front line, thus insuring an effect of 
 grass and shrubs and trees, and making a park-like 
 appearance for the whole section. 
 
 "No special recreation features have been provided 
 inside this residential section other than the natural 
 park, for the reason that the Athletic Field of the 
 plant, in which the residents are employed, imme- 
 diately adjoins it outside the Park. 
 
 "Five different types of houses have been used, 
 namely, four-room houses, five-room houses, six-room 
 houses, seven-room houses and eight-room houses. 
 When the development is completed it is contemplated 
 that there will be fifty houses of four rooms each, 
 fifty-four of five rooms each, one hundred and ten of 
 six rooms each, eighty-eight of seven rooms each, and 
 nineteen of eight and nine rooms. Although there 
 
284 Humanizing Industry 
 
 are five types of houses, the architects with very great 
 skill and much ingenuity have developed about forty 
 different designs or styles of houses, all architectural- 
 ly harmonious. 
 
 "The most distinctive achievement has been the 
 skill with which this variety and individuality of 
 treatment has been reached without sacrificing the 
 harmony of the entire development and yet preserv- 
 ing a sense of individuality to each house. Not only 
 have the architects shown great skill in this treat- 
 ment of the project, but in applying the houses to the 
 land this consideration has equally been borne in 
 mind, so that while the houses are all harmonious 
 there is not the effect of a row of houses all alike that 
 one so often finds even in the best thought-out de- 
 velopments of this country. 
 
 "Every house is a single-family detached house. 
 Every house has concrete foundations, with paved 
 cellar seven feet in height in the clear, extending 
 under the entire house. The cellar is equipped with 
 a hot-air furnace, with flues and registers to all rooms. 
 Each house has a bathroom on the second floor, with 
 bathtub, modern toilet and wash basin. The houses 
 are provided with electric lights in every room, and 
 with ample closets in all bedrooms. No kitchen has 
 an area of less than ninety square feet and some have 
 as much as one hundred and fifteen square feet of 
 floor area. Every kitchen is equipped with a modern 
 sink and drainboard, dresser, gas range and closets 
 
Housing 285 
 
 for supplies. The latter are equipped with six rows 
 of shelves for storage of supplies in bulk and of 
 kitchen utensils. In the lowest priced houses name- 
 ly, the four-room houses intended for small families 
 and persons of comparatively low-earning capacity 
 a separate dining room is not provided. The kitchen, 
 however, is treated as a combined kitchen and dining 
 room. The room is made larger and buffet corner 
 seats are built in. In all the other houses there are 
 dining rooms. The largest houses have a space at the 
 kitchen entrance to accommodate a refrigerator. All 
 houses have either back entrances or side entrances 
 to the kitchen. Every house is provided with a piazza 
 or porch. 
 
 "All of these homes are for sale to the employees of 
 the Fairbanks Morse Company. The plan of sale 
 calls for a first payment of ten per cent, on the price 
 of the house and lot. A first mortgage of fifty per 
 cent, of the selling price, payable in five years at six 
 per cent., is required. The balance is covered by a 
 second mortgage which is payable to the housing com- 
 pany in monthly installments. 
 
 "It is interesting to note the prices quoted on these 
 houses. Twenty-four hundred dollars buys a four- 
 room house, twenty-five hundred dollars a five-room 
 house, twenty-seven hundred and fifty dollars a six- 
 room house, twenty-eight hundred and fifty dollars an 
 eight-room house and thirty-one hundred dollars a 
 nine-room house. So much for them. 
 
286 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Way out west in Tyrone, Mexico," Struthers con- 
 tinued, "the Phelps Dodge Corporation have built 
 for their employees what is, perhaps, one of the most 
 beautiful villages. The architecture followed is the 
 old Spanish. The adobe walls are tinted in grays, 
 pinks, blues and tans with the plaster laid on un- 
 evenly as was done in the days of unskillful labor. 
 The houses are roofed with colored tile. Beneath 
 the tile and adobe, however, the builders have put in 
 the best constructive material. The charm of the 
 Spanish architecture has been kept in the general 
 plan. The interiors, however, contain all the improve- 
 ments of modern construction. 
 
 ! "The houses rent from six dollars to thirty dollars. 
 The lower priced houses are rented by unskilled Mex- 
 ican workers and the others by skilled workers of 
 every nationality. The cheapest houses are equipped 
 with electric lights, gas, water and sewer connections. 
 
 "One of the results of this housing project has been 
 the education of the Mexican laborer to better stand- 
 ards of living. Before the work was started, the 
 Mexican laborer used to rent a piece of land at fifty 
 cents a month on which he built his own ugly, un- 
 sanitary shack. To-day there are waiting lists for 
 the houses and apartments that the company has put 
 up. Besides the houses built for the employees the 
 plans of this company have also included offices, 
 shops, amusement places and educational institutions 
 built in the same style of architecture. The city boasts 
 
Housing 287 
 
 of a sanitary squad which cleans the streets, takes 
 care of the garbage and makes itself generally use- 
 ful in keeping the town clean. No charge is made 
 to the tenants for this service. Electricity is sold at 
 seven cents per kilowatt-hour with a minimum charge 
 of fifty cents a month. Water is furnished at fifty 
 cents per thousand gallons with a minimum charge 
 of three thousand gallons a month. To encourage the 
 planting of gardens, the cost of water for irrigation 
 purposes is thirty-five cents a month. 
 
 "The appurtenances in some of the houses include 
 such improvements as fireplaces, sleeping porches 
 and garages. 
 
 "In direct contrast to this housing venture as far 
 as architecture is concerned is the work done by the 
 Connecticut Mills in Danielson, Connecticut. One of 
 its prettiest spots is composed of a group of houses 
 called the 'Connecticut Gables.' The atmosphere of 
 the whole community flavors of the charm of the 
 period which Hawthorne described in his 'House of 
 Seven Gables.' The houses, quaint, gabled, and 
 strangely attractive, are built around a walled square 
 with a tall, old-fashioned lamp-post in the center. 
 Each house in the group is different from any of the 
 others and has something distinctive to offer to the 
 unity and the beauty of the whole. The houses are 
 built of rough flat stone, stucco and half-exposed tim- 
 bers. They can accommodate fourteen small families. 
 The apartments range from three to five rooms, with 
 
288 Humanizing Industry 
 
 kitchen and bath and rent from three to four dollars 
 a week. Each apartment has an individual entrance 
 so that the utmost privacy is attained. The employees 
 of the mills may buy the houses if they choose. The 
 single houses 'average about nineteen hundred dol- 
 lars; the double ones thirty-six hundred dollars. The 
 employee makes an initial payment of thirty per cent, 
 and pays the rest of the price in monthly installments. 
 Where the man lacks the initial sum, the company, in 
 dependable cases, lends him the money, which he re- 
 turns in small installments. 
 
 "One of the latest housing ventures is that an- 
 nounced by the American Woolen Company. They 
 have organized a Homestead Association for the pur- 
 pose of improving the housing conditions of their 
 employees. In consultation with the employees of the 
 company, a number of designs are being prepared for 
 a large number of attractive houses ranging from 
 four to six or more rooms. The houses will be sold 
 at cost to the men working in the factories. Money 
 will be loaned to them by the company for the initial 
 payment of five per cent, of the selling price. This 
 loan will be advanced at a low rate of interest. The 
 monthly installments paid by the owners of the prop- 
 erty will include interest charges, taxes and insur- 
 ance, plus an amount that will go toward reducing 
 the mortgage on the property. In no instance is it 
 proposed to make these monthly charges greater than 
 the amount that the employee would have to pay under 
 
Housing 289 
 
 ordinary rental conditions. Where he desires, how- 
 ever, the worker may make an additional monthly 
 payment in order to more quickly relieve himself of 
 the debt. 
 
 "A unique feature of this plan is the one allowing 
 the employee to borrow money from the company to 
 build a house according to his own plans. That means 
 that he is in no way bound to buy the homes built 
 for him by the organization." 
 
 Struthers paused to light his pipe. After taking 
 a few puffs he continued. 
 
 "This work has been going on now for a number 
 of years. The National Housing Association in New 
 York has taken special pains to keep in touch with all 
 these movements to improve the housing condition 
 of workmen. Lawrence Veiller, its secretary, reports 
 at least two hundred and thirty ventures of this sort. 
 He is quite honest in his criticism about them. 'Some 
 are good, and some are bad/ he says. Nevertheless, 
 he sees something very hopeful in the beginning that 
 we have made. Although, according to him, we have 
 not yet reached the point attained by the English em- 
 ployers in their development at Port Sunlight and 
 Bourneville, we are on the way insofar that we have 
 ceased building in a hit-and-miss fashion and are go- 
 ing ahead along lines of definite architecture and high 
 standards of beauty. 
 
 "Cooperative farming has been included in some of 
 the housing ventures. Where the companies own large 
 
290 Humanizing Industry 
 
 idle tracts of land, it is no unusual thing for them 
 to allow their employees to till it and share the crop 
 among themselves. Most of the steel industrial cen- 
 ters have introduced this form of cooperation as an 
 adjunct to their housing work. Special community 
 cellars have been built to take care of the vegetables 
 during the winter months. Each family has its own 
 locked bin so that all danger of ill-feeling and sus- 
 picion is avoided. 
 
 "Another feature introduced by the plant housing 
 programs is the visiting nurse. She goes from home 
 to home and instructs the families of the employees 
 in the best methods of hygiene and sanitation. An 
 interesting ruling guiding her work in most of the 
 communities is the one that in no case is she to visit 
 a house unless she is requested to do so by a respon- 
 sible member of the family. The plant heads are 
 careful to avoid encroaching on the privacy of the 
 homes of their workers. The nurse is there if the 
 families want her. Where she is a capable and tact- 
 ful woman she is a most welcome visitor in the homes. 
 
 "Housing ventures of the kind I have described 
 lend themselves to community and civic improvements 
 of every sort," Struthers said in conclusion. 
 
 He puffed at his pipe and watched Hardwick's face 
 through the smoke. It showed keen interest. Struth- 
 ers dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out some 
 illustrations. He passed them over to Hardwick. 
 
 "Here, look at these," he said. "How do they com- 
 
Housing 291 
 
 pare with the houses we passed to-night?" They 
 were pictures of some of the developments about which 
 he had spoken. Hardwick looked them over with 
 great interest. Struthers went on speaking. 
 
 "Do you imagine for one moment, Hardwick, that 
 the men at the head of these plants went into this 
 work on a philanthropic basis? No, sir! They did 
 it because they were wise and canny business men. 
 They knew that nothing so much as an interest in 
 property would hold their employees to the job, so 
 they proceeded to create that interest. Apropos of that, 
 but not bearing directly on this problem. Shortly 
 after the war was ended I happened to meet an 
 important diplomat from one of the English domin- 
 ions. The most discussed question of the time was 
 the spread of Bolshevism; 'Is there any danger of 
 Bolshevism spreading in your country V I asked him, 
 during the course of the conversation. <Oh, no,' said 
 he smilingly. 'You see, most of our people are land- 
 owners and the two terms "Bolshevist" and "land- 
 owner" are antagonistic. There can be no danger of 
 an evil of that sort where every man is interested in 
 the control and safety of his own bit of property. 
 There is nothing like a sense of ownership that will 
 serve to withstand destructive agitation of any sort. 
 Just as soon as it is his property that is threatened, 
 a man appreciates the value of law and order. It is 
 a selfish instinct, purely, but a very powerful one.' 
 
 "It's a good instinct to turn to account," Struthers 
 
292 Humanizing Industry 
 
 went on. "To good account," he qualified. "Because, 
 you see, if you don't turn it to good account, it is 
 turned to mighty poor account. Labor agitators al- 
 ways give the reason of 'self-preservation' in explain- 
 ing disorder and destruction of any sort. 
 
 "The reason is a good one but the channels in which 
 it is turned are sadly lacking in sanity and perspec- 
 tive. It is to men who have reached an appreciation 
 of the value of constructive reform that we must look 
 -for guidance in proper interpretation and direction 
 of the instincts and relationships of humanity. I don't 
 for a moment believe that all of the people who have 
 taken a part in the evolution of the humanization of 
 industry have done so through a desire to be just to 
 their employees ; most of them were probably prompt- 
 ed by a knowledge of its effects on their positions as 
 successful factors in industry. But this fact remains, 
 that whatever the cause, something has been built up 
 that is worth while. Get hold of that 'something' and 
 make it your own. If the proper spirit does not pro- 
 mote its imitation, then it will come as a result of it. 
 At any rate you will have accomplished something 
 constructive. You see that?" 
 
 Hardwick, still looking at the pictures, nodded in 
 the affirmative. 
 
 "The National Housing Association," Struthers 
 continued, "has gone into all phases of this subject. 
 As a result of its findings and investigations, it has 
 published a select list of employers' housing enter- 
 
Housing 293 
 
 prises. It so happens that all those I have mentioned 
 come under this list. This is purely coincidental, 
 however. You may be interested to know that some 
 of the organizations whose names I have mentioned 
 in connection with other types of welfare work are 
 also listed here. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Com- 
 pany is one of them. It has established one of the 
 finest housing developments in Akron, Ohio. The 
 General Chemical Company with its housing work at 
 Clayton, Delaware, is another. So is the Republic 
 Rubber Company with its development at Youngs- 
 town, Ohio ; the Solvay Process Company at Jefferson 
 Rouge, Michigan and the Nelson Manufacturing Com- 
 pany at Edwardsville, Illinois. Still others are the 
 Abbot Worsted Company at Forge Village, Massa- 
 chusetts, the Scoville Manufacturing Company at 
 Waterbury, Connecticut, the Northbridge Cotton Mills 
 at Northbridge, Massachusetts, and the Mt. Union. 
 Refractories Company at Kistler, Pennsylvania. 
 
 "There are about forty in this list." Struthers 
 stopped. After a studied pause, he continued : "Some 
 day soon, Hardwick, maybe they'll put Rawburn 
 on it." 
 
 Hardwick looked up with a smile. 
 
 "Maybe they will," he said. 
 
CHAPTER NINE 
 
 PROFIT-SHARING 
 
 "IT'S what you put into your work that really mat- 
 ters and not what you take out of it." 
 
 Struthers, seated in his chair by the fireplace, was 
 speaking. "It's what you put into it," he repeated. 
 "Take the case of Larry. You were excited as a kid 
 of ten in seeing him off. I'll wager you derived more 
 pleasure out of that one little contribution to your 
 work than you would have gotten from a high pro- 
 duction report. The youngster certainly was happy. 
 As only youngsters can be." 
 
 Struthers paused. He picked up the poker and 
 stirred the log. The sleeping fire bestirred itself and 
 burst into a thousand little licking flames. Struthers 
 watched them in keen enjoyment. With his eyes still 
 resting on the flaring lights before him, he continued. 
 
 "What made you do it, Hardwick? So suddenly 
 and without warning? And so prodigally. You 
 weren't called upon to go to that extreme. Prepara- 
 tory schools and college educations do not come within 
 the range of duties of the most generous employer. I 
 certainly did not mean that when I spoke to you 
 
 294 
 
Profit-Sharing 295 
 
 i 
 
 about inaugurating an educational program in your 
 works." 
 
 Hardwick laughed. Softly. Half to himself, it 
 seemed. The sort of laugh that a man allows himself 
 with his friends only. He stopped. His eyes, too, 
 sought the fire as he began to speak. 
 
 "I am glad you said that, Struthers," he began. 
 "About your not meaning me to do what I did when 
 you spoke about educational programs. Don't think 
 I am ungrateful, man, for I am not, but I did want 
 to do something that was entirely spontaneous with 
 me. Something that you couldn't back up with facts 
 of what other men had done. Something that rose 
 out of a personal impulse. Something that was 
 prompted by an individual case in my own plant, or, 
 if you will, something that was prompted by an indi- 
 vidual need in my own plant. 
 
 "That desire wasn't a conscious one on my part," 
 he continued. "I knew of it only after I had decided 
 to send Larry away to school. However, to answer 
 your question. What made me do it? Heaven knows ! 
 I just wanted to, after speaking with the boy. It 
 seemed a shame to let that fine material go to waste 
 for lack of funds to see him through. Some day I 
 expect to do some of the things about which you 
 spoke. I mean the apprentice schools and extension 
 courses. That will take time, however. Until then, 
 this boy would be marking time. And growing old. 
 For he was getting old, Struthers. It was pitiful, 
 
296 Humanizing Industry 
 
 his sense of responsibility. I agree with you. It is 
 wrong for any child of his years to be ridden with a 
 burden of that sort. He came to see me as I asked. 
 We spoke together for some time. I asked questions 
 and he answered them. Haltingly at first, but more 
 frankly at the end. The boy in him came out and 
 overshadowed the bread-earner. And there was a fine 
 boy there. He told me of the things he wanted to 
 be, of the things his father had wanted him to be, and 
 of the end of those plans following upon the death of 
 his father. We spoke about engines, and power and 
 machinery. He knew more about those things than 
 some of the old profs at school. Knew them inti- 
 mately, from a practical knowledge and everyday ac- 
 quaintance with them. Knew them as a cowboy knows 
 his horse. What was there to do? I couldn't give 
 him the education here. I hadn't the facilities. I 
 wanted him to have it. Heaven knows, we need men 
 of the sort that I hope he will grow into. I had the 
 money and he had the material. I simply decided to 
 hook the two of them together and see what would 
 happen. Well, Larry's gone off; four or five years 
 from now we may have something very worth while 
 as a result of this wild impulse of mine. And we may 
 not. You never can tell. In the meanwhile, however, 
 I must confess that I am quite elated over the ex- 
 periment." 
 
 "How did he take the proposition of your paying all 
 
Profit-Sharing 297 
 
 of his expenses at school and taking care of his moth- 
 er?" Struthers asked. 
 
 "Kicked like a broncho. Like a polite broncho, if 
 you can imagine such a beast. Very polite, but kicked 
 nevertheless. I had to fill him with a lot of stuff about 
 owing it to the fine work of his father. I don't know 
 what that old gentleman looked like. Never saw him 
 in my life. He died before I came here. However, I 
 gave him some of the sob-stuff that you've been hand- 
 ing out to me about it being the most efficient thing 
 to do and that he could do the same by somebody else 
 when he grew up. And more along that line. He 
 finally bit. Poor kid, he wanted to bite all along 
 but his sense of pride wouldn't let him." Hardwick 
 smiled reminiscent] y. He raised his eyes and looked 
 over at Struthers. The expression on the latter's face 
 puzzled him. 
 
 "What's the matter?" he asked. "I thought this 
 thing would please you and there you sit looking as 
 sour as an old maid. You surely don't disapprove of 
 my having done this?" 
 
 Struthers' face broke into a smile. 
 
 "I'm sorry, old man. I didn't know I was looking 
 grouchy. I really am not. I think this is the finest 
 thing you have done. I think it is the finest thing 
 for Larry. But, Hardwick don't think me a mean 
 old sour-dough for this but this isn't the sort of 
 thing that your men want. What's more, it isn't prac- 
 
298 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ticable. You can do it in one instance and find pleas- 
 ure in it. But you can't do it in every instance. You 
 can't do it and the men don't want it. It smacks too 
 greatly of patronage and paternalism. The thinking 
 American workman doesn't want that. He wants to 
 do these things for himself. He likes to boast of the 
 fact that he's a self-made man. He likes to boast of 
 the things that he can do for his children. He doesn't 
 want you to do them for him. He wants you to give 
 him the best sort of working conditions and the best 
 sort of opportunities in those working conditions, but 
 he does not want you to go any further. Inaugurate 
 apprentice schools for his sons and he w r ill be grateful 
 for them and appreciate them. But he won't feel that 
 it is something that you are giving him for nothing. 
 He will give you increased efficiency for that. It be- 
 comes a matter of plant routine to him. But, take 
 out individual instances and give those instances 
 something that is not open to all the members of the 
 plant and you create dissatisfaction and discord. 
 You become the Lord Bountiful and people don't like 
 that type of individual. 
 
 "As far as possible, Hardwick, get away from the 
 evils of patronage and paternalism and inaugurate 
 your programs on a basis of efficiency and coopera- 
 tion. Do things for all the human beings in your 
 fchops and not for one human being in one shop whom 
 fchance has happened to throw in your path. I repeat, 
 jfchis opportunity you have given Larry is very fine 
 
Profit-Sharing 299 
 
 and wonderful for him. But there are more Larries 
 in the shop and out of fairness to them you ought to 
 create the machinery that will allow them equal op- 
 portunity." 
 
 Hardwick kicked the end of the burning log im- 
 patiently with his foot. 
 
 "Good heavens, Struthers," he said, "forget the 
 efficiency end of measures for a space, won't you, and 
 look at the human side of matters. I didn't do this 
 for Larry as a matter of plant efficiency. I did it 
 because I liked the boy. Because I chose to. That's 
 all." 
 
 "But think of the others," Struthers interposed. 
 
 "That will come in time. Meanwhile stop lecturing 
 me for doing something that you thought I couldn't 
 do. Seeing the human being below the workman, I 
 mean." Struthers looked up with interest. 
 
 "It isn't fair, is it, to jam your own arguments 
 down your throat, but it works," Hardwick continued. 
 "What's more you needn't be afraid of my fathering 
 the whole community. I hate it as much as you. And 
 more than the workmen do. It hits me harder, you 
 see," he concluded with a grin. 
 
 "What's up for to-night?" 
 
 "Profit-sharing," answered Struthers. 
 
 "What's that?" questioned Hardwick. "Profit- 
 sharing?" 
 
 "Profit-sharing," Struthers repeated. "Allowing 
 your men to share in some of the profits of the plant." 
 
30O Humanizing Industry 
 
 Hardwick looked at Struthers intently for a few 
 seconds. Finally he spoke. 
 
 "Do you know that you sound like an arrant labor 
 agitator? You don't look like one, sitting there by 
 the fire, but heaven knows your words certainly sound 
 like one. Sharing profits. How?" he asked. 
 
 "Profit-sharing to the extent that will give the men 
 some real interest in the production of the plant. Are 
 you disposed to listen or are you too impatient with 
 me to-night ?" 
 
 "Go ahead," Hardwick answered. "Might as well 
 get it over with." He lit a cigar and settled himself 
 comfortably in his chair. 
 
 Struthers began. 
 
 "We have been talking for the past few weeks on 
 the effect labor reform had on the production of a 
 plant. You agreed with me that giving the men some 
 definite interest in the plant that would serve to make 
 their stay with a plant a permanent one instead of a 
 shifting one had a vital bearing on the output of pro- 
 duction. That came naturally as a result of the 
 knowledge of rewards to be reaped in days to come. 
 Like pensions and sickness benefits and things like 
 that. 
 
 "Suppose now, we go one step further and appeal 
 to the workman in terms of production, as such. Make 
 him understand in terms of dollars and cents that the 
 more he produces, the more he will get. Make him 
 feel the relationship between production and return. 
 
Profit-Sharing 301 
 
 Make him understand by giving him an interest in 
 the finances of the plant that the greater the output 
 of the organization, the more he will share in the prof- 
 its, not as a wage-earner but as a member of the 
 producing machinery." 
 
 Hardwick interrupted Struthers. 
 
 "That all sounds very fine," he said, "but how are 
 you going to do it? Break up your plant and take 
 them all into partnership? Donate shares or interest 
 in your organization, or what?" 
 
 Struthers smiled across at Hardwick. 
 
 "Quick to draw conclusions as usual. No, do none 
 of the scatterbrain things you have mentioned. Let 
 the experts in managing heaven save the mark go 
 on managing the same way as usual but let the work- 
 man, in addition to the wages he gets, share in the 
 profits of the plant in one of several methods. 
 
 "The most valuable of these methods allow him to 
 take an active interest in the production of the plant 
 by giving him a personal interest in the financial 
 fluctuations of the organization. I mean, letting the 
 workman invest some of his savings in the shares or 
 profits of the plant. Invest them in a specific manner 
 limited only to those who are actively related to the 
 plant. The first of these methods allows the work- 
 man to buy shares in the plant on an easy install- 
 ment basis at a rate below that called for on the stock 
 market columns. The second allows him to contribute 
 to plant savings funds where the savings of the worker 
 
302 Humanizing Industry 
 
 are added to by a stated contribution from the plant 
 profits. That is, for every dollar the workman saves, 
 the plant adds a certain additional sum. 
 
 "The third method is the bonus system where the 
 workman is in no way called upon to make any in- 
 vestments but merely shares in profits accruing at the 
 end of the year. 
 
 "We'll take them up in turn. One of the earliest, 
 if not the earliest, stock profit-sharing plan was adopt-, 
 ed as far back as 1886 when, the K O. Nelson Com- 
 pany, in order to interest their employees in the work 
 of the company, inaugurated a program wherein all 
 employees of the company receive in addition to their 
 weekly wages, a yearly profit-sharing dividend paid 
 in stock in the company. Before a man can partici- 
 pate in the plan he must be employed for six months. 
 His stock certificates are not issued to him, however, 
 until he has been with the company for a minimum 
 period of three years. Until his certificate comes into 
 his possession, he draws six per cent, interest on it. 
 At the end of the three-year period the stock becomes 
 his own like any other stock he may buy on the mar- 
 ket. However, to make it truly an employee's share- 
 holding plan no man is allowed to sell his stock while 
 in the employ of the company. 
 
 "In most of the other organizations where a profit- 
 sharing scheme is in vogue, the employee who owns 
 shares in the company's stock buys it out of his own 
 Darnings. 
 
Profit-Sharing 303 
 
 "Early last year/' Struthers continued, "an unusu- 
 ally large number of plants announced that they were 
 going to sell a portion of their shares to their em- 
 ployees. The Eastman Kodak people were one of these. 
 The Endicott-Johnsons were another. There were 
 others. 
 
 STOCK PURCHASING 
 
 "George Eastman, president of the first of these, 
 issued a statement to his directors telling them of the 
 conditions under which the stock would be sold." 
 Struthers reached into his pocket and took out a 
 printed folder. 
 
 "If you are interested in this, I'll read some of it 
 to you." 
 
 Hardwick motioned for him to go ahead. 
 
 "This thing was dated April 2, 1919," he began, 
 "It is written in the first person and is signed by the 
 company's president. 
 
 ? " 'I will donate sufficient stock, estimated at 10,000 
 shares, to enable wage-earning and salaried employees 
 of this company and its allied companies still in the 
 service who completed two years or more of continu- 
 ous employment on January 1, 1918, to purchase at 
 par an amount of such stock equal to 2 per cent, of 
 their wages earned while continuously employed prior 
 to that date. 
 
 " 'The above offer is made, however, on the condition 
 that this company set aside 10,000 shares of its un- 
 
304 Humanizing Industry 
 
 issued common stock to be issued for cash at par and 
 made available for sale at par from time to time only 
 to wage-earning and salaried employees of this com- 
 pany and its allied companies as they attain two years' 
 continuous service, the maximum amount purchasa- 
 ble by an employee to be an amount at par equal to 
 2 per cent, of the total wages paid such employee dur- 
 ing five years of continuous employment, with the 
 proviso that an employee entitled to participate on the 
 basis of five years' or more continuous service in the 
 purchase of shares contributed by me shall not be en- 
 titled to participate in the purchase of the shares set 
 aside by the company, but an employee entitled to 
 participate to a less extent in the purchase of the 
 shares furnished by me may share in the purchase of 
 stock set aside by the company as far as may be nec- 
 essary to bring his total purchases up to the maximum 
 above stated. 
 
 " 'All of this stock, both that contributed by myself 
 and that set aside by the company, can be distributed 
 to employees most conveniently if represented by cer- 
 tificates of the face value of $10 each, a certificate rep- 
 resenting one-tenth of a share of common stock. Such 
 certificates will carry their proportion of dividends 
 paid on the common stock, but the dividends upon cer- 
 tificates may, for convenience, be paid semi-annually. 
 
 " 'The company should establish a plan to assist em- 
 ployees whenever necessary to take their allotment of 
 certificates and pay therefor in installments. 
 
Profit-Sharing 305 
 
 " 'An owner of certificates who leaves the employ of 
 the company for any reason should receive for his 
 unmatured certificates their par value with any un- 
 paid dividends apportionable to them, but in the case 
 of certificates not fully paid for, the holder should 
 receive the amount standing to his credit upon his ac- 
 count. In the event of death or permanent disabality 
 of an employee holding unmatured certificates, such 
 certificates should, on full payment being made there- 
 for, be exchanged for stock to be issued to such dis- 
 abled employee or to the estate of the deceased. The 
 interests of the employee in the foregoing respects 
 must be safeguarded by equal representation upon 
 committees formed to deal with all such matters im- 
 partially/ 
 
 "At first glance," Struthers continued, looking up, 
 "this may not sound like a very generous plan. In 
 effect, however, it means a decided participation in 
 the profits of the company. Take a hypothetical case 
 of a man making on an average of two thousand dol- 
 lars a year. The degree of his shareholding would be 
 figured in this manner : His wages for five years would 
 approximate ten thousand dollars. He is allowed to 
 purchase stock to the extent of two per cent, of that 
 amount. That equals two hundred dollars, which is 
 equivalent to two shares of stock at par value. You 
 must bear in mind, however, that the shares of this 
 company are to-day not valued at par but are sold at 
 on the market about six times par value. The returns 
 
306 Humanizing Industry 
 
 on a two hundred dollar investment are, therefore, 
 something like twelve hundred dollars. The employee 
 who takes advantage of this stock purchasing plan 
 shares not only in those profits to which his labor con- 
 tributed but in those accruing from the labor of his 
 predecessors. 
 
 "The International Harvester Company," Struth- 
 ers went on, "adopted a profit-sharing plan that 
 worked in two ways. First of all it set aside a cer- 
 tain part of its profits every year for distribution 
 among those employees who have given unusual ser- 
 vice. The distribution of the sales department's share 
 in these profits is based upon two important points- 
 first, increase in sales; second, reduction of selling 
 expense. In the Works, the profits are distributed for 
 increased production, decreased cost, or a combina- 
 tion of both. This, however, is distinctly a bonus plan. 
 I will go into that phase of profit-sharing later. 
 
 "The second classification of the profit-sharing plan 
 is the one which allows the employee to purchase the 
 company's stock on an installment plan. The terms 
 of the agreement upon which the stock is bought are 
 such as to make the purchase highly attractive to the 
 employee. According to the terms a man buying a 
 fifty-dollar certificate to be paid for in two years has 
 contributed out of his earnings no more than twenty- 
 four dollars at the time the certificate becomes his 
 own. This is due to the fact that from the moment 
 he makes an initial payment he begins drawing five 
 
Profit-Sharing 307 
 
 per cent, dividend which is applied to his payments. 
 Together with this, the company every year adds one 
 per cent, of his annual income until the stock is paid 
 in full. 
 
 "The conditions of a profit-sharing plan offered to 
 the employees in 1919 were as follows : 
 
 "Any employee could subscribe for a Profit-Shar- 
 ing Certificate for $50 or any multiple thereof up to 
 the sum of $1,000. The payments for the Certificate 
 to be made in specified sums of not less than $1 nor 
 more than $25 per month, this to be regularly de- 
 ducted from the employee's wages. The amount thus 
 agreed to be paid to be sufficient, with the other 
 credits hereinafter provided, to pay such Certificate 
 in full on or before January 2, 1924. 
 
 "Whenever the employee is unable to work for the 
 Company because of shut-down or of his sickness or 
 accident disability, his payments may be temporarily 
 reduced or suspended. 
 
 "Each employee who subscribed for a Profit-Shar- 
 ing Certificate before March 1, 1919, and had earned 
 $100 or more during the year 1918 also to be credited 
 on such Certificate at the date of his subscription 
 with a sum equal to one per cent, of his wages during 
 1918. If he had been in the Company's employment 
 throughout that year, this credit to be not less than 
 $10. 
 
 "The Company agreed to credit annually on 
 January '2 of each year, from 1919 to 1924, inclusive, 
 
308 Humanizing Industry 
 
 on the Profit-Sharing Certificate, in addition to the 
 employee's payments thereon, the following: 
 
 (a) An amount equal to one per cent, of the em- 
 ployee's wages earned during the preceding calendar 
 year, if such wages amount to not less than f 100 
 and the employee is still working for the Company. 
 If he has been in the Company's employment 
 throughout the preceding year, this credit will be 
 not less than $10. 
 
 (b) Interest at the rate of five per cent, per 
 annum on all his payments and credits on his Profit- 
 Sharing Certificate. 
 
 "The employee's options," continued Struthers, 
 "were as follows: 
 
 "He had the right to apply the amount credited 
 upon his Profit-Sharing Certificate to the purchase, 
 from the Company, of its common stock at $3 per 
 share below its 'then market price at any time when 
 such amount is sufficient to pay for one or more such 
 shares; or 
 
 "To receive in cash the full amount of his Certifi- 
 cate, with accrued interest, any time after such Cer- 
 tificate is fully paid ; or 
 
 "To leave with the Company until January 2, 1924, 
 the amount of his paid-up Profit- Sharing Certificate, 
 and (if he continues in the employ of the Company) 
 to receive in cash on every January 2, to and includ- 
 
Profit-Sharing 309 
 
 ing the year 1924, interest thereon at five per cent, per 
 annum and also an amount equal to one per cent, of 
 his wages for the preceding year but not less than 
 f 10 ; and 
 
 "To subscribe from time to time for additional Prof- 
 it-Sharing Certificates upon the same terms and con- 
 ditions, provided the total amount of certificates sub- 
 scribed for by any employee under this plan and the 
 continuation thereof, did not exceed f 1,000 and his 
 payments thereon did not exceed $25 per month. 
 
 "In addition to this, the Company agreed to pay to 
 each employee, while he continued to be an employee 
 and to own stock acquired under this extension of 
 the Plan, in addition to the dividends on his stock, 
 an amount equal to the extra dividend which he would 
 receive upon his said stock if the entire excess of the 
 net profits of the Company for each calendar year 
 prior to January, 1924, over and above an amount 
 equal to six per cent, on the moneys invested in the 
 Company's business during such year, were distrib- 
 uted pro rata to all the holders of its common stock. 
 The Company guaranteed that this amount would not 
 be less than $2 a year for each share of stock so held 
 by the employee. The guaranteed $2 per share to be 
 paid by January 10, and the remainder as soon there- 
 after as the balance sheet had been approved by the 
 Board of Directors. 
 
 "Let us take a specific case of a man subscribing for 
 a fifty-dollar certificate," Struthers went on. "He 
 
3IO Humanizing Industry 
 
 filed his subscription during January, 1919, let us say. 
 One per cent, of his wages for the years 1919, 1920 and 
 1921 will amount to a minimum of thirty dollars. As 
 was stated in the terms, ten dollars is the minimum 
 amount applied to purchases, even though the yearly 
 earnings may be less. He makes twenty-four monthly 
 payments of one dollar each which gives a total of 
 twenty-four dollars. To this is added the interest 
 on his payments which equals $2.70. On January 
 1, 1921, this man has to his credit $56.70. All that 
 he has contributed in cash to this amount has been 
 $24. He may draw the full amount on January 2, 
 
 1921, or he may leave the amount with the company 
 until January 2, 1924. If he continues in the employ 
 of the company he will receive in cash on January 2, 
 
 1922, $12.84; on January 2, 1923, $12.84; and on 
 January 2, 1924, $12.84. On the last date he will also 
 receive the principal of $56.70. The payment of the 
 $12.84 each year is a continuance of the one per cent, 
 allowance added to five per cent, interest on the $56.70. 
 On an investment of $24 he receives a return of $95.22. 
 
 "The United States Steel Corporation issued its 
 stock-purchasing plan as far back as 1902. George W. 
 Peakins, who is responsible for the profit-sharing plans 
 in a good many companies where he is a director, 
 drew up this one. It is in a large measure similar to 
 the Harvester plan. The employees were divided into 
 six classes. 
 
 "Class A, those who received $20,000 a year and 
 
Profit-Sharing 311 
 
 over ; class B, those who received from f 10,000 to $20,- 
 000; class C, those who received from $5,000 to $10,- 
 000 ; class D, those who received from $2,500 to $5,000 ; 
 class E, those who received from $800 to $2,500, and 
 class F, those who received $800 and less. This di- 
 vision was made to limit the number of shares which 
 the men in each class could buy ; twenty-five thousand 
 shares of preferred stock were then offered to the 
 employees of the company at $82.50 per share, which 
 was a price slightly lower than that demanded on the 
 market. Every man could buy to the extent repre- 
 sented by the fixed percentage of his salary. 
 
 "Where a man's salary was $20,000 a year or over, 
 he could subscribe for as much stock as five per cent, 
 of his salary would purchase. Where his salary was 
 between $10,000 and $20,000 a year, as much stock as 
 eight per cent, of his salary would purchase. Where 
 his salary was between $5,000 and $10,000 a year, as 
 much as 10 per cent, of his salary would purchase. 
 Where his salary was from $2,500 to $5,000 a year, as 
 much stock as twelve per cent, of his salary would pur- 
 chase. Where his salary was between $800 and $2,500 
 a year, as much stock as fifteen per cent, of his salary- 
 would purchase and where it was $800 or less, as 
 much as twenty per cent, of his salary would pur- 
 chase. 
 
 "It was announced that if, on this basis of subscrip- 
 tions, more than 25,000 shares were subscribed for, 
 in allotting subscriptions, preference would be given 
 
312 Humanizing Industry 
 
 to the men who were receiving salaries of $800 a year 
 or less, so that if any one was not allotted stock, it 
 would be those receiving the larger salaries. 
 
 "It was arranged that subscriptions should be made 
 in monthly installments, to be deducted from the sal- 
 ary or wages of the subscriber in such amounts as he 
 might desire, not, however, to exceed twenty-five per 
 cent, of any one month's salary or wages. 
 
 "This provision was made to prevent an employee 
 subscribing for the stock and turning it over to some 
 one else to take up and possibly resell later on at a 
 profit; also, in the case of a smaller wage earner, to 
 interest him in saving a regular amount of money out 
 of each month's earnings. At the same time he was 
 given as long a time as he wished in which to pay for 
 his stock, provided this time did not exceed three 
 years. 
 
 "It was agreed that the dividends at the rate of 
 seven per cent, as paid, should be used as additional 
 payments on the stock. Interest at the rate of five 
 per cent, was charged on deferred payments. 
 
 "As soon as the stock was fully paid for, the certifi- 
 cate was issued in the name of the subscriber and 
 given to him, and he could then sell it or dispose of it 
 as he chose ; but, as an inducement for him to keep it 
 and to remain continuously in the employ of the Cor- 
 poration or one of its subsidiary companies, and to 
 have an interest in the business similar to that of a 
 
Profit-Sharing 313 
 
 stockholder or a working partner, the following offer 
 was made: 
 
 "If a man would not sell or part with his stock but 
 would keep it and, in each January for five years 
 commencing with January, 1904, would exhibit the 
 original certificate to the Treasurer of his Company, 
 together with a letter from the proper official, to the 
 effect that he had been continuously in the employ of 
 the Corporation or one of its subsidiary companies 
 during the preceding year and had shown a proper 
 interest in its welfare and progress, he would receive 
 each year for five years a credit for $5 for each share 
 of stock he was paying for. 
 
 "For example : The first stock offer was made at 
 $82.50 a share. If a man subscribed for a share of 
 stock and kept paying for it and held it continuously 
 for five years, these five dollars a year payments would 
 in themselves mark the stock down, until at the end of 
 five years, it would only have cost him $57.50. In 
 addition to this, he received a credit of a considerable 
 sum made up of the difference between the five per 
 cent, interest charged him on deferred payments and 
 the seven per cent, dividend paid him on the par of 
 the stock. 
 
 "It was further agreed that these $5 payments made 
 annually for five years would be deposited in a fund, 
 whether or not the subscriber continued to pay for 
 and finally took up his stock, and that such 
 
314 Humanizing Industry 
 
 payments as were thus left in the fund by men who 
 failed to continue to pay for their stock would be 
 divided at the end of five years among those who per- 
 sisted in their payments and remained in the employ 
 of the corporation continuously for five years. 
 
 "The first year the stock was offered over 10,000 
 men held on to the stock for which they subscribed; 
 the second year this figure was repeated, the third 
 year it went down to 8,500 employees, the fourth year 
 it rose to 12,000 and the fifth to 14,000. 
 
 "Last year stock was again offered for purchase to 
 the employees. The subscription price was $92, which 
 was a little below the price quoted in the stock market 
 sheets. The original plan with the original induce- 
 ments was applied. 
 
 "These plans of stock purchasing have been widely 
 adopted. The Sewell-Clapp Envelope people, who have 
 made rapid strides in this business of coming to a 
 profitable understanding with their employees, have 
 for some time been selling preferred stock on the in- 
 stallment plan to their men. Dividends of six per cent, 
 are guaranteed them. These are increased if the 
 profits warrant it. This is determined by the size of 
 the dividends on the common stock. Owners of pre- 
 ferred stock may get dividends up to twelve per cent, 
 provided the common reaches that point or goes be- 
 yond it. 
 
 "A few months ago, the holder of the majority of 
 the common stock of this company, who had been for 
 
Profit-Sharing 315 
 
 more than twenty-five years its President and Man- 
 ager, wished to retire. Several minority holders of 
 this stock were outside investors, in no way connected 
 with the company. It was found possible to secure 
 their holdings at fair prices. All of the common stock 
 thus being in hand, the problem was to transfer this 
 property on an equitable basis to a group of buyers 
 whose available capital was limited but whose com- 
 bined power to earn and save was sufficient to under- 
 take the deal. The stock was sold to the employees on 
 an installment plan. The seller accepted a price be- 
 low real value and took a risk as to final payment. 
 This was justified only by his intimate acquaintance 
 with the business and the character and ability of the 
 buyers. The latter put their shoulders under an un- 
 dertaking involving a few years of maximum effort 
 in earning and self-denial and joined in a contract 
 pledging to the seller and each other their financial 
 and personal cooperation in a common enterprise. 
 They have obtained on terms rarely possible a prop- 
 erty with which they are thoroughly familiar. They 
 have become owners, associated on a strictly 
 democratic basis with men whom they know and 
 trust. It has been made comparatively easy and 
 eminently worth while for them to make for a time 
 a supreme effort in thrift. The seller had the assur- 
 ance that the business to which his life has been de- 
 voted would be continued without radical change in 
 
316 Humanizing Industry 
 
 spirit or methods and that it went into the hands of 
 men who had earned his esteem and confidence. 
 
 "During the period that the reorganization went 
 into effect, the psychological reaction has been sur- 
 prisingly satisfactory and has been tangibly reflected 
 in material results. 
 
 "The Procter & Gamble Company," Struthers 
 went on, after a pause, "have a stock purchasing 
 scheme which is, as far as is known, the most generous 
 in its share of profits. It is open only to employees 
 making less than f 1,500 a year. These may purchase 
 stock to the amount equaled by their annual salary. 
 With small annual payments this stock is paid for 
 within a few years owing to the fact that as soon as a 
 man pays an initial fee on his stock he becomes a 
 sharer in the profits of the company to the extent of 
 at least sixteen per cent, dividend on his annual 
 wages. 
 
 "The plan is as follows: The stock subscribed for 
 by the employee is held for his benefit by three trustees 
 appointed from time to time by the board of directors 
 of the company. The employee upon having his ap- 
 plication for the purchase of stock approved, makes 
 an initial payment of not less than two and one-half 
 per cent, of the cost price. He also pays in cash, 
 during each year succeeding the day of purchase until 
 the stock is fully paid for, not less than four per cent, 
 of the total amount of his subscription. Together 
 with this he pays three per cent, interest on the un- 
 
Profit-Sharing 317 
 
 paid balance. So much for the employee's share in the 
 transaction. 
 
 "Immediately upon the first payment on account of 
 the purchase price of the stock, the trustees issue to 
 him a trust receipt pass book which contains the form- 
 al contract, called the trust receipt. This gives the 
 amount of stock bought and the amount of money paid 
 on account, and guarantees to the holder of the receipt 
 dividends at the rate of sixteen per cent, per annum 
 upon the amount of wages actually earned by him dur- 
 ing the year. These dividends are placed to his credit 
 on the stock which he has purchased. Together with 
 this, the regular dividends of the stock are added as 
 additional payments. 
 
 "When the purchase price of the stock subscribed 
 for by an employee together with the interest payable 
 are fully paid for by the employee's own cash pay- 
 ments plus the stock dividends and the sixteen per 
 cent, trust receipt dividends, the trustees recall the 
 trust receipt pass book and issue to him instead a 
 paid-up trust receipt. After that, all further sixteen 
 per cent, dividends on his wages as well as dividends 
 on his stock are paid to the employee in cash. 
 
 "After an employee has been a shareholder of the 
 common stock of the company for a term of five years, 
 he may upon written application to the treasurer of 
 the company, increase his holdings of stock under this 
 plan by an amount equal to twenty-five per cent, of 
 his annual wages. Thereafter he receives a trust re- 
 
318 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ceipt dividend at the rate of twenty per cent, per 
 annum upon his wages. 
 
 "After he has been a shareholder of the common 
 stock for ten years, he may again increase his hold- 
 ings to an amount equal to one hundred and fifty per 
 cent, of the wages he is then receiving and thereafter 
 he receives a dividend of twenty-four per cent, upon 
 his annual wages. 
 
 "Let us take an individual instance of a man sub- 
 scribing for stock amounting to twelve hundred dol- 
 lars, which is his wage for that year. He makes an 
 initial payment of two and one-half per cent, or $30. 
 Before the year is over he must pay into the fund 
 four per cent, of the entire amount or $48. The com- 
 pany pays seven per cent, dividends on the stock. 
 Three of these are subtracted to pay the interest on 
 the little less than $1,200. We'll call it $1,200 to 
 keep the figures simple. That means that four per 
 cent, of the dividend or $48 is added to the payments. 
 Together with this the company adds the trust receipt 
 dividend of sixteen per cent, or $192. At the end of 
 the first year, the employee's debt to the company on 
 Ms $1,200 worth of stock is $882. All that he has 
 paid is his initial sum of $30 plus his four per cent, 
 installments of $48. 
 
 "The second year the employee again makes his pay- 
 ment of $48 to which the company again adds the 
 $192 trust receipt dividend, and $57.54 which is the 
 stock dividend minus the three per cent, interest on 
 
Profit-Sharing 319 
 
 the $882. This leaves the employee in debt for his 
 stock to the amount of f 592.46 at the end of that term. 
 
 "The third year this debt is further decreased by 
 the $48 which the employee pays, the $192 on the 
 trust receipts and $66.22 as stock dividends minus 
 the interest. This leaves him in debt to the tune of 
 $296.24. 
 
 "The fourth year sees the debt paid with the $48 
 contributed by the employee, $192 by the trust receipt 
 dividend and $76.11 by the stock dividends. This 
 amounts to $306.11, which is $9.87 more than is nec- 
 essary. The employee pockets that. After his stock 
 is all paid up the employee continues to receive an 
 annual stock dividend of $84, let us say, plus the $192 
 which continues to be his trust receipt dividend just 
 as long as he remains in the employ of the company 
 and has his stock in trust. During four years in which 
 he has made payments the employee paid a total 
 amount of $222, for which he gets the $1,200 in stock 
 with its dividends, plus an assurance of a permanent 
 sixteen per cent, extra dividend on his wages. 
 
 "The sharing in the profits of this company, as I 
 explained to you, is increased after five and ten years 
 of service and the employee pays even less for a share 
 in stock which in turn nets him an increasing per- 
 centage of profits. 
 
 "This method of profit-sharing by purchase of stock 
 is like nothing employed in the usual stock-purchas- 
 ing schemes and is most greatly comparable to the 
 
320 Humanizing Industry 
 
 employees' saving funds about which I shall tell you 
 later. 
 
 "Among the other companies having the ordinary 
 stock purchasing where the stock is sold on easy in- 
 stallments below market price and where the divi- 
 dends are applied to the outstanding debt as payment 
 are the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company of Ohio, 
 the National Carbon Company of Cleveland, the Na- 
 tional Biscuit Company, and several of the Telephone 
 Companies. There are others, besides." 
 
 Struthers paused to fill his pipe. After lighting it 
 and taking a few puffs he went on. 
 
 "So much for profit-sharing via the stock-purchas- 
 ing plan. In trying to come closer to their employees 
 by interesting them in the production of the plant 
 through a definite share in profits, some of the owners 
 and directors of industry have introduced bonus 
 plans. A number of these take the form of presenta- 
 tion of stock. Others are cash bonuses given at the 
 end of the year after dividends have been paid on the 
 stock of the company. All of these bonus plans, or 
 rather let me say, the vast majority of them, are based 
 on a sliding scale in which length of service and annu- 
 al wage are the factors taken into consideration. 
 
 STOCK PRESENTATION 
 
 "The Dennison Manufacturing Company at Fram- 
 ingham, Massachusetts, is representative of the first 
 
Profit-Sharing 321 
 
 type of bonus plan. Every year after the dividends 
 on the first and second preferred shares of stock have 
 been paid, the remaining profits are divided among 
 the principal employees of the company in the form of 
 shares of industrial partnership stock. These are ap- 
 portioned in proportion to the amount of actual salary 
 received. The industrial partnership stock has a par 
 value of $10 per share. It carries with it a cash divi- 
 dend and is further valuable in that it carries with it 
 the privilege of voting powers in the stockholders' 
 meetings. Every parcel of ten shares is worth one 
 vote. 
 
 "There is a very interesting phase to the plan in 
 this company which has a direct bearing on the ques- 
 tion of giving employees a voice in the running of in- 
 dustry. We'll discuss that question in greater detail 
 some other time, but while we are on this subject of 
 stock presentation we'll take up this individual in- 
 stance. The amount of industrial partnership stock 
 held by this company is valued at $1,050,000. Accord- 
 ing to the plan drawn up by the company, when the in- 
 dustrial stock issued shall have reached the one hun- 
 dred thousand point, that is, when the employees of 
 the company will be holding shares valued in the mass 
 at $1,000,000, the entire voting power of the stock- 
 holders of all classes, meaning first preferred stock, 
 second preferred stock and industrial partnership 
 stock, will be vested in the holders of the industrial 
 partnership stock. Until they fail materially in the 
 
322 Humanizing Industry 
 
 obligations to the preferred stockholders, they will 
 keep this power. An indication of their failure will be 
 a decrease in profits. In case only one-half the regular 
 dividend is paid to the holders of the first preferred* 
 stock the first year, or only three-quarters the second 
 year, the stockholders of the first preferred are to 
 regain their vote in the meetings. If the industrial 
 partnership stockholders are at all in arrears in pre- 
 ferred profits at the end of four years, they lose their 
 vote for all time. 
 
 "This ought to turn out to be an interesting experi- 
 ment when the value of industrial partnership stock 
 held by the employees reaches the million-dollar mark. 
 
 "The John B. Stetson Company of Philadelphia, 
 hat manufacturers, is another firm which gives its em- 
 ployees yearly bonuses in the form of shares of stock. 
 
 CASH BONUSES 
 
 "The more popular form of the bonus system, how- 
 ever, is the cash payment plan. This has been adopted 
 by a large number of industrial organizations. There 
 are one or two differences in these plans which it may 
 be interesting to know. Some of the plants have a 
 bonus system the rates of which fluctuate as the prof- 
 its of the company do. That is, the employee cannot 
 count on any definite cash bonus at the end of the 
 year. If the company has had a good year, the bonus 
 rate is high; if the company has had a poor year, 
 
Profit-Sharing 323 
 
 the rate is low. From the standpoint of logic that 
 sounds like a very sane sort of an arrangement. It 
 seems fair that the employee should share in the profit 
 of the company only to the extent that there are prof- 
 its. But there is this to be taken into consideration. 
 The worker in seeking employment in a company 
 which holds out to him its bonus plan as an attraction 
 feels that he is cheated when that plan offers him 
 little above the wages for which he works. Just as 
 long as he is in no way represented on the board which 
 determines the profits of the company, that feeling of 
 being cheated will exist. 
 
 "Not so long ago I had occasion to speak to the late 
 H. B. Endicott of the Endicott-Johnson Company. 
 During the war, Mr. Endicott was appointed strike 
 mediator by the executive of his state. It was said 
 about him that he averted between two hundred and 
 three hundred strikes. In speaking about this type of 
 flexible bonus system, he declared that time and again, 
 in speaking to the representatives of the workers in 
 various industries, they asked him to eliminate the 
 bonus system. Time and again, that was one of the 
 points upon which the men threatened to strike. And, 
 in the same manner, time and again the elimination of 
 the system was one of the points that brought the 
 men back to their machines. 
 
 "The trouble with this system is this: In its in- 
 ception it was an honest, praiseworthy effort to reward 
 the employee for the good service which served to swell 
 
324 Humanizing Industry 
 
 the profits of the company. So far, so good. With 
 years, however, the underlying purpose of the bonua 
 plan was forgotten, and some of the men who adopted 
 it, did so through no other desire than to attract work- 
 ers by the lure of additional remuneration after tha 
 close of the year. Very often the wages and the work- 
 ing conditions were very much below the standard. 
 But the bait of the bonus was held out and the work- 
 man bit. If a man worked a full year, his bonus was 
 given him; if he either was discharged or left of his 
 own volition, the bonus was forfeited. That was one 
 cause for dissatisfaction. Very often the bonus did 
 not come up to his expectations. That was another 
 cause for dissatisfaction. The men felt that advan- 
 tage was being taken of them. It was in instances of 
 this nature, that the inherent viciousness of a bonus 
 system of this sort was discovered. 
 
 "Let me give you an example of the flexible bonus 
 plan. The Cleveland Twist Drill Company is repre- 
 sentative. There are scores of others but this will 
 do as well as any. After providing for the eight per 
 cent, dividend on its stock, all cash dividends sub- 
 sequently declared during the year are divided be- 
 tween the stockholders and the employees. All em- 
 ployees who have been with the company for two years 
 or more receive dividends on their annual wages at 
 the same rate as the stockholders. Those who have 
 been with the company for less than two years but 
 more than one, receive three-quarters of that rate. 
 
Profit-Sharing 325 
 
 Employees who have been with the company for less 
 than one year, get one-half of the dividend rate. The 
 percentage, whatever it is, is taken on the amount of 
 salary or wages earned by the employees during the 
 twelve months preceding June 30th of the year. 
 
 "Very often it may happen that this form of the 
 bonus plan may give the participants a greater share 
 in the profits than in a fixed system, but the fact re- 
 mains that it is open to fluctuation from year to year. 
 As far as the employee is concerned, that fluctuation 
 is arbitrary and is no small cause for dissatisfaction 
 and unrest. 
 
 "A good many of the steel companies have bonus 
 plans similar to this ; others have plans where special 
 workers are rewarded. You can easily see the dan- 
 gers of such a system. It is always open to partiality 
 and injustice and results in discord. 
 
 "There is, however, a second type of bonus system 
 which is as fixed as the laws of the Medes and Per- 
 sians. This is truly valuable in that the employee 
 knows for certain just what bonus or dividend he may 
 expect, this depending upon his length of service and 
 his salary or wage. Of course, you may say, that it 
 is not in reality what it pretends to be a profit-shar- 
 ing plan and give as your reason that the employee 
 should not be expected to get an additional profit on 
 his service if the company cannot show an additional 
 profit on its sales. That is a very good point; the 
 ideal situation would perhaps be the one where the 
 
326 Humanizing Industry 
 
 employee can, through a representative, be taken into 
 the confidence of the company and be shown that oc- 
 casionally the company's profits are very low, or per- 
 haps, that there are no profits, and that therefore he 
 must forego the bonus for that year. Just as long, 
 however, as the employee has no voice in the determi- 
 nation of profits, a bonus plan that is at all valuable 
 must be fixed. The company must regard it as part 
 of its overhead expenses. It is a payment that must 
 be met even as other bills are met. 
 
 "These fixed bonus systems vary with the different 
 companies. The Clipper Belt Lacer Company of Grand 
 Rapids employs a very generous one. Their plan is 
 to give each man and woman five per cent, on their 
 first year's earnings; six per cent, on their second 
 year's earnings ; seven per cent, the third year and so 
 on until the maximum bonus of ten per cent, is 
 reached. The acid test of this system lies in the fact 
 that the large majority of the employees in this com- 
 pany are to-day receiving the ten per cent, bonus every 
 day before Christmas. That is the best indication 
 that I can give you that where the system is honestly 
 inaugurated to interest the men in the works by giving 
 them a definite share in the profits, they stay. 
 
 "The Crane Company of Chicago gives its employees 
 a sum equal to ten per cent, of their annual earnings 
 at Christmas time. 
 
 "The Warner & Swasey Company of Cleveland 
 distributes its cash bonuses December 31st of every 
 
Profit-Sharing 327 
 
 year. The percentage ranges from one per cent, of 
 the yearly earning to the man who has been with the 
 company for six months to a year, to a maximum of 
 five per cent, to the men who have been employed for 
 five years or more. 
 
 "The plan of the Phelps-Dodge Corporation calls 
 for a hundred dollar bonus to all men who have been 
 employed by the company for one year, one hundred 
 and ten dollars bonus to the men who have been em- 
 ployed for two years, with a gradual increase of ten 
 dollars a year until the maximum of two hundred and 
 fifty dollars is reached. 
 
 "After his experience as strike mediator, Mr. Endi- 
 cott introduced a bonus plan in his companies which 
 is different from any that I have yet discovered. After 
 the seven per cent, dividend in the preferred stock has 
 been paid plus the ten per cent, set apart for the prof- 
 its on the common stock, the remainder of the profits 
 are split half and half between the workers and the 
 owners of the common stock. 
 
 "Up to this point there is nothing startlingly new in 
 this plan. But, after the sum to be distributed among 
 the workers is determined, it is divided among them 
 all, share and share alike. Every man, woman or boy 
 who has been in the employ of the company for at 
 least a year, receives the same bonus. The super- 
 intendent of a department gets the same amount as 
 his office boy. This seems very satisfactory to the 
 office boy, but is it to the superintendent, you may 
 
328 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ask? I put that question to Mr. Endicott and his 
 reply was that of a sensible business man. The super- 
 intendent, he said, gets enough money to make the 
 additional bonus unnecessary to him ; it is in its origin 
 not intended for him. It means something very valua- 
 ble to the office boy, however. In the long run the 
 superintendent profits by its distribution by virtue 
 of the spirit of satisfaction with working conditions 
 that is created by it. 
 
 "Whether that system will work or not, time will 
 show. It was introduced for the first time last year. 
 
 SAVINGS FUNDS 
 
 "There is still another phase of profit-sharing work. 
 This is different both from the stock-purchasing plans 
 and the bonus plans. It is commonly known as the 
 company savings fund. Under this system, the com- 
 pany maintains a savings bank for its employees. For 
 every dollar that the employee saves, the company 
 makes an additional contribution. In some instances, 
 this contribution is equal to fifty to one hundred 
 per cent, of the employee's; in others the company's 
 contribution is fixed by a certain and definite per- 
 centage of its profits. The Metropolitan Life Insur- 
 ance Company and S. W. Straus & Company are 
 representative of the first plan; Sears, Roebuck & 
 Company is representative of the second. 
 
 "The plan of the Metropolitan Company allows any 
 
Profit-Sharing 329 
 
 employee who has been with them for at least a year 
 and earning less than three thousand dollars a year 
 to become a depositor. For every dollar that the em- 
 ployee deposits, the company adds fifty cents. No man 
 or woman is allowed to deposit more than five per 
 cent, of his or her salary during any one year. Be- 
 sides the contribution of the company, interest is paid 
 at three per cent. This is increased by the money 
 forfeited by employees who cease to be members of the 
 savings fund. The membership rule calls for twenty 
 years of continuous service before the employee can 
 withdraw his savings plus the company's contribu- 
 tions from the fund. You can readily see the purpose 
 of this. The company, and with due reason, does not 
 feel bound to add to the savings of any of the men 
 who do not intend to give the best years of their ser- 
 vice toward the growth of the organization. There 
 are, of course, several exceptions to this rule, such 
 as death, disability, or marriage on the part of a wom- 
 an employee. In these events, the employees or the 
 estate get the full advantage of the savings arrange- 
 ment. If an employee ceases to be a member of the 
 savings fund, he receives all the payments that he 
 made plus compound interest on the same, at the rate 
 of three per cent. A percentage of the contributions 
 toward this man's fund made by the company is ap- 
 plied as additional interest to the deposits of the rest 
 of the members. 
 "This percentage is controlled by the number of 
 
33 Humanizing Industry 
 
 years of membership in the fund of the withdraw- 
 ing depositor. For instance, when a man has been 
 a member for only one year before he leaves the 
 employ of the company, the fund receives fifty per 
 cent, of the company's contributions. The remainder 
 of the money reverts to the company coffers. If he 
 has been a member for more than two years, the fund 
 retains amounts ranging from sixty per cent, to one 
 hundred, according to the number of years of mem- 
 bership. Let me give you a concrete example. John 
 Smith has been a member of the staff savings fund 
 for a little more than two years, during which time 
 he has saved four hundred dollars. To that four hun- 
 dred dollars, the company has added from time to 
 time, as he made his payments, fifty per cent, contri- 
 butions amounting to two hundred dollars. When 
 John Smith ceases to be a member of the fund, he 
 withdraws his four hundred dollars plus the com- 
 pound interest thereon at three per cent. The two 
 hundred dollars contributed by the company is divided 
 between the fund and the company, the former getting 
 sixty per cent, or one hundred and twenty dollars, 
 and the latter eighty dollars. The one hundred and 
 twenty dollars thus acquired by the fund is divided 
 among the remaining members of the savings organ- 
 ization in the form of additional interest on their 
 deposits. 
 
 "You can readily understand what an incentive to 
 thrift and permanency of employment this form of 
 
Profit-Sharing 331 
 
 profit-sharing must be. The S. W. Straus & Com- 
 pany recently inaugurated a similar profit-sharing 
 plan for its employees. This, in addition to the gener- 
 ous cash bonus plan under which yearly bonuses are 
 given, ranging from two to ten per cent, of the annual 
 salary, according to length of service. 
 
 "Under the savings system of this organization, the 
 company contributes a minimum of one hundred per 
 cent, to every deposit made by the employee. This 
 minimum is increased as the profits of the company 
 increase. 
 
 "The plan of Sears, Roebuck & Company differs 
 from these two in that the contributions of the com- 
 pany are in no way fixed by a definite sum but by a 
 percentage of the company's profits. The company 
 pledges itself to contribute to the fund each year a 
 sum equal to five per cent, of its net earnings without 
 deduction of dividends to stockholders. Participa- 
 tion in this fund is open to every employee after he 
 has finished three years of service. In order to reap 
 the full advantage of the plan, he must continue a 
 member of the savings fund for a period of at least 
 ten years. This line is waived in the case of women 
 employees who marry. They may withdraw their sav- 
 ings and the accrued profits thereon after a member- 
 ship of five years. 
 
 "No employee may contribute more than five per 
 cent, of his salary and in no case more than one hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars a year. This limit was deemed 
 
33 2 Humanizing Industry 
 
 advisable so that the higher salaried employees might 
 not too greatly participate in the fund. 
 
 "The entire fund including the employee's savings 
 and the company's contributions are invested in the 
 company's stock with the end in view of making, the 
 employees powerful shareholders in the organization. 
 When an employee who withdraws his savings is en- 
 titled to the full credits of membership, he either gets 
 his share in the holdings in cash or in stock. 
 
 "The figures presented by this company tend to 
 prove that their contributions to the fund are at least 
 three times the amount invested by the employee. 
 
 "During the year 1916, the company contributed 
 $3.09 for every dollar saved by an employee; in 1917, 
 $3.02; and in 1918, $3.26. Assuming that the profits 
 continue as they have, during the last few years, it 
 has been estimated that a man, for instance, making 
 on an average of twenty-five dollars a week and be- 
 longing to the savings fund for ten years, let us say, 
 during which time he has deposited $617.50, will at 
 the entl of the period be entitled to accumulated sav- 
 ings of $4,414.25. The end of twenty years' savings 
 with aggregated deposits of $1,267.50 on the part of 
 the employee will entitle him to a sum of $19,044.26. 
 
 "During the first period of two and a half years in 
 which the plan was in force, the employees' deposits 
 amounted to $656,229, while the company's contribu- 
 tion of five per cent, of its profits equaled $2,355,824." 
 
Profit-Sharing 333 
 
 Struthers paused and looked at Hardwick quizzical- 
 ly. Hardwick returned his gaze. 
 
 "Think of it, Hardwick, will you? More than two 
 million dollars contributed out of the earnings of the 
 company and it has been found to pay. It has been 
 found to pay wherever it has been adopted. 
 
 "The Clipper Belt Lacer Company some time ago 
 tabulated the advantages* growing out of the profit- 
 sharing plan inaugurated by them. First of all, their 
 yearly output was nearly doubled with the addition 
 of only a few more employees ; second, the cost of their 
 article of production was reduced nine cents in spite 
 of an increased wage of twenty cents ; third, the aver- 
 age gain to the operative was nineteen per cent, on his 
 wages and the average gain to the company was nine 
 per c*nt. Surely you want no more telling facts than 
 these. The situation in all other plants which have 
 adopted some form of profit-sharing is similar. It has 
 been found to pay. In spite of every indication to 
 the contrary. In spite of the paradox it entails. Profit- 
 sharing in these plants has not meant division of sta- 
 tionary profits but sharing in the increase of growing 
 profits due to greater cooperation among the men and 
 the management and deeper interest in the output of 
 the plant." 
 
 Again Struthers paused to light his pipe. 
 
 "There is just one more form of profit-sharing that 
 it may be well to mention. That is the plan employed 
 
334 Humanizing Industry 
 
 by Henry Ford. With him it is a matter of classifica- 
 tion of the abilities of the workman and paying the 
 man an increased wage just as soon as he shows he is 
 fit for promotion from one class to another. The 
 essence of profit-sharing is retained inasmuch as in- 
 creased production on the part of the employee is im- 
 mediately rewarded by increased pay. For instance, 
 mechanics are divided into three classes: Class one, 
 good; class two, fair, and class three, medium. Just 
 as soon as a man with the rating of number three 
 shows that he is ready to go into the number two 
 class, he is promoted and his wages increased. In no 
 case is the wage less than eight dollars a day for an 
 adult worker. 
 
 "Personally, however, I believe that the other profit- 
 sharing plans where the employee, besides getting a 
 fair wage, gets into closer touch with the work of the 
 company by being interested in the annual output 
 and profits, is the more valuable. Only remember this 
 always in order to have the plan hold water start 
 with good working conditions and good wages. Make 
 it in truth a profit-sharing plan and not a wage- 
 skinning plan. Don't be a sanctimonious sinner by 
 cutting a slice from off the wages due to the men and 
 then presenting it to them at the close of the year 
 in the form of sharing in the company's profits. It 
 won't work. It has been tried and has failed miserably 
 in every attempt. In order to have this thing be of 
 any value, you've got to be honest in your intent." 
 
CHAPTER TEN 
 
 INDUSTRIAL REPRESENTATION 
 
 As Struthers passed into Hardwick's office, he met 
 Hurley going out. The two men nodded to each other 
 in friendly greeting. Just as he was about to walk 
 into the inner room, Struthers paused and called out 
 to Hurley. 
 
 "Oh, Hurley." 
 
 The man turned. 
 
 "Tell the missus," Struthers said, "that I won't be 
 home to dinner to-night. I am going over to Mr. 
 Hardwick's place." 
 
 "All right, sir," Hurley replied, then added as an 
 afterthought: "I knew you weren't coming home to- 
 night. Mr. Hardwick told me. So long. See you to- 
 morrow." 
 
 The man was gone. Struthers walked into the 
 office and found Hardwick ready for him. The two 
 men got into the car that was waiting for them and 
 were off. Hardwick was silent on the way home. 
 Struthers did nothing to interrupt the man's train of 
 thoughts. Just once Hardwick half ejaculated and 
 half ruminated aloud, "I think Hurley is right about 
 that." 
 
 335 
 
336 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Thinking that the statement had been addressed to 
 him, Struthers turned quickly to the man besid- him 
 with the question : 
 
 "Hurley's right about what?" 
 
 Hardwick grew confused. 
 
 "Nothing," he replied with a smile. "Guess I was 
 just thinking aloud." For a moment he seemed to 
 be considering the wisdom of saying anything further, 
 then he broke in with the words : "I'm working on a 
 pension plan. Got Hurley to come in and have a 
 look-in on it. He knows the men and conditions of 
 the place better than I do. Thought I'd work it out 
 with him before I showed it to you. I'll have a rough 
 draft of it in a couple of days. I'll show it to you 
 then." 
 
 Once more he subsided into silence. Struthers 
 made no answer as the car moved noiselessly on. 
 
 The conversation at the dinner table played about 
 subjects apart from the plant. Both men were keep- 
 ing their minds open for the talk they knew would 
 come later in the evening. At last they were seated 
 together in their wonted positions before the fire. 
 They smoked for a while in silence. The sudden 
 crackle of a log seemed to wake them. Struthers 
 broke the silence. 
 
 "You find Hurley helpful, do you, in working out 
 some of these plans of yours?" he asked. 
 
 Hardwick bit on his cigar before he answered. 
 
 "Uh, huh," he finally grunted in reply. "Sometimes 
 
Industrial Representation 337 
 
 helpful and sometimes as stubborn as a mule. But 
 we usually manage to work something between us." 
 He puffed on his cigar for a moment longer, then 
 continued. "But don't let's waste any time on that 
 now. The pension scheme will be worked out all right. 
 You had something new to talk about to-night, didn't 
 you?" 
 
 Struthers grinned in response. 
 
 "I did/' he said. "I was getting around to it, via 
 Hurley. Hardwick," he said, growing serious, "what 
 do you think of shop committees and industrial coun- 
 cils and representation plans? You have heard about 
 them, haven't you? How do they strike you?" 
 
 "They don't strike me at all," was the laconic reply. 
 "I confess I don't know much about them, but the 
 underlying idea, that of giving the worker a voice in 
 the management of the organization, doesn't appeal 
 to me." Hardwick's voice grew more serious. "What 
 the merry blazes does he know about the manage- 
 ment of a plant? And why the merry blazes should 
 he have a voice in the management in something about 
 which he knows nothing? Answer me that, will you?" 
 
 "I will," Struthers replied. "He probably knows 
 very little about the management of a plant from the 
 standpoint of management as you conceive it. I 
 mean costs and sales, and productions and turnovers 
 and things of that sort. But, Hardwick, the word 
 management of a plant includes a great many other 
 things. A knowledge of costs and sales alone does 
 
338 Humanizing Industry 
 
 not make a plant. There are other things to be con- 
 sidered; things with which the worker is as closely 
 concerned as you; things like wages and hours and 
 sanitation and health measures and pension plans and 
 disability annuities and housing. I could go on for 
 several minutes longer if I wanted to enumerate them 
 all. It is these things in which the worker is vitally 
 interested. And it is in the management of these that 
 he wants a voice. Things that are of mutual interest 
 to you and to him. Things that will make for the 
 better understanding and greater cooperation between 
 you and him." 
 
 Hardwick snorted. 
 
 "Just a minute, Struthers," he said. "All along 
 you have been talking about the improvements which 
 were necessary in a plant in order that the worker 
 may feel that he is treated as a human being and not 
 as a cog in a machine. Very good. I grant you the 
 necessity of that. Now suppose an owner of a plant, 
 anxious to do the best by his employees and equally 
 anxious for success, inaugurates all these plans about 
 which you have from time to time spoken. Suppose 
 he makes the working environments as ideal as is 
 possible, suppose he gives his superannuated em- 
 ployees pensions and sick benefits, suppose he builds 
 homes for them and helps educate them, suppose he 
 does everything within his power and his knowledge 
 to make their lives happy, will you tell me what the 
 Sam Hill the worker wants with a representation 
 
Industrial Representation 339 
 
 council? To discuss things of mutual benefit you say. 
 But the things of mutual benefit have been discussed 
 in the mind of the employer and answered in favor 
 of the employee. Why discuss pensions when pensions 
 are given? Why discuss housing when homes have 
 been built? Why discuss wages when they are on a 
 par with the highest in this special line of work? Why 
 discuss health measures when all efforts have been 
 directed to making the community a healthy one? I 
 am not speaking of myself, you understand. I am 
 merely taking a hypothetical case. You take the point 
 of view that all these progressive measures about 
 which you have spoken tend toward greater under- 
 standing between the two factors in industry. Well 
 then, if all these measures have been adopted, what 
 need have you for this last one you are mentioning? 
 What need have you of giving the employee a voice in 
 something that has been settled?'' 
 
 Struthers lit his pipe before he answered. When 
 he did there was an odd twinkle in his eye. 
 
 "Why did you call Hurley in to talk about the 
 pension plan, Hardwick? Answer me that. Never 
 mind, you needn't. I'll answer it for you. Because 
 you wanted to get his point of view, or rather you 
 wanted to get the point of view of the men he rep- 
 resents. You could have mapped out a plan yourself, 
 or jou could have called me in to help you. But you 
 didn't. You turned to one of the men in the shops 
 because you felt that there you could fathom the real 
 
34 Humanizing Industry 
 
 meaning of what a pension plan ought to be. You 
 felt that Hurley could gauge the conditions and ef- 
 fects of such a plan better than you could. Didn't 
 you? Well, we'll let that question go. You needn't 
 answer it. I am taking an unfair advantage by com- 
 ing down to personalities and personal instances. Yet, 
 it was necessary to show you concretely the real value 
 of such plans as applied to your own work. 
 
 "Now to come to the real issue. You ask what is 
 the use of creating industrial councils or shop com- 
 mittees when you have done everything possible for 
 the well-being of your workers. The use lies here, 
 Hardwick. The movement all along the line is to get 
 away from the idea that the worker is a cog in a 
 machine, to remember that he is a human being. You 
 recognize the truth of this idea when you begin plan- 
 ning things for his health and happiness. You recog- 
 nize it to a greater degree when you begin taking him 
 into partial partnership by giving him some share in 
 the profits of the company. What you are uncon- 
 sciously driving at all along is to make him interested 
 in the plant ; to make him a vital factor in its success. 
 All these things that I have mentioned, all these re- 
 forms that I have suggested, will do it up to a certain 
 point, but in order to get the full measure of his latent 
 powers and, in some cases, his awakened powers, you 
 must go the whole way. You must take him into 
 your confidence when matters pertaining to his wel- 
 fare come up. You must give him a chance to express 
 
Industrial Representation 341 
 
 himself on subjects that are close to his interest. 
 
 "Inaugurating reforms of the kind that I have men- 
 tioned are vitally essential. They pave the way for 
 the closer harmony between the men and the manage- 
 ment. The men feel that there is honest effort being 
 directed toward giving them a square deal, if you 
 want to call it such. But, you let the thing continue 
 in this manner, letting all reforms come from the top 
 down and you stifle the very breath of the impulse that 
 started the movement. You stifle progress. 
 
 "All paternalistic movements are deadening in their 
 effects. They are inspired by good motives and their 
 immediate results may tend to create a state of con- 
 tentment but the indirect results, when truthfully 
 gauged, counterbalance the good that they do. Suc- 
 cess in an industry or in a plant means initiative and 
 individuality in a plant. You have one thousand 
 workers in your organization. Surely you will grant 
 that among those there is a small percentage of brains 
 and power. Take the case of Larry and Hurley. They 
 are only two but they are the only two in whom you 
 have at all taken an interest. Create the medium, 
 however, where all the brains and all the power of 
 the plant may make itself felt in a central council and 
 you create something that will be directed to growth 
 and progress. Fail to create that medium and that 
 power will die or, in those instances where it is so 
 forceful that it will not be stifled, it will either seek 
 new channels for its healthy expression or viciously 
 
34-2 Humanizing Industry 
 
 express itself by festering in the old environment and 
 creating sickness and disease in your organization. 
 
 "It is not so much," Struthers continued, "that the 
 demands of the workers have grown, but that the size 
 of organizations has grown. Sixty years ago there 
 was no need for an industrial council. Why? Be- 
 cause we had nothing like the mighty giants of plants 
 that we have to-day. A man worked with a number 
 of workers and apprentices whom he knew by their 
 first names. They were always in warm contact with 
 him. He was not removed from them by so many fore- 
 men and superintendents and managers. He himself 
 supervised the work they did. He was one of them. 
 The men felt they could appeal directly to him. An- 
 other thing, and this is purely psychological. Yet it 
 has its bearings on the subject. The work was not as 
 finely divided into monotonous operations as it is to- 
 day. A man started work on the article of produc- 
 tion and he finished the work on that article. He built 
 a complete thing. He had pride of workmanship in 
 it. He gained the same sort of satisfaction from it 
 that an artist gains in working on a painting. It was 
 his his own. All his thoughts and efforts were di- 
 rected toward its perfection. 
 
 "What have we to-day, however? A man starts 
 drilling holes in the morning and he keeps on drilling 
 holes until he knocks off work at night. And he keeps 
 on drilling holes the next morning and the morning 
 after that for weeks, for months, for years, until the 
 
Industrial Representation 343 
 
 day of his death. And the longer he drills the more 
 mechanical the motion becomes, and the more me- 
 chanical it becomes the more monotonous it grows. 
 In order to keep awake while working, his mind begins 
 to function. Sometimes it functions reasonably and 
 sensibly ; sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes, one of his 
 fellow workers, a man who has done a bit of hit-and- 
 miss reading, makes it function for him. And it be- 
 gins to wander and he begins to wonder and draw 
 conclusions which may be wrong and inaccurate. He 
 figures out the number of holes he drills, the wages he 
 earns for drilling them and then makes a wide leap 
 to the price his employer gets for the finished article. 
 You see where that leads, don't you? You see the 
 wide divergence between costs and profits that pre- 
 sents itself to his mind as a result of that isolated 
 thinking. 
 
 "And the only conclusion he reaches, if there is the 
 least bit of revolutionary spirit within him, is that 
 the profits of his employer should be cut. That is the 
 only way in which the arrangement can be made 
 honest, according to him. What does he do then? 
 He demands shorter hours and larger wages. He 
 refuses to see the lack of logic in such a demand. All 
 along, you see, he has been left in the dark as to the 
 real factors that enter into the production and sale 
 of the material and it is little wonder that his solu- 
 tion is that of a man who has gathered his facts in 
 the dark. A blind man might with equal reason in- 
 
344 Humanizing Industry 
 
 sist that the only difference between day and night is 
 that we are awake in the daytime and asleep at night. 
 As far as he is concerned that conclusion is true. The 
 light of the sun means nothing to him. In the same 
 manner, production costs, shipping costs, overhead 
 costs mean nothing to the worker when he lays down 
 his demands. They have been kept from him and, as 
 far as he is concerned, they do not exist. 
 
 "Take the individual instance of wages. During 
 the war they soared way above the normal. The nearer 
 we come to settled pre-war peace basis, the more neces- 
 sary it may become to cut those wages, in order that 
 the industry of the country may live. You, as an em- 
 ployer, make an arbitrary cut in these wages and im- 
 mediately you arouse the antagonism of the men in 
 your plants. They reason that if it was profitable for 
 you to pay them increased prices during the war times, 
 it is just as profitable for you to pay them increased 
 prices to-day. The economic factors that enter into 
 the computation mean nothing to them. To them the 
 whole thing appears in the light of cruel exploitation 
 due to increased supply of labor. I will admit that in 
 a few instances they may be correct but they reason 
 in that manner for all instances. 
 
 "What are you going to do in a* situation like this? 
 Merely this. Allow your men to have a voice in the 
 councils of your management. Allow them to make 
 themselves familiar with the things that enter into 
 the production of the plant; allow them to present 
 
Industrial Representation 345 
 
 their own demands and their own needs. By very 
 virtue of the fact that they know the things against 
 which you have to contend, those demands will, of 
 necessity, be reasonable. They will, of necessity, come 
 within the limits of your powers. And if they do not, 
 mark me, even if they do not, you have the opportunity 
 of explaining to them, as one man to another, why 
 you cannot meet them; why it is impossible for 
 you to meet them ; why the welfare of the plant which 
 means their welfare, as well as yours, depends on a 
 continuation of the conditions obtaining at the time. 
 Of course, you may object to making explanation 
 where in the past you issued mandates, but, Hardwick, 
 the time for issuing arbitrary judgments is passed. 
 Adverse arbitrary judgment only serves to bring out 
 the ire in those against whom they are made and 
 there is nothing as destructively vicious as the feeling 
 of hatred and injustice on the part of those who are 
 in no position to make an immediate counter-attack. 
 The resentment of those who are forcibly humbled 
 can grow into a most venomous factor of destruction. 
 "The industrial councils, on the other hand, are the 
 greatest factors for the healthy, constructive growth 
 of an organization. Through the representatives 
 chosen by the men, you get an expression of the best 
 brains and power in the organization. The men 
 naturally choose as their representatives, those who 
 can best express and interpret their demands. In 
 not a few instances, those are the very men who 
 
 
346 Humanizing Industry 
 
 under less favorable conditions would use their in- 
 terpretive powers destructively. 
 
 "What's more, you create a clearing house for 
 initiative and inventiveness. Assured of a dignified 
 hearing and knowing the conditions that enter into 
 the production of the articles they manufacture, the 
 men will, in an endeavor to improve operations and 
 eliminate unnecessary movements, direct their efforts 
 to the best advantages of the plant. Knowing that 
 wages and hours depend upon production, they will 
 be impelled to increase production. Knowing that 
 profits, which includes their share, depend upon the 
 type of production, they will improve the product. 
 There is everything to gain in an arrangement of this 
 sort and nothing to lose, provided, of course, that you 
 are playing the game squarely and are not demanding 
 as your share of the profits more than you should 
 reasonably expect. 
 
 "This movement is perhaps the newest and the 
 youngest of industrial reforms. It has been adopted 
 by a comparatively small number of organizations. 
 Nevertheless, it is the only solution to the labor prob- 
 lem. Not until both elements in the game are cogni- 
 zant of and appreciative of each other's rights and de- 
 mands will we get anything like the vast richness of 
 industry of which we are capable. 
 
 "Different organizations," continued Struthers, 
 "have adopted different forms of representation. This 
 representation may consist in the calling of shop 
 
Industrial Representation 347 
 
 conferences such as have been adopted by the Sewell- 
 Clapp Company of Chicago, which employs only about 
 300 men, for instance, or it may take the form of a 
 well-organized, detailed plan of representation such 
 as has been adopted by the International Harvester 
 Company, whose employees are numbered in the thou- 
 sands, but the underlying principle to both is the same 
 that of giving the employee a voice and vote in the 
 running of the plant. 
 
 "The plan of the International Harvester Company 
 voted upon by 30,000 employees early in March of 
 last year is one of the most comprehensive thus far 
 formulated. It starts out with an explanation for 
 its being, addressed to the employees. This is what 
 it says." Struthers took out a sheaf of papers, chose 
 one of them, and read : 
 
 " 'The Directors and officers of the company have 
 for some time been working out a plan to establish 
 closer relations between the employees and the man- 
 agement. To this end they now offer the following 
 Harvester Industrial Council Plan for the considera- 
 tion of the employees, hoping that it may meet with 
 their approval. 
 
 " 'The plan provides for a "Works Council" in 
 which representatives elected by the employees shall 
 have equal voice and vote with the management in the 
 consideration of matters of mutual interest. 
 
 " 'It guarantees to every employee the right to pre- 
 sent any suggestion, request, or complaint and to 
 
348 Humanizing Industry 
 
 have it promptly considered and fairly decided. Pro- 
 vision is also made for impartial arbitration/ 
 
 "The plan was voted upon in March, 1919, and 
 adopted. Its constitution or draft is composed of 
 twenty articles. The first article sets forth the doc- 
 trine of equal representation in the consideration 
 of all questions of policy relating to working condi- 
 tions, health, safety, hours of labor, wages, recreation, 
 education, and other similar matters of mutual in- 
 terest. The second, third, fourth and fifth articles 
 deal with the plan of organization of the Works Coun- 
 cil. I'll read you that if you're interested." 
 
 Hardwick nodded. 
 
 Struthers read : " 'As the principal means of carry- 
 ing this plan into effect, there shall be organized at 
 each works adopting this plan a Works Council, com- 
 posed of representatives of the employees and rep- 
 resentatives of the management. The employee rep- 
 resentatives shall be elected by the employees. The 
 management representatives shall be appointed by 
 the management, and shall not exceed the employee 
 representatives in number. Both shall at all times 
 have an equal voice and voting power in considering 
 matters coming before the council. 
 
 " 'Through these councils any employee or group 
 of employees of the management may at any time pre- 
 sent suggestions, requests, and complaints with the 
 certainty of a full and fair hearing. Matters which 
 cannot thus be disposed of may, by mutual consent, 
 
Industrial Representation 349 
 
 be submitted to impartial arbitration, as hereinafter 
 provided. 
 
 " 'To aid in carrying out this plan, the company 
 has established a department of industrial relations, 
 which is charged with the duty of giving special at- 
 tention to all matters pertaining to labor policies 
 and the well-being of the employees. 
 
 " 'The basis of representation shall generally be 
 one employee representative for each 200 or 300 em- 
 ployees, but in no case shall there be less than five 
 employee representatives in the Works Council. 
 
 " 'To be eligible for nomination as employee rep- 
 resentative from any voting division, the employee 
 must be employed therein. Foremen, assistant fore- 
 men, and other employees having the power of em- 
 ployment or discharge shall not be eligible for nomi- 
 nation. Only employees who are citizens of the 
 United States, twenty-one years old or over, and who 
 have been continuously in the works' service for one 
 year immediately prior to nomination, as shown on 
 the records of the employment department, shall be 
 eligible for nomination as employee representatives.' 
 
 "The next section of the draft," Struthers went on, 
 "deals with the methods of nomination and election 
 of the works' representatives. The men first hold a 
 nomination meeting and then vote by secret ballot o 
 the two names receiving the highest number of votes. 
 The man receiving the greater number of votes is 
 elected representative. 
 
35 Humanizing Industry 
 
 "Upon the election of the employee representatives, 
 the management announces the appointment of the 
 management representatives, whose number is in no 
 case to exceed the number of elected employee rep- 
 resentatives. 
 
 "'The Manager of the Department of Industrial 
 Relations or some one designated by him, shall act as 
 Chairman of the Works Council/" Struthers con- 
 tinued, reading. " 'A secretary shall be appointed by 
 the Superintendent of the Works. Neither the Chair- 
 man nor Secretary shall have a vote. 
 
 "<A majority of the employee representatives, to- 
 gether with a majority of the management representa- 
 tives, shall constitute a quorum, and no business shall 
 be transacted at any meeting where less than a quorum 
 is present. 
 
 " "The Works Council may appoint such sub-com- 
 mittees as it deems desirable for efficient conduct of 
 its business. On all such sub-committees both the em- 
 ployees and the management shall be represented, and 
 each group of representatives shall have equal voting 
 power. 
 
 " 'The Works Council shall hold regular monthly 
 meetings at times fixed by the Council. The Works 
 Council may prepare and distribute to the employees 
 reports of its proceedings, and the expense thereof 
 phall be borne by the company.' 
 
 "The duties and powers of the Works Council," 
 Continued Struthers, "are outlined in the following: 
 
Industrial Representation 351 
 
 " 'The Works Council may consider and make 
 recommendations on all questions relating to working 
 conditions, protection of health, safety, wages, hours 
 of labor, recreation, education, and other similar mat- 
 ters of mutual interest to the employees and the man- 
 agement. It shall afford full opportunity for the 
 presentation and discussion of these matters. 
 
 " The Works Council may on its own motion in- 
 vestigate matters of mutual interest and make recom- 
 mendations thereon to the Works Management; and 
 the management also may refer matters to the Works 
 Council for investigation and report. 
 
 " 'The Works Council may confer with the Superin- 
 tendent or other person designated by him in regard 
 to all matters of mutual interest, and shall receive 
 from the management regular reports in regard to 
 accident prevention, sanitation, restaurants, medical 
 service, employment, educational programs and 
 recreational activities, including information as to the 
 cost, efficiency and results obtained. 
 
 " 'The Works Council shall be concerned solely with 
 shaping the policies of ,the company relating to the 
 matters heretofore mentioned. When the policy of 
 the company as to any of these matters has been 
 settled, its execution shall remain with the manage- 
 ment, but the manner of that execution may, at any 
 time, be a subject for consideration of the Works 
 Pouncil. 
 
 I* 'A n y employee or group of employees thus refer- 
 
35 2 Humanizing Industry 
 
 ring a matter to the Works Council shall have an op- 
 portunity to appear before it and present the case. 
 Any such group of employees shall select not more 
 than three spokesmen from their own number to ap- 
 pear before the council. 
 
 " The Works Council may call any employee before 
 it to give information regarding any matter under 
 consideration. The Works Council, or any sub-com- 
 mittees appointed by it for that purpose, may go in a 
 body to any part of the plant to make investigations. 
 
 " 'After complete investigation and full discussion 
 of any matter under consideration by the Works Coun- 
 cil, the Chairman shall call for a vote, which shall be 
 secret, unless otherwise ordered by the council. The 
 employee representatives and the management rep- 
 resentatives shall vote separately. The vote of a ma- 
 jority of the employee representatives shall be taken 
 as the vote of all, and recorded as their unit vote. 
 Similarly, the vote of a majority of the management 
 representatives shall be taken as the vote of all and 
 recorded as their unit vote. 
 
 " 'Both the employee representatives and the man- 
 agement representatives shall have the right to with- 
 draw temporarily from any meeting of the Works 
 Council for private discussion of any matter under 
 consideration. 
 
 " 'When the Works Council reaches an agreement 
 on any matter, its recommendation shall be referred 
 to the Superintendent for execution, except that if the 
 
Industrial Representation 353 
 
 Superintendent considers it of such importance as 
 to require the atention of the general officers, he shall 
 immediately refer it to the President of the Interna- 
 tional Harvester Company, who may either approve 
 the recommendation of the Works Council and order 
 its immediate execution by the Superintendent or pro- 
 ceed with further consideration of the matter. 
 
 " 'In case of a tie vote in the Works Council, it shall 
 be in order to reopen the discussion, to offer a substi- 
 tute or compromise recommendation, on which the 
 votes shall be taken in the same manner as above pro- 
 vided. 
 
 " 'The President, or his specially appointed repre- 
 sentative, may confer with the Works Council as a 
 whole, or any sub-committee thereof, or any group of 
 employee representatives, at such time and place and 
 in such manner as in his opinion will best serve to 
 bring out all the facts of the case. 
 
 " 'Within ten days after the matter has been re- 
 ferred to him, the President shall either (a) propose 
 a settlement thereof; or (b) refer the matter directly 
 to a General Council. 
 
 " 'If the settlement proposed by the President is 
 not satisfactory to a majority of the employee repre- 
 sentatives, and if after a further period of five days 
 no agreement has been reached, then the President 
 may, if he deems it advisable, refer the matter to a 
 General Council. 
 
 " 'If the President decides not to refer the matter 
 
354 Humanizing Industry 
 
 to a General Council, or if the vote of the General 
 Council is a tie, then the matter may, by mutual agree- 
 ment of the President and a majority of the employee 
 representatives, be submitted to arbitration. 
 
 " 'The General Council shall be formed in the fol- 
 lowing manner: The President shall issue a notice 
 designating the several works which he deems jointly 
 interested. Thereupon the employee representatives 
 in the Works Council at each of the works designated 
 shall select two or more of their own number to act 
 as members of the General Council. There shall be 
 one such member of the General Council for each 
 1,000 employees or major fraction thereof, except that 
 no works shall have less than two representatives in 
 the General Council. 
 
 " 'The management representatives in the General 
 Council shall be appointed by the President and shall 
 not exceed the number of employee representatives. 
 
 " 'The President or some person designated by him 
 shall act as Chairman of the General Council, with- 
 out vote. 
 
 " 'The first meeting of the General Council shall be 
 held within ten days after the President's notice call- 
 ing such council. 
 
 " 'The General Council shall, when necessary, take 
 recesses in order to allow employee representatives 
 therein to confer with other members of their Works 
 Councils. For this purpose special meetings of the 
 Works Councils as a whole, or of the employee rep- 
 
Industrial Representation 355 
 
 resentative alone, shall (at the request of the employee 
 representative serving on the General Council) be 
 convened at the respective works, and full opportunity 
 shall be given for conference and discussion with such 
 representatives regarding their attitude and action on 
 the pending matter. 
 
 " <If the General Council is unable to reach an 
 agreement as to any matter, it may, by mutual agree- 
 ment of a majority of both the employee representa- 
 tives and the management representatives, be sub- 
 mitted to arbitration. 
 
 " 'Whenever the President and a majority of the 
 employee representatives in the General Council, or 
 the Works Council, as the case may be, have mutually 
 agreed to submit a matter to arbitration, they shall 
 proceed to select an impartial and disinterested arbi- 
 trator. If they cannot agree upon an arbitrator, then 
 the employee representatives shall choose one such 
 arbitrator and the President shall choose another, and 
 if these two agree, their decision shall be final. If they 
 do not agree, then they shall select and call in a third 
 arbitrator, and a decision of a majority of these three 
 shall be final. 
 
 " The arbitrator or arbitrators shall be furnished 
 all the information and testimony they deem neces- 
 sary regarding the matter in arbitration. All de- 
 cisions of any General Council or of any arbitrator or 
 arbitrators shall be binding upon all the works orig- 
 inally designated by the President as being jointly 
 
356 Humanizing Industry 
 
 interested. Any such decision may be made retro- 
 active. 
 
 " 'Every representative serving on any Works or 
 General Council shall be wholly free in the perform- 
 ance of his duties as such, and shall not be discrimi- 
 nated against on account of any action taken by him 
 in good faith in his representative capacity. To guar- 
 antee to each representative his independence, he shall 
 have the right to appeal directly to the President for 
 relief from any alleged discrimination against him, 
 and if the decision of the President is not satisfactory 
 to him, then to have the question settled by an arbitra- 
 tor selected by mutual agreement. 
 
 " "There shall be no discrimination under this plan 
 against any employee because of race, sex, political 
 or religious affiliation or membership in any labor or 
 other organization. 
 
 " 'Decisions affecting wages made by any Works 
 Council or General Council or by arbitration shall be 
 subject to revision whenever changed conditions 
 justify, but not oftener than at intervals of six 
 months.' " 
 
 Struthers lifted his eyes from the sheet. 
 
 "What do you say to that as an outline of a plan 
 to inaugurate democracy in industry? 
 
 "A later employee's representation plan is the one 
 adopted by the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company 
 Dye Works. These works constitute the largest group 
 of dye factories in the country. They adopted what 
 
Industrial Representation 357 
 
 they call the Employees' Conference Plan in July 
 1919. For the purpose of representation, the Works 
 were divided into eleven departments. These are 
 the Service Department, the Mechanical Department, 
 the Power Department, the Chemical Department, the 
 Camphor and Oil Department, the Indigo Department, 
 the Intermediate Department, the Color Department, 
 the Finishing Department, the Engineering Depart- 
 ment and the Jackson Laboratory. Each department 
 has its own Department Employees' Conference con- 
 sisting of at least two men elected by the employees 
 and an equal number of men appointed by the man- 
 agement. The men's representatives are elected on 
 the basis of one man for every one hundred and fifty 
 employees. Each Department Employees' Confer- 
 ence meets once a month. 
 
 "Besides being members of the Department Em- 
 ployees' Conference, the representatives of both the 
 employees and the Management belong to the bigger 
 council known as the Works Employees' Conference. 
 This consists of forty-four representatives, twenty-two 
 of them coming from the departments and twenty-two 
 of them appointed by the management. The purpose 
 of the Works Employees' Conference as you can 
 readily understand is to take up matters of impor- 
 tance to the plants as a whole. They proceed in this 
 way. 
 
 "Any question which concerns the relationship be- 
 tween the employees and the Management must first 
 
358 Humanizing Industry 
 
 be referred to the line foreman, excepting questions 
 which may arise in which the interests of employees 
 of more than one Department are involved. These 
 questions may be submitted through the Plant Man- 
 ager directly to the Works Employees' Conference. 
 Failing to receive a satisfactory decision from the line 
 foreman, the question referred to him may be sub- 
 mitted to a Department Representative. The Repre- 
 sentative has the question put in writing and submits 
 it to his Department Employees' Conference. The 
 Department Employees' Conference may call in wit- 
 nesses or appoint a joint committee to investigate the 
 question. If this Conference decides unanimously, the 
 question is settled; if the Conference disagrees, the 
 question is referred to the Superintendent of the De- 
 partment. If the Superintendent supports the con- 
 tention of the employee, the question is settled ; if he 
 does not support the employee's contention, he must 
 put his reasons in writing and send them to the De- 
 partment Employees' Conference. The Department 
 Employees' Conference then reconsiders the question, 
 in the light of the Superintendent's recommendation. 
 If the Department Employees' Conference is still un- 
 able to reach a unanimous decision, the matter is re- 
 ferred to the Works Employees' Conference. 
 
 "The Works Employees' Conference may also call 
 in any witnesses it requires, or may appoint a special 
 joint committee to investigate. The Works Employ- 
 ees' Conference can settle the question by vote of two- 
 
Industrial Representation 359 
 
 thirds of the Representatives present at such meeting 
 for or against any proposition involved therein, but 
 if it is unable to reach a decision, the question shall 
 be referred to the Manager of the plant. If the Man- 
 ager supports the contention of the employee, the 
 question is settled. If the Manager does not support 
 the employee's contention, he must put his reasons in 
 writing and send them to the Works Employees' Con- 
 ference. The Works Employees' Conference then re- 
 considers the case. If the Works Employees' Confer- 
 ence is still unable to reach a decision by a two-thirds 
 vote, the question is referred with all the evidence, 
 reports, and minutes of all meetings on the subject, 
 to the President of the Company, whose decision is 
 final in all cases. The President will report his de- 
 cision and the reasons therefor to the Works Em- 
 ployees' Conference. 
 
 "Whenever any question arises in which the inter- 
 ests of employees of more than one Department are 
 involved, it may be submitted, through the Plant Man- 
 ager, directly to the Works Employees' Conference, 
 which shall consider and vote upon such question at 
 any regular meeting or at any special meeting called 
 for the purpose of consideraton thereof. The vote of 
 two-thirds of the Representatives present at such meet- 
 ing for or against any proposition submitted thereat 
 shall be required for determination thereof. If the 
 Works Employees' Conference is unable to reach a 
 decision by such two-thirds vote, the question shall 
 
360 Humanizing Industry 
 
 thereupon be referred with all records relating to the 
 subject to the President of the Company, whose de- 
 cision with respect thereto shall be final, and the 
 President shall promptly report his decision and the 
 reasons therefor to the Works Employees' Conference. 
 
 "The minutes of all meetings and records of all 
 investigations are open to the inspection of any em- 
 ployee at the Dye Works. 
 
 "An employee in order to be eligible to election as 
 an Employees' Representative must have been in the 
 employ of the Company for at least one year directly 
 previous to his nomination. He must be a citizen of 
 the United States, or have taken out his first natural- 
 ization papers. He must be at least twenty-one years 
 of age, and be able to read and write the English 
 language. 
 
 "A majority of the total membership of a Confer- 
 ence constitutes a quorum, but in no q#se shall the 
 number of Management's Representatives exceed the 
 number of Employees' Representatives at any meet- 
 ing. 
 
 "Both these plans are of such recent adoption that 
 it is difficult to tell at the present moment how they 
 will work out. They have the elements of valuable 
 representation; whether these elements will function 
 properly remains to be seen. 
 
 "The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, how- 
 ever, has an industrial representation plan which has 
 been in force longer than either of these, having been 
 
Industrial Representation 361 
 
 adopted in March, 1918. At that time a call was issued 
 to the men in the Bayonne Shops to elect representa- 
 tives to an industrial council on the basis of one man 
 for every one hundred and fifty employees. In no 
 case, however, was any division of the works repre- 
 sented by less than two men. The workers were 
 grouped into fourteen divisions in a manner similar 
 to the one adopted by the du Pont people. They in- 
 cluded divisions of the boilermakers, the blacksmiths, 
 the carpenters, the painters, the masons, the pipe- 
 fitters, the watchmen, the common laborers, the hoist- 
 ing engineers, the tinsmiths and all the other branches 
 of work that enter into the industry. There were 
 thirty-seven representatives in all, voted for by secret 
 ballot. These met at the offices of the company on 
 April 1st. At this conference between the manage- 
 ment and the employees' representatives, plans were 
 immediately formulated bearing upon pensions, hours 
 of labor, sickness and accident benefits and group 
 insurance. The most important constructive measure 
 that grew out of this conference was the organization 
 of a works employment department. A definite series 
 of rules were laid down which insured to the employee 
 fair treatment at the hands of his superiors. It gave 
 him the right of appeal to the industrial conference 
 through his representative in case he was discharged 
 without due cause. This right of appeal also held in 
 all other matters pertaining to the relationship be- 
 tween the employee and his foreman or superinten- 
 
362 Humanizing Industry 
 
 dent. The right of appeal was worded as follows:" 
 Struthers read from a sheet of paper he had removed 
 from his pocket. 
 
 " 'Any employee who feels that he has been unjustly 
 treated or subjected to any unfair conditions, has the 
 right of appeal to the General Superintendent and 
 the higher officials of the Company, provided he shall 
 first seek to have the matter adjusted by conference, 
 in person or through his regularly elected representa- 
 tive, with the foreman or the Employment Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 " 'Before such appeal shall be taken to any official 
 not located at the Plant it shall first be considered in 
 a joint conference composed of the Employ ees> Rep- 
 resentatives in the Division affected, and an equal 
 number of Representatives of the Company. In case 
 such conference fails to agree unanimously as to the 
 fair adjustment, an appeal may be made to the Execu- 
 tive Council at the Works, or in case such a Council 
 has not been organized, to a conference composed of 
 all of the Employees' Representatives at the Works 
 together with an equal number of Company Repre- 
 sentatives.' 
 
 "This industrial representation plan called for at 
 least four joint conferences between the representa- 
 tives of the employees and those of the management. 
 In no case was it allowed to have the number of rep- 
 resentatives of the management exceed those of the 
 employees. 
 
Industrial Representation 363 
 
 "During the first twelve months in which the plan 
 was in operation, eighty joint conferences were held 
 between the workers and the management. During 
 these conferences one hundred and nineteen different 
 important topics were discussed and amicably settled 
 by the employees' and management representatives. 
 These topics were divided as follows : 
 
 "Wages, 38 per cent; working conditions, 10 per 
 cent. ; promotions and discharges, 9 per cent. ; hours, 
 8.5 per cent. ; methods of wage payments, 8 per cent. ; 
 industrial representation plan, 8.5 per cent.; sanita- 
 tion, housing and social work, 9 per cent.; and mis- 
 cellaneous subjects, 9 per cent. 
 
 "The wage decisions in which the wage earners 
 themselves participated increased the annual pay roll 
 of the company by approximately $5,000,000. 
 
 "You may say," Struthers continued, "that this 
 wage increase might have been granted, representa- 
 tion plan or not, but the fact remains that with the 
 workers concurring in action of this sort, you not only 
 make the increase on a saner and truer basis, but you 
 avoid the harrowing bickering and misunderstanding 
 that always follow demands of this nature. 
 
 "William Filene & Sons Company of Boston has 
 adopted a representation plan which is different from 
 all of these I have explained. The whole working 
 force of the company are members of an organization 
 known as the Filene Cooperative Association. The 
 purpose of the association is to prevent the enforce- 
 
364 Humanizing Industry 
 
 merit by the management of unjust rules affecting the 
 discipline and working conditions of the employees; 
 to prevent unjust discharges or removals of employ- 
 ees; to inaugurate, when needed, new rules affecting 
 the employees, and to conduct the social and so-called 
 welfare activities of the store with the cooperation of 
 the management. 
 
 "The employees make their voice heard both in mass 
 meetings of all the members of the association and 
 through their elected representatives who form com- 
 pany Council. This Council, by the way, differs from 
 the others I have described in that it consists only 
 of members of the employee body elected by the em- 
 ployees. 
 
 "Changes in the administration of the store may be 
 inaugurated on the part of the employees in one of 
 two ways. The members of the association may gather 
 in mass meeting and vote on the subject under con- 
 sideration. If two-thirds vote in favor of it, it be- 
 comes at once operative. The second method is lim- 
 ited to the votes in the Council. If five-sixths of the 
 members of this body vote in favor of a rule, it goes 
 into effect at the close of the week unless vetoed in 
 the interim by the General Manager, the President, 
 or Board of Managers of the Corporation. In the 
 event of such a veto the subject may be referred to a 
 vote of the mass of the employees and if two-thirds 
 vote in its favor, it will make the proposed change a 
 law. 
 
Industrial Representation 365 
 
 "The plan is most comparable to our system of Fed- 
 eral Government. The Council may be compared to 
 the House of Representatives and the Board of Man- 
 agers to the Senate. A law may find its inception in 
 either body. The President of the company may ap- 
 point an administrative committee which is compara- 
 ble to the national cabinet. Committees are elected 
 by the whole association to study and report matters 
 relating to their welfare. One of the most important 
 of these committees is the Arbitration Board consist- 
 ing of twelve members, one representing each section 
 of the store, and a chairman appointed from the Coun- 
 cil by the President. It is interesting to know that 
 the decisions made in matters that have come up for 
 discussion have been about equally divided in favor 
 between the employees and the management." 
 
 Struthers paused for a moment, then continued. 
 
 "The past few years," he said, "have seen a great 
 extension of this movement toward giving the em- 
 ployee a voice in management. Some organizations 
 have adopted one form of representation; others a 
 second, still others a third. Each according to its 
 own needs. On April 21, 1919, the president of the 
 International Paper Company issued a statement 
 which is important in that it shows the present trend 
 of thought among progressive employers. This is 
 what he said." Struthers took out a sheet of type- 
 written matter and read aloud : 
 
 " 'This company believes it to be desirable that some 
 
366 Humanizing Industry 
 
 permanent authority be created to study, deal with 
 and administer matters and conditions, generally 
 known as industrial relations, which means and in- 
 cludes general relations between employees and em- 
 ployers, standards of wages and employment, proper 
 classification of occupations, improving living and 
 working conditions, in plants and localities, and the 
 elimination of industrial accidents, as well as meth- 
 ods of promoting harmonious relation between em- 
 ployers and employees concerned, to apply to the in- 
 dustry generally. 
 
 " "To effect such purposes, Committees of Repre- 
 sentatives of Paper Manufacturing Companies and 
 Employees should be created for the purpose of study- 
 ing such subjects, and recommending plans and meth- 
 ods of application or administration of same. Such 
 Committees to make formal report to the Companies 
 and Employees, or as many of the parties concerned 
 as are willing to join in such effort. It being under- 
 stood each Manufacturing Company, joining in said 
 proposal, is pledged to cooperate with, and provide, 
 this Committee such data or information as may be 
 necessary to carry out the foregoing. 
 
 " 'This Company intends, in any event, to continue 
 and enlarge its activities, in this general direction, 
 whether or not other Companies join in the proposal, 
 or such Committee is formed to the end that both 
 the Company and Employees may have more complete 
 knowledge of the conditions of each other, that" the 
 
Industrial Representation 367 
 
 Employees may have a larger and continually increas- 
 ing interest in, and determination of, the questions 
 that affect their employment, and the spirit of mutual 
 cooperation be enlarged to the fullest extent.' ' 
 
 Struthers looked up from the paper before him. 
 "I could go on indefinitely giving you examples of this 
 new attitude toward labor," he said. "It exists; it 
 is alive ; and its importance cannot be gainsaid. There 
 are at least twenty other organizations that are to- 
 day working under an employee representation plan. 
 The Phelps-Dodge Corporation is one of them; the 
 Procter & Gamble Company is another; the Smith 
 & Wesson Company, the General Electric people 
 and the Goodyear Rubber Company are still others. 
 Most of these, it is true, are in the experiment stage, 
 but the important fact to be observed is this one 
 these people appreciate that an experiment of this 
 sort is necessary. 
 
 xjjerhaps the strongest thing that can be said in 
 the favor of the adoption of such a plan is that the 
 labor agitators are against it. Why? For the simple 
 reason that it leaves them without a bone to pick. It 
 takes from them their jobs. Just as soon as you create 
 a medium within your own plant for proper arbitra- 
 tion of matters that are peculiar to your plant, the 
 need for external control and arbitration by labor 
 groups ceases. If this form of shop organization were 
 inaugurated out of sense of real justice and coopera- 
 tion and allowed to grow in a healthy manner, there 
 
368 Humanizing Industry 
 
 is not a doubt in my mind but that it would in time 
 supersede the trade unions, which have, to a great 
 measure, outgrown their usefulness. It may be, of 
 course, that in time the various councils within a plant 
 may form associations with councils in other plants. 
 That would not be invaluable in that it would result 
 in a standardization of conditions that make for the 
 happiness of the workers. An employer of labor need 
 fear nothing from such associations if he is honestly 
 interested in inaugurating the most progressive em- 
 ployment reforms. Having been fair and aboveboard 
 with his men, he knows that they will ask nothing 
 which is not directed to the ultimate welfare of the 
 plant Which means their welfare and yours, Hard- 
 
 biggest thing, to my mind, that grows out of 
 such an arrangement is the closer understanding and 
 cooperation between the men and the management. 
 It makes for free interchange of constructive ideas. 
 Hurley once confessed to me that he has never of his 
 accord gone into your office for any other purpose 
 than to voice a demand for more wages, a demand 
 that had the possibility of a threat of a strike in it 
 in the event that it was not granted. At the same 
 time, I think you will confess that in the past you 
 never called him to your office except to demand ex- 
 planation for let-downs in production or increase in 
 labor turnovers. Or similar things. What I am driv- 
 ing at is that you two people were not in the habit 
 
Industrial Representation 369 
 
 of meeting to discuss anything amicably; it was al- 
 ways for the purpose of browbeating each other, each 
 in his own way. Both of you have the elements 
 of strength within you and yet instead of applying 
 those elements toward creating something fine and 
 worthwhile you have applied them toward something 
 vile and worthless. I know that sounds very strong, 
 but, to save my soul, I can't see where this festering 
 enmity between two people who are interested in the 
 same thing and are working toward the same goal is 
 anything but vile and worthless?) 
 
 "Lately you have discovered tnat Hurley has some- 
 thing very valuable behind that stolid front of his. 
 You are both having a good deal of fun playing about 
 with it. Neither of you is yet willing to own up and 
 concede the powers of the other. Very well. Let per- 
 sonal matters take their own course. But, Hardwick, 
 have you stopped to consider that Hurley is only one 
 of the men in the plant and that there are a good 
 many others whose constructive minds are waiting to 
 be tapped? Get to know these men and let them get 
 to know you. You may all find that under the black- 
 ness of the pot and the kettle there may be some very 
 precious metal. Clear away the blackness and the 
 soot, old man, and discover what it is you have below. 
 It is up to you to make the first move. And what is 
 more important, it is up to you to make it soon. Don't 
 wait until it is forced upon you. Just as soon as that 
 happens the whole thing loses in value. Sledge ham- 
 
37 Humanizing Industry 
 
 mer methods do not work in creating warm human 
 relationships. And the relationships must be warm 
 and human if they are to lead to the happiness of the 
 men concerned." 
 
CHAPTER ELEVEN 
 
 HURLEY DECIDES TO STAY 
 
 "HURLEY," Struthers asked, as the two men were 
 sitting together over the New York evening paper, 
 "why is it you hate Swedes? When I first came here 
 Mrs. Smith down the road warned me that you 
 wouldn't take me in if I were one. What's behind 
 that? Just natural, unfounded prejudice or some 
 good reason?" 
 
 Hurley glowered behind his paper for a few min- 
 utes, then dropped the sheet. His eyes were stern as 
 they met Struthers'. Struthers noticed their ex- 
 pression. 
 
 "Never mind speaking about that if you'd rather 
 not," he said. "I thought it was just some fool idea. 
 That's all." 
 
 Hurley sat silent for a few moments longer. Then 
 he cleared his throat. 
 
 "It's all right, Struthers," he said. "I don't mind 
 telling you. I do hate Swedes. Worse than Hell. 
 And I've good reason to. They played me a very 
 nasty trick once. The sort of trick that changes the 
 whole run of a man's life. 
 
 "Way back when I was a youngster of twenty-two 
 
 371 
 
Humanizing Industry 
 
 I was shift boss at a mine. I had a whole slew of 
 Swedes working under me. I ran them hard, heaven 
 knows, but I got results. Better than any other boss 
 in the works. With only one exception perhaps. That 
 was a boy just as old as me. Jimmy Donlin. Jimmy 
 and I were chums. We were both working for the 
 money that was in it. We were going to school with 
 it when we had enough. Engineering school. There 
 was a bonus offered to the shift boss who'd turn out 
 the biggest load of ore. Jimmy and I were working 
 for that bonus. It wouldn't have made any difference 
 who got it. We would have waited for each other. 
 Well, those Swedes knew about this. 
 i "There was no love lost between them and me 
 ever; we just didn't understand each other. They 
 didn't like the way I did things. Maybe I didn't do 
 them right. Maybe I didn't. But I didn't like the 
 way they did things either. When a man hired out 
 to use his pick for a certain number of hours a day, 
 it seemed to me that it was his business to use his 
 pick that number of hours. We were getting close to 
 the end of the race, Jimmy and I in the lead. It was 
 then those men got us. Got us where we couldn't 
 move. The men in Jimmy's section and mine struck. 
 Wouldn't touch a tool. Just simply walked out and 
 rushed in a crowd to the town hangout. Got roaring, 
 howling drunk. Jim and I, we couldn't give up the 
 thing that way, without a fight. What's more we were 
 young and hot-blooded. We followed the men to the 
 
Hurley Decides to Stay 373 
 
 saloon and tried to round them up. It was then the 
 thing happened. Jim was shot. Dead. Fell down 
 like a log. A dead log." Hurley got up from his 
 chair and began pacing up and down the room. 
 
 "I guess that's all there is to tell," he finally said. 
 "I did some shooting myself and cleared out. Never 
 did what I wanted to. Couldn't, that's all. Just 
 couldn't. And why? Because a Swede, damn him, 
 got Jimmy. That's all. Now you know. And now 
 suppose we change the subject." 
 
 "Suppose w^e don't, Hurley," Struthers replied, after 
 a few moments. "I will if you want me to, but sup- 
 pose we take up the impersonal features of this affair." 
 
 "What do you mean by impersonal features?" Hur- 
 ley asked crisply. "There was nothing impersonal 
 about them. They were all damn personal. They 
 meant everything in the world to me." 
 
 "That's right. I agree with you there. And be- 
 cause they did, you lost sight of everything else, of 
 human values, of human rights, just as long as the 
 sound of the pick kept sounding in your ears. It's 
 funny, isn't it, how music of that sort gets you? Es- 
 pecially when it is singing a song that's dedicated to 
 you. Funny, isn't it, Hurley, and yet how soon do 
 you forget the sweetness of the song when it's tuned to 
 the key of some other man's endeavors? However, let's 
 not go into that. The point I am driving at is that 
 you might have prevented bloodshed and created a 
 career if you had used some ordinary horse sense. 
 
374 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Might have, I say, if you had gone to those men and 
 explained the situation and told them what depended 
 on it. The chances are that they would have listened 
 to you." 
 
 Hurley pulled the pipe out of his mouth impa- 
 tiently. "The chances are Hell," he said. "You talk 
 like little Lord Fauntleroy. I was dealing with 
 Swedes, man, Swedes. Do you know how thick they 
 can be, if they grow thick? Besides, Struthers, where 
 is all this leading to? The thing's dead and gone. 
 What's the use of chewing over it?" 
 
 "Just this, Hurley. You may have to sit with a 
 Swede on some sort of common council. I mean that 
 Mr. Hardwick may adopt some plan whereby the men 
 may have a voice in the running of the plant. He 
 said something about it to-day. He mentioned you 
 and Svenson as two probable members. That's what 
 put me on the subject of Swedes." 
 
 Hurley leaned forward. 
 
 "You say the men will be given a voice in the run- 
 ning of the plant? Ha! Good joke that." 
 
 Struthers made no comment on the exclamation. 
 After a while Hurley ejaculated the word, "How?" 
 
 "Through shop committees and works councils," 
 Struthers replied. "Each shop will probably have its 
 committee made up of representatives of the men and 
 the foremen. These will arrange and discuss the 
 works of the shop. Together with these, you will 
 have a works council made up of all the shop com- 
 
Hurley Decides to Stay 375 
 
 mittee representatives. These will take care of mat- 
 ters pertaining to the whole plant. They will also 
 act as a court of appeals for cases that cannot be 
 settled by the shop committee. Still higher than the 
 works council there will be a board of arbitration 
 made up of a select few of the representatives of the 
 men and the management. Mr. Hardwick will, of 
 course, be the head of all this." 
 
 Hurley bit his lower lip in thought for a moment. 
 Then he spoke. 
 
 "Repeat that again, will you? The arrangement, I 
 mean." 
 
 Struthers did as he was told. Hurley listened in- 
 tently. There was a pause when Struthers finished. 
 Hurley kept smoking fiercely at his pipe. After a 
 while he impatiently removed the pipe-stem between 
 his teeth. 
 
 "It's all right, Struthers," he said. "It's all right. 
 But where is it going to lead? It sounds all right and 
 will look all right on paper, but as far as I can see 
 that's where it is going to end. You mean well and 
 the boss means well, I guess, but he won't ever give 
 up his rights. He won't ever stop being the boss." 
 
 "Well, why should he?" Struthers asked. "It's not 
 what he will give up that counts, it's what you will 
 add. There's no reason in the wide world why he 
 should give up being the boss and nobody ought to 
 understand that better than you, but there is every 
 reason why the men should have the right and the 
 
376 Humanizing Industry 
 
 power to have a voice in those matters which concern 
 them." 
 
 "Sure. The things that concern them. That's a 
 very elastic sort of arrangement. The things that con- 
 cern them. Come, man, be sensible. I know what you 
 are trying to do and I can see now that Hardwick is 
 not a bad sort after all what he did for Larry proved 
 that but when it comes to talking about the men hav- 
 ing a voice in the things that concern them, it sounds 
 like nothing to me. Everything concerns them. Do 
 you hear, everything? And Hardwick will not let 
 them have a say-so into everything. Come, man, there 
 is no need to sugar-coat things for me. Be honest. 
 Please. You always have been." 
 
 "Hurley, will you ever cease doubting the value of 
 everything?" Struthers asked. "Will you ever cease 
 being the skeptic? What you say is true to a degree. 
 The men will not have a voice in the decision of every- 
 thing, because they do not know the things that enter 
 into the decision of everything. You have made your- 
 self familiar with the safety methods. It is there that 
 your voice is important. A man in the foundries 
 knows all about the rate of tonnage and waste in his 
 department. It is in the discussion of that subject 
 that he is important. Still another can talk intelli- 
 gently about methods of welding. It is there that 
 he ranks highest. Each of you and all of you have 
 something definite to offer along these various lines. 
 But what, Hurley, do you know about shipping costs 
 
Hurley Decides to Stay 377 
 
 and export costs, and rates of exchange and foreign 
 tariffs? What does the man in the foundry know 
 about that? And the man in the welding depart- 
 ment? Hardwick has made himself an expert along 
 these questions; they control the manipulation of the 
 whole plant and it is the only sensible and the scien- 
 tific thing to do to leave those matters to him. He 
 can explain situations to you and tell you their effects 
 on the production of the plant, but when it comes to 
 making a decision about taking or leaving orders, and 
 the prices and the conditions of shipment, it seems 
 to me that is where he is the sole judge. 
 
 "A man I knew used to say to me that you can't 
 trust a stick that has an inch missing to measure a 
 full yard. Well, you can't. And you can't trust a 
 rule that's only eleven inches long to give you a foot 
 measure. What can you do, then? Go to the man 
 who has the stick that will give you the full number 
 of inches. The men in the shops can give just so 
 much toward the management of the plant but they 
 can't give all. 
 
 Fit is fair and honest to let them go to the extent 
 that" they can go; to the extent that their suggestions 
 will tend to make the plant, which is their plant, as 
 well as Hardwick's, more productive and more effi- 
 cient, but it would be insane to let them dabble in those 
 things of which they know nothing. I grant they may 
 in time learn to give expert advice in all matters per- 
 taining to the management of the plant, but until 
 
378 Humanizing Industry 
 
 they do, it is rather foolish of you to scoff at the idea 
 of there being a limit put to those matters to-day. 
 
 "Besides, Hurley, don't forget that, after all, the 
 plant belongs to Hardwick. You can't get away from 
 the existence of ownership. He is not interested in 
 any wild-cat scheme of abdicating his rights; he is 
 interested in the sane idea of getting the cooperation 
 of the men whose livelihood depends on the running 
 of the plant by giving them a voice in those matters 
 which govern the rise or fall of production. And the 
 rise and fall of production depend, above all, on the 
 happiness of the men in their employment. On their 
 health for one thing, on the safety conditions for an- 
 other, on the hours of labor for a third, on the wages 
 for a fourth. Surely it must seem important to you 
 to have the men given a voice in those things. Surely 
 you can't keep hiding your head in the ground and 
 refuse to see the value of such reforms?} 
 
 ^Qreat Scott, Hurley," Struthers continued, as Hur- 
 ley sat unmoved, "do you mean to say that it means 
 nothing to you to be able to avert bickerings and 
 grumbles and talks of strikes by meeting in open coun- 
 cil and discussing these things like human beings 
 instead of fighting them out dumbly like inarticulate 
 animals? Do you mean to say that you'd rather go 
 on along the old way of misunderstanding and antag- 
 onism than enter into something that will give you the 
 power to create a new and cleaner relationship? Man 
 
Hurley Decides to Stay 379 
 
 alive, what have you been demanding all these years 
 if it wasn't tha^b 
 
 "It was that," Hurley replied slowly, "it was that, 
 but now that it's here, well, I can't help but wonder 
 how it will work out. It's something new and, Struth- 
 ers, I am afraid of it. Afraid of how it's going to 
 work out. Afraid that it's a shell offered for the sub- 
 stance. Afraid that years of habit can't be changed 
 overnight. Can't you see what's worrying me, man?" 
 he agked, his voice suddenly growing thick. 
 
 \Iiuleed I can," Struthers answered. "It's the fear 
 of the unknown on the one hand, and the fear of being 
 hoodwinked on the other. But you've got to give the 
 thing a trial before you condemn it. You can't get 
 anywhere unless you experiment with an open mind. 
 You make up your mind that the thing is a fake and 
 a farce, and unconsciously or consciously you'll turn 
 all your efforts to making it that. On the other hand, 
 you go to it with the idea that herein lies the solu- 
 tion to labor differences, and it's an even bet that 
 you're going to turn all your powers toward making it 
 an instrument of that caliber. 
 
 "You want better homes, cleaner streets, higher 
 educational opportunities, healthier working sur- 
 roundings. Here you are. Use the tools that are 
 given you and create these things. The very fact that 
 the power to handle these tools will be given you 
 shows that the man on top is willing to see you use 
 
380 Humanizing Industry 
 
 them. He wants you to use them. He is just as sick 
 of the old relationship as you are. He is just as weary 
 of being considered as nothing but a driving power as 
 you are of being considered a productive power. You 
 are both human beings. It is up to both of you to 
 become constructively cognizant of that fact. Not 
 until then shall we be able to substitute the new rela- 
 tionships for the old. Not until then, Hurley, and it 
 is upto you and the men you represent to hasten that 
 time^) 
 
 The two men remained silent after Struthers had 
 finished speaking. They sat there for a long time, 
 each man puffing at his own pipe; each man busy 
 with his own thoughts. It was Hurley who finally 
 broke the silence with the words: 
 
 "I have been helping Mr. Hardwick with a pension 
 plan." 
 
 "What do you think of it?" came the unstartled an- 
 swer. 
 
 "It's all right." 
 
 Again the men subsided into silence. This time it 
 was Struthers who spoke first. 
 
 "Hurley, there's something I want to say to you. 
 If you're unhappy here and want to get away, I think 
 I can manage to find a hole for you in some other 
 place. In a bigger place. With conditions better than 
 they are here to-day. With better opportunities, may- 
 be. I never could see the use of staying in an environ- 
 ment where you aren't happy. If you want to clear 
 
Hurley Decides to Stay 381 
 
 out, I can help you. Hardwick will understand when 
 I explain to him." 
 
 Hurley had taken his pipe from between his teeth 
 when Struthers had begun to speak and had neglected 
 to replace it. He sat listening attentively. A frown 
 gathered between his eyes. He sat staring at the wall 
 in front of him for some moments after Struthers had 
 finished. 
 
 "Thank you for that, Struthers," he finally said. 
 "You're a white man for telling me, but I'll stay here. 
 If things are going to happen I want to be here at the 
 happening. If you had said that to me four months 
 ago, I should have packed my kit and baggage and 
 gone. I should have been mighty glad to go. But 
 there's work to be done here now, and I want to have 
 a hand in the doing of it. Besides," he added, after a 
 short pause, "I am helping Mr. Hardwick with some 
 plans and I don't want to leave him. No, Struthers, 
 I guess I'll stay right here." 
 
 Struthers reached across the table and extended his 
 hand to Hurley. As the latter grasped it, he said very 
 quietly : 
 
 "Good work, Hurley. I am mighty glad to hear you 
 say that." There was a little embarrassed pause after 
 this momentary show of feeling. Struthers broke it 
 by self-consciously clearing his throat. 
 
 "Oh, by the way, Hurley, there is something else 
 that I wanted to tell you. I thought you might want 
 to know." 
 
382 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Before Struthers had a chance to go ahead, Hurley 
 broke in with the words : 
 
 "You're going away. That's it, isn't it?" As Struth- 
 ers nodded his head in the affirmative, Hurley went 
 on. "I knew it. I knew you couldn't stay here for- 
 ever. Well, man, let me tell you that it was you who 
 has kept my head above water. Aye, mine and Hard- 
 wick's too. Things might have happened here ; things 
 different from the ones that are happening and I 
 might have been sorry for their happening. Or else," 
 he continued with a wry smile, "I might not have been 
 sorry, because dead men feel no sorrow. It's been 
 good to know you, Struthers, better than you know." 
 
 "And it's been good to know you," Struthers replied 
 as their hands again met in a firm clasp. 
 
CHAPTER TWELVE 
 
 HARDWICK FALLS IN LINE 
 
 HABDWICK was seated at his desk in his office, busily 
 drawing up plans. "Shop foreman, department man- 
 ager, general manager," his lips formed the words as 
 he placed them in the squares marked "shop commit- 
 tee," "department committee," "works council." A 
 knock at the door made him raise his head. 
 
 "Come in," he called. 
 
 Struthers entered. He was dressel in a good suit 
 of street clothes. Hardwick looked at him in sur- 
 prise. His face broke out into a smile. 
 
 "You're not going courting, are you? With those 
 
 clothes I mean. Or, or " the smile gave way to a 
 
 look of serious concern. "Struthers, you're not going 
 away?" he exlaimed. "Not now?" 
 
 Struthers sat down at the opposite side of the desk. 
 He fingered his hat nervously. 
 
 "I am going away, Hardwick. I've got to. I've 
 been here for more than five months now. It's 
 a long time for me to be roosting in one place. I've 
 got to be going. I've got to keep moving. I've done 
 all I could here; I mean I've told you what I know; 
 
 383 
 
384 Humanizing Industry 
 
 it's up to you to do the rest. You don't really need 
 me any more." 
 
 "Don't talk tommy rot," Hard wick interrupted im- 
 patiently. "Why, Struthers, man, you can't go. 
 We're just starting things here. We're just starting 
 the things that mean so much to you. Oh, come on, 
 you were fooling when you said that. You come on 
 and move your things up to my place. You don't have 
 to live down at Hurley's any more. You'll live up 
 there and I'll have another desk put into this office. 
 I need you, Struthers, and you can't go. I mean I 
 don't want you to go." 
 
 Struthers smiled whimsically across at the man 
 opposite him. His face grew suffused with a blush 
 that gave him greatly the appearance of a small boy. 
 
 "It's no use, Steve. I'm going. I'll probably turn 
 back here some day soon. You know. Bad penny 
 affair. But I can't stick. I can't. That's what 
 makes you so much the better man. Your power to 
 hold on to one job and make it grow. Your power to 
 build things. To build things that last. 
 
 "I," Struthers laughed shortly, "I'm a pretty poor 
 sort of a builder. As a matter of fact, I am not a 
 builder. Maybe, if you're very kind to me, you can 
 call me a sower. Just a sower, remember, and not 
 even a planter. I don't cultivate things, Steve, I can't. 
 I just drop seeds. The only thing to my credit is that 
 I don't drop them wildly. I pick my ground. And I 
 give the best I have to offer. But apart from that. 
 
Hardwick Falls in Line 385 
 
 bah, I guess, I'm not much use. I just want to keep 
 moving." 
 
 "Don't talk like an ass, Peter, old boy." Uncon- 
 sciously the two men had reverted to the names that 
 they had called each other in the old days. "Don't 
 talk like an ass, Peter," Hardwick repeated. ""Not 
 much use ! Good heavens, man, don't you know what 
 you have done for me and for Hurley and for every 
 damn thing connected with this place? Not much use! 
 I like that ! I can understand your going, but I'll be 
 hanged if I'll let you say you're not much use." 
 
 "All right, old scout," came Struthers' half -choked 
 reply. "All right. We'll let it go at that. Only, don't 
 let's get explosive over it. Just as long as we under- 
 stand each other, it's all right." 
 
 The two men sat in silence. 
 
 "Steve," Struthers said at last, "I'm going now, but 
 I shall probably be br.ck. In a year anyway. Will you 
 will you have things done here?" 
 
 "I will," came the quiet answer. 
 
 "Good." There was another pause. 
 
 Cgteve, there's something more I want to tell you. 
 I might as well warn you. Things may not go smooth- 
 ly at first. They probably will not. Don't get im- 
 patient. Give them a chance to grow. You won't 
 get the thing you're after right immediately after you 
 have inaugurated the reforms. You'll have to give 
 things a chance to mellow. You'll have to let them 
 find themselves) 
 
386 Humanizing Industry 
 
 be like putting on a good performance. All 
 the different things about which we have spoken to- 
 gether are the props and the setting for the play. The 
 health work is one prop, and the educational work is 
 another, and the housing don't forget the housing, 
 Steve is still another. And the education and profit- 
 sharing and representation. All of them are the 
 props and setting for the biggest performance that 
 has ever been staged. The one of cooperation in in- 
 dustry. Or synonymously, the one of industrial suc- 
 cess. But, old scout, there won't be anything to 
 your play if the human factor is forgotten. The 
 props won't make it a success nor will the setting. 
 You mustn't forget your actors. And you mustn't 
 forget that they must work together. That a slip 
 on the part of one of them will knock the whole 
 thing to pieces. You've got to make them understand 
 that. They won't, while they're rehearsing, Steve. 
 Each one of them will probably want to hold the cen- 
 ter of the stage at the very beginning. New actors 
 always do that. And they'll probably squabble over 
 the importance and the emphasis of a line. Expect 
 that. Unless you do, the thing will break your spirit. 
 Don't let it do that. In time, they will get to know 
 how their parts fit in. In time they will know when 
 to respond to their cues. Only be patient and explain. 
 It won't take them very long before they will under- 
 stand that the performance may be made a beautiful 
 thing and that it is within their power to make it a 
 
Hardwick Falls in Line 387 
 
 beautiful thing. The more considerate and patient 
 you are, the sooner they will arrive at that under- 
 standing. Don't be satisfied until you have created 
 a work of art, Steve. Don't be satisfied with a 
 sloppy performance. Hound out the corners, plug 
 up the holes and clean up the debris. By which I 
 mean, let there be nothing wanting in the relation- 
 ship between you and the men who are working with' 
 you. Make it fine, Steve, make it worthwhile. Don't 
 let it just be stage props* 
 
 "Those other organizations that I have mentioned 
 from time to time, all of them were valuable in that 
 they illustrated the point I was trying to make. All 
 of them have inaugurated the reform about which I 
 was speaking. But, Steve, some of them have stopped 
 at the inauguration. In time, perhaps, they will come 
 to the point where they will understand that more is 
 necessary than the props they have installed. Not 
 that the props are valueless. Without them you 
 can't go ahead. That is the first move. That is the 
 move that creates on the part of the men a feeling of 
 pleased excitement and anticipation. Don't kill that 
 feeling of excitement and don't disappoint the antici- 
 pation. You create a spirit of ineffectualism if you 
 do. The director of the plant feels that he has taken 
 a white elephant upon himself in introducing the re- 
 form, whatever it is ; the men feel that there is some- 
 thing wanting in them if they can't respond to the 
 advances made toward them. What happens? You 
 
388 Humanizing Industry 
 
 get an impotent, irksome, dissatisfied sort of feeling 
 and the thing is pronounced a failure. Don't make 
 that mistake, Steve. If you start the thing, go all the 
 way. Don't be satisfied with the props alone. 
 
 "The second move is to bring the men upon the 
 stage, to show them what the props mean and to go 
 into immediate rehearsal. That move, unfortunately, 
 has been omitted by a good number of those men who 
 have been farsighted enough to see the need of new 
 staging. They have been sadly shortsighted, when it 
 came to a recognition of the necessity of using that 
 staging. 
 
 "And, Steve, whatever you do be honest with your- 
 self and the men all the time. Understand your short- 
 comings and understand theirs. Never forget that 
 you are a human being, dealing with human beings, 
 and that the whole mass of you is made of individuals 
 who are not infallible. Expect bumps and jars and 
 misunderstandings. They will surely come your way. 
 Only don't let them discountenance you for any length 
 of time." 
 
 Struthers stopped. "That's all, I guess," he said. 
 The two men gazed at each other in silence. What 
 they read in each other's face satisfied them both. 
 Each man inwardly gave praise for the friendship of 
 the other. 
 
 Struthers was the first to speak. 
 
 "Talking as usual," he laughed. "Sob stuff, this 
 time." 
 
Hardwick Falls in Line 389 
 
 The two men laughed aloud in relief. 
 
 "When do you go?" Hardwick asked. 
 
 "To-morrow." 
 
 "You're in pretty much of a hurry. But, then, you 
 always were. By the way, have you told Hurley?" 
 
 "Yes. Yesterday. That reminds me. There is 
 something I want to tell you. I offered to get Hurley 
 a job away from here. A better job. I could have 
 placed him with Thompson, I guess. He refused." 
 
 Hardwick sat up straight in his chair. 
 
 "You offered to give Hurley another job? Well! 
 That's pretty much in the nature of an eye-opener. 
 Why did you do that?" 
 
 "For two reasons," Struthers replied. "First of 
 all, as I explained to him, a dissatisfied man is of no 
 value either to himself or the place for which he works. 
 And secondly, I was interested in getting his answer. 
 As I say, I could have placed him with Thompson. 
 Hurley is a good man. But, I was quite certain there 
 would be no need of placing him. I wanted to make 
 sure, however. I wanted to make sure that the experi- 
 ment was working. Hurley refused. Gave as his 
 reason that he wanted to be in the middle of things 
 while they were happening here. Gave as a second- 
 ary reason," Struthers continued after a short pause, 
 "that he was helping you with some work and didn't 
 want to leave you." 
 
 Hardwick looked up quickly. 
 
 "Hurley said that?" he asked. 
 
39 Humanizing Industry 
 
 Struthers nodded. 
 
 "The old mule, the good old mule," Hardwick mur- 
 mured half aloud. "Struthers, he is a good sort, is 
 Hurley, and don't you forget it. I should have been 
 pretty much of a lost animal with you gone and him 
 gone. Well, I guess the two old mules you're leaving 
 will have to run in harness for a while to keep things 
 moving here. It wouldn't be a bad idea, though, old 
 man, if you yelled out a direction occasionally so that 
 we don't bump into each other and to help us keep 
 a straight road ahead. What do you say?" 
 
 "I say all right. And good luck to you and to the 
 work you're doing." 
 
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