THE ORGANIZATION OF WAR INDUSTRIES. filHE announcement made in the
House of Commons _1 on Thursday of the names of the Committee which the Government have constituted to co-ordinate the organization of war industries gives hope that at last this most serious of problems is to be dealt with on consistent lines. Hitherto no such attempt as that now announced has • been made. Each Department of Government has proceeded upon its own lines, trying to do the best it can for itself. No blame attaches to the Departments in question for so acting, for, failing some central controlling body, a Department has no other guide than its own necessities. In the same way private firms have, with equally good reason, been looking at industrial problems from their own point of view. They could not do otherwise. The result has been not only overlapping of effort, but often a mutually injurious competition, Govern- ment Departments competing against one another and against private firms. To get rid of this economic anarchy, as the Socialists would call it, is by no means an easy matter, and in time of peace the task would be hopeless. For wrapped up in this so-called anarchy is an endless succession of individual interests, most of them represented by persons who are not in the least inclined to sacrifice themselves for some alleged public good. In time of war the situation is altered, because to every one the appeal of national necessity can be made, and from most people that appeal will meet with a ready response. Thus areorganiza- tion which in peace time would be absolutely impossible in war becomes, at any rate on the moral side, quite feasible. The material difficulties remain, and it is for Mr. Lloyd George's Committee to show how these can be overcome. No one expects that a perfect organization can be knocked together in a few days or a few weeks. All that we are justified in hoping for is that the organization of our war industries can be so improved as very greatly to expedite the output of war munitions of every kind.
The first of the problems with which the new Committee will have to deal is a comparatively simple one. It is the ascertainment of the facilities for production in the different factories, and the utilization of those factories which best lend themselves to the purpose in view. Why this was not done months ago nobody has ever explained. Most of the information required ought to have been at the disposal of the Government through the factory inspectors, and their knowledge if necessary could have been supplemented by special inquiries. However, there is no use in crying over spilt milk. The main point now is to get ahead, and the other difficulties which remain to be overcome are far more serious. Prominent among these is the question of what may be called the re-allocation of labour. There are an enormous number of men and women now engaged upon tasks which might perfectly well be suspended during war time, so as to enable the persons performing these tasks to be employed in the production of munitions of war. The difficulty is to get in touch with these possible war workers. For this purpose alone, if for no other, it will be necessary to supplement the Central Committee now established by a number of Local Com- mittees, who can get in closer touch both with persons and with things. In turn, the Local Committees will have to rely upon individual enthusiasm and initiative. A general appeal addressed both to employers and to employed throughout the country would doubtless bring voluntary offers of service, and these the Local Committees would have to sift.
So far we have only dealt with the problem of diverting to war production both factories and workpeople now engaged in producing things not essential to the country in time of war. But it is not necessary merely to get the buildings and the machinery and the people. In addition, it is imperative to utilize these agencies of production to their fullest extent. At present even those factories already engaged in the production of war material are not, so it is stated, doing nearly all the work of which they are capable. Here acute controversy has already arisen both as regards Trade Union regulations and as regards the alleged personal slackness of a number of workpeople. Doubtless there has been exaggeration on both points. But there remains the admitted fact that Trade Union regulations directed towards the limitation of output are still in many places in operation, and further it is admitted that many workpeople are now encouraged by their extra rate of earnings to work for fewer hours per week. As regards the first point, there has been a definite promise given by Trade Union leaders that if the Government intervened to regulate employers' profits the Trade Unions would suspend their rules for restricting output. If that under- taking is loyally adhered to, there will at once be a i
great gain. It s a more difficult matter to deal with the individual workman who " slacks " over part of the week because he can earn in four days enough to satisfy his wants for seven. In peace time every man is entitled to act on this principle. It represents a perfectly sane view of life. But in time of war, when all men who put on the King's uniform are expected to sacrifice them- selves up to any limit for the sake of their country, there is clearly a moral obligation upon industrial workers to regulate their industry, not by their standard of living, but by their standard of strength. But the question is one which can only be dealt with by moral forces. The experi- ence of the world proves that it is impossible to compel people to do more work than they are willing to do. Slavery is always uneconomic as compared with free labour. It may., however, be pointed out that there are enormous possibilities of developing among industrial workers something of the soldier spirit. In this connexion the country owes a great debt of gratitude to Lord Derby for having been the first to apply military organization to the work of dock labourers. Already the mere fact of putting dockers into uniform in Liverpool appears to have instilled in them a new pride. They march to their work shaven and well brushed, and they are careful when at work to take off their uniforms so as to keep them smart for parade purposes. These little indica- tions are very encouraging, for they illustrate the possi- bility of bringing the enthusiasm of the soldier, temporarily at any rate, to the discharge of the rather uninspiring work of the docker.
But there are further possibilities in the direction of the scientific organization of industry which have not yet been in the least realized on this side of the Atlantic, though a good deal has already been done in the United States. In particular, we wish again to direct attention to the very remarkable book published rather more that a year ago on the Principles of Scientific Management, by Mr. Frederick Winslow Taylor Carper and Brothers, 5s.). The essence of the principles which Mr. Taylor expounds is the discovery of a proper relation between the intervals of rest and work in each particular occupation. To this end, in any particular business skilled foremen are employed whose duty it is to watch the workers, and constantly to make experiments to see whether the workers' output cannot be improved either by reducing the hours of labour per day or by increasing the number of intervals allowed for rest. Some of the results achieved are most remarkable. For example, a gang of workmen were employed in loading pig- iron on to railway trucks. Their average rate per day was twelve and a half tons, but by carefully testing their strength, and insisting upon their resting for so many minutes out of each hour, this output was increased throughout the gang to the extraordinary amount of forty- seven and a half tons. Another striking case is that of girls employed in examining the steel balls for use in ball- bearings for bicycles. When Mr. Taylor started his experi- ments these girls were working ten and a half hours pet day, with a Saturday half-holiday. He began by cutting down the hours progressively to eight and a half per day, the pay remaining the same for the shorter day. The output of work increased instead of diminishing. He then went further and insisted on the girls resting regularly for a portion of each hour, with the result that there was at once a tremendous increase of output, while the girls enjoyed a more comfortable working day. Similar experiments were made with bricklaying and with a number of other simple manual operations. They all go to prove, first, that under normal conditions along working day is uneconomical, and secondly, that during the working day there must be constant intervals of rest.
A further book dealing with the same subject, called A Primer of Scientific Management, has since been written by Mr. Gilbreth (Constable and Co., 4s.). Both these books merit careful study. They indicate the enormous possibilities which may be realized by the scientific organization of labour. Possibly the question would have been actively taken up in England by private employers but for the undoubted difficulty of introducing any such revolutionary change in face of Trade Union opposition. If, as we may now hope, Trade Union methods are to be suspended during the war, the Government will have a magnificent opportunity of demonstrating how the muscles of the working man can be made more profitable both to his country and to himself.
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