ivity will take. As
has been suggested above, there may be far-reaching changes in the methods
of production. It has been said that "there is only one way by which the
wealth of the world will be quickly replaced after the war and that is
by work. The country whose workers show the greatest capacity for
productiveness will be the country which will most rapidly recuperate."[1]
The question goes deeper than the replacement of wealth. The position after
the war will be that production will be retarded because of the diminution
in the rate of accumulation of new capital since the beginning of the war;
there will be a certain amount of leeway to make up. Consequently, there
will be every incentive towards the greatest possible efficiency in
production. It is here that the workers are likely to be affected. Has
labour reached its maximum efficiency? It has been shown by the application
of what is called "scientific management," that the output of labour can be
increased to a remarkable extent. For instance, instead of shovelling 16
tons a day, a man can shovel 59 tons; a man loading pig-iron increased his
total load per day from 12-1/2 to 47-1/2 tons; the day's tale of bricks
laid has been raised from 1000 to 2700. The list could be extended to cover
operatives working at machines. In the endeavour to screw up industry to a
maximum of production, it is not likely that the expedients of "scientific
management" will long remain untried. Already the system is making
considerable headway in the United States, and it is not altogether unknown
in this country. It is not possible to enter into a full explanation of the
methods of "scientific management." Briefly, by a process of scientific
selection it puts each worker in the job for which he is best fitted, and
teaches him exactly how to use the most efficient tools with which he
would be provided. The method of teaching may be illustrated from Mr. F.W.
Taylor's own example: "Schmidt started to work, and all day long and at
regular intervals, was told by the man who stood over him with a watch,
'Now, pick up a pig and walk. Now sit down and rest. Now walk--now rest,'
etc. He worked when he was told to work, and rested when he was told to
rest, and at half-past five in the afternoon had his 47-1/2 tons loaded on
the car."[2] By elaborate experiments the exact shape and size of a shovel
is determined; by long observation useless and awkward movements of a
workman are eliminated or repl