ntment.

The problem of keeping the employees contented is somewhat different in
every place. House organs, picnics, dances, recreation parks,
sanitariums in the country and so on can be utilized by "big business,"
but the spirit which animates them is the same as that which makes the
grocery man at Hicksville Centre give his delivery boy an afternoon off
when the baseball team comes to town. The spirit of courtesy is
everywhere the same, but it must be kept in mind that the end of
business is production, production takes work, and that play is
introduced in order that the work may be better. This is true whether we
are looking at the matter from the point of view of the employer or of
the employee. What is to the interest of one--this is gaining slow but
sure recognition--is to the interest of the other.

Certain kinds of mechanical work are very trying because of their
monotony. The work must be done, however, and in well-ordered places it
is arranged so that the worker has brief periods of rest at regular
intervals or so that he is shifted from one kind of activity to another.
It is poor economy to wear out men. In the old days before the power of
steam or electricity had been discovered, boats were propelled by slaves
who were kept below decks chained to their seats, and watched by an
overseer who forced them to continue rowing long after they had reached
the point of exhaustion. The galley slave sat always on the same side of
the boat and after a few years his body became so twisted and warped
that he was no good for anything else, and pretty soon was not even good
for that. Then he was thrown into the discard--most of them died before
they got this far along--and the owner of the boat had to look out for
more men. Something like this happens to the soul of a man who is bound
to dreary, monotonous work without relief or any outlet for growth. It
is deadening to him, to his work, and to his employer. The far-sighted
employer knows it. The masters of slaves learned it many years ago. The
chain which binds the servant to the master binds the master to the
servant. And the fastening is as secure at one end as it is at the
other.

Too strict supervision--slave-driving--is fatal to courtesy. The places
which have intricate spy systems to watch their employees are the ones
where there is most rudeness and trickery. The clerk who is hectored,
nagged, spied upon, suspected and scolded by some hireling brought in
for that