borers
listened to wise counsel--they were well led; and second, the
employers, when they consented to make an agreement, gave the plan
adopted their genuine support. Combining good citizenship with business
sense they were able to understand the new social influences that make
the formulas of 1880 a poor gauge of efficiency factors in 1910. They
are now enjoying the benefits of their willingness to learn.

The effect of social forces is seen under different circumstances and
from an entirely different angle in the present halting policy of
American railroads.[2] Here, in addition to other social elements in
the question, is the fact of definite government control. This
circumstance has accustomed railway managers to look at both the
internal and the public factors in their success. A number of years
ago, before Mr. Justice Brandeis became a member of the Supreme Court,
he pointed out, as many others have since done, that the railroads were
looking too much to the government factor, and too little to the
economy and effectiveness of their own internal administration. Even
though we concede this point, it is still clear that the highest
efficiency of our railroads must wait upon a clarification of policy
with respect to the great social fact affecting railway operation--the
fact of government control. We may not approve the precise manner in
which the railroads respond to this fact, but obviously they cannot be
efficient and ignore it.

[2] Referring to the situation early in 1916 when this sentence
was written.

Examples, ranging all the way from accepted and enforceable legal
restrictions to the interplay of the most subtle group sentiments,
could be multiplied at will to bring out the presence of the social
factor in efficiency standards. Were it not that internal business
policies, on the one hand, and public policy toward business, on the
other, are so frequently vitiated by failure to reckon with the
probable reactions which a particular measure will call forth, I should
not retard the discussion to emphasize a point so obvious. But though
the presence of social factors is obvious, how to measure them is not
obvious. General principles that bear on a specific case are hard to
locate and difficult to apply. Even the broad lines of social and
business policy are not always clear, and the probable trend of future
policy is still less clear.

Just what are the principles that are being worked put in or