CHRISTCHURCH ACCOUNTANTS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18671, 21 April 1926, Page 10

CHRISTCHURCH ACCOUNTANTS.

STUDENTS' SOCIETY. The - Sret meeting of the Association tob held in the lecture-room of the Public Library, Mr -R. J. McLaren presiding bver a large .attendance of members; •' •» • The business ot the evening tew »• lecture by. Mr A.' O. Wilkinson-,..entitled '.'Methods of Wage Payment and .-Payment*; by Results." This, meant, said the lecturer, that employees, should be paid . according, to the results-that they give rather than by the time they take to do a certain .job. In these'times of* financial stringency the ascertainment of the costs, of' production wag very important' to ihanufactttrers. To'secure inere seed efficiency, it was most '• necessary that the .maximum amount of; Workbe done with .the piinimuiq amoutn/ of effort.' i Exploitation of the worker through low wages was now obsolete.. . Dealing witli tb'e remuneration'of laljour, the lecturer stated that it'was done'in two ways. The remuneration was made (1) independently of the quantity of the "service (time payment system), and'(2) .'with regard to .the quantity Of service' (payment by' results system). Case (2) was opposed by the trade union officials every time; the clause came up -for discussion: at the, sittings of the Arbitration- Court. : ; Thq fundamental weakness of , the time payment- system was that 'it offered no inducement .to, the .worker to produce at his - No -maximum , efforts were' voluntarily,' put .forth, and consequently production wps less' than .was possible. When the'.time- came for, 'putting into practice-the system of payment by results, it had to be remembered that' the position of those who would come outside the'system, i:e., foremen and overseers, must-be conaideredi' The 'system was impracticable, if'it, could n'ot .be applied generally. It, was >in , 1890' in. ths .U.S.A. that the. first premium- bonus.'plans 'were drawn ,up by Mr Halsey. -- .New Zealand was not affected until the late war, when shortage of labour induced ipanufacturer» to introduce the system. ' ' '

There were 12 different plana, but the lecturer dealt with the three principal ones, viz.: (1J "Piecework, opposed by trade unions; (2) Halsey-Weir SO per cent, premium bonus system; and (3) the Rowan premium bonus system, started in Glasgpw in 1888. . In regard to the first ; plan,. a .wo.rker received a definite price for a definite piece of work. This plan:fiilqd;in;ttfo directions: (1)' Costs were too. high, and (2) it restricted outputs and 'caustd,'discontent. The second and third plans were deviped so that the worker should, receive a definite bomis for time saved, and' thus 'costs' could 'be .reduced to the manufacturer. • A- detailed ; description of each plan was then given, and member* were able to'follow the' speaker closely by perusing specially prepared tables, -copies of which were handed to everyone present. Mr Wilkinson answered numerous questions. -. A Vote, of thanks, proposed, by Mr D. Y. G. Smith, and seconded by Mr G. H. Christie," was carried by 'acclamation. '