The Dominion. SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1936. THE NEW LEISURE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 226, 20 June 1936, Page 8

The Dominion. SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1936. THE NEW LEISURE

Some timely and thoughtful remarks by the Minister of Internal Affairs during the week on the need for the wholesome employmer of the new leisure the workers are to enjoy as the result of the Government’s recent legislation, are worthy of serious attention, ’ac new development in the progress of scientific discovery and invention is attended by a corresponding change in the lives and habits of the people. The coming of the railways, the bicycle, the motor-car, the aeroplane, the cinema and, in general, the tremendous development m the mechanisation of industry,, have all had a marked effect upon society, producing social problems of great complexity which to-day are engaging the earnest study of statesmen and sociologists. The planning of labour so that the worker might be able to enjoy and to profit by a greater amount of leisure has long been an absorbing topic among social reformers. Mechanisation in industry raised the tempo of production so tremendously that the. way seemed open to the Utopian existence the reformers had envisioned. But because society has been unable to adjust itself to the conditions created by the machine at a pace corresponding to the speed with which mechanisation has developed, Man has lagged behind the machine to a degree that has prompted the question which of the two is, to-day, master of the situation. Labour’s first reaction to the machine was hostile. On the face of it, mechanisation meant unemployment. It did at first, and it does now, not because the one is an inevitable corollaiy of the other, but because various other problems of industrial and social economy arising from this immense new factor in production, such as, for example, distribution and consumption, have not yet been satisfactorily settled. Until those problems have been solved, increased leisure in a universal sense, and of a kind that can be enj'oyed without anxiety, can never become a reality. Labour now perceives in the mechanisation of. industry a means to. a social end —shorter hours and more fruitful leisure, That is a social condition wholly to be desired, and worthy of being put into. practice provided that the contingent factors upon which its economic possibility depends are successfully dealt with. In his inability hitherto to cope with the results of the stupendous energy, of the new Titan in industry, Man has been dominated by the machine. He has grasped too readily and greedily the benefits of the machine and neglected to organise its productivity for the benefit of humanity. . In other words, he has concentrated his gaze upon part of the picture instead of studying it as a whole, and he has erred in this respect both in his capacity as an employer and as a worker. Labour has grasped at the forty-hour week in the same spirit. The corollary of machine production should be shorter hours, but, it this benefit is extracted without due regard for the adjustments necessary to other parts of the economic structure, it may be. enjoyed by the few at the expense of the many. It is true that, in particular instances, the forty-hour week has been successful, but it will probably be found on investigation that these industries are more or less selfcontained, and that not only production, but distribution and consumption also, have been efficiently organised and controlled by their own staff work. Hence in this country the introduction of the forty-hour week in industry in general—for which it is the avowed determination of organised labour to contend through the medium of legislation made and provided—without reference to essential readjustments of the economic machinery, may be accompanied by reactions unfavourable to employers and workers alike. At the same time, the reality of the situation has to be faced, lhe readjustments necessary will ultimately be made—though not without considerable industrial and social unrest—-because the weight of opinion which claims as a reward for intensive mechanisation a larger share of leisure for study or recreation is increasing throughout the civilised world to a degree that is imparting to the movement an irresistible momentum. Is our society adequately prepared for this impending addition to its hours of freedom? Mr- Parry expresses some concern on the subject. He is by no means the first to suggest that the beneficiaries of this new dispensation will need some guidance to the employment of their increased leisure. Unless the new freedom can be usefully and healthfully enjoyed the state of society may be worse instead of better. The social argument against excessive hours of labour is that the worker has neither time nor energy left for the development of his own individuality or of the spiritual side of his nature. He is driven to seek relief in external distractions not always of a wholesome kind. “Complete idleness, forgetfulness, and diversion from his usual activities,” says one writer on this interesting subject, “are a physical necessity. He does not want to tijnk, and seeks not self-improvement, but entertainment, that kind of. entertainment, moreover, which makes the least demand upon his spiritual faculties. The mentality of this mass of individuals, spiritually relaxed and incapable of self-collectedness, reacts upon all those institutions which ought to serve the cause of culture, and therewith of civilisation.’ Man, having formed this habit, it now becomes, necessary to assist him to get rid of it, and approach the question of leisure from a new angle. That is what Mr. Parry means—and thoughtful people will agree with him—when he refers to “the danger of our . recreation being made by the machine at the expense of the physique and health people.” The aim of leisure should be, he urges, to encourage “the greatest measure of personal initiative and.creative ability.” To some it may seem that the Minister was inclined to over-emphasise the importance of the sports side of leisure, but the underlying principle to which he attaches so much importance is sound.