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Hokitika Guardian, 22 July 1926, Page 2

Avnoros the question of wages in the United States and Great Britain. Mr Alexander Browning, a member of the Associated Blacksmiths' Forge and Smithy Workers’ Society, who was one of the trado unionists who went to the United States with the Daily Mail Mission, to investigate the secret of high wages in the country, told his fellow-workers at the North British Locomotive Company, Ltd., Glasgow, of his experience on. the tour. Mi Browning said : “In the United States there is a robust- feeling of mutual admiration which is greatly in contrast with the pessimistic self-deprecia-to„ so often found on this side of the Atlantic. How far this spirit contributes to the enterprise in American industry, I cannot say, but it must be an influential factor, and we in this country might advantageously be more self-appreciative. One thing which struck me forcibly in tlic factories which I visited is how self-con-tained they are. If the works aie forced to buy parts they instruct their research workers to find a means of producing the necessary parts, and sooner or later tlie firm is independent of outside supplies. Workers are encouraged to submit ideas for improving methods or organisation, and these suggestions, when accepted, are rewarded by cash. The incentive to men to do their utmost in production are greater than those normally offered in this country. Once a price of a job lias been fixed at a figure satisfactory to both parties it will remain unless there is some change in method that warrants readjustment. Employers in the United States undoubtedly take a greater interest- in their workpeople. The workman is as much a part- of the organisation as the manager. He is treated with respect. His opinion is frequently sought, and consequently in all the establishments I visited I found an atmosphere of cordiality and good will between the employer and the employed. In this country workmen are only too frequently reminded of the myth that brains cannot be expected under a cloth cap and are the preserve of those members of the firm who wear a hat. The whole outlook in the United States is different. The workers do not talk about a living wage; a- saving wage is their aim. Trade unionism there is not the same tiling as it is here. The American workmen’s orIganisations are out to secure co-opera-tion lietwoen the employers and the workers, and they are thus a positive factor in industry. Since my tour of the industrial areas of the United States and what I saw there I am not so certain that the British trade unions are working on the best lines.”