AMERICAN PROSPERITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19625, 2 May 1927, Page 7

AMERICAN PROSPERITY.

VALUE OF PIECEWORK. " "INDUSTRY OF INDIVIDUALS.. (Received May 1, 5.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. NEW YORK. Aoril 80. Frankness was the note of- the speeches at a, banquet which was given to the members of the Australian Industrial Mission by the Hartford Club yesterday evening. There was » large gathering of merchants, employers and newspaper editors. Mr. Charles Cook, the president of the Manufacturers' Association, who began work at the bench, Said that to mako business prosper we must bbt&iu from the manager downwards the most work in the shortest time, with the best quality possible, and with the- least fatigue, and at the lowest cost, combined with the greatest safety and in the right spirit. In. all business dealings threß factors were essential: Justice to the employees, employers, and the public. On such a platform Capital and Labour would grow apace in each other's confidence and esteem. ; Mr. Campbell, in responding, said that before he left Australia he had advocated piecework. After visiting America he would say in a louder voice, piecework must come. Whether it was possible with the consent and the hltfp of the trades unions, he was not prepared to say, but he hoped the unions would assist. Mr. Arthur Shipmiin, a Hartford lawyer, said the open shop policy of America was growing, and the nation was becoming more and more individualistic. Everything was not rosy in America, and to keep their bread and butter they must work. When the President, Mr. Calvin Cool id ge, was asked the reason for the prosperity of America, lie said it was due to work, and- Americans must stick to that. -

MECHANICAL TRANSPORT

BRITISH ARMY SUBSIDY TYPES, A recent cablegram from London stated that the' War Office lias 'announced it Will pay a, subsidy -of a year ~tor three years to all commercial users of sixWheele^l -motor-lomes, 1 " This indicates an extension , of . the subsidy .system which has accompanied the ..mechanisation of Army transport. r '•'* ' >' Af,, the ,«nd of the was there-were some 80,000 motor-transport vehicles in use by the British Expeditionary Force in the mf)in theatre of war in ,France and Belgium a|one. The principal load-carrying vehicle was the three-ton to four-ton lorry on solid rubber tyres. This, type h«d been encouraged under the pre-war subsidy scheme of the War' Office. It was an economical and reliable performer when road conditions * were good, but, mainly on account of its great axle weight (sime 5£ tons on* the back axle) and its low torque-weight ratio, tvas a very .prior machine for negotiating rough and soft ground, and its ability to njove oK tjie road was negligible. On the other hand, it was fpund that, where conditions of war necessitated some degree of crosscountry ability, vehicles of lighter axle weight, higher torque-weight ratio, ami shod with pneumatic tyres, be use 1 with affair measure pf success. After the war a specification was fore Rrepxwed for what became known 1 as the War Department subsidy-type 30cwt. lorry. The leading'features ofthe specification were weight as low ,as possible, 1 high torque-weiglit ratio, high speed,; special cooling, large siza: pneumatic tyres, standardisation of varjdtM features in design, control and equipment, and the use of 8.E.8.A. standards as far as possible, and suitability "for commercial use. * > < After some measure of hesitation, f-or-tain manufacturers producedvehicles ■to the specification ?nd the subsidy scheme was launched. The schfemdj initiated "1923, m'av be, said*to have been a success in that the subsidy rqll now contains its full-quota o'i 1000 approved vehicles >n coir merriaJ and ready for immediate use : by thaTixpeditionary' Force .in .emergency. In addition, a large number of these vehicles has been taken inioi. us<> in the peace transport service of the Army. They ere in steady mmifactnr ' ing production, and have created quite a market for 'themselves for export, within the Empire. , The existing scheme provides for a subsidy for £4O for three successive years, on condition lhst the vehicles - are maintained to the satisfaction of the Army authorities, end handed over to them with due compensation when required. That ihe full quota of subsidies has been tjiken up. and that there is actually a waftlngH»l of omsrt of approv&d vehicles outsido? the quota is the more strjkiog, says Engineering, since a corresponding non-sub-inidy vehicle can in most Cases be' obtained from the same firm at a price re- • duction approximately equal to the total subsidy. The only conclusion to he drawn is that owners are satisfied that the superior qualities of the subsidy vehicle, more than balance the disadvantage of possible sudden withdrawn! from tteir fleets. This in itself, constitutes a high tribute to the Army designers. The value of the scheme does not lie so much in the availability of » ihou&imd' Pr so in condition whfcn t'cquired, as in the fact that is available which has passed the tcsk of both Army and commercial rise, • and of whteh this output could readilv be expanded to tny required extent with a minimum of delay.

EXCHANGE OF AGRICULTURISTS. BRITISH AND DANISH. : ' (raoM our owt* cohhespomdekt ] LONDON. March 23. Since 1934 a scheme has bej.ua, n operation under which a limited number of yaang agriculturists from Denmark ate afforded facilities to live and work'on farms in England to study at fint hand the methods arid practicfi at British agriculture, while an equal number of British agricultural students have opportunities of working Unr a few months on selected Danish farms. The student* are required to pay all their own travelling expanse# and to undertake regular work on a farm for a period of from 3 to 12 month* in return for free hoard arid lodging, ho money being' paid to them for their services. The National Farmers' Union assists in the selecton of farms on which fhe Danish students can he placed, sod also helps to obtain suitable British »ooKrants for work and study on Danish farms. j In Denmark the sefcetfte i* worked by a Bureau of Agrfealiursl Travel onderi the Bova! Affricultural Society of Denmark. This bureau has organised, with the airrsjstasce of the Danish Foreign I Offtr.; and the legation# m Copenhagen. of the various coon* rie* enncrned, a (teres of »tro<l'ar exchanges *?* Sb other j eotttrtries, tod. the hnrea®, ;«•$§ year,* places a number of agricultural *t«a«nts j of different nationalltse* with Danish farmers of high standing, ou whose farm* dairv fsrming i» aenePsl. 'idestifis',«©c®-' emk feeding of dairy ■ cattle, . ..fstkwsJ./; breeding of dairy cattle, general tion m prod actios, boytog jnA Jiel! ling, and so. forth, mav be studied It Jts hoped that, daring thf : ' British student# «ffli t«ic* ; fuller advantage of the jscheme. . i ... ,