HOW MANY HOURS CAN ONE WORK WELL?

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 80

HOW MANY HOURS CAN ONE WORK WELL?

WHAT SHOULD BE THE NORMAL WORKING DAY? One of the most important economic problems ! is : How many hoars of daily work have- value? The whole problem was dkcus^ed with insight by Prof. S. J. Chapman at the British Association meetin.g at Winnipeg. He remarker" that the £f creasing nervous strain, of induaiti&l work, whether it resulted from tji* progjDe&sive specialisation of labour, vt not, would account sufficiently for the curious circumstance that

there was apparently no finality about any solurtio-n of the eyer-recurring problean of the naralal working ,«kiy, though it wag not the sole explanation. ? He hsfcj- found no instafioe Jh widish" aa 'abbi-eraakigp of hours had resulted in a' proportionate" curtailment of output. - ThareJ ' was . every. i reason to suppose -tif-afc .th« proiutt&iori in the shorter hours had seldom - fafien^.snort. by any very appreciable," atuouat oi-'th^ production in t-he-.ionger'fbours. J •" \ "',_• — Efficiency a-njd "Shorter *H<>nrs, ~ -\ * In some cases the product, or tne value of the product, >fcad actually been augmented after a short interval. J»a a few cases the reaction of the shorty hours on the output per week had bs^.-v ir=tantaneoijely noticeable, and the new proI daict had surpassed the old p*jAu:t before ! mechanical- methods ceuld t<» improve.l. Further, for some -ind-^jtries — fox illj stance, for the Lancashiaj", ootton incustry — we had preserved fbtf'y the results of a string of observation) reaching back [ about three-quarters of ar "century, and it would appear from them" that the bene- ! ficial effects wrought upon .output by 1 the shorteming of hours .were sutfefcantially repeated, though, of course, in dSflferent degrees, at each successive redaction of the woi'king day.

— Vak-e of Leisure. — The use" of leisure affected, of course, mental vitality, cMltwe, and character, and it would therefore be generally observable that labour which tad bad its hours reduced would be capable , after a time — when tbp use of leisure had been improved, and the improvement had produced its effects— <-}f managing satisfactorily more oompTitAted machinery, and would be generally more responsible and trustworthy, and therefore- less ir need of continuous watching 'aad directing. It must 'be insisted that the amouiifc of the real wage yielded by a given money wage varied as th<& time left, to .spend it; and, further, thatfche value "of leisure was a function of the goods which could be enjoyed in the period of leisure. TKe acute operative vould aim at so distributing his time between work and recreaition that the gain resulting from a libtle more leisure -would, .equal .the -loss consequent upon the implied diminution of wages. * : Hence," when the .vehime of goods par head annually supplied to labour was augmented .in attempt would almost certainly be nude by the operatives to buy more ledsmv, even if the satisfaction derived from were unaffected, which it would not be, because the satisfaction derived, from leisure must^ rise when each hour of leisure was enriched •by .greater possessions. r — Education's Effect on Short Hours. — As -regarded the- effect of ediucaiion -hethought it unquestionable that, on the whole educational advance caused' a curtailment of hours. The eight-hour day had come to be regarded by some social reformers as the ideal of the future. The non-physiological value of leisure, as well as its physiological value, must rise with progress) and therefore in all probability the hours which should normally he worked pea % day would become steadily lesss. ' The ideal working day of the future could not be eight ; hours, £pr it must be essentially ' a' progressive ideal. As a community t advanced agitation for shorter 'hours would be constantly breaking ou 4 anew. If this were a correct reading of progress it was important that we ehouM understand fully the foices at work at each resettlement of tha length of the working day, those on, tbs employing side as ' well as those expressed in the claims of the operatives. — Present Gain and Future Loss.— - It would seem that two reasons at least could be derived from economic theory for State intervention in the matter of the hours of labour, if it A-ere assumed that the State could discover what was best for the country. The one was to correct the tendency of people engaged in industry tc agree upon an amount of sacrifice to money-making, which meant 2, laige future loss, involving the next generation for a small present gain; the other was to fortify, if needful, the repistan.<: of operatives to the disposition of -orr« employers to secure greater !,:-<,auei at the expense of the operatives' convenient c. This .-.on-clu^ion would, however. be tc hasty a deduction. Economic iv abler* wore wettk-d. viot merely by the self-it'jjaTiUntf iorcefa hitheito emphasised, but also hy &ocia,i concepticDS, en&odied in public opinion at.d clans notions of what was right and proper, whkh defied expert analysis end any accurate evaluation as influences. — Influence of Tublic Opinion. — These social conceptions, which were not deliberately framed on a rationalistic basis,, but proceeded insensibly, as it were, frum the need* of human life, were less intermixed with Teligious elements now than they used to be, but were none the lets powerful. He was hopeful - that the intangible force of public opinion, directed by economic and ethical enlightenment over a field rendered yearly more coextensive with contemporary facts in consequence of the growing demand for publicity a-nd the response made to that" demand by governmental authorities and the presb, would become in the future a»u increasingly efficacious factor in progress, apart from its expression in law. But it was disturbing to notice that a _ closeset limit was imposed upon reduction of' hours by the heavy interest tsoA -deprecia' tion charges with which the .product, of a machine was burdened, when, it Arorjasd .or.ly' a fraction of the which interest must be paid. — Why Not the Shift System? — Without **waJ recourse to shift systems, he coukl ?iot ccc any immediate prps;-, pest of muti aidditdonal . for the masis of the popuiafaon^ Weiee the. qb^ jections^ to shifts' joi such. gra\aty_ .as ~to

] counteract their immense economic*? Th© • fact that .an. .affirmative answer was gene- , rally glyjia'to this question, iii jEte l^isfc-. ;to|« no, pTbjof that^th^-afiirjnat'iVe -iVaS tfes* -"right answer to-dia&^n Klfgkai'd^oi eV.eii » ■in Canada." - Conditions . liad^ 4 been f av^u&oi4s/2d> in the;, last ' 50- . j!"e#rs., *- - Impalements 4n lighting.. and;'. ' -in' '■int-ra^afcoan t^n^poi^a&ibn tod" eZiaz& v a\*ept aWay a -jpuis of -*l3ie cc-ncSiitioiis' iKifiterlyirj.g^he. evils }vjnSeh~ used" to^be -naght. ,and" -t^of-or three shifts^ of appYoadm"a,tely seven- Incurs each, or three or four shifts of approximately 9uc hours each — a -not immediately attainable ideal — were very . different ""-in their effects upon social *lrfe", exclusive^.pi thoae associated with the shorter period^ of toil ior each workman, from.tyro shifts*-\ of some .10 or 11 hours each. With the shorter shift in use arrange* mairfcs oould be mad-e- without much difficulty for all operatives to 'get mos' of their sleep in the night, if they so wished, and to enjoy most of their leisures in the daylight, *,-. In Dr Marshall's words, were shifty sWfeihs more -exten'savsely adopted ."the cans '^ of pxod'ucfcioi), would , progress more rcfpraly ; "the national dividend would increase ;. worbing • mso ba ,able Ao ea<m liigh«fr wages without checking tho growth of capital,' or- tempting .it" ,to "migrate to countries ; where, wages ar« lower; and all classes of" society,, would reap" "benefit from the' change."*