EFFICIENCY.

Colonist, Volume LXII, Issue 15214, 30 October 1919, Page 3

EFFICIENCY.

j Speaking on "Efficiency in duty and loyalty" at the Christian Endeavour Convention in Adelaide the other week, the Jtev. Samuel For-^rth (an ex-military | chaplain) made some interesting observations concerning present-day indus- | trial conditions, basing his remarks 1 upon the text "Whatsoever you do, work | heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men." These words were spoken by Paul to bond servants, he said. They were in striking contrast to the advice given by present-day leaders, "who advised ! labourers to adopt the "go-stow"- policy. Those men stood in the same category as the profiteers, who did not give an j adequate equivalent for the price paid. !The spirit in which men did their work 1 had a reflex action on their character. Shoddy work produced-shoddy character, and the great purpose of life was to make character. If work were done in the right spirit it was a tribute to the ; Kingdom of God on earth. All work bad ja spiritual value and significance. The man who ul?ed a pick and shovel and the Iwoman.who scrubbed the floor were do!ing the Lord's work; They were apt to ! put too much emphasis on wages and ihours, and not enough on efficiency. iEvery man should have an adequate I wage—one that would enable Wm to live in some degree of comfort and provide a margin for a rainy day. At the same time no man had a right to make wages his first consideration. Ministers were sometimes condemned for working for wages, but they had as much right as anybody else to do that. .Nowadays there were complaints from both masters and men. The former argued that the old-time confidence was gone, and that they could not trust men, whom they had to watch like children. Employees complained that if they had a more direct interest in profits accruing from their labours they would pay keener attention to their work. There was, one text he would like to see hung up in every employer's office, and that was "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal." In every workshop he would like to place the tollowing text, "Whatsoever you do, work heartily as unto the Lord." I * =================