LABOUR

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14776, 15 October 1921, Page 9 (Supplement)

LABOUR

IRKSOME AND OTHERWISE. (By "Marama.") Each generation develops some characteristics of its own, and particularly amongst the races to which we belong. The young people believe these characteristics to be improvements, and the old people commonly think otherwise. Perhaps the greatest afl'erenee between our gcneratMn and that of our grandfathers is the changed attitude towards work. With ougrandparents work was :i religion, an obsession, it was constantly preached and held up to the admiration of the young. It cannot be said that we regard 5t in that way at the present lime. It is true that we do not preach any different doctrine, but our practice is anything but that of our ancestors. "We increase the official number of holidays, and the tendency is to make them "compulsory. The official holidays, however, are small matter compared to the unofficial. How many men arc there who seem able to devote a large part of their time to the playing of some game. A hundred years ago such a privilege was confined to the aristocracy and the aristocracy was then a mere fraction in numbers of what it 'is at present. Much for Little. It is questionable, however, whether the increase in .the number of holidays is a serious symptom. What is serious Is the want of respect which is felt for our work while we arc at it. The most striking instance of this is found, of course, in trade union methods.of demanding that members shall not do more than a certain average of work. Such methods inevitably react on those who pursue them, and they arc found to be so irksome that work itself quickly becomes loathsome. The argument on which the go slow method is based is of course familiar. If lahour be a commodity lit is good business to give as little as possible for a given aniuuut. The fallacy lies in regarding labour as a commodity, and the thoughtful union leaders resent the 'idea, but in encouraging or accepting go-slow methods Ihey arc endorsing it. Hut although labour does not permit this aspect of the question to be long out of our sight, it is not that which we would specially emphasise, for (he distaste for work is not confined to any class. Men do, it is true, work strenuously now as they have done at all times, but seldom from any satisfaction in the work itself but rather witli a careful eye on the expected reward. All the Inventions of Mankind have not Lessened Man's Labour. We can understand why work was lot regarded with respect in the world

*f Greece and Hume, for it was done oy slaves, who carried out not only the manual labour, but also the skilled trades and the learned professions. ■lt is not strange that Lome fell; the wonder was that she tasted no long. Ever since those days labour has been engaged in freeing itself from Ihe inherited shackles. The struggle goes on to-day as at any Lime during the j hot 1500 years, and one party to the dispute says that labour is supreme, and the other declares lliat nothing has been gained. And in the meantime both sides overlook the supreme necessity of gelling Ihe work done. Mankind has discovered and invented, but the result is merely to change the manner of the working and the extenl of the return. We are no better able to live without work than we have ever been. The question is whether wc should approach it as a taik or a pleasure. Back to the Land, It has been argued that the factory system is responsible for a growing distaste for work. When all products were handmade, it was supposed that man took an instinctive pleasure in his handiwork. It is doubtful if much weight should be attached to the argument, which is put forward by outside observers, and not by those who Jive under the conditions criliiciscd. Jn-any case it is doubtful whether the large scale factory is lo remain the chic! method of production. The organisation of the huge numbers engage i makes greater demand on man's capacity than can be easily met. The system by which one country grows food and raw materials, and another country imports and uses the same, is too artificial and involves too many dangers to remain permanent, in spite )f ils economic advantages. Wh'ilc the world appeared to be moving steadily towards large Empires, is was easy to imagine that mass production would grow ever larger, but with a world split into small and discordant countries the movement is likely to be in the other direction. Whatever weight we attach to factory conditions il is certain that A can apply lo a small number only, and the phenomenon of a loss of interest in work seems general. Of Man's First Disobedience, and the Fruit. The orthodox theory is-lhal, labour came into the world in consequence if man's original disobcdicr.ee. If wo could accept the theory we should have an adequate explanation for any distaste for work. We cannot accept it however, for all experience 'is against it. The very doctors of the mediaeval church taught that lo labour was lu pray. If man could have refraine I from disobedience and been saved the necessity of work, he would have perished from sheer ennui off Ihe face of the earth. Amusement is pleasant, but it owes lhal pleasantness lo Ihe work that preceded it. The lords of luxury j nnd ease, whom slumbers soothe not, | pleasures cannot, please, wen: dull be- I cause they were savages who lefl the work to the women. Sir George Cornwall Lewis said lhal life would be well enough but for ils amusements, and simply expressed in an epigram a very common opinion. There are few men with suflieienl resources |u :>'' able to find occupation if Iheir da.lv ' work were denied liiMii, and there is [ rothing so hard as making work. If we would admit it, we are vastly more interested in our work loan mir pleaBiires, and 'if lhal be the case should j we not be wise lo cultivate lhal which pives the chief zest In life? Mr John- ! son used to quote the retired soup ' I.oiler, who asked permission of the I f.inn who bought Irs business lo be J allovvd lo lend a hand when Ihe fat was being rendered. In order to avoid j a similar sad condition we should all i do well lo cultivate ap interest in the j common round. Ihe dally lask.