Theodore Roosevelt

第75章

mean。Anumberofnewmachineswereinstalledinacertainshoefactory,andasaresulttherewasaheavyincreaseinproductioneventhoughtherewasnoincreaseinthelaborforce。Someoftheworkmenwereinstructedintheuseofthesemachinesbyspecialdemonstratorssentoutbythemakersofthemachines。Thesemen,byreasonoftheirspecialaptitudesandthefactthattheywerenotcalledupontooperatethemachinescontinuouslyninehourseveryday,weekinandweekout,butonlyforanhourorsoatspecialtimes,werenaturallyabletorunthemachinesattheirmaximumcapacity。Whenthesedemonstratorshadleftthefactory,andthecompany’sownemployeeshadbecomeusedtooperatingthemachinesatafairrateofspeed,theforemanoftheestablishmentgraduallyspeededthemachinesanddemandedalargerandstilllargeroutput,constantlyendeavoringtodrivethemenontogreaterexertions。Evenwithaslightlylessmaximumcapacity,theintroductionofthismachineryresultedinagreatincreaseoverformerproductionwiththesameamountoflabor;

andsogreatweretheprofitsfromthebusinessinthefollowingtwoyearsastoequalthetotalcapitalizedstockofthecompany。Butnotacentgotintothepayenvelopeoftheworkmenbeyondwhattheyhadformerlybeenreceivingbeforetheintroductionofthisnewmachinery,notwithstandingthatithadmeantanaddedstrain,physicalandmental,upontheirenergies,andthattheywereforcedtoworkharderthaneverbefore。Thewholeoftheincreasedprofitsremainedwiththecompany。Nowthisrepresentedan“increaseofefficiency。”withapositivedecreaseofsocialandindustrialjustice。Theincreaseofprosperitywhichcamefromincreaseofproductioninnowaybenefitedthewage-workers。Iholdthattheyweretreatedwithgrossinjustice;

andthatsociety,actingifnecessarythroughtheGovernment,insuchacaseshouldbenditsenergiestoremedysuchinjustice;andIwillsupportanyproperlegislationthatwillaidinsecuringthedesiredend。

Thewage-workershouldnotonlyreceivefairtreatment;heshouldgivefairtreatment。Inorderthatprosperitymaybepassedarounditisnecessarythattheprosperityexist。Inorderthatlaborshallreceiveitsfairshareinthedivisionofrewarditisnecessarythattherebearewardtodivide。Anyproposaltoreduceefficiencybyinsistingthatthemostefficientshallbelimitedintheiroutputtowhattheleastefficientcando,isaproposaltolimitbysomuchproduction,andthereforetoimpoverishbysomuchthepublic,andspecificallytoreducetheamountthatcanbedividedamongtheproducers。Thisisallwrong。Ourprotestmustbeagainstunfairdivisionoftherewardforproduction。Everyencouragementshouldbegiventhebusinessman,theemployer,tomakehisbusinessprosperous,andthereforetoearnmoremoneyforhimself;andinlikefashioneveryencouragementshouldbegiventheefficientworkman。Wemustalwayskeepinmindthattoreducetheamountofproductionservesmerelytoreducetheamountthatistobedivided,isinnowaypermanentlyefficientasaprotestagainstunequaldistributionandispermanentlydetrimentaltotheentirecommunity。Butincreasedproductivenessisnotsecuredbyexcessivelaboramidunhealthysurroundings。Thecontraryistrue。

Shorterhours,andhealthfulconditions,andopportunityforthewage-

workertomakemoremoney,andthechanceforenjoymentaswellaswork,alladdtoefficiency。Mycontentionisthatthereshouldbenopenalizationofefficientproductiveness,broughtaboutunderhealthyconditions;butthateveryincreaseofproductionbroughtaboutbyanincreaseinefficiencyshouldbenefitallthepartiestoit,includingwage-workersaswellasemployersorcapitalists,menwhoworkwiththeirhandsaswellasmenwhoworkwiththeirheads。

WiththeWesternFederationofMinersImorethanoncehadserioustrouble。Theleadersofthisorganizationhadpreachedanarchy,andcertainofthemwereindictedforhavingpracticedmurderinthecaseofGovernorSteunenberg,ofIdaho。OnoneoccasioninaletterorspeechIcoupledcondemnationoftheselaborleadersandcondemnationofcertainbigcapitalists,describingthemallalikeas“undesirablecitizens。”Thisgavegreatoffensetobothsides。TheopenattackuponmewasmadeforthemostparteitherbytheNewYorknewspaperswhichwerefranklyrepresentativesofWallStreet,orelsebythoseso-

called——andmiscalled——Socialistswhohadanarchisti

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