ful to enlarge our volume go unrewarded but propose that the wage of each be increased in proportion to the growth of the business. Under this arrangement it is the duty of each to his fellow, to exert his greatest and most efficient effort and to help each other whenever and however possible for the good of the whole since all will share in the final result.

The result was that each employee became vitally interested and concerned in the work of all of the others. Important letters went out promptly even if the stenographers had to stay after hours; clerks discovered that it was a pleasure to humor the whims of desirable customers and to expediate the work of the salesmen by saving their time in all ways possible; salesmen helped each other to close hard contracts fully realizing that in so doing they were helping themselves. The whole work became intensive and maximum results were accomplished through the exertion of maximum intelligent effort.

It is a common error to believe that all workers are devoid of conscience, have no interest beyond their wage and are incapable of being aroused to a sense of pride in their employer and the goods which their efforts produce. That such a state of mind does exist in far too many establishments cannot be truthfully denied, but that it is due to a lack of educational work on the part of the employer is absolutely certain. Never was there a truer axiom than, "like master, like man."

And now we come to the most important phase of profit sharing, the conditions under which it can be successfully attempted and how it must be carried out to ensure advantageous results.

In the first place, the management must be enthused with and thoroughly convinced of its desirability; they must be ready and willing to give away a portion of the profits in order that the business may grow in earning capacity and the employees in working efficiency. They must study the psychological effects to be brought about and understand the cause and result. They must learn these things perfectly in order that they may be able to impart the knowledge to their employees, for it is from careful education that the greatest benefits will be derived. The most important, and an absolutely essential part of the profit-sharing system, is the educational side, the forming of the operative's mind to appreciate and want it, the training of his thought to realize that what helps the business will help him, the combating of the idea that any

embarrassment, misfortune or disaster to the enterprise can bring everlasting benefit to even a small minority of the working force.

Time was, and only a short while ago, when business was not considered to be a science, when training of workmen to do their tasks in accordance with efficient formulæ and of salesmen to apply logic to their interview, was unthought of; fire drills for all employees a thing undreamt. And right here, why, if the majority of workers are devoid of interest in the welfare of the establishments in which they work, are they willing to form into fire brigades, act quickly, efficiently, frequently risking their lives that the property may be saved from destruction? Because some say, "the destruction of the property would mean the loss of a job and the wage it brings." Would not the same result follow the loss of profits?

In nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand the most generous and attractive profit-sharing plan imaginable if distributed in bulletin form and allowed to stand unchampioned and unexplained will fail utterly. Why? For the very good reason that the majority of people do not recognize opportunity when it presents itself and cannot reason out for themselves the advantages which they will derive from such a plan.

For profit sharing to be a success, those who are to be made a part of the plan must be educated in its advantages; they must be shown how they are to benefit, every rule and regulation has some bearing upon profits and this fact must be pointed out and made clear. Their attention must be incessantly attracted to the profitmaking side of the business with which they are associated, they must be taught to measure every movement, every process of which they are a part by the amount of profit it can be made to yield or the amount of loss it can be made to save. They must be made to realize that time and effort, as well as money and materials, are valuable and that to waste or misuse them is to decrease earnings. They must be shown the close relationship between the wasted moment in the shop or office, or on the road, and the music lesson of the daughter or the bicycle for the son. They must be argued with in terms which they quickly and easily understand and the value of which they can readily appreciate and instantly translate into the needs and desires of their everyday lives.

Some say that operatives oppose such plans because they are

contrary to the dictates of organized labor; perhaps that is so, but very few men who see and understand and can take advantage of an opportunity which is certain to better their position in the world and make the lives of their families more pleasant fail to avail themselves thereof. Profit sharing is such an opportunity for the worker, but it is the task of the employer to drive the idea home.

Just as the average man takes better care of the house which he owns than he does of the one he rents, and treats his own horse with more consideration than he does the one he hires, so will the profit-sharer, the part-owner in the business and its success, treat his employer with greater fairness because of that very feeling of ownership and responsibility. The feeling of ownership engenders a sense of greater interest which quickly minimizes the need for close critical supervision; it acts like the honor system among college students.

Warden Osborne, in his plea for reform in prison management insists that the only way to fit the transgressor for a position of liberty in society is to educate him in the advantages of doing right and to appeal strongly to that sentiment which exists in every human being, a love of his fellow man and a desire to do the square thing by all who treat him fairly. The same is true of profit sharing and he who will take the time and trouble to direct the thoughts of his employees toward the making of profits will find infinite satisfaction in the increased loyalty and prosperity of those about him.

SOME THOUGHTS ON INDUSTRIAL UNREST 1

BY DANIEL GUGGENHEIM,

New York City.

Chiefly because of the advancing cost of living, but largely at the same time on account of the ever growing inequality in the division of the wealth of the nation, there has been for many years a steady increase of discontent among the laboring people of the United States. This discontent is bound to keep on growing unless radical steps are taken to alleviate the present condition of the laboring classes. A great many things have been done during the past few years to benefit the laboring man but more must be done, and more will be done, because employers of labor and managers of business are commencing to realize to a greater extent than ever before the nature of their obligations toward their toiling employees. Just as the business man of today no longer believes that in order to get on in business he must roll his competitor in the dust, so no longer does he follow the practice of grinding his laborers down, paying them the lowest wages possible and utilizing them for his own interests and nothing beyond that.

Whatever may be the temporary expedients adopted to tide over present difficulties with which the laboring population is confronted, the ultimate solution of the entire labor problem must come through governmental action after careful and nonpartisan scientific study. Private philanthropy has done a great deal toward reducing industrial discontent. The people could not live that are not employed if it were not for the philanthropic work that is now being carried on. But no matter how much is done, enough is never done because the people themselves do not realize what the situation is and there are so many thousands of people who do not like to part with the money they have made, money which often they do not need and which is of no advantage to them. Furthermore, private philanthropy is confronted always by two great obstacles. It has a tendency to pauperize the people whom it is

1This article is based on the author's testimony before the Industrial Relations Commission.

intended to benefit and it cannot reach many people who are deserving of help because of their aversion toward accepting charity. These obstacles can be surmounted only through state action. Unemployment, sickness, old age and similar problems of labor can be solved only through some system of social insurance managed and applied by state authority. If a man is out of employment it is the duty of the state through some agency to help him obtain work. If a man is physically unfit for labor either on account of injuries, sickness, or age, provision should be made by the state for his care.

Our industrial organization must be democratized. It must be transformed so that the laborer himself may have a voice in the determination of all the conditions by which his interests are affected, the length of his working hours, the amount of his wages, and the surroundings amid which he labors.

As indicated before, the attainment of industrial democracy must come in the main through scientific legislation. Through the action of the federal and state governments, employers and laborers must be brought together by a system of laws in the making of which all members of each class shall have an opportunity to participate. A great deal has been done in the way of legislation in this country but we are still years behind many foreign countries in providing for the welfare of workmen. Although many people are of the opinion that too much legislation is being enacted, I do not agree with that idea, nor do I think that we have begun to legislate to the extent that we shall in the future for the welfare of the workmen. I think the difference between the rich man and the poor man is very much too great, and it is only by taking steps to bridge the gulf that exists between them that we shall be able to get away from the unrest now prevailing among the working classes.

An important feature of the industrial democracy should be the establishment of a system through which the laborers may be permitted to share in the profits of industry. It should be provided, however, that the share due the laboring man may be given him in bulk at the end of a certain period and deposited in some bank or savings institution. The laborer usually does not know how to save and if he gets his money by the week he spends it; his expenses constantly keeping pace with his receipts. A few men learn how to save but it is a difficult matter for a poor man to learn.