provided; comfortable cottages with all modern improvements are being built and rented to the men at low rates; playgrounds are being inaugurated; and opportunities for large earnings are being afforded by the adoption of the system of piece-work. If a method of annual profit-sharing like that advocated by the author and expounded in Chapter XXXIII were adopted, in addition to the other welfare methods just mentioned, most of the labor troubles in bridge shops would disappear. Great care should, however, be exercised in giving the employees unusual privileges or rewards, as these may do more harm than good if the employee does not feel that they are due to special effort and that he is receiving them as a payment for work that he has performed. There has recently been too much talk for rights without consideration of duties. Rights result only from the performance of duties. It is most important in the interest of true economy that the amount of each workman's compensation shall be proportionate to the efficiency of his accomplishment. A flat scale of wages is absolutely destructive to progress, output, initiative, and economy.

Safety Considerations

Every effort made by both the management and the employees to increase the safety of the workmen is a step in the line of true economy. Each accident in the shop, no matter how trivial, causes immediately more or less delay, and often incapacitates one or more men for some time. Notwithstanding the fact that such men may be replaced quickly, their successors naturally, for a while at least, are not as efficient; hence progress is impeded by the failure of the new men to function effectively.

Again, many of the injured men return to their work out of condition— some of them permanently so, for instance with the loss of a finger or an eye. Then there must be considered living expenses and doctor's bills during the enforced absence from work. Somebody has to pay these; and while in the end they are borne by society, they are carried primarily by the shop; and that shop which is freest from accidents has the least expense on that account. Other things being equal, it can, therefore, secure the largest percentage of profit. Generally, too, the workman has to be compensated for his injury, which is another economic factor of importance. Possibly, insurance will cover this; but often the company has to pay it.

Much might be said from the humanitarian point of view concerning the prevention of accidents; but this is a treatise on economics, not ethics. Viewed from every possible angle, it is in the line of true economy for the company to take every precaution to prevent accidents in the shop; for safety and efficiency are inseparable. To this end the responsibility should be laid upon one of its officers whose duty it would be to anticipate all possible accidents in the shop and take measures to prevent their occurrence. This could be accomplished in various ways, among which might be mentioned the following: