Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/64

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Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution

that it became necessary to proceed to a redistribution of work.

It would be very interesting to give statistics in support of these general statements, but we must limit ourselves to stating that the facts were laid before us: statistics that could be of interest with regard to military operations are naturally not destined for public use.

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The "fatal result" of the eight-hour day, even of the six-hour day, on the Russian production has been strongly denounced. The six-hour day is nothing more nor less than an effort of the journalistic imagination. Nowhere has it been seriously put into practice, and in no important district, in no large industry, has it even been seriously considered. As for the eight-hour day its effect has not been in any way disastrous. Before the war, work was carried on generally in two shifts of ten hours each, and in many places two hours' overtime was added. To-day they are working three shifts of eight hours wherever they can procure sufficient hands and the raw material necessary for continuous production.

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