compel nations to arbitrate their differences. Still others maintain that the most effective weapon against unionism is the proper reward of efficiency, since by that means all reasonable discontent is quieted. Thus H. L. Gantt in an article noted above says:
If you keep an exact record of what each fellow does, surround the men with conditions under which they can work at high efficiency and compensate the efficient one liberally, no man will spend his spare time trying to find out how to raise the wages of the other fellow. Workmen as a rule will do more if their earnings are increased by so doing, and you will have great difficulty in getting the efficient ones into the labor unions if they are not benefited by joining.
In passing judgment upon these criticisms, two facts stand out preeminently before the thoughtful student of this question. The first is that some kind of an efficiency system, constructed upon a cost basis, is to become inevitably an integral part of the industrial organization of the future. Men may be apathetic about it, mistakes will be made in its application, labor unions may strive against it, but it is as inevitable as the industrial revolution. Time was—and traces of the spirit still linger—when labor organizations struggled against the introduction of modern labor-saving devices. The Knights of St. Crispan might unite against the use of pegging and sewing machines in the shoe industry; printers might protest against the introduction of the linotype, but it was of no avail—these things were a part of industrial evolution—they increased man's efficiency in production, and they could not be stayed. Exactly the same thing is true of modern efficiency systems—attention has been shifted from capital to labor, but the result will be the same. The employer demands it because his profits are thereby increased; the efficient laborer demands it because it increases his compensation and he feels, rightly, that superior skill should be rewarded; and society as a whole demands it, because in its totality it tremendously increases social wealth and welfare. The sooner unionism recognizes this fact and acts accordingly, the better it will be for its cause, both directly and indirectly. For we are loathe to admit that labor and capital are, and must remain, inherently antagonistic.
The second fact that requires recognition is that no plan which tends to increase the dependence of the laborer upon the employer or that fails to take cognizance of the real, vital well-being of the employee can in the long run prove successful. Because of this, it is essential that the employees in their collective capacity be given a voice in the direction of the shop. With human nature as it is, the temptation to cut piece-rates, to speed up machinery, and the utilization of similar methods must be, so far as possible, removed. In time the employers will undoubtedly come to see that the lack of hearty cooperation that
