Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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of work must be reduced in direct proportion to the drop in necessary man- hours of work if unemployment is to be prevented, and at the same time salaries must remain the same if the demand for the product is not to be curtailed. Of course, in this example there would be no incentive Qbesides good willl for the factory owner to install the labor-saving machinery, for he would still spend the same amount for labor. This incentive must come in the form of greater consumption. While this complicates the problem and modifies slightly some of the conclusions at which we have arrived, the general principles remain the same. For there must be no curtailment in the number of men employed nor must there be any reduction in sala- ries: yet there must be a reduction of working hours and an increase in consumption. The problem, which we have discussed, could easily be regulated, but in the world at large so many modifying factors appear that it is a tre- mendous, complex problem which we face. For instance, when we consider more than one factory, one may install labor-saving machinery while oth- ers may not. And so, while the principles remain the same, the application is difficult. One thing appears certain, however, and that is that we must, if we are to achieve the desired result, have some degree of government control in business, at the same time carefully avoiding mercantilism itself. The road we have considered is a diflicult road, it is trueg but the difli- culty need not daunt us. Nothing worth while is ever achieved without effort. There is no need to curb the use of machinery. There is, however, a distinct need to direct the proper output. Thus far we have been considering the machine question from a strictly economic view-point. Let us now take a more general point of view. Leisure is a prime requisite for national cultural development. Greek civilization affords the best example of the profitable use of leisure which was founded, however, not upon machinery but upon slavery. Even im- properly regulated as it has been, the machine has, in almost all purely physical fields, replaced the slaves of the ancients. Any American can name a large number of implements such as the cotton gin, the power loom, various types of drills, by means of which one man can do the work of a great number of the slaves of the ancients. Not only has machinery replaced the slave satisfactorily in such fields, but in many cases the ma- chine accomplishes that which is out of the range of even a group of slaves. The ancients, for example, communicated almost entirely by means of mes- sages sent by private slaves. Today it would take weeks for a chain of slaves to carry such a message from San Francisco to New York. By means of the telegraph, telephone, or radio the same message can be sent with the speed of speech and returned immediately. Today shipments weighing tons cross the continent in two weeks. It would take months for unassisted slaves to accomplish the same thing. Compare the bulletin Page Twenty-seven l l

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Q l ASV Machine: Master or Slafve By Gilbert Fischer QQ . . . T HERE IS no need to point out the great increase in the power gl' E of man wh1ch machinery has effected. Every normal Ameri can realizes that in everything we do we are aided by ma- W chines. They furnish our transportation and communication, our homes, our clothing. Almost every convenience we have is either a machine or made possible by a machine. A vast transformation has taken place in man himself. His wants of yesterday are his necessities of today. And with his advances have sprung up prob- lems-problems which often seem to be the direct results of the use of machinery. On every hand we see the evils of the sweat shop and the tragedy of waste. Under these circumstances we are prone to believe those who blame labor-saving machinery for our dilemma. And we are liable to join the ranks of those who wish to curb the use of machinery. Before we jump to conclusions, however, let us study the situation fairly and squarely. Uncontrolled, the machine can do great damage. In almost all cases the invention of a machine heralds the unemployment of men. Since a labor- saving device causes unemployment, one of two things must take place. Either consumption must be increased to the extent that production is in- creased or part time employment must be brought about. It would be an ideal situation if both of these conditions were brought about. But if ma- chinery is used haphazardly in the future as it has been in the past, the result will be unemployment in the future, just as it has been in the past. The problem, therefore, which we face today can well be illustrated by the following example: A factory, let us say, employs fifty men Working forty-eight hours a week. There is used, then, in this factory, 2,400 man-hours of work per week. A labor-saving device is installed which cuts the necessary man-- hours to 1,200. One of two things can be done. The number of workers can be cut to twenty-five, or the number of hours of work per week can be cut to twenty-four. Twenty-four hours of work seem an absurdly short time for a man to work, but, in our illustration, unless the cut is made, it is obvious that one half the workers in the factory must be laid off. There is a further requirement. If the working time is cut to twenty-four hours, the wages of the workers must nevertheless remain the same or the de- mand for the product will be reduced due to a falling off of buying power. If the demand for the product is reduced, this will cause a need for either a further lay-off, or a further reduction of working hours. Therefore, generally speaking, we are forced to the conclusion that, since a labor-saving device reduces the necessary man-hours of work, hours Page Twenty-six

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board of the Romans with our present day newspaper system. In other words, take from us the machine and you take from us the efficiency of our means of transportation and communication. The machine has been a prime factor in spreading information and culture. A distribution of literature such as was unthought of in the past has been made possible by the printing press-a machine. A distinctly American type of architecture, the skyscraper, is springing up-made pos- sible by the machine. In the field of music the piano and the organ are machines. And in the last decade the Way has been opened for the further spread of culture. The radio has appeared. In conclusion let it be said that the machine is a powerful factor. To be sure there are evils attached to the use of the machine. But is there reason enough in the evils of machinery to cut down our use of it? Must We destroy it entirely to be certain it does not become a Frankenstein ? An automobile will not drive itself. Nor can We expect to receive perma- nent benefits from the machine until We learn from study and experience how best to use it. i as , I ef Page Twenty-eight