while in America the average was 150 fine watches for each man employed.

By the aid of special machines in these watch factories one man can make 1,200 fine screws per day, some of which are so small that more than 100,000 are required to weigh a pound. One of the finest pieces made is a "pallet-arbor" or pivotal bolt, which, for a small-sized watch, has a thread of 260 to the inch, weighs 1/130,000 of a pound, undergoes 25 operations, and costs but 2 cents. Measurements are gauged to 1/25,000 of an inch.

The balance wheel, after being machined, weighs only 7 grains, and when fitted with 16 gold screws weighs 7.2 grains; there are 80 separate operations upon a balance wheel, 66 of them being drilling, threading, and countersinking holes; the drills revolve at a speed of 4,800 turns a minute and one operator can drill upwards of 2,200 holes for the balance wheels per day.

143. LABOR SPECIALIZATION IN MEAT PACKING'

The division of labor grew with the industry, following the introduction of the refrigerator car and the marketing of dressed beef, in the decade of the seventies. Before the market was widened by these revolutionizing inventions, the killing gangs were small, since only the local demands were supplied. But, when the number of cattle to be killed each day increased to a thousand or more, an increasing gang or crew of men was put together; and the best men were kept at the most exacting work. At what point the greatest economy is reached was discovered by experiment and by comparison of one house with another. Each firm has accurate knowledge of the labor force and the output of every other house, and in this way each improvement becomes general and each superintendent is keyed up. Taking a crew of 230 butchers, helpers, and laborers, handling 1,050 cattle a day under the union regulations of output, the time required for each bullock is equivalent to 131 minutes for one man, from the pen to the cooler, the hide cellar, and all the other departments to which the animal is distributed. But this is made up of 6.4 minutes for the 50-cent man, 1 minutes for the 45-cent man, and so on; and the average wage per hour for the gang would not exceed 21 cents, making the entire labor cost about 46 cents per bullock.

Three main objects were gained by this division of labor. First, cheaper men-unskilled and immigrant labor-could be utilized in

Taken by permission from J. R. Commons, "Labor Conditions in Meat Packing," Quarterly Journal of Economics, XIX (1904-5), 6-7.

large numbers. Second, skilled men became more highly expert in the quality of their work. While, on the one hand, this greatly increased the proportion of low wage men, it also pushed up the wages of the very few skilled men on the delicate and particular parts of the work. An all-round butcher might expect to earn 35 cents an hour, but the highly specialized floorman or splitter earns 50 cents an hour. Some of these expert floormen work a week at a time without cutting a single hide, so deft and delicate becomes their handling of the knife. If the company makes a few of these particular jobs desirable to the men and attaches them to its service it can become independent of the hundreds who work at the jobs where they can do but little damage; and their low wage brings down the average to 21 cents, where, if all were all-round butchers, the average would be 35 cents. Consequently, in the course of time the companies put a few of the strongest men, and those with a particular knack for their work, on "steady time," paying them a salary of $24 to $27 a week, regardless of time actually worked; but the other nine-tenths of the gang were hired by the hour, and paid only for the time at work. These steadytime men not only stood by the company, but acted as pace-setters; and in this way a third object of division of labor was brought about— namely, speed.

144. SPECIALIZATION IN MANAGEMENT

Let us go over the duties which [an old-fashioned] foreman in charge, say, of lathes, or planes, is called upon to perform, and note the knowledge and qualities which they call for.

First. He must be a good machinist-and this alone calls for years of special training, and limits the choice to a comparatively small class of men.

Second. He must be able to read drawings readily, and have efficient imagination to see the work in its finished state clearly before him. This calls for at least a certain amount of brains and education.

Third. He must plan ahead and see that the right jugs, clamps, and appliances, as well as proper cutting-tools are on hand, and are used to set the work correctly in the machine and cut the metal at the right speed and feed. This calls for the ability to concentrate the

Taken by permission from F. W. Taylor, Shop Management, pp. 96-98, and The Principles of Scientific Management, pp. 123-25. (Harper & Bros. Copyright by author, 1911.)

mind upon a multitude of small details and to take pains with little, uninteresting things.

Fourth. He must see that each man keeps his machine clean and in good order. This calls for the example of a man who is naturally neat and orderly himself.

Fifth. He must see that each man turns out work of the proper quality. This calls for the conservative judgment and the honesty which are the qualities of a good inspector.

Sixth. He must see that the men under him work steadily and fast. To accomplish this he should himself be a hustler, a man of energy, ready to pitch in and infuse life into his men by working faster than they do, and this quality is rarely combined with the painstaking care, the neatness, and the conservative judgment demanded as the third, fourth, and fifth requirements of a gang boss.

Seventh. He must constantly look ahead over the whole field of work and see that the parts go to the machines in their proper sequence and that the right job gets to each machine.

Eighth. He must, at least in a general way, supervise the timekeeping and fix piecework rates. Both the seventh and eighth duties call for a certain amount of clerical work and ability, and this class of work is almost always repugnant to the man suited to active executive work, and difficult for him to do; and the rate-fixing alone requires the whole time and careful study of a man especially suited to its minute detail.

Ninth. He must discipline the men under him, and readjust their wages; and those duties call for judgment, tact, and judicial fairness.

Under functional management, the old-fashioned single foreman is superseded by eight different men, each of whom has his own special duties, and these men, acting as the agents for the planning department, are the expert teachers, who are at all times in the shop helping and directing the workmen. Being each one chosen for his knowledge and personal skill in his specialty, they are able not only to tell the workman what he should do, but in case of necessity they do the work themselves in the presence of the workman, so as to show him not only the best but also the quickest methods.

One of these teachers (called the inspector) sees to it that he understands the drawings and instructions for doing the work. He teaches him how to do work of the right quality; how to make it fine and exact where it should be fine, and rough and quick where accuracy is not required-the one being just as important for success as the

other. The second teacher (the gang boss) shows him how to set up the job in his machine, and teaches him to make all of his personal motions in the quickest and best way. The third (the speed boss) sees that the machine is run at the best speed and that the proper tool is used in the particular way which will enable the machine to finish its product in the shortest possible time. In addition to the assistance given by these teachers, the workman receives orders and

DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE PRINCIPLE OF FUNCTIONAL OR SCIENTIFIC

help from four other men: from the "repair boss" as to the adjustment, cleanliness, and general care of his machine, belting, etc.; from the "time clerk," as to everything relating to his pay and to proper written reports and returns; from the "route clerk," as to the order in which he does his work and as to the movement of the work from one part of the shop to another; and, in case a workman gets into any trouble with any of his various bosses, the "disciplinarian" interviews him.

I This diagram is taken from F. B. Gilbreth, “Units, Methods, and Devices of Measurement under Scientific Management," The Journal of Political Economy, XXI (1913), 619.

145. WOMAN IN INDUSTRY'

The census of 1910 shows a total of 7,608,000 female wage-earners as compared with 5,319,000 in 1900. This is an increase of 43 per cent. In the same decade the number of females ten years of age and over had increased but 22 per cent. The significance of the first column in the table below is to disclose which occupational groups are attracting a larger and which a smaller percentage of the total number of women workers; of the second to show in which occupational group women are gaining, and in which losing ground, as compared with male workers; and of the third to allow a comparison of the increase of women workers in the occupational groups on a numerical and a percentage basis.

† Vol. IV, Occupation Statistics. The corrected figure has been used. Figures affected are indicated by an asterisk.

There is evidence of this transferal of work from the home in other fields than manufacturing. Among domestic workers laundresses numbered 335,000 in 1900, of whom 325,700 were handworkers; less than 10,000 were employed in steam laundries. In 1910 this occupation included 597,000 women, of whom 520,000 were handworkers and 76,000 steam-laundry operators. The increase of factory workers was over 600 per cent; that of home workers less than 60 per cent. Again, of servants and waiters combined, there were 1,284,800 in 1900, of whom 1,242,000 were servants and 42,800 were waiters. In 1910 the combined figure was 1,495,000, of whom 1,309,000 were servants, a

* Adapted by permission from C. E. Persons, "Women's Work and Wages in the United States," Quarterly Journal of Economics, XXIX (1914–15), 202–6, 233.