214 president's address — section h. 



favorable conditions which emerge during the progress of the 

 job, toi modify his plans as may be found advantageous from time 

 to time, and he has full acquaintance with the difficulties and the 

 costs of the work. This experience is of very great value to him 

 when carrying out other jobs. In my own work I have let no' 

 large contracts since I started the direct labour system in 1892, 

 that is twenty-eight years ago, though I have been quite willing to 

 doi so if any advantage could be gained. On different occasions con- 

 tractors have been asked to tender, but their prices when compared 

 with the estimated cost of direct labour work led to all tenders 

 being declined and the work was then carried out within the 

 estimated cost. When I wanted difficult foundation work carried 

 out, and had neither the special plant required nor men experienced 

 in such work, I called for tenders, and there was no response, so I 

 set to work and carried out the foundations at a cost well within 

 what I had been prepared to pay to contractors. 



When I had to build a railway under conditions of great 

 urgency during a coal strike, there was no time to look for a 

 contractor. We just went straight ahead at full speed and did the 

 work in record time, adapting our plans and methods to suit the 

 exigencies that arose, and putting all we could of science into 

 cur work, for never did I have a better opportunity to apply 

 scientific knowledge and scientific method in gaining time and 

 saving money. These experiences are quoted as instances of the 

 successful applicaticn of scientific methods and practice. 



There has been a change over from contract work to direct 

 labour woik in manv instances in Australia during recent years, 

 and sometimes a change back again, but the direct labour system 

 is superseding contract work to an increasing extent. In these 

 times of high cost of labour and scarcity and high cost of materials, 

 the direct labour system gives freer scope for the application of 

 new scientific processes, ideas, and methods to the work, and it is 

 in this directioii that we should be working to adapt ourselves 

 to the new conditions that have arisen. With high prices for 

 labour we should encourage higher skill on the part of the work- 

 men, using more mechanical and other aids to remove the drudgery 

 of daily toil from the worker, and give him more to do with 

 his brains and less with his muscles. Thus improving the worker 

 and gaining in efficiency, the community should be better served 

 and improved conditions maintained. Other nations are working 

 in this direction, and we should take care not to be left behind. 



Work can be carried on by Governments as efficiently as by 

 contract or any other method. Governments are in the best 

 position in the matter of finance. They can secure the best experts 

 if they will pay them fairly and treat them properly. Workmen 

 will work as well for Governments as for private employers, if 

 properly organized and controlled. It is only when Governments 



