THE CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY 251 



division ; to the chief of a government office, — in short, to any 

 person exercising direct authority over others and acting as 

 watchdog toward them. We have him in England under 

 many different names, but he is never quite the same boss. 

 With us he is a more or less lenient taskmaster, a casual visitor 

 rather than a supervisor. In his higher forms he is a gentle- 

 man, or has to try to be, which is destructive of vigilance 

 and efficiency. There is no boss so strict as an Irishman 

 lording it over half a dozen other Irishmen. The Americans 

 begin with him, and rise through a long gradation of authority 

 to the boss with thousands of men at his call. Be the sphere 

 large or small, the authority is absolute. A man may "turn 

 up his job" at any moment, but while he is on it he must obey 

 his boss as implicitly as a soldier in the ranks. 



In going through any large establishment in the United 

 States a close observer cannot fail to be struck by the order 

 and discipline maintained. Every man appears to be in his 

 place and to be attending to his duty. Every machine is 

 going at high speed, and the whole establishment runs smooth- 

 ly. If one stops in the street to watch the progress of any 

 large job — the building of a skyscraper, the laying of a street 

 railway, or the excavation of a sewer — he will receive the 

 same kind of impression. The work appears to be proceeding 

 on a general plan. It is well laid out, and a vigilant eye seems 

 to be over the whole of it. Close by every gang of laborers 

 may be seen a foreman. Dodging about all over the place are 

 keen looking men, who may be engineers or superintendents. 

 What one seldom or never sees is skulking or dawdling. 

 There is no leaning on shovels or studying the passers-by or 

 any other form of philosophic meditation permitted on an 

 American job. Above all, there is no eleven o'clock beer or 

 four o'clock beer. The boss has everywhere a strong objec- 

 tion to beer. On duty it is strictly tabooed, and even off 

 duty it is discouraged. 



British trade unionists often complain of the shop rules 

 laid down by their employers, but they will not know what 

 rules are till they have been to the land of freedom. Neither 

 can they have any idea of the possibilities of supervision. 

 The writer has seen iron mines on Lake Superior, emplo} r ing 



