COOPERATION. 561 



The &quot; premium plan &quot; which. Mr. Halsey introduced, and 

 alleges to be successful, is one which takes a tolerably well- 

 known time-cost of a certain piece of work, and gives to the 

 workman extra pay proportionate to the diminished time in 

 which he completes it a premium of so much on each 

 hour economized. This system is akin to one adopted in 

 England by Willans and Robinson, Limited, under which a 

 &quot; reference rate &quot; (or standard rate) for a specified task hav 

 ing been settled, if the cost as measured in time-wages is - 

 less, then the workman receives half the difference between 

 the standard cost and the lowered cost resulting from his 

 skill and industry. A kindred system is adopted by the 

 Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company of Connecticut. 

 Setting out with a standard cost, not of labour upon special 

 pieces of work, but of labour and materials throughout the 

 entire business, summed up into an aggregate, they meas 

 ure, at the end of the year, the difference between the esti 

 mated standard cost and the actual reduced cost consequent 

 upon diligence, skill, and care on the part of the employes, 

 and divide this &quot; gain &quot; equally between employer and em 

 ployed: the difference between these allied methods being 

 that under the last the individual workman does not bene 

 fit so fully and distinctly by his superiority as he does under 

 the first. 



Speaking generally of these several methods of profit- 

 sharing and gain-sharing, it must suffice here to recognize 

 considerable advantages joined with serious defects; and 

 concerning the last group of methods it may be observed 

 that though approaching more nearly to an ideal system of 

 apportioning out reward to merit, they have the disadvan 

 tage of great complication in the making of estimates and 

 keeping of accounts a complication which, entailing labour 

 to be paid for, entails a certain deduction from the benefits 

 resulting. 



837. We come now to those forms of industrial organ- 



