486 



The Review of Reviews. 



June 1, 1S06. 



BEAUTY AS A FACTOR IN PRODUCTION. 



In the Engineering Magazine Mr. O. M. Becker 

 describes auxiliary methods of successful labour 

 employers in ameliorating the conditions of their 

 employes. He calls it " The Square Deal in Works 

 Management." It is amply illustrated with pictures 

 of recreation rooms, playing fields, rest rooms, etc., 

 in works like those of Messrs. Cadbury and Messrs. 

 Lever in this country and America. After describ- 

 ing also the calisthenic exercises introduced during 

 work hours, to relieve the strain on certain muscles 

 and to develop those little used, the writer proceeds 

 to deal with another factor, one that is ail but 

 universally overlooked or neglected — namely, that 

 of environment in respect of the aesthetic nature. 

 He says : — 



Attention ha^ already been directed to the certain effect 

 of slovenly shop surroundings upon the workmen in it. 

 Good light, cleanliness, proper sanitation, comfort-able posi- 

 tion wnile at work — these and other things have been 

 indicated as helpful in making workmen cheerful, happy 

 and content. But a shop may have all these thinas and 

 still be a cismal, cbeerlees place to work in, whose depress- 

 ing influence cannot be entirely dissipated by the lively 

 activity of which it is the daily scene. It ig doubtless too 

 much to suggest, at least under prevailing industrial condi- 

 tions, that every place wheie men and women work should 

 be made beautiful. The manager of a foundry or a rolling 

 mill would very likely laugh outright at the idea of beau- 

 tifying such placee. Commonly located in busy, crowded, 

 and dirty districts, ^ridded with railroad tracks and switch 

 yards, the build'nge as tall and close to each otlier as 



Sossible, and frequently hidden in clouds of smoke and 

 nst, the average factory looks very unpromising indeed 

 from the aesthetic point of view. Experience has shown. 

 however, that even under most discou-^aging conditions 

 there ae p-^ssibilifes. The largest factorv in its line in the 

 world was ten years ago no exception to the general rule. 

 To-day it ia throughout almost a work of art, internally 

 as well as externally. The walls are painted, the newer 

 buildings artistically designed, and old ones more or less 

 reoniis true ted. \ acant snaces i»ot otberwise utilised sodded 

 with grass, shop walls agreeably tinted and at intervals 

 hung with pictures and appropriate mottoes. Shrubs and 

 vines are eve ywhere in evidence, b^xes of plants and 

 flowers gracD minv a window, and trees are found where 

 least exnerte'l. Thft whole atmosphere is more that of a 

 studio than that of a factory as ordinarily known. And 

 tl'e owner asserts most emphatically that all this, along 

 with t' e many other aereeable con-^itions he has brought 

 about, has a powerful influence upon his operatives, making 

 themT>etter men and women and better producers; and in 

 consequence that it vielda good interest uwon the invest- 

 ment. The'-e i3_ no inherent reason why such conditions 

 should not ultimately prevail very largely, or even uni- 

 versally. 



He pfoes on to sav that, though this may seem to 

 some the counsel of perfection- 

 it is a sat^sfnctinn to reflect that there are very few shops 

 indeed that c-^n^ot be m^de tolerably attractive and plea- 

 sant, if t^'e pr'^ner effort be but made. Nor is it necessary 

 for the shop owners to s-o to lare-e expense. A verv little 

 encou'a^'^me^t of the interested ones, and a little more 

 example pet by the manap-ement, will go a long way toward 

 making work-rooms pleasant. 



A WARNING AGAINST MIDDLE-CLASS IDEALS. 



The editor, in reviewing; Mr. Bud.gett Meakin's 

 " Model Factories and Villages," puts the other side 

 when he says : — 



The danger of int^o-'ucing too much of the Sundav school 

 spir't, into refo-ms nf t'^'S kind is, that S'^'^ner or later an 

 inevitable reirtlon is bound to c^me. Another daneer that 

 seems to suggcs* itself from an examination of some of the 

 institutions provided, and described in Mr. Meakin's book. 



is the creation of a standard of luxurious surroundings 

 which must always remain a contrast with the normal lives 

 of the working population. 



It would be a truer service to working i>eople to inculcate 

 a really practical form of the "simple life," if such can be 

 evolved, than to provide them with middle-class surround- 

 ings in the shape of rest rooms, recreation rooms, aud bo 

 forth. There is no special virtue iu teaching people to 

 surround themselves with mere prettiness. Oriental floor 

 rugs and nicknacks may make a room bright and cheerful, 

 hut they may also easily lead later on to discontent with 

 the stern realities of life. Unfortunately, so many of the 

 people who are interesting themselves iu this and similar 

 movements, mistake the ideals of their particular station in 

 life for primary and imperative necessities. 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



Practical Advice to the Intending Settler. 



A colonist in British Columbia contributes to 

 Macmillan's Magazine an eminently practical paper 

 on " Work and Wages in British Columbia." 

 " There is one class of man absolutely certain to 

 better his condition by coming to British Columbia," 

 and that is the man who can and will work with his 

 hands, and leave whisky and politics severely alone. 

 " Want of labour and a plethora of politics are the 

 curses of Western Canada.'' Dislike Chinese labour 

 as you may, you must often employ it. The Japa- 

 nese (let Australians, with their dread of the Japa- 

 nese, note this), though not kept at bay by ^loo 

 poll-taxes, as are the Chinese, " do not like the 

 work and will not stick to it." When the fishing 

 season comes, the Japane.se goes off to fish, leaving 

 h's employer in the lurch. " The result of all this 

 is that in the field of farm labour an English farm 

 hand would have no class to compete against in 

 British Columbia." 



In two years, the writer says, he has not been able 

 to get a farm labourer able to plough and do what 

 farm labourers are supposed to be able to do, and 

 this near the capital. Let the Colonial training 

 homes note the following: — 



The onlv all-ernative to a Chinese cook ia yotir own wife. 

 Tlie Indy.helT) i3 a rank impostor: she is too much lady and 

 too little help. She p''ts her boots ou'side her door every 

 niffht and wonders who cleans them: she can plnv the 

 piano moderately, but slie knows nothing of makine butt«r: 

 and "the one thing: she cannot do" inclu'^es all those 

 things which she is wanted to do. As a nractical man I 

 say for heaven's sake let her ston at home, unless she 

 comes here expressly to be married; in which case, i.f she ^^ 



be eood-look'ner. let her come. fl 



Very nenrly the same may be said of the gentleman- ^ 

 labourer. He is an expensive luxury, and nlthoneb in time 

 he may grow into a first-clnss workmnn. it is better that 

 lie should do so at some other man's exnense. 



The re^ple we WTnt in this country are the oM-fashioned 

 general servants who can cook plainly, wash and scrub, and 

 the farm-'abourers who can do any ordinary job upon a 

 mixed farm. For them the outlook is bright enough. 



We want them here, too ; and the other Colonies 

 want them as well. Indeed, who does not want 

 them ? In British Columbia such a capable general 

 ser\'ant, man or woman, may get £-\ 12s. to jQ^ a 

 month, with board, all the year round. In some 

 emplovments wages are higher, but work not quite 

 constant 



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