247^ RESTRICTION OF OUTPUT I I 5 



number employed ; and it was the firm belief of union lead- 

 ers that these effects were directly traceable to excessive 

 output.^ The " health-of-the-worker " argument was given 

 greatest emphasis by the union leaders. Since the entire 

 team must work together, by " speeding up," an}' member 

 who was physically inferior v/as subject to strain and over- 

 exertion.'* The idea of making jobs for other workmen 

 figured very slightly. 



The puddlers were the pioneers in the adoption of meas- 

 ures for the curtailment of the finished product.^ The 

 method employed was to limit the number of " heats " which 

 a puddler might work. In 1867 the convention limited a 

 day's work to five heats in double-turn mills, and six for 

 a single turn." This applied to mills west of the Alleghany 

 Mountains only, in consequence of the different mode- of 

 working in the East. This rule, however, did not imme- 

 diately put an end to' the practice of working extra heats 

 and long hours. In 1870, for example. President John 

 Edwards pointed out that " some mills were known to be 

 working seven heats, from four in the morning to seven 

 and eight o'clock at night," and that the men were " not 

 only killing themselves, but depriving others from making a 

 living by stopping the double turn." 



The desire of the men to swell their earnings by increased 

 output led to overcharging the furnace. Though the union 



are thrown below it. The result is apparent. The higher rate is 

 undermined, the quality of the product suffers deterioration, the 

 health of the workmen is endangered, and the majority of them are 

 underpaid (see, for example. Proceedings, 1889, pp. 2690-2691). 



3 Proceedings, 1877, pp. 53-54; 1883, p. 11 15; 1905, p. 7227. 



< Proceedings, 1886, p, 1834; 1887, pp. 1917, 1950; 1888, pp. 2307, 

 2326-2328; 1899, p. 5586; 1900, pp. S74I, 5909; 1902, p. 6441; 1903, 

 p. 6701. 



5 Puddling is the reduction of pig iron to muck bar. This is done 

 by boiling the iron. In early times the metal was "baked," so to 

 speak, instead of " boiled," until the alloyed metals became viscous 

 or " pasty " ; this was, in the strict sense, the process correctly de- 

 scribed as " puddling." There is practically no puddling done in the 

 United Stales today. The words "puddling" and "boiling" are 

 used interchangeably, the former being more conunon in tlie East, 

 the latter in the West. 



"Vulcan Record, 1H67, no. i, p. 10. 



