PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 453 



Bad liiiiekeepint; causes much more loss than lliat due to the actual time 

 lost, as not only does machinery and other plant lie idle, but the disorganisation 

 caused in works by lost tune is most serious. 



With the growth in strength of the Trades Unions, which at fiist were for 

 the legitimate object of seeing that the workman got fair play, and providing 

 oi.t-of-work and old-age benefits, &c., has grown np a system of Trades Union 

 officials who live by agitation, and whose job would be gone if there were no 

 supposed grievances to agitate about. These men keep the labour world in a 

 constant state of agitation, and make the employers' and officials' existence a 

 burden to them by constant demands of all sorts, many of them utterly imprac- 

 ticable and unfair. When they cannot agitate against the employer they 

 agitate against another Trades Union, and thus endless di.'^putes spring up on 

 the demarcation of work. Some of the worst strikes in the past have been 

 due to disputes between two Trades Unions. 



Unless something can be done to bring master and man together and make 

 both work for the common good, English trade must inevitably go down, and 

 the supremacy that England has in the engineering of the world will come 

 to an end. 



Nothing ever was a truer statement than that recently made by Lord Joicey 

 that this country, unless it produces as cheap or cheaper than other countrie.*, 

 caimot in the long run keep her trade, and this is true in spite of any tariff 

 walls which may be set up. And if the present state of affairs is maintained 

 of unscientific management and obsolete machinery, combined with limitation of 

 output and high wages, or, in other words, high cost of production, we must, 

 sooner or later, go to the wall. 



What is really wanted is common honesty and common sense on both sides, 

 for one side is as liad as the other at present. 



And now about the official, who is in all grades from the manager down to 

 the foreman, and who comes between the master and the man. Unless he is 

 treated fairly by the master, and unless he treats his men fairly, there is sure 

 to be friction and loss of efficiency. He must also work with his fellow-officials, 

 who move in lines more or less parallel to his, and here, to prevent jealousies 

 and to prevent the more unscrupulous among them taking unfair advantages, 

 demarcation of each official's duties and work is most important. This is a 

 point often omitted to be taken sufficiently into account in the organisation of 

 works, and often causes most disastrous results. The duties of each man 

 should be clearly defined by the master, and no interference with those of others 

 tolerated. The master also should remember that the official has no Trades 

 Union or similar organisation to protect him, and should act accordingly. Much 

 more could be said about the relations of the official both with his fellow- 

 official who is on the same level as himself, with his master who is above him, 

 and the workman who is under him, but time forbids. On all three sides much 

 improvement could be effected. The fact remains, however, that for success 

 it is essential that all from the apprentice to the head of the firm should work 

 as one homogeneous whole. 



Apart from the considerations set out above, combinations among the firms 

 employed in any one trade are most essential for the well-being oi that trade. 

 It is by such combination that much of the progress made of late years by 

 our competitors has been effected. Some of these combinations have been 

 international, and at least two such in the engineering trade before the war 

 were so. These now, of course, are, and it is expected will be after the war, 

 confined to the allied and possibly to neutral countries, but such combinations, 

 whether among all the engineering firms in one district or among firms employed 

 in one particular trade, to be successful must be worked fairly to all members, 

 and the larger firms must not override the smaller, as, it is regrettable to say, 

 has been done in combinations of employers in some districts. For example, in 

 a district where there is one firm very much larger than any of the others, it 

 is not unknown for it to act the bully and insist on everything being done as 

 would suit its requirements, regardless of the rights of others. And, further, 

 such combinations are, unless directed by men with broad minds and able to 

 take a wide view of things, apt, especially in case of eniergeniy, to do 

 much harm. 



