PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 261 



The principal feature of the day is the insistent craving for better and 

 easier conditions of life ; in popular language this is quite inaccurately expressed 

 by a demand for higher wages and less work. The two aims are far from 

 identical ; in fact, a little consideration will show that in some respects they 

 are contradictory. 



The total remuneration received by a nation is measured by its production, 

 and this law cannot be alterated or affected by legislation or revolution. On 

 the other hand, the share received by a class or an individual is capable of 

 adjustment within certain limits. Thus any class may increase its remuneration 

 either by increasing the total production or by decreasing the remuneration 

 received by the other classes. The capitalist who corners wheat, and the miner 

 who corners coal, are examples of the latter method. No such limitations exist, 

 however, with regard to the face value of the wages paid ; by Act of Parliament 

 all wages might be increased arbitrarily twentyfold, but as a result the cost 

 of living would rise in a similar ratio. 



Incalculable harm has been done by ignorance and wilful misrepresentation. 

 During a generation the working classes have been told, and have firmly believed, 

 that they receive but a tithe of the value of their work, and that the bulk goes 

 to swell the fortune of the capitalistic class. The actual facts so far as engineer- 

 ing is concerned will be found in the address of my predecessor in this chair. 

 On an average in pre-war days the share of the capitalist was one-ninth that 

 of the workman. The actual position with regard to coal is now known to all. 

 For each ton raised 19s. Sg^. goes for labour and a total of 2s. is paid as 

 royalties, owners' profits, and owners' compensation. It is obvious that the 

 13s. rise in the miner's wages cannot be paid out of profits and royalties 

 amounting to a total of 2s., but the miner, who has been brought up to believe 

 in the fabulous profits of the wicked duke, is quite ready to strike against the 

 owners, the Government, and the laws of arithmetic. 



These facts, though clearly established, are not easily credited by the working 

 man ; he may have received a penny for what he considers is the manufacture 

 of an article and sees it selling for a shilling in a shop. He forgets that the 

 . price must include, not only his wage, but that of the men in the mine, the 

 smelting works, and the rolling mill, who provided the material in the shape 

 required, the wages of the men who built the factory in which he works and 

 made the machine he uses, the wages of transport workers, packers, shop assis- 

 tants, advertising agents, printer, paperm.akers, etc., and that, finally, some 

 minute fraction of a farthing might with justice be allotted to the engineer 

 who designed the machine or invented the process. The general position, though 

 similar, cannot, unfortunately, be followed so closely ; the limitations, however, 

 are clear. The income of the United Kingdom per head of the population was 

 before the war about 50?. If, therefore, the State were run on completely com- 

 munistic lines, and if under these conditions there were no reduction either in 

 the working hours or the output our wages would average a sovereign a week 

 each, and we could buy our goods at pre-war prices. i 



The above considerations indicate that a real improvement in material welfare 

 is necessarily associated with increased production. The needs of mankind are 

 many, its desires are unlimited, and for this reason general over-production need 

 never arise. Many circumstances may, however, lead to uneven balance', and 

 unfortunately, when this occurs, the "producers of the commodity which is in 

 excess are penalised, and those responsible for a deficiency are rewarded. The 

 instability is fostered and increased by speculation, and, although it forms the 

 most powerful check on national prosperity, no serious effort has yet been made 

 to apply a remedy. 



I am inclined to think that two of the most important problems of our time 

 relate to economic balance and increased production. The solution in the former 

 case is dependent on the statesman, the economist, and the business man, in the 

 latter on the combined efforts of various branches of applied science, and more 

 especially on engineering. 



At oije time production was directly dependent on muscular effort ; it is now 

 mainly influenced by equipment, organisation, and skill. Increased production 



1 This statement is optimistic in so far as it does not take account of war 

 losses. 



1919. V 



