224 report of the forestry committee 



Bonus Systems. 



There are several "bonus systems" in use in the Northwest, two of which 

 are mentioned in Mr. Martin's appended report. One is known as the "Brown's 

 Bay Bonus System" and is applied only to those men working in yarding crews. 

 The basis of the system is as follows : Fourteen men are designated as a yarding 

 crew, each of whom receives a guaranteed daily wage, which he accepts as full 

 payment for work done. When the crew have loaded an agreed number of thou- 

 sand board feet, called the base, in less than a 26-day month, they are paid a 

 bonus of 75 cents per thousand board feet for each thousand feet loaded over 

 the base during a 26-day month. In case the crew works less than a 26-day 

 month, 1-26 of the base is subtracted for each day not worked, and the bonus is 

 then applied to the new base established in this manner. 



The bonus is divided among the fourteen men in the crew so that each man 

 receives, in addition to his guaranteed daily wage, the percentage which his 

 guaranteed wage bears to the guaranteed wage of the entire crew. 



Mr. Martin points out that one weak point in this system is that it is not ap- 

 plied to all members of the logging crew, although in practice the greater effi- 

 ciency secured from the yarding crew and the efforts to maintain the increased 

 output affect every man in the logging camp. Cooks have more lunches to put 

 up, pump men have to put in extra hours and train crews are called on to handle 

 a greater tonnage. 



Another scheme now coming into use and which is regarded as somewhat 

 more equitable, is also described by Mr. Martin. A new landing is carefully sized 

 up by the foreman, superintendent, and hooktender, and an estimate made of the 

 amount of timber which, under normal conditions, can be logged to it during the 

 month. For each thousand board feet logged in excess of this amount a given 

 bonus is paid to the men, over and above a given daily guaranteed wage. In case 

 a workman is employed for a fractional part of a month only, he receives his 

 proportional part of the bonus earned on the days he was actually employed. In 

 case the amount yarded did not exceed the base or fell under it, the workman re- 

 ceives his daily guaranteed wage. 



A bonus system, based on somewhat different lines, is in operation both in the 

 West and South. This consists in dividing with certain workmen the saving 

 effected in operating costs, below a certain base agreed upon. 



One operator in the West reports that "All our men who are engaged in the 

 regular course of production, including logging, saw-mill and yard are paid, in 

 addition to their regular wages, a percentage amounting to 60 per cent of the gain 

 which they may show over our average cost, as obtained from our records of 

 similar work for two years prior to the commencement of the bonus system." 



A similar method is in vogue, in at least one instance, in the South, includ- 

 ing, however, only certain foremen and the shipping clerk in the manufacturing 

 department. The plan is as follows : The foremen of the yards, dry kilns and 

 the shipping clerk, in consultation with the manager of the plant agreed upon an 

 equitable cost per thousand feet for performing such work as was in charge of 

 each. The management then guaranteed to each foreman the same salary which 



