12 
LAND & WATER 
l-ebruary i, 1<)V/ 
I?, a mere crononiic rommnnplarc, but it lias a special 
application with regard to the \alHe of the mark. The 
\villinphr=;scif people in neutral countries to receive marks 
in payment for tlieir goods dejx^nds very larj^jely on the 
ronlidence placed in the financial stability of the country 
in which marks are current —namely, Germany. The 
low value of »he mark is an indication that there is but 
little demand for marks ; that there is sjeat miw illin.tiness 
to purchase (ierman currency, and this points ine\itably 
to the conclusion that the confidence of neutrals in Or- 
many's ability to pay is dimini-hint;, that in the eyes of 
neutrals her credit is seriously iin{)aired. 
It should be pointed out that the problem has been 
.'iimplified by the omission of all reference to the effects 
on the international exchanges of the large German 
issues of paper money, and of the speculative buj'ing <>f 
<.ierman currency on foreign bourses. A study of these 
would lnj'lp to explain thcquotiations at any particular 
time or the fluctuations during any particular period, 
but the omission does not seriously affect the general 
line of the arg\mient or the general conclusions arrived at. 
In conclusion, the \alue of the mark is one of the most 
striking indications of (k-rmany's economic position. Its 
contimious decline emphasises her inability to maintain 
her exports, her shortage of man-power, the dwindling of 
that reserve from which alone the gaps in her ranks can 
be filled. There may be occasional small rises due to some 
exceptional exertion on (jermany's part, or to tin- 
circulation of peace rumours, but the general course is 
steadily downward, and this downward movement may 
be regarded as a clear sign of the exhaustion which pre- 
cedes collapse. 
Psychology of the Workshop 
By Arthur Kitson 
-IT -m" 7-HEX the late Frederick Taylor of Philadelphia 
^ ^L I was deep in his study of workshop efliciency, 
^U^^ he occasionally favoured me with the results 
y T of his labours. He mentioned the tons of 
metal he had uSed in ascertaining the conditions mider 
which the higliest speed efficiency was obtainable with 
\arious machines, lathes, drilling, slotting and screw 
cutting machines, etc. He worked out the speed 
efficiency for every form and \ariety of workshop tool 
and machine, including labour itself. From the purely 
mechanical standpoint Taylor's work is the last word in 
efficiency. In one of otir munerous conversations, I 
asked if he had given any consideration to the 
psychology of the labour factor. He admitted that up 
to that time — sixteen years ago— he had not. ^' He 
acknowledged that great \ariations in the quality of 
labour existed, but his endea\our was to elimingite as far 
iis possible the personal equation. 
Taylor's work was entirely confined to the material 
side. Increased output, reduced costs, greater profits — 
these were the sole objective results he aimed at — and 
attained— to an extraordinarily high degree. It is a 
curious commentary on the human mind to witness how 
often in our pursuit of certain objects the means for 
securing them are regarded as the objects themselves. 
Workshop efliciency should be merely a means for pro- 
viding us with those ntaterial things necessary to fife, 
its de\-elopment and enjoyment, with the least expendi- 
ture of energy. F>ut supposing this pursuit ends in 
debasing the human factors into itiere pieces of mechanism ? 
Supposing our mechanical efficiency turns out to be a 
Frankenstein ? Supposing efficiency ends in crushing the 
\ery object for whose advantage it is created ? 
One of the many salutary lessons taught by the war is 
the need for improving the conditions of labour. The 
introduction of female labour into thousands of work- 
shops, and the acquaintance which manv of our educated 
classes ha\-c made with factory conditions, have led to a 
demand for " humanising " labour conditions. Pro- 
bably the most debasing feature of these conditions is the 
terrible monotony of repetition work. A man who 
performs the same operation, the making of the same 
article day after day and week after week, month after 
month, becomes a mere automaton. Xot only does it 
affect him during the hours of labour, btit e\entually 
he becomes machine-like in all his movements, with 
disastrous results to his mental and moral stamina. 
The great labour problem is how to make workshop 
life attractive, interesting, ennobling. The solution of 
this problem will not only prove of great moral and 
physical benefit, but economically advantageous. The 
operator who is interested in his work, will do more and 
b(?tter work than the one who is " fed up " with the 
monotony of his daily task. Moral is as important a 
factor in the -workshop as in the army. The knowledge 
that their product is to be one of the deciding factors in 
waning the war has braced thottsands of machinists to 
do their lc\'el best, and to-day many, engineering establish- 
ments are turning out better and more woik per man 
than at any period in their history. 
I am now speaking from experience. I have several 
men employed on munition work, whose weekly output 
is one-third more than the maximum quantity which the 
makers of the macliines believed it was possible to pro- 
duce ! Employees who, prior to the war, grumbled when 
requested to work overtime, now willingly put in an 
average of tweUe hours a day. And this is not entirely 
due to the extra wages paid them. It is the same spirit ■ 
that caused hundreds of thousands of all clas.ses to rush 
to their nearest recruiting station as soon as war was 
declared. Is it not possible to cultivate this spirit and 
organise it for the production of the munitions of life — 
when peace is declared ? Such a result would absolutely 
revolutionise industrial life. 
One method for rendering the operator's task less 
monotonous is to explain fully to him the functions 
fulfilled bj- each particular article he makes In my 
young days of apprenticeship I remember how dull and 
stupid certain repetition work appeared. To make the 
first few screws was interesting, but after several days 
the same task became monotonous. One day my father 
took me to Strood, and we boarded the Great Eastern 
Steamship— then the greatest and most famous vessel 
. afloat. T was there shown the purpose of the screws I 
was making, which were to be used on the \-essel. From 
that time the work assumed a totally different aspect. 
The thought that my product was of some impoitance 
in connection with the greatest ocean Leviathan, dis- 
persed all feelings of monotony, and I felt myself of really 
some importance in the industrial world. During thirty 
years of business experience 1 have found that this 
practice of explaining the tise of the articles the machinist 
is engaged in making, greatly adds to his interest. 
During a recent visit to the Whitehead Aircraft works 
at Richmond, Surrey, Mr. Whitehead said that he 
made it a rule to call his workpeople together two or 
three times a week during working hours, and address 
them on the nature and importance of their work. 
When flying tests and experiments are carried out, 
occasionally he in\'ites the entire works to visit them. 
" By these and : similar meaiis the interest of every 
employee is maintained at the highest level," he added. 
" Every one works with the same diligence and zeal as 
if the business belonged to him or her." 
The key to success will be found in satisfying the natural 
longing and hope of everyone to be of sonui recognised 
value in the world. The great incentive which causes 
men joj^fully to spend days and nights in working out 
inventions, in making discoveries, in writing books, is 
not the mere hope of pecuniary gain, but the determination 
to obtain recognition among their fellows as having done 
" their bit " in life. Indeed, the way to lighten toil and 
humanise labour, conditions is to adopt such means as will 
engender the spirit of a victorious army, where every 
man shares the^ glory of sucx~ess. There is the excellent 
story of the organ blower, wlio \\lien the organist was 
