AUSTRALIA. SELF-CONTAINED. 
a month if possible, and at which the head official present presides, all 
members are equal, and every matter is subject to free discussion. ‘This 
scheme affords the head officials the opportunity of gaining a right 
appreciation of the whole job in such a way as to be generally 
beneficial. 
New industries are often entirely dependent for success upon sub- 
sidiary industries, and the development of these must proceed steadily. 
Each subsidiary industry should be placed in charge of a man specially 
selected for that work, and whose baby it is. Naturally, he will be 
generally supervised by the management, and will consult with the 
head officials. He will be assisted by the chief engineer, chief 
accountant, and chief chemist or metallurgist; but it must be clearly 
understood that it is his special job, and he must’ fight for all necessary 
attention, as well as assistance. 
New industries frequently pass through periods of doubt and depres- 
sion, calling for considerable courage and nerve on the part of the chief 
officials. Personality of a high order is called forth in meeting such 
conditions, since experience can only be indirect when new industries 
are under development. One of the most interesting essentials of this 
kind of work is the development by the chief officials of the right spirit 
in the staff and men. Every effort should be made to develop initiative 
in all those engaged in the job, from the office boy upwards; and, 
further, to make every one intelligently understand, firstly, the purpose 
and intention of his work, and, secondly, how that work is done. If a 
man is attending a machine, time should be taken to teach him in the 
simplest way possible how that machine works, and get him interested 
in it; or, if a man is attending a set of sulphuric acid chambers or 
electrolytic cells, devote time to teaching in as plain language as 
possible, and explain by simple examples, what is happening inside. 
The more a man knows of the details of his job, the better his work 
will be, and the more interesting we make the work to the men, thie 
more will be removed that deadly monotony which is soul-destroying 
and so bad in its effects upon efficiency. Special talks by the chief 
officials to staff and foremen on all connected subjects are. greatly 
eS ee ee ee 
needed. : 
Relations between Labour, Management, and Capital—Why is the 
present position so extremely deplorable? It seems to be because the 
employer is totally ignorant of the attitude of mind of the employee, 
and the employee equally ignorant of the true standard of the employer. 
Further, they have no common ideas or ideals, and no common meeting 
ground. 
And who is, say, in the case of a big company, the employer? The 
employee regards the employer as a big fat man who doesn’t care how 
he gets more as long as he gets it, What is the actual case in a public 
company, where the shares are well distributed? The employer in these 
concerns consists of a large number of people, many of whom have 
only a small individual interest, whilst few are amongst the rich class. 
‘The representatives of all these interests—the directors—are regarded 
by the average employee as the sole owners of the concern, and it is 
generally considered that they are getting all the benefits. Of course, 
this is not the case. 
221 
. 
A ee nn ee 
