Page:On the economy of machinery and manufactures - Babbage - 1846.djvu/329

Rh (357.) In some establishments, it is customary for the master to give a small gratuity whenever any workman has exercised a remarkable degree of skill, or has economized the material employed. Thus, in splitting horn into layers for lanterns, one horn usually furnishes from five to eight layers; but if a workman split the horn into ten layers or more, he receives a pint of ale from the master. These premiums should not be too high, lest the material should be wasted in unsuccessful attempts: but such regulations, when judiciously made, are beneficial, as they tend to produce skill amongst the workmen, profit to the masters, and diminished cost to the consumers.

(358.) In some few factories, in which the men are paid by the piece, it is usual, when any portion of work, delivered in by a workman, is rejected by the master on account of its being badly executed, to fine the delinquent. Such a practice tends to remedy one of the evils attendant upon that mode of payment, and greatly assists the master, since his own judgment is thus supported by competent and unprejudiced judges.

(359.) Societies exist amongst some of the larger bodies of workmen, and others have been formed by the masters engaged in the same branches of trade. These associations have different objects in view; but it is very desirable that their effects should be well understood by the individuals who compose them; and that the advantages arising from them, which are certainly great, should be separated as much as possible from the evils which they have, unfortunately, too frequently introduced. Associations of workmen and of masters may, with advantage, agree