Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/42

20 very well known that when the bidding for labor began in 1915 and became very strong in 1916 the slackness of labor increased in about direct proportion to the demand for it. The slackness was exhibited in three ways, viz. shortening of time worked, the performance of less work per hour, and impairment in the quality of the work done. It appeared to be the deliberate purpose of organized labor to do as little work per man and get as many men on the job as possible. Iluminating illustrations of this are to be found in the railway experiences. A distinguished railway president told me of rejecting a demand to put cabs on the tenders of his locomotives. The labor rules required five men on a locomotive. The work was easily done by three and there was room in the cab only for three, so the extra two had to ride in the tender. The demand for cabs on the tenders was to make them comfortable. Things that were equally ludicrous and distressful were to be found in many industries. The theory was to make jobs and draw high pay, and the last thought of all was about the work performed and the rendering of value for what was received. In all of this labor exhibited a distinctly parasitic quality. After the railways were returned by the Government to their owners the first step of the latter was a general “delousing,” as it was called.

The slackening tendency of labor was not a direct consequence of the war, for it had been in evidence in previous years. I had an opportunity to observe the same squad of carpenters from 1910 to 1916. Annually their union raised the scale of wages, but per week these men did not increase their receipts. Simply they did not work so many hours. I noted in their