m*- w - Clpdigital.org

THE DOLLAR VALUK OF PATRIOTISM 835
Now all that is going to change—it must
change. We have in three years failed to get
some 2,000,000 workers from Europe because of
the war. We are about to lose 2,000,000 or more
of our own to the United States Army. With a
working force that is below normal by 4,000,000
men, we propose to start at an already high level
of production and reach still higher levels!
And there is but one possible way of doing it.
Every man must reach the height of efficiency in
his own way. I le must gather his
material and tools about him in an
orderly fashion, and then work
without a lost motion. If this
task is to be finished, America
must reform those dawdling
shops which now spend four
clays over a job which can be
done easily in a forenoon.
And, American workers must
consent to strike and hold
the new, orderly pace.
While I do not pretend
to measure America's
productive capacity, a few
incidents, taken at random,
will indicate what
it is.
New York, recently,
decided to put down a new
sidewalk on Broadway
above Thirty-sixth Street.
One gang tore up the old
walk and forgot about it.
During ten days that fol­
l\^
lowed, several gangs of men went several times to put down the new one.
They went away each time because material had not arrived. They wasted hours
each time.
Chicago had such a job to do recently. The contractor was a man by the name
of Lee. Before even tearing up the old walk he caused three cars to be placed
on the railroad siding near where the job was to be done. One of these contained
broken stone, another sand and a third cement. Near them he placed a rocking
cradle device on stilts. The preliminaries finished, workers filled the device with
broken stone or sand. When the auto truck came they rolled the cradle over it
and spilled its contents into the truck. Next they threw a few bags of cement on
top of the load and the truck started to where the paving had to be repaired.
While this was going on. another gang of workers had torn up the old
sidewalk and had made ready to lay the new. A few put down the "footing"
while a few more mixed the cement. As fast as one job was finished another
was begun. The raw material was always at hand ready for use. In this way,
Chicago did a job in one morning, that New York had dawdled over for more
than ten days.
1
Where a Fifty Per Cent Saving Often Can Be Made
areful planning, many of those "two-man jobs" can b.- done as well
by one worker.