industrial process； of course； very much as the craftsman's
tools； in his time； were indispensable to the work which he had
in hand。 But the unit of industrial organization and procedure；
what may be called the 〃going concern〃 in production； is now the
outfit of industrial equipment； a works； engaged in a given
standardised mechanical process designed to turn out a given
output of standardised product； it is the plant； or the shop。 And
under this new order of industrial methods and values it has
already come to be a commonplace of popular 〃knowledge and
belief〃 that the mechanical equipment is the creative factor in
industry； and the 〃production〃 of the output is credited to the
plant's working capacity and set down to its account as a going
concern； whereas the other factors engaged； as e。g。； workmen and
materials； are counted in as auxiliary factors which are
indispensable but subsidiary items of production…cost which
are incorporated in the running expenses of the plant and its
productive process。
Under the new order the going concern in production is the
plant or shop； the works； not the individual workman。 The plant
embodies a standardised industrial process。 The workman is made
use of according as the needs of the given mechanical process may
require。 The time； place； rate； and material conditions of the
work in hand are determined immediately by the mechanically
standardised process in which the given plant is engaged； and
beyond that all these matters are dependent on the exigencies and
manoeuvres of business； largely by way of moderating the rate of
production and keeping the output reasonably short of maximum
capacity。 The workman has become subsidiary to the mechanical
equipment； and productive industry has become subservient to
business； in all those countries which have come in for the
latter…day state of the industrial arts； and which so have fallen
under the domination of the price system。
Such is the state of things throughout in those greater
industries that are characteristic of the New Order； and these
greater industries now set the pace and make the standards of
management and valuation for the rest。 At the same time these
greater industries of the machine era extend their domination
beyond their own immediate work； and enforce a standardisation of
much the same mechanical character in the community at large； in
the ways and means of living as well as in the ways and means of
work。 The effects of their mechanically standardised production；
in the way of goods and services as well as in the similarly
standardised traffic through which these goods and services are
distributed to the consumers； reach out into the everyday life of
all classes； but most immediately and imperatively they reach the
working class of the industrial centers。 So they largely set the
pace for the ordinary occupations of the common man even apart
from any employment in the greater mechanical industries。 It is
especially the latter…day system of transport and communication
as it works out under the new order highly mechanical and
exactingly scheduled for time； rate and place that so controls
and standardises the ordinary life of the common man on
mechanical lines。
The training enforced by this mechanical standardisation；
therefore； is of much the same order throughout the community as
it is within the mechanical industries proper； and it drives to
the same outcome； submergence of the personal equation。 So
that the workday information and the reasoning by use of which
all men carry on their daily life under the new order is of the
same general character as that information and reasoning which
guides the mechanical engineers； and the unremitting habituation
to its scope and method； its principles of knowledge and belief；
leads headlong to a mechanistic conception of things； ways；
means； ends； and values； whether it is called by that name or
not。 The resulting frame of mind is often spoken of as
Materialism。 This impersonal character of workday habituation is
particularly to be counted on to take decisive effect wherever
the latter…day scheme of mechanical standardisation takes effect
with all that wide sweep and massive drift with which it now
dominates the larger centers of population。
Since the modern era began； the state of the industrial arts
has been undergoing a change of type。 Such as the followers of
Mendel would call a 〃mutation。〃 And in the course of this
mutation the workman and his part in the conduct of industry have
suffered as great a dislocation as any of the other factors
involved。 But it is also to be admitted that the typical
owner…employer of the earlier modern time； such as he stood in
the mind's eye of the eighteenth…century doctrinaires； this
traditional owner…employer has also come through the period of
the mutation in a scarcely better state of preservation。 At the
period of this stabilisation of principles in the eighteenth
century； he could still truthfully be spoken of as a 〃master；〃 a
foreman of the shop； and he was then still invested with a large
reminiscence of the master…craftsman； as known in the time of the
craft…gilds。 He stood forth in the eighteenth…century argument on
the Natural Order of things as the wise and workmanlike designer
and guide of his workmen's handiwork； and he was then still
presumed to be living in workday contact and communion with them
and to deal with them on an equitable footing of personal
interest。
Such a characterisation of the capitalist…employer who was
doing business at the time of the Industrial Revolution may seem
over…drawn； and there is no need of insisting on its precise
accuracy as a description of eighteenth…century facts。 But it
should not be extremely difficult to show that substantially such
a figure of an employer…owner was had in mind by those who then
argued the questions of wages and employment and laid down the
lines on which the employment of labor would be expected to
arrange itself under the untroubled system of natural liberty。
But what is more to the point is that which is beyond question。
In practical fact； almost as fully as in the speculations of the
doctrinaires； the employer of labor in the staple industries of
that time was； in his own person； commonly also the owner of the
establishment in which his hired workmen were employed； and also
again in passable accord with the facts he was presumed
personally to come to terms with his workmen about wages and
conditions of work。 Employment was considered to be a relation of
man to man。 That much is explicit in the writings which bear the
date…mark of this modern Liberal point of view； and the same
assumption has continued to stand over as a self…sufficient
premise among the defenders of the free competitive system in
industry； for three or four generations after that period。
But the course of events has gone its own way； and about that
time somewhere along in the middle half of the eighteenth
century that type of employer began to be displaced in those
staple industries which have since then set the pace and made the
outcome for wages and conditions of work。 So soon as the machine
industry began to make headway； the industrial plant increased in
size； and the number of workmen employed in each establishment
grew continually larger； until in the course of time the large
scale of organisation in industry has put any relation of man to
man out of the question between employers and workmen in the
leading industries。 Indeed； it is not unusual to find that in an
industrial plant of a large or middling size； a factory； mill；
works； mine； shipyard or railway of the ordinary sort； very few
of the workmen would be able； under oath； to identify their
owner。 At the same time； and owing to the same requirements of
large…scale and mechanical organisation； the ownership of the
works has also progressively been changing character； so that
today； in the large and leading industries； the place of the
personal employer…owner is taken by a composite business concern
which represents a combination of owners； no one of whom is
individually responsible for the concern's transactions。 So true
is this； that even where the ownership of a given industrial
establishment still vests wholly or mainly in a single person； it
has commonly been found expedient to throw the ownership into the
corporate form； with limited liability。
The personal employer…owner has virtually disappeared from
the great industries。 His place is now filled by a list of
corporation securities and a staff of corporation officials and
employees who exercise a limited discretion。 The personal note is
no longer to be had in the wage relation； except in those
backward； obscure and subsidiary industries in which the
mechanical reorganisation of the new order has not taken effect。
So； even that contractual arrangement which defines the workman's
relation to the establishment in which he is employed； and to the
anonymous corporate ownership by which he is employed； now takes
the shape of a statistical reckoning； in which virtually no trace
of the relation of man to man is to be found。 Yet the principles
of the modern point of view governing this contractual relation；
in current law and custom； are drawn on the assumption that wages
and conditions of work are arranged for by free bargaining
between man and man on a footing of personal understanding and
equal opportunity。
That the facts of the New Order have in this way departed
from the ground on which the constituent principles of the modern
point of view are based； and on which therefore the votaries of
the established system take their stand； this state of things
can not be charged to anyone's personal account and made a
subject of recrimination。 In fact； it is not a case for personal
discretion and responsibility in detail； but rather for concerted
action looking to some practicable working arrangement。
The personal equation is no longer a material factor in the
situ