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Chapter 8: Arrays
TRUE/FALSE
1. You can declare an array variable by placing curly brackets after the array name.
2. When an application contains an array and you want to use every element of the array in some task, it
is common to perform loops that vary the loop control variable from 0 to one less than the size of the
array.
3. When you want to determine whether a variable holds one of many valid values, one option is to use a
do…while loop to compare the variable to a series of valid values.
4. When using parallel arrays, if one array has many possible matches, it is most efficient to place the
less common items first so that they are matched right away.
5. Many programmers feel that breaking out of a for loop early disrupts the loop flow and makes the
code harder to understand.
8. When array elements are passed by value, a copy of the value is made and used within the receiving
method.
9. Since an array name is a reference, you are able to use the = operator for assigning and the == operator
for comparisons.
10. When returning an array reference, square brackets are included with the return type in the method
header.
1. After you create an array variable, you still need to ____ memory space.
a. create c. reserve
b. organize d. dump
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: 399
2. In Java, the size of an array ____ declared immediately following the array name.
a. can be c. is never
b. is always d. should be
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: 399
3. Languages such as Visual Basic, BASIC, and COBOL use ____ to refer to individual array elements.
a. ( ) c. { }
b. [ ] d. < >
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: 399
4. A(n) ____ is an integer contained within square brackets that indicates one of an array’s variables.
a. postscript c. variable header
b. subscript d. indicator
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 399
5. When you declare an array name, no computer memory address is assigned to it. Instead, the array
variable name has the special value ____, or Unicode value ‘\u0000’.
a. empty c. false
b. null d. zero
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 404
6. In Java, boolean array elements automatically are assigned the value ____.
a. null c. true
b. ‘\u0000’ d. false
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: 404
7. When you create an array of objects, each reference is assigned the value ____.
a. null c. true
b. ‘\u0000’ d. false
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: 404
8. You use a ____ following the closing brace of an array initialization list.
a. . c. :
b. ; d. ,
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 404
9. Providing values for all the elements in an array is called ____ the array.
a. populating c. filling
b. declaring d. irrigating
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: 404
10. When any ____ type (boolean, char, byte, short, int, long, float, or double) is passed
to a method, the value is passed.
a. array c. element
b. dummy d. primitive
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: 427
11. The length ____ contains the number of elements in the array.
a. box c. area
b. field d. block
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 407
12. A(n) ____ loop allows you to cycle through an array without specifying the starting and ending points
for the loop control variable.
a. do…while c. enhanced for
b. inner d. enhanced while
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: 407
13. If a class has only a default constructor, you must call the constructor using the keyword ____ for each
declared array element.
a. default c. first
b. new d. object
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 411
14. Comparing a variable to a list of values in an array is a process called ____ an array.
a. validating c. checking
b. using d. searching
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: 418
15. A ____ array is one with the same number of elements as another, and for which the values in
corresponding elements are related.
a. cloned c. property
b. parallel d. two-dimensional
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 419
16. When you initialize parallel arrays, it is convenient to use ____ so that the values that correspond to
each other visually align on the screen or printed page.
a. tabs c. spacing
b. indentation d. dashes
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: 420
17. When you perform a ____, you compare a value to the endpoints of numerical ranges to find the
category in which a value belongs.
a. range match c. reference
b. sort d. search
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: 422
18. It is a good programming practice to ensure that a subscript to an array does not fall below zero,
causing a(n) ____.
a. array dump c. conundrum
b. runtime error d. compiling error
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 423
19. Individual array elements are ____ by value when a copy of the value is made and used within the
receiving method.
a. sorted c. received
b. passed d. stored
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: 426-427
21. When a method returns an array reference, you include ____ with the return type in the method header.
a. { } c. < >
b. ( ) d. [ ]
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: 429
22. Which of the following println statements will display the last myScores element in an array of
10?
a. System.out.println(vals[0]); c. System.out.println(vals[9]);
b. System.out.println(vals[1]); d. System.out.println(vals[10]);
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: 400
23. Which of the following statements correctly declares and creates an array to hold five double scores
values?
a. integer[] scores = new double[5] c. double[] = new scores[5]
b. double[] scores = new integer[5] d. double[] scores = new double[5]
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: 400
24. Which of the following statements correctly initializes an array with an initialization list?
a. int[] nums = {2, 4, 8}; c. int nums = [2, 4, 8];
b. int[] nums = (2, 4, 8); d. int nums() = int{2, 4, 8}
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: 404
COMPLETION
1. A(n) ____________________ is a named list of data items that all have the same type.
ANS: array
PTS: 1 REF: 398
2. When you declare or access an array, you can use any expression to represent the size, as long as the
expression is a(n) ____________________.
ANS: integer
3. When you declare int[] someNums = new int[10];, each element of someNums has a value
of ____________________ because someNums is a numeric array.
ANS:
0
zero
4. An instance variable or object field is also called a(n) ____________________ of the object.
ANS: property
ANS: value
MATCHING
SHORT ANSWER
1. Describe a situation in which storing just one value at a time in memory does not meet your needs.
ANS:
At times you might encounter situations in which storing just one value at a time in memory does not
meet your needs. For example, a sales manager who supervises 20 employees might want to determine
whether each employee has produced sales above or below the average amount. When you enter the
first employee’s sales value into an application, you can’t determine whether it is above or below
average because you don’t know the average until you have all 20 values. Unfortunately, if you
attempt to assign 20 sales values to the same variable, when you assign the value for the second
employee, it replaces the value for the first employee.
ANS:
A subscript is an integer contained within square brackets that indicates one of an array’s variables, or
elements. In Java, any array’s elements are numbered beginning with 0, so you can legally use any
subscript from 0 to 19 when working with an array that has 20 elements.
3. What does an array’s name represent and what value does it hold when declared?
ANS:
Array names represent computer memory addresses; that is, array names contain references, as do all
Java objects. When you declare an array name, no computer memory address is assigned to it. Instead,
the array variable name has the special value null, or Unicode value ‘\u0000’. When you declare
int[] someNums;, the variable someNums has a value of null.
4. When working with arrays, why is it beneficial to use a loop with a declared symbolic constant equal
to the size of the array?
ANS:
It is convenient to declare a symbolic constant equal to the size of the array and use the symbolic
constant as a limiting value in every loop that processes the array. That way, if the array size changes
in the future, you need to modify only the value stored in the symbolic constant, and you do not need
to search for and modify the limiting value in every loop that processes the array.
ANS:
When an application contains an array and you want to use every element of the array in some task, it
is common to perform loops that vary the loop control variable from 0 to one less than the size of the
array. For example, if you get input values for the elements in the array, alter every value in the array,
sum all the values in the array, or display every element in the array, you need to perform a loop that
executes the same number of times as there are elements.
6. How would you use a method that belongs to an object that is part of the array? Use an example and
demonstrate with Java code.
ANS:
To use a method that belongs to an object that is part of an array, you insert the appropriate subscript
notation after the array name and before the dot that precedes the method name. For example, to print
data for seven Employees stored in the emp array, you can write the following:
ANS:
When you initialize parallel arrays, it is convenient to use spacing so that the values that correspond to
each other visually align on the screen or printed page.
8. How would a programmer perform a range match when writing an application that takes into
consideration different discount rates for customers? Give an example.
ANS:
Create two corresponding arrays and perform a range match, in which you compare a value to the
endpoints of numerical ranges to find the category in which a value belongs. For example, one array
can hold the five discount rates, and the other array can hold five discount range limits. If you only use
the first figure in each range, you can create an array that holds five low limits:
Then, starting at the last discountRangeLimit array element, for any numOfItems greater than
or equal to discountRangeLimit[4], the appropriate discount is discount[4]. In other
words, for any numOrdered less than discountRangeLimit[4], you should decrement the
subscript and look in a lower range.
PTS: 1 REF: 422
9. What is different about passing an array to a method rather than passing a primitive type to a method?
ANS:
The outcome is quite different when you pass an array (that is, pass its name) to a method. Arrays, like
all nonprimitive objects, are reference types; this means that the object actually holds a memory
address where the values are stored and the receiving method gets a copy of the array’s actual memory
address. Therefore, the receiving method has access to, and the ability to alter, the original values in
the array elements in the calling method.
ANS:
You can use the enhanced for loop to cycle through an array of objects. For example, to display data
for seven Employees stored in the emp array, you can write the following:
In this loop, worker is a local variable that represents each element of emp in turn. Using the
enhanced for loop eliminates the need to use a limiting value for the loop and eliminates the need for
a subscript following each element.
11. When populating an array with an initialization list, you do not need to use the new keyword or
provide an array size. Explain why this is the case.
ANS:
When you populate an array upon creation by providing an initialization list, you do not
give the array a size because the size is assigned based on the number of values you place in the
initializing list. Also, when you initialize an array, you do not need to use the keyword new. New
memory is assigned based on the length of the list of provided values.
12. Why is the length field a good option when writing a loop that manipulates an array? What
programming error is common when attempting to use length as an array method?
ANS:
You can use a field (instance variable) that is automatically assigned a value for every array you
create. The length field contains the number of elements in the array. Later, if you modify the size
of the array and recompile the program, the value in the length field of the array changes
appropriately. When you work with array elements, it is always better to use a symbolic constant or the
length field when writing a loop that manipulates an array.
13. While you can provide any legal identifier you want for an array, conventional rules are typically
followed. List and describe the naming conventions for naming arrays.
ANS:
Java programmers conventionally name arrays by following the same rules they use for variables:
Array names start with a lowercase letter.
Use uppercase letters to begin subsequent words.
The above code creates an array named sixNumbers. Describe how array sizes are determined when
using an initialization list and how memory is assigned.
ANS:
When you populate an array upon creation by providing an initialization list, you do not give the array
a size—the size is assigned based on the number of values you place in the initializing list. For
example, the sixNumbers array in the sample code has a size of 4. Also, when you initialize an
array, you do not need to use the keyword new because new memory is assigned based on the length
of the list of provided values. In Java, you cannot directly initialize part of an array. For example, you
cannot create an array of 10 elements and initialize only five; you must initialize either every element
or none of them.
Create a loop that will add 2 to every array element. Use a symbolic constant named PLUSTWO and
use the length field in the loop that will contain the number of elements in the array.
ANS:
for(counter = 0; counter < increaseValues.length; ++counter)
increaseValues[counter] += PLUSTWO;
CASE
Once the above code is compiled and executed, an error message is generated. Explain the error
message that will result and explain the reason for the error.
ANS:
An out-of-bounds error is generated when the code is compiled and executed. The last executable line
in the code is an output statement that attempts to display a costs value using a subscript that is
beyond the range of the array: System.out.println(costs[3]). The program will run
successfully when the subscript used with the array is 0, 1, or 2. However, when the subscript reaches
3, the ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException error is generated. The message indicates that the
subscript is out of bounds and that the offending index is 3.
Using the above statement, what will be the value of countyNames[0], countyNames[1], and
countyNames[2]?
ANS:
countyNames[0] will hold the value “Clark”
countyNames[1] will hold the value “Delaware”
countyNames[2] will hold the value “Madison”
3. Write the statement to create an array named studentScores that will store five integer value
student scores. Initialize the array using an initialization list with the values 70, 85, 92, 67, and 76.
ANS:
int[] studentScores = {70, 85, 92, 67, 76};
4. Using just one statement, declare and create an array that will reserve memory locations for 10
scores values that are type double.
ANS:
double[] scores = new double[10];
5. Write the statement to declare an array of integers that will hold studentScores.
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ANS:
int[] studentScores;
6. double[] studentScores;
double studentScores[];
Are both of the above statements valid for declaring an array variable? Why or why not?
ANS:
You declare an array variable in the same way you declare any simple variable, but you insert a pair of
square brackets after the type. To declare an array of double values to hold studentScores, you
can write the following:
double[] studentScores;
In Java, you can also declare an array variable by placing the square brackets after the array name, as
in double studentScores[];. This format is familiar to C and C++ programmers, but the
preferred format among Java programmers is to place the brackets following the variable type and
before the variable name.
ANS:
countyNames[0].length() will have a value of 5
countyNames[1].length() will have a value of 8
countyNames[2].length() will have a value of 7
Using the above code, write the statement that will return the array name.
ANS:
return studentScores;
9. Write the statement to declare an array variable named studentScores with type double. Write a
second statement to create an array of 10 objects.
ANS:
double[] studentScores;
studentScores = new double [10];
Write a println statement to display the last element of the studentScores array.
ANS:
System.out.println(studentScores[2]);
Language: English
50 Volumes Published
ALFRED WILLIAMS
AUTHOR OF
‘A WILTSHIRE VILLAGE’
‘VILLAGES OF THE WHITE HORSE’
LONDON
DUCKWORTH & CO.
3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.
First Published 1915
Published in the Readers’ Library 1920
To My Friend
ALFRED E. ZIMMERN
PREFACE
My object in penning “Life in a Railway Factory” was to take
advantage of the opportunities I have had as a workman, during
twenty-three years’ continuous service in the sheds, of setting down
what I have seen and known for the interest and education of
others, who might like to be informed as to what is the actual life of
the factory, but who have no means of ascertaining it from the
generality of literature published upon the matter.
The book opens with a short survey of several causes of labour
unrest and suggestions as to its remedy. Then follows a brief
description of the stamping shed, which is the principal scene and
theatre of the drama of life exhibited in the pages, the central point
from which our observations were made and where the chief of our
knowledge and experience was acquired. After a glance into the
interior we explore the surroundings and pay a visit to the rolling
mills, and watch the men shingling and rolling the iron and forging
wheels for the locomotives. Continuing our perambulation of the
yard we encounter the shunters, watchmen, carriage finishers,
painters, washers-down, and cushion-beaters. The old canal claims a
moment’s attention, then we pass on to the ash-wheelers,
bricklayers, road-waggon builders, and the wheel-turning shed.
Leaving them behind we come to the “field,” where the old broad-
gauge vehicles were broken up or converted, and proceed thence
into the din of the frame-building shed and study some portion of its
life. Next follows an exploration of the smithy and a consideration of
the smith at work and at home, his superior skill and characteristics.
From our study of the smiths we pass to that of the fitters,
forgemen, and boilermakers, and complete our tour of the premises
by visiting the foundry and viewing the operations of the moulders.
The early morning stir in the town and country around the sheds,
the preparations for work, the manner in which the toilers arrive at
the factory, and the composition of the crowd are next described,
after which we enter the stamping shed and witness the initial toils
of the forgemen and stampers, view the oil furnace and admire the
prowess of “Ajax” and his companions. The drop-hammers and their
staff receive proportionate attention; then follows a comparison of
forging and smithing, a study of several personalities, and an
inspection of the plant known as the Yankee Hammers. Chapter XI.
is a description of the first quarter at the forge expressed entirely by
means of actual conversations, ejaculations, commands, and
repartees, overheard and faithfully recorded. Following that is a first-
hand account of how the night shift is worked, giving one entire
night at the forge and noting the various physical phases through
which the workman passes and indicating the effects produced upon
the body by the inversion of the natural order of things. The
remainder of the chapters is devoted to the description and
explanation of a variety of matters, including the manner of putting
on and discharging hands, methods of administration, intimidating
and terrorising, the interpretation of moods and feelings during the
passage of the day, week and year, holidays, the effects of cold and
heat, causes of sickness and accidents, the psychology of fat and
lean workmen, comedy, tragedy, short time and overtime, the
advantages — or disadvantages — of education and intelligence,
ending up with a review of the industrial situation as it was before
the war and remarks upon the future outlook. A table of wages paid
at the works is added as an appendix.
The site of the factory is the Wiltshire town of Swindon. This
stands at the extremity of the Upper Thames Valley, in the centre of
a vast agricultural tract, and is seventy-seven miles from London and
about forty from Bristol. Its population numbers approximately fifty
thousand, all largely dependent upon the railway sheds for
subsistence. The inhabitants generally are a heterogenous people.
The majority of the works’ officials, the clerical staff, journeymen,
and the highly skilled workers have been imported from other
industrial centres; the labourers and the less highly trained have
been recruited wholesale from the villages and hamlets surrounding
the town. About twelve thousand men, including clerks, are normally
employed at the factory. A knowledge of the composition of the
inhabitants of the town is important, otherwise one might be at a
loss to account for the low rate of wages paid, the lack of spirited
effort and efficient organisation among the workers, and other
conditions peculiar to the place.
The book was never intended to be an expression of patriotism or
unpatriotism, for it was written before the commencement of the
European conflict. It consequently has nothing directly to do with
the war, nor with the manufacture of munitions, any more than it
incidentally discovers the nature of the toils, exertions, and sacrifices
demanded of those who must slave at furnace, mill, steam-hammer,
anvil, and lathe producing supplies for our armies and for those of
our Allies in the field. It is not a treatise on economics, for I have
never studied the science. If I had set out with the intention of
theoretically slaughtering every official responsible for the
administration of the factory I should have failed signally. I never
contemplated such a course. Instead I wished to write out my own
experiences and observations simply, and from my own point of
view, mistaken or otherwise, without fear or favour to any. I have
my failings and prejudices. What they are is very well known to me,
and I have no intention of disavowing them. Whoever disagrees with
me is fully entitled to his opinion. I shall not question his judgment,
though I shall not easily surrender my own. I am not anxious to
quarrel with any man; at the same time I am not disposed to be
fettered, smothered, gagged or silenced, to cower and tremble, or to
shrink from uttering what I believe to be the truth in deference to
the most formidable despot living.
A. W.
24th July 1915.
A portion of Chapter XIII. has appeared in the English Review. My
thanks are due to the Editor for his courteous permission to
reproduce it in the volume.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
LABOUR UNREST 1
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
COLD AND HEAT — MEALS — FAT AND LEAN WORKMEN —
WAYS AND MEANS — PRANKS — ALL FOOLS’ DAY — 258
NEW YEAR’S EVE
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
APPENDIX
Someone once asked the Greek Thales how he might best bear
misfortune and he replied — “By seeing your enemy in a worse
condition than yourself.” He would have been as near the truth if he
had said “friend” instead of “enemy.” Everyone appears to desire to
see every other one worse off than himself. He is not content with
doing well; he must do better, and if his success happens to be at
the expense of one less fortunate he will be the more highly
gratified. This lust of dominion and possession dates from the very
foundation of human society. It is a feature of barbarism, and one
that the wisest teaching and the most civilising influences at work in
the world have failed to remove or even very materially to modify.
The idea behind the Sic vos non vobis of Virgil has always been
uppermost in the minds of the powerful. This it was that doomed the
captives of the Greeks and Romans to a life of wretchedness and
misery in the mines. This was responsible for the subjugation of the
English peasants, and their reduction to the order of serfs in feudal
times. And this is what would enslave the labouring classes in mine,
field, and factory to-day. It must not be permitted. There is a way to
defeat it. That is by law. Not a law made by the depredators but by
the workers themselves. They have the means at their disposal. If
they would summon up the courage to make use of them they might
shatter the power of the capitalist at a stroke and free themselves
from his domination for ever.
A principal cause of trouble everywhere between the employer
and the employed is the lack of recognition of the worker. I mean
this in its broadest sense. I do not mean merely that great and
powerful combinations do not want to recognise Trade Unions. We
all know that. It is a part of their policy and is dictated by pride and
the spirit of intolerance. But they make a much more serious and
fatal mistake. They refuse to recognise a man. All kinds of employers
are guilty of this. The mineowner, the trading syndicate, the railway
or steamship company, municipal authorities, the large and small
manufacturer, the farmer and shopkeeper are equally to blame. If
they would recognise the man they might be led to a consideration
of his legitimate needs. They must first admit him to be equally a
member of the human family and then recognise that, as such, he
has claims as righteous and sacred as they. That is where the
representative of capital invariably fails. He will not admit that the
one under his authority has any rights of his own. To him the worker
is as much a slave as ever he was, only he is conscious that his
treatment of him must be subject to the limitations imposed by the
modern laws of the land. And as he flouts the individual so he
contemns the collective organisations of the men. He is determined
not to recognise them. He considers this to be a proof of his
strength. In reality it is a badge of his weakness. Sooner or later it
will prove his undoing.
I will give an illustration. Several years ago, working in the same
shed as myself, was a grey-headed furnaceman. He was not an old
man; he could have been no more than fifty. One day he met with a
serious accident. While attending to his furnace, in a stooping
position, someone in passing accidentally pushed him. This caused
him to lose his balance and he slipped on the plate and fell head-
first into a boshful of boiling water underneath the fire hole. His
head and shoulders were severely scalded, and he was absent on
the sick list for two months. When he came in again he was not
allowed to resume work at the furnace but was put wheeling out
ashes from the smiths’ fires. To my steam-hammer an oil furnace
had recently been attached and several managers came daily to
experiment with it. One morning, while they were present, the ex-
furnaceman came to wheel away the debris. Then a manager turned
to me and said —
“Who’s that? What’s he doing here?”
I explained who the man was and what he was doing.
“Pooh! What’s the good of that thing! He ought to be shifted
outside,” replied he.
In a short while afterwards the furnaceman was discharged.
There is something even worse than this and much more serious
in effect. That is a result of too great recognition. I am referring to
the common fault of interfering with and penalising men of superior
mental and intellectual powers. There is even a certain advantage in
a man’s ability to escape attention. Especially if he is of a
courageous turn of mind, has views and ideas of his own, and is
able to influence others. He will live the more easy for it. Left to
himself he can work away quietly, informing the minds and leavening
the opinions of those round about him. If he can escape recognition.
But he cannot. He is soon discovered, gagged, smothered, or got rid
of. The safest way to strengthen a flame is to fan it. And if you want
to intensify a man’s dissatisfaction with a thing attempt to prevent
him by force from giving expression to it. That is a sure means of
provocation and will bear fruit a hundredfold.
We hear a great deal about the “discontent” of the workers, and a
degree of censure and reproach is usually conveyed with the
expression. It is not half general enough. The average working man
is too content. He is often lazily apathetic. Is the mineowner, the
manufacturer, or the railway magnate content? Of course he is not.
Strength is in action. When I hear of a man’s being satisfied I know
that he is done for. He might as well be dead. I wish the workers
were more discontented, though I should in every case like to see
their discontent rationally expressed and all their efforts intelligently
directed. They waste a fearful amount of time and energy through
irresolution and uncertainty of objective.
The selfishness, cruelty, and arrogance of the capitalist and his
agents force the workers into rebellion. The swaggering pomposity
and fantastic ceremony of officials fill them with deserving contempt.
Their impudence is amazing. I have known a foreman of the shed to
attack a man by reason of the decent clothes he had on and forbid
him to wear a bowler hat. Not only in the workshop but even at
home in his private life and dealings he is under the eye of his
employer. His liberty is tyrannically restricted. In the town he is not
allowed to supplement his earnings by any activity except such as
has the favour of the works’ officials. He must not keep a coffee-
shop or an inn, or be engaged in any trading whatever. He may not
even sell apples or gooseberries. And if he happens to be the
spokesman of a labourers’ union or to be connected with any other
independent organisation, woe betide him! The older established
association — such as that of the engineers — is not interfered with.
It is the unprotected unskilled workman that must chiefly be
terrorised and subjugated.
The worker is everywhere exploited. The speeding-up of late years
has been general and insistent. New machinery is continually being
installed in the sheds. This is driven at a high rate and the workman
must keep pace with it. The toil in many cases is painfully exacting.
There may be a less amount of violent physical exertion required
here and there, though much more concentration of mind and
attention will be needed. The output, in some instances, has been
increased tenfold. I am not exaggerating when I say that the actual
exertions of the workman have often been doubled or trebled, yet
he receives scarcely anything more in wages. In some cases he does
not receive as much. He may have obtained a couple of shillings
more in day wages and at the same time have lost double the
amount in piecework balance. Occasionally, when the foreman of the
shed has mercilessly cut a man’s prices, he offers him a sop in the
shape of a rise of one or two shillings. On the hammers under my
charge during the last ten years the day wages of assistants — owing
to their being retained on the job up to a greater age — had
doubled, and the piecework prices had been cut by one half. As a
result the gang lost about £80 in a year. A mate of mine, whose
prices had been cut to the lowest fraction, though offered a rise,
steadily refused it on the ground that he would be worse off than
before. Though slaving from morning till night he could not earn his
percentage of profit. In many cases where the workman was
formerly allowed to earn a profit of 33 per cent. on his day wages he
is now restricted to 25 per cent., and the prices have been
correspondingly reduced. Even now the foreman is not satisfied. He
will still contrive to keep the percentage earned below the official
figure in order to ingratiate himself with the managers and to give
them the impression that he is still engaged in paring the prices.
At the same time, a marvellous lack of real initiative is discovered
by the factory staff. Things that have been so are so, and if any
sharp and enterprising workman sees the possibility of improvement
anywhere and makes a suggestion he is soundly snubbed for his
pains. In their particular anxiety to exact the last ounce from the
workman in the matter of labour the managers overlook multitudes
of important details connected with their own administration, but
which the workman sees as plainly as he does the nose on his face.
They often spend pounds to effect the saving of a few pence. They
lavish vast sums on experiments that the most ordinary man
perceives have no possible chance of being successful, or even
useful if they should succeed. Men’s opinions upon a point are rarely
solicited; if offered, they are belittled and rejected. Where an opinion
is asked for it is usually intended as a bait for a trap, the answer is
carefully recorded and afterwards used to prove something to the
other’s disadvantage.
But those ideas which are most valuable, provided they are not
complex and the simple-minded official can readily grasp them —
which is not always the case — he secretly cherishes and stealthily
develops and afterwards parades them to his superior with
swaggering pride as his own inventions. It is thus Mr So-and-so
becomes a smart man in the eyes of the firm, while, as a matter of
fact, he is a perfect blockhead and an ignoramus. Meanwhile, the
very workman whose idea has been purloined and exploited is
treated as a danger by the foreman; henceforth he must be watched
and kept well in subjection. The cowardly overseer sees in him a
possible rival, and is fearful for his own credit. This is one of the
worst ills of the manufacturing life, and has crushed many a brave,
good spirit, and smothered many a rising genius. The disadvantage
is twofold. There is a loss to manufacture in not being assisted with
new and bright ideas, and another to the individual, who is not only
deprived of the fruits of his inventive faculty but is systematically
punished for the possession of an original mind. In a word,
officialism at the works is continually straining at the gnat and
swallowing the camel.
What means are to be adopted in order to do away with the
anomaly? One of the first things to do would be to recognise the
individual. We want a better understanding and a new feeling
altogether. The worker does not need a profusion of sentiment; he
claims justice. He is willing to give and take. He knows that
enormous profits are made out of his efforts and it is but natural
that he should demand to receive a fair amount of remuneration and
equitable conditions. My companion of the next steam-hammer, by
means of a new process, in one week saved the railway company
£20 in the execution of a single order. He had to work doubly hard to
do it but he received not a penny extra himself. The piecework
system as it stands is grossly unfair. All the profits accrue to one side
and when the worker demands what is, after all, an insignificant
participation in them he is described as being unreasonable and
discontented. Where day wages have risen all round on piecework
jobs the prices should be increased in proportion, otherwise the
workman is simply paying himself for his additional efforts out of his
own pocket.
Better wages and shorter hours are desired in every sphere of
labour and especially in factories. The worker is not greatly
concerned as to whether he is employed by the State or by a
syndicate as long as he obtains justice. It is no more trouble for
Parliament to formulate a law for a private concern than for a
Government department. Forty-eight hours a week is long enough
for any man to work. I would have the factory week completed in
five turns. There is no need of the half-day Saturdays. It is a waste
of time. It is expensive for the employers and unprofitable for the
men. They can neither work nor play. If forty-eight hours were
divided out into five turns the expense of steaming for the half-turn
on Saturday would be saved. The amount of work produced would
not fall very far below that made at present, and the men would be
better satisfied. They would at least be able to have a clear rest and
come to work fresh and fit on the Monday. I would even go further
and suggest forty-five hours — that is, five turns of nine hours each
— as a working week for factories in the future. This is not so
impossible nor yet as unreasonable as it may appear. The proposal
will doubtless strike some as being amazing. Nevertheless, I
recommend it to them for their leisurely consideration. By aiming
high we shall hit something. But there are obstacles to remove and
difficulties to overcome.
CHAPTER II
THE STAMPING SHOP — GENERAL ENVIRONMENT — THE
“COALIES” — THE ROLLING MILLS — PUDDLING AND
SHINGLING — ACCIDENTS AT THE ROLLS — THE SCRAP
WAGGONS — WASTE
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