Looking Backward: 2000-1887

by Edward Bellamy

  CHAPTER VII.

  "It is after you have mustered your industrial army into service," Isaid, "that I should expect the chief difficulty to arise, for thereits analogy with a military army must cease. Soldiers have all thesame thing, and a very simple thing, to do, namely, to practice themanual of arms, to march and stand guard. But the industrial army mustlearn and follow two or three hundred diverse trades and avocations.What administrative talent can be equal to determining wisely whattrade or business every individual in a great nation shall pursue?"

  "The administration has nothing to do with determining that point."

  "Who does determine it, then?" I asked.

  "Every man for himself in accordance with his natural aptitude, theutmost pains being taken to enable him to find out what his naturalaptitude really is. The principle on which our industrial army isorganized is that a man's natural endowments, mental and physical,determine what he can work at most profitably to the nation and mostsatisfactorily to himself. While the obligation of service in someform is not to be evaded, voluntary election, subject only tonecessary regulation, is depended on to determine the particular sortof service every man is to render. As an individual's satisfactionduring his term of service depends on his having an occupation to histaste, parents and teachers watch from early years for indications ofspecial aptitudes in children. A thorough study of the Nationalindustrial system, with the history and rudiments of all the greattrades, is an essential part of our educational system. While manualtraining is not allowed to encroach on the general intellectualculture to which our schools are devoted, it is carried far enough togive our youth, in addition to their theoretical knowledge of thenational industries, mechanical and agricultural, a certainfamiliarity with their tools and methods. Our schools are constantlyvisiting our workshops, and often are taken on long excursions toinspect particular industrial enterprises. In your day a man was notashamed to be grossly ignorant of all trades except his own, but suchignorance would not be consistent with our idea of placing every onein a position to select intelligently the occupation for which he hasmost taste. Usually long before he is mustered into service a youngman has found out the pursuit he wants to follow, has acquired a greatdeal of knowledge about it, and is waiting impatiently the time whenhe can enlist in its ranks."

  "Surely," I said, "it can hardly be that the number of volunteers forany trade is exactly the number needed in that trade. It must begenerally either under or over the demand."

  "The supply of volunteers is always expected to fully equal thedemand," replied Dr. Leete. "It is the business of the administrationto see that this is the case. The rate of volunteering for each tradeis closely watched. If there be a noticeably greater excess ofvolunteers over men needed in any trade, it is inferred that the tradeoffers greater attractions than others. On the other hand, if thenumber of volunteers for a trade tends to drop below the demand, it isinferred that it is thought more arduous. It is the business of theadministration to seek constantly to equalize the attractions of thetrades, so far as the conditions of labor in them are concerned, sothat all trades shall be equally attractive to persons having naturaltastes for them. This is done by making the hours of labor indifferent trades to differ according to their arduousness. The lightertrades, prosecuted under the most agreeable circumstances, have inthis way the longest hours, while an arduous trade, such as mining,has very short hours. There is no theory, no _a priori_ rule, by whichthe respective attractiveness of industries is determined. Theadministration, in taking burdens off one class of workers and addingthem to other classes, simply follows the fluctuations of opinionamong the workers themselves as indicated by the rate ofvolunteering. The principle is that no man's work ought to be, on thewhole, harder for him than any other man's for him, the workersthemselves to be the judges. There are no limits to the application ofthis rule. If any particular occupation is in itself so arduous or sooppressive that, in order to induce volunteers, the day's work in ithad to be reduced to ten minutes, it would be done. If, even then, noman was willing to do it, it would remain undone. But of course, inpoint of fact, a moderate reduction in the hours of labor, or additionof other privileges, suffices to secure all needed volunteers for anyoccupation necessary to men. If, indeed, the unavoidable difficultiesand dangers of such a necessary pursuit were so great that noinducement of compensating advantages would overcome men's repugnanceto it, the administration would only need to take it out of the commonorder of occupations by declaring it 'extra hazardous,' and those whopursued it especially worthy of the national gratitude, to be overrunwith volunteers. Our young men are very greedy of honor, and do notlet slip such opportunities. Of course you will see that dependence onthe purely voluntary choice of avocations involves the abolition inall of anything like unhygienic conditions or special peril to lifeand limb. Health and safety are conditions common to all industries.The nation does not maim and slaughter its workmen by thousands, asdid the private capitalists and corporations of your day."

  "When there are more who want to enter a particular trade than thereis room for, how do you decide between the applicants?" I inquired.

  "Preference is given to those who have acquired the most knowledge ofthe trade they wish to follow. No man, however, who through successiveyears remains persistent in his desire to show what he can do at anyparticular trade, is in the end denied an opportunity. Meanwhile, if aman cannot at first win entrance into the business he prefers, he hasusually one or more alternative preferences, pursuits for which he hassome degree of aptitude, although not the highest. Every one, indeed,is expected to study his aptitudes so as to have not only a firstchoice as to occupation, but a second or third, so that if, either atthe outset of his career or subsequently, owing to the progress ofinvention or changes in demand, he is unable to follow his firstvocation, he can still find reasonably congenial employment. Thisprinciple of secondary choices as to occupation is quite important inour system. I should add, in reference to the counter-possibility ofsome sudden failure of volunteers in a particular trade, or somesudden necessity of an increased force, that the administration, whiledepending on the voluntary system for filling up the trades as a rule,holds always in reserve the power to call for special volunteers, ordraft any force needed from any quarter. Generally, however, all needsof this sort can be met by details from the class of unskilled orcommon laborers."

  "How is this class of common laborers recruited?" I asked. "Surelynobody voluntarily enters that."

  "It is the grade to which all new recruits belong for the first threeyears of their service. It is not till after this period, during whichhe is assignable to any work at the discretion of his superiors, thatthe young man is allowed to elect a special avocation. These threeyears of stringent discipline none are exempt from, and very glad ouryoung men are to pass from this severe school into the comparativeliberty of the trades. If a man were so stupid as to have no choice asto occupation, he would simply remain a common laborer; but suchcases, as you may suppose, are not common."

  "Having once elected and entered on a trade or occupation," Iremarked, "I suppose he has to stick to it the rest of his life."

  "Not necessarily," replied Dr. Leete; "while frequent and merelycapricious changes of occupation are not encouraged or even permitted,every worker is allowed, of course, under certain regulations and inaccordance with the exigencies of the service, to volunteer foranother industry which he thinks would suit him better than his firstchoice. In this case his application is received just as if he werevolunteering for the first time, and on the same terms. Not onlythis, but a worker may likewise, under suitable regulations and nottoo frequently, obtain a transfer to an establishment of the sameindustry in another part of the country which for any reason he mayprefer. Under your system a discontented man could indeed leave hiswork at will, but he left his means of support at the same time, andtook his chances as to future livelihood. We find that the number ofmen who wish to abandon an accustomed occupation for a new one, andold friends and
associations for strange ones, is small. It is onlythe poorer sort of workmen who desire to change even as frequently asour regulations permit. Of course transfers or discharges, when healthdemands them, are always given."

  "As an industrial system, I should think this might be extremelyefficient," I said, "but I don't see that it makes any provision forthe professional classes, the men who serve the nation with brainsinstead of hands. Of course you can't get along without thebrain-workers. How, then, are they selected from those who are toserve as farmers and mechanics? That must require a very delicate sortof sifting process, I should say."

  "So it does," replied Dr. Leete; "the most delicate possible test isneeded here, and so we leave the question whether a man shall be abrain or hand worker entirely to him to settle. At the end of the termof three years as a common laborer, which every man must serve, it isfor him to choose, in accordance to his natural tastes, whether hewill fit himself for an art or profession, or be a farmer or mechanic.If he feels that he can do better work with his brains than hismuscles, he finds every facility provided for testing the reality ofhis supposed bent, of cultivating it, and if fit of pursuing it as hisavocation. The schools of technology, of medicine, of art, of music,of histrionics, and of higher liberal learning are always open toaspirants without condition."

  "Are not the schools flooded with young men whose only motive is toavoid work?"

  Dr. Leete smiled a little grimly.

  "No one is at all likely to enter the professional schools for thepurpose of avoiding work, I assure you," he said. "They are intendedfor those with special aptitude for the branches they teach, and anyone without it would find it easier to do double hours at his tradethan try to keep up with the classes. Of course many honestly mistaketheir vocation, and, finding themselves unequal to the requirements ofthe schools, drop out and return to the industrial service; nodiscredit attaches to such persons, for the public policy is toencourage all to develop suspected talents which only actual tests canprove the reality of. The professional and scientific schools of yourday depended on the patronage of their pupils for support, and thepractice appears to have been common of giving diplomas to unfitpersons, who afterwards found their way into the professions. Ourschools are national institutions, and to have passed their tests is aproof of special abilities not to be questioned.

  "This opportunity for a professional training," the doctor continued,"remains open to every man till the age of thirty is reached, afterwhich students are not received, as there would remain too brief aperiod before the age of discharge in which to serve the nation intheir professions. In your day young men had to choose theirprofessions very young, and therefore, in a large proportion ofinstances, wholly mistook their vocations. It is recognized nowadaysthat the natural aptitudes of some are later than those of others indeveloping, and therefore, while the choice of profession may be madeas early as twenty-four, it remains open for six years longer."

  A question which had a dozen times before been on my lips now foundutterance, a question which touched upon what, in my time, had beenregarded the most vital difficulty in the way of any final settlementof the industrial problem. "It is an extraordinary thing," I said,"that you should not yet have said a word about the method ofadjusting wages. Since the nation is the sole employer, the governmentmust fix the rate of wages and determine just how much everybody shallearn, from the doctors to the diggers. All I can say is, that thisplan would never have worked with us, and I don't see how it can nowunless human nature has changed. In my day, nobody was satisfied withhis wages or salary. Even if he felt he received enough, he was surehis neighbor had too much, which was as bad. If the universaldiscontent on this subject, instead of being dissipated in curses andstrikes directed against innumerable employers, could have beenconcentrated upon one, and that the government, the strongest everdevised would not have seen two pay days."

  Dr. Leete laughed heartily.

  "Very true, very true," he said, "a general strike would most probablyhave followed the first pay day, and a strike directed against agovernment is a revolution."

  "How, then, do you avoid a revolution every pay day?" I demanded. "Hassome prodigious philosopher devised a new system of calculussatisfactory to all for determining the exact and comparative value ofall sorts of service, whether by brawn or brain, by hand or voice, byear or eye? Or has human nature itself changed, so that no man looksupon his own things but 'every man on the things of his neighbor?' Oneor the other of these events must be the explanation."

  "Neither one nor the other, however, is," was my host's laughingresponse. "And now, Mr. West," he continued, "you must remember thatyou are my patient as well as my guest, and permit me to prescribesleep for you before we have any more conversation. It is after threeo'clock."

  "The prescription is, no doubt, a wise one," I said; "I only hope itcan be filled."

  "I will see to that," the doctor replied, and he did, for he gave me awineglass of something or other which sent me to sleep as soon as myhead touched the pillow.