第2章

Thematerialsandmovingforcesofindustryareundergoingalikereductiontostaplekinds，styles，grades，andgauge。(5*) Evensuchforcesaswouldseematfirstsightnottolendthemselvestostandardization，eitherintheirproductionortheiruse，aresubjectedtouniformscalesofmeasurement；as，e。g。，water-power，steam，electricity，andhumanlabor。Thelatterisperhapstheleastamenabletostandardization，but，forallthat，itisbargainedfor，delivered，andturnedtoaccountonschedulesoftime，speed，andintensitywhicharecontinuallysoughttobereducedtoamoreprecisemeasurementandamoresweepinguniformity。 Thelikeistrueofthefinishedproducts。Modernconsumersingreatpartsupplytheirwantswithcommoditiesthatconformtocertainstaplespecificationsofsize，weight，andgrade。Theconsumer(thatistosaythevulgarconsumer)furnisheshishose，histable，andhispersonwithsuppliesofstandardweightandmeasure，andhecantoanappreciabledegreespecifyhisneedsandhisconsumptioninthenotationofthestandardgauge。Asregardsthemassofcivilizedmankind，theidiosyncrasiesoftheindividualconsumersarerequiredtoconformtotheuniformgradationsimposeduponconsumablegoodsbythecomprehensivemechanicalprocessesofindustry。“Localcolor“itissaid，isfallingintoabeyanceinmodernlife，andwhereitisstillfoundittendstoassertitselfinunitsofthestandardgauge。 Fromthismechanicalstandardizationofconsumablegoodsitfollows，ontheonehand，thatthedemandforgoodssettlesuponcertaindefinedlinesofproductionwhichhandlecertainmaterialsofdefinitegrade，incertain，somewhatinvariableformsandproportions；whichleadstowell-definedmethodsandmeasurementsintheprocessesofproduction，shorteningtheaverageperiodof“ripening“thatintervenesbetweenthefirstrawstageoftheproductanditsfinishedshape，andreducingtheaggregatestockofgoodsnecessarytobecarriedforthesupplyofcurrentwants，whetherintheraworinthefinishedform。(6*) Standardizationmeanseconomyatnearlyallpointsoftheprocessofsupplyinggoods，andatthesametimeitmeanscertaintyandexpeditionatneatlyallpointsinthebusinessoperationsinvolvedinmeetingcurrentwants。Besidesthis，thestandardizationofgoodsmeansthattheinterdependenceofindustrialprocessesisreducedtomoredefinitetermsthanbeforethemechanicalstandardizationcametoitspresentdegreeofelaboratenessandrigor。Themarginofadmissiblevariation，intime，place，form，andamount，isnarrowed。Materials，toanswertheneedsofstandardizedindustry，mustbedrawnfromcertainstandardsourcesatadefiniterateofsupply。Henceanygivendetailindustrydependscloselyonreceivingitssuppliesfromcertain，relativelyfew，industrialestablishmentswhoseworkbelongsearlierintheprocessofelaboration。Anditmasimilarlydependoncertainother，closelydefined，industrialestablishmentsforaventofitsownspecializationandstandardizationproduct。(7*)Itmaylikewisedependinastrictmanneronspecialmeansoftransportation。 Machineproductionleadstoastandardizationofservicesaswellasofgoods。So，forinstance，themodernmeansofcommunicationandthesystemintowhichthesemeansareorganizedarealsoofthenatureofamechanicalprocess，andinthismechanicalprocessofserviceandintercoursethelifeofallcivilizedmenismoreorlessintimatelyinvolved。Tomakeeffectiveuseofthemodernsystemofcommunicationinanywayorallofitsramifications(streets，railways，steamshiplines，telephone，telegraph，postalservice，etc。)，menarerequiredtoadapttheirneedsandtheirmotionstotheexigenciesoftheprocesswherebythiscivilizedmethodofintercourseiscarriedintoeffect。Theserviceisstandardized，andthereforetheuseofitisstandardizedalso。Schedulesoftime，place，andcircumstancerulethroughout。Theschemeofeverydaylifemustbearrangedwithastrictregardtotheexigenciesoftheprocesswherebythisrangeofhumanneedsisserved，iffulladvantageistobetakenofthissystemofintercourse，whichmeansthat，insofar，one’splansandprojectsmustbeconceivedandworkedoutintermsofthosestandardunitswhichthesystemimposes。 Forthepopulationofthetownsandcities，atleast，muchthesameruleholdstrueofthedistributionofconsumablegoods。 So，also，amusementsanddiversions，muchofthecurrentamenitiesoflife，areorganizedintoamoreorlesssweepingprocesstowhichthosewhowouldbenefitbytheadvantagesofferedmustadapttheirscheduleofwantsandthedispositionoftheirtimeandeffort。Thefrequency，duration，intensity，grade，andsequencearenot，inthemain，mattersforthefreediscretionoftheindividualswhoparticipate。Throughouttheschemeoflifeofthatportionofmankindthatclustersaboutthecentresofmodernculturetheindustrialprocessmakesitselffeltandenforcesadegreeofconformitytothecanonofaccuratequantitativemeasurement。Therecomestoprevailadegreeofstandardizationandprecisemechanicaladjustmentofthedetailsofeverydaylife，whichpresumesafacileandunbrokenworkingofallthoseprocessesthatministertothesestandardizedhumanwants。 Asaresultofthissuperinducedmechanicalregularityoflife，thelivelihoodofindividualsis，overlargeareas，affectedinanapproximatelyuniformmannerbyanyincidentwhichatallseriouslyaffectstheindustrialprocessatanypoint。(9*) Aswasnotedabove，eachindustrialunit，representedbyagivenindustrial“plant“，standsincloserelationsofinterdependencewithotherindustrialprocessesgoingforwardelsewhere，nearorfaraway，fromwhichitreceivessupplies—— materials，apparatus，andthelike——andtowhichitturnsoveritsoutputofproductsandwaste，oronwhichitdependsforauxiliarywork，suchastransportation。Theresultingconcatenationofindustrieshasbeennoticedbymostmodernwriters。Itiscommonlydiscussedundertheheadofthedivisionoflabor。Evidentlytheprevalentstandardizationofindustrialmeans，methods，andproductsgreatlyincreasesthereachofthisconcatenationofindustries，atthesametimethatitenforcesacloseconformityinpointoftime，volumeandcharacteroftheproduct，whethertheproductisgoodsorservices。(10*) Byvirtueofthisconcatenationofprocessesthemodernindustrialsystematlargebearsthecharacterofacomprehensive，balancedmechanicalprocess。Inordertoanefficientworkingofthisindustrialprocessatlarge，thevariousconstituentsub-processesmustworkinduecoordinationthroughoutthewhole。Anydegreeofmaladjustmentintheinterstitialcoordinationofthisindustrialprocessatlargeinsomedegreehindersitsworking。Similarity，anygivendetailprocessoranyindustrialplantwilldoitsworktofulladvantageonlywhendueadjustmentishadbetweenitsworkandtheworkdonebytherest。Thehigherthedegreeofdevelopmentreachedbyagivenindustrialcommunity，themorecomprehensiveandurgentbecomesthisrequirementofinterstitialadjustment。 Andthemorefullyagivenindustryhastakenonthecharacterofamechanicalprocess，andthemoreextensivelyandcloselyitiscorrelatedinitsworkwithotherindustriesthatprecedeorfollowitinthesequenceofelaboration，themoreurgent，otherthingsequal，istheneedofmaintainingtheproperworkingrelationswiththeseotherindustries，thegreateristheindustrialdetrimentsufferedfromanyderangementoftheaccustomedworkingrelations，andthegreateristheindustrialgaintobederivedfromacloseradaptationandamorefacilemethodofreadjustmentintheeventofadisturbance，——thegreaterisalsothechanceforaneffectualdisturbanceofindustryattheparticularpoint。Thismechanicalconcatenationofindustrialprocessesmakesforsolidarityintheadministrationofanygroupofrelatedindustries，andmoreremotelyitmakesforsolidarityinthemanagementoftheentireindustrialtrafficofthecommunity。 Adisturbanceatanypoint，wherebyanygivenbranchofindustryfailstodoitsshareintheworkofthesystematlarge，immediatelyaffectstheneighbouringorrelatedbrancheswhichcomebeforeorafteritinthesequence，andistransmittedthroughtheirderangementtotheremoterportionsofthesystem。 Thedisturbanceisrarelyconfinedtothesingleplantorthesinglelineofproductionfirstaffected，butspreadsinsomemeasuretotherest。Adisturbanceatanygivenpointbringsmoreorlessderangementtotheindustrialprocessatlarge。Sothatanymaladjustmentofthesysteminvolvesalargerwastethansimplythedisablingofoneortwomembersinthecomplexindustrialstructure。 Somuchisclear，thatthekeepingofthebalanceinthecomprehensivemachineprocessofindustryisamatterofthegravesturgencyiftheproductivemechanismistoproceedwithitsworkinanefficientmanner，soastoavoididleness，waste，andhardship。Themanagementofthevariousindustrialplantsandprocessesinduecorrelationwithalltherest，andthesupervisionoftheinterstitialadjustmentsofthesystem，arecommonlyconceivedtobeaworkofgreaterconsequencetothecommunity’swell-beingthananyofthedetailworkinvolvedincarryingonagivenprocessofproduction。Thisworkofinterstitialadjustment，andingreatpartalsothemoreimmediatesupervisionofthevariousindustrialprocesses，havebecomeurgentonlysincetheadventofthemachineindustryandinproportionasthemachineindustryhasadvancedincompassandconsistency。 Itisbybusinesstransactionsthatthebalanceofworkingrelationsbetweentheseveralindustrialunitsismaintainedorrestored，adjustedandreadjusted，anditisonthesamebasisandbythesamemethodthattheaffairsofeachindustrialunitareregulated。Therelationsinwhichanyindependentindustrialconcernstandstoitsemployees，aswellastootherconcerns，arealwaysreducibletopecuniaryterms。Itisatthispointthatthebusinessmancomesintotheindustrialprocessasadecisivefactor。Theorganizationoftheseveralindustriesaswellastheinterstitialadjustmentsanddiscrepanciesoftheindustrialprocessatlargeareofthenatureofpecuniarytransactionsandobligations。Itthereforerestswiththebusinessmentomakeormartherunningadjustmentsofindustry。Thelargerandmoreclose-knitandmoredelicatelybalancedtheindustrialsystem，andthelargertheconstituentunits，thelargerandmorefar-reachingwillbetheeffectofeachbusinessmoveinthefield。 Cf。CookeTaylor，ModernFactorySystem，pp。74-77。 Eveninworkthatliessonearthefortuitiesofanimatenatureasdairying，stock-breeding，andtheimprovementofcropplants，adeterminate，reasonedroutinereplacestheruleofthumb。Bymechanicalcontrolofhismaterialsthedairyman，e。g。，selectivelydeterminestherateandkindofthebiologicalprocessesthatchangehisrawmaterialintofinishedproduct。Thestock-breeder’saimistoreducethedetailsofthelawsofheredity，astheyapplywithinhisfield，tosuchdefinitetermsaswillaffordhimatechnologicallyaccurateroutineofbreeding，andthentoapplythistechnologicalbreedingprocesstotheproductionofsuchvarietiesofstockaswill，withthenearestapproachtomechanicalexactnessandexpedition，turntherawmaterialsoffieldandmeadowintocertainspecifiedkindsandgradesoffinishedproduct。Thelikeistrueoftheplant-breeders。Agriculturalexperimentstationsandbureaus，inallcivilizedcountries，arelaboratoriesworkingtowardaneffectivetechnologicalcontrolofbiologicalfactors，withaviewtoeliminatingfortuitous，disserviceable，anduselesselementsfromtheprocessesofagriculturalproduction，andsoreducingtheseprocessestoacalculable，expeditious，andwastelessroutine。 Cf。Sombart，ModerneKapitalismus，vol。II，ch。III。