The failure to pass any one of these progressive examinations results in a second trial six months later ; two successive failures drop a man from the locomo tive service at once. No man is permitted to waive his right to promotion.
6. Testing for physical and moral fitness.—Little need be said about the necessity for discovering a man's physical and moral qualities. The methods employed in obtaining data for physical fitness lie largely in the province of the physician, and many business houses employ physicians for this purpose. But the testing for moral qualities is a comparatively new feature in business management. The usual procedure is to "size up a man," but so many mistakes are likely to happen in using surface appearances as the basis of judgment that business men are today demanding a more intimate analysis of their employes' characters. They are beginning to recognize that the most desirable qualities, such as conscientiousness and loyalty, are less in evidence than initiative and polish, and that, moreover, while good clerks and mechanics may possess all of these qualities, they may lack the knack of personal salesmanship.
Difficult as it is, the problem of placing the right man in the right place is being successfully solved for continually increasing numbers of men and women.
7. Control by education.—Business managements, like political governments, are coming to realize that the basis of control must in the end be education. The tendency to adopt this point of view is indicated by the following examples: The New York Edison Company offers educational facilities thru its Educational Bureau and the Edu cational Committee of the Association of Employes. The committee prepares tethnical and accounting courses, in which the attendance is voluntary. The Educational Bureau prepares the commercial courses and part of the routine work of the commercial de partment, and instruction is given on the company's time.
The commercial courses include hygiene, health and recreation; the basic principles of salesmanship; company organization; the elements of central station business-getting; and the fundamental principles of electricity. The school staff consists of a manager, an instructor in charge and a secretary. The term
begins in October and closes in May. The work covers two years.
The technical courses consist of laboratory exer cises, preceded by a talk in which the instructor out lines the work briefly. Students are rated, on their work. Prizes are given to those who attain the high est standing. The course lasts fifteen weeks each year—five evenings and one afternoon each week. The accounting course was offered for the first time during the year 1912-13. It consists of a series of lectures by a professional teacher. Besides these courses, the company has lectures, given by their offi cials or by prominent speakers, on general and public policy, etc., and on technical subjects.
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company gives a course in business English. It consists of thirty weekly lessons in grammar, composition and business letter writing. A fee of $3 is charged. There are also classes in stenography and typewriting. The company maintains a circulating library of general literature, science, etc. In July, 1912, there were 6,729 books and pamphlets for the use of the em ployes. The total membership of the library is 2,605. There is an average daily circulation of 107 books. A trained librarian and three assistants are in charge.
The National Metal Trades Association is lending its support to institutions that are teaching courses on industrial subjects. For instance, in Chicago it cooperates with the Lewis Institute ; in Cincinnati, with the Continuation School and Cooperative High School, as well as with the University; and in Cleve land, with the Technical High School and the Young men's Christian Association.
In Hartford, Conn., the public school authorities have started a continuation school to which the mem bers of the Metal Trades Association send their apprentices. In St. Louis, members are working with the Rankin Trade School, where the apprentices are making gratifying progress. In Indianapolis, a committee of the association equipped with machin ery certain buildings of the Winona Technical Insti tute, and furnished scholarships of the value of $100 each for prospective students. The committee so licited contributions of equipment and scholarships from members of the Metal Trades Association.