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 QP421 .W39 A physiological basi 
 
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 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 
 
 W. B. WILSON. Sscrelary 
 
 WOMEN'S BUREAU 
 
 MARY ANDERSON, Director 
 
 A PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS FOR 
 
 THE SHORTER WORKING DAY 
 
 FOR WOMEN 
 
 BY 
 
 Dr. GEORGE W. WEBSTER 
 
 ^ 
 
 BULLETIN No. 14 
 
 February, 192 1 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1921 
 
A 
 
 menca vvi 
 
 iiiL 
 
 as strong' 
 as Ker womctv 
 
 
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 
 
 U. S. Department of Labor, 
 
 Women's Bueeau, 
 Washington, February 1, 1921. 
 Sir : Transmitted herewith is a paper written by Dr. George W. 
 Webster, member of the Illinois Industrial Survey, appointed by the 
 governor m 1918, which was read by him before the Illinois Women's 
 Legislative Congress at their meeting, December 28, 1920. It deals 
 with the physiological basis for the shorter working day for women 
 m industry and is important from the point of view of fatio-ue and 
 studies made on production. The Women's Bureau has secured per- 
 mission from Dr. Webster to publish this material. 
 Eespectfully submitted. 
 
 XT w -o Ttr Mary Anderson, Director. 
 
 Hon. W. B. Wilson, 
 
 Secretary of Labor. 
 
 32631°— 21 1 Q 
 
A PHYSIOLCGICAL BASIS FOR THE SHORTER WORKING DAY FOR WOMEN. 
 
 " Women will be lound to be fearfully Tveiglited in the race for life. Tlia 
 duty of man is to see that not a grain is piled upon tJiat load beyond what 
 nature imposes; that injustice is not added to inequality." 
 
 HUXLEV. 
 
 Labor is the foremost domestic problem confronting the American 
 people to-day. One of the most important pliases of that problem 
 for both men and women is the question of hours. The importance 
 of this question to women is shown by the fact that there are about 
 twelve millions of women employed in the hundred and more leading 
 industries of the United States to-day. 
 
 Ever since the time when "Adam delved and Eve span," cheerfully 
 and uncomplainingly woman has done a large share of the world's 
 work. In 1630 it was though that devils went into old women. At 
 the same time live cats were broiled over a fire, not because of any 
 ill will toward the cats but to get the best of the devil. Now the 
 real reform consists in reforming the community thinking about the 
 matter. 
 
 In any small town in the Southwest j^ou may see bronchos stand- 
 ing in the streets, their bridle reins thrown over their heads and 
 touching the ground in front of them. They will not attempt to 
 run away. They have been trained to think they are tied. They 
 are tied by an idea. Men are like these bronchos. ]Man does not 
 reason as much as he thinks he does. Thinking has never been 
 popular; it is too difficult. Looking backward over the 40 years of 
 conflicts, holies, opinions, and legislative enactments we see that 
 men, confronted by the problem of need for increased production, 
 have employed what the psychologists call the " trial and error " 
 method of the unthinking animals, and have assumed that increased 
 production is best accomplished by increasing the number of hours 
 of labor. They have been tied, fettered by this idea, which has been 
 proved so erroneous. Nothing in industry is now better known than 
 that lengthening the hours of labor beyond a certain point not only 
 does not increase but actually diminished output. Out of long pe- 
 riods of progress by conscious " trial and error " some truths even- 
 tually emerge, and here again the one fundamental achievement has 
 been the reform in the community thinking about the matter. Hav- 
 ing learned this, and admitting its truth, we inquire what is the great 
 problem, the correct solution of which confronts us ? 
 
 WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? 
 
 Industry is at bottom essentially a problem in man power. One 
 important element in this problem is the question of pooling all this 
 human power for the good of the industry and of all those engaged 
 in it, while still securing the maximum production. 
 
 5 
 
6 SHOriTER WORKING DAY FOR WOIMEN. 
 
 Tliiis it appears that one of the most important phases of the labor 
 problem to-day is (he question of hours. "What is the minimum number 
 of hours in Avliich the worker maj' produce the maximum output, day 
 after day. week after week, year after year, and remain well, at least 
 so far as injury from overwork is concerned? This ])roblem affects 
 all classes, as it involves and concerns national Avealth and national 
 vitality, and the perpetuity of the race. Of e<(ual impoitame with 
 the problem itself is the question of hoAV it shall be solved. It is of 
 paramount importance that the forward-looking amon<x us go to work 
 in a calm, orderly, largeminded, farsighted, constructive manner to 
 determine and establisli a standard of working hours: but it is of 
 infinitely greater importance that tliis standard shall be right, and 
 that it be established on a strictly scientific foundation, a foundation, 
 a standard, determined by the united eiTorts of the jihysiologist, the 
 psychologist, the engineer. Tliis standard should be for all who 
 labor in industry, men and Avomen alike. 
 
 ARGUMENTS AND EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF THE EIGHT-HOUR 
 
 DAY. 
 
 At the beginning of any intelligent discussion of any opinion in 
 regard to whether a day should be 8 or 10 hours or longer, we should 
 know the kind of evidence on which the opinion is based, and how 
 that evidence was obtained. It is absolutely and fundamentally es- 
 sential that any opinions in regard to fatigue and output or hours 
 and output, or any other physiological evidence, should be based on a 
 method of procedure outlined and planned by an expert on industrial 
 physiolog}'. The work done by such men as Frederick S. Lee (10)^ 
 or P. Sargant Florence (4) is an illustration of the best type of this 
 kind of work. 
 
 The opinion of such organizations as the Xational Industrial Con- 
 ference Board (11) should be accepted with caution, and onl}^ after 
 carefully considering the fact that their evidence was o])taincd by 
 means of the questionnaire and not l\v the physiological method, 
 which many believe to be the only correct and reliable one. 
 
 To both the employer and the emploj'ee it may come as a distinct 
 shock, and at least as a new idea, that science can be a service to in- 
 dustry in the proper solution of this question. First there is the 
 natural hostility of labor toward science in gener: 1, because it has 
 often meant only new and more complicated machines, something 
 often impersonal and cruel. This is an erroneous view, for science 
 is not a body of beliefs and opinions, but a way, a method of dealing 
 with and solving problems. " Scientific metliod '' is the term em-, 
 ployed for the orderly and systematic effort to find out. 
 
 The employer regards as impractical the application of scientific 
 methods to the solution of the problem of hours. To him it is a new 
 idea, and " there is no pain like the pain of a new idea." The ques- 
 tion must be finally settled by the fair cooperation of both employer 
 and emploj'ee in collaboration with the physiologist, the psychologist, 
 the engineer — after education — and not by any granting of favors 
 by either side as though it were a charity. Both should cooperate, 
 because the results are mutually advantageous. Having established 
 
 1 Reference is made by number to " Literature cited/' p. — . 
 
SHORTER WORKING DAY TOR WOMEIS". 7 
 
 a standard, it sliould tlien be enacted into law, but in fixing a standard 
 for women the fact that they are women should be taken fully into 
 consideration. 
 
 This standard should be a scientific standard; it should have a 
 physiological basis. It is one of th3 most extraordinary facts in 
 connection with the determination of the length of a working day 
 that so little has been done to determine this physiological basis, 
 and to apply in industry what is already known to science. 
 
 It has been abundantly demonstrated that the relations between 
 labor and capital can not be left safely to the unfettered play of 
 individual competition. What is far more important as a principle 
 is that the regulation of hours and conditions of work is no longer 
 a contest between labor and capital, especially so far as women are 
 concerned; the State, society as an organic whole, is also concerned. 
 We must see to it that both industry and labor have a correct con- 
 ception of their relationsliip to society, but we must look fairly and 
 impartially at both sides, as the problem is too important, too vast, 
 to be looked at from only one side, for " no man understands his own 
 side until he is familiar with the other side." Before attaining a 
 satisfactory solution to the problem of labor and industry a great 
 part of life will have to be reconstructed. It is of fundamental im- 
 portance that this reconstruction shall be well revised from the start, 
 free from the trial and error method, and based upon scientific rules, 
 in order to avoid the unfortunate errors of the past. 
 
 Fatigue. 
 
 Before attempting to answer the question — solve the problem of 
 a standard of working hours — it vdli be necessary first to make a little 
 study of the human machine and of fatigue ; what it is, how it is pro- 
 duced, what it doeSj and how it may be regulated, and its harmful 
 effects prevented. 
 
 In modern industry the science of machinery is developed to its 
 highest point of perfection, in its construction nothing is left to 
 chance, its type is related in accordance with its exact fitness for the 
 work to be done, it is not overworked or overlooked, all questions 
 relating to it have received careful study, and great care is exercised 
 to secure and maintain the highest degree of output compatible with 
 necessary wear and tear or injury to the machine itself. Unfortu- 
 nately, the same thought, care, and attention have not been bestowed 
 upon the human machine. In this connection, Prof. Frederick S. 
 Lee, of Columbia University, who is one of the leading authorities 
 on the subject, has said (10, pp. 2-3) : 
 
 It is pertinent to our present purpose to regard this liuman element, the 
 combined body and mind of the v\'orlver, as itself a machine. There is nothing 
 derogatory to the worker in this conception ; it is the customary conception of 
 physiological science, which has learned to respect living substance above all 
 other created things, and yet finds it most helpful to regard every living body 
 as a mechanism working according to the fundamental laws of all mechanisms, 
 but with its own specific ways of acting that characterize living in contrast to 
 nonliving substance. No other factory mechanism approaches this human ma- 
 chne in its intricacy, the perfection of the correlation of its working parts, its 
 combination of delicacy and strength, its adaptability to the work required of it. 
 None is so essential to industry. 
 
 Nevertheless, the present ways of handling the human machine are empirical 
 and crude. Experience has taught most industrial managers what they be- 
 lieve to be the proper way of dealing with the workers, and experience is coi» 
 
8 SHORTER WORKING DAY TOR WOMEN. 
 
 ceivod to be the best guitlo. The thought that the worker is n physiological 
 mechanism, and slioiild be treated as sucli, that tlic problem of the worker is a 
 physiological problem, is regarded as academic, lit for the laboratory, but not 
 "practical" enough for the factory. That Avord "practical" is one of the most 
 alluring, most dangerous, and most misused words in the English tongue. 
 Crimes unnumbered have been comniitted in its name. It is true that the science 
 of the human machine as employed in industrial work has not yet been de- 
 veloped so far as that of nonliving machinery. * * * 
 
 The manager in iiulustry gives his best thouglit to his machines, 
 but to the living machines he has given little attention, and he has 
 yet to be shoAvn. The trouble is not with the experience, but with 
 the experioncer. He gets what lie is looking for, and does not ques- 
 tion. Blind " trial and error " is the animal and the racial Avay, 
 and, unfortunateh% it continues to be the chief method of modern 
 man, for psychology teaches us that man rarely stops to think out 
 the correct method of procedure unless the difliculty is so great that 
 no plan of action immediately presents itself. 
 
 The wonderful, amazing advance of the natural sciences during 
 recent years is due to a new plan of campaign. The scientists now 
 set no definite problems, plan their investigations so as to eliminate 
 error, and put intelligence into nature's unintelligent method of prog- 
 ress. It is this intelligent planning, this looking ahead on the part 
 of such men, that is enabling us to establish a scientific, physiological 
 basis for the shorter day in industry, and the proper handling of the 
 human machine. 
 
 In what essential respects docs the human machine differ from the 
 nonliving machine? The answer to the c(uestion is one of the keys 
 tliat unlock the secrets of the whole question. 
 
 The human machine is subject to fatigue, the nonliving machine is 
 not. Fatigue has been defined as a " diminution of Y>'orking capacity, 
 often accompanied by feelings of weariness, caused in the human or- 
 ganism by the length or intensity of some activity." (4, p. 15.) 
 
 Also : " The sum of tlie results of activity which show themselves 
 in a diminished capacity for doing work." (6, p. 3). 
 
 This is vrell explained in ISIemorandum No. 7 of the British Health 
 of Munitions Workers Committee. (G, p. 3) : 
 
 In the animal body the performance of work depends on the activities of 
 parts which are best considered under three groups — llr.st, the complex nervous 
 mechanisms of the brain and spinal cord which are concerned in the initiation 
 and the distribution of Impulses to action; second, the nerves which conduct 
 the impulses to muscles ; and third, the muscles themselves, which by con- 
 tracting perform external work. 
 
 Fatigue has been separately studied in all these parts. In its essential fea- 
 tures the fatigue of all alike has been found, when it occurs, to depend not 
 upon the simple using up — exhaustion — of the substances supplying the cliemi- 
 cal energy which is liberated during work, but upon the accumulation within 
 the living elements of the products of the chemical changes involved. Fatigue 
 of the animal machine, that is to say, is not to be compared with the failure 
 of fuel in a steam engine, or with the running down of a clock weight, but rather 
 with the clogging of the wheels in some mechanism by dirt. 
 
 Explained in another way, a tired person is one who is poisoned 
 by the waste products formed in his own body. The human ma- 
 chine is of such marvelous and wonderful structure that, as Miss 
 Josephine Goldmark (5, p. 13) puts it, " like a running stream, it 
 purifies itself, and during repose these toxic impurities are normally 
 burned up b}^ the oxj^gen brought by the blood, excreted by the kid- 
 
SHORTER WORKIE-Q DAY FOR WOMEIT. 9 
 
 iieys, destroyed in the liver, or eliminated from the body through the 
 lungs." Income exactly balances expenditure, repair equals waste, 
 so long as bodily and mental activity are balanced by rest and sleep. 
 Eest is thus seen to be just as much active process as is vork. So 
 long as this equilibrium is maintained health is maintained, but as 
 soon as it is destroyed there is an accumulation of waste materials; 
 fatigue, exhaustion, impaired health, follow each other as conse- 
 quence upon cause, the phj^siological is replaced by the pathological, 
 and ultimately death may ensue. Between perfect metabolic balance, 
 on the one hand, and death, on the other, there are a large number of 
 sequences and a wide range and variety of injuries with which we 
 must become acquainted and so be able to recognize and deal with 
 intelligently by preventive means before irreparable injur}^ or death 
 occurs. 
 
 Fatigue, like pain, is one of the great safety valres of the hum.an 
 machine. It is protective. It is a physic defense. Like pain, it 
 warns of and protects against that which is worse than itself. It is 
 a sign that one is going too fast. 
 
 In the human engine certain food substances are eaten, digested, 
 absorbed into the blood stream, assimilated or built up into living 
 tissues, and part is transformed into heat and work in accordance 
 with the laAvs of the conservation of energy. The building up and 
 the breaking down are known as metabolism, this term including all 
 those chemical processes the sum of which constitute life. During 
 this complicatecl process oxygen is consumed, and this allows of the 
 oxidation of foodstuffs at the temperature and under the conditions 
 existing in the body. 
 
 In this process where work is done waste products of a chemical 
 and essentially acid nature and known as fatigue stuffs are produced 
 and accumulate in the blood and cause the phenomenon of fatigue. 
 ."When one uses up more than the income of food and oxygen in a unit 
 of time, it means overfatigue and the breaking down of tissue. It 
 means spending not only all your income, but some of your reserve, 
 your bank account, and if continued too far, may lead to physiologi- 
 cal bankruptcy. 
 
 Industrial fatigue is defined as " diminution of working capacity 
 caused by the length or intensity of some activit}^ at a ' gainful oc- 
 cupation?" (4, p. 20.) 
 
 It is the after effect of work. It is the condition of the worker's 
 organism after he has expended energy in doing something. It is a 
 necessary by-product of activity. Exertion not only temporarily 
 uses up the energy of the body, but it also generates substances, 
 poisonous in their nature, which slows one down. These substances 
 may be removed by rest. The greater the fatigue the greater the 
 time required to overcome it. Twice the amount of fatigue requires 
 more than twice as much rest, and in exhaustion or excessive fatigue 
 a condition obtains which may recpire that the rest period be pro- 
 longed indefinitely. When this overfatigue sets in efficiency becomes 
 nil, and is thus an economic waste, and, because of its disastrous 
 effects, a waste of life as well. 
 
 Fatigue is a physiological state which enters all human activities. 
 Its normal m.anifestation constitutes a warning. If this warning is 
 not heeded, the physiological may become pathological. It follows 
 326Sr— 23 2 
 
10 SHORTER WORKING DAY FOR WOMEIT. 
 
 as consequence upon cause that if work is done rest ultimately be- 
 comes imperative. Rest is nature's way of removinji: fatiji;ue. 
 
 The elements of fati^nie are, broadly sj^eakin^, both ]:>hysiolo^ical 
 and psycholofrioal. Ordinaril}^ fatijruc is tlioujzht of only as the 
 necessary result of ]ihysical \\ork. Nothing could be further from 
 a correct conception than this. 
 
 Aside from phj-sical labor, among the chief causes of fatigue in 
 industry is speed. The telephone service may well be cited as an 
 example of work requiring great speed. The average daily hours 
 are eight and one-half,but what with overtime, Sunday work, '' work- 
 ing through," loss of relief, or " excess loading," these are often 
 exceeded. Two hundred and twenty-five calls per hour, or three 
 and one-half per minute, seems an example of real '"speed," and 
 yet the " peak load " often exceeds this. 
 
 In the needle trades a girl tends a sewing machine carrying 12 
 needles making 4,000 stitches a minute, or 2.400,000 in 10 hours, 
 often working in a bright light and with unshaded eyes, and amidst 
 a noise that can only be described as a deafening roar. 
 
 Speed combined with monotony is also a potent factor in produc- 
 ing fatigue. 
 
 To bold one's solf (\o\xn to an nninterostinj: task by moons of siistainc<i vol- 
 nntary attention results in rapid fatigue of brain tracts developed only late in 
 human history and therefore osi^ecially subject to fatigue. This unnatural sus- 
 tained effort is present in all the various kinds of industrial work where there 
 is no imnudiate interest in the finished product, where it is necessary to hold 
 one's self down to nrere work for a certan number of hours each day. It is 
 present in many kinds of clerical and office work, and in routine tasks of all 
 kinds. The resuUinj;; fatigue is both physical and mental, lielease from it is 
 sought again in unnatural ways, sometimes in narcotics or stimulants, such as 
 alcohol, tobacco, narcotic drugs, tea, coffee, sugar; sometimes in such amuse- 
 ments as dancing, moving pictures, and A-audeville shows requiring no exercise 
 of volunatry attention ; sometiures in various forms of social outbi'eak such as 
 strikes, antisocial agitation.?, revolutions against existing morality and the 
 existing social order; sometimes merely in reading journals or magazines of 
 revolt. (12, pp. 13G-137.) 
 
 In the pea-canning industry a girl inspects two cans of peas per 
 .second, or 72,000 per day. The cappers x^lace the caps on the cans at 
 the rate of GO to 80 per minute. 
 
 In the shoe industry a workman revolves the shoe in such manner 
 as to trim off the crimped surplus leather from the " upper." His 
 task is 5,200 shoes a da3^ 
 
 In the eyeletting department of the shoe industry an expert worker 
 can finish 2.000 pairs of women's shoes in one day. When it is re- 
 membered that each of these shoes has as many as 12 holes irregu- 
 larly spaced, making 18,000 eyelets per day, a new idea of '"speed" in 
 industry is obtained. 
 
 These are merely a few examples of the monotonous and rapid work 
 which is required of so many women in the industries of the country, 
 and wdiich by its very nature increases their burden of fatigue. 
 
 Noise is another element in fatigue, as are the rhythm and speed 
 of the raachine. The surrender of the worker to the time and rhytlim 
 of the machine becomes a source of fatigue because the machine is set 
 for a constant uniform .speed, while the worker becomes tired, and 
 fatigue tends to slow him down, requiring a constantly increasing 
 effort to maintain the same speed as the machine. He supplements 
 the defects of the machine, becomes its eyes, legs, arms, anything it 
 
SHOKTER WOEKIE-Q DAY FOR WOMEIsT. H 
 
 needs, discards vrliat is imnecesaary for its requirements as valueless, 
 stifles his creative impulses ; and this leads to fatigue. 
 
 Other "well-recognized conditions influencing the occurrence of 
 fatigue are shop conditions, such as ventilation, temperature, hu- 
 midity, lighting, rest periods, etc. 
 
 And just here the advocate of shorter working hours will be met 
 by one of the most plausible but fallacious of arguments on the part 
 of the employer. He argaies that he has carefully tested it out on 
 repeated occasions and finds that where he compares the output of 
 a 10 and an 11 hour da^^ the output of the latter is always correspond- 
 ingly greater, and therefore he is sure that the contentions for a 
 shorter day are wrong. He has often tried it out in his own 
 factory, and he knows. He does not tell that the speed of the ma- 
 chine sometimes determines the output. He takes no account of 
 fatigue, of increased cost of labor turnover, spoiled work, accidents, 
 illness, and the ultimate injury to the worker's health. He, too, is 
 not only " tied by an idea " but tainted with the motive of industry. 
 It has ever been difficult to accept a new idea when the mind is filled 
 with ideas which have been so long believed and accepted that they 
 have become " institutional." 
 
 There are many hitherto unrecognized causes of fatigue. Prof. 
 Irving Fisher points out that any successful life must satisfy six or 
 seven of the great fundamental instincts — self-preservation, self-ex- 
 pression, the instinct of workmanship, self-sacrifice, the home-making 
 instinct, loyalty, and the instinct of worship. He says: "In order 
 that the laboring man may live his life he must satisfy something 
 more than the instinct of self-preservation * * *. Their souls 
 are hujigry and thirsty to satisfy these great instincts. * * * " 
 (3, pp. 14-15) while their employers assume that they are interested 
 only in wages. " To use the workingman's arms and legs, and to 
 ignore that he has a brain is to ruin him as a craftsman and to 
 degrade him as a man." 
 
 Mr. Louis D. Brandeis, in discussmg this same jproblem (13. p. 
 7659), says: 
 
 Unrest, in my mind, never can be removed, and forttmately never can be 
 removed by mere improvement of the physical and material condition of tbe 
 workiugman. If it were, we sliould run great risk of improving their material 
 condition and reducing their manhood. We must bear in mind all the time 
 that however much we may desire material improvement, and must desire it 
 for the comfort of the individual, that we are a democracy; and that we must 
 have, above all things, men ; and it is the development of manhood to which 
 an industrial and social system must be directed. 
 
 The iDoint to be emphasized is that when these great fundamental 
 instincts are not satisfied, or at least more than one of them, the 
 result is an atmosphere of discontent that is a potent, fruitful source 
 of fatigue. It was not the size of the salary alone that sent our boys 
 to Europe or " over the top." 
 
 ^-^^lichever man is right — Prof. Irving Fisher ; or Dr. Cabot, who 
 says (2) that life consists of four things : work, play, love, and wor- 
 ship ; or Edward L. Thorndike ; or Carleton H. Parker ; or Watson, 
 or Johns Hopldns — two facts remain, namely, that these instincts, 
 or appetences, are primal tendencies, and that repression of them, 
 results in increased irritability, " balked disposition," and becomes a 
 source of fatigue and thus of lessened efficiency. On the other hand. 
 
12 SHORTER WORKIIs^G DAY FOR WOMEN. 
 
 Avliere the worker is permitted to exercise his natural instincts, espe- 
 cially of creative worlcnianship, and 'of exploration and invention, 
 we see the human machine at its best, functioning witli the minimum 
 of strain, and tlicrcfore the minimum of overfatirjue. and incidentally 
 with increased ]iaj)pine^s, if Aristotle was right when he said that 
 liappiness consistetl in tlic exercise of normal function. 
 
 These instincts can not be abolished by any Inmian power, and 
 suppression of tlicm with consequent ''balked disposition" may lead 
 to unpleasant or even disastrous consoquences and are a fruitful 
 source of unrest and fatigue. 
 
 Fatigue puts the worker in an abnormal frame of mind. The first 
 striking effect of fatigue, whether of a muscle or of a man, is in- 
 creased irritability. This leads him to attempt to deaden his fatigue 
 by excesses of various kinds, such as tobacco, alcohol, exciting amuse- 
 ments; these again, in turn, leading to increased susceptibility to in- 
 fection of all kinds, because his powers of resistance arc diminished. 
 
 One of the powerful, important factors making directly for fatigue 
 is the '• sense of economic insecurity." This haunting fear is espe- 
 cially noticeable in the seasonal trades. AVhat the worker needs is 
 the stabilizing of employment rather than charity, and the shorter 
 day is a step in this direction. 
 
 The measure of industrial fatigue. 
 
 Having foimed something of a mental picture of what fatigue is, 
 the next practical question for solution is how shall we measure it. 
 It has been shown that in the production of industrial fatigue there 
 are man}' elements, that it is a complex problem, and yet it is possible 
 to measure it with a considerable degree of accuracy. 
 
 The first and most important means of measuring fatigue is by 
 estimating output. Estimating output not only enables the measure- 
 ment of fatigue, it also enables the determination and establishment 
 of a phj'siological standard for a day's work. In other words, it 
 will determine just how manj'^ hours are required to produce the 
 maximum of output without overfatigue. 
 
 Space forbids reference to nuich of the large amount of rapidly 
 accumulating evidence supplied by most trustworthy authorities in 
 this field, but a brief account of the work of the Illinois Industrial 
 Survey (7) will indicate the trend of the findings which are being 
 generally secured on the subject of output and hours. 
 
 In 1918 the Illinois Industrial Survey Commission was appointed 
 by Gov. Frank O. Lowden in accordance with an act of the legisla- 
 ture, directing the commission to "make a complete survey of all 
 those industries in Illinois in which women are engaged as workers, 
 with special reference to the hours of labor for women in such in- 
 dustries " and '• the effect of such hours of labor upon the health of 
 the women workers." 
 
 One of the studies in this survey (T, p. 71-80) consisted in making 
 a comparison of output in the 8i-hour day with the output in the 
 10-hour day, in three establishments where all the shop conditions 
 remained the same, the only change being from a 10 to an 8^ hour day. 
 
 One of the establishments investigated was a soap-making plant 
 which had changed its standard hours per day from 10 to 8i and its 
 standard week from 55 to 48 hours. This change was made earl}- in 
 the summer of 1918. 
 
SHORTER WORKING DAY POR W0ME2^. 13 
 
 A group of 24 workers was selected for study. These 24 were all 
 workers who had been employed by the company at the same occupa- 
 tion, wrapi3ing and packing a standard brand of soap, for at least 
 three years previous to the period of which study was made. This 
 group of AYorkers was studied 10 weeks under the long-hour and 10 
 weeks under the short-hour schedule. At both of these times the de- 
 partment was running to caxDacity, so that no shortage of material 
 would decrease production. In fact, the pressure of work was so 
 great that a night shift was established during the first period and 
 was kept at work during the second period. 
 
 The work consisted of wrapping cakes of soap and packing them 
 in cases for sealing and shipment. Five cases an hour has always 
 been considered a good average rate of iDroduction, a rate which 
 would lead to a production of 50 cases under a 10-hour day, and 42 
 to 43 cases under an 8^-hour day. The girls in the special group 
 studied, being the best of the operators, v>'0uld produce up to the 
 maximum rate per hour. 
 
 Facts disclosed in the report of the survey by an analysis of pro- 
 duction under the long and short working days were : 
 
 1. The group studied packed an average of 5.1 cases per hour under the 10- 
 hour day ; xinder the SJ-hour day the same girls packed an average of 5.7 cases 
 per hour, an increase of over half a case per hour, or ll.S per cent. 
 
 2. This increase is not due to the necessity for producing more in order to 
 earn the same wages, as piece rates were increased 33J per cent at the same 
 time that the hours were decreased. 
 
 3. The average production per day under the 55-hour week was 42.S cases. 
 Under the 4S-hour week the average production per day was 45.5 cases. 
 
 4. Production under the shorter v.'ork day and week held a great deal steadier 
 than production under the longer hour schedule. During the first 10-week 
 period studied the production rate fluctuated from 4.1 cases per hour to 6.5 
 cases per hour. During the second 10-week period studied this fluctuation was 
 from 5.3 to 6.2 cases per hour. This steadiness of production is probably indi- 
 cative of a greater reserve of energy on the part of the worker, and so of less 
 fatigue. 
 
 That the output per hour is higher under the short-hour system controverts 
 the statements made by the company oflicial who a.sserted that employees 
 limited their production to five cases per hour, and that the limit lield whether 
 the working day was 10 hours or SJ hours in length. No indications wei'e 
 found that the workers in this department limit their own production. With 
 the increase in energy caused by lessened work time, production tends to find 
 its own maximum level and holds steady at a higher point. 
 
 Graphic illustrations of increased output under a shortened work- 
 ing day were found in a large corset factory, employing women 
 almost exclusively, which was also included in the Illinois survey. 
 
 On October 1, 1917, the hours in this factory were reduced from 
 54 to 48 per week. Piece rates remained the same. The report of 
 the survey states that some of the results of the change in hours 
 were : 
 
 1. The average output of the entire factory per employee per day increased 
 from 0.831 dozen in 1916 to 0.883 dozen in 1918, an increase per hour of over 
 19 per cent. 
 
 2. Within a group of 36 steady, experienced workers the w^eekly output 
 increased 13.4 per cent and the hourly output 31.6 per cent following the 
 decrease in hours. 
 
 3. This increase in production was not spasmodic, but was maintained over 
 the entire year following the reduction in hours. No change in machinery or 
 working conditions was made during the period covered by the study. 
 
 4. In July, 1918, nine months after the decrease in hours, a 10 per cent wage 
 bonus was instituted. Production during the two months following increased 
 2.5 per hour, a practically negligible amount. 
 
14 SHORTER WORKING DAY TOR WOMEN. 
 
 The 3G individual workers studied had been employed in this 
 factor}' for over a year previous to the change in hours. 
 
 They came from various departments, as follows: Strippers 0, oycletter 1, 
 steel stitchers 2. scamors 7, foUler 1, paste inacliinc 1, l)iiKlers -4, clasp seamer 1, 
 l)oner 1, garters 5, finisher ], lace binders 2, baster 1, shaper 1, tackers 2; 
 total 3G. 
 
 In this factory wage is an accurate gauge of output in any one department. 
 In studying the 3G experienced workers, therefore, the wage records were taken 
 as output records. 
 
 , During the last five weeks under the 54-hour week the average weekly wage 
 per girl was .$10.2", or 19 cents per hour. During the eight weeks following 
 
 Ithe change it was .$11.29. During the year following the change it was .$11.G2. 
 
 ; In other words, the shortening of the wcH^k meant an immediate increase in 
 
 : output within this group of io.l per ceut and an average increase for the 
 ensuing year of 13.4 per cent. 
 
 ! It might be claimed that the fact that the piece rates remained the same 
 
 '1)eforo as after the change in hours might be respon.sible for "speeding" on 
 tlie part of the employees and that this "sixieding" might account for the 
 increase in the output. If this rate of production could be kept up by the 
 
 -same people throughout the period of a year mider the shorter hours, it may 
 safely be concluded that the increased speed was not "speeding" in the sense 
 of an acceleration of production beyond a rate normally possible to the worker. 
 
 Another group of workers selected for an intensive study during 
 tliis survey consisted of the buttonhole makers in a large garment 
 ' factor}'. The report states that the facts Avhich made a study of this 
 department valuable are: 
 
 1. No conditions of personnel, labor turnover, character of work, or sanita- 
 tion have changed during th.e four-year period covered by the study. 
 
 2. Hours liave been reduced from 54 to 49 weekly in tlie period from 1913 
 to 1917. 
 
 3. Wages have increased at each decrease in hours. If th's had not been 
 ' the case, it might be supposed that employees would " speed up " in order to 
 
 earn as much after as before the change in hours. 
 
 4. Buttonhole making is piecework, and records on hours and output are 
 therefore complete and available for study. Ail work studied was done by 
 liand. 
 
 With this background the findings of the study are particidarly 
 significant. The report states : 
 
 The piece rates in January, 191S, were 29.8 per cent higher than in January, 
 1013. According to the cost of living series of the United States Bureau of 
 Labor Statistics (p. 17, No. 5, whole No. 228), the cost of food increased during 
 the same period about 30 per cent. It is, therefore, seen that better standards 
 of living did not bring about increased productivity, since the increase in the 
 cost of living during the four-year period from 1913 to 1917 was fully sufficient 
 to absorb the increase in wages. 
 
 The number of buttonhole makers varies from 50 to 100 in tlais factory. The 
 turnover is about 200 per cent annually. The women who do this work are 
 of a good grade of intelligence. The character of the working force has not 
 changed during the years studied. Tlie average age of these women is about 
 27 years, and this has not changed materially in the last five years. 
 
 In this work the months of January and July are at the heiglit of the busy 
 season. The slack season months sometimes show a low production, because 
 of an over supply of workers for the amount of material. Tiie month of 
 January was chosen for study because of the fact that production would be 
 almost even at that time. 
 
 The buttonhole on which rates are based is a standard buttonhole, and 
 variations are referred to this standard to determine the rate of compensation. 
 Thus, if a buttonhole requires half as much time and labor on the employee's 
 part as the standard buttonhole, it is paid for at half the rate. Production 
 figures in this study refer to the number of standard buttonholes. The quality 
 of the material and the difficulty of the work have not changed in the four 
 years from 1913 to 1917 to any perceptible degree. As no machinery whatever 
 is used in the operation of making buttonholes, there could be no change la 
 this resnect. 
 
SHOETEE, WOKKIXG DAY FOE WOMEIST. 15 
 
 Hours in tlie factory studied luive decreased as follows : 
 
 Hours weekly. 
 
 May 1, 1915 54 to 52 
 
 May 1, 1916 ' 52 to 49 
 
 Jan. 22, 1917 49 to 43 
 
 This study covers tlie montli of January in 1913, 1914, and 1917. Tlie rate 
 clianges during tills period were : 
 May 1, 1913, a 10 per cent increase. 
 May 1, 1916, an increase of over 18 per cent. 
 
 In the four-year period from January, 1913, to January, 1917, the 
 rate of buttonhole makino- for the group of workers studied, all of 
 whom put in full time during the entire month of January, increased 
 from 6.9 to 7.4 per hour per worker, and the increase was more than 
 sufficient to make production for the entire month in 1917 equal to 
 that in Januarj^, 1913, in spite of the decrease in working hours of five 
 hours per week. 
 
 These figures conclusively show that the production rate in this department 
 lias increased so much that total output under a time schedule five hours less 
 is equal to and even greater than production under the longer hours. 
 
 The investigator vras told that the same conditions hold in other departments 
 in the factory, so that fev»'er workers are required for an equal volume of pro- 
 duction at present than was the case five years ago. 
 
 " Health conditions have considerably improved in this factory during the 
 past five years. The reduced hours have, in the opinion of the factory health 
 oflicer, been a considerable factor in promoting health, in increasing content 
 among tlie workers, ajid so in raising the rate of production. 
 
 The commission has reached its conclusions — we wish to make this point 
 clear — almost entirely on the basis of its belief that its investigations show 
 that longer hours than S per day or 48 per week tend to produce harmful physio- 
 logic, or perhaps it would be better to say pathologic, fatigue in women workers. 
 They further recognize — they can not do otherwise — that women as a class are not 
 as strong as men, that many of them are of necessity more or less occupied out- 
 side their ^-sorking hours with exacting home duties, and that many of them are 
 to be the mothers of the future. For all these reasons the State should throw 
 legal safeguards about them." (7, p. 10.) 
 
 The relation between hours and output is not, however, the only 
 way of determining the effect of long hours on fatigue. A second 
 means of measuring fatigue is by noting the number and time of 
 occurrence of accidents. 
 
 Statistics from all countries which have recorded the hours in 
 which industrial accidents occur, show that the number of accidents 
 tends to increase with the incidence of fatigue, due to the f act_ that 
 when the brain is fatigued the attention may flag and " reaction time " 
 is retarded. (Eeaction time is the name given to the interval of time 
 between the occurrence of some external phenomenon and the signal 
 of its having been perceived.) 
 
 The result of this * * * ig that accidents connected with work niustbe 
 more numerous as the dav advances, more numerous, too, in the corresponding 
 hours at the end than at the beginning of the week, if work is pressed too far. 
 The statistics of the distribution of accidents connection with labor therefore 
 constitute an indication of the degree of fatigue of the human motor. (9, p. 24. ) 
 
 A similar situation is also exemplified in those industries and 
 trades where errors and mistakes occur instead of accidents. Im- 
 bert and Mestre charted over 2,700 accidents among over 60,000 
 workmen in various trades and constructed a curve of them. 
 
 "The results may be grouped as follows: (1) The number of accidents in- 
 creases progressively from hour to hour during the first half-day; (2) after 
 the fairly long midday rest, in the early hours of the second half -day, the 
 
10 SnORTER WORKING DAY FOR WOMEN. 
 
 mmibor of accidents is notably loss than dnrliiK the last liour of tlio niornin?;; 
 (3) in tlio course of tiie second half of the day the accidents apain become 
 progressively more frequent from hour to hour; (4) the nnniiicr of accidents 
 per hour toward the end of the second half-day is notably higher than the 
 correspondini; maximum of the morning. ({), p. 40-41.) 
 
 Not only does fatiouc decrease output and increase accidents, but 
 its effect u]>on health is so marked that a third plan of mea.siiring 
 fatifrnc is by noting these effects npon the health of the average 
 Avorker. 
 
 Overfatigue not only increases the su^^ceptibility of workers to gen- 
 eral and infectious diseases but also to many forms of nervous dis- 
 eases as Avell, esi)ecially in those forms of Avork in which there arc 
 the elements of i)hysical work and of nervous tension and psychologi- 
 cal effects as well. 
 
 Mosso's work has been confirmed by loteyko, who has shown (9, 
 p. 23-24) that '• the exhaustion of our bodies does not increase in 
 direct ratio with the work accomplished * * * ^ given task per- 
 formed by a fatigued muscle has a much more injurious effect upon 
 that muscle, and results in the production of greater fatigue than 
 vrould be the case if the same task were ])erformed under normal 
 conditions. * * * "When the body is tired a small amount of 
 lal)or produces disastrous results." 
 
 Scientific laboratory experiments made both at home and abroad 
 amply demonstrate that fatigue markedly diminishes the power of 
 the blood to destroy bacteria and neutralize their toxic products. 
 Even immunity may be destroA'ed for the time being by fatigue. ■ 
 Here comes in the problem in public health since the overfatigued 
 individual not only early acquires, but also spreads disease. 
 
 AVorkers in dangerous trades who are overfatigued are more readily 
 attacked by occupational diseases. Overfatigue and exhaustion are 
 permanent factors in predisposing to disease or premature death in 
 all industries. A high labor turnover caused by sickness or discon- 
 tent and an increase in the amount of spoiled work can also be 
 charged to overfatigued workers. 
 
 Ph^'sical debility follows fatigue. Laxity of moral fiber follows 
 phy.sical debility. Long hours and overwork lead to intemperance. 
 
 Legal aspects of the problem. 
 
 In any di.scu.ssion oi the laws which limit an adult's hours of labor, 
 we must constantly bear in mind the fact that no laAV is final in the 
 United States until it has passed the review of the courts, and that 
 it is the function of the courts to determine whether the legislature 
 had any reasonable grounds for its action; not whether the laws as 
 enacted are in themselves inherently good or bad, but whether the 
 legislature was justified in its conclusions as eml)odied in the laws. 
 
 In 1008 the United States Supreme Court unequivocally upheld the 
 constitutionality of the 10-hour law for women as a health measure, 
 sayirig (14, p. 421-422), " as healthy mothers are essential to vigorous 
 ofTsiDring, the physical well-being of woman becomes an object of 
 public iiiterest and care in order to preserve the strength and vigor 
 of the race." 
 
 " The limitations which this statute places upon her contractual 
 powers, upon her right to agree with her employer as to the time 
 when she shall labor, are not imposed solely for her benefit, but also 
 largel}' for the benefit of all." 
 
SHORTER WORKING DAY FOR WOMEIT. 17 
 
 This T\'as the most STrceping decision ever rendered by the Federal 
 Supreme Court in relation to working hours. It was not confined to 
 a consideration of the 10-hour day or to a working day of an}- length. 
 It left to the individual States the liberty, under their police power, 
 to determine what is wholesome and reasonable, rejecting the fiction 
 of the freedom of contract as regards the working woman, declaring 
 that " her j)hysical structure and a proper discharge of her maternal 
 functions — having in view not merely her own health, but the well- 
 being of the race — justify legislation to protect her from the greed 
 as well as the passion of man." (14, p. 422.) 
 
 In 1910 the constitutionality of the 10-hour law for women in Illi- 
 nois was upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court, following the deci- 
 sion of the United States Supreme Court in the Oregon case, in 
 which it did find a clear connection between the measure and the pro- 
 tection of public health, not being deterred by a fictional theoretical 
 " freedom of contract " idea as a previous supreme court had been 
 14 years previously, saying, " what we know as men we can not i^ro- 
 fess to be ignorant of as judges." (8, p. 520.) 
 
 The constitutionality of a 10-hour working clay was now estab- 
 lished, but the reasonableness of further restriction was in doubt. 
 In 1915 tlie United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality 
 of the California law which fixed an 8-hour day as the maximum for 
 women workers, saying that " this is not to imply that a limitation of 
 the hours of labor of women might not be pushed to a wholly indefen- 
 sible extreme, but there is no ground for the conclusion here that the 
 limit of the reasonable exertion of protective authority has been over- 
 stepped." (15, p. 382.) 
 
 The establishment of standards of working hours lies chiefly with 
 the individual States as a legitimate exercise of their police power, 
 and to this field of statesmanship, vre Iiave seen, the fourteenth amend- 
 ment to the Constitution offers no barriers. 
 
 The need of this legislation is shown by the fact that in 9 States 
 women may work 70 hours hours or more per week ; in 20 States 55 
 to TO hours. In six States there is no limitation whatever of the 
 hours women may work, and in only five is the 48-hour week recog- 
 nized by law. 
 
 The Congress of the United States has established the 8-hour 
 day as the standard in the Government service for workers in private 
 employment engaged on Governm_ent contracts and for certain speci- 
 fiecl groups of emploj^ees exclusive of clerical and professional 
 workers. 
 
 In 1919 the Paris Peace Conference adopted the principle which 
 had been recommended by the Commission on International Labor 
 Legislation : " The adoption of an 8-hour day or a 48-hour week as 
 the standard to be aimed at where it has not already been attained." 
 (1, art. 427, p. 186.)' 
 
 It has been said that " there is no wiser statesmanship than that 
 which concerns itself with the care of the child." No one would 
 minimize the importance of any phase of child v/ elf are work ; but it 
 would seem that if the highest type is to be realized the wisest states- 
 manship is that which concerns itself with the welfare of the young 
 women who are the prospective mothers of the future race. 
 
18 SnORTER WORKING DAY FOR WOMEN. 
 
 If individuals and firms and even States arc so lacking in their 
 social development that they are willing; to sacrifice these women to 
 industrial advantao;e, and especially "vvherc the States fail, as five 
 of them have utterly failed to provide any form of protective labor 
 legislation for women, and where, as in Illinois, the legislation is un- 
 satisfactory and inadequate, then organized society must take action. 
 
 Not only must organized society protect women as workers, at 
 least as much as men, in their inalienable rigiit to the joy of labor, 
 but it must protect itself from any of the evil or sinister effects con- 
 nected with their labor as women. This is not, and can not be, 
 jnirely a personal matter between employer and employee, as the 
 former would try to make us believe. 
 
 The increasing impairment of racial integrity shows that we must 
 think for the future and of racial as well as social stability. Con- 
 servation must be applied to our heritage of health, not to the end 
 that women may become like men or more masculine, but that tliey 
 may become more feminine, to the end that happiness may be found 
 in fulfillment of function. 
 
 Ov.ing to tlie complexity and variation in tlie character of industry 
 and the strains in it, it is apparent that it is impossible to make a 
 standard of hours for each industr}^, based on fatigue, but it is pos- 
 sible to have two or three levels or standards of hours dependent 
 upon the physical and psychological strains of the industry. How- 
 ever, a maximum would be a splendid start, and it would soon be 
 possible to demonstrate the economic and social value of a physio- 
 logical standard, once it is given a fair trial. 
 
 Science must be applied not only to immediate economic needs, but 
 also to greater indi^■idual and racial resistance to disease, for tlie 
 quality of our citizens will determine the character of our civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 Surely it is not enough that a woman is able to endure the hard- 
 ship and fatigue of a 10-hoiir day and not die! Life for a woman 
 should mean more than Avage earning, and women should, and do, 
 mean more to our country than mere machines. We should see to 
 it that while engaged in the industries her hours of lal)or are sliort 
 enough to enable lier to develop into a normal, healthy, valuable 
 member of society. 
 
 To secure such an amendment to the. V^deral Constitution as will 
 permit the Federal Government to take cfirect charge of this matter, 
 the 12,000,000 Avoraen in industry in this country should unite with 
 the other millions of women voters. The probable attitude of the 
 Congress has already been indicated in having established the 8- 
 hour day for certain groups of its employees, the Federal Go\ern- 
 ment being the largest employer of labor in the United States. ' 
 
 The sciences of physiology and psychology, the law, the decisions 
 of the courts, the police power of the States, the example of the Con- 
 gress, the peace conference, the joint interests of both employer and 
 employee, the rights of society expressed in the voice of an en- 
 lightened social conscience, all unite in faA'oring the establishment of 
 the 8-hour day as the maximum which should be required of 
 women in industry. For upon the women depends the vigor of the 
 race, and the vigor of the race must not be exploited for present-day 
 purposes instead of for racial conservation. 
 

 Date Due 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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QP421 ^3 
 
 Webster