been adopted and the details which have been developed under scientific
management and the steps to be taken in changing from the ordinary to
the scientific type. But unfortunately most of the readers of these
papers have mistaken the mechanism for the true essence. Scientific
management fundamentally consists of certain broad general principles, a
certain philosophy, which can be applied in many ways, and a description
of what any one man or men may believe to be the best mechanism for
applying these general principles should in no way be confused with the
principles themselves.

It is not here claimed that any single panacea exists for all of the
troubles of the working-people or of employers. As long as some people
are born lazy or inefficient, and others are born greedy and brutal, as
long as vice and crime are with us, just so long will a certain amount
of poverty, misery, and unhappiness be with us Also. No system of
management, no single expedient--within the control of any man or any
set of men can insure continuous prosperity to either workmen or
employers. Prosperity depends upon so many factors entirely beyond the
control of any one set of men, any state, or even any one country, that
certain periods will inevitably come when both sides must suffer, more
or less. It is claimed, however, that under scientific management the
intermediate periods will be far more prosperous, far happier, and more
free from discord and dissension. And also, that the periods will be
fewer, shorter and the suffering less. And this will be particularly
true in any one town, any one section of the country, or any one state
which first substitutes the principles of scientific management for the
rule of thumb.

That these principles are certain to come into general use practically
throughout the civilized world, sooner or later, the writer is