men eye servants.

An amusing instance of the value of task work with freedom to leave when
the task is done was given the writer by his friend, Mr. Chas. D.
Rogers, for many years superintendent of the American Screw Works, of
Providence, R. I., one of the greatest mechanical geniuses and most
resourceful managers that this country has produced, but a man who,
owing to his great modesty, has never been fully appreciated outside of
those who know him well. Mr. Rogers tried several modifications of day
and piece work in an unsuccessful endeavor to get the children who were
engaged in sorting over the very small screws to do a fair day's work.
He finally met with great success by assigning to each child a fair
day's task and allowing him to go home and play as soon as his task was
done. Each child's playtime was his own and highly prized while the
greater part of his wages went to his parents.

Piece work embodying the task idea can be used to advantage when there
is enough work of the same general character to keep a number of men
busy regularly; such work, for instance, as the Bethlehem yard labor
previously described, or the work of bicycle ball inspection referred to
later on. In piece work of this class the task idea should always be
maintained by keeping it clearly before each man that his average daily
earnings must amount to a given high sum (as in the case of the
Bethlehem laborers, $1.85 per day), and that failure to average this
amount will surely result in his being laid off. It must be remembered
that on plain piece work the less competent workmen will always bring
what influence and pressure they can to cause the best men to slow down
towards their level and that the task idea is needed to counteract this
influence. Where the labor market is large enough to secure in a
reasonable time enough strictly first-class men, the piece work rates