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CHAPTER 1V, 
that, generally speaking, the short working week is associated with closer 
attention to work and stricter supervision than the long one. Further, 
in no case did those workers who were working a short week with stricter 
discipline suggest that they would like a longer and less intense day or 
more intervals. As a matter of fact, the attempt in 1922 to increase the 
interval of half an hour in an 8% hour day in engineering shops in Bengal 
and elsewhere was defeated by the operatives. Similarly, in some Bombay 
cotton mills which, prior to 1922, had worked the operatives for an 8 
hour shift without any interval, the introduction of an hour’s statutory 
interval led to a strike. Nor did a single employer who had adopted a 
short day suggest that it would be better to lengthen the day and require 
& correspondingly lower standard of concentration. Finally, few would 
be prepared to assert that the cotton mill operative, when compared with 
workers doing a shorter and more intense day, shows that greater con- 
tentment which the longer and less intense day is supposed to yield. 
Effect on Wages. 
Bo far as the operatives are concerned, we cannot view the pos- 
sibility of a reduction in earnings without misgiving. But we believe 
that, if too large a reduction of hours is not attempted, the effect will be 
small, and it is relevant to observe that real wages have recently risen 
appreciably and are now higher than they have been for some years. Even 
if a fall in wages results, it need not be permanent. With greater time for 
genuine relaxation, many workers would probably require shorter holi- 
days and fewer days of absence than at present, and could thus reduce the 
loss which these breaks impose on them. Many employers believe firmly 
that the average operative desires to earn merely sufficient for his bare 
needs, and is unwilling to earn more by doing more work, i.e., that he 
prefers leisure to a margin in wages. We discuss this view elsewhere and 
cannot subscribe to it in the form in which it is usually presented. At the 
same time, the great importance which the Indian worker attaches to 
adequate leisure is a truth underlying it. It is also important to remem- 
ber that, in the cotton mill industry in particular, there are still opportun- 
ities for increased effort on the part of the operative. So far as we are 
aware, there is no industrial country, except possibly China, where so 
little is expected from him in effort and so much in attendance at the 
factory. The average number of looms given to each weaver in India is 
less than two and one spinner is ordinarily required for each side of a 
frame. Attempts have recently been made to advance beyond the usual 
standard and, even with existing hours, it should be possible to secure 
improvement. We believe that, apart from any reduction of hours, em- 
ployers will steadily increase their demand for efficiency from the operative. 
Shorter hours should supply both an incentive and an enlarged opportun- 
ity for raising the general standard of work. 
Previous History. 
The maintenance of the existing economic position of the industry 
and its workers, in spite of a statutory reduction of hours, depends main- 
ly on the extent to which the hours of actual work can be compressed into