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CHAPTER IV. 
with a reduction of hours, it would be possible and, if there were co- 
operation between employers and employed, easy not merely to maintain 
but to increase the average production per operative employed. Nor is 
the operative the only party who can increase his efficiency. Actual 
machine efficiency is now generally high, but some mills work with ob- 
solete plant, and in several directions improvements in organisation are 
possible. Finally, a reduction in the hours of the individual operative 
need not mean a reduction in the hours worked by the industry. One 
difficulty in the way of reducing hours is that in some departments, not- 
ably spinning, production is now mainly dependent on the machine 
rather than the man. But a wider adoption of shifts would enable the 
industry to maintain production, even if the average output per operative 
fell, and to increase it greatly when market conditions justified such a 
course. It would also afford possibilities of reducing the incidence of 
overhead costs. A recommendation, which we make later in respect of 
women’s work, is designed to facilitate the working of two short shifts. 
We recognise that in some centres the extension of shifts will add to the 
difficulties of the authorities in respect of housing. But we believe that, 
if Indian industry is to expand profitably in competition with other 
countries, it will be advisable to make more use of the machinery and 
plant. The growth of shift systems is a probable development, whether 
hours are reduced or not. 
Other Industries. 
What we have stated does not apply with the same force to the 
large number of seasonal factories which work the operatives for as long 
as the law permits. Here conditions are essentially different, and we 
discuss these in another chapter. So far as the remaining classes of 
factories are concerned, we can find no circumstances which would jus- 
tify the continuance of a 60 hour week. Certain work may be de- 
scribed as essentially intermittent, and where this is so, latitude can be 
allowed by special exemptions ; but in some factories of this class, such 
as flour mills, a reduction of the hours of their workers is required. 
A 54 Hour Week. 
With the exception of Sir Victor Sassoon, we are agreed that a 
reduction in the statutory week is practicable and desirable. On the 
question of the extent of the reduction, namely, whether it should be to 
54 or to 48 hours, we have to submit diverging views. The majority of us 
recommend a reduction to 54 hours a week for the following reasons. We 
are satisfied that in large sections of industry this limit will cause no ap- 
preciable inconvenience, and in the others the workers have a reasonable 
claim that the necessary adjustments shall be made. On the other hand, the 
introduction of the lower limit would involve a change of hours in the 
great majority of the perennial factories, and it would mean a very heavy 
reduction in the factories now working 60 hours. Many operatives 
would have to face large reductions in their earnings and, while we 
do not doubt that part of this loss would be made good before long, we 
are not convinced that the operatives as a whole are in a position *°