172 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE 
the American hand factories of the older type, and the glass blowers 
working in them, experienced for some years a revival of activity 
and prosperity. This was no more than a temporary interruption 
of the main trend; the machine process was triumphing in the 
United States, and indeed seems destined to rule soon in other 
countries also. During the stage of transition, thus prolonged in 
the United States by the war conditions, machine and handicraft 
processes were applied side by side. Hence comparisons were 
made by the Swedish investigators not only between the European 
countries and the United States, but between the two methods 
of production in the latter country alone. 
The figures follow. They give the output per worker, in terms 
of square meters. 
Winbow-Grass Ourpur (SQ. METERS PER WORKER) 
Sweden (1913) 
Belgium (1906) 
United States (hand-blown, 1915) 
United States (machine-blown, 1915) ! 
~~ nT 
n 
3400 
2800 
5250 
MoNTH 
20 
&10 
400 
650 
Day 
10 
11 
16 
21 
In considering the figures, regard must be had to differences in 
working arrangements. The season in the United States is but 
seven months in the hand factories, eight months in the machine 
factories ; during the hot summer months the works are shut down. 
In Sweden and Belgium the operations run thru ten to eleven 
months, and in Belgium work goes on thru the Sundays. Apparent 
discrepancies between the figures for year, month, and day are 
thus accounted for. 
It appears that, for the hand factories, there are no marked 
differences in the annual output per head for the three countries. 
Per day, the effectiveness of labor is greater in the United States 
(16 as against 11 in Belgium and 10 in Sweden) ; but for the year, 
the United States ranks lowest. Belgium ranks highest for the 
year, but this is the result mainly of prolongation of labor thru a 
larger portion of the year. 
When comparison is made, however, between the machine