On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures/Chapter 21

by Charles Babbage

CHAP. XXI.

ON THE COST OF EACH SEPARATE PROCESS IN A MANUFACTURE.

(253.) The great competition introduced by machinery, and the application of the principle of the subdivision of labour, render it necessary for each producer to be continually on the watch, to discover improved methods by which the cost of the article he manufactures may be reduced; and, with this view, it is of great importance to know the precise expense of every process, as well as of the wear and tear of machinery which is due to it. The same information is desirable for those by whom the manufactured goods are distributed and sold; because it enables them to give reasonable answers or explanations to the objections of inquirers, and also affords them a better chance of suggesting to the manufacturer changes in the fashion of his goods, which may be suitable either to the tastes or to the finances of his customers. To the statesman such knowledge is still more important; for without it he must trust entirely to others, and can form no judgment worthy of confidence, of the effect any tax may produce, or of the injury the manufacturer or the country may suffer by its imposition.

(254.) One of the first advantages which suggests itself as likely to arise from a correct analysis of the expense of the several processes of any manufacture, is the indication which it would furnish of the course in which improvement should be directed. If a method could be contrived of diminishing by one fourth the time required for fixing on the heads of pins, the expense of making them would be reduced about thirteen per cent.; whilst a reduction of one half the time employed in spinning the coil of wire out of which the heads are cut, would scarcely make any sensible difference in the cost of manufacturing of the whole article. It is therefore obvious, that the attention would be much more advantageously directed to shortening the former than the latter process.

(255.) The expense of manufacturing, in a country where machinery is of the rudest kind, and manual labour is very cheap, is curiously exhibited in the price of cotton cloth in the island of Java. The cotton, in the seed, is sold by the Picul, which is a weight of about 133lbs. Not above one fourth or one fifth of this weight, however, is cotton: the natives, by means of rude wooden rollers, can only separate about 11/4lb. of cotton from the seed by one day's labour. A Picul of cleansed cotton, therefore, is worth between four and five times the cost of the impure article; and the prices of the same substance, in its different stages of manufacture, are—for one Picul:

Dollars.

Cotton in the seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 to

3

Clean cotton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 —

11

Cotton thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

24

Cotton thread died blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

35

Good ordinary cotton cloth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

50

Thus it appears that the expense of spinning in Java is 117 per cent. on the value of the raw material; the expense of dying thread blue is 45 per cent. on its value; and that of weaving cotton thread into cloth 117 per cent. on its value. The expense of spinning cotton into a fine thread is, in England, about 33 per cent.^[1]

(256.) As an example of the cost of the different processes of a manufacture, perhaps an analytical statement of the expense of the volume now in the reader's hands may not be uninteresting; more especially as it will afford an insight into the nature and extent of the taxes upon literature. It is found economical to print it upon paper of a very large size, so that although thirty-two pages, instead of sixteen, are really contained in each sheet, this work is still called 8vo.

					£	s.	d.
To Printer for composing (per sheet of 32 pages) 3l. 1s.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	101/2 sheets			32	0	6
[This relates to the ordinary size of the type used in the volume.]
To Printer for composing small type, as in extracts and contents, extra per sheet, 3s. 10d.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	......			2	0	3
To Printer, for composing table-work, extra per sheet, 5s. 6d.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	......			2	17	9
Average charge for corrections, per sheet, 3l. 2s. 10d.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	......			33	0	0
Press-work, 3000 being printed off, per sheet, 3l. 10s.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	......			36	15	0
Paper for 3000, at 1l 11s. 6d. per ream, weighing 28lbs.: the duty on paper at 3d. per lb. amounts to 7s. per ream, so that the 63 reams which are required for the work will cost:—
Paper		77	3	6
Excise Duty		22	1	0
Total expense of paper		—————			99	4	6
Total expense of printing and paper					205	18	0

				£	s.	d.
Brought up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .				205	18	0
Steel-plate for title-page. . . . . . . . . . . .	0	7	6
Engraving on ditto, Head of Bacon. . .	2	2	0
Ditto . . . . . . . . . . . .letters. . . . . . . . . .	1	1	0
Total expense of title-page. . . .	—————			3	10	6
Printing title-page, at 6s. per 100. . . . . . . . . . . .				9	0	0
Paper for ditto, at 1s. 9d. per 100. . . . . . . . . . . .				2	12	6
Expenses of advertising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .				40	0	0
Sundries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .				5	0	0
Total expense in sheets. . . . . . . . . . . .				266	1	0
Cost of a single copy in sheets; 3052 being printed, including the overplus. . . . . . . . . . . .				0	1	9
Extra boarding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .				0	0	6
Cost of each copy, boarded[2]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .				0	2	3

(257.) This analysis requires some explanation. The printer usually charges for composition by the sheet, supposing the type to be all of one kind; and as this charge is regulated by the size of the letter, on which the quantity in a sheet depends, little dispute can arise after the price is agreed upon. If there are but few extracts, or other parts of the work, which require to be printed in smaller type; or if there are many notes, or several passages in Greek, or in other languages, requiring a different type, these are considered in the original contract, and a small additional price per sheet allowed. If there is a large portion of small type, it is better to have a specific additional charge for it per sheet. If any work with irregular lines and many figures, and what the printers call rules, occurs, it is called table-work, and is charged at an advanced price per sheet. Examples of this are frequent in the present volume. If the page consists entirely of figures, as in mathematical tables, which require very careful correction, the charge for composition is usually doubled. A few years ago I printed a table of logarithms, on a large-sized page, which required great additional labour and care from the Readers,^[3] in rendering the proofs correct, and for which, although new punches were not required, several new types were prepared, and for which stereotype plates were cast, costing about 2l. per sheet. In this case 11l. per sheet were charged, although ordinary composition, with the same sized letter, in demy octavo, could have been executed at thirty-eight shillings per sheet: but as the expense was ascertained before commencing the work, it gave rise to no difficulties.

(258.) The charge for corrections and alterations is one which, from the difficulty of measuring them, gives rise to the greatest inconvenience, and is as disagreeable to the publisher (if he be the agent between the author and the printer), and to the master printer or his foreman, as it is to the author himself. If the author study economy, he should make the whole of his corrections in the manuscript, and should copy it out fairly: it will then be printed correctly, and he will have little to pay for corrections. But it is scarcely possible to judge of the effect of any passage correctly, without having it set up in type; and there are few subjects, upon which an author does not find he can add some details or explanation, when he sees his views in print. If, therefore, he wish to save his own labour in transcribing, and to give the last polish to the language, he must be content to accomplish these objects at an increased expense. If the printer possess a sufficient stock of type, it will contribute still more to the convenience of the author to have his whole work put up in what are technically called slips,^[4] and then to make all the corrections, and to have as few revises as he can. The present work was set up in slips, but the corrections have been unusually large, and the revises frequent.

(259.) The press-work, or printing off, is charged at a price agreed upon for each two hundred and fifty sheets; and any broken number is still considered as two hundred and fifty. When a large edition is required, the price for two hundred and fifty is reduced; thus, in the present volume, two hundred and fifty copies, if printed alone, would have been charged eleven shillings per sheet, instead of 5s. 10d., the actual charge. The principle of this mode of charging is good, as it obviates all disputes; but it is to be regretted that the custom of charging the same price for any small number as for two hundred and fifty, is so pertinaciously adhered to, that the workmen will not agree to any other terms when only twenty or thirty copies are required, or even when only three or four are wanted for the sake of some experiment. Perhaps if all numbers above fifty were charged as two hundred and fifty, and all below as for half two hundred and fifty, both parties would derive an advantage.

(260.) The effect of the excise duty is to render the paper thin, in order that it may weigh little; but this is counteracted by the desire of the author to make his book look as thick as possible, in order that he may charge the public as much as he decently can; and so on that ground alone the duty is of no importance. There is, however, another effect of this duty, which both the public and the author feel; for they pay, not merely the duty which is charged, but also the profit on that duty, which the paper-maker requires for the use of additional capital; and also the profit to the publisher and bookseller on the increased price of the volume.

(261.) The estimated charge for advertisements is, in the present case, about the usual allowance for such a volume; and, as it is considered that advertisements in newspapers are the most effectual, where the smallest pays a duty of 3s. 6d., nearly one half of the charge of advertising is a tax.

(262.) It appears then, that, to an expenditure of 224l. necessary to produce the present volume, 42l. are added in the shape of a direct tax. Whether the profits arising from such a mode of manufacturing will justify such a rate of taxation, can only be estimated when the returns from the volume are considered, a subject that will be discussed in a subsequent chapter.^[5] It is at present sufficient to observe, that the tax on advertisements is an impolitic tax when contrasted with that upon paper, and on other materials employed. The object of all advertisements is, by making known articles for sale, to procure for them a better price, if the sale is to be by auction; or a larger extent of sale if by retail dealers. Now the more any article is known, the more quickly it is discovered whether it contributes to the comfort or advantage of the public; and the more quickly its consumption is assured if it be found valuable. It would appear, then, that every tax on communicating information respecting articles which are the subjects of taxation in another shape, is one which must reduce the amount that would have been raised, had no impediment been placed in the way of making known to the public their qualities and their price.

1. These facts are taken from Crawfurd's Indian Archipelago.
2. These charges refer to the edition prepared for the public, and do not relate to the large paper copies in the hands of some of the author's friends.
3. "Readers" are persons employed to correct the press at the printing-office.
4. Slips are long pieces of paper on which sufficient matter is printed to form, when divided, from two to four pages of text.
5. Chap. XXXI.

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