投资 · 创业者自述
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯:节俭·摘录 482
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯《节俭》· Thrift · 投资
There is no doubt about the "swiftness" of English Workmanship. But this is one of the merits of English mechanism. M. Jules Simon observes that heretofore the manual labourer has been an intelligent force, but by means of machinery he is converted into an intelligent director of force. It is by the speed of the English machinery, and the intelligent quickness of the workmen, that his master makes a profit, and himself such high wages as compared with continental workmen. In France, one person is employed to mind fourteen spindles; in Russia, one to twenty-eight; in Prussia, one to thirty-seven; and in Great Britain, one to seventy-four spindles. It is by means of the swiftness of our machinery that we are enabled to bring cotton from India, manufacture it in Manchester, return the manufactured article to the place from which it was taken, and sell it at a lower price than the native-made calico.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
定位:Excerpt 482 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
英国货做得快,这没疑问,作者说这正是英国机械的长处。他引儒勒·西蒙的话:过去工人是靠力气干活,有了机器,工人就变成指挥机器的人。老板赚钱、工人拿比欧洲大陆同行高得多的工资,靠的就是机器转得快、工人反应快。他举纺纱为例:法国一人看十四锭,俄国一人看二十八锭,普鲁士一人看三十七锭,英国一人看七十四锭。正因为机器快,英国才能把棉花从印度运来,在曼彻斯特织成布,再运回印度卖,价格还比当地土布便宜。
上下文
斯迈尔斯《节俭》,19世纪英国纺织业与铁路时代,用各国人均看管纱锭数说明机械化带来的效率优势。
今日一问
你手头的工作,有没有哪一部分可以交给工具或机器,让自己从“出力的人”变成“指挥的人”?
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