Rushton & Co.had a fair share of what work there was, and Crass, Sawkins, Slyme and Owen were kept employed pretty regularly, although they did not start until half past eight and left off at four.At different houses in various parts of the town they had ceilings to wash off and distemper, to strip the old paper from the walls, and to repaint and paper the rooms, and sometimes there were the venetian blinds to repair and repaint.Occasionally a few extra hands were taken on for a few days, and discharged again as soon as the job they were taken on to do was finished.
The defenders of the existing system may possibly believe that the knowledge that they would be discharged directly the job was done was a very good incentive to industry, that they would naturally under these circumstances do their best to get the work done as quickly as possible.But then it must be remembered that most of the defenders of the existing system are so constituted, that they can believe anything provided it is not true and sufficiently silly.
All the same, it was a fact that the workmen did do their very best to get over this work in the shortest possible time, because although they knew that to do so was contrary to their own interests, they also knew that it would be very much more contrary to their interests not to do so.Their only chance of being kept on if other work came in was to tear into it for all they were worth.Consequently, most of the work was rushed and botched and slobbered over in about half the time that it would have taken to do it properly.Rooms for which the customers paid to have three coats of paint were scamped with one or two.What Misery did not know about scamping and faking the work, the men suggested to and showed him in the hope of currying favour with him in order that they might get the preference over others and be sent for when the next job came in.This is the principal incentive provided by the present system, the incentive to cheat.These fellows cheated the customers of their money.They cheated themselves and their fellow workmen of work, and their children of bread, but it was all for a good cause - to make profit for their master.
Harlow and Slyme did one job - a room that Rushton & Co.had contracted to paint three coats.It was finished with two and the men cleared away their paints.The next day, when Slyme wept there to paper the room, the lady of the house said that the painting was not yet finished - it was to have another coat.Slyme assured her that it had already had three, but, as the lady insisted, Slyme went to the shop and sought out Misery.Harlow had been stood off, as there was not another job in just then, but fortunately he happened to be standing in the street outside the shop, so they called him and then the three of them went round to the job and swore that the room had had three coats.The lady protested that it was not so.She had watched the progress of the work.Besides, it was impossible; they had only been there three days.The first day they had not put any paint on at all; they had done the ceiling and stripped the walls; the painting was not started till the second day.How then could it have had three coats? Misery explained the mystery: he said that for first coating they had an extra special very fast-drying paint - paint that dried so quickly that they were able to give the work two coats in one day.For instance, one man did the window, the other the door: when these were finished both men did the skirting; by the time the skirting was finished the door and window were dry enough to second coat; and then, on the following day - the finishing coat!
Of course, this extra special quick-drying paint was very expensive, but the firm did not mind that.They knew that most of their customers wished to have their work finished as quickly as possible, and their study was to give satisfaction to the customers.This explanation satisfied the lady - a poverty-stricken widow making a precarious living by taking in lodgers - who was the more easily deceived because she regarded Misery as a very holy man, having seen him preaching in the street on many occasions.
There was another job at another boarding-house that Owen and Easton did - two rooms which had to be painted three coats of white paint and one of enamel, making four coats altogether.That was what the firm had contracted to do.As the old paint in these rooms was of a rather dark shade it was absolutely necessary to give the work three coats before enamelling it.Misery wanted them to let it go with two, but Owen pointed out that if they did so it would be such a ghastly mess that it would never pass.After thinking the matter over for a few minutes, Misery told them to go on with the third coat of paint.Then he went downstairs and asked to see the lady of the house.He explained to her that, in consequence of the old paint being so dark, he found that it would be necessary, in order to make a good job of it, to give the work four coats before enamelling it.Of course, they had agreed for only three, but as they always made a point of doing their work in a first-class manner rather than not make a good job, they would give it the extra coat for nothing, but he was sure she would not wish them to do that.The lady said that she did not want them to work for nothing, and she wanted it done properly.If it were necessary to give it an extra coat, they must do so and she would pay for it.How much would it be? Misery told her.The lady was satisfied, and Misery was in the seventh heaven.Then he went upstairs again and warned Owen and Easton to be sure to say, if they were asked, that the work had had four coats.