The “Day of Rest” and Human Efficiency

The refreshing influence of the weekly recurring “day of rest” on a person subjected to the strenuous routine of a busy life is a feature which he himself can duly appreciate in terms of his “feelings” and “spirits.” If it is desired to demonstrate the need of such relaxation and the benefits derived therefrom in some objective way, a method is not easily forthcoming. The problem is one which, in its broadest aspects, has a far-reaching importance in every community. The efficiency of the working man, the desirable length of the working-day, the interjection of pauses for rest in the schedule of labor for persons of different ages and stations in life—questions of this sort are constantly arising for solution by some plan which excludes purely subjective impressions and permits some more scientific basis for a tenable judgment in the matter. Not only in the field of manual labor, but also in innumerable other walks of life, in the case of the schoolchild, the office-boy, the factory-girl, the banker and the merchant, efficiency is the key-note of the times. Fatigue is the enemy of efficiency; and to detect and compensate for or overcome it, is the duty of those concerned with the promotion of human welfare.