Hamilton handed him the paper and sat back, waiting.  Several minutes passed, while the manager went over the questions item by item.

“Yes,” he said at last, “I think our books can answer every question there without difficulty.  We keep very complete books.  I am not so sure, Mr. Noble,” he continued, “that I can give you those figures immediately in just exactly that form.”

“In what points do your books differ?” asked Hamilton quietly.

“Not in any essentials, but in a few minor points,” the manager replied.  “For example, you want to know here the exact number of employees on our pay roll on December 15th.  Now I could have the pay roll department—­we keep it as an entirely separate department here—­turn up instantly the payments for the week in which that date occurs, but in order to separate that one day from the week, reference will have to be made to the Employment Bureau to find out what workers left, and how many were added, and the day of the week on which each of these left or began work in that week, and to add or to deduct such sums from the weekly pay roll.”

“That difficulty has come up several times,” said Hamilton, “because not many people pay their employees by the day.  But in nine cases out of ten, an average for that week is usually struck, figuring in some cases by the days and in others by the hours.  I suppose you noticed that the schedule itself states that what is sought is ’a normal day’?”

“I saw that,” was the reply, “but it seems to me that when possible it is better to have all the details carried out to the full.  However, even that is not the most serious difficulty of these questions.”

“No,” said Hamilton, “that one hasn’t given much trouble.  The hitch usually comes just at the point you’re looking at now—­the cost of materials.”

“That’s just exactly it.  Our non-productive departments consume a great deal of material, mill-supplies and fuels, but if we include those with all the rest of it, our figures will not show a right proportion.”

“What do you mean by your non-productive departments?” asked the boy.  “That seems rather a curious phrase.”

“Those in which the work done is not directly a part of the making of guns or ammunition.  For example, we have a large force of draughtsmen working on new models of rifles and mechanisms and on machinery to enable us to make the new types.  We make all the machinery that we use, right here in the plant.  We make our own tools, too, so that there is a great deal of designing.”

“Those are not non-productive,” commented Hamilton.

“We call them so,” was the reply.

“I don’t think the Census Bureau considers them as such,” said Hamilton, feeling rather proud of this opportunity to explain some of the workings of the Bureau; “it seems to me more satisfactory to consider that these works not only manufacture guns, rifles, and ammunition, but also machinery and tools.”