t develops
that the new function may with economy be performed by the machine, the
process of simplification again begins, the whole design finally taking
on an indefinable elegance which appears only when each part is so made
as to be best adapted in composition, form, and strength to the work it
is to perform.

Achievements in the past teach us that a machine may be made to do
almost anything automatically if only the time, patience, skill, and
money be brought to bear. This is also true of a telephone system. The
primal question to decide is, what functions the system is to perform
within itself, automatically, and what is to be done manually or with
manual aid. Sometimes great complications are brought into the system in
an attempt to do something which may very easily and cheaply be done by
hand. Cases might be pointed out in which fortunes and life-works have
been wasted in perfecting machines for which there was no real economic
need. It is needless to cite cases where the reverse is true. The matter
of wisely choosing the functions of the system is of fundamental
importance. In choosing these the question of complication is only one
of many factors to be considered.

One of the strongest arguments against intricacy in telephone apparatus
is its greater initial cost, its greater cost of maintenance, and its
liability to get out of order. Greater complexity of apparatus usually
means greater first cost, but it does not necessarily mean greater cost
of up-keep or lessened reliability. A dollar watch is more simple than
an expensive one. The one, however, does its work passably and is thrown
away in a year or so; the other does its work marvelously well and may
last generations, being handed down from father to son. Merely reducing
the number of parts in a machine does not necessarily mean greater
reliability. Frequently the attempt to make one part do several diverse
things results in such a sacrifice in the simplicity of action of that
part as to cause undue strain, or wear, or unreliable action. Better
results may be attained by adding parts, so that each may have a
comparatively simple thing to do.

[Illustration: WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY TYPICAL CHARGING OUTFIT AT
DAWSON, GEORGIA]

The stage of development of an art is a factor in determining the degree
of complexity that may be allowed in the machinery of that art. A
linotype machine, if constructed by miracle several hundred years ago,
would have been of