OUR BOYS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2356, 12 January 1915, Page 7

OUR BOYS

TRADES NEED APPRENTICES

CHANCES WASTED

i it the last meeting of the executive fot the Wellington Provincial Industrial t /Association, Mr- L. T. Watkins expressed, dismay at th© number of young r. men : who, growing to manhood, must | ultimately swall the ranks of tho unj skilled ] workers and the unemployed ; through, their lack of a trade or business education. • It is, he said, welltoown by employers and by workmen itnat the clover tradesmen can always (secure a permanent position. Even in of slackness of trad© employers (roll find work somehow for their clevorest workmen. M. M r Wa . tkins continued: "Admitting the foregoing, and it must be admitted <as a standing fact, it is "remarkable Jtnat we nnd in a. young, robust, and gromng country such as New Zealand, roitnits. trade expanding gearly, the faot that practically no industry at the present time is educatWg the necessary percentage of boys Jo carry on the futuro work of such special industry or trade. This is a . matter so serious to the future prosperity,, of'our country that it calls for ■line immediate attention of our peoplo i and our politicians. More especially is ', this position to be deplored when in every trade-can be seen employers of juabour, successful business men, who 'only a few years 'since were workmen, (and who before the eyes of their felMows- have risen by their own endeavour >:to the position they at present hold. i A--Country, of opportunities. ''This country is. too young and the population too small for the big capitalist to bother seriously about its indus- ,''" es - • It is a country of opportunities jlor the small' man, a country where ; nearly twenty-eight per corit. of the j bread-winners are employers or inde\pendent workers (p. 131 Y. 8., 1913). 'Practically all our manufacturing businesses have risen from the working efforts of tho founder or founders, and in many instances these men are still ■•managing the concerns they own. The (.passing of the business from father to 'Bon has, ..to.nil intents and purposes; l ; ;pet-: to become history in New Zealand. ;iWith Buch examples of the possibilityof advancement in the. trades it is disconcerting to find the dislike and ob- " Section that, is manifest in respect to four boys learning trades—to note the idriftof our boys to the ranks of the i-unskilled. Not many years . since a. Common cry was 'What shall we do |with our ,boys?' . This is now altered' ~to the standing advertisement: 'Boys iWanted.' And believe me; boys are urgently wanted in tho .trades of New Zealand. You may only teach so many jboys to so many journeymen, as tho Industrial law allows.. The population Jis increasing, and will increase more in the future. Increased em''ployees will be wanted in the industries, and, unless there is an ample ■supply of workmen, the expansion of husmess and the 'output must be curtailed. If the output is curtailed the »ratid per cent, of profit will, be in[creased, and—up goes the price of the 'commodity. Limiting the output always jmust' result in taking money out of 'the employees' pockets, not out of the ''■pockets of the employers. A necessary to fair-prices is a satife factory and sure supply of clever labour. The Supply of Skilled Labour. '.!As employers, it Js necessary foi jyour present and *uture interests that strengthen your supply of skilled , 'labour,' andvthe v best..way. to do .this is ,tne oldest' -way—teach? tho'; youngster, jrnake him ,a. first-class workman. It is 'a profitable.,way, and he becomes an asset<,to your industry,,';lf,.you.do not. see to it that your apprentices become expert, you lose all along the line; Wou lose during the apprenticeship, the boys lose their natural keenness, their interest, and .their good intentions, and (the potential master tradesman develops onto a;drudge and an 'out-of-work.'. The foregoing xs the direct and apparent result. The employer realises Ithis. position, and be naturally wishes <to iiake his apprentices as expert and to his business as quickly as ' It cannot, therefore, be said 'that the employer is not prepared to ifulfil his end of the contract. "In all tho papers of the Dominion /i»4 the present time is the advertisement, 'Wanted boy 6 to learn the-trade' V—plain proof of employers' desire to strain future workmen. If employers i-annot train men, or cannot find- the ' men to train, a campaign of skilled 'labour importation will result. Having ■fairly'stated the need and tho necessity . for boys to specialiso in our manufactures,, it 16 now necessary that we cbn- , aider-the' reasons for,' or the cause of, •:the "indifference to i ho• opportunity and n'the appeal. . ''.""" What Figures Show. "It cannot be a matter concerning hours, or conditions, for no one „will. maintain that the unskilled workjmah is in a better position than the workman. That conditions and f'hours of labour have improved, and are (.likely to still continue to improve will, |l think, be readily admitted by all. A [vexed question is, and always will be, [jwages. Therefore, as a possibility }hat j'tbat is a. cause.of the difficulty, we ({must closely'analyse the wages bill of • the past and present timei As an individual statement or cpinion might be jimmediately' challenged l , it is necessary /that "on this point 1 confine myself to statements that cannot be questioned. \ln 1906' the industrial trades of New Zealand-(excluding Government employees) employed 58,359 employees; in £1911,' five years later, these trades employed' 56,234 employees, a' decrease — deorease, mark you, of 125. But, /further investigation proves the later /position as far as male labour is conteemed to be much worse than this. The J decrease noted oovors males and females. -The- males employed in indusItrial pursuits decreased by 2679 in the (five • years under review—a truly un[for|unate position for the industries of {this country! Even with .this decrease ;of 2679 males, the wages increased in tthe l period by the large amount of V3J ,114,651, which is proof positive of the rise in wages. /The foregoing figures /are the latest .available, and aro taken (from the Now Zealand Government's Year Book, 1913.' ' "The industrial figures from this s source (pp. 615-616) are worth further consideration. We find that while the. total number of employees has decreased 'by-'125,' the number of ■' establishments jhaa increased by 216; the horse-power lused has increased by practically 67 p*. 'cent.; and the manufacture or output 'hy over eight and a quarter millions r'sterling. Now this indicates: First, r-that factories have inoroasod, machinery has increased, factory 6*:itput has Increased, and wo have (while payirg Jiigher wages) a decided decrease in the Siumber of male workpeople. This position undoubtedly demands a greater [supply of competent journeymen or [skilled workpeople, and, as importation 'is not desired, every facility and help i-should be given to 'get them through tno apprenticeship avenue. j A Misleading Proportion. : "Continuing our analysis of skilled Industrial labour in the Dominion; let lis now give some consideration to the position of apprentices and journeymen. !At my desire the association's secretary, Mr. J-I. If-. Allen, has on behalf of this association made inquiries as to the proportion of apprentices to journeymen in the skilled trades at the present /time,' but no "satisfactory information Vis available, either from tho Government Statistician or the Labour Department. This is a return, I consider, jthiii association in conjunction with the ■Employers' Associations should ask thej

Government for. For, though the Arbitration. Court allowance of apprentices to journeymen, in, some trades is as one to three, this average would not work out covering the trado, and it is possible we should find if a count was taken that over the industry selected the apprentices only averaged cne to every twelve or twenty journeymen. While the argument is that apprentices are as one to three, and the fact is tbah they are, say, as ono to twelve, a gtavo injury is being done to such industry. "With the foregoing position and figures before us, he is a reckless man who denies the necessity for our. own youth to become interested in the possibilities .f our industries, who ,-lenies the possibility of good present &£■', future wages and conditions, and who denies tie possibility of adva'neomeut, and even ownership. Some Pertinent Questions. "What, then, is the reason for the indifference of our boys to associate themselves with our trades and industries ? Is it through indifference on the part of the parents, owing to the prosperous state of the country ? Is it the parents' desire that' their children should take up professional or mercantile occupations? Is it the false impression that has' been disseminated that the knowledge of a trade is of little use, and of less value? Is it the unobtrusive, but persistent discouragement offered here, as all the world over, by journeymen and to boys entering their particular domain? Or is it the machinery bogey ;tKat has so often been paraded before" parents—a bogey that is proved a shadow more conclusively with each year's history of our industries ? '. ■ "Personally, I am of opinion that it is the influence of. the foregoing reasons and causes,' combined with the present policy of employers to endure (as they cannot cure) this unsatisfactory condition. And I must add another effect that has come under my personal notice ill a number of instances, and this is in the oase of well-grown, husky lads who have been tempted to accept, or expected to accept, by their parents, the higher wages they have been offered— as labourers, navvies, workers in timber yards, carriers of bricks, etc.. truly unskilled workers. They nave thus accepted a wage that may be their maximum wage tor life, and that a short working life, against th© advantages, proferment, and increasing wages of a skilled trade.

"Now, - right here, as an employer looking to tho future of New Zealand's industries,'! protest against this wicked campaign of indifference, discouragement, and false impression that is so widespread and so much to the detriment of our boys and our country's industrial progress, for after all our boys are our greatest national asset. As a private citizen with a love for boys, I may be able to enter a more fervent protest in' behalf of the hoys themselves. It is a duty due to our manhood that we see to it that our boys have every chauce and opportunity to make the most of their lives. It is, in my opinion, a sacred parental duty to see to it that children are early ifnbued with the knowledge _ that they must select an avocation in life and make a success of it. The failure of the child in after years is too often the failure of the parent, and it is time this fact was understood in the community. It is the trained workman's duty to his country, his employer, to the boy, and should be to his union, to teaon the young idea, but the statement has been made that the men do not look with favour upon this argument. Let us hope that trades unions in the future will make-the' teaching of the young a plank of the organisation ! "" Interest Needed In, the Boys. "Every lad^is' ( better' , dff'with 1 the"com- : plete knowledge of a trade, ©very intelligent lad can be a master of craft, and every master of craft of .decent habits 'has at present; and always has had, a competency for life, and an insurance against. unemployment. Should the boy by his indifference, laziness, or bad habits, not make a success at his trade, he will naturally swell the ranks of the unskilled, and possibly the' unemployed. The parents must interest themselves in the boys' trade-schooling as they do in his education: yet'how seldom it is that employers find any marked interest taken by parents in this direction. "The statement may be made that employers do not take the interest they should in their apprentices. I do not think that this is so. A satisfactory apprentice is a profitable investment, and his advancement is all to the employer's interest, but when a boy proves unsatisfactory he cannot expect th© consideration he otherwise would receive. It is with some satisfaction that employers when considering this question can point to sound evidence of their interest and, honesty of purpose, and such evidence is to be seen in various directions, more particularly in the support given to, trade and technical schools. It is with pleasure that tho speaker remembers the donations of this association made to the Wellington Technical School. ' Question of Dignity. Now, in conclusion, a last consideration 1 Is skilled labour, _ through the prosperity of the Dominion, losing its dignity in the community? It is not well to disguise the fact that many New Zealand parents desire to 6ee their only boy in the staTched linen and imported tweeds they can afford to clothe them in, and this desire places the boy in either a professional or a mercantile position. There is just a 6 much intelligence and capability demanded of the trained and successful worker in our present-day industries as there is in a similar worker in many trades that have been graced by the name of professions. In my opinion, the skilled builder is full brother to the architect. It is time that these small social or community distinctions should either be lost in oblivion or correctly appreciated. "In preparing this paper, the thought repeatedly came to me that we will never have done our duty to our boy 6 until it becomes compulsory that everyone' should be scientifically trained for a'useful life; that such a training is undertaken appears to me to be equally as much a matter for Stat© interest as the education of our youth. The State has rightly said that every boy shall undergo military training, in some countries he must go into the military trade for four years, or more. . I believe that even tho present awful war were worth while if the declaration of peace'only stated that henceforth every male must compulsorily be scientifically trained in hi 6 youth for a commercial, professional, or 'industrial pursuit, W© would then have our manhood at its best so far as its personal effort was concerned, each intelligent man would be a labourer worthy of his hire, there would be a maximum output of production, and a minimum of human waste. Unemployment, and distress would he lessened, and I believe that overy man having a trained knowledge of some special work would make for the happiness, contentment, and prosperity of all mankind."