The Dominion. SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1920. TRADE TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 257, 24 July 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1920. TRADE TRAINING

In this country, with its growing industries which might easily be made to grow much faster, the question of trade apprenticeship is of capital importance and i well deserves the consideration it is now promised by the Labour Bills Committee of the House of Kcprcscntatives. It is perhaps a promising sign of the times that the Bill upon which the Committee inquiry will immediately hinge was introduced by a Labour member (Me. F. N, Bartram). Hitherto organised Labour has interested itself _ i/i the apprenticeship question chiefly _or largely with a view to guarding against the over-employment of boy but-all sections of thc_ community of course' are vitally interested in remedying conditions fairly summed up by Mr. Bartram when he said that skilled artisans were very much wanted to-day, but the boys were drifting into the ranks of unskilled labour. No fully- comprehensive statistics of apprenticeship are available, but a Labour Department return recently compiled goes to show that the decline in' apprenticeship is most marked in some of the industries in which ■ the' supply of tradesmen is most obviously short of demands. Carpentry and joinery and plumbing are conspicuous examples in noint, A census of the principal employers concerned went to show that in both trades the number of apprentices in 1919 showed a serious declino from the. number employed in. 1914. A coincident increase in the number of apprentices to cycle and motor engineering and to bootmaking,' though satisfactory in itself, does not compensate for the decline of apprenticeship in vital industries like building. The Departmental return as far as it goes suggests that the total number of apprentices was somewhat greater in 1919 than in 1914, but there is certainly scope for a considerable increase in the present volume •of apprenticeship with benefit alike to the Dominion. and to boys who are now preferring unskilled occupations. The_ neglect of skilled trades by the rising generation is due to a variety of causes which ought to be fully investigated. One, no doubt, is the overpayment of unskilled as compared with skilled labour, but those occupations in which tho disproportion is most evident—waterside employment, for instance—can hardly bo regarded as offering inducements to •boys who otherwise might bo apprenticed to skilled trades. So far as ordinary industry is concerned, the Arbitration Court" has recognised that workers in skilled trades are entitled to extra payment. In its recent Gisborne pronouncement it fixed the following basic wages (subject to bonus additions) 'Skilled I 'workers, 2s, per hour; semiskilled, Is. Bd. to Is. lOd.; unskilledj Is. 7d. These rates are not, of course, applied universally, tout where payment in an unskilled occupation is abnormally high ifc is marked as a rule by features which limit its popularity. . In any case poor foresight is shown by parents who allow their, sons to drift info the ranks of unskilled labour. Here and elsewhere the increased use of machinery is bound as lime goes on to lower the demand for unskilled labour and increase the demand for skilled tradesmen and mechanics.

Investigation may very possibly show that the root causes of the decline in trade apprenticeship are imperfect education and the growth of a heedless spirit in the . rising generation. It is fairly obvious that many boys turn into blind alley occupations in shops and offices not because they or their parents see better' prospects in such occupations than in skilled trades, but rather for the reason that the future is left to take care of itself. Light work aind somewhat better payment at the outset are allowed to overshadow very much more important considerations. Part of the remedy, no doubt, is to be found in making apprenticeship to skilled trades more attractive and nothing that can; be accomplished in this direction ought to be neglccted. It may bo doubted,' wither any remedy will be found in reducing the term of apprenticeship, as Mil. Bahtham proposes in his Bill, to ,a period of three years. Reasonably. deliberate practice and training are essential to the production of a really competent tradesman, and iu most trades the limitation of the apprenticeship term to three years woilld result in seriously lowering the standards of craftsman-

ship, which arc already lower in this country than they ought to he. The considerations which justify a reasonably long apprenticeship are somewhat similar to those which warrant an extension of the age of compulsory education. Trade training, like education, ought to be sound and thorough. Even when the age of compulsory education is extended to sixteen years, it will still be open to a boy to become a fully qualified tradesman in very early manhood. The high payment of apprentices is another of Mr, Bartram's proposals, but there does not seem to be much ground for complaint on this score. In some trades apprentices are already paid £3 per week in their final year as an .award minimum. , No* doubt there is a great deal to be done in improving the detail conditions of apprenticeship, by eliminating mere drudgery and in other The question of affording apprentices the best possible facilities for training is one that might very well engage the attention'of employers and workers acting in friendly co-opera-tion on joint committees or councils. Every encouragement ought also to be given apprentices to attend technical schools. Conceded an hour a day of working time for this purpose and adding an hour or more of their own time apprentices would he enabled without undue effort to supplement u'sefully their practical workshop training. The inquiry and deliberation of the Labour Bill's Committee ought to cast useful light on the whole problem of apprenticeship. It is alreadv fairly clear, however, that the solution is to be found largely in bringing sound influence to bear on boys hefore they leave school, and in lifting skilled craftsmanship to the Dlace ifc formerly enjoyed in general estimation and ought to enjoy today. .