APPRENTICESHIP.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 March 1920, Page 4

APPRENTICESHIP.

The scarcity of skilled labor, and the high rates of wages ruling for artificers, it would be thought, would have tended to attract lads to enter upon apprenticeships so as to take up an assured position in the future industrial life of the country. There seems, however, to bo a disinclination to be '"bound" to any particular vocation, the reason doubtless being that unskilled labor is also at a premium, so that a youth who has no ambition to rise in life finds lie pan earn good money without any training, and without having to wait for full pay until he has mastered the details of a craft. Naturally, if this state of affairs continues when the effects produced by the influx of a large body of unskilled immigrants are felt, those who are now neglecting the opportunity of receiving training will find that their prospects are by no means rosy, while the skilled men, by reason of their small numbers, will be able to command almost any pay they please to name. A table has recently been prepared by the Secretary of Labor, showing the number of apprentices in the service of the principal employers of the Dominion in April of each of the past six years, the details being as follows: 1014 4070 1015 4127 MM 4011 11)17 4103 1018 407fi 1910 4.512 The most striking decline is, strange to say, in the carpentery and joinery trades, the reason probably being the largely increased prices of tools—at all times a heavy outlay for a full kit. There has also been a decline in the number of apprentices employed in plumbing and tinsmithing, so that the two important branches relating to the building industry must necessarily suffer in the future. On the other hand, cycle and motor engineering is becoming popular, the number of apprentices having increased from 186 in 1014, to 488 in 1010. The preference for this new industry is quite intelligible in view of,the general use that is being made of motor traction. With the advantage of instruction at. technical schools, apprenticeship should be attractive to all youths who desire to rise in life, but the fact is that no proper provision is made by most employers for having apprentices systematically taught, and in many cases they have to pick up I

what knowledge they can by observation, being meanwhile made to fetch and carry fur the journeymen. Plumbers are compelled to, pass an examination before obtaining a license, and even though this regulation is in force there is a lamentable deficiency of thoroughly satisfactory ] work, it is probable that it will be • found necessary to institute examinations for all trades, and then apprentice- < ship will be a sine qua noil. With the high cost of skilled labor there should be some guarantee that the public will " get expert work, and not an unreliable substitute. The matter- is one that may well occupy the attention of the legislature, and it may even come to it being obligatory on every youth either to learn 1 a trade or study for a profession