The Daily News. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1921. SPECIALISED TRAINING.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 March 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1921. SPECIALISED TRAINING.

During the wax period—and since—much stress was laid on the need for efficiency, which is rightly considered to be the dominant factor in success. Obviously specialised training is the only reliable means whereby efficiency can be attained, and, this fact has been recognised in Britain for many centuries, though times have altered. The State has taken upon itself many functions more or less connected with the encouragement of craftmanship, trades’ unions have become the dominant factor in industrial activities, and the evolution of democracy has resulted in the doctrine that every man is as good—or as bad —-as his neighbor, while “preference to unionists” has opened up a royal road for the unskilled and" inefficient to obtain a . minimum wage equal to that received by the trained man in countries where the demand is greater than the supply. In what are often alluded to as “the good old days,” trades were controlled in London by the guilds associated therewith, one of the fixed rules being a long ans rigid apprenticeship before entrance could be obtained to the guild, with the right to carry on business, or, in other words, before he was a freeman. The main objects of this control were to cheek the growth of evils, to prevent adulteration, to fticourage the development of craftmen and good citizenship; but, above all, to secure a succession of efficient tradesmen. Times have materially altered slhee then, in some ways for the better, in others for the worse, but, owing to the lusty growth of competition, there is far greater need for efficiency to-day than there was in the middle ages. It would seem that if the trade unions of the present day were constituted and operated on the right lines, they would he able to exercise a considerable influence' on the trades they control. This, however, presupposes that those who direct th B policy of these unions are primarily concerned with developing craftsmanship in order that the members may become thoroughly efficient and *Xj>editi«US, io thiY would entitled to

higher pay, because of their expertness. Unfortunately such worthy principles are utterly foreign to the controlling authorities of - the unions, for reasons that are only too obvious. The main object of union leaders' is dominance—the possession of the power to coerce, by direct action or other means and. to do this it is imperative that they have the backing of as large a number of members as can possibly be obtained, hence the preference to unionists clause in arbitration awards, also the “dead level”' principle which places a premium on inefficiency instead of efficiency. It /matters not to these leaders that the public suffer, that the expert craftsmen are not given a square deal. All they ian care for is the numerical strength of their fighting, battalions so that their word must be law. Already the efficient workers resent this state of affairs, and in some cases refuse to work alongside incompetents. In the Dominion, the State has developed a system of technical and manual instruction, but that is merely an aid to craftsmanship, and can in nowise be regarded as a substitute ior apprenticeship. The need for'specialised training is so urgent that the State ought to take a hand in recasting the whole system of trades’ unionism with the object of making it fit in with the needs of the time. This would involve drastic alterations, but would certainly do much to the industrial problem on sane lines, and, what is of chief importance, give a much needed stimulus to efficiency.