CORRESPONDENCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 9042, 12 July 1917, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

TO TUii EuiLCit "GUAIIUIAN."

Sir, —Allow me to return to the above question. Mr Moore is carefulchat you should not make any mistake as to the time required, under the proposals of the .instructors, and corrects, your impression tjiat the " conference asked for more than one day." A fairer consideration would be whatproportion of the working time of the | worker is to be stolen under the new regulations. As 44. or 45 hours coverthe "..working week in factories and workshops, and eigut hours are to be taken, Mr Moore's arithmetic is faulty—4s divided by 6 equals 7£. So you were right and Mr Moore wrong. Further, eight hours equal 480 minutes, and as this 480 minutes has to bo found in five, working days, it follows that 96 minutes per day is deduct<>d from the ordinary eight-hour day. s AYe cannot expect the tired children to attend classes on Saturday,

even if the instructors were willing to teach them.

J would also ask 'any employer to consider .whether he , could count ou his "young workers leaving and returning to their work without adding another JO minutes per day to .the 90 required, making the even 100. it is geueraUy conceded that the worker is worthy of his hire, .and it ought to be conceded that the employer is not the less entitled to the time-ho pays his worker for. Now, what advantage is the ..employer to receive from the proposed' loss of time on his. workers' part 't The employer, it appears, is to .get the benefit of Ui&-' increased efficiency of his workers,, atter the course of training at the Tech. It's all so beautifully simple- 1 Mr Ford has a fow girls working for him whose- mothers want tliem to get the advantage of the- Tech., their pay going on; and after two years, say, of training, the employer, of course, teaching them all he can, one girl finds she can better herself by taking; a position in Air Free's office, where her newly-acquired skill in typewriting and shorthand commands better wages'. No doubt Mr Ford will consider himself highly advantaged by the increased efficiency of his quondam worker. Again, few young lads of the working class start their working career in the industry they" wish to ' follow in later life. Message boys, factory ■ work, etc., etc., • are- the

starting-off points for many young lads (they wouldn't thank you to call them children), and in a few year& they btx'ome 'prentice carpenters, engineers^ railway employees, or iind a. ■ place in the ' Post or Telegraph serIvice; the employer again being left to j wonder where the. increased efficiency comes in. The fact is, that in ji b,usy workshop , ,or factory the young workers- would , leave.' their.- work" for. well, on to twa ' liQiirs.. ejich day (the pay" runnings on). >'• ' Work *gqe's on in sections, each being dependent on the other; some sections have- no young workers, others may , nave quite a number, and there is a general upset of the work, which the employer cannot possibly remedy; and he has the consolation of knowing that as the- years go on he has to provide. grist for the Tech. mill, and the- ia- \ creased? efficiency goes in better workers (it may bo) tor someone else> but not for himself. Mr .Moore's "ad misericordiam J> appeal on behalf of tho poor, tired. - .children of 1G and 18 years, who'Kay© to work lo hours- per weekj-, vergesl.due :;, bathos. Poor things ! They cannot ' become " captains of industry" unless they have, 90 minutes off their day, and" are paid to go to the Tech.

Fancy the " lot who nave been broken und are fallen by the v. ay "trying to ' uolain that desirable end ! The boy who uants to get on heed not worry about 45 hours a week. The men. in JNew Zealand who have made good in> business had the grit to put up with, a. littlo I'xLni work, and glad to have i,ho chance; and to call an hour or 90 minutes a heavy task after a boy has done eight hours' day work is simply nonsense. There are 20 boys ruined physically by excessive cigarette smoking and regular attendance at picture shows, breathing a vitiated atmosphere, and wasting *their energies in questionable company, for every one who has <% fallen by the way " trying to improve liis position by "attending technical, or continuation classes.

The • reference- to education' being looked upon sis a " chanty " is very • far-fetched; and education, as it is, is certainly on » much iiigher platform than if wo start robbing Peter to pay ' ' Paul, and toaoli parents and 'children \ that if they can get someone else, to- > pay" for (.horn, it does not matter who ' pays so long as they don't. Mr Moore refers ito Scotland. It is woll known that thousands of young working lads in Scotland have fought their way, paying for themselves, j right through the Universities, and I have iillod high positions all over the ' world. "What young Scotsmen could do any tinio during the last 100 years young New Zealanders can do now —

without molly-coddling and pocket—picking.

ROE;t. v