ABOUT APPRENTICES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1180, 15 July 1911, Page 12

ABOUT APPRENTICES.

HOW EMPLOYERS AKE HARASSED. L "Tho time is ripe for this question boiiii! grappled with," stales the annual report of the Employers' Association. The provisions of the present laws and awards relating to apprentices are, it is understood, in such an unsatisfactory state that employers are less inclined than ever to take upon themselves (he heavy responsibilities they arc required to assume when accepting tho services of an apprentice. The result is that throughout the Dominion the number of young people being trained by employers ns mechanics or tradesmen is in 110 way connnensuratc with tiie natural increase in the demand for trained artisans .and tradesmen.

. Recent decisions of tbo Courts practically make employers liable to pay wages for "time lost by apprentices through sickness, and thus open the door fcr malingering on the part of young people. This statement is made advisedly, as some employers have proof that lads have made the excuse of sickness when desirous of having a day away from work. Then there is an unfortunate tendency on the part of youths to imagine that once their employer is bound to keep them as apprentices, they are free to carry on as they please, and to devote themselves to their work or not according to their inclination. The extent of the impertinence and disobedience shown by so;ne apprentices owing to this belief would surpriso tho general public.

The fixing of a minimum wage is to some extent responsible for the want of enthusiasm in and devotion to work noticeable in.a large number 01" apprentices, as tlicy are under the impression that they have only to serve at the trade for the usual term of five or six years to entitle them to full journeymen's wages. The alterations ill tlio law and awards which the report slates are must urgently needed are:— 1. The right of the employer to deduct wages for all time lost by an appreutieo through do fault or sickness. (Vide last year's amendment of Factories Act.) 2. A more definite statement of the responsibilities and duties of the apprentice to the employer, and a consequential right io the employer to dismiss the apprentice if lie fails to faithfully carry out his duties. 3. Power to be given to the Courts to cancel apprenticeship if, through unforeseen circumstance?, an employer finds himself unable to continue teaching the apprentice, or fails io find another employer who is willing to lake the apprentice.

A good deal ot' amusement has been caused in North Wales by an incident at Uannvst, where the entire assets ot tlie Urban District Council, including the fire engine, hose, watering cars, and oilier property, were seized by the sheriff's oliicers to' satisfy a claim for i:2l!0(l (axed cos-Is incurred through the loss of an action brought by a local landowner for an injunction restraining the council from discharging crude sewage into the Uivcr Conway in such a way "as to cause a nuisance." The council has applied to the ljocal Government Hoard for power to raise a loan to enable them to discharge their liability, and this will involve a rate of fls. in addition to the cost of the new works rendered necessary by the injunction. A public inquiry is to be held 011 the subject.

Dated IW2 the original marriage agreemenl between Beatrice, Queen of Hungary, and the King of Poland, has juat been sold in Loudon for j;23 10s.