BRITISH SOLDIERS TO LEARN TRADES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LII, Issue 9187, 6 September 1906, Page 6

BRITISH SOLDIERS TO LEARN TRADES.

CIVDL LIFE TRAINING. I Henceforth every soldier and sailor on completing bis service with a good chari actor slhall have an opportunity offered : him of obtaining some pos* in civil life. i That is tihe object of an elaborate scheme ' propounded and recommended to the Government by a special committee of enquiry. j Briefly, the idea of running through the , numerous recommendations is ~to qualify j the unskilled soldier for future employ- > ment and then to find it for him. j It is proposed that Government contri- ' buttons to aH existing societies shall cease., I end that instead there should be an ani nual grant of £16,000 (three-fourths from 1 Army funds, one-fourth from Navy funds) towards creating and maintaining with help of voluntary subscriptions a new national association, whose sole duty will - be the provision of employment for exsoldiers and sailors. • "A^T AMATEUR CIVILIAN." Mr Edgar Wallace, whose six years' serI vice as a soldier enabled him to speak with ! authority, gave evidence before the Oom- ' mittee. He said that ifoe, main difficulty 1 would be to make the soldier desire some j betterment in his condition, and he sug- ■ gesfced that an arrangement should be come ito with tihe technical institutes in the j various cities where soldiers a/re quartered whereby the men could receive tuition in various trades and crafts. I "If, in his spare time, the soldier can be 1 induced to rough out a plan of employ- ' ment in any given direction," said Mr j Wallace, "the way would be ever so much ■ smoother for him on his return to civil i life. The volunteer is a man who is employed in civil occupation in his ordinary 'time, and tafces up soldiering 'in nis spare ' tame., I suggest that the solution of our 'difficulty would be to take the soldier whose business is soldiering and induce him in his spare .'time to be sort of atna- | tear civilian." j To induce the men to learn trades he 1 Would grant certain privileges, such as wearing "mufti. This would be -a great inI ducement. The soldiers should pay one half and the State the other balf of the 4 cost of this training. ' SOURCES OF EMPLOYMENT. The following are some of tihe sources of employment recommended by the Committee for ex-tsoldiers and sailors of good character : — Various public departments, in which the Government is to direct that, they shall first claim'/, future vacancies for Customs prefcven&TOJmeh'j-haH the vacancies for outdoor Customs officers ; the ■ majority of fch'ej vitcaiiclet? "for dssistajjtclerks; all established m'essengensnipsi tile police force up to the age of tbirty-twi>, . ' previous service in Army'orNayy^reckion-. ing towards police' pension* .couhty and, j borough councils should be urged to trfe-, serve a certain number ©f appointments^ -E^^eiry"' soldier" '"should 'be jjequired, to Itfsksn; sqmejjdescriptton of tedhnical wjojk. ! during Jiis military career, certificates 'life- ! in*g' granted for proficiency in the various 1 subjects^ '.while for the ex-soldier classes snoxild be provided to teach him motorfdriying, shorthand and typewriting cordespondence, book-keeping, saddlery, telegraphy, etc. Adopting Mr Wallace's suggestion, the Committee recommend that ■ arrangements should be made witß the technical - institutes in the various cities' | and.>.jbowns where soldiers are quartered : .Jfar^tshe ... tuition of the men in various trades .and crafts. Arrangements, it is also, recommended, sihould be made to give ex-soldiers facilities for emigration, and ► for obtaining, . while serving, a short l course of training in work which is likely ' to be of use to them as emigrants.