ARBITRATION COURT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11842, 20 December 1901, Page 3

ARBITRATION COURT.

THE APPRENTICE QUESTION.

THE COURT FAVOURS INDENTURING The " Arbitration Court sat -again at the Supremo' Court yesterday to hear evidence in the dispute in the building trade. During the course of the day" the president (Mr. Justice Cooper) made a very important announcement in connection with the apprenticeship question, which always causes; a good deal of discussion in disputes before the Court. It was" true, remarked Ilis Honor, that the custom of legally indenturing apprentices was falling into disuse in America and Canada, and to a certain extent in Germany,' but it was still adhered to in Great Britain". The reason it was not general in America was because of the splendidlyequipped technical schools there. These institutions were replete with th 6 most up-to-date machinery, and it was possible to there teach a youth, his trade better and in a shorter time than by apprenticing him to a master.. There ; were, , however, no such schools in this colony, neither did he think the Government could ,be expected to establish them at the present: juncture. It' was in the best interest of the boys, the masters, and also, the workmen, that the boys should be properly taught their trades in order that the market' should not be. flooded with incompetent labour., The question had frequently cropped up during the hearing of disputes,- and the Court was impressed with its importance, and with the necessity for approaching it from a point of view which, while it would not deal unfairly with the employers, would ensure the proper instruction of the boys. If the obligation of the master to teach were a mere moral one, and if the obligation of the boy to stay, were a mere moral one, His Honor could not sco how it could result in anything but turning out incompetent workmen. '. . Mr. T. H. White said he did not think the sawmillers would consent to indenture apprentices. Personally, he could prove from his boys that those who had not been apprenticed had turned out the best bovs. His Honor .said he could quite understand there were some excellent employers, but the Court hat. to (consider the matter from the point of ; view that all employers had not the same desire to bring their boys up as Mr. White had done his boys. In making the remarks he had, lie wished it to bo understood that he was not ; saying anything of a personal nature, so far as the Auckland employers were concerned. The Court was dealing with - the matter as a principle. There v. - as 'no - doubt that whilo some masters earnestly desired to do their duty towards their boys others had no,other interest' in: their -boys' than to get cheap labour. His ' remarks had the endorsement of his fellow members of the Court, and were intended to be, a public utterance on the question.' The Court was of opinion that owing to the fact that the colony had nothing like properly-equipped technical schools, the Court should, in skilled trades, make such provision as would ensure that the boys learned their trade.

Mr. White, in opening the case for the sawmillers, said: We have been cited here very much, against our will by the Master Builders' Association, another body of employers, It seems to me they wish to put us on the same footing as themselves, both as to hours and wages. We take exception to this, as we claim to be manufacturers, not builders. We do all our work in our own factories, and do not send men outside to compete with builders. A considerable portion of the- goods which wo manufacture is sent outside the. district, and in many cases, I regret to state, comes in competition with goods that are. manufactured in America. We are in a position to prove that the happiest relationship has always existed between our employees and ourselves. Our men worn 47 hours per week, and are paid for 4-B—that is, if their wages : are , fixed at 8s per day, they are paid 43s for the six days of 47 hours. The hours, we,work' are : from half-past seven to noon and from one to 1 five during "he first five days of the week, and, from half-past seven to noon on Saturday. If they work overtime they arc paid at . the rate of time and a-quarter. Another advantage men have working in a factory is, that the work is light, all the heavy hard work is done by machinery. It is also clean, and there is nothing like the same wear and tear on a. man or on his tools. There is another thing, they do not require anything- like the quantity of tools, nor does it cost them anything like the amount to keep their tools up. i. might say that the manufacture of jomary has not been as profitable as some of our friends think. There are some joinery companies in existence now that have never paid a dividend . yet. With regard to the increased rate of pay, the inevitable advance in the price , would assuredly affect the trade done in locally-manufactured joinery. Al ready the South Sea Island trade, whien was carefully fostered by the Auckland woodware manufacturers, has practically passed into the hands of American competitors who, as a result of working longer hours, have succeeded in supplanting the New Zealand product. Already joinery of American manufacture "comes into competition with us in the South Island of New Zealand, and any further increase in our cost of production must of necessity reflect on the employees themselves as woll as on the. com munity at large. Builders are in no way affected by foreign competition, gold if wagjs were doubled it would be no hardship to them, so long as all builders competing with them for contracts were under the same obligation to pay the same rate of wages. It will be obvious from these remarks that thy position of the faotorv-owners is totally different from . that of the builders, who have little or no machinery, and carry very little stock. The factories in no way enter into competition with the builders in outside work, as although they would make a gate for a oustomer, under no consideration woull they-send a man outside to hang it, and if it was absolutely necessary to get any outside work » done they would get a • builder for the purpose and nay him the ruling x ate with additional profit on the wages of bis men.

Several witnesses were called in support of th& sawmillers' case, after which Messrs. White and Clark addressed the Court on behalf of the masters, and Mr. Arthur Rosser replied on behalf of the union. His Honor , said the award would be delivered at half-past two on January 6. The dispute in the ironmoulders' trade will bo heard this morning at half-past ten. The bakers' dispute. has been fixed for hearing at half-past ten on January 6, 1902.