APPRENTICE'S TROUBLES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20244, 2 May 1929, Page 17

APPRENTICE'S TROUBLES

HIS CHRISTIAN. BELIEFS.

PERSECUTION ALLEGED.

A MATTER OF TEMPERAMENT. Alleging that he had been persecuted because of his Christian beliefs, an apprentice appealed to the Arbitration Court yesterday against his dismissal by his employers. The appellant was Alfred Stanley Martin, a carpentry apprentice, 19 years of age, and the respondents liis former employers, Adams and Hine, builders, Dominion Road.

Charles Percy Hine, a principal of the respondent firm, said in evidence that the appellant, while apprenticed to the firm, had frequently absented himself from work, had repeatedly made stupid mists,kes, and was incapable of efficiently walking along and working on scaffoldings. He was generally so inefficient that no one desired to work with him, and when he absented himself for an extra week over a Christmas holiday period he had been discharged. He appeared not to be up to the average, and " had a good conceit of himself.*' Chronicle ol 111-health. When the appellant went into the witness box, he opened a sheaf of notes, from which he read rapidly for a considerable time a remarkably -, detailed statement of the circumstances of his apprenticeship with the respondent firm. As a Christian, he said, he had been subjected to persecution by his workmates, and had not been given a fair opportunity to learn his trade, being much employed in labouring work.

All his absences had been due to illnesses, which he described in detail. He had taken tho extra Christmas week off because he knew his employer was working slack time, and had little employment for him.

" Because I am a Christian I am down," declared witness. " I was the only Christian there, and it is difficult to get on with people who are not Christians. I did not have too good an opinion of myself, but too good an opinion of Christianity to .throw it in." Witness on one occasion had had to advise the police of a particular piece of alleged persecution.

Witness said he was now working for a builder at 2s 5d an hour, or £5 6s 6d a week, yet he desired to go back to a small wage and finish learning the trade properly. Temperamental Difierences.

His Honor, after a brief retirement of the Court, said the appellant certainly appeared to be above the average in intellect, and was honest and willing, but he was handicapped in practice by temperament and nervousness. There were people who were inclined to be priggish about their religion, and perhaps appellant should not have made his difference from the other men so apparent. That caused friction with workmates, who never objected to a man holding different opinions from themselves, so long as ho did not assume an air of superiority. In this case, there appeared to be faults of temperament on both sides. The appeal would be adjourned for three months, during which time an endeavour would be made to have the appellant placed with an employer more suited to him in temperament.

" In spite of its reputation, the building trade has such employers," smilingly remarked Mr. R. G. Norton, secretary of the Builders' Association, who appeared in opposition to the appeal.