The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1920. APPRENTICES BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1920. APPRENTICES BILL.

In considering the terms of the Apprentices Bill a very responsible duty is imposed on members of Parliament. It is quite evident that whoever is responsible for drafting the measure was either ljacking in knowledge of what was fitting in this age of advanced democracy, or was deficient in that quality of sympathy and justice necessary for the task. The penal provisions applying to apprentices certainly justified the strong condemnation expressed by the Labor Party. These provisions were the legacy of the customs in vogue in the middle ages, when an apprentice was regarded as a chattel for the master's use for seven years—between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one. It was a period when the law was entirely on the\side of the few, and the many had to submit; there was little or no education as we know it to-day, while wages and the conditions of industry were just what the employers pleased. It was, in fact, a period of iron rule and serfdom. The world has altered much since then, and to-day the slogan is: "Equality of opportunity for all." At the same time it is quite as necessary now, as it was then, that there should be a proper measure of control over apprentices, but the proposal to hail these lads before two justices when any of the terms of their indentures are not j strictly observed, and to provide! for three days' solitary confine- i ment for a minor offence and three months' imprisonment for j ["running away," would be just the way to produce hardened criminals. The human equation enters largely into the relations between master and apprentice,] and there are cases in which it is | the apprentice who requires protection and the master is deserving of punishment. There must be justice for all. The Government could not fail to note that the penal clauses as drafted in the Bill were quite unjustifiable, as well as repugnant), to the spirit of the age, and they made a virtue of necessity by substituting the more fitting penalties of a reduction in wages (by way of fine) for a limited period, returning to the employers those who run away, cancellation of the indentures and deportation of the hopelessly refractory. Still, certain safeguards are necessary, and these should be provided. In the first place the word "magistrate" should be substituted for "two justices." There are some justices who may be trusted to deal with alleged offences by apprentices, but a magistrate is manifestly better fitted to do so. It is above all things imperative that lads brought from overseas should be assured of a square deal by an irreproachable and unbiassed tribunal. The power to inflict a reduction of wages by not more than one half for a maximum period of two months is a very proper provision in cases of flagrant breaches of duty, disobedience oi\ ill-behaviour, but a

power which should only bo exercised after a searching judicial enquiry by a magistrate, and not then if the employer or any of his family have goaded the apprentice into disaffection; and there should be an equal right on the apprentice's part to have the employer punished for harsh or unjust treatment. Under no circumstances should employers be allowed to benefit by the reduction in wages. Any money so deducted should be paid.into a special fund under the control of the Government, preferably the Public Trustee, to be utilised for defraying the cost of sending back those youths whose indentures have been cancelled, or for such other purposes as may be deemed advisable in connection with apprentices. Such a course would be a deterrent to any unjust employer, who might otherwise manufacture grievances in order to few shillings. It has to be remembered that penal laws are not made to govern the upright, but to control those lacking in moral rectitude. Presumably a fitting selection will be made of the youths who are to be sent out as apprentices, so that they should be properly safeguarded from exploitation. Under satisfactory conditions the general principle of this apprentice scheme should prove of great service to the Dominion, but Parliament should be particularly [careful to prevent injustice and to see that both employers and apprentices have every inducement to carry out the terms of the indentures loyally and in a liberal spirit. The Dominion badly needs the best working material that can be obtained, and if the apprentice experiment is to be a success it must prove attractive, or its existence will be of short duration. Par more depends on the line of conduct adopted by the employers than on an occasional lapse of an apprentice, and this factor should be fully recognised, and have an important bearing on the flow of adult immigrants to the Dominion.