Thames Star TUESDAY, SEPT. 29, 1936. THE APPRENTICE PROBLEM.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 19824, 29 September 1936, Page 2

Thames Star

TUESDAY, SEPT. 29, 1936. THE APPRENTICE PROBLEM.

"With malic* towards none; with charity for all; with firmntla in the right, as God give* ua to •*• the right."—Lincoln.

Owing to the fact that in recent years tradesmen were forced to go on to the relief schemes and no apprentices were taken on because there was not sufficient work in the. factories, there is now a lack of skilled workmen. In the old days employers were anxious to engage suitable boys and saw that they were taught their trade in a thorough manner, so that when the time came for them to take the position by the retirement of the older men the efficiency of the factory would not be impaired. In addition to teaching the boys their trade, the factory executives took a personal interest in the apprentices' welfare. Tine training of the youngest apprentice largely depended on the attitude of his employer, or the foreman under whom he worked. He might be kept doing one or two jobs most of the time, or he might under a good employer be given a good grasp of his trade. One point in I favour of the apprentice always was I that if he was capable he could be put to do work which would naturally be done by a skilled worker, at ; lcss cost. Th> led to the employment of a large number of apprentices who were dismissed when they came of age and were replaced by more apprentices. We believe that system always existed and that the term journeyman is a proof of the fact. A journeyman is a young man who has served his time, but is not entitled to be described as a master workman. We are told that in the good old times the young worker when out of his time travelled seeking wider experience before considering himself fully qualified. This is one side of the position; the other is that, having completed his apprenticeship, he was dismissed and was therefore forced to leave home and seek employment elsewhere.

In this country the small scale of most businesses and the prevalence of the handy man who could turn to any kind of work gave us a supply of men less well trained to do any special work but very useful in our conditions. During the building boom after the war many handy men were employed on buildings. Whatever their skill they were enrolled in the unions and had to receive union wages. They were the first to suffer from unemployment. The use of machinery has made manual skill of less importance than formerly, though really competent workers are just as valuable and necessaiy as ever. The unions have restricted the number of apprentices and skilled workers are scarce. We have doubts as to the efficiency of'the training given to many apprentices, especially by some of the smaller firms. It is time to revise 1 our ideas on the subject of apprenticeship. The technical schools can be made use of to give youths some more general ideas of their trade and a certain amount of skill, but no employer or skilled worker will admit that technical schools can take the place of work in a shop. Many of our Ministers have some knowledge of the appi'enticeship problem. It should be possible under their leadership for employers and representatives of the skilled workers to hammer out between them some system of apprenticeship which will meet present day needs and provide a supply of skilled workers for the future.