H.—ll.

There were eighteen prosecutions during the year for various breaches of the Act and the orders made thereunder, convictions being entered in sixteen of the cases, and penalties amounting to £24 16s. Bd. being imposed. With three exceptions the prosecutions were against employers. The following table gives the approximate number of apprentices in the trades to which the Act applies. This information is based mainly on contracts of apprenticeship as registered with the Department. Return showing Number op Apprentices employed in Skilled Trades, April, 1938. (The figures for the previous year are shown in parentheses.) Number of Number of Number of Trade. Apprentices Trade. Apprentices Trade. Apprentices employed. employed. employed. Baking .. .. 243 (213) Electrical .. 577 (381) Photo-engraving 33 (9) Boatbuilding . . 35 (22) Electroplating .. 4 (2) Plumbing .. 418 (299) Boilermaking .. 31 (26) Engineering .. 1,006 (581) Plastering .. 102 (62) Bootmaking .. 253 (202) Motor engineering 1,188 (668) Printing .. 690 (556) Boot-repairing .. 30 (28) Furniture .. 674 (478) Saddlery .. 47 (33) Blacksmithing .. 17 (17) Gardening .. 7 (13) Sail and tent .. 4 (2) Bricklaying .. 33 (22) Hairdressing .. 126 (96) Signwriting .. 3 (1) Carpentering ..1,028 (604) Jewellery .. 47 (25) Tailoring .. 26 (19) Clothing . . .. 215 (158) Leadlight .. 19 (13) Tinsmithing .. 193 (120) Coachbuilding .. 433 (285) Masonry .. 12 (14) Wicker-working.. 18 (11) Coopering. . .. 6 (5) Moulding .. 93 (73) Curriers .. .. 1 (1) Painting .. 271 (168) Totals ..7,916 (5,231) Cycle-working .. 25 (24) The following table shows the number of apprentices employed in each year since 1928 : — A il Number of . „ Number of ' Apprentices. p ' Apprentices. 1928 .. .. .. .. 10,227 1934 .. .. .. .. 4,303 1929 .. .. .. .. 9,943 1935 .. .. .. .. 3,329 1930 .. .. .. .. 9,826 1936 .. .. .. .. 3,552 1931 .. .. .. .. 8,901 1937 .. .. .. .. 5,231 1932 .. .. .. .. 6,910 1938 .. .. .. .. 7,916 1933 .. .. .. .. 5,594 As mentioned in last year's report, the Department's records indicate that in normal times there are approximately 10,000 registered apprentices employed, which, viewed in another way, means that normally 2,000 fully trained apprentices enter the ranks of the skilled tradesmen every year. The estimated number of apprentices that may be employed without exceeding the proportion allowed under the various orders of the Court is 14,370. A reluctance on the part of employers to take on apprentices was evident from 1931 onwards, and it is of considerable interest, therefore, to note that in 1937-38 there were 3,235 contracts registered, as compared with 2,328 in 1936-37, while the number of apprentices employed increased from 5,231 to 7,916. Attention was also drawn to the provisions of section 7 of the Statutes Amendment Act, 1936, under which the Minister of Labour is empowered to approve of special contracts of apprenticeship in the case of youths of eighteen years of age and over. Five hundred and twelve contracts have been registered in terms of this legislation. From the above it is apparent that there is still scope for greater employment of apprentices, particularly in the building industry, as will be seen from the following table, which shows the number of apprentices employed in various branches of that industry during each of the past five years as compared with the number employed in 1928 : —

Apprentices employed in Various Branches of the Building Industry.

Attention may be drawn here to the fact that the subject of apprenticeship, also technical and vocational education, is set down for discussion at the twenty-fourth session of the International Labour Conference, vide page 13.

2—H. 11.

9

1928. 1934. 1935. 1936. 1937. 1938. Bricklayers .. .. .. .. 127 15 8 5 22 33 Carpenters .. .. .. ..1,757 565 321 348 604 1,028 Painters .. .. .. 481 152 97 105 168 271 Plasterers .. .. .. .. 227 68 40 38 62 102 Plumbers .. .. .. .. 741 300 239 213 299 418