The Vexed Question of Apprenticeship.

Progress, Volume II, Issue 7, 1 May 1907, Page 267

The Vexed Question of Apprenticeship.

Mr. W. Nicholson, the senior vice-president of the National Federation of Builders, speaking at the annual dinner of the Yorkshire Branch of the Federation, advocated the oldfashioned seven years' apprenticeship for lads entering the building trades. If every master, he said, would take a reasonable

number of apprentices and bind, control, and take care of them, they could put upon the labour market in due course a regular supply of well-trained and competent tradesmen. That, no doubt is true. But unfortunately, employers of the present day are not willing, speaking generally, to give that care and attention to the training of apprentices which Mr. Nicholson desiderates. It is the failure of employers to realise their responsibilities to their apprentices, quite as much as the unwillingness of the lads to be bound for a long period, which has led to the breakdown of the system. It is doubtful whether it can now be extensively revived. The trade school and the polytechnic will, probably, become more and more the training grounds of the skilled craftsman of the future.

In our issue of April the name of the firm represented by Messrs. C. A. Hamlin & Co. should have read " The Miracle Piessed Stone Co." m place of " The Miracle Compressed Stone Co." Messrs. Hamlin & Co write informing us that the method of making the Miracle blocks is by tampmg, not by compressing.

Mr T Paisons mentioned at a recent meeting 01 thp N Z Farmc. s Dairy Union, at Woodville, that Mr Lowe, representative of Messrs. Weddel md Co (London), has recently visited Eketahuna and inspected the local factory He said that this factory is the best he has ever seen, and he has visited Africa, the Argentine, and other parts. The plans of this factory which were prepared by Mr. L G. West, of Palmerston North, were on view at the exhibition and there met with a good deal of favourable comment.