The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-22
LABOR'S GROWING DANGER
The Waning of the Apprentice
System Fraught With Peril.
Supremacy of the American Me-
chnnic Threatened by the Influx
of Recruits From schools of Tech


That the future supremacy of the
American mechanic is seriously endan-
gered by the present methods of recruit
ing the ranks of skillful workmen is a
belief widely held among manufacturers,
and the subject is just now receiving a
good deal of attention. in a quiet way
from those who are looking to the rising
generation for a new force of trained
workmen. 1t has often been said by for
eign observers that the great develop
ment Of industrial activities in this cOun-
try has been due to the quality of the
workmen in our shops. Americans hold
to the same view. and many who have
studied the situation look with concern at
the change which has taken place in the
last twenty years in the training of young
men for the mechanical trades.
1.-The skilled American mechanic" said
local labor leader, ''is the product Of
the apprentice system. He has grown up
under system which gave an adequate
wage, free education, and direct instruc-
ton in the shops. This latter element,
especially, has been at the foundation of
our success: now that is largely lacking,
and there is nothing at present to fill its
place.
Schools of technology 1t appears. do
not meet the n, ed Students in them get
good deal of valuable knowledge. and
after those students have had some years
of practice. II ey will become mechanics
of the very highest grade. The trouble
is. however, that there is no provision for
making them skillful mechanics when the
shop wants them.
Theory they have learned. They must
do hai fpr nd ,-at hoy bg 70
not the practical experience that is called
for. Where is the mechanic going to get
his experience that ought to be united
with his instruction? That is apparently
the serious question.
In this country the influence of the
labor unions has been largely responsible
for this unpleasant condition of affairs.
With an effort to raise wages in every
trade there has been an idea that added
benefit was to be found in restricting the
supply of new workmen, and the appren-
tice system has suffered in consequence.
There are signs that even the labor peo-
pie are beginning to see the unwisdom of
this tendency.
THE real fact is" said man who has
made a study of the question, that We
are all concerned in the most serious way
in meeting the competition of other ma
tons with a race of workmen Of undi-
unfinished efficiency Much attention has
been paid, in the past two years. 10 the
short time in which our manufacturers
have filled contracts in competition with
foreign makers. 1t has been truthfully
said that that was due largely TO our
machinery and methods of designing. But
1t has been due quite as much to our me-
chanics. That machinery, while, of course,
1t dispenses with a certain number of
workmen, requires higher skill in these
who are retained. That skill comes fro an
experience. and nothing else will give it.
England is facing the same problem,
due to the labor unions, and there the
situation is even worse. as the control of
the unions Is more repressive and hamp-
ers the individual workman more severely
than is the case in this country. Just
how far this is responsible for the great
er time E~elish firms require for doing
the work which has recently been given
to so many American makers, cannot be
told. But 1t is the firm opinion of many
who have looked into the situation there
that the difficulty In finding new skilled
workmen is quite as serious as the en-
forced curtailment of the individual mans
output
But IL the question is important in ref
erence to our rivalry with England and
with Germany. 1t is likely to be highly
critical in that time, certainly not very
far in the future, when the Japanese and
Chinese, with abundant labor at low
wages. adopt our machines and come into
direct competition with us. Those races
VIII turn out very ShIilful mechanics II
we are to make progress. or even hold our
own. In that time, II is declared, it must
be because We have a race Of workmen
in which the skill due to experience is
always on the increase, certainly never
diminishing.
las our machinery becomes more ex-
tensive and complicated, we need in
creasingly workmen who have grown up
in the midst of 1t, men who know every
in and out of the practical side. In my
opinion, a return 20 the apprentice sys-
TEN is the remedy We should turn to.
And / should say that this is not merely
my individual opinion, but that of many
manufacturers in different lines"
Probably the first steps to remedy
present deficiencies must be taken by the
manufacturers. If the apprentice system
is to be introduced again, it would have
to include instruction in such branches
as boys usually study below the grade of
the high school. And II would probably
pay. Manufacturers look to seeing some
such move presently. and the labor In
terests may see the necessity Of it to
their own welfare"