The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-09-29
Two Great Conventions will Discuss How to Tesch the Young Citizen to Use His Hands--without Better In- dustrial Edacntion Deterioration of American skil is Feared-There Are Always Jobs for the Highly Trained, There Are Many inefficient Applicants for Every Job.

New York, Sept. 2S.--Within the next two months two big gatherings of bus mess men, educators, labor leaders and general citizens are to be held to dis cuss what is fast coming to be con sidered one of the most pressing needs of the United States, comprehensive system of industrial education.
 The first of these is the annual convention of the Citizens Industrial Association of America which meets at Battle Creek. Michigan, on October [ and 8, and the second Is the session of the National Society for the Pro- motion of Industrial Education in New York City in November. The purpose of the second of these organizations is indicated by its name. and it's meet ings will be given up entirely to ad- dresses and discussions treating the subject of industrial training from various points of view.
 The convention of the Citizens In dustrial Association is unquestionably the largest and most representative gathering of the year dealing solely with subjects related to labor. It is made up of employers and employees, members of trade associations and of labor unions, together with a good sized representation of other citizens who come within none of these cate- gories. It treats all questions which come before it from the viewpoint of the party which usually suffers most and Is most completely ignored in disputes between employers and em- ployed, the general public. While other subjects. such as the growth of the open shop and the incorporation of trades unions. will be considered at It's convention, the question of indus trial education will receive a large share of the deliberations. Addresses will be made by pr. s. c. Dickey, head of the Winona Technical Institute M w. Alexander, of the General Elec- tric Company, vice president of the Society for the Promotion of Indus trial Education; Arthur Dean, super visor of the Department of Industrial Education of the Y. M. c. A., and by several large employers of skilled la- bor.
 Aside from these two large gather ings dealing specifically with this sub 3ect, the topic Is actively discussed wherever the managers of large in- dustries or students of industrial con ditions come together. Under the leadership of its President, James W. Van Cleave, the National Association of Manufacturers has lately taken up the subject with the slogan. Send the Whole Boy to School" impressing the need of educating the hands as well as the brain. In many places where the skilled trades are represented by thousands of workmen in large es- establishments the owners of these in- dustries are cooperating with their employees and with local educators to solve their special problems, either by the establishment of trade schools or by introducing some features of indus trial training into the public school system. Such efforts. however. are sporadic and necessarily local in their influence.
 One cause for a movement so wide spread and manifesting itself inde- pendently in so many quarters Is easy to discover. It is to be found in an : salarming decrease in the efficiency of labor. h falling off that, contrary to precedent. has accompanied a rise of wages. From every part of the coun- try comes the complaint that 1t is im- possible to secure an adequate supply of high class labor and that, among the skilled operatives employed. the adaptability which was once the pride of the American mechanic. enabling a man to turn readily from the use of one kind of machinery to another, has disappeared SO that a scarcity in one line of employment cannot be met by recruiting from other lines
 Tn, the opinion of many business men and investigators this condition consti- tutes the most serious menace 60 the commercial supremacy of America. Hitherto the greater output and superior inventive power and adapta- bility of American artisans have been assumed as ma.eers of course and have balanced the advantages enjoyed by the manufacturers of other nations in competition in the markets of the