The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-04-24
UNIONS ANp rRADE EDUCATION.
Latest Venture Of Printers Organization.
700 Students in a Year.

During the past two or three years tbs
American public has been treated TO
much comment and suggestion on the
matter Of trade education. In the indus.
trial centers there are local societies &C.
lively promoting this object, while the
National Society for the Promotion Of
Industrial Education is designed to ad.
vance the Interests Of the new idea in
a national way.
Meantime Americas oldest and most
progressive labor organization-the In
ternational typographical union--has
formulated and launched a system Of
technical education that furnishes dis
play, job, and all other compositors an
opportunity 20 acquire a knowledge Of
the principles underlying good typo
rraphv, which cannot be taught in
printing.oilices. Owing to the diversified
needs OF its nearly $4,000 members, in
GLIDING printers ia small country towns
and those N the largest metropolitan
Offices, the union was compelled to adopt
the correspondence system, but the in
struetion Is impaired along the lines Of
the best and most modern educational
methods.
The art schools have been levied on
for the benefit OF the working printer
The principles Of design and color har-
mony are taught scientifically, the stud
ents applying them to practical work
ldone IN type or BY pencil sketches) IN.
der the personal supervision Of competent
instructors. Heretofore education In ty-
Biography has been BY the empirical
method. but the l. T. T. course aims at
showing, the how and why" Of good
Typography In a scientific manner. The
student first masters the underlying
principles and then solves the trade
problems submitted to him In the light
81 that knowledge. The keynote Of the
instruction Is found in Ruskin's aphor-
ism, Unity and simplicity are the
sources Of beaHty"
The course IS sold for goo, which does
not cover the cost Of outfit, tuition,
postage, etc. As a purely commercial
venture, ii would cost 1t least 500, but
the international union III order 70 stim.
ulate and encourage the study Of their
art BY printers. defrays all advertising
and other promotional expenses out Of
It's funds. and IN addition gives 4 rebate
or prize Of S. to each student who fn-
ishes the lessons with ordinary diligence
and intelligence. Many local unions sup
plement this by offering additional prizes
10 their members and apprentices work
ing In union Offices 1t is estimated that
the total union expenditure on account
Of the educational scheme Il about S.,
Of the educational scheme is between S.
600 and $4,000 year.
The |. T. Y. commission on supplement
tai trade education, which has this work
in charge, promulgated it's first adver-
tisement asking for students last March,
and in year has secured an enrolment
Of more than seven hundred. These
include expert printers as old az SIXTY,
and youths OF seventeen and eighteen.
The experienced eompositors say they
find much in the course that Is valuable,
the first graduate being one Of the high
est salaried men working at the trade.
There have been schools Of typography
IN continental Europe and Great Britain
for many years, the idea being given its
great stimulus in the latter country BY
the many-sided William Morris, who did
SO much to improve the appearance 81
the printed page, but British employing
printers who have examined thesI T u,
course methods Of instruction, as we'll
as the secretary Of the British Typo
graphical union tfor many years a dt-
rector Of Manchester's famous Municipal
Technical sehooI), agree that in teaching
principles the international Topographic
cal union has STARVED a revolution In
trade education. These comments have
had their effect on across-sease crafts
men. While foreign students pay con-
siderably more than Americans and ca
nadians, there are several British, Aus
tralan and South African printers TAX
ing the course. One mail recently brought
an application from Canada's most north
erly province and another from Bloem-
fontein. South Africa.
The course is open to those working
ak the printing trade, and the officers and
interested members Of the Typographical
union are sure that il Is but a beginning
of what is to become prominent feature
Of union work. Already the question
HAS been advanced Of making the study
Of the course a prerequisite for an APP
prentice's admission TO membership III
the union. The laws will not be changed
hastily. but there Is no doubt that-now
an opportunity to learn Is open to them
the union will in the near future pay
more attention to the technical qualified
tions u youthful applicants for admis-
sion