The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-08-15
ward an alleged apprentice.


Take, for instance, what is an eX-
IRENE, but by no means an isolated
case: A youth in a newspaper office
whose apprenticeship consists of
working on the bank. He has a good
eye, can read a line quickly and cor
rectly, and is put at the job of cor
recting galleys. In a short time he
becomes as proficient as any Journey
man, and ne is kept in that position
solely because his highly specialized
service reduces the cost of production
q fraction of a cent a column. If he
is ambitious and seeks to do a little
composition in the ad alley, the chan
ces are ten to one that he will be told
TO mind his buSiness-at the correct
ms bank. OF course, the boys best
business is to learn his trade, but that
is secondary to the business that in
evorably demands low production
costs at the expense of the mental
and manual efficiency of the worker,
of human happiness and even human
life.
At the end of four or five years an
other boy is brought into the compos-
ing room, because, forsooth, the
knight of the bank has become
journeyman Another boy should
mean a slight reduction in cost, and
the newcomer is exploited in the same
way as his predecessor. But the re-
duction does not appear in the sheet
of total costs. investigation seems to
show that it is eaten up by the waste
cu' ways of the incompetent Journey
man who has recently graduated: or,
if he has been discharged for iEcom-
petency, some similarly educated boy
from another office. Then the union
is assaulted fer dereliCtion in its duty
toward employers. This snlacks OF
opera bOuffe.
Effect on Boy and Man.
Let us look at the effect or the boy
l. Il, 1l, - f,o,rN
tant as the cost of production. If the
office retains him, he is soon made
painfully conscious of his defects, and
in their train come all sorts OF dis
couragements that led To periods Oh
depr ession which break down his spir-
it and leave the youth enveloped In
the dark 81 pom of utter hopelessness.
1t IS convenient for our employer
friends to regard such considerations
as being mawkish, but those who are
students of the development of char
aoter and manhood will not dismiss
these features as negligible.
If, as is the custom with many
conscientious employers, young man
is discharged on becoming journey
man, his plight is worse. When ne
finds that he is not much of an artl-
san. Frequently this knowledge comes
like shock. AT one time many sub
ordinate unions had a custom under
which such a young man could so
under instructions" for a certain pc
riod for less than the scale. The
custom has fallen into disuse largely
owing to the fact that the "instruc-
ton period too often became merely
a period of modified exploitation, and
of doubtful value to the men. Re-
vertng to the case of the average
young journeyman, he finds he is be-
low par-that probably ne has no real
right to CALI himself printer. Some
would tell him to get out of the bus
mess, which is smart and conclusive
so far as the advice is concerned, but
it does not suit the case. The youth
is at an age where it is not easy to
become an apprentice at another
trade; and, if he did, would the out
come be much of an improvement?
In nine cases out of ten the young
man looks at it in very human way,
and reasons: II am labeled Il printer
having spent four years qualifying for
the title. thanks tos4ny ignorance and
my employers greed, I am not able to
act the part very well. But I am
going to make good even if I steal
the trade which / shall be, compel
led to do. Perhaps that isn't quite
fair, but what else can 1 do? I pos
sess a goodly share of printing office
knowledge; indeed, it is the only
knowledge I own that has CONNER
gcial value. will add to that know1-