Welsh Journals

Armistice the Government was faced with the gigantic problem of resettling in civil life its fighting forces. A large number of these men were so disabled that they could not possibly re- turn to their pre-war occupations. They had therefore to be refitted for some other vocation which would enable them to earn for themselves and dependants a livelihood. In order to absorb these men into industry all the principal trades of the country were approached in order to as- certain how many men they could absorb, and what training would be required for these men in order to equip them to take their place in the various industries. National committees consisting equally of employers and employees, were set up for all the main industries. The function of these Committees was to draw up a syllabus of training and arrange with the trade the terms on which these men could be placed into industry. Local Technical Advisory Committees similarly com- posed of employers and employees for the various trades were set up. The functions of the Local Committees were to select suitable applicants for training for the trade, to decide the number to be admitted in accordance with the need of the locality, to see that the men were given the best possible instruction, and to look after the interests of these men when they had finished their insti- tutional training and were placed out afterwards with employers. The community at large is under a great debt of obligation to these men who gave of their time and advice freely to pay off in a practical way the debt of honour, which everyone at one time admitted but some soon forgot was due to our fighting forces. The scheme as originally contemplated provided that men should be trained in two periods. The first period was to be spent at a Government institution. The second period was to be spent in an employer's workshop. In order to provide institutional training, the Government set up factories throughout the country in which the different trades were taught. Three things were aimed at in these factories :-(i) That the men should be given the best possible instruction in the trade, that all the most modern machinery should be available for their instruction, that they should have the best instructors available and that the spirit of craftsmanship should be inculcated in the men; (ii) that they should be trained under conditions resembling as closely as possible ordinary industrial conditions; (iii) that they should be subjected to disciplinary training and that industry should be rewarded and delinquencies punished. In inaugurating a scheme of this dimension with no previous experience to go by it was in- evitable that many and varied difficulties should have been encountered. The need was so imperative that all kinds of training facilities had to be improvised until the factories could be set going properly. In spite of the difficulty in se- curing suitable accommodation, competent staffs and an adequate supply of equipment, the scheme steadily progressed and the factories steadily developed. It was soon apparent that a man trained under these conditions gave extraordinarily good results and that in the average case he compared favourably with an apprentice who had been in the trade much longer. Nothing militated so much against the success of the scheme as the failure to secure improverships so that the training of the men was not interrupted. Owing to the period of trade depression and the consequent unemployment, the greatest difficulty was being experienced in securing these im- proverships. Some of the men, after they had left the institutions were out a considerable time before a vacancy could be found for them, and others had their training interrupted at frequent intervals owing to the fact that employers were not able to retain them for the whole period of their improverships. It was a most encouraging fact, and one that bore great testimony to the nature of the instruction given at the factories that a man, though frequently interrupted, was able to carry on again in the trade as soon as an opportunity presented itself. When consideration is given to the difficulties that were encountered in setting up the scheme, the age and disabilities of the men who were being trained, and the difficulties that these men experienced in securing continuous training on account of the great unemployment which existed at the time, it is very gratifying to note the high percentage of men following the trades which they set out to learn and who to- day are earning a living for themselves and their dependants. Having given such good results under adverse conditions the scheme requires closer examination as to the possibility of its supplying the future artisans of this country. In America and Germany great attention is being given to the scientific training of the artisan, and if we are to maintain our position as a commercial nation it is imperative that we should maintain our predominance in those departments on which our prosperity ultimately rests. Our future artisan will have to be trained on the most up-to-date lines under the best instructors, and we will have to learn sooner or later that it is unecon- omic to waste five years of a man's life in allow- ing him to pick up in the best way he can what he could be taught in three years. One of the most disquieting factors of the time is the atmos- phere of doubt and suspicion which exists between employer and employee. This is probably at the bottom of most of the industrial unrest of to-day, and until this atmosphere is removed and a better spirit introduced there is little hope of the country settling down. The industrial training scheme undoubtedly tends to create a new atmosphere between employer and employee. The representatives of the trade