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BOY LABOUR AND APPRENTICESHIP
* * * * *
SOME PRESS OPINIONS
Times.--"The problem already felt acutely in London and in large towns has
now appeared even in the country town and village, and to those who still
doubt its extent or seriousness we commend this most instructive work."
Morning Post.--"An important book on an important subject."
Daily News.--"Mr. Bray's book is as full of counsel as of instruction, and
it should be in the hands of every student of one of the most serious of
social problems."
* * * * *
BOY LABOUR AND APPRENTICESHIP
by
REGINALD A. BRAY L.C.C.
Author of "The Town Child"
Second Impression
London
Constable & Co. Ltd.
1912
PREFACE
We are beginning to realize clearly that all is not well with the youth of
this country. From all sides complaints of neglect, and the evils of
neglect, are thronging in. Boys as they leave school are casting off the
shackles of parental control, and, with no intervening period of youth,
are assuming the full independence of the adult. The old apprenticeship
system is falling into disuse, and methods of industrial training are at
once unsatisfactory and, for the majority, difficult to obtain. Boys in
increasing numbers are entering occupations where they learn nothing and
forget all they have previously learned, and in which they can see no
prospects of employment when manhood is reached. As a consequence, there
is a general drift into the army of unskilled labour, and later into the
ranks of the unemployed. All expert opinion is unanimous in voicing these
complaints. The Report of the Poor Law Commission, Majority and Minority
alike, with its volumes of special inquiries and evidence, is one long
testimony to the gravity of the evils which are the consequence of
neglected youth.
Further, we are coming to understand that the period of adolescence forms
a critical epoch in the development of the lad. "The forces of sin and
those of virtue never struggle so hotly for possession of the youthful
soul." [1] And the boy too often is left to fight out this struggle without
assistance, and even without advice. The conditions of modern life are
increasingly hard on youth. "Never has youth," says Mr. Stanley Hall, the
greatest living authority on adolescence, "been exposed to such dangers of
both perversion and arrest as in our land and day. Increasing urban life,
with its temptations, prematurities, sedentary occupations, and passive
stimuli, just when an active objective life is most needed; early
emancipation and a lessening sense for both duty and discipline; the haste
to know and do all befitting man's estate before its time; the mad rush
for sudden wealth, and the reckless fashions set by its gilded youth----"
all in increasing degree imperil the passage to manhood.
And, lastly, we are compelled to confess that an evil which is at once a
grave and a growing evil is one which demands immediate attention. It is
not a problem that can be laid on the shelf for that convenient season
which never arrives, when legislators have nothing else to think about.
There is urgent need for reform in the near future, unless we would see a
further degeneration of the youth of the country.
The object of this volume is altogether practical--to show what reforms
are necessary to prevent the growth of the evil by laying the foundation
of a new and true apprenticeship system. But to achieve this object it is
necessary first to explain how the problem was dealt with in days gone by,
when life was more stable and industrial conditions less complex; and,
secondly, to understand in detail the characteristic features of the
question as it presents itself to-day. Only with the experience of the
past and the present to guide us can we face the future with any hope of
controlling its destinies.
As "she" is mentioned nowhere else in the volume, it seems desirable to
say a word here about the girl. This book is, indeed, concerned with boys
alone, but, with a few changes in details, all that is written about
conditions, and all that is recommended in the way of reforms, is equally
applicable in her case also.
I have endeavoured, even at the risk of being termed unduly dogmatic, to
make my proposals for reform as definite as possible. I have done so in
the cause of clearness. But if I fail to carry my readers with me all the
way, I shall be well content if only I have succeeded in starting them on
a pilgrimage in quest of the new apprenticeship system.
REGINALD A. BRAY.
ADDINGTON SQUARE,
CAMBERWELL, S.E.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE v
CHAPTER I
THE ESSENTIALS OF APPRENTICESHIP 1
CHAPTER II
THE OLD APPRENTICESHIP 4
I. The Age of the Gilds 4
II. The Statute of Apprentices 11
III. The Industrial Revolution 20
CHAPTER III
THE AGE OF RECONSTRUCTION 26
CHAPTER IV
THE GUARDIANSHIP OF THE STATE 36
I. State Supervision 36
Sec. 1. State Regulation 37
(_a_) Prohibition of Employment 41
(_b_) Limitation of Hours 43
(_c_) Protection of Health 52
Sec. 2. State Enterprise 59
II. State Training 62
(_a_) The Elementary School 63
(_b_) The Continuation School 65
III. State Provision of an Opening 70
CHAPTER V
APPRENTICESHIP OF TO-DAY 75
I. The Contribution of the State 76
Sec. 1. State Regulation 76
Sec. 2. State Enterprise 83
Sec. 3. Summary 88
II. The Contribution of Philanthropy 89
III. The Contribution of the Home 92
Sec. 1. The Boy of School Age 96
Sec. 2. The Boy after School Days 100
IV. The Contribution of the Workshop 103
Sec. 1. London 104
(_a_) The Employment of School-Children 105
(_b_) The Entry to a Trade 113
(_c_) The Passage to Manhood 142
(_d_) Summary 149
Sec. 2. Other Towns 151
(_a_) The Employment of School-Children 151
(_b_) The Entry to a Trade 155
(_c_) The Passage to Manhood 160
Sec. 3. Rural Districts 161
V. The Break-up of Apprenticeship 165
CHAPTER VI
THE NEW APPRENTICESHIP 176
I. Supervision 191
(_a_) The Raising of the School Age 192
(_b_) The Prohibition of Child Labour 195
(_c_) The New Half-Time System 197
(_d_) The Parents' Point of View 202
II. Training 207
III. The Provision of an Opening 221
IV. General Conclusions 231
LIST OF AUTHORITIES 241
INDEX 245
BOY LABOUR AND APPRENTICESHIP
CHAPTER I
THE ESSENTIALS OF APPRENTICESHIP
Originally the term "apprenticeship" was employed to signify not merely
the practical training in the mysteries of a trade, but also that wider
training of character and intelligence on which depends the real
efficiency of the craftsman. Apprenticeship was regarded as a preparation
for life, and not only as a preparation for the workshop. It is in this
sense that the word is used throughout the present volume.
In a volume concerned with any branch of social reform, and consequently
likely to arouse differences of opinion, it is always desirable to start
on good terms with the reader. This can best be done by beginning with
assumptions the truth of which no one is likely to call in question. In
dealing with the problem of boy labour and apprenticeship, it is not
difficult to venture on certain statements which will receive the
unqualified approval of all.
An apprenticeship system worthy of the name must satisfy three conditions.
First, it must provide for the adequate supervision of boys until they
reach at least the age of eighteen. Before that age a lad is not fit to be
his own master, and should remain at least to some extent under the
control of elder persons. Such supervision must have respect both to his
conduct and to his physical development. Secondly, an apprenticeship
system must offer full opportunities of training, both general and
special--the training of the citizen and the training of the worker. And,
lastly, it must lead forward to some opening in the ranks of adult labour,
for which definite preparation has been made, and in which good character
may find reasonable prospects of permanent employment. Supervision,
training, the provision of a suitable opening--these must be regarded as
the three essentials of an apprenticeship system. How they may be assured
is, no doubt, a problem which invites controversy; that they ought to be
assured will be allowed by all.
Further, it is perhaps allowable to assume that an apprenticeship system
must not be regarded merely as a means of entering a skilled trade. We
must not think of it as an organization reserved for a comparatively small
section of the community: all must be brought within the sphere of its
influence. All boys alike need supervision; all boys alike require some
training; all boys alike should see before them, as manhood approaches,
the prospects of an opening in some form of occupation where diligence and
aptitude may receive its due reward. And all alike must one day play
their part in the complex life of the State. We want some to be skilled
workers; we want all to be intelligent and well-conducted citizens.
Apprenticeship, then, using the word in its widest sense, must be
universal. Here again, it is hoped, the reader may express his agreement.
In what follows an attempt is made to examine the old apprenticeship
system, to criticize apprenticeship as it exists to-day, and so to lead on
to proposals which will pave the way for the coming of the new and real
apprenticeship system of to-morrow. Throughout, the industrial
organization will be judged by bringing it to the test of the principles
just laid down. An apprenticeship system must be universal; it must make
proper provision for three essentials--supervision, training, opening.
Where these are wanting, in whole or in part, the youth of the nation
must, in a more or less degree, suffer irreparable loss.