Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 21 March 2013

“Technical Memories (Part 48) – Avenues of Improvement”

“At the close of day two the delegates visited Blarney Castle and Mahony’s Mills, having travelled there by train on the Muskerry line.  The Irish Technical Education Association Congress concluded its sessions yesterday [day three], when papers were read by Mr W Cox, Vice President, Incorporated British Institute of Certified Carpenters, dealing with “Apprenticeship Conditions and Avenues of Improvement”, and by Mr S A Williams, Principal, School of Retail Distribution, London (journalist, Cork Examiner, 14 June 1930).

On day three of the Irish Technical Education Association Congress, held in the Crawford Municipal Technical Institute, Mr W Cox read his paper on the nature of the apprenticeship system. The paper continued the theme that persisted through previous conference papers regarding the call for general and practical training in preparation for employment. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Mr Cox noted that for some reason or other there was “a reluctance on the part of the boys to become bound apprentices”. There was a similar reluctance on the part of employers to be concerned with them. In the latter case, he argued that it may be attributed to the absorption of many small businesses by larger firms and limited companies during previous years, “whose sole object was the increase of dividends”.

A possible reason, Cox described, for the falling off in the number of boys could have been that the “superior education afforded to the community, in recent years, stimulated the ambitions of a certain class of parents to see their sons in what is termed “the black-coated professions”. He went on to describe that there appeared to be large numbers of youths willing to go into banking, the civil service, accountancy, drawing offices and similar callings, due to the fact that positions in those posts had grown enormously since 1914. Moreover, he argued, the sub division of work due to mass production by the larger firms, was prone to give the impression to the average individual that a long apprenticeship and a thorough knowledge of a trade was unnecessary in order to earn a decent living.

Cox outlined that the woodwork industry, especially during the previous 15 years, had made very rapid progress. With a need for rapid production to meet demand, joinery and cabinet works were, in many cases, organised under what was a purely factory system. In many big towns nearly all the work was done by machinery, and all that the craftsman was required to do was to assemble the parts and clean off the finished article. But someone Cox argued must be responsible for the accurate setting out the work; he must have a thorough knowledge of construction to do this; “There must also be foremen, whose duty it is to see that the work is generally corrected performed, and who is responsible for getting out the work in time, and to see that the estimated cost is not exceeded. He must see that the proper material is selected and used, and in a thousand and one ways apply his knowledge and experience for the correct performance of the work. General managers are needed to superintend these. Such men are not likely to be chosen from those who have picked up only a part knowledge of the craft…The man who served his time and gained experience as a properly bound apprentice is the only one likely to be promoted to the coveted superior positions in the professions and the consequent increase of salaries, so much desired by all”.

“Apprenticeship is not dead”, Mr Cox, noted. He outlined that it only requires organising and updating. In this regard, he made a number of suggestions. For example, the boy who is intended for the building profession should be instructed in a technical school. At the age of fifteen, he should be bound to a firm of repute. For the first three years of his apprenticeship, he should receive technical instruction at a technical school for one day per week. The remainder of his time, he should be required to attend evening classes dealing with the more advanced section of his work. By the time he is twenty years of age, and out of his time, he should have obtained a good knowledge of geometry, the act of measuring geometrical qualities, chemistry, drawing, mechanics, physics and building science.

During the post discussion on the paper, Mr McMillan (Dublin) advocated the payment of apprentices at the rate of 12s to 17s per week during their first year, but noted that nine-tenths of the industries in which boys were apprenticed were unable to pay that rate. McMillan called for employers to allow them one day in each week to enable to attend technical classes. In addition he proposed that provided that a boy attended 75 per cent of the time during the session, his fees should be refunded to him, and if he passed a successful examination his wages for the 12 months should be increased by a shilling a week. However according to McMillan:“the boy must learn everything connected with the trade to which he was apprenticed, even by starting sweeping the floor if he was eventually to be a general manager”.

To be continued…

Wanted: looking to talk to people about their memories who attended the “Crawford Tech”, c.1930-c.1970, contact Kieran, 087 655 33 89

Caption:

683a. Train on Western Road, Cork Muskerry Light Railway, c.1910 (picture: Cork Museum)