THE TRvMNlNG OF FITTEK-APPKKNTICES. 4I3 



lion of the various mechanical operations. Thej- should then be so far 

 advanced in physical, mtellectual and technical development that the 

 before-mentioned circumstances will no longer exert a harmful influence 

 on their further training. A further extension uf this system would be 

 the installation oi training shops for titters in all main workshops. The 

 possibility of training carpenters in the main workshops should also be 

 considered. 



'■ The draft* appended is submitted to the Royal Railway Commission 

 for detailed examination of the various points, and for suggestions as 

 to any practical modifications. Information is to be sent in, for the 

 purpose of preparing the installation of the training shops, regarding the 

 probable cost of erecting buildings, the purchase of school equipment, 

 and the purchase of machine and other tools as far as these cannot be 

 supplied from stock. Special directions are to be drawn up for instructors 

 and for apprentices ; also, a syllabus of the training and a draft of the 

 articles of apprenticeship, taking into account paragraphs 105 to 133 of 

 the Industries Act (Imperial Law of July 17, 1878).° These are to be 

 forwarded within six weeks, together with a report on the method by 

 which the preliminary expenses will be covered and the expected increase 

 in current expenses involved by the scheme. As the calculation of 

 wages, material, etc., cannot be specially drawn up, since it is necessarily 

 based on the workshop accounts or upon the work turned out from the 

 training shops,® the schedule of future expenditure will be concerned 

 mainly with the expenses of instruction. 



" (Sgd.) Maybach, 



Minister^ 



" Ministry of Commerce, Industries and Public Works, 

 Berlin. 



December 21st, 1878." 



The " decree " is given at length as of interest in indicating- 

 the difficulties to be overcome on the question of apprenticeship 

 in the workshops of the State railways and in those of private 

 railways under State control. In many ways it was a question 

 of creating soinething entirely new, of abandoning the old method 

 of haphazard training in the course of [daily] work and of 

 individual training by masters [employers], by devising a regular 

 plan of training in special training shops. The method is said to 

 have stood the test of many years of practice, has been much 

 copied, and is still used as a model to-day — ^but much perfected 

 owing to the extension of the apprenticeship system.' This 

 decree represents a most important piece of social work [legis- 

 lation], a fact which the [German] public do not recognise suffi- 

 « ciently clearly. In 1879 training shops were opened at Limburg 

 and at the big Fulda Works, and, in 1887, at Halle. In 1903 a 

 development took place of great importance to the apprenticeship 

 question in the form of a new " decree " regulating apprentice- 

 ship afresh. Practically all the principles laid down in 1878 

 were retained, details being altered to suit changed conditions. 

 These regulations^ deal with the following points : — 



Acceptance of Apprentices. — Number; physical htness ; edu- 

 cation ; age ; other conditions of acceptance. Registration of 

 candidates and order of calling-up ; time of starting; articles of 

 apprenticeship ; affiliation to Sickness and Pensions Benefit ;. 

 estimate of pay ; savings. 



