678 PROCEEDINGS ,OF SECTION H. 
that in my opinion tfe skill of workmen is deteriorating, 
owing mainly to the craze for cheapness amongst employers , 
and also to the policy of the trades unions, whose sole 
aim seems to be higher wages, to attain which a restricted 
output, rather than enhanced skill, is fostered. Secondly, for 
house-users, a more practical training is absolutely essential, 
if the appliances I have suggested, and others that will 
rapidly follow, are to be a help instead of a hindrance. 
Every woman at the head of a household should know 
the why and the wherefore of all sanitary and mechanical 
appliances, how to use them, and keep them clean and in 
working order, and should be able on occasion to tighten 
up a nut, washer a tap, regulate a valve, drive a nail or a 
screw straight, or do at intervals the hundred and one little 
odd jobs that appliances of any kind entail; or otherwise, 
she will become, still more than at present, the prey of the 
predatory. plumber, and the last state of that household 
would be worse than the first. 
