794 PROCEEDIXGS OF SECTION J. 



in America, and subsequently in Germany, undermined the supremacy^ 

 of Britain, and drove the British manufacturers to adopt similar 

 methods. 



This movement culminated at the end of the nineteenth century 

 in a fierce stmggle between the federated employers and the powerful, 

 trades union of the " Amalgamated Society of Engineers." That 

 great strike, which was a final protest on the part of skill against the 

 machine, resulted in victory for the machine. Since then, in the 

 British engineering trades, the use of highly specialised tools tO' 

 replace skilled handicraft has made rapid headway, and it*is safe to 

 say that the highest wages paid in Britain to-day are earned by men 

 w'ho operate machines. Thus it has come about that the great engi- 

 neering works are filled -with, special tools, and offer to an apprentice 

 little opportunity of acquiring skill, or of using it when acquired. 

 Some philanthropic and public-spirited employers on the north-east 

 coast of England have recently made a vigorous endeavour to restore 

 the apprenticeship system to its ancient position, but it is doubtful; 

 whether it can be galvanised back into life in the engineering trade 

 any more than it can in the boot or watch making trades. The skilled 

 turner who could in former times turn up a journal to satisfy any 

 engine-maker, would at the present day cut a sorry figure in com- 

 petition with a machinist who grinds a shaft to a degree of accuracy 

 unattainable by the use of the old-fashioned turning tools. The fitter 

 who prided himself on his skill in making a key-seat would not earn 

 a boy^s wages in competition with a " key-seating machine." Of 

 course, there are a few trades which survive in such a form that they 

 require and still retain the apprenticeship system in its highest form. 

 Such are the ironraoulding, the bricklaying, the ship-riveting trades, 

 and several of the wood-working trades ; but even in these the position 

 is being undermined by the introduction of machinery to do that 

 which at one time could be done only by highly skilled men. 



In a State such as Queensland, which is remote from the great 

 manufacturing countries, there is less need for the teaching of special 

 trades and processes than in those countries, the market for specialised 

 skill being very limited when compared with that offered to the youth 

 of the great manufacturing nations of the world; but, on the other 

 hand, the deniand for resourceful men is here relatively greater, and 

 a system of technical education, in order to be suitable to our wants, 

 must impart general skill and general knowledge. Unfortunately, in, 

 the matter of technical education, as in primary education, the exist- 

 ence I'of well-developed text-books and apparatus suitable to the 

 requirements of older countries, renders it difficidt to widely depart 

 from the methods which have in other countries achieved success, 

 although the conditions be so widely different as to make those , 

 methods quite unsuitable to our reqtiirements. Hence our teaching of 

 technical subjects is apt to be more suited to the requirements of 

 Europe than to our own, and probably at the present time we are 

 tiu'uing out from our technical colleges numbers of young men who 

 are doomed to a life of disappointment, owing to their having followed 

 courses particularly suited to the requirements of industries which 

 are developed elsewhere, but which scarcely exist in these States. 



