338 AMERICAN SHIPYARD APPRENTICESHIPS, 



of technical schools, but for yards situated near such institutions the problem is not 

 difficult. 



This matter of apprentice training and education is one of great human interest and, if 

 properly accepted by the shipbuilding companies, it is certain to strengthen the morale, reduce 

 the turn-over and benefit both employers and employees. It should not be looked upon as 

 social work but as a business proposition. Many large organizations now see that business 

 with service is most desirable; here will be found a field for both. 



In the preparation of this paper I wish to acknowledge valuable information and sugges- 

 tions from Messrs. H. A. Magoun, C. P. Wetherbee, Harry Brown, J. F. Metten, W. W. 

 Smith, A. A. Howitz, G. Guy Via, C. P. Turner, and from the General Electric publica- 

 tion, "Life in a Large Manufacturing Plant." 



DISCUSSION. 



The Chairman : — ^Mr. Bailey's paper, entitled "American Shipyard Apprenticeships, 

 Evening Schools and Scholarships," is now before you for discussion. 



Mr. Ernest H. Peabody, Member: — I think I express the unanimous feeling of this 

 Society when I say that any paper presented by Mr. Bailey must not only receive the con- 

 sideration and approval of the members of the Society but will also prove a valuable contri- 

 bution to our Transactions. But I think that in this paper he has given us a very unusual 

 essay and a much needed impetus to stop a moment and think about a subject which 

 is at the very foundation of our lives. Most men are too busy chasing the ten-dollar bill 

 (we used to go after the dollar but that is not enough now) to give any thought to the funda- 

 mental basis of education of the young men who must follow us in our work when our job 

 in life is finished. 



If we are going to leave the world any better off than when we found it, we have got to 

 see that the young men who follow us have opportunities to learn their jobs so that they can 

 carry on the work better than we have carried it on ourselves. And I do not think this is 

 altogether an altruistic matter either. Every employer must take yotmg men, inexperienced 

 men, into his business, and invariably for a good many years he pays these men more money 

 than they are worth. 



Now it seems to me that it is likely to be a money-saving proposition if the education of 

 the young man is begun in a systematic way and is properly directed. I am a great believer 

 in technical education, and I see not only no objection, but every advantage, in coupling 

 technical training with practical work in the shop. 



I feel, however, that there is one very important matter which should not be overlooked. 

 I do not intend to discuss the curriculum offered by Mr. Bailey. I am not a trained educator 

 and I am not a shipbuilder. I have just stopped a moment in the whirl of life to think about 

 this subject, and I find it of very great interest. But there is just one thought I would 

 like to bring out and that is, as I see it, teaching is a "fine art." It has to be studied, and 

 if the teacher is going to achieve results with the young men he has under him he must not 

 think that he can merely stop a moment in his everyday work — in his work, for example, of 

 directing pattern-makers in the shop — to say a few haphazard words to the student. It will 



