se in such professions unless his
capabilities have been tested and approved by public authority. Thus no
man is allowed to practise law or medicine in any of their branches who
has not undergone the appropriate training by attendance at a university
or by apprenticeship--sometimes by both combined--and passed certain
examinations. Entrance to the church is guarded by similar checks. In
such instances the old principle--now generally abandoned in trade--of
granting a monopoly to those possessing a certain standard of
qualification is maintained in greater vigour than ever.

In some kinds of manufacture the old conditions have been modified by
the subdivisions of labour or by the introduction of machinery, which
have reduced the amount of skill which formerly was requisite, and thus
they have passed out of the category of the higher skilled handicrafts,
as only a very slight or short training is necessary to make an
efficient worker; but a large number of the higher skilled trades remain
which require a long period of training at the bench, and a careful
inquiry into this subject has shown that in nearly all of such trades
there is a scarcity of skilled workers, which is due to the falling off
in the number of apprenticeships. Many persons qualified to form an
opinion deplore that something in the nature of the old standard of
qualification is not still applied to those trades, and consider that
the only method of restoring a high standard of skill is by
apprenticeship. The decay of apprenticeship in these trades is due, not
to any inherent defect in the system, nor to its having been superseded
by any other form of technical education, but to difficulties,
especially in London and some other large towns, which place it beyond
the reach of that class of persons who have the greatest need of it.
Among these difficulties are:--first, insufficient organization, and
secondly, want of funds to pay premiums where such are required. These
difficulties are accentuated in London and some other large towns, but
in many other districts apprenticeship is actively proceeded with.
Efforts are being made, notably by the National Institution of
Apprenticeship, to meet these difficulties. The Charity Commissioners in
their report for 1905 recognized the value of this institution, and
stated that they would in future enable the trustees of charity
endowments for apprenticeship to avail themselves of the practical
co-operation of the insti