BOOKS OF THE DAY

Choosing a Trade (C. Delisle Bums) ..

Early Russian Liberals (G. A. Birkett)

Youth in British Industry (R. F. Scott) .. ..

Managed Money (Prof. Lionel Robbins) ..

The Making of American Civilisation (D. W. Brogan).. PAGE 387 388 388 389 389 Catalan Art (Anthony Blunt) ..

Ordeal in England (W. V. Emanuel) .. Letters from Iceland (Goronwy Rees) ..

Invitation to the Ballet ..

Fiction (Forrest Reid) . .

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CHOOSING A TRADE

By C. DELISLE BURNS

WE are passing slowly from the rule-of-thumb, learnt from our ancestors, to exact and objective knowledge of how to act. We do not now leave iron to the village black.smith. In industry, at any rate, it is now generally accepted that the treatment of materials need not be based upon mediaeval custom. But as for the men and women who do the work or seek work in in- dustry, we treat them generally as our forefathers did ; and they, in general, do not seem to object. At certain times, however, the results of traditional custom obstruct the working of the modern machine. We educate by the methods of the middle ages, and we find that the modern world does not run very well. Riding a horse, in fact, does not train one very well for driving a motor, not merely because the technique is different but also because the whole mental " set " is different.

It is still too soon to hope that politicians will study the modern science of Man ; but industrialists seem to have got as far as believing that the scientist may know or could- find out what man is #t for this or that job. Industrial psychology, which owes much in this country to Dr. C. S. Myers and the National Institute, has at least one obvious use—the discovery of the capacities of those who want to enter industry. But advances in this science and its practical application have been made in recent years in all industrial countries ; and an admirable summary of the present position has now been-published in an American book • on Vocational Guidance, by Professors Viteles and Keller, the former the Principal of the New York Voca- tional High School, and the latter a Professor of Psychology in the University of Pennsylvania. The book reviews fully the organisation and practice of " vocational guidance " or rather " adjustment to occupations " in most countries. The summary is full with regard to the United States, Great Britain and the chief European countries, including Russia ; and there are short accounts of -the pbsition in China, Japan and the British Dominions.

In most cases the present practice for discovering capacities for jobs has been based upon the work of employment bureaus, and to some extent the school system, especially in technical schools, has aimed at the " adjustment!' of boys and girls to the needs of industry. But some employers or organisers of factories have found it useful also to choose among applicants for work by reference to scientific or quasi-scientific tests. In the Democ- racies the individual's choice is thought to be an important sign of capacity. But in the Dictatorships a fixed conception of what a person ought to be and to do, provides a simpler basis for " adjusting " everyone. In Germany, for example, the good work of guidance, begun under the Republic, has been changed into an " adjustment " of the younger generation to Nazi standards of excellence. In one camp which the authors describe, the boys acting as sentries, " when asked questions stand at attention with their faces set in the mask of unquestioning obedience and shout their answers—an old Prussian custom which may be intended to stiffen the backbone with a sense of physical power, or which may be so old a part of the German regime that no one bothers to think of its meaning or effect." Similarly id the universities, " It is clear that the selection is not now being made on the basis of the interests, aptitudes and capacities of the students for scholastic work." Some time ago it was said, perhaps untruly, that Mr. Ford, having made a machine for all men, Vocational Guidance throughout the World : A Comparative Survey. By M. S. Viteles and F. J. Keller. (Jonathan Cape. 16s.) was now going to make men to fit the machine. The Stzt:3 under Dictatorship, has stolen a march on Mr. Ford.

But besides an account of what is done, the authors of Vocational Guidance analyse and criticise the present methods of guidance or advice given to those entering occupations and the beginnings of scientific tests on which such guidance is based. In the old days the vague judgements of teachers or parents were regarded as adequate ; and obviously " science " can be misused. But most parents and teachers do not know anything about the occupations into which they hope to send the young ; and as for " adjustment," " the outstanding demand of modern industry is for flexibility and mobility on the part of its workers "—not for the tricks taught in most " technical " institutes. Pupils in vocational schools, as the authors point out, " have been recruited pretty much as men are recruited in the trades. Those who think they are interested apply for admission. There is an interview and the pupil is usually admitted. Sometimes the interest is based upon know- ledge and understanding ; often it arises from dislike of regular academic work or failure in it, or both." The misfits and maladjustments in the adult world which carries on industry and government are obvious enough ; but a radical overhauling of the whole system of education is the last thing anyone in authority will undertake, largely because those in authority have themselves been formed by the system and naturally therefore are not critical of their own capacities or training. It seems difficult indeed to make people understand that there are in practice valuable tests of capacity—objective and scien- tific, and well-known methods of adjustment, which are neces- sary because no one has a fixed and final capacity at any age.

The more fundamental issue, however, at present is not how to fit the young into the right jobs, but how to find any jobs whatever for a large number of them. " The despair of the educator and especially of the vocational counsellor lies in the social situation. Guidance into jobs that do not exist is not only futile, it is silly." A square peg in a round hole may be uncomfortable : but suppose that there is no hole at all—then the pegs are waste products. And worse still, suppose that there are indeed empty stomachs and ignorant minds, but those in control are incapable of finding any way by which the service of these needs may be performed, then the pegs which are treated as waste products may make .a bonfire of themselves and others. It is significant that mental capacity was first tested on a large scale for entrance into ht American army in the Great War. It is significant that the arts of destruction are now providing the chief increase in the number of jobs, in all civilised countries. It is foolish to learn how to destroy and kill ; but it may be more foolish to preserve a civilisation which is not worth the effort. We must not go deeper here. We can swim best on the surface. The patient is better. Confidence is restored. The doctor and the statesman have done their best. They were not trained to tell when it is better that the patient should die or when confidence is misplaced. But if the confidence of bankers is not the test of the health of the body politic, then perhaps this peculiar but by no means irreprievable civilisation will die of an undiagnosed wasting disease. Not the next war but this kind of peace is the trouble. The loss of all the finer capacities of the younger generation, either through unemploy- ment in distressed areas or through military regimentation in other countries, is the final proof of the incompetence of those in control.