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UNEMPLOYMENT is a word that is being used more these days than for the last twenty-five years and the stark fact that unemployment
is a thing of reality and not just a 'wolf story is slowly dawning on the under-30's population, who until now have never really
had to seek work.
Full employment is an ideal situation, provided we all realize that to be employed one does not just have to be present, but is also expected
to do a reasonable day's work. Perhaps the different definitions of the word 'reasonable' has some bearing on the situation today? Far be it
for me to try and put my finger on the reason, or to suggest a solution to this unfortunate and gigantic problem which faces the nation today,
but I do suggest that we could all do worse than make an extra effort at improving our efficiency.
The boys here at Goldings have everything in their favour as regards training and conditions. No worry as to where the next meal will come
from, or where they will sleep at night, or if there will be work for them tomorrow, and if a boy is apprenticed in the Printing Department,
he is assured of a job until he is twenty-one, and boys who are in the other apprenticeable trades have practically
as good a guarantee.
It is very difficult to get the message through about the conditions of outside employment when all our boys have to do is report to shop
each day. I suppose the only way to learn the hard facts of life is by experience. Unfortunately experience can be very costly, so to all boys
at School now I say make the most of your opportunities, and listen and accept what your teachers, shopmasters, and house parents tell you,
they are not fools, and have had far greater experience in the world than you have'.
I am quite sure there are many Old Boys who would be only too pleased to have their time over again at Goldings under the present
conditions and who would work and listen a lot more now than they did when they were here. Another fact is that an hour lost can
never be regained.
Remember, there are eight hundred thousand unemployed now, and we send about sixty boys each year into the ranks of the employed
(no boy leaves here without a job) but whether or not he stays employed depends to a large degree on his own efficiency, and his willingness
to work and live with other people.
'ARTY CRAFTY'
Now the hard winter is over and the boys of the Carpentry Department can at long last make good progress in the construction of the new
Art room. We have many enthusiasts with brush and paint eager to stand at the new easels and express their thoughts in form and colour.
No doubt teachers too will be pleased to see this particular exercise, which makes rather a mess of desks and classrooms, confined to a
place specially adapted for it.
The prospect of the completion of this building is cause for some reflection on the nature of art and its place in a school such as ours. It is
fervently hoped that the eye-catching title above will never be an apt description of work produced at Goldings. There are too many 'arty'
people about already and some of them are decidedly crafty. Nowadays one reads of pictures being produced by spreading canvases on
the pavement, unloading a few pots of paint on to them, then mounting a bicycle and riding it backwards and forwards to spread the paint
around. A short while ago, on Television, one of these moderns demonstrated his method. He didn't need a bicycle; only a box of matches.
He took his canvas down to a river bank, dropped a few blobs of colour over it, struck a match and set fire to the paint. When all was
burning merrily, he doused it in the river. Presumably a bucket would have done just as well, had the canvas been small enough. In this
ingenious way he produces pictures without having to take painting lessons. We are told that this charlatan sells quite a lot of his pictures,
for there are silly fashions in pictures as well as clothes. And by the way, have you not heard of a certain gentleman who was a member of
the Hertford Art Society and was widely known for the paintings done by his cat?
Seriously though, what is art? Many books have been written in an attempt to answer this question. My dictionary says it is human skill, as
opposed to natural agency. It is acquired by study and practice. Works of art should be produced in every department of this school by using
trade materials to make something which is consciously designed to be suitable for its purpose and also give delight to the senses. For
example, a shoe may be repaired well enough to keep feet dry in wet weather, but a well cut and finished shoe-repair job is also a work of
art, fit to be admired. You workers in wood and metal, how much thought do you give to good design? However well you cut and join,
your products are sub-standard unless they are easy on the eye. And what about you gardeners? Certainly a cabbage is a natural product,
but the lay-out of the vegetable garden can be just as much a work of art as a flower arrangement. Planning and design are of prime
importance in the remaining trades of printing and house-decoration. The truth is that picture making is "only one form of art. Art has its
roots in craftsmanship, so to call anything a work of art which requires no element of skill nor conscious design is a bit of humbug. So my
fellow sufferers don't allow yourselves to be put out of countenance by the pitying gaze of some beatnik, who asks you to admire
a daub which you can neither understand nor tell whether it is the night way up. If you are really keen on your work, you will, not be
content to make something which will just get by, but something which is both suited to its purpose and a pleasure to look at. In this
manner you will become a true artist.
Just one last reflection. Life itself is also an art. Everyone in his heart wants to live a good life, rather than a poor and shabby one. We all
know the way to success in our chosen trade is to discipline ourselves and take instruction from a good master. With our lives too, we
cannot create anything of genuine worth by leaving things to chance, like the phoney artist, but only by accepting the guidance and the
disciplines of the Good Master.
R. F. W
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