4 
dent to a just understanding of the economic changes and possi- 
bilities in the Empire. 
XXVIL—TECHNICAL SKILL AND LABOUR. 
117. Rubber is a difficult material and the fundamental principles 
upon which its treatment depends are as yet imperfectly under- 
stood. Consequently opportunities for research into its treatment 
and use exist. We deal in a later section with the provisions made 
for research and scientific control. During the last 20 years: the 
industry has changed over very largely from traditional rule of 
thumb methods to the very general use of scientific investigation. 
Another instance of the change in progress is afforded by the open- 
ing of courses on rubber at technical schools. In Great Britain, 
for example, ‘this educational development has been fostered by 
the Institution of the Rubber Industry which was founded in 1921 
“to promote a better understanding and a closer relationship 
between all branches of the Rubber Industry and to encourage and 
widen the scope of technical education in order to secure the well 
trained Chemist, Engineer, Technologist and Operative to main- 
tain and enlarge the Rubber Industry.” The Institution has 
assisted in founding Rubber Schools in connection with the 
Northern Polytechnic in London and the Trades School, 
Manchester. It also.conducts examinations and grants diplomas 
of efficiency in General Rubber Technology, Science (Chemistry 
and Physics) applied to rubber and in Engineering (Mechanical 
and Electrical) connected with rubber. 
Much of the labour in a rubber factory—the proportion depend- 
ing of course on the type of goods produced—must be skilled, either 
as the result of long experience or of technical training combined 
with experience. Although improvements in factory processes 
are of great importance, particularly in some of the old established 
works, it seems very unlikely that rubber manufacture will ever 
become an automatic process. Skilled supervision will still be 
required and much of the labour employed will be classified as 
skilled or at least semi-skilled. For the production of many types 
of rubber goods labour charges will still figure largely in the pro- 
ductive costs of even the most up-to-date factory. 
118. The type of labour in the rubber manufacturing industry 
depends upon the particular class of goods manufactured. In the 
rubber shoe and garment making trades, for instance, women 
workers predominate, while in the tyre trade the number of women 
is smaller and the greater proportion are men. . ‘Throughout the 
industry, the heavy preparatory operations of compounding, 
callendering and tubing are carried out by men, the employment 
of female labour being restricted to making up work where this 
is relatively light in character. The making of waterproof garments 
6228 oa 
Skilled 
labour: 
technical 
education. 
Variety of 
types of 
labour.