The obverse of this from the forewoman's point of view is that "girls if quick are taught all branches, but with some girls it is all you can do to teach them one." It seems the general opinion amongst all the older hands that the "training is not what it used to be;" and, certainly, the few instances we have come across of women who can do bookwork, vellum work, and also stationery work, are amongst the older hands. The complaint, however, that the trade was not properly taught, occurs in the evidence given to the Commission of 1843, when it seemed to be one of the principal grievances complained of. Masters, it was said by one worker, often took girls, pretended to teach them, and discharged them at the end of their time, when they had to go elsewhere to learn. Three girls gave evidence that they were tricked into serving from three to eight months for nothing, and came away no wiser. At another shop the employer expatiated on the thoroughness of the training offered by him; but seven of his journeywomen, aged nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, and sixteen, declared indignantly that they had not learnt their business thoroughly, and would never have gone to him if they had known his methods. The truth apparently is that in 1843, as to-day, some firms are better for apprentices than others, and that a generation ago a good firm doing general work offered better opportunities for training than good firms conducted under up-to-date conditions can now give. The following table shows the changes that have been made in the conditions of apprenticeship by certain leading London firms.