The executor of a father's last will, who has been directed to bring up the child to some trade or calling, may also bind the infant to an apprenticeship. Superintendents and overseers of the poor of counties, or overseers of the poor of a town, with the consent of two justices of the peace, or of the mayor, recorder, or an alderman, may also bind out children who are charges on a county, town, or city. By recent statutes idle and truant children may also be bound to apprenticeships by similar officers. The age of the infant must be stated in the indentures, and will be taken to be the true age; but public officers authorized to make the contract must inform themselves of the true age fully. Any sum of money agreed to be paid by the master must be mentioned in the articles. If the child is apprenticed by public officers, the indentures must contain an agreement on the part of the master that he will cause the child to be taught reading and writing, and if a male, arithmetic. Any person coming from a foreign country may bind himself to service - if an infant, until 21 years of age; and if the agreement is made in order to earn the price of his passage money to this country, it shall not be for a longer term than one year, and in this case the indenture must be acknowledged by the apprentice on a private examination before the mayor, recorder, alderman, or justice of the peace.

An indenture of this sort may be assigned by the master with the consent of either of these officers. No indenture is valid against the apprentice unless it is made in the manner here prescribed. If the apprentice absent himself from his service, he must serve double time, though not for more than three years beyond the original term. Complaints by the master of the misbehavior of the apprentice are to be heard by certain officers, and the apprentice may be punished by confinement, or in a proper case the officers may discharge the apprentice from his service, and his master from all obligation to him. The apprentice may also be discharged from service by the same officers on his complaint of ill usage by his master; and in such a case the master may be bound over to answer in a court of sessions. The law in these respects is substantially the same in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Kentucky as in New York. By a recent statute of New York (1869) all institutions for the reception of minors must, on binding children in their charge to apprenticeships, take bonds to the people, in which the master shall undertake to treat the children kindly.

By the statute of New York passed in 1871, it is provided that it shall not be lawful to take as an apprentice any minor without first obtaining the consent of his legal guardians; nor shall any minor be taken as an apprentice unless an indenture be drawn up according to the requirements of the act; and the indenture mutt be under seal, and signed by the employer, the apprentice, and his parents or parent if living, or if not, then by his legal guardians. The indenture, to be valid, must also contain certain covenants and provisions expressly prescribed by the act. The apprentice shall engage to serve not less than three nor more than five years, and shall also covenant not to leave his master during the term of service. The master must covenant to provide the apprentice proper hoard, lodging, and medical attendance; to teach him every branch of the business for which he is indentured; and at the end of the term to give him a certificate in writing stating that he has served his full time. Any person taking an apprentice without complying with these requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor and liable to a fine of $500. No indenture made under the statute shall be cancelled before the expiration of the term except in case of death, or by an order of a court for good cause.

If the apprentice leave his employer without his consent or without good cause, and refuse to return, he may be arrested and committed to a jail or house of correction for such term as the magistrate may think just. If the apprentice refuse or neglect to perform his part of the contract, the indenture may he cancelled for the benefit of the master; and the apprentice forfeits all wages then due him. If the master refuses to perform his part of the contract, the parent or guardian may bring an action for damages against him, and may recover not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, to be paid to the apprentice or to his parent or guardian for his benefit. In Vermont minors above 14 years of age may be bound as apprentices by their father or guardian, and the consent of the minor must be attested by his signature to the indentures. The law on this point is similar in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and other states. In Ohio, if the guardian binds the infant, the court of common pleas must approve the contract. - Among the more important and practical points which have been decided in respect to apprenticeship, it has been held that as the agreement on the part of the master is in the nature of a personal trust, the indenture cannot be assigned by him, at all events not without the infant's consent, or unless, as by the custom of London, such assignment be sanctioned by settled usage.

But an assignment without the infant's consent, though it do not bind him, may hold the master to his own covenants. In some of our states the consent of both father and infant is made essential. The apprentice cannot abandon the service unless his master desert him. Nor is the apprentice's misconduct in general a defence for the master in an action against the latter on his covenants. For though one may dismiss a mere servant for misconduct, a master cannot turn away an apprentice for ordinary misbehavior, such as idleness or drunkenness; but he may discharge him for theft or for any wilful injury. Illness of the apprentice does not discharge the master; and in a recent case in Massachusetts the father recovered full wages for the whole period of the apprentice's last illness and up to the time of his death. The master is also bound to provide proper medicines and care for the apprentice in case of his sickness. If the apprentice run away and go into another person's service, the master is entitled to recover the full value of his labor, without deduction of the wages paid the apprentice by his new employer.

The master has also an action for the value of the apprentice's services against any one who entices him away, or wilfully harbors him after his desertion, with a knowledge of the apprenticeship. Though the master may chastise the minor as a parent may, yet he cannot authorize any one else to inflict the punishment; and it has been held in New York that whipping the apprentice for absenting himself at a trial where he was required as a witness, was assault and battery. Where an apprentice was bound to the master and his executors, they carrying on the same business, it was held that the widow, who was executrix and continued the master's business, was bound to instruct the minor, and he was bound to render her service. As the infant is not bound at common law by his covenants, it is usual to take security from some responsible person for the performance of the contract by the apprentice; and in such a case the surety must be a party to the articles. The contract is dissolved by consent of all parties.

The death of the master also discharges the obligation of the apprentice, and so does his bankruptcy or insolvency, or his abandonment of the business in which he agreed to instruct the apprentice.