in his place. for a time. This is generally very effective punishment.
Agreements. In many cases in larger towns there is some trouble in keeping a boy in the choir after he has become particularly useful as a leader, or solo voice. This is often caused by the unprincipled advances, in the way of more generous fees, made by some other church, often by some layman interested in music, who fails to see how unfair it is to a choirmaster after he has expended great pains, trouble and time to secure good results, to rob him of the just fruits of his labor.
This evil is more common than is supposed, the author having suffered on more than one occasion. It seems almost incomprehensible that a so-called Christian man, knowing that a certain church has paid the tuition-fees of a rough boy for a year or more, and probably given him a small monthly payment into the bargain, can deliberately tempt the boy to turn his back on his benefactor, and rob the church he is singing for of the reward of their investment. In a measure, this evil may be obviated by having an agreement signed by the parents of a likely boy, and the rector and choirmaster, to the effect that as long as he is useful and remains in the town, he shall sing in their choir only.
Payment. In small towns it is seldom necessary to pay the boys. The parents will probably be glad their boys have an opportunity to study singing without cost; but in larger towns, where there may be opposition, it often becomes a necessity to offer a payment based on the number of practices and services required of a boy.
A sliding scale is very advantageous, owing to the fact that it gives a certain amount of ambition to a boy to excel, and put forth every endeavor to become a soloist.
