cess. For this purpose care will have to be taken that only such unemployed persons are admitted to the "relief works" as have their domicile for purposes of relief, or have, at least, been regularly at work for a definite period in the commune in which such works are undertaken. As the experience of the last few years has repeatedly shown that even large communes have been wanting in the desirable foresight, and have not set relief works on foot till the want of work had assumed very serious dimensions and distress had already set in, you will have the goodness to draw the attention of the administrations. of the districts and communes under your authority to the abovementioned measures which are incumbent on you and them as employers of labor. So far as you yourself or the official bodies and functionaries. subordinate to you have to determine, or are called upon to cooperate in determining the allotment of services or works, you will also take care that due attention be paid to the above-mentioned considerations. Finally, you will have the goodness to take care that you are informed, as soon as possible, of all occurrences and circumstances which afford ground for inferences as to the probable development of the labor market in your district, especially of approaching considerable diminutions and increases of industrial activity, in order that you may be able, when occasion offers, to direct the attention of the superintendents of public works and administrative undertakings and of the existing labor bureaus to the state of things, and, when necessary, to use your official influence in favor of the timely introduction of extraordinary measures. FRANCE. France also does much in this line of relief works. The Bulletin de l'Office du Travail (December, 1907) gives a list of works carried on in 1906 in 66 departments. There were only 21 departments in France in which such works were not carried on in that year. There were 60 departments reporting expenditures in 1906. The following table shows the expenditures for each department, the number of persons employed, and the number of days employed: EXPENDITURES OF FRENCH PUBLIC RELIEF WORKS, PERSONS EMPLOYED, AND DAYS EMPLOYED, BY DEPARTMENTS, 1906. a Not reported. La Societe de Solidarite Sociale, at Caen, organized as in previous years a workshop for men and home for women. It paid 3,569 francs ($688.82) to men and 1,504 francs ($290.27) to women. EXPENDITURES OF FRENCH PUBLIC RELIEF WORKS, PERSONS EMPLOYED, AND DAYS EMPLOYED, BY DEPARTMENTS, 1906-Concluded. Not reported. -4128421 3,262.91 672 10,761 35 388 688 2,203 6,976,49 335 17,200 2,995.50 736 6,085 (a) (a) 1,117 17, 173 The public workshops employ 30 to 40 of the unemployed all the year. RELIEF SHELTERS. It is not the intention to consider here all the various workingmen's homes, hotels, barracks, lodging houses, or shelters which are open to vagrants and the homeless of the poorer classes in the different cities and countries. Some of these institutions are of great value, many of very small value, and not a few extremely hurtful and debasing. Consideration is given only to those relief shelters which are especially for unemployed workingmen, and more particularly to those shelters which have as an important part of their work the aiding of workmen to find employment. Foremost in this respect stand the relief shelters organized in Germany, and which have spread thence to Austria, Switzerland, and to a small extent elsewhere. These are, however, of various kinds, and to be understood must be somewhat sharply discriminated between. GERMANY. The first to be taken into consideration are the so-called hospices, which are not strictly relief shelters, but rather workingmen's hotels or boarding houses. They are intended for those workmen who are able to pay a fair price for board and lodging, and are not primarily for transients. These hospices are in most cases maintained by benevolent societies or agencies, usually religious-Protestant or Catholic. There are Protestant hospices in most of the larger German cities, but in this particular class of relief shelters the Roman Catholics have, in numbers at least, probably done the most. According to the report of the Roman Catholic trade associations or unions (Cologne, 1907), there were in Germany 1,161 such Catholic associations, and 357 of these had their own hospices, while almost all of them had at least rooms suitable for such purposes. In 1906 they entertained 85,000 workingmen guests. The Protestant hospices are not essentially different. Next to these come the Herbergen, and especially the so-called. Herbergen zur Heimat, which latter are distinctly Protestant institutions somewhat similar to the hospices, but intended for those not able to pay so much-usually workmen of the lower ranks—and entertaining many not able to pay at all, mainly transients. They are much more simply appointed than the hospices and do not resemble ordinary hotels. In Germany the Herbergen require those unable to pay to do some work the next morning. The system by which this is done will be taken into account in treating of the still more temporary shelters called Verpflegungsstationen. The Herbergen are very numerous— some 460 in Germany-and play no small part in the life of the lower grades of workmen. They are of several kinds. Perhaps the best known are the Herbergen zur Heimat. These are all religious and connected with the so-called Inner Mission. The Herbergen zur Heimat is intended to be, as far as possible, a home for the time being to all workingmen who come under its shelter. It must be kept clean and orderly; furnish cheap but wholesome food; provide religious influences by means of daily services, and banish all harmful practices from its premises, e. g., gambling. In order to have this programme carried out every home is under the supervision of a responsible committee, whose members must be reputable persons, and, if possible, include the local clergy. The home is usually supplied with a good map of the circuit and country, showing the country roads in every direction, so that the superintendent may advise those who depart as to the quickest way of reaching a certain point. A man may stay in a home for a whole week, provided he pays the moderate charges. Ordinary prices are: Bed, 25 to 40 pfennigs (6 to 10 cents); full meal, 55 pfennigs (13 cents); coffee, 5 pfennigs (1 cent); bread, 5 pfennigs (1 cent); potatoes and sauce, 20 pfennigs (5 cents); soup, 10 and 20 pfennigs (2 and 5 cents); hominy, 10 pfennigs (2 cents); cigar, 5 pfennigs (1 cent). A young pastor or candidate looks after the inmates spiritually both week days and Sundays. The increase of the homes has been phenomenal. Professor Clemens Theodor Perthes, of the University of Bonn, established the first one in 1854; in 1863 there were 19; in 1873, 101; 1886, 252; 1890, 370; 1900, 457; 1904, 462; 1906, 461. In recent years their number, however, has not grown, the reason being said to be lack of funds. Many of the existing homes have contracted debts under which they labor with great difficulty. The various homes have formed an organization, Deutscher Herberge Verein, with Der Wanderer as its organ. The whole German Empire is subdivided into district unions or subdivisions for the sake of better control and greater efficiency, with central offices at Bethel (Bielefeld), Doctor von Bodelschwingh being the leading spirit in the movement for them. Not all the Herbergen of Germany are religious. In almost all the larger Germanic cities, notably at Berlin and Hamburg, and also at Vienna, the trade unionists maintain large and attractive Herbergen, or so-called labor homes (Arbeiter Heim), which as a part of their work give entertainment at low cost to traveling workmen. These homes are not usually called Herbergen, but they largely answer the same need. Most of the socialist workmen will not go to the evangelical Herbergen zur Heimat. The "Arbeiter Heim" at Berlin and the "Favorite" at Vienna are very large and in some ways magnificently appointed labor centers, each with a large audience room for mass meetings, concerts, etc., as well as smoking rooms, reading rooms, committee rooms, rooms for officers of trade unions, restaurant, etc. In smaller cities there are not such large labor homes, but in most cities there is something of this nature. In some cities, like Munich, where there is no labor home provision is made by the trade unions for their traveling members in connection with some ordinary room ing house or restaurant. There are still other kinds of Herbergen, but only those directly for the unemployed are considered. Thirdly are taken into consideration the Verpflegungsstationen, relief stations provided, or at least sustained, by the public authorities, which give food and shelter for twenty-four hours, or fortyeight including Sundays. They are intended chiefly to assist destitute and unemployed men with temporary shelter, for which they must work in the morning. The stations are placed within walking distance of each other, and are in communication by telephone or in other ways, so that they can hear of chances for work and men may be told in which way to look for work. Very strict discipline is maintained in all the stations. When a man arrives at a station, he must show a passport and a "labor book" (Arbeitsbuch), in order to legitimize himself both as, to his character in regard to the authorities and to his industrious habits. These books are stamped and retained by the superintendent. A simple meal, consisting of soup or potatoes and herring and costing about 20 pfennigs (5 cents), is served at night, and the men are supposed to be in bed by 10. In the morning they must be ready for the simple breakfast by 7, since work begins at 8. The latter consists usually of stone breaking, wood chopping, or other duties requiring physical exertion, but not exhaustion, and lasts for four hours. The man is then given a plate of food, his book is signed and stamped, and he is sent on his way. If the next station should be too far to be reached during the afternoon, he receives, if penniless, a ticket to a by-station (Nebenstation), where he receives food and shelter. Bystations may be had in any number, since they are not special buildings, but approved lodging houses or inns. A clergyman or other person of good reputation sees to it that they are properly conducted. The cost of feeding and housing a man per day at these stations, including all expenses of management, is about 65 to 75 pfennigs (15 to 18 cents), and is usually charged to the rates. The motto of these stations is that a man must work for what he gets; work in the morning, walk in the afternoon: If he refuses to do that he is turned over to the police as a vagrant, or left to shift for himself. The latter course brings him into touch with the police, since in most towns and villages maintaining stations private almsgiving is forbidden and punished by law. The man must, consequently, either work or go hungry. This system, comprising at present about 1,000 stations, has put a stop to mendicity and vagrancy in all provinces of Germany where the stations are sufficiently near together. The only complaint which people interested in this problem make, is that their number is too small; under the leadership of Pastor von Bodelschwingh they are seeking for legislation to the |