British labor exchanges act of September 20, 1909.1 Earlier efforts at establishing such bureaus were made by the Central Unemployed Body for London in 1906, under authority of the unemployed workmen act of 1905, and the resulting offices, for which the German exchanges were taken as models, supplied the main essentials of the present British system.

The act of 1909 gives to the board of trade, a body corresponding somewhat to our federal Departments of the Interior, Commerce, and Labor, large discretionary powers as to the details of the system. The board is authorized to establish or take over labor exchanges wherever it thinks fit, to make regulations for the management of these agencies, to assist bureaus maintained by any other authorities, and to establish advisory committees to assist in the management of the exchanges. With the approval of the treasury, it may authorize loans to cover traveling expenses of workers for whom employment has been found through an employment exchange.

The general regulations 2 made by the board under authority of the act set forth in great detail the rules of organization and management of the offices. Registrations of applicants must usually be made in person and renewed after seven days if employment is not obtained. In conformance with the practice followed in the majority of the German offices, during a labor dispute the parties are permitted to file statements in regard to the dispute and applicants are to be informed of its existence. Applicants who refuse positions because of labor disputes, or because the wages offered are lower than those current in the trade, do not sacrifice any of their privileges to future services of the exchanges. The offices "shall undertake no responsibility with regard to wages or other conditions" beyond supplying what information may be in their possession.

The general regulations also prescribe the conditions on which railroad fares may be advanced as loans to workmen who are sent to other towns to take employment. No advances are to be made unless the distance to be traveled is

19 Edw. 7, C. 7. For full text see Bulletin of the International Labor Office, 1910, p. 21.

General Regulations for Labour Exchanges Managed by the Board of Trade, January 28, 1910.

more than five miles, nor to points where a labor dispute is in progress or when the wages offered are below the current rates. Care is also to be taken to avoid "unduly encouraging rural laborers to migrate from the country to towns." In the first thirty-eight months of the operation of the exchanges they made advances to 28,321 workmen, totaling $40,360, of which sum only 1.6 per cent. had been written off as irrecoverable.1

The general regulations also provide in some detail for the constitution, procedure, and functions of the advisory committees. These are to consist of equal numbers of persons representing employers and workmen, appointed by the board of trade, with a chairman agreed upon by a majority of representatives of the employers and of the representatives of work-men, or, in default of such agreement, appointed by the board. On request of a majority of the representatives of either, there shall be equality of voting power on the part of employers and workmen, and in such cases the chairman is to have no vote. In practice, these advisory committees are not attached to individual exchanges, but are appointed for large areas. One or more have been appointed in each of the eight main districts of the system. The subjects referred to them are mainly questions of principle, affecting the exchanges generally, rather than questions of detail affecting any particular exchange or branch of the work.

Special recognition has been given in Great Britain to the need of agencies for assisting juvenile workers in choosing an occupation, finding employment in that occupation, and avoiding frequent changes in the early years of their working experience. Under the labor exchanges act and under the education (choice of employment) act of 1910 two distinct methods for the organization of juvenile exchanges have been developed.

Under the labor exchanges act the board of trade issued in April, 1913, its special rules with regard to the registration of juvenile applicants. These rules provide that the board may appoint, after consultation with the local advisory trade committees, special advisory committees for juvenile employ

1 W. H. Beveridge and C. F. Rey, Quarterly Journal on Unemployment, July-September, 1913, p. 77.

ment, to be composed of persons representing employers and workmen, and of persons familiar with education and other conditions affecting juveniles. In addition to advising the board with regard to juvenile employment, the committees assist boys and girls with respect to their choice of occupation. Thus the juvenile exchange is made an integral part of the adult exchange, cooperation with the schools is secured through the special advisory committee, and duplication of effort is avoided. This system is perhaps the one best adapted to American needs

Under the education act, on the other hand, the situation is reversed. The law authorizes "local education authorities to give girls and boys information, advice, and assistance with respect to the choice of employment," if such work is not being done by any other agency. Under this system, accordingly, the juvenile labor exchange is a part of the school system, frequently its offices are in the education building, and cooperation with the adult exchange established by the board of trade is secured through the advisory committee. The system has many good features, such as the close supervision of the educational authorities over the placement work, but is weakened by imperfect correlation between the two exchanges. Liverpool furnishes a good example of this method, while the London offices typify the first.2

The exchanges in the British system number over 400. Although the area of the country is only one twenty-fifth of ours, the kingdom has been divided for their better administration into eight districts-six for England and Scotland, one for Wales, and one for Ireland. Each district has its divisional office or clearing house, which is in turn coordinated with the central office in London, thus connecting all the exchanges in one national system. In addition, the exchanges proper are linked with over 1,000 local agencies which assist in the administration of unemployment insurance. In this way the exchanges are brought in close touch with workers in all parts of the kingdom.

1 Quotation from title of act, 10 Edw. 7 & 1 Geo. 5, C. 37. For full text see Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Vol. VI, p. 36.

* See Elsa Ueland, "Juvenile Employment Exchanges," American Labor Legislation Review, June, 1915, pp. 203-237.

The beneficial results of the exchanges are undoubted. Excluding certain occupations of a peculiarly casual nature, they were filling before the war over 17,000 vacancies weekly, most of which were vacancies for skilled labor,' and the number has since increased. The following table shows the number of applications for employment, the number of vacancies notified by employers, and the number of vacancies filled, for the month of March during each of the first six years:

The following table shows the usefulness of the exchanges for the first five years of their existence:

The proportion in 1914 of vacancies filled to vacancies notified was 76 per cent.

3. SYSTEMATIC DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC WORK

A well-developed system of labor exchanges cannot, of course, create jobs, but in addition to bringing the jobless

1 Pamphlet on Board of Trade Labour Exchanges, issued by Board of Trade, May, 1914.

workers quickly and smoothly in contact with such opportunities as exist it can register the rise and fall in the demand for labor. This knowledge would make possible intelligent action for the prevention and relief of unemployment through the systematic distribution of public work and the pushing of necessary projects when private industry's demand for labor is at a low level. Public work would then act as a sponge, absorbing the reserves of labor in bad years and slack seasons, and setting them free again when the demand for them increases in private business.

(1) Emergency Work

Probably ever since unemployment became a modern industrial problem there have been more or less insistent demands that the machinery of government be used for putting temporarily to work those who were displaced from private industry during a period of depression. It was felt that supporting the unemployed in this way, or, rather, thus giving them the chance under community direction to support themselves, was preferable to supporting them either by public relief or by private charity. It was not likely to cost any more, the stigma of pauperism would not be fastened upon self-respecting persons out of work through no fault of their own, and, finally, some improvement of permanent value to the community would have been furthered.

As early as the panic year of 1857, when 70,000 were estimated to be unemployed in New York alone, Mayor Wood of that city sent to the common council a message in which he said:

"I recommend that the comptroller be authorized to advertise for estimates for furnishing the corporation with 50,000 barrels of flour and a corresponding quantity of corn-meal and potatoes, to be paid for by the issue of a public construction stock redeemable in fifty years, and paying 7 per cent. interest; these provisions to be disposed of to laborers to be employed upon public works, at their cost price to the corporation, all these works to be commenced forthwith under the proper departments. Twenty-five per cent. should be