Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-17
lis WORk OUTLINED
Mr.. Hodges Defines Purpose of
Research Committee.
VISIT TO DISTRICT BUILDING
Reasons for Private Conference With
Commissioner West.
SOME MATTERS DISCUSSED
No Attack Upon Employment Agents
In Legitimate Business-Pro-
visions Of New Law.
VISIT TO DISTRICT BUILDING
SOME MATTERS DISCUSSED

the methods Of conducting employment
agencies In this city and the implied charges
against certain Of them not named, has
caused much interest In the matter among
citizens Of the District. New phases of the
situation are being developed and it is said
drastic remedies have been proposed.
Mr.. Osman e. Hodges. who represented
Public Education Association at the private
conference before Commissioner West on
"Wednesday. said to a Star reporter today:
This committee of representative women,
at their own expense. have had the methods
Of the various employment agencies
throughout the District investigated by an
experienced Investigator. and the various
reports were accompanied by the affidavit
OF the person making the Investigations.
The agitation arose from the fact which
these ladies recognized that nurses and
nursey governesses, and even cooks and
housemaids, came into very close and often
unsupervised contact with the children Of
the household. and that their influence can
not be for the good Of the children If they
are subjected to the contamination found
to exist in some of the employment agen-
cies. In the pursuit of this investigation
sufficient facts were found to convince both
houses of Congress that legislation was i'm
perative. and 1t resulted in the passage of
pubic act No. 24S to regulate employment
agencies in the District Of Columbia.
Favorably Reported Upon.
These same reports which influenced
Congress. and some Of which were includ-
ed in the reports of congressional commit
tees, were in the possession Of the District
authorities and had been referred to the
major and superintendent Of police by
Commissioner West and the superintendent
Of police had reported favorably On the
applications Of various parties. upon whom
the reports referred to were peculiarly adj
verse. Notwithstanding these facts, Com
missioner West notified the household re-
search committee that unless further OBJ
granted to these applicants. 1t was in re-
Spouse to that statement and threat that
q special meeting Of the household research
committee was called for Monday and an
appointment made for an oral conference
and interview, at which quite a number
of representative people were, present,
among others twenty ladies, clergymen and
laymen actively engaged in phflanthrop!c
and educational work in the District.
1.-THE main feature urged at the confer
ence was that there was no occasion for
a public hearing because the act specifi-
cally states that the Commissioners of the
District Of Columbia must be satisfied that
the applicant is a person of good general
character. Therefore, in view of the re-
ports in the possession Of the Commission
ers, it placed the burden Of proof entirely
upon certain of these applicants, and there
fore no reason existed why the association
there represented should assume this bur-
den any more than any other individual or
individuals in this community; that 1t was
matter of vital and equal Importance to
every citizen of the District of Columbia,
and had merely been taken up by these
ladies because they had interested them
selves in this, months before, with the idea
of securing adequate legislation for curing
existing evils, and were now actually con-
fronted (accordinga to Commissioner Vests
letter of November with the danger
that the very people who were the occa-
sion of the law were about to receive a
license unless objection was made.