New-York tribune., 1909-05-31
CHURCHILL'S REFORMS
Radical-Labor Coaliion-Insur1nc.
against Lack of Employment
london. Nav -

trend Of public opinion I'D OF anticipating tb.
future activities Of parties Having burned -.
bridges behind him, he has no thought of retu-,
| ng to the Conservatives. Having Identified bt
personal ambitions with the fortunes Of LIBERAL
ism. he has taken a long look ahead and mar.
ceved the direction which the party win IN
evitably follow during the next decade Wb;r,
and Moderate Liberals are already alarmed bv
the budget and socialistc legislation and capno,
be depended upon to remain loyal 10 a na-.
controlled by progressive Radicals. A close 40,
alition between Radcalism and Trade Unioni.-.
is the only practical plan Of campaign NJ
Churchill and Mr.. Lloyd George are aIiks con.
vinced that this is at once the path of saf.,,,
and the triumpha1 way. Each expects 10 Isas
RadicaI-Labor ministry in the course OF s+,-.
II any one would know what the Liberals. :.
the future will be like. let him read the speecas.
and measures with which they choose to is.,-
tify themselves.
While the Chancellor Of the Exchequer n.
/ enlarged the resources Of Free Trade anancs nv
making fresh Ievies Of direct taxation and d.
| vising new inposts upon land, Mr.. Churchsu
has turned toward the Labor benches and give,
them a foretaste of the benefits Of joint political
| action He has introduced a bin for the estah.
| Iishnent Of national system Of labor exchapr.,
| and has foreshadowed legislation at the next
| session for the creation OF contributory svx-
/ tern Of insurance against Unemployment Each
/ project has been well received by the labor
/ members and the Opposition leaders have
/ blessed rather than condemned each undertake
/ ing Labor measures are the sa fest legislatvs
! projects which ministers can produce. because
| the conservatives viii help them along and ths
! Lords will not reject them These are high
! trump cards which cannot be taken The dash
| ing Young president Of the Board Of Trade is
HI =rF-.-
and equally ambitious friend. the Chancellor OF
| the Exchequer. has another UP his sssvs-a
| project for disability pensions on large scale
| with which TO supplement- old age pensions.
| Noyr. the first OF the Churchill measures "a
| safe enough because it has been tried in Ger
MANY Austria Hungary. France. Switzerland.
FeIgi,Irn Norway and some Of the colonies. and
| its utility has been proved The labor exchanges
( Is a system for placing those i'm need Of work
| in communication with those who want workers
| AGENCIES of this kind were started IN Lersic
| and Stuttgart nearly seventy years ago. and
| there is hardly a German industrial town TO-
| dav without an efficient labor registry Tbs
majority Of them are municipal institutions Ike
| the efficient labor bureau Of Munich. and they
! have been improved I'm the course Of time 50
| that there are convenient waiting rooms and
lodging DIaces in connection with the registres.
| The establishment OF similar agencies in Eng
! land has been advocated by the Poor Law Com
mission trade union conferences the central IN
! employed body. and practical reformers Ike NJ
/ Charles Booth. Mr. Churchill has devised
national system in place Of local reglstrles' ana
describes 1t as an improvement upon the Ger
J man model Certainly il IS more complex. fof
there are TO be ten territorial divisions, Vlt1
| es5 main exchanges and sub-o-rlces' and al
! centres Of administration viii be co-ordinated
qrrTT u-fiA
more costy. for there are 10 be extensive build
ing operations and the ultimate expense IS esli-
mated at 81 OOo 600 annually Yet it is pracu-
cal scheme for dispensing with long journeys in
| search of work and for supplying informst1on
about demands Tor labor and trades which are
| not overstocked- II employers and the 0sst
class Of skilled workuen make use Of the reSIs-
tries. the evils Of casual employment ana va
| grancy ought 70 be diminished
| When Mr. Churchill passes from labor ~
/ cha nges to insurance against unemployment ~
/ is on more dangerous ground S"ltzeriano ia
| experimental with insurance Of this kind. ana
some OF III, German labor bureaus notaoS
those Of Cologne. Leipsic and Munich' naF'
raised endowment funds and given much at'en-
| tion 10 the subject. The results on the Conu-
nent are tentative rather than decisive, and tnS
/ liabilities are ordinarily confined 70 voorhees,
ness during the winter There Is always I =
Gus risk that inefficient and lazy vorAnien Niii
take advantage Of the system by Shirkins woFN
and Incoming unnecessary pensioners German
oricials. being natural detectives. expose nauH-
cering with the help Of trade uniontSt or Sociai-
list inspectors but the expert workman mas n0-
liked this method o. insurance. and II mas 0e
adopted only in a few towns. Mr. ChurchiH WIZ
not have Continental experience oehlno N''
when he breaks ground in England Tor d sCl'--
/ Of compulsory insurance against vorNiesSuesS -
certain trades. such as house building engineer
ing, shipbuildiEg. machine and tool htA.'i7 a.
/ allied industries 1t will be extremely Ia
a-doue ,xperinent and will be applied abruptly
to trades in which 2.5O0O0a men are employee
II will be closely associated with the labor e
changes. which ne is about 70 organize. ana w,
be in many respects a social reform or inarAS-
/ originality carried out with boldnesS on Ia's
| scale
| The CnntrIhutorv element which was strange
| lacking in Mr. Asquith's old pension Scl71'
/ IS supplied in This class OF INSURANCE
| sIxpenCe a week is to be paid for every "o'A0-
| twopence by himself. tvopeuce 10y MS e"f'''
and twOpcnce by the state stamped cdIus
! to b. used as in Germany. and when t"e '
| is out of work he applies To the nearest a.
/ exchange either for employment ar for "osN+
stipend This differs materially from tn-
| Iogne rethod by which workmeu insure 'li
selves against vorklessness during three "l''9
| months by paving weekly from touTpe"0e
/ fvepence haIfpenuy during the remainder %
/ year The treasury and the employers ai =
! pected to find twO-thrdS of the premiums -,
| England. and the scale Of dement's W.
man is ont of work will be materially larss'
! than In Germany, and will not be res'Ii'
single season of three months. Like the oll aS
/