New-York tribune., 1910-02-18
LABOR EXCHANGES
Social E.rperments--Insurance
4gmnst Unemployment.
London. February 3.


ro-klessness. There are seventeen OF
them already In the metropolis ana SIX
i,-six IN tbe provincial towns, and they
,s,e beer, besieeed this week with ap-
nI;cants for employment Tarin reform
orc noiut eaultingly 10 the enormous
n,7r,her of working people registered as
convincing evidence that industries are
,ansuishine and the resources OF en-
,Iovment diminishing. That may ne
--,. hut II would be easy to set UP a
.o,nte- claim, from the swollen labor
-oe;s.-its Of Berlin. Leipsic. Munich and
other German cities that tariff for the
ssfence Of home industries leaves thous-
,nds of workers unemployed. especially
sr-inc the winter months Liberal min
,-ers in general and Mr.. Winston
-h-rchill in particular are entitled 20
-redit for taking a leaf out Of German
t1perience and introducing organized
agencies fer bringing together men in
need Of workers and men in need OF
ro-k The new mechanism will be use
o., =. Tho Tnionists in the course Of two
~ three wears succeed in reforming the
.scsI system and in multiplying the
sources Of employment, and II is even
more necessary at present when by their
,.n contention the evils of worklessness
ave intensified by free imports.
While partisans are sloatins over the
evidence of these overcrowded labor eX-
changes that there are thousands or sell
.re and few buyers OF labor. the eff
cIencv OF 2 practical measure for di-
r7inishing worl1lessness is 10 be tested
II is not the English practice 10 think
or,t in detail social reforms. but this is
rot an experiment in the dark The
trade unions have had employment
agencies in operation for long time
end some Of their most experienced Of
Hcials have been consulted by the or
Fanizers of the new exchanges.
In Germany. Switzerland, France and
portions Of Austria Hungary systema-
.,zed efforts have been made 10 facll-
tate the processes of employment ana
the authors Of the new act must nave
known something Of the results IheE
Rave planned : network OF labor eA-
changes throughout the kingdom-there
will be more than $50 in operation before
houses and a central bureau, so that they
can be linked together and their nusi-
ness conducted on common lines. In the
Offices are registering clerks Tho take
the names Of the unemployed, whether
skilled o. unskilled. and receive tele-
grams letters or messages from en-
ployers in want of labor. There are no
fees. and the aspects Of distress mechan-
ism and state charity are avoided 1t is
national system Of registering the un-
employed and SECURING work for them
and II Is under the direct supervision II
the Board Of Trade Its Importance will
be largely increased If practical
method OF contributory insurance against
vyorklessness be engrafted upon it
There Is a similar system Of registra-
tion in Germany. without national su-
7ervisiou. Social congresses have led
the way and municipal authorities un-
der pressure from trade unions, have
opened Offices where employers and hose
r1t ot work can meet and come to terms
The service - ordinarily although not
irvariably free, and in many towns there
has been an Inauguration or the guild,
'rz6e union and municipal resistries 1or
e-pIoyrnent. The Munich bureau is the
most efficient cf these municipal institu-
tons and in Berlin the work Is done
equally well by 2 large society, in which
er7plovers and employed are represented
IN the management There is not GER
man town Of any Importance in which
orderly arrangements are not made for
obtaining work for those in urgent need
~ II. Not a year passes during which
- many as half million workers are
ro1 supplied with employment through
the ins-runentaiify of these exchanges
= these results can he approached IN
Great Britain with the help OF Mr..
Churchiii-s labor exchanges, a most use
nj social reform will be accomplished,
While the public duty of providing IA
riritier for obtaining employment is rec
ognized in German towns. the moral OBJ
legation to work is strenuouslT enforced
against idlers and vagrants. The work
'ese are temporarily sheltered and fed,
but thcv must take employment when II
IS offered 10 them If they refuse 20
work they are prosecuted and punished
RegEare. tramps and Yagrants are sett
either 20 labor colonies or 10 HorkhouSes
and dealt with As though they were
rrininaIs The disciplinary measures cre
- stringent that the lazy and shiftless
find y more agreeable 10 work outside
.heu inside these penal institutions. On
rho ,-oIdest 1inter DAYS and in the hard
81 times the German warehouses; are
-rl- Laif filed and there arc no beggars
ir the streets.
I Is in England that there Is an ira
rlonal administration of the poor law,
couplcd with \ sentimental prejudice
asafnsf coercive measures Industrial
naffngerinc IS condoned, paupers are
-7uTtiplied. town streets and country
-eedeides are infested with beggars and
giants. and in place Of the oldumA
,..r7,-i--ior, that il was the duty of every
rarlingn1an TO earn his daily bread and
to practice thrift there IS the new
targlcd notion that the state owes nm
r living and is under obligation TO pro-
Nd. employment for hinl-not too siren
nous. but light and agreeable. The labor
.rchau-,s established by Mr.. Churchill.
Hifs u fanfare Of reform trumpets, would
n@ NOR. promising remedial agencies IL
'is- wrre oyershadowed by businessllke
a.rfhouees and disciplinary institutions