Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1913-01-11
Benefits Conferred by Her Sys-
TEN of Municipal Labor
Exchanges.
Disposed WOrkingman's Fam
lily Seldom Seen i'm That
Country.
Most Practical Solution of Labor
Problem That Is Yet
Known.
SYSTEM IS BEING WIDELY COPIED

In a heap on the sidewalk are a
bed, a table, chairs and a mattress.
A woman huddled together sits be-
side these and hides her weeping
face from the gaping crowd. Three
little children cling to her garments
calling pitifully for papa to come to
take them back into the house. The
scene needs no explanation. The
family has been dispossessed. The
rent was unpaid for months. The
father and husband is running out
Of breath to enlist the aid of some
charitable agency. The dispossessed
family is a common sight in the
workingmen's districts in every
large city in the United States. 1t is
common because as a nation we have
not yet found a way of dealing ade-
quately with unemployment. The
story Of every family thrown out in
the street for the nonpayment of
rent is the story of ioblessness. The
head Of the family loses his place
and fails to find work elsewhere.
The State, the municipality have not
assumed responsibility for his con-
dition. They have not come to his
assistance with a word Of advice
with suggestion, let alone finan-
cially. They let him drift. The law
Is explicit on such matters. The
landlord must be protected. The
home OF the jobless workingman is
broken up with every regard for
strict legality.
There are few such broken homes
in Germany. In the fatherland the
jobless man is not allowed to drift
as he is in this country. The Ger
man State or municipality takes a
vital interest and even assumes
responsibility for the man out of
work. Il does this not in the spirit
of charity or philanthropy, but In
self-preserwatio ion. Every b~--hzsl=ap-
home is rift IN the snip of state
which spells ultimate peril. The
trade unions and employers likewise
assist in minimizing unemployment.
The Germans have not abolished
seasonal or cyclical fluctuations in
industry. But they have adopted
means of making the periods of un-
employment as short as possible by
bringing the man and the job to-
II
scientific. Every industrial munich
pality in Germany of any magnitude
has municipal labor exchange, with
departments for men of trades as
we'll as unskilled workers. These
exchanges are supported by the
municipalities. Nationally they are
combined into a "Union of German
Labor Exchanges" They publish a
bulletin entitled The Labor
Market. The first municipal labor
exchange IN Germany was estab-
ished in 1887. To date there are
nearly 500. This practically abol-
shes the private labor agencies.
With trained, capable men at the
head OF these exchanges and in COM
mand OF their various departments
the labor market of the country is
studied with mathematical eXactness.
The man who has worked for years
In certain industry and is suddenly
thrown out of work by the closing
Of the factory naturally has a cir
cumscribed vision. His outlook.
knowledge and experience are linn
ted to the community he has lived
IN, to the industry he was employed
In. II left to his fate he might go
on searching for work for months.
The trained heads Of the municipal
labor exchange in his city, however,
know exactly the national market In
his particular industry. Instead Of
the man to drift for months
until he has found work and have
his home broken up in the meantime.
he municipal labor exchange comes
10 his assistance and finds work for
him in the shortest time possible.
Quick reinstatement of every dis
worker in a new place and
II necessary in a different industry.
so as TO make his period Of invol-
lntary ldleness as short as possible.
IS the principal aim of the municipal
This is as nearly prac-
iical a solution OF the unemploy-
ment problem as is known so far.
The agricultural market is studied
Is much as the industrial market.
and no man is allowed to remain idle
IN the city while there is work for
him in the country. Where a man
has TO go a distance from his home
m search OF job reduced transport
.ation is frequently given him. I'M
employment caused by sudden de-
preston In industry is dealt with by
State or municipal authorities. The
or State keeps the nee
'ssary public works for Just such
seasons. Employment on these pub
ic works is limited to residents and
married. men. There are other
Methods adopted by the German ma
ion in their fight on unemployment,
uch as public insurance. The trade
lnions have their out OF work bene-
Its Employers have their own
abor exchanges. The system OF
labor exchanges. however.
3 beinR Widely cODlad IN Craaf