The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1914-05-01
BY KATHARINE CONAN,

BY KATHARINE CONAN,
Professor of economics. Wellesley college
in Survey
The first application on national
scale of government aid to voluntary
insurance against unemployment was
undertaken by the new kingdom OF
Norway. The year 1904 had brought
serious industrial depression to Scandi
navia and the desperate endeavorS to
meet the necessities of the men thrown
ont of work led to the appointment of
commission. Its recommendations
form the basis of the law passed b.
the storthing in 1906
The object of the law was to encOur-
age and develop the efforts toward
self insurance already in operation
among the principal trade unions The
statute provided that the state and the
communes concerned reimburse one
fourth of all benefits paid from unem-
ployment funds organized in accord
unce with certain prescriptions. Only
such employment funds are recognized
as derive at least half their resources
from members dues and their treas
urirs must be independent of trade
union funds and devoted exclusively to
the care of unemployed members.
1t was recognized from the beginning
that without the momentum OF labor
organization there was little hope of
enliSting wage earnerS in the task of
self insurance. But the nonunion men
were precisely those most liable TO I'M
employment and the legislators felt
that they must be provided for. The
law stipulated. therefore. that "recog-
nized fund" must admit TO member
ship any man or woman exercising
the trade in question whether or no he
was affiliated with the corresponding
trade union.
During the six year IS operation of the
act hnt one poru1ion man has applied
for membership il Al unemployment
fund
As TO the terms II With benefits
may be Tsaid t5+ I5w vrsT.ies that the
uneDnluy r1e-. Mus. 1,4 i-7oluntary-
l. E. il must nj have te-=- caused by
strife OF lrlk9u- q IT Drunkenness or
Lad temper The applicant must have
reported ~ the l-e rest employment
asency without t--ilg able 10 ind suit
able work a1d be NAV not be in re
ceipt OF aid from any other fund. No
benefit is granted until a man has paid
dues for twenty-six weeks and never
within the first three days after he has
announced himself out of work and
not for more than ninety days in any
one year On these terms ii is posi-
bile to make an average membership
due of krone Isl 90I per year cover
the normal amount of unemployment
with an allowance of half the daily
wage
The Danish law of 1907 also utilizes
organized labor to promote this most
difficult form Of insurance The trade
unions had indeed done much already
In the nine years between 1899 and
1907 the organized trades of Denmark
spent $S07,GS6 in unemployment bene-
fits, and they lent all their influence in
support Of the bill Offering state aid
At the present date fifty-two trade
unions, practically all the federated
trades. have established unemployment
funds in accordance with the terms Of
the law, and III 900 union men are
thus insured.
The Danish law differs from the Nor
wegian in a few points. The state
offers subventiOn to recognized I'M
IL,
third the premiums paid by members.
The communes are urged to pay an
addition Of one-sixth to the sums con
tributed by persons residing within
their limits. The advantage of esti-
mating the government contribution
according to premiums paid rather
than to benefits paid lies in the posi-
bility Of accommodating reserve fund
in good times against the years of de
preston.
Fully 1000 persons and 60 per cent
of the workmen In Denmark are now
insured. CThe proportion is 70 per cent
of the men insurable and 20 per cent
Of the insurable wOmen) Practically
all the industrial laborers. who are
unionists and Socialists to a man, are
insured under the act
The unskilled workmen and the cas-
ual laborers untouched by the Nor
wegian unemployment system have
been brought within the scope of state
aid in Denmark by very effective
labor organization. The membership
Of the Unskilled Laborers' union is now
$4,000, fully one-thlrd Of the total num-
Der Of organized laborers. and all this
within four years.
Within the limits prescribed by the
law the conditions OF unemployment
insurance vary with each fund. The
dues vary from the minimum of 81 40
paid by the unskilled workwomen to
the maximum Of 81 per year paid by
the workers In stucco The daily sti-
pend Is !, w or kroner. according TO
the financial status Of the fund. A krone
Is equal to about q cents. The period