The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-03-06

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and placed in charge of a
supervisor of employment, who should
be especially qualified to develop this
work."
The private individual cannot go to
all the factories, as this involves a
waste of time and money. Nor can he
afford to register at all of the agencies.
1t frequently happens that men are reg
istered at one agency while positions
are awaiting at another. Employers,
on the other hand, cannot apply to all
of the private agencies in the state
for their help. In New Jersey there are
approximately 200 of these agencies.
"The public agencies, properly man.
aged, serve as clearing houses for
both employer and employee and save
the time of both. Figures in New York
state indicate that nearly 40 per cent
of all workers are out of employment
at some time during the year, owing
to the seasonal occupations and lack
of information of trade conditions.
The state agency, properly conducted,
will eliminate a considerable amount
of this unemployment"
Free Public Labor Exchanges.
If we would be of service, then, to
the great number of our migratory
and casual workers, we must devise
some machinery for obtaining immedi.
ate knowledge of opportunity for
labor, and then spread that informa.
ton without charge when and where
it will reach those out of work; then
we must gather data as to those un.
employed, showing their experience
ability, trustworthiness, etc., and put
it within reach of prospective employ.
ers. In this field, private enterprise
has broken down completely. The
multiplicity of private employment
agencies complexities the situation;
there is no one place to which man
might apply to obtain list of avail
able jobs; it is conceivable that man
might register with one agent while
his job is in the hands of another
agent twenty or thirty feet away
Private agencies must charge fees,
which the most needy are hardly in a
position to pay, and which rise and
fall with the increase and decrease in
the demand for positions. The fee is
an inducement to encourage con.
spiracy between agent and job boss,
resulting in the ridiculous labor turn.
over we witness in many occupations
We believe that. private agencies
should be further regulated. How.
ever regulation will only curb fragrant
abuses, it will not supply that one
absolute reQuisite-a common clearing
house of labor intelligence. Private
agencies are competitive; it is part OF
the game for one to keep his knowl
edge from the others. knowledge OF
demand of supply, in it's most health.
full form, can be supplied only by the
state. This is as legitimately piece
of public work as is the supplying OF
weather reports, crop statistics, soil
surveys, knowledge of foreign mar
kets, methods of cultivation, and the
like.
The act to create free public labor
exchanges in England was passed in
1909. At the expiration of five years.
there were 430 employment ex.
changes in operation. These ex.
changes with their branches are SO
distributed that any man out of work
can file his application for work by
travelling not more than five miles.
This same convenience is at the dis.
posal of the employer. Germany has
between 400 and 500 municipal ex.
changes which find jobs for over a
million men and women a year.
Under a Representative Board.
The bureau should be under a com.
mission, the members of which repre-.
sent labor, the employer, and the gen.
eral public. Only then can it be sue.
cessful. A labor transaction involves
two elements-the applicant and the
employer. Unless the bureau possess
the unqualified confidence of both, it
Is doomed to failure from the start. A
one-man bureau could not win his con-
fidence; supervised by a representa-
tive of labor, it would be suspected by
the employer; directed by nominee
OF the employers it would not be pat
ronized by the men.
It is considered of prime Importance
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