Evening star., 1931-06-01
BY CYRIL ARTHUR PLAYER.

UHP CyuUtSOG UsoSUooeS"'
BY CYRIL ARTHUR PLAYER.
LONDON, June IN. A. N. Az
These are the ingredients Of the eco
nomic problem in Great Britain:
After 10 years of persistent unem-
ployment there is from week to week
approximately 20 per cent Of the entire
industrial population without work.
For unemployment benefit little short
of three billion dollars has been dis
tributed during the last 10 years.
The annual cost of all the social serv-
ices, including unemployment, health,
widows and orphans and old age pen
sions, education, housing. poor law, etc.,
is around two billion dollars.
Taxation today absorbS approximately
one-fourth of the total income Of the
whole nation.
Compared with the fiscal year 1913
1914 there has been an increase Of IS
per cent on public expenditure. while
the volume Of export trade shows de-
crease of 20 per cent.
Living Costs Compared.
While the rates of unemployment
benefit have been raised and the quail
fications for benefit widely liberalized
the cost of living today is only SIS per
cent above prewar, while in 1920 1t was
176 per cent above the prewar figure.
1t is a problem that dominates every
class of people and every variety OF
citizen, every industrialist, every en-
ployer of labor, every worker - man
woman or child-every politician, states
man and economist and every taxpayer
In ubiquity of discussion it is to Great
Britain what prohibition Is to the United
States.
It is probable the benefit payments
have reached not fewer than 20 ,000, ,o0C
persons and their dependents. Every
individual receiving benefit earns less
than $3.50 a year when steadily en-
ployed.
The medium through which this
changing army is sustained in 'gooc
physical condition" is known as 'tht
dole" Officially there Is no such thing
as dole. Actually, in the early years
of the scheme there was no dole. Un-
employment benefit was an insurance
contract on an actuarial basis. Today
due to emergency and crisis, there Is q
dole, even though 1t Is still not OH.
cially recognized as that.
The idea Of unemployment insurance
first attracted the practical attention OF
the friendly societies and trade unions
The former, devoted more particularly
to sick benefit and funeral costs. made
some relatively small efforts to solve
the intermittent employment problem
of their members. and also. in few
cases, issued money relief during slack
times. BY 1905 a total of 1872 societies
was interested in this phase of relief
with a total membership Of $4,000.
Obviously. this was not anything Of a
national scheme.
Distribution Spreads.
1t was the trade unions which really
broke ground and proved, by trial and
error. the fundamentals of unemploy-
ment insurance; in fact, when the State
entered the field it was more than glad
TO profit by the experience of the trade
unions; moreover. had it held fast to
the principles thus established, the
financial problem (as distinct from the
social problem) would not exist here
today.
BY 1904 81 of the 100 principal
unions, with a membership of csc, 900
were distributing benefit to unemployed
members. This benefit varied in form;
sometimes it was travel money for a
member to seek work some distance
away; sometimes it was a straight al
lowance, which usually was from $2.5C
to SO a week, although in some few
cases 1t went as high as SIS. 1t IS i'm
portant to note certain principles or
which this relief was based.
There was fixed maximum number
of weeks for which benefit might be
allowed, either continuously or within
a given year.
Benefit could begin only after 8
waiting period" during which the un-
employed was expected to live on hi:
own resources.
The contributors were limited to the
number of members in the trade union
the contributions came from men o1
relatively small income, and the condi-
tions of benefit were fixed accordingly
Fat Years Care for Lean.
On the whole unemployment in those
years, say from 1896 to 1905. followed
normal cycles. and the fat years took
care of the lean. Dunring the period
| named these 81 unions paid out fol
unemployment benefit % per cent Of
their total expenditure. or approx.
mately $18,750,000.
the country with the working of tht
scheme and with its solvency in opera
ton that between 1905 and 1910 tht
number of workers insured through
trade unions mounted to 1900. 900, ant
the whole plan attracted the lively in
terest of poor law authorities. In fact
the Poor Law Commission recommend
ed in 1910. that either State or mum
pality should contribute to the benefit
with a view to extending the system.
It was realized that the trade unions
could provide for only a fraction of th
wage-earning population, which ther
totalled something like 100000 adul
males between 20 and so years old, ant
an unregistered number of women ant
young persons.
From 1904 to 1908 there were bac
years which demonstrated the need o
some centralized State-directed effort Il
meet general depression. The successful
operation of unemployment benefit b!
the trade unions not only offered basi
| for the erection of a state plan, bu
suggested that unemployment was mea
surable and could be insured against a
| a moderate premium which could b'
diminished in proportion as the field o
| insurance was extended.
Compulsory insurance, as a State en-
| terprise, first made its appearance II
England when Lloyd George was chan
cellor of the exchequer, in the libera
ministry of Prime Minister Asquith
Under part IL of the national insuranc,
act of 1911, the extent of benefit al
lowed was proportionate to contribu
| tions paid. The plan was limited T.
selected trades. The trades selectet
were, broadly, building, engineering ant
shipbuilding, on the basis that work
men in these trades were subject t.
heavy risk of unemployment.
Union Schemes Made Basis.
Admittedly, the act Of 1911 was ex
perimental The selected trades af
fected 2,250,000 manual workers IL
trades which were peculiarly susceptibl
to periodic fluctuations of prosperity.
Notably, the act adopted the funda
| mentals of the trade union schemes
voluntary schemes, so to speak-ant
emphasized the underlying principl
maintain, through times of depression
and under-emploYment. the reserves o