Evening star., 1939-01-16

report will doubt n,v,dY.w,.n,.
the sincerity of '' 1~"'snee'
the committee or its directness of
purpose, though, indeed, there may
be many who will have other plans
to offer. Significant experiences are
recited by the committee as to the
confusion on the part of the appli-
cant for unemployment compensa-
ton and the lack of coordination
between one office, where the Gov
ernment seeks to help man find a
Job, and another Office, where eligi-
bility to unemployment compensa-
ton is related to whether he has
tried to get job.
What now is proposed is that pay
ment of unemployment benefits be
definitely related to the problem of
finding employment for the recipient
of relief. 1t is a simple start toward
the solution of what has been for
several years now a central difficulty
about the whole matter of Federal
aid to those who have lost their jobs
through no fault of their own.
surface JUST SCratcneQ.
Excellent work has been done by
the United States Employment Serv-
ice Offices throughout the country in
recent years, but it is fact that the
States have unemployment offices
too and that the whole problem of
job-finding has not been tackled by
the Federal Government on a scien-
tific scale of determining the fitness
Of the individual to the particular
lob he or she can best do, or the
matter of transferring the worker
to other parts of the country where
Jobs become available In a limited
sense, both these functions are per-
formed now, but the surface has
only been scratched in the matter
of providing funds for a compre-
hensive treatment of this particular
aspect of job placement.
Not long ago, the University Of
Minnesota, with the cooperation OF
the government of the State of
Minnesota, conducted an experiment
in job analysis with 100000 unem-
ployed cases. It was found that,
when careful attention was given to
individual abilities, some strange
results ensued. Thus, a woman who
all her adult years had worked in
a bookkeeping department with a
mediocre ability was found to have
real mechanical talent, and, when
given a position in a toolmaking
establishment, was able to command
AS a skilled worker much higher
wages than ever before.
The possibilities of analyzing
human beings to find the right jobs
have long been recognized by scien-
tific men In the personnel field as
logical and feasible, but Govern
ment funds have not been available
to train specialists in job analysis
In the numbers needed to care for
the millions who now are registered
as unemployed. To organize this
effectively it would take only a small
fraction of the whole relief appro-
. priation.
Industry Co-operates.
Industry has co-operated with ef-
forts of this kind to the utmost, for
there can be no doubt that when
properly qualified workers are fur
nished in the first instance, there is
less turnover and waste.
The foregoing is but one of the
many phases Of unemployment re-
lief which are bound to command
attention when the whole problem
Is approached on a non-political
basis in an earnest desire once and
for all to do something for unem-
ployment which is disconnected from
politics or the emotional discus
sions thereof.
The Senate committees report
does not specifically touch on job
analysis, but it does point to the
need for coordination of Federal
and State employment agencies and
social security payments, which in
dicates that the broad subject, in
all its ramifications, may have fur
ther consideration when specific
legislative proposals are brought
forward to carry out the commit
tees recommendations.
The committees suggestion that a
single Government department be
created to coordinate PUBLIC works
construction and to handle such
agencies as the Civilian Conserva-
ton Corps, the National Youth Ad-
ministration and the w. P. A. is
based on the idea that Government
has distinct obligation to care for
the unemployed and to furnish re-
lief or work. While this principle
has been getting acceptance through
usage, it is a question whether the
definition of function has been
clearly established. Certainly the
tying together of the Civilian Con-
servation Corps and the National
Youth Administration with view
to vocational training or as reser-
voir for Government or private job
development is going to be widely
supported in Congress-, as are the
reasons for including, in the same
department with job finding, the
disbursements for relief. But it is