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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
ROYAL MEEKER, Commissioner
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES \
j W H O LE 1 Q O
BUREAU OF LABOR STA T ISTIC S/ * # * ( NUMBER Y 3 L
EM PLOYM ENT
AND
U N EM PLOYM ENT
S E R IE S :
N o.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMER
ICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUB
LIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES
A N N U A L
M E E T I N G S :
F I R S T—CHICAGO, DEC. 19 AND 20, 1913
SECOND—INDIANAPOLIS, SEPT. 24 AND 25,1914
T H I RD—D E T R O IT , JULY 1 AND 2, 1915
MAY, 1916
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1916
1
CONTENTS.
Page.
Preface......................................................................... ......................................
5,6
Introduction........................................................................................................
7
Organization of the association............................................................................ 8-11
Call for conference...................................................................................... : 8,9
Follow-up letter................ ........................................................................... 9,10
Constitution of the association..................................................................... 10,11
Officers and executive committee of the association...................................
11
Proceedings of the Chicago meeting, December 19 and 20,1913....................... 13-41
Public employment offices in the United States, by W. M. Leiserson.. . . . 13-16
Bureaus of employment in Europe, by Prof. Charles R. Henderson...........16-23
What is the matter with our free employment offices?—Discussion............ 23-25
How to organize a State system of employment offices.—Discussion......... 25-28
A record system for free employment offices.—Discussion........................ 28-31
The women’s department of a free employment office, by Mrs. W. L. Essman........................................................................................................... 31-34
Handling of immigrant workers, by H. J. Beckerle...................................34-36
Distribution of alien and citizen labor, by Walter L. Sears.........................36-38
Eelation of public to private employment offices.—Discussion..................38,39
[Resolution respecting the promotion of employment bureaus by the Swiss
Federal Government, read by Dr. Gustafson.......................................... 39-41
Proceedings of the Indianapolis meeting, September 24 and 25, 1914 .............. 42-99
Address by Dr. Royal Meeker, United States Commissioner of Labor Sta
tistics......................................................................................................... 42-47
The wrong way to conduct a system of public employment offices, by
W. F. H ouk..............................................................................................48-50
What must be done to make public employment offices more effective, by
L. D. McCoy............................................................................................. 50-52
Policies and methods of employment agencies, maintained by em
ploy ere* associations, by Andrew J. Allen....... ...................................... 52-60
Report on condition and management of public employment offices in the
United States, by Charles B. Barnes....................................................... 60-78
Regulation and control of private employment agencies, by Prof. M. B
Hammond................................................................................................. 79,80
Distribution of labor and the problem of transportation, by Walter L. Sears. 80-84
Plan for gathering and distributing harvest hands in the grain States, by
W. G. Ashton............................. *............................................................. 84-98
A women’s employment office, by Agnes L. Atwood................................. 98,99
Proceedings of the Detroit meeting, July 1 and 2,1915..................................100-140
Report of secretary-treasurer.....................................................................100-104
Some problems in organizing a State system of employment offices, by
Charles B. Barnes................................................................................. 104-108
Experiences in extending and improving the work of a public employment
office, by W. F. Hennessy..................................................................... 108-113
Developing a farm-hand business, by H. J. Beckerle.............................. 114-116
National Farm Labor Exchange, by Charles McCaffree.........................117,118
3
4
CONTENTS.
Proceedings of the Detroit meeting—Concluded.
Page.
A system of records, registration, and filing—Preliminary report of the com
mittee on standards................................................................................ 118-122
The placing of women by public employment offices, by Louise C. Odencrantz.................................................................................................... 122-128
The immigrant worker and the public employment bureau, by Anne
Erickson.................................................................................................128-133
The immigrant and the industrial world, by W. P. Hennessy................ 133-137
Vocational guidance and public employment offices, by Hilda Muhlhauser.................................................................................................... 137-140
Appendix A.—Resolutions adopted at each meeting.....................................141-143
Appendix B.—Federal, State, and municipal employment bureaus in the
United States............................................................................................... 144,145
Appendix 0.—Public employment offices in Great Britain and Germany.. 146-162
Appendix D.—The present status of unemployment insurance on the basis of
official sources and of reports prepared for the general convention at Ghent
of the International Association on Unemployment................................... 163-177
BULLETIN OF THE
U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
WHOLE NO. 192.
WASHINGTON.
MAY* '818.
PREFACE.
Unemployment is the greatest evil of our competitive industrial
system. We have been exceedingly slow to admit the actuality of
involuntary unemployment. Even yet we more than half believe that
he who seeks may find work at all times, and that unemployment is
due to the refusal of workers to work. Only in periods of industrial
crisis and depression do we awaken to some faint realization of the
fact of unemployment and the tremendous money losses and the irrep
arable injuries to the character of workless workers resulting there
from. With enormous toil and turmoil and clatter of preparation
we organize soup houses, bread lines, and philanthropic “ industries ”
which produce for the most part piffling wares of little or no utility
at substandard wages. With the onset of good times we drop our
fevered activities in formulating complete programs to take care of
unemployment, relapse into our normal state of profound indiffer
ence, and speedily forget the unemployed and their unemployment.
We have never as yet acknowledged or realized that the unemployed
(another name for the poor) we have always with us. In the best of
times there is in the United States an appalling amount of unem
ployment, even in our most stable industries. The exceedingly
fragmentary statistics at our command indicate that the losses due
to unemployment are immensely greater, both in money and in
morals, than the losses due to industrial accidents or industrial ill
ness. All these industrial hazards must be frankly recognized and
frankly faced. The ostrich, we are told, thinks to efface his enemies
from the landscape by burying his head in the sand. He is a firm
believer in the blissfulness of ignorance and the folly of wisdom.
We have much in common with the ostrich. We hold tenaciously to
the philosophy that social, economic, and political evils exist only
when we open our eyes to them—that industrial accidents, illness, and
unemployment are not burdens until we provide some sane method
of carrying or eliminating them. Until very recently our favorite
method of dealing with industrial hazards, including involuntary
unemployment, was to close our eyes tightly and bury our communal
head in the sand.
5
6
PREFACE.
The establishment of public employment offices recognizes the fact
of unemployment and the principle of a measure of public responsi
bility for the causes of unemployment and the obligation to provide
remedies for it. The formation of the American Association of Pub
lic Employment Offices shows that public employment officials have
an intelligent comprehension of the significance of their work and
the necessity for coordinating, extending, and improving it. The
magnitude of the undertaking to weld our scattered American public
employment offices into a nation-wide—even a continent-wide—sys
tem is only equaled by its importance. The discussions at the three
annual meetings thus far held have dealt with fundamental princi
ples and practical problems of the greatest interest and usefulness.
It is highly desirable that the papers and discussions should be pub
lished for the information and benefit of all who are interested.
Both at the Indianapolis meeting and the Detroit meeting the desire
was expressed by the American Association of Public Employment
Offices that the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics might aid in
making known the aims, problems, and accomplishments of the
association by bringing out the proceedings as a bulletin of the
bureau. The suggestion was directly in line with the policy adopted
by the United States Department of Labor at its creation of co
operating in every possible way with State and local agencies having
to do with labor matters. The proposal met with the hearty approval
of the Secretary of Labor and the Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
The publication by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the proceedings
of the first three annual meetings of the American Association of
Public Employment Offices brings us a long step nearer to a national
system of employment offices. It is greatly to be desired that in
future the proceedings may be brought out annually as a regular
bulletin of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
R o y a l M eeker,
Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
INTRODUCTION.
Either by State law or municipal ordinance public employment
offices have been established in more than half the States of the
Union. Such offices are now in operation in about 100 cities.
Most of the laws and ordinances have been enacted or revised
within the last five years. Problems of organizing and reorganizing
the offices, devising and improving forms, establishing methods of
management and business policies have now to be met by administra
tive officers in many States and cities. Little has been written on
these administrative problems, and until recently there was no
cooperation among the offices, so that learning from each other’s
experience was difficult. Many offices have gone ahead and repeated
the mistakes that others had made and learned to correct. While
methods of management are still largely experimental, certain stand
ards have already been established, and no State can afford to
establish employment bureaus without being informed of this
experience.
I f public employment offices are to accomplish their purpose of
bringing man and job together, principles and details of practical
administration must be worked out. Mere enactment of laws and
reiteration of the benefits that labor exchanges make possible will
not bring the results. To get the superintendents together to discuss
their practical problems and to learn to improve their methods is the
purpose of the American Association of Public Employment Offices.
To help those who could not attend the meetings and to direct public
attention to the principles involved in practically administering pub
lic employment offices are the reasons for publishing these proceed
ings.
No stenographic reports of the meetings were taken. Therefore,
all the addresses and discussions can not be reproduced. This volume
is compiled from the written papers of some of the speakers and from
the notes of the secretary of the association. Grateful acknowledg
ment is due to Mr. Harry Jerome of the University of Wisconsin
for assistance in editing and compiling these proceedings.
Wm. M. L e i s e r s o n ,
Secretary-Treasurer.
7
ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSOCIATION.
CALL FOR CONFERENCE.
Letter sent to all superintendents of public employment offices, suggesting a
conference.
M a d is o n , W i s ., J u n e 1 1 , 1 9 1 3 .
S ir: Would you be interested in the organization of an American
association of public employment offices? Several officers in charge o f such
offices, with whom I have spoken, have felt that we were not getting the benefit
o f each other’s experience as we should. Your methods of handling men, o f
registering applicants and sending them to employers, o f keeping records and
making reports, your attempts at advertising, and your attitude toward private
labor agents are things in which we are all interested, and when one has
worked out a new, successful method of doing some particular thing, the others
should be in a position to learn about it quickly, and to adopt it, if it is suited
to their needs.
There are national organizations of labor officials and factory inspectors,
but we can expect nothing from them because they can not know the practical
details of our business, and it is for discussing these details that we need an
organization most. The National Conference o f Immigration, Land, and Labor
Officials, which met in Chicago last November, diseussed free employment offices,
but this conference had so many purposes foreign to the free employment
offices that its time could not be taken up by a discussion o f the details of our
business. Nor can we expect to get real results from the national organization
of the commissioners of labor, under whose jurisdiction most o f us are; for
they have so many other problems to deal with they can hardly give the time
to matters which concern mainly the superintendents of the employment offices.
We ought to have an association whose membership will be made up of officials
of employment bureaus.
The idea is to organize an “American association o f public employment
offices ” such as the German and Swiss labor exchanges have. Then we could
hold annual meetings to discuss our problems and to consider methods o f
extending and improving our service. Our country is so big that we shall
probably need smaller subsidiary organizations in different sections, just as
Germany has the North German Association, the Rhenish Association, the South
German Association of Employment Offices, etc. But first we must form a
national organization to direct the work.
The European associations at their annual meetings discuss such topics as
methods of record keeping, the placing of skilled help and apprentices, distribu
tion of immigrants and farm labor, advertising the work o f employment offices*
reporting the labor market, methods of following up and verifying positions
secured, etc. I know that what our offices in Wisconsin need is the benefit o f
the experience o f other offices on the problems that come to us, and we could
no doubt give to others the benefit of our experience on some points. I f we
could have a meeting o f the superintendents of all tie offices to read and dis
cuss papers on the management of employment offices, we might work out a
more uniform method of doing business which wotild make cooperation among
D ear
8
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
9
the various State offices easier. A system o f interchange o f reports might also
be devised, and from these accurate information as to the condition of the
labor market throughout the country might be compiled and circulated. In
time such an association of American employment offices might publish a
monthly journal in which information about various offices could be made
public, and in which the managers of the offices could discuss from month to
month their various problems.
What do you think o f getting to work on this proposition now? The National
Conference of Immigration, Land, and Labor Officials adopted resolutions re
questing the new Federal Department o f Labor to take steps to coordinate the
work of the State employment agencies; but it hardly seems probable that the
Federal Government will act until we start the movement ourselves. I am writ
ing letters similar to this to all the western free employment offices; and Mr.
Sears, of the Boston office, is trying to line up the East.
If you are interested, will you please write us your views and indicate whether
you would be willing to serve on a committee on temporary organization? We
can then summarize the views of all who have answered and send the informa
tion in a circular to all the offices in the country. After that it would be an
easy matter to arrange a preliminary program for a meeting and call a national
convention for the purpose of organization.
Awaiting your reply, I am,
Very truly, yours,
(Signed)
Wm. M. L e i s e r s o n ,
Superintendent Wisconsin Employment Offices,
FOLLOW-UP LETTER.
M a d i s o n , W i s ., September £ 5 , 191$.
In June a letter was addressed to the officials of all free em
ployment offices requesting their 'opinion regarding the organization o f an
American association of public employment offices, for the purpose of exchang
ing views on methods of doing business, o f promoting uniform systems of
management and of developing cooperation among the various offices.
The replies have all agreed that such an association is needed. Following
is an extract from one of the letters which excellently summarizes the views:
When I engaged in this work I was notified on June 27 that I would take
charge of this bureau and open the books of this office on July 1, and I had
never seen the inside of an employment office in my life ; and since that time
the only assistance I have had was that of calling on other free employment
bureaus when in other cities. Realizing the importance of this work could it
be carried forward along the right lines, I have used every effort to work out
plans which will make it a success; and I realize more every day that one or
two bureaus or a single State’s efforts will never develop this work, but there
must be an organized effort and uniform methods employed, with an interchange
of information and reports as well as the movement of seasonal labor between
the States.
Two difficulties, however, seem to stand out in most of the letters: (1) The
impossibility of getting representatives from offices in remote parts o f the coun
try to come to such meetings, and (2) the expense of maintaining such an
organization.
Both of these difficulties may be overcome if a suggestion of Commissioner
of Labor Houk, of Minnesota, be adopted. He suggests that a “ Midwestern
association of public employment offices” be formed, to include the States o f
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Coopera
D ear Si r :
10
BU LLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
tion among these States is a more immediate possibility and there would be
little difficulty in attending meetings at a central point The cost of attending
would be small, and aside from that there need be practically no other expense.
The meetings could be held in one of the employment offices, and proceedings
could be published in the reports of any of the State labor departments.
Chicago seems to be the most central meeting place and December the best
month because it is ordinarily the slackest in the employment business. Please
let us know if it would be agreeable to you to send representatives of your
offices to Chicago to meet on December 29 and 30 for the purpose of organizing
such an association of public employment offices.
Inclosed is a tentative program with subjects for discussion. W ill you kindly
indicate which o f these you or any of the superintendents of your offices would
be willing to discuss at the meeting?
Yours, very truly,
(Signed)
W. M. L e i s e r s o n .
CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION#
NAME.
A r t ic l e 1. This organization shall be called “ The American Association of
Public Employment Offices.”
OBJECTS.
It is organized for the following purposes:
1. To improve the efficiency of the public employment offices now in existence.
2. To work for the establishment of such offices in all the States.
3. To secure cooperation and closer connection between the offices in each
State and among the States.
4 . To promote uniform methods of doing business in all the public employment
offices.
5. To secure a regular interchange of information and reports among the
various offices.
6. To secure a proper distribution of labor throughout the country by the
cooperation o f municipal, State, and Federal governments.
A rt. 2.
MEMBERSHIP.
A r t . 3. All persons connected with Federal, State, Provincial, or municipal
departments that operate public employment offices shall be eligible to member
ship in this association.
DUES.
A r t . 4.
All members of the association shall pay annually
$1
in dues.
OFFICERS.
A r t . 5. The officers of this association shall be a president, a vice president,
and a secretary-treasurer, to be elected annually at the conventions of the asso
ciation. Each of these officers shall be from a different State. There shall be
also an executive committee composed o f one member from each State not rep
AMERICAN" ASSOCIATION' OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES,
11
resented by the officers, who shall be members of this committee. The presi
dent shall be chairman o f the executive committee, and the secretary o f the asso
ciation shall be the secretary also o f the executive committee.
It shall be the duty o f the executive committee to do all the active work of
the association, make investigations, distribute information to members, and
do such other things as it may deem advisable to promote the objects of the
association.
MEETINGS.
A r t . 6. Annual meetings of this association shall be called by the executive
committee at such times and places as the executive committee may choose,
provided that all members shall receive at least 30 days’ notice o f each meeting.
AMENDMENTS.
A rt. 7. This constitution may be changed at any meeting o f the association.
A m e n d m e n t .1
Article 5 is amended to read as follow s:
“ The officers of this association shall be a president, four vice presidents and
a secretary-treasurer, to be elected annually at the convention of the associa
tion. The president, the vice presidents and the secretary-treasurer shall con
stitute an executive committee. The president shall be chairman of the
executive committee, and the secretary o f the association shall be the secretary
also of the executive committee.”
OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE ASSOCIATION.
1915-16.
President.—Charles B. Barnes, director bureau o f employment, State of New
York.
Vice presidents.—Walter L. Sears,2 New York C ity; Francis Payette, Mon
treal ; H. J. Beckerle, Milwaukee; Hilda Muhlhauser, Cleveland.
Secretary-Treasurer.—W. M. Leiserson, Toledo University, Toledo, Ohio.
1914-15.
President.—W. F. Hennessy, commissioner of employment, Cleveland.
Vice presidents.—Mrs. W. L. Essman, Milwaukee; J. W. Calley, Chicago;
Walter L. Sears, New York C ity; Edwin Dickie, Toronto.
Secretary-Treasurer.—W. M. Leiserson.
1913-14.
President.—Fred. C. Croxton, Columbus, Ohio.
Vice president.—James V. Cunningham, Lansing, Mich.
Secretary-Treasurer.—W. M. Leiserson.
1 Adopted at the annual meeting of the association, 1914.
* Died December 15, 1915.
PROCEEDINGS OP THE CHICAGO MEETING, DECEMBER 19
AND 20, 1913.
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN THE UNITED STATES.1
W . M . LEISERSON, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES,
WISCONSIN.
Public employment offices are bureaus established for the purpose
of bringing together wage earners seeking employment and em
ployers seeking help. Their services are free both to employers
and to workers, the expenses being met either by the State or the
municipalities, and sometimes by both.
There are now2 in existence 61 public employment offices in the
United States, distributed over 19 States. All but 7 of them are con
ducted by the State governments. In Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and
Everett, Wash.; Butte and Great Falls, Mont.; and Newark, N. J.,
the offices are conducted by the municipalities.
The State of Ohio took the lead in establishing free employment
offices. In 1890 its legislature passed a law creating an office in
each of the important cities of the State—Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo. Following the depression of 1892,
a number of other States and cities established employment offices,
but up to 1900 the movement was slow, experimental, and not very
successful on the whole. Within the last 10 years, however, many
States have studied the subject. They have framed laws more care
fully, increased the appropriations for the work, and in other ways
have attempted to promote the efficiency of the offices.
All but a few of the public employment offices now in operation
have been established since 1900. Illinois and Wisconsin opened
their first offices in 1899; now there are six in the former and four in
the latter State. The commissioner of labor of Missouri organized
a free employment office at St. Louis in 1899 without legislative
authorization; since then the State has passed a law establishing
three offices. Minnesota began with a municipal office in 1901. This
was taken over by the State and two others have been created. Kan
sas passed its free employment bureau law in 1901, and the same
1 Extract from Appendix III o f the report on unemployment In the State of New York
prepared in 1911 by W. M. Leiserspn for the commission on employers* liability and unem
ployment.
2 Refers to 1011. For the more recent developments see article entitled “ The movement
for public labor exchanges,” Journal of Political Economy, July, 1015, p. 707.
13
14
BU LLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
year Connecticut established five offices. Massachusetts began with
the Boston office in 1906, and since then offices have also been opened
in Springfield and Fall River. Michigan in 1905 passed a law estab
lishing two offices. Three more were added in 1907, and the legis
lature of 1909 added three more, making eight in all. Oklahoma
has recently established three offices, Rhode Island and Indiana one
each, and in Newark, N. J., a municipal office was organized two
years ago.
The conditions which have led to the establishment of these free
employment offices have varied in the different States. In most cases
abuses by the private employment agencies have been powerful
arguments for the establishment of public offices. The lack of farm
labor in the agricultural States and the presence of large numbers
of unemployed wage earners in the industrial centers have greatly
helped the movement. The growing belief that it is the duty of the
State to prevent idleness as far as possible and the example of foreign
Governments and neighboring States have also been important causes.
Where the State conducts the employment offices, they are usually
connected with the bureau of labor, and the commissioner of labor is
the responsible head. In Kansas the office of “ director of free em
ployment” has been created. Where the bureau is maintained by a
municipality the superintendent is usually responsible directly to the
mayor. In Newark, N. J., the city clerk conducts the free employ
ment bureau.
The office force, including the superintendent, is in most cases
appointed by the commissioner of labor, who also has the power of
removal. A few States give power of appointment and removal to
the governor. The mayor, with the approval of the city council,
usually appoints the staff in the municipal employment offices. In
Tacoma the mayor appoints the superintendent upon recommenda
tion of a commission representing the city council, the chamber of
commerce, and the trade-unions; while in Seattle a civil-service
examination is required. The selection of the staffs in the three
Massachusetts offices is also by civil-service examinations.
The size of the office force is in most States limited by law, and
this has been a great weakness in the public employment offices of the
country. The general rule is to have a superintendent and one clerk,
while in some States only a superintendent is provided for each
office. Massachusetts alone has no legal limit to the size of the staff,
and the Boston office has, besides the superintendent, eight clerks and
a caretaker. In Illinois a superintendent, an assistant, and a clerk
are appointed for each office. Four States—Indiana, Maryland,
Nebraska, and West Virginia—require the commissioner of labor
to conduct a free employment office in the office of the bureau of
labor, usually with the same office force.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
15
The salary of the superintendent in no State is more than $1,500
per annum . From $1,200 to $1,500 is usually paid. In a few of the
smaller offices the salary is $900. Clerks are paid from $600 to $1,000,
and where there axe chief clerks or assistant superintendents, the
salary is from $1,000 to $1,200.
Office methods vary greatly in different States, and even within
the same States different offices use different methods. Most of the
laws require that there shall be separate rooms for men and for
women. Only one office, that of Boston, has further division into
departments for skilled and unskilled workers.
In Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and West
Virginia practically all the applications for employment as well as
for help are made by mail. This mail-order system is necessary
where no appropriation is made for fitting up and maintaining free
employment offices, and where the work has to be carried on in the
rooms of the bureau of labor statistics or of the city clerk. No
efficient system of bringing together the supply of labor and the
demand can be carried on by mail alone. In Iowa, and in Montana
(where offices were given up) the mail-order system was used; and
the least successful offices now in existence are those which conduct
a mail-order business.
The laws generally stipulate that records shall be kept of the
name, address, and character Of work or help desired by each appli
cant. A few States require that a separate register be kept giving
sex, nationality, duration of unemployment, etc., of each applicant,
but this is not to be open to public inspection, and it is not obligatory
on any applicant to give this information. In Massachusetts the
bureau of statistics must devise the forms for keeping the records
of the employment offices.
There is little uniformity and practically no cooperation among
the various offices, even within a State. Hardly in any office are all
the applicants registered. In many cases employers’ applications
are not taken if the help they want is not available, and there is a
general practice of not registering applicants for employment unless
there is some work to which they can be referred. This makes the
statistics of the public employment offices very unreliable. It makes
the proportion of applicants for whom work is found and the propor
tion of vacancies which are filled very high and gives no idea of the
actual supply of labor and demand for help. The statistics of the
number of positions filled are also not very reliable. The methods
of finding out whether the men sent to employers have secured the
positions are lax in many cases, and in few offices are they alike.
The most efficient scheme has been devised in Boston, where a clerk
verifies every position filled by means of the telephone or by mail.
16
BULLETIN OF TH E BTJEEATJ OF LABOB STATISTICS.
In some States the superintendent of each office is required to make
weekly reports to the commissioner of labor of the applications for
employment and for help. The commissioner must publish these and
distribute them throughout the State. This work has not been very
successful, the results seldom justifying the expense. In most States
the superintendent makes monthly reports to the commissioner of
labor, who publishes them in his annual report.
The policy of the public employment offices in times of strike is
shaped by their official heads. The first laws of Illinois and Wis
consin contained clauses prohibiting the superintendents from sup
plying help to employers whose workmen were on strike. These
clauses were declared unconstitutional by the courts. In many States
the trade-unions have secured the appointment of their men as com
missioners or superintendents to look after their interests. Thus
labor men have been favorable on the whole to the free employment
offices, while employers have rather opposed them. In Massachu
setts the applicant is informed of the existence of a strike by having
Ms introduction card stamped to that effect. Then he may apply for
the position or not, as he sees fit.
The total number of places found annually for wage earners by
the public employment offices is about 300,000. The cost varies
greatly. In Seattle, Wash., where the office places large numbers
of unskilled workers in hop fields and lumber camps, the cost per
position secured is only 4 cents. In some of the smaller offices the
cost is as high as $2, $3, and even $4 per' position secured. In most
offices, however, the average expense of finding a position for an
applicant is less than $1.
Illinois spends more money than any other State for employment
bureaus. It appropriates annually over $40,000 for the maintenance
of its six offices. Massachusetts spends about $20,000 annually on its
three employment offices. In three or four States the law stipulates
that not more than $10,000 shall be appropriated for this work, and
in about half a dozen States the expenses for the free employment
offices have to be met from the appropriations for the conduct of the
bureaus of labor. Massachusetts and Illinois, which have the largest
appropriations, are doing the most effective work.
BUREAUS OF EMPLOYMENT IN EUROPE.
PROF. CHARLES R. HENDERSON, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.
Fortunately we have a recently published report which gives us
all the facts which it is possible to gather on our subject,1 and I
have used it freely in this paper.
1 Bulletin trimestriel de TAssoeiation Internationale pour la lutte contre le chdmage*
July-September, 1913.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
17
Two eminent statisticians of the German Empire, Dr. Freund and
Dr. Zacher, were appointed in 1912 to gather from all nations the
statistics of the bureaus of employment, in accordance with a pre
vious resolution taken in 1910. No more reliable authorities could
be selected. A schedule was sent to be filled out, and explanations
and recommendations were solicited. Fifteen countries sent replies.
Drs. Freund and Zacher arranged the tables and summarized the
results.
Their first conclusion was: “ The actual position as regards em
ployment bureaus is almost everywhere unsatisfactory. The scat
tered nature of the organizations and the diversity of the methods
of administration make it impossible to obtain a clear general view
of the situation of the labor market at a given moment, to determine
with certainty the number of workers available and the number of
vacant places, to establish a rational equilibrium between supply and
demand, to draw up useful statistics of the labor market, and to take
preventive measures in time against unemployment.”
It is desirable that this expert judgment, since it includes the
United States, should be known here, and that we should try to un
derstand how serious the situation is. We can never make progress
while we choose to live in a fool’s paradise and shut our eyes to
disagreeable truth. All that we can do is mere patchwork and
quackery until we have a scientific foundation in knowledge and the
organization for obtaining knowledge of facts.
The international committee declares that this “ survey reveals a
multiplicity of forms, a splitting up into fragments, and huge gaps
in the methods of employment agencies which actually amounts to
anarchy. The only exception is England, which is the only nation
which can show a network of employment agencies over the whole
economic field which is unified and regulated by law. But even the
English report gives no information whether and in how far there
are, in addition to the State offices, other employment offices, espe
cially those of employers or of employees; whether for the total num
ber of the wage earners (14,000,000), of whom the State offices served
only 500,000, there are agencies; and whether and how far the State
organization is gradually drawing in the other offices and estab
lishing a monopoly.” This seems, from some figures given, to be the
tendency, but the time of operation is still too short for assured
judgment.
A distinguished and honored citizen of our country has recently
published an article, which has been widely quoted in the newspapers,
in which he held up the German system #as a model of unified, inter
locking, systematic provisions for securing employment. No doubt
some of these offices are doing excellent work; but this German report
28888°—Bull. 192—16------2
18
BULLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.
is far from optimistic. The statistics and descriptions show that
the organization of the labor market in Germany is very imperfect,
“ The two essential principles of a rational system of labor ex
changes—neutrality and centralization—are far from being realized.
The principle of neutrality is broken down particularly by the em
ployment bureaus of interested parties, such as employers and em
ployees. On the other hand, the labor exchanges are not centralized
according to localities or trades, nor even interlocally. Interlocal
centralization is equally a vital necessity in enabling the labor ex
change to fulfill its essential work of maintaining, on the largest
possible scale, the balance between the supply of and demand for
labor” (pp. 689, 690). “ The first attempt in the way of inter
local centralization was made by the federations of public labor
exchanges. At the present time these exist in all the federated States
except two, Mecklenburg and Bremen. In addition, all the Provinces
of Prussia possess them or are taking steps for their organization.
But for the success of their work, the federations need to become in
stitutions established by public law. Lacking this, they are depend
ent on the good will of local authorities, having neither the power to
create nor the right to inspect employment bureaus, profit making
or otherwise. Finally, from the financial point of view, they are at
the mercy of the State and the communes, whose subventions can at
any moment be stopped.
“ Besides the reform which aims at equipping the federations with
the necessary legal powers, there should be created for the whole
Empire a central organization to be intrusted, as a beginning, with
the task of unifying at least the labor exchange statistics.”
This must be taken as an official and authoritative statement of the
situation in Germany.
FRANCE.
The situation in France is set forth in the statement of these facts
furnished to the international association:
The gratuitous, semiphilanthropic exchanges are not growing in
usefulness. The bureaus maintained by employers filled 324,000
places out of a. total of 812,000 in 1911; the public free bureaus
filled fewer than 100,000 places. About two-thiras of this work was
done in Paris alone, chiefly for workers in the provision trades,
domestic service, and hairdressing.
The profit-making bureaus filled 259,129 places, 239,884 of which
were filled by domestic servants. The law of 1904, which was de
signed to suppress these profit-making offices, evidently failed of
its purpose, since of 709 such exchanges existing in 1911, 235 have
been created since March 14,1904. Until good public exchanges are
established these costly and dangerous offices will be able to exist
in spite of adverse legislation.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
19
But in France the half-measures of the public have made little
progress. The State set apart in its budget 35,000 francs ($6,755)
to subsidize satisfactory municipal employment bureaus under joint
management of employers and employed. Yet out of nearly 200
towns where bureaus nominally exist, there have been scarcely 20
which met the conditions of receiving the subsidy from the Govern
ment.
Various propositions have been made, but nothing satisfactory and
adequate has been done by the supreme legislature.
AUSTRIA.
In Austria the public employment bureaus take various forms,
there being no Imperial law to regulate them on uniform principles.
Bohemia and Galicia have regulated employment bureaus by legis
lation in those Crown lands, in 1903 and 1904. Little has been done
to encourage public employment bureaus by subsidies.
Public employment bureaus due to private initiative exist in all the
Provinces, except Dalmatia and Carinthia. All these institutions
are linked, very loosely and inefficiently, by the Imperial Federation
founded in 1906.
Side by side with these public institutions there are in Austria
bureaus organized by corporations, employers’ associations, work
men’s trade-unions, charitable, religious, social, and economic soci
eties, and profit-making employment bureaus. The public bodies
play the most important part. About one-half of their operations
deal with domestic servants, and more than 40 per cent deal with
workers in industry and in handicraft. The charitable bureaus deal
principally with domestic servants; the profit-making bureaus find
situations in about an equal proportion for servants and other wage
earners, particularly in the catering trade. The finding of places in
agriculture is effected principally by the public bureaus. In 1911 the
Agricultural Society of Vienna created a central employment bureau
for agriculture, in order to supply laborers to the Alpine regions.
For some time this office has also undertaken to place laborers in
other agricultural regions.
The most important exchanges are those of Vienna and the Bohe
mian cities.
The attitude of trade-unions toward public exchanges in Austria
has changed from time to time, organized workers actually applying
in large numbers to the public offices.
Hungary has no system based on the principles of neutrality and
centralization. Three important exchanges are conducted by public
officials and representatives of employers. Subsidies are paid by the
State, by the cities, and by employers.
20
BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
BELGIUM.
Employers have one exchange, established by the chamber of
commerce. Some of the trade-unions try to place their members in
situations, but their statistics are imperfect. A few offices are main
tained by associations for providing workmen’s dwellings. Philan
thropic societies have a certain number of bureaus. Many efforts
have been made, with some success, to establish exchanges in the
management of which employers and employees are represented.
DENMARK.
The employment bureaus of the employers are few and relatively
unimportant. Those organized by the wage earners number 21,
with 73,285 members; their central office has not yet become very'
effective. The city of Copenhagen has a local exchange supported
by the municipality and governed by a committee which represents
employers and employees. In April, 1913, the legislature enacted
a law in regard to labor exchanges which provides for the regula
tion of local public exchanges and a central office at the capital. The
bureaus are to be governed by a committee of at least seven members
elected by the municipal council or similar body, with equal repre
sentation of employers and employed; the chairman must be inde
pendent of both sides. The central office is a branch of government.
The services of placement are gratuitous. Cost of transportation
is to be met by the exchanges. The local bureaus are required to
cooperate with the others through the central office.
Local bureaus are supported by the public funds of the munici
palities served, with a subsidy of one-third of the expenses from the
State.
ITALY.
There is only one bureau maintained by employers. The exchanges
of the employees are maintained by labor offices, national tradeunions, isolated leagues, and organizations of agricultural laborers.
There are a few not very important mixed exchanges, maintained by
employers and employees, chiefly for bakers and hotel waiters.
There is only one municipal exchange. The State has only ex
changes for sailors at the ports.
The famous Society Umanitaria at Milan has done some effective
work on a small scale.
Italy has little to teach or encourage us on this point, according
to the report of their committee.
SWITZERLAND.
Eighty-five bureaus replied to the question list; 24 are under joint
management of employers and employed; 48 are affiliated with a
federation, and 14 of this number with a federation which main
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
21
tains exchange of information with States outside Switzerland.
Thirteen bureaus ignore trade disputes; 20 notify both parties of the
existence of a dispute and continue to work; 23 bureaus take part
in disputes by boycotting one of the two parties. Nineteen bureaus
were connected with unemployment relief funds. The Swiss union
of labor offices, created about 10 years ago, comprises 15 public ex
changes, with headquarters at Zurich; and the public exchange is
gradually showing its superiority to those privately conducted in the
interest of a party. The organization in Switzerland is worth study.
GREAT BRITAIN.
The most complete system yet constructed is that of Great Britain,
which began its activity in February, 1909, under the Labor Exchanges
Act of 1909. This law has few sections and merely gives the Board of
Trade power to establish or take over labor exchanges, to assist labor
exchanges maintained by other authorities, to collect and furnish in
formation as to employers requiring workpeople and workpeople
seeking employment; to establish advisory committees for the pur
pose of giving the Board of Trade advice and assistance, and to make
regulations as to the management of labor exchanges, with special
reference to the question of advancing fares as loans to workmen
proceeding to employment.
The United Kingdom was divided into divisions for convenience in
administration, with an office for each division and all being con
nected with the central office in London. There are 8 divisions, with
430 exchanges. These exchanges are also organs of the new unem
ployment insurance, in which policy Great Britain boldly leads the
world.
Women are dealt with so far as possible by women officers, and a
special staff takes care of juveniles. The buildings used permit of
classification of applicants: Insurable and uninsurable, artisans and
laborers, women, girls, boys have separate accommodations when
desirable.
Applicants for situations fill in suitable forms, which are indexed,
and they are notified when places are found for which they are
adapted. Applications for workpeople are received by telephone,
telegram, letter, or personal call.
“ The duty of the manager of the exchange is first of all to en
deavor to fill such vacancies as may be notified to him from his cur
rent or live register. Should, however, he be unable to do so, he
communicates by means of special forms or cards with the divi
sional center to which that exchange is attached, which in its turn
circulates the unfilled vacancies notified from the various exchanges
under its control to the other exchanges in its district where appli
cations of the class required are likely to be found. Should it not be
22
BULLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.
possible to fill the vacancy within the division, the divisional office
circulates it to the other divisions, where a similar procedure is
followed. Thus an application for employment or a vacancy notified
entirely loses its local character and becomes available throughout
the whole country.”
In case of strike or lockout the association of employers or work
men may give a confidential notice of the fact to the exchange, and
applicants are notified of the dispute and act accordingly. This
procedure, it is claimed, has been satisfactory to both sides.
It is cruel mockery to offer a man a job at a distance when his
shoe soles are already worn out, his stomach growling for food, his
energy depleted by starvation, and his pocketbook long since empty.
An essential feature of the English system is the provision for ad
vancing railway fare to the place where work is found. In the year
1912, 96,189 persons took advantage of this measure, 12.3 per cent of
all vacancies filled. Of the sum advanced, 94.4 per cent was repaid,
and all but a trifle (1.6 per cent) would be paid in time. This ad
vantageous measure is subject to the following conditions:
(1) That the privilege is limited to workmen for whom vacancies
have been found through a labor exchange.
(2) That the advance is a loan and in no way a gift or act of
charily, and that it must be repaid, by installments if necessary,
which may be deducted from the workman’s wages by the employer
in convenient amounts.
(3) That fares may not be advanced in cases of workmen proceed
ing to vacancies caused by a trade dispute affecting their trade, or
to vacancies where the wages offered are lower than those current
in the trade in the district where the employment is found.
Without pretending to offer a complete program, the review
of European experience suggests a few conclusions from the survey.
1. The necessity of establishing a central, national, nonpartisan
organization is generally recognized by expert opinion; it is realized
only in Great Britain; and even there it is still experimental.
In the United States the constitutional limitations upon the au
thority of Congress would probably make the British system im
possible; but it might be possible to maintain a bureau at Washington
whose function would be:
(a) To collect and circulate information about the labor market
in all the important centers of the Union;
(b) To extend and improve the present facilities for guiding and
protecting immigrants in search of places to work;
(e) To secure Federal legislative and administrative control of
movements of labor between the States and in interstate commerce.
2. The several States should each have a central organization, a
AMEBICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
23
network of free employment exchanges, all combined in a cooperative
system, and equipped with means and authority for effective service.
3. The municipalities should have their own local exchanges, but
these should be under control and direction of the State system, with
such local functions as would adapt them to peculiar needs of com
munities.
WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH OUR FREE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES 7—
DISCUSSION.
Mr. C k o x t o n , Columbus, Ohio. Employment offices do not get
enough information about the unemployed. Why do the same peo
ple apply over and over again at the offices? Why are there so few
skilled among them? These are some of the fundamental questions
which employment offices ought to answer.
Mr. H a l b e r t , Kansas City, Mo. The main trouble with State free
employment agencies is that they have not sufficient funds. Then
the office force has not a permanent tenure of office. There is con
stant changing of administrations, and hence officials can not become
experts. There are not enough State and municipal agencies. We
must change the industrial system so as to absorb the labor supply.
How do this? We must force all employment through the Govern
ment agencies. This would provide useful statistics for the future.
Unemployment insurance is needed. We should put the highest
premium on the most risky business; this will compel business men
to be more regular in their employment because of the lower in
surance fees.
Mr. C u n n i n g h a m , Lansing, Mich. I will not admit that there is
anything fundamentally wrong with free employment offices. They
are doing the best they can under the circumstances. Of course, there
is room for improvement. There are not enough of them, and they
have not enough funds. In Michigan the law provides for eight
offices, but no additional appropriation was granted when the last
three were created, so they have not been opened. Competition of
the private agencies keeps the public ones from growing. The pri
vate agencies solicit business and do much advertising. It is said
that they even bribe foremen to give them orders. One private
agency in Detroit pays its manager $16 a day. One of our great
difficulties is the “ cheap lodging-house crowd” that keeps hanging
around the offices. They are bad, do not care to work, and they keep
the good men away. The free offices should advertise more and get
people to understand that this is not a charity.
Mr. D u f f i n , Terre Haute, Ind. My State has five public employ
ment offices. Some of these are successful and others are more so.
When superintendents put in time to get acquainted with employers
24
BULLETIN" OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
they can get more business. Unless they do this the private agencies,
which are always soliciting business, will beat them. In Terre Haute
the public office has given satisfaction to employers, and this has been
the best advertising for the office. The trouble with free employment
offices has been that the superintendents got salaries. What we need
is men who will earn wages. A salary is what you get. Wages are
what you earn.
Mr. R e y n o l d s , Minnesota. Superintendents are not interested in
the work of the offices. There should be the same interest as people
have in their private business. This can be done and thus confidence
of employers and of workers gained, as in Milwaukee. There is
practically no cooperation among employment offices at the present
time. These should be organized into one system. Then there is no
uniformity in methods or in record keeping. Uniform systems and
close organization of the labor market is needed.
Mr. B e c k e r l e , Milwaukee, Wis. The first essential is a proper
office force. In Milwaukee all the office force are under civil-service
appointment. Only the best men are used for the office. Under the
old system the office clerks were political appointees. The newspapers
will do much advertising free of charge. We must learn the em
ployers’ needs and know the exact conditions in the places of work.
We must get acquainted with the foremen and know how to please
them. We must not show charity by giving an unfit man a place, but
give the place to the best man. Lastly, we must get acquainted with
the hangers-on, offer them work, follow their records, and drive out
those who will not take steady work.
Mr. S c h e r e r , Peoria, 111. Sometimes employers are too indefinite
in statement of the time limit within which they desire help. One
large company sends in orders for men, and then often some of the
last men to go to the job are returned. There are some hangers-on
always in the office, but there is usually some call for these.
Mr. E a k i n s , Chicago, 111. It is necessary to go out after the work.
There should be a special man to do this; the superintendent has not
time to attend to this matter. There are keen men from the private
agencies in competition. At present the free agencies get the refuse
after all the best has been picked out in the private agency. The
solicitor must be an able and well-posted man.
Mr. L e is e r s o n , Wisconsin. Although we are hampered by lack of
funds and other handicaps, there is much we can do if we go at it right.
It all depends on us who are in charge of the offices. In the summer
time there are more jobs than men; we must hustle then to get men.
If the agency can not get the men, it must advertise for them. If nec
essary, it must go to the “ dump ” (cheap lodging house) for them.
Try to induce the employers to come to the office and deal personally
with the men. The bookkeeping of the office is not with money, but
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
25
with jobs and men. Records are of value for statistical purposes,
and also to enable the office to fit the man to the job. The careful
fitting of men to jobs can not be accomplished without adequate
records. I f we adopt methods like these we can greatly increase our
business and win the confidence of the public. Then the legislatures
will support the offices as they ought to be supported.
HOW TO ORGANIZE A STATE SYSTEM OF EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.—
DISCUSSION.
Mr. S e a b s , Boston, Mass. Free public employment offices should be
organized imder the laws of the respective States and be under the
direction of a board or commission having to do with labor matters.
They should be so constituted as to provide a real market place
for the buyer and seller of labor, to provide a meeting place or ex
change where those in search of help or employment may be brought
together for mutual benefit.
They should be so constituted as to provide a real market place.
They should be managed on strictly business lines, the same as any
highly organized and well-conducted business. The duty of the
officials should be to furnish the public with information as to
where help or employment might be obtained.
These offices should be located in the chief geographical and rail
road centers, not less than 25 miles apart, unless it is evident, in a
large metropolitan city, that the public convenience and necessity
require the establishment of other offices.
There should be a provision for interchange of information rela
tive to opportunities which can not readily be filled by the local
office and also where there is a considerable number of a particular
kind or class of help idle.
The system should be uniform in all the offices, or as nearly so as
practicable.
The offices should be located preferably on the street floor, in well
ventilated and lighted quarters, with separate entrances for male
and female help, and accessible to the greatest number of people.
Quarters with entrances on two streets have an advantage over the
one-street place. There should be separate departments for the vari
ous kinds of help, the number of such departments to depend upon
the number of people to be served and the size of quarters. A small
office could have two departments, male and female, and this could
be enlarged upon as conditions and demands require, so that an ideal
office would have the following nine departments: (Male) Mercantile
help; minors, with a vocational counselor in charge; industrial and
mechanical trades; hotel, restaurant, and culinary help; farm hands
26
BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
and general laborers; (female) mercantile and factory help; hotel,
restaurant, and culinary help; certain classes of institution help;
domestics and dayworkers. A competent person should be in charge
of each department.
The administration or office division should have: An employers’
registry clerk, to take charge of all orders received for help—
whether in person, by mail, or telephone—with an assistant if neces
sary; a clerk to act as statistician or record clerk; a delinquent-employers clerk; a stenographer; a clerk in charge of employees’ special
applications; a superintendent and an assistant superintendent, the
latter to have charge of a department and to act in the absence of
the superintendent; a clerk to have charge of all handicapped cases
sent in by the charities and public benefactors, also paroled and dis
charged prisoners and juvenile delinquents.
Whenever we have an opportunity to place a discharged or paroled
prisoner or a juvenile delinquent, we inform the prospective employer
of the facts about the applicant. We do not believe it good policy
to advertise widely our work in this line, for the reason that it might
result in a loss of public confidence in the office. A certain number
of handicapped cases can be assimilated with our regular business,
but we have a duty to a large number of the public whose interests
are, perhaps, much greater and of more importance.
During the dull periods, certain clerks could be sent out to visit
employers to request cooperation. I do not believe that we should
have solicitors outside of the office, for though it might be perfectly
legitimate, it could be construed as competing with private enterprise
and make the office open to criticism. We are, in a sense, in competi
tion with private enterprise, yet-we should not be offensively so. Our
office hours and methods of doing business should conform in a
general way with those of the high-class private agencies. We should
depend upon the rendering of efficient service to obtain and retain
public confidence.
Mr. L e is e r s o n , Wisconsin. Our experience has shown that there
should be a central office in the State to act as a sort of a clearing
house for all the offices in the State. This should be in charge of
a State superintendent whose business it would be to conduct all
the offices on a uniform plan and to connect them into one system.
The State superintendent should also train the office force of each
of the offices and supervise their work. He should visit the offices
regularly and keep tab on their business and methods. He should
also travel over the State to get acquainted with employers, workers,
and conditions of labor and to solicit business for the offices.
In Wisconsin we have four offices and the State superintendent
has a central office at the capitol in Madison. Each office sends a
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
27
daily report to this office showing the business done, classified by
industries and occupations. In this way if one office shows a demand
for help which it can not fill, while another has applications for em
ployment which might be used to fill the order, we try to fill it from
this other office.
Our State superintendent is also supervisor of private employment
agencies, and that is a good plan to adopt in organizing a State
system of public offices. It takes an employment agent to catch an
employment agent. No ordinary inspector can get on to all the tricks
of the private agencies. But the superintendent of the public offices
knows all the details of the business and he is therefore best fitted
to regulate the private agencies. This, by the way, is the real reason
why the agents object so strenuously to placing the regulation of
private offices under the same management as the public offices. The
State system of employment offices should be connected with the State
labor department because the management of the offices is interwoven;
with many labor questions and with a knowledge of the labor con
ditions in the State. Besides, the employment offices are but a part
of a program of dealing with the whole problem of unemployment
which we must work out in the future and which the labor depart
ments will have to administer.
Now, unfortunately, labor departments are generally considered
purely political offices, and not only political parties but capital and
labor each try to get control of them. The management of the em
ployment offices is an administrative and technical matter and should
not change with political administration. There may be some fun
damental questions of policy that depend on different political views.
These should be decided by the head of the department, who is a
political officer and represents the successful political party. All
other members of the staff of employment offices, including the State
superintendent, should be civil-service appointees.
The objection is made that you can not get good men for superin
tendents by written examinations. But civil service does not depend
upon such examinations. I, as State superintendent, took an exami
nation, but it consisted merely of an interview with the chief exami
ner and some members of the civil-service commission. But a better
scheme of examination has been adopted in selecting the superintend
ents for the Milwaukee office. There we have a committee represent
ing employers, unions, and the State labor department, sitting with
the civil-service examiners and conducting the examination. This
consists mainly of oral interviews. There is also a written test, but
it counts for only three points out of ten and is designed only to
see if candidates have the minimum education needed for the work.
By means of these examinations we have secured not only first-class
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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
men but also men who both employers and unions confidently be
lieve will do their work impartially as between capital and labor.
Impartiality must be the prime principle in managing public em
ployment offices. So many have failed in the United States because
either employers or unions controlled the offices for partisan pur
poses. In order to insure strict impartiality in the management
there should be a committee representing employers’ associations
and unions in equal numbers attached to the employment offices to
advise the staff in all matters relating to the work of the officers and
to see to it that there is no discrimination for or against either side.
Advisory committees of this kind have been organized in all Euro
pean countries where public labor exchanges, as they call employ
ment offices, are successful. We copied the scheme in Milwaukee,
and there we have a committee representing the Merchants’ and
Manufacturers’ Association, the Federated Trades Council, and also
the local authorities, who supply funds in addition to the funds sup
plied by the State.
It is very desirable to have the employment offices supported not
only by the State but by the local authorities as well. The State
should pay and control the staff and furnish the record forms in
order to insure uniformity, but local expenses, like rent, light, heat,
etc., might be paid by the cities or counties. This plan is now in
force in Ohio and Wisconsin, and it is found valuable in stimulating
local interest and confidence as well as getting more adequate support
for the offices.
A RECORD SYSTEM FOR FREE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.—DIS
CUSSION.
WHAT RECORDS SHOULD BE KEPT AND HOW THET SHOULD BE KEPT.
Mr. S e a r s , Boston, Mass. Any public free employment office must
necessarily have some form of record by which to keep account of the
employer’s demands. Our “ employer’s registry card ” would seem to
be as simple as it can be and yet contain certain necessary information
by which the person intrusted with the duty of selecting applicants for
the opportunity may know what is expected of the office and at the
same time be able to have a record which is continuous for future
use, showing the transactions between the office and the employer.
Some record must also be kept of applicants for employment who
are sent out to a prospective employer, and our “ employee’s registry
slip” is simple and at the same time records certain necessary
information, not alone for statistical purposes, but for purely em
ployment office uses.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
29
The “ introduction card” must exist in one form or another by
which to give definite directions to the applicant for work, and our
card accomplishes this result. Therefore, there would seem to be
need in these offices for the use of an “ employer’s registry card,”
an “ employee’s registry slip,” and an “ introduction card.” All
other blanks or forms may be said to be supplementary to these three.
By our system of records, we are able at a moment’s notice to tell
whom we have sent to any employer, the date sent, and whether or
not he was engaged. We can also tell where the employee was sent,
when he was sent, and whether or not he was hired. Both are kept as
a continuous record.
Our “ index card,” so called, is necessary as an office record; it really
is an index or office directory of employers who are our patrons, it
serves as an office check on all employer’s registry cards sent to the
departments during the day, is important for statistical work, and
also serves as a ledger account for each employer’s business with the
office.
The “ delinquent employer’s postcard” is used for employers who
can not easily be. reached by telephone, notifying them of the service
rendered and requesting a report as to whether the service is complete
or not. There are many forms which can be devised for such use,
but ours is very simple.
The “ bulletin of opportunities” was created for use as a possible
means of obtaining publicity in certain municipalities and giving
persons a chance to learn of available opportunities without incurring
the expense and inconvenience of a trip to the office.
The superintendent’s “ office card ” is necessary. An “ advertising
card” for general distribution has its value; there are other forms
which may be used, but ours contains all that would seem to be
necessary. The “ card of introduction to the superintendent” is
useful to send to charities and public benefactors. It can be kept for
record so that at the close of the year certain special statistics may
be tabulated.
If a free public employment office is to have the semblance of
making an intelligent selection of applicants for employment, and to
render a proper account of its work, the records which we keep are
essential.
Mr. L e is e r s o n , Wisconsin. The system of records used by Mr.
Sears in Boston is very good, but for most employment offices it is
likely to be too elaborate. It requires too much clerical work. In
Wisconsin we studied the Boston forms and also the forms used in
European countries, and we worked out a somewhat ampler system.
We have one card for each applicant for employment, and only one.
When we register a man we keep that card, and if we get him a job
30
BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
it is marked on the back. Should the man return later, after two or
three months or a year or more, we would get that card and merely
place another date on it—spaces are provided—to show that he is re
registered. Then if he is sent to another job, this is noted on the
back of the card again, and so on, as many times as the man may
appear. The front of the card requires all such information as will
enable us to know the man’s experience, qualifications, reliability, etc.
On the back of the card we note everything we do for the man—
the places he is sent to, whether he got the job and stayed, and so on.
By keeping one card for each man all the time we have a complete
record of all the office does for an applicant, how many times he
applied for work, how many jobs he got, and so forth.
Applications for employment are filed alphabetically. All those
for whom positions are secured go into what we call a dead file. All
those registered within the last month go into our “ live file.” I f a
man registers and we get him no job but he does not come back to
renew his registration after a month, we assume that he got work
for himself or left town. We then transfer his card to the dead file.
For the employers we find we must have two cards. One is just
a simple application for help, giving the kind wanted, number, wages
paid, and so on. On the back of this are spaces to note the names
of men sent in answer to that call and the dates. Every time an
employer places an order a new card like this is filled out. Then to
keep tab on all the business done with each employer we have an
employer’s record card, on which all the information from these
order cards are transferred.
In sending an applicant to an employer, we have the common kind
of introduction card which has the address of the office on the back,
and the employer is asked to mail it back to us postpaid with a 1-cent
stamp. About 50 per cent of these cards come back to us this way.
The rest we have to verify by telephone or writing letters or personal
calls. Many are never counted, because we can not find out if the men
really got the work.
Finally, we have this “ Daily report of business,” which goes to the
State superintendent at the end of each day’s business. It contains a
list of all the industries and occupations in Wisconsin classified and
grouped after the United States Census classification of occupations.
There are four columns on the report blank to show how many ap
plications for work, help wanted, referred to positions, and positions
secured there were for each occupation. At the bottom will be seen the
heading, “ Casual work ” (odd jobs). Under this we note every kind
of work, skilled or unskilled, which lasts less than a month. All the
others we consider not permanent positions but “ regular positions.”
That is, we can tell by the name of the occupation how long the
season ordinarily lasts.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
81
From these daily reports we get up a monthly summary showing
demand and supply for each industry and occupation. This is sent
out to the press in the form of a labor-market bulletin.
THE WOMEN’S DEPARTMENT OF A FREE EMPLOYMENT OFFICE.
MRS. W . L . ESSMAN.
When establishing a women’s free employment office great care
should be taken in selecting the right location. I believe the office,
in order to render the greatest service, should be on a prominent
business street, preferably on the ground floor, distinctly separate
from the men’s department, and have a woman superintendent in
charge.
One of the most important things to be considered is the registra
tion of applicants. All women who apply for work should be reg
istered. This should be done on cards, prepared for this purpose,
having certain headings. The name, address, telephone number,
country of birth, length of time in the United States, length of time
in city, conjugal condition, and number of dependents are necessary
items. Then the kind of work desired and, in order to know more
of the applicant, her last position should be listed, together with the
length of time employed.
Instead of reregistering an applicant when a second place is asked
for, a column of renewals will greatly facilitate the work as the
entering of the date will signify that it is a second registration. By
registering each applicant as she comes in, each is given an equal
chance, as the one registered first will be given the preference, other
conditions being the same, and she will feel as if we have made an
effort to assist her by placing her name on file. Blank spaces on the
back of the cards with headings for employer, occupation, and date
sent, and verifying space, make an easy system by which the history
of these women may be kept.
Private interviews and registrations will prove of great value, as
the applicant does not become embarrassed by having many listeners
and the truth is more apt to be told. An effort is made to fit the
applicant to the position and upon our efficiency in this depends the
success of the work, so time and consideration should be given each
individual.
Employers’ orders also must be carefully recorded. Cards of a
smaller size may be used, having spaces for the date, name, address,
telephone number, kind and age of help desired, wages, hours, and
remarks. Spaces on the back of-these cards provide for the name of
the employee sent and the date.
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BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
When sending an applicant to a place a card should be given her
with the name of the employer and his address and her own name.
This card bearing the name of the office is of great assistance to the
girl or woman, since it states her business for her and enables her to
reach the proper party more easily and quickly, and I believe people
are more ready to assist her to find the right place. The name of the
employer should then be entered on the back of the employee’s card,
and vice versa.
After an applicant has been sent out, one should by no means feel
as though that work was finished. Some follow-up system must now
come. The introduction card given her may be in the form of a post
card having a space for the employer to sign in case the applicant is
hired and it should then be mailed to the office. This would be an
ideal system could the employers be trained to return all cards, but
many of them put the applicant to work and forget all about the
office. Then, after a short time, the employer should be telephoned
to. A report can be usually secured in this way, which should be en
tered upon both cards. Any easy system of marks will do for this, but
it is well to have several, as hired, hired and left, hired and did not
report, not hired, and did not report. In this way one comes to know
the applicants better and how to deal with them. Return post cards
are sent out when the party can not be reached by telephone, and one
of these three methods will usually prove efficient.
In filing the registration cards it is well to classify them into the
following classes, viz: Factory help and clerical help, day women,
domestic, hotel and restaurant help, which may be subdivided into
several classes. If you then have a call for a waitress, for instance,
the list will be convenient and an applicant may be telephoned to and
asked to report.
A list of day women having telephones is an aid to promptness,
particularly during the season when there is a great demand for
these women.
At the close of each day a report should be made showing the
number of employers’ orders, number of applications, number of
help wanted, number referred to positions and the number of posi
tions secured.
There are several methods of obtaining the cooperation of the em
ployers; however, I believe personal solicitation is the best way, for
one becomes acquainted not only with the employer but with the place
of employment, as factories, stores, hotels, and restaurants. This
method would not be possible among private families, but an adver
tisement inserted in the daily papers will bring the office to the atten
tion of these people and also of the employees. Cards and circular
letters sent to the different clubs, organizations, and societies will prove
of help, also the answering of want ads. These should be posted in the
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
33
office for the benefit of the employees. Employers should be en
couraged to call at the office and interview the help there whenever
possible, otherwise they should pay the carfare. During the different
seasons of the year there are different problems to be met. In the
winter, work in general is slack and many more women are forced to
work, especially dayworkers, and it is very difficult, in fact impos
sible, to secure work for them all. Every possible effort should be
made to secure work for them and the work should be so divided
that all receive help to some degree.
The demand for domestics is always far in excess of the supply,
but at this time of the year girls from other classes are taking up this
work. Positions in hotels and restaurants are not so plentiful and
the girls are forced to do housework until the summer resorts open.
Most of these girls are not competent and do not give satisfaction.
How to secure more competent girls for housework, and more of
them, is a problem yet unsolved.
Factories have established employment offices of their own, as have
department stores. This kind of help should be supplied by a central
office. Much can not be done in clerical lines until a separate depart
ment is provided for and a great deal of soliciting done.
In summer the great difficulty is in securing enough help to supply
the demand.
Ordinarily but one applicant is sent to a position unless there are
several asked for and then it is safe to send one or two extra ones
as some will not report or will not accept the work.
I think one of the most difficult daily problems is the one which
confronts us when it becomes necessary for us to discriminate be
tween applicants. As I have said, the one registered first should be
given the preference, other conditions being the same; otherwise
we must send the one having the best record and who appears in our
judgment to be the one best suited for the position. I f our judg
ment proves good the women will know that we are trying to do
our best for each and every one and they will be satisfied. If a
woman has failed to make good, we tell her that we do not believe
she will be the proper one for the place because sKe has not proved
herself to be reliable.
An employee should never be sent to any place where there is any
doubt regarding its moral condition. In order to know the standing
of different places it is wise to go to the city official to gain informa
tion, which, in some cases of which I know, has been freely given.
What advice shall we give to the girl who comes to the office and
says she wants work but does not know what she wishes to do ? This
will happen frequently and we can not advise too carefully. I have
recommended housework in some cases, thinking the moral influence
28888°—Bull. 192—16------3
BU LLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS..
34
would be better than in a hotel or restaurant or factory. In other
cases when the parents insist upon the girl rooming at home, factory
or store work is the only available kind. I f wages are to be consid
ered, an inexperienced girl will make more in a private family than
in a factory, but a girl who lives at home and takes up factory work
and becomes efficient will receive good wages and have short hours.
Great care should be taken in sending applicants out of the city.
In every case the employer should be made to furnish reference and
to pay the railroad fare.
HANDLING OF IMMIGRANT WORKERS.
H.
J.
BECKEKLE,
SUPERINTENDENT
FREE EM PLOYM ENT
OFFICE,
M IL
W AU KEE, W IS.
One of the main objects of the State employment offices is the
distribution of unskilled workers. The greater per cent of un
skilled labor consists of foreigners who emigrated from countries
where they lived the narrow static life of peasants, and on arrival
are handicapped by unfamiliarity with the language and country;
are remote from friends or relatives; and they are easy prey to
exploitation.
To concentrate this class of labor, to prevent its helpless wander
ing in search for work, is a problem which confronts us to-day.
Now the question arises not only how to do that, but how to do
it most successfully. How can the offices make their services most
available to the immigrant?
The State officers should not adopt a theory that they must wait
for the alien to find them, knowing well that private agents, who
prey upon him, pursue no such policy. It must be realized that a
vital and immediate contact with the immigrant must be made.
This is accomplished in two ways: First, by publishing in foreign
papers articles describing the purposes of the offices, their work, and
the results achieved, thus giving the offices publicity among the for
eign element. Second, by employing officers who speak foreign
languages, so as to give a chance to the foreigner to be thoroughly
understood. I wish to emphasize that this is a very important
matter, and no great success can be accomplished in the relations
with aliens unless this is well taken care of.
Once the relation between the office and immigrant is established,
considerable pains should be taken to gain the confidence of the
foreigner. So often has he been abused, cheated, and exploited by
private agents that naturally he has grown suspicious. He who has
been made to pay for every service rendered him, for every job fur
nished, can not quite understand how it is that here he can get a serv
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OPPICES.
35
ice free. He ought to be taught what a State employment office is and
in what ways it differs from private agencies. It should be impressed
upon his mind that it is not in any way a charitable institution and
does not furnish relief or financial aid but merely brings him in
touch with the job wherever it is waiting for him. He ought to be
made to realize that in exchange for service rendered he is to give
his best efforts to satisfy the employer by making good on a job
and thus assure for himself the services of the office for future needs;
and, on the other hand, that if he does not make good he need not
expect any assistance in the future.
Now we come to another important issue: It is selecting suitable
work for the foreigners. TJpon proper solution of this question de
pends our success with the employer. An erroneous conception
prevails among many State officers that all the foreign laborers
ought to be treated alike in regard to their working abilities and
intelligence. Such a conception is entirely wrong and can be taken
as an explanation of many failures. As all the labor jobs are not
alike, some being less disagreeable than others, some requiring less
or more physical strength, or less or greater degree of intelligence, so
are the foreign laborers not alike. Among them are more or less intel
ligent characters of different strength and looking for various kinds
of employment. Generally speaking, the peasant immigrant is looking
for ground work, construction labor, woods or farm work—kinds of
work that require great physical strength and endurance and less in
telligence. He is best qualified for this kind of work and generally
makes good. Another kind of immigrant, namely, the city immigrant,
presents a different case; he is better adapted for lighter factory
work, hotel and restaurant help, and oftentimes has a trade and is
looking for work in the line in which he is experienced. This kind of
foreigner, when sent to perform hard manual labor, seldom succeeds.
Here good judgment supported by previous experience ought to be
used. Your ability to speak his native tongue will be of great value
in determining for what kind of work the man is best suited. After
this is done, it is necessary to give him all the information concern
ing the work he is to perform. Nothing should be omitted that would
result in disappointment on the part of the worker. He should be
well posted about the wage he is going to receive, the hours of labor,
the conditions and probable duration of work, also if there are any
deductions to be made from his wages. Then assure him that if he
lives up to the agreement on his part he may expect that due pro
tection will be accorded him in case an attempt should be made by
the employer to break the agreement. Also he should be instructed
that if any misunderstanding arise between him and the employer
he should communicate with the office before giving up the job. This
brings good results.
36
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
I can cite a few instances where misunderstandings were adjusted
to mutual satisfaction. In one case some foreigners were sent to work
in a paper mill. They were told that if they remained in the com
pany’s employ for 30 days their railroad fare would be refunded. Al
though they worked longer than the required time, the company, by
oversight, forgot to refund fare, and the laborers, being unable to ex
plain the trouble to the foreman, wrote to the employment office in
their native language. The matter was taken up with the employer,
and he willingly adjusted it. Otherwise the men would probably have
quit their jobs. In another instance a party of woodsmen quit work
when deductions were made from their wages for doctor’s fees. They
claimed that this was not agreed to beforehand; that no mention had
been made of same. Their impression was that the company wanted
to take advantage of them. After it was explained to them that such
is the policy of all lumber companies, they returned to work. Cases
similar to this occur very frequently and almost always are quickly
settled.
So far I have dealt mainly with the foreign employees; now I
would like to say that successful handling of the immigrant worker
depends a great deal upon the methods used by the man who em
ploys foreign labor. We have had complaints in the past, particu
larly from lumber companies, that the foreign laborers we send do
not turn out satisfactorily. It seemed very odd to us, as we had
been sending the same kind of men to other companies and received
flattering remarks concerning them and the good work we were
accomplishing in selecting good men. Anxious to determine the
cause, we investigated the matter and found that the trouble was due
entirely to the policy adopted by some foremen in handling the men.
Upon the arrival of a gang of laborers they were given axes or saws
and told to go to work. Naturally this resulted in confusion. In
stead of showing the men the way to perform the work, the foreman
grew impatient and started to swear (that language is usually under
stood by the foreigner) and bad feeling arose and the men did not
make good. In other camps foremen (I presume, upon instructions
from the office) used more judgment and common sense in dealing
with the men and satisfactory results were a natural consequence.
DISTRIBUTION OF ALIEN AND CITIZEN LABOR.
WALTER L. SEARS, SUPERINTENDENT, FREE EM PLOYM ENT OFFICE, BOSTON,
MASS.
Since congestion, the result of overpopulation in the larger cities
in the United States, became a menace, those having to do with labor
matters have endeavored to solve the problem by “ labor distribu
tion.” I have given much thought to the question, and offer, as a par
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
37
tial solution, the following plan by which the needs of both labor and
capital would be clearly indicated and the chances of misrepresenting
opportunities for employment would be somewhat lessened.
The real problem is, “ How to get the people away from centers
where there is greatest unemployment to places where there is a
genuine scarcity of labor.” When publicity is given to “ oppor
tunities for employment” all over the country, there should be an
equalizing of labor conditions, such as does not now exist.
Practical, prudent publicity is the only means by which an effec
tive scheme for labor distribution can be successfully accomplished.
As a means toward that end, I recommend a bulletin similar to the
Weather Bureau map. If the public can be judiciously, promptly,
and reliably informed of “ opportunities for employment ” all over
the country, a long step toward a solution of the problem will have
been made. This “ Bulletin of opportunities” for help or situations
wanted should be posted in the post offices in the chief industrial,
geographical, and railroad centers, and such other places as may be
deemed advisable.
During the panic of 1908 a certain midwestern city appropriated
a considerable sum of money with which to relieve conditions then
existing in that city. This fact was published broadcast, with the
result that a large number went to that city. The money was soon
expended, and the people for whose relief it was set aside did not
receive the full benefit, and conditions were very much worse there
after. The same would undoubtedly be true of the labor market,
were the information relative to opportunities in only one city made
public.
I would give publicity to opportunities only where a considerable
number of a certain kind or kinds of help were idle or wanted. I
have arbitrarily set the figure at 500, for the reason that a smaller
number could be taken care of locally. If there were 500 or more
persons representing a particular trade or vocation idle or needed
in any locality, the bulletin should show that fact so that those who
were interested might learn just what to do.
The question arises as to how reliable information could be ob
tained. I recommend that the chief executive of each city in the
United States having a population of more than 50,000 be requested
to supply certain information on blanks to be provided by a centrally
located Federal bureau. The mayor or other executive head should
appoint a committee consisting of himself, president of the local board
of trade, president of the charity board, a representative of the local
labor council, and the postmaster; and if there is an -immigration
office or a public employment office in the city, it should be repre
sented on the committee. After making the appointments the mayor
should certify the same to the Federal bureau.
38
BU LLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOE STATISTICS.
These committees, acting under proper rules and regulations to be
established by the Federal bureau, could prepare information rela
tive to the condition of the labor market in their respective localities
and report when the conditions warrant it.
The Federal Government is manifestly the proper party to dis
seminate this information. Each report should be certified to by a
notary public, thereby insuring its authenticity and truthfulness. The
committee should be exceedingly careful not to misrepresent actual
conditions and in no case should a strike, lockout, or other labor trou
ble be given publicity outside of the locality in which it may exist.
I am certain that this idea can be worked out satisfactorily to both
labor and capital. The bulletin should be a graphic illustration of
labor conditions in this country. The matter of publishing it in cer
tain languages, together with other pertinent details, such as wages,
hours, and tenure, is of secondary consideration and can be worked
out as the result of experience.
This plan can be adopted without an act of Congress, as the
Department of Labor now has full authority. The Division of In
formation, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, was estab
lished several years ago chiefly for the purpose of providing a scheme
for the distribution of alien labor, and the Secretary of the Depart
ment of Commerce and Labor at that time, Mr. Strauss, subsequently
ruled that the law applied to citizen as well as alien labor.
RELATION OP PUBLIC TO PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES—
DISCUSSION.
Mr. C u n n i n g h a m , Michigan. There were 42 agencies in Michigan
last year, paying a license fee of $100 each. The law requires that
the commissioner of labor shall issue a license upon the payment of
$100 and the giving of a $1,000 bond. As long as these agencies are
legal the commissioners can not put them out of business. They do
much good. They may give better service than the State offices.
One office pays its superintendent $16 per day and makes no trouble
to the State through violation of the law. This manager is up to
date and a general hustler. He travels much and knows his business.
The danger of the private licensed offices is that men will be given
jobs and then retained only a short time by the employer, so as to
make room for others for the securing of another fee. An order
lately came to Detroit for 59 men to be sent to Chicago. Mr. Hart
was notified about this. Probably he will find who is making money
in such a deal.
Mr. D u f f i n , Indiana. Much of the repeating of short-time men
may be checked by careful consultation of the monthly records sent
in by the private employment agencies. When an office has been
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
39
furnishing 10 or 20 men at nearly regular short intervals and no
other office is supplying men to the same place, the chances are that
something is wrong. In such a case it is well to write or telephone
the superintendent of the works to learn whether the free office can
not supply some of this help. On many occasions the superintendent
does not know what has been going on. Some subordinate officer,
possibly a foreman, has been responsible for the hiring and rapid
discharge of the men. This results, in many cases, in the discharge
of the foreman, because such a thing can not continue without loss
both to the men employed and also to the industry through the intro
duction of so many who must learn the work. The State law de
mands an exact report from each private office under oath. These
reports are always checked up and comparisons made. The law has
never been tested in the supreme court, but fines as high as $200 for
violations have been paid to the State. These monthly reports must
contain the name of the applicant for work, the amount paid the
office for the service, and the name and address of the employer. I f at
the end of 10 days after receiving a fee no job is secured, 75 per cent
of the fee must be refunded.
Mr. S e a r s , Boston. The officials of the Massachusetts offices pay
little attention to the private employment agencies and are some
what indifferent as to their existence. When we receive complaints
in regard to their conduct the complainants are referred to the lawenforcing authority. The existence of the public employment offices
in Massachusetts has resulted in a decrease in the number of private
agencies, chiefly the more unscrupulous places. The high-class mer
cantile agencies, booking agencies, and teachers’ agencies may be
rendering an important service to the public, and perhaps the State
office could not, or rather does not pretend to, compete with such
agencies. What may happen in time to come I can not tell. I f the
public employment office serves its patrons courteously and effi
ciently, the unscrupulous agency will soon be a thing of the past. In
the last analysis the office which renders the highest service will
eventually get the business.
RESOLUTION RESPECTING THE PROMOTION OP EMPLOYMENT
BUREAUS BY THE SWISS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.1
BEAD BY DR. GUSTAFSON, CHICAGO.
1. With a view to the promotion of employment bureaus the Federal
Government shall grant subventions: (a) To public institutions act
ing as employment agencies (labor offices and employment bureaus
established by Cantons and communes), (b) To cantonal free food
1 Adopted O ct 29, 1909.
(1910).
See Bulletin o f the International Labor Office, E. B.
V. 68-70
40
BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
societies (Verb. f. Natumlverpflegwng), provided that, and in so far
as, they act as public employment bureaus, (c) To the league of
Swiss labor offices.
2. The receipt of such subventions shall be dependent upon the ful
fillment of the following conditions:
1. On the part of the said institutions—(a) They must assist per
sons of either sex in every branch of trade, industry, commercial
occupation, agriculture, and domestic service. As far as circum
stances permit special departments shall be instituted for different
classes of occupation, (b) Assistance must be given without fee on
either side; only the expense of any special efforts shall be charged to
the applicant, (o) The institutions must be managed and carried on
quite impartially; employers and workmen shall be represented in
equal numbers on their supervisory committees, (d) In the event of
a stoppage of work, strike, or lockout the institutions shall continue
their .work, but they shall take suitable steps to inform persons ap
plying to them of the fact that a dispute is in progress, (e) With
a view to referring applicants to other districts or a central office,
the institutions shall unite in a Swiss league, at the head of which
there shall be one or more central offices. The institutions may
affiliate branch offices in their distiicts; free food societies may also
become affiliated as branches; the several labor offices shall keep in
constant communication with each other and with the central office.
(/) The several institutions shall contribute regularly reports on
the state of the labor market, in accordance with special regulations
drawn up by the league and ratified by the department of industry.
The Federal Council may, where the circumstances justify this
course, allow exemptions from these conditions.
2. On the part of the cantonal free food societies—(a) The pro
curing of employment must be carried on in touch with the public
employment bureaus and a connection must be organized between
each free food society and the nearest labor office, (b) The societies
must contribute, by means of regular returns delivered to the labor
offices with which they are connected, to the reports on the state of
the labor market. The work of free food societies in procuring em
ployment may be limited to male workers.
3. On the part of the league of Swiss labor offices—(a) The
league shall designate, in agreement with the department of industry,
one or more suitable labor offices to act as central offices, (b) The
league shall, in agreement with the department of industry, draw up
uniform principles governing the business management of the sev
eral institutions and their mutual intercourse, the central offices, and
the development of the work of employment bureaus in general, and
also the compilation of statistics setting forth the results of the work
of all such institutions, (c) The league shall place itself at the dis
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
41
posal of the department of industry for the purpose of cooperating
in the compilation of statistics of unemployment and of promoting
measures for the prevention of unemployment.
3. The Federal Government shall (a) reimburse the expenses of the
central offices of the public institutions acting as employment agen
cies; (b) contribute one-third of the expenses of management of
the several institutions, not including furnishing and building ex
penses ; (c) pay to the cantonal free food societies 50 rappe (9.6 cents)
for every place filled; (d) pay to the league of Swiss labor offices a
yearly grant equivalent to one-half of its expenditures.
4. Establishments claiming Federal subventions in pursuance of
this resolution shall submit to the department of industry their rules
and regulations, together with estimates, annual accounts, and busi
ness reports adopted by the governing bodies concerned.
5. The department of industry shall have power to inspect at any
time the business management of institutions and leagues subsidized
by the Federal Government.
6. The Federal Government shall, in addition, have power to sub
sidize employment bureaus organized by trade-unions, provided that
the conditions set forth in section 2 (1) shall be observed as far as
possible. Notwithstanding, in such cases the subvention shall not
exceed any grants made from other outside sources (Cantons, com
munes, etc.).
7. The Federal Council shall issue the necessary regulations for the
execution of this Federal resolution.
8. The Federal Council shall, in conformity with the Federal act of
June 17,1874, respecting the referendum on Federal acts and Federal
resolutions, cause this resolution to be published and determine the
date of its coming into force.
PROCEEDINGS OP THE INDIANAPOLIS MEETING, SEP
TEMBER 24 AND 25, 1914.
ADDRESS BY DR. ROYAL MEEKER, UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER
OP LABOR STATISTICS.
You men and women of this association are engaged in one of the
most important businesses in the world. The people of the United
States have given almost no attention to the business of directing
workmen to employment. We hare done nothing at all to furnish
employment to the unemployed in dull times on public works, high
ways, harbor improvements, public buildings, and other construc
tion work for the community. Yet such work has to be done, and it
is perfectly feasible and practicable to arrange to have these works
constructed during dull seasons and in times of depression, so as
to relieve the stress of slack work and unemployment in such periods.
The policy of pushing public construction work during the dull
season and in times of depression is no new proposition. The ex
periment has been tried abroad and has worked successfully. We
have done nothing to furnish work to the unemployed, and we have
done little to bring together the employee seeking work and the
employer seeking workmen. In fact we have ignored the existence
of unemployment in our country as an every-day condition—a per
manent job, so to say. When unemployed workmen have clamored
for work, we have pointed out to them our stupendous resources, our
marvelous economic genius, the majestic magnitude of our industries,
and the tremendous velocity of our progress, and we have said, “ No
man who really wants work need be idle.” Long sophomoric essays
have been written to prove that the only idle people in our unprecedentedly prosperous country are those who will not work. How
otherwise could be explained the numbers of idle men and women
in the midst of our plenteous prosperity? In recent years we are
beginning to distrust this simple explanation of unemployment.
The laboring men and women of the country are now insisting loudly
upon their right to work and earn food, raiment, and shelter for
their bodies, as a substitute for the privilege of receiving these indis
pensable goods as uncertain doles bestowed by the hands of profes
sional philanthropists in the name of organized charity. Who can
blame the workers for preferring wages above alms?
42
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
43
The American people have been amazingly slow to recognize tLe
fact of unemployment. We have not yet recognized either the magni
tude or the significance of the losses due to regular irregularity of
employment and constantly recurring seasonal and periodic unem
ployment. Our efforts to deal with unemployment are still mainly
confined to handing out bread and soup indiscriminately to all
comers. The Romans dispensed bread and circuses to their unem
ployed. We have substituted soup for circuses. That has been thus
far our contribution toward the ultimate solution of the problem
of unemployment. Whether we have improved upon the Roman
formula for the treatment of the unemployed may be determined
only by a careful statistical study of the relative merits of the Roman
circus and of the American soup dispensed to the unemployed.
Public employment bureaus were established in part as a recogni
tion of the fact of unemployment and of the duty of the State to
furnish to workless workers something more permanently satisfying
than bread and circuses or soup. A public employment office, even a
very inefficient one, is a recognition on the part of the public of a
solemn, tragic fact and of a great fundamental principle—the fact
of unemployment and the principle of public responsibility therefor.
The establishment of a public employment office is an evidence of
good faith on the part of the public toward the workers who have no
work. It is an assumption by the State of the responsibility for the
furnishing of suitable employment to all the unemployed, both those
who seek work to do and those who seek work to avoid.
The unemployed who want work should be given the opportunity
to do productive work through public employment offices; the un
employed who want to live and loaf at the expense of the industri
ous should be made to work on farm colonies and in penal institu
tions.
The trouble with our public employment offices is the trouble which
afflicts many if not most of our institutions. We have recognized the
principle and defaulted in the interest.
The United States has no hereditary governing classes; the busi
ness of government falls upon the masses. Class government, of the
classes, by the classes, and for the classes is relatively simple and
easy to effect. There is nothing more difficult than to bring to pass
mass government, of the people, by the people, and for the people.
The American people are an ingenious and an ingenuous people.
We have done more to substitute automatic machinery and devices
for men and brains than any other people on earth. Whenever we
see a man working at a steady job we want to devise a machine to
take his place. We yearn for perpetual motion, social, political,
economic, religious, spiritual, and physical. We want devices which,
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BULLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
when once set going, will go on forever, requii'ing no further atten
tion or intelligent effort on our part. We elect legislatures which
enact statutes making it unlawful to do wrong, and we go on our way
rejoicing. When the wrongdoers continue to do wrong, we set up a
board or commission to put a stop to wrongdoing. When the board
or commission fails to work, we set up an automatic device to make it
work.
The Father of our Country said, “ Eternal vigilance is the price of
liberty.” We recognize the truth of these words, but eternal vigilance
takes a lot of time and bother. Why, if we spent all our time eter
nally vigiling, our business would go to smash, our golf game would
go bad, we would miss all the fine fishing. So we hire professional
vigilantes to do our eternal vigilancing for us. This is much better.
It saves an enormous amount of time, and the specialist who works
at nothing but eternal vigilance 12 months in the year all his life
becomes very expert in seeing things that would escape the mere
amateur who can be eternally vigilant only on election days and dur
ing the heat and burden of the political campaign after all the
nominees have been chosen by the eternal vigilance of the profes
sionals who cheerfully neglect their own private businesses at the
race track, in the State senate, in the private dance hall, in the public
forum, at the bar, or on the bench, in order that eternal vigilance
shall not perish from the earth. In recognition of his arduous pa
triotic services, the title of “ boss ” is bestowed upon the professional
who works at eternal vigilance as a steady job. His title is indicative
of the esteem and veneration in which he is held. Our political
machines have apparently given us political perpetual motion,
thereby saving us a lot of time. This saving is a very expensive
economy, however.
The people in several States of the Union have said, “ Let there be
employment offices,” and behold there are employment offices. Now
an employment office is not an end in and of itself. It is but a means
to an end. It is not a consumable good. It is conceivable that we
might have a billion employment offices and be worse off instead of
better off therefor. Unless the public employment offices furnish
consumable goods to the ultimate consumer, they are a net loss in
stead of a net gain to society. This means that they must furnish
not merely jobs to the jobless, but economically paying jobs—jobs
that pay an American living wage to American workingmen. Unless
you are furnishing real work to real workers, you are conducting a
charitable institution and not a productive enterprise. The public
employment office that furnishes substandard jobs to substandard
jobbers may be doing commendable work in conservation; it is not
doing constructive work. Both conservation and construction are
needed especially as related to the human factor in production; but
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
45
they are two quite distinctly different things and should never be
confused. I f a public employment office endeavors to place the un
employable as well as the merely unemployed, it must segregate the
two groups most carefully, dealing with each separately and by
totally different methods. Otherwise it will fail miserably. Both
classes of the unemployed should be taken care of by the State, but
both can not be dealt with at the same time in the same room. You
can mix oil and water successfully, if you go about it rightly; you
can not mix charity and economics.
In view of all the difficulties they have had to overcome, the public
employment offices of the United States have accomplished great
things. They have forced a reluctant and unbelieving public to
recognize partially, at least, the fact of unemployment and the prin
ciple of public responsibility for the existence of unemployment and
for the furnishing of work to all the workless; they have courageously
attacked the abuses which are inseparable from private employment
offices conducted for the sole purpose of doing the greatest number
and doing them good and plenty; they have, with gigantically small
appropriations, met the competition of private agencies long estab
lished and deeply entrenched; they are overcoming the suspicions of
bona fide workers and the contempt of employers. Their tasks have
been rendered well-nigh impossible by the niggardliness of appro
priations and the indifference of the public.
In Germany and Great Britain the public employment offices are
organized into complete nation-wide systems. We must achieve the
same kind of nation-wide organization if our public employment
offices are to be as effective as possible. The city offices must be ab
sorbed into State systems, and the State systems, in turn, must be
either absorbed or coordinated with a Federal system, which will
extend to the boundaries of the Nation. The public employment
offices are at present obliged to work in the dark because of their
isolation from each other and because, consequently, information as
to the amount and kind of unemployment and the number and kind
of vacant jobs throughout the country is almost totally lacking.
It must be much more difficult to conduct an employment office
than to make a rabbit pie. The recipe for rabbit pie instructs you
first to catch your rabbit. The recipe for placing an unemployed
man requires not only that you shall catch your unemployed man,
but that you shall simultaneously grasp with your free hand a job.
And you are not at liberty to catch any idler who chances to be
loafing in your vicinity or any unoccupied job. A nice judgment and
discrimination are required of the public employment official in fit
ting the man to the job and the job to the man. A man is not neces
sarily suitable for a job or a job for a man merely because the man
can do the work required in a satisfactory manner. The age and
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BU LLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
capacity of the man must be taken into consideration. If he is capa
ble of doing or learning to do better and more remunerative things,
he should be put in a job if possible that will develop his capabilities.
I f the job is a preparatory school for more responsible work, it would
be a mistake to put into it a man who is incapable of learning to do
the more difficult work. The man should not be sacrificed to the job
nor the job to the man.
The statistical side of this work of bringing employee and employ
ment into profitable contact interests me. Do not, I admonish you,
make the mistake of assuming that statistics are a sterile and un
profitable vanity. The statistician is just as much a producer of
economic values as is the farmer, the miner, or the manufacturer.
You can no more successfully conduct your employment offices with
out statistics than a farmer can farm without a plow. Your records
should show how many apply for work, how many and what kind of
employees are called for, and how many and what positions have
actually been filled. When a national system of employment offices
shall have been established and is working satisfactorily, you will
have a statistical record of employment and unemployment, day by
day, week by week, month by month, and year by year.
But the most complete records kept by the best possible system of
public employment offices will be both incomplete and duplicate. For
the purpose of showing the industrial condition of the country, we
need a much more accurate record of the numbers of the employed
and the unemployed, industry by industry, occupation by occupation,
city by city, throughout the whole country. To hint at the possi
bility of obtaining such statistics in our present state of statistical
ignorance sounds like the ravings of a mathematical maniac. How
ever, I believe the national, State, and city officials who have to do
with the administration of labor laws and the compilation of labor
statistics should work together to collect, compile, and publish infor
mation on the numbers unemployed and the opportunities for work.
Of course, we do not need accurate statistics of all the unemployed in
all industries and occupations and of all jobs of all kinds offered by
employers in order to put one unskilled laborer at work digging a
sewer. Statistics for statistics’ sake are as useless and as meaning
less as art for art’s sake or business for the sake of keeping busy. We
don’t need to wait till we get all the information possible to get on
unemployment before we begin work on the solution of this allimportant problem. I do want to say to you, however, with all the
emphasis at my command, that we shall never get a solution that will
be satisfactory until we get a great deal more and better information
as to the available supply of labor, which constitutes the demand for
jobs, and the demand for labor, which constitutes the supply of jobs.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
47
The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics should be in a position to
furnish accurate information month by month as to the numbers
out of work and the industries and occupations affected. The States
are really in a better situation to gather this information from the
only available sources than is the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The States can, if they will, get from the local trade-unions within
their borders monthly statements of the number of men out of work
in each local trade-union, by trade. From employers they can get
monthly statements of the number of men employed, establishment
by establishment, and, perhaps, department by department. This
information, if carefully followed up and checked, would eventually
give us a pretty fair idea of the state of activity in the different
localities and industries of the country. Of course, the information
on unemployment furnished by our trade-unions would not be at all
comparable to the figures on unentfployment published in the Labor
Gazette by the labor department of the British Board of Trade. The
British trade-unions are much stronger organizations than ours and
include a much larger percentage of the workingmen. Many of the
British unions pay out-of-work benefits, so that every member who
has been out of work for at least two weeks is known. Under the
Unemployment Insurance Act all workers not members of the benefitpaying unions draw insurance money from the Government after
they have been idle for one week. From these sources an almost
perfect record of the numbers unemployed is obtained. The records
obtainable from American trade-unions would be very imperfect,
but they would give some indication of the state of employment
Not until we have a nation-wide unemployment insurance act, can
we know exactly where we stand respecting the amount of unem
ployment.
Fortunately, we do not need to wait for this complete knowledge
before tackling the practical problems of gathering statistics of and
providing work for the unemployed. Some knowledge, however
imperfect, is better than no knowledge. I f the State labor depart
ments will turn to and cooperate with the United States Bureau of
Labor Statistics, we can gather and publish some very valuable bul
letins on unemployment. Let the States which are able gather statis
tics of employment and unemployment and turn them over to me.
I will do the best I can to gather information in the States which
are unable to do this work, and I will publish as bulletins of the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics all the facts we are able
to obtain on the numbers employed, the numbers unemployed, the
work of the public employment offices, and any other information
which will help us in dealing with the all-important and little-under
stood fact of unemployment.
48
BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
THE WRONG WAY TO CONDUCT A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC
EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
W . F . H O U K , COMMISSIONER OF LABOR, MINNESOTA.
We hare had almost 10 years of experience in Minnesota with pub
lic employment offices, and we now feel that we are competent to
make some comments on how employment offices should not be run.
We would not presume to attempt to tell how they should be run.
In the first place, a State public employment office should not be
run as a dumping ground for worn-out politicians or laboring men
who hare become so inefficient that they can not get a job in prirate
employment. The business of managing an employment office is
one that requires alert and capable men who understand the work
which they are attempting to do. Whenever any State, in attempting
to organize a system of public employment offices, fills the positions
in those offices with laboring men who have had no experience in
the employment-office business and no economic training to prepare
them for the work they are trying to do, it will make a failure.
In the second place, the State public employment office should be
more than merely an additional employment office. If the State
does nothing more than add one or two or more offices to those already
existing and simply competes with the other offices for the oppor
tunity to supply the demand for labor and for jobs, it makes the
situation worse instead of better. I f the State offices can not or
ganize the labor market, their usefulness is minimized.
In the third place, the State employment office should not be con
ducted as a “ hang out ” for the lowest grades of casual laborers. It
should not be a place which efficient workingmen shun and which is
patronized only by those who are on the lower fringes of the labor
army and who are almost “ down and out.” In other words, it should
not be the resort of those who are below the normal standards of
working efficiency. If a State free employment office can not do any
thing but hand out odd jobs to a type of laborers who are not com
petent to hold a steady job or who would not accept one, or find
daywork for washerwomen, the office had better be abolished. The
whole demand for such service can be supplied by the Salvation
Army and the various charitable organizations.
If, on the other hand, the State organizes the entire labor market
and the State office becomes a clearing house in touch with all local
and individual employment agencies, the State may undertake the
placing of the inefficient and the finding of work for the washer
woman and other dayworkers as an incidental part of its handling of
the labor market; but this should not be its main work, as it has been
in the past in too many States. It should not be possible for an
investigator to say of any public office, as one of the men of our
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES,
49
labor department stated concerning some of the public offices which
he investigated, “ that in the Twin Cities, and to some extent in Du
luth also, most of the workers placed by the offices are not the tran
sient laborers whom we have described as moving back and forth over
the country in response to demands for labor in the various localities,
nor are they the steady and better classes of common laborers, but
rather men who have lived in the cities for considerable periods of
time, who are unsteady, and who are often almost ‘ down and out.*
They are mostly men who work only when circumstances force them
to. A portion of them are the transient floaters, and here and there
is a sprinkling of the better type of laborers.”
In the fourth place, State employment offices should serve more
than local needs. If they serve simply a city or a portion of a city,
they utterly fail of their purpose. Any investigation of American
public employment offices will disclose the fact that the majority of
them are merely local. If this is the most that can be accomplished
by a State office, the appropriation had better be diverted to some
other public use.
In the fifth place, a public employment office should not be con
ducted in absolute ignorance of the actual results that it is obtaining.
The average public employment office sends a man out to a job, but
never knows whether or not he gets the job or, if so, how' long he
keeps it or what his record is while working at it. Likewise, the
office usually does not know what the record of the employer is as to
his treatment of the men sent to him. An employment office should
not keep its records in such shape that neither the manager of the
employment office nor anyone else can discover exactly what its
services to the community have been. The system of records must
be exact in every detail, otherwise it misses the point and a business
enterprise degenerates into a disorganized, haphazard effort which
fails of its essential purpose. The local managers of the offices, both
in Minnesota and in other States, usually underestimate the value of
comprehensive records and resent the obligation to maintain an accu
rate system. As a result they become blind to the defects of the sys
tem with which they are working and are apt to object to any
change; but unless the local managers can adapt themselves to the
needs of the work and maintain a proper system of records the revi
sion in the office organization must go deeper than a simple substi
tution of a new record system.
Efficient service should be the first object of these offices. Em
ployers expect that the office will fill their orders with the best men
available, and their expectations are just. On the other hand, em
ployees who are best fitted and the most capable of doing the kind
of work available are the ones entitled to receive it. The employee
28888°—Bull. 192—16------ 4
BU LLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS,
50
should be protected against the unfair employer who misrepresents
his work or the conditions surrounding it, or who does not pay the
wages agreed upon; and the employer against the employee who
never sticks to his work, is unreliable, or whose work is unsatisfac
tory from other standpoints. Information of this kind respecting
the individuals with whom it does business should be in the possession
of the offices. The only way to accomplish this is for our offices to
have some system of records whereby they can keep accurate “ tab ”
on both employer and employee.
What has been said thus far indicates that, in my opinion, a public
employment office is a business that can be successfully carried on
only by the application of business principles and the utilization of
competent and interested employees. It has also been suggested in
directly that no system of public employment offices can be truly
effective until it either has a, monopoly of the distribution of labor,
as in the English employment-office system, or else is in touch with
every labor exchange, whether public or private, and constitutes a
clearing house for them all.
Another important consideration is that of advertising. No public
employment office can make a proper success of its work unless it
conducts a systematic campaign of advertising which brings it before
the attention of all employers and employees and causes every one
who is looking for men or for work to turn naturally to the public
employment office.
In conclusion, I would state that, in my opinion, no public employ
ment office can make a reasonable success of its work unless it is abso
lutely free from outside control. I mean by this, freedom from con
trol by political, labor, or any other organizations. Its employees
must retain their offices on the basis of efficiency alone, but if effi
cient they should be permitted to remain permanently in office. No
other system than a merit system, in the true sense of the term, will
permit a public employment office to become and remain efficient.
WHAT MUST BE DONE TO MAKE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES
MORE EFFECTIVE.
L . D.
m ’ c O T,
SECRETARY, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, ILLINOIS.
We are coming to realize, not without a great deal of surprise and
civic mortification, that the end for which we, in Illinois, established,
25 years ago, the first State free employment office, has not yet been
fully attained. The problem of unemployment is far from being
solved and the conditions then existing still exist and have grown
more complex every year.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OPPICES.
51
The eight free employment offices now existing in Illinois are
doing a great deal, it is true; but lacking, as we do, a uniform and
coordinated system, and without interstate or Federal cooperation
and scientific and thorough investigation of the supply and demand
of the labor market, we find ourselves handicapped and discouraged
in the effort to successfully conduct our free labor agencies.
Does this imply that State labor offices are a failure? There are
those who insist that no State, by reason of the necessarily limited
jurisdiction and control, can adequately handle the question of un
employment. There are many good arguments to support such a
contention, and in the broadest sense it is only an agency like the
Federal Government that can effectively solve the problem; but such
an agency does not now exist, although it is our hope that the day
of its creation is not far distant, and in the meantime what can we
do to bring the free employment offices of Illinois up to the point
of highest efficiency?
In Chicago we have over 300 private employment offices, most of
which specialize in some of the various divisions of labor, such as
clerical, mechanical, domestic, professional, common labor, etc. The
bureaus of the State do not so specialize, contenting themselves with
doing a general business, and I am confident that if the State offices
were organized along the lines of the private agencies their effective
ness and efficiency would be very materially increased.
We advocate a system of active cooperation among the States
which have free employment offices, and would suggest a uniform
system of registration, together with an arrangement for the publi
cation and distribution of labor bulletins, which would keep the
various offices posted on labor conditions in the other States.
So much of this question is interstate that it is evident that no
practical or lasting improvement in the state of the labor market is
possible without Federal assistance. In this connection we would
advocate the establishment of a Government labor exchange, under
the Department of Labor, with its central office located in Chicago,
from which might radiate, like a gigantic web, branch offices and
clearing houses, covering the entire national field of labor. Because
of its natural position and industrial importance, Chicago should
be chosen. Its railroads penetrate and tap the richest mineral and
agricultural sections of the country and it is itself one of the world’s
greatest labor marts.
It should be easy for any State to reach a major part of its un
employed. The fraud, misrepresentation, and malpractices per
petrated by many private employment agencies should doom them,
when in competition with a free State office scientifically managed,
and it is the experience of the State of Wisconsin that, under trained
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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
and competent officials, any State can take care of those of its own
people who from time to time fall on evil days.
The next question to consider is a more stringent supervision and
more effective control of the licensed agencies. That this is necessary
is generally conceded.
During 1913 and up to the present time in this year there were
instituted in Illinois 50 prosecutions of private employment agents,
on which we secured 48 convictions. This number is by no means
startling, but it represents the most which could be accomplished
with the law under which we now operate in Illinois. A penal bond
of $500 is evidently not sufficient to deter a dishonest agent from the
practice of fraud and misrepresentation upon his clients.
To secure the necessary supervision and control of such agencies, a
law making them amenable to prosecution and conviction by the
Federal authorities should be enacted. That such a law would be
embraced in a system of State and Federal cooperation is the inten
tion Of those who advocate such a scheme, and without this provision
no effective supervision may be had.
An amendment to our State law should be made, requiring private
employment agencies to report quarterly to the State bureau of labor
statistics the nature and condition of their business. This would
enable the chief inspector and his assistants to keep the necessary
check on such offices and would tend to cause the dishonest to re
frain from the illegal course which by virtue of the weakness of the
law many of them now pursue unmolested.
POLICIES AND METHODS OF EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
MAINTAINED BY EMPLOYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS.
ANDREW J . ALLEN , SECRETARY OF TH E ASSOCIATES) EMPLOYERS OF IN D IA N
APOLIS AND TH E INDIANAPOLIS BRANCH OF T H E NATION AL METAL
TRADES ASSOCIATION.
It affords me much pleasure to be able, through the courteous invi
tation of your secretary, Mr. Leiserson, to address you at this time
on the subject of what I shall designate as local employment bureaus
as distinguished from public employment offices.
There are several kinds of employment offices, among them being
the State and municipal public offices, which you represent; the pri
vate pay agencies, operated by individuals for gain; the shop employ
ment departments, conducted by large individual employers in con
nection with their establishments, as distributing points for depart
mental assignments; and, lastly, the local employment bureaus, con
ducted by associations of employers.
These local employment bureaus are of mutual advantage to em
ployer and employee and are to the workman seeking employment,
whether resident or newcomer, what our Soldiers’ and Sailors Monu
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
53
ment was to the travel-stained carpenter who recently applied for a
job to a contractor engaged in building some houses in a suburb of
Indianapolis. In answer to the contractor’s query, “ How far have
you come?” the man replied, “ I’ve walked from the soldiers’ monu
ment,” explaining that he had spent his last penny in reaching its
summit, where he could obtain a view of the surrounding country,
in the hope of locating new work under course of construction.
Like the monument, these bureaus are “ pinnacles of observation,”
constituting the shortest cut between supply and demand. Here a
conglomeration of human documents meet; a nondescript assortment
of men of all trades and inclinations. They come from all parts of
the city, from all parts of the country, in fact, from all parts of
the world. Some of them are clean and of thrifty appearance; others
are dirty and of careless demeanor. Some are good, some indifferent,
some bad, and some worse. In this indiscriminate mass of applicants
are found the desirable high-grade workmen who may have very
good reasons for wishing to make a change in employment. Here
also is the unfortunate victim of business economies, the man “laid
off” on account of “no work” or for less creditable reasons; also the
incapacitated, the inexperienced, the incompetent, the indolent, the
“boomer” or “ soldier of fortune,” and the fellow who, habitually
discontented, is continually seeking other employment. It is this
vast differential in the labor market which makes necessary an exten
sive system of classifications at local employment bureaus. Broadly
speaking, the labor market is divided into two classes—a superior
and an inferior. The latter in turn may be divided into several
separate and distinct kinds. Manifestly, it is unfair to both employer
and applicant for employment offices to send to the former a nonde
script assortment of men for work, without due regard to their
fitness for the available positions.
A moral responsibility rests upon an employment bureau to assist
in every way each of the parties to the bargain in reaching a satis
factory and permanent alliance as speedily as possible. These bu
reaus are in duty bound to furnish both employer and prospective
employee with as complete information regarding each other as it is
possible to obtain and as may appear needful. This also applies in
time of strike, for under no circumstances should an existing trouble
some condition of affairs be misrepresented to the applicant.
The large employer is necessarily more or less remotely removed
from his employees. Usually when men quit or are discharged the
only report which the employer receives is that of the foreman. Pos
sibly through some misunderstanding discharged employees may
harbor ill will and, in the belief that they have been denied an appeal
to the “ big boss,” consider that they have not received a “ square
deal ” and blame the “ man higher up.”
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These are issues with which the local employment bureaus like to
deal, since many workmen come there and, with fair Accuracy, freely
unburden themselves of thoughts and complaints that often deserve
and invariably get attention. In their capacity as neutral inter
mediaries these bureaus have been instrumental in avoiding many
unpleasant complications by pointing out to employers instances of
disaffection and just causes of complaints, all of which results in the
correction of abuses and misunderstandings. In many cases possible
injustice to innocent and deserving employees has been averted or
remedied. In other shops conditions have been improved.
The usefulness of an employment office necessarily fluctuates more
or less according to seasonal periods and varies considerably where
the demand for certain classes of help, particularly skilled workers,
exceeds the available supply. A “ tight” labor market is frequently
experienced, and for that reason no employment office, whether
public or local, can guarantee employment to all applicants or fur
nish employers with all the help they may need. It must also try to
encourage workers not to acquire nomadic habits.
While the object of employment offices is to place the worker in
touch with jobs commensurate with his degree of capability, it is
obvious that during normal business periods the problem sometimes
becomes not one of finding a job for the worker, but one of ways and
means to find sufficient laborers to supply the needs of those who offer
employment.
Successfully conducted employment offices which, to employer and
employee, mean dollars and cents on the credit side of the ledger, are
but the logical development of present-day efficiency methods, grow
ing from the need of a central clearing house which, through the
elimination of waste in time and effort and with some degree of
permanency, will bring competent labor in touch with employers.
It is a strictly business proposition for both of them, which accounts
for the fact that local employment bureaus are conducted on a strictly
business basis. They are not philanthropical institutions and could
not thrive if their tendencies were paternalistic.
Employers found they could not obtain competent help through
“ private pay agencies.” Workers of the higher class are not in
clined to pay for the privilege of hunting work. These “ agencies,”
where they are not under State supervision, merely promise to
“ assist ” the applicant; they do not guarantee to get him a job. I f
he succeeds in finding work himself, this does not secure for him the
return of his fee.
Newspaper advertising for help wanted did not secure the desired
results, especially when work was plentiful, wages good, and com
petition in labor rife. Of those laborers who answered such adver
tisements many were perhaps unsuited in various ways for the work
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
55
offered, resulting in a waste of time and effort on the part of fore
men or others in giving unnecessary interviews to a conglomeration
of more or less unqualified applicants.
This led employers to conceive the idea- of establishing their own
employment bureaus in connection with the numerous trade, civic,
and other business organizations throughout the country. These
bureaus are all in charge of regularly paid secretaries of the various
associations, who may be considered as direct personal representa
tives of association members.
In many cases these local employment bureaus have been able to
cooperate with the public offices which have been established,
although I have heard that in some localities there seems to be a
feeling on the part of employers that they can not expect as efficient
service from the public offices as they can secure through their own
bureaus.
Possibly this is because of the political complexion usually given
the work of public employment offices. In such cases it may be
that the persons in charge of these public bureaus are usually in office
only for a specified time and change with the administration. Pos
sibly the new incumbent possesses as little experience in handling
employment problems as did his predecessor when he took office.
Then, again, the scope of the work of a public office is such that it
may appear to the employer that the same time or attention can not
be given to consideration of his individual needs as that which he
has a right to expect of his own employee, the secretary of a local
office, among whose duties is that of interviewing, registering, in
vestigating, and selecting workers competent to fill available jobs.
Some public employment offices may not investigate the applicant’s
capabilities sufficiently to insure his fitness for the jobs offered, and
in neglect to do so may be found the reason for the failure of the
employers to rely upon them for help and the reluctance of skilled
workers to trust to them for employment. The workers do not, in
many instances, feel sure that the job offered is high grade enough
for their skill, or it may be that time is lost by sending a man of
limited ability to a job too high class for him to fill.
In discussing the operative policies of local employment offices,
let us take for example the two bureaus which for the past 10 years
have been conducted in conjunction with each other in the same
office by the Associated Employers of Indianapolis and the Indian
apolis branch of the National Metal Trades Association, respectively.
By way of explanation, let me state that the Associated Employers
of Indianapolis is an organization local in its scope, including in its
membership several hundred employers, representing widely diversi
fied interests and practically every branch of commercial and indus
trial activity in the city. The National Metal Trades Association, as
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its name implies, is national in scope and comprises a membership of
almost 1,000 representative employers in the metal manufacturing
line.
The National Metal Trades Association has 14 branches in various
large industrial centers. These branches conduct local employment
bureaus in the following cities, respectively: Springfield, Worcester,
and Boston, Mass.; Hartford and New Haven, Conn.; Cleveland and
Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago and Moline, 111.; Providence, E. I .; Pitts
burgh, Pa.; St. Louis, Mo.; New York, N. Y., and Indianapolis, Ind.
These bureaus charge no fee to employer or applicant. Their
combined registration of several hundred thousand workers would
practically be impossible of duplication by any individual manufac
turer without extraordinary expense and painstaking labor. This
registration is largely dependent upon the power of these bureaus
to place their applicants. In order to make them popular institutions;
places must be found for those who apply.
Applicants come to these bureaus either in response to advertise
ments or upon the recommendation of employers, or by reason of
their having been referred to the office by workmen whom the
bureaus have assisted, and from whom many letters of thanks and
appreciation have been received. Many of the association members
have assisted in making the bureau efficient by posting in conspicuous
places about their establishments large placards stating that prefer
ence would be given to applicants who present cards of introduction
from the employment bureau maintained by the association.
Several of the largest association members hire practically all
their help through these bureaus. One of them recently stated that
during a given period of time only 5 workers, out of a total of 1,200
who applied at the shop, were employed without coming from the
bureau. This indicates the value of a bureau registration card to
’the man in quest of work. The place it holds in the workers’ estima
tion is indicated by the frequent requests made at the office for these
introduction cards by applicants who state that, at this or that place,
they have noticed that persons presenting these cards are given em
ployment, while those standing in the same line who do not have
them are told to step aside. This is because the employer feels
reasonably sure that the worker with the card is more or less suited
for the job and hence no lengthy interview is necessary. The capa
bilities of the man who does not present such, a card are doubtful
and he must await the employer’s opportunity to interview him.
Thus the wage earners are taught that instead of trusting to other
mediums for employment they may look to these bureaus for assist
ance with the feeling that the members of the association may be
relied upon for employment, all of which makes it easier for local
bureaus to get in touch with new applicants and to retain the confi
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
57
dence and friendship of the older ones. When they are able to place
more applicants in positions the prestige and popularity of the
bureaus among the working classes are increased. This, in turn,
means more applicants, which augments the registration from which
to select. The larger the registration, the more prompt and satis
factory are the service and efficiency of the bureaus. The plan of
having members refer to the local bureaus all shop applicants for
employment operates to the mutual advantage of all concerned.
Some firms are daily turning away workers of whom other employers
may be in urgent need.
The bureaus of both associations mentioned are conducted merely
as divisions of the regular business of the organizations. * * *
The joint cost of the operation of these two bureaus is approximately
$3,500 a year. On the basis of 5,174 applicants who were placed
last year, the approximate cost to the bureaus per applicant would be
about 67£ cents. Indirect ministrations reduce these figures. And
what does this service cost the member? Say, for example, that the
associations with an income of about $20,000 a year represent 400
members. The average cost in that case would be $50 per member.
Suppose the members individually advertised for help. This would
probably mean at least 25 cents or more per day, or $1 for four days
of the week, a total of $52 for the year. And to this must be added
the loss of time and effort which the bureau saves both employer and
applicant.
The total registration of the two Indianapolis bureaus consists of
between fifty and sixty thousand names, comprising many hundreds
of occupations, trades, and specialties. Workers from coast to coast
are registered there, including superintendents, foremen, production
managers, efficiency engineers, and men possessing high-grade execu
tive ability generally. The attempt is made to limit more or less the
registration to tradesmen of all crafts and common labor of the better
grade, inasmuch as calls at the bureaus for nonproducers are few and
far between. The field for clerical help is considerably overcrowded,
and there are other agencies for handling these workers. Common
labor of most kinds can be hired at the door of the individual estab
lishment and requires no loss of time in interviews. On the other
hand, the requirements for productive or skilled workers are more
exacting and the supply limited, hence the demand is greater.
During the fiscal year ending December 31,1913, these two bureaus
registered 8,250 applicants, of which number 3,679 were duplications
and 1,736 were new applicants at the bureaus, while 2,835 additional
applications were received at the shops through members who secured
and forwarded them to the bureaus, in order that those who sought
employment might more readily be placed in touch with it through
these offices. A worker might make the rounds of ninety-nine shops
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before he found a job at the hundredth one, whereas with his appli
cation on file at the local bureau he stands a fair chance of being put
in touch with the job at once.
During the 12 months named, 5,174 employees were reported as
hired by members, of whom 3,679 were old applicants and the re
mainder were new ones, having registered for the first time. This
by no means represents the total number of men sent to jobs, as many
vacancies are filled through the ministrations of these bureaus of
which no report is made by either beneficiary.
It is difficult to approximate the percentage of men supplied by
these bureaus in comparison with the total number employed in the
membership, but it is safe to say that about one-third is a fair
estimate. Many men are employed at the shops direct, not because
the workers would rather be so hired, but because of emergency
requirements, temporary needs, and sometimes on account of the dis
tance from the bureau to the plant, not taking into consideration the
class of wage earners which the bureaus may not handle. Also, in
many instances, former employees who have been laid off on account
of slack work are reinstated. There are no exact figures available as
to the actual number of men hired in a year by the members of these
associations, but it can be estimated at 33-J to 50 per cent of the total
employed. A certain percentage of workers have not changed places
for many years, so that the fluctuation will be found principally in
seasonal or casual pursuits.
These bureaus require each applicant to give the name of his last
employer, together with two additional such references, his age, occu
pation, experience, whether married or single, and wages wanted.
He is not asked as to his union affiliations^ although it is sometimes
advantageous that this information be had, because it is a waste of
the applicant’s time to send a union man to a nonunion job, or a non
union man to a union job. The latter would not be eligible, under the
rules of the union, to accept the job, nor would the employer be at
liberty to hire him, while the union man would be restricted by his
union from taking employment in a shop which his organization
might be boycotting or have on the “unfair list.” Neither do these
bureaus ever place men in strike jobs under false pretenses. The
applicant is invariably fully advised and left to his own judgment
and pleasure in the matter. Nor is the attempt ever made to replace
strikers with other men where it is evident there is likelihood of their
soon being thrown out of work through reemployment of the strikers.
Upon these points the policies of the associations are well defined.
The references of each applicant as to his skill, productive ability,
and general character of service are fully investigated. It is
necessary for a well-conducted bureau to have this information.
Obviously, it would be useless to send a third-rate man to fill a first
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
59
class job which he is incapable of holding. He either would not be
hired or could not “ make good,” with the result that after an un
necessary loss of time and effort, he still would be looking for a job
and the needs of the employer would not have been met. Meanwhile,
an efficient worker could have secured and held the job to the mutual
advantage of both parties concerned, while the third-rate man would
be placed in a position that he could fill. Net result—the community
prospers by reason of the permanency thus assured.
Applications received at these local employment bureaus are re
duced to permanent form as follows: An alphabetical card is made
out, together with a so-called “traveler,” this latter card being placed
numerically in the unemployed specialty file. Its object is at all
times to indicate the men available under the respective classifications
of trades. When requisitions for help are received, these files are
consulted and post card “notices for jobs” are mailed, or the reg
istered applicant is notified of vacancies by telephone if he has one.
The unemployed file is separated into three divisions: Local, out of
town, and “dead.” The effort is constantly made to eliminate the
cards of applicants with whom the bureaus are, at least for the
present, unable to get in touch.
While it is not compulsory that they do so, members are asked
to furnish the local employment office with daily or weekly employ
ment reports in order that these bureaus may know whether the men
they have sent to jobs have been hired. They are also requested to
make reports on employees leaving. This is not compulsory, but is a
valuable aid in keeping the bureaus in touch with the movements
of workers. In this way they are able to advise men laid off or
out of work where vacancies exist, thus reducing the percentage of
unemployed and satisfying the needs of other employers.
To insure absolutely fair, honest rating of operatives, is a cardinal
point in the system, the sole object being to classify properly the
workers as to skill and experience. * * * Temperamental char
acteristics, environment and shop conditions are of consequence.
To secure, at all times, a satisfactory employment bargain, the
peculiar requirements of the worker necessitate his being placed in
surroundings where associates and atmosphere will be agreeable to
him, else he is not able to give the best service that is his.
These bureaus assume no responsibility for the accuracy of their
information. It is used primarily for their guidance alone and is
occasionally furnished to members, upon their request, the employer
being left entirely to use his own discretion in the premises. Of
course, the member could have obtained this information himself
from the applicant’s reference, but one of the objects of the bureaus is
to save the employer the time, trouble, and expense of doing so.
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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
The operative policies of these bureaus are largely followed by
almost every institution or medium having to do with employment,
such as the employment departments of such organizations as the
iYoung Men’s Christian Association, the Children’s Aid Association,
and others of similar standing, which, before they will serve as an
intermediary, must know that an applicant is worthy of his hire and
of the confidence of an employer. Not until the past record and
history of the individual have been satisfactorily canvassed will they
recommend anyone for employment.
The endeavor has been made to conduct the two local bureaus in
Indianapolis so as to secure and retain the good will of both employer
and employee, and of the general public. To-day these two institu
tions rest upon a comparatively solid foundation of confidence and
mutual understanding. Their prestige and popularity are steadily
on the increase. Their operation is a source of never-ending benefit,
each member helping the other, and all with a view to encouraging
the worker toward greater efficiency and progress.
A REPORT OF THE CONDITION AND MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC
EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN THE UNITED STATES, TOGETHER
WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
OF THE COUNTRY.
CHABLES B. BARNES, DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE BUREAU OF EM PLOY
M EN T.
HOW DATA WERE GATHERED.
A personal study was made of 22 public employment offices located
in 19 cities in 10 different States. The superintendents and clerks of
these offices were interviewed. Observations were made of the work
carried on in the offices. Interviews were held with secretaries of
chambers of commerce, leaders of labor unions, mayors, and other
public and private citizens, concerning their knowledge of the public
offices. In addition to this, other offices have been visited by investi
gators, and correspondence has been held with nearly all of the
offices in the country. In May, 1914, the United States Commission
on Industrial Relations held a three-day hearing in the city of New
York on the subject of employment offices, which resulted in a great'
mass of testimony concerning both public and private offices.
All this material both from first and second hand has led to an
intimate knowledge of the way in which the public employment
bureaus throughout the entire country are run. It is purposed here
to give briefly some of the salient points concerning their conduct
and management, as well as some suggestions looking to their
betterment.
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61
HISTORY, EXTENT, AND WHY ESTABLISHED.
Public employment bureaus were first established in this country
in Ohio, in 1890. Many causes led to their establishment, the princi
pal one being that some relief was sought from the exploitation of
workers by the private agencies; also there developed a strong need
for the distribution of farm hands at certain seasons of the year as
well as for the distribution of the unemployed who congregate in the
larger cities, particularly in the winter time, or in times of industrial
depression. Labor organizations have in many instances been instru
mental in securing laws for the establishment of public agencies.
While the organizations made little or no use of these agencies, yet
the knowledge of the wrongs committed by the private agencies led
them to lend their aid in securing the passage of laws, even though
afterwards they took only a mild interest in the running of them.
For some one or all of the reasons just given, different States at
different times have passed some sort of public employment office
law until now there are 19 States having such laws. They are Colo
rado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachu
setts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New
York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, West Virginia,
and Wisconsin.
Illinois has the largest number of public offices (eight), while most
of the States have from three to five. In at least three of the States
the public employment office is merely an adjunct of the labor de
partment, and the work is as yet carried on largely by mail. The
laws are far from uniform, and the public offices in the different
States come under the control of various State departments. In
some, they are under the bureau of statistics; in others, under an
industrial commission; and in most, under the commissioner of labor.
In the States of Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Ohio, which have as
yet the best public employment offices in the country, all the em
ployees are under civil service.
In addition to the States which have established offices, various
cities have created municipal bureaus, especially on the Pacific coast,
where offices have been opened in such cities as Los Angeles, Tacoma,
and Seattle. In the States of Wisconsin and Ohio the State has
cooperated with the cities both in the running of the offices and in
their financial support. In the city of Cleveland, Ohio, the office is
known as the State-city free labor exchange. There are now munici
pal bureaus opened in cities of the States of Arizona, California,
Kentucky, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Power has
been granted the commission in the Philippine Islands to open public
employment bureaus.
There is a rapidly growing interest in the subject of public em
ployment offices. This is evidenced in many ways. There are at
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present two bills on this subject before Congress. The United States
Commission on Industrial Relations has issued a proposed plan,
which may later take the form of a bill, looking to the establishment
of Federal employment bureaus and clearing houses or to Federal
cooperation with the States. In this second annual meeting of the
American Association of Public Employment Offices 43 delegates rep
resenting 13 different States and Canada have come together to inter
delegates representing 13 different States and Canada met to inter
change information and reports; to secure cooperation and closer
connection between all public employment offices; to promote uni
form methods; and to devise plans for the better distribution of
labor throughout the country. The membership of this association
is made up of superintendents of public employment offices, State
labor commissioners, members of State industrial commissions, and
others interested in the subject. Many reports have been read. The
discussion of these and the resolutions which have been passed show
that the delegates have realized the importance and possibilities of
their work and are eager to raise the standard of it in every way.
THE NEED FOB PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
Is there a real need for public employment offices ? A man seeking
work to-day finds several avenues through which to go. He applies
at the actual place of work. Or he goes to the headquarters of his
labor union. Or he goes to a private or a public employment agency,
or to the employment bureau of an employers’ association, or to the
bureau of some school or some philanthropic society. Or he may
answer or insert an advertisement in some newspaper or technical
journal.
So many diverse ways mean a scattering of energies and a loss of
time and money not only to the one seeking work but to society as a
whole.
Private agencies not only exploit the workers, but the hit-or-miss
style in which most of their work is carried on results in a great eco
nomic loss. According to the size of the city, there may be anywhere
from a dozen to two or three hundred private agencies in a com
munity, each with its separate office and overhead expenses. These
are supported largely by the class of workers who receive the lowest
wages.
Most of the other ways through which men secure employment are
just as costly and just as inefficient. For the man himself to seek the
job directly from the employer and for the employer thus to hire
means that the man in most cases must go from place to place at a
great cost of time and money; that the employer must interview and
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION- OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
63
sort over hundreds and even thousands of men when he may only
need ten or a hundred.
Peddling labor thus from door to door or from factory to factory
is as primitive as the ox team. Some method which will save the time
of the employer and the employee must be devised, and this method
must be comprehensive enough not only to cover all the field, but to
do it with the smallest expenditure of time and money. For this pur
pose a cooperating system of public employment offices must be
created.
It must, however, be clearly recognized that employment offices in
themselves do not and can not create jobs. They seek only to mini
mize the number of persons fruitlessly searching for work and more
quickly to bring employer and employee together. It is nevertheless
true that as these public offices grow and more and more cover the
field they will in time (through the information which they are
gathering) be able to devise a method whereby the worst effects of
seasonal and cyclical variations in the labor market can be avoided.
Thereby the number of casual laborers will be decreased and yearround employment made less a matter of chance and “ luck.”
EXISTING OFFICES LARGELY FAILURES.
It was the purpose of this investigation to find out if the present
public employment offices were accomplishing the thing for which
they were created. Observation of the actual conditions in the
majority of the public employment offices now existing shows that
they are, taken as a whole, a distinct failure and are not doing the
thing for which they were established. In saying this, however, it
must be understood that there are some very bright exceptions to
this rule, and further that in the past year many of the offices have
made changes in their methods which it is believed will gradually
bring about great improvements.
The public employment office in Boston is generally considered the
best in the country. All its employees are under civil service, and
altogether their office force numbers 18. The men and women are
handled in two distinct departments. There is a further division
into skilled, unskilled, and juvenile, with a special clerk in charge
of each division. The record system used is excellent, and it enables
the office to know at any time the amount of help they are furnishing
any employer. It also enables them to tell the number of times they
have referred any one applicant to positions, and how often that
applicant has secured work. With this sort of record system they
not only keep in touch with the wants of employers, but to a large
extent know the qualifications of the people they send out. A very
good class of help is handled, and, as a rule, both employers and
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BULLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
employees seem satisfied with the work of the office. A monthly
labor bulletin is issued, which endeavors to give the condition of the
labor market for the past month, as well as the outlook for the
coming one.
It is difficult to make a comparison between the public employment
office in Boston and that in Milwaukee. The work of the office
in Milwaukee is carried on just as effectively as that in Boston, but
the conditions are different and the kind of employees handled is
different. There is a large foreign population and it is the boast of
this office that its employees are able to speak 18 different languages.
A specialty is made of sending out farm hands, and very good work
is done along this line. The men’s department is entirely separate
from the women’s, the two being located in different parts of the
city. There are two employees in the women’s department and four
in the men’s, all under civil service. In the men’s department there
id a division into skilled and unskilled. The record system used is
based soinewhat on the Boston system. Changes, however, have been
made to meet different working conditions. They have worked out a
code scheme, which enables them to tell by glancing at an applicant’s
card just what he did on previous occasions when referred to posi
tions. The State‘and city cooperate in thp support of the office, and
it has ah advisory committee which is of real help, in that it takes
more than a perfunctory interest in its conduct. This committee not
only meets to hear a monthly report of the work done, but it en
deavors to interest the public generally in the work of the office.
While much of the work of the bureau is the sending out of group
labor, there is a constant growth in the number of skilled employees
handled, and a growing confidence on the part of the employers
that the employment office can furnish them with efficient help.
The public employment office at Cleveland, Ohio, deserves mention
for the good work which it is doing. In the last few months this
office has been brought under civil service. The State and city have
cooperated and the superintendent of the office, who receives his
appointment from the State, has also been made commissioner of
labor for the city. In this way the city immigration and the city
vocational bureaus have been brought under the one head, and the
work is all carried on in one office furnished by the city. There are
nine employees altogether. The record system used was made up by
taking the best parts from the Boston and Milwaukee systems, and
is very good. Such changes have been made as were found necessary
for the particular work of this office. There is a separate department
for women. It is too early to say much about the work of this
exchange under its new management, but the activity of the superin
tendent and his assistants has already built up a very large business,
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
65
and the office is making good both from the standpoint of the em
ployer and of the employee.
The office at Tacoma, Wash., and the one at East St. Louis, 111.,
are well conducted. The superintendent of the East St. Louis office
spends about one-half of his time visiting the employers of the city,
and by this means has built up a very good bureau. A very few of
the other offices are doing fairly effective work.
POOR STATISTICS.
In spite of the statistics which are gotten out by most of the public
employment bureaus they actually do very little business and the
number of positions really filled by them falls far below the pub
lished figures. The reason for this is that most offices count every
man sent out of the office as a position filled. It is a fact that some
of the offices even count as positions filled jobs which they may later
learn the men never reached. This, because at the end of the day
the count is made of so many men sent out, and these are set down
as positions filled. It is then too late to change the count. Most of
the offices attempt to get returns from the applicants sent out, but
on account of lack of clerical help and of persistence, the proportion
of these is not in most places above 50 per cent, and offices were found
where it was as low as 15 per cent. In some places the count was
made by adding to the positions actually heard from a certain num
ber of the unknown ones which, in the judgment of the office, must
have been taken. This sort of calculation is absurd. The offices which
make the greatest endeavor to learn the actual number of positions
they fill find that only about 60 per cent of the applicants sent out se
cure positions.
The taking of information both from the applicant and employer,
in the larger number of offices, is done in a very slipshod way, and it
is only in a few of the better ones that there is recognition of the
importance of getting full information about the job from the em
ployer or full information concerning the working ability and char
acter of the applicant. In several of the offices blanks are handed
to the applicant which he is asked to fill out, and little information
is obtained further than his name, age, and nationality. In other
offices the designation of the work, the name of the employer, and his
address are all that is taken.
CATES TO INEFFICIENT WORKERS.
The larger number of employment offices investigated seemed to
exist for the handling of casual labor and of the class generally
known as “down and out.” This has resulted in employers refusing
to patronize the offices because they say they can not get good workers
28888°—Bull.192—16------5
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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
through them. Only employers having the poorest paid and most
undesirable positions seek the aid of these offices. For this reason
the offices get applicants for only the very poorest paid jobs. On the
bulletin boards of many of them were listed jobs which the clerk said
it was impossible to get men to take, because no one could earn a
living at the wages offered. However, now and then, a man drops
in who is in such desperate straits, or who is so poor a workman
that he finally accepts such an offer. On the other hand, the better
class of workers refuse to use the offices because they do not wish to be
classified with the general run of applicants attracted to the public
office.
While to a certain extent public employment offices have the taint
of charity, yet it is not always for this reason that the better class of
workers refuse their aid. It is because they are so often the resort
of men who care for short-time jobs only or who are unfit for hold
ing any but the most poorly paid and undesirable work. Even if the
better class do use them they soon find that, from the very nature, of
things, the offices can not offer the grade of work sought. Too many
of them were found to be simply the loafing places for the bums and
hoboes of the community. In two or three of these offices the condi
tion of the rooms and the class of men allowed to hang about in them
are almost unbelievable.
It is charged that the public employment offices have a tendency
to make workers more casual; that a man will the sooner throw up a
job because he knows he can get another without cost. Most of the
superintendents and clerks admitted this was true to a certain extent,
but the claim was made that they attempted to prevent it by giving
a warning whenever the tendency was noted.
HOUSING BAD.
Our observation of the housing of public employment offices
showed that in many cases it was bad. Several of the offices were
cramped for space and too frequently they were located either in the
basement or on the second floor. A few were not well lighted and
their ventilation was bad. The last meant foul smells from unwashed
bodies of applicants and resulted in headaches for the office force.
There was not always a thorough separation of the sexes, and in
several offices both men and women had to come to the same counter.
HAVE NOT LESSENED ABUSE OF PRIVATE AGENCIES.
Interviews with the private agencies in cities where public employ
ment offices are located showed that the public offices were in no way
their rivals, nor had the public offices taken from the private offices
any desirable trade. In fact, many of the private agents expressed
what seemed to be real satisfaction in their existence. “ Before the
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
67
public office was established,” said one, “ I had to handle a lot of these
short-time jobs to accommodate some of my customers and for this
reason I had a lot of men hanging around my office that I did not
want. The public office has taken all that away from me.” In only
a few cities did the private agencies give any serious regard to public
offices.
One of the main reasons for the establishment of public employ
ment bureaus was to lessen the exploitation of the workers by the
private agencies. In no place was this found to have been accom
plished by them. Whenever there was less exploitation it had been
brought about by State inspection and regulation.
NO EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION.
There is no particular exchange of information between the dif
ferent public employment offices. This was found to be so even in
cities where two or more were located, and the exchange of informa
tion between the public employment offices inside of any one State
is very perfunctory. Little use, if any, is made of such information
as is exchanged.
VERY LITTLE ADVERTISING OR SOLICITATION.
Very few of the offices do any advertising in the daily papers and
very little attempt is made to get before the public through the news
papers in any way.
It is a rare superintendent who makes any systematic effort to
solicit from the employers of his section. Many of the superintend
ents, because they occasionally visit some plant where they are known
or because they have an acquaintance with this or that business place,
seem to consider that they have fulfilled their duty as far as knowl
edge of labor conditions is concerned, and that they have done as
much soliciting as is necessary. In too many places the office force
merely sits around waiting for applications for help to come in. In
fact, several of the superintendents are just simply holding down
their jobs.
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ON THE PART OF THE PUBLIC.
The inactivity of the superintendents as well as the lack of public
interest is shown by the small amount of general knowledge about
the public offices. Public officials and leading men in the different
States, secretaries of chambers of commerce, labor-union officials,
mayors, and others were interviewed. It was an exception to find a
man who had more than the vaguest notion of the public employ
ment office. In one city there was a public official connected with
the bureau which licensed private agencies who did not even know of
the existence of the public employment office. In one well-known city
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BULLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
the secretary of the chamber of commerce, after having held the posi
tion for several years, had his attention called to the public employ
ment office and claimed that that was his first knowledge of it. Often
when injuiry about the public employment office was made of some
public man or prominent labor official, the reply would be: “ I have,
never heard any complaint about it.” It seemed that if there was
no complaint about the office, that that was the best that could be
expected.
LACK OF UNIFORM. RECORDS.
As has already been noted, the blanks and forms used in the various
offices throughout the country were collected. These show a great
lack of uniformity. It is intended in each State that all the offices
of the State shall use the same system, but variation was sometimes
found even here. There is so little communication between the offices
in the different States that it was rare to find a superintendent who
had more than a superficial knowledge of the methods used in other
cities or States.
RECAPITULATION.
To sum up, then, the public employment offices of the United
States, as a whole, are issuing inaccurate statistics. They are slip
shod in recording information about employers and employees. They
cater too much to casual laborers and down-and-outs, thus driving
away the better class of workers. Too many are poorly housed and
insufficiently lighted and ventilated. They fail to supplant private
agencies or to lessen their exploitation of the workers. They do not
exchange information with one another even when closely located.
They fail to bring themselves to public attention either by advertis
ing or otherwise. Their superintendents are inactive, and they have
failed to arouse the slightest public interest in their work.
SOME CAUSES OF THIS CONDITION.
To what are these conditions due? Probably the one thing most
apparent is the system under which superintendents and other em
ployees of the offices are selected. Generally the offices have been
regarded as “ political plums ” and turned over to men who had had
little or no experience and who were not naturally fitted for the work.
Then, even when the superintendent displayed an interest and had
entire fitness, it often occurred that after he had held the office long
enough to become more or less familiar with the work, a change in
politics in the St^te meant his dismissal and a repetition of the same
conditions. Then, too, where civil service has come in, it has hap
pened that through noncompetitive examinations political appointees
of the undesirable kind have been retained.
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69
“ ANYBODY CAN BUN AN EMPLOYMENT OFFICE.”
It is too generally a belief that little or no experience is needed to
conduct an employment agency. A man who could not earn more
than $15 a week as a clerk in a business house may, through political
influence, be given a superintendency of an employment office at $100
or more a month. It is considered that anyone can run an employ
ment office. It is simply a question of sitting at a desk and receiving
orders for jobs and sending out applicants to these jobs.
A superintendent is selected, let us say, because he is a member of
a labor organization or because he is a veteran. This man has never
had any experience in handling men. His education has been poor,
because he has always had to earn his own living. He is far past
middle life. He is of kindly nature and humane disposition, but he
does not know even the first principles of questioning an applicant
concerning the kind of work the applicant might desire or the sort of
work for which he is fitted. He is a man who realizes to a certain
extent his own deficiencies, and for this reason resents any sugges
tions on the part of his subordinates as usurpation of authority, thus
not only creating friction, but killing in those younger, more active,
and intelligent subordinates all desire to make the office better than
it is. The deadening and inert atmosphere of such an office can be
felt almost instantly upon entering and surely has its effect upon
those who come to patronize it.
EMPLOYMENT OFFICES HELD IN LOW BEGABD.
The conduct of many of the private agencies has led to a rather
low regard on the part of the public for all employment agencies.
Sometimes ex-saloonkeepers run private agencies; certain cities seg
regate the agencies and only allow them on certain streets, or after the
consent of the residents of the neighborhood has been obtained. All
this brings about a low regard for the calling and leads to bad
political appointments. Further, it gives the idea that it is a business
to which no very close attention need be paid. For instance, a
superintendent in a well-known city holds two positions. One posi
tion, which depends upon the favor of his fellow workmen, is well
attended to, while the superintendency of the public employment
office gets only the most perfunctory attention. Another significant
example is that of a saloonkeeper who receives an appointment as
superintendent of a public employment office and runs the two
businesses side by side without protest from anyone.
ATTITUDE OF ORGANIZED LABOR.
The attitude of organized labor toward public employment offices
is another cause of their weakness. It was surprising to find in inter
views with leading labor men how little they knew about the public
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BULLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
employment office of their city, and, without doubt, while on the
surface labor organizations are more or less friendly toward public
employment offices (often because a man from their own ranks holds
the superintendency), yet it is true that on the whole organized
labor regards the bureaus with mild contempt and considerable sus
picion; contempt, in that no labor-organization men ever use the
public bureaus, except in cases of dire necessity; suspicion, because
there is always the fear that they may become strike-breaking
centers.
On the other hand, interviews with manufacturers and other em
ployers showed that they rarely, if ever, regarded the public employ
ment office as a place where they might secure help. Among them
also was found lack of knowledge and more or less suspicion. This
was especially true if the superintendent of the public office hap
pened to be a labor-organization man.
INSUFFICIENT APPROPRIATION.
Another leading cause for the present state of public employment
offices is the lack of adequate financial support. Once an office is
established, with a fairly decent salary for the superintendent and
more or less meager salaries for office help, it is considered that
enough has been done, and that the public employment office should
be run without further expense. In many of the legislatures dele
gates from farming districts seem to think that these public em
ployment offices are of value only to the cities in which they are lo
cated, and that they are of little or no use to the farming communi
ties. Hence they are chary of voting for any but the smallest appro
priation.
LOW PRICE PER PLACEMENT.
Insufficient appropriation leads to an endeavor on the part of
superintendents to make a showing in the way of a low price per
placement. The number of positions filled must total large so that
the cost can be stated in a few cents. The cost per position secured
is given as 19 cents in Minnesota and 30 cents in Indiana. Where it
was suggested in one place that it might be well to make some
changes looking to the betterment of the office, the reply was that the
State would not stand for a higher price per placement than that
which has been published in the yearly report. The way in which
this price has been worked out was a true exemplification of the fact
that figures can be made to lie.
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR BETTERMENT.
All these statements sum up the causes of the condition of the
majority of the public employment offices of the country. What is
the remedy?
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71
The law.
An adequate law is necessary, although even a good law will not
accomplish all the changes desired. This is shown by the fact that
in one State having several employment offices, some of them were
found to be the worst examples of their kind, while an office in
another part of the State was among the best found anywhere.
Such a law will not enter too much into details, but will specify
general principles, leaving details to be worked out by the director
and superintendents. It will call for flexible salaries, so that all the
employees will have the incentive of a raise for giving their very
best efforts to the work.
Civil service.
The law will above all things require the appointment of all em
ployees by civil service, from top to bottom, and not the kind of
civil service which will keep in bad political appointees by noncom
petitive examinations.
Is civil service a good remedy? Our observation of many offices
showed that in those where the employees had been selected under
civil service a far higher grade of workers was found than in the
offices where the appointments were political.
Impartiality.
An essential requirement is that the office should maintain a strict
impartiality as between employers and applicants. It will be dis
astrous to any public employment office if it is thought to be domi
nated by the influence of either. The success of the office will depend
on the friendship both of employers and organized labor, and both
must be made to understand that the public employment office is a
common meeting ground.
Advisory committee.
Not only for the purpose of securing impartiality, but also for the
purpose of assuring all interested that the office is really being con
ducted impartially, there should be an advisory committee. This
advisory committee should have equal representation from the ranks
of organized labor and from the organizations of employers. The
general public, through its elected officials, should also have repre
sentation. The bringing together of these different men would tend
•to a better understanding of the real status of employment offices and
also to the taking of a more active interest in them. Thus, in addi
tion to securing impartiality in the running of the office, there would
come about the education of the public to a higher regard for em
ployment offices. This would lead to larger appropriations. Then
too, when it was understood that there was real benefit accruing from
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BULLETIN OP THE BTJBEATJ OP LABOR STATISTICS.
such offices, it would be possible to induce a better class of men and
women to do the work at an adequate compensation. Our observa
tion of the best offices in the country shows that to conduct an em
ployment office successfully requires the same amount of training
and the same intelligence as is required to conduct our best public
schools and colleges. And every superintendent should be of that
grade.
Financial cooperation o f cities.
In specifying the cities where public employment offices should be
established, the law should give preference to those cities which are
willing to extend adequate financial support to the State office. In
this way a cooperation could be brought about which would greatly
aid the advisory committee in its work. This also might help to
overcome the prejudice of the rural districts against liberal appropri
ations. That such cooperation can really be effected is shown by the
example of Cleveland, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wis. There are several
other States in which the city or county furnishes quarters to the
public employment office, rent free. But too frequently this means
the placing of the public employment office in the basement of a
public building, often inaccessible and lacking in ventilation and
light.
Reporting to a central office.
A uniform s y s t e m of reporting from all offices should be-required.
These reports should be sent to some central office and should show
the amount of work done by each office and contain such other in
formation as the State director of public employment offices may
deem necessary.
Elimination o f the word “ free.”
The law should specify that the services of all these should be free.
But in any reference to the offices, as far as the blanks or any legal
documents in connection with them is concerned, the word “free”
should never be used. We have long outgrown the use of the term
“ free public schools ” ; why should the word “ free ” be used in con
nection with employment offices, which in their field are covering
just as important a public service?
With the law framed in the general maimer here outlined, it will
be possible to make State employment offices conform more or less
to local conditions, and while local conditions will, to some extent,
govern the method by which they are conducted, there are certain
things which can be more or less standardized.
The superintendent.
The superintendent should be, if possible, a man who is known to
be free from the influence of labor organizations on the one hand
and of employers on the other.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
73
Where the size of the city justifies, he should be largely free from
the detail work of the office, and even in the smallest offices he should
arrange to have certain hours for outside work. Before starting an
office in any city, or, if already established, before taking active hold
of the office, the superintendent ought to visit every manufacturing
plant and every place where extensive operations are carried on
within his jurisdiction. He should get acquainted with the owners
and the foremen. He should have the kind of talks with them which
would convince them that he meant to deal fairly with everyone and
that he was there for the purpose of making his office a place in that
city to which any and all could turn when they wished to secure help.
He should find out at each place the kind of men needed and assure
the foremen that attempts would be made to give them the kind of
men required, asking, of course, for their forbearance in the first
trials.
In his rounds of this kind the superintendent should get acquainted
with the seasonal character and varying demands of the labor market
in his city, and in the same way he should learn about impending
changes. He ought to do this several times a month, not at set
periods, but just as frequently as good judgment and time would
allow.
When the superintendent learns of the taking out of building
permits or when he learns of the successful bidder on a contract, he
should visit those at the head of the different firms intending to do
the work and solicit their patronage.
He should become a member of the city club or of any other public
body having to do with the business of the city so as to keep himself
informed on all proposed activities.
After he has thoroughly covered his field and become well ac
quainted, much time could be saved if he would adopt a method of
regularly calling up employers on the telephone and asking for their
orders or for the prospects concerning future orders. Of course,
judgment and discretion would have to be used, and this would be a
thing which could not be turned over to someone who would merely
make a perfunctory lot of telephone calls. It is nearly always neces
sary for an employment office to follow up the sending of an appli
cant by a telephone call the following day, and this gives another
opportunity for the soliciting of orders.
This taking a vital interest not only in the worker sent to a posi
tion, but also in the needs of an employer, is bound to result in in
creased confidence and good will. An active, tactful superintendent
by taking note will find many ways by which he can be helpful to
both employer and worker.
Where possible he should hold himself ready to address any meet
ing in the city concerning employment, and he could gradually bring
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
it about that whenever any subject concerning the welfare of the
city was being discussed he would be invited to tell the part his
office could take in such a movement.
Location o f offices.
In selecting rooms for an employment office the ground floor should
always be preferred and they should be located in a part of the city
readily accessible to all local transportation. An ideal condition
would be to have separate waiting rooms for all the different classes
of applicants. If this can not be done, as much space should be al
lowed for applicants as is possible, always giving ample working
room for the office employees.
Loafing in offices not permitted.
An office can be more successfully run if it keeps in touch with its
applicants, and it should, if possible, have an available supply for
emergency calls. It should be a fixed rule that the public employ
ment office should not come to be looked upon as a loitering and
loafing place, however. An applicant should not be allowed to
remain at any one time in the office longer than is necessary to obtain
information and to be sent out. It is especially desirable that at no
time should the waiting room be filled with a standing crowd unless
the applicants are properly lined up; in other words, the mob appear
ance should always be avoided. During the early hours of the morn
ing, when the rooms are necessarily filled, all applicants should be
required to stand in a line. For all other hours of the day (unless
for special periods) chairs should be provided for as many as can be
accommodated, and no standing about should be permitted.
Specific hours for certain work.
Certain hours should be set apart for employers to apply for help.
They can be educated to understand that they can get men only at
certain hours in the day. This education of employers has already
been accomplished in one or two cities. On the other hand, appli
cants should be taught that they need apply only at certain hours
and they should be made to feel perfectly secure in absenting them
selves from the office at all other times. All this should be done to
make it clear that the public employment office is not a loitering
place for those out of work, but, rather, a place for those who seek
work.
Should offices discriminate?
It was found in this investigation that even in the offices which
were badly run, discrimination was made, and most of the superin
tendents were free to say that they made discrimination and felt
that they were justified. On this question there undoubtedly can be
only one position taken: Public employment offices must and should
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
75
make a most rigid discrimination, but only along the line of fitness
and reliability. No applicant should be discriminated against be
cause he refuses certain work offered him, nor, on the other hand,
any employer because he refuses to take certain men sent him. It is
only by proper discrimination that the confidence of applicants and
patronage of employers can be secured. It is true that promptness
should be the motto of every office and orders should be filled as soon
as possible. Often, to do this, close scrutiny of the men can not be
made, but hasty orders are generally for a class of men which do not
require such fine selection. But in all other cases the office ought
to select such men as will build up a belief among the employers that
it always tries to send them the best class of workers to be had.
A high standard beneficial In the long ran.
Observation shows that the public employment office must take
itself, not only in the public belief but in actuality, out of the class
of employment agencies dealing only with the unfit. To set up a
high standard will in the long run give the public employment office
more opportunities to be of help to those who are less capable. Once
it has thoroughly established itself in the confidence of employers
it will then be able to secure from them orders for all sorts of help.
Among these orders there will always be a certain number of jobs
which can be given out to the less capable workers. If, however, the
office starts out to handle only the less efficient workers, orders for
help of any kind will naturally grow less.
After having seen the state to which public employment offices in
this country have been brought, largely through their dealing with
the less capable class, we do not believe that too strong insistence can
be made that the public employment office must be an agency where
the very best of workers can be obtained by employers and where the
very best workers can feel that they can apply and get the kind of
work for which they are fitted.
Division Into departments.
The subject of handling different classes of workers leads us
naturally to the subject of dividing the larger offices into depart
ments. Of course all offices should have separate departments for
men and women, though, if possible, both should be in the same build
ing. Where the size of the office will at all justify it, there should be
a further division into skilled and unskilled, and as the office grows
larger, there should be a further division into mechanical, clerical,
etc. By thus having departments it will be possible to handle a
large number of the less dependable as well as the short-time workers
in the unskilled department. When the employer demands certain
cheap labor it can always be made clear to him that he is getting his
supply of workers from the department handling this class.
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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
Advertising.
The public employment offices should advertise. The amount and
kind will have to be decided by each superintendent. The private
agencies find it profitable to advertise, and some of the best public
offices advertise regularly in the daily papers. Too little advantage
is taken by most offices of opportunities to get free advertising. The
live employment office is always a source of “ live ” news from the daily
newspaper standpoint, and advantage should be taken of this to keep
the office well and favorably known. Many superintendents content
themselves by sending out a perfunctory circular or card. Some of
the very clerks sending them out expressed the belief that these cir
culars were thrown into the waste basket and that little or no patron
age was secured through their use.
Bulletin boards.
The use of a bulletin board will largely have to be decided by local
conditions and the number of positions an office has to offer. There
are many arguments made for and against them. It is said by some
that if applicants do not see on the board positions they feel they can
fill, they leave the office without registering for future work. Also
that applicants, seeing certain positions posted, will claim they are
able to do the work and thus get sent out to positions which they are
utterly unable to fill.
On the other hand, it is said that all positions which the office has
to offer should be posted so that when applicants see the board they
at once know whether there is anything available for them and are
thus not required to loiter about till their turn comes to inquire. It
is admitted that applicants not fitted for positions will claim the
right to be sent out to posted positions, but it has been proved by
experience that frankness with applicants is just as necessary to the
success of the office as is frankness with employers.
Where a bulletin board is used, it should be kept right up to the
minute. All positions ready to offer should be put on it, and every
position removed as soon as filled. A .“ stale” bulletin board begets
a lack of confidence in an office.
Office hours.
Quite a wide variance was found in the hours of opening and in
the closing hours of the different public offices. Some open as early
as 7 a. m. and others not until 9 a. m.; some close as early as 4 p. m.,
but 5 p. m. is the usual hour; a few close at noon for an hour, but
most are open throughout the day. Where an office handles a large
number of common laborers, it must open at 7 o’clock to get them to
their work on time. In the large cities, where the size of the office
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PTTBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
77
force admits of relays, offices should open at 7 o’clock; most assuredly
there should be some one at the telephone by 7 to receive orders.
In this connection we believe that it is possible to educate employers
so that they may make their applications in the evening for workers
to be sent them the following morning, and that it may even be pos
sible to get many employers to give their orders between 3 and 4
o’clock of the afternoon before, so that laborers may be given intro
duction cards in the evening, thus enabling them to show up for work
at the proper time in the morning.
Charging a fee.
A few public employment officials were found who advocated
charging applicants a nominal fee, say 5 or 10 cents, for the purpose
of eliminating undesirable applicants. This would not be at all ad
visable. It would entail a large amount of clerical work; it would not
a c c o m p l i s h the thing for which it is advocated—keeping out the unde
sirable. Many of these people manage to get enough money to patron
ize the private agencies. Then, too, if this class paid the small fee,
they would feel they had the right to demand that they be sent out.
But, above all, it is better frankly and openly to tell an applicant
why he is not sent to a position than to attempt to keep him out
through a fee.
Record system o f the offices.
Every public employment office should have an effective system of
record keeping. Unless this is done, there can not be proper discrimi
nation made among the applicants nor among employers.
The employment bureaus of employers’ associations, all high-grade
private agencies, and many public offices are agreed that the cardfiling system is the best. This system can be so adjusted as to meet
the demands of the smallest or largest office. It can be started with
two filing cards and an introduction card.
The first card is used to register the applicant and gives his name,
age, last occupation, kind of work desired, etc. It is filed alpha
betically.
The second or employers’ card registers the demand for help, the
number and kind, the wages paid, etc. It is filed alphabetically.
The card of introduction should be either a Government postal
card or a card ready for mailing. This gives applicant full infor
mation where he is to go, to whom to apply, etc. It contains a request
that it be returned to the office showing whether or not the applicant
has been taken on.
As the work of an office increases or as soon as the work is divided
into departments a third filing card will be found necessary. This
will be an extra employers’ card. It will be kept permanently on
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
file while the other employers’ card (which is “ tied ” to it by a num
ber) can be shifted about into the different departments. The third
card is made necessary because the same employer orders help from
different departments, some skilled and others unskilled. When the
third card is introduced it is filed alphabetically, while the second
card is now filed numerically.
In order to keep correct record of both applicants and employers,
whenever an applicant is sent out to an employer that employer’s
name or number is noted on the back of the applicant’s card, while
at the same time the applicant’s name is written on the back of the
employer’s card, the date being given in both instances and the kind
of work.
If the applicant secures the place it is later noted on his card. If
he does not, by a system of check marks, the reason why is noted.
The same information is also recorded on the employer’s card.
By this means the office has a full record of its transactions with
both parties. It is now able to tell how often it has sent any one
applicant to work, how long he held his position, something about
his ability as a workman, etc. From the employer’s card can be
learned the amount and kind of work he has to offer at different
times and the amount of business the office has done with him in any
given period. . It is plainly evident that this information is of
value in adjusting men to positions and meeting employers’ demands.
The amount of information taken on the cards might vary. No
more information should be asked than is necessary to the actual
work of the office. Offices which started out with a card very full
of questions found that improvement could be made by cutting out
questions which were rarely answered and of doubtful value. Im
provement has always meant simplification.
In addition to the regular records kept of all those with whom the
office has dealing, there should be a “live” list of applications for
work from those out of town or those having special skill or unusual
qualities. These applications should be renewed monthly so that the
office can know whom it has to draw from when it receives an order
for help of this kind.
The reports issued by public employment offices should show the
number of applicants referred to positions, the number of positions
reported filled, and the number of applications for help. Further,
they should show the occupation of the applicants, the kind of work
to which they were sent, and the kind of workers demanded by the
employer. It would be well also to classify the positions given out
into regular and temporary. When time and clerical help permit
the number of actual applicants appearing at the office seeking
work should be taken. Beyond this is a wide field of statistical infor
mation into which the office can venture as it finds time and necessity.
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REGULATION AND CONTROL OF PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES.
PROF. M . B. H AM M O N D , INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF OHIO.
I have not had as long experience in the supervision of private
employment agencies as have some of the other gentlemen who are
present at this convention. My knowledge of the situation has been
gained within the past year, while, as a member of the Industrial
Commission of Ohio, I have had the management of the five public
employment offices in the State and the supervision of the private
exchanges. I do not feel, however, that I can agree with the opinions
expressed by a number of those present, to the effect that the private
employment offices should be legislated out of existence.
In the first place, it seems to me that no such steps should be taken
until the public is ready to substitute something to take their places,
and at present in no one of our chief industrial States could existing
public offices handle all the applicants who present themselves at
private exchanges seeking employment.
In the second place, I believe that many of these private exchanges
are doing excellent work and are doing it in an honest manner. This
is particularly true of the specialized labor exchanges, those that
undertake to find work for teachers, engineers, clerks, and the betterpaid class of manual labor. No public employment office which I
know of is prepared as yet to handle this class of applicants. The
specialized private employment agencies are for the most part, I
believe, doing this work in a fairly efficient manner, and those who
seek the offices can easily afford to pay the commission charged for
the service rendered.
Third, even as regards the general labor exchange, I feel that it
should be the aim of the public office to force these out by competi
tion rather than to undertake to force them out by means of legisla
tion. Of course I do not mean that in case of violation of the law
regulating them they should not be forced to surrender the license;
but I mean that as long as the public fails to furnish a sufficient
number of free labor exchanges the matter will only be made worse
by undertaking to abolish the private exchanges.
In the city of Cleveland we have at present twenty private em
ployment exchanges. One of these offices claims to have handled,
during the past year, about 30,000 applicants; this office has had in
its employ, I understand, about 18 clerks and solicitors, and has
been able to canvass the city for jobs. In spite of the great improve
ment in the public office in that city, it is not able, with the funds
allowed to it, to do anything approaching this work. It will be some
years, I fear, before the public will take sufficient interest in the work
of our public labor exchanges to provide funds adequate for the
handling of the unemployed.
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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
With regard to the regulation of exchanges, it seems to me that
the two things most needed are: First, that the private employment
offices should be forbidden by law to send applicants to employers
who have not applied directly to the office for help; and second, that
only a very small fee should be charged to applicants at the time of
registration and no other fee should be charged unless a position has
actually been secured, in which case a commission might be charged
varying in amount with the wage paid and the length of time for
which the position is filled.
As you all know, it is the practice of many offices to study the
“ want-ad ” columns in the newspapers and then bill such positions
on their books or blackboards as applications for help which they
have received; some of them do not undertake to call up the em
ployers who have advertised to find out whether or not the position
has been filled, and some of them send several applicants for the
same position. This is something which the offices should be for
bidden to do.
With reference to the fees, my own feeling is that a registration
fee of not more than 25 cents, certainly not more than 50 cents,
should be charged at the time of registration, and that the office
should not be compelled to refund this even if it is not able to find
employment for the applicant. Of course I know that the objection
is immediately raised that the office will charge the fee and not under
take to find work, but I think that applicants will soon learn that
certain offices do not have positions to fill and will be able to dis
tinguish between the offices which do have positions and those which
charge a registration fee merely for the sake of the fee.
In behalf of the offices it should be said that they should be allowed
to make some charge for the trouble of registering the applicant and
undertaking to find work, even if they do not succeed in doing so.
Such a system of small registration fees, not refundable, would put
an end to one of the most difficult matters which we have to handle
in Ohio—and I believe it is a problem in other States—that of
determining when a refund is due.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF LABOR AND THE PROBLEM OF
TRANSPORTATION.
WALTER L . SEARS, SUPERINTENDENT, PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT BUREAU, NEW
YORK CITY.
Labor distribution is a problem which has taxed the ablest minds
of the world for a generation. The efficient distribution of labor is
a vital matter. There are millions of employables in the United
States who are unemployed some time during the year, even during
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
81
periods of greatest industrial activity and prosperity, and while
this vast army of willing workers is idle; though honestly seeking
employment, thousands of employers are vainly seeking help. In
the absence of reliable information they do not know where to look
for such help as they may need.
Doubtless the public employment office, labor exchange, or clearing
house is an important factor in the solution of the question. Wellmanaged public labor exchanges can render valuable service by co
operation with the Federal Government in an effective scheme for
distribution of labor, but public employment offices alone, as they
exist in this country at least, can not solve the problem.
A scheme for practical, prudent publicity is what is needed in
order that reliable information as to the condition of the labor market
may be had from competent unprejudiced authorities and promptly
given such country-wide circulation as the conditions require. We
know that employers somewhere are seeking help and that willing
employables are vainly seeking employment; therefore it is of para
mount importance that we earnestly endeavor to devise some plan
by which, without too much legislation or machinery, we can judi
ciously collect and disseminate information relative to the demand
for labor throughout the country.
Whatever method is devised should be simple yet comprehensive
and practical in every sense of the word. As suggested heretofore,
it is chiefly a matter of distributing information. In the first in
stance, there must be a demand for labor, and then competent au
thorities should determine whether or not it can be supplied in the
immediate locality of the demand. If it can be obtained there, well
and good, but if the kind of labor in demand is scarce, and assuming,
of course, that conditions as to wages, etc., are right and no labor
trouble prevails, then the next move is to widen the sphere of pub
licity with a view to obtaining the required help from the nearest
available market.
The Federal Government, which is manifestly _the proper party
to deal with this question, has done very little in a practical way. It
is the duty of the Federal Government to institute some plan by
which to reduce idleness, to shorten the time between the loss of one
position and the procuring of another for every individual who is
unfortunate enough to become idle, and thereby to increase the
number of producers. To this end, it should furnish country-wide,
authentic information to the public as to where help or employment
may be secured, so that the seeker either for work or help may
readily learn where to apply.
Until very recently it was thought by some that Federal legisla
tion was necessary before anything could be accomplished. The
28888°—Bull. 192—16---- 6
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authorities now realize the fact that the Department of Labor can
operate under the act of 1907 creating the Division of Information.
As a practical means of disseminating information as to the labor
market under existing authority, I recommend a bulletin of oppor
tunities, to be issued by the Federal Government, similar to the
Weather Bureau map. The judicious publicity of “ opportunities
for employment” in this country obviously would tend to accomplish
a nation-wide equalization and betterment of labor conditions. This
bulletin could be posted in such places as expediency and experience
proved desirable.
Publicity should be given to opportunities only where a consider
able number of a certain kind or kinds of help were idle or wanted,
and I have suggested that the figure be set at 500, for the reason
that a smaller number could probably be taken care of locally. I f
there were 500 or more persons representing a particular trade idle
or wanted in any locality, the bulletin would show that fact, so that
all who were interested might readily learn just what to do.
Now, the question arises: How shall we obtain authentic infor
mation relative to the needs of the employer? My proposition, it
seems to me, offers the simplest and most practical plan relative
to the collection and dissemination of such information, for the
reason that it deals with information coming directly from the best
source in each respective locality, a competent representative com
mittee. I recommend that the mayor or chief executive of each city
in the United States having a population of over 50,000 appoint a
representative committee, consisting of himself and a representative
of the chamber of commerce, of the charity board, of the labor
organizations, of the postmaster, and of the immigration office or
public employment office, if there are any such offices in the city.
These committees, under proper rules and regulations, could prepare
information relative to the condition of the labor market in their
respective localities and report to the Federal Government on spe
cially prepared blanks.
One very vital consideration must not be lost sight of, and that is,
employers should not be encouraged or permitted to bring into a
given territory more of a certain class of help than is actually
needed to supply the demand in that territory. Obviously great
care will have to be exercised along that line to prevent the flooding
of a given section with certain classes of help, thereby lowering the
market rate of wages for that kind of labor. On the other hand,
organized labor should not be permitted to keep out certain classes
of help from a given section, simply for the purpose of cornering
the market for that particular kind of labor.
The plan outlined obviates the occurrence of such undesirable con
ditions by providing for a competent advisory committee represent
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83
ing all elements concerned in the placement of labor. The committee
should be exceedingly careful not to misrepresent labor conditions.
Each report should be certified to by a notary public, thereby assur
ing its authenticity.
The matter of publishing the bulletin in certain languages, together
with other pertinent details, such as wages, hours, and tenure, while
important, is of secondary consideration and can doubtless be per
fected as the result of experience.
I feel certain that the plan outlined can be made peacefully oper
ative and highly beneficial to both capital and labor. It should be
a country-wide graphic illustration of labor conditions, and the
Federal Government is the proper party to prepare and disseminate
this information.
THE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM.
The distribution of ordinary commodities is a vastly different
problem from the distribution of labor. The bill of lading would
not be tolerated by intelligent human beings. In Germany and a few
other European countries they have a system for the distribution of
labor and for handling the matter of transportation which is doubt
less ideal in a country where there are distinct classes, but such a
system would not be tolerated in this country for one minute. The
liberty-loving American properly refuses to be tagged or passported
about the country, as would be necessary if we adopted the German
system.
Conditions in America differ, also, in that under the interstate
commerce law the railroads are prohibited from making reduced
rates for transportation, except under certain conditions with which
I am not familiar.
The United States is a free country where no class lines are drawn,
or if they are, it is very difficult to tell where the lines begin and
where they end. The Government does not own the lines of trans
portation, and in other ways conditions are vastly different than they
are abroad, and perhaps properly so. We are living under a repub
lican form of government, and while there may be certain ideas which
we may properly adopt as a result of the experience of the foreign
offices, we should be very careful not to go too far along paternal
lines. We should be extremely careful not to adopt any scheme
which will tend to make the individual dependent upon the Govern
ment for support or that will be likely to make him a public charge
or take away his initiative or independence.
Whatever plan is adopted by which to provide for paying or ad
vancing the expense of transportation, I have yet to learn of any
plan which will insure that the applicant will accept the position
upon reaching his destination. We have tried the so-called Wis
consin plan, but it is not sure. Suppose the applicant had no bag
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gage? Should he be denied an opportunity to work? Suppose he
had ample baggage and it was checked to his prospective employer,
the applicant could under the common law demand his baggage,
unless he had signed a legal paper to the contrary, and the prospec
tive employer would be compelled to give it up. So where is the
surety that any applicant will accept employment upon reaching his
destination ? He may claim, and perhaps properly so, that conditions
are not as they were represented to him, and in that case who is to
be the arbitrator? I have .not yet heard of any plan being advanced
which would be proof against fraud.
I have no systematic plan to offer, but will be pleased to make a
few suggestions as a result of my experience in handling the trans
portation phase of the unemployment question.
In the first place, I would not favor any plan which would provide
for transportation being paid wholly by the Government, except
where it was clearly evident in a given city that there was excessive
congestion and unemployment. Under such conditions I would favor
a plan by which the city and the Federal Government would each
pay half of an excursion or trainload rate.
I do not believe it wise to consider the payment of transportation
where the fare would be less than some minimum rate, such as $5.
Where it is in excess of the minimum rate I think it would be best
to require the applicant to pay 20 per cent, the Federal Government
40 per cent, and the employer 40 per cent. I f there were excursion
rates or shipment made in trainload lots the rate would be much
lower and all would benefit correspondingly.
Whenever practical it would be well to require the applicant for
employment to show proof of bis offer of employment from the
employer before transportation is advanced. I should not favor any
scheme providing for the assignment of wages as security for repay
ment, for the reason that there might seem to be an implied agree
ment on the part of the applicant for employment to accept the
position on reaching his destination though conditions might be
vastly different than represented before embarking, and thus more or
less controversy might arise as to the financial obligation of the
workman.
PLAN FOB GATHERING AND DISTRIBUTING HARVEST HANDS IN
THE GRAIN STATES.
W . G. ASH TO N , COMMISSIONER OF LABOR, O K LAH O M A.
Let me say by-way of opening this subject that I am not theorizing
in any way on the plan advanced, but have confined myself to the
plan actually put in operation by our own department in handling
13,000 men.
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85
Since it was our fi’rst attempt, I am sure that another year the
same amount of work, with little additional expense, can be handled
more easily and more quickly. I desire to say also the entire expense
was less than $800.
ORGANIZATION.
By reason of the fact that our grain crops are perishable and, there
fore, must be harvested in a very short time, I can not but liken the
situation to that of our industrial institutions where speed is the
important factor.
Unity of action is necessary to the success of handling the army
of men required, just as much as it is to the success of any industrial
undertaking. We can secure unity of action only by means of a
thoroughly competent organization.
This organization must be carefully planned and with but one end
in view—results. It must be subject to one man and that man and
each of the several employees under him must be thoroughly expe
rienced in handling men. The same principle that applies to a large
mercantile establishment or manufacturing plant is applicable in
this case. No one would entertain for a moment the idea that a
corporation doing a mercantile or manufacturing business would
employ, as the head of such an institution or of the different depart
ments, an inexperienced laborer or incompetent man.
The work of handling the wheat harvest, being something that
assumes unusual proportions, demands of the head of the Govern
ment agency, and the several subordinates, even greater considera
tion.
The head of the organization and each man under him should
possess, above all things, good common sense. The fact that he is
versed in mathematics or is a mechanic or a practical farmer does
not in any way qualify him to act as an agent of the State in such
an undertaking. Again, it would be unwise to select men for this
work because of any political affiliation or any special favoritism on
the part of the community in which they are to be employed.
You understand it is not always the man who offers his services
to the country who is the logical man for the undertaking, and I
would a thousand times prefer a man who makes some personal
sacrifice. Men should be selected not because of their desire to benefit
themselves financially through the work but because of a desire to
serve the country, the farmers, and the business men and to see the
immediate community prosper.
In every community there are a number of such men who are
thoroughly familiar with the local situation and by virtue of this
fact they are more desirable as representatives of the State depart
ment.
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BULLETIN OP TH E BTJBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
These are not merely suggestions, but rules that must be strictly
adhered to; therefore the most important feature that should be
considered in legislation looking to the handling of the crops in the
grain States is that the department having jurisdiction and control
of the work should not be bound by any legislative act that would
force it to select the services of some certain official as a part of the
organization. Such a procedure,, in my judgment, would be the
height of folly, for the reason that these men are not to be expected
to be adapted to such work, and again, it would be imposing upon
them an additional duty with no compensation therefor, which
undoubtedly in some cases would be a burden.
The department should be absolutely free to select any person it
pleases and be given authority to compensate him, at the expense of
the State, for actual service rendered.
DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF HEN NEEDED.
A perfect organization would avail nothing if compelled to grope
in the dark and have nothing definite to work by.
A contractor would not give you an estimate upon a house without
first having seen the plan and specifications in order that he might
know the amount of material required and the amount of time it
would take to construct the building.
It is just as necessary that the State determine in advance the
exact number of men that will be required, the exact acreage, and
the wages per day, as it is for a contractor to determine in advance
the amount of material required to erect a building.
In determining the number of harvest hands we can take a trip
over the State and by talking to implement dealers, hardware men,
bankers, merchants, and commercial club secretaries, gather some
idea of about how many men will be needed, but the State should
not do business in this haphazard way.
In this connection it may be said there are a number of avenues
open through which the preliminary work may be carried on, but in
my judgment there is only one practical way—only one way that will
give you the exact number of men needed—and that is by interview
ing the farmer.
I speak from practical experience on this question. In the southern
part of the State one of our representatives in his trip visited the
newspaper offices, the commercial club secretaries, the bankers, and
others who might be interested or who had some knowledge of local
conditions. He talked to none of the farmers and after the conclusion
of the trip could only say that they would need approximately so
many men in each county. There was no positive conclusion.
In the north and northwestern parts of the State we adopted dif
ferent tactics. In other words, we came in direct contact with the
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87
farmers by use of the telephone, by meeting them in the cities while
they were shopping, and by letter. The result of this canvass was
that at its conclusion we had orders from individual farmers for
over 3,500 men, the result of a systematic campaign.
Now, let me speak briefly of the work to be carried on upon enter
ing a town. We will take for instance a county-seat town. The first
thing upon arriving there is to step into the rural telephone office
and secure some telephone directories. Take these down to the
bankers and the implement dealers and after explaining to them
your mission request them to take a directory and place a check
mark opposite the names of those farmers who have good wheat
acreage.
By visiting the several implement dealers and the several banks
you have in concrete form a list of the farmers who grow the bulk
of the wheat within a radius of from 15 to 25 miles of that town.
While these men are thus engaged you can step into the county
clerk’s office and secure from him the exact wheat acreage of that
county. If he is at all posted upon local conditions, and such offi
cials usually are, he can tell you the particular townships in the
county that raise wheat. In addition to that, county officials are, as
a rule, more or less acquainted over the county and within a few
moments’ time, from a list of the taxpayers, you can secure a list
of those farmers whom it will probably be impossible for you to
reach on account of the limited time in which you have to make
the canvass, or of their location in isolated parts of the county.
The next step is to call at the local telephone office, where you will
be accommodated with a telephone, and upon request the operator
will put in on the line over which you wish to talk a general alarm
ring. This will bring each subscriber to the telephone. In 2 min
utes’ time you can explain your mission and request that they in turn
call the operator or the bank or the implement dealer, or whomever
you have made arrangements with, and advise him as to the number
of harvest hands they will need. You go on to the next line, or inter
view individual farmers over the phone, as seems most practicable.
Now, another valuable thing about the telephone is, it is unneces
sary to make a personal visit to -all the little towns in the county by
reason of the exchange service with the near-by small towns, and by
asking for those connections you can reach farmers for miles and
miles. In short, a half day actively spent in the ordinary country
town will reach the majority of the farmers within a radius of from
20 to 25 miles.
At this point the letter program becomes valuable; in fact it is
the only way in which it works successfully. After the day’s work
is over, a personal letter should be sent to each farmer from whom
you secured an order, assuring him that you will do everything in
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your power to supply him with men and urging him again to insist
upon his neighbors informing you of the number of men they will
need. This, coming from the main office, shows him you mean
business.
Again, those fanners with whom you do not come in contact
should be communicated with and informed that you regretted in
ability to talk with them personally, explaining your proposition in
detail, and soliciting their cooperation. This, with us, brought
results.
Another important feature is this: Suppose that after calling some
three or four farmers on a given line, with no response, you secure a
connection with a farmer and, after getting his requirements, you
inform him that you were unable to reach Mr. Jones. Invariably that
farmer can tell you and will tell you that within the last day or two
he has talked with this man about harvest hands, and that he will
need so many men. With this man the letter is an important factor.
You can simply write him to the effect that you secured the informa
tion from his neighbor, and that unless you hear from him to the con
trary you will send him so many men at a certain time. He will
appreciate your good offices and probably get more information for
you.
All of this agitation brings results, and, in addition to this, the
bankers, the merchants, and the newspaper men will urge upon the
different farmers whom you have not interviewed the necessity of
cooperation with the department. I am confident that I do not
exaggerate when I say that a systematic campaign of this kind,
waged from 15 to 20 days prior to the time it becomes necessary for
you to place your advertising for men, will give you within 5 per
cent of the exact number of men needed in each and every county in
the State. You can verify these figures very easily when you have
the wheat acreage and the county’s male population, rural and city.
This preliminary survey must be conducted in 15 days’ time at the
most, and therefore your force must be sufficiently large to cover the
grain belt within that time, as weather conditions are liable to change
the condition of the wheat crop at any time prior to 30 days before
the actual harvest begins.
When this survey is completed you have the individual orders
from the different farmers, and this aids you materially in the
distribution work which follows.
The system I have mapped out to you was executed by three men
who covered some 25 or 30 counties in a period of about 18 days.
You can understand that the survey was of necessity limited, but
the result we obtained justifies my conclusion that, with the proper
number of helpers, it is a sure method by which to determine the
number of men required.
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89
In conclusion ou this point, my experience shows we would need
only a limited force to do the preliminary work, for the reason that
every merchant, banker, and enterprising citizen desires to adver
tise, and by putting this proposition to him in the right way he will
do this work for you. To illustrate, one afternoon I phoned a banker
in another town about my mission and advised him I would be
there the next day, but would have only about two hours in town.
I outlined my system of getting information and requested that he
do some telephoning in advance.
He did the work, and the next morning I secured orders for 250
men from 75 farmers in less than one hour.
On another occasion a retail lumberman secured information from
all farmers in his locality. The chairman of the commercial dub in
another city secured orders for over 700 men in five days by use of
the telephone, covering half the county. These things can be done
all over the State with the proper effort.
DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION.
Probably 50 per cent of the men who follow the harvest in the
grain States are what might properly be termed professional harvest
hands who follow this vocation every year. The remainder consists
of college students, employees of different industrial institutions, and
railway employees who are out of employment and who come to the
grain States knowing of the opportunities to make a nice “ stake ”
within a short time.
These men come principally from the northern, eastern, and south
ern parts of the United States. Under the present system or condi
tion about the only method of reaching these men is through the
newspapers and, as has been demonstrated during the past year,
through the post office and other Government agencies. In my
opinion, the newspaper is the most effective on account of the fact
that it does its work quickly.
The bulletins in the post office no doubt attract hundreds of men
to the wheat belt, but when it comes to saying that this is a practical
idea and one that should be followed out in future years I have a
grave doubt. Our experience was that it resulted in a flood of letters
from all parts of the country, as many as 300 to 400 being received, a
day for about two weeks, and these letters indicated very clearly that
a majority of them were not from the class of people we were seeking.
I think perhaps the only way the bulletins could be used effectively
would be to post them when the preliminary work starts, when gen
eral conditions seem to justify, and have them removed immediately
when the first press notices are given out. This I believe would put
the department in touch with many seeking employment who could
be placed by mail.
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BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.
The advertising campaign, being confined to the newspapers,
should be very carefully conducted. I believe that from 15 to 20
days prior to the time the actual harvest begins is sufficient to attract
the attention of the desirables who wish to go to the harvest fields.
The story should be skillfully worded, showing the approximate
acreage, the probable yield per acre, the wages to be paid, and the
probable duration of employment.
Another important feature that must not be overlooked is that
the story should clearly state at what point the men should report
for speedy and safe distribution, and in order to accomplish this it
is my opinion that instead of giving out one general story we should
give out a story from each point in the State that we are going to
make a base of supply, and that story should be sent only to those
States adjoining that would have the easiest access to the particular
point in question.
My reason for making this statement is that in our campaign we
gave out our press story from Oklahoma City, which is fully 60 miles
from the distributing point or our base of supply. While we stated
specifically in that story at what points we wanted the men to report,
yet many of them went direct to Oklahoma City and in a great many
cases were compelled to travel back over the same ground in order
to reach the wheat fields.
My experience is that such a story given to the press will in less
than 48 hours bring hundreds of letters from men who are seeking
employment One can easily detect from the tone of a letter whether
or not the man is really seeking work and will report at the desig
nated point in the State if assigned to work. We supplied one entire
county in Oklahoma by mail. This is, however, only incidental to
the main work at hand and will result in the army of men starting
to move so that they will reach their destination from three to five
days in advance of the time when the work is actually to begin.
In this connection it is necessary to state that the advertising should
tell definitely when the farmers will be ready to use the help asked
tor. In this respect we must take into consideration that the wheat
harvest begins at different times in different parts of the State, and
in handling this phase of the question it is desirable to have your
advertising so placed that near-by States, from which you can
expect a goodly number of harvest hands, will be reached in ample
time, so that the vanguard of the movement, or those who will par
ticipate in the early harvest, will come from such points.
It is my opinion that the exact number of men desired should be
advertised for. This, I believe, is the only safe plan. Under ordi
nary circumstances, I think we are safe in assuming that we will
always receive more men than would ordinarily be required and this
little surplus will be taken up in filling the places of those who can
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91
not stand the work and in manning thrashing crews that start work
almost simultaneously with the harvesting.
But this advertising is the smallest part in handling this move
ment. That is to say that after the army once starts to move it
becomes necessary for the man in charge of the work to put forth his
best efforts. It is surprising how quickly you can turn a movement
of this kind by a little newspaper publicity.
To illustrate: While in Wichita Falls, Tex., securing something
like 700 men, a newspaper story issued by the representative of our
local Oklahoma City office was to the effect that we had all the men
we needed. I happened to be in Wichita Falls and felt the effect
of that story within 14 hours after it was given out, but at that time
I did not know what caused the influx to cease. Later on I discovered
what had happened.
Now it is just as easy to pilot the men to different parts of the
State from their original destination as it is to stop the influx en
tirely, and this can be very easily done by a little newspaper publicity
carefully worded and carefully posted.
With the cooperation we get from the railroad companies, it is
very easy to determine in a very few hours about the number of
men strung out along the line and in what direction they are headed.
In order to change the destination of these men, a little publicity in
the right newspapers and a little work on the part of train crews
will accomplish the results desired; and if the head of the movement,
the man who has active charge of the work, is in close touch with
the situation throughout the State at all times, it is the amplest
thing in the world to put the men just where you want them with
out any loss of time on their part.
The method of handling this press information is this: Instead of
asking the local correspondent to give you a good news story, write
the story yourself, give it to him, and pay the telegraph expense to
the papers where you want this story to appear over his signature.
Fifty dollars spent in this way will do more good than a thousand
dollars spent through other avenues.
To show you how easy it is to carry on an advertising campaign
and secure the desired number of men, I desire to cite one little
instance that occurred during our campaign for harvest hands.
About five days before the harvest opened in the extreme north
western part of the State it was discovered that we needed something
like 1,800 men and there was nothing in sight. Woodward was the
main distributing point for this part of the State and it looked
almost like a physical impossibility to marshal sufficient forces to
handle the wheat. However, with the aid of a telephone, we got into
communication with the different police departments of Dallas,
Wichita Falls, Gainesville, Galveston, and Amarilla, Tex., informing
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them that we needed between 1,200 and 1,500 men at once, and that a
representative of the department would be at Wichita Falls, Tex.,
which is a good railroad town and on the main line of railroad
coming into Woodward, on Sunday night.
In addition to this we had an associated press report sent to the
different papers in these towns, stating the condition. The result
of this advertising was that Monday morning 125 men were sent
out of Wichita Falls on the first train and for four days we handled
from 75 to 150 men each day, securing in all something over 800
men. Three days later the same program was repeated and 145
men secured.
Now, in addition to this, advertising along the line through Okla
homa was done by simply dropping off the train at every station
on the way to Wichita Falls and informing the people of the condi
tion at Woodward and points north, and this resulted in securing
another 300 or 400 men.
At this time I desire to point to the principal reason why one man
should have complete charge of the entire work. As has been re
lated, the work at Wichita Falls was hampered somewhat by a mis
understanding which resulted in a press report being sent out that we
had all the men we needed. Had it been generally understood that
no press report was to be given without being censored by the man in
charge, this would not have happened.
Again, at Alva, Okla., upon arrival at that point to make our dis
tribution, I found we needed something over 2,000 men and there
were very few men in sight. Upon picking up the daily Kansas
papers, I discovered a news story under an Alva date line, stating
in substance that they feared a surplus of men and that men were
actually walking the streets with nothing to do. Investigation
showed that the local correspondent had sent out this report because
of the fact that local business men became alarmed and were afraid
they might have to feed or care for a few of these men for a few
days. It took 48 hours to correct this impression and get the men
started toward Alva.
AID OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.
Undoubtedly the system contemplated by the Federal Govern
ment, of free offices at different industrial centers throughout the
United States, will prove of great value in carrying on this work and
will do away with much newspaper work. Even so, it will be years
before we can entirely eliminate advertising through the papers.
The Federal system, whatever it may be, should be organized upon
the same lines that we are organized to handle the wheat crop or any
other grain crop. It does not necessarily follow that laborers always
congregate in the large industrial centers. As a matter of fact, they
can be found at different points throughout the United States in
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93
some of the smaller towns, and very often this class of labor is more
desirable than that found in industrial centers.
To this end, then, the field force of the National Government must
be sufficiently large to be familiar with all conditions throughout
the country. Then it becomes a community proposition rather than
a general proposition so far as advertising is concerned, which will
almost entirely eliminate the probability of flooding the country with
an unnecessary number of men and with what might be called unde
sirables.
In my judgment there is no system of advertising under the pres
ent method of dealing with the subject under discussion so effective
as the press. The bulletin system, if used at all, should be carried on
so that the bulletins would be posted in advance of even the pre
liminary investigation and be removed immediately when the news
paper stories are given out.
COOPERATION BETWEEN STATES.
Now, at this point it seems advisable to digress for a moment from
the individual proposition and consider the grain belt generally,
which consideration necessarily implies that there must be thorough
cooperation between the States that have grain to harvest. To illus
trate : In Oklahoma the harvest in our southwestern counties started
about June 1 to 5; in the hard-wheat belt, which is in the north cen
tral counties, it opened from June 10 to 15, and in the northwestern
counties, which covers the soft-wheat belt, it opened from June 20
to 25. Therefore, in placing our orders the general public was ap
prised of the fact that the harvest would open on those dates. It
is true that the southwestern counties did very little for the northern
counties toward supplying them with help, but, on the other hand,
the harvest coming at a much later date, the northwestern part bene
fited materially from the surplus of labor in the southwestern part
of the State so that some 40 to 50 per cent of the men employed in
the southwest migrated to the northwest and secured an additional
two or three weeks’ work.
This same condition is applicable to every other State in the grain
belt. We have the Oklahoma wheat harvest from June 1 to 20;
Kansas follows from June 20 on; Nebraska follows in a few days;
and the Dakotas are ready about the middle of July.
The assumption is that at least 40 per cent of this army of men
migrate from one State to the other. Therefore, Oklahoma, opening
the harvest, should get out her advertising in advance, this to be
followed by Kansas with the statement that she needs so many men,
which must be the actual number needed, less 40 per cent of the
men actually in the field in Oklahoma. By such a system it is very
easy to understand wherein it would be possible to prevent such
conditions as we have in some of the Northern States.
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DISTRIBUTION OF MEN.
The success of the work of distribution depends entirely upon the
organization of your force. The State first of all must be districted
in such a way that you can first handle points in the State where the
harvest starts early, and in order to carry on this work you must
have a base of supply for each district. This base of supply must be
located entirely from the standpoint of railway facilities, and in this
connection we must consider both the question of access from with
out the State and access to the principal grain sections in the district
from within the State.
We must also take into consideration what possibility your offices,
located in the State but not in the wheat belt, have of getting men to
this base of supply.
The next thing is to determine at what point within range of that
place you are going to place men for distribution purposes. On this
question I would suggest that above all things a man be stationed at
every junction point where it is necessary to make a change. Fur
ther than this the work must be governed entirely by the acreage.
To illustrate my point on the junction question, I will state that
we placed a man at Alva, Okla., which is about 7 miles from the
junction of the Frisco and the Santa Fe railroads. This was a mis
take; the man should have been stationed at the junction point for
the reason that men arriving there were picked up by different farm
ers and given employment before reaching Alva. We soon discovered
our mistake, however, and all trains were met at this junction, which
enabled us to make an equitable distribution of the men.
The actual work of distribution should start not less than five days
before the wheat is ready to harvest. This is deemed necessary by
reason of the fact that this army of men must be kept moving. To
allow the men to congregate in industrial centers and railroad
division points is a mistake. Such a condition makes possible the
successful operation of the stick-up man, the card shark, and the
crap shooter. In addition to this it imposes upon the citizens of the
towns where the men congregate to the extent that they must feed
them and often leads to serious complications. That it is possible
to distribute these men before the actual work begins can not be
questioned. To do this it simply requires initiative on the part of
the local agent, and if he informs the farmers of the fact that they
must take these men at that time in order to get them, and shows
them wherein it is a feasible plan, invariably they will take his
advice.
If the proposition is rightly presented to them they will at least
take the men and board and house them until they are ready to cut
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
95
and oftentimes they have some haying or other work that will pay a
nominal sum per day.
The men are glad to receive this compensation, or the majority
of them at least, and especially when they are given to understand
that they can not congregate in the towns, that they must keep
moving.
Our main base of supply was Enid, Okla., and we moved men from
that town from two to three times per day. While we always had
from 100 to 400 men in the city, they were different gangs entirely.
The first and most necessary thing in distributing is to fill up the
intermediate points; that is to say, if we are shipping men for a
given point in the State along a certain line of railway and at a
distance of 30 miles we have a representative at a junction point, the
agent at the base of supply must fill up all towns along the line before
attempting to get any men through to the junction. Unless he does
it will result in much confusion in that the farmers will not receive
the men assigned them.
Our experience on this point was that in trying to get men from
Enid to Alva, a distance of probably 75 miles, the first two shipments
of over 125 each were completely swallowed up and not one of them
reached their destination. We quickly overcame this but it was only
by giving the farmers along the line the men they desired.
Now the distribution to intermediate points should be to individual
farmers. The men should be instructed to report to no one else,
and they can be easily convinced that unless they adhere strictly to
your rules they are liable not to secure employment.
Upon arrival at a town the different farmers will invariably meet
them if they are notified in advance that a certain number of men
are assigned to them, and this can be done by the use of the local
telephone and the cooperation of the local bankers or merchants.
At junction points and points where you have a representative, the
men should be consigned to this representative in bunches. It is
his duty to meet these trains and reassign the men to the individual
farmer.
Now a word relative to the office details of assignment. The office
work must necessarily be done quickly and to this end when an order
is received from John Jones for five men, five introduction blanks
should immediately be made out to John Jones on the application for
help wanted slip, so that when the man presents himself all you
have to do is to insert his name and the other data required. This
is applicable to all agents working under the department. Where
big bunches of men are sent to local agents or other distributing
points the main office can expedite matters materially by making
out the application and introduction blanks to the individual farmer
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and instructing the men to present them to the local agent at the
distributing point for his O. K.
Now, another important feature that must not be overlooked is fill
ing up the short lines, and this depends entirely upon the local repre
sentative at the base of supply. It is a fact that farmers who are
isolated from railroad points and located on short lines realize that
they will have some difficulty in securing men, and in view of this
fact they are often willing to pay a little more money and, as a rule,
furnish better accommodations than the farmers on the main lines.
The local agent at the base of supply can overcome this condition
very easily by taking the same interest in his work that a private
employment agent would. In other words it is up to the local agent
of the free employment bureau to put up just as much of a talk in
placing one of these men as would be put up by a private agent.
If you were selling goods on the road and approached the average
merchant with your samples and simply spread them out on the
counter for him to examine and purchase without manifesting any
evidence of salesmanship, undoubtedly your business would be very
small, and that principle is applicable to the representative of a free
employment bureau. It is a mistake to entertain the idea for one
moment that because the service is free it is unnecessary to discuss
with the applicant the various phases of the position.
Now, a word on the transportation problem. I am informed that
there is a very strong current of sentiment in favor of passing a
Federal statute making any man guilty of trespass who rides on any
train, either freight or passenger, without paying fare, and to offset
the effect of this it is insisted that the railroads make some special
rates for harvest hands.
I am strongly opposed to such a procedure until such time as a
thorough investigation of conditions can be made and some feasible
plan worked out. Just why such a wave of sentiment should hit the
country at this time is as yet unexplained. For years and years the
same system has been followed in getting harvest hands into the
wheat belt. And while I am willing to concede that it is not a very
tenable position I am sure that the railroads have offered no great
opposition to the present plan, and that they are unwilling at this
time to take up the proposition of special rates.
Analyzing the situation further, we find that the professional har
vest hand will get there some way. He knows what conditions are
confronting him, and he knows that he can follow the harvest for a
period of something like three or four months and can leave at the
expiration of that time with a nice “ stake.” He wants work, and he
will get to that work somehow.
Now, let us reverse the situation. We practically prohibit him
from riding a freight train, and we make a rate of, say, 1 cent
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97
per mile. That would mean that it would take probably, on an
average, a $10 bill to carry the man to the harvest. What would be
the result? Is it not a fact that we would have more office men,
clerks, and the like who positively could not stand up under the
work, which would be a detriment to the men who could perform
this work and really want to perform it. It seems to me that this
would be a worse condition than we have at the present time.
We are now confronted with the problem of caring for this kind
of help, and it is safe to say that from 25 to 40 per cent of all the
men who enter the harvest “ bum out” after two or three days and
are unable to stand the work. This not only is a burden to such un
fortunates, but it is a rank imposition upon the farmer who is forced
to put up with conditions of that kind.
In conclusion I must say a word as to the duty of the farmer.
The farmer must, in order to make the movement a success, cooper
ate in every way with the agents of the Government who are at
tempting to bring him relief, and you can not expect the farmer to
cooperate with you until you have absolutely demonstrated to him
your ability to give him the number of men required. By doing
that you have gained his confidence and in doing so you are bringing
about the desired result. There is no man on earth who will not
cooperate with you to the fullest extent if he is confident of your
ability to carry out the program.
Further than this, he must pay the price agreed upon in advance,
but most important of all is the proposition of proper care of the
men. I do not know what the climatic conditions are in the various
States, but I do know that in Oklahoma we are confronted with
excessive heat and in some parts the water is not always agreeable
to those who are unused to it, and I believe that these two factors
contribute to the fact that so many of the men give way or “ bum
out ” after two or three days’ work.
The farmer must use the same judgment in taking care of a raw
recruit who enters the harvest that he would use in caring for one
of his horses. There is no complaint that the men are poorly or
insufficiently fed. As a matter of fact, our farmers provide five
meals per day. But on the question of water, my observation is
that the men are not always given fresh water, and that further than
this they are allowed to drink whenever and as much as they desire,
and this certainly is a mistake. The general belief of humanity is
that in drinking strange waters one is liable to suffer some ill effects,
and for this reason the men should be allowed to drink as often as
they desire, but only a little at a time; furthermore, they should be
provided with fresh water at least every hour. On this point my
observation is that many fanners will fill a keg with water in the
28888°—Bull. 192—16---- 7
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morning and it must last until the noon hour. Being exposed to the
boiling-hot sun, it becomes stale and does not quench the thirst in any
sense of the word.
The men should also be supplied with a sufficient amount of
blankets and bedding, so they will sleep comfortably and have a good
night’s rest.
A WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT OFFICE.
AGNES L . ATWOOD, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT, DULUTH FREE
EM PLOYM ENT BUREAU.
It seems to me that nothing could have a colder or more uninvit
ing sound than the regular term, “ Employment agency.” Some
how, in the past, they have been so closely associated in our minds
with fraud, exploitation, and injustice that we can readily imagine
in what frame of mind the majority of people seeking work may
approach us.
To meet and overcome that possible feeling I have endeavored to
make those who apply to my department feel that in me they can find
a real friend who is ever ready to go out of her way to serve them
to some good purpose, while at the same time impressing upon them
that they need feel under no personal obligation to me for any bene
fits derived through the office.
In some cities this would not be necessary, but our city, while pro
gressive and composed of a splendid citizenship, is deficient in many
social lines because of its being a young city. I can say this because
I have an everyday working acquaintance with the true condition.
And so, being able to study social conditions through my work, I
have endeavored to be of service to the city by furthering as much
as possible any movement for the public good affecting women and
girls.
Probably the most effective of these has been the municipal lodging
house for women and girls, established about two years ago while
the welfare board, of which I happened to be a member, was in
existence. To this, from various agencies, are now sent women and
girls who are sick, stranded, or temporarily out of work and who are
confronted with the urgent necessity of seeking a shelter for a few
days. Many of these people are 100 per cent efficient in their work
and if compelled to leave town or return to their homes would be
lost to the economic life of the city.
Standing as I do between the supply and demand, what that ulti
mately means to the community is very plain to me. Likewise, the
inefficient or absolute dependents are quickly disposed of and do
not become a continual drag on the city. The need of such a place
might never have been demonstrated had it not been for the one
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central place to which they all applied for work, namely, the State
free employment bureau; for I can truthfully say that the office
enjoys the utmost confidence of the public.
Therefore I am firmly of the belief that until such time as welfare
work is everywhere organized along the lines of some such example
as that at Kansas City it is the duty of the person in charge of the
women’s department, especially, of every public employment bureau
personally to make the knowledge that comes to her through the
office count for social betterment in her community. In no better
way can she serve the State, and in no quicker way can she raise the
standard of the office to a high level.
The work of the women’s department of a public employment
bureau is by nature far more complex than that of the men’s depart
ment, and its problems are many and difficult.
In the first place, so very many workers are so poorly equipped
to earn their living and are in such a discontented and unsettled
state that it is almost impossible to keep them employed in one place
for any length of time. The need of vocational guidance for the
young is clearly shown every day in our work.
To fit this class into proper places is far more difficult than to fur
nish work to a first-class waitress, for instance, who knows there will
be an opening for her and who has been able to save enough to pay
her board until such time as she gets what she wants.
Then the girl who is a kitchen girl or chambermaid, but who is
really fitted for a less menial position, is another kind of problem,
and so on; it is a case of constantly making over the material at hand
to satisfy the demand and of thus using up the supply.
Deserted or widowed women without homes and with one or more
children to support are perhaps our greatest source of real worry,
for to them we represent a great deal. I f they can secure work, all
is well; if not, they must often see their last hope shattered. The
unmarried mothers present an even harder problem. To fit each one
into a suitable and proper place requires much patience, good judg
ment, and an abundance of nervous energy. No report can possibly
represent the effort put forth by every women’s department of a
public employment bureau, to say nothing of the technical work and
the energy consumed in trying to be agreeable to perhaps a hundred
people of different temperaments a day.
Labor exchanges such as have been suggested would, I think, be
particularly beneficial to girls in the rural communities and smaller
towns who are planning on coming to the cities for work. It would
probably induce them to write in ahead, and thus a sort of connecting
link would be formed which would, in many cases, be the only means
of protection which they would have.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE DETROIT MEETING, JULY 1 AND 2,
1915.
REPORT OF SECRETARY-TREASURER.
Since our last meeting in Indianapolis there has been great
progress in the development of public employment offices in the
United States. California, Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsyl
vania have enacted laws authorizing the establishment of employment
bureaus. The Illinois statute amends an existing law, but in the other
States the public employment office laws are entirely new. In addi
tion to these State offices many employment offices have been estab
lished by municipalities as a result of the hard times during last
winter.
Altogether the mailing list of our association now contains the
names of 99 State and city employment offices located in 30 States.
Following are the States in which there are public employment offices
conducted either by the States or cities: Arizona, California, Colo
rado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ore
gon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Washington,
Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
In addition to these there are the Federal employment offices, oper
ated in connection with the Bureau of Immigration, in 18 cities.
These offices, except the one in New York City, were started last fall
and most of them are located in cities where there are also State or
municipal offices.
In Canada, too, the movement is taking hold. There are public
employment bureaus now in 10 cities in the Provinces of Manitoba,
Ontario, and Quebec.
Most of the offices, both in the United States and in Canada, it
must be admitted, are far from accomplishing their purposes. In
many of our States the laws are on the statute books only; they are
not carried out. In most States people do not yet understand the
real purposes of public employment offices, and the legislatures do
not supply enough funds to do the business successfully. Then, only
a few States have learned the value of keeping their superintend
ents and office force permanently, so that they will learn the work
thoroughly and build up a successful business. Instead of that, they
are turned out with changes in political administrations. Finally,
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101
not many of our offices have the careful and accurate system of book
keeping or records that is necessary to run a successful employment
business and to convince the people who vote the funds that they are
doing the business.
However, in all these matters great progress has been made during
the past year, as no doubt the discussions at our present conference
will bring out. In the legislatures of all the States which this year
enacted laws on this subject, and of several other States where such
laws were not passed, bills were introduced either for improving the
existing employment offices or for establishing new ones according to
improved methods. In Cleveland, our president, Mr. Hennessy, has
improved and developed the State-city labor exchange during the last
year in a remarkable way. We ought to study his experience carefully
when he tells us about it at this meeting. The State of New York ap
pointed Mr. Barnes director of its newly-created bureau of employ
ment, and since last fall this bureau has established employment of
fices in five cities with the most up-to-date record systems and business
methods. Mr. Sears at the same time was put in charge of the munici
pal employment bureau of New York City, and he has started that in
a bold and businesslike way, adapting and improving the methods
that he had successfully worked out in Boston.
From all over the country requests have come to the secretary for
information about employment offices: how to establish them, how to
conduct them, the best forms to use for registration and records,
how to get business, how to get up reports and statistics, how to
frame an employment-office law, and so on. As far as possible your
secretary has tried to answer these inquiries. The office of the sec
retary now has a mass of material on employment offices all over the
world. The laws creating employment offices in this country and in
Europe, the forms used in practically all American and foreign
offices, and the reports of most of them are on file, and from these
most of the questions can be answered. The secretary desires to
urge upon all the delegates present to help us make the best use of
all the material; call on the secretary’s office for any information you
may want, but also send to the office your own reports or forms when
ever you get out anything new.
In this connection the secretary desires to call your attention to two
things that ought to be acted cm by this convention: First, a uniform
set of record forms which the association can recommend to States and
cities as approved by this association; and, second, a model public
employment office law which can be similarly recommended.
Last year at Indianapolis we appointed two committees to carry
out these purposes. Mr. Sears will report for the committee on
standards and will recommend a uniform set of cards. We have no
more important subject to discuss. Let us thrash this report out
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thoroughly and then agree on forms which we can recommend to
all States and cities that are just establishing employment bureaus.
In time also the older offices which have other forms can change to
this system, and then we will have one uniform system in use all over
the country and be able to make comparisons of the work in different
States, as well as to arrange cooperation among the offices on an
intelligent basis. If we can not agree here, we ought to appoint a
committee representing all points of view, with power to determine
finally the details of a uniform record system.
Similarly the committee on standards ought to be instructed to
submit a model employment office law to the association for approval.
I understand that this committee has no report to make this year.
It is most important, when new laws are passed or a new organiza
tion of employment offices contemplated, that this association have a
form of bill or organization which can be officially recommended and
urged. At present when requests for information along this line
come to the secretary’s office he can give only his personal opinion.
The United States Commission on Industrial Relations has worked
out a plan for a United States bureau of employment, which will
not itself establish employment offices, but will try to help the States
and cities that have offices to improve and extend their work. It
will also try to unite them all into one national system. For this
purpose a model organization for State employment exchanges has
been devised, and certain minimum requirements are made for
records and reports. The idea is to have all employment offices agree
to adopt the standards worked out by the Federal bureau, and those
that do adopt them will be numbered as branches of the United
States labor exchange and get the franking privilege for postage and
such other subsidies as Congress may decide. The commission’s plan
will probably not be made public till next fall. Until such a national
bureau is established our association ought to assume the duty of
supplying information and recommending the laws and business
methods that our experience has shown make the most successful
employment offices.
Another important question that will come up in connection with
Mr. Sears’s report is the matter of temporary and permanent or
regular positions. When we say one office has filled a thousand posi
tions and another 800, we must be sure that we are comparing the
same things. Every superintendent gets up against this problem.
Some decide to call every job lasting less than a month temporary;
others make two weeks the limit, while most offices make no distinc
tion whatever between temporary and regular positions. Obviously
it is not fair to say that two offices are each filling a thousand posi
tions when one placed a thousand men at snow shoveling for a couple
of days, and the other secured positions in regular employment for
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mechanics, clerks, and similar workers. In order to avoid confusion
it would be well for this association to take some action expressing
a consensus of opinion as to how temporary and regular positions
ought to be recorded.
One of the direct results of the work of our association during the
last year was the organization of the National Farm Labor Ex
change. Commissioner McCaffree, of South Dakota, who is presi
dent of the exchange, will give us an account of its organization and
purposes. Here it may be well to mention that the National Farm
Labor Exchange was organized to help in securing a better mobiliza
tion and distribution of harvest hands in the grain States. After the
discussion of this subject by Commissioner of Labor Ashton, of Okla
homa, at our convention in Indianapolis, a conference on harvest
hands was called to meet in Kansas City in December. Your secre
tary cooperated with Mr. Ashton and the United States Commission
on Industrial Relations in calling this conference. A temporary
organization was formed at the meeting in December, and in Febru
ary a second meeting was held in Omaha to perfect the organization
and to work out plans for handling the harvest hands during the
present season. The National Farm Labor Exchange is only in its
infancy. Much, however, is to be expected from it in the future
when it gets its organization perfected. Thus far it is centering
most of its attention on getting laborers to come to the harvest fields.
It was pointed out at both the Kansas City and the Omaha con
ferences that just as important a duty of the National Farm Labor
Exchange must be to see that too many harvest hands are not at
tracted. The supply of harvest hands must be controlled through the
public employment offices of the States from which the men come.
This advice was not heeded by the national exchange this year, with
the result that they have already had some trouble in Oklahoma and
in Kansas.
The secretary has found it very difficult to prepare the proceedings
of our conventions for the printer, because we have had no steno
graphic reports, and few of the speakers put their remarks in writ
ing. However, as many papers as could be secured have now been
edited and are ready for publication. It would be better, perhaps,
to include with these also the papers read at our present meeting and
publish them all in one volume. The proceedings of our first three
meetings, so far as we have the papers, would make one volume of
about 150 pages. This association ought to take up the question of
providing a stenographic reporter at future meetings.
Pending the publication of our proceedings, two reports of our
last meeting were mailed to every member of the association. One
was the report written by Mr. Barnes and published in The Survey,
the other a more detailed report by Mrs. Samuel Semple, published in
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the monthly bulletin of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and
Industry. There are a good many copies of the latter report still in
the secretary’s office. If anyone here has not received a copy and
wants one, please notify the secretary.
Financially this association is not only “ broke,” it is “ in the
hole” ; or, as they say it politely, it has a deficit. During the year
only 35 members paid the dues of $1. The balance on August 1,
1914, was $1.55, so our total receipts for the year were $36.55. Our
expenses were $52.66, leaving a deficit of $16.11.
I f we are to print the proceedings of our meetings, therefore, we
will have to arrange for each member to buy one or two copies.
Further, if we are to make our association valuable to each member
by sending him information, reports, etc., we will all have to pay our
dues. Therefore I should like to ask each one to pay his dues while
he is here. It is very hard to collect by correspondence.
Despite our financial embarrassment I think all will agree that the
American Association of Public Employment Offices is forging ahead
rapidly and becoming a force in dealing with unemployment in a
practical way. Those who were at the first meeting in Chicago in
1913 know what a meager beginning we had.. Last year we had a
bigger and better convention, and every year hereafter we hope it
will be bigger and better still. As we wrote in our circular invitation
to this meeting, ours is not an ordinary convention. It is a school for
employment agents. We go back after every meeting knowing more
about employment offices, about how to get business, how to run the
offices, and how to improve our methods. And this is what we were
organized to accomplish.
SOME PROBLEMS IN ORGANIZING A STATE SYSTEM OF
EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
CHARLES B. BARNES, DIRECTOR BUREAU OF EM PLOYM EN T,
STATE OF NEW YORK.
The law establishing the bureau of employment in New York was
approved in April, 1914. The holding of a civil-service examination
for the office of director and for a list of superintendents, the ap
pointment of the director and part of the superintendents, and the
organization of the bureau all took place during the latter part of the
same year.
The establishment of branch offices of the bureau was commenced
in Brooklyn, the office there being opened on January 4,1915. The
next office was opened in Syracuse on January 25. The office in
Rochester was opened February 4 and that in Buffalo on February
8. The last office opened was in Albany, on April 23.
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All the offices have done better, both in the kind of workers han
dled and in the number of persons placed, than might have been
expected from newly established offices. It will have to be kept in
mind that up to the time these offices were opened there were in this
State no trained workers in the public employment office field. All
the persons appointed had studied the question and knew the theory,
but practically none had had actual experience in the work. Yet
up to August 1 all the offices had registered 39,313 applicants for
work. In the same time they had calls for 14,753 workers and had
referred 17,770 people to positions. These positions covered the
whole range of occupations in the industrial field, from common
labor up to professional people. About 60 per cent of all places
filled have been in the skilled or semiskilled class. This does not
take into consideration domestics, this class representing a little less
than 17 per cent of the places filled.
Each office is divided into departments for men and women, and
there is a further subdivision in these departments into skilled and
unskilled. In some of the offices the skilled section is further divided
into clerical and professional and the trades.
When these offices were first organized the budget allowed for the
appointment of nine superintendents, at $2,000 each. The next grade,
for assistants to the superintendent, allowed by the budget called for
$900 places. On inquiry of the civil-service commission it was found
that the only list (from which to select) they had to oflfer was the
female stenographers’ list. This meant that to open these offices, for
both the male and female departments, only women could be em
ployed. In consequence of tins seven of the male superintendents
and one woman superintendent were appointed, although only five
offices have been opened. This enabled the bureau to employ some
of the superintendents in a clerical capacity, so that they might be
come thoroughly familiar with all parts of the work. At the pres
ent time two superintendents are working in a clerical capacity in
Brooklyn. They not only do clerical work but at times are allowed
to assume the duties of the regular superintendent, so that they are
getting a thorough training. These men will continue to work in this
way until other offices are opened. They will then be placed in charge
of the new offices as superintendents.
After repeated requests the civil-service commission allowed an
examination for assistant superintendents specially fitted for public
employment office work, and the examination was held on May 15.
This examination was rather rigid. As the budget at that time had
only a few unfilled places at $600 and $900, this examination, of
necessity, called for an entrance salary of from $600 to $900. Many
high-class persons were induced to take it, however, because of the
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hope that while they might have to enter at $900, their salaries would,
within a reasonable time, be increased so as to justify them in taking
up this work.
As soon as the civil-service commission announced the examination,
it was possible to make provisional appointments, and in all of the
offices there are now provisional appointees, who will hold their
places until the list of assistant superintendents is certified by the
civil-service commission, when permanent appointments may be
made.
The administrative office at No. 381 Fourth Avenue, New York
City, receives daily reports from the different branch offices. These
are checked up and constant watch is kept to see that the different
offices are filling the orders received, listing their orders correctly,
and registering the people properly. In many other respects the main
office maintains such check as will enable it to keep in constant touch
with the work of each branch. It is hoped by this means eventually
to be able to do accurate and intelligent shifting of labor from one
section of the State to another as it is needed. From the daily reports
statistics are prepared for the publication of a monthly bulletin con
cerning the work of the bureau. In addition to this, in connection
with the bureau of statistics, a labor bulletin, covering the entire
State, will soon be issued monthly. It will then be the duty of the
administrative office to furnish figures concerning the work of the
different branches for this labor bulletin. Further, all of the corre
spondence with outside parties is carried on from here. Daily corre
spondence is had with all the superintendents concerning methods
and policies and decisions on the various questions which arise. The
director of the bureau spends his time between his office and visiting
the various branches throughout the State.
The subject of unemployment and public employment offices need
not here have a full discussion, but I think it well to call attention
to a few of the things which we are trying to do through these offices.
The task of bringing the work and the worker quickly together is
only a part of what the different offices are daily accomplishing. As
the employees in each branch office become more trained these places
will be bureaus of information for workers in every trade. In the
juvenile departments, for instance, young people can be intelligently
directed into trades and occupations for which they are fitted both
by education and temperament, and advised against entering trades
in which there is no future. But not only young people will get the
benefit of this information, but also adults. The workers in public
employment offices are very often surprised to find how little is
known of the different opportunities in different branches of work,
even by intelligent men and women who have been earning their
own living for twenty years or more. These applicants have often
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107
had pointed out to them occupations to which they are specially
adapted and in which their earning capacity is much greater.
Private employment agencies, of which there are over 700 in New
York City alone, try in many cases to place an applicant on their
list in whatever position is open, regardless of whether or not the
applicant is well fitted to the position. The private agency must do
this, because its life depends on the fee it can get from the worker.
It has been disclosed by our investigations that workers pay all the
way from $4 to $10 in securing jobs paying from $40 to $60 a month.
Stopping the exploitation of this class of people, who are ill fitted
to pay such prices, is one of the indirect benefits of public employ
ment offices.
It is beginning to be recognized that there should be some central
point in every community where the employer can make known his
wants and where the worker may apply to learn about the different
openings in the labor market. This is a saving not only to the
employer but to the employee. For instance, an employer has five
positions open. He advertises: “Apply at the factory gate.” It is
often the case that 500 or more people will answer an advertisement
of this kind. This means a loss to this body of workers, not count
ing any loss of time, of a total of from $25 to $50 in car fare, and the
individual worker has had a chance at only one place of employ
ment. This same number of workers applying at the public employ
ment office will find posted up 40 or 50 positions, many of which
may be in their line, and they have some opportunity of making a
choice. By blindly going to one factory gate or one office door, they
have lost most of that day and had only one slender opportunity of
being hired. The same sort of thing happens to the man who wan
ders about looking for “Help wanted” signs. He can see only those
in the limited area over which he can search, while all these jobs
and many more can be learned about at the one central point of
information.
The registrations of applicants for work in the public employ
ment offices are kept up to date and the office endeavors to keep in
touch with its more efficient applicants until it has placed them in
the work best suited to their capabilities and needs. Many of the
lists kept by large firms which have their own employment offices
often get “ stale ” and are of little use to the firm or the workers.
There are many companies in this State employing normally from
1.000 to 1,500 men who hire in the course of the year from 5,000 to
7.000 people to keep their normal force at work. While there are
many causes for this, the main one is the haphazard way in which
the employing is done. I f several men are needed and advertised
for, the foreman finds next morning a clamoring mob at the gates.
Here is little opportunity to pick men properly fitted for the posi
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tions offered, and the foreman, in disgust, makes selections from those
in the front ranks. All this immense turnover of labor is not only
a great loss to the worker in the time spent in hunting a new job,
but this shifting about is in the end a great loss to the employer in
many ways. Public employment offices can to a great extent help to
cure this by their more careful method of selection.
Under the law it is required that each branch office shall have
an advisory committee composed of an equal number of representa
tives from employers and employees. The advisory committee for
the New York City branch has been appointed, and names are being
selected for the committees for the other offices in the State. These
committees, being composed of business men and men thoroughly
acquainted with industry, are able not only to give the offices wider
publicity, but also to offer practical suggestions for their better
ment. The committees meet monthly, hear the reports of the super
intendents for the past month, and discuss the work which has been
done. Through this method of supervision, they enter into the direct
workings of the office and are enabled to point out ways in which
the offices may be more widely useful.
As has been shown, the branch offices in New York State have,
in their few months of existence, already had calls for 15,000 work
ers, most of which calls have been filled. Through the close communi
cation held by the central office with all the branch offices, farm hands
have been shifted from the more congested districts to others where
they were needed, and in time the shifting of workers in many other
industries will be just as effectively carried on.
EXPERIENCES IN EXTENDING AND IMPROVING THE WORK OP A
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE.
W . F . H EN N ESSY, COMMISSIONER OF EM PLOYM ENT, CLEVELAND.
The city of Cleveland, when it drew up its new charter, created
in its department of public welfare a division of employment. For
15 years the State of Ohio had had an employment office in Cleve
land, but this office had never contributed enough to the community
life to make itself really felt. The result was that the city of Cleve
land desired to open up a municipal employment bureau. When this
was decided upon the question arose as to what would be the rela
tionship between the Ohio office and the Cleveland office. After
some time it was decided that the State and the city should work to
gether to conduct an efficient employment office. The city of Cleve
land at first was to furnish quarters, heat, light, and janitor service,
while the State was to furnish the office employees. The superin
tendent of the State office was to be made commissioner o f employ
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OPPICES.
109
ment for the city of Cleveland and his salary was to be paid entirely
by the State. As commissioner of employment he would have charge
of three bureaus in the division of employment—the men’s employ
ment bureau, the girls’ and women’s employment bureau, and the im
migration bureau.
On July 1, 1914, the superintendent, who was appointed under
civil service, began his work as superintendent of the State-city free
labor exchange and as commissioner of employment for the city of
Cleveland. With three employees in the labor exchange, this force
started out to revolutionize the employment-office work. The goal
which the labor exchange set before itself was the centralization of
the entire labor market of Cleveland. If ever the employment prob
lem is to be solved, the first step must be made through a centralized
labor market, where every person seeking employment and every
employer seeking help will go. There reliable records can be kept,
and the public can be kept informed as to the labor situationthrough
out the city.
Besides centralizing the labor market, the labor exchange adopted
an efficiency system in which every effort was made to send only
the best people to jobs. Unfortunately, the employment office had
been catering to the “ down and out,” and with the adoption of a
new ideal immediately trouble arose for the office. A storm of pro
test went from the army of inefficients who had been using the office
for years to the newspapers and to high officials. Letter after let
ter was written condemning the office because of this refusal to give
men who were worthless as workingmen employment. Finally, one
of the newspapers took up the fight, and for a week the office was
muckraked by these people. It was accused of unfairness to its
applicants, of catering to inefficient workmen, of sending only ex
convicts to jobs, and of allowing politics to enter into the selection of
people for jobs.
After this excitement had died down and the labor exchange began
to run along in the normal way, the employees made every effort to
broaden the scope of the work. They worked long hours and sacri
ficed almost everything for the success of the office. In a very short
time the small quarters became overcrowded, and the city of Cleve
land was compelled to tear out partition after partition in order to
give room to the increased number of applicants that the labor ex
change attracted. At the end of three months it was compelled to
double its floor space.
While the new State-city free labor exchange was getting upon
its feet the numerous private employment agencies in the city of
Cleveland were doing business to suit themselves. Complaints of
the alleged unfair treatment of applicants poured into the offices
of different officials. So constant and serious were these complaints
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that the superintendent, having power through the State, began an
investigation of the agencies. This investigation finally resulted in
the arrest of a number of the job agents and in two cases the agencies
were compelled to surrender their licenses because of their dishonest
dealings with applicants. In this investigation it was found that
the Ohio law governing Ohio employment agencies permitted these
agencies to do business in any way they desired. The law has been
on the books for many years, and the situation at the present time
is far different than when the law was passed. Under the homerule provision the city of Cleveland is permitted to make its own
laws to a certain extent, and under this provision a new ordinance
for the better regulation of the private employment agencies was
drawn up and submitted to the city council. Besides the fee and bond
paid to the State of Ohio, the job agents of Cleveland were com
pelled to pay an additional bond and fee for the privilege of conduct
ing an agency in Cleveland. The fee is intended to pay the salary
of a regular inspector whose duty it will be to see to the enforcement
of the new ordinance. Under the new ordinance the work of the
agencies is so hedged in that it will be practically impossible for
anyone to deal dishonestly with applicants and not be caught.
Although the private agencies fought this ordinance, not only in the
city council but in the courts, it was put in practice, and at the
present time is working successfully.
While the fight for the adoption of the ordinance was on, the ap
propriation committee of the council of the city of Cleveland began
holding its meetings. The superintendent of the labor exchange pre
pared a budget and requested money from the city for the labor
exchange. The city at that time was over $1,000,000 in debt, and
the commissioner of employment asked for about $2,000 for the
labor exchange alone. A certain sum was also asked for the girls’
bureau which was doing vocational guidance work and was then car
ried on with private funds. Although both these bureaus in the divi
sion of employment were recognized by the appropriation committee
as worth while, this committee did not feel that it could afford at
that time to grant money for the opening of a new work. The result
was that the labor exchange faced a critical situation, because of its
increased work and its lack of additional funds to take care of this
increase.
While the appropriation committee was holding its meetings and
deciding to whom it should grant money, the number of applicants
coming to the labor exchange each day began to increase until the
situation became serious. From 600 to 800 people a day would come
begging for work when there was no work to be had. Business was
at a low ebb in Cleveland. The commissioner of employment at
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
Ill
tempted to bring the situation before the public in order that some
thing might be done. Letters were written to the different news
papers, but the reply came back that it would not be good policy to
recognize the fact that business was bad. Letters were also written
to employers, speeches were made by the superintendent, but every
body seemed determined to ignore the serious unemployment situa
tion which the city was facing in its labor exchange.
Finally, when other means had failed to bring the case before the
public, a resolution was introduced in the city council calling on the
commissioner of employment to investigate the unemployment situa
tion throughout the city and report to the city council. One of the
private philanthropic organizations agreed to assist in and finance
this survey. The labor exchange, knowing how critical the situation
was and how necessary it was that action be taken at once, conducted
the unemployment survey for one week. Hundreds of folders were
secured and the survey committee of the labor exchange began its
investigation. The newspaper advertisements were gone over and
it was shown there was a large decrease in the number of jobs and a
large increase in the number of jobless. Lodging houses were in
vestigated, industrial institutions were investigated and a large de
crease in their working force was found. The hours worked in these
same plants showed a tremendous decrease. Retail stores reported a
tremendous increase in their credit accounts. Railroads maintaining
shops in Cleveland had reduced their forces to one-third. Employ
ment agencies showed an immense number seeking employment as
compared with the same period a year before. Charitable organiza
tions showed increase of about 67 per cent in the demands for help.
A house-to-house canvass showed a great increase in unemployed over
the police census of the previous March. In crime there was an
increase, credited to the lack of work and the extreme destitution of
the unemployed.
The labor exchange, through its volunteer workers, took a birdseye view of the Cleveland shops at a certain hour on one morning
and found that 2,800 men were applying for 60 jobs.
From these different lines of investigation which were made by
the labor exchange there was estimated to be about 61,000 unem
ployed in the city of Cleveland, and an itemized report of the survey,
combined with remedial suggestions, was submitted to the city coun
cil. One of the suggestions was that the mayor appoint a committee to
do whatever it could to relieve the critical situation. The newspapers
which before had refused to give publicity to the situation as it was
now told the whole story. At the request of the council the mayor
appointed his unemployment committee and the council also granted
a special appropriation of $800 in order to permit the labor exchange
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to begin the “ Give a job ” campaign. The unemployment committee
at its meeting asked the commissioner of employment in the labor
exchange to find out how many of the hundreds who came to the
office each day were destitute unemployed. To do this a special
registration was made at the labor exchange, in order to find out
how many men registered as destitute unemployed, willing to work
at anything at any wage.
The people of Cleveland watched with interest the long string of
men who came in to register. When the week was up it was found
that 11,000 men had registered as destitute unemployed, willing to
work at anything at any price. The mayor’s committee, in conjunc
tion with the Cleveland Foundation and with the labor exchange,
then began the big “ Give a job ” campaign, the object being to stir
up the entire community into planning work for the unemployed.
Immediately the impetus given by this campaign increased the num
ber of jobs the labor exchange was furnishing at that time from 42
positions a day to 198 a day, and in one month the exchange gave
jobs to 5,160 people as compared with 1,095 given in the same month
of the previous year.
But even these jobs, helpful as they were, did not begin to relieve
the situation. After some time it was decided that a campaign for
money must be made, and a “ Give a day’s wage” campaign was
begun. A certain day ■was set aside in which the entire working
community of Cleveland was encouraged to give one day’s wage,
which was to be expended for the unemployed. This was done and
about $82,000 was raised, this money being expended for work in
the city parks. All men sent to these jobs were previously investi
gated in order to learn as to their actual destitution.
Shortly before this the commissioner of employment appeared
before the appropriation committee of the city council and again
requested money to conduct the labor exchange as it should be con
ducted. In the short time of the unemployment survey the labor
exchange demonstrated to the people of Cleveland of what tremen
dous value it could be to the community, and when it made its second
appeal the people stood behind this appeal, and the appropriation
committee granted the money. Originally the commissioner asked
for $2,000, but in the second request over $4,000 was asked for.
When the campaign was over and business again became normal in
the labor exchange, the superintendent of the labor exchange was
notified that the State legislature had cut the salaries in his office.
Immediately a storm of protest arose in Cleveland against the injus
tice of such a step. The office had demonstrated to the public its
efficiency. It had demonstrated that it had been working for the
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OPPIOES.
113
good of the community, not for itself, and the people of Cleveland
protested against any reduction in the salaries of those employed.
So strong was this protest from the entire city that the legislature
finally put the salaries back to their original amounts. While this
fight was on, the labor exchange made an organized effort to secure
additional funds from the State to increase its work through the
girls’ bureau. This bureau had come into the exchange, and although
its employees were paid from private funds it submerged itself in
the labor exchange in order to centralize the labor market, with the
understanding that funds be secured for its assistance as soon as
possible. The organizations throughout the city stood behind the
exchange in its efforts to secure additional financial assistance, and
finally the legislature granted sufficient money to carry on the work
of the girls’ bureau.
It was here that the labor exchange closed the chapter of the first
year of its existence as the State-city free labor exchange. The vision
that it had of a centralized labor market stands out as clear now as
at the beginning. Although it has taken over four private employ
ment agencies, making them a part of the exchange, it still has a long
way to go before the problem of a centralized labor market is solved
and its realization attained. The possibility of making the labor
exchange a barometer of the industrial life of the pity is no longer
a dream but a certainty, for the exchange has proved to the public
the value of having some agency in its life which will explain situa
tions as it finds them without regard to the effect such explanation
may have upon the life of the city.
The labor exchange has demonstrated above all things the value
of its efficiency system. The fact that it picks the best man for every
job makes it worth while not only to the employees but to the em
ployer as well. In spite of the storm of protest which arose when
that method was begun it is more firmly intrenched now than ever
before, and in every office throughout the State you will find this
same system being used with increased success.
And lastly, the vision of the greatness of its work that the labor
exchange caught when it began its work a year ago stands out more
clearly than ever before. The entire community of Cleveland has
realized, in a small way, the tremendous possibilities in store for the
labor exchange, and as it goes on demonstrating its practicability to
the community, there is no doubt that the labor exchange will do
more to solve the problem of unemployment which has worried the
world for generations than any other existing organization.
28888°—Bull. 192—16---- 8
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DEVELOPING A FARM-HAND BUSINESS.
H . J . BECKERLE, SUPERINTENDENT M ILW AU K EE PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT
OFFICE.
The securing of efficient labor is a problem which confronts the
farmer at all times of the year, but especially with the coming of
spring. Throughout the State there are thousands of farmers who
need men to work their farms.
The State free employment offices in Wisconsin have had a very
busy season thus far, having sent out more farm hands to the present
time than in all last year. This work promises to grow in proportion
each year, and more service has been given the farmers in Wisconsin
than ever before. Especial interest has been attracted to this service
because of addresses delivered on the subject of farm laborers at a
number of farm institutes last winter. This is the first time that
speakers have gone out and explained the work of the State free em
ployment offices, and because of this publicity there are many more
inquiries this year than before.
The farm-help problem is as big a problem as ever. Experienced
help is hard to get, although there are a great many men applying
every day who come from foreign countries, who have had farming
experience.
In January, 1915, the Industrial Commission decided that if more
men were placed on farms it might alleviate the unemployment in the
cities. They accordingly sent out three men to speak at the various
farm institutes. I personally have spoken at 23 of them. The agri
cultural department of the University of Wisconsin, which conducts
these institutes, reserved a place for us on the program and our talk
took up about 15 minutes. We told the farmers what kind of help we
could supply them with and, in fact, advocated the use of foreign
ers with old-country experience. The reason for this was due to
the fact that a number of these men whom we had placed the year be
fore had, we personally know, made good. Many of these men have
been lured to the city by grand promises of light work and big wages.
They are really not accustomed to the city life and will fare a great
deal better when they can get back on the farm. We advised the
farmers to have a little patience in teaching them our methods, and
guaranteed them good results. In many places where six, eight, or
possibly a dozen farm hands were needed, we suggested that they
take them all of one nationality, though they could not speak the
English language, and form a sort of colony, later on getting their
families out on the same land, and so, in the course of time, build
up practically a new community, which is an asset to the laboring
man and an asset to the State, regardless of the financial return to
the farmer. Questions were asked if this always turned out in that
way. I decidedly answered in the negative. These men are not all
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115
alike, and you will find some of them who always become cUsgusted if
a rock or a stream of water lies in their path.
I have had reports from an editor of the Italian newspaper in the
State of Wisconsin who has also tried out the plan of placing Italians
on the farm, and in his letter to me of recent date he writes that he
has had very good results.
Now let us get back to the city man on the farm. He is one who has
been attracted by amusements of all kinds, and when the suggestion
comes to him that he should spend 12 to 14 hours a day among a few
people, he is inclined to shirk. You can not blame him for that
directly, but it should be impressed upon him that the future is his
zenith and not the present or past. We have found from actual
experience that when we get these men out for a few months at a time
they realize what it means to them.
This proposition and this line of talk was put to the farmers and
the only question they put was, How do you know whether a man
will make good or not? We explained to them our system of getting
all the information possible from the applicant, the card-index sys
tem, and also the code. We impressed upon them very strongly the
idea of cooperation, how, in letting us know what kind of man they
had received and how he was doing, in case this person came to the
office again, we could inform the next employer as to his worth.
After our addresses, it was a very important matter for us to
mingle with the crowd in the hall or on the outside, and we were
surprised to learn that few farmers knew what the State was trying
to do for them, the majority of them having applied to private
agencies for help, with serious results.
The Industrial Commission of Wisconsin has also been doing some
advertising in various farm papers and bulletins with some success,
but it is the same as selling goods from a catalogue, a personal inter
view is what takes the man. As the superintendent of these insti
tutes, Mr. Norgord, stated in a personal letter to me, “ You had a
valuable, needed, and practical message, presented in a minimum of
time with a maximum of effect. We shall be glad indeed to have
you repeat the experience next year.”
To explain to you more clearly the result of this work I will quote
a few figures of this year compared with that of last. During the
entire season of 1914 we had sent out 2,100 farm hands, actually
placing 1,186. Up to the present time this year, which is not half
over, we have sent out over 1,800 and have placed about 1,300. These
positions filled are all bona fide, being verified by a signed card from
the farmer. We have supplied 7 out of 12 of the speakers at the
institutes, with very good results.
As to wages we find that fanners are not very anxious to do any
cutting, but expect a better class of men.
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BULLETIN OP TH E BUBEAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.
The method of advancing transportation also came up before
these meetings and was explained to them as follows: Men out of
work a considerable length of time are without funds. They have
baggage, but can not realize enough on it to pay their own fare. We
therefore asked the fanner to advance the transportation, guarantee
ing safe delivery of the man by checking his baggage and mailing
the baggage check direct to the employer. We promised to look over
the man’s baggage to make sure that it contained clothes which were
suitable to wear for that kind of work—good shoes, good pair of
overalls, and some clean underwear, and of all the men sent out of
the Milwaukee office, to my knowledge there was only one who failed
to arrive at his destination.
We did not stop at the institute work, but went to the banks and
got the cashiers interested, making them sort of subagents, people
having confidence in them. They also helped this work along.
The cashier of the bank at Lancaster, Wis., who had never heard
of the State free employment office before our visit, has sent us orders
for 15 farm hands, all of whom were sent him. This is an extract
of his letter mailed to the Milwaukee office a few days ago: “We
like the kind of men you are sending out. They have all made good
except one and I do not feel that he was to blame. If he had come
to us after leaving his employer we could have gotten him a good job
in a very few hours’ time. He was willing to work and I feel the
farmer was to blame in the way he handled the case.”
This brings me back to the cooperation proposition, and, as this
man stated, he feels that the farmer was to blame.
A peculiar incident came up at one of these institute meetings,
a farmer popping up out of his seat saying that he had had at least
six men from the State free employment office and none of them any
good. A farmer sitting next to him jumped up and said, “ All six
were good men, and I can show you to-day where they are working
and doing well.” I was asked by another gentleman, “ Who is to
blame?” I could give only one answer, and that was, “ The farmer.”
After the meeting the first farmer came to me, shook hands, and said,
“ I may have worked these men too long or handled them too rough.
I think I was at fault. When you get back to the office send me a
good farm hand. I will treat him right and see what I can do with
him.” I was informed recently that the man sent him is still on the
job and doing well.
From actual experience I consider the placing of efficient farm
help a far-reaching step toward the relief of unemployment, and
because of the wonderful success achieved in Wisconsin, let me sug
gest that other labor or industrial commissions in the various States
of this Union try the same method.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
117
NATIONAL FARM LABOR EXCHANGE.
CHARLES M ’ CAFFREE, SOUTH DAKOTA, PRESIDENT OF TH E EXCHANGE.
The National Farm Labor Exchange was organized to handle help
necessary for the grain harvest in the Middle Western States, pri
marily, and to correct the apparent evils by a cooperation of officials
and committees in the territory where the men are needed.
The plan of the organization provides, and this provision will be
kept, that it may extend its operation through all the year if it shall
seem desirable and if the work develops, but that remains for the
future.
In a normal year some extra harvest help is needed in Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North
Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Some of the States mentioned are
not largely concerned, and the system of agriculture in some of the
territory is changing so as to make necessary less extra harvest help.
But all come in touch with the problem to a certain extent and with
some it is of prime importance. Harvest begins more than two
months earlier in the south end of the territory included than in the
north end, so men may work in several States during the season.
The season of 1914 drew particular attention to the need of a differ
ent system. Due to the industrial depression, thousands more came
into some of the sections than could be given work. Many of the
best workers lost so much time that they finished the season with
nothing to the good. Enforced idleness in the “ jungles” is de
moralizing to morals and character. It makes hobos and the “ I
won’t work.” We should improve the class of labor. The farmers
will benefit under the proposed system by a greater assurance of
getting the help they need, by getting better men, men who will not
“ bum out,” who are used to labor in the sun and can give a day’s
work. The communities, and particularly some of the cities, will
appreciate getting only the men needed. The railroads are greatly
interested and the matter enters into the prosperity and comfort of
many citizens.
The plans include getting the men from other sections of the
United States, placing them where needed, moving them with the
least loss of time, culling out the undesirables, making more satis
factory conditions for both the farmer and harvest help. In fact,
the attempt is to handle effectively a situation which can not adjust,
itself.
The distribution within the State is looked after by the official
of the State designated for that purpose. All farmers and civic
and business organizations interested were invited to send repre
sentatives to the meeting for organization. The United States Do*
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BU LLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
partment of Labor, the United States Department of Agriculture,
and the United States Congressional Committee on Industrial
Relations were represented and assisted in the organization. As
effected, the active organization consists of a representative from
the United States Department of Labor, from the United States De
partment of Agriculture, and the labor officials of each State
concerned, and they will do the actual work of handling this situ
ation. There are associate members, representing the various civic
organizations interested, and each representative has one vote at
the annual meeting and any other meetings which may be called.
Members of both classes elect the officers at the annual meeting, but
only active members may serve in office. The dues are $20 for each
active member and $1 for each associate member. No salaries are
paid, as the officers are already officials who are concerned in this
work, and the dues are merely for postage and small miscellaneous
expenses. The United States Department of Labor has placed
agents in strategic locations for distribution of harvest hands and
is cooperating effectively. When this was written the season was
just beginning, and there had not been sufficient “ try out ” to form
satisfactory conclusions. Hon. W. G. Ashton, of Oklahoma, was
elected secretary and is just now in the middle of his campaign, but
seems to be pleased with the results thus far.
All hoped for, of course, can not be accomplished in one season,
but experience may help to devise effective methods in what is cer
tainly an important field for valuable work.
A SYSTEM OF RECORDS, REGISTRATION, AND FILING.—PRELIMI
NARY REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS.
Pursuant to a vote of our second annual convention held at In
dianapolis, a committee was appointed to consider and report to this
convention standard schedules or blanks for use in public employ
ment bureaus in the United States and Canada.
Your committee offers the following report with recommenda
tions:
The true function of the public employment bureau and certain
fundamental principles should first be fully understood before we
can intelligently discuss the matter of scientific schedules and of a
system for the administration of these bureaus, or consider the stand
ardization of schedules so as to secure uniformity of record keeping.
It is agreed that the true function of the public employment
bureau is to act as the agent of both employer and employee in an
endeavor to obtain competent, reliable, and temperate help for the
employer and suitable employment for the employee. The institu
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119
tion should be accessibly located in suitably arranged, lighted, and
well-ventilated quarters, preferably on the ground floor, with sepa
rate entrances for male and female help.
The number of branches and the number of departments for the
segregation and handling of classified skilled and unskilled male and
female help will largely depend upon the public convenience and the
necessity of the community or territory to be served.
The superintendent and staff should be carefully selected from the
classified civil service, and they should possess a knowledge of
human nature, have a pleasing personality, initiative, sympathy,
tact, and good judgment.
In all that is done it should be borne in mind that it is a placement
and not a relief bureau.
Quality of service to the employing public is another one of the
underlying principles; together they spell permanency and success.
It would be folly to establish a public employment bureau unless
it could be maintained under proper auspices, with the foregoing
principles in mind, and with a sufficient appropriation to meet legiti
mate requirements.
Without question, records should be kept by which to show to
the proper authorities and to the public the justification for such
an institution. Such records should be as simple as possible and yet
comprehensive.
Some form of record must be kept of an employer’s order for
help, and we believe that it should contain the following information:
“ Employer’s registry card ”—Name of individual, firm, or corpo
ration ; address, business, telephone number; nature or kind of work
to be performed; hours per week; preference as to age, religion, and
nationality, if any; terms and probable duration of employment; sex
and number wanted; symbol of clerk and date received; also name
and address of person to be seen. On this same card should be
entered the name of the applicant and the date on which he is sent
to such employer, and eventually the result—that is, whether or not
he is hired. Certain symbols may be used in the result column to
indicate whether or not the applicant called on the employer as
agreed, or whether or not he reported for duty as agreed with the
employer, or whether or not he is a desirable person to be sent else
where. It is generally agreed that a separate record or card should
be kept of each class of help requisitioned by each employer. The
size and shape of the card and whether it should be filed horizontally
or perpendicularly are perhaps matters of individual choice. This
blank can be used for any kind or class of help in any community.
The “ employer’s registry cards” are filed in numerical order, and
this keeps them in chronological order.
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BULLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
The matter of policy with regard to recording the number of
persons called for by an employer is important and should be con
sidered here. I f an employer calls for 10 people, it should be ascer
tained just how many people he really requires. The actual number
that he expects and requires should be the record. An excess num
ber may be referred to him for selection. In taking orders for help,
we believe in following this rule: “ If, from anything that the bureau
may say or do, the employer expects service from it, a record of the
order should be made. If, from anything that has been said by the
bureau, such employer does not expect service, then a memorandum
will suffice, and no record need be made.” This is a good rule to
follow, as has been found from years of experience. At present
some offices do not record an order unless they are able to send some
one in response to the employer’s request, and the order is then made
out on the day the person is sent, which obviously is bad business.
This is done presumably for the reason that the office desires to be
able to show a large percentage of positions filled in proportion to
'the number called for. This is manifestly unfair and does not show
a true record of the demands made upon the office for service.
A “ ledger card ” or office directory of employers is also important.
I f the “ ledger card ” is not used, the “ employees registry card ” is
filed alphabetically.
An “ employee’s registry dip ” should be used by which to record
applications for employment. This should be simple and compre
hensive and a minimum number of questions asked, for the reason
that the public refuses to be subjected to too much questioning.
Great care must be exercised not to give the applicant for work an
impression that he is being quizzed too much about personal matters,
for if you do you will lose his patronage and that of others.
Certain pertinent information, from a placement bureau’s stand
point, is absolutely necessary.
It is agreed that it is desirable to have the applicant sign his name
on the blank as the first operation, for the reason that it implies an
obligation to give truthful answers, and enables the office to obtain a
correct spelling of the name. A placement clerk should then fill out
the rest of the blank in ink, obtaining the following information:
Name, address, city or town, nearest telephone number, age, date of
birth for juveniles, conjugality, religion, residing at home or board
ing out, birthplace, alien or citizen, opportunity, kind of employment
or work desired, experience in the opportunity desired, terms of em
ployment, willingness to go out of town, trade-unionist, personality,
education, language or languages spoken, color or race, number .of
years, months, weeks, and days’ residence in country, State, and city;
cause of unemployment (using United States Bureau of Labor Sta
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OPPICES.
121
tistics standards), number of months unemployed preceding applica
tion, number of persons actually dependent upon the applicant for
support, date of application, and symbol of clerk receiving same.
References from two persons, preferably former employers, should be
required. A record should be kept on this application of the name of
the employer to whom the applicant is sent, the date, and the result—
that is, whether or not he is employed. Certain symbols may be used
in the result column if he has not complied with the rules of the office.
This slip or card should also be kept as a continuous record, showing
the applicant’s transactions with the office. These cards may be filed
alphabetically. An up-to-the-minute card may be used by the place
ment clerks on which to keep a record of names, by occupations, of
certain classes of help for use when needed promptly. When an
applicant is sent to an employer the “ employer’s registry card ” and
the “ employee’s registry slip ” should be attached and so kept until
within a reasonable length of time to learn whether the applicant has
been engaged or not, after which they should be detached and filed as
previously stated. Obviously they should not be the same shape and
filed in the same way (perpendicular or horizontal) that “ employer’s
registry cards ” are filed. Perpendicular filing is best for “ employer’s
registry cards,” because less area is required.
A “card of introduction” is also required by which to give explicit
directions to the applicant for work when sending him to a prospec
tive employer. The form mostly used is post-card size, so that it
may be signed by the employer and returned, indicating whether or
not the applicant has been hired.
A “ verification card,” in the absence of the signed “ introduction
card,” indicating that the applicant for employment has been hired,
has been found to be necessary by which to certify that positions
have been filled. In the absence of either this “ verification card ”
or the signed “ introduction card ” the office is not in possession of
written evidence and a complete record of the “ number of positions
reported filled.”
There are a number of other blanks to be considered, but for our
purpose we think it best to consider the five mentioned in this report,
rather than to attempt to take up others at this time.
A position should not be counted as filled unless the office has the
evidence to prove it—either the “ introduction card ” signed by the
employer or a “ verification card ” made out at the office as a result
of investigation.
About 64 per cent of the signed cards from employers who have
hired persons are returned in the more highly organized offices.
With the public employment bureau the employer must receive
first consideration. With the relief agency the applicant for em
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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
ployment of necessity is considered first When an employer places
an order for help, it is usually an indication that he needs some one
at once, and every effort should be made to the end that prompt
service will be given; all waste effort should be eliminated.
THE PLACING OF WOMEN BY PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
LOUISE C. ODENCRANTZ, SUPERINTENDENT W OM EN’ S DEPARTM ENT, STATE
EM PLOYM ENT BUREAU, BROOKLYN.
Some days ago a newspaper reporter who came into the women’s
department remarked with surprise on the class of applicants who
were waiting their turn at the desks. “ I had not expected to see so
many really respectable looking women and nice young girls here,”
she said. “ I thought that the only kind of people who would be
willing to come to a place like this would be the very poor or the
down and out, but some of them look really very good.”
Unfortunately, this is the point of view of many people, and we
have come to recognize it as one of the biggest obstacles to overcome
in the development of a public employment bureau. Everybody
knows that the bureau is for all the unemployed of Brooklyn, but few
stop to realize that the unemployed are not alone the conspicuous
down and outs who raid restaurants and churches and organize
parades. These make the most noise, but they are only a fraction of
the unemployed. In a city like Brooklyn, among the 170,000 women
wage earners alone, there are hundreds every day who change their
j obs even in normal times. Some leave of their own accord to advance
or to get better work conditions; others are laid off because work is
slack. This shifting is not limited to the poorest, the most unskilled,
the inefficient, or the lowest grade of workers. Changes are occur
ring constantly all along the line, from the office cleaner to the office
manager. The bureau should be designed to reach every grade of
worker when in search of a new position, and not alone the submerged
tenth, or the employables at the lowest rung of the ladder, or the
unemployables. More often these should be the problem of relief
agencies and not the employment bureau, which, at best, can get them
only occasional temporary jobs. The big task of the bureau is to
reach the efficient, the skilled, and the unskilled regular workers, and
to prevent them from becoming unemployable.
This is the principle upon which we have been trying to develop
the women’s department in the Brooklyn office. In this city there
are some 170,000 women who are trying to remain gainfully em
ployed throughout the year. A fourth of them are engaged in manu
facturing and mechanical pursuits, another fourth are in clerical
occupations, saleswork, and telephone operating, slightly more than
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123
a fourth are in domestic and personal service, while the remainder
are in professional work. Our aim is not to limit the service of the
bureau to the fourth who are in domestic and personal service, but
to reach the women in all the ofcher groups as well.
This office has been open since the 4th of January of this year.
During the first five months of its existence 2,400 women applied for
employment, employers applied for 1,300 women workers, nearly
1,800 women were referred to positions, and 715 positions were defi
nitely reported filled, with many still to be heard from. The posi
tions reported filled were distributed over the following occupa
tions: Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits, 266, or 37 per cent;
clerical, professional, wholesale, and retail trade, 61, or 9 per cent;
domestic and personal service, 272, or 38 per cent; hotel and restau
rant, 64, or 9 per cent; casual workers, 52, or 7 per cent.
These figures show that more than a third of the positions reported
filled were in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits, over half in
domestic, hotel, restaurant, and institution help, and 9 per cent in
clerical and professional work and trade.
The women’s department now has a staff of three women, a super
intendent, an assistant superintendent, and a stenographer, whose
work, however, is about the same as an assistant superintendent.
The work is roughly subdivided into two departments. One side of
the room is set aside for domestics, hotel, restaurant, and institution
help, and dayworkers. The other side is for all other workers, such
as factory and store workers, clerical and professional help. We had
scarcely opened the bureau before this grouping was found necessary,
as the types of workers are quite distinct. The law of the survival
of the fittest was reversed. Only the unfit would have survived if
this distinction had not been made.
An assistant is in charge of each department, not only registering
and referring applicants to positions, but keeping in close touch with
the employers, telephoning them about applicants sent, inquiring
about openings for particularly likely applicants, as well as per
sonally canvassing employers.
The woman in charge of the domestic department visits hotels,
restaurants, and laundries, hospitals, and other institutions, and in
the summer tries, by correspondence, to keep in close touch with
summer hotels and boarding houses. The woman in charge of the
other department visits factories, millinery and dressmaking estab
lishments, stores, offices, publishers, insurance companies, and other
likely places where large forces of clerical help are employed.
This canvassing of employers we have found to be a very impor
tant factor in the success of the bureau, if it is to handle other help
than domestics and dayworkers. With the ever-present shortage of
labor in domestic help, orders for this sort of work will largely come
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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.
unsolicited, especially as employers of domestic help are already
accustomed to applying to agencies. But calls upon the women’s
department for other kinds of help usually represent actual effort
on the part of the bureau to obtain them. To these employers the
idea of securing help through an agency is new, and they must not
only have the idea pointed out to them, but they must be converted
to the advantage of this method over the time-honored one of hang
ing out a sign or advertising.
It is not enough to secure the good will and cooperation of an
employer. The bureau must hold him by sending him the kind of
applicant he wants. And there is no more effective or surer way of
insuring this than by personal visits by the placement agents to the
places of employment, so that they may see the kind of work done
and the grade of worker wanted. Employers themselves realize this
when they invite us to go through their plants so that we may under
stand their work. Even in such a visit a placement agent can get
only a general idea of the demands and qualifications necessary in
the thousands of different occupations and specialized processes of
modem industry.
Such visiting also incidentally supplies us with information about
conditions of employment in the places to which we are sending
applicants. This is especially important in the placing of women.
Not only is there a greater need of safeguarding them in their places
of employment, but they know less than men about what conditions
of employment they may expect. To some extent the employment
bureau for women must take the place of labor organizations in
standardizing wages and conditions. A public employment bureau
which keeps in close cooperation with factory inspectors and other
public officers is in a better position than almost any private or
philanthropic employment bureau to know about conditions in
establishments to which it may send its workers.
The workers themselves who are referred to different places of
employment can also give much useful information about conditions
of employment and can help the bureau in weeding out undesirable
places to which to send workers, as, for instance, where wages are
withheld or where legal requirements as to hours, sanitation, or fire
protection are not observed.
In these first five months’ work several problems stand out con
spicuously as important and difficult to solve. Not one of the least
is the question, What shall we do with the middle-aged woman, the
widow, or married woman who has suddenly found it necessary to
become a wage earner again, after a lapse of several years of home
life, or the middle-aged woman who at 40 years of age is declared
too “ old ” for her job in the factory, store, or office in which she
has been employed? Usually these women have some home ties and
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125
can not go into domestic service, where almost every woman can get
a foothold. When they are asked what kind of work they want, it
always is the same answer, “ I’ll do anything ” ; when pressed further,
“ day’s work.” They know of nothing else that they can do or where
a middle-aged woman is wanted. To direct these women into other
lines than this overcrowded occupation requires as much ingenuity
and tact as vocational guidance for the 14 or 16 year old girl hunting
her first job. Information about their occupations before their mar
riage is sometimes a guide for directing them into other work. An
elderly woman who had been a dressmaker obtained a place at mend
ing curtains in a hotel. An experienced foot-press operator was
placed in her own trade, although she had applied for day’s work.
A number of other women were placed in metal factories at heavy
presswork. An employer who had employed young girls for this
work was induced to try some older women when it was pointed out
that the constant shifting of the girls was perhaps due to the fact
that their work was rather heavy for them. Other women who were
good ironers were referred to garment factories where pressers were
needed or to laundries as family ironers. Another outlet has been
office and school buildings, hotels, and restaurants where regular
cleaners are employed. In other cases employers of domestics have
been induced to engage women who had to sleep at home. This sug
gestion was sometimes cordially welcomed by the employer, who was
only too glad to save the rent of an extra room.
The reason why these women ask for day’s work is because they
do not know about any other opportunities. Th3y have been out
of touch with industry for years and they do not know to what they
can turn. They do not realize that perhaps it is still worth while for
them to learn a trade. We had a woman who came in regularly
asking for day’s work. At last we suggested that she try to learn
some trade as day’s work seemed so scarce. For three weeks we
didn’t see her. One day she came in with a beaming face and
announced proudly that she had learned a trade. She had applied
at a hospital laundry for permission to work there for a month or
three weeks so that she could learn mangling. It was not much of a
trade, to be sure, but the next day she secured a job in a hotel
laundry at $7 a week as an experienced mangier.
This work might be termed vocational guidance for the adult.
The other problem is vocational guidance for the young girls who
have just left school or who have had several unsatisfactory jobs.
In New York it is becoming increasingly difficult to find openings for
children under 16, owing to restrictions on their hours of work. One
result is that more children are staying in school until their sixteenth
birthday. But even when they leave at this age they still need guid
ance. In our cooperation with schools in Brooklyn we have found the
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general verdict of principals and teachers to be that it is our job and
not theirs to do this task. They feel that we are in a better position
to know of industrial conditions, opportunities for advancement, and
definite openings, and to judge of the child’s fitness for the particular
work. Such knowledge comes not only from visits to employers but
from daily contact with older workers who have been through the
mill. The best way of finding out what occupations are only blind
alleys is to know how workers have fared who have been in them.
Moreover, juvenile placement work must go hand in hand with adult
placement work. Some of the best openings we have been able to
secure for learners are in establishments where they are seldom taken,
and where the openings hare been made chiefly at our suggestion.
In New York City an experiment is being carried on in connec
tion with the Manhattan Trade School by several employment bu
reaus, public and philanthropic, to test the ability of some of these
young girls who have never been at work. For three weeks they
attend a special class and are tested by expert trade teachers in
hand sewing, sewing by machine, simple and special electric ma
chine operating, pasting, etc., followed by an academic test and a
physical examination. A report of the girl’s work, general char
acteristics, and ability in the tests, together with recommendations as
to the lines for which she seems to show special fitness, is mailed
to the bureau which sent the girl to the school. With such a report
as a basis, it is obvious that the placement agent is in a much.better
position to direct the girl into the right trade, and it is a clinching
argument to an employer when he can be told that the applicants
sent have shown some fitness for his particular kind of work.
We have also been able to direct girls, especially the more ma
ture, into hospital work, especially into babies’ hospitals, as there
is a demand for trained infants’ nurses, at good salaries.
The young clerical workers without any experience or training are
a more hopeless proposition. Feeling themselves superior to factory
work, and yet unprepared either in education or special training for
any office work, they are almost impossible to place. Some few can,
after much persuasion, be directed into the lighter kinds of factory
work, but there is still a great oversupply of these clerical workers.
Perhaps the schools are somewhat to blame for laying greater em
phasis upon the dignity of mental labor than upon that of manual
labor. Perhaps also some would be deflected from this overcrowded
field if they knew more about the small chance ahead for the un
skilled clerical worker, who can hardly expect a brighter future than
the most unskilled factory worker.
Unfortunately, this oversupply is not limited alone to the un
skilled clerical workers, especially at the rate at which business
schools, high schools and evening schools are turning out stenogra
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127
phers in Brooklyn. If there were trade and manual schools which
made as much effort to tempt the girls into them as the business
schools do, things might he different. But Brooklyn has not a single
trade school for girls and those who want to spend time in training
turn to the inevitable stenography and typewriting. Another solu
tion may come when factory trades are made more attractive, with
better conditions of employment, pleasanter surroundings, shorter
hours of labor, and steadier work.
The shifting of workers from one trade to another in slack seasons
is also a difficult problem, but of great importance to every public
employment bureau. Turning factory girls into summer hotel help,
sales girls into domestics, and department store girls into cashiers in
summer amusement places, is not an easy task and requires much in
genuity. But we feel that much can be accomplished in this direc
tion. The bureau can be of special value in supplying to workers in
formation about other trades that are busy, and trades in which their
qualifications and experience might be useful. We must constantly
keep our fingers on the pulse of industrial conditions and regulate
our advice accordingly. As our knowledge of industries and seasons
and of the qualifications necessary in the different occupations in
creases, the better able will we be to make these shifts from shop to
shop and from trade to trade, and to dovetail occupations with the
changing of the seasons.
In our relation to relief agencies we have found it somewhat per
plexing to know how to handle the people they send. Belief agen
cies, like a great part of the public, have not yet absorbed the idea
that the bureau refers applicants to positions primarily because they
seem fitted for the particular job, and not because they are needy.
An introduction card from a relief visitor often reads something
like this: “ Can you give Mrs. P. a job? Her husband left her
several years ago, and she has six children. I do hope you can find
something for her.” In the first place, a widow who has six children
to care for would seem to have a big enough job on her hands. In
the second place, there is no hint as to her ability or the kind of work
for which she might be fitted. In the women’s department, however,
we have not discouraged the sending of applicants, as we have felt
that we were free to weed the good from the unfit, and at the same
time we could centralize the placement work. Belief agencies have
always done much canvassing for jobs among employers. The relief
visitors agree with us that it is a better method to prevent duplica
tion by our undertaking the employment-bureau work, leaving them
the task of finding work for the handicapped and those whom we
can not handle, at least for the present.
In the samd way we feel that when temporary workrooms are
opened, as was done this past winter in New York, they should be
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operated in close cooperation with the employment bureaus, so that
they may be temporary in the real sense for the unemployed until
they can secure other work at reasonable wages. Every worker in
such workrooms should be registered in an employment bureau, as
such workrooms are primarily for regular workers who are tempo
rarily out of work.
The hardest lesson that we have to learn is that we must not try
to induce employers to become philanthropists by employing under
grade workers. “ It spoils the job,” as the saying is, for the efficient
worker who could hold the job and earn a regular wage. It is not
fair to the employer, who probably would prefer to select his own
way of “ doing charity.” Nor is it fair to the worker who becomes
discouraged in trying to do the work for which he is not fitted. We
must convince the public that bringing the right worker and em
ployer together does not constitute an act of charity. Nor should
we identify ourselves as a relief department by sending out applicants
for “ charity.”
THE IMMIGRANT WORKER AND THE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
BUREAU.
AN N E ERICKSON, IM M IG RAN T PROTECTIVE LEAGUE, CHICAGO.
The function of the public employment bureau is the organization
of the labor market. Immigrant labor has always formed an im
portant element of the American supply. The question for the
public agency is, then, not the needs of the immigrant versus the
needs of the native born, but, rather, what sort of service is neces
sary in order to care for the foreign-born laborer.
Attention should be called at the outset to the fact that, for the
protection both of the American workman and the immigrant, the
latter is not allowed to come to the United States under an agreement
to work. This is done in order that he may not be brought here as
a strike breaker, and because his ignorance of American standards
puts him at too great a disadvantage in entering into any labor
contract. Merely landing in the United States has not taught him
the things he needs to know for his own protection as well as the
protection of those whose competitor he becomes. The interest of
both the American and the immigrant workman makes the advice
and help of a disinterested public agency necessary.
Unless there is to be enormous waste through duplication the im
migrant laborer should be placed by the same agency as the American
laborer. The service which the agency should perform for the
immigrant is so different from that given the native bom as to
require a special department of the labor bureau. That some special
organization within the agency is necessary is obvious from the fact
that none of the public agencies, as at present organized, have been
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129
able to make any headway in the placement of the non-English*
speaking immigrant. The immigrant comes to the United States
with no knowledge of English, with no knowledge of American
standards of wages or living. He comes with the inherited religious,
racial, and political prejudices of Europe. The ordinary American
unequipped with his language, ignorant of his racial psychology,
will find it impossible intelligently to place the immigrant.
In all the classifications of labor, the unskilled workman is largely
the immigrant. Therefore, this problem with which the public
employment bureau will have to deal will particularly concern nonEnglish-speaking unskilled laborers.
The total number admitted during the fiscal year of 1914 who were
skilled workmen in Europe was 178,208 (which includes 7,770 mine
workers). Of the 710,456 in miscellaneous occupations, 288,053 were
classed as farm laborers, 14,442 as farmers—that is, owners of land—?
and 226,407 as laborers.1 Of all these farmers, farm hands, and
laborers, the greatest number begin as unskilled laborers here in
America. To an unnecessary extent the artisans, too, enter this
group and serve an apprenticeship in the unskilled ranks.
At the present time railroad construction offers the most conspicu
ous example of the need of the placement of immigrants by a public
agency.
The railroad companies in Chicago reported to the mayor’s com
mission on unemployment last winter that construction gangs were
usually one-third “ hoboes”—meaning Americans, Irish-Americans,
and foreigners who have been here many years. The other twothirds were classed as “ foreigners”—that is, Slavs, Italians, Greeks,
Mexicans, Bulgarians, and other recently arrived non-Englishspeaking immigrants.
In Chicago the fees paid private agents for this and other construc
tion work range from $2 to $23. The length of time on the job
varies from one-half day to the number of months necessary to com
plete the work. Many times men pay a large sum for a short-time
job. Many times, too, men pay their fees, are promised jobs and
never get them.
The company suffers from the resulting inefficiency of its force.
Few hands remain for long periods of time and every new gang has
to be broken in. Several railroad companies reported to the mayor’s
commission on unemployment (Chicago) that 10 to 20 men are
shipped out to the same job in a season. Perhaps this is because
conditions of work, have not been properly explained, or it may be
to enable the employment agent to collect more fees.
1
R eport o f Com m issioner General o f Im m igration, 1 9 14, Table X — “ Im m igrant aliens
adm itted, fiscal year ending June 3 0 , 1014, by occupations and races.”
288S80—Bull. 192—16-— 9
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An explanation of why the railroads use this wasteful system of
securing labor is hard to find, unless the division of fees between
officials of the roads and the agents is general. Sometimes steamship
companies are labor agents. One road recently frankly stated that
they could not get their labor from a free employment agency be
cause a certain steamship company was interested in a labor agency,
and in order to keep the good will of that company and so receive
arriving immigrants for travel upon their road, section hands and
other laborers had to be hired through this agency.
Obviously there are serious difficulties which the public agency
must overcome before it can enter this field, but that the public
interest will be greatly served by doing it, there is no question. If
such labor could be supplied through a properly managed public
bureau, exploitation of the men and of the railroad companies would
cease. It would form the opening wedge in the standardizing of
living conditions in the camps. It would make possible the elimina
tion of the “ padrone,” who is often the exploiter of both men and
employer.
Because this work is very largely interstate in character, it belongs
to a Federal agency rather than to a State or municipal one. On the
other hand, the work of the local agencies in organizing the home
market is completely demoralized by the unintelligent and wasteful
way in which this very large group of casual laborers is handled at
present. Their cooperation with the Federal agency is therefore
necessary.
Of the laborers classed in “miscellaneous occupations” many are
farmers. These men have until lately been entirely undirected and
have swelled the numbers of unskilled laborers.
During the last season the Federal Bureau of Immigration has
begun the placing of farm laborers. In a few seasons’ time it is
hoped this part of the labor market will be organized by this agency.
Something further might be done, perhaps, in placement of peasant
colonies on land. Mr. W. W. Husband, special immigration inspec
tor, reports after a study of Russian immigration that, “ If taken in
time, Russian immigration can le directed to the land instead of to
industrial centers. They are accustomed to agricultural work under
adverse circumstances, which kind of labor would seem to be re
quired in the development of much of the so-called waste land of the
United States. * * * Taking fully into account the existing con
ditions in this regard, it is believed that the Russian peasant immi
gration, which seems almost sure to increase greatly in the near
future, affords the best opportunity for developing a movement to
the land since the Scandinavians so largely settled the North Cen
tral States a generation or more ago.” 1
1 A nnual R eport o f the Com m issioner G eneral o f Im m igration, 19 1 4 , p . 4 0 1 .
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OPPICES.
131
There are other needs demanding separate equipment for the dis
tribution of foreign labor. In the first place, in order to get a cor
rect record of the industrial history previous to immigration, the
applicant must be interviewed by some one who speaks his language.
This interviewer should, if possible, be of the same nationality as the
applicant so that racial characteristics may be understood.
Then there is need of a careful survey of the industrial field to
discover positions available for the skilled immigrant workman, in
order to prevent the waste of such skill as far as possible. As an
example of what should not happen, we found a Polish masseur with
17 years’ experience in hospitals, fashionable sanitariums, and with
private physicians who was working as a laborer in the metal room
in the Deering plant in Chicago.
The immigrant laborer should be placed by an agency interested
in his being paid the price unskilled work commands and with a
view to the opportunities the industry offers for the advancement of
its employees to jobs where they may learn the trades in that in
dustry.
Among these newcomers there are a large number of youths and
young women who are under twenty and are having their first in
dustrial experience in the United States. Just as the native-born
children need guidance, these children do. They must be kept out
of “ blind-alley” jobs, and from jobs for which they are unsuited.
As well as native-born children, they must be put in touch with posi
tions where advancement is possible. For example, it should be
ascertained whether there is a chance of a molder’s helper becoming
a molder, or a yard laborer a molder’s helper, before men with possi
bilities are placed at those jobs.
Just as the immigrant man often finds his first position in the field
of unskilled labor, so the immigrant girl finds her first job in some
sort of domestic service. She is in great demand not only for hotel
and restaurant service, but for service in private households as well.
There should be, then, an investigation of every household where a
girl is sent just as there is one for every hotel and restaurant. Thus
there may be a chance to standardize not only wages for household
service but living conditions as well.
Because this is the girl’s first job and she continues in one after
another with no particular training or chance for change to another
position, such housework is often nothing more than blind-alley work.
When a girl has a hard place with low pay, she may be transferred
to a job with higher pay and easier work as she becomes capable
of filling a position with more responsibility, instead of going from
one hard job to another as bad. And this sort of a change can only
be made by an agency familiar with the households where its girls
are sent.
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BULLETIN OF TH E BUKEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
With proper placement and supervision, the girl whose ability
points to another field of industry will be discovered. For example,
a Bohemian girl who had managed an orphan asylum in Brun came
to Chicago and did housework in an American family. Through our
keeping in touch with her and telling her of opportunities in other
lines of work, she finally decided to take a playground course in order
to become a playground director.
Besides the duty of sending the immigrant to his job, there is the
need of a follow-up system. This system might be developed by
visits to the home of the applicant, by letters, and by office appoint
ments with him, or it might be carried out through the cooperation
of volunteer organizations or groups of individuals. Such a scheme
makes possible good preventive work. Through it an individual can
be fitted into his job with some drill. I f he fails in one place, another
can be found for him. For through ill-suited placement he may be
come unemployable. This plan is necessary in all placement work,
but it is peculiarly necessary with the immigrant who often can not
describe or even understand what his difficulties are.
Through such service, the bureau can connect the applicant with
the social agencies which will give him the protection and education
he needs. Thus he can be sent to the evening classes in the public
schools and settlements. The most important thing for the immi
grant besides his job is that he learn English as soon as possible for
he can not get ahead until he does. If the agency that gives him work
tells him this, it is much better than any kind of advertising that
can be done.
I f the applicant for a certain kind of work can not be placed be
cause he needs medical care, he can be advised to go to the dispen
saries and hospitals. Perhaps, through the diagnosis and treatment
so gained, it will be found that another kind of work is necessary for
the well-being of the individual, or he may be found to be a subject
for that department of the bureau or some existing private agency
which finds employment for the handicapped.
A Hungarian-Jewish girl came to America all alone. She was 16J
years old. She worked in a factory and earned $6 a week. She paid
$3 a week for her board. After eight months she was laid off. She
came to the Immigrants’ Protective League then for the first time.
She had learned some sewing in the old country. We sent her to a
dressmaker, but she was laid off here in a week. She developed a
festered finger. We helped her get service from the dispensary.
Then it became necessary to have her eyes examined. This was done
and glasses prescribed. It did not seem wise to get her another dress
making job, so we placed her in a hospital where she would be a
waitress and rest her eyes. She likes this work and is saving money
because she gets her board and room besides her wages.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
133
Indeed, all the resources of the city can be put at the disposal of the
non-English-speaking workman through such a follow-up system,
and the bureau will be more than a means of crude distribution of
labor and will become, as every public agency with which the immi
grant comes in contact should become, an agency for the Americani
zation of the immigrant along the best lines.
To summarize, in order to meet the peculiar needs of the immigrant
laborers, who form such a large group in the labor market, some spe
cial service from the public employment bureau is necessary. This
service can best be given through the organization of a separate
department. At least some members of the staff of this department
should speak the languages of the applicants. This department
should undertake as its first work the organization of the unskilled
labor market. It should inaugurate a follow-up system for both the
artisan and the laborer so as to keep each individual at his proper
job. By these services both the immigrant and the American will be
benefited. Each one will be cared for by one agency and not by
many private organizations competing with one another for the fees
of members registered.
THE IMMIGRANT AND THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD.
w . F. HENNESSY, COMMISSIONER OF EMPLOYMENT, CLEVELAND.
Early last winter, when the unemployment situation in the cities
was extremely critical, Cleveland made a survey in order to find out
how many unemployed people there were. Besides finding out the
number of persons who were out of work, it found another thing of
interest—that from 70 to 75 per cent of those who were destitute
unemployed were among those who had come to this country recently.
During that time of greatest stress these foreigners would often come
into the employment office, get down on their knees, and with tears in
their eyes say, “ Mister, please, a job—baby sick.”
Some of the great industrial plants, where men had been employed
for many, many years, found it necessary to drive the foreigners
away with a hose in order to keep them from storming the gates.
Day after day the more intelligent would come, bringing their citi
zenship papers with them, taking them out from their greasy wrap
pings and offering them as evidence of their right to work in place
of seeking charity.
In one week at the office of the labor exchange 11,000 men regis
tered as destitute unemployed, willing to work at anything at any
price. The majority of these were found to be honest foreigners who
had been pushed to the wall from lack of employment and for the
first time were near the border line of poverty. Although the suffer*
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ing was great during that time among the Americans, it was terrible
among the foreigners. Far from home, with few friends to protect
them, and unable to speak in our language, they suffered like dumb
animals and begged for a chance to work.
This was the situation the immigrant found this past winter, when
there was a period of industrial depression. What does the immi
grant find when business is booming?
The immigrant, who has made possible to the United States an
industrial development unequaled in the world’s history, finds a dis
organized labor market. Handicapped as he is by being unable to
speak the English language and being untrained in an industrial
way, he learns the one word “ job” and with that begins his hunt
for work. Not knowing what industries may be active, he wanders
from place to place trying to peddle his labor. Usually, after he has
found his own efforts to be almost worthless, lie seeks some private
employment agency that always holds out glowing promises of work
to be secured in return for the payment of a fee. Sometimes he is
successful and obtains a position from such an agency, but more
often the newly arrived immigrant is the victim of unscrupulous
employment agencies. Perhaps after he has secured a position he
falls a victim to that practice of paying for the privilege of holding
his job and turns over once a month a certain sum of money to the
interpreter or to the foreman.
The labor market is also often overstocked. With the seasonal
trades and activities of this country employers demand a surplus of
labor at their gates to be ready at all times so that they may use
them when needed. Handicapped as the country is by its inability
to transport the immigrant to places where he can market his labor,
an unfortunate situation is produced which often compels the immi
grant to seek charity in one place when there is plenty of work in
another.
Also the wages the immigrant receives are extremely low. The
average yearly salary amounts to only about $455. Of course this
is far higher than what he receives in his own country, but it is much
too low if we are to expect him to live as an American. With such a
salary and with employment which is often uncertain throughout
the year, we expect the immigrant to see in this country the land of
promise. Working for such a wage naturally means a lower stand
ard of living. It means poor housing; it means weakness both moral
and physical, and although we may criticize and say the immigrant
lives on a lower plane than the American we must remember that we
first made possible this plane by paying him a wage so low.
The immigrant finds his labor monotonous. By the average em
ployer of labor he is looked upon as a machine and little regard
is paid to the fact that he has a soul and a body. Contributing,
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135
as he does usually, only one operation toward the finished product
while being employed, and spending all his spare hours in the dirty
section of the town where he is compelled to live, this American life
soon takes out of him practically all the heart that he has.
Then, the immigrant has the hatred of those Americans whom he
has displaced. Brought in, as he is, in ignorance of American ways,
he is placed in the factories, shops, or mines to do one special task.
The fact that someone else has been doing this work before him
troubles him not in the least until he begins to feel the hatred of
the lower class of American labor. The immigrant is then looked
upon as one to be shunned and hated by all Americans, and he
need expect little sympathy and help from the average American
workingman.
And, lastly, the immigrant is practically without any permanent
interest in our American life. Here and there spasmodic efforts have
been made to assimilate him, but as yet little has been accomplished
toward this end. As he usually lives in a community which differs
so from his home country, the American life and the American ideals
are far away from him. His conversation and all his thoughts
follow in the channels laid down in the old country, and he looks
forward to the time when he may go back as a wealthy man to his
own country.
It is this situation that the immigrant finds in the industrial life
of this country, and it is with the industrial situation that the
Americans must work if there is to be a solution of the problem of
immigration. A great mass of humanity has poured into our coun
try during the past few years—far faster than we have been able to
absorb it. All this has meant a wonderful industrial development,
but it has socially retarded American life. For the present, im
migration has ceased and as the war will no doubt relieve the causes
of immigration for many years to come, America faces an oppor
tunity to establish a policy of dealing with the immigrant who is
already here, and carrying that policy on to completion.
The problem of the immigrant is an industrial problem primarily
and its solution must be sought in an industrial way. The immigrant
has come to the United States for a job and that job should be given
to him, not by some private employment agency which is run for
profit alone, but through an employment bureau governed by either
the State or the city authorities. In Cleveland the labor exchange
has its immigration bureau to take care of its foreign laborer. This
department is not only interested in his education, in seeing that he
is directed aright and not exploited, but sees that he secures the right
kind of a job in place of allowing him to be taken into labor camps
where he is treated unfairly and where he is made to sleep in places
unfit for human beings. Its efforts are directed to giving him the
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BU LLETIN OP TH E BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS,
best kind of a job for which he is fitted, and always with the under
standing that as he becomes more Americanized the type of job and
wages which he is capable of earning will eventually be higher.
Then again we must pay him wages that will enable him and his
family to live as Americans. Work should also be assured him for
the entire year. The uncertainty of his labor produces a dread of
American life.
The city, State, or Federal Government should so arrange its work
that employment could be guaranteed to any man during slack sea
sons when it is impossible to secure other work.
An efficient labor exchange should work with all agencies in the
solution of the immigration problem, not only by giving the immi
grant the right kind of a job and seeing that he secures wages that
are right and work for the entire year, but it should centralize the
opportunities for labor so that the immigrant may go to one place
where, without paying a fee, he can feel sure of finding employment,
if there is any to be had.
A definite policy must be established for the citizenship and edu
cation of the immigrant. We encourage him now to become a citizen
of our country and yet his citizenship often means little or nothing to
him. Through its classes in English and its citizenship classes each
community must make every effort to interest the immigrant in
American life. It should so hold up the ideals of citizenship before
the foreigner that each one will strive and work to attain that goal.
Through the high schools and the public schools an effort should be
made to educate in an industrial way not only the children of the
immigrant but the ambitious immigrant as well. Then an effort
should be made to establish some permanent, binding interest between
the immigrant and our country, whether this is in enabling him to
purchase a home at reasonable rates or by guaranteeing him a posi
tion for a certain term of years whereby he may feel sure that he can
pay for such a home, or through making the community life of the
immigrant so attractive in this country that the visions of the oldcountry life may fade away and he may see in America the land of
happiness.
And lastly, and perhaps the most important, the American must
be educated to the immigrant problem. So far he has neglected it
and has always refused to believe that the immigrant is a problem,
but now public sentiment must be so molded that every community
may awaken to the opportunity which it now has to solve the prob
lem of the immigrant.
Through the newspapers, the magazines, and every other agency
that is possible in the molding of public opinion, those interested in
the immigrant must strive to present to the American public the in
dustrial as well as the humane side of this great problem; and if the
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
137
American people once grasp the fact that the great mass of immi
grants have made possible to this country the most wonderful indus
trial development that the world has yet known, we may rest assured
that the immigration problem will be with us no more.
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
H ILD A MTJHLHAUSER, GIRLS* AND W OM EN’ S BUREAU, CLEVELAND.
England and Germany have for years considered it a part of the
duty of the Government to provide juvenile labor exchanges under
Government control, and America is slowly awakening to the fact
that if we are adequately to provide for the youth who are pouring
into modem industry, our Government must bear its responsibility
in guiding these young people. The Federal authorities in this
country have not yet considered following the example set by Eng
land and Germany and so successfully tried by them, but the States
of the Union are gradually assuming more responsibility toward
their labor exchanges. Ohio is the first State that has gone so far
as to recognize the value of vocational guidance' and to try a plan
of combining the State-city labor exchange of Cleveland with the
vocational guidance bureau operating under the commissioner of
labor and the industrial commission.
It was interesting to note when we were campaigning to have this
epoch-making legislation put through the Ohio legislature that all
the agencies in the city, settlements, institutions, charitable organi
zations, the retail merchants’ board, the chamber of commerce, and
leading citizens all favored State control of all employment work to
be undertaken in Cleveland and vigorously backed our effort. It was
also interesting to hear the members of the house and senate give
the one reason of the many I presented why they agreed to take
over an organization which our own city council had refused to
handle. The State officials believed that as a “ Give a job” move
ment we were not warranted at that time in asking for funds, but
that as a “ Know a job” movement we had a right to be considered.
They paused, .and after due deliberation decided that it was just as
important to give a girl the right job as to give a job at all, and that,
knowing industrial conditions and having studied the girl and the
opportunities open to her for the past six years, we were of value to
the State. .They realized that our survey of Cleveland industries,
carefully and thoroughly made, gave us first-hand information im
perative for intelligent placing; that our visitors’ committee, com
posed of trained workers who are continually following up place
ments and are visiting the girls in their homes, lent the personal
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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
touch which is so important in dealing with young girls; that the
surveys we had made for the National Child Labor Committee giv
ing the minimum wage of Cleveland working girls, the surveys of
the industrial histories of the feeble-minded, used to help secure
funds for a new institution to care for them, all our many surveys
and publications showed the possibility of correlating facts of value
to the State in the future.
Moreover, we had proven by actual experiment of three months
that the combination could be successful and that we “ uplifters,” as
the city council scornfully termed us, could give satisfactory results
to the State, the city, and the girl. I should modify that last remark,
for you who have for years been dealing with the girl problem realize
that for the juvenile there seldom can be satisfactory results, espe
cially when related to modem industry. Knowing local conditions,
knowing the girl, what “ satisfactory results” have ever been ob
tained when placing her in a position for which she is best fitted at
the early age of 14 to 16 years? We use the term “ for which she is
best fitted ” when in reality we know she is not fitted for any position
that will give her a vocation in the future. “ The startling results of
the investigation undertaken in Massachusetts showed how casual and
demoralizing the first few years of factory life become to thousands
of unprepared boys and girls. At the end of their second year of
employment many of them are less capable than when they left school
and actually receiving less wages. The report of the commission
made clear that while the 2 years between 14 and 16 were most
valuable for educational purposes they were almost useless for
industrial purposes.”
Some educators are making a plea for vocational education in the
schools, others for continuation schools, and still others for voca
tional guidance as part of the public-school system. The school,
which has been so far from meeting the needs of the child in
the past, is now the one organization to which all turn for the ad
justment of the juvenile-employment problem. Why not turn to
the State and in time to the Federal Government, presuming, of
course, that close cooperation exists between State and school. I
am confident that the Cleveland experiment will be one which shall
set an example that other States can follow, so that in time the
responsibility for juvenile employment shall be fixed with the Gov
ernment.
The reason given by many vocational guidance experts for not
seeking to have such bureaus taken under the wing of the State
has been that under State control the high ideals for which these
bureaus stand under private supervision may be corrupted, and that
under State control they would be subject to some of the unreliable
influences governing State regime. Some of our own workers
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICES.
139
accepted the idea of the new combination with some misgivings.
I believe that there are three distinct advantages gained by having
the vocational guidance bureau a part of the State-city labor ex
change. First, that a vast number of girls who hesitate to make use
of a charitable organization, as most bureaus maintained by private
funds are, come freely to a bureau under municipal and State con
trol because they feel they have a right to come. Second, it is con
venient for the employer. He does not have to call the schools if he
needs a young girl and the city bureau if he seeks an older girl. It
becomes habit for him to call upon the State-city labor exchange for
all his help, young men and women, boys and girls. Third, the ofttold advantage of having a vocational guidance bureau located in the
schools, because of the close cooperation thus stimulated, may be
obtained when the bureau is located in the city hall. We secured the
cooperation of the principals, who sent to us those children intending
to leave school. The truant officer promised to send girls to us
before he gave them working papers, and the principal of the com
mercial high school, who was at the head of a committee that con
ducted an employment department for the graduates of that school,
expressed his willingness to turn over this work to us. In this way
the close cooperation of the schools so important to the success of any
juvenile bureau may be established.
The fact is that in these three experimental months we have more
than doubled our usefulness. Twice as many employers have called
us and more than twice as many girls have sought us as we had ever
had in the six years we had been in operation as a private bureau.
Our permanent placements rose from 45 to 75 per cent of the number
of applicants. Not only was the use of the bureau thus increased, but
girls of a type who had never before thought of using an employ
ment bureau, the high-school and college graduates, talented young
women, came in very large numbers to secure advice and employment.
We were made the subject of the address of the sweet girl graduate
as well is of the prominent educator. The newspapers kept us con
stantly before the public by printing excellent articles bearing upon
our work. We had to enlarge our quarters and move from the small
basement of the city hall to a spacious room, light and airy, on the
main floor. Here we placed library books, magazines, newspapers,
exhibits pertaining to health and hygiene, bulletins, and plants
which added to the attractiveness of the quarters, as well as to the
comfort of the girls. The women’s department of the State joined
us and we became one department under a director responsible to
the commissioner of labor. Thus we divided the labor exchange into
two departments, not according to age but according to sex. The
women who had been crowded in with the men’s department became
part of a girls’ and women’s bureau, where in true democratic spirit
140
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.
the laundress or the scrubwoman sat in the same room with the
young woman who had had greater opportunities. The fact that we
thought her intelligent enough to read a paper or magazine in her
own language at once added to her self-respect and she no longer
felt herself ranked lowest in the scale of wage earners. Counter
interviews were supplemented by office interviews, providing a
privacy which was her right. Thus the ideals of the vocational
guidance bureau as to dealing with applicants are being instilled into
the workings of the State department, resulting in greater efficiency
in the girls’ and women’s department.
Is there any wonder that we are so optimistic as to the possibilities
of developing our bureau so that in time all employers instead of
maintaining their own employment departments will make use of
one central labor bureau which shall appeal to them as well as to
the employable, because, with that high-minded spirit which pro
duced the successful private vocational bureaus of the past there
shall be linked the vast public service which is possible only through
cooperation of the parents, the schools, the employers and employees,
the city, the State, and the Nation.
APPENDIX A.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT CHICAGO MEETING, DECEMBER 19, 1913.
(1) Whereas the National Commission on Industrial Relations is about to
begin its study of labor conditions and remedies; and whereas employment
offices are recognized by all authorities as the first step in any plan o f deal
ing with unemployment:
Resolved, That we respectfully suggest to the Commission on Industrial Re
lations that they make a study of public and private employment offices and
work out a plan of National and State cooperation, if they deem it advisable,
for distributing labor throughout the country.
(2) Whereas this meeting has shown that there is such great disparity in
methods used in the various public employment offices that their work can
not be compared and cooperation in distributing labor is almost impossible:
Therefore be it
Resolved, That the executive committee be instructed to make a study o f the *
methods used in public employment offices throughout the world, and to work
out a set of forms to be submitted to the next meeting o f this associaion for
discussion and approval.
(3) Whereas the cooperation and the confidence of both capital and labor are
essential in conducting successful public employment offices: Therefore be it
Resolved, That this association recommends to all the offices that advisory
committees consisting of an equal number o f representatives o f employers and
wage earners should be correlated with each public employment office, in order
that strict impartiality may be secured.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT INDIANAPOLIS MEETING, SEPTEMBER 25, 1914.*
(1) Whereas the State free employment offices must necessarily devote their
main efforts to distribution of labor within the States; and whereas the inter
state distribution of labor is most important in reducing unemployment:
Therefore be it
Resolved by this convention, That we call upon the Federal Government to
establish agencies for distributing labor among the States and for cooperating
with the State offices in such distribution.
Resolved, That we do not approve the establishment of local employment
offices by the Federal Government.
(2)
Resolved, That this association go on record as favoring the elimination,
as soon as possible, of all private employment agencies operating for a profit
within the United States, and that it recommends to the consideration of the
United States Commission on Industrial Relations and Congress and the various
State legislatures legislation having this end in view.
(3) Whereas the conditions of employment as reported by the various repre
sentatives of the public employment agencies, particularly that employment
pertaining to domestic service and agricultural pursuits, are to the effect
that employees o f that class of labor ar6 poorly paid; and
141
142
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.
Whereas the employers of this class o f labor are continually expressing them*
selves as dissatisfied and are experiencing trouble in procuring competent,
capable help; and
Whereas the conditions that exist and the position o f the employers in this
regard, in relation thereto, are such as to discourage this class o f labor from
continuing in these occupations: Therefore be it
Resolved by this association o f public employment officials in convention
assembled, That we deplore these conditions, the causes, and general results
o f same; and be it further
Resolved, That the attention of employers of this class of labor be directed to
this condition and their connection thereto; and be it further
Resolved, That this association recommend to all such employers the necessity
and need, and as a duty owed by these employers, to offer and pay more wages
and afford better conditions to this class of labor in an effort to ameliorate and
alleviate these conditions and to prevent the disastrous results from such condi
tions, which reflects on all classes of labor and on the general conditions of
employment.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT DETROIT MEETING, JULY 2, 1915.
(1) Whereas the enactment o f different laws in different cities and States results
in disorganized and unsystematic administration and inharmonious operation
of these bureaus in the matters o f appointment o f superintendents and clerks,
selection o f suitably arranged locations, sufficient appropriations, and proper
or scientific record keeping by which studies o f the question o f unemployment
may be made: Therefore be it
Resolved by the American Association of Public Employment Offices in con
vention assembled, That we strongly favor the enactment of uniform legisla
tion to the end that administrative officers may be empowered to select suit
able locations, to be provided with sufficient funds with which to operate these
bureaus, and the adoption of uniform schedules or forms and system, and a pro
vision by which a practical civil-service examination may be held (written and
oral) for the purpose of testing applicants for appointment to the service and
also provide for a larger cooperation with all reliable nonfee placement bureaus;
and be it further
Resolved, That the executive committee is hereby instructed to work toward
the accomplishment o f these ends.
(2) Whereas it is a well-known fact that the use o f the titles free State,
city, or municipal employment agency, exchange, or labor bureau is objec
tionable and has a tendency among uninformed persons to place such insti
tutions in the category o f the charity and relief agencies and thereby brings
these bureaus into disrepute: Therefore be it
Resolved, That the American Association of Public Employment Offices in
convention assembled are of the unanimous opinion that the word “ fre e”
should be eliminated and that the title public employment bureau or office
should, in so far as it is possible in existing offices and in all new ones, be
adopted, and that we strongly favor such title.
(3) Whereas the opportunity for rendering eminent service to the patrons of
the public employment bureau is seriously handicapped by not being able to
utilize the Federal postal facilities to the fullest extent in the posting of
bulletins and sending official mail matter free, privileges which are now fully
enjoyed by the Federal employment bureaus: Therefore be it
Resolved, That the American Association o f Public Employment Offices in
convention assembled are strongly o f the opinion that such uses of the postal
APPENDIX A.
143
service is highly desirable to the successful oi>eration o f these bureaus; and be
it further
Resolved, That a larger measure of cooperation between these bureaus and
the Federal Government be urged in a communication to be sent by our secre
tary to the proper Federal authorities.
(4) Whereas it is fully recognized that the dignity, reputation, and success o f
these bureaus is impaired to a great extent by the fact that proper and uni
form schedules or forms and records are not kept by a very large number
o f existing offices; and
Whereas these offices in different States are not run in accordance with uni
form rules and system; and
Whereas the statistical information is not collected or kept in a systematic or
uniform manner for the purposes of comparison with other offices: Therefore
be it
Resolved, That the American Association of Public Employment Offices in
convention assembled strongly favor greater uniformity of record keeping and
system, and we urgently request that the proper officials be solicited to the
end that greater uniformity prevail in existing and future offices.
(5) Whereas it is highly desirable and important that we be provided with a
printed report o f the proceedings of this and the preceding conventions of
our association; and
Whereas there are no funds in our treasury with which to pay for the cost
of the same: Therefore be it
Resolved, That we recommend the publication of such a report; and the
secretary is hereby requested to make an arrangement with the United States
Department o f Labor to publish the proceedings, if that is possible.
BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS*
144
APPENDIX B.
F ED ER AL, ST A T E , A N D M U N IC IP A L EM PLOYM EN T BU R EAU S IN T H E U N ITED
STATES.1
Public employment offices have already been established or provided for in
this country by 25 States (including Idaho, Iowa, and New Jersey, where the
necessary legislation has been enacted but the organization has not been completed), such State employment offices having been established to the number
of 77 in 76 cities. Municipal public employment offices have been established
in 28 cities in 16 States, the number of such offices being 30. Federal employ
ment offices have been established in connection with the Division of Informa
tion o f the Department of Labor in 30 States, the number o f such offices being
77. The location and character of these offices, that is, whether State, Federal,
or municipal, are shown in the following table: *
Federal, State, and municipal employment bureaus in the United States.
Character of bureau and location.
State.
Federal.
Alabama.
Arizona..
California..
Colorado........
Birmingham........
Mobile...................
Douglas.................
Naco.......................
Nogales.................
Phoenix................
Tucson..................
Yum a....................
Bakersfield...........
Calexico................
Eureka..................
Fresno...................
Indio.....................
Los Angeles * . . . .
Monterey..............
Sacramento..........
San Bernardino..
San Diego.............
San Francisco___
San Luis Obispo.
Santa Ana............
Santa Barbara.. .
Denver *...............
Connecticut.
Florida..
Georgia..
Id a h o ...
Illin ois..
Jacksonville 3.
Savannah........
Moscow............
Chicago8..........
Indiana..
Indianapolis.
Iow a.
State.
Phoenix.
Los Angeles « . . .
Oakland 2............
Sacramento *___
San Francisco 2 .
Berkeley.............
Berkeley.
Los Angeles.
Sacramento.
Colorado *Springs.
Denver (2)............
Pueblo...................
Bridgeport............
Hartford...............
New Haven..........
Norwich................
Waterbury...........
Denver.
Chicago.............
East St. Louis.
Peoria................
Rockford...........
Rock Is la n d ...
Chicago.
Evansville.. .
Fort W ayne..
Indianapolis.
South B end..
Terre H aute..
T o p e k a ...!..
Louisville4. . .
Kentucky........
Louisiana.........
Maryland.........
Massachusetts.
New Orleans3..
Baltimore3. . . . .
Boston3.............
Michigan.
Detroit3..
Municipal.
Louisville.
Baltim ore..
Boston........
Fail R iver.
orcester.........
Battle C reek ...
Bay City...........
Detroit..............
Flint..................
Grand Rapids..
Jackson.............
Kalamazoo.......
Lansing.............
* Prepared in the Bureau of Labor Statistics and submitted by the Commissioner of Labor Statistics In
connection with hearings before the House Committee on Labor, Feb. 4 ,1 0 , and 17,1916, on a bill for the
establishment of a national employment bureau. (Washington, 1916. pp. 48,49.)
* Provided for by 1915 act. * Headquarters of Federal bureaus. <Not specially authorized by law .
APPENDIX B.
145
-Federal, Stale, and municipal employment bureaus in the United States—Con.
Character of bureau and location.
State.
Federal.
M ichigan..
Sault Ste. Marie.
Minnesota.
Minneapolis1........
Mississippi..
M issouri...,.
Gulfport........
Kansas City..
St. Louis1. . . .
M ontana....
Helena1..
Nebraska____
New Jersey..
New Mexico..
Cleveland.
Oklahoma.
Oregon.............
Pennsylvania..
Rhode Islan d ...
South Carolina.
South D akota..
Texas.
Utah..............
Virginia........
Washington.
Kansas City.
(2)
Bozeman.
Butte.
Great Falls.
Livingston.
Missoula.
1.
North Dakota.
Ohio..................
Municipal.
Muskegon.
Saginaw ...
D uluth..
Minneapolis..
St. Paul.____
Kansas C ity..
St. Joseph....
St. Louis.......
Matawan..............
Albuquerque.......
Deming.................
Tucumcari............
Buffalo..................
New York C ity
New Y ork..
State.
Astoria...........
Portland1. . . .
Philadelphia1
P ittsburgh...
Providence..
Charleston..
Lincoln.
(8) ..........-
Albany..............................
Buffalo..............................
New York City (Brook
lyn).
Rochester........................ .
Syracuse..........................
Akron..................
Cincinnati...........
Cleveland............
Columbus...........
Dayton................
Toledo.................
Youngstown___
Enid..................
Muskogee............
Oklahoma C ity..
Tulsa...................
Newark.
Jamestown.
New York City (3 ).
Fargo.
Cleveland.
Portland.
Erie (proposed).
Johnstown..........
Philadelphia___
Pittsburgh..........
Scranton.............
Providence.........
Columbia............
Pierre...................
Memphis.............
Amarillo.............
Big S p rin g ..^ ...
Brownsville........
Del R io...............
Eagle Pass..........
E l Paso...............
Galveston1.........
Laredo.................
San Angelo.........
San Antonio___
Salt Lake C ity. Norfolk1.............
Aberdeen............
Bellingham........
Custer..................
Everett...............
Friday H arbor..
Nooksack............
North Y akim a..
Port Angeles—
Port Townsend.
Seattle1...............
Spokane..............
Tacoma...............
W alla W a lla ....
Erie.
Dallas.
Fort W orth.
Richmond.
Bellingham.
Everett.
Seattle.
Spokane.
Tacoma.
W heelin g...
L aC rosse...
Milwaukee..
Oshkosh___
Superior....
W est Virginia.
Wisconsin........
1 Headquarters of Federal bureaus,
a Municipal bureau
bureai provided for in St. Louis by newly adopted city charter.
8 Provided for by 1
. rm s act.
28888°—Bull. 192—16------10
APPENDIX C.
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN GREAT BRITAIN AND GERMANY.1
INTRODUCTION.
As industrial conditions grow more complicated the difficulty o f guiding the
movement o f labor becomes greater* Fluctuations in industry, seasonal rise
and fall in the demand for commodities, a certain constant irregularity o f em
ployment, whether inevitable or not, concern the worker more seriously, perhaps,
than even low wages or long hours. All these conditions become more acute
and accentuated during times of general industrial depression. But, as has
been remarked by W. H. Beveridge, an English authority on unemployment
problems: “A rising demand for labor will be no cure for unemployment.”
What is meant by that statement is that there is always a certain amount o f
unemployment not due at all to an oversupply o f labor, but due rather to
gradual changes in industrial methods and organization, new trades displacing
old occupations and throwing men out of employment, requiring them to develop
new aptitudes to fill new places; also there are the seasonal fluctuations of rush
and slack seasons, through which many trades pass each year, fluctuations
which cause maladjustments in the labor market; and, finally, there is that
periodical unemployment which may be caused even in times o f prosperity, due
to the fact that many trades require a reserve supply of labor to meet their
demands. “ The men forming these reserves are constantly passing into and
out of employment. They tend, moreover, to be always more numerous than
can find employment together at any one time. This tendency springs directly
from one o f the fundamental facts o f industry—the dissipation of the demand
for labor in each trade between many separate employers and centers of em
ployment. Its result may be described as the normal glutting of the labor
market. The counterpart o f such glutting is the idleness at every moment o f
some or others of those engaged.” a
The situation has been very comprehensively and adequately presented by the
British Poor-Law Commission of 1909, from which the foUowing words from its
final conclusions on the subject o f unemployment and labor exchanges has been
extracted (Kept., p. 859):
“ Changes in methods o f production foUow one another more rapidly than
heretofore, and, as specialization becomes more marked and definite, those
habituated and trained to the processes that are superseded find it more and
more difficult to obtain occupation elsewhere. Trade-unions and employers*
organizations have, in response, as it were, to one another, succeeded, the one
in raising the standard of wages, the other the standard o f industrial efficiency.
Those who are not in the prime of life nor in positions o f adequate physical
strength or competency are apt to faU out o f an industrial system which is
beyond their level. There is also a large amount o f work which partakes more
o f the character o f personal service than of industrial production, such as that
o f errand boys, newspaper boys, telegraph boys, street sellers—occupations
which, though remunerative for the time being to those engaged in them, have
a tendency to cease at adolescence. A considerable proportion o f those so
occupied early in life become subsequently either unemployed or underemployed
and swell the ranks o f casualty. Casual and other occupations giving inter
mittent employment engage a large proportion o f the wage-earning class—possi
bly a larger proportion than heretofore—and the ranks o f those seeking this form
o f maintenance are periodically swollen by those who have lost or prove their
unfitness for a regular or skilled occupation. These are modifications and
developments in our industrial system which can not be ignored, and their
products and wreckage, when either out of employment or in distress, require
a treatment more elastic and more varied than the simple method which, 80
1 Prepared in the Bureau o f Labor S tatistics and subm itted by the Com m issioner of
Labor S tatistics in connection w ith hearings before the House Com m ittee on Labor, Feb.
4 . 10. and 1 7 , 1 9 16, on a b ill for the establishm ent o f a n ation al em ploym ent bureau.
(W ash in gton , 19 1 6 . pp. 6 5 -8 1 .)
3 “ Unem ploym ent, a Problem o f In d u stry,” by W . H . Beveridge. 3d ed., London, 19 1 2 ,
p . 13.
146
APPENDIX O.
147
years ago, was sufficient to cope with able-bodied pauperism in agricultural
districts.”
As the modern factory system developed during the latter half of the nine
teenth century no systematic effort was made to adjust the supply o f labor to
the demand. The workman was left to his own devices to find a vacant situ
ation, and the employer was forced to pick his labor supply from an indis
criminate number o f workmen who applied at his establishment. The early
trade guilds, however, registered for their members the opportunities for work,
and endeavored to place them; the employer organized his own agency; tradeunions attempted to look after their members as time went on ; and serving
all interests for a profit, the commercial employment agency gradually devel
oped. Lastly, there came the employment bureaus conducted by philanthropic
and welfare societies. And it is interesting in this connection to note that
those welfare societies which became interested in the problems surrounding
the employment o f labor first directed their efforts toward organizing agencies
for securing work, recognizing that after all the real labor problem is perhaps
that of securing permanent employment for the worker.
When private agencies had practically admitted their failure in relieving the
more or less normal amount of unemployment, or rather facilitating the natural
shifting o f labor from place to place, it was felt that recourse must be had to
public agencies. And it can not be emphasized too strongly that the creation
of public employment offices was the result o f the growing problem o f unem
ployment and immobility o f labor, in spite o f the fact, as is pointed out by
the British Poor-Law Commission o f 1909, that means of communication kept
constantly improving through the railroad, telephone, and telegraph. It was
felt that these improved means o f communication were not being properly em
ployed in facilitating the adjustment o f supply and demand for labor.
No definite statistics were found available to measure the exact amount of
unemployment; at the most such statistics were guesses at the truth. All
countries in Europe, however, did make and still continue to make some public
efforts to ascertain the extent and intensity of unemployment. Thus practi
cally all European countries periodically compile data on the subject, such as
may be ascertained from : (1) Monthly and annual reports o f both public and
private employment offices; (2) monthly reports on schedules by leading em
ployers or manufacturing concerns; (3) reports from sick-benefit and unem
ployment insurance funds as to amount o f unemployment among their member
ship; (4) monthly reports from trade-unions as to the number o f their
membership and the amount of unemployment therein; (5) general population
censuses and occasional special unemployment censuses, both national and
municipal.
* That the problem o f unemployment in Europe was a pressing one, and still
continues to be so, is indicated by the fact that an international conference was
held on the subject o f unemployment in connection with the Milan exposition in
October, 1906, and in 1910 the International Association on Unemployment was
organized at Paris as a result o f the efforts of students o f unemployment prob
lems and public authorities and others interested in the application of methods
of combating unemployment
The international association had succeeded before the war in bringing
about a considerable degree o f cooperation between persons interested in the
problem in different European countries, and had collected and published
through a quarterly bulletin public documents and articles which showed the
extent and nature o f the work done toward combating unemployment.
The means most generally adopted, it appears, have been (1) the development
and organization o f public employment offices, national in scope as far as
possible; (2) the organization o f some system o f unemployment insurance.
A national system of public employment offices, besides those in Great Britain
and Germany under discussion, was organized in Norway in 1906, in Sweden in
1906, and In Denmark in 1913. An association of the various types of employ
ment offices has been in existence in Switzerland for some years, and in
Austria a similar organization has been in existence since 1906, and in the
Netherlands since 1905. During 1915 this Austrian federation suggested an
official organization and centralization on a national scale. Furthermore, the
principal Provinces , o f Austria have their separate central organizations of
local exchanges.
Elsewhere there is presented a tabular statement as to the extent of un
employment insurance in the principal European countries, which statement
analyzes the principal features of the laws on the subject and classifies them
according to certain well-marked types.
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
148
What has been done by public employment exchanges in European countries
is shown in the following table compiled by the German Imperial Statistical
Office on the basis o f information collected by the International Association on
Unemployment. This statement shows the number o f situations filled for
three principal occupation groups by the free employment offices, both public
and private, and both combined, for 15 European countries, and for a limited
number of public exchanges in the United States. The table is by no means
complete and can be said to be only a rough indication of the extent o f this
particular kind of work. It is probably much more nearly accurate as a state
ment of the work o f the public employment offices than it is o f the private free
employment bureaus. This table does not include exchanges conducted for profit.
International statistics of free employment offices for the year 1912.
[Source: Statistisches Jahrhuch fur das Deutsche Reich, 1915, Berlin, 1915. p. 78.]
Country.
Germany:
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
Total.
Austria:
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
Total..
Num
ber of
employ
ment
offices
in
cluded.
Situations filled for—
Agricul
ture.
Industry,
commerce,
and trans
portation.
Domestic
service.
781
1,443
215,872
17,676
888,408
1,627,484
367,767
3,808
1,677,660
1,747,139
2,224
233,548
2,515,892
371,575
3,424,799
374
144
518
460,146
94,707
74,980
Hungary:
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
• 307,169
172,704
61,250
207,412
228
54
24.349
3.543
Total.
France:
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
Total.
Great Britain:
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
Total.
South Australia:
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
Total.
Western Australia:
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
Total.
29,475
4,296
5,597
T otal.
Denmark:1
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
Total..
554,853
61,250
146,162
Total.
Belgium:
Public employment offices—
Other free employment offices.
United States:*
Public employment offices........
Other free employment offices.
Total
situations
filled.
15,909
20
1,586
10,703
15,909
65
65
362,037
229
525
1,059
7,987
52,921
672,680
61,835
16,885
»115,815
697,052
754
9,046
725,601
78,220
812,867
404
17,059
521,911
54,769
593,739
404
17,059
521,911
54,769
593,739
125
110
5,040
5,150
125
110
5,040
5,150
17
2,629
3,754
1,280
17
2,629
3,754
1,280
7,6
i Data are not available for 17 employment offices; 2 employment offices maintained by employers filled
490 permanent and 2,620 temporary situations.
* Data relate to the year 19i0.
8 According to later corrections.
APPENDIX 0 .
149
International statistics of free employment offices for the year 1912—Concluded.
Country.
Italy:
Public
Num
ber of
employ
ment
offices
in
cluded.
Situations filled for—
Agricul
ture.
Industry,
commerce,
and trans
portation.
Domestic
service.
Total
situations
filled.
offices________________
17
Other free employment
offices. . . . . . . . . . . r
17
14,149
8,430
Total................................................................
34
22,579
Luxemburg:
Public employment offices.............................
Other free employment offices......................
2
372
2,337
3,523
6,232
Total............. ..................................................
2
372
2,337
3,523
6,232
Norway:
Public employment offices..............................
Other free employment offices.......................
86
6
1,883
30,455
1,138
26,679
60,413
1,172
Total.................................................................
92
1,883
31,593
26,679
61,585
Netherlands:
Public employment offices.............................
Other free employment offices.......................
22
21
189
1
24,673
117
17,594
50
43,909
2,950
24,790
17,644
46,859
Total.............................................. ..................
43
190
Finland:
Public employment offices.............................
Other free employment offices......................
16
1,255
11,521
11,521
Total.................................................................
16
1,255
Sweden:
Public employment offices..............................
Other free employment offices.......................
32
20,749
34,731
29,322
84,802
Total.................................................................
32
£0,749
34,731
29,322
84,802
Switzerland:
Public employment offices.............................
Other free employment offices.......................
40
45
2,732
37,042
11,852
15,789
5,051
60,755
16,930
Total...... ..........................................................
85
2,732
48,894
20,840
77,685
LABOR EXCHANGES IN GREAT BRITAIN— EARLT HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT.
The development o f public employment exchanges in Great. Britain was some
what slow. It was first taken up by the Government in 1893 when unemploy
ment grew particularly acute during the industrial depression o f that and pre
ceding years. In 1893 appeared a report by the Board of Trade on “ agencies
and methods for dealing with the unemployed.” At that time there were enu
merated 25 public employment offices conducted by municipalities, and of these
15 were temporary, leaving only 10 to be regarded as more or less permanent
bureaus. Practically all the employment bureaus o f that time were private com
mercial ones, to which must be added the few charitable or philanthropic bodies
which organized employment offices; and principally there should be noted what
was accomplished by the trade-unions, formally through their labor registries
and informally through their secretaries and other officials.
In 1902 a so-called labor bureau act was passed, authorizing the establish
ment of public employment bureaus or employment exchanges by municipal au
thorities. These, however, it is reported, accomplished only meager results,
explained as due to the fact that their status, legal or otherwise, was not clearly
defined, and also because action on the part of the municipalities was entirely
voluntary.
The first organized system of public labor exchanges in Great Britain was
probably that created under the unemployed workman’s act o f 1905. This act
provided for the establishment, by order of the local government board, of local
distress committees in London, and in each municipality with a population Of
150
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
50,000 and over. In London the local distress committees were organized under
the general supervision o f the central unemployed body for London. Each local
distress committee acted as a sort of employment exchange as well as in the
nature of a poor relief committee. That this was looked upon as a temporary
method o f dealing with the problem of unemployment is shown by the fact that
the- act was to remain in force for only three years. The work o f the distress
committees under this act was not comprehensive and reached only a limited
class of workmen, described as just able to keep themselves out of those condi
tions o f living which would have brought them within the scope of the relief o f
the poor law. The committees dealt with the problem o f unemployment as
practically a poor relief problem and were designed to aid " the normally selfsupporting workman in temporary distress.” Thus these committees did not in
clude within their scope o f relief, as a rule, trade-unionists or skilled workmen.
The poor-law commission of 1909 notes that these distress committees were
not solving the problem o f relieving distress from unemployment, as had been
expected. The theory o f the law was that this distress was temporary; it as
sumed that persons were thrown out of work only in bad years and upon the
occurrence o f special calamities. Able-bodied men in the prime o f life appeared
before the committees for aid. These were the casual workers, the seasonal
workers, and the unemployables who were apparently a constant product of
industry in ordinary times.
The work o f the distress committees, as outlined under the law of 1905, did
not prove more effective than the work o f the labor bureaus which had existed
prior thereto, in the judgment o f the poor-law commission, which summarizes
the situation with the sweeping statement that “ there has probably not been a
single labor exchange in England which has been an important or indispensable
industrial institution.” This was said in 1909.
LABOR EXCHANGE ACT, 1 9 0 9 .
Following the organization under the unemployed workmen act o f 1905, the
next step in the development of labor exchanges in Great Britain was the
passage of the labor-exchanges act of 1909. This act and the system o f ex
changes organized under it was really based on the recommendations of both
the majority and minority reports of the poor-law commission of 1909.
In recommending a national system of labor exchanges the majority report
o f the poor-law commission used the following language: “ I f a national system
o f labor exchanges, working automatically all over the country, could be estab
lished, it should tend to insure that the supply o f labor available in all parts o f
the country would be, in a measure, gauged and recorded. It might be hoped
that demand and supply would be brought generally and locally in touch with
each other, and that the overstocking o f certain trades and the difficulty of
getting labor in other industries would be diminished. The present system of
engaging, workpeople, whether through advertisement or by taking them on at
the gate, is often wasteful and ineffective. By using the exchange as a center,
the employer would obtain the men he wanted, and the men would know where
they were wanted, instead o f having to endure, as at present, the misery of
tramping after problematical work. To this extent the exchanges would re
place haphazard methods by a comprehensive system based on industrial sup
ply and demand.”
It was also felt that the need for labor in country districts could possibly be
met by placing out men from the towns who had an aptitude for agricultural
work and that the labor exchanges might help to check rural depopulation by
diffusing accurate information as to the actual conditions o f living in large
towns. “ It is hoped that the labor exchanges would also (1) make it easier
for men permanently displaced by industrial changes to pass to a new occupa
tion; (2) facilitate the use o f subsidiary trades by seasonal workers; (3) sub
stitute for artificial tests and inquiries the beneficial and natural test of a
situation through the exchange.”
The commission closed its discussion of the problems of labor exchanges
with the following recommendation:
“ We recommend, then, that there should be established under the Board of
Trade a general system o f labor exchanges throughout the United Kingdom;
that these exchanges should be managed by officers o f the Board of Trade, with
the help o f an advisory committee of employers, workmen, and members
o f local authorities; that there be no compulsion to make use o f these insti
tutions, but that it should be the object of the Board of Trade and the
APPENDIX C.
151
advisory committee, by propaganda and otherwise, to popularize them in every
way. The exchanges should be granted free postal and telephone facilities
by the State, and arrangements should be made whereby they might grant
passes entitling workmen traveling to a situation to specially cheap fares
from the railway companies. In suitable cases, the cost o f such passes might
be defrayed by the labor exchange and afterwards recovered from the
workmen.”
The labor-exchanges act o f 1909 created a unified and coherent system of
employment offices, or labor exchanges, as they are termed in the act. Central
control is lodged in the Board of Trade Labor Exchanges and Unemployment
Insurance Department. The country is divided into eight districts with a
division head, and within these districts are the local agencies. The act pro
vides for the taking over o f all existing private and public exchanges con
senting thereto. The system is, therefore, a national one; it is also uncon
nected in any way with the poor-relief system; its services are free of charge,
voluntary, and nonpartisan. Employees are assisted by securing an advance
o f their necessary fare to a place o f work.
Besides its general function o f collecting and distributing information from
employers and employees as to vacancies and applications for work, the
national exchange may establish in England and Wales special local advisory
committees for the purpose o f vocational guidance o f children. These com
mittees are to consist of experts on education and on other matters affecting
young persons and o f representatives of employers and employees, together
with a chairman, all o f whom are appointed by the Board o f Trade. These
committees act in close cooperation with the labor exchange offices and school
inspectors.
In Scotland the provisions for vocational guidance are somewhat different,
the work being left to the board o f education.
For purposes of operation two kinds of employment registers are kept by
the different exchanges— (1) a general register and (2) a casual-employment
register. On the casual register are recorded the number o f employments of
a peculiarly casual nature, dock laborers, bill distributors, and charwomen.
The general register since September, 1911, has been subdivided into 22 dif
ferent sections, according to different occupational groups.
Applications at the exchanges are good only for seven days, but are renew
able for a similar period as long as desired.
The attitude o f the exchanges as to strikes is one o f neutrality* Both the
employer and the employee may file a statement as to the existence o f a strike
or lockout, and the workman exercises his own judgment in the matter of
accepting a situation at such place. But no raflroad fares are advanced to
workmen going to fill vacancies caused by trade disputes.
OPERATIONS OF THE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN GREAT BRITAIN.
The national system of labor exchanges in Great Britain came into operation
In February, 1910, with 82 local exchanges. The total number open on January
15, 1915, was 401, or 22 less than on January 16, 1914. The number open on
January 14, 1916, was 390.
The number o f individuals that registered at some time or other during the
business year 1915 was 2,345,816.
The number of vacancies filled by the exchanges during the year 1915 was
1,308,137, and, in addition, 53,286 jobs o f a more or less casual nature were
found for dock laborers, cloth porters, and cotton porters. The number of
individuals given work was 1,067,698. In addition to the above figures there
were 37,325 cases in which men were given employment through the clearing
house system for dock laborers at Liverpool.
In 1911 the exchanges gave positions to 469,210 individuals, which was 78
per cent o f the number o f vacancies notified to the exchanges in the course of
that year. Comparing the number o f persons for whom work was found with
the total number of registrations or applications for work, it appears that the
exchanges have, on the average, given positions to practically one-third of all
applicants. The proportion was 31 per cent in 1910, 35 in both 1912 and 1913,
38 in 1914, and 33 in 1915.
The tables which follow show the operation of the exchanges for each of
the years 1911 to 1915. The exchanges began operation, it is noted, in 1910.
152
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
The following table shows the operations of the Board of Trade Labor Ex
changes as shown by the general register:
Registrations, individuals registered, vacancies reported and filled, and number
of individuals for whom positions were secured, 1910 to Dec. 10, 1915,
Number
of regis
trations.
Year.
19101
1911.,
1912.,
1913.,
1914.,
1915.,
2,040,447
2,465,304
2,965,893
3,442,452
3,186,137
Individuals Vacancies
registered.
notified.
1,127,447
1,513,369
1,643,587
1,871,671
2,164,023
2,326,803
Vacancies Individuals
given em
filled.
ployment.
458,943
788,609
1,062,574
1,222,828
1,479,024
1,797,646
374,313
621,410
828,230
921,853
1,116,909
1,308,137
(2
)
469,210
573,709
652,306
814,071
1,058,336
* Eleven months: February to December (fourteenth Abstract of Labor Statistics, London, p . 22).
* Not reported.
The data given above relates to the general register only. In addition, a con
siderable number of applications are carried on the casual register. This in
cludes dock laborers, cloth porters and cotton porters, etc. The following
statement is prepared to show the use made of the labor exchanges by this
class of labor in securing employment:
Number of Number of
Number of
individuals individuals jobs given.
applying. given work.
Year.
1911
1912
1913.
1914
1915
0)
12,767
27,787
7,296
7,222
19,013
5,510
5,730
9,401
125,304
266,622
204,629
154,967
*33,286
* N ot reported.
sin addition 37,325 jobs filled through clearing-house system at Liverpool.
The following statement shows the results of the work of the labor exchanges
in per cent of individuals registered for whom work was found:
Per cent of individuals registered for whom icork was secured.
Men.
Year.
1911.........................................................................................
1912.........................................................................................
1913.........................................................................................
1914.........................................................................................
1915.........................................................................................
W omen.
27.5
32.8
30.8
36.7
53.8
31.7
32.9
37.9
33.6
33.3
Boys.
46.7
48.2
54.1
54.2
59.9
Girls.
42.9
43.4
47.1
41.3
46.2
1 Not given in the original.
The per cent of vacancies filled to vacancies notified is as follow s:
191 1
78.0
191 2
______________________________________ 77.9
191 3
75.4
191 4
75.5
1915.
7 2 .8
Total.
31.0
34.9
34.9
>37.6
133.2
APPENDIX C.
153
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN GERMANY— EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT*
Although unemployment has not been as acute in Germany as in some other
European countries, yet the subject has several times been investigated. It was
made part of a general census in 1895, and numerous cities have from time
to time taken special unemployment censuses. A special inquiry o f the im
perial statistical office on existing systems o f unemployment insurance in
Germany and in foreign countries, published in 1906, concluded that, as far as
Germany was concerned, unemployment was largely due to seasonal conditions
prevailing in certain trades, that it was apt to become accentuated in times
of industrial depression, but that it was in general a problem o f considerable
importance.
As early as 1894 the Prussian minister o f commerce instanced the growing
extent of temporary unemployment, especially in the winter months. His pur
pose in calling attention to the existence o f a large degree o f unemployment
was to emphasize the need and develop means to combat it; and as one of
those means he urged the establishment o f employment offices on. a larger and
more systematic scale than hitherto. The words of the decree (July 81, 1894)
outlining the purposes to be attained were as follow s:
“ In the instances o f temporary unemployment which in late years have
occurred to a greater or less extent, especially in the winter months, it has
become evident that so far sufficient attention has not been given to institutions
and measures adapted to relieve unemployment. Past experiences have par
ticularly shown the need o f developing employment offices in a more extensive
and systematic manner than has been done up to date. With the exception
of public-welfare societies which have made the procuring o f employment their
object, and of private employment offices operated for gain, employers’ associa
tions on the one hand and workmen’s organizations on the other have entirely
assumed the organization of employment offices. The efficiency o f institutions
o f the two last-named kinds, which by their nature are limited to the sphere
of individual trades or industries, is also lessened by the fact that the contrast
between employers and employees is carried into them. The use o f private
employment offices, which are entirely unadapted for combating o f unemploy
ment on a large scale, forces persons in search o f work to pay extortionate fees,
and the activity of public-welfare societies as a rule is limited to very moderate
results because these organizations command only limited means and must
compete with other employment bureaus. Under these circumstances it must
be considered significant of progress if o f late a growing number have become
interested in a plan to make the procuring of employment a public activity. I f
all the larger cities and towns should succeed in establishing communal em
ployment offices which could be used by the interested parties free or upon
payment o f a nominal fee, and if these employment offices should gain the
confidence o f both employers and employees, their local importance would
become much greater than that o f the existing employment offices.
“ The communal employment offices could further increase their efficiency
by joint organization among themselves which would enable them to act as
clearing houses for the demand and supply o f labor in the various localities
and districts. Later on they could also put themselves in communication w ith ;
the existing rural societies and with the employment offices which the agri
cultural chambers (Landwirtschaftskammern) are expected to organize in
order to procure employment in the country for the unemployed in cities if
work in the cities can not be obtained for them. Communal employment offices
could also put their services at the disposition of the various branches of the
army and aid each year in the fall in placing the soldiers discharged from the
army. In order to fit the communal employment offices to accomplish the
various far-reaching tasks mentioned here, it will be necessary that they be
managed by a superintendent appointed by the commune who should be neither
an employer o f labor nor a worker. In large cities the superintendents could
be appointed from among the presidents o f the industrial courts and where this
is not possible the communal authorities could make some other suitable
choice. It seems desirable that communal employment offices be at least estab
lished in all cities with a population in excess of 10,000 inhabitants. * * * ”
In Germany employment bureaus are of many kinds, and include those con
ducted by guild organizations, trade-unions, public bodies (States or munici
palities), equipartisan bureaus of employers and employees, commercial
agencies, employers’ agencies, and agricultural chambers.
154
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
As known in Germany, the public employment bureau means a bureau for
finding work for men and women in any department of trade or occupation,
usually without charge, or at the most for a nominal fee. The bureau is main
tained by some public organization or committee and usually and increasingly
maintained, or at least subsidized, by the municipality, the county, or the State.
The bureaus are therefore not all municipal, though in most instances even
when not municipal, they are so largely subsidized and strictly controlled by
the municipality that the difference becomes small.
The municipal bureaus are more prevalent in southern Germany. Berlin’s
public bureau is maintained by a voluntary association, but receives a large
subsidy from the city and is largely under municipal supervision. Some of the
bureaus are controlled by associations composed of employers and employees
equally, but are wholly supported and subsidized by the municipal authorities.
The history o f the development of these bureaus is of great interest. The
first employment bureau o f the kind was begun in Stuttgart in 1865 by a work
men’s improvement society. Meeting with success, other societies o f various
natures joined with the workmen’s society and the bureau was maintained and
managed by a committee o f these societies. Still growing and succeeding, in
1895 it became the Stuttgart municipal employment bureau. It is still consid
ered by many, at least in proportion to the size o f the city, the best organized
and most efficient public employment bureau in Germany. The example of
Stuttgart was followed in Cologne by the establishment of a similar employ
ment bureau in 1874, which in 1894 became the Cologne municipal employment
bureau. Berlin moved in this direction in 1883, Hanover in 1889, Dtisseldorf
in 1890, Karlsruhe in 1891, and Freiburg in 1892. All these commenced in
various ways as public bureaus, but almost all of them later became municipal
bureaus. Five such public or municipal bureaus were established in 1893,
8 in 1894, 23 in 1895, 12 in 1896, 8 in 1897, 9 in 1898, 9 in 1899, 11 in 1900, 5 in
1901, and 2 in 1902. By 1904 there were 136 such bureaus and in 1907 the num
ber was reported as 400 in Germany. Not all o f these, however, are active;
only some 150 are o f large importance. The number in 1915 was 702, o f which
381 were communal offices, 87 district offices and offices maintained by Govern
ment establishments, 234 public-welfare societies and other employment offices
o f a public character.
In 1898 a voluntary association o f such bureaus (Verband Deutscher Arbeitsnachweis) was established for the Empire. There are also subsidiary but
even more important associations for northern, middle, and southern Germany.
These associations maintain a monthly publication, called the Labor Market
(Der Arbeitsmarkt). This organ serves to unite the different bureaus into one
working system. It reports successful developments by one bureau which may
be copied by others, and also the general condition of the labor market and the
opportunities for employment to be found in different sections or portions of
the Empire, and, to an extent, o f Europe.
This reporting of opportunities for employment is, however, much more effi
ciently carried out by the subsidiary associations; the bureaus are closely knit
together by telephones and other means of communication, so that each bureau
receives information, usually daily, stating the needs for labor from all bureaus
o f the section, while the facts are posted in each local bureau. One of the most
effective o f these sectional unions is the Mitteldeutsche Arbeitsnachweis Yerband, with headquarters in Frankfort on the Main.
Bavaria has what is in many ways the best organized system o f the Empire,
because there is here a single organization covering the whole Kingdom, not
merely, as elsewhere, federations of separate bureaus.
To Wurttemberg belongs the honor of organizing the first State system o f em
ployment bureaus. September 15,1895, a decree o f the ministry of the interior
ordered the 16 public employment bureaus then organized in Wurttemberg
to be connected in one system with Stuttgart as the central station, and to
report in a uniform manner twice a week all opportunities for employment
which they were not able to fill. The list o f these opportunites is then pre
pared and sent the same night to every place in Wurttemberg o f over 2,000
inhabitants, to be there posted by the authorities. The expenses, amounting
to about $2,500 per year, are met by the State treasury. The State railways
grant to all workmen seeking work a 50 per cent reduction on third-class fare,
provided that orders for this are given the workmen by the employment bureaus.
The results have been most satisfactory.
The municipal employment exchanges o f Prussia, which may be taken as
typical, are o f two kinds: (1) Strictly municipal offices, supported and man
aged by the city. (2) Municipal subsidized offices managed by private public
APPENDIX 0 .
155
welfare societies. These in turn may be classified according to the character
of their management, whether by equipartisan boards representing employers
and employees or by a Government bureau quite independent of the interested
parties. The latter form o f management seems to prevail more generally in
Prussia.
In their attitude toward strikes German labor exchanges generally take the
view that they should merely notify the workmen of the existence of a strike
at any place where men are wanted and where he may desire to go, leaving it
to his decision as to whether he will accept the position or n ot As a general
rule German labor exchanges likewise do not concern themselves with sifting
applicants or in any way determining their qualifications for the proper job
desired. W. H. Beveridge, in the British Economic Journal, o f March, 1008,
thus describes one phase o f the work o f the municipal labor exchange of
Munich, Bavaria, which is one of the largest and best managed exchanges in
Germany:
“ The labor office appears to concern itself very little with inquiries as to the
character o f applicants for employment. They are not even always asked to
produce their infirmity-insurance cards. Efforts are, of course, made to.m u l
the sort of man asked for by the employer, but in the unskilled section, at least,
the attitude is taken that it is ultimately the employer’s business to satisfy
himself as to the capacity o f the men he engages. The labor office is essen
tially a means o f communication. It does no doubt in the long run give the
employer a better workman than he would get by chance from the streets; the
superintendent has almost always a certain choice in the waiting room, and
can pick the abler or the better-known man. This, however, is only an indirect
service. The direct utility o f the labor office—as it presents itself unmistakably
to anyone spending a morning in any one o f its rooms—is to prevent economic
waste by reducing to a minimum the period during which employers are seek
ing for men or men for employers. In the unskilled section, with men always
in the waiting room and applications from employers arriving in an almost
continuous stream, business has to be conducted at lightning speed.”
RECENT LEGISLATION.
The Imperial Government of Germany did not concern itself very greatly
with the establishment of labor exchanges, but left the matter wholly to the
State authorities. In 1910, however, an imperial law was enacted primarily
for the purpose o f regulating private employment agencies. It is o f interest
in this connection, because through one of its provisions it aims to protect the
monopoly, if it may be so called, o f the various local free public employment
exchanges by directing that no private exchange shall be established in those
localities which are considered to be adequately served by existing public
exchanges.
Under this law the Federal council may issue very general orders which
might amount to a very considerable reorganization o f free employment offices.
Thus directly the Government recognized the nation-wide importance o f free
employment offices as early as 1910. Indirectly the Government may be said
to have become interested in an extension o f the sphere o f usefulness o f em
ployment offices. Shortly after the organization in 1910 o f the International
Association o f Unemployment a committee was appointed to formulate plans
and principles for public employment offices and their statistical reports, and
the work connected therewith and the report on the subject was committed
very largely to representatives o f the labor division of the imperial statistical
office of Germany and the German section of the international association.
Furthermore, the plan o f reorganization o f the employment exchanges o f the
country had been discussed and formulated at a national conference in Ham
burg in 1912 of the federation of German employment offices. Thus the work
was in shape and, it might be said, ready for adoption by the Government before
the war broke out. That it had not been sooner adopted by the Imperial Gov
ernment may also be explained by the fact that most of the separate German
States, Wurttemberg being the first in 1895, had systems coordinating the work
of their labor exchanges. Also the federation o f the German employment offices
had perfected a system o f cooperating exchanges for almost the whole of Ger
many, particularly throughout Prussia and northern Germany, and including all
existing free employment offices, such as municipal offices and those conducted
by trade-unions or employers or public-welfare societies. Thus, it is quite clear
that the outbreak of the war merely hastened imperial action.
156
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
On August 6, 1914, there was established by imperial decree an Imperial Cen
tral Labor Exchange (Iteichszentrale der Arbeitsnachweise). This central ex
change is to serve as a clearing house for the existing employment exchanges
during the war and immediately following its termination, in order to take
care of the large amount of placement work which will undoubtedly be called
for upon the return of the soldiery to its civil pursuits. The central exchange,
under the direction of the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, opened its doors
on August 9, 1914.
One o f the first services rendered by this exchange was the organizing of the
labor force to harvest the domestic grain crop. It has helped materially in
shifting the industrial labor supply from place to place, according to the supply
and demand, at a time when great confusion existed upon the declaration of
war. During the course of the war, also, it has assisted in placing prisoners of
war in profitable employment for the State.
To make more effective the work of this Central Imperial Exchange, the
imperial statistical oflice began on August 14, 1914, the publication o f a
periodical (Arbeitsmarkt-Anzeiger), which appears twice weekly and sum
marizes for the Empire, in statistical form, the supply and demand of labor. It
reports for each employment exchange separately the number of applications
for work, calls for help, and indicates an excess or deficit in the supply or de
mand for any particular community from time to time.
COMPULSORY REPORTING BY EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES IN
GERMANY.
At first reports were transmitted voluntarily from about 300 exchanges; but
by a recent resolution of the Federal council (Bundesrat) it has been made
obligatory for all free employment offices to make reports o f their activities
to the imperial statistical office.1 It is left to the several Federal governments
to execute this resolution and to make it effective by proper decrees on the
authority o f the law o f June 2, 1910, regulating the procuring o f employ
ment. So far the following States of the Empire have issued during 1915
the necessary decree: Prussia, May 26; Bavaria, June 8 ; Grand Duchy of
Hesse, May 22; Duchy of Anhalt, May 21; Principality o f SchwarzburgSondershausen, June 2 ; city of Bremen, June 2 ; and Alsace-Lorraine, May 29.
The essential contents o f these decrees are the following:
{a ) Not later than July 1, 1915, each individual employment office must
furnish to the imperial statistical office, division of labor statistics, the follow
ing information: (1) Name of the employment office; (2) name of the persons
or corporations maintaining the employment office; (3) place o f business (street
and num ber); (4) name o f manager; (5) telephone number; and (6) office
hours.
Any change in the above data, as well as the opening of new free employment
offices, must likewise be reported within three days. Blanks for this informa
tion are not furnished by the imperial statistical office.
(&)
All free employment offices, with the exception of those for mercantile,
technical, and clerical help must on two fixed days of each week report on a
card furnished by the imperial statistical office the number o f those applications
and vacancies which up to the time of the report could not be disposed of and
probably can not be disposed of up to the time o f issuing the Labor Market
Bulletin (Arbeitsmarkt-Anzeiger). These cards must be mailed in due time so
that they may reach the imperial statistical office, division o f labor statistics,
with the first mail on each Monday and Thursday.
From this obligation to report there may be exempted those employment
offices which are already required to report to a local public employment office
or to some other agency collecting the above data, provided that they report
to the imperial statistical office the number of undisposed o f applications
and vacancies. Employment offices which presumably do not fill more than
200 vacancies in a year may also be exempted. In Prussia applications for
exemption from the obligation to report must be addressed to the Government
presidents of police, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse through the district offices
to the minister o f the interior, in the Duchy o f Anhalt to the ducal government
department of the interior, and in Bremen to the police committee of the
senate.
Each free employment office must appoint a business manager who shall be
responsible for compliance with the above provisions. Noncompliance with
1 R eichs-A rbeitsblatt hrsg. vom . K . S ta tisticia n A m te. A bteilung fiir A rbeiterstatistik ,
B erlin , June, 1015.
APPENDIX O.
157
these provisions is punishable with a fine of up to 150 marks ($35.70) or with
imprisonment.
LOCAL INFORMATION OFFICES.
Just as a larger imperial clearing house was found necessary for the differ
ent public employment exchanges, so also was it found necessary to establish
local clearing houses so as to effect closer cooperation between the local public
employment exchanges and the other types of labor offices, particularly those
conducted by employers or employees separately, or by equipartisan boards.
These local clearing houses were established on April 30,1915, and are reported
by an official memorandum on the subject recently transmitted to the Reichs
tag as having been of great value.
OPERATIONS OF THE PUBLIC EXCHANGES IN GERMANY.
A group o f tables follows showing the work done by public employment ex
changes in Germany, as compared with the other types of exchanges which are
also in existence there.
It is noted that in 1912 the public exchanges placed 1,592,300 workmen, in
round numbers, 1,642,600 in 1913, and 2,115,200 in 1914, and during the first
10 months of 1915, 1,596,800. The data show that the public exchanges have
been the most successful during the course o f the war, that the exchanges con
ducted by employers and employees have suffered serious setbacks during the
war, and that the guild exchanges have barely held their own.
In the following table is shown the development of free employment offices,
both public and private, and the number of situations filled by them for the
years 1904, 1912, and 1915, based on official investigations. The data for 1904 and
1912 are not quite comparable, because of differences in the method o f enumera
tion in the two investigations. The discrepancy is particularly apparent in the
offices conducted by the guilds.
In 1912 the municipal, district, etc., employment offices filled 1,299,000 situa
tions, as compared with 550,000 in 1904, leading all others in that respect.
Development of German free employment offices and number o f situations filled
by them, 1904, 1912, and 1915.
[Source: Reichstag, 13. Legislator Periode, II. Session, 1914-15, Drucksache N o. 151, p . 2.]
1904
(Source: Memoran
dum of 1906.)
Type.
Communal, district, etc., offices...........
Lodging houses for Journeymen and
relief stations for itinerant workmen.
Agricultural chambers’,e tc ., offices*..
Guilds’ offices................. ..........................
Employers’ offices....................................
Salaried employees’ offices.....................
Workmen's offices....................................
Equipartisan (parit&tische) offices
(managed Jointly by employers and
employees)..............................................
Not specified..............................................
Total.
Number
of
employ
ment
* 400
11
2,400
30
<60
Situa
tions
filled.
1912
(Investigation at the end of
1912.)
Situations filled—
Number
of
employ- By the
ment
following Number.
offices.
number
of offices.
19151
(After in
troduction
of com
pulsory
reports.)
Number of
employ
ment
offices.
550,000
«3S3
321
1,298,977
4
50,000
213.000
230.000
• 25,000
226
»97
572
112
90
547
184
71
517
103
79
521
112,243
98,369
162,579
1,203,613
47,053
353,309
141
48
304
205
7 273
861
119
78
116
73
»152,028
166,331
210
2,224
1,985
» 3,594,502
2,817
8 1,000 8 120,000
51,000
702
73
i Preliminary figures.
* Inclusive of employment offices subsidized by communes and of those maintained by public-welfare
societies.
< 301 communal employment offices, 22 district employment offices, 2 of public corporations, 12 of lodging
houses for Journeymen, 37 of public-welfare societies, and 9 others of public character.
< 381 communal offices, 87 district offices and offices maintained by government establishments, 234 of
public-welfare societies and other employment offices of a public character.
* 82 offices of agricultural chambers ana 15 other agricultural employment offices.
8 Only commercial employment offices.
» Inclusive of a number of branch offices.
8 Status of 1901 and 1902, xespactively.
Exclusive of 1,435 situations filled by the office of the board on collective agreements in the printing
trades.
9
158
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS*
The continued development since 1912 of the different types of employment
exchanges and the effect of the measures taken by the authorities during the
war is indicated in the table which follows. The reports from the public
employment offices are probably the most nearly correct, as reports from other
offices are voluntary and are not likely to be complete. In 1912 the monthly
average o f situations filled by the public exchanges was approximately 133,000;
it was 137,000 in 1913; 176,000 in 1914; and during 1915 the number actually
filled had varied from approximately 142,000, in October, to 186,000, in March
of that year.
Number of free employment offices reporting to the Imperial Statistical Office and situations filled by them, by types o f employment offices, 1912-1915.
[Source: Reichstag, 13. Legislatur Period©, II. Session, 1914-15; Drucksache N o. 151, p . 4.]
Communal employment offices
and those subsidized by
public authorities.
Other free employment
offices.
Year and month.
number
report
ing.
number
Total.
Female.
Total.
Female.
235
1,592,300
132,700
505,000
42,000
117,600
9,800
34,800
2,900
299
1,642,600
136,900
555,800
46,300
63,600
5,300
25,800
2,100
384
2,115,200
176,300
669,900
55,800
56,800
4,700
30,500
2,500
398
428
412
407
415
417
412
412
419
398
396
423
175,900
164,500
186.300
162,600
156.700
158.300
155.300
147,400
148,100
141.700
131,332
117,258
52.800
50,600
64.300
56.800
57.800
59.300
57,900
58.800
61,700
61,000
55,833
50,814
411
*1,845,245
153,770
*687,552
57,296
Employment offices of em
ployers’ organizations.
Situations filled.
Situations filled.
Situations filled.
number
report
ing.
Equipartisan employment
offices.
Total.
Female.
Situations filled.
number
report
ing.
Total.
Female.
1912.
Year......................
Monthly average.
63,800
5,300
5,100
400
964,600
80,400
37,000
3,100
33
54,500
4,500
6,700
600
865,700
72,100
29,000
2,400
38
51,700
4,300
4,400
400
613,000
51,100
26,600
30.800
32,700
29.800
36.100
35.100
38,300
35.600
34.100
38.600
36,400
34,191
2,100
1913.
Y ear........................
Monthly average..
1914.1
Y ear...................... .
Monthly average.,
72
1915.1
January___
February..
March.........
A p r i l.......
M ay............
June............
July............
August.......
September.
O ctob er....
N ovem ber..
December..
Y ea r.......................
Monthly average..
3,600
4.200
4,000
3,400
3.300
3.200
3.300
3,100
3.300
2,900
2,433
2,414
68
*39,143
3,262
2,900
3,200
3,800
3.500
3,400
3.500
3,600
5,700
5,100
4,300
7,019
6,312
1.500
2,000
2,000
1,600
1,700
1,600
1,600
1,600
1,800
1.500
1,189
992
*19,066
1,589
200
200
200
200
200
200
300
400
200
100
785
685
*3,522
41
4,358
* On account of the war a number of reports were either not received or were delayed.
* Not the true addition of the various amounts, because prior to Novemer, 1915, round numbers are used.
70
72
*405,118
33,760
2,200
1,600
2.300
2,700
2.300
3,800
3,400
2.900
3.900
3.900
4,318
2,233
*35,473
2,956
Year and month.
Average
number
reporting.
_____________________
..
..
.................... ..
Total.
Female.
298,000
24,800
9,200
800
140
131,600
11,000
6,300
500
735 ‘ 3,167,800
264,000
597,400
49,800
167
290,900
24,200
10,600
900
151
133,900
11,200
6,100
500
785 | 3,051,200
254,300
634,100
52,800
166
246,700
20,600
10,900
900
149
132,100
11,000
5,100
400
879
3,215,500
268,000
747,400
62,300
176
171
168
164
172
172
176
185
177
177
178
168
15,400
15.000
15,600
14,000
15,900
13,000
12,100
13,200
12,900
11,100
9,239
6,783
900
1,000
1,100
1,100
1,400
1,200
1,100
1,300
1,300
1,700
730
494
133
132
143
136
137
149
136
141
140
134
131
135
7,700
6,200
7,000
6,500
6,600
6,400
6,600
6,500
6,600
6,000
5,135
4,360
8f>6
909
898
890
896
924
90o
908
924
900
896
920
236,200
225,900
246,400
226,000
221,000
222,700
216,500
210,000
214,600
202,300
189,349
160,513
57,300
56,200
70,300
62,800
63,700
66.600
64,800
65,400
69,200
67,800
63,297
55,519
174
2 154,177
12,848
12.357
i;030
137
903
2 2,571,520
214,293
2 762,951
63,579
2
2 75,535
6,295
300
400
400
400
400
500
500
500
400 I
500
442
271
2 4,981
415
1
i On account of the war a number of reports were either not received or were delayed.
* Not the true addition of the various amounts, Decause prior to November, 1915, round numbers are used.
i
STATISTICS.
I T A iit l ili r f t v A r ft M
Female.
OF LABOR
1915.1
Total.
Situations filled.
157
__________
1914.1
Female.
Average
number ;
reporting, j
BUREAU
1913.
V n flr
___________________
I f n n f h l v avm tM
Total.
Situations filled.
Average
number
reporting.
OF THE
1912.
Situations filled.
Total.
Employment offices of guilds.
BULLETIN
Employment offices of workmen’s
organizations.
160
Number o f free employment offices reporting to the Imperial Statistical Office and situations filled by them, by types o f employment offices, 1912-1915—
Concluded.
APPENDIX C.
161
How the situations filled by communal and subsidized employment offices were
distributed among the various occupations is illustrated in the following table:
Results of the activity of communal employment offices and of employment
offices subsidized with public funds, 1912-1915*
[Source: Reichstag, 13. Legislator Periode, II . Session, 1914-15, Dracksache N o. 151, p . 9.]
Number of situations filled.
Occupational groups.
1912
Total.
Agriculture, gardening, etc.................
Mining, M lq n g , e t C
- _____
Stones and earths..................................
Metal working, machinery, etc..........
Chemicals and forest by-products. . .
Textiles....................................................
Paper.......................................................
Leather, etc............................................
W oodworking.......................................
Food products.......................................
Clothing and cleaning..........................
Building trades......................................
Printing, etc...........................................
Artistic trades......................... .............
Factory workers (not specified), en
gineers, firemen..................................
Commerce...............................................
Hotels, saloons, restaurants................
Other labor and domestic service___
Professional occupations................ .
Apprentices of all occupations............
Not specified............................ .............
83,900
5,900
6,600
109,600
2,800
10.500
15.800
15.300
84,700
37,100
48.800
84,000
4,700
200
67.500
6,200
191,400
798,200
5.500
8.500
5.300
Total.............................................
1,592,300
1913
Female.
Total.
1914
Female.
97.100
9,400
7.100
97,400
3,200
8,700
15.200
14.200
65.100
37,700
50.100
76,900
4,500
200
3,300
1,000
4,200
9,600
500
400
4,100
13,300
13,800
2,400
£6,400
353,700
700
1,500
100
72.200
7.100
201,700
854,100
4,900
10,600
5.100
505,000
1,642,600
5,300
4,700
1,000
4.200
9.200
600
500
4.200
12,200
100
4.200
Total.
5,300
Female.
159.000
14,900
6,500.
116,100
4,800
13.800
16,000
16,600
60.800
43,800
117,500
97,000
4.300
200
21,300
14.500
3.100
96.500
393,100
1.100
2,200
86,200
11,600
198.000
1,123,000
8.300
13,300
3,600
20,100
4.500
86,900
425,700
1,400
3,100
400
555,800
2,115,200
669,900
3,800
4,000
1.300
7,700
9.500
1.500
500
5,9Q0
72,800
100
3.300
Number of situations filled.
1915
Occupational groups.
First quarter.
Total.
Agriculture, gardening, etc.................
Mining, smelting, etc...........................
Stones and earths,................................
Metal working, machinery, etc..........
Chemicals and forest by-products. . -
Second quarter.
Female.
3,200
Female.
Total.
Female.
25.700
2,100
1,000
24.600
1.900
3,700
5,400
3,200
11,200
10,200
28.300
17.700
1,000
100
1,800
600
2,400
2,700
1,200
100
3,100
21,900
8,800
1,900
14,200
94,800
500
1,100
100
37.600
3,500
53.300
251,800
1.900
3,300
400
10,600
1,800
24,500
99,200
500
900
100
39,400
3,900
46.700
229,400
1.800
3,300
300
12,300
2,400
25,100
95,700
400
1,000
200
171,000
488,200
177,600
452,500
178,600
22,100
4,000
700
31,900
2,800
6.900
5,400
4.200
12,800
9.200
38,100
14,500
1,100
100
2,500
400
4,800
3,000
1,700
100
2,600
30,500
Hotels, saloons, restaurants................
Other labor and domestic service___
Professional occupations.....................
Apprentices of all occupations. *........
N ot specified..........................................
39,700
4.900
33,800
310,100
2,700
4,500
600
T otal.............................................
550,100
Leather, etc............................................
W oodworking.......................................
Food products........................................
Clothing and cleaning..........................
Building trades.....................................
Printing, etc...........................................
Artistic trades........................................
Factory workers (not specified), en
gineers, firemen..................................
Total.
Third quarter.
800
5,500
700
25.700
6,700
1,700
700
24.300
1,800
1,800
500
3,400
2,400
5.800
3,300
3,000
900
8,600
100
7.200
2,700
28.300
22,100
15,800
1.200 ........M 0 0
100
The preceding table shows that even in war times the communal and subsi
dized employment offices were able to place a very large number o f unskilled
workers, a class of workers which always forms a large percentage o f the total
28888°—Bull. 192—16------11
162
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
number of unemployed. In the table the results for this class are given under
“ other labor and domestic service,” where it is shown that the number of
situations filled increased from 854,100 in 1913 to 1,123,000 in 1914. Large
increases for 1914 are also shown for agricultural labor, metal workers, and
workers employed in the clothing and cleaning trades.
REFERENCES CONSULTED.
Great Britain:
Board o f Trade. Labor Gazette. London, 1893 to date.
--------- Report on agencies and methods for dealing with the unemployed.
London, 1893. 438 pp.
--------- Unemployed in foreign countries. Report to the Board of Trade on
agencies and methods for dealing with the unemployed in foreign coun
tries, by F. D. Schloss. London, 1904. 236 pp.
---------Royal commission on poor laws and relief of distress. Report.
London, 1909. 38 [i. e.. 54] vols. in 16.
Beveridge, W. H. Unemployment, a problem of industry. 3d ed. London,
1912. 405 pp.
Germany:
Statistisches Amt. Die bestehenden Einrichtungen zur Versicherung die
Folgen der Arbeitslosigkeit im Ausland und im deutschen Reich. Ber
lin, 1906. 3 vols.
--------- Statistisches Jahrbuch fttr das Deutsche Reich, fiir das Jahr 1915.
Berlin, 1915.
---------Abteilung fttr Arbeiterstatistik. Reichs-Arbeitsblatt. Berlin, 1903
to date (see, especially, 1913, No. 6 ).
Reichstag. Denkschrift fiber Massnalimen auf dem Gebiete des Arbeitsnachweises. Berlin, 1915. 32 pp.
Bliss, W. D. P. What is done for the unemployed in European countries.
(U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bulletin No. 76, Washington, 1908. pp.
741-934.)
APPENDIX D.
TH E PR ESENT STATU S OF U N EM PLOYM EN T IN SU R AN CE ON TH E B A SIS OF
O FFICIAL SOURCES A N D OF REPORTS PREPARED FOR TH E G EN ER AL CON
V E N TIO N A T GHENT OF TH E IN T E R N A TIO N A L ASSO CIATIO N ON U N EM PLO Y
M EN T.
[Special supplem ent to R eichs-A rbeitsblatt, N o. 1 2, December, 1 9 1 3 . Prepared by the
Germ an Im perial S tatistical Bureau, D ivision o f Labor S ta tistics, B erlin . T ranslated
by the sta tistica l bureau, M etropolitan L ife Insurance Co., fo r the Am erican A ssociation
for Labor L egislation, 131 E ast T w enty-third Street, New York C ity. R evised by the
Bureau o f Labor S ta tistics for th is b u lletin .]
Of. previous memoir, Die bestehenden Einrichtungen zur Versicherung gegen
die Folgen der Arbeitslosigkeit in Deutschland und im Deutschen Reich, Ber
lin, 1906; as also, in connection with legislation discussed below, for Denmark:
Dr. Zacher, Die Arbeiterversicherung im Ausland, No. Ia, p. 30; No. Ib, pp. 49,
47*, 69* ff.; Reichs-Arbeitsblatt, 1911, p. 182; 1912, p. 190 ff.; 1913, p. 590. For
Norway, cf. Zacher, ibid., No. M b , pp. 43, 19*, 23* ff.; and Reichs-Arbeitsblatt, 1911, p. 276 ff. For Great Britain, cf. Zacher, ibid., No. Va, p. 51; No.
Vb, pp. 6, 84, 91 ff., and Reichs-Arbeitsblatt, 1909, p. 830; 1910, p. 357; 1911,
pp. 448, 560, 702, 860; 1912, pp. 55, 140, 160.
EXPLANATORY NOTE.
A number of reports of progress in the field of unemployment insurance have
been published in the German Reichs-Arbeitsblatt.1 The reports prepared
for the General Convention at Ghent of the International Association on
Unemployment, in September, 1913, furnish a new occasion to issue a state
ment with regard to the present status of unemployment insurance. In order
to facilitate a summary view of the situation an attempt has been made to
arrange the most important information in the comparative tables, which fol
low, on the basis o f the rgsumgs o f social insurance in Europe.2 Use has been
made of official publications, as well as of the reports prepared for the meeting
at Ghent.8
Attention has been paid solely to the arrangements made by public bodies
(States, Provinces, communes), leaving out of consideration measures for
self-help on the part o f workmen. The latter will be treated in detail for
Germany and briefly for other countries in Special No. 8 o f the Reichs-Arbeits
blatt.4 This will appear shortly, and will be devoted to the status o f unions
o f employers, salaried employees, and workmen in 1912. Moreover we have
left out of consideration the philanthropic work of employers, as well as that
o f funds and societies having no governmental aid.
In the arrangement of the tables Germany has been placed at the end of the
series.
Interpreting the term “ insurance ” in its broadest sense, the systems of
unemployment insurance through public bodies which have thus far found
application are three in number, as follow s:
I, The Bystem of subsidies paid by public bodies to the unemployment in
surance funds of trade-unions.—This is usually called the “ Ghent system,”
after the city in which it was first applied. It has been introduced more gen
erally than any other. In this connection it is important to determine whether
the payment of subsidies is left entirely to the communes or other public
bodies, or whether additional sums are given by the State, and in the latter
* C f. Supplem ent to N o. 4 , A p ril, 1913 (In d ex fo r 1 9 0 3 -1 9 1 2 ), p. 1 0 .
2 Supplem ent to N o. 1 2 , December, 1912, o f the R eichs-A rbeitsblatt.
* F or Germ any, c f. D er gegenw&rtige Stand der A rbeitslosenflirsorge und-Versicherung
in D eutschland, publications o f the G erm an A ssociation on Unem ploym ent, N o. 2 , prepared
by D r. E . Bernhard. T he reports fo r other countries are a t hand in the form o f publications
o f the con feren ce; they w ill appear in the B u lletin T rim estriel de 1*A ssociation Interna
tionale pour la L u tte contre le ChOmage.
* C f. S tatistisch es M aterial zur F rage, der A rbeitslosigkeit, prepared by the Im perial
M in istry o f th e In terior (N ov., 1 9 1 3 ), p . 52 If. F or foreign countries, c f. Statistisch es
Jahrbuch fUr das Deutsche R eich, 1 9 1 3 , p, 1 6 * f .
163
164
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
case, whether these sums are dependent upon the budget or are determined by
law.
The system o f subsidization is left entirely to the communes (or Provinces)
in Germany, in Belgium (where its development is oldest and greatest), in
Holland, in France (where, besides a number of communes and departments,
the State has set aside the sum of 100,000 francs in its budget, which amount
has never been fully utilized, as the slight importance o f the trade-union bene
fit system in that country does not seem to have been influenced by subsidiza
tion ), in Luxemburg, and in a number of cantons of Switzerland (in the form
o f cantonal subsidies).
Legal regulation for the whole country has been instituted in Norway, in
Denmark, in Great Britain (besides the compulsory insurance which has been
introduced into some industries), and, if we take the Swiss Cantons into con
sideration, in Geneva and in the city of Basel (besides the voluntary unem
ployment insurance fund). It is noteworthy that in Norway, Denmark, and
Great Britain the system of labor exchanges has been regulated by law, hand
in hand with insurance.. (Of. the Norwegian law of June 12, 1906, the English
law o f Sept. 20, 1909, the Danish law o f Apr. 29, 1913, and the interna
tional report to the Ghent conference, September, 1913, printed in the ReichsArbeitsblatt, 1913, p. 761 ff.)
The results of the Ghent system must, in general, be designated as slight.
Its purpose, “ training in self-help,” has been fulfilled almost nowhere, either
in the sense that the trade-unions have received a greater influx of mem
bers because of the subsidies, or in the sense that they have introduced or fur
ther developed unemployment benefit. Only this has been attained—the bene
fits given' by the unions have been increased. However; those who have,
received them constitute a comparatively small portion o f the total number of
unemployed, even where, as in Denmark, the organization of workmen was far
advanced before the introduction of the subsidy system. In Belgium, more
over—in the mother country o f the system—comparatively few workmen reap
its benefits. It is true that the organization movement has forged ahead in
Germany much farther than in Belgium or in France, and that unemployment
benefit has attained a much greater development there than in other countries.
(Cf. Special No. 8, Reichs-Arbeitsblatt.) Yet it has thus far been impossible
to determine the existence o f any influence upon the strength of the organiza
tion and development of unemployment insurance, in the cities which have
introduced the Ghent system. Furthermore, it can not be denied that condi
tions are less favorable to success in Germany than anywhere else. While,
in other countries trade-unions are preponderantly organized on a local basis,
the German bodies are invariably strongly centralized. Moreover, their benefit,
system is, in general, unified and adapted to the entire Empire.
The slight financial burdens which, according to the tables, are necessitated,
by the Ghent system (in 9 German cities for which we know at least the!
amount o f the annual grants, they add up to only a little more than 46,000
marks) have aided its adoption greatly, but have at the same time shown
its insignificance in the campaign against the consequences of unemployment.
Hence its ardent champions have become convinced that at least a partially
compulsory insurance system should be instituted.
The subsidization o f trade-unions is frequently, as in Ghent, associated
with the subsidization o f savings societies or of individual savers, which, how
ever, has almost universally turned out to be a failure. We have still to con
sider the payment o f subsidies to voluntary unemployment funds.
II*. The system of State or communal voluntary unemployment funds.—The
best-known funds of this class are those of the city of Berne, o f the Canton
o f Basel, and of the city of Cologne (formerly a free society with a considerable
municipal subsidy). Recently, on the basis of the model regulations drafted
by the Bavarian Government, the cities of Kaiserslautern, Bavaria, and
Schwabian Gmtind, Wurttemberg, have associated with the subsidy systen* the
institution o f voluntary unemployment insurance funds. However, we have,
no reports as yet concerning their experience.
In general, the voluntary unemployment funds are hampered by the fact that
only a comparatively small number of workingmen join them. In the case of
almost all of these the danger of unemployment is especially great, or lack of
work is a regularly recurring phenomenon, especially true of the building
trades. The greatest number o f voluntary insured belonged to the Cologne'
fund in its earlier form. Since its modern reconstruction, with increased dues,
it has been able to obtain but few members.
APPENDIX D.
165
• Greater success has been experienced by the Cologne fund in its new activity,
the reinsurance o f trade-unions. This is akin to the Ghent system, but is
distinguished from it by requiring payment from the unions in return for
subsidization. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of advancing self-help, Cologne
has obtained better results than other cities by means of the Ghent system. It
has been able to win over four trade-unions to the introduction o f unemploy
ment benefit on the basis of reinsurance. It is true that the unions in the
building trades, upon whom the greatest reliance had been placed, have thus far
declined to participate—the free trade-unions for the reason that they are mili
tant organizations and not mutual benefit associations, and the Christian unions
because they feel no need.
III. The system of compulsory insurance.—Aside from the unfortunate and
rapidly abandoned experiment o f 1894, in the city of St. Gall, there has never,
as yet, been a system of compulsory insurance for all workmen, nor was there
such an institution for particular industries until the enactment o f the English
national insurance act of 1911. So short a time has elapsed since the enact
ment o f this law, which extends compulsory insurance to about 2,500,000 work
men, and its enforcement was begun in a period so favorable from a commercial
point of view, that no final judgment can be given. This fact has been recog
nized by the convention at Ghent o f the International Association on Unemploy
ment, in agreement with the report of the English section.
The plan for compulsory insurance o f workers in the watch and clock in
dustry in the Swiss Canton of Neuchatel is still in the preliminary stage.
*
*
♦
♦
*
*
*
Tables I, II, and III refer to arrangements outside the German Empire. The
first treats of the three countries which have legal regulation. The second
table contains the data for those countries in which State subsidies are pro
vided for in the budget, and for those in which there is lio State subsidy (or,
in Switzerland, no Federal subsidy). The third is devoted to the two voluntary
unemployment insurance funds of Switzerland.
The tables for Germany are so arranged that Table IV concerns subsidies to
trade-unions; Table V, subsidies to savers and to savings societies; and Table
VI, public voluntary unemployment insurance funds. Thus some cities occur
in two tables; they are those which associate subsidies to trade-unions with
similar payments to individual savers or to voluntary unemployment funds
(Berlin-Schoneberg, Stuttgart, Feuerbach, Freiburg i. B., Kaiserslautern,
Schwabian Gmiind). Those cities are not included which give free unemploy
ment benefit, which differs from poor relief only in the fact that it has been
regulated by special legislation, the local ordinances declaring that it is not
to be considered as such relief. Where benefits are paid to those who are
not included in the subsidy system (particularly the unorganized), this has
been especially indicated (Berlin-Schoneberg, where meal tickets are given,
Erlangen, Mannheim).
166
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
A.
U
n em plo ym en t
I n su r an c e
I . CO UN TRIES W IT H
Nature.
(a) Compulsory insur
ance.
(Law of Dec. 16,1911,
in force beginning July
15,1912.)
Scope.
Form.
A ll wageworkers (above National unemployment fund, with national
age 16) in:
system of labor exchanges (Law of Oct. 20,
Building trades.
1909):
Machine manufac
1,066 agents.
turing.
430 local labor bureaus (2.500 officials).
Shipbuilding and
8 district bureaus (749 officials).
wagon building.
1 central bureau (287 officials).
Iron molding.
Sawmill industry.
(b) Voluntary insurance A ll industrial societies
the statutes of which
(article 106).
call for unemploy
ment benefit.
July 12.1913: 275 societies with 1,100,000 mem
bers (including 500,000 subject to compulsory
insurance).
Statistics of compulsory
insurance2 (July 12,
1913).
45,200,000 inhabitants;
14,000,000 wagework
ers.
2,500,000 compulsorily insured (63 per cent skilled
laborers), as opposed to about 500,000 formerly
voluntarily insured.
Unemployment fund: £1,600,000.
Voluntary insurance for
(Laws of June 12,
1906-Dec. 31. 1911,
and Aug. 15, 1911Dec. 31,1914.)
A ll industrial societies
the statutes of which
call for unemploy
ment benefit.
Statistics (1912).
2,400,000 inhabitants;
400,000 wageworkers.
“ Recognized unemployment funds” in connec
tion with public labor exchanges (Law of June
12,1906).
Requirements for State recognition:
1. Administration of fund independently of
trade society.
2. A t least half of income of fund must con
sist of members’ dues.
3. Benefits must be so regulated by statute
that:
(a) No benefit is paid in case of unem
ployment when there is informa
tion of suitable work or through
the fault of the insured (including
strikes and lockouts);. no double
insurance or insurance for the first
three days of unemployment is
permitted;
(b) Benefit is not paid until the insured
has been a contributing member
for 6 months, the maximum being
half of the normal daily wage in his
occupation, and the maximum
period being 90 days per annum;
and
(c) There w ill be aspecialassessment, or
reduction in the rates of benefit,
in case of insufficient resources.
19 funds (17 workmen’s funds, 2 employees’
funds), with 27,000 members (about 50% of
the organized workmen).
i Under article i05 of the law, trade-unions may take over payment instead of the labor bureaus, receiv
ing from the unemployment fund a maximum of three-quarters of their expenditures. (One hundred and
five organizations, with 539,775 members, have thus far availed themselves of this clause, including 21
societies, with about 86,000 members—most of them in the building trades—which formerly paid no unem
ployment benefit.)
APPENDIX D.
O u t s id e
of
Germ
167
any.
L E G A L R E G U LA T IO N .
Benefits.
Appeal.
Regular weekly dues, 5 pence (24 pence
paid b y employer, 2* pence by em
ployee). Furthermore, there is a
State subsidy amounting to onethird of the annual receipts from
dues.
State subsidy by repayment to the soci
ety of a maximum of one-sixth of the
annual expenditure for weekly bene
fit, notin excess of 12 shillings. (The
budget of 1913-14 provides for an
expenditure of £70,000.)
Annual dues, £1,700,000.
State subsidy, £600,000.
Total income, £2,300,000.
7 shillings per week (through the labor Appeal m ay be
bureaui), from the second to the fif
made, without
teenth week of unemployment in
expense, to ;
each year, provided that—
(a) Insurance
(a) The insured has worked at least
official;
26 weeks in the year, for the
(b) C o u rt o f
last 5 years, in an occupation
arbitra
subject to compulsory insur
tion; and
ance;
(c) Nonparti
(b) H e has not become unemployed
san arbi
trator.
through strike or through
his own fault; and
(c) He has not been directed by
the labor bureau to work of
equal value. (Persons aged
17-18 receive half benefit;
persons below age 17 receive
none.)
O f 420,802 appli
cations, 37,424
(8.9% ) were re
ferred to (a):
2.907 (8.0% of
the p r e v io u s
number) to (b );
and 49 cases to
(o).
Dues vary according to the statutes of
the fund.
According to section 6 of the law, the
unemployment fund must admit un
organized members of the occupation
(without the necessity of giving them
the right to vote); however, their
dues may be increased by 10% -15% in
consideration of the administrative
expenses borne by the trade society.
State subsidy amounting, under the
amendment of July 25, 1908, to onethird (previously one-fourth) of the
annual expenditures for benefit, with
an assessment of two-thirds of this
subsidy paid by the community in
which the insured resides.
No dues are paid by employers, as they
are called upon to aid in the support
of accident and sickness insurance.
Benefit varies according to the statutes
of the fund. However, it is limited
by law to Norwegian citizens and to
persons who have been resident in
Norway for 5 years (Cf. column 3).
Appeal may be
made, without
expense, to:
(a) Executive
of fund;
and
(b) Ministry.
Members’ dues, crowns............ 186,252
Subsidy from State and com
munities, crowns.................... 36,309
Expenditures: 144,781 crowns to un
employed.
Norway.
|
Expenditures: 236,458 pounds for
about 400,000 cases (an average per
case of about 10 shillings for 10 days,
with 16 days of unemployment, as
almost one-third of the cases were
disposed of during the waitingperiod
of one week).
Average rate of unemployment: 3.5
per cent (building trades, 5.0 per
cent; shipbuilding,3.1 percent).
Great Britain.
|
Dues.
I
Total income, c ro w n s... 222,561
Total capital, crowns................. 387,545
* The statistics cover only the first half-year of 1913, as benefit has been paid only since January 15,1913.
I t is particularly unjustified to draw general conclusions from the figures for this short period, because
economic conditions were extraordinarily satisfactory. (The unemployment rate of the trades-unions was
only 2.1 per cent in 1913, as opposed to an average of 4.9 per cent for the last ten years.)
168
BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
A.
U n em plo ym en t I n su r an c e
I. COU N TR IES W IT H
Scope.
Form.
Voluntary In su ra n c e
(Law of April 9, 1907,
in force beginning Au
gust 1,1907).
Workmen’s industrial
societies the statutes
of which call for un
employment benefit.
“ Recognized unemployment funds” in connec
tion with public labor exchanges (Law of April
29,1913).
Requirements for State recognition:
1. Administration of fund independently of
industrial society.
2. Occupational or local limitation of fund.
3. A t least 50 members; none below age 18
or above age 60.
4. Benefits must be regulated by statute so
that:
(a) No benefit is paid in case of unem
ployment when there is informa
tion of suitable work, or through
the fault of the insured (including
strikes and lockouts); no double
insurance or insurance for the first
three days of unemployment is
permitted;
(b) Benefit is not paid until the insured
has been a contributing member
for one year, the maximum being
two-thirds of the normal daily
wage in the occupation or locality.
However, this must not be less
than & crown or more than 2
crowns, and must be paid for at
Statistics (1912).
2,800,000 inhabitants;
500,000 wageworkers.
Nature.
(c) The??m ust W extra^dues in case of
insufficient funds.
53 funds, with 111,187 members (60% of those
capable of being insured).
II. V O L U N T A R Y U N EM PLO YM EN T INSURANCE B Y W O R K M E N 'S
|Luxemburg.]
Scope.
260,000 inhabitants:. 55,000
workmen (1909).
France.
40,000,000 in h a b ita n ts ;
10,000,000 workmen.
(a) State (1912)...............
(b) State (1911)...............
(c) 12 departments (1911)
(d) 51 cities * (1911)
Societies.
Membership.
Dues.
Benefits.
8
800
2,400 fr.
1,800 fr.
114
49,595
1141
V209
[48,089
J
1
281
29,313
209,564 fr.
(193,578 fr.)*
224,159 fr.
(206,747 fr.)*
Total, (b M d )..............
5,900,000 in h a b ita n ts ;
1,500,000 workmen (1912).
1
1 Not including cantonal legislation.
* Benefits toward which subsidy was paid.
50,191 florins
(92.261 florins,
including sub
sidy).
Persons
unem
ployed.
8,429
8,609
APPENDIX D.
O u t s id e
op
G erm an y—
169
Continued.
L E G A L R EG U LA T IO N —Continued.
Benefits.
Dues.
Appeal.
Dues vary according to the statutes of
the fund. (In 1912 they varied be
tween 4.80 and 26 crowns for the year,
the average being 12 crowns.)
State subsidy (compulsory): One-third
of dues.
Community subsidy (voluntary): Up
to a maximum of one-sixth of dues.
Benefits vary according to the statutes
of the fund. (Daily benefit of 4-2
crowns for 70-160 days, according
to duration of membership.)
Dues,crowns........................
1,300,000
State subsidy, c r o w n s ......
800,000
Community subsidy, crowns 400,000
Compensation:
1,700,000 crowns.
(Average unemployment, 26 days,
for about half of which compensation
was paid.)
Total compensation, 6,500,000 crowns.
Total income, crowns. 2,500,000
Reserve fund, crowns........... 2,400,000
Appeal may be
made, without
expense, to:
(a) Executive
of fund;
(b) C o m m it
tee; and
(c) Minister.
Total income, 1907-1912:
9,600,000
crowns (54% dues, 32% State subsidy,
and 14%community subsidy).
SOCIETIES W IT H PUBLIC SU B SID Y, BU T W IT H O U T L E G A L R E G U L A T IO N .!
Subsidies.
Community.
Crfldit
at
State.
Days of un
employment
(with com
pensation).
I Jinnfr. Aftnh.
102,795
50,726 fr.
116,373
112,423
Remarks.
The subsidies are apportioned according
to membership, dues, and benefits on the
basis of J of benefits paid.
47,542 fr.
18,550 fr.
Expenses of
administra
tion.
Since the enactment of the finance law of
ApHl 22,1905, the State has granted an
annual credit of 100,000 fr. Maximum
State subsidy (for benefit up to 2fr. and 60
days), 20 per cent of benefit for local funds
• and 30 per cent for federation funds.
|
i
I
Total, 181,699.
42,070 fl.
See foot
note 4.
*
Subsidy of 50-60 cents toward benefit for 50
to 60 days. Also voluntary fund in
Dordrecht, as vet without members, not
mentioned in Table III, below.
• Including 21 cities which have passed general legislation with regard to subsidies.
B ill of August 9, 1907, providing for a State subsidy has not yet been enacted.
w
170
BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
A. U
nem plo ym en t
I n su r an c e
II. V O L U N T A R Y U N EM PLO YM EN T IN SU R AN C E B Y W O R K M E N 'S SO CIETIES
Scope.
Societies.
Membership.
Dues.
Persons
unem
ployed.
Benefits.
i
7,400,000 in h a b ita n ts ;
2,100,000 workmen:
(1,000,000 in d u s tr ia l
workers) (1912)— (Societies supported by
(a) State...........................
communities and other
(b) 5 Provinces............... 1 nrea.niza.tinns.
4011
(c) 61 communities........
103,537 in 370
s o c ie tie s
(d) 31 communities........
rendering
31J
report.
(e) communities (9)....... Seefootnote 2.
(f) communities. TTT___ 7 savings so
cieties.
\
§
29,203
(27,081)1
1,569
< !£ » )>
20,394 fr.
481 fr.
775 fr.
40
439
Switzerland.
|
Total
(a/H\*/*•••••••••
f).................
vw*\w
290,187 fr.
3,800,000 in h a b ita n ts ;
800,000 workmen:
Canton of St. Gall (law
of May 19,1894)—
(1913)..........................
(1911).........................
Canton of Geneva (law
of Nov. 6,1909)—
(1911).........................
(1910).........................
12
10
Canton of Basel City
(law of Dec. 16,1909)—
(1912).........................
Canton of Appenzell___
5
3
j
i
J
i
i
3
j
!
|
Canton of Appenzell
(1912).
8
4
1 '*mi
i
34,700,000 in h a b ita n ts ;
10,500,000 workmen:
(a) 2 cities........................
(b) 1 city (1910)............... Savings fund.
i
!
795 savers. ! About 12,000 ............................1
|
lire.
542
1
III. PUBLIC V O L U N TA R Y
Scope.
Canton of Basel City (law
of Dec. 16,1909) (1912).
City of Bern (1912)..............
Canton of Bern..................... .
Societies.
Membership.
Dues.
1,214
Unemploy
9,434 fr.
ment fund.
Unemploy
8,773 fr.
ment fund.
Unemployment fund for the watch and
dock industry in Bern Jura (founda
tion which has not yet begun activity).
Benefits.
34,512 fr.s
19,130 fr.
No. of un
employed.
605
(563)4
321
i Number of unemployed, and number of days of unemployment, for which communal subsidy was paid.
* Individual savers.
APPENDIX D.
O u t s id e
op
171
G e r m a n y — C o n c lu d e d .
W IT H PU BLIC SU B SID Y , B C T W IT H O U T L E G A L R EG U LA T IO N —Concluded.
Subsidies.
Community.
Days of un Expenses of
employment administra
(with com
tion.
pensation).
State.
State and Provinces subsidize some of the
communal unemployment funds. Be
sides the five Provinces under (b ), an
other Province voted a credit of 2,500
francs, but did not pay it.
24,911 fr.
49,830 fr.
134,157 fr.
(208,890) 1
11,797
12,546 fr.
289 fr.
393 fr.
147,385 fr.
Remarks.
(9^
‘
522
19,448 fr.
74,741 fr.
Under (c) subsidies are paid to those re
ceiving aid from industrial unions.
Under (d) subsidies are paid directly to
the industrial unions.
Headings (e) and (f) do not include com
munities giving subsidies to individual
savers and savmgs organizations, which
come under (c) and (a ).
These figures account for about 252.000
workmen organized in industrial unions
Total, 222,126 fr.
Besides the Cantons specified in the first
column, Zurich ana Thurgau granted
small subsidies to an industrial union
fund in 1911.
2,669 fr.
475 fr.
1,953 fr.
2,343 fr.
Subsidy of 50 per cent of benefit.
Subsidy of 60 per cent of benefit.
(For 2.584
days of un
employ
ment.)
3,412 fr.
Credit: 2,000
fr.
1,601 fr.
Subsidy of 40 to 50 per cent of benefit.
Subsidy of 50 per cent of benefit.
Subsidies are also paid under the Ghent
system bv a private foundation in Milan
(Societa Umanitaria).
5,977
(1909)
Interest on
300,000 lire.
U N EM PLO YM EN T FU N D S.
Subsidies.
Community.
Days of un
employment
(compen
sated).
State.
Expenses of
administra
tion.
Remarks.
27,000 fr.
12,000 fr.
if
Lottery
granted; sub
sidy of 5,000
fr. under con
sideration.
« Also subsidies from a voluntary aid fund: 420 fr.
* Persons receiving per diem benefits for 15,407.5 days.
l
I
172
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
B . Co m m u n al U nem plo ym en t
IV . SUBSID IES TO
Requirements for payment of
subsidy.
Year of
report.
Classes of
working
men ex*
eluded.
Period
of resi
dence
re
quired.
W aiting
period.
In propor
tion to
society
benefit.
Maxi
mum
per
day.
Maxi
mum
duration
per year.
|
City and year of installa
tion of system.
Amount and duration of
subsidy.
1912
...........
1912
ly ea r.
Maximum,
7 days.
50%
Im ark. 60 days.
[
Prussia.
Berlin-Schdneberg, 1910..
Erlangen, 1909
m!
I
Unskilled. 3 years.
7 days.
Kaiserslautern, 1913.........
Stuttgart, 1912................... 6 months,
Oct. 1,
1912, to
Mar. 31,
1913.
1 year.
As in in
dustrial
society.
Feuerbach, 1913................
ly ear.
As in in
dustrial
society.
Schwabian Gmtind, 1911
(entered into force Apr.
1,1913).
Occupa 2 years.
tionally
and physi
cally suited
for employ
ment on
public
works.
Esslingen, 1913 (entered
into force Oct. 15,1913).
1 year.
ft
Freiburg i. B ., 1910..........
1912
ly ea r.
Occupa
tionally
and physi
cally suited
for employ
ment on
public
works.
50%
0.60 m . 6 weeks.
To be de
termined
monthly.
0.60 m . 60 days.
50%; with
children,
5% -25%
more.
lm .;
with
chil
dren,
1.50 m .
As in in
dustrial
society.
As in Stutt As in
gart.
Stutt
gart.
As in in
dustrial
society.
Unmarried:
0.40 m .
Married:
0.50-0.60 m.
Maximum
50%
6 weeks.
As in in
dustrial
society.
50%
1 m.
As in in
dustrial
society.
5 days.
50%
lm .
40 days.
lm .
60 days.
Mannheim, 1913 (entered
into force July 1,1913).
ly ea r.
As in in
dustrial
society.
0.70 m .; for
each child,
0.10 m .
more.
Offenbach a. M ., 1913
ly ea r.
5 days.
Unmarried: 1.30 m . 78 days.
0.50 m .
Married:
0.70 m .
For each
child, 0.15
‘ m . more.
i
»
APPENDIX D.
I n su r a n c e
in
th e
173
G e r m a n E m p ir e .
IN D U ST R IA L SO CIETIES.
Industrial societies
affected*
Benefits paid.
Community
subsidy, in
marks.
Remarks.
620
15,770
18
73
1,797
12,631
Subsidies are also paid toindividual savers; cf.
V.
Noncontributory
benefit to uninsured
unemployed in form of
meal tickets.
1,033
As regards Kaiserslau
tern insurance fund,
cf. V I.
Annual grant,
10,000; 9,746
paid
out
(incl. pay
ments
to
savers).
Stuttgart and Feuerbach:
Mutual agreement. For
subsidies to savers, cf.
V.
Schwabian Gmfind: As
regards insurance fund,
cf. V I.
I1
5,000
(also subsidy
for insurance
fund).
Bavaria.
|
59
Prussia.
J
Number Number of
Number of
days for Amount of
societies Member- of unem
ployed which com benefit, in
(local ad
ship.
receiving pensation
ministra
marks.
tions).
benefit. was paid.
44
776
36,568
(incl.
savers).
66,022
(incl. with
drawals by
savers).
Wurttemberg.
Annual grant,
1.000 (incl.
subsidy to
savers).
II
Annual grant,
1.000 (incl.
in su ra n ce
fund).
10,291
1,861
Freiburg: For subsidies
to savers, cf. V .
Baden.
7,227
Mannheim: Noncontrib
utory benefit to unem
ployed not members of
societies.
|
I
518
For subsidies to savers,
cf. V .
Hesse.
1.892
(9 so
cieties).
1
10
174
BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
B . Com m unal U n em ploym ent
IV . SU BSID IES TO
Requirements for payment of
subsidy.
City and year of installa
tion of system.
Year of
report.
Strassburg, 1907................
1911-12
Hlkirch - Grafenstad e n ,
1910.
1912
Period
Classes of * of resi
working
dence
men ex
re
cluded.
quired.
ly ea r.
W aiting
period.
As in in
dustrial
society.
Amount and duration of
subsidy.
In propor
tion to
society
benefit.
Maxi
mum
per
day.
Maxi
mum
duration
per year.
50%
lm .
As in in
dustrial
society.
lm .
As in in
dustrial
society.
lm .
As in in
dustrial
society.
As in Strassburg.
Schiltigheim......................
Bischheim..........................
Mfilhausen, 1909...............
!
1 year.
1911
1 year.
Amendments, 1913...........
As in in
dustrial
society.
fa 2 5 L ,
80%.
As in in
dustrial
society.
0.80 m .;
families,
lm .
i Number of cases. The number of individuals receiving benefit was 288.
* Only days for which communal subsidy w aspaid.
V . SU BSID IES TO SAVIN G S
Prussia.
Requirements for payment
of subsidy.
I
f
City and year of in
stallation of system.
Year of re
port.
Berlin-SchOn e b e r g,
1910.
1912.
Amount and duration of sub
sidy.
Classes of
working
men ex
cluded.
Period
of resi W aiting In propor
Maxi
Maxi
tion to de
dence
period. posit with mumper mumper
re
day.
year.
drawn.
quired.
Females.
1 year.
Maxi
mum, 1
week.
Stuttgart, 1912............. 6 months, Irregular 1 year.
Oct. 1,1912, workers
to Mar. 31, and mar
ried female
1913.
workers.
6 days.
Feuerbach, 1913..........
Freiburg i. B .,1 9 1 0 ...
60%
1 m.
60 days.
50%; with lm .;w ith 50 days.1
children, children,
5% to 25%
1.50
more.
marks.
As in Stuttgart.
1912.
50%
i Maximum deposit 100 marks.
1 m.
See foot
note 2.
APPENDIX D.
I n su r an c e
in
th e
G e r m a n E m p ir e —
175
Continued.
IN D U ST R IA L SO CIETIES-Continued.
Industrial societies
affected.
Benefits paid.
Number Number of
Number of
societies Member of unem days for Amount of
ployed which com benefit, in
(local ad
ship.
receiving pensation
marks.
ministra
was paid.
benefit.
tions).
7,444
36
7,499*
194 8
19,951
Community
subsidy, in
marks.
6,086
36
7.50
2,460*
2,316
Remarks.
Mutual agreement be
tween Strassburg, 111kirch - Grafenstaden,
Schiltigheim and Bischheim.
* 93 of this number received aid from the city.
* Only days for which communal benefit was paid.
SO CIETIES A N D IN D IV ID U A L S.
Indi
vidual Savings
savers. societies.
Mem
ber
ship.
2
Withdrawals.
Number
Com
of days
for which m unity
subsidy
Number Amount, Number Amount, compen
in
sation
of
of deposi in marks.
marks.
payees. in marks. was paid.
tors.
172
172
22
Deposits.
56
987
22
See Table IV .
987
Remarks.
C f.IV .
|Prussia. |
Recipients of subsidy.
Cf. IV .
|
►
8
* Maximum deposit 40 marks.
133
66.50
i
I
176
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
B . Co m m u n al U n em ploym en t
V I. PUBLIC V O L U N T A R Y
Weekly dues, in
pfennings.
Requirements for pa.yment of subsidy.
City and year
of installation
of system.
Year of
report.
Waiting
Classes of Period of period
working
before
men ex residence right to
required. obtain
cluded.
benefit.
52
Cologne, 1896, July 1, Workmen Insured,
entirely trans 1912, to with max 13 weeks; weekly
imum
reinsured,
pay
formed in 1911. June
ments.
1 year.
30,1913. average
daily wage
of 2.50 m .;
home
worker?.
Kaiserslautern,
1912 (entered
into f o r c e
April 1,1913).
Married
females.
Schwabian
Gmiind.1911
(entered into
force April 1,
1912).
Persons
occupa
tionally
and phys
ically
suited for
employ
ment on
public
works;
married
females.
Mem
Waiting
ber
ship
period
(risk)
after
begin classes.
ning of
unem
ploy
ment.
6 days.*
3
(i-ni).
Insured.
Schedule
A B
I 15 20
II 20 30
H I 46 60
Higher rates
for members
above age 60.
52 weekly
pay
ments.
7 days.
UnMar(I-IV ). married. ried.
I 20 30
II 32 48
n i 48 72
IV 60 90
Initiation
fee, 50 pf.
52
weekly
pay
ments.
7 days.
2
UnMar(I-I I ). married. ried;
I 20 30
II 35 52
initiation
fee, 50 pf.
|
Wurttemberg.
|
1
1 year.
Rein
sured.
4
10
30
APPENDIX D.
177
I n s u r a n c e in t h e G e rm a n E m p ire— Concluded.
U N EM PLO YM EN T IN SU R AN CE FU N D S.
Amount and
duration of subsidy.
Number of insured.
Maxi
Amount mum Individ
per day
dura
ually
in marks. tion per insured.
year.
Maxi
Insured:
First 1 Next
mum
20days I 40 days 188; 38
A
1 .5
0.75
dropped
B 2. 001.00
because
Reinsured: 0.75
of nonto 1.50, according
pay
to number of
m ent;
weekly pay
remain
ments made;
der 151.
maximum, 60
times these rates.
Rein
sured
socie
ties.
25
Mem
ber
ship.
11,105
i1
Dues in marks.
Indi
vidu
ally
in
sured.
Socie
ties.
5,124
19,170
Benefits in marks.
Commun-
Indi
vidu
ally
in
sured.
Socie
ties.
6,002
23,798
X
Remarks.
sidy,
marks.
60,377
Benefit
paid to 14
individu
ally in
sured, 2,121
reinsured.
Compensa
tion paid
for472days 1
of unem
ployment 1
to individ
ually
insured;
for 31,731
days to re
insured.
For subsi
See
Table dies to in
dustrial so
IV .
cieties, cf.
IV .
Unmar
6
ried, 0.50; weeks.
married,
0.75.
For subsi
See
Table dies to in
dustrial soIV .
cieties, cf.
IV .
|
Bavaria.
Unmar fiOdavs *............... .
ried, 0.80;
married,
1.20.
►
28888°—Bull. 192—16----- 12
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