The Daily News WEDNESDAY, JULY 14. A KNOTTY PROBLEM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 143, 14 July 1909, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, JULY 14. A KNOTTY PROBLEM.

\ The problem of dealing with the unem- | ployed in an effective as distinguished ( i roil a spasmodic manner is one that should be faced with as little delay as possible, for industrial operations are 1 extending all over the world, and as a ' consequence the army of workers is in > creasing to a great host. Captains o/ < industry, as well as social reformers, recognise the necessity, and are willing , to aid in finding the most effectual solu- , tion of the question. Happily to-day ■ there is no little experience pointing cut where failure is inevitable, and in ' v-hich direction lies the greatest proba- \ bility of success'. These warning beacons and promising avenues seem to have been carefully considered by the British Govcrn|nent before submitting an outline of the Cabinet scheme to the House of Commons at the end of last month. An unemployed insurance fund is suggested involving contributions by employers and workers, supplemented l)y grants from the State. These thi.-i | sources will bring in a weekly c 0,.... I bution cquni to Gd per man, and tl" trades marked out for compulsory contributions uie those in which unemployment is high and chronic. These comprise about 2% millions of workers, or about one-third of those engaged in industrial work, or, it is calculated, the worse lialf of the whole field of British uneinploynvst. The establishment of Labor Exchanges to bring workers in touch with employers is also proposed, comprising a national clearing-house in London and over 200 divisional clearing-houses all over the country, with waiting-rooms attached. Each district will lie controlled by an advisory committee composed of employers and men, with an impartial official to carry out the business' of tli ■■ Exchange. The cstablishme7it of this system is expected to cost £200,000 per'year for the first ten years, for suitable buildings must, of course, be provided. The working expense subsequently is put down at £170,000 per annum. When this scheme comes' into operation an unemployed man in an insured trade would simply have to take his membership card to the Exchange nearest to him, where a job would be found for him or the benefit lie was entitled to would be paid over. That, in brief, is the .purport of the Bill now before the House of Commons, and it seems to be regarded with much more favor than the steps taken at the beginning of the previous winter to deal with British unemployed. Then four hundred loans were made to local authorities' for works of local utility amounting to over a million sterling. With the same object in view loans for other than Poor Law purposes were advanced by the Government totalling more than £.1,000,000. The Government departments also did their share in this work by employing 800.0 extra men in the Post Office during the Christmas season, the War Office took 24,000 recruits, and the Admiralty employed several hundreds of extra hands in building destroyers and cruisers. That was doing a great deal, but, as Mr. Asquith pointed out at the time, "like all expedients of the kind, they i're little better .than anodynes, to produce a temporary and superficial relief, which do not go down to the root of the malady.'' To these remarks he added the hope that before the present Parliament ended its days the Government would be able to strike a really effective blow at the permanent causes' of unemployment. The Bill just submitted ma# he taken to be the blow aimed at unemployment with the intention of giving it its quietus. These employment bureaux have worked very beneiicialiy in other countries, and should certainly be found useful in British communities In Germany for the past twenty years they have advanced najiidlv. both in numbers and efficiency. The' Ghent Systran forgiving temporary assistance'to the unemployed has been largely developed in Belgium and France under municipal and communal direction. The llmne Aelters' established in Switzerland and Germany afford accommodation to artisans travelling in search of work and in these the wayfarer receives helpful assistance, paying a small sum for the 'benefit if he can, or if lm ,„b)e he f'oes a little work in return. These relief stations are scattered throughout die country at convenient distances, and at ouch there is' information available to show where labor is wanted. To guard against impositions by the vagrant and the vicious each applicant for. shelter has to produce a book showing his occupation, last place of employment reasons for discharge, and. other facts to establish h, s bona tides'. If he breaks the rules laid down for the .management of these shelters, or begs en route from one locality to another, he becomes toble to arrest, it is alleged that by these «ans tramps or irresponsible vagrants have been almost removed trom the community—a clearance that is no doubt much appreciated, these successes on l ,!f^ t ""; ,,fc ' has t0 be confessed a (here have been some conspicuous failures; ,„ lintish attempts to deal with the problem of unemployment. The Unemployed Workmen Bill brought forward in 1008 by the Labor party had no more vehement opponents than some of the Labor members themselves, but lie. " 8 „f rt SP T CCiI ,° f i ll ° ln ' csc,lt Presi(Mi Jehn Burns) that blew the Bill ■mi of tini water." Tf~ , ifc(l tllc of the Holleslcy Bay | a] ,ur eolony to •show how the proposed measure of re- ■'<■' would work.

More that estate became publit •property, said he, a steward with eighteen form hands was able to raakt a sin.--' profit or incurred a small lost ever/ year. Since it became a State ! 1 *" r ' c > with 250 men eninund on iu, it has had a net loss of .£22.Wi a j««r. At HollesJey Bay net «>st per week pe v llmm ; s go , J ( ■U. whereas local was*-;**, from 17s to 18. _ a week._ >.i Luindoa he sa« an agri™Uiu-;>- jJ>o r( , r betwe.cn sixh and ,j«ars old digging , him r' m th#fc H 4001 . ' to dig all acre. Hi seni U, e roil(1 a „ (1 foHn(] nblp n l£f W,gl,scd on ' ,ub]ie on approximating to the Tig I £*** conditions, and then< it t. i mi'ty-seven men ten days tc <Uff< ■■ *a» and a-lialf! After at,, exposure no wonder the I ' jj'l f'J WwkmPn Bill was defeated l. 1 '" «lmost insuperable n ' OC o<l Ivith a " P'-oposal, h , W °" ta with ~ 5 subject w that of elimin"f> participation the benefit, ol in™ ■ t,ro """niployaMe, the last, and the vicious. The richer trades unions h (Jttt Britain, by a similar pro«M u» tVt now before the House of Coiiimkbm, are able .to civc relief to imein,])ijy«d members. The Amalgamin l'lrn! y £ ar 'P c . nte rs and Joiners 111 1,100 such- assistance to. the exont „i uv'»r £30,000, but in the fed f S' >ll6 - »»04-05 tile demand on their funds f 92; m A> J t fbamcs uAt belong to unions, Mr J msT™,' V hilS advocated a Shte ~rf'£J? PUlSOry ins " ra »<*> with hi" ,n, , i ? i°" S ' " S a basis; for huildlt°in, v'Vi" f 'I 55 ' 86 t,le l,lle mployel Hill non i) r l"' es,lmc d t'httt the I l^' or ", Parliament will be counrenrewn'j. partv that >•' iZ ii i • S0 ,m,ch intelligence. In he DoiiJnion we are in the more for tmiate of havhig to lament tint worker-X, S '"sufficient number of f- Spl ™ <,i ' 1 inthel tCT? i' fi "* ° U eVC, ' V *■« ehrnnie «SL » f>t, ' on S m ™s are in a there -iraim H Here v not 1 V' V Vilgm,,ts w,l ° . liut are not at nil ashamed to befr or pnriicipate in relief lenefit tl,l^ a : e not scribed for their Decent. We nave long ago found tho mJor ol .J* n ' >er ty" or g an 'scd mea.ii, of ill l a® < S cas,onal demands of the "leninlo.yeA But in no year since 1&< 1 have HMO. than 7000 men been enI'.iged on co-operative public works and not iiijiny more have been assisted In pinployiiient throng!, the agency of the Department of labor. iC is pointed on-t i;i the Dnnedin Star, this very .s'miJl percentage of the workers needing asstands out in pleasing contrast fo the condition of things in •reat Britain, where the curve of unemilovnieiiit, hj«» men from 3 per cßn.t in 11107 to 9.4 In ike following year