331.86 C41 p Public Employment Exchanges REPORT OF | THE COMMITTEE appointed by the Trustees of Tue City CLus or NEw YORK on December 17th, 1913, ‘‘to inquire into the need Pies. of public employment exchanges : ;, | in New York”? Morris L. Ernst, Chairman Joun B. ANDREWS, Secretary 1914 THE CITY CLUB OF NEW YORK 55 West 44th Street New York City CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY. : New YorkK’s UNORGANIZED LABOR MARKET Present Methods Unsystematic Search Newspaper Advertising Private Licensed Agencies . Philanthropic Institutions Inefficiency of Present Methods Cost per Job—Estimate Resulting Duplication No Intelligent Distribution of Labor Fraud No Basis for Study of Conditions . PuBLIC EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES IN EUROPE AND AMERICA England Germany France Switzerland United States . : [Map] Illinois Indiana . Wisconsin RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT _ EXCHANGES IN NEw YorK STATE Tentative Budget Draft of Bill PAGE 18, 33 34 REPORT > > of ? The City Club of New York on Public Employment Exchanges INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY The investigations of the committee have included (1) a survey of the existing methods for bringing the manless job and the jobless man together in New York state; (2) a review of the most approved methods now in operation in other countries and in other states; and (3) an estimate of the essential features to be considered in a plan to establish in New York state an efficient system of public employment exchanges. I. Existing Methods in New York State The labor market in the state of New York is in a chaotic condition and without a single public em- ployment bureau. The establishment in February, 1914, of a municipal clearing house for information on employment in New York City is a promising first step in the direction of a public labor exchange. Of licensed private employment bureaus, managed for profit, there are within the City of New York more than 800, in addition to a large number of relief societies, religious and other philanthropic agencies, saloons, padroni, trade unions, and employers’ associations, which take some action in helping workmen to find jobs. These various agencies are not centralized, and on account of their very nature they cannot be expected to co- operate effectively of their own initiative. Many of the commercial agencies, according to authoritative state- ments, are vicious and should be put out of business. oe Public Employment Exchanges It is difficult for newspapers to detect fraudulent “Help Wanted” and “Situation Wanted” advertise- ments, and fraud breeds distrust. Indiscriminate ad- vertising is costly, wasteful, and often pernicious. Philanthropic associations, moreover, have rarely. been successful in operating employment bureaus. “The taint of charity” keeps the self-respecting work- men away, and the employer has learned not to ex- pect to find the most efficient help at such places. Disorganization leads to duplication. Scores of workmen waste time, temper, and shoe-leather in seeking the same job. The day’s tramp in some cases extends in large cities from one end of the munic)- pality to the other—in New York City from Brooklyn to the Bronx. One agency having an urgent call for machinists will not even be in communication with another agency having machinists eager for those jobs. There exists in New York state no effective means even for the collection of accurate statistics of unem- ployment. Without such information the movement for intelligent industrial training and for an important part of the program of social insurance must rest to a considerable extent upon the hazard of a guess. The one to suffer most as a result of this lack of organization of the labor market is the one least able to bear the burden—the jobless man. But the em- ployer also suffers the consequences of haphazard selection and lowered efficiency. Society, moreover, finds in irregularity of employment one of its most wasteful of industrial evils. II. Approved Methods Adopted in Other. Countries and in Other States Other countries and other states which have, in advance of New York, established public employment exchanges are already accumulating invaluable infor- mation and by its intelligent use day by day are gradually organizing their labor markets. In the principal countries of Europe as well as in nineteen American states public labor exchanges have ‘Public Employment Exchanges -5 been established. The function of these public ex- changes is to collect and distribute information be- tween employers and employees as to situations and applications for work. The labor exchange is a mar- ket for labor, where it is bought and sold at the prices prevailing in the market. Great Britain now leads other nations with the most thoroughly organized and wide-spread system, including the foundation since 1910 of 430 labor ex- changes staffed by full time officers with which there are 1,066 local connecting agencies for the administra- tion of a national system of unemployment insurance The total regular staff of these 1,496 offices in the United Kingdom is 3,536 persons. In Germany there are 323 public labor exchanges, through 267 of which in 1911 there were filled 1,055,784 positions. In France there are 162 public exchanges, most of which were founded since 1900. Switzerland has five state and eleven municipal exchanges which are required by federal law to continue their regular functions in time of a labor dispute, but to give notice of the dispute to all applicants, whether employers or employees. In the United States the public labor exchanges provided for by nineteen states and by twelve munici- palities have all been organized since 1890. They charge no fee, maintain a neutral attitude in time of labor disturbance, and fill positions, according to the official reports, at an average cost ranging from as low as 4 cents to about $2. In Wisconsin, where there are four state exchanges well organized on the most approved lines, the cost in 1911 was about 35 cents per position filled. In Illinois during the twelve years, 1900-1911, there were 589,084 applications for employment, 599,510 applications for help, and 512,424 positions secured. [Illinois now appropriates over $50,000 a year for direct support of its state labor ex- changes, of which eight have already been established. 6 Public Employment Exchanges III. Recommendations An estimate of the essential features to be con- sidered in a plan to establish in New York state an efficient system of public employment exchanges, leads to the following recommendations: 1. The establishment within the New York State Department of Labor of a Bureau of Employment. 2. The organization under such Bureau of free public employment bureaus and appro- priate branches in the cities of New York, Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Utica, James- town, Albany and Binghamton, with provi- sion for local advisory committees made up of representatives of employers, employees and the general public. | 3. Provision for careful records and sys- tematic reports, with authority to require uni- form reports from private agencies. 4. No fee or compensation to be charged to or received from any person seeking em- ployment or desiring to employ labor through any of such offices. 5. Absolute neutrality in time of labor dis- turbances, but information of the existence of a labor disturbance to be furnished to the ap- plicant, whether employer or employee. 6. Ample provision for publicity concern- ing the work of the office and the state of the labor market. 7. Sufficient appropriation to make the ex- changes efficient in the highest possible de- gree, for which $75,000 annually is regarded aS a minimum. I NEW YORK’S UNORGANIZED LABOR MARKET A. PRESENT METHODS Unsystematic Search The labor market, the most universal, the most vital, the most important of all exchanges, is still un- organized. The buyers and sellers of leather, of grain, of coffee—of any important saleable article—have well defined meeting places where information is accumulated and exchanges made. The places are called bourses, exchanges or markets, and many are so well known that no specific title is considered necessary. A manufacturer of kitchen tables would be ridiculous in every one’s eyes, if, at the door of the factory he hung his sign, “Kitchen Tables for Sale.” Instead, he takes his tables to the Furniture Exchange (in New York City located at 48th Street and Lex- ington Avenue) and there exhibits his product to buyers, who are also aware of this, the one place in the city commonly agreed upon, for the purchase and sale of tables. Imagine a man in the market to buy raw cotton. Consider the sight of a sign at his door, “Raw Cotton Wanted.” The fundamental analogy is complete. What is done with reference to labor? Do the buyers and sellers in this case go to a center for their mutual exchanges? By what business-like methods do the “manless jobs” and the “jobless men” come together? The first answer is this: “Workmen go from door to door, offering their services; and employers in need of workmen hang out the ‘Help Wanted’ signs.” (Third Report of the Wainwright Commission to the Legislature of the State of New York, April 26, 1911.) This sign “Help Wanted”, scrawled on a piece of card- board, is a symbol of inefficiency in the present disor- ganized state of the labor market. 8 Public Employment Exchanges The haphazard practice of tramping the streets in search of this sign “Help Wanted” is no method at all. It does not assure the idle worker of success in his search for work or the employer in his search for labor. It necessitates, on the contrary, by its very lack of system, unnecessary unemployment. Of course, method and system, per se, will not prevent over-supply of labor or of jobs. They will do so no more than the Coffee Exchange guards against over- or under-supply of coffee. They will serve merely as levelers in the scales of labor supply and labor demand. A man, not recommended for a position by a friend or relative, often follows the easiest course—that of least immediate expenditure of money and thought. He starts from his home, and drops in at each and every sign of “Help Wanted” where he thinks he has a chance of getting the position. What effect can such procedure have, but to discourage the employer as well as the employable? It is this very same shift- less, footweary tramping which must foster the habit of unemployment, and must lead to vagrancy, much as vagrancy leads to crime. It is impossible to reckon the cost to a community of such waste of production, through failure of prompt and fitting sale of labor. One thing is certain, and this is that there is a tremendous waste of time, with resulting loss in production. But beyond that, there is the waste incurred by this accidental way of fitting, or rather, of not fitting, a man to a job. The law of chance decrees that, without more method than this, misfits must be the rule; and society now permits this daily process of attempting to fit a round peg into a square hole. Newspaper Advertising The second common method of connecting em- ployer and employee is through the medium of adver- tising. The newspapers published in New York state (numbering about 2,000) carry “Help Wanted” and “Situation Wanted” advertising to the extent of about Public Employment Exchanges 9 800,000 columns in a single year. This costs the em- ployers and employees together, it is estimated, no less than $20,000,000 each year. The people of this state are taxed, not by law, but by present-day custom, to this enormous extent. What do they get for this ex- penditure? In the first place, of the more than ten million people in the state, about one-half (or five million) are non-workers—i, e., children; adults who do not engage in industry of any sort; inmates of hos- pitals, prisons, and asylums. This leaves a balance of five million workers, of which (at a conservative estimate) one-fifth, or one million, workers are fixed as to employment, in other words have some steady occupation, and are never in the market to sell their labor. ‘Therefore, by the process of elimination, we have in New York state four million people incurring, through advertising alone in an effort to buy and sell labor, the annual expense of twenty millions of dollars. Statistics presented later in this report (p. 27) show in contrast that public employment systems re- duce this community cost from $5 per “jobless man” to a sane figure of much less than $1, with better results. Newspaper advertising for the purpose of con- necting employer and employee also contains inherent possibilities of fraud. The three parties to the trans- action in this method are employer, employee, and the newspaper. The first party, the employer, wants to get workers. He makes his advertisement as attrac- tive as possible. He most certainly does not understate the attractiveness of the job, the possibilities of ad- vancement, or the salary to be paid. If he purposely misrepresents the facts, he surely will not bring him- self to court and start a self-prosecution. The second party, the employee, through igno- rance of his rights, the expense of court procedure and the slight possibility of any substantial gain in case of victory, rarely bothers to prosecute such fraud. The game is not worth the candle to a man who owns but 10 Public Employment Exchanges one property in life—labor; for he is dependent for life upon the continuous and uninterrupted sale of that property. The third party, the newspaper, may be strictly honest, and perhaps would gladly stop any fraudulent advertising. But who will inform the newspaper of such deception? The logical result of deceptive adver- tising is fraud, distrust, and inefficiency. Indiscrim- inate advertising is the present-day expensive make- shift for the intelligent economical treatment of this large problem. The state of New York has no scien- tific medium for bringing together employee ana employer. Private Licensed Agencies The number of agencies conducted for private profit in the state of New York is about 1,000. Ap- proximately 800 of these are located in New York City. Here, again, we have allowed a system to develop, which, though it be quasi-public, is so full of fraud that each year stricter regulation and control are necessary. Not only does the state find it desirable to keep an eye on the practises of private agents, bu’ New York City has its own Bureau of Licenses, initially founded to prevent outrages upon ignorant wage-seekers by profit-seeking private employment agents. It cost nearly $60,000 as long ago as 1909 to conduct this one municipal license bureau. In addition to these 1,000 agencies an important factor in private agency development is the existence of a large number of padroni (foreign labor contrac- tors). These padroni send thousands of laborers, usu- ally aliens, out of the city of New York to labor camps and to smaller communities of the state. As municipal authorities have no jurisdiction beyond the corporate limits, the complaints arising from the misrepresenta- tions in such cases are, for the most part, unregistered and unheard. “Usually ignorant, illiterate and avari- cious, such padroni bring their men to the Public Employment Exchanges 11 place where the work is to be performed under serious misrepresentations without funds. They are held against their will until suff- cient wages have been earned permitting them to leave. ‘These so-called agents are usually in league with licensed employment agencies in cities where laborers are generally obtained; but with the complainant out of the municipal jurisdiction, it is almost impossible to bring the licensed employment agent to task. The padrone is all powerful. “It has been found that almost six times aS many contract; laborers are sent to places outside of the cities as within them. In the course of the bureau’s work in about 40 coun- ties of the state, 39 such padroni, having privi- leges in 59 camps, were found. All were charged by various contractors on public works with full responsibility of obtaining a sufficient number of laborers for the work to be performed. In return therefor the padrone ‘was given the privilege of housing the men and providing their commissary supplies with such supplies and at such prices and in accord- ance with such standards as he himself might set. The laborer thus finds himself absolutely at the mercy of an unscrupulous padrone, who is under no supervision and fears no law.” (Second Annual Report of the New York State Bureau of Industries and Immigration, 1912, page 19.) This is the reception given in our country to new- comers who want work. The cry is raised, “The sys- tem is satisfactory; it only needs control and regula- tion.” But experience indicates the contrary. Authori- ties now agree that the free distribution of information regarding opportunities for employment is as much the state’s concern and duty as the care of the state high- ways or the distribution of information concerning im- 12 Public Employment Exchanges proved methods in agriculture, and should not be capitalized for the gain of any group of profit seekers. Even if strict regulation did prevent fraud in the private agencies, there would still be urgent need for a centralized but state-wide system of free distribu- tion of information. The characteristic feature of un- employment in New York state is, on the one hand, congestion in New York City, and on the other, great areas of untilled soil up the state. It is only through centralization that the demands of the City of New York and the needs of the rest of the state can be efficiently co-ordinated. The intelligent distribution of labor demands a bird’s-eye view of the labor market obtainable by no system other than government opera - tion of the labor exchanges. The state can assuredly improve on a system under which, for example, thirty-nine agencies are competing for private profits within three square blocks on the East Side of New York City, under which the cost to each successful job seeker is at a conservative estimate $2; and under which more than $2,500 is caused to be refunded annually in the City of New York alone because of fees fraudulently col- lected. Experience shows that a system of state ex- changes tends to squeeze out the unfit private agencies. Philanthropic Institutions “A number of charitable and philanthropic associations have established employment of- fices. These have usually been conducted on a small scale, and with little success. Work- ingmen are inclined to shun charitable em- ployment agencies, and employers do not gen- erally seek efficient labor in such places. Al- though some of the employment bureaus, sup- ported by private philanthropy, are ably man- . aged, those interested in them would be the first to admit that the undertaking is too great Public Employment. Exchanges 13 to be accomplished by private initiative.” (The Wainwright Commission Report to the Legis- lature of the State of New York.) A philanthropic institution bears the millstone of the word “charity” and arouses, justly or unjustly, the suspicion of inefficiency among business men; and furthermore, lacking the stamp of government (such as would attend state exchanges), it is neither fish nor flesh, and is unable to compete with the private agencies which spend large sums of money developing clienteles among employers and employees. The results of attempts of philanthropic institu- tions to solve the problems are well-known. The “National Employment Exchange,” in New York City, could supply only 1,615 positions in an- swer to 4,357 requests for work in 1913. The “Alliance Employment Bureau” fills only one- fourth of the workers’ demands, and the Y. M. C. A. meets less than one-half of the employees’ calls. The filling of these applications costs far more than in any state in the Union where state exchanges have been organized. Further than this, it is plain that even though separate philanthropic institutions do attempt to act as distributors of labor, it is scarcely likely that an exchange of information throughout the state will take place. Moreover, the work of such institutions is, for the most part, local, or rather, municipal; and it will help very little in aiding industrial removal from the centers of congestion to unused agricultural lands and smallercommunties. The state is the logical agent for a system so important, with such a large clientele, and with social waste demanding efficient exchange of information. B. INEFFIENCY OF PRESENT METHODS Cost Per Job—Estimate It is impossible to calculate the cost to the state of not connecting laborers and positions. The mere money, even, spent in fees to private agencies, in news- 14 Public Employment Exchanges paper advertising, in actual contributions to philan- thropic institutions conducting free bureaus, and in car- fares of undirected seekers equals more than one-third of the total tax levied by the state for its annual budget. Resulting Duplication If the money spent under present methods brought commensurate results, there would be no cry for state labor exchanges. But at present an employer ad- vertises for help in several papers, not only in one, because all of the workers do not read the same pape: The employees list the positions advertised, and then start on the day’s tramp, which is, in some cases, from Brooklyn to the Bronx. At one gate fifty or a hundred men may be waiting for a single job, while elsewhere a hundred employers may be waiting, each for a single employee. Unnecessary duplication of work and expense by both parties is apparent. No Intelligent Distribution of Labor The first shrewd business man, who, connecting coal and ice as products for sale, realized the benefits to be gained by all-year work, established proof of the gain produced by dovetailing seasonal occupations. The demand at certain times of the year for harvest hands, trench-diggers, or railroad gangmen is far in excess of the demand in the same employments at other times of the year. Labor, therefore, should be shifted from one kind of work to another as the sea- sonal demands arise; and in addition, in this state, the industrial removal of immigrants, on a scientific basis, would lessen the evils of congestion in the cities ana would help supply the demand for workers back on the farms and up-state. Without a state system of labor exchanges no basis can exist for anticipating in an accurate manner these ebbs and flows of the demand for labor. With- out concentration of the information now collected and now held separately in thousands of separate organ- Public Employment Exchanges 15 izations throughout the state, the possibility of look- ing into the future, or profiting by the past, is out of the question. Fraud Strict state regulation is needed to lessen fraud in private agencies, and to check the padroni system as well as to eliminate many evident misrepresentations in newspaper advertisements. In the year ending May 1, 1912, the Commissioner of Licenses of the City of New York reported 2,045 complaints made by applicants against registered pri- vate employment agencies, the revocation of 14 licenses of private agents, and the investigation of at least 312 complaints made by the public against forms of news- paper advertising. The operations of the unscrupulous padroni, moreover, are not within the scope of this or of any other bureau. Furthermore, that part of the public which uses the private agencies is as a rule either ignorant of the possibilities of recovery for fraud practised upon it, or unwilling to go to the expense and trouble of court procedure to recover for damages incurred. No Basis for Study of Conditions Under the present methods there exists no auto- matic, accumulative means for the collection of sta- tistics of unemployment. This has continued, even though labor problems—in one form or another—have taken the lead as subjects for legislation, and any scien- tific law-making on the program of social insurance and vocational guidance must be grounded on facts of rela- tive employment and unemployment of the workers, by trades, by sexes, and by ages. In the meantime other countries and other states which have found it possible to establish efficient sys- tems of public labor exchanges are accumulating for themselves this necessary information, II. PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES IN EUROPE AND AMERICA A. ENGLAND The most thoroughly organized and widespread system of public employment bureaus in the world is to be found in the United Kingdom. The system is administered directly by the national Board of Trade through a single department which combines the operation of the labor exchanges with the payment of unemployment insurance under the national insurance act of 1911. There were-in July, 1913, 430 lapGeaea changes staffed by full time officers, with which were connected 1,066 local agencies for the administration of unemployment insurance. The total regular staff of these 1,496 offices was 3,536 persons, of whom about 600 were women. Functions of Exchanges The general function of the exchanges is to col- lect and distribute information from employers and employees as to situations and applications for work. For the purpose of vocational guidance of chil- dren, the Board of Trade may establish in England and Wales local special advisory committees, to con- sist of experts on education or on other conditions affecting young persons, representatives of employers and employees, and a chairman, all appointed by the Board. Labor exchange officers and school inspectors may attend the committee meetings but may not be members. The committee may by themselves or in co-operation with other bodies or persons “give infor- mation, advice and assistance to boys and girls and their parents with respect to the choice of employ- ment and other matters bearing thereon.” Provision is made for substituting in certain cases for the special advisory committee another committee organized on a plan submitted by the local education authority for higher education. s Public Employment Exchanges 17 In Scotland, to which the above special rules for registering juvenile applicants do not apply, the schoo. boards are empowered under the education act or 1908 to maintain or to combine with other bodies to maintain “any agency for collecting and distributing inijormation as to employments open to children on leaving school.” In Edinburgh, for instance, a divi- sion of work has been arrived at by the labor ex- change and the school board by which the latter furnishes the advice and the former finds the situa- tions, an officer of the labor exchange occupying a room in the school board building to facilitate the interchange of information. Applicants residing more than five miles from the place of employment may be advanced transporta- tion, but in making advances care must be taken “to avoid unduly encouraging rural laborers to migrate from the country to the towns or between Great Britain and Ireland.” The officer in charge of an ex- change must also consult the central office in London before sending applicants outside the British Isles. Advances are not to be made in case of labor disputes nor in case the wages offered are lower than those for the same sort of work in the district from which the applicant for work comes. Methods of Operation The waiting rooms for men and women are separate, and wherever possible women clerks are provided to receive women’s applications. Boys and girls are also each dealt with separately. In all the larger exchanges provision is made for dealing separately with insurable and uninsurable workmen, and in the largest exchanges these cate- gories are further subdivided into artisans and laborers. In the larger exchanges the more skilled type of women are dealt with apart from the less skilled, . such as charwomen. The method of recording applications in use at the end of September, 1911, provided for two registers, LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS FOR PUBLIC I Pee STATE PROVISIONS Y YU MUNICIPAL BUT NO STATE PROVISIONS a NO PROVISIONS Nineteen states and twelve municipalities have Besides the municipal exchanges maintained in the shaded and Ohio IBOR EXCHANGES IN THE UNITED STATES ‘eady provided for public employment exchanges. 2a, such exchanges are also maintained in Missouri, Montana ‘ere indicated. y 20 Public Employment Exchanges one for general employment and one for casual em- ployment. In the casual register were recorded with- out subdivision a number of employments of a pecu- liarly casual nature, such as dock laborers, sandwich- men, bill distributors and charwomen. The generas register was subdivided into twenty-two sections, namely: Building trades; other works of construction and roads; ships and boats; engineering and machine making; vehicle making; metals, tools, dies and other miscellaneous metal trades ; mining and quarrying trades ; textile trades; dress; conveyance of men, goods and metals; agriculture; paper, prints, books and stationery ; wood, furniture, fittings and decorations; chemicals, oil, grease, Soap, resin, etc.; bricks, cement, pottery and glass; food, tobacco, drink and lodging; skins, leather, hair and feathers; precious metals, jewels, watches, instru- ments and games; gas, water and electricity supply and sanitary service; commercial; domestic (outdoor) ; other, general and undefined. (Statistical Statement with Re- gard to the Work of the Board of Trade Labor Ex- changes, London, 1911.) All English Board of Trade labor exchanges are free. Applications are good only for seven days, bur may be renewed within that time for a similar period, and so on continuously. Labor is furnished in time of labor troubles, but either employers or employees as a body may file a statement as to the existence of a strike or lockout, and applicants for the sort of work affected must be shown the statement, together with any reply the em- ployer may have seen fit to make. No fares are ad- vanced to workmen going to fill vacancies caused by a trade dispute. Success of Operation The first labor exchanges were opened in Feb- ruary, 1910, making the system now almost exactly four years old. Public Employment Exchanges 21 The system was started with eighty-two agencies. By July, 1913, there were 430 agencies. The following table shows the number of appli- cations for employment, the number of vacancies noti- fied by employers, and the number of vacancies filled, for specified months since the system has been in operation : GROWTH OF OPERATIONS OF BRITISH LABOR EXCHANGES, BY SPEC- é IFIED MONTHS Month Applications for| Vacancies Vacancies Employment Notified Filled March, 1910 126,119 eae 20,395 March,* 1911 142,382 | 47,811 Sibel March, 1912 178,317 | 72,650 55,650 March, 1913 209,901 95,862 68,783 November, 1913 226,457 90,319 69,239 * 5 weeks, The following table shows the steady growth of usefulness of the exchanges for the first three years of their existence, by years: GROWTH OF OPERATIONS OF BRITISH LABOR EXCHANGES, BY YEAR ha Applications for | Vacancies Notified Vacancies ep Employment by Employers Filled 1910* 1,590,017 458,943 "314,313 1911 2,010,113 886,242 719,043 1912 2,423,213 1,286,205 1,051,861 : 11 months The percentage in 1912 of vacancies filled to vacan- cies notified was 77 per cent (men, 81.1; women, 73.2; boys, 67.4; girls, 73.4). B. GERMANY There are in Germany 323 public bureaus, all maintained by local authorities. (Quarterly Bulletin of the International Association on Unemployment, Vol. III, 1913, table facing p. 675.) Functions of Exchanges In discussing the functions and methods of the German public employment bureaus, the Munich 22 Public Employment Exchanges Municipal Exchange has been chosen, as it is said by Mr. W. H. Beveridge to be fairly illustrative of the German exchanges. (W. H. Beveridge, Unemployment, a Problem of Industry, pp. 239, sq.) The objects of the: Munich office are: (1) To put employers and employees (especially those en- gaged in industry, commerce or domestic service, casual labor and apprentices) into communication with a view to employment; and (2) to supply as far as possible information on all questions concerning work- men and conditions of the employment. There is a special section for apprentices. Boys and girls in the elementary schools are told of the exchange a few months before they leave, and they are given time off to visit it and are encouraged to register. As a result most of them have completed all arrangements for work before they leave school. The exchange finds places outside of the city and even outside of Germany. In 1906 about 10,000 out of a total of 50,000 positions found were “externals.” Workmen sent to places over 25 km. (15 miles) dis- tant are allowed on presentation of a certificate from the exchange to ride on the state railways for half price. Methods of Operation The following information, except where other- wise specified, is, like that in the preceding section, based upon conditions in the Munich office. There are six separate sections, each with its own waiting room and superintendent—three for men (un- skilled, skilled workers in iron and wood, and all other skilled workers), one for apprentices, and two for women (industrial workers and domestic servants). No fees are charged. This applies to all Ger- man exchanges with one or two exceptions, such as the Berlin exchange, where applicants for work are charged a registration fee of five cents. Positions are filled if possible from among the ap- plicants at the office when a_call comes in, Calls not so Public Employment Exchanges 23 filled are recorded on a blackboard, and arriving work- men may apply to the superintendent for them. In the skilled sections special hours are designated for special trades. Twice a week lists of situations still unfilled are posted in public places, inserted in the press and sent to the neighboring exchanges. Four principal policies in time of labor disputes have been adopted by the German exchanges: (1) To ignore disputes altogether, and to send men just as if there were no dispute. (Nurnberg, Ber- lin till 1905.) (2) To record vacancies caused by a dispute and to inform applicants of such vacancies, but to give the applicants formal notice of the disputes. (Berlin since 1905, Cologne since 1904, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, etc.) (3) To suspend operations within the range of the dispute during its continuance. (Cologne till 1904, Barmen.) (4) To act in each case upon the decision of the local industrial court. (Munich till 1898, Leipzig.) The second of these alternatives is most widely followed and approved. Cost of Operation The cost of several exchanges was reported in 1905 or in 1906 as follows: Cologne, $2,590; Dussel- dorf, $2,435; Frankfurt, $5,185; Freiburg, $2,600;. Munich, $11,110; Strassburg, $2,600 (after deducting $570 received as fees from employers). In most cases rent is excluded. Taking the above figures as they stand, the average cost per position filled is: Cologne and Dussel- dorf, 8% cents; Frankfurt, 13 cents; Freiburg, 14 cents; Strassburg, 16 cents; Munich, 20 cents. 24 Public Employment. Exchanges | Success of Operation et 323 bureaus considered were founded as fol- lows: Refore (190530. waders Soe a ee ee 124 1901+ 190 5 Kas. Sic ade tae Sule eed Re eee Te 1906-19 LO tan as 5 cate oes sini cyto» Goce ieee 70 TTVA LL oliclc bony panis ahie oo dole athe eee 42 Datesunknown Oy sho cied stadiele oe eee 14 ORs (oSves hoes eee be ee tee a Fae The number of places filled, reported by these bureaus, is: 1909— 731,848 (230 bureaus rnoeee 1910— 877,042 (250 “ ) 1911—1,055,784 (267 “ bbe C. FRANCE There are 162 public employment bureaus in ‘France, all maintained, like those of Germany, by local authorities. (Quarterly Bulletin of .the International Association on Unemployment, Vol. III, 1913, table facing p. 735.) The following methods of operation are required, by a decree of October 25, 1911, of all municipal em- ployment exchanges which desire to share in the sub- vention offered by the national government. (Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Vol. VII, page 380.) (1) The exchange must be placed under the control of a representative committee, composed one- half of employers and one-half of workers in the prin- cipal trades likely to make use of the exchange, with a disinterested president who has no vote. (2) The bureau must continue to function in case of strike or lockout, but must warn applicants, who would be affected, of the existence of the dispute. (3) The bureau must fill an average of at least twenty-five situations a month. Public Employment Exchanges 25 Success of Operation The 162 French public bureaus were founded in the following years: . MELOLCH SU LES Acar ils wiles ce said tie’s 40 196121905. <7 inte cee los MSE tL OMe ote 70 Meets LON reels Coatat a. fc a ett a/t = sharia 37 er) ee ME ee et a gl ee Pe oY 11 Date PUNKTOWE: oi. od cose science snein es 4 EL Oy cal Vagrant ie Meagedtcress Cres ieidinh’r 8's:wib3 162 The bureaus reported filling places as follows: EOE R ehh Gs STAY ao hea Hi eae Be PPC 84,122 POG Ree ie nite ea ae enw wart ese 95,638 PAD CNT OH eisai ea als ate oot et as 99,333 D. SWITZERLAND .. Switzerland has five state employment bureaus, in addition to eleven maintained by cities. (Quarterly Bulletin of the International Association on Unemploy- ment, Vol. III, 1913, table facing p. 887.) Methods of Operation Eighteen bureaus subsidized by the national gov- ernment are required by federal law to continue their regular functions in case of a labor dispute, but to give notice of the dispute to all applicants, whether em- ployers or employees. | é - Cost of Operation The cost of operation of ten of the eleven Swiss municipal exchanges is given as follows for 1911: TL@E Ti Cie 2.5 aie Ted fier diet is Chew obe’s'e et Gis Bie $3,809 ele oie A eta ae «te Cts. eaicicte 943 RAUSANIE wc. hie «oats Haenid o's asatd Petia 773 Picetne CO, MONS) .sicess sce cee. 950 MOTSENACH |...) cies. cd eac we clean 1,200 Schaffhausen ........ Ape RAT ee se 545 Shee Cee Pes fl cuits GEA of bas oles sled o aie 2,120 PVSTEPOLENTO@ get's stats a's stertled 6 800 VAS CE ae BTA e's iuin ali ths odes are ui sharals 20 26 Public Employment Exchanges EK. THE UNITED STATES Provision for public employment exchanges has already been made in the United States by nineteen states and by twelve municipalities (see map, pp. 18, 19). The nineteen states which have made such pro- vision, with the year of the law and the number and location of the offices, are: Colorado, 1907, three offices—Colorado Springs, Den- ver, Pueblo. Connecticut, 1905, five offices—Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Norwich, Waterbury. Illinois, 1899, eight offices—Chicago (three offices), Rockford, Rock Island, Springfield, East St. Louis, Peoria. Indiana, 1909, five offices—Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, South Bend, Terre Haute. Kansas, 1901, one office—Topeka. Kentucky, 1906, one office—Louisville. Maryland, 1902, one office—Baltimore. Massachusetts, 1906, four offices—Boston, Fall River, Springfield, Worcester. Michigan, 1905, five offices—Detroit, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Saginaw. Minnesota, 1905, three offices—Duluth, Minneapolis, St. Paul. Missouri, 1899, three offices—Kansas City, St. Joseph, St. Louis. Montana, 1913—(Not yet in operation). Nebraska, 1897, one office—Lincoln. Ohio, 1890, five offices—Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colum- bus, Dayton, Toledo. Oklahoma, 1908, three offices—Enid, Muskogee, Ok- lahoma City. Rhode Island, 1908, one office—Providence. South Dakota, 1913, one office—Pierre. West Virginia, 1901, one office—Wheeling. Wisconsin, 1901, four offices—La Crosse, Milwau- kee, Oshkosh, Superior. Public Employment Exchanges 27 During the last two years Illinois has increased from six offices to eight, Indiana from one office to five, and Massachusetts from three offices to four. The employment exchanges maintained by mu- nicipalities are located in Los Angeles and Sacramento (California), Kansas City (Missouri), Butte and Great Falls (Montana), Newark (New Jersey), Cleveland (Ohio), Portland (Oregon), and Everett, Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma (Washington). The average per capita cost of filling positions through some of the bureaus is given as follows in Bulletin 109 of the U. S. Bureau of Labor: AVERAGE PER CAPITA COST OF FILLING POSITIONS THROUGH PuBLIC EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS IN THE UNITED STATES State 1894 | 1899 | 1904 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 lal is a a Ae ee ed eR $.69 | $.71 PETER OMOME lake eal oe | aa cee tlasee 6 1.04* Meta US OLICES)} aces | case | cscs e losses fvoce. 8192 yg eA OTICES Jr Xn sedi) Mais co. |-e'ore aie $.834 . 601 | .282| .287 Seereerrr stint 1 OUICE)|| 6. | wage bac cee bey oes EGOS Lees hk: das ee Washgton (4 offices) |/$.2293/$.0449/$.0636 0505) aise, Pi gee * Varying from $.92 in one city to $2.03 in another. Additional information on this point is given by Bulletin Vol. 2, No. 9, of the Wisconsin Industrial Commission, which is devoted to a report on “The Wisconsin Free Employment Offices’, and which states that in 1911 the cost in Wisconsin was about 35 cents per position filled, while in Colorado it was 41 cents and in Oklahoma 27 cents. It will be seen that the cost as stated varies greatly, ranging from 4 cents per position in Washington to $2.03 in one Massachusetts city. Methods and details of operation differ greatly in the various states, but the data here given for Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin will sufficiently illustrate the workings of the system in America. 28 Public Employment Exchanges Illinois The Illinois public employment bureaus make no effort in the direction of vocational guidance or indus- trial removal. In at least three of the eight offices now existing, a separate department is maintained for each of the sexes, but no further division is made. No fees are charged; in a few cases applicants with large num- bers of dependents are given priority. In case of a strike, the usual policy is to accept the application for help, but to notify applicants for work of the exist- ence of a strike. Asa result, it is said, workers seldom accept the positions offered. ‘The first law in Illinois creating free public employment offices (in 1899) was declared unconstitutional four years later because of the provision that applications for help to fill places vacant because of a strike were not to be received. The 1913 appropriation for public employment offices in Illinois was $50,735, or nearly $6,342 for each of the eight offices. The Illinois public employment office system has been in operation since 1899, at which time three offices were opened. The following table shows the business done for the first twelve years: OPERATIONS OF ILLINOIS PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS, 1900-1911 Year Ending ||Applications for} Applications Positions Sept. 30 Employment for Help Secured DOOD: ont: tote we coke 36,949 35,542 31,218 A Beg ete teat 3 | 25,297 26,623 22,766 IDO FAN CE 44,900 47,497 40,181 1003 5 css.» sieieiepie 43,510 45,559 39,227 LUO rae's as alae 37,493 36,710 31,724 LOOT ti wha wees 45,323 44,577 39,598 UG isis sre eax os 57,489 60,908 53,617 1907 Oi este sek 59,361 65,872 55,417 L908 oon ital alas 45,373 40,453 34,736 ES me 48,532 47,921 41,549 1010 Sires. peti cs eS 68,730 77,620 62,564 VER bn ts lynn AP lhe 76,127 68,228 59,827 Total, 12 years 589,084 599,510 512,424 Public Employment Exchanges '29 The growth has not been continuous, the figures in all columns undergoing many fluctuations, but on the whole there has been a substantial increase in the use of ta bureaus by both employers and employees. Indiana The Indiana public employment bureau performs the ordinary employment office work. Although it places boys and girls, it makes no attempt at voca- tional guidance, and no effert is directed toward in- dustrial removal. The bureau makes no special provision for Heats ing with women applicants, and all sorts of labor are handled together. The nearest approach to a fee in the United States is the provision in the Indiana law that applicants may pay postage on replies, but those unable to pay are not barred from use of the bureau. In the first quarter-year of the bureau’s existence nearly half the applicants placed could not pay the postage. Priority is given to workmen longest reg- istered, or to those who have dependents. Sometimes those having telephones are favored when quick com- munication is necessary. The first office was opened in the autumn of 1909, since when four new branches have been opened, mak- ing five in all. The following table shows the applications for employment and for help in the first three years of the bureau’s existence: | | OPERATIONS OF INDIANA PuBLIC EMPLOYMENT Bureaus, 1909-1912 _ Applications for Em- Applications for ployment Help i Not i A Not Filed | Placed | pyiceq| Filed | Filled | pig Oct. ’09-Sept. 710} 5,058 | 2,387 | 2,671 | 2,857 | 2,387 470 ‘Oct. ’10-Sept. '11}|. 6,016 | 3,662 | 2,354 | 4,823 | 3,662 | 1,161 Oct. ’11-Sept. '12)| 6,486 | 5,104 | 1,382 | 7,649 | 5,104 | 2,545 TW an oe 17,560 | 11,153 | 6,407 | 15,329 | 11,153 | 4,176 In Indiana, therefore, there has been an’ unin- ‘terrupted expansion of the usefulness of the bureaus. 30 Public Employment Exchanges Wisconsin The functions of the Wisconsin Industrial Com- mission include doing “all in its power to bring to- gether employers seeking employees and working peo- ple seeking employment”. It is also to “aid in induc- ing minors to undertake promising skilled employ- ments”. The offices have attempted to guide boys into the less crowded and better paying positions, but recommend that a vocational bureau be established to pay special attention to the needs of juvenile appli- cants. In the Milwaukee office separate departments are maintained for men and for women, and common laborers are separated from the more skilled workers and clerks and boys. No fees are charged. When employment is at its worst, as in the winter months, married men and residents are usually given prefer- ence. Applicants referred to the office by the Asso- ciated Charities are also given preference. If the em- ployer asks for a union man, one is sent, but other- wise the first qualified applicant is referred to the place. As in Illinois, the original law establishing the offices, in 1901, was repealed in 1903 because of a clause prohibiting the offices from accepting applications from employers whose men were on strike. Since then the offices accept such applications, but notify the applicants of the existence of the trouble. The total expenditure in Wisconsin for the year ending June 30, 1913, was $13,122.81, making an aver- age of $3,280.70 for each of the four offices. The cost per job is reported as 35 cents. The system was started with two offices in 1901. . The number of positions filled more than doubled Public Employment Exchanges 31 during the first nine years, despite temporary fluctua- tions. The figures are: POSITIONS FILLED BY WISCONSIN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES, 1901-1911 Year Positions Filled Year Positions Filled 1901-2 7,380 1907-08 16,155 1903-—4* 18,426 1908-09 15,465 1904—5 10,090 1909-10 ° 23,852 1905-6 17,332 1910-11 16,296 1906-7 AS ML akag a Ll lal fore a bart ile die Ok Reread * Two years. The industrial commission took charge of the offices about the beginning of 1912. The followiny table gives the operations for the last six months of 1911 (under the old administration) compared with operations for the last six months of 1912 (under the commission) : PosITIONS FILLED BY WISCONSIN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES, JuLY-DECEMBER, 1911, AND JULY-DECEMBER, 1912 July-December, | July-Decemter, 1911 1912 Applications for Work..... 12,949 20,266 Applications for Help...... 11,585 26,801 Referred to Positions...... 6,882 21,509 Positions filled............ vies Maye 10,510 It will be seen that under the commission the number of applications for work has almost doubled, the number of applications for help has more than doubled, and the work of referring applicants to employers has more than tripled. III. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES : IN NEW YORK STATE After careful consideration of existing methods in New York’s unorganized labor market, and the suc- cessful operation of public employment bureaus in Europe and America, the following recommendations as to the essential features of a proposed act pro- viding for an efficient system of public employment exchanges in New York state are respectfully sub- mitted : 1. The establishment within the New York State Department of Labor of a Bureau of Employment. 2. The organization under such Bureau of free public employment bureaus and appropriate branches in the cities of New York, Buffalo, Syracuse, Roches- ter, Utica, Jamestown, Albany and Binghamton, with provision for local advisory committees made up of representatives of employers, employees and the gen- eral public. 3. Provision for careful records and systematic reports, with authority to require uniform reports from private agencies. 4. No fee or compensation to be charged to or received from any person seeking employment or desiring to employ labor through any of such offices. 5. Absolute neutrality in time of labor dis- turbance, but information of the existence of a labor disturbance to be furnished to the applicant, whether employer or employee. 6. Ample provision for publicity concerning the © work of the office and the state of the labor market. 7. Sufficient appropriation to make exchanges efficient in the highest possible degree, for which $75,000 annually is regarded as a minimum. A tentative budget for a system of public employ- ' ment exchanges in New York state, drawn from expe- rience in other states, is presented on page 33. The tentative draft of an act to put the above recommendations into legislative form is printed on page 34. Public Employment Exchanges pa es i ee SS SS SS SE ee se eee eens es ermoT 000°SL$ 00S'T 00Z OST'T _L49°9 896 €P - 00s"¢ 00s‘s 0s9'T SeO'T 086 oot‘s$ TeIOL S6L'0z¢ 00s‘ 002 oo¢ Lig‘ SFO TT 0729'r$ ooe ee oe OOT 00¢ 079° 00S 002 OST Os ‘| OOT "| 009$ UMOY -soue 029'F$ OOT 00¢ 079° 00S 002 OST OS 0OT 009$ “uqyWwY, “Surg 707‘ L$ oe eevee OST 00¢ ZES'P 00S 00¢ 00¢ OCT 001 000'T$ Jaqso “ood T£6'8$ 002 00S 7o7'S oos 00S 002 OST OST 00s‘T$ Ojegh a GOT 029'F$ eol|e* ee @ ev oOo cee @ eo 00¢ 029°2 OOS 002 OST Os OOT 009$ OT} 707‘ L$ eoeeoee eooce ee ee OST 00€ ceS'P 00S 00¢ 002 OCT OOT 000'T$ Aueqiy L086$ eoeoeeee 002 OOS 2809 OOS 007 SLI 007 008'T$ JOR MON ALVLG WYOA MAN NI SHONVHOXY INAWAOTANGY OITANg JO WALSAS V YOd LADGNG AAWVINAL e ° ° ata ae ene Mae ieee oN 4 ga bg § "**Sunulg pue syiodey ‘satjddng pue Arau01}e4S reste sete sees es TeIgUaL Fees e eee eesssorrereg ° vetoes ABIL °° * BUISIJIBAPY cooee -98e1S0g "***9uoydefaL yeaH pue yysrT esa DRAFT OF AN ACT To amend the labor law, in relation to the establish- ment of a bureau of employment. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section forty-two of chapter thirty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine, entitled “An act relating to labor, constituting chapter thirty-one of the consolidated laws,” as amended by chapter one hundred and forty-five of the laws of nineteen hundred and thirteen, is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 42. Bureaus. The department of labor shall have [four] five bureaus as follows: inspection; employment; statistics and information; mediation and arbitration; and industries and immigration. There shall be such other bureaus in the department of labor as the commissioner of labor may deem necessary. Sec. 2. Such chapter is hereby amended by inserting therein a new article, to be article five-a and to read as follows: ARTICLE 5-A. Bureau of Employment. Sec. 66. Chief superintendent. The bureau of employ- ment shall be under the immediate charge of the chief superintendent. Sec. 67. Public employment offices. The bureau o1 employment shall! establish and operate one or more public employment offices in the cities of New York, Buffalo, Syra- cuse, Rochester, Utica, Jamestown, Albany: and Binghamton and in such other cities or towns as the commissioner may direct. Each office shall, subject to the supervision and direction of the chief superintendent, be in charge of an officer or an employee of the department designated by the EXPLANATION—Matter in ttalics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. - Public Employment Exchanges | 35 commissioner. Each office shall use such means as the commissioner may direct to bring together persons seeking employees and those seeking employment. Sec. 68. Advisory committees. The commissioner may appoint an advisory committee for each office, the members of which shall serve without compensation. Sec. 68-a. Applications. Each office shall receive appli- cations from persons seeking employees and from those seeking employment. Such applications may be for any class of labor or services, manual, professional, or otherwise. The applications shall be in such form and shall be recorded and made public in such manner as the commissioner may direct. Sec. 68-b. Advertising. Each office may publish lists of applications received and may advertise in newspapers, trade journals or elsewhere to secure the co-operation of employers and employees. Sec. 68-c. Rooms for women. At each office there shall be a separate room for women. Sec. 68-d. Labor disturbances. Each office shall give notice of the existence of any labor disturbance to all appli- cants who may be affected thereby, but shall not refuse its services to any person by reason of such disturbance. Sec. 68-e. Co-operation with other employment bureaus. The bureau may co-operate with any other public employ- ment bureau, whether operated by a municipality, another state or by the United States government. Sec. 68-f. Statistics. The bureau of employment shall furnish such data to the bureau of statistics and information as the commissioner may direct. Sec. 68-g. Fees prohibited. No fee or other compensa- tion shall be charged or received, directly or indirectly, from persons applying for employment or help through the public employment offices. Sec. 3. This act shall take effect immediately. b . at ge Pr Cie. ae