DRAWING THE DOLE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 90, 12 October 1929, Page 20

DRAWING THE DOLE

QUEER^SIGHT JN < LONDON

One of the strangest sights'-in Lon> don is to be seen' every' Friday at thb Aldgato Labour Exchango when the unemployed people of Stepney draw their* unemployment benefit pay.

'Here; in a district where tho population is a mixture of many different races, a largo pi-opor,tion of. tho 7000 names ' on- tho registers of -the unemployed; are, foreign. .--.-■ -.:.•■■„-.- .....-•.---: As 1 stood" besido'the" queue waiting outside the Exchange (writes an "Evening Standard" representative) it was difficult to realise that I was in England, so curious was tho medley of-languages I heard.

■There is really, no necessity for a queuclTor paying out" purposes the unemployed aro "divided into batches spread over the- day. The. English usually come just 'at this appointed hour, but tho foreign elemont, making it a kiiid of weekly social gathering, always arrive long bofore their time. Thus th 6 queues are'mainly composed of aliens.

Among-the crowd I saw Russians, Poles, Lithuanians, and'a sprinkling of coloured men. Sometimes a i'ow Chineso make it even more cosmopo-ljtan. Many of these aliens can only speak a smattering of English, and some cannot even write their-names.

They sign their cards with a cross. As sometimes their surnames run to a score, .of- letters, this can bo a considerable saving in labour! When langungo difliculties arise, other' unemployed" aliens act- as interpreters. '-. .;..' • •■■••.■ Most of the Russians and Poles when in work are tailors or furriers. These are ;tho seasonal trades, so that their numbers fluctuate. JFor instance, in October there wo-ro 0n1y'454 .unemployed taftors on :tho';bqoks:' : Week': by.'l week this number- rosej' till on 7th January there were 203 C. Spring brought improved business, and the total gradit ally fell till on 29th April there were only 127. ; With., the summer camp another slump, and on 15th July tho figure had mounted to 1589. . , Making winter clothing will absorb, many of the workers in the-autumn.