LONDON'S UNEMPLOYED.

Evening Star, Issue 11891, 20 May 1903, Page 1

LONDON'S UNEMPLOYED.

report of the Committee appointed at the Conference of administrative authorities in London, held at the County Hall on February 13, on the subject of the lack of employment was issued on' April 1 under the auspices of the London County Council. The Committee consisted of fifteen members, Mr John Burns, M.P., being chairman. In the course of a summary of the* proceedings it is stated that the want of employment depends on two main causes—the fluctuations of trade and the. fluctuations of individual character. The fluctuations of trade lie for the most part beyond the control of society as at present constituted. The chief means of meeting them must lie in the power of the workers themselves to provide against' seasonal and cyclical disturbances.,of industry by methods of trade unionism, co-operation, and. other means for increasing wages and the encouragement of thrift. Where these fail on an extensive scale "exceptional distress" may be said to exist. If an t organisation were at wt>rk ascertaining and making known the real state of the labor market, 'such a condition of things would be foreseen ,by the Central Labor Department, on whose advice as to the probable permanence of the decline local action would, largely depend. If the distress were temporary and acute, relief works, carefully planned beforehand to meet the special needs of the trade or locality, might he undertaken under necessary safeguards. If the decline were likely to be permanent in a trade or district, relief works would be useless. Such a situation would make large demands on the judgment, ingenuity, and resource not only of the central authority, but of the local authorities and other local bodies. It could not in any case be adequately met without the co-operation of several of the agencies which now deal with the question. The Committee express the opinion that the would-be workers whose lack of employment results from irregularity or de? cline of trade are comparatively easy to deal with. The chief difficulty arises in connection with those who are unemployed owing to irregularity or decline, not of trade, but of personal character. Is it a permanent decline, or may it be regarded as temporary and conditional 7 In other words, is it a hopeless lack of character, or can character be restored? When ascertained, this class, divided into apparently hopeless and possibly hopeful cases, needs to be dealt with by two entirely different sets of agencies—the hopeless by means of the Poor Law and Asylum Boards; the hopeful by personal friendship, religious influences, co-operative charity, and labor training. The Committee have no doubt that much that passes as missionary cr charitable enterprise, so far from removing, tends rather to perpetuate and reinforce the unemployable class. A Board of Charities, with powers analogous in some respects to those of the Board of Trade-and the Local Government Board, might do much,'they think, to clear the way for right treatment of the unemployable, as of many other classes of persons in distress. In considering a question of the. nature of that relating to the unemployed, the Committee say that it must be borne in mind that no action that can be taken can have to any great extent immediate results, and it is of great importance to obviate the necessity of undertaking in a hurry schemes for affording relief by putting the question aside until it becomes acute. On all accounts, therefore it is highly desirable that the matter should be looked into at once, so that in the event of any further exceptional distress arising anything like crude legislation may be avoided. The Committee' proceed 'to say that it is only at times like the present that • the subject of the unemployed is generally considered, and then the aid of the local authorities is invoked to meet sudden emergencies. Aid thus demanded and thus given is apt to be not useful, but even pernicious in the long run, for the subject is one which needs much consideration. It is one of the most serious of public economies, and the effect of any action taken must be far-reaching. What is therefore needed is a law which shall constitute the question of the unemployed one of the matters which local authorities must consider, and, under proper restrictions and conditions, may take steps to put their conclusions into practice. By this means a continuous and admitted policy would be possible, and there would be no danger of the country or the localities suffering from panic administration. For these and other reasons the Committee suggest that there should be—(l) A local industrial office for each town or borough (the town or borough council). (2) A central office for each group of towns or boroughs (in London the County Council, in other centres of industry a joint 'committee of representatives from the various towns interested). (3) A central office for the whole of the United. Kingdom (the Labor Department Board of Trade). (4) To the central office might be sent reports from colonial and foreign towns. In conclusion, the Committee re-' commend that the County Covncil forward copies'of the report of the Conference to the Imperial Government, to the administrative authorities in London, to the public libraries in London, and to the Press; that the other administrative authorities in London be invited to make observations on the report, and on the : receipt of such observations to consider as to what steps should be. taken thereon; and that the County Council publish and place on sale the report of the Conference