UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE.*
Tan appearanee of Mr. Gibbon's book on unemployment insurance is very opportune. It contains an impartial account of the various attempts made in different countries to deal I with the problem of insurance against unemployment, and, in addition, discusses in a judicial spirit the difficulties to be over-1 come and the principles involved. So far as Mr. Gibbon' expresses any personal opinion at all, his general conclusion' appears to be against compulsory insurance, and in favour of , subsidizing the trade unions. This opinion is reached not so much on theoretical grounds, but as a result of the examina- tion of Continental experience. Nowhere up to the present' has compulsory insurance against unemployment been tried I on any large scale, although it has been much discussed on the Continent. Mr. Gibbon states that so far as can be gathered, " the attitude of the workmen on the Continent towards com- pulsory insurance against unemployment is generally one of suspicion. He begrudges the compulsory contribution, andl fears that he will be mulcted to provide a benefit for less ' competent or less deserving members of his class." It is Very significant that in the canton of Basle in 1899 a Bill that had' passed the legislative body of the canton by 46 votes against 12 was rejected on a referendum by 5,458 against 1,120. Sub- sequent experience seems to show that in this, as in other casea, the electors themselves were wiser than their represen- tatives, for Dr. Mangold, the statistician of the canton, writing in 1909, says that each winter the same persons become unemployed, and that the elaborate machinery of compulsory insurance proposed in 1899 would only have benefited a comparatively few people. Although Basle rejected: compulsory insurance, it was tried at St. Gall, but the• scheme appears to have been a bad one, and came to a speedy end.
As against these meagre and discouraging experiments with compulsory insurance Mr. Gibbon is able to point to one or two successful cases of subsidized insurance. The most satisfactory of these is the case of Ghent How far the success in Ghent may be due to the personality of the author of the-scheme, M. Varies, we have no means of knowing, but the fasts suggest this possibility. The essence of the scheme is that the municipality subsidizes trade unions which pay unemployment relief, the rate of the subsidy being roughly 50 per cent. of the benefit paid by the trade union. The whole responsibility for management is thus left with the trade union, and it necessarily, in its own interest, takes precautions against fraud. At the same time, the gift of the subsidy involves a certain amount of what may be called advisory supervision by the municipal authorities, and this has had the result of levelling up the trade-union regulations. At the same•time, the additional. benefit has stimulated. work- men to insure with their trade unions. The general result is a largely increased amount of insurance against unemploy- ment, and also, it may be added, an improvement in the attitude of the trade unions to industrial problems. They have accepted the responsibility' placed upon them in a loyal spirit, and have come to recognize that they are something more than an organization for carrying on war against employers. The municipal gt.theidy is given quite • unemployment Inatuaneo. By L. G. Gibbon, Sweden Scn. [fis..1 apart from the politics or general character of the trade unions involved :—" In 1908, of the trade unions participating in the scheme, 66 per cent. belonged to Socialistic trade unions; 27 per cent. to anti-Socialist unions, 5 per cent. to Liberal unions, and 1 per cent. to a neutral union." Mr. Gibbon adds that the Socialists are very well organised in Ghent, but have not a predominating voice in the municipal government. In a footnote he explains that under the municipal franchise prevailing in Ghent. "a man may have from one to, four votes, according to his wealth and educa- tional attainments." The great advantage of the Ghent system is that the municipal subsidy is only given in proportion to the effort made by the individual to help himself, and that it is worked through organisations which the men themselves have voluntarily created. A system very similar to the Ghent system has been introduced into Denmark, and is apparently working well. On the other hand, many Continental towns, notably Cologne, have established municipal agencies on what may be called philanthropic, as contrasted with trade union, lines. A new organization is created under municipal control to which workmen may contribute, and which also receives subsidies from the municipality and from charitable donors.. In practice, howevei, it is found that theie associations are only joined by what may be called "bad risks," and that the greater part of the benefit paid comes from the charitable contributions. The system, in fact, differs very little from a 'grant of relief in times of unemployment. In France very Tittle has been accomplished in the way of insurance against unemployment, chiefly because the trade unions have hitherto paid very little attention to the question. In support of his 'general leaning towards subsidizing trade unions, Mr. Gibbon appeals to the authority of the Poor Law Commission, pointing out that both the Majority and the Minority Reports are in substantial agreement in recommending that insurance should be assisted on the Ghent lines.
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