bureaus which have other duties as well in Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio, while in Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin direction of the State service is assigned to one member of the industrial commission. The work of placing women in Indiana has been transferred to the department of women and children of the industrial board, and is regulated by the director of that department. In some instances, Iowa and Oklahoma for example, there is no central direction, and in others, as Connecticut and Virginia, supervision of the employment offices comes directly under the office of the commissioner of labor. The commissioner of labor of Virginia delegates one of his staff to supervise employment work.

In the small offices the staff consists usually of a director and a clerk. The offices in Maine and New Hampshire have only a director, and in other instances the clerk is a part-time worker who has other duties in the department of labor. Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York, all of which have large organizations, average eight employees per office, although Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which also have an extensive system, operate with much smaller staffs. The table following shows the number of State offices in each of the 24 States operating a State service; the number of employees in the service and the minimum and maximum salaries paid; the amount of State funds appropriated for the support of the State employment service; the amount of other public funds-city, county, and Federalavailable; and the total annual expenditures for the latest completed fiscal year. Fiscal years are not uniform throughout the various States. The commissioner of labor of Missouri was unable to report the total amount of money used in the operation of the three offices in that State, because expenditures are met out of the general fund available for the use of the department of labor and industrial inspection, and a detailed statement of the division of the fund for separate activities can not be given.

The amount available for State employment offices through city and county governments represents in some cases only actual money appropriated; in other cases it covers money and, in addition, the estimated value of quarters, telephone service, light, and other office maintenance contributed to or shared with the State employment bureau by the local government.

The total annual expenditure of a little more than one and a quarter million dollars covers 148 offices in 23 States, as Missouri is not included in the total. Since the entire appropriation for the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Inspection is less than $52,000 per year, however, the amount available for the State employment service probably would not increase the total expenditure materially. The Portland (Me.) office is operated under the supervision of the State department of labor and industry, but without actual money expense to the State, as the salary of the placement clerk is paid by the United States Employment Service, and office space, light, and heat are contributed by the State chamber of commerce. The State department of labor is, however, the responsible directing medium.

NUMBER OF STATE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN EACH STATE, NUMBER OF EMPLOY. EES, SALARY RANGE, AMOUNT OF PUBLIC FUNDS APPROPRIATED BY STATE, CITY, COUNTY, AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS, AND TOTAL ANNUAL EXPENDI TURES, BY STATES

1 Estimated-in general departmental appropriation.
City and county.

Estimated-office recently established; maintenance cost not yet available
Part time.

Placement Procedure

SEPARATE accomodations for male and female applicants are required by law in most cases, and are furnished in all cases. Usually separate entrances are provided for women. The kind of quarters provided for public employment offices and their location have been matters of discussion and dispute from the beginning of the movement. In the early days it was generally felt that the entire project was threatened by the exceedingly unattractive quarters and locations which the offices occupied. Meager appropriations made it impossible, usually, to provide more suitable accommodations. This phase is passing. Assignment to quarters in city halls and county court houses has frequently solved the problem of accessible location, although in such quarters the matter of crowding is not always relieved. Illinois has recently made a special effort to improve the physical aspects of the employment offices, with the result, as stated by the director, that―

In Illinois to-day we have all of our offices on the ground floor of buildings located close to the employment districts, and we have nice furniture. We have fine quarters, well decorated, and they are offices that are a credit to the State of Illinois. We have found that by improving the conditions we have increased the service over 50 per cent.21

In Wisconsin, quarters are furnished and maintained by the local community, whether city, town, or county, in which, by agreement,

21 U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bul. No. 501, p. 90.

the State service establishes an office. Quarters must be approved as suitable by the industrial commission.

In addition to division into men's and women's departments, some offices segregate juvenile workers, and further subdivide their men's and women's departments into skilled and unskilled labor. Large general offices serving a wide clientele usually subdivide as closely as the size of the staff permits, creating special sections for common labor, farm labor, mechanical, manufacturing, clerical, technical, and professional workers, and so on. Occasionally branch offices are operated to serve a single class. The Chicago office, for example, handles unskilled labor chiefly through a branch office, thus leaving the other offices freer to care for the skilled and semiskilled. Branch offices in New York City and Chicago take care of negro workers, and the Philadelphia employment office has a special division for Negroes.

An applicant for work generally is received first at a central desk where he registers. After it is learned from his registration card what kind of work he is applying for, he is referred to the proper division. Sometimes, as in the Massachusetts State employment office in Boston, an employee is specially designated to act as "floorman" or reception clerk, to guide and dispatch applicants to the proper interviewers.

The applicant is then interviewed by the person in charge of the section handling the kind of work he desires. The interviewer, or examiner, as he is variously called, learns in detail the applicant's experience and qualifications, and all other pertinent information which will be helpful in placing the applicant successfully.

Methods of establishing contacts with employers depend necessarily on conditions-the size of the staff, the time available for personal solicitation on the part of the superintendent or other staff officer, the amount of money provided for publicity, and other considerations.

Soliciting business by means of personal visits or by telephone is considered a vital part of employment work by most offices. Different plans are adopted. Some superintendents devote the last days of the week, when work in the office slackens, to promotion activities, visiting employers in the interest of the public placement agency. The Chicago office employs a solicitor for that purpose. The Columbus, Ohio, office makes a point of getting in touch with new establishments moving into the city, first by letter and later by personal visits, to offer the service of the organization in furnishing workers. The Massachusetts Department of Labor and Industries reports an increase of 50 per cent in the amount of business done by the mercantile office in Boston in 1928 resulting from special efforts made to bring the office to the attention of employers.

From each of the offices registrars have been sent out regularly to call upon employers for the purpose of acquainting them with the work of the offices, and through advertising and circular letters an endeavor has been made to secure an increase in the number of orders from employers.22

The employment services in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois issue a monthly bulletin to employers, listing the number and qualifications of available workers. New Jersey publishes a similar bulletin every two weeks. By this means especial emphasis is placed upon the higher-grade skilled, technical, and professional workers, and reports

27 Massachusetts Department of Labor and Industries. Annual report for 1928, p. 102.

indicate that the method is successful. The Ohio service finds that its opportunities are becoming greater each year, as because of its publicity and promotion efforts "additional employers each succeeding year" turn to the State service to fill their need of workers. Employers often refer to the local State office the workers whom they release. It is occasionally necessary for the public employment offices to find persons to fill specific jobs at their disposal. This is done through advertising and circularizing other agencies.

Particular effort is being made by the most active offices to expand beyond the field of common and domestic labor into placement of higher-grade workers. Boston has a branch office serving mercantile interests exclusively, and the New York bureau of employment has recently established in each of its offices a special service for the placement of teachers. While the New York City offices have not been very successful in making contacts with employers in the commercial and professional fields, the "up-State offices obtain a comparatively large number of positions for professional and technical workers at good salaries." 23 The Ohio service reports that although employment as a whole was at low ebb during 1927-28, "the highergrade placements have not only maintained their position but have shown a decided increase." 24

Michigan has recently undertaken an experiment "to dissipate the feeling that our bureaus are a charitable institution for the downand-outs." Applicants are charged $1 for registration, which entitles them to help from the bureau at any time over a period of one year. This plan, it is felt, will attract the patronage of the better class of clerical and mechanical workers, whose attitude toward the State service has been that "anything that is given free has something the matter with it." 25

Advisory Boards

THE CITY of Milwaukee, Wis., met an unemployment emergency in 1911 by opening a municipal employment agency created by the joint action and financial support of the city, the county (Milwaukee County), and organized workers and employers. The committee selected by these various bodies continued to administer the office until 1912, when the Milwaukee office merged with the Wisconsin State employment system. The committee continued, however, in the capacity of advisory council. Following the example set by Milwaukee, because of the effectiveness of the plan, the State adopted the policy of creating advisory councils similarly composed in each city in which State offices were located.

As at present constituted, the citizens' committee of Milwaukee has 20 members, the Milwaukee city council, Milwaukee County, the Federated Trades Council, and the Association of Commerce, each being represented by five members of its own choosing. The committee selects its chairman and vice chairman from its membership, and the superintendent of the Milwaukee employment office serves as secretary. Meetings are held monthly, at which the office accounts are audited, current work is discussed and criticized, and plans and decisions are made.

23 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bul. No. 479, p. 15,

24 Ohio Department of Industrial Relations. Seventh annual report, 1928, p. 37.

25 Statement of Eugene J. Brock. (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bul. No. 478, p. 3.)

By virtue of the interests, the prestige and the business ability represented in its personnel, as well as by the unflagging application of its members to their task, the citizens' committee of Milwaukee has carried on not merely an impartial but also a businesslike and confidence-inspiring management of its public employment office. The power of the committee to withhold or secure appropriations from the city and county has made for an administration free from political or other partisan dominance and on the whole unassailable. 26

The New York law of 1914 governing public employment offices made mandatory the creation of local advisory boards in connection with State offices. That law has since been repealed, but some of the local committees continue to function. They are advisory bodies solely, and represent local organizations of employers, workers, and other persons interested in the movement.

The Illinois law provides for both State and local advisory boards, but only the State body is active. It is called the general advisory board and is composed of five nonsalaried persons appointed by the governor, two to represent employers, two to represent organized labor, and one to represent the public. This fifth member is selected from a list of persons submitted by the other four. The purpose of the board is to make the Illinois employment offices more effective by conferring with superintendents on the best methods of operation, and by acquainting employers and workers with the service. It also recommends desirable legislation bearing upon the service.

Local advisory committees as provided by law are created in connection with the State employment service in Pennsylvania also. The law provides for six members, to be appointed by the secretary of labor and industry, one of whom shall be a woman. Of the six members, one is to represent unorganized employers and one unorganized labor. These committees, the department states, "enable both the bureau and the department to find out the opinion of any given industry or of persons interested in a given industry with reference to any projected action. They further enable the department to secure sound advice on possible methods of extending its influence." 27

Ohio, in a less formal way, is using the representative advisory council plan of making contacts between the employment offices and the public they are designed to serve. Michigan has recently instituted the same plan in an effort to popularize its public employment service.

Federal Participation

EXCEPT in connection with seasonal farm labor, in which the United States Employment Service acts as a placement agency, the relation of the Federal Government to the various public employment services is largely by way of subsidies to assist their operation. A skeleton organization of the United States Employment Service of the Department of Labor, built up during the war, has been maintained, which functions under an annual appropriation of about $200,000.

The plan of cooperation which has been developed between the United States Employment Service and the various State systems involves the appointment of a State official, usually the head of the

26 Harrison, Shelby and associates: Public Employment Offices. New York, Russell Sage Foundation, 1924, p. 214. 27 Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Special bulletin No. 25, p 26.