agencies following the enactment of workmen's compensation and mothers' pension legislation. (3) Neither would the existence of a high level of wages greatly decrease the necessity of the worker making use of services which the family welfare agencies are prepared to render. (4) There is some difference of opinion as to whether the trade-unions should develop their own facilities for the handling of the various personality and family adjustment problems which it is felt would continue to exist. There is expressed the feeling that unions do not look upon agencies, as now organized, as disinterested organizations, due to the fact that they are supported by the employing group to a very large extent, and because the unions have no voice in the management or in the determining of the policies of family agencies. With one or two exceptions, there is a feeling that it would be unwise for the union to set up a separate apparatus for the handling of problems which the agencies are already equipped to deal with much more efficiently. (5) Eight of the fourteen executives express no opinion on this question, generally because they are not familiar with its provisions in detail. Only four are sympathetic, and two are opposed to it for various reasons. (6) Very few of the clients of social agencies are union members. In but two cases was any definite information given. The Charity Organization Society of New York shows that 322 men out of 2,366 were members of the unions, or 13.6 per cent. One hundred fifty-two individuals out of 5,319 (1,191 families) belong to unions, in the case of the Jewish Social Service Association of New York. Others estimate union membership as about 5 per cent.

Quotations from some of the answers received will perhaps make clear the attitude of prominent social workers, in both the non-Jewish and the Jewish field, toward the trade-union and its activities:

First, action on the part of our organization in regard to assisting strikers is not controlled by principle, but depends upon the individual case. Recently aid was refused to a striker because his union would not allow him to do any work even outside of his trade. Generally we try to secure positions for strikers outside their trades. Material assistance is given at times, or incomes are supplemented.-FRANCES TAUSSIG.

Second, it is difficult to estimate the extent to which social insurance measures, including unemployment, sickness, and old age, will decrease the demands upon social agencies. Such measures tend to stabilize employment and prevent sickness, and thus limit demands for assistance. There seems to be no doubt that the history of other social insurance measures, such as workmen's compensation, would be repeated in the enactment against unemployment and sickness.-FRANCES TAUSSIG.

This represents the attitude of practically all the executives on this question, with the exception of three. The following is the position of one who does not agree:

Experience in this field has been that an increase in mothers' pensions and other forms of public assistance have not diminished demands for relief, or other service from the private agency. I am doubtful of the efficiency of any pension plans unless these are administered by skilled case workers free to increase or reduce amounts of relief granted.-J. C. COLCORD.

Third, letters received in answer to this question are interesting in the unanimity of feeling that favorable economic conditions will by no means decrease the demands upon private agencies.

Problems, group and individual, will always remain. A release from economic pressure would bring to the surface vast numbers of hitherto unrecognized problems and would facilitate the development of methods for more adequate handling.-M. J. KARPF.

A high level of wages is the greatest corrective of social ills. It would reduce sickness, but would not dispose of all problems. There would remain desertion, the handicapped father, whether mental or physical. It would reduce the demands of the tuberculous family now receiving one-third of the relief granted by our organization.-BAILEY B. BURRITT.

Fourth, the various replies received to this question bring forth a number of interesting facts. In spite of the feeling that there is little possibility of the development of cooperation between the trade-union and the agency as long as present conditions remain, nevertheless there is implicit a recognition of the possibility of such cooperation. The attitude of the union toward the agency is perhaps well expressed in the following letter.

It would seem futile to try to eradicate the suspicion that welfare agencies are not disinterested in their attitude toward the dependent, as long as policies governing agencies are controlled by a group whose basic economic interests are antagonistic to another group which is threatened by the possibility of its becoming a beneficiary of an inadequate and insincere bounty. It does not seem possible to get trade-unions to regard agencies as disinterested. At one time I thought that unions should be represented on boards in order to remove the unfounded prejudices against organized charity, but I soon felt that there were so many legitimate prejudices that I was forced to conclude that such a highly democratized institution would not achieve its purpose.-S. RABINOWITCH.

Trade-unions will not, and should not, look upon agencies as now constituted as a disinterested group of professional workers. When its money comes from the general public and the control is on a civic basis, it may be so looked upon.-R. W. Kelso.

A number of social workers realize the possibility of some form of cooperation between these two forces:

In this connection it should be noted that in Chicago the Milk Drivers' Union, the Electrical Union, and the Steamfitters' Union each recently contributed $100 to the United Charities.-J. D. HUNTER.

That the support of family agencies is no longer entirely limited to the wealthy group is attested by the following:

Much progress has been made in the direction of liberating charities from the position of the rich man's instrument. Working people as well as employers are now supporting federations and chests. The community of Detroit enrolled 270,343 subscriptions. The number giving $25 and upwards is only 8,766, or 3 per cent of the total number of subscriptions.— M. WALDMAN.

That in some cases unions are beginning to turn to the agency for the sort of service which it is in a position to render is attested by the following:

In New Bedford, I was told by the Secretary of the Council of Social Agencies that definite consideration was being given to the proposal that the community fund should in

clude a sufficient sum of money to take care of all cases of sickness among the union men and their families. The unions want to participate in the Community Chest and have the social agencies of the city, including the health agencies, serve their interests. This I believe is a step in the right direction.-J.P. SANDERSON

A very striking example of the manner in which unions do in practice recognize the value of the agency is furnished by the experience of the United Mine Workers of America during the 1922 mine suspension. In order to deal properly with the many requests for assistance that were arising, the Welfare Federation in Wilkes-Barre developed a plan whereby a joint committee composed of representatives of the chamber of commerce and the United Mine Workers sat in conference with the workers of the Welfare Federation and passed upon the cases of needy miners' families, basing their decision for or against relief upon the social histories presented to them by the Welfare Federation. As described in a recent article in the Survey: "The social workers from all agencies, public and private, worked outside their regular hours at making their calls and writing up the case histories. The joint committee worked together in accord for many months."

Let us consider somewhat in detail what has been accomplished by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, the two unions in the clothing industry with whose work we are most familiar. Both these unions have rendered considerable service to their membership entirely outside of the orthodox trade-union lines, and a good deal of it is work which the family agency is attempting to do for those families that come to its attention.

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.-The Joint Board of Sanitary Control was organized in 1910 by the manufacturers and the union, and had been maintained ever since in spite of the frequent breaks in the relations between them. The Board of Sanitary Control was established for the purpose of improving the sanitary conditions in the shops through mutual agreement between employers and workers, without calling upon the interposition of the state. Twenty-eight sanitary standards were established, with machinery for enforcing them. There are now over 4,000 shops which operate under the supervision of the joint board. At present all garments manufactured in such shops have what is called a "Prosanis label," which is a guaranty that it is manufactured under sanitary conditions. The Union Health Center operated by the union is the only one of its kind in the American labor movement. All union members receive regular annual medical examinations, as well as health information. There is also a dental clinic where union members can receive necessary treatment at cost. About 35,000 workers are covered by the plan of unemployment insurance now operating by the cloak, suit, and shirt industry in New York. All of the 1,500 employers are participants in it, all working under one committee and one common fund. If a group of employees find themselves out of work they apply, not to their individual employer for unemployment benefit,

but to the central committee. Each worker contributes 1 per cent of his weekly wage, and each employer doubles the total contributed by his employees. Three per cent of the general pay-roll is thus donated to the central unemployment fund. According to this plan, the working period of the industry is divided into two seasons, from February to August and from August to February. Each season is divided into a normal busy period and the normal slack period. There is allowed a working period of seventeen weeks in a season of twenty-six weeks, and a slack period of nine weeks. A worker is not entitled to unemployment benefit during the normal slack season. The tenth week the employment pay begins. It is $10 a week and may be drawn for six weeks a season. The maximum is twelve weeks a year, or $120. To get this it means that the worker has been out of work for thirty weeks, making his average unemployment pay $4 per week for such a period. Mr. Sigman, president of the International, considers this fund a very valuable and necessary institution. The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union does not grant any relief in cases of sickness. This is a local matter to be taken care of by the local union. The majority of the local unions maintain sick benefit funds to which the members apply when in need. This is a very important matter for the New York local because of the susceptibility to tuberculosis.

The Amalgamated Clothing Workers.-A credit union was organized for the purpose of lending sums up to $2,000 at an interest rate of slightly less than 6 per cent. Union members may join by buying a share for $10. They can borrow up to $100 without any interest. There are now 1,300 in the credit union. During the past year $210,000 was borrowed, paying a dividend of 9 per cent to the members. What is most important in granting the loans is a man's character and his standing as a union man. The credit union also engages in some cooperative ventures. During the past year it bought coal on a large scale for its members at a saving of 50 cents a ton. The union unemployment insurance experiment thus far is confined to Chicago, where the union is highly organized. Three per cent of the pay-roll goes into an unemployment fund placed in the hands of a group of trustees appointed by the representatives of each shop. During periods of unemployment each worker draws benefits at the rate of 40 per cent of his weekly wage, but in no instance can he draw more than $20 a week. The unemployment plan does not begin until two weeks after his work ceases. In no instance may the unemployment payments exceed five weeks' benefit, or a maximum of $100 a year. A strike or stoppage of work due to labor disagreements is not covered by a benefit. The sum of $2,000,000 has already been paid out in Chicago for unemployment insurance. Shortly the unemployment insurance feature will also be introduced in the New York and Rochester clothing markets. Recently the New York local of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers developed a plan for health insurance for its members. Briefly, the provisions of this plan are as follows: a member can be insured by contributing $5 a year to a fund; he will receive in case of sickness $10 a week for a maximum of ten

weeks a year, beginning with the second week; in case of a major operation, a member will receive $100 in addition to his sickness payments; this will enable the man to defray the cost of an operation without becoming a charity patient; in case of tuberculosis, $100 will be granted in addition to the sickness insurance; free health examinations would be given every year.

A letter similar to those sent to the executives of social agencies was sent to the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers' Union, and the American Federation of Labor. The union officials were unanimous in stating that members of the union are never advised to appeal to agencies for help. Members in need of help are always referred to their local organizations. Labor officials all admit that trade-unions are not in a position to handle a great many problems that are constantly being dealt with by the family agency, such as desertion, personality difficulties, and family and group adjust

ments.

Mr. Joseph Schlossberg, of the Amalgamated, feels that in time the union will make such problems as parent-child and vocational guidance a part of their general workers' education program, because his union is anxious to assume as many responsibilities in behalf of the workers as possible, Mr. Morris Sigman, of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, however, is convinced that personality problems would be handled better by a body of professional workers through a family agency. He takes the position that a union cannot delve into the private lives of its members or concern itself with their personal affairs outside of their contact with the union. The problems of a union, he adds, are too many to give its attention to such matters. Mr. Frank Morrison, Secretary of the American Federation of Labor, likewise agrees in this respect with Mr. Sigman, but adds: "The unions have pronounced views that many of these personality and family and group adjustment problems are directly related to child labor, low wages, preventable sickness, occupational diseases, and preventable accidents. You can appreciate that under present conditions, with the forces that yet combat trade-unions, these organizations cannot become interested in problems which the unions believe are the result of conditions which they oppose."

THE INDIVIDUAL OR "YELLOW DOG" CONTRACT
Thomas J. Donnelly, Secretary-Treasurer, Ohio State
Federation of Labor, Columbus

What is this law of contract as it applies to the wage-earner's relationship to his employer? Whatever it may be, it cannot be accepted as something which subordinates or nullifies those essential human rights and liberties which are the basic guaranties of our American Constitution and bill of rights. Without attempting to develop the principles involved, because this is now unnecessary, let me remind you that before the Civil War the right of contract was the legal