464 president's address — section gi. 



for its own wreckage. It is only when the area of beneficiaries is 

 carefully chosen and the actuarial basis is made perfectly sound 

 that insurance against unemployment emerges in triumph. 



In Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway voluntary 

 systems of insurance have met with success. Denmark passed its 

 first bill against unemployment in 1907, and it came into force 

 that year. The minimum is 6fd a day, the maximum 2s 3d. 

 Beneficiaries must have been subscribing members of the " unem- 

 ployment fund " for 12 months. The State contributes up to half 

 the amount of subscriptions paid by members ; the Communes 

 contribute up to one-third of the subscriptions. 



In Germany the principle of insurance seems to be welcomed 

 against most of the ills that flesh is heir to. There are Imperial 

 laws introducing compulsory insurance of workmen against sick- 

 ness (the cost of sickness in 1908 amounted to £14,868,840, of 

 which each member's share amounted to about 24s 2d), insurance 

 against accidents by employers, and insurance of workmen against 

 old age and infirmity. The National Bill in 1906 under those 

 insurance laws was : — 



Compensation under Sick Insurance Law . . £13,317,374 



Accident 7,158,063 



Invalidity and Old Age Pensions . . . . . . 8,301,957 



£28,777,394 



Following the report of the English Poor Law Commissioners, 

 Great Britain has at last made a definite move towards the form 

 of insurance. It is to be compulsory, and will work in close 

 association with the proposed system of labour exchanges. The 

 first trades on which the experiment is made are : — 



Housebuilding and works of construction 



Engineering 



Machine and tool making 



Ship and boat building 



Vehicles, and 



Sawyers, 



These trades contain about 2,500,000 adult males, or one-third 

 of the total industrial population. Moreover, they cover the worst 

 half of the field of unem.ployment in England. Workmen, em- 

 ployers, and the State each contribute 2|d weekly, making a total 

 of 7|d a week for each worker. The best features of the Basle 

 system have been embodied, and, according to Mr. Asquith, " the 

 scheme will go a long way towards solving one of the most urgent 

 social problems in this country " on behalf of the members resident 

 in this district. There are 40 funds and 75,000 members. In 

 Easle. the worker pays 5d a month to the State Insurance Depart- 

 ment, and may receive a benefit from lOd to 2s Id a day during 

 unemployment, but if he is out of work by reason of a strike, 



