APPENDIX IV. FINAL REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE FREE EMPLOYMENT BUREAU. Nos. 120-122 EAST 18TH STREET, COR. IRVING PLACE, HON. P. T. SHERMAN, NEW YORK, April 30, 1906. Commissioner of Labor, Albany, N. Y. DEAR SIR: I herewith transmit the report of the Free Employment Bureau for the seven months from October 1, 1905, to April 30, 1906, at which time the bureau was abolished by chapter 158, Laws of 1906. Such As in the past, the number of male applicants for work exceeded the number of female applicants. At no time could the orders for general house. workers be filled, nor could we supply, in sufficient numbers, the demand for hotel cleaners. In fact, female help for any occupation appeared to be scarce, and we were forced to the conclusion that a considerable portion of the female applicants were looking for "snug berths " rather than for regular employment. Under no other supposition could we reconcile their efforts to find excuses for not taking positions offered them. There was quite a number of cases where the applicants were apparently badly in need of work, but would not accept it when offered, claiming that it was out of their line or too far from their homes or stopping places. This was especially true of general houseworkers, who also had a great many questions to ask, as "How many in the family?” “Do I have to do the washing?" etc. As before noted, the supply of help is greater among the male workers. One reason for this is apparent; men without a trade or a regular occu pation find it harder to secure work when once out of employment. of those as were living in smaller places seemed to have been brought by an uncontrollable desire to get to New York, probably with the expectation of finding work immediately upon their arrival. Possibly some of them were assisted to reach this city to avoid becoming public charges elsewhere. Our records show cases where the applicant was receiving charitable assistance at the time of registering, although a resident of New York City but a day or two. Those who were provided with some funds put up at the cheaper lodging houses and various semi-philanthropic hotels, such as the Mills Hotels and the Olive Tree Inn. These men claimed to be willing to do anything, but there was very little demand for men with no regular occupation. Some of these, after spending what little money they had, became homeless and were picked up by agents of the Charity Organization Society. They were taken care of temporarily and referred to this bureau to obtain employment. As few of them had local references we were obliged to communicate by mail with previous employers out of town. In the meantime the applicants' only homes in the city were lodging houses, varying from night to night, and when we obtained work for them and notified them at the last given ad dresses, the notifications would not reach them. In most cases, by the time the reference, if any, was returned, the applicant had obtained employment elsewhere or sought pastures new. Many of these reference slips were returned with the statement that the applicant was unknown. Many were returned by the postal authorities as "not found." The principal cause of idleness was drink, generally termed by the applicant "sickness." The notification by mail system, made necessary by the abolition of the waiting-room, was found to be impracticable, although it was what the law required. To secure employment for the applicants the office had to be conducted as nearly as possible the way the public required it; therefore it was deemed expedient to again install waiting hours. To prevent overcrowding of the one small room set apart for the use of the bureau, a time-schedule was prepared, giving the applicants, by occupation, at least a half hour each day to remain in the office. Whenever possible they were permitted to remain longer. Time-schedules in printed form were distributed to the applicants for help and employment. This was an improvement over the notification system, but failed to accomplish the results that would have been obtained had there been a room in which to have all the applicants remain during office hours. A set of rules and regulations was prepared, the penalty for violation being the forfeiture of the further services of the bureau. Each offender was given one warning, and on a repetition of the offense was cut off the list. In this way many "disappointers" and incompetents were weeded out. But there appeared to be no practical way of making employers comply with the law by notifying the bureau when they had obtained help either at the office or elsewhere, the custom being to apply at several employment offices, and after obtaining help fail to report that fact to this bureau as required by law. The consequence was that we would send for such help as had good references and choosing the best one for the place would send him only to have him find that the place was already filled. This did not apply to such an extent to female help, on account of its scarcity. We are pleased to say that most of the applicants were honest, but it goes without saying that among the 1,440 male applicants registered during the last seven months there were sure to be found some who could not resist temptation. There were two arrests for petit larceny, both offenders being convicted. Three other cases were reported, but the employers would not prosecute. Two farm hands, for whom tickets had been purchased, were put on the train by an agent of the Free Employment Bureau, but they failed to reach their destination. Two men were supplied with tickets directly by the employers and they failed to go to the positions for which they engaged. The demand for farm hands could not be met owing to a scarcity of that kind of help; neither could we supply married couples to go to the country. For the last two classes of help we had many inquiries. We have coöperated with other interested institutions in our endeavor to secure help and positions. Orders for farm hands, tenant farmers, married couples, etc., have been called to the attention of various charitable and religious institutions and to societies organized to aid immigrants and prevent their congesting in this city. It is interesting to note that while we were seeking servants in the South we have received inquiries from that territory for help from the North to supply like needs. The accompanying tables are, we believe, sufficiently plain in themselves to call for but little further explanation. As the bureau has coöperated with the Charity Organization Society we have inserted a column in the table of males showing the number of applicants, as far as they could be traced, who were sent to the bureau by that organization. We have also added a column showing, as near as could be ascertained, the number of males stopping in the various cheap hotels and lodging houses. In addition to performing our duties in the employment bureau we have found time in which to assist the other bureaus of the department by carry. on investigations relative to naturalization, weekly payment law violations, overtime in the cigar-making industry, scarcity of female operators on power sewing machines, etc., also child labor complaints and prosecutions, and compliance with orders in factories. The assistant superintendent has devoted most of his time to the Bureau of Mediation and Arbitration. Respectfully submitted, (Signed) L. A. HAVENS, Superintendent. |