placed to unskilled workers, but in these trades it will be seen that in each of the four years under review nearly 75 per cent. of the vacancies filled were in skilled occupations.

The principal trades in which vacancies for women were filled are as under :

The work of Exchanges and Juvenile Employment Bureaux of Local Education Authorities in the filling of vacancies for juveniles is shown below:

The figures given in the foregoing tables do not include jobs of

a casual nature found for dock labourers, &c. These numbered

20,514 in 1922, 28,466 in 1923, 31,445 in 1924 and 37,329 in 1925. It will be appreciated that the arrangements for engagement of dock labourers do not as a rule lend themselves to the application of the ordinary machinery of notification of vacancies and submission of applicants.

Separate statistics are not available of the temporary jobs found by the Employment Exchanges in work of a seasonal nature, such as fruit picking, pea picking, and hop picking.

The figures quoted above include the temporary labour recruited for the Post Office at Christmas. In 1922, temporary work was found for 27,668 men, in 1923 for 28,356, in 1924 for 29,273, and in 1925 for 38,242.

To some extent the increased volume of work at the Exchanges merely reflects the increased activity in trade and industry since the worst days of 1922, but substantially also it represents a continuous improvement in the methods of the Department and a growing appreciation of the part that the Exchanges can play in industry when properly supported. The Employment Exchanges cannot create vacancies, but they can generally ensure that an employer who requires workpeople of a class that is anywhere available, obtains them promptly. Many important industrial undertakings already engage all their manual workers, both skilled and unskilled, through the local Employment Exchange. More extended use of the Exchanges by employers will assist in safeguarding the Unemployment Fund from unnecessary payments of unemployment benefit, and will help to restore economic mobility to labour and thus permit freer industrial development.

In particular, the Local Employment Committees (see below) can foster local industrial development and reduce the pressure of local unemployment by an active and vigilant policy in relation to the placing work of the Exchange with which they are connected, not only in their corporate capacity but through the personal efforts of members who are employers, or representatives of employers' organisations, and a revised statement of functions issued to the Committees during the year invited their special attention to this aspect of their task.

It is obvious from the registration statistics above, that all classes of workpeople of every degree of skill for all the industries appear upon the Exchange registers. There is continuous and close co-operation between the Exchanges and branch and district secretaries of the trade unions. Throughout the year this co-operation has been strengthened. In addition, by visits to local factories through the courtesy of employers, and by other means, the staff at the Exchanges are steadily increasing their knowledge of industrial processes in order to ensure that they may be able to meet, in a sensible manner, the requirements of employers and workpeople.

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Advance of Travelling Expenses to Workpeople.

By the regulations made under the Labour Exchanges Act the Minister may authorise advances by way of loans to workpeople travelling to work obtained through the Employment Exchanges (see Report for 1923-24, page 81).

During the financial year ended March, 1925, sums totalling £10,000 were so advanced to workpeople, and greater use is likely to be made of this provision with increasing activity of trade.

Special Placings Arrangements.

On page 85 of the Annual Report for 1923-24 reference is made to the supply of labour for fruit and pea-picking. Similar demands have been satisfactorily met by the Exchanges during 1925. In addition, the development of the beet sugar industry created a further demand from agricultural areas for labour for the farmers in connection with the singling and lifting of the crop, and for the beet sugar factories. Arrangements were made by which the farmers notified the Exchanges in advance of their probable requirements, and the Exchanges were able to meet all the demands with very few exceptions. The arrangements were considered to be so satisfactory that a similar practice will be adopted in future. During 1925 as a result of these arrangements the Exchanges were successful in placing 1,661 persons with farmers, for work on the land in connection with the beet crop, and 1,275 persons for work in the beet sugar factories. Of these totals considerable numbers were drawn from the ranks of the urban unemployed.

For several seasons past the Employment Exchanges have taken a large share in the recruitment of seasonal workers for hotels, boarding-houses, and restaurants in holiday resorts. Special arrangements are made, the value of which can be illustrated by the fact that the North-Western Division of the Employment Exchanges filled over 2,100 seasonal holiday vacancies in their own area and also sent 700 workers to holiday resorts in North Wales. The North-Eastern counties filled 3,700 vacancies in their own area and sent 570 to similar work in other districts. The Wales Division filled 3,000 vacancies in the holiday resorts on the Welsh coast, to a great extent by applicants from Lancashire and the Midland counties. Although these vacancies were filled almost entirely on a seasonal basis, they have the effect of increasing the number of people qualified for domestic service, and as a result a proportion of the workers eventually pass into permanent residential employment.

The demand for resident domestic servants still exceeds the supply, but the reluctance of young women to take such employment appears to be gradually breaking down. The training schemes organised by the Central Committee on Women's Training and Employment continue to supply a small number of partially-trained young women who are satisfactorily placed

through the Employment Exchanges. In addition, the Exchanges were able during the year to improve their arrangements for bringing girls and young women from distant industrial centres where the opportunities of women's industrial employment appeared to be scarce into residential centres, particularly London, where an unsatisfied demand for domestic workers existed. Progress in re-creating an interest among industrial workers in the opportunities of domestic service is bound to be slow, but progress is being made and the Exchanges are winning more extended recognition as agencies for ordinary domestic placing.

As in previous years, the Exchanges in Scotland and certain of the English ports have assisted in the transfer of large numbers of fish workers (principally herring-gutters, curers and packers). The employers and workpeople have been able to take advantage of the statutory provisions for advance of travelling expenses referred to on p. 34.

The Employment Exchanges in the inner London area are obtaining increasing opportunities for the supply of clerical workers of all grades, and the successful co-operation of the Exchanges in helping to bridge certain exceptional rushes has increased confidence in their capacity to supply the ordinary requirements of employers for clerical workers.

On page 92 of the Annual Report, 1923-24, reference was made to the work of the Exchanges in connection with the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. In 1925 an office in the Exhibition was obtained by the Ministry, and although the attendance at the Exhibition was less than in the previous year, the Employment Office filled a total of 4,836 vacant situations during the year at the Exhibition, of which 505 were men, 4,240 women, and 91 juveniles. This result, which, in total, is higher than in the first year, indicates the satisfactory relations which have been established between the Employment Office and the various employers concerned with the Exhibition.

LOCAL EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEES.

The Local Employment Committees co-operating with Employment Exchanges which were first constituted in 19171918 were completing their second term of office about the beginning of 1925, and the work of reconstituting them for a third term of office was in progress during the year. The Committees' first two terms of office were periods of great activity and, at times, of considerable pressure of work. The voluntary services rendered by the Committees during this period of seven or eight years have been of the greatest possible value to the Department, and the responsible Ministers have on many occasions made public mention of the importance and value of the Committees' work. In calling upon them to take up a third term of office, it was unfortunately not possible to hold out hope of a substantial immediate reduction of the calls upon

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the time of members, but there has in general been little difficulty in obtaining renewed services. Some difficulty arose during the year owing to the re-introduction of the discretionary rules (see pp. 65-66) for unemployment benefit, but in most cases this difficulty had been overcome by the end of 1925.

The total number of Local Employment Committees at the end of the year 1925 was 324.

PORT LABOUR.

As recommended by Sir Donald Maclean's Committee, the employers and workpeople at practically all the ports scheduled by the Committee to their report considered the question of setting up joint committees and schemes of registration, and arrangements were made whereby registration schemes were established or revived at 16 separate ports or groups of ports during 1925. In particular the Joint Committee for the Port of London, which had been in suspense for some time, recommenced operations. Many of these Committees, which are known as Port Registration Committees, took the place of the former Port Labour Committees.

The procedure of the Committees is to attempt to restrict the number of persons seeking employment at the docks by the issue of tallies or employment record books, and agreement that only holders of holders of such tallies tallies or books, books, generally

speaking, will be employed. By this means it is hoped gradually to reduce the amount of casual work at the docks and to regularise the occupation. The Committees work independently of the Department, but, in accordance with the agreement with the National Joint Council for Dock Labour, the Department assisted the Committees (where so desired) by placing at their disposal secretarial and clerical assistance, by supplying the necessary forms and stationery for the working of the schemes, and by providing office accommodation for their meetings. Apart from ports where joint committees and schemes were not in operation, the employers and workpeople at several ports where such already existed reviewed their procedure in the light of the Maclean Committee's recommendations.

KING'S NATIONAL ROLL.

During the year 1925 the Ministry, in conjunction with the King's Roll National Council, under the chairmanship of Field Marshal Earl Haig, have continued their efforts in connection with the National Scheme for the Employment of Disabled Ex-Service Men (the King's National Roll). Employers who give an undertaking under this scheme to employ a percentage of disabled men, normally five per cent. of total staff, have their names entered on the Roll.

King's Roll Committees or other special local Committees. have continued the local administration of the scheme. These Committees, which now number 253, are normally presided over by the head of the municipality, e.g., the mayor.