1893 - State Library Information Center

76 STATISTICS OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES.acter to their patrons. From January 1st, 1891, to January let,1892, the first complete year in operation, the total number ofpersons wanting situations was 34,371, of whom 21,457 weremales and 12,914 females. The total number of employee wantedby employers was 23,208, of which number 9,695 were males and13,513 females. The total number of persons who secured employmentthrough the offices was 15,525, or 6,967 males and 8,558females. The total " help wanted" was 67.52 per cent, of"situations wanted/' For the entire time that the five officeswere in operation, June 26th, 1890, to January 1st, 1892, fourout of every nine applying for work received it, and for everyfour vacancies there were fire applicants ready to fill them.The " Ohio experiment," however, is not an original idea, buthas been in successful operation in France fora number of years,An account of the various classes of institutions existing in thatcountry for obtaining work people ior employers and employmentfor work people was published early in 1893 in & office duTravail, a periodical issued under the auspices of the Ministry ofCommerce, Industry and the Colonies. A synopsis of this paperis given in the report on "Agencies and Methods for Dealingwith the Unemployed/' an inquiry undertaken by the LaborDepartment of the Board of Trade, and laid before the House ofCommons, England, on April 28th, 1893. This report has beenissued in pamphlot form, and comprises a mine of valuable information,generally, as to the efforts made in various ways, currentand historical, to deal with distress and other evils resultingfrom want of work.*Of the French agencies, those similar to the Ohio State employmentoffices are the labor exchanges (bourses du travail) managedby trade syndicates, and the free municipal registry offices.The idea of a real exchange for workpeople was first mooted in1848, but did not materialize until 1887, when the MunicipalCouncil of Paris decided to establish a central labor exchange,where any of the working classes u should have premises andoffices to which everyone may comu without fear of having tosacrificemore time or money than he can uftord. The free andpermanent use of the meeting-rooms will enable workers to dis-*Eyre and Spottlswood*, East Harding Street, London.