The occupation of the persons applying for employment in the relief work system are shown in the following table:

OCCUPATIONS OF PERSONS OUT OF WORK AS REPORTED BY THE RELIEF WORK SYSTEM OF DÜSSELDORF, FOR SPECIFIED WINTERS, 1901-2 TO 1908-9.

1 The total number of persons reporting themselves as being out of work was 4,520.

As in the preceding year, the skilled workmen in 1908-9 formed over one-third of the persons included in the table. Among the skilled workers, the building trades employees were the most numerous. In the last two winters the unskilled workers have formed slightly less than two-thirds of the persons included in the table.

The report shows the ages of the persons applying for work for the first three periods, and for 1908-9 the ages of the persons given work,

AGES OF PERSONS OUT OF WORK AS REPORTED BY THE RELIEF WORK SYSTEM OF DÜSSELDORF, FOR SPECIFIED WINTERS, 1901-2 TO 1908-9.

For the four periods covered by the preceding table there is a marked decrease in each succeeding period in the proportion of persons under 20 years of age; in the last period, the winter of 190S-9, there is an increase in the proportion of persons 30 to 40 years of age.

The conjugal condition of the persons included in the report is shown in the following table:

CONJUGAL CONDITION OF PERSONS OUT OF WORK AS REPORTED BY THE RELIEF WORK SYSTEM OF DÜSSELDORF, FOR SPECIFIED WINTERS, 1901-2 TO 1908–9.

The length of time which the persons whose applications were approved were employed on the relief works is shown in the following table:

LENGTH OF TIME PERSONS OUT OF WORK WERE EMPLOYED ON THE RELIEF WORK SYSTEM OF DÜSSELDORF DURING SPECIFIED WINTERS, 1901-2 TO 1908-9.

In the period 1908-9 the unfavorable industrial conditions made it difficult for those accepting work from the relief system to readily leave their employment; 76.2 per cent of those employed worked longer than ten days, while in 1907-8 only 59.7 per cent worked longer than ten days. Other information collected by the statistical office shows that the unskilled workers continued at work longer than the skilled workers. The average length of employment was 38.7 days. While the relief work system was in operation the average number of persons employed was 803.5 per day as compared with 454.5 in the preceding winter; the maximum, occurring on February 19, 1909, was 1,302 persons as compared with the maximum on February 7, 1908, with 931 persons.

The work performed by the unemployed was of a varied character; it consisted principally in the construction of streets and roads, miscellaneous earthwork, preparation of material for the city public works department, digging sand, sprinkling of sand, sorting of refuse, etc. After February, 1909, the breaking of stone was introduced. On account of the large number of persons asking for work difficulty was experienced in finding opportunities for employment, especially since the snowfall was lighter than usual. The breaking of stone was introduced only after other opportunities were exhausted, although it was recognized that, in view of the varied training and physical condition of those employed on this work, it was by no means an ideal employment.

Wage payments were made in form of day wages except in the case of stone breaking. In accordance with the terms of a resolution passed by the municipal council on August 11, 1908, the unemployed persons were required to be given a wage corresponding to that received by them in their last place of employment, reduced by 5 per cent, and subject to the limitation that persons with families dependent upon them should receive not more than 3.50 marks (83 cents), and not less than 2.50 marks (60 cents). As a matter of fact the average daily wages earned by the persons employed at the various kinds of work was 3.25 marks (77 cents), as compared with the same amount in the preceding year.

The total cost to the municipality for the relief work system was higher than in previous years, being largely due to the greater length of time for which this work was prosecuted. The amount paid out in wages by the relief work system in 1901-2 for 38,404 working days was 76,292 marks ($18,157.50); in 1902-3 for 21,089 working days it was 42,090 marks ($10,017.42); in 1907-8 for 27,293 working days it was 88,810 marks ($21,136.78), and in 1908-9 for 91,044.9 working days it was 295,956 marks ($70,437.53).

The total cost to the city for this work was as follows: In 1901-2 it was 68,340 marks ($16,264.92); in 1902-3 it was 77,719 marks ($18,497.12); in 1907-8 it was 138,677 marks ($33,005.13), and in 1908-9 it was 498,522.30 marks ($118,648.31). It is estimated in the report that the increased cost to the city by having work done by the relief system instead of the regular methods was approximately 200,000 marks ($47,600).

The second half of the report is devoted to a brief review of the experience with various types of insurance against the consequences of unemployment. The report concludes with a recommendation that the municipal authorities apply for the enactment of a federal law authorizing municipalities to institute a system of compulsory insurance for classes of persons to be specified in the law.

Statistik der Frauenorganisationen im Deutschen Reiche. Bearbeitet im Kaiserlichen Statistischen Amte, Abteilung für Arbeiterstatistik. 1909. 28*, 70 pp.

In the present report the German labor office has given a statistical survey of the women's organizations in the Empire, the data relating to the kind, purpose, number, size, and financial operations of those organizations that were in operation in the year 1908. It is the intention of the Imperial Statistical Office to publish such a statistical survey at frequent intervals in the future.

The report includes organizations whose membership is composed either wholly or principally of women, whatever the purpose of the organization may be. In the report are included, for instance, societies which advocate continuation schools for the industrial training of girls; societies for the promotion of higher education for women, especially in regard to securing admission for women to all the higher technical, art, and scientific institutions of learning; societies for the advancement of the interest of woman teachers; temperance organizations; organizations of nurses; societies for the protection of children; societies for improvement of housing conditions; societies for charitable purposes; societies for the advancement of domestic. and trade education; societies for the promotion of kindergartens and of normal schools for kindergarten instructors; societies whose purpose is the securing of political rights for women; societies for the study of colonial and naval questions, etc. The report classes these organizations as (a) general, (b) occupational, (c) social, (d) charitable, (e) educational, (f) political, (g) purposes not specified.

The historical survey of the rise and development of the women's organizations in Germany states that the two most important were instituted in the years 1865 and 1866. The first of these, the General Union of German Women, was founded in 1865 in Leipzig by Louise Otto, while the second, the Association for the Improvement of the Earning Capacity of the Female Sex, was founded in 1866 in Berlin by W. A. Lette.

The General Union of German Women at first sought to enlarge the field of occupations open to women, but later gradually concentrated its efforts in promoting the general interest in the question of the status of women in modern life. For instance, in the year 1867 this association petitioned the Parliament of the North German Confederation to employ women in the postal and telegraph service; in the same year a petition was submitted to the various State authorities urging that women be admitted on equal terms to educational institutions, while later special efforts were made to secure for women positions in the civil service and as teachers in the public schools.

After the year 1868 the question of the status of women under the civil law was the most frequent topic of discussion.

The second of the institutions above mentioned, usually designated as the Lette Society, at first directed its efforts to the support of institutions in which training for industrial and commercial positions was provided for women. One of its earliest acts was the creation of an employment agency for women, which is still in existence. Independent schools for industrial training, for commercial training, cooking schools, schools for telegraphers, and schools for teaching the printing trades were established one after another. In 1877 a school providing training in domestic science was established and continuation schools for laundresses were instituted; in 1890 a special school for the teaching of photography was instituted, and in 1904 instruction in photomechanical processes and in microphotography was provided.

During the period of approximately 1880 to 1890 the interest in the woman's movement in Germany seems to have produced but little results. About the year 1890 an energetic movement for the opening of the secondary schools and the higher educational institutions to women was started; this movement finally resulted in the opening of many of the universities to women, though in accordance with a decree of the minister, on account of special reasons, women could be excluded from specified courses of lectures, subject to the approval of the minister. Similar success was obtained in having the technical universities opened to women.

In the year 1889 the Commercial Union for Woman Employees and in the year 1901 the Federated Commercial Association for Woman Employees were founded. Both organizations aim to secure better working conditions for woman employees and advocate compulsory continuation courses of instruction, commercial schools for girls, and are devoting special attention to care of woman employees in cases of sickness, to the elimination of Sunday work, to the early closing of establishments, and to the general reduction of working hours.

In the year 1906 a number of associations of woman employees engaged in the State postal and telegraph service were founded, and in 1906 the woman employees of the Prussian-Hessian State railways formed an organization to advance their interests.

Numerous organizations for the protection of the interests of women engaged in domestic service have been founded; the report mentions especially that in 1894 a society was created in Leipzig whose purpose is to care for women employed as housekeepers, house instructors, nurses, house workers, etc., and has created a special employment agency and instituted funds to provide loans and relief in case of sickness.