On June 6, 1919, Senator Kenyon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, introduced in the Senate a similar bill, known as S. 1442.

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES.

The form of organization of the Administrative Offices adopted on August 5, 1918, a description of which appeared in last year's report, was continued throughout the fiscal year with only such modifications as were made necessary by the change from a war to a peace basis, and the curtailments due to greatly reduced appropriations.

Division of Operations.-At the beginning of the fiscal year, i. e., July 1, 1918, all matters relating to skilled labor were handled by the Skilled Labor Division and matters relating to common labor were handled by the Common Labor Division. These two divisions were later designated as sections of the Clearance Division. After the termination of the war the division was readjusted to meet peacetime functions, and its name was changed to the Division of Operations.

After the signing of the armistice there came an immediate cessation of the urgent demands for labor, and many persons were thrown out of employment. Large numbers of these were semiskilled persons who during the war had been receiving high pay and were indisposed to return to occupations in which they had been engaged before the war. Many of these demanded employment as skilled mechanics, although their skill was of the most limited type. The Employment Service communicated with the firms whose contracts were being canceled, inquiring as to the number of men that would be released. In many cases persons released from war contracts were immediately employed by the same firm on peace-time work. In other cases it was found possible to transfer them to other plants. In this way the unemployment situation during the winter and early spring, while serious, was greatly decreased. Weekly reports on labor conditions were issued, based on inquiries made in all the principal cities of the country, showing the number of men in each of a group of selected plants from each industry who were employed during the current week and the prospective increase or decrease in employment. The Civil Service Commission kept the Employment Service informed regarding the previous employers of persons appointed to civil-service positions. In this way vacancies were immediately filled to the advantage of these employers, and this procedure contributed its share toward relieving the unemployment situation.

The outstanding features of the employment situation at the end of the year, i. e., June 30, 1919, were a shortage of agricultural and common labor in the West and South, an increasing demand for mechanics in the building trades, stable conditions in most of the

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mechanical industries, and a considerable surplus of office help and technical and professional men. This was due partly to the desire of many persons who had formerly been laborers or mechanics to secure positions as clerks or superintendents, and also to the large number of new projects requiring executive and technical abilities which are being held up pending the ratification of the treaty of peace and the determination of future financial conditions. This condition was intensified by the large number of executive and technical men being released from the Army.

The following statement shows the number of soldiers registered and referred to employment from camps and transports:

a Some men registered on transports and again at camps.

Of the above total needing assistance, 115,096 were referred direct to employers, the remainder to bureaus.

In addition to the above, the following were registered at camps by agents of other Government departments:

The number of service men registering for employment and the number actually placed are shown in the following table:

Division of Information. From July 1, 1918, to the signing of the armistice in November, this division organized and executed a national publicity campaign for the recruiting of workers for war industries. It also published the United States Employment Service Bulletin, the official organ of the service.

The campaign was directed toward inducing workers employed in nonwar work to seek war work and toward educating employers in nonwar work as to the necessity of releasing their employees for war production. This was accomplished through the spread of material to newspapers, trade and other class periodicals, general magazines, posters, motion pictures, and advertisements. The advertising feature of the campaign was conducted like other Government war advertising drives, the "copy" being prepared with the assistance of the Division of Advertising of the Committee on Public Information. and inserted in newspapers and periodicals by advertisers, the publications themselves, or through a central fund raised by the business interests of particular communities.

The regulation of unskilled labor recruiting under supervision of the United States Employment Service by the presidential order, on August 1, necessitated a vast amount of publicity to explain the provisions and operation of the order and the recruiting regulations to employers and the public generally. In this connection the United States Employment Service Bulletin proved of incalculable value.

Upon the signing of the armistice and the beginning of industrial and military demobilization the Information Division organized the national "Jobs-for-soldiers" publicity campaign. A second advertising campaign was inaugurated along the lines of that conducted during the war, the "copy" of the second campaign designed to increase buying and the resumption of business and to cause employers to keep their employment openings registered with the central agencies in their communities, at which the applications of soldiers and war workers for employment were received.

In its national "Jobs-for-soldiers" campaign the Department was able to make uniform the publicity throughout the country in connection with assisting soldiers to employment and in stimulating local campaigns. Largely through publicity communities were educated to continue regular or emergency employment offices after failure of funds for the Federal Employment Service in March made it necessary for it to abandon most of its offices in the field.

With the help of the publicity departments of the cooperating organizations the Information Division obtained the national observance of May 4, 1919, as "Employment Sunday" in the churches of all denominations of the country. In addition to a proclamation by the President, the governors of the majority of the States and the mayors of the principal cities proclaimed or indorsed "Employment Sunday" as a day to initiate more intensive efforts in finding employment for soldiers, sailors, and war workers.

Since the successful operation of any public employment system depends upon the extent to which employers use it, publicity to educate them to its use and to apprise them of the location of the various offices was a prerequisite, especially since it was impossible for the Employment Service to pay for direct advertising.

Division of Control. The Control Division was organized on August 5, 1918. This division is concerned with the audit and payment of accounts, the preparation and issuance of orders, the compilation of statistics, preparation of general correspondence, the supervision of the filing system, and the procurement and distribution of equipment and supplies of all kinds. The matters coming under the jurisdiction of this division are such as are necessarily incident to the conduct of an organization like this service and the administration of its fiscal and other routine affairs.

Division of Organization.-The Field Organization Division (name subsequently changed to Organization Division) was created August 5, 1918, for the purpose of establishing a systematic organization of employment offices in States and Territories. It was charged with the following duties:

(a) To perfect an efficient system of employment offices in each State.

(b) To create and perfect the organization of the State Advisory Boards and Community Labor Boards.

(c) To supervise the work of the Public Service Reserve and Boys' Working Reserve, and wherever possible to merge these with the Employment Service organization in each State.

(d) To see that proper facilities were provided for women's departments in employment offices.

(e) To see that proper facilities were provided in local employment offices for handling farm labor and such other classes of workers as may need specialized handling.

In fulfillment of these duties the Organization Division organized and developed by its corps of national field organizers 854 employment offices throughout the States and in Porto Rico. It created a State Advisory Board in each State in the country. It also created 1,600 Community Labor Boards, located throughout the various. communities in the country and it provided women's departments in every State in the Union as well as facilities for the handling of farm labor. Special facilities were also created for the training of the personnel throughout the country, for a series of trade tests and interviews, and a Junior Section.

Personnel Section.-Prior to August 5, 1918, the work incident to making appointments and changes in the personnel was handled in a personnel section. After that date, the Personnel Division was organized as a separate branch of the Administrative Offices, and was enlarged so as to provide separate sections for appointments and personnel records, training of employees, welfare work, and trade interview methods. Plans were outlined for the development of these lines of activity but could not be fully worked out on account of the curtailment made necessary because of shortage of funds.

Owing to a change in the appropriation in July, 1918, new appointments had to be issued to all employees, which caused a large amount of detail work, as there were at that time in the neighborhood of two thousand employees. The number continued to increase until the latter part of February, when a policy of retrenchment had to be adopted for the reasons above stated.

The organization reached its highest point about February 15, 1919, at which time there were 4,079 salaried employees, to which may be added 3,073 appointees at a nominal compensation of $1 per The latter class included chairmen of Community Labor Boards, industrial advisers to draft boards, managers of Bureaus for Returning Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, farm labor agents, and others who were actively cooperating with the Employment Service.

annum.

As the organizations in the various States were perfected, new appointees had to be obtained with the utmost expedition, on account of the urgent demands made upon the service for workers of all kinds, partícularly in munition and shipbuilding plants and in the harvest fields. During the months of July, August, September, and October, new appointments were issued at the rate of from 100 to 200 per week. On March 22, 1919, it was found necessary to curtail the expenses of the service and the personnel was reduced practically 80 per cent. Those whom it was not possible to retain upon a salary basis were either discontinued or given indefinite furloughs without pay. A great many of them were willing to volunteer their services and continue to work at a nominal compensation.

Junior Section.-On December 9, 1918, the Junior Section was created. This section was charged with the guidance and placement