Campagne

Victorian campaign for a national system of labour exchanges. Printed pamphlet: 'A National Labour Bureau with Affiliated Labour Registries and the Evidence given thereon before the Royal Commission on Labour.'

20365 — Published by A. Wheaton & Co. Booksellers Fore Street Exeter. 1893. 16pp. 8vo. Stapled pamphlet. Aged and worn with all text intact. Dedicated 'To Nathaniel Lewis Cohen Esq. Founder of the First Free Labour Registry in England.' The text begins: 'A National Labour Bureau with Affiliated Labour Registries Is one of the pressing needs of the time. Therefore at the desire of two or three gentlemen who are greatly interested in the question I having given considerable attention to the matter venture to express my views thereon and at the same time to incorporate in a pamphlet the evidence I gave upon the subject before the Royal Commission on Labour in December last. In the views herein expressed I do not claim any special originality as they are very much the result of conference and correspondence with a number of representative men. My part has been first the initiation of the proposal to bring the subject under the notice of the Royal Commission; and secondly the formulation of a definite scheme.' What follows is divided into sections: 'Statement before Commission' 'Examination by Members of Commission' 'National Bureau' 'Cost of Scheme' 'Periodic Report' 'Employment of Post Offices' 'Private Registries' 'Importance of Prompt Action'. The final page is headed: 'Outline of Proposed Scheme.' This begins: 'A National Labour Bureau being an extension of the Labour Department of the Board of Trade or a separate department in affiliation with the Factory Inspectors' Department and with the Emigrations' Information Department in connection with which it should be vested with special powers for dealing with the questions of emigrations. The objects of this Bureau would be first to obtain and disseminate information on labour questions and general statistics of employment and secondly to act as a clearing house for the District Labour Bureaus.' Scarce: the only copies on OCLC WorldCat and COPAC at the Bishopsgate Library and the University of Essex Albert Sloman Library. Accompanying the item are a couple of newspaper cuttings neither complete one headed: 'A Labour Department Adoption by the Cabinet Outline of the Scheme'. Published by A. Wheaton & Co., Booksellers, Fore Street, Exeter. 1893. unknown