The regulations enforced by the unions concerning the remission of the dues of unemployed members are less stringent than the rules governing the larger money out-of-work benefit. In the first place the period of good standing required before a member is entitled to assistance is shorter. A member of the Iron Molders is eligible to the benefit after six months of good standing. The Granite Cutters require only a two months' membership.[182] Moreover, the rules as to registration are less strict. In the Iron Molders' Union an unemployed member must report the date of the beginning of his idleness at the first regular meeting after he has been discharged and must report in person at every regular meeting of his local union; otherwise he cannot claim the benefit. The Leather Workers have the same provisions. The Tobacco Workers require idle members claiming indulgence in the payment of dues to report to the local financial secretary twice each week.[183] [Footnote 182: Constitution, 1905 (Quincy, n.d.), p. 45.] [Footnote 183: Constitution of the Leather Workers on Horse Goods, 1905 (Kansas City, n.d.), p. 22; Constitution of the International Tobacco Workers' Union, 1900, third edition, 1905 (Louisville, n.d.), sec. 43.] The cost of the exemption of dues in none of the unions is large. The following table gives the chief facts concerning the benefit in the Iron Molders' Union for the period 1900-1906: OUT-OF-WORK RELIEF IN THE IRON MOLDERS' UNION. ========================================================== Year. |Number of Stamps| Value of | Cost per Member |Issued Yearly. |Out-of-work[184]| per Year. | | Stamps | ---------------------------------------------------------- 1900 | 23,436 | $ 5,859.00 | $0.12 1901 | 26,349 | 6,587.25 | .12 1902 | 10,389 | 2,597.25 | .04 1903 | 26,073 | 6,518.25 | .04 1904 | 92,685 | 23,171.25 | .27 1905 | 24,906 | 6,226.50 | .07 1906 | 16,676 | 4,169.00 | .04 ---------------------------------------------------------- Average| 31,502 | $7,875.50 | $0.10 ---------------------------------------------------------- [Footnote 184: Approximate number only. Data furnished by Mr. R.H. Metcalf, financier of the union.] The great variations in the number of out-of-work stamps issued is due, of course, to variations in the amount of unemployment. The annual amount of unemployment per capita, so far as it is measured by the number of stamps issued, varied from less than one fourth of a week in 1902, 1903 and 1906 to one and one half weeks in 1904. The per capita cost of maintaining the benefit varied from four cents in 1902, 1903 and 1906 to twenty-seven cents in 1904.