-------+--------------+-------------+------------+------------+--------- | |Appropriation| Net Charge | | |Administrative| from |to Exchequer| Government | Total | cost | Unemployment| on account |Contribution|Charge to | (gross). | Fund. | of Admini- | to Fund. | Votes. | | | stration. | | -------+--------------+-------------+------------+------------+--------- | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ 1912/13| 640,000 | 151,000 | 489,000 | 378,000 | 867,000 1913/14| 769,000 | 246,000 | 523,000 | 602,000 |1,125,000 1914/15| 764,000 | 227,000 | 537,000 | 546,000 |1,083,000 1915/16| 834,000 | 231,000 | 603,000 | 538,000 |1,141,000 1916/17| 905,000 | 329,000 | 576,000 | 746,000 |1,322,000 1917/18| 1,168,000 | 445,000 | 723,000 | 1,007,000 |1,730,000 1918/19| 1,950,000 | 455,000 | 1,495,000 | 994,000 |2,489,000 1919/20| 3,613,000 | 459,000 | 3,154,000 | 912,000 |4,066,000 1920/21| 4,593,000 | 1,115,000 | 3,478,000 | 2,200,000 |5,678,000 1921/22| 6,039,000 | 3,250,000 | 2,789,000 | 6,720,000 |9,509,000 1922/23| 5,020,000 | 4,150,000 | 870,000 | 8,231,000 |9,101,000 -------+--------------+-------------+------------+------------+--------- The above figures do not include the cost of the Unemployed Workers’ Dependents Act, which is financed independently of the Unemployment Fund and which imposes on the Vote charges of £2,192,000 in 1921/22 and £670,000 in 1922/23. In my judgment, one thing is certain: if the National Unemployment Scheme had not been administered, as it has been, by the Ministry of Labour through the past and present dark days of depression, there would have been a serious upheaval in this country. The very fact that a worker could go and discuss his position with a sympathetic official of the Labour Exchanges helped to soothe his feelings of resentment against his unhappy lot. The receipt of benefit over the counter of a State institution encouraged him to believe that the State took an interest in the welfare of himself and his dependents. Whether, therefore, unemployment insurance by industries as a whole or each industry separately may or may not be arranged in the future, it would be exceedingly ungrateful of the people in this country to overlook the national work that has been performed by the Ministry of Labour and the officials of the Employment Exchanges under most difficult circumstances. 2. CONSTRUCTION OF WORKS OF PUBLIC UTILITY Unemployment Grants Committee