It is characteristic of the times that when persons have omitted to do what they should have done and then find themselves in difficulties by reason of their omission, they call upon the State to remedy their deficiency. Eliminating the question whether the State out of its own financial resources should make any addition to the fund contributed by employers and employed for provision against unemployment, Government administration of the fund is necessarily less efficient and more expensive than administration by industries or by firms. Some striking figures have been published in _The Times_ of January 25, 1922. It was stated at the National Federation of Employees Approved Societies by a gentleman representing the British Xylonite Company that his firm’s scheme of unemployment insurance cost only £334 per £10,000 to administer as against the Government’s £1,000 per £10,000. It must be remembered, however, that the Government scheme has to cover multifarious trades—organized, semi-organized and those not organized at all. But still, after making all due allowance for that fact, there appears to be no question that a Government scheme does necessarily, from the inability to maintain close supervision, afford opportunities for waste and abuse which would not arise under a system of closer control. State Insurance The details of the Government scheme have been described. The Labour Exchanges have, in the face of great difficulties, performed the administration with efficiency, but no one with experience of industrial conditions during the last two years could fail to realize that the administration of unemployment insurance is not proper work to be undertaken by any Government Department. The proper function for the State is to see that all possible provision is made against unemployment but not to undertake the work itself. In 1920 a Committee of Inquiry was appointed by the Minister of Labour to inquire into and report upon the Labour Exchanges. The majority of that Committee reported that “the administration of unemployment insurance by industries on behalf of their own members was the most desirable system in the end, particularly from the point of view of obtaining technical knowledge in the placing of workmen, the creation of a corporate pride in each industry, and a sense of responsibility for unemployment in the industry.” The Geddes Committee has recommended that this question should be further explored, and the Minister of Labour is taking steps to do so. Insurance by Industry or Industries