Working Hours in Building Trades.

THE SHORTENING of working hours in the building trades had progressed so far that in 1936 the average weekly working time of the employees, covered in an extensive survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was 40.2, and 9.3 percent were working on a 30hour basis. On the other hand, 18.4 percent had schedules of more than 40 hours and a limited number were working as much as 60 hours or more per week. Practically all union building-trades workers (96.3 percent) had a schedule of 40 or fewer hours per week as against 50.7 percent of the nonunion workers. There were wide variations as between cities and also as between occupations. Page 791.

British Housing Policies.

OVER 3 million low-cost dwellings were constructed in England and Wales between the end of the World War and March 1937. Private enterprise and the local and National Governments joined in this building program, the National Government having varied the amounts and methods of financial aid by a series of laws designed to promote new construction, while at the same time stimulating private initiative. In recent years the private construction industry has expanded rapidly without assistance and appears to be meeting the need for moderate-cost dwellings. Therefore the governmental program has

been directed toward slum clearance and reclamation. Page 800. Cooperatives in Chicago.

A CONSIDERABLE expansion in consumers' cooperation in Chicago, particularly in societies with memberships drawn from middle-class urban residents, was disclosed by a study made for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in June 1937. Most of the growth is recent, two-thirds of the 38 local retail associations having been formed since the beginning of 1935; 12 were still in the buying-club stage at the time the study was made. Nearly 4,000 members were participating in the activities of the local societies, and sales in 1936 totaled about half a million dollars. In addition to these organizations, Chicago is the headquarters of a national wholesale, a regional wholesale, and two educational federations operating on a regional and a city-wide basis respecttively. Page 816.

Characteristics of Job Applicants.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL, industrial, and occupational distribution, and the age and other characteristics of job applicants appear from an analysis recently made of the live registers of the United States Employment Service. The greater difficulty of older workers in obtaining employment is indicated by the fact that the median age of persons placed was lower by some 31⁄2 years than the median age of the applicants, for both males and

Unemployment-Benefit Plans. ONLY 5 of the 22 company unemployment-benefit plans which were in effect in 1934 were in operation in August 1937, according to a recent inquiry by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All but one of the plans still operating are guaranteed-employment or employment-assurance plans. The enactment of the Federal Social Security Act and of State unemployment-insurance laws was the reason in most instances for abandonment of the plans. However, 7 of the companies which have abandoned their plans are maintaining benefit payments until benefits become payable under the State law. The 5 joint agreements in effect in 1934 are being continued, for the present at least, while 17 of the 24 local trade-unions replying to the inquiry are continuing the assessment of members for the maintenance of their unemployment funds, in spite of the fact that they may be covered by the State laws. Page 839.

Relief Grants in Supplement to Wages. MANY MEMBERS of families aided by relief agencies are not wholly without employment, but their employment is under circumstances which make it imperative for these agencies to add to the insufficient incomes received by these workers from commercial or industrial jobs. This ap

parently universal problem of grantsin-aid of wages to underpaid and underemployed people is of deep concern to the public, for it is possible that this supplementary-relief policy has had a tendency to perpetuate part-time, temporary, or casual employment and also low wage standards. Page 864.

Labor Banks.

AN INCREASE of 6.8 percent in deposits, of 6.5 percent in total resources, and of 4.2 percent in capital, surplus, and undivided profits from June 30, 1936, to June 30, 1937, was shown by the four labor banks still in operation. On the latter date these banks had total resources aggregating more than $24,000,000. Data showing the status of the individual banks at the end of the fiscal year 1936-37, their individual development since their formation, and the trend of the labor-banking movement as a whole are given on page 911.

Regulation of Men's Wages and Hours in Canada.

IN RECENT YEARS notable progress has been made in Canada in providing for the legal establishment of minimum wages and maximum hours for men. All but two of the nine Provinces have legally provided to a greater or less degree for minimum wages for adult males in private industry, and all the Provinces have some legal provision restricting the working hours of men in such employment. In five Provinces legalized collective agreements regulate wages and hours of both males and females in specified trades or industries for particular localities or districts, and in some cases for a whole Province. Page 944.