Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/787

 THE AMERICAN

JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

VOLUME II MAY, 1897

NUMBER 6

INSURANCE AGAINST NON-EMPLOYMENT.

No SOCIAL evil has assumed such acute form or such large proportions in so short a time as that of non-employment. The problem is not altogether recent. It seems to be a concomitant of the rapid changes incident to the present industrial system. The more rapid development of mechanical processes, the more extensive use of 'machine-made machinery, the tendency towards the elimination of the relatively inefficient workmen from indus- try, and the absorption of unoccupied lands, together with the recent commercial depression, have resulted in a really ominous condition. If it could be believed that the evil is due solely to the cause last mentioned, it need attract no particular atten- tion, save to provide temporary palliatives. But this comforting explanation is hardly credible. It accounts for the present acuteness of the evil, but that which previous to the current depression was only sporadic promises to become chronic even when the epidemic has passed.

Much attention has been given to palliation of this evil, but little to its permanent removal. In previous forms of social organization such evils have been met by some application of the principle of mutual aid, as in the mediaeval guilds, in their modern counterpart, the trade unions, and in benevolent societies. These alike fail to reach the difficulty. The functions performed by the mutual-aid principle in earlier forms of society are largely