Page:Economic Development in Denmark Before and During the World War.djvu/70

54 whole managed as in the case of the friendly societies. The funds are derived partly from the subscriptions of the members, partly from government grants and voluntary or obligatory subventions from the municipality. According to the act of 1914 the government is bound to pay one-half of the total sum subscribed by the members. It is also authorized to make a grant to any Emergency Fund that may be established to give support under extraordinary conditions of unemployment; and if such a fund is established, the municipality is likewise bound to make contributions to it.

The right to this support is conditional. The applicant must have been a member of the society and have paid subscriptions during the preceding twelve months; further, he must have passed through a certain number of days of unemployment. The daily support allowance is limited to between half a krone ($0.13) and two kroner ($0.54), and, at the most, to two-thirds of the applicant's ordinary working wage.

The societies appoint delegates who meet once a year to discuss their activity and co-operation. In the support of the cause, the law further provides a council composed of the Inspector, two members appointed by the Folketing and two by the Landsting, besides six members elected by the delegates of the unemployment societies. This council serves as an intermediary between the various societies; its duties are to establish rules for the transfer of members from one society to another, to endeavour to homogenize the rules for granting aid and to present the case when one of the societies ought no longer to be recognized. As is the case with the friendly societies, a council of this kind contributes to no small extent to the growth of the unemployment funds by inspiring the working classes with confidence and securing their co-operation. The increase in the number of members has been considerable. On March 31, 1918, there were sixty-two recognized societies with 221,000 members, whose subscriptions during the year 1917-1918 amounted to 2,400,000 kroner. The state ordinarily contributed 1,000,000