Page:Economic Development in Denmark Before and During the World War.djvu/71

Rh kroner, but owing to the high cost of living, it increased the amount to 3,100,000 kroner. The municipality contributed 700,000 kroner. Most of the grants were for 'day-money'; comparatively small amounts were given for journeys, removals, or food. A sum of 144,000 kroner was set aside for the above-mentioned Emergency Fund. By the passage of this act Denmark contributed a great deal, as has been said, toward the general solution of this great problem. In 1911 came the great British reform based on the principle of compulsory contributions; but it was naturally hampered by the developments of the war. The war also interfered with the movement in Denmark and prevented voluntary unemployment funds from becoming the great lever in social reform that they might have been. If it had been possible for the movement to develop quietly under the favourable conditions which had prevailed in Denmark at the beginning of this century, there is no doubt that this branch of social insurance would have received much greater sympathy from all classes of society.

Labour Exchange

An essential supplement to unemployment insurance is labour exchange. In this field, too, England has progressed very far through the passage of the State Labour Exchange Act, which went into effect on January 1, 1910. Denmark introduced her state labour exchange by an act of April 29, 1913, after a municipal labour exchange office had existed in Copenhagen for a number of years. The Act authorizes the Secretary of the Home Office to grant government recognition to municipal employment offices established by county, town, or parochial governments separately or jointly. They are governed by councils composed of an equal number of employers and employees chosen by the municipal council, with a chairman sanctioned by the Secretary of the Home Office. In Copenhagen the office also acts as a central bureau for the whole country under the management of 