members of the Commission and were not considered adopted until favorably voted on by a majority of the members of the Commission. The Committee on Unemployment, under the chairmanship of Mr. John G. Agar, held a number of meetings and conferences with interested agencies and served in conjunction with the Committee on Demobilization, of which Mrs. William H. Good was chairman. The War Department co-operated and sent for conference officers in charge of demobilization in the district. The Commission was able to allay many rumors that were disquieting to New York State and the surrounding territory in relation to the methods of demobilization in use by the War Department. The two committees on Unemployment and Demobilization recommended a joint committee of representatives from each of the more important soldiers' placement and relief agencies of the State whose special duties would be to keep in touch with demobilization and to work co-operatively. Such a committee was appointed and later developed into joint employment committees for discharged soldiers and a special bureau where information concerning demobilized men was obtainable. Under date of March 20, 1919, the Commission forwarded to Governor Smith the report of the Committee on Unemployment, calling attention to the need of immediate action by the State to provide a substitute for the Federal employment system which was to be curtailed at that time. The Commission recommended: "First. That the fullest co-operative relationship should be maintained with the Federal Service, as it will be constituted under the new arrangement and in the future, under whatever new appropriation Congress may make that will enable them to assume increased responsibility. "Second. That the State proceed immediately to strengthen and enlarge the State system of employment agencies. You will remember that you referred to this Commission for report the request of the State Industrial Commission for enlarged appropriations looking to the improvement of the State Employment Service. "Third. That the Governor urge upon the Legislature the necessity for immediately appropriating the sum of $50,000 to be expended during the remainder of the present fiscal year, by the State Industrial Commission, for public employment offices." The Commission also made various other recommendations looking to the co-operation of the mayors of cities and volunteer and public agencies of every kind as well as organized labor. The Governor transmitted this message to the Legislature requesting them to make immediately_available an appropriation of $50,000 for the employment bureaus of the State Industrial Commission. This was immediately granted by the Legislature. The Commission made a final report on Unemployment suggesting a permanent unemployment program. This was under date of June 17, 1919. Among other recommendations a permanent program was presented which could be put into effect through the State Industrial Commission: "(a) The organization of the labor market to bring about extensive dovetailing of winter and summer trades and to stimulate the use of subsidiary trades. "(b) Directing labor to new occupations when changes of industrial structure result in displacement from chosen occupations. "(c) Reserving certain places in industry for older men and women, and leaving the younger generation the task of finding and forcing fresh openings for themselves. "(d) Concentrating attention upon the need for industrial training, including vestibule' training where such training does not lead to blind alley employment, training in plants to increase efficiency while gainfully employed, and training in trade and business schools. Issue in co-operation with the State and city departments of education annual bulletins outlining the courses of training in schools for all schools, colleges, etc., open to persons seeking vocational education. "(e) Directing boys and girls away from 'blind alley' employment. "(f) Testing periodically and comprehensively the amount of unemployment and publishing bulletins based on the most complete figures which can be obtained. "(g) In cases of seasonal employment or depression, urging employers to shorten hours rather than discharge employees. "5. Authorize and require the State Industrial Commission through the Bureau of Employment to obtain during the first three months of each year from the several State departments and localities current information regarding all public works projected and under construction and to publish this information annually in April in summary form. "6. Appoint an informal committee composed of representatives of the State departments principally concerned with public improvements and of the State Industrial Commission to study data thus obtained in conjunction with data regarding employment and business conditions currently gathered by the State Industrial Commission, and to call in April or May an annual conference of all public works authorities throughout the State to discuss engineering, financial employment and other common problems. This committee should vigorously prosecute all public improvements whenever business depression and unemployment threaten, and report upon the need, if any, of compulsory action to secure the deferment of public works and the establishment of public works reserves." The Committee on Unemployment participated in a number of conferences concerning the continuation of the Federal Employment Service and the Commission upon recommendation of the Committee on Unemployment urged that the Federal Employment Service should act as a clearing house and standardizing agency, and advocated federal subsidy for employment service to assist in the creation of adequate State Employment Agencies. The United States Employment Service called a conference in Washington to discuss Federal organic legislation on employment service, and Mr. John G. Agar, Chairman of the Unemployment Committee, represented the Commission. At the Conference of Governors and Mayors held in Washington on March 3, 1919, Mr. George Foster Peabody, at the request of the Governor, represented him and the Reconstruction Commission. The Committee on Business Readjustment, composed of the business men and bankers on the Commission under the chairmanship of Mr. Alfred J. Johnson, held a number of meetings and made a very careful study of the business prospects in relation to unemployment with especial reference to the relation of public improvements to the general situation. They reported to the Governor on the subject of Business Readjustment and Unemployment under the date of April 14th. The work of this committee assembled for the first time a definite summary of facts concerning the amount of public work actually available throughout the State, and published a report on Public Improvements in Progress, Not Started and Contemplated, in three sections as follows: 1. County Roads and Town Highways. 2. Cities. 3. State Departments. This committee pointed out that is was possible to stimulate the construction of public works that would greatly relieve any threatened unemployment and set forth a possible program that would be available in case an unemployment crisis faced the State. In accordance with the message from the Governor, the Committee on Education, under the inspiring chairmanship of Professor Felix Adler, took un first the study of the Military Training Commission in order to determine whether it was necessary to continue such a Commission, and reported to the Governor under date of April 17th. This committee made a very thorough inquiry and recommended that the duties discharged by the Military Training Commission be included within the functions of the State Department of Education. The report on this subject stated: "We have reached the conclusion. after numerous hearings and careful consideration of the subject, that military training of a technical character for boys 16, 17 and 18 years of age is inadvisable, and we, therefore, recom mend that any features of military training which may continue to be used shall be employed solely for such values as they may have in physical, mental and moral development. "In view of the alarming disclosures of defective physique in connection with the recent draft, and in order that the State may possess citizens of sound body, better enabled to fulfill their duties, whether in peace or in war, we recommend that health instruction and all round physical development, including supervised games, receive the greatest possible attention in the schools of the State, and that whatever appropriations be necessary for this purpose may be generously furnished. "We recommend the establishment of compulsory continuation schools for boys and girls who are at work up to the eighteenth year, and that in the curriculum of such schools a sufficient number of periods each week be set aside for physical culture. "We recommend that as soon as the necessary funds can be supplied, State camps be established for boys of the high-school age, as a means of inculcating in them habits of self-control, deference to rightful authority, and the democratic attitude towards their fellows." The Governor transmitted the report of the Reconstruction Commission concerning Military Training for Boys to the Legislature, and a bill was introduced, carrying out the recommendations of the Commission, transferring the functions of the Military Training Commission to the Department of Education. The bill failed of passage in the Legislature of 1919. Although similar recommendations were included in the Governor's annual message to the Legislature of January, 1920, and the bill was again introduced, it again failed of passage. During both legislative sessions the bill received the support of many educational and civic organizations. This support has been growing and a feeling that the Military Training Commission places an expenditure of nearly half a million dollars a year upon the State for an unnecessary and unwelcome function has now become so strong that it is probable that the Commission will be abolished at the next session of the Legislature. Under date of May 14, 1919, the Reconstruction Commission, upon recommendation of the Committee on Education, reported to the Governor concerning Americanization. They pointed out that there are approximately 400,000 illiterates in the State above the age of ten. The Committee stated that the removal of illiteracy was not the whole or chief object of Americanization. "To learn to think as Americans, to feel as Americans, to act as Americans, are the three objects to be jointly pursued. Faith in the possibilities of democracy must be built up. Minority rule, whether autocratic or revolutionary, must be rejected. The American habit of accepting the verdict of the majority must be deeply inculcated." The recommendations of the Commission therefore were embodied as follows: "1. We recommend that the annual fund at the disposal of the State Department for Americanization be increased as far as the financial condition of the State will permit. "2. We recommend the enactment of a bill establishing continuation schools for boys and girls at work under eighteen years. In such continuation schools, instruction in the English language and at least in the elements of American history would be included. All of those at present illiterate under eighteen years of age would thereby be reached. "There is at present a law on the statute books attempting to attain the same end by imposing a fine for the employment of illiterate minors under 18 years of age. But this law is not generally enforced or enforceable. A law establishing continuation schools for all minors whether illiterate or not would not be open to the same objection. "3. The Committee recommends, finally, that lectures and stated courses in American institutions and ideals be authorized and developed more than they have been in the past. The Committee believes that in such lectures the use of the foreign tongue, instead of being forbidden, should be allowed and even encouraged as a necessary provisional means of conveying the essential American point of view to the foreigners who intend to make their home with us. "4. In addition to the above recommendations the following was added by the Executive Committee as a substitute for a recommendation which was submitted by the Committee on Education: "As for persons over 18 years of age who are unable to read and write the English language, some form of compulsion to acquire the language should be provided." Through the New York State Food Commission, the Commission secured the co-operation of a competent staff, whose services were for a time volunteered to the Commission, and a thorough study of the problems of food production and distribution was made. The Chairman, Mr. Thomas V. Patterson, was one of the most conscientious and beloved members of the Commission. It is with deep regret that we record his death, December 4, 1920. This Committee held many meetings and a number of public hearings. It secured the co-operation of committees representative of the dealers in food products, heads of transportation departments of railroads and other groups directly concerned in food production and distribution. A number of questionnaires were issued concerning municipal markets, retail grocers, wholesale grocers, retail butchers, wholesale butter, cheese and eggs, and wholesale vegetables and fruits. Under date of June 28, 1919, the Commission upon recommendation of the Committee on Food Production and Distribution transmitted a report on Rural Motor Truck Express to the Governor, recommending that a temporary non-salaried State Highways Transport Committee on the development of rural motor express routes be appointed by the Governor, and, in accordance, the following committee was appointed: Frederick Stuart Greene, State Commissioner of Highways. James E. Boyle, Ithaca. F. W. Fenn, representing the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. The Commission transmitted reports to the Governor upon recommendation of the Committee on Food Production and Distribution concerning Terminal Markets, problems of production and distribution and milk. The recommendations in these reports concern the strengthening of the powers granted to the Departments of Farms and Markets and amendments to the Cold Storage Law and Weights and Measures Law as well as measures to control many forms of exploitation. The Commission recorded itself as in favor of creating a regulatory body for the regulation and control of the milk distribution business in first and second class cities, consisting of members who would be qualified to deal with the technical problems of the administration of the milk industry. The Commission suggested detailed methods of carrying out such regulation and also made provision for cities other than those of the second and third class, so that these could voluntarily place themselves under such regulation. These recommendations were based on the assumption that milk being a necessary article of food, it constitutes a public utility. The Committee on Public Health, with Dr. Henry Dwight Chapin actively at its head, held seven public hearings, three of which were devoted to a consideration of health insurance. The Committee was greatly aided in the preparation of its report by the cordial co-operation of the State and city departments. Under date of October 24, 1919, the Commission, on recommendation of the Committee on Public Health, forwarded a report to the Governor on Public Health and Reconstruction. The recommendations of this report cover health measures for the 1. Reduction of mortality of children under six years of age. 2. Safeguarding the health of the child of school age. 3. Relief and prevention of sickness among adults. Detailed studies of living conditions throughout the State are presented in the Committee's full report and also detailed suggestions for carrying out the health program proposed. It is a commentary on this report that after its transmission to the Legislature by the Governor there was introduced with the co-operation of the State Department of Health legislation to carry its recommendations into effect, and that this legislation will be the basis of the public health effort and program of the State for years to come. The Committee on Housing found itself with a very difficult series of problems to consider. Its Chairman, Mr. John Alan Hamilton, of Buffalo, was for many years interested in housing and brought to the subject a wide social experience. The Committee on Housing was fortunate in securing the volunteer assistance of Mr. Clarence S. Stein, architect of New York City, who acted as Secretary and directed the work of the Committee with a thoroughness and unselfish purpose that have made the reports of the Commission a valuable contribution to the solution of the housing problem. The Committee immediately associated with itself an advisory council in New York City and one in Buffalo, to which reference is made in the report of the Committee. This Committee had not only to consider the permanent housing problem of the State but the pressing situations brought about by the housing shortage also clamored for attention. The Legislature of 1919 appointed a joint committee on housing with which the Commission found itself in cordial co-operation. The Committee on Housing also co-operated with the committee on rent profiteering appointed by the Mayor of New York City. A questionnaire was issue to up-state cities on the general subject of housing. A mass of material was collected relating to the subject of housing, not only for New York City, but throughout the State and throughout the country. Through questionnaires, public hearings and conferences of every kind, the committee gathered its information. Under date of May 10th, a brief report was made to the Governor and he was requested to call a conference in New York City to see if some means of relief could not be found for the existing shortage of houses. On June 2nd, the Commission made a brief report favoring the exemption of mortgages and bonds of the State Land Bank from income taxation. No report can adequately set forth the amount of work covered by the block surveys made by the Housing Committee. In the report of the Committee on Housing Conditions, only the briefest reference has been possible. Visiting 40,000 individual apartments alone in a period of a few weeks was an achievement seldom equaled in thoroughness and rapidity with which it was completed. The report of the Committee on Housing was submitted to the full Commission on October 23, 1919, but referred back for a revision of its recommendations. These were finally adopted in March, 1920, and under date of March 22, 1920, the Commission, on recommendation of the Housing Committee, transmitted to the Governor a Report on Housing Conditions. Every phase of the housing problem was carefully studied and the Commission finally recommended a law requiring the appointment of local housing boards in communities having a population over 10,000, members of such boards preferably to serve without pay, and for the appointment of a central housing agency for co-ordination of local effort. These boards were to be charged with duty of a. Aiding each locality in meeting the immediate pressing need for sufficient homes. b. Collection and distribution of information relating to housing and community planning. c. Assisting in the preparation of housing laws, zoning ordinances, state wide regulatory or restrictive housing and building codes, etc. d. Study of the means of lowering the cost of housing through better planning in the construction of homes and through their proper location. e. Development of a means for using State credits to apply to housing at low rates of interest without loss to the State. To set the standards for the use of such credits and to fix limitations upon the return of money borrowed from the State for housing purposes. To assist in the most practical manner possible in the erection of adequate homes in wholesome environments for workers at a rental cost dependent on the actual cost of land and building. The majority of the members of the Commission also recommended the enactment of a Constitutional Amendment permitting extension of State credit |