This very interesting pamphlet is " the report of a
survey made from Toynbee Hall." We are glad to see that that admirable institution has now been able to return to its old policy of investigating social and industrial questions. These sixty-four pages—written by Mr. E. C. P. Lascelles from data collected by a number of voluntary investigators under the general direction of Mr. S. S. Bullock—throw a clear and uncoloured light upon the actual conditions produced by the abnormal depression of trade in the municipal areas of Bethnal Green, Poplar, Stepney, and Shoreditch. The outcome of the inquiry, as summarized in a sentence by the Warden, Mr. J. J. Mallon, is surprising and gratifying. It is that " although unemployment on an unprecedented scale has continued for nearly two years the personal distress arising from it in East London is less than would have been caused before the War by a Dock strike or lock-out." This is explained by the savings accumulated during the War, the liberal scales of allowances adopted by the Boards of Guardians and the benefits derived from Unemployment Insurance. But the savings are now mainly exhausted, the local authorities are on the verge of bankruptcy, and the insuranoe fund is heavily in debt to the Treasury. The Toynbee researches should be read by all students of the pressing problems of unemployment. We may note that employers mostly take the view that the Employment Ex- changes are of little or no value for placing workmen, but a thoughtful essay by Mr. Felix Morley, printed as an appendix, shows that this is not altogether the fault of the officials.
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