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mended by the Committee whom the Borough Engineer could
employ was limited to 90 per week, but as the number of
applications and of recommended cases increased this number
was found inadequate.
A deputation of the Executive Committee, therefore,
waited on the General Purposes Committee of the Borough
Council and pointed out the difficulty, with the result that the
General Purposes Committee gave instructions for 140 men to
be employed per week. The rate of pay was 4s. 9d. per day,
the same as that of the Borough Council's general labourers.
Lists were sent twice a week to the Borough Engineer
of the names and addresses of the men recommended for work
by the Executive Committee, and the Borough Engineer, in
due course, reported to the Committee the number of men who
appeared or were absent, as the case might be.
At the invitation of the Mansion House Unemployed
Committee six men were sent to the Osea Island Relief Works,
Essex, their families being meanwhile supported for one month
from the funds of the Mansion House Committee. It is satisfactory
to state that these men gave a good account of themselves,
as testified by the following extract from a letter from
the Superintendent at Osea Island: —
"It gives me great pleasure to be able to reply very
favourably respecting the six men sent here from your Borough.
I have not had any complaints from their respective gangers,
and as far as I have been able to judge from personal observation
they are well-behaved men, whom I should have no
objection to recommend anywhere. Of course the work has
been strange to them and allowance must be made, but all
things considered they are a very good class of men, and as
good as any I have had here and better than some."
Number of Applications
Received.
During the period of the relief work, i.e., from
January 25th until March 26th, 1904, applications were
received from 1,189 men, of whom 658 were recommended for
work and were accordingly employed. Of these all had one
turn, 532 had two turns and 34 three turns of three days each.
These men were almost entirely employed in sweeping roads.
Seventy-one men in all found work elsewhere or
returned to their old employment during the period mentioned;
149 did not respond to the postcard sent to them, and it may,
therefore, reasonably be supposed that they also found other