XVI1. CONCLUSION. 
143. There are upwards of 200,000 workmen of all ages, many of 
whom are married, who cannot expect to earn a livelihood from the 
industries in which they have hitherto been employed. Only for a 
few of them can we discern any real prospect of regular employment 
in their own neighbourhood.To gain once more a livelihood from 
work, they will need to move. The majority of them can be 
absorbed into industry in the ordinary process of the employment 
market if the industrial community will make up its mind to give 
them an opportunity. For the younger men there are chances 
in the oversea Dominions which can be made open to much larger 
numbers : the boys have prospects which can be realised with 
a small effort ; the older and married men will need more conscious 
help. Tt is a hard thing to tell numbers of men and even whole 
sommunities that unless they leave all their familiar surroundings 
they will not be able to earn a living, but we should be shirking 
every inference from the facts if we did not emphasise this as the 
first and strongest of the lessons that our work has provided. The 
second lesson is, however, not less important. That if men are 
willing to move there are possibilities of help. For this we look, as 
indeed we must, to the quickened imagination and practical sym- 
pathy of the whole community, to the steady accumulation of small 
offers of help. and to a firm decision to take advantage of every 
chance. And our belief in the character of our fellow conntrymen 
leads us to look for this with confidence 
SUMMARY. 
1. In certain of the heavy industries, and particularly in coal 
mining, there exists a definite surplus of labour over and above 
the requirements of the industries. The resulting unemployment, 
involving probably upwards of 200,000 workers (many with de- 
pendants), constitutes a tragic problem, necessitating the urgent 
and sympathetic attention of the entire country. 
2. This unemployment is of a special character; it is concen- 
trated in areas where almost the whole community has depended 
on one or two industries, and whole communities therefore are 
involved in the slow paralysis it brings with it. It is not suscep- 
tible of solution by localised measures of relief. It is no longer 
a question of tiding over the unemployment in these areas until the 
crisis passes. A new policy is needed, directed to the permanent 
removal of as many workers as possible away from the depressed 
industries and areas to other areas where the prospect of employ- 
ment—notwithstanding a certain ‘amount of unemployment—is 
nore favourable