8

THE  PROBLEM  OF  TIIE  UNEMPLOYED

with”  ?  The  subject  is,  of  course,  far  too  large  for  parenthetic ­
  treatment  here,  but  I  cannot  forbear  to  raise  this
question  in  protest  against  the  placid  assumption  in  the
Unemployed  Report  that  there  is  no  “superfluity”  of
labour,  because  the  “superfluity,”  is  sometimes  for  a  brief
period  mopped  up.
But  whatever  may  be  the  explanation  of  trade  depression ­
  to  which  we  may  incline,  there  can  be  no  question
but  that  “  depression  ”  is  directly  responsible  for  a  vast
amount  of  unemployment.  Even  the  Unemployed  Report
admits  that  it  would  be  a  “  strain  of  ordinary  language
to  refuse  to  these  men  during  slack  years  the  title  of
‘unemployed’.”  I  further  claim  that  this  “unemployment” ­
  represents  “superfluous,”  or  waste  labour-power,
whether  the  trade  depression  from  which  they  sutler  be
accounted  the  cause  or  the  effect  of  the  “  superfluity.”
§  6.  Summary  of  the  Official  View  of
“  Unemployment.  ”
If  I  correctly  understand  the  Unemployed  Report,
the  only  “superfluity”  or  waste  of  labour-power  which  it
admits  consists  of  the  following  two  classes  :
“  Those  members  of  various  trades  who  are  economically ­
  superfluous,  because  there  is  not  enough  work  in
those  trades  to  furnish  a  fair  amount  to  all  who  try  to
earn  a  livelihood  at  them.
“  Those  who  cannot  get  work  because  they  are  below
the  standard  of  efficiency  usual  in  their  trades,  or
because  their  personal  defects  are  such  that  no  one  will
employ  them.”
These  classes  are  represented  by  a  small  fringe  of
the  “skilled”  trades  who  even  in  fairly  good  trade  fail