In the history of certain of the principal unions a system of loans or travelling benefits has preceded the out-of-work benefit. The travelling benefit may indeed be termed the first stage of out-of-work relief. The following unions maintain the travelling benefit either in the form of a loan or of a gift: the Cement Workers, Chain Makers, Cigar Makers, Compressed Air Workers, Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia, Flour and Cereal Mill Employees, Fur Workers, Glass Snappers, Hod Carriers, Lace Curtain Operatives, Leather Workers on Horse Goods, Machine Printers and Color Mixers, the Mattress and Spring Bed Workers, Shipwrights, Slate Quarrymen, Tile Layers and Helpers, and the Watch Case Engravers. The travelling benefit and the out-of-work benefit are complementary in several of these unions. The systems of travelling benefits maintained by the Cigar Makers, the Leather Workers on Horse Goods and the Typographia are the most important.
The history of the travelling benefit in the Cigar Makers' Union begins almost with the earliest years of the Union. Prior to the Detroit convention, September, 1873, the Union maintained a system of loans to travelling craftsmen. Under this system any member, travelling in search of employment, was entitled to a loan sufficient to transport him to the nearest union. The local union in which the travelling member secured employment was required to collect at least twenty per cent. of the weekly wages of such member.[[185]] This first attempt was an absolute failure and in 1878 the system was abolished.[[186]] In October, 1878, local union No. 122 proposed an amendment to the international constitution to provide means of aiding "all travelling craftsmen in need." The aid was not to be a loan but an absolute gift.[[187]] This proposal failed of adoption; but in August, 1879, local union no. 144 proposed a new plan.[[188]] A member of six months' standing, if unemployed, was to be loaned a sufficient sum to transport him by the cheapest route to the nearest union and so to the next. The total of the loans was not to aggregate more than twenty dollars.[[189]] The plan was adopted and became effective May 1, 1880. In 1884 the amount of any one loan was limited to twelve dollars, and in 1896 it was farther reduced to eight dollars.[[190]]
The Cigar Makers have always required members to return the sum borrowed. The repayment of such loans, in the case of the Cigar Makers' Union, must commence with the first week of employment, and must continue at the rate of ten per cent. of the weekly earnings.[[191]] The Brotherhood of Leather Workers on Horse Goods require payment at the rate of fifteen per cent. of weekly wages.[[192]] The German-American Printers, on the other hand, grant travelling loans as an absolute gift.[[193]] This is the only important union which follows this policy.
Naturally the rules governing the benefit in the Typographia are more stringent than in the case of those unions which merely loan travelling money. The chief regulations are as follows: In order to draw the benefit a member must have been in good standing for at least six months. He must have paid in full his dues to the day of his departure. He may draw two cents per mile for the first two hundred miles and one cent for every additional mile, but he cannot at any one time receive more than ten dollars. A member assisted with the travelling benefit must remain at least three months in a place before he can claim another travelling benefit. When he has drawn a total of twenty-five dollars he is not entitled to any further assistance for twelve months. Those members who lose their places through their own fault are not entitled to a travelling benefit for three months, and those who give up their places can receive the benefit only if the executive committee of the local Typographia approves their action. A travelling member going to a place where there is a local Typographia must report to it within two days or he forfeits his right to out-of-work benefits for four weeks. If a member receives the travelling benefit and does not leave, he must return the amount received, and is not in good standing until he has done this.
The total amounts paid yearly in some of the leading unions furnish some idea of the importance of this benefit. Since the inauguration of the benefit to January 1, 1906, the Cigar Makers' International Union has paid a total of $991,777.98 in travelling loans, or an average of $38,145.31 per year.[[194]] The Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia has paid from July 1, 1884, to June 30, 1906, $8116.11, or an average of $368.91.[[195]] For the year ending September 30, 1904, the Cement Workers paid $1600, the Flour and Cereal Mill Employees, $2084.95, the Hod Carriers and Building Laborers, $1500, and the Leather Workers on Horse Goods, $7703.15.[[196]]
The following table shows the total amounts paid yearly and the average loan per capita of membership in the Cigar Makers' Union and the average per capita cost in the Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia.
| TOTAL AND PER CAPITA AMOUNTS OF TRAVELLING LOANS AND BENEFITS. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year. | Cigar Makers. | Typographia. | ||
| Amount of Travelling Loans. | Loans Per Capita of Membership. | Amount of Travelling Benefits | Cost per Member. | |
| 1880 | $ 2,808.15 | $0.63 | ||
| 1881 | 12,747,09 | .87 | ||
| 1882 | 20,386.64 | 1.78 | ||
| 1883 | 37,135.20 | 2.81 | ||
| 1884 | 39,632.08 | 3.48 | ||
| 1885 | 26,683.54 | 2.22 | $ 345.50 | $0.61 |
| 1886 | 31,835.71 | 1.29 | 264.10 | .27 |
| 1887 | 49,281.04 | 2.34 | 483.45 | .44 |
| 1888 | 42,894.75 | 2.50 | 669.29 | .59 |
| 1889 | 43,540.44 | 2.71 | 456.17 | .40 |
| 1890 | 37,914.72 | 1.53 | 576.65 | .46 |
| 1891 | 53,535.73 | 2.21 | 622.47 | .47 |
| 1892 | 47,732.47 | 1.78 | 797.19 | .57 |
| 1893 | 60,475.11 | 2.25 | 439.64 | .31 |
| 1894 | 42,154.17 | 1.52 | 680.06 | .56 |
| 1895 | 41,657.16 | 1.50 | 304.46 | .27 |
| 1896 | 33,076.22 | 1.39 | 339.86 | .30 |
| 1897 | 29,067.04 | 1.10 | 279.50 | .25 |
| 1898 | 25,237.43 | .95 | 390.62 | .35 |
| 1899 | 24,234.33 | .83 | 320.74 | .29 |
| 1900 | 33,238.13 | .97 | 178.79 | .17 |
| 1901 | 44,652.73 | 1.31 | 175.05 | .17 |
| 1902 | 45,314.05 | 1.22 | 107.28 | .11 |
| 1903 | 52,521.41 | 1.33 | 159.56 | .16 |
| 1904 | 58,728.71 | 1.41 | 181.85 | .18 |
| 1905 | 55,293.93 | 1.37 | 195.46 | .20 |
| 1906 | 50,650.21 | 1.29 | 147.52 | .15 |
| Total | $991,177.98 | $8116.11 | ||
| Average | 38,145.31 | $1.63 | 368.91 | $0.33 |
The travelling loan in the Cigar Makers was for some time badly administered. Until the adoption of the out-of-work benefit, the financial secretaries, moved by sympathy, frequently granted the benefit to members who had never left their jurisdiction and who had no intention of leaving.[[197]] This practice endangered the entire system.[[198]] Since the adoption of the out-of-work benefit the amount of loans per capita of membership has diminished. At present the cost of the travelling benefit in the Cigar Makers is not large; the loans are promptly and efficiently collected. Data for recent years are not available; but in the period from 1881 to 1901 the sum of $735,266 was loaned and $660,255 was repaid. The balance outstanding at the close of 1900 was $75,014, and of this a considerable part was collectible. The net cost of the system for twenty-one years was thus certainly less than $50,000, an average annual cost of about $2400, or an annual average per capita cost of ten cents. Even in the Typographia, where the benefit is a gift, the annual per capita cost to the membership is not large, varying from eleven to sixty cents, according to the state of employment.