ABSTRACT
The Unemployment Insurance Act of 1920 was by far the most imposing legislation of its kind since the parent Act of 1911, and was in several important respects designed as an entirely new charter for unemployment insurance. In principles of operation the Act of 1920 was based on that of 1911, and for present purposes it will be sufficient to point out the major revisions made in the parent Act and what they involved. The basic design was to extend widely the system of State-operated compulsory unemployment insurance. The Labor Party fight against Section 17 of the Act of 1920 was at the time based largely on the very justifiable stand that this step enabled provident associations only indirectly connected with industry to pay unemployment insurance benefits. The Special Schemes are of supreme importance because they provide the means whereby unemployment insurance by industries may be substituted for unemployment insurance by the State.
