The Gary Committee t345l the government. This British precedent stimulated enthusiastic discussion among urban reformers in America. In February 1914, the first National Conference on Unemployment had met in New York City, where it endorsed a national system of employment bureaus and compulsory unemployment insurance.42 Although Bruere, Kingsbury, Professor Henry Seager of Columbia University, and other reformers on the committee argued for the plan, it appeared too radical for the businessmen to accept fully. Consequently, the committee recommended only that the city make further investigations of the plan and give it "careful consideration!' That the 42 Daniel Nelson, Unemployment Insurance: The American Experience, 1915-1935 (Madison, Wis., 1969), 1-27. Bread line at the rear of the Knickerbocker Hotel. From the New York Tribune, January 30,1915.