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ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
j .S,
'T✓ •ft,
(SECRETARY) OF COMMERCE AND LABOR
1904
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1904
Digitized by
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DEPARTMENT OF ColDIERCB AND LABOR
Document Xo. 28
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
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CONTENTS.
Page.
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Introduction .••.•••.••••••.•.••. •••.•.......•. . •...• . •.•••.•.••••••.... . .
Appropriations and expenditures •..••.• . ... ... ..••• • ..•.•....••.••••..•..•
Estimates ••• . . .•. •.•.• • ••••..•.•..••••......••....•.•......•.•. •.....•.•.
Plan of organization •••••.• • ••.••... •.......•.•..••..••••••..•.••.•.•...•.
Special investigations ••.....•.......... •..•.•.....•..•••.•....•. •.•••.....
Pel'l'Qnnel of the Department. . .. .. ....... . . . ...•. . .. • . •.•. . ••....•...... .
Purchase of supplies ••••.•••....... . •..... . ....•...•...•.....•.......•••.•
Printing ..•....•..••.•.•.•...•...•...... . ....... • •. •....••.•.... . ..•..•.•
Books and blanks . •• . •.•...... . ••••...... •.....•••........•. . ........
Telegraph and telephone service .................•.. .• .......•.. • •• ••• . .. . .
Bureau of .Manufactures . •.•••. . .. . •. •. •.•.•.•. •.•...•.... •....•.•.•........
Bureau of Corporations .••.....•........... , ..•.. . .. . ...•...........•. . ..•
Bureau of Labor ..•... •.•.•.....•...................•.•• •••••.•..•••• •• •.•
Light-House Board .••. • ••. •.. . ...•............. • . . . . ............. . .......
Bureau of the Census ..••.•...... . .. . .....•.... • . •. . . ... . . .. .. •. . .. . •.. . •.
Special reports .•. . •.••.........•....••........ . .......•.... •. ........
Philippine cenBUB ....•• . .• . ..•.•.. ••. . ••. .. ...•.•.••••..•.. •. •.•.. • .•
1'li1!cellaneous work .••. • . . .....••••••.•.••.......•.............•.•...•
Tabulating appliances .•. . ....... . .•..................•... •. ......•. • •
Coast and Geodetic Survey • . •........ . ....... •• ........ •.•.... . . •... •. .•..
Bureau of Statistics ..•.. •......••..•.... . .•.... . ......•..•••.••...•.....•.
Steamboat-Inspection Service: . .. ...•••••.. . .. .• •......•.......•.•. ••.•....
Expenses ............ . ...... . . . .............. . ....... . .......... . ... .
Inspection of vessels •.•••... ••. .. . . . .. .. . . . . .• • ••.•.••. • .• .• .... . .. . . •
Officers licensed •. ••.••.•. .. ......••.• . .•.. . .........•......... . .•...•
Inspection of steel plates •.•••.••..••••••..•.•.....•••••• . .. •......•.••
Casual ties. . . . • • . . • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • . . . • . • • • . • . • . • . . . . . . • . . .. • .........•
Disaster to the steamer General Slocum •..•.....•..... •.•••. • .. . •. •.••.
Bureau of Fisheries ...••..•••••••.•.•••• • •••.... • .·.. . .•.•..•......• • •.•.•.
Fish propagation .• •.•....•..•..••••..•........••.....•.. . ...... . .•. . •
Investigations connected with the fisheries ...••••...••••.••....•.......
Alaskan salmon fisheries •••.••..••••.•.•.•••. •...•.. : . .•..•.....•.•.•.••.•
Alaskan fur-seal service ...•••.•• • ••••....... . ...•...•.•••.. . . •.. •.........
Seal catch of 1904 ••••••.•.. • •........ . .•.•• • ••• . .....•. • .•.• • ... • ....
Fox raising .•... •• .•.....•............ . ........................ . .....
Care of natives .••.••••..•..••........•.•.•••...•...•.•.•••.•.•••..•..
Bureau of Navigation ••••• . ••....•..•.. •••...••••..•.•..... •... . ••........
Tonnage tax ....•......•••.••..•....... •. •.... . . . .....•. . ..•. . .......
Remission of penalties .••••••••••• •.•.•...••.•.....••........ . ........
United States shipping commissioners . • . •....•.•..•••• : •...•.... ••.. . ..
Bureau of Immigration • •••••••••••••.. . •...•...•.........••.. •.•.•.•.•.••
The Chinese exclusion laws ............. . ......... . .................. .
C-Ollt of the immigration service .. • •• •...........••..••... . •.•.• •..•.••
Legislation recommended ........ • . •...•...•••••••.•.. •...•...•.......
Bureau of Standards •..•..•...•••••••..•. • ••.....•........•••.•••••.•...••
Wireless telegraphy .•.... • •••.•••••.•.••.•.. • .. • • •• . . •••....••...•...••..
Conclusion ••••••.•.••.•..•.•••••..•••...•....••......••.•. . •• . .. • ••••••.•
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ANNUAL REPORT
OJ' THE
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE. AND LABOR.
DEPARTMENT OF CoMMERCE AND LABOR,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
Washington, JJecembe1· 1, 1904,
To the PRESIDENT:
I have the honor to submit herewith, for transmission to Congress,
in accordance with the provisions of the organic act, the annual report
of this Department.
The present organization of the Department is practically as presented in the first annual report of the Secretary. The Bureau of
Manufactures, authoiized under the organic act, was not organized
during the past year because of the insufficiency of the appropriation. The complete organization of the Secrete.rf s Office was postponed for a. similar reason.
APPROPRIATIONS AND EXPENDITURES.
The itemized statement of expenditures from the contingent fund
of the Department of Commerce and Labor will be transmitted to
CongreS!.4 in the usual form.
The following ta.hie shows the objects and amounts of the annual
appropriations for the fo!Cal year ended June 30, 1904, of the balances
of appropriatiom1 for public works which, under the law, are expended
without regard to any particular fiscal yea.r, available July 1, 1903,
and of permanent indefinite appropriations:
·- -
-
- -
- - , ~n:u:1 ::-~ ~;;r-:-p~a~ ~~~~r~t
proprla• 1 !Ions for
rla
I tlon•, 1904. I public works. ; apfl~':r... •
i
. - . · ·- • -· . .. '-- - - - - - - - - Office or the Secretarv or Commel'<'e and Lnhor
and Burea1L• of Corporatloll!I and Manufac•
I
B= ·or Labor:::::::::::::::::::::::::.:::: ::'4~:m::
1
T Gra~~
_ __
I
I
tota s•
1_ - - - ·
I
1: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
~ ~: ~
: :
Llght•HOlll'CBoard .... . . . ....... . ...•........ ... ' 44,260. 00 I······· "· ···· ·. ..... ... .. ..
44, 2ti0.00
Llght•Rowie &tabll,,hment .. . . ... . .........• .•. ,3, h-16, 000. 00 ,. . . . . . . . . . . • . • . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 5-16, 000. 00
l,lght•hou-, bea<'ons, fogslgnalR, etc ..• .... .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . "83,329,2211. 25 ·. .. . . . . . .... . a,at9,:!'26. 2.5
Bun,au of the Cen•u• . . .... . ...... . . . .. . •...... . 1, 396, i49. f>9 \. .. • .. • • • .. .. • • .. • • • • • • • • • .. 1,396, 749 . .511
Bureau or Statl•tl<'s . .. . ... . .. .. .. .. . .. . ... .. .. . . 1 6.5, niO. 00 ' ............... ·. . . . . . . .. . .. .
o,,, 6i0. 00
a The unexpended balance July 1, 1903. of thl' npproprlatlons for the li!!C&I years 1903 and 1904. nud
tht' dcHclency apw-oprlatlon for the Hl'Cal year 1904.
b The aggregate of 10!! Items of appropriations made nt dlllerent times by Congre,,s for repairs to
and the erection of llght•hOW<eS, beacons, fotl' signal•, Jlght••hlps. Jlght•house depoLs. et<•. , remaining
unexpended July 1, 1903. Contraci.. have been made, or will be made 11.'1 !<00t11Ls plans und sp<'<'illca•
lions l'an be prepared and approve<!, that will require the expenditure of tht' Pntlre sum. Of the
amount, '1,188.100 was appropriated by the ,wt of Congre,ia approved Man.,h a. 190:1, t•ntltlcd "An
act making appropriation• for sundry civil cxpenflef< of the Government for the fl.cul year <'tided
June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and four, and for other purposes."
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Dlg1tized by
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REPORT OF THE SECRET.ARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
I Annual ap- j Approl)rla·
proprlR•
tlona for
I tlons,
1904. • public works.
I
Permanent
Indefinite
apfi'iJ'a~a• ·
1
I
Grand
totals.
- - - - - - - - - - - .- - ·-1
- --0~1~::=~1~:~::1~~~~~~~~~~·.~~~:.1 811,940. 00 :1· ·············· · ·· ·· ··!· ·· ·· 111,940.00
Steamboat-lnapeetion Service ... .•. . . . ... . .... . .. . ............. •• ...... . •. .. 1388,So9. 70
388.Sa9. 70
Bureau of Navigation . ... . . •. . . . .. ..... ..•. . .• •. , 26,480. 00 .... . . •• •••• ... ,.... ......... [
Salaries, shipping R<!rYlce.... . . . . .. .. . ... . . ..... . . . •• • . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . .
60, 90li. 89 ,
Services to American veaaels . . ... . . .. . . . . . ...... · ... •. . •. . .. • . ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10, 63S. 1fl
............
26,480.00
60,906. 8\\
10, 633.37
1
R!~U:Ct~~.~~'.~1~ ••~~. ~~~~ • •~~~~l~~~~. j
_1 •.... ... ...... 2,1188. 87 1 2, 988. 87
Bureau of Navigation. . .. . . . .... . ... .. ... . . . . . . .
19,426. 00 I.. .. ... . ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19,426. 00
Ex pell8ell of regulatl ng Immigration . .. .. . ... .•. , . . ... . ...... . ·, . . . .. . . . . . . .... 1, 304, Sll8. 81 1, 304, Sll8. 31
Enforcement of the Chinese-exclusion act . . . .. 500,000. 00 . . . . •. .... . . .. . . .. .. .. . . . . ... 500. 000. 00
Enforcement of alien contract labor laws . . . . . . u,o, 000. 00 ... .• .. . •. ...... . . . . . ... ... . , 150,000. 00
Ferryboat, New lalRnd, repairs, etc. , at Ellis
,
Island, N. Y. , Immigrant •tation · · · ··· · · · ·· · · •· · · · · · · · ·· ·· · •, 181fl,646. 90 ' . . . . . . .. . .. .. : 387,546. 90
Bureau of Standards.. . . . .. . .. ... . .. . .. . . .. .... . 111.\, 960. 00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . .
195, 950. 00
CO&•t and Geodetic Survey . . . .• •.. .. . .. . . . . .... a 918,285. 06
119, 601. 62 . . . . .. . . . . . . . 1 1, 037,886. 68
Bureau of Fisheries . . ... ... . .. . ... . ........ . .. . . li37,640. 00 ,. ... . ..... . .. .. . . . ... . .....• , 537,640. 00
Fish hatcheries, launch, steRmer, etc . ... . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •
162, 280. 68 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
162,280. 68
eai1:1ra::t~~.~~.~~.~~~.~.~~~~.~~~~~'.".'.
Supplle11 for nat!Ye Inhabitants. Alaska .. . ... ..
Expenses, Inspectors of pelagk ~al •kins . .. . ..
· Protection of salmon fisheries of Alaska . .. . .. . .
Publication of diplomatic, consular, and com•
merclal reports.... .. . . .. .. . ... . .. ........ . ... .
Contingent expenses, bureaus transferre<t from
Treasury Department, Including rents; and
postage. numbering machines, etc . ..... . . . . . .
Salaries of positions transferred from State De-
Safa~':.%,oe.ittoni ·ti-ariiiierni.i" iniin ·-rN!Miiry ·
Department. . .. .. . . . . . .. . . . .... ... .. .... . .. ...
Mlacellaneous Items of appropriations trans•
ferred from Treasury Department . ... . ..• .. . .
Repall'!I of Butler Building ..... . ... .. . . .. . ..•...
Shel Ying and tran• ferrlng records • . . .... .. . . . ..
Repairs and beating Rppamtll8, Richards Build·
Ing .. ... . . . . .. .. . .. ... .. ... .. . . . .......... . . . . .
·············i
12, 950. 00 j....... .... ....
16,000. 00 . .• .• . . . ... .. . .. . . ... . . . .. ..
100. 00 •,. . .... . . . . . . . •.. . . •... . ... .. :
7,000. 00 .. .• .. •. . •. ..... . .. . . .....•. 1
12,950. 00
u,, 000. 00
100. 00
7,000. 00
40,000. 00 • . . . • . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40,000. 00
I
19,052. 00 .. . •. .• . .• . .. . .... • . . . .. . . . .
19,052.00
a, 100. 00
6,700.00
11,640.00 .... .• .. . . . •.. . . . . •. . •. •.. •.
11,640. 00
1,~:~
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::1
266.40 . . .. . ..•. • .. •. . . . . . •.. . .. .. .
66i. oo
1,000.00
266.40
8,682.00
8,682.00
Total.. . ._._·._._· ._. . _·._._·._.. ._._·. _. ._._·._.·.:_
· ._._·. ·-·~s_,m
__•433.
_ _1_1~ _s_,948_,_6&>
_ .46~6.7, 286. 1~.E:_745· 874. 70
a
Of this amount '200,760.06 ls to be expended without regard to fiscal year .
. The following tahle shows the disbursements made by the disbursing clerk of the Del:'9-rtment for the fiscal year ended ,June 30, 1H04:
- --
- __A_p_p_ro_p_rla_tl
_o_n a : - - ----,- _Fl_rst_-,-_S_e-c ond I Th.I ~ ,Fourth
, quarter. quarter. quarter. quarter.
- ,-
- 1- -1- - -
I
Total.
- ' -
I
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Salarl<.>•, Department of Commerce and
I
Labor, 1903 and 1904 ........ ..• . . . . , ... . .. . . 118, 441. SO 922,429. 34 ,f'.!6, 788. 77 •'45, 203. 80 I 1112,813. 21
Salarh!M and expenses. speeial agents, De• 1
I
partment of Comme rce and Labor, 1903
I
"
,
and 1904 . .... . . .. . . . . . .. . . ... . . . .. .... . . . . . . 7,016. 06 11,239.60 13, ,59. 77 , 21.617. 66
li3, 693.09
Rent, D<•pnrtment of Commerce and Labor,
I
:
1903and 1004 . . . . . . . .. . . . . ... .. .. . . . .... . ... . 3, 91.1, 3'! ' 2,0M.. 98 3, 124.13 I 3,082.47 1 12, 20!.90
Contingent ex~nses, Department of Com• J
"
I
• :,
I i i'>, 8'.!1. 68
m erce and Labor, 1903 and 1904 . . . ... . .. . . . 16, ,AA. 46 1 24, o19. 44 14, f,50. 9f> , 20, 918. 69
Salaries, Department of Labor. 1904 . . . . .. .. . . 26, 483.87 26,119. 311 26,595.00, 26, 263.41
106, -161 . 16
Ml•cellaneous expenses, Department of ,
I..abor, 1904 . . .. . .. . .. ...... . . . . . ... . . .... . . . 1 12,326.71 18, 640. 98 . 16,863. 62 12,788. 96 1 59,619. 2i
Stationer,·, Drpartment of Labor, 1004 . . . . . . •.
17.10 1
102. 00 1
456. 24 : . . . . . • . . . . .
f.>7,'>. 34
I..lbran·,be.,..rtmentofLabor, 1904 ... . . . . . . .
124.92 1
6-1. 31
291.6R
417. 69
898. 60
Rent, bepartment of Labor, 1904 . . . . .. . .. .... 1, 125. 00 1 1, 687.50 , 2, 250.00 1,687. 50
6, 700. 00
I _ I ,
I
~·~•;t~~.~~~.~~~~~-.~~~~~~~·t·~~.~~~: . I
l'Ot<tag<• to Postal 1·0 1011 countries, DepRrt• '
mcnt of Labor, 1904 .. . .. . .... . .. .. . . .. . .... ,
SalRrle•. Bureau of 8tatl•tlcs, 1904 .. . . . . ... .. . '
Collel'ting •tat.istlcs relating to l'ommerce,
1904. . . .. ...... .. . . ... . . ... .. . . .. . .... . . . .. . .
Publlt·ation of diplomatic, <•onsular, and
commcrcltil reports, 1904 . . .. . . . . . .. .... .. ..
SalRrlffi, Olflce of I..lght•How,e Board, 1904 . . •
SalRrle.. Bureau of Navigation, 1904 . •. •. . . . .
Balarle-., National Bureau of Btandardia, 1904.
~~~~.•:~-.~~'.~~~~.1. ~~~.~ .~'..~~~.~~~~:. 1
I
21 3. 39 ,
446. 33
1
MS.27
160. 00 ·. •• • . . . . . . ..
150. 00
16,412.29 1' 16, i20. 33 16, 817. 50
620. :lO
1,257.98
2, 470. 97
160. 00 :
16,344. !tl I
450. 00
66, 29i'>.04
888. 10
954. 46
1,,587.24
4, 000. 00
2,214.27 J 4, 476.40
10,382. 61 10, 686. 46
6,644.17 1 6,226. 40
15, 715. 00 17, 522. 01
14,110.17
10, 811, 7/i
6,202. 14
18, 075.47
7, 012. 96 ;
JO, 716. 11 I
6, 385.14 I
1s,4!2. u
27,812.79
42,596.83
26, 356. Sf>
69, 7f>l.o9
5,662. 02 : 19, 057. M
28,288.83
13, 677.61
66,61\5.81
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF 00:Mlf.ERCE AND LABOR.
:
---~-----,- - - - - - -- - -Appropriations.
I First
Second
Third
Fourth
Total.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ · quarter. I _quartei::__ _q_ua
_ r_te_r_.-1-q_u_a_rte_r_._t-----
W:,fW~~~=~~f~~~ ~~~.~~:~~~~.I ...........:........... ...........
Genersl expenses, National Bureau of Stand•
1
iiiLvei1iii
·aieiitii. 11 •9o8. 86 j 12•2'l0. 5,i
eeal fisheries or Alaska, 1904.. ..... . .... .... .. . .. .. .. . • . 2,193. 9S
--...., Protection or salmon ftaherles of Alatoka, 1904.
910. 3S I I, 911. 74
Salaries, Bureau of Immigration, 1908 and I
1904........... ... .. ...... ...... .... ....... .. 4,407.90 I 3,993.08
Salaries, Office of Supervlafng Inspector•Gen• ·
eral, Steamboat,.Inspectlon Service, 1904.. . i, 887. 20 3, 0711. 63
Salarle11, S«iamboat•lnspectlon Service . . . •. . . 75,1:ln.03 76, 048. 23
Contingent expenMes. Steambo&t•Inapectlon i
I
Service ••...... .. •.... .. .. •. •.•••. • .• •.• . •• · 121,462.611 , 16,664.00
Enforcement of the ChlntlMH!xcluslon act,
1
1904 .. . .. . ... .. .... .. ........ . .... ... .. .. . .. ·I 41,748. 31 91, m. ss
Exro;n11es of regulatln'- Immigration ......... 248, 0'.!8. IM .32S, 461. 88
s:i~~
::ii
·exiieiiiie,<ii
l,500. 00
S500.00
12, 076. 41
3,003. 80
9,269.62
2,799. 05
1, SSS.80
1,101.06
1, 26'2. 47
6,094.05
6,418.36
4,674.38
6, 580.46
18,655.81
2,985.00
, 76,738.18
2, 981i. 00
76,407. 96
11,936. 73
304,3111. 89
iii·:
J
11,368.49 16,662.26
66,047. ss
.
11oi, 122.14 12-~. 136. 97
342, us. 76
314,016.88 .8,9, 389. 66 1,266,897.26
~~. ~~~. ~~'.~~~~1.~.~~. i 11, 8'20. 28 :... .... ... _' . . ... ...... 1 148. 31
MifJcellaneous expen&el!, Department of ·
'
,
Labor, 1903 •• .• •. •••• . 1. . .......... .. ...... . 1 1,093.90 1........... 1............... . ..... .
1
Contingent expen-, Department of Labor,
1
~sik~~'.'.1~~~ .
~~.t: .
P=rvaiioti·o; cetiiiua·ieC<inis: cetiiiiiiiomc"e: ! SM.61 ,.......... ·i·...... ·.. : ·.. ······..
d~ngeiii .e;t"iieii~: ·0ei>arimeiii oi ·eoin:·1 1,410.00 . 1, 436. n . 1,410. 00 1, 200. oi
merce and Labor, 1904 ( bureaua trans• 1
ferred):
I
Statfonery .... .... . . ........ . ... ....... .•. 1,313.76 1 2,331.17 .
30.116 I
Sew:l:':pers and books .............. .. ... ,
Ill. 00
11, 968. 69
l,09S. 90
5, 516.76
I
S,972.99
166. 49
281.111
89. 96
181. 99
:.!02.63
273.16
232.00
722. 66
11, 764. 90
206.00
456. 2.S
232.30
I. .. .. .. ... .
10, Ml. 16
F1,~\f:1;J1!~t
\~~~~'.:°.'. ~~~'.~~•~!. ~~~~~ .11,476. 2ii I........... :........... I. .... .. ... .
Protection of 11almon ft•heries of Ahu1ka, I
1,476.25
1~. ~'. ~!~.~~~•. ~~:::::::::::::::::::
f::
~:~~.I
File holders and ca11es .. . ...... ... ....... I....... · · ..
1•.. ...
327. 81
• 75
63. 43
M. 50
~u~
~:: I. ... ~~:·.'.:.
126. 7'l ...........
M.27
Gaio. etc.. . .. • .. • .. .. .. • • .. .. • . • . • • . .. • .. . •
32. 66 I
59. 66
55. 91
64.40
Carpets and repall'!I ... . ............ . . .. .. ·......... ..
16.Ut I
I.... ~~~:~~.
MIS<'ellaneous Item•. ..... ...... .. ........
63. 29
Furniture, etc . . .. .......... ... . .... . . ....
2. 30 ,
716. Sf> , ...........
4. 00
Rent ......... ........ ........... ..... ..... 3,034.96
1,939. 99
3,246.64 , 3,543. 31
P011tage ...... . ....... .. . .... . ... . .. . .... . ..... [........... , ........... 1
206.00 I· ... .... .. .
Numbering, adding, and other machines . .. . • ... .. • •. ..
48. oO
897. 76 ,
10. 00
RepalrstoButlerBulldlng,Washlngton . D.C-i, ....... .. . .......... .. 1 167. 00
66.30
1
2,641.68 I 1,068.2? . ...... .............. .
Publication of dlplollllltlc. corumlar, and ·
I
commercial reports. 1903 .. .. • • . .. . .. .. . .. ..
961. 13 9,600. 03 ...........
General expell&el!, National Bureau of Stand• ,
1
.
ards, 1903 . • • • • • .. • • .. . .. .. • . .. • .. . . . .. . .. . ..
119. 50 I
66. 29 , • . .. • . .. . .. .. . . .. • .. ..
tr,~: ig I
~~~•~~~•. ~~~~~~~. . ~~•~'.~.~~.~~~.~~~~'..
1
1903 ....... . .. . ........ ... .. .. . . . .. ... .. . .. .. ,
601.30 ,..... ..... ....... .... .... .. .. .. ..
Steel twln•,crew ferryboat. Ellis Island, N. Y . 1.. . . . . . . . . .
26. !lS · M, 1114. 03 38,234.10
New Island near ElliR l•land, N. Y ... .. .. . ... .. . . .. .. . ..
128. 12 .. . . ... .. .. ,..... . .. . ..
Repall'II, etc .. propeny at EIII• l•land, N. Y
20,346.91 · 13, 574. 74 · 1,950. 86 ·.... . . ... ..
Salarle,iand travellngexpenRCSof agen!llat,
I
,
eeal ftRherlesln Alllllka. 1903 ................ ,........ .. .. f>,471 . 20 ,.. .... .............. ..
Repair,, and heating apparatus, Rlchurd• I
i
·
1
'dulldlng. Department of Commerce and
Labor,1901 . . .. ..... . ........... .. ... . ....... 1...... . .. .. 1
37.50 ........ . ..
105.60
··I
3,609. 98
186. 79
601.30
93,444.98
1211. 12
35,871.50
5, 471.20
143. 00
Total ......... .. ......................... &14, 9"',J. OM ;42, 386, 6ii i83. cm. 33 1\4:1, 244.43 12,968,603.49
The disbursements during the fisc1tl year ended ,June 30, 1904, from
the annual appropriation!'! for that year, from the appropriations for
public works, and from the permanent imlC'finite appropriations dming
the !:lame fiscal yellr were a8 follows:
By the disbursing clerk, Department of Commerce and Labor, on
account of salaries and expenses of the Office of thE'! Secretary of
Commerce and Labor, the Bureaus of Corporations, Labor, Statistics, Navig-<ltion, Immigration, and Standards, the Light-Holl8E'!
Board, the office of the Supervising Inspector-Ueneral of the Steamboat-Inspection Service, expen8e8 of regulating immigration, ex•
peIU!eS of enforcing the Chinese exclusion act, salaries and expenses,
,...
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COIDIERCE AND LABOR.
Steamboat-Inspection Service at large, salaries and expenees of
agents at seal fisheries in Alaska, protection of salmon fisheries
of Alaska, publiration of diplomatic, consular, and commercial
reports, and supplies for native inhabitants of Alaska {shown in
detail in the above table of expenditures) ...••..••.••••.•••.••••• $2,953,603. 49
By the disbursing clerk, Bureau of the Census, on account of salaries
and expenses of the Bureau of the Census........................ 1,189,411.90
By the special disbursing agent, Coast and Geodetic Survey, on
account of salaries, expenses, and public works of the Coast and
Geodetic Survey .......•..........•................••.•...••••.
764,464.57
By the special disbursing agent, Bureau of :Fil!lheries, on account of
salaries, expenses, and public works of the Bureau of Fi>1heries ...
590,877.05
By the special disbursing agents of the Immigration Service at large.
41,504.46
By the engineer and naval l!leeretaries of the Light-House Board,
inspectors and engineel'!I detailed from the Army and Navy to duty
in the Light-House EstahliRhment. .. ............... •• . . . . . . • . . • 4,680,135.52
By custom,i officers! on account of witnesR' fees in steamboat investi•
gations •.....••.........•......•.•........•......•.••••.•..•.•
346.46
By the Auditor for the State and other Departments on ac.count of all
the bureau11, offices, and services, from annual appropriations for
the fiscal year ended June 30, 1904, appropriations for public
works, and permanent indefinite appropriations ...........••.•..
141,532.11
Total disbursements during the fiB<'al year . • • . . . . . . • • . . . . . . .
10, 361, 875. 56
Recommendation iis made that, as far a.~ practicable, the disbursing
offices authorized by law and now existing in some of the 8ubordinate bureaus be consolidated with the disbursing office of the
Department of Commerce and Labor. Such a consolidation will
result in a saving of both time and expense in the examination of
accounts and the payment of voucher8. The bookkeeping of the
Department will be simplified and the exact 8tatus of accounts and
balances of appropriation8, including the balances of advances on
requisitions, can be 8.8Certained without difficulty, a..-, the ledgers of
the Department will show the dishursements from day to day.
~honld consolidation be effected, the work of diisbursing the appropriations of the Department and the several bureaus and offices thereof
will come unde1· the personal supervision of the Se<"retary.
ESTIMATES.
The estimates for the Department, submitted for the fiscal _year
ending ,June 30, 1906, ha,·e heen prepared after a most. careful consideration of the actual needs of the Department and iti; rnrious bureau:;,
offieeis, nnd 'lf'l'\"ices. In the aggregat(', there wa,; a material recluc•
tion from the amounts first submitted hy the burenus, it being my
desire to eliminate for the <·oming year all increases that might,
without injury to the proper growth of any sl'rdce, he postponed
to a futme time.
One of the items of incn•use in the estimates is the amount requested
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. REPORT OF THE SIWRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
9
for the proper organization of the Office of the Secretary. The
original appropriations were insufficient to furnish the Secretary
adequate assistance for the mere routine administration work necessa.·
rily connected with the conduct of the Department. The estimates
for the Secretary's Office call for only four clerks in addition to those
now employed, but of those now employed nine are on detail from
various bureaus of the Department and should be returned to the offices
to which they belong, where their services are required.
PLAN OF ORGANIZATION,
The organization of the Department has been conducted along lines
in harmony with the appropriations authorized by Congress for the
current fiscal year. In some instances the work has been hampered
by reason of an insufficient force of employees, and it is hoped that
Congress will remedy this difficulty.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS,
In the estimates l have included a provision for an appropriation
to be expended under the immediate direction of the Secretary for
the investigation of trade conditions at home and abroad, with the
object of promoting the domestic and foreign commerce of the United
States, and for other purposes. A similar request, made in the first
annual report, was denied by Congress, but the result of the year's
work conclusively demonstrates that the main investigation contemplated will be of great value to the commercial interests of the country.
The growth of our foreign trade can be materially and immediately
helped by sending skilled and trained men to study and report upon
special conditions in the great world markets.
lo addition to the mo.in purpose the appropriation is needed also
"for other purposes." It is of the utmost importance that a fund be
available for expenditure under the immediate direction of the Secretary for the employment of special agents for the inspection and examination of the services of the Department. On account of the limitations
which the law very properly imposes with reference to the expenditure of funds, it is impossible, without such a fund, to promptly meet
such emergencies as frequently arise.
Money appropriated for contingent expenses, or for a special or general purpose, can not be used for official or clerical compensation, and
executive officers are prohibited from employing help beyond provision made by law. Usually the annual appropriations are barely
sufficient to enable the bureaus and offices to dispose of routine work,
and provision is seldom, if ever, made for emergency work. The situation which arose in connection with the General Sk<m,m disaster is in
point. In that instance the Department had no funds which could
13640-2
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REPORT 1ov THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
lawfully be used to proyide either for a reinspection of the pai;senger
steamers in the port of New York or for 11 general investigation of
the service. Yet both the inspection and the investigation were
necessary. ,
I am informed that for years a '' division of special agents" has
been maintained in the Treasury Department. These special agenb1
are available for detail on any subject of investigation or inspection
connected with the Department, and in the main are detailed to report
on the work of the branches of the public service outside of the District of Columbia. Of the7,610employeesof the Departmentof Commerce and Labor outside.of the District of Columbia, 6,754 are connected with bureaus and offices formerly under the jurisdiction of the
Treasury Department. In order to continue the efficiency of these
services, it is imperative that provision be made for special investigations and inspections either as herein recommended or as maintained
while the branches of the service referred to. were part of the Treasury
Department.
l'ERSONNEL OF THE DEPARTMENT.
. On November 10, 1904, there were in the Department 9,210 regular
pote1itions. Of these, 1,812 were specifically authorized by law, and
7,398 were provided for under general appropriations that do not
create specific positions.
Persons employed temporarily under general appropriations, except
14 persons engaged on the Philippine census, 50 persons paid from
the unexpended balance of the twelfth census appropriation, and 650
special agents engaged in the collection of the statistics of cotton production, are not included in these figures. This clMs of temporary
employments is very large in some of the bureaus: for instance, under
~he law (act of March 3, 1899, sec. 8, amended, 30 Stat. L., 1015)
requiring a decennial census of statistics relating to special classes,
more than 6,000 special agents have been employed for various periods
durieg the present calendar year in the Bureau of the Census. There
are also employed in that Bureau 8 special agents for the collection
of the statistics of the quinquennial census authorize<l in section 9 of
the act of March 6, 190~, that are not included in the above total of
9,210.
Temporary laborers and mechanics employed under the engineers
of the various light-house districts are also omitted. During the
present calendar year 1,174 employments of this character have been
authorized. In the Bureau of Fisheries, from January 1 to August
31 of this year, there have been employed for various periods more
than 1,500 spawn takers, hatchery attendants, laborers, etc. These
have also been omitted. Smaller classes of temporary employees, omitted hy reason of payment from a general appropriation, are as follows:
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REPOBT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
11
Ten special agents in the Bureau of Corporations, 25 employees in the
Immigration Serdce at large, 6 in the Coast and Geodetic Sur,,ey,
and 2 in the Bureau of Fisheries.
The accompanying table shows the positions under the Department
by bureaus, offices, and services, whether statutory or otherwise, and
their distribution within and outside of the District of Columbia. In
this table the entire personnel of the Office of the Secret.ary and of
the Bureaus of Corporations, Manufactures, Labor, Statistics, and
Standards is treated as within the District of Columbia. In the cases
of the Light-House Establishment, the Bureaus of Immigration and
Navigation, and the Steamboat-ln11pection Service the figures show
the persons actually sen·ing within s.nd outside of the District. In the
Bureau of Fisheries all station employees, except those at the central
station at Washington, employees at large, distribution employees, two
local agents in the division of statistics and methods of the fisheries,
and employees in the vessel service are treated as outside. In the
Coast and Geodetic Survey the crews of vessels, and in the Bureau of
the Census the cotton-gin agents, are treated as outside. It will be
observed that of the 9,210 positions under the Department 1,600 are
in the District of Columbia and 7,610 outside.
I Positions
I
not statu- In the Dis- Outalde the
~f~~7'. Itory
(lump trlct of District of
approprl· Columbia. Columbia.
Bureau, office, or aervlce.
""""'
Office of the Secretary • . • • . • •• • • • . • . • . . . . . • . . • • . • • • • . .
Bureau of Corporations... . ... . ...... . ... . .. ... .......
Boreau of Manufactures. . .. . ..... .. .. . . . . . ......... ..
Bureau of Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • • • . • . . . • . • . . . • • • . . . . . . •
Light-Bouse Establishment • . . • •• • . •• . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bureau of the Censllll . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . • • . . . . . • . . . . . • . . .
,
1
atlons).
126 . . . . • • • • • . • .
J2li ••••• ••• • • • •
47
16
62 . .•.• . . . • .. •
80
S6
664
20
f>, 246
729
1: , · • • • • • •5,•246
,.
d=n
7...,
"""
12 . ... . . .. . ...
I
~=:~1g~s'i~~~~.~~~~.::::::'. ::::::::::::::::::::
2:i1661 II
~
46
:~=~~:~~erttton:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
~ 1···· ·····M·
Bureau of lmmf:mtton . ....... . .. .. . .• . . .. .. . . ..•. . . • ~ 8
l , 193
Steamboat-ln@pectlon Service • . • . . • • . . • • . • . . • . • . . . . . •
12 ...•. . . . .•. .
~
. ..... . ... ~'.
t
~
7
:lil6
18
1, 193
71 I_
·._.._.._._
· . _.·➔
• _ _ _1_1_1: ••_••_._
· . _·._••_••
1
Bureau of Standards .. ... ..,...... . . . ....... .. . . . . ... . .
Total. . .. . .. . . .. .. . . .. ........ .. ... ... ..... . . . . ..
1, 812
I
7,898
1, 600 j
7,610
In the District of Columbia •.• .• •.•.• •.• .... .•. .•..•. .. .. •.•.. . ... .. . .. . • . . .• •. .. . ... . •. .. .
Outl!lde the District of Columbia .•.. .• ..•.... . . ....•... •.... . .. .• ... ..•• . .• . •. .. . .. •••• ... .
1, 600
7, 610
•
Orand total . . ... ...• .. .. . ..• . ••.. . ...•.•. . •. . . •. .•• • •••. •..•... . . . ••.• ...
. ... . •.. •...
9, 210
•
PURCHASE OF SUPPLIES,
Stationery and supplies for the entire Department in Washington,
with the exception of supplies that are purely technical-such as
scientific instruments and apparatus-and st.ationery for the entire
service outside of ·wa,1:;hington, have been purchased by the Secretary's
Offic.e during the past year at the best contract prices of the other
Executive Departments, and for the coming year will be purchased
under contracts which have already been made. Uniformity in the
stationery and supplies used throughout the Department has been
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMKERCE AND LABOR.
insured and lower prices consequent upon wide competition and
contracts for large quantities have been obtained.
Economy in clerical labor has resulted from consolidating in one
division of the Department all the work relating to obtaining bids,
making contracts, purchasing, issuing, and accounting for stationery
and supplies. A further saving in this direction could be effected if
the various contingent funds of the bureaus were consolidated into a
single funq to be controlled by the Secretary's Office, thus doing away
with the clerical work necessitated by the present cumbersome process
of reimbursing the Department appropriation for contingent expenses
from similar appropriations for those bureaus heretofore separately
appropriated for.
PRINTING.
Daring the past year the Department has assumed the conduct of
the relations of its bureaus (with the single exception of the Bureau
of tM Census) with the Government Printing Office, for the purpose of
promoting promptness and uniformity in its printing and of securing
accuracy and completeness of its records. A central editorial force
has been organized, which, in cooperation with the editorial forces
already employed in a number of the bureaus, will endeavor to secure
more uniform excellence of form and expression in the Department
publications.
In addition to its many other publications the Department has issued
se1ies of circulars and of decisions on appealed cases, which have been
printed immediately upon their preparation so as to place them as
promptly as possible in the hands of persons interested.
A history of the Departntent and its various bureaus and offices,
including the acts under which they were organized and are conducted,
has been pub~ished.
BOOKS AND BLANKS.
The transfer of certain bureaus from the Treasury Department to
this Department _necessitated the division between the two departments of a great number of blank forD,ls formerly used in the Treasury
Department. This division involved the settlement of a number of
difficult questions of departmental jurisdiction, and a joint commission was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to determine the proper 1LSsignment and
use of the formA in doubt. The work of this commission is now
nearly completed.
The transfer of these bureaus also necessitated the preparation of a
number of new forms. Many forms have been consolidated, thereby
eliminating unnecessary ones and reducing the cost of printing.
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.REPORT OF THE SECR'ETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
13
A new catalogue of the numerous forms now used in the Department is being prepared. In the course of its compilation the forms
are being revised in the interest of uniformity and simplicity, making
poi;sible a more systematic classiiication. All these forms are now distributed by a single division of the Department, and thus the work
is greatly simplified.
During the past year there have been printed and sent out to the
various services of the Department over four and one-quarter million
blanks and 75,000 books and pamphlets.
TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE 8ERYlCE.
The Department has installed an efficient telegraph and telephone
service. The question of reducing the cost of this Rervictr is being
carefully considered in connection with the service in th1 other
Departments, to the end that there may be obtained the greatest
degree of efficiency with the least possible expense.
BUREAU OF MANUFACTURES.
The Bureau of Manufactures, authorized under the organic act, was
not organized during the fiscal year covered by this report because of
the insufficiency of the appropriations.
BUREAU OF CORPORATIONS.'
.
I
The work of the Bureau of Corporations has proceeded along the
lines indicated in the first annual report of the Department.
The Bureau has made exhausth·e examination of judicial decisions
for the purpose of ascertaining fully those constitutional powers and
restrictions on which present conditions are based, and also those
which must be necessarily involved in any future legislation for the.
improvement of present legal corporate conditions.
For the purpose of ascertaining and presenting in a,·ailable form
the legal conditions under which corporate business is being carr_ied
on in the various States material obtained from thirty St.ates bas
been compiled and tabulated. In each of these States, with regard to
all the more import.ant corporations organized in the State and engaged
in interstate or foreign commerce, typical either of the State's industries or of its litws, every paper or document filed or recorded concerning
each corporation was examined separately, and all information relating
to each corporation disclosed by the official records has been collected
and compiled. There have been thus far examined and abstracted the
records of over 1,500 corporations, which include the larger part of the
more important industrial and commercial corporations, joint-stock
companies, and corporate combinations in the Cnited States.
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF OOllMEROE AND LABOR.
At the same time there has been collected the fulle.~t possible information concerning the various systems of corporate taxation in use;
whenever possible, there have been obtained statement.s, report.s, or
returns of the more important corporations; and, in addition, there
has been obtained a complete list of the foreign corporations admitted
to do business in the particular State, this record showing the name,
capital stock, and home State of each corporation. This record furnishes a convenient clew to corporations engaged in interstate commerce. The material now collected from twenty-five States on this
subject is as follows:
Fil'l!t. Abstracta of the records of specific domestic corporations.
Second. Abstract.a of the records of specific foreign corporations.
Third. List of foreign corporations admitted to the State to do business.
Fourth. Official forms of all corporate documenta required or permitted to be filed.
Fifth .• Transcripta of all records or returns UBed in connection with corporate
taxation, taken from typical originals.
There is now ready for publication a compilation of the Federal
and State statutes dealing with illegal industrial combinations-the
so-called antitrust laws. This will afford complete information of such
laws, showing in tabular and condensed form, so as to be readily available and easily comparable, their provisions, including the decisions
thereunder and a digest and dh.cussion of cases involving the commonlaw principles as to combinations in restraint of trade.
The compilation on a uniform outline of insurance laws has been
undertaken and completed in ten States. The Bureau has been in
communication with the insurance officials of all the States, and its
agent.s have conferred with representatives of a large number of insurance companies, officers of boards of underwriters, and insurance
agents, for the purpose of obtaining the best information possible
upon both the legal and the business side of insurance.
Federal control or regulation of insurance raises at the out.set the
question whether insurance in any of it.s forms is interstate commerce.
The decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States have established the legal proposition that fire, life, and marine insurance, in
the forms presented to the court, are not interstate commerce. If
this proposition be irrevocably settled, the powers of the Commissioner
of Corporations in reference to insurance are merely to collect and
compile such statistics and information as may be voluntarily furnished
to him. It would be useless to simply duplicate the statistics already
obtained by various State insurance officers.
The rapid development of insurance business, its extent, the enormous amount of money and the diversity of interes~ invoh·ed, and the
present business methods suggest that under existing conditions insurance is commerce, and may be subjected to Fede1·al regulation through
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
15
affirmative action by Congress. The whole question is receiving the
moat careful consideration upon both legal and economic grounds.
For the purpose of laying the foundation upon which direct investigations of special corporations can be intelligently conducted, the
Bureau has compiled, from sources other than the corporations themselves, all available information regarding certain leading combinations. From a careful analysis of this material it ha.'l been possible to
form preliminary judgments regarding the economic and financial
practices and effects of combinations in general, and to determine the
lines of furthn special inquiry. On the basis of this general study
preliminary outlines of inquiries to be addressed directly to the companies are being prepared.
The results of the investigation of the beef industry, authorized by
resolution-of Congress, will be made the subject of a special report.
The increase in appropriations requested for the Bureau is based
upon the actual cost of work hitherto done and the work now in hand
or contemplated. It is most strongly urged that the appropriations
be granted in the form requested, for the reason that the special character of the work makes it quite impossible to now de~rmine accurately the kind and quality of services that may he required during
the coming year. Much greater economy can be exercised in the
work of thiF3 Bureau if the major portion of its appropriations is in a
lump sum; and greater efficiency is possible, as specially qualified men
can be temporarily employed for particular investigations.
BUREAU OF LABOR.
In the organic act establishing this Bureau it is stated that its general
design and duties " shall he to acquire and diffuse among the people
of the United States useful information on subjects C?nnected with
labor, in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and
especially upon its relation to capital, the hours of labor, the t>..arnings
of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity."
In accordance with the general design and duties referred to, the
Commissioner of Labor is specially charged to gather information
with refere_nce to the cost of producing various articles, including the
wages paid in the different industries, the hours of labor, and the comparative cost of living and kind of living. It is also made his duty to
Meertain what articles are controlled by trusts or other combinations
of capita], business operations, or labor, and what effect such trm1ts or
other combinations of capital, business operations, or labor have on
production and prices. Among other subjects, he is further charged
to investigate the causes of and facts relating to all controversies and
disputes between employers and employees which may tend to inter-
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR,
fere with the welfare of the people of the diff'erent States. He is also
authorized to make special reports on particular subjects whenever
required to do so or when he shall think the subjects in his charge
require it.
The Commissioner of Labor reports that under these provisions of the
law the Bureau has been engaged during the past year in the collection of data for its nineteenth annual report (for 1904) and in the preparation of that report. The annual report for 1903 related to the cost
of living of workingmen's families and the retail prices of staple articles
of food used by 1-!Uch families. The report for the present year relates
to a subject closely allied-that of rates of wages and hours of lahorand is the result of an extensive investigation among the leading manufacturing and mechanical industries of the t: nited States covering the
period from 1890 to 1903, inclush·e.
The investigation relating to this subject was designed to cover
thoroughly the principal distinctive occupations in the leading industries belonging to this large industrial group in all sections of the
country, with a view to securing data which should be entirely representative of.conditions and show the trend of wages and hours of labor
during the period covered. The force available for the prosecution
of the work did not permit of the exten~ion of the im·estigation to
cover transportation, mining, agriculture, and the other great industrial groups. It was possible, however, with the force 11.,·ailable to
cover practically all of the leading manufacturing and mechanical
industries, the number of industries covered being 67, while the data
were secured from a total of 519 distincth·e occupations in 3,429
establishment~.
In addition to the preparation of the nineteenth annual report the
BurE>au has been engaged in the collection of material with reference
to convict lnbor, which will form the basis of its twentieth annual
report (the report for 1905). The collectiQU of data for this report
has been almost completed, and it is expected that the report itself
will be submitted early in the coming year. This report will relate
specially to the economic features of convict labor as employed in the
penitentiaries, prhmns, and jails of the C nited States.
Work will shortly be begun on the collection of data relative to
strike8 and lockouts in the United States, which will form the basis of
the annual report for 1906. The sixteenth annual report, publi8hed
in 1901, brought the facts relating to strikes and lockout'! down to and
including the year 1900. It is expected that the report for 1906 will
cover the period from 1901 to 1905.
In addition to work on the annual reports of the Bureau, a portion
of it.~ force has been engaged, pursuant to resolution of the Committee on Labor of the House of Repr01,,1entative~, in the collection of data
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
17
which will form the ba11is of a report upon the bill (H. R. 4064) now
pending in the House of Representative:,; entitled "A bill limiting the
hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed upon work
done fo1· the Vnited States or for any Territory or for the District of
Columbia, and for other purposes. ~,
The bimonthly Bulletin has been issued regularly every other month
during the past year, and each number· has contained, in addition to
one or more special articles, timely data relative to agreements between
employers and employees, digests of recent reports of State bureaus of
labor statistics, digests of recent foreign statistical publications,
decisions of courts affecting labor, and laws of various States relating
to labor. Among the special articles published during the past year
in the Bulletin are the following:
Labor Unions and British IndUBtry.
The Annual Index of Wholesale Prices, Covering the Period from 1890 to 1903.
The 'Cnion llovement among Coal Mine Workel'I!.
Child Labor in the l:nited States.
W~ and Cost of Living (a summary of the eighteenth and nineteenth annual
reports of the Bureau):
Building and Loan Aesociatione in the United States.
The bulletin for September (No. 54) is devoted to a description of
the exhibit of the Bureau at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and
contains reproductiom1 of the principal charts and photographs presented in that exhibit, together with the following series of po.pers
relating more or less closely to the various features covered by the
exhibit:
The Working of the 'Cnited States Bnreau of Labor.
Bureaus of StatistiC'S of Labor in the United States.
BureaUl' of Statil'tirs of Labor in Foreign Countries.
The Value and Inflnenre of Labor Statistics.
Strikes and Lockouts in the enited States, 1881 to 1900.
Wagei, in the rnit.e<l i-tatel' and Europe, 1890 to 190:t
COtlt of Living and Retail Price!' in the l'nited Statefl, 1890 to 1903.
Wholesale Price11 in the t·nited States, 1890 to 190:{.
Housing of the Working People in the United States by Employers.
Public Baths in the l:nite<l i,;t,ates.
Trade and Technical Education in the United States.
Hand and Machine Labor in the United States.
Labor Legi@lation in the United States.
Labor Conditions in Hawaii.
A special report entitled "Labor laws of the Unit(!d States," which
revises and brings down to date the second special report of the Bureau,
published in 18H6, is now going through the press and will shortly be
available for distribution. The eleventh special report, relating to
restriction of output in the {.; nited States and Europe, is now in the
hands of the printer. A11 the result of investigations in progress or
13640--3
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completed, report.<, on the following subjel·ts will appear during the
coming year, either in the Bulletin or in the form of special reports:
Coal Mine Labor in Europe.
Street-Railway Lahor in the (.;nited States.
Benefit Feat~res of Trade Unions in the United States and Europe.
Labor Conditions in Alll!tralia.
Labor Conditions in the Philippine Islands.
LIGHT-HOUSE BOARD.
The insular possessions and dependencies of the L' nited States are
insistent in their demands either to ha,·e their light-house services
taken over and administered by the Federal Government, or to have
more and better aids to navigation in the form of light-houses, lightvessels, fog signals, and buoys. Provision has been made by which
the Alaskan waters will be well supplied with necessary aids to navigation. except the small and inexpeni;h•e post light'!, many of which
are needed, but which can only be supplied hy legislative sanction.
The!-te requirements are fully set forth in the annual report of the
Light-House Board. The needs of Porto Rieo are fairly cared for so
far as is possible without a light-house tender built specially for those
waters, for which an appropriation has been asked of Congress.
The Hawaiian waters have a mere skeleton of a light-house service,
simply a frame to build upon, and the Light-House Board is, for lack
of funds and legislatin authority. scarcely able to maintain what it
took over under Executive order. The needs of Hawaii in this respect,
as stated by the Light-House Board in its annual report, are commended to the consideration of Congress. The needs of American
shipping in the waters of .N'avassa, Guam, and tlie Midway Islands
are beginning to assert themselves, and the Department is prepared
to take up such burdens as Congress may devoh-e upon it for the safeguarding of commerce in those waters.
The Department respectfully calls attention to the fact that owing
to the want of sufficient appropriations it was unable to make needed
repairs, to retain its full force of keepers, or to man and put into
operation certain of its newly-built light-houses. The following
statement made in its annual report of last year is renewed:
The Department invites attention to the need of meeting the estimates for the
maink>nance of the Light-House Establishment with full appropriations. The
amounts asked are urgently required. Any diminution of them will retard the
operations of the establishment to just that extent. The increase in the number of
aids to navigation since the last appropriations occasions the increase in the requirements of the establishment. The estimates have been carefully framed, and are
based on an aggregate of items. Hence the reduction of the estimates will require
the abandonment of items to the extent of the redµction.
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The Department repeats it,,i recommendations ot' last year a8 to
light-house tenders and the establishment of two additional lighthouse dh1tricts, as follows:
'
Especial attention is invited to the several estimates for the cost of building lighthouse tendel'I!. These vessels are the eyes and hands of the establishment. By
and with them the quarterly inspections are made, the personnel of the establishment is kept up to its standard, the 1,550 light keepel'I! are paid quarterly, supplies
of oil, fuel, and other neeesearies are delivered at the light stations, and repail'I! of
old stations and the construction of new ones are made. The lack of sufficient lighthouse tenders has made it necessary to do certain work by contract which otherwise
would have been done by employees of the Department with greater promptitude
and at Iese expense. Attention is invited to the estimate for a light-house tender to
be used in Porto Rican waters, especially as it will be necessary to use her in connection with the aide to nuigation in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the naval coal
station has just been established.
The Light-House 1.:etablishment is now limited by law to 16 districts. The LightHouse Board in its annual report has set out the need for two more districts, one to
embrace Alaskan waters and the other to embrace Porto Rican watel'I!, as well as the
aide to navigation now in Guantanamo .Bay, Cuba, and to be hereafter established
there. The aids to navigation in Alaskan waters are now looked after by the inspector and engineer of the thirteenth light-house district, who have their headquarters at Portland, Oreg., or about 1,800 miles away from. some portions of their
work. This great distance makes it very difficult, and in some instances impossible,
to give that careful supervision to the work which the interests of commerce and
navigation require.
'
The establishment of a new district, with headquarters for the inspector and engineer near its center, will do much for the increased convenience and safety of the
growing t'Ommerce in these waters. The aide to navigation in Porto Rican waters
are now, and those in Guantanamo Bay will be, under the supervision of the inspector
and engineer of the third light-house district, whose offices are on Staten Island
New York, some 1,500 miles away from this work. The establishment of a new
district will enable the Board to place an inspector and engineer, say, at San Juan,
P. R., where they would be within about 100 miles of their work in Porto Rican
waters, and much nearer Guantanamo Bay than is now the case.
The estimates made for such special structures as are needed for the
exhibition of lights required to make useful at night channels cut by
legislative order seem to require special Congressional attention.
The Department urgently invites attention to the estimates for
light-house structures for which authorized contracts have been made,
and for the completion of which additional appropriations are required.
The estimates made for new light-houses, new light-vessels, new
fog signals, and other proposed structures have in some instances
been repeated from year to year. In every case the necessity for
such work has been determined hy careful examination after repeated
demands therefor by commercial interests. The estimates, so I am
informed, have been carefully made by the light-house inspectors and
engineers, and thoroughly verified by the Light-House Board in its
committees and by its executive officers. It remains for Congress to
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY UI<' COMMERCE AND LABO.R .
decide whether the needs of commerce require immediate action upon
these estimates.
BUREAU OF THE CENSUS.
The Director of the Census reports gratifying progress in the three
main lines of work upon which the Bureau was engaged during the
past fiscal year. These were special reports authorized by Congress,
the tabulation of the Philippine census, and work assigned to the
Bureau by the Department.
SPECIAL REPORTS.
The special reports in progress comprised inqmr1es concerning
wealth, debt, and taxation, including statistics of municipal finance;
defective, dependent, and delinquent classes; annual mortality; blind,
deaf, and dumb; social and financial conditions in cities; electrical
industries, and cotton statistics. Preparation has been made for the
manufacturing census of 1905.
The report upon wealth, debt, and taxation is one of the most
difficult and important which the Bureau is called upon to prepare.
No previous inquiry upon the1-1e subjects has been entirely successful,
due largely to the pressure of work in connection with the main
inquiries of the census. The postponement of this report until after
the completion of the census proper was one of the wisest provisions
of the act for taking the Twelfth Census; it has given the Bureau
ample time for a most complete presentation of the financial operations of the nntion. The task of securing comparable statistics was
exceedingly difficult, and in order to complete satisfactorily the decennial inquiry authorized by Congress it was necessary for the Bureau
to take the lead in a movement looking to greater uniformity in the
accounting methods of municipalitie::;. Several cities have made
changes in their syi.;tems of accounting in order to conform wholly or
in part t-0 the classification adopted by the Bureau.
The repre:,:entatives of the Bureau have met everywhere with the
hearty cooperation of local ofliciak It is probable that the annual
census reports upon munidpal finance for cities of 30,000 population
and over will prove the most influential factor in securing the adoption
of unifonn classification, thus materially lessening the cost of compiling census statistics upon this subject, increasing the accuracy of the
returns, making comparisons possible, and encouraging reforms in the
public service.
Two speeial reports ha,·e been undertaken as essential to a full valuation of property. .One of these, relating to the valuation of railroad
properties, properly apportioned to the several States and Territories, has been undertaken in cooperation with the Interstate Com-
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merce CommisRion. The other relates to the par and market value!'l
of the negotiable securities of the country. This report will eo,·er an
entirely new field of Federal statistical investigation.
Satisfactory progress ha.<i been made upon the inquiry concerning
defective, dependent, and delinquent classes, and reports are now
being received from 5,441 special a.gents, who a.re the bookkeepers or
wardens of the institutions under re,·iew, and who furnish transcripts
of their records for a nominal compensation. The report will cover
the movement of population in all these institutions for the calendar
year 1904; its completion can therefore hardly be looked for during
the fiscal Jear 1905.
The annual report-; on mortality in registration areas, authorized by
section 7 of the census act, hM·e been delayed in compilation owing to
the fact that the statute fixed the compensation to be paid for the transcription of registration records at so low a. figure that it proved
impossible to Recure complete .and satisfactory performance of the
service. Congress was accordingly a.-;ked at its last session to amend
the law, but the amendment did not oecome effective until April 2i last.
Four reports relating to elecb;ca.l industries have been completed.
Thei;e cornr electric railways, electric light and power "plants, municipal electric fire-alarm and poliee-patrol systems, and telegraphs and
telephont>s. Advance bulletins concerning all of these subjects ham
been issued, and it is planned to puhlish them in permanent form in
thP. near future. Together they present a complete account of the
remarkable development of the electrical industry in it'l application to
public utilities.
The annual canvass of the cotton ginners of the southern States,
taken for the purpose of ascertaining the size of the crop during the
progress of the picking, was made la~t y<>ar with result-; highly gratifying from the J><fint of dew hoth of accuracy and of the promptness
with which the information was given to the public. There will be
six canvasses during the coming year showing the amounts of cotton
ginned to September 1, October 18, November H, December 13, 1904
January 16, 1905, and the end of the season.
The B\1reau has been actively engaged in the preparation necessary
for the census of manufactures for 1V05,- authorized by section 8 of
the census act. It is planned to collect a considerable percentage of
the schedules by correspondence, and a corn· of the schedule will be
mailed to every manufacturer in the lJ nited States whose existence is
known, in advance of the actual cam·a.ss by district-,. In the field
work it is proposed to utilize the clerical foree of the Bureau, so far
as possible, thus avoiding the necessity of appointing untried and
untrained special agents to superintend the canva8s. In accordance
with the authorization contained in the act of Congress approved
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
March 1, 1904, the Director of the Cen&us cooperated with the State
of Michigan in taking the census of manufactures of that State, to be
utilized in the Federal census of manufactures in 1905. This cooperation with State officials in statistical work resulted most satisfactorily.
Arrangements have been ma.de for similar cooperation with State
officials in a number of States, in taking the census of manufactures.
PHILIPPINE CENSUS,
The most important work performed during the past year, in addition to work on the special reports, has been the tabulation of the
census of the Philippine Islands. The schedules were rece~rnd by the
Bureau September 25, 1903, and the completed tables for population, agriculture, manufactures, vital statistics, and much other data
were placed in the hands of the Director of the Philippine Census at
intervals during the first six months of the present calendar year; the
last of the tables will be completed and delivered in Odoher. The
greater part of the tables and text of the Philippine Censu8 reports
are now in press. It is expected that they will make four volumes of ·
approximately 700 pages each. The regular clerical force of the
Bureau was utilized upon this work, but during a period of three
month~, while the work was at its height, about 150 temporary clerks
were employed to expedite the punching of cards.
YJBCELLANEOUS WORK.
The Bureau has lately eompleted the tu.hulation of statistics concerning the executive civil service of the Unit('d States, and has published this information as Census Bulletin 12. The -information
presented in this bulletin is important and interesting. Accurate
informntion regarding the personnel of the executive civil service can
he secured only by compilations of this character, and there will
undoubtedly be a demand for it at stated intervals. The Bureau of
the Census should be authorized to compile a similar bulletin at intervals of two, four, or six years.
In the preparation of the decennial census tables showing the birthplace
of the foreign-born population, the Bureau of the Census cooperated
with the Bureau of Immigration and tabulated immigration statistics
upon punched cards, thus bringing within the reach of the latter Bureau
much information from the alien manifests hithei·to unta.bulated. It
is highly desirable to secure legislation by which the alien emigration
as well as immigration can be statistically measured.
The original schedules of the twelve decennial censuses of the United
States from 1790 to moo are now in possession of the Bureau of the
Census, having been trnn~ferred from the Department of the Interior
to the Census building in June last, under the act of Congress approved
January 12, 1903. The population schedules of the Twelfth Census
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have been bound in 2,812 volumes. Thus, all·tbe population schedules
of all the censuses except the Eleventh are in condition for permanent
preservation. The Eleventh Census was taken by family schedules,
and there were thus nearl_y 13,000,000 schedules. Their bulk precludes binding them, as it is estimated that they would form 30,000
volumes. The vaults of the Census building have been m1tde fireproof, and contain the population schedules for all the censuses except
the Eleventh.
'
The Director of the Census recommends that the Go\·ernment shall
compile and publish the names of the heads of families in the original
thirteen States as returned at the census of 1790, and expresses the
opinion that this material would occupy about 2,500 printed pages, or
two volumes, of which an edition of 5,000 copies would not exceed
$35,000 in cost. He believes that much of this expenditure would
be repaid to the Trea.~ury by sale of this work, which is much in
demand by patriotic organizations and individuals.
During the past year the Bureau of the Census has published, or
prepared for publication, ten bound volumes and twenty-three bulletins and pamphlets.
Sufficient time has now elapsed to justify the conclusion that the
establishment of a permanent Census Bureau was wise legiRlation, not
only for the main reasons advanced in the debates which led to the
enactment of the law, but for other reasons which have developed as
the work of the permanent office has progrei,ised. During the past
year it has been made clear that cooperation with State and municipal
authorities in connection with the secondary inquiries, in securing
population statistics for intercensal periods, and particularly in securing greater uniformity in statistical work, has opened so many new
opportunities for usefulness that the existence of the Bureau of the
Census is more than justified.
The Director of the Census states that the experience and efficiency
of the clerical force of the Bureau have steadily improved. He has established the policy of transferring clerks in ·large numbers from one
divh1ion to another, as the pressure of work demands. Incidentally
this has ~reatly increased the familiarity of the clerks with different
cla!!Ses of work, and fits them for valuable service in connection with
the next census. The lack of expert assistance in training and directing clerks was recognized by Congress at the last session, and the number of chiefs of division was increased from four to eight. The total
number of employees in the clerical and fisld force of the Bureau is
now 712.
TABl'LATl~G APPLIANCES.
During the year a new contract has been negotiat~d, with my
approval, by the Director of the Census, for the use of the ele<·trical
tabulating apparatus successfully employed in the Eleventh and
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR,
Twelfth censuses. It is intended to utilize this apparatus in the
tabulation of the annual vital statistics, the annual immigration statistics, and in other current work of the Bureau. It has been definitely
demonstrated that the application of mechanieal appliances in large
statistical undertakings enables work to be complered in at least onetenth of the time required to do it hy hand at about one-third the cost
and with a marked increase in accuracy.
Indeed, it mny fairly be said that the work of compiling a decennial
census ll!ls grown to such enormous proportions, owing to the rapid
growth of the country, that it is no longer possible to accomplish it
within a period of time that will satisfy the country without the aid of
meehanieal applianceis. The law under which the Twelfth Census was
taken required the four main reports-on population, vital statistics,
agriculture, and manufaetures--to be completed and published within
two years from the date of the enumeration. The Director of the
Census informs me that it would ha\'e been physically impossible to
complete the compilation of the first three of these 1,ranchP:,i in less
than four years without the aid of the ·mechanical appliance:-, that were
employed.
For the rental of these parented appliances, and for the eards,
punches, and other necessary accessories, there was paid the sum of
$428,239.61, in connection with the Twelfth Census proper. This sum
represent:,i nearly 4 per t'. ent of the total cost of that census, and while
it also represent-; a n~ry large sa\'ing, as compared with the cost of
doing the same work by hand, I am ne,·erthcless condnced that the
Government ought to take the steps necessary to a material redu<"tion
in the cost.
Something has alr<'a<ly been accomplished in that direction hy the
Director of the Census, whose new eontract for the rental of these
machines has been negotiated on the basis of a reduction of approximately 25 per (:ent from the rentals paid u.t the Twelfth Censm;. But
even nt this reduced rate, J1e estimntes that the use of the tabulating
machinery at the Thirteenth Census will cost t.he Goyernment not less
than $720,000.
It is plain that some sy:stem of mechanical tahulation is permanently
required in connection with census work, and I deem it equally plain
that it would be greatly to the advantage of the Gornrnment to own a
system, instead of depending upon a private company for the use of
pa.tented machinery. It is my belief that the way is open for the
development of a new SJ-Stem, and that there is ample t.ime to perfect
it before the Thirteenth Census is under wuy. Experimental work in
that direction can be carried on in the Bureau of the Census in connection with it.<,1 current work and at comparatively small expense.
The success of such experimental work will mean in the end a large
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88Ying of money to the Go\'eroment. It is therefore hoped that Congres... will grant the appropriation for this experimental work whit·h is
a..<:ked for in the annual estimates.
COAST AXD GEODETIC S~R>EY.
The amount appropriated for the ('Oll:;t and Heodt>tic Sun·e.,· fur the
fiscal ~·ear HHH. exclusil'e of the allotment for printing and hinding.
was ill•6S.0:?5, of which $211.1.2-15 was for manning and equipping the
ws:-els of the ~un·ey. :fl:?t1.000 for building a new n~,.:,;el. i,:{~.100 for
repairs and maintenanC'e of ye,-:,;els, and ~W.(H.HI for office expenses.
The remainder of the appropriation WIL<: about equally dh·ided hetween
expen:;e:,; of parties in the field and salarie:,; of the field and office forces.
The Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Surwy reports that
bydrographi~ sun-eys W('re mad(' in 16 ~bttt's and Territori(':;. and
topographic surveys in 9. that triangulation was done in H. and le,·eling in 6. The field work nN•e:;.-.ary for a f('Visiou of the two ,·olumes
of the l'nited State:; Coa..,:t Pilot t·o,·ering the coast from Point Judith.
R. I .• to Che-,apeakt' Buy entrance. was completed.
The primary triangulation along the ninety-eighth meridian and
along the Pacific coa:;t north of San Fram·isco wa:,: t·ontinued.
The determination of tht> difference of longitude between :--Sn Franci:-wo. Honolulu (Hawaii). )Jidway Island. Guam J,;land. and )Ianila
(Philippine Island:;). by the tel<'grnphic method. using the Commerdal
Pacifk <·a hie, wa;; completed. making a most satii,fa<'lory closure of the
longitude circuit around the glolw.
ln Alaska a surn-y wa,;; made of Da\"id,;on Inlet. work was continued
in Prince William Sound. and the surn•y of Ki:-ka Harbor was hegun.
The director of coast surwy:,; in the Philippine klands. an officer of
the Coai;t and Gt>odetic ~urw~· (with a detail of as,-istant.s). in cooperation with the insular government. bas c·ontinued the important work of
charting the imperfectly known wat«:'rs of the arehipelago. The largest
yessel belonging to the Sun·ey was engaged on thi,,. dut~· during the
past fi:.;cal ~·ear. Oetacht>d sun·eys based on a:;tronomic determinations and including hase measurement, triangulation, topography.
hydrography. and tide ohsen·ations were made at various points. and
a connected triangulation already extends over the greater portion of
the west coast of Luzon Island north of llanila &y. A few additional
telegraphic longitudes were determined: magnetic and tide ohserrntions were continued. Fifteen new charts were prepared and published at the :\Ianila suboffice. and two rnlumes of sailing directions
were published (rel'ised editions of Sections I and 11).
Good progress was made in the general magnetic surn•y. ObserYations were made at 3-15 stations, in 23 States and Territories, induding Ala.<4ka, Guam, Hawaii, Philippine Islands, and Porto Rico.
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
Magnetic observations were also made at sea while the vessels of the
Survey were en route to their various stations. )1agnetic obsernitorie:s were maintained at Cheltenham, lid. ; at Baldwin, Kans.; at
Sitka.. Alaska; at Honolulu, Hawaii; and in Porto Rico. Special
observatiom,1 were made at the observatories during the year on the
1st and 15th of each month, in order to cooperate with foreign
observatories in international magnetic work in connection with the
observations made by the expeditions to the Antarctic regions.
Continuous tide observations with self-registering gaugei,1 were
made at 8 stations, including 1 station in Hawaii and l in the
Philippine Islands.
The 8nperintendent attended the Fourteenth General Conference of
the International Geodetic Association at Copenhagen. Denmark, as
the delegate of the United States. He eontinued the woi.k of re-mnrking the boundary line between the enited States nnd Canada, from the
Rock)· Mountains westward. as commissioner of the United States, and
two officers of the Survey were detailed for fieldwork in this connection.
The Superintendent and one officer were de.tailed to report t-0 the P nited
States' agent at London, England. for duty in connection with the
presentation of the case of the United States to the Alaska Boundary
Tribunal, and performed that duty. He also, as the eommissioner of
the United Ht.ates on the International Delimitation Commission. inaugurated the work of marking the boundary between Alaska and Canada
as laid down b)· the Alaska Boundary Tribunal, and one officer was
detailed for field duty on this work. One officer continued on duty as
a member of the Mississippi Rh·er Commi,,:sion.
BUREAU OF STATISTICS.
The foreign commerce of the United States as reported hy the
Bureau of Statistics shows a larger total than in any earlier year.
While the exports were surpas,,:ed by tho:--e of a single year, 1901, and
the imports were also ,mrpassed by those of a single year, mo~, the
aggregate of imports and exports for the year is greater than that of
any preeeding year in the history of our t·ommer<.'e. Th<:>, imports of
the year were iH91,087,371 and the export,., ltll,460,8:).7,:.:!71, making
the total foreign commerce of the year S:!,451,!114,642, which exceeded
by $ti,053,726 the high record established hy the year 1H03. The
imports showed a reduction of ~4,631.Stit> n:-1 compared with ltl03,
but exceeded those of any other year, and thP Pxport:-- were $!!6,WH, 720
below those of 1901, but exceeded those of any other year. Of the
~l.460,Hii ,271 of exports, it,435,179.0l 7 m•re of domestic production,
the exports of products of agrienlture being $~.;a,t,43,073 and of manufactures, t--152,415,921.
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27
The total of agricultural products exported fell $19,679,809 below
that of the preceding year and formed a smaller percentage of the
total domestic exports than in any preceding year, while exports
of manufactures were the largest ever recorded, exceeding by
'44,889,762 those of the preceding year and surpassing by flS,564, 165
the high record established in the year 1900. lJanufactures formed,
in 190!, 31.52 per cent of the domestic exports of the country, against
21.14 per cent of those of 1894, 18.81 per cent of those of 1884:, and
14.58 per cent of those of 1874. The reduction in exports of agricultural products already noted was chiefly due to the small exportations of hreadstuffs, which amounted during the year to 1149,050,378.
against f2:H,242,285 in the year 1»03. This reduction, which occurred
in all c]ss.;,es of breadstuffs, but especiaily in whe11t, was due in part
to a shortage in the wheat crop of the Lnited States in 1903 as compared with that of the immediately preceding year, in part to unusually
large crops in other wheat-producing countrie,;, and in part to the
growing home demand.
The imports of the year were characterized by the maintenance of the
high record of manufal'turers' materials in a crude condition brought
into the country for domestic use. They aggregated ~06,5:24, 755
in nlue, against $126,643,:273 in 1894, $138,496,741 in 1884, and
'85,095,889 in 1874.
Our commerce with all of the various parts of the world shows
a steady and satisfactory growth. To Europe the total exports
amounted to $1,057,930,131. exceeding b)· S:28,673,474 those of 1903,
and by '4-9,8!16,150 those of 1902. To :Xorth Ame1ica the total
expo1ts amounted to i\:2:H.90UJ15lf, ex<·eeding by $19,427,Hl0 those
of 1903, and being much larger than those of any earlier year. To
South America the total exports were i-50, 755,0:27 in ,·alue and
exceeded those of 1903 by Sti,617,155, and were also greater than those
of any other year. To Asia and O<.•eania the total exports of the year
were $93,20:2,0:28, a reduction of $2,ti:25,500 as compared with IH03,
due apparently tp the temporary disturbance in trade conditions incident to the hostilities in Asia. The chief reduction occurs in the
exports to China, which amounted to hut lii12,8fi2,432 in the year 1904,
against $18,898,163 in 191)3 and iu, 72:2,!106 in l!IOi.
The value of the commerce of the l' niu-d States with its noneontigi1ous
territories-Porto Rico, the Hawaiian Island:-, the Philippine Islands,
Guam, Midway, Tutuila, and Alaska-was S103,5ti:2,804 in the year
190-l, including in that statement '6,328,524 of gold received in the
rnited States from the mines of Alaska. The value of the total shipments of merchandise from the l; nited States to all of these noncontiguous territories was '38,0!16,528, and of the merchandise received
from them $59,137,752. The sales to the.-.e territories com;isted
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REPORT OF THE SECRJ<:TARY OF COlDIERCE AND LABOR.
chiefly of manufactures, hreadstuffs, and provisions, and the merchandise receired from them, sugar, tohacco, hemp, and other tropical
products from the islands, and furs, canned salmon, and other products
of the fo;heries from Alaska.
The rnlue of merchandise shipped to the United States from Porto
Rico in 1»04 was ,11, 722,826, aJ,..rainst $2,181,024 in 1897; and the
shipments from the e nited States to Porto Rico, $11,210,060 in
1904, against $1,9S8,888 in 1897. The value of merchandise shipped
from Hawnii to the C"nited States in 1904 was $25,157,255, against
tlrn,687, 71!9 in 18!17; and that of the i;hipments from the t; nited States
to the Hawaiian Islands in 1904, $11,683,31➔3, against $4-,690,075 in 1897.
The value of merchandise rec<'ived from the Philippine Islands was
$12,0tiii,1134 in 1904, against ~.383,740 in 1897: and the mine of merchandise shipped from the l:nited States to the Philippines was
S!,832,!lOO in 1904. against $114,597 in l8H7.
The Bureau of Statistics, which presents the rel'ord of the foreign
commen·e of the l'nited 8tates, reports a remarkahle increase in public interest in the foreign and internal commerce of the country nnd
in the trade opportunities offered hy the market-; of the world. The
transfer to the Bureau of Statistics, by the act creating the Department of Conunerl'e and Labor, of the duty of publishing the l'Ommercial rcport-i of the consular offieers of the C nitcd State:;, and the privilege of cnlling for information especially relating to the foreign and
domestic eommeree which it records, ha..,;; largely increased the tielrl of
its operation8.
In addition to the monthly statements of import-; and exports formerly issued, the Bureau now publishes a daily bulletin containing report-; from the consular officers of the lTnited States, a semiweekly statement of commercial information for dbtrihution to the
press, and monthly as well as annual statRments of imports and exports
by articles and countries. A monthly statement relating to the internal commerce of the C:nited States is also prepared and published,
comparing moyements in the leading products forming the internal
and foreign commerce of the country with those of earlier years, and
much valuable information is thus given to those interested in the
production, transportation, and domestic consumption of the country,
as well as to those interested in its foreign trade.
These studies of the internal commerce of the country include details
of the· movement-; upon the Great Lakes by articles and ports, the
concentration at the great interior ports of the leading articles of
domestic t·ommerce and their rt>distribution from those centers, and
certain data regarding the coastwise commerce of the United :,tates.
It i8 the desire of the Department, however, to enlarge this work,
espeeiallJ' that relating to the coastwise commerce on both the Atlantic
and the Pacific coast".!.
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
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2~
In place of establishing a Division of Foreign Tariffs, as propoi,1ed
in the first annual report, Congress made an appropriation of $3,500
for use during the fiscal year 1905, to enahle thP Bureau of Statistics,
under the direction of the 8ecretary of Commerce and Labor, to collate
and arrange the tariff's of foreign countries in form for distribution.
These tariffs will be printed in the English language accompanied by
a statement showing the equivalent in currency, weights, and measures
of the United States of all foreign terms of currency, weight-,, and
measures used in 1:!Uch tariff's. The reports of the International Bureau
for the Publication of Customs Tariffs will be utilized so far as practicable. The Bureau has entered upon this work and it is believed the
publication of this information will prove valuable to those eng11,ged
in foreign commerce.
The Bureau has also published preliminary editions of the Statistical
Abstract of the World, authorized by Congress, showing the imports
and exports of each country of the world and the countries from which
their respective imports are drawn and to which their exports are sent.
A special report on manufactures in the forei'gn commerce of the
United States has also been published, showing the share which
manufactures have formed of the imports and exports, respectively,
in each year from 1800 to 1904, the value of each ptincipal class of
manufactures exported, and all countries to which each class or group
of manufactures was sent during the decennial period; also the importation of materials for use in manufacturing, hy classes, and the countries from which each class is drawn.
STEAllBOAT·IXSPECTION SERVICE.
1t is the duty of the Steamhoat-Inspection Service to inspect hulls,
boilers, machinery, and appliances, and examine the qualifications of
officers, engineeni, and pilots of certain classe~ of ,·esseh,, for the general purpose of protecting the safety of life und property concerned
in traffic upon the public waters of the United States. The details of
the regular work of this Service for the fiscal year ended June 30,
1904, as reported by the hea.d. of the Sen·ice, are as follows:
EXPE:S-BES.
The expenses of the Steamboat-Inspection Service during the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1904, were, for salariei-;, $316,379.16, an increase
over the previous year of $10,452.!6; for contingent expenses,
~8,647.65, an increase over the previous year of ~,830.55.
The incre.,ase in salaries was due in part to the appointment during
the year of two additional inspectors at the port of New York, and
two additional inspectors at the port of Philadelphia, Pa., and to the
appointment near the close of the last fiscal year of two additional
inspectors at the port of Norfolk, Va. These appointments were made
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
necessary by the exigencies of the service. The increase was also
caused to some extent by an increase in the salaries of four clerks,
made on the ret•ommendation of their superior officers, on the ground
of increase of work and meritorious service.
There was an increase of $6,389.14 in the amount paid for rent of
offices, due to the necessity of the Service in New York vacating it.~
offices in the post-office building and securing offices in the Whitehall
Building at No. 17 Battery pince.
The net increase in expenditures of the contingent expenses, including rents, etc., was only $4,830.55, and except for the large increase
in the amount paid f6r rent, there would ha,·e been a decrease of over
$1,500 in the contingent expenses of this year.
INBPECTlON OF VE8BELB,
There were inspeeted during the fiscal year ended ,June 30, 1904,
375 foreign passenger steamers, aggregating 1,821,880 tons; 8,196
domestic steamers, aggregnting 3,545,526 tons; 206 gasoline and other
motor vessels, aggregating 9,391 tons; and 524 sail vessels and barges,
aggregating 607,U26 toll8.
The total numher of ves~cls inspected was 9,301, aggregating 5,984,723
tons. Thirty-two of these vessels, with 12,389 gross tonnage, were
inspected in Hawaiian waters, and 10 steamers, with 3,555 gross tonnage, were inspected in Porto Rican waters. Inspection of vessels in .
Hawaii and Porto Rico is made by inspectors detailed, under the
authority of the Secretary, from various local districts.
There was a decrease of 25 in the number of vessels inspected during the fiscal year ended ,June 30, 1904, from that of the previous
fiscal year, but there was an increase of 4-1-7,920 in the gross tonnage.
OFFICERS LICENSED.
There were 7,931:1 officers of all grades licensed during the fiscal
year. The act of Congre~s approved :May 28, 1896, extended the
term of license to officers of steam ve_ssels from one to five years, and
the number licensed during the intervening years of the five-year
period (1897-190:!) are new licenses or licenses in raise of grade.
Of 1,694: applicants examined for color blindness 40 were rejected.
INBPlilCTION OF STEEL PLATES, .
Under the act of Congress approved ,January 22, 18H4, 3,765 steel
plates for use in construction of marine boilers were inspected at the
various mills by United States assistant inspectors detailed for that
purpoi;e. Of this number 386 were rejected for various defects. In
addition to the inspection of these plates, there were inspected a large
number of bars for stay and brace bolts of marine boilers, and many
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
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tests were made at the request of various Departments of the Government servfoe of material for hoilers of Go,·ernment Vessels and for
public buildings.
C.\8UALTIB8.
The number of lives lo:-t from various causes during the fiscal year
was 1,303, the largest perhaps in the history of the Service, but the
number of accidents was fewer; the great loss of life being due principally to six disasters, numely, the stranding of the steamer Smttli
Pcn·tland, on Cape Blanco, Oregon, on October 19, 1!➔03, by which 19
lh-es were lO!~t; the foundering of the steamer Discoi•ery off the southe..astero coast of Alaska, about November 1, HI03, with a loss of 30
lives; the foundering of the steamer Olallam in the Straits of San
Juan de Fuc•a. on ,January 8, 1904, hy which 50 lh·es were lost; the
nre on board the steamer Queen off the coast of Oregon, on February
27, 1904, when the lh·es of IA, who embarked in the lifeboats, were
lost by the staving and ('apsizing of the boats; the explosion of the
boilers in the steamer F,·,-d lril~on at Louisville, Ky., on May 26,
1904, with a lo:-Js of 11 lirns: and the burning of the steamer General
Slocnm in East River, .!\ew York, on ,June 15, 1904, by which disaster
957 persons perh1hed.
DISASTER TO THE STEAMER GENERAL SLOCUM.
.
On June 15, 1904, the passenger excursion steamer General Su)cwn
was humed in the harbor of New York, with a loss of 957 lives. The
appalling nature of this disaster, together with certain ferttures attendant thereon, called for immediate and special action by the Department, and on June 23, 1904, there was appointed the United States
Commisl'!ion of lovestigation upon the Dhmster to the Gene-ml Sloman.
This Commission was made up as follows: Lawrence 0. Murray,
A:,1sistant Secretary of Commerce and Labor, chairman; ,John ll. Wilson, brigadier-general, r. S. Army, retired; Cameron l\-lcR. Winslow,
commander, r. ~- Na,·y; Herbert Knox ~mith, Deputy Commissioner
of Corporations, Department of Commerce and Labor, secretary; and
George l'.hler, Supe1Tising Inspector-General, Steamboat•lnspection
l--ervice, Department of Commerce and Labor.
The Commission was instrncted to make a thorough investigation
into the di88.ster, to con:-ider such other matters bearing upon the
safety of pa.si~enger traffic upon the navigable waters of the United
States as might be brought to its attention by such investigation, and
to make a report thereon, accompanied by recommendations for such
departmental or legislative action as it might deem necessarx. On
,July 19, 1904, the Commission began its formal hearings in New York
City. Twenty-three days were devoted to the taking of testimony in
that city, and forty.two days to the preparation and digesting of the
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
same and the completion of the report. On October 11 the report
was submitted to the President, and was published on October 17,
together with a Jetter of the President thereon and the report of the
Department of J ui,ti(·e 8howing the status of the criminal proceedings
taken in connection with the disaster.
This im·estigation b)· the Commission re,·ealed a very unsatisfaetory
condition of the Steamboat-lm,peC'tion Service in the port of New
York and resulted in the removal of the supe1Tising inspector for
the second district and the local board of inspectors for the port of
New York. The report of the Commission found that the methods of
inspection in the port of New York and of the officials since removed
were largely responsible for the disaster. The report also called attention to a number of defects and recommends changes in existing
statutes and regulations relating to the Sen·ice. There is urgent
need that the laws relating to the Servk•e be strengthened and
impro,·ed in acl'ordance with the recommendations. In view of this
fact attention is respectfully directed to the report and recommendations of the Commission and the accompanying letter of the President.
By order of the Secretary, there was also carried on during the
months of July, Augm1t, Septemher, and October, 1904, a reinspection of the passenger steamers in the port of ~ew York by insJK'l'tors
from othei· port."I detailed for that purpose. This reinspeeti.on was
had both for the immediate ohject of securing prnper t·onditions in
that port and also as a p1trt of the work of the Commission in a:;certaining the conditions existing there at the time of the disaster. The
results of the reim~pection were inl'orporated in the report of the
Commission.
In pur:manee of the letter of the President, the Board of Supervising
In:.pectors of the Steamboat-Inspection Service was convened in "?nshington on October 25, 1!➔04, in special session, for the purpo,.:e of
revising the rules and regulations of that Serric<'. This work is not
- yet compl<'ted. Also, in pursuance of that part of the letter of the
President which direct/'! a further investigation of the Serviee in continuation of the investigation by the Commission, offic<>rs of the ~avy
have been detailed to make investigation in respective districts, as
follows:
First district, Rear-Admiral Louis Kempff.
Third district, Commander Z. L. Tanner.
Fourth district, Rear-Admiral John R. Bartlett.
Eighth district, Rear-Admiral Wells L. Field.
Xinth dil!trict, Rear-Admiral F. }I. Symonds.
Tenth district, Rear-Admiral W. C. Wise.
I very much regret to say that while on duty in this work
Uear-Admiral John R. Bartlett died at St. Louis on the morning of
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
November 22, 1904.
33
Request will be made that another naval officer
be detailed to take his place in this investigation.
J
Upon completion of the work in the said districts. the remaining
districts, to wit, the fifth, sixth, seventh, and that part of the second
not included in the port of New York (which has already been consideroo by the Commission) will also be investigated .
.These officers are now engaged upon the work assigned to them and
upon C"ompletion of their work, a report will be made summarizing
the conditions as found in the entire Steamboat-Inspection Service.
In closing this branch of the report I desire to express my appreciation of the work of the Commission. While the report shows that
sixty-five days were consumed in the taking pf evidence, the digesting
of the same, and the preparation of the report, it does not show the
time actually consumed in the conduct of the investigation. Some of
the members of the Commission during the investigation worked on an
average fifteen hours a day. Three of the members were officers of
the Department of Commerce and Labor, one a retired army officer,
and one an officer of the Navy on the active list. No extra compensa~ion was pa.id them for their services.• The clerical force detailed to
assist in the carrying on of the investigation, especially the stenographers, at times worked all night in order to have the evidence ready
the next day for the consideration of the Commission. This work was
also done without extra compensation. The total C"ost of the investigation, including rent of rooms in New York, subsistence, and traveling expenses of the Commission and clerical force, was only fl,044.61.
BUREAU OF FISHERIES.
The Commissioner of Fisheries reports that the year 1904 was one
of the most successful in the history of the Bureau, considered with
reference to the operations of the hatcheries. The results attained in
all branches have been 11atisfactory, and the outlook for greatly augmented work is very favorable.
The efforts of the Bureau on behalf of the fisheries are yearly becoming more generally appreciated, and a desire to actively cooperate
with the Bureau has been manifested throughout the country by all
persons directly or indirectly interested in the promotion· of fishing as
a business or as a pastime. The sums voted annually for expenditure
through this channel repreRent only about 1 per cent of the annual value
of our fisheries; the preservation of some of the most important of these
is now largely dependent on the Bureau's operations, and it iR easily
demonstrable that in pursuing a liberal policy for the promotion of
the fishing industry Congress is simply ma.king an investment that
yields returns far greater than those which attend private business
en~rprises.
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF CO10CERCE AND LABOR.
FIBR PROPAGATION.
The total number of fish distributed in fresh and salt waters of the
country exceeded one and one-quarter ,,illions, un output which has
been equaled by that of only a ~dngle previous season (1902). The
conditions attending the hatching of such a large number of fishes
necessitate the planting of most of them in the form of fry, hut increased
attention has been given to the rearing of important species, and the
output of adult, yearling, and fingerling fish was nearly 50 per cent
larger than in any previous year.
The importance of the Bureau's fish-cultural operativns, however,
must not be gauged by the results during any one year, but by the
average for · a series of years, as peculiar seasonal conditions often
materially modify the work of particular stations, sometimes favorably, more often unfavorably, and give an erroneous impression
as to its extent. It usually happens that a year which is characterized
by a greatly diminished yield of certain fishes is also signalized by an
augmented output of others, so that the aggregate distributions
remain normal. This point, which has frequently been commented
on, was exemplified anew in 1904, when an exceedingly poor season
for shad and whitefish was offset by the largest collections of eggs of
Paci.fie salmon and flatfish ever known.
An import.ant feature of the work of artificial propagation, which
has often been referred to but can not be too strongly emphasized, is
that an exceedingly large percentage of the young fish hatched annually are from eggs taken from tish that have been caught for market,
and hence would be totally lost were it not for the p.ffortsof the Bureau.
To the many hundred millions of young food and game fishes thus
produced must be added many more millions resulting from the superiority of artificial propagation over natural propagation in the matters
of fertilizing and incubating eggs and of safety of the young.
The aggregate output in 1904 of 1,267,343,025 was divided as follows: Fertilized eggs, 263,123,354; fry, ·9ij4,503,040; fingerlings, yearlings, and adults, 9,716,631. The eggs shown were for the most part
donated to variom1 States to be incubated in their own hatcheries,'the
resulting fry being planted under the direction of the State fishery
authorities. It is worthy of remark, that while the Bureau makes
ample provision for maintaining the supply of fishes caught chiefly by
anglers, nearly 99 per cent of the fish handled are those which are the
objects of commercial fisheries.
The demand and the local facilities determine the proportion of
effort directed toward the cultivation of particular species. During
the year salmon were propagated at 11 stations, whitefish at 7, lake
trout at 5, shad at 4, pike perch at a, cod at 2, flatfish at 2, striped
bass, white perch, and yellow perch at 1 each, and the lobster at 2.
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REPORT 01!' THE SEORETABY OF COMMERCE .AND LABOR.
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JNVBBTIOATION8 CONNECTED WITH THK J.1'18HBRIE8.
Attention is invited to the important branch of the Bureau's work
which deals with the biological questions that arise in connection with
the economic fisheries and fish culture. It is particularly concerned
with the exploration of lakes, streams, and salt waters; the study of
the habits, growth, and distribution of fishes and other aquatic animals;the experimental cultivation of desirable products not now the objects
of cultivation, with a view to developing methods that may be applied
on a wholesale basis; the investigation of the diseases of fishes under
cultivation and in a wild state, and the pollution of waters fn its effect
on fish life, and the encouragement of biological research in the
Bureau's laboratories and field operations.
The special commission for the investigation of the salmon fisheries
of Alaska concluded its labors in the fall of 1903, and shortly thereafter a preliminary report- was submitted embodying the general
results of the investigation and ma.king recommendations for the protection and promotion of the fisheries. This report was presented to
the President on January 21, 1904, and by the President transmitted
to Congress on January 27, 1904. The most important recommendations of the special commission are the establishment of Government
salmon hatcheries under the control of tb__e Bureau of Fisheries, and
the placing of a11 matters relating to the fisherie8 of Ala.ska under the
direction of the Commissioner of Fisheries.
Among the numerous special subjects the Bureau has had under
consideration with reference to economic questions are the oyster,
sponges, the blue crab, the diamond-back terrapin, the green turtle,
and various fishes. The experiments in the artificial fattening of
oysters ancl the cultivation of i;ponges from cuttings have continued
with satisfactory results. The raising of the diamond-back terrapin
and the green turtle from the egg is receiving attention at points in
Chesapeake Bay and on the coast of Florida. States in which inquiries
have been made as to the fishery resources of particular waters are
Maine, North Carolina, Indiana, California, and Arizona.
The collection of information with reference to the extent and condition of the fisheries, with a study of the metliod.."!, affords the only
basis for determining the condition and trend of the commercial fisheries of the country; it forms an invaluable criterion of the necessity
for and the results of fish-cultural operations of the Govemment and
States and is indispensable in furnishing a basis for legislation.
General canvasses have been conducted in the New England, South
Atlantic, and Gulf States, and the Hawaiian Islands. Special inquiries have been made into the condition of the vessel fisheries centering
at Boston and Gloucester, Mass. ; the Pacific cod and halibut fisheries,
and the whale fishery centering at San Francisco; the fisheries of the
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF OOMKEROE AND LABOR •
interior waters of Florida and the interior lakes and streams of New
York and Vermont. Very complete canvasses have been made of the
statistics and methods of the salmon indm~try of ashington, Oregon,
California, and Alaska in conjunction with the work of the special
salmon commission.
,v
ALASKAN SALMON FISHERIES.
During the paat year there haa been a marked decrease in the salmon pack of Alaska in all grades. In 1902 the season's catch was
2,631,320 cases, in 1903, 2,631,782, and in the present year it will
probably not exceed 1,935,000, a falling off in two years of 696,320
cases. Throughout the entire world there has been a large reduction
of the pack of salmon, which, approximately, is only 2,810,000 cases
for 1904 against 4,317,000 caaes for 1902, a loss of 1,507,000 cases.
These figures are not exact, as the detailed statistical r~rts required
of the packers are not yet at hand.
NotwithAtanding this decrease in the volume of the pack, there has
been a marked increai:1e in its aggregate market value, the receipts for
1903 having'been about 30 per cent more than those of the preceding
year, and from present indications a further increase will be shown
this year.
The steady decrease m the salmon pack of Alaska is due to con,, stantly enlarging operations of the pat•kers beyond the natural
resources of the streams, and to unfa,·orable conditions under which
the propagation of salmon is carried on. The regulations promulgated by this Department under the Jaw require that persons engaged
in taking salmon shall maintain suitable artificial propagating plants or
hatcheries, and shall produce yearly and plant in the natural spawning
waters of each fishery so operated red salmon fry in such numbers as
shall be equal to at least ten times the number of salmon of all
varieties taken from the said fishery during the preceding year.
Despite the safeguards which have thus been thrown about the salmon
industry by the law and the regulations. and by the personal inspedion
given by the agents of the Government, the supply of fish, as has been
noted, is apparently steadily decreasing. It has been found impracticable to enforce adequate artificial p'ropagation by private parties. I
therefore urge the favorable consideration by Congress of the estimates which have been submitted for the establishment of salmon
hatcheries under the direct supervision of the Department.
This need for artificial propagation was touched upon in the Department's last annual report, and the condition which has been presented
would seem to strongly commend to the Congress the wisdom and
necessity of immediate action. Very much more than the amount
which has 1.>een asked for in the est.imate has been paid into the Treas-
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COllllERCE AND LABOR.
87
ury through the operation of the law taxing salmon canners and salters.
The sum collected from this source will not he less, probably, than
,15,000 for the current year, and in the pa.st has exceeded ,100,000 in
a single year.
ALASKAN FUR-SEAL SERVICE.
The agents who, under the law, are charged with the management
of the seal fisheries and with certain duties in connection with the care
of the native inhabitants of the Pribilof Islands have furnished the
Department with interesting details of the work done during the past
year.
La.st spring, in view of the steady diminution of the seals on- the
rookeries, and with the object of keeping an ample reserve of breeding
bulls, the Department adopted measures for exempting from the killing 2,000 of the young male seals of killable age. These measures
were carried out in an effective manner during the past season. The
quota of skins to be taken by the le8See company was also reduced
from 30,000, allowed in the preceding year, to 15,000 for the current
year.
Especial care was a.lso observed by the Government agents in collecting information respecting the seal life, more especially that bearing upon the diminution of the herd.
BEAL CATCH OJ'
1904.
A.ti a result of the sealing operations for the year ending with
August, 1904, 13,128 skins were taken and shipped, of which number
11,132 were obtained on St. Paul Island and 1,996 on St. George Island,
as against a. total of 19,292 skins taken in 1903. The decrease in the
number of skins taken, 6,164, was due largely to the reservation of
young male seals, referred to above, and other restrictions upon the
killing deemed necessary to preserve the life of the seal herd.
POX RAISING.
An industry pursued incidentally with that of sealing on the Pribilof Islands is that of raising the blue fox for its pelt. These animals,
under the system in use, are fed and cared for as if domesticated.
The foxing industry is carried on under a lease with the sealing company. La.st winter 471 skins were taken on St. George Island. The
proceeds of the skins are applied to the !,!Upport of the native inhabitants, whose services are availed of in the taking and curing of the
pelts.
CARB OJ' NATIV118.
The reports further indicate that the physical comfort of the natives,
as well as their education and general welfare, have been carefully
looked after by the agents in charge. The schools for native children
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF OOMlllERCE AND LABOR.
have been conducted on each island; places of worship have been kept
up, and the obsen·ance of good order maintained generally.
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION.
The °Commissioner of Navigation reports that the documented merchant shil)ping of the United States at the end of the fiscal year comprised 24,558 vessels of 6,291,535 gross tons, the largest tonnage in
our history. Less than one-sixth of this tonnage is registered for foreign trade. During the past four years, however, our registered
steam tonnage has increased 212,314 gross tons, while our registered
sail tonnage has decreased 140,740 gross tons. American shipping in
foreign trade has thus become more efficient, and in the past fiscal
year American ships carried 10.3 per cent of our exports and imports,
compared with 9.3 per cent in the year ended June 30, 1900. The
upward tonnage movement of the last four years now seems to have
been checked.
For the first time since 1812 a fiscal year has passed without the
completion of a single square-rigged vessel in the United States. The
United States shares in the general decline of sailing vessels, and the
opportunitiM for their employment in the foreign trade grow steadily
less. The completion of the Panama Canal will greatly curtail even
present opportunities.
Training on sailing vessels, so I am informed, is regarded as an
almost indispensable qualification of the deck officer of a steamer. If
we are to have a merchant marine the lack of officers will be felt as
soon as steam tonnage in foreign trade increases. The subject is
mentioned now for the consideration of Congress in the future.
Contracts made several years ago have been performed, and our
principal steel shipyards on the seaboard are building very few seagoing steel steamers except warships for the Navy. Indeed, were it
not for Government work under appropriations by Congress some of
them would now be closed for want of work and others soon would
be. The stoppage of these large plants and the scattering of their
trained workmen would be more than an ordinary industrial misfortune.
These plants are a necessary part of the system of national defense, and
when they ~hut down and their men are dispersed the cost of warships
is accordingly enhanced.
The Government program of naval construction, if executed
through further appropriations by Congress, will help to keep the
yards busy, but it will not alone suffice. The situation reinforces all
the arguments which of late years have been advanced in support
of a definite and durable legislative policy for the promotion of the
American merchant marine. I ha,·e not deemed it necessary or wise
to consider this subject at length in this report, however, for the
89
•
reason that its importance has already been recognized by executive
and legislative act!on. The Commission appointed by Congress at its
last session, on the recommendation of the President, has doubtless
given the subject the fullP.st consideration, and will report at the coming session of Congress.
REPORT OF THE RECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
TONNAGE TAX.
Tonnage taxes during the year amounted to $826,023.01, '11 decrease
of f59,818.32 compared with the pre\·ious year. The reasons for the
decreaee are shown in the report of the Commissioner of Navigation,
to which the attention of Congress is invited. That report also furnishes detailed information on the matters just considered and suggests
changes in the Jaws and in methods of their enforcement.
REM18810N OF PENALTIES.
One of the duties transferred from the Secretary of the Treasury
to the Secretary of Commerce and Lahor by the act of February 14,
1903, is the consideration of applications for the remission of fines,
penalties, and forfeitures incurred for violating any provision of law
relating to vessels or seamen. The power of remission was first
bestowed upon the Secretary of the Treasury by the act of May 26,
1790, after the first acts ol Congress in imposing penalties on vessels,
their owners, and masters bad been in operation less than a year.
From time to time the power has been extended as statutory obligations upon shipping have increased. Acts authorizing remission or
mitigation and acts imposing penalties must be read together in
executing the will of Congress. During the past fiscal year 706 appJications for remission or mitigation of penalties, incurred for the violation of 64 sections of the Revised 8tatutes, or of acts passed since
the revisions, have been acted upon by the head of the Department,
after review by the Bureau of Navigation.
The report of the Commissioner of 1'avigation shows the ports from
which these violations have been reported, the statute a.Jleged to have
been violated, and in many cases the nature of the offense. The papers
in these cases would fi]l a volume of about 1,200 printed pages or more.
As each case involves the exercise of a discretionary power on facts and
conditions differing from nearly aJl other cases, the action taken can be
fuJly understood only by the publication of aJl the papers in each case.
The summaries in his report give a fair idea of the seope of the exer- ·
cise of the remission powei- during the first year of its bestowal upon
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
UNITED STATES SHIPPING COlUIISt!IONERS.
United States shipping commissioners stationed at 20 seaports
during the past year superintended the shipment, reshipment, and
discharge of 201,273 seamen for American vessels. The offices of
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
these commissioners should be Inspected at least once a y~r. Such
inspection was formerly made from time to time by special agents of
the Treasury Department at the request of the Bureau of Navigation.
These inspections could be made at the time customs-house inspections
were made without extra cost. It is not clear how the inspection can
be made and paid for at present in the absence of an appropriation
which can be used for that purpose. During the year efforts to suppress crimping, especially at southern seaports, have been more successful than usual.
BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION,
The important work of this Bureau is fu11y and ably -considered by
the Commissioner-General of Immigration in his repo1·t for the fiscal
year ended ,June 30," 1904. The statements, tables, and statistics submitted by him show that for the year the total arrivals of aliens at
ports of the United States was 812,870~ exclusive of 27,844 admitted
for the purpose of passing through the United States to foreign territory. Of these arrivals 30,374 entered through ports of Canada, 10,742
entered ports of the insular possessions of the United States other than
those of the Philippine Islands, and 771,154 were admitted at seaports
of the United States. More than one-half of the entire immigration
was composed of the Italian, Hebrew, Polish, Slovak, and Magyar
races. Th~re were decreases in arrivals of 37,326 from Italy, 28,885
from Austria-Hungary, and 5,704 from Japan. There was an increase
of 18,643 from Great Britain, and approximately of 100 per cent from
China. Of the total arrivals 549,100 were males and 263,770 were
females. As to age, 109,150 were 14 years old or under, 657,155 were
between 14 and 45, and 46,565 were 45 or over. The records show
3,953 as able to read but not to write, and 168,903 as illiterate, leaving
a remainder of 640,014 who, it is assumed, could both read and write.
The total amount of money shown by the arrivals was t20,894,383,
or about four and one-half millions more than the agg,regate amount
brought by the larger number of alien arrivals of the preceding year.
There were denied admission at seaports of the United States as members of the various classes excluded by law 7,994 aliens, and 779 previously admitted were deported upon the ground that they were in the
country in violation of law.
There are confined in public and privtt.te charitable, penal and reformatory institutions in this country a total of 44,.985 aliens; of these, 20,48&
are in insane asylums, 9,825 are confined for the commi~sion of crimes,
and 14,675 are dependents-upward of 25,000 of these aliens will be
confined. for life. The burden of maintenance in this connection is distributed in accordance with the ratio of alien residents in the different
sections of the United States, the State of New York alone caring for
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nearly 6,000 insane aliens. During the year the Department considered 1,178 appeals from decisions of boat'ds of special inquiry at the
various ports. Of these 517 were sustained, 660 dismissed, and 1
withdrawn.
Attempts are frequently made to introduce into the United States a
large number of aliens under what is known as the padrone system.
During the year there arrived at the port of Boston severe.I shiploads
of Greek lads, amounting to 898, many of whom were mere children.
In accordance with the provisions of law, 127 of them were returned.
Officert1 of the service detailed to make investigations in foreign countries report widespread solicitation and encouragement of aliens to
emigrate to the United States. Persistent efforts have e.tso been me.de
to import alien miners and skilled workmen in other lines.
Notwithstanding the fact that during the year fines itggregating
$28,400 have been paid by the transportation companies, they continue
to dh1regard the provisions of the law aimed to prevent the bringing
of diseased aliens to ports of this country. In this connection it is
important to note that the medical inspection conducted at Yokohama
and ~agase.ki, Japan, from September 22 to the end of the year,
through the offices of the Public Health and .Marine-Hot1pital Service,
resulted in the detection of nearly 1,300 aliens afflicted with dangerous
contagiout1 disf'ases who were attempting to embark from those ports.
As the result of the adoption of suitable regulations the violations
of the immigration law by alien see.men have practically ceased. See.men who are discharged or desert from their nssels are now ex!lmined
as other aliens.
The struc-tures maintained at the different porh; of entry for the
aecommodation of aliens detained pending examination have been
materially improved, but it will be necessary to make further improvement.;; and build new structures. This is especially true at the port of
San Francisco, where, in addition to aliens generally, the bulk of
Chinese immigrants apply for admission.
THE CHINESE EXCLUSION I .•.\Wfl,
Signal succf'ss has marked the administration of the Chinese exclusion laws during the year. This is especiall~· true in relation to the
enfor<"ement of the law along the Canadian boundary. An agreement
has been reached whereby the transportation lines delh·er directly
into the hands of the United States officers for examination Chinese
brought by them through Canada to the Cnited ~tates. If rejected
they are returned to China at the expense of the companies.
During the year the Supreme Court decided thllt ttpplit·ants who
claim the right of admission as American citizens on the ground of
alleged birth in the United State:,i are required to first submit the evidence upon which they base their claim~ to administrative officers in
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
accordance with the regulations of the Department. As a result of
this decision, 321 out of a total of 412 applicants have been returned
to China at the expense of the tram~portation companies.
The issuance of duplicate certificates of rer,1idence bas been requested
in 476 cases by Chinese laborers who profess to have lost the originals.
The Department is in possession of information that 340 certificates of
residence have been pledged to pawnbrokers.
During the year 792 registered laborers departed from and 1,392
returned to the United States; of 2,106 seeking the privilege of transit
all except 26 were admitted for that purpose; and of 1,721 Chinese
persons arrested for being unlawfully in the United States, 783 were
deported. The Department considered 282 cases of appeal from the
excluding decision of officers at ports of arrival, of which 101 were
sustained and the remainder dismissed.
By authority of the act of April 29, 1902, the Department promulgated regulations admitting Chinese to take part in the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition, their departure at the close of the exposition
being assured under bonds in the penalty of t500 in eaeh case. These
regulations of the Department have been improperly charged with
excluding merchant exhibitors or visitors. Attention is <·ailed to the
fact that the regulations relate to laborers only, and do not exclude
merchant exhibitors or visitors. The law and the treaty secures to
visitors and merchants the right to enter at all times.
COST OF THE IMMIGRATION SERVICE.
The cost of the immigration service during the year was 11,296,808.85,
exclusive of the sum of 1\239,743.01 expended in the construction of
new buildings, improvements, alterationll, the enl11rgement of Ellis
Island, the building of the ferryboat, etc. The balance of $1,3811,403.08
on hand at the close of the fiscal year is $112,920.3~ in excess of the
balance on hand at the corresponding period last )·ear. There was
also expended $75,536.10 for deporting Chinese, an a,·erage cost of
$112.24 for each deportation. Of the total appropriation of $500.000
for the enforcement of. the Chinese exclusion acts, $-!3:&,220. s:16 was
expended for salaries and expenses, including the cost of deportation,
and for miscellaneous items, leaving on hand at the clo:-e of the fiscal
year a net balance of $67,779.04.
LEGISLATION RECOM:IIESDED.
New legislation is again recommended. Provision should be made
for the di:-tribution of aliens in accordance with views heretofore
expressed by thil'; Department; for the physical inspection of aliens
hy officers of the Public Health and :Marine-Hospital Sen·ice stationed
at the ports of foreign embarkation; for· the establishment of a moral
and manual standard for admissible aliens; for the compilation of data
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REPORT OF THE SECRET.ARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR,
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in regard to the annual departures of aliens from the V nited States;
for the registration of all Chinese lawfully resident in the United
States at this time, thus furnishing them with certificates which will
afford them immunity from arrest, and for placing restrictions on the
right of judicial officers to release Chinese persons on bail.
It is also recommended that a treaty arrangement be made which
will authorize the location in China of Department officers to discharge duties now performed. by American commlar officers. The
effect of this would be to transfer the investigation, now conducted in
part at ports of arrh·al, to the homes of Chinese appli<'ants in China,
where it should .be possible to make such examination as would
establish conclusfrely the status of any applicant. This would leave
for determination upon arrival at a port of the United States only the
identity of any examined Chinaman with the person described in the
certificate presented by him.
BCREAU OF STANDARDS.
The Director of the Bureau of Standards reports that the work of
the Bureau has been rapidly developing during the fis<'al year just
closed. Notwithstanding the fact that the work is still carried on in
temporary quarters in several buildings, a large amount of te11ting and
research hw,i been completed. The Mechanical Laboratory has been
occupied for several months, and the increased space thus made available bas enabled the Bureau to extend the range of its work. The
Physical Laboratory will probably be ready for occupancy during the
month of October.
During the year many new lines of testing have been organized and
are well under way. The volume of testing has greatly increMed. The
standards and measuring instruments tei;ted during the year aggregated 7,756, being 400 per cent greater than during the pre\'ious tiscal
year. ·work has been done for practically all department.-, of the
Government, for State sealers, scientific ini;titutioni;, electrieal companieR, manufacturers of mechanical standards, thermometers, weights
and measures, and for the general public. The :-('ientific staff has also
given much attention to the designing of appamtus and standards for
t.he various kinds of testing. Much of thi:-1 apparatus has been constructed in the instrument shop of the Bureau, under the personal
supervision of the specialists concerned.
The exhibit of the Bureau of Standards at the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition is an educational and historical presentation of the g-eneral
subject of Rtandard weights, measures, and measuring instruments; in
several ca.~es the work of testing is shown. An increasingly important
service rendered by the Bureau has been the dissemination of accurate
knowledge concerning weigh~ and measm·es and the various kinds of
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR,
meaimrement. The large number of inquiries indicates a widespread ·
demand for such information. Seven circulars descl'ipth·e of the
lines of testing which t.he BurE>,au is prepared to undertake have been
issued during the year. The publication of a series of bulletins which
wi11 embody the re.suits of the investigations, researche.~, and other
work of th~ Bureau of importance to the scientific, technical, and
manufacturing intere1-1t<; of the <.'Ountry will 800D he inaugurated. A
<.'Onsiderable amount of research concerning fundamental problems connected with fixing the standards and detem1ining methods of measurement has already been completed and prepared for early publication.
In the important hraneh of the Bureau's work wpich is devoted to
standards of length, mass. and capacity, the work of testing has grown
steadily. l\fo1·e than 1,600 instruments were tested by this tiection
during the year. The Cnited States prototype meter was compared
with the international meter at Paris by the associate physicist in
charge of this work. A com·ention of State sealers has been planned,
and methods of calibrating volumetric apparatus decided upon. Plans
were also developed for standardizing time-me88uring instrumentt1, a
work which will soon be inaugurated.
Under the supervision of the Bureau an examination of the weights
and measures and methods of measurement m~ed in the various custom-houses has been made. The results of this work have added to
the efficiency and accuracy of that branch of the se1-vice. Weights and
mea,mring instruments have been tested at the Bureau and distribute<\
to the ,·arious <.'ustom-houses, provisional limits of tolerance have
been fixed. and a plan for systematic inspection is being developed.
In the measurement of temperature the Bureau is rendering
important service to thermometer and pyrometer makers and to the
various industries which require such apparatu11. The hearty cooperation and active intere~t accorded this work have done much to facilitate
the efforts of the Bureau to establish a uniform scale of temperature.
More than 5,300 the11110meter11 and other tempemture measuring
instruments ha,·e been t<'stE>d during the year. A laboratory for pyrometer testing has been e'luipped with the nec·essnry apparatus for this
work, and an im·estigation of the various type11 of high temperature
meaimring instruments hai- just been completed.
The optical work has induded a study of polariscopic methods of
sugar analysis for tlw Customs Service, and some important experimental and theo1·eticnl work in <:onnection with the conduction of electrical discharges through gase:s, the results of which will soon appear.
The tE>sting of engineering instruments. organized during the year,
has made satisfactory progress. An investigation of the screw thread8
of tire-hose couplings now in progre8S reveals a chaotic condition of
the standards used in ti)(' important cities and s ~reat need for the
adoption of standard couplings.
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REPORT 01'' THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
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Work has been done hy the chemical staff in the preparation of
standard specifications for the purity of chemical reagents, n subject
of vital importance to the chemical interests of the country, and in
the planning of the equipment of the laboratory; valuable assistance
has been rendered to the other sections of the Bureau.
The electrit.-al work of the Bureau was transferred during the year
to the new Mechanical Laboratory. This work has included the calibration of resistance and standard cells, the determination of inductances
and capacities, the testing of electrical instruments, and photometric
work. Although this work has but recently been organized, 167 electrical standards and measuring instruments and 589 incandescent standard lampH have been tested. Researches ha Ye been conducted especially
with reference to the development of more refined methods of electrical testing. Some of the results of these investigations have been
presented at the International Electrical Congress, and details will
soon be published by the Bureau. The laboratory of the Bureau in the
Electricity Building of the Louisiana. Purchase Exposition wa5 a· working exhibit of the process of standardizing electrical instruments and
standards as conducted at the Bureau.
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.
The Inter-Departmental Board appointed by the President to consider the entire question of wireless telegraphy in the service of the
National Government has recommended that the Department of Commerce and Labor should have the duty of issuing licenses for wireless
telegraphic marine stations in special cases, under 1:mch regulations as
will prevent interference with stations necessary to the national
defense. It has also recommended that all private stations in the interior of the country should be under the supervision of the Department
of Commerce and Labor. To prevent the control of wireless telegraphy by monopolies or trusts, the Board deems it essential th11.t any
legislation on this subject should place the supervision of it in the
Department of Commerce and Lahor.
The proposed Federal control of telegraph stations using wireless
apparatus must, of course, be within constitutional limits. The
recommendations of the Inter-Departmental Board, in so far as they
concern this Department, have been referred to a board of the Department's officers. Should that board submit a legislative project on the
subject which meets the approval of the Department it will be transmitted to CongresR.
CONCLUSION.
The foregoing report deals with the work of the fiscal year 1903-4,
during which time the Department was presided over by my predecessor in office. None of the matters referred to or discussed in the
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY QI' OO:MMEROE AND LABOR.
report came under my personal supervision, and for that reason I have
had to rely almost entirely, in the preparation of the report, upon the
heads of bureaus and chiefs of divisions of the Department.
. I find that the work of organizing the Department has been as
thorough and complete as was possible under the available appropriations, and that the men who have been selected to till the important staff positions are especially efficient and in every way qualified for the performance of the important duties of their offices. The
credit for the organization of the Department is due, in my judgment, to the first Secretary, the Hon. George B. Cortelyou, whose
great executive ability and thorough familiarity with governmental
matters enabled him in so short a time to organize and equip a Department of the Government which promises so much for the future
development of the commercial and industrial interest~ of the country.
V. H. METCALF'
Secretary.
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