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54th
C o n g r ess , ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. $ Doc. No. 33,
1st Session.
Part 2.
BULLETIN
OF
THE
No. 2—JANUARY, 1896.
ISSUED EVEKY OTHER MONTH.
EDITED BY
CARROLL D. WRIGHT,
COMMISSIONER.
OREN W. WEAVER,
CHIEF CLERK.
W ASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1896.
C O N T E N T S.
Page.
The poor colonies of Holland, by J. Howard Gore, Ph. D., Columbian Univer
sity ........................................................................................................................... 113-126
The industrial revolution in Japan, by AYilliarn Eleroy Curtis........................ 127-146
Digest of recent reports of State bureaus of labor statistics:
Colorado................................................................................................................... 147
Illinois................................................................................................................. 147-155
Maine................................................................................................................... 155-157
Maryland............................................................................................................. 157,158
New Hampshire................................................................................................... 158-161
Ohio....................................................................................................................... 161-165
Trade unions in Great Britain and Ireland........................................................... 166-169
Wages and hours of labor in Great Britain and Ireland................................... 170-176
177-180
Strikes in Switzerland in recent years.....................
Notes concerning the money of the United States and other countries, by Wil
liam C. Hunt, of the Department of Labor....................................................... 181-196
The wealth and receipts and expenses of the United States, by William M.
Steuart, of the Department of Labor................................................................ 197-200
Decisions of courts affecting labor........................................................................... 201-218
Extract relating to labor from the new constitution of Utah............................. 219
Note regarding bureaus of statistics of labor.. . . ...........
220
h i
B U L L E T IN
OF THE
DEPARTMENT
No. 2.
OF L A B O R .
WASHINGTON.
January ,
1896.
THE POOH COLONIES OF HOLLAND.
BY J. HOWARD GORE, PH. D., COLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY, (a)
The poor colonies here described are not a creation,* they are a devel
opment. They have not been elaborated out of speculation as to what
they ought to be, but forged into their present organic form under the
fire of criticism and the shocks of adversity.
General van den Bosch, very soon after the devastating war which
was terminated by the battle of Waterloo, saw in Holland thousands of
families reduced to helplessness and poverty. He realized that workhouses as well as poorhouses very often feed pauperism; that they sys
tematize it, place their stamp of recognition, if not approval, upon it,
and by so doing increase it. Moreover, these provincial or municipal
agencies were usually located in large cities into whose overcrowded
streets the released or acquitted paupers were cast adrift to again
become amenable to the poor law.
The problem, therefore, that presented itself to General van den Bosch
was how to help the poor in their life struggle, not merely how to help
them to tide over the demands of a single week or month. The first
point that received decision was, that in whatever shape his hopes
might be ultimately realized the location at least should be in the
country. If the land is improved by man, he reasoned, then man can
be improved by the land.
Through his influence, and chiefly through his instrumentality, there
was organized in 1818 the Society of Beneficence (Maatschappy van Veldadigheid). Yery soon thereafter the society purchased a large tract of
a Dr. Gore was the United States Commissioner-General to the International Expo
sition at Amsterdam in 1895. The information embodied in this article was collected
by him during a visit to the poor colonies in July of that year.
320—No. 2-----1
113
114
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
barren uncultivated heath, which, with additions subsequently made,
now contains 5,100 acres. It is situated near the center of the king
dom, northeast of the Zuyder Zee, about 5 miles from the town of Steenwyk, and at the junction of the three provinces, Drenthe, Friesland,
and Overyssel.
With the alluring motto, “Help the people and improve the land,”
considerable enthusiasm was aroused, and in a short time there was
enrolled a membership paying annually into the treasury of the society
$22,000. The organization was in such a prosperous condition, and it
was able to do so much for its beneficiaries, that it attracted the atten
tion of the State. The proposition was soon made that the society take
charge of the wards of the Government, that is, the beggars, foundlings,
and orphans. The conditions offered were so favorable that the society
accepted them.
It was at once realized that it would be unwise to put those declared
by judicial acts to be incapable of self-support by the side of others
who were being encouraged to believe in their ability to become sooner
or later not only independent but contributing members of society.
Consequently the organization, in order to keep these two classes apart,
secured land and established two beggar colonies—one in Overyssel,
named Ommerschans, and the other in Drenthe, named Yeenhuizen.
At the two latter the society continued the generous policy which it
had already inaugurated. Thus the beggar colonies became popular,
and a man released at the expiration of his sentence did not rest until
he succeeded in securing a second conviction. It therefore became
necessary to add to each sentence such a term of imprisonment at hard
labor as would efficaciously rob the stay at the colonies of the greater
part of its charm.
Besides acting as an encouragement to begging and profligacy, the
generous policy of the society toward the beggar colonists had a worse
effect. There was' so much said in police and court circles about the
beggar colonies that people failed to discriminate between them and
the free colony. They thought the Government was meeting all
expenses, and soon lost interest in the institution which relied for its
maintenance upon their contributions, and so it became a sort of State
asylum. The free colonists felt that they were being placed on the same
footing with a convict class, at least in the minds of many, consequently
the institution which was originally intended to act preventively
against pauperism by helping sinking families up to a livelihood—earn
ing condition—now acted repressively against this very class.
In this condition of disrepute into which the free colony fell, colonists
were so slow to take up the lands of the society that it was compelled
to farm them itself, using the weak, unwilling members of the other
colonies. This resulted in great loss to the society. It was not possi
ble to break the contract with the Government, and an organization was
needed to administer the conditions growing out of this contract.
THE POOR COLONIES OF HOLLAND.
115
In 1843 a reorganization was effected. Prince Frederick of the Neth
erlands accepted the presidency and secured such special favors from the
Crown, such as the contract for making all coffee bags used by the
chartered Dutch India Company, that the financial condition of the
colonies rapidly improved. This, however, not only awakened hostility
on the part of the factories throughout the kingdom, but it also trans
formed the agricultural colony into a manufactory and made mechanics
instead of farmers. The usual result of a combination of such diverse
purposes soon came and the society found itself in 1856 in debt to the
amount of $3,000,000.
The State realized that it had been greatly benefited during this
period, and also gave the society $1,500,000 with which to pay private
creditors 65 per cent of their claims.
A complete reorganization followed. Ommerschans and Veenhuizen
became government property and a complete disunion of the beggar
and the free colonies took place. Naturally this experiment was looked
upon as proving that agricultural colonies can not succeed. This pre
judiced opinion should be kept in view in order that one may fully
realize how handicapped the present organization is in its struggle to
do good.
Still, the experiment had attracted the attention of'philanthropists
and even of other governments. During this time the colonies had
been visited by official commissions from France, Austria, and Scotland.
The organization as at present constituted dates from September 15,
1859.
The underlying principle in the revised scheme seems plainly to be to
assist the destitute in meeting his wants, and the wants of all who
depend upon him, without suggesting a feeling of dependence and with
out disturbing the family relations.
It is likely that the affections as well as the exigencies of life, which
have so effectually kept the Dutch families intact, have been potent in
forming the conditions under which they began to dispense their bene
factions; nor is ifc at all improbable that the large Jewish population,
among whom the family ties are extremely strong, has been instru
mental in giving directions to the elaboration of the systems now in
vogue.
The entire conduct of the affairs of the society rests with a commis
sion of five persons, one of whom is designated as chairman and another
as secretary. This commission meets at regular intervals, either in
Amsterdam or at the colony. It fixes the salaries of all employees,
but selects only one, the director, who, being responsible for the faithful
discharge of all duties by his subordinates, has the right to choose them.
All contracts are made by the commission, and, in short, it has all
the rights and privileges of an ordinary corporation. It realizes that
it is administering the affairs of a company to which a large number
of persons make annual contributions, consequently it considers with
116
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
great care all propositions which look toward a change of policy or the
venture of money.
In order to keep the contributing members of the society in close
relations with the work which is being done, there is a general meeting
held annually in Amsterdam, to which each branch society sends a
delegate. This delegate has one vote for every twenty members in his
local society.
These branch societies are the outgrowth of a club system. It was
ascertained that a house and laud enough for the support of one family
had originally cost the society about $680, hence it decreed that when
ever any person or party of persons paid into the treasury this sum of
money he or they could have the privilege of sending to the colony one
family, which should be retained there without further cost to the
sender. Since it was not easy to find persons ready to contribute so
much at once, a clubbing system was proposed and annual fees paid—
in amount equivalent to the interest on $680 at 3 per cent. Thus it
happens that for each multiple of twenty represented in the member
ship of a branch society or department it has a ward at the colony,
and hence the supporters of this ward as well as the branch society
should have a vote in the general meetings of the organization.
For every $20:40 annually contributed a department has the right to
send one family to the colony, and this family remains there as long as
this sum is paid. In return for this contribution the department
receives reports periodically from the director regarding all of its fam
ilies, with a statement showing the financial status of each. If atten
tion is called to a needy family in a neighborhood in which there is an
organized department with a sufficient sum to its credit with the society,
the head of the family is sent to the colony on a tour of inspection. A
railroad ticket is furnished him and all incidental expenses paid. If
he returns favorably impressed, the entire family is given transporta
tion thither. This time the trip is made by water, since this is cheaper,
and time is not an important element, and one can go from almost any
point in Holland to any other by water. This entire expense is met by
the department which sends the family.
Upon arrival a house is provided and the immediate wants of the
household attended to—not in the shape of gifts but advances, which
must be paid for in installments according to conditions previously
made known to the newcomer. He is also supplied with a sheep (ewe),
which can be pastured on the society’s farm for a small sum. On this
he makes weekly payments. The purchaser is advised to insure this
animal in the general funds of the society, so that in case of death it
can be replaced without loss to the owner. At the very beginning a
man is invested with the feeling of ownership, and a way is provided
by which, with due economy, he may meet his obligations.
In passing it might be said that the ewe in Holland takes the place
of the goat. The milk is quite as good and, in addition to the increase,
the sheep yields wool enough to assist in clothing the family.
THE POOR COLONIES OF HOLLAND.
117
All the wage-earning members of this newly arrived family are at
once put to work on one of the society’s farms or in some of the shops or
factories operated by it. Idleness is not tolerated. The children must
either be learning a trade or be at school. Although the free-school
system originated in Holland, the spirit of individual liberty is so cur
rent that no successful attempt has been made to institute compulsory
education. But within the colony the people are subject to the regula
tions of the colony. Even if a boy’s parents intend that he shall become
a farmer, he must learn some simple trade, such as basket making,
because there is so much time during the long winters when the farmer
can not be at work in the ground. It is therefore well when he can
occupy himself at this time with some profitable indoor occupation.
Wages, such as are current in the vicinity of the colony, are paid
weekly, after having deducted: The installment on the debt incurred
upon arrival; house rent, not exceeding 20 cents; 1 cent infirmary fee
for each person; 4 cents for the clothing fund; and a reserve for the
family emergency fund, equivalent to 10 per cent of the gross earnings.
That all transactions may be thoroughly understood each debit and
credit is entered in a pass book.
In this connection it is interesting to note that the boys and girls,
even while serving as apprentices, are paid for each merchantable
article they make. If a boy makes a good basket he knows exactly
how much he will receive for it; but should the work be defective, his
compensation will be less. This of course furnishes an important
stimulus to put forth best endeavors and also tends to hasten the com
ing of the time when faultless jobs can be turned out.
After two years of probation, if the head of the family has given
evidence of industrious habits and a commendable desire to pay his
debts, he is promoted to citizenship, and is called a “vrijboer,” or “free
farmer.” If there is a place available he is put on it—a farm of 7.7
acres—apparently a small one, but it is so fertile that it will readily
support an ordinary family. This plot of land is either one just vacated
for some reason, or else it has been in the hands of the society; there
fore it is not barren, but is provided with such planted crops as would
have been in place in case the tenancy had begun months before. If
the occupancy should begin in midwinter, the farmer is furnished with
fodder for five months, enough rye to sow 2.4 acres, and 33 bushels of
potatoes. Again, these are not gifts; he becomes responsible for their
cost as well as for the cow which was provided him. His wants are
not magnified by the feeling that all he receives are gifts. He has just
passed through the ordeal of paying debts on the installment plan, and
fully realizes the pressure of debt and the slow and tedious process of
removing it.
In return for the improvement made during the probationary period
the farmer is admitted into new privileges. He has the full enjoyment
of his farm, cultivates it as he deems best, can wrfrk for others when he
118
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
can spare the time, even going outside of the colony with the consent
of the director, and has a vote in electing a delegate to the colonial
council, while the only added burden is the rent for the land and a
somewhat larger payment on his debts. The rent of course varies
somewhat with the condition of the house and the fertility of the land,
but the average annual rent is $ 20. The payment on his indebtedness
is only $4 a year. In addition to this, he must each year put on the
land $14 worth of manure, but this item is remitted in case he owns a
cow and is duly saving of all manure.
It has been the purpose of the society to have all the houses alike
and each plot of ground as desirable as any other. But this is impos
sible. Some of the houses are comparatively new, yet the older ones
in many cases are more favorably located with respect to school and
church. As is usual in Holland, the stable, barn, and house of the small
farmer are all under one roof. One can step directly from the barn into
the house, but the former is kept so clean that one would hardly notice
that the rooms were put to different uses were it not for the surround
ing furniture and utensils. The barn is large enough to house the
entire products of the farm, the cow naturally not requiring much
space. The house itself has two rooms and an attic—one used for a
kitchen and dining room and the other for a sitting room and bedroom.
The bedroom feature is not apparent, for, as is usual in this section,
the beds are shelves in a closet, so that during the day when the closet
doors are closed no suggestion of a bed can be seen.
The local department has the right to designate who shall be sent to
the colony from its district, and the colony must accept the family sent.
But the board of commissioners can, whenever it deems it best, dismiss
or eject a tenant, whether he be laborer or farmer.
The department is responsible for the debts of those persons whom
it placed in the colony, but it must receive from the society’s officers
quarterly reports of all its wards. These reports must indicate whether
or not the conduct of each family concerned was satisfactory, how
much it owed the society, and what change took place in the account
during the preceding three months. If in any case the indebtedness
should persistently increase, the department can announce its intention
to withdraw all further assistance, but this does not exempt it from the
payment of all accrued debts.
A man ordinarily can not remain in the colony as a laborer more
than two years. If he fails in this time to give evidence of the posses
sion of those qualities demanded of a farmer he must leave. But once
admitted to the farmer class he may remain so during good behavior.
There are several cases in which, after the death of the head of the
family, the widow continued as tenant; and in one instance at least
a son, after having attained majority, married and retained the farm.
That the conditions are regarded as favorable may be seen from the
fact that of the 284 fymilies residing in the colony in 1894 three classed
THE POOR COLONIES OF HOLLAND.
119
as laborers failed to qualify as farmers and hence were dismissed, while
not a single farmer moved away.
While the lands of the society have been spoken of as the colony,
there are in reality four subdivisions so important that each has its
separate name 5they are Frederiksoord, Wilhelminasoord, Willemsoord,
and Colony Number Seven. The principal offices are at the first named,
which is also the oue nearest the town of Steenwyk.
The person immediately in charge of the colony, and who is responsi
ble for the conduct of its affairs, is the director—at present Mr. Job van
der Have. His duties are clearly defined in the regulations of the
society under nineteen distinct heads, but they may be summarized as
follows: He conducts the correspondence; executes the orders of the
board of commissioners; looks after the receipts and expenditures;
keeps a double entry account with all the departments and employees;
provides for the maintenance, liberty, and safety of the roads, bridges,
waterways, farms, and open squares; protects the real and personal
property of the society; controls the public health; inspects the schools;
cares for the external interests of public worship; appoints or dis
charges all officers of the society denominated second class; makes up
the budget for the coming year; formulates plans for the furtherance of
the best interests of the colony; keeps a close watch over all the facto
ries of the colony; in short, does everything that can possibly be done
for the welfare and comfort of all concerned.
The director has such clerical help as is needed, including a book
keeper, on whdm falls the task of keeping several hundred rather com
plicated accounts. Then he has directly under him subdirectors, each
of whom has immediate charge of one of the seven districts into
which the colony is divided. The subdirector gives to the bookkeeper
a weekly statement showing the amount of services rendered during
that week and by whom. From these statements the bookkeeper makes
up the credit sides of his accounts.
These officers have a still more important function. They, from fre
quent inspections, determine whether each farmer is getting the best
possible yield from his laud. If not, they give such advice as will enable
him to farm more successfully. The undivided tracts, or large farms,
are directly under these subdirectors, and, since the laborers are em
ployed on these farms, it is they who are in the position to make the
recommendation which, at the end of the two years already mentioned,
either promotes the laborer to. citizenship or dismisses him from the
colony.
The counsel of the directors in agricultural matters is more than
mere haphazard guessing. One of the Government agricultural
experiment stations is located in the colony. Here experiments are
conducted to determine specifically the best treatment of the soil in
that immediate neighborhood and the kind of seed best suited to the
land and the climatic conditions which there exist.
120
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
In addition to this schools of agriculture, of horticulture, and of
forestry have been erected in the colony through the beneficence of
General van Swieten. Here excellent instruction is given in the sub
jects usually included in the schools named. To boys from the colony
tuition is free. The colony is benefited not only by the amount of
information directly imparted to the pupils, but by the example con
tinually before the eyes of all the colonists, especially in the improved
methods of vegetable culture. The value and importance of a garden
to the household is emphasized by example as well as by precept.
Holland has been compared to a vast garden, but in its vastness the
vegetables that thrive in one part may be failures in others, and so the
colonists coming from other parts of the kingdom are saved the costly
lessons of experience by having before them the fruits of careful
experimentation.
The gardens of the School of Horticulture have, in addition to use
ful vegetables, ornamental flowers, and the daily or frequent sight of
the gay flower beds has awakened in many a responsive love for the
beautiful, until now a large proportion of the houses have either a bed
of flowers in the front yard or else potted plants in the windows. The
officers of the society appreciate the elevating influence of beautiful
surroundings, even if limited to a few bright flowers, and so to encour
age the care and cultivation of them they give each summer several
prizes for floral displays.
The statement should not be omitted that prizes are also awarded to
farmers for the general appearance of the farm, condition of live stock,
and yield of grain per acre.
Pupils of the School of Forestry have an excellent opportunity for
becoming acquainted with the practical side of their chosen profession
in caring for the 943 acres of forest in the colony; and in obtain
ing the manual skill demanded they also have a chance to earn some
money, for since the forest needs this care all time given to it, over and
above what is required as a part of the course of study, is paid for. In
Europe the subject of forestry receives considerable attention so that
the graduates of a good school readily secure situations.
In the colony there are also such public schools as the state usually
provides for communities of this size, and all children must attend
school, at least until they can read and write.
From these last remarks it will readily be seen that the policy of the
society is to place the coming generation in a self-supporting condition.
It is realized that the class of men who come to the colony as well as
the age at which they come is such that their existence in the world
must be at a cost to some one. But the society endeavors to reduce
this cost to a minimum, and better than that—to so educate their chil
dren that they may never be a burden to the community. If this
principle could be completely put into practice, pauperism would have
the life of only one generation.
THE POOR COLONIES OF HOLLAND.
121
The society is absolutely free from religious bias. It has within the
colony a Protestant and a Catholic church, and provides for the main
tenance of both. But while the colonists are permitted to elect their
church, they are required to see that their children are more than mere
attendants upon service, for one of the rules provides that all children
must know the catechism of their particular faith before the age of 14
is reached.
Since the majority of men who are sent to the colony are those who
have passed through a life struggle of greater or less duration, they
are of middle age or older. They are also people who have been
obliged to undergo hardships, and for most of the time with insufficient
nourishment, consequently they soon reach a helpless old age. It has
been impossible in a short period of residence in the colony, even under
the excellent system there in vogue, to lay by anything for these years
of enforced idleness. The society has therefore erected an u Old Folks’
Best,” and agrees to pay so much weekly toward the support of those
unable to work. The colonists are urged to aid in the maintenance of
this home, and they cheerfully meet the appeal to the extent of their
ability. They know from recent experience the value of aid and the
sweetness of charity.
At the time of my visit in July, 1895, there were 1,826 people in the
colony. They were grouped as follows: Farmers, 199 families; laborers
on probation, 85 families; individual laborers, not belonging to the
foregoing, 165 persons.
During the preceding year there had been 35 births and 24 deaths in
the colony, and 46 young men withdrew to accept positions or regular
work outside.
To govern this large body of men, coming from all parts of the king
dom and bringing with them the traditions and habits of their native
villages, is no simple matter nor can it be an easy task. It has been
simplified somewhat by the society and made easier by calling on the
colonists themselves to see to it that the rules were observed. In these
regulations it will be noticed that there is a strong infusion of the golden
rule, and the purpose is manifest to throw around the rising generation
those influences which will lift it out of the helpless state. The rules
forbid—
1 . Disobedience, insubordination, or insult offered any officer of the
society or any of its employees.
2. Fighting or disturbing the peace in any manner.
3. Drunkenness.
The fine inflicted for a violation of either of the above is from 10
cents to $ 1 .20, or imprisonment for a period of from one day to three
days, for the first offense and ejection from the colony for a repetition.
4. Absence from the colony in excess of the permissible twenty-four
hours, or of the leave granted by the director.
122
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
A fine of from 4 to 20 cents for each twenty-four hours of absence
over and beyond the leave is imposed, or an imprisonment as above.
In this connection it should be said that this, as well as all other rules,
applies to the resident officers of the society. The director can not
absent himself for more than one day without the written consent of
the president of the board, and the under directors, clerks, and all
employees must obtain permission for similar absences from the director.
5. The occupation of quarters or buildings without the consent of
the director.
The chief purpose of this rule is to compel the grown members of
the families to live with their parents and not where fancy might lead
them. Then, too, single men are occasionally admitted to the colony
and it is necessary that the director should always know where they
are located, and this would be impossible in the absence of such a
regulation as the one just given. This is deemed of such vital impor
tance that its violation is followed by immediate dismissal.
6. Loss, destruction, theft, or pawning of the property of another,
calls for the restoration of the property or its value, and a fine varying
from 20 cents to $ 1 .20.
A second offense brings about either imprisonment or ejection.
7. Injury to the morals of another condemns the offender to prompt
dismissal.
The infraction of this rule is the one most dreaded. As can be
inferred the majority of the colonists belong to a lower class, and
their conceptions of morality and virtue are not so clear in their minds
as to inspire proper conduct in the absence of such a regulation.
8. Wanton wastefulness, carelessness, and laziness are punished by
imprisonment with a notification to that effect to the department which
sent the offender.
No fine is imposed in this instance for the good reason that a person
so worthless as to fall under the condemnation of this rule would not
be in a position to pay a fine.
9. Refusal to pay his debts to the society demands a confiscation of
the debtor’s property and its sale.
But the society is extremely indulgent. It makes due and charita
bly due allowance for crop failures, sickness, or unexpected losses of any
kind. At no time does it lose sight of the fact that its purpose is to
help, and in all of its safeguards and efforts to protect itself there is
evident an incentive directed toward the borrower to pay his debts.
For a cash payment, made before it is due, of $8 he is given credit for
an additional 80 cents, and the inability to meet his obligations brings
to the farmer such special advice and encouragement from the authori
ties as will insure better returns from his farm in the future. This aid
I know is efficient, for in looking over the accounts of a large number of
the farmers I noticed only one who owed as much as $ 200, while I am
sure that the average indebtedness was not one-fourth of that amount.
THE POOR COLONIES OF HOLLAND.
123
Before getting too far from the subject it would be well to explain
how the rules above given are enforced.
All questions pertaining to the welfare of the community, the trial
of offenders, and matters of local interest are in the hands of a council
consisting of the director, who is ex officio president; the bookkeeper,
who is secretary 5 the treasurer of the society, and one delegate from
each of the four subdivisions of the colony. These delegates belong
to the farmer class and are elected annually, the laborers not having
any vote in this election.
The laborer is not disfranchised in the election of state or local offi
cers; this matter is beyond the jurisdiction of the society, nor is one
released from his obligations to the State or province by being a mem
ber of the colony. However, the code of the colony is so satisfactory
that all infractions of law and order within its domain that can be
punished by its provisions are left to it.
The practical question comes, What does all this cost?
The last balance sheet, that for 1893, shows that the estimated value
of the property is $533,274, and the indebtedness $43,380.
At the time of the last reorganization the indebtedness was $56,000,
and to the war of the rebellion in the United States was attributed the
responsibility for this debt. The contract which the society had for so
many years following 1843 for making coffee bags had proved so profit
able that the society, after its withdrawal from this contract, continued
the manufacture of jute bags in competition with private firms. From
1861 to 1864 the coffee trade with the United States was demoralized,
and all industries depending on this trade suffered loss.
The last balance sheet (1893) shows that the receipts and expenses
were as follows:
RECEIPTS.
From members........................................................................................................$5,418.40
From special gifts................................................................................................... 3,931.20
From rent of land and farm products................................................................ 3, 128.52
From forest..........................................................................................................
6lS.02
Profit on laborers’ and apprentices’ work......................................................... 733.44
Total.............................................................................................................. 13,826.58
EXPENSES.
Deficit for the preceding year.............................................................................. $745.94
Interest on debt...................................................................................................... 1,381.91
General expenses of administration................................................................... 4,790.32
Religious services andspecial instruction.......................................................... 1,097.32
Ditching, road making, unproductive work, and losses in the various fac
tories..................................................................................................................... 8,092.00
Advances to colonists over and above returns................................................. 538.29
Total.............................................................................................................. 16,645.78
That is a deficit for the year of $2,819.20, or $1.54 for each inhabitant.
To see how the inhabitant is taken care of, and to what extent, the
accounts for one week of two extreme cases are presented:
124
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
A family of seven persons, in which there were four above 15 years,
two above 10, and one under 5, earned in one week during the winter
season $4.36. From this amount the following showing was made:
Installment and house rent.......................................................................................... $0.56
Infirmary fee...........................................................................................................
.07
Clothing.................................................................................................................................. 28
Ten per cent for reserve fund..............................................................................................44
Potatoes.................................................................................................................................. 64
Cash................................................................................................................................ 2.37
Total..................................................................................................................... 4.36
If 80 cents a week were allowed for bread, they would have a surplus
of $1.57 for sundry clothing and incidentals.
In the other family there were also seven persons—three above 15,
one above 10, two above 5, and one under 5. During the same week
they earned $2.36, and spent as follows:
Installment and house rent..........................................................................................$0.56
Infirmary fee......................................................................................................................... 07
Clothing.................................................................................................................................. 28
Ten per cent for reserve fund..............................................................................................24
Potatoes.......................................................................................................................... , 77
Bread, from the colony bakery............................................................................................87
Total..................................................................................................................... 2.79
That is 43 cents more than they earned. Because of the number of
nonearning members of this family it was allowed $1 a week, so that
it had an actual balance in its favor of 57 cents.
As already said, these are perhaps extreme cases and represent two
distinct types. In the first cited the man came to the colony when
young, his children were born there, and all were accustomed to habits
of industry and frugality. The rooms of their house were cosily fur
nished, a large mahogany chest of drawers represented the savings of
m|iny weeks, the omnipresent clock was ticking against the wall, and a
rug covered a part of the floor.
The head of the other family had been a mechanic, grew up in a city,
and, having failed in his efforts to support his family by his trade, came
to the colony later in life. He was, therefore, not used to farm work,
and, besides, was disheartened by the recollection of having once failed.
But notwithstanding these disadvantages this entire family was pro
vided for, educated, and trained for usefulness at a total annual cost of
$52, or less than $8 for each member. An examination of the entire
yearly expenses of the colony will show that the average expense for
each person there is only $9 a year. This average of $9 does more than
feed, clothe, and shelter these needy.persons; as has been repeatedly
said, it educates the young, gives them religious instruction, and pro
vides them with a bread-winning trade.
It might well be asked, What more is desired? And in fact this
question came to mind innumerable times—first while reading the con
THE POOR COLONIES OF HOLLAND.
125
stitution of the society and its annual reports, and then again during
my sojourn in the colony in visiting the homes of the laborers; in
walking over the farms of the citizens; in watching the happy chil
dren at play or their older brothers and sisters working in the basket
factory, weaving jute, or drying fruits and vegetables; in looking
through the home for the aged, the churches, the professional schools,
and the public library. What more is desired? The society would
answer, “ More money.77' For, although they have reduced their bonded
indebtedness to $37,200, the interest on this sum was last year onethird of the entire deficit.
This shortage is not through any bad management at the colony nor
by the society. The departments did not pay their stipulated quota
for each family that they had at the colony. Their payments fell short
by almost identically the amount of the deficit. The society naturally
expected the entire amount, they made their plans and promises
accordingly, and their disappointment was shown in the untoward
balance.
To say how many persons have been aided would be a mere recital
of statistics; to attempt to estimate the amount of good accomplished
would be impossible. As may be seen, the assistance is of the best
possible character; people are helped to help themselves, they are
taught self-reliance; faith in mankind is engendered by the faith that
is placed in the individual. The class of persons benefited are in gen
eral those who lack opportunity, people unable from some fault or mis
fortune to make a start. The society practically says: u We will put
you in a position to prove your worth, then if found worthy you shall
have a start.77 The man thus addressed works with confidence that the
promise will be kept, and knows that starvation will be kept from his
family during this period of probation.
Experience has shown that the best results are obtained with people
from small towns or from the country, while those who have lived in a
large city, for a longer or a shorter period, chafe under the restrictions
of the colony and show a reluctance to exchange the freedom of a city
for its restraints. This experience also reflects itself in the donations
as well as the interest, they being, per inhabitant, the minimum in
Amsterdam and Rotterdam and the maximum in Utrecht and the
smaller cities.
It must not be imagined that the colony is in any sense an agricul
tural normal school, that good farmers are here taught skill, wisdom,
and experience, and sent throughout the kingdom to teach others by
precept and example how to farm. As already intimated, but few,
very few, families willingly leave the colony. And why should they?
They would necessarily be renters wherever they should go, and in the
colony there is land enough for generations to come. Here they are not
subjected to exorbitant rents, their tenancy is secure, the manifested
will is accepted as an important step in the doing, and their landlord
is their best friend.
126
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Then, again, it is best that such persons should remain near the hands
that are ready to catch them should they stumble, close under the arm
that is willing to shield them should adversity come. They are men
who were helped to their feet, steadied during their early attempts to
walk alone along the highway of independence, and strengthened for
life’s conflict with moral and financial support. They are not men
strong in every respect, or they would not be in the colony 5 they are
the men, within the boundaries of “brave little Holland,” deficient in
moral courage and unfortunate through accident or vice, or there would
be no “ Maatschappy van Veldadigheid.” So when this society ele
vates a man into its citizenship it makes him in a truer sense a citizen
of Holland. The Government appreciates this fact, and gives the
colony an agricultural experiment station. General van Swieten saw
its power for good, so, when he wished to perpetuate the memory of a
beloved son, he endowed its professional schools. The corps of faith
ful ministers and teachers realize the importance of the work com
mitted to them and labor with zeal and devotion. Her Majesty the
Queen is the society’s patron and annual benefactor.
Again I must call attention to the important fact that the beneficia
ries are not abased by their benefits; they are not caused to feel that
they are paupers; their independence is not expelled by the acceptance
of gratuities. They experience the great joy of having found a friend
who will loan them money, give them advice free from selfish motives,
and afford them the opportunity to become men.
For opportunities to become so well acquainted with the society and
its work in the colony, I am indebted to Mr. van Eeghen, secretary
of the Amsterdam department, and Mr. Bleeker, member of the fac
ulty of the School of Horticulture, who gave me freely of his time at
Frederiksoord.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN,
BY WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS.
(a)
Japan is becoming less and less dependent upon foreign nations for
the necessities and comforts of life, and is making her own goods with
the greatest skill and ingenuity. Since their release from the exclu
sive policy of the feudal lords, the people have studied the methods of
all civilized nations, and have adopted those of each which seem to
them the most suitable for their own purposes and convenience. They
have found one thing in Switzerland, another in Sweden, another in
England, others in Germany, France, and the United States, and have
rejected what is of no value to them as readily as they have adopted
those things which are to their advantage. It is often said that the
Japanese are not an original people; that they are only imitators; that
they got their art from Korea, their industries from China, and that their
civilization is simply a veneer acquired by imitating the methods of
other countries. All of this is true in a measure, but it is not discredita
ble. Under the circumstances that attend the development of modern
ideas in Japan, originality is not wanted, but a power of adaptability
and imitation has been immensely more useful. The Japanese work
man can make anything he has ever seen. His ingenuity is astonish
ing. Give him a piece of complicated mechanism—a watch or an
electrical apparatus—and he will reproduce it exactly and set it run
ning without instructions. He can imitate any process and copy any
pattern or design more accurately and skillfully than any other race in
the world. It is that faculty which has enabled Japan to make such
rapid progress, and will place her soon among the great manufacturing
nations of the world.
It was only forty years ago that the ports of Japan were forcibly
opened to foreign commerce. It was only twenty-eight years ago that
the first labor-saving machine was set up within the limits of that
Empire. Kow the exports and imports exceed $115,000,000.
The following table shows the general character of the merchandise
imported into Japan during the year 1894: (6)
Raw cotton.......................................................................................................... $9,551,961
Machinery, etc.............................................................................................. .;. 7,974,543
Sugar.....................................................:............................................................ 6,662,261
a The facts on which this article is based were collected by Mr. Curtis, personally,
while in Japan during the past year.
bValues stated in American gold on the basis of 2 silver yen to the dollar.
127
128
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Breadstuff's, including rice...............................................................................
Iron and steel.......................................................................................................
Woolen goods.......................................................................................................
Cotton yarn........................................................................................................
Cotton fabrics.....................................................................................................
Oil (mostly kerosene) and wax.......................................................................
Drugs and medicines..........................................................................................
Dyes and paints.................................................................................................
Furs, hides, and leather..................................................................................
Provisions............................................................................................................
Copper, brass, and lead....................................................................................
Books and stationery........................................................................................
Oil cakes..............................................................................................................
Hemp and j ute....................................................................................................
Other textiles...................... -..............................................................................
Silk goods............................................................................................................
Wines and liquors.............................................................................................
Glassware............................................................................................................
Clothing..............................................................................................................
The chief exports from Japan in 1894 were as follows:
$5,877,068
4,589,384
3,991,441
3,988,683
3,788,267
2,845,997
1,798,140
986,641
904,034
886,602
876,973
451,783
411,098
403,917
279,358
261,457
257,671
183,884
179,807
Raw silk................................................................................................................. $21,446,376
Textile fabrics, mostly silk.............................................................................. 8,867,744
Food products, mostly rice............................................................................... 5,406,599
Tea........................................................................................................................ 3,965,143
Coal....................................................................................................................... 3,289,229
Metals, mostly copper........................................................................................ 3,015,186
Matches............................................................................................................... 1,897,817
Drugs and medicines.......................................................................................... 1,230,816
Floor matting......................................................................................................
982,747
Porcelain..............................................................................................................
742,426
Fish, oil, and vegetable wax...........................................................................
639,595
Lacquer ware......................................................................................................
398,770
Umbrellas............................................................................................................
388,032
Straw plaiting.....................................................................................................
371,700
Bamboo and wooden ware................................................................................
289,498
Tobacco...............................................................................................................
174,137
Fans.....................................................................................................................
171,533
Paper and stationery...........................................................1............................
169,147
It is a curious fact that 10,273,401 fans, 2,348,810 umbrellas, 134,209
screens, 455,659 paper lanterns, and 13,843,022 gross of matches were
shipped from Japan in 1894.
The following table shows the growth of the foreign trade of Japan
during the last ten years: (a)
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS, 1885 TO 1894.
Year.
Exports.
1885............................................................................................................................. $18,573,346
1887............................................................................................................................. 26,203,841
1890............................................................................................................................. 28,301,753
1892............................................................................................................................. 45,551,377
1894 ............................................................................................................................ 56,623,043
Imports.
$14,678,484
22,152,126
40,864,290
35,663,040
58,740,978
a Values stated in American gold on the basis of 2 silver yen to the dollar.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
129
The following table shows the distribution of the exports of Japan
among the several nations, arranged according to the magnitude of
the trade in the year 1894: (a)
EXPORTS BY COUNTRIES, 1890, 1892, AND 1894.
Country.
United States........................................... ............................... .
France............................................................................................
Honekone.....................................................................................
China........................................... .......................... ........ ...............
Great Britain................................................. .
British India................... .......................... ............ . . . . . . . . . . .
Germany.......................................................................................
1890.
1892.
$9,910,719 $19,337,486
4,177,197
9,046,847
4,683,203
6,644,270
2,613,748
3,179,430
2,819,490
1,960,876
295, 393
711,145
423, 461
470,391
1894.
$21,661,779
9,749,388
8,099,740
4,406,994
2,975,099
1,844,079
758,774
The remainder of the exports of Japan are sent in small amounts to
nearly every nation in the world.
The following table shows the source from which the imports of
Japan come, arranged according to the magnitude of the trade in
1894:(a)
IMPORTS BY COUNTRIES, 1890, 1892, AND 1894.
Country.
1890.
1892.
$13,309,551 $10,394,666
Great Britain.......................................................
6,254,705
-................................................. 4,424,843
China_____ ______________
________ . . . . ____ _____ __. . . __
3,437,266
2,994,027
3,831,002
British India.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,455,446
Hongkong . . . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . __ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2,747,956
3,492,861
frflfm in iy _____________ ______ . . . . ______________________ . . . ____
3,428,478
3,187,524
"F'rnnr,ft____ ________ _____ ________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ____
1,934,666
1,810,250
1894.
$21,094,937
8,755,753
5,491,279
5,280,224
4,499,859
3,954,771
2,174,024
The Japanese coinage is based on the decimal system and corre
sponds with that of the United States. A rin was originally the same
as a mill. Ten rin make 1 sen and 100 sen make 1 yen, which used to
be as good as a gold American dollar, but is now worth about 51 cents.
Therefore, a man who goes to Japan from the United States or Europe
with money that is at par with gold finds his funds almost doubled
immediately.
The industrial revolution that is now going on in Japan is quite as
remarkable as the political revolution that occurred there thirty years
ago, and equally important to the rest of the world. Until recently
all the manufacturing done in Japan has been in the households, and
95 per cent of the skilled labor is still occupied in the homes of the
people and in a measure independent of the conditions that govern
wage workers in other lands. The weaver has his loom in his own
house, and his wife, sons, and daughters take their turns at it during
the day. It has always been the custom for children to follow the
trade of their parents. The finest brocades, the choicest silks, the
most artistic porcelain, cloisonne, and lacquer work are done under the
roofs of humble cottages, and the compensation has heretofore been
governed usually by the quality of the piece produced.
aValues stated in American gold on the basis of 2 silver yen to the dollar.
320—No. 2----- 2
130
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
In the olden times the feudal lord, or dairnio, who ruled a particular
province, was always expected to purchase the highest grades of
industrial art that were produced in his jurisdiction, and if he did not
wish them they were sold to some of his subordinates who had money
to invest in such luxuries, but now there are middlemen who stand
between the artisans and the public markets and buy for both the local
and the export trades, taking all sorts of goods and disposing of them
wherever they can do so to the best advantage. These middlemen are
the same who used to handle similar wares during the days of the
daimios, and their fathers followed the same business before them.
The relations between the producer and his agent have gone on for
centuries in the same family. Asana, the weaver, sells his brocades to
the great-grandson of the merchant who bought his great-grandfather’s
product. When a large order is to be placed, say, for 1,000 lacquer
trays or 10,000 embroidered shawls, the middleman distributes it
among the families of his acquaintance who are in the habit of doing
such work. If they are poor he advances them money and furnishes
them materials. He is usually their banker and they keep an open
account with him, being credited for whatever they furnish and charged
with whatever money or supplies he gives them. If they get a little
ahead he advises them in making investments, and acts as a friend and
counsel in financial affairs. The relations between these commission
men and their clients, which sometimes extend over provinces as large
as our States, have nothing to resemble them among the working
classes of Europe or America. They are the outgrowth of the feudal
system, and to the credit of Japan it may be said that the confidence
which the working people have placed in their agents has seldom been
betrayed. There has not been a fixed price for anything except the
staples of the country, but the producers have relied upon the middle
men to represent their interests and get as good prices as possible for
their wares, just as a large real estate owner depends upon his agents
to rent and sell his property to advantage.
It will be seen that under this system organizations for the purpose
of affecting wages and hours of work have not been practicable in
Japan, but guilds have been known for several centuries and were
introduced by the Dutchmen who occupied the island of Deshima, in
the harbor of Nagasaki, the westernmost port of Japan. During the
four hundred years that the policy of isolation and exclusion was
enforced in Japan these Dutchmen were the only foreigners with whom
the inhabitants of the country were allowed to communicate, and the
few modern ideas that filtered into the country came through them.
The guild, or association of men who are engaged in the same kind
of employment, which originated in Holland, was readily accepted in
Japan, and long before the country was open to foreign commerce this
system included all trades and occupations. The silk growers and silk
buyers, the men who raise tea and those who sell it, the spinners and
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
131
weavers, artists and decorators, carpenters, screen makers, confection
ers, peddlers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, and even thieves have had
guilds to promote their mutual interests. Among the mechanics and
tradesmen the guilds have often been extended to include life insur
ance and aid to those who are ill or infirm, like the mutual benefit
societies of the United States. Assessments were made upon the liv
ing to pay the doctors who have attended the sick and the undertakers
who have buried the dead.
The only trade union that endeavors to control the wages and the
working time of its members, so far as I was able to ascertain, in Japan
is the Guides’ Association, which has its headquarters in Yokohama
and includes all of the professional guides and couriers in the Empire.
When a tourist lands in Japan and applies at the hotel office or at a
bank for a guide, he is directed to the general agency, and the first man
on the list is assigned to him. As there are both good and poor, edu
cated and ignorant, amiable and disagreeable, competent and incom
petent guides, this assignment is not always satisfactory, but a traveler
can always get the guide he wants sooner or later by applying for him.
If he happens to be low down on the list his patron must go without a
guide or employ someone else temporarily until his name is reached,
or he may arrange with the man who stands at the head to sell out his
chance for a bonus in cash, or divide fees with him until his turn arrives
for regular assignment. This arrangement is often annoying to trav
elers, but it gives every guide an equal chance, and protects them from
the avarice of popular guides and at the same time gives the unpopular
ones an equal chance for employment.
The fees charged by guides in Japan are much less than in Europe,
the regular terms being 2 yen ($1) a day, with 50 sen (25 cents) for
hotel fare and second-class traveling expenses. Any guide who cuts
under these rates or attempts to collect more, is disciplined by the
association and often expelled.
There have been but two strikes in Japan. One of these occurred
among a railway construction gang, w:ho were hired for certain wages
to work six days in the week, and were required to work seven without
additional compensation. When their protests were unheeded they
laid down their tools, and appealed to the police authorities for the
enforcement of the law which makes six days a week’s labor, and pro
vides that no employee of the Government or any corporation or pri
vate individual shall be compelled to work more than six days in a
week without extra compensation. Sunday is the usual day of rest
in Japan. Its selection is not due to law nor to religious scruples,
but to public convenience and, perhaps, out of respect to foreign
nations. When what is known as the six-day law was passed the
Government set the example by closing its offices on Sunday, and all
other institutions followed suit. That law was originally suggested for
sanitary reasons.
132
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The second strike in Japan occurred in Tokyo in the summer of
1895. A party of bricklayers engaged in building a factory near
Tokyo had their hours of labor extended from twelve to thirteen
because of a desire on the part of the management to complete the job
and start the machinery as soon as possible. The men did not object
to this increase of time, but asked a corresponding advance of wages,
which, as they were getting only 12 cents a day in our money, would
have been only 1 cent a day increase for each, or perhaps $1 a day for
the whole gang. But the contractor refused and they quit work. He
got other bricklayers to take their places, but they were induced to
abandon him also, and as he persisted in his refusal to do what the
men considered simple justice it was decided to send emissaries to all
the other bricklayers in the city and ask them to join in a sympathetic
strike. This attempt to introduce foreign methods into the conserva
tive labor system of Japan was only partially successful. The greater
part of the bricklayers employed in the city declined to join, but a
thousand or more men, engaged upon the city waterworks, on some
railway freight houses and other large structures, quit, and it was sev
eral days before the difficulty was adjusted. Public sentiment was
aroused by the disturbance, and the contractor who caused the trouble
finally compromised with his men and went back to twelve hours’ work
for twelve hours’ pay.
The ancient system of household labor is being rapidly overturned
by the introduction of modern methods and machinery. The older
artisans are offering a vain resistance and cannot be drawn from their
antique looms and forges by any inducement that has yet been offered,
but the younger generations are rapidly acquiring a knowledge of the
use and value of labor-saving machinery and factories are being built
in all parts of the Empire. The greatest progress thus far has been
made in cotton spinning and weaving, but several iron mills have been
established aud machine shops are springing up all over the Empire.
In four years the new treaties go into effect, when foreigners will be
allowed to engage openly in manufacturing enterprises. Then their
capital and experience will give a decided stimulus to mechanical
industry and the increase in the productive power of Japan will be
even more rapid than now.
The first manufactory established in Japan was a cotton mill down
in the southwestern corner of the Empire, in the province of Satsuma,
which has produced the best pottery and some of the greatest men.
Prince Shimazu was its patron. Having learned something of modern
arts and sciences from the Dutchmen who were allowed to remain on
the island of Deshima, he started a laboratory on his estates in which
he learned telegraphy, photography, and how to make glass, coke, and
gas for illuminating purposes. A few years later he built a factory
near his summer villa, which was half arsenal and half iron foundry.
He made guns there and other articles of iron, and experimented with
explosives.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
133
All the work in both institutions was conducted under his personal
supervision, with the assistance of Dutch chemists, from whom he heard
that much could be learned about such matters from books. So he
started a retainer to Nagasaki, charged with the duty of securing what
ever books on chemistry, natural philosophy, and other scientific
subjects could be bought or borrowed. And an order was left with
a merchant at Deshima to procure for him a copy of every scientific
publication that was issued. In this way a considerable library accu
mulated, and the books were translated to the prince, as fast as they
came, by a schoolmaster who had learned English at Deshima and
whose services were secured.
One of the books contained a description of the Arkwright spinning
jenny; and the prince was so fascinated that he lost no time in order
ing a machine through the Dutchmen. When it came and was operated
he decided to introduce it among his people as a substitute for the oldfashioned spinning wheel. He built a stone factory and located a plant
of 3,030 spindles, at a cost of 30,000 yen ($15,000), in a small town called
Niriiso, a suburb of Kagoshima. The machines were throstles and
mules made by Platt & Bro., of Bradford, who sent an English engineer
over to set them up and educate the operatives. The prince treated
him like an equal, built him a fine large stone house, which is now the
high-school building at Kagoshima, surrounded him with luxuries of
every kind, and paid him a handsome salary. As the enterprise was
not intended for profit, but for the purpose of introducing the art of
spinning among the people, everything was conducted on a most elab
orate and expensive scale, and the yarns produced were of superior
quality.
As coal, which had to be brought from a neighboring province, was
very expensive the prince sent out prospectors to examine his own
territory in the hope of finding deposits, but they failed. He then con
ceived the idea of utilizing water power and commenced the construction
of a canal 10 miles long, but the work was suspended at his death and
never resumed. His sons took little interest in the enterprise, and
soon became involved in the political complications which led to the
restoration of the emperor, so the factory passed into the hands of a
private citizen for several years, from whom the present prince of
Satsuma purchased it.
The next factory was set up by Mr. Kajima, of Tokyo, in 1867, while
the country was still disturbed by the war. It originally had but 720
spindles, but now operates 82,000 and is the largest in the Empire.
These were the only factories in Japan until 1879, when the Government
undertook to encourage such enterprises and established two wellequipped plants in different parts of the country to educate operatives
and demonstrate the superiority of modern machinery. It set up four
more in 1880, four in 1881, one in 1882, another in 1883, and still another
in 1884. They served their purpose, made machine spinning popular,
134
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
and have since been handed over to private companies who are operat
ing them with great profit.
The industry has grown- so rapidly that, according to statistics
gathered by the Osaka board of trade, there are now 61 factories in
operation, with 580,564 spindles, employing 8,899 men and 29,596
women. The factories in course of construction, and which will be in
operation during the present year, will bring the total number of
spindles up to 819,115. Thirty-seven of these factories are at Osaka.
The largest in the Empire has 82,000 spindles, and the smallest 1,136.
There are four with more than 50,000 spindles, and thirteen with more
than 25,000.
Most of the raw cotton used in Japan comes from India and the
United States, but very little is shipped direct from the latter country.
The import statistics do not disclose this trade. It is merged with
that of Great Britain. The value of raw cotton alone imported into
Japan in 1894 was $9,551,961, while the total imports from the United
States are given as $5,491,279. More than one-half, probably twothirds, of that cotton was reshipped at Liverpool to Japanese ports,
with an additional charge to allow a profit for the middleman. The
freight on cotton by sailing vessels from the southern ports of the
United States around the Horn would not be more than $6 a ton,
while the rate by steamer via England is about $ 8. Therefore it is
difficult to understand why shipments are not made direct. The only
explanation seems to be that cotton exporters in the United States are
not aware of the extent of the market in that country.
The same is true to a certain degree as to iron. There is plenty of
poor iron ore in the northern provinces of Japan which might be util
ized for certain purposes if mixed with a better quality, but it is com
paratively useless as it is, and pig iron imported from England, Bussia,
and Norway costs about 40 yen ($20 gold) a ton in Yokohama. There
are two furnaces in Japan that might be used for smelting with profit
if properly managed, but it would be much cheaper to bring the iron
from the United States in pigs than in the ore.
The first genuine foreign factory to be established in Japan is the
Osaka Tokei Seizo Kubushiki Kwaisha, familiarly known as the Ameri
can Watch Company. It was started on January 1,1895, and turned
out its first finished watch on April 10. The organizer and promoter
of this company was Mr. A. H. Butler, of San Diego, Cal., who took
an outfit of watch-making machinery to Japan and induced a number
of jewelers and watch dealers in Osaka to furnish $160,000 capital to
pay the cost of a building and the running expenses of the business.
The company is incorporated under Japanese law, and the stock is all
in the names of Japanese citizens, although 140 of the 300 shares
actually belong to Mr. Butler and his associates.
As no foreigner is allowed to engage in manufacturing outside of
certain limited districts in the treaty ports of Japan, until the new
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
135
treaties go into effect in 1899, it was necessary for Mr. Butler to evade
the law, which he did, with the knowledge and consent of the authori
ties, by having his stock issued in the name of Japanese trustees, who
assigned to him the certificates in blank and gave him a written agree
ment to protect his interests. At the end of four years Mr. Butler will
have the stock registered in his own name and become an officer of the
company.
Japanese architecture is not suitable to factory work that requires a
great deal of light and protection from wind and weather, and there
fore it was necessary to erect a new building of brick upon the Ameri
can plan, 240 by 40 feet in size, with an abundance of windows.
In the meantime the machinery was set up in temporary quarters and
a number of men and boys, who had already been engaged in repairing
and manufacturing hand-made watches and clocks, were assembled to
be educated by P. H. Wheeler, the superintendent, and his assistants.
Mr. Wheeler had worked in Elgin, Rockford, and Springfield, 111., and
in Columbus, Ohio. He brought with him from America nine experts,
who, like himself, have contracts for three years and an option of
renewal for three years longer at the end of the first term. They are
as follows: From Elgin, F. M. Clark and William Keene; from Rock
ford, T. Schnarke; from Springfield, L. Sylvester, E.Y. Goodman, and
Charles Gassier $ from Columbus, H. Barbier, S. B. Finch, and George
Flick.
These gentlemen say that their Japanese students show very great
aptitude and skill, and that they learn much more rapidly and have a
much more delicate touch than persons of similar intelligence and condi
tion in the United States. Nearly all of them had some experience in
making or repairing watches and clocks before they came into the fac
tory, and a few had used hand machines for drilling, polishing, and that
sort of work 5 but the modern machinery at which they were placed
was entirely new to them. They are mostly young men, aged from 18
to 30. As none of them can understand a word of English, and none
of the American experts could speak Japanese when they arrived, the
work of instruction might have been very slow but for the keen per
ception of the pupils.
It is difficult to explain a proposition to the Japanese, but their
power of imitation is so well developed that the easiest way to teach
them is to go through the process yourself and let them watch you.
Almost instantly they are able to repeat it, and will continue to do so
until the end of their days without the slightest variation. Another
difficulty in this school of instruction was the absence of words in
Japanese to describe the machinery and the parts of the watch, but
the English terms were adopted and are now exclusively used.
The highest wages paid to the skilled native workmen in the factory
are only 40 sen a day, which is equivalent to 20 cents in our money. The
lowest wages are 10 sen (5 cents) a day, while in American factories the
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
136
same labor would be paid from 50 cents to $5 a day. The capacity of
the factory when fully in operation will be 150 watches a day, and
owing to the low price of labor they can be sold with a profit for 50
per cent less than the market price in the United States and Europe.
The following statement shows the rates of wages per day paid to
Japanese artisans and laborers: (a)
DAILY RATES OF WAGES, JAPAN.
Occupation.
Highest. Lowest. Average.
$0.60
.88
.53
.50
.55
.83
.33
.45
.60
.30
.28
.58
.50
.34
.60
.55
.50
.70
.60
.40
.50
.25
.69
1.00
.56
.80
.50
.40
.50
.50
Cabinetmakers (furniture) .................................................................................
Carpenters..................................... ................................ .......... ...............................
Carpenters and joiners (screen making)........................................................
Compositors.........................................................................................................
Coolies or general laborers.................................................................................
Cotton heaters______________________ ___________________________________
Farm hands (men)...............................................................................................
Farm hands (women).........................................................................................
Lacquer makers........................................................................... ......................
Matting makers ......................................................................................... .
Oil pressers..............................................................................................................
Paper hangers................................................................................. ......................
Paper screen, lantern, etc., makers...................................................................
Porcelain makers....................................................................................................
Pressmen, printing ........................................................................................ .
Roofers................................................................................................. ............. .
Sauce and preserve makers............................................
Silkworm breeders (men)................................... ...............................................
Silkworm breeders (women)____ _______________________________________
Stonecutters__ ____ ____________________________________________________
......
.
Tailors, foreign clothing .............. .............................................................
Tailors, Japanese clothing................................................................................
Tea makers (men)_________________ ____________________________________
Tobacco makers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Weavers........................................... ..................... ........................................... . . .
Wine and sake makers ................................. ................. .......................
Wood sawyers______________ ____ _________________________________ ____
$0.18
.20
.17
.20
.17
.10
.14
.13
.05
.16
.06
.15
.20
.16
.20
.20
.13
.11
.20
.10
.10
.05
.22
.25
.15
.15
.11
.07
.15
.13
$0.30
.33
.30
.30
.30
.29
.22
23
.25
.19
.19
.29
.30
.25
.31
.31
.29
.26
.29
.24
.22
.17
.36
.49
.28
.31
.26
.15
.29
.30
The following are the rates of wages paid by the month: (a)
MONTHLY RATES OF WAGES, JAPAN.
Occupation.
Confectionery makers and bakers____ _________________________________
Weavers (men)...................................................................................................
Weavers (women)_________________ ____________________ ________________
Farm hands (men).................................. ............................................................
Farm hands (women)..........................................................................................
House servants (men)........................................................................................
House servants (women)..................................................................................
a
Highest. Lowest. Average.
$12.00
12.00
12.00
5.00
3.50
5.00
3.00
$1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
.49
.50
.59
Values stated in American gold on the basis of 2 silver yen to the dollar.
$5.74
4.83
3.30
2.31
1.28
2.12
1.16
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
137
The following are the present rates of wages paid in the city of
Yokohama for an average working day of ten hours :(a)
DAILY RATES OF WAGES PAID IN YOKOHAMA.
Occupation.
Blacksmiths......................................
Carpenters.........................................
Carpenters, ship...............................
Compositors......................................
Confectionery makers and bakers
Cotton beaters..................................
Dyers..................................................
Joiners...............................................
Laborers, ordinary...........................
Lacquer makers...............................
Matting makers...............................
Oil pressers........................................
Paper hangers..................................
Plasterers^.........................................
Porcelain artists, ordinary.............
Porcelain artists, superior.............
Rate per
day.
$0.36
.26
.29
.29
.17
.17
.24
.29
.19
.24
.24
.24
.24
.26
.38
.72
Occupation.
Rate per
day.
Porcelain makers......................................
Pressmen, printing offices........................
Roofers........................................................
Sake brewers.............................................
Sauce and preserve makers....................
Screen makers...........................................
Silk spinners (female)...............................
Stonecutters...............................................
Tailors, foreign clothing..........................
Tailors, Japanese clothing......................
Tea-firing men...........................................
Tea-firing women......................................
Tea pickers.................................................
1 Tilers...........................................................
j Tobacco and cigar makers......................
i Wood sawyers...........................................
$0.24
.19
.26
.22
.24
.26
.17
.31
.48
.24
.14
.10
.29
.31
.24
.29
The following are the rates of wages paid by the month: (a)
Farm hands (men)........................................................................................................ $1.44
Farm hands (women)................................................................................................... 1.20
Silkworm breeders (men) ............................................................................................. 1.92
Silkworm breeders (women)............................................................................................... 96
Weavers (women)..................................................................................................................96
House servants (men)........................................................................................ 2.80 to 7.20
House servants (women).................................................................................. 2.40 to 4.80
Factory labor is paid even less than these prices. Middleton & Co.,
one of the ipost prominent tea-shipping houses in Japan, employ in
their establishment a large number of persons, men and women, who
work from 5 o’clock in the morning until 6 o’clock at night, with three
intervals at 8, 12, and 3 o’clock, respectively, when they eat their rice
and what other refreshments they bring with them and rest for twenty
minutes or a half hour. The highest wages paid by the Messrs. Mid
dleton are 42 sen a day, which is equivalent to 21 cents in United States
currency. This is received by men who are experts in handling tea,
and have acquired their proficiency by natural ability and long years
of experience.
The lowest wages are paid to young boys and girls who pick over the
tea leaves to remove the stems and other foreign substances. They
receive 13 sen (6£ cents) a day for about twelve hours’ work, not includ
ing their resting spells.
Of the entire force in the establishment 20 are paid 21 cents (United
States currency) a day, 90 are paid 18 cents, 50 are paid 15 cents, 335
are paid 12 cents, 278 are paid 10 cents, 5 are paid 9 cents, and 30 are
paid 6£ cents—and they board themselves.
The same rates are paid in all the tea “go downs,” as they are called,
and similar wages in the factories and manufacturing establishments
throughout the country.
a Values stated in American gold on the basis of 2 silver yen to the dollar.
138
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Embroidery women, who make the work that is so much prized by
Americans and Europeans for decorative purposes, seldom receive more
than 15 or 20 cents a day in our money, although in any other land
they would be estimated as artists.
The wages paid in Yokohama are the highest in the Empire, because
it has a large foreign population. Money has a smaller value to for
eigners and they are not such close traders as the natives. In that city
the ordinary patrolmen of the police force are paid 8 yen, or $4 in our
money, a month. Sergeants receive $6 and the other officials of higher
rank a corresponding amount. Ordinary firemen get $3.50 a month,
foremen of hose carts $7, and engineers of steam fire engines, who are
supposed to possess the highest grade of talent, receive $12 a month.
All are furnished two suits of clothing a year, one for summer and one
for winter, and an overcoat. Night watchmen, who go about the prem
ises of citizens, in addition to the regular police, as a safeguard against
fire and burglars, get $4 a month. They patrol the districts on which
they are employed from dark to daylight, and are paid by their
patrons, although licensed by the city and sworn in as special police.
There has been some rise in wages in the cities since the opening of
the war because of the scarcity of labor. Coolies who work as steve
dores, loading and unloading vessels, get 30 cents a day now for work
ing from 6 o’clock in the morning till 6 o’clock at night, where they
formerly received 25 cents. Professional gardeners—and in Japan
landscape gardening has been a science and an art for 600 years—get
$10 and $12 a month. Telegraph messengers and postmen are paid $6
and $ 8, respectively, and are furnished a uniform.
Every man has his business or the name or trade-mark of his em
ployer stamped or embroidered upon his kimono—the loose tunic which
all Japanese men and women wear. If he is a carpenter or a brick
layer, or if he is a porter in a store or a tea dryer, he wears that fact em
blazoned in large characters upon his back or upon what corresponds
to the lapels of his coat. If he is a footman or a coachman in a pri
vate family he has its coat of arms or monogram upon his kimono in
the middle of his back, or if he is driving for a livery stable he will
carry its advertisement around with him in a similar form.
Investments are as safe in Japan as anywhere else in the world,
although there is comparatively little foreign capital represented. All
the railroads, which now represent a total of about 3,000 miles and a
capital of $75,000,000, were built with local money. Not a dollar was
borrowed abroad, and there are very few shares or bonds of Japanese
corporations held by foreign investors. At the same time the people
are not rich. There are very few men of large fortunes. I was told
by a Tokyo banker that he knew of only two millionaires in Japan.
One made his money in coal mining and the other is the principal
owner of a great steamship company which has 100 vessels in its
service and a monopoly of the coasting trade. But there are many
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
139
men with small fortunes, and although wages are very low nobody is
very poor. There is not an almshouse in the entire country, and you
never see a beggar on the street. Occasionally some poor leper stretches
out his hand as you enter one of the gilded temples, but there isn’t a
country in Europe or America so free from street begging as Japan.
The people as a rule are frugal and economical, and manage to save
a little even when they are working for 10 cents a day. They have
few wants and are temperate. You never see a drunken man in the
street. I spent four months in Japan and visited five of the principal
cities. The only intoxicated people I saw were a party of young
fellows dressed in fantastic costumes who were in a boat sailing down
the river in Osaka. The city had been given over to great ceremonies
and rejoicings on the return of the soldiers it sent to the war, and these
young men—five or six of them—were continuing their celebration
another day.
This sobriety is due to the use of tea instead of liquor as a beverage.
Tea houses in Japan take the place of saloons and are about as numer
ous in the large cities as barrooms in New York or Chicago. But a
pot of tea that will entertain an entire family can be bought for 2 sen
(1 cent), which cheers and strengthens quite as much as malt or alco
holic liquors. The use of beer is, however, increasing so rapidly in
Japan as to excite apprehension, and the Government is making it the
subject of an inquiry. There is a brewery or two in nearly every city
of size, and beer can now be bought at almost every tea house.
The new treaty which was negotiated by Secretary Gresham and
Minister Kurino last winter at Washington makes Japan as free for
foreigners as the United States, with the exception that they can not
own real estate, and by a straight reading of the text it would seem
that that is not prohibited. It provides that foreigners may trade by
wholesale or retail, singly or with native partners, and says that they
u may own, hire, and occupy houses, manufactories, warehouses, shops,
and premises, and lease land,” conforming, of course, to the laws and
police regulations that apply to them and the natives of the country
alike.
The treaty also provides that foreigners shall enjoy all rights and
privileges enjoyed by natives “ in whatever relates to residence and
travel, to the possession of goods and effects, to the succession to per
sonal estate and the disposition of property that they shall not be
required to pay any higher taxes, imposts, or other charges than
natives; that they may freely enjoy their own religion, bury their dead
according to their own rites, and shall be exempted from military serv
ice, forced loans, and all other exactions. No higher duties are to be
imposed upon the products of the United States than upon those of
the most favored nation, and there must be perfect equality in the
treatment of Americans and natives in the exportation of merchan
dise. The coasting trade, as is customary in all countries, is withheld
140
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
for the benefit of the citizens of Japan, but American vessels laden
with cargoes for more than one port are allowed to load and unload
wherever they like. The same protection is afforded to natives and
foreigners in patents and trade-marks, which is a very good thing,
because at present there is no patent treaty between the two countries
and the Japs are stealing our inventions.
The foreign settlements, which are now subject to the jurisdiction
of the consuls of the different countries, are to be incorporated into
the municipalities which they adjoin, and the consuls will yield control
to the local officials.
Until now Japan, like China, Turkey, Egypt, and other countries
which have not reached a high degree of civilization, lias been sub
jected to what is called the doctrine of extraterritoriality. That means
that the citizens of the United States or England or any other civi
lized nation residing in those countries are subject to their own laws,
administered by their consuls, and not to the local authorities or courts.
If an American commits a crime in Japan to-day he is tried before the
United States consul-general, according to the laws of the United
States, and not by the courts and laws of Japan. The same is true of
citizens of European nations. If a Japanese citizen commits a crime
against an American he is tried by the local authorities. The general
rule in civil as well as criminal cases is that the defendant shall be
tried under the laws of his own country, and the plaintiff brings his
suit accordingly.
But Japan thinks she is sufficiently civilized to administer justice to
foreigners, and has long demanded release from the extraterritoriality
restriction.
There is no protection for foreign patents in Japan, but any article or
instrument or machine that comes into the country or that is seen
abroad may be manufactured without interference or the payment of
royalty; but no Japanese can obtain a patent upon a foreign invention.
He must show that his idea is not only original in Japan but original
with him, and if it appears thereafter that he is mistaken or has prac
ticed a deception his patent is canceled. The processes and implements
used in all the industries of Japan have been inherited from generations
far removed, and nearly all of those recently adopted are copied from
foreign models.
There has been little inducement for the development of inventive
genius in Japan until recently, and the greater part of the applications
already filed in the patent office have been for trifles, like children’s
toys or improvements or changes in foreign methods and machinery to
make them more useful in that country.
I asked Mr. Matsudiara, the chief examiner of the patent office, at
Tokyo, whether the introduction of common schools and compulsory
education had improved labor.
“ That is difficult to say,” he replied, “ but so far as I have observed
education is not improving labor. The little education that the com
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
141
mon people receive in the public schools makes them abhor labor. It
has always been the custom in Japan for families to follow the same
trade or occupation for centuries after centuries, but when a boy
receives an education superior to that of his father he seems to feel that
the old mode of life and avocation are not good enough for him. If he
is a farmer’s son he wants to live in the city, and if he is the son of a
mechanic he wants employment under the Government or some less
laborious occupation than his family have followed. But I believe the
Japanese are not peculiar in this respect. I think it is the rule all over
the world that when a man acquires learning he wants to advance in
other respects also and better his condition.”
While the Japanese will soon be able to furnish themselves with all
they use and wear., and eat without assistance from foreign nations,
they will be compelled to buy machinery and raw material, particu
larly cotton and iron. Therefore our sales will be practically limited
to those articles. And the market for machinery will be limited as to
time. The Japanese will buy a great deal within the next few years,
almost everything in the way of labor-saving apparatus, but they are
already beginning to make their own machinery, and in a few years
will be independent of foreign nations in that respect also. Another
important fact—a very important fact—is that they will buy only one
outfit of certain machinery. We will sell them one set, which they
will copy and supply all future demands themselves. This will go on
until the new treaties take effect, when American patents will be
protected.
They have very little wood-working machinery; and very little shoe
making machinery, for the people do not wear shoes. The same is
true of knitting machinery, for they do not wear hosiery. I do not
think that more than 20,000 out of the 41,388,313 people who compose
the population of Japan wear shoes and stockings. Mnety per cent
go barefooted and barelegged, women, children, and men, protecting
their feet from the stones by wooden and straw sandals. The higher
classes have the same sort of foot gear, but it is made in a more fin
ished manner, and they wear little cloth affairs that they call u tabis77
upon their feet. These are made of white or blue cotton, and do not
go above the ankle bone. But the use of shoes and hosiery is increas
ing, and the people will grow into it as they have grown into other
foreign notions.
Lumber is worth about twice as much in Japan as it is with us.
Common lumber, which we sell for $10 and $12 a thousand feet, will
bring 40 yen ($20 gold) there. This is due chiefly to the scarcity of
timber and the great labor required to work it up by their primitive
processes. They have been cutting timber off their mountains for 2,500
years, and although the forests have been reproduced again and again
during that period it is difficult and expensive to get logs down from
the mountain side in the absence of the necessary facilities. The lum
142
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
bermen usually go iuto the woods and cut one log at a time, which they
haul out by hand or by oxen for many miles. Where streams are con
venient they use them for floating timber as we do, but they have no
sawmills in the mountains, although there is an abundance of water
power everywhere.
They cut all their lumber by hand with a wide and thin saw during
the seasons of the year when they have nothing else to do, and each
man who is engaged in business that requires lumber usually buys his
own logs and cuts them up himself at odd times. Women and men
both work at it. One man or woman will work on the top of the log
while another works underneath, but usually not with the same saw.
I have seen four or five men working on the same log, each sawing ofl*
his own board. They raise the log at an incline of 45°, with one end
on the ground and a rest about the middle, and when they work down
to the rest they tie the strip to the log and begin at the other end
again.
All the lumber is dressed by hand. There is but one planing mill in
the country 5 that is in Yokohama. It employs about 150 hands, and,
curiously enough, its entire product is made into boxes and shipped to
India. It does no business in the local market. The machinery is
from Boston. The manager is thinking of enlarging the plant by add
ing a sash factory and machinery for making blinds and doors, also for
the India market. I do not know why they do not sell their goods in
the local market, but I presume there is a good reason for it; perhaps
they get better prices in India.
The Japanese make all the woodwork about their houses by hand,
and most of their houses are entirely of wood. They are very skillful
in all kinds of cabinet and joiner work, and more rapid than our people.
Their hand-made tools are better adapted for doing close work than
ours, and are kept very sharp. Besides, they give a great deal more
labor and patience to an article than our carpenters and cabinetmakers.
You never see scratches from nicked tools on their planed work. They
use very few nails, but mortise almost everything. It is usually so
well done that it is difficult to detect the joints except by the grain,
and it lasts forever. Some of their ships are made without a bit of iron
in their composition. Everything is mortised.
Japan is one vast garden, and as you look over the fields you can
imagine that they are covered with toy farms where children are play
ing with the laws of nature and raising samples of different kinds of
vegetables and grain. Everything is on a diminutive scale, and the
work is as fine and accurate as that applied to a cloisonne vase. What
would an Illinois or an Iowa farmer think of planting his corn, wheat,
oats, and barley in bunches, and then, when it is three or four inches
high, transplanting every spear of it in rows about as far apart as you
can stretch your fingers. A Japanese farmer weeds his wheat fields
just as a Connecticut farmer weeds his onion bed, and cultivates his
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
143
potatoes and barley witli as much care as a Long Island farmer
bestows upon his asparagus or mushrooms or his flowers.
When grain is ripe it is cut with a sickle close to the ground. The
bottom ends are carefully tied together with a wisp of straw; the bunch
is then divided and hung over a bamboo pole or a rope, like Monday’s
washing, to dry, sometimes in the field and sometimes in the back
yard, and even in the street in front of the house. When it is thor
oughly cured the heads of grain are cut off with a knife, and the straws
are carefully bound up and laid away in bundles. The heads are then
spread out upon a piece of straw matting and beaten with a curious
old-fashioned flail. Another method of thrashing is to take handfuls
of straw and pull them through a mesh of iron needles. After the
thrashing is done the grain is taken up in a sort of scoop basket made
of bamboo, and shaken by one woman who holds it as high as her head,
while another woman stands by with a large fan which she waves rap
idly through the air and blows the lighter chaff away from the heavier
grains as they are falling. The richer farmers have separators built
upon a primitive plan and turned with a crank. People often winnow
grain by pouring it from a scoop upon a fan 3 or 4 feet wide, upon
which it is tossed gently up and down, so as to leave the chaff in the
air when it falls. Another method of thrashing is to beat the heads of
grain upon a board or a row of bamboo poles.
In passing through country districts in a carriage or jinrikisha one
finds the greater part of the roadway preempted by the farmers of the
neighborhood for the purpose of drying their grain, which is spread
out in thin layers upou long mats and raked over every now and then
by an old woman in order that the particles at the bottom may get
their share of the sun. The straw, which is still tied together in
bunches, is hung over racks along the roadside during the day and
carried under shelter at night to protect it from dampness as well as
from thieves. Sometimes the racks are 30 or 40 yards long and 18 feet
high, with a series of poles, and the farmer’s wife or one of his daugh
ters comes along at intervals to inspect the straw to see that it is cur
ing evenly, for it is almost as valuable as the grain.
Every particle of straw is saved, and it is put to many uses. They
make of it hats, shoes, ropes, roofs, matting, the partitions and floors
of houses, water-proof coats, baskets, boxes, and a thousand and one
other useful articles. They braid it for fences, too, and the finer, softer
qualities are cut up for fodder.
There is little hay raised in Japan. The grass is wiry and indigesti
ble. It cuts the intestines of animals. Some alfalfa is grown, but it
does not prosper. In the neighborhood of Kobe, which is one of the
seaports on the southern shore, the soil seems to be better adapted for
hay, and the best beef comes from that locality.
The ordinary Japanese horse, which originated in China and is called
a griffin, seems to like straw and thrives upon it, but he is small and
144
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
ugly, and is not capable of much endurance. He resembles the Texan
broncho in appearance, but a journey of 15 miles will use him up.
They chop the straw very fine for feeding purposes, mix it with oats,
barley, millet, and other grains, and by adding water make a kind of
mush. Oxen are given the same food, and in some portions of the coun
try one sees a good many of them. They draw their loads by ropes
stretched from a collar to the axle of the two-wheeled cart. One man
leads them by cords attached to rings in their noses, while another
steers the vehicle with a tongue that sticks out behind.
On rare occasions you find a man plowing with a cow or an ox, but
more frequently with man or woman power. The Japanese plow is a
section of the trunk or the branch of a young tree with a proper curve
to it, and is all wood except a narrow, pointed blade, fitted into the
framework. It has only one handle.
Every variety of agriculture is carried on in a manner similar to that
described, and the soil is in constant use. A couple of acres is con
sidered a large tract of land for farming purposes. Most of the farms
are of smaller area, and the crops are greatly diversified. Upon such
a little spot of land will be grown almost everything known to the veg
etable kingdom; a few square feet of wheat, barley, corn, and millet; a
plat of beans perhaps 10 feet wide by 20 feet long, an equal amount of
potatoes and peas, then a patch of onions, about as big as a grave;
beets, lettuce, salsify, turnips, sweet potatoes, and other varieties of
cereals and roots occupy the rest of the area.
The farmer looks upon his growing crop every morning just as an
engineer will inspect the movements of his machinery, and if anything
is wrong remedies it. If a weed appears in the bean patch he pulls
it up; if a hill of potatoes or anything else fails it is immediately
replanted. And when he cuts down a tree he always plants another to
take its place. The artificial forests of Japan cover many hundreds of
square miles, and by this accuracy, economy, and care the prosperity
of the country is permanently assured. As one crop is harvested the
soil is worked over, fertilized, and replanted with something else.
The largest area of agricultural land in Japan is devoted to raising
rice, perhaps as much as nine-tenths of the whole, and as that crop
requires a great deal of water, the paddy-fields are banked up into
terraces, one above the other, and divided off into little plats 25 or 30
feet square, with ridges of earth between them to keep the water from
flowing away when they are flooded. All farming lands are irrigated
by a system that is a thousand years old. Some of the ditches are
walled up with bamboo wickerwork and some with tiles and stone.
The farmers live in villages and their farms are detached, sometimes
a mile, or 2 and 3 miles, away from their homes. There are no fences
or other visible marks of division, but every man knows his own land,
for it has been in his family for generations. Irrigating ditches and
little paths are usually the boundary lines. Theoretically all the land
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN.
145
belongs to the emperor, but the greater part of that under cultivation
has been held by fee simple, and the title descends from the father to
the oldest son. Sales are made and recorded very much as they are in
this country, and land is mortgaged to secure loans. The actual value
of every acre is fixed upon the assessor’s book for taxation purposes.
The official statistics of Japan show that there are 11,400,008 men
and 10,948,053 women engaged in agriculture, which is nearly one-half
the total population.
The tools used in the cultivation of the ground are peculiar to Japan
and quite curious. Most of them are homemade and have never been
imitated by foreign manufacturers. The farmers employ their winter
evenings and stormy days in making new implements and repairing
old ones, with a little aid from the neighboring blacksmith or traveling
tinker. Many men make a business of traveling from village to village
during the winter with a small portable forge to assist in repairing
tools for the next season.
The workingmen of Japan have no reason to complain that the
women do not carry their half of the load. Whatever may be the
position of the gentler sex in the household, although she is not
allowed to hold property or share in the responsibilities that are
usually divided between husbands and wives in America, she is at
least admitted to an equality with men when there is any hard work
to be done. Wherever you go, in the cities or villages or the farming
communities, you find the wife and mother working side by side with
the husband and sons, plowing, planting, and reaping, and at sunset
taking home a large portion of the harvest in a big basket on her back.
Whenever you see a man between a pair of tiny shafts tugging to haul
a heavily loaded cart uphill there is always a woman pushing from
behind, bareheaded and barefooted, except for a pair of straw sandals,
and wearing a pair of blue cotton leggings like tights extending from
her waist to her ankles. Sometimes the baby is playing with a few
rude toys on top of the load. Sometimes he is strapped to her shoul
ders and his head drops from one side to the other with every motion
of her body until you fear it may fall off.
Silk and tea, the two chief exports of Japan, are raised almost en
tirely by the labor of women, and in the mechanical arts she appears
to participate equally in the labor, although she gets little or none of
the credit. Her deffc fingers fashion many of the choicest pieces of
cloisonne and the ceramics, and in the decoration of lacquer that
which comes from her hands is equal and often superior to the work of
men. She weaves mats and other articles of straw, she braids bam
boo baskets, and a thousand and one other articles that are made
from that useful tree. She goes out with her husband in fishing boats
and dries and salts the catch he brings home; she assists in house
building and cabinetmaking, and in various other occupations which
320—No. 2-----3
146
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
in the western countries are not considered suitable to her sex, she
does almost everything that man can do quite as well and as rapidly
as he, although her wages in every employment are only a little more
than half of his. She is always present in the shops and stores,
usually as bookkeeper and cashier. Some of the largest stores are
managed by women and a few are owned by them. And, although
the laws and social regulations of the country prohibit it, sometimes
you find a woman whose force of character defies both courts and cus
toms and directs the financial affairs and the business of her family as
well as the matters that pertain to the household.
RECENT REPORTS OE STATE BUREAUS OE LABOR STATISTICS.
COLORADO.
The Fourth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
Colorado is for the years 1893 and 1894. The introduction consists
largely of a description of the new State capitol, and the address of the
Commissioner to the Industrial Congress assembled at Denver in July,
1894. The subjects treated in the report maybe grouped as follows:
Farms, homes, and mortgages, and manufactures, 8 pages; cost of pro
ducing silver and facts relating to smelter production, 14 pages; wages,
incomes, living expenses, and prices, 189 pages; strikes, 25 pages;
Labor Commissioners’ reports and what they contain, 60 pages; mis
cellaneous matter, 133 pages.
The presentation under each of these titles, with the exception of
the cost of producing silver, smelter production, and strikes, consists,
principally, of systematic compilations from numerous publications on
statistical and sociological subjects.
Cost of PRODUCtNU Silver and Facts Relatino
Production.—The cost of production is shown for the
to
Smelter
two principal
silver-producing districts of the State, and is accompanied with a
statement of the product of the smelting plants and smelter and mine
wages. The State, in 1892, produced 24,000,000 ounces of fine silver,
or over 58 per cent of the total production of the United States.
Strikes.—A brief statement is given of the strikes and labor
troubles occurring in the State during 1893 and 1894. The account of
the different strikes is followed by the conclusions and recommendations
of the commission appointed to investigate the Chicago strike of
June-July, 1894.
It is stated in the address above referred to that in March, 1893, a
canvass of Colorado towns was made in order to ascertain the number
of unemployed in the State. The returns showed an aggregate of
about 8,000 persons, male and female, out of employment. This num
ber probably represented the normal unemployed in the State at that
season of the year. After the decline in silver, in June, a further
canvass showed that during the sixty days ending with August 31,
1893, the number had increased to 45,000, and of these 22,500 were
reported as having left the vicinity where they were employed.
ILLINOIS.
The Eighth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Illi
nois, 1894, contains 430 pages, devoted to a discussion of the subject of
taxation, and an appendix, comprising 59 pages. The appendix con
147
148
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
tains an account of the coalminers’ strike of1894, which is accompanied
with statistical tables showing by districts names of operators and loca
tion of mines, number of mines involved, number of miners suspending
work, etc., number of days suspended, and conditions under which
work was resumed. The decision of the supreme court of the State,
declaring void section 5 and part of section 10 of the factory inspec
tion law of the State, is given in full; also the address of Mrs. Potter
Palmer at the opening of the Woman’s Building at the World’s Colum
bian Exposition and the address of Governor John P. Altgeld to the
graduates of the University of Illinois.
Taxation.—In introducing the subject of taxation the purpose of
the report is stated to be to expose existing methods in Illinois with
special reference to their effect upon labor interests, and to recommend
such reforms in the tax system of the State as may tend to ameliorate
the condition of the laboring class. The scope, power, and duties of
the bureau, the present condition of workingmen, the causes of indus
trial poverty, and the different schemes of taxation are reviewed.
The general property tax is the system in vogue in Illinois, and the
city of Chicago is selected as the central field of the investigation.
The taxation of personal property is treated separately from that of
real estate. The statutes of the State require personal property to be
listed yearly. The assessor is empowered to swear and examine the
party making the report, and in case of a refusal to make a return he
is required to list the property to the best of his ability. The following
statement gives the totals of a series of tables introduced to show the
extent of the undervaluation of the moneys, credits, etc., of banks (other
than national), bankers, brokers, and others, also the capital stock of
State and national banks in Cook County:
ASSESSED VALUE OP MONEYS, CREDITS, ETC., 1894.
Items.
Population, ofvnsiTia of 1890_____ . . . . . . . . . . . _______ _______
Bankers, brokers, and stockjobbers:
"Moneys________________________-_____ . . . . _________
Per capita value__________________________. . . . . __ __
Credits.........................................................................................
Per capita value_______________. . . . . ___ . . . . . . . . . . ___
Persons other than bankers, brokers, and stockjobbers:
M oneys...................................
Per capita value........................................................................
Credits.........................................................................................
Per capita value_____________________________ ______
Shares of capital stock, State and national banks.. . . . . . . . .
Per capita value____________________________________
Shares of capital stock of companies not incorporated in
Tllinois_____________ ________________________________
Per capita value...................... ........................................
Investments in real estate (money secured by deed)..............
Per capita value_________ ______ ____________________
The State,
Cook County. exclusive of The State.
Cook County.
1,191,922
3,826,351
2,634,429
$43,925.00 $3,076,630.00 $3,120,555.00
.037
.816
1.168
10,000.00 1.553.583.00 1,563,583.00
.409
.008
.590
434,244.00 7.335.114.00 7,769,358.00
.364
2.784
2.030
522,110.00 10,821,255.00 11,343,365.00
2.965
.438 •
4.108
357,353.00 u3,347,411.00 3,704,851.00
.300
a2.037
.968
1,280.00 b 86,888.00
98,927.00
c. 005
b. 187
d.035
6,275.00 184,582.00 el91,857.00
.050
.005
.070
a For 54 counties; 2 counties. Effingham and Macoupin, show $40 and $50, respectively, which is
included in the total for the State; 45 counties make no returns.
b For 14 counties; 25 comities report a total of $10,759, which is included in the total for the State;
62 counties make no returns.
c Figures here apparently should be $0.001; those given are, however, according to the original.
d Figures here apparently should be $0,026; those given are, however, according to the original.
e Figures here apparently should be $190,857; those given are, however, according to the original.
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— ILLINOIS.
149
Items similar to those given in the above statement are shown for a
number of selected counties in comparison with Cook County. As fur
ther illustrative of the undervaluations in Cook County, tables are pre
sented which show that according to the report of the State auditor
the net taxable credits and moneys of 27 State banks in Chicago, on
June 5,1893, amounted to $1,058,105.25 and $18,991,771.67, respectively,
while the amounts of these items listed for taxation, May 1,1894, by
all the banks in the city (national banks excluded) amounted to $ 10,000
and $43,925, respectively.
The following statement shows the value of the capital stock and
surplus fund of State and national banks, the former as reported to the
State auditor June 5,1893, and the latter as reported to the Comp
troller of the Currency, May 5,1893 $ also the assessed valuation for 1893:
ACTUAL AND ASSESSED VALUE OF CAPITAL STOCK AND SURPLUS FUNDS OF
BANKS IN CHICAGO, 1893.
Capital stock and surplus
fund.
Values re
ported to
State auditor Assessors’
and Comp* valuation.
troller of the
Currency.
Kind of hank.
Eighteen Statft hanks______________ ____ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Eighteen "national hanks____________________. . . . . . . . . . .
Total_______________________. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$16,387,000
30,504,000
46,891,000
$1,485,000
4,771,050
6,256,050
Per cent of
assessors’val
uation of re
ported value.
9.06
15.64
a 11.2 1
a Figures here apparently should he 13.34; those given are, however, according to the original.
The undervaluation of certain classes of personal property in Cook
County is shown by a comparison of their valuations with those of
similar property in the other counties of the State. The following
statement summarizes the totals for some of the classes:
AVERAGE ASSESSED VALUE OF MISCELLANEOUS PERSONAL PROPERTY, 1894.
The State, exclusive
The State.
of Cook County.
Num Persons Aver
Persons Aver
P ersoJA™"'
age Num
age Num
ber. to each. value.
ber. to each. value.
ber. toeaoll-|vafue.
Cook County.
Class of property.
Fire and burglar proof safes......... 397 3,002.32 $29.60 9,967 264.32 $21.54 10,364 a 327.10 $21.84
Steam engines and boilers............. 643 1,853.69 204.91 ! 9,536 276.26 6125.24 10,179 375.91 130.37
Pianos ............................................... 11,930
99.91 28.39 31,757 82.96 30.24 43,687 87.59 29.74
Watches and clocks....................... 7,597 156.89 3.78 326,016 8.08 1.94 333,613 11.47 1.98
Sewing and knitting machines... 5,232 227.81 4.47 223,315 11.80 c3.95 228,547 16.74 3.98
Billiard and pigeonhole tables___ 154 d 7,739.10 e22. 00| 1,911 1,378.56 19.09 2,065 1,852.95 19.31
a Based on the population of 1890 (3,826,351), the figures here should he 369.20; those given are, how
ever, according to the original.
b Based on a total value of $1,195,310, the figures here should he $125.35; those given are, however,
according to the original.
cBased on a total value of $887,036, the figures here should be $3.97; those given are, however,
according to the original.
d Based on the population of 1890 (1,191,922), the figures here should he 7,739.75; those given are, how
ever, according to tne original.
e Based on a total value of $3,385, the figures here should he $21.98; those given are, however,
according to the original.
150
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The assessed value of the personal property of saloons and eating
houses in the State was reported at $239,558, in Cook County at $13,483,
and in the State exclusive of Cook County at $226,075. The per capita
values were $0,063, $0,011, and $0,086, respectively.
The main features of the branch of the investigation relating to real
estate consist of statistics of the actual and the assessed value of prop
erty located in what is known as the old city limits of Chicago, the
Eorth, South, and West divisions of the city being treated sepa
rately. The different divisions are described as follows: The West
division is distinctively a home region for working people and those of
moderate means ; the South division, besides being the residence section
of most of the wealthy people of Chicago, embraces the great business
center; the North division is the home of people who are ordinarily
ranked as neither rich nor poor. The laws of the State require each
tract or lot of real property to be valued at its fair cash value, esti
mated at the price it would bring at a fair voluntary sale. Assessors
are directed to actually view and determine, as nearly as practicable,
the fair cash value of each tract or lot of land improved, the value of
each tract or lot of land not improved, and the total value.
The extent of the undervaluation for the purpose of taxation is first
illustrated by a series of tables, that compare the cost of buildings
erected during a number of years, as shown by the building permits,
with the assessed value of all real estate. The following statement
summarizes the general results of the comparison:
COST OF BUILDINGS AND ASSESSED VALUE OF ALL REAL ESTATE IN CHICAGO.
Items.
Buildings erected, 1876 to 1893.............................
Cost...................................................................
Average cost..................................................
Per cent of total cost......................................
Assessors’ valuation, all real estate, 1893.........
Per cent of cost of buildings^......................
Cost of buildings erected, 1890,1891, and 1892. Per cent of assessed value of all real
estate, 1893....................................................
Division of city.
North.
South.
West.
Total.
8,569
14,619
40,113
63,301
$68,718,157 $174,817,633 $174,608,812 $418,144,602
$8,019.39 $11,958.25
$4,352.92
$6,605.66
16.43
41.76
41.81
100.00
$15,744,560 $64,364,142 $43,637,130 $123,745,832
22 91
36.82
24.99
29.59
$15,500,000 $62,628,875 $51,235,375 $129,364,250
98.45
97.30
117.41
104.54
Leaving out entirely the buildings erected prior to 1876 and still
standing in 1893, and omitting land values altogether, the assessment
valuation in 1893 of both land and improvements was less than onethird of the cost of the buildings for which permits were granted after
the close of 1875.
A description is given of seventy of the costliest commercial build
ings of the city, with the true and the assessed value of the land and
the buildings separately shown, and the percentages the assessed are of
the true values; similar showings are also made for a number of costly
and a number of cheap residences. The increase in the true value of
some of the commercial and costly residence property is compared with
the decrease in the assessment value. Comment is also made on the
REPORTS OP STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— ILLINOIS.
151
constantly increasing value of land and decreasing value of improve
ments, with almost stationary assessment values.
In comparing values for old and new style office buildings it is found
that while in both cases the site value exceeds the value of the build
ings, the proportion is much greater in the case of the old buildings.
For 44 new buildings the site value was 50.84 per cent of the value of
both land and buildings, while for 16 old buildings it was 74.23 per cent.
In the case of 8 lots in a choice residence portion of the city the value
of the ground is shown to have increased 556.59 per cent between 1882
and 1893, while the assessed valuation increased 76.55 per cent, and the
per cent that the assessed is of the true value decreased from 21.72 in
1882 to 5.84 in 1893. The assessed value of the improvements on these
lots in 1893 was 15.82 per cent of the true value. For 98 unimproved
lots the assessment for 1893 was 4.88 per cent of the true value, while
for 20 buildings it was 13.54 per cent. The variation between the per
centage of true value at which buildings are assessed and that at which
building sites are assessed appears to be about the same for all classes
of property.
Apart from its obvious tendency to obstruct improvement, the report
states that “ a custom of assessment for taxation like that above
described must therefore in its very nature discriminate against the
owners of improved property according to the greater value of their
improvements relatively to the value of their land. And this operates
with special force against owners of cheaper properties.” Comparing a
business property valued at $800,000 with a residence valued at $8,875,
it is shown that for the business property the ground was 87.50 per
cent and the building 12.50 per cent of the total value, and for the resi
dence the ground was 21.13 per cent and the building 78.87 per cent.
The assessed value of the land in the case of the business property
was 7.29 per cent, the building 27 per cent, and the total 9.75 per cent
of the true value. For the residence property the percentages were,
land 5.33 per cent, building 15.71 per cent, and total 13.52 per cent of
the true value. In these two cases the assessment valuation is, in pro
portion to actual value, lower on the cheaper property, both as to site
and improvement, than on the business property; and yet the total
assessment valuation of the cheaper property is 3.77 per cent greater,
as compared with the total real value, than the total assessment of the
business property. The tendency to a higher relative assessment on
cheap residence property is further illustrated in the following state
ment by comparing the percentages that the average value of the
ground and of the buildings, respectively, are of the total value of the
ground and buildings in different classes of property:
152
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
PERCENTAGE OF VALUE OF GROUND AND OF BUILDINGS OF TOTAL VALUE,
CHICAGO.
Class of property.
Sixty office buildings in center of business district...............................................
Choice residence quarter...............................................................................................
Cheap residence quarter...............................................................................................
Vacant lots......................................................................................................................
Per cent of average
value of—
Ground of Buildings of
total value total vsuue
of property. of property.
52.18
56.58
26.06
47.82
43.42
73.94
100
If for purposes of taxation sites are assessed at “ say 5 per cent and
buildings at 15 per cent of real value, it is clear that the owners of
cheap residences will pay a great deal higher tax in proportion to the
value of their property than any other class.”
Continuing the comparison between the assessment values for differ
ent classes of property, the following statement summarizes the totals
for a number of tables:
TRUE AND ASSESSED VALUE OF LAND AND OF IMPROVEMENTS IN CHICAGO.
Items.
Class of property.
Business and Choice Cheap Unim
office.
residence. residence. proved.
Total.
>
Pieces of property........................................
70
30
80
98
278
True value, 1893........................................... $100,503,500 $4,226,000 $69,357 $245,975 $105,044,832
Average value............................................... $1,435,764 $140,867
$867 $2,510
$377,859
Assessors’ valuation, 1893......................... $9,039,250 $328,860 $11,027 $12 ,0 10
$9,391,147
Per cent of assessors’ valuation of true
value...........................................................
a9.67
15.90
7.78
»9.58
4.88
aNot including two pieces of ground and one building which were exempt from taxation.
The centralization of land ownership is shown by a series of tables.
The first table gives an alphabetical list of the owners of all the real
estate in the business center of Chicago, except property owned by
national and local governments, religious and educational institutions,
and railroads. The number of pieces and the number of front and
square feet owned by each are given, and the assessed valuations of
ground and improvements, respectively, are shown for each of the years
1892,1893, and 1894. In other tables the properties are grouped by
classes according to the number of front feet owned. The number and
percentage of square feet owned by each class and selected groups
of classes are shown, and the assessed valuation of the ground and
improvements for each of the years 1892,1893, and 1894 is also given
for each class, together with the per cent that this valuation is of the
total assessed valuation. A little over 7 per cent of the owners own
ground, the assessed valuation of which is more than 42 per cent of the
total assessed valuation of the ground, while by another grouping of
classes it appears that over two-thirds of the owners possess less than
one-third of the ground, the assessed valuation of which is but a scant
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— ILLINOIS.
153
quarter of the total assessed valuation. Of the 1,198 owners 340 were
women, who owned 20.49 per cent of the pieces of property and 16.86
per cent of the total square feet.
The holdings of nonresidents in the business section of the city are
described and summarized for the year 1894 according to the States in
which the owners reside.
The disproportion between the assessed value of unimproved and
improved land is shown by a series of tables giving a description, and
the assessed values by years, of a number of pieces of property in
the business section of Chicago that were vacant in 1892,1893, and 1894,
or that were improved in one or two of these years but vacant in
the others. These tables are summarized by years, and some of the
principal items shown are as follows:
ASSESSED VALUE OF UNIMPROVED AND IMPROVED PROPERTY IN CHICAGO.
1892.
1893.
1894.
Unimproved property:
128
94
99
Pieces........................................................................
5,192.7
3,495.2
3,827.7
Front feet..................................................................
573,267.4 370,012.6
449,353.6
Square feet................................................................
Assessors’ valuation of ground—
$146.349
$179.633
$160.676
Per front foot....................................................
$1.382
$1.627
$1.368
Per square foot................................................
$511,520
$615,020
$932,780
Total....................................................................
Improved property:
61
27
56
Pieces.........................................................................
1,693.0
3,480.5
3,058.0
Front feet..................................................................
210,380.3 413,635.1
334,294.1
Square feet...............................................................
Assessors’ valuation—
$412,100.00 $838,860.00 $729,360.00
Ground...............................................................
174,790.00 861,320.00 929,550.00
Improvements..................................................
586,890.00 1,700,180.00 1,658,910.00
Total................................................................
Average valuation—
243.414
241.017
238.509
Per front foot, ground.....................................
a 1.954
2.028
2.182
Per square foot, ground..................................
b 346.893
542.482
488.487
Per front foot, ground and improvements.
4.110
2.789
4.962
Per square foot, ground and improvements
a Figures here apparently should he $1,959; those given are, however, according to the original.
b Figures here apparently should he $346.657; those given are, however, according to the original.
The assessed valuation of certain property in the business district of
Chicago is shown by years from 1890 to 1894, inclusive, the figures being
given separately for each piece of property, and summarized as follows:
ASSESSED VALUATIONS IN CHICAGO, 1890 TO 1894.
Class of
property.
Ground.............
Improvements .
Total.......
Persons
to whom
listed.
38
143
181
Pieces of
property
repre
sented.
Assessors’ valuation.
1890.
1891.
1892.
1893.
45 $648,650 $707,600 $869,400 $903,200
189 2,358,750 2,518,000 3,492,800 3,566,100
234 3,007,400 3,225,600 4,362,200 4,469,300
1894.
$857,450
2,736,860
3,594,310
Statements similar to the above, for the years 1892,1893, and 1894,
are given for the separate pieces of property owned by forty-two of the
largest owners of property in the business district of the city.
154
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
A number of tables are presented which show the quantity and
assessed value of real and personal property, also of railroad and other
corporate property throughout the entire State of Illinois, with appro
priate comparisons with similar values for the State of Indiana. These
statistics are shown in detail by county totals, comparisons being made
between the totals of 1873 and 1893. The two final summary tables
are in substance as follows:
ASSESSED VALUATION, ALL CLASSES OF PROPERTY, ILLINOIS.
Class of property.
Personal property...........................
Lands................................................
Town and city lots..........................
Railroads (all property)................ .
Corporations other than railroads.
The city of Quincy...........................
Total......................................
a
Assessed values in—
1873.
1893.
Decrease.
$287,292,809 $145,318,406 $141,974,403
582,416,667 320,964,855 261,451,812
317,199,235 293,274,185 23,925,100
133,807,823 82,270,090 51,537,733
20,896,462
5,363,979 15,532,483
(a)
13,788,271
13,788,271
1,355,401,317 847,191,515 508,209,802
Per
cent
of de
crease.
49.42
44.89
7.54
38.52
74.33
37.50
Assessment of the city of Quincy included in Adams County.
ASSESSED VALUATION, ALL CLASSES OF PROPERTY, ILLINOIS AND INDIANA.
Class of property.
Real estate....................................................................
Personal property......................................................
Railroad property........................................................
Corporations other than railroads...........................
Total..................................................................
Excess of Indiana
over Illinois.
Per
Illinois, 1893. Indiana, 1894. Amount. cent.
Assessed values in—
$614,239,040
145,318,406
82,270,090
5,363,979
847,191,515
$843,381,600 $229,142, 560 37.31
291,085,845 145,767, 439 a 103.09
157,743,026 75,472,936 91.74
64,983,153
c 380,826
c7.64
1,297,193,624 450,002,109 53.12
a Figures here apparently should he 100.31; those given are, however, according to the original.
6 Includes telegraph, telephone, express and palace car companies only,
c Excess in favor of Illinois.
The population, according to the United States census of 1890, was for
Illinois 3,826,351 and for Indiana 2,192,404.
The evils of the existing system of taxation and their remedies are
discussed under appropriate heads. The impracticability of taxing per
sonal property, the desirability of exempting improvements from taxa
tion, and the practicability of site-value taxation are treated at length,
the results of the statistical tables being used to support the arguments.
In summarizing, it is stated that the statistics show that the tax laws
of the State are systematically violated 5 that Cook County escapes a
fair proportion of general taxes as compared with other counties, and
Chicago as compared with the remainder of Cook County 5 that by the
assessment of buildings at a higher proportionate valuation than land,
buildings in Chicago are taxed much more than land, which forces an
undue proportion of taxes upon the poor and people in moderate cir
cumstances; that discriminating undervaluations, indirect taxes, and
tenderness toward landed interests in Chicago, besides overburdening
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— MAINE.
155
the laboring class with taxes, are diminishing opportunities for employ
ment, dangerously concentrating ownership of land, and generally pro
moting the interests of the very rich at the expense of the rest of the
community. A number of recommendations are made for additional
legislation to remedy these evils.
The report on taxation is closed with a series of tables giving in
detail every sale of property coming under the investigation of the
bureau for each of the years 1890,1891, and 1892, and for the years 1893
and 1894 considered together, showing the amount of the consideration
as expressed in the warranty deeds, and the assessments on the same
property for each of the years in which the property was sold; also
recapitulations showing the same facts by classes of property, accord
ing to value, for each year from 1870 to 1892, inclusive, and for the
years 1893 and 1894 considered together.
MAINE.
The Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial and Labor
Statistics of Maine for the year 1894 treats of the following subjects:
Manufacturers’ returns of the effects of the business depression, 51
pages; factories, mills, and shops built in 1894, 3 pages; census sta
tistics, 10 pages; retail prices, 36 pages; pulp and paper making, 13
pages; publishing business, 12 pages; part of the proceedings of the
tenth annual convention of the National Association of Officials of
Bureaus of Labor Statistics, 24 pages; the labor laws of Maine, 10
pages; report of the inspector of factories, workshops, mines, and
quarries, 46 pages.
Manufacturers’ Returns
D epression.—These statistics
of the
Effects
of the
B usiness
are the result of two investigations,
one in July and the other in October, 1894, the reports being collected
by correspondence. Two hundred and twenty-four reports were
received in answer to the first call, representing nearly all the cotton
factories, large woolen mills, and other important manufacturing estab
lishments in the State. While the replies to the second call were not
so numerous and complete, they show an improved condition in some
industries and but slight changes in others. The returns are presented
in detail, and show for each establishment and industry the working
time and number of employees when running on full time and during
July, 1894; also whether wages have been reduced since April 1,1893,
and the per cent of reduction. The reports for July are followed by
those for October, which show the changes that occurred in each estab
lishment between July and October.
While the report does not present a statistical summary of the effects
of the industrial depression on all industries, the Commissioner states
that “ Maine has, undoubtedly, felt the bad effects of the business depres
sion to a much less degree than other sections of the country.” It appears
156
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
that the total loss in the number of men employed on the railroads of
the State during 1894, as compared with 1893, was 412, and in wages,
$181,026.54.
Factories, Mills, and Shops Built in 1894.—The cost of work
in building or enlarging factories, mills, and shops in the State is
shown to have decreased from $3,023,850 in 1891 to $663,700 in 1894,
while the number of men employed on such work was 4,278 in the
former and 1,039 in the latter year. This showing is made by counties
and towns, the character of the industry being indicated for each
establishment.
Census Statistics.—These consist of a reproduction of some of
the totals of the Eleventh Census of the United States that pertain to
the State of Maine.
Betail Prices.—The lowest, highest, and average retail prices in
July, 1893, and July, 1894, for the necessaries of life are shown for each
of the principal cities and towns of the State. The results are sum
marized so as to show the average price of each article by counties and
for the entire State. The average prices for the State in July, 1894, of
the articles enumerated are as follows:
AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES IN JULY, 1894.
Article.
Apples, cooking, per peck...........
Apples, dried, per pound.............
Apples, evaporated, per pound..
Beans, white, per peck..................
Beans, yellow eyes, per peck —
Beef, corned, per pound................
Beef, steak, per pound..................
Beef, roasts, per pound................
Beef, soup, per pound....................
Butter, best, per pound................
Cabbage, per pound.......................
Cheese, per pound.........................
Coal, stove, per ton.......................
Cod, fresh, per pound....................
Cod, dried, per pound....................
Coffee, roasted, Rio, per pound..
Coffee, roasted, Java, per pound.
Com meal, per pound....................
Cranberries, per quart..................
Cracked wheat, per pound......... .
Crackers, per pound . ....................
Eggs, per dozen............................
Elour, family, per barrel..............
Elour, best, per barrel.................
Ham, sliced, per pound................
Average
retail
price.
$0.232
.092
.161
.667
.713
.069
.179
.140
.042
.230
.023
.147
6.400
.061
.067
.286
.359
.021
.110
.048
.077
.179
3.950
4.680
.177
Article.
Halibut, fresh, per pound......................
Kerosene, per gallon.................................
Lamb, per pound........................................
Lard, per pound........................................
Mackerel, fresh, per pound....................
Mackerel, salt, No. 2, per pound...........
Milk, per quart.........................................
Molasses, good, per gallon......................
Mutton, per pound...................................
Oatmeal, per pound......................... ........
Onions, per pound....................................
Pickles, per quart....................................
Pork, clear, per pound.............................
Potatoes, per peck....................................
Raisins, cooking, per pound..................
Rice, per pound..........................................
Salt, 20 pounds, box or bag....................
Sausage, per pound...................................
Soap, nard, per pound.............................
Sugar, granulated, per pound.................
Tea, Oolong, per pound..........................
Tripe, pickled, per pound........................
Vinegar, per gallon...................................
Wood, hard, sawed and split, per cord.
Wood, soft, sawed and spilt, per cord .
Average
retail
price.
$0.154
.100
.132
.111
.110
.410
.110
.104
.076
.207
.111
.058
.054
.462
.079
.235
5.920
4.210
Pulp and Paper Making and the Publishing Business.— The
presentation concerning these industries consists of a description of
their development in the State, and of the special inducements offered
to manufacturing enterprises by the natural resources of Maine.
Beport op the Inspector of F actories, W orkshops, Mines,
Quarries.—This is the annual report made to the commissioner
and
of the bureau, and incorporated in his report, as required by law.
Many devices for covering the dangerous parts of machinery or for
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— MARYLAND.
157
placing safeguards around other points of danger are described, the
descriptions being, in most cases, accompanied by cuts and figures.
The matter of fire escapes receives attention and several illustrations
are introduced. Other parts of the report relate to fire extinguishers,
sanitary matters, and child labor—the cost of sanitary improvements
made during the year and the number of children employed in factories
visited by the inspector being given.
MARYLAND.
The Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics of
Maryland for the year 1894 treats of the following subjects: Statistics
of manufactures, agriculture, and mortgages, 66 pages 5 personal prop
erty values, 10 pages; sweat shops, 35 pages; the unemployed, 57
pages; strikes, 24 pages.
Personal property values, sweat shops, strikes, and a part of the pres
entation for the unemployed are the results of original investigations.
Statistics of manufactures, agriculture, and mortgages are a reproduc
tion of the totals of the Eleventh Census of the United States for
Maryland.
Personal Property V alues.—This investigation was designed to
throw some light on the distribution of wealth. It deals with the val
ues of personal property only. The inquiry was confined to the exami
nation of 3,498 estates probated in Baltimore City during the period
from 1875 to 1880, and 5,914 estates probated from 1888 to 1893. The
results show that during the former period 64, or 1.8 per cent, of the
estates represented 52 per cent of the total value of all, leaving 3,434
estates to represent 48 per cent of the value. During the latter period
89, or 1.5 per cent, of the estates aggregated 44 per cent, or nearly onehalf, of the total value. The number and value of the estates by classi
fied valuations, ranging from $500 and under to $100,000 and over, are
shown for each year covered by the investigation. The following sum
mary presents tbe totals for the two periods:
VALUE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY BELONGING TO ESTATES PROBATED IN BALTI
MORE CITY DURING TWELVE YEARS.
Estates having personal property valued—
Under $500.................................................................................
$500 to $1,000 .............................................................................
$1 000 to $2,500...........................................................................
$2 500 to $5 000...........................................................................
$5 000 to $10,000.........................................................................
$10 000 to $25,000........................................................................
$25 000 to $50 000 ......................................................................
$50 000 to $100,000......................................................................
Over $100,000...............................................................................
Total................................................................................
1875 to 1880, inclusive. 1888 to 1893, inclusive.
Number. Value. | Number. Value.
854
501
805
433
341
317
127
56
64
3,498
$201,902
361,407
1,287,083
1,526,467
2,329,146
4,981,125
4,475,415
3,890,194
21,038,650
40.091.389 !
i
1,359
$333,225
958
656,038
1,358 2,165,694
792 2,776,823
578 4,009,751
452 7,123,912
199 6,996,063
129 9,157,922
89 25,836 140
5.914 59,055,568
158
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Sweat Shops.—A detailed description is given of tlie surrounding
conditions, dimensions of rooms, number of hands employed, wages,
etc., for about 200 shops in Baltimore City. The law of 1894 regulating
the sanitary condition of sweat shops is quoted. In commenting on
the results of the inquiry the Commissioner states: u The rate of wages
paid to those who are compelled to work under such unhealthy condi
tions has been greatly reduced within the past twelve months, in many
cases amounting to 50 per cent.” The actual and average wages are
quoted for different classes of employees in the different shops.
The Unemployed.—The results of the investigation as to the num
ber of the unemployed in Baltimore City during the period of business
depression are given in detail for the principal trades. A careful esti
mate places the whole number of the unemployed in the city during
the winter of 1893-94 at 33,900, or more than one-third of the working
people. A part of this report is devoted to a treatise entitled u Gov
ernment aid,” in which the methods prevailing in England and other
European countries of rendering assistance to the unemployed are
discussed.
Strikes.—Thereportstates thatthecoalminers’ strike, which occurred
in May and June, 1894, lasting twenty-seven working days and involving
from 3,500 to 3,700 miners, was the only labor disturbance in the State
during the year that involved the complete suspension of any industry.
This was the third big strike in Maryland during the past seventeen
years. A detailed history is given of this and the other minor labor
troubles that have occurred since the publication of the preceding
report.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of New Hampshire
is for the year 1894. The introduction, consisting of 16 pages, recites
the objects and presents some of the principal features of the several
investigations; also makes a number of recommendations for additional
legislation to increase the efficiency of the bureau. The subjects treated
are as follows: Labor movement and labor organizations, 96 pages;
financial statistics, by towns, cities, and counties, 54 pages; town sta
tistics, 117 pages; wage-earners’ statistics, 167 pages; temporary aid
to unemployed, 20 pages; strikes and lockouts, 20 pages; statistics of
manufactures, 34 pages; industrial chronology, 7 pages.
Labor Movement and Labor Organizations.— A brief historical
sketch is given of labor and of labor organizations from their origin in
the guilds of the middle ages; also the present status of such organi
zations in the United States and in foreign countries. The date of
organization, character of industry, membership, and facts concerning
the objects of the organization, also in some instances a historical
sketch, are shown for each labor organization in the State. There
were 58 organizations reported for 1894, with a membership of 3,294,
of whom 2,980 were males and 314 females.
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— NEW HAMPSHIRE.
159
F inancial Statistics by Towns, Cities, and Counties.—These
statistics are presented in twenty-four tables, which show for towns,
cities, and counties the assessed valuation, taxes committed for collec
tion for the year ending March 31, 1894, receipts, amount paid for
salaries of school-teachers and other school expenses, for highways,
for pauper aid, and miscellaneous expenses, indebtedness, surplus, and
cash in treasury, compiled from the latest obtainable data. The
indebtedness, the surplus where there is no indebtedness, and cash
in treasury are computed for the year ending February 15,1894.
Town Statistics.—The information given under this title consists
of a brief statement for each town and city in the State as to its loca
tion; principal (nearest, if not in town) railroad stations; line of rail
road on which located; banking town; population; number of ratable
polls; assessed valuation of land and buildings, mills and machinery,
stock in trade, money on hand, at interest or on deposit, stock in banks
or corporations in State; valuation of assessed live stock, and various
other facts of general interest.
W age-Earners’ Statistics.—These statistics are the leading fea
ture of the work of the bureau for the year 1894. The data were secured
by correspondence, returns being received from 711 individual work
men, representing over thirty branches of industry. The information
for the individual reports is grouped by industries, and the totals lor
each industry are brought forward in summary form. There are numer
ous facts presented in the individual reports concerning the nativity of
the wage-earner, parent nativity, conjugal condition, number in family,
number of children attending school, number dependent in family, age
at beginning work, time worked in present occupation and for present
employer, hours employed per week, days and weeks unemployed,
cause of nonemployment, weekly and yearly wages, increase or decrease
in wages, times of payment, wages withheld, income other than wages,
total yearly income, expenses of single and of married men, living
expenses, savings, value of property, number owning homes, number
belonging to societies, and amount of dues and of benefits.
Of the 711 workingmen who made reports 84+ per cent were born
in America and 15+ per cent in foreign countries. The parents of 72+
per cent of the number were American born, the percentage being the
same for both father and mother. The conjugal condition showed 72+
per cent married, 25 + per cent unmarried, and 2+ per cent widowed. Of
the married persons 65+ per cent reported children in the family and
34+ percent no children. One hundred and thirty-nine families reported
one child each. In the various occupations in which the wage-earners
were engaged, 358 have worked from one to ten years each, and 179 from
ten to twenty years each. The number of hours worked weekly varied
from thirty-six to ninety-eight, according to occupation, clerks working
by far the greatest number, they averaging 70+ hours. Of the total
number, 64+ per cent were unemployed from three days to nearly the
160
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
entire year, tlie average time unemployed being ten weeks and five
days. Of the entire number 672 reported amount of wages received,
which varied from $5 to $27 per week. More received $12 per week
than any other sum, which is slightly above the average amount
received by the entire number reporting. Nearly 30 per cent (211 )
reported wages decreased, 429 no decrease in wages, and 71 made no
report; in only one instance was an increase in wages reported. The
yearly earnings and expenses are reported by trades, and 305 wageearners, or 42+ per cent, reported earnings more than enough to pay
living expenses; 283, or 39+ per cent, reported to the contrary, and 123
made no report on the subject. Thirty-three per cent (220) of those
reporting upon the subject of home ownership owned homes, 443 did
not, and 48 made no report. The tendency to join fraternal organiza
tions for the purpose of obtaining care and relief in the event of sick
ness and insurance for the family in case of death is well-nigh
universal. Four hundred and fifty-five, or 64 per cent, reported as
belonging to from one to six societies each.
The opinions of a number of workingmen on hours of work, labor
organizations, and other kindred subjects follow immediately the
analysis of wage-earners’ statistics.
Temporary A id to Unemployed.—During the financial depres
sion of 1893-94 there was very little suffering in the State through lack
of employment, and in but a very few places were unusual means taken
to either provide work for the unemployed or to furnish aid to the
unfortunate poor. In order to ascertain to what extent the towns and
cities of the State had been called upon to give assistance during the
winter of 1893-94, over and above the amount paid the year before,
the bureau, by circular letter, requested the selectmen and city clerks
to furnish such information.
The estimated number of persons, as reported to the bureau, out of
work and unable to obtain employment in the State during the whole
or a part of the winter of 1893-94, was 2,580; the number wholly or in
part dependent upon charity for support, 1,580; the number receiving
temporary aid at public expense, 1,782; and the amount paid for tempo
rary aid over and above the previous year, $15,997.40. The exhibit
closes with the statement: “In view of the wide prevailing distress in
all sections of the country this is a remarkable showing, and it is
doubtful if the working people in any other State felt the effects of the
hard times less keenly, or received less public aid in excess of former
years, than the laboring classes of New Hampshire.” No attempt was
made to procure the amount expended for relief by charitable organ
izations.
The comments of city clerks and selectmen, given in reply to the ques
tion, “What measures (if any) were adopted in your town for securing
work or obtaining relief for the unemployed during the winter,” are
quoted in full.
REPORTS OP STATE BUREAUS OP LABOR— OHIO.
161
Strikes and Lockouts.—This subject is introduced with a brief his
torical statement concerning strikes in America. The strikes that have
occurred in the State, with the exception of those in the period from
1887 to 1893, to be covered by the report of the United States Depart
ment of Labor, are treated in detail, beginning with the first in 1838,
which occurred at Dover and was participated in by factory girls who
struck against a proposed reduction in wages.
Statistics of Manufactures.—The statistics of manufactures in
New Hampshire, as published by the Eleventh Census of the United
States, are reproduced. The bureau secured, by correspondence, reports
from 299 manufacturing establishments in the State concerning their
operations during the year 1893, and covering nearly the entire range of
industry. These statistics are presented by industries, and compari
sons are made between them and the statistics for the previous year
for 166 identical establishments.
The 299 establishments reported as invested capital, $18,069,648; cost
of material, $11,838,802; wages paid, $5,777,161; value of product,
$21,151,826; total number of employees, 16,959, of whom 11,507 were
males and 5,452 females. Compared with the United States Census of
1890 these totals represent 22+ per cent of the entire capital invested
in the manufactures of the State, 24+ per cent of the value of product
and material used, 23 per cent of the total wages paid, and 26 per cent
of the total employees.
Calculated on a basis of 308 days to the year, the average number of
days of work per establishment for the 299 reporting was 269, or 87.33
per cent of full time, and the average proportion of business done was
72 per cent of the full capacity of the establishments.
A comparison of the returns for the 166 establishments reporting in
both 1893 and 1894 shows a decrease in capital of 3.20 per cent, in cost
of material 4.85 per cent, and in value of product 13.85 per cent. The
total number of employees decreased 5.46 per cent, while the total
wages decreased 9.87 per cent. The average yearly earnings per
individual, without regard to sex or age, decreased from $341 to $325.
The average number of days establishments were in operation decreased
from 273 to 269, while the average proportion of business done decreased
from 73.75 to 71.48 per cent.
Industrial Chronology.—A description is given of the additions
and improvements to factories and shops, and a statement made of other
matters pertaining to changes in industrial establishments in the
different towns and cities of the State.
OHIO.
The Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the State of Ohio for the year 1894 treats of the following subjects:
Ohio marine interests, 47 pages; u sweating ” in Cincinnati, 12 pages;
tenement houses in Cincinnati, 29 pages; child labor in Cincinnati, 7
320—No. 2-----4
162
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
pages; convict labor, special report, 5 pages; mining, 19 pages; manu
facturing, 238 pages; employment offices, 7 pages.
Ohio Marine Interests.—The object of the report on this subject,
as stated in the introduction, is “ to give those whose interests lie in
other lines an insight into the achievements and characteristics of the
Ohio seaman, rather than to compile a document that would meet the
technical criticism of the seaman himself.”
The merchant marine of the Great Lakes, exclusive of barges and
canal boats other than steam, and of small pleasure craft, was on Jan
uary 1,1894, placed at 3,056 vessels, having an aggregate tonnage of
1,160,371 tons. Of this fleet there were owned at or controlled from
Ohio ports 475 vessels, with an aggregate capacity of 344,138 tons.
The statistics presented show the number of the different kinds of
vessels for each city or town of the State in which they are owned or
managed. In 1890 the combined receipts and shipments of all lake
ports of any importance reached a total of 63,979,589 tons. Ohio’s
share of this traffic was 12,016,898 tons, or 18 per cent. The receipts
and shipments of different commodities are shown for the principal lake
cities of the State, and the statistics of commerce through Saint Mary
Falls Canal, Michigan, for the seasons of 1892 and 1893 are shown in
detail.
During the year 1893 there were 10 vessels of different classes built
in the yards of the State that had an aggregate capacity of 8,021 tons.
The fishing industry of Ohio is described and a statistical statement
given which shows the average daily and yearly earnings, and number
of days worked during the year, for the different classes of employees
engaged in the industry. Reports from about seven-eighths of the
Ohio fisheries show the capital invested to be $549,000, with 80 boats,
and giving employment to 587 men.
Freight rates on Lake Superior traffic, in which Ohio tonnage is
largely engaged, are given for different commodities for each year from
1887 to 1893. The average rate for all classes of freight passing in and
out of Lake Superior in 1893 was 1.1 mills per ton mile.
The passenger traffic of the Great Lakes is touched upon. A descrip
tion is also given of the ports of Ohip, which is followed by a state
ment of the interest taken in and protection afforded to the marine
interests of the State by the United States Government. A short his
torical sketch is given of the Lake Erie sailor and an account of his
present status, including his earnings. Statistical tables of wages,
hours of work, and days employed during the year are shown for differ
ent classes of employees on shipboard and for dockmen. The methods
of loading and unloading vessels and docks are treated and the present
condition and future of Ohio’s marine interests are discussed.
“ Sweating ” in Cincinnati.—The information on this subject is
the result of a personal investigation by the agents of the bureau. Of
the places of manufacture visited, a comparatively small number were
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— OHIO.
163
found to be in tenement bouses, while a much larger proportion were
in shops contained in dwelling houses, but separate from the living
rooms and usually affording fair sanitary conditions. But unfortu
nately shops of the latter class, although still numbering nearly onehalf of the total number in Cincinnati, are fast passing away, owing to
the competition of Russian Jews and Italians in the city tenements, and
in still larger degree of suburban and country workers. These home
workers receive their work from the hands of the large manufacturers
and not from smaller shops contracting with manufacturers, thus
strikingly differentiating the system in Cincinnati from that of most
other large cities. The home manufacture of ready-made clothing in
Cincinnati has passed largely out of the province of the regular trade,
and has come almost entirely into the hands of those who look upon the
work as a means of gaining “pin money.” Some of the results shown
in the tables presented are as follows:
SWEAT SHOPS IN CINCINNATI.
Shops inPlaces Tene Homes,
but
Garments made. visited.
ment apart
living from
rooms. living
rooms.
Cloaks........................
Coats.........................
Overcoats (b) . .. . .. .
Vests.........................
Pants.........................
Pants (finishers) (c).
"Roys’ su its_______
Riit.tonholAs______
Custom coats...........
16
93
18
46
32
12
4
4
9
10
20
20
13
4
4
5
3
57
23
13
1
2
3
Average—
Reduc
tion Weekly Per
Build
ings Price in earn sons Rooms
sepa per price ings of in occu Monthly
during sweat sweat
rate
rent.
from piece. year er’s er’s pied.
(per family. family.
homes.
cent).
3 $0.57* 46.25 $9.39 6.00 2.70
16 .51 32.23 11.93 5.00 3.87
.94 31.00
3 .2 14 20.58 1 1 .2 2 3.32 2.59
6
.23* 33.00 8.17 4.52 3.05
.05* 12.00 7.67 2.73 2.00
.37 20.00 10.00 2.00 2.25
2 d . 62J 42.00
9.25 4.25 2.20
4.66 32.00 16. 33 3.29 2.43
1
a
$9.40
15.42
12.62
11.42
5.50
7.16
12.37
10.13
a In 27 instances the rent from which this average is made includes rent of shop, and this is
generally equal to or greater than rent of living rooms, which varies from $10 to $27 a month.
b Overcoats are made in same shops as other coats, and the 18 places averaged are included in the
93 coat shops visited. They are given separately only to show difference in price.
c Only 5 places in which pants finishers were found were engaged exclusively in finishing; the
remaining 7 are included in the returns of pants-making shops and represent those in which the work
was so subdivided.
d Price per 100.
Tenement H ouses in Cincinnati.—This investigation was lim
ited to that part of the tenement-house population engaged in the
trades or in factories or at common day labor, the canvass being con
fined to one representative ward of the city. The statistics gathered
by the agents of the bureau are shown in detail for each return and
cover the social and sanitary conditions and earnings of those report
ing. Of the total number of fathers of families reported 165, or 22 per
cent, and of mothers, 206, or 29 per cent, were Americans; 498, or 65
per cent, of the fathers and 442, or 61 per cent, of the mothers, native
Germans; the remaining 96, or 13 per cent, of the fathers and 75, or
10 per cent, of the mothers being natives of other foreign countries.
The 948 families reported occupied 2,160 rooms; the average monthly
164
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
rent for a tenement was $6.94; and 56 families owned their own homes.
There were 50 male and 32 female lodgers and 1,453 children reported.
Child Labor in Cincinnati.—These statistics are the result of a
personal canvass of 40 establishments, embracing 15 industries and
employing 7,699 persons, of whom 946 were children under 16 years of
age, 482 being males and 464 females. Three hundred and eighteen of
these children began work before they were 14 years of age. The
number of children working with machinery was 135, and the number
of adults displaced by child labor during the year was reported as 42.
Of the 946 children only 29 were orphans; 204 reported fathers deceased,
and 39 invalid fathers. From this investigation it appears that child
labor in Cincinnati is more of a custom than a necessity.
The statistics are presented in two tables. The first table shows for
each of the 15 industries the number of establishments, total number
employed, number of males and females, respectively, under 16 years
of age, hours employed and earnings per week, number working with
machinery, number of adults displaced, and number learning a trade.
The second table contains figures that tend to show the ability of the
parents to support their families independent of the earnings of the
children.
Convict Labor—Special Report.—The bureau having received
complaints that the provisions of the law to regulate the employment
of the inmates of the penitentiaries, reformatories, and workhouses in
the State of Ohio, enacted April 16,1892, and amended April 24,1893,
were being violated, an investigation was instituted to determine to what
extent the industries in the penitentiaries and workhouses affected
industries of the same kind employing free labor. According to the
provisions of the law the number of persons employed in the peni
tentiaries and workhouses should not exceed 10 per cent of the number
of persons manufacturing the same kind of goods in the State outside
of the penitentiaries and workhouses. January 1,1894, was fixed as
the date of investigation. The statistics show for the different indus
tries conducted in the penitentiaries and workhouses, that are affected
by the law, the number of convicts employed; number of persons
employed; free labor; the number (10 per cent) of convicts allowed by
law; the number actually employed in excess of the 10 per cent allowed
by law; also the number that could be lawfully employed.
Mining.— The period covered by the statistics presented on this sub
ject is from January 1 to December 31,1893. The results are placed
in comparison with similar data for the year 1892. No analysis is made
of the figures as it is believed the tables are sufficiently explicit. These
tables give, by county totals, numerous facts concerning the character
of the mines, methods of work, output, cost of mining, number and
wages of different classes of employees, and days worked for the year.
The figures are preceded by a synopsis of the record of the coal miners’
strike of 1894.
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- OHIO.
165
Manufacturing.—The presentation under this title consists entirely
of statistical tables, which cover numerous occupations and all branches
of manufacturing industry in the State. The industries and occupa
tions are grouped by specified cities, cities not specified, and villages,
the totals in some instances being summarized for the entire State.
The first group of tables shows for males and females, respectively,
the number employed, number of days worked during the years 1892
and 1893, hours of daily labor, average daily wages, yearly earnings for
1893, and per cent of increase or decrease in wages for the year ending
December 31,1893. The second and third groups of tables show, for
1892 and 1893, the number of establishments reported, and the number of
males and females, respectively, employed during each month of the
year for the different industries. The fourth group of tables shows the
number of establishments reported, total amount paid in wages during
1892 and 1893, number and monthly salaries of the different classes of
office help, and total capital invested. The fifth group of tables shows
the number of establishments reported, value of goods made and
materials used, respectively, from January 1,1893, to January 1,1894;
value of manufactured articles and materials, respectively, on hand
January 1, 1893, and January 1, 1894, and the amount of capital
invested.
The statistics form a complete exposition of the manufacturing
industries of the State, especially of wages in all classes of occupations
in the different industries and localities.
Employment Offices.—The introductory paragraph to this subject
opens with the statement: “ In 1894 the five free public employment
offices of the State found work for nearly 10,000 people. Although
this is a falling off of 3,000, compared with 1893, the showing is a very
satisfactory one when it is remembered that the dullness in all lines of
industry has been more widespread this year than last.” The statisti
cal tables show by weeks, for each office, the number of situations
wanted and positions secured for males and females, respectively. The
totals for the five offices of the State during 1894 are as follows:
POSITIONS SECURED THROUGH EMPLOYMENT OFFICES, 1894.
City.
Cincinnati...............................................
Cleveland................................................
Columbus.................................................
Toledo......................................................
Dayton....................................................
Total.............................................
Help wanted.
Situations wanted. Positions secured.
Males. Females. Males. Females. Males. Females.
297
283
605
441
800
2,426
1,387
2,065
1,852
1,693
2,447
9,444
2,778
2,942
2,672
2,472
3,657
14,521
3,162
3,517
2,226
1,950
3,761
14,616
267
273
456
367
777
2,140
1,144
1,846
1,343
1,359
1,934
7,626
TRADE UNIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
The Seventh Annual Report of the Labor Department of the British
Board of Trade, on the subject of trade unions, covering 284 pages, gives
valuable and exhaustive information relative to that class of organiza
tions in Great Britain and Ireland for the year 1893. The nature and
extent of the information supplied by this report are described as fol
lows:
The trade unions of the kingdom may, broadly speaking, be regarded
in two aspects. They are, in the first place, organizations haying for
chief object the protection of the industrial interests of their members,
and, in the second place, many of them are provident societies, arrang
ing for the support of their members in cases of sickness, old age, or
other contingencies incidental to the life of workmen. Under whichever
aspect they are viewed, they form a most important feature in the social
life of the kingdom, and it is, therefore, eminently desirable that record
should be made of both classes of their operations. In the present
report, therefore, information is given with regard to all the chief points
of interest in connection with both the trade and provident working of
these unions.
The report deals alike with registered and nonregistered unions, but
distinguishes the one from the other, and detailed information concern
ing them is given in the appendices, of which there are five, occupying
277 of the 284 pages of the report.
The first appendix, covering 109 pages, consists of a table showing,
in detail, the number and names of trade unions, the number of branches
of such unions, the number and percentage of members receiving cer
tain benefits provided by each union during 1893, the amount of funds
on hand at the end of 1892, the amount and analysis of annual income
and expenditure, and the amount of funds on hand at the end of 1893.
The information is given for each union separately, and the unions are
classified according to industries.
The second appendix, covering 110 pages, contains three tables, the
first of which shows the number of members belonging to the same
unions dealt with in Appendix I at the end of each of the different
years from 1870 to 1893, inclusive 5 the second table shows the contri
butions, per member, of the same unions during each of the years
covered by the first table; the third table shows the amount paid, per
member, of certain specified trade unions for unemployed, sick, and
superannuation benefits in various years prior to and including 1893.
The third appendix consists of a directory giving the names and
addresses of the secretaries of the unions, concerning which data are
given in the preceding appendices, and the fourth appendix gives sta166
TEADE UNIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
167
tistics in relation to disablement and mortality among members of trade
unions.
In order that the position of the unions may, to some extent, be pre
sented from their own point of view, extracts have been made from the
general addresses of the chief officers of some of the principal unions
to their members, through their annual or periodical reports, relative
to their operations and progress, financial and otherwise. These extracts
constitute the fifth appendix, which closes the report.
For the purposes of this report returns were obtained from 687 trade
unions. Of these, 513 were registered under the trade union act, and
174 were not so registered—an increase of 31 registered and 57 unreg
istered societies as compared with the number reporting in 1892. Mnetyseven of the unions concerning which information is published had
local sections or branches to the number of 6,879, at the end of 1893.
In addition to the unions from which returns were secured, the Labor
Department had knowledge of the existence of 118 other unregistered
unions at the end of 1893, concerning which no information was obtain
able beyond the fact that their total membership amounted to 90,660;
there were also 41 other such unions of which information concerning
the membership could not be secured.
The following summary shows the total number of members, amount
of annual income and expenditure, and balance of funds of all unions
for which accounts for 1893 were obtained:
Number of unions for which accounts were received...................................
Number of members of 677 unions at the end of 1893 .................................
Total funds of 662 unions in hand at beginning of 1893.............................
Total income of 687 unions for the year..........................................................
Total expenditures of 687 unions for the year...............................................
Total funds of 683 unions at end of 1893 .........................................................
687
1,270,789
$9,258,015
9,718,259
10,932,665
8,044,655
The discrepancy of $1,046 in the above summary is explained by the
statement that two unions, which did not report the amount of their
funds at the beginning and end of the year, had an excess of expendi
tures over income to that amount.
Detailed particulars as to the chief items of expenditure were fur
nished by 682 unions, and are shown in the following statement:
EXPENDITURES, ETC., OF 682 TRADE UNIONS, 1893.
Items.
Out-of-work benefits_____ . . . . . . . . . . . ___. . . . . . . . ...... ........................
.................. ..................... ................. ....................................
Sick benefit....... ...........................................................................................
A eeident. benefit.___ _______________ ____ ______________________ ___
Superannuation benefit...............................................................................
Funeral benefit._________________ f _______ _____________ _____
Ot.ber benefits, grants, ate _____________________________________
Grants to other trade unions...........................................................
Working and other expenses__________________________ ______
Total....................................................................................................
Dispute benefit.
Amounts. Unions. Members.
$2,496,169
3,567,364
1,161,823
126,889
571,030
458,385
555,570
299,927
1,690,919
10,928,076
378
331
228
99
89
387
391
405
679
827,840
1,083,904
622,908
414,989
458,678
983,834
842,202
996,618
1,269,070
The discrepancy between the total number of unions making the
different expenditures, as shown in the preceding statement, and the
168
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
total number reporting in reference thereto is explained by the fact
that only a limited number of the unions make payments for all the
purposes set forth $ and there may have been some unions liable to
make certain of the payments which may not have been called on to
make such payments during the year.
For the purpose of comparing 1893 with 1892, as regards member
ship and financial operations of trade unions, the returns of 534 trade
unions which supplied details for the two years are available, and the
figures are presented in the following table:
MEMBERSHIP AND FINANCIAL OPERATIONS OF 534 TRADE UNIONS, 1892 AND 1893.
Items.
Total membership at end of year..........................
Total aTinna.1 income __________________ ________
Total annual expenditure.................................................
Total foods afi end of year_____ ________________
1892.
1,195,932
$8,511,990
8,375,164
8,859,142
1893.
1,166,922
$9,233,210
10,497,819
»7,573,067
Increase (+) or
decrease (—).
— 29,010
-f $721,220
+2,122,655
—1,286,075
a The figures given here do not quite balance. There is a discrepancy of $21,466, which is due to
the fact that 24 unions showed $40,567 less funds at the beginning of 1893 than they reported at the
end of the previous year, while 44 unions showed $19,101 more.
In regard to the falling off in membership shown in the preceding
table, it is said:
Many of the societies represented have, of course, largely increased
their number of members during the year, but the above figures show
the net change in the total membership of all the unions. The classes
of trade unions most affected by this diminution in aggregate numbers
are those which represent the less skilled branches of industry. Indeed,
those which suffered most heavily from this falling away of numbers
were the unions of unskilled labor. Fourteen unions of men engaged
in transport and other branches of such labor show a decrease of
37,000 on the year. In the mining and quarrying group of trades, eight
of the unions show a loss of 8,000 members.
Notwithstanding the loss in membership there was a substantial
increase, amounting to $721,220, in the total income of these unions.
This is explained by the fact that in the class of unions to which the
loss of members is chiefly due the contributions of members are the
lowest, while in the organizations of skilled labor, in which the contri
butions are highest, there has been an increase of membership. It is
also to be noted that in many unions when the funds begin to fall
below a certain limit the contributions of the members are proportion
ately increased, so that in bad years their total incomes are greater
than in good years. It is also to be remembered that owing to the long
duration of extensive labor disputes in 1893, and the large numbers of
men engaged in them, great sums of money were contributed in special
ways to certain unions for their support, which further increased the
gross income for the year.
The increase of expenditures in 1893 over 1892 was chiefly due to
the increase of want of employment and of trade disputes. The effect
of the industrial depression in both 1892 and 1893 is shown by com
paring the expenditures in 1893 with those of 1891. In 1891 the total
TRADE UNIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
169
expenditure per member of the unions reporting was $5.38, while in
1893 it had risen to $8.97. The funds on hand at the end of the year
1893 amounted to $6.47 per member.
The powers of trade unions as to the investment or deposit of their
funds vary considerably, some having almost unlimited discretion, while
others are strictly confined to investments of an absolutely safe char
acter. The bulk of these accumulated funds is deposited in Govern
ment savings banks, or invested in Government stock, but some of the
funds are invested in joint stock companies, municipal stock, or real
estate. A sufficient amount, available for immediate use, is kept in
the hands of the union officials.
The details of expenditures for different purposes by the 534 trade
unions reporting the facts for 1892 and 1893 are shown in the following
table, in which are also shown the number and membership of the
unions making expenditures for each purpose in each year:
EXPENDITURES, ETC., OF 534 TRADE UNIONS, 1892 AND 1893.
1892.
1893.
lncrease(+)
or de
crease (—-)
Items.
Expendi
Expendi
in
expendi
Unions. Members. tures. Unions. Members. tures.
tures.
Out-of-work benefits...
Dispute benefit.............
Sick benefit....................
Accident benefit...........
Superannuation benefit.
Funeral benefit.............
Other benefits, grants,
etc................................
Woi king and other ex
penses .........................
Total__________
271
728,030 $1,872,576
280 1,070,788 2,178,898
180
579,608 1,043,655
80
86, U 6
348,395
72
428,914
515,727
300
403,574
887,326
387 1,081,338
633,550
527 1,190,928 1,626,009
a8,360,705
300
754,683 $2,409,141 + $536,565
271 1,010,649 3,426,727 +1,247,829
190
604,920 1,147,511 + 103,856
76
382,216
124,962 + 38,246
80
454,398
567,507 + 51,780
312
908,496
440,958 + 37,384
430 1,053,666
798,870 + 165,320
530 1,166,444 1,578,376 — 47,633
1
alO, 494,052
.............I.....................
a The difference between this total of expenditure and that given in the preceding summary is due
to some of the unions not reporting the details of their expenditures.
The above table deals with the returns of 534 unions which furnished
information as to certain details of their expenditures in either 1892 or
1893. As the same number of unions did not, in any instance, make
expenditures for the same purpose in both years the table contains an
element of uncertainty. In order to secure a proper basis of compari
son the subjoined table is given, which shows for each of the items
of expenditure the facts for only such unions or societies as made an
expenditure for that purpose in both 1892 and 1893.
EXPENDITURES, ETC., OF TRADE UNIONS REPORTING FOR BOTH 1892 AND 1893.
Members.
Expenditures.
Unions.
Increase.
Items.
1892.
1892.
1893.
1893.
Out-of-work benefits..................
Dispute benefit...........................
Sick benefit..................................
Accident benefit.........................
Superannuation benefit.............
Funeral benefit...........................
Other benefits, grants, etc.........
Total..................................
249
700,880
213 1,007,017
551,333
167
63
327,687
425,600
68
268
880,885
351
995,126
706,380 $1, 815,380
972,446 2,059,381
557,677 1,033,148
331,521
80,852
439,307
514,968
875,297
400,946
620,581
987,588
6,525,256
$2,359,484
3,268,487
1,138,527
120,908
564,027
429,746
768,951
8,650,130
$544,104
1,209,106
105,379
40,056
49,059
28,800
148,370
2,124,874
WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOR IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
The following is a synopsis of the principal features of a report on
this subject published by the Labor Department of the British Board
of Trade. The report consists of three parts, which treat, respectively,
of—changes in rates of wages and hours of labor reported as having
occurred during 1893, also some preliminary figures on the same subject
for 1894 5 standard piece rates 5 standard time rates.
Changes in Rates of W ages and Hours of Labor.—The object
of the report is to put on record the principal changes which have been
reported in market rates of wages and recognized hours of labor in
various districts in the chief industries of the United Kingdom during
the year to which the report refers.
The data were obtained principally from the tables of changes in
wages and hours of labor published monthly in the Labor Gazette.
The material was originally secured from newspaper extracts (which
were in all cases verified); reports from local correspondents, secretaries
of employers’ and workmen’s associations, and others, on special forms
distributed for that purpose; superintendents of mercantile marine, and
miscellaneous sources. The information thus secured was subjected to
a careful revision prior to publication in the Gazette. The data obtained
from the Labor Gazette were supplemented as follows: Information
concerning changes not reported at the time they occurred was obtained
from the annual reports of trade unions, especially those which publish
standard rates of wages. The changes reported during the year were
grouped by industries, and printed slips containing the changes reported
in each industry were distributed for corrections and additions to the
secretaries of the trade unions and of the various employers’ associa
tions concerned with those trades, and also to the local 6orrespondents
of the department. In certain trades in which no changes had been
reported during the year special inquiries were sent to the secretaries
of associations. The information concerning the police was supplied
by the chief constables and that relating to employees of local authori
ties by the clerks of such local authorities.
The information concerning changes in seamen’s wages is based on
returns made by superintendents of mercantile marine to the registrar
general of shipping and seamen, and that for agricultural laborersds
confined to a comparison for certain districts of the limits of the rates
at which laborers of various classes were hired at the yearly and halfyearly hiring fairs in 1892 and 1893.
The field of employment covered more or less by the inquiry included
the great majority of the wage-earning population, excepting domestic
170
WAGES, ETC., IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
171
servants. Agriculture, however, and railway service were very imper
fectly covered, and though all the changes in predominant rates for
seamen at the principal ports have been recorded, the peculiar condi
tions of that industry make it impossible to compute the number
affected by changes in rates of wages.
If the industries above mentioned be excluded, the groups of indus
tries in which actual changes have been reported cover a total of
nearly 7,000,000 persons of all classes and include all the important
fluctuating trades.
For the purpose of this report a change in the rate of wages is
defined as a change in the weekly or hourly rate of remuneration of a
certain class of work people, apart from any change in the nature of
the work performed.
The following classes of changes, which are apt to be confused with
changes in the rates of wages, are excluded from the report:
1. Changes in the average earnings in a trade which are due, not to
an alteration in the scales of pay for particular classes of work, but to
alterations in the proportions which the higher and lower paid classes
of work people bear to each other.
2. Changes in the rates of pay for individuals due to promotions, or
progressive “increments” of wages. In some classes of undertakings
(for example, the police force) the rates of pay of various classes of
employees are regulated by scales. The rates of pay, therefore, of indi
viduals may be continually altering. Such internal changes, however,
are not to be regarded as real changes in the rates of wages so long as
the limits of the scales for each class of employees remain unaltered
for work of the same kind.
3. Purely “ seasonal” changes in weekly wages which regularly occur
at certain periods of the year in certain trades. This change as a rule
is accompanied by a change of hours of labor for the summer and win
ter months, respectively, and merely represents the effect on weekly
wages of this change of hours, the hourly rate of pay remaining the
same.
4. Changes in the terms of employment which merely provide for
extra compensation for extra work.
Exclusive of changes affecting seamen and agricultural laborers,
there were 836 cases of changes of wages reported for 1893, and in 706
cases full particulars were obtained. Of the total number of changes
587 were increases and 249 decreases. There were 549,977 individuals
affected directly by the 706 changes for which full particulars were
secured, but of this number 151,140 finished the year with their wages
at the same level as at the beginning, and for the purpose of compar
ing wages at the end of 1892 and 1893 may be regarded as having their
wages unchanged. Of the remaining 398,837 employees, 142,364, or
26 per cent of the whole number affected, gained a net increase of
wages, and 256,473, or 47 per cent of the whole number, sustained a
net loss. Judged, therefore, by the standard of the number of per
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
172
sons affected, the decreases of wages during the year preponderated
over the increases. Nevertheless the net result of all the changes
during the year was a slight rise of wages, the average amount of the
increases per head being so much greater than that of the decreases as
to overbalance the superiority of numbers.
In presenting the statistics the various subdivisions of industry are
arranged in seven general groups, the totals being given for each group
and each subdivision. The details for each change in wages and hours
of labor are also given, the reports being arranged by localities and
industries. In the following summaries only the totals for the general
groups are presented and those cases considered for which full particu
lars were secured.
In many cases the same individual was involved in more than one
change during the year, and to obtain the aggregate number of em
ployees affected should be counted more than once. The two state
ments immediately following show the number of changes (increases
or decreases in weekly wages) during the year, the number of indi
vidual employees affected, and the total and average increase or
decrease:
NUMBER OF INCREASES OR DECREASES IN WEEKLY WAGES, AND EMPLOYEES
AFFECTED, 1893.
Changes.
Employees affected.
Wages
same at
Wages end
In
De Total. Wages
as at
in
de
creases. creases.
begin Total.
creased. creased. ning
o f.
year.
Industries.
Building_______ __________ _
Metal, engineering, and shipbuilding..
Mining and quarrying.............................
Tfvrt.ilas_____________________ . . . ___
Clothing........................................ . . . . . . .
Other trades and occupations.................
Employees of public authorities...........
Total..................................................
a
265
35
40
28
18
43
79
508
287
146
80
40
32
4
18
61
18
82
3
198 | 706
22
111
40,017
5,377
75,834
4,196
3,599
3,210
10,131
142,364
4,521
44,538
95,279 a 20,600 121,256
103,802 a 130,290 309,926
50,891
55,087
3,599
1,944
a 250
5,404
36
10,167
256,473 a 151,140 549,977
These employees are included in obtaining the average net increase or decrease.
AMOUNT OF INCREASE OR DECREASE IN WEEKLY WAGES, 1893.
Increase.
Industries.
Decrease.
Net.
Net.
Aver
AverAver
per
ageper
Aver- ‘
Total. age
em
age per Total. em Total. age per
ployee. Total. em
ployee.
em
ployee.
ployee.
Building................................ $20,200.35| $0.50} $18,925.82 $0.42} $1,274.53} $0.28
Metal, engineering, and
28,593.85 .30 $26,601.01} $0.22
shipbuilding..................... 1,992.83* .37
Mining and quarrying___ 86,388.89 1.14 70,546.24}
15,842.64}
848.96 .20
5,540.51
Textiles...............................
4,691.55 .08}
Clothing................................ 1,388.65} .38} *i,388j
Other trades and occupa
1,367.00 .70}
tions.................................. 1,251.42
115.58 .02
Employees of public au
3,871.05}
14.84} .41
thorities ........................... 3,885.90
Total.......................... 115.957.01} .81} 63,323.63 . 11} 52,633.38} . 20}
WAGES, ETC., IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
173
The computed net effect upon wages of the total changes of the year,
so far as reported in detail, was a rise of $63,323.63 a week. By this
statement is meant that the total wages bill of the country, in indus
tries covered by the returns, for a full week’s work at the end of 1893
would exceed that for the corresponding week at the end of 1892 by
$63,323.63. For the purposes of the calculation internal changes dur
ing the year are disregarded, and the state of the weekly wages bill is
compared at the end of each year. In other words, the comparison
deals with the rates of payment at two given points of time; not with
the total payments over two given periods of time.
The average weekly rise of wages per head calculated on the total
number of persons receiving a rise was 81J cents, while the average
weekly fall per head calculated in a similar way was only 20J cents.
The average net weekly change per head calculated on the total
number of persons affected by changes of wages during the year was a
rise of 11£ cents. If the net gain be spread over the total estimated
number of persons engaged in the trades to which the returns relate,
the rise is 47£ cents per head per annum. The number of employees
affected by changes in wages formed about 8 per cent of the total
number of persons employed in the industries covered.
The sum of the increases, $115,957.01J, shown in the above state
ment is itself the balance of much larger amounts of increases and
decreases affecting the same individuals, and the same is true of the
sum of the decreases, as all internal changes during the year were
excluded. The amount of the total weekly increases recorded was
$292,854.78, and of the total decreases $229,531.15, the difference between
which is of course the same as that between the increases and decreases
shown in the above table.
The total number of employees (not necessarily separate individuals)
affected by the 706 changes for which full particulars were reported,
and the total and average of the aggregate increases and decreases per
week, are shown in the two following statements:
EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY CHANGES IN WEEKLY WAGES, 1893.
[A single employee may be affected by more than one change, and hence counted two or more times in
this table.]
Average number to
each change.
In
De
Total.
Industries.
creases. creases.
In
De
creases. creases. Total.
5,071
152
40,217
45,288
Building. .. . ..
881
190,285
Metal, engineering, and shipbuilding........... 30,827 159,458
Mining and quarrying...................................... 562,524 549,844 1,112,368 14,063
4,246 50,891
152
55,137
Textiles .................................................. .. . .. .
200
3,599
Clothing
, - - v- - ______ *________ 3,599
80
3,460
5,654
2,194
Other trades and occupations......................... 10,141
128
36
10,177
Employees of public authorities....................
Total......................................................... 655,014 767,494 1,422,508 1,289
158
231
1,437 1,303
13,746 13,905
12,723 1,723
200
93
12 2
124
12
3,876 2,015
174
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
INCREASE OR DECREASE IN AGGREGATE WEEKLY WAGES, 1893.
[A single employee may be affected by more than one change, and hence counted two or more times in
this table.]
Average per employee.
Total
Industries.
Increase. Decrease. change.
In
De Total
crease. crease. change
Building.................................................. $20,200.35$ $1,274.53$ $21,474.89 $0.50 $0.25 $0.47$
Metal, engineering, and shipbuilding. 5,460.70 32,061.72 37,522.42
.17$ .2 0
Mining and quarrying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259,697.12$ 189,150.88 448,848.00$ .46
.34$ U o f
848.96
5,540.51
Textiles......... ...T ...............................
6,389.47
.20
.1 1
. 11$
1,388 65$
1,388.65$ .38$
Clothing ___ ____________ ___
2,861.74$ .39$ .68
Other trades and occupations-. .. . .. . 1,373.08$ i, 488.66
14.84$ 3,900.74$ .38$ .41
Employees of public authorities....... 3,885.90
.*38$
.44$ .30
Total............................................ 292,854.78 229,531.15 522,385.93
.36$
There were 164 changes in hours of labor reported as haying occurred
during 1893, of which one-half (82) occurred in the building trades.
Full particulars were secured concerning 155 of these changes, of which
139 were decreases and 16 increases. The total number of employees
affected by the 155 changes was 34,649, of whom 1,530 had an increase,
and 33,119 a decrease in their hours of labor. The following statements
show the number and the extent of changes in the hours of labor for
which full particulars were reported, also the number of employees
affected for the different groups of industry:
NUMBER OF CHANGES IN HOURS OF LABOR PER WEEK AND EMPLOYEES
AFFECTED, 1893.
Changes.
Employees affected.
Increases. Decreases. Total. Increases. Decreases. Total.
Industries.
Building....................................................
Metal, engineering, and shipbuilding.
Mining and quarrying...........................
Textiles....................................................
Clothing....................................................
Other trades and occupations...............
Employees of public authorities.........
Total
11
1
63
9
74
4
16
.7
30
23
.139
7
30
27
155
1
6
10
16
1,283
200
47
1,530
11,982 13,265
4,092 4,292
250
250
2,021 2,021
7,840 7,840
5,288 5,288
1,646 1,693
33,119 34,649
EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY CHANGES IN AVERAGE HOURS OF LABOR PER WEEK,
1893.
Industries.
Hours per week.
Increase.
Decrease.
1
and
2
and
1
and
and 4 and 6 and 8 and
Un un un Under un 2un
un un
der 1 . der
1.
2 . der 4.
der 2 . der 4. der 6 . der 8. over.
480
Building....................................
Metal, engineering, and shipbuild
ing ______________________
Mining and quarrying....................
Textiles..................
Clothing.................................
Other trades and occupations........
Employees of public authorities...
Total......................................... 480
803
5,365 2,604 3,944
69
100 1,690
1,400 705 197
250
*
1,000
1,0 2 1
200
7,580
60
3,784
667 564 100
73 272
47
446 153 654
247 5,538 9,800 15,058 1,491 1 , 0 1 1
200
803
173
48
221
WAGES, ETC., IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
175
The net effect of the changes in each industry as well as that of the
whole of the changes reported was a reduction of hours of labor.
Attention is called to the fact that in the mining industry, which was
more disturbed by wage changes than any other group of industries,
and in which proposals had been made for some time past to obtain a
reduction of hours by legislative means, not a single change in weekly
hours of labor was reported. The one change shown for the group
occurred in the quarries.
In order to compute the average effect of the changes, they have been
grouped according to the average amount of the increase or decrease
per week taken over the whole year. In the case of the building trades,
in which the summer and winter weekly hours differ considerably, many
of the changes reported affect only summer hours, or only winter hours,
or do not affect summer and winter hours to the same extent. In all
cases, therefore, the average effect of the change spread over the entire
year has been computed for the purpose of the present calculation, due
regard being paid to the number of weeks in the year in which the
summer and winter rates prevail, respectively.
The net effect of the whole of the changes of hours reported was
equivalent to an average reduction of two hours per week for the whole
number of persons affected by the changes. The following statement
classifies the total number of employees affected by changes of hours,
according to the magnitude of the increase or decrease:
EMPLOYEES AFFECTED, CLASSIFIED BY EXTENT OF CHANGE IN HOURS OF LABOR.
Change in hours per week.
Employees affected.
Increase. Decrease. Total.
TTnrlp,r 9 h n n rn _______________________________ ____________ . . . . . . ________
2 and under 4.......................................................................... .
4 and under 6 .......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __ _
6 and u n d e r ft_____ _______ ________________________________ _______ ______
8 and over.........................................................................................................
1,283
247
Total........................................................................................................
1,530
15,338
15,058
1,491
16,621
15,305
1,491
33,119
34,649
1,0 11
221
1 ,0 11
221
The effect of these changes on the average weekly hours of labor of
the entire body of persons engaged in the groups of industries included
in the returns was, of course, inappreciable.
The average number of persons affected by a change of hours was
224. In the building trades it was 179, in the printing and paper trades
(which are included in the class of other trades and occupations) 350,
in the textiles 337, in the clothing 1,120.
The preliminary figures given for 1894 are considered as too incom
plete to be used for comparison with 1893, and should only be accepted
as indicating the general tendency of wages for that year. The num
ber of changes in wages reported for 1894 is 589, of which 411 were
increases and 178 decreases. The total number of individual employees
affected by the changes for which full particulars were received was
176
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
592.000, of whom 160,000 gained a net increase and 432,000 sustained
a net decrease. The total effect of the changes in wages in 1894 was a
decrease. In this respect the year 1894 differs from 1893, in which
the effect of the decline was for the time more than counterbalanced by
temporary increases in miners’ wages. In 1894 there was a widespread
fall in miners’ wages, affecting over 380,000 persons.
If the mining, metal, and glass bottle making industries be excluded,
it will be found that the remaining industries show in the aggregate
an increase. If increases be balanced against decreases, a slight rise
appears to have taken place in the cotton, boot and shoe, and printing
industries, while in the engineering, shipbuilding, and some other
groups wages remained throughout 1894 practically as they were at
the end of 1893.
The aggregate number of employees (not necessarily separate indi
viduals) involved in the wage changes, so far as reported for 1894, was
1.070.000, of whom 281,000 were involved in increases and 789,000 in
decreases. A considerable part of this aggregate is accounted for by
the Welsh miners, whose rates of wages changed no less than six
times during the year, and who consequently figured six times in the
total.
Reports have been received of 215 reductions of hours of labor in
1894, affecting 70,000 individuals, of whom about 42,000 were Govern
ment employees. The net effect of the changes in hours in 1894 was a
, decrease, as in 1893.
Standard Piece Rates and Standard Time Rates.—This
portion of the report presents selections from some of the more impor
tant lists of piece and time rates of wages in force in the year 1893.
The lists shown are those prepared by various organizations of either
employers or employees, or as agreed upon by both classes of organi
zations in the different trades, the object being to illustrate the
working of the standard lists of wages by which many industries are
governed. In some cases lists prepared by employers and employees,
respectively, are placed in comparison, and, when practicable, data are
also given for 1892.
It is not practicable to make a summary of the different lists, and
the lack of space will not permit of a reproduction of any of them
with the notes and text necessary to a proper understanding of the
figures.
STRIKES IN SWITZERLAND IN RECENT YEARS.
The eighth annual report of the Comity Directeur de la Federation
Ouvri&re Suisse, 1894, contains a historical review of strikes, lockouts,
and employees’ demands, followed by statistical summaries, covering
the period of 1860 to 1894, inclusive.
The information, as explained by the editor, has been obtained
largely from labor journals and other publications, but unfortunately
the files of some of the most important periodicals were incomplete
and other important journals could not be obtained, especially for the
earlier periods. Frequently the information found was very meager,
and in such cases the missing data were sought by correspondence.
But this means of obtaining information was only partly successful.
While thus there are many gaps in the statistics presented, they are
sufficiently complete to furnish some idea of this feature of the labor
movement in Switzerland. The following table shows the number of
strikes, lockouts, and demands amicably settled, and their results:
STRIKES, LOCKOUTS, AND DEMANDS, BY RESULTS, 1860 TO 1894.
Demands not resulting in
Strikes.
Lockouts.
strikes.
Suc
Suc
Suc
Not
Year. Suc ceed
Suc ceed Fail Not
Suc ceed Fail Not
re To ceed
re To
re To ceed
ed
ed ed. port
ceed ed Fail
tal. ed. part ed. port tal. ed. parttal.
ed. part ed. port
ed.
ed.
ed.
ly.
lylyI860........ 4
1861 . .
1
1862.......
1863........ 2
1864........ 2
1865 ....... 2
1866. 1867.......
1868........
1869 ___ 101
187ft . 1871........ 2
1872... . 7
1873........ 41
1874 ___
1
1875.......
1
1876.......
1877........
1878.......
1879.......
1880........
1881........
1882........
1883 ........
1884........
1885........ 1
1886........ 8
1
1887.......
1888........ 3
1889........ 18
1890....... 17
1891........ 13
1892........ 9
1893........
1894........ 5
Total.. 113
4
1
1
1
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
3
1
1
2
2
4
2
153
5
13
6
3
1
1
8
7
2
3
9
2
3
5
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
6
3
1
1
3
3
9
1
2
4
25
1
2
3
4
5
2
4
6
37
320—No. 2---- 5
2
2
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
11
2
3
3
4
1
1
4
2
1
2
1
1
4
2
1
4
2
6
5
4
3
5
3
2
5
1
3
1
5
35
5
1
12
10
7
7
17
14
7
9
7
3
3
2
1
i
2
1
11
6
13
5
4
1
25 14
9 33 10
4 31 2 1
1
13 15
1
7 11
15
7
29 204 160
1
2
2
2
4
4
6
5
3
9
77
2
1
1
1
1
3
2
17
11
17
2
2
10
21
20
4 32
1
24
2
17
1
34 306
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
1
l
22
5
3
177
10
178
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
It will be noticed that the number of successful and partly successful
demands and strikes greatly exceeds that of the number of failures.
This, it is explained, maybe due to some extent to the lack of complete
data and to the sources of information. Nevertheless, the excess of
successful over unsuccessful demands and strikes shown in more recent
years, when almost complete returns were obtained, would seem to
indicate that, in general, the relative results are fairly accurate.
The following table shows the strikes, demands, and lockouts by
causes. Owing to lack of space successful and partly successful labor
disputes were combined in one column, and those that failed and those
whose results were not reported are consolidated in another. While
the latter grouping may not be entirely fair, it is claimed that it is jus
tified on the ground that, in general, the results would have been
announced in the labor journals had they been successful. Under the
reduction of hours are also included strikes and other disputes where
shorter hours was one of several demands, because, as a rule, this was
the most important of the demands made in such cases:
STRIKES, LOCKOUTS, AND DEMANDS, BY CAUSES, 1860 TO 1894.
[Under dismissals and lockouts the strikes, lockouts, and demands are reported as having succeeded,
succeeded partly, or failed, according as the employees succeeded, succeeded partly, or failed.]
Against
For reduc For in For other Against Against Dismissals other
acts Total.
tion
crease of improve increase of reduction
and
of em
ments.
of hours. wages.
hours. of wages. lockouts. ployers.
Suc
Suc
Suc
Suc
Suc
Suc
Suc
Suc
__
Fail ceed Fail ceed Fail ceed Fail ceed Fail ceed Fail ceed Fail-; ceed Fail
Year. ceed
ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed ed
and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and
suc not suc not suc not suc not suc not suc not suc not suc not
ceed re ceed re ceed re ceed re ceed re ceed re ceed re ceed re
ed port ed port ed port ed port ed port ed port ed port ed port
part ed. part ed. part ed. part ed. part ed. part ed. part ed. part ed.
lylylylylylylyly1
1
1
1
2
I860___
4
1
4 1
1861___
1
1
1
1
1862___
1863___
2
2
1864___
2
2
1
1
1
1
1866___
2
1
4
1866___ 1
4
1867___
2
2
1
1
1
11
1868.... 8
2
2
1
g
I860.... 4 2 1 1
6
2
18
1
1
1
1
3
g
2
5
1870___
1
1
7
g
1871.... 3 3 2 1
2
1
1
1872___ 10 5 5 6 1
2
19 12g
1873.... 7 3 7 3
14
1
1
4
g
5 3
1874___
1
1
7
3
1875.... 3
3 2
4
2
4
1876....
2
2
2
3
3
1877___
1
3
2
1878....
1878....
1
i
1880___
1
1881.... 1
3
3
1882....
1
1
1
1
1883....
2
1
1
1
1
1884___
1
g
1885.... 3
7 2
2
3
12
1
1
14
g
1886.... 8 4 5 2 1
5
4
4 4 2
4
1887___ 2
17
1
5
1888.... 5 1
2
4 2
10
1
1
9
1889___ 9 1 23 6 1
3 1
37
1890.... 22 10 5 3 1
1
1
1
4 2 1
1
1
35 18
1891.... 17 7 16 4
9 5 2 4
44
20
1
1
11
4 3 1
i
1892___ 7 2 5 2
28 10
1
i
1
1893___ 4 4 3 2
6
2
14 10
1894.... 1 1
4 1
8
2
2
5 2
1
21
16
Total. 126 59 1 2 1 52 10 10 4 5 55 41 14 8 9 1 6 369 181
STRIKES IN SWITZERLAND IN RECENT TEARS.
179
The following summary, taken by five-year periods, is interesting as
showing the progress of the movement for shorter working days:
DEMANDS AND STRIKES FOR REDUCTION OF HOURS, BY FIVE-YEAR PERIODS,
1865 TO 1894.
Demands and strikes for—
hours per day. ! 10 hours per day. 9 hours per day. Time not reported.
Years.
Suc Failed Suc Failed
Suc
Suc Failed
Failed
ceeded andresult
ceeded and
result ceeded
and result ceeded
and andresult
and not re
and
and
not
re
not re succeeded
not re succeeded
succeeded
succeeded ported.
partly ported. partly. ported. partly. ported.
partly.
4
9
2
1ft65-1ft69 . . . .
1
1
1870-1874 ................
6
4
9
5
13
1
1
1
2
1875-1879 .........
1
1880-1884..................
1
1
a
3
2
23
1885-1889..................
25
4
5
49
5
3
1
1890-1894..................
7
96
40
7
7
18
Total..............
5i
5
11
The next table shows the strikes, lockouts, and demands by occupa
tions for the period of thirty-five years from 1860 to 1894:
STRIKES, LOCKOUTS, AND DEMANDS, BY OCCUPATIONS, 1860-1894.
Demands not resulting
Strikes.
Lockouts.
in strikes.
Suc
Suc
Suc
Occupation.
ceeded
ceeded
ceeded
Not re and
Not re and
re
suc Failed. ported.
suc Failed. Not
and suc Failed. ported.
ported.
ceeded
ceeded
ceeded
partly.
partly.
partly.
1
7
1
2
3
Printers.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
36
13
1
2
2
2
3
Bindery employees.... . .. .
4
1
1
1
1
2
2
Stonecutters.........
8
1
5
5
2
2
2
M asons...............................
1
1
6
Roofers
...................
1
1
3
E t ftflvatpnrs.........................
2
2
1
2
2
2
Potters and stove makers .
1
3
2
3
15
Carpenters.........................
5
1
3
10
Joiners................................
13
22
3
1
Claviers__________ _____
8
2
8
1
2
2
3
2
Painters...............................
1
1
1
1
4
2
Watchmakers......................
21
Engravers and watch case
11
1
4
makers .............................
1
4
•Towel#vrs.................... ..........
2
1
4
Tailors...................
10
22
11
11
2
6
4
Shoemakers....... .
1
1
1
Other clothing trades......
1
1
2
2
Molders................................
1
M achinist*___ ___________
6
2
3
2
1
Ironw orkers............. ..........
6
2
3
1
6
2
9
1
Tinsmiths.............................
Blacksmiths and wagon
1
3
6
2
9
makers .............................
Employees in weaving es
2
5
3
9
7
3
2
tablishments ...................
Dyers, etc _____________
4
4
2
Employees in tobacco
w orks ................................
2
3
3
Brewers__________ ______
2
1
5
Coopers................................
3
2
2
Saddlers..............................
1
1
6
4
2
Miscellaneous......................
3
5
196
29
33
37
77
2
T o tal......................... 138
The report calls attention to the fact that the statistics for the print
ing trade are the most complete, because the printers have long been
180
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
well organized, and have published a special trade journal. This table
shows that while there were in all 39 demands that were amicably
settled, only 21 strikes and lockouts are reported. In the totals for the
other occupations the reverse condition is found, namely, 165 demands
as against 295 strikes and lockouts. This result in the case of the
printers is probably due to their superior skill and better organization.
In order to better illustrate the effects of labor organization in refer
ence to disputes between employees and their employers, the following
summary is presented of the number of demands amicably settled, and
of offensive and defensive strikes—lockouts being classed with the
latter.
DEMANDS NOT FOLLOWED BY STRIKES AND STRIKES COMPARED.
Years.
1860-1864....................................................................................................
1865-1869 ....................................................................................................
1870-1874 ....................................................................................................
1875-1879 ....................................................................................................
1880-1884 ....................................................................................................
1885-1889 ....................................................................................................
1890-1894 .....................................................................................................
Demands
not fol Offensive Defensive
lowed by strikes. strikes.
strikes.
10
2
19
30
2
24
43
11
44
99
44
63
2
2
G
12
11
8
34
54
During the first five-year period nearly all the disputes affected only
the printers, which fact accounts for the great excess of demands over
strikes. In the two succeeding periods other occupations appear, hence
the number of offensive strikes is greatest. During the next two periods,
the industrial crisis reduced the number of labor disputes to a mini
mum. In the sixth period of the summary the influence of the organi
zation of the Swiss reserve fund (Oaisse Suisse de B 6serve) becomes
apparent. Notwithstanding the rapidly increasing number of labor
disputes, the number of demands amicably settled equals that of the
offensive strikes, while the number of defensive strikes is quite consider
able. During the last period the number of demands amicably settled
considerably exceeds either that of the offensive or of the defensive
strikes. This result is due to the thorough organization of the federa
tion of labor unions and to the activity of their executive committee.
NOTES CONGEENING THE MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES AND
OTHER COUNTRIES.
BY WILLIAM 0. HUNT.
The following information relative to money has been compiled from
the report of the Director of the Mint, and includes a brief statement
concerning the monetary system of the United States 5the value of the
coins of the United States, together with the authority for coining and
total amount coined; the value of the pure silver in a United States
silver dollar, as compared with the market price of silver; the commer
cial ratio of silver to gold since 1687; the total production of the pre
cious metals in the world since the discovery of America, and in the
United States since 1792; the values of foreign coins expressed in terms
of the United States gold dollar, and the approximate stocks of money
in the principal countries of the world at the present time.
The widespread interest that is now being taken in information of
this nature affords ample justification for its reproduction in the Bulletin
of this Department.
Monetary System of the United States.—In 1786 the Congress
of the Confederation chose as the monetary unit of the United States
the dollar of 375.64 grains of pure silver. This unit had its origin in
the Spanish piaster, or milled dollar, which constituted the basis of the
metallic circulation of the English colonies in America. It was never
coined, there being at that time no mint in the United States.
The act of April 2, 1792, established the first monetary system of
the United States. The bases of the system were: The gold dollar,
containing 24.75 grains of pure gold, and stamped in pieces of $10, $5, and
$ 2£ (denominated, respectively, eagles, half eagles, and quarter eagles),
and the silver dollar, containing 371.25 grains of pure silver. A mint
was established. The coinage was unlimited and there was no mint
charge. The ratio of gold to silver in coinage was 1:15. Both gold
and silver were legal tender. The standard was double.
The act of 1792 undervalued gold, which was therefore exported.
The act of June 28, 1834, was passed to remedy this, by changing the
mint ratio between the metals to 1:16.002. This latter act fixed the
weight of the gold dollar at 25.8 grains, but lowered the fineness from
0.916§ to 0.899225. The fine weight of the gold dollar was thus reduced
to 23.2 grains. The act of 1834 undervalued silver as that of 1792 had
181
182
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
undervalued gold, and silver was attracted to Europe by the more
favorable ratio of 1:15}. The act of January 18,1837, was passed to
make the fineness of the gold and silver coins uniform. The legal
weight of the gold dollar was fixed at 25.8 grains, and its fine weight
at 23.22 grains. The fineness was, therefore, changed by this act to
0.900 and the ratio to 1:15.988+.
Silver continued to be exported. The act of February 21, 1853,
reduced the weight of the silver coins of a denomination less than $ 1 ,
which the acts of 1792,1834, and 1837 had made exactly proportional
to the weight of the silver dollar, and provided that they should be
legal tender to the amount of only $5. Under the acts of 1792,1834,
and 1837 they had been full legal tender. By the act of 1853 the legal
weight of the half dollar was reduced to 192 grains and that of the
other fractions of the dollar in proportion. The coinage of the frac
tional parts of the dollar was reserved to the Government.
The act of February 12,1873, provided that the unit of value of the
United States should be the gold dollar of the standard weight of 25.8
grains, and that there should be coined besides the following gold
coins: A quarter eagle, or 2+dollar piece; a 3-dollar piece; a half
eagle, or 5-dollar piece; an eagle, or 10-dollar piece, and a double eagle,
or 20-dollar piece—all of a standard weight proportional to that of the
dollar piece. These coins were made legal tender in all payments at
their nominal value when not below the standard weight and limit of
tolerance provided in the act for the single piece, and when reduced in
weight they should be legal tender at a valuation in proportion to their
actual weight. The silver coins provided for by the act were a trade
dollar, a half dollar, or 50-cent piece, a quarter dollar, and a 10-cent
piece; the weight of the trade dollar to be 420 grains Troy; the half
dollar, 12£ grams; the quarter dollar and the dime, respectively, onehalf and one-fifth of the weight of the half dollar. The silver coins
were made legal tender at their nominal value for any amount not
exceeding $5 in any one payment. The charge for converting standard
gold bullion into coin was fixed at one-fifth of 1 per cent. Owners of
silver bullion were allowed to deposit it at any mint of the United
States to be formed into bars or into trade dollars, and no deposit of
silver for other coinage was to be received.
Section II of the joint resolution of July 22,1876, recited, that the
trade dollar should not thereafter be legal tender, and that the Secre
tary of the Treasury should be authorized to limit the coinage of the
same to an amount sufficient to meet the export demand for it. The
act of March 3,1887, retired the trade dollar and prohibited its coinage.
That of September 26,1890, discontinued the coinage of the 1-dollar
and 3-dollar gold pieces.
The act of February 28,1878, directed the coinage of silver dollars
of the weight of 412j grains Troy, of standard silver, as provided in
the act of January 18,1837, and that such coins, with all silver coins
MONEY OP THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
183
theretofore coined, should be legal tender at their nominal value for
all debts and dues, public and private, except where otherwise expressly
stipulated in the contract.
The Secretary of the Treasury was authorized and directed by the
first section of the act to purchase from time to time silver bullion at
the market price thereof, not less than $ 2,000,000 worth nor more than
$4,000,000 worth per month, and to cause the same to be coined monthly,
as fast as purchased, into such dollars. A subsequent act, that of
July 14,1890, enacted that the Secretary of the Treasury should pur
chase silver bullion to the. aggregate amount of 4,500,000 ounces, or so
much thereof as might be offered, each month, at the market price
thereof, not exceeding $1 for 371.25 grains of pure silver, and to issue
in payment thereof Treasury notes of the United States, such notes to
to be redeemable by the Government, on demand, in coin, and to be legal
tender in payment of all debts, public and private, except where other
wise expressly stipulated in the contract. The act directed the Secre
tary of the Treasury to coin each month 2,000,000 ounces of the silver
bullion purchased under the provisions of the act into standard silver
dollars until the 1st day of July, 1891, and thereafter as much as might
be necessary, to provide for the redemption of the Treasury notes issued
under the act. The purchasing clause of the act of July 14,1890, was
repealed by the act of November 1,1893.
The act of June 9,1879, made the subsidiary silver coins of the United
States legal tender to the amount of $ 10. The minor coins are legal
tender to the amount of 25 cents.
Gold, Silver , and Minor Coins op the United States.— The
following table shows the denominations of the gold, silver, and minor
coins of the United States which have been authorized by Congress,
giving the dates of the acts authorizing their coinage, their original
weight and fineness (or composition in the case of the minor coins),
changes in weight and fineness authorized by subsequent acts of Con
gress, the dates of the acts discontinuing their coinage in certain cases,
and the total amount coined to June 30,1895. In those cases where
their coinage has been discontinued by act of Congress, the figures
given in the last column of the table represent the total amount coined
to the date of that act as given in the column immediately preceding.
In the case of the Columbian half dollar and Columbian quarter dollar,
the figures represent the total amount coined under the special act by
which their coinage was authorized:
184
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
AUTHORITY FOR COINING, CHANGES IN WEIGHT AND FINENESS, AND AMOUNT
COINED, FOR EACH COIN.
Denomination.
GOLD COINS.
Double eagle ($20)...
Eagle ($10)................
Half eagle ($5).........
Quarter eagle ($2.50)
Three-dollar piece...
One dollar..................
SILVER COINS.
Dollar.........................
Trade dollar (b).........
Half dollar.............. .
Columbian half dollar—
Quarter dollar...................
Columbian quarter dollar
Twenty-cent piece...........
Dime....................................
Half dime...........................
Three-cent piece...............
MINOR COINS.
Act authorizing
amount
coinage or change Weight Fine- Act discontinuing Total
coined to
in weight or (grains).
coinage.
June
30,1895.
fineness.
March 3,1849....
April 2,1792 ........
June 28,1834.......
January 18,1837 .
April 2,1792 .......
June 28,1834.......
January 18,1837 .
April 2,1792 .......
June 28,1834.......
January 18,1837 .
February 21,1853.
March3,1849 ....
516
270
258
135
129
67.5
64.5
77.4
April 2, 1792.........
January 18, 1837..
February 28, 1878.
February 12, 1873.
April 2, 1792.........
January 18, 1837..
February 21, 1853.
February 12, 1873.
August 5, 1892---April 2, 1792.........
January 18, 1837..
February 21, 1853.
February 12, 1873.
March 3,1893........
March 3,1875........
April 2,1792.........
January 18,1837 ..
February 21,1853.
February 12,1873.
April 2,1792.........
January 18,1837 ..
February 21,1853 .
March 3,1851.......
March 3,1853........
416
25.8
412*
420
208
206$
192
c 192.9
192.9
104
103$
96
6 96.45
96.45
/77.16
41.6
41$
38.4
£38.58
20.8
20§
19.2
12$
11.52
$1,225,818,760.00
1 262.380.780.00
1217.814.395.00
[ 28,681,115.00
1,619,376.00
September 26, 1890. 19.499.337.00
900
900
900
September 26,1890.
.900
.900
.8924
.900
February 12, 1873.
March 3*,*1.887!!!"
.900
.8924
.900
431,320,457.00
35.965.924.00
130,857,276.50
d 2,501,052.50
49,160,461.25
d 10,005.75
271,000.00
| 28,775,218.30
a
.900
.900
.8924
.900
May 2,1878 .
.8924
.900
.750
.900
| 4,880,219.40
February 12,1873 .
February 12,1873 . | 1,282,087.20
77.16
13,884,582.20
May 16,1866....
(h)
941,349.48
30
March 3,1865..
September 26,1890
96
February
12,1873.
April 22,1864...
912,020.00
«)
A pril2,1792 ...
264
1,562,887.44
January 14,1793... 208
January 26,1796 (j) 168
February 21,1857.
2,007,720.00
22,1864........
Cent (nickel)...................... February 21,1857 72
(*)<i) April
7,612,226.12
Cent (bronze).................... April 22,1864........ 48
Half cent (copper)............. April 2,1792......... 132
39,926.11
January 14,1793.. 104
January 26,1796 O’) 84
February 21,1857 ..
a Amount coined to February 12 , 1873, $8,031,238.
b Coinage limited to export demand, joint resolution, July 22,1876.
cl2$ grams, or 192.9 grains.
d Total amount coined.
e 6$ grams, or 96.45 grains.
/ 5 grams, or 77.16 grains.
g 2i grams, or 38.58 grains.
h Composed of 75 per cent copper and 25 per cent nickel,
i Composed of 95 per cent copper and 5 per cent tin and zinc.
j By proclamation of the President, in conformity with act of March 3,1795.
Jc Composed of 88 per cent copper and 1 2 per cent nickel.
Five cent (nickel).............
Three cent (nickel)...........
Two cent (bronze).............
Cent (copper)....................
(h )
The total coinages to June 30, 1895, are as follows: Gold, $1,755,813,763; silver, $685,023,701.90; minor, $26,960,711.35; a grand total
of $2,467,798,176.25.
MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
V alue
of the
Silver
in a
185
United States Silver D ollar.—
The following table shows the value of the pure silver in a United
States silver dollar, reckoned at the commercial price of silver bullion
from $0.50 to $1.2929 (parity) per fine ounce:
VALUE OF PURE SILVER IN A UNITED STATES SILVER DOLLAR ACCORDING TO
PRICE OF SILVER BULLION.
Value of
Price of Value of 1 Price of pure
Price of Value of
silver
! silver per
silver per pure silver
silver per pure silver
a
a
a
■ fine ounce. silverindollar.
fine ounce. silverindollar.
fine ounce. silverindollar.
$0.50
.51
.52
.53
.54
.55
.56
.57
.58
.59
.60
.61
.62
.63
.64
.65
.66
.67
.68
.69
.70
.71
.72
.73
.74
.75
.76
$0,387
.394
.402
.410
.418
.425
.433
.441
.449
.456
.464
.472
.480
.487
.495
.503
.510
.518
.526
.534
.541
.549
.557
.565
.572
.580
.588
$0.77
.78
.79
.80
.81
.82
.83
.84
.85
.86
.87
.88
.89
.90
.91
.92
.93
.94
.95
.96
.97
.98
.99
1.0 0
1.0 1
1.0 2
1.03
a Parity.
$0.596
.603
.611
.619
.626
.634
.642
.650
.657
.665
.673
.681
.688
.696
.704
.712
.719
.727
.735
.742
.750
.758
.766
.773
.781
.789
.797
$1.04
1.05
1.06
1.07
1.08
1.09
1.10
1.11
1.12
!
'
|
1
!
I
1.13
1.14
1.15
1.16
1.17
1.18
1.19
1.2 0
1.2 1
1 .2 2
1.23
1.24
1.25
1.26
1.27
1.28
1.29
a 1.2929
$0,804
.812
.820
.828
.835
.843
.851
.859
.866
.874
.882
.889
.897
.905
.913
.920
.928
.936
.944
.951
.959
.967
.975
.982
.990
.998
1.0 0
186
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The following table shows the highest, lowest, and average value of
a United States silver dollar, measured by the market price of silver,
and the quantity of silver purchasable with a silver dollar at the aver
age London price of silver, for each calendar year from 1873 to 1894:
BULLION VALUE AND PURCHASING POWER IN SILVER OF A UNITED STATES
SILVER DOLLAR, 1873 TO 1894.
Grains of
pure silver
at average
‘price
purchasable
with a
States
Average. United
silver dol
lar (a).
Bullion value of a silver dollar.
Year.
Highest.
Lowest.
1873.................................................................................
$1.016
$0,981
$1,004
1874.................................................................................
1.008
.970
.988
1875.................................................................................
.964
.941
.977
1876.................................................................................
.991
.894
.792
1877.................................................................................
.929
.987
.902
1878.................................................................................
.936
.891
.839
1879................................................................................
.868
.911
.828
1880.................................................................................
.896
.886
.875
1881.................................................................................
.896
.862
.881
1882.................................................................................
.847
.878
.887
1883.................................................................................
.858
.847
.868
.871
.839
.861
1884 .............................................................................
.823
.847
.794
1885.................................................................................
.797
.712
.769
1886.................................................................................
.799
.758
.733
1887.................................................................................
.706
.755
.727
1888.................................................................................
.746
.752
.724
1889.................................................................................
.740
.926
.810
1890.................................................................................
.764
1891.................................................................................
.827
.738
.742
.674
.642
1892.................................................................................
1893.................................................................................
.655
.513
.604
.538
.491
1894.................................................................................
.457
a 371.25 grains of pnre silver are contained in a silver dollar.
369.77
375.76
385.11
415.27
399.62
416.66
427.70
419.49
421.87
422.83
432.69
431.18
451.09
482.77
489.78
510.66
512.93
458.83
485.76
550.79
615.10
756.04
MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
Production of Gold and Silver
W orld.—The following table
in the
United States
187
and
shows the production of the
precious metals in the world for each calendar year from 1873 to 1894.
The silver product is given at its commercial value, reckoned at the
average market price of silver each year, as well as at its coining value
in United States dollars:
in the
PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER IN THE WORLD FOR EACH CALENDAR TEAR
FROM 1873 TO 1894.
Year.
1873.............................
1874.............................
1875.............................
1876.............................
1877.............................
1878.............................
1879.............................
1880.............................
1881.............................
1882.............................
1883.............................
1884.............................
1885.............................
1886.............................
1887.............................
1888.............................
1889.............................
1890.............................
1891.............................
1892.............................
1893.............................
1894.............................
T otal...............
Gold.
Fine ounces.
Value.
Fine ounces.
Silver.
Commercial Coining value.
value.
$96,200,000
$82,120,800
4,653,675
63,267,187
90,750,000
4,390,031
70,674,400
55,300,781
97,500,000
62,261,719
4,716,563
77,578,100
103,700,000
67,753,125
5,016,488
78,322,600
5,512,196
113,947,200
62,679,916
75,278,600
84,540,000
5,761,114
119,092,800
73,385,451
74,383,495
83,532,700
5,262,174
108,778,800
106,436,800
74,795, 273
85,640,600
5,148,880
103,023,100
79,020,872
89,925,700
4,983,742
101,996,600
4,934,086
86,472,091
98,232,300
95,392,000
89,175, 023
98,984,300
4,614,588
101,729,600
90,785,000
81,567,801
4,921,169
108,435,600
91,609,959
97,518,800
5,245,572
106,163,900
93,297,290
92,793,500
5,135,679
105,774,900
96,123,586
94,031,000
5,116, 861
108,827,606
102,185,900
5,330,775
110,196,900
120,213,611
123,489,200
112,414,100
5,973,790
126,095, 062
131,937,000
118,848,700
5,749,306
130,650,000
137,170,919
6,320,194
135,500,200
153,151,762
133,404,400
146,815,100
7,102,180
166,092,047
129,551,800
157,287,600
7,608,787
167,752,561
180,626,100
106,522,900
8,737,788
122,235,638 2,526,834,900 2,130,397,137 2,151,474,700
$81,800,000
71,500,000
80,500,000
87,600,000
81,040,700
94,882,200
96,172,600
96,705,000
102,168,400
1 1 1 , 802,300
115,297,000
105,461,400
118,445,200
120,626,800
124,281,000
140,706,400
155,427,700
163,032,000
177,352,300
198,014,400
214,745,300
216,892,200
2,754,452,900
The total production of gold and silver in the world since 1493 is
shown in the first of the following tables. The second table shows the
production of gold and silver from the mines of the United States by
periods of years from 1792 to 1844, and annually from 1845 to 1894.
188
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER IN THE WORLD SINCE THE DISCOVERY OF
AMERICA.
[Production for 1493 to 1885 is from a table of averages for certain periods compiled by Dr. Adolph
Soetbeer. For the years 1886 to 1894 the production is the annual estimate of the Bureau of the Mint.]
Years.
1493-1520 ............................................................
1521-1544 ............................................................
1545-1560 ...........................................................
1561-1580 ...........................................................
1581-1600 ...........................................................
1601-1620 ...........................................................
1621-1640 ...........................................................
1641-1660 ...........................................................
1661-1680 ...........................................................
1681-1700 ...........................................................
1701-1720 ...........................................................
1721-1740 ...........................................................
1741-1760 ...........................................................
1761-1780 ...........................................................
1781-1800 ...........................................................
1801-1810 ...........................................................
1811-1820 ...........................................................
1821-1830 ..........................................................
1831-1840 ...........................................................
1841-1850 ...........................................................
1851-1855 ...........................................................
1856-1860 ...........................................................
1861-1865 ...........................................................
1866-1870 ...........................................................
1871 -1875 ...........................................................
1876-1880 ...........................................................
1881-1885 ...........................................................
1886....................................................................
1887 ....................................................................
1888....................................................................
1889....................................................................
1890....................................................................
1891....................................................................
1892....................................................................
1893....................................................................
1894....................................................................
Total___________________________
Gold.
Annual average for period.
Total for period.
Fine ounces. Value. Fine ounces.
Value.
186,470
230,194
273,596
219,906
237,267
273,918
266,845
281,955
297,709
346,095
412,163
613,422
791, 211
665,666
571,948
571,563
367,957
457,044
652,291
1,760,502
6,410,324
6,486,262
5,949,582
6,270,086
5,591,014
5,543,110
4,794,755
5,135,679
5,116,861
5,330,775
5,973,790
5,749, 306
6,320,194
7,102,180
7,608,787
8,737,788
$3,855,000
4,759,000
5,656,000
4,546,000
4,905,000
5,662,000
5,516,000
5,828,000
6,154,000
7,154,000
8,520,000
12,681,000
16,356,000
13,761,000
11,823,000
11,815,000
7,606,000
9,448,000
13,484,000
36,393,000
132,513,000
134,083,000
122,989,000
129,614,000
115,577,000
114,586,000
99,116,000
106,163,900
105,774,900
110,196,900
123,489,200
118,848,700
130,650,000
146,815,100
157,287,600
180,626,100
5,221,160 $107,931,000
114,205,000
5,524,656
90,492,000
4,377,544
90,917,000
4,398,120
4,745,340
98,095,000
113,248,000
5,478,360
5,336,900
110,324,000
5,639,110
116,571,000
5,954,180
123,084,000
6,921,895
143,088,000
8 , 243,260
170,403,000
253,611,000
12,268,440
15,824,230
327,116,000
13,313,315
275,211,000
11,438,970
236,464,000
5,715,627
118,152,000
76,063,000
3,679,568
4,570,444
94,479,000
6,522,913
134,841,000
17,605,018
363,928,000
662,566,000
32,051,621
32,431,312
670,415,000
29,747,913
614,944,000
31,350,430
648,071,000
27,955,068
577,883,000
27,715,550
572,931,000
23,973, 773
495,582,000
5,135,679
106,163,900
5,116,861
105,774,900
5,330,775
110,196,900
5,973,790
123,489,200
5,749,306
118,848,700
6,320,194
130,650,000
7,102,180
146,815,100
7,608,787
157,287,600
8,737,788
180,626,100
415,080,077 8,580,467,400
MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
189
PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER IN THE "WORLD SINCE THE DISCOVERY OF
AMERICA.
[Production for 1493 to 1885 is from a table of averages for certain periods compiled by Dr. Adolph
Soetbeer. For the years 1886 to 1894 the production is the annual estimate of the Bureau of the Mint.]
Silver.
Total for period.
Annual average for period.
Fine ounces. Coining value. Fine ounces. Coining value.
1,511,050
2,899,930
10,017,940
9,628,925
13,467,635
13,596,235
12,654,240
11,776,545
10,834,550
10,992,085
11,432,540
13,863,080
17,140,612
20,985,591
28,261,779
28,746,922
17,385,755
14,807,004
19,175,867
25,090,342
28,488,597
29,095,428
35,401,972
43,051,583
63,317,014
78,775,602
92,003,944
93,297,290
96,123,586
108,827,606
120,213,611
126,095,062
137,170,919
153,151,762
166,092,047
167,752,561
$1,954,000
3,749, 000
12,952,000
12,450,000
17,413,000
17,579,000
16,361, 000
15,226,000
14,008,000
14,212,000
14,781,000
17, 924,000
22,162,000
27,133,000
36,540,000 {,
37,168,000
22,479,000
19,144,000
24,793,000
32,440,000
36,824,000
37,618,000
45,772,000
55,663,000
81,864,000
101,851,000
118,955,000
120,626,800
124,281,000
140,706,400 !
155,427, 700 !
163,032,000
177,352,300 !
198,014,400 1
214,745,300 1
216,892,200
$54,703,000 '
42,309,400
89,986,000
69,598,320
207,240,000
160,287,040
248,990,000
192,578,500
348,254,000
269,352,700
351,579,000
271,924,700
327,221,000
253,084,800
304,525,000
235,530,900
280,166,000
216,691,000
284,240,000
219,841,700
295,629,000
228,650,800
358,480,000
277,261,600
443, 232,000
342,812,235
542,658,000
419,711,820
730,810,000
565,235,580
371,677,000
287,469,225
224,786,000
173,857,555
191,444,000
148,070,040
191,758,675
247,930,000
324,400,000
250,903,422
184,169,000
142,442,986
188,092,000
145,477,142
228,861,000
177,009,862
278,313,000
215,257,914
409,322,000
316,585,069
509,256,000
393,878,009
594,773,000
460,019,722
93,297,290
120,626,800
96,123,586
124,281,000
140,706,400
108,827,606
120,213,611
155,427,700
126,095,062
163,032,000
137,170,919
177,352,300
198,014,400
153,151,762
214,745,300
166,092,047
216,892,200
167,752,561
7,836,325,160 10,131,814,100
Percentage of production.
By value.
By weight.
Gold. Silver. Gold. Silver.
11
7.4
2.7
2 .2
1.7
2
2 .1
2.3
2.7
3.1
3.5
4.2
4.4
3.1
2
1.9
2 .1
3
3.3
6.6
18.4
18.2
14.4
12.7
8 .1
6.6
5
5.2
5
4.6
4.7
4.3
4.4
4.4
4.4
4.9
5
89
92.6
97.3
97.8
98.3
98
97.9
97.7
97.3
96.9
96.5
95.8
95.6
96.9
98
98.1
97.9
97
96.7
93.4
81.6
81.8
85.6
87.3
91.9
93.4
95
94.8
95
95.4
95.3
95.7
95.6
95.6
95.6
95.1
95
66.4
55.9
30.4
26.7
22
24.4
25.2
27.7
30.5
33.5
36.6
41.4
42.5
33.7
24.4
24.1
25.3
33
35.2
52.9
78.3
78.1
72.9
70
58.5
53
45.5
46.8
45.9
43.9
44.3
42.1
42.4
42.5
42.4
45.6
45.6
33.6
44.1
€9.6
73.3
78
75.6
74.8
72.3
69.5
66.5
63.4
58.6
57.5
66.3
75.6
75.9
74.7
67
64.8
47.1
21.7
21.9
27.1
30
41.5
47
54.5
53.2
54.1
56.1
55.7
57.9
57.6
57.5
57.6
54.4
54.4
190
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 1792 TO 1894.
[The estimate for 1792 to 1873 is by R. W . Raymond, Commissioner, and since by the Director of the
Mint.]
Tears.
April 2 ,1792-July 31,1834 ......................................
July 31,1834-December 31,1844.............................
1845.............................................................................
1846.............................................................................
1847.............................................................................
1848........... .................................................................
1849.............................................................................
1850.............................................................................
1851.............................................................................
1852.............................................................................
1853.............................................................................
1854.............................................................................
1855.............................................................................
1856.............................................................................
1857.............................................................................
1858.............................................................................
1859.............................................................................
1860.............................................................................
1861.............................................................................
1862.............................................................................
1863.............................................................................
1864.............................................................................
1865.............................................................................
1866.............................................................................
1867.............................................................................
1868.............................................................................
186b.............................................................................
1870.............................................................................
1871.............................................................................
1872.............................................................................
1873.............................................................................
1874.............................................................................
1875.............................................................................
1876.............................................................................
1877.............................................................................
1878.............................................................................
1879.............................................................................
1880.............................................................................
1881.............................................................................
1882......................... , .................................................
1883.............................................................................
1884.............................................................................
1885.............................................................................
1886.............................................................................
1887.............................................................................
1888.............................................................................
1889.............................................................................
1890.............................................................................
1891.............................................................................
1892.............................................................................
1893.............................................................................
1894.............................................................................
Total.................................................................
Gold.
Silver.
$14,000,000 Insignificant.
7,500,000
$250,000
1,008,327 >
50,000
1,139,357
50,000
889,085
50,000
10 , 000,000
51,000
40,000,000
50,000
50,000,000
50,000
55,000,000
50,000
60,000,000
50,000
65,000,000
50,000
60,000,000
50,000
55,000,000
50,000
55,000,000
50,000
55,000,000
50,000
50,000,000
500,000
100,000
50,000,000
46,000,000
150,000
43,000,000
2 , 000,000
4,500,000
39,200,000
40,000,000
8,500,000
46,100,000
1 1 , 000,000
53,225,000
11,250,000
53,500,000
10 , 000.000
51,725,000
13,500,000
12 , 000,000
48,000,000
49,500,000
1 2 , 000,000
16,000,000
50,000,000
23,000,000
43,500,000
36,000,000
28,750,000
36,000,000
35,750,000
33,500,000
37,300, 000
33,400,000
31,700,000
38,800,000
39,900,000
39,800,000
46,900,000
45,200,000
51,200,000
38,900, 000
40,800, 000
36,000,000
39,200.000
34,700,000
43, COO, 000
32,500,000
46,800,000
30,000,000
46,200,000
30,800,000
48,800,000
31,800,000
51,600,000
35,000,000
51,000,000
53,350,000
33,000,000
59,195,000
33,175,000
32,800,000
64,646,000
32,845,000
70,465,000
33,175,000
75,417,000
33,000,000
82,101,000
35,955,000
77,576,000
64,000,000
39,500,000
1,296,850,000
2,013,336,769
Total.
$14,000,000
7,750,000
1,058,327
lj 189,357
939,085
10,05u, 000
40,050,000
50,050,000
55,050,000
60,050,000
65,050,000
60,050,000
55,050,000
55,050,000
55,050,000
50,500,000
50,100,000
46,150,000
45,000,000
43,700,000
48,500,000
57,100,000
64,475,000
63,500,000
65,225,000
60,000,000
61,500,000
66, 000,000
66,500,000
64,750,000
71,750,000
70,800, 000
65,100,000
78,700,000
86,700,000
96,400,000
79, 700,000
75,200,000
77,700,000
79,300,000
76,200, 000
79,600,000
83,400, 000
86, 000,000
86,350,000
92,370,000
97,446,000
103,310,000
108,592,000
115,101,000
113,531,000
103,500,000
3,310,186,769
MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
191
V alues of F oreign Coins.— The following tab:.o gives the value of
foreign coins on January 1,1896, as estimated by the Director of the
Mint, in pursuance of the provisions of section 25 of the act of August
28,1894, as follows:
That the value of foreign coins as expressed in the money of account
of the United States shall be that of the pure metal of such coin of
standard value; and the values of the standard coins in circulation
of the various nations of the world shall be estimated quarterly by
the Director of the Mint and be proclaimed by the Secretary of the
Treasury immediately after the passage of this act and thereafter
quarterly on the 1st day of January, April, July, and October in each
year.
192
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
VALUES OF FOREIGN COINS JANUARY 1 , 1896, AS ESTIMATED BY THE DIRECTOR
OF THE MINT.
Country.
Standard.
Gold and silver_____
Anstrift-Hungary _ ._____________ ____ _______ Gold...............................
Gold and silver_____
Silver______________
Gold...............................
British Possessions in North America (except Gold...............................
Newfoundland).
Central American States:
Costa R ica..........................................................]
Honduras................................ .............
Silver.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nicaragua...........................................................
Salvador.............................................................J
Chile............................................................................... Gold and silver. .. . .. .
China ......................................................................... Silver______________
Colombia. —
.
C uba.._______ _____________________________
Danmark________ ___________________________
Fcnador________. . . . . . . ______________________
EfiTVDt.............................................................................
Finland.........................................................................
France...........................................................................
German Empire...........................................................
Great Britain...............................................................
Greece.........................................................................
H aiti____________ . . . . . . . ____________________
India...............................................................................
Italy.....................................................
Japan______ _____ ___________ ______________
Liberia_________. . . . . . ____. . . _______________
M exico___________ . . . . __. . . . . . _____________
Netherlands. . ..........
Newfound land __ ...._____ __ _______
Norway ..........................................
Persia_____________ ____________ ____________
Pern______________ ________________________
Portugal ......... -............
Bosnia.________ _____ _________ ___
Spain___________________________ ________
Sweden ..........................................
Switzerland ______________ ...______
Tripoli....................................................
Tnrkey ____ _____________________
Venezuela______ ____________________________
Silver ______________
Gold and silver_____
Gold...............................
Silver______________
Gold...............................
Gold...............................
Gold and silver. .....
Gold..............................
Gold...............................
Gold and silver_____
Gold and silver_____
Silver.............................
Gold and silver...........
Gold and silver (a) —
Gold...............................
Silver............................
Gold and silver .......
Gold .....................
Gold .....................
Silver______________
Silver____ _______
Gold .....................
Silver (c)________
Gold and silver .
Gold .....................
Gold and silver .......
Silver ............ .
Gold .....................
Geld and silver... . .. .
Monetary unit.
Peso___________________
Crown ______ 1X____
Franc ___
____
Boliviano .. _ r__
M ilreis........................
Dollar........... ........... .........
Peso....................................
Peso___________________
f Shanghai..
Haikwan
T a el______ < (customs).
Tientsin...
[Chefoo---Peso . ___r_______
Peso___________________
Crown____
Snore_____________ ___
Ponnd (100 piasters)____
Mark_____________ ____
Franc_________________
Mark.....................................
Ponnd sterling....................
Drachma_________
Gourde........... .....................
Rupee_________________
Lira......................................
Y en .................... 5g
?l d **
1 Silver..
Dollar.................................
Dollar_____________
Florin ...... .............
Dollar ___ ____
Crown.......................
F ran ______ __________
Sol..........................................
M ilreis ...... ...............
Ruble...........
.................. \ SilverPeseta ___ T________
Crown__ ____ ____
Franc .........................
Mahbub of 20 piasters —
Piaster ...............
Bolivar.................................
a Gold the nominal standard. Silver practically the standard.
e Silver the nominal standard. Paper the actual currency, the depreciation of which is measured by
the gold standard.
MONET OF THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
193
VALUES OF FOREIGN COINS JANUARY 1, 1896, AS ESTIMATED BY THE DIRECTOR
OF THE MINT.
Value in
terms of
United
States gold
dollar.
$0,965
.203
.193
.491
.546
1.000
Coins.
Cold, argentine ($4,824) and 4 argentine; silver, peso and divisions.
( Gold, former system, 4 dorms ($1,929), 8 dorins ($3,858), ducat ($2,287) and 4 ducats
< ($9.149); silver, 1 and 2 dorins; gold, present system, 20 crowns ($4,052), 10 crowns
( ($2,026).
Gold, 10 and 20 francs; silver, 5 francs.
Silver, boliviano and divisions.
Gold, 5,10, and 20 milreis; silver, &, 1, and 2 milreis.
.491 Silver, peso and divisions.
.912
.725
.808
.769
.759
.491
.926
.268
.491
4.943
.193
.193
.238
4.8664
.193
.965
.233
.193
.997
.529
1.000
.533
.402
1.014
.268
.090
.491
1.080
.772
.393
.193
.268
.193
.443
.044
.193
Gold, escudo ($1,824), doubloon ($4,561), and condor ($9,123); silver, peso and
divisions.
Gold, condor ($9,647) and double condor; silver, peso.
Gold, doubloon ($5.017); silver, peso.
Gold, 10 and 20 crowns.
Gold, condor ($9,647) and double condor ; silver, sucre and divisions.
Gold, pound (100 piasters), 5, 10 , 20, and 50 piasters; silver, 1 , 2 ,5 , 10 , and 20 piasters.
Gold, 20 marks ($3,859), 10 marks ($1.93).
Gold, 5,10,20,50, and 100 francs; silver, 5 francs.
Gold, 5, 10 , and 20 marks.
Gold, sovereign (pound sterling) and 4 sovereign.
Gold, 5,10,20,50, and 100 drachmas; silver 5 drachmas.
Silver, gourde.
Gold, mohur ($7.105); silver, rupee and divisions.
Gold, 5,10,20,50, and 100 lire; silver, 5 lire.
Gold, 1,2 ,5,10, and 20 yen.
Silver, yen.
Gold, dollar ($0,983), 2£, 5, 10 , and 20 dollars; silver, dollar (or peso) and divisions.
Gold, 10 florins; silver, £, 1 , and 2\ florins.
Gold, 2 dollars ($2,027)
Gold, 10 and 20 crowns.
Gold, 4,1, and 2 tomans ($3.409); silver, 4, £, 1 , 2, and 5 krans.
Silver, sol and divisions.
Gold, 1,2,5, and 10 milreis.
Gold, imperial ($7,718) and £ imperial (b) ($3.86).
Silver, £, £, and 1 ruble.
Gold, 25 pesetas; silver, 5 pesetas.
Gold, 10 and 20 crowns.
Gold, 5,10,20,50, and 100 francs; silver, 5 francs.
Gold, 25,50,100,250, and 500 piasters.
Gold, 5,10,20,50, and 100 bolivars; silver, 5 bolivars.
b
Coined since Jannary 1,1886. Old half-imperial =$3,986.
320—No. 2----- 6
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
NETARY SYSTEMS AND APPROXIMATE STOCKS OF MONEY IN THE A
AND PER CAPITA IN THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WOI
rhis table of the monetary systems and the approximate stock of gold, silver, a
obtainable, and, while necessarily but an estimal
Monetary
system.
Countries.
1 United States (a ). ..
3 France......................
4 Germany..................
56 Belgium....................
Italy.........................
7 Switzerland.............
8 Greece........................
Spain.........................
9
10 Portugal....................
11 Roumania................
12 Servia.......................
13 Austria-Hungary...
14 Netherlands.............
15 N orw ay....................
16 Sweden.................... .
17 Denmark..................
18 Russia and Finland.
19 Turkey.....................
20 Australia..................
21 Egypt .............................
22 M exico...........................
23 Central American States .
24 South American States...
25 Japan .............................
26 India...............................
27 China...............................
28 Straits Settlements—
29 Canada ...........................
30 Cuba...............................
31 H aiti...............................
32 Bulgaria.........................
Total
2 United Kingdom ...
Gold and silver.
Gold....................
Gold and silver.
Gold....................
Gold and silver.
Gold and silver.
Gold and silver.
Gold and silver.
Gold and silver.
Gold....................
Gold and silver.
Gold and silver.
Gold....................
Gold and silver.
Gold....................
Gold....................
Gold....................
Silver..................
Gold and silver.
Gold....................
Gold....................
Silver..................
Silver..................
Silver..................
Gold and silver.
Gold and silver.
Silver..................
Gold and silver.
Gold....................
Geld and silver.
Geld and silver.
Gold and silver.
Ratio be Ratio be
tween gold tween gold
and mil and limited- Population. Stock of gold.
legal-tender tender
silver.
silver.
1 to 15.98
1 to 15*
1 to 15*
1 to 15*
1 to 15*
1 to 15*
1 to 15*
1 to 15§
..................
....................
1 to 15*
1 to 15|
....................
....................
1 to 16*
1 to 15*
1 to 15*
1 to 16.18
1 to 15
1 to 15*
1 to 15*
1 to 15*
1 to 14.95
1 to 14.28
1 to 14.38
1 to 13.957
1 to 14.38
1 to 14.38
1 to 14.38
1 to 14.38
1 to 14.38
1 to 14.08
70.400.000
38.900.000
38.300.000
51.200.000
6.300.000
30.700.000
3.000.
000
2. 200.000
17.500.000
5.100.000
5.800.000
2.300.000
1 to 13.69 43.500.000
1 to 15
4.700.000
1 to 14.88
2.000.
000
1
to14.88 4.800.000
1
to 14.88 2.300.000
1 to 12.90 126,000,000
1 to 15*
22,000,000
1
to14.28 4.700.000
6.800.000
1 to 15.68
12,100,000
5.600.000
36,000,000
41,100,000
296.000. 000
360.000. 000
3.800.000
1 to 14.28
4.800.000
1.800.000
1,000,000
1 to 14.38
4,300,000
November 1,1895; all other countries, January 1,1895.
* Estimate, Bureau of the Mint.
a
MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
MONETARY SYSTEMS AND APPROXIMATE STOCKS OF MONEY IN THE AGGREGA:
AND PER CAPITA IN THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD.
taper money in the principal countries of the world has been compiled from the latest informati
io show approximately the stock of money in the world.]
Stock of silver.
Full tender.
Limited
tender.
Total.
Uncovered
paper.
$77,200,000 $625,600,000 $416,700,000
6115,000,000 115,000,000 cll3 ,400,000
e 57,900,000
487,900,000 c32,100,000
6110,000,000 215,000,000 c 60,400,000
66,900,000
54,900,000 c 65,400,000
5c20,000,000
41,400,000 cl91,800,000
5,000,000
15,000,000
61; 000,000
1,500,000 c 22,400,000
540,000,000 166,000,000 c 83,700,000
624,800,000
24,800,000 c55,100,000
clO, 600,000
10,600,000 c 11,700,000
63,800,000
cl, 900,000
1,900,000
680,000,000 640,000,000 120 , 000,000 c204,300,000
c
28,600, 000
56,200,000
c53,000,000 c 3,200,000
c 3,800,000
62,000,000
2 , 000,000
c
2 , 100,000
c4,800,000
4,800,000
c5,400,000
c5,400,000
5,400, 000
648,000,000
48,000,000 c 539,000,000
40,000,000
630,000,000 <610,000,000
67,000,000
7,000,000
615,000,000
15,000,000
6 2 , 000,000
55,000,000
555,000,000
c 8, 000,000
12 , 000,000
<12 , 000,000
30,000,000 6 550,000,000
530,000,000
84,300,000
c68, 000,000 c 16,300,000
950,000,000 637,000,000
5950,000,000
750,000,000
6 750,000,000
115,000,000
6115^ 000,000
65,000,000
5,000,000 629,000,000
1,500,000
61,500,000
c 4,200,000
6800,000
2,900, 000
62,100,000
6,800, 000
63,400,000
3,400,000
3,439,300,000 631,200,000 4,070,500,000 2,469,900,000
$548,400,000
5430,000,000
6105,000,000
648,000,000
6c21,400,000
610,000,000
6500,000
6126,000,000
c
d
Per capita.
Gold.
$8.78
14.91
22.19
1 2 .2 1
8.73
3.20
4.97
.23
2.28
7.45
6.65
1.30
3.22
6 .2 1
3.75
1.6 6
6.30
3.80
2.27
24.47
17.65
.41
.09
1.11
1.95
2.92
3.00
.18
10.00
Silver. Paper. Total.
$8.89 $5.92 $23.59 1
2.96 2.91 20.78 2
12.94
.84 35.77 3
4.20 1.18 17.59 4
8.71 10.38 27.82 5
1.35 6.24 10.79 6
5.00
9.97 7
10.18 11.09 8
.68
9.49 4.78 16.55 9
4.86 10.80 23.11 10
1.83 2.02 10.50 11
.83 1.65 3.78 12
2.76 4.69 10.67 , 12
11.96 6.08 24.25 14
1.0 0
1.90 6.65 15
1.0 0
.43 3.10 16
2.35 2.35 11 .0 0 17
.38 4.28 8.46 18
1.82
4.09 ! 19
1.49
25.96 j 20
2.20
19.85 21
4.54
4.95 22
2.14 1.43 3.66 23
.83 15.28 17.22 24
2.05
4.00 25
3.21
.12
3.33 26
2.08
2.08 27
3.26
3.26 28
1.04 6.04 10.00 29
.83
10.83 30
2.90 4.20 10 .10 31
1.58
1.76 32
Information furnished through United States representatives.
Haupt.
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
196
Commercial Ratio of Silver to Gold.— The commercial ratio
of silver to gold for each year from 1687 to 1894 is shown in the fol
lowing table:
COMMERCIAL RATIO OF SILVER TO GOLD FOR EACH YEAR FROM 1887 TO 1894.
[From 1687 to 1832 the ratios are taken from Dr. Adolph Soetbeer’s tables; from 1833 to 1878 from
Pixley and Abell’s tables; from 1879 to 1894 from daily cablegrams from London to the Bureau of
the Mint.]
Year. Batio. Year. Batio. 11 Year. Batio. Year. Batio. Year. Batio. Year. Batio.
1687....
1688....
1689....
1690....
1691....
1692....
1693....
1694....
1695....
1696....
1697....
1698....
1699....
1700....
1701....
1702....
1703....
1704....
1705....
1706....
1707....
1708....
1709....
1710....
1711....
1712....
1713....
1714....
1715....
1716....
1717....
1718....
1719....
1720....
1721....
14.94
14.94
15.02
15.02
14.98
14.92
14.83
14.87
15.02
15.00
15.20
15.07
14.94
14.81
15.07
15.52
15.17
15.22
15.11
15.27
15.44
15.41
15.31
15.22
15.29
15.31
15.24
15.13
15.11
15.09
15.13
15.11
15.09
15.04
15.05
1722...
1723...
1724...
1725...
1726...
1727...
1728...
1729...
1730...
1731...
1732...
1733...
1734...
1735...
1736...
1737...
3738...
1739...
1740...
1741...
1742...
1743...
1744...
1745...
1746...
1747...
1748...
1749...
1750...
1751...
1752...
1753...
1754...
1755...
1756...
15.17 ! 1757...
15.20 ! 1758...
15.11 1 1759...
15.11 1760 ..
15.15 ; 1761...
15.24 J 1762...
15.11 1763...
14.92 1764...
14.81 1765...
14.94 1766...
15.09 I 1767...
15.18 1768. .
15.39 1769...
15.41 1770...
15.18 1771...
15.02 1772...
14.91 1773...
14.91 1774...
14.94 1775...
14.92 1776...
14.85 1777...
14.85 1778...
14.87 1779...
14.98 1780...
15.13 1781...
15.26 1782...
15.11 1783...
14.80 1784...
14.55 1785...
14.39 1786...
14.54 1787...
14.54 1788...
14.48 1789...
14.68 1790...
14.94 1791...
14.87 1792...
14.85 1793...
14.15 1794...
14.14 1795...
14.54 1796...
15.27 1797...
14.99 1798...
14.70 1799...
14.83 1800...
14.80 1801...
14.85 1802...
14.80 1803...
14.72 1804...
14.62 1805...
14.66 1806...
14.52 1807...
14.62 1808...
14.62 1809...
14.72 1810...
14.55 1811...
14.54 1812...
14.68 1813...
14.80 1814...
14.72 1 1815...
14.78 ; 1816...
14.42 1817...
14.48 ! 1818...
14.70 i 1819...
14.92 1820...
14.96 1 1821...
14.92 | 1822...
14.65 1 1823...
14.75 , 1824...
15.04 1 1825...
15.05 1826...
15.17
15.00
15.37
15.55
15.65
15.41
15.59
15.74
15.68
15.46
15.26
15.41
15.41
15.79
15.52
15.43 ;
16.08 j
15.96
15.77
15.53
16.11
16.25
15.04
16.26
15.28
15.11
15.35
15.33
15.62
15.95
15.80
15.84
15.82
15.70
15.76
1827...
1828...
1829...
1830...
1831...
1832...
1833...
1834...
1835...
1836...
1837...
1838...
1839...
1840...
1841...
1842...
1843...
1844...
1845...
1846...
1847...
1848...
1849...
1850...
1851...
1852...
1853...
1854...
1855...
1856...
1857...
1858...
1859...
1860...
1861...
15.74
15.78
15.78
15.82
15.72
15.73
15.93
15.73
15.80
15.72
15.83
15.85
15.62
15.62
15.70
15.87
15.93
15.85
15.92
15.90
15.80
15.85
15.78
15.70
15.46
15.59
15.33
15.33
15.38
15.38
35.27
15.38
15.19
15.29
15.50
1862...
1863...
1864...
1865...
1866...
1867...
1868...
1869...
1870...
1871...
1872...
1873...
1874...
1875...
1876...
1877...
1878...
1879...
1880...
1881...
1882...
1883...
1884...
1885...
1886...
1887...
1888..
1889...
1890...
1891...
1892...
1893...
1894...
15.35
15.37
15.37
15.44
15.43
15.57
15.59
15.60
15.57
15.57
15.63
15.92
16.17
16.59
17.88
17.22
17.94
18.40
18.05
18.16
18.19
18.64
18.57
19.41
20.78
21.13
21.99
2 2 .10
19.76
20.92
23.72
26.49
32.56
THE WEALTH AND RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES OF THE UNITED
STATES.
BY WILLIAM M. STETJART.
Numerous methods of presenting the wealth of the country and the
receipts and expenses of the Federal, State, and local governments
have been used, each depending on the amount of detail desired and
the particular features to be emphasized. The presentation here
adopted is not designed to develop details, but to show at a glance
the increase and decrease in the wealth of the country and in the
receipts and expenses of the Government.
From the reports of the Eleventh Census it appears that the total
true valuation of the real and personal property in the United States
in 1890 amounted to $65,037,091,197; the total value of the products
of productive industry, which include manufactures, and farm, fishery,
and mineral products for the same year, amounted to $12,148,380,626.
The total revenues collected during 1890 by the Federal, State, and
local governments are reported at $1,040,473,013 and the expenditures
at $915,954,055, the receipts exceeding the expenditures by $124,518,958,
of which amount the excess in the transactions of the Federal govern
ment, including postal service, amounted to $108,936,066, leaving
$15,582,892 as a surplus arising from the financial transactions of the
State and local governments. The total Federal, State, county or
parish, municipal, and school district debts of the country, including
the debts of irrigation districts in California and the fire districts of
Massachusetts, amounted to $2,027,170,546.
Complete statistics concerning the wealth, income, expenses, and
indebtedness for the entire country are not available for any year
except 1890. The data given in the accompanying tables show the
total population at the different censuses from 1800 to 1890, inclusive,
the wealth (namely, the true value (a) of real and personal property) and
the value of manufactures, and farm, fishery, and mineral products as
reported at the different censuses from 1850 to 1890, inclusive, also the
total national debt, less the cash in the Treasury, at the close of the
fiscal years 1860,1870, 1880, and 1890. The figures showing the fiscal
operations of the Federal government give the average annual receipts
and expenses for the ten decades ending with each of the census years
a The true value is what would he deemed a fair selling price for the property, and
is thus termed in distinction from the assessed valuation.
197
198
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
from 1800 to 1890, inclusive. The receipts and expenses of the Fed
eral government include premiums and interest. The division of the
expenses into ordinary and extraordinary is arbitrary, the intention
being to group under the latter title a number of items of expense that
may be considered as not forming a part of the ordinary, current,
necessary expenses of the Government. The extraordinary expenses
include amounts paid as pensions; for the support of the Indians; the
improvement of rivers and harbors; the erection and repair of forts,
arsenals, armories, custom-houses, court-houses, and post-offices; pay
ments on interest and as premiums; also expenditures for the increase
of the Navy since 1885.
The totals grouped under the respective heads enumerated are shown
in the following tables:
POPULATION, WEALTH, VALUE OF PRODUCTS OF INDUSTRY, AND DEBT.
Census year.
Population.
Wealth.
Value of manu Total national
factures, and
less cash in
farm, fishery, and debt
at end
mineral prod Treasury
of fiscal year.
ucts.
1800........................................................ 5,308,483
1810........................................................ 7,239,881
1820........................................................ 9,633,822
1830........................................................ 12 , 866,020
1840........................................................ 17,069,453
1850....................................................... 23,191,876 $7,135,780,228 a $ 1,029,106,798
$59,964,402.01
I860........................................................ 31,443,321 16,159,616,068 a 1,898,785,768
1870........................................................ 38,558,371 30,068,518,507 56,843,559,616 2,331,169,956.21
1880........................................................ 50,155,783 43,642,000,000 c7,974,097,438 1,919,326,747.75
1890....................................................... 62,622,250 65,037,091,197 d 12,148,380,626
890,784,370.53
a Not including value of farm products.
b Value of farm products includes betterments and addition to stock.
e Certain duplications in statistics of manufactures as published have been eliminated.
d Not including certain manufacturing industries not fully enumerated at prior censuses.
AVERAGE ANNUAL RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
Decade ending—
Receipts.
1800.............................................
1810.............................................
1820.............................................
1830.............................................
1840.............................................
1850.............................................
1860.............................................
1870.............................................
1880.............................................
1890.............................................
$6,776,891.80
13,056,864.78
21,066,958.73
21,923,071.60
30,461,109.62
27,117,363.77
60,237,254.13
304,100,050.83
312,476,778.23
371,204,582.21
Expenses (exclusive of payments on public debt).
Ordinary.
Extraordinary.
Total.
$3,944,452.40
4,877,316.43
17,406,690.57
9,506,394.62
17,266,408.59
26,432,418.51
48,964,936.88
418,932,409.30
109,531,577.51
117,287,583.36
$2,889,380.46
3,982,137.23
6,474,175.99
6,652,161.93
7,226,801.02
5,884,075.60
11,206,918.92
111,781,417.79
159,515,686.05
151,124,961.91
$6,833,832.86
8,859,453.66
23,880,866.56
16,158,556.55
24,493,209.61
32,316,494.11
60,171,855.80
530,713,827.09
269,047,263.56
268,412,545.27
The values of the products of industry shown for 1850 and 1860 do
not include some elements that enter into the values for subsequent
years. This fact, combined with the improvement in statistical methods
and the greater care bestowed on the enumeration at subsequent cen
suses, will not permit of the use of percentages based on these figures
or on the total wealth as indicating the exact increase. The percentages
given for the other items in the following tables are based on definitely
ascertained totals and show actual conditions. War expenses and
WEALTH, RECEIPTS, AND EXPENSES OF THE UNITED STATES.
199
various other conditions controlling the receipts, expenses, and debt of
the Government, as well as the inflated value of currency in 1870 as com
pared with gold, and the relatively prosperous or depressed condition
of business during the respective census years must also be considered
in accepting the percentages given in the following tables:
PERCENTAGES OF INCREASE OF POPULATION, WEALTH, VALUE OF PRODUCTS OF
INDUSTRY, AND DEBT.
Census Popula
year.
tion.
1800 ___
1810.......
1820.......
1830........
1840........
36.38
33.07
33.55
32.67
Value of
Value of
manufac Total na
manufac Total na
tures, and tional Census Popula
tures, and tional
Wealth. farm,fish debt, less year.
fish debt, less
tion. Wealth. farm,
ery, and cash in
ery, and cash in
Treasury.
mineral
mineral Treasury.
products. 1
products.
_
1850..
..35.87
1860..
..35.58 126.46
84.51
1870..
..22.63
86.07 260.41 3,787.59
45.14
1880..
..30.08
16.52 a 17.67
49.02
52.35 a 53.59
1890.... 24.86
a
Decrease.
PERCENTAGES OF INCREASE OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES OF THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT.
Average annual expenses.
Decade Average
annual
ending— receipts. Ordi Extra Total.
nary. ordinary.
Decade Average
annual
ending- receipts.
Average annual expenses.
Ordi Extra
nary. ordinary. j Total.
1800........
1810.......
1820.......
1830........
1840.......
1850.... a 10.98
I860.... 122.14
1870.... 404.84
1880....
2.75
1890.... 18.79
53.09
85.25
755.58
a 73.85
7.08
92.67
61.35
4.06
38.95
23.65
256.89
a45.39
81.63
37.82
62.58
2.75
8.64
29.64
169.55
a 32.34
51.58
a
a 18.58
90.46
897.43
42.70
a 5.26
31.94
66.20
782.00
a49.30
a .24
Decrease.
These tables, showing increases or decreases from decade to decade,
when accompanied by the following tables, which show, per capita, the
items given in the tables above, present in convenient summaries the
available data pertaining to the growth of the country and the finan
cial operations of the Federal government during the past ninety years:
PER CAPITA WEALTH, VALUE OF PRODUCTS OF INDUSTRY, AND DEBT.
Census year.
Value of
manufac Total na
tures, and tional
Wealth. farm, fish debt, less
ery, and cash in
mineral Treasury.
products.
1800.........................
1810...........................
1820.........................
1830...........................
1840 .........................
Value of
manufac Total na
tures, and tional
Wealth. farm,fish debt, less
ery, and cash in
mineral Treasury.
products.
Census year.
1850......................... $307.68
1860......................... 513.93
1870......................... 779.82
1880......................... 870.13
1890......................... al,036.01
1
a Not including the values for Indian Territory.
$44.37
60.39
177.49
158.99
193.99
$1.91
60.46
38.27
14.22
200
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
PER CAPITA RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
i Average animal expenses. Decade Average Average annual expenses.
Decade Average
annual Ordi Extra
annual
ending— receipts. || Ordi- Extra- | Total. ending— receipts.
nary. ordinary. Total.
nary. ordinary.;
1800........
1810........
1820........
1830........
1840........
$1.28
1.80
2.19
1.70
1.78
$0.74
.67
1.81
.74
$0.55
.55
.67
.52
.42
$1.29
1.22
2.48
1.26
1.43
1850....
I860....
1870....
1880....
1890....
$1.17
1.92
7.89
6.23
5.93
$1.14
1.56
10.86
2.18
1.87
$0.25
.35
2.90
3.18
2.41
$1.39
1.91
13.76
5.36
4.28
1.01
While no extended explanation will be made of apparent inconsist
encies in the above tables, attention is called to the tables showing
percentages of increase. The large increases shown for 1870 are due
principally to expenses of the civil war and the inflated value of cur
rency as compared with gold. The largest percentages of increase
during the decade ending with 1870 are shown for extraordinary expenses
and the total debt less cash in the Treasury, the large increase in both
these items being due primarily to war expenses. On the other hand,
the amount of extraordinary expenses per capita, as shown by the last
table, is the smallest per capita item shown for 1870, and is due to the
comparatively small total of such expenses.
While, for the reasons given, the totals for wealth and values of
products of industry can only be used in a general way for comparison,
the totals for 1860 may be accepted as showing the conditions prevail
ing during the decade immediately preceding the civil war and those
for 1890 as indicating the conditions that prevailed during a decade after
the direct effects of the war had disappeared. The two totals there
fore indicate normal conditions. Comparing the two years it appears
that the total wealth per capita increased from $513.93 to $1,036.01, or
101.59 per cent, and the per capita value of the products of industry
increased from $60.39 to $193.99, or 221.23 per cent, while the receipts per
capita of the Government increased from $1.92 to $5.93, or 208.85 per
cent, and the total expenses from $1.91 to $4.28, or 124.08 per cent.
The actual increase per capita in expenses was $2.37, of which increase
the ordinary expenses constituted 31 cents, increasing 19.87 per cent, and
the extraordinary $2.06, increasing 588.57 per cent. One of the largest
items of expense entering into the average total of extraordinary
expenses for the decade ending with 1890 is pensions. Excluding this
item the yearly average for the decade would be $80,901,696.76, giving
an extraordinary expense per capita of $1.29, an increase over that of
1860 of 268.57 per cent.
While the tables giving the percentages of increase show that the
total receipts and expenses of the Government have increased largely
as was necessary to be in keeping with the development of the nation
in all directions, the tables giving the per capita items show that the
receipts and expenses have not increased abnormally when compared
with the increase in wealth and industry. An increase is shown in per
capita wealth and values of industry since 1870, while a varying decrease
is shown in receipts and expenses, as well as in the national debt.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
In Bulletin No. 1, issued in November, 1895, by the Department of
Labor, it was stated in the introduction that one of the intended
departments of information in each issue of the bulletin would consist
in “the reproduction, immediately after their passage, of new laws that
affect the interests of the working people whenever such are enacted
by State legislatures or by Congress; also, the reproduction of the
decisions of courts interpreting labor laws or passing upon any subject
which involves the relations of employer and employee. Attention like
wise will be called to any other matters pertaining to law which may
be of concern and value to the industrial interests of the country, and
which might not be obtained without expense or trouble from other
sources.”
In conformity with the above announcement, certain recent decisions
rendered by the supreme courts of various States and the United States,
passing upon the validity of labor laws or deciding cases arising under
such laws or under the common law governing the relations of employers
and employees, are here published. These decisions are not, as a rule,
reproduced in full, their length and the space limitations of the bulletin
preventing such a course; but when not given in full, their substance
and the reasons upon which they are based are given in the language
of the courts; in other words, they are quoted, when not fully repro
duced, at sufficient length to give a full and clear understanding of the
basis and scope of each opinion.
The decisions herein published are classed with reference to the
character of the law under which they were rendered, those deciding
cases which arose under legislative enactments being first presented,
followed by such as determine cases under the common law.
DECISIONS UNDER STATUTORY LAW.
By act approved October 21, 1891, the legislature of the State of
Georgia required certain corporations to give to their discharged em
ployees or agents the causes of removal or discharge, the language of
the act being as follows:
S ec tio n 1. Hereafter, when any railroad company, telegraph com
pany, express company, or electric street railroad company shall dis
charge or remove any agent or employee, it shall be the duty of such
company, when requested, in writing, by such discharged agent or
201
202
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
employee, to give a specific statement, in writing, setting forth the
reason or reasons which have prompted, caused, or induced such dis
charge or removal, and if such discharge or removal has been prompted,
caused, or induced, in whole or in part, by any complaint or communi
cation made to such company, it shall be the duty of the company to
inform the discharged agent or employee of the substance and nature
of such communication or complaint, and when and by whom such
complaint or communication was made.
Sec . 2. The written request provided for in the preceding section of
this act, to be effective, must be signed by the discharged agent or
employee, and be delivered, by an officer authorized to serve the process
of citation of a court within this State, either to the president, secretary,
or treasurer of such company, or to the local agent representing such
company in any county within this State, or by leaving the same at the
principal office of such company during office hours.
Sec . 3. Any company to whom has been delivered a written request,
as provided for in the preceding section of this act, shall have twenty
days from the date of* the delivery thereof within which to give the
information requested. The statement required by such company to
be given to a discharged agent or employee may be delivered fco such
agent or employee by an officer authorized to serve the process of cita
tion, or by leaving the same, addressed to such discharged agent or
employee, with the county clerk of the county in which the written
request was preferi cd. If such company shall fail or refuse to give the
information as hereinbefore provided for, or shall give a false statement
thereof, it shall be liable to such discharged agent or employee for dam
ages in the sum of five thousand dollars.
One Wallace brought suit under this statute against the Georgia,
Carolina and Northern Railway Company, to recover the sum of $5,000,
alleging that after the company, by contract made July 9,1892, had
employed him as its chief car inspector, and while he was performing
his duties as such on August 12,1892, the company discharged him. On
August 18,1892, he made a written request of the company to give him
a specific statement in writing of the reasons which had caused his dis
charge, and, if the same had been induced in whole or in part by any com
munication made to the company, to inform him of the nature and sub
stance of such communication or complaint, and when and by whom it
was made. This written request was signed by him, and on the same
day was served on the company by being delivered to the local agent
of the company at its office in Fulton County by the sheriff of that
county. Afterwards the plaintiff waited for more than twenty days,
within which time the defendant should have delivered the written state
ment, as requested, to the plaintiff, or left it, addressed to him, with
the county clerk; but the defendant failed and refused to give the
information as requested, and as required by law, whereby it became
liable to the plaintiff in the sum of $5,000, etc.
The suit was dismissed by the city court of Atlanta, and the judg
ment of that court was affirmed by the supreme court of the State,
June 18,1894. Said decision, which declares the act in question to be
unconstitutional, is published on page 579 of volume 22 of the South*
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
203
eastern Reporter, and the syllabus of the same, prepared by the court, is
as follows:
The public, whether as many or one, whether as a multitude or a
sovereignty, has no interest to be protected or promoted by a corre
spondence between discharged agents or employees arid their late
employers, designed not for public but for private information, as to
the reasons for discharges and as to the import and authorship of all
complaints or communications which produced or suggested them. A
statute which undertakes to make it the duty of incorporated rail
road, express, and telegraph companies to engage in correspondence of
this sort with their discharged agents and employees, and which sub
jects them in each case to a heavy forfeiture under the name of damages
for failing or refusing to do so, is violative of the general private right
of silence enjoyed in this State by all persons, natural or artificial, from
time immemorial, and is utterly void and of no effect. Liberty of speech
and of writing is secured by the constitution, and incident thereto is
the correlative liberty of silence, not less important nor less sacred.
Statements or communications, oral or written, wanted for private
information can not be coerced by mere legislative mandate at the will
of one of the parties and against the will of the other. Compulsory
private discovery, even from corporations, enforced not by suit or action
but by statutory terror, is not allowable where rights are under the
guardianship of due process of law.
It follows from the foregoing that the act of October 21,1891, entitled
“ An act to require certain corporations to give their discharged
employees or agents the causes of their removal or discharge when dis
charged or removed,77is unconstitutional, and that an action founded
thereon for the recovery of $5,000 as penalty or arbitrary damages, fixed
by the statute for noncompliance with its mandates, can not be supported.
By act approved June 17,1893, the legislature of Illinois under
took “ to regulate the manufacture of clothing, wearing apparel, and
other articles in this State, and to provide for the appointment of State
inspectors to enforce the same, and to make an appropriation therefor.77
Upon the complaint of the factory inspector, appointed under this law,
a warrant was issued by a justice of the peace of Cook County against
William E. Ritchie for violating section 5 of the statute in question by
employing a certain adult female, more than 18 years of age, at work in
a factory more than eight hours on a certain day in February, 1894. The
case was tried in the criminal court of Cook County, on appeal from the
judgment of the justice of the peace, and the defendant was convicted
and fined, whereupon the case was brought, on writ of error, before the
supreme court of Illinois, which tribunal, on March 14,1895, reversed
the judgment of the criminal court and decided that section 5 of the act
which declares that “ no female shall be employed in any factory or
workshop more than eight hours in anyone day or forty-eight hours in
any one week77is unconstitutional; the court also decided the first
clause of section 10, which appropriated $20,000 for the salaries of the
factory inspectors, to be unconstitutional.
The decision in this case, which is published in full in volume 40 of
the Northeastern Reporter, page 454, is followed in the case of Tilt v.
204
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
People, and in several other cases, all of which are named on page 462
of the volume referred to.
The substance of the decision in the Ritchie case, delivered by Judge
Magruder, is as follows:
While some of the language of this act is broad enough to embrace
within its terms the manufacture of all kinds of goods or products,
other provisions of the act are limited to the manufacture of 44coats,
vests, trousers, knee pants, overalls, cloaks, skirts, ladies’waists, purses,
feathers, artificial flowers, or cigars, or any wearing apparel of any kind
whatsoever.” The act is entitled 44An act to regulate the manufacture
of clothing, wearing apparel, and other articles,” etc. If it be construed
as applying only to manufacturers of clothing, wearing apparel, and
articles of a similar nature, there appears to be no reasonable ground
for prohibiting such manufacturers and their employees from contracting
for more than eight hours in one day, while other manufacturers are not
forbidden to so contract. If the act be construed as applying to man
ufacturers of all kinds of products there is no good reason why the
prohibition should be directed against manufacturers and their
employees, and not against merchants, or builders, or contractors, or
carriers, or farmers, or persons engaged in other branches of industry
and their employees. Women employed by manufacturers are forbid
den by section 5 of the act in question to make contracts to labor
longer than eight hours per day, while women employed as saleswomen
in stores, or as domestic servants, bookkeepers, stenographers, type
writers, or in laundries, or other occupations not embraced under the
head of manufacturing, are at liberty to contract for as many hours of
labor per day as they choose. The manner in which this section dis
criminates against one class of employers and employees, and in favor
of all others, renders it invalid.
But aside from its partial and discriminating character this enact
ment is a purely arbitrary restriction upon the fundamental right of
the citizen to control his or her own time and faculties. It substitutes
the judgment of the legislature for the judgment of the employer and
employee in a matter about which they are competent to agree with each
other. It assumes to dictate to what extent the capacity to labor may
be exercised by the employee, and takes away the right of private
judgment as to the amount and duration of the labor to be put forth in
a specified period. Section 2 of article 2 of the constitution of Illinois
provides th a t44no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law.” The privilege of contracting is both a
liberty and property right—the right to use, buy, and sell property and
to contract in respect thereto is protected by the constitution. Labor
is property, and the laborer has the same right to sell his labor and to
contract with reference thereto as has any other property owner. The
legislature has no power to prevent persons who are sui juris from
making their own contracts, nor can it interfere with the freedom of
contract between the workman and the employer. The right to labor
or employ labor, and make contracts in respect thereto upon such terms
as may be agreed upon between the parties, is included in the consti
tutional guaranty above quoted. 44Liberty” includes the right to
make contracts as well with reference to the amount and duration of
labor to be performed as concerning any other lawful matter. Hence,
the right to make contracts is an inalienable one, and any attempt to
unreasonably abridge it is opposed to the constitution.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
205
The protection of property is one of the objects for which free gov
ernments are instituted among men. The right to acquire, possess, and
protect property includes the right to make reasonable contracts; and
when an owner is deprived of one of the attributes of property, like
the right to make contracts, he is deprived of his property within the
meaning of the constitution.
The right to contract is the only way by which a person can right
fully acquire property by his own labor. This right to contract, which
is thus included in the fundamental rights of liberty and property, can
not be taken away without “ due process of law.” The words “ due
process of law” have been held to be synonymous with the words “ law
of the land.” The “ law of the land” is general public law, binding
upon all members of the community, under all circumstances, and not
partial or private laws, affecting the rights of private individuals or
classes of individuals. The legislature has no right to deprive one
class of persons of privileges allowed to other persons under like con
ditions. If one man is denied the right to contract as he has hitherto
done under the law, and as others are still allowed to do by the law, he
is deprived of both liberty and property to the extent to which he is
thus deprived of the right. Applying these principles to the consider
ation of section 5 we are led irresistibly to the conclusion that it is an
unconstitutional and void enactment.
It is claimed that this section can be sustained as an exercise of the
police power of the State. The police power of the State is that power
which enables it to promote the health, comfort, safety, and welfare of
society. It is very broad and far-reaching, but is not without its limi
tations. Legislative acts passed in pursuance of it must not be in con
flict with the constitution, and must have some relation to the ends
sought to be accomplished; that is to say, to the comfort, welfare, or
safety of society. When the ostensible object of an enactment is to
secure the public comfort, welfare, or safety it must appear to be adapted
to that end. There is nothing in the title of the act of 1893 to indicate
that it is a sanitary measure. There is nothing in the nature of the
employment contemplated by the act which is in itself unhealthy or
unlawful or injurious to the public morals or welfare. It is not the
nature of things done, but the sex of the persons doing them, which is
made the basis of the claim that the act is a measure for the promotion
of the public health. It is sought to sustain the act as an exercise of
the police power upon the alleged ground that it is designed to protect
woman on account of her sex and physique. But inasmuch as sex is no
bar under the constitution and law to the endowment of woman with
the fundamental and inalienable rights of liberty and property, which
includes the right to make her own contracts, the mere fact of sex will
not justify the legislature in putting forth the police power of the State
for the purpose of limiting her exercise of those rights, unless the courts
are able to see that there is some fair, just, and reasonable connection
between such limitation and the public health, safety, or welfare proposed
to be secured by it.
We can not more appropriately close the discussion of this branch
of the case than by quoting and adopting as our own the following
words of the Hew York court of appeals in re Jacobs (98 H. Y., 98):
“When a health law is challenged in the courts as unconstitutional, on
the ground that it arbitrarily interferes with personal liberty and pri
vate property, without due process of law, the courts must be able to
see that it has at least in fact some relation to the public health, that
the public health is the end actually aimed at, and that it is appropri
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ate and adapted to that end. This we have not been able to see in this
law, and we must, therefore, pronounce it unconstitutional and void.”
The first clause of section 10 of said act, which appropriates $20,000
for the salaries of the inspectors, is unconstitutional for the reason that
it is not germane to the subject expressed in the title, and also for the
reason that it is in violation of section 16 of article 4 of the constitution,
which provides that no bill making appropriations for the salaries of
government officials shall contain a provision on any other subject.
The legislature of the State of Missouri, by act approved March 6,
1893, made it unlawful for an employer to prohibit an employee from
joining any labor or trade union, or other lawful organization or society,
or to require an employee to withdraw therefrom.
Under this act George Julow, who had discharged an employee, not
hir.ed for a definite term, because he would not withdraw from a lawful
organization, was convicted in the St. Louis court of criminal correction
and fined $50. He appealed to the supreme court of the State, which
reversed the judgment of the lower tribunal, by decision of June 18,
1895, and declared the law under which he was convicted to be
unconstitutional. The substance of the decision of the supreme court,
delivered by Judge Sherwood, which is published in full in the thirtyfirst volume of the Southwestern Eeporter, page 781,is as follows:
The act of March 6,1893, in making it unlawful for an employer to
prohibit an employee from joining or to require an employee to with
draw from a trade or labor union or other lawful organization, violates
the fifth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and
article 2, section 30, of the constitution of the State, which provide
that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without
due process of law. These terms, “life,” “ liberty,” and “property,”
are representative terms, and cover every right to which a member of
the body politic is entitled under the law, and all our liberties, personal,
civil, and political—in short, all that makes life worth living—and of
none of these rights or liberties can anyone be deprived except by due
process of law.
Each of the rights heretofore mentioned carries with it, as its natural
and necessary coincident, all that effectuates and renders complete the
ftdl, unrestrained enjoyment of that right.
Take, for instance, that of property. Necessarily blended with that
right are those of acquiring property by labor, by contract, and also of
terminating that contract at pleasure. In the case at bar the contract
was not made for any definite period. From these premises it follows
that depriving an owner of property of one of its essential attributes
is depriving him of his property within the constitutional provision.
Here the law under review declares that to be a crime which consists
alone in the exercise of a constitutional right, to wit, that of terminat
ing a contract, one of the essential attributes of property^ indeed
property itself. If an owner, etc., obeys the law on which this prose
cution rests, he is thereby deprived of a right and a liberty to contract
or terminate a contract, as all others may; if he disobeys it, then he is
punished for the performance of an act wholly innocent, unless, indeed,
the doing of such act, guaranteed by the organic law, the exercise of a
right of which the legislature is forbidden to deprive him, can by that
body be conclusively pronounced criminal.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
207
We deny the power of the legislature to do this, and consequently
we hold that the statute which professes to exert such a power is noth
ing more or less than a “ legislative judgment,” and an attempt to
deprive all who are included within its terms of a constitutional right
without due process of law. But the statute is also obnoxious to criti
cism on other grounds. It does not relate to persons or things as a
class—to all workmen, etc.—but only to those who belong to some “ law
ful organization or society,” referring to a trade union, labor union, etc.
Where a statute does this it is a special, as contradistinguished from a
general law. Here a nontrades-union or a nonlabor-union man could be
discharged without ceremony, without let or hindrance, whenever the
employer so desired, with or without reason therefor, while in the case
of a trades-union or labor-union man he could not be discharged if such
discharge rested on the ground of his being a member of such an organ
ization. In other words, the legislature have undertaken to limit the
power of the owner or employer as to his right of contract with partic
ular persons of a class; the statute which does this is a special, not a
general law, and therefore is in violation of the State constitution.
The statute is also in conflict with section 1, article 14, of the Consti
tution of the United States, forbidding that u any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Nor can the statute escape censure by assuming the label of a u police
regulation.” It has none of the elements or attributes which pertain
to such a regulation, for it does not, in terms or by implication, pro
mote or tend to promote the public health, welfare, comfort, or safety;
and if it did, the State would not be allowed, under the guise and pre
tense of a police regulation, to encroach or trample upon any of the
just rights of the citizen, which the Constitution intended to secure
against diminution or abridgment.
In an action by Thomas Durkin against the Kingston Coal Company
and William Jones, damages were recovered in the court of common
pleas, Luzerne County, Pa., by the plaintiff for injuries received while
he was an employee in the coal mine of which the defendant company
was owner and defendant Jones was certified foreman, through the
negligence of the foreman. The defendants appealed, and the supreme
court of Pennsylvania, on October 7,1895, reversed the judgment as
to the coal company, holding that the act of 1891, of Pennsylvania,
relating to anthracite coal mines (P. L., p. 176) is unconstitutional and
void in so far as it makes the owner of such mine liable for injuries
to other employees occasioned by the negligence of a mine foreman,
licensed, certified, and employed under the requirements of the stat
ute. The judgment was, however, affirmed as to Jones, the mine fore
man, who was held to be liable, independently of, as well as under, the
statute, for injury to an employee due to his want of attention to his
proper duties.
The decision in this case, delivered by Judge Williams, is published
in volume 33 of the Atlantic Reporter, page 237, and so much thereof
as bears on the constitutionality of the law in question, and on the
responsibility of the mine foreman, is given here:
The first article of the constitution of this State, known as the “bill
of rights,” declares that all men are possessed of certain inherent and
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
inalienable rights. One of these is the right to acquire, possess, and
protect property. The preservation of this right requires, both that
every man should be answerable for his own acts and engagements, and
that no man should be required to answer for the acts and engagements
of strangers over whom he has no control. A statute that should impose
such a liability, or that should take the property of one person and give
it to another or to the public without making just compensation there
for, would violate the bill of rights, and would be, for that reason,
unconstitutional and void.
It is in furtherance of the right to acquire, possess, and protect
property that section 17 of the bill of rights prohibits the enactment of
laws that shall interfere with or impair the obligation of contracts.
The tendency toward class legislation for the protection of particular
sorts of labor has been so strong, however, that several statutes have
recently been passed that could not be sustained under the provisions
of the bill of rights. Such was the case in Godcharles v. Wigeman
(113 Pa. St., 431 ; 6 Atl., 354); such was the case with some recent pro
visions relating to mechanics’ liens, and such is alleged by the appel
lants to be the case with some of the provisions of the act of 1891,
under which this action was brought. The title of the act of 1891 is
“An act to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in
and about the anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania and for the pro
tection and preservation of property connected therewith.” It divides
the anthracite region into eight districts, and provides for the appoint
ment by the governor of a competent mine inspector in each district,
who shall have a general oversight of mining operations within his
district. It creates an examining board for each district, with power
to examine candidates, and recommend such as they shall deem quali
fied for the position of mine foreman to the secretary of internal affairs.
It is made the duty of this officer to issue certificates to those who apply
therefor and have been recommended by the board of examiners.
Article 8, section 1, declares that no person “ shall be permitted to
act as mine foreman or assistant mine foreman of any coal mines or
colliery99who has not been examined by the board of examiners, rec
ommended to the secretary of internal affairs, and provided by that
officer with a certificate. The employment of a certified mine foreman
is made obligatory upon all mine owners and operators, and a failure to
do so is punished by a fine of $20 per day, which may be collected from
the owner, the operator, or the superintendent in charge of the mine.
The duties of the mine foreman are prescribed by the act, and the
owner or operator of the mine can not interfere with them. He is
especially to “ visit and examine every working place in the mine at
least once every alternate day while the men of such place are or should
be at work, and direct that each and every working place is properly
secured by props or timber, and that safety in all respects is assured
by directing that all loose coal or rock shall be pulled down or secured,
and that no person shall be permitted to work in an unsafe place unless
it be for the purpose of making it secure.” (Article 12, rule 12.)
The mine foreman is also required to examine, at least once every
clay, “all slopes, shafts, main roads, ways, signal apparatus, pulleys,
and timbering, and see that they are in safe and efficient working con
dition.” (Rule 13.)
After having thus most effectually taken the management of his
mining operations out of his hands, and committed it to officers of its
own creation, whose employment is made compulsory upon him, the
statute, in section 8 of article 17, imposes upon the mine owner a lia
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
209
bility for the neglect or incompetency of the men whom he is compelled
to employ, in these words: “ That for any injury to person or property
occasioned by any violation of this act or any failure to comply with
its provisions by any mine foreman, a right of action shall accrue to
the party injured against said owner or operator for any direct damages
he may have sustained thereby ; and in case of loss of life by reason
of such neglect or failure aforesaid a right of action shall accrue to the
widow and lineal heirs of the person whose life shall be lost for like
recovery of damages for the injury they shall have sustained.”
This statute, regarded as a whole, is an extraordinary piece of legis
lation. Through it, the lawmakers say to the mine owner: “You can
not be trusted to manage your own business. Left to yourself, you will
not properly care for your own employees. We will determine what
you shall do. In order to make it certain that our directions are obeyed,
we will set a mine foreman over your mines, with authority to direct the
manner in which your operations shall be conducted, and what precau
tions shall be taken for the safety of your employees. You shall take
for this position a man whom we certify to as competent. You shall
pay him his salary. What he orders done in your mines you shall pay
for. If, notwithstanding our certificate, he turns out to be incompe
tent or untrustworthy, you shall be responsible for his ignorance or
negligence.” Under the operation of this statute the mine foreman rep
resents the Commonwealth. The State insists on his employment by the
mine owner, and, in the name of the police power, turns over to him
the determination of all questions relating to the comfort and the secu
rity of the miners, and invests him with the power to compel compliance
with his directions. Incredible as it may seem, obedience on the part
of the mine owner does not protect him; but, if the mine foreman fails
to do properly what the statute directs him to do, the mine owner is
declared to be responsible for all the consequences of the incompetency
of the representative of the State. This is a strong case of binding the
consequences of the fault or folly of one man upon the shoulders of
another. This is worse than taxation without representation. It is
civil responsibility without blame, and for the fault of another. The
same conclusion may be reached by another road.
It has been long settled that a mining boss or foreman is a fellowservant with the other employees of the same master, engaged in a
common business, and that the master is not liable for an injury caused
by the negligence of such mining boss. The duty of the mine owner
is to employ competent bosses or foremen to direct his* operations.
When he does this he discharges the full measure of his duty to his
employees, and he is not liable for an injury arising from the negligence
of the foreman. A vice-principal is one to whom an employer delegates
the performance of duties which the law imposes on him, and the
employer is responsible because the duty is his own. As to the acts of
workmen, and the manner in which they do their work, the duty of
the employer is to employ persons who are reasonably competent to do
the work assigned them, and, if he finds himself mistaken in regard to
their competency, to discharge them when the mistake is discovered.
But he is not responsible for the consequences of their negligence as
these may affect each other. Now, the act of 1891 undertakes to reverse
the settled law upon this subject, and declares that the employer shall
be responsible for an injury to an employee resulting from the negli
gence of a fellow-workman. Prior to the act of 1891, the man whose
negligence caused the injury was alone liable to respond in damages.
He might not always have property out of which a judgment could be
320—No. 2-----7
210
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
collected, but the plaintiff must, in any case, take his chances of the
solvency of the defendant against whom his cause of action lies.
The act of 1891 undertakes to furnish a responsible defendant for the
injured person to pursue. Passing over the head of the fellow-servant
at whose hands the injury was received, it fastens on the owner of the
property on which the accident happened, and declares him to be the
guilty person on whose head the consequences of the accident shall fall.
To see the true character of this legislation we must keep both lines of
objection in mind. We must remember that the injury complained of
is due to the negligence of a fellow-workman, for which the master is
responsible neither in law nor morals. We must also remember that
this fellow-workman has been designated by the State, his duties defined,
and his powers conferred by statute, and his employment made com
pulsory, under heavy penalties, by the same statute. Finally, we must
remember that it is the negligence of this fellow-servant, whose compe
tency the State has certified, and whose employment the State has com
pelled, for which the employer is made liable. The State says: “ He
is competent. You must employ him. You shall surrender to his con
trol the arrangements for the security of your employees.” It then
says, in effect: “ If we impose upon you by certifying to the compe
tency of an incompetent man, or if the man to whom we commit the
conduct of your mines neglects his duty you shall pay for our mistake
and for his negligence.” We have no doubt that so much, at least, of
section 8 of article 17 of the act of 1891 as imposes liability on the
mine owner for the failure of the foreman to comply with the provisions
of the act which compels his employment and defines his duties, is
unconstitutional and void.
But why should the certified mine foreman be relieved from the con
sequences of his negligence? The jury have found that the injury was
due to his want of attention to his proper duties, and his liability is
clear, without regard to our mining laws. But the statute required him
to examine the roads and ways in use in the mine each day. He knew
the film of rock separating the upper from the lower working was but
8 feet thick, at best; he knew that the supports for this film were not
in line with each other in the upper and lower workings; he knew
that layers of the rock were falling off, that the thickness of the floor
was reduced under the way on which the accident occurred to about 5
feet, and that, not far away, it had fallen down into the lower working;
yet, with all this knowledge he did nothing, so far as we can learn, to
increase the security of the way. Whether his conduct be considered
with reference to the statute, or regardless of it, his failure to do what
he must have known to be necessary was a neglect of duty such as
should render him liable to his fellow servant who has suffered from it.
We are not prepared to hold the act of 1891 unconstitutional as a
whole. It relates to all anthracite coal mines, and defines what shall
be regarded as such mines. Coal may be taken out of the ground by
farm owners for their own use, or it may be taken in such small quan
tities and for such local purposes as to make the application of the
mining laws to the operations so conducted not only unnecessary, but
burdensome to the extent of absolute prohibition. Such limited or
incipient operations are not within the mischief, to remedy which the
mining laws were devised. They are ordinarily conducted for the pur
poses of exploration, or for family supply, and ought not to be classed
with operations conducted for the supply of the public. The business
of coal mining, like that of insurance or banking, may be defined by the
legislature. The definition found in the act of 1891 seems to us reason
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
211
able, to be within the fair limits of a legislative definition, and to
exclude only such operations as are too small to make the general regu
lations provided by the act applicable to them. The ground on which
we place our judgment is not, therefore, that the act is local, but that
the provisions of it which we have considered are in violation of the
bill of rights.
Section 1 of chapter 270 of the acts of 1887 of Massachusetts pro
vides that where personal injury is caused to an employee, who is
himself in the exercise of due care and diligence at the time, by reason
of the negligence of any person in the service of the employer,
entrusted with and exercising superintendence, whose sole or principal
duty is that of superintendence, the employee shall have the same
right of compensation and remedies against the employer as if the
employee had not been an employee of nor in the service of the
employer, nor engaged in its work.
Under this act Forman J. Dane sued the Cochran Chemical Com
pany for personal injuries as an employee, the circumstances of his
employment having been as follows: The company employed Fred
erick Johnson, a carpenter, under a continuing contract to make all
repairs and alterations required in its works, he to furnish tools and
the company the materials, at $2.50 per day for his own services, and
25 cents per day for each man employed by Johnson in addition to the
amount of wages which Johnson agreed to pay the man. He hired,
paid, superintended, and discharged the men employed by him, but the
company directed how the work was to be done. Dane was hired by
Johnson, and in the course of his employment received the injuries for
which he sought compensation.
The case was decided adversely to Dane by the superior court of
Suffolk County, Mass., and having been brought before the supreme
judicial court of Massachusetts on exceptions by the plaintiff, the
latter tribunal, on October 19, 1895, overruled the exceptions and
sustained the decision of the superior court, holding that Dane, hav
ing been hired by the carpenter, was an employee of the carpenter and
not of the company, and hence could not recover damages for his
injuries from the company.
The decision of the supreme judicial court in this case, delivered by
Chief Justice Field, is published in full in volume 41 of the Northeastern
Reporter, page 678, and is based on the following reasoning:
The fundamental question in the present case is whether the relation
between the plaintiff and defendant, as shown by the evidence, was
that of employer and employee. Could the plaintiff have recovered his
wages of the defendant if they had not been paid by Johnson*? Did
Johnson hire the plaintiff on his own account or as agent for the
defendant? At common law the defendant, on the evidence, would
not be liable to the plaintiff, because, if Johnson was a servant of the
defendant in hiring the plaintiff and the other workmen, then the
plaintiff and Johnson were servants of the defendant, and a master is
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR*
not liable, at common law, for the injury to one servant occasioned by
the negligence of his fellow servants; and if Johnson was an independ
ent contractor, and Dane was his servant, then the defendant would
not be liable for any injury occasioned by the negligence of Johnson or
of one of his servants to another of his servants. We are of opinion
that the only reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence in the
exceptions is that the plaintiff was an employee of Johnson, and not of
the defendant, within the meaning of the statute of 1887, chapter 270,
and the amendments thereto.
It does not appear that Johnson was authorized to hire workmen on
account of the defendant, or that the workmen hired by Johnson ever
understood that they were to be paid by the defendant, or that the
defendant or Johnson so understood. The fact that the defendant
retained the right to decide how work should be done on its premises
does not of itself make the workmen employed by Johnson employees
of the defendant. Apparently Johnson employed whom he pleased,
and directed the men employed by him in the performance of their
work, whether upon the premises of the defendant or upon other
premises where he might be doing work. On the evidence we do not
think that the jury could properly find that the relation of employee
and employer existed between the parties. If the relation of employer
and employee did not exist between the parties, then the action cannot
be maintained under the statute of 1887, chapter 270.
A suit for damages was brought by William A. Perry against the
Old Colony Railroad Company to recover damages for injuries received
while making repairs on a locomotive engine in a roundhouse, through
the alleged negligence of one Straw, an engineer claimed to have been
in charge of the locomotive, in blowing down the engine.
He recovered in the superior court of Suffolk County, Mass., under
chapter 270 of the acts of 1887 of Massachusets, section 1 of which
provides that where personal injury is caused to an employee, who is
himself in the exercise of due care and diligence at the time, by rea
son of the negligence of any person in the service of the employer who
has the charge or control of any signal, switch, locomotive engine, in
train upon a railroad, the employee shall have the same right of com
pensation and remedies against the employer as if the employee had not
been an employee of nor in the service of the employer, nor engaged or
its work. The railroad company carried the case, on exceptions, to the
supreme judicial court of the State, and that tribunal, on September 14,
1895, sustained the exceptions, holding that the case was not within the
purview of the statute above quoted. The decision, delivered by Judge
Morton, is published in volume 41 of the Northeastern Reporter, page
289, and so much thereof as bears on the applicability of the statute to
ute to the case is given here:
Even if Straw was negligent in blowing down, which we do not
decide, we do not think he had charge or control of a locomotive upon
a railroad track, within the meaning of the act. The statute, as it is
said in Thyng v. Fitchburg R. R. Co. (156 Mass., 18; 13 N. E., 169),
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
213
“ seems chiefly to contemplate the damages from a locomotive engine or
train as a moving body, and to provide against the negligence of those
who, either wholly or in part, control its movements.” This engine
was stalled in the roundhouse for repairs, and was not “upon a rail
road track,” as those words are ordinarily used. The case would be
different, perhaps, if it had been standing on a track waiting to be
coupled to a train or for some temporary purpose. If the engine had
been in the repair shop, no one, we think, would contend that it was
upon a railroad track, within the fair meaning of the act. The fact
that it was in the roundhouse, instead, where such repairs were made
as could be made comfortably, does not, it seems to us, make any differ
ence. It is also a matter of great doubt whether the engine was in the
charge or control of Straw. The testimony tended to show that when
an engine came into the roundhouse it was generally assigned to a pit,
the tender brake set up, and the wheels blocked, and then the engineer
went off and the engine was in charge of the train dispatcher, or, as
the plaintiff put it, “the engineer had no duties in the roundhouse
any more than if he has a little job on his engine to do, he does it,”
which is far from saying that in the roundhouse he has charge and
control of the engine. The blowing down of the engine was in response
to an outside suggestion, and might as well have been done by anyone
else, for aught that appears. But even if the engine was in charge or
control of Straw, that is not sufficient. In order to make the defend
ant liable, it must also have been upon a railroad track, which we do
not think it was.
On November 21,1894, W. H. Olune, a local officer of the American
Railway Union, was convicted, with others, in the United States dis
trict court for the southern district of California, of conspiracy to
obstruct the passage of the United States mails during the time of
the great railway strike in the summer of 1894. Motions for a new
trial and in arrest of judgment were overruled, and the defendants
were each sentenced to pay a fine of $1 and to be imprisoned in the
county jail of Los Angeles County, Cal., for the period of eighteen
months. The case was brought before the Supreme Court of the
United States on writ of error, which court sustained the conviction
by decision of November 15, 1895, as published in volume 16 of the
Supreme Court Reporter, page 125.
The principal question of law in the case was raised in the argu
ment, and related to the competency of Congress to impose a heavier
penalty for conspiracy to commit a crime than that imposed for the
crime itself. On this point Mr. Justice Brewer, in delivering the opin
ion of the court, said:
By section 3995, Revised Statutes United States, the offense of
obstructing the passage of the mails is made punishable by a fine of
not more than $100. By section 5440, Revised Statutes United States,
a conspiracy to commit any offense against the United States is pun
ishable by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000, and by
imprisonment for not more than two years. Upon this he (the counsel
for the defendants) contended that a conspiracy to commit an offense
214
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
can not be punished more severely than the offense itself, and also that
when the principal offense itself is, in fact, committed, the mere con
spiracy is merged in it.
The language of the section is plain and not open to doubt. A con
spiracy to commit an offense is denounced as itself a separate offense,
and the punishment thereof is fixed by the statute, and we know of no
lack of power in Congress to thus deal with a conspiracy. Whatever
may be thought of the wisdom or propriety of a statute making a con
spiracy to do an act punishable more severely than the doing of the act
itself, it is a matter to be considered solely by the legislative body. The
power exists to separate the conspiracy from the act itself and to affix
distinct and independent penalties to each.
With regard to the suggestion that the conspiracy was merged in the
completed act, it is enough that we can not, upon the record, hold that
the mails were obstructed. All the testimony not being preserved, it
may be that the testimony satisfied the jury that there was, in fact, no
obstruction of the mails, but only, as charged, a conspiracy to obstruct.
If so, the suggestion of a merger falls to the ground.
DECISIONS UNDER COMMON LAW.
The supreme court of Indiana on October 16, 1895, reversed the
judgment of the circuit court of Sullivan County in the case of Mar
garet C. Tohill v. Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad Company, and
decided that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover damages from the
railroad company for the death of her husband, who was killed while
in the performance of his duty as an engineer in the employ of the com
pany in a collision between his train, No. 20, which was run as a u reg
ular,” and another train, No. 19, which was being run as an “extra,” or
inferior train.
The supreme court held that the proximate cause of the collision was
not in ordering the running of the extra train and failing to notify the
deceased engineer of the regular train of the fact, but was the failure
of the deceased engineer’s fellow-servants in charge of the extra train
to comply with the company’s rules, by keeping out of the way of the
regular train, and hence that the railroad company was not respon
sible for the accident.
The substance of the decision, delivered by Judge Hackney, which
is published in full in volume 41 of the Northeastern Reporter, page
709, is as follows:
We think it may be conceded to be the law that a railroad company,
operating a complicated system of trains, is required to provide for the
reasonable safety of the operatives of such trains against collisions;
that it would not be a compliance with such requirement to direct one
train to run by schedule and another to run over the same track with
out schedule, in conflict with such schedule train and without notice to
the schedule trainmen, by rule or otherwise, or without some limitation
upon the extra or nonscheduled train, under which it would so run as
to guard against collision with the schedule train. There are many
authorities to the proposition that it is the duty of a railroad com
pany to use ordinary care and prudence in making and promulgating
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
215
reasonably necessary and sufficient rules for tlie safe running of its trains
and for the government of its employees, so as to furnish them a reason
able degree of safety, taking into consideration the nature of the serv
ice. But this requirement does not deny the right of railway companies
to vary from the time tables in any instance, nor does it mean that every
variation involves negligence on the part of the company. From the
very nature of the business of carrying on an extensive railway system,
trains must be expected to run out of schedule time, some from unavoid
able delays and others as extra trains carrying an accumulation of
freight and passengers beyond the line of business ordinarily expected
and regularly prepared for. As said in the case of Slater v. Jewett
(85 H. Y., 61), “ it is at times a necessity to do so, and a necessity so
frequent as to fall within the occurrences that a railway servant is bound
to expect in the course of his employment. Even as regards the public
and passengers, a railway manager has a right, when needs press, to
vary from his general time-table. All that can then be required from
him by the public and passengers is that, when he makes a variation,
he act under it with reasonable care and diligence.”
This is all that a servant could ask or expect. If, therefore, in the
present case, the company made and promulgated such rules as, by their
faithful observance, secured reasonable safety to operatives of schedule
trains against collision with extra trains, the company must be held
to have performed its duty in this respect. The special verdict in this
case expressly found that the company maintained rules under which
regular trains might be converted into extra trains; that trains of an
inferior class should clear the right of way for trains of a superior class by
taking a side track at least five minutes before the arrival of any schedule
train at the last station to which it was safe for such inferior train to
run; that Ho. 19 [the extra train] wholly failed to act in accordance with
said rules, and did not take the side track at Pursell, where Ho. 20 [the
regular train] could have passed in safety, but continued beyond said
station to where the collision occurred. Thus it appears that obedience
to said rules by Ho. 19 [the extra train] would have made the passage
of Ho. 20 [the regular train], running by the schedule, entirely safe. A
rule easily followed by servants, and when followed securing safety to
coservants, is a reasonable compliance with the duty owing by the mas
ter to his servants upon this question. As held in Bose v. Railway
Company (58 H. Y., 217), obedience to the regulations of a railway com
pany in regard to the running of trains is a matter of executive detail,
which neither the corporation nor any general agent can personally
oversee, but as to which employees must be relied on. If those employees
fail in their duty by breaking existing regulations, and in consequence
other employees are injured, no action can be maintained for the injury,
as it will be deemed to have been caused by the negligence of a fellowservant.
As we have seen, the negligence Of those in charge of Ho. 19 [the
extra train] was the proximate cause of the collision, and the order of
the train dispatcher was not negligently issued. That the operatives
of Ho. 19 [the extra train] were the fellow-servants of the unfortunate
engineer is not questioned by the appellee’s counsel, but is conceded.
That injury resulting from the negligent act of a fellow-servant cre
ates no liability against the master is not only well settled, but is con
ceded also by appellee’s counsel. It was error, therefore, to deny the
appellant’s motion for judgment upon the special verdict. The judg
ment is reversed.
216
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The supreme court of Michigan decided on October 22,1895, in the
case of Shackleton v. Manistee and Northeastern Railroad Company
(reported in volume 64 of the Northwestern Reporter, page 728) that,
under the conditions of the case, the railroad company was not answerable for the death of an employee who, while in the discharge of his
duty, was thrown from a way car and killed, by reason of the absence
of a hand railing, which had been removed from the car. The circum
stances of the case are set forth in the opinion of the court, delivered
by Judge Montgomery, which is as follows:
The plaintiff, as administratrix, sues to recover damages for the death
of her husband, alleged to have been caused by the defendant’s negli
gence. The deceased was a conductor on a freight train of the defend
ant company, and the injuries resulting in his death were caused by
his being thrown off the rear end of the way car to the track and the
train passing over him. The car from which he was thrown had hand
rails provided on either side of the steps, the rear hand rail extending
to the brake, so that a sudden lurch of the car would not result in throw
ing one attempting to alight from the car. On the occasion in ques
tion, however, this rear hand rail had been removed, and the testimony
offered by the plaintiff tends to show that while deceased was stepping
down from the car he was thrown off by reason of this defect. There
is no room for attributing any negligence to the defendant, unless it be
for the absence of the hand rail at this time. A few days before the
accident deceased and his trainmen, when using the way car in question,
allowed it to run against a car loaded with logs, which extended over
the ends of the car on which they were loaded, so that, coming in con
tact with the hand rail, they bent it nearly against the side of the car.
Deceased thereupon called the attention of a workman in the defend
ant’s repair shops to the hand rail, and asked him to take it off and
repair it. The workman replied 4‘All right,” and took it off. Deceased
then started off with the car, without reporting the defect to the super
intendent, as required by the rules of the company, and without making
any objection to using the defective car to those in authority, or to any
one connected with the defendant in any way. While on his trip that
day the assistant superintendent saw the car and said to the deceased,
“You want to see that that is fixed. Get it fixed.” Deceased again
called the attention of the workman in the repair shop to it, and he
again promised to fix it, but neglected to do so. Deceased, however,
continued in the use of the car without protest, until he was killed in
the manner above described.
The plaintiff’s counsel recognize the general rule that the servant
who engages in the use of, or continues in the use of, defective machinery
or appliances, assumes the risk incident to the employment—but seeks
to bring this case within the exception to the rule which obtains in case
the servant has been induced to continue the use of the defective appli
ances by reason of the master’s promise to repair. The present case is
not within any such exception to the rule. No one representing the
master had induced deceased to continue in the use of the car in its
then condition. The employee in the car-repair shop certainly gave
deceased no such directions. On the contrary, he was acting under
instructions received from the deceased. The statement of the assistant
superintendent, so far from being authority to continue the use of the
car, was more in the nature of a rebuke for using it in its then condi
tion. The most that can be said is that the company might have been
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
217
negligent in not repairing the car sooner, but such negligence was open
to the observation of the deceased, and he saw fit to continue in the
use of the car. He made no objection to using it in its crippled condi
tion; he gave no notice to anyone in authority which would indicate
to defendant that he refused to take the risk, which was as apparent
to him as to anyone connected with the road. The circuit judge was
right in directing a verdict for the defendant.
A question of great interest, and one which has rarely been judicially
passed upon, recently arose in the case of William Mattison v. The
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Eailway Company, before the
court of common pleas of Lucas County, Ohio.
The case involved the right of a discharged employee, who had been
blacklisted by his former employer, to recover pecuniary damages for
the injury suffered by him by reason of the blacklisting.
The facts in the case were substantially as follows: Mattison had
been employed by the railway company as a conductor, at wages of
$120 per month, and he declared in his petition that, having been
appointed as a representative of other workmen, he made objection to
certain rules adopted by the defendant company and “ by all other
trunk-line railroads in the United States,” designated as “ blacklist
rules.” Shortly after having made such objection, he was discharged
from the service of the company, “ without cause or provocation,” and
the company thereupon, conspiring with other railroad companies in
order to prevent him from securing employment in his chosen avoca
tion, caused the said blacklist rules to be enforced against him, thus
preventing him from obtaining such employment. He was compelled
to seek work elsewhere, and secured employment as a policeman, but as
such had only been able to earn $720 per year, instead of $1,440 per
year, which he had received as a railroad conductor.
The company demurred to Mattison’s complaint, and the question
arose as to whether the blacklist, resulting in injury to an innocent
discharged employee, is a wrong for which such employee can obtain
financial redress.
Judge Pratt, on September 25,1895, sustained the right of Mattison
to sue the company for damages. The report of the case, furnished the
Department of Labor by the official stenographer of the court, shows
the substance of the opinion to be as follows:
The employee’s right to employment is equally sacred with the right
of the employer to employ him; it is not only a serious right, affecting
a man’s life, but you may say that it is his life. The laboring man’s
employment is the only thing that stands between him and starvation,
or what is little less than starvation—pauperism—and it is for the pub
lic interest and for the public good that the right of a man to his own
employment, in any honest work which he may seek, should not be
interfered with or violated.
320—No. 2---- 8
218
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
This, of course, does not meddle at all with the right of a company, or of
a man, to judge himself who he will have to work for him; and it makes
no difference whether he refuses to let a man work for him because he
is incompetent or because he dislikes him. He has a right to seek his
own employees, but, as is frequently said, one man’s right ends where
another man’s commences, and the right of the employer to discharge
ends with his own employment, and he must not trench upon the right
of the employee to seek other employment by which he may support
himself and his family, and it is for the public interest that the largest
liberty to seek employment should be before every man, whatever may
be his employment or whatever may be his business, trade, or occu
pation. It is also a matter of public interest to encourage men in
becoming proficient in their employment. It is, of course, a matter of
public policy that a railroad company should have the right to employ
such men as it sees fit and to judge for itself of the competency of its
employees. There is no doubt about that. It is, however, for the pub
lic interest that a man who is skilled and who has become proficient in
his employment should be able to find employment, if not with one
railroad, with another railroad, or some other railroad—at least that the
field should be open to him, that he should have that right; and while
a railroad company may discharge its men and not employ them them
selves, they trench upon the rights of the employees whenever they, by
one deed or another, seek to prevent their employees from getting
employment of other railroad companies, or combine or conspire in any
way to prevent it, as is charged in this petition, and the matters alleged
in the petition are, on demurrer, to be taken as confessed.
Of course there may be an injury that is not a legal injury resulting
from a company discharging one of its employees, and so long as they
simply discharge him their right to make the discharge should not be
questioned; but if they make a combination, as is charged in this
petition, with other companies that they shall not employ him, then it
seems to me they go beyond their legal right.
The matters alleged here are sufficient to constitute a cause of action
against the defendant, and the demurrer will therefore be overruled.
EXTRACT RELATING TO LABOR FROM THE NEW CONSTITUTION
OF UTAH.
By act of Congress approved July 16, 1894, it was provided that the
people of the Territory of Utah might call a convention to form a con
stitution and do other necessary things toward their becoming a State
of the Union. This convention assembled in Salt Lake City March 4,
1895, and continued in session until May 8,1895. It framed a State
constitution, which was submitted to the voters of the Territory at an
election held November 5,1895, and was by them adopted. The only
further action needed to constitute Utah a sovereign State of the
nation was the issue by the President of the usual, formal proclama
tion to that effect which took place Saturday, January 4 , 1896.
The following is a copy of Article XYI, relating to labor:
Section 1. The rights of labor shall have just protection through
laws calculated to promote the industrial welfare of the State.
Sec. 2. The legislature shall provide by law for a board of labor, con
ciliation, and arbitration, which shall fairly represent the interests of
both capital and labor. The board shall perform duties and receive
compensation as prescribed by law.
Sec. 3. The legislature shall prohibit:
First. The employment of women or of children under the age of 14
years in underground mines.
Second. The contracting of convict labor.
Third. The labor of convicts outside prison grounds, except on pub
lic works under the direct control of the State.
Fourth. The political and commercial control of employees.
Sec. 4. The exchange of black lists by railroad companies or other
corporations, associations, or persons is prohibited.
Sec. 5. The right of action to recover damages for injuries resulting
in death shall never be abrogated, and the amount recoverable shall
not be subject to any statutory limitation.
Sec. 6. Eight hours shall constitute a day’s work on all works or
undertakings carried on or aided by the State, county, or municipal
governments, and the legislature shall pass laws to provide for the
health and safety of employees in factories, smelters, and mines.
Sec. 7. The legislature, by appropriate legislation, shall provide for
the enforcement of the provisions of this article.
219
NOTE REGARDING BUREAUS OE STATISTICS OF LABOR.
The following minor emendations are offered to the table relating to
dates of establishment, etc., of bureaus of labor statistics printed on
pages 110 and 111 of Bulletin No. 1:
M a r y l a n d .—February 25,1892, a new organic act relating to this
bureau was passed in which, in addition to ordinary labor statistics,
provision was made for gathering statistics of agriculture, mining,
transportation by railroad and other means, and of shipping and com
merce. Also that reports should be made annually instead of biennially
as heretofore. The new bureau is known officially as the Bureau of
Industrial Statistics.
C o n n ec tic u t .— During the existence of the original bureau (July
12,1873, to July 23,1875) two annual reports were made, instead of
one as stated in Bulletin No. 1, one in May, 1874, and one in May, 1875.
220
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