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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
BULLETIN
OF THE
BUREAU OF LABOR.
NO. 68-JANUARY, 1907.
.ISSUED EVERY OTHER MONTII.
W A SH IN G TO N :
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1907.
CONTENTS.
Pasre.
Free public em ploym ent offices in tlie United States, b y J. E . Conner, Ph. D —
.1 -1 1 5
Laws of foreign countries relating to employees on railroads, b y L in d ley D .
Clark, A . M ., L L . M ...............................................................................................................
116-138
Digest of recent reports of State bureaus of labor statistics:
Connecticut............................................................................................................................
139-141
M aine......................................................................................................................................... 141-144
North Carolina....................................................................................................................... 144-147
Rhode Isla n d ......................................................................................................................... 147-150
Virginia........................................................................................................................................150-152
Digest of recent foreign statistical publications................................................................ 153-172
Opinions of the Attorney-General on questions affecting labor.................................. 173-180
Decisions of courts affecting labor.......................................................................................... 181-228
Laws of various States relating to labor, enacted since January 1, 1904.................. 229-238
Cumulative index of labor laws and decisions relating thereto.................................. 239-243
in
BULLETIN
OP THE
BUREAU
No. 68.
OF L A B O R .
WASHINGTON.
Ja n u a r y ,
1907.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN THE UNITED STATES.
BY J. E. CONNER, PH. D.
INTRODUCTION.
Free public employment offices are agencies supported by the State
or the municipality and designed' to bring employee and employer
together for the purpose of furnishing employment to the former and
help to the latter. The employment agency as a private institution
is of long standing. As a department of philanthropic work among
charitable organizations it is found at least as far back as 1870, when
the United Hebrew Charities of Chicago opened its free employment
office. Both of these classes of employment offices, as well as those
conducted by firms, corporations, labor and trade organizations, etc.,
are excluded from this investigation, except in so far as they are inci
dentally of interest to the discussion.
Agencies for securing employment may be given the following gen
eral classification:
1. Private or pay agencies, conducted for gain, like any other busi
ness. The “ want” columns of the daily press logically belong in this
class.
2. Philanthropic agencies, conducted by such organizations as the
Associated Charities, the Young Men’s Christian Association, the
United Hebrew Charities, and other religious or humanitarian bodies.
3. The employment departments *of various firms and business
organizations conducted for their own private advantage. To this
class belong the “ business agents” of the labor unions, the employ
ment bureaus of mercantile and manufacturing establishments, and
the employment departments of the antiunion organizations.
1
2
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
4.
The free public employment offices supported by the State or
the city.
In all of these classes except the first the service is usually free to
employer and employee alike, save that in the second class a small
nominal fee is sometimes charged in order to make the service pay all
or a portion of the expenses of the business. In the fourth class, with
which this article is chiefly concerned, this latter feature has been
attempted in only one instance.(a) The term “ free” is necessary to
distinguish the fourth class from the first or “ p a y” agencies, and the
term “ public” is needed to distinguish it from the second and third
classes.
The purpose of this investigation is to study the aims', methods,
progress, and results of the free public employment offices of the
various States and municipalities, and to present such conclusions
as the facts seem to justify.
Much detailed information could be presented in a digest of the
reports of the commissioners of labor of the various States, supple
mented by correspondence from public officials, but as the nature of
the work of the public employment office is such as appeals to the
generous impulses of men, there is no cause for wonder if the reports
of the commissioners and superintendents occasionally exhibit a
greater degree of enthusiasm than the results seem to warrant. More
over, to view the results of the operations of the bureaus from merely
a local standpoint wTould yield but superficial information and lead
to uncertain and empirical deductions.
In order, therefore, to carry out the purpose outlined above, the
report should be based upon information obtained by personal visits
of the investigator to the offices, an inspection of their methods
of business, and an examination of local industrial conditions, tak
ing account not only of official opinion, but also of public opinion,
especially as represented by employers, labor organizations, and
students of the local situation.
Political experiment is necessarily slow in its processes, and most
of the errors observed are due to the fact that while the public
employment offices have been in existence in this country about
fifteen years, and a somewhat longer period in Europe, the move
ment is not yet beyond the experimental stage. Criticism does
not always take account of this fact, and, consequently, the whole
movement is oftentimes rashly condemned for preventable mistakes
which are by no means fundamental in nature. Certain organiza
tions are warm supporters of the movement while others oppose it.
This partisanship gives rise to the false impression that the whole
agitation is only an exhibition of class spirit and interest. Moreover,,
the varying degree of success secured by some States, the abortive
a Los Angeles, Cal.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES;
3
attempts made in others, and the abandonment of the system by
one have placed the movement rather on the defensive. The advisa
bility of establishing such a system is under consideration in at
least three States, and in several others the movement is being
watched with interest.
The chronology of the free public employment offices of the United
States is as follows:
1890. Ohio, 5 offices, Cleveland, Colum bus, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo; salaries
paid b y cities at first, now by State.
1893. Los Angeles, Cal., a m unicipal office, founded and maintained by labor
unions,
later assumed b y m unicipality and county, now b y m unicipality.
1894. Seattle, W ash ., a municipal office, founded b y an am endment to the city charter.
1895. Montana, first legislative attem pt at a mail-order system.
Changed b y a sub
stitute act of March 6, 1897, to a law permitting municipalities to act for
themselves.
B utte office, 1902; Great Falls, 1905; both founded by city
ordinances and virtually municipal offices.
1896. N ew Y ork, 1 office, New Y ork C ity; act repealed and office discontinued, 1906.
1897. Nebraska, mail-order system, only 1 office, State capitol at Lincoln.
1899. Illinois, 4 offices, 3 in Chicago and 1 in Peoria; original acV declared uncon
stitutional, present one passed M ay 11, 1903.
1899. Missouri, 3 offices, St. Louis, Kansas City, and St. Joseph.
1901. Connecticut, 5 offices, Bridgeport, Hartford, New H aven, Norwich, and Waterbury.
1901. Kansas, mail-order system ; only 1 office, State capitol at Topeka.
1901. W est Virginia, 1 office, W heeling.
1901. Wisconsin, 4 offices, La Crosse, M ilwaukee, Oshkosh, Superior.
1901. D uluth, M in n ., municipal office; founded b y city ordinance.
1902. M aryland, 1 office, Baltimore.
1902. Sacramento, Cal., municipal office; founded b y city ordinance.
1904. Tacoma, W ash ., m unicipal office; founded b y city ordinance.
1905. Minnesota, 1 office, Minneapolis; m unicipal office at D uluth continues as
organized.
1905. Michigan, 2 offices, Detroit and Grand Rapids.
1905. Spokane, W ash ., municipal office; founded b y city ordinance.
The field of the present investigation covered the 15 States having
free public employment offices, namely, California, (a) Connecticut,
Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana,
Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Washington,^) West Virginia, and
Wisconsin. Colorado, Iowa, and Massachusetts were also included,
since these States have the establishment of such offices under con
sideration. There were at the time of the investigation 37 offices,
all but 5 of which were personally inspected. The 5 not visited were
Oshkosh and Superior, Wis.; Duluth, Minn.; Great Falls, Mont.;
and Spokane, Wash. Of these the second and third were satisfac
torily reported by correspondence, b y reliable visitors, and b y official
testimony; the other three had been in operation but a few months.
a T he State has no statutory provision, but several of the cities have municipal
employment offices.
4
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Each State had to be studied as a separate problem; for not only
were industrial conditions necessarily different in each, but the laws
authorizing the creation of the offices varied greatly. The general
plan of investigation was to visit first the State capitol, or wherever the
commissioner of labor had his office, study the State situation as an
entire problem, then visit the several offices. In addition to the cities
where these offices are located, Boston, Providence, Lansing, Springfield (111.), Madison, St. Paul, Helena, San Francisco, Denver, and Des
Moines were visited.
It is evident that the subject is one which does not admit of such
statistical definiteness in the statement of results as might be desired.
The several employment offices have statistics in abundance to offer;
but these can not be taken as absolutely correct, owing to the fact
that people will not always report as to employment when the service
is free.
CONCLUSIONS.
From the experience of the several States and municipalities in
conducting employment offices the free public employment office must
be regarded thus far as an experiment with some failures, many mis
takes, and several successes to be recorded as its briefest summary.
The failures have not been upon fundamental points and the mistakes
are believed to be preventable. The history of this movement has
been one of progression and not retrogression, though the progress
must be looked for as a whole rather than within any one of the sev
eral States. The individual States have shown but little inclination
to modify their earlier enactments or to profit by the experience of
others.
The offices have not uniformly followed the practice of giving their
services without the payment of a fee. The experience where a fee
has been charged indicates that perhaps the best results would be
obtained from a small fee which each applicant for employment
should pay for each position he secures, following the principle of
making the service pay its own expenses. This fee could be collected
subsequent to employment.
The offices should be located whenever practicable in the city hall
or the court-house. This is desirable for two reasons: First, that the
burden of the support of the office may be distributed between the
State and the locality, the latter accounting at least for the item of
rent, the former assuming responsibility for all remaining expenses;
second, in order that the office may be as closely as possible associated
with other social services, and be placed incidentally on an equal
footing with other public offices.
That those seeking employment should be protected from the
schemes of the unscrupulous has been urged more than any other
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
5
motive as a reason for the establishment of free public employment
offices. The experience of the various States does not justify the
belief that free competition by the State can be relied upon alone
to drive out the unscrupulous private agencies or correct their abuses.
To accomplish this object the first requisite is a law covering the spe
cific abuses. Following the system developed in Illinois, the free pub
lic employment office may be used as a valuable adjunct in the admin
istration of such a law.
A second motive advanced is the need of a public agency to furnish
all possible assistance to the unemployed seeking employment. Pri
vate initiative can not be relied upon to do this for the reason that it
must make merchandise of men’s necessities to an extent that is
socially harmful, even when conducted as a legitimate business and
entirely free from extortionate practices.
The economic motive is a third reason advanced in justification of
the free public employment office. This may be analyzed into the
saving of money to those for whom it is needful that money should
be saved, and the bringing together the laborer in search of work and
the employer seeking help, thus with the least possible expense reduc
ing unemployment to a minimum and supplying the demand for
workers to the fullest extent.
The private employment offices in large cities have become highly
differentiated and, while the cost is sometimes excessive and exorbi
tant, in many cases they render a higher grade of service than the pub
lic office. As a rule it is safer to trust the public offices for the lower
grades of employment, but in the higher grades it is possible in many
cases to get better service through the private offices.
Specialization of the free employment office is theoretically possible,
but by reason of the expense to the State it is impracticable save in an
elementary degree, namely, the separation of the skilled from the
unskilled labor market by the establishment of two corresponding
grades of offices. Whether the State offices, if on a self-supporting
basis, could equal the private ageiicies in efficiency is altogether
problematic.
There is often a large unsatisfied demand for unskilled labor. On
the other hand there is at times a large supply of this grade of labor
outside of the larger industrial centers, in the towns and small cities
where there is no great industrial activity. Bringing these two fac
tors of the labor market together would be a great economic gain and
much more desirable than the encouragement of immigration to
satisfy the labor demand.
The “ mail order’ 7 system of free employment offices has furnished
most of the instances of failure. This system is simply a labor regis
try for employer and employee and necessitates a correspondence
bureau at the State capital, where the real work of fitting the man to
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
the job is essayed by correspondence. In the light of American
experience this system is successful only in the supplying of harvest
hands in the wheat belt.
CALIFORNIA.
The commissioner of labor of California opened without any
legislative authorization a free employment office in San Franeisco,
July 15, 1895. It was expected that the results would convince the
legislature of the feasibility of the enterprise and of the necessity
of continuing it as a remedy for the evils of the private agencies.
During the preceding month circulars were sent throughout the State
announcing the organization of the office; and on the day appointed,
according to the report of the bureau of labor, there were “ crowds
awaiting for admission before the doors were opened.” Through the
assistance of public-spirited citizens the office was later able to move
into more commodious quarters, and the work grew. Considerable
care seems to have been exercised in placing men in positions. Dur
ing the first year applications for* employment numbered 18,920, of
which 14,251 were for men. The positions secured were 5,845, of
which 3,314 were for men. Thus the positions secured amounted
to 30.89 per cent of the applications, while the number of men who
secured work was somewhat less than one-fourth of the number that
applied. The number of applications for help is not given in the
reports, but the low percentage of positions secured is probably due
to the lack of employers. The effect upon private agencies was
merely to diminish their business in some measure.
The commissioner in the end was disappointed because the legis
lature did not grant the desired support, and the free employment
office was discontinued.
In the biennial report for 1899-1900, a new commissioner being in
charge of the bureau of labor, a line of argument is presented, the
purport of which is that a better method of reaching the evils of the
private agency is by specific legislation, and there is submitted the
following legislative programme:
1. Prohibiting the collection of an employment-agency fee in any
case prior to the time when information of a situation such as sought
for, and actually then open to the applicant, is given to the applicant.
2. Requiring prompt return of the fee to tne payer, in all cases
wherein the position for which payment was made is, through no fault
of the applicant, not open to him as understood when fee was paid.
3. Making employment agents responsible for reasonable costs and
expenses incurred in going to and returning from place to which
directed, by applicants paying fees as herein, in all cases wherein the
place to which directed shall be in any material respect other than
as represented when fee was paid and in all cases wherein places are
not open, as next above, through no fault of the applicant.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
T
4. Prescribing the maximum fee which an employment agent may
charge in any case for assistance in securing employment for any
person.
5. Placing all employment agencies in the State under the super
vision of the State bureau of labor statistics, etc.
In 1903 a law was enacted with the above-defined end in view. It
provided that no fee should be charged prior to the time the assist
ance is given; that fees should be returned to the applicant when he
failed through no neglect of his own to secure the position; that a
maximum fee of 10 per cent of the first month’s wages should be
prescribed; that the tax or license collector of each county, or city
and county, should furnish to the commissioner of labor, quarterly,
the name and address of each employment agent; that each private
agency shall keep a written record giving certain required informa
tion, and that the commissioner of labor and his deputies shall have
access to the same. On July 25, 1904, the supreme court declared
unconstitutional the section which prescribes a maximum fee at 10
per cent of the first month’s wages. The ground taken by the court
was that the private employment-agency business was as legitimate
and the profits no more to be limited than those of any other business..
The effect of the decision upon the law was to leave it uncertain
whether the whole law was made nugatory or only the section in
question. The legislature assumed the latter to be the case, and by
an act approved March 18, 1905, repealed the condemned section and
amended another.
A great deal of discontent has been expressed by various citizens
with the present methods of private employment agencies in San
Francisco. These agencies do an enormous business, nearly 70,000
positions being reported as having been secured by one office in one
year.
There are two municipal free employment offices in the State,
namely, one at Sacramento and one at Los Angeles. These make
no report to the State commissioner, and their operation in each case
is determined by the city council, to which they are responsible.
SACRAMENTO.
The office at Sacramento w^as established December 29, 1902, the
trade unions being chiefly instrumental in the matter. The ordinance
creates a municipal labor bureau with a commissioner at the head,
whose duties are simply those of a superintendent of an employment
office. He is required to keep a register of applicants for employment
and the kind of work desired, and another for those seeking help, the
date of application, and whether or not the application was filled.
The city is required to provide an office and to pay all expenses up
to $50 per month, not including the salary of the commissioner.
8
BULLETIN OF' THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The term of office of the commissioner is two years. His appointment
is made by the mayor, with the consent of the board of trustees,
and his salary is $100 per month.
In the first two years the office found positions for 2,080 persons,
at a cost of $3,600, nearly $1.75 per position secured.
The commissioner is endeavoring to reach outside of the city,
especially to all points within a radius of 100 miles. He reported
in 1905 the labor supply as in excess of the demand; that only 10
per cent of the positions filled were one-day jobs; that skilled labor
was about 20 per cent of the total; that in 90 per cent of the cases
definite information was obtained as to positions secured, and that
there were nine private agencies in the city.
LOS ANGELES.
The Los Angeles free employment office was opened in January,
1893, and is therefore, with the exception of the Ohio offices, the
oldest in the United States. Its organizers were union labor leaders
who were moved with pity for the dupes of private agencies. They
had never heard of the Ohio system nor of any other free public offices,
but determined to drive out the private agencies by free competition.
It continued as a free employment office, conducted by the labor
unions, until its support was assumed by the city and county. It so
remained down to January 17, 1905, the county and city each paying
$50 per month for its support. At this time the city adopted civil
service, and as the county continued to elect all officers the city
assumed the support of the employment office, complaint having
been previously made that the city derived most of the benefit.
The novel feature of the Los Angeles office, the one thing that
distinguishes its operation from all others, is the fact that it charges
the nominal sum of 25 cents for every position actually secured.
This has been its practice since November 30, 1904, and the results
are gratifying from every point of view. The method followed is
briefly this: No person is permitted to register unless there is a job
in prospect which he is willing to accept. He then deposits his
25 cents, for which he receives a receipt like the following, of which
a duplicate is kept in the register:
25 C E N T S .
N o. —
C IT Y L A B O R B U R E A U ,
217 EAST SECOND STREET.
L o s Angeles , Cal . , ------- , 190— .
R eceived o f ------------------------tw enty-five cents, being the fee required for regis
tration upon the city labor bureau register, authorized to be collected under ordinance
N o. 10,446 (N . S .), approved January 16th, 1905.
M anager, City Labor B ureau .
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
9
The applicant must go at once to secure the work, and whether
successful or unsuccessful he must within a few hours let the office
know the result, otherwise he forfeits the fee. This small charge
does not hinder anyone from the use of the office.
Cases of destitution are by no means infrequent, and these need
all the more the services of such an office. Accordingly in such
cases another form is provided, of which the following is a copy:
N o .—
To the Manager of the City Labor Bureau:
D ear Sir : I n accordance with the conditions of registration required b y ordinance
N o. 10,446 (N . S .), I herewith notify you that I am “ unable to p ay the registration
fee of tw enty-five cents in advance,” for the privilege of registering on your books,
but I do hereby agree to pay to you the said fee out of the first m oney I earn under
the registration made this day.
>
Applicant.
I herewith indorse above statement.
City Clerk.
This is also printed in duplicate, and a carbon copy kept in the
register as a voucher for the manager just as in the preceding case.
It is not honored by the manager until countersigned by the city
clerk.
The manager states that about half of the positions secured are
short jobs, lasting but a day or two, and that if it is for less than
two days he gets the man another job without additional charge.
This is a matter of questionable expediency, or certainly would be,
if the labor demand were stronger than the supply, for the reason
that it would tend to encourage shiftlessness. However, the reverse
is the case in Los Angeles in the winter time, while in the summer
the conditions are nearly even. As many as 50 men, frequently
a larger number, could be found out of employment at almost any
time throughout the winter. The men who patronize the municipal
employment office are generally married, and at least in 75 per cent
of the cases residents of the city or farmers who come in to spend
the winter. The fee has had the effect of driving away from the
public office practically all of the floating element, who, since they
can not get its services free, prefer to hang around private agencies.
There are 70 of the latter in Los Angeles, 11 being Japanese, and
competition is lively.
The manager of the municipal office has one helper, and is thus
enabled to get away from the office and to interview employers.
That his competitors are sometimes unscrupulous is seen in the
following typical incident.
The municipal office sent a man to a contractor for work. The
manager of a private office heard of it and sent word to the con
BULLETm OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
10
tractor that the man was sent by him; the contractor accordingly
withheld the private agents s fee from the wages and probably was
permitted to retain a portion for his trouble. Such cases are con
tinually occurring, and indiscriminate condemnation of private
agencies is often heard in California. It is scarcely to be wondered
at that a strong conviction exists in the State that they should be
legislated out of existence.
The manager makes a monthly and also an annual report to the
city council. The annual report includes a monthly account of the
receipts and expenses, and a statement of the number of applications
and the orders filled. No record is kept of the applications for help.
Practically the same is true of the applications for employment,
since these are identical in number with the positions secured. The
report for the year ending November 30, 1905, is as follows:
Receipts, 2,084 fees, at 25 cents e a c h ..................................................................................
$521.00
Expenses:
R en t..........................................................................................................................................
188.50
S a la r y ..........................*..........................................................................................................1 ,2 0 0 .0 0
T e le p h o n e .............................................................................................................................
48.0 0
Books and printing.............................................................................................................
14.00
T o t a l ...................................................................................................................................
1 ,4 5 0 .5 0
Deducting receipts from expenses leaves $929.50, the amount that
the office has cost the city, or an average of 44.6 cents per position
secured.
The gains effected by charging a fee for each position secured may
be thus enumerated:
1. There is a gain in the ease of securing accuracy of returns, since
a man is reasonably sure to return for his fee if he does not secure the
work.
2. There is a gain in the saving of expense to the public. A charge
of 50 instead of 25 cents would probably have made the office almost
self-supporting.
3. The Los Angeles experiment indicates, as one would expect,
that the self-respecting laborer prefers to pay something for the serv
ice, while the vagrants will leave whenever a fee is charged. That
they go to private agencies where a still higher fee is charged does not
affect the question, since the latter have various ways of making
their places attractive, in the way of saloons, glowing promises, etc.
CONNECTICUT.
The original act creating the free employment system of Connecti
cut was passed in 1901. There was a revision of this act in the follow
ing year, and two amendments have since been added.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
11
The bill as originally presented called for the establishment of
three offices— at New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport, respectively;
but before it became a law two other cities were added, namely,
Waterbury and Norwich. A comparison of the records presented by
all of the offices will show that the latter cities are by no means equal
in importance with the others. In fact, they were included in the
terms of the act mainly to appease local interests, Waterbury being
in the western and Norwich in the eastern part of the State. The
first three mentioned present a much stronger industrial, demand.
This statement explains why the average cost per position secured is
so high, and thus accounts for the chief criticism of the Connecticut
system.
It will be observed that only the first section and the first amend
ment of the Connecticut law have anything to do with the free em
ployment office, the greater part of the act being directed toward the
regulation of private offices. This leaves the details of the manage
ment of the public offices, the form of applications, the data they shall
require, and the frequency of reports to the commissioner’s office. It
is thus a strongly centralized system.
The Connecticut statute is not aimed against the private agency as
a business, but against its evils. This is seen in the small license
fee, which is no financial handicap in competition with the public
agency, and in the cordial relations existing between the better class
of private agencies and the officials of the commissioner’s office. It
is a measure of official protection to such agencies, moreover, that
the registers are open to the inspection of the commissioner and his
agents; for it is only thus that irregularities can be discovered and
checked among the evilly inclined, and there is no advantage arising
to the public offices as a result of this inspection. The superintend
ents are not required by law to assist in this supervision, but at the
same time they are supposed by the commissioner to exercise “ a
general oversight’’ and “ to keep the office at the capitol informed as
to conditions.”
There was no general demand for the passage of this law. The
gratifying results from similar laws in other States had made it seem
desirable that such a law should be enacted for Connecticut. The
report of the commissioner of labor for 1899 contained an extended
argument in favor of such laws, and a personal investigation was made
of the offices in Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin. In 1900 the Connec
ticut State branch of the Federation of Labor passed a resolution
instructing its legislative committee to use its influence toward estab
lishing a similar system in that State. The principal opposition in
the legislature came from agricultural sources, but the system has
proved so helpful to farmers that they are now among its most ardent
supporters.
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
12
The bill carries an appropriation of $10,000 per annum for the sup
port of the five offices, but a part of this is covered into the State
treasury every year, so that it is not easy to say how much the system
is costing the State. The following statement from the Twenty-first
Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the year ending
November 30, 1905, shows what the five employment offices accom-*
plished during the first fifty-three months of their existence:
APPLIC A TIO N S FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H ELP AND SITUATIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FIV E FR E E PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF CONNECTICUT,
JU LY 1, 1901, TO NOVEM BER 30, 1905.
Office.
Applications for em
ployment.
Applications for help.
Situations secured.
Males. Females. Total.
Males. Females. Total.
Males. Females. Total.
Hartford...................... 11,125
Bridgeport................... 3.654
New Haven.................
6,899
Waterbury................... 2,545
1,377
Norwich. . . : ...............
9,806
10,052
5,877
4,902
1,365
20,931
13,706
12,776
7,447
2,742
6,094
3,042
2,480
1,599
519
9,472
10,323
4,943
5,203
1,388
15,566
13,365
7,423
6,802
1,907
5,723
2,541
2,203
1,449
553
6,838
7,551
3,858
3,806
1,047
12,561
10,092
6,061
5,255
1,600
T otal.................. 25,600
32,002
57,602
13,734
31,329
45,063
12,469
23,100
35,569
Since July 1, 1901, when the offices were established, situations
have been secured for 48.71 per cent of the male, 72.18 per cent of the
female, and 61.75 per cent of all applicants for employment. During
the same period help has been furnished to 78.93 per cent of all appli
cants for the same.
From the above it will be seen that the average cost per position
secured, assuming the entire amount of the appropriation to have been
spent each year, is $1.24, a sum which most people would think too
much for the State to pay. But if we take the first three offices
only— those mentioned in the original bill— at an average appropria
tion of $2,000 per annum each, the expense per position secured is
brought down to 92 cents, and this estimate is still too high for the
reason that the appropriation is not all spent.
An office to be complete should have a clerk to take care of it, so
that the superintendent may be free to do outside work. The Con
necticut offices are not provided with clerks, and this is a serious
handicap. There are cases where the addition of a clerk to the office
force, especially a woman clerk, could easily double the results. The
reason for this is that employers are accustomed to being sought, and
they fear to be deluged with applications if they advertise their
wants, hence they must often be discovered by the superintendent if
laborers are to be placed. The large excess of situations secured for
females over those secured for males is to be accounted for partially
by the fact that orders for women are usually sent by telephone,
whereas the placing of men, especially skilled labor, requires more
outside work.
The Connecticut offices do not register all of the applicants for
employment. No registration is made in the case of those who have
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
13
*no address, and thus the floating population or "rounders” are bene
fited only when they happen to find something on hand at the office.
The omitted registration of this class makes less difference in Connec
ticut than in a western State, because there is less need in New
England for employees on contract work than in a newer country.
However, for the construction of trolley lines, excavationsr etc., such
laborers are still needed, and some account of them should be taken,
the more so because there is a dearth of employees for this class of
labor in many parts of the country, and foreigners, it is alleged, are
imported to do it.
The policy of the Connecticut offices in case of a strike is to treat
employers just as at other times, filling their orders as usual, but
informing the men of the possibility of personal danger.
,Monthly reports are required from each superintendent to the
commissioner of labor. These reports are not printed for distribution
to the several offices, but are given to the different press associations
each month and are published in some newspapers of the State. In
this respect the Connecticut system resembles that of Missouri. It
means an economy of some money and of much time and effort.
HARTFORD.
Of the 2,597 positions filled in the year 1905 b y the Hartford office,
1,150 were for males, and of these 575 were farm hands. In all the
Connecticut offices the farm hands stand in about the same ratio to all
occupations that common unskilled laborers do in other States.
They are not to be understood in the sense that the term would be
used in the West, for they are employed for the most part in taking
care of the tobacco crop. They are harvest hands rather than farm
hands, reserving the latter term to apply to all-round farm work,
involving the use of various kinds of machinery and the knowledge of
farming as a business. Like other harvest hands, they may be classed
as unskilled laborers. However, they differ from the generality of
unskilled laborers in cities in that their work is usually of longer
duration.
The Hartford office attempts to verify the number of positions
secured by requesting the return of such information. However, if
nothing is heard to the contrary within fifteen days the office assumes
that the position was secured. The superintendent states that perhaps
10 per cent of the cases furnish no precise information and the data
may be vitiated to that extent. Private agencies in the State have
criticised the published statements of the public offices on the ground
that since no fee is charged there is no bona fide business transaction,
and the public employment offices can not guarantee the accuracy of
their statements.
248b—No. 68—07---- 2
14
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
BRIDGEPORT.
The Bridgeport office surpasses the others in satisfying the demand
for domestics, shop hands, waitresses, cooks, and female help in gen
eral. It supplies a larger number of common laborers than either of
the others, due possibly to the proximity of New York City. The
superintendent says that when factory work is scarce the demand for
domestics can be fairly well supplied; probably the only office in the
United States that can say as much. At other times 90 per cent of
the city demand and a somewhat smaller per cent of the country
demand can be met.
There is never a scarcity of unskilled laborers. The superintendent
can furnish them in large numbers at any time. Of the positions he
fills 75 per cent call for unskilled and 25 per cent for skilled laborers.
And yet he maintains that these figures could be reversed if there
were an adequate supply of skilled men for all-round machinists and
tool makers. The demand for this class is far in excess of the supply
and will probably increase. Boys do not take time to become skilled
machinists, because it means low wages to begin with and a long
apprenticeship.
The superintendent has no clerk, but leaves the office to investigate
openings of which he hears. That the standing of the office is good is
seen in the uniform courtesy shown to the bureau b y manufacturers
and employers in general.
NEW HAVEN.
The population of New Haven is over 100,000, being nearly 30,000
in excess of Hartford, the next largest city in the State. Industrial
conditions, however, are not so active as in the latter city. Largely
for this reason the results obtained in the New Haven office are smaller
than those in the Hartford office, though it is a matter of some surprise
that there should be less than half as many positions secured in New
Haven as in Hartford.
The superintendent receives all applications, even from “ rounders”
if there is anything for them to do, but does not file applications from
those who can furnish no address. There is necessarily the same
difficulty here as elsewhere in regard to securing precise information
as to positions secured. The people who receive the most benefit
from the office are those seeking domestics. The women placed in
positions in 1905 outnumbered the men more than two to one.
The superintendent remains in the office during office hours, but
makes it a point to see as many employers outside as possible
during the luncheon hour.
The city officials find work, so far as this can be done conveniently,
for men who hang around the city hall, and turn the remainder over
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
15
to the free employment office. Since there is not much contract
work to be found, a burden is thus thrown upon the latter which is
hard to dispose of. Nevertheless, the city hall officials, the charity
workers, the Young Men’s Christian Association, and others speak
well of the services of the employment office and the ability of its
management.
W
ATERBTTRY.
There were 439 men and 1,212 women placed in positions b y this
office in 1905. Among the men the largest numbers were placed as
farm hands, 94; shop hands, 155, and drivers, 50. Of women the
largest numbers were for general housework, 429; day work, 170, and
shop hands, 111.
This office, it is stated, “ supplies a larger per cent of skilled labor
than any other in the State.” A strong demand exists for this class
of labor in the shops, and a skilled workman has little difficulty' in
finding work.
The superintendent is able to see some employers, but feels the
necessity for more work of this character to be done.
NORWICH.
The population of Norwich, according to the census of 1900, was
17,251. In the year 1905 the Norwich office succeeded in placing
only 162 men and 252 women, a total of 414. Of the men, 92 were
laborers, 17 farm hands, 8 miscellaneous occupations, and 4 boys.
Of the women, 111 were classed as general houseworkers, 39 second
girls, and 36 scrub women. That this was not an exceptional year is
seen in the fact that during the first 53 months, previously referred to,
the average per annum was 360. Supposing the entire appropriation
of $2,000 per annum to have been expended upon this office, it would
have cost the State $5.52 per position secured.
ILLINOIS.
On July 1, 1899, the original act creating free public employment
offices in Illinois went into effect. The principal object of the act was
to prevent the abuses practiced by the private employment agencies,
but the legislature failed to provide an appropriation for its support.
The law met with strong opposition from the private agencies and
remained a dead letter until 1903, when the supreme court declared
the whole act null and void, because of a section which aimed to pre
vent the public employment offices from being of any service to an
employer in case of a strike. The legislature being in session at that
time a new law was immediately passed, which omitted the disputed
section, reduced the license fee for private agencies from $200 to $50
per annum, and placed the supervision of those agencies in the hands
16
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
of the bureau of labor statistics. This act has been in operation
since May 11, 1903, and has proved much more satisfactory than the
one it supersedes. The earlier law apparently aimed to strangle or
at least cripple the private agency by a high license fee. The later
law recognized it as a legitimate business when properly conducted
and sought to devise new methods of administration.
The Illinois law as administered has shown itself to be of exceptional
efficiency in the prevention of the abuses practiced by private em
ployment agencies. Since the accomplishment of this object is
chiefly put forward as a reason for the establishment of the free public
agency, it is in order to consider the difficulties of the problem and
the method of treating it in Illinois.
The employment agency may be conducted as a private enterprise
in such a way as to be an instrument of social and individual benefit
as "well as of personal profit, but it is susceptible of great abuse in the
hands of the unscrupulous. Of the various schemes employed for
obtaining fees from applicants some of the more common are as
follows:
1. The applicant for work is sent to an accomplice, who gives him
work as per contract, but discharges him shortly afterward on account
of alleged inefficiency.
2. The applicant is told by the accomplice that the employer has
left the city, but will return in a few days.
3. The applicant is sent to alleged employment some distance away
whence it will be difficult to return or where work may be had only
under unbearable conditions.
4. The applicant for help is cheated by having the accomplice sent
to him as a laborer, the latter absconding as soon as the fee is for
feited.
5. The applicant for work pays for the mere privilege of being on
the waiting list, nothing being promised in return.
The agency, seemingly keeping the contract by one of these methods
or by others equally detestable, is often enabled to escape prosecution.
The methods of perpetrating such frauds are so numerous and so
devious that it is the despair of the legislator to cover them all. A
study o f the problem shows that its solution is more a matter of
administration than of legislation.
In the Illinois system legislative provisions are made for license
fee, bond, return of enrollment fee when work is not secured, etc.
Other States have done as much. Illinois has also put the enforce
ment of this law into the hands of the bureau of labor statistics, thus
practically making the private agencies a part of the State system.
Again, other States have done as much. But in actual practice this
latter line of development has worked out possibly further in Illinois
than the law contemplated, for the bureau of labor statistics has found
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
17
it expedient to delegate this control to the local public agencies.
Thus, in Chicago a superintendent of one of the State offices issues the
licenses, receives the bonds, and hears all complaints arising in con
nection with the private agencies in the city. This method differs
from that adopted by most cities where there is any special provision
by statute or ordinance to this end. Usually thie enforcement is
intrusted to the police in general, or to some special police officer in
particular, or to the district attorney, the result being that there is
no uniformity whatever as to enforcement. Police and other officers
grow careless, and abuses multiply. It requires eternal vigilance as
well as the services of a detective to ferret out the crooked ways
of an unscrupulous employment agent. B y giving the enforcement
of the law into the hands of the superintendent of the free public
agency, however, the official duty of the executive officer is reenforced
by the industrial motive. Inasmuch as the superintendent is a busi
ness competitor he is not likely to forget his duty and become indif
ferent as to whether or not the private agencies live up to the law.
Objections to this system are sometimes made on the ground that
such a motive ought, not to be needed; that official responsibility is
enough; that it is unfair to the private agencies to give a competitor
such inquisitorial power; that it is further unfair to compel them to
pay a license fee, while the one who enforces the law is exempt. As to
the first objection, it may be stated that the best method available
should be used for the protection of those in needy circumstances.
In reply to the second it may be said that official responsibility ought
to be sufficient, but it can not always be depended upon. The third
objection would have more force if the superintendent were connected
with a private instead of a public agency. The point raised in the
last objection might be conceded, yet the license fee undoubtedly
keeps some irresponsible individuals out of the business, and for this
reason is not contested by the private agencies. Taking it all in all,
Illinois seems to be the only State thus far, if we except Connecticut,
that has succeeded by means of the State employment office in accom
plishing the main purpose, and its system gives promise of permanent
results in this particular.
As to the practical working of the system and the results it can show,
the secretary of the bureau of labor statistics, in his report for the year
ending October 1, 1904, has this to say:
Since the bureau obtained supervision over the private employment
agencies they have been required to conduct their business in con
formity with the letter of the statute. This work necessarily involves
an examination at frequent intervals of the records kept by them, and
of arrests and prosecutions instituted either to compel those operating
without a license to comply with the law, or in the other numerous
class of cases where the licensed agency had failed, whether purposely
or not, to observe its provisions. For these and-other causes 361 suits
18
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
have been prosecuted and convictions in nearly every case obtained.
Several licenses have been revoked where it appeared that the prin
cipal object in securing them was to use it as a shield in perpetrating
fraud. Under the law, licensed employment agents are permitted to
charge a registration fee not to exceed $2, which must be returned to
the parties paying on failure to secure employment. B y virtue of this
provision, the licensed employment agencies of Chicago have been
compelled to return registration fees amounting in the aggregate to
$3,522. It is needless to say that this sum of money was returned to
the poor and unsuccessful applicants only after the threat of a vigorous
criminal prosecution. Among the more salutary effects of the law’s
enforcement has been the elimination of the padrone system. The
accomplishment of this result, if nothing else had been done, confirms
the wise and beneficent purpose of the law, and fully justifies and
rewards the expenditure of time and money in its enforcement.
CHICAGO.
The law provides for the establishment of three offices in each city
with a population of 1,000,000 or over, and one in each city of not
less than 50,000, Chicago and Peoria, respectively, being the cities
affected.
Of the three offices in the city of Chicago, one is on the north, one on
the west, and one on the south side. The west side office is less than
half a mile from a central point in the city, and the other two offices
are each about a mile from the same point.
People are permitted to register in all three of the offices. It is the
opinion of one of the superintendents that the number who do this is
very limited and of another that it is considerable. While this does
not increase the number of positions reported as secured, it affects the
“ number of applicants” for “ w ork” or “ help” reported, likewise the
“ number of applications for work or help unfilled.”
If it may be assumed that the aforementioned facts furnish an argu
ment in favor of uniting the three offices in one, it does not follow that
there should be but the one public employment office in Chicago. The
three offices are doing the same grade of work, and there appears to be
a need of a differentiation in service.
Broadly speaking, the labor market may be divided into an inferior
and a superior labor market, and an analysis of these two classes will
serve to show the need of differentiation in service required in the
employment business.
Inferior labor may be divided into two classes, those who are physic
ally unable to do a man’s work and those who though able are unwill
ing to do any work. A third class, comprising those who are both
unable and unwilling to do a man’s work, more properly requires the
attention o f humanitarian societies. The first class includes the
innocent victims of misfortune, who are the most averse to anything
like charity, the hardest to discover, and the most deserving of com
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
19
miseration. In this class also are included the crippled, the aged and
infirm, and all those who, though willing and anxious to work, are
physically disqualified. To provide employment for persons in this
class is a hard problem for the employment agency.
The second class includes those who, though able-bodied, are shift
less, lazy, and incompetent. The vagrants of this class drift in
toward centers of population as often as winter approaches, and fre
quent cheap lodging houses. They pretend to look for work, but arc
likely to be finical as to the kind they are willing to accept. Short
jobs, because they require but little power of application and are apt
to be well paid for, are what they most affect. Those who are willing
to work for a longer time may find employment with railroad con
tractors, but usually a short season of activity makes them feel
entitled to a long vacation, and when their means are gone it is not
difficult to find work again. In times of depression, when work is hard
to get, or when they become known as altogether unprofitable and
hopeless, the vagrants may for a short season resort to the municipal
lodging house, whence, eventually, in case of continued idleness, they
are taken in custody by the police. A man out of means, out of work,
and unwilling though able to better his condition, is scarcely less of a
menace to society than is the criminal.
The superior labor market embraces all occupations requiring some
degree of skill. In theory it may be difficult to say just what these
occupations are, but it is easy to draw the line of demarcation in all
but a few cases. Differentiation of the public employment offices
ought not therefore to be difficult. The city of Chicago presents a
large field for it, and the usefulness of the public offices to both
employers and employees would seem to demand it, at least to the
extent of the two classes indicated.
An argument for differentiation in service may be found in the
extent to which it is carried in the private employment offices.
There are now about 260 of these in Chicago, of the class sometimes
called ‘ ‘ pay agencies.’ ’ They do not include the agencies conducted
by large firms for their own private purposes, nor the *‘ business
agentsM of the labor unions, nor the various charitable, philan
thropic, and religious organizations, such as the United Hebrew
Charities, the Associated Charities, and the Young Men’s Christian
Association, unless they charge a fee, nor the State employment
offices. They deal not only with the different gradations in labor and
the problems presented by the varying conditions of employment, but
also with the peculiar requirements of the individual positions and
the characteristics and whims, perhaps, of individual employers.
They include agencies for teachers, engineers, stenographers, clerks,
metal workers, domestics, Scandinavian domestics, etc. The indefi
nite continuance of a class of high-grade private employment agencies
20
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
may be expected, since there will always be those who are willing to
pay for a differentiation in service whether or not they get it. Never
theless, the public offices should be maintained in the same field for
the service of skilled labor that can not afford, or for any reason
does not choose, to pay high fees.
Each labor union has its 11business agent, ’ ’ whose duty it is to
help its unemployed members to secure work. Manufacturing and
mercantile establishments often have employment offices of their
own, but are in many cases even by this means unable to supply their
needs and are accustomed to leave standing orders for all the desir
able help available with other employment agencies, including those
supported by the State. Again, in the last two years there has been
established an employers’ bureau, the Citizens’ Industrial Associa
tion, whose employment office, through its various branches in Chi
cago, St. Louis, Cleveland, New York, and elsewhere, aims to safe
guard the interests of employers. Its officials state that it enrolls
union and nonunion men alike, and that the purpose of the associa
tion is to protect the equality of labor, but giving to the nonunion
man the right to work. Labor-union representatives claim that it is
a strike-breaking organization; that it enrolls a disreputable set of
men for that purpose. During a season of industrial tranquillity such
a bureau may be of service to the employers who subscribe to it, but
in a season of unrest, while a strike is on, it may be used as an agency
of industrial warfare.
The following table shows detailed statistics for one of the Chicago
free employment offices for the week ending November 11, 1905, and
totals for sixteen weeks in 1905 and for the preceding six years:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H E LP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH NORTH SIDE FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE, CHICAGO, W E E K
ENDING NOVEMBER 11, 1905.
MALES.
Employment.
Character of position.
Barn* men.......................................................................
B oy s...............................................................................
Carpenters.....................................................................
Cle.rfcs
.... ....................................................................
Coachmen......................................................................
C ooks.............................................................................
Dishwashers..................................................................
Elevator men................................................................
Factory work................................................................
Farmers.........................................................................
Firemen.........................................................................
Handy mp.n
................................ ...................... .
House men....................................................................
Jani' ors................................... .....................................
Kitchen w ork.......................................................... .
L a b orers ........................................................................
Machinists........................... -.......................................
Nurses............................................................................
Help.
Number Number Number
Number Number
posi of appli of
appliof appli oftions
appli of
cations cations.
ca ions
cations. secured. unfilled.
unfilled.
3
12
3
12
3
1
1
2
1
3
7
3
1
1
2
1
3
3
3
3
3
6
6
6
3
57
1
1.
3
57
1
1
1
3
13
1
3
1
1
3
1
3
6
1
3
5
7
3
6$
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
11
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
21
APPLICATION S FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H E L P - AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH NORTH SIDE FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE, CHICAGO, W EEK
ENDING NOVEMBER 11, 1906—Concluded.
.MALES—Concluded.
Employment.
Help.
Number Number Number
Number Number of
appli
posi
of appli oftions
of appli of appli
cations. secured. cations, cations. cations
unfilled.
unfilled.
Character of.position.
............................... .....................................
Wfl.tnhmpn
W indnw w ashers............ ......................................... .........
1
2
1
2
Tol a l....................................................................
Previous reports...........................................................
110
2,041
109
2,036
1
5
127
2,081
18
45
T otal....................................................................
2,151
2,145
6
2,208
63
Total, 16 weeks, 7th year.............................................
Total, 6 years................................................................
2,151
30,227
2,146
25,929
5
4,298
2,208
34,650
62
8,721
Grand total.........................................................
32,378
28,075
4,303
36,858
8,783
8
12
5
1
6
6
38
1
2
1
2
2
5
9
6
1
1
Positions secured—applications previously filed:
Farmers......................................................................
1
2
1
FEMALES.
Chambermaids..............................................................
Cooks.............................................................................
Day work................................................................. .
Dining-room w ork.......................................................
Dishwashers..................................................................
Factory work................................................................
General work................................................................
Housekeepers................................................................
Kitchen work................................................................
Nurses............................................ , ..............................
Office work.................................... ...............................
Seamstresses.................................................................
Second work................................ .................................
Scrub women................................................................
Waitresses.....................................................................
6
7
5
1
3
2
34
6
7
5
1
3
2
34
1
1
2
1
8
6
1
1
1
2
T otal........... ........................................................
Previous reports...........................................................
78
1,427
77
1,416
1
11
98
1,823
21
407
Total....................................................................
1,505
1,493
12
1,921
428
Positions secured—applications previously filed:
Seamstresses..............................................................
8
6
1
1
3
4
4
1
1
1
Total. 16 weeks, 7th year.............................................
Total—6 years...............................................................
1,505
23,710
1,494
23,085
11
625
1,921
28,949
427
5, £64
Grand total.........................................................
25,215
24,579
636
30,870
6,291
In the above report for males it will be observed that the number
of positions secured for the week was 109, while the number of appli
cations for work filed was 110. This close correspondence may
strike one as singular, but ,when one glances at “ Previous reports,”
and “ Total, 16 weeks,” and discovers a difference of only 5, an expla
nation of the report becomes necessary. This is to be found in the
method of registration of the applicants for work. Applicants to
the number of 20 to 50 are present in the morning when the office is
opened. Applications for help are received mostly by telephone,
sometimes by mail, and seldom in person, and are read to the appli
cants for employment or posted on the wall. As far as may be these
are filled from those present, and only those getting employment
22
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
are recorded as applicants. If any written applications are left on
file during the week they are added to the total number of positions
secured, and thus the total number of applicants for work is
obtained. In the adjoining apartments allotted to women a similar
scene takes place with slight modifications. This proceeding differs
little from the reading of the “ want ads” in the daily paper. One
of the three offices claimed to register all the applications for employ
ment, the other two stating that they did not.
There is something to be said in extenuation for these methods.
The same persons may have been present oh any number of morn
ings, and it is a useless repetition, if not a misrepresentation of facts,
to consider each appearance a separate application. An arbitrary
date must therefore be set at which such an application expires, the
usual date being at the end of thirty days. This further point should
be noticed, that many of these applicants have no address; they could
not be found if wanted for employment, and if they can not be found,
say the superintendents, it is useless to take their names.
It is sometimes asked by superintendents, what is the use of report
ing those who come to the office and must go away without any work?
To keep a record of all applications for employment would require
considerable clerical work, but the justification of this extra work is
seen in the necessity of accounting for the strength of the labor supply.
In the instance given above, the demand for labor, so far as the office
is concerned, is fully set forth, but practically nothing is known of the
labor supply. Moreover, it is not in compliance with the requirements
o f the statutes.
In dealing with employers seeking help the Illinois statutes display
foresight and solicitude. It is provided that each superintendent
shall “ immediately put himself in communication with the principal
manufacturers, merchants and other employers of labor, and to use
all diligence in securing the cooperation of the said employers of
labor, with the purposes and objects of said employment offices.”
It is further provided that he may advertise in the / ‘ newspapers, or
other medium, for such situations as he has applicants to fill, and he
may advertise in a general way for the cooperation of large contract
ors and employers in such trade journals or special publication as
reach such employers.” This is far more explicit than any other State
has attempted to be in the matter of cultivating the demand side of
the labor market. Moreover, the funds have been provided for the
advertising, $400 annually for each Chicago office and $300 for the
Peoria office.
The methods used are advertising in the daily papers, return postal
cards, circular letters, reports, placards, and sometimes personal
solicitation. One superintendent of a charitable employment office
said that he aimed to see all employers in his neighborhood once in
FBEE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
28
two months, and his main purpose was “ to make a good impression
on them,” to convince them of his ability to select the help they were
needing. This is the most vital part of the employment business, and,
needless to say, it can not be done by mail or telephone.
Officials of all three of the offices state that they are able to reach
out into the surrounding towns and the country districts and that
many farmers have found help through them. In reply to the ques
tion as to whether there is a tendency for domestics to monopolize the
advantages of the office for women, one 6ffice returned a negative and
two an affirmative answer. When asked the same question as to com
mon, unskilled labor among men an affirmative answer was returned
from each office. Most of the orders for female help are received over
the telephone, and practically all of such service is for a day’s help
only, though occasionally a longer engagement may ensue.
PEORIA.
Peoria is a city of over 56,000 population. Industrial conditions
are generally favorable to those seeking employment, especially in
unskilled labor. Such work as ditching, grading, excavating, etc.,
which can not be done so readily in winter, affects the unskilled labor
demand very noticeably by its seasonal fluctuations. Domestics are
in such demand that every woman who applies can find work in that
capacity.
The employment office occupies a suite of seven rooms, two of
which are set aside for the use of women. Applicants for work are not
all registered and reported as such, consequently when the column
showing the “ applications for help” shows that the number of “ bell
boys” wanted is 2, the number of “ factory hands” 4, and of labor
ers 70, we may expect to find the same numbers occurring in the
columns showing the “ positions filled” and the “ number of applica
tions for employment;” that is, unless the labor supply is short. In
the latter case the determining factor will be the applications for
labor, the other columns repeating the same number. The people
who introduce the difficulty are those who are better satisfied with
short jobs than with long ones, who continually haunt the free employ
ment office as they would a free-lunch counter, and who by their per
sistent and repeated coining make it difficult for the superintendent to
determine when their applications have expired. The Peoria office
requires a notice whenever work has been secured, both employer and
employee being requested to report on that point. Not more than
75 per cent of the positions secured by women, and a still smaller per
cent of those secured by men, are verified. The office has $25 per
month for advertising, which it uses in various ways. Its local repu
tation is good, various persons in public capacities speaking of its
serviceableness with appreciation.
24
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
The following combined report of the four offices in the State for
the year 1904 shows the form of record adopted, the classification of
occupations, the number of those securing work in the different
occupations, and the percentage of positions secured of number of
applicants for employment and for help, all according to the official
returns:
APPLICATION S FOR EM PLOYMENT A N B FOR H E L P AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FOUR F R EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF ILLINOIS, B Y
OCCUPATIONS AND SEX, 1904.
Applications for—
Sex and occupation.
Males:
Agents.............................................................
Any light work................................................
Apprentices......................................................
Architects.........................................................
Artists...............................................................
Bakers..............................................................
Barbers.............................................................
Barn men.........................................................
Bartenders.......................................................
Bench hands....................................................
Blacksmiths.....................................................
Blacksmith helpers.........................................
Boiler makefs..................................................
Bookbinders....................................................
Bookkeepers.....................................................
Bootblacks.......................................................
B ox m akers.....................................................
B oy s..................................................................
Boys, bell.........................................................
Boys, cash............................................... ........
Boys, delivery.................................................
Boys, elevator.................................................
Boys, errand....................................................
Boys, factory...................................................
Boys, office.......................................................
Brakemen.........................................................
Brass finishers.................................................
Bricklayers......................................................
Bridge builders................................................
Butchers...........................................................
Butlers.............................................................
Cabinetmakers................................................
Caiciminers......................................................
Candy makers..................................................
Canvassers.......................................................
Carpet layers.....................'..............................
Carpenters............ ..........................................
Carriage and wagon washers.........................
Cashiers.............................................................
Checkers...........................................................
Cigar m akers...................................................
Circular distributers.....................................
Cleaners, harness.........................................
Clerks................................................................
Clerks, bill............ ...........................................
Clerks, drug......................................................
Clerks, dry goods............................................
Clerks, general.................................................
Clerks, grocery................................................
Clerks, h otel ___ ____... ...... ..........................
Clerks, office.....................................................
Clerks, order....................................................
Clerks, not stated........................................ ..
Clerks, shipping...............................................
Coachmen.........................................................
Coal heavers ..................... __..........................
Coal miners......................................................
Coal weighers..................................................
Collectors.........................................................
C om p ositors....
.............................. ; .........
Cooks................................................................
Conductors.......................................................
Employ
ment.
32
31
47
1
4
54
8
302
39
23
113
15
7
4
66
46
38
358
37
23
133
6
76
28
55
10
5
5
1
38
11
22
2
2
35
4
193
21
3
5
2
1
2
3
2
3
2
55
31
4
20
2
286
41
76
1
5
2
41
2
435
2
Number
of posi
tions se
cured.
Help.
Per cent of Per cent of
positions
secured of positions
filled of
applica
applica
tions for
tions
for
employ
help.
ment.
20
16
50.00
80.00
12
12
25.53
100.00
1
28
5
275
17
1
28
5
269
15
25.00
51.85
62.50
89.07
38.46
100.00
100.00
100.00
97.82
88.24
103
3
5
88
3
5
77.88
20.00
71.43
85.44
100.00
100.00
12
49
31
343
38
23
127
5
' 77
31
45
6
44
31
264
33
21
122
5
71
26
40
6
12
18.18
95.65
81.58
73.74
89.19
91.30
91.73
83.33
93.42
92.86
72.73
60.00
100.00
89. £0
100.00
76.97
86.84
91.30
96.06
100.00
92.21
83.87
88.89
100.00
4
2
40.00
50.00
28
H
7
2
27
7
4
2
71.05
63.64
18.18
100.00
96.43
63.64
57.14
ICO.00
48
3
146
21
2
3
1
28
3
120
19
2
3
1
80.00
75.00
62.18
90.48
66.67
60.00
50.00
58.33
100.00
82.19
90.48
100.00
100.00
100.00
1
i
33.33
100.00
3
2
11
17
3
2
11
17
100.00
100.00
20.00
54.84
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
10
2
41
23
54
10
2
40
23
53
50.00
100.00
13.99
56.10
69.74
100.00
ICO.00
97.56
100.00
98.15
4
2
11
4
2
11
80.00
100.00
26.83
100.00
ICO.00
100.00
353
1
330
1
75.86
50.00
93.48
100.00
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES,
25
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H E LP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FOUR FR EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF ILLINOIS, B Y
OCCUPATIONS AND SEX, 1904—Continued.
Applications for—
Sex and occupation.
Males—Continued.
Core makers.....................................................
Dairymen.........................................................
Deck hands......................................................
Dishwashers....................................................
Distributers.....................................................
Draftsmen........................................................
Drill pressmen.................................................
Drivers.............................................................
Electricians.............................................•.___
Elevator m en..................................................
Engineers.........................................................
Factory hands.................................................
Farmers............................................................
Farm hands.....................................................
Firemen............................................................
Florists.............................................................
Foremen...........................................................
Foundry m e n .................................................
Furnace tenders..............................................
Glass workers..................................................
Harness makers..............................................
Harvest hands.................................................
Horseshoers.....................................................
Hostlers...........................................................
House m en ......................................................
Ice cutters........................................................
Interpreters.....................................................
Ironw orkers...................................................
Janitors............................................................
Kitchen w o rk ..................................................
Laborers...........................................................
Laborers, railroad..........................................
Lathe hands....................................................
Lathers.............................................................
Laundrymen....................................................
Linemen, electrical.........................................
Linemen, not stated.......................................
Locksmiths............................. ........................
Machine hands.............................................
Machinists........................................................
Masons.............................................................
Maltsters..................................................; ___
Metal workers..................................................
Millers...............................................................
Millwrights......................................................
Miners...............................................................
Models..............................................................
Molders............................................................
Nurses..............................................................
Office help........................................................
Oilers................................................................
Packers...........................................................
Painters............................................................
Paper hangers.................................................
Pantry m en .....................................................
Pan washers....................................................
Pattern makers...............................................
Pharmacists.....................................................
Ph ot ographers................................................
Pin setters.......................................................
Pipe fitters.......................................................
Plasters............................................................
Plumbers..........................................................
Polishers, metal..............................................
Polishers, not stated......................................
Porters.............................................................
Pressers............................................................
Pressmen..........................................................
Printers................ ................. ■........................
Punch-press hands............. ............................
Rail roar! men
.......... _.....................
R oofers.............................................................
Employ
ment.
7
14
2
415
2
3
5
50
348
47
158
109
1,758
99
923
171
11
3
3
1
44
1
2
6
40
3
61
825
17
2
23
293
168
10,111
351
15
1
44
2
4
5
131
240
1
1
11
1
10
17
1
18
15
31
7
110
169
7
3
3
8
1
2
27
1
6
14
4
3
877
3
8
16
34
5
2
Help.
Per cent of Percent of
positions
positions
Number secured
of posi applicaof
filled of
tions se tions for
applica
cured.
tions
for
employ
help.
ment.
13
2
389
2
3
13
2
384
2
3
286
14
68
37
1,407
116
888
53
6
246
12
67
33
1,271
84
760
53
6
41
35
79.55
85.37
2
53
2
45
704
17
2
7
188
155
11,059
357
1
2
4
40
2
45
687
17
2
7
180
154
9,721
351
1
100.00
66.67
100.00
66.67
73.77
83.27
100.00
100.00
30.43
61.43
91.67
96.14
100.00
6.67
100.00
100.00
75.47
100.00
100.00
97.59
100.00
100.00
100.00
95.74
99.35
87.90
98.32
100.00
30
28
63.64
93.33
3
3
75.00
100.00
9
90
1
2
1
6
76
1
1
1
4.58
31.67
100.00
100.00
9.09
66.67
84.44
100.00
50.00
100.00
4
107
1
20
10
7
4
17
1
12
10
7
40.66
100.00
100.00
66.67
66.67
22.58
100.00
15.89
100.00
60.00
100.00
100.00
49
136
3
1
3
2
49
123
3
1
3
2
44.55
72.78
42.86
33.33
100.00
25.00
100.00
90.44
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
27
27
100.00
100.00
3
12
3
3
11
3
50.00
78.57
75.00
100.00
91.67
100.00
710
1
4
699
1
4
79.70
33.33
50.00
98.45
100.00
100. GO
2
2
166.66
166.66
4
92.86
100.00
92.53 '
100.00
100.00
70.C9
25.53
42.41
30.28
72.30
84.85
82.34
30.99
54.55
100.00
100.00
98.71
100.00
100.00
87.86
85.71
98.53
89.19
-90.33
72.41
85.59
100.00
100.00
26
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR-
APPLICATIONS FOR EM PLOYMENT AND FOR H E LP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FOUR F R EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF ILLIN OIS. BY
OCCUPATIONS AND SEX, 1904—Continued.
Applications for—
Sex and occupation.
Males—Concluded.
Sailors...............................................................
Salesmen...........................................................
Sawyers............................................................
Shoemakers......................................................
Silver men........................................................
Solicitors..........................................................
Steam fitters....................................................
Stenographers.................................................
Stockmen....„................................................... .
Stock keepers.................................................. •
Stone cutters...................................................
Stove men........................................................
Tailors..............................................................
Teachers, not stated.......................................
Teamsters........................................................
Telegrap hers....................................................
Timekeepers.....................................................
Tinsmitfis.........................................................
Tool makers.....................................................
Truckmen.........................................................
Upholsterers....................................................
Vise hands........................................................
W aiters.............................................................
W atchm akers................... „•............................
Watchmen........................................................
Wholesale m en................................................
Window washers.............................................
W ood finishers.....................................................
W oodw orkers.................................................
Yard m e n ........................................................
Miscellaneous, not classified..........................
Total males......................................... '
Females!
Addressers........................................................
Agents..............................................................
Apprentices......................................................
Attendants......................................................
Bookkeepers....................................................
Bottle labelers.................................................
Canvassers.......................................................
Cashiers....................... ....................................
Clerks................................................................
Collectors..........................................................
Chambermaids................................................
Companions.....................................................
Cooks................................................................
Copyists...........................................................
Day w orkers...................................................
Demonstrators................................................
Dining-room help............................................
Dishwashers.....................................................
Distributers.....................................................
Domestics.........................................................
Factory w ork...................................................
Folders, circulars............................................
General housework.........................................
Governesses....................................................
Hotel help........................................................
Housekeepers...................................................
Housework.......................................................
Janitresses........................................................
Kitchen help....................................................
Lady's maids...................................................
Laundresses................................................. ..
Mail-order help................................................
Matrons............................................................
Milliners...........................................................
Nurses.......... ...................................................
Nurse girls........................................................
Office w ork.......................................................
Pantry w ork....................................................
Employ
ment.
1
89
5
9
34
1
33
13
32
199
67
2
3
8
1
585
1
2
27
6
13
8
Help.
Per cent of Per cent of
positions
Number secured
of positions
of posi
filled of
applica
tions se tions
applica
for
cured.
tions
for
employ
heip.
ment.
37
27
30.34
72.97
3
34
3
34
33.33
100.00
100.00
100.00
59
6
15
221
52
29
1
15
186
50
87.88
7.69
46.88
93.47
74.63
49. is
16.67
100.00
84.16
96.15
2
2
2
2
66.67
25.00
100.00
100.00
513
469
80.17
91.42
18
13
48.15
72.22
85.71
7
6
75.00
301
297
80.93
98.67
58
1
478
58
1
425
38.67
4.55
98.15
100.00
100.00
88.91
2
160
433
2
158
408
12.50
94.61
67.77
100.00
98.75
94.23
23,763
21,625
ol9,405
14
1
1
5
5
4
4
5
6
3
27
5
26
5
3
15
5
20
100.00
12.82
37.50
83.33
14.71
41.67
80.00
83.33
100.00
55.56
100. CO
76.92
954
6
1,2C7
876
6
1,000
90.87
46.15
89.05
91.82
100.00
80.84
665
6
332
951
2
852
1,087
10
2,985
647
1
304
888
2
478
632
7
2,424
75.32
20.00
95.60
94.97
100.00
95.79
84.95
58.33
97.24
97.29
16.67
91.57
93.38
100.00
56.10
58.14
70.00
81.54
4
341
1,924
10
756
1
329
4
44.44
263
1,486
10
702
1
295
69.76
97.51
50.00
92.98
33.33
90.49
100.00
77.13
77.23
100.00
92.86
100.00
89.67
1
1
100.00
100.00
220
28
88
113
180
28
87
102
71.71
90.32
40.09
84.30
81.82
100.00
98.86
90.27
4
367
1
150
22,
433
7
16
167
602
39
8
18
34
48
1
964
13
1,123
1
859
' 5
318
935
2
499
744
12
2,503
2
9
377
1,524
20
’ 755
3
326
2
1
1
251
31
217
121
4
o Including 92 applications filed the previous year.
81.66
89.73
28.57 .
80.00
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
27
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H ELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FOUR FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF ILLINOIS, B T
OCCUPATIONS AND SEX, 1904—Concluded.
Applications for—
Sex and occupation.
Employ
ment.
Females—Conclu ded.
Proof readers...................................................
Reception.........................................................
Saleswomen.....................................................
Scrubwomen.......................................... ; ........
Seamstresses....................................................
Second w ork....................................................
Silver girls.......................................................
Solicitors..........................................................
Stenographers.................................................
Teachers, not stated.......................................
Tvpewriters.....................................................
Vegetable cleaners...........................................
W ai tresses .......................................................
Washerwomen ...............................................
W rappers.........................................................
Miscellaneous, not classified........................ -
2
2
2
(556
115
315
2
14
107
1
1
6
673
3
9
36
Total females .....................................
Grand total..........................................
Help.
Number
of posi
tions se
cured.
Per cent of Per cent of
positions
secured of positions
filled of
applica
applica
tions for
tions
for
employ
help.
ment.
6
683
168
338
2
43
26
2
620
100
279
2
12
23
100.00
94.51
86.95
88.57
100.00
85.71
21.50
7
775
2
8
43
6
621
2
8
31
100.00
92.27
66.67
88.89
86.11
13,730
15,085
a 12,319
89.72
81.66
37,493
36,710
6 33,724
84.61
86.42
33.33
90.78
59.52
82.54
100.00
27.91
88.46
'
85.71
£0.13
100.00
100.00
72.09
o Including 123 applications filed the previous year.
&Including 215 applications filed the previous year.
From the same report the following table is taken, giving a sum
mary of the work from the beginning:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR HELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FOUR FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF ILLINOIS, 1899 TO
1904.
Applications for employ
ment.
Year.
Applications for
help.
Number Number Number Number
Number positions
filed.
filed.
unfilled.
secured. unfilled.
1899 (<*)............................................................................
1900.................................................................................
1901.................................................................................
1902.................................................................................
1903.................................................................................
1904.................................................................................
13,097
37,285
27,605
44,900
43,510
37,493
6,497
31,218
23,998
40,181
39,227
31,724
6,600
6,007
3,609
4,719
4,283
5,769
10,370
35,542
28,124
47,497
47,559
36,710
3,873
4,324
4,128
7,316
8,332
4,986
T otal....................................................................
203,890
172,843
31,047
205,802
32,959
a Nine weeks.
28
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The following table shows the number of positions filled and the
appropriations for salaries and expenses for the four offices for the
year 1905:
POSITIONS FILLE D AND APPR O PR IA TIO N S FOR SALARIES AND EXPENSES OF THE
FOUR FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF ILLIN OIS, 1905.
Positions filled.
Office.
Males.
Females.
Total.
Appro
priation
for salaries
and ex
penses.
Chicago:
North side office...................................................................
.South side office...................................................................
W est side office.....................................................................
4, m
8,622
10,010
3,809
4,083
2,030
8,025
12,705
12,040
$8,495.00
9.240.00
8.020.00
T otal..................................................................................
Peoria office.................................................................................
22,848
4,804
9,922
2,024
32,770
6,828
25,755.00
6,201.25
Total, 4 offices...................................................................
27,652
11,946
39,598
31,956.25
Assuming that the entire appropriation for salaries and expenses
was used in the operation of the offices, the average cost per position
secured was a little Jess than 81 cents.
From what has been shown as to office methods it is evident that
the figures given in the foregoing tables are not quite accurate. Never
theless, it must be granted that the free employment offices of Illinois
are performing a function which can not be safely intrusted to pri
vate agencies, and are doing so with credit to themselves. If one
would be satisfied as to this point it is only necessary to contrast the
private agencies of Chicago to-day with what they were before the
law establishing free public employment offices went into effect, and
to compare the enforcement of that law by the south side office with
that of any city other than Chicago in the Union, or the experience
of those railways running out of Chicago which secure their construc
tion gangs from the State offices may be contrasted with the expe
rience of those which turn the construction work over to contractors,
the latter in turn patronizing the private agencies and sharing the
registration fee. Again, granting that the greater part of the work
furnished by the public office consists of short jobs, that the office
deals largely with unskilled labor, and that a large percentage of the
recipients are “ floaters” — the incompetent, the shiftless, the crimi
nals even— yet it must be remembered that there are many worthy
persons seeking permanent employment, and that these exceptions,
if in a defenseless condition, have a positive claim upon society for
protection.
KANSAS.
The act creating the Kansas free-employment system was passed
in 1901. As originally presented it provided for the work to be car
ried on as it is in other States, in connection with the office of the
commissioner of labor. The act as it was passed created a newr office,
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
29
that of the “ director of free employment/’ and appropriated $1,200
to the payment of his salary, and in addition $500 for postage and
express charges.
The Kansas law as originally conceived was an attempt to carry
the free employment system into smaller cities than are reached in
other States. This was made necessary by the nature of the demand,
which is predominantly agricultural. The cities mentioned in the
act are those of the first class, with populations of 15,000 or upward,
and those of the second class, of from 2,000 to 15,000 population.
But it went further than this, for it attempted to carry out this pro
gramme without any appropriation. In the original bill the city
clerk was required to assume these new duties under pain of dis
missal from office. The act as passed, however (see sec. 6), pro
vided that his refusal to discharge those duties should “ not affect
the tenure of his office as to its other duties.” The proviso above
quoted proved to be a most effectual measure for making the law
inoperative, so far as the city clerks are concerned.
However, it is much to be doubted if any scheme can be devised for
carrying the employment offices into towns of 2,000 to 15,000 popu
lation save by State appropriations and a salaried officer, involving
a service altogether too expensive, or whether, on the other hand,
a self-supporting system can be devised involving a small nominal
fee, supplemented, if necessary, by a small appropriation or by
the services of philanthropic people already in the employment
business. With the above proviso omitted Kansas would have
had a system forced upon a number of municipal officials who in
all probability would not have- welcomed it. Experience has shown
that the duties of the employment office must not be performed
perfunctorily if the office is to prosper, nor has it ever succeeded
as a mere incident to some other business.
The Kansas system was begun in connection with the office of
commissioner of labor some time before the above legislation was
passed. Something was done in the way of correspondence with
various persons throughout the State in the effort to learn the extent
of the demand for harvest hands, and the same general plan is fol
lowed at present. In the main the demand is seasonal, though
aside from the harvest needs there is a rather steady current of
demand throughout the year, and it generally exceeds the supply.
It must not be supposed, however, that there is never any suffering
from lack of work. Kansas has no permanent problem of the
unemployed, but like every other part of the country, there is always
the problem of unemployment; that is to say, finding the work
that needs to be done for those who need to do it. Such a service
joaay be more neglected, indeed, in a sparsely settled region than
248b—No. 68—-07——"3
80
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
in a populous district, the cases being too infrequent and sporadic
to tempt the private agency into the field.
The present law went into effect about the middle of May, 1901.
The superintendent (director of employment) reports for the first
season, ending December 31, 1901, a total of “ 2,822 applications
for work and help, of which 2,591 were from men seeking work
and from employers seeking male help, and 231 from women seeking
work and from employers seeking female help. Of this number,
2,084 men and 110 women received employment.” The number
of harvest hands supplied was 1,698; of common laborers, 170;
while “ railroad work” was given to 140. The railroads operating
in Kansas reported having carried at reduced harvest rates approxi
mately 8,000 men. The next year the results were about half as
large. Moreover, city clerks were growing more and more indifferent
to an unwelcome duty which they had never before been obliged
to perform, so that the superintendent (director) in his report for
that year remarks: “ I have discovered in the conduct of this depart
ment that most men need a financial stimulus in order to secure
the best results.” Only four cities of the first class and seven of
the second class responded to the provisions of the law, and of
these practically none continue to do so at present.
The chief function of the superintendent or director is in collecting
estimates from different localities of the probable number of men
wanted, and in keeping these estimates revised and the orders
filled as promptly and equitably as possible. To estimate the
magnitude of this demand various sources are appealed to. Soihe
counties have attempted to do it through assessors, but the result
has not been satisfactQry. Railways are particularly interested
in having a large crop to haul, and consequently railway agents
have been quite active in rendering assistance. In addition to
these a number of volunteer correspondents throughout the State
have contributed materially to the total results.
Having determined the demand the next problem is to meet it*
The free labor available throughout the State can easily find employ
ment without the assistance of any employment office, hence the
extra labor needed must come from the outside, and free employment
offices outside of the State are appealed to. Kansas City, Mo., is
the great distributing point for labor in the Southwest, as is Min
neapolis in the Northwest, and most of the outside harvest labor
in Kansas is supplied by the office in that city, and not through
the Topeka office. The latter, therefore, can register no applications
from that source, and can merely take account of the numbers
distributed from Kansas City, Mo., which office counts them as
positions filled by it. In the annual report for 1903 the harvest
help is classified as sent through the offices at Kansas City and at
FBEE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
31
St. Joseph, Mo., and the Kansas (Topeka) bureau, the numbers
being, respectively, 2,140, 549, and 1,192.
The question might be raised whether Kansas needs a public
employment system at all, since the harvest hands are so largely
supplied through the Missouri offices. Two observations must
be made hereupon. In the first place the experience of the city
clerk’s office in Kansas City, Kans., is in point. This is a city of
70,000 population, while the Missouri city of the same name has
220,000. Since the Kansas office is financially unprovided for, the
superintendent of that office frequently sends applicants for employ
ment to the Missouri office across the river, where they can be much
better taken care of, because the superintendent there makes it his
sole business to fit men to places. The advantage which this gives
to the Missouri office throws the credit for such work toward that
office. Moreover, the railroads grant favorable harvest rates through
out Kansas from the Missouri office, but not from the Kansas City,
Kans., office. The point of interest to the State in this experience is
that the Missouri farmers are provided for before the Kansas farmers
get any help, and it often happens in harvest time that there are not
enough laborers to go around.
The second observation is that‘the harvest work is not the whole of
the matter. According to the figures given for 1903, after deducting
2,045 “ farm hands” we have 1,064 positions secured, for males and
females, throughout the State. With a series of offices better pro
vided for financially the results could undoubtedly be greatly rtiereased.
MARYLAND.
The free public employment office of Maryland was created in
1902 by an act which reads as follows:
The chief of the bureau of industrial statistics shall cause to be
organized and operated a free State employment agency for the free
use of the citizens of the State of Maryland, for the purpose of secur
ing employment for unemployed persons who may register in said
bureau or agency, and for the purpose of securing help or labor for
persons registering as applicants for help or labor, and to advertise
and maintain such office.
This legislation was principally the outcome of a recommendation in
the report of the bureau of industrial statistics for the preceding
year. The report described at some length the abuses of which the
private agencies in Maryland and elsewhere had been guilty, cited
the investigation into the subject which had been begun in that
State in 1894, and recommended the free employment agency as a
remedy for the existing evils.
The argument used in support of the measure was not primarily
economic, the finding of work for unemployed laborers or of laborers
32
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
for the work, but rather what may be called the argument of social
utility and police protection. The economic demand was being
met in some fashion by the existing private agencies; but the ques
tion was whether such a vital function as the finding of employment
for the unemployed could safely be intrusted to private agencies,
inasmuch as their motive is personal gain and the applicants for
employment are so helplessly dependent.
It is not clear that the. conditions in Baltimore, the only city
where an office was opened, demanded, on economic grounds, the
establishment of public agencies. The first annual report thereafter
states that “ the general public had to be educated up to the point
of applying to the bureau for help,” that “ this work has been pursued
by advertisement in the daily papers, by circular letters sent out to
the various manufacturing firms and employers of labor generally,
and by the distribution of card signs to be displayed in the various
offices and factories of the city and State.” Further, “ this work in
itself has been extensive and costly, and the work of education has
been slow.” It would appear, then, that though subsequent expe
rience is far more encouraging, the inception of the movement was
scarcely justifiable on economic grounds; that is to say, from the
standpoint of productivity. The ptfint might then be raised, whether
the main purpose, the prevention of the abuses of the private agencies,
might not have been accomplished directly by legislation instead of
indirectly by competition. This is a question which calls for general
and extended consideration, and will be treated elsewhere.
The report for the first year, 1902, closes with a very hopeful note
as to the outlook. Moreover, it mentions the fact that in the six
months of its operation it had “ referred upward of 500 persons, to
places where they could secure work, but a large number of them
failed to return, and therefore we presume they did get work, though
our records as printed will not show this number, we only recording
those who notified the agency after going to work.” The office still
follows this method of recording results. The subsequent history of
the employment office to the end of the year 1904 is summed up in
the following table:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H ELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE BALTIM ORE FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE, 1903 AND 1904.
1903.
Male.
Applications for employment...................
Applications lor he»p..................................
Positions secured........................................
543
490
185
Female.
109
256
71
1904.
Total
652
746
256
Male.
1,078
202
378
Female.
234
160
151
Total.
1,312
362
529
The above table shows that the total number of applicants for
employment increased fully 100 per cent in one year. It should be
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
33
observed, too, that this increase took place without adequate means
of advertising. Moreover, the location of the employment office in
one of the finest office buildings in the city, in conjunction with the
office of the chief of the bureau of statistics and information of
Maryland, might be such as to discourage some applicants for
employment from applying. There was a large preponderance of
male over female applicants, both in the aggregate number applying
and in the increase from 1903 to 1904. While the available supply
of labor rose from 652 to 1,312 the demand fell from 746 to 362. In
spite of the latter phenomenon the number of positions secured
rose from 256 to 529. (°)
The data of only two years would be insufficient as a basis for gen
eralization, but certain facts may be cited as contributing to the above
results without maintaining that they are typical or likely to be con
tinuous.
The decline in the number of applications for help is a very com
mon experience with the free public employment offices. B y some
this is attributed to the character of the help that applies to the free
offices; b y others to the lack of funds for advertising, whereby em
ployers may be reached; by others to the general proposition that
the salaried officer in charge of the State office will not succeed in
competing with the private offices even when his services are free,
for the reason that in the latter case the living depends upon it while
the salaried officer may remain in his office and take care of only such
business as comes to him. The private office which gets' out and
solicits business can successfully compete with a free office which
does not.
The free public employment office of Maryland was created as a
constituent part of the bureau of statistics and information. At
about the same time the functions of the bureau were enlarged in
other ways, especially by the addition to its force of several factory
inspectors. The appropriation was increased from $5,000 per annum
to $10,000, leaving the amount to be devoted to the employment
office undetermined. Just how much has been so devoted, or is being
so devoted, can not be learned from the financial reports of the
bureau. Neither were the officers of the bureau, when questioned,
willing to make any statement. It is impossible, therefore, to arrive
at any definite conclusion as to the average cost to the State per
position secured, except that it must be considerably more than $1.
In the report for 1903 (p. 95) it is stated that “ the great need of
the bureau (i. e., employment bureau) is advertising and making
known to the people of the State, and especially in the industrial
a The fact that the positions secured in 1904 (529) are in excess of the applications
for help (362) is easily understood when it is recalled that one application for help
m ay cover several positions secured.
84
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
centers, the fact that the bureau is doing business.” It is not clear,
however, that this decline is due to a lack of funds for advertising,
since we are not told how much is available or has been used for that
purpose. This much, at least, is evident, that the employers of Bal
timore as a class have not yet been reached. The principal demand
is for berry pickers, farm laborers, and domestics. Advertising,
necessary though it may be, can not compensate for the lack of per
sonal interviews between the superintendent of the office and the
employers. If the office is to be trusted by the employer to act as
his agent, the latter must be convinced that the superintendent has
the capacity to select men according to his needs. This personal
contact between the superintendent and the employer has not been
attempted in Baltimore. The office is in charge of a female clerk,
who assists in the other work of the office and is assisted by the
other office help.
Those engaged in. social service speak well of what has been done
and of the opportunities for usefulness still to be realized. Labor
union leaders consulted manifested indifference toward it. Though
by no means hostile to it, they were not the sponsors of the move
ment as in most of the other States.
The ostensible purpose for which the free public employment office
was founded in Maryland, namely, the control of the private agencies
by State competition, has not been accomplished. It is doubtful,
indeed, whether simple competition ever will do so for any length of
time.
The private employment agency in the hands of unscrupulous
persons is an extremely difficult thing to reach. There are at present
about thirty-five such agencies— good, bad, and indifferent— in the
city of Baltimore, and the police department testifies that the free
employment office has had no effect in correcting their abuses.
Whatever else may be said of the free public employment office, it
has helped to demonstrate the need of further legislation directed
toward the control of the private agencies, and has begun the dem
onstration of what might be done for industrial ends in the estab
lishment of a labor exchange.
MICHIGAN.
The law establishing the Michigan free employment offices was
approved March 30, 1905.
The law owes its origin to the State bureau of labor, and more par
ticularly to the commissioner. The reports of other State bureaus
had impressed him with the utility of the service rendered by these
bureaus and he desired a similar establishment for the State of Michi
gan. Accordingly, the measure was passed without carrying any
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
35
appropriation. It was believed that a short trial would demonstrate
the need of such an office, and appropriations for it would be forth
coming. The demand was considered to be primarily an economic
one, the need of a public intermediary in the labor market, though
protection from the exactions of the private agencies was also desired.
The labor unions were not active in support of the measure, but
were not inimical to it.
Two offices have been organized thus far, namely, at Grand Rapids
and at Detroit. In both cities the office is conducted in connection
with that of factory inspection. In the first-named place the assistant
inspector has charge; in the latter a superintendent, selected from
the force of inspectors and still having duties connected with the
factory inspection, is appointed. Thus it is estimated that the sup
port of the system as at present organized has made a demand upon
the bureau to the extent of only $500 for advertising and the serv
ices of one factory inspector. The offices make reports every month,
giving number of applicants for employment and for help, the number
of positions secured, and the number unfilled. These reports are not
published, but they show a gratifying record of work done, and that,
too, with only one person in charge of each office— an arrangement
which permits very little personal work with employers.
The office at Grand Rapids is the only one in the United States
which is solely in charge of a woman. The superintendent states that
factory inspection takes about half of her time, that she has no oppor
tunity to see employers, and that she could enlarge the work of the
office considerably if she had more time. All kinds of help are sup
plied— factory workmen,machinists, domestics,etc.— though unskilled
labor largely predominates.
All applications must be filed, and none are considered otherwise.
Perhaps half of the applications for help are by telephone. Records
of applications are kept in two books, one for employment and the
other for help. The office requires that all positions shall be reported
as filled or unfilled, and none are counted in its reports unless definite
information has been received. An advertisement is kept running
three days of the week in two local papers. A weekly announcement
is made after the following manner: “ I have waiting on my lis t-----machinists, domestics, laborers,” etc., an advertisement that appeals
to both sides of the labor market.
Other agencies at work in Grand Rapids are the Charities Asso
ciation, the Young Men’s Christian Association, the Manufacturers’
Association, which is an antiunion organization, and various private
pay agencies.
36
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR.
The offices at Detroit and Grand Rapids were opened on June 1,
1905, and the business transacted during the first seven months
shows the following results:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H ELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE D E TR O IT AND GRAND RAPID S FR EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
OFFICES, JUNE 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1905.
DETROIT.
Number of applications for
employment.
Male.
Female.
Total.
Applications—
Filed.......................................................
Not filled...............................................
3,199
165
789
25
3,988
190
Positions secured.........................................
3,034
764
3,798
Number of applications for
help.
Male.
Female.
Total.
3,284
250
1,225
461
4,509
711
1,218
485
521
202
1,739
687
GRAND RAPIDS.
Applications—
Filed.. ....................................................
No.t filled...............................................
1,063
330
493
174
1,556
504
Positions secured.........................................
733
319
1,052
This shows for Detroit a monthly average of 542 positions secured,
which would place a year’s estimate at 6,500. Not all applications
for employment are taken. The superintendent estimates that there
were probably as many as 20,000, all told. The lack of office force
makes it physically impossible to take all of these, hence few are filed
except those that secure positions, and hence the small number of
“ applications for labor unfilled.” The justice of the claim that the
work can not all be done is quite admissible; nevertheless, the data
offered under “ applications for employment” are invalidated.
Before sending a laborer to an employer the superintendent usually
telephones to the latter to find out if the position is still open. In case
it is open and the candidate does not return to the employment office,
the superintendent assumes that the position was secured. While in
a few cases this assumption may be erroneous, it may be assumed
that the figures relating to positions filled may be accepted as approxi
mately accurate and the net results may be taken as satisfactory.
As to the nature of the positions filled and the class of people
applying, the positions showing the largest numbers are as follows:
For men, 753 laborers, 265 factory workers, 296 farm hands, 241 lum
ber handlers, and 197 beet-field workers; for women, 160 domestics,
102 day workers, and 77 waitresses. As indicative of the skilled labor
dealt with, there were 29 carpenters, 17 blacksmiths, 14 cabinetmakers,
42 machinists, 23 molders, 52 painters, besides several printers,
plumbers, pattern makers, milling machine hands, lathe hands,
demonstrators, cap makers, etc. The number and variety of skilled
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
37
occupations served by the Detroit office is even more gratifying than
the total results. The class of applicants for employment is far above
the average— good, clean, capable-looking people for the most part—
and upon this point the superintendent stated that the class of appli
cants had been steadily improving from the beginning. This is to be
attributed largely to the discriminating service which is being ren
dered, for the superintendent does not send out even unskilled labor
without carefully considering the ability of the laborer to perform the
duties of the position to be filled. In case of a strike the superintend
ent, on request of the employer, will send men without regard to
whether a man is a unionist or a nonunionist, merely informing them
of the situation.
The superintendent can not get away, from the office to interview
employers, and the latter do not liked to be called up by telephone;
hence, the only recourse is occasionally to send a postal inquiry, to
offer a placard advertisement to be hung in em ployed offices, and
to use the columns of the daily press. Factory inspectors, moreover,
frequently report where there is an opportunity for placing employees.
The telephone is almost constantly in use.
A city ordinance in Detroit compels private agencies to pay a license
fee of $15 per year and to give bond in the sum of $500. It limits the
the registration fee to 50 cents for women and $1 for men when the
wage is less than $30 per month. Above that sum the agency may
charge not to exceed 10 per cent of one month’s wage for either men
or women. II a position is not secured within six days the registra
tion fee must be returned. All misrepresentations are to be severely
punished,
MINNESOTA.
The free employment movement began in Minnesota, as it did in
Wisconsin, with a municipal office. This office was opened in Duluth
in 1901, and it owed its inception in part to the one previously organ
ized in the adjacent city of Superior, Wis. Its reports receive no
more than local publication, which, so far as the general public is
concerned, is one of the disadvantages of the municipal type.
The demand for the office, it is said, came from laboring men, voiced
by the unions, which still give it their undivided support. There was
the usual and well-grounded complaint that the laborers were “ fleeced
by the unscrupulous employment agents” in collusion with foremen
in the lumbering camps and on the railways.
The superintendent states that perhaps 70 per cent of the positions
secured for men are for unskilled labor. The supply and demand are
fairly equal numerically the year round, though the nature of the work
to be done varies with the season. With the close of navigation in
the fall the work in the woods begins, and in the spring it is “ from
woods to river driving and then back to dock work and railroading.”
38
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
In the summer season 85 per cent of the jobs are of long duration,
but in the winter a majority only are long. The superintendent
states also that, being alone in the office and his time fully taken up
with the work for men, he has not been able to pay much attention
to the demand for female help, but while he has made no record of
such work he has done what he could to fill all such orders.
Quarterly and annual reports made to the city council give the
names of all men hired and where sent. All applications for work are
recorded, and some discrimination is shown in placing men where they
belong.
The following table shows for the year 1905 an interesting classifica
tion of the number of places found for workers in the city of Duluth,
in the State, and outside the State:
POSITIONS SECURED THROUGH THE DULUTH FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE,
1905.
Month.
In the
In the
Outside
State
city of outside
the
Duluth. Duluth.of State.
Total
for the
month.
July................................................................................ : ................
August.............................................................................................
September........................................................................................
October...........................................................................................
November........................................................................................
December................................... 1...................................................
261
205
207
364
235
263
269
482
273
252
350
327
201
171
147
121
104
99
99
168
98
103
130
198
210
143
99
50
60
66
83
129
77
85
103
127
672
519
453
535
399
428
451
779
448
440
583
652
T otal......................................................................................
3,488
1,639
1,232
6,359
January...........................................................................................
February.........................................................................................
March...............................................................................................
A pril.................................................................................................
The expense of maintaining the office for the year was $1,499.88,
the items being as follows:
Salary.............................................................................................................................................
$900.00
R e n t................................................................................................................................................
4 00 .0 0
Janitor............................................................................................................................................
6 0 .0 0
P rinting.........................................................................................................................................
1 5.0 0
Stam ps and stationery...........................................................................................................
6 .8 8
Light and water.........................................................................................................................
6 .0 0
Teleph on e....................................................................................................................................
9 0.0 0
Directory.......................................................................................................................................
6 .0 0
Signs...............................................................................................................................
6 .0 0
Cards...............................................................................................................................................
1 0.0 0
T otal..................................................................................................................................
1 ,4 9 9 .8 8
Thus the cost to the city was only 23.6 cents per position secured.
At the time the present article was written the only State office
in Minnesota was in Minneapolis. In 1905 a bill was presented
in the State assembly providing for the establishment of the free
employment system throughout the State. The bill met with
vigorous opposition, but was finally passed. The appropriation,
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES,
89
however, was cut down to $1,750 per annum, which is not enough
to support one office in a city like Minneapolis, even when rent is
not included. The bill did not settle the matter as to location.
After some little controversy among the three leading cities— St. Paul,
Minneapolis, and Duluth— the last named was eliminated, because it
had a municipal office, and Minneapolis won by giving free quarters
in the city hall, thus disposing of the question of rent. The office
furniture was provided by the Commercial Club of Minneapolis.
The office in Minneapolis was opened July 1, 1905, and up to De
cember 7 of the same year it had secured 4,359 positions.- This means
an average cost to the State of only 17.5 cents per position secured.
The success of the office has been so pronounced that its friends feel
confident that an appeal to the legislature for stronger support and
for the extension of the system to other parts of the State will be
granted.
Minneapolis is centrally located with reference to a periodic demand
for labor. The pineries to the eastward in Wisconsin and Michigan
call for a great many laborers during the winter, and the wheat fields
to the westward make a corresponding demand in the summer. The
two combined have virtually called into existence a supply of vagrant
labor, which centralizes about Minneapolis and at times overstocks
the local labor market. Minneapolis is therefore a clearing house,
with the free employment office for its center. As the lumber regions
southward are depleted and the iron ore and ship-building interests
of Duluth are developed, a portion of this market is gradually pass
ing northward to that city, but that the bulk of it still remains is
a fact of fundamental consequence in understanding the local labor
situation.
The superintendent states that the demand and supply for skilled
labor remains about equal. A good man, whether skilled or un
skilled, can nearly always find work, but the “ floaters” can not.
The latter are too uncertain to be depended upon by an industry
that requires continuous effort. In a growing city there is always
more or less work for unskilled labor; hence there is some work all
the time, but not enough for all the men all of the time.
Compared with other offices of its kind, the free employment office
of Minneapolis seems to enjoy the public confidence and respect to a
rather unusual degree. Many speak with enthusiasm of its work,
especially as a labor exchange. Applications of all sorts are received,
including even matrimonial propositions and inquiries. With such
a volume of work on hand it is impossible for the office to give the
closest attention to individual cases. There are only two officials
provided for— the superintendent and a female assistant, the latter
having charge of the employment of women.
40
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
At present the office methods in the matter of records are similar
to those noted elsewhere. Applications for employment are not
always recorded. From 25 to 50 persons, and often a still larger
number, may be seen in the office almost any morning. Some of
these come every morning until they receive wotk, others become
discouraged or leave the city. The filling of the application blank
is merely the initial part of the work, for the transfer is afterward
to be made to the two record books.
In sending out laborers to the applicants for help the Minneapolis
office, like most other free employment offices, formerly sent a cir
cular letter. Following is a copy of this circular:
Minneapolis, ----------, 190-— .
I have to-day sent to y o u ------------------------ , Registered N o . ------- , who has applied at
this office for a position a s -------.
Please notify this office im m ediately if you do or do not give em ploym ent to the ap
plicant, that your order m ay be canceled or another applicant sent to you.
Superintendent.
The superintendent has discontinued sending such requests for
information, except for skilled labor. Employers may be very
grateful for the prompt fulfillment of their orders for labor, but are
not likely to be punctual in furnishing information upon this point
unless the help was not secured or more help is wanted. Wherever
employers can be reached by telephone the information is usually
secured.
The point of particular excellence about the situation in Minne
apolis is the fact that the office is located in the city hall, and thus
works in cooperation with other phases of social service. The Wis
consin offices, with one exception, are located in quarters provided
by the cities, but in Minneapolis the integration has proceeded
further, and therefore offers a much better illustration of what may
be gained thereby. The significance of this is shown in the following
considerations:
1. A city should provide the office room, rent free, when the State
expends enough upon the locality to support the office. There is in
such case less reason for discontent throughout the remainder of the
State.
2. This assumption of responsibility by the city adds to the local
interest in the office.
3. The housing of the employment office in the city hall puts it
where it properly belongs as a part of the social service. In the first
place, it is removed from the position of being a mere competitor with
all the private agencies, good, bad, or indifferent; secondly, it is dig
nified as. a public function by being placed along with municipal
offices, where it has a right to be; thirdly, it is within convenient
reach of the offices of the various inspectors of factories, buildings,
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES,
41
streets, highways, etc., and is thus enabled to learn of improvements
to be undertaken, and consequently of the demands for labor for
public contracts, and, fourthly, it thus becomes a valuable adjunct
to the municipal courts. To illustrate, the superintendent of the
office at Minneapolis was once called upon to see if work could be
found for a gang of about 25 stranded men, under sentence for
vagrancy. He succeeded in finding work for them, and sentence was
suspended upon condition that they accept the work and report to
him. This they did, some of them gladly, and only three or four
proved recreant. These facts illustrate what is meant by the cooper
ation of the employment office with other social functions. It might
be added that to be within convenient reach of the office of the poor
relief, the associated charities, and the chief of police tends in the
same direction.
4.
The city hall being usually a source of news for the daily papers,
the employment office gains public notice along with other branches
of the public service. If put in rented quarters it is apt to be treated
by the press as a private enterprise and, notwithstanding its public
function, be obliged to pay for every notice, as if it were a money
making scheme.
The above reasons would seem to be conclusive as to the relevance
of the free employment office to other public functions, and to sug
gest a line of demarcation between the responsibility of the State and
of the locality, respectively, in support of the same. The reasons are
just as cogent for other States.
For the regulation of private agencies a State law was passed as
early as 1885, which, with several amendments, is still on the statute
books. It requires a license fee of $100 per annum and a bond to the
State in the sum of $10,000, but it does not require a refund of the
registration fee in case of nonemployment. The bond is “ condi
tioned for the payment of any damage which any person secured or
engaged to labor for others by the obligor may sustain by reason of
any unauthorized act, fraud, or misrepresentation on the part of such
agent for such hiring.” Notwithstanding the threatening provisions
of this act, together with the competition afforded by a successful
State employment office, there are as many as 10 private agencies in
St. Paul and 30 in Minneapolis, some of which are of a very question
able character. In this we have an added proof, if proof is needed,
that legislation and free competition can not be relied upon to control
the abuses practiced by the unscrupulous private agency. In the end
it is an administrative problem for which ordinary methods will not
suffice.
As stated above, the number of positions secured, from the opening
of the free employment office July 1, 1905, to December 7 following,
42
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
was 4,359. Of this number 3,039 were men and 1,320 were women.
The applications for help, counting each application and not the num
ber wanted, were, men, 2,214; women, 1,172.
With regard to the matter of records the management feels that it
is better economy of time to get the business, to see employers, to
study their needs, and to adapt the applicants for work to the various
positions than it is to register every transaction carefully and to
transfer the items from application blanks to record books, and from
these to the monthly reports.
MISSOURI.
The free employment system was established in Missouri in 1898,
without sanction of the law. It proved a satisfactory experiment,
and the next year a law was enacted providing for the establishment
of offices in cities containing 100,000 or more inhabitants. The labor
unions were not the sponsors of the movement, but since the passage
of the law they have adopted resolutions favoring the extension of
the system to cities of 50,000. There was no popular demand for the
office, the movement having its inception with the commissioner,
the object being to combat the abuses practiced by the private
agencies.
“ Cities of 100,000 or more” includes only the cities of St. Louis,
St. Joseph, and Kansas City. The selection as well as the dismissal
of superintendents and clerks is in the hands of the commissioner of
labor statistics, making each office an integral part of the bureau of
labor. They are thus able to be of considerable service to the bureau,
the aim in this particular following the lines adopted in Illinois, Wis
consin, Michigan, and Connecticut.
Among the duties of the superintendent is the usual one requiring
him to “ record, in a book kept for that purpose, the names of all per
sons applying for employment or for help,” etc. The law states that
every application for employment or for help “ shall be void after thirty
days.” It is necessary, therefore, for the superintendent to inquire,
“ Have you registered?” If the applicant has not done so within
thirty days he must register or reregister, as the case may be, before
any further business can be transacted. The fact that the Missouri
offices carry out this provision of the law is attested by the excess of
applications for employment over positions secured, and consequently
over the number of positions unfilled. For purposes of study the
entire published results of the Missouri offices are given below for the
year 1905:
43
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES,
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H E LP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE ST. LOUIS FR EE EMPLOYMENT D E PARTM EN T, B Y OCCUPATIONS
AND SEX, Y E A R ENDING SEPTEM BER 30, 1905.
Females.
Males.
Occupation.
To
tal.
8
Bakers..........................
1
Barbers........................
Bartenders and brew26
ers...............................
5
Blacksmiths................
Bricklayers..................
3
B o y s .............................
85
4
Butchers......................
Carpenters...................
55
Coachmen....................
5
Collectors.....................
16
Cooks ............................ 180
Copvists.......................
Dairym en....................
13
1
D ruggists.....................
Engineers and firemen. 111
14
Electrical w orkers___
Farm h e lp ....................
62
Factory w orkers......... 623
Gardeners....................
16
Grocery clerks.............
38
Hotel and restaurant
help............................ 440
H ousew ork.................. 155
Harvest h a n d s............
3
Janitors, porters, and
w atchm en................
287
Laborers—inside and
ordinary................... 2,406
Laundry w orkers.......
6
Ladies’ m aid s..............
Mechanics....................
36
Molders (iron and
b ra ss )........................
4
Miners..........................
Nurses..........................
8
Office help .................... 280
Painters and paper
hangers......................
25
Printing tra d es...........
2
Plum bers.....................
3
1
Planing and saw m ills.
Private place . » ...........
62
Quarrymen..................
1
Sales people and solici
tors ...........................
92
Seamstresses...............
Street-car employees..
3
Stenographers.............
12
Stone masons and cut
ters.............................
2
Shoemakers.................
33
Special..........................
91
Teamsters.................... 144
Tie makers and timber
cutters .......................
51
Waitresses and wait
ers...............................
50
W asherwomen............
T o ta l.................. 5,463
Applications for
employment.
Applications for
help.
Applications for
employment.
Un To Filled. Un To
Filled. filled.
filled. tal.
tal.
Applications for
help.
Un To- •Filled. U n
Filled. filled.
filled.
tal. |
|
_____!______
8
1
21
3
2
1
3
28
5
15
82
7
3
15277
3
38
5
2
1
178
1
27
1
98
1
98
' 44
12
32
27
1
55
253
7
2
1
1
84
13
7
370
9
36
27
1
101
127
17
2
27
1
55
126
7
2
270
72
2
170
83
1
295
77
20
270
72
2
169
118
191
186
5
1,347 1,059 1,490
6
1,353
137
5
2
1
84
1
27
1
98
12
2
1
14
99
2
11
49
3
42
7
3
115
42
73
46
1
10
10
8
i
5
9
3
3
323
1
5
2
318
25
5
18
212
130
171
112
41
18
294
262
171
112
123
150
H
1
10
1
1
40
2
10
30
2
ii
36
2
7
9
29
5
17
2
7
3
10
2
34
2
2
1
3
3
248
1
2
6
10
1
5
32
5
9
2
1
1
14
2
11
37
5
14
2
23
3
27
1
13
3
1
35
79
1
1
28
66
27
1
1
65
14
2
12
2
2
15
13
2
8
2
1
7
2
4
1
3
1
7
12
3
12
1
1
16
41
111
13
50
85
33
1
50
50
33
49
2
49
49
14
36
19
2,697 2,766 3,256
1
17
50
33
1
7
35
17
4
13
7
4
3
14
5
63
8
46
6
17
2
123
48
46
6
77
42
2,697
559
590
409
181 1,246
409
837
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
44
A P PLICATION S FOR EM PLOYM ENT AND FOR H E L P AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE KANSAS C ITY FR EE EM PLOYMENT DEPA RTM E N T, B Y OCCUPA
TIONS AND SEX, Y E A R ENDING SEPTEM BER 30, 1905.
Males.
Occupation.
Applications for
employment.
Females.
Applications for
help.
Un To
To
tal. Filled. filled. tal.
9
Bakers..........................
4
Blacksmiths.................
4
Bricklayers...................
24
B o y s .. I ........................
2
Butchers.......................
Carpenters....................
39
7
Coachmen.....................
Collectors......................
8
Cooks............................
63
Copyists........................
Cigar makers...............
11
Dairymen.....................
Engineers and firemen. 104
6
Electrical workers.......
Farm help..................... 279
4
Factory workers..........
14
Gardeners.....................
22
Grocery clerks..............
Hotel and restaurant
help............................. 108
2
Housework...................
Harvest hands............. 2,098
Janitors, porters, and
watchmen.................. 143
Laborers—inside and
ordinary.................... 1,249
Laundry workers........
Mechanics.....................
73
2
1
2
9
14
1
13
8
14
108
2
8
1
35
2
2,098
27
878
19
7
3
2
15
2
25
7
7
50
Applications for
employment.
Un To
Un To
Filled. filled.
tal. Filled. filled. tal.
Filled. Un
filled.
1
1
6
6
5
30
2
1
2
9
4
5
3
21
64
4
1
47
14
50
4
1
13
34
86
1
35
S h o e m a k e r s ______ _ _____
Special...........................
Tailors..........................
Teamsters....................
Waitresses and waiters
3
77
2
1
1
35
219
1
4
1
i
3
11
18
1
1
281
7
27
4
108
2
8
1
173
- 5
19
3
106
165
26
148
80
17
80
242
4
26
148
54
94
4
73
118
8
2,110
35
2
2,098
83
6
12
124
266
7
53
109
7
71
157
205
821
7
53
109
7
152
712
116
75
27
48
878 1,252
3
43
19
3
1
2
19
1
18
1
6
1
25
3
371 2,130
3
54
62
3
75
3
7
2
3
5
18
38
1
6
17
32
1
26
9
3
19
1
1
2
18
9
7
2
20
7
13
74
8
109
21
3
28
53
5
81
16
5
11
19
5
14
146
2
144
13
6
22
1
12
6
22
11
1
2
1
10
1
2
19
40
2
73
18
4
2
2
3
2
1
74
55
26
36
48
19
205
87
26
36
179
51
3,348 2,243 1,014
464
550 2,022
464
1,558
21
3
28
17
4
3
1
57
1
1
82
2
80
14
14
1
3
28
19
1
3
9
82
13
25
4
57
9
2
59
2
98
22
W a s h e r w n m en
254
8
14
18
5
3
1
78
4
29
T otal................... 4,714
51
1
19
32
3
90
6
171
2
6
21
M i l l i n e r s ___________________
Nurses...........................
Office help.....................
Painters and paper
hangers......................
Printing trades............
Plumbers......................
Planing and saw mills.
Private place................
Quarrymen...................
Railway employees---Sales people and solic
itors............................
Seamstresses................
Stenographers..............
Stone masons and cut
ters.............................
Applications for
help.
3,348 1,366 5,591
2
25
4
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES,
45
APPLICATIONS FOR EM PLOYMENT AND FOR H ELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE £>T. JOSEPH F R EE EMPLOYMENT DEPARTM ENT, B Y OCCUPATIONS
AND SEX, Y E A R ENDING SEPTEM BER SO, 1905.
Males.
Occupation.
Applications for
employment.
To
tal.
Bakers...........................
Blacksmiths.................
BrinIrlayefS...................
B oy s. .1 ........................
Butchers.......................
Carpenters....................
Coachmen.....................
Collectors.....................
Cooks............................
Dairymen.....................
Druggists.....................
Engineers and firemen.
Electrical workers.......
Farm help....................
Factory workers..........
Gardeners.....................
Grocery clerks..............
Hotel and restaurant
help.............................
Housework...................
Harvest hands.............
Janitors, porters, and
watchmen.................
Laborers—inside and
ordinary....................
Laundry workers........
Ladies* maids..............
Mechanics.....................
Miners...........................
Nurses...........................
Office help....................
Painters and paper
hangers......................
Private place................
Quarrymen...................
Railway employees___
dales people and solic
itors............................
Seamstresses................
Stenographers..............
Stone masons and cut
ters ............................
Special...........................
Teamsters....................
Waitresses and waiters
W asher women.............
3
4
1
60
4
22
31
11
62
23
1
10
5
162
20
3
20
67
1
275
Females.
Applications for
help.
Un To
Filled. filled.
tal.
1
2
22
1
9
14
4
30
18
1
107
14
3
46
1
271
2
2
1
38
3
13
17
7
32
5
1
10
4
55
6
20
21
4
Un To
Filled. filled.
tal.
* 1
2
22
2
9
14
4
33
23
22
1
9
14
4
30
18
3
5
33
25
1
107
23
6
1
107
14
3
9
3
2
2
65
6
500
46
1
271
19
5
229
70
133
59
97
1
19
47
19
19
604
194
3
751
604
10
2
3
7
2
3
3
47
8
39
8
8
1
22
19
9
13
19
5
13
31
5
13
19
5
12
10
10
29
10
19
6
5
16
51
25
3
15
18
16
Total................... 1,875
1,277
Un
Filled. filled.
1
1
66
4
Applications for
help.
Un To
Filled. filled.
tal.
2
3
798
3
1
9
Applications for
employment.
8
11
36
62
25
37
23
2
21
77
142
59
97
18
45
147
1
6
i
1
2
1
33
9
3
22
18
16
3
15
18
16
7
598 1,739
1,277
462
4
4
2
3
1
4
3
1
2
4
1
4
1
16
1
16
1
272
205
67
1
5
2
3
16
3
13
2
2
20
1
16
1
4
349
205
144
In the matter of obtaining correct returns as to positions secured,
the Missouri offices are not so successful as they are with applica
tions, about 75 per cent of the cases being verified. It is doubtful,
indeed, if any free office can succeed in this particular, and the
only remedy thus far discovered is a fee.
Another noticeable feature of the Missouri offices is that no loafing
is permitted about them. Applicants for employment are encour
aged to come again and to come often, but not to remain standing
or sitting about the office. This is considered a good policy for
several reasons. When an office becomes a rendezvous for the
unemployed, such a condition of despondency and discontent is
bred that no healthy minded man can afford to enter it, and the
248b— No. 68—07-----4
46
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
office soon acquires an unfavorable reputation. Again, if the office
has no work for a man he should be out looking for it himself and
should never be encouraged to hang around for short jobs, because
this cultivates shiftlessness.
The expense of maintaining the free employment offices of Mis
souri can not be precisely stated, because it is not separated from
that of the remainder of the bureau of labor. The entire expense
of the bureau of labor, including the central office at Jefferson City
and the three employment offices mentioned, is $16,000.
Each
employment office assists in collecting statistics upon manufactures
and industrial conditions, trade unions, surplus products, etc. The
superintendents receive $1,200 each and the clerks not more than
$900 each per annum. Monthly reports are sent in by the three
offices as required by law, and a compilation is made and published
in the annual report of the commissioner of labor.
ST. LOUIS.
Common unskilled labor in St. Louis is considerably in excess
of the demand, the city being overrun with a floating population
from November until March of each year. Yet common laborers
receive about $1.75 per day, sometimes as low as $1.50. For street
work, in which as a rule, here and elsewhere, the wages are higher
than other common labor, $2 per day is paid.
The St. Louis office endeavors to win the attention and patron
age of employers by sending out circulars to them, and this plan
is said to have been very successful, but there is the active compe
tition of dependable private agencies to meet, to say nothing of
the insidious methods of the dishonest ones. The latter, for instance,
have a practical monopoly of the railroad construction work through
collusion with the contractor, and this decreases greatly the numeri
cal showing the State office would otherwise make. There is a
field for work outside of the offices, to be done with employers,
not only in soliciting their patronage, but also in becoming familiar
with their wants and the qualifications required in employees.
Difficulty is experienced in regard to advertising. The State has
appropriated the sum of $2,000 for this purpose. In many cities
the press has generally pursued a liberal policy toward the free
employment agency, often giving free space to its advertising mat
ter. The St. Louis papers, on the contrary, take the ground that
such advertising is in competition with their “ want-ad.” pages, main
tained for the same purpose. Hence, they charge the highest rate
if they accept it at all. One paper even refused to carry out a con
tract already made for nearly $100 worth of advertising.
The legislature in 1905, amended the law governing private agencies
so as to compel them to furnish employment within three days after
FBEE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
47
accepting the fee or return the same upon demand. It is reported
that there are two or three such agencies in St. Louis which are doing
a straightforward business; about twice as many are “ sharks/’ and
the remainder are of doubtful character.
The policy of the office in regard to strikes is to answer requests of
employers for men as at other times, merely informing the men of the
conditions. No applicant is asked whether or not he belongs to a
union, and no discrimination is made on this score. The unions here
as elsewhere prefer to act through their own business agents. The
local reputation of the St. Louis office is good. The charities associa
tion sometimes sends able-bodied men to the free employment office,
and sometimes sends to the office for men to help fill woodyard con
tracts, and has met with uniform satisfaction. Other humanitarian
organizations speak well of the office.
KANSAS CITY.
The Kansas City office was opened January 15, 1900, and has built
up a good reputation for efficiency. Geographically it is most fortu
nately located, being the central distributing point for labor in the
Southwest. For the same reason the field is an attractive one for
private agencies, and neither the State law nor State competition are
a sufficient restraint upon them. The popular scheme of dividing the
registration fee with the contractor is worked here with hotel chefs.
All applicants for employment are required to fill out an applica
tion blank, and are not. considered without this formal proceeding.
Moreover, testimonials are required, even for contract work, as the
superintendent says that contractors must be protected. This is
setting a high standard and it is a question whether the contractor
will appreciate it enough to give the State employment office his
patronage.
The superintendent has evolved a simple and convenient card sys
tem for filing applications for help and employment, also an improved
letter file which enables him to keep track of all correspondence, and
•to assemble the different items of information upon a given topic at a
moment’s notice. A ticket is issued to every applicant for employ
ment, showing the date of issue and the occupation desired. The
applicant presents this ticket at the office. By this means the super
intendent learns at once whether he has already registered. B y re
ferring to the classification number he can turn at once to his card
catalogue of applications for help and find out whether there is any
thing to offer among the 52 classified occupations. The card catalogue
of applicants for help contains a separate card for each employer, and
these cards are grouped according to the occupations, so that the super
intendent can see at a glance just what may be called for in any one
line of work. The specially prepared letter file is made to fit a drawer
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR.
48
of the superintendent's desk. In one end of this the letters are filed
under the date they are received. On the same date application
blanks are sent out to be filled by the applicant. Thus, it is easy to
keep track of such correspondence, a very necessary thing to do con
sidering the amount of mail business this office is compelled to trans
act in the sending of harvest hands, etc.
More than any other one thing the furnishing of harvest hands
to the farmers of Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska has
brought this office into public notice. The superintendent receives
a schedule from the director of employment at Topeka, stating the
number of men wanted and the destination. He then makes arrange
ments with the railways for reduced rates, generally 1 cent per mile.
The method is as follows: Men in companies of five or more pay their
transportation charges to the superintendent of the free employment
office, and each is given an identification card as follows:
F ree E mployment B ureau
of the
State D epartment
of
L abor.
H A R V E S T E R 'S I D E N T I F I C A T I O N C A R D .
NOT GOOD FOR PASSAG E.
A gent:
The bearer is destined t o ----------- o n ------------ R w y .
L e a v in g ------------ at ------------ m .,
-------- , 190-.
D epu ty Com m issioner o f L abor .
The identification cards are presented to the local railway agent by
the harvest hands and the transportation charges are turned over to
the agent by the superintendent, whereupon regular tickets are issued
to the harvest hands to the point of destination, or perhaps a “ party
ticket" for the entire group.
Arrangements are also made whereby men returning from the
Kansas harvest fields may obtain the same rates from Kansas City
to Nebraska and the Dakotas, but full fare must be paid from the
Kansas destination back to Kansas City. In 1905 there were 2,098
men sent to the Kansas harvest fields by the Kansas City office.
Humanitarian societies describe the work of this office as “ decidedly
beneficial."
ST. JOSEPH.
This office was opened January 1,1901. The city contains a popu
lation of 110,000. As in most other cities, there is an excess of
common labor in the winter time, while in summer the reverse is the
case. Domestic help is quite inadequate to the demand. Skilled
labor is pretty thoroughly organized, only about 10 per cent of the
applications being of this class. No question is asked whether or
not an applicant belongs to a union. In case of a strike the em
ployer's order would be filled as at any other time.
49
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
The same methods are employed as at the other offices in general.
The published reports do not show much work to the credit of this
office, but it has recently changed hands, and the work has more than
trebled in the past year. The office has a good reputation locally.
The following is the form of application for employment, the same
being used in all three of the offices:
Classification —
A pplication
for
E mployment.
A pp . N o . —
B ate —
N a m e ----------Nationality?
pation?
A d d ress------Married or single?
K in d of work desired?
H ow long employed at last place?
ness?
W ages desired?
A ge?
Num ber of dependent children?
Nam e and address of last em ployer?
H ow long a resident of this State?
Can you read and write?
Occu
H ow long idle?
Cause of idle
Remarks.
Signature.
References.
N ote.— T he bureau does not warrant to find you em ploym ent.
If it can place
your labor, you w ill be notified b y postal card.
N o application for em ploym ent will
be registered where references are om itted.
A ll applications expire after thirty
days.
Renewals m ay be made every thirty days until em ploym ent is secured.
E very applicant for em ploym ent must notify the superintendent w ithin ten days
after em ploym ent has been secured.
Failure to so notify m ay bar said applicant
from all future rights and privileges of this bureau. Address all applications t o ------- .
MONTANA.
Montana’s first experience with the free employment office was
under an act passed in 1895, an act which remained in force about
two years. It was realized in framing the measure that it would be
difficult to get an appropriation; hence the Ohio system of Statesupported offices with salaried officials in charge was rejected, and
the Montana statute was modeled upon a bill presented the year
before in the Iowa legislature.
The chief characteristic of the act of 1895 was its aim to secure the
advantages of the Ohio system with little or no expense to the State.
The method involved the creation of one employment office to be
located in the State capitol at Helena, the work to be carried on by a
clerk in connection with the bureau of agriculture, labor, and indus
try. It was supposed that persons wishing employment or help
would write to the bureau of agriculture, labor, and industry and
that this office would do a sort of mail-order business in bringing the
two together. The employer was simply given the names and ad
dresses of those who had informed the office that they wanted his
kind of work. He was then expected to select from this list as best
he could and let the office know how he had succeeded, in order
that it might know whether to give itself credit or not. The act also
authorized the larger cities to establish municipal offices, but none of
them did so.
50
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The results in positions secured under this law were as follows:
POSITIONS SECURED THROUGH H E LEN A FR EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE,
A P R IL 1, 1895, TO MARCH 6,1897.
Period.
Males.
April 1 to December 31,1895...........................................................................
December 1, 1895, to November 30,1896........................................................
December 1,1896, to March 6, 1897.................................................................
167
305
14
Females.
263
302
79
Total.
430
607
93
The expenses were limited to $1,200 per annum, but the expense
account rendered for the year December 1, 1895, to November 30,
1896, shows a total of $1,481.88. The attempt was a failure. The
employer could not afford to wait upon the slow and unsatisfactory
process involved in an exchange of letters. The commissioner
judged from the number of letters received from applicants for both
employment and help that there was an undoubted need of such an
office under more adequate financial provision. The act of 1895 was
repealed and a new law enacted in lieu thereof.
This law is still upon the statute books. It imposes no obligation
on the State, simply permitting each city to establish an office for
itself. It requires a detailed account of the management of such
offices in the annual report of the commissioner upon stated topics,
but it does not compel municipal offices to furnish such data to the
commissioner. It follows, therefore, that the free employment
offices of Montana are virtually municipal offices, their expenses borne
locally, their data such as the local ordinance may require, and their
reports to the commissioner such as the superintendents may feel
constrained by courtesy to give.
There are two such offices in the State, namely, at Butte and at
Great Falls. The cities of Helena and Kalispell have passed ordi
nances establishing such offices, but the councils have failed to provide
the necessary appropriation, and hence the offices have not material
ized. The labor unions are the sponsors for the movement in Mon
tana, and legislation on the subject has been in deference to them,
but in at least two instances it is evident that the opponents of the
movement have succeeded pretty well in thwarting any effective
legislation and in preventing the passage of a municipal appropriation.
BUTTE.
Butte has a population of upward of 30,000. Its free employment
office dates from January 23, 1902, and the substance of the ordinance
is as follows :
The office of employment agent is created, to be filled by the
mayor’s appointment, subject to the approval of the council. His
duties include the receipt of applications both for employment and
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
51
for help. The application for employment must state the sex,
present address, and character of work desired. Applications for
help must contain the address of the employer and nature of the
work to be done. Monthly reports, which must show the number of
applications of both kinds and the number of positions secured, are
required to be made to the city council.
The reason put forward in support of the public employment office
in Butte was the necessity of controlling the exactions of the private
agencies. The latter, however, are still doing business in pretty much
the same way that they did before.
Butte is distinctly a mining town; every other industry is sub
sidiary to mining. It follows almost as a necessary corollary that
prices and wages are high. It is a typical “ union town,” dominated
by union labor as completely, perhaps, as any other American city.
Not only are all the ordinary trades unionized, but there is a union for
common unskilled laborers. Moreover, there is a Women’s Protective
Union, comprising several subordinate unions, such as cooks, chamber
maids, and waitresses, and several b oy’s unions, such as the newsboys,
elevator boys, and bootblacks.
Local employers have made little use of the free public employment
office, except in securing help for short jobs. Mine operators never
use it. Its chief function is found in placing some of the surplus labor
of Butte in surrounding towns. Calls come from various points
along the railway for men for ranching, railroad labor, wood chopping,
and hotel and restaurant help, and for women for hotel help. Most
of the orders from out of town are for men, and they are practically
all for long jobs, while over 75 per cent of the work in town is for
short jobs.
In 1904 there were 7,540 positions secured, 3,547 for women and
3,993 for men. This was effected at a cost to the city of $3,000, or
nearly 40 cents per position filled.
In the matter of office methods it is to be observed first, that as a
rule, applications f6r employment are not recorded except as the job
is taken. A group of men is usually to be found about the office wait
ing for an application for help.
Care is shown in requiring definite and positive information about
positions secured, for none are recorded without such information.
Monthly reports are sent both to the city and to the State officials, but
no annual report is sent.
The office is able to show good results. People generally speak well
of it and no one talks of giving it up. It is performing a function for
that part of the State which citizens in and out of the city think neces
sary and highly beneficial. Those who receive the most advantage
from it are employers who have odd jobs to be done, for the applicants
for work belong principally to the floating population.
52
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
GREAT FALLS.
This is a town of about 15,000 people. The free employment
office was opened in November, 1905. The office is combined with
that of city weigher, with no additional salary, no assistant, and practi
cally no additional cost. Its report for the month of November
is as follows:
APPLICATION S FOR EM PLOYMENT AND FOR H E LP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROU GH GREAT FALLS FR E E PUBLIC EM PLOYMENT OFFICE, NOVEMBER,
Males.
Applications for employment.........................................................................
Applications for help......................................................................................
Positions secured.............................................................................................
65
22
12
Females.
23
19
5
Total.
88
41
17
NEBRASKA.
The Nebraska statute, which was ostensibly designed to create
a free public employment office, was enacted in 1897. The demand
arose among the agricultural classes, the labor unions taking no
conspicuous part in the movement. This act has been allowed to
remain on the statute books ever since, a dead letter from its
enactment.
It will be observed that according to the law it is assumed that
the employment business can be transacted by mail. The office
is in the State capitol at Lincoln, where the public would hardly
be likely to apply either for employment or for help. The responsi
bility for the management of this office is placed in the hands of the
bureau of labor, but no appropriation is made to cover expenses.
The law is inoperative except for the part played by the bureau of
labor in procuring harvest hands.
In 1905, as shown by the bureau of labor, 3,645 harvest hands were
sentto72 townsin36 counties. The methods of estimating the demand
and securing the supply do not differ materially from those described
in the State of Kansas, being somewhat less difficult, however, for
the reason that the hands in Kansas have but to migrate northward
as the season progresses. To facilitate this migration and the
wisest distribution of the labor supply was a problem that appealed
to the Nebraska bureau of labor as one demanding cooperation
among the like bureaus of the several States interested. Accordingly,
at the instance of the bureau a meeting of the commissioners of
labor in the States of the wheat belt, comprising Nebraska, Iowa,
Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma was
called at Kansas City, Mo., January 5, 1904. These commissioners
met at the time and place appointed and organized The Western
Association of State Free Employment Bureaus.
This association is interesting in the light of what it sought to
accomplish, being the only attempt at an interstate federation of
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
53
free employment offices on record. However, it must be observed
that the object was already in part accomplished, in that the Kansas
City, Mo., office had for several years been doing the thing it was
now delegated to do by the new association. Though no annual
meeting was held in 1905, this office continued to exercise the same
functions.
The plan, according to a statement prepared by the president of
the association, was in brief that the superintendent of the Kansas
City, Mo., office should “ maintain the permanent headquarters
of the association in that c it y /7 and that “ that office will act as a
sort of clearing house for the association. That is, each State
bureau will report weekly to the Kansas City headquarters regarding
the number of men needed in the respective States, and as the
harvest ends will report regarding the number of men available
for transferring.77 Continuing, he states:
When the harvest season begins in Oklahoma, the Kansas City
office will secure and ship all the men available into that territory
to the points where it has been informed that they are needed.
While the harvest continues in Oklahoma the Oklahoma bureau
will have charge of the local shifting of men and as the harvest
proceeds northward the Oklahoma bureau will ship all available
men to points in Kansas and Missouri, such shipments to be governed
by information furnished from headquarters. This plan will be
in force throughout the entire territory as the harvest proceeds
northward into the Dakotas and Minnesota.
Necessary for the success of this system is the cooperation of
the railroads through satisfactory uniform low rates. The asso
ciation desires a uniform flat mileage rate of 1 cent per mile for har
vest hands shipped by this association. It is desired and requested
that this rate apply to bodies of five or more men. The associa
tion desires that this rate be given by all roads operating in and
between the several States of the association. We further desire
that the rate be in existence all over the territory where the harvest
is progressing and that it continue to be good from the time the
harvest begins until it is entirely ended in each section.
It has been carefully estimated that should the harvest occur
in these seven States at the same time there would be needed approx
imately 90,000 nonresident laborers, but since it occurs at different
seasons, beginning in June in Oklahoma and ending in October in
Dakota ana Minnesota, about one-half of that number, or 45,000
men, will be necessary to harvest the small-grain crop.
NEW YORK.
The act providing for the free public employment offices in New
York became a law May 28, 1896, and was repealed in 1906. The
chief cause for the failure of the offices provided for by this law was
inadequate financial support. A study of the situation may afford
some light on similar problems elsewhere.
The control of the private agency has been the chief objective in
New York, for the especial reason that the helplessness of immigrants
54
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
has made New York City a most favorable field for the development
of the worst types of private agencies. As far back as 1888, before
Ohio began the agitation for free employment offices, the New York
assembly enacted a law requiring, or permitting municipalities to
require, of private agencies a license, a bond, a return of transporta
tion expenses incurred by the applicant under misrepresentation, a
copy of the law to be printed on the back of the receipt, and that the
street address of the place of business should appear in the license.
A comparison of this with the act of April 27, 1904, shows that the
same lines have been followed in the later act as were laid down in the
earlier one, with two additional features,- a register to be kept by the
agency and the creation of the office of commissioner of licenses
charged with the enforcement of this law. Thus the history of New
York’s attempt to control these private agencies may be epitomized
as, first, an attempt by means of direct legislation, which failed; sec
ond, an attempt by indirect means— i. e., State competition— which
also failed; third, a return to the earlier method, supplemented by
provision for administration and financial support for the same.
This is now on trial, with fair prospects of becoming a permanent
success.
Judged in the light of what it has persistently attempted to do —
namely, to control the private agencies— New York’s legislative
experience corroborates rather than contradicts that of other States.
The first attempt failed because no special provision was made for its
enforcement. The second attempt undoubtedly would have failed
for the same reason, just as it has done in other States under like con
ditions, even if the appropriation had been adequate.
In Illinois the enforcement of the law is delegated to the free
employment office, together with something like adequate financial
support. Whatever may have been the motives for the course pur
sued in New York, whether a consideration for the interests of private
agencies, a disbelief in the possibilities of the Illinois method, or a
hostility to the public employment office, the sole object aimed at in
the act of April 27, 1904, was improved administration. Both New
York and Illinois have succeeded to a considerable degree, but the
success of Illinois includes also the establishment of the free employ
ment system which has other purposes to serve than merely to control
private agencies. Thus it is evident that New York’s rejection of her
free employment system can not be taken as an indictment of such
system in general, however much it may have been quoted to that
effect. The cost to the city of New York of the office of commissioner
of licenses from May, 1904, to September, 1905, inclusive, was:
Amount expended, $26,695.85; outstanding liabilities, $500; total,
$27,195.85. The cost to the State of Illinois for maintaining the free
public employment offices of Chicago for the year 1905 was $25,755.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES,
55
It is worth while in this connection, though aside from the main
purpose, to mention a movement among the better class of private
agencies which deserves the widest imitation. This movement, under
the name of “ The Employment Agents’ Society,” was incorporated
under the laws of the State of New York in January, 1906. Its pur
poses as stated in the certificate of incorporation are—
To cooperate with the duly constituted authorities charged with
the enforcement of all laws relating to employment agencies, to the
unemployed and to wage-workers in general, to effect a union of all
reputable persons interested in or engaged in the employment agency
business, to bring about a better acquaintance among employment
agents in the State, to investigate frauds alleged to have been com
mitted b y employment agents in this State and to aid in bringing to
justice those agents who practice dishonesty; to procure the enact
ment of laws necessary to tne welfare of the unemployed* the employers
and employment agents.
Such an association can lend the most valuable assistance in the
enforcement of the law and at the same time secure to itself the con
fidence of the public.
The State commissioner of labor of New York in 1905 “ secured the
volunteer assistance” of a commission of five men interested in char
itable work to investigate and report upon the condition of the free
employment office. On July 24 this commission reported the follow
ing conclusions:
1. That the bureau is in effect an intelligence office for women
domestic servants.
2. That the sum appropriated for the maintenance of the bureau
($5,000) is entirely inadequate to conduct a bureau which might have
an effect upon the labor situation in the State in general.
3. That the energy represented by the expenditure of $5,000 annu
ally, or any larger sum, will at this time produce the best results by
dealing with the problem of factory inspection and child labor.
4. That, for the reasons set forth above, the free employment
bureau should be discontinued at the end of the present fiscal year.
These conclusions, manifestly, are purely local in their application,
and do not affect the general proposition for or against the State
employment office.
The year ending September 30, 1905, shows the following results of
the New York employment office:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR HELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE NEW Y O R K FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE, Y E A R ENDING
SEPTEM BER 30, 1905
Males.
Applications for help................................................ .....................................
Applications for work.....................................................................................
Situations secured...........................................................................................
Number of reemployments............................................................................
Number placed third time..............................................................................
Number of situations obtained outside New York C ity...........................
Number of situations obtained outside New York State..........................
784
3,530
858
80
30
310
97
Females.
3,288
2,502
3,526
602
313
285
53
Total.
4,072
6,032
4,384
682
343
595
150
56
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The average cost per position secured was $1.18. Following is a
statement in detail of the positions secured:
SITUATIONS SECURED B Y THE NEW Y O R K FR EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE.
B Y OCCUPATIONS AND SEX, Y E A R ENDING SEPTEM BER 30, 1905.
Occupation.
Males:
Attendants........................................
Bakers................................................
Bartenders.........................................
Blacksmiths.......................................
Clerks.................................................
Coachmen...........................................
Cooks..................................................
Dishwashers......................................
Door m en ...........................................
Drillers...............................................
Drivers...............................................
Elevator runners...............................
Farmers.............................................
Firemen..............................................
Gardeners..........................................
Hall hoys...........................................
House m en........................................
Janitors..............................................
Kitchen m en .....................................
Laborers............................................
Laundrymen............ ........................
Number.
2
1
2
1
4
4
11
18
3
1
16
14
195
2
36
9
34
13
68
35
4
Occupation.
Males—Concluded.
Nurses...............................................
Orderlies...........................................
Pin boy s............................................
Porters..............................................
Stablemen........................................
Useful m en.......................................
W aiters.............................................
Yard m en .........................................
Females:
Chambermaids and waitresses.......
Cleaners.............................................
Cooks.................................................
Day workers....................................
General house workers....... ...........
Kitchenm aids.................................
Laundresses.....................................
Nurses...............................................
Pantry m aids..................................
Seamstresses....................................
W ard m aids.....................................
Number.
4
6
21
71
9
226
45
3
338
1,850
296
310
335
94
177
23
65
5
33
It is the testimony of the commissioner of immigration at the port
of New York that his office can not supply more than 20 per cent cf
the demand for help which is received from all over the United States.
The South alone would take the entire supply. This statement is
corroborated by the free “ labor bureau” maintained at the United
States barge office, Battery Park, New York, by the German Society
of the City of New York, and by the Irish Emigrant Society. And yet
in the above report the applications for work by men were 3,530 while
the applications for male help were only 784. How to reach employ
ers, which is always the difficult part of the employment business, is a
task the difficulty of which is greatly augmented by the magnitude of
the city. Advertising alone will fail; so that here, as elsewhere, it
is a matter of canvassing, and this has not been done.
As regards the office methods, not only are references required,
but they are investigated, and the reports therefrom are compared
with answers to the same questions by the applicant. Moreover, the
office has undertaken a detailed social study of the applicants, involv
ing much data and bookkeeping. It involves the necessity for a
large office force to do it, and a considerable increase in the appropri
ation. A description of the methods used is here appended.
In the record book provision is made for entries from the appli
cation form filled b y the one wishing employment or at his dictation,
and from the reference slip when returned from the last employer.
Upon the applicant's securing employment a further record is made,
to serve for future guidance. Upon the return of the reference slips
the answers of both employer and employee are set down in adjacent
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
57
columns, so that the correspondence or the lack of it may be readily
observed. The resulting record form is as follows:
Former occupa Cause of idle
tion as given
ness as given
byby-
Length of time
in last position
as given by—
Answers from former employer
as to applicant’s qualifications.
Remarks or ref
erences.
Not
Re
sent,
turned,
Former Appli Former
Willing proper
Appli Former
Appli
Compe
not
em
em
em
and
cant. ployer.
cant. ployer
cant. ployer.
tent. Sober. Honest. obliging.
address found,
un
other
known. reasons.
The reference slip sent out to the last employer reads as follows:
We take the liberty of inquiring about the character and ability of
the within-named applicant lor employment who has given your name
as that of the last employer.
This form of inquiry is made to obtain reliable information of the
various applicants’ fitness for work before introducing them to
employers. Your reply will be considered strictly confidential. How
long w a s --------------------- in your employ? --------. At what kind of
work? Was applicant competent? Sober? Honest? Willing?
Remarks.
An early answer will be appreciated, while failure to answer or
delay in so doing may prevent a worthy applicant from obtaining
employment.
Should you at any time require help we will be pleased to place the
service of this bureau at your disposal.
Respectfully,
Superintendent .
OHIO.
Ohio was the first State to undertake the establishment of free pub
lic employment offices. Where Ohio got the idea seems to be a mat
ter of some debate, for while there are those who say that it was bor
rowed from France, where similar services had been performed under
the office du travail, it is claimed by those who were closely identified
with the movement as an “ Ohio idea,” suggested altogether by local
# conditions.
It is known that the municipal labor congress of Cin
cinnati drafted the original bill, that a hard fight over it ensued in the
State legislature, and that when the law .was finally passed it had been
seriously crippled by the senate. Its inception was largely due to a
desire to curb the abuses of private agencies, and it was necessarily
experimental in some degree. The development of the Ohio system
has been tentative and halting, undergoing frequent amendment and
much unfriendly criticism. It is studied in this connection because
58
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
the formative influence of the Ohio system in other States has been
considerable.
The leading argument in the advocacy of the system has already
been mentioned— namely, the desire to curb the private agencies.
Further than this, the commissioner’s report for 1890 urges the
greater reliability of the public offices, inasmuch as their services are
disinterested and not affected by the desire to make money. Again,
" th e duty of the State to lessen as much as possible the number of
the unemployed is the strongest reason for the establishment of free
employment agencies.” However, if the private agencies had con
ducted their business irreproachably, without fraud or extortion, or
if their control had been effected by the ordinary police methods, it
is doubtful if economic or any other considerations would have been
strong enough to have procured the passage of the bill.
It may be asked why the same object was not attempted by direct
legislation, aimed specifically at the fraudulent practices of these
agencies, rather than indirectly by the influence of State competition.
The answer is that the supporters of the measure were impressed
with the extreme difficulty of fastening the guilt upon the malefactor.
The shifts of unscrupulous men in complying with or violating their
contracts, the fraudulence of their advertising, the helplessness of
their victims, and the consequent difficulty of obtaining incriminat
ing evidence— all these things were matters of common experience
or observation among the working people. So prevalent were these
fraudulent practices that no discrimination could be made between
good and bad agencies. It was thought that the only way to correct
the evil practice was to meet and drive the whole business from the
field by State competition. With the passage of the law State com
petition diminished but did not remove the evil. It was discovered
that something more than competition was necessary to regulate the
private agencies, and hence, in 1904, a law was enacted containing
the following provisions:
1. A license fee of from $50 to $100 per annum in cities, and $10
to $25 in villages.
2. A bond in the sum of $500.
3. Agency required to keep a register of applicants for labor or for
help, such register to be open to inspection.
4. Registration fee limited to $2, returnable at the end of thirty
days if employment is not secured.
5. Agencies forbidden to send female help or servants to places of
bad repute.
6. Agencies forbidden to publish fraudulent advertising, give false
information, make false promises concerning work, or make false
entries in their registers.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
59
7.
A fine of from $50 to $100 with, imprisonment not exceeding six
months for any violation of the above and license to be revoked at the
discretion of the State commissioner of labor.
The commissioner in his report for 1904 states that since this law
went into effect 21 private agencies have taken out licenses, namely,
9 in Cleveland, 7 in Cincinnati, 2 in Columbus, and 1 each in Dayton,
Toledo, and Canton. “ Of the prosecutions instituted against alleged
violations, numbering 11 in all, there are 5 cases still pending * * *
5 others have pleaded guilty.” Thus it would appear that with the
adoption of this law the idea of regulation by simple unassisted State
competition has been given up.
The feature introduced in the original bill b y the senate, providing
that the salaries of the superintendents shall be paid by the cities
where they are located, has since been repealed. Such cities are more
immediately benefited by the law than other parts of the State, and it
may be argued that they should bear the burden of the expense.
Upon the request of the commissioner of labor, the five cities desig
nated complied with the spirit of the law, but experience soon showed
that the law was impracticable. Accordingly an amendment has
recently been passed whereby the State assumes the entire financial
responsibility, thus conforming to the purpose of the original bill
before the senate amendment was attached. This makes the law
more consistent with its purpose, for a mandatory act involving
expenditure should carry with it the means of meeting that expendi
ture.
In his twenty-eighth annual report the Ohio commissioner of labor,
referring to the free public employment offices, says:
There is a growing belief among a great many observing, wellmeaning people that, so far as it is possible to bring it about, politics
and political environments should be sufficiently removed from those
offices to enable the superintendents in charge to devote their whole
time to the duties of their office. With this sentiment the bureau
[of labor] has no quarrel whatever, and it is hoped that all others who
are interested in the success of those agencies will agree that upon
this question there is no room for differences. From the nature of
the duties of those offices, the closest personal attention is required,
and as attention to duty is one of the first requisites to success in
any line of business activity, this quality is no less essential on the
part of those who find employment for 15,000 to 20,000 people an
nually than on the part of employers who utilize this vast army of
labor to advantage. In either case, strict business rules and princi
ples must apply if the highest and best results are to be obtained.
The scope of the free employment office of Ohio has not changed
greatly in the fifteen years of its operation. In each of the five
cities its work is almost exclusively concerned with the inferior labor
market. That it has not developed the higher or skilled labor
60
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR.
employment business is not to be charged wholly to the offices. The
greater part of skilled labor, trades, etc., is unionized, and each union
prefers to handle the employment business in its own line through its
own business agent. Again, skilled labor, whether unionized or not,
has less difficulty in finding employment, and hence has less need of
the employment office. In the third place and chiefly in this con
nection, skilled and unskilled labor can not successfully be brought
together into the same labor market, or rather, skilled labor feels it a
degradation to go into the same employment office to look for an
opening along with unskilled labor.
As the law stands to-day it presents the following features:
1. The commissioner of labor is authorized to appoint a superin
tendent for each of the five offices, namely, at Columbus, Cleveland,
Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati. Appointments and removals, how
ever, must be sanctioned by the governor; and as the commissioner of
labor is himself appointed by the governor, the selection of superin
tendents is likely also to belong to the latter as a matter of fact.
2. Each of the superintendents is provided with a clerk. This
position is always held by a woman, who has her desk in a separate
room for the accommodation of female applicants.
3. The superintendent is required to receive all applications for
labor of those desiring employment, and all applications for help of
those desiring to employ labor, and to record in a book kept for that
.purpose the name, address, and character of labor or help desired.
4. No fee may be charged for the services of the office, directly or
indirectly, and a heavy penalty is fixed for the violation of the law in
this particular.
5. Each superintendent reports to the commissioner of labor on
Thursday of each week, giving a list of all applications for labor
during the week just closed, likewise a list of all applications for
help wanted, as domestic, clerk, mason, carpenter, etc., and also a list
of positions secured, showing what kinds of positions were secured.
The names of all applicants are withheld. The commissioner then
causes these reports to be printed on large sheets of paper, suitable for
posting on walls, and copies are sent to the several offices by Monday
of the following week. Thus, each office is informed of what the other
offices are doing and the public is informed of any unsatisfied demand.
6. The commissioner of labor is given power to remove any super
intendent or clerk for good and sufficient reason, subject to the con
sent of the governor.
7. The superintendent receives a salary of $1,500 per annum and
i3 allowed $720 for clerk hire.
The expenses of the five offices for salaries of superintendents and
clerks for the year 1904 amounted to $11,100, and the contingent
expenses, including rent, to $2,410, making a total of $13,510, or an
average of $2,702 per office. The total number of positions secured
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
61
in the same year, according to the annual report, was 15,975. (a) Hence,
the average cost to the State per position secured was 84.6 cents.
It is very difficult to determine accurately the number of positions
secured. The opportunities for error are numerous and hard to
overcome. The superintendents of the Ohio offices require that
applicants notify them whether or not the positions to which they
are sent were secured by them. This is asked of the employer also,
and if the employer has a telephone the information is usually
easily secured, but sometimes frequent and insistent inquiries are
required. Even after all efforts have been exhausted there is usu
ally a considerable number of careless and indifferent employers
who fail to make reply. It is safe to say that this number does not
exceed 10 per cent of the whole number of positions filled. While,
therefore, we may take this as an element of uncertainty in the
result, it is probably counterbalanced by the number of unreported
positions secured through the offices. This is the contention of the
superintendents, and it may be assumed that the number given is
approximately correct.
The data afford little assistance in answering the question whether
the price is too high for the service, yet it is a question that should
be answered. Of the nearly 16,000 positions secured, a large num
ber, perhaps a majority of them, were short jobs lasting but a day
or only an hour or two. If all were of this class the expenditure of
84.6 cents for each position secured might be regarded as unjusti
fiable. This lack of uniformity of data, since short jobs count as
much as long ones in the reports, vitiates all statistical calculations
which assume such a uniformity. Thus there is small satisfaction
in determining the amount saved to the working classes by the
use of such averages.
But in the face of all this it is not difficult to maintain that the
expense is justifiable. It could be shown that even with the rela
tively small number of permanent positions secured, the economic
gain to the State in getting men into positions of greater produc
tivity more than counterbalances the expense. There is an abun
dant demand for labor in many parts of the country simply because
the right men have not been found to do the work, and many
instances of this condition could be pointed out in Ohio. Again,
from another point of view, the expense could be justified in that
as a result of unemployment one man by committing some crimia Since the above was written the report for 1905 has come to hand. B y this
it appears that the total number of positions secured during the year was 21,203, a
rather remarkable increase over that of the preceding year. The numbers for the
several offices are as follows: Cleveland, 3,931; Columbus, 4,143; Cincinnati, 4,509;
Dayton, 5,159; Toledo, 3,461.
248b—No. 68—07-----5
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
62
nal act might easily cost the State the entire sum expended upon
the employment office.
CLEVELAND.
Of the five cities where the offices are already established Cleveland
has had an overstocked labor market. True, there has been a strong
local demand; but this demand has served as a stronger attraction
to outside labor than the local market has justified, and consequently
there has often been a number of unemployed in the city. Employ
ers, both in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits, say that they
have been besieged with applications for work and have had no
trouble in securing all the help wanted without recourse to the public
employment office. Perhaps it is for this reason, added to the lack
of funds for advertising, that the office itself seems to be so little
known. It is in one of the best office buildings in the city, centrally
located, and apparently should be well known. There are nine
private agencies in Cleveland, each paying a State license for the
privilege of doing business. Besides there are numerous agencies
conducted for charitable purposes or otherwise. The bureau of
associated charities maintains a free employment office at considerable
expense, and the Young Men's Christian Association also conducts
an excellent employment office for the benefit of its members.
The following table shows the amount of work done b y the free
public employment office from the time of its establishment to De
cember 31, 1905:
APPLICATION S FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FO*R H E LP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FR EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE OF CLEVELAND 1890 TO
1905.
Males.
Females.
Applications for—
Year.
Employ
ment.
Help.
4890 ( a ) .......................
1891.............................
1892.............................
1893.............................
1894.............................
1895.............................
1896.............................
1897.............................
1898.............................
1899.............................
1900.............................
1901.............................
1902.............................
1903.............................
1904...........................
1905, first quarter___
1905, second quarter..
1905, third quarter...
1905,fourth quarter..
2,532
6,308
3,645
2,964
2,942
1,980
1,290
2,684
3,725
3,173
2,253
3,384
3,411
1,728
417
549
688
394
3,189
925
1,162
935
283
450
323
919
1,269
1,037
312
3,264
4,586
4,141
1,453
371
622
853
587
T otal................
47,305
26,681
3,2as
Applications for—
Posi
tions se Employ
cured.
ment.
1,333
886
920
768
273
444
323
855
1,084
657
298
2,108
2,606
2,566
1,051
272
469*
600
329
17,842
Help.
Per cent Per cent
of posi
of em
tions se ployees
cured of
secured
Posi
applica
tions se tions for of appli
cations
cured.
employ for
help.
ment.
1,277
3,830
3,539
4,157
3,517
2,732
3,479
3,244
3,870
1,350
1,606
2,765
2,390
2,324
2,082
564
642
813
504
1,231
3,471
4,577
2,671
2,065
2,963
3,720
3,320
3,361
1,6*0
2,379
3,069
2,819
2,852
2,280
610
853
961
647
847
2,508
2,664
2,825
1,846
12,009
2,688
2,608
2,562
1,051
1,464
1,947
1,933
2,131
1,790
473
599
730
459
57.2
33.5
49.9
50.5
32.8
52.1
63.1
58.4
48.0
37.8
45.7
65.9
78.2
84.4
74.6
75.9
89.7
88.6
87.8
49.3
77.2
62.4
99.6
90.2
71.9
74.5
81.7
78.7
63.8
65.5
64.0
61.3
67.2
76.1
75.9
72.4
73.3
63.9
44,685
45,489
33,134
55.4
70.6
a July l to December 31.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
63
COLUMBUS.
The labor conditions in Columbus as between demand and supply
seem to be fairly even in most occupations. There is everywhere a
demand for more skilled labor of various kinds, and the Columbus
office has not always been able to furnish it. A specialized bureau
is not provided for handling skilled labor, and the public does not
yet realize that the employment-office business is a diversified in
dustry. When one considers what a diversified commodity labor is,
it should seem strange that one could go to the same office and get a
carpenter, a hod carrier, a domestic, a teacher, or a common un
skilled laborer. In some large cities this specialization of bureaus is
being carried out to a considerable degree. Following is a report
of the work done by the free public employment office of Columbus
since its organization:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H E LP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE F R EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE OF COLUMBUS, 1890 TO
Males.
Females.
Applications for—
Year.
Employ
ment.
Help.
Applications for—
Posi
tions se Employ
cured.
ment.
Help.
Per cent Per cent
of posi
of em
tions se ployees
cured of secured
Posi
applica
tions se tions for of appli
cured.
employ cations
for help.
ment.
1890 (a ).......................
1891.............................
1892.............................
1893.............................
1894.............................
1895.............................
1896.............................
1897.............................
1898.............................
1899.............................
1900.............................
1901.............................
1902.............................
1903.............................
1904.............................
1905, first quarter___
1905, second quarter..
1905,third quarter...
1905,fourth quarter..
1,965
3,128
2,907
3,219
2,672
2,887
3,422
3,725
3,872
3,161
1,217
1,181
1,616
1,875
1,469
253
467
718
665
1,192
1,534
2,013
1,142
605
725
700
798
746
982
1,270
1,022
2,439
2,145
1,652
305
516
815
753
684
915
1,244
1,165
456
499
585
610
593
564
499
828
1,447
1,760
1,422
248
458
642
524
710
1,739
1,658
2,060
2,226
2,187
2,476
1,192
652
1,891
1,895
1,586
1,443
1,493
2,061
563
589
787
647
722
2,208
2.162
1,879
1,852
2,358
2,350
2,635
3,135
3,642
2.985
2,919
2,855
2,735
2,888
839
1,0515
1,120
735
525
1,481
1,152
1,105
1,343
1,590
1,928
2,424
2,889
2,140
1,581
1,592
1,417
1,355
1,885
523
558
700
490
45.2
49.2
52.5
44.1
36.7
41.2
42.6
61.7
77.0
53.5
66.8
87.5
93.6
92.5
93.7
94.5
96.2
89.2
77.3
63.2
63.0
57.4
77.1
73.2
67.8
82.4
88.4
89.7
58.5
48.9
61.4
54.1
63.8
72.8
67.4
05. 5
69.1
08.1
Total................
40,419
21,354
15,143
27,855
41,120
26,738
61.3
07.0
a September 2 to December 31.
CINCINNATI.
Cincinnati presents no features differing essentially from the other
cities. There is not the excess of labor that was noted in the case of
Cleveland; indeed, a shortage is of frequent occurrence, and in some
occupations, as that of domestics, this is the usual condition. There
is the feeling on the part of contractors in Ohio that the office is a
helpful institution to them and a very beneficial one to the common
laborers. Other employers are not unanimous upon that point, partly
64
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
no doubt from their inability to find just what they want through it.
The table given below shows the work from 1890 to 1905:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H ELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE OF CINCINNATI, 1890 TO
1905.
Males.
Year
Females.
Per cent
cent
of posi Per
of em
tions
se ployees
Applications for—
Applications for—
cured of secured
Posi
Posi
applica
tions se
tions se tions for of appli
Employ
Employ
cations
Help.
cured.
Help.
cured.
employ
ment.
ment.
for help.
ment.
1890(«).......................
1891.............................
1892.............................
1893.............................
1894.............................
1895.............................
1896.............................
1897.............................
1898.............................
1899.............................
1900.............................
1901.............................
1902.............................
1903.............................
1904.............................
1905, first quarter___
1905, second quarter.
1905, third quarter...
1905, fourth quarter.
4,763
* 4,811
3,139
2,740
2,778
2,442
- 1,821
1,399
1,620
2,249
2,552
2,423
3,204
3,528
1,898
550
1,002
915
686
2,803
3,369
1,980
1,344
297
326
262
163
178
433
1,323
1,527
2,564
3,020
1,621
428
917
843
622
1,830
2,312
1,497
933
267
319
237
160
173
409
1,246
1,305
2,410
2,871
1,397
428
911
834
621
1,818
3,428
2,789
2,536
3,162
2,774
2,180
1,606
1,760
1,835
1,463
2,101
2,115
1,970
2,411
512
479
491
513
2,787
3,291
2,782
2,531
1,383
1,995
1,568
905
1,081
1,888
2,018
2,802
2,845
3,024
2 ,778
588
629
566
553
1,126
2,129
1,613
1,541
1,144
1,592
1,230
764
871
1,149
1,033
1,646
1,767
1,631
2,071
445
418
408
444
44.9
53.9
52.5
46.9
23.8
36.6
36.7
30.7
30.9
38.1
56.8
65.2
78.5
81.9
80.5
82.2
89.7
88.3
88.8
52.9
66.7
65.3
63.8
84.0
82.3
80.2
86.5
82.9
67.1
68.2
68.2
77.2
74.5
78.8
85.9
86.0
88.1
90.6
T otal................
44,520
24,020
20,160
35,943
36,014
23,022
5a 7
71.9
« July 25 to December 31.
DAYTON.
Dayton is a thriving manufacturing center in the midst of an agri
cultural region, and has a population less than one-fourth that of
Cleveland, yet the Dayton office surpasses each of the other four
offices in the number of applications for employment and for help,
and the number of positions secured. In the year 1905 the applica
tions for male help kept pace with the applications for employment,
while for female help the former were double the latter. There is
much difficulty in getting all the skilled labor required under such
conditions, and in this the office can assist only to a limited degree,
simply because the labor is not to be had. Organized efforts are
made by certain local establishments to satisfy their own needs, as
in the establishment of employment bureaus of their own, and even
these are quite inadequate to secure a sufficient number of brass
molders, foundry men, high-grade salesmen, and others.
A systematic effort has been contemplated by the Dayton office
for realizing the possibilities of the labor market in its own district;
Thus, Dayton is a central point for a number of electric car lines.
Young men are continually applying to the employment office for
indoor work as the winter approaches and the work of the farm
slackens. Many of these farmer boys have the making of good
65
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
mechanics in them, and are pretty sure to be ambitious and diligent
in habits. With a suitable fund for advertising in the villages along
the trolley lines the working force at Dayton could undoubtedly be
greatly increased.
The Dayton free employment office has worked in cordial coopera
tion with the charities organization. This is of great advantage, as
much duplication of work is saved on both sides by a clear and definite
understanding as to the scope of each other’s duties.
Following is a statement of the work of the Dayton office since its
organization:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H ELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE OF DAYTON. 18S0 TO 1905.
Males.
Females.
Applications for—
Year.
Employ
ment.
1890 (« )......................
1891.............................
1892.............................
1893.............................
1884.............................
tS95.............................
1896.............................
1897.............................
1898............................. '
1899.............................
1900.............................
1901.............................
1902.............................
1903.............................
1904.............................
1905, first quarter___
1905, second quarter.
1905, third quarter...
1905, fourth quarter.
T otal................
2,944
3,351
2,671
3,052
3,657
3,689
3,578
2,870
2,475
4,114
3,113
3,221
3,931
3,449
2,322
453
1,041
929
1,077
51,937
Help.
Applications for—
Posi
tions se Employ
cured.
ment.
1,384
1,386
1,282
1,613
800
905
884
759
927
2,192
2,507
2,684
4,472
3,793
2,170
403
998
1,012 ,
1,186
31,357
Help.
Per cent Per cent
of posi
of em
tions se ployees
cured of secured
. Posi
applica of appli
tions se tions for cations
cured.
employ for help.
ment.
389
790
883
1,121
777
868
780
806
930
2,030
1,701
1,931
3,147
2,982
2,035
379
957
862
1,019
1,083
2,118
1,474
1,833
3,761
4,451
4,957
3,729
3,138
3,065
2,691
2,887
2,491
2,185
2,234
512
426
533
543
878
2,004
1,770
2,290
2,447
3,197
3,109
2,731
3,038
5,360
4,385
5,792
7,194
7,163
4,732
1,233
1,561
1,331
1,236
418
1,119
989
1,627
1,934
2,621
2,696
3,015
2,937
2,193
1,954
2,135
2,080
2,026
2,119
488
413
512
529
20.3
34.9
45.2
56.3
36.5
42.9
40.7
57.9
68.9
58.8
63.0
66.6
81.4
88.9
91.2
89.8
93.4
94.0
95.6
36.1
56.3
61.3
70.4
83.5
85.1
87.1*
6109.5
97.7
55.9
53.0
48.0
44.8
45.7
60.2
53.0
53.5
58.6
63.9
24,397
44,111
61,451
31,805
58.5
60.6
o June 30 to December 31.
6 As shown here the number of positions filled exceeded the number of applications for help, indicat
ing that employers who had.not applied for help gave positions to some of the applicants for employment.
TOLEDO.
Toledo has no great problem of the unemployed, yet the supply of
unskilled labor is somewhat in excess of the demand. A larger per
cent of the total applications for employment (in 1905) were filled
than of those for help, indicating that it was easier to find work than
to find help. This is doubtless the case in the summer and autumn.
Winter drives many vagrants to the city* and as the weather at this
season interferes with the only work they can do, such as ditching,
excavating, grading, etc., the labor supply becomes overabundant.
66
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
The report of the work of the Toledo office since its organization
is as follows:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H E LP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE OF TOLEDO. 1890 TO 1905.
Females.
Males.
Applications for—
Year.
Employ
ment.
1890 (a )......................
1891.............................
1892.............................
1893.............................
1894............................. |
1895.............................
1896............................. ;
1897.............................
1898............................. ,
1899.............................
1900............................. 1
1901.............................
1902.............................
1903.............................
1904.............................
1905, first quarter.. . .
1905, second quarter.
1905, third quarter...
1905, fourth quarter.
T otal................
Help.
Applications for—
Posi
tions se Employ
cured.
ment.
Help.
Per cent Per cent
of posi
tions se of em
cured of ployees
Posi
applica secured
tions se tions for of appli
cations
cured.
employ for
help.
ment.
2,334
3,859
3,160
2,194
2,472
3,167
2,557
2,481
2,426
2,562
1,944
2,426
3,995
3,777
2,006
360
726
1,106
798
2,885
2,481
1,790
792
441
645
879
1,650
1,378
1,572
1,196
3,230
3,913
3,950
1,869
209
789
1,356
855
1,329
2,064
1,361
579
367
547
836
1,481
1,249
1,398
970
1,983
2,704
2,726
1,365
178
594
1,024
662
719
1,799
1,964
2,099
1,950
1,649
1,937
3,527
3,471
2,745
2,121
1,349
2,372
1,832
1,122
278
360
328
254
1,083
2,479
2,654
2,032
1,693
1,659
1,885
5,233
5,532
5,151
4,062
1,965
2,926
2,315
1,623
338
499
433
295
497
1,391
1,422
1,477
1,359
1,236
1,616
4,324
4,407
3,398
2,598
1,362
1,917
1,639
840
214
308
279
202
59.8
61.1
54.3
47.9
39.0
37.0
54.5
96.6
95.9
90.4
87.8
88.7
72.6
77.8
70.5
61.4
83.1
90.9
82.1
46.0
69.7
62.6
72.8
80.9
77.4
88.7
84.3
81.9
71.3
67.9
64.4
67.6
69.7
63.1
71.6
70.0
72.8
75.1
44,350
31,880
23,417
31,876
43,857
30,486
70.7
71.1
a June 26 to December 31.
The following summary needs no comment unless it be that num
bers, though gratifying to those who wish the movement success, are
of less importance than efficiency in placing men and women where
they can do the best work. A low per cent of applications filled may
be a favorable rather than an unfavorable comment upon the work
of the office, since it may mean a corresponding carefulness on the
part of the superintendent in rejecting unfit applicants. There are
three guiding principles from which the superintendent may choose
in placing a man:
First, the general rule, fit the man to the job.
Second, in all charities cases, 11first come, first served/7 or the
greatest need preferred.
67
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
Third, in case of short jobs, take the man in the office at the time
of the call, or the one who can go first.
SUMMARY OF APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR HELP, AND POSITIONS
SECURED THROUGH THE FIVE FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES OF OHIO,
FOR THE PERIO D 1890 TO 1905.
Males and females.
Applications for—
Popula
tion.
Cities.
Employ
ment.
Help.
Per cent
of posi
tions se
cured of
Posi
applica
tions
tions for
secured. employ
ment.
Per cent
c f em
ployees
secured of
applica
tions for
help.
381,768
125,560
325,902
85,333
131,822
91,990
68,274
80,463
96,018
76,226
72,170
62,474
60,034
92,808
75,726
50,976
41,881
43,182
56,202
53,903
55.4
61.3
53.7
58.5
70.7
70.6
67.0
71.9
60.6
71.2
Grand total....................................... 1,050,385
413,001
363,222
246,144
59.6
67.8
Cleveland......................................................
Columbus.....................................................
Cincinnati.....................................................
Dayton.........................................................
Toledo...........................................................
WASHINGTON.
The State of Washington has no statutory provision for free
employment offices, neither is there any legislation directed against
the evils of the private agency. Everything of this nature in the
State is founded upon city ordinances, or, as in the case of Seattle,
an amendment to the city charter. There are three cities that have
undertaken such measures, namely, Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane.
The study of the situation in this State is therefore a study of the
three municipal offices of these cities.
SEATTLE.
The first municipal employment office in the United States was
opened in Seattle in April, 1894. It was “ inaugurated as the result
of the almost unanimous vote of the people in amendment to the
city charter” in that year, and its immediate justification was found
in the prevailing business depression which threw so many men out of
work. The demand was therefore economic, arising from the side of
the labor supply, and the control of the private agencies had nothing
to do with it. B y a separate ordinance the city undertakes the con
trol of the private agencies, of which there are about tVenty. The
enforcement of this ordinance is placed in the hands of the city com
missioner of labor. Generally speaking, the private agencies of
Seattle are well conducted and employers speak m high terms of the
services rendered by some of them. For this result the commis
sioners control must be credited in some measure, and the success
and popularity of the public office has had a salutary effect upon
their business methods. While the ordinance in question requires
no bond to be given, it will be observed that this method of control
resembles that of Illinois.
68
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The success of the Seattle office in the number of positions secured
is extraordinary, far surpassing that of any other office in the United
States. An examination of the following table shows the results
accomplished from the organization of the office up to 1904:
STATISTICS OF SEATTLE F R EE PUBLIC EM PLOYMENT OFFICE, 1894 TO 1904.
Year.
Male help
supplied.
1894(a).................
1895.......................
1896.......................
1897.......................
1898.......................
1839.......................
1900.......................
1901.......................
1902.......................
1903......................
1904.......................
1,580
1,831
*1,647
6,163
18,154
16,082
20,852
19,411
19,242
23,302
15,669
aApril to December.
Female
help
supplied.
1,243
1,898
*1,756
2,573
3.794
4,082
5,468
5,684
5,183
5,539
3,785
Hop
pickers.
1,144
2,050
*135
2,890
2,235
2,682
1,285
1,465
1,480
1,465
1,105
^Including hop pickers.
Total.
3,967
5,779
3,403
11,626
24,183
22,846
27,605
26,560
25,905
30,306
20,559
Average
per
month.
441
482
• 284
969
2,015
1,904
2,300
2,213
2,159
2,526
1,713
Total
expense.
$909.65
1,120.00
727.50
724.08
1,377.13
1,132.61
1,239.41
1,276.69
1,320.91
1,479.70
1,308.35
j Cost of
1 each
position
(cents).
22.93
19.38
21.38
6.23
5.69
4.96
4.49
4.81
5.10
4.88*
6.36
* Included in male and female help supplied.
The maximum record is that of the year 1903, when 30,306 posi
tions were seeured, a monthly average of 2,526, at a cost to the city of
4.88 cents per position. The cost per position for the whole period
amounted to only 6.22 cents. In the report for 1901 it was estimated
that the cost through private agencies was about $1.25 per posi
tion. Considering this estimate true for the whole period, 1894 to
1904, the saving to laborers by the Seattle public employment
office has been $240,812 on the 202,738 positions secured. Such a
record is satisfactory even if every position secured has been a
short job and the labor unskilled.
Seattle, like Minneapolis, is the center of a labor market which
fluctuates periodically. The demand begins to increase along in
March, and by the month of July amounts to about three times
that of the winter. During July and the following two months
it continues high, then gradually declines as the rainy season
approaches and outdoor work becomes disagreeable. The labor
supply, on the contrary, is more abundant in the winter, as the
4*floaters’ ’ come down from the more inclement mountain regions
to the eastward, and a great many come from Alaska, hoping to
pick up sufficient odd jobs to pay expenses. The net result is
very brisk business for the employment office in the summer, when
the demand is in excess of the supply, and comparatively dull times
during the winter, when ditching, grading, and excavating are
impossible because of the rain.
The variety and numerical importance of the positions filled
will be seen from the following list of positions secured for males
in 1904:
69
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES,
POSITIONS SECURED THROUGH THE SEATTLE FR EE PUBLIC EM PLOYM ENT OFFICE
B Y MALE APPLICANTS IN EACH OCCUPATION, B Y MONTHS, 1904.
Occupation.
Bakers......................
Rakers’ helpers........
RlfletornithQ
Bolt cutters.............
B oy s..........................
Brick masons...........
Bushelmen................
Butchers...................
Calkers......................
Carpenters................
Cement finishers.. . .
Chainmen.................
Chippers...................
Coal handlers...........
Coal miners..............
Cooks........................
Cord w ood................
Core and flask mak
ers..........................
Deck hands..............
Electrical wi remen..
Engineers.................
Farmers....................
Firemen.....................
Hod carriers ; ...........
Housemen................
Iron workers............
Kitchen help............
Laborers...................
Lathers.....................
Laundry men............
Loggers.....................
Lumber.....................
Miners.......................
Motormen.................
Painters...................
Paper hangers.........
Pattern makers.......
Pipe fitters...............
Plasterers.................
Plumbers..................
Porters.....................
Railroad laborers...
Shingles.....................
Shoemakers....... ..
Solicitors............J...
Stenographers.........
Stock cutters...........
Teamsters................
Upholsterers............
Wagon makers.........
Waiters....................
W atchmen...............
Weavers...................
Wheelwrights..........
Wood turners..........
Miscellaneous...........
T otal...............
Jan.
1
2
2
3
1
5
Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
2
3
2
3
1
2
1
1
2
6
2
6
1
12
43
1
6
1
24
1
2
18
1
3
1
31
1
5
29
7
29
2
33
36
76
3
2
1
6
10
8
14
1
1
20
70
71
53
3
14
4
8
5
20
il
11
14
3 * 35
10
23
10
77
85
80
20
244
6
236
14
271
2
40
1
1
147
2
37
582
7
5
1
8
8
13
78
4
1
1
9
2
26
1
10
7
2
8
25
2
7
16
1
3
1
2
96
1
9
18
1
3
202
6
2
8
1
2
30
115
26
501
3
1
16
54
2
4
1
2
1
1
1
160
1
9
27
11
3
7
1
19
2
34
1
1
1
39
1
437
1
1
1
1
1
8
3
5
57
2
36
4
17
8
2
1
81
30
14
12
19
7
2
4
8
3
5
6
2
1
31
1
18
2
26
4
3
108
1
13
3
2
90
91
90
122
1
27
17
20
28
23
628 1,453 1,738 1,541 1,139
11
71
8
1
2
1
4
185
1
1
11
12
2
9
84
14
670
1
55
191
5
1
1
3
1
83
226
4
34
148
13
7
17
4
2
3
9
1
4
1
1
1
5
201
20
1
2
104
9
1
22
61
3
1
5
33
1
59
1
52
21
9
26
1
i2
13
1
2
5
2
121
7
1
5
2
68
12
1
5
1
13
3
9
13
2
i
3
16
6
1
57
16
472
6
40
9
1
1
1
26
1
10
2
1
25
1
1
2
2
2
1
730 1,289 1,087 1,236 2,303 2,715 2,381 1,523
21
5
1
10
931
To
tal.
9
6
27
32
4
174
16
3
2
2
338
9
2
4
2
452
40
96
154
3
10
2
9
4
277
12
6
70 1,159
3
8
240
405 9,508
3
1
4
5
253
7
818
35
H
3
42
1
18
2
2
10
2
12
20 1,191
75
$
114
10
1
2
6
296
4
4
96
3
2
2
4
45
565 15,669
It is estimated that as high as 40 per cent of the positions are long
jobs, or at least several days in length, many of them, especially those
requiring more skill, being of much longer duration. The positions
filled were those requiring unskilled labor mainly, as an examination
of the table will show. They were filled by American labor almost
exclusively, not Asiatic. When it comes to hard physical labor,
neither Japanese nor Chinese can command as high wages as whites.
In the foregoing the work of men only has been considered. The
positions furnished to women for each month of the year 1904 are
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
70
shown in the following table. The results achieved will be seen to
compare favorably with those for men, especially when it is remem
bered that a large number of Chinese and Japanese are employed as
domestics.
POSITIONS SECURED THROUGH THE SEATTLE F R EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE
BY FEMALE APPLICANTS IN EACH OCCUPATION, B Y MONTHS, 1904.
Occupation.
Jan.
Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Chamber work.........
Cooks........................
Day work.................
Housekeepers...........
House work..............
Laundresses.............
Nurses.......................
Second giris..............
Solicitors..................
Waitresses................
Miscellaneous...........
8
12
70
8
130
3
5
6
15
7
7
10
14
74
6
101
T otal...............
271
235
6
4
12
2
6
14
13
17
8
91
86
7
5
161
151
1
8
4
1
3
2
7 *‘ "io’
6
11
13
18
101
6
163
1
11
1
6
7
14
7
17
90
11
128
2
11
8
12
127
10
142
5
10
14
289
341
295
317
To
tal.
4
12
137
10
215
4
15
100
5
170
11
12
69
7
130
11
5
1
16
33
2
1
5
1
1
10
11
13
6
17
142
5
159
1
6
3
6
10
11
11
26
11
30
34
2
7
102
164
1,163
82
1,791
8
77
25
91
104
178
340
366
444
334
276
277
3,785
7
4
10
76
2
141
The Seattle free employment office differs from every other one in
the United States in the manner of the appointment of its personnel.
The commissioner of labor of Seattle is secretary of the civil service
commission of the city. His assistant, who has charge of the free
employment office, is selected according to civil service methods, as
is also the clerk. In efficiency of management the office compares
favorably with any in the country.
The office makes no record of applicants for employment except for
skilled positions. These are registered by card and renewal is re
quired every two weeks. When a man is sent to a position he is given
a slip which is a means of identification to the employer. If the
employer is within the city this slip must be signed by him in case of
engagement, and returned within three hours. If outside the city
city a postal card is sent to the employer to be returned with a similar
statement. No positions are recorded without positive and definite
information. A copy of the slip is shown below:
T he City
of
Seattle Public E mployment Office.
Seattle, W ash .,----------.
T o --------- :
The bearer,----- , has been sent from this office as an applicant for the position o f ------in your employ. Please state in the space below, over your signature, whether you
engage this person, and the bearer w ill return this notice, that I may know whether to
keep your name on the list of wants.
Yours, respectfully,
-------------- , Labor Com m issioner.
B y -------------- , A ss’t.
I (have or have not) employed the bearer.
(Sign here)
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
71
A ll persons sent from this office for positions in the city must within three hours
(office hours) return and report the results of their mission, or forfeit their right to
further consideration b y the labor commissioner.
To the em ployer .— Please do not recognize applicants claiming to be sent from this
office unless they present this blank, properly signed.
In regard to the fact that the office omits the registration of unskilled
labor the commissioner has the following to say in his report for 1902:
In this western country the registration of each applicant for
employment would be of comparatively little value, because so many
persons seeking work have no permanent abode. The better plan,
as it seems, would be to register those who are permanently located
and who seem to be especially qualified along any given line, and
request others to make frequent calls at the office when seeking
employment. We have found that by this means we can obtain the
desired result as satisfactorily and much more promptly than by
other methods. For the above reasons it is practically impossible to
keep track of the applicants for employment. It would require two
additional clerks to do this work together with the sending of neces
sary notices to appear for employment. Our records, as shown by the
printed report for 1901, give the number of positions supplied; that is,
the total number of persons called for by various employers. This is
practically the same as the number of positions filled, although it is
impossible to keep an exact record of places filled, because where the
employment is at a distance from the city we are not able in all cases
to receive word to that effect.
The expense for the year 1904 was $8,507.79, about $5 per month
being allowed for postage, stationery, and advertising. The work for
the first eleven months of the ySar 1905 shows the following results:
POSITIONS SECURED THROUGH THE SEATTLE FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE
BY APPLICANTS OF EACH SEX FOR ELEVEN MONTHS IN 1905.
Month.
January.............................
February...........................
March.................................
April..................................
June...................................
Fe
Males. males.
502
520
807
936
1,295
1,812
215
224
236
279
325
338
Total.
Month.
717
744
1,043
1,215
1,620
2,150
July..................................
August.............................
September........................
October............................
November........................
Fe
Males. males.
2,790
2,256
2,538
2,294
1,303
402
310
353
253
245
Total.
3,192
2.566
2; 891
2,547
1,543
TACOMA.
Tacoma is a city of upward of 37,000 population, with industrial
conditions similar to those of Seattle. The free employment office
was established June 26, 1904, and during its first year secured 6,000
positions, at a cost to the city of $900. This does not include rent,
since the office was located in the city hall.
The cooperation of the employment office with other branches of the
public service is of interest here. The superintendent has observed
that when he “ has a good month the police department has a poor
m onth/7 and vice versa. The police department has noticed the
72
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR.
same thing." Also, the superintendent says that the judge of the
municipal court usually steps into his office in the morning to inquire
if work is to be had, and governs his sentences upon the “ vags” accord
ingly. The floating population, however, according to the same
source, is very small.
Being a municipal office it makes no report to the State commis
sioner of labor, but a monthly and an annual report are sent to the
city council. A record is kept of the applicants for help, but none of
the applicants for employment. Of the positions filled about 20 per
cent are skilled— a rather high proportion. The superintendent says
he has supplied every kind of labor, up to that of master of a ship.
Each applicant for employment must take to the employer a blank
on which the latter is requested to state whether applicant was en
gaged. About 75 per cent of the blanks are returned to the office;
information from the remaining employers is secured by telephone.
The origin of the Tacoma office is found in the agitation excited
because of the private agencies. The labor unions went to both
political parties and secured their sanction of an ordinance establish
ing the office. Not being a charter office it can be discontinued at
any time. The superintendent, or clerk as he is called locally, is
appointed by the mayor upon recommendation of a commission con
sisting of a member of the city council, who is president; one member
of the trades council, and one from the chamber of commerce, the
mayor selecting the entire commission.
SPOKANE.
This office has been in existence but a short time, having been
opened in January, 1905. The reasons given for its organization are
“ to secure employment free of cost to the working classes,” also “ to
find good help for the em ployer/’ At the same time “ there are a
number of private agencies” in the city, though this fact is treated
secondarily. During its first eleven months this agency found posi
tions for 1,820 males and 400 females, a total of 2,220 positions
secured. There are applications from all sorts of workmen but the
office seldom secures anything but common labor for men and domes
tic for women, about 98 per cent being of this class. Skilled labor
is usually supplied by the labor unions.
The superintendent (agent) is appointed by the mayor and con
firmed by the council. Monthly reports are sent to the latter showing
the number of applications made and the positions secured. Only
skilled labor and female applicants for labor are registered.
When an applicant for employment is sent to a position he carries
a slip which the employer signs. It must then be returned before it
becomes a matter of record. Confirmation is sometimes obtained
by telephone and record made accordingly, hence the record upon
positions secured is authentic.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
73
The local reputation of the office and the attitude of the general
public, the labor unions, employers in general, and the associated
charities toward it are said to be favorable.
WEST VIRGIN IA.
The free public employment office of West Virginia originated as
an attempt to regulate the abuses practiced by private employment
bureaus. There was no legislation to prevent their extortionate
practices, and would-be employees and employers alike were defrauded
repeatedly. Seeing this, the State commissioner of labor, in 1900,
opened a free employment agency at his office in Wheeling without
authorization by the State or municipality. In three months, he
states, the private agencies were out of business. The State legisla
ture, promptly recognizing the movement as a good one, gave it
legal sanction and voted the sum of $500 for the support of the
office. Thus West Virginia presents one of the few instances where
State competition has succeeded as a means of regulating the abuses
of the private bureaus.
A further demand for the office is seen in the fact that it was util
ized from the first both by employers and employees. There was
thus a labor demand, a genuine economic demand, and the bureau
enjoyed the public favor and confidence from the beginning. The
full significance of this is not seen until it is remembered that the
cities of West Virginia have no permanent problem of the unemployed,
such as is to be found in the large cities of other States. Generally
speaking, there is work for all and more left over for the right sort of
people. There is often a demand for classes of labor which can not
be met locally, especially for strong able-bodied men to work in the
lumber camps, on the farms, and in the factories. The demand for
domestics is likewise unsatisfied. On the other hand, labor, espe
cially skilled labor, is often called for from cities outside the State.
The local demand for labor in the lumber camps is especially note
worthy, wages running from $1.75 per day for unskilled to $5 per day
for skilled labor. Thus in a State where fairly equal conditions exist,
as between the demand and the supply of labor, the free public
employment office has found a place as a labor exchange.
The attitude of the labor unions‘toward the office is altogether
cordial. Labor leaders, even though they do not use the office them
selves, express their hearty approval of any efficient means of secur
ing employment for men out of work. One of the largest unions in
the State requested the bureau to act as its business agent and offered
to pay for its services— an offer, which, of course, was declined, as the
services are free. The policy of the office in case of a strike would
be one of “ noninterference.” It would find work, if possible, for
men thus thrown out of employment, but would not furnish strike
74
BULLETIN* OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
breakers. “ The union sentiment is strong enough in West Virginia
to make it evident to employers generally that this is the only course
the office could successfully pursue.”
There is still but one office in the State, namely, the one at Wheeling.
This office is conducted, as it has been from the first, b y the State
commissioner of labor, assisted by a woman clerk. Its needs have
far outrun the original appropriation, later increased to $800 per
annum.
The office receives free advertising in at least two prominent news
papers in the State. Further, a bulletin board is kept at a central
point in the city where demands for labor are posted almost daily.
Moreover, the bureau has a good business directory of the State which
is used as a mailing list, and from time to time it sends out a circular
letter inclosing a copy of the law providing for the establishment of
the office and calling attention to the facilities of the office.
Another form of advertising is a card of convenient size to be mailed
or passed about from hand to hand. On the one side it reads as
follows:
F R E E EM PLOYM ENT BU RE A U , W H E ELIN G , W. Y A.
Office hours, 9 to 12 a. m.
1 to 4 p. m.
The State requires that after assistance is given this office be notified as to results.
Advertisements for help or situations will be continued two weeks from date of
application.
On the other side it reads as follows:
Name of person or firm making application for help: ----------.
Name of applicant for employment: ----------.
Remarks: --------- .
Opinion seems to be pretty well agreed in Wheeling that it would
pay to advertise the office more. Even with the advertising gener
ously given by the local papers there are well-informed people in the
city, to say nothing of the remainder of the State, who know nothing
of the. free public employment office.
As to methods and aims, it is the primary purpose of the office to
fit the man to the job. For short jobs when no special fitness is
required the rule is to take the man on the spot or the one who can be
most readily secured. Employers are not deluged with a number of
applicants for work who are manifestly unfitted therefor. The super
intendent aims by means of a personal interview to determine the
fitness or unfitness of a man. In this, no set questions are employed,
as the situations are too diverse *to permit uniformity of treatment.
Indeed, the data asked for are very meager, as will be seen from the
appended application blank, since the commissioner finds that people
will refuse to apply rather than fill out a printed blank with what they
consider irrelevant information.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
75
The following sample forms are used:
A PPLICA TIO N FO R HELP.
Date of a p p lic a tio n :---------.
Name of a p p lica n t:----------.
Address: ----------.
Character of help wanted: Number wanted : --------- .
Remarks: ----------.
A PPLICATIO N FO R EM PLOYM ENT.
Date of application: --------- .
Name of applicant: --------- .
Address: ----------.
Occupation: --------- .
Kind of work desired: --------- .
Remarks: ----------.
Moreover, the office does not ask for testimonials for any kind of
position, and assumes no responsibility whatever for the character of
the applicant. This is a matter which is left entirely with the prin
cipals in the transaction, the office considering its functions limited
to that of an intermediary in a labor exchange.
The work of the office is shown in the following summary taken
from the biennial report of 1903 and 1904:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H E L P AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE W EST V IR G IN IA FREE PUBLIC EM PLOYMENT OFFICE, Y E A R S
ENDING M A 'T 15, 1903 AND 1904.
1903.
Items.
Applicant!, for situations...........................
Applicants for help.....................................
Positions filled.............................................
Per cent of applications for situations
filled...........................................................
Per cent of applications for help filled___
Males.
Females.
1904.
Total.
Males.
Females.
Total.
1,952
3,468
1,875
188
501
165
2,140
3,969
2,040
2,009
1,500
1,504
230
448
207
2,239
2,008
1,711
96.1
54.1
87.7
32.9
95.3
51.4
74.8
96.4
90.0
46.2
76.4
85.2
The proportion of male to female applicants for employment was
about 10 to 1 in both years, a ratio unusually large. The number of
applicants for female help for the two years was more than double
the number of female applicants for employment, yet 11 per cent of
the applications for employment were unfilled.
The increase of the total number of applicants for employment was
by no means extraordinary, while on the contrary the total number
of applicants for help declined materially. The net result was a
decrease in the aggregate number of positions filled, the per cent of
the applicants who secured positions declining from 95.3 to 76.4 per
cent, while the per cent of applications for help filled increased from
51.4 to 85.2. The commissioner states that many applications for
help might be filled if the applicants for employment were willing to
76
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
accept unskilled labor, for which there is continually an unsatisfied
demand. Hence, the fact that 23.6 per cent of those who applied
for work in 1904 failed to get it, does not betoken any hardship or
destitution.
The expense per position filled in 1904 was 46.1 cents. Taking it
all in all, the labor situation in West Virginia presents no distressing
features of enforced idleness for great masses of men and women and
employers find their demands for labor fairly well met. Yet even
here, as was said before, the free public employment office finds its
place and has justified the purposes of those who created it, as a labor
exchange and as a means for abolishing the abuses of which the
private bureaus were guilty.
WISCONSIN.
The Wisconsin free public employment offices date from March 3,
1899, at which time the city of Superior opened a municipal employ
ment office. In 1901 the statute was passed authorizing the estab
lishment of the State system, and the change" was made to the latter
by the Superior office on July 5 of that year. This law was copied,
with the necessary modifications, from the early Illinois statute,
including the section forbidding the services of the employment
offices in case of strikes and lockouts. The present law differs from
that of 1901 chiefly in the omission of the section relating to strikes
and lockouts. An analysis of the law now in operation is given
below:
Free employment offices not to exceed four in number, each to be
known as a Wisconsin Free Employment Office. Number and loca
tion to be determined by a commission consisting of the governor,
secretary of state, and attorney-general.
A superintendent for each office to be recommended by the com
missioner of labor and appointed by the governor. Tenure of office
two years, unless sooner removed for cause. Salary not to exceed
$1,200 per annum. Office expenses, including equipping, running,
and maintaining the respective offices, to be paid out of the State
treasury; rent not to exceed $500 per annum.
Free employment offices shall be occupied in conjunction with the
bureau of labor and industrial statistics when such bureau has an
office in the city where located. In case such bureau has no office in
that city, then the city is required to furnish and equip office rooms
for the free employment office without cost to the State. Such office
rooms shall provide a separate apartment for the use of women regis
tering for help or employment. Such offices shall be advertised by a
street sign, which shall read in the English language, “ Wisconsin
Free Employment Office,” and the same shall appear upon the out
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
77
side windows in such other languages as the location renders advis
able. Separate registers shall be kept for applicants for employment
and for help showing the age, sex, nativity, trade, or occupation of
applicants, cause and duration of nonemployment, married or single,
number of dependent children, and other sucji data as may be
required. These registers are not open to the public, and no such
personal data may be revealed together with the applicants name.
Any applicant refusing to give the data shall not thereby forfeit his
right to the services of the office.
Each superintendent must report on Thursday of each week to the
bureau of labor and industrial statistics the number of applications
for help, for employment, applications unfilled, and number and char
acter of positions filled. Not later than the following Saturday the
commissioner shall have these reports printed and two copies mailed
to each of the offices, one to be filed and the other posted. A copy
shall also be mailed to the State inspector of factories. Such inspector
is required to assist in securing situations and enlisting the cooperation
of employers.
The superintendent is required to put himself in communication
with the principal manufacturers, merchants, and other employers
of labor.
An annual report is required from each superintendent not later
than December 1 of each year of the work done during the year ending
October 1 preceding.
No fee may be charged. Penalty for doing so, from $25 to $50 and
imprisonment not more than thirty days.
The term “ applicant for employment” shall be construed to mean
“ any person seeking work of any lawful character, and ‘ applicant
for help' shall mean any person or persons seeking help in any legiti
mate enterprise.”
Private employment offices in cities where a State office is estab
lished must obtain from the secretary of state a license, for which the
sum of $100 must be paid annually. They are forbidden to adopt
any firm name similar to that of the Wisconsin free employment
offices.
Sufficient cause being shown, the superintendent may be removed
from office by the governor upon recommendation of the commissioner.
Printing, postage, and stationery shall be furnished by the secretary
of state upon requisition.
In the tenth biennial report of the Wisconsin commissioner of labor—
the report for 1901-1902— is to be found an able and extended exposi
tion of the methods pursued by fraudulent private agencies. This fol
lows the same line of argument used in so many States in support of the
free employment offices, namely, the police protection argument, and
248b— No. 68—07---- 6
78
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
this was chiefly instrumental in establishing the system in Wisconsin.
In accomplishing this purpose, however, the law has not been so suc
cessful as the Illinois law, for the reason that it lacks the administra
tive feature which distinguishes the latter. The evil is much abated,
but unscrupulous methods are still used by some private agencies.
Through connivance between the contractor and the agency the
abuse in charges and manner of supplying men for railway construc
tion work is very commonly practiced.
The labor unions were active in the advocacy of the free employ
ment offices, and officers^ of the federated trades express confidence
in the present management of them. The labor unions, however,
aim to market their labor through their own business agents, and
hence have comparatively little use for the State employment offices.
For the same reason they are not willing, at least many individuals
are not, that the employment offices should develop along higher
lines, and thus be able to act as intermediaries in the skilled-labor
market. Covert opposition is sometimes encountered by the super
intendents in an attempt to serve a higher labor market. Some of
the labor leaders of Wisconsin have admitted that this is inconsistent
with the welfare of the offices; some see no reasonable objection to
such development, and others frankly admit their fears that it would
be hostile to their own interests. The superintendents are instructed
at the time of appointment that they are not to become so active in
politics as to lay themselves open to criticism.
The four offices are located at Superior, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, and
La Crosse, respectively. The fire in the State capitol at Madison
destroyed the statistics for the year 1904 before they were pub
lished, and the State commissioner’s report for that year contains but
a half page upon this subject. Some facts gained from the several
offices, however, are herewith presented.
MILWAUKEE.
The Milwaukee office is the most important in the State, though it
surpasses the one in Superior by only a small margin. It is in
rented quarters, along with the office of the factory inspector, the
space being somewhat limited. It is the custom when the office is
opened in the morning for a crowd of applicants for employment to
be on hand ready to hear the news. When the office was visited by
the writer a call came for four men to serve as masons’ helpers at 35
cents an hour. Alter some solicitation, the superintendent suc
ceeded in inducing three out of a crowd of over twenty idle men to
accept this work. Most of these men were of the class known
locally as “ hoboes.” Some were men whose delicate health or lack
of physical strength made it impossible for them to take everything
that offered. The blank is required to be filled out only when the
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT * OFFICES.
79
applicant agrees to apply. He is held by the office not to be an
applicant for labor unless there is labor for him to do. A copy of the
application blank is given below:
A PPLICATION FO R EMPLOYMENT.
WISCONSIN FREE EMPLOYMENT OFFICE.
No. —
N a m e ---------- A ddress---------Work w a n te d --------Where last e m p lo y e d --------- W h e n ------------Work perform ed--------- Length of s e r v ic e ---------Wages r e c e iv e d ---------- Cause of le a v in g ---------Date and place of b ir t h --------How long have you lived in United S tates--------- In W iscon sin -------Married or s in g le --------- Number in fa m ily --------H e a lth ---------- R e a d --------- W r it e ---------
Date. —
Definite and positive information that the applicant was employed
is obtained before the office records the fact to its own credit. If
the employer fails to report, an inquiry is sent to him in about a
week as to whether he still desires help.
Of the women placed in positions abou't 90 per cent are in domestic
and hotel service, and of men the same per cent holds for common
unskilled labor.
The Milwaukee office bears a good local reputation. The relation
between its work and that of the charities organization is cordial and
helpful. The labor unions are friendly, and no doubt will continue
so, as long as the services of the office are practically confined to the
unskilled labor market. If the employment office should succeed in
reaching and serving a higher market there would undoubtedly be a
loss of support from union sources. This, however, should not neces
sarily result, since, regarded from the union point of view, there need
be no concern as to who acts as the intermediary as long as the
unions control the labor supply.
The Milwaukee office reports for the years 1904 and 1905 as follows:
APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT AND FOR H ELP AND POSITIONS SECURED
THROUGH THE M ILW AU KEE F R EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE, 1904 AND 1905.
1904.
Items.
Applications for employment....................
Applications for help..................................
Positions secured.........................................
Males.
2,775
2,871
2,773
Females.
990
1,126
990
1905.
Total.
3,765
3,997
3,763
Males.
5,917
6,005
5,909
Females.
1,319
1,443
1,315
Total.
7,236
7,448
7,224
This office costs the State somewhat less than $2,500 per annum.
The average cost to the State per position secured was, therefore,
less than 35 cents in the year 1905. It was the creditable showing
made by this and the Superior office which gave the incentive for
starting the offices at Oshkosh and La Crosse.
80
BULLETIN' OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The policy pursued by the office in case of a strike is the same as at
other times, save to warn men of the conditions.
SUPERIOR.
The origin of the Superior office is due to local enterprise, since it
began as a municipal office before the State system was established.
The demand for it arose out of the fraudulent practices of private
agencies, and the evils thereof have been much abated since the
public agency began.
There is a strong demand for unskilled labor, and to meet it there
are a great many “ floaters,” who come and go, having no permanent
address and unwilling to leave an application for work unless there
is work to be had at once. Employment, however, is apt to be of
some continuance, not one position in a hundred, it is thought, being
only a one-day job. The average length of time is thought to be as
much as four months. As to the ratio between skilled and unskilled
positions, about 1 in 30 is reported for men and 1 in 12 for women.
The office is satisfied that from 90 to 95 per cent of those sent out
secure the work as reported.
LA CROSSE.
The office at La Crosse began operations about July 1 , 1904. Its
experience, therefore, is rather limited, and leaves still undemon
strated whether the public utility of the office justifies the expense of
maintaining it.
The labor demand is mainly for lumbermen and contract laborers
on streets and railways. The labor supply is considerably in excess
of the demand, and a great many men may be found, almost any
time, looking for work. With women the reverse is the case, so far
as domestic help is concerned.
Applicants for work are not all recorded, the practice in this respect
being the same as in all the other Wisconsin offices. The superin
tendent takes Saturday afternoon to call upon employers and solicit
their patronage.
OSHKOSH.
This office was opened November, 1904, and, like the office at
La Crosse, it must still be regarded as an experiment, giving some
promise of permanence. The report for the period closing September
30, 1905, shows the following:
Applications for employment, males 723, females 447; applica
tions for help, males 723, females 447; positions secured, males 723,
females 447.
No data are given as to number of applications for employment
and for help unfilled. The exact coincidence of the numbers given
above, both for “ males' ’ and for “ females,” points to the conclusion
81
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
that the only record kept by the Oshkosh office is the number of
positions secured.
Out of a total of 723 positions filled for men, 67 per cent come
under the two captions “ laborers” and “ factory hands.” As to
women, over 78 per cent of the positions filled are “ domestics,”
“ dining-room girls,” “ kitchen girls,” or “ washwomen.”
There
were 1,170 positions filled, at a cost to the State of $1,149.16.
The above review of the work of the Wisconsin offices may be sup
plemented by the following statements:
1. All the offices except that at Milwaukee are furnished roou s
rent free by the municipalities, and hence there is the combination
of a State and a municipal system which has many points in its favor.
2. The entire expefi&e to the State for the partial year ending
September 30, 1905 (the Oshkosh office having been in existence only
since November 21, 1904), was $5,265.16.
3. As to the results the summary for the different offices is as
follows:
SUMMARY OF POSITIONS FILLE D B Y THE WISCONSIN FR EE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
OFFICES.
Positions secured.
City.
Year ending—
Milwaukee...................................................... December 31, 1904.................
Superior......................................................... ....... d o ....................................
Oshkosh......................................................... September 30,1905 (®)..........
La Crosse....................................................... December 31, 1904 (J>)...........
a 10 months.
6 6 months.
Males.
2,773
2,633
723
(<0
Females.
990
576
447
(*)
Total.
3,763
3,209
1,170
868
c N ot reported.
This would give an average cost to the State per position secured
of 58 cents.
4.
The same, or nearly the same, methods as are found at the
Oshkosh office, especially in regard to the registration of applicants
for work, are to be found in the other Wisconsin employment offices.
Section 8 broadly defines the term “ applicant for employment” as
“ any person seeking work of any lawful character.” Any person,
therefore, who comes into an employment office and inquires for
work is presumably an applicant and there would seem to be no occa
sion for uncertainty in the matter. One of the superintendents puts
the cause of uncertainty thus: “ Many call seeking work, but do not
care to make written application, but will call again; consequently
no record can be had. I undertook to note all who called seeking
employment, but found I could not remember all comers and would
count the same parties two or more times. Indeed, many so-called
applicants for work were not looking for it— simply killing time.”
To this the answer is not far to seek. The first question to be asked
of every man who inquires for work is. “ Have you registered?” If
82
BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR.
he has not registered within, say, thirty days he should be required
to register again, but in no case should he be considered without
registration.
Again, as to applications for help, to quote from the same superin
tendent, “ A large number of our orders for help are indefinite as to
the number wanted, simply 'send me all the help you ca n / A hun
dred might be needed and we might only get a dozen, so when the
order is canceled we have to consider it a twelve-men order filled.
I know of no other way to fill indefinite orders.” In reply, it may
be said that it is easy to defend the position taken by this superin
tendent, and it is the view usually taken b y other superintendents.
But it is necessary to ask, first, why should the list of applications
for either employment or help be taken? Primarily, it is to learn
the numerical strength of the demand or the supply. This is neces
sary for the guidance of the offices, and it is also of interest as a matter
of statistical information. Superintendents naturally dislike to see
a long list of applications for either employment or help, and at the
same time a short list of positions secured. Added to this natural
dislike is another incentive for which the law is largely responsible.
In section 10 we read: " I n considering such a case” (i. e., the removal
of a superintendent from office), " a low percentage of positions
secured to applicants for situations and help registered,” etc., "m a y
be deemed by said commissioner” (i. e., commissioner of labor) "su f
ficient to recommend a removal.” This, which is supposed to gauge
the industry and efficiency of the superintendent, really puts a
premium on the reduction of the list of applications. It would be
inadvisable for a commissioner to be guided b y it.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY.
The growth of the movement for free employment offices in the
United States is to be considered primarily as an attempt to prevent
the abuses of the private agencies. Whether this object has been the
strongest incentive is a statement that can not be confidently made;
for the motive of social utility has also been powerful in the minds of
its promoters. But social utility is not so clearly apprehended, nor is
it capable of such efficient use in support of the movement as the'
motive of police protection. Everyone may be assumed to be famil
iar with the latter motive, but the former requires analysis and
order in its presentation. While police protection has everywhere
been urged most strenuously, and has been a most effective argu
ment, the other is backed by a depth of conviction that is altogether
independent of the more superficial motive. It finds expression in
such statements as these: " A man who wants to work should not be
compelled to pay a high price for the privilege.” " The world owes no
man a living but it owes every man a chance to get a living,” etc.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
83
Taking the movement historically as a measure of police protec
tion, it is necessary to go back at least five years prior to the first
enactment. In 1885 the State of Minnesota passed a law aiming
to curb the abuses of the private agencies by specific prohibition.
In 1888 New York did the same. Neither of these laws accom
plished the desired result, because of a lack of adequate provision for
administration.
If direct legislation, specifically aiming to check the fraudulent
and harmful practices, had failed it is no wonder that the indirect
method of control should occur as the next most certain and effective
step to be taken. If we can not regulate the vicious agencies we can
go into the same business, charge nothing for it, and so drive them but;
such was the logic back of the first free employment experiment, and
such it has been in nearly every subsequent case.
The Ohio law in 1890 had been in operation but a short time when it
began to receive flattering attention from the labor commissioners in
other States. . At a national convention of labor commissioners held
in Denver, in June, 1892, the following resolutions were passed:
Resolved, That the commissioners of labor of the different States
recommend to the legislatures of their different States the considera
tion of the advisability of creating free public employment offices
under State control and supervision; and be it further
Resolved, That the secretary of this association be requested to send
a copy of this resolution to the commissioner of each State that is not
represented in this convention.
In November of the same year the Knights of Labor in general,
assembly at St. Louis, Mo., strongly indorsed free public employment
offices, and this action has probably been influential with labor unions
throughout the country, the strongest and most efficient advocates of
the movement.
During the ensuing period of business depression there were but
few attempts made to follow the example of Ohio, and most of these
proved ineffectual. Between 1890, the date of the Ohio statute, and
1899, the date of the Illinois and Missouri statutes, which were the
next serious attempts by legislatures, municipal offices were success
fully established at Los Angeles and Seattle. In this same period
three States had passed inefficient laws; namely, Montana, New York,
and Nebraska, and in two others, namely, Iowa and California, bills
equally inefficient in method were defeated in the State assemblies.
All of these tentative measures have been described elsewhere, except
that of Iowa, which because of its priority and influence deserves some
notice at this point.
The commissioner of labor of Iowa in his fourth biennial report,
1890-1891, with the new system just beginning in Ohio evidently in
mind, recommended that the bureau of labor “ should be authorized
by law to maintain a free employment agency in connection with its
84
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
statistical work.” “ Nearly all kinds of labor,” he said, “ is in a
transitional state caused by the rapid evolution in the mechanical
methods of production, and the practice of many manufacturers to
control the output by closing factories and otherwise limiting the
supply, which is usually done without notice to the employees and
without considering their welfare. The first duty of a government
is to make it easy for its citizens to do right, and accord them the
broadest opportunity to earn a livelihood by industrial avocations.
Therefore, the need of free public employment agencies where both
labor and capital may make their wants known and receive informa
tion beneficial to both.” Whatever may be said as to the conclusive
ness of the argument, the recommendation appealed to the governor
of the State, who gave it warm indorsement in his annual message.
In the next assembly a bill was presented in accordance with this
recommendation, but it failed to pass. The commissioner, therefore,
undertook to carry out the provisions of the bill upon his own respon
sibility, satisfied that as the free employment office was working so
well in Ohio it would not fail to do as well in Iowa, and would promptly
win legislative recognition. The result was a total disappointment,
and after five months’ trial the attempt was given up. The commis
sioner’s successor in office, in the report for 1894-1895, states that
“ although applications for situations were numerous, the commis
sioner was unable to secure work for a single applicant. ’ ’ He points
to the continued success of the Ohio system, and is unable to see
whether the failure in his State “ was due to the hard times or to the
indifference or distrust of employers who may have suspected that it
was similar to the numerous private employment agencies, which
subsist upon the credulity and misfortunes of working people.”
“ Perhaps,” he adds, “ if such an office were to be established by law
the result might be different.”
Neither of the above reasons is sufficient. As a matter of fact,
aside from the object to be accomplished, there is scarcely anything
in common between the Ohio statute and the bill as presented in the
Iowa legislature. The former may, for convenience, be characterized
as a strong system, the work being mapped out and the funds pro
vided for carrying it into effect. The latter is what, for convenience
herein, has been termed a mail-order system. All of these tentative
State experiments in the period under consideration, from 1890 to
1899, except that of New York, were of this character. The Iowa
measure was the first of these, and though it failed to become a law
it served as a model for the first Montana statute, and its influence
is further seen in the experiment by the commissioner of labor of
California, in 1895, and in the Kansas and Nebraska statutes of a
later date.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
85
The object of the mail-order system is to extend the operation
thereof to all points practicable within the State, while the strong
system, on the contrary, aims to reach only a few main points.
The latter contemplates primarily the needs of a manufacturing
State, the former an agricultural. In the bill under consideration
it was proposed to extend the services of the system to villages of
500 population. A central correspondence office was to be main
tained in the bureau of labor at the State capitol, and the burden
of acting as local agent and correspondent was to fall upon the
county auditor. Applications for employment, as well as for help,
were to be left with him and reported by him to the central office, and
the parties put in communication with each other.
It is evident that to satisfy the needs of an agricultural community
it is necessary to have a multiplication of offices. Moreover, in a
State with a number of towns of from 15,000 to 50,000,• and none of
any supereminent magnitude, the case is the same. The difficulty
in passing any measure carrying an appropriation, as contrasted
with one that does not, has caused the mail-order scheme to appeal
to its promoters as the only one that an agricultural State may choose.
The New York statute of 1896, creating the one free employment
office in New York City, while not primarily designed upon the mail
order plan, was scarcely less parsimonious in relation to the field it
occupied. In the light of experience in New York City and else
where, the attempt to counteract the abuses of the private agencies
by the competition of one State office set down in the midst of the
city without sufficient advertising, assistance, or anything else,
could hardly be expected to succeed. The act of 1888, requiring
private agencies to be licensed and to give bonds, etc., had failed
in its purpose of correcting existing conditions; the act of 1896,
establishing a competitive free agency also failed, and the event in
either case is equally inconclusive as to the control of the private
agencies.
The second period of this movement extends from 1899 to the
present writing, and is marked by a return to the strong system
begun in Ohio, the only exception being that of Kansas. This,
indeed, is the only feasible method anywhere as long as the office is
free. But it was not yet realized at the above-mentioned date
that unassisted State competition could not be relied upon indefi
nitely to accomplish the ends of police control. In Connecticut,
Wisconsin, and West Virginia, in 1901, and in Maryland, in 1902,
the same argument was still advanced in support of their respective
measures. The Illinois amended act, in 1903, was not the first to give
the oversight of private agencies into the hands of the commissioner
of labor, but it was there that the details of control were worked out,
and thus the last step in the pursuit of this object by means of the
86
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
public agency was taken. Whether other States will choose to
accomplish this result in the same way or revert to the method
employed in Boston and New York City remains to be seen. Some
measure of oversight is already granted to the bureaus of labor in
California, Connecticut, and Wisconsin, and further development
may be expected along the same line in these and other States. If
the results^as to police control have been disappointing in the aggre
gate, the way to secure the necessary control has been discovered,
and therefore the situation is full of promise as to the ultimate result.
Though it is only incidental to the main subject of this report, it
seems advisable to mention the status of the legislation in the several
States relative to private agencies, the control of which has been
the ostensible object of the movement for the free public agencies.
We may, therefore, consider the following:
Classification of States with R espect to L egislative A ttempts
to P revent the A buses P racticed by P rivate A gencies.
1. States having specific legislation aiming to secure adequate
control of the private agencies and some method of enforcement
thereof, either through the free employment offices or by some other
means especially designed to that end: Illinois, Connecticut, Ohio,
New York.
2. States with some satisfactory degree of specific legislation, but
with insufficient provision for administration: California, Colorado,
Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Wisconsin.
3. States with elementary legislation, sometimes only for a fiscal
purpose: Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia; also
District of Columbia.
4. States having no provision whatever except the free public
employment office: Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Wash
ington, West Virginia.
5. States, Territories, and dependencies having no specific legisla
tion directed against the abuses of these agencies: Alabama, Arkan
sas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, New
Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wyoming, Alaska,
Guam, Hawaii, Philippines, Porto Rico.
In some States there is an adequate degree of control in the larger
municipalities, secured through city ordinances, hence the situation
is not so discouraging as is represented by the above showing. States
reporting to that effect are as follows: Alabama, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, Michigan, Utah, and Rhode Island.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
87
Present Status in States without F ree Public E mployment
Offices.
At the beginning of this investigation inquiries were sent to the
commissioners of labor of the various States, or if there was no such
officer, to the secretary of state, and replies were received with more
or less fullness in all instances except the following, which failed to
report: Alaska, Hawaii, Georgia, Nevada, North Dakota, South
Carolina.
Among the questions asked were the following:
1. Are there any free municipal employment offices to your knowl
edge within your State?
Only three States, viz, California, Minnesota, and Washington
report such offices.
2. Is there any legislation pending in regard to the establishment
of free public employment offices in your State?
To this question two States replied in the affirmative, viz, Iowa
and Massachusetts, while Colorado reported that a bill to that effect
would be presented in the next assembly. Subsequently it has been
learned that as many as five separate bills were presented in the Mas
sachusetts assembly. It is said the Iowa measure was defeated
through the activity of the Iowa Manufactured Association.
3. Are the private agencies guilty of extortionate charges? Do
they charge a fee before the position is secured? Are they required
to refund the fee if position is not secured? Are they guilty of
fraudulent advertising ?
To these questions the answers were unsatisfactory for the most
part, showing that the subject had not been investigated.
4. Do you keep a record of such agencies, and is any officer charged
with the supervision of the agencies?
There were no affirmative replies to this except those already
mentioned in connection with the free public employment offices.
5. Have you ever had a law establishing free public employment
offices ? If so, give dates; also, reasons why passed and why repealed.
Has any such measure ever been introduced and defeated ?
The only State that can give an affirmative answer to the first
question is New York, and the history of that legislation is related
elsewhere. Repeated attempts to establish free public employment
offices have been made in California, Iowa, and Massachusetts.
6. Do you think that the situation in your State would be helped
by the passage of such a law?
To this question affirmative replies were received from Alabama,
California, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wyoming. Doubtful, noncommittal
or negative answers were received from Arkansas, Arizona, Florida,
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas,
Vermont, Philippines, Porto Rico.
It appears that in four States, California, Colorado, Iowa, and
Massachusetts, there has been considerable agitation in favor of
the establishment of public employment offices. In some cases the
agitation has been carried to the point of attempted legislation, in
others it has gone no further than the recommendation of the
comissioner of labor, repeated perhaps from year to year, or merely
the action of bodies of laborers praying for such laws to be passed.
In spite of the discouraging experiences of the period from 1890 to
1899 and the mistakes and lameness of subsequent attempts, the
lessons that have been learned and the progress already made give
quite sufficient ground to predict a further growth as well as an
increased efficiency.
THE
ACTIVE SUPPORTERS AND OPPONENTS
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICE.
OF THE
The active supporters of this movement are the labor unions; the
active opponents are such antiunion organizations as the Citizens’
Industrial Association, the Employers’ Association, the Manufac
turers’ Association, and in addition, of course, the private employ
ment agencies. It is not to be implied that the “ active” supporters
and opponents include all who have convictions upon the subject
either way. It need not be assumed that the majority of opinion is
represented by either of these organizations, or that the general
public is clear enough in its own mind to make a decision. But
certain considerations of a public nature arise from this champion
ship on the one side and hostility on the other which call for an
inquiry. In any event, a movement so thoroughly based on social
utility is independent in the long run of the championship of its
friends and is not likely to fail because of the opposition of its enemies.
ATTITUDE OF THE LABOR UNIONS.
The labor unions have been the sponsors of the movement from its
inception. The Municipal Labor Congress, of Cincinnati, it will be
remembered, drafted the bill which, with some modifications, became
the first statute of the kind in America. The Knights of Labor,
assembled at St. Louis in 1892, indorsed the movement, and State
branches of the Federation of Labor have done so in a number of
instances since then, and have instructed their legislative committees
to use every influence for the enactment of such laws. Local branches
of the Federation of Labor and union labor leaders generally are sup
porters of the movement as a whole and of the local offices in particu
lar. The support sometimes assumes the warmth of partisanship,
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
89
and on the contrary there are a very few who oppose it altogether on
the ground that it may menace their control of the labor market. It
is safe to say that without this strong and united support, or without
some such organized body of opinion back of the movement it never
could have attained to anything like its present development, if
indeed it could have had a beginning.
Back of this championship there are motives altruistic, and others
which from the union point of view are concerned only with the
union’s welfare. As to the first, union men when asked the question
why they favor the free public employment office, sometimes reply
that they “ have been there themselves.” That is to say, they have
been victimized by private agencies, or they have been without work
and without funds, when the whole world seemed against them, and
they felt though they could not have explained that correlative to
society’s duty to protect the rights of private property was its unrec
ognized duty to find work for the unemployed if work was to be found
at all. There is no reason to question the genuineness of this sympa
thy with the lot of the unemployed. Those who have faced the situ
ation, or who have mingled with friends, relatives, and others in the
like predicament, may well be supposed to have the warmest degree
of fellow-feeling, even though by passing on to the ranks of skilled
labor they rely for employment upon their business agent, and con
sequently have little use for any other employment agencies. Union
men sometimes make use of the public employment offices, but pride
in their own organization usually restrains them from doing so if it
can be avoided. It follows then that their altruistic motives are in
behalf of unskilled labor, intermingled also with a desire to aid the
small percentage of their own number who make use of the public
offices.
Few union men would resent or deny the statement, probably, that
they consider themselves the guardians of the interests of unskilled
labor, the latter being in the main unorganized. When this assump
tion involves only leadership there is small danger of a conflict of
interests between organized and unorganized labor. But when the
full relationship of guardian and ward is aimed at, involving an
assumption of the guardian to act for the ward, it is then that the dan
ger begins. The force of this observation will be more fully realized
after the other motives of the unions shall have been considered.
A further conflict of interests between employer and employee
introduces motives which are confessedly not altruistic. As late as
1899 the first Illinois statute expressly denied the use of the free public
employment offices to employers with a strike on their hands. This
ex parte feature was condemned at the hands of the supreme court,
and many union men, as well as their opponents, now express satis
faction with the result. The same fate befell the identical section in
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
the Wisconsin statute modeled upon that of Illinois. A considerable
majority of the superintendents of the free public employment offices,
perhaps as many as 75 per cent, are union labor men. When asked
the question as to what would be their policy in case of a strike all of
the superintendents except three or four replied to the effect that
they would send men just the same as at other times, only warning
them against possible personal danger. When asked if any discrimi
nation was made in placing union as against nonunion men, a denial
was entered in every case. There is undoubtedly a strong desire upon
the part of union labor to control the free public employment offices.
It can not be proved, neither can it be fairly maintained, that they
wish to do so as a means of advancing the interests of union labor,
except in the way of preventing the free public employment offices
from becoming purely 1‘ strike-breaking ’ ’ instruments. They feel that
as sponsors and chief promoters of the movement they are its truest
friends. They believe that as between the employer and the employee
it should remain neutral just as all other agencies of the State should
be neutral; and they are frank enough to say that they believe this
neutrality is safest in their own hands.
In one respect, at least, this position can not at present be admitted.
The majority of union men consulted upon the feasibility of the devel
opment of the free public employment office in the higher grades of
service, for the purpose of handling skilled labor, manifested indiffer
ence or opposition or a total rejection of the system of free employ
ment offices if it involves such a possibility. Now, while it may be
readily granted that the chief field of usefulness of these offices is
found in caring for the unskilled labor market, such a function alone
must forfeit the confidence of employers in the long run because of
the inferiority of the help supplied, and the result is bound to be
gradual deterioration. In justice to its own ends, and necessary to
its very existence, the public employment office must show some
differentiation of function. In this respect also, it may well be
believed, more liberal counsels will at length prevail. Already,
indeed, a great many are ready to grant that it matters little to them
who acts as the intermediary in the labor market so long as they con
trol the supply in their own trade.
OPPONENTS OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
Among the opponents of the free public employment office the
motives of the private agencies do not demand explanation. With
them it is a simple business proposition and the question of social
utility scarcely figures in the calculation. Many injustices have been
done to the better class of private agencies in the zeal to restrict the
unscrupulous ones. On the other hand, the courts have not always
recognized the dangerous nature of the business and have rendered
decisions thereupon which subsequent experience and other decisions
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
91
have not sustained. A case in point is that of the California statute
of 1903 fixing a maximum fee at 10 per cent of the first m onths wages.
The adverse decision was rendered “ on the ex parte ground that such
an enactment would tend to impair the obligation of contracts and
could not stand except as a police measure. Inasmuch as the occu
pation of employment agent is highly beneficial and tends in nowise
to affect the health or safety of the people, it is not subject to police
supervision.” (a) A broader view of the subject is shown in a more
recent decision by the supreme court of New York. “ It may be
laid down as a general principle,” says the court, “ that legislation
is valid which has for its object the promotion of the public health,
safety, morals, convenience, and general welfare, or the suppression
of fraud or immorality. We think that such is the character of the
statute in question. It is intended to regulate employment agencies
in cities. The legislature had the right to take notice of the fact that
such agencies are places where immigrants and ignorant people fre
quently resort to obtain employment and to procure information.
The relations of a person so consulting an agency of this character
with the managers or persons conducting it are such as to afford great
opportunities for fraud and oppression, and the statute in question
was for the purpose of preventing such frauds, and, probably, for the
suppression of immorality.” (*6)
The opposition shown by the Manufacturers' Association is .seen
in their successful efforts against a bill recently presented in the Iowa
legislature. The bill provides for the charge of a small fee for each
position secured, throws the responsibility of furnishing office room
upon the locality, and enlists as far as possible the cooperation of
philanthropic organizations. In many respects it deserves to be
taken as a model. It is as follows:
Section 1. The commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics is
hereby empowered and authorized to establish in any city of the first
class a State employment office under the supervision oi the bureau
of labor statistics for the purpose of receiving applications of persons
seeking employment, and applications of persons wishing to employ
labor. Such office shall be designated and known as a “ State
employment office.”
Sec . 2. Before establishing a State employment office in any city, a
suitable room, properly furnished, shall be provided by the county,
city or by some philanthropic organization which shall maintain the
same without expense to the State. Superintendents of State employ
ment offices shall be appointed by the commissioner of the bureau of
labor statistics. Such superintendents shall give bonds in the sum
of five hundred dollars, with surety to be approved by the commis
sioner of the bureau of labor statistics.
a C. E. Dikey on Habeas Corpus; p. 132 of Eleventh Biennial Labor Report of
California.
&People v. Beattie, quoted from L. C. Keating in Charities, February 10, 1906.
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Sec . 3. The system of registration, records and accounts and the
general conduct of the State employment offices shall be uniform and
after a general plan to be recommended by the commissioner of the
bureau of labor statistics and approved oy the executive council.
All printing, blank books, stationery, postage and office supplies shall
be furnished by the executive council on requisition of the commis
sioner of the bureau of labor statistics.
Sec . 4. It shall be the duty of each superintendent of each State
employment office to record in proper form the names of all persons
applying for employment or for help, designating opposite the name
and address of eacn applicant the character of employment or help
desired. Each superintendent shall not later than Monday of eacn
week mail to the office of the bureau of labor statistics, and to each
other State employment office in the State a report of the number
of applications ror employment and for help received during the pre
ceding week. All such lists shall, when received, be conspicuously
postea in each of the several State employment offices for the inspec
tion of all persons desiring employment or to employ labor.
Sec . 5. It shall be the duty of each superintendent to make report
to the commissioner of the oureau of labor statistics annually, not
later than August 31st of each year, concerning the work of his office
for the year ending June 30th of the same year with a statement of
the receipts and expenses of the same, and such report shall be pub
lished by the commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics in his
biennial report.
Sec . 6. Each applicant for permanent employment shall pay to
the superintendent the sum of fifty (50) cents. In case no employ
ment is secured all of the fee except ten (10) cents shall be refunded,
providing that application is made not more than fifteen days from
date of registering. Where temporary employment is secured for
applicants they shall pay a fee of ten (10) cents. Any applicant who
is unable to pay registration fee shall make a signed statement to
that effect agreeing to pay the same out of his first wages and shall
then be registered.
Sec. 7. Moneys received from the registration of applicants for
labor, and from donations for the support of the office, shall be used
in payment for advertising and for the compensation of the superin
tendent at the office where collected. Salaries of superintendents,
or amounts allowed them as compensation for services, where no
regular salary is allowed, shall be fixed by the commissioner of the
bureau of labor statistics, subject to the approval of the executive
council. The amount paid for advertising and for compensation of
superintendents shall not exceed the receipts of the office. Any
excess of fees collected, over and above the amounts needed for the
payment of advertising and compensation of superintendents shall
be turned into the State treasury.
Sec . 8. The provisions of chapter seven of the acts of the thirtieth
general assembly shall not apply to State employment offices.
The following circular letter, distributed “ by order of the legisla
tive committee’ ’ of a manufacturers’ association, shows the trend of
the argument:
G entlemen : When I last sent you a circular letter, pertaining to
legislative matters in which our members are interested, I thought
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES-
93
there would hardly be an occasion for writing again during the present
session.
A bill recently introduced in the house, House File No. 241, a copy
of which I inclose you herewith, has in it several provisions, which,
if it becomes a law, would come strictly within the limit o f class leg
islation, when shorn of its apparent innocence and viewed from a
practical standpoint. It is hardly necessary to point out to you, as
an employer of labor, the weakness of the bill and the possibility
of these proposed “ labor bureaus” becoming the mere recruiting
stations for the labor organizations, as each superintendent would,
without question, be a member of some local labor organization, as
the appointment would, of necessity, be made by the labor commis
sioner, who at the present time and for the future will be a union
labor man.
We do not believe you will care to have a system of union labor
organizations in practically every city of the State, established by
legislative enactment. You will readily see what would be the
consequences in the event that a nonunion man made application
to one of these bureaus for employment. The rule of the unions, as
heretofore interpreted, that “ No scab need apply,” would hold good,
and it would practically force every person who made application to
one of the “ State institutions” to join the labor organizations or
else seek employment in the usual way.
We believe that there is a great deal of iniquity practiced in the
employment bureau of the cities, but they can be regulated by law,
it would seem, much better than to endeavor to legalize the labor
unions to control matters of this kind.
If there were no such organizations as labor unions, and if there
had never been any attempt on their part to dominate honest and
respectable labor, and if it was not almost an absolute certainty that
these several State labor offices would be dominated by labor organ
izations, the bill in itself would “ look good,” but when you consider
it from the standpoint of one who is familiar with such organizations
and their desire to become “ legalized” by legislative act, you will
readily see the injustice of sucn a piece of legislation. The labor
organizations of the State have at least one representative every day
of the sessions, and it stands our association in hand to occasionally
protest against some of the proposed laws that emanate from them.
The members of the labor committee in the senate are given below.
You know that it has been recommended out of the house committee
on “ labor.”
Kindly use the means at hand to inform your representatives in the
State legislature your wish in the premises.
Act on the proposition that “ the outcome of this matter will depend
on your individual effort.”
--------- =
------------------,
Very truly, yours,
Secretary.
By order of legislative committee.
It is one of the declared objects of the Employers' Association, an
organization whose attitude toward the public employment agencies
is similar to the above, “ to protect its members and associates in such
248 b — N o. 68— 07------ 7
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
manner as may be deemed expedient and proper against legislative,
municipal, and other political encroachments.”
The Citizens’ Industrial Association has been noticed in the study
of the Chicago situation, and nothing further need be said thereupon.
What is common to all three of these is their hostility to the unions
and their opposition to the free public employment office on that
ground.
A further ground of opposition is discernible in that these associa
tions have employment offices of their own. Union men claim that
such offices are for the enrollment of “ strike breakers.” If the free
public employment offices were to be conducted in the interests of the
unions, such associations would probably employ such tactics in their
own defense. It has already been shown that this was in a measure
undoubtedly the case under the early Illinois and Wisconsin laws,
and that it is still the practice in the three or four offices previously
noticed where help would be refused to an employer in case of a strike.
But it can be confidently affirmed of the remainder that they are
in no wise prejudiced against the interests of the employers.
It is more to be regretted that the fortunes of the free public employ
ment offices should be in the least jeopardized by this conflict of oppos
ing interests. The question is one of general concern, and this general
concern is steadily asserting itself. Already the unions in some States
are asking themselves whether as a propaganda it is advisable to con
tinue their support, and it is noticeable that some of the latter sys
tems began at the instance of a commissioner of labor. Apparently
the time is approaching when the movement must stand upon its
own record as a social institution, rather than upon the propaganda
of an industrial class. This is a hopeful sign, and the result is not
to be dreaded by those who base their support of the movement
upon the social utility of the offices.
THE SUPERINTENDENT.
The appointment of the superintendent is usually lodged in the
hands of the commissioner of labor, subject to the approval of the
governor or the executive council. In some cases he is appointed by
the governor upon recommendations made by the commissioner of
labor. In one office, Seattle, he is selected by a civil-service exami
nation, and in another, Tacoma, he is appointed by the mayor upon
recommendation of a commission representing the city council, the
trades council, and the chamber of commerce. Such a method as
the last named tends to avoid the clash of interests between employer
and employee. The same may be said of the civil service method.
The political methods are open to the imputation of political influ
ence, both in the choice of the man and in his conduct of the office.
One improvement upon this method is that offered by the Wisconsin
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
95
system, wherein the superintendents are warned to refrain from
active participation in politics.
Supervision of the several offices by the bureau of labor is found to
work beneficially for all concerned. It unifies the work of the State,
distributes any profitable information gained by one office among the
others, tends to prevent the isolation that otherwise would result,
and furnishes a healthful stimulus to diligence and activity. Weekly
reports increase the utility of the service, and where the manage
ment has time and opportunity for soliciting the cooperation of
employers, the results are valuable. The statistical work which the
offices are required to do in Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, and
Michigan necessitates cooperation tending toward unification.
Municipal offices are manifestly subject to no such State supervision.
Their reports are made to the city council, and unless the local papers
take up the report as a news item it gets no further. Thus the State
commissioner of labor has no means of knowing whether there are
any municipal employment offices within the State or of the substance
of such municipal reports. Two such commissioners consequently
were not informed in this particular, and the discovery of municipal
offices within their respective States was purely a matter of accident.
No official should be permitted to consider his position a sinecure,
but that his tenure of office is dependent upon the faithful discharge
of duty, removal from office the certain alternative. It is to be said
to the credit of the service that such removals sometimes occur,
though a commissioner, like any other officer, may sometimes wait
beyond the point of prudence, lest the discharge of such a duty might
work a personal injustice.
The efficiency of a superintendents work can not be measured by
the proportion of positions filled to applicants for employment. Such
a criterion is fallacious, because it disregards the fact that a careful
superintendent will reject applicants for work which is evidently
beyond their capacity or qualifications, and thus present a lower
record than a less discriminating superintendent; and, secondly, the
knowledge that this criterion is to be used adds to the inducement
to shirk the duty of recording all the applicants for employment.
Obviously the problems of the employment of women are best
handled by a woman, and, as in several instances the largest part of
the business done by the office was with them, the office assistant, if
there be but one, should b y all means be a woman. The following
description of the difficulties of this part of the work, furnished by
Mrs. Etta L. Holmes, of Minneapolis, who is actively engaged in the
work of that office, illustrates additionally the responsibility thrown
upon the employment office by the ’phone orders:
In the commercial world there is no difference in a man’s or woman’s
work— the bookkeeper, the clerk, the musician, the artist— all the
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
requirements are identical, except the wages, in which feature the
woman gets the worst of it. In the world of hard labor, women can
not compete, nor can a man take a woman's place, to any great
extent, in the art of housekeeping. The last two conditions figure
more conspicuously in a free employment bureau, than do any of the
others.
Let us view the men's side first. Any person who requires the
services of a workingman, whether it be common or skilled labor,
leaves an order at the bureau for so many men to be sent to a certain
place. Now what does the employer require of these men? Simply
this: If it is common labor, they must be strong and able-bodied; if
skilled labor is required, they must be skilled in the various profes
sions as required. Outside of the work actually performed by these
men, they are independent. They come and go at regular hours,
they receive so much per hour or day, as the case may be2 and the
employer has nothing to do with them, other than the hiring and
“ firing." He is not associated with them, and in most cases he
never sees them. Should parties be hired, and the wages include
board, the personnel of such parties hired, does not effect any par
ticular disarrangement of his employer's affairs. It is one or more
persons added to the household to cook and wash for. Under such
conditions it is a fairly easy matter to dispose of a large number of
men in a day. John Jones wants 20 laborers at $1.75 per day.
There may be 50 men in the office waiting for work; good, bad, and
indifferent, dirty and clean, married and single, large and small, old
and young. The first 20 men who step up to the rail and ask for the
work get it; neither the superintendent nor the employer recog
nizes any of the conditions mentioned. All that is required of these
men is the ability to do the work. More care is required in selecting
skilled labor, but only in the matter of skill, or possibly the conditions
of his morals, or use of intoxicants. Very often women employ a
man for small jobs, such as beating rugs, cleaning cellars, washmg
windows, etc., but no particular conditions are required of him, not
even his honesty is questioned, it probably being understood that he
needs watching on general principles.
Securing employment for women is quite another thing. The
day workers are possibly the least trouble. People who desire their
services, however, ask for all kinds of requirements. All want good
first-class laundresses, scrub women, general house cleaners, as the
case may be. They must be honest and reliable, neat and clean, and
quick. All or some part of these requirements are called for by our
patrons. Great care must be exercised in taking the orders, to get
the name, house address, car to be taken, kind of work to be done,
and day of the week. Unless the women are on hand, the 'phone
number should be on the order so that the party can be called up
and informed that the order is filled and who the party will be.
Orders are often left standing for a few days, waiting ror the partic
ular one wanted all of which necessitates extra work.
Slips that are used to send out with the day workers have an extra
blank at the bottom, to be filled out by the lady of the house, in which
she states whether work is satisfactory or not, and this is returned to
the office. It often happens that a woman may return several slips
marked “ satisfactory," and then one “ not satisfactory," and in addi
tion to this, the 'phone is put in use to verify that statement, with an
FBEE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
97
extended conversation, on the shortcomings of the woman, and of all
the day workers. Now, if one does not understand human nature,
and know how to manage people, you can work up quite a sparring
match, in words. It is harrassing to hire some one to spoil your
clothes, and you must try to put yourself in the place of the party
complaining, and the sympathy that you can extend, if you will,
appeases the wrath exhibited, and in most all cases, secures the cus
tomer for the future, and this is part of your business. You must be
able to strike a happy medium between the employer and employee.
The best way to do tms, is to have the confidence of your day workers.
Encourage the weak, restrain the fractious, and use firmness with all
of them. Owing to the scarcity of servant girls, in this part of the
country all orders are left at the office to be filled. Now comes the
real work of the business. Orders are placed mostly by ’phone, and
the same care must be taken with these as with the day workers. In
addition to this, you must learn all the particulars of the family life,
how many in the family, how many children, if the house is modem,
or if it is a flat, if the washing is done in whole or part, what nation
ality, color, references and wagjes paid. One must be clairvoyantly
inclined and be able to read between the questions asked and an
swered. You should also be able to remember some of the impres
sions received, so that when you fill the order, you can recall, in a
measure, the various conditions of the family. Another hard feature
of the ’phone orders is that one must decide by the tone of the voice,
and the location of residence, as to the style and manner in which the
parties live and about what kind of a person would be the most apt to
suit. Mrs. Jones would be glad to get a poorly dressed but ablebodied woman who could do all the rough work of the family, while
Mrs. Brown would not be suited at all with that kind of a person.
The girl who is hiring out, has ideas about what she wants in the way
of work, and where she wants to go. She always wants a small
family, modem house, near some church or friend’s or relative’s place.
Should you have 80 to 100 applications for servant girls on file, it is a
trying proposition to hunt over all these papers and find something
that suits her— much on the same plan of taking down every piece of
goods on the shelf to show a customer, and nothing suits. Alter you
finally do find something which she might consider, you call up the
lady whose order is being considered, and ask her if she is still looking
for a girl, very often they forget to tell you that they already have a
girl, and then begins the questioning in regard to her qualifications,
appearances, etc. These questions must be answered right before the
girl, and it requires some discretion to satisfy the questioner as well
as the listener. After all this work has been gone over, it is just
possible that the girl never goes near the place at all, or if she does, the
place does not suit her, or she does not suit the lady. Thus the work is
repeated, with its different variations and different endings, until both
parties are satisfied at least for a short time. While a free employ
ment bureau is not a charitable institution, many poor people come
for aid and comfort. Women with children, old ladies, sickly women,
all have their stories of woe. It is certainly a study to know how to
place all these people in the way of earning a living, considering the
capabilities they have upon which to work.
One must be mindful of the various needs of each respective person
who wants the service of the bureau. One must have ah excellent
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
memory, and be able to recall faces as well as places, to think and act
quickly for every occasion and see that every person’s wants are
properly looked after.
There are no assistants in the offices of Connecticut, Michigan,
Wisconsin (except Milwaukee), nor in the offices at Duluth, Tacoma,
Spokane, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Topeka, Lincoln, and St. Joseph,
Mo. In the number of assistants the Illinois offices surpass those of
any other State, there being from 3 to 5 persons in each office. The
full value of an employment office can not be realized without at
least one assistant; for the necessity of attending to outside work
might well consume one-half of the superintendent’s time, or in a
large city, all of his time. Applicants for employment as a rule do not
need to be searched for, but on the contrary the work has to be found
for them, an obvious remark to make, yet it has to be kept constantly
in mind.
The two considerations most vitally affecting the choice of superin
tendents to the possible disadvantage of the service are, first, mem
bership in the dominant political party, and secondly, membership in
a labor union. In so far as the choice is affected by the commissioner
of labor, who, as a rule, is a union labor man, this may be remedied
by some such method as that used in the Tacoma office, the com
missioner himself acting as a member of the nominating committee
in the case of State offices.
So far as character and integrity are concerned no serious or grave
charges are preferred against any superintendent in the country.
Except in one case, not even an insinuation has been heard that
their offices have been improperly used, and upon investigation this
proved to be groundless. In this respect they present a most note
worthy contrast to many of the private agencies. In making this
statement it is not forgotten that there are many honorable men
and women in the private agencies, some of them as unselfish and phil
anthropic in impulse and practice as can be found in other callings.
The writer, for instance, saw one such private employment agent
loan a young man his own dress suit, without which the latter would
have been unable to accept a proffered situation. Y et the business
requires a close police surveillance.
Most of the criticisms of the superintendents, indeed, practically
all of them, are upon the score of competency and energy. Some
of the criticisms are well deserved.
The demands for differentiation and specialization in the free pub
lic employment offices have already been discussed. Such scheme
would require the highest grade of ability and efficiency in the manage
ment. The superintendent must know the needs of those applying
for help, and be able to determine the ability and skill of those
applying for employment.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
99
In the largest cities, where differentiation of industry and of
employment agencies, and consequently a specialization of the work
of the office is possible, are to be found the highest class of private
agencies, which, compared with the free public employment offices,
show a marked superiority. The net income of some of these higher
grade private agencies is from $5,000 to $50,000 per year, and it is
unreasonable for the State or municipality to expect that persons
with the ability and opportunity to earn those amounts would be
willing to accept a position under it at an annual salary of $1,500.
It would be very easy for a superintendent, after learning the busi
ness, establishing a reputation for efficiency, and surrounding him
self with a reliable clientele, to set up in business for himself, yet
not one of them has done so, some of them being restrained merely
by their conviction that it is wrong to charge a man anything for
the privilege of work.
OFFICE METHODS.
The three captions under which data should be collected at every
office are, in the order of their importance, as follows:
1. Number of positions secured.
2. Number of applications for help.
3. Number of applications for employment.
In addition to these it may be desirable to give the per cent of
positions secured of applicants for employment, as is done in Ohio,
or the number of applications for either help or employment unfilled,
as is done in Illinois. These, however, are relatively immaterial,
since they may be determined by anyone, provided the primary data
are given. The difficulties in the way of getting precise returns for
the number of positions secured have been noted. If people get
what they want, whether help or employment, they will not trouble
themselves much upon the matter of statistics, and hence they
neglect to report to the employment office. Where nothing is
charged, as in the free public employment office, the tendency is
strong to rate the service accordingly, to speak ill of its efficiency
without just cause, and to fail to give the information so much
needed.
Superintendents say that about 10 per cent of the positions known
to have been filled by them are unverified by the parties benefited,
even though appealed to repeatedly. A fee would probably change
this attitude of indifference, if for no other reason than that the
service would thus be put upon the basis of a business transaction,
which it would be unprofitable to forget.
The number of applications for help presents one cause of uncer
tainty. If the applicant wishes ten men, the question arises whether
the applicant is to figure in the enumeration, or the number of men
he wants. The latter is the item almost universally recognized, and
100
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR.
properly so; for what is wanted is the strength of the labor demand,
and this, of course, could be represented only by the number of labor
units demanded. A further record of the number of applicants for
help might prove interesting, but certainly unessential.
The recording of the applications for employment is the chief
problem in the matter of records, and the one wherein the greatest
laxity is to be seen. The law should not fail to prescribe the date
at which an application expires. Most States which prescribe a
limit set it at thirty days. In case of such omission, however, com
missioners of labor should not hesitate to adopt some such date and
enforce its observance by the various offices. Superintendents are
not likely to perceive the necessity of recording all applicants, even
though required to do so by law. The economic need thereof is that
the strength of the labor supply may thus be gauged, and to omit
any part of it is to vitiate the returns. If a distinction is to be
observed between the floating and the resident population, the former,
though having no address, should be enumerated, while the latter
may be enumerated and their applications filed.
For statistical purposes many questions are often found upon the
application blank which are not necessary for the purposes of employ
ment. The laws in a few States stipulate that no one shall forfeit
the services of the employment office by refusing to answer such
questions.
Items of information which may be deemed necessary in placing
employees are as follows: Name, address, sex, occupation, kind of
work desired, willing to work outside of city, and, in case of skilled
labor, name and address of last employer. Questions of a more
distinctly statistical nature, though in some cases necessary, are as
follows: Age, nationality, married or single, number of dependent
children, how long idle, cause of idleness, how long employed at last
place, member of what trade union, if any. The impolicy of asking
this last question just at present, even for statistical purposes, is
obvious. In some places it has been a source of trouble or suspicion,
and were better omitted altogether.
The questions that need to be asked of an employer when men are
wanted are very few— such, for instance, as the name, address, number
of men wanted, for what kind of work, for how long a time, and
wages paid. If the employer wafats union men he usually goes to the
unions for them; if nonunion men are desired and application should
be made at the public office, that part of the selection must depend
upon himself and not upon the superintendent.
In the employment of women for domestics many more questions
need to be asked of the employer, among which are: House or flat,
number in family, children, adults, laundry done in house, wages paid,
length of employment, and so on.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
101
One office, New York City, issued to all applicants a card like, the
following:
W A IT IN G H O U R S.
MALE HELP.
W aiters
|
Dishwashers I -----House men |
Janitors
Assistant janitors
Elevator runners
H a ll boys
Cooks
1
Porters
[
Packers
|.........
Useful m enj
Coachmen |
Drivers
V..........
Stablem en J
Farmers
Gardeners
Laborers
Miscellaneous
Clerks
Salesmen
Orderlies
..........
Attendants
Nurses
FEMALE HELP.
D ay workers
Cleaners
H otel help
. . .9 to 9.30 a. m .
to 10 a. in.
Cooks
|
Cooks and laundressesL . 10 to 10.30 a. in.
Kitchenm aids
J
. .9 .3 0 to 10 a. m.
General houseworkers
Housekeepers
..1 0 .3 0 to 11 a. m .
Married couples
Care takers
Chambermaids
Waitresses
.1 1 to 11.30 a. m.
Maids and companions [
Nurses
)
Laundresses
Office and store workers
. .11.30 to 12 m .
Dressmakers
Seamstresses
Factory hands
.10 to 10.30 a. m.
.10.30 to 11 a. m .
.11 to 11.30 a. m.
11.30 to 12 noon.
i
Applications and special appointments, 1 to 4 p . m .
Such an arrangement as this might prove serviceable in a large
city office with insufficient help, but on no other account should the
public be subjected to such probable inconvenience or loss of time
or opportunity.
One neglected feature of the business common to many of the
offices, especially those where there is no assistant, is the outside work.
This includes—
1. Personal solicitation or inquiry for work to be done. The super
intendent to be able to place large orders must cultivate the acquaint
ance of contractors, especially those engaged in building, street, and
railroad construction work. Probably over 75 per cent of the
unskilled labor of the country is engaged in work of this kind, hence
the very important part played by the contractor in the unskilled
labor market.
2. Making an inventory of the various business establishments,
mercantile, manufacturing, and otherwise, and learning the scope of
industrial activity of the locality. In a large city this is a work to be
distributed among a number of assistants.
3. Learning enough of industrial processes to be able to reject
applicants for work when they are unfitted therefor. A superintend
ent should be able, in a manufacturing town, to distinguish between
102
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
the different kinds of machinists and the experience required for each,
should know what is expected of different kinds of clerks, laborers,
domestics, etc., and in short, should aim to save the employer as
much as possible in the worry and vexation resulting from trying
inexperienced men. It is just this knowledge and care, together
with an ability to estimate men, that means efficiency and success in
the employment business.
4.
Getting acquainted with employers themselves, learning their
particular wishes, demands, and whims, it may be, and impressing
them with his ability to estimate men and fit them to appropriate
tasks.
Another point in regard to which there is a variety of usage is the
matter of testimonials. Some few offices require testimonials from
all applicants for work, even for unskilled labor; others require testi
monials for certain occupations, as domestics, clerks, mechanics, and
in general for skilled labor. The majority of the offices require none
at all. To require this in the case of unskilled labor does not seem
in the main justifiable, though there are occasional exceptions. The
risk involved on the part of the employer does not as a rule demand it.
The risk which the employee runs of falling into the hands of an
unscrupulous employer makes it unjust to require it. Lastly, the
engagement is apt to be so temporary that the employer when applied
to for a testimonial, fills out one which is evasive, noncommittal, or
perhaps misleading, in the effort to do no harm to the employee, and
on the contrary not to stand voucher for him.
To require no testimonials for any kind of position is to run straight
toward inefficiency. For domestics such a neglect would be intoler
able were it not that the demand so far exceeds the supply that
almost any woman can find employment as a domestic in nearly any
city in the country. For superior positions of this sort testimonials
are indispensable, and the same remark will apply to superior posi
tions of all kinds.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF THE UNSKILLED LABOR
MARKET.
One fact stands forth prominently to the view of those who study
the free public employment offices of the United States at close range,
namely, the disorganized and chaotic condition of the unskilled labor
market throughout the whole country. In this, the substratum of
the labor world, spontaneous organization is probably out of the ques
tion except in isolated spots, granting, indeed, that it were desirable or
likely to effect anything. Organization, therefore, must be from with
out, if it comes at all. What is the need of organization, or is there
any need ?
The demand for unskilled labor is universal. Skilled labor, except
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
103
the trades, congregates in various localities where production calls for
it, and thus becomes in some measure sectionalized. The trades are
universal, as is unskilled labor, but more able to take care of them
selves and answer the needs of production. Unskilled labor, disre
garding for the moment the vagrant or tramp element, can not so
freely migrate to the point where it is needed. Comparatively speak
ing, it is an inflexible supply, the inflexibility being due, first, to lack
of knowledge, and, second, to inability to migrate. In these respects,
generally speaking, as well as in universality of demand, it differs from
skilled labor only in degree. The tramp, however, has his own way of
getting about the country, as railway men can testify, and thus the
least desirable unskilled labor is often taken when there is an abun
dance of a better grade that might be had if it were but known.
If an apology is needed for presenting such well-known facts, it is
certainly to be found in the unequal distribution of labor, especially of
unskilled labor, as shown by the free public employment offices.
Within the bounds of one State there is less excuse for this, since
means are at hand for correcting it; but in adjoining States one may
find employer and employee looking for each other with small chance
of coming together. So many fraudulent advertisements for laborers
have been inserted in the newspapers that this means is more or less
ineffectual because unreliable. It is this interstate communication
that is unprovided for, and for which some method of cooperation
should be devised. Instances wherein help could be given are such as
the distribution of harvest hands in the wheat belt, the distribution of
immigrants, and the assistance that might be given to large employers
of contract labor, such as railroads, etc.
A concrete illustration of the last-named service may be found in
the railway construction work centering in Chicago. The number of
railroads centering at this point and the amount of railroad construc
tion work arranged for make it the largest labor market of this kind in
the country. Most railways let out the construction to contractors,
and these in turn hire their labor at the private labor agencies. It is
commonly assumed, and never denied, that the contractor and the pri
vate agency divide the enrollment fee paid by the laborer. Though
the charge would be hard to prove, nobody seems to doubt that it is
true. This is apt to be taken as a species of “ graft” by the laborer,
and everybody else who is unable to see why both the employment
agent and the contractor should be paid for the job he gets. Railroad
officials, when approached upon the subject and urged to use their
influence to stop it, manifest either indifference to the laborer's interest
or resentment at his treatment of the railway in getting a free ride to
the destination and then leaving. “ Sometimes a whole carload turns
out to be passengers,” said one general manager, “ even though a man
was put into the car to keep them there.”
104
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
At least one railway has solved the problem much more to its satis
faction. Instead of letting out the work to contractors it keeps the
control entirely within its own hands and secures its labor from the
public employment offices. The loss of men who turn out to be “ pas
sengers” is still very large, about 35 per cent of the number sent out;
but the improvement over former conditions is so pronounced that the
company in question is highly pleased with the result. The reason
why these men from the free employment offices should stay with the
company better than the others is not very clear. Perhaps no better
reason can be given than that offered by the company, to the effect
that a better satisfied man is always a more valuable man, the satis
faction arising in this case from the fact that he is not paying two
prices for his job, or indeed any price.
What could be done by better organization of this market in the
way indicated is to put railways and other large employers in contact
with the widest possible range of selection. As it is at present, railroads
are continually losing b y means of the poor labor they must put up
with on construction gangs, and decent laborers likewise are sub
jected to loss and indignities by reason thereof. The railways stand
so much in need of this help that they dare not offend the private
agencies whence they get it; the private agencies have an easy hold on
the contractor, who shares their receipts, and thus the contract system,
a wasteful, injurious method to both sides, continues to thrive. What
is needed is a wider labor market to appeal to than the locality affords,
a coordination of the efforts of the States through the free employ
ment offices.
Furthermore, it is claimed in many quarters that the supply of
unskilled labor is entirely inadequate to the demand;'that without
the continual access of foreign labor through immigration our rail
ways could not be built, and many other such enterprises must go
unaccomplished. It is reported by a State official in Colorado that
corporations in that State are violating the Federal statutes by
importing foreign contract labor through the medium of Greek,
Italian, and Japanese padrones. All over the country the bulk of
such work is certainly being done by foreigners. In so far as the
natives and the naturalized who have been here some time are
advancing beyond this stage of labor, it is a satisfactory condition.
It is decidedly unsatisfactory if there is a considerable supply of such
labor already here and not taken up, and this is exactly the case.
In other words, the facilities for distributing information concerning
this labor market are not so good as are the facilities for placing the
immigrant labor just arriving, as witness the following report of the
president of the Irish Emigrant Society, New York City:
At the labor bureau, which is located at the United States Barge
Office Building, Battery Park, and which is jointly maintained by
105
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
this society and the German society, employment was found during
the year 1905 for 9,837 immigrants.
While maintained by these societies, immigrants of all nationalities
are equally privileged in the bureau. The bureau charges no fees or
commission of any sort to employer or immigrant.
The nationality of the employed during the year was as follows:
Country.
Males.
Germany........................................................................ ............... .
Ireland.
................. ...........- ................ - ................... ..............
Scandinavia.......................................................... .............................
England. ................- ...........................................................................Austria. .................................. - ......................................... ........... .
Switzerland....... ................... ........................- ......... - _____ . . . ____ ..
HnilflfTjd .. .......... ...........................................................................
Poland.....................................................................................................
Russia.....................................................................................................
(rrftfV'.P.
___ - ......................................................... .............. ...............
Pftraia.
.......... .............. ............................................... .............. .
France.....................................................................................................
Bohemia...................... ...................... ...... .................................
Luxemburg....................................................................................... .
Roum ania.. . . . ..... .................................................... . . . . __ . . . . . . . .
Belgium...................................................................................................
Females.
4,831
1,937
1,653
43
121
31
15
108
17
4
1
2
1
1
1
1
452
591
46
37
14
8,607
1,170
27
2
1
Total.
6,283
2,528
1,599
80
135
31
15
135
19
4
1
3
1
1
1
1
9,837
DESTINATION OF THE EM PLOYED.
State or Territory.
'New Y o r k ..............................................................................................
New Jersey............................................................................................
Connecticut............................................................................................
Pennsylvania.........................................................................................
Michigan.................................................................................................
Massachusetts.......................................................................................
Vermont.................................................................................................
Mississippi..............................................................................................
Kentucky........................... ................................................................ .
Maine......................................................................................................
Virginia...................................................................................................
Missouri..................................................................................................
Wisconsin...............................................................................................
Illinois.....................................................................................................
Ohio........................................................................................................
Delaware.. . . . . . . . _____________ - .............. .......................................
Rhode Island.........................................................................................
Tftrmp.ssftft .
_ .................... .................................... __............. ........
District of Columbia........................... .-...............................................
Tnrjia/nfl.. .
...............................................................................................................
Males.
Females.
6,971
1,117
140
135
67
27
5
11
47
13
64
2
22
17
19
1
1
6
1
1
968
175
17
8,667
1,170
3
2
3
2
Total.
7,939
1,292
157
135
67
27
8
11
49
13
67
4
22
17
19
1
1
a
i
i
9,837
Of those employed, 1,025 were skilled and 7,642 were unskilled
laborers. Forty-two families, comprising 91 persons, are included in
the number employed. The average wages paid to farm hands was
$16.87 per month with board and lodging. Female help, $12 per
month, boa£d and lodging, and laborers received $1.64 per day. Thir
teen thousand five hundred and fifty-five meals and 276 lodgings were
furnished b y the Society for Irish immigrants seeking employment,
and inland transportation was supplied for 102. Eighty-four immi
grants were returned to Ireland.
While it is true that all but about six hundred found employment
in either New York or New Jersey, the material points here made are
that the machinery is ready to send labor even to such far away
106
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOB.
States as Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin, that transporta
tion was advanced in 102 cases, and that the demand far exceeds the
supply.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
The following recommendations are given by way of summary:
1. A small nominal fee should be charged. The amount should
probably be no less than 25 nor more than 50 cents as a rule. The
guiding principle should be to make the service self-supporting.
The reasons why a fee should be charged are—
(a) To differentiate the service from that of a charity.
(b) To throw the support of the service where it naturally belongs.
(c) To give flexibility to the system of offices; thus the number and
location thereof should not be fixed by statute; this necessarily results
when the service is free.
(d) To make it possible to get accurate data upon positions secured.
2. The public employment office should be integrated with other
branches of the public service. It is highly desirable accordingly that
it should be located in the city hall or court-house. The office ex
penses should be borne in every case by the locality; never by the
State.
LAW S RELATIN G TO FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
OFFICES.
Following are the laws of the various States relating to free public
employment offices:
CONNECTICUT.
General Statutes, R evision
op 1902.
Section 4608. The public em ploym ent bureaus in N ew H aven, Hartford, Bridge
port, Norwich, and W aterbury snail remain as established. No compensation or fee
shall be charged or received, directly or indirectly, from persons applying for em ploy
m ent or help through any such bureau. T h e commissioner of the bureau of labor
statistics shall appoint for each bureau, and m a y remove for good and sufficient cause,
a superintendent for the proper administration of its affairs.
Sec. 4609. The term “ person” in this chapter shall include persons, com pany,
society, association, or corporation, and the term “ em ploym ent ag en cy” shall include
business of keeping an intelligence office, em ploym ent bureau, or other agency for
procuring work or em ploym ent for persons seeking em ploym ent, or for acting as agent
for procuring such work or em ploym ent where a fee or other valuable thing is exacted,
charged, or received for registration, or for procuring or assisting to procure e m p lo y
m ent, work, or a situation of any kind, or for procuring or providing help for any
person.
S ec. 4610. No person shall open, keep, or carry on any such em ploym ent agency
unless he shall procure a license from said commissioner authorizing tne licensee to
open, keep, or carry on such agency at a designated place, which license shall be issued
b y the commissioner on paym ent of a fee of ten dollars for the first year and five dollars
for each succeeding year, which m oney shall be paid b y him to the treasurer of the
State. E ve ry license shall contain a designation of the city, street, and num ber cf the
house, in which the person licensed shall carry on the said em ploym ent agency, and
the num ber and date of such license. No person shall conduct an em ploym ent agency,
or act as agent for procuring em ploym ent, m an y building where liquor is sold.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
107
Sec. 4611. E ve ry person shall file with his application for a license a bond to the
State in the sum of five hundred dollars, with surety approved b y the commissioner,
conditioned that the obligor shall not violate any provision of this chapter. T he com
missioner m ay cause an action to be brought on said bond in the name cf the State
for any violation of its conditions; and he m ay revoke any license whenever, in his
judgm ent, the person licensed shall violate any provision cf this chapter.
Sec. 4612. E ve ry person so licensed shall keep a register in which shall b e entered,
in the English language, the name and address of every applicant, and cf every person
who shall make application for help or servants, and the nature cf the em ploym ent for
which such help shall be wanted. Such registers shall at all reasonable hours be open
to the examination of the commissioner and his agents.
S e c . 4613 (as amended b y chapter 271, A cts of 1905). E very such licensed person
shall give to each applicant for em ploym ent from whom a fee or other valuable thing
shall be received for procuring such em ploym ent, which fee or valuable thing shall in
no case exceed the value of ten per centum of the first m onth’s wages, a receipt in
which shall be stated the name of the applicant, the am ount of the fee cr other valuable
thing, the date, the name or nature of the em ploym ent or situation to be procured, and
a separate receipt in which shall be stated the name and address of the person or per
sons to whom the applicant shall be referred or sent for em ploym ent or work. In case
the applicant shall not obtain or accept a situation or em ploym ent through the agency
of such licensed person within one month after registration as aforesaid, said licensed
person shall forthwith return to said applicant upon dem and the full amount of the fee
or valuable thing paid or delivered b y said applicant to said licensed person, provided
that such dem and be made within thirty days after the expiration of the period afore
said. In case the applicant shall accept the situation with the person to whom said
applicant has been referred, said applicant shall forfeit the whole amount of the fee or
valuable thing paid aforesaid. E very such receipt shall have printed on its back, in
the English language, a copy of this section, and every licensed person shall cause a
plain and legibly printed copy of this chapter to be posted in a conspicuous place in
such agency or place of business. No person shall display on any sign, window, or in
any publication, the name of the Connecticut free public em ploym ent bureau or a
name similar thereto.
Sec. 4614. N o such licensed person shall send or cause to be sent any female help
or servants to a place of bad. repute, house of ill-fame, or assignation house, or to a
house or place of amusement kept for immoral purposes. No such licensed person
shall publish or cause to be published any false or fraudulent notice or advertisement,
or give any false information, or make any false promise relating to work or em ploy
ment to an y one who shall register for em ploym ent; and no such licensed person shall
make false entries in the register kept b y him . E very person violating any provi
sion of this chapter shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars.
Chapter 33, A cts
op 1903.
The commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics m ay establish and conduct branch
public em ploym ent bureaus under the direction and control of the five established
bureaus. Such branches m ay be established and conducted in any city w ithin the
State and shall be managed b y the nearest bureau: P rov id ed , That in no case shall
such a branch be established unless it can be conducted b y the bureau taking charge
thereof upon the appropriation made for such bureau.
Approved, April 14, 1903.
Chapter 148, A cts
op 1905.
The provisions of chapter 259 of the General Statutes [sections 4608-4614] shall not
ap p ly to any person supplying positions in connection with educational institutions,
provided such person is not engaged in supplying positions for other employees.
Approved, June 22, 1905.
ILLINOIS.
A cts
op 1903, page 194.
Section 1. Free em ploym ent offices are hereby created as follows: One in each
city of not less than fifty thousand population, and three in each city containing a
population of one m illion or over, for the purpose of receiving applications of persons'
seeking em ploym ent, and applications of persons seeking to em ploy labor. Such
offices shall be designated and known as Illinois Free E m ploym ent Offices.
108
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
S ec. 2. W ith in six ty days after this act shall have been in force, the State board of
commissioners of labor shall recommend, and the governor, with the advice and con
sent of the senate, shall appoint a superintendent and assistant superintendent and
a clerk for each of the offices created b y section 1 of this act, who shall devote their
entire tim e to the duties of their respective offices. T he assistant superintendent
or the clerk shall in each case be a woman. The tenure of such appointment shall be
two years, unless sooner removed for cause. T h e salary of each superintendent shall
be fifteen hundred (1,500) dollars per annum, the salary of such assistant superintend
ent shall be one thousand two hundred (1,200) dollars per annum. T he salary of such
clerk shall be one thousand (1,000) dollars per annum , together with proper amounts
for defraying the necessary costs of equipping and maintaining the respective offices.
Sec. 3. T he superintendent of each such free em ploym ent office shall, w ithin sixty
days after appointment, open an office in such locality as shall have been agreed upon
between such superintendent and the secretary of the bureau of labor statistics, as
being most appropriate for the purpose intended; such office to be provided with a
sufficient number of rooms and apartments to enable him to provide, and he shall so
provide, a separate room or apartment for the use of women registering for situations
or help. U pon the outside of each such office, in position and manner to secure the
fullest public attention, shall be placed a sign which shall read in the English lan
guage, Illinois Free E m ploym ent Office, and the same shall appear either upon the
outside windows or upon signs in such other languages as the location of each such
office shall render advisable. T h e superintendent of each such free em ploym ent
office shall receive and record in books kept for that purposes [purpose], names of all
persons applying for em ploym ent or help, designating opposite the names and
addresses of each applicant, the character of em ploym ent or help desired. Separate
registers for applicants for em ploym ent shall be kept, showing the age, sex, n ativity,
trade or occupation of each applicant, the cause and duration of nonem ploym ent,
whether married or single, the num ber of dependent children, together with such
other facts as m ay be required b y the bureau of labor statistics to be used b y said
bureau: P rovid ed , That no special registers shall be open to public inspection at any
tim e, and that such statistical and sociological data as the bureau of labor m a y require
shall be held in confidence b y said bureau, and so published as not to reveal the
iden tity of any one: A n d , p rovid ed fu rth er, That an y applicant who shall decline to
furnish answers as to the questions contained in special registers shall not thereby
forfeit any rights to an y em ploym ent the office m ight secure.
Sec. 4. Each such superintendent shall report on Thursday of each week to the State
bureau of labor statistics the number of applications for positions and for help received
during the preceding week, and the number of positions secured, also those unfilled
applications remaining on the books at the beginning of the week. I t shall also show
the number and character of the positions secured during the preceding week. U pon
receipt of these lists, and not later than Saturday of each week, the secretary of the said
bureau of labor statistics shall cause to be printed a sheet showing separately, and in
combination, the lists received from all such free em ploym ent offices.
Sec. 5. I t shall be the d u ty of each such superintendent of a free em ploym ent office
to im m ediately put himself in communication with the principal manufacturers, mer
chants and other employers of labor, and to use all diligence m securing the coopera
tion of the said employers of labor, with the purposes and objects of said em ploym ent
offices. T o this end it shall be competent for such superintendents to advertise in
the columns of newspapers, or other m edium , for such situations as he has applicants
to fill, and he m ay -advertise in a general w ay for the cooperation of large contractors
and employers in such trade journals or special publication as reach such employers,
whether such trade or special journals are published within the State of Illinois or not.
Sec. 6. I t shall be the d u ty of each such superintendent to make report to the State
bureau of labor statistics annually, not later than Decem ber first of each year, con
cerning the work of his office for the year ending October first of the same year, together
with a statement of the expenses of the same, including the charges of an interpreter
when necessary, and such report shall be published b y the said bureau of labor sta
tistics annually w ith its coal report. E ach such superintendent shall also perform
such other duties in the collection of statistics of labor as the secretary of the bureau
of labor statistics m ay require.
Sec. 7. No fee or compensation shall be charged or received, directly or indirectly,
from persons applying for em ploym ent or help through said free em ploym ent offices,
and an y superintendent, assistant superintendent or clerk, who shall accept, directly
or indirectly, an y fee or compensation from an y applicant or from his or her represenative [representative]; shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction,
shall be fined not less than tw enty-five nor more than fifty dollars and imprisoned in
the county jail not more than thirty days.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
109
Sec. 8. The term, “ applicant for em p loym en t,” as used in this act, shall be con
strued to mean any person seeking work of any lawful character, and “ applicant for
h elp ” shall mean any person or persons seeking help in any legitimate enterprise; and
nothing in this act shall be construed to lim it the meaning of the term work to manual
occupation, but it shall include professional service, and all other legitim ate service.
Sec. 9. N o person, firm or corporation in this State shall open, operate or maintain
a private em ploym ent agency for hire, or where a fee is charged to either applicant for
em ploym ent or for help without first obtaining a license for the same from the State
commissioners of labor. Such license fee, in cities of fifty thousand (50,000) popula
tion and over, shall be fifty dollars ($50) per annum. In all cities containing less than
fifty thousand (50,000) population a uniform fee of tw enty-five dollars ($25) per annum
w ill be required. E very license shall contain a designation of the city, street and
number of th e building in which the licensed party conducts said em ploym ent agency.
T he license, together w ith a copy of this act, shall be posted in a conspicuous place in
each and every em ploym ent agency. No agency shall print, publish or paint on any
sign, window, or insert in any newspaper or publication, a name similar to that of the
Illinois Free E m ploym en t Office. T he commissioners of labor shall require with each
applicant for a license a bond in the penal sum of five hundred dollars ($500), with one
or more sureties, to be approved b y the said commissioners, and conditioned that the
obligor w ill not violate any of the duties, terms, conditions, provisions or requirements
of this act. T h e said commissioners are authorized to cause an action or actions to be
brought on said bond in the name of the people of the State of Illinois for any violation
of any of its conditions, and they m ay also revoke, upon a full hearing, any license,
whenever, in their judgm ent, the party licensed shall have violated any of the provi
sions of this act. I t shall be the d u ty of every licensed agency to keep a register, in
which shall be entered the name and address of every applicant. Such licensed
agency shall also enter into a register the name and address or every person who shall
make application for help or servants; and the name and nature of the em ploym ent
for which such help shall be wanted. Such register shall, at all reasonable hours, be
open to the inspection and examination of the commissioners of labor or their agents.
Where a registration fee is charged for receiving or filing applications for em ploym ent
or help, said fee shall in no case exceed the sum of two dollars ($2), for w hich a receipt
shall be given, in which shall be stated the name of the applicant, the am ount of the
fee, the date, the name or character of the work or situation to be procured. In case
the said applicant shall not obtain a situation or em ploym ent through such licensed
agency w ithin one month after registration as aforesaid, then said licensed agency shall
forthwith repay and return to such applicant, upon demand being made therefor, the
full amount of the fee paid or delivered b y said applicant to said licensed agency,
provided that such demand be made w ithin thirty (30) days after the expiration of the
period aforesaid. No agency shall send or cause to be sent any female help or servants
to any place of bad repute, house of ill-fame or assignation house, or to any house or
place of am usement kept for immoral purposes. No such licensed agency shall pub
lish or cause to be published any false or fraudulent notice or advertisement, or to give
any false information, or to make any false promise concerning or relating to work or
em ploym ent to anyone who shall register for em ploym ent, and no licensed agency
shall make any false entries in the register to be kept as herein provided. No person,
firm or corporation shall conduct the business of any em ploym ent office in, or in con
nection w ith, any place where intoxicating liquors are sold.
Sec. 10. I t shall be the d u ty of the commissioners of labor, and the secretary thereof,
to enforce this act. W h en informed of any violation, it shall be their d u ty to institute
criminal proceedings for the enforcement of its penalties before any court of competent
jurisdiction. A n y person convicted of a violation of the provisions of this act shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less [than! fifty dollars ($50) nor more
than one hundred (100) dollars for each offense, or b y imprisonment in the county jail
for a period not exceeding six (6) months, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Sec. 11. A private em ploym ent agency is defined and interpreted to mean any
person, firm or corporation furnishing em ploym ent or help or giving information as to
where em ploym ent or help m ay be secured, or who shall display any employment
sign or bulletin, or through the m edium of any card, circular or pam phlet, offering
em ploym ent or help, shall be deemed an em ploym ent agency, and subject to the
provisions of this act, whether a fee or commission is charged or not: P rovid ed , That
charitable organizations are not included.
Sec. 12. A ll m oney or m oneys received from fees and fines shall be held b y the said
commissioners of labor, and shall constitute a fund for the purpose of enforcing the
provisions of this act; and the said commissioners shall, at the end of each fiscal year,
make an account of said fund and pay into the State treasury whatever balance shall
248b—No. 68—07——8
110
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
remain after paying the necessary disbursements for the purpose of enforcing the
provisions of this act.
Sec. 13. A ll printing, blanks, blank books, stationery and such other supplies as
m ay be necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the offices herein created
shall be furnished b y the secretary of state upon requisition for the same m ade by the
superintendents of the several offices.
Sec. 14. A ll acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
Sec. 15. Whereas, an emergency exists, therefore, this act shall take effect and be
in force from and after its passage.
Approved M ay 11, 1903.
KANSAS.
General Statutes
op 1901.
Section 3833. There is hereby created the free em ploym ent bureau of the State of
Kansas, for the purpose of providing free em ploym ent agencies in all cities of the first
and second class within the State: P rov id ed , T hat an y city of the second class m ay, b y
resolution of the mayor and council, dispense w ith such free em ploym ent agency, and
shall notify the director to that effect. Said bureau shall be under the supervision
and direction of an officer designated as “ director of free em p loym ent,” who shall be
appointed b y the governor w ithin ten days from the taking effect of this act, and shall
hold such office for the term of two years and until his successor is appointed and
qualified. Before entering upon the duties of the office, he shall take and subscribe
an oath as provided for other State officers.
S e c . 3834. A s soon as such director of free em ploym ent shall have been appointed
and qualified, it shall be his d u ty to prepare, prescribe, print, and transmit to the city
clerks of all cities of the first and second classes, directions, rules and regulations for the
opening, conduct and reports of free em ploym ent agencies in said cities, w hich direc
tions, rules and regulations said director m ay amend, add to or revise from tim e to tim e.
Said director shall also prepare all needful or proper forms to be used b y such agencies,
and shall cause blanks and all blank books to be prepared b y the State printer, and
shall forward supplies thereof to all such city clerks for use of such agencies; all work
authorized b y this act to be done b y the State printer, upon the requisition of said
director, subject to the approval of the State printing com m ittee.
S e c . 3835. W ith in thirty days after such directions, rules and regulations shall have
been received by any city clerk, the mayor and council shall com ply with the direc
tions of said director as to the opening and preparing to maintain a free em ploym ent
agency and for the expense thereof; and if no such provision be made, the duties of
free em ploym ent agent shall devolve upon the city clerk, who shall perform the same,
and his office shall be the free em ploym ent agency of said city.
S ec. 3836. I t shall be the duty of the free em ploym ent agent of every city to register,
as directed b y the directions of the director of free em ploym ent, every person desiring
to em ploy any person and every person desiring em ploym ent; and it shall be the strict
legal right of every such person to so register and to enjoy all of the advantages of such
em ploym en t agency free from any cnarge or expense whatever. Reports to the
director of free em ploym ent shall be made b y such agencies as often and as to such
matters as he m ay require. E very person shall be notified of em ploym ent open in the
order of his or her registration for that em ploym ent b y such agent where registered.
A ll other details shall be fixed b y the director of free em ploym ent.
S e c . 3837. The reports of such agencies shall be made to the director of free employ
ment as he may require, and shall be tabulated and classified, and such persons as have
not secured employment or notice of employment where registered shall be notified
b y the director where such employment may be had, as shown b y the reports made.
The director shall em body in his annual report such tabulations of the work performed *
b y such agencies in the State, with such recommendations as he may deem proper for
the information of the legislature.
S e c . 3838. I f any city clerk shall fail or refuse to carry out in good faith, in a reason
ab ly fair and efficient manner, the duties devolved upon him b y this act or b y the
direction, rules and regulations of the director of free em ploym ent, he shall forfeit his
office as such free em ploym ent officer, and be removed therefrom: P rov id ed , Such
rem oval shall not affect the tenure of his office as to its other duties. A n y agent pro
vided for and appointed b y any city to conduct a free em ploym ent agency under this
act shall be removed b y the mayor at any tim e when requested in writing b y ten or
more electors of said city, upon a showing being made that such agent refused or failed
to perform the duties as required b y this act. In case of the removal or resignation for
a n y cause of the free em ploym ent agent in any city, the mayor of such city shall
im m ediately appoint a qualified person to fill such vacancy.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
Ill
Sec. 3839. The director of free em ploym ent shall keep and maintain an office, and
the executive council is hereby directed to provide for said director a suitable room,
properly furnished for the use of said director.
Sec. 3840. It shall be the further d u ty of the said director to secure and list, as far as
practicable, from the rural districts of the State, the number of extra laborers required
for the harvest season in each com m unity, for the purpose of providing labor for the
harvest season to m eet such dem and, and to provide em ploym ent for any idle labor
seeking em ploym ent.
Sec. 3841. T h e director of free em ploym ent shall be paid a salary of tw elve hundred
dollars per annum, to be paid as other State officers. The further sum of five hundred
dollars annually for postage and express is hereby allowed for the use of said director in
carrying out the provisions of this act.
MARYLAND.
Article 89, Public General L aws — Code
of 1903.
Section 2. * * * 7th. T he chief of the bureau of industrial statistics shall
cause to be organized and operated a free State em ploym ent agency for the free use
of the citizens of the State of Maryland, for the purpose of securing em ploym ent for
unem ployed persons who m ay register in said bureau or agency and for the purpose
of securing help or labor for persons registering as applicants for help or labor and
to advertise and maintain such office.
MICHIGAN.
A ct No . 37, A cts
of 1905.
Section 1. Free em ploym ent bureaus are hereby authorized to be created in
every city in this State having *a population of over fifty thousand, for the purpose
of receiving applications of persons seeking em ploym ent, and applications of persons
seeking to em ploy labor. Such bureaus shall be designated and known as Michigan
Free E m ploym ent Bureaus.
Sec. 2. T he commissioner of labor shall organize and establish in all cities of fifty
thousand inhabitants or over, in this State, a free em ploym ent bureau, for the purpose
of receiving applications of persons seeking em ploym ent, and applications of persons
seeking to em ploy labor. No compensation or fee shall be charged or received,
directly or indirectly, from persons applying for em ploym ent or help through any
such bureau. I t shall be the d u ty of said commissioner of labor to use all diligence
in securing the cooperation of employers of labor with the purposes and objects of
said em ploym ent bureaus. To this end it shall be competent for said commissioner
to advertise in the columns of newspapers, or to use other m edium s, for such situa
tions as he has applicants to fill, and.he m ay advertise in a general w ay for the coopera
tion of large contractors and employers, in such trade journals or special publications
as reach such employers, whether such trade journals are published w ithin the
State of Michigan or not. T he expenses for said advertising shall not exceed five
hundred dollars per annum, and shall be paid from any appropriations made for the
department of labor, and shall be audited the same as other items of expense.
Sec. 3. W h en the commissioner of labor shall deem it necessary to establish a free
em ploym ent bureau under the provisions of this act, the board of State auditors shall
provide a suitable office for the same, with necessary furniture; and all printing,
binding, blanks, stationery and supplies shall be done and furnished under any
contract which the State now has, or shall hereafter have, for similar work with any
party or parties; and the expense thereof shall be in the discretion of the board of
State auditors, audited and paid for in same manner as other State printing and
supplies are paid for.
Approved March 30, 1905.
MINNESOTA.
Chapter 316, A cts
of 1905.
Section 1. T h e commissioner of labor of the State of Minnesota is hereby directed
to organize and establish in one city in this State containing fifty thousand (50,000)
inhabitants, or more, to be chosen b y him , a free public em ploym ent bureau, for the.
purpose of receiving applications from persons seeking em ploym ent, and applications
irom employers desiring to em ploy labor.
112
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
There shall be no fee or compensation charged or received, directly or indirectly,
from persons applying for em ploym ent, or from those desiring to em ploy labor through
said bureau.
There shall be appointed by the commissioner of labor, for such bureau, one superin
tendent, who m ay be removed by the commissioner for good and sufficient cause,
such appointment to be made im m ediately after this act becomes a law, and there
after at the commencement of the biennial session of the legislature; the salary of such
superintendents shall not exceed ($1,200) tw elve hundred dollars per annum.
Sec. 2. T h e superintendent of such bureau shall receive and record in a book to
be kept for that purpose, the names of all persons applying for em ploym ent, as well
as the name and address of all persons, firms or corporations applying to em ploy
labor, designating opposite the name and address of each applicant the character of
em ploym ent desired or offered.
Such superintendent shall also perform such other duties in the collection of labor
statistics, and in the keeping of books and accounts of his bureau as the commissioner
m ay direct or require, and shall report m onthly all business transacted b y his bureau,
to the office of the commissioner of labor, at the State capitol.
Sec. 3. E very application for em ploym ent b y employer or em ployee which is made
to the free em ploym ent bureau shall be void alter thirty days from its receipt, unless
the same be renewed b y the applicant. W hen an applicant for labor has secured the
same, he shall w ithin ten days thereafter, notify the superintendent of the bureau
upon a notification card provided for that purpose.
If any such applicant neglects to notify such superintendent, he or th ey shall be
debarred from all future rights and privileges of such em ploym ent bureau at the
discretion of the commissioner of labor, to whom the superintendent shall report
such neglect.
Sec. 4. There is hereby annually appropriated out of any m oney in the State
treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of seventeen hundred fifty ($1,750)
dollars, or so m uch thereof as m ay be necessary, to carry out the provisions of this act.
A pproved A pril 19, 1905..
MISSOURI
R
e v is e d
S
t a t u t e s
o p
1899.
Section 10085. The commissioner of labor statistics shall organize and establish in
all cities in Missouri containing one hundred thousand inhabitants or more, a free pub
lic em ploym ent bureau, for the purpose of receiving applications of persons seeking
em ploym ent and applications of persons seeking to em ploy labor. N o compensation
or fee shall be charged or received directly or indirectly, from persons applying for
em ploym ent or help through any such bureau. Such commissioner shall appoint for
each bureau one superintendent, and m ay appoint for each one clerk, and m ay remove
the same for good and sufficient cause. The salary of the superintendents shall not
exceed one hundred dollars per month, and the salary of the clerks shall not exceed
seventy-five dollars per m onth. Such salaries and the expenses of such bureaus shall
be paid in the same manner as other expenses of the bureau of labor statistics.
Sec. 10086. T h e superintendent of each free public em ploym ent bureau shall
receive and record, in a book to be kept for that purpose, the names of all persons
applying for em ploym ent or for h elp, designating opposite the nam e and address of
each applicant the character of em ploym ent or help desired. Such superintendent
shall also perform such other duties in the collection of labor statistics and in keeping
of books and accounts of his bureau as the commissioner m ay require, and shall report
m onth ly to the commissioner of labor statistics the expenses of maintaining his bureau.
Sec. 10087. E very application for em ploym ent or h elp made to a free em ploym ent
bureau shall be void after thirty days from its receipt, unless renewed b y the appli
cant. If an applicant for help has secured the same, he shall, w ithin ten days there
after, notify the superintendent of the bureau to w hich application was therefor made.
Such notice shall contain the name and last preceding address of the employees
received through such bureau. If any such applicant neglects to notify such super
intendent he shall be barred from all future rights and privileges of such em ploym ent
bureau, at the discretion of the commissioner of labor statistics, to whom the superin
tendent shall report such neglect.
MONTANA.
A cts
of 1897, page 111.
Section 7. * * * I t shall be lawful for the common counsel (council?) of
any incorporated city w ithin this State to provide for the establishment of a free p u b -
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
118
lie em ploym ent office to be conducted on the most approved plans, and to provide for
the expenses thereof out of the revenues of the city m w hich the same is established.
The annual report of the commissioner of agriculture, labor and industry shall contain
a detailed account of the transactions of all free em ploym ent offices within the State,
showing the number of applicants for help, the number of applicants for em ploym ent,
male and female, the number securing em ploym ent through said officers [offices] and
the expenses thereof.
Approved March 4, 1897.
NEBRASKA.
Compiled Statutes
op 1881—
T enth E dition, 1901.
Section 3318a. The commissioner of labor is hereby authorized and directed, within
thirty days after the passage of this am endm ent, to establish and maintain in the office
of the bureau of labor and industrial statistics and in connection therewith, a free pub
lic em ploym ent office. T he depu ty commissioner shall receive all applications for
help made to him b y any person, com pany or firm, and all applications made to him
for em ploym ent b y any person or persons and record their names in a book kept for
that purpose, designating the kind and character of help wanted or the kind and char
acter of em ploym ent desired, and the post-office address of the applicant. I t shall be
the d u ty of said deputy to send b y mail to all applicants for help, the name and postoffice address of such applications for em ploym ent as in his judgm ent w ill m eet their
respective requirements and such other information as he m ay possess that w ill bring to
their notice the names and post-office addresses of such unem ployed laborers, mechan
ics, artisans or teachers as they m ay require. No compensation or fee whatsoever shall
directly or indirectly be charged or received from any person or persons applying for
help, or an y person or persons applying for em ploym ent through the bureau of labor.
Said deputy or any clerk connected w ith the bureau, who shall accept any compen
sation or fee from any applicant for help or any applicant for em ploym ent, for serv
ices as provided in this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con
viction thereof shall be fined in a sum not less than tw enty-five dollars nor more than
one hundred dollars for each offense, or imprisoned not to exceed thirty days. A n y
application for h elp or any application for em ploym ent made to said office shall be
null and void after thirty days from its receipt b y said deputy, unless renewed b y the
applicant. E very applicant for help shall notify said deputy commissioner b y mail
im m ediately after the required help designated in his or her application has been
secured, and every applicant for em ploym ent shall notify said deputy im m ediately
after securing the same. Such notice shall contain the name and last preceding postoffice address of each employer or em ployee secured through such em ploym ent office,
and any failure or refusal to thus notify said deputy commissioner shall bar such appli
cant from all future rights and privileges of said em ploym ent office at the discretion of
said deputy. Applicants for h elp shall be construed to mean employers wanting
employees, and applicants for em ploym ent shall be construed to mean persons wanting
work to do. * * *
WEST VIRGINIA.
Chapter 15, A cts
of 1901.
Section 1. The commissioner of labor is hereby authorized to organize and establish,
in connection w ith the bureau of labor, a free public em ploym ent bureau, for the
purpose of receiving applications from persons seeking em ploym ent and applications
from persons seeking, to employ labor.
Sec. 2. No compensation or fee shall be charged or received directly or indirectly
from persons applying for work, information or help through said department. The
commissioner of labor is hereby authorized to em ploy such assistance, and incur such
expense as m ay be necessary to carry into effect the purpose of this act. B u t such
assistance and expense shall not exceed five hundred dollars per annum.
Sec. 3. T h e expenses of the em ploym ent-bureau shall be paid in the same manner
and w ay as other expenses of the bureau of labor, and there is hereby appropriated
five hundred dollars to carry out the provisions of this act.
Approved February 15, 1901.
WISCONSIN.
Chapter 434, A cts
of 1903.
Section 1. There is hereby created not more than four free em ploym ent offices in
the State, to be located in such cities or places as m ay be selected or nam ed b y a
Ill
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
commission consisting of the governor, secretary of state and the attorney-general,
for the purpose of receiving applications of peisons seeking em ploym ent, and appli
cations of persons seeking to em ploy labor. Each such office shall be designated
and known as Wisconsin Free E m p loym en t Office. The said offices shall be so located
in such parts of the State b y said commission as m ay best serve the inests [interests]
of the people of the State.
Sec. 2. T h e commissioner of labor and industrial statistics shall recommend im m e
diately after the passage of this act, and the governor shall appoint a superintendent
for each of the offices created b y section 1 of this act and who shall devote his tim e to
the duties of his office. The tenure of such appointment shall be for two years, unless
sooner removed for cause. The salary of each superintendent shall be fixed by said
commission, not, however, to exceed tw elve hundred dollars per annum , w hich sum,
together with proper amounts for defraying the necessary costs of the equipping,
running and maintaining the respective offices, rent for such offices not to exceed
five hundred dollars per annum, shall be paid out of any funds in the State treasury
not otherwise appropriated.
Sec. 3. T h e superintendent of each such free em ploym ent office shall open an
office in such city as'shall have been determined b y the above commission, and in
such locality of said city as both the commissioner of labor and superintendent of
said em ploym ent office m ay select, as being most appropriate for the purpose intended:
P rov id ed , That said em ploym ent office shall be occupied in conjunction with the
bureau of labor and industrial statistics when such bureau has an office in any of said
cities, and in case said bureau has no office in any of said cities, then in that case
the city council wherein said free em ploym ent office is established shall furnish and
equip an office for said em ploym ent bureau, either in conjunction with a department
of said city or separately without cost to the State, such office to be provided with a
sufficient number of rooms or apartments to enable h im to provide, and he shall so
provide, a separate room or apartment for the use of women registering for situations
or help. Upon the outside of each such office, in position and manner to secure the
fullest public attention, shall be placed a sign w hich shall read in the English lan
guage, “ W isconsin Free E m p loym en t Office,” and the same shall appear either upon
the outside windows or upon signs in such other languages as the location of such
office shall render advisable. The superintendent oi each such free em ploym ent
office shall receive and record in books kept for that purpose names of all persons
applying for em ploym ent or help, designating opposite the name and address of each
applicant, the character of em ploym ent or help desired. Separate registers for appli
cants for em ploym ent shall be kept, showing the age, sex, nativity, trade or occupa
tion of each applicant, the cause and duration of nonem ploym ent, whether married
or single, the number of dependent children, together w ith such other facts as m ay
be required b y the bureau of labor and industrial statistics to be used b y said bureau:
P ro v id ed , T hat no such special registers shall be open to public inspection at any
tim e, and that such statistical and sociological data as the bureau of labor m ay require
shall be held in confidence b y said bureau, and so published as not to reveal the iden
tity of any applicant: A n d provid ed , fu rth er, T hat any applicant who shall decline
to answer the questions contained in special register shall not thereby forfeit any
right to any em ploym ent the office might secure.
S ec. 4. Each superintendent shall report on Thursday of each week to the State
bureau of labor and industrial statistics the number of applications for positions and
for help received during the preceding week, also those unfilled applications remain
ing on the books at the beginning of the week. Such lists shall not contain the names
or addresses of any applicant, bu t shall show the number of situations desired and
the num ber of persons wanted at each specified trade or occupation. I t shall also
show the num ber and character of the positions secured during the preceding week.
U pon receipt of these lists and not later than Saturday of each week, the commis
sioner of the said bureau of labor and industrial statistics shall cause to be printed a
sheet showing separately and in combination the lists received from all such free
em ploym ent offices; and he.shall cause a sufficient number of such sheets to be printed
to enable him to mail, and he shall so mail, on Saturday of each week, two of said
sheets to each superintendent of a free em ploym ent office, one to be filed b y said
superintendent and one to be conspicuously posted in each such office. A copy of
such sheet shall also be mailed on each Saturday by the commissioner of the State
bureau of labor and industrial statistics to the State inspector of factories. It is
hereby made the d u ty of said factory inspector to do all he reasonably can to assist
in securing situations for such applicants for work, to secure for the free em ploym ent
offices the cooperation of the employers of labor in factories, to im m ediately notify
the superintendent of free em ploym ent offices of any and all vacancies or opportuni
ties of em ploym ent that shall come to his notice.
FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
115
S ec. 5. I t shall be the d u ty of each such superintendent of a free em ploym ent
office to im m ediately put himself in communication with the principal manufactur
ers, merchants and other employers of labor, and to use all diligence in securing the
cooperation of the said employers of labor, with the purposes and objects of such
em ploym ent offices.
S ec. 6. I t shall be the d u ty of each such superintendent to m ake a report to the
State bureau of labor and industrial statistics annually, not later than D ecem ber first
of each year, concerning the work of his office for the year ending October first of
the same year, together with a statement of the expenses of the same, and such reports
shall be published b y the said bureau of labor and industrial statistics annually. Each
such superintendent shall also perform such other duties in the collection of statistics
of labor, as the commissioners of the bureau of labor and industrial statistics m ay
require.
Sec . 7. No fee or compensation shall be charged or received, directly cr indirectly,
from any person or corporation applying for employment or help through said free
employm ent offices; and any superintendent or clerk who shall accept, directly or
indirectly, any fee or compensation from any applicant, or from his or her represent
ative, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined
not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars and imprisoned in the
county jail not more than thirty day3.
S ec . 8. T h e term “ applicant for e m p loym en t” as used in this act shall be con
strued to m ean any person seeking * c* any lawful character, and “ applicant
for h e lp ” shall mean any person or persons a s k in g help in any legitim ate enter
prise. Nothing in this act shall be construed to lim it the meaning of the term “ work ”
to m anual occupation, but it shall include professional service, and any and all other
legitim ate services.
S ec. 9. N o person, firm or corporation where a free em ploym ent office is located
shall open, operate or maintain a
1
nr hire or where a fee
is charged to either applicants
without first having
obtained a license from the seer
v
___________ nse he shall pay one
hundred dollars per annum ; and no such private agent shall print, publish, or cause
to be printed or published, or paint on any sign, window or newspaper publication, a
name similar to that of the Wisconsin free em ploym ent offices. A n d any person,
firm or corporation violating the provisions of this act, or anv^part thereof, shall be
deemed gu ilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction such person, firm or, if a
corporation, all the officers thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars.
S ec . 10. W henever, in the opinion of the commissioner of the bureau of labor and
industrial statistics, the superintendent of any free em ploym ent office is not d u ly dili
gent in the performance of his duties he m ay summon, such superintendent to appear
before h im to show cause w hy he .should not be recommended to the governor for
removal, and unless such cause is clearly shown the said commissioner m ay so
recommend. In considering such a case, a low percentage of positions secured to
applicants for situations and help registered, lack of intelligent interest in the work,
or a general inaptitude or inefficiency m ay be deemed b y said commissioner suffi
cient to recommend a removal. A n d if, in the opinion of the governor, such lack of
efficiency can not be remedied b y reproval and discipline, he shall remove such
person from office as recommended b y said commissioner: P rov id ed , T hat the gov
ernor m ay at any tim e remove any superintendent or clerk for cause.
S e c . 12. Chapter 420 o f the laws of Wisconsin for the year 1901 is hereby repealed.
Approved M ay 22, 1903.
LAWS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES RELATING TO EMPLOYEES ON
RAILROADS.
BY L1NDLEY I). CLARK, A. M ., LL. M.
The general subject of foreign labor laws was presented in a series
of articles published in the bulletins of this office, Nos. 25 to 33, from
which, however, the subject of railway labor was excluded. Railway
employments have been discussed in several special articles which
have appeared from time to time, but as these confined themselves
mainly to the economic phases of the subject, legislation was but
lightly touched upon. It is the purpose of this review to present the
laws and decrees in force in commercial countries other than the United
States, which have for their object the fixing of the conditions of
labor employed in the operation of railways, including provisions as
to the conditions of employment and discharge, the employment of
women, the regulation of the hours of labor and of holidays, the deter
mination of wages, the right of organization, penalties for the aban
donment of service, etc.
No special compilation of either railway laws or of labor laws was
available in the case of most of the countries, while those in existence
had generally to be supplemented by examinations of the more recent
enactments. It was necessary, therefore, to search through a consid
erable body of general legislation in order to find the desired material.
Besides special treatises on the railway laws of Austria-Hungary
and Germany, general compilations examined were the Annuaire de
la Legislation du Travail, nine volumes, published by the Belgian
labor office; the French Annuaire de Legislation Etrangere, thirtytwo volumes, and the Zeitschrift des Zentralamtes fur den internationalen Eisenbahntransport, twelve volumes, published at Berne.
Some data were also obtained from the gazettes or bulletins of the
labor offices of Canada, France, Italy, and of the British Board of
Trade, and from the Archiv fur Eiseiibahnwesen, the organ of the
Prussian State railways office. The official annual publications of the
laws and decrees of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain,
Italy, Netherlands, and Spain were examined for a number of years,
usually ending with the year 1905.
The arrangement of material is by topics rather than by countries,
and the form is that of a summary statement or digest, without any
attempt to reproduce in full the language of the original law.
lie
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
117
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT, DISCHARGE, ETC.
BELGIUM.
A decree of November 15, 1877, provides that employees on State
railways below the rank of the administrative personnel shall be
employed and dismissed by chiefs of service under conditions fixed by
the minister of railways, posts, and telegraphs. Prior to employment
applicants must show that they are native or naturalized Belgians,
and, if persons with a trade, that they are not more than 35 years of
age; or if without a trade that they are not over 32 years old; they
must also furnish a certificate of morality and good conduct, and a
statement showing that they have complied with the laws as to mili
tary service; and, lastly, must pass a satisfactory medical examina
tion by an approved physician.
Employees who leave service for any reason will not be reinstated.
This rule may be waived on recommendation of a chief of service and
a showing that the person's age and other qualifications meet the
requirements for employment, if the applicant's record and the cause
of his leaving service are not open to exception.
Employees discharged for lack of work or because of unfitness for
duty, if after 6 months' service, are to be allowed 15 days' pay; after
one year's service, 30 days' pay; and after two years or more, 45
days’ pay. These sums will not be paid, however, if misconduct was
the occasion of the discharge.
Employees who incur disciplinary penalties three times in a year
may be discharged.
CANADA.
The Canadian railways act of 1903 makes an engineer or conductor
who is intoxicated while on duty liable to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 10 years in length. Any employee who violates a by
law or other regulation of which he has due notice, if such violation
causes injury to person or property, or exposure to increased danger
though without injury, may be punished by imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 5 years in length, or a by fine of not more than $400, or
by both fine and imprisonment.
FRANCE.
Employment as engineers and firemen is restricted by a decree of
March 1, 1901, to such persons as have procured certificates of
capacity, of a form to be determined by the minister of public works.
GERMANY.
A number of ordinances and decrees affecting conditions of employ
ment have been promulgated in the German Empire from time to
time. The following regulations, fixing the minimum requirements
118
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
for applicants for positions in the State railway service, were promul
gated by the imperial chancellor March 8, 1906.
Employees entering service for the first time must be not less than
21 nor more than 40 years of age. Males more than 40 years old
who are partially incapacitated may be employed as watchmen,
porters, platform attendants, and gatemen; and females more than
40 years of age may serve as gate keepers and station attendants.
Technically skilled machinists may act as locomotive firemen before
completing their twenty-first year. Other exceptions are allowable
only on action by the local authorities.
The general requirements for employment include physical capacity,
good hearing and sight, ability to distinguish colors, and satisfactory
character. Officials must be able to read German and Roman print
and script, to write legibly in German, and, where necessary in their
employment, to compute in the four elementary operations. Detailed
provision is made in the case of each class of employees, as watchmen,
porters, brakemen, engineers, etc., giving the specific requirements as
to knowledge of particular duties and of the appliances with which
each must work; and for the higher classes of employment, the
length of preliminary employment in the lower grades, and the periods
of training and of probationary service that must precede permanent
appointments. The restrictions as to probationary employment and
age limits do not apply in the case of those officials and employees
who are connected with the military branch of the railway service.
On the State railways of Prussia and Hesse, as prescribed by a law
of April 1, 1902, the personnel is classed either as officials of the State
or as employees for wages. Nominations are, in general, for a prpbationary period, followed by a revocable contract, and subsequently,
in proper cases, by a permanent appointment. Until permanent
appointment, unless in exceptional cases, all engagements are made
under conditions of monthly wage payments.
Applicants for positions definitely provided for in the budgets
must meet the required conditions, especially those as to prescribed
examinations. Ticket stampers and other station employees, loco
motive and train employees, switchmen, watchmen, road employees,
and the like, are not enumerated in the budgets, and are employed
under revocable contracts. Agents of the lower and middle grades
employed in budget positions may take permanent appointments
afLer they have served satisfactorily for at least five years.
A law of July 14, 1888, contains the provision that employees on
Prussian State railways must have no affiliation with societies opposed
to law and order.
A decree of the Prussian minister of public works issued December
17, 1894, and subsequently amended in various points, forbids work
men employed in the State railway service to engage in their leisure
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
119
time in work in the private interests of railway officials, and especially
of those to whom are intrusted the employment and discharge of
workmen or the inspection and management of the service. Written
permission is required for specific persons and occasions, if exceptions
are at all allowed.
Provisions as to the termination of the labor contract of railway
employees in Prussia were made in the law of July 14, 1888, which
provide that such contract may, in the absence of special agreements
to the contrary, be terminated by either party without notice within
the first 4 weeks of service, and after this time, but without prevent
ing an earlier release in cases of mutual agreement, on notice by
either party given 14 days in advance. If any other than the pre
scribed term of notice is agreed upon, it must be the same for both
parties.
Dismissal without this notice of 14 days may take place when an
employee has used deception in the matter of the labor contract; if
he is guilty of theft, embezzlement, immorality, etc.; if he leaves
work without authority or persistently neglects his duty; if he is
careless with lights or fire in the face of warnings; if he is guilty of
violence or gross acts of injury to his superiors, their deputies, or
members of their families, or of deliberate and illegal acts which
cause injury to the management or to his fellow workmen. Such
discharge is not allowable after the facts have been known to a supe
rior for more than one week. Before the discharge takes effect the
employee is to have opportunity to make a statement and to establish
the facts in the case at a hearing. Witnesses may be brought in
where needful, and proofs may be submitted in writing.
A workman may leave the service without notice if he becomes
unable to work; if his wages are not paid when due, or if his superior
defrauds him; if the work exposes life or health to discovered dangers
not known at the time of entering into the contract; if his superiors
or members of their families are guilty of acts or attempts of an
illegal or immoral nature against him or his family, or if they or their
deputies commit acts of violence or gross injury to him or members
of his family. For the last-named cause action must be taken within
one week after the facts come to the employee’s knowledge, in order
to justify withdrawal without notice.
Damages for unwarranted discharge without notice may be allowed
only in so far as actual injury results, and only to the amount of the
consequent loss in wages for the period of notice. This will not be
allowed where other employment was immediately secured.
120
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
GREAT BRITAIN.
According to the railways regulation act of 1840, any engine driver,
guard, porter, or other employee of a railway company is liable to
arrest for intoxication while on duty, or for committing any offense
against the regulations, or for willfully, maliciously, or negligently
doing or omitting to do any act whereby life, limb, or the works of
the railway are endangered. The penalty may be imprisonment,
either with or without hard labor, for a. term not exceeding 2 months,
or a fine of not more than £2 ($9.73).
NETHERLANDS.
According to the provisions of a royal decree of October 27, 1875,
amended by subsequent decrees, employees on railways must be able
to read and write, and must possess normal powers of sight, in so
far as these qualifications affect their service. A person seeking
employment as a locomotive engineer must be at least 21 years of
age, must have been employed for hot less than one year in a loco
motive works, and for a like period as a pupil engineer or as a fireman
on a locomotive, and must give proofs of competency and pass an
examination covering the necessary railway laws and regulations.
Firemen must be able to stop and reverse a locomotive.
SPAIN.
The termination of contracts of employment of railway employees
is regulated by a decree of February 15, 1901. This decree provides
that locomotive engineers and firemen, telegraph operators, and chiefs
at stations must give 15 days’ notice of their intention to leave serv
ice, while 10 days’ notice will be required of all other employees; if
this is not given, they will be considered as having abandoned their
posts. Companies desiring to dismiss their employees are required
to extend notice of the same duration. If the dismissal is in consesequence of insubordination, misconduct, or of a fault such as affected
or might have affected the safety of the operation of the road, it may
be put in effect as soon as the fault is proved and a Government
inspector is informed thereof.
The above decree does not apply where provisions incompatible
therewith are incorporated in the rules of the company or in the con
tracts of emplo3rment.
SWITZERLAND.
Employment on State railways is restricted by a Federal law of
October 15, 1897, to resident Swiss citizens. This limitation does
not apply to persons employed on lines lying in foreign territory and
operated by the Confederation.
The term of service of officials and employees is fixed at 3 years,
the same as for other Federal officials.
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
121
VICTORIA.
According to the railways acts of 1890, and subsequent amend
ments, employees on State railways are required to pass an examina
tion, after which they may be appointed for a probationary term of
6 months, to be followed by permanent appointment. No proba
tioner is appointed permanently until he takes out a policy of insur
ance on his life, payable at his death, if that occurs before the age of
retirement; or if he survives, payable as an endowment or an annuity
at that time. Employees are retired at the age of 65 years unless
they are directed to remain longer in service, and are able and willing
to do so.
Persons who have been employed as day laborers for not less than
5 years may be appointed to permanent positions without probation,
on passing the proper examinations. The examination may be
waived if it is held not to be necessary to determine the qualifications
of the individual for the position to be filled. Insurance must be
taken out, however.
Persons outside the service and of known ability may also be ap
pointed without examination, but only in case there is no qualified
person in the service to accept promotion to the position. Promo
tions usually follow rank, though in the higher grades of service,
competitive examinations are held.
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
Under the law of August 30, 1894, females applying for positions
in the railway service must have the necessary mental and physical
ability and be able to read and write, if necessary for the discharge
of the duties of the position sought. They may be employed as gate
keepers and signal tenders, but not, as a rule, in connection with the
maintenance of way. Competent females may, however, by way of
exception and in view of local conditions, be given positions as
inspectors for the purpose of policing the road.
The particular classes of employment are designated more in detail
as follows:
As substitutes for watchmen at gates and signal stations while the
attendants are taking their rest; as assistants to watchmen who have
two posts sufficiently near together to allowr a woman to attend to
gates and signals with the cooperation of the watchman; as attend
ants during the absences of watchmen, so as to render service in case
of emergency, particularly to have the care of gates and signals while
a watchman is engaged in service as track inspector.
122
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
NETHERLANDS.
The railway act of August 18, 1902, which closely follows a royal
decree of October 27, 1875, states that women may be employed as
track watchers and as gate keepers. They may be admitted to
employment in other positions affecting the safety of railway opera
tions only in case that proposals therefor, made by the directors of the
companies, are approved by the supervisory council of the Government.
HOURS OF LABOR AND REST, HOLIDAYS, ETC.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
A decree was promulgated by the imperial railway office in 1898,
setting forth the requirements as to the hours of labor and rest on
State railways, and embodying a request to private companies that
they conform thereto as closely as possible. B y this decree it was
provided that the term of daily employment shall be held to include
both the time of actual work and that during which the employee is
on duty subject to orders, as well as the time necessary for the assump
tion and turning over of work. Journeys of employees to and from
their posts of duty are not to be included in the rest time, but
equitable account must be taken of the time necessary for track
watchmen who are compelled to reside at a distance from their posts
to go from their homes and to return.
The daily service required of locomotive and train employees must
not exceed an average of 11 hours, calculated for each month. Con
tinuous service at any one time in the regular operation of trains
must not exceed 14 hours. On local passenger and freight trains a
maximum day of 18 hours may be authorized if the work is broken
by sufficient rest periods, or if the burden of such service is held by
the proper authorities not to be excessive. The normal turn of
service for engineers and firemen within the schedule limits is fixed
at 9 hours on passenger and 12 hours on freight trains. A period of
unbroken rest must precede and follow each turn of service, and is
fixed for employees on locomotives and trains at not less than 10
hours if passed at home and 6 hours if away from home. After two
turns of service of more than 10 hours each a rest at home is to be
allowed, which must fall, if possible, between 7 p. m. and 7 a. m.
For other classes of employees, on lines where there is complete
night and day service, the length of the work period may be 12 to 16
hours, with rest periods of the same length. If necessary, the work
periods may be prolonged to 18 hours, in which case the rest periods
preceding and following must be of like duration. A rest period of
at least 8 hours is required for all station employees, track inspectors,
and all employees actively and permanently connected with the
service. Employees not in train service may not be employed in
night work for more than 7 consecutive nights.
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
123
Where employment is particularly exacting, as at certain principal
stations, 12 hours' labor should customarily be followed by 24 hours'
rest; while if it is less taxing, and especially if broken by repeated
rest periods, it may be prolonged to 18 hours, to be followed by at
least 12 hours' rest.
If the night service is only partial and employees enjoy definite
intervals of rest during work time, the period of unbroken rest may
be reduced to 6 hours for other than train employees if it falls between
9 p. m. and 7 a. m. The same schedule applies to signal and switch
tenders where the duties are light. On lines having frequent train
service, signal men who also attend gates may work 12 hours, after
which they shall have 12 hours' rest. Track watchmen on important
lines may serve 16 hours and rest 8, but if service is not continuous
it may be prolonged to 18 hours, with a proportionate increase of the
rest period.
Work shifts must be so arranged that each employee may enjoy,
at least twice each month, au unbroken rest of not less than 16
hours' length, preferably during the daytime. Where this is not
done, a full day of 24 hours must be allowed at least once each month.
Each employee must be allowed, by special arrangement if necessary,
to attend divine worship at least one morning a month, on Sunday
or a feast day, but not necessarily occupying the entire morning.
BELGIUM.
According to the provisions of a decree of November 15,1877, leaves
of absence may be granted to employees on State railwaj^s of not more
than 15 days' length per year. Such leave is to be granted by direc
tors and chiefs of service, though an immediate superior of any
employee may grant him leave of not more than 3 days' length. The
minister of railways, posts, and telegraphs may credit such employees
as he may designate with their earnings corresponding to the days of
rest regularly allowed to an amount not exceeding pay for 12 days
in any one year.
A law of July 17, 1905, provides in general for a weekly rest day on
Sunday. For employees engaged in transportation service on land,
however, a half day may be granted each week, or a day every two
weeks. Such day or half day is not required to fall on Sunday, nor
need it be the same for all employees. The half day of rest should
fall either before or after one o'clock, and not more than 5 hours' labor
may be required on the day on which it is granted.
On State railways the days of rest are to be arranged for in the
regulations. The same rule applies to other railways in so far as
the provisions of this act are approved by the minister of railways,
posts, and telegraphs.
124
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
FRANCE.
The hours of labor and rest of engineers, firemen, and employees
engaged in train service were fixed by decrees bearing date of Novem
ber 4, 1899, amended May 20, 1902, and May 9, 1906. An order
applying to station employees was issued on the 23d of November,
1899, while the hours of labor of those engaged in the supervision and
maintenance of way are regulated by an order of October 10, 1901.
All the above were issued by the minister of public works, and are
applicable to the railroads controlled by the State and by the com
panies operating the principal systems of the country. The enforce
ment of the regulations as to the hours of labor of engineers, firemen,
and train and station employees on State railways is intrusted, by
an order of February 13, 1901, to “ committees of labor,” made up of
the heads of the various departments concerned and of representa
tive employees.
From 1883 to the dates named above the hours of labor of engi
neers, firemen, conductors, and brakemen had been fixed at not
more than 12 hours daily, including the time of their obligatory
presence at duty points before and after actual employment, while
the hours of labor of switchmen had been fixed at 12 per day as early
as 1864.
According to the later provisions the hours of labor of engineers
and firemen must not exceed an average of 10 per day in actual
employment. On no day may they exceed 12, nor may the total on 9
consecutive days, counting from midnight to midnight, exceed 90
hours of actual work. This period must also include principal rest
periods to an amount of 90 hours. Each period of labor is to be pre
ceded and followed by principal rest periods, which may be separated
from each other by intervals of not more than 17 hours.
Principal rest periods are only those that have an unbroken dura
tion of at least 10 hours if passed at the home of the employee or of
not less than 7 hours if away from home. The reduction of two con
secutive rest periods to less than 10 hours each is forbidden and the
sum of two consecutive periods must amount to at least 17 hours.
A rest of not less than 30 hours’ length is to be allowed all engineers
and firemen engaged in road service once in 10 days, on an average.
Where the engineer or fireman is not required to sleep away from
home at any time the 30-hour rest periods may be reduced in number
to one per fortnight. Such rests are to be reckoned at their length,
less 20 hours, in making up the nine-day average mentioned above.
Employees will be regarded as not having to sleep away from home
only in case their daily duties allow them an unbroken rest of 10 con
secutive hours at home between 6 p. m. and 12 m.
For locomotive employees in yard service, a rest of at least 30 hours
is to be allowed every 15 days on an average or of 24 hours every 10
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
125
days, if the engineer is assisted by a fireman. If the engineer works
alone, the intervals are to be reduced .to 12 days and 8 days, respect
ively. In making up the 9-day total, these rests are to be computed
at their actual duration, minus 20 hours or 14 hours, in accordance
with their minimum length of 30 hours or 24 hours, as the case may be.
The interval between two holidays may not exceed 20 days for
either yard or road employees. The men are not subject to call on
these holidays and may be absent from their homes if they so desire.
The time spent by employees in reserve, if they are required sim
ply to remain at the stations without having to perform any duties,
is to be reckoned as one-fourth work time and three-fourths rest, in
making up the 9-day totals. Time actually spent by reserve em
ployees in the preparation of their locomotives is counted as work
time, as is also all time spent in the performance of any other duties,
whether or not connected with the care or operation of their locomo
tives. Time spent simply in reserve, when it amounts to 7 hours after
the deductions indicated above have been made, may be counted as a
rest period awTay from home, but no single reserve period can be
counted as more than a 7-hours’ rest. The length of a workday fol
lowing reserve duty is restricted to 12 hours.
Schedules of service, showing the duty period of each employee, and
the time allowed for rest, are to be prepared by the companies and
posted where the employees can see them. These schedules must
also be submitted to the proper Government authorities. Provision
is made for the revision of improper schedules, and for monthly
reports showing all deviations from the regular schedule occasioned
by accident or otherwise. Prolongation of service beyond the sched
ule limits can not be offered as a justification for the abandonment by
employees of their posts while engaged in public service. Violations
are to be reported, however, a special register being kept at each sta
tion for that purpose. The provisions named in this paragraph are
common to all the decrees and orders named above.
The provisions for the hours of labor and rest of other employees on
trains differ from the above in a number of particulars. Thus,
instead of a 9-day period for determining the daily average of 10
hours’ labor and 10 hours’ rest, a 14-day period is used, the -totals
being restricted to a maximum of 140 hours of labor and a minimum
period of rest of equal length. Instead of an absolute maximum of
12 hours’ labor in any one day, a maximum of 12£ is allowed on con
dition that a subsequent rest’ at home be granted of not less than 12
hours’ length. This rest should immediately follow the prolonged
work period, or the next one; in the latter case the second work period
may not be longer than 8 hours. Where employees do not have to
pass the night awray from home, the average day’s work may be 11
248b— No. 68—07------9
126
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
hours, and the principal rest period be reduced to 9 hours. Only
such employment is regarded, as not requiring employees to sleep
away from home as permits unbroken rest at home of at least 9 hours,
between 6 p. m. and 12 m.
Rest periods must be at least 9 hours in length if spent at home, and
7 hours if away from home. No two consecutive rest periods may be
of less than 9 hours’ length, nor make a total of less than 16 hours.
A holiday of at least 24 hours is to be granted every 15 days on an
average, and not more than 30 days may elapse between two such
holidays. These holidays are to be reckoned at their actual length,
less 14 hours, in making up the 14-day average.
The schedule time of through freight and passenger trains is to be
diminished by 10 per cent in making up the total of the working time.
In other respects the regulations are the same for the trainmen as for
locomotive employees, except that in the case of trainmen no mention
is made of reserve periods spent at home.
Depot and station employees may be required to work 12 hours per
day, with periods of unbroken rest of at least 9 hours’ duration, though
these may be reduced to 8 hours where the employee is lodged on the
premises. Shorter rest periods are to be allowed for the taking of
meals near the middle and toward the close of the day. One holiday
or 2 half-holidays per month must be allowed employees of this class;
The holidays for 2 months may be allowed to accumulate, but not
more than 2 months may pass without a holiday. Such a day
includes the entire interval between 2 consecutive nights of rest. A
half holiday begins or ends at the middle of a customary day of labor,
and must be immediately preceded or followed b y a night of rest.
These days and half-days are entirely at the disposal of the employees,
and may be spent away from home if they so desire.
At stations having both night and day service night service shall
not be required of any employee for more than 14 consecutive nights.
When the change is made from day or night service to the other
shift, an unbroken rest period of at least 24 hours must be allowed.
Employees enjoying this privilege are not granted the monthly
holidays or half holidays mentioned above. Where night service is
especially heavy, the minister of public works may require the alter
nation of shifts after 7 nights of duty, or such other number up to
14, as he may approve. Employees at small stations and stopping
places requiring the attendance of but a single person and at which
there are not more than 3 trains daily in each direction may be
required to serve for more than 12 hours, but their principal rest
periods may not be reduced below 8 hours.
Watchmen, signal and gate keepers, and employees charged with
the inspection and maintenance of ways may be required to work
not more than 12 hours per day, with an unbroken rest of at least 9
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
127
hours, or of 8 hours where they lodge on the premises. Ten hours
is the minimum, however, for employees where a female gate keeper
is employed, and the male employee is required to rise at night at
the call of the public. A rest of about one hour for meals is to be
allowed in the middle of the day; and if the work period exceeds 11
hours in length, there must be an additional interval of rest, about
one-half hour in length, either in the morning or afternoon. Suitable
warmed shelters must be furnished at posts of duty where employees
may eat.
At points requiring night as well as day service, where males alone
are employed, the same provisions are applicable to consecutive
night employment and rest periods at change of shifts as in the case
of station employees. The positions of permanent attendants at
gates and semaphores may be filled by females for the day service
and by males at night without alternation. Such employees areentitled to an uninterrupted holiday of 36 hours’ length each month.
Where the employees concerned are husband and wife, they may,
if they desire, enjoy the holiday simultaneously for the term of 24
hours.
GERMANY.
A law of the Confederated States, enacted in 1899, prescribes for
locomotive employees (engineers and firemen) a workday of not
more than 10 hours* length on a monthly average. If the service is
light, however, as on secondary roads, it may be 11 hours long. No
single day of work may exceed 16 hours in length. In case of such
length, service must be broken by rest periods and followed by a
prolonged rest, to be passed at home and to be at night if possible.
The time of route service may in no case exceed 10 hours, including
stops at stations where employees can not leave their posts, and
including also the time for taking n p and turning over their work
and for coming from their homes and returning. If the work is
continuous or exhausting, the average day is reduced to 8 hours and
the maximum to 10.
The provisions as to train employees are practically identical with
the above, except that the average workday is given a length of 11
hours.
Where station service is exacting and continuous, 8 hours consti
tute the average day’s work, with a maximum of 10 hours. In
other cases the average may be 12 hours, with a maximum of 14; or,
if the service is light and broken by long rests, it may be extended
by way of exception to as long as 16 hours. Gate keepers and guards
at minor stopping places may be employed for not more than 14
hours daily, unless where the service is light, when .the day may be
fixed at 16 hours. If gate keepers can reside only at a distance from
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR*
their posts, the time required to go to and from work is included in
the work time.
The rest periods include only the time when employees are exempt
from duty and from preparation therefor, and must continue with
out interruption, in order to be counted as such within the meaning
of the law, for at least 8 hours in the case of station employees and
gate keepers, and for 8 hours for train and locomotive employees,
if the time is spent at home, or 6 hours if away from home. For
these latter classes, however, the 6 or 8 hour period will be counted
as rest only when falling between periods of service which are pre
ceded or followed by a rest of at least 10 hours7 length at home.
Shorter periods than those designated above are to be included
in the account of the time spent in service.
Every active employee in regular service is entitled to two holi
days per month; or, if service is light, to one holiday. These days
must be not less than 24 hours in length.
Night work may be engaged in for not more than 7 nights con
secutively.
In Prussia it is provided that employees whose duties require
labor on Sundays and feast days must be given opportunity to attend
worship every second, or at most every third, Sunday. If the semi
monthly holidays prescribed by the general law can not be so arranged
as to suffice for such attendance, other time is to be allowed therefor
without being counted as absence from service or as rest time.
GREAT BRITAIN.
By a law of July 27, 1893, the board of trade is authorized to
investigate representations that the employees of any railway com
pany are required to work for an excessive number of hours, or that
sufficient intervals of rest are not allowed, or that insufficient relief
is afforded in the matter of Sunday labor. If the investigation dis
closes reasonable grounds for complaint, the board of trade may
direct the company to submit a schedule of service such as will bring
the actual hours of labor within reasonable limits, regard being had
for all the circumstances of the traffic and the nature of the work.
ITALY.
The first effort of the Italian Government to definitely fix the
hours of labor of railway employees is to be found in a decree of
June 10, 1900. This was superseded by a decree of November 7,
1902, the provisions of which are given herewith.
The average duration of a day's labor of locomotive engineers
and firemen, inclusive of the reserve days, days subject to orders,
and days of rest*, must not exceed 10 hours. The hours of labor
include the time of actual service, counting from the moment when
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
129
the employee is required to be present on duty until the time when
he is permitted to leave, together with intervals between the arrival
and departure of trains, when such intervals are not more than one
and one-half hours in length. Time required to go by train to the
place of duty and to return, and the time during which employees
must be on their locomotives subject to orders to go to the relief of
any train, are also computed as work time. There is a further pro
vision for counting as work time a portion (one-fourth or one-half,
according to circumstances) of the time spent in reserve, during
which the employees are subject to orders, but are not required to
remain at their engines.
Actual working time, or the time considered as such, should fall
within a period of not more than 17 hours’ length, which must be
both preceded and followed by periods of unbroken rest. The maxi
mum work time within such a period is fixed at 13 hours, unless the
labor is broken by brief periods of rest, when the hours of labor may be
increased to 14. Following each period of labor a continuous rest of
at least 9 hours, if spent at home, or of 7 hours, if away from home,
must be granted all locomotive employees. The hours of rest allowed
away from home may include time spent simply in reserve or subject
to orders, computed at the one-half or three-fourths rate, as the case
may be, corresponding to the computation of work time indicated
above. If the 9 hours’ rest at home can not be allowed, the loss is to
be compensated for by a longer rest either before or after the devia
tion, or by an extra rest of not less than 3 hours’ length. The prin
cipal rest may be not less than 7 hours long, however. When the
workday includes actual labor for more than 12 hours, each of the
rest periods between which it occurs must be at least 10 hours in
length. If, however, a man has been on reserve duty, or merely sub
ject to call, he may be employed for a total of not more than 12 hours
after a rest of less than 10 hours (but not less than 8 hours), on con
dition that compensation be made by prolonging the subsequent rest.
Of the continuous rests at home, two each month are to be 24 hours
in length, without prejudice to the prescribed vacation. These rests
of 24 hours may be suspended on account of pressure of work or other
exceptional conditions in the service, but may not be anticipated or
deferred for more than 3 months.
Locomotive employees regularly employed or belonging to the fixed
reserve may not be required to do continuous night duty for more
than 6 consecutive nights.
For train employees, including conductors, guards, and brakemen,
the hours of labor include the schedule time of the train, the time
spent in preparation for work and in turning it over, and intervals of
not more than 1\ hours’ length between the arrival and departure of
trains. To this is added one-fourth of the time which any employee
130
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR.
must spend at the stations on reserve and subject to call. The
average duration of daily labor thus computed, including reserve
service and short periods of rest during working time, is limited to
11 hours. The working time must fall within a period of not more
than 17 hours’ length, unless the day is broken by one or more
periods of inactivity of not less than 4 hours’ length, when the day
may be prolonged to 19 hours. Actual labor, however, mu^t not
exceed 15 hours in any work period. The continuous rest which is
required after each work period may be not less than 8 hours in length,
if to be passed at home, or 7 hours, if away. If the 8 hours’ rest at
home can not be granted, it may be reduced to 7, on condition of a
longer rest being granted before or after the deviation, or of an allow
ance of an extra rest of not less than 3 hours. When the maximum
work period of 19 hours is required it is to be followed by a rest of not
less than 10 hours’ length; likewise if the time of actual labor in any
such period exceeds 14 hours, the preceding and following rests may
not be less than 10 hours long. Reserve employees may be called
upon to work for more than 14 hours after a rest of less than 10 hours,
but not less than 8, if only the subsequent rest be correspondingly
lengthened.
Of the continuous rests at home, at least one each month is required
to have a length of 32 hours, or of 24 hours only, on condition that 18
such rests are granted each year. These may be anticipated or de
ferred under the same conditions and limitations as in the case of loco
motive employees. These rests are given without prejudice to the
prescribed vacations.
The hours of labor of station employees, including track workmen,
are fixed with regard to the nature of their employment. The limit
named in the decree is 10 hours where the labor is difficult or taxing,
and 12 hours under ordinary conditions. Where service alternates
between night and day shifts, labor of the more difficult kind may be
extended to 12 hours, if in addition to the hour allowed for meals
there is given each week a continuous rest of 24 hours at the time of
the change from night to day service, or the reverse. The time of
actual labor must fall within a period of 16 or 17 hours, according as
the period of unbroken rest allowed is 8 or 7 hours. The latter limit
is allowed only when the employee resides in the station or at a point
not more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) distant from his post of duty.
Intermissions of less than 1 hour’s length are to be reckoned with
the work time. One hour for meals must be allowed for employees
engaged in service for 12 hours continuously.
Station and track employees engaged regularly in night duty are
to be so employed for not more than 20 nights per month. Where
service alternates between day and night shifts, no employee may
serve for more than 7 consecutive nights. The change of shifts
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
131
may be effected by extending the length of a day’s work at the time
of the change to 16 hours and of the day preceding or following to 14
hours, provided that these lengthened workdays be preceded or fol
lowed by rests of 16 and 14 hours, respectively.
The regular term of daily service for gate keepers is fixed at 14
hours for males and 12 hours for females. Males must be allowed
not less than 7 hours’ rest besides the time required for going to and
from their houses, while females are granted 9 hours’ rest at night,
which may be reduced to 8 hours in summer. Trackmen who also
serve as gate keepers may be employed for not more than 13 hours
daily, with a rest of not less than 8 hours, besides the time required
for going to and from home.
The decree also contains provisions for cases of emergency occa
sioned b y accident, etc., for the relief of employees stationed at
malarial points, and for the computation of the journeys without
labor taken with a view of the adjustment of the working force.
The regulations apply to the classes of employees named, whether
engaged in their regular duties or detailed elsewhere; also to em
ployees of any class detailed for service in the occupations mentioned.
NETHERLANDS.
The decree of October 27, 1875, with additions and amendments
up to July 13, 1905, regulates the work and rest periods of railway
employees in general. Very similar provisions are found in a law
of August 18, 1902, relative to the operation of trains the speed of
which does not exceed 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour.
Under these regulations employees are to be classed by the min
ister of waterstaat, commerce, and industry, after hearing the
directors of the roads, and the hours of labor fixed accordingly.
For employees whose duties require continuous labor and of an
exacting nature the maximum work period is 10 hours, and only 10
hours’ labor may be required in any day of 24 hours. For those
whose labor must be continuous, but is of a less exacting nature,
the maximum is fixed at 12 hours. This may apply to signalmen,
switch tenders, and yard employees, while employees who engage
during a part or all of their time in road inspection may be required
to work 16 hours. No employee may be required to work more
than 16 hours in any single day, nor more than 168 hours in any 14
consecutive days.
If an unbroken rest of as much as 4 hours is allowed an employee
near the middle of the day, at the place of his duty, one-half such
period may be excluded from the account of the work time. The
amount so excluded may not exceed 3 hours, however.
For all classes of employees an unbroken Test of not less than 10
hours must intervene between each two periods of service. By
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
way of exception, employees at points designated by the minister,
after consultation as above, may have their rest period reduced to 9
or even 8 hours. Employees are to be free from all business con-,
nected with the railway during these times. Additional short rests
for meals are to be allowed, and no female employee is to be on duty
between the hours of 10 p. m. and 5 a. m.
Every two weeks a Sunday rest is to be allowed, at least 24 hours
in length, of which not less than 18 must fall within the 24 hours of
the Sabbath day, or a similar rest may be granted every three weeks,
with 9 additional holidays of 30 hours 1 length each year. For
employees on locomotives, at signals and switches and in yards,
the Sunday rest may be granted every 4 weeks, when it must be
28 hours long, with 22 falling within the hours of Sunday. Such
employees are to receive 13 additional holidays of 30 hours each per
year. Employees belonging to a church which observes another
day of worship than Sunday may be granted such day in lieu of
Sunday, on request.
The provisions as to hours of labor and hours and days of rest may
be suspended by the minister of waterstaat, commerce, and industry
for employees at stations of small importance and for those whose
labor is not continuous. The .regulations may also be modified by
the directors of roads where conformity would interfere with the
conduct of their business, but all modifications must be reported to
the council of supervision within 8 days.
Schedules showing the labor and rest periods of each employee are
to be prepared and posted, so that workmen may be informed thereof.
Days are counted from midnight to midnight, and work time includes
the time from the moment when the employee must be present to
enter on his work up to the time when he is free to enter on a period
of unbroken rest. The law of 1902 defines extraordinary circum
stances, such as would warrant a departure from its provisions, as
only those that can not be guarded against by proper management
and foresight.
SWITZERLAND.
The hours of labor of employees on railways, in steam navigation,
post and telegraphic service, including telephones, and in other enter
prises of transportation operated under concessions from the Fed
eration or managed directly by it are regulated by a Federal law,
dated December 19, 1902. This law fixes 11 hours as the limit of
the actual working time of officials, employees, and laborers of all
kinds, which period may be reduced by the Federal Council in
appropriate cases. The work period is to be divided into two parts,
as nearly equal as possible, by a rest period of at least 1 hour.
The time of rest is to be allowed at home where possible.
FOREIGN DAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
138
The period of work must fall within 14 consecutive hours for per
sons employed on locomotives and trains, and within 12 consecutive
hours for female gate keepers. The duty period is fixed at 16 hours’
length for other classes of employees if they lodge in company build
ings near their places of work, and at 15 hours in other cases. The
hours of duty of all males may be extended to 16 when required by
special conditions, provided that the periods of duty do not exceed
an average of 14 and 15 hours, respectively, in any 3 days.
The rest time of locomotive and train employees is fixed at 10
hours as a minimum, and for the remainder of the force at 9 hours.
The 9 hours’ rest may be reduced to 8 for employees lodged in com
pany buildings near their place of employment; while both the 10hour and 9-hour periods may be reduced to 8 hours if circumstances
require, or if longer periods of rest at home are thereby provided,
but the daily average for each class may not be less than 10 or 9
hours in each 3-day period.
Night work, i. e., work between 11 p. m. and 4 a. m., is to be
counted as one and one-fourth time. With the exception of night
watchmen no person is to be employed at night work for more than
14 nights per month. The employment of females at night is for
bidden, except as telegraph and telephone operators and as attend
ants at waiting and toilet rooms, charwomen, and those engaged in
similar occupations.
Fifty-two holidays are to be allowed each year to all classes of
employees. These must be suitably distributed, and at least 17
should fall on Sunday. Labor is to be entirely suspended for 24
hours on such days. They may be spent at home, and must always
end with, a night of rest. The holiday must be prolonged for at least
8 hours if it was not preceded either immediately or with only a
slight interval by a prescribed rest period. In addition to these
holidays, a continuous vacation of at least 8 days per year is allowed
all employees on the principal systems after the completion of the
ninth year of service or of the thirty-first year of life. This vaca
tion is to be lengthened one day for each additional 3 years of service.
For employees on other roads the total number of holidays and of
vacation, is fixed at 60 per annum after the tenth year of service.
Service is computed for the above purpose from the date of an
employment on any undertaking of transportation or communica
tion coming within the scope of this law. The withholding of sala
ries or privileges on account of leaves of absence taken as above
provided for is forbidden.
Freight service, except for fast freight and the carrying of live
stock, is prohibited on Sundays and on New Year’s Day, Good Fri
day, Ascension Day, and Christmas. Cantons may designate 4
134
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
additional feast days on which goods not requiring quick transpor
tation will be neither received nor delivered.
When rest periods can not be passed at home, or when meals must
be eaten away from home, places must be provided for the conveni
ence of employees, such places to be sanitary, suitably warmed,
and to contain provisions for warming the food, unless special diffi
culties prevent.
Employers failing to conform to the provisions of this law are
liable to punishment, even though the employee may have waived
his claim to the rests and holidays guaranteed by the statute. In
order to facilitate the carrying out of the law, all employees are to
be provided with pass books.
The execution of the above law and the promulgation of the regula
tions necessary therefor devolve upon the Federal Council, and in
accordance with its duty in this respect the Council adopted a series
of regulations on September 22,1903. These are in general definitive
and directory, but contain some new provisions as well. Thus it is
ordered that when the maximum period of work or duty is exceeded
by reason of delays of trains the overtime must be compensated for
within the 3 following days. Continuous service for more than 6
consecutive hours is to be avoided, as well as the breaking up of the day
into an excessive number of work periods.
Of the prescribed rest days, not less than 36 per year should be
fixed in advance, and so distributed as to avoid intervals of more
than 14 days. The time of the vacation must be determined at the
beginning of the year and be so arranged from year to year that
each employee will be permitted to enjoy his vacation in the various
seasons. Free Sundays are not to be separated by intervals of more
than 5 weeks. Cantonal feast days enumerated in the regulations
of transportation are considered as Sundays. Where both husband
and wife are engaged in railway service their free Sundays must be
so disposed that 17 of them shall coincide. Other free Sundays
should also be so arranged, if possible.
Employees in temporary service, or those whose term of employ
ment does not entitle them to the full number of free days within
any civil year, are to be allowed a number of holidays proportionate
to the length of their term of service.
A vacation of 6 weeks is prescribed for women who are confined.
In no case may service be resumed before the expiration of 4 weeks
after confinement.
The pass or work book of each employee must contain a record of
all modifications of the law that affect his particular case, together
with the reasons therefor. He is also to be furnished with a list of
his free days, all of which, together with a record of any deviations
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
1-85
from schedule or omissions of free days, are to be open to the inspec
tion of the department of railways.
VICTORIA.
Holidays and leaves of absence of permanent employees on rail
ways are within the regulations governing the public service.
Conscientious refusal to work on Sunday is not ground for dis
missal, except in cases where such work is a necessity. A propor
tionate reduction of wages may be enforced, however.
WAGES.
GERMANY.
A Prussian regulation of July 14, 1888, lays down the general rule
that wages of State railway employees will be paid for only the time
actually worked. In cases of temporary cessation from work, how
ever, without fault of the employee, he may, if married or having a
dependent family, receive two-thirds pay for not more than 14 days,
after the manner of a military furlough, provided he has been in the
service for at least one year. Workmen absent on account of the per
formance of military or civic duties receive wages for the period of
necessary absence. In cases where personal concerns cause absence
the allowance of wages rests with the management. Time lost with
out excuse may be adjusted for by deductions from pay, the manage
ment retaining the control of such matters entirely in their own hands,
as well as that of adjustments for overtime work. Workmen regularly
intrusted with the duties of subordinate officials receive pay for lost
rest days. Pay for the allowed rest periods and for the time granted
for attendance at church is also given to such employees as are regu
larly employed in duties requiring them to work on Sundays and feast
days.
ITALY.
A law was promulgated on July 7, 1902, providing for the admin
istration of the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Sicilian railway systems
from January 1, 1902, to June 30, 1905, making provision, among
other matters, for maximum and minimum wage scales. These
scales were published by a royal decree of August 4, 1902, increases
of rates, if any, to take effect from the beginning of the year. ' Sepa
rate schedules were made out for each system, and general regula
tions were formulated to control appointments and promotions. By
their own terms, this law and decree were to be in effect only until
June 30, 1905, and no measures seem to have been adopted to secure
their continued operation.
136
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
FORMING LABOR ORGANIZATIONS, ENGAGING IN
STRIKES, ETC.
AUSTRALIA.
The Commonwealth conciliation and arbitration act of 1904 relates
to labor troubles extending beyond the limits of any single State,
and includes railway labor in its provisions. By this act all persons
and organizations are forbidden, under penalty of a fine of £1,000
($4,867), to engage in or to continue a strike on account of any indus
trial dispute.
BELGIUM.
The only provision of the Belgian law which bears on this point
appears to be that of November 15, 1877, which forbids the reem
ployment of persons who have left service for any reason whatever.
(See under Conditions of employment, etc., above.)
CANADA.
A Canadian statute of April 28, 1877, declares that employees on
railways carrying mails, passengers, or freight, who deliberately and
maliciously violate their contract, knowing that the probable conse
quences of such action would be to delay or retard the operation of a
locomotive, tender, or of freight or passenger cars on a railway, shall,
on conviction, be subject to a fine of not more than $100, or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, either with or
without hard labor. This penalty applies whether the acts men
tioned above are engaged in by individuals singly or by several in
agreement.
FRANCE.
The railway law of France, date of July 15, 1845, directs that engi
neers or brakemen who abandon their posts during a run shall be
punished b y imprisonment, the term not to be less than 6 months
nor more than 2 years in length.
GERMANY.
Section 152 of the industrial code of Germany removes all penalties
and prohibitions against craftsmen and industrial employees making
agreements or combinations among themselves for the purpose of
procuring better wages or conditions of work. Certain classes of
workmen are excepted from the provisions of this law, however, and
among them are railroad employees, who are held by the Government
not to be entitled to the privilege of organization. The Prussian
industrial code, section 182, contains a strict prohibition against
agreements for the purpose of stopping or delaying work. This law
names railway service as among the undertakings to which it applies.
FOREIGN LAWS RELATING TO RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.
137
ITALY.
No law on this subject exists, but when a strike of railway em
ployees was threatened in January, 1902, the men were notified by
the Government that it would regard them, in case of strike, as public
officials engaging in prohibited combinations and punishable as such.
NETHERLANDS.
An act of April 11, 1903, added three new sections to the penal
code, numbered 358a, 358b, and 358c, relative to interference with
the operation of railways and to conspiracy by railway employees.
It is provided therein that any official or employee on railroads, other
than those on which speed is restricted, who, with a purpose of caus
ing or protracting an interruption in traffic, neglects or refuses to per
form the duty for which he was expressly or impliedly engaged or to
obey orders legally given shall be punished by imprisonment not
exceeding 6 months or by a fine of not more than 300 florins ($121).
Where two or more* persons conspire to commit the offense named,
principals and participants are alike subject to punishment by
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years. If the purpose of
interference is actually effected, the penalty may be imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 4 years in cases where there is conspiracy, or
not more than 1 year in other cases.
NEW ZEALAND.
The industrial conciliation and arbitration act of October 27, 1900,
provides for industrial agreements between the minister for Govern
ment railways and the “ Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants”
in all respects as if the management of the Government railways were
an industry and the minister were the employer of all workers thereon.
Employees pn these roads are thus brought within the scope of this
law, which provides for compulsory agreements and awards in all
cases of labor disputes.
VICTORIA.
Strikes of railway employees in this. State are the subject of a
special act passed May 22, 1903. This may be classed as an emer
gency act, and was to continue only until the close of the following
Parliament, unless otherwise determined. The principal features of
the act were that every employee, regular or supernumerary, who, on
account of the then existing strike, should cease to discharge the
duties of his employment should be considered as a striker. He
would be no longer considered as an employee and would forfeit any
and all rights or claims to any pension, fund, or annuity, as well as all
legal privileges of every sort arising from or dependent on his position
as an official or employee, except as regards any wages due at the
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BULLETIN OF. THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
time of his going on strike. Provision was made for restitution of
standing and privilege in the discretion of the railway commissioners
and with the consent of the governor and council.
Applicants for positions made vacant by strikes were exempted
from the requirements as to insurance, examination, etc., but were
required to show competency for the work; if permanently appointed
they were to conform with the regulations as to insurance within one
year from the date of their appointment.
RECEN T REPO RTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR STATISTICS.
CONNECTICUT.
Twenty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the
year ending November 30, 1905. William H. Scoville, Commis
sioner.
278 p p .; appendix, 93 pp.
The subjects of inquiry presented in this report are the following:
New factory construction, 33 pages; tenement houses, 8 pages; labor
organizations, 19 pages; strikes and lockouts, 23 pages; early organ
izations of printers, 84 pages; free public employment bureaus, 12
pages; building trades, 27 pages; the National Civic Federation and
immigration, 19 pages; inventions of Connecticut citizens, 10 pages;
labor laws, 86 pages.
N ew F actory Construction.— Under this caption is given a list
of buildings and additions erected during the year ending July 1,
1905, to be used for manufacturing purposes. Location, material,
dimensions, and cost of construction are given for each new structure;
also increase in the number of employees caused by building. In 40
towns of the State 136 manufacturing establishments reported having
constructed 188 new buildings and additions to existing structures,
with a floor space of 1,734,223 square feet, at a total cost of $1,701,730.
The additional number of employees provided for by 50 of the 136
establishments was 1,390.
T enement H ouses.— Section 31, chapter 178, of the public acts of
1905, made it the duty of the commissioner of labor statistics to collect
and publish data showing, for the several cities of the State to which the
law is applicable, the number of tenement houses for which permits
have been asked, the number of plans approved, disapproved, and
modified, and any other facts concerning the operation of the law.
During the six months ending December 31, 1905, there were 142
buildings, to which the tenement-house act applied, erected in the
cities of Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Meriden,
and New Britain.
L abor Organizations.— In 1905 there were 516 organizations (508
local and 8 State) known to have been in existence. During each of
the prior six years the number reported to the State bureau was as
follows: 214 in 1899, 270 in 1900, 340 in 1901, 510 in 1902, 591 in
139
140
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
1903, and 524 in 1904. The decrease in the number of organizations
since 1903 is, in a measure, due to the consolidation of several unions.
Organizations were found in 43 towns in 1901, in 48 in 1902, in 49
in 1903, in 47 in 1904, and in 52 in 1905. Following the statistical
presentation is a list of the unions, grouped by towns, with the name
and address of the secretary of each.
Strikes and L ockouts.— Brief accounts are given under this head
of the labor troubles in the State for the year ending October 31
1905, and a tabulated statement showing the date, class of labor,
name of employer, location, number of employees involved, duration,
causes, and results of 45 disputes. The number of employees involved
in these disputes was 2,948, with a reported loss of time of 51,682
working days and of wages to the amount of $83,208. These dis
putes took place in 22 towns of the State, and 24 occupations were
represented. In the majority of instances the assigned cause or
object related to wages, hours of labor, and the employment of non
union men. Of the 45 disputes, the workmen were successful in
10, unsuccessful in 19, and partly successful in 5; 3 were amicably
settled, and 8 were unsettled at the time of the report.
F ree P ublic E mployment B ureaus .— The operations for the
year ending November 30, 1905, of the five free public employment
bureaus established on July 1, 1901, are set forth in this chapter.
Detailed statements are given, showing by sex the number of appli
cations for employment and for help and the number of situations
secured. In another table the sex and nationality of the applicants
are shown. A summary of the results for the year covered is given
in the following table for the five cities in which the bureaus are
located:
OPERATIONS OF FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS FOR THE Y E A R ENDING
NOVEMBER 30. 1905.
Location.
Applications for
situations.
Applications for
help.
Positions secured.
Males.
Males.
Males.
Females.
Females.
Females.
Hartford......................................................
Bridgeport...................................................
New Haven...................................................
W aterbUTy...................................................
Norwich.......................................................
1,818
864
1,027
572
223
2,020
2,242
1,276
1,406
282
1,312
807
535
496
106
1,692
2,232
1,143
1,467
326
1,150
734
509
439
162
1,447
1,827
962
1,212
252
T otal...................................................
4,504
7,226
3,256
6,860
2,994
5,700
During the 53 months from the date of the establishment of the
bureaus there were 57,602 applications for situations— 25,600 by
males and 32,002 by females. Employers made application, for
13,734 male and 31,329 female workers, a total of 45,063 persons.
As a result of the operations of the bureaus 35,569 positions were
secured— 12,469 by males and 23,100 b y females.
REPORTS OP STATE BUREAUS OP LABOR---- CONNECTICUT.
141
B uilding T rades.— In this chapter a comparison is made between
the hours of labor and rates of wages which prevailed in the building
trades in the State in 1893 and those which prevailed in 1905.
Twenty-nine towns are embraced in the comparison. The table fol
lowing shows the average percentage of decrease in hours of labor
and increase in rates of wages in 1905 as compared with 1893 for
each occupation in the building trades:
AVERAG E PERCENTAGE OF DECREASE IN HOURS OF LABO R AND INCREASE IN
RATES OF WAGES IN THE BU ILDING TRAD ES IN 1905 AS COMPARED W ITH 1893.
Per cent of—
Per cent of—
Decrease Increase
in hours in rates
of labor. of wages.
Occupation.
Bricklayers................................
Carpenters..................................
Lathers.......................................
Masons.......................................
Masons’ tenders........................
14.3
13.3
13.7
14.0
13.7
15.0
24.8
25.6
17.4
19.4
Occupation.
Painters..................................
Plumbers................................
Slaters.....................................
Tin and sheet-iron workers..
Decrease Increase
in hours in rates
of labor. of wages.
13.4
13.5
12.4
13.7
13.1
.6
30.7
17.0
L abor L aw s .— In an appendix to the report are presented the
labor laws of the State, comprising those contained in the General
Statutes, revision of 1902, and amendments, January sessions, 1903
and 1905.
MAINE.
Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial and Labor
Statistics for the State of Maine. 1905. Samuel W. Matthews,
Commissioner.
219 pp.
The following subjects are presented in this report: Factories,
mills, and shops built during 1905, 4 pages; labor unions, 85 pages;
lockouts, 1881 to 1900, 2 pages; manufacture of clothing, 9 pages;
poultry industry, 35 pages; the Paris Manufacturing Company, 10
pages; the Lakeside Press, 6 pages; chewing gum, 2 pages; rail
roads, 5 pages; directory of bureaus of labor in America, 4 pages;
farewell address of Carroll D. Wright to the members of the Associa
tion of Officials of Bureaus of Labor Statistics of America, 11 pages;
report of the inspector of factories, workshops, mines, and quarries,
7 pages.
F actories, M ills, and Shops B uilt .— Returns show that in 1905
in 93 towns 114 buildings were erected or enlarged, remodeled,
etc., at a total cost of $2,303,410. These improvements provided for
3,329 additional employees.
248b— N o. 08—07-----10
142
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
A summary of improvements of this character is presented for the
10 years 1896 to 1905:
FACTORIES, MILLS, AND SHOPS BU ILT OR ENLARGED, ETC., DURING TEIE YEARS
1896 TO 1905.
Number Number
build
of towns. ofings.
Year.
77
95
72
138
167
121
129
124
113
114
62
74
64
103
114
94
91
96
91
93
1896.............................................................................................
1897.............................................................................................
1898..................................................................... ......................
1899.............................................................................................
1900.............................................................................................
1901.............................................................................................
1902.............................................................................................
1903................. ...........................................................................
1904.............................................................................................
1905.............................................................................................
Aggregate
cost.
$1,055,900
827,600
675,100
6,800,700
2,174,825
5,638,200
2,776,930
1,436,900
1,175,500
2,303,410
New em
ployees.
1,470
2,339
2,024
4,990
5,539
6,337
5,017
3,343
3,276
3.329
L abor U nions.— Under this title is given a list of all federations
and unions reporting, together with the addresses of the secretaries.
There were 2 State and 9 central federations and 212 local unions in
50 cities, towns, and plantations. Of the local unions known to
exist in 1905, 7 failed to report membership and 11 sent no report.
The reports give, by cities and towns, membership, qualifications for
membership, initiation fees, benefits allowed, hours of labor, wages,
etc. The 194 local unions reporting comprised a membership of
13,798.
There were 100 labor unions, with 6,924 members, which reported
for the year as to average days worked and lost and average daily
and annual earnings. A summary of these returns is presented in
the following table:
STATISTICS OF 100 LABOR UNIONS, 1905.
Unions.
Bakers and confectioners...........................
Barbers.........................................................
B oot and shoe workers...............................
Carpenters and joiners...............................
Bricklayers, masons, and plasterers.........
Hod carriers.................................................
Plumbers and steam fitters.......................
Painters, decorators, and paper hangers.
Cigar makers...............................................
Cotton-mill w orkers...................................
Granito workers..........................................
Granite cutters............................................
Paving cutters.............................................
Lime workers...............................................
Boiler makers and iron shipbuilders.......
Iron moiders................................................
Laborers.......................................................
Printers........................................................
Paper makers..............................................
Pulp sulphite, and paper mill workers...
Locomotive f ir e m e n ..................................... ............
Trainmen......................................................
Stationary firemen......................................
Suspender workers......................................
|
Number Member Average Average Average Average
days
days
report
daily
annual
ship.
lost.
ing.
worked. wages. earnings.
1
3
4
8
10
2
4
6
5
6
9
7
4
1
1
4
5
3
5
5
2
1
3
1
65
89
349
763
528
155
75
228
170
303
728
449
100
250
200
203
862
139
247
278
186
434
115
8
12
8
50
69
126
84
60
102
30
26
76
77
88
120
50
50
25
23
9
12
25
300
304
262
243
186
228
252
210
282
286
236
235
224
245
262
262
286
289
303
321
327
300
349
287
$3.00
2.02
1.94
2.27
3.15
2.25
3.05
2.29
2.67
2.11
1.77
3.03
2.63
1.80
2.50
2.44
1.85
2.39
2.58
1.66
2.32
2.05
1.87
1.65
$900
615
510
552
580
505
761
480
760
603
418
713
588
441
655
636
531
692
782
534
758
615
651
475
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- MAINE.
143
Under this chapter is also a history of the strikes occurring during
the year, together with a discussion of the trade agreement as a
method for the settlement of industrial disputes.L ockouts in Maine , 1881 to 1900.— This chapter is compiled
from the Sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner
of Labor.
Manufacture of Clothing.— This investigation, made in 1905,
covered 30 establishments, located in 18 cities and towns, engaged in
the manufacture of clothing for men and boys, women’s clothing, knit
goods, and horse nets. In the 30 establishments 1,312 working people
were employed (234 men and 1,078 women), while over 1,000 persons
were employed more or less of the time in their homes. In 19 estab
lishments all the work was done in the factory, and in 11 more or less
of the work was given out to be done in homes. The hours of labor
were 10 in 15 of the establishments, 9§ in 2, 9 in 11, and 2 did not
report as to hours. The average weekly wages of men were $10.82
and of women $6.78. The total value of product for the year was
estimated at about $2,200,000. Of the total establishments, 18 manu
factured on their own account, while in 12 work was done for parties
outside of the State.
Poultry I ndustry .—As indicated by the title, this chapter relates
to poultry products. Returns were received from 54 poultry raisers
of the State. Information as to poultry houses, feed, care, and other
requirements, as well as production and prices, are given for several
localities.
R ailroads.— For the year ending June 30, 1905, there were 8,773
persons, including general officers, in the service of the 20 steam rail
roads operating in the State. The aggregate amount of wages, in
cluding salaries, paid during the year was $4,789,393.20. The num
ber of employees, excluding general officers, was 8,710, an increase of
403 over 1904. The total number of days worked by employees,
other than general officers, was 2,452,083, and the total amount paid
this class of employees in wages was $4,619,639.07. The average
daily wages of the same class was $1.88, an increase from $1.86 for the
year 1904. A statement is presented showing for the years 1903 and
1904 the total mileage, gross earnings, passengers carried, freight
hauled, passengers per mile, freight miles, etc.
Accidents on steam railroads for the year ending June 30, 1905,
resulted in 42 persons being killed and 176 injured by the movement
of trains. Of those killed, 19 were employees and 23 were other per
sons, no passengers being killed. Of those injured, 91 were em
ployees, 31 were passengers, and 54 were other persons. On the
street railways accidents resulted in 8 persons being killed and 79
persons injured.
144
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Child L abor .— In the report on factory inspection a table is pre
sented in which it is shown that the number of children working under
certificate during the. year in certain manufacturing establishments
of the State was 813. The following table shows for the years 1902,
1903, and 1904 the average number of children under 16, between
16 and 15, and under 15 years of age employed in 16 cotton and
woolen mills:
CHILDREN UNDER 16 YEARS OF AGE EMPLOYED IN COTTON AND WOOLEN MILLS,
1902 TO 1904.
Year.
Between
15 Total
15 and 16 Under
of under 16
years of years
years of
age.
age.
age.
485
428
426
234
157
323
719
585
749
NORTH CAROLINA.
Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Printing of the
State of North Carolina, for the year 1905. H. B. Varner, Commis
sioner.
382 pp.
This report consists of 8 chapters, as follows: Progress of agricul
ture, 86 pages; trades, 45 pages; miscellaneous factories, 66 pages;
cotton, woolen, and knitting mills, 55 pages; furniture factories, 18
pages; newspapers, 39 pages; railroad employees, 9 pages; the health
and pleasure resorts of the State, 29 pages; appendix, 23 pages.
P rogress of A griculture .---The report on this subject was com
piled from returns secured by correspondence with representative
farmers residing in different sections of the State. It is presented in
6 tables, as follows: Condition of land and labor; wages of men,
women, and children; cost of production; market price; profit on
principal commodities, and the educational, moral, and financial con
dition of farm laborers. From the summary the following data are
taken: Labor was reported scarce in all (97) counties; 95 counties
reported that negro labor was unreliable, 1 that it was reliable, and 1
that there was no negro labor; 54 counties reported that employment
was regular and 43 that it was irregular; cost of living was reported as
having increased in 95 counties and in 2 no increase was reported.
The highest and lowrest monthly wages paid farm laborers in each
county were reported, and for men the average of the highest wages so
reported wras $19.84 and of the lowest $12.19; for women like averages
were $12.42 and $8.28, and the average wages of children were $7.45.
An increase of wages for all classes of farm labor was reported.
T he T rades.— The data from which the tables presented under this
title were compiled were secured by correspondence with representa
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- NORTH CAROLINA.
145
tive men engaged in the various trades. These reports of wageearners show the daily wages, hours of labor, method and time of pay
ment, and change in wages of each person reporting. Of the wageearners making returns, 37 per cent reported an increase of wages, 4
per cent a decrease, and 59 per cent no change; 66 per cent made full
time and 34 per cent part time; 72 per cent reported cost of living
increased, 4 per cent decreased, and 24 per cent no change; 25 per
cent favored an 8-hour day, 12 per cent a 9-hour day, 58 per cent a
10-hour day, 2 per cent an 11-hour day, 2 per cent a 12-hour day, and
1 per cent a 14-hour day; 83 per cent favored fixing a day’s work by
law and 17 per cent opposed it; 91 per cent favored compulsory edu
cation and 9 per cent opposed it. The following table gives the aver
age daily wages of persons engaged in the various trades:
AVERAGE D A IL Y WAGES OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN VARIOUS TRADES, 1905.
Occupation.
A rchitects..................................................
Barbers..........................................- ...........
Billposters.................................................
Boiier makers............................................
Bookkeepers...............................................
Blacksmiths...............................................
Brick masons.............................................
Cabinetmakers...........................................
Carpenters..................................................
Firemen......................................................
Foremen.....................................................
Granite cutters..........................................
Harness makers.........................................
Lumbermen.......................................... .
Machinists...................................................
Millwrights.................................................
Average
dailywages.
$3.25
1.00
2.00
3.00
2.33
1.77
3.13
1.45
1.71
2.00
1.88
3.00
1.38
1.88
2.28
3.50
Occupation.
Miners................................................. ; . . .
Painters.....................................................
Paper hangers..........................................
Plasterers..................................................
Plumbers...................................................
Pressmen...................................................
Printers.....................................................
Salesmen...................................................
Sawyers.....................................................
Shoemakers...............................................
Tanners...................................................
Textile workers........................................
Tobacco workers.....................................
Watchmen................................................
W heelwrights...........................................
Wood workers..........................................
Average
daily
wages.
$1.50
2.05
1.50
3.60
3.50
2.25
2.14
1.68
2.00
1.00
1.25
1.67
1.20
.75
1.88
1.60
M iscellaneous Factories.— Under this classification the number
of factories reporting was 428, of which 312 reported an invested
capital amounting to $13,182,210, 413 the number of employees as
15,809, and 367 the number of persons dependent on them for a
livelihood as 37,415. An 8-hour day was reported by 4 factories, 5
reported a 9-hour day, 299 a 10-hour day, 46 an 11-hour day, 52 a
12-hour day, while 22 did not report as to hours. An increase of
wages was reported by 70 per cent of the factories, a decrease by 1 per
cent, and no change by 29 per cent. Of the adult employees 82 per
cent were able to read and write and of the children 88 per cent. The
highest daily wages paid was $2.16, and the lowest $0.78. In 66 per
cent of the factories wages were paid weekly, in 18 per cent semi
monthly, in 15 per cent monthly, and in 1 per cent daily. The tables
presented show for each establishment the product manufactured,
capital stock, horsepower, days of operation, hours of labor, number
of employees, and highest and lowest wages.
Cotton, W oolen , and K nitting M ills.— The number of mills
covered by this presentation is 287. Their aggregate invested capital
146
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
amounted to $37,494,625. The number of spindles in operation was
2,267,625, of looms 45,663, of knitting machines 3,933, together
requiring 107,058 horsepower. The number of employees reported
by 85 per cent of the mills was 19,793 adult males, 16,847 adult
females, and 7,582 children, a total of 44,222. The number of per
sons dependent upon the mills was 113,363. Of the adult employees
86 per cent, and of the children 79 per cent, were able to read and
write. The average hours constituting a day's work were 10.8; the
average of the highest daily wages, based on the highest wages paid
to any employee by each establishment, was $2.67, lowest $0.68, for
men; for women the average highest wages were $0.99, lowest $0.51,
and for children the average wages were about $0.43. An increase
of wages was reported by 69 per cent of the establishments, by 22 per
cent no change was reported, arid 9 per cent made no report.
" Relative to the employment of children under 12 years of age in the
factories *76 per cent of the manufacturers opposed it, while the
remainder favored it or expressed no opinion; 61 per cent of the
manufacturers favored compulsory education, 18 per cent opposed it,
and 21 per cent expressed no opinion.
F urniture F actories.— There were 100 furniture factories which
reported capital stock, power, articles manufactured, wages, hours of
labor, times of wage payments, percentage of employees able to read
and write, etc. From the returns the following is summarized: Aggre
gate capital stock reported, $2,535,398; horsepower used, 9,424;
number of employees, 6,800; average highest daily wages paid
adults $2.15, lowest $0.67; average daily w ages of children $0.45; 91
per cent of the adults and 89 per cent of the children employed were
able to read and write; 75 per cent of the factories paid their em
ployees semimonthly, 18 per cent weekly, and 7 per cent monthly;
83 per cent of the factories reported an increase of wages and 17 per
cent no increase; 82 per cent of the manufacturers opposed the
employment of children under 14 years of age and 18 per cent favored
it; 94 per cent favored compulsory education and 6 per cent opposed it.
R ailroad E mployees.— In this chapter tables are presented
showing the number of employees and average wages, by occupations,
for each road reporting. A separate presentation is made concerning
the operation of each of nine street railways, giving mileage, capital
stock, funded debt, gross earnings, operating expenses, income from
operation, and from other sources, number of passengers carried, and
passengers carried per mile of track.
During the year 5 passengers, 35 employees, and 74 other persons
were killed, and 143 passengers, 492 employees, 13 postal clerks,
express messengers, and Pullman employees, and 139 other persons
were injured b y the movement of trains, and 4 persons wrere killed
and 541 injured by other causes.
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— NORTH CAROLINA.
147
The following table shows the number and average wages of per
sons employed on the steam railroads of the State:
NUMBER AND AVERAGE D A IL Y WAGES OF R A ILROAD EMPLOYEES, B Y .OCCUPA
TIONS, 1905.
Occupation.
Station agents...........................
Other station m en....................
Engineers...................................
Firemen......................................
Conductors................................
Other train m en .......................
Machinists.................................
Carpenters.................................
Number Average
daily
of em
ployees. wages.
617
1,711
633
764
419
1,058
431
681
$1.13
1.02
2.89
1.49
2.33
1.12
2.20
1.80
Occupation.
Number
of em
ployees.
Other shopmen......................
Section foremen.....................
Other track men...................
Switchmen, flagmen, and
watchmen............................
Telegraph operators..............
Other employees....................
H ealth and Pleasure R esorts.— This chapter is
an account of the health and pleasure resorts of the State.
A ppendix .— This consists of summarized statistics of
industries of the State. The data were furnished by
States Bureau of the Census, Division of Manufactures, for
Average
daily
wages.
1,817
543
3,227
$1.20
1.49
.90
428
337
1,130
1.09
2.18
1.21
devoted to
the various
the United
1905.
RHODE ISLAND.
Nineteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Industrial Statistics,
made to the general assembly at its January session, 1906. George
H. Webb, Commissioner.
257 pages.
The following subjects are presented in this report: Textile, rubber,
and fine metal manufactures, 39 pages; wages and hours of labor, 7
pages; statistics of manufactures in the city of Providence, 3 pages;
census of Rhode Island, 1905, 4 pages; history of Rhode Island man
ufactures, 33 pages; immigration, 19 pages; free employment offices,
5 pages; directory of trade unions, 15 pages; strikes, 1905, 12 pages;
the Rhode Island branch of the National Civic Federation, 6 pages;
welfare work in Rhode Island, 16 pages; directory of manufacturers,
48 pages; statistics of Rhode Island manufactures, 5 pages.
T extile , R ubber , and F ine M etal Manufactures.— In this
chapter comparative statistics for the years 1900 and 1904 are given
for each branch of the named industries, showing number of estab
lishments and character of organization; highest, lowest, and average
number of employees; wages and number of employees 16 years of
age or over, by sex, and children under 16 years of age; quantity and
cost of material used; quantity and value of product, and number and
character of machines in operation.
The following tables show for textiles the number of establish
ments and character of organization, cost of materials, value of
148
BULLETIN OE THE BUBEAU
LABOR,
OF
product, and average number of employees and total wages paid for
the years 1900 and 1904:
ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE T E X T IL E INDUSTRIES CONTROLLED B Y IN DIVIDU ALS,
BY FIRMS, AND BY CORPORATIONS, 1900 AND 1904.
Establishments in 1900
controlled by—
Industry.
Indi
vid
uals.
Finns.
Cor
pora
tions.
Total
estab
lish
ments
in 1900.
Establishments in 1904
controlled by—
Indi
vid
uals.
Cotton g oods.................
Woolen goods................
Hosiery and knit goods.
Dyeing and finishing...
Silk goods.......................
4
10
2
1
2
2
8
1
44
32
7
18
2
50
50
10
19
4
0
2
2
1
T otal.....................
19
11
103
133
11
Cor
pora
tions.
Finns.
Total
estab
lish
ments
in 1904.
10
5
40
39
8
17
3
50
50
10
19
4
15
107
133
COST OF M ATERIALS AND VALUE OF PRODUCTS IN THE T E X T IL E INDUSTRIES,
1900 AND 1904.
Industry.
Cost of materials used (including
fuel and freight).
1900.
Cotton goods...........................
Woolen goods........................
Hosiery and knit goods.........
Dyeing and finishing..............
Silk goods................................
1904.
$8,565,390 813,927,838
23,524,536 31,880,178
1,734,045
2,090,289
3,056,431
2,913,993
1,279,607
725,417
T otal............................... 37,463,381
52,234,343
Increase.
Value of products.
1900.
1904.
Increase.
$5,362,448 $19,989,684 $24,491,254
8,355,642 36,443,131 48; 820,147
356,244
2,658,587
2,965,556
142,438
7,945,191
8,500,938
554,190
1,177,780
1,820,788
$4,501,570
12,377,016
306,969
555,747
643,008
14,770,962
18,384,310
68,214,373
86,598,683
AVERAGE NUMBER OF MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, AND TOTAL WAGES PAID IN
THE T E X T IL E INDUSTRIES, 1900 AND 1904.
1900.
Industry.
Cotton goods............................
W oolen g o o d s ..........................
Hosiery and knit g o o d s..........
Dyeing and finishing..............
Silk g o o d s ........................ .......
Men 16
years
of age
or over.
Women
16 years
of age
or over.
1904.
Chil
Men 16
dren
paid years
under Total
of age
16 years in wages or
over.
of age.
Women Chil
dren
Total
16 years under
in
of age 16 years paid
or over. of age. wages.
8,546
8,124
424
4,332
104
7,961
6,716
987
931
305
1,793
1,442
144
251
5
$6,190,310
6,124,284
459,922
2,336,563
150,575
8,966
9,582
442
4,971
264
8,368
7,984
915
1,269
438
1,549 $6,709,453
1,833 8,171,344
54
486,973
256 2,776,189
104
308,687
T o ta l............................... 21,530
16,900
3,635
15,261,654
21,225
18,974
3,796 jl8,452,646
l
For rubber and elastic goods the cost of materials used aggre
gated $1,335,826 in 1900, and $1,335,449 in 1904; the value of product
aggregated $2,011,982 in 1900, and $2,171,639 in 1904. Of men 16
years of age or over there were employed in 1900 an average of 418,
and of 424 in 1904; of women 16 years of age or over there were
employed in 1900 an average of 334, and of 310 in 1904; and of chil
dren under 16 years of age there were employed in 1900 an average
of 18, and of 9 in 1904. In 1900 the total wages paid amounted to
$269,445, as compared with $314,617 in 1904.
REPOETS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- RHODE ISLAND.
149
For fine metal work (embracing jewelry, jewelers’ findings, silversmithing and silverware, refining, electroplating, enameling, engrav
ing, diesinking, and lapidary work) the cost of materials used aggre
gated $9,141,292 in 1900, and $11,635,037 in 1904; the value of prod
uct aggregated $15,837,063 in 1900, and $20,370,431 in 1904. Of
men 16 years of age or over there were employed in 1900 an average
of 4,038, and of 4,737 in 1904; of women 16 years of age or over
there were employed in 1900 an average of 1,451, and of 1,627 in
1904; and of children under 16 years of age there were employed in
1900 an average of 134, and of 79 in 1904. In 1900 the total wages
paid amounted to $2,897,749, as compared with $3,863,273 in 1904.
W ages and H ours of L abor .— This chapter consists of statistical
tables reproduced from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the United
States Bureau of Labor, 1904, and relates to wages and hours of
labor in 14 selected occupations in the city of Providence, and 8 in the
State at large.
Statistics of Manufactures in P rovidence.— The statistics of
manufactures of the city of Providence for the year ending December
31, 1904, presented in this chapter, were compiled from the advance
sheets of the 1905 census of manufactures, taken by the United States
Bureau of the Census. Comparisons are also made with the 1900
census of manufactures.
Census of R hode I sland, 1905.— Under this title a comparative
table is given, showing for the years 1895 and 1905 the population of
the State by counties, cities, and towns.
H istory of R hode I sland Manufactures.—This chapter is
devoted to a history, from colonial times, of the development of the
manufacturing interests of the State, and especially relates to the
industries of iron and steel, cotton, woolen, and other textiles, and
jewelry and silverware.
I mmigration.— Under this head information furnished by the
United States Commissioner-General of Immigration is presented
in tables showing for the year ending June 30, 1905, the number of
immigrants coming into the State, by nationality and occupation,
the number entering being 9,474. This chapter presents also the
report of the chairman of the State delegation to the National Immi
gration Conference held in New York City December, 1905.
D irectory of T rade U nions .— This is a list of 2 State, 5
central, and 148 local bodies, with the name and address of the
secretary of each.
Strikes .— This presentation consists of a chronological arrange
ment of the strikes occurring in the State during the year ending
December 31, 1905, compiled from records kept by the State labor
bureau from the columns of the public press and from other sources.
150
BULLETIN OF. THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
W elfare W ork .— This section of the report is devoted to an
account of the various institutions established by employers for the
betterment of the industrial conditions of the working people em
ployed in the factories and workshops of the State.
Statistics of R hode I sland M anufactures .— Comparative
statistics of manufactures for the census years 1900 and 1905 are
here shown for the State, for each of the cities of Pawtucket, Provi
dence, and Woonsocket, and for the town o£ Warwick. A compara
tive summary is also presented of six of the leading industries. The
tables show number of establishments, capital invested, number of
officials, clerks, etc., and amount paid in salaries, average number of
employees and amount paid in wages, miscellaneous expenses, cost
of materials used, and value of product. The following table sum
marizes these items for the State for the census years 1900 and 1905:
STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES, ACCORDING TO CENSUSES OF 1900 AND 1905.
Census of—
Items.
1900.
Number of establishments....................................................................
Capital invested......................................................................................
Number of salaried officials, clerks, e tc...............................................
Amount paid in salaries.........................................................................
Average number of wage-earners.........................................................
Amount paid in wages...........................................................................
Miscellaneous expenses..........................................................................
Cost of materials used............................................................................
Value of product.....................................................................................
1,678
$176,901,606
4,022
$5,300,576
88,197
$35,995,101
$11,098,6S0
$87,951,780
$165,550,382
1905.
1,617
$215,901,375
5,420
$7,040,678
97,128
$43,112,337
$14,623,430
$112,769,261
$202,109,583
VIRGINIA.
Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics
for the State of Virginia. 1905. James B. Doherty, Commissioner.
341 pp.
The subjects presented in this report are industrial statistics, 214
pages, and court decisions relating to labor, 119 pages.
I ndustrial Statistics.—A series of tables is shown for 36 indus
tries, giving the number of establishments in each industry reporting
for the year; the value of product, capital invested, amount paid
for wages, rent, taxes, and insurance, number of employees by sex
and occupation, average monthly pay of persons employed on salary,
and average daily wages paid in the different occupations, by sex,
wage changes, number of days of operation, number of hours of daily
work for each establishment, and also totals and averages for each
industry. For many of the industries comparisons with 1903 are
presented. Statistics are also given for coal mining, and for the
operation of 6 gas works, 20 waterworks, and 38 railroads.
The following table shows for 1903 and 1904, for each of the 18
industries in the State which reported an output in 1904 exceeding
REPORTS OP STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- VIRGINIA.
151
$1,000,000, the number of establishments reporting, capital invested,
value of product, and aggregate wages paid:
C APITAL IN VESTED, VALUE OF PRODUCT, AND W AGES PAID IN 18 INDUSTRIES,
1903 AND 1904.
Industry.
Number of
establish
ments.
Capital invested.
1903. 1904.
Boots and shoes.....................
Breweries................................
Carriages, wagons, and bug
gies.......................................
Cigars, cigarettes, and che
r o o ts ...................................
Cotton mills...........................
Flour and grist m ills............
Iron and machine works.......
Knitting mills........................
Paper and pulp mills............
Printing, engraving, and
bookbinding........................
Sash, door, and blind facto
ries.......................................
Sawmills.................................
Silk mills.................................
Staves, heads, and cooper
age........................................
Tanneries................................
Tobacco factories...................
Trunks and bags...................
W ooden ware,baskets,boxes,
andshooks..........................
<*Not reported.
(a)
&6!
1
26;
i
441
7i
47
&38
12
bg
1
541
|
1903.
1
30I
1
1904.
515,158
669,829
836,297 1,317,974
1903.
(a)
1904
$139,226
$193,831
143,069
195,383
258,242
868,139
914,478 4,376,844 4,384,215
873,138 1,006,589
665,951
753,490
7 4,090,408 4,253,580 3,093,979 4,252,442
116 1,303,084 2,181,981 3,828,009 8,201,910
108,695
189,883
44 9,269,967 10,706,426 16,075,813 13,993,058 5,019,925 4,923,531
13
469,050
550,357 1,953,480 2,150,065
413,426
434,596
1,160,000 2,826,525 1,363,762 2,875,128
161,754
410,432
9
66
1
(a) |
c20I
3
(a)
1903.
Wages paid.
48
18
152
28|
&5
1904.
(a)
(a)
4
$250,000
$1,233,683
6 $1,344,833 1,987,679 $1,148,649 1,131,849
c9
c 95|
(a) !
Value of product.
834,174 1,060,154 1,392,333 1,690,131
c 252,000
(a)
(«)
(a)
653,562
36
1,166,835
(«)
21 c3,367,891 3,114,548 c5,091,329 5,366,162
36 2,287,985 2,564,861 6,051,382 7,799,619
5
403,728
826,776 1,483,970 1,714,424
16
(a)
384,468
467,216
c708,884 1,119,978 c202,365
256,759
(a)
c4,319,610 4,746,467 cl, 072,828 1,324,154
(a)
(a)
700,390
1,518,505
156,125
507,178
1,685,024
&Figures are from report for 1904.
(a)
3,448,235
(a)
c 308,244
666,784
286,139
334,565
373,954
772,941
201,946
(a)
719,286
c Figures are for 1902.
Of 124 local general contractors in the building trades, 48 reported
an increase of wages varying from 3 to 30 per cent, 1 reported a slight
decrease, and from 75 no changes were reported. The value of work
done by these contractors during the year amounted to $3,871,641.
No data were secured from firms located outside of the State which
did work within the State.
The report for 1904 is the first made on the coal mines operated in
the State. Returns were secured from 12 mines, employing under
ground 2,085 miners, 868 other employees over 16 years of age, and
102 other employees under 16 years of age; and above ground,
1,202 employees over 16 years of age and 55 employees under 16
years of age. Wages were paid in 11 mines monthly and in 1 mine
semimonthly. The price paid per gross ton for mining bituminous
coal by machinery was 25 cents in one mine and 33 cents in another,
and 30 cents and 33 cents when mined by hand. Heading by hand
ranged from 30 cents to 40.79 cents. In the anthracite mines the
price for mining per gross ton, hand work, was 30 cents in one mine
ahd 66 cents in another. During the year 22 persons were killed and
136 injured. There were 17,162.85 tons of anthracite and 2,266,090.66
tons of bituminous coal mined.
The report on railroads operating in the State shows for 1904 the
average daily wages paid by each railroad in each occupation and the
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR.
152
average daily wages paid by all railroads.
mary of the data presented:
The following is a sum
AVERAGE D A IL Y WAGES OF KAILROAD EMPLOYEES, 1904, AND INCREASE IN W AGES
OVER 1903.
Average
daily
wages.
Occupation.
Increase
over 1903.
$1.86
1.61
1.27
4.34
2.19
3.22
1.72
2.71
1.99
1.70
1.67
1.09
1.31
1.77
1.48
1.73
General clerics................................
Station agents.....................................
Other station men..............................
Enginemen..........................................
Firemen................................................
Conductors...................... : ..................
Other train m e n .................................
Machinists...........................................
Carpenters..........................................
Other shopm en................................. :
Section forem en.................................
Other track men................................ .
Switchmen, flagmen, and watchmen.
Telegraph operators......................... .
Employees, floating equipm ent.......
Other employees and laborers..........
$0.08
.12
.25
.11
«.03
.03
.29
.10
.04
.02
.08
.04
.09
.09
.35
a Decrease.
Railroad accidents in the State during 1904 resulted in the death
of 84 employees, 24 passengers, and 146 other persons, and in the
injury of 2,180 employees, 119 passengers, and 228 other persons.
The following table shows the number of persons killed and the num
ber injured in railroad accidents in 1904:
EM PLOYEES, PASSENGERS, AND OTHERS K IL LE D AND INJURED IN R A ILR O A D
ACCIDENTS, 1904.
Employees.
Cause.
Killed.
Passengers.
Injured. Killed.
Others.
Total.
Injured. Killed. Injured. Killed. Injured.
Movement of trains..............
Other causes..........................
81
3
880
1,300
24
118
1
145
1
222
6
250
4
1,220
1,307
T otal.............................
84
2,180
24
119
146
228
254
2,527
Statistics for gas works show ownership, capacity, private and
municipal consumption, price to consumers, number and wages of
employees; and those for waterworks, ownership, cost of works,
capacity, consumption, cost of pumping per million gallons, price to
consumers, source of supply, number of employees, and wages.
Court D ecisions R elating to L abor .— Under this heading are
reproduced the decisions of courts relating to labor, as reported by
the United States Bureau of Labor.
RECENT FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
FINLAND.
Arbets$tatistik.
I. Undersokning af Tobaksindustrin i Finland. 1903.
xiii, 214, 116, 48* pp. II. Undersokning af Textilindustrin i Fin
land. 1904. xiii, 238, 183, 123* pp. III. Undersokning af Bagareyrket i Finland. 1905. viii, 125, 106, 18* pp. Pa uppdrag af
Industristyrelsen och under dess ofverinseende varkstald af G. R.
Snellman.
These volumes are the first three of a series prepared at the instance
of the ministry of industry, embodying the results of special inquiries
into the conditions of labor in certain industries in Finland. The
volumes discuss, respectively, the manufacture of tobacco, of textiles,
and of bakery and confectionery products. The first volume also
gives some account of the development of statistical inquiry into
labor conditions in various countries and of the beginning of such work
in Finland. The investigation involved the filling of schedules by
both employers and employees.
The method of presentation involves text statement and tables in
separate sections. There are also appendixes containing detailed lists
of employees by occupations, showing the number of days worked in
one year and total annual and average weekly earnings. These are
shown in Volumes I and II b y establishments, and in Volume III by
localities.
T he T obacco I ndustry .— The points covered by the em ployed
schedules included for each establishment the number of employees;
the hours of labor and rest; overtime, night, and Sunday work; the
giving out of home work; the labor contract and its termination; shop
rules; fines; weekly earnings; times of payment; compensation for
overtime and home work; wage advances; deductions for sick funds,
etc.; premiums and gratuities; requirements as to medical examina
tions of applicants for employment and provisions for cost of same;
free homes, or allowances on rentals; allowance of tobacco; free med
ical or hospital attendance; old-age benefits; accident insurance, and
cost of same during 1901, and strikes and lockouts within the.past ten
years. The inquiries made of employees were equally detailed, and
related to employment, social conditions, health, etc. Data were pro
cured as to the sanitation of workrooms, provisions for lunch rooms,
toilet rooms, etc.; statistics of sickness and death were also obtained.
153
154
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The number of establishments in which the manufacture of tobacco
was carried on, the number of employees, and the value of products are
shown in the following table for the ten-year period, 1892 to 1901:
NUMBER
Year.
1892.
1893.
1894.
1895.
1896.
OF
TOBACCO
Estab
lish
ments.
37
29
34
30
33
FACTORIES, NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, AND VALUE OF
PRODUCTS, 1892 TO 1901.
Employ Value of
ees.
products.
1,686
1,578
1,701
1,750
2,208
$1,112,734
1,093,161
1,212,631
1,229,766
1,475,100
Year.
1897.. .
1898.....................
1899......................
1900......................
1901......................
Estab
lish
ments.
34
35
37
34
38
Employ
ees.
2,706
2.934
2,878
2,994
2,941
Value of
products.
$1,728,417
1,994,958
2,199,459
2,637,975
2,601,853
While the number of establishments was but one greater at the
close of the period than at the beginning, the number of employees
had increased 74.4 per cent, and the value of products 133.8 per
cent.
The different classes of products for the year are reported as fol
lows: Cigarettes, 481,084,000; cigars, 68,854,550; smoking tobacco,
1,362,392 kilograms (3,003,529 pounds); chewing tobacco, 84,204
kilograms (185,636 pounds); snuff, 252,681 kilograms (557,061
pounds). Ten establishments were devoted entirely to the manu
facture of cigarettes, 11 to that of cigars, 1 to the manufacture of
smoking tobacco, and 2 to that of chewing tobacco. In each of the
remaining establishments two or more classes of products were man
ufactured. Seven of the establishments reported were operated
entirely as home industries, employing but 1 or 2 persons each, or a
total of 11 employees; 14 factories employed from 3 to 25 persons
each, 12 from 26 to 100, and 5 employed 101 or more. The largest
factory employed 887 persons, while 4 factories, each having more
than 200 work people, gave employment to slightly more than twothirds of the total number of employees. Engines and motors in use
furnished 531.5 horsepower.
As the investigation was carried on in the summer of 1902, all
data for a complete year cover nothing later than 1901. Detailed
statistics of employees, however, relate only to those in employment
at the date when the schedules were made up, at which time a number
of work people were furloughed or, for other reasons, were absent for
the summer. The following table shows for each class of products
the number of employees engaged in the tobacco industry in the
summer t)f 1902, by sex and age groups :
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- FINLAND.
155
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES ENGAGED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EACH CLASS OF
PRODUCT, B Y SEX AND AGE GROUPS, 1902.
Class of employees.
Males.
|
Females.
Per cent of—
Total
Un
! Un18
18
em
der years Total. j der years Total. ploy Males. Fe
18
•or
or
ees.
males.
i 18
|years. over.
years. over.
Superintendents, cigarette factories.
Cigarette workers................................
Cigar workers......................................
Smoking tobacco workers..................
Chewing tobacco workers...................
Snuff workers.......................................
Carpenters, watchmen, messengers,
e t c ............................................\ . .
T otal...........................................
10
30
30
37
3
93
146
69
22
11
3
103
176
99
59
11
5
54
59
112
398
510
114
75
4
3
1,495
500
17
25
6
196
2,043
3
1,712
751
120
87
11
100.0
6.0
23.4
82.5
67.8
100.0
6
65
90.8
9.2
2,239
2,749
18.6
81.4
1,609
575
21
28
94.0
76.6
17.5
32.2
The proportion of females is much greater than that of males, being
largest in the manufacture of cigarettes. Children under 18 years
of age form 11.2 per cent of the whole number of employees. Almost
22.0 per cent of the males are under 18 years of age, while scarcely
8.8 per cent of the females are under 18 years of age.
The hours of labor per week in the tobacco industry are shown in
the next table. Nine home workers, 5 men and 4 women, are omitted
from this table, as their hours were not reported. In one locality
7 males and 167 females worked 56 hours per week in summer and
60 hours in winter. These were distributed in the table, 3 males and
84 females being reported as working 56 hours and 4 males and 83
females as working 60 hours per week.
NUMBER AND PER CENT OF EM PLOYEES IN THE TOBACCO IN D U ST R Y W ORKING
A SPECIFIED N.UMBER OF HOURS PER W EE K , B Y SEX, 1901.
Males.
Hours worked per week.
Females.
Total.
Number. Percent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent.
39...................................................................
8
1
11
53
34
163
7
52
8
79
61
26
2
1.6
.2
2.2
10.5
6.7
32.3
1.4
10.3
1.6
15.6
12.1
5.1
.4
176
7.9
52?..-..............................................................
56...................................................................
57...................................................................
57*.................................................................
58...................................................................
59...................................................................
60...................................................................
61*..................................................................
62...................................................................
65...................................................................
68...................................................................
43
86
379
724
46
153
123
296
133
73
3
1.9
3.8
17.0
32.4
2.1
6.8
5.5
13.2
6.0
3.3
.1
184
1
54
139
413
887
53
205
131
375
194
99
5
6.7
(a)
2.0
5.1
15.1
32.4
1.9
7.5
4.7
13.7
7.1
3.6
.2
T otal...................................................
505
100.0
2,235
100.0
2,740
100.0
« Less than 0.05 per cent.
The number of piece workers reported far exceeds the number of
employees paid by the day or hour, the percentage being 71.0 for the
former as against 26.8 for the latter. For 2.2 per cent the method
varies or is not reported. Time work predominates among male
employees, however, 345, or 67.7 per cent, being so employed, while
156
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
but 141, or 27.6 per cent, were piece workers. Among females 392, or
17.5 per cent, were time workers and 1,810, or 80.9 per cent, were
piece workers.
Rates of earnings were obtained for but 247 males and 1,316 females
a total of 1,563 employees, or but 56.9 per cent of the number consid
ered in the other tables. The following table shows by sex the num
ber of employees in the various branches of the tobacco industry
whose weekly earnings are reported as equal to the amounts indicated:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN THE TOBACCO IN DU STRY W IT H SPECIFIED W E E K L Y
EARNINGS, B Y SEX AND CLASS OF PRODUCT, 1901.
Cigarette workers.
Cigar workers.
Rates of weekly earnings.
Males.
Under 6 marks ($1.158)...............................
6 to 6.99 marks ($1,158 to $1.349)................
7 to 7.99 marks ($1,351 to $1.542).. 1..........
8 to 8.99 marks ($1,544 to $1.735)................
9 to 9.99 marks ($1,737 to $1.928)...............
10 to 10 99 marks ($1.93 to $2.121)..............
11 to 11.99 marks ($2,123 to $2.314)............
12 to 12.99 marks ($2,316 to $2.507)............
13 to 13.99 marks ($2,509 to $2.70)..............
14 to 14.99 marks ($2,702 to $2.893)............
15 to 17.99 marks ($2,895 to $3.472)............
18 to 20.99 marks ($3,474 to $4.051)............
21 to 23.99 marks ($4,053 to $4.63)..............
24 to 26.99 marks ($4,632 to $5.209)............
27 to 29.99 marks ($5,211 to $5.788)............
30 marks ($5.79) or over.............................
Males.
Females.
Males.
4
i
2
2
8
9
5
5
7
5
2
1
5
6
3
3
3
5
4
5
18
11
4
2
1
4
2
12
31
24
28
24
31
31
30
21
31
17
3
1
3
1
1
1
1
9
11
12
6
46
989
77
286
47
Chewing to
bacco
workers.
Snuff workers.
1
Total.................................................
1
4
3
4
2
1
Carpenters,
watchmen,
messengers,
etc.
2
4
1
1
4
2
4
3
2
1
i
l
1
25
18 |
7
2
1
3
1
1
1
2
2
6
6
3
4'
i
Fe
Fe
Fe
Males. males.
Males. males.
Males. males.
Under 6 marks ($1.158).............................
6 t o 6.99 marks ($1,158 to $1.349)..............
7 to 7.99 marks ($1,351 to $1.542)..............
8 to 8.99 marks ($1,544 to $1.735)..............
9 t o 9.99 marks ($1,737 to $1.928).......... .
10 to 10.99 marks ($1.93 to $2.121)............
11 to 11.99 marks ($2,123 to $2.314)..........
12 to 12.99 marks ($2,316 to $2.507)..........
13 to 13.99 marks ($2,509 to $2.70)............
14 to 14.99 marks ($2,702 to $2.893)..........
15 to 17.99 marks ($2,895 to $3 .472).......
18 to 20.99 marks ($3,474 to $4.051)..........
21 to 23.99 marks ($4,053 to $4.63)............
24 to 26.99 marks ($4,632 to $5.209)..........
27 to 29.99 marks ($5,211 to $5.788)..........
30 marks ($5.79) or o ver............................
Females.
11
29
33
51
71
96
115
146
165
90
149
18
8
2
4
1
2
T otal...................................................
Rates of weekly earnings.
Females.
Smoking tobacco
workers.
3
15
12
3
4
2
4
45
8
15
Total.
Fe
Males. males.
2
3
9
10
9
10
4
7
8.
11
55
50
28
18
10
13
247
17
41
69
76
105
127
152
187
195
112
180
35
11
3
4
2
1,316
More than half (51.2 per cent) of the females reporting receive
from 12 to 17.99 marks ($2,316 to $3,472) per week; while of the
employees reported as receiving 18 marks ($3,474) weekly or over,
119 are males and 55 are females; these numbers representing 48.2
per cent and 4.2 per cent of the two classes, respectively.
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS— FINLAND.
157
T extiles .— The schedules of inquiry as to the textile trades cover
practically the same ground as in the case of tobacco. The investi
gation was made in the summer of 1903, and the detailed data as to
employees relate to those employed at that time, the year 1902 being
the last full year considered.
The number of establishments and employees and the value of
textile products in Finland from 1843 to 1902, inclusive, except for
the years 1877 to 1883, are given. The data indicated are repro
duced below for the ten-year period, 1893 to 1902:
NUMBER
OF
Year.
1893......................
1894......................
1895......................
1896......................
1897......................
T E X T ILE FACTORIES, NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, AND
PRODUCTS, 1893 TO 1902.
Estab Employ
lish
ees.
ments. .
28
27
26
31
29
6,373
6,717
7,259
7,932
8,754
Value of
products.
Year.
$3,714,915
4,405,253
4,812,609
5,495,034
6,014,306
1898......................
1899......................
1900......................
1901......................
1902......................
Estab
lish
ments.
31
41
41
43
40
VALUE
OF
Employ Value of
ees.
products.
9,423
10,770
11; 362
10,570
10,283
$6,339,050
6,454,319
6,685,242
6,303,944
6,217,263
Though the number of establishments was greater in 1901, the
number of employees and the value of products were at their maxi
mum in 1900. Comparing the data for 1902 with those for 1892,
an increase of 42.9 per cent is found in the number of establishments,
of 61.4 per cent in the number of employees, and of 67.4 per cent in
the value of products. Individual production has risen from a value
of 625 marks ($121) per employee in 1843-44 to 3,133 marks ($605)
in 1902, the maximum for the period being 3,590 marks ($693) in
1896. The most marked increase was from 979 marks ($189) for
the five years 1860-1864 to 2,408 marks ($465) for the succeeding
five-year period.
The detailed statistics relate to but 37 establishments and 9,687
employees. Of these establishments, 14 had fewer than 50 employees
each, 8 had from 50 to 99, 10 from 100 to 499, 2 from 500 to 999,
while 3 with 1,000 or more employees each, gave employment to
4,884 persons, or 50.4 per cent of all those engaged in the textile
industry. The total horsepower in use was 16,849.3. The total
number of spindles reported was 274,272, of which 234,48.2 were
employed for the spinning of cotton, 29,584 for wool, and 10,206 for
flax. The weaving of cotton employed 4,341 looms; wool, 863
looms; flax, 284 looms, and silk, 11. Eight-hand looms were also
found in use. The following table shows, by sex and age groups, the
248b— N o * 68—07-----11
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
158
number of employees engaged in the manufacture of these four classes
of textiles in 1903:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES ENGAGED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EACH CLASS OF T E X
TILES, B Y SEX AND AGE GROUPS, 1903.
Males.
i
i
,
Total
Per cent of—
Under 18 years;1 Total Total.
18
years. or over, j 10Tal-
Under 18 years
Total.
18
years. or over.
Industry.
W o o l..
Cotton
F la x ...
S ilk ...
Females.
43
296
111
1
512
1,560
370
2
555
1,856
481
3
244
512
192
3
451
2,444
2,895 j
951
Males.
1,688 ! 1,932 5 2,487
3,422
3,934
5,790
715 !
907
1,388
16 i
19
22
i
5,841 j 6,792
9,687
Fe
males.
22.3
32.1
34.7
13.6
77.7
67.9
65.3
86.4
29.9
70.1
Disregarding the unimportant silk industry, males are found in
increasing proportions in the wool, cotton, and flax industries, in
the order named. In the last-named industry, however, a large
percentage of the males are under 18 years of age, there being 23.1
per cent of such employees in this industry as against 15.9 per cent
and 7.7 per cent of the males employed in the cotton and wool indus
tries, respectively. Children under 18 years of age comprise 14.5
per cent of all textile employees, the percentage of males being 15.6
and of females, 14.0 of the total number of the two sexes, respec
tively.
No attempt is made to present the hours of labor in tabular form.
The number varied from 36 to 70 per week, the majority of estab
lishments requiring more than 60 hours weekly.
A general idea of wages may be gained from the next table, in
which are shown the number of employees earning specified weekly
amounts in the three principal branches of the textile industry.
Earnings of weavers and spinners of cotton are also given separately.
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES OF EACH SEX IN THE COTTON, WOOL, AND F L A X INDUS
TRIES, B Y SPECIFIED W E E K L Y EARNINGS, 1902.
Cotton in
dustry.
j
j!
Wool industry.
Flax industry.
lo ia i.
Rates or weekly earnings.
Fe Males.! Fe Males. Fe
Fe
Males. males.
males.
males. Males. males.
_ J
Under 6 marks ($1.158)................. .
6 to 6.99 marks ($1,158 to $1.349)..,
7 to 7.99 marks ($1,351 to $1.542)..
8 to 8.99 marks ($1,544 to $1.735)..
9 to 9.99 marks ($1,737 to $1.928)..
10 to 10.99 marks ($1.93 to $2,121).
11 to 11.99 marks ($2,123 to $2,314)
12 to 12.99 marks ($2,316 to $2,507)
13 to 13.99 marks ($2,509 to $2.70).
14 to 14.99 marks ($2,702 to $2,893)
15 to 17.99 marks ($2,895 to $3,472)
18 to 20 99 marks ($3,474 to $4,051)
21 to 23.99 marks ($4,053 to $4.63).
24 to 26.99 marks ($4,632 to $5,209)
27 to 29.99 marks ($5,211 to $5,788)
30 marks ($5.79) or over................
T otal.....................................
39
45
100
25
20
26
18
54
39
25
148
108
80
87
20
63
130
168
383
270
332
522
543
665
623
389
544
40
6
1
897
4,616
9
5
8
4
9
13
3
11
18
6
26
24
14 .
7
4
25
91
170
229
174
248
309
110
115
32
66
24
5
2
1
1
186 ! 1,577
!
6
6
16
29
33
24
16
7
6
46
103
13
7
8
6
64
16
68
176
213
188
101
50
13
14
326
903
48
56
114
45
58
72
45
81
64
37
220
235
107
101
32
94
221
402
628
512
756
1,044
841
881
705
468
582
45
8
1
1
1
1,409
7,096
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- FINLAND.
159
NUMBER OF COTTON SPINNERS AND TW ISTERS AND OF COTTON W EAVERS OF EACH
SEX, B Y SPECIFIED W E E K L Y EARNINGS, 1902.
Spinners and
twisters, cotton, (o) Weavers,cotton. («)
Rates of weekly earnings.
Males.
Under 6 marks ($1.158).................
6 to 6.99 marks ($1,158 to $1.349)..
7 to 7.99 marks ($1,351 to $1.542)...
8 to 8.99 marks ($1,544 to $1.735)..
9 to 9.99 marks ($1,737 to $1.928)..
10 to 10.99 marks ($1.93 to $2.121).
11 to 11.99 marks ($2,123 to $2,314)
12 to 12.99 marks ($2,316 to $2,507)
13 to 13.99 marks ($2,509 to $2.70).
14 to 14.99 marks ($2,702 to $2,893)
15 to 17.99 marks ($2,895 to $3,472)
18 to 20.99 marks ($3,474 to $4,051)
21 to 23.99 marks ($4,053 to $4.63).
24 to 26.99 marks ($4,632 to $5.209).
27 to 29.99 marks ($5,211 to $5.788).
30 marks ($5.79) or over................
Females.
Males.
13
19
57
62
69
100
79
92
57
14
15
1
2
1
2
1
7
11
Females.
3
8
10
2
1
92
2,02G
2
3
8
6
8
8
1
11
21
18
8
7
20
94
87
94
103
142
184
286
324
234
427
27
3
1
2
60
T ota l.....................................
577
a Including helpers.
Wage data are given for a considerably greater number of employ
ees than are reported for in other connections, a fact that is noted in
the report, but for which no explanation is offered.
The following summary table shows by wage groups the percentage
of employees of each sex in the three principal industries and in all
textile industries, who earn specified amounts weekly:
PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYEES IN SPECIFIED WAGE GROUPS IN COTTON, WOOL, AND
F L A X INDUSTRIES, AND IN A LL T E X T IL E INDUSTRIES, B Y SEX, 1902.
Cotton indus Wool industry. Flax industry.
try.
Rates of weekly earnings.
Under 6 marks ($1.158)......................
6 to 11.99 marks ($1,158 to $2.314)....
12 to 17.99 marks ($2,316 to $3.472)...
18 marks ($3,474) or over...................
All textile in
dustries.
Fe
Fe
Fe
Fe
Males. males.
Males. males.
Males. males.
Males. males.
4.3
26.1
29.7
39.9
2.8
48.0
48.2
1.0
4.8
22.6
32.8
39.8
5.8
78.6
15.1
.5
35.0
23.0
42.0
80.3
19.7
1.8
19.5
37.7
41.0
3.1
60.3
35.7
.9
From reports from the 7 principal localities, in which are found
more than 90 per cent of all textile employees, it appears that 20 per
cent of the males and 72.2 per cent of the females were paid by the
piece, while 78.7 per cent of the males and 26.7 per cent of the females
were reported as time workers. For the slight remainder the method
either varied or was not reported.
B akery and Confectionery Products.— This volume presents
data for 696 establishments, which gave employment to 2,149 per
sons. These establishments were mostly small, only 68 employing
more than 5 persons each, the largest having 39 employees in 1904.
There were also 275 bakeries in which 339 persons worked, in which
there were no hired employees.
Of the 2,149 employees for whom detailed data are given 290, or
13.5 per cent, were under 18 years of age. Of these, 235 were males
160
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
and 55 were females. The number of adult males was 1,170, and of
females, 678; while for 3 males and 8 females the age was not reported.
The age at which the greater number of males (71.3 per cent) began
work was from 12 to 17 years, while but 20.7 per cent of the females
entered the industry at this age; 65 per cent of the females began
work between the ages of 18 and 29, as against 22.7 per cent of the
males.
Employment in this industry seems much less stable than in those
considered above, 60.9 per cent of the males and 56.9 per cent of the
females having served their present employers not to exceed one year,
while only one person for whom length of service is reported has been
with the present employer more than 20 years.
Hours of labor in 1904 are shown in the table next given:
NUMBER AND TE R CENT OF EM PLOYEES IN B A K E R IES W ORKING TIIE SPECIFIED
NUMBER OF HOURS PER W EE K , B Y SEX, 1904.
Males.
Hours per week.
Females.
Total.
Number. Percent. Number. Percent. Number. Percent.
48 or under..................................................
Over 48, but not over 00.............................
Over 00, but not over 72.............................
Over 72, but not over 84.............................
Over 84, but not over 96.............................
Over 96, but not over 108............... -•..........
Over 108, but not over 120.........................
Over 120........................................................
Not reported...............................................
45
153
377
416
232
99
13
6
67
3.2
10.9
26.8
,29.6
16.5
7.0
.9
.4
4.7-
59
68
143
221
159
57
30
T otal..................................................
1,408
100.0
741
4
8.0
9.2
19.3
29.8
21.5
7.7
.5
4.0
104
221
520
637
391
156
17
6
97
4.8
10.3
24.2
29.6
18.2
7.3
.8
.3
4.5
100.0
2,149
100.0
The hours of labor in bakeries are excessively long, but 39.3 per
cent of the employees having as short a work period as 72 hours per
week, while 26.6 per cent worked more than 84 hours weekly. The
greatest number of hours reported was 125 per week. Night work,
i. e., work between 9 p. m. and 5 a. m., ranging from 7 to 56 hours
weekly, was reported for 733 males and 360 females. Six hundred
and fifty-six males and 86 females worked from 2 to 16 hours on
Sundays.
The largest number of persons employed on Sundays
worked from 4 to 6 hours of the day, though 129 persons worked more
than 10 hours on Sundays.
The methods of payment of w ages and the very considerable insta
bility of employment among bakery employees made the returns for
earnings less reliable than wras the case for tobacco and textile
workers. The following table is reproduced as approximately pre
senting by age groups the conditions as to earnings:
161
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- FINLAND.
PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYEES IN THE B A K E R Y IN DU STRY RECEIVING SPECIFIED
ANNUAL EARNINGS, BY SEX AND AGE GROUPS, 1904.
Percentage receiving annual earnings of—
Employees.
Less than
300 marks
($57.90).
Age.
300 marks
($57.90) or
less than
500 marks
($96.50).
500 marks
($96.50) or
less than
1,000 marks
($193).
1,000 marks
($193) or
over.
Fe Total. Males. Fe Males. Fe Males. Fe
Males. males.
males.
males.
males. Male3-m«?ea.
233
710
177
41
6
3
53
468
58
4
4
6
286
1,178
235
45
10
9
Total................... 1,170
593
1,763
Under 18.......................
18 or under 30..............
30 or under 45..............
45 or under 60..............
COor over.....................
Not reported............. .
3.0
.3
2.4
.8 j
17.0
4.1
6.9
32.6
4.5
25.6
33.3
33.3
5.9
9.4
2.4
41.5
25.6
19.0
50.0
75.0
64.4
63.1
40.1
36.6
06.7
66.7
41.5
69.7
70.7
50.0
26.6
59.0
66.7
66.7
32.1
59.9
58.6
33.3
0.6
3.4
30.8
.8
FRANCE.
Rapport sur VApprentissage dans les Industries de VAmeublement.
Office du Travail, Ministere du Commerce, de l'lndustrie, des
Postes, et des Telegraphes. 1905. xxiii, 655 pp.
This volume presents the results of an investigation made in 1903-4,
of apprenticeship in the furniture industry, and is the second of a
series of reports on the subject of apprenticeship in certain industries
in France, the first having contained a report on apprenticeship in
the printing and lithographing trades. The report is in three parts,
the first of which records the development of the furniture trades and
of the methods of apprenticeship in use therein from time to time,
including the introduction of the system of technical instruction
which has so largely succeeded the old system of apprenticeship.
The second part discusses the scope and methods of the investigation
on which the present report was based, and presents a summary of
the results. In the third part are given a number of tables, sum
maries of opinions of employers’ and employees’ associations, brief
accounts of schools and courses giving technical training in the
branches of industry considered, forms of rules and contracts gov
erning apprenticeship at different periods, etc.
The report relates to about one-fifth of the entire number of persons
employed in the industries investigated, a larger proportion than this
having been included in the returns for the department of the Seine, in
which Paris is situated, while for the more remote districts the returns
covered a smaller proportion. Contrary to the rule prevailing in the
printing trades, the larger establishments were found to be located at
some distance from Paris, on account of the lower cost of labor.
The census of March 24, 1901, reported 37,956 persons engaged in
the furniture industry proper in 7,337 establishments. Including
specialists, such as makers of chairs and armchairs, wood carvers,
veneerers, inlayers, etc., the total number of persons employed in
162
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
the furniture and related industries amounts to approximately
52,000 and the number of establishments to 10,300. Of these, 3,000
establishments, employing 18,000 persons, are in the department of
the Seine.
The investigation of 1903-4 was carried on through the mail,
nearly 6,2p0 schedules being sent out and about 1,000 responses
received. The final compilation of data was made up from 689 sched
ules, the others received having been rejected as reporting neither
apprentices nor hired employees. The 689 establishments accounted
for in these schedules employed 9,426 persons, of both sexes, of whom
926 were apprentices and 8,500 ranked as journeymen. The number
of females employed was 841, of whom 22 were apprentices. The
proportion of female employees (somewhat less than 9 per cent) does
not seem to be increasing in this industry.
The common complaint of an excessive number of apprentices,
taken on at low rates in order to save payment of wages, was not
found to be warranted by the facts. Not more than 10 per cent of
the employees were of the apprentice grade, and this proportion
seems to have been practically the same for 40 or 50 years past.
Only 294 establishments reported the use of any form of contract.
Of those using contracts 265 stated that the contract was merely
verbal, 20 that it was in writing, and 9 failed to indicate the form in
use. The length of the term of apprenticeship was reported for 375
establishments, in 280 of which the term was 3 years, the period
ranging from 1 to .6 years in the other instances. Summing up all
the reports received, it appears that approximately three-fourths of
all apprentices serve out their terms.
During the first half of the last century written contracts contin
ued to retain a considerable degree of favor. In Paris, in 1847, about
one-fourth the apprentices were under such contracts, but in 1903-4
the proportion was hardly 5 per cent of the total. Under the old
system an apprentice paid for instruction, either in money or by
services rendered after such skill had been acquired as would render
them of value, and the written contract was necessary to secure the
performance of the stipulated obligations. At the present time no
payment is made for instruction, and the apprentice receives pay for
whatever work of value he performs. Neither party wishes to be
bound to the other for a longer term than their apparent immediate
interests shall require; and, though the term of apprenticeship is in
general but 3 years, as compared with 4 to 6 years under the old
regime, this period is in many cases reduced almost one-half. The
practice of taking the apprentice into the home of his master or of
making the latter responsible for his board and lodging is almost
entirely discontinued.
The fathers of 280 apprentices were themselves engaged in the
furniture industry, the fathers of 129 being employees in the same
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS— FRANCE.
163
shops in which their children were serving apprenticeships. The
fathers of 555 apprentices were of other trades, and for 91 the trade
of the fathers was not reported. Before entering apprenticeship 21
apprentices had been in attendance at trade schools, 23 had pursued
trade courses, and 110 had received training in some form of manual
work; 466 pursued technical courses during their terms of apprentice
ship.
For the ten-year period, 1894 to 1903, an account is given of 3,554
persons who served apprenticeships within that time with the estab
lishments making returns. Of these 992 have remained continu
ously in the employment of the establishment where they received
their training and 601 returned to service after having quitted it
for a time, 421 remained not more than 1 year, 458 more than 1
year but not more than 2 years, 456 from 2 to 5 years, and 237 more
than 5 years. For 389 the length of service is not reported. Of the
8,500 journeymen working men and women employed at the time of
this investigation, 1,608 were reported as having served their appren
ticeship with their present employer, 6,577 as having been trained
elsewhere, while for 315 the place of training was not reported.
In the following table are shown by age groups and principal occu
pations the wages of employees in the furniture industry, classified
by place of training, whether with their present employers or else
where :
AVERAGE D A ILY WAGES OF EM PLOYEES IN THE FU RNITURE INDUSTRY, BY AGE
GROUPS, OCCUPATIONS, AND PLACE OF TRAINING, 1903.
12 or under 18 years
of age.
Occupation.
18 or under 25 years
of age.
Appren
Appren
ticed in
ticed in
Trained
Trained
same
same
establish elsewhere. establish elsewhere.
ment.
ment.
25 or under 45 years
of age.
Appren
ticed in
same
establish
ment.
Trained
elsewhere.
Aver
Aver
Aver
Aver
Aver
Aver
age No. age No. age No. age No. age
age
No. daily
daily
daily
daily No. daily
daily
wages.
wages.
wages.
wages.
wages.
wages.
Foremen and draftsmen........
Forewomen..............................
Cabinetmakers........................ 29
Joiners...................................... 11
W ood carvers.......................... 23
Molding workers..................... d 10
Gilders:
Males.................................. 16
Females.............................
15
Upholsterers:
8
Ma’es..................................
Females.............................
10
Cane and straw workers:
11
Females.............................
Other employees:
1
Males..................................
12
Females.............................
3
$0.23
2
.92 151
.48 56
.95 73
47
$0.87
15
1
.72 287
.91 86
1.03 107
.89 47
$1.15
25
1
.77
1.02 ol74
1.06 102
1.44
86
1.05 «131
$1.49
148
9
.68
.93 61,395
.86
417
1.24 c550
.93
276
$2.00
1.10
1.37
1.35
1.72
1.20
$0.56
.47
.92
.57
19
3
5
.45
.41
3
2
.84
.39
23
22
.80
.63
29
13
1.13
.67
84
17
.78
.66
153
25
1.33
1.08
.76
.47
6
3
.75
.39
70
31
.97
.48
94
67
3.02
.56
61
35
1.41
.52
518
225
1.63
.67
.45
1
.29
6
.55
10
.88
4
.40
38
.35
.48
.26
3
.31
16
9
.95
.41
43
3
1.05
.68
14
2
1.06
.46
231
14
1.21
.64
a Including 4 females, earning $0.29 per day.
6 Including 1 female, earning $0.77 per day.
c Including 1 female, earning $0.68 per day.
d Including 1 female, earning I0.4S per day.
t Including 1 female, earning $0.39 per day.
164
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
A V E R AG E D A IL Y W AGES OF EM PLOYEES IN THE FU R NITU R E IN DU STRY. B Y AGE
GROUPS, OCCUPATIONS, AND PLACE OF TR AIN IN G , 1903—Concluded.
45 or under 65 years
of age.
Occupation.
65 years of age or
over.
Age not reported.
Appren
Appren
Appren
ticed in
ticed in
ticed in
Trained
Trained
same
same
same
establish elsewhere. establish elsewhere. establish
ment.
ment.
ment.
Trained
elsewhere.
Total.
Aver
Aver
Aver
Aver
Aver
Aver
Aver
age No. age No. age No. age No. age No.
age
age
No. daily
daily
daily
daily
daily
daily No. daily
wages.
wages.
wages.
wages.
wages.
wages.
wages.
F o r e m e n and
draftsmen.........
Forewomen..........
Cabinetmakers...
Joiners..................
W ood carvers___
Molding workers.
Gilders:
Maies..............
Females.........
Upholsterers:
Males..............
Females.........
Cane and straw
workers:
Females.........
Other employees:
Males..............
Females.........
6
1
23
15
11
53
$1.29
.97
.80
.91
.84
.76
83
5
598
143
101
102
9
4
.79
.42
42
14
9
4
$1.98
1.10
1.33i 5
1 23| 4
1.7*
1.18 1 3
I
2
1.42
$0.52
.69
.99
.87
.64
1.48 160
.61 116
1.83
.69
6
.32
1
1.25
4
$1.72
50
24
14
10
.97
1.02
1.2f
.84
15
2
$6.74
12
.91
8
2!
i
10i
17;
1.20
2
.77
10
2
4
4
1.24
.48
2
.77
.72
1.69
.74
288
17
i.08 2,883
.73
879
1.10
991
1.19
726
$1.85
1.05
1.23
1.17
1.54
1.0 T
1.09
.19
381
116
1.10
.68
19
9
1.29
.58
960
521
1.52
.63
3
.29
79
.44
47
.66
462
45
1.09
.47
137
16
21
35
$1.93
!
6
1.13
89
5
1.13
.52
i .............
1
I
i
. 39 111
.85
___
i
-i
In the greater number of cases the wages of employees who have
served apprenticeships with their present employers do not equal
those of employees of like age who were trained elsewhere. From this
fact it may be inferred that a more varied training than is likely to be
secured in a single establishment is desirable and profitable.
A number of schools or courses have been organized with a view to
the training of young people for efficiency in the trades of the furni
ture industry, some as a result of private initiative, and others by the
action of the State or of a commune. In these theory and practice
may be given together with a measure of elementary instruction; or
the instruction may be mainly theoretical, given at such times of the
day or week as to be available to young people employed in the shops,
and designed to supplement the practical training received therein.
The latter form is favored for a variety of reasons, partly because of
the smaller cost of maintenance and the ease with which a consider
able variety of courses can be provided for; but more because such
instruction, given mainly in the evening, is open to apprentices who
are at work for wages during the day, and who are in need of this theo
retical complement to their shop training, especially in view of the
tendency toward specialization.
The public schools offer training belonging properly to the first
class, industrial and general elementary education each receiving a
degree of attention, while schools and courses organized by em ployed
and workmen’s associations generally fall within the second class.
Pupils are mostly from 13 to 18 years of age, those above the latter
age being very few. In schools offering both theory and practice the
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- FRANCE.
165
amount of time devoted to each is nearly equal, except in the schools
designated as primary superior trade schools, in which little time is
given to manual training. Where the amounts vary through the
different years of the courses theoretical work predominates during
the first years and practical work toward the close of the course.
As to the question of the decline of apprenticeship, employers and
workmen were agreed, such decadence having been made a matter of
investigation more than 30 years ago. The decline has probably been
accentuated of late years on account of depression in the furniture
industry. This reason is particularly operative in cabinetmaking,
where there has been a scarcity of employment for the existing num
ber of workmen.
The most general cause of the decline is agreed to be the growth of
the custom of the parents of apprentices demanding compensation for
their services before the expiration of the usual term of apprenticeship.
This demand leads to the practice of employing the apprentice as a
workman or making him a specialist in some single operation in order
that he may render services of greater market value to his master to
offset the wage payment that is required. Other causes of the decline
are the breaking off of the contract of apprenticeship, the apprentice
being encouraged thereto by his parents, and sometimes even by
unscrupulous employers who seek^he services at a moderate compen
sation of partly trained apprentices, thus depriving the first master of
Ills rightfully anticipated benefits from the services of his apprentice
during the more profitable portion of his term; the lack of control
over apprentices who leave prematurely and go elsewhere to offer their
services as workmen, etc. On the other hand, there are incompetent
masters who can not give the necessary training, as well as those who
try to keep their apprentices on a single class of work as a matter of
profit rather than pay reasonable wages for a trained workman.
The effect of the introduction of machinery and the consequent
disappearance 6f certain classes of workmen can not be overlooked,
inasmuch as it affects apprenticeship both by making unnecessary in
certain processes the employment of labor trained by long experience
and by leading to the use of classes of appliances which persons
under 16 years of age are forbidden by law’ to operate. The employ
ment of alien labor, especially in Paris and in certain frontier cities,
is also mentioned as affecting apprenticeship unfavorably.
The enactment' of other statutes for the protection of labor has
operated in a similar manner. Thus the law that limits the employ
ment of children under 18 years of age to 10 hours per day fixes the
same period for the day’s work of adults employed in the same shops,
which has led to the discharge of the young workmen, so as to relieve
the shop from the application of the law. Another law requires
accident insurance to be carried by employers using mechanically
propelled machinery, and as the premium is reckoned by the number
166
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
of employees the services of the less profitable apprentice are dis
pensed with for the sake of a saving in premiums.
It is the general consensus of opinion that skilled workmanship is
not declining, however, in spite of the decadence of apprenticeship.
Of 415 replies from employers more than two-thirds spoke of the
standard of workmanship as improving, about one-fifth stating that
it was stationary, and the opinions of persons of other classes in the
industry are in agreement.
The chief criticism on present conditions appears to be the insuffi
ciency of elementary education, not only among the apprentices but
also among the pupils in the professional or trade schools, where such
insufficiency is found to be an obstacle to progress in technical education.
As already indicated, the preference of the majority of those con
sulted is for a mixed system of training that gives the young work
man an opportunity to receive such theoretical training in evening
schools or courses as will supplement the manual training of the shop.
Another point made in favor of the technical supplementary courses
was that in the professional or trade schools the instructors were too
far removed from actual trade conditions and progress, and conse
quently the training lacked in applicability to current conditions.
General remedial measures favored by employers and workmen
alike were, first, the return to the use of a contract of apprenticeship,
due regard being had to the rights of both parties, with special pro
visions for the supervision of the apprentice and a testing of his
actual attainments at the completion of his term, and, secondly, the
more complete establishment of supplementary professional courses,
attendance on which should be obligatory at times. The restriction
of the number of apprentices was recommended by some employers
and by certain workmen's associations.
Employers generally desire a modification of the law regulating
the hours of labor of children, so that adult workmen may be employed
beyond the 10-hour limit prescribed for persons under 18 years of
age. They also ask for protection against the competition of shops
whose output is disposed of by peddling and of the department
store, such competition tending to increase the periods of unemploy
ment .among their workmen and to hinder the training of apprentices.
Others recommended that manual training courses be extended in
the elementary schools in order to test and develop the abilities of
the child and to enable the parent to learn his aptitudes and to guide
him more wisely in the choice of a trade.
L' Enseignement Professionnel. Mimstere du Commerce, de PIndustrie,
des Postes et des Telegraphes. Conseil Superieur du Travail.
1905. 159 pp.
At a meeting of the superior council of labor, held in 1901, a perma
nent commission was appointed for the purpose of investigating the
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- FRANCE.
167
subject o f industrial education and training, with special reference to
the question of apprenticeship. The present volume contains ex
tracts from the minutes of the various sessions and a report of the rec
ommendations of this commission, together with an account of the
proceedings and conclusions of various official and unofficial bodies
which had had the same subject under consideration.
In prosecuting its investigation the permanent commission sent out
schedules of inquiry to the different trade and industrial schools of
France, by which means information was obtained as to the courses
of training, cost to the pupil, form of support, if any, of the school,
number of pupils in attendance, time devoted to the work of the
school, etc. This information is given in detail for each of 5 national
schools of arts and trades, 4 national trade schools, 15 practical schools
of industry, 29 schools of commerce and industry (industrial sections),
13 trade schools of the city of Paris, 2 national schools of watchmaking,
18 schools classed as primary superior trade schools, 35 unclassified
establishments, and 19 schools under the care of the Brothers of the
Christian Schools, making a total of 140 schools in which training was
given in 1903 in one or more branches of industry. There were be
sides the above 241 establishments or courses in which instruction
was given in technical and industrial lines. The information relative
to the latter group is for the year 1904. No summaries are given for
either class of establishments.
The lines of action of the permanent commission are indicated in a
series of resolutions adopted by the superior council of labor at its
session of November, 1902. These resolutions, in so far as they relate
to the subject of industrial training, are to the effect that a form of
trade instruction, adapted to individual preferences and circum
stances, should be given to each young person under 18 years of age,
so that he or she may not be compelled to remain always an unskilled
worker; that the instruction, both theoretical and practical, should
be free; that the supervision of young persons receiving such instruc
tion should be provided for on the same basis as is that of apprentices.
Instruction might be given in the workshops, but should be given in
appropriate trade schools and courses if it can not be provided for in
the shops, or if the employer is not willing to accept the responsi
bility. Finally the permanent commission, taking into consideration
both the necessary measures relative to apprenticeship proper and
the requirements of the trade schools and courses, should work out in
detail a project for the organization, direction, and supervision of
trade instruction.
In accordance with these resolutions a bill was drafted, based
mainly on a measure offered by the superior council of trade instruc
tion, and by it presented to the superior council of labor. This bill
would provide for trade or finishing courses for apprentices, work
168
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR;
men, and employees in commercial and industrial undertakings, such
courses to be certified to in the office of the mayor of the locality
within which they are offered. Attendance would be obligatory on
persons under 18 years of age who are employed in commerce or indus
try, whether with or without contracts of apprenticeship. Tuition
would be free, and employers should allow time for attendance on the
courses during the regular working day, not to exceed 8 hours per
week, or 2 hours in a single day. Pupils should be excused from com
pulsory attendance, either on passing an examination, on proof of 3
years’ attendance on the course, or on a showing, after at least 1 years’
attendance, that they are unable to profit by further attendance on the
course.
Further details of the proposed law are shown in full in the report,
but the above are the principal features. So far as appears, it has
not as yet been made a subject of legislative consideration.
SW ED EN .
TJndersokning a f den mekanisTca verkstadsindustrien i Sverige. II.
Mindre, egentliga mekaniska verkstader samt vissa specialverkstader, m. m. P k uppdrag af kungl. kommerskollegium verkstalld
af Henning Elmquist. 1904. 472 pp.
In 1901 the royal board of trade of Sweden issued a report* on the
conditions of labor in the larger establishments of that country which
were engaged in the manufacture of machinery and implements of
various kinds, a digest of which appeared in Bulletin 44 of the United
States Bureau of Labor. The present volume presents data for estab
lishments of similar nature, but includes also smaller machine shops
or factories, together with reports on beneficial and relief societies
for employees, and appendixes giving wages and a discussion of
industrial conditions for a number of years.
The investigation on which this report is based was made in the
years 1901 and 1902, and does not include the establishments reported
on in the earlier volume. The following table gives the number of
establishments reported on, the number of employees for eacli year
from 1899 to 1901, and the value of products in 1901:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN 106 ESTABLISHMENTS FOR THE YEARS 1890 TO 1901, AND
VALUE OF PRODUCTS IN 1901, BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES PER ESTABLISHMENT.
Employees per establishment, (a)
. Estab
lish
ments.
Employees in—
1899.
1900.
1901.
Value of
products,
1901.
Under 100 persons...................................................
100 to 300 persons....................................................
301 to 600 persons....................................................
Oyer 600 persons............. .......................................
70
28
4
4
4,309
4,600
1,168
2,827
3,910
4,695
1,487
3,062
3,606
3,988
1,347
2,973
$2,442,969
3,290,334
1,394,420
3,609,311
Total......................................... ....................
106
12,904
13,044
11,914
10,637,034
« Based on the returns for the year 1900.
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS— SWEDEN,
169
Detailed statistics as to employees relate to but 11,147 persons.
Their distribution by classes of industries and by occupations is
shown in the following table:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN EACH OCCUPATION IN MACHINE AND IMPLEMENT FAC
TORIES, BY CLASS OF MANUFACTURES, 1901.
Class of manufactures.
Occupation.
Estab
lish
Found Forge- Black Tin and
ments. Fore
men. rymen. men. smiths. j30jger
32
2
Electrical machinery and apparatus.........................
Dairy machinery.; .......................................................
Bicycles, sewing-and knitting machines.....................
Motors, special machinery, firearms, etc....................
Agricultural implements and unclassified products.. .
7
4
6
17
72
50
28
13
65
202
73
34
2
107
1,482
40
37
18
84
651
10
505
86
1
3
20
Total...................................................................
106
358
1,608
830
540
110
Occupation.
i!
Class of manufactures.
Ma
chin
ists.
Car
pen
ters.
Paint
ers.
Engi
neers
and
fire
men.
Other
em
ploy Total.
ees.
1,482
796
270
1,018
2,244
213
48
5
. 79
475
48
44
13
12
71
17
11
6
22
60
105
116
30
85
323
2,060
1,202
358
Total...................................................................
5,810
820
188
125
650
11,147
11
Electrical machinery and apparatus...........................
Dairy machinery..........................................................
Bicycles, sewing, and knitting machines....................
Motors, special machinery, firearms, etc...................
Agricultural implements and unclassified products..
Of the 11,147 employees included in the foregoing table, the ages
were reported for 11,110, as follows: One hundred and forty-eight
were under 12 years of age; 4,795 were 12 but under 18; 3,332 were 18
but under 25; and 2,835 were 25 years of age or over.
The weekly hours of labor were reported by both employers and
employee^, by the former for 10,735 persons, and b y the latter for
10,752 persons. The results of all returns are shown in the table
below:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN MACHINE AND IMPLEMENT FACTORIES, BY HOURS OF
LABOR PER WEEK, 1901.
Employers’ report. Employees’ report.
Hours per week.
Number. Per cent. Number. Percent.
Under 54 hours...........................................................................
54 or under 57 hours................................................................. .
57 or uncbr 60 hours...................................................................
60 or under 63 hours.......................... *.......................................
63 or under 66 hours...................................................................
66 hours or over....... ................................................................
588
2,442
3,704
2,777
956
178
5.5
22.7
35.3
25.0
8.0
1.7
1,704
1,340
3,500
3,304
517
378
15.0
12.5
32.6
30.7
4.8
3.5
Total.................................................................................
10,735
100.0
10,752
100.0
The differences between the data furnished by the employers and
by the employees are accounted for in part by the fact th at not all
the employers reported on this subject, so th at the returns are not
in all instances for identical employees, and in part by the fact that
170
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
the reports of employers generally gave the standard working time
o f the establishment without regard to variations in exceptional
cases or groups of workmen. The actual differences are not great,
however, as appears from com bining the six groups into three.
Thus the employers report 28.2 per cent of the employees as working
less than 57 hours per week, 61.2 per cent as working 57 or less than
63 hours weekly, and 10.6 per cent as working 63 hours or m ore; while
according to the employees’ returns the corresponding percentages
are 28.4,63.3, and 8.3, respectively.
W age statistics were obtained for 6,134 workmen employed in 84
establishments. The follow ing table shows the number of employees,
by occupation, classified in five groups on the basis of annual earnings:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN MACHINE AND IMPLEMENT FACTORIES, BY CLASSIFIED
ANNUAL EARNINGS AND BY OCCUPATIONS, 1901.
Employees whose annual earnings were—
Occupation.
($214) 1,200 kr.($332)
kr. ($134) 800 kr.
Under 500 kr. 500
under
or under
1,500 kr.
or under 800 or
(1134).
1,200 kr.
1,500 kr.
($402) or over.
kr. ($214).
($332).
($402).
Num Per Num Per Num- 1 Per Num
ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber.
Foremen.................................
Founders................................
Core makers...........................
Founders’ helpers..................
Foundry workers, other........
Blacksmiths...........................
Blacksmiths’ helpers.............
Boilermakers.........................
Boiler makers’ helpers............
Boiler shop workers, others...
Tin and copper smiths...........
Engine fitters.........................
Filers.......................................
Setters-up.............................
Lathe hands...........................
Planers, turners, and borers .
Polishers and grinders...........
Machinists’ helpers................
Machine shop workers, other.
Metal workers........................
Electrical workers..................
Patternmakers......................
Cabinetmakers___ '................
Carpenters..............................
Wood workers, other.............
Painters..................................
Engineers and firemen...........
Other employees....................
Total.............................
14
56
37
4
4
38
3
20
2.7
57.7
20.7
6.5
1.6
26.8
3.1
24.7
28
2.7
24 2.7
25 6.4
2 3.6
129 45.4
6 1.9
3 2.5
6 2.8
7 3.3
20 13.8
7 7.6
5 7.3
36 11.6
474
7.7
4
90
26
93
30
51
81
33
51
4
5
2.2
17.3
26.8
52.0
48.4
20.6
57.0
33.6
63.0
11.4
6.7
203
15
146
55
7
93
41
22
46
41
6
9
29
14
12
103
io.8
12.7
16.4
14.2
12.5
32.7
13.1
18.0
21.4
19.2
5.3
29.0
20.0
15.2
17.4
33.3
54
353
14
36
26
137
17
52
10
28
11
28
474
37
392
167
19
40
130
55
90
128
32
12
63
25
34
113
29.5
68.0
14.5
20.1
41.9
55.2
12.0
53,1
12.3
80.0
14.7
82.4
46.2
31.4
44.1
43.0
33.9
14.1
41.7
45.1
41.8
60.1
28.6
38.7
43.4
27.2
49.3
36.6
2
12
5
219
28
179
103
16
13
83
23
29
34
57
6
20
19
9
33
1,310 21.4
2,577
42.0
1,067
Bidrag till Sveriges OffieieUa Statistik.
Per Num
cent. ber.
69 37.7
46 8.9
1 1.0
9 5.0
1 1.6
37 14.9
5 3.5
9 9.2
cent.
56
16
30.6
3.1
4
1
19
1
1
2.2
1.6
7.7
.7
1.0
5.7
16.0
14.7
21.3
23.7
20.2
26.6
28.6
4.6
26.6
18.8
13.5
16.0
50.9
19.4
13.8
20.7
13.0
10.7
i
47
1
103
38
147
38
12
9
52
19
44
3
17
4
13
27
9
24
2.9
62.7
2.9
10.0
32.2
16.6
9.8
21.4
3.2
16.7
15.6
20.5
1.4
15.2
12.9
9.0
29.3
13.0
7.8
17.4
706
11.5
'Fabriker och Handtverk.
Kommerskollegii underd&niga berattelse for Ar 1903.
xxxi, 116 pp.
This volume is one o f a series o f reports issued by the commercial
section o f the Royal Board o f Trade on the industry and commerce of
Sweden. Much the larger part of the work is devoted to the subject
o f manufactures, that o f trades or manual professions occupying but
a few pages. The tables present the statistics o f both subjects b y
kinds o f establishments or trades, by groups, and by localities.
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS— SWEDEN,
171
Though industrial statistics have been collected in Sweden since
1831, it is only since 1896 that they have been sufficiently complete to
furnish an accurate statement of the conditions of manufactures in
that country. The following table shows the number of establish
ments and of employees and the value of products for each year
from 1896 to 1903, inclusive:
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS AND OF EMPLOYEES AND VALUE OF PRODUCTS
IN M ANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, 1896 TO 1903.
Year.
1896.....................
1897....................
1898....................
1899....................
Estab
lish
ments.
8,812
8,974
10,029
10,364
Estab
lish
ments.
Employ
ees.
Value of
products.
Year.
202,293
220,202
245,720
257,526
$185,750,341
210,190,703
238,156,789
254,758,456
1900...................
1901...................
1902...................
1903...................
Employ
ees.
10,549
10,904
10,978
11,588
265,479
262,229
263,244
271,157
Value of
products.
$280,126,376
275,034,843
282,633,446
a 299,455,519
a This does not agree with the total for 1903 given in the table following, because the original figures for
this table are given in francs and in round numbers, while those for the table following are given in
kroner. In the original report the conversions from kroner to francs were made on the basis of
1 kr.=1.39fr., while according to the conversion tables used in the Bureau of Labor 1 kr.=1.3886 fr.
This table indicates a constant growth from year to year in the
number of establishments, and, with the single exception of the year
1901, in number of employees and value of products; the number of
employees was not so large in 1902, however, as it was in 1900.
In the commercial statistics of the country, exports and imports
are classified under 12 heads, and this report groups the manufactures
on the same basis. The table next given shows the number of estab
lishments, the number of employees by sex and age, and the value of
products for each industrial group for the year 1903:
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS, NUMBER OF EM PLOYEES B Y SEX AND AGE
GROUPS, AND VALUE OF PRODUCTS IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, 1903.
Employees.
Class of manufactures
Under 18
Estab
18 years of
lish years of age. age or over.
ments.
Total.
Fe Males.
Fe
Males. males.
males.
1
Food products, including tobacco and bev
erages......................... : ................................. 3,843 1,253
803 2,572
Textiles and clothing.....................................
585
669
Hides, leather, and hair.................................
209
267
Oils, gums, e tc..........................................
Lumber and wood products.......................... 1,948 10,614
182
871
Paper and paper g oods..................................
35
Cork and straw goods and baskets..............
48
Clay, glass, and stone products, including
gas and charcoal.......................................... 1,612 4,341
287
148
Chemical products..........................................
Metals and metal products............................
902 3,681
Machinery and implements...........................
685 2,614
Printing, publishing, and miscellaneous___
497 1,595
1,089
5,322
487
344
1,173
893
45
654
96
364
111
381
Value of
products.
23,633 6,582
10,019 20,097
4,617 1,702
1,391
987
54,672 2,854
5,360 2,003
296
225
32,557
38,010
7,475
2,989
69,313
9,127
614
$95,128,633
38,672,940
9,162,765
6,412,418
66,571,876
9,615,993
502,347
39,025
2,081
17,323
27,986
5,557
45,557
2,870
22,784
31,179
8,682
18,806,531
5,469,318
20,316,135
22,426,651
6,068,459
1,537
545
1,416
468
1,149
T otal....................................................... 11,588 28,673 10,959 191,960 39,565 271,157 a 299,154,066
a This does not agree with the amount given for 1903 In the preceding table, because the original figures
for this table are given in kroner, while those for the preceding table are given in francs and in round
numbers. In the original report the conversions from kroner to francs were made on the basis of
1 kr.=1.39 fr., while according to the conversion tables used in the Bureau of Labor 1 kr.=1.3886 fr.
172
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The class containing the greatest number of establishments is that
representing the manufacture of food products, etc., the number
being nearly double that of the next largest class, in which the man
ufacture of lumber and wood products is carried on. These two
groups together produced 54 per cent of all manufactures reported
for the year 1903. The first group contains many small establish
ments, the average number of employees per establishment being
but 8. The largest number per establishment is found in the manu
facture of paper and paper goods, where 50 is the average. In the
last-named group is also to be found the highest average value of
products, 197,146 kroner ($52,835) per establishment, the next highest
being that of textiles and clothing, with an average of 179,704 kroner
($48,161) per establishment for the year 1903.
Males comprised 81.37 per cent of the total number of employees
and females 18.63 per cent. The males under 18 years of age comprised 10.58 per cent of all employees and the females under 18 years
4.04 per cent, the whole number of persons under 18 years of age
being 14.62 per cent of all employees.
The data as to trades or manual professions do not include domi
ciliary employments, but are restricted to shop as opposed to factory
industries. The same classification is used as in the case of manu
factures. The number of independent work people reported is
53,077, of whom 50,371 were males and 2,706 females. These per
sons employed as assistants or shop workers 42,578 males and 5,163
females, a total of 47,741. Thus, but 7.81 per cent of the 100,818
persons in this industrial class were females. The value of products
was not given.
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL ON (iTJESTIONS AFFECT
ING LABOR.
[It is one of the duties of the Attorney-General of the U nited States to furnish
opinions advising the President and the heads of the E xecu tive Departments in rela
tion to their official duties when such advice is requested.
Opinions on questions
affecting labor w ill be noted from tim e to tim e under the above head.]
Contract L abor — Skilled L aborers — R ailroad T rack
H ands .—Advance Sheets, 26 Op., page
.— The Secretary of Com
42
merce and Labor, in August, 1906, addressed an inquiry to the
Attorney-General as follows:
1. Are ordinary hands commonly employed in the construction
and maintenance of the tracks of railroads “ skilled” laborers within
the meaning of the term as used in section 2 of the immigration act
of March 3, 1903?
2. If they are not skilled laborers, can such laborers be imported
into this country under contract in any event ?
In his reply, Charles H. Robb, Acting Attorney-General, first
reviewed the original act of 1885 on the subject of contract labor, the
applicable portions of which are as follows:
Section 1. From and after the passage of this act it shall be
unlawful for any person, company, partnership, or corporation, in
any manner whatsoever, to prepay the transportation, or in any
way assist or encourage the importation or migration of any alien or
aliens, any foreigner or foreigners, into the United States, its Terri
tories, or the District of Columbia, under contract or agreement,
parol or special, express or implied, made previous to the importation
or migration of such alien or aliens, foreigner or foreigners, to perform
'labor or service of any kind in the United States, its Territories, or the
District of Columbia.
S e c . 5. *
* * nor shall this act be so construed as to prevent
any person, or persons, partnership, or corporation from engaging,
under contract or agreement, skilled workmen in foreign countries to
perform labor in the United States in or upon any new industry not
at present established in the United States: Provided, That skilled
labor for that purpose can not be otherwise obtained.
Mr. Robb then said:
It was not questioned in either House that the law was designed
to exclude and did exclude skilled as well as unskilled contract labor
ers. A careful analysis of the act and an examination of the debates
and reports in Congress relative thereto lead to the conclusion that
it was intended to draw a distinction between common unskilled
labor and skilled labor. Did the language used in the act effectuate
the intent of Congress? And if not, has subsequent legislation
removed any doubt that may have been entertained as to the meaning
of the original act ?
248 b — N o. 88— 07-------12
173
174
BULLETIN OE THE BUREAU OE LABOR.
The Supreme Court evidently thought the act divided labor into two
classes, for the court intimated in the Holy Trinity Church case (143
U. S., 457) and in the Laws case (163 U. S., 258) that the act was
intended to apply only to “ unskilled labor.” That question, how
ever, was not before the court in either case.
In the Trinity Church case the question decided was that Congress
in the enactment of this law, did not have in mind “ any purpose of
staying the coming into this country of ministers of the gospel, or
indeed of any class whose toil is that of the brain.” And in the Laws
case the decision of the court was that an alien chemist belonged to
a recognized profession, and therefore was specifically exempt from
the operation of the statute.
Subsequently the subject again engaged the attention of Congress,
and the act of March 3, 1903 (32 Stat., 1213) resulted.
Section 2 of that act provides, inter alia, that skilled labor may b®
imported if labor ot like kind unemployed can not be found in this
country.
Section 4 provides:
“ That it shall be unlawful for any person, company, partnership,
or corporation, in any manner whatsoever, to prepay the transporta
tion or in any way to assist or encourage the importation or migration
of any alien into the United States, in pursuance of any offer, solicita
tion, promise, or agreement, parol or special, express or implied,
made previous to the importation of such alien to perform labor or
service of any kind, skilled or unskilled, in the United States.”
The words “ skilled or unskilled,” it will be seen, do not appear in
the corresponding section of the original act. Their insertion,
especially after the language used by the court in the two cases above
referred to, is significant and controlling as to the intent of Congress.
%
*
Sfc
*
*
Jfc
The skilled laborer is, as a rule, far more intelligent and independent
than the unskilled laborer. It would be practically impossible for
contractors and foreign agents to get together and control a large
number of intelligent, skilled artisans, while no difficulty would be
experienced in contracting abroad for large numbers of ignorant and
servile unskilled laborers. It is probable experience demonstrated
that very few skilled laborers were brought to this country under the
provisions of section 5 of the act of 1885. For this reason when the
law came to be amended in 1903 it was not deemed necessary to limit
the exception to its operation to new industries, as was the case in the
original act. In other words, Congress, recognizing the vast differ
ence between skilled and unskilled labor, concluded that it might
with perfect safety permit skilled labor to be imported in all cases
where “ labor of like kind unemployed could not be found in this
country.”
But no such exception was made in favor of the
importation of unskilled labor. Indeed, to rule otherwise would, in
effect, nullify the whole law.
The act was designed and intended for the protection and security
of the American laborer, whose welfare every patriotic citizen is
bound to promote. Laws designed for his benefit should, if possible,
be so construed as to effectuate rather than retard the objects for
which they were enacted.
The legislation with which we are now concerned has been on the
statute books in substantially its present form for more than twenty
OPINIONS OF ATTORNEY-GENERAL ON LABOR QUESTIONS.
175
years. As previously pointed out, the original act divided labor into
two classes— skilled and unskilled. It first denounced the bringing
in of either class under contract. For reasons of public policy Con
gress then excepted from the operation of the law skilled labor on new
industries. The courts having intimated that the law was designed
to apply to unskilled labor only, Congress took occasion to make clear
its intent. The act of 1903 contains the unequivocal provision that
the act shall apply to skilled aa well as unskilled labor. In this act,
which is now in force, the distinction between the two classes of labor
is still maintained. It is therein provided that neither class shall be
brought in under contract. No exception whatever is contained in
the act in respect to unskilled labor, but it is provided that skilled
labor may be imported under certain conditions. That there is a
difference in fact and in law between skilled and unskilled labor is too
plain to admit of argument.
It must also be presumed that Congress was mindful of this differ
ence in the enactment of this law. It is certainly not for the execu
tive department of the Government to nullify the will of Congress by
declining or failing to give the words of the act their natural and
logical import. Especially is this true in a case involving the welfare
of such a very large number of our own citizens. Moreover, it does
not appear that since the enactment of this law in 1885 it has ever
before been contended that unskilled alien contract labor could
legally be imported.
The determination of the question as to what is skilled and what
unskilled labor within the meaning of the law rests largely with you.
I entertain no doubt, however, that “ ordinary hands, commonly
employed l the construction and maintenance of the tracks of raifnot skilled laborers within the meaning of the immigra
roads. are
01
tion act of March 3, 1903. Having reached the conclusion that they
are not skilled laborers, it follows from what I have previously said
that such laborers may not “ be imported into this country under
contract in any event.”
Contract L aborers for Panama Canal — H ours of L abor .—
Advance Sheets, 26 Op., page 21.— On July 12, 1906, the Secretary of
War submitted to the Attorney-General a draft of a proposed agree
ment between the Panama Canal Commission and the International
Contracting Company of Maine, relative to the furnishing of China
men for labor on the construction of the Panama Canal, with an
inquiry as to the legality of such contract. By its terms the com
pany would undertake to supply Chinese laborers for the work speci
fied, to feed and clothe them, and to return them to China at the expi
ration of their contract periods. The provision as to hours of labor
made ten hours a day’s work, labor in excess of that time to be classed
as emergency or overtime work, and to be paid for as such.
The opinion of Charles W. Bussell, Acting Attorney-General, on
the two points involved, is as follows:
On the 30th ultimo [June, 1906] Congress passed an act declaring
that the act of Congress relating to “ limitations of the hours of daily
176
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
service of laborers and mechanics employed upon the public works
of the United States” shall not apply to unskilled alien laborers and
to the foremen and superintendents of such laborers employed in the
construction of the Isthmian Canal within the Canal Zone.
The contract-labor laws do not extend to the Canal Zone. Con
gress extended them on March 3, 1903, to “ any waters, territory, or
other place now subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. The
treaty with the Republic of Panama giving us jurisdiction is of a later
date than March 3, 1903.
There is, accordingly, no objection to the proposed agreement
arising out of the fact that the hours of the labor will be more than
eight or the fact of contracting to import laborers.
Every country has a right, in the absence of a treaty provision to
the contrary, to exclude and to deport aliens, and therefore, there
being no such treaty provision, there is no objection to the proposed
agreement on account of the bond to be given to the Republic of
Panama, conditioned upon the deportation of the Chinese at the end
of their service, and further conditioned not to permit any of them
to enter into or remain within the Republic of Panama, except dur
ing transit; nor (in view of the President’s governing authority as
to the Canal Zone) on account of the agreement of the company to
deport them from it at the conclusion of their service.
I have carefully examined each and every part of the proposed
agreement, particularly with reference to Article X I I I of the Con
stitution, as construed and explained in the Attorney-General’s
opinion of June 5, 1905 (25 Op., 474) [Bulletin No. 60, pp. 661, 662],
and in my opinion it is within the “ authority of the Commission
and according to law. ”
E ight- hour L a w — Construction of N aval V essels under
Contract—Advance Sheets, 26 Op., page SO.— In response to an
inquiry from the Secretary of the Navy, dated July 23, 1906, as to
the applicability of the act of August 1, 1892, to the construction
of naval vessels under contract, Henry M. Hoyt, Solicitor-General
of the Department of Justice, prepared an opinion which was ap
proved by Attorney-General Moody. The discussion was somewhat
extended and includes the consideration of a number of earlier
opinions and decisions of courts. The final paragraph is as follows:
My conclusion, therefore, is that the act of August 1, 1892, limit
ing the hours of service of laborers and mechanics employed on the
public works of the United States and of the District of Columbia
does not apply to vessels under construction for the Navy b y con
tract with builders at private establishments. The case or material
for such vessels, as, for instance, armor, guns, and other articles ob
tained under special contracts, is a fortiori; and, besides, rests fully
on the ruling of Attorney-General Miller in 20 Op., 454, as above
cited, which is hereby expressly approved and affirmed. [The
opinion referred to held that the act m question do'es not apply to
contracts for furnishing materials to the Government for use in
the construction and equipment of public buildings.]
OPINIONS OF ATTORNEY-GENERAL ON LABOR QUESTIONS.
177
E ight-H our L a w — Contractors F urnishing Quartermaster' s
Supplies—Advance Sheets, 26 Op., page 86.— On July 25, 1906, the
Secretary of War made an inquiry of the Department of Justice as
to the applicability of the act of August 1, 1892, to contractors
furnishing supplies for the Quartermaster's Department. The
temporary nature of such supplies, as contrasted with permanent
improvements such as are commonly found in connection with
public works, was referred to as affecting the conclusions to be
reached. The reply of Henry M. Hoyt, Acting Attorney-General,
was in the negative, as appears from the following quotation from
the opinion prepared by him:
In an opinion which I have just rendered to the Secretary of the
Navy [above], regarding the application of this law to the construc
tion of vessels for the Navy under contract with private establish
ments, it is held that the law is not applicable to such a contract,
and also that the furnishing of equipment and material for such
vessels— as, for instance, armor, guns, etc.— under special contract
is not embraced within the law.
The case presented by you appears to me to be clearer even than
the foregoing cases, for, presumably, quartermaster's supplies for
the use of the Army are such as, generally speaking, are consumed
sooner or later in the using. In the opinion to the Secretary of the
Navy just cited I followed Mr. Miller's opinion of August 24, 1892.
[See opinion next above for note on Mr. Miller's opinion.] I again
approve that opinion, and therefore have the honor to answer your
question in the negative.
E ight-H our L aw — R eclamation Service— Advance Sheets, 26
Op., page 6I±.— An act of June 17, 1902, known as the Reclamation
Act, provides for the construction of irrigation works by the Gov
ernment, and contains a provision as to hours of labor without ref
erence to conditions of extraordinary emergency. In view of this
and other subjects of inquiry, the Secretary of the Interior, on
September 21, 1906, addressed the following questions to the
Attorney-General:
(1) Is the proviso to section 4 of the act of June 17, 1902, supra,
which declares in part, “ That in all construction work eight hours
shall constitute a day's w ork," to be regarded as in anywise repeal
ing or modifying that provision of the act of August 1,1892, which
makes it unlawful to employ or permit laborers to work more than
eight hours in any one calendar day on any public works of the
United States “ except in case of extraordinary emergency." Dif
ferently stated, is the declaration in the act of June 17, 1902, that
eight hours shall constitute a day's work upon the public works
therein specified, in conflict with the saving clause in the act of
August 1, 1892, which allows more than eight hours' work in one
calendar day “ in case of
1*
urgency ?"
teamsters hauling camp
(2) Are blacksmiths
supplies, etc., firemen, ; _ x ___ ,
, md flunkies to be classed
!7 8
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
as “ laborerers and mechanics” within the meaning of these terms
as employed in the act of August 1, 1892?
(3) Are the engineers of the Reclamation Service responsible
under the statutes in case the contractors on the works under their
supervision shall require more than eight hours' labor from laborers
and mechanics upon these works?
The opinion of Attorney-General Moody given in reply is repro
duced in full:
The letter of the Director of the Geological Survey states that it
is dangerous to both life and property to do blasting during the
regular hours of labor when the men and the steam shovel are at
work; and that it is very necessary to keep the powder men at their
posts after the regular working hotirs in order to make their final
preparations for shooting the blasts. The letter also states that it
is necessary to clean up the shale thrown down by the blasts upon
the trades before the regular working hours the following morning,
in order that the force on the cuts and steam shovel shall not then
be standing around idle until the tracks can be cleaned. The same
reason for work before or after the regular hours applies to the
necessary shifting of track, shoeing of nurses, repair and cleaning
machinery, and to other labor essential to the promptness and effi
ciency of the regular day service of men and machinery. It is also
suggested that n water for domestic use of the camp may not be
hauled after regular working hours by some of the teams on the
work, it would be necessary to keep an extra team for this purpose
only, at much greater cost than “ by putting in a little time by extra
work;” and that teamsters hauling supplies, cooks, and “ flunkies”
(by which I understand scullions or assistants to cooks are meant)
must put in more than eight hours per day.
The eight-hour law of 1892 (act of August 1, 1892, 27 Stat., 340)
provides (sec. 1):
“ That the service and employment of all laborers and mechanics
who are now or may hereafter be employed by the Government of the
United States, b y the District of Columbia, or b y any contractor or
subcontractor upon ally of the public works of the United States or
of the said District of Columbia, is hereby limited and restricted to
eight hours in any one calendar day, and it shall be unlawful for any
officer of the United States Government or of the District of Colum
bia or any such contractor or subcontractor whose duty it shall be to
employ, direct, or control the services of such laborers or mechanics
to require or permit any such laborer or mechanic to work more than
eight hours m any calendar day except in case of extraordinary
emergency.”
The Reclamation Act provides (act of June 17, 1902, sec. 4, 32
Stat., 388):
“ In all construction work eight hours shall constitute a day's
work.”
There can be no doubt that under the terms of these laws and in
the light of the discussions and opinions relative to the eight-hour
law (20 Op., 454, 459; 26 Op., 30, 36) “ irrigation works for the
storage, diversions, and development of waters for the reclamation
of arid and semi-arid lands” (sec. 1, Reclamation Act) perfectly and
comprehensively fill the idea of “ public works of the United States.”
OPINIONS OF ATTORNEY-GENERAL ON LABOR QUESTIONS.
179
This conception is not weakened by the fact that ultimately the
management and operation of such irrigation works is to pass to the
owners of the lands irrigated (sec. 6), for not only when constructed
are all these irrigation works public works of the United States upon
lands of the United States to be acquired by condemnation if neces
sary (sec. 7), but section 6 also provides “ that the title to the reser
voirs and the works necessary for their protection and operation
shall remain in the Government until otherwise provided by Con
gress.n
But I think that the eight-hour day means eight hours of effective
labor, and therefore so far as your questions present the case of
laborers and mechanics who, from the exigencies of the situation,
must wait until after the completion of the regular day to finish their
work, I am of the opinion that the blasting, cleaning of tracks, repair
of machinery, and all other similar work essential to prompt and
continuous service in the regular day ma^ be legally done before and
after the regular hours. To be more specific, laborers and mechanics
who are called upon to do two hours’ work, for example, before or
after the regular day-begins or ends have no just cause tor complaint
that the law is violated if they are only called upon to work six more
hours during the regular hours. The law gives no countenance to
the conception that the interval between the beginning and end of
the regular day is a controlling convention which excludes labor at
any other time and entitles workmen to stand around idle if their
services can not be fully availed of during that interval. The law
limits the working day to eight hours, but it does not prescribe in
what hours of the day the work shall be done. Practically, no doubt,
there should be a real necessity, as is obviously the case here, for
work during other hours than the regular day; and there should be
scrutiny and care lest abuses arise which, however, the right of
contract, subject to the law, between laborer and employer ought
to prevent.
I do not wish to enter upon the minima of the case unnecessarily,
and yet, noticing the claim that it would cost more to provide wetter
for the camp unless it can be hauled on “ extra time,” I take occasion
to observe that the element of cost makes no difference. The legal
ity of the proceeding depends upon the consideration whether the
men employed on this service are laborers or mechanics, or whether
they give, excluding this service, eight hours’ effective labor.
Your inquiry whether the engineers of the Reclamation Service
are responsible for the action of contractors in requiring more than
eight hours’ labor for laborers and mechanics is susceptible of two
constructions. It is certainly my opinion that it is their duty to be
vigilant in their scrutiny and to report violations of law which may
come under their observation. This is not altogether a question of
law for my determination, but rather, perhaps, a question of admin
istration for you to .settle in the light of the general executive policy.
But as the question has been touched upon by my predecessor, Mr.
Miller, I may properly express my view. The case of United States
v. Driscoll (96 U. S., 421) has also been brought to my attention.
That decision merely held that a workman for a contractor could
not maintain a claim against the United States for compensation for
labor over eight hours a day; that there was no privity between him
and the United States. There was no occasion there for any inti
180
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR.
mation from the court regarding the administrative duty of the
United States in respect to violations of the law by contractors, and,
accordingly, no intimation whatever was given. There is a current
misconception as to the scope of Attorney-General Miller’s opinion
(20 Op., 501). Mr. Miller was requested by the Secretary of the
Treasury, at the instance of a contractor, to determine whether labor
ers and mechanics engaged by the contractor to carry out a contract
by the Government came within the application of the eight-hour
law. Mr. Miller declined to answer the inquiry, on the ground
that it was not a question of law arising in the administration of
the Treasury Department. The inquiry was in reality the inquiry
of the contractor, and with that fact in mind, doubtless, Mr. Miller
observed that—
“ The duty to employ, direct, or control such laborers or mechanics,
and the penalty of their wrongful employment is with the contractor
and not with the Government or any of its officers or agents.”
But Mr. Miller does not by this remark undertake to determine
what the deliberate executive policy on the subject might or should
be. My own view of the matter, as now squarely presented, is that
it is the duty of the engineers of the Reclamation Service under your
direction to see to it that the law is observed by the contractors and
to report any violation of it which comes uncier their observation.
I understand this to be the sense in which you ask whether they
are responsible— not in the sense of legal liability to the workmen.
Recurring, then, to your questions, as to the first my answer is
that there is no conflict between the act of August 1, 1892, and the
proviso to section.4 of the act of June 17, 1902. The “ extraordinary
emergency” of the former act would apply to the latter. The acts
are to be construed together, and I do not think that it was the
intention of Congress, by the proviso in the Reclamation Act and
use of the term “ construction work,” either to displace the provisions
of the act of August 1, 1892, as to laborers and mechanics not strictly
engaged in “ construction work,” or to exclude the exception of an
“ extraordinary emergency.” It is not necessary for me to define
generally what an extraordinary emergency is, and it is clear to me
that the facts in this case do not present an extraordinary emergency
as intended by the law. But, with the qualifications which I have
stated, I wish to make it clear that the eight-hour law applies fully
to contractors on the irrigation works constructed by the United
States.
Your second question I have answered, as far as the facts before
me permit; but I may add that it seems clear to me that blacksmiths
and their helpers, firemen and pumpmen are either mechanics or
laborers. As to teamsters, cooks, and “ flunkies,” I leave the inquiry
as to their status where Mr. Miller left a similar query in 20 Op. 459
[to be answered according to the conditions of employment and
other matters of fact not stated, and therefore not within the cogni
zance of the Attorney-General], and add the remark that the obvious
necessity of eight hours’ effective labor in any case seems to dispose
of that point as now raised. The answer to the third question, as
already indicated, is that the engineers of the Reclamation Service
are responsible to the extent of requiring the law to be observed
and reporting violations of it.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTIN G LABOR.
[E xcept in cases of special interest, the decisions here presented are restricted to
those rendered b y the Federal courts and the higher courts of the States and Terri
tories.
O n ly material portions of such decisions are reproduced, introductory and
explanatory matter being given in the words of the editor.
Decisions under statutory
law are indexed under the proper headings in the cum ulative index, page 239 et seq.]
DECISIONS UNDER STATUTORY LAW.
B oycotting— P icketing— I njunction—Goldberg, Bowen & Com
pany v. Stablemen’s Union, Local No. 8,760, Supreme Court of Cali
fornia, 86 Pacific Reporter, page 806.— This case was before the
supreme court on appeal from the superior court of the city and
county of San Francisco, in which the company named above had been
granted an injunction restraining the Stablemen’s Union and others
from interference with its business. The firm was a mercantile one,
engaged in selling groceries and general household goods, for the
delivery of which it kept a number of horses and wagons and employed
many stablemen, who were members of the union. Owing to a dis
agreement on the subject of wages, a strike of the stablemen occurred,
which was followed by a boycott, against which the injunction above
mentioned was secured. The appeal resulted in the affirmation of the
injunction in a modified form.
The allegations charged conspiracy and the picketing of the stores
and stables of the complainants, and the display of transparencies and
placards bearing legends that were false in fact, which acts were
injurious to the complainants’ business; also that the customers were
impeded and deterred from dealing with and other employees from
serving the complainants by reason of intimidation and other forms
of interference. The defendants being irresponsible and the damage
likely to be continuing and irreparable, the continuance of the in
junction was urged by the company.
The defendant organization claimed that they were protected by
chapter 235, Acts of 1903, which declares that “ no agreement, combi
nation, or contract by or between two or more persons to do or procure
to be done, or not to do or procure not to be done, any act in contem
plation or furtherance of any trade dispute between employers and
employees in the State of California shall be deemed criminal, nor shall
those engaged therein be indictable or otherwise punishable for the
crime of conspiracy, if such act committed by one person would not be
181
,182
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
punishable as a crime, nor shall such agreement, combination, or con
tract be considered as in restraint of trade or commerce, nor shall any
restraining order or injunction be issued with relation there t o / 7
Judge McFarland, who delivered the opinion of the court, touched
on this contention, as well as on the other points of law involved, in
the course of his remarks, from which the following is quoted:
We think that the complaint clearly states facts sufficient to con
stitute the cause of action alleged. It is not necessary here to under
take to define the limits within which a number of persons conspiring
for the purpose of injuring the business of another may legally do acts
tending to accomplish that result. It is averred in the complaint that
in the case at bar, and for the purpose above stated, and with intent to
threaten and intimidate employees and patrons and customers of
plaintiff, the said defendants do keep immediately in front of plain
tiff’s place of business, and threaten to so keep there, representatives
and pickets bearing the placards and transparencies above set forth, and that by said means they have intimidated patrons and customers
of plaintiff from entering said place of business, and will, if not
restrained, continue to so intimidate the said patrons. It can not be
successfully contended that the said acts of defendants committed
immediately in front of plaintiff’s place of business as aforesaid could
not, in the nature of things, have had the effect of intimidating plain
tiff’s patrons, and, as it is averred that they did have that effect, the
fact of such intimidation must, for the purposes of this case, be con
sidered as established ; and such acts, having such effect, undoubtedly
interfered with and violated plaintiff’s constitutional right to acquire,
possess, defend, and enjoy property. [Cases cited.]
Appellants make the bare statement, without argument, tnat “ an
injunction in this case is also specifically forbidden by Pen. Code, p.
581.” The section of an act of the legislature there referred to (Act
March 20, 1903; St. 1903, c. 235, j). 289) is somewhat difficult of con
struction; but, in the first place, it can not, in our opinion, be con
strued as undertaking to prohibit a court from enjoining the main
wrongful acts charged in the complaint in this action, and, in the
second place, if it could be so construed, it would to that extent be
void, because violative of plaintiff’s constitutional right to acquire,
possess, enjoy and protect property.
It is contended by appellants that the judgment rendered in this
case is too comprehensive, and enjoins them from doing some acts
which are not within the averments of the complaint, or within the
principle, even if conceded to be correct, upon which the court below
based its conclusion. We think that this contention must be sus
tained, to the extent, at least, as is hereinafter stated. Some parts of
the judgment seem to enjoin the appellant from a mere expression of
an opinion at any time or place as to plaintiff and its business, which
would, at the worst, consist only of slander, which could not be
reached in this form of action and. seem to restrain them from doing
other things which do not appear to be connected with or incidental
to the main acts and threatened acts done at and in front of plain
tiff’ s said places of business as above stated. The judgment must
therefore be modified so as to eliminate those objectionable parts.
The judgment, after the first paragraph thereof, is amended and
modified, so as to read as follows: “ Now, therefore, it is ordered,
DECISIONS OF COUBTS AFFECTING LABOR.
183
adjudged, and decreed that the Stablemen’s Union, Local No. 8,760,
of San Francisco, T. F. Finn, T. J. White, and all and each of the
defendants herein, and each of their officers, members, agents, clerks,
attorneys, and servants, be, and they are hereby, enjoined and
restrained from interfering with, or harrassing, or obstructing plain
tiff in the conduct of its business at any of its said places of business
No. 432 Pine street, No. 232 Sutter street, and No. 965 Sutter street,
in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, by caus
ing any agent or agents, representative or representatives, or any
picket or pickets, or any person or persons, to be stationed,in front of
or in the immediate vicinity of said places of business with a placard
of [or] transparency having on it the words and figures as alleged
in the complaint herein, or any placard or transparency (having
words or figures) of similar import, and from, at said places of busi
ness, or in front thereof, or in the immediate vicinity thereof, *>7
means of pickets or transparencies, or otherwise, threatening or
intimidating any person or persons transacting or desiring to transact
business with said plaintiff, or being employed at said place or places
by the plaintiff.” And as thus amended and modified the judgment
will stand affirmed.
Contract L abor— A liens— Construction of Statute — United
States v. Aultman Company, United States District Court, Northern
District of Ohio, Eastern Division, 1^3 Federal Reporter, page 922.—
The Aultman Company was charged with a violation of the contract
labor law, chapter 1012, 32 Stat., 1214; U. S. Comp. St. Supp. 1905,
p. 277. The claim was made that the defendant, in violation of that
law, solicited and procured the importation of one Hermann, an alien,
from Canada. It appeared on examination that Hermann was of
German descent, having come to this country at the age of 17 years,
and had remained here ever since, with the exception of about two
weeks spent in Canada working at his trade. He had never been
naturalized, and the prosecution charged that to secure his return
to take employment again in the United States was a violation of
the law named. The court ruled to the contrary, however, and
directed a verdict for the defendant. The grounds for the action
appear in the opinion as quoted below.
Judge Tayler, speaking for the court, first took up the question
as to the kind of persons, measured by employment, to whom the
law in its original scope and purpose applied. He cited first the
case of Holy Trinity Church v. United States, 143 U. S., 457, 12
Sup. Ct., 511, involving the admission of a clergyman, under con
tract with a church in New York, and quoted from Judge Brewer,
who delivered the opinion in that case, as follows:
“ Again, another guide to the meaning of a statute is found in the
evil which it is designed to remedy; and for this the court properly
looks at contemporaneous events, the situation as it existed, and as
it was pressed upon the attention of the legislative body. The situ
184
BULLETIN OE THE BUBEAU OE LABOR.
ation which called for this statute was briefly, but fully, stated by
Mr. Justice Brown when, as district judge, he decided the case of
United States v. Craig (C. C.) 28 Fed. 795, 798: ‘The motives and
history of the act are matters of common knowledge. It had become
the practice for large capitalists in this country to contract with their
agents abroad for tne shipment of great numbers of an ignorant and
servile class of foreign laborers, under contracts, by which the employer
agreed, upon the one hand, to prepay their passage, while, upon the
other hand, the laborers agreed to work after their arrival for a cer
tain time at low wages. The effect of this was to break down the
labor market, and to reduce other laborers engaged in like occupa
tion to the level of the assisted immigant. The evil finally became
so flagrant that an appeal was made to Congress for relief by the
passage of the act in question, the design of which was to raise the
standard of foreign immigrants, and to discountenance the migra
tion of those who had not sufficient means in their own hands, or
those of their friends, to pay their passage. ’
“ We find, therefore, that the title of this act, the evil which was
intended to be remedied, the circumstances surrounding the appeal
to Congress, the reports of the committee of each house, all concur
in affirming that the intent of Congress was simply to stay the influx
of this cheap unskilled labor.”
Judge Tayler then said:
Now I must confess that, having read so much of that opinion, I
could not escape the conviction that the Supreme Court of the United
States would have greater difficulty in excluding from the language
of *that act a minister than it would have to exclude a person like
Hermann from the act. It seems to me that the reason that was
applied by the Supreme Court in that case would apply with double
force to the case that we have here; and to that conclusion, subject
to further reflection and the argument that might be presented, I
had come when my attention was called to what I had not had time
to find— these cases where the United States courts have held, both
in a contract labor case and in other cases where the definition of
the persons who were included within this act was made, that a
person who had come into this cou n ty , who had migrated to this
country, had become a part of the wage-earning body or this country,
in a sense had assimilated to our society, who, m a word, had become
a resident and domiciled here, although not naturalized, could not
be said to be a person with whom to make such a contract as here
charged would be to violate this contract labor law. But we find
that in many instances the courts have so held.
In re Maiola (C. C.) 67 Fed., 114, Judge Lacombe held, as it is
stated in the syllabus:
“ The statutes of the United States relating to the exclusion of con
tract laborers, including the act of March 3, 1891, making the decision
of the immigration officers final as to the right of such laborers to land,
are directed solely against alien immigrants, not against alien resi
dents returning after a temporary absence; and the courts, therefore,
have power, upon habeas corpus, to inquire whether one who is refused
admission to the country by the immigration officers is or is not an
immigrant, and so within the jurisdiction of such officers.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
185
“ An unmarried man, who has immigrated to the United States in
1892, with the intention of making his home there, has remained
about two years, working at his trade, and then, being taken ill, has
returned to his native country, remained about ten months, doing no
work, and then in 1895 returns to the United States— is not an immi
grant on his return in 1895.1J
Citations were also made from In re Panzara et aL, 51 Fed., 275;
In re Martorelli, 63 Fed., 437, and In re Ota, 96 Fed., 487. of the same
tenor, and the following conclusions were reached:
I must differ from these several judges who have defined this law
and declared that such a person is not within the terms of the law, if
I find that Hermann comes within it.
The facts in this case are infinitelystronger than the facts in any of
the cases from which I have just quoted. In this case nobody would
pretend that Hermann ever intended to go back to Germany to live,
or that he was any less absorbed into the body of American workmen
than anybody who had always lived here. From the age of 17 to 30
he had worked in this country; and,then, because he had been working
as a strike-breaker, he went to Canada to help break a strike, there,
and there remained, as he said, a short time, two weeks, when he was
called upon to assist in breaking a strike down at Canton. Now,
was he an immigrant when he came over from Canada? Could the
immigrant officers have stopped him? The unbroken current of
authority is that he was not an immigrant within the meaning of this
statute. I doubt if he would be an immigrant within the meaning of
any statute. If he belonged anywhere, he belonged in this country,
whatever technical relation he may have sustained to the Emperor of
Germany.
Counsel refers to the fact that he was a strike-breaker, and that
they are the kind of people that this legislation was intended to
keep ou t.. It is not worth while to discuss whether the work of the
strike-breaker is virtuous, or the contrary. The legislation was not
intended to touch the case of strike-breakers in the sense in which
that argument was made. It was intended to reach strike-breakers,
in the way of cheaper labor coming here at lower wages, as it would
demoralize labor here, and most seriously and grievously affect the
well-being of this country. But it was not intended to touch strike
breakers m the sense in which these men were strike-breakers, what
ever we may think of such a trade, if there is such a trade.
The last of the four cases defining an alien immigrant was decided
December 1, 1899. Since that time the law has been amended, espe
cially by the act of March 3, 1903; and it is a familiar principle that
when a certain construction has been given to a statute, especially
when its general language has been qualified and subsequent legisla
tion has not undertaken to change the language so as to meet with
the judicial definition, added persuasiveness is given to the construc
tion of the law which the courts have put upon it. That is to say,
if Congress intended to give a wider application to the law than the
courts had given it, it is reasonable to assume that it would have so
legislated when it came to amend the law after the decisions were
made public.
186
E mployers'
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
L iability — E mployment of Children— N egli
N egligence— Nairn v. National Biscuit
gence— Contributory
Company, Kansas City {Missouri), Court of Appeals, 96 Southwestern
Reporter, page 679.— This case was before the Kansas City court of
appeals on appeal from the circuit court of Jackson County, in which
Joseph Nairn, a minor, had secured judgment for damages on account
of an injury received by him while in the employment of the defend
ant company. Nairn, who was about fifteen years of age, was
engaged, at the time he received his injury, in attending a roller for
the reduction of sheets of molasses caramel to the desired thickness.
While thus employed his hand was caught and drawn between the
rollers, inflicting the injury complained of.
The court of appeals sustained the ruling of the court below, on
grounds that appear in the following quotation, taken from the
opinion of the court as delivered by Judge Broaddus:
The theory of the defendant is that there was no negligence shown
on the part of the defendant company, and that as plaintiffs injury
was the result of his own careless act, the court committed error in
not sustaining its demurrer to the evidence. But the defendant has
assumed too much. The plaintiffs suit was instituted upon the
theory that defendant in putting him to work on the machinery
in question did an unlawful act, and therefore an act of negligence.
Section 6434, Rev. St. 1899, provides that no minor shall be required
to “ work between the fixed or traversing parts of any machine, while
it is in motion by the action of steam, water or other mechanical
power.” The act of defendant in requiring plaintiff, a minor, to
work at said machinery, it being the kind interdicted by the statute
as unsafe to minors and women, was an act of negligence. (Lore v.
American Manufacturing Company, 160 Mo. 608, 61 S.. W. 678;
Bair v. Heibel, 103 Mo. App. 621, 77 S. W. 1017.)
The fact of defendant's negligence being established, the question
arises whether there was such contributory negligence on the part
of plaintiff as should prevent him from recovering. As we look at
the evidence in relation to the character of the machinery, the
material manufactured, and the manner in which the machinery was
managed by the operator, we have come to the conclusion that its
operation was attended with much danger and that consequently
reat care was required of the workman intrusted with its operation.
STe conclude that an injury like that of plaintiff is a danger incident
to the business, notwithstanding the person engaged in the work may
be using the care and caution of a person of ordinary caution. The
slightest diversion of the mind from the work in hand may cause the
hand of the workman to come in contact with the rollers which will
usually result in injury.
The defendant's answer, among other things, alleges that plaintiff's
injury occurred as an incident to the business. But it is no defense.
When defendant violated the law by requiring plaintiff to work at the
machinery in question, it assumed all the risks of danger to the latter.
It is not logical nor just to permit the defense to prevail under such
circumstances. Its obvious inconsistency needs only to be stated to
be controverted and overturned. (Stafford v. Adams, 113 Mo. App.
f
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
187
717, 88 S. W. 1130.) But, waiving that question, we do not believe
that plaintiff, take into consideration his youth and that want of
caution usual with boys of his age, should, under the circumstances,
be charged with contributory negligence. When injured he was
sprinkling starch on the rollers to prevent the candy material from
sticking to them, and, while so doing, inadvertently his fingers came in
contact with them, the sticky matter adhering sufficiently to cause
his hand to be drawn in between said rollers. It is not probable
that the plaintiff was aware of danger from such a source. And in
the absence of the adhesive substance on the rollers there would
have been little or no danger attending the mere touch of the fingers
to them. The defendant's counsel, seemingly, does not believe that
the injury was inflicted in that way. But we think it makes no
difference whether it was so inflicted or not. There is nothing to
show that plaintiff knowingly placed his hand in danger. At most
he was only guilty of mere negligence, which would not prevent him
from recovering. (Adams v. Kansas & Texas Coal Company, 85 Mo.
App. 486; Western Coal Co. v. Beaver, 192 111., 335, 61 N. E. 335.)
To hold otherwise would be to defeat the purpose of the statute.
It was such dangers the legislature had in view when the act was
passed. The opinion disposes of all other questions raised.
Affirmed.
E mployers' L iability — F ellow -Servant
A c t — Constitution
Vindicator Consolidated Gold Mining Company v. Firstbrook, Supreme Court of Colorado, 86 Pacific Reporter, page SIS.— This
ality —
was an action to recover damages for the death of the husband of the
plaintiff, the death having resulted from an accident occasioned by
the negligence of a fellow-servant. The widow had secured judg
ment in the district court of Teller County, which was on appeal
affirmed by the supreme court of the State. The case involved the
constitutionality of the fellow-servant law of 1901, which abolishes
the doctrine of coservice as a defense. After disposing of other points
involved in the appeal, Judge Gabbert, who delivered the opinion of
the court, maintained the constitutionality of the statute referred to,
using in part the following language:
The final and important question is the validity of the coemployee
act. It is urged that the act is unconstitutional, in that it is in
conflict with the fourteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution,
because it deprives persons of their property without due process of
law. The act in question renders the employer liable for damages
resulting from injuries to or death of an employee, caused by the
negligence o f a coem ployee in the same manner, and to the same
extent, as if the negligence causing the injury or death was that of
the employer. That the act in question may be regarded by some
as harsh or unjust, because imposing too great a liability, is not a
matter which we can consider in determining its validity by consti
tutional tests. Whether or not the employer is liable under the act
in question must be determined by each particular case based on the
188
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR.
provisions of that aet. It does not deprive him of any defense to the
liability thereby imposed which, under the established rules of law,
could be regarded as sufficient, save and except his own lack of
negligence; but such a defense is not a constitutional right. The law
itself, as a rule of conduct, may, unless constitutional limitations
forbid, be changed at the will of the legislature. The exercise of the
discretion of that branch of the government to enact laws can not be
questioned so long as such laws do not conflict with either State or
Federal constitutional provisions. No such provisions have been
called to our attention which limit the authority of the general
assembly to abolish the rule heretofore existing which exempted the
employer from liability to employees caused by the negligence of a
coemployee, and render him liable to his employees for the negligence
of a coemployee. For the purpose of providing for the safety and
>roteetion of employees in the service of a common employer, the
aw-making power has the undoubted authority to abrogate the
exception to the general rule of respondeat superior in favor of the
employer, and make him liable to one of his employees for damages
caused by the negligence of another employee while acting within the
scope of his employment, regardless of the fact that such employees
are fellow-servants.
}
E mployers’ L iability — R ailroad Companies— P owers of F ed
eral Government— I nterstate Commerce — Constitutionality
Statute .— Brooks v. Southern Pacific Company, United States
Circuit Court, Western District of Kentucky. (From copy of opinion
of
obtained from the Department of Justice.)
Action was brought by Mrs. N.. C. Brooks to recover damages
for the death of her son, an employee of the railway company named
above. The right to recover was based on an act of Congress
approved June 11, 1906, the title of which is “ An act relating to
liability of common carriers in the District of Columbia and Terri
tories and common carriers engaged in commerce between the
States and between the States and foreign nations to their employees.”
The act is given in full in Bulletin No. 64, page 909. The principal
features are the abrogation of the defense of common service where
the accident causing injury was due to the negligence of a fellowworkman, and the granting of a right to proportionate recovery in
cases where the negligence of the injured employee contributed to
his own injury, but was slight in comparison with the negligence
of the employer. In both these respects the act modified the commonlaw liability of the employer, thus affecting the contract of labor
as it has existed under such law.
The decision in the case turned entirely on the question of the
constitutionality of the statute; the first inquiry being whether
the creation and enforcement of liabilities growing out of the negli
gence of certain common carriers to their employees is a regulation
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
189
of commerce between the States within the meaning of that clause
of the Constitution which gives Congress power to regulate commerce;
and, secondly, whether the act, if valid in this respect, does not also
regulate commerce that is exclusively within the several States,
and if so, whether such fact would not condemn the entire act as
unwarranted by the Constitution.
Judge Evans, before whom the case was argued, condemned the
statute on both grounds, as appears from the following quotation
from his opinion:
Obviously the first inquiry is whether an act, strictly limited as
this is to fixing liability to their employees of such common carriers
as are engaged in interstate commerce, is a regulation of such com
merce— that is to say, does it prescribe a rule for carrying on com
mercial intercourse among the States, which seems to be the essential
requisite in such legislation? The solution of that question may,
and probably must, depend upon whether a rule of liabilityfor injuries
is or by any reasonable probability can be regarded as commerce
or a rule for carrying it on in any sense whatever, either as the word
is used in the Constitution or otherwise. Commerce has been
described by the Supreme Court in many cases, from J.824, in Gibbons
v. Ogden, 9 Wheaton, 189, down to very recent times, but it has
never been deemed desirable to give the word any hard and fast
definition in view of the great changes constantly occurring in the
business affairs of the world.
It may help us to note that Webster defines commerce to be
“ the exchange or buying and selling of commodities, especially
the exchange of merchandise on a large scale between different
places or communities; extended trade or traffic/7 In Gibbons v.
Ogden it was said that commerce is more than traffic, it is intercourse,
and that it is regulated by prescribing rules for carrying on that
intercourse. In many cases it has been held by the Supreme Court
that commerce includes navigation and transportation of both
persons and property, as well as traffic generally, and all the cases
agree in treating the word “ commerce77 as one of large and extensive
meaning. In Hopkins v. United States, 171 U. S., at page 597,
speaking through Mr. Justice Peckham, the court said:
“ Definitions as to what constitutes interstate commerce are not
easily given so that they shall clearly define the full meaning of the
term. We know from the cases decided in this court that it is a
term of very large significance. It comprehends, as it is said, inter
course for the purposes of trade in any and all its forms, including
transportation, purchase, sale and exchange of commodities between
the citizens of different States, and the power to regulate it embraces
all the instruments by which such commerce may be conducted.77
[Cases cited.]
And the instruments by which commerce may be carried on neces
sarily vary as improvement and invention expand the opportunities
and facilities therefor. Many cases might be cited showing the various
applications of the word “ commerce17 to existing instrumentalities of
traffic, but it is not deemed necessary to elaborate that phase of the
discussion. Certainly section 8, article 1 of the Constitution gives
Congress the power to regulate commerce among the States, and as
248 b — N o. 68— 07------ 13
190
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR.
we have seen it may do this by anj law which is appropriate and
plainly adapted to that end and which is within the scope and con
sistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution,— conditions of
reat moment which can not be overlooked. While the courts would
e exceedingly slow to inquire into the mere appropriateness of
legislation, they can not decline the duty of inquiring whether legisla
tion is within the constitutional power of Congress when a proper
case demands the investigation, and a most patient consideration of
the question in this instance has led us to the conclusion— we think to
the inevitable conclusion— that the act of June 11,1906, only creates
and imposes a liability upon certain common carriers to their employees
and in no way prescribes rules for carrying on traffic or commerce
among the States, and consequently in no way regulates such com
merce. If the operation of the act could in any wise affect commerce
among the States, it would do so in a maimer so remote, incidental
and contingent, as in no proper sense to afford a factor of any value
in determining the question now in contention. With what the
Supreme Court has said in many cases before us, and with an open
Constitution to control, we should be trifling with important .things
if we gave force to any other conclusion. Indeed, it may be said that
it is obvious that Congress, in the act referred to, had in contempla
tion no more than the creation of the liability mentioned, ana it
would be a most strained construction to hold that it included any
thing broader than that. Creating new liabilities growing out of the
relations of master and servant on the one hand and regulating com
merce on the other are two things so entirely different that comusion
of the judicial mind upon them is hardly to be expected under normal
conditions. In the opinion of the court the act does not regulate
commerce among the States.
But if we are m error in the conclusion that the act when properly
considered does not “ regulate commerce among the States,” there yet
remains to be considered the second of the questions above stated,
namely, whether the act, if it does regulate commerce among the
States, does not also equally regulate commerce that is exclusively
within the several States and thereby embrace not. only matters
which are constitutional, but also those which are unconstitutional
in a way to make the two indivisible, and to bring the entire act
under condemnation when subjected to well established rules of
construction.
But before entering upon a discussion of this last question it may
not be inappropriate to recall the trite, but transcendently important,
proposition that while the powers given to Congress are to be fairly
and even liberally construed, especially in respect to the commerce
clause of the Constitution, yet those powers have a limit beyond which
Congress can not legitimately go. We should not grow restive under
the restrictions ana limitations of that great instrument, for the
stability of our institutions largely depends upon their enforcement,
and so great is our respect for the legislative branch of the Govern
ment that we shall always regard any overstepping of those bounds
by that body to have been an inadvertence. This the courts can and
should correct when they come to look more critically into the
subject than Congress had probably had the opportunity to do.
In the Trade Mark Cases, 100 JJ. S., 82, the Supreme Court had
before it in concrete form the second question to which-we have just
g
DECISIONS OE COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
191
referred. The following syllabi prefixed to the report of that case
clearly and accurately summarize the points decided and present at’
once and in succinct form the propositions of law upon which the
question now under discussion must turn:
“ If an act of Congress can in any case be extended, as a regulation of
commerce, to trade-marks, it must be limited to their use in ‘com
merce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with
the Indian tribes/
“ The legislation of Congress in regard to trade-marks is not, in
its terms or essential character, a regulation thus limited, but in its
language embraces, and was intended to embrace, all commerce,
including that between citizens of the same State.
“ That legislation is void for want of constitutional authority,
inasmuch as it is so framed that its provisions are applicable to all
commerce, and can not be confined to that which is subject to the
control of Congress.”
Sutherland, m his work on Statutory Construction (section 169),
says:
“ In this country legislative bodies have not an unlimited power of
legislation. Constitutions exist which contain the supreme law.
Statutes- which contravene their provisions are void. Courts have
power, and they are charged with the judicial duty, to support the
constitutions under which they act against legislative encroachments.
They will declare void acts which conflict with paramount laws.”
And in section 170 he states the general principle applicable to this
case, as follows:
“ It may be laid down generally as a sound proposition that one part
of a statute can not be declared void and leave any other part in force,
unless the statute is so composite, consisting of such separable parts
that, when the void part is eliminated, another living, tangible part
remains, capable by its own terms of being carried into effect, con
sistently with the intent of the legislature which enacted it in connec
tion with the void part. If it is obvious that the legislature did not
intend that any part should have effect unless the whole, including
the part held void, should operate, then holding a part void invali
dates the entire statute.”
The text of the author is supported by many cases, State and Fed
eral, cited in his notes.
The general doctrine has been reannounced in numerous cases by
the Supreme Court. In Baldwin v. Franks, 120 U. S., 686, et seq., it
was much emphasized, as it also had been in previous cases. And
that there is no disposition to change this thoroughly established rule
was unmistakably manifested when the Supreme Court, on the day on
which this case was argued, in Illinois Central R. R. v. McKendree,
held that an order of the Secretary of Agriculture regulating quaran
tine was void because too broad in its scope.
With this perfectly plain rule before us, we must, by its require
ments, test the act of June 11, 1906, which, we repeat, provides that
“ every” common carrier engaged in interstate commerce shall be
liable to “ any” of its employees, or in case of his death to his per
sonal representative, for “ all” damages which may result from the
negligence of “ any” of its officers, agents or employees, or by reason
of “ any” defect or insufficiency due to its negligence in its cars, etc.
Language could hardly be broader or more comprehensive in its scope.
192
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Argument was made attempting to show that the language should be
construed to create a liability only where the employee was at the time
of the injury engaged upon interstate commerce; but the words of the
statute are plain and unambiguous, and if they admit of any construc
tion it cleany does not admit of the one contended for. On the con
trary, as already emphasized, that language expressly is that every
such common carrier shall be liable to any of its employees for all
damages which may result from the negligence of any or its employees
or by reason of any defect in cars, etc. The rule is elementary that
where language is plain it admits of no construction, but must be
taken in its obvious signification and to mean what it says.
The act in question was attempted to be likened to that of March 2,
1893, usually known as the Safety Appliance Act, but in all the respects
with which we are concerned the provisions of the latter act are wholly
different from those of the former, as will at once be seen by comparing
section 1 of the Safety Appliance Act with section 1 of the act or June
11, 1906. • Section 1 of the former provides that it “ shall be unlawful
for any common carrier engaged in interstate commerce by railroad
to use on its line any locomotive engine in moving interstate traffic
which is not equipped, etc., * * * or to run any train in such
traffic after said date that has not a sufficient number of cars in it so
equipped,” etc. This comparison at once makes manifest the dif
ference between the two acts. No doubt it is for this reason that
small question has ever been made as to the constitutionality of the
Safety Appliance Act.
Furthermore, the act of June 11, 1906, obviously includes all of
the employees of every common carrier which is engaged in interstate
commerce, whether the employee is so engaged or not. If the com
mon carrier be itself engaged in interstate commerce as part of its
business, it is wholly immaterial, under the terms of the act, whether
an injured employee was ever so engaged.
An intelligent consideration of the authorities will lead, we think
necessarily, to the conclusions, first, that even if the act regulates
commerce in any possible constitutional sense it is too broad and
applies not only to interstate commerce, but also to that which is
entirely within the States respectively; and second, that the provi
sions of the act in these respects are single and altogether inseparable,
the one from the other.
E mployers' L iability — K ailroad Companies— Powers of F ed
Government— I nterstate Commerce— Constitutionality
of Statute —Howard v. Illinois Central Railroad Company et al
eral
United States Circuit Court, Western District of Tennessee, Western
Division.— (From copy of opinion obtained from the Department
of Justice.)
The action in this case, like the one above, was based on the Federal
Employers' Liability Law, the declaration being demurred to on the
ground that the statute was unconstitutional. Judge McCall, before
whom the case was heard, expressed the same opinion as to the con
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
193
stitutionality of the act as was adopted in the idregoing case, it
being handed down but three days later. His reasons were in the
main identical with those given by Judge Evans in the former case;
but, in addition to what there appears, the following is quoted:
Without citing the great array of cases which support the proposi
tion, we may restate the well-settled rule that Congress has full,
ample and plenary power to regulate interstate commerce, and, there
fore, to regulate tne business of interstate commerce as carried on
by common carriers.
But what is this commerce for the regulation of which Congress
has power to prescribe the rules, when carried on between the States ?
This brings us face to face with the bone of contention in the case.
With that question answered correctly, the remainder of the way is
comparatively smooth. “ Commerce is the exchange, or the buying
and selling of commodities. Intercourse/7 Webster. “ Commerce
undoubtedly is traffic, but it is something more, it is intercourse.”
Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheaton, 189. “ Transportation of freight and
passengers is commerce.” Wabash, St. L. & P. R. R. Co. v. 111., 118
U .S . 557.
Interstate commerce is the trading and trafficking in commodities
between and amongst citizens of different States. It is transporting
by common carriers passengers and property from one State into
another State. It is the selling and buying or a commodity, or com
modities, by a citizen of one State to a citizen of another State, which
commodity is to be transported from the State of the seller to the State
of the buyer, or to another State, and there resold, or used, as may
serve the purpose of the buyer. The citizen may be an individual,
firm or corporation. [Cases cited.]
These definitions do not solve the problem here. The interstate
feature of it may be, and perhaps is, sufficiently clear. But, man
ifestly, the character of commerce legislated about, or on by the act
in question is not of the varieties or kinds heretofore mentioned.
The commerce mentioned and referred to in the act of June 11, 1906,
is the liability of common carriers, engaged in interstate trade or
commerce, to their employees. Congress, by the enactment of this
law, assumed that this ^liability is commerce, or so related to, or
connected with it as to fall within the power of Congress as a
proper subject for its legislation under article 1, section 8, clause 3„
of the Constitution of the United States.
The demurrant challenges the correctness of this position, and insists
that the liability of the employer to the employee for injuries is not
commerce at all, and that Congress exceeded its authority under the
Constitution in enacting the law in question. No case of the Fed
eral Supreme Court, holding that such liability is commerce within
the meaning of the commerce clause of the Federal Constitution has
been cited, and I know of none.
The Supreme Court of the United States has, in cases on writs of
error to the State courts, repeatedly upheld the decisions of the
State supreme courts where the latter courts have sustained the va
lidity of the State statutes which altered the common law rule in
regard to common carriers and made them liable to their employees
for injuries, much in the same fashion as is done by the act under
consideration. (Missouri Pacific Ry. Co. v. Mackey 127 U. S. 205;
194
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Minneapolis & Sf. Louis R. Co. v. Herrick, 127 U. S. 210; Tullis v.
Lake Erie and Western R. R. 175 U. S. 348.) It does not follow,
however, that because the United States Supreme 'Court upheld the
validity of these State statutes, that that is tantamount to deciding
a Federal statute to the same purport and effect would be valid.
What was decided in all, or in many of these cases, was that such
State legislation did not undertake to regulate interstate commerce,
and was not obnoxious to the Constitution or to any law of the
United States for that reason. This would necessarily be so under
the well-known rule that the Supreme Court will follow the decisions
of the supreme court of a State m its construction of its own statutes
and constitution, unless such statute or constitution is obnoxious to
the Constitution of the United States.
It would not necessarily follow, therefore, that because it has been
held in several of the States that the liability of common carriers
for injuries to their employees is a proper subject for State govern
mental regulation, and these State decisions not having been dis
turbed by the Supreme Court of the United States on review, that
the liability of common carrier for injuries to their employees is a
proper subject for Federal governmental regulation for the very simple
State governmental control
conclusion that the liability
of a common carrier to its employees for injuries is interstate com
merce, or commerce of any character within the meaning of the com
merce clause of the Constitution.
It is insisted that the relation between common carriers and their
employees more or less affects interstate commerce; and that this
legislation more or less affects interstate commerce, and for that rea
son it is within the power of Congress to regulate it. Chief Justice
Fuller, speaking for the Court in Williams v. Fears, 179 U. S. 278,
says: “ If the power to regulate interstate commerce applied to all
the incidents to which said commerce might give rise, and to all
contracts which might be made in the course of its transaction, that
power would embrace the entire sphere of mercantile activity in any
way connected with trade between the States, and would exclude
State control over many contracts purely domestic in their nature.”
In the case of Sherlock v. Ailing, 93 U. S. 99, the Court says: “ Legis
lation, in a great variety of ways, may affect commerce and persons
engaged in it without constituting a regulation of it, within the mean
ing of the Constiti^tion.” See also State Tax Case, 15 Wallace, 293,
to the same effect.
Congress has power to regulate,— that is, to prescribe rules by
which commerce is to be governed. Under this construction of the
interstate commerce clause of the Constitution the “ Safety Appliance
A c t” was passed. That act has been acquiesced in, if not sustained,
by the Supreme Court of the United States. Perhaps its validity has
not been questioned. The fact that the Safety Appliance Act im
poses a liability upon common carriers, and the further fact that that
act has passed muster before the Supreme Court of the United States,
and by that court its provisions have been enforced, does not nec
essarily warrant the conclusion that the Employers7 Liability Act
should be sustained. Our attention is called to that act, and the
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
195
insistence is made that the Safety Appliance Act and the Employers’
Liability Act are the same in character. And if it is within the
power of Congress to enact the former, it must have the power to
enact the latter.
There is a vast difference between the two enactments. In the
Safety Appliance Act, Congress lays down specific rules and regu
lations with which common carriers are required to comply. For
a failure to observe such rules or perform such duties prescribed by
Congress for the conduct and government of their business, a penalty
is provided which may be recovered by the United States Govern
ment, and in addition it provides: “ That any employee of any such
common carrier who may be injured by any locomotive, car, or
train in use contrary to the provisions of this act shall not be deemed
thereby to have assumed the risk thereby occasioned, although
continuing in the employment of such carrier, after the unlawral
use of such locomotive, car or train has been brought to his knowl
edge.” There, the carrier is made liable to the employee, not simply
because he is injured, but, rather, because the carrier violates and
sets at naught the rules for the government of its business, pre
scribed by Congress, and because, as a result of such violation, the
employee was injured. The liability, in its nature and essence is a
penalty. The power of Congress to prescribe a penalty for the
infraction of a rule or regulation which it is empowered to enact by
the express terms of the Constitution, is clearly and necessarily
implied, but if it was not so implied, then authority for its enactment
is round in clause 18, section 8, article 1, of the Constitution.
In the act of June 11, 1906, Congress does not undertake to pre
scribe a rule or regulation for the conduct or government of the busi
ness of the common carrier, for the infraction of which a penalty
or liability is imposed, but the act only declares that the carrier shall
be liable ror all damages to its employees, the result of the negligence
of its officers, agents, employees, etc. In other words, the act
abolishes the common law rule as to fellow-servants, as heretofore
applied in the United States Courts.
There is no express grant of power to Congress over the subject of
the liability of common carriers, or other employers to their em
ployees for torts, nor, in my opinion, is there any express grant
from which such power can be necessarily or even reasonably implied.
The power to prescribe rules for the government of interstate com
merce, necessarily carries with it the power and right to declare
liability for their infraction. Otherwise, a statute prescribing a rule
would be a dead letter. A government with power to enact laws,
but without power to enforce obedience of them would be a howl
ing farce in these strenuous practical times. Had the act prescribed
some rule, or rules, for the safer and more expedient transaction of
the business of common carriers, and which they were to observe,
and fixed the liability, as it is in the act, for their failure to observe
the rules and regulations, we would have a different act, and one very
similar to the Safety Appliance Act.
My conclusion on this branch of the case is that the power of
Congress to define the liability of common carriers, engaged in inter
state commerce, to their employees, and to create rights of action in
favor of employees and to define the method of procedure, can only
196
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
be exercised when Congress in the first instance has prescribed rules
of conduct governing common carriers, and it is only for the
breach of these rules that Congress has the power to prescribe civil
liability. Independent of such rules, Congress has no power to define
the liability of a common carrier to its servants on account of torts
committed by other servants of the common carrier. (Sherlock v.
Ailing, 93 U. S., 99.)
The second ground of demurrer in substance is, that if the act regu
lates commerce at all, it regulates intrastate as well as interstate
commerce. The act provides: That every common carrier engaged
in trade or commerce between the several States shall be liable to any
of its employees, etc. The character of commerce, that is, whether
it is intra or inter state is to be determined by the point of reception
and the point of destination, and not by the number or length of
railroads over which it is routed. All common carriers who haul or
forward interstate commerce over any portion of its route are engaged
in interstate commerce, if the several roads have existing a joint sched
ule of traffic rates for the purpose of handling through passengers and
freight. Now, manifestly, tne line of one of the carriers may lie
wholly within a single State, yet, it is engaged in interstate commerce
if it maintains a joint traffic schedule of rates, and receives, from an
interstate road, freight that comes from another State and forwards it
to its point of destination, or delivers it to a connecting line. And
under this act of Congress, its liability to all of its employees for all
damages is the same as is the common carrier whose line extends
across the continent, when, in point of fact, this intrastate road may
handle only one car or one train of interstate freight in a month,
while, under the act, it is liable for all damages to all employees all
the time, even though at the time of the injury, it is doing strictly
an intrastate business.
The infirmity in this act is so plainly observable that I deem it
unnecessary to further discuss it. Certain it is, that the States have
not delegated to Congress the power to regulate commerce wholly
within a single State; and if Congress has the power to enact the
law in question limited to interstate common carriers, it has, in this
act, exceeded that power by including within its terms intrastate
commerce.
It was indirectly suggested in the argument that, if the court should
take this view of the case, and hold that as the act reads it applies to
intra as well as inter state commerce, it was not the intention of Con
gress that the act should extend to and embrace intrastate common
carriers, and that this objection might be remedied by judicial inter
pretation and construction. The act is plain on its face. It applies
to all common carriers engaged in trade or commerce between the
States, and imposes upon common carriers whose lines lie wholly
within a State, if such lines do any interstate business, the same
liability as a common carrier who handles only interstate business.
The act is single in character, and includes commerce, if it be com
merce, wholly within the State, thereby exceeding the authority
delegated to Congress by the Constitution of the United States.
Judge McCall concluded as follows:
Congress is not authorized, under the commerce clause of the
Constitution of the United States, to enact this legislation, for the
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
197
reason that the relation of interstate common carriers, engaged in
interstate trade or commerce, to their employees, and their liability
to them in damages for injuries sustained in their employment, as
the result of the negligence of any of their officers, agents or em
ployees, or by reason of any defects or insufficiency due to their
negligence in their cars, engines, appliances, machinery, track, road
bed, ways or works, is not commerce within the meaning of the
Constitution. But if it were, the act does not undertake to regulate
this relation or liability, but simply announces by an act of Congress
a new law on torts limited to a special class of those engaged in
interstate commerce.
The act does not limit the liability which it seeks to impose upon
common carriers engaged in interstate trade and commerce to such
common carriers, but imposes the same liability upon common
carriers engaged in trade and commerce wholly witnin the State.
E mployers’
L iability — R ailroads— Prevention
of
A cci
of Statute — Cincinnati, New Orleans and
dents— A pplication
Texas Pacific Railroad Co. v. Holland, Supreme Court of Tennessee,
96 Southwestern Reporter, page 758.— Fannie Holland had secured a
judgment for damages against the railroad company above named on
account of the death of her husband, an employee in its service.
Holland’s employment required him to pass over the road, and he was
at the time of his death riding on a railway velocipede carrying mail
from one train to another. He was following one section of a fast
train and was killed by the second section, which was running at the
rate of about 60 miles per hour. The statute that requires the
observance of prescribed precautions and the employment of every
possible means to prevent injury to persons or animals on the road
was relied on by the plaintiff to support her action, but this the supreme
court refused to allow, holding that such precautions were not pre
scribed for the benefit of employees. The decision of the lower court
was therefore reversed on grounds that appear in the following ex
tracts from the opinion of Judge Wilkes, who spoke for the court:
It is insisted upon the part of the railroad company that the statu
tory precautions were observed; but this is denied by the plaintiff,
and there is some evidence to support the contention of the plaintiff
upon this point.
Conceding, therefore, that the statutory precautions were not
observed, we think the crucial question is whether or not this was a
case which required the observance of the statutory precautions.
We think there is ample evidence to show that the plaintiff’s
intestate was guilty of the grossest contributory negligence in attempt
ing to operate a velocipede upon the railroad track between the two
sections of a train which were running at the rate of 60 miles an hour.
He was entirely familiar with the schedule of the trains. He knew
198
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
that the first section had passed Boyce going in the direction of
Chattanooga, and that the second section would immediately follow
after; and yet he placed himself upon this velocipede in front of the
rear section, and attempted to go down the road between the two
sections, his rate of speed being about 10 miles per hour.
It is not shown that he was authorized to use a velocipede or that
it was done with the consent of the railroad company, nor that it was
necessary in the discharge of his duty; but, on the contrary, it is
charged, and, we think, clearly appears, that he was using it for his
own convenience and without the consent of the defendant.
If the rule of common-law liability is applied, we think it clear that
because of his negligence and we may say recklessness, he would not be
entitled to any recovery, and, if he is entitled to any recovery it must
be solely on the ground that the company failed to observe the
statutory precautions; for there is no evidence to show that he was
run down recklessly or maliciously by the railroad employees, but
everything was done that could be done to stop the train after
deceased was discovered.
In the case Railroad Co. v. Hicks, 89 Tenn. 301, 17 S. W. 1036, the
plaintiff was using a velocipede on the track rightfully. It was com
pletely under his control, and could be easily removed from and
replaced upon the track. On a trial the circuit judge charged that
the statutory precautions were applicable; but this court held that
the application of the rule to employees upon the track, even in the
discharge of their duties, would necessitate the stopping of all trains
whenever they came in sight of section hands upon the road, although
it was altogether reasonable that such hands would get out of the way
without making it necessary to stop at all, and that a proper charge
would have been that the road, when it sees an employee on the track
in peril of being run over, must do all in its power to avert a collision
and prevent an injury, which is, in effect applying the rule of the
common law.
Judge Wilkes quoted with approval the following from Railroad v.
Burke, 6 Cold., 45:
“ The statute was intended for the benefit of the general public,
not for the servants of the company, and clearly not for a servant
whose negligence caused, or contributed to cause, the accident. The
legislature surely never intended that a railroad company by a mere
noncompliance with certain forms made obligatory as to a stranger,
whether their observations would have prevented the act or not,
should become liable to an employee whose plain dereliction of duty
caused the accident.”
He then concluded as follows:
In the language of Judge McFarland in Railroad v. Robertson, 9
Heisk. 276: “ The liability of the company to its agent for injuries
resulting from the misconduct or negligence of that agent must be
determined, not by the statute, but by the common-law principles.”
Under the facts as we find th§m in the record, we think that there
is no liability on the part of the defendant railroad; and the judgment
of the court below is reversed, and the cause is remanded lor a new
trial.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
199
E mployment of Children— A ge L imit— Constitutionality of
Statute— Ex parte Spencer, Supreme Court of California, 86 Pacific
Reporter, page 896.— This case was before the supreme court on an
application by J. M. Spencer for a writ of habeas corpus to secure his
release after conviction and confinement for violation of the act of
February 20, 1905, which prohibits the employment of children under
14 years of age “ in any mercantile institution, office, laundry, manu
facturing establishment, workshop, restaurant, hotel, apartment house,
or in the distribution or transmission of merchandise or messages.”
Provision is made in the act for the children of parents disabled by ill
ness, for employment during vacations, against night work by children
under 16 years of age, and against employment during school hours
of illiterates under 16 years of age.
The petitioner objected to the statute on the ground of its alleged
unconstitutionality. It was, however, upheld by the court, and the
petition denied. Judge Shaw, who delivered the opinion of the court,
spoke in part as follows:
The first objection to the validity of the part of the section above
stated is that it is discriminatory and special because it does not pro
hibit such employment of minors in all occupations, but only in
those specifically mentioned; that work at other places, of which
saloons, barber shops, railroads, ferries, and warehouses are specified
by counsel as instances, would be equally injurious, and that m order
to be general and uniform they should be included in the prohibition.
The objection is twofold: First, that the legislation constitutes an
unfair discrimination against the particular trades mentioned; sec
ond, that it unduly and without reasonable cause restricts the rights
of minors to work at any and every occupation in which they may
wish to engage. There is nothing in the act to indicate a purpose
on the part of the legislature to make use of the laudable object of
protecting children as a mere pretense under which to impose burdens
upon some occupations or trades and favor others. It appears to
have been framed in good faith and for the purpose of promoting'
the general welfare by protecting minors from injury by overwork
and by facilitating their attendance at schools. The legislature may
undoubtedly forbid the employment of children under the age of
fourteen years at any regular occupation if the interests of the children
and the general welfare of society will be thereby secured and pro
moted. The power to forbid their employment in certain occupations
and not in all depends on the questions whether or not any appreciable
number of children are employed in the callings not forbidden, and
whether or not those callings are injurious to them, or less injurious
than those forbidden. If certain occupations are especially harmful
to young children and others are not so, there can be no serious doubt
that it is within the power of the legislature to forbid their employ
ment in one class ana permit it in the other. The difference in the
results would justify the classification with a view to the difference
in the legislation. Also, if children are employed in certain occupa
tions to their injury, and are not. employed at all in others, or so
infrequently that the number is inappreciable and insignificant, the
200
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
occupations regularly employing them have no ground to complain
of discrimination. They compose the entire class to which the legis
lation is directed, the class which causes the injury to be prevented.
And upon the facts assumed, neither the children nor the persons
engaged in the occupations in which they are not employed would
be affected by the prohibition as to other occupations. Tlie prelim
inary question as to the effect of the specified occupations on the chil
dren, and as to the number of children engaged therein, are questions
of fact for the legislature to ascertain and determine. It has deter
mined that the facts exist to authorize the particular legislation.
If any rational doubt exists as to the soundness of the legislative
judgment upon the existence of the facts, that doubt must be resolved
m favor of the legislative action and the law must accordingly be
held to be valid in these respects. The specifications of forbidden
callings are broad and comprehensive. Even of those which, as
counsel assert, are omitted from the classification, we can not say a
saloon is not a “ mercantile institution,” it being a place where mer
chandise is sold; nor that a barber shop is not a “ workshop,” it being
a place where a handicraft is carried on; nor that ferries and rail
roads are not engaged in the “ distribution or transmission of mer
chandise or messages.” At all events, in view of the rule that a
statute must be liberally construed to the end that it may be declared
constitutional rather than unconstitutional (People v. Hayne, 83
Cal. 117, 23 Pac. 1), we would not give the description of forbidden
occupations this narrow construction in order to make the law
invalid. The decision of the legislature that the specified occupa
tions are more injurious to children than others not mentioned, and
hence the subject of special regulation, and that they constitute
practically all the injurious occupations in which children are em
ployed at all, and therefore the only cases in which regulation is
needed, is not so manifestly incorrect, not so beclouded with doubt
concerning its accuracy, as to justify the court in declaring it unfound
ed and the law, consequently, invalid.
There is a proviso in this clause of the section, to the effect that if
either parent of such child makes a sworn statement to the judge-of
the juvenile court of the county that the child is over 12 years of age,
and that the parent or parents are unable, from sickness, to labor,
such judge, in his discretion, may issue a permit allowing such child
to work ror a time to be specified therein. There is no force to the
objection that this discriminates against orphans and abandoned
children. The exception allowed by the proviso is not made for the
direct benefit of the child, but for the sick parent. It is a burden
put upon the child because of the special necessity of his case which
justifies the different provisions respecting him. The legislature
deemed the necessity of allowing a child to work to aid in the support
of the sick parent sufficient to outweigh the benefits which would
otherwise accrue from the education and protection of the child dur
ing such inability. If there are no parents whose necessities the
child’s labor could alleviate, the reason for this exception is wanting.
The provision seems a reasonable one in view of the conditions upon
which, alone, it can apply. There is a further proviso or exception,
to the effect that any child over 12 years old may work at the pro
hibited occupations during the time of the regular vacations of the
public schools of the city or county, upon a permit from the principal
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
201
of the school attended by the child during the term next preceding
such vacation. This does not, as counsel contends, give the princi
pals of the public schools the exclusive power to give the contem
plated permits. Its true meaning is that the permit is to be given by
the principal of the school which the child has attended, whether the
school is public or private, but that it can extend only to the time of
the public school vacation. This act was approved February 20,
1905. Its provisions relating to attendance upon schools, and those
of section 1 of the act of March 24, 1903 (St. T903, p» 388, c. 270), with
the amendment of March 20, 1905 (St. 1905, p. 388, c. 333), to said
section 1 must be considered together. The act of 1903, in effect,
requires all children to attend, either the public schools, or a private
school, during at least five months of the time of the session of the
public schools. The amendment of March 20, 1905, extends the
time of such compulsory attendance, so as to embrace the whole
eriod of the public school session. Therefore, if the parents, guarians, or custodians of a child choose to send it to a private school,
it must attend thereon at least during the time the public schools are
in session. A permit may then be obtained for it to work during the
vacation of the public schools, if its interests or necessities so require,
without subjecting it to conditions substantially different from those
affecting the children attending the public schools. There is no
discrimination. The legislature has the power to make such reason
able regulations as these with respect to the time of the vacations of
schools, whether public or private, in the interest of the public wel
fare and the welfare of the children.
A third clause of section 2 declares that no child under 16 years of
age shall work at any gainful occupation during the hours that the
public schools are in session, unless such child can read English at
sight, and write simple English sentences, or is attending night school.
The first clause of section 2 provides that no minor under 16 shall
work in any mercantile institution, office, laundry, manufacturing
establishment, or workshop, between 10 o ’clock in the evening and
6 o ’clock in the morning. Section 5 (page 15) of the act further
provides that nothing in the act is to be construed to prevent the
employment of minors at agricultural, viticultural, horticultural, or
domestic labor, during the time the public schools are not in session,
or during other than school hours. The petitioner’s contention with
respect to the first and last clauses of section 2 is that they con
stitute such important parts of the statute that it can not be presumed
that the legislature would have adopted the other parts thereof if it
had been aware of the invalidity of these particular provisions, and
hence the whole act must fall. We can not accede to this proposi
tion. They are separable and independent provisions, and are not
so important to the entire scheme as to justify us in concluding that
the legislature would have refused to adopt the other parts without
these, and thereby to declare the entire statute invalid. Nor can it
be conceded that these provisions are invalid. The principles already
discussed apply with equal force to the first clause of the section.
The proviso concerning illiterate children is a reasonable regulation
to prevent those having control of such children from working them
to such an extent as to hinder them from acquiring, or endeavoring
to acquire, at least the beginning of an education before arriving at
the age of 16 years. The exemption of domestic labor and the sev
S
202
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
eral kinds of farming from the operation of the act is not an unrea
sonable discrimination. Such work is generally carried on at the
home and as a part of the general home industry which should not
be too much discouraged, and it is usually under the immediate care
and supervision of the parents or those occupying the place of par
ents, and hence is not liable to cause so much injury. These circum
stances distinguish them from the prohibited industries and is a
sufficient reason for the exemption. We find no reasonable ground
for declaring the law invalid.
The petition is denied, and the petitioner remanded to the custody
of the officer.
E mployment
of
Children — Certain E mployments F orbid
of Statute —Ex parte Weber, Supreme
den — Constitutionality
Court of California, 86 Pacific Reporter, page 809.— Henry Weber had
been convicted of violating section 272 of the Penal Code, as amended
by chapter 568, Acts of 1905, which prohibits the employment of
children under 16 years of age in immoral, injurious, or dangerous
occupations, and petitioned fo f a writ of habeas corpus to secure his
release from confinement. The statute in question contains a proviso
excepting from its application children employed as singers or musi
cians in churches, schools, and academies.
Weber contended that the statute was unfairly discriminating and
therefore unconstitutional. This the court denied, upholding the law,
and refusing to grant the writ petitioned for. Its rulings appear in
the following quotations from the remarks of Judge Shaw, who deliv
ered the opinion of the court:
The contention of the petitioner is that these provisions contain
an arbitrary and unreasonable classification, and, consequently, are
not of uniform operation, and that the act constitutes a special law
for the punishment of crimes, where a general law could be made
applicable. It is said that only a certain portion of the minor chil
dren of the State are affected by the act, namely, those who are
under 16 years of age, and that this is an arbitrary discrimination
between tiiose who are over that age and those who are under that
age; that any child over that age may enjoy his natural privilege of
working for his own support as he pleases, while those under that
age are prohibited therefrom. There is no sound reason for any
such criticism. The same reasoning might be applied to a large
number of laws which are universally conceded to be valid and con
stitutional. The law providing that a male person under 21 years
of age is a minor, subject to the legal disabilities of minority, might
be rendered unconstitutional by the same process of reasoning. It
is competent for the legislature to provide regulations for the pro
tection of children of immature years. The growth of a child is
gradual and the age of maturity varies with different children. It is
impossible for any person to fix the exact time when a child is capable
of protecting itself. The legislative judgment in regard to the proper
age at which such regulations shall become applicable to the child
can not be interfered with by the courts.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
203
It is also stated that the law makes an unfair discrimination by
allowing the employment pf children as singers or musicians in
churches, schools, or academies. The ground of this objection is that
such employment, so far as the court can see, may be as injurious to
the health or morals, or as dangerous to the life or limb of the child
as those which are prohibited in the law, and that no prohibition is
lawful under the constitution unless it extends to all employments
which are equally injurious. In matters of this kind the legislature
has large discretion. It must determine the degree of injury to
health or morals, which the different kinds of employment inflict
upon the child, and the corresponding necessity for protecting the
child from the' effects thereof, and, unless its decision m that regard
is manifestly unreasonable, there is no ground for judicial interfer
ence. We do not think the law in question so unreasonable as to
require us to hold it unconstitutional.
The petition is denied, and the petitioner is remanded to the
custody of the officer.
E mployment of Children— H ours of L abor— Constitution
Statute — State v. Shorey, Supreme Court of Oregon, 86
ality of
Pacific Reporter, page 881.— John F. Shorey had been convicted in
the circuit court of Multnomah County of a violation of section 5 of
the Oregon child-labor law of 1905, which prohibits the employment
of a minor under 16 years of age for more than 10 hours per day. An
appeal was taken on the ground that the statute was unconstitutional,
as being in conflict with the fourteenth amendment of the Constitu
tion of the United States, which provides that no State shall “ deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;”
and of section 1 of article 1 of the State constitution, which reads:
“ We declare that all men, when they form a social compact, are
equal in rights.”
The court ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the act, Judge
Bean speaking for the court, using in part the following language:
It is competent for the State to forbid the employment of children
in certain callings merely because it believes such prohibition to be
for their best interest, although the prohibited employment does not
involve a direct danger to morals, decency, or of life or limb. Such
legislation is not an unlawful interference with the parents* control
over the child or right to its labor, nor with the liberty of the child.
(People v. Ewer, 141 N. Y. 129, 36 N. E. 4.) Laws prohibiting the
employment of adult males for more than a stated number of hours
per day or week are not valid unless reasonably necessary to protect
the public health, safety, morals or general welfare, because the
right to labor or employ labor on such terms as may be agreed upon is a
liberty or property right guaranteed to such persons by the fourteenth
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and with which
the State can not interfere. (Lochner v. New York, 198 U. S. 45, 25
Sup. Ct. 539, 49 L. Ed. 937.) But laws regulating the right of minors
to contract do not come within this principle. They are not sui juris,
204
BULLETIN OE THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
and can only contract to a limited extent. They are wards of the
State and subject to its control. As to them the State stands in the
position of parens patriae and may exercise unlimited supervision
and control over their contracts, occupation, and conduct, and the
liberty and right of those who assume to deal with them. This is a
power which inheres in the government for its own preservation and
ror the protection of life, person, health, and morals of its future
citizens.
W e are of the opinion, therefore, that the law prohibiting the
employment of a child under 16 years of age for longer than 10 hours
in any one day is a valid exercise of legislative power. It is argued,
however, that the provisions of the statute forbidding the employ
ment of such a child at any work before the hour of 7 in the morning
or after the hour of 6 at night, is so manifestly unreasonable and
arbitrary as to be void on that account. The defendant is not
accused nor was he convicted of violating this provision of the statute,
and is therefore not in a position to raise the question suggested.
It follows that the judgment of the court below must be affirmed,
and it is so ordered.
E xamination and L icensing of P lumbers— Constitutionality
Statute — Caven et al. v. Coleman, Court of Civil Appeals of Texas,
of
96 Southwestern Reporter, page 774.— W. P. Coleman sued in the dis
trict court of Harrison County for a mandamus to compel T. S. Caven
and others, mayor and aldermen of the city of Marshall, to appoint
an examining and supervising board of plumbers for the city, as
required by chapter 163, Laws of 1897. The law in question pro
vided that on this board there should be, among others, the city
engineer and a member of the local board of health, while the city
of Marshall had no such officers. The mayor and aldermen con
tended that the appointment of such officers was discretionary with
the city council and not mandatory; that the special charter of the
city, which contained no specific provision for such officers, was in
conflict with the statute named, and operated as a repeal thereof
so far as the city of Marshall is concerned; and, finally, that the act
itself is an unwarranted interference with the right of private busi
ness enterprise, and is therefore unconstitutional and void.
All these contentions were denied in the lower court, and, on appeal,
in the court of civil appeals. The views of the court as to the con
stitutionality of the statute are set forth in the following extract
from the remarks of Judge Talbot, who delivered the opinion of the
court:
Referring to respondents' contention, that the act of the twentyfifth legislature under consideration, “ interferes with the rights of
citizens to do business, and confers special privileges on a certain
class, etc., and is therefore unconstitutional and void," it may be
said that said act comes clearly within the police powers of the State.
DECISIONS OP COURTS AFFECTING LABOR,
205
An indisputable function of the police power, and one frequentlyexercised by the State municipalities, is to provide for the preserva
tion of the health of the people. And while the right of the indi
vidual to labor and enjoy the fruits thereof is recognized as a “ natural
right which may not be unreasonably interfered with by legislation/'
yet whenever the “ pursuit concerns the public health and is of such
a character as to require special training or experience to qualify
one to pursue such occupation with safety to the public interest, the
legislature may enact reasonable regulations to protect the public
against the evils which may result from incapacity and ignorance."
Such regulations, which have been uniformly upheld, will be found
in statutes prohibiting the practice of medicine or surgery by persons
not licensed, or the compounding of medicines by any other person
than a licensed or registered pharmacist. Other examples of this prin
ciple are found in our Sunday laws and the laws which require study
and an examination before a, person is permitted to practice law or
engage in the occupation of a dentist..
Nor does the statute in question, as contended by counsel for
respondents discriminate against individual plumbers not members
of a firm, in that it allows a firm of any number of members to do
plumbing, if only one member has the license required. Neither does
it allow members of a corporation to do a plumbing business without
having passed the required examination and procured a license. Sec
tion 5 oi the statute is sufficiently broad and comprehensive to include
every person engaged in the work of plumbing, whether he be a mem
ber of a firm or of a corporation. It provides: “ That license shall
not be issued, to any person or firm to carry on or work at the business
of plumbing or to act as inspector of plumbing until he or they shall
have appeared before the examining and supervising board for exami
nation and registration, and shall have successfully passed the required
examination. Every firm carrying on the business of plumbing shall
have at least one member who is a practical plumber." A distinc
tion seems to be made of a licensed plumber and a practical plumber,
and, in the case of a firm, the members must not only pass the
required examination, but one of the members must be a “ practical
plumber." It can not be said that the provision, “ every firm, car
rying on the business of plumbing shall have at least one practical
plumber," means that only one member of the firm is required to
pass the examination. The section quoted requires all who engage
in the work to stand the examination. We think it well settled that
a statute which selects particular individuals from a class and imposes
upon them special obligations or burdens, from which others in the
same class are exempt, is unconstitutional; but such is not, in our
opinion, the character of the statute under consideration.
E xamination and R egistration of Miners— Construction of
Statute— Constitutionality— Commonwealth v. Shaleen, Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania, 6J+ Atlantic Reporter, page 797.— John Shaleen,
a citizen of Illinois, had been convicted of working as an anthracite
miner in the State of Pennsylvania without a certificate of qualifica248 b — No. 68— 07------ 14
206
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR.
tion. The act of July 15, 1897 (page 287, Acts of 1897), makes it a
misdemeanor so to work, and fixes as a condition necessary to the
securing of such a certificate that the applicant shall have had two
years’ experience as a miner or mine laborer “ in the mines of this
Commonwealth.” Shaleen’s counsel argued that there was no restric
tion in the phrase quoted, but that miners in bituminous as well as in
anthracite mines might procure such certificates, and that the act
was therefore discriminatory as against bituminous miners from other
States, and was on this account unconstitutional and void. The case
was appealed, first to the superior court and afterwards to the
supreme court of the State, the judgment of the lower court being
affirmed in each instance. The position of the supreme court is indi
cated in the following quotation from its opinion, as delivered by
Judge Stewart:
The construction here contended for would defeat utterly the mani
fest purpose of the act, as expressed in its title, and as may be gathered
from its different provisions. What the legislature had in view was
the protection of the persons and lives of those employed in the
anthracite mines of the State. The safety of those so engaged
depends upon the intelligent understanding by each of those things
which distinguish anthracite mines from all others, both in general
design and the methods employed in working them. It will not be
contended that experience even of a lifetime in an iron ore m ine/or
a zinc mine, would acquaint one in the slightest degree of the dangers
that lurk in an anthracite coal mine. Whether experience in a
bituminous mine would to any extent be helpful may be a question
that admits of discussion. But the interpretation of the act that
would admit the experienced bituminous miner, would admit as well
every other kind of experienced miner, no matter whether he has ever
seen a coal mine or not.
The learned judge of the court below held that the act required as
a qualification for registration two years’ experience in the anthracite
coal mines of the Commonwealth, and in this view we concur. The
superior court, while dissenting from this view, found other reasons
justifying an affirmance of the judgment. These call for no considera
tion here.
The judgment is affirmed.
L abor Organizations— Production of R ecords— Contempt—
L iability of M embers—Patterson v. Wyoming Valley District Coun
cil, Superior Court of Pennsylvania. (Opinion printed in inserted
front pages of advance sheets of Federal Reporter, Yol. 146, No. 2.)—
This was a case in which the plaintiff, Patterson, who conducted a
planing mill and dealt in lumber and builders’ supplies, sought an
attachment as for contempt against the members of the labor union
named on account of alleged violations of an injunction. The
injunction had been granted by the court of common pleas of Luzerne
County to restrain a boycott against the firm, and as no appeal was
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
207
taken therefrom the points involved are not reviewed here. In the
proceedings in the same court to secure the attachment, specific
instances of violations were named, and, on hearing, sentence was
imposed. An appeal was then taken to the superior court, but was
dismissed on grounds that are set forth in the opinion below. Follow
ing this action by the superior court the case was again appealed to
the supreme court of the State, but was dismissed without opinion,
leaving the judgment of the court of common pleas in effect.
Judge Head, who delivered the opinion of the superior court, after
stating the facts given above, said:
While testimony was being taken on the rule [to show cause why the
attachment should not issue] certain officers of the Wyoming Valley
district council and subordinate locals were subpoenaed to produce
their records and minute books showing what action, if any, had been
taken concerning the business of the plaintiffs. Acting under advice
of counsel they refused to produce these records before the commis
sioner who was taking the testimony, and on November 5, 1904, the
court filed an order requiring the production of the records. This is
the first error assigned in the present appeal.
The argument advanced to convict the learned court below of error
in this respect is drawn from article 5 of the amendments to the Con
stitution of the United States, which provides that no person “ shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself;”
and section 9 of article 1 of the constitution of Pennsylvania, which
provides that “ in all criminal prosecutions the accused can not be
compelled to give evidence against himself.” These provisions having
been imbedded in the fundamental law to safeguard the individual
rights and liberties of the citizen, must be construed with reasonable
liberality so as to accomplish the object intended. But it is equally
clear that their construction should not be so strained as to compel
their application to cases not clearly and fairly within the letter or
intendment of the language quoted. Now it must be apparent at a
glance that the immunity from testifying is conferred, not m all cases,
nor even in all cases where it may be in some way to the detriment of
the witness to be compelled to give evidence, but only in such cases as
are fairly embraced in the expressions “ in any criminal case,” “ in all
criminal prosecutions.” In any ordinary or commonly accepted
understanding of the meaning o f these expressions, an investigation
begun in a court of equity to determine whether its decree, entered
in a purely civil suit between private parties, had been obeyed or vio
lated, could hardly be classed as either “ a criminal case,” or “ a crim
inal prosecution.” But our courts, in their solicitude to secure to the
citizen the full measure of his constitutional rights, have not been con
tent to rest their judgments upon any such consideration, but have
sought for the nature and essential character of the proceeding in
question, and from a study of these have determined whether, in sub
stance, it was civil or criminal. Thus it has been held that in an
action to recover penalties inflicted by a statute the defendant can
neither be compelled to testify against himself, nor to produce his
books to be used as evidence against him. (Boyle v. Smithman, 146
Pa., 255, 23 Atl. Rep., 397.) So the act of June 11, 1879 (P. L. 129),
enabling a plaintiff in an execution, upon filing an affidavit of his
208
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
belief that the defendant was fraudulently concealing property, etc.,
to examine the defendant on oath as to said property, was held to be a
violation of the constitutional provision now under consideration.
(H.orstman v. Kaufman, 97 Pa. 147, 39 Am. Rep. 802.) In these
and many other cases that could be cited the court determined that
the proceeding in its nature was criminal, and thus drew the witness
within the sheltering mantle of the constitution.
What, then, was the essential character of the proceeding in the
court below where the immunity from testifying and producing rec
ords claimed by certain witnesses was denied them? As we have
already seen, it was simply an inquiry by a court of equity to deter
mine whether its own decree, made in a strictly civil case, had been
obeyed or contemptuously violated by the party against whom it
had been entered.
Proceedings to ascertain and publish contempts are as ancient as
the courts which conduct them. It has been well said that "th e
power to fine and imprison for contempt, from the earliest history of
jurisprudence, has been regarded as a necessary incident and attribute
of a court, without which it could no more exist than without a
judge.” (Watson v. Williams, 36 Miss. 331, cited In re Debs, 158
U. S. 564, 15 Sup. Ct. Rep., 900, 39 L. Ed. 1092.) But from the
earliest days of our legal history contempts of court and proceedings
to ascertain them have been divided into two broad ana easily dis
tinguishable classes. Where the alleged contemptuous act is aimed
directly at the power or dignity of the court, or subversive of the due
administration of public law, and where the responsive act of the
court is purely punitive in character, to vindicate the rights of the
people at large vested in their properly constituted legal tribunals,
such contempts, and the proceedings to ascertain and punish them,
have always been regarded as essentially criminal, as distinguished
from civil, in their character. But where the act complained of
consists merely in the refusal to do or refrain from doing some act
commanded or prohibited for the benefit, primarily at least, of a
party litigant, proceedings to ascertain such contempts and enforce
obedience to the order or decree have ever been deemed akin to execu
tion process, and civil, rather than criminal in their nature. "Indeed,
the attachment for most of this species of contempts, and especially
for nonpayment of costs and nonperformance ot awards, is to be
looked upon rather as a civil execution for the benefit of the injured
party, though carried on in the shape of a criminal process for a con
tempt of .the authority of the court. And therefore it hath been
held that such contempts, and the process thereon, being properly
the civil remedy of individuals for a private injury, are not released
or affected by the general act of pardon.” (4 Bl. Coin. p. 285.) The
same distinction has been drawn by the courts of last resort of many
of our States, but a quotation from one will be sufficient to make
obvious the point now under consideration. In Thompson v . Penna.
R. R. Co., 48 N. J. Eq. 105, 21 Atl. Rep., 182, the court says: "P ro
ceedings in contempt are of two classes, namely: First, those insti
tuted solely for the purpose of vindicating the dignity and preserving
the power of the court. These are criminal and punitive in their
nature, and are usually instituted by the court in the interest of the
general public and not of any particular individual or suitor. Second,
those instituted by private individuals for the purpose mainly, if not
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
209
wholly, of protecting or enforcing private rights and in which the
public have no special interest. These are remedial or civil in their
nature rather than criminal or punitive.” (See, also, People v. O. & T.
Court, 101 N. Y . 245, 4 N. E. Rep., 259, 54 Am. Rep. 691; Dodd v.
Una, 40 N. J. Eq. 672, 5 Atl. Rep., 155; Water Co. v. Strawboard Co.
(C. C.), 75 Fed. Rep., 972.)
Although we have been referred to no Pennsylvania case exactly
in point, there is ample authority for holding that the distinction so
clearly stated by the New Jersey court in the case quoted from is
recognized in our own State. Our act of 1842, abolishing imprison
ment for debt, excepts from its operation “ proceedings as for contempt
to enforce civil remedies.” In Chew’s Appeal, 44 Pa. 247, it. was
held that a court of equity has power to enforce a decree for the pay
ment of
1
“ attachment against ms
person
court has like power.
(Tome’s
,
,
,5 9 Pa. 425.)
A careful study of all these cases leaves no room to doubt that the
proceeding in the court below was a civil proceeding in essence and
substance; that under no adjudication of the terms “ a criminal case”
or “ a criminal prosecution’ ’ could it be fairly classed as either, and,
as a consequence, that no constitutional right was denied to the appel
lants in compelling the production of the books and records referred
to in the first assignment of error, which is therefore overruled.
The second assignment alleges error in making absolute the rule
to show cause why an attachment should not issue. The argument
supporting it indicates that the ruling of the court below is challenged
because there was no sufficient evidence to warrant a finding that the
appellants had been in fact guilty of any violation of the decree pre
viously entered. In other words, we are asked to review the action
of the court in ascertaining the fact of a contempt of its own order
and decree. As the power to ascertain the fact of a contempt is a
necessary and integral part of the right of a court to enforce its own
decrees and to punish those who willfully disregard or defiantly diso
bey them, it has been frequently held by courts of the highest author
ity that the decision of the court wherein the contempt was commit
ted is, as to the fact of such contempt, final and not the subject of
review. In re Debs, 158 U. S. 564 Sup. Ct. Rep., 900, 39 L. Ed.
1092, Mr. Justice Brewer, speaking for the whole court, says: “ But
the power of a court to make an order carries with it the equal power
to punish for a disobedience of that order, and the inquiry as to the
question of disobedience has been, from time immemorial, the special
function of the court. And this is no technical rule. In order that
a court may compel obedience to its orders, it must have the right
to inquire whether there has been any disobedience thereof. To
submit the question of disobedience to another tribunal, be it a jury
or another court, would operate to deprive the proceeding of half
its efficiency.”
The same doctrine was held by Chancellor Kent in the case of
Yates, 4 Johns (N. Y.) 317, and by the court of King’s Bench in
the case of Earl of Shaftsbury, 6 State Tr. 1270. In our own case
of Com. v. Newton, 1 Grant’s Cases, 453, Woodward J., after setting
forth the powers of the Supreme Court, says: “ This charter of our
powers can not be so narrowed by construction as to exclude pro
ceedings for contempt. We do not, indeed, revise such cases on
210
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
their merits. The courts having a limited jurisdiction in contempts,
every fact found b y them is to be taken as true, if it appears to us
that they proceeded within and did not exceed their jurisdiction; but
for the purpose of seeing that their jurisdiction has not been trans
cended, and that their proceedings, as they appear of record, have
been according to law, we possess, and are bound to exercise, a super
visory power over the courts of the Commonwealth/'
There being no complaint that the court below had exceeded its
jurisdiction, or that its proceedings, as they appear of record, have
not been according to law and precedent, speaking for myself, I would
say there appears no ground for the exercise of the supervisory powers
of the appellate court. But, in addition, we feel obliged to say that a
careful reading of all the testimony discloses ample warrant for the
finding that there was in fact a contemptuous violation of the injunc
tion entered by the court below, and the second assignment is there
fore dismissed.
The third and fourth assignments assail the sentence imposed by
the court below upon those adjudged guilty of contempt. In form
and the character of the punishment inflicted the sentence is in har
mony with the provisions of the act of 1836 and the decisions of the
Supreme Court. (Com. ex rel. v* Perkins, 124 Pa., 36, 16 Atl. Rep.,
525, 2 L. R. A., 223.)
The particular error alleged in this respect seems to have been that
Daniel Post and Peter Eoser were ordered to stand committed until
the fine imposed on the Wyoming Valley district council should be
paid. It is to be remembered that this body, called the district coun
cil, was not an incorporated society. It was not a person, natural or
artificial. It was but a name, adopted for their own convenience,
by the individuals composing it. Each individual who beeame a
member thereby adopted that name as a proper designation of him
self acting with his fellows to carry out the object common to all.
Such a body could not be sued, eo nomine, in a common-law action.
(McConnell v. Apollo Sav. Bank, 146 Pa., 79, 23 Atl. Rep., 347.)
It partakes more of the characteristics of a partnership than of a
corporation. The law therefore looks behind the name and deals
with the individuals who move and act under and behind such name
chosen by themselves. They lose neither their identity nor their
individuality by the assumption of the common name. Just as the
obligations and responsibilities of a partnership become those of
each individual member of the firm, so, when the moment of respon
sibility comes, must the individual actors of a body like this stand
forth from behind the veil with which they have enveloped them
selves and assume their proper shares of the common burden. It
is characteristic of courts of equity that they do not usually enforce
their decrees by writs of execution directed in rem as do common-law
courts, but by coercing the persons of individuals who have been
properly brought within their grasp. Hence particular supervision
of the affairs of unincorporated societies has been committed to our
courts of equity as best equipped to deal with such bodies. (Fletcher
v. Gawanese Tribe, 9 Pa. Super. Ct., 393.)
The appellants Post and Eoser were shown by the evidence to have
been active and influential members of the “ district council.” They
were present at most of the meetings of which the records were in
evidence, and particularly at the one where action was taken which
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
211
has been found to be a violation of the decree. If they can not be
held responsible for such a contempt none of the other members can
be. Thus the court will be left to fulminate against a name only,
while the living, breathing actors, who really did the acts subversive
of the decree, are beyond its reach. We can not think that a court
invested with the dignity and exercising the high powers of our courts
of equity is so impotent to enforce its final decrees. If it must per
mit sucn contempts to go unpunished, it would soon become itself
contemptible. On the whole record we are all of opinion that no
substantial error has been committed by the learned court below.
Appeal dismissed, at the costs of the appellants.
L abor Organizations— R einstatement of Members— I njunc
tion — Contempt— Jurisdiction—Bachman
v. Harrington, Court of
Appeals of New York, 77 Northeastern Reporter, page 657.— Charles H.
Harrington, president of the Rochester Musicians’ Protective Associ
ation, had been judged guilty of contempt in the appellate division of
the supreme court on account of his failure to comply with a mandate
directing the reinstatement of the plaintiff, Bachman, as a member in
the union. The association was unincorporated, and Bachman had
been suspended for an alleged violation of one of its by-laws. A
temporary injunction had been secured by Bachman, ordering that
he be reinstated as a member in good standing, and restraining the
defendant from taking further steps toward the prosecution of the
plaintiff, and from suspending or expelling him, and from denying to
him any of the benefits of membership in the association, and pre
venting or attempting to prevent members of the association by
threats, persuasion, speech, writing, or otherwise, from working with
or for the plaintiff. The plaintiff also asked for damages.
Proceedings were subsequently instituted to punish Harrington for
contempt, it being alleged that he had violated the injunction in
various ways. On hearing at special term he was acquitted on all
charges except that of having “ failed, neglected, and refused” to
reinstate Bachman, to the prejudice of his rights, and a fine of $160
was imposed on the defendant, the same to be paid to Bachman as
indemnity. This order was affirmed by the appellate division, which,
however, allowed an appeal to the court of appeals and certified to it
two questions; First, was that portion of the original injunction order
granted by the justice in special term, which required the defendant
association immediately to reinstate the plaintiff as a member in
good standing, void ? Second, can the defendant, an unincorporated
association, be convicted of a contempt of court upon the facts
appearing in the record herein?
Taking up the first question before the court, Judge Cullen, who
announced the opinion of the court of appeals reversing the judgment
of the court below, said:
212
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Of course, the question before us is as to the power of the court,
not as to the propriety of its action. If, on the papers presented, the
court had authority to make the order that the defendant forthwith
reinstate the plaintiff as a member of the association, though it erred
in making the order, the defendant was properly convicted. But if
the court had no authority to make that order, then the defendant
should not be punished, it is well settled by repeated decisions of
this court that m this State a court of equity has no inherent absolute
power to grant interlocutory injunctions, but that authority therefor
must be found in the Code of Civil Procedure. The subject is regu
lated by sections 603 and 604 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which
provide:
“ Sec. 603. Injunction. When the right thereto depends upon
the nature of the action. Where it appears, from the complaint,
that the plaintiff demands and is entitlea to a judgment against the
defendant, restraining the commission or continuance of an act, the
commission or continuance of which, during the pendency of the
action, would produce injury to the plaintiff, an injunction order may
be granted to restrain it. * * * ”
Section 604 was also quoted and discussed, but was dismissed as
not being applicable. Judge Cullen then said:
In the present case the defendant being a voluntary association,
the action for reinstatement was properly brought in equity, though
as to a corporation the remedy would be by mandamus. "But rein
statement m the association was the final relief sought. So far as
the complaint sought to restrain the enforcement of his suspension
against the plaintiff, the case falls within section 603, and the
court had power to restrain by temporary injunction the same acts
which, were the plaintiff successful, would be restrained by a final
judgment, but that in no way includes reinstatement, which so far
from being restrained would be enforced by the final judgment.
While, however, the language of the code in terms authorizes an
injunction only against the commission of acts, still it is doubtless
within the power of a court of equity, in proper cases, to issue manda
tory injunctions, and the provisions of the code should not be so strictly
construed as to deny that power in any case. But while such power
may exist it is by no means unlimited, and when it exceeds the limit
it is not a mere error, but void as without jurisdiction.
The essential difference between the two classes of cases and the
nature and function of an interlocutory injunction are well stated by
Judge Taft of the United States Circuit Court in Toledo, etc., R. R.
Co. v. Pennsylvania Company (C. C.) 54 Fed. 730, 19 L. R. A. 387:
“ The office of a preliminary injunction is to preserve the status
quo until, upon final hearing, the court may grant full relief. Gen
erally this can be accomplished by an injunction prohibitory in form,
but it sometimes happens that the status quo is a condition not of
rest, but of action, and the condition of rest is exactly what will
inflict the irreparable injury upon complainant, which he appeals to
a court of equity to protect him from. In such a case courts of
equity issue mandatory writs before the case is heard on its merits.”
To that doctrine I express my full assent. Therefore, where the
complainant presents a case showing or tending to show that affirma
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
213
tive action by the defendant, of a temporary character, is necessary
to preserve the status of the parties, then a mandatory injunction
may be granted. But if there be neither proof nor allegation to that
effect, and the act sought to be enforced is not continuous in its
character, but solelv the one sought to be decreed by final judgment,
then the issuing of a preliminary mandatory injunction is without
authority. In the present case the strictly injunctive provisions of
the order alleged to be violated were of the broadest and most sweep
ing character. The defendant was enjoined from d e n y i n g t o the
laintiff any of the benefits of membership in said association * * *
*om preventing or attempting to prevent members of the association
by threat, persuasion, speech, writing, or otherwise from working
with or for the plaintiff in his profession, from preventing or attempt
ing to prevent the plaintiff from obtaining work in his profession/ ’
The injunction to this extent was within the power of the judge to
grant, and it operated during its continuance to nullify the suspension
of the plaintiff. The defendant, however, has been acquitted of any
violation of these provisions of the order, and he has been punished
solely for failure “ to reinstate the plaintiff as a member in good
standing.”
As already said, this was the very relief that the plaintiff sought
to obtain by a final judgment. Had the defendant complied with
the order of the judge, the plaintiff might have discontinued the
action, or let it go against him by default, for he would have obtained
all he sought except damages. True, the plaintiff might have been
subsequently tried and expelled from the association, but in that
respect his case would in nowise differ from that of any other mem
ber of the association. Being a member in good standing, charges
again would have to be preferred against him and he would be again
entitled to a trial. Counsel for the appellant urges that the order
directed only a temporary reinstatement pending trial or hearing.
It is a sufficient answer to this to say that such are not the terms of
the order. It directs reinstatement unqualified. Nor is there any
provision in the by-laws for a reinstatement of a temporary character,
or any procedure with reference to it prescribed. So far as what is
termed a temporary reinstatement is involved, that was effected by
the order of the court which enjoined the defendant from denying
the plaintiff any of the benefits of membership. As long as the
defendant complied with this provision the plaintiff was substan
tially reinstated.
It is suggested by counsel, based on a statement of the affidavit of
the defendant in answer to the proceedings to punish him for con
tempt, that members of the union would not work with the plaintiff
unless he was actually reinstated, even though the association should
recognize his rights and obey the injunction of the court. There is
no suggestion, however, of this character to be found in the com
plaint on which exclusively the injunction was granted. If there
nad been presented any proof, or even if there were an allegation in
the complaint that a mere restraining order, however fully obeyed,
Would be practically inoperative to maintain the status of the plaintiff
Unless accompanied by a temporary reinstatement in the association,
and the court or judge had ordered a temporary reinstatement pend
ing the hearing or trial, a different question* would be presented.
There is no such question, however, in the present case. The fore
E
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
214
going views render it unnecessary to consider the second question
certified to this court.
The orders of the appellate division and of the special term should
be reversed, and the motion to punish for contempt denied, with costs
in this court and ten dollars costs of motion. The first question
certified should be answered in the affirmative. The second need
not be answered.
M ine
R egulations— W ash R ooms for M iners— Constitu
of Statute —Stame v. People, Supreme Court of Illi
tionality
nois, 78 Northeastern Reporter, page 61.—Charles A. Starne was con
victed of a violation of the act of May 14, 1903 (Acts of 1903, p. 252),
which requires operators of coal mines to provide and maintain
wash rooms at the top of their mines for the use of miners and other
employees, with accommodations for drying their clothing therein.
Judgment against Stame was rendered by a justice of the peace jof
Sangamon County, and, on appeal, in the circuit court. A further
appeal was taken to the supreme court of the State, Stame’s counsel
claiming that the statute in question was unconstitutional. The
finding of the supreme court was in favor of this claim, the statute
being declared unconstitutional, and the judgment of the lower
courts reversed.
The reasons for the conclusions reached are given in the follow
ing extracts from the opinion of the court as given by Judge Scott:
It is insisted that the statute is unconstitutional. It is appar
ent, upon inspection thereof, that it places upon mine owners or
operators a burden not borne by other employers of labor and is
special legislation, and for that reason invalid, unless for some rea
son it does not fall within the operation of the general rule forbid
ding legislation of that character. [Cases cited.]
It is said, however, that the miner works at a depth which removes
him from all climatic changes and conditions on the surface and in
a temperature which, throughout a portion of the year, is much
higher than that outside the mine; that when his work is over for
the day his skin is covered with grease, smoke, dust, grime, and
perspiration; that without an opportunity to bathe and change
his attire, he can not clothe himself comfortably for his journey
through cold weather to his home; that these adverse conditions
inevitably lead to colds, consumption, pneumonia, and general un
heal thfulness; and that the statute in question should be sustained
as a valid exercise of police power., and it is urged, as that power
may be exercised to promote the comfort, health, welfare and safetv
of the public, that this statute is referable to that power as a health
regulation, for the reason that it will afford the miner an opportunity
to avoid danger to his health, otherwise consequent upon his occu
pation. It is true, as suggested by counsel, and as stated by this
court in Lasher v. People, 183 111. 226, 55 N. E. 663, that the legis
lature has the power to form classes for the purpose of police regula
tion if it does not arbitrarily discriminate between persons in the
same situation.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
215
The only purpose of this act is to promote the health of miners
and other persons employed in coal mines. Many men in this State
are employed in the foundries and steel mills who work in a higher
temperature than do the miners, surrounded by conditions dele
terious to health and inimical to longevity. The convenience pro
vided for by this act is not less desirable to them than to the coal
miner. While the power of the legislature to form classes in refer
ence to which the police power may be exercised is unquestioned,
there can be no discrimination among individuals in forming such
classes unless there is some difference in their condition which causes
them to naturally fall into different groups. It is apparent that a
statute of this character, providing that a wash house should be
provided for miners working at a greater depth than 200 feet below
the surface, and making no similar provision for miners working at a
lesser depth, would be unconstitutional because it would make an
arbitrary distinction between individuals surrounded by the same
conditions. We think the act in question, when considered as an
exercise of police power, is properly the subject of the same objection.
The fact that it proposes to benefit workmen employed in coal mining
does not make it valid, in view of the fact that laborers in other employ
ment are surrounded by like conditions and are equally in need of the
benefit of this statute. Conceding the importance which defendant
in error attaches to this act as a sanitary measure, it is apparent that
it is not sufficiently comprehensive to remedy the evil at which it is
aimed, because it will bring relief only to a part of the people who
suffer therefrom.
Defendant in error predicates its contention that this statute is
constitutional principally upon the ground that it is within section
29 of article 4 of the constitution of 1870. That section reads as
follows: “ It shall be the duty of the general assembly to pass such
laws as may be necessary for the protection of operative miners, by
providing for ventilation, when the same may be required, and the
construction of escapement shafts, or such other appliances as may
secure safety in all coal mines, and to provide for the enforcement
of said laws by such penalties and punishments as may be deemed
proper.”
To adopt the view of the defendant in error would require us to
interpolate the words, “ and health,” after the word “ safety,” and
then the provision would be of doubtful meaning. If it was the
purpose of the builders of the constitution to direct the general
assembly to pass laws other than such as should “ secure safety in
all coal mines,” they fail to use language to manifest their intention,
and an ascertainment of their purpose can avail nothing under such
circumstances. We are of opinion that the legislation in question
is not authorized by this constitutional provision for two reasons:
First, the purpose of this provision of the constitution is to require
the enactment of laws providing for the safety of the miner while
in the mine, and this act makes no provision that will benefit the
miner or protect or aid him until a time after he has left the mine;
second, the provision of the constitution was designed only to require
the enactment of laws which should, promote ventilation and guard
the personaL safety of the miner—that is, protect him from personal
injury.
216
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
The miner works in a place where he is exposed to dangers which
do not assail those who labor above ground. Damp, darkness,
noxious gases, lack or difficulty of ventilation, and other causes
contribute to render his situation while at work unpleasant, unde
sirable, and perilous. The constitutional convention and the people
of the State recognized this condition, and, by the constitution,
wisely commanded. the legislature to enact such laws as should
secure his personal safety while in the mine. When, however, he
has ceased his labor, left; the mine and reached the surface of the
earth, he has for the time being passed beyond the operation of the
constitutional provision and of any valid statute authorized thereby.
His situation is not then different from that of many other workmen
leaving their employment at the end of the day, and his rights under
the constitution are not then greater than those of such other workmen.
We conclude that the enactment here in question is not within the.
meaning of the section of our constitution herein above set forth,
and that it is obnoxious to that provision of the fundamental law or
the State which forbids special legislation in certain enumerated cases.
Protection of E mployees as M embers of L abor O rganiza
Control Over L abor Contract— Constitu
tionality of Statute — United States v. Scott, United States Circuit
tions— F ederal
Court, Western District of Kentucky, lift Federal Reporter, page 481,—
J. M. Scott, the chief train dispatcher of the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad Company, was indicted for violation of section 10 of the
act of Congress of June 1, 1898 (see Tenth Special Report of the
Commissioner of Labor, p. 1377), which makes it a criminal
offense for any interstate carrier, or the officers or agents thereof,
as employers to require any employee or person seeking employment,
to enter into an agreement not to become or remain a member of any
labor organization, or to threaten any employee with loss of employment
or unjustly discriminate against any employee because of his mem
bership in such labor organization. The defendant demurred to the
indictment on the ground that the statute was unconstitutional.
The facts and rulings in the case appear in the following quotations
from the opinion of Judge Evans:
The indictment in this case contains six counts; but it will suffice
to say that in substance each of them charges, in appropriate lan
guage, that the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company is a com
mon carrier engaged in the transportation by railroad of passengers
and property by continuous carriage or shipment from one State
into another; that the accused, J. M. Scott, is and was its agent and
chief train dispatcher, and as such had supervision and control of
the employment for the said company of certain telegraph operators,
including those mentioned in the indictment, who were, as such, in
the employment of the said railroad company; and that the accused
did threaten them and each of them with the loss of their said employ
ment if they joined a certain labor association known as the “ Order
of Railroad Telegraphers/' which order was a corporation organized
DECISIONS OF COUBTS AFFECTING LABOR.
217
under the laws of the State of Iowa, but the aims and purposes of
which are not otherwise shown.
The defendant has demurred to the indictment upon the ground
that the provisions of section 10 of the act are not such as Congress
is authorized by the Constitution of the United States to enact, and
thus is raised a question of great delicacy as well as interest and
importance, and one which therefore has called for very deliberate
consideration. The subject has been carefully investigated by the
court, and its conclusions are now to be stated.
It is conceded that there are no clauses of the Federal Constitution
which can support the tenth section of the act, unless it be those
found in article 1, section 8, of that instrument. It is there pro
vided that:
“ The Congress shall have power [among other things] to regulate
commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and
with the Indian tribes [and] to make all laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. ”
The interpretation of the last of these clauses is governed by the
rule laid down by the Supreme Court in McCulloch v. Maryland, 4
Wheat. 421, 4 L. Ed. 579, which, ever since its announcement in
1819, has been accepted by that court (and, of course, by all other
courts) as perfectly accurate. Speaking through Chief Justice
Marshall, the court said:
“ We admit, as all must admit, that the powers of the Government
are limited, and that its limits are not to be transcended. But we
think the sound construction of the Constitution must allow to the
National Legislature that discretion, with respect to the means by
which the powers it confers are to be carried into execution, which
will enable that body to perform the high duties assigned to it in the
manner most beneficial to the people. Let the end be legitimate,
let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which
are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not
prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the Constitution,
are constitutional.”
In respect to the legislation now in question, emphasis may profit
ably be laid upon the elements of the rule requiring that legislation
“ shall be within the scope of the Constitution,” that it shall “ be
plainly adapted” to constitutional ends, and be consistent with the
spirit of that instrument.
The word “ commerce ” as used in the Constitution, has been defined
by the Supreme Court. In the great case of Gibbons v. Ogden, 9
Wheat. 189, 6 L. Ed. 23, it was said:
“ Commerce, undoubtedly, is traffic, but it is something more— it is
intercourse. It describes the commercial intercourse between nations
and parts of nations in all its branches, and is regulated by prescribed
rules for carrying on that intercourse.”
The power conferred upon Congress is to regulate this commercial
intercourse and the carrying on thereof among the States, and unques
tionably it may devise any proper and necessary means for doing that
particular thing. Does the legislation now in question, in any fair
sense, regulate commercial intercourse among the States, or does it
only regulate certain phases of the intercourse between employer and
employee? If the latter is all, even though this legislation is asso
ciated in the same act with other provisions which do regulate com
218
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
mercial intercourse among the States, can it be maintained as consti
tutional? It is elementary that one provision in an act may be
constitutional and another unconstitutional. One may stand and
the other fall if they may be separated, as here they easily can be as
between section 10 and the other clauses of the act; so that section 10
might fall and the remaining portions of the act of June 1, 1898, be
constitutional. It is true it has been judicially determined that
Congress has the power, in regulating interstate commerce, to impose
duties upon carriers which have reference to the safety of employees
while actually discharging duties pertaining to interstate commerce,
as well as to that of passengers and property; but it can hardly be
fairly contended that the provisions of section 10 have any such pur
pose in view.
Those provisions relate, not to the safety of the employees while
actually discharging duties pertaining to interstate commerce, but to
their being members of labor unions, and, in the matter of making and
enforcing contracts for hiring them, forbids discriminations against
them on that ground. Indeed, we can not, and we certainly should
not, shut our eyes to the fact (which is clear enough upon the face
of the section as well as otherwise) that the essential purpose of the
enactment was not to 4‘regulate commercial intercourse among the
States,” but was to prevent, generally, discriminations against what
is called union labor in one State alone as well as in more than one.
We can not too strongly emphasize this obvious fact. If this proposi
tion be true (and it seems to us that no one can fairly doubt it), then
the question is settled; for, whatever the States might do in such
matters through their own legislatures, the Constitution of the United
States does not confer upon Congress by any express language, nor
by any fair implication from any language used, the power, when
servants are employed, to prevent discriminations against union
labor,, either in Kentucky alone or in several States, even if the hirer
at the time does happen to be engaged in interstate traffic. Such
legislation for such a purpose can not be supposed to have been in the
contemplation of the framers of the Constitution. The legislation to
prevent discrimination against union labor in respect to employing
or retaining servants, therefore, is not, in the opinion of the court, a
regulation of commerce, and certainly it is not a “ regulation of com
mercial intercourse among the States” within the meaning of the
Constitution, and yet the regulation of that one thing, namely, the
matter o f discrimination against members of labor unions in respect
to the employment and retention of servants, is the clear and only
purpose or section 10. Looking squarely at the language of the sec
tion, this would seem to be the only conclusion that is possible.
Viewing the matter from another and somewhat narrower stand
point, we find another most cogent objection to section 10 of the act.
In the Trade-Mark Cases, 100 u. S., at page 96, 25 L. Ed. 550, Justice
Miller, speaking for the court, said:
“ Governed by this view of our duty, we proceed to remark that a
glance at the commerce clause of the Constitution discloses at onGe
what has been often the subject of comment in this court and out of
it, that the power of regulation there conferred on Congress is limited
to commerce with foreign nations, commerce among the States, and
commerce with the Indian tribes. While bearing in mind the liberal
construction that commerce with foreign nations means commerce
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
219
between citizens of the United States and citizens and subjects of
foreign nations, and commerce among the States means commerce
between the individual citizens of different States, there still remains
a very large amount of commerce, perhaps the largest, which, being
trade or traffic between citizens of the same State, is beyond the con
trol of Congress. When, therefore, Congress undertakes to enact a
law which can only be valid as a regulation of commerce, it is reason
able to expect to find on the face of the law, or from its essential
nature, that it is a regulation of commerce with foreign nations, or
among the several States, or with the Indian tribes. If not so limited,
it is in excess of the power of Congress. If its main purpose be to
establish a regulation applicable to all trade, to commerce at all
points, especially if it be apparent that it is designed to govern the
commerce wholly between citizens of the same State, it is obviousty
the exercise of a power not confided to Congress. We find no recog
nition of this principle in the chapter on trade-marks in the Revised
Statutes.”
See, also, Baldwin v. Franks, 120 U. S. 686, 7 Sup. Ct. 656, 763, 32
L. Ed. 766.
Now, it can not be overlooked that the legislation, the constitu
tionality of which is drawn in question by the demurrer to the indict
ment in this case, undertakes to punish any discrimination against
union labor by any railroad company which is actually engaged in
interstate commerce, whether such discrimination be in respect to
the hiring or retention of telegraph operators employed in respect to
purely local and State traffic, or to the hiring or retention or those
employed in respect to commerce among the States. Properly con
strued, the indictment fails to show whether the operators named
therein were employed upon one or the other description of com
merce, but whether this is so or not, the characteristic we have
imputed to section 10 would seem manifestly to bring the offiections
to it within the reach of those sustained by the Supreme Court in
its condemnation of the trade-mark legislation.
Again, it may well be said that section 10 regulates in a certain
respect the outside conduct of those railroad companies which, as
part of their business, engage in interstate commerce, but it does not
regulate the commerce itself, and what it does regulate has as much
and probably more relation to State commerce than to that which is
interstate. Section 10 of the act, in short, does not differentiate cases
where the telegraph operator is employed in merely local and State
traffic from cases where the work relates to interstate traffic. Both
those who work upon local and State traffic and those who work upon
interstate commerce are embraced by the legislation indiscriminately.
In other words, all are equally embraced in the provisions of section
10, whether the operator works upon local or State business only or
upon interstate traffic. In the opinion of the court it can not reason
ably be doubted that this brings section 10 within the rule laid down
in the Trade-Mark Cases.
While section 10, as a whole, is easily separable from other pro
visions of the act of June 1, 1898, its own clauses are not separable
from each other, and other observations of the Supreme Court in its
opinion in the Trade-Mark Cases, 100 U. S., pp. 98, 99, 25 L. Ed. 550,
may very appropriately be referred to in tnis connection. It was
there said:
220
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
‘ Tt was urged, however, that the general description of the offense
included the more limited one, and that the section was valid where
such was in fact the cause of denial. But the court said, through the
Chief Justice: 'W e are not able to reject a part which is unconstitu
tional and retain the remainder, because it is not possible to separate
that which is constitutional, if there be any such, from that which is
not. The proposed effect is not to be attained by striking out or
disregarding words that are in the section, but by inserting those that
are not there now. Each of the sections must stand as a whole, or
fall altogether. The language is plain. There is no room for con
struction, unless it be as to the effect of the Constitution. The ques
tion, then, to be determined is, whether we can introduce words of
limitation into a penal statute so as to make it specific, when, as
expressed, it is general only. * * * To limit this statute in the
manner now asked for would be to make a new law, not to enforce
an old one. This is no part of our du ty/ If we should, in the case
before us, undertake to make by judicial construction a law which
Congress did not make, it is quite probable that we should do what,
if the matter were now before that body, it would be unwilling to do,
namely, make a trade-mark law which is only partial in its operation,
and which would complicate the rights which parties would hold, in
some instances, under the act of Congress, and in others under State
law.”
The same view was also taken in Baldwin v. Franks, 120 U. S. 687,
7 Sup. Ct. 656, 763, 32 L. Ed. 766.
The able arguments of counsel have included a discussion of many
collateral questions supposed to have more or less bearing upon the
main points involved; such as the question of class legislation and the
objection thereto, the question of the right of private contract, and the
danger of interfering therewith, and the question of the alleged public,
and overwhelming necessity that the carriers of the country shall
be left in full control of the matter of the employment of their own
servants and in the exclusive exercise of the right to select them and
discipline them. Certainly it might be pertinently contended that
that was class legislation, and possibly very unfair legislation, which,
favoring a certain class, made it criminal to discriminate against it,
and yet permitted that very class of labor to discriminate arbitrarily
against everybody else. Justice might rather demand (if, indeea,
the questions of fitness and freedom of choice are to be ignored or
minimized) that any discrimination by any class against any other
class of laborers should be forbidden, if any is, inasmuch as one class
of laborers is probably no more sacred than another, and the weaker
class is quite as much entitled to protection against the powerful as
the latter is against the former. To forbid discriminations against
union labor, while discriminations by it against others, if made, are
allowed, would not seem to be a very palpable or conspicuous exam
ple of equal and exact justice to all, and might be open to the criti
cism that it is class legislation. But2 while all these considerations
might have weight in other connections, still the court prefers to
put its judgment in this case upon two propositions, viz.: (1) That
section 10 of the act of June 1, 1898, is not, in the constitutional
sense, a regulation of commerce or of commercial intercourse among
the States, and can not justly nor fairly be so construed or treated,
inasmuch as its essential object manifestly is only to regulate certain
DECISIONS OE COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
221
phases of the right of an employer to choose his own servants, whether
the duties of those servants when employed shall relate to inter
state commerce or not; and (2) upon the ground that section 10 is
so broad as to be condemned by the rule laid down in the TradeMark Cases.
These considerations have brought the court to the very clear and
deliberate conclusion that section 10 of the act of June 1, 1898, is
not sustained bj constitutional warrant, and is therefore insufficient
to support the indictment.
The demurrer must be sustained.
Sunday L abor— R ecovery for L abor P erformed— Carson v.
Calhoun, Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 64 Atlantic Reporter, page
888.— David A. Calhoun sued in the superior court of Cumberland
County to recover a sum of money claimed as wages earned by work
done as a plumber on Sunday, August 4, Sunday, August 11, and
Sunday, August 18, 1901. Resides the account stated, the follow
ing specification was added: “ Under the money counts the plaintiff
will claim to recover the sum named in the first count of his writ,
being money earned by said plaintiff for labor performed by said
plaintiff at White Oak Spring Hotel at Poland, Me.”
Recovery was denied in the court named, a judgment of nonsuit
being entered. The case was then brought to the supreme judicial
court of the State on exceptions, with the result that the rulings of
the court below were sustained on grounds which appear in the quota
tion from the opinion of Judge Peabody, who spoke for the court,,
given herewith:
The plaintiff thus invokes the aid of the court to assist him in
recovering for labor performed in violation of the statute Rev. St. c.
125, sec. 25. The unlawful acts were not only made the basis of
the suit, but were also proved by the testimony of the plaintiff
himself.
In the case at bar the objection is not to the time of making the
contract, but concerns the actual performance of labor which was
forbidden by statute. Whatever remedies the plaintiff may have
by other actions at law or in equity, the court can recognize no valid
contract or implied promise based on the work done on tne Lord’s Day
set forth in this declaration. It is a well established principle that
in cases of this kind the law leaves the parties where their illegal
contract left them, and will render assistance to neither.
DECISIONS UNDER COMMON LAW .
B oycott— I njunction—Seattle Brewing and Malting Company v.
Hansen, United States Circuit Court, Northern District of California,
144 Federal Reporter, page 1011.— This was a motion by members of
certain unincorporated labor organizations to set aside a restraining
248 b — N o . 68— 07------ 15
222
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
order granted on petition of the brewing company named to prevent
the publication b y the unions of notices as to “ scab” or “ unfair”
products of the company. Judge Beatty, speaking for the court,
refused to set the order aside, but continued it until final hearing.
After discussing certain acts which were held to come under general
and well-established rules, a ruling was made as to specific acts which
were held to constitute a boycott. This portion of Judge Beatty’s
opinion is reproduced herewith:
Aside from these special charges of acts that have been done, there
are things I think that are not disputed. They have circulated these
different exhibits, or notices, which are made exhibits in this case.
Here is one, which calls attention to the fact that certain parties,
saloonkeepers, are using or selling or handling this “ Rainier” beer.
That is not anything apparently oppressive at first sight. It is simply
calling attention to the fact that these parties are using this beer; but
what is the design of it, and what is the result of it ? Why, it is to
intimidate these people or prevent them from dealing in complainant’s
beer. That far it is oppressive of the business of complamant and
tends to destroy its business. There is no question about that, in so
far as it would intimidate these people. It must be remembered that
there are many timid people m this world, who would be much
influenced by danger of even small losses. I have no doubt that
many of these men who have this notice would fear that by continuing
to engage in the selling of the beer there would be some loss to them,
and that far it would hurt their business. Here is another one:
“ Organized Labor and Friends: Don’t drink scab beer!” Then itr
names certain different kinds of beer and says they are “ unfair.”
The mere use of the word “ unfair” has a very distinct meaning in
these days; and when a notice like this is put out it is almost in the
nature of a command. Of course, it does not say to the laboring
people, “ You shall not drink” such beer, but it says: “ To Organized
Labor and Friends: Don’t use this b eer!” These organizations, in
the way they are trained, for they are as well trained as any military
force, understand these rules and know what they mean. The veyy
use of that term “ unfair” has a distinct meaning to them, and it is in
the nature of a direction to the members of these organizations not
to use that beer, and it is also an intimidation to those who are dealing
in it. It gives them to understand that that beer will be boycotted;
that it is unfair and will be boycotted. That would deter parties
from using it or dealing in it. There are a number of that kind.
Here is another one: “ Guard Your Health by Refusing to Drink
Unfair Beer! ” Then it proceeds to name the beer that is unfair, and
it included among others the beer of the complainant. All those
things are what would be termed now under the law “ a boycott.”
I need not go into the definition of that. We generally understand
what it means. But those things tend to unfairly obstruct the
business of the complainant, and in that far these defendants are
wrong, and it is the duty of the court to restrain them from doing
anything that will interfere with the complainant’s business.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
223
L abor Organizations— E xpulsion of Member— Jurisdiction
Courts.—Harris v. Detroit Typographical Union, No. 18, et ah,
of
Supreme Court of Michigan, 108 Northwestern Reporter, page 362.—
This case was before the supreme court on an appeal by Albert S.
Harris from a decree of the circuit court of Wayne County, sitting
as a court of chancery. Harris had been charged by his union with
improper conduct and a fine of $500 was assessed against him. The
action of the union was, by the rules governing its organization, sub
ject to review by the officers of the International Union on appeal.
Harris disregarded this right, claiming that the action taken was
illegal, and for the same reason he refused to pay the fine. His
union then expelled him, and he brought his bill in equity to have
such action set aside and to procure an order restraining the union
from informing his employer of his expulsion.
The action of the lower court in dismissing his bill was affirmed
by the supreme court, on grounds that appear in the following quota
tion from the remarks of Judge Montgomery, who spoke for the
court:
The action of the local union both in its proceedings resulting in
the fine and in those which resulted in complainant’s expulsion are
attacked on several grounds which are said to go to the jurisdiction,
and it is urged that the court should interfere to prevent the perpe
tration of the wrong. The learned circuit judge was of the opinion
that the criticism of the action taken was warranted, but held that
as the complainant had a remedy within the order, to be taken by
eal, a court of equity should not interfere until that remedy is
austed.
We think this ruling is in accord with our previous holdings. This
court has in many cases stated the rule that members of a voluntary
or a mutual benefit society may enter into a binding agreement that
the rights of its members shall be determined by the society itself.
[Cases cited.] We do not overlook the contention that the comlainant had the right to ignore the proceedings which resulted in a
ne, on the ground that they were taken without jurisdiction, and
that complainant therefore took no appeal therefrom, and should be
relieved by the court. It does not appear, however, that complainant
has paid the fine, or has any purpose of doing so; nor is there any
means of enforcing its payment except by expelling complainant. In
the proceedings for complainant’s expulsion an opportunity is
afforded for the trial of the question of the validity of the fine order,
and that question is now open on the appeal pending before the
International Union.
It is true that the complainant may, pending his appeal, be deprived
of his privileges as a member of the association, but in becoming a
member of the organization and binding himself to seek redress for an
unlawful or unreasonable sentence by the local body through an appeal
to the International Union, he bound himself to submit to the inci
dents of an appeal actually taken.
S
g
224
L abor
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOK.
Organizations— T rade
A greements— L egality—
N ar
tional Fireproofing Company v. Mason Builders' Association of City
of New York et aZ., United States Circuit Court, Southern District of
New York, H5 Federal Reporter, page 260.— This case involves the
legality of an agreement between employers and a labor organization.
The National Fireproofing Company, as complainant, sought to
secure an injunction against the maintenance of an agreement
between the associations of employers and of employees, respectively,
on the ground that said agreement was repugnant to the constitu
tional rights and liberties of the complaining companj^. The contract
was upheld by the court on grounds that appear in the opinion as
handed down by Judge Townsend, quoted herewith. The facts
appear in the opinion.
The complainant is a Pennsylvania corporation, extensively engaged
in the manufacture and installation oi tile fireproofing, and, since
November, 1898, authorized to transact business in the city of New
York, where it has. installed its system of fireproofing in a number of
large buildings. The defendants are members of the Mason Builders’
Association of New York and of various bricklayers’ unions. The
defendant, the Mason Builders’ Association, was organized in 1884.
The objects of the association, inter alia, are to “ adopt such measures
for the better protection of employers and employees as shall lead to
the promotion of harmony between all parties engaged with us in
business; to arbitrate all differences, ana so avoid the great evil of
strikes,” etc. This association, together with the representatives
from the bricklayers’ unions, has a joint arbitration board, before
whom difficulties between the association and the bricklayers may
be arbitrated, under a trade agreement between the representatives
of the association and the various unions, and the effect of this agree
ment has been to practically dispose of all questions between the
parties and to avert strikes. The said trade agreement contains
the following clauses, of which complainant complains:
“ (5) Members of the Mason Builders’ Association must include in
their contracts for a building all cutting of masonry, interior brick
work, the paving of brick floors, the installing of concrete blocks, the
brick w ort of the damp-proofing system and all fireproofing— floor
arches, slabs, partitions, furring and roof blocks— and they shall not
lump or sublet the installation, if the labor in connection therewith
is bricklayers’ work as recognized by the trade (the men employed
upon the construction of the walls to be given the preference). [This
clause is not objected to.] That all cutting of masonry be done by
those best fitted for the work, and that the members of the Mason
Builders’ Association make the selection; but cutting of all brick
work, fireproofing, terra cotta, concrete arches and partitions, as well
as the washing down and pointing up of front brickwork and terra
cotta, shall be done by bricklayers. * * *
“ (9) That any member of these unions, upon showing his card for
membership, be permitted to go upon any job when seeking employ
ment, unless notified by a sign ‘ No Bricklayers W anted;’ and that
employment be given exclusively to members of the unions that are
parties to this agreement. The shop steward or business agent shall
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
225
determine who are members of these unions. It shall not be the
duty of the foreman to ask any man to what union he belongs. If
the shop steward be discharged for inspecting the cards of the brick
layers on a job, or for calling the attention of the foreman to any vio
lation of the agreement, he snail be at once reinstated until the matter
is brought before the joint arbitration committee for settlement.
The foreman must be a practical bricklayer.
“ (10) No member of these bricklayers’ unions shall work for any
one not complying with all the rules and regulations herein agreed to.
No laborer shall be allowed upon any wall or pier to temper or spread
mortar, which shall be delivered in bulk; said mortar to be spread
with a trowel by the bricklayers, who shall work by the hour only.”
The fifth clause, against which complaint is particularly directed,
was inserted in said agreement in 1893, at the request of the representa
tives of the bricklayers’ unions, upon their contention that the fire
proofing company were using special gangs of men for doing the work,
and, thereby, making an unjust discrimination against them, in that the
installation of the fireproofing blocks was strictly bricklayers’ work,
and that the men who had been at work upon the wall, and were
exposed to the inclemencies of the weather, and the danger attached
to said work, ought also to have an opportunity to do what was the
easier and protected work of installing fireproof blocks, and upon the
further contention that they should be allowed to do the inside work
also, because it could be done almost continuously, and the men
could make substantially full time, which they could not do when
working upon the walls.
The complainant claims that the effect of this agreement is to ruin
its business in the city of New York, so far as concerns the installation
by it of its tile fireproofing, because, when it makes contracts to
install its system, the bricklayers’ unions have obliged the bricklayers
employed by complainant to strike, and that therefore not only is the
general contractor prohibited from contracting with complainant,
but also an owner desiring to construct a building is precluded from
contracting with it, as manufacturer, for the installation of its system
of fireproofing in such building, and that this is contrary to law,
because it deprives the complainant of its constitutional right and
liberty to pursue its calling, and to do business in the city of New
York, which is a right of property, and because, further, it is a con
spiracy to prevent it, by threats and intimidations, from exercising
its lawful trade in the use of its property, in violation of subdivision 5
of section 168 of the Penal Code of the city of New York, and because
said agreement is in violation of public policy and the common law
and statutes of New York, in creating a monopoly in the business of
installing tile fireproofing, and in that it impairs the obligation of
contracts, etc.
Defendants, in their affidavits, allege that the complainant has
admitted that, if it were permitted to install its own material, it would
be compelled to use a special gang of men, who are working for it
continually; that the only way in which mason builders in the usual
course of business can control the letting of contracts for the installa
tion of fireproofing is to take the contract to do all the work of which
the fireproofing is a part. They deny that the agreement was
entered into with any desire to obtain the sole monopoly of said
business, or to exclude the complainant from using its manufactured
226
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
product, or to prevent it from being used in the city of New York, or to
prevent complainant from making contracts for the installation of its
system of fireproofing in buildings and structures. And, further
more, they deny that they have prevented the complainant from
etting such contracts by threats, intimidation, or otherwise, and
eny that the agreement is directed against the complainant, assert
ing that the fifth clause therein was inserted years before the com
plainant was doing business in the city of New York.
In some of the affidavits of the defendant th# situation is stated
as follows:
“ The defendant bricklayers have entered into an agreement with
their employers, the mason builders, whereby the former will work
for such employers, provided such employers contract with the per
sons employing them— that is, the owners of the buildings— to do
all the brickwork; not to do simply the fireproofing, but all the
brick masonry work necessarv to be done in the erection of the
building. The only brickwork that the complainants are prepared
to install and have the.facilities for installing, is the fireproofing.
The installing of fireproofing in a building is but about 50 per cent
of the brick masonry necessary to be done. If the contracts in and
about New York which the complainant enters into extended to all
the brickwork of a building, undoubetdly the defendant bricklayers
would be as willing to work for the fireproofing company as for the
mason builders. This not being the case, the complainant should
not ask the court to interfere with the contracts which the defend
ant bricklayers have entered into or may hereafter deem it wise to
enter into, whereby said bricklayers secure the installation of all
the brick masonry upon a building to be erected. It is to prevent
the specialization of our trade that we have entered into article 5,
which has been in operation since 1891. There are thousands of
bricklayers at the present day working in New York City for indeendent .contractors, namely, those not members of the Mason
Guilders’ Association, but they observe the terms of article 5, though
they have not signed it, and are not partners to it.”
This case is one of great importance, the claims of the respective
parties have been presented in a large number of affidavits, and the
questions involved have been discussed in voluminous briefs. The
agreement does not present the ordinary case of a combination of
labor against employers and capital. It is a case of a combination
of capital represented by the Mason Builders' Association and of
labor represented by the Bricklayers' Union, which it is claimed
injuriously affects tne interests of capital represented by the com
plainant and other capitalists, and of labor represented by employees
not members of the union or who have not signed the agreement.
If the contract is a conspiracy for the purpose and with the effect
alleged by the complainant, and has been carried out by threats and
intimidation, as stated in the*affidavits, then a case is presented of an
unlawful conspiracy to deprive the complainant of its liberty and
property. If the purpose of the said agreement was to coerce those
who were not parties to it, the case would be brought within the
principles discussed in Curran v. Galen, 152 N. Y. 33, 37, 46 N. E. 297,
37 L. R. A. 802, 57 Am. St. Rep. 496. There the court held that, if
the purpose of an organization was to coerce their workmen to
become members of an organization under penalty of loss of position
G
E
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
227
and deprivation of employment, it would be within the principle of
public policy which prohibits monopolies and exclusive privileges.
The answer of defendants denies all the material allegations of the
bill and affidavits, except the allegation as to the existence of this
agreement. It is therefore different in this regard from Curran v.
Galen, supra, where the facts were admitted by demurrer. If the
allegations in the answer and the statements in the affidavits be true,
the agreement resolves itself into one by which the builders merely
agree that they will take contracts for mason work only where such
contracts include the installation of the fireproofing, and that they
will not sublet the same, but will use their own men for such installaation, and whereby the bricklayers agree that they will work only
for those who comply with this agreement.
It is claimed, for the reasons set forth in the affidavits and referred
to above, that this agreement was entered into for the mutual advan
tage of the parties, m the line of the avoidance of strikes and the
opportunity for control by contractors of an entire contract, in per
mitting the bricklayers to do all the brickwork on a certain building,
so that having done the outside work, exposed to the inclemencies
of the weather, they might also do the inside and protected work
and obtain full and better wages. If the facts be as contended by
the defendants, there is nothing unlawful in this agreement. The
rights of capital and labor are equally protected by the law in the
making of such contracts as are for the best interests of the parties
concerned, in the absence of proof of any act or motive other than that
which is justified by the law. Indeed, it is difficult to see upon what
theory the court could enjoin the defendants herein from carrying out
said agreement. As is stated by Judge Gray in National Protec
tive Association v. Cumming, 170 N. Y. 315, 335, 63 N. E. 369, 375,
58 L. R. A. 135, 88 Am. St. Rep. 648:
“ Our laws recognize the absolute freedom of the individual to work
for whom he chooses, with whom he chooses, and to make any con
tract upon the subject that he chooses. There is the same freedom
to organize, in an association with others of his craft, to further their
common interests as workingmen, with respect to their wages, to their
hours of labor, or to matters affecting their health and safety. They
are free to secure the furtherance of their common interests in every
way, which is not within the prohibition of some statute, or which
does not involve the commission of illegal acts. The struggle on the
part of individuals to prefer themselves, and to prevent the wdrk
which they are fitted to do from being given to others, may be keen
and may have unhappy results in individual cases; but the law is
not concerned with such results, when not caused by illegal means or
acts.”
Furthermore, it is not clear, if these rules and regulations are
reasonable, why complainant can not comply with said rules and with
said agreement and do the outside as well as the inside work. Its
argument upon this point seems to be that it desires to be permitted
to do a certain branch of a certain business in the way which is most
rofitable to it, by means of its own men and to the exclusion of others,
t may readily be seen that, if this contention is sustained, any one
supplying work and materials in the construction of a building might
enjoin the carrying out of any agreement which excluded him from
doing his particular part of the work in the same way, no matter how
f
228
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
small or insignificant that work might be in the construction of the
building. Such a situation .would lead to needless confusion, and
might further seriously interfere with the ability of the workmen to
secure their wages from the various independent employers.
The very recent decision of the Court of Appeals, in Jacobs v. Cohen,
183 N. Y . 207, 76 N. E. 5, shows that the question of law depends upon
whether there is coercion by threats and by the unlawful use of power
and influence in keeping other persons from working at their trade,
and procuring their dismissal from employment, as in Curran v. Galen,
supra, or a lawful agreement made by an employer with his workmen,
regulating the performance of the work and restricting the class of
workmen to such persons as are in affiliation with the association of
the employers’ workmen, provided the restrictions were not oppressive.
In thesje circumstances, and because the questions presented depend
upon the existence or nonexistence of disputed facts, I do not feel
justified in granting the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunc
tion. The decision of the questions at issue should be postponed until
after the determination of the facts, -under the opportunity afforded
by examination and cross-examination of witnesses.
The motion for a preliminary injunction is denied.
LAWS OF VARIOUS STATES RELATING TO LABOR, ENACTEB SINCE
JANUARY 1, 1904.
[The Tenth Special Report of this Bureau contains all laws of the various States and Territories
and of the United States relating to labor, in force January 1,1904. Later enactments are reproduced
in successive issues of the Bulletin, beginning with Bulletin No. 57, the issue of March, 1905. A cumu
lative index of these later enactments is to be found on page 239 et seq. of this issue.]
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
A C T S O F F I R S T S E S S IO N , 5 9T H C O N G R E S S , 1905-1906.
Chapter
957
.—Fire escapes on factories, etc.
S ection 2. It shall be the d u ty of the owner, lessee, occupant, or person having
possession, charge, or control of any building already erected, or which m ay here
after be erected, in which ten or more persons are em ployed at the same tim e in any
of the stories above the second story, to provide and cause to be erected and affixed
thereto a sufficient number of the ** * * fire escapes [of such material, type, and
construction as the Commissioners of the District of Columbia m ay determine], the
location and number of the same to be determined b y the said commissioners, and
to keep the hallw ays and stairways in every such builcling as is used and occupied at
night properly lighted, to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of the District of Co
lum bia, from sunset to sunrise.
S e c . 3. It shall also be the d u ty of the owner, lessee, occupant, or person having
possession, charge, or control of * * * any building in w hich ten or more persons
are em ployed, as set forth in section two of this act, to provide, install, and maintain
therein proper and sufficient guide signs, guide lights, exit lights, h9.ll and stairway
lights, fire hose, and fire extinguishers, in such location and numbers and of such type
and character as the Commissioners of the District of Columbia m ay determine.
S e c . 4. T he Commissioners of the District of Columbia are hereby authorized and
directed to require any alterations or changes that m ay become necessary in buildings
now or hereafter erected, in order to properly locate or relocate fire escapes or to afford
access to fire escapes, and to require any changes or alterations in any building that
m ay be necessary in order to provide for the erection of additional fire escapes, when
in the judgm ent of said Commissioners additional fire escapes are necessary.
S e c . 5. E a c h e le va to r shaft and stairw ay e x te n d in g to th e b a se m e n t of th e b u ild in g s
heretofore m e n tio n e d sh all te rm in ate in a fireproof co m p a rtm e n t or inclosure, separa
tin g th e e levator shaft an d stairs from other parts of th e b a se m e n t, an d n o o p e n in g shall
b e m a d e or m a in ta in e d in such co m p a rtm e n t or inclosure un less th e sam e b e p ro vid ed
w ith fireproof doors.
S e c . 6. It shall be unlawful to obstruct any hall, passageway, corridor, or stairway
in any building mentioned in this act with baggage, trunks, furniture, cans, or with
any other thing whatsoever.
S e c . 7. N o door or window leading to any fire escape shall be covered or obstructed
b y any fixed grating or barrier, and no person shall at any tim e place any incumbrance
or obstacle upon any fire escape or upon any platform, ladder, or stairway leading to or
from any fire escape.
S e c . 8. N o license shall be issued to any person to conduct any business for which
a license is required in any building mentioned in this act until such building has been
provided and equipped with a sufficient number of fire escapes and other appliances
required b y this act.
S e c . 9. A n y person failing or neglecting to provide fire escapes, alarm gongs, guide
signs, fire hose, fire extinguishers, or other appliances required b y this act, after notice
from the Commissioners of the District of Columbia so to do, shall, upon conviction
thereof, be punished b y a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred
dollars, and shall be punished by a further fine of five dollars for each day that he
fails to com ply with the notice aforesaid. A n y person violating any other provision
of this act shall be punished, u p on conviction thereof, b y a fine of not less than ten
dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense.
229
230
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Sec. 10. T h e said notice requiring the erection of fire escapes and other appliances
mentioned in this act shall specify the character and num ber of fire escapes or other
appliances to be provided, the location.of the same, and the tim e w ithin w hich said
fire escapes or other appliances shall be provided, and in no case shall more than ninety
days be allowed for compliance w ith said notice unless the Commissioners of the Dis
trict of Colum bia shall, in their discretion, deem it necessary to extend their tim e.
Sec . 11. Said notice shall be deemed to have been served if delivered to the person
to be notified, or if left w ith any adult person at the usual residence or place of business
of the person to be notified in the District of Columbia, or if no such residence or place
of business can be found in said District by reasonable search, if left w ith any adult
person at the office of any agent of the person to be notified, provided such agent has
any authority or d u ty with reference to the building to w hich said notice relates, or if
no such office can be found in said District b y reasonable search if forwarded by regis
tered mail to the last known address of the person to be notified and not returned by
the post-office authorities, or if no address be known or can b y reasonable diligence be
ascertained, or if any notice forwarded as authorized b y the preceding clause of this
section be returned b y the post-office authorities, if published on ten consecutive days
in a daily newspaper published in the District of Colum bia, or if b y reason of an out
standing unrecorded transfer of title the name of the owner in fact can not be ascer
tained beyond a reasonable doubt, if served on the owner of record in the manner here
inbefore in this section provided. A n y notice to a corporation shall, for the purposes of
this act, be deem ed to have been served on such corporation if served on the president,
secretary, treasurer, general manager, or any principal officer of such corporation in
the manner hereinbefore provided for the service of notices on natural persons holding
property in their own right, and notice to a foreign corporation shall, for the purposes
of this act, be deemed to have been served if served on any agent of such corporation
personally, or if left w ith any person of suitable age and discretion residing at the usual
residence or employed at the usual place of business of such agent in the District of
Colum bia: P rovid ed , That in case of failure or refusal of the owner, lessee, occupant,
or person having possession, charge, or control of any buildings specified in this act to
com ply with the requirements of the notice provided for in section ten, then, and in
that event, th e Commissioners are hereby empowered and it is their du ty to cause such
erection of fire escapes and other appliances mentioned in the notice provided for, and
th e y are hereby authorized to assess the costs thereof as a tax against the buildings on
w hich th ey are erected and the ground on which the same stands, and to issue tax-lien
certificates against such building and grounds for the am ount of such assessments, bear
ing interest at the rate of ten per centum per annum, w hich certificates m ay be
turned over b y the Commissioners to the contractor for doing the work.
S ec . 12. T he supreme court of the District of Columbia, in term tim e or in vacation,
m ay, upon a petition of the District of Columbia, filed b y its said Commissioners, issue
an injunction to restrain the use or occupation of any building in the District of Co
lum bia in violation of any of the provisions of this act.
Approved March 19, 1906.
Chapter 3054. — E m p lo y m ent o f children— S ch ool attendance.
S ection 1. E very parent, guardian, or other person residing in the District of Co
lum bia having charge and control of a child between the ages of eight and fourteen
years shall cause such child to be regularly instructed in the elementary branches of
knowledge, including reading, writing, English grammar, geography, and arithmetic,
and pursuant to this end every such parent, guardian, or other person aforesaid shall
cause any child under the charge and control of such person to attend some public,
private, or parochial school during the period of each year the p ublic schools in the
District are in session, on the customary days and during the customary hours of the
school term . N o child shall be credited with attendance upon a private or parochial
school unless the attendance officer hereinafter provided for receives a certificate of
attendance signed b y the person in charge of such school. A child between the ages
aforesaid m ay be excused from school attendance or instruction upon presentation of
satisfactory evidence to the superintendent of schools that such child is being or has
been w ithin said year instructed a lik e period of tim e in the branches taught in the
public schools, or that such child has acquired these branches of learning, or that the
physical or m ental condition of such child is such as to render such attendance or
instruction inexpedient or impracticable.
S ec. 5. A n y person who induces or attempts to induce any child to be absent unlaw
fu lly from school, or who knowingly employs or harbors while school is in session
any child absent unlawfully from school, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor
and be punished by a fine of not more than tw enty dollars.
LABOR LAWS---- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA---- ACTS OF 1905-1906.
231
S ec . 6. T he officers empowered under this act shall visit any place or establishment
where minor children are em ployed to ascertain whether the provisions of this law
are d u ly com plied w ith, and shall as often as tw ice a year demand from all employers
of such children a list of children em ployed, with their names and ages.
Approved June 8, 1906.
C
h a p t e r
3438
.—Employment offices.
S ection 1. T h e term person, used in this and subsequent sections of this act, means
also a corporation, partnership, company, or association. T he term em ploym ent
agent or agency means an y person who procures, offers to procure, promises to procure,
attempts to procure, or aids in procuring, either directly or indirectly, help or em ploy
m ent for another, where an y fee, remuneration, profit, or~any consideration of any
nature whatsoever is promised, paid, or is received therefor, either directly or indirectly.
T he term fee means every form or nature of fee, remuneration, profit, or consideration
promised, paid, or received, directly or indirectly, for any service of whatsoever
nature performed, offered to be performed, or promised to be performed b y such
em ploym ent agencies. The term applicant shall mean any person seeking work,
em ploym ent, or engagement of any legal character. T he term applicant for help
shall mean any person or persons seeking help, employees, or performers in any legiti
mate enterprise.
S ec . 2. N o person shall conduct, temporarily or otherwise, any em ploym ent agency
or perform any of the acts authorized to be performed b y an em ploym ent agency m the
District of Colum bia without procuring a license from the Commissioners of the Dis
trict of Columbia as herein provided.
S e c . 3 . A n application for a license must be made in writing in the form prescribed
b y the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and m ay be m ade at any tim e, and
every license shall date from the first day of the month in w hich it is issued and shall
expire on the thirty-first day of October following its issue, unless sooner revoked.
E v e ry application for such license shall contain the full name of the applicant therefor,
together with his place of residence b y street and number if so designated. I f the appli
cant is a corporation, the application must specify the names and lik e addresses of the
president, treasurer, and secretary thereof, or other officers performing corresponding
duties and under different names; and the said Commissioners m ay, in their discretion,
require the names and like addresses of all the officers, including the directors, of any
corporate applicant for a license. I f the applicant is a partnership or unincorporated
association, the names and like addresses of all the members thereof must be specified
in the application. T he application must be subscribed b y the applicant or applicants
therefor, if natural persons, and if a corporation in the corporate nam e, b y the president
or chief officer thereof, attested b y the secretary or assistant secretary, with the corpo
rate seal attached, and each application must be acknowledged. Each application
must state that the applicant or applicants is or are the person or persons who have the
sole beneficial interest in the business established or to be established under said
license, and also the place, b y street and number and such other description as the
Commissioners of the District of Colum bia m ay determine, where it is proposed to con
duct such em ploym ent agency. T h e said Commissioned m ay refuse to receive any
application for such license w hich does not meet the requirements of this section. The
Commissioners of the District of Columbia must be satisfied that the applicant is a per
son of good general character, or, if a corporation, that the officers thereof and those
under whose direction the business of the em ploym ent agency is to be carried on are
persons of good general character, and m ay for that purpose require any other state
m ents to be made in the application for the license or otherwise w hich said Commis
sioners deem necessary. A license fee of tw enty-five dollars shall be paid annually,
w hich sum shall accom pany each application for a license, which fee shall be returned
if the license is not granted. E very application for a license shall be filed not less
than one w eek prior to the granting thereof, and notice thereof shall be posted in the
office of the assessor of said District, and a written protest m ay be made b y any person
against the granting of such license; and if said protest is made, the said Commission
ers shall give a public hearing before a determination is made upon such application.
A n y person who conducts or intends to conduct a lodging house, separate and apart
from such em ploym ent agency, shall not be granted a license unless the fact of con
ducting such lodging house is set forth in the application, which fact shall also be
designated in the certificate of such license. T h e said Commissioners shall have power
to reject any application for license and also to revoke any license for violation of or
noncompliance with any of the provisions of this act in addition to any other penalty
in this act provided.
S ec. 4. Each application for a license shall be accompanied b y a bond, in due form,
to the District of Columbia in the penal sum of one thousand dollars, w ith two or more
232
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
sufficient sureties, who m ay be required to justify, and conditioned that the obligor
w ill not violate any of the duties, terms, conditions, provisions or requirements of this
act and the act of Congress approved August first, eighteen hundred and ninety-tw o
(Tw enty-seventh Statutes, page three hundred and forty), com m only known as the
labor law. [This law regulates the hours of labor on public works.] The execution of
an y such bond b y fidelity or surety com pany authorized b y the laws of the U nited
States to transact business therein shall be equivalent to the execution thereof b y two
sureties, and such company, if excepted to, shall justify in the manner required b y
law of fidelity and surety companies. If any person shall be aggrieved b y the mis
conduct of any such licensed person and shall recover judgm ent against h im therefor,
such person m ay, after the return unsatisfied either in whole or in part of any execu
tion issued upon such judgm ent, maintain an action in his own name, upon the bond
of such em ploym ent agency, in an y court having jurisdiction of the am ount claim ed.
T he Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall furnish to anyone applying there
for a certified copy of any such bond filed in their office upon the paym ent of a fee of
tw enty-five cents, and such certified copy shall be prima facie evidence in any court
that such bond was d u ly executed and delivered b y the persons or corporations whose
names appear thereon.
S ec . 5. E ve ry license certificate shall contain the names of the persons licensed and
a designation of the city, street, number, and floor of the house m w hich the person
licensed is authorized to conduct such em ploym ent agency, and the number and the date
of its issuance. Such license shall not be used to protect any other than the person
to whom it is issued nor any place other than that designated in the certificate, and shall
not be transferred or assigned to any other person. E ve ry licensed person shall post
in a conspicuous place in such agency the license certificate.
S ec . 6. N o such agency shall be located in rooms used for living purposes, .or jn
rooms where boarders or lodgers are kept or where meals are served, or persons sleep,
or in the building or on premises, or in connection with a building or on premises, or m
connection w ith a building or premises where intoxicating liquors are sold to be con
sum ed on the premises, except that no one shall be precluded from keeping an em ploy
m ent agency in an office building b y reason of there being a cafe or restaurant in
another part of said building. No such licensed person shall accept an y application
for em ploym ent made b y or on behalf of any child, or shall place or assist in placing any
such child in any em ploym ent whatever in violation of any compulsory-education or
child-labor laws.
S ec . 7. It shall be the d u ty of every such licensed person, except those conducting
theatrical agencies, teachers’ agencies, or agencies for the em ploym ent of vaudeville
performers, or nurses’ registries, or agencies for the procuring of technical, clerical,
sales, or executive positions for m en only, to keep a register, approved b y the Commis
sioners, in w hich shall be entered, in the English language, the date of the application
for em ploym ent, the name and address of the applicant to whom em ploym ent is
promised or offered, the amount of the fee received, and, whenever possible, the names
and addresses of former employers or persons to w hom such applicant is known. Such
licensed person, except those above specified in this section, shall also enter in a sepa
rate register, approved b y the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, in the E nglish
language, the name and address of every applicant accepted for help, the date of such
application, kind of help requested, the names of the persons sent, w ith the designation
of the one em ployed, and the am ount of the fee received. T he aforesaid registers of
applicants for em ploym ent and for help shall be open during office hours to inspection
b y the said Commissioners or their agents. No such licensed person, his agent or
employees, shall make any false entry in such registers. I t shall be the d u ty of every
licensed person, whenever possible, to communicate orally or in writing w ith at least
one of the persons mentioned as references for every applicant for work in private
families or em ployed in a fiduciary capacity, and the result of such investigation shall
be kept on file in such agency: P rov id ed , That if the applicant for help voluntarily
waives in writing such investigation of references b y the licensed person, failure on the
part of the licensed person to make such investigation shall not be deem ed a violation
of this act. E very licensed person exem pted from the provisions of this section as to
the keeping of registers shall keep accurate records in the English language of all per
sons to whom work is promised or offered, or from whom a fee is taken, and of all per
sons from whom an application for an em ployee is accepted, together w ith the date of
the engagement, and the amount of the fee received.
S ec . 8. The fees charged for the em ploym ent of agricultural hands, coachmen,
grooms, hostlers, seamstresses, cooks, waiters, waitresses, scrub women, nurses (except
professional nurses), chambermaids, maids of all work, domestics, servants, or other
laborers (except seamen), or for the purpose of procuring or giving information con
cerning such person for or to employers, sjiall be as follows:
LABOR LAWS---- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA— ACTS OF 1905-1906.
233
E m ploym en t agents or agencies shall be entitled to receive in advance from an
employer—
For male or fem ale employees, one dollar each.
E m p loym en t agents or agencies shall be entitled to receive in advance from the
applicant for work or em ploym ent, either m ale or female, one dollar each, one-half of
w hich is to be returned on demand if such applicant is not secured a fair opportunity
for em ploym ent w ithin four days after the receipt of said original fee of one dollar:
P rov id ed , That the whole fee and any sums paid b y the applicant for transportation
in going to and returning from such employer shall be refunded w ithin four days of
dem and, if no em ploym ent of the kind applied for was vacant at the place to which
the applicant was directed: A n d provided fu rth er, That it shall be unlawful for any
em ploym ent agent or agency to receive more than the fees set forth in this act in the
business aforesaid.
I t shall be the d u ty of such licensed person to give to every applicant for em ploy
m ent from whom a fee shall be received a receipt in which shall be stated the name of
said applicant, the date and amount of the fee, and the purpose for w hich it was paid,
and to every applicant for help a receipt stating the name and address of said appli
cant, the date and amount of the fee, and the kind of help to be provided. E very such
receipt, excepting only those given b y theatrical and teachers’ agencies and those pro
curing technical, clerical, sales, and executive positions for m en only, shall have
printed on the back thereof a copy of this section in the English language. N o such
licensed person shall divide fees w ith contractors or their agents or other employers
or anyone in their em ploy to whom applicants for em ploym ent are sent. E very such
licensed person shall give to each applicant for em ploym ent a card or printed paper
containing the name of the applicant, name and address of such em ploym ent agency,
and the written name and address of the person to whom the applicant is sent for em
ploym ent. E v e ry such licensed person shall post in a conspicuous place in each room
of such agency a plain and legible copy of this act, which shall be printed in large type.
S ec . 9. No such person shall induce or attem pt to induce any domestic em ployee
to leave his em ploym ent with a view to obtaining other em ploym ent through such
agency. W henever any licensed person, or any other acting for him , agrees to send
one or more persons to work as contract laborers in an y one place outside the city in
w hich such agency is located, the said licensed person shall give to the applicant for
em ploym ent, in writing, the name and address of the employer, name and address of
the em ployee, nature of the work to be performed wages offered, destination of the
person em ployed, and terms of transportation.
Sec . 10. N o such licensed person shall send, or cause to be sent, any female as a
servant or inmate or performer to enter any place of bad repute,* house of ill fame, or
assignation house, or to any house or place of amusement kept for immoral purposes,
or place resorted to for the purpose of prostitution, or gam bling house, the character
of w hich such licensed person could have ascertained upon reasonable inquiry. No
such licensed person shall know ingly permit any person of bad character, prostitutes,
gamblers, intoxicated persons, or procurers to frequent such agency. No such person
shall procure or offer to procure help or em ploym ent in rooms or on premises where
intoxicating liquors are sold to be consumed on tlfe premises, whether or not dues or a
fee or privilege is exacted, charged, or received directly or indirectly: P rov id ed , That
proprietors of barrooms shall have the right to em ploy bartenders through em ploym ent
agents or agencies, and bartenders shall have the right to procure em ploym ent in bar
rooms through such agents or agencies: A n d provid ed fu rth er , That it shall be unlawful
for em ploym ent agents or agencies to send applicants for em ploym ent to employers
other than those who have applied to such agents or agencies for help or labor. For
the violation of any of the foregoing provisions of this section the p enalty shall be a fine
of not more than two hundred dollars and in default in paym ent thereof b y imprison
m ent in the workhouse for a period of not more than one year, or both, at the discretion
of the court. N o such licensed person shall publish or cause to be published any false
or fraudulent or misleading notice or advertisement. A ll advertisements of such
em ploym en t agency b y means of cards, circulars, or signs, and in newspapers and
other publications, and all letter heads, receipts, and blanks shall contain the name
and address of such em ploym ent agency, and no such licensed person shall give any
false information, or make any false promise or false representation concerning em ploy
m ent to an y applicant who shall register for em ploym ent or help.
S ec. 11. T he enforcement of this act shall be intrusted to the Commissioners of the
District of Columbia. Complaints against any such licensed persons shall be made
orally or in writing to the said Commissioners, and reasonable notice thereof, not less
than one day, shall be given in writing to said licensed person b y serving upon him a
concise statement of the facts constituting the complaint, and a hearing shall be had
before the said Commissioners within one week from the date of the filing of the com
plaint, and no adjournment shall be taken for a period longer than one week. A daily
234
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
calendar of all hearings shall be kept b y the said Commissioners and shall be posted in
a conspicuous place in their public office for at least one day before the date of such
hearings. T h e said Commissioners shall render their decision w ithin eight days from *
the tim e the matter is finally subm itted to them . Said Commissioners of the District
of Colum bia shall keep a record of all such complaints and hearings. T h e said Com
missioners m ay refuse to issue and shall revoke an y license for any good cause shown,
w ithin the meaning and purpose of this act, and when it is shown to their satisfac
tion that an y licensed person, either before or after conviction, is gu ilty of any illegal
act in connection with the conduct of said business or in violation of this law it shall
be the d u ty of the said Commissioners to revoke the license of such person; but notice
of the charges shall be presented and reasonable opportunity shall be given said
licensed person to be heard in his defense. W henever for any cause such license is
revoked, said Commissioners shall not issue another license to said licensed person
until the expiration of at least six months from the date of revocation of such license.
T he said Commissioners shall cause the corporation counsel to institute criminal pro
ceedings for the enforcement of this act before any court of com petent jurisdiction.
A pproved June 19, 1906.
GEORGIA.
A C T S O F 1906.
A ct N o . 399.— E m p lo y m e n t o f children in fa cto ries— A g e lim it— N ight uoric.
(Page 98.)
Section 1. From and after the approval of this act no child under ten years of age
shall be em ployed or allowed to labor in or about any factory or manufacturing estab
lishm ent w ithin this State under any circumstances.
S ec . 2. On and after January 1, 1907, no child under tw elve years of age shall be so
em ployed, or allowed to labor, unless such child be an orphan and has no other means
of support, or unless a widowed mother or an aged or disabled father is dependent upon
the labor of such child, in which event, before putting such child at such labor, such
father shall produce and file in the office of such factory or manufacturing establish
m ent, a certificate from the ordinary of the county in which such factory or estab
lishm ent is located, certifying under his seal of office to the facts required to be shown
as herein prescribed: P rovided, That no ordinary shall issue any such certificate
except upon strict proof in writing and under oath, clearly showing the necessary facts:
A n d provid ed fu rth er, T hat no such certificate shall be granted for longer than one year,
nor accepted b y an y employer after one year from the date of such certificate.
S ec . 3. On and after January 1, 1908, no child under fourteen years of age shall be
em ployed or allowed to labor in or about any factory or manufacturing establishment
w ithin this State between the hours of seven p. m . and six a. m .
S e£. 4. On and after January 1, 1908, no child, except as heretofore provided, under
fourteen years of age shall be em ployed or allowed to labor in or about any factory or
manufacturing establishment w ithin this State, unless he or she can write his or her
nam e and sim ple sentences, and shall have attended school for tw elve weeks of the
preceding year, six weeks of w hich school attendance shall be consecutive; and no
such child as aforesaid betw een the ages of fourteen and eighteen years shall be so
em ployed unless such child shall have attended school for tw elve weeks of the preced
ing year, six weeks of which school attendance shall be consecutive; and at the end of
each year, until such child shall have passed the public school age, an affidavit certify
ing to such attendance, as is required b y this section, shall be furnished to the employer
b y the parent or guardian or person sustaining parental relation to such child. The
provisions of this section shall ap p ly only to children entering such em ploym ent at
the age of fourteen years or less.
S ec . 5. I t shall be unlawful for a n y owner, superintendent, agent or any other person
acting for or in behalf of any factory or manufacturing establishment to hire or em ploy
any child unless there is first provided and placed on file in the office of such employer
an affidavit signed b y the pareht guardian, or person standing in parental relation
thereto, certifying to thp age and date of birth of such child, and other facts required
in this act. A n y person know ingly furnishing a false affidavit as to the age, or as to
any other facts required in this act, shall be deemed gu ilty of a misdemeanor. * * *
S ec . 6. T h e affidavit and certificates required in this act shall be open to inspection
b y the grand juries of a n y county where such factory or manufacturing establishments
are located.
S ec . 7. A n y person or agent, or representative of any firm or corporation, who shall
violate any provision of this act shall be deemed gu ilty of a misdemeanor,
* * *
A n y parent, guardian, or other person standing in parental relation to a child, who
LABOR LAWS---- GEORGIA---- ACTS OF 1906.
235
shall hire or place for em ploym ent or labor in or about any factory or manufacturing
establishment w ithin this State a child in violation of any provision of this act, shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor * * *
Approved August 1, 1906.
A ct N
o.
4 7 3 . — S u its f o r wages.
(Pag© 120.)
S ection 1. T h e act of the general assembly of the State of Georgia approved August
13, 1904, entitled “ A n act providing for the situs of debts due to nonresidents for
purposes of attachment, and for other p u rp o se s/’ [shall] be am ended * * * so
that said act, when amended, shall read as follows: “ Section 1. From and after the
passage of this act when any suit is brought b y attachment in this State against a
nonresident of the State, and the attachment is levied b y service of summons of
garnishment, the situs of any debt due b y the garnishee to the defendant shall be at
the residence of the garnishee in this State, and any sum due to the defendant in
attachment shall be subject to said attachment: P rovid ed , That the writ of attachment
shall not be used to subject in this State wages of persons who reside out of the State
and which have been earned w holly without the State of Georgia.
Approved August 20, 1906.
IOWA.
A C T S O F 1906.
Chapter 102.— C om m issioner o f labor.
Section 1. Section two thousand four hundred sixty-nine (24G9) of the code [pro
viding that the term of the commissioner of labor shall commence on the first day of
A pril in each even-numbered year, and continue for two years] is hereby amended b y
striking out of the fourth line thereof the word “ even-num bered” and b y inserting in
lieu thereof the word “ odd-num bered” ; and b y adding to said section the following:
“ Provided, however, that the term of office of the labor commissioner which shall
com m ence on the first day of April, 1906, shall expire on the thirty-first day of March,
1907.77
Sec . 2. T h e law as it appears in section two thousand four hundred seventy (2470)
of the supplem ent to the code is hereby amended b y adding thereto the following:
“ H e [the commissioner of labor] shall make a report to the governor during the year
1906, and biennially thereafter. T h e report for the year 1906 shall cover the period
only from the date of his last preceding biennial report.77
A pproved A pril 10, 1906.
Chapter 103.— E m p lo y m e n t o f children— A g e lim it— H ou rs o f labor.
Section 1. N o person under fourteen years of age shall be em ployed with or without
wages or compensation in any m ine, manufacturing establishment, factory, m ill, shop,
laundry, slaughterhouse or packing house, or in any store or mercantile establishment
where more than eight persons are em ployed, or in the operation of any freight or
passenger elevator.
Sec . 2. No person under sixteen years of years [sic] of age shall be employed at any
work or occupation by which, b y reason of its nature or the place of employment, the
health of such person may be injured, or his morals depraved, or at any work in which
the handling or use of gunpowder, dynamite or other like explosive is required, and
no female under sixteen years of age shall be employed in any capacity where the
duties of such employment compel her to remain constantly standing.
Sec . 3. N o person under sixteen years of age shall be em ployed a t any of the places
or in any of the occupations recited in section 1 hereof before the hour of six o’ clock in
the morning or after the hour of nine o’ clock in the evening, and if such person is em
ployed exceeding five hours of each day, a noon intermission of not less than thirty
minutes shall be given between the hours of eleven and one o’ clock, and such person
shall not be em ployed more than ten hours in any one day, exclusive of the noon inter
mission, but the provisions of this section shall not apply to persons em ployed in husk
ing sheds or other places connected with canning factories where vegetables or grain
are prepared for canning and in which no machinery is operated.
Sec. 4. E very person, firm or corporation having in its em ploy, at any of the places
or in any of the occupations recited in section 1 of this act, any persons under sixteen
years of age, shall cause to be posted at some conspicuous location at the place of such
employment, and where same shall be accessible to inspection at all times during busi-
236
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
ness hours, a list of the names of such persons, giving after each nam e, the date of the
birth of such person and the date when em ployed.
Sec . 5. A n y parent, guardian or other person, who having under his control any per
son under sixteen years of age causes or permits said person to work or be employed
in violation of the provisions of this act, or any person making, certifying to, or causing
to be made or certified to, any statement, certificate or other paper for the purpose of
procuring the em ploym ent of any person in violation of the provisions of this act, or
who makes, files, executes or delivers any such statement [,] certificate or other paper
containing any false statement for the purpose of procuring the em ploym ent of any
person in violation of this act, or for the purpose of concealing the violation of this, act
m such em ploym ent, and every person, firm or corporation, or the agent [,] manager,
superintendent, or officer of any person, firm or corporation, whether for himself or
such person, firm or corporation, either b y himself or acting through any agent, fore
man, superintendent or manager, who know ingly em ploys any person or permits any
person to be em ployed in violation of the provisions of this act, or w ho shall refuse to
allow any authorized officer or person to inspect any place of business under the pro
visions of this act, if demand is made therefor at any tim e during business hours or who
shall w illfu lly obstruct such officer or person while m aking such inspection, or who
shall fail to keep posted the lists containing the names of persons em ployed under six
teen years of age and other information as required b y this act, or who shall knowingly
insert any false statement in such list, or who violates any other provision of this act,
shall be deem ed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon being found guilty thereof, shall
be fined not to exceed one hundred dollars or be imprisoned in the county jail not to
exceed thirty days.
S ec . 6. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics to
enforce the provisions of this act, and such commissioner and his deputies, factory
inspectors, assistants and other persons authorized b y him in writing, State mine
inspectors, and county attorneys, mayors, chiefs of police and police officers, acting
under their written directions, city and town marshals, sheriffs and their deputies
w ithin the territories where they exercise their official functions, and any person hav
ing authority therefor in writing from the judge of a court of record w ithin the territory
over w hich such judge has jurisdiction, shall have authority to visit any of the places
enumerated in section 1 of this act, and make an inspection thereof to ascertain if
any of the provisions of this act are violated or any person unlaw fully em ployed
thereat, and such persons shall not be interfered with or prevented from asking
questions of any person found at the place being inspected b y them w ith reference
to the provisions of this act. It shall be the d u ty of the county attorney to investi
gate all complaints made to him of the violation of this act, and to attend and prose
cute at the trial of all cases for its violation upon any information that m ay be filed
w ithin his county.
Approved April 10, 1906.
Chapter 148.— A ssig n m en t o f wages.
S ection 1. Section three thousand and forty seven (3047) of the code [relating to
assignments of open accounts, shall] be amended b y adding thereto the following:
B u t no sale or assignment, b y the head of a fam ily, of wages, whether the same be
exem pt from execution or not, shall be of any validity whatever unless the same be
evidenced b y a written instrument and if married unless the husband and wife, sign
and acknowledge the same joint instrument before an officer authorized to take
acknowledgements; and assignments of wages shall have priority and precedence in
the order in which nctice in writing of such assignments shall be given to the employer,
and not otherwise.
A pproved April 5, 1906.
Chapter 156.— Wages a preferred claim — I n receiverships.
S ection 1. W h en the property of any person, partnership, com pany or corporation
has been placed in the hands of a receiver for distribution, after the paym ent of all
costs the following claims shall be entitled to priority of paym ent in the order nam ed:
First. Taxes or other debts entitled to preference under the laws of the U nited
States.
Second. Debts due or taxes assessed and levied for the benefit of the State, county
or other m unicipal corporation in this State.
Third. Debts owing to employees for labor performed as defined b y section four
thousand and nineteen (4019) of the code [i. e., within ninety days n ext preceding
the transfer of the property, to an am ount not exceeding one hundred dollars to each
person].
Approved March 30, 1906.
LABOR LAWS---- UNITED STATES---- ACTS OF 1905-1906.
237
UNITED STATES.
A C T S O F F I R S T S E S S IO N , 59T H C O N G R E S S — 1905-1906.
Chapter 3071.— In sp ectio n o f steam vessels.
Section 1. Section forty-four hundred and twenty-one of the Revised Statutes of
the U nited States is hereby amended * * * so that said section, when am ended,
shall read as follows:
“ Section 4421. W h en the inspection of a steam vessel is completed and the inspect
ors approve the vessel and her equipm ent throughout, they shall make and subscribe
a certificate to the collector or other chief officer of the customs of the district in which
such inspection has been made, in accordance with the form and regulations prescribed
b y the board of supervising inspectors. Such certificate shall be verified b y the oaths
of inspectors signing it, before the chief officer of the customs of the district, or any
other person competent b y law to administer oaths. I f the inspectors refuse to grant a
certificate of approval, th ey shall make a statement in writing, and sign the same, giv
ing the reasons for their disapproval. Upon such inspection and approval, the
inspectors shall also make and subscribe a temporary certificate, which shall set forth
substantially the fact of such inspection and approval, and shall deliver the same to
the master or owner of the vessel, and shall keep a copy thereof on file in their office.
The said temporary certificate shall be carried and exposed b y vessels in the same
manner as is provided in section forty-four hundred and twenty-three for copies of the
regular certificate, and the form thereof and the period during w hich it is to be in force
shall be as prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors, or the executive commit
tee thereof, as provided in section forty-four hundred and five. A n d such temporary
certificate, during such period and prior to the delivery to the master or owner of the
copies of the regular certificate, shall take the place of, and be a substitute for, such
copies of the regular certificate of inspection as required b y sections forty-four hundred
and twenty-three, forty-four hundred and twenty-four, and forty-four hundred and
tw enty-six, and for the purposes of said sections, and shall also, during such period, be
a substitute for the regular certificate of inspection as required b y section forty-four
hundred and ninety-eight and for the purposes of said section until such regular cer
tificate of inspection has been filed w ith the collector or other chief officer of customs.
Such temporary certificate shall also be subject to revocation in the manner and under
the conditions provided in section forty-four hundred and fifty-three. No vessel
required to be inspected under the provisions of this title shall be navigated without
having on board an unexpired regular certificate of inspection or such temporary
certificate.”
Approved, June 11, 1906.
Chapter 3073.— L ia bility o f em ployers f o r in ju ries to em ployees— C om m on carriers.[See B ulletin No. 64, p. 909.] (a)
Chapter 3333.— Wages as preferred claims— In bankruptcy.
Section 1. Clause four of subdivision B of section sixty-four of said [bankruptcy]
act is hereby amended so as to read as follow's:
“ Fourth. Wages due to workmen, clerks, traveling or city salesmen, or servants
which have been earned within three months before the date of commencement of
proceedings, not to exceed three hundred dollars to each claim ant.”
Approved, June 15, 1906.
Chapter 3583.— S eam en— S h i})p in g under fa ls e in du cem en ts, etc.
S ection 1: W hoever, wdth intent that any person shall perform service or labor of
an y kind on board of any vessel of any kind engaged in trade and commerce among
the several States or with foreign nations, shall—
First. Procure or induce or attempt to procure or induce another b y force, threats,
or representations which the person making them knows or believes to be untrue, or
while the person so induced or procured is intoxicated or under the influence of any
drug, to go on board of any such vessel.
a In Bulletin No. 64 this chapter was erroneously given as Chapter 219.
or Public, No. 219.
248b-
No.
68—07----- 16
It should be Chapter 3073
238
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR.
Second. Indu ce or ^procure or attem pt to induce or procure another b y force or
threats, or b y representations known or believed b y the person making them to be
untrue, or while the person so induced or procured is intoxicated or under the influ
ence of any drug, to sign or in any wise enter into any agreement to go on board any
such vessel to perform service or labor thereon, shall be fined not more than one
thousand dollars or imprisonment for one year, or both.
S ec . 2. Whoever shall knowingly detain on board any such vessel any person
induced to go on board thereof or to enter into an agreement to go on board thereof
b y any of the means defined in section one hereof shall be punished as provided
in section one.
Sec . 3. W hoever shall knowingly aid or abet in the doing of any of the things
declared unlawful b y sections one and two of this act shall be deemed a principal
and punished accordingly.
Sec . 4. Sections four, six, and twenty-four [relating to modes and times of the
paym ent of wages of seamen, and the libel of vessels for their collection] of chapter
twenty-eight of the Acts of Congress, approved Decem ber twenty-first, eighteen
hundred and ninety-eight, shall apply to all vessels engaged in the taking of oysters,
anything in section tw enty-six of said last-mentioned act to the contrary notwith
standing.
Approved, June 28, 1906.
Chapter 3912.— E ight-h our law o n Isth m ian Canal constru ction .
Section 4. T he provisions of an act entitled “ A n A ct relating to the limitations
of the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed upon the public
works of the U nited States and of the District of Colum bia,” approved August first,
eighteen hundred and ninety-tw o * * * shall not apply to unskilled alien
laborers and to the foremen and superintendents of such laborers employed in the
construction of the Isthmian Canal within the Canal Zone.
Approved, June 30, 1906.
CUMULATIVE INDEX OF LABOR LAWS AND DECISIONS RELATING
THERETO.
[This index includes all labor laws enacted since January 1,1904, and published in successive issues of
the Bulletin, beginning with Bulletin No. 57, the issue of March, 1905. Laws enacted previously appear
in the Tenth Special Report of the Commissioner of Labor. The decisions indexed under the various
headings relate to the laws on the same subjects without regard to their date of enactment and are
indicated by the letter “ D ” in parenthesis following the name of the State.]
Bulletin,
No.
Accident insurance. (See Insur
ance, accident.)
Accidents in factories:
New Jersey................................. 58
Pennsylvania............................. 65
Accidents In mines:
Ohio............................................. 59
Accidents on railroads:
Minnesota................................... 63
South Carolina........................... 65
Advances made by employers.
(See Employers' advances.)
Alien contract labor:
United States (D )..................... 68
Arbitration of labor disputes:
Maryland.................................... 57
Massachusetts............................ 57
Assignment of wages:
Connecticut................................ 62
Illinois......................................... 61
Iow a............................................ 68
Massachusetts............................ 61
Minnesota................................... 63
New Y ork ................................... 57
Wisconsin................................... 67
Bakeries, hours of labor of em
ployees in. (See Hours of la
bor.)
Bakeries, inspection of. (See In
spection, etc.)
i
Barbers, examination, etc., of. j
(See Examination, etc.)
Blacklisting:
Arkansas.................................... 65
Colorado..................................... 62
Nevada....................................... 63
Boycotting:
Colorado.................................... 62
(See also Interference with i
employment.)
j
Bribery, etc., of employees:
Connecticut................................ 62
Massachusetts............................ 57
Michigan..................................... 62
New Y ork................................... 64
Rhode Island............................. 64
South Carolina.......................... 65
Washington............................... 67
Wisconsin................................. 67
Bribery of representatives of labor
organizations:
New Y ork ................................... 57
Bureau of labor:
California................................... 62
Iow a............................................ J60
\68
New Jersey................................. 58
United States............................. 57
Bureau of mines:
West Virginia............................ 67
Cause of discharge. (See Dis
charge, statement of cause of.)
j
Bulletin.
No.
Page.
1015
359
379
581
360
183-185
707,708
708-710
331
1075
236
1087
584
712
915
351
330,331
588,589
330,331
332
710
581
905,906
908,909
360
912
914,915
718
328
712
235
1018,1019
719
Children and women, employment
of, general provisions:
Missouri (D )...............................
Children and women, employment
of, in barrooms:
New Hampshire.........................
Vermont.....................................
Children and women, employment
in mines:
| of,Illinois.........................................
Indiana.......................................
Missouri......................................
Children and women, hours of la
bor of:
Massachusetts............................
Children, earnings of. (See Earn
ings of minors.)
Children, employment of, age limit
for:
California....................................
California (D )............................
Delaware.....................................
i
Georgia.......................................
|
Illinois (D ).................................
Iow a............................................
I
Kansas........................................
'
Massachusetts............................
Michigan.....................................
Michigan (D )..............................
M is s o u r i..................................
New Jersey................................
North Carolina (D )...................
Oregon........................................
Pennsylvania.............................
Rhode Island.............................
Washington (D )........................
West Virginia............................
: Children, employment of, general
i provisions:
'
California....................................
Connecticut................................
■
Delaware....................................
!
District of Columbia.................
Georgia.......................................
j
Iow a............................................
l
Massachusetts............................
i
Missouri......................................
New Jersey.................................
New Y o rk ...................................
,
J
912,913
j
Page.
68
186,187
63
60
589
715
61
63
61
1077
576
1093
57
711
62
68
62
68
59
68
62
62
62
64
62
200
199-202
207,208
234
335-337
235,236
217,218
226
231
881,882
237
62
62
62
68
68
68
62
62
62
200-202
206
207,208
230,231
234,235
235,236
224-226
236,237
243,244
245-248,
250,251
255,
257,258
258-260
266-268
887-889
269-271
276,277
279
280
284
243
62
863,864
67
258-260
62
f
263,
62 \ 266-268
269-271
62
61 1054,1055
280
62
/
\
Ohio............................................. 62 J\
Oregon........................................ 62
Pennsylvania............................. 62
Pennsylvania ( D ) ..................... 64
Rhode Island............................. 62
Vermont..................................... 62
W ashington................................ 62
West Virginia............................ 62
Wisconsin................................... 62 i
62
239
240
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
C um ulative index o f labor laws arid decisions relating thereto— Continued.
Bulletin.
No.
Children, employment of, in bar
rooms:
Connecticut................................
Georgia.......................................
Hawaii........................................
Maryland....................................
New Hampshire.........................
South Dakota............................
Vermont.....................................
Children, employment of, in cer
tain occupations, forbidden:
California....................................
California (D )............................
Iow a............................................
Maine...........................................
Children, employment of, in mines:
Illinois.........................................
Indiana.......................................
Missouri......................................
Montana.....................................
Oregon........................................
Pennsylvania.............................
West Virginia............................
Children, employment of, in street
trades:
New Y o rk ...................................
Children, hiring out, to support
parents in idleness:
Georgia.......................................
Louisiana...................................
Mississippi..................................
North Carolina..........................
Children, hours of labor of:
California....................................
Delaware....................................
Indiana.......................................
Iow a............................................
Massachusetts............................
New Hampshire.........................
New Jersey.................................
Oregon........................................
Oregon (D ).................................
Pennsylvania.............................
Children, night work by:
California....................................
Georgia.......................................
Iow a............................................
Massachusetts............................
Michigan.....................................
New Jersey.................................
Oregon........................................
Pennsylvania.............................
Rhode Island.............................
Vermont.....................................
Chinese, exclusion, etc., of:
United States.............................
Citizens preferred for employment
on public works:
Massachusetts............................
New Mexico................................
Civil service:
Wisconsin....................................
Coal, weighing. {See Weighing
coal.)
Combinations to fix wages:
Louisiana.......... ........................
Commissioner of labor. {See Bu
reau of labor.)
Conspiracy, labor agreements not:
California (D )............................
{See also Interference; Intim
idation.)
Contract labor, alien. {See Alien
contract labor.)
Contractors’ bonds. {See Protec
tion of wages.)
Contracts of employment, regula
tion, etc., of:
Louisiana (D )............................
62
62
62
62
62
62
62
205
209
62
199,200
202,203
235
68
68
62
Bulletin.
Page.
No.
Contracts of employment with in
tent to defraud:
South Carolina...........................
Death. {See Injuries causing.)
Discharge, statement of cause of:
Missouri......................................
Divorce, etc., statistics of, to be
procured:
California....................................
Earnings of minors:
Wisconsin....................................
Eight-hour day:
California....................................
Colorado......................................
Missouri......................................
Montana.....................................
Nevada........................................
Nevada (D )................................
New Y ork (D )...........................
Porto R ico..................................
Washington (D )........................
United States.............................
Emigrant agents:
Georgia.......................................
Hawaii........................................
North Carolina (D )...................
Employees, bribery, etc., of. {See
Bribery, etc., of employees.)
Employers’ advances, repayment
210
223
241
274
276
222
211
62
62
62
62
62
62
62
216
236
237-239
258
263-266
280
62
251
209
220
235
253
908
68
62
62
62
62
68
62
62
68
68
62
62
64
62
62
62
57
57
61
67
57
68
67
Louisiana (D )............................
New Mexico................................
South Carolina...........................
200 Employers’
liability. {See Liabil
207
ity,
etc.}
216
Employers
to furnish names of
235
employees to officials:
225,226
New
Mexico................................
241
W yom ing....................................
244
Employment offices:
259
California....................................
203,204
California ( D )............................
266,267
Connecticut................................
District of Columbia.................
200
Michigan.....................................
234
Minnesota...................................
235
Missouri......................................
226
New Y o rk ...................................
231
New Y ork (D )...........................
905
259
Ohio.............................................
267
Virginia.......................................
269
{See also Emigrant agents.)
*276,277
Enticing employees:
Arkansas.....................................
719,720
West Virginia (D ).....................
Examination, etc., of barbers:
Connecticut................................
708 !
Kansas........................................
1094 |
Maryland....................................
Maryland (D ) ............................
918 I,
Oregon (D ).................................
Washington (D )........................
Examination, etc., of horseshoers:
704 I;
Hawaii........................................
Washington (D )........................
Examination, etc., of miners:
Pennsylvania ( D )......................
181-183
Examination, etc., of plumbers:
Maine...........................................
Minnesota (D )...........................
Texas (D) .................................
Washington................................
Washington (D )........................
Examination, etc., of stationary
firemen:
Massachusetts...........................
861
r
Page.
60
714
61
1092
62
328
62
281
62
62
61
63
63
59
57
59
57
68
329,330
331
1092,1093
585,586
586
334,335
687,688
385
685-687
238
59
62
57
378
334
688
67
61
60
861
1093,1094
714
61
61
1094
1094,1095
62
57
62
68
63
63
61
57
' 329
693-696
333
231-234
577
584,585
1090
713-715
890,891
379,380
382,383
716
65
65
354
339-342
62
61
57
59
57
58
332,333
1080
705-707
338-340
696-698
992-994
58
994,995
T14.
205,206
61
62
68
67
67
1085
322,323
204,205
907-909
875-877
61 ' 1087,1088
241
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
C um ulative index o f labor laws and decision s relating thereto— Continued.
j
Bulletin,
Jno.I
Page.
Examination, etc., of steam engi
neers:
1087,1088
Massachusetts............................
587,688
Nevada.......................................
New Hampshire.........................
590,591
378,379
Ohio.............................................
Pennsylvania.............................
356,357
Exemption of wages from execu
tion, etc.:
Alabama (D ).............................
552,553
712
Iow a............................................
1083
Kansas........................................
704
Louisiana....................................
Porto R ic o .................................
385
Tennessee....................................
362
Factories, etc., inspection of. (See
Inspection.)
Fellow-servants. (See Liability of
employers.)
Fire escapes on factories:
District of Columbia.................
229,230
712,713
Iow a............................................
New Jersey.................................
1016-1018
Pennsylvania.............................
359
West Virginia............................
914
Garnishment of wages of public
employees:
Utah............................................ 65
364
Guards on thrashing machines,
etc.:
Wisconsin................................... 67
916,917
Ilorseshoers, examination, etc., of.
(See Examination, etc.)
Hours of labor of children and
women. (See Children, etc.)
Hours of labor of drug clerks:
328
California....................................
Hours of labor of employees in
bakeries:
904,905
New Jersey.................................
698-700
New York (D )...........................
340-355
Hours of labor of employees in gen
eral employments:
Arkansas.................................... 65 I
350
Hours of labor of employees in
mines, smelters, etc.:
Colorado.....................................
331
Missouri......................................
1092,1093
585,586
Montana.....................................
Nevada (D )................................
334,335
Hours of labor of employees on
railroads:
Arizona (D )...............................
694,695
Indiana.......................................
577
Kansas.......................................
1082,1083
Missouri......................................
Hours of labor of women. (See
Women, etc.)
Hours of labor on public roads:
Indiana.......................................
577
Hours of labor on public works:
California....................................
329,330
Montana.....................................
585,586
Nevada............................... ........
586
New Y ork ...................................
905
385
Porto R ico.................................
Immigration, regulation, etc., of:
United States.............................
720
Injuries causing death, right of ac
tion for:
995-998
Alabama (D ).............................
Missouri......................................
1090,1091
588
Nevada........................................
Wisconsin (D )...........................
891
Injuries, personal, right of action
for:
Nevada.......................................
588
South Carolina...........................
360
j
Bulletin.
No.
Inspection of bakeries:
New Jersey..............
Pennsylvania.: .......
Tennessee.................
Inspection of factories:
Connecticut..............
Indiana (D ).............
Maryland (D )..........
Massachusetts.........
New Jersey...............
New Y ork ................
Pennsylvania...................
Rhode Island...................
Washington.....................
Washington (D )..............
Wisconsin.........................
Inspection of steam boilers:
Massachusetts.................
New Y ork .........................
Inspection of steam vessels:
New Hampshire...............
United States...................
Inspectors, factory:
Iow a................................
New Jersey.....................
Ohio........*.......................
Rhode Island..................
Inspectors, mine:
Arkansas.........................
Illinois.............................
Indiana...........................
Michigan..........................
Minnesota.......................
West Virginia.................
Inspectors, railroad:
'!
Illinois.............................
Insurance, accident:
Illinois.............................
Insurance, cooperative:
I
Maryland (D ).............................. 157
Interference with employment:
I
Illinois (D )...................................! 63
Wisconsin (D ).............................! 57
Intimidation:
j
Connecticut (D ).......................
Utah..........................................
Intoxicating liquor. (See Liquor.)
Intoxication, etc., in or about
mines or smelters:
W yoming.................................. 61
Labor, bureau of. (See Bureau of
labor.)
j
Labor Day:
;
Mississippi....................................>57
Labor organizations,, bribery of
representatives of:
New Y ork ................................. 57
Labor organizations, incorpora
tion, regulation, etc., of:
Massachusetts..........................
New Hampshire....................... .
Pennsylvania (D ).................... .
Liability of employers for injuries
to employees:
Arizona (D )..............................
Colorado (D )............................ .
Illinois....................................... .
Indiana (D )...............................
Iowa (D )....................................
Kansas...................................... .
Kentucky (D )............................
Minnesota (D )...........................
Missouri......................................
Montana.....................................
Page.
904,905
358,359
362
332
342-344
999-1002
711
1013-1019
r 712,713,
l 715-718
357-360
713,714
909-911
990-992
321,322
915,917
1089
907
590,591
718-720
237
712
1018,1019
383,384
908
352,353
1076
574-576
578
582-584
912,913
1078
1075,1076
689,690
553-558
678-680
681-684
884-886
364
1095
712
718
710
589
1064,1065
694,695
187,188
1075,1076
988,989
1061-1064
547-549
1082
883-887
882,883
1090,1091
585
242
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
C um ulative in d ex o f labor laws and decisions relatin g thereto— Continued.
Bulletin,
Liability of employers for injuries
to employees—Concluded.
New Y ork (D )...........................
North Carolina (D ).................
Ohio...........................................
Ohio (D)
Tennessee (D)
Texas..............
T exas(D )
Virginia (D )...............................
Washington (D )........................
Wisconsin (D )...........................
United States............................
United States (D )................... .
License tax, exemption of mechan
ics, etc., from:
Louisiana..................................
Liquor, sale of, to employees:
Hawaii.......................................
New Hampshire........................
Vermont....................................
Locomotive boilers, inspection of:
New Y ork................................. .
Lodging houses, sailors’ :
United States........................... .
Manufactured articles, marking:
California...................................
Marriage, etc., statistics of, to be
procured:
California.................................. .
Mechanics, exemption of, from
manufacturers’ taxes:
Philippine Islands................... .
Mine regulations:
Arkansas....................................
Illinois....................................... .
Illinois (D ).................................
Indiana.......................................
Indiana (D )...............................
Kansas.......................................
Kentucky (D )............................
Michigan.....................................
Missouri......................................
Nevada.......................................
Ohio............................................
Ohio (D ).....................................
Pennsylvania (D ).....................
Tennessee (D )............................
Utah............................................
West Virginia............................
W yom ing...................................
( See also Accidents in mines;
Inspectors, mine.)
Mines, etc., hours of labor of em
ployees in. (See Hours of labor.)
Mines, etc., intoxication in or
about:
W yom ing...................................
Newsboy law:
New Y ork ..................................
Payment of wages'due discharged
employees:
Arkansas (D ).............................
Payment of wages in scrip:
Arkansas....................................
Indiana.......................................
Missouri (D )..............................
Nevada.......................................
South Carolina..........................
Texas..........................................
Washington...............................
No.
Page.
61
63
59
[56
157
165
167
65
65
60
61
63
65
58
58
58
64
68
0055,1056,
11059-1061
549,550
384
297-299
690-693
337
868-875
334-337
363
692-694
1056-1058
551
338,339
985,986
990-992
986-988
909
188-197
57
703
62
63
60
334,335
589,590
715
64
907
57
719
62
330
62
328
385
352-354
1076-1078
866-868
214-216
569-577
864-866
1080-1082
883-887
578-580
1093
587
379
337
318,319
334-337
364
912,913
1095
61
1095
62
251
60
699,700
65
63
56
63
60
65
67
350,351
576
309-311
587
714,715
363
911,912
Bulletin.
Payment of wages, modes and
times of:
Indiana (D )................................
Maryland.............. .....................
Massachusetts...........................
New Jersey.................................
Peonage:
United States (D ).....................
Picketing:
Colorado.....................................
Plumbers, examination, etc., of.
( See Examination, e+c.)
Preference of wages. (See Wages
as preferred claims.)
Printing, public.
(See Public
printing.)
Protection of employees as mem
bers of labor organizations:
Kansas (D )................................
New Y ork (D )...........................
United States (D ).....................
Protection of employees on build
ings:
Kansas...................................... .
New York (D )...........................
Wisconsin...................................
Protection of employees on street
railways:
District of Columbia............... .
Louisiana...................................
Maine..........................................
New Y ork ................................. .
South Carolina......................... .
Protection of wages:
Massachusetts.......................... .
United States........................... .
Public printing office, employees
in:
Kansas.......................................
Public printing to be done within
the State:
Arkansas....................................
Public works, labor on:
New Y o rk ...................................
Public works, preference of domes
tic materials for:
Missouri (D )..............................
New Mexico................................
Public works, preference of resi
dent laborers on:
Massachusetts...........................
New Mexico................................
Public works, retention of wages
of employees on:
California....................................
Public works, vaccination of em
ployees on:
Virginia......................................
Railroad bridges, etc.:
Vermont.....................................
Railroad companies, liability of,
for injuries to employees. (See
Liability of employers.)
Railroads, height of bridges, wires,
etc., over:
Arkansas....................................
Kansas...................................... .
Vermont.....................................
W yom ing...................................
Railroads, hours of labor of em
ployees on. (See Hours of la
bor.)
Railroads, illiterate employees on:
Ohio........................................... .
Railroads, safety appliances on:
Illinois.......................................
Ohio...........................................
Texas.........................................
Vermont....................................
No.
Page.
67
57
61
58
704,705
1086,1087
1019
60
695,696
62
330
56
67
311
888,889
216-221
68
886-888
1083,1084
319,320
915,916
718
703,704
1084,1085
906,907
714
711
717,718
61
1083
354
905
60
61
697-699
1094
708
1094
62
330
717
715
351
1083
715
1095
379
1078-1080
384
363
715
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
243
C um ulative in a ex o f labor laws and decisions relating thereto— Concluded.
Bulletin.
Railroads, safety appliances on—
Concluded.
Wisconsin...................................
United States (D )...................
Railroads, shelters for workmen
on:
Arkansas....................................
Railroads, structures near tracks
of:
Ohio...........................................
Rates of wages of employees of
public printing office:
K an sas..................................... .
Rates of wages of employees on
public works:
New Y o rk ................................. .
Right of action for injuries. (See
Injuries.)
Scrip. (See Payment of wages.)
Seamen:
United States...........................
Seats for female employees:
•Maryland...................................
Pennysl vania.............. : ............
Tennessee...................................
Statistics, collection of:
Hawaii........................................
Steam boilers, inspection of. (See
Inspection.)
Steam engineers, examination,
etc., of. (See Examination, etc.)
Stone worked within State, use of,
on public works. (See Public
works, preference of domestic
materials for.)
Suits for wages:
Georgia.......................................
New Y ork ...................................
Sunday labor:
Hawaii........................................
Maine (D )...................................
Massachusetts...........................
Rhode Island (D )......................
Virginia......................................
Sweating system:
Maryland (D )............................
Massachusetts...........................
New Jersey.................................
New Y ork ...................................
Pennsylvania.............................
No.
Page.
67
J56
;\59
917,918
299-309
359-361
354
380,381
1083
905
719
237,238
707
357
362
703
68
64
235
906
62
68
57
67
60
333,334
221
711
861,862
716,717
58
61
58
57
65
999-1002
1086
1015,1016 i
715-718
358 |
Bulletin.
No.
Page.
Telegraph poles, size, height, etc.,
of:
W yom ing................................... 61
1095
Time for meals to be allowed em
ployees:
704
Louisiana................................... 57
Pennsylvania............................. 65
357
Time to vote to be allowed em
ployees:
Massachusetts........................... 57
710
Ohio............................................ 59
380
Trade-marks of trade unions:
Arkansas.................................... 65
354,355
California.................................... 62
330
Connecticut (D )......................... i 67
889-891
586
Nebraska.................................... ! 63
New Jersey (D ).......................... ! 61 1066,1067
New Y o rk ................................... 57
715
361,362
Tennessee................................... 65
Vaccination of employees on pub
I
lic works:
Virginia....................................... ! 60 ;
717
Wages as preferred claims:
236
Iow a............................................ I 68
1094
New Mexico................................ 61
United States........................
68
237
Wages, assignment of. (See As
signment.)
Wages, combinations to fix:
704
Louisiana..............................
57
Wages, exemption of. (See Ex
emption, etc.)
Wages of employees on public
works, retention of:
California................................... 62
330
Wages, payment of. (See Pay
ment, etc.)
Wages, rates of. (See Rates of
wages.)
Wages, suits for. (See Suits for
wages.)
Weighing coal at mines:
Arkansas.................................... 65
351
Women and children. (See Chil
dren and women.)
Women, employment of :
Michigan..................................... 63
581
Women, hours of labor of:
Oregon (D )................................ 67
877-879
LEADING ARTICLES IN PAST NUMBERS OF THE BULLETIN.
No.
1. Private and public debt in the United States, by George K . Holmes.
Employer and employee under the common law, by V . H . Olmsted and S. D.
Fessenden.
No. 2. The poor colonics of Holland, by J. Howard Gore,*Ph. D.
The industrial revolution in Japan, by William Eleroy Curtis.
Notes concerning the money of the U . S. and other countries, by W . C. Hunt.
The wealth and receipts and expenses of the I J. S., by W . M. Steuart.
No. 3. Industrial communities: Coal Mining Co. of Anzin, by W . F. Willoughby.
No. 4. Industrial communities: Coal Mining Co. of Blanzy, by W . F . Willoughby, (a)
The sweating system, by Henry White, (a)
No. 5. Convict labor.
Industrial communities: Krupp Iron and Steel Works, by W . F. Willoughby.
No. _6. Industrial communities: Familistere Society of Guise, by W . F. Willoughby.
Cooperative distribution, by Edward W . Bemis, Ph. D.
No. 7. Industrial communities: Various communities, by W . F. Willoughby, (a)
Rates of wages paid under public and private contract, by Ethelbert Stewart. («)
No. 8. Conciliation and arbitration in the boot and shoe industry, by T . A . Carroll.
Railway relief departments; by Emory R . Johnson, Ph. D .
No. 9. The padrone system and padrone banks, by John Koren. (a)
The Dutch Society for General Welfare, by J. Howard Gore, Ph. D . (a)
No. 10. Condition of the Negro in various cities, (a)
Building and loan associations, (a)
No. 11. Workers at gainful occupations at. censuses of 1870,1880, and 1890, by W . C. Hunt
Public baths in Europe, by Edward Mussey Hartwell, Ph. D ., M. D .
No. 12. The inspection of factories and workshops in the U . S., by W . F. Willoughby.
Mutual rights and duties of parents and children, guardianship, etc., under the law,
by F. J. Stimson.
The municipal or cooperative restaurant of Grenoble, France, by C. O. W ard.
No. 13. The anthracite mine laborers, by G. O. Virtue, Ph. D.
No. 14. The Negroes of Farmville, V a.: A social study, by W . E. B. Du Bois, Ph. D.
Incomes, wages, and rents in Montreal, by Herbert Brown Ames, B . A .
No. 15. Boarding homes and clubs for working women, by Mary S. Fergusson. (a)
The trade-union label, by John Graham Brooks, (a)
No. 16. Alaskan gold fields and opportunities for capital and labor, by S. C. Dunham.
No. 17. Brotherhood relief and insurance of railway employees, by E. R . Johnson, Ph. D.
The nations of Antwerp, by J. Howard Gore, Ph. D.
No. 18. Wages in the United States and Europe, 1870 to 1898. (a)
No. 19. Alaskan gold fields and opportunities for capital and labor, by S. C. Dunham, (o)
Mutual relief and benefit associations in the printing trade, by W . S. W audby. («)
No. 20. Condition of railway labor in Europe, by Walter E . W eyl, Ph. D.
No. 21. Pawnbroking in Europe and the United States, by W . R . Patterson, Ph. D .
No. 22. Benefit features of American trade unions, by Edward W . Bemis, Ph. D. (a)
The Negro in the black belt: Some social sketches, by W . E . B. Du Bois, Ph. D (aj
Wages in Lyon, France, 1870 to 1896. (c)
No. 23. Attitude of women’s clubs, etc., toward social economics, by Ellen M. Henrotin. (a)
The production of paper and pulp in the U . S. from January 1 to June 3 0,1 8 98 . (a)
No. 24. Statistics of cities, (a)
No. 25. Foreign labor laws: Great Britain and France, by W . F. Willoughby, (a)
No. 26. Protection of workmen in their employment, by "Stephen D . Fessenden.
Foreign labor laws: Belgium and Switzerland, by W . F. Willoughby.
No. 27. Wholesale prices: 1890 to 1899, by Roland P. Falkner, Ph. D . (a)
Foreign labor laws: Germany, by W . F. Willoughby, (a)
No. 28. Voluntary conciliation and arbitration in Great Britain, by J. B. McPherson. («)
System of adjusting wages, etc., in certain rolling mills, by J. II. Nutt. (a)
Foreign labor laws: Austria, by W . F. Willoughby. («)
a Bulletin out of print.
No. 29. Trusts and industrial combinations, by J. W . Jenks, Ph. D.
The Yukon and Nome gold regions, by S. C. Dunham.
Labor Day, by Miss M. C. de Graffenried.
No. 30. Trend of wages from 1891 to 1900.
Statistics of cities.
Foreign labor laws: Various European countries, by W . F. Willoughby.
N o. 31. Betterment of industrial conditions, by V . H . Olmsted.
Present status of employers' liability in the U . S., by S. D . Fessenden.
Condition of railway labor in Italy, by Dr. Luigi Einaudi.
No. 32. Accidents to labor as regulated by law in the U . S., by W . F. Willoughby.
Prices of commodities and rates of wages in Manila.
The Negroes of Sandy Spring, Md.: A social study, by W . T. Thom, Ph. D.
The British workmen's compensation act and its operation, by A . M. Low.
N o. 33. Foreign labor laws: Australasia and Canada, by W . F . Willoughby.
The British conspiracy and protection of property act and its operation, by A . M .
Low.
No. 34. Labor conditions in Porto Rico, by Azel Ames, M. D.
Social economics at the Paris Exposition, by Prof. N . P. Gilman.
The workmen's compensation act of Holland.
No. 35. Cooperative communities in the United States, by Rev. Alexander Kent.
The Negro landholder of Georgia, by W . E. B. Du Bois, Ph. D.
No. 36. Statistics of cities.
Statistics of Honolulu, H . I.
No. 37. Railway employees in the United States, by Samuel McCune Lindsay, Ph. D.
The Negroes of Litwalton, V a.: A social study of the “ Oyster N egro," by William
Taylor Thom;, Ph. D .
No. 38. Labor conditions in Mexico, by Walter E . W eyl, Ph. D.
The Negroes of Cinclare Central Factory and Calumet Plantation. La., by J. Brad
ford Laws.
No. 39. Course of wholesale prices, 1890 to 1901.
No. 40. Present condition of the hand-working and domestic industries of Germany, by
Henry J. Hairis, Ph. D.
Workmen's compensation acts of foreign countries, by Adna F. Weber.
No. 41. Labor conditions in Cuba, by Victor S. Clark, Ph. D.
Beef prices, by Fred C. Croxton.
No. 42. Statistics of cities.
Labor conditions of Cuba.
No. 43. Report to the President on anthracite coal strike, by Carroll D . Wright. («)
No. 44. Factory sanitation and labor protection, by C. F. W . Doehring, Ph. D.
No. 45. Course of wholesale prices, 1890 to 1902.
No. 46. Report of Anthracite Coal Strike Commission.
No. 47. Report of the Commissioner of Labor on Hawaii.
No. 48. Farm colonies of the Salvation Army, by Commander Booth Tucker.
The Negroes of Xenia, Ohio, by Richard R . Wright, jr., B . D.
No. 49. Cost of living.
Labor conditions in New Zealand, by Victor S. Clark, Ph. D.
No. 50. Labor unions and British industry, by A . Maurice Low.
Land values and ownership in Philadelphia, by A . F. Davies.
No. 51. Course of wholesale prices, 1890 to 1903.
The union movement among coal-mine workers, by Frank J. Warne, Ph. D .
No. 52. Child labor in the United States, by Hannah R . Sewall, Ph. D.
No. 53. Wages and cost of living.
No. 54. The working of the United States Bureau of Labor, by Carroll D . Wright.
Bureaus of statistics of labor in the United States, by G. W . W . Hanger.
Bureaus of statistics of labor in foreign countries, by G. W . W . Hanger.
The value and Influence of labor statistics, by Carroll D . Wright.
Strikes and lockouts in the United States, 1881 to 1900, by G. W . W . Hanger.
Wages in the United States and Europe, 1890 to 1903, by G. W . W . Hanger.
Cost of living aind retail prices in the U . S., 1890 to 1903, by G. W . W . Hanger.
Wholesale prices in the United States, 1890 to 1903, by G. W . W . Hanger.
Housing of the working people in the U . S. by employers, by G. W . W . Hanger.
Public baths ini the United States, by G. W . W . Hanger.
Trade and techjnical education in the United States.
Hand and machine labor in the United States.
Labor legislation in the United States, by G. A . Weber.
Labor conditions in Hawaii.
No. 55. Building and loan associations in the U . S., by G. W . W . Hanger.
Revival of handicrafts in America, by Max W est, Ph. D.
a Bulletin out
print.
No. 56. Influence of trade unions on immigrants, by Carroll D . Wright.
Labor conditions in Australia, by Victor S. Clark, Ph. D.
No. 57. Course of wholesale prices, 1880 to 1904.
Street railway employment in the United States, by Walter E . W eyl, Ph. D.
No. 58. Labor conditions m the Philippines, by Victor S. Clark, Ph. D.
Labor conditions in Java, by Victor S. Clark, Ph. D.
The new Russian workingmen’s compensation act, by T. M. Rubinow.
No. 59. Wages and hours of labor in manufacturing industries, 1890 to 1904.
Retail prices of food, 1890 to 1904.
Laws relating to child labor in European countries.
No. 60. Government industrial arbitration, by Leonard W . Hatch, A . M.
No. 61. Labor conditions in Porto Rico, by Walter E . W eyl, Ph. D.
Early organizations of printers, by Ethelbert Stewart.
No. 62. Municipal ownership in Great Britain, by Frederic C. Howe, Ph. D . (a)
Conciliation in the stove industry, by John P. Frey and John R . Commons, (a)
Laws relating to the employment of children in the United States. (a)
No. 63. Course of wholesale prices, 1890 to 1905.
No. 64. Conditions of living among the poor, by S. E. Forman.
Benefit features of British trade unions, by Walter E . W eyl, Ph. D.
No. 65. Wages and hours of labor in manufacturing industries, 1890 to 1905.
Retail prices of food, 1890 to 1905.
N o. 66. Third report of the Commissioner of Labor on Hawaii.
No. 67. Conditions of entrance to the principal trades, b y W alter E . W e y l, Ph. D .,
and A . M. Sakolski, Ph. D.
Cost of industrial insurance in the District of Columbia, b y S. E . Forman.
a Bulletin out of print.
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