Full text of Handbook of Labor Statistics : Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1924-1926 : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 439

View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES J. DAVIS, Secretary

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
ETHELBERT STEWART, Commissioner

BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES1
fcT
BUREAU OF LA B O R S T A T IS T IC S /................... W O e
M I S C E L L A N E O U S

S E R I E S

HANDBOOK OF
LABOR STATISTICS

1924-1926

JUNE, 1927

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON
1927

A D D IT IO N A L C O P IE S
OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON, D. C.
AT

$1.00 P E R C O P Y

Contents
Page
Introduction_______________________________________________________________
1 ,2
Apprenticeship:
Types of apprenticeship plans_______________________________________ 5-14
Apprenticeship plan of the New York Building Congress_______
6-8
Short-term intensive training__________________________ _________
8 ,9
Cleveland plan of building-trade apprenticeship_______________ 9,10
Wisconsin plan___________________________________________________ 10-12
Corporation apprentice schools__________________________________ 12-14
Apprenticeship provisions in building-trade agreements____________14-18
Union rules and scarcity of apprentices_____________________________18,19
Arbitration and conciliation:
Railroad labor act of 1926___________________________________________ 23-26
Federal legislation regarding railroad labor disputes prior to act of
1926______________________________________________________________ — _ 26-30
Act of 1888____________________________________________ !_________
26
Erdman Act of 1898_____________________________________________ 26,27
27
Newlands Act of 1913___________________________________________
Adamson Law____________________________________________________ 27,28
Procedure under Government control___________________________
28
Railroad Labor Board___________________________________________ 28-30
Principal arbitrations of 1926________________________________________30-42
Conductors and trainmen on Eastern railroads_________________ 31-34
Employees of American Railway Express Co____________________34,35
Newspapers, Washington, D. C_________________________________ 35,36
Stereotypers, Detroit--------------------------------------------------------------------36-38
Eastern Massachusetts street railways__________________________ 88,39
Street railways of East St. Louis and vicinity_________________ 39,40
Carpenters, Denver---------------------------------------------------------------- -------40,41
Ladies’ clothing industry, Cleveland--------------------------------------------41,42
Conciliation work of the United States Department of Labor_______ 42-44
Child labor:
Extent and character of child labor________________________________ 47-50
Restrictions on industrial employment of children_________________ 50-53
Age and hours of labor__________________________________________ 51,52
Educational and other restrictions------------------------------------------------- 52,53
Trend and difficulties of regulation-------------------------------------------53
Child labor in fruit and vegetable canneries---------------------------------------53-55
Children in agriculture— migratory workers------------------------------------- 55-59
Industrial home work of children------------------------------------------------------ 59-61
Work accidents to minors____________________________________________ 61-63
Convict labor:
Extent and character of convict labor----------------------------------------------- 67-80
Systems of employment----------------------------------------------------------------- 68-76
Sale within and without the State----------------------------------------------- 76-80
Sex of convicts-----------------------------------------------------------------------------77
Compensation_____________________________________________________
77
Hours of work-------------------------------------------------------------------------------78
Historical comparison____________________________________________ 78,79
Competition of prison-made goods_______________________________ 79,80

CONTENTS

Cooperation:
Page
Cooperative societies in the United States— ----------------------------------- - 83-108
Consumers’ cooperative enterprises--------------------------------------------83-93
Workers’ productive societies-----------------------------------------------------93-95
Pilot’s association_______________________________________________
96,97
Credit and banking organizations______________________________ 97-102
Credit unions------------------------------------------------------------------------- 97-101
Labor banks-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 101,102
Other banks_____________________________________________ —
102
Building and loan associations__________________________________ 102,103
Housing societies_______________________________________________ 103-107
Cooperative insurance___________________________________________ 107,108
Cost of living:
Trend in cost of living in the United States_______________________111-114
Changes for country as a whole, 1913 to 1926________________ 111, 112
Changes in individual cities____________________________________ 113,114
Cost of living in the United States and in foreign countries_______ 114-116
Income and expenditures of workingmen’s families_______________ -117-119
Cost of bringing up a child_________________________________________120-122
Employment statistics:
Sources and character of existing employment statistics___________ 125-131
Data on unemployment______________________________’__________ 125-127
Statistics of employment offices________________________________
127
Employment statistics from pay rolls___________________________ 127-131
Trend of employment in manufacturing industries_________________ 132-148
Trend of employment in 1926___________________________________ 182,133
Employment by industries, 1923 to 1926________________________133-142
Proportion of time worked and of force employed______________
143
Employment by geographic divisions__________________________ 143-145
Industries covered______________________________________________ 145-147
Method of computing employment index numbers______________147,148
Employment on steam railroads_____________________________________ 148-150
Unemployment survey of Columbus, Ohio__________________________ 151-154
Work of United States Employment Service_________________________ 154,155
Family allowances and child endowment:
Family allowances and child endowment___________________________ 159-168
Family allowances in foreign countries_________________________ 159-164
Recent development regarding family allowances in foreign
countries --------------------------------------------------------------------------------164-166
Child endowment by the State----------------------------------------------------166-168
Hawaii— Labor conditions:
Labor conditions in Hawaii-------------------------------------------------------------- 171-178
Occupational distribution------------------------------------------------------------ 171,172
Filipino laborers in Hawaii------------------------------------------------------- 172-177
Work of Hawaiian Homes Commission_________________________ 177,178
Housing:
Building permits in principal cities of the United States----------------181-192
Families provided fo r ----------------------------------------------------------------- 183,184
Volume of construction, 1914 to 1925___________________________ 184-186
Work of the United States Housing Corporation___________________ 186,187
Living conditions of small-wage earners in Chicago-------------------------- 187-191
New York housing law--------------------------------------------------------------------- 191,192

CONTENTS

Immigration and emigration:
Page
Immigration movement in 1926---------------------------------------------------------- 195-205
Immigration into the United States, 1820 to 1926___________________ 205-208
Quota restriction laws------------------------------------------------------------------------ 208,209
Industrial accidents:
Present status of accident statistics________ ________________________213-216
State accident records__________________ ____________________________ 216-226
Accidents in the Federal Government service______________________ 226-228
Accident record by industry________________________________________ 228-247
Building construction____________________________________________228,229
Coal mines------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 229-231
Coke ovens---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 231,232
Explosives, dyes, and chemicals industry------------------------------------ 232,233
Iron and steel industry_________________________________________ 233-237
Metal mines______________________________________________________
238
Metallurgical works_____________________________________________ 238,23*9
Paper mills_______________________ ______________________________
239
Portland cement industry_______________________________________ 239,240
Quarries_________________________________________________________
240
Railways, electric______________________________________________ 240,241
Railways, steam_________________________________________________ 241-245
Rubber industry______ :__________________________________________ 245,246
246
Textile industry_________________________________________________
Dust-explosion hazards in industrial plants-------------------------------------- 246-248
Eye conservation in industry_______________________________________ 249,250
Fatal accidents in various countries________________________________ 250,251
Industrial accident experience of American industry in 1925_______ 251-253
Industrial Accident Prevention Conference, Washington, D. C______253,254
Rock dust as a preventive of coal-dust explosions___________________ 254-256
Development of national safety codes------------------------------------------------ 256-258
Industrial diseases and poisons:
Recent studies of industrial diseases and poisons__________________ 261-325
Abrasive industry: Dust hazard in the manufacture of arti
ficial abrasive wheels_________________________________________ 261-263
Anthrax: Cases in various industries__________________________
263
Arsenic trichloride: Effects of exposure on workers___________ 263-265
Benzol poisoning: Final report of National Safety Council
mittee_________________________________________________________ 265-270
Brass foundries: Health hazards_______________________________ 270-272
Carbon monoxide: Physiological effects of low concentrations— 272,273
Carbon-monoxide poisoning: Diagnosis_________________________273,274
Carbon-monoxide poisoning: Treatment________________________ 274r-276
Chemical poisoning: Effects and treatment____________________ 276-280
D usts------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------280
Eye diseases: Symptomatology in occupational diseases________ 280-284
Fireworks manufacture: Phosphorus necrosis__________________ 284,285
Fruit canneries: Skin disease among employees_______________285,286
Fur cutting and felt-hat manufacture: Occupational hazards— 286,287
Fur-dyeing industry: Health hazards in the use of intermediate
dyes----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 287,288
Gases and fumes________________________________________________
288
Heat and humidity______________________________________________
288
Heart disease: Industrial aspects______________________________
289

CONTENTS

Industrial diseases and poisons— Continued.
Recent studies of industrial diseases and poisons— Continued.
page
Hydrofluoric acid: Effect of fumes---------------------------------------- — 289,290
Hydrogen sulphide gas: Poisoning-----------------------------------------------290,291
Irritant gases: Action on respiratory tract------------------------------- 291-295
Lead: Excretion by normal persons---------------------------- !_________ 295,296
Lead poisoning: Deaths--------------------------------------------------------------296,297
Lead poisoning: Report of cases among motor-car painters in
New South Wales____________________________ _______________ 297,298
Manganese poisoning: Report of six cases_____________________ 298-800
Mercury poisoning_______________________________________________ 300,301
Mining industry: Engineering-hygienic aspects of dust elimina
tion in mines_____________________________________ ____________ 301-305
Mining industry: Health hazards______________________________ S05-307
Nickel refining: Control and treatment of “ nickel rash ” _______307,308
Phosphorus necrosis_____________________________________________
308
Photo-engraving industry: Health survey______________________ 308,309
Printing trades: Health survey, 1922 to 1925__________________ 309,310
Printing trades: Hygienic conditions___________________________
311
Radium: Effects of radioactive substances on health of
workers______________________________________________________ 311-313
Skin diseases: Defects caused by various substances___________ 313-315
Skin diseases: Lime dermatitis_______________________________ 315,316
Skin diseases___________________________________________________
316
Steam laundries: Effect of working conditions upon health of
workers______________________________________________ _______ 316-319
Tanning industry: Occupational disease hazards______________ 319-321
Tetraethyl lead gasoline: Report of Columbia University
laboratory____________________________________________________ 321,322
Tetraethyl lead gasoline: Report of committee appointed by
United States Public Health Service_________________________ 322-325
Watch and clock-dial painting industry________________________
325
Insurance and benefit plans:
Types of insurance and benefit plans---------------------------------------------329,330
Sick leave with pay_________________________________________________ 330-333
Factory workers________________________________________________ 330-332
New York office workers________________________ _______________332,333
Experience with group life insurance in the metal trades_________ 333,334
Trade-union benefits________________________________________________ 334-340
Insurance by organized labor_______________________________________ 340,341
Insurance provisions of Chicago street-railway agreement_________ 341,342
Inventions by employees:
Rights of employees to their inventions------------------------------------------S*45
General employees_______________________________________________ 345-348
Employees under contract to make improvements---------------------348-350
Employment to develop employer’s suggestion----------------------------350,351
Summary________________________________________________________
351
Labor organizations:
Organization and membership of American trade-unions, 1926------- 255-371
Building trades_________________________________________________ 355-357
Metals and machinery----------------------------------------------------------------- 358,359
Transportation----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 359-361
Paper, printing, and bookbinding------------------------------------------------ 361,362
Textiles and clothing----------------------------------------------------------------- 362-365

CONTENTS

Labor organizations— Continued.
Organization and membership of American trade-unions, 1926— Contd. Page
Food, liquor, and tobacco---------------------------------------------------------- 865,366
Mining, oil, and lumber--------------------------------------------------------- - 366,367
Glass and clay-----------------------------------------------------------------------------367,368
Woodworking------------------------------------------------------------------------------368
Public service and amusements------------------------------------------------ 368-370
Other “ white-collar ” unions__________________________________
370
Miscellaneous------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 370,371
Industrial Workers of the World-----------------------------------------------371
Knights of Labor_______________________________________________
371
Aggregate membership_________________________________________
371
Collective agreements------------------------------------------------------------------------ 372-374
Collective bargaining by actors____________________________________374-876
Labor relations in the lace and lace-curtain industries___________ 376,377
Workers’ Health Bureau__________________________________________ 377,378
Union Health Center________________________________________________ 378,379
Legal aid:
Legal-aid work in the United States_____________________________ 383-388
Small claims courts___________________________________________383,384
Conciliation tribunals__________________________________________
384
Industrial accident commissions_______________________________ 384,385
Wage payment legislation______________________________________ 385, S$6
The defender in criminal cases_______________________________ 386,387
Legal-aid organizations------------------------------------------------------------- 387,388
Hinimum wage:
Minimum wage laws and their operation_________________________ 391-394
Minimum wages for women and minors______________________ 391-393
Minimum wage laws for men__________________________________ 393,394
Negro in industry:
Migration of the Negro------------------------------------------------------------------397-399
Industrial employment of the Negro------------------------------------------------ 399-407
Adaptation of Negroes to northern industrial conditions___________ 408,409
Vocational education in agriculture for Negroes__________________ 410-412
Occupational distribution of population:
Occupational distribution of the gainfully employed________________415-417
Number and proportion of persons gainfully employed each
census year, 1880-1920________________________________________
415
Distribution by general divisions of occupations, 1910 and
1920___________________________________________________________ 415-417
Trend of occupations in the population_____________________________ 417-427
Data from censuses of occupations_____________________________ 417-427
Old-age pensions and relief:
State old-age pension laws----------------------------------------------------------------431-4S'6
Importance of problem of old-age dependency— :---------------------431
Progress of the movement in the United States--------------------------432,433
Provisions of existing laws-------------------------------------------------------- 433,434
Wisconsin and Montana laws in operation-------------------------------- 434,435
Criticisms of old-age pension systems now in force-------------------- 435,436
Industrial old-age pension plans------------------------------------------------------- 436-444
Pension plans defined----------------------------------------------------------------436
Purposes of pension plans______________________________________ 436,437
Leading features of pension plans---------------------------------------------- 437-440
Objections to pension plans------------------------------------------------------ 440-443
Deferred annuity systems— -------------------------- ----------------------------443,444

VIII

CONTENTS

Old-age pensions and relief— Continued.
Page
Cost and conduct of American almshouses__________________________445-454
Cost of American almshouses__________________________________
445
Acreage, value of property, income, and maintenance__________ 446-450
Comparative cost of large and small institutions_____________ 450,451
Institutions without inmates------------------------------------------------------- 451,452
Self-supporting institutions_____________________________________
452
Public control-------------------------------------------------------------------------------452,453
Operation-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------453,454
Philippine Islands— Labor conditions:
Labor conditions and relations in the Philippine Islands___________ 457-466
Occupations and earnings______________________________________ 457-461
Wholesale and retail prices------------------------------------------------------- 461,462
Activities of Philippine Bureau of Labor______________________ 462-464
Industrial accidents____________________________________________
464
Strikes----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------465
Labor organizations and unemployment_______________________
465
Immigration and emigration___________________________________ 465,466
Cooperative movement_________________________________________
466
Physical examination of workers:
Physical examination of workers____________________________________469-475
Extent and character of physical examinations in industrial
establishments_______________________________________________ 469-473
Physical examination of street-railway employees_____________ 473-475
Porto Rico— Labor conditions:
Labor conditions in Porto Rico_____________________________________ 479-487
Industrial distribution of the population_______________________
479
W ages------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------480-482
Cost of living----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 482,488
483
Child labor_____________________________________________________
Housing_________________________________________________________ 483-486
Emigration______________________________________________________
486
Recommendations------------------------------------------------------------------------ 486,487
Prices—Wholesale and retail:
Retail prices in the United States--------------------------------- -------------------491-509
Retail prices of food in 1926____________________________________ 491-502
Monthly price changes of food, 1916 to 1926---------------------- 493-496
Food prices, by cities---------------------------------------------------------- 496-499
How food prices are obtained---------------------------------------------- 499,500
Method of constructing index numbers of food prices______501,502
Retail prices of coal____________________________________________502,503
Retail prices of gas---------------------------------------------------------------------504,505
Retail prices of electricity---------------------------------------------------------- 505-509
Determination of demand--------------------------------------------------- 508,509
Wholesale prices in the United States---------------------------------------------- 510-523
Wholesale prices in 1926------------------------------------------------------------ 510,511
Wholesale prices, 1913 to 1926--------------------------------------------------- 511-515
Wholesale prices of agricultural and nonagricultural commodi
ties ___________________________________________________________ 516,517
Trend of wholesale prices in the United States, 1801 to 1926— 517,518
Method of computing index numbers of wholesale prices-------519-521
Wholesale prices in the United States and in foreign countries,
1913 to 1926____ ____ - ________________________ ____________________ 521-523

CONTENTS

Productivity of labor:
Page
Meaning of labor productivity______________________________________ 527,528
Labor productivity as measured by physical output________________528-543
Coal mining____________________________________________________ 528-531
Common brick industry________________________________________ 531-536
Cotton-textile industry_________________________________________ 536-540
Paper box-board industry______________________________________ 540-542
Pottery industry-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 542,54S'
Labor productivity as measured by index numbers__________________ 543-558
Automobile industry____________________________________________
546
Cane-sugar refining____________________________________ ________ 546,547
Flour-milling industry_________________________________________
548
Iron and steel industry______________________________________ _ 548,549
Leather and boot and shoe industries__________________________ 550-552
Paper and pulp industry_______________________________________
552
Petroleum refining______________________________________________
553
Portland cement industry----------------------------------------------------------- 553, 554
Rubber-tire industry------------------------------------------------------------------554
Slaughtering and meat-packing industry_______________________ 555,556
Railroads______________________ ,_________________________________ 556-558
Sickness statistics:
Disabling sickness among industrial employees____________________ 561-564
Hookworm disease in cotton-mill villages of Alabama and Georgia. 564,565
Strikes and lockouts:
Strikes and lockouts in the United States, 1926___________________ 569-576
Place of occurrence of disputes________________________ _______
571
Causes of dispute______________________________________________
572
Industries and occupations affected____________________________
572
Principal strikes and lockouts in 1926-------------------------------------- 573-576
Turnover of labor:
Labor turnover in American industry--------------------------------------------- 579-591
Labor turnover, by industries_________________________________ 579-581
General labor turnover records_________________________________ 581-587
Causes of labor turnover______________________________________ 588,589
Cost of labor turnover-------------------------------------------------------------- 590,591Unemployment insurance and stabilization of employment:
Unemployment insurance and stabilization of employment_________ 593,594
Trade-union out-of-work benefits___ ___________________________ 594-596
Insurance plans and guaranteed employment through collec
tive agreements______________________________________________ 596-601
Cleveland garment industry plan----------------------------------------- 597-599
Chicago clothing industry plan____________________________ 599,600
New York clothing industry plan__________________________
600
Ladies’ garment workers’ fund, New York City___________
600
Cloth hat and cap industry_________________________________600,601
Other guaranty plans______________________________________
601
Establishment insurance and guaranty plans__________________ 601-607
602
Insurance plan of a paper and novelties company_________
Unemployment sinking funds in two textile finishing es
tablishments_________________________________________ ,____ 602,603
Unemployment compensation for discharged railroad em
ployees------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 603,604
Guaranteed employment in a soap manufacturing plant— . 604,605
Guaranteed full-time earnings in two paper mills________ _ 605-607
Guaranteed time in the meat-packing industry____________
607

CONTENTS

Vacations:
Page
Vacations with pay for wage earners_____________________________ 611-616
Vocational education:
Organization and objects of Federal Board for Vocational Edu
cation _____________________________________________________________619, 620
General provisions of Federal vocational education act_______ 619,620
Vocational education in the United States prior to passage of
Federal act_______________________________________________________ 620-622
Developments under the Federal act_______________________________ 622-631
Expenditures for vocational education__________________________ 623,624
Trade and industrial education service__________________________ 624-627
Agricultural education service----------------------------------------------------627
Home-economics education service_____________________________
628
Commercial education service___________________________________ 628,629
Vocational rehabilitation-------------------------------------------------------------- 629-631
632
Early investigations of vocational education_______________________
Rehabilitation work of the United States Veterans’ Bureau________ 632-636
Women in industry:
Extent and distribution of women, in industrial employment_______639-644
Hours and earnings of working women______________________________ 644-652
Protective legislation for working women----------------------------------------- 652-655
Effects of new inventions upon the field of women’s employment— 655,656
Trend of employment of women and men___________________________ 656-664
Workers’ education:
Workers’ education in the United States------------------------------------- 667-676
Workers’ Education Bureau_____________________________________ 667-669
Brookwood Labor College------------------------------------------------------------ 669,670
Summer labor institutes________________________________________ 670,671
Educational activities of International Ladies’ Garment Work
ers’ Union____________________________________________________ 671,672
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America____________________
672
Headgear workers’ educational plan------------------------------------------ 672,673
Schools for women______________________________________________ 673,674
Characteristics of trade-union colleges__________________________674,675
Other workers’ education institutions___________________________ 675,676
Workmen’s compensation:
Workmen’s compensation in the United States, as of January 1,
1927_______________________________________________________________ 679-699
Recognition of the principle_____________________________________ 679-681
Progress of legislation___________________________________________681-686
Comparison of compensation and insurance systems___________ 687-699
Scope or coverage----------------------------------------------------------------- 688,689
Occupational diseases______________________________________
690
690
Election_________________________________ ___________________
Suits for damages----------------------------------------------------------------690,691
Waiting time-----------------------------------------------------------------------691
Compensation scale_________________________________________ 692-696
Medical benefits---------------------------------------------------------------------696,697
Administration and settlement of claims___________________
697
Accident reporting and prevention_________________________ 697,698
Nonresident alien dependents_______________________________ 698,699
Wages and hours of labor:
Wage studies of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics____________ 703,704
Union scale of wages for time-workers, 1926______________________ 704-710
Anthracite mining, 1924--------------------------------------------------------------------- 710-718

CONTENTS

Wages and hours of labor— Continued.
P a ge
Bituminous-coal mining, 1924r-25------------------------------------------------------- 718-724
Boot and shoe industry, 1926------------------------------------------------------------- 724-729
Common labor, 1926---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 729-7S1
Cotton goods industry, 1926__________________________________________731-737
Farm labor, 1910 to January, 1927---------------------------------------------------- 737-739
Foundries and machine shops, 1925---------------------------------------------------- 739-745
Hosiery and underwear industry, 1926----------------------------------------------- 745-749
Iron and steel industry, 1926---------------------------------------------------- ----------750-758
Men’s clothing industry, 1926------------------------------------------------------------- 758-763
Motor-bus operators, 1926------------------------------------------------------------------- 763-765
Mo tor-vehicle industry, 1925—-----------------------------------------------------------766-772
Naval Establishment— civil employees: 1927------------------------------------- 772-775
Paper box-board industry, 1925--------------------------------------------------------- 775-777
Pottery industry, 1925------------------------------------------------------------------------- 777-784
Railroads, 1926______________________________________________________ 784-787
Sawmills, 1925_______________________________________________________ 788-791
Seamen, 1926-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 791-793
Slaughtering and meat-packing industry, 1925----------------------------------- 794-802
Woolen and worsted goods industry, 1926---------------------------------------- 802-807
International comparison of real wages-------------------------------------------808
International comparison of trend of wages, 1914 to 1925---------------- 809-811
The five-day week in American industry------------------------------------------ 811-818
Bakeries, building trades, laundries, and printing and pub
lishing_________________________________________________________813,814
Men’s clothing industry-------------------------------------------------------------- 814,815
Iron and steel industry_________________________________________
815
Paper box-board industry------------------------------------------------------------816
Foundries and machine shops-----------------------------------------------------816
Other trades and industries------------------------------------------------------- 816,817
Optional five-day week---------------------------------------------------------------817
Five-day week without reduction in total hours________________
817
Five-day week in summer-----------------------------------------------------------817
Resolution of American Federation of Labor on shorter work
week_______________________________^_________________________ 817,818

BULLETIN OF THE

U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
NO. 439

WASHINGTON

JUNE, 1927

HANDBOOK OF LABOR STATISTICS, 1924-1926
Introduction
VERY year the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes from 25
to 30 bulletins, each representing an original investigation in
the labor field. In addition, the bureau regularly issues its
Monthly Labor Review (now in its 24th volume) in which are pre
sented not only the results of current bureau work but also digests
and abstracts of studies and reports on labor subjects made by other
authoritative agencies. As a result, after a short lapse of time, the
accumulated volume of material becomes so great as to make refer
ence difficult, particularly for those so situated that they do not
have available a complete file of the bureau’s publications.
The handbook here presented seeks to meet this difficulty by bring
ing together, in convenient form for reference purposes, digests of
the material published by the bureau of sufficiently recent date to
be of present-day interest and value, and relating, for the most part,
to the years 1924, 1925, and 1926. There has been, however, no rigid
exclusion of earlier data, the policy, in general, having been to
include a maximum number of subjects, and to give the latest avail
able information for each of them, provided that the information is
still significant. Also, it is to be noted that while this volume con
tains very little material that has not already been published either
in the bulletins or in the Monthly Labor Review of the bureau, most
of it has been completely rearranged and rewritten in order the
better to adapt it to the plan of making this publication essentially
a work of reference.
The material presented represents in large part the original work
of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but this is by no means entirely the
case. For instance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not attempt
to cover certain fields of interest to labor which are already ade
quately covered by other official agencies. Thus, the Children’s
Bureau of the United States Department of Labor reports on child
labor as well as on other phases of child welfare. The Women’s
Bureau of the same department makes comprehensive investigations
of various phases of the general subject of women in industry.
Since the creation of the women’s and children’s bureaus, the Bureau
of Labor Statistics has made no special studies in the fields assigned
to those bureaus. Also, other governmental agencies, outside the
Department of Labor, make studies and investigations of very direct
interest to labor. For example, the Bureau of Mines of the Depart
ment of Commerce regularly reports on mine accidents, and the
Interstate Commerce Commission makes similar compilations of

INTRODUCTION

railroad accidents. The Bureau of Labor Statistics makes no at
tempt to do original research on these subjects. It does attempt,
however, in its Monthly Labor Review to follow such of the activi
ties of these other agencies as have a labor interest, and in the
preparation of this volume it has drawn upon their work.
Examination of this volume shows certain very definite limita
tions upon the labor statistics available for the United States.
Certain subjects of primary interest are covered with reasonable
adequacy either by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or by other official
agencies. There remain, however, other subjects of possibly equal
interest which either are not covered at all or are covered very inade
quately, and upon which the available information is very scanty.
The resources of the Bureau of Labor Statistics do not permit ex
tension of its activities into these fields, nor indeed even to make
such frequent studies as would be desirable of certain subjects
which it does cover from time to time. For instance, wage surveys
of the more important industries of the country should be made
annually. The best the bureau has been able to do, however, is to
make an annual survey of union wages, biennial surveys of a few
large industries, and occasional surveys, at irregular intervals, of
other industries.

APPRENTICESHIP

Types of Apprenticeship Plans
HE present century and particularly the period since the end
of the World War has seen a great revival of interest in
apprenticeship. The abrupt shutting off of immigration
called attention to the fact that many of our skilled workers had
received their training in their native countries, and that as a Nation
we were not turning out our own supply of craftsmen. The period
of industrial prosperity which has prevailed for the greater part of
the time since 1918 has increased the demand for good workmen and
emphasized the fact that the old methods were not producing them in
sufficient numbers. As a consequence, the trade-unions, the em
ployers’ organizations and, to some extent, the general public became
interested in fostering apprenticeship, and several movements were
started with that end in view.
Nominally, apprenticeship is used as a means of training workers
in a great variety of trades and occupations. In its report for
1921-22, the Wisconsin Industrial Commission gave the following list
of occupations in which it had placed apprentices: Bricklayer and
mason, carpenter, painter and decorator, plasterer, plumber, steam
fitter, tinsmith, tile setter, electric wirer, machinist, toolmaker, pat
tern maker, metal-pattern maker draftsman, molder, core maker,
boiler maker, sheet-metal worker, die sinker, welder, blacksmith, com
positor, pressman, lithographer, plate printer, copper etcher, power
press embosser, photo-engraver, commercial artist, knitting-machine
adjuster, dressmaker, tailor, weaver, warper, milliner, auto mechanic,
auto electrician, auto painter, auto-body builder, baker, cabinetmaker,
cigarmaker, jewelry engraver, jewelry repairer, watchmaker, ship
builder, wire weaver, meat cutter, shoemaker, stonecutter, photo
graphic retoucher, paper ruler, stone and metal artist, artificial-limb
maker, junior engineer, furrier, pharmacist* sign writer, upholsterer,
and bookkeeper. Also the following railroad occupations: Ma
chinist, car repairer, upholsterer, electrician, template maker, boiler
maker, blacksmith, and sheet-metal worker.
In any good plan of apprenticeship there are two essentials: A
supervising authority to see that both sides do their part; and a wellthought-out and well-enforced plan of training by which the ap
prentice may advance from operation to operation until he has
mastered all important parts of the trade. Generally these essen
tials require cooperation between the unions and the employers. The
various effective apprenticeship plans now in force have sometimes
developed within a trade with little attention from outside, have some
times been established by the unions or the employers taking the
initiative and enforcing the acquiescence of the other side, and some
times have been carefully worked out and adopted by the cooperation
of all concerned. There are three large groups of trades in which
apprenticeship methods have been worked out successfully by one or

38690°— 27------ 2

APPRENTICESHIP

all of these methods—the printing trades, the building and construc
tion trades and the metal trades. The developments in the building
trades since the war have illustrated several different methods.
Apprenticeship Plan of the New York Building Congress
A T THE close of the war the building situation was far from
* * satisfactory and for the purpose of readjusting conditions
building congresses, made up of representatives of all the interested
parties, were formed in some of the larger cities. Apprenticeship
received early attention. The plan worked out by the New York
body is described as follows:
In January, 1922, the congress took up the question of appren
ticeship, moved thereto by the increasing scarcity of skilled workers
in the building trades. It is a commonplace that for many years
past these trades have depended for their trained workers mainly
on immigration and that since the beginning of the century the
supply from this source has been steadily diminishing. The appren
ticeship system existing in the industry has utterly failed to supply
the normal demand. Some of the reasons advanced for this are
that there has been no systematic course of training planned to
produce well-rounded mechanics, skilled in all branches of their
trades; no attempt to supplement shop and field instruction with
school instruction calculated to make men more intelligent and better
citizens; no systematic attempt on the part of employers to provide
continuous employment; no certainty that the young men, when
trained, would be admitted to union membership and thus be given
an opportunity to earn their living at the trades they have learned.
A general committee on apprenticeship was appointed, consisting
of representatives of employers, employees, engineers and architects,
investment interests, suppliers of materials, and educational in
terests. Its first recommendation was that since there already
existed in all the trades joint trade boards, “ consisting of employer
and labor representatives, for the regulation of policies and settle
ment of adjustments in relation to trade agreements,” the estab
lishment, control, and operation of apprenticeship systems should be
in their hands, unless they wished to appoint special committees
to take charge of the work. Further, the committee outlined for
submission to these boards a plan covering the matters common to
all branches of the industry, but leaving the details for the several
trades to be worked out by the proper joint board. By the end of
May an apprenticeship system for the woodworking trades had been
worked out, approved, and adopted by the carpenters’ joint com
mittee on trade agreement, and is now in operation.
Under this scheme 16 years is fixed as the minimum age for begin
ning apprenticeship. The course of training covers four years,
divided into periods of six months, for each of which a definite pro
gram is laid down which the apprentice is expected to complete
before he can be advanced to the next stage. For the first six
months the minimum daily wage is to be 30 per cent of the journey
man’s daily wage, after which it is to rise at each semiannual period
by alternate increases of 5 and 10 per cent to 80 per cent of the

TYPES OF APPRENTICESHIP PLANS

journeyman’s wage for the final six months. The apprentice is
to have a normal working week of 44 hours, and in addition is
to put in at least four hours a week at school. During the first year
he is to be paid half-time rates for the time spent in school, but
thereafter no payment is made for this time. The school attendance
is obligatory, and employers are to discontinue employing and
unions to exclude from membership apprentices who do not dis
charge this obligation. Apprentices are to pay semiannually to the
general apprenticeship committee a fee equal to the wage for one
day of the period they are entering, such funds to be used for
apprenticeship development. The apprentice is to be guaranteed
continuous employment, and a carefully worked out analysis of
trade processes has been made, covering the field of his trade in
struction. The school work is to include “ related mathematics,
trade sketching and drawing, shop practice, related science, and
general information.”
Apprentices are to be enrolled with the general apprenticeship
committee of the congress, which is to keep a close oversight of their
work and advancement. The committee is to make the periodic
examination which shall determine the fitness of the apprentice to
pass on to the work of the next six months, and, together with the
carpenters’ joint committee on trade agreements, is to see that the
apprentice receives the continuous employment guaranteed. It is
also to provide general supervision.
The apprentice shall be supervised at work and in school by highly qualified
educational experts, who shall report periodically to the general apprenticeship
committee of the congress as to the progress and satisfaction rendered. A com
plete record of the apprentice performance shall be kept by the educational
adviser of the congress and reported semiannually to the carpenters’ joint
committee. (New York Building Congress. Bulletin No. 2 : Apprenticeship
system for the woodworking trades in the metropolitan district, etc. New
York, June, 1922, p. 3.)

On the successful completion of the four-year course, the appren
tice is to be given a diploma “ containing a statement concerning his
trade experience, educational training, journeymanship standing, and
wage rating, regularly certified to by employer, labor, and educational
authority,” and having this he is thenceforth entitled to employment
on a full journeyman basis.
It will be seen that the apprenticeship committee of the congress
cooperates closely with the carpenters’ joint trade board in the ad
ministration of this plan, and it also supplies a general organization
which will be useful to other trades as they develop their apprentice
ship systems. An office to serve as a general apprenticeship head
quarters has been provided and placed in the charge of a specialist
on apprenticeship, who is employed as educational adviser. This
the congress hopes to make a center for the apprenticeship movement,
maintaining a permanent staff of experts on vocational training and
preparation of courses of instruction and textbooks, and a force of
inspectors to coordinate the work in the shop, in the field, and in
school, with whatever clerical help may be necessary.
This plan worked so well that it was soon extended to other trades,
and three years after the inauguration of the scheme, the data fol
lowing were given as to its growth.

APPRENTICESHIP

At the end of March, 1925, the number of indentured apprentices
in the several trades with which the commission is cooperating was
as follows:
Carpentry and joinery_______________________________________1,500
193
Painting and decorating_____________________________________
520
Electrical_____________________________________________________
Upholstery-----------------------------------------------------------------------------111
Cement and masonry_________________________________________
35
Plastering-------------------------------------------------------------------------------470
Bricklaying___________________________________________________ 1,392
Total___________________________________________________ 4,221

Under the plan fostered by the commission, the apprentices while
working at their trades, are expected to attend evening vocational
schools. The schools have not been able to provide facilities for all,
but 2,240 apprentices were attending 75 classes in 1925, and it was
hoped that within the year teachers and accommodations could be
provided to take care of all. This training, requiring special
teachers and equipment, is expensive, but the public authorities are
sufficiently convinced of its usefulness to do their share toward pro
viding it.
The board of education has set aside $60,000 in anticipation of the growth of
the New York Building Congress apprenticeship work during the coming year,
to care for their phase of the work. The industry itself now needs to do its
part.

One interesting development in this part of the work has been
along the line of training teachers. A special class, composed of the
best workers, has been organized, in which instruction is given in
methods of teaching. In 1925, 23 were enrolled in this class, and 18
o f these were doing part-time teaching in the evening classes.
Short-Term Intensive Training
rT ,HE plan described above involved years of training, and some of
*
the interests concerned felt that the need for workers was too
pressing to permit of such delay. As a consequence several plans
for short-term training were advocated in 1922 along two distinct
lines. One group took the ground that apprenticeship in the old
sense is unnecessary; that it is better to begin with older boys and
men, and that for these a short, intensive training in the elements of
the trade is all that is needed. This program seems to have won
special support in the West. In San Francisco and Chicago special
classes and schools based on this theory have been started as part of a
campaign for the so-called American plan or open shop. In San
Francisco early in May, 1922, the Industrial Association, an em
ployers’ organization, opened a school for plasterers and another for
plumbers. Students came from all ranks—college graduates, sailors,
artists, medical students, and workingmen all being included in the
first classes formed. The “ Beta ” tests, as used in the Army during
the war, were utilized in passing upon the applicants. The program
for the two schools differed somewhat. The plumbers were to receive
class instruction for two weeks, then to go out on jobs as apprentices
at $2.50 a day for four weeks, return to the class for two weeks of
instruction, and so on, until they had completed 8 weeks of instruc

TYPES OF APPRENTICESHIP PLANS

tion and 16 weeks of practical experience. Some 60 students were
enrolled in* the first class, and by August a second class was being
formed. The plasterers’ course required 12 weeks, the students work
ing a 44-hour week, during which time they received no pay, but were
provided with tools and materials. At the end of the course it was
expected they would be ready for practical work and within a year
should be earning full journeyman’s wages. In the autumn the sec
retary of the General Contractors’ Association of San Francisco
reported on the progress made:
The local American-plan plasterers’ school * * * graduated its first ap
prentice July 1, and since then has furnished a total of 70, only one of whom
has failed to give absolute satisfaction and several of whom are to-day drawing
full journeyman’s wages. There are at present 16 students in the school. The
plumbers’ school, the students of which are formed into groups and alternate
between the school and the job, has a total of about 80 students, all of whom
are giving a good account of themselves. (The Constructor, October, 1922, p. 50.)

In June the citizens’ committee of Chicago, a group formed to
enforce certain conditions in the building trades, opened a school for
plumbers conducted along similar lines, although a longer time was
allowed for training, which was to consist both of class instruction
and work on the job. The course was to take one year, and the aim
was to “ turn out competent and efficient plumbers, capable of laying
out and supervising any plumbing job.” It was planned to start
similar classes for each of 13 trades specified by the citizens’
committee. In Oakland, Calif., a bricklayers’ school for youths from
18 to 22 years old was opened with the expectation of turning out
competent bricklayers as a result of six months of intensive training.
From Texas and some other places come reports of similar
experiments.
Such plans are looked upon with disfavor by a number of builders,
who maintain that their only result will be to increase the number of
half-trained workmen already in the trades, not to turn out the
skilled craftsmen so urgently needed. A four years’ apprenticeship
is none too long, they say, to give the worker a full knowledge of his
craft in all its details, and to insure the skill and power to secure
desired results which characterized the old-time craftsman,
Cleveland Plan of Building-Trade Apprenticeship
T H E unions do not favor the short courses, preferring that the
*■* apprentice should learn his trade on the job, with provision for
technical instruction through courses given in schools or classes estab
lished for the purpose. Sometimes such schools are maintained by
the unions themselves, but more often they are carried on in con
nection with the public educational system or by the cooperation of
several bodies. Cleveland offers a good example of such a system,
and in connection with the first graduating exercises of apprentices
the following summary of its method was given:
For several years past training courses for building-trades ap
prentices have been maintained in the Cleveland public schools, and
in April of this year the first group of apprentices were publicly and
formally presented with diplomas. The formal graduation is a new
departure, and an elaborate commencement program was planned to

APPRENTICESHIP

give impressiveness to the occasion. The graduates numbered 150,
divided among the classes in carpentry, plumbing, and bricklaying.
Courses in these three trades were the first to be established, and
their work has proved so satisfactory that in January, 1925, courses
in painting and electrical work were started. The American Con
tractor of March 21, 1925, reported that approximately 1,000 ap
prentices were attending the part-time courses in these five trades,
and there was a long waiting list of boys anxious to enter as soon as
places could be found for them.
The Cleveland plan involves the cooperation of the school authori
ties, the unions, the contractors, and the manufacturers and dealers
in building materials. Part of the cost of carrying on the courses
is met by the Federal Government, under the terms of the SmithHughes Act, and the remainder is provided by the local board of
education. The building materials used are supplied by local manu
facturers and dealers, free of charge. The course in each trade is
under the supervision of a committee made up of representatives of
the board of education and of the contractors and the unions in that
trade.
The boy who wishes to become an apprentice must pass an exam
ination by this committee to show that he is able, both physically
and mentally, to meet the requirements of his trade. I f he succeeds
in this, he is indentured to a contractor, and thereafter for four years
his trade work and school work are correlated so as to give him both
the manual dexterity and the technical and theoretical training
required. Throughout the entire period of apprenticeship four
hours each week, must be given to the school work, and for this his
employer is to pay him the regular time rates. I f a contractor finds
himself unable at any time during the four-year period to employ a
boy indentured to him, the boy is temporarily transferred by the
committee to another contractor who can give him work, and in
this way continuous employment is insured. This is considered an
exceedingly important feature, for where no such system exists an
apprentice may find himself out of work for months at a time, and
may as a natural consequence lose interest in the trade, look for a
job at which he can be sure of steadier employment, and gradually
come to prefer the work he thus takes up and drop out of the build
ing trades altogether. Even when this does not occur he loses just
so much of the time which should have been devoted to training in
the trade he has chosen. Under the Cleveland system, on the other
hand, at the close of his apprenticeship the youth has had four years
of steady work, so planned as to give him a progressive training in
the fundamentals, both manual and technical, of his craft.
Wisconsin Plan
IN WISCONSIN the State undertakes to act as the supervising
* and coordinating authority in apprenticeship, and the technical
training of apprentices is made a recognized part of the public
educational system. The present law on the subject was passed in
1911, but was materially amended in 1915, and the main develop
ment of the system has come since the close of the war. The Wis
consin Industrial Commission is charged with the enforcement of

TYPES OF APPRENTICESHIP PLAN'S.

the law. Apprentices must be indentured according to a standard
form, and the indenture must contain a schedule of the processes,
plans, or methods which they are to be taught, with the approximate
time to be spent on each. Advisory committees of employers and
journeymen in the different trades cooperate with the State com
mission in determining rules and regulations for apprenticeship,
supervisors are appointed to deal with local problems and to pro
mote interest in the whole question, and the law specifically requires
all school officers and public-school teachers to cooperate with the
commission and with employers of apprentices to furnish in the
public schools or in any schools supported in whole or in part by
public moneys such instruction as may be needed for apprentices
according to the requirements of the different trades. According to
recent reports, the results of this system have been satisfactory.
In reviewing the progress of the movement the Wisconsin Ap
prentice (March, 1926), issued by the Industrial Commission of the
State, notes that the past four years have been more nearly normal
than any other period of the law’s operation, and therefore gives
figures relating to them as illustrative of the advance made.
Four years ago 1,250 indentures were in force. At the present time there are
2,545. (These figures do not include special apprentices over 21 years of age.)
During the same period 724 apprentices were graduated into journeymen.
To-day 746 employers employ indentured apprentices as against 325 four years
ago. This shows that apprenticeship has grown considerably among the many
smaller employers and not merely as applied to the few very large ones.

Emphasis is laid on the fact that the number of indentures in
force is far from being a true measure of the success of the plan.
What really counts is the good will of employer, apprentice, and
journeymen toward the system, and their combined effort, in coopera
tion with the vocational school, to make it function effectively.
In this respect the trades differ considerably. The metal trades
began promoting apprenticeship in a more or less organized way 20
years ago, so that they naturally show more progress than some of the
others. These trades are thoroughly converted to the apprentice
ship idea, and, realizing that if they want skilled workers for the
future they m'ust train them now, they are taking apprentices
numerously, have apprenticeship committees that function, employ
apprentice supervisors, and generally are cooperating vigorously
with everyone who can help on the campaign.
The situation in the building trades is less satisfactory. The
charge is made by some that contractors are unwilling to hire appren
tices, and that the supply of journeymen comes from the smaller
towns where the boys can pick up the trade without a definite
training. The commission holds, however, that the trouble is not
so much an unwillingness on the part of the contractors to hire ap
prentices as a reluctance to take the tro'uble to keep them continuously
employed and to see that they get a complete training. A contractor
takes an apprentice, for instance, and finds him an ambitious and
willing worker, but after a few months completes the job upon which
he has been engaged, and having no present work for the lad lets him
go, instead of taking the trouble to find a place for him with another
contractor or to give him odd jobs that will keep him busy until
another contract is in hand. The apprentice perhaps finds work
with another contractor, or may take up another line of work. So

APPRENTICESHIP

he drifts about from one employer to another, and either is lost to
the trade altogether, or has to pick up what he can for himself,
instead of having a systematic course laid out to give him an all
round training. The seasonal nature of the building industry, and
the custom of contract working, of course, have m'uch to do with
this attitude of the contractor, but the effect is detrimental to the
supply of skilled workers. The trades differ in this respect, the
plumbers being fully awake to the importance of training new men,
and having over 300 apprentices indentured at the present time. “ I f
the rest of the building trades were as progressive as the plumbers
there would be little else to be desired.”
The railroad shop crafts present a very satisfactory situation in
this respect, with over 300 apprentices, and with a larger proportion
of apprentices carrying their training through to graduation than is
found in any other of the trades. The printing trades also are doing
fairly well, though they are still feeling the result of the last great
strike.
Considering the whole situation, the commission feels that the
apprenticeship system in Wisconsin is being developed on a so’und
and systematic basis, that while the progress made is slow it is evi
dent, and that there are encouraging evidences of a growing interest
in the movement and of organized cooperation among all the parties
concerned.
Corporation Apprentice Schools
A NUMBER of large establishments throughout the country have
* * built up schools of their own in which to give the necessary
technical instruction to their apprentices. In general, such establish
ments have an apprentice department or committee or other body
charged with the supervision of the apprentice’s training, both on
the job and in the school. The work on the job is planned to give
a progressive knowledge of the various operations, and the technical
instruction is coordinated with the practical training. The practice
differs among the various establishments as to whether the school
training is given in the daytime or at night and as to whether the
apprentice is paid for the time given to this part of the training.
The nature of the courses and methods of training vary according
to the kind of work in which the boy is being trained, but the follow
ing account of methods used at one large plant may be taken as fairly
typical. (U. S. Federal Board for Vocational Education, Bulletin
87: Apprenticeship education.)
Instruction

“ (a) Time and nature of instruction:
“ (1) In the shop—
“ The apprentice is under the watchful and sympathetic eye of the
foreman, who takes personal interest in his boys, encouraging them,
and cooperates with the supervisor for their welfare. In some de
partments the foreman has an instructor or designates the assistant
foreman or other assistants to look after the interest of the appren
tices. This instructor sees to it that the apprentices have every pos
sible opportunity to learn the trade and are transferred from machine

TYPES OF APPRENTICESHIP PLANS

to machine and from operation to operation for the purpose of
giving them a training which will enable them to become all-round
mechanics.
“ (2) In the classroom—
“ Class instruction on the company’s time is a great factor in main
taining the enthusiasm of the apprentices. All week they see the
practical end o f their course, and on Saturday morning they are
instructed in the theories relating directly to their work in the
shops and the yard. This instruction is given by trained teachers,
supplemented with talks by the foremen, superintendents, and gen
eral manager. This kind of instruction, taken with regular work
going on in the plant, gives the apprentice a sense of responsibility
which is essential to sound and lasting instruction. Being paid to
go to school appeals to the apprentices and affords them refreshing
and, at the same time, inspiring and instructive diversion.
“Apprentices are given opportunity of advancement through study
other than that of the apprentice school at the plant. Evening
classes are conducted from October to April, inclusive, at the W il
mington High School, arrangement for same having been made by
the management and city school authorities. Courses are arranged
for the special benefit of apprentices and the technical, combined
with the practical, side of ship and car building are taught from
every angle. Evening classes from October to April, inclusive, are
a part of the apprenticeship system, and apprentices are under obli
gation to attend classes of the Wilmington Evening Industrial
School, unless excused to attend other approved night schools or
otherwise excused. Credit for outside study stimulates the applica
tion of an apprentice, and credit is given apprentices for attendance
based as follows: In the case of an apprentice attending 75 per cent of
the sessions, the number of hours spent will be doubled and this credit
deducted from apprenticeship course and shorten it accordingly.
“ Failure to attend night school will result in termination of ap
prenticeship, or a penalty of 160 hours a year will be added to the
term of apprenticeship.
“ Instruction is given in shop mathematics, science, applied phys
ics, mechanics, chemistry, mechanical drawing, English, industrial
history, spelling, and civics.
“ The apprentice begins with shop arithmetic and gradually ad
vances to more difficult shop problems, which involve practical
geometry, mechanics, and strength of materials; the examples apply
ing directly to his work in the shops. In drawing he is first taught
to make freehand sketches, with dimensions, then mechanical draw
ings of the various parts he is working on in the shops, and to pick
the various parts off of blue prints; in this way he becomes accus
tomed to drawings and learns to read them. The study of industrial
history gives the apprentice a knowledge of the industry. The
course in English includes letter writing, written and oral descrip
tions of machines, processes, etc. Civics is taught to increase loyalty
and citizenship. Spelling is improved by written work in English
and by spelling the terms and names of tools, parts, etc., he will
come in contact with during his apprenticeship course.
“Apprentices are graded in the school and transferred from one
classroom to another according to their ability.

APPRENTICESHIP

“ (6) Type of instructor: The faculty is made up of a head in
structor and six competent teachers.
“ Apprentice instructors are chosen for the various trades by con
sidering their practical experience in the crafts involved, and their
instructional ability. Instructors trained in technical subjects are
also chosen to teach the theory related to trades in the apprentice
school. In some instances the instructor in the shop is the teacher
in the classroom.
“ Often the foreman in a department where there is no instructor
will designate a subforeman, or leading man under his supervision,
to look after the interests of the apprentices.”
Supervision

“ By supervisor or apprentices. The apprenticeship system is
under the industrial relations department, of which the assistant to
the general manager is head. The supervisor of apprentices reports
to the assistant to the general manager.”
Incentives to Effort

“ Vacations for two boys making highest marks in shop and class
room work. Publishing standing of pupils during the publication
of plant paper, as well as sending reports to parents.”

Apprenticeship Provisions in Building-Trade Agreements
HE Bureau of Labor Statistics receives annually a large number
of agreements made between workers and employers covering
wages, hours, conditions of work, and other subjects on which
unions and employers have come to an understanding. In 1925
11 important building trades were selected, and a list was kept of all
agreements received from these with a view to seeing what provisions
they might contain as to apprenticeship. In many cases the agree
ments were of such an informal kind that no such references could
be expected. Often the unions reported a verbal agreement or a
mere memorandum covering wages or hours but not taking up any
thing further. In other cases, custom seemed to have taken the
place of annual negotiations, and while there was an understanding
as to wages and hours, it could hardly be called an agreement. In
every case, however, in which a written contract was sent in it was
listed, and note was made of what provisions, if any, it contained
relating to apprenticeship. The tabulation was confined to agree
ments made either in 1925 or earlier but continuing into that year.
During the year, 179 such agreements were received, distributed
unequally through the various trades. The number of unions con
cerned far exceeds the number of agreements, for often a contract is
signed by a district council which represents a number of unions
and in other cases it may be signed for all the unions of a given trade
within a specified area. Thus, one agreement covered “ certain
bricklayers’ unions of Greater New York and Long Island,” another
included the electrical workers of three adjoining communities, and

PROVISIONS IN BUILDING-TRADE AGREEMENTS

another was signed by five unions acting in combination. The
apprenticeship provisions were sometimes found in the agreement
itself and sometimes in the working rules or in the constitution of the
unions concerned, which were considered as forming part of the
agreement.
Leading Provisions
'T'H E agreements differed widely in the extent to which they dealt
*
with apprenticeship, the provisions running from a mere state
ment that the use of apprentices should not be prohibited, with per
haps an age qualification or an arrangement for progressive rates of
pay, up to elaborate and carefully worked out systems. Twenty-three
(12.8 per cent) might be considered as having no provisions, since
they contained either no mention of the subject or the mere formal
statement that the use of apprentices should be allowed. The others
all went into the subject more or less elaborately. The number of
agreements considered, by trades, and the number containing various
important provisions, are as follows:
APPRENTICESHIP PROVISIONS IN BUILDING TRADE AGREEMENTS
Num ber of agreements
establishing—

Trade

Num
ber of
agree
ments

N um
ber re
quiring
Length Ratio of Coop tradeappren
Age
of ap- tices to erative school
limit
ad
on en prenminis train
jour
ticeing
tering
trance
ney
ship
men
body
6
1
18

8
1
17

1
6

Painters, paper hangers, and decorators______________
Plumbers and steam fitters___________________________
Sheet-metal workers__________________________________
W ood, wire, and metal lathers_______________________

16
5
32
4
34
6
11
27
27
11
6

9
5
1
2

17
6
7
15
16
8
2

9
5
22
1
28
6
8
23
19
9
2

T otal.............................................................................

179

132

Bricklayers, masons, and plasterers__ - _______________
Bridge, structural, and ornamental-iron workers______
Carpenters and joiners_______________________________
Composition roofers, damp and water proof workers—
Electrical workers ___________________________________
Elevator constructors________________________________
H e a t a n d fr o s t in s u la t o r s a n d a s b e s t o s w o r k e r s _________

7
2
3

7
4

2
2

These figures should not be taken too seriously as indicating the
attitude of the unions, yet they certainly have some significance.
Naturally, the more importance the unionists in general attach to a
given provision, the oftener it will be found in their agreements.
Judged by this standard the unions, contrary to common opinion,
do not seem to attach special importance to limitations upon the age
of entering apprenticeship. The only trade in which an age limi
tation is included in every written agreement received is that of the
elevator constructors, who, as their work is heavy and calls for
strength, provide without exception that no one under 18 shall enter
apprenticeship, but place no upper age limits. O f the 49 agreements
which impose some age restrictions, 3 place the upper limit at 18
years; 1 at 19; 2 at 20; 14 at 21; 20 at 22; 2 at 25; and 1 at 30
years; while 6 impose a lower but no upper age limit. Of the 43
which impose an upper limit 53.5 per cent set it at 22 or over, while

APPRENTICESHIP

only 14 per cent place it as low as 20 or under. Thirty-three of the
agreements set an age below which apprentices will not be admitted,
11 placing it at 16 years, 16 at 17 years, and 6 at 18.
Four years is the commonest period set for the duration of the
apprenticeship. In many cases this term is so well understood that
the only reference to the matter consists of setting the wages for
each of the four years before the apprentice is*entitled to journeyman
pay. The bridge and structural-iron workers and the asbestos
workers each in one instance set a limit of two years. Seventeen
agreements, scattered through the various trades, set a period of
3 years, and 14 set 5 years. The 5-year limit is found mainly among
the plumbers, who impose it in 11 cases. In some of these agree
ments the fifth year is a kind of intermediate stage in which the
novice is known as a “ junior,” draws higher wages than the fourthyear apprentice and has more independence, but is not yet a fullfledged journeyman. In several of these agreements it is provided
that an apprentice may apply for an examination at the end of the
fourth year, and if he passes this satisfactorily the fifth year is not
required.
The ratio of apprentices to journeymen permitted in these various
agreements varies too widely to permit of any general statement.
In a very few cases, mostly among the electrical workers and the
sheet-metal workers, the number of apprentices allowed is based on
the number of journeymen in the local union, but the general practice
is to base it on the number of journeymen in the shop or on the pay
roll of the employer wishing to take a beginner. On this basis any
number of combinations are worked out. Thus in different agree
ments the ratio is set at 1 apprentice to 2 journeymen, 1 to the first
2 plus 1 for each additional 5 journeymen, 1 to the shop regardless of
size, 1 to the first 5 journeymen plus 1 for each 10 additional,
and so on. Sometimes the employer may take one apprentice each
year, while in one case he is restricted to one every four years. The
most restrictive ratio found was 1 apprentice to 20 journeymen. It
is perhaps significant that this appears in an agreement which was
drawn up in 1922 and has been continued without change, and that
this is the only provision in the whole document bearing on ap
prenticeship. At that time the importance of apprenticeship was
not appreciated either by the workers or the employers, and the fact
that this is the only mention of the subject in an agreement intended
to cover working conditions shows that neither side was particularly
concerned about the matter.

Administration and Technical Training
A TEIFLE over one-sixth (18 per cent) of the agreements provide
* * for administering the apprentice system by a joint body, or, in
Wisconsin, by the industrial commission, which has charge of the
State apprentice system. Generally speaking, the administering body
is a joint arbitration board or a joint apprenticeship committee
appointed for the special purpose. In the vicinity of New York
City the agreement sometimes indorses the “ apprenticeship plan of
the New York Building Congress,” which makes careful provision
for joint administration. Where such a joint body is not provided

PROVISIONS IN BUILDING-TRADE AGREEMENTS

there is usually no stipulation in regard to the matter, the union
presumably taking full charge.
Very few of the agreements definitely require trade or technical
instruction during apprenticeship, though this is indirectly required
in some instances bv a provision that the apprentice must pass an
examination before becoming a journeyman. Where technical train
ing is required the definiteness of the provision varies. In seven
cases it is merely stated that the apprentice must attend a trade or
technical school. One agreement stipulates that educational classes
are to be established for the benefit of the apprentices. In one case
attendance is required during the last two years, in another the
apprentice must attend school for five hours throughout his appren
ticeship, while in another case one-half day’s attendance weekly is
required whenever the schools are in session. Sometimes it is stipu
lated that the school attendance is to be in the employer’s time, and
in one case it is provided that special technical instruction may be
taken at the employer’s expense. One agreement provides that a
failure to attend school regularly will lead to the apprentice’s sus
pension, and if it is persisted in to the cancellation of his registra
tion—that is, to his expulsion from the trade. Another provides
that the time of the apprenticeship may be shortened if the school
attendance is regular and the school standing good. Where there
are no trade schools or technical classes within reach requirements
concerning such training would be useless, and this may account in
part for the rarity of these provisions.
A number of the agreements contain miscellaneous provisions
designed to make the apprenticeship a period of real training. Fre
quently it is provided that the beginner must serve a probationary
period of from three to six months, and that unless he proves satis
factory at this time he shall not be admitted to apprenticeship.
Often he must be registered with the local union, and is not per
mitted to change from one employer to another without the consent
of the union, or of the joint administrative body, if there is one.
Sometimes it is provided that if an apprentice fails to get on satis
factorily with one employer he may, after a sufficient trial, be placed
with another, but if after one or two such changes he still can not
get on he is dropped from the trade. On the other hand, it is pro
vided that the employer must give him progressive training and
allow him a chance to learn all branches of the trade. In some cases
he is obliged to give the apprentice continuous employment, unless
released from the obligation by the administering body.

Significance of Agreements
IN CONSIDEKING the extent to which apprenticeship is dealt with
* in these local agreements it must be borne in mind that some of the
crafts have worked out through their national or international
governing bodies a complete plan of apprenticeship, with full details
as to number allowed, age, duration, kind of training to be given,
protection of both employer and trainee against possible abuses of
the plan, admission to journeyman status, and so on, and that when
this has been done a local union might feel it unnecessary to take
up the matter. The extent to which the national plan is observed

APPRENTICESHIP

depends largely upon the strength and character of the local union,
but it is entirely possible that such a plan governs the training of
apprentices in a number of places where the local agreements make
no mention of the subject. In other localities, also, plans peculiar
to the district may exist, and a reference to these may mean co
operation in carrying out an elaborate scheme of training. Thus,
when, as in a case previously mentioned, agreements contain an
indorsement of “ the apprenticeship plan of the New York Building
Congress,” they are assenting to a comprehensive and systematic
handling of the whole matter.
Bearing these considerations in mind, the results given above
seem to show that the building-trades unions are giving a consider
able amount of attention to the subject of apprenticeship, and that
where they are strong enough to secure written agreements they
are quite numerously putting the matter upon a definite basis and
endeavoring to secure conditions which shall make the apprentice
ship a genuine preparation for the craftsman’s work, instead of
merely a period in which the beginner works for low wages and
picks up what he can for himself.

Union Rules and the Scarcity of Apprentices
T W ILL be noticed that in most of these apprenticeship plans the
unions take a full share of the responsibility for keeping up
the supply of trained workers. In some cases special trade
schools are maintained by the unions, and in others a very thorough
system of instruction in the particular craft concerned has been
worked out and enforced as part of the trade training. Naturally
the members of some trades are more interested than others in the
question of training, and naturally, also, the amount of interest
shown by a given trade varies according to local circumstances.
The theory that trade-union restrictions are responsible for the
scarcity of trained workers is so frequently voiced, and so many in
quiries have been made of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on this
point, that the following compilation has been prepared by the
bureau:
The Conference Board on Training of Apprentices, made up of
national associations of manufacturers, founders!, metal-trades em
ployers, and the like, in its Bulletin No. 1, issued in 1916, stated:

The average employer, not from necessity but because of thoughtlessness or
habit, still prefers to get workmen whom someone else has trained. * * *
Limitation of apprentices by trade-unions has helped to develop this condition
of indifference on the part of employers. Many, however, do not employ the
full allowable quota of apprentices which the trade-union specifies, and often,
for professed convenience’s sake and because they do not realize the investment
value of apprenticeship training expense, employ none whatever.

A detailed study of the situation in Indianapolis was made about
1918 by Thomas Larkin and its results were published under the
title: 44A study of apprenticeships, trade, and educational agree
ments.” According to this none of the trades for which data could
be secured were using their permissible number of apprentices.
In 1924 the University of Pennsylvania published a thesis entitled:
“ A study of existing programs for the training of journeymen mold

UNION RULES AND SCARCITY OF APPRENTICES

ers in the iron and steel foundries of Philadelphia,” based on a de
tailed investigation. The union rules permitted one apprentice to
five journeymen, plus one for the shop. The actual number in
training fell far below this ratio.
The ratio in floor molding then becomes 1:18.8 as compared with 1 :5 . To
put it differently, instead of a quota of 61 floor-molding apprentices there are
now 22, four of whom are definitely in the sliort-course group. In bench mold
ing a count of bona fide trainees only, gives a present ratio of 1 :2 5 .7 ; instead
of 31 apprentices there are 6.

The journal of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, in its issue
for November, 1923, reports a conference of the Boston Building
Trades Congress dealing with the work of the congress respecting
apprenticeship. No complete figures are given, but frequent refer
ence is made to the fact that contractors are not using the number of
apprentices allowed. For instance, the unions had agreements with
over 100 bricklayer contractors. Union rules allowed 3 apprentices
to a contractor. Instead of 300, there were 80 bricklayer apprentices
in the city, and of these, 41 were apprenticed to their fathers, not to
contractors.
The American Contractor, in its issue for May 3, 1924, contained
an account of a drive for more apprentices in bricklaying undertaken
by the Mason Contractors’ Association of the United States and
Canada. They began by listing the contractors in their trade and
finding how many employed apprentices.
An accurate survey of 58 cities and towns in 1923 showed that 714 con
tractors had only 358 apprentices on the wall. "‘ These figures,” says Mr.
Gillespie, “prove conclusively that the so-palled union restrictions are not a
factor in holding back apprenticeship. The work to be done is to get all con
tractors to take on boys at least to the limit of the rules laid down by the
union.”

As a result of this survey, it was estimated that it would be possible
to put 10,000 more apprentices to work without any interference
with the rules of the bricklayers’ union.

Experience of Apprenticeship Commissions
A T A conference of the apprenticeship commission of the Boston
* * Building Congress, reported in the Boston Transcript, February
21,1925, the commission points out that so far there has been no dif
ficulty in getting boys to enroll as apprentices, but much trouble in
getting contractors to employ them, and that 35 to 40 per cent of the
apprentices enrolled during the past year were unemployed. The
enrollment is done with the assistance of the building-trades unions,
and in accordance with their rules.
A report of the apprenticeship commission of the New York
Building Congress, March, 1925, summarized in the Labor Review
for July, 1925 (p. 180), states that one of the most serious difficulties
confronting the commission is to persuade employers in certain
trades to take their quota of apprentices.
There are four trades in which this difficulty is especially apparent: Carpen
try and joinery, which, with an estimated membership of over 31,000 journey
men, has only 1,500 enrolled apprentices; painting and decorating, with over
10,000 journeymen, and 193 enrolled apprentices; and upholstery and cement
masonry, neither of which has ever exceeded 75 per cent of its allowable quota
of apprentices.

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

38690°— 27------ 3

Railroad Labor Act of 1926
HE outstanding event of 1926 in the field of railroad labor was
the passage by Congress of the railroad labor act, often re
ferred to as the “ Watson-Parker Law.” This act passed both
Houses of Congress by large majorities and was approved by .the
President on May 20. A striking feature of this legislation is that
the bill was an agreed measure formulated by representatives of the
carriers and of the employees’ unions, and the act as passed was thus
in effect a collective agreement sanctioned by Congress.
The new act abolished the United States Railroad Labor Board,
which had been functioning for six years under the transportation
act of 1920, and substituted therefor a radically different type of
adjustment machinery, which, however, incorporated many of the
features of earlier Federal legislation.

Provisions of the Act
rT l HE four agencies described below are provided by the act, two of
*
them at least being potentially permanent while the two others
may be created on occasion.
(1) Boards of Adjustment

These may be created by agreement between employers or em
ployees on one or more railroads. No term is provided, but appar
ently such bodies may be continuing. These boards are composed
exclusively of representatives of the parties in interest and deal with
disputes arising from grievances or from interpretations or applica
tions of agreements as regards rates of pay, rules, or working con
ditions when such disputes can not be “ handled in the usual manner
up to and including the chief operating officer of the carrier desig
nated to handle such disputes.” The decisions of adjustment boards
“ shall be final and binding on both parties to the dispute.”
(2) Board of Mediation

A board of mediation is established as an independent agency in
the executive branch of the Government and is composed of five
members appointed by the President by and with the consent of the
Senate. No person in the employment of, or who is pecuniarily or
otherwise interested in, any organization oi employees or any carrier
may be a member of the board. The first five members of the
mediation board were appointed for terms of one, two, three, four,
and five years, respectively. Succeeding terms will be five years.

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

Either party to a dispute may invoke the services of the board or
the board may take the initiative in offering its services to the dis
putants in the following cases:
(ai) A dispute arising out of grievances or out o f the interpreta
tion or application of agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, or
working conditions not adjusted by the parties in conference and not
decided by the appropriate adjustment board;
(b) A dispute which is not settled in conference between the
parties, in respect to changes in rates of pay, rules, or working
conditions;
(c) Any other dispute not decided in conference between the
parties.
In the event a dispute arises as to the meaning or application of
any agreement reached through mediation under the provisions of
this act, either party to the said agreement, or both, may apply to
the board of mediation for an interpretation.
In case the board of mediation does not succeed in bringing about
an amicable settlement of a controversy such board shall immediately
endeavor to induce the disputants to submit their controversy to
arbitration under the provisions of the act.
(3) Boards of Arbitration

Special boards of arbitration of three members (or six if the
parties so stipulate) may be created by the agreement of the parties
in interest whenever a controversy arises between one or more rail
roads and its or their employees, which is not settled either in con
ference between representatives of the parties or by the appropriate
adjustment board or through mediation. It is especially provided,
however, that the failure or refusal of either party to submit a con
troversy to arbitration shall not be construed as a violation of any
legal obligation imposed upon such party by the terms of this act or
otherwise.
The board of arbitration is chosen as follows:
(a)
In the case of a board of three the carrier or carriers and the
representatives of the employees, parties respectively to the agree
ment to arbitrate, shall each name one arbitrator; the two arbitrators
thus chosen shall select a third arbitrator. I f the arbitrators chosen
by the parties shall fail to name the third arbitrator within five days
alter their first meeting, such third arbitrator shall be named by the
board of mediation.
(&) In the case of a board of six the carrier or carriers and the
representatives of the employees, parties respectively to the agree
ment to arbitrate, shall each name two arbitrators; the four arbitra
tors thus chosen shall, by a majority vote, select the remaining two
arbitrators. I f the arbitrators chosen by the parties shall fail to
name the two arbitrators within 15 days after their first meeting,
the said two arbitrators, or as many of them as have not been named,
shall be named by the board of mediation.
Each member of an arbitration board who is designated by either
party to the arbitration shall be compensated by the party desig
nating him. Each arbitrator designated by the arbitrators or by
the board of mediation shall receive from that board such compensa

RAILROAD LABOR ACT OF 1926

tion as it may fix, together with necessary traveling expenses and
expenses for subsistence during his service as arbitrator.
Testimony before the board of arbitration shall be under oath or
affirmation, and the members of the board shall have authority to
administer oaths or affirmations.
The agreement to arbitrate shall provide that the award, when filed
in the manner provided in the act in the clerk’s office in the district
court of the United States for the district in which the dispute origi
nated or the arbitration was begun, “ shall be final and conclusive
upon the parties as to the facts determined by said award and as to
the merits of the controversy decided.” Any difference, however,
which may arise concerning the meaning or application of an award
shall be referred back to the same arbitration board which made such
award or to a subcommittee of that board. The resultant rulings,
when acknowledged or filed in the same manner as the award, shall
have the same force and effect as the original award.
Arbitration awards arrived at and filed as above provided may be
appealed to the courts only on the following grounds:
(а) That the award plainly does not conform to the requirements
of the act or that the proceedings were not in conformity with such
requirements.
(б) That the award does not conform or confine itself to the
stipulations of the agreement to arbitrate; or
(c)
That a member of the board rendering the award was guilty of
fraud or corruption, or that a party to the arbitration practiced fraud
or corruption.
(4) Emergency Boards

An emergency board may be established by the President if a
railroad labor controversy can not be settled in accordance with the
preceding provisions of the act and, in the judgment of the mediation
board, such controversy threatens “ to interrupt interstate commerce
to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country of essential
transportation service.”
The number of members of an emergency board is decided by the
President, but no appointee thereto shall be pecuniarily or otherwise
interested in any organization of employees or any carrier.
Such an emergency board shall be created separately in each in
stance, and it shall investigate promptly the facts as to the dispute
and make a report thereon to the President within 30 days from
the date of its creation.
After the institution of the board and for 30 days after its report
has been made no change, except by agreement, shall be made by the
parties to the controversy in the conditions out of which the dispute
arose.

Appropriations

"TH E act fixes the compensation of the members of the board of
mediation at $12,000 per annum, together with expenses for
subsistence or per diem and for necessary traveling. This board is
authorized to appoint experts and assistants and make various ex
penditures in connection with its operations.
The law also authorizes appropriations for arbitration and emer
gency boards.

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

Developments Under the Act of 1926
A S CONTEMPLATED by the act, boards of adjustment have been
* * created by employers and employees on various roads and
groups of roads, but no formal record is available regarding their
number or activities.
The permanent board of mediation of five members was duly ap
pointed by the President and began to function in July, 1926. Since
that time the members of this board have exercised their mediatory
functions in a large but unrecorded number of cases. In several
important cases the board was unable to effect adjustment but secured
the consent of both parties to arbitrate under the plan set forth in
the act. In two of these cases—conductors and trainmen on the
eastern railroads, and the American Express Co. employees—the
arbitrations have been held and awards made (February 15, 1927).
The decisions are summarized in the section of this handbook, “ Prin
cipal arbitrations of 1926.”
No occasion has as yet arisen for the appointment of a special
emergency board, contemplated by the act as a final step in case
all other means of peaceful adjustment should fail and such failure
should seriously interrupt interstate transportation.

Federal Legislation Regarding Railroad Labor Disputes
Prior to Act of 1926
HE railroad labor act of May, 1926, was the culmination of a
series of Federal experiments in the settlement of railway labor
disputes. It contains many features of previous Federal legis
lation and activities in this field, and its significance can be best
understood by a brief review of these earlier developments.

Act of 1888
N OCTOBER 1, 1888, a law was enacted by Congress permitting
^
the selection of arbitrators to adjust labor controversies which
threatened to interfere with the movement of trains in interstate
commerce, and authorized the President to select temporary com
missioners to examine the cause of disputes and to make recommenda
tions for their settlement. The use of arbitration was merely a
legal privilege which might be initiated by the disputants. When
there was a mutual desire to arbitrate each side selected an arbitrator
and the two thus chosen selected a third person, but the three arbi
trators were to be wholly impartial and disinterested in respect to
the controversy. There was no provision for appointing the neutral
arbitrator in a case of disagreement. The Government bore all the
expenses incurred in connection with arbitrations and investigations
held under this law.

Erdman Act of 1898
Q N JUNE 1,1898, the Erdman Act was placed on the statute books.
This law empowered the chairman of the Interstate Commerce
Commission and the Commissioner of Labor to act as mediators in

FEDERAL LEGISLATION PRIOR TO ACT OF 1926

railway labor controversies when called upon by either of the dis
putants, and made it the duty of these representatives of the Govern
ment to propose arbitration when their efforts at mediation and
conciliation were unsuccessful. Upon agreement of both parties to
arbitrate, the carrier and the employees each selected an arbitrator
and the two thus chosen selected the third, but in case of disagree
ment the neutral arbitrator was named by the foregoing officers of the
Government. Arbitration awards made under this law were to
remain in effect for one year. The provisions of this law applied
only to employees engaged in the operation of trains.

Newlands Act of 1913
rT lHE Newlands Act, which was enacted on July 15, 1913, was in
* effect only an amplification of the Erdman Act in that it con
tinued the principles of mediation, conciliation, and arbitration. This
law established the office of Commissioner of Mediation and Concilia
tion and provided for the selection of an assistant commissioner; also
for the appointment of two other officials of the Government who
together with the Commissioner of Mediation and Conciliation con
stituted a board known as the United States Board of Mediation and
Conciliation. The members of this board not only responded to calls
for assistance in the adjustment of disputes but proffered their
services to the respective parties when such action seemed desirable
to them. When mediation failed it was the duty of the commissioners
to induce the parties to submit their differences to arbitration, and
when this form of adjustment was agreeable arbitrators were selected
in the manner provided for in previous laws. The number of arbi
trators, however, was increased to six, except when the parties to the
controversy preferred a board of three. Upon failure to agree upon
the two neutral arbitrators they were named by the board of media
tion and conciliation. The agreement to arbitrate was to be made in
writing, and stipulated among other things the period during which
the award should continue in force. The provisions of this law also
applied only to employees engaged in the operation of trains,

Adamson Law
IN THE fall of 1916 the train and engine service brotherhoods
* threatened a strike for the so-called 8-hour day. Mediation had
failed and arbitration had been refused by the unions. This strike
was prevented at the last moment by the enactment of the Adamson
Act. This law, while clearly a special arbitral proceeding of prac
tically compulsory effect, made no general provision for the mediation
or arbitration of disputes; in general it provided a basic 8-hour day
for employees in tram, engine, and yard services and named a com
mission to observe and report upon the effects of such establishment.
As a result of events leading to the enactment of this law, President
Wilson, when Congress met, presented the question of new legisla
tion on the subject of the adjustment of railroad labor controversies,
and this matter was under consideration for several months, until
the World War and Federal control temporarily interrupted. Had
not the war intervened, Congress in all probability would have

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

enacted a new law supplanting or substantially amending the Newlands Act.

Procedure under Government Control
/~\N JANUARY 1, 1918, the Government, proceeding under a war
^
emergency act, took over the operation of the railroads of the
country and promulgated a new scheme of adjusting railroad wages
and rules. It created a wage commission of four members upon
whose report the first wage order of the Director General of Rail
roads was based and by whose recommendation there was created a
Board of Railroad Wages and Working Conditions, with authority
to hear and investigate future matters affecting changes in rates of
paj and revision of rules governing working conditions of service.
This board was also empowered to issue interpretations of such
orders. The application of all rules, as well as the personal differ
ences and disputes arising between the carriers and their employees,
were made by three bipartisan adjustment boards, created through
agreement between the managers and the employees. A majority of
any adjustment board could render a decision on matters referred to
it, but in case of a deadlock final settlement reverted to the Director
General.

Railroad Labor Board
Q N FEBRUARY 28, 1920, the transportation bill became a law.
^
The section relating to the adjustment of labor disputes was
incorporated in Title III, entitled “ Disputes between carriers and
their employees and subordinate officials.” The act provided for
the creation of the Railroad Labor Board, and made permissible
the establishment of labor adjustment boards by agreement between
carriers and employees. In accordance with the latter provision the
President, under date of March 1, 1920, requested representatives
of the carriers and labor organizations to form a board for the im
mediate consideration of this vast problem. This was done and to
the so-called bipartisan board was referred the whole question.
After deliberation of approximately one month the conferences of
this organization ended in complete failure and the whole matter
was referred to the Railroad Labor Board.
The Railroad Labor Board was organized on April 16, 1920, its
personnel being composed of nine members, three of which com
prised the labor group, three the management group, and three
the public group. Appointments of each group were made by the
President with the concurrence of the Senate.
The law provided the routine by which questions of controversy
were to come before the board and the bases to be taken into con
sideration by the board in making its decisions. Generally speaking,
the first step prescribed by the law to be taken before a dispute
was eligible for consideration by the board was a conference be
tween the representatives of the carriers and the employees. Failing
of agreement it might then, if it was a dispute involving grievances,
rules, or working conditions, be referred to an adjustment board
organized by agreement between the employees and the carriers,
then, if agreement could not be reached, or in the absence of such
board, to the labor board. The adjustment boards were not author

FEDERAL LEGISLATION PRIOR TO ACT OF 1926

ized to handle disputes involving changes in rates of pay, and such
disputes had to be referred directly from conferences between car
riers and employees to the labor board. The labor board was
directed to hear and decide disputes upon applications of the chief
executives of the carriers or organizations of employees directly
interested; upon written petitions of not less than one hundred
unorganized employees directly interested; or upon its own motion
in cases of disputes which it deemed likely substantially to interrupt
commerce.
In all of its decisions respecting wages and salaries the board
was directed to base its determination upon the following elements:
(1) The scales of wages paid for similar kinds of work in other
industries;
(2) The relation between wages and the cost of living;
(3) The hazards of the employment;
(4) The training and skill required;
(5) The degree of responsibility;
(6) The character and regularity of the employment;
(7) Inequalities of increases in wages or of treatment, the result
of previous wage orders or adjustments;
(8) Other relevant circumstances.
The law did not give the labor board power to enforce its deci
sions; however, in case it had reason to believe that any decision
was violated by any carrier, or employee, or subordinate official,
or organization thereof, it might upon its own motion, after due
notice and hearing to all persons directly interested in such violation,
determine whether in its opinion such violation had occurred and
make public its decision in such manner as it might determine.
Wage decisions.—For more than three months after its organiza
tion, the board conducted hearings and considered voluminous data
in its determination in connection with the tremendous wage con
troversy inherited from the Railroad Administration. On July 20,
1920, Decision No. 2 was issued, retroactive to May 1,1920, providing
increases for all classes of railroad employees and causing an addi
tion to the operating expenses of the carriers of approximately
$600,000,000 per annum. Based upon the increased operating ex
penses effected by this award, the Interstate Commerce Commission
authorized the carriers to increase transportation rates. Subsequent
wage decisions made by the board, until the latter part of 1922,
resulted in decreases in rates of pay.
After July 1, 1922, wage decisions were not general in effect, but
in many instances were used by employees and carriers on roads not
before the board as guides in their own wage adjustments. Most of
the wage decisions issued after that date provided slight increases.
Rules decisions.—At the end of Federal control a good many of
the groups of railroad employees were working under what were
known as “ national agreements.” These agreements had all been
negotiated shortly before the end of Federal control by representa
tives of the Railroad Administration and of the labor organizations.
On April 14, 1921, it issued Decision No. 119, which terminated
all rules and working conditions of all classes of employees, except
ing those in train and engine services, effective July 1, 1921,
called upon the carriers and employees to begin conferences with a

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

view to agreeing upon just and reasonable rules and working condi
tions to replace them, and set up certain, principles to be used as a
basis for such considerations. In practically all instances only
minor rules were agreed to by the carriers and employees in their
direct negotiations and the entire rules question was subsequently
resubmitted to the board for solution.
Decision No. 222 and addenda constituted the board’s determina
tion of just and reasonable rules for shop-craft employees. Deci
sions Nos. 501, 630, 707, 725, and 757 replaced the rules granted by
the Railroad Administration governing the working conditions of
maintenance-of-way employees, clerks, signalmen, firemen and oilers,
and telegraphers. After the early part of 1922 there were no major
rules decisions issued by the board, although, as with decisions
affecting rates of pay, some of the rules decisions applying to limited
numbers of carriers were used by other carriers and employees as
guidances in their own negotiations.
Other questions considered by the ’board.-—Besides questions in
volving rates of pay and working conditions, other major questions
which were referred to the board for solution were of employee rep
resentation and contract work, both of which were highly contro
versial subjects and were very difficult of disposal. Other disputes
referred to the board pertained to grievances resulting from inability
of the parties to agree upon proper application of existing rules or
practices, of the application of decisions rendered by the labor board
or other tribunals of competent jurisdiction, and to the question of
discipline of individual employees.
Volume of work.—From the date of its establishment to Decem
ber 31, 1925, 13,941 disputes were referred to the board. Of this
number 6,006 were of a local nature, affecting individual roads and
their employees in one or more classes of service or possibly two or
three railroads at one point; and 7,935 were of a general nature,
affecting large groups of railroads and their employees in any or all
classes of service, such as general requests for wage increases or wage
decreases or general revision of rules governing working conditions.
The board during this period disposed of 13,447 of these submissions,
5,549 of which were of local nature and 7,898 of general nature. Of
the total number of disputes, 912 did not reach the status of regularly
docketed cases.1

Principal Arbitrations of 1926
HE most important industrial arbitrations of 1926, as regards
the number of persons affected, were those relating to the con' ductors and trainmen on the eastern railroads and to the
employees of the American Railway Express Co. These arbitrations
were of particular significance also as being the first to develop under
the new railroad labor act of 1926, and to be carried on under the
forms of procedure laid down by that act. These two awards are
presented below, as are also summaries of such other important arbi

1 Data regarding organization and activities of Railroad Labor Board are from* the
Report of the United States Railroad Labor Board, Apr. 15, 1920, to Dec. 31, 1925.
No report has been published covering the early part of 1926, prior to the board’s
discontinuance.

PRINCIPAL ARBITRATIONS OP 1926

tration awards of 1926 as came to the attention of the bureau and
appear to be of general interest.
Conductors and Trainmen on Eastern Railroads
rT ,HE decision of the arbitrators in the eastern trainmen’s case
A was announced December 1, 1926. It dealt with the wages and
with certain rules governing work and pay of conductors, baggage
men, flagmen, and brakemen, members of the Order of Railway Con
ductors and of the Brotherhod of Railroad Trainmen, employed on
50 railroads in the eastern part of the United States.
Demands for the increases had been submitted to the employers
several months prior to the enactment of the railway labor law of
1926, and on the enactment of this law the procedure therein pro
vided for was followed. First, an attempt to settle the controversy
through the agency of boards of adjustment, representing the two
parties, and, this failing, the second proviso ox mediation by the
United States Board of Mediation was resorted to. This in turn
was not successful, but an agreement to arbitrate was secured. Arbi
trators were selected by the two groups; the neutral arbitrators se
lected by these arbitrators, however, declined the appointment. The
neutral members were thereupon appointed by the board of media
tion.
The board organized October 27 last, and examined the evidence
offered. The men had asked for an increase in pay averaging about
19 per cent. The board awarded them an increase of 7^ per cent
over the rates in effect November 30, 1926, the increase to date from
December 1, 1926. The two representatives of the railroad filed a
dissenting opinion in regard to the amount of increase. The text of
the majority report and award was as follows:
R

eport

and

w ard

r b it r a t o r s

This board of arbitration was created under and in accordance with the pro
visions of the railway labor act, approved May 20, 1926, for the purpose of
arbitrating questions of rates of pay and certain rules governing work and pay
upon which the Order of Railway Conductors, representing the conductors, and
the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, representing the other trainmen and
the yardmen, and the railroads of the eastern district were unable to agree. The
railroad companies were represented by a conference committee of managers,
duly authorized to act for them. A list of the railroads so represented Is
included in the agreement to arbitrate.
The railroads selected as arbitrators R. V. Massey and William A. Baldwin.
The employees selected E. P. Curtis and D. L. Cease. The United States Board
of Mediation appointed William D. Baldwin and Edgar E. Clark.
The matters to be arbitrated were requests for increased rates of pay and
working rules, a,s follows:
Passenger service

Mile

Conductors____________________________________________ $0.05166
.0456
Assistant conductors and ticket collectors---------------Baggagemen handling express, dynamo, and Govern
ment mail__________________________________________
.04786
Baggagemen handling dynamo and express--------------. 0456
Baggagemen handling dynamo and Government mail. 0456
Baggagemen handling express and Government mail. 0456
Baggagemen handling either dynamo, express, or Gov
ernment mail__________________________ ____________
.04333

Day

Month

$7.75
6.84

$232.50
205.20

7.18
6.84
6.84
6.84

215.40
205.20
205.20
205.20

6.50

195.00

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

Mile
Baggagemen__________________________________________ $0,041
Flagmen and brakemen_______________________________
.04

Day

Month

$6.16 $184.80
6.00
180.00

N ote.— Where flagmen or brakemen are required to handle baggage, express,
dynamo, and Government mail, or either of them, the same differential as ap
plies to baggagemen will be added to their rates.
For service paid local or way freight rates under schedules now in effect the
rates shall be as follows:
Mile

Day

Conductors__________________________________________ $0.0774 $7.74
Brakemen___________________________________________
. 0624 6.24
For service paid the through freight rates under schedules now in effect the
rates shall be as follows:

Mile

Day

Conductors__________________________________________ $0.0734 $7.34
Brakemen___________________________________________
. 0584 5.84
Yard service

Day
Car retarder operator------------------------------------------------------------- $8.44
Foremen_______________________________ _______________________
7.64
Helpers----------------------------------------------------------------------------------7.16
Switchtenders________________________________________________ 5. 72
Other service
1. The same increases shall apply to milk, mixed, work, miscellaneous, or
any service not enumerated as are applied to the service in which they are now
classified. Where there is a separate rate for milk, mixed, work, miscellane
ous, or other service it shall be increased in the same amount of money com
pared with rates in effect this date as the freight or passenger rate, according
to the overtime basis on which it is calculated.
2. All rates of pay in excess of standard rates and all mountain, desert, or
other differentials to be maintained— that is, the same amount of money now
paid in excess of standard rates to be paid in excess of rates which may be
agreed upon.
3. The adoption of the rates suggested shall in no case operate to bring
about a reduction in compensation now paid.
4. Literal application of the following language “ In all classes of service
trainmen’s time will commence at the time they are required to report for
duty and shall continue until the time they are relieved from duty.”
5. A through freight train is one that neither sets off nor picks up cars nor
loads or unloads freight en route, nor does station switching. On all other freight
trains, trainmen shall be paid not less than local or way freight rates.
6. Not less than one brakeman shall be assigned to every passenger train of
two or more cars or on other passenger trains of less than two cars that carry
either baggage, mail, or express matter for distribution.
7. All rates and rules herein enumerated to be effective as of January 1, 1926,
except where agreements in effect have been made to a later date.
The board met and organized on October 27, 1926. Hearings at which evi
dence was presented and received began on October 28 and continued until
and including November 10. The parties were heard in oral argument on
November 12.
The railroads estimate that the requests of the employees would, if granted
in full, equal an increase of 19 per cent in their pay, which would amount
to $38,000,000 per annum.
All facts, conditions, and circumstances relied upon in support of the pro
posals of the employees were presented and replied to in evidence and in
argument. It is not contended that these railroads can not afford to bear
some increase in the wages of these employees.
After full consideration of all of the conditions and circumstances presented
in the record, and of the peculiar, exacting, hazardous, and responsible char
acter of the services performed by these employees, the board adjudges and
awards as follows:
The standard rates of pay per mile, per day, and per month for conductors,
assistant conductors, ticket collectors, train baggagemen, train flagmen, and

PRINCIPAL ARBITRATIONS OF 1926

brakemen in passenger service; for conductors and brakemen in local or way
freight service; for conductors and brakemen in through freight service; for
yard conductors or foremen; for yard brakemen or helpers; and for switchtenders shall be increased 7% per cent over the rates in effect on November
SO, 1926.
In applying the 7 y2 per cent increase the daily rates will be used as bases.
Mileage rates will be determined by dividing the new daily rates by 150 and
100 for passenger and freight service, respectively, and monthly rates will be
determined by multiplying the new daily rates by 30.
Car retarder operators shall be paid 80 cents per day more than the rate
herein fixed for yard conductors or foremen.
Train baggagemen required to handle express shall be paid 34 cents per day
more than the rate per day herein fixed for train baggagemen.
Train baggagemen required to handle United States mail shall be paid
34 cents per day more than the rate per day herein fixed for train baggagemen.
Train baggagemen required to handle both express and United States mail
shall be paid 68 cents per day more than the rate per day herein fixed for- train
baggagemen.
Train baggagemen required to handle dynamo shall be paid 34 cents per day
more than the rate per day herein fixed for train baggagemen.
Train baggagemen required to handle dynamo and express or United States
mail shall be paid 68 cents per day more than the rate per day herein fixed for
train baggagemen. If required to handle dynamo and express and United
States mail he shall be paid $1.02 more per day than the rate per day herein
fixed for train baggagemen.
The extra allowance for baggagemen handling United States mail will not
apply when the amount of such mail handled does not exceed in volume between
any two points that provided for the minimum space that can be authorized
by the Post Office Department, viz, 3 feet or its equivalent, 54 sacks or pieces.
Loading United States mail into car, storing it in car, sorting it en route, or
unloading it at intermediate or terminal points will constitute “ handling ” under
this rule. The extra allowance for handling United States mail will not apply
when “ storage ” mail is in charge of the baggageman, provided he is not required
to “ handle” it.
The extra allowances for handling dynamo, express, and/or United States
mail by train baggagemen will apply to other trainmen who may be assigned
regularly or temporarily to that work.
On the adoption of the above award covering rates of pay W . D. Baldwin,
Clark, Curtis, and Cease voted in the affirmative. Massey and W . A. Baldwin
voted in the negative.
On the proposed rules submitted the board adjudges and awards as follows:
Rule 1 shall read:
“ The same increases shall apply to milk, mixed, work, miscellaneous, or any
service not enumerated as are applied to the service in which they are now
classified. Where there is a separate rate for milk, mixed, work, miscellaneous,
or other service it shall be increased in the same amount of money compared
with rates in effect on November 30, 1926, as the freight or passenger rate,
according to the overtime basis on which it is calculated.”
Rule 2 shall read:
“All rates of pay in excess of standard rates, including daily and monthly
guarantees, and all mountain, desert, or other differentials shall be maintained;
that is, the same amount of money now paid in excess of standard rates shall
be paid in excess of rates which are herein awarded.”
Rule 3 shall read:
“ The adoption of the rates herein awarded shall in no case operate to bring
about a reduction in rates now paid.”
Rule 4 : The request submitted under this head is for enforcement of a rule
that is very general in the pay schedules of these railroads. It is not suggested
that the language of the rule is ambiguous nor is any change in the wording of
the rule sought. The board is not clothed with police powers to enforce this or
any other pay schedule rule.
Rule 5 shall read:
“Trainmen in through or irregular freight service required to pick up and/or
set off a car or cars at four (4) or more points during any one trip or tour of
duty will be paid local freight rates for the entire service performed. Stops
made (1) at first point to pick up cars other than cabin or caboose, and at last
point to set off cars other than cabin or caboose; (2) at foreign line junction

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

points, not exceeding four in number, when interchange cars only are picked up
and/or set off; (3) for setting off defective cars; (4) doubling hills; (5) for
setting out cars or picking up cars (but not setting out and picking up at the
same point) for the purpose of adjusting the tonnage of the train to established
engine ratings, will not be counted as stops under this rule.
“ Except as provided in (5) a stop covers picking up and/or setting off cars
at one point between the time train is stopped and the entire train is coupled
up and ready to start.
“ Trainmen required to load or unload freight or to do station switching will
be paid local or way freight rates. Switching necessary in picking up cars will
not be considered * station switching.’ Switching for the purpose of placing
at loading or unloading places cars other than cars loaded with livestock or
highly perishable freight will be considered ‘ station switching.’ If, in order
to set out car or cars clear of main line, it is necessary to move from ‘ spot ’ a
car or cars that are set for loading or unloading, such car or cars will be
replaced on ‘ spot ’ and so doing will not be considered * station switching.’ ”
Rule 6 : This request is denied.
Rule 7 : The rates of pay and the rules embraced in this award shall be made
effective as of December 1, 1026.
On the adoption of the rules above awarded, the vote of the board was
unanimous, except that W . A. Baldwin voted no on Rule 2.

Employees of American Railway Express Co.
A DECISION affecting 65,000 employees of the American Rail* * way Express Co. was rendered January 13, 1927, by arbitra
tors appointed under an agreement signed by the company and its
employees December 1, 1926.
Negotiations had begun January 21, 1926, when the Brotherhood
of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and
Station Employees asked the express company for an increase in
wages of 11^ to 12 cents per hour, March 27, upon the company’s
definitely refusing the brotherhood’s request, the dispute was laid
before the Railroad Labor Board. When that board dissolved with
out having acted in the case, a new demand for increase was made
on the express company and this being refused the matter was
brought before the newly created United States Board of Mediation.
The company agreed to arbitrate the question, the Order of Rail
way Expressmen and the American Federation of Express Workers,
representing other employees of the company, joining the brother
hood for this purpose. The arbitration board consisted of Hon.
William B. Wilson, Secretary of Labor during President Wilson’s
administration; Emory A. Stedman, of Chicago, a vice president of
the express company, and John H. Clarke, former justice of the
United States Supreme Court; the last named being selected by the
other two, who were appointees of the employees and company,
respectively.
The board, after hearing both sides, rendered the following unani
mous decision:
Upon full hearing and consideration of the questions submitted, the following
award is made:
1. An increase in the rates of pay of 2 ^ cents per hour shall be paid to all
employees comprehended within the terms of the agreement of submission.
2. The same relative increase in the rates of pay shall be applied to all
employees comprehended within the terms of the agreement of submission and
rated upon daily, weekly, or monthly bases.
3. Rates of pay in effect upon December 31, 1926, shall be the basis upon
which the increased rates of pay prescribed herein shall be computed.

PRINCIPAL ARBITRATIONS OF 1920

4. The increases in the rates of pay hereinbefore provided for shall be effec
tive as of January 1, 1927.
5. Messengers in train service required to handle baggage shall be paid
4% cents per hour in addition to the general rates hereinbefore established
by this award.
6. Messengers in train service required to handle United States mail shall
be paid 4% cents per hour in addition to the general rates hereinbefore estab
lished by this award.
7. Messengers in train service required to handle both baggage and United
States mail shall be paid 8 V2 cents per hour in addition to the general rates
hereinbefore established by this award.
The extra allowance to messengers in train service handling United States
mail will not apply when the amount of such mail handled does not exceed
in volume, between any two points, that provided for the minimum space that
can be authorized by the Post Office Department; viz, 3 feet or its equiva
lent, 54 sacks or pieces. Loading United States mail into car, storing it in
car, sorting it en route, or unloading it at intermediate or terminal points
will constitute “ handling” under this award.
The extra allowance for handling United States mail will not apply when
“ storage ” mail is in charge of the messenger provided he is not required to
“ handle” it.
The extra allowance for handling baggage and/or United States mail by
messengers will apply to other train service employees who may be assigned
regularly or temporarily to that work.
The extra allowances herein provided for handling baggage and/or United
States mail by messengers shall become effective as of January 16, 1927.

Newspapers, Washington, D. C.
A T THE expiration of the Agreement of Typographical Union No.
* * 101 with the newspaper publishers of Washington, November
11,1925, the union asked for an increase in wage rates, which the pub
lishers at first refused altogether, though later they offered an increase
of 30 cents a day. Finally they offered to arbitrate the matter, and
Justice Hitz, of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, was
selected as arbitrator.
Justice Hitz on May 12 rendered an award modifying the exist
ing contract in a few respects, granting in the main the requests of
the union—$9 per day and $10 per night, increasing the day rate
by $1.30 and the night rate by $1.60, the number of hours to remain
at seven, Washington’s Birthday added to the list of recognized holi
days, and the provision allowing an office to work its force overtime
up to four hours a week at a single price removed. The remaining
clauses in the award are as follows:
1. The printers’ proposal that section 2 of the existing contract, relative to
rates for day work, night work, and day and night work and day rate on Sun
day afternoon or evening papers, be changed to the rates requested by the
printers, is granted, and the amounts proposed by the printers shall be the scale
of wages embodied in the new contract in effect on and after November 11,
1925.
2. The printers’ proposal relative to linotype operators, when required to do
mechanical work on typesetting machines other than operating the keyboard,
is denied.
3. The publishers’ proposal relative to any member of the union who, by
reason of advanced years or other cause, may not be capable of producing an
average day’s work, etc., is granted, with the substitution of the “ president of
the union ” in lieu of the “ foreman of the office,” as stated by the publishers’
proposal.
4. The printers’ proposal that “ if men are required to work at such time that
the seven hours fall partly in the hours during which the day rate prevails and
partly during the hours in which night rate obtains, they shall receive the night
scale, except that, etc.,” is granted, to take effect on and after May 24, 1926.

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

5. The publishers’ proposal in regard to the same condition— namely, that
“ if men are required to work at such time that the eight hours fall partly in the
hours during which the day rate prevails and partly during the hours in which
the night rate obtains, etc.”— is denied.
6. The publishers' request for no change in the provision governing in case
of a recall after the men have left the office for the day is granted.
11.
It is the finding of the arbitrator that the contract should run for one
year from November 11, 1925, except as otherwise provided herein.
13. Section 9 is to remain the same, dealing with journeymen, as it is in the
present contract.
14. The printers’ proposal to limit apprentices in the ratio of 1 to 10 journey
men, with the further limitation that not more than five may be employed in
any one office, is denied.
15. The printers’ proposal under “ (d )” paragraph of section 2, “ sphere of
work,” relating to the third year of an apprentice, is granted, the publishers
having agreed to it.
16. The change requested by the publishers under section 3 with regard to
substitution of an eight for a seven hour day is denied.
17. The scale governing apprentices after the first year, referred to in section
4, shall remain as in the present contract without change either in day work or
night work.

Stereotypers, Detroit
A N ARBITRATION award by Judge Frank Murphy was issued
* * August 16,1926, in a dispute between Stereotypers’ Local No. 9
and the Detroit Free Press and Detroit Times, relative to the scale of
wages to be in effect from May 1, 1926. The union demanded $9 per
8-hour day or 7-hour night, with $2 bonus for double shift, and $10.30
for an 8-hour Saturday night. The publishers offered $7.75 per
8-hour day or 7-hour night, with $1.50 bonus for double shift, and
$8.85 for an 8-hour Saturday night.
Extracts from the opinion follow:
It has been difficult to avoid in this dispute principles that come to all wage
disputes, foremost among them being tlie cost of living and conditions of in
dustry. In the present instance both have been given careful consideration.
The former question— cost of living—was presented in argument by both
sides, while the latter was largely ignored. The publishers argued that this
board should not take into consideration in determining the fair and reason
able wage for stereotypers the financial conditions of the publishers’ business
nor the conditions under which they operate or are likely to operate. It is
contended that the condition of the publishers’ business is not an issue and
therefore should form no part in the deliberations and plans of the board.
However, separating the two principles is easier to do in theory than in
practice. Experience has gone far to demonstrate that neither the cost-ofliving principle nor the condition of industry, if used one without the other, is
a completely satisfactory basis for a policy of wage settlement. Both general
conditions and conditions in the particular industry should be given weight
in every wage dispute, and the latter itself should be a primary basis of
decision. A study of general conditions throughout the country discloses
general prosperity and high production, and in local newspaper business there
is an obvious prosperity.
In industry, as in all else, the present is fleeting and the future is difficult
to forecast, and an arbitration giving consideration to the condition of business
principles must keep this fact constantly in mind. In the interest of industrial
efficiency and friendly cooperation between the employer and employees wages
should bear some relation not only to national wealth, but specifically to the
product of the industry concerned. In the present instance the union has a
right to assume that the growing productivity of the publishers’ business
entitles its members to a progressive standard of living. Under all the proofs
and having in mind the recognized present general prosperity, it is fair to
conclude that in the business of the publishers profits are likely to be high
and on the increase. Therefore, generally speaking, they should be able to
pay higher wages.

PRINCIPAL ARBITRATIONS OF 1926

Great improvements have been made in recent years and still are being made
by those who are engaged in industry. A limit to the possibility of increasing
production has not been reached, and no doubt invention, new methods, and
common sense, if worked together, will help increase production in the future
as it has in the past. This industrial progress and the standard of living of
workers should constantly move forward, and for this reason there is grave
danger in paying wages exclusively on the cost-of-living principle and the
living wage.
Economists, employers, and employees have in recent years directed their
attention to a large extent to the question of real wages as distinguished from
money wages for the reason that what dollars will buy is more important than
the number of dollars received as a wage. It is only by constantly raisilig real
wages and not just money wages that prosperity is brought about. An increase
in wages may be illusory if it is an increase in name only, because the pur
chasing power of the money may be appreciably decreased. This considera
tion makes it necessary to measure with fine accuracy changes in price levels
which occur from year to year and from month to month.
Careful examination has been made of all the exhibits introduced in con
nection with price levels from the base period, December, 1914, to December,
1925. Likewise, the wage scale during the same period has been closely scruti
nized. This study has established the following facts:
First. That prices in Detroit advanced from December, 1914, to December,
1925, 88.2 per cent.
Second. That wages of stereotypers in Detroit advanced during the same
period from $24 to $48.
Third. That 53.1 cents in December, 1914, would purchase as much as $1
would purchase in December, 1925, and that the increase in real wages for
stereotypers during this 10-year period was only $1.48 per week, or, expressed in
percentage, 6.1 per cent.
Fourth. That the percentage of increase in cost of living in Detroit from
December, 1914, to December, 1925, is greater than for any other of the 32
American cities covered in the survey.
No attempt is here made to draw any other conclusion from these facts than
that the increase in real wages to Detroit stereotypers from December, 1914, to
Deceniber, 1925, has been trivial; that for a good portion of this time the stereo
typers must have labored under conditions that made life difficult to sustain,
because the advance in real wages failed completely to keep pace with the ad
vancing cost of living; and that in comparing wages in other American cities
with the Detroit scale some consideration should be given to the fact that the
cost of living in Detroit has increased by a larger percentage during this period
than in any other of the 32 cities considered. It follows that a money wage in
other cities that appears to be equal to Detroit, or even less, may be appreciably
more, depending upon cost of living, hours of labor, and other social and eco
nomic factors.
The present industrial organization of society is built upon the wage system,
and as long as it survives it must justify itself by providing the wage earner
with sufficient to live on in a manner becoming to his dignity as a man. This is
not accomplished by furnishing him with a mere subsistence. The gulf between
a mere subsistence wage and a decent and comfortable living wage should
broaden, and especially when the industry concerned is not imperiled or in any
way embarrassed as in the present case. A wage is not a living wage unless
through frugality a wage earner may earn sufficient to develop within reason
able limits his physical, spiritual, moral, and intellectual faculties and in addi
tion be able to set aside a reserve to provide for accident, old age, illness, and
misfortune.
Under the present social order the father is the natural provider for all mem
bers of the family. It follows that whenever the wage earner lacks the means
to provide for the becoming maintenance of his wife and children marriage and
home life are discouraged, women and children are obliged to labor, and there is
brought about a steady deterioration and lowering of standards in the families
affected. Therefore a living wage means a family living wage.
Budget studies are essential and helpful in giving application to the living
wage principle, but can not and should not control its use completely. All of
the budgets submitted have been studied and compared. The visiting house
keeper’s budget for Detroit, $2,010.72, submitted by the publishers, is hardly

38690°—27----- 4

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

applicable to the present dispute without considerable modification upward.
Throughout this controversy it must constantly be borne in mind that we are
seeking to determine a just wage for the members of a well-established skilled
craft. The budget referred to was not calculated to apply to a skilled worker’s
family such as a stereotyper’s. On the contrary, it was designed in the main
as a guide for relief work for relief-giving organizations. It would be unfair
to impose this budget on the families of Detroit stereotypers and would mean
a recession with no good excuse from the standard of living now prevailing.
Acceptance of this standard would only add to the perplexing problem now
existing and would have a tendency to oblige housewives and children to labor.
It is not necessary here either to approve of the budgets offered in evidence
or to arrange one as a model. However, a careful study of items and costs of
the California commission’s budget for clerks leads to the conclusion that the
present stereotyper’s wage of $8 per day, or $2,496 for a year of 312 working
days, falls short of what is necessary for the comfortable and decent support of
a stereotyper’s family living in Detroit.
It is the contention of the publishers that under the present scale the average
wage of stereotypers of Detroit is $51.08, indicating an average annual income of
$2,656.16. These figures, of course, are built on the overtime earnings of the
men, and for this reason these averages should not be a deciding factor in deter
mining a just wage scale. Overtime work saps the physical and mental strength
of the men, denies them recreation, and takes from them both the attention
they should give to and care they should receive from home. In this connection
it is observed that stereotypers of Detroit have not enjoyed the general reduc
tion in weekly hours of labor that has. taken place in their craft throughout
the country, and that they still labor on an 8-hour day and 7-hour night
schedule.
While there is no direct evidence bearing on the ability or inability of the
employers to bear an increase in wages, there is abundant evidence of an
increase in prosperity in the business of the employers. There has been no
substantial change in the relation between wages and cost of living since De
cember, 1914. No sound reason or principle requires that the relation between
cost of living and wages which prevailed in December, 1914, should remain
always constant and be adhered to as an ideal standard. At that time, for
example, there was little difference in wage between stereotypers and day
laborers. In the interest of both employer and employed, a progressive increase
in standard of living and improvement in the economic situation of the wage
earner should accompany a general increase in prosperity and living standards.
It is the opinion of the board that an increase of $3.60 per week in the wages
of stereotypers would not be unreasonable in view of conditions in the in
dustry and would be justified by the evidence submitted and the considerations
herein mentioned. The following award is made:
(1) The minimum scale for journeymen working two consecutive full-time
shifts in the same office at the request of the office representative shall be
paid a bonus of $2 for the second full-time shift over and above his regular
pay.
(2) Eight consecutive hours or any part thereof between the hours of 6.15
a. m. and 7 p. m. shall constitute a day’s work. Seven consecutive hours or
any part thereof between the hours of 5 p. m. and 5 a. m. shall constitute a
night’s work, except on Saturday, when 8 consecutive hours between the hours
of 2 p. m. and 5 a. m. Sunday shall constitute a night’s work, and the pay
for that night shall be $9.84.
(3) The minimum scale of wages to stereotypers shall be as follows: Journey
men, $8.60 per 8-hour day or 7-hour night.

Eastern Massachusetts Street Railways
A N ARBITRATION award was made September 24, 1926, be* * tween the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Co. and its
employees, members of 15 locals of the Amalgamated Association
of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America. The award
was signed by John C. Leggat, chairman, and James H. Vahey. A
dissenting opinion was filed by Fred A. Cummings.
Several questions were laid before the board for decision, but most
of them were brushed away with the statement that concerning them

PRINCIPAL ARBITRATIONS OF 1926

“ there shall be no change made in the existing contract.” The only
changes made in the existing agreement related to wages and hours,
regarding which the board spoke as follows:
1. Wages of all employees affected by this arbitration shall be increased 1%
cents an hour.
2. For all work performed over 8 hours per day men shall be paid at the rate
of time and one-half. The 8-hour day is in force on three other systems in this
State, on two of which at least the conditions are fairly comparable to those on
this system. It was admitted by the company that so far as it concerned the
operating of this system and furnishing of proper service it made no difference
whether the hours of labor per day be 8 or 9. The 8-hour day is becoming more
universal each year and is recognized by law in Massachusetts for public
employees.
The request of the men for a 12% per cent increase is not warranted by the
evidence introduced. The present cost of living figures show that there has been
little change from those of last year and then downwards about two-tenths of 1
per cent.

Explanatory of the working of the overtime rate, the board in
serted the following illustration in section 12 of the agreement:
Runs 8 hours and less than 8 hours and 30 minutes shall be paid 8 hours and
30 minutes. Runs containing 8 hours and 30 minutes and less than 9 hours
shall be paid 9 hours. All other runs shall be computed in 15-minute periods.
To prevent misunderstanding in the interpretation of this paragraph, it is
agreed that for work actually performed between 8 hours and 8 hours and 30
minutes employees shall receive pay at the overtime rate of time and one-half;
and for any remaining part of the one-half hour they shall receive pay at their
regular hourly rate. For illustration: A man operating a one-man car with
a run of 8 hours and 10 minutes shall receive pay for 8 hours at 67% cents
an hour, or $5.40. He will receive time and one-half for the 10 minutes at his
regular hourly one-man car rate. For the remaining 20 minutes of the half
hour he will receive pay for one-third of an hour at the regular hourly one-man
car rate, the one-man car rate referred to being 62% cents plus 5 cents, or 67%
cents an hour. If a run is 8 hours and 25 minutes and up to 8 hours and 29
minutes, both inclusive, he shall be paid at the rate of time and one-half on
30 minutes. For work actually performed between 8% hours and 9 hours em
ployees shall receive pay at the rate of time and one-half, and for the remain
ing period within this one-half hour they shall receive pay at their regular
hourly rate. All schedule runs with total time less than 8 hours shall pay 8
hours.

Street Railways of East St. Louis and Vicinity
'T 'H E East St. Louis & Suburban Railway Co. and the members of
*■* Locals No. 805 and No. 125 of the Amalgamated Association
of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America, June 10,
1926, submitted to arbitration a dispute between them concerning the
wages to be paid for the period beginning April 30, 1926, and ending
April 30, 1927. The arbitrators in this case were Frank M. Slater,
chairman; C. E. Smith, B. F. Thomas, jr., J. R. McMurdo, and
W. L. Perry.
Under the existing agreement wage rates of motormen and con
ductors were as follows:
Cents per hour
First 6 months______________________________________________ _45
Next 6 months______________________________________________ _50%
Next 6 months----------------------------------------------------------------------- --55%
Next 3 months______________________________________________ _56%
Thereafter___________________________________________________ _57
One-man car, 5 cents additional.

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION'

The wage rates asked for motormen and conductors for the period
beginning May 1, 1926, and ending April 30, 1927, are as follows:
Cents per hour
First 3 months.
Next 9 months...
Thereafter-------

65
70
75

For operating one-man cars and busses for regular hours work, an additional
15 cents per hour.
Interurban motormen and conductors 2 cents above city rates.

In the course of the award the board made the following state
ments:
The record consists of almost 500 pages of testimony, together with about
100 exhibits, which we have most carefully considered to arrive at a fair and
just conclusion in ' the premises.
Evidence has been presented by both sides to sustain the issues, both for and
against an increase of the wages, the condition of the employers, as well as the
employees, the character of the work of the men, as well as the character of the
property of the company.
W e have very carefully examined and weighed the evidence submitted on
behalf of the company, especially that part relative to comparable wages of
street-car men in other communities, wages of firemen, policemen, clerks, and
oher industrial employees in this community. The financial status of the com
pany and this evidence is very impressive. However, the evidence submitted
on behalf of the association, of merchants in all classes and kinds of business,
real estate men and the authority reports issued by the United Sates Bureau
of Labor Statistics show that within the last year there has been an increase
in the cost of living in Bast St. Louis and vicinity of approximately 3 per cent.
This is a paramount question in fixing wages. This increase in the cost of living,
based on the scale of wages paid conductors and motormen, gives approximately
2 cents per hour, and it is the finding of this arbitration board that all employees
covered by these arbitration proceedings shall receive a horizontal increase of 2
cents per hour. Inasmuch as this increase is based on the increased cost of
living, we further find there shall be no change in the differentials now paid for
one-man car and bus service.
These findings shall be in effect as of May 1, 1926.

Carpenters, Denver
Industrial Commission of Colorado, on April 9, 1926, ren
dered a decision in the matter of the Carpenters’ District
Council of Denver and Vicinity against the Master Builders’ Asso
ciation and other employers in the ‘city of Denver and vicinity. The
wage received by the carpenters was $9 per day. A demand for
$11 per day, effective May 1,1926, had been refused by the employers,
and the case was brought before the commission by the employees
March 15, 1926.
From the findings and award the following extracts are taken:
The said employees contend they are entitled to said increase on account of the
increased cost of living; that said employees are able to secure work for only a
part of the time throughout the year, and that their average annual earnings are
not sufficient for living purposes; that the other trades are receiving more
wages per day and per annum than the carpenters; that the carpenters are the
lowest paid of any members of the skilled building trades in the city of Denver;
that the carpenters are required to furnish more tools than any of the other
trades, and that the expense of maintaining and keeping said tools is greater
than the other trades.
The employers contend that the carpenters in Denver receive as high wages
as paid in other cities of similar size, and that only in four or five other cities
of the United States are higher wages paid carpenters than in Denver.

PRINCIPAL ARBITRATIONS OF 1926

The employers further contend that the increases in wages that the carpenters
have already received greatly exceed any increase in the cost of living.
It appears from the evidence herein that the carpenters in skill and experience
equal, if not excel, the other building trades; that said employers within the
last three years, by agreement with the members and unions of the other trades,
voluntarily increased and fixed the wages of such other crafts as follows: Brick
layers to $12 and $13 per day, plasterers to $12 and $14 per day, ironworkers to
$10 per day, electricians to $11 per day, plumbers to $12 per day or more,
painters to $10 per day, steamfitters to $11 per day, sheet-metal workers to
$10 per day, tile layers to $11 per day, common building labor to $6.50 and
around $7 per day, lathers to $11 per day.
The carpenters insisted at the hearing that at the time wages of other crafts
were raised they could have likewise obtained a similar increase and could have
received a wage proportionate to that paid other crafts, considering their skill
and ability, but that on account of strife within their own union, and because
of the strong influence of an entirely extraneous organization, they were not
able at that time to come to any arrangement or agreement among themselves
and that they were deprived of the opportunity of requesting increases granted
to the other crafts.
From the evidence introduced herein it appears to the commission that the
contractors should be protected in a large measure against any increase taking
effect on work contracted prior to the time that they had notice of a demand
for an increase in wages, and feels from the evidence herein that no such
increase should take effect prior to June 1, 1926.
The commission finds from the evidence herein that the members of this craft
are at this time entitled to a wage of $10 per day, for the reason that the wage
scales paid other members of the building-trade crafts are higher than the pres
ent wage scale of said carpenters.
Therefore it is the order and decision of the commission that, commencing
June 1,1926, said employees be paid a wage scale of $10 per day.

Ladies’ Clothing Industry, Cleveland
'T'H E board of referees in the ladies’ garment industry of Cleveland granted an increase of about 5 per cent in the wage
scales of the workers in that industry, basing their decision on an
increase in the cost of living since 1923. This board is a permanent
one for the adjustment of disputes, and consists of Morris L. Cooke,
chairman; Jacob H. Hollander, and John R. McLane. The award,
with the omission of the detailed schedules, was as follows:
The regular wage hearing scheduled for December, 1925, was postponed
under an agreement between the manufacturers and the union until April,
1926, and then again postponed by mutual consent until this time. Therefore
in determining the wage schedule which will obtain until our next regular
meeting the board is obligated to take into consideration general business
conditions, national and local wage levels both within and without the ladies’
garment industry, the status of the local garment industry, as well as such
change as may have occurred in living costs since our last consideration of the
wage scale. In fixing rates the board necessarily has in mind not only the
situation as it is on the specific date when the hearing is held but such varia
tions in the level of prices and wages as have occurred during the interval
since the present scale was established as well as the apparent trend for the
period between now and the next wage hearing.
In this instance the union is asking for a very considerable and specific
wage increase, basing their request on the higher cost of living and on what
appears to them to be a favorable business outlook and a betterment in the
local garment industry as well as an increase in the output for individual
workers due to a stiffening in the standards. The employers have argued
strenuously against any raise during this period of what they concede may be
one of returning prosperity to the Cleveland market. They have argued that
due to the guaranteed 40 weeks of work and the present scale the Cleveland
workers now receive higher annual returns than those of any other market.
The manufacturers— perhaps not very strenuously— argued for a reduction of

present rates.

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

We feel that everything considered there are not sufficient grounds for any
general increase in real wages at this time. Local and national business condi
tions do not warrant too positive assumptions as to whither we are going or
where we will be six months from now or at the time of the next wage adjust
ment. We are hopeful that the union’s prediction may be fulfilled. However,
it has been established that whatever have been the ups and downs in living
costs since April, 1923, such costs are now in the neighborhood of 5 per cent
higher than they were then and we are ordering an increase in the schedule
which will adjust for the change. [The old and new schedules follow: 2]
The union has asked for “ an award of a proportionate increase for workers
receiving week-work wages above the minimum because of their productive
ability.” As a matter of practice the board has always found it impossible
to do more than establish the minimum. W e have in this decision raised the
minimum. W e can register an opinion that equity demands the adjustment
in rates which have been for good reason fixed above the minimum, when there
is a general advance in minimums. But it is not feasible to do more than this.
The same also applies to the case of the unclassified workers. As we have
provided for an increase in the minimum, it seems reasonable to suppose that
employers will make corresponding changes above the minimum for such un
classified workers. The referees, however, as stated above, can not depart from
their previous refusal to interfere in the actual wages of unclassified workers.
It would be inexpedient to do so. We agree with the contention of the union
that there should not be a group of unclassified workers falling outside the pro
tection of the agreement. We suggest that the union and the manufacturers
make an effort to work out some mutually satisfactory scheme for bringing
these workers under our jurisdiction. In case of failure we request a list of
such workers, together with their compensations be brought before us at our
next meeting for such action as may then seem wise.

Conciliation Work of the United States Department of
Labor
S ITS title indicates, the work of the conciliation service of the
Department of Labor is that of mediation in labor disputes.
The following description of the work of the division is taken
from the 1926 annual report of the Secretary of Labor:
“ Experience has demonstrated that no hard and fast rules or
policies can be laid down to guide commissioners in the work of
mediation. Nearly every strike or lockout presents distinct prob
lems, which require different handling. This is due to the collective
characteristics that are generally found and that make necessary the
exercise of different methods and procedure by the commissioner.
Local situations, markets, physical conditions, and the personal equa
tion enter into cases of trade disputes, and these elements practically
make each a case unto itself.
“ The authority for the work of conciliation gives the Secretary of
Labor the right to assign commissioners of conciliation whenever he
believes it advisable to do so. The Secretary, however, unless it is a
dispute of unusual character or great importance, believes it the best
policy not to intervene unless one or both of the parties directly
affected or officials or representatives of the community concerned
request the good offices of the department. Yery often negotiations
looking toward a settlement are in progress and it would be unwise
for any agency, governmental or otherwise, to intervene while there
is a real prospect of securing a settlement.

2 These schedule are given in the Labor Review for August, 1926, p.. 221.

CONCILIATION WORK OF LABOR DEPARTMENT

“ In these circumstances the commissioner in touch with the situa
tion takes no part other than quietly to advise the committee or rep
resentatives of both sides, and then only when invited to do so.
Often he is able to give assistance at the proper moment that aids in
clearing up the issue in dispute. In other cases it at once becomes
apparent to the contestants in an industrial dispute that an experi
enced Government mediator is necessary to guide the negotiations,
and the record of success that has attended the different kinds of
cases has been very gratifying.
“A trained, neutral Government representative generally finds
both sides to a trade dispute willing to accept his services. He enters
a case without bias and immediately proceeds to bring about con
ferences where the differences are taken up and discussed at the
council table where he can by counsel and suggestion guide the
interested parties in the negotiation of a satisfactory settlement.
“ The success of our commissioners in securing acceptable settle
ments is more worthy of note from the fact that their services are
largely required when personal feeling runs high and attempts at
adjustment through other agencies have failed. It must be remem
bered that a break in industrial relations due to a strike or lockout is
conducive to an abnormal state of mind of the disputants. Incidents
that would have no particular significance in times of industrial
peace, in time of dispute are magnified and distorted. Men say
things in times of conflict they would not say at other times—things
which distress and anger. The whole atmosphere is surcharged with
suspicion and resentment. It is not unusual to find the economic
causes of the dispute quite lost sight of in the human desire to win the
struggle in order that lost prestige may be regained and wounded
feelings assuaged.
“Again, stressing the fact that the department deems it wise policy
not to intervene where amicable negotiations are in progress between
the disputants or other agencies are successfully at work to bring
about a satisfactory settlement, attention should be called to the real
desirability of requesting the services of our commissioners before
the strike or lockout stage has been reached.
“ The efforts of the representatives of this service are directed
always toward the prevention of an open break that stops production,
with the consequent loss in wages and profits. They endeavor to have
work go on while negotiations are being conducted to bring about a
settlement of the existing differences. I f this be impossible and a
strike or lockout occurs, then their task is to secure a prompt and
workable adjustment, having always in mind the interests not only
of the employer and employees, but of the public as well.
“ The success that has followed as a result of the work of this
branch of the department during the fiscal year can not be definitely
set forth in the records because in scores of instances employers
and representatives of employees have counseled with and accepted
the judgment and advice of the commissioners on matters of indus
trial relationship which possibly might have resulted in serious
strikes or lockouts. There is no wav of recording the exact results
of this important part of the work of the commissioner of con
ciliation.”

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION

During 1925-26 the service used its good offices in 551 industrial
disputes, and was successful in securing settlements in 377 cases. In
70 cases, the commissioners aided State and local agencies and civic
committees in clearing up disputes. In 61 cases, they were unable to
secure an adjustment but in a few even of these the dispute was later
adjusted along lines suggested by the commissioners.
Data supplied to the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the concilia
tion service show that since the creation of the service in 1913, it has
handled 7,503 industrial disputes, involving directly and indirectly
approximately 11,000,000 employees. During the past five years,
2,558 cases, involving some 2,800,000 workers, have been referred to
the conciliation service, and in from 84 to 87 per cent of the cases
settlements have been reached. The average of cases handled per
month during the five-year period is 51.
The service at the end of 1926 has before it for settlement 68 cases
involving the relationship between men and management. These
cases are from 17 States.

CHILD LABOR

Extent and Character of Child Labor
HE only comprehensive figures regarding the extent and occu
pational character of child labor in the United States are those
of the United States census of 1920, many of which have been
analyzed in publications of the Federal Children’s Bureau. These
figures show that at the time of the census there was a total of
1,060,858 children 10 to 15 years of age, inclusive, gainfully em
ployed in the United States. This total was distributed by occupa
tion and sex as shown in Table 1:

T
T

able

1.—O C C U P A T IO N S O F C H IL D R E N 10 T O 15 Y E A R S
BY S E X i

Boys

O F A G E , IN C L U S IV E ,

Girls

Total

Occupation
N um
ber
Agricultural pursuits, forestry, and animal hus
bandry___________________________________________
Farm labor (home farm )___ ________ ___________
Farm labor (away from hom e)___ ____ _________
Other pursuits__________________________________
Nonagricultural pursuits________________________ - __
Manufacturing and mechanical industries_______
Clerical occupations_____________________________
Trade.............................................................................
Domestic and personal service__________________
Transportation__________________________________
Extraction of minerals...................... .......................
Professional service______________________________
P ublic service (not elsewhere classified).................
Total______________ ______ ______ ____ _______

Per
cent

N um
ber

Per
cent

Number

459,238
396,191
51,000
12,047
255,010
104,335
59,633
49,234
16,082
15,617
7,045
1,979
1,085

64.3
55.5
7.1
1.7
35.7
14.6
8.3
6.9
2.3
2.2
1.0
.3
.2

188,071
173,633
12,990
1,448
158,539
81,002
20,507
14,134
37,924
3,295
146
1,486
45

54.3
50.1
3.7
.4
45.7
23.4
5.9
4.1
10.9
1.0
(2)
.4
(2)

647,309
569,824
63,990
13,495
413,549
185,337
80,140
63,368
54,006
18,912
7,191
3,465
1,130

61.0
53.7
6.0
1.3
39.0
17.5
7.6
6.0
5.1
1.8
.7
.3
.1

714,248

100.0

346, 610

100.0

1,060,858

100.0

* Fourteenth Census of the United States, Population: 1920.
* Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

Per
cent

Occupations of Children

It will be seen that by far the largest numbers both of boys and
of girls are found in agriculture, with manufacturing and mechanical
industries standing second for both sexes. Among boys, clerical
occupations, and among girls, personal and domestic service take
third place. Agriculture and most forms of personal and domestic
service are exempt from the restrictions of child labor legislation,
and it is significant to note that 66.5 per cent of the boys and
65.5 per cent of the girls are found in these two unregulated indus
tries. The probability is that the number in agriculture is really
larger than shown, since the census figures were taken in January,
at which time there is little farm work available for children, yet
even so, the table shows that child labor laws affect little more than
one-third of either the boys or the girls gainfully employed. Not
far from one-sixth of the boys and over one-fifth of the girls are in
manufacturing and mechanical pursuits, which are usually the first
to be brought under legal control.

CHILD LABOR

The statement below gives in more detail the occupational distribu
tion of the children 10 to 15 years of age who wereengaged in
nonagricultural pursuits in 1920:
Num ber

Messenger, bundle, and office boys and girls 1___ 48, 028
Servants and waiters____________________________ 41, 586
Salesmen and saleswomen (stores) 2-------------------- 30, 370
Clerks (except clerks in stores)__________________ 22, 521
21, 875
Cotton-mill operatives__________________________
Newsboys________________________________________ 20, 706
Iron and steel industry operatives______________
12, 904
Clothing-industry operatives____________________
11, 757
10, 585
Lumber and furniture industry operatives_____
Silk-mill operatives______________________________
10, 023
Shoe-factory operatives_________________________
7, 545
Woolen and worsted mill operatives____________
7, 077
Coal-mine operatives____________________________
5, 850
All other occupations____________________________ 162, 722
All nonagricultural pursuits______________ 413, 549

Per cent

11. 6
10. 1
7. 3
5. 4
5. 3
5. 0
3. 1
2. 8
2. 6
2. 4
1. 8
1. 7
1. 4
39. 3
100. 0

This shows that over one-fifth (21.1 per cent) of the total group
are operatives in some variety of mill, factory, or mine; 5 per cent,
as newsboys, work under rather indefinite regulation; 10 per cent,
as servants and waiters, may or may not be under legal supervision,
according to whether their work is in hotels, restaurants, and similar
places, or in private homes.

Geographical Distribution
/GEOGRAPHICALLY the working children are widely distrib^JL uted. In 1920 the proportion of children 10 to 15 years of
age, inclusive, who were gainfully employed ranged from 3 per cent
in the three Pacific Coast States to 17 per cent in the east South
Central States, comprising Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and
Mississippi. When all occupations are taken into account, the pro
portion of children at work was much larger in the South than in
any other section of the country; but when nonagricultural occupa
tions alone are considered, the proportion was considerably larger
for New England and for the Middle Atlantic States, and slightly
larger for the east North Central States—Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, Wisconsin—than for any of the three southern geographic
divisions.
i Except telegraph messengers.

8 Includes) clerks in stores.

EXTENT AND CHARACTER.
T

able

2 .—P E R

CENT

C H IL D R E N E N G A G E D IN G A IN F U L O C C U P A T IO N S , B Y
S T A T E S , 1920 *

Children 10 to 15 years of age, inclusive
Engaged in gainful occupations
Division and State
Total

Agricultural
Number

A ll other

Percent
Number

Per cent

N um ber

Per cent

768,131
82,829
45,691
38,579
394,026
63,739
143,267
2,397,736
1,059,635
341,185
996,916
2,312,711
596,741
323,979
699,310
384,213
308,468
1,477,363
277,528
270,217
395,682
87,883
78,427
155,920
211,706
1,911,574
23,809
164,546
35,230
311,915
191,299
373,484
260,204
427,235
123,852
1,267,275
318,408
323,548
349,537
275,782
1,449,764
259,593
258,052
289,533
642,586
393,563
60,045
54,641
20,387
104,790
48,032
38,278
60,675
6,715
524,465
138,645
81,500
304,320

59,239
2,585
1,526
1,277
33,723
8,569
11,559
131,541
49,846
26,024
55,671
100,801
18,119
16,911
36,933
13,154
15,684
57,906
8,271
9,121
22,587
2,816
2,555
5,286
7,270
273,981
1,406
12,300
1,871
25,493
7,431
62,162
63,520
88,934
10,864
221,342
26,754
39,837
84,397
70,354
184,267
48,140
32,274
22,981
80,872
15,612
1,402
1,608
608
4,558
2,195
2,711
2,361
169
16,169
4,650
2,462
9,057

7.7
3.1
3.3
3.3
8.6
13.4
8.1
5.5
4.7
7.6
5.6
4.4
3.0
5.2
5.3
3.4
5.1
3.9
3.0
3.4
5.7
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.4
14.3
5.9
7.5
5.3
8.2
3.9
16.6
24.4
20.8
8.8
17.5
8.4
12.3
241
25.5
12.7
18.5
12.5
7.9
12.6
4.0
2.3
2.9
3.0
4.3
4.6
7.1
3.9
2.5
3.1
3.4
3.0
3.0

3,053
823
215
510
831
119
555
8,922
2,401
998
5,523
23,425
3,721
4,844
5,801
3,588
5,471
29,722
4,698
4,184
9,622
2,364
1,928
3,171
3,755
214,906
393
3,168
5
15,501
4,112
50,582
56,920
77,105
7,120
196,620
21,036
32,326
77,395
65,863
158,187
45,686
23,718
19,752
69,031
8,950
678
1,092
307
1,955
1,418
1,981
1,477
42
3,524
1,024
668
1,832

0.4
1.0
.5
1.3
.2
.2
.4
.4
.2
.3
.6
1.0
.6
1.5
.8
.9
1.8
2.0
1.7
1.5
2.4
2.7
2.5
2.0
1.8
11.2
1.7
1.9
(2)
5.0
2.1
13.5
21.9
18.0
5.7
15.5
6.6
10.0
22.1
23.9
10.9
17.6
9.2
6.8
10.7
2.3
1.1
2.0
1.5
1.9
3.0
5.2
2.4
.6
.7
.7
.8
.6

56,186
1,762
1,311
767
32,892
8,450
11,004
122,619
47,445
25,026
50,148
77,376
14,398
12,067
31,132
9,566
10,213
28,184
3,573
4,937
12,965
452
627
2,115
3,515
59,075
1,013
9,132
1,866
9,992
3,319
11,580
6,600
11,829
3,744
24,722
5,718
7,511
7,002
4,491
26,080
2,454
8,556
3,229
11,841
6,662
724
516
301
2,603
' 777
730
884
127
12,645
3,626
1,794
7,225

7.3
2.1
2.9
2.0
8.3
13.3
7.7
5.1
4.5
7.3
5.0
3.3
2.4
3.7
4.5
2.5
3.3
1.9
1.3
1.8
3.3
.5
.8
1.4
1.7
3.1
4.3
5.5
5.3
3.2
1.7
3.1
2.5
2.8
3.0
2.0
1.8
2.3
2.0
1.6
1.8
.9
3.3
1.1
1.8
1.7
1.2
.9
1.5
2.5
1.6
1.9
1.5
1.9
2.4
2.6
2.2
2.4

United States.............. 12,502,582

1,060,858

8.5

647,309

5.2

413,549

3.3

N ew England.........................
M aine...............................
N ew Hampshire.............
V e rm o n t.-......................
Massachusetts.................
Rhode Island..................
Connecticut.....................
M iddle Atlantic.....................
N ew Y ork........................
N ew Jersey......................
Pennsylvania..................
East North Central. ............
O h io ...............................
Indiana- ..........................
Illin o is --..........................
M ichigan..........................
W isconsin........................
W est N orth Central.............
Minnesota........................
Iow a__..............................
M issou ri--......................
North Dakota.................
South D akota.................
Nebraska..........................
Kansas.............................
South A tla n tic -....................
Delaware..........................
M aryland........................
District of Columbia___
Virginia............................
W est Virginia.................
North Carolina...............
South Carolina...............
Georgia.............................
Florida.............................
East South Central...............
Kentucky........................
Tennessee_____________
Alabama..........................
Mississippi.................. . .
West South Central..............
Arkansas..........................
Louisiana-......................
Oklahoma........................
T e x a s --............................
M ountain...............................
M ontana..........................
Id a h o-..............................
W y o m in g --.....................
Colorado..........................
N ew Mexico....................
Arizona. ..........................
U tah.................................
N ev a d a ...........................
Pacific......................................
Washington.....................
Oregon..............................
California........................

i Compiled from Fourteenth Census of the United States, Population, 1920: Children in Gainful Occu
pations, p. 13.

*Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent,

CHILD LABOR.

Changes in Extent of Child Labor from 1910 to 1920
T H E 1920 census showed a considerable decrease in the num* ber of children gainfully employed as compared with the figures
for 1910. The following table gives the percentage changes:
T

3 —R E L A T IV E C H A N G E IN N U M B E R S OF C H IL D R E N A N D O F A L L P E R S O N S
10 Y E A R S O F A G E A N D O V E R G A IN F U L L Y E M P L O Y E D , 1910 T O 1920, B Y O C C U P A T IO N
A N D AGE i

able

Per cent of increase or decrease,
1910-1920
All persons
10 years of
age and
over

Children
10 to 15
years
of age

Total population_____________ _______________ ____________________

+15.6

+ 15.5

+ 18.4

Total gainfully em ployed___________________________ ______________
Agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry___________________
Farm laborers (home farm)________________________________
Farm laborers (working ou t)______________________________
Nonagricultural pursuits______________________________________
Extraction of minerals................................................... ...............
Manufacturing and mechanical industries_________________
Transportation___________ _______________ ________________
Trade............................................................... ...............................
Public service (not elsewhere classified)____________________
Professional service______ ____ _____ __________ ___________
Domestic and personal service............... .....................................
Clerical occupations_______________________________________

+ 9 .0
- 1 3 .5
-4 4 .1
—22.1
+20.2
+13.0
+ 20.6
+ 16.2
+ 17.4
+ 67.8
+ 26.6
-9 .7
+80.0

-4 6 .7
-5 4 .8
-5 0 .8
- 7 5 .4
- 2 5 .9
-6 0 .2
- 2 9 .0
- 9 .1
-1 0 .4
+110.4
-2 .8
-5 1 .9
+ 12.9

-5 7 .8
-5 8 .9
-5 5 .1
-8 1 .1
-4 8 .8
-7 2 .6
-7 1 .1
-2 9 .1
-1 .7
+142.9
+ 7 .4
-6 2 .7
-4 .6

Occupation

Children
10 to 13
years
of age

i Compiled from Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920: Children in Gainful Occupations,
pp. 65, 68; Occupations, Age of Occupied Persons, p. 378; Thirteenth Census of the United States, V ol. IV ,
Population, 1910, Occupation Statistics, p. 302.

According to the United States Census Bureau, a large part of the
decrease in the number of children reported in 1920 as employed
is apparent rather than real. This is due primarily to a change in
the census date from April 15 in 1910 to January 1 in 1920, a cir
cumstance which largely explains the smaller number of children
reported in 1920 as engaged in farm work and other seasonal occu
pations in which fewer children are employed in January than in
the spring. Since by far the greater part (84.5 per cent) of the
decline in the number of children reported at work in all occupa
tions is due to the large decrease (54.8 per cent) in the number re
ported as employed in agricultural pursuits, clearly much of the
total decrease reported in 1920 can not be regarded as an actual
reduction in the total numbers of children gainfully employed. In
the nonagricultural occupations, however, much of the decline in the
numbers of children reported as employed represents a real decrease,
which may safely be attributed to conditions affecting directly and
especially the labor of children. Chief among these are the enact
ment and strengthening of legal regulations.

Restrictions on Industrial Employment of Children
C H I L D labor has always existed in this country, and in view of
the modern position there is a certain irony in the fact that
the earliest legislation on the subject in the colonies was passed
to enforce the productive employment of children, especially in
cotton spinning. With the industrial revolution, however, and the

RESTRICTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN

growth of the factory system, the conditions of child labor changed
entirely, and protective measures began to appear on the statute
books of the various States. At first these laws were intended only to
secure for the working child some chance for an education, and as
early as 1813 Connecticut passed a law “ providing for the education
of working children by the proprietors of manufacturing establish
ments in which children were employed.” 3 Next came regulation
of hours of work for minors, and then prohibition of employment
of children under specified ages. Little effective legislation, how
ever, was passed before 1860, and what might be called modern
standards did not appear until near the end of the century.
By the beginning of the twentieth century child labor had be
come an exceedingly live issue, and a number of States were taking
active steps to control and regulate it. There was a strong convic
tion, however, that a problem of such dimensions required coordi
nated treatment by an organization of national scope, and in 1904
the National Child Labor Committee was formed. With other
organizations it was instrumental in securing the passage of a reso
lution by Congress in 1907 authorizing the Commissioner of Labor
to conduct an investigation into the whole subject of woman and
child wage earners, with special reference to the physical and moral
effects of their employment, the safeguards provided for them, their
wages, cost of living, and the like. The investigation thus author
ized was the first general inquiry into the conditions of child labor
throughout the Union, and its published results played a part in
bringing about the establishment of the Federal Chldren’s Bureau
in 1912. This bureau was not intended to supersede in any way
the work of the separate State bureaus, but to supplement their
efforts, covering a wider field, aiding to establish national standards,
and dealing with questions—such as the employment of migratory
child workers or the varying conditions under which children are
employed in a given industry in different parts of the country—which
do not fall within the province of any individual State. Also, it
deals with matters of child welfare apart from industrial
employment.

Age and Hours of Labor
C1VERY State in the Union regulates by law the employment of
children. All but Wyoming prescribe a minimum age for
entrance on employment, and this State has a compulsory schoolattendance law, effective during the time that the public schools are
in session.
The following table presents the standards fixed for employment
in factories and workshops so far as age and hours are concerned;
also the minimum age for employment in mines. As a rule the
same standard applies to mercantile establishments and to factories,
though there are some exceptions. In some States the same stand
ards also apply to all gainful occupations; but inasmuch as interest
centers on the subject of factory employment, the table presents this
topic with the fewest possible notes.
3 U. S. Department of Labor.
1926, p. 4.

Children’s Bureau.

Publication No. 93.

Washington,

52
M IN IM U M

CHILD LABOR
AGE

AND

M A X I M U M H O U R S F O R T H E E M P L O Y M E N T OF

C H IL D R E N

Factories and workshops

W ork time limited to—
State

mum
age

Hours per—
Age
D ay

Alabama.......................
Arizona..... ...................
Arkansas......................
C aliforn ia-..................
Colorado—. .................
Connecticut....... ........
Delaware......................
District of C olum bia.
Florida..........................
Georgia..........................
I d a h o .........................
Illinois______________
Indiana_____________
Iow a ------------------------K entucky_______
Louisiana.............
Maine....................
M aryland.............
Massachusetts___
Michigan...............
M innesota............
Mississippi...........
Missouri—. .........
M ontana...............
Nebraska..............
N e v a d a ..............
N ew HampshireN ew Jersey______
New M exico........
N ew Y ork ............
North Carolina—.
N orth Dakota___
O h i o . .- ............... .
Oklahoma.............
Oregon •.............. .
Pennsylvania___
Rhode Island___
South C a r o lin a South Dakota___
Tennessee............
T e x a s - - .............
U tah......................
V e rm o n t--..........
Virginia...............
W ashington6____
West Virginia___
W isconsin............
W y o m in g --........

14
14
14
16
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
15
14
14
15
14
14
14
16
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
16
14
14
14
15
14
14
14
15
14
14
14
14
14
14

Night work pro
hibited

16
U6
16
18
16
16
16
16
16
(3)
16
16
1 16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
18
16
16
16

(4)

16
i 16
1 16
16
16
16
(5)
16
i 16
16
16
16
16
(2)
16
16
15
714
16
16
18
16
16
16

8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
9
9
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
10
8
8
8
8
8
8
10M
8
8
8
11
8
8
8
8
9
10
10
10
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8

W eek

48
48
48
48
48
26
48
48
54
60
54
26
48
48
48
48
48
48
48
54
48
44
48

To
age

16
116
16
18
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
116
16
16
16
116
16
16
16
U6
16
16
16

Mines,
minimum
age

Be
tween

p.m . a.m.
7 6
7 7
7 6
10 5
8
6 6
7 6
7 6
8 5
7 6
9 6
7 7
7 6
6 7
6 7
6 7
7 6
6 6.30
7 7
6 6.30
6 6
7 7
7 6
7 7

48
16
8 6
48
54 ........ i<T ‘ T 6.30
48
16
7 7
44
16
7 7
44
16
5 8
60
16
9 6
48
16
7 7
48
1 16
6 7
48
U6
6 7
26
16
6 7
51
16
8 6
54
16
8 6
55
16
8 6
54
26
16
7 6
48
15 10 5
48
26
16
7 6
44
16
6 7
26
18
7 6
48
16
7 6
48
16
6 7
48
16
7 7

16
18
16
16
16
16
16
16
14
16
16
14
16
16
14
15
16
15
14
16
16
16
14
18
14
16
16
16
16
16
16
14
14
16
17
16
16
16
16
16
18
16

1 18 for females.
3 Days.
» Employees in cotton and woolen mills; no age limit.
* Females; no age limit.
8 Factories; no age limit.
• W ork time and night work fixed b y order of commission.
7 16 for females.

Educational and Other Restrictions
A GE and hour limitations are the most obvious methods of regu* * lating child labor, but other methods have been adopted in
recent years, the most general being the requirement of educational
qualifications, the establishment o f minimum conditions of health
and physical development, and prohibition of employment in dan

IN FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CANNERIES

gerous or unhealthful occupations. According to a summary issued
by the Children’s Bureau in 1924 (its Publication No. 93), an edu
cational qualification for children wishing to enter employment is
required by 38 States, 30 of which require the completion of a speci
fied school grade. In 29 States physical requirements have been
established, and in 22 of these an examination by a physician is
compulsory before an employment certificate may be issued. The
earlier legislation as to prohibited occupations usually forbade the
employment of children in “ vocations injurious to health or
dangerous to life or limb.” 44While the language of these early provisions was so broad that
it would seem to have included the employment of children under
the prohibited age in occupations in which they were exposed to
dangerous gases, poisons, and other health hazards, it was generally
narrowly interpreted so as to include only immoral exhibitions, acro
batic performances, and other occupations usually described as
vicious in themselves. About 1900 the policy of including in the
child-labor laws a< list of machines and of certain unhealthful
occupations was begun.”

Trend and Difficulties of Regulation
'T H E standards of child-labor regulation have been fairly well
worked out by this time. It is rather generally agreed that
before a child begins industrial work he should have the time and
opportunity to secure the beginning of a sound physical development
and at least the rudiments of an education; that when employed he
should be guarded against the strain of overlong hours, and over
heavy work, and night work; that since a child is naturally and
inevitably more heedless than adults, he should be excluded from the
more hazardous pursuits; that he should not be allowed to work
under unhealthful or demoralizing conditions; and in some parts
of the country it is agreed that he should have opportunities
while employed for carrying on his education, especially along voca
tional lines, at least until he reaches the age of 18. These aims have
not all been attained, but public opinion has been aroused to their
desirability, and progress is being made toward them. A number of
problems, however, still demand attention, some rising from the
difficulty of enforcing the laws, and some due to the fact that certain
industries or occupations are exempt from regulation. Sometimes
one industry presents problems of both kinds, owing to differences in
State laws. An illustration of this is found in the canning industry,
in which children are numerously employed. (See article below.)

Child Labor in Fruit and Vegetable Canneries
N THE year ending June 30, 1926, the Children’s Bureau made
an investigation into the extent and conditions of child labor in
the fruit and vegetable canneries of six States, covering “ the
special problems o f the migratory child worker in the canning in
dustry, including housing, sanitation and the methods of recruiting

38690°— 27------ 5

CHILD LABOR

such labor.” The results of the study are summarized in the annual
report of the chief of the bureau for the year, as follows:
“ Inspections were made in 536 canneries in six States (Delaware,
Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin). These es
tablishments together employed approximately 52,000 persons, of
whom 3,276, employed in 473 establishments, were under 16 years
of age, 1,120, or more than one-third of these, being less than 14,
or under the legal age for employment in canneries in all but one
of the States included in the inquiry. In this State, in which chil
dren of 12 years of age could legally be employed in canneries
during school vacations, 114 children under this age were at work,
many of them after the opening of school in the fall. In all, 302
of the children were less than 12 years of age, 57 of these being
under 10. A number of children, including some too young for
legal employment in canneries under the child labor laws of their
States, were working in hazardous occupations or under conditions
detrimental to their health or safety.
“ Hours of work were long for the majority of the children, reliable
information obtained from time records or other sources showing
that at least 2,771, or more than four-fifths of the working children
undSr 16 (including 966 children under 14), had worked over eight
hours a day. In the canning industry long work days at the peak
of the season are customary, and in a number of States this in
dustry is exempt from the legal hour restrictions applicable to women
and minors in other factory work. In all six of the States included
in this inquiry the hours of labor of children in factory work were
regulated by law, but in three of these States canneries were specifi
cally exempted. In the other three the maximum 8-hour day and
48-hour week for factory work covered work in canneries; but
though the proportion of workers under 16 employed more than
eight hours a day was less in these States than in those in which
there was no legal regulation as to hours (59 per cent as compared
with 92 per cent) their number (476) was not inconsiderable. More
over, a large proportion of the children under 16 years of age (2,174,
or about three-fifths of the total) worked 10 hours or more; onefifth (684) worked 12 hours or more; 246 (87 of whom were girls)
worked 14 ho'urs or more, and 62 (including 9 girls) worked from
16 up to 20 hours. Weekly hours also were in many cases excessive.
“A considerable number of children worked at night. Almost
two-fifths (1,241, or 38 per cent) of those under 16, including 421
under 14 years of age, were found to have been employed between
the hours of 7 p. m. and 6 a. m., contrary to the provisions of the
former Federal child labor laws and of the laws regulating the work
of children in factories in 34 States at the present time. Night work
is not regulated in canneries in the three States included in this study
which do not regulate the maximum daily and weekly hours of em
ployment, although prohibited in other kinds of factory employment.
In the three States in which legal prohibition exists 265, or 33 per
cent, of the child workers under 16 were employed between 7 p. m.
and 6 a. m., as compared with 976, or 39 per cent, of the children in
the three States in which no such legal regulation exists.”
The study shows in general that children under 16 are very gen
erally employed in the canning industry; that in some States, because

AGRICULTURE---- MIGRATORY WORKERS

of the exemption of canneries from the laws regulating the work o f
children in other manufacturing industries, many children are em
ployed without adequate legal protection; and that even in States
where laws exist for their protection a very considerable number of
children are employed in violation of these laws.

Children in Agriculture— Migratory Workers
HERE are few regulations applying to the work of children in
agricultural occupations. Agricultural employment for chil
dren, as the layman often thinks of it, consists in a child’s
doing chores suited to his strength around his father’s place, gradu
ally taking up one occupation after another, and learning farming
in a natural, practical, and healthful way. Unfortunately the de
velopment of agriculture into a large-scale industry has led to the
employment of children, sometimes on their parents’ place, but more
often among strangers, under conditions of long hours, unsuitable
work, and sometimes hazardous occupations, almost as undesirable
as are found in unregulated factory industries. For several years
the Children’s Bureau carried on special studies along this line.
Some of its findings are brought together in a report on migratory
child workers made to the Association of Governmental Labor Offi
cials at a convention held in June, 1926. The following is an abstract
of that report:
“ During the period 1920-1924, the industrial division of the Chil
dren’s Bureau made a series of studies of children engaged in agri
cultural work, selecting typical farming areas in different sections
of the country with the idea of giving a fairly representative picture
of the work of children on farms. By personal interviews detailed
information was obtained regarding approximately 13,500 children
under 16 years of age engaged in agricultural labor full time, though
usually seasonal, in 14 States, including sugar-beet growing sections
in Michigan and Colorado, cotton-growing counties in Texas, truck
and small-fruit areas in southern New Jersey and in Maryland,
Virginia, Illinois, Washmgton, and Oregon, wheat, potato raising,
and grazing sections in North Dakota, a section in the Illinois corn
belt, and tobacco-growing districts in Kentucky, South Carolina,
Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.”
The most undesirable conditions found during these investigations
were those affecting migratory children, of whom the number was
unexpectedly large.
“Approximately 3,000 migratory child workers were included in the
Children’s Bureau studies, regarding as migratory workers those who
were not living at home during the period in which they worked on
the farms. These children were found in the greatest numbers work
ing in the beet fields of Colorado and Michigan and on the truck
farms of Maryland and New Jersey and the fruit and the hop ranches
of the Northern Pacific States, but a few of them worked in the cotton
fields in Texas and on truck iarms in the vicinity of Chicago.
“ The migratory children included in the Children’s Bureau studies
by no means represent the total number of such child workers, even

CHILD LABOR

in the sections where the studies were made. For example, in parts
of Weld and Larimer Counties in the Colorado sugar-beet raising
districts the Children’s Bureau study included 1,073 children who
were beet field workers, of whom 774, or 72 per cent, were contract
laborers’ children, almost all of whom were migratory workers;
whereas it was estimated by the judge of the Weld County court that
about 2,500 children were at work in the beet fields of Weld County
and if the proportion of migratory laborers’ children in the Chil
dren’s Bureau study holds good for these there were almost 1,800
migratory child workers on the beets in this one county. In the
study of children working on the hop ranches and in the fruit
orchards of Washington and Oregon some of the largest ranches even
in the districts surveyed were not visited, so that the 1,000 migratory
child workers interviewed were only a small proportion of the num
ber at work. Conditions as found by the Children’s Bureau do not,
therefore, give a complete picture of children throughout the country
who migrate to the farms for seasonal work, but it is believed to be a
representative one.”
The most objectionable conditions found in connection with the
employment of migratory child workers, in these investigations, were
the housing situation, the long hours worked, and the interference
with school attendance. Each of these topics is discussed at some
length.

Housing and Sanitation
« A LTHOUGH farmers were beginning to realize that they could
not attract and hold the better class of laborers unless they
provided comfortable quarters, only too often the living arrangements
for migratory workers were the veriest makeshift, violating every
standard of decency as well as comfort.
“ Laborers’ families in both Colorado and Michigan occupied any
kind of shelter that was available for temporary use—abandoned
farm houses, rude frame or tar-paper shacks, and even tents and
caravan wagons—though some of the sugar companies in Michigan
had provided one or two room portable cottages for their laborers.
The dwellings were in many cases in bad repair, dark, ill ventilated,
and far from weatherproof. Overcrowding was extreme. In Colo
rado 77 per cent and in Michigan 60 per cent of the laborers’ families
lived with two or more persons per room. Sanitation was poor, and
the water supply especially in the irrigated districts of Colorado, was
often neither plentiful nor protected against contamination. Most
of the laborers occupied their 6beet shacks’ for five or six months
a year.
“ In Anne Arundel County, near Baltimore, Md., individual farmers
maintained camps for the migratory workers. Most of them con
tained but one building, known as a shanty, which served as sleeping
quarters for all workers, a weather-beaten or unpainted structure
the windows of which usually lacked either glass or shutters or both.
As a rule there was but one room on each floor, with stairs on the out
side leading into the upper room. On each side of a narrow aisle
down the center the floor was divided into sections or pens by boards
10 or 12 inches in height, each being about 6 feet long and from 4 to 6
feet wide and covered with straw for a mattress. Each family was

IK AGEK5XJLTTOE— MIGRATORY WORKERS

allotted one of these pens. At night men, women, and children,
partially clad, one family separated from the next by the plank, lay
side by side. One such shanty in one of the camps housed 95 persons.
More flian one-half the families had no toilet facilities, 12 of the 25
camps visited had no privy, only one had adequate toilet arrange
ments, and most of the camps were located dangerously near the water
supply. 4Here we are like fish in a barrel ’ many families declared,
describing the way in which they lived as ‘ like hogs,5 4like sheep,’
and 6like cattle beasts.’
“ In southern New Jersey the workers were generally housed in labor
camps on the grower’s premises, varying in size from a rude building
or two, housing half a dozen families, to large, well-organized settle
ments, villages in themselves, housing 300 to 400 pickers. The living
quarters were either one or two room row buildings or large two-story
barnlike structures divided into small rooms upstairs and down and
housing many families. Some of the camp buildings were in good
repair, but even in the best camps congestion was very great; 55 per
cent had three or more persons per room, 27 per cent at least four.
The amount of cubic air space was very inadequate. No provision
was made for disposal of garbage or of waste water, and the privies
were often insanitary. In connection with the housing provided for
migratory families in New Jersey it is interesting to note that the
Mothers’ Assistance Fund of Philadelphia would not grant mothers’
pensions to families migrating to the truck farms, on the ground that
the crowded conditions in the country were bad for the children.”

Conditions of Work
“ 'T H E child workers in industrialized agriculture—employed, as
they usually are, for harvesting when speed is essential, work
ing at piece rates, at monotonous and repetitive operations, and under
the eye of the row boss—work under conditions not very different
from those of factory hands, except that their hours are often much
longer than factory hours.
“ The Children’s Bureau found that on New Jersey truck farms 41
per cent of the migratory child workers of all ages worked at least
9 hours a day and 12 per cent worked 10 or more hours. The 9 or
10 hour day for children was even more common in the hopyards
and fruit orchards of Washington and Oregon; in the hopyards and
prune orchards of the Willamette Valley district studied in Oregon
33 per cent of the migratory child workers worked at least 10 hours
a day, and in the Yakima Valley district in Washington, where the
children were employed chiefly in picking hops, 87 per cent worked
10 hours or more a day. The migratory children who picked cotton
in Texas worked at least 8 hours a day, and 68 per cent had a working-day of at least 10 hours. Perhaps the longest hours of all were
those reported by beet-field workers; from 50 to 75 per cent of the
contract laborers’ children in the Colorado and Michigan districts
(the proportion varying with the different operations) worked 10
hours or more a day, the working-day in some cases running to 13
or 14 hours.
“ Almost no attempt has been made to restrict the hours of agricul
tural work for children nor to fix a minimum age for farm work, so

CHILD LABOR

that children under 10 years of age, and even under 8, work these
excessive hours in many different parts of the country.”

Schooling

leave school in the spring to go out to the farms, and it is often
November or later before they return; where the families have no
settled home even in the winter, but follow the crops the year round,
as do many of the migratory workers in the Pacific Coast States, the
children are never long enough in one place to enter school, or else
they are enrolled in so many different schools during the year that
they are unable to make any progress.
“ The beet-field workers are likely to be withdrawn from school for
the exodus to the beet fields in March, April, or May, not to return
until November or December, and sometimes even January. In the
Colorado district studied the contract laborers’ children who lived a
few miles from the beet fields lost on an average one-fourth of the
school term, and a study of the school attendance of Colorado beetfield workers attending school in Denver and Lincoln showed that
these migratory children had attended school only from 42 to 56
per cent of the term. From 47 to 78 per cent of the various groups
of migratory beet-field workers in Michigan and Colorado were re
tarded in school. Comparison of the children working in the beet
fields with nonworking children, based upon the school records of
several thousand children, showed that the percentage of retarded
children was 20 to 30 per cent higher among the employed than
among the nonemployed children.
“ The bean pickers and other migratory child workers on the truck
farms of Anne Arundel County, Md., had lost from four to six
weeks of the school term in Baltimore because they had withdrawn
from school to go to the country, and 69 per cent of these workers
were below the grades which they should have been in.
“ In Washington and Oregon the beginning of the hop harvest in
September coincided with the opening of schools in many places
from which the migratory workers came and the strawberry season
in June in some sections of Washington and Oregon began before
all the schools were closed. Children in families who follow the
crops suffer most from irregular attendance, as they either do not go
to school at all in the districts where their parents find work or else
go irregularly to several schools in one year. Although county at
tendance officers and local school boards in the Yakima Valley and
Williamette Valley districts studied made unusual efforts to get the
migratory children to go to school, in families which move from
county to county and from State to State the children’s schooling
was at the mercy of the parents’ standards. Fifty-three per cent of
the migratory workers in these districts had missed at least one school
month, twice as many in proportion as local workers who had lost
as much time as that from school, and from 31 to 59 per cent of the
migratory workers were retarded.
“Although the actual time worked by the migratory children in
southern New Jersey was seldom more than three months, the work

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK OF CHILDREN

extended over a period beginning sometimes as early as March and
lasting until after the cranberry harvest in October or November.
As a rule no effort was made to send the children to school during
their residence in New Jersey. The local school authorities assumed
no responsibility, on the ground that the children were not residents of
the State. The farmers were not usually interested in getting the
children in school, as they felt that they needed the children’s work
in order to get their crops to market. Parents were for the most part
primarily intent upon the money that the children’s labor added to
the family income, which would be considerably diminished if the
children of the family were compelled to spend part of the day in
school. Half the children included in the study in New Jersey had
lost 8 weeks or more from school and about 29 per cent had lost at
least 12 weeks. The average absence for farm work was 43 days.
Almost three-fourths (74 per cent) of the children were retarded in
school. A special supplementary study of about 800 Philadelphia
school children leaving school to work on farms, principally in New
Jersey, showed that the average school attendance of these children
was only between 70 and 75 per cent of the term, and 18 per cent of
them had attended school less than 60 per cent of the term. The
average absence for farm work was between 15 and 20 per cent of the
school year. Among these children also it was found that almost
three-fourths (71 per cent) were below the standard grades for
their ages.”

Industrial Home Work of Children
HE home work of children is hard to regulate because of the
difficulty of supervising it. Hours may be overlong or work
unsuitable or conditions unhealthful, but no inspection force
can visit sufficiently often to see that the child is protected.

Philadelphia Study
IN 1924 a study of the industrial home work of children was made
* in five counties in the Philadelphia region, the results of which
were recently issued by the Bureau of Women and Children of the
Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. The following
summary gives some of its findings:
Under the Pennsylvania law, minors under 14 may not be em
ployed in any industrial process, and those between 14 and 16 must
have employment certificates before they may be legally employed.
The investigation covered 1,526 families, of which 1,243 had children
in the home. In half (621) of the families of this latter group,
children to the number of 1,239 were illegally employed at industrial
home work. The largest number, 455, were working on men’s
clothing, 104 were employed on women’s and children’s clothing,
100 worked on knit goods, 427 worked at stringing tags, and 153
were engaged in miscellaneous forms of work. By age? the 1,235
children whose age was reported showed the grouping which
follows.

CHIU) LABOR

Number Per cent
Under 6 years-----------6 and under 8 years—
8 and under 10 years_.
10 and under 12 years.
12 and under 14 years.
14 and under 16 years.
Total.

68
114
229
307
295
222

5.5
9.2
18.5
24.9
23.9
18.0

1,235

100.0

The great majority, it will be seen, were under the age at which
they might legally be employed at any kind of industrial occupation ;
the comparatively small group aged 14 but under 16 were old enough
to be employed, but had no employment certificates.
Stringing tags employed the largest group of very young children,
the next largest group being employed on men’s clothing, pulling
out bastings and picking off ravelings. Girls were employed more
numerously than boys, three out of every five of the employed
children being girls. Ninety-three per cent o f the group were native
born, but 67 per cent had foreign-born fathers. In 90 per cent of
the families the father was living and at home with the family;
4 per cent of the fathers were reported as out of work. The median
earnings of the fathers in families having children illegally em
ployed were between $25 and $35 a week, while for the families in
which no children were working they were between $15 and $25.
Nearly twice as many of the fathers in families where children did not work
as in families where the children were working illegally fell in the lowest-paid
group. The economic status of the father seems, therefore, comparatively
unimportant as a deciding factor in the illegal employment of children at
home work.

It was difficult to get accurate information as to the time the
children spent at work, but data were secured as to the time at which
they worked. “ Nearly 40 per cent of the children reported after
noon work only, but 61 children, or 5 per cent, were reported as
working morning, afternoon, and evening. More than one-half of
this latter group were stringing tags. Although no minor under
16 may be legally employed after 8 o’clock at night, 387, or 32 per
cent, of the children were reported as working after 8 o’clock at
night.” These figures relate to the time of working on school days,
but in addition 367 worked on Saturday, 4 on Sunday but not on
Saturday, and 46 worked on both Saturday and Sunday.
It was impossible to secure the earnings of individuals, but for 599
families in which children were illegally employed, the earnings at
home work for the week preceding the inquiry were learned. Threefifths (61.9 per cent) had earned less than $6 during the week, 16 per
cent had earned $6 but under $8, and only 13.9 per cent had earned
$10 or over.
The findings of the inquiry furnished a basis for new regulations
affecting industrial home work, which were adopted by the Pennsyl
vania Department of Labor and Industry in June, 1925. At the time
this report was prepared these regulations had been in force for six
months, and the great majority o f the employers affected had shown
themselves ready and willing to cooperate in working out plans for
insuring their observance.

WORK ACCIDENTS TO MINORS

New Jersey Study
jWIOPvE recently the Federal Children’s Bureau conducted an in***■• vestigation into industrial home work of children in New
Jersey. Its report on the subject has not yet been issued, but an
advance summary in the annual report of the Chief of the Children’s
Bureai1 for 1926 shows some o f the conditions existing:
Though the State department during the last few years has given special
attention to the enforcement of the laws relating to home work, children as
young as 5- were found to have been engaged in such work for at least a
month’s time during the year. Almost one-fourth of the children who had
done industrial home work in these families were under 10 years of age and
almost four-fifths were under 14, the legal age for factory employment under
the New Jersey child labor law.
“ Speeding up ” was common, particularly in the highly seasonal industries.
Although the children as a rule work irregularly they may be kept at their
tasks for long hours during the season when employers are giving out large
quantities of work. Even while school was in session one-eighth (13 per cent)
of the children worked four, five, and six hours a day, which meant night
work for many of them.

Work Accidents to Minors
HE Federal Children’s Bureau published in 1926 a report (its
Publication No. 152) bringing together the results of investiga
tions of work accidents to minors in three States, Massachusetts,
Wisconsin, and New Jersey. All three of these States make special
efforts to protect young workers. All set 14 as the minimum age
for industrial employment, and each forbids the employment of
those under 16 in specified dangerous occupations. Massachusetts
and Wisconsin go further and forbid employment under 18 in cer
tain occupations considered especially hazardous. Yet the number
of accidents was large: “ Within 12 months 7,478 industrial injuries
occurred to employed minors under 21 years of age in three States, 38
resulting fatally, 920 in partial disability for life, and the remaining
in disability lasting for more than a week (for more than 10 days in
case of injuries occurring in two of the States).”
The accidents differed considerably in severity in the three States,
as shown in the following table:

N U M B E R O F A C C ID E N T S B Y R E S U L T A N D S T A T E

Accidents resulting in—
State
Death

Permanent
partial dis
ability

Tem po
rary dis
ability

Total
accidents

____ ________ _____ _________________
Massachusetts
New Jersey..................................................... .......... ..............
Wisconsin.................................................................................

12
14
12

159
502
259

3,006
1,503
2,011

3,177
2,019
2,282

Total............ ..................................................................

920

6,520

7,478

CHILD LABOR

Classified as to cause, the industrial injuries to minors ir. the three
States show the following grouping:
C au se o f in ju r y

N um ber
o f in ju rie s

Machinery__________________________________________ 2, 706
Handling objects___________________________________ 1,643
Falls of persons___________________________________
779
Vehicles____________________________________________
543
Hand tools_________________________________________
469
415
Stepping on or striking against objects-----------------Falling objects____________________________________
288
Hot and corrosive substances______________________
262
All other and not reported_________________________
373
Total________________________________________ 7,478

P e r ce n t
o f t o ta l

36.2
22.0
10.4
7 .3
6 .3
5 .5
3 .9
3 .5
5 .0
100.0

It will be noticed that more accidents were due to machinery than
to any other cause. Most of the machines causing injury, according
to the report, were power driven.
“ The types of power-driven machines on which most of the in
juries occurred were in each State those used in its chief industries.
In Wisconsin metal-working, woodworking, and paper and paper
products making; in Massachusetts textile, metal-working, and
leather-working; and in New Jersey metal-working, rubber and
composition working, and textile machines were the most frequent
cause of the machine injuries.
“ Operation of certain dangerous power-driven machines is for
bidden to children under 16 years of age in all three of the States
in which the study was made; and the prohibition of these occupa
tions to minors under 18 years would materially decrease the num
ber of injuries to young workers. There were proportionately more
accidents from power-driven machinery to minors 16 and 17 years
of age than to those under 16, who were more adequately protected
by the law; or to those of 18 years or over, who had more experience,
more nearly mature judgment, and better powers of muscular co
ordination. Moreover, minors 16 and 17 years old suffered pro
portionately more severe injuries than either the younger or the
older workers. Death or permanent partial disability resulted from
13.4 per cent of all the injuries to workers 16 and 17 years of age;
for workers under 16 the corresponding percentage was 10.7, and for
workers of 18, 19, and 20 years it was 12.7.
“ The necessity of providing legal safeguards for young workers
is indicated by the severity of the injuries to Wisconsin minors em
ployed under illegal conditions.4 One-third of the injuries occur
ring to minors at work in illegal occupations, and one-half of the
injuries caused by violation of safety orders (as compared with
only one-tenth of the injuries to minors employed under legal con
ditions) resulted in death or permanent partial disability.”
The matter of accidents to minors who are illegally employed
is beginning to attract considerable attention, Pennsylvania being
one of the first States to make a special investigation of the subject.
4 Wisconsin is the only State of the three covered by the study where statistics are
available on this point.

WORK ACCIDENTS TO MINORS

Injuries to Illegally Employed Minors in Pennsylvania
IN WISCONSIN if a child is injured in an industrial accident while
1 illegally employed, he is entitled to three times the compensation
which would be due if his employment were legal, a plan which is
said to be very effective in discouraging the illegal employment of
minors. (See Labor Review, April, 1923, p. 128.) In Pennsylvania,
under the same circumstances, the child is expressly excluded from
benefit under the workmen’s compensation law. No information
concerning accidents to this class of young workers is available,
therefore, on the records of the compensation commission, and it
has never been known how many are injured in the course of illegal
employment.
With a view to gaining some light on this question, the Pennsyl
vania Bureau of Inspection made an investigation of all accidents
reported as occurring to minors under 18 during the months of June
and July, 1925, and published a summary of its findings in Labor
and Industry for February, 1926. Thirty-seven minors, or 8.5 per
cent of the group investigated, had been, it was found, illegally em
ployed, and of these, 25 were under 16 years of age. In several in
stances there had been more than one illegality in connection with
the employment of the injured minor. Twenty-two had no employ
ment certificates, 16 were in prohibited occupations, 4 were employed
for more than the legal maximum of hours, 2 were in night work,
2 had a T-day week, and 1 was under 14 years of age.
As the sufferers were not under the operation of the compensation
law, no record was available of the loss of time through the injuries
received, but some of the accidents had been serious. One boy of 16
had been killed while driving a truck, an occupation prohibited to
minors under 18 years of age. Seven had had broken arms or legs,
3 had fingers or parts of fingers amputated, 10 had suffered severely
strained or crushed limbs, while the remaining 16 had suffered less
serious injuries. The results of the study show, it is held, the need
for more study of noncompensable accidents to minors.
If the facts brought out for the sample investigated hold true for all minors
under 18 years of age, and there is no reason to believe that they do not, 8.5
per cent of all minors injured at industrial accidents are debarred from
compensation benefits.
This investigation emphasized, above all else, the fact that since with the
utmost care in the enforcement of the law illegal employment of children
probably can never be eliminated entirely, more information must be obtained
regarding accidents occurring to minors not coming under the compensation
law.

CONVICT LABOR

Extent and Character of Convict Labor
T is now generally conceded that a convict should be kept at work
both for his own good and for the good of the State, but there is
difference of opinion as to what the work should be and as to the
system under which the work should be done and the disposal of the
product. His idleness means higher taxes for his maintenance, de
terioration of his physical and mental well-being, and greater unfit
ness for his reentrance into the social and industrial world. On the
other hand, if the convict is put at productive work he produces
some article that directly or indirectly comes into competition with
a similar article made by the free citizen. If the convict makes an
article even for his own use, free labor does not get the chance to
make that article. I f the convict makes an article that is sold in the
open market, there is one article less that might be made by free
labor and the market price for the article is affected by the competi
tion. Further, convict labor may be so concentrated on one particu
lar kind of article that the prison article dominates the market
almost to the extinction of the free-labor article. Again, the convict
has nothing to say about the price of his labor; his labor is
not mobile, he can not strike, and he can not be discharged for
incompetence.
There is frequent demand on the part of legislators, of prison
boards, of manufacturers, and of the public in general for informa
tion concerning the industrial side of prison administration. To
meet this call for information, the Bureau of Labor Statistics from
time to time has made surveys of the industrial features of convict
labor. The most recent of these surveys was made in the latter part
of 1923, and the full report published in Bulletin No. 372. The
data regarding the extent and character of convict labor contained
in this report are summarized below. These findings, as noted,
relate to conditions existing in 1923. Federal legislation regarding
convict labor in effect January 1, 1927, is given in detail in Bulletin
No. 434 of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, entitled “Labor Legisla
tion, 1926.”
The survey made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics covered State
and Federal prisons for civilian adults only. It did not include
juvenile reformatories, county or city institutions, or Federal mili
tary prisons. Institutions maintained strictly as juvenile reforma
tories seldom produce much that goes into the general market. It
is understood that a few county and city penal institutions have
shops producing commercial goods, but the xunds available for the
bureau’s study would not permit the inclusion of such institutions.
Their omission, however, is of no great importance.
A total of 104 institutions were canvassed, 101 being State insti
tutions and 3 Federal. All States, and the District of Columbia, were
covered. The institutions bear various titles, as prison, penitentiary,
reformatory, house of correction, workhouse, farm, camp, etc.

CONVICT LABOR

The report for each institution covers all of the operations during
one full year. It was not possible to get reports from the institutions
for a year common to all, because of the different times of ending of
the fiscal year in the several institutions. It was necessary to take
the report for the last fiscal year for which figures were available.
In most cases the reports were for the fiscal year ending in the latter
part of 1923. Special agents of the bureau visited each institution,
and practically all of the data were obtained from the several insti
tutions, or from contractors having work done therein under the
contract or piece-price system.
The average number of convicts in the institutions during the
year reported was 84,761, of which 79,350 were in State prisons and
5,411 in Federal prisons. Of these 84,761 convicts, 51,799, or 61 per
cent, were employed at productive labor. This number does not
include 25,127 convicts, or 30 per cent, engaged in domestic prison
duties such as cooking, washing, cleaning, etc. The sick averaged
2,602, or 3 per cent, and the idle 5,233, or 6 per cent. Of the 51,799
convicts employed at productive labor, 6,083, or 12 per cent, were
working under the contract system, 3,577, or 7 per cent, under the
piece-price system, 13,526, or 26 per cent, under the public-account
system, 18,850, or 36 per cent, under the State-use system, and 9,763,
or 19 per cent, under the public works and ways system.
The total number of convicts employed in the contract and pieceprice systems combined was 9,660 and the amount paid the institu
tions for their hire was $3,290,777, or slightly more than $340 per
annum per convict. This amount does not, however, include some
money paid the convicts for extraordinary service by way of over
task bonuses.
The lease system, so frequently found in operation years ago, was
not reported as in effect in any institution canvassed.
The relative importance of the several systems is further indicated
by the value of the goods produced.
In the year covered the value of the goods produced under the
several systems was as follows:
Contract system----------------------------------------------------------- $18,249,350
Piece-price system-------------------------------------------------------- 12,340,986
Public-account system--------------------------------------------------- 16,421, 878
State-use system----------------------------------------------------------- 13,753,201
Public works and ways system------------------------------------- 15,331,545
Total

76,096,960

The value of the products in the three Federal penitentiaries,
which is included in the above statement, was $2,428,081.
All goods produced under the contract, piece-price, and publicaccount systems enter into the general competitive market. The
total for the three systems was $47,012,214. Thus 62 per cent of
all goods produced were destined for direct competition on the open
market.

Systems of Employment
several systems under which convicts are employed, together
with that of the lease system now obsolete so far as State and

Federal institutions are concerned, are as follows:

EXTENT AND CHARACTER

Contract system.—Under this system the State feeds, clothes,
houses, and guards the convict. To do this the State maintains an
institution and a force of guards and other employees. A contractor
engages with the State for the labor of the convicts, which is per
formed within or near the institution. The contractor pays the
State a stipulated amount per capita for the services of the convict,
supplies his own raw material, and superintends the work.
Piece-price system.—This system differs from the contract system
mainly in method of payment for the labor of convicts. The State
maintains the institution and feeds, clothes, and guards the con
victs. The contractor supplies the raw material and pays the State
an agreed amount for the work done on each piece or article manu
factured by the convicts. The supervision of the work is generally
performed by a prison official, although sometimes by the contractors.
The officials of the prison not only maintain discipline but also dictate
the daily quantity of work required.
Public-account system.—So tar as the convict is concerned, this
system does not diner from the piece-price system, but for the insti
tution it is entirely different. In the piece-price system the con
tractor finances the business and assumes all the chances of profit
and loss. In the public-account system the State enters the field of
manufacturing on its own account. It buys the raw material, manu
factures and puts the product on the market, and assumes all the
risk of conducting a manufacturing business. The State has the
entire care and control of the convicts and with them conducts an
ordinary factory. The institution may sell the product direct or
through an agent.
S tate-use system.—Under this system the State conducts a busi
ness of manufacture or production, as in the public-account system,
but the use or sale of the goods produced is limited to the same instition or to other State institutions. The principle of the system is
that the State shall produce articles of merchandise for its own con
sumption alone and shall not compete directly with the business of
manufacturers employing free labor.
Public works and ways system.—This system is very similar to
the State-use system. Under this system the labor is applied not to
the manufacture of articles of consumption, but to the construction
and repair of the prison or of other public buildings, roads, parks,
breakwaters, and permanent public structures.
Lease system.—Under this system the State enters into a con
tract with a lessee, who agrees to receive the convict, to feed, clothe,
house, and guard him, to keep him at work, and to pay the State a
specified amount for his labor. The State reserves the right to make
rules for the care of the convict and to inspect the convict’s quarters
and place of work. No institution is maintained by the State other
than a place of detention, where the convicts can be held until
placed, in the hands of the lessee and in which to confine convicts
who are unable to work.
Conditions are not always so clearly defined as the above defini
tions would indicate. This is particularly true with respect to the
contract and piece-price systems; for example, a firm may have an
agreement with a penitentiary whereby a stipulated amount per man
38690°— 27------ 6

CONVICT LABOR

per day is to be paid, thus making the agreement fall under the con
tract system. But the agreement may further provide that a cer
tain minimum task or amount of work must be performed in a day,
making the agreement, while classed under the contract system,
partake to some extent of the piece-price system.
Again, the major quantity of an article produced in an institution
may fall under one system, with a minor surplus classed under
another system. For example, an article may be produced pri
marily for State use, yet some of the commodity may be placed on
the general market, making the minor part fall under the publicaccount system.
Table 1 shows, by States, the average number of convicts during the
year, and the number employed at productive labor by systems of
work. Only 20 States, or two-fifths of all, have the contract or
piece-price system of employing their convicts. The public-account
system was found in all States, except Ohio, New Hampshire, and
the District of Columbia, but it was inconsequential in several States.
The State-use system appears in all States and the public works and
ways system in 28 States and in the District of Columbia.
T

able

1 .— N U M B E R

OF C O N V IC T S E M P L O Y E D A T P R O D U C T IV E L A B O R IN S T A T E
A N D F E D E R A L PR ISO N S

A verage nu m b er
of convicts dur
ing year
State
Total

2,988
383
1,295
3,841
1,003
916
350
539
1,426
3,822
280
4,450
I n d i a n a ....................................................
2,946
1,851
Iow a ........ .......................................
1,225
Kansas_______ _________ ______
2,043
________ ____
K entucky__
1,596
Louisiana_____ ___________ ____
338
M aine...... ...................................
1,495
M a ry la n d ... ............................ .
1,964
Massachusetts............................. 3,381
M ichigan.... ....................................
1,488
Minnesota....... ..............................
1,572
Mississippi.....................................
Missouri........................................
2,828
340
M ontana_____ ____ ____ ______
805
Nebraska........... ............................
147
N evada_____
_______________
138
N ew H a m p sh ire._____________
1,850
N ew Jersey....................................
399
N ew M exico___________________
6,512
N ew Y ork......................................
N........................
orth Carolina. __ 1,102
220
North D akota...............................
4,128
Ohio................................................
2,051
Oklahoma__ __ _______________
424
Oregon........ ................................ .
4,336
Pennsylvania— ............................
570
R hode Island.................................

Alabama______________________
A r iz o n a ......

Arkansas______________________
California.......................................
C olorado.........................................
C onnecticut____________ ______
D ela w a re __ ______ ____ ______
District of Colum bia........ ..........
Florida..........................................
Georgia........... ........................ .......
Id a h o...........................................
Illinois........ ....................................

i Less than 1.

Em
ployed
at pro
ductive
labor
2,553
56
1,053
2,541
795
528
245
220
1,028
3,698
42
2,531
1,369
1,400
881
1,695
1,110
278
1,212
966
2,110
875
1,252
1,813
119
627
30
100
503
193
2,395
935
122
1,751
1,271
163
987
329

Average number of convicts at productive labor,
b y system under which employed

State
use

Public
works
and
ways

534
264
19
34
156
1,095
613
346
379
102
28
156
64
209
763
340
3,258
27
816 ..........677"
452
28
538
100
618
63
155
22
455
18
12
60
9
638
443 ..........497"
282
9
251
556
4
74
44
220
26
2
502
13
2,243
152
255
559
33
1,751
340
82
79
783
191
82

Public
account

276
3
897
833
70
73
12
56
100
15
1,038
588
224
200
2
633
161
6
322
1,170
584
1,001
1,253
1
107
4
0)
0)

Piece
price

Contract

1,479

353
205

301
538
1,538
87
1,137
6

300
98
1

180
121
89
419
84
13

430
241

e x t e n t a n d c h a r a c t er
T

able

1 .—N U M B E R O F C O N V IC T S E M P L O Y E D A T P R O D U C T IV E L A B O R I N S T A T E
A N D F E D E R A L P R ISO N S —Continued

A vera g e n u m b er
of convicts dur
ing year

State
Total

South Carolina___
South Dakota........
Tennessee................
Texas........................
U tah........................
Verm ont..................
Virginia........ ..........
Washington............
West Virginia.........
W isconsin...............
W yom ing................

637
309
1,691
3,474
188
344
1,439
1,094
1,645
1,188

Total.............
Federa
Georgia....................
Kansas.....................
Washington............

Em
ployed
at pro
ductive
labor

Average number of convicts at productive labor,
b y system under which em ployed

State

Public
works
and
ways

452
232
1,359
2,749
39
243
857
302
1,281
782
264

170
52

79,350

48,336

16,165

9,001

2,479
2,454
478

2,066
1,270
127

2,050
541
94

729
33

Public
account

Piece
price

Contract

144

122

254
740
29
10

110

220
7
30
550
7
130
7

2,009
3
27
116
9
17
150

176
170
135

212
13,510

1,048
320

3,577

Total..............

5,411

3,463

2,685

762

Grand t o ta l-

84,761

51,799

18,850

9,763

13,526

3,577

In the collection of data the bureau sought to ascertain the quan
tity and value of goods produced during the year, and the value of
the goods disposed of.
These two items might or might not be the same, depending on
whether or not everything produced was disposed of during the year.
In some instances it was not possible to get both items. Figures
relating to goods disposed of were generally more readily obtainable
than production figures. Separate tables relating to each of these
two classes of data are included in this report, but in some instances
it has been necessary to accept and use disposal figures in lieu of
production figures, and vice versa. In other words, in certain cases
the same figures relating either to production or disposal appear in
both tables. Value is interpreted as wholesale market valuation.
Table 2 applies to production. It states the kind and, as nearly
thereto as figures were available, the market value of goods produced,
subdivided under system of production.
The grand total value of all things produced in the year in the
institutions was in round numbers $76,000,000.
Under the State-use system, the principal articles produced in
State institutions and Federal penitentiaries, as shown in Table 2
measured by value, are farm, garden, dairy, and livestock products,
$3,484,736; clothing (all kinds), $1,264,561; auto tags, $1,117,903;
and textiles, $2,375,138.
Under the public-account,wpiece-price, and contract systems com
bined, all goods produced go into the competitive market. The
principal articles produced were: Shirts, $12,340,230; binder twine
and rope, $5,585,036; shoes, $4,961,470; coal, $3,860,616; pants,

CONVICT LABOR

$3,344,206; farm and garden products, etc., $2,312,332; overalls, etc.,
$1,820,032; brooms, $1,743,552; reed chairs, $1,412,466; children’s
play suits, $1,149,030; hosiery, $1,063,519; bungalow aprons, $854,970.
Some of the articles listed, though large in value of production,
have but little effect in the competitive market, while certain other
articles of less value, but of a particular kind, have a very appreciable
effect on general market conditions.
Under the public works and ways system, buildings were con
structed to the value of $3,503,831 and roads to the value of $11,827,714. Of the 48 States only 15 had convicts on road work.
It was necessary in most instances to accept estimates o f the
value of road work accomplished during the periods scheduled.
The total for all institutions reporting was $11,858,954; Florida
showed something over $2,000,000; Georgia, $5,000,000; North Caro
lina, almost $1,500,000; and Virginia, nearly $2,000,000.
T

able

2 . — K IN D

A N D V A L U E OF A R T IC L E S P R O D U C E D , B Y S Y S T E M U N D E R W H IC H
PRODU CED

State institutions

Articles produced

Bags, etc. (jute)...........................
B akery products..................... ...
Baskets......................................... .
Box shooks (knocked d ow n ).
B rick..................... ........................
Brooms and brushes....................
Building.......................................
Clothing:
A p r o n s ................................. .
Aprons, bungalow................
A uto suits. ........... ................
Children’s play suits............
Garments, m iscellaneous...
Overalls and jumpers...........
Pants (w ork)........................ .
Shirts (chambray)................
Shirts (flannel)......................
Shirts (work)........................ .
Tailored..................................
Coal................................................
Coffee, roasted..............................
C oke........ ............................. ........
Farm, garden, dairy and live
stock............................................
Farm implements. ......................
Flags...............................................
Flax........................... ............. ......
Furniture:
Chairs, reed or fiber_______
Chairs, w ood ........................ .
Chiffoniers, cabinets,
and cases, w ood ................ .
Desks, wood or fiber............

Average
number
of
convicts
em
ployed
788
4

100
96
896
575
3,041
252
312
14
135
325
771
1,205
259
57]
3,395!
798!
1,965'

Value of articles produced under specified system

Public
works

State use

$214
15,454
7,015
11,828
351,759
72,637

Piece
price

$350,716

i$3,373,830

39,491
687,142
244,808
29,040.

23
11,823 3,346,797.
1,146;.
163
5,866;.
15
322.
35

Total

$16,439

42,125

329,365
2 854,970
51,051
1,149,030
1,149,030
277,742
2 71,212 31,975,579
<3,344,206 % 349,803
450,279
172,447
8,072,602 63,523,087 711,756,995
1,140,262
3,626,313 4,105,424
29,040
42,125

2,308,096
235,619
10,331
34,179

9 4,236 W5,659,129
236,765
16,197
34,501

2 $329,365
2 854,970
269,219
155,547
5,597

Contract

$350,930
15,454
36,234
136,513
604,502
1,254,487 1,816,189
55,292 13,436,122

12,780
124,685
252,743
489,065
7,000

51,051
8,523
1,748,820
450,279
172,447
121,815
453,120
234,303

1,405
713

io, 305!.
123,735!.

787,510
506,958

42
142'

24,6231
108,374L

3,058
12 6,239

Including $515,000 estimated.
Estimated.
a Including $71,212 estimated.
4 Including $285,028 estimated.
8 Including $7,266,239 estimated.
6 Including $3,523,087 estimated.
7 Including $10,789,326 estimated.
8 N ot including value of garden truck produced b y 2 inmates.
9 A m ount paid for labor of convicts.
10 See notes under systems for details.
11 Including $90,000 estimated.
12 Includes 10 fiber desks; value, $53.
1
2

Public
account

121,206

503,750 1,422,771
11308,000 11938,693
27,681
1 2 114,613

e x t e n t a n d character
T

able

2 .—K IN D A N D V A L U E OF A R T IC L E S P R O D U C E D , B Y S Y S T E M U N D E R W H IC H
P R O D U C E D —Continued

State institutions— Continued

Articles produced

Furniture—Continued
Furniture, other, reed
or fiber. .......................
Furniture, other, wood.
Rockers, settees, and
benches, reed or fiber.
Rockers, settees, and
benches, wood........... .
Tables, wood or fiber.
Chairs, caned.................
Handkerchiefs...................... .
Harness:
Collars, horse..................
S e t s ................................
H ollow ware__..................... .
K nit goods:
Hosiery............................
M ittens.......................... .
Underwear.....................
Laundry.................................
Leather findings....................
Lime........................................
Linens, etc.............................
Lum ber............................. .
M ats:
Autom obile.....................
Coir and chain...............
Mattresses and upholster
ing. ......................................
Metgl and aluminum ware.
Monuments...........................
Printing:
Books, blank..................
Books, bulletins, e tc.—'.
Forms, circulars, pam
phlets, etc....................
Printing, other...............
Quarried and crushed stone.
Repair and shop work..........
Roads......................................
Road signs—..........................
Rugs and art w ork—............
Sheet metal (ash cans, etc.)Shoes........................................
Shoes repaired........................
Stoves......................................
Tags, auto..............................
Tags, license......................... .
Textiles, cotton. ...................
T o b a c c o , ch ew in g and
smoking...............................
T o y s........................................
Traps, wire.............................
Tubs, butter..........................
Twine and rope.....................
W hips......................................
W ood pulp.............................
Total..

Value of articles produced under specified system

Average
number
of
convicts
em
ployed

State use

Public
works

Public
account

Piece
price

Contract

$111,664
48,713

$111,732
192,159

42,061

61
67

947
w 11,435

149
518

143,446

20,696

6
12

$1,036
2

$15,000
213,210

235
290

91.000
121,504

225,940

2,510

705
131,208
7
746
324 14 373,848
32
17,900
10
37
13,870
1,164
791,025
225
70,745

7,467
296
9,380
9,667
17.000
1,835
66,887
24,419

374,606

2
6,662

85
34
84

65,614

4,407
12,283

407
77
1,394
839
6,036
54
3
74

1,!

51,725
21,253
112,766

681,446

213,210
316,940
352,766
1,194,727
1,042
383,228.
27,567
17,000
15,705
857,912
1*731,212

20,515
126
17 176,612
9,118
18$11,827,714

103,466
431
47,958
756,351
150,273
115,601

1,448 ~ 695,"566

1,915
6,662
117,339
31,144
172,054

59,:

4,407
20,246

224,925
54,035
6 558,915
423,964

187
58
184
514 1,117,903

"'228,‘ 752

30,916
M 32,131
1,036
2 15,000

1,915

(20)

Total

790,518
525
865
171
588,678

245,440
54.161
io 735,527
433,082
i» 31,240 io 11,858,954
103,466
431
47,958
5,717,821
588,765 3,582,187
150,798
115,601
564,178
564,178
1,118,768
171
1,284,244

13,714

63,200
2160,000

13,714
14,069
31,245
47.162
5,588,372
63,200
2160,000

15,201,544 16,405,18512,340,986 18,249,350

73,668,879

14,069

17
27
1,375
83

31,245
47,162
5,585,036

12
11,471,814

_______

3 Estimated.
i° See notes under systems for details.
13 Includes 788 fiber tables; value, $3,847.
u Including value of 33,605 dozen pieces undershirts, mittens, and hosiery not reported separately.
15 Including $636,048 estimated.
w Including lime and pulverized limestone valued at $929, and sand and gravel at $400.
17 Including lime and pulverized limestone valued at $1,208.
M Including $6,832,150 estimated.
19 Amount paid b y contractor or State to institution and inmates.
20 Less than 1.
21 Estimated; for labor only.

74
T

CONVICT LABOR

able

2 .—

K IN D A N D V A L U E O F A R T IC L E S P R O D U C E D , B Y S Y S T E M U N D E R W H IC H
P R O D U C E D —Continued

Federal pen iten tiaries

Articles produced

B r ic k ........................................
Brooms and brushes..............
Building...................................
Clothing:
Garments, miscellaneous—
Overalls and jumpers............
Shirts, work............................
Tailored.--------------------------Farm, garden, dairy, and live
stock............................................
Furniture, wood:
Chairs__...................................
Chiffoniers, cabinets, and
cases.....................................
Rockers,settees,andbenches
Tables......................................
Other furniture-.....................
K nit goods: Underwear.dozen..
Linens, etc................................
Printing:
Blank books......................
Books, bulletins, e t c ............
Forms, circulars, pamph
lets, etc......... .....................
Other printing...... ...............
Repair and shop w o r k .............
Sand and gravel unloaded........
S hoes........................................ .
Shoes repaired.............................
Textiles:
Duck, cotton_____________
D uck, remnants and waste. .
W ood, unloaded and cut-----T otal...............................

Value of articles produced under specified system

Average
number
of
convicts
em
ployed

State use

45'

(20)

Public
account

$9,372 .
2,396.

762

112

Public
works

9,433: _
13,401
3,905.
80,826.

(20)

12
5
338
57
40

T otal

9,433
13,401
3,905
80,826

137,939

2,747

2,747
270
640
4,249
12,881
22,039

22,
12

^Contract

$9,372
2,396
130,001

$130,001

26
270'
640
4,249
12,881'
4

Piece
price

720
2,270

2,302
1,077
204,515
495
41,319
24,671

1,631 1,679,572
16
24,322
3,463 2,281,387

130,001

$16,693

, 679,572
16,693
24,322

16,693

2,428,081

®Less than 1.

Table 3 shows by industry or article the value of goods sold under
the public-aecount, piece-price, and contract systems and a total of
the three systems, by States and for the United States. In contrast
to these figures, the table also sets forth the value of goods used
within the State by its own institutions.
This table refers only to consumption goods, that is, goods that
are consumed in their using. It does not include permanent build
ings and roads constructed under the public works and ways system,
the data for which will be found in Table 2.
The goods sold in the market under the public-account system,
including the Federal prisons, total $14,196,493 in value, under the
piece-price system $12,381,254, and under the contract system $18,265,608, making a total valuation of goods placed on the general
market of $44,843,355. The value of the goods disposed of under the
State-use system, including the Federal prisons, total $13,645,225.

EXTENT AND CHARACTER
T

3 . — V A L U E O F GO ODS U SE D O R S O L D T H A T W E R E P R O D U C E D U N D E R T H E
S T A T E -U S E , P U B L IC -A C C O U N T , P IE C E -P R IC E , A N D C O N T R A C T S Y S T E M S , A N D
A M O U N T R E C E IV E D F O R H I R E O F C O N V IC T S , B Y IN D U S T R Y

able

State institutions

Industry

Bags, etc. (jute)........................
Baking, commercial...................
Baskets................................ .........
Box shooks (knocked down)___
Brick........... ..................................
Brooms and brushes...................
Building construction................
Clothing:
Aprons...................................
Aprons, bungalow...............
Childrens’ play suits..........
Garment making, unclassified.
Overalls and jumpers........—
Pants (work).............................
Shirts (work).........................
T ailorin g2.................................
Coal m ining......................................
Coffee roasting..................................
Coke making..................................
Farm, garden, dairy, and livestock.
Farm implements............................
Flax industry..................................
Furniture........................................
Granite and stonecutting, m onu
m ental..........................................
Handkerchiefs.................................
Harness............................................
H ollow ware................ ...................
Hosiery and underwear................
Laundry...........................................
Leather findings.............................
L im e.................................................
Linens, etc., making and m end
ing..................................................
L um ber............................................
Mats, automobile....... - .................
Mattresses (cotton) and uphol
stering______ ____________ ____
Printing_________ ______________
Quarrying granite and stone,
and rock crashing..................... Repair and shop work, miscel
laneous................. ....................
R oad building__________________
R ug and mat weaving—............. .
Sheet-metal work_______________
Shoemaking____________________
Shoe repairing............... ................. .
Soap making..............- ............ .......
Stoves...............................................
Sugar................ —............ - .........—
Tags, plates, signs, etc...................
Textiles:
Cloth, cotton and w ool..........
Duck, cotton.............................
Tobacco manufacturing, chew
ing and smoking....... ...................
T oys..................................................
Traps, wire...................................... .
Tubs, butter....................................
Twine and rope.............................. .
W hips............................................. .
W ood p ulp........................................
Total..

Value of Value of goods or produce sold, b y sys
Am ount
goods
tem under which produced
paid in
used pro
stitution
duced
for hire
under
Public
Piece
of con
Contract
State-use account
Total
price
victs
system

Average
num
ber of
con
victs
em
ployed
788
4
100
575
7
252
312
135
325
771
1,205
3,711
798
1,965

84
12
328
324
1,036
32

$16,439

29,219
124,685
256,800
1,255,745 1,527,739
i 55,292
62,292

71,212
3,344,206
"337," 763 8,072,602 3,523,087
117,083
234,303
3,626,313
47,996
1,178,905
322,045
10,331
30,487
, 427,588

1,356,"

5,
459,

* 122,242

14,799

91,000
142,757
17,143
9,667
14,500
3,043

782,148
68,345

66,587
24,397

13,819
493,714
17,900

2r“

190,660
374,606

15,000
213,210
228,752
681,446

636,048

‘

172,054
15,000
494,870
371,509
1,073,195
9,667
14,500
3,043
66,587
660,445
2,393

85
521

62,288
295,650

51,725
28,604

1,392

6 557,986

• 175,404

175,404

424,842

9,118

6,662
47,958
707,370
150,273
114,577

304
409,225
525

568 1,221,369

*128,085
• 1,036

74
,898
187
58
184

663,973
20,347

13,714
13,200

17
27
1,375

47,162
3,173 5,543,160

11,337,9

120,999
11,857
2,701
69,565
54,615
203,065

87,848

664,313 3,582,187 4,655,725
525

213,857

564,178 “ 89,”198
8 128,085
1,036
19,236
828,552
13.200
31,245
47,162
5,543,160
63,200
63.200
60,000
60,000

31,245

4,236

21,505

19,236
828,552

81,618
1,191

9,118
31,240
304

7 31,240

564,178

1,188

$9,456

329,365
52,080
854,970
65,983
1,149,030
61,229
8,330
830,250 """9,” 792
3,344,206 292,380
11,933,452 881,765
117,083
3,860,616 933,288

47,996
3 4,236 2,183,141
322,045
10,331
30,487
826,750 2,376,580

112,766

1 W orking for private contractors erecting prison
buildings.
2 Coats, pants, vests, and overcoats.
3 Value of labor only.
4 Chair caning.
5 Including sand and gravel, $1,060.
• Including pulverized stone for fertilizer, $21,346.

$293,083

12,780
124,685
256,800
271,994
7,000

8,330
759,038

261,
156,
4,
38,
658,
244,
29,

10
1,164
224

$293,083

$329,365
854,970
1,149,030

23
11,824
163
15
35
3,129

$241
15,454
7,015
11,828
329,750
76,301

4,981
17,568

14,179,800 12,381,254 18,265,608]44,826,662 3,290,777
7 Value of labor working for private contractor.
8 Sold from previous year’s production.
9 Including $865 sales to another State under com
petitive conditions.
10 N ot including 14 convicts making auto suits not
sold.

76
T

CONVICT LABOR

3 .—V A L U E O P G O O D S U S E D O R S O LD T H A T W E R E P R O D U C E D U N D E R T H E
S T A T E -U S E , P U B L IC -A C C O U N T , P IE C E -P R IC E , A N D C O N T R A C T S Y S T E M S , A N D
A M O U N T R E C E I V E D F O R H IR E O F C O N V IC T S , B Y IN D U S T R Y — Continued

able

Federal institutions

Average
num
ber of
con
victs
em
ployed

Industry

Brick______ ____________________
Brooms and brushes.....................
Clothing:
Garment making, unclassi
fied.................................... .
Overalls and jumpers.............
Tailoring___________________
W ork shirts............................
Farm, garden, dairy, and live
stock............... ........ ....................
F u rn itu re................. .....................
Linens, etc., making and m end
ing___________________________
Printing________________________
Repair and shop work, miscel
laneous_______________________
Sand and gravel, unloaded...........
Shoemaking____________________
Shoe repairing__________________
Textiles:
D uck..........................................
D uck remnants and w aste.. _
Underwear_________________
W ood, unloaded________________
Total......................................

45
6

$9,372
2,396

8
17
112
8

9,164
13,401
80,651
3,905

298
16

133,957
7,932

36
33

21,449
6,369

338
(“ )

Value of Value of goods or produce sold, b y sys
tem under which produced
goods
used pro
duced
under
Piece
State-use Public
Contract
Total
account
price
system

57
40

Am ount
paid in
stitution
for hire
of con
victs

204,515
495
41,319 i............... .
24,671

1,631 1,710,437
16
12,"881
12
28
24,322

$16,693

2,701 2,307,236

16,693

u Less than 1.

Sale Within and Without the State
IN THE collection of data an effort was made to obtain figures that
* would show the proportion of goods sold within and without the
State where produced. The total of all sales on the market was
$44,843,355, of which 42 per cent represented goods sold within the
State in which produced, and 58 per cent those sold outside of the
State.
In 25 States the products were disposed of entirely within the
State, while in 22 States some products were sold outside the State.
Ohio and the District of Columbia sold no products. Eighty to
ninety-nine per cent of all goods produced in 11 States—Delaware,
Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma,
Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming—were sold out
side the State; 50 to 79 per cent of all goods produced in 5 States—
Connecticut, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia—were
sold outside the State; and 6 to 42 per cent of all goods produced in 6
States—Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, and Massa
chusetts—were sold outside the State. It is interesting to note that
these 21 States produced 77 per cent of the total convict-made
product placed on the open market.

e x t e n t a n d c h a r a c t er

Sex of Convicts
Q F THE total number of convicts in the institutions studied (aver^
aging 84,761 during the year), 81,704 were males and 3,057, or
4 per cent, were females. In 7 States males and females were con
fined in separate institutions, while in 37 States and in the District
of Columbia both sexes were confined in the same institutions. Four
States show no females confined within the institutions reported.
The three Federal penitentiaries report only male convicts.
Compensation
YJJT/HILE primarily the bureau’s objective in this study was to show
™ the kind, quantity, and market value of goods produced, and
their disposition, whether on the open market or within the State’s
own institutions, other features of interest and of economic value
were observed. Probably the most interesting of these features is the
compensation to prisoners.
The fact that institutions generally keep no specific account of the
amount of daily earnings received by inmates makes it impossible
to give this information any very definite character. However, facts
of a generally comprehensive nature are available, and an attempt
has been made to assemble them in a few statements which may
prove instructive.
It was found that in 53 of the 104 institutions reporting, the con
victs received no kind of compensation, while in 51 institutions some
sort of compensation was paid.
Considering the minimum compensation as a basis, convicts in
31 institutions were paid 10 cents or less per day. In 7 institutions,
including 1 Federal prison, in which only those engaged in manu
facture were paid, convicts were paid over 10 cents and under 20
cents per day, while in 11 institutions the convicts received 20 cents
and over per day. In 1 institution convicts received the free labor
wage rate after the completion of a task, and in 1 a bonus was paid
for overtask work. In most instances where contractors were con
cerned overtask work was compensated at the same rate paid to the
institution for the hire of inmates.
Certain institutions reported rates as high as follows: 20 cents to
50 cents, 25 cents to 50 cents, 25 cents to 70 cents, 25 cents to 80
cents, and 25 cents to $1.50 per day. Higher compensations than
these are sometimes made through overtask work.
The compensation of convicts while incarcerated is a problem
which prison boards and State authorities are coming to view with
great seriousness. To some extent compensation is a matter of
incentive to the convict toward good work and better behavior, but
the far greater question is the condition of the convict’s family. A
convict with a conscience wants to care for his family, and a convict
without a conscience should be compelled to care for his family.
As stated, many States now pay a small wage to convicts and some
require a part of the wages to be sent to the convict’s family. Some
States go further in the relief of destitution by looking after and
caring for dependents left in want by the loss of earnings of the
imprisoned head of the family.

CONVICT LABOR

Hours of Work
'"TH E hours of labor required of convicts is another matter of in* terest. This feature was difficult to summarize properly, since
within the same institution varying hours might be found. This
condition was reported in 16 of the 104 institutions reporting. In
some cases this variation is due to school work, while in others it is
simply a variation because of the line of work performed, the work
on the farm usually requiring longer hours than that within the
shops or factories.
Considering the minimum hours of labor required, 37 institutions
reported under 8 hours as a day’s work; 36 reported 8 hours; 26 re
ported over 8 and under 10 hours; and 5 reported 10 hours and
over, the highest number of hours worked being a range of 10 to 12
hours.
Each institution reporting observes some holidays. Forty-six per
cent of all institutions reporting observe 6 to 8 holidays. Fifteen
per cent observe 10 holidays. In only 1 institution is so small a
number as 2 holidays observed, while in 3 institutions 11 are ob
served.
No work is done on Saturday afternoon in 29 of the 104 institu
tions covered.
Historical Comparison
'T H E bureau had made four surveys of convict labor prior to the
* survey of 1923. These surveys have differed to some extent in
their scope. The present survey applies only to State and Federal
penal institutions maintained primarily for adults, while some of
the other surveys, particularly the survey of 1905, included county
and city institutions.
Table 4 shows the change that has taken place in the relative
importance of the several convict-labor systems since 1885.
Data for noncomparable institutions have been eliminated, and
the figures of the table relate to the same institutions, or at least to
the same kind of institutions as covered by the 1923 survey.
T

4 . — P E R C E N T OF C O N V IC T S E M P L O Y E D A T P R O D U C T IV E L A B O R U N D E R
D I F F E R E N T S Y S T E M S IN D I F F E R E N T Y E A R S AS SH O W N B Y R E P O R T S OF T H IS
BUREAU

able

Year
System
1885
Lease
_ _ ______________________________________
Contract. ..................................................................... .......
Piece p r i c e .- - .....................................................................
Public account................................................................... ]
State use— .......................................................................... \
Public works and ways..................................................... 1
Total...........................................................................
Per cent of all convicts employed at productive labor.

1895

26
40

1905
9
36

19
34
14

126

1 33

100
75

100
72

1914
4
26
6
31
22
11

(

21
188
100
65

100
(2)

1923

12
7
26
36
19
100
61

1 Public account, State use, and public works and ways were inseparably combined.
2 N ot reported.

In 1885, 26 per cent of all the convicts employed at productive
labor were employed under the lease system. Each succeeding sur

EXTENT ANEl CHARACTER

vey shows a drop in the percentage employed under the lease system,
until in 1923 the system, so far as the State and Federal institutions
are concerned, had entirely disappeared. The lease system is now
looked back upon as little more than legalized and ofttimes barbaric
slavery, and even when in operation it was excused only by a plea
that the State was too poor to build, equip, and maintain prisons
and prison workshops.
Table 4 also shows a steady reduction in the extent of the contract
system from 40 per cent of all convicts employed in 1885 to 12 per
cent in 1923. The piece-price system has not changed so materially
and has been of rather small importance so far as numbers are con
cerned. Combining the figures for the contract system and the pieceprice system, which do not differ very materially in effect, it is seen
that 48 per cent of all convicts at work came under these two systems
in 1885, while the two systems together totaled but 19 per cent of all
convicts employed in 1923.
During the period covered extended growth is seen in the State-use
and public works and ways systems. Unfortunately, segregation can
not be made in the figures for 1885 and 1895. Collectively, the public-account, State-use, and public works and ways systems increased
from 26 per cent of all convicts employed at productive labor in 1885
to 81 per cent in 1923.
In this connection attention is drawn to the line at the end of the
table which shows that 75 per cent of all the convicts in the several
institutions were employed at productive labor in 1885, while in 1923
only 61 per cent of all the convicts were so employed.
Competition of Prison-made Goods
TV7ITH labor conditions so materially different in prison factories
™
as compared with factories employing free labor it is evident
that conflicts must arise when the products of these two types of
factories meet in competition in the open market.
A study of the industrial side of convict labor would be incomplete
without a consideration of this competition and, therefore, in the
1923 survey an opportunity was given free-labor employers meeting
competition with convict-labor goods to present such evidence as
they desired to give concerning the effect of competition on their
sales. This evidence is given in detail in Bulletin No. 372.
An outside manufacturer selling his goods in competition with
the goods of other outside manufacturers, and with convict-made
goods as well, may see his business shrinking and he may realize
that convict goods are underselling his goods. A mathematical
measure of his loss actually due to competition with convict goods is,
however, difficult of measurement because of the other factors that
may affect the market, including possibly his own lack of manage
ment or his own business judgment. The evidence given by freelabor employers, however, is worthy of careful consideration by legis
lators and boards and wardens responsible for the administration
of prison labor.
The great cause of complaint was that prison contractors get their
labor cheaper than free-labor employers do and because of this lower
item of production cost the prison contractors can and do undersell

CONVICT LABOR

them. Further, it was charged that contractors get shop room,
power, heat, and light free or at a nominal cost.
No inquiry was made as to whether prison boards and wardens
asked for competitive bids for the labor of convicts or whether
the contract made with a contractor was one of more or less private
noncompetitive negotiations. A rather peculiar thing in this con
nection was that certain prisons contracting the labor of their con
victs neither stated clearly or frankly in their published reports the
fact that there was a contract nor showed the number of convicts
under contract or the day rate or the piece rate.
Another complaint was that the State itself under the publicaccount system may produce goods and sell them under terms of
ruinous competition. The State has the prisoners, and if the prison
industries do not support the prisoners then the taxpayers must.
The prison can thus make and sell goods without having to pay a
free labor wage and the prison must do business regardless of selling
price, for the convicts must be kept at work. Some taxpayers be
come incensed when, they see the State using their taxes to main
tain a j>enal institution with a manufacturing plant therein that
demoralizes or destroys the taxpayers’ trade. On the other hand,
some industries, as, for instance, the manufacture of binder twines,
are conducted by prisons because of the insistent demand of large
groups of taxpayers.
A third complaint was that convict labor may be concentrated,
not only on a particular article but on a particular kind of article,
to such an extent that the prison article completely dominates the
market. Were convict labor limited to the production of articles
in which prices are governed by a world market, like wheat or
cotton, there undoubtedly would be no complaint of convict-labor
competition. It is not the matter of volume that counts so much in
competition as the specialization of the particular type of article.

COOPERATION

Cooperative Societies in the United States
HE Bureau of Labor Statistics made a statistical study of the
cooperative movement in the United States in 1920. That
study covered only consumers’ societies and the collective buy
ing activities of the farmers’ marketing organizations. In 1925
another, but more inclusive, survey was made, covering not only con
sumers’ societies proper but also credit, housing, and workers’ pro
ductive societies. Except where otherwise noted, the data below are
taken from the report of that study (Bui. No. 437).
The cooperative movement in this country is little developed as
compared with European countries. Nevertheless, on the basis of
the societies which have furnished reports to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics for 1925, the total cooperative membership may be placed
at over 700,000 and the cooperative business for 1925 at considerably
in excess of $300,000,000. It may safely be said that the cooperative
movement in the United States (not including agricultural organiza
tions) reaches several million people.
During the early part of this century a slight revival of interest
in consumers’ cooperation took place. This gradually increased in
strength, reaching its crest during the war years of high prices,
when nearly two-fifths of the consumers’ societies were formed. The
year 1920 marked a turning point in the tide of consumers’ coopera
tion ; since 1921 few new societies have been formed and the societies,
in existence have had a hard struggle. The year 1920 also marks
the beginning of a rapid development of the cooperative credit move
ment. Since that year, with the passage of enabling legislation in
State after State, the idea of cooperative credit has spread widely
and rapidly.
The greatest development of the consumers’ movement has taken
place in the Middle West, while the great majority of credit societies
are at present on the Atlantic coast. As, however, it has been only
within the past few years that cooperative credit societies have had
legal status in other parts of the country, the indications are that
the next few years will see a change in the geographical distribu
tion of the credit union movement. The housing societies are almost
entirely confined to New York City.
In the majority of cases the cooperative “ leaven ” among the
population is too small to be of any particular influence on the com
munity as a whole. A small proportion of the associations, on the
other hand, are in places where the cooperative membership includes
a very large per cent of the people, and in these cases the cooperative
society can be a real influence in insuring fair wages, conditions, and
hours of labor, in training the members both in business principles
and in the give and take of practical democracy, and in raising the
general cultural level in the locality,

COOPERATION

Consumers’ Cooperative Enterprises
rT lHE consumers’ societies have come through a period of hard times,
** but seem now to have rallied and to be on the upward trend.
They are more than holding their own in point of membership, “ real
sales,” capital, and reserves. They have entered many lines of busi
ness and are making good.
Data are at hand from 479 consumers’ societies, distributed accord
ing to type, as follows:
Retail store societies dealing in—
Number
General merchandise---------------------------------------------- 324
Groceries__________________________________________ 49
Groceries and meats_______________________________ 38
Students’ supplies_________________________________ 11
Other commodities------------------------------------------------9

Percent
67.6
10.2
7.9
2.3
1.9

Total____________________________________________ 431

90.0

Wholesale societies-----------------------------------------------------Gasoline filling stations_______________________________
Bakeries----------------------------------------------------------------------Laundries_____________________________________________
Boarding houses_______________________________________
Restaurants-----------------------------------------------------------------Water-supply societies--------------------------------------------------Miscellaneous societies________________________________

3
10
9
2
12
5
2
5

Grand total---------------------------------------------------------- 479

.6
2.1
1.9
.4
2.5
1.0
.4
1.0
100.0

The societies, listed above dealing in “ other commodities ” include
2 organizations handling coal only, 1 art supplies, 1 dry goods and
furniture, 1 men’s clothing, and 4 miscellaneous articles. The “ mis
cellaneous ” societies include 1 milk-distributing society, 1 garage, 1
light and power society, 1 printing office, and 1 undertaking estab
lishment.
The term “ general merchandise ” covers a variety of goods, such as
groceries, meats, light hardware, shoes, various articles of clothing,
etc. The farmers’ societies usually handle also farm supplies, feed,
lumber, and even farm machinery and in Illinois the general co
operative store is likely to carry also miners’ supplies and equip
ment. Several of the general-store societies of Michigan and Wis
consin also deal in forest products.
Considerable versatility in branching out into new lines is shown by
the societies studied. Nine societies, in addition to their regular
business, also handle coal; one of these sells ice as well, and another
also operates a milk route. One store society also deals in gaso
line, another in automobile tires, another in oil and tires, and two
others in gasoline and oil. One of the gasoline filling stations also
carries tires and accessories. A milk station as well as a grocery
and meat business is operated by one organization, three others run
bakeries in connection with the store, and still another has both a
milk station and bakery. One of the Finnish societies supplements
its store business with a bakery and restaurant, and another with a
milk station, coal yard, restaurant, and bakery. An Italian generalstore society also has a pool-room and assembly hall for its mem
bers. A northern society which has a general store also does a
public dock and ship chandlery business, and one of the older stu

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES

dents’ societies, in addition to the textbooks, etc., can supply its mem
bers with clothing, tailor service, kitchen utensils and paints. But
perhaps the most varied activities are found in a New York society
which has four cafeterias, a bakery, food shop, lending library, and
credit union; the policy of this society is to add to the services offered
rather than to “ spread thin ” a single service over one new group
of members after another.
Five of the societies are buying clubs which have no store but
simply pool the orders of their members.
The cooperative gasoline and oil stations are a very recent devel
opment in the cooperative movement.
The cooperative boarding houses represent an interesting phase of
the cooperative idea. These are mainly Scandinavian and Finnish
societies composed of unmarried men who band together to supply
themselves with board and lodging without profit. Many of these
organizations also accommodate transients. In some cases the build
ing is owned by the society. Many of these societies are operated
at cost, each man paying in advance the amount estimated as needed
to cover the week’s expenses. The boarding houses reporting have
housing accommodations for 312 roomers and serve meals to an
average of 1,513 persons per day. The number of persons served
varies considerably from season to season. One northern society
reports that in the summer when the ore docks in the locality are
active the number of boarders runs up to as high as 80 but in the
winter the number may fall as low as 10.
The four restaurants which reported on the point average 4,490
meals per day.
A total of 534 establishments is operated by 456 societies and 447
of these societies give employment to 3,409 full-time and 49 part-time
workers.
Membership and Business
rT lHE table below shows by States the number o f members and the
A business done in 1925 by all the consumers’ societies combined.
T

able

1 .—

M E M B E R S H IP A N D

B U S IN E S S O F C O N S U M E R S ’ C O O P E R A T IV E
T IE S IN 1925, B Y S T A T E S

State

Number
of mem
bers

Am ount of
business

Alabam a_______
Alaska.................
Arkansas.............
California............
Colorado.............
Connecticut.......
Idaho...................
Illinois.................
Indiana...............
Iow a....................
Kansas................
K entucky...........
Maine.................
Massachusetts...
Michigan............
Minnesota..........
Missouri.............
M ontana.............
Nebraska............
N ew Hampshire.

150
309
235
9,044
160
3,176
274
9,559
643
3,051
5,245
461
1,204
21,676
8,873
23,889
458
195
3,028
285

$72,000
223,037
121,090
699,604
75,502
473,401
207,934
2,883,864
305,549
1,245,849
2,021,266
116,345
507,324
3,710,376
3,485,681
11,239,067
148,175
85,155
3,488, 736
136, 556

38690°— 27------ 7

SO C IE

State

N um ber
of m em
bers

N ew Jersey.......
N ew Y ork.........
North Carolina.
North Dakota..
Ohio...................
Oklahoma.........
Oregon...............
Pennsylvania__
Rhode Island__
South D a k ota ..
Tennessee..........
Texas.................
Virginia.............
W ashington___
West V irginia..
W isconsin.........
W yom ing..........

4,732
6,577
124
1,400
13,494
727
3,030
1,498
264
1,166
46
857
215
3,551
1,049
8,116
540

$1,063,221
1,560,626
60,900
1,169,252
1,941,472
820,737
66,942

Total........

139,301

49,710,788

Am ount of
business

146.000
759,193
26,331
134,112
95,419
2,547,950
449,081
6,653,421
181.000

COOPERATION

The same data as above are given by types of society in the
following table, averages per society and per member being also
shown:
T

able

2 ,—M E M B E R S H IP A N D

B U SIN ESS OF C O N S U M E R S ’ S O C IE T IE S IN
T Y P E OF S O C IE T Y

Business

Membership

T y p e of society

N um
ber of
socie
ties
report
ing

Total

1925, B Y

N um
Aver ber of
age
socie
per
ties
society report
ing

Amount

Aver
Average age per
per
mem
society
ber 1

Retail store societies dealing in—
General merchandise________________
Groceries______ _____________________
Groceries and meats__________ ______
Students' supplies___________________
Other com m odities__________________

310
47
38
9
5

55,431
11,129
21,399
30,848
953

179
237
563
3,428
191

322
49
36
11
8

$29,610,246
3,487,979
4,346,690
2,899,626
401,069

T otal______________________________

409

119,760

293

426

40,745,610

95,647

334

3
9
9
2
10
5
2
5

2,459,521
742,473
1,189,737
37,786
150,853
679,110
1,559
3,704,139

819,840
82,497
132,193
18,893
15,085
135,822
780
740,828

(2)
195
246
144
99
248
21
572

471

49,710,788

105,543

352

Wholesale societies. _ ___________________
Gasoline filling stations__________________
Bakeries_________________________________
Laundries_______________________________
Boarding houses_________________________
__________________________
Restaurants
Water-supply societies..................................
Miscellaneous societies___________________

7
9
2
11
5
2
5

3,615
4,834
263
1,578
2,733
76
6,442

516
537
132
143
547
38
1,288

Grand total________________________

450

139,301

310

$91,957
71,183
120,741
263,602
50,134

$528
305
198
87
372

i Based on societies reporting both membership and business.

2 Insufficient data.

The above table shows a somewhat greater average membership
than was disclosed by the 1920 study—269 members—but it is open
to the objection that it does not cover identical societies for both
years. Tnerefore, in order to test the accuracy of this indication of
the growth of consumers’ cooperative societies, the 214 societies
which furnished membership data in both studies were taken for
comparison. These societies showed an increase in membership of 39
per cent from 1920 to 1925. In other words, the cooperative societies
which survived the depression period have more than held their
own in point of membership. The combined membership of the
societies handling general merchandise increased from 29,413 in
1920 to 30,291 in 1925, or 3 per cent, but the membership of all
other types of consumers’ societies combined increased from 37,983
to 63,394, or 66.9 per cent. The grocery societies alone showed an
increase in membership of nearly 50 per cent. The consumers’
societies which reported in both years had an average membership
per society in 1925 of 438 persons, nearly two-fifths larger than in
1920, when it was 315.
Six-Year Trend of Cooperative Business

17 ACH society was requested to report as to its sales for each year

from 1920 to 1925, and reports for all six years were received
from 204 societies. The data are shown in Table 3.

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES
T

able

3 .-

-A M O U N T OF BUSIN ESS OF ID E N T IC A L C O N S U M E R S ’ S O C IE T IE S E A C H
Y E A R , 1920 T O 1925, B Y T Y P E OF S O C IE T Y

T ype of society

Soci
eties
report
ing
for all
years

Amount of business

1920

1921

1922

1924

1925

Retail store societies dealing
in—
General merchandise___
Groceries...... ....................
Groceries and meats.......
Students’ supplies...........
Other commodities.........

135 $18,022,554 $14,566,079 $13,370,295 $14,357,262 $14,709,591 $16,090,343
23 1,763,258 1,455,156 1,413,145 1,582,427 1,581,495 1,691,073
19 2,040,233 1,793,358 1,813,493 2,140,294 2,440,938 2,702,242
5
681,100
755,944
814,370
830,797
575,982
819,434
288,044
316,188
251,019
300,871
276,374
274,221

Total..............................

185 22,690,071 18,811,881 17,603,896 19,195,224 19,839,195 21,577,313

Wholesale societies................ .
Bakeries....................................
Laundries.................................
Boarding houses......................
Restaurants.............................
Water-supply societies...........
Miscellaneous..........................
Grand total.................. .

3,333,132
396,434
16,042
145,050
112,707
589
309,710

1,824,734
394,093
13,990
99,380
96,165
616

1,641,822
323,983
13,208
95,623
112,298
690
1,800,559

1,974,
329,
15,
117,
131,
3,256,

2,206,915
340,087
21,063
92,490
225,187
775
3,466,370

2,459,521
464,993
25,306
86,479
230,296
729
3,699,828

204 27,003,735 22,235,540 21,592,077 25,021,236 26,192,082 28,544,465

As would be expected, 1920 was a year of very high sales for co
operative societies, as it was also the year of highest prices. That
year was followed by a decided drop in 1921 and a still further de
cline in 1922. Business improved in the following year and still
more in 1924, and in 1925 had even exceeded the 1920 mark by 5.1
per cent. In 18 States, also, the sales for 1925 surpassed those of
1920.
The sales have been affected by a number o f factors—the rise and
fall of prices during the six-year period, the fluctuations in employ
ment in the trades of the members with the consequent effect upon
their purchasing power, strikes (especially in cases where the mem
bers were largely of one trade, such as miners, railroad men, etc.),
and general economic conditions.
In 1920, the general stores were doing the largest annual business
of all the retail store societies, while among all types, the wholesale
societies held the lead. In 1925, however, the wholesales still ranked
highest in average sales, but the general stores had been outdistanced
by grocery and meat societies and those handling students’ supplies.
Of all types of consumers’ societies the “wholesale societies suffered
most from the depression, their business falling in 1922 to less than
half their 1920 sales. By 1925 the sales of all societies combined had
more than overcome the depression, and five of the group had sales
in that year more than 25 per cent in excess of their 1920 business.
Net Trading Profit or Loss
A LTHOUGH a few societies still operate on the cost-plus plan
* * (i. e., they set their selling prices only high enough to cover the
cost of the goods plus estimated expense of operation), this practice
seems to be on the decrease, and all but 15 of the societies reporting
sell at current prices. Sale at current prices not only avoids arousing

COOPERATION

the antagonism of private competitors because of the “ price cutting ”
involved in the cost-plus plan, but it obviates the necessity of guess
ing what the overhead expense will be.
The difference or margin, then, between the cost of goods plus the
overhead expense and the selling price, constitutes the ordinary
dealer’s profit, or the cooperative societies’ “ saving ” (it is not profit
in the ordinary sense in the case of the cooperative society but repre
sents what the member lends the society above the cost of his goods).
Unfortunately only incomplete returns are available as to the net
trading profit or loss and dividends paid by consumers’ societies on
the 1925 business. Only 441 societies replied definitely to the ques
tion of whether a profit was made on the 1925 business. Of these,
317 had a profit, 87 were able only to make ends meet, 15 operate on
the cost-plus plan and so showed no profit, and 22 lost money. The
profit for the 71.9 per cent of the societies which had a profit aggre
gated more than a million and a half dollars, as shown below:
T

able

4 .—A M O U N T O F N E T T R A D I N G P R O F IT O R LOSS ON 1925 B U SIN E SS, B Y T Y P E
OF S O C IE T Y

Net trading loss

N um
ber of
socie
ties re
porting

T y p e o f society

Retail store societies dealing in—
General merchandise..................................
Groceries_______________________________
Groceries and meats____________________
Students ’ supplies.......................................
Other commodities_____________________
T otal.......................................................
Wholesale societies__________ ____ _________
Gasoline filling stations________________
Bakeries........................... ...................................
Laundries __ _____________________________
Boarding houses................... ..............................
R estaurants_______________________________
Water-supply societies_____________________
Miscellaneous______________________________
Grand total_____________ ____________

Amount

Net trading profit

N um
ber of
socie
ties re
porting

A mount

12
3
1

1 $19,265
23,740
200

219
30
25
8
5

$918,630
73,128
141,949
170,732
10,075

3 23,205

287

1,314,514

572

2,822

2
9
7
1
6
2
1
2

45,503
98,892
18,823
1,079
3,026
23,976
527
102,359

8 26, 599

317

1,608,699

Aver
age
rate
Average
(per
per
society cent) of
profit
on 1925
sales

$4,195
2,438
5,678
21,342
2,015

4.0
3. 7
4.3
7.0
3.0

4,580

4.0

22,752
10,988
2,689
1,079
504
11,988
527 }
51,180
5,075

1.9
12.9
2.3
4 4.3
3.6
4.2

2.9
3.0

1 N ot including 3 societies which reported a loss but did not state amount.
2 N ot including 1 society which reported a loss but di(J not state amount.
8 N ot including 4 societies which reported a loss but did not state amount.
4 1 society only.

Patronage Rebates
C*ROM the trading surplus made by the business a fixed rate of in*
terest is paid on the share capital, after which a certain percent
age is usually set aside for a reserve to meet unexpected losses. De
preciation is taken care of by writing off a certain percentage of the
value of buildings, furniture, fixtures, etc. Some societies also set
aside money for educational work along cooperative lines. Finally,
after provision has been made for all the above purposes, the re

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES

mainder of the profits is returned to the members in proportion to
their patronage. The return of purchase dividends proportioned
to the amount o f the member’s business with the society is peculiar
to the cooperative movement. This insures that the member who
does the most trading at the store shall receive the highest trade
rebate, and the member whose business with the store is small shall
receive a proportionally small return. In other words, the system
was designed to reward the loyalty of the members in the exact
degree of their loyalty.
Data are at hand as regards purchase dividends returned for 425
societies. Of these only 172 of 317 which reported a profit on the
year’s business also returned a dividend. The 15 cost-plus societies
should also be regarded as returning purchase dividends, which the
member obtained at the time of purchase, in the form of a lower
(cost) price.
The statement below shows for 165 societies the amount returned
in patronage dividends. Seven others not included in the table re
ported that they also paid dividends but failed to state the amount
so returned.
N um ber
o f s o cie tie s
Retail store societies dealing in—
General merchandise
_ _______ ________ ‘ 111
Groceries
_
_____
______ ____ — 214
- 317
Groceries and meats _____________ ____
Students’ supplies_________________
—
—
10
Other commodities- _______ ____ ________
2

Total______________________________ —

A m ount

$402, 391
22, 952
94, 251
160, 339
3, 793

_ _

154

683,726

Wholesale societies_____________________ ________
Gasoline filling stations_____ __________________
—
._ _
Laundries____________________________
_______
----------Restaurants __
_
_ Water-supply societies-------------------Miscellaneous
_ ----------------------- ----- ________

2
45
1
1
1
1

19,048
44, 826
510
4,955
400
326

Grand total...... -........... ..........

........________ 5165

753, 791

Many of the societies return to nonmembers one-half the rate of
patronage dividends paid to the members. In some cases, however,
the nonmember’s rebate is not paid in cash but is applied on the pur
chase of a share of stock, so that in time the customer automatically
becomes a member and, as such, entitled to the full rate of dividend.
One of the most successful societies fixes the rate of nonmember
dividend at 2 per cent, irrespective of the rate paid to members.
Another returns no dividend to nonmembers; earnings from their
patronage are put into a permanent reserve to insure “ the safety and
extension of the business as a consumers’ cooperative.” Fourteen
societies reported that all the profits for 1925 were applied on deficits
1 N o t in clu d in g 1 s o cie ty w h ic h p a id a d ivid en d in stock b u t d id n o t s ta te a m ou n t so
p aid , 1 w h ich p a id a 2 % p er cen t d iv id en d b u t d id n o t sta te a m ou n t so p a id , a n d 1
w h ich giv es a d isc o u n t o f 10 p er cen t a t tim e o f p u rch a se on ca sh p u rch a ses.
2 N ot in clu d in g 1 s o cie ty w h ic h p a id a 1 p e r ce n t a n d 1 w h ic h p a id a 7 p e r ce n t
divid en d b u t d id n o t s ta te a m ou n t so p a id .
8 N ot in clu d in g 1 s o cie ty w h ic h a llo w s a d iscou n t o f 3 p e r ce n t o n a ll b ills p a id every
30 days.
4 N ot in clu d in g 1 s o cie ty w h ich a llow s a d iscou n t o f 2 cen ts a g a llo n on g a so lin e and 5
cen ts a g a llo n o n o il.
....................
5 N ot in clu d in g 7 s ocieties w h ic h retu rn ed a d iv id en d b u t d id n o t s ta te a m ou n t s o
returned.

COOPERATION

of previous years, four societies that all the profits were placed in the
reserve or surplus fund (and one of these adds that no dividends will
be paid until the surplus equals $5,000), three societies are applying
their profits on the purchase of a building to house the society, seven
put all the profits back into the business as share capital, one society
uses its profits for various social measures for the benefit of the mem
bership as a whole, and another is doing so this year. It is sound
business policy to use part at least o f the profits to build up the
reserves, and doubtless many of the societies which did not explain
the failure to pay dividends were making the same disposition of
profits as were the societies which reported definitely on this point.
A fourth society, a boarding house, provides that any profits shall go
to build up a surplus to the amount of $1,000; nothing is said as
to the disposal of profits after the reserve reaches the amount so set.
Three societies illustrate a policy not so commendable. These
societies sustained a loss on the year’s business; nevertheless all re
turned purchase dividends (presumably from reserves) amounting
in one case to nearly $7.50 per member, in the second to about $10,
and in the third to nearly $9.
In the majority of cases, the bakeries return no patronage divi
dends but use any profits made for various social causes, following
the Belgian practice. Three other societies which sell at current
prices do not practice the return of patronage rebates. One uses the
savings to further a certain social cause and to enlarge the business;
the second uses all surplus not needed in the business to “ advance the
cause of labor” ; and the third provides that “ should this society,
through its activities, yield any profits, same shall be transferred un
divided to the reserve fund, which may also be used for enlarging
and improving the enterprise or its aims.”
As already seen, more than $750,000 was returned in patronage
dividends on the 1925 sales. What this means to the individual
cooperator is shown in the table below. This table gives, for the socie
ties which had a profit, the average amount of this profit per society,
and for those societies which returned purchase dividends, the aver
age dividend per society and per member and the rate (per cent) of
dividend on the basis of sales and of share capital. In cooperative
practice the dividend is never spoken of in terms of capital, for a
fixed rate of interest is paid on capital. It has, however, been con
sidered worth while here to calculate the dividend on the basis of
capital as well as o f sales, so as to afford a clearer comparison be
tween private enterprises, in which it is customary to figure dividends
in terms of stock, and cooperative societies. In reading the table,
moreover, it should be remembered that the rate of dividend shown
as being returned on capital is in addition to the interest paid on
stock, so that if the interest (figures for which are not available)
were included the rate would be considerably higher.

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN' THE UNITED STATES
T

5 . — A V E R A G E P A T R O N A G E D IV ID E N D P E R S O C IE T Y A N D P E R M E M B E R A N D
R A T E OF D IV ID E N D ON S A LE S A N D ON C A P IT A L , B Y T Y P E OF S O C IE T Y , 1926

able

Average dividend—

Rate (per cent) of divi
dend on—

T yp e of society
Per
society

Per
member

Sales

Capital

Retail store societies dealing in—
General merchandise______________________________
Groceries__________________________________________
Groceries and meats_______________________________
Miscellaneous commodities (including students’
supplies)________________________________________

13,678

4.85

5.4

Total .............................................................................

4,440

10.66

3.4

3 28.5

Gasoline filling stations____ ____________ _____________
Laundries____________________________________________
Boarding houses....................................................................
Restaurants.... .........................................................................
Water-supply societies______ _______ _________________
Miscellaneous_________________________________________

8,965
510

17.55
2.12

9.4
2.0

90.6
6.0

4,955
400
326

2.24
8.70
12.54

1.2
54.9
13.1

13.9
1.7
5.0

Grand total—_____ _____ ________ ____ _________

4,568

10.62

3.8

29.3

$3,625
1,639
5,544

$17.13
14.71
18.08

3.3
2.2
4.0

25.7
30.9
52.8
0)

1 Impossible to compute, as half of the societies are nonstock associations.
* A ll types except those grouped under miscellaneous commodities.

Although the dividend returned by cooperative societies averaged
only 3.8 per cent on sales, the rebate if calculated on the basis of the
stock investment averaged nearly 30 per cent—no mean return.
Here, again, gasoline filling stations took the lead. The watersupply societies, though having a high dividend on sales, fell very low
in point of capital return, since the price of water sold is very small
as compared with the amount invested in the plant.
Capital and Reserves
IN PREVIOUS years high dividends have been emphasized as one
* of the things to be striven for by the successful society, and many
a failure of a supposedly strong cooperative organization has been
due to the fact that all the earnings were returned to members in
dividends, leaving no reserves for emergencies. Cooperative socie
ties are more and more recognizing the value of establishing, first
of all, from the earnings of the prosperous years, adequate reserves
to meet the exigencies of the lean years. That this is so is evidenced
by the fact that the reserves of the societies reporting average more
than half the amount of paid-in share capital and that, as seen,
although over 70 per cent of the societies here studied earned a
profit, only a little over 40 per cent returned patronage rebates.
The following table shows the paid-in share capital and reserve
of the consumers’ societies at the end of 1925, and the averages per
society and per member:

92
T

COOPERATION

able

6 .—A V E R A G E S H A R E C A P IT A L A N D R E S E R V E P E R S O C IE T Y A N D A V E R A G E
C A P IT A L P E R M E M B E R , D E C E M B E R 31, 1925

Reserve fund

Paid-in share capital
N um
ber of
societies
report
ing

T yp e of society

Retail store societies dealing in—
General merchandise_______________
Groceries___________________________
Groceries and meats.............................
Students’ supplies.................................
Miscellaneous com m odities_________

2 275
3 46
3 31
<4
56

Total.....................................................

«362

Wholesale societies_____________________
Gasoline filling stations_________________
Bakeries________________________________
Laundries______________________________
Boarding houses...................... ....................
Restaurants................................. ..................
Water-supply societies_______________
Miscellaneous societies_______________ __

3
7
9
1
59
52
2
33

Grand total.........................................

7 398

A m ount

A ver N um
ber of
Aver
age
age per per societies
society mem report
ing
ber i

$4,485,758 $16,312
377,222
8,200
9,752
302,320
54,005 13,501
36,229
6,038
5,255, 534

Aver
age
per
society

$1,356,308 $7,535
5,135
148,913
214,458 11,287
420,062 140,021
9,483
28,449

$110
35
190
4
27

180
29
19
3
3

234

2,168,190

9,266

2
6
5

27,502
21,316
21,843

13,751
3,553
4,369

5
3

7,768
106,106

1,554
35,369

82,453

41,227

257

2,435,178

9,475

14,518

371,656 123,885
79,225 11,318
67,919
7,547
8,540
8,540
24,210
2,690
37,296 18,648
27,850 13,925
999,000 333,000

23
15
35
16
16
366
187

17,264

6,871,230

A m ount

* On basis of societies reporting both capital and membership.
2 N ot including 5 nonstock associations.
3 N ot including 1 nonstock association.
* N ot including 7 nonstock associations.
6 N ot including 2 nonstock associations.
6 N ot including 16 nonstock associations.
7 N ot including 21 nonstock associations.

The reserves per society average more than one-half of the amount
of share capital—a very favorable situation. The 1920 study dis
closed an average capital per society of $17,056, and per member of
$59, and an average reserve per society of $5,142. Thus the 1925
figures show a gain on all three points, especially as regards reserves.
Cooperative Federations
T H E cooperative wholesale movement which appeared so promis*
ing early in 1920 has been largely abandoned. One by one these
societies have been discontinued or have failed, in some cases because
of lack of support by the retail societies, in some cases because of
inexperience, difficulties in transportation, etc. Now only a few
wholesales remain and most of these are joint consumers’ and farm
ers’ organizations. A new start is being made by at least two o f the
district federations, with the inauguration of joint purchasing of
certain staple commodities, in the hope of building a wholesale busi
ness eventually.
The development of the cooperative movement throughout the
country is u spotty,” many societies being isolated and out of touch
with fellow cooperators. Even in the regions where cooperative
societies are relatively numerous, difficulty is experienced in over
coming the apathy of isolated stores toward the general movement
and in bringing them into closer touch with the other organizations
of the region, so that all may benefit from the accumulated experi
ence of the whole body of societies,

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES

A determined move toward the spread of the cooperative idea and
in the closer linking o f the local cooperative societies appears in the
formation of district cooperative leagues, four of which are already in
existence. These are primarily educational and propagandist bodies,
but are in certain instances actively forwarding joint buying by the
societies in their districts.
Workers’ Productive Societies
rT,HE “ ideal ” workers* productive society is composed of workers
A in the shop who have contributed all the capital of the enter
prise and do all the work, the business being managed by men elected
by and from the members. The worker-owners work on a wage
basis, but receive in addition any profits made from the business,
these being divided among the members by various methods.
The workers’ productive movement is the least developed of all
the branches of cooperation and shows the least possibilities of future
expansion. This type of society is subject to the special handicaps
that (1) the groups forming them are usually small, and to start a
business generally requires more capital per member than the aver
age workingman has at his disposal;6 (2) even though the workermembers be skilled in their line of work, they are usually inexperi
enced in the sale of their product and must often resort to hiring
outside assistance for marketing the output; (3) the manager is as
a rule chosen from among the workers themselves, a feature which,
while democratic, may lead to difficulties in discipline, as the member-worker is apt to feel that he is as good as the manager (who holds
office only by the members’ pleasure) and to resent taking orders
from him; and (4) if the business is financially successful there is the
temptation to restrict the number of members who must share in the
profits of the business and if additional labor is needed to secure this
by hiring workers instead of taking in new members. The impetus
to such an attitude is also all the greater in a workers’ productive
organization, inasmuch as the society represents the members’ liveli
hood ; and as the matter is a serious one to them, an exclusive mem
bership policy is understandable and excusable. In direct propor
tion as this occurs, however, the society loses its cooperative character.
Some unavoidable limitation upon membership is, of course, im
posed by the nature of the business or work carried on and this be
comes greater with the degree of skill required. I f the principle that
all the members are to be workers in the business is lived up to, then
obviously in a highly specialized undertaking, such, for instance, as
the manufacture of hand-blown window glass, only persons skilled
in the various trades can be admitted to the society as members.
Some of these cooperative companies are in reality more of the
nature of trade-union or even joint-stock enterprises than of cooper
ative workshops and this fact is recognized by the companies them
selves. Often the greater part of the capital has been furnished by
the local trade-union of the members’ craft and in a number of cases
only unionists are eligible for membership in the company. One of
the most successful fish cannery societies has reached the point of
6 This difficulty is sometimes met, where the workshop is being* sponsored by a
trade-union, by the union’s furnishing a portion of the capital needed.

COOPERATION

being more nearly a profit-sharing than a cooperative society, as only
a small proportion of the workers are stockholders and of the em
ployees only the actual producers—the fishermen—share in the
profits.
Of the 39 societies of this type, the bureau has data for 21. These
societies have been in business, on an average, just under 10 years.
The desire of the workers to better their wages or working condi
tions was the main motivating factor in the establishment of these
factories, although several also were started as a result of a strike
or lockout in the industry.
Employment and Wage Policies
LJOW far these societies have attained the state in which the working force and the owners are one and the same is shown by
Table 7:
T

able

7 .— N U M B E R

OF M E M B E R S A N D E M P L O Y E E S OF W O R K E R S ’ P R O D U C T IV E
S O C IE TIE S, 1925

Shareholders

Society
N um
ber

Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society

N o.
No.
No.
N o.
N o.
N o.
N o.
N o.
N o.
N o.
No.
N o.

200
650
8
69
110
150
203
25
80
45
16
11

1_.
2_.
3..
4..
5..
6_.
7„
8..
9_.
10.
11.
12.

* N ot reported.

Shareholders

N um
ber em
ployed
in fac
tory
0)

70
4
14
17
23
25
25
38
13
11

N on
share
holder
em ploy
ees

(2)

30
4
2
250

(3)

3
14
21

10 per cent of working force.

Society
N um
ber

Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society
Society

No.
No.
N o.
N o.
N o.
N o.
N o.
N o.
N o.

Nonshare
N um
ber em holder
ployed em ployin fac
tory

13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

382
21

15
180

T o ta l....

2,438

200
9
16
89
40

"‘ 22

45
150
465

807

3 This society has not yet started operation.

It is seen that in only three societies are the shareholders identical
with the workers. One of these is not a workshop, but an aggre
gation of fishermen who have combined to market their catch. Two
other societies employ no workers outside their own membership,
but the business is unable to give employment to all the members.
Society No. 10 comes very near the standard, while Societies Nos. 7,
16, and 21 show the most pronounced trend toward the joint-stock
practice. Society No. 10 follows recognized cooperative practice
quite closely in most respects, ranking high among the societies stud
ied. The besetting temptation of the workers’ productive society
already mentioned—restriction of membership for profit’s sake—
has evidently had little or no effect upon it. A special effort is made
to induce employees to become members. “ So far as possible, all the
employees of the company shall be stockholders, holding one share
each of the capital stock.”

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES

Capitalization and Business
T* ABLE 8 shows the paid-in share capital, the amount of surplus
* and reserve, and the 1925 business of the societies reporting:
T

able

8 .—P A ID -IN S H A R E C A P IT A L , SU R PLU S A N D R E S E R V E , A N D 1925 B U SIN E SS OF
W O R K E R S ’ P R O D U C T IV E S O C IE T IE S, B Y K IN D OF B U SIN ESS D O N E

Number
Paid-in share
of
capital
societies

K ind of business done

4
3
2
2
1
6
2
1

Cigar factories...................................................................
Fish canning and sales societies_________ _____ _____
Glass (window) factories_________ ________ ____ ____
Laundries................................................. . . . . . . . . ___
Potteries______________________________________ _____
Shingle mills____________ ____________________ ______
Shoe factories_______________________________________
Veneer factories_____________________________________
T o t a l--.................................................. ............. .
1 1 society.

2 2 societies.

3 N ot reported.

* 3 societies.

Surplus
and
reserve

Am ount of
business

$53,952
1 $900
208,074
1445,677
175,000
53,283 ........ u ’ 706’
71,000
(3)
4 75,435
158,500
140,700
52,956
265,000
73,922
8 1,025,509

5 20 societies.

7 4,533,329

« 653,590

• 9 societies.

$141,824
2 764,192
295,679
175,585
(8)
992,906
1,419,608
743,535

7 19 societies.

Amount, and Division of Profits
IN ADDITION to the wages received, the stockholder employees
* are also entitled to a share of any profits made by the business.
In all but two cases the societies studied divide the profits on the
basis, not of wages, but of stock, just as in a joint-stock company; in
one of the two exceptions profits are divided according to the output
of each worker-owner, while in the other they are divided equally.
In 1925, however, though profits aggregating $248,804 were reported
by 12 societies, in only 4 were any returns from profits received by
the shareholders. These societies divided the sum of $109,470. The
other 8 societies retained all of the net earnings for use in the business.
Some of the societies, even though now on a profit-making basis, are
in debt, due to deficits in previous years, to losses from fire, etc. The
shingle mills also lost money when their marketing organization, and
later a logging asssociation, failed.
The statement below shows the profits reported for 1925 by the
12 societies which were able to make a profit that year:
Societies
reporting
profit or loss
Cigar factories_____________________ _____ _
Fish canning and sales societies------ ___
—
Glass (window) factories
------ ----Laundries_____
_
------ ----- _______ _
.
Shingle m ills—
—
.__
Shoe factories ------ -------- _______
Veneer factories---------Total—

------

Amount
of profit
reported

2
1
1
2
6
2
1

7 $861
27,017
*9,198
4,858
*18,331
143,346
54,391

.“ 248,804

71 society; the other reported a loss of $10,148.
8 Loss.
®5 societies; 1 other society reported a lo s s but did not state the amount.
10 12 sopietipK.

COOPERATION

Pilots’ Associations
IN 1924, the Bureau of Labor Statistics made a study of the pilots’
associations in eight representative ports of the United States.11
It was found that, apparently with no idea of so doing, the pilots
had formed what are almost perfect examples of cooperative skilledlabor associations.
These pilots are the men who have charge of sea-going vessels as
they enter and leave the port. The work to be done is divided among
all the members, the ships being taken out by the men in regular
turn. A pilot taking a ship to sea conducts her to a given point
outside the port, where he leaves her and proceeds in a small
boat to the pilot ship. Quarters are provided on the pilot ship for
a certain number of men, and the pilot stays aboard, with the men
who have preceded him, until one by one they leave to conduct
arriving vessels into port, and his turn comes again.
Few landsmen appreciate just how interesting, hazardous, and
necessary the work of the pilot is, and probably few ships’ pas
sengers even suspect the identity of the man who boards the ship
outside the entrance to the harbor, often in storm at risk of life and
limb, to bring her safe into her berth in port.
Pilotage is everywhere under public regulation. New pilots are
nearly everywhere recruited through the apprenticeship system, the
period of training varying, in the different ports, from six months
to six years. In order to obtain his license as a pilot, the apprentice
must pass a rigid examination both as to his practical knowledge
and as to his morals and trustworthiness.
The associations are capital-stock organizations, in which each
member holds a share of stock, varying in amount from $2,000 in
Boston to $10,000 at New Orleans. None except members are al
lowed to hold stock in the association, and if a member resigns he
must sell his share back to the association at its par value. (In
Savannah he may hold it until death.)
Pilots do not, in most cases, set their own fees. In practically all
ports pilotage is regarded as a public service and, as such, subject
to public control and regulation of rates. The fees are usually fixed
on the basis of the draft of the vessel piloted, or the net registered
tonnage, or both.
In all the ports studied, all earnings of individual pilots are turned
in to the association, which pays from the amounts so received all
expenses of operation. The remainder is then divided equally each
month among the working pilots in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and
Houston. In Boston, New York, New Orleans, and Galveston the
earnings are pro rated among the men according to the number of
days worked, a man being considered as on duty and working every
day that he reports to the central office, even though he is not
actually engaged in handling a boat.
The table following gives comparative data for the various ports,
as of the summer of 1924.
11 Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Savannah, New Orleans, Houston, and
Galveston. The situation at Seattle, Astoria (Oreg.). and San Francisco was also
studied, but as the pilots at those ports were not organized, they are not included here.
For a detailed account of the pilots’ organizations, see Labor Review, November, 1925,
pp. 16-36.

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES
T

able

9 . — A SSE T S,

M E M B E R S H IP , A N D E A R N IN G S OF P IL O T S ’ A S S O C IA T IO N S
Membership

Association

Boston..........................
New Y ork..................
Philadelphia...............i
Baltimore............ ........
Savannah:
Pilots’ association
Bar pilots..............
N ew Orleans:
R iver pilots..........
Bar pilots..............
Houston............... ........
Galveston.................

Year
of or
ganiza
tion

1901
1895
1896
1852
* 1894
1921

Retired members

Present
worth

N um N um
ber of ber of
active
ap
Am ount
mem pren N um
of
bers
tices
m onthly
ber
pension

$40,000
200,000
275,000

3 $400
125

100

(3)

(*)

50,000

1 Boat keepers.
3 Per year; widows receive $480 per year.
3 Information not available.

$ 8,000

5.000
5.000
4.000
3.000

1918
«1878
1922
1854

Approxi
mate
average
annual
earnings
o f active
pilots

100

3,500

(3
)
r3)

< Reorganized about 1921.
* Two-thirds pay.
6 Reorganized about 1900.

Credit and Banking Organizations
Credit Unions
A LTHOUGH credit societies have existed in this country since
about 1909, it is only during the past few years that any wide
spread development has taken place, for not until recently has
enabling legislation been enacted. Up to 1921, less than a dozen
States had enacted laws authorizing the formation of cooperative
credit societies; at the end of 1925,24 States had done so. The credit
union movement has now taken root in at least 30 States, although in
some places there is as yet no law under which to incorporate.
The credit union is primarily for that small borrower whose need
is greatest. Its purpose, as declared in many of the societies’ by
laws, is “ to promote thrift among its members by giving them an
opportunity to save money in small amounts and to obtain loans at
moderate rates for purposes which promise to be of benefit to the
borrower.”
Generally, any person of good character and habits can join the
credit union; $1 or less will admit him to membership. Only a mem
ber of the society can be a borrower, but once a member he can apply
for a loan of whatever sum he needs, secure it at a low rate of interest,
and use it to get a fresh start. As a borrower in the credit union, he
is neither an exploited victim nor an object of charity, but is on a
strictly business footing, which restores his self-respect.
Within the credit union all are on the same level, and with equal
power and rights in the society.
The cooperative credit society is thus absolutely democratic. It is
filling a real need, through a simple machinery, and is doing this at
very little cost (expense of operation during 1925 averaged 1.8 per
cent of total loans granted).
Practice as to security for loans differs, but as a rule “ character ”
loans may be obtained in amounts up to $50; larger loans must be

COOPERATION

secured, but the security may be in the form of a note indorsed
by one or more fellow members. The loans granted by the credit
unions studied in 1925 averaged $381 per borrower.
The credit union member not only has the right to credit, but also
receives interest on his capital and deposits with the society and his
share of any earnings made by it.
The study indicates that credit societies are generally successful,
and that losses from failure of members to repay loans are extremely
small.
The effectiveness of these societies as “ poor men’s banks ” is indi
cated by the growth of the movement. As part of the bureau’s gen
eral cooperative study, data have been collected which show that
although the greater part of the credit unions have been formed
within the past five years, already the membership of the 176 organi
zations reporting numbers 107,799, their share capital amounts to
nearly $11,000,000, their reserves to nearly $1,000,000, and their
loans in the single year, 1925, to more than $20,000,000.
The following table shows, for the societies reporting, the amounts
of their capital, reserves, and deposits at the end of 1925:
T

able

1 0 .— SH ARE

C A P I T A L , R E S E R V E S , A N D D E P O S IT S O F C R E D I T U N IO N S , 1925,
B Y STATES

State

N um
ber of
ber Paid-in share
unions Mem
ship
capital
report
ing

1
390
A rkansas____________________ - __
1
117
California________________________
1
215
F lo rid a __________________________
1
214
Georgia ________________________
7
841
I n d ia n a _________________________
1
Iow a _____________________________
47
1
TTprisas
61
2
480
K entucky________________________
1
265
L ou isia n a _______________________
1
M a ry la n d _______________________
173
58
45,672
Massachusetts3__________________
1
395
Minnesota
____________________
4
1,659
N ew Jersey
___________________
67
New Y ork _______________________
47,783
10
North Carolina. ________________
561
2
240
Oklahoma________________________
1
350
Pennsylvania____________________
4
6, 510
Rhode Island
_________________
1
96
South Carolina ________________
269
3
Tennessee________________________
1
41
Texas____________________________
Virginia
4
608
1
235
W ashington............................. .........
1
62
W est Virginia____________________
Wisconsin. .
1
495

______________

Total .......................................
14 societies.
2 6 societies.
3 Data are as of Oct. 31.
4 56 societies.
5 52 societies.
6 51 societies.
7Nonstock societies.

176

107,779

$10,460
2,579
12,500
1,783
17,373
424
5,000
16,327
4,012
3,878
3,630,717
6,700
(7)
8 6,522,982
14,016
4, 352
89,800
299,340
5,000
4,897
1,295
16,581
6,659
730
28,694
10,706,099

8 N ot including 1 nonstock
society.
9 63 societies.
w 29 societies.
n 7 societies.
12 9 societies.
131 society.

Reserve
funds

$100
92
24
1708
16
451
26
29
4 386,890
80
712
« 522,789
ii 6,189
13 405
3,909
H 49,093
97
i« 119
i* 1,428

Num ber of Amount of
depositors
deposits

260

$24,865

2 278
2

2 2,491
10

2,738

5 21, 565
28
1,473
io 4,468
i2 327

« 2,860,375
1,200
84,197
io 393,293
12 47,978

6,239
3
13 5

1,279,307
5
13 22

125

14 4,287

18 34,827

w 4,700,768

716
17 973,873

u 3 societies.
is 2 societies.
16171 societies.
17 155 societies.
is 114 societies.
1* 113 societies.

Besides the resources shown above, 98 societies which furnished
financial reports show an aggregate surplus and undivided profits of
§420,910.
The following table shows that during 1925 the 173 credit unions
which reported made loans amounting to more than $20,000,000,

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IK THE UNITED STATES

nearly nineteen millions in Massachusetts and New York alone.
The small amounts of business in the other States are of course due
to the fact that the credit-union movement has just begun there,
and the societies in those States are as yet very new and small.
T

able

1 1 .—LOA N S G R A N T E D , A V E R A G E L O A N P E R B O R R O W E R , A N D L O A N S O U T
S T A N D IN G , B Y S T A T E S

Loans granted in 1925
State

Number Number
of
of
unions borrowers
reporting in 1925

Arkansas_______________________________
California______________________________
F lo r id a ________________________________
Georgia ____________ _________________
Indiana________________________________
Iow a_____________________________ _____
Kansas ________________________________
K entucky____________________ _____ ___
Louisiana______________________________
M aryland___________________ _____ ____
M assachusetts3______________ _________
Minnesota______________________________
N ew Jersey_____________________________
N ew Y ork
___________________________
North Carolina_______ _______________
Oklahoma
________
______________
Pennsylvania_________
______________
Rhode Island_________ __ ______________
South Carolina_______ ________________
Tennessee____________ _________________
Texas________________ _________________
Virginia________________________________
Washington ________ _____________
W est Virginia__________________________
W isconsin______________________________

1
1
1
1
7
1
1
2
1
1
58
1
4
67
10
2
1
4
1
3
1
4
1
1
1

T o t a l ____________________________

176

1 Not reported.
2 Impossible to compute.
a Data are for year ending Oct. 31.
* 57 societies.

Amount

Average
per
borrower

Loans out
standing at
end of year

185
64
60
19,289
95
1,327
6 27, 148
291
136
1,000
1,545
28
114
82
339
97
9
196

$19,314
4,520
24,805
2,381
29,085
450
5,947
33,748
6,320
3,586
4 5,931,418
122
53,691
5 12,986,626
25,133
9,680
177,572
680,842
3,845
12,249
0)
45,304
7,280
658
35,780

182
99
60
308
1
40
478
86
71
178
441
137
107
00
134
75
73
183

$19,314
2,502
11,521
2,294
15,588
404
2,750
19,180
4,060
3,586
5,608,836
6,900
19,619
6,054,894
64,896
4,041
144,257
1,350,624
2,098
4,959
1,400
23,835
7,280
658
14,927

6 52,836

7 20,100,356

381

13,390,423

220
66
258
33
251
3
0)

$88
69
96
72
116
150
(2)

* 66 societies.
6 174 societies.
7 173 societies.

Interest on loans.—The interest that may be charged on loans is
quite often limited by the credit union law. A very common pro
vision in both legislation and by-laws is that such interest may not
exceed 1 per cent per month on the unpaid balances. One society
studied limits the interest to 8 per cent per year and this may not be
deducted in advance. Other societies require the “ legal rate,” or
have set specific rates such as 6 per cent, 8 per cent, and one, 5.9
per cent.
Dividends.—After provision is made for reserve or “ guaranty
fund,” or both, and for interest on deposits, the remainder of the
profit is divided among the members in proportion to the stock held
by them. One society stands alone in providing that the remaining
profits are to be divided among the depositors and borrowers “ upon
their deposits and loans to the bank and upon their loans obtained
from the bank.”
Only 135 of the 176 societies reporting paid dividends on the 1925
business. The amount returned by these aggregated $458,184,
or 5.1 per cent, divided as follows:

100
T

able

COOPERATION
12.—A M O U N T A N D R A T E O F D IV ID E N D S R E T U R N E D B Y C R E D I T U N IO N S ON
1925 B U SIN ESS, B Y S T A T E S

State

California______________
Florida..............................
Indiana________________
Kansas________________
K e n tu c k y _____________
Louisiana______________
Maryland
_ _
Massachusetts_________
^Atir «T
llCW
Javgav
ClDvj . . . . . . . . . . . . .
N ew Y ork ......................

Dividends
Number
returned
of
societies
return
Rate
ing d iv
(per
idends Amount
cent)
1
1
3
1
2
1
1
55
oq
50

$80
678
376
300
965
60
94
213,390
O, 17*
A
HO
223,113

3.1
5.3
2.7
6.0
5.9
1.5
2.4
6.2
0)
4.3

State

Dividends
Num ber
returned
of
societies
return
ing d iv Am ount Rate
(per
idends
cent)

North Carolina................
Oklahoma........................
Rhode Island__________
South Carolina....... .........
Tennessee.........................
Texas__ ______ ________
Virginia ______________
W isconsin.........................

3
2
3
1
2
1
4
1

$846
250
12,451
95
418
126
1,309
1,457

9.4
5.7
4.2
1.9
9.6
9.7
7.9
5.1

Total.......................

135

458,183

5.1

i Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

Losses from bad debts.—Reports as to losses from bad debts by the
societies included in the present study show that members are gen
erally honest and anxious to meet their obligations. One society
which has been in operation for nearly 10 years and has made loans
to its members aggregating $5,855,528, has in that time had only one
borrower default on his loan, the loss being $40. Another has during
its term of existence paid out $3,209,977 in loans and has had bad
debts of $8,046, or one-fourth of 1 per cent of its loans.
Of the 176 credit unions which have reported in the present study,
losses through failure of borrowers to repay loans have been sustained
by 58 societies. The losses sustained by 54 of these, for the whole
period of their operation, have amounted to only $63,122, or an aver
age of $1,169 per society having such losses. The sums so lost by
the individual associations range from $9 to $15,000. On the basis
of the total number of societies covered (including those which have
lost no money in this way) the sums so lost average $359 per society.
Data as to the total amount of loans granted by all the societies
during their entire period of operation, necessary for an accurate
basis for computing the per cent of such loss, are not available. The
losses of these societies, however, form only three-tenths of 1 per
cent of the loans made in the single year 1925, and would form a
much smaller proportion of the total loans made throughout the
societies’ existence.
The bright side of the picture is still further emphasized by the
experience of the societies which extend loans without security.
Although some credit societies require security of some kind on prac
tically all loans, others do a large proportion of the business in
unsecured loans. One organization, which at the end of 1925 had
outstanding in loans the sum of $95,692, of which $39,106, or 41 per
cent, was in unsecured loans, has been in operation 7^4 years and has
never had a borrower who failed to repay his loan. Another, a small
society in operation for three years, has also lost no money through
bad loans; of $815 in outstanding loans at the end of 1925, $497, or
61 per cent, was unsecured. A third had outstanding loans of
$120,123, of which $88,165, or 73 per cent, was unsecured; this asso
ciation reported that it has had some losses through this practice, but

101

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IK THE UNITED STATES

did not state the amount of the loss. A fourth society had outstand
ing at the end of the year $14,163, all unsecured. This organization
has been lending money to its members for nearly six years and has
never lost a cent.
Labor Banks
department of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers
THEof research
America has furnished the following data showing the con
dition of the various labor banks on December 31, 1926. The
number of banks remained at 36 throughout 1926. The Amal
gamated Bank o f Philadelphia was closed in March, 1926, the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Cooperative Trust Co. of New
York City was sold to private interests in August, 1926, and the
Brotherhood Savings & Trust Co. of Pittsburgh was closed in
October, 1926. The loss of these was offset by three new banks—the
Labor National Bank of Jersey City, the Gary Labor Bank, and the
Brotherhood National Bank of San Francisco.
During the last half of 1926 the surplus and profits of all the banks
combined increased 0.4 per cent, the deposits 1 per cent, and the
total resources 0.4 per cent.
T ab le 1 3 .—C O N D IT IO N O F L A B O R B A N K S A S O F D E C E M B E R 31, 1926

Name of bank and location

Surplus
and
profits

Total
deposits

M ou nt Vernon Savings Bank, Washington, D. C i ............................. $144,208 $4,237,408
Brotherhood of Locom otive Engineers Cooperative National Bank,
Cleveland, Ohio..............................................................................................
398.274 23,174,453
United Bank & Trust C o., Tucson, Ariz.......................................................
2,102
528,182
Peoples Cooperative State Bank, Hammond, Ind......................................
36,922 1,716,757
Nottingham Savings & Banking Co., Cleveland, Ohio.............................
11,119
751,908
San Bernardino Valley Bank, San Bernardino, Calif................................
29,240 1,860,163
Amalgamated Trust & Savings Bank, Chicago, 111......... .......... Jfc...........
159,645 2,837,297
Transportation Brotherhoods National Bank, Minneapolis, M in n ........
68,612 2,241,884
Amalgamated Bank of N ew Y ork ..................................................................
230,426 7,824,520
166,745
9,727
Labor National Bank of Montana, Three Forks, M on t.................. .........
Federation Bank & Trust C o. o f N ew Y o r k ,..............................................
948,165 16,551,141
Telegraphers National Bank, St. Louis, M o ........ ......................................
192,368 6,266,662
65,919 2, 823,186
Brotherhoods Cooperative National Bank, Spokane, W ash.....................
Brotherhood of Railway Clerks National Bank, Cincinnati, Ohio.........
52,183 3,788,101
7,815
875,323
United Labor Bank & Trust C o., Indianapolis, Ind___............................
209.274 3,512,437
International Union Bank, N ew York C ity.................................................
25,384 1,508,115
First National Bank in Bakersfield, Calif...................................................
18,755
Labor National Bank, Great Falls, M on t....................................................
549,397
Farmers & W orkingmen’s Savings Bank, Jackson, M ich .........................
792,858
18,827
54,363 3,520, 701
T he Peoples National Bank of Los Angeles, C a lif._____ _____________
76.108 3, 550,176
Brotherhood of Locom otive Engineers National Bank, Boston, Mass___
104,845 3,790,956
Labor Cooperative National Bank, Paterson, N . J.................................... .
21,786
Brotherhood State Bank, Kansas C ity, Kans...............................................
669,998
Brotherhood Cooperative National Bank of Portland, Oreg___________
54,583 2,211,478
Brotherhood of Locom otive Engineers Bank & Trust C o., Birming
67,351 1,261,803
ham, Ala........................................................................................................... .
5,875
Brotherhood State Bank, Hillyard, Spokane, W ash.................................. .
192,642
Brotherhood of Locom otive Engineers Title & Trust Co., Philadelphia.. 257,495 1,247,002
125,000 2,407,170
Labor Cooperative National Bank, Newark, N . J 2...............................
43,114 2,803,376
Brotherhood Cooperative National Bank, Tacom a, W ash....................
50,000
The American Bank, Toledo, Ohio............................................................
629,831
41,411
905,020
Brotherhood Bank & Trust C o., Seattle, W ash......................................
480,445
11,346
Gary Labor Bank, Gary, Ind .......................................................................
338,069
Labor Bank & Trust C o., Houston, Tex...................................................
19,843
588,651
Hawkins County Bank, Rogersville, T enn 3............................................
62,963
65,807
1,183,637
Labor National Bank o f Jersey C ity, Jersey C ity, N . J.........................
115,288 1,837,289
Brotherhood National Bank of San Francisco.........................................
Total (36 banks)...................................................................................
i Statement as of June 30,1926.

38690°—27----- 8

3 Statement as of Dec. 1, 1926.

Total
resources

$4,825,216
25,483,728
600,284
1,901,777
845, 527
2,065,427
3,230,895
2,611,000
8,642,113
201,471
19,081,983.
7,217,467
3,293,820
4,254,937
1,117,126
4,005,226
1,637,095
668,152
911,948
4,206,603
4,388,631
4,414,147
791,785
2,667,409
2,114,092
224,428
2,051,612
2,853,995
3,252,215
882,952
1,196,431
577,430
460,111
701,614
1,525,652
2,452,879

3,806,143 109,624,781 127,357,178
3 Statement as of N ov. 22,1926.

102

COOPERATION

Other Banks
Z IT H E R workers’ banks for which the bureau has data are the
^
Workers’ Mutual Savings Bank of Superior, Wis., and the
Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank of Milwaukee.
The Workers’ Mutual Savings Bank is a nonstock association,
organized in October, 1917. It has 52 members. The bank accepts
savings deposits only. No commercial deposits are accepted and no
commercial loans are made, the funds being used to finance the con
struction of homes for working people and to assist cooperative
societies. The bank is on a strictly cooperative basis, each member
having one vote only, and no proxy voting is allowed. The treasurer
is*the only paid officer.
The patrons profit in two ways—bjr the low rate (6 per cent)
charged on loans and by the comparatively high rate (4 per cent)
paid on deposits.
Below are given certain of the more important data taken from
the financial report of the bank as of December 31, 1926:
Number of members_______________________________________
52
360
Number of depositors____________________________________
Amount of savings deposits_______________________________$202,025
Surplus and reserve----------------------------------------------------------$6,114
Loans outstanding------------------------------------------------------------- $187,202
Cash on hand--------------------------------------------------------------------- . $13,660'

The Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank is five years older than
the Superior bank, having been organized July 1, 1912. This also
is a nonstock organization, and is owned by its 2,500 depositors. Its
funds are used to finance loans on working-class houses at 5 per cent.
Dividend on deposits is paid at the rate of 4 per cent. Other data
as of December 31,1926, are given in the statement below:
Amount of savings deposits____________________________ $1,222,851
Guaranty fund_________ * _______________________________
35, 585
Undivided profits______ _________________________________
779
Housing loans outstanding______________________________
853, 348
122,373
Cash on hand___________________________________________

Building and Loan Associations
T H E following table was taken from the report of the secretary of
* the United States League of Local Building and Loan Asso
ciations to the thirty-fourth meeting of the league, held at Minne
apolis, July 20-22, 1926. It shows the number of associations, mem
bership, and assets of the local building and loan associations in the
United States and, of the assets, the total outstanding in mortgage
loans:
T a b l e 1 4 .— S T A T U S O F B U IL D IN G A N D L O A N A S S O C IA T IO N S , 1 9 2 4 -2 5 , B Y S T A T E S

State

Arizona...........................................................................
Arkansas............................................................................
California............. ............................ ...............................
Colorado......................................... .................................
Connecticut......... ............................................................
1Included w ith “ other States.”

N um
Total
ber o f
associa member
ship
tions
G
63
152
56
37

5,530
46,286
156,388
72,183
35,574

Total assets

$2,371,970
27,551,264
140,657,891
30,458,600
16,197,954

Mortgage
loans

$2,060,659
0)
130,883,648
27,815,445
0)

103

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES
T

able

1 4 — S T A T U S O P B U IL D IN G A N D L O A N A S S O C IA T IO N S ,
S T A T E S — C on tin u ed
N um
Total
ber of member
associa
ship
tions

State

T otal assets

Delaware....................................................................... . .
14,500
40
District o f Columbia................................................. .
23
57,239
Florida.................................. ............................................
47
25,365
Illinois................................................ .............................
783,888
852
Indiana2.......................................................................... .
349,879
397
Iow a...................................................................................
71,800
74
Kansas............................................. .................................
172,272
148
Kentucky............................................. ..........................
125,200
145
Louisiana................................. . ............ ..........................
162,148
94
M aine...................................... ........................................
25,787
39
Massachusetts___________ ________________ ____ _
439,553
220
M ichigan........................................ .......... ..................
177,883
90
M innesota............................... ...................................
66,429
83
Missouri.................... .......................................................
182,550
242
M ontana........................... .........................._ .......... ........
36,900
30
Nebraska............................................ ..............................
84
202,100
N ew Hampshire.................................. ........................
14,773
28
N ew Jersey 3................................................................
1,008,092
1,410
N ew M exico............... ............................. ............. ........
4 6,300
4 12
N ew Y ork ___________ _____ ______________________
447,721
305
N orth Carolina............ ......... .......... . . . ............ ............
92,007
246
N orth Dakota....... ................. . . . ............................. .
13,960
17
Ohio............................................ ................... ..................
2,098,733
865
Oklahoma.......................................................................
146,210
88
Oregon............................... .................... ..........................
37
34,200
Pennsylvania______ __________________ ____ ______ 4 4,440 4 1,700,000
R hode Island.......... .......... ........................................ .
29,248
7
South Carolina......... .......................................................
4 25,000
4 150
South Dakota..................................................................
7,950
27
Tennessee..........................................................................
8,775
21
Texas.................................................................................
83,562
119
Utah...................................... .......................................... .
24
51,000
3,533
Verm ont...........................................................................
9
71
Washington.......................................................................
217,440
W est Virginia...................... ............................................
54,500
59
200,939
Wisconsin........................................................................ .
167
Other States...................................................................... 4 1,379
4 433,600
T otal........................................................................ 12,403
1 Included with “ other States.”
2 As of Dec. 31,1925.

1 9 2 4 -2 5 , B Y

9,886,997

Mortgage
loans

$7,412,252
46,020,000
33,616,550
317,403,747
218,479,623
37,380,525
93,267,836
64,192,658
129,924,059
16,631,015
369,273,095
96,302,277
25,212,662
117,007,732
13,109,462
141,435,904
8,145, 484
645,539,550
4 2,950,000
258,089,817
81,188,546
6,965,555
847,570,701
93,061,767
14,871,323
4 990,000,000
17,075,323
4 20,000,000
4,951,443
5,212,066
51,971,859
24,458,736
1,798,039
76,145,600
25,000,000
149,648,269
4 239,625,000

$6,486,716
44,321,000
(9
301,325,212
199,982,657
35,377,861
81,255,584
0)
0)
0)
348,503,053
88,636,859
21,995,587
107,651,544
(0
126,752,579
^ 7,788,965
$14,083,318
0)
240,359,492
73,014,392
6,014,163
766,256,091
84,612,070
12,647,854
910,000,000
16,223,294
(l)
0)
4,989,527
0)
21,840,942
1,690,984
62,934,356
0)
144,999,013
594,506,774

5,509,176,154

5,085,009,639

8 As of M a y 31,1925.
4 Estimated.

As the table shows, more than 90 per cent of the assets are invested
in mortgage loans on dwellings. The extent of the work of these
associations in the financing of homes during the past three years is
shown in the table following, which was taken from the January,
1926, issue of the American Building Association News (Cincinnati):
T

1 5 . — N U M B E R OF H O M E S F IN A N C E D , A M O U N T S P E N T T H E R E F O R , A N D
PE R S O N S H O U S E D B Y B U IL D IN G A N D L O A N A S S O C IA T IO N S , 1923 T O 1925

able

Number of
homes
financed

Year

19231...................................................................................
1924......................................................................................
1925......................................................................................
Total

________

---

______________

Estimated
A mount expended number of per
sons housed 1

360.000
425.000
2 510,000

$1,206,000,000
1,460,000,000
2 1,760,000,000

1,800,000
2.125.000
2.550.000

1,295,000

4,426,000,000

6,475,000

i Evidently computed on the basis of 5 persons per house financed.

«* Estimated.

Housing Societies
T 'H E bureau has knowledge of the existence of 40 cooperative
* societies, all but 2 of which are in Brooklyn or New York City;
and data are at hand for 32. Of these reporting societies, 22 are in

104

COOPERATION

Brooklyn (within a radius of seven or eight blocks), 9 in New York
City, and 1 in Wisconsin. Especial care was taken to include only
those which are genuinely cooperative in the main particulars. Many
apartments are being sold on the so-called “ cooperative plan ” by
private builders who construct them, for sale, just as they do single
houses, and sell them outright to individual buyers. The buyers are
allowed to resell at a profat, as well as to rent their apartment or
apartments for as large a rent as they can secure. Voting is on the
basis of stock ownership, and one person may own several apartments
and thus have a number of votes. This is not true of genuine cooper
ative societies, for in such societies each member has but one vote,
regardless of his capital holdings in the society. I f any surplus is
earned by the society this is rebated, in the truly cooperative society,
on the basis of patronage (i. e., the amount of the monthly payment)
and not on stock held. The affairs of the society are managed by a
board of directors of varying number, elected by the members. The
actual management of the apartment house is quite often in the hands
of one person chosen for the work.
Most of these societies have been started in the past five years.
One was started in each of the years 1916 and 1919; 2 each in 1922
and 1925; 5 each in 1921 and 1923 ; 7 in 1924; and 8 in 1920.

Types of Dwellings Provided
TN BOTH Brooklyn and New York the dwellings provided by all
* of the societies are apartments exclusively, usually those of the
four-story, walk-up type, the 16-dwelling building having four apart
ments per floor. Another, and more attractive type, is the court
building with a simple archway leading from the street to a grassy

court, from which one or more entrances (according to the size of the
building) lead into the various wings.
The dwellings provided by the Wisconsin society are individual
houses, 105 of which have been built on a tract of 28 acres. The
settlement includes a parked playground 250 by 600 feet. This was
partly a cooperative and partly a city project.

Cost of Cooperative Dwellings
TV/HEN the individual becomes a member of a housing society he
^
subscribes for a certain amount of capital stock in the society
estimated as covering the cost of the apartment or dwelling he will
occupy. This total cost is arrived at after consideration of a number
of factors; the total cost of land, building, and other expenses con
nected therewith are taken as a basis and the cost of each dwelling
is determined according to the number of rooms, floor space, loca
tion, and other points of advantage or disadvantage. The cost figure
so arrived at for each individual apartment is the price which the
prospective tenant must pay, and the amount for which he must
subscribe stock in the society. (No profit is made in the genuine
cooperative society.) This stock may be paid for either as a whole
or in installments, according to the requirements of the by-laws.
The share capital paid in by the members in the 18 societies for
which data on this point were secured aggregated $827,850, or about
$612 per member.

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES

105

Housing projects, however, especially in large cities, require con
siderable amounts of money. The buildings owned by the societies
studied ranged in cost from $16,000 to $152,000 (average, $59,500)
for old apartment buildings mainly of the 4-story, 16-dwelling type,
and from $75,000 to $425,000 for the land and construction of new
buildings. The wage earners who form the great majority of the
members of cooperative housing societies are therefore forced to
obtain money from outside sources. This is usually secured through
mortgages o* “ comrade loans” from fellow cooperators, or both.
The average cost of apartments in the buildings for which data
were secured ranged in the old buildings from $2,000 to $4,313
(average $3,190), and in the new buildings from $3,094 to $6,750
(average, $5,614). The apartments were generally those o f 3, 4,
and 5 rooms.
The initial payment required varied in certain of the societies
covered from $100 to $2,000; 2 societies require only $100 down,
4 societies from $300 to $500, 5 societies from $600 to $1,000, and 1
society from $1,200 to $2,000, according to the size of the apartment.
In those organizations in which the initial payment varies with the
number of rooms, the sum per room ranges from $125 to $400. In
2 societies the payment is as low as $125 a room; 2 societies require
$200 a room, 1 society $200 a room plus $50 for the kitchenette, 2
societies $&50, 3 societies $300, and 3 societies $400 a room.
After the member takes possession of his dwelling he pays as
“ rent ” each month a certain amount, which is calculated to cover
his proportionate share of such items as taxes, insurance, the general
upkeep of the building (repairs, improvements, janitor service), fuel,
payments on the mortgage or mortgages, etc. In some cases the
members adopt the policy of making these monthly payments large
enough to cover unexpected expenses, building up a little surplus for
this and other purposes. In others, such expenses are met as they
arise through a pro rata assessment on all the tenants.
The monthly amounts paid by the owner-tenants are shown
below. In reading the table it should be borne in mind that these
payments take no account of interest on principal already paid.
T

able

1 6 .— A V E R A G E

M O N T H L Y P A Y M E N T S ON C O O P E R A T IV E A P A R T M E N T S O F
3, 4, A N D 5 R O O M S
[Interest on principal already paid not included]

Society and
location

Average m onthly paym ent on
cooperative apartments of—
3 rooms

4 rooms

5 rooms

Brooklyn:
$40.00
$32.00
N o .l .. .
$24.00
27.60
34.50
No.3__.
20.70
16.00
20.00
No. 4 ...
12.00
N o. 5 ...
40.00
32.00
24.00
20.00
N o. 6 ...
15.00
25.00
No. 7 ... 124.00-39.00 132.00-52.00
00-65.00
No. 8 ...
25.00
No. 9 ... 124.00-27.00 132.00-36.00
00-45.00
28.00
N o. 10..
21.00
35.00
N o. 11..
130.00-36.50
46.50 158.88-62.00
N o. 12..
No. 13.. *21.00-27.00 128.00-36.00 135. 00-45.00
No. 14..
35.00
45.00
No. 15_.
32.00
44.00
54.00

i According to location.

Society and
location

Average m onthly paym ent on
cooperative apartments of—
3 rooms

4 rooms

5 rooms

Brooklyn—Con.
N o. 16...........
$65.00
No. 17...........
142.00-43.50
No. 18...........
$46.00
$35.00
59.00
No. 19...........
19.40
32.50
No. 20...........
50.00
55.00
38.00
No. 21...........
144.00-54.00
New York:
N o .l ............. 118.00-21.00 124.00-28.00 130.00-35.00
44 00
No. 2.............
33.00
55.00
No. 3............. 145.00-54.00 160.00-72.00 175.00-90.00
No. 4............. 136.00-39.00 148.00-52.00 160.00-65.00
No. 5.............
45.00
60.00
75.00
No. 6.............
52.00
39.00
65.00

106

COOPERATION

As part of the monthly payment goes to pay off the indebtedness,
this is gradually reduced, and as a consequence not only is the amount
of the tenant’s equity in the building increased but his monthly
payments decrease. When the building or buildings finally become
the property of the society, the only expense is that of maintenance.
Ownership
IN THE genuine cooperative society the tenant never receives a
A title to his dwelling. Legal ownership remains in the society as
a whole. The member merely owns stock in the organization to
the value of his apartment or dwelling and receives a permanent
lease which he may pass on to his heirs. Should he desire to give up
his membership his stock must first be offered to the society, and if
the latter is unable to redeem it at its par value he is allowed to sell
it, at cost, to any person who he considers would be a desirable tenant.
Transfers of stock must be made on the books of the society. In this
way speculative profit by the members at the expense of the prospec
tive member is prevented. “ It is not the purpose of cooperative
building societies to enable tenants to obtain homes at bottom
prices by building collectively and then to allow the individuals to
own and sell them to others for profit. The purpose of cooperative
building societies is to provide permanent homes for the people
without private profit or speculation in land and buildings, collec
tively controlled and administered by the tenant members.” 12
It is to be regretted that not all the cooperative housing societies
studied follow this practice. In most instances the member does
not receive title to his dwelling; in three societies, however, the
reverse is true. As regards the principle of selling at cost, not so
favorable a situation was found. Eight societies allow the member
to sell his holdings for whatever he can get, though in none of these
societies has any of the original members attempted to do so.
Cost of Property Owned
'"THE 32 societies included in the present study control property
*
costing more than $4,000,000, distributed among the three
localities as follows:
T

able

1 7 .— COST

O F P R O P E R T Y C O N T R O L L E D B Y C O O P E R A T IV E H O U S IN G
S O C IE T IE S

Location of society

Number of
societies
reporting

N um ber of
families
housed

Cost of building
and land

B rooklyn______________________________________________
N ew York C ity_______________________________________
Wisconsin____ :______ ;_________________________________

22
9
1

534
1,166
105

° $2,176,000
1,422,600
504,000

Total................. ........... ............................ .....................

1,805

4,102,600

« 21 societies.

^Report of housing committee to third cooperative congress, Chicago, Oct. 26-28,1922.

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES

107

It should be emphasized that the above figures represent the actual
.cost, not the present value. In many, if not all, instances, the value
of the property has increased since the society has been holding it.
In one organization in Brooklyn, apartments for which the original
members paid $600 are now worth $1,000 and $1,100. Such an in
crease, however, is an asset of the society as a whole, and not of the
individual members.
Cooperative Insurance
/COOPERATIVE insurance is a field not as yet entered upon to
^ any considerable extent, except by the farmers’ organizations,
especially in the Middle West, and this has been mainly in the form
of mutual insurance. There are, however, two consumers’ coopera
tive insurance societies, the Workmen’s Furniture Fire Insurance
Society, New York City, and the New Era Association, Grand
Rapids, Mich.
The Workmen’s Furniture Fire Insurance Society was organized
in December, 1872. As its name implies, it writes insurance only on
household goods. It is a nonstock, fraternal organization, doing
business on the assessment plan. It issues no policies. The member
desiring to insure his furniture makes a guaranty deposit of $1 for
every $100 of insurance desired. The “ premium” (assessment) has
for many years amounted to 10 cents per $100 annually. No mem
ber can take out more than $2,000 worth of insurance.
The society had, at the end of 1926, a membership of 47,032, and
insurance in force amounting to $43,140,025. The amount received
in assessments during the year was $39,196.25.
The New Era Association is a nonstock, fraternal organization,
chartered October 1, 1897. Its policy is that of service at cost, as
far as possible. Its rates are reported to be from one-half to twothirds those charged by the old-line companies.13 This lower charge,
it is stated, is possible because of the fact that “ only 10 per cent of
all policies ever are paid either as death claims or as matured endow
ment policies. The remaining 90 per cent, for some reason or other,
never materialize.” 14 The 90 per cent, therefore, mean pure profit
for the companies and go to swell their resources. The New Era
Association, however, not being a profit organization, gives the
policyholders the benefit, in the form of reduced premiums.
The association is democratically controlled. Each member has
one vote only, and no proxy voting is allowed. Ten per cent of the
members can demand a referendum on any measure taken by the
officers,15 and no increase in rates can be made except by vote of the
members.
Data furnished by the association, as of March, 1927, show that
the organization has 34,698 members (policyholders) and the total
insurance in force amounts to $41,850,500. It has reserves of
$224,467. During the entire period of its operation the association
has paid in claims $4,800,865.
Organized labor has established two companies to write life
insurance for members and others. Although primarily trade-union
13 Cooperation (New York), August, 1925, p. 154.
14 Northern States Cooperative League. Yearbook, 1926. Minneapolis, 1926, p. 130.
15 Proceedings of fifth cooperative congress, held at Minneapolis, Nov. 4-16, 1926.

108

COOPERATION

enterprises, the companies have certain cooperative features. An
account of these companies is given in the section “ Insurance and
benefit plans,” page 340.
Farmers' Property Insurance
rT,HE Farmers’ Educational and Cooperative Union has been active
*
in promoting the writing of cooperative insurance on life, crops,
etc., and at present seven States are reported to have State-wide
farmers’ union property insurance societies.
The following statement, taken from the December 30, 1926, issue
of the Kansas Union Farmer (Salina, Kans.), shows the date of
organization of the insurance societies and the total amount of in
surance in force in these seven States:
D a te o f
o rg a n iza tio n

K a n sas___
___July, 1914______
Colorado _
________ _______ January, 1910
Nebraska.
- October, 1918. January, 1922 _
Oklahoma____
. May, 1925 ____
I o w a __
.
- April, 1925 ^ South Dakota
Washington_____
. ____ January, 1917
T o t a l_________

In su ra n ce
n o w in f o r c e

.
.

$55,000,000
16,000, 000
33,000,000
13,000,000
11,000, 000
8,000,000
1, 750,000
137, 750, 000

The report states that the above represents a total saving of
$525,500 to the insured.
In Washington State the National Grange in 1894 organized a
fire-insurance association, membership in which is restricted to mem
bers of the grange. It has about 3,500 policyholders and some
$9,000,000 of insurance outstanding. It is stated16 that the costs
have been less than 30 cents per $100 of insurance per year.
Five fire insurance companies have been organized by farmers in
New York State since 1913. At the end of 1925-26 these five com
panies had insurance in force 3,439 policies amounting to $12,643,505.
Losses paid during the year amounted to $198,120.17
The United States Department of Agriculture in 192418 estimated
that there were at that time about 2,000 farmers’ mutual fire insurance
companies, located mainly in the East and Middle West, carrying
risks amounting to over $8,000,000,000. The cost of insurance by
these companies during the period 1917 to 1921 ranged from 6 to 51
cents per $100, with an average of 26 cents for the country as a
whole.
16 C oop era tion , N ew Y ork , Septem ber, 1926.
17 C oop era tion , N ew Y ork, F eb ru a ry , 1927.
18 U . S. D ep a rtm en t o f A g ricu ltu re Y ea rb ook , 1924, W a sh in g to n , 1925, p p. 2 3 9 -2 5 6 .

COST OF LIVING

109

Trend in Cost of Living in the United States
HE United States Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes period
ically the results of surveys showing changes in the cost of
living in 32 cities and also in the United States as a whole.
Since 1924 these surveys have been made twice a year, in June and
December. Immediately upon compilation, the results of each survey
are issued in pamphlet form and are also published in the succeeding
issue of the Labor Review.
The original price information used in compiling the cost-of-living
figures is secured from merchants and other dealers in each of the 32
cities. The prices of food and of fuel and light (which include coal,
wood, gas, electricity, and kerosene) are furnished the bureau by
correspondence in accordance with previous arrangements made with
establishments through personal visits of the bureau’s agents. In
each city food prices are secured from 15 to 25 merchants and dealers
and fuel and light prices from 10 to 15 firms, including public
utilities. All other data are secured by representatives of the bureau,
who visit the various merchants, dealers, and agents and secure the
figures in person. Four quotations are secured in each city (except
in Greater New York, where five are obtained) on each of a large
number of articles of clothing, furniture, and miscellaneous items.
Rental figures are secured from 400 to 2,200 houses and apartments
in each city, according to its population.
The average price of each article and item is weighted according
to its importance in the average family budget.
The various groups forming the components of the cost of living
are then weighted according to their relative importance as shown in
Table 6. These “ weights ” are derived from the comprehensive costof-living and budgetary survey made by the bureau in 1918-19. This
survey covered 12,096 families in 92 localities. The results o f this
1918-19 survey were published in Bulletin No. 357. It is extremely
desirable that a new budget survey should be made, as there prob
ably may have been important changes in the character of family
expenditures since 1918-19; but the very heavy expense involved
has thus far prevented the bureau from undertaking this task.

Changes for Country as a Whole, 1913 to 1926
A S ALREADY noted, the bureau’s studies of changes in cost of
**
living cover 32 cities. In the case o f 19 of these cities the
studies began in December, 1914, and for the 13 other cities, in
December, 1917.
From the figures for these 32 cities a combined index number has
been computed, and this combination is assumed to be fairly repre
sentative for the United States as a whole. It should be noted that
this index number for the United States has been based on the year
1913, inasmuch as that year has been used as a basis for many or the
bureau’s index numbers. To bridge the gap between 1913 and
December, 1914, use has been made of the data regarding retail prices
of certain articles and the wholesale prices of other articles. As the
price changes during this period were relatively small, the results
are believed to be substantially accurate.

Ill

112

COST OF LIVING

Table 1 gives the index numbers for changes in the cost of living
for the United States as a whole, for all of the periods for which
surveys are made by the bureau. These figures are also presented
in graphic form in the accompanying chart.
T a b l e 1.—I N D E X N U M B E R S OF C O ST OF L IV IN G IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S F R O M 1913

TO D E C E M B E R , 1926
[Average for 1913=100.0]

M onth and year

Food

1913 average___________________
December, 1914________________
December, 1915________________
December, 1916________________
December, 1917________________
December, 1918________________
June, 1919___ _________________
December, 1919________________
June, 1920_____________________
December, 1920_________ ____
M ay, 1921.......................................
September, 1921_______________
December, 1921...... .......................
March, 1922___________________
June. 1922
_________________
September, 1922_______________
December, 1922.................. .........
March, 1923___________________
June, 1923_____________________
September, 1923_______________
December, 1923__________ _____
March, 1924___________________
June, 1924__ __________________
September, 1924............................
December, 1924________________
June, 1925_____________________
December, 1925________________
June, 1926_____________________
December, 1926.............................

1913

131*

1 9 )5

1916

100.0
105.0
105.0
126.0
157.0
187.0
184.0
197.0
219.0
178.0
144.7
153.1
149.9
138.7
140.7
139.7
146.6
141.9
144.3
149.3
150.3
143.7
142.4
146.8
151.5
155.0
165.5
159.7
161.8

I9 IT

I9 I&

Clothing
100.0
101.0
104.7
120.0
149.1
205.3
214.5
268.7
287.5
258.5
222.6
192.1
184.4
175.5
172.3
171.3
171.5
174.4
174.9
176.5
176.3
175.8
174.2
172.3
171.3
170.6
169.4
168.2
166.7

1919

I9 2 Q

Rent

House
Fuel and furnish
light
ing goods
100.0
101.0
101.0
108.4
124.1
147.9
145.6
156.8
171.9
194.9
181.6
180.7
181.1
175.8
174.2
183.6
186.4
186.2
180.6
181.3
184.0
182.2
177.3
179.1
180.5
176.5
186.9
180.5
188.3

100.0
100.0
101.5
102.3
100.1
109.2
114.2
125.3
134.9
151.1
159.0
160.0
161.4
160.9
160.9
161.1
161.9
162.4
163.4
164.4
166.5
167.0
168.0
168.0
168.2
167.4
167.1
165.4
164.2

1921

1922

1 9 2 .3

100.0
104.0
110.6
127.8
150.6
213.6
225.1
263.5
292.7
285.4
247.7
224.7
218.0
206.2
202.9
202.9
208.2
217.6
222.2
222.4
222.4
221.3
216.0
214.9
216.0
214.3
214.3
210.4
207.7

192+

1925

Miscel
laneous

All items

100.0
103.0
107.4
113.3
140.5
165.8
173.2
190.2
201.4
208.2
208.8
207.8
206.8
203.3
201.5
201.1
200.5
200.3
200.3
201.1
201.7
201)1
201.1
201.1
201.7
202.7
203.5
203.3
203.9

1926

192T

100.0
103.0
105.1
118.3
142.4
174.4
177.3
199.3
216.5
200.4
180.4
177.3
174.3
166.9
166.6
166.3
169.5
168.8
169.7
172.1
173.2
170.4
169.1
170.6
172.5
173.5
177.9
174.8
175.6

113

TftEND IN THE UNITED STATES

Changes in Individual Cities
fT*ABLE 2 shows index numbers for changes in the cost of living
A as a whole (i. e., all items combined), for 19 cities, from De
cember, 1914, to December, 1926. The figures are given for Decem
ber of each year up to 1919, and thereafter semiannually.' The
index numbers are computed on December, 1914, as the base or 100.
T a b l e 2 .- -I N D E X N U M B E R S OP C O S T O P L IV IN G IN 19 C IT IE S F R O M D E C E M B E R ,

1914, T O D E C E M B E R , 1926
[December, 1914=100.0]

M onth and year

Balti Boston,
Buffa Chica
more,
lo,N .Y . go, 111.
M d.

December, 1914__.
December, 1915__.
December, 1916.
December, 1917__.
December, 1918___
June, 1919...............
December, 1919___
June, 1920...............
December, 1920___
M ay, 1921...............
December, 1921___
June, 1922...............
December, 1922___
June, 1923...............
December, 1923___
June, 1924...............
December, 1924___
June, 1925...........
December, 1925___
June, 1926...............
December, 1926___

M onth and year

December, 1914. _
December, 1915 _ _
December, 1916- _
December, 1917. _
December, 1918__
June, 1919.............
December, 1919_____
June, 1920.............
December, 1920. ..
M ay, 1921.............
December, 1921
June, 1922.............
December, 1922...
June, 1923.............
December, 1923. _
June, 1924.............
December, 1924...
June, 1925.............
December, 1925
June, 1926.............
December, 1926...

100.0

98.6
118.5
151.3
184.7
184.0
198.4
214.3
196.8
177.4
173.2
167.6
170.9
172.0
174.8
171.9
174.8
177.3
181.2
178.4
178.6

101.6
115.7
138.1
170.6
172.8
192.3
210.7
197.4
174.4
170.2
159.6
165.1
163.5
169.4
163.2
167.3
165.8
174.7
169.4
171.9

100.0
103.5
124.4
151.1
180.9
184.2
202.7
221.5
201.7
180.3
176.8
168.6
173.9
174.1
178.6
173.9
177.8
179.7
184.8
182.8
183.6

100.0
103.0
119.5
141.8
172.2
174.5

200.6
214.6
193.3
178.4
172.3
165.0
168.0
*169.6
183.7
172.6
175.3
177.1
180.6
177.8
179.0

100.0

99.6
113.8
138.0
172.2
174.3
191.6
207.6
193.1
172.1
169.2
159.7
164.1
163.3
166.9
162.4
166.0
165.3
170.3
167.3
169.2

96.9
106.1
131.2
164.2
169.2
183.7
200.4
180.3
162.2
158.3
152.1
156.1
154.6
157.8
152.8
155.8
155.8
156.9
154.6
155.1

98.3
108.3
128.6
157.8
165.6
187.8
196.0
185.1
166.7
163.6
156.8
158.8
157.6
162.1
157.3
160.1
162.2
164.7
160.7
161.7

Phila
del
phia,
Pa.

Port
land,
Me.

100.0
102.0

100.0
100.6

100.0
101.2

114.9
144.7
177.3
179.2
203.8
219.2
201.4
181.7
179.3
170.7
174.2
172.6
177.3
172.5
176.5
175.8
183.2
178.6
180.0

114.7
145.2
180.7
187.1
207.0

114.7
143.8
173.9
176.2
196.5
213.5
200.7
179.8
174.3
168.2
170.7
172.1
174.7
171.5
176.1
177.6
182.6
180.6
182.3

i For April, 1919.

100.0
103.5
122.3
149.9
178.0
184.4
207.9
236.0
218.6
193.3
182.4
175.3
179.4
181.7
184.7
182.8
182.2
184.5
187.8
184.7
184.1

Fran
cisco,
and
Oak
land,
Calif.

N or
folk,
Va.

209.0
188.1
179.2
169.5
169.9
171.1
172.4
168.4
172.1
171.9
176.4
173.1
174.6

100.0
101.4
119.1
142.9
171.4
177.2
198.2
220.3
207.3
187.5
178.8
168.9
172.9
177.1
179.6
175.9
178.1
180.4
182.7
181.9
181.5

Port
land,
Oreg.

New
York,
N. Y .

222.2

Cleve
Hous Jack
Los
land, Detroit,
ton, sonville, Angeles, Mobile,
M ich .
Ala.
Ohio
Tex.
Pla.
Calif.

100.0

100.0
99.7
116.4
144.9
175.7
180.2
201.7

101.3
114.7
141.6
171.5
177.5
201.5
216.5
206.2
185.8
175.1
165.7
167.8
167.7
171.9
167.3
170.4
170.9
181.7
181.8
181.3

212.2

204.0
179.7
173.6
165.9
168.4
167.2
170.6
165.0
170.5
171.1
174.3
169.2
170.6

100.0
98.1
107.7
128.9
158.0
165.1
185.3
201.7
196.7
178.7
176.4
172.5
174.5
175.1
178.8
175.1
175.4
176.9
177.4
171.2
172.2

100.0
99.6
113.8
143.2
171.4
176.6
194.5
207.0
193.3
170.8
163.6
155.3
158.8
158.6
162.6
158.0
163.9
163.9
168.5
166.2
168.1

Savan Seattle, Wash
nah,
Wash. ington,
Ga.
D . C.

100.0
99.8
114.6
142.5
175.0

179.8
19a7

209.4
198.7
177.6
166.2
156.8
159.2
157.9
158.2
154.8
156.3
157.9
162.9
160.6
160.5

100.0
99.0
107.4
131.1
169.9
176.9
197.7
210.5
194.1
180.2
171.5
167.0
166.7
166.4
168.5
166.7
167.8
170.5
171.7
169.4
169.1

100.0

101.0
114.6
147.3
173.8
1 171.2
2187.6
201.3
187.8
167.1
163.0
157.6
159.5
160.9
163.2
159.2
163.1
164.0
167.3
165.5
166.0

3 For Novem ber, 1919.

Table 3 gives similar information for the 13 cities for which reports
were begun in December, 1917, this date, therefore, being used as
the base, or 100, in computing the index numbers.

114

COST OF LIVING

T a b l e 3.—I N D E X N U M B E R S OF C O S T OF L IV IN G IN 13 C IT IE S F R O M D E C E M B E R * 1917,

T O D E C E M B E R , 1926
[December, 1917=100.0]

M onth and year

December, 1917________________
December, 1918............... ..............
.Tnnfi, 1919__
December, 1919............. ........... .
June, 1920____ ________ ______ December, 1920________________
M ay, 1921_____________________
December, 1921________________
Jnnfi, 1922
December, 1922____ ___________
June, 1923____ _____ ___________
December, 1923________________
June, 1924_____________________
December, 1924....................... .....
June, 1925........ .......... .................
December, 1925________________
June, 1926..................... .................
December, 1926.-........ ............... .

M onth and year

December, 1917________________
December, 1918________________
June, 1919_____________________
December, 1919_______ _________
June, 1920_________ ____________
December, 1920____ ___________
M ay, 1921........ .......... ...................
December, 1921............. ........... .
June, 1922
—
December, 1922________________
June, 1923_____________________
December, 1923________________
June, 1924_____________________
December, 1924________________
June, 1925_____________________
December, 1925 _______________
June, 1926. .................- .......... .......
December, 1926_____ __________

Atlanta, Birming Cincin Denver,
Ga.
ham, Ala. nati, Ohio
Colo.

100.0
119.7
123.3
137.9
146.7
138.5
125.2
118.7
113.7
115.1
114.2
116.0
113.6
114.9
116.2
119.0
117.3
117.4

100.0
117.0
119.8
134.3
141.9
133.3
122.1
116.2
110.7
113.2
113.6
116.0
113.1
116.8
116.9
119.2
117.5
117.8

M inne
apolis,
M inn.

N ew
Orleans,
La.

100.0
115.8
118.8
132.7
143.4
135.7
123.7
120.7
117.3
118.0
117.4
118.8
116.2
117.3
117.6
120.3
119.6
118.2

100.0
117.9
120.7
133.9
141.9
136.7
123.8
122.7
118.9
118.6
117.7
120.2
116.8
120.6
120.2
122.7
120.1
121.7

100.0
117.3
121.1
135.2
147.1
134.7
121.7
115.3
112.7
113.8
115.5
117.7
116.3
117.6
122.1
123.0
122.6
123.8

Pitts
burgh,
Pa.
100.0
119.8
121.8
136.2
149.1
139.3
127.7
122.8
117.8
120.1
121.3
122.9
122.4
124.9
126.0
128.5
126.2
127.2

100.0
120.7
125.3
138.2
150.3
138.7
126.9
124.5
118.8
121.6
119.9
122.1
117.8
120.2
121.1
122.5
119.7
120.4

Rich
mond,
Va.
100.0
117.9
120.6
132.0
143.8
133.3
120.2
118.3
113.2
114.4
114.9
117.1
113.5
116.5
116.7
120.8
119.7
119.3

Indianad f '
100.0
119.1
121.1
136.5
150.2
137.6
123.9
119.3
116.4
118.8
119.4
120.6
119.3
121.4
121.5
124.2
121.9
122.3

Kansas
City,
M o.

Memphis,
Tenn.

100.0
119.6
120.6
138.2
151.0
139.5
127.3
122.5
115.0
116.2
115.3
117.2
114.3
115.3
116.3
118.0
116.6
115.2

100.0
118.3
123.3
135.2
146.4
139.3
126.7
123.2
118.2
118.6
119.9
121.0
118.2
120.4
120.5
122.0
119.9
119.9

St. Louis, Scranton,
M o.
Pa.

100.0
116.7
117.9
134.2
148.9
135.4
123.1
118.5
115.1
117.0
117.7
120.6
118.8
120.7
122.4
125.0
124.1
124.5

100.0
121.9
125.0
137.1
151.5
139.1
128.2
126.3
120.9
122.4
122.4
125.8
122.4
125.8
127.0
132.0
129.0
129.8

Cost of Living in the United States and in Foreign Countries
HE trend of cost of living in the United States and in various
foreign countries since 1913 is shown by the index numbers
in the following tables, in so far as data are available from
official sources for the several countries. Only those countries are
presented for which the index numbers include all or most of the
items usually combined under the term “ Cost of living.” Some coun
tries publish index numbers for a few items only, such as food and
rent. These are not included here, but are included in the detailed
tables published in the Labor Review for February, 1927.
Caution should be observed in the use of these figures, since not
only are there differences in the base periods and in the number and
kind of articles included and the number of markets represented,
but also there are radical differences of method in the construction
of the index numbers. Moreover, monetary inflations in certain coun
tries seriously affect, of course, the index numbers.

115

IN UNITED STATES AND IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

I N D E X N U M B E R S OF C O ST OF L IV IN G IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S A N D IN F O R E IG N
C O U N T R IE S , 1913 T O 1926

C ou n try -.

United
States

N um ber of
localities.

Czecho
Canada Belgium slovakia
60

Prague

Den
mark

Finland

France

Ger
many

Ireland

Italy

200

Paris

200

M ilan

Food,
Food,
Food,
Food, clothing,
Food,
Food,
clothing, Food,
Food,
Food,
Food,
fuel
and clothing, clothing, clothing, fuel and clothing, clothing, clothing, clothing, clothing,
C om m odfuel,
fuel and fuel and fuel and fuel and
light, fuel and fuel and fuel and
light,
ities in
rent,
light,
light,
light,
light,
light,
light,
light,
rent,
clu d ed . . rent,
taxes,
rent,
rent,
rent,
rent,
houserent,
rent,
rent,
taxes,
etc.
sundries
sundries
furnish- sundries sundries sundries
sundries sundries
etc.
ings, etc.
Com
Depart
M in
Central
C o m p u t Bureau Depart istry of Office of Depart Statis mission Federal ment of M unici
ment
of
for
Statis
Industry
of
Labor
pal
ing agen
Statis
tical
Statis
Study of tical
Statis ment of Labor
and
Adm in
tics
L abor °
and
c y ............
Office
tics
Cost of Bureau
Com istration
tics
Industry
Living
merce
B ase p e
riod........
Year and
month
1913............
1914............
1915...........
1916............
1917............
1918............
1919............
1920............
1921............
1922............
1923............
1924............
Jan
Feb
M ar—
Apr
M ay
Ju n e-.
July
Aug
Sept__
Oct
N ov
Dec___
1925...........
Jan
Feb
M ar
Apr
M ay.
J u n e..
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
N ov
D e c .—
1926............
Jan
Feb
M ar
Apr
M ay
J u n e..
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
N ov
Dec___

1913

100
1103
1105
i 118
1 142
i 174
U99
1200
1 174
1 170
1173

1913

100
1103
1 107
1 124
1 143
1 162
1 176
1 191
U 62
1 158
U59

170
169

153

171
173

174

178

175

176

156

155

160

157

1921

July,
1914

2 100

100
2 90
2 109

139
137
136
131
128
131
133
136
139
141
141
143

690
692
688
691
687
678
681
697
689
684
691
703
705
707
721
716
730
728
730
728
731
741
726
711
703
700
703

139
140
137
140
147
155
174
182
179
188
196
199

707
699
687
685
692
693
718
723
723
726
734
735

124
128
130
124
119
123
125
127
128
134
137
137

July,
1914

2 100
2 116
2 136
2 155
2182
2 211
2 262
2 237
2 199
2204
209

214

221

219

194

184

JanuaryJune,
1914

3 100

U172
1 1157
1147
1170
1155
1143
1141
1121
1121
1147
1154
1198
1199
1219
1222
1217
1212
1199
1191
1210
1201
1176
1191
1218
1266
1242
1228
1227
1197
1166
1175
1172
1163
1159
1175
1183
1213
1203
1197
1193
1197

1914

1913-14

July,
1914

100

<100

2 100

3 238
*341
*307
*302
*334

U42

2185
2 180

«365
0 366
6 367
6 377

6386
6 390
6 401
«421

6 451
6485
6 539

« 545

126
120
122
125
127
124
126
127
129
135
135
135
136
136
136
137
136
138
143
145
145
144
141
141
140
139
138
140
140
141
142
143
142
142
144
144

188
178
183
193

‘

195
188
188
188

188
180
182
189

JanuaryJune,
1914

3 100
114
146
197
285
327
442
541
501
494
527
510
517
521
522
518
518
512
512
516
546
563
573
580
592
602
600
591
596
598
610
624
643
643
649
665
661
647
642
652
650
649
652
647
672
657
657

a Data used in the Labor R eview for February, 1927, p . 183, were com piled b y the Dom inion Bureau
of Statistics.
1 December,
a July.
8 January-June.
* October, 1913, January, April, and June, 1914.
* April-June.
6 Quarter beginning with month.

116

COST OF LIVING

I N D E X N U M B E R S OF C O ST O F L IV IN G IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S A N D IN F O R E IG N
C O U N T R IE S , 1913 T O 1926— Continued

C ountry—

N um ber
of locali
ties.........

Nether
lands N orway Poland

The
Hague

, Warsaw

Sweden

Swit
zerland

United
King
dom

South
Africa

India

630

B om bay

Food,
Food,
F ood,
Food,
Food,
Food,
Food,
clothing, clothing, clothing, clothing, Food,
Com m od all com clothing,
fuel,
clothing,
fuel
and
fuel and light,
and fuel and
fuel
and
fuel
and
ities in m odi fuel
light,
light,
light,
light,
light,
rent,
light,
c lu d e d ..
rent,
rent,
ties
rent,
rent?
rent
sundries
rent
sundries
sundries sundries sundries

C o m p u t
ing agen
cy ...........

Base pe, riod____

M unici Central Central
Federal
pal A d Statis ’ Statis ofBoard
Social Labor
minis
tical
tical
Welfare Office
tration
Office
Office

1921

Year and
month
1913...........
1914...........
1915...........
1916...........
1917...........
1918...........
1919...........
1920...........
1921...........
1922...........
1923...........
1924...........
Jan
Feb
M ar__
A pr
M ay
June__
July
A ug
S e p t..
Oct
N ov
D ec__
1925...........
Jan
Feb
M ar__
A pr
M ay
J u n e..
July
Aug
Sept_.
Oct
N ov
D ec—.
1926...........
Jan
Feb
M ar__
A pr
M ay
J u n e..
July
Aug
Sept__
Oct
N ov
D e c ...

100
183
182

7100
7 117
7 146
7 190
7 253
7 275
7 302
7 302
7 255
7 239

249

January,
1914

100

July,
1914

June,
1914

2 100

251

260

273

261

249

237

227

82
79
80

221
221
216

’

170
171
169
176
183
183
177
181
188
190
195
197

174

2 July.

177
176
175

173
172
171

July,
1914

175
173
172
168
167
168
170
170
172
174
179
179

131
131
131
131
132
131
130
130
130
131
131
129

267
178

1914

166
164
163
162
162
162
162
161
161
161
161
161

174

145
146
147
146
143
144
146
149
149
152
157
173

July,
1914

180
179
179
175
173
172
173
173
174
176
176
177

254
222
224
200
164
164
169

171

Labor
Office

168
170
170
169
168
168
168
168
168
168
167
167
167

1139
2 219
2 257
2 270
2236
2 190
2174
2 171
176

Office of
Census
and Sta
tistics

100
105
112
122
131
145
179
162
135
131
133
133
134
134
134
134
133
132
132
132
133
134
133
]33
133
133
133
134
134
134
133
132
132
132
131
131

173

1December.

July,
1914

M inis
try of
Labor

2 100
2 125
2 148
2 180
2203
2 208
2252
2 219
2 184
2 169
2 170
177
179
178
173
171
169
170
171
172
176
180
181

6 Quarter beginning w ith m onth.

2 100

155
154
155
153
153
155
157
155
155
155
154
156

154
175
183
173
164
154
157
159
156
154
150
150
153
157
161
161
161
161
160
155
157
157
159
158
156
154
157
152
151
153
153
155

Austra
New
lia
Zealand

Food,
gro
ceries,
rent

Food,
clothing,
fuel and
light,
rent,
sundries

Bureau
Census
of
Census and Sta
and Sta tistics
Office
tistics

1911

108
111
126
130
129
134
148
175
167
156
168
166
6 167

July,
1914

2 100
107
116
129
143
157
178
177
160
158
160
162

6 166
6 165
160
6 165
170
6 167

162
160

6 170
®171
163
6 172
164
6 175
162
6 180
163
6176
163
162

7 June.

COST OF LIVING

117

Income and Expenditures of Workingmen’s Families
AM ILY-BUDGET studies, covering the income and expendi
tures of workingmen’s families are of much interest in them
selves. In addition, however, detailed knowledge of the dis
tribution of family expenditures among the various items pur
chased is absolutely essential to a proper determination of changes
in the cost of living. The total family outlay covers many
objects and items, some of which, such as house rent, constitute
a large element of the budget. Others, such as matches or salt, con
stitute very small elements of expenditure. In compiling figures
to show comparative cost of living at different times or in different
places, it is necessary to know not only the prices of the several
commodities, but also the approximate consumption of each com
modity in order that each item may be “ weighted ” according to its
importance.
Data of this character can only be obtained by family-budget
studies covering a sufficiently large number of families to be repre
sentative. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has made three general
surveys of family incomes and expenditures. The results of the
first survey, covering 8,544 families, were published in the sixth
and seventh annual reports of the Commissioner of Labor in 1890
and 1891, respectively. The second study, covering 25,440 working
men’s families, was made in 1901 and published as the Eighteenth
Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor.
The third and latest study was made in 1918-19 in cooperation
with the National War Labor Board. It covered 12,096 families in
92 cities or localities in 42 States. For each of these families a
detailed schedule was obtained regarding income, expenditures, and
other significant factors during the period of a year.
Table 1 shows for these 12,096 families the sources and amounts
of family incomes for one year, by income groups. Table 2 shows,
in similar fashion, the amount and per cent of expenditures by
principal groups. Table 3 shows the number and per cent of
families having a surplus or deficit or neither and the average
amount of the surplus or deficit per family and income group.
Detailed tables showing expenditures for the various articles and
items in the budget are given in Bulletin 357 of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
In examining these tables it is important to note that, owing to
wage and price changes since 1918-19, the actual amounts of income
and expenditures do not necessarily represent present conditions.
The significant figures are those showing the percentage distribution
of income and expenditures by sources. These are less affected by
wage and price changes and may be used for weighting purposes over
a considerable length of time, and are so used now by the bureau in
computing changes in cost, of living. As elsewhere pointed out, how
ever, it would be highly desirable to have a new family-budget survey
made.

38690°— 27------ 9

118
T

COST OF LIVING

able

1 .—

SO U R C E S A N D A M O U N T S OF F A M I L Y IN C O M E S IN O N E Y E A R , B Y IN C O M E
G R O U P S , 1918-19

Amount
F am ily income derived from earnings of—
Income group

Num ber
of
families

Husband

W ife

Children

D epend
ents

$0.51
1.29
1.37
5.06
5.69
4.54

Under $900.......................
$900 and under $1,200....
$1,200 and under $1,500..
$1,500 and under $1,800..
$1,800 and under $2,100..
$2,100 and under $2,500..
$2,500 and over............... .

2,423
3,959
2,730
1,594
705
353

$765.60
1,013.69
1,252.45
1,487.92
1,691.07
1,785.96
1,795.56

$9.39
11.39
13.93
15.36
14.30
26.77
11.62

$6.92
11.83
26.33
61.77
143.55
342.71
872.33

A ll incomes.

12,096

1,349.15

14.35

19.47

Average income from—
Income group

Garden,
Lodgers poultry,
etc.

Rents
and
invest
ments

Gifts

Under $900.....................
$900 and under $1,200..
$1,200 and under $1,500.
$1,500 and under $1,800.
$1,800 and under $2,100.
$2,100 and under $2,500.
$2,500 and over..............

$1.41
2.37
4.25
6.49
8.13
13.69
10.87

$6.57

10.62
13.56
14.64
15.18
13.76

$18.12
20.52
24.29
29.10
28.94
45.69
37.85

$0.64
1.89
5.51
8.99
11.67
22.67
21. 71

A ll incomes.........

5.56

11.56

26.71

7.72

8.12

Total

$781.91
1.037.42
1,294.00
1.566.42
1,853.97
2,161.12
2,684.05
1,454.8

Total
average
Total
income average
other
income
Other
than
per
family
sources
from
earnings
$4.24
5.06
5.12
6.99
7.51
13.83
22.01

$30.98
37.96
49.80
65.12
70.90
111. 06
106.20

$812.89
1,075.38
1,343.80
1,631.54
1,924 87
2,272.18
2,790.25

58.36

1,513.29

Per cent
Per cent of family income derived from earnings of—
Income group
Husband

Wife

D epend
ents

Children

Under $900.................... .
$900 and under $1,200...
$1,200 and under $1,500.
$1,500 and under $1,800.
$1,800 and under $2,100.
$2,100 and under $2,500.
$2,500 and over............. .

94.2
94.3
93.2
91.2
87.9
78.6
64.4

1.2
1.1
1.0
.9
.7
1.2
.4

0.9
1.1
2.0
3.8
7.5
15.1
31.3

A ll incomes........ .

89.2

5.9

Total

0.1
.1
.3
.3
.2

96.2
96.5
96.3
96.0
96.3
95.1
96.2

96.1

Per cent of income derived from—
Income group

Garden,
Lodgers poultry,
etc.

Gifts

Rents
and
invest
ments

Other
sources

Grand
total
Total

Under $900..................................................
$900 and under $1,200...............................
$1,200 and under $1,500. _ ........... ...........
$1,500 and under $1,800_______________
$1,800 and under $2,100............................
$2,100 and under $2,500............................
$2,500 and o v e r .........................................

0.2
.2
.3
.4
.4
.6
.4

0.8
.8
.8
.8
.8
.7
.5

2.2
1.9
1.8
1.8
1.5
2.0
1.4

0.1
.2
.4
.6
.6
1.0
.8

0.5
.5
.4
.4
.4
.6
.8

3.8
3.5
3.7
4.0
3.7
4.9
3.8

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

All incomes......................................

1.8

3.9

100.0

i Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURES OF WORKINGMEN’ S FAMILIES
T

119

2 . — A M O U N T A N D P E R C E N T OF E X P E N D IT U R E S IN ON E Y E A R F O R T H E
P R IN C IP A L G R O U P S OF IT E M S O F C O ST O F L IV IN G O F F A M IL IE S IN 92 IN D U S
T R I A L C E N T E R S , B Y IN C O M E G R O U PS

able

Amount
Average per
sons in family
Income group

Under $900....................
$900 and under $1,200__
$1,200 and under $1,500.
$1,500 and under $1,800.
$1,800 and under $2,100.
$2,100 and under $2,500.
$2,500 and over..............

N um
ber of
fami
lies

Total

Average yearly expenses per family for—

E quiv
alent
adult Food
males

Cloth
ing

Rent

Fuel
andj
light

Total
average
yearly
ex
House
penses
fur
Miscel per
nish laneous family
ings

332
2,423
3,959
2,730
1,594
705
353

4.3
4.5
4.7
5.0
5.1
5.7
6.4

2.89 $371.61 $111.63 1$121.65 1$57.19 $30.31 $149.81 $842.91
2.98 456.16 156.45 2 149.63 2 64.15 47.85 201.06 1,076.12
3.16 515.56 206.50 3179.73 3 73.33 61.95 262.40 1,300.71
3.36 571.75 257.38 4 207.13 4 79.36 84.31 335.28 1,536.68
3.59 626.52 306.94 « 231.92 * 87.27 97.20 404.27 1,755.74
4.09 711.86 384.20 « 248.35 6 92.97 116.74 500.08 2,054.97
4.95 859.98 503.03 7 260.21 7102.03 133.06 608.23 2,466.91

A ll incomes.......... 12,096

4.9

3.32

548.51

237.60

8191.36

»76.17

73.22

306.11 1,434.37

Per cent
Under $900......................
$900 and under $1,200...
$1,200 and under $1,500.
$1,500 and under $1,800.
$1,800 and under $2,100
$2,100 and under $2,500.
$2,500 and over...............
A ll incomes..........
1 N ot
2N ot
a N ot
4 N ot
8 N ot
®N ot
7 N ot
8 N ot

2.7
20.0 ............
32.7
22.6
............
13.2
5.8
2.9
100.0

44.1
42.4
39.6
37.2
35.7
34.6
34.9

13.2
14.5
15.9
16.7
17.5
18.7
20.4

1 14.5
2 13.9
U 3 .8
4 13.5
5 13.2
• 12.1
710.6

2 6.0
85.6
4 5.2
5 5.0
6 4.5
7 4.1

3.6
4.4
4.8
5.5
5.5
5.7
5.4

17.8
18.7
20.2
21.8
23.0
24.3
24.7

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

38.2

16.6

813.4

8 5.4

5.1

21.3

100.0

including 1 fam ily in which rent is combined with fuel and light.
including 43 families in which rent is combined with fuel and light,
including 91 families in which rent is combined with fuel and light.
including 80 families in which rent is combined with fuel and light.
including 56 families in which rent is combined with fuel and light.
including 21 families in which rent is combined with fuel and light.
including 9 families in which rent is combined with fuel and light.
including 301 families in which rent is combined with fuel and light.

T a b l e S .— N U M B ER , A N D P E R C E N T O F F A M IL IE S H A V IN G S U R P L U S O R D E F I C IT

O R N E I T H E R A N D A V E R A G E A M O U N T O F S U R P L U S O R D E F I C IT P E R F A M IL Y
A N D IN C O M E G R O U P

Per cent of families
having—

Families having-

Surplus

Deficit

Incom e group
Aver- N um Aver
N um
age
age
ber
amount ber
amount

Under $900................................
$900 and under $1.200.............
$1,200 and under $1,500--------$1,500 and under $1,800______
$1,800 and under $2,100______
$2,100 and under $2,500...........
$2,500 and over.........................

137
1,306
2,731
2,112
1,315
585
306

$47.59
67.62
106.27
157.74
233.41
290.65
404.45

All incomes— ................

8,492

155.31

Nei
ther
surplus
nor
deficit

Aver
age
surplus
( + ) or
deficit
( - ) for
group

Sur
plus

Nei
ther
Deficit surplus
nor
deficit

144 $114.48
838 107.39
977 122.48
525 141.32
240 155.57
102 165.68
45 213.81

51 -$30.02
279
- .7 0
251 +43.08
93 +94.86
36 +169.13
18 +217.21
2 +323.34

41.3
53.9
69.0
77.4
82.5
83.0
86.7

43.4
34.6
24.7
19.2
15.1
14.5
12.7

15.4
11.5
6.3
3.4
2.4
2.6
.6

126.85

733 +78.93

70.2

23.7

6.1

2,871

120

COST OF LIVING

Cost of Bringing Up a Child
N ATTEMPT to arrive at the average expenditure required to
bring a child through the period of infancy and adolescence
when he is being fitted to take his place in the world has been
made by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.1 This appraisal of the
cost of bringing up a child is based on the cost-of-living studies of
the United Statees Bureau of Labor Statistics and on studies of the
Federal Children’s Bureau and other agencies. In such a study in
terest centers naturally in the family of moderate or average circum
stances; a family of five, consisting of father, mother, and three
children, having an annual expenditure of $2,500, has been taken,
therefore, as the basis upon which the estimates have been made.
In a consideration of the expense involved in the rearing of a child,
the first item to be considered is the cost of being born. This first
cost varies greatly according to the economic status of the parents,
and even among people of the same class, particularly those in
moderate or poor circumstances, there is much difference as a result
of racial customs or the degree of intelligence exercised in apportion
ing expenses among the different items of the family budget. Numer
ical estimates of the cost of childbirth, therefore, represent only a
rough average about which the cost in individual cases will range.
The minimum cost of maternity care given by a general practi
tioner', either in the patient’s home or in a hospital ward, is said to
be around $150, while better care, including a semiprivate room, can
be obtained for about $100 more. The service of a specialist increases
this minimum to between $400 and $500. Treatment by midwives
and the outdoor hospital service cost considerably less than the
minimum hospital care. In 1924, 80 per cent of the births in New
York City were attended by physicians and half of these took place
in hospitals. In round figures, therefore, it is estimated that the
average cost of being born ranges from $200 to $300. Although this
is not a large outlay when considered in relation to the mean length
of life, which is about 55 years, it is an item which has to be met
at one point of time and does impose, therefore, a considerable
burden upon families of moderate means.
The cost of food is the next most important item in building the
human machine. Here, also, conditions vary according' to the
economic and social status of the parents. In computing the average
expenditure, the study of William F. Ogburn which was based on
the scale of relative food consumption for persons of different ages
prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has been used. Com
puted on the basis of a family (of three children and father and
mother) having an annual expenditure of $2,500, it is estimated that
the total cost of food for a boy from birth to age 18 would be ap
proximately $2,400, and of a girl $2,330. Making allowance, how
ever, for a somewhat higher consumption of food per adult male unit
established by a similar study by Raymond Pearl, the total cost of
feeding a child from birth to the eighteenth birthday is placed at
$2,500, or one year’s total expenditure for the family as a whole.

1 M etrop olita n L ife In su ra n ce C o., S ta tistica l B u lle tin , N ovem ber, D ecem ber, 1925, a n d
F eb ru a ry -A p ril, 1926.

COST OF BRINGING UP A CHILD

121

The next item in the account is the cost of clothing and shelter.
The expenditure for clothing is an individual concern, while that for
shelter (including such elements as housing, fuel, light, household
furnishings and upkeep) covers joint expenses which have to be con
sidered as a whole. Estimates of expenditures for these items are
based on the cost-of-living study published in 1924 by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics. The cost of clothing for the boy up to the age
of 18 is placed at $912 after deducting $20 for clothing during the
first months of life which was included in the estimate of the average
cost of being born; the clothing expenditure for the girl, after mak
ing the same deduction, is estimated to be $1,002.
The amount spent annually for shelter depends to a large extent
upon the locality in which the family lives. The estimate, however,
is based on present conditions in large cities where rents are notori
ously high and where persons of small incomes are forced either to
live in homes that seem inadequate to persons living in small towns
or on farms, or spend too large a proportion of their income on rent.
The choice between these two evils will depend largely upon the
social habits of the individual concerned. It is probable that the
man with the white-collar job will choose the more, expensive place
to live, while the artisan and skilled laborer will be more inclined to
seek a cheaper dwelling. As the second of these social classes is the
larger it is given greater weight in estimating the expenditures for
shelter. It is assumed, therefore, that out of an expenditure of
$2,500 a year, from $40 to $50 per month is spent for a 4-room apart
ment or fixing an average of $45, the rent bill would amount to $540.
For this amount spent for rent there would be two bedrooms, com
bined living and dining room, which might also contain a folding
bed, and in some cases a bathroom. Apportionment of this and
similar items on a satisfactory basis among the different members
of the family is difficult, but for want o f a better method the cost
has been distributed so that in the course of 18 years each child is
charged with about one-sixth of the family expense for shelter. The
total rent for this period would be $9,720 and the share for one child
$1,620. This figure does not allow for fuel and light, the family
cost of which is placed at $100 per annum, or $300 for each child
during the 18-year period. On the same basis of a one-sixth share in
the expenses for each child, the cost of furniture, household equip
ment and upkeep during the 18 years is estimated to be $351. The
total cost or the various items included under clothing and shelter
during the 18 years is $3,327 for a boy and, because of the somewhat
greater expense for clothing, $3,417 for a girl, or an average of about
$3,400 for both sexes.
The remaining items to be considered on the cost side of the
account during the formative years of the individual are the expendi
tures for health, recreation, and sundries, and for education.
The annual cost of putting a child through the elementary schools
in New York State has been shown in a study by the American
Council of Education to be $107 and through the secondary schools
$200. Including $100 for a year’s attendance at kindergarten, the
total cost of a complete grammar and high school education is $1,750.
These figures are somewhat higher than for the country as a whole,
however, owing to the lower standards in some sections. All children

122

COST OF LIVING

do not complete both grammar and high school, but the minimum
time for school is in almost all cases seven years, so that the average
cost of schooling is considered to be approximately $1,100. This
item, of course, does not appear explicitly in the family budget, and
the parents may not even pay direct taxes, but indirectly they share
in the tax burdens through the sums paid for rent and in the prices
paid for other necessaries. While the cost of education directly borne
by the parents amounts to only about $50 in the course of the school
years for such items as books, stationery, and incidentals, the whole
cost of education is of interest because of the great importance of
this element in the making of the citizen.
The cost of health items, such as the services of physicians, dental
care, medicines, and hospital and nursing care, is estimated to be
$284. Recreation costs for the period are fixed at $130, insurance at
$54, and sundries at $570.
The following statement brings together the cost of all these items
and shows the average cost of rearing a child to the age of 18 years:
Cost of being born------------------------------------------------------------------ $250
Food____________________________________________ _____________ 2,500
Clothing and shelter__________________________________________ 3,400
Education, nlinor items met by tlie individual family purse__
50
Education, major items, cost of schooling provided by the
community— $1,100.
H ealth_______________________________________________________
284
Recreation____________________________________________________
130
Insurance____________________________________________________
54
Sundries______________________________________________________
570
Total (exclusive of item 5 )___________________________ 7,238

The difference in the amounts spent for boys and girls is consid
ered to be so small that no distinction for sex has been made in this
summary, and the sum arrived at—approximately $7,200—is believed
to be a fair representation of the money expended by a family of the
$2,500-income class during the years when the child is being prepared
to take his place in the world and become a contributor economically
to the family and the community.

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

123

Sources and Character o f Existing Employment Statistics
HE present status of employment statistics in this country is
described in detail in the recent report of the committe on
governmental labor statistics of the American Statistical Asso
ciation (published by the Russell Sage Foundation under the title of
“ Employment statistics for the United States,” New York, 1926).
This committee was composed principally of representatives of
State, Federal, and other agencies concerned in the collection of
employment statistics, including Canadian representatives. The fol
lowing brief account of the sources and general character o f exist
ing employment statistics in the United States is taken from that
report:
Statistical measurements of employment are obtained from three
main sources: (1) Counts or estimates of the number unemployed;
(2) statistics of demand for labor and applications for work as
registered in employment bureaus; and (3) periodic counts of the
number of persons employed as shown by pay rolls.

1. Data on Unemployment
TT NEMPLO YMENT data may be obtained (a) by general esti^ mates of the number unemployed in various localities; (6) by
estimates or counts of the number unemployed among members of
trade-unions; (c) by actual enumeration of the unemployed in a
house-to-house canvass; or (d) through registration of unemployed
persons.
(a) Estimates of Numbers of Unemployed

Serious attempts to determine the number of unemployed persons
have sometimes been made by responsible authorities from estimates
collected at large from social workers, clergymen, poor-relief ad
ministrators, employers, labor leaders, and others. As an example,
the two special inquiries made by the United States Employment
Service in 1921 through its correspondents in numerous cities of the
United States may be cited.
(b) Trade-Union Statistics

Unemployment statistics obtained from trade-union sources are
monthly or sometimes quarterly figures, commonly reported by the
secretaries of various local unions, and usually expressed in the
form of “ percentage of members unemployed.” In this country New
York and Massachusetts are the only States which have had extended
experience with trade-union reports of unemployment. In both
New York and Massachusetts their collection was discontinued
soon after the current collection of employment statistics from
representative manufacturing establishments was begun.
Trade-union statistics are not representative of all classes of wage
earners, and for this reason they fall short of affording a compre

125

126

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

hensive measure of unemployment. Unskilled workers and clerical
workers, for example, are very inadequately represented by union
figures. The representativeness of these figures differs also in dif
ferent parts of the country. For sections and for industries in which
labor is strongly organized, however, this objection does not hold.
(c) Enumeration of the Unemployed by Canvass

No nation-wide enumeration of the unemployed has been under
taken recently in this country. At three of the United States censuses
of population (1880, 1890, 1900)1 efforts were made to carry out such
an enumeration as part of the regular canvass, but these experiments
have not been repeated in recent years, partly because of the ex
pense involved and partly because of lack of confidence in the results
on the part even of those who planned and organized the investiga
tion. Local enumerations of this character have been made
occasionally, as those made by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1915,2 and by
the department of economics of Ohio State University in 1921 at the
request of the mayor’s emergency unemployment committee of Co
lumbus, Ohio. This latter study has been continued annually since.3
In the studies made by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. the
families of industrial policyholders of the company were canvassed,
first in New York and later in certain other cities, on the assumption
(which appears to have been correct) that they constituted repre
sentative portions of the wage-earning population in the cities
studied. In the two studies made by the United States Bureau of
Labor Statistics in New York City in 19154 a complete canvass was
made of the population of representative blocks. In the more recent
Columbus study; a complete canvass was made of carefully selected
sections of the city.
(d) Registration of the Unemployed

Another method of obtaining data on unemployment has been the
voluntary registration of unemployed persons. Such registration
has been attempted in several cities, but nowhere has experience
proved the method one to be recommended. Without a compelling
motive for persons out of work to register, and without adequate
means of preventing fraudulent registration if tie incentive is expec
tation of relief, data so obtained are certain to be grossly inaccurate.
The unemployment statistics of Great Britain, although derived
from actual registration of the unemployed, are of quite different
quality. They are obtained through the administration of the law
that provides compulsory unemployment insurance for manual work
ers and lower-paid nonmanual workers in most of the divisions of
industry. The insurance benefit here provides the incentive for regis
1 U. S. B u rea u o f th e C ensus. T w e lft h Census o f th e U n ite d S ta tes, 1 90 0 — O ccu p a tion s.
W a sh in g ton , 1904, p. c c x x v .
a U. S. B u i m u o f L a b o r S ta tis tics B ui. N o. 1 7 2 : U n em p loy m en t in N ew Y o rk C ity,
N . Y ., 1 9 1 5 ; a n d B u i. N o. 1 9 5 : U n em p loy m en t in th e U n ited S ta tes. W a s h in g to n , 1918.
» A re p o rt o f th e five su ccessiv e su rv ey s p rep a red b y F re d e rick E!. C ro x to n h a s been
p u b lish ed a s B u lletin No. 409 o f th e IT. S. B u rea u o f L a b o r S ta tis tics u n d er t h e title ,
“ U nem p loym ent in C olum bus, O hio, 1921 to 192 5 .”
4 T h e p o lic e d ep a rtm en t o f N ew Y ork C ity coop era te d in th e first o f these b y m ak in g a
co u n t o f th e un em p loyed a m on g the h om eless w h o w e r e fo u n d in v a rio u s te m p o ra ry
lo d g in g s o n o n e n ig h t in J an u a ry , 1915.

SOURCES AND CHARACTER

127

tration; and the labor exchange machinery, established to prevent the
fraudulent receipt of benefits, largely excludes from the count persons
who are not actually unemployed.
In this country, of course, no such data are available, because
employment exchanges lack the. kind of machinery for registration
upon which they depend.

2. Statistics of Employment Offices
EM PLO YM E N T offices register workers out of employment and
positions vacant, and keep more or less accurate records of place
ments made. They show to a certain extent the demand for labor
and the supply of workers, and thus reflect the activity of business
and the intensity of changes in opportunities for employment.
Employment offices as a source of reliable statistics in the United
States are of minor importance, because of the inadequacy of the
national provision for an employment service and because of varia
tions in statistical methods in the employment agencies of the differ
ent States. Practically all public employment offices in the States in
this country are now cooperating with the United States Employ
ment Service, which assembles and publishes monthly statistics of
their operations.6
3. Employment Statistics from Pay Kolls
'T'H E most feasible source of statistics relating to employment in
A the United States is a pay roll, which shows the number of
persons employed. Although the u volume of employment ” might
be measured more precisely in terms of total hours of work of all
employees in a specified period, statistically known as “ man-hours”
or “ employee-ho’urs,” these more significant figures can not at present
be obtained promptly and accurately on a comprehensive scale.
Fortunately, for many of the purposes for which employment sta
tistics are used, data on the number of workers employed approach
in value those on employee-hours.
Every pay roll contains at least some mark of identification of each
employee of the concern, and the wages received by him within a
specified pay period. It is a timely and accurate record, available
in almost every industrial organization of appreciable size. The
required figures of total number employed and total wages paid can
be transcribed to a report form with very little effort and with com
paratively small chance of clerical error. It is practicable, therefore,
to obtain these data at frequent intervals and by means of inquiries
sent through the mail.
In some instances the bureaus now collecting pay-roll statistics
obtain only the number of persons employed. More frequently both
the number of employees and the total amount of wages shown on
the pay roll are recorded, and the statistics are thus commonly re
ferred to as statistics of employment and earnings. The figures for
total earnings are valuable as a check on those showing the number
employed. They are valuable also for what they show directly con
EU. S. Employment Service. Report of Activities of State and Municipal Employment
Services. Washington. Published monthly.

128

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

cerning purchasing power, and when divided by the total number of
persons at work they give average earnings per employee, a figure
which is worth obtaining for rough indication of changes in the rate
of wages.
Development of Pay-Roll Employment Statistics

Although the current publication of employment figures from
pay rolls is a development of the last 10 years only, statistics of
this sort are not new. The United States Bureau of the Census
has obtained statistics of the numbers employed monthly in manu
facturing establishments for the years in which the national censuses
of manufactures have been taken—every five years from 1899 to
1919, and subsequently every two years. In Massachusetts, in 1886,
the office which was then known as the Bureau of Statistics of Labor
inaugurated an annual census of manufactures, in which similar
monthly employment figures were collected. This State census of
manufactures has been continued each year since, thus giving Massa
chusetts the longest record of employment fluctuation which is any
where available. Monthly employment figures were also gathered m
an annual census of manufactures in New Jersey from 1893 to 1918.
In Ohio monthly figures for employment in manufacturing industries
were assembled each year from 1892 to 1906, and since 1914 a compre
hensive canvass of employment and wages by months has been made
annually, covering agriculture, construction, service, trade, transpor
tation, and public utilities, as well as manufacturing.6 In all of these
records, however, the monthly data for each year were compiled after
the completion of the calendar year to which they referred, and were
tabulated and made public only after an interval ranging from
several months to a year or more.
The earliest current collection of such data in this country was
made by the New York State Department of Labor. The reporting
establishments were selected to represent the manufacturing industry
as a whole. The first data were collected in June, 1915, but during
the first year employers were requested to furnish figures for both
the current month and the corresponding month in the preceding
year; thus, in effect, the New York series of pay-roll statistics for
manufacturing industries dates from June, 1914.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics began to collect
pay-roll statistics shortly after the New York bureau, but confined
itself to fewer industries. Beginning with October, 1915, reports
were obtained from employers in four industries—boots and shoes,
cotton, cotton finishing, and hosiery and underwear. The list was
extended, however, so that by the end of 1916, 13 manufacturing
industries had been included. Several of these series were carried
back to December, 1914. In July, 1922, the scope of the inquiry was
further enlarged; establishments engaged in additional manufactur
ing industries were then added, and since 1922 the reports have
covered about 507 industries and have been fairly representative of
manufacturing as a whole.
6 W h ile these la te r d a ta h a v e been co lle cte d and ta b u la te d a n n u a lly , th e y h a v e been
p ub lish ed o n ly f o r the yea rs 1914, 1915, and 1923. T h e U. S. W o m e n ’s B ureau, h ow ever,
is n ow m ak in g a stu d y o f em p loy m en t flu ctu a tion s as i t h a s a ffe cte d w o m a n w o rk e rs in
O h io ind ustries, a n d th is re p o rt w ill con ta in fu ll series o f O h io d a ta sin ce 1914 f o r th e
m ore im p o r ta n t in d u stries.
7 F ifty -fo u r sin ce A p ril, 1926.

SOURCES AND CHARACTER

129

Number and Activities of Existing Agencies

The table here presented gives a list of the leading agencies in
the United States and Canada engaged in the collection of cur
rent monthly pay-roll statistics, and indicates the general scope and
character of the information collected. It shows that pay-roll statis
tics are now being collected from month to month in the United
States by three Federal bureaus and by nine State bureaus. In addi
tion, employment statistics are being collected by three Federal
reserve banks and privately by a number of employers’ associations.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics covers the widest
field. In 1926, its current figures covered more than 10,000 estab
lishments in 54 manufacturing industries employing approximately
3,000,000 wage earners, whose total earnings per week ran from
$75,099,594 to $84,673,846. In collecting these figures the Bureau of
Labor Statistics cooperates with the State labor departments in
seven States, thus avoiding duplication of work.
The Federal bureau’s figures are now published in a special section
of the Labor Review, which is also issued as an advance pamphlet,
news releases being sent out earlier as data are available. The data
are given for the main industries and their subdivisions, and a re
capitulation by the nine geographical divisions used by the United
States Census Bureau is also given. It has not yet proved feasible
for the Federal bureau to publish the data for each State, or for
Federal reserve districts, which it has been suggested, would make
the data directly useful to the 12 Federal reserve banks. All the
cooperating State bureaus, however, now publish their own data
currently for local use.
Extension of these national employment statistics beyond manufac
turing has not yet proceeded far. The Federal bureau is experi
menting in the collection of data in the building trades, in
metalliferous mines, and in coal mines. Summary figures for the
railroads, furnished by the Interstate Commerce Commission, are
included in the monthly report issued by the Bureau of Labor Sta
tistics, but they are for earlier dates than the manufacturing statis
tics. The Department of Agriculture has continued experiments
begun by the Wisconsin Industrial Commission on the difficult prob
lem of collecting employment figures for farms, but the statistics are
not yet currently available. Data on employment in wholesale and
retail trade are not yet collected for the country as a whole, though
they are being obtained by certain State bureaus, including Wisconsin
and Illinois, and also by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Thus, in 1926, despite encouraging progress, the great majority
of States have no information regarding employment within their
own boundaries, although manufacturing plants therein may con
tribute to the data collected by the United States Bureau of Labor
Statistics for the country as a whole. The more rapid extension of
initial collection by the State and the inclusion of a larger number of
industries are the two major needs in the effort to secure adequate
statistics of employment in the United States.

LEADING AGENCIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA WHICH COLLECT CURRENT MONTHLY PAY-ROLL STATISTICS

Agency

Date with
which series
begins 1

Period in
month to
which
figures refer

D ecem ber,
1914.

M iddle

Information collected

Industries now being covered

Name of report

Employment and earnings-----

Manufacturing_______________

M onthly Labor Review; also Em ploy
ment in Selected Manufacturing In
dustries.
Wage Statistics, Class I Steam Rail
roads.
N o publication yet made.

M anufacturing_______________

Industrial Bulletin.

United States
Federal bureaus:

W isconsin Industrial Com m ission______

October, 1923 First

Employment and wage rates..

Employment and earnings,
b y sex, office, and shop em
ployees.
July, 1920— . ........ d o ........... Employment and earnings;
manual and nonmanual em
ployees.
June, 1914. . .

M iddle

Illinois Department of L abor___________

August, 1921 ____ d o .......... Employment and earnings, b y
sex.

Iowa Bureau of Labor

End________ Employment, b y sex_________
January,
1922.
Employment and earnings, b y Manufacturing_______________ Em ploym ent and Earnings (mimeo
S eptember, M iddle
graphed).
sex.
1922.
J a n u a r y , ........ d o .......... Employment and ea rn in g s__ ........ d o ........................................... Printed table only.3
1923.
........ d o ............................................ Labor and Industry.

Massachusetts Departm ent of Labor and
Industries.
M aryland Department of Labor and
Statistics.
Pennsylvania Departm ent of Labor and
Industry.4
Oklahoma Department of Labor
California Bureau of Labor Statistics----Federal reserve banks:
Philadelphia ®
Chicago ®
San Francisco 7

January,
1924.
M ay, 1924

_do_____ ____ d o ________________________ Manufacturing, mining, street
railways.
___ d o _______________- ________ Manufacturing.....................
do

d o _____ ____ d o . ____ _________________
January,
1923.
___ ________________ M ay, 1920... ____ d o ...........
June, 1924

Manufacturing trade.................

Oklahoma Labor Market.
California Labor Market
(mimeographed).

Bulletin

Business Review.

Manufacturing............................ Business Conditions.
M onthly Review of Business Condi
tions,

STATISTICS

Manufacturing, mining, com Wisconsin Labor Market.
munication, transportation,
construction, trade, logging,
agriculture, etc.
Manufacturing, mining, com Labor Bulletin.
munication, transportation,
construction, trade.
Manufacturing, trade, etc........ Iowa Em ploym ent Survey.

EMPLOYMENT

do.2. . __________________

July, 1921
Department of Agriculture
State bureaus:
N ew Y ork Department of Labor

v a ie ou rea ,u s.
x u m p iu y u ie iit, earnings,
e a iu iu g s , and
axiu ........ do.
National Industrial Conference B o a r d ... June, 1920...............d o ........... Employment,
hours, b y sex, skilled and
unskilled employees.
Employment, hours, wage
January,
End.......
.do.
Cleveland Chamber of Commerce.
rates.
1921.
Em ploym ent..............................
Detroit Employers ’ Association................ F e b ruary, W eekly.
.do.
1920.
Employment, hours, manBridgeport Manufacturers ’ Association . F e b r u a r y , ........ do_.
.do.
hours.
1921.
Canada

D om inion Bureau of Statistics

...................

January,
1920.

First.

Employment.

Manufacturing, mining, com
munication, transportation,
construction, trade, logging,
etc.

Bulletin of Manufacturers’ Associa
tion.
The Em ploym ent Situation (mimeographe< 10

AND
CHAEACTEB

Cleveland Business Statistics.8
Industrial Barometer.

SOUECES

1 In a number of instances data for all of the industries now being covered do not extend back to this date.
2 In connection with detailed reports of “ employees, service, and compensation” for all Class I railroads.
3 The m onthly data for M aryland are published also in the annual report of the Commissioner of Labor and Statistics.
4 In cooperation with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
e Collects data for Pennsylvania, N ew Jersey, and Delaware. Data for each State are published separately in mimeographed reports.
6 Data represent the Seventh Federal Reserve District; in Illinois and Wisconsin they are obtained from State bureaus.
7 Collects directly from employers in Oregon; uses figures of State bureau in California.
8 Contains diagrams only.
8 Collection taken over from Canadian Employment Service. Experimental collection was begun early in 1919,
10 Also published in the Labor Gazette of the Canadian Department of Labor.

Occasional reports on wages, hours, and
employment.

132

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

Trend of Employment in Manufacturing Industries
HE United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ indexes of em
ployment and pay-roll totals in manufacturing industries are
based on monthly returns from more than 10,000 establish
ments in 54 of the principal manufacturing industries of the United
States. These establishments employ over 3,000,000 wage earners,
or about one-third of all the wage earners in manufacturing estab
lishments of the United States, and 45 per cent of the total number
employed in the 54 selected industries.
The employment indexes derived from these data show the amount
of employment for the average worker in his regular field of work,
and permit a comparison of the fluctuating conditions prevailing
in each of the industries surveyed, making possible a study of the
underlying trend of employment as well as the purely seasonal
variations.
Trend of Employment in 1926

rTvHE trend of employment in manufacturing industries in 1926,
month by month, until November, followed very closely the
trend of employment in 1925, although from January to October
employment was on a considerably higher level than in 1925. In
both November and December, 1926, however, the index fell below
1925*
Employment in 1925 reached its highest point in December, while
in 1926 the highest point was reached in March. The lowest point
in both years was reached in July. Pay-roll totals each month fol
lowed the same general trend as employment, although the improve
ment in pay-roll totals during each month from January to October,
1926, as compared with the same month of 1925, was noticeably
greater than the improvement in employment, and likewise the de
creases in pay-roll totals in November and December, 1926, from
those months in 1925, were less pronounced than the decreases in
employment in the same period.
On the whole, although the levels of employment may and do vary
considerably, the seasonal trend of employment is much the same
from year to year. This fact is illustrated by Table 1 and Chart 1.
In each of the last four years there has been a quick recovery in
February from the regular January depression caused by inventories
and repairs. This has been followed by a few months of wavering,
with a rather sharp decline in July, another stock-taking month.
In the last half of 1923 there was a practically uninterrupted decline,
but in each of the years, 1924,1925, and 1926, there was a well-defined
upward movement, beginning in August, with an uncertain month
or two at the close of the year.
Both employment and pay rolls fluctuated on higher levels during
1926 than in any year since 1923. Considering the monthly average
of employment for 1923 as 100, the monthly average for 1924 dropped
to 90.3, with a rise to 91.2 in 1925 and a further increase to 91.9 in
1926. Pay-roll totals, which dropped from an average of 100 in
1923 to 90,6 in 1924, or to almost the same level as employment, have

133

EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

shown more spectacular increases than employment in both 1925
and 1926, the monthly averages being 93.6, and 95.8, respectively.
Table 1 shows by months the general index of employment in
manufacturing industries and the general index of pay-roll totals
from January, 1923, to December, 1926:
T a b l e 1.—G E N E R A L I N D E X OF E M P L O Y M E N T A N D P A Y -R O L L T O T A L S IN M A N U

F A C T U R IN G IN D U S T R IE S , J A N U A R Y , 1923, TO D E C E M B E R , 1926
[M onthly average, 1923=IOC]

Employment

Pay-roll totals

M onth
1923

1924

1925

1926

1923

1924

1925

1926

January......................................
F ebruary......... ........................
M arch................. ......................
April...........................................
M a y ...... .....................................
June........ ................................. .
July.......................................... .
August........................................
S eptem ber................................
October................................. .
Novem ber..................................
December...................................

98.0
99.6
101.8
101.8
101.8
101.9
100.4
99.7
99.8
99.3
98.7
96.9

95.4
96.6
96.4
94.5
90.8
87.9
84.8
85.0
86.7
87.9
87.8
89.4

90.0
91.6
92.3
92.1
90.9
90.1
89.3
89.9
90.9
92.3
92.5
92.6

92.3
93.3
93.7
92.8
91.7
91.3
89.8
90.7
92.2
92.5
91.4
90.9

91.8
95.2
100.3
101.3
104.8
104.7
99.9
99.3
100.0
102.3
101.0
98.9

94.5
99.4
99.0
96.9
92.4
87.0
80.8
83.5
86.0
88.5
87.6
91.7

90.0
95.1
96.6
94.2
94.4
91.7
89.6
91.4
90.4
96.2
96.2
97.3

93.9
97.9
99.1
97.2
95.6
95.5
91.2
94.6
95.1
98.6
95.4
95.6

Average........................

100.0

90.3

91.3

91.9

100.0

90.6

93.6

95.8

Chart 1, made from the index numbers of Table 1, shows clearly
the trend of employment and pay-roll totals during the period
January, 1923, to December, 1926.
Charts 2 to 8 show the course of employment in each of the 54
separate industries for each month of 1926 as compared with the cor
responding month of 1925. These charts are made from index num
bers published in the Labor Review for August, 1925, and February,
1927.
Employment by Industries, 1923 to 1926
IN Table 2 (p. 142) are presented for 1924, 1925, and 1926 (based on
* the yearly average for 1923) the general index, the group indexes,
and the indexes for each of the component industries. The relatives
from which these indexes are made were published in the August,
1925, and February, 1927, issues of the Labor Review.
The weights used in combining the various relatives for individual
industries into the 12 group indexes and the final general index are
representative of the importance of the several industries to the
country as a whole.
38690°— 27------ 10

134

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.
MONTHLY INDEXES-1923,1924,1925,1926.
M
O
N
TH
L
YA
V
E
R
A
G
E
- 1923a100.

EMPLOYMENT.

100

•
••
95

105

100

• ••,

V K>2,3

•*

••
•
i92> I- \

\
\

192.1

\
■—

— ■

\
V
y

, «#»*

\
85

S '*

105

100

JAM. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. MOV. DEC.

Chart 1

135

EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

TREND

M O NTH LY

EMPLOYMENT

AVERAGE

1923^100.

CONFECTIONERY

SLAUG HTERIN6 MEAT PACKING

\
\

100

rr\

-----

^1925^-. «------- -

192 6

1925“^ V

IC E CREAM
----------- r~
L

FLOUR

\
MO
\\
\ \

1!
/1 9 2 -5

100

v
V

90
80

__ -\I92 5
V
X

1926^

—i

•

SU G A R

BAKING

R E F IN IN G

1925

1 9 2 6 /-

192.5

1926

N
»»^

/
/
=
A
—
H O SIERY Sc K N IT GOO OS

COTTON G O O D S

1926
_____X
f>0

.^ J 9 2 *
19 2 6

^ "> V

a
<
z

z,
3

a
*
14

u
u
Q

•>

u
o

136

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

TREND
EMPLOYMENT.
MONTHLY AVERAGE. 1 9 2 3 = 100.
o f

S IL K

0 0 0 0 5

W OOLEN

%c W O R S T E D

GOODS

— —

19*5

too
192!

'mm0t9Z(

CARPETS &

R U G S.

D Y E IN G &
110

——

------------—

* \ l9 2 * »

F IN IS H IN G

—**»

T E X T IL E S

•
I9 Z 5
“" V ^ V

—\

1 9 2 ,5

la z ^ N ,

—

90
1 9 2 ,6 s

sT*
80

C L O T H IN G , H E N S

S H IR T S

COLLARS

110

l*ZS

19X 5
r
60
195
70

C L O T H I N G , W O M E N 'S

M IL L IN E R Y & L A C E G O O D S

/
-N
V

i / l $ I ( V
\ r

3
__ _ - N

- y ^

\ l9 Z S

•\

—

70
1 9 2 .6 ^ ,
60

5
5

c
s

o:
u

«o

o
y
a

Ch a r t 3

-*
§
n

tL
uj

IV
o
U
o

EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

Ch a r t 4

137

138

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

TREND or EMPLOYMENT
M ONTHLY

LUM BER,

AVERAGE

SAW H ILL S

1923 = 100

LUMBER,

M ILLW ORK

__—

■— —s

192.5
19X5
80
FURNITURE.

LEAT H ER
n

^4 2

*^ ,1 9 2
1925

PAPER & PULP

BOOTS & SHOES

I9Z
6

---- ' V jd «
. \
^I9Z6

19*
5^

PAPER BOXES

P R IN T IN G . BOOK & JOB
n
o

/^N
I9Z£^
100

^
19*
6

192.5

I9Z5

90
60

K
ui
<0

O
2
O
Ch art 5

rD
n

a:
bl

c
o

ou
a

EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

CHABir 6

139

140

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

Chart S

141

142
T

able

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS
2 .— IN D E X E S

OF E M P L O Y M E N T A N D P A Y -R O L L T O T A L S IN M A N U F A C T U R IN G
IN D U S T R IE S —1924, 1925, A N D 1926
[Yearly average, 1923=100]
Employment

Pay-roll totals

Industry
1924

1925

1926

1924

1925

1926

General index..............................................................

90.3

91.2

91.9

90.6

93.6

95.8

Food and kindred products................................................
Slaughtering and meat packing__________________
Confectionery____________________________________
Ice cream________________________________ __
Flour................................................................................
Baking_________________________ ______ __________
Sugar refining, cane___________ _______ ________
Textiles and their products___________ _____ _______
Cotton goods...................................................................
Hosiery and knit goods________________________
Silk g ood s „_...................................................................
W oolen and worsted goods..........................................
Carpets and rugs............................................................
Dyeing and finishing textiles......................................
Clothing, men’s..............................................................
Shirts and collars................ ................................... .
Clothing, w om en’s.........................................................
Millinery and lace goods........ ............ .................
Iron and steel and their products......................................
Iron and steel__________________________________
Cast-iron pipe......... ............ ...................................
Structural-iron w ork..................................... .........
Foundry and machine-shop products.......................
Hardware.........................................................................
Machine tools.................... ....................................
Steam fittings and steam and hot-water heating
apparatus....................................................................
Stoves.......................................................................... .
Lumber and its products............................... .....................
Lumber, sawmills..........................................................
Lumber, mill w ork.................................................
Furniture..................................................................
Leather and its products..............................................

95.6
93.7
88.7
96.5
94.7
101.3
97.9
88.2
83.0
90.7
94.3
91.0
92.1
92.1
90.1
84.6
88.7
87.1
86.3
93.5
104.1
91.0
80.6
91.9
83.6

90.9
85.0
84.4
97.5
90.4
99.5
97.8
89.3
84.0
98.1
103.3
88.9
94.6
99.5
86.9
86.9
83.6
84.8
87.3
95.9
101.3
91.8
80.7
91.4
87.5

89.8
81.4
86.0
96.2
87.6
100.8
93.6
86.1
83.1
97.9
100.2
80.3
91.0
97.9
84.3
84.1
79.2
72.4
92.0
97.9
106.0
99.2
86.7
88.2
101.9

97.9
94.4
93.4
97.2
97.6
103.8
100.8
86.8
80.7
90.9
94.3
90.1
86.4
91.9
86.4
83.3
87.3
87.9
86.6
93.9
105.4
91.9
78.8
93.9
84.7

93.7
86.7
90.1
102.6
92.5
102.4
100,0
89.5
81.9
105.6
109.4
87.2
91.8
> 102.4
82.4
88.2
87.9
87.0
90.6
99.1
103.6
97.4
81.8
96.6
94.4

93.8
84.5
93.5
104.4
90.2
105.5
95.6
85.9
81.0
109.6
106.5
78.9
88.4
100.1
77.9
85.4
80.4
75.1
97.2
102.8
107.7
106.5
90.3
98.1
113.1

95.4
86.3
94.8
93.9
99.7
94.8
90.6
88.4
91.4
100.2
94.3
99.3
102.0
104.1
91.6
91.7
90.3
92.1
96.7
99.9
98.1
107.5
90.4
92.7
90.1
94.0
94.0
99.9
93.3
88.6
93:6
83.5
88.7
85.5
87.8
80.1
93.8
94.9
70.9
97.3
83.1

96.8
84.1
93.1
90.0
101.5
98.7
92.0
90.0
92.6
100.8
94.4
99.9
101.5
106.7
94.2
92.7
98.8
94.3
97.6
96.6
99.6
104.9
93.4
96.7
94.2
97.9
92.0
92.0
92.1
91.0
106.5
92.1
88.4
81.3
91.6
92.4
90.9
94.0
83.3
112.2
85.3

96.8
86.0
90.8
86.9
98.5
99.6
90.3
91.2
90.0
103.6
95.6
101.1
104.1
111.8
98.4
95.3
103.9
100.3
99.7
91.7
100.7
106.8
99.0
97.5
95.1
98.7
85.6
94.9
84.5
91.2
107.6
91.9
88.7
80.8
96.8
98.7
98.7
95.0
85.7
109.8
92.1

97.3
88.7
97.3
96.5
102.7
96.3
88.3
89.5
87.9
102.2
96.8
102.2
103.5
106.1
92.7
95.8
91.0
89.8
101.3
103.6
103.6
110.9
95.2
91.6
85.3
93.9
95.6
101.1
94.9
87.5
91.1
87.7
88.8
85.0
90.6
83.8
97.7
101.8
71.5
99.9
86.2

99.3
85.9
98.1
95.5
106.6
101.5
89.4
91.2
88.6
102.9
99.2
104.7
106.0
110.1
95.9
97.6
98.6
93.2
103. 5
100.7
104.2
112.2
100.9
89.8
91.7
100.2
92.7
98.2
92.0
93.5
111.3
92.6
91.3
82.2
94.6
101.1
95.0
103.1
91.2
113.9
87.7

102.0
87.8
97.7
93.9
104.7
106.2
87.8
93.5
85.5
111.5
102.5
109.5
113.9
118.3
101.8
103.5
108.9
97.9
106.4
96.0
105.2
116.6
108.0
98.5
91.5
101.1
87.7
99.9
86.3
92.8
108.7
92.3
90.8
8?.7
101.9
111.4
103.1
105.4
93.3
113.4
97.1

L e a t h e r __________________________________________________

Boots and shoes............. .......... ............................... .
Paper and printing.................................... ..........................
Paper and p u lp ........................ .....................................
Paper boxes........... ...................................... ............
Printing, book and jo b ...................... ..........................
Printing, newspapers. ..................................... ...........
Chemicals and allied products________________________
Chemicals_______________ __________ ____ ________
Fertilizers____________________________________ _
Petroleum refining_______________________________
Stone, clay, and glass products..........................................
Cement________________________________________
Brick, tile, and terra cotta_____________ _________
Pottery___________________________________ ____
Glass________________________________________
M etal products, other than iron and steel....... ...............
Stamped and enameled ware_________ _______
Brass, bronze, and copper products...........................
Tobacco products.... ............................................... ............
Chewing and smoking tobacco and snuff.................
Cigars and cigarettes_______________________ _
Vehicles for land transportation................ .......................
Automobiles...................................................................
Carriages and wagons...................... ............................
Car building and repairing, electric-railroad...........
Car building and repairing, steam-railroad_______
Miscellaneous industries.....................................................
Agricultural implements____________ ____________
Electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies
*Pianos and organs. , ............... ................................. ...
R ubber boots and shoes__________________ _______
Automobile tires_________________________________
Shipbuilding, steel.._____________________________

EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

143

Proportion of Time Worked and of Force Employed
'T'H E Bureau of Labor Statistics has collected data as to operating
A time in factories, in connection with employment statistics, since
July, 1922. The earliest published report, made in January, 1923,
was based on returns from about 3,000 establishments, and showed
81 per cent of the establishments operating on a full-time schedule,
17 per cent on a part-time schedule, and 2 per cent idle. The Decem
ber, 1926, report, based on returns from over 7,500 establishments, or
two and one-half times as many as in the first report, showed 83
per cent operating on a full-time schedule, 16 per cent on a part-time
schedule, and 1 per cent idle.
The first tabulation of the average per cent of full time worked
by the operating establishments was in March, 1924, when the aver
age for 5,000 establishments stood at 94 per cent. In June, 1924, the
average had fallen to 87, but by the end of 1924 it had risen to 92.
The variation during 1925 was slight, although for the most part
there was an upward trend, and by July, 1926, the average per cent
of full time operated had reached 96. During the remaining 5
months of 1926 the average stood at 97, 98, 98, 97, and 97, about 7,500
establishments being concerned in the reports for these months.
Since March, 1924, the average per cent of normal full force em
ployed by operating establishments has also been computed and pub
lished. Starting with 82 in March, 1924, for 5,000 establishments,
the average fell to 75 in July, 1924, rose to 82 in January, 1925, and
85 in December, 1925. The highest average appearing was 88,
reached in both September and October, 1926. The last two months
of 1926, however, fell to 87.
While no direct comparison of these averages is made between
months, the monthly computations are almost entirely made on
reports .from identical plants, the number varying slightly from
month to month, and as a rule increasing each month, so that, with
such a large number of establishments, it is likely the monthly re
turns are strictly comparable.
These reports are made for each of the 54 industries separately
and for the same industries combined in 12 groups.
These explanatory data form an important addition to the regular
presentation of statistics of employment and pay-roll totals, and aid
in their interpretation.
Employment by Geographic Divisions
HTHE general trend o f employment and the fluctuations from
A month to month, differ widely between the several geographic
divisions of the United States. To illustrate these differences
a chart is presented showing for each of the nine divisions the course
of employment during the years 1925 and 1926. The chart is based
on index numbers computed for each division, using the data for
April, 1924, as 100, no computation of sectional employment having
been made by the bureau previous to that month. These index num
bers are presented in Table 3 (p. 145),

144

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

T R E N D OF EMPLOYMENT
GEOGRAPHIC
1925 ______

DIVISIONS.
1926 ______

( APRIL 1 9 2 + s 1 0 0 )
N E W ENGLAl <D

-- v

TR
A
L
O
R
T
HC
lN
SOU rn An -AH TIC

U
TH <
E
H
TR
A
L
w
.sO

Ik
*

90
a
<

^7^
\

90.

M
01 H
TA
IN
'
W o
i
o u
d
© Ck

100

' / v
/

V
\

/ A 'V ; .

100

P
A
CIFIC

f
V90
I-:

145

EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

T a b l e 3 .—IN D E X E S OF E M P L O Y M E N T IN M A N U F A C T U R IN G IN D U S T R IE S IN E A C H

G E O G R A P H IC D IV IS IO N IN 1925 A N D 1926, B Y M O N T H S
[April, 1924=100]
Geographic division
M onth and year

1925:
January_______
February............
March_________
A pril__________
M a y___________
June___________
July....................
A ugust............. September_____
October________
Novem ber_____
December_____
1926:
January_______
February______
M arch_________
A pril__________
M a y....................
June___________
J u ly. ________
August________
September_____
O cto b e r_______
N ovem ber_____
December_____

East
N ew
Middle North
England A tlantic Central

West
East
South
N orth
South
Central A tla n tic Central

West
South
Central

M ou n
tain

Pacific

98.6
99.6
99.9
98.7
97.3
94.9*
92.5
93.8
93.6
97.3
98.0
97.3

95.7
97.5
97.9
97.1
95.9
95.1
94.0
93.4
95.5
96.9
97.4
98.6

91.5
92.9
95.2
96.5
97.3
95.4
95.0
96.5
98.1
101.0
101.0
99.6

96.5
97.8
97.3
96.1
95.4
97.2
97.7
98.9
99.0
99.6
98.5
98.1

96.1
98.6
99.9
100.0
97.1
96.1
94.5
96.1
97.9
100.0
101.4
102.9

101.2
102.5
102.3
102.3
99 9
99.7
97.2
100.5
101.8
103.3
104.4
104.0

97.1
98.5
97.3
97.2
93.1
93.6
94.3
95.0
96.3
96.4
96.7
97.6

93.0
93.3
94.4
97.6
100.6
102.8
103.6
101.8
100.0
99.4
97.9
101.9

91.0
92.4
91.3
93.9
97.0
99.3
97.7
97.4
100.2
99.7
97.7
94.6

98.0
99.3
99.9
97.8
95.8
94.2
89.6
91.3
94.8
96.3
96.2
95.2

98.2
98.7
98.5
97.4
96.3
95.7
94.0
94.2
96.2
97.0
96.2
95.4

99.6
101.1
101.9
100.5
98.5
98.3
96.9
98.7
99.3
98.5
94.8
92.6

96.6
96.8
96.1
96.0
95.9
97.2
96.7
98.3
99.0
99.5
97.5
95.4

102.1
103.0
104.3
102.6
100.8
100.3
99.1
99.8
102.8
103.7
103.7
103.6

102.5
103.1
102.5
102.3
99.8
98.3
98.6
99.5
98.4
97.2
96.9
96.9

95.9
96.6
96.2
96.8
96.4
97.9
98.0
99.5
98.6
98.3
97.5
97.2

97.5
94.9
93.4
93.9
97.0
100.7
98.2
97.4
101.0
100.4
99.9
98.1

92.6
92.7
93.9
97.6
100.8
99.7
99.2
99.5
99.1
99.3
97.9
95.2

Industries Covered
Hr HE 54 industries surveyed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
* include very nearly all of the most important manufacturing
industries of the United States. The industries included are the oldestablished industries, and a large part of the reporting establish
ments are likewise old established ones.
In this connection, however, it should be borne in mind that a new
industry is not of necessity maintained entirely as a separate and
distinct affair. Invariably when a new industry or product comes
into prominence old-established concerns, engaged in turning out a
kindred article—either near or remote—the value or sale ox which
may be affected by the newer production, are likely to turn over a
part of their plant to the making of the new product. This may be
an experimental plan only, although not infrequently the entire
policy of the concern may be changed, at least in part, by the success
of the new industry; for example, phonograph cabinets are made to
a considerable extent by furniture manufacturers; rayon goods are
reported as a product or cotton goods plants; and a large amount of
radio equipment is turned out by establishments classified under
electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies, and still largely en
gaged in such production. Thus it is clear that while the 54
industries selected by the bureau for these employment statistics
are per se old-established industries it must not be inferred that the
indexes of employment are altogether unaffected by the influence of
the spectacular newer industries of to-day.
As this study is designed primarily to show conditions in the more
important manufacturing lines in the United States as a whole, some
industries of considerable weight to their respective local communi

146

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

ties may, in the aggregate of employment, fall too far below the total
which warrants giving them a place in this compilation.
The magnitude of the bureau’s report on “ Employment in selected
manufacturing industries ” is shown in Table 4, in which the data
for December, 1926, are presented, to illustrate the distribution of
establishments, employees, and pay-roll totals among the various
industries and classified groups of industries, with a recapitulation
by geographic divisions:
T able

4 .—E M P L O Y M E N T

AND

P A Y -R O L L T O T A L S , B Y IN D U S T R IE S
G R A P H IC D IV ISIO N S

AND

GEO

Number on
Amount of
pay roll D e pay roll De
cember, 1926 cember, 1926

Industry

Establish
ments

Food and kindred products____

1,461

212.157

$5,428,741

Slaughtering and meat packing..
Confectionery................................ .
Ice cream........................................ .
Flour............................................... .
Baking............................................ .
Sugar refining, cane.......................

194

87,778
34,227
8,045
15,642
58,378
8,087

2,298,255
649,700
262,819
400,410
1,567,795
249,762

599.157

11,970,657

231,497
81,955
56,171
65,280
30,448
60.619
20,787
17,342
10,689

3,813,007
1,578,845
1,197,182
1,502,885
674,840
749,348
1,450,749
336,606
423,771
243,424

669,352

20,164,631

Textiles and their products...

Cotton goods..............................
Hosiery and knit goods............
Silk goods...................................
W oolen and worsted goods___
Carpets and rugs.......................
Dyeing and finishing textiles.
Clothing, m en’s .........................
Shirts and collars......................
Clothing, wom en’s ...................
M illinery and lace goods.........

Iron and steel and their products.......................................
Iron and steel.................................................................................
Cast-iron pipe................................................................................
S t r u c t u r a l ir o n w o r k ______________________________________________

Foundry and machine-shop products......................................
Hardware........................................................................................
M achine tools.............................................. .................................
Steam fittings and steam and hot-water heating apparatus.
Stoves..............................................................................................

Lumber and its products..
Lumber, sawmills...............
Lumber, millwork............. .
Furniture............................ .

Leather and its products.

Leather.................................
Boots and shoes.................

Paper and printing.
Paper and p u lp ....
Paper boxes.
Printing, book and jo b .
Printing, new spapers...

Chemicals and allied products.
Chemicals.......................................
Fertilizers.......................................
Petroleum refining.......................

Stone, day, and glass products..
Cement............................................
Brick, tile, and terra cotta...........
Pottery...........................................
G lass.............................................. .

Metal products, other than iron and steel..
Stamped and enameled ware..............................
Brass, bronze, and copper products..................

Tobacco products................................................
Chewing and smoking tobacco and snuff........
Cigars and cigarettes............................................

252
194
331
476
14

1,839
470

245
195
191
272
90
176

1,772
212
45
145
946
67
153
115

277,885
14,109
22,910
235,079
33,428
31,516
38,406
16,019

1,042

210,655

445
234
363

121,462
30,176
59.017

352

120,233

138
214

28,829
91,404

892

175,497

217
178
289

56,635
20,550
48,295
50.017

283

90,128

118
107
58

29,458
7,811
52,859

8,637,530
331,274
684,190
7,094,884
851,791
993,555
1,112,548
458,859

4,682,943

2,459,281
751,464
1,472,198

2,710 517
732,505
1,978,012

5,760,626
1,540,340
461,047
1,711,367
2,047,872

2 702,755
826,226
161,113
1,715,416

672

106,973

99
410
57
106

25.620
31,913
13,366
36,074

207

49,237

65
142

1,340,812

17,443
31,794

429,213
911,599

186

44,230

29
157

8,475
35,755

796,457

2,878,312
744,730
829,972
358,746
944,864

130,129
666,328

147

EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES
TABLE

4 .— E M P L O Y M E N T

A N D P A Y -R O L L T O T A L S , B Y IN D U S T R IE S
G R A P H IC D IV IS IO N S —Continued

Industry

Vehicles for land transportation________________________

Establish
ments

1,024

Automobiles_______________________________________________
Carriages and wagons ___ _________________________________
Car building and repairing, electric-railroad____________;___
Car building and repairing, steam-railroad_________________

196
62
293
473

Miscellaneous industries____ _______________________ ____

AND

GEO

A m ount of
Num ber on
pay roll D e pay roll D e
cember, 1926 cember, 1926

439,323
275,102
1,433
22,074
140,714

$12,890,098
7,904,235
32,170
695,372
4,258,321

397

257,059

7,595,973

Agricultural implements___________________________________
Electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies— __________
Pianos and organs_________________________________________
R ubber boots and shoes___________________________________
Automobile tires__________________________________________
Shipbuilding, steel_______________________________ ________

89
159
40
10
62
37

25,561
120,657
8,585
17,931
52,257
32,068

745,613
3,561,050
270,992
464,798
1,589,864
963,656

All industries.................................................................... .

10,117

2,974,001

78,922 522

Recapitulation by geographic divisions
GEOGRAPHIC DIVISION

New England_________________________________________________
M iddle Atlantic_______________________________________________
East N orth Central___________________________________________
West North C e n tra l__________________________________________
South A tlantic________________________________________________
East South Central____________________________________________
West South Central _ ________________________________________
M ountain_____________________________________________________
Pacific_________________________________________________________
All divisions________________________________________

1,316
2,452
2,699
973
1,064
466
444
164
539

10,117

422,981.
857,339
939.303
152.304
276,276
107,776
90,563
26,334
101,125

2,974,001

$10,336,979
24,615,780
27,236,930
3,770,011
5,346,078
2,144,256
1,945,225
735,715
2,791,548

78,922,522

Method of Computing Employment Index Numbers
HTHE basic material for these indexes is obtained from reports
*
furnished by manufacturers in every State of the Union, the
great majority of the reports coming direct to the bureau, although
seven States collect employment data for their own use and furnish
the bureau with the data in detail for each establishment.
Questionnaires are mailed to each establishment on the 15th of
each month requesting information as to the pay-roll period ending
nearest the 15th day of the month. The questionnaire asks for an
enumeration of the concern’s principal products, the date of the
ending of the pay roll, the period covered (one week, two weeks,
half-month, month), the amount of the pay roll, and the total num
ber of persons who worked any part of the period. Also, for veri
fication purposes, a request is made for the reason for any marked
increase or decrease in total pay roll or number of employees, and
for a statement showing normal working time, current operating
time, per cent of normal full force employed, and any change made
in rates of wages.
Each report is inspected upon its arrival, and if the pay-roll total
is for a period longer than one week the equivalent pay roll for
one week is computed. Where necessary reports are returned to the
senders for correction or amendment.
The bureau’s aim has been to secure in each industry a sufficiently
large number of reporting establishments to guarantee for each re
port approximately 40 per cent of the employees in the industry in

148

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

each State, as recorded by the Census of Manufactures. The con
summation of this design brings the geographical distribution of
employees in the several industries reported to an equitable basis.
In selecting establishments to represent each industry great care
has been exercised to secure in each geographic division a propor
tionate number of concerns with large, small, and medium numbers
of employees; and if there are two or more branches of an industry,
the same care has been exercised to maintain the ratio of representa
tion from each branch.
The number of employees and the pay-roll total for each estab
lishment are entered on a separate recording card, which has space
for the 12 months of each of three years. From these recording cards
totals for each industry are made of the employees and pay-roll
amounts in all establishments for both the current month and the
month immediately preceding. Percentages of changes between the
totals for the two months are then computed, and with the per
cent of change the link chain index for each industry for the current
month is built up from the index of the previous month. The index
for each of the 12 classified groups of industries is reached by weight
ing the relatives for each industry in the group according to the
importance of the industry, and the general index is obtained from
the 12 group indexes.
Percentages of change in the separate industries and groups be
tween a current month and the same month of the previous year are
arrived at by comparing the monthly indexes of the two years.
Changes in per capita earnings are computed and tabulated by
industries, comparisons being made between the current month and
the preceding month and between the current month and the cor
responding month of the previous year; wage changes also are
brought together and tabulated by industries.
From the normal time and the current operating time reported
the per cent of full-time operation is computed for each concern,
together with an average of these percentages for each industry, for
each group, and for all industries combined; percentages of normal
full force are computed on the same plan.
The monthly reports are presented with the industries arranged
in 12 groups: Food; textiles; iron, and steel; lumber; leather;
paper; chemicals; stone, clay, and glass; metal, other than iron
and steel; tobacco; vehicles; and miscellaneous industries. Index
numbers for each industry are computed monthly, and from these
relatives group indexes are constructed, as well as a general index,
which is a weighted average of relatives for the 54 separate in
dustries.

Employment on Steam Railroads
ONTHLY statistics as to the employment on Class I rail
roads—that is, all roads having operating revenues of
$1,000,000 or over—are published by the Interstate Com
merce Commission and presented in summarized form in the Labor
Review. Table 1 and the accompanying chart show the movement
pf employment for all classes of employees over the year 19263 in

149

EMPLOYMENT ON STEAM RAILROADS

comparison with the three preceding years, the year 1923 being
taken as a base or 100. Table 2 gives these data, by principal occu
pational groups and by months, for the year 1926. In these tabula
tions the data for the occupational group reported by the Interstate
Commerce Commission as “ executives, officials, and staff assistants55
are omitted.
T a b l e 1.—I N D E X OF E M P L O Y M E N T O N C LA SS I S T E A M R A IL R O A D S IN T H E

U N IT E D S T A T E S
[M onthly average, 1923=100]

M onth

1923

January_______________________________________________
February________ ______________ _____ _______________
M arch______ ___ _____ _________________________ _____
A pril_________________________ ___________ ___________
M a y _________________________________ ____ _________
June ___________________________ _____ _______________
July_____________ _______ ______ _______ _______ _____
August_______________________________________________
September__________________________ ____ ______ _____
October______________________________________ ________
N ovem ber______ _______________ ___________ _________
December_____ _____________ _________________________
Average____ _______________ ______ _____________

1924

1925

94.6
94.8
96.6
98.0
100.9
102.9
104.0
105.1
103.6
103.1
101.1
95.5

93.1
93.2
93.6
95.0
95.3
94.2
94.3
95.1
95.8
96.9
95.1
92.3

91.9
91.7
91.5
92.8
94.0
94.8
95.5
95.8
96.0
96.8
95.2
93.3

92.1
92.3
92.9
95.0
96.3
97.6
98.9
98.7
98.8
99.4
97.3
94.4

100.0

94.5

94.1

96.1

C L A S S I STEAM RAILROADS.
MONTHLY INDEXES-1323,1924-,1925,1926.
MONTHLY AVERAGE.

1923 = 100.

JAW. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. JUL. AUfr. SEP. OCT. NOV DEC.

38690°— 27------ 11

1926

150

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

T a b l e 2 .—E M P L O Y M E N T ON CLASS I S T E A M R A IL R O A D S IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S ,

B Y M O N T H S , 1926
[From m onthly reports of Interstate Commerce Commission. As data for only the more important
occupations are shown separately, the group totals are not the sum of the items under the respective
groups]

Num ber of employees at m iddle of month
Occupation
January February
Professional, clerical, and general..................
Clerks...........................................................
Stenographers and typists........................
Maintenance of way and structures............ .
Laborers, extra gang and work train___
Laborers, track and roadway s e ction ...
Maintenance of equipment and stores..........
C a rm en ............................................... .......
Machinists................................................. .
Skilled trades helpers............ .......... ........
Laborers (shops, engine houses, power
plants, and stores)__________________
Common laborers
(shops, engine
houses, power plants, and stores)
Transportation, other than train, engine
and yard......... ...................... ........................
Station agents______ ________ ______ _
Telegraphers, telephoners, and towermen_________________________________
Truckers (stations, warehouses, and
platform s)............ ....................... ..........
Crossing and bridge flagmen and gatemen....... ...................................................
Transportation (yardmasters, switch tend
ers, and hostlers)................... ......................
Transportation, train and engine...................
Road conductors......................................
Road brakemen and flagmen...................
Y ard brakemen and yard helpers..........
Road engineers and motormen...............
R oad firemen and helpers........................

March

‘A pril

282,444
166,097
25,238
351,713
45,840
179,380
524,702
113, 567
61, 525
115,456

283,132
166,466
25,295
359,751
48,885
183,068
525,554
113,878
61,679
115,680

283,631
166,606
25,359
403,858
62,383
208,451
522, 613
113,178
61,523
114,876

284,083
166,790
25,422
436,542
73,169
225,937
516,302
111, 985
60,694
113,600

285,376
167,554
25,482
458,306
80,843
235,624
516,753
112,092
60,723
113,791

44,391

44,186

44,249

43,342

42,450

42,196

60,973

60,784

60,509

60,804

60,085

60,565

204,172
30,817

206,442
30,742

207,808
30,702

207,308
30,697

207,414
30, 675

309,525
30, 655

25,729

25, 756

25,869

25,799

25,615

25,479

37,138

38,967

39,507

39,105

38,559

38,878

22,317

22,279

22,237

22,371

22,340

22,485

24,209
328,949

24,262
326, 645
36,700
73,855
54,787
43,577
45,317

24,287
328,107
36,635
74,416
55,139
43,557
45,332

24,045
325,160
36,474
73,944
54,407
43,495
45,214

24,014
323,567
36,757
73,998
53,979
43,504
45,003

24,028
322,830
36,751
73,777
53,447
43,639
44,829

282,001
166,030
25,151
347,362
43,723
176,157
526, 639
115,052
61, 482
115,493

74,316
55,312
43,866
45,473

M ay

June

T o ta l n u m b e r o f em p lo y e e s................... 1,713,332 1,716,208 1,728,639 1,766,615 1,791,922 1,816,818

Number of employees at m iddle o f month
Occupation

Professional, clerical, and general........... .......
Clerks............ .......................................... .
Stenographers and typists.................. .
Maintenance of way and structures.............
Laborers, extra gang and work train___
Laborers, track and roadway section ...
Maintenance of equipment and stores.........
Carmen.........................................................
Machinists...................................................
Skilled trades helpers_________ _______
Laborers (shops, engine houses, power
plants, and stores)............ ................... .
Comm on laborers (shops, engine
houses, power plants, and stores)____
Transportation, other than train, engine,
and yard.....................................................
Station agents. _________________ _____
Telegraphers, telephoners, and towermen...........................................................
Truckers (stations, warehouses, and
platforms)__________________ _______
Crossing and bridge flagmen and gatem en................ ............. ...........................
Transportation (yard masters, switch
tenders, and hostlers)_______ ___________
Transportation, train and engine..................
Road conductors.......................................
Road brakemen and flagmen........... .......
Yard brakemen and yard helpers______
Road engineers and m otormen...............
R oad firemen and helpers............. ..........

July

August

Septem
ber

October

N ovem
ber

286,771
168,281
25,463
473,517
86,635
242,737
517,189
112,328
60,353
113,824

287,427
168,770
25,513
469,246
85,978
238,728
514,351
112, 081
59,776
113,301

287,373
168,840
25,587
458,067
79,908
233,986
517,578
113,893
60,332
113,916

287,916
169,370
25,609
457,808
79,127
233,988
519,506
114,151
60,747
114,872

287,625
169,049
25,598
423,616
69,099
213,913
519,706
113,718
60,880
115,277

286,120
167,711
25,533
377,689
54,611
188,295
516,850
111,430
60,742
114,664

42,736

42.393

42,451

42,829

42,926

43,594

60,589

60,511

60,401

60,267

60,210

59,712

210,666
30,691

210,208
30,677

213,434
30,683

214,136
30,597

212,743
30,599

209,641
30,587

25,481

25,574

25,649

25,714

25,628

25,514

38,389

37,995

40,216

41,526

41,040

39,745

Decem
ber

22,528

22,433

22,419

22,256

22,085

22,016

24,233
327,995
37,412
75,140
53,956
44,596
45,933

24,399
330,540
37,943
75,801
54,033
44,940
46,300

24,204
337,648
38,430
77,568
55,537
45,808
47,031

24,347
345,496
38,920
79,215
57,742
46,402
47,507

24,409
342,917
38,288
78,052
57,800
45,841
47,124

24,393
342,240
38,066
77,607
57,852
45,790
47,341

T otal number of employees.................. 1,840,371 1,836,171 1,838,304 1,849,209 1,811,016 1,756,933

151

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

Unemployment Survey of Columbus, Ohio
REPORT on unemployment in Columbus, Ohio, from 1921
to 1925, was published in 1926 as Bulletin No. 409 of the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Aside from the
local interest of the report, the study is of special value because there
have been so few investigations made of actual unemployment.
Columbus has large areas of native white population and only a
few negro districts. Immigrant populations predominate in a compar
atively small number of districts. The study aimed to include a fair
sample of the wage-earning populations of the city, but in drawing de
ductions from these statistics it must be remembered that the findings
for each year represent only a particular period—approximately the
last week in October. The 1921 survey covered slightly over 10 per
cent of the employed persons 18 years of age and over in Columbus.
The numbers included in the succeeding four years varied somewhat.
Approximately 50 per cent of the persons enumerated were in the
manufacturing and mechanical industries, over 25 per cent in the
trade and transportation group, 10 per cent in domestic and personal
service, slightly over 7 per cent were self-employed, and the remain
der were included in other general industrial groups.
In the individual industries the heaviest percentages of enumerated
persons were found in iron and steel and their products, railway and
express, building trades, and wholesale and retail trade.

Whether the number of persons working full time, part time, or idle be con
sidered, or whether the proportion of employment and idleness in the popula
tion enumerated be taken as a criterion, the greatest amount of employment
was present in 1923, which was followed in order by 1922, 1925, 1924, and 1921,
and the largest amount of unemployment existed in 1921, with 1924, 1925, 1922,
and 1923, each showing, respectively, somewhat less. If only that idleness
reported as due to slack work be considered the order of importance of the
years becomes 1921, 1924, 1925, 1923, and 1922.

Employment Status
IN EACH of the five years for the districts included in the survey
* the effort was made to ascertain whether each person (male or
female) 18 years of age or over was 44(1) working full time; (2) work
ing part time, and if so what fraction of the usual full time for the in
dustry in which the individual was engaged; or (3) idle, and if so how
long continuously at the time of the visit and for what reason.”
The following table shows the percentage of those of both sexes on
full time, part time, or who were idle for the five years under review:
T a b l e 1.—E M P L O Y M E N T S T A T U S OF A L L PE R S O N S E N U M E R A T E D , 1921 T O 1925

E m ploym ent status

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

E m ployed:
Full t im e ....................................................................

76.5

86.2

87.5

79.3

82.4

Part time—
Two-thirds but less than full tim e...................
One-half but less than two-thirds tim e...........
One-third but less than one-half tim e.............
Less than one-third t im e ...................................

2.5
5.8
1.2
.6

2.2
3.2
.7
.5

2.6
2.9
.6
.1

5.0
4.9
1.7
.5

4.3
3.9
1.0
.5
9.7

Total, part tim e................................................

10.1

6.6

6.2

12.1

Id le........................................................................................

13.4

7.1

6.3

8.7

7.9

100.0

Total, both sexes..................................................

152

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

The table below shows the percentages of those unemployed from
different causes, slack wTork being the predominant cause in all the
periods covered except 1922. In that year 34.1 per cent of the
unemployment was due to sickness and 28.2 per cent to slack work.
Even in 1923, however, those unemployed because of sickness con
stituted 33.8 per cent of the total idle—only slightly below the 37.4
per cent idle in that year because of slack work. Referring to the
low percentage of unemployment in 1921 because of old age or retire
ment, it is thought probable that during the acute industrial situ
ation in that year a number of elderly persons took temporary work
because the regular wage earners in the family were unemployed.
T a b l e 2 .— C AU SE OF U N E M P L O Y M E N T OF PE R S O N S E N U M E R A T E D , B O T H S E X E S ,

1921 T O 1925
[Includes only persons reporting as to cause of unemployment]

Per cent of total unemployed
Cause of unemployment
1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

Slack w ork__________________________ ______________
Sickness----------------- ---------- ------------- ------------------------Old age or retirement-.................... .................................

76.9
14.4
8.5
.2

18.1
28.2
34.1
18.3
1.3

0.4
37.4
33.8
23.5
4.9

0.2
54.3
24.1
15.9
5.4

42.2
31.1
21.5
5.1

Total...........................................................................

100.0

Full-time employment, part-time employment, and idleness for the
five-year period covered varied more for all males than for all fe
males enumerated. This is partly attributable to the fact that the
males were not so largely engaged in salaried occupations as were the
females. For male heads of households, however, the fluctuations
over the five years in the percentages of those employed part time
and those who were unemployed are greater than for females.
The average employment status for all males enumerated for the
five periods was as follows: “ 82.3 per cent employed full time; 3.4
per cent employed two-thirds but less than full time; 3.8 per cent
employed half but less than two-thirds time; 0.8 per cent employed
one-third but less than half time; 0.3 per cent employed less than onethird time; 9.4 per cent idle.” The greatest divergences from these
averages of full-time employment occurred in 1921, when 75.1 per
cent were fully employed, and in 1923, when 87.4 were on full time.
The record for unemployment in 1921 was 14.6 per cent, while in
1923 only 6.8 per cent were idle, which, it will be noted, is consider
ably lower than the percentage for the five-year period.
The average status of employment for all enumerated females was:
“ 83.8 per cent employed full time; 3.1 per cent employed two-thirds
but less than full time; 5.3 per cent employed half but less than twothirds time; 1.9 per cent employed one-third but less than half time;
0.9 per cent employed less than one-third time; 5 per cent idle.”
The percentage of females employed on full time for the separate
years differed most from the average for the five years in 1924 and
1923, being, respectively, 81.3 and 87.6 per cent, while the unemployed
females in the individual years ranged from 3 per cent in 1922 to 7.9
per cent in 1921.

UNEMPLOYMENT SURVEY Of COLUMBUS, OHIO

153

Employment Fluctuations in Certain Industries
■MOT one of the five more important industry groups exhibits
*
throughout the five years the highest proportion of employment
or the greatest amount of idleness, although retail and wholesale
trade was in the lead in full-time employment for the first four of
the five years, the percentages of persons so employed being more
than 89 per cent in 1921, just under 93 per cent in 1922, 94.7 per cent
in 1923, and 92.7 per cent in 1924. Of these five groups, the indus
tries showing the largest proportion of idle persons were, in 1921,
iron and steel, 26.8 per cent; in 1922, railway and express, 13.2 per
cent; in 1923, iron and steel, slightly over 8 per cent; and in 1924
and 1925, the building trades, with 11.8 per cent and 12.3 per cent,
respectively.
Considering all the industry groups, paper, printing, and pub
lishing, which in 1922 and 1923 nearly equaled retail and wholesale
trade in the percentage of persons on full time, was in this respect
ahead of all industry groups except professional service in 1925, with
a record of 92.8 per cent of the persons in that industry on full-time
employment. In the same year, except for agriculture, the building
trades (wage earners and contractors) were reported as having the
greatest relative number of idle persons, 12.3 per cent.
In the matter of full-time employment the trade and transporta
tion group was more stable for the five-year period than the manufac
turing and mechanical group of industries, the percentage of persons
on full time in trade and transportation ranging from 88.3 per cent in
1921 to 93.4 per cent in 1923, and in the manufacturing and mechan
ical industries group, from 72.2 per cent in 1921 to 88.8 per cent in
1922. The unemployed in trade and transportation constituted 3.5
per cent in 1923 and 7.4 per cent in 1922, and in the manufacturing
and mechanical group, 4.6 per cent in 1922 and 13.9 per cent in the
previous year.
Trend Toward Stabilization of Employment
'"THE variety in the industries of Columbus has a tendency to level
* employment conditions affecting the city as a whole. The fact
also that these industries are to a great extent owned locally makes
for a very definite sense of responsibility among employers and has
resulted in the adoption by several important establishments of pro
gressive methods for regularizing employment. This policy is
reflected in the notable amount of part-time employment in 1924, a
number of establishments having held a large percentage of their
working force on a part-time basis rather than a smaller percentage
on full-time work.
Value of Definite Unemployment Statistics
YY7HILE it is evident that not all of the unemployment disclosed in
**
a survey of this kind represents actual need, yet the continuing
study of conditions from year to year, especially when the data in
clude the causes and duration of idleness, is a genuine social service.
Through such service, as already suggested, communities, particu

154

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

larly cities like Columbus with highly coordinated social activities,
may outline more intelligently their economic programs and esti
mate more closely for their coming requirements.

Work of United States Employment Service
HE expense of establishing and maintaining the public employ
ment services of the several States and municipalities is borne
largely by them. The Federal Government, however, makes a
small financial allotment, provides the forms, and extends the use of
the Government frank. The United States Employment Service acts
as a clearing house, and is able through its cooperative service to
clear labor from States with an oversupply of labor to other States
where a shortage exists.
The following table shows the placement work of the United
States Employment Service, and of the States cooperating with it,
during 1926:8

P L A C E M E N T W O R K OF T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S E M P L O Y M E N T S E R V IC E A N D
C O O P E R A T IN G S T A T E S , 1926

Persons re
Registrations Applications ferred to em
for help
ployment

M onth

January............................................... ......................
February......................................... ........... .............
M arch__________ ________ _____________ ______
A pril.......................................................................
M a y ____ _______ __________ _________ ________
June..........................................................................
July__________________________________________
A ugust____________________________ __________
September___________________________ _______ _
October................. .............................. ............ ..........
N ovem ber............ .................................. .................
D ecem ber____________________________ _______

203,036
186,073
239,667
224,986
234,099
239,524
230,080
198,303
221,550
247,890
192,002
190,909

118,470
122,211
176,890
179,286
204,173
183,563
192,108
185,604
221,728
241,363
161,148
142,005

Persons
placed

121,125
122,807
176,110
178,218
202,466
182,047
190,047
176,546
205,208
221,018
157,060
140,209

102,679
105,270
150,096
153,888
177,020
159,377
166,468
153,209
179,432
195,048
137,944
122,282

Farm Labor Division9
TTHE farm labor division is charged with the responsibility of
A recruiting and distributing men for the seasonal harvesting of
all crops throughout the country.
During the year ending December 31, 1926, seasonal farm laborers
and general farm hands were directed to employment as follows:
N um ber o f m en

Cotton picking_____________________________________________ 217,000
Cotton chopping___________________________________________
7, 325
Wheat and small-grain harvesting_________________________ 101, 596
Land clearing (mesquite grubbing)________________________
6, 760
Berry picking______________________________________________
52, 290
Fruit picking______________________________________________
11, 730
Other seasonal labor_______________________________________ 10, 518
Total, seasonal laborers____________________________
General farm workers_____________________________________

407,219
15,893

Grand total---------------------------------------------------------------- 423,112
8 U. S. D ep artm ent o f L abor. E m p loym en t Service. M on th ly r e p o rt o f a ctiv itie s, June
an d D ecem ber, 1926.
9 D a ta fr o m U. S. D ep a rtm en t o f L abor. E m p loym en t S ervice. S um m ary o f a c tiv itie s
o f fa r m la b o r d ivision , 1926. W ash in g ton , 1927.

WORK OF UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

155

Junior Division10
N COOPERATION with the regular local employment services the
junior division of the Employment Service undertakes to direct and
place in employment boys and girls who are entering business life for
the first time. There are now 26 cities in 14 States in which the
division is assisting in this work.
The work of this division during the fiscal year 1925-26 is shown
below:

Registrations______________________________________________
Referred to employment___________________________________
Placements_________________________________________________
Jobs registered (calls for help)____ _______________________
Office interviews-----------------------------------------------------------------Collateral activities:
Cases of follow-up-------------------------------------------------------Visits to employers____________________________________

53,021
36,257
24, 734
28,097
154,782
18,797
5, 460

10 D a ta fro m a n n u al rep ort o f th e S ecreta ry o f L a b or f o r fiscal y e a r en d ed Ju n e 30,
1926, p. 37.

FAMILY ALLOWANCES AND CHILD
ENDOWMENT

157

Family Allowances and Child Endowment
HE term “ family allowances ” refers to the practice developed
in various European countries of supplementing the basic
wages by special allowances in the case of married workers,
thus providing for the greater need of those having dependents. Such
allowances are usually paid either directly by the employer or from
an equalization fund maintained by a group of employers in an in
dustry. In certain countries, however, allowances to families having
more than a certain number of children are made directly by the
State out of public funds. In such cases, the system might more
properly be referred to as child endowment.

(1) Family Allowances in Foreign Countries
A T present the interest in the subject of family allowances in the
* * United States is mainly academic, but the development in
the foreign countries of the practice of making such grants
seemed important enough to warrant a survey by the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics. The results of this investigation were
published in 1926 in Bulletin No. 401 of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
In general, the study covers conditions existing in 1924 but in
cludes developments in 1925 in a few cases where authoritative data
were available at the time the bulletin was prepared. A summary
of the findings in this report are given below:
Beginning of the Movement
YJT/HILE in certain industries and public services in some countries
** family allowances had been instituted before 1914, the move
ment gained its impetus during and immediately following the war.
This was due to the unprecedented rise in the prices of the necessaries
of life followed by reiterated demands of the workers for a “ living
wage.”
Closely allied with the “ living-wage” doctrine is the “ standardfamily” theory; namely, that the normal male adult should receive a
wage sufficient to enable him to support a wife and two or three
dependent children. Under the economic strain of war and postwar
conditions many foreign governments and industries felt that such
a wage was an impossibility. On the other hand, the result of costof-living investigations emphasized the fact that the wages of adult
males were utterly inadequate to meet even minimum standards of
living for a “ standard family.” The fact that many families having
more than the average number of dependents were subject to special
hardship was also realized.

159

160

FAMILY ALLOWANCES AND CHILD ENDOWMENT

Because of these facts, recourse was often had to the practice of
supplementing the basic wage by allowances to workers with de
pendents.
Family Allowances in Public Employment
rT ,HE study disclosed that family allowances were being paid
■*' more or less extensively in the civil service of the following 22
countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Poland,
Bumania, Sweden, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.
At the time of the investigation family allowances were not being
granted to employees of the national Government in England, New
Zealand, Norway, Spain, and Portugal. During the war, however,
England had applied the family-allowance principle in certain kinds
of national and local Government employment and Norway had
made these supplementary grants in 1923.
Family Allowances in Private Industry
IN PRIVATE industry family allowances have been or are being
* paid in at least 18 countries. In a number of these the system
rests upon collective agreements between the employers and the
workers.
Of the countries covered in the study, Germany, Czechoslovakia,
Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden have been the most conspicuous
in the regulation of family allowances through collective agreements.
Although in Germany the family-allowance system had a considerable
setback in 1923, in 1924 familv allowances were provided for in
collective agreements covering from 3,000,000 to 3,200,000 workers.
The total number of workers employed under collective contracts in
Germany in January, 1924, was 13,135,384. In the Netherlands
in June, 1923, there were included under collective contracts granting
family allowances 62,624 wage earners, or 26 per cent of the total
wage earners under collective agreements.
Family allowances were included in the various collective agree
ments of Czechoslovakia in 1919 and 1920, but in 1921 the system
was largely abandoned in private industry in that country, although
these grants are still being paid in greatly reduced degree in agri
culture, the metal and machine industries, sugar mills, the chemical
industry, and banking.
After family allowances were introduced into Poland in private
industry in 1919, they were for a short period provided for in various
collective agreements, but when economic conditions became more
normal many establishments discontinued the practice. They are
still being granted in certain coal-mining districts, in some potash
mines, and in the sugar industry. In Great Poland in the last-men
tioned industry workers with two children receive a supplement of
1 grosz per hour of work, while in other sections of the country
family responsibilities are taken into consideration by allowances in
kind.
Of 1,250 agreements in force in Sweden in 1921, affecting 219,984
workers and providing cost-of-living bonuses, 443 covering 109,009

IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

161

workers, granted family allowances. At present, however, family
allowances have been almost eliminated in private industry in that
country.
Number of Persons Employed Under Family-Allowance Systems
'M O T quite 50 per cent of the countries reported in regard to the
^ number of persons employed under family-allowance systems,
and the statistics on this subject which were received were not com
plete. The number of persons employed under such systems in
Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy in 1924 and in the Netherlands
in 1923 combined was more than 7,500,000.
Methods of Granting Family Allowances
1WIETHODS of granting family allowances are very diversified.
1V1 For example, there are allowances for married men regardless
of number of children; for both wives and children; for children
only, but frequently including illegitimate, adopted, and foster chil
dren, and stepchildren; for a certain number of children only, or for
all children below a specified age, or for all but the first or the first
two children; and for children in the higher age group (even up to
24 years), usually under certain circumstances. Moreover, allow
ances are sometimes granted for aged parents, sisters, and brothers.
The amounts of allowances vary greatly in different countries and
in different industries or employments and frequently according to
the salary grade or wage group of the beneficiaries.
Family-Allowance Funds
/~\NE of the most important developments of the family-allowance
^
movement is the institution of family-allowance funds for the
pooling of the costs of family allowances among groups of employers
and the prevention of discrimination in employment against workers
with family responsibilities. This development has been most marked
in France, where the first fund was established in 1918 and where
there were in June, 1925, 176 such funds, having a membership of
11,200 establishments, employing more than 1,200,000 persons.
The first Belgian fund was organized in March, 1921, and in the
middle of 1924 there were 12 funds in existence, one of these being
set up by the Christian Federation of Trade-Unions.
In Germany the number of funds has been very restricted. The
mining industry, the heavy-metal industries, and most of the chemical
industries have had no family-allowance funds, and to the employers
the necessity for the establishment of such funds did not seem great.
In 1922 there were 11 funds in Germany, most of which have now
ceased to function.
Both Austria and the Netherlands have funds. In the former
country these funds are established under the law of December 21,
1921. In June, 1922, the procedure for pooling the costs of allow
ances for agricultural and certain other workers was abolished. The
“ cumbersome ” fund machinery is reported as being out of all pro
portion to the negligible amounts of allowances for children.

162

FAMILY ALLOWANCES AND CHILD ENDOWMENT

The municipal government of Arnhem in the Netherlands has
instituted a children-allowance fund for municipal employees and
for private employees in so far as private enterprises may be able to
arrange with this fund for such grants. Funds have also been
created in the boot and shoe, baking, and cigar industries in the
Netherlands.
A cost-of-living fund was established in the printing industry of
Copenhagen, Denmark, in January, 1917, which paid family allow
ances, but it was abolished in July, 1921.
While these funds have been created to equalize the distribution
of expenses arising from the payment of family allowances and to
protect the workers with family responsibilities from being thrown
out of employment or from not being hired at all, the methods of
preventing such discrimination are not the same in all funds. The
three principal plans of determining the employers’ contributions to
the French funds are based on (1) the number of days worked, (2)
the total number of workers employed during the month by the
members of the fund, and (3) the total wages bill.
As an outcome of the experience of French and Belgian familyallowance funds, hygiene services have been organized by them for
the benefit of the families of the workers. At the fourth annual
congress of the French funds 20 of these funds were reported as
having such services, some of the schemes being quite elaborate.

Family Allowances in Agriculture
11'HE family-allowance principle is followed in agriculture in various countries, particularly through payments in kind.
In France there is a growing movement-for the creation of familyallowance funds in agriculture. In February, 1925, there were 15
of these funds. One of the bases of computing assessments for
members in some of these funds is the amount of land cultivated.
In Austria the procedure for pooling the cost of family allowances
for agricultural workers, provided for under the law of December 21,
1921, was abolished in June, 1922.
In Germany family allowances are paid in agriculture to both
permanent and independent workers.

Relation to the Population Problem
M OT the least interesting aspect of the family-allowance system is
its alleged relation to the problem of the future labor supply
and, in the eyes of some militarists, to the problem of future man
power for the respective nations in the event of war. In the case
of France particularly this relation is more conspicuous than in any
other country because of its grave concern over depopulation.

Conclusions
A GREAT variety of mental attitudes with reference to family
allowances is revealed in the sections of the survey which give
the viewpoints of ministers of finance, ministers of labor, members
of industrial arbitration courts, and officials of national federations
of employers’ organizations and of federated trade-unions. Pro

IK FOREIGN COUNTRIES

163

nouncements on the system range from drastic criticism to the most
sanguine indorsement.
Indeed, so many matters concerning the family-allowance systems
in their present tentative existence are debatable that the drawing
of definite conclusions is difficult and frequently impossible. For
example, it would be futile to attempt any deduction as to the actual
influence of these systems on the birth rate. Even in France, where
some investigations have been made along these lines, the findings
are of doubtful value. It is perfectly obvious, however, that the
depopulation crisis is very much to the fore in the minds of the
leaders of the family-allowance movement in that country.
Another moot question is the effect of family allowances upon
industrial production. The elements influencing production are so
numerous, however, that any sound conclusions as to what extent
family allowances are to be taken into account in this connection
should be the result of intensive scientific investigation, and par
ticularly so under the abnormal industrial conditions following the
war.
While reports from several countries state that family allowances
affect production adversely, certain employers in other countries hope
by such grants to reduce strikes and to lessen labor turnover, and
consequently to stabilize production.
Varying replies were made to the inquiry as to the reaction of
family allowances on the basic wage. This question, it is realized,
could not properly be answered in many cases unless special indi
vidual studies had been madte on the subject with due regard to the
intricacies of wage adjustments. Such studies would, of course, be
rendered especially difficult by the extraordinary fluctuations in
currencies, rapidly changing price levels, and war-devised methods
of payment running parallel with family-allowance systems. It is
safe to say, however, that in the civil services in various countries
and to a considerable extent in industry, family allowances have
without doubt constituted a breakwater against demands for higher
wages.
While family allowances were being paid in 1924 in the civil serv
ices of 22 of the 27 countries covered in this report, the practice of
making these grants in private industry has declined in almost all
of the countries in which it has been tried out. This decline is
especially marked in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Switzerland, and the
Scandinavian countries.
On the other hand, there has been a recent vigorous development
of the family-allowance system in France and Belgium under the
enthusiastic leadership of private employers, and a renewed interest
in the question of family endowment is being manifested in England
and Australia.
Any attempt to evaluate the various experiments with family
allowances is baffling not only because of the conflicting testimony
of those closely associated with such experiments and of the short
period over which they have been made but also because of the con
fusion of thought as to the nature and character of family allowances
and the varying plans for putting them into effect.
On the one hand, family allowances are regarded as closely tied
up with wages, and the newer system of payment is, as it were, put

164

FAMILY ALLOWANCES AND CHILD ENDOWMENT

in juxtaposition with the standard family wage and is declared to be
more just and more economical because it takes into consideration
actual instead of hypothetical family responsibilities.
On the other hand, there are schemes for mother or child endow
ment or insurance for family responsibilities apart from the com
petitive wage of the father. Between these extremes there is the
combination, to a greater or less degree, of the family allowance
system with the standard family theory; for example, the paying
of a wage which will support a man and his wife with supplementary
grants for each dependent child, or the payment of a standard wage
and the exclusion of the first child or of the first two children from
such grants.
There are evidences, however, of a trend, in certain countries which
are more vitally interested in the subject, away from concept of the
family allowance as a supplementary wage and toward proposals for
State family endowment or some form of national social insurance
for family responsibilities.
It may also be said that the experience under family allowance
systems adds weight to the demand of women for equal pay for
equal work and calls for a more logical response than is frequently
made to that contention.
Furthermore the establishment of family allowance funds, at least
in France and Belgium, has resulted in a growing solicitude on the
part of employers for child welfare and a keener realization of its
bearing on future citizenship.
(2) Recent Developments Regarding Family Allowances in Foreign
Countries
INCE the making of the survey, summarized above, certain de
velopments of interest as regards family allowances in foreign
countries have come to the attention of the bureau. These are briefly
described below:
Belgium1

A T THE second congress of Belgian family allowance funds,
* * which met in Brussels November 3, 1925, the committee for
study of family allowances reported that the combined personnel
of the 773 establishments affiliated with 12 industrial compensation
funds (one created since last year’s congress)2 was 152,603, and that
the sums distributed by these various funds since their foundation
up to dates ranging from June 30 to October 1, 1925, aggregated
approximately 28,000,000 francs. I f the industries which accord
family allowances but are not affiliated with funds are included, the
total personnel under the family allowance system is estimated in
the committee’s report at from 300,000 to 350,000 workers and the
disbursements at 60,000,000 francs. These figures do not include
family allowance statistics for the public administration. The con
gress was informed that a new industrial compensation fund of the
1 C om it6 C en tra l In d u s trie l d e B elg iqu e. B u lletin , B ru ssels, N ov. 11, 1925, p. 8 5 0 ;
N ov. 18, 1925, pp. 8 8 6 - 8 9 2 ; and N ov. 25, 1925, pp. 9 1 0 -9 1 3 .
2
C om p en sa tion fu n d fo r fa m ily a llow a n ces or th e N a tio n a l F e d e ra tio n o f th e T e x tile
In d u s try , w ith 145 affiliated firm s h a v in g a com bin ed person n el o f 15,500.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

165

central region was in process of formation and that two agricultural
funds have made their appearance within the last year.
The secretary of the committee for the study of family allowances
declared that despite the grave industrial depression in Belgium in
the last months, no firm affiliated with the 12 compensation funds
above cited had discontinued the practice of paying family allow
ances. Indeed, the majority of the funds have made “ important
progress ” in the face of adverse conditions.
Germany
A RECENT very marked decrease in Germany of the number of
collective agreements providing family allowances is reported
in an article by Dr. Fr. Busze in the Reichsarbeitsblatt, of Berlin,
January 24, 1926. Of 1,496 agreements for manual workers for
1922-23 in various important industries and services, 595, or 39.8 per
cent, carried provisions for family allowances, while of 1,352 agree
ments for 1924-25 for the same class of workers in the same indus
tries and services only 98, or 7.2 per cent, included such provisions.
In 1924-25 the mining, chemical, and paper industries were the
only industries having a very large proportion of collective agree
ments which included family allowances, and even for the chemical
and paper industries such proportion is less than half as great as it
was in 1922-23.
In various industries in which the system of family allowances
was never adopted to any great extent, the practice of making these
grants has been almost completely abolished for manual workers.
France3
A T THE Sixth National Annual Congress of the family-allowance
funds of France which met in the Mediterranean region May
10-13, 1926, various reports indicated that within the preceding
year the family-allowance movement in France had further expanded.
Among the statistics presented were the following:
As reported
June, 1925
176
Number of funds_______________________
Number of establishments______________
11,200
Number of workers_____________________
1,210,000
Annual amount disbursed--------francs 4__ 160,000,000

As reported
May, 1926
195
14,000
1,300,000
200,000,000

The secretary estimates that if the disbursements of private em
ployers who are not members of family-allowance funds are
added to the above totals for May, 1926, they would be increased to
700,000,000 francs among 2,600,000 workers. It is also estimated that
the inclusion of the allowances paid to the personnel of public ad
ministrations would augment the annual distribution to 1,152,000,000
francs over a population of 3,600,000 persons. This expansion is
said to be due not only to the “ spontaneous attraction of the funds ”
but also to the legal obligation to pay family allowances to those
employed on public works.
3La JoumSe Industrielle, Paris, May 12 (p. 1), May 15 (p. 1), and May 16-17 (pp. 1
and 5), 1926.
* Franc at par=19.3 cents; exchange value on May 15, 1926=3.02 cents.
38690°— 27------ 12

166

FAMILY ALLOWANCES AND CHILD ENDOWMENT

It was reported to the congress that the number of agricultural
funds had increased from 16 to 27 and also that the National Asso
ciation of the Notaries of France was studying, with the purpose of
adoption, a general scheme of social insurance. The first step has
already been taken in the institution of family allowances by the
Seine Chamber of Notaries.
The attention of the congress was drawn to the notable and in
creasing activities of the funds for prenatal and postnatal hygiene,
the medical supervision of infants and adolescents, and the extension
of fresh-air work.
At the general meeting of the French national committee on family
allowance on December 17, 1926,5 it was reported that the number of
family-allowance funds then functioning was 203, and that allow
ance rates in certain centers had been advanced as much as 100
per cent.
One of the most significant developments in the social services
of the funds is the growing provision for sicknesss allowances. At
the beginning of the summer of 1926 there were a dozen sick-benefit
funds in operation. Less than six months later there were 22 such
funds. In December, 1926, 2,000 establishments, representing 300,000 wage earners, were under this new sick-benefit scheme, which is
expected to expand rapidly in 1927.
(3) Child Endowment by the State

New Zealand
1 N New Zealand in 1926 a family allowance bill was enacted into
1 law.6 The law provides that upon application by the father of
three or more children an allowance of 2 shillings a week is to be
payable in respect of each child of his in excess of two, but that
the average weekly income of the family from all sources (excluding
the allowance) shall not exceed £4. Allowances will be paid for chil
dren up to 15 years of age and for older children under certain
circumstances.
These allowances are to be paid to the wives of the applicants ex
cept under unusual circumstances.
Aliens and Asiatics (even though naturalized citizens or British
subjects by birth) are excluded from the benefits of this legislation.
Bad character or dishonest action for the purpose of benefiting by
the allowance may be considered as a basis for refusal to make such
grants. In order to receive allowances the parents of the children
must have been residents of New Zealand for not less than one year.

France7
r\ N July 22,1923, a law was passed providing an annual allowance
^
of 90 francs8 from the State for each child under 13 years of
5 La Journ6e Industrielle, Paris, Dec. 19-20, 1926, p. 7.
6 New Zealand. Official Yearbook, 1927, p. 656.
7 France. Mi ni sre du Travail, de l’Hygifene, de 1’Assistance et de la PrSvoyance
Sociales. Bulletin de la Statistique g6n6rale de la France, Paris, July, 1926, pp.
433-443. “ I/encouragement national aux families nombreuses en 1924 dans quatrevingt-six Departments.”
8 Franc at par=19.3 cents; average exchange value for August, 1926=2.8 cents.

CHILD ENDOWMENT BY THE STATE

167

age in excess of 3 in French families. In addition, children up to
the age of 16 are included, provided they have a written contract of
apprenticeship or are pursuing their studies, as well as those who are
crippled or are afflicted with an incurable disease, unless they are
being cared for in hospitals at the expense of the State, the depart
ment, or the commtme. Those persons are excluded from the benefits
of the law who are subject to the income tax after the deductions on
account of the f amily have been made.
The national allowances shall not be paid in addition to family
allowances allotted to their personnel by different public services,* but
the departments and communes may increase, out of their own re
sources and to any extent they choose, the allowances paid by the
>State.
The allowances, which were payable each half year, amounted to
90 francs per year for each child who was a beneficiary.
An amendment to the financial law of July 13, 1925, provides that
payments shall begin with the second child when the mother is left
as the head of the family and with the third child when the father
is in sole charge. A further amendment in the financial law of April
29, 1926, increases the amount of the annual allowance to 360 francs
beginning January 1, 1927.
Spain9

I ARGE families are to be subsidized by the Spanish Government
^ in accordance with a royal decree published in The Gaceta,
Madrid, of June 22, 1926. The bonus to laborers is to begin with
the eighth legitimate or legitimized child dependent upon the head
of the family, and is payable as follows:
P e s e t a s 10
per y e a r

For

9
10
11
12

children.....
children .....
children___
children __
children___

100
150
200
250
300

P e s e t a s 10
p er y e a r

For 13
14
16
17
18

375
children_________
children_________
500
children__________
700
children_________
850
or more children. 1,000

Employees who have 10 legitimate or legitimized children are to
be exempted from the rent and income taxes and are to have the
right to pay a “ sixteenth-class first tariff ” and the privilege of “ free
matriculation in all official educational establishments.”
Cash bonuses are also to be accorded civil or military officials on
the pay roll of the State, the royal house, or the legislative bodies
when such officials have more than 10 children, under conditions set
forth in the decree. The bonus payable to such officials is 5 per
cent of the salary, for 11 children, plus 5 per cent for each additional
child up to and including 20, the bonus for 20 or more children being
50 per cent of the salary. These allowances are to be computed on
the basic salary the official receives “ by reason of his rank,” and not
on extra compensation for expenses, etc.
Attention is called to the fact that families of eight children are
not unusual in Spain and that to pay these bonuses to smaller families
would be a heavy burden on the State exchequer.
9 R ep ort from th e con su la te gen era l a t B a rcelon a , J u ly 1, 1926.
10 P eseta a t p a r = 1 9 .3 c e n t s ; ex ch a n g e ra te a b ou t 16 cen ts.

168

FAMILY ALLOWANCES AND CHILD ENDOWMENT

The decree granting these subsidies has received favorable press
comment. There has been some public discussion over the adminis
trative problems, particularly matters of proof and the question as
to which classes
persons may or may not have the right to these
subsidies.
Attention has been called to the probable hardship worked by the
exclusion of shopkeepers and small landholders, as many persons in
these classes are as much in need of assistance as those covered by
the decree.

Basel, Switzerland11

T 'H E Legislature of the Canton of Basel, Switzerland, passed a
*
law November 4, 1926, providing that all families having less
than a specified income and four or more minor children 46living
together in the same household, who have resided uninterruptedly
for not less than five years in the Canton of Basel, shall be paid
by the Government sums ranging from 10 to 30 per cent of their
annual rental as a contribution toward the payment of house rent,
the amount of payment to be contingent upon their annual incomes.”
Foreign residents in Basel do not receive such allowances unless
they are able to show that Swiss families who reside in the native
countries of such foreigners receive rental allowances from public
funds.
The contributions to be paid under the law to families with speci
fied incomes and four or more children are as follows:
Proportion of
allowance to
annual rental

Income of—
(percent)
Not more than 2,500 francs__________________
30
2,500 to 3,000 francs__________________________
20
3,000 to 4,500 francs__________________________
10

Maximum
rental alIowance
(francs)
350
200
100

In computing annual income, a deduction of 500 francs is to be
made for each minor child. For example, a family with an annual
income of 4,500 francs and four minor children would be allowed
a deduction of 2,000 francs and a grant of 30 per cent of the annual
amount paid for house rent.
Families who live in their own homes or in dwellings furnished
by their employers receive a contribution based on the “ taxable
rental value of the house.”
The law stipulates that “ these contributions are not to be con
sidered as charity.” Moreover, such allowances can be neither
seized nor attached and can only be assigned or transferred by the
Government’s consent.
It is estimated that these benefits will cost the Cantonal Govern
ment 100,000 francs a year.
According to the latest official findings, 3,544 families in the
Canton have four or more minor children. Many of these families,
however, will receive no rental contribution as their incomes are in
excess of the maximum at which the grants are allowed.
11Report of American Consul, Calvin M. Hitch, at Basel, Switzerland, Nov. 12, 1926.

HAWAII—LABOR CONDITIONS

169

Labor Conditions in Hawaii
ECENT official information regarding labor conditions in
Hawaii is very limited. The organic law of Hawaii requires
that the United States Commissioner of Labor Statistics1
shall make a survey of labor conditions in the Territory once in five
years. The fifth investigation of the islands was made by that
official in 1915 and the results published in 1916. (S. Doc. No. 432,
64th Cong., 1st. sess.) Since that date, however, the funds of the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics have not been sufficient to
make such surveys. In his annual report for 1925-26 the Secretary
of Labor said:

While I do not believe
years apart is necessary,
the last 18 months that
conditions in the Islands
be made.

that an investigation of Hawaii at set periods five
I have been convinced from various sources within
the time has come when another survey of labor
of Hawaii by the Bureau of Labor Statistics should

The Territorial Board of Immigration, Labor, and Statistics, al
though still in existence, has not functioned for a number of years
and has issued no reports since that for 1915-16.2
Occupational Distribution
T A B L E 1 shows the occupational distribution for Hawaii of per*
sons 10 years of age and over, as reported in the United States
Census of 1920.
T a b l e 1.—O C C U P IE D PE R S O N S IN H A W A II, 10 Y E A R S OF A G E A N D O V E R , B Y SE X , 19201

Males

Females

Both sexes

General division of occupations
Number Percent N um ber Percent N um ber Percent
Agriculture, forestry, and animal in d u stry..........
Extraction Of minp.ra.ls___
_____________________
Manufacturing and mechanical industry.............
Transportation...........................................................
Trade__________________________________________
Public service (not elsewhere classified)................
Professional service........................- ...........................
Domestic and personal service.................................
Clerical occupations..................................................

49,829
169
17,137
7,628
6,635
6,262
2,199
5,047
2,713

51.0
.2
17.6
7.8
6.8
6.4
2.3
5.2
2.8

6,415

45.0

1,057
153
708
20
1,918
3,419
573

7.4
1.1
5.0
.1
13.4
24.0
4.0

56,244
169
18,194
7,781
7,343
6,282
4,117
8,466
3,286

50.3
.2
16.3
7.0
6.6
5.6
3.7
7.6
2.9

All occupations-..............................................

97,619

100.0

14,263

100.0

111, 882

100.0

i U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920.
V ol. IV . Population: Occupations. Washington, 1923, p. 1270.

It will be noted from this table that almost exactly one-half of the
occupied population was engaged in agricultural pursuits. Over
1 Title previous to Mar. 4, 1913, was United States Commissioner of Labor.
2 Letter of June 17, 1925, from the board to the United States Department of Labor
library.

171

172

LABOR CONDITIONS IN HAWAII

16.3 per cent were employed in manufacturing and mechanical
industries.
The total estimated population of the Territory in 1926 was
328,444, as compared with 255,912 in 1920.
Filipino Laborers in Hawaii
TN 1925 the director of labor of the Philippine Islands made an in* vestigation of the operation of the contract system under which
Filipino laborers are employed in Hawaii, and of the living condi
tions of such workers. The report deals primarily with Filipino
laborers on the sugar plantations, but inasmuch as some 70 per cent
of the agricultural workers in Hawaii are Filipinos, the results of this
investigation are of very general interest.3 A summary of this
report is given below.
Procedure of Labor Recruiting
’T 'H E recruiting of Filipino laborers to work outside the Philippine
*
Islands is regulated by an act of 1915 (Act No. 2486, as amended
by Act No. 3148). This act provides that persons or corporations
doing such recruiting shall be licensed by the Government; that
laborers recruited shall be guaranteed their return passage, provided
they comply with the terms of their contract or become physically
incapacitated; and that all contracts shall be supervised by the direc
tor of labor, who shall not permit the contracting of minors under 15
years or of minors under 18 years without the consent of their parents
or guardians. In addition, the Governor General is to appoint a
commissioner for service in Hawaii, whose duty is to hear and adjust
complaints of Filipino laborers, to see that the contracts are lived
up to, and in general to look after the interests of such laborers.
The labor recruiting is done primarily through an agency estab
lished and maintained by the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Associa
tion. This agency has its central office in the city of Manila and
subagencies in various other parts of the islands. The recruiting
agents do not receive any salary, but they receive what the director
of labor calls “ tempting” commissions, $s follows: For each unmar
ried laborer from Manila, 5 pesos;4 from other Provinces, 7 pesos;
for each laborer with a family, 20 pesos.
Each labor applicant is submitted to a physical examination before
final acceptance, by doctors representing the recruiting agency.
Upon the acceptance of a laborer by the recruiting agency the
laborer signs a general contract with the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’
Association. Through this contract the laborer is guaranteed—
1. Free transportation, subsistence, and clothing for himself (and
also his family, if any) from his home to the plantation in Hawaii
to which he has been assigned.
2. Bonus of 10 pesos to unmarried laborers, and 20 pesos to married
laborers.
3.. Free rent, water, fuel, and medical attendance during his stay
on the plantation.
8 Philippine Mands. Department of Commerce and Communications. Bureau of Labor.
Labor, Manila, March, 1926.
4 Peso at par=50 cents.

LABOR CONDITIONS IN HAWAII

173

4. Free return transportation to his home in the Philippines, pro
vided he has worked 720 days during three consecutive years.
5, A minimum wage of 40 pesos per month of 26 days, a day’s
work to consist of 10 hours in the field or of 12 hours in the factory.
Wives doing laboring work are to receive 28 pesos per month, and
children are to be paid according to the amount of work they per
form.
The laborer thus contracts himself for a three-vear period, but
there is no penalty for violation other than the forfeiture of the
guaranties, including free return transportation to the Philippines.
A central labor office, with a statistical division, is maintained
by the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association in Honolulu. This
office centralizes the recruiting work and keeps all the data relative
to the recruited laborers.
Supervision by Philippine Government
'"THE Philippine Bureau of Labor does not intervene directly in the
A recruiting of laborers for Hawaii. It is, however, that bureau’s
duty to inspect all contracts signed by emigrant laborers, and to in
vestigate to see that they are acting voluntarily and with full under
standing of the terms of the contract. The bureau also keeps a list
of all contracts, records the name, residence, and other details regard
ing emigrants, and makes periodical reports as to the number of out
going and returning laborers.
The resident labor commissioner appointed to watch over the
interests of Filipino laborers in Hawaii has his office in Honolulu.
His duty in general is to protect the Filipino laborer from any form
of exploitation. His specific duties are:
1. To receive and hear complaints of Filipino laborers and to de
fend their interests in the settlement of such complaints. These com
plaints may concern the interpretation of the contracts; questions
regarding free transportation home to physically incapacitated
laborers; and disputes over salaries and wages.
2. To inspect the plantations where Filipino laborers are employed.
3. To secure employment for Filipinos in Hawaii who for any
reason are out of work.
4. To make a semiannual report to the Governor General of the
Philippine Islands relative to the condition of Filipino laborers in
Hawaii.
Emigrants Remaining in Hawaii
A CCORDING to the records of the bureau of labor, Filipino labor* * ers emigrating to Hawaii from 1909 to 1925, inclusive, num
bered 74,242, including nearly 10,000 women and children. The total
number returning from Hawaii during the same period was only
15,601. The details are shown in the table following.

174
T

LABOR CONDITIONS IN HAWAII

able

2 . — F IL IP IN O

L A B O R E R S E M IG R A T IN G T O A N D R E T U R N IN G F R O M H A W A I I
Returning from Hawaii

Emigrating to Hawaii
Year
Males

Females

Children

Total

Males

Females

Children

Total

1909 to 1914..............
1915...............................
1916...............................
1917...............................
1918...............................
1 9 1 9 .....................
1920...............................
1921...............................
1922.............................
1923...............................
1924...............................
1925...............................

18,630
1,777
1,877
2,191
2,030
3,181
3,042
5,748
7,291
4,516
8,171
6,099

180
157
178
284
319
225
628
530
1,800
1,116
256

193
180
229
447
297
187
438
362
945
582
156

18,630
2,150
2,214
2,598
2,761
3,797
3,454
6,814
8,183
7,261
9,869
6,511

159
260
342
568
645
677
1,093
1,953
1,309
1,226
1,730
2,255

40
64
72
65
104
75
249
81
112
204
267

47
59
93
131
167
113
503
203
158
261
316

159
347
465
733
841
948
1,281
2,705
1,593
1,496
2,195
2,838

T otal.................

64,553

5,673

4,016

74,242

12,217

1,333

2,051

15,601

Occupations of Filipinos in Hawaii
rT ,HE Filipino laborers in Hawaii are chiefly engaged in the sugar
*
fields, but a considerable number are city workers. The director
of labor, in his report, estimates the number of Filipinos in Hawaii
at about 40,000, of whom about 5,000, including women and children,
are city dwellers. The remainder are engaged in agricultural labor,
about 25,000, not including members of their families, being on the
plantations of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association.
Living Conditions of City Workers
A S REGARDS living conditions, the director finds that, in gen* * eral, the city Filipinos are in a deplorable situation. Most of
them originally came to Hawaii as contract sugar laborers, but for
one reason or another drifted to Honolulu and the other cities of the
Territory. Most of the work they are engaged in—such as steve
doring—is very irregular. Commenting on the way of life of these
city laborers, the director says:
The conditions of life of the Filipino living in the cities, excepting those who
have permanent work, may be said to be difficult and miserable because of their
irregular periods of employment. They find hardly enough to sustain them
selves, and I can affirm that a great number of them lack the necessities of
life. Often they live by securing shelter and aid from their compatriots who
are at work and earning their living. These people then become a veritable
charge on those who do work and shelter them.

Living Conditions and Wages on Plantations
{CONTRASTED with the living conditions of the Filipino laborers
^
in the city, the director found conditions of the plantation
laborers to be, in general, very good, except among time-workers
with families with the minimum wage of not over $1 per day. How
ever, he states that most of the laborers are employed on a contract
basis and earn, with certain bonuses, an average of about $2.40 per
day. Under this contract the laborer, himself acting as a contractor,
agrees to cultivate, harvest, etc., a certain parcel of land and to
receive an agreed amount per ton for all the clean cane harvested.

175

LABOR CONDITIONS IN HAWAII

Details are also entered into regarding the allocation of bonuses,
advances, etc., and the contractor is authorized to hire laborers of his
own under certain conditions.
A comparison of the wages of Filipino sugar laborers in Hawaii
with the wages paid in the sugar fields of the Philippines, according
to the director, is extremely favorable to Hawaii. In other words,
the Filipino laborer benefits himself financially by emigrating to
Hawaii. The following table compares the wage rates in the two
countries for certain selected occupations in the sugar industry.
The cost of living in Hawaii is estimated by the director as about
25 per cent higher than in the Philippines, but even allowing for
this difference, all the comparisons are very favorable to the Hawaiian
laborer.
T

able

3 .—D A IL Y W A G E S IN M IL L S A N D F IE L D S OF H A W A II A N D P H IL IP P IN E IS L A N D S

Nature of work

Cane carrier:
Unloading machines—season..
Other m en__________________
Unloading machines— off sea
son________________________
Other m en__________________
Fireroom:
Firemen......................................
Trashmen___________________
Water tenders_______________
Boiling-house samplers __ ____
Juice heaters and scales______
Settling tanks_______________
Evaporators_________________
Lime k iln _______________________
Filter presses, lunas_________
Filter presses, others_________
Vacuum pans_______________
Crystallizers, mixers, sweepers
Engine and pum p tenders___
Centrifugal N o. 2____________
Centrifugal N o. 1—during
season_____________________

Hawaii^

Philip
pine
Islands

$2.09
1.79

$0.60
.60

1.93
1.65

.60
.60

1.76
1.63
2.89
2.29
1.93
1.65
2.09
1.93
1.53
2.62
1.63
1.98
1.83
1.87

.65

2.75

.50
.65
.60
.60
.60
.60
.50
.60
.60

Nature of work

Boiling-house samplers—Contd.
Sewing machine.........................
Loading sugar—off season____
M illing department:
Engine tenders. „ _____ ______
Oilers_____________ __________
Cane feed ers...._____________
M ill tenders........ ............ ..........
M ill repair gangs_______ ____
Carpenter shop:
Car-repairing gang___________
Painters_________ ________ _
Carpenters........ .......... .............
Electricians—helpers, etc________
Machine shop—helpers, etc...........
Loading cane (27 cents per ton
in Hawaii)—average daily..........
Cutting cane (21 cents per ton
in Hawaii)—average daily_____
D onkey engine...................... ..........

Philip
Hawaii1 pine
Islands

$1.38
1.65

$0.60
.60

2.23
1.80
1.65
1.52
2.03

.60
.60
.60
.60
.60

2.66
1.90
2.72
2.67
2.89

.625
1.125

2.89

2.50

2.46

2.50
.50

.75

1 Including 10 per cent bonus.
2 In the Philippines cutting and loading cane is usually paid for to the contractor, not to the laborers;
and the contractor pays the workmen 2.60 pesos per week with rice and 0.10 pesos per day lor food. In
the foregoing table 1 peso per day is used as average wage.

The plantation worker, according to the director’s report, in
addition to his salary receives a so-called “ turnout bonus ” of 10 per
cent of his salary, plus a profit-sharing bonus which varies with the
price of sugar. When the price of sugar reaches 5 cents a pound a
profit-sharing bonus of 5 per cent is paid, when it is selling at 6
cents a bonus of 15 per cent, when the price is 7 cents a bonus of
25 per cent, etc.
It must be remembered also that in Hawaii food costs are lessened
in many cases by laborers having a home garden in which they raise
some of their vegetables. Also they have no house rent to pay and
they have free fuel furnished them.
Cost-of-Living Budget of Filipino Laborer
A CCORDING to the director’s estimate, an unmarried Filipino
* * laborer can live on $18 per month, the items being distributed as
follows: Food, $11.10; cigarettes, $1.50; incidentals, $1.80; washing,

labok c o n d it io n s i n

H a w a ii

$2; soap, 10 cents; clothing, etc., $1.50. In the case of a married
laborer this estimate is increased 50 per cent for the wife and 15 per
cent for each child. Thus the minimum for a family with three
children is $35.10, which would necessitate a daily wage of $1.35 for
26 working days per month. Moreover, the above estimates include
nothing for recreation, nor for a local tax of $5 per year on each
adult worker.
As a matter of fact, the great number of Filipino laborers in
Hawaii are either unmarried or have left their families at home.
Indeed, the great excess of unattached men and the scarcity of
women is believed by the director to be a serious evil which needs
to be remedied.
Housing Conditions
U O U SIN G , Supplied free by the sugar plantations, includes “ a
* * house (valued from $900 to $1,000) with modern hygienic and
sanitary conveniences, including kitchen, bath, washhouse, odorless
toilets with running water, wood and other fuels for cooking of their
food, and water. The great majority of the houses are lighted with
electricity at the cost of the occupant.”
The plantations also furnish free medical service and free schools.
Financial Status of Departing and Returning Laborers
A SUPPLEMENTARY investigation was made by the Philippine
* * Bureau of Labor of 1,000 laborers who left the Philippines for
Hawaii in 1925 and of 500 Filipino laborers who returned from
Hawaii to the Philippines during 1925.
Of the emigrants 996 were males, of whom two-thirds were married
but had left their families at home. Almost all were between 21 and
35 years of age. About one-half owned real property of an average
value of 312 pesos, the other half owning no property of any kind.
Of the 500 returning Filipinos, 346, or 69 per cent, were married,
and 312, or 62 per cent, had been in Hawaii for at least three years.
About 20 per cent of the returning laborers took no savings back
with them, but the remaining 80 per cent averaged 433 pesos each.
Moreover, the investigation showed that, while employed in Hawaii,
almost 90 per cent of the laborers had sent money averaging 734
pesos each to relatives in the Philippines.
Complaints of Laborers
F\URING the course of his investigation, the director of labor
^ received many complaints from individual laborers regarding
working and living conditions. The director states that he was un
able to verify the complaints and is thus unable to say whether they
were justified. What appear to be the principal complaints, as
reported by him, were as follows:
1.
That the payment of the work for “ long-term contract,” for
which the worker earns more than $1 per day, is made tardily, and
the workmen are unable to check up on the amount of work done and
expenditures made under the contract system.

LABOlt CONDITIONS IN HAWAII

177

2. That many workers who participated in the recent strike are
discriminated against.
3. That the labor commissioner does not inspect the majority of
the plantations more than once a year, and that there is often delay
in handling complaints sent to the commissioner.
As regards the complaint that the resident commissioner of labor
is tardy in inspecting and following up complaints, the commissioner
states that he has no assistants and some delay is therefore inevitable.
The director also reports that the commissioner, the plantation man
agers, and himself agreed on a plan by which any important com
plaints by the laborers will be presented by the commissioner to the
convention of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association.
The plantation managers also made various complaints to the
director regarding the Filipino laborers. Thus, while the general
sentiment was that the Filipinos were satisfactory workers, certain
managers complained of the instability of many of them, that they
frequently pass from one plantation to another, thus confusing the
records, especially as regards free return transportation to laborers
fulfilling the terms of their contract, and also making it difficult to
train Filipinos for the more responsible positions, such as camp
bosses and overseers.
Conclusions
'T'H E conclusions of the report may be briefly summarized as
A follows:
1. Some method is necessary to keep the Filipino from leaving
plantation work, but without any sacrifice of his liberty.
2. The daily wage of $1 paid to certain laborers is too low for
men with families.
3. Free return passage to the Philippines should be given to
laborers who were contracted for prior to 1915, when the act of the
Philippine Legislature made this provision obligatory. Such free
passage for men arriving prior to 1915 was not furnished by the
Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association, as the act did not apply on
the plantations of the said company when these laborers were taken
to Hawaii. These laborers are not given free return passages by the
Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association on the ground that they do not
work for the plantations belonging to the association at the time
they apply for same.
4. A considerable number of Filipino laborers who were dis
charged from the navy yard and the public works department for
not being citizens of the United States should be reinstated, and, if
necessary, the law should be amended so “ as not to exclude Filipinos
from said work.”
Work of Hawaiian Homes Commission 5
JULY 9, 1921, President Harding approved the Hawaiian
Homes Commission act.
On September 16, 1921, the commission held its first meeting.
Since that time, under the commission’s direction, “ former pasture
and algeroba forest areas in Molokai have been settled and divided

5 U. S. Department of the Interior. Annual report of the Governor of Hawaii for the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1926. Washington, 1926, p. 56.

178

LABOR CONDITIONS IN HAWAII

into 22 farms and 17 house lots in the Kalanianole settlement, 74
farms in Palaau and Hoolahua, and 2 farms in Kapaakea, adding a
new population to that section of nearly 700 persons.” More than
60 homes for workers have been set up in the Kuhio settlement of
the Hawaiian home lands in the neighborhood of Hilo. “ The
majority of the homesteaders are well settled and making good
headway. .Theirs is the old story of success resulting from enthusi
astic hard work and doubtful results where indifference rules.”
The commission’s receipts from all sources have aggregated $658,963, its expenditures for permanent improvement $251,372, and its
loans to homesteaders for the development of their tracts, buildings,
farm equipment, and livestock, $213,393. In addition a disburse
ment of $156,225 covered the purchase of certain equipment, the
general expenses of the commission, the carrying on of certain ex
perimental work, and the development of natural resources. The
net cash balance on hand June 30, 1926, was approximately $38,000.
The original Hawaiian homes act was first approved by the legis
lature of the Territory and afterwards submitted to the United
States Congress for action. Similar procedure would seem proper
in connection with a request for the extension of the law beyond the
five-year period. The governor recommends that the Territorial
legislature should come to agreement on the request to be presented
in this connection to the Seventieth Congress, which will meet in
December, 1927.

HOUSING

Building Permits in Principal Cities of the United States in 19261
Introduction and Summary
HORTLY after January 1, 1927, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
mailed a questionnaire to each of the 319 cities in the United
States which had a population of 25,000 or over, according to
the estimate of the Census Bureau as of July 1, 1926. The question
naire called for the number and the cost of each of the different
kinds of new buildings and for the number and the cost of additions,
alterations, and repairs to old buildings. The figures here presented
apply only to buildings and do not include the cost of the ground on
which the building is erected. Further, the figures are restricted to
official city limits and do not take into consideration suburban
development outside of the corporate limits.
Prior to 1926 forms were sent annually to the 287 cities which had
a population of 25,000 or over, according to the 1920 census. The
scope of the inquiry was extended this year to include 32 other cities
which, according to the estimate of the Census Bureau, have reached
a population of 25,000 or over since the last census.
Full reports were received from 294 cities, including 19 of the cities
which have reached a population of 25,000 since 1920. Nearly 90
per cent of these cities sent in their reports by mail, either direct to
this bureau or to cooperating State bureaus. The latter forwarded
the reports obtained by them to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The States of Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and
Pennsylvania are now cooperating with the Federal bureau in this
work. A little over 10 per cent of the reports were obtained by send
ing agents to compile the data from local records.
Table 1 shows the total number of new buildings and the estimated
cost of each of the different kinds of new buildings for which permits
were issued in the 294 cities from which schedules were received for
the year 1926, the per cent each kind forms of the total number, the
per cent that the cost of each kind forms of the total cost, and the
average cost per building.

i Earlier reports concerning building permits issued in the United States are published in Bulletins Nos.
295, 318, 347, 368, 397, and 424 of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and in the M onthly Labor Review for
July, 1921; April, 1922; July, 1923; October, 1923; June, 1924; October, 1924; June, 1925; September, 1925;
October, 1925; June, 1926; July, 1926; and October, 1926. Data in detail for each city from which reports
were received for the calendar year 1927 w ill appear in Bulletin N o. 449.

-27------13

181

182
T

HOUSING

1 . — N U M B E R A N D C O ST O F N E W B U IL D IN G S AS S T A T E D B Y P E R M IT S ISSU E D
IN 294 C IT IE S D U R IN G T H E C A L E N D A R Y E A R 1926, B Y K IN D OF B U IL D IN G

able

N ew buildings for which permits were issued
Estimated cost
Kind of building

Per
Number of cent
of
buildings
total

Amount

Per
per
cent of Average
building
total

Residential buildings
200,531
29,862

39.5
5.9

$939,272,815
250,811,978

25.9
6.9

$4,684
8,399

4,203
14,994
1,470
306
60
233

.8
3.0
.3
.1
0)
0)

45,960,410
793,509,118
79,321,374
145,278,045
808,020
38,354,493

1.3
21.9
2.2
4.0
0)
1.1

10,935
52,922
53,960
474,765
13,467
164,612

251,659

49.6

2,293,316,253

63.3

9,113

Amusement buildings................................... .........
C h u rch es____________________________________
Factories and workshops_____________________
Public garages________________________________
Private garages_______________________________
Service stations_______________________________
Institutions......... ......................................................
Office buildings.......................................................
Public buildings______________________________
Public works and utilities____________________
Schools and libraries__________________________
Sheds.........................................................................
Stables and barns...................................................
Stores and warehouses________________________
A ll other................................................ ..................

967
1,191
4,871
4,644
197,103
4,264
290
1,711
277
779
890
16,546
508
15,709
5,870

.2
.2
1.0
.9
38.9
.8
.1
.3
.1
.2
.2
3.3
.1
3.1
1.2

135,640,162
66,738,198
179,910,768
75,556,070
78,098,960
15,328,494
49,630,473
262,563,433
31,681,285
43,828,750
152,901,630
7,458,705
845,308
216,481,212
15,346,245

3.7
1.8
5.0
2.1
2.2
.4
1.4
7.2
.9
1.2
4.2
.2
<9
6.0
.4

140,269
56,035
36,935
16,270
396
3,595
171,140
153,456
114,373
56,263
171,800
451
1,664
13,781
2,614

Total............................................... ...............

255,620

50.4

1,332,009,693

36.7

5,211

Grand total......................... _.........................

507,279

100.0

3,625,325,946

100.0

7,147

One-family dwellings_________________ _______
Two-fam ily dwellings________________________
One-family and two-family dwellings with
stores combined ___________________________
M ulti-family dwellings_______________________
Multi-family dwellings with stores com bined—
Hotels________________________________________
Lodging houses_______________________________
All other_____________________________________
T otal...................
Nonresidential buildings

1 Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

A total of $3,625,325,946 was spent for new buildings in 1926 in the
294 cities from which reports were obtained. Of this amount
$2,293,316,253, or 63.3 per cent, was spent for residential buildings
and $1,332,009,693, or 36.7 per cent, for nonresidential buildings.
In 1925 reports were received from 272 cities having a population of
25,000 and over, and in these cities 64.7 per cent of the total amount
expended was for residential buildings and 35.3 per cent for nonresi
dential buildings.
It should be borne in mind that the costs shown in these tables are
estimated costs declared in most cities by the prospective builder at
the time of applying for his permit to build. Frequently the figures
are under the real cost of the building. Many cities charge fees
according to the cost of the building, and this may cause the builder
to underestimate the cost. Another cause of underestimation is
that builders think that a low estimate may make their tax assess
ment lower. On the other hand, a builder may overestimate the
cost in order to impress prospective buyers.
In some cities the building commissioner checks over the cost
reported and requires the builder to correct his figures. In most

BUILDING PERMITS IN PRINCIPAL CITIES

183

cities, however, the estimate given is accepted if it is apparently
reasonable.
It should also be remembered that the data show the number of
buildings for which permits were issued and that there is often some
delay before work starts on the building and considerable time often
elapses before the building is ready for occupancy.
More money was spent for the erection of one-family dwellings than
for any other class of building, 25.9 per cent of all money spent
for the erection of buildings in these 294 cities being spent for onefamily dwellings. The next highest expenditure of money was for
multi-family dwellings (apartment houses), their cost comprising
21.9 per cent of the total cost of all buildings.
In the nonresidential group more money was spent for office
buildings than for any other class in this group. Stores and ware
houses were the next in rank in cost in the nonresidential group.
In the number of buildings for which permits were issued, onefamily dwellings also assumed the lead, with 39.5 per cent of all
buildings. Private garages were the next most numerous class of
buildings in these 294 cities, comprising 38.9 of all new buildings.
The average cost of all one-family dwellings in these 294 cities was
$4,684, as compared with $4,567 in 1925 and $4,314 in 1924.
Hotels cost more per building than any other class of building,
the average cost of new hostelries in 1926 being $474,765. In the
nonresidential group, schools and libraries were the most expen
sive type, the average cost per building of the educational edifices
being $171,800. The average cost of churches was only $56,035
while that of amusement buildings was $140,269.
The average cost of private garages was $396, the lowest cost per
building of any class of building shown.
In these 294 cities there were 279,857 permits issued for alterations,
additions, and repairs to old buildings, and the amount expended
on these repairs was $359,555,470. For all buildings, new and repairs
to old, there were a grand total of 787,136 permits issued and a total
expenditure of $3,984,881,516. A total of 480,773 families were pro
vided for in new buildings in these 294 cities during 1926.
Families Provided For

T^ABLE 2 shows the number and per cent of families provided
*■* for by each of the different kinds of dwellings for which permits
were issued in 272 identical cities in 1925 and 1926.

184
T

HOUSING

2 . — N U M B E R A N D P E R C E N T O F F A M IL IE S T O BE H O U S E D IN N E W D W E L L
IN G S F O R W H IC H P E R M IT S W E R E ISSU ED IN 272 ID E N T IC A L C IT IE S D U R IN G T H E
C A L E N D A R Y E A R S 1925 A N D 1926, B Y K IN D OF D W E L L IN G

able

N um ber of new
b u i l d i n g s fo r
which perm its
were issued

Families provided for

K ind o f dwelling
Number
1925

Per cent

1926
1925

1926

1925

1926

One-family dwellings..............................................
Two-fam ily dwellings............................................
One-family and two-family dwellings with
stores combined...................................................
M ulti-family dwellings..........................................
M ulti-family dwellings with stores com bined..

234,899
38,756

195,973
29,039

234,899
77,512

195,973
58,078

46.2
15.3

41.5
12.3'

5,784
15,109
1,771

4,168
14,770
1,440

9,619
171,314
14,803

6,985
195,474

16, m

1.9
33.7
2.9

1.5
41.4
3.4

Total...............................................................

296,320

245,390

508,147

472,586

100.0

There were 472,586 families provided for by all classes of new dwell
ings in these 272 cities in 1926 as compared with 508,147 in 1925, a
decrease of 7 per cent in housing units.
One-family dwellings, which provided for 234,899 families, or 46.2
per cent of all families provided for in 1925, housed only 195,973, or
41.5 per cent in 1926. In contrast, apartment houses, which pro
vided for 171,314 families in 1925, provided for 195,474 in 1926, this
being 41.4 per cent of all families provided for in 1926 as against
33.7 per cent the previous year. Two-family dwellings provided for
77,512 families in 1925 and only 58,078 families in 1926.
Table 3 shows the number and percentage distribution of families
provided for in the different kinds of dwellings in the 257 identical
cities from which reports were received in each of the six years 1921,
1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, and 1926. For convenience, one-family and
two-family dwellings with stores combined are grouped, with twofamily dwellings, and multi-family dwellings with stores combined
are grouped with multi-family dwellings.
T

3 . — N U M B E R A N D P E R C E N T OF F A M IL IE S P R O V ID E D F O R IN T H E D IF F E R
E N T K IN D S OF D W E L L IN G S IN 257 ID E N T IC A L C IT IE S IN 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, A N D
1926

able

Number of families provided for in—
Year

1921........................
1922.........................
1923.........................
1924.........................
1925....................... .
1926.........................

Onefamily
dwellings
130,873
179,364
207,632
210,818
226,159
188,074

All classes
TwoM ulti
family
family
of
dwellings 1 dwellings 2 dwellings
38,858
80,252
96,344
95,019
86,145
64,298

54,814
117,689
149,697
137,082
178,918
209,742

Per cent of families provided for in—
Onefamily
dwellings

224,545
377,305
453,673
442,919
491,222
462,114

58.3
47.5
45.8
47.6
46.0
40.7

TwoMultifamily
family
dwellings1 dwellings a
17.3
21.3
21.2
21.5
17.5
13.9

24.4
31.2
33.0
30.9
36.4
45.4

1 Includes one-family and two-family dwellings with stores combined.
* Includes multi-family dwellings with stores combined.

The total number of families provided for in all classes of dwellings
during 1926 in the 257 cities was 462,114. This is a reduction of 6
per cent as compared with 1925, the peak year, but is the second
highest number shown in the six-year period and is more than twice
as many housing units as were provided in 1921.

185

BUILDING PERMITS IN PRINCIPAL CITIES

The figures in this table would tend to show that we are becoming a
race of cliff dwellers, for in the year 1926 accommodations were pro
vided in apartment houses for 209,742 families, or 45.4 per cent of all
the families provided for during that year, while one-family dwellings
provided for only 188,074 families, or but 40.7 per cent of all families
provided for. This is the first year that apartment houses have
provided more new family accommodations than have one-family
dwellings in these 257 identical cities.
Since 1921 there has been an increase of 105.8 per cent in the
number of families provided for in all classes of dwellings. During
this same period, however, the number of families accommodated in
apartment houses increased 282.6 per cent, while the number provided
for in one-family dwellings increased only 43.7 per cent. The num
ber of family units provided for by two-family dwellings increased
65.5 per cent between 1921 and 1926.
Building Trend, 1925 and 1926
T*ABLE 4 shows the number and cost of the different kinds of build*
ings for the 272 identical cities from which reports were received in
1925 and 1926 and the per cent of increase or decrease in the number
and in the cost in 1926 as compared with 1925.
T

4 . — N U M B E R A N D C O S T O F N E W B U IL D IN G S F O R W H IC H P E R M IT S W E R E
ISSU ED IN 272 ID E N T IC A L C IT IE S D U R IN G T H E C A L E N D A R Y E A R S 1925 A N D 1926, B Y
K IN D O F B U IL D IN G

able

New buildings for which permits were issued

K ind of building

1926

1925

Number

Cost

Per cent of in
crease ( + ) or de
crease ( —) in the
year 1926 com
pared with the
year 1925

Number

Cost

Number

One-family dwellings ______________ 234, 899 $1,073,123,621
324,480,169
Two-fam ily dwellings............................ 38,756
One-family and two-family dwellings
58,855,118
5,784
with stores com bined_____________
709,421,414
15,109
M ulti-family dwellings______________
Multi-family dwellings with stores
76,564,025
1,771
com bined_________________________
171,798,215
342
Hotels______________________________
1,137,750
120
Lodging houses_____________________
49,000,002
204
Other_______________________________

195,973
29,039

$920,439,498
244,713,969

—16.6
-2 5 .1

—14.3
-2 4 .6

4,168
14,770

45,473,010
786,886,218

-2 7 .9
-2 .2

-2 2 .7
+ 10.9

1,440
297
46
228

78,072,374
142,318,045
723,020
37,368,493

-1 8 .7
-1 3 .2
-6 1 .7
+ 11.8

+ 2 .0
-1 7 .2
-3 6 .5
-2 3 .7

296,985

2,464,380,314

245,961

2,255,994,627

-1 7 .2

- 8 .5

1,047
Amusement bu ild in gs______________
1,242
Churches___________________________
4,986
Factories and workshops____________
4,960
Public garages______________________
Private garages _ _________________ 209,086
4,095
Service stations_____________________
254
Institutions _ __ __________________
1,876
Office buildings_____________________
300
Public buildings
_______________
615
Public works and utilities___________
1,038
Schools and libraries________________
17,243
Sheds............................... .........................
565
Stables and barns___________________
Stores and warehouses______________ 15,732
2,603
A ll o t h e r ________ __________________

116,283,961
63,363,306
173,288,004
83, 111, 989
88,221,064
12,981,742
53,429,157
263,894,589
23,570,409
43,890,487
163,027,827
7,475,088
1,300,890
243,090,793
8,897,366

943
1,137
4,715
4,561
192,608
4,070
287
1,666
266
764
861
16,299
487
15,222
5,856

133,429,662
64,492,748
169,816,848
73,551,895
76,576,041
14,863,858
49,382,473
260,000,433
30,564,285
42,853,250
149,490,295
7,379,405
804,908
212,320,705
15,314,070

-9 .9
- 8 .5
- 5 .4
-8 .0
-7 .9
-.6
+13.0
-1 1 .2
-1 1 .3
+24.2
-1 7 .1
- 5 .5
-1 3 .8
-3 .2
+125.0

+14.7
+ 1 .8
-2 .0
-1 1 .5
-1 3 .2
+14.5
-7 .6
- 1 .5
+29.7
- 2 .4
- 8 .3
- 1 .3
-3 8 .1
—£2.7
+72.1

Cost

Residential buildings

T otal_________________________
Nonresidential buildings

T o t a l ........ ...................................

265,642

1,345,826,672

249,742

1,300,840,876

-6 .0

- 3 .3

Grand total___________________

562,627

3,810,206,986

495,703

3,556,835,503

-1 1 .9

-6 .6

186

HOUSING

There was a decrease of 11.9 per cent in the number of buildings
for which permits were issued in these 272 cities in 1926 as compared
with 1925, and a decrease of 6.6 per cent in the amount expended for
their erection. In these cities residential buildings decreased 17.2
per cent in number and 8.5 per cent in estimated cost, while nonresidential buildings decreased only 6 per cent in number and 3.3
per cent in cost.
While there was an increase in the amounts spent for churches
and amusement buildings in 1926 as compared with 1925, the in
crease in expenditures for amusement buildings was at a much
higher rate than that for churches. The amount expended for
theaters, etc., increased 14.7 per cent while the amount spent for
places of worship increased only 1.8 per cent.
The only two classes of residential buildings to show an increase
in the amount expended were apartment houses and apartment
houses with stores combined.
There was a notable increase in the amount expended for service
stations and for public buildings. The former increased 14.5 per cent
in the amount expended and the latter 29.7 per cent.
Per Capita Expenditure for Buildings— Housing in Relation to
Population
IN the paragraphs following are given the total and the per capita
* expenditures for new buildings, new housekeeping dwellings, re
pairs and additions, and for all kinds of buildings in the 294 cities
for which reports were received for the calendar year 1926; and the
total expenditure for all classes of buildings for 272 cities in 1925.
These 294 cities spent for new buildings of all kinds $3,625,325,946,
and of this amount $2,108,875,695 was for housekeeping dwellings.
The amount expended for repairs, etc., was $359,555,470, and the
total expenditure for all classes of new buildings and repairs to old
buildings was $3,984,881,416. In 1925 the 272 cities from which
reports were received spent $4,156,605,144 for all classes of new
buildings and repairs.
These 294 cities had a population of 42,700,350 on July 1, 1926,
according to the estimate of the Census Bureau. The per capita
expenditure for new buildings was $84.90, of which $49.39 was for
housekeeping dwellings. The per capita expenditure for repairs was
$8.42 and the total per capita expenditure was $93.32.
The highest per capita expenditure for all classes of buildings was
in White Plains, N. Y., where the per capita expenditure was $493.10.
Another suburb of New York City (Mount Vernon) ranked second,
with a total per capita expenditure of $478.37. The third city was
St. Petersburg, Fla., where $379.81 per capita was expended.
Following is a list of the five leading cities in expenditure of money
for building operations from 1920 to 1926, inclusive:
1921

1920
New Y o rk ..
Chicago____
Detroit_____
Cleveland. _
Los Angeles.

$277,
84,
77,
64,
60,

695,
602,
737,
198,
023,

337
650
215
600
600

New York
Chicago. _
Cleveland.
Los Angeles.
Detroit____

$442,
133,
86,
82,
58,

285,
027,
680,
761,
086,

248
910
023
386
053

187

LIVING CONDITIONS OF WAGE-EAENEBS IN CHICAGO
1922
New York___
Chicago_____
Los Angeles..
Philadelphia.
Detroit_____

1924
$645,
229,
121,
114,
93,

176,
853,
206,
190,
614,

481
125
787
525
593

New York____________
Chicago_______________
Detroit_______________
Los Angeles.__________
Philadelphia__________

789,
334,
200,
129,
128,

265,
164,
133,
719,
227,

335
404
181
831
405

New York____________
Chicago_______________
Detroit_______________
Philadelphia__________
Los Angeles_____ ^____

1923
New York__
Chicago_____
Los Angeles..
Detroit______
Philadelphia-

$836,
308,
160,
150,
141,

043,
911,
547,
147,
402,

604
159
723
516
655

1925
1,020,604,713
373, 803, 571
180, 132, 528
171, 034, 280
152, 646, 436

1926
New York__
Chicago_____
Detroit_____
Philadelphia.
Los Angeles _

$1, 039,
376,
183,
140,
123,

670,
808,
721,
093,
006,

572
480
443
075
215

In these 294 cities housing accommodations were provided in new
buildings for 480,773 families, or at the rate of 112.6 families to each
10,000 of population. St. Petersburg, Fla., provided for more
families according to its population than any other city in the country
with a population of 25,000 or over, the ratio there being 700.3
families accommodated by new dwellings to each 10,000 of the city’s
population.

Living Conditions of Small-Wage Earners in Chicago
HE Chicago Department of Public Welfare in 1924-25 made a
study of the conditions, especially as to housing, which affect
the small-wage earner of that city.2 The study was undertaken
especially to learn the conditions offered the negroes and the Mexi
cans who have come in to fill the gap made by cutting off immigration
from Europe. The field work, which was carried on from November,
1924, to April, 1925, covered 1,526 households, divided as to the
race or nativity of their heads into 668 colored, 266 foreign-born
Mexicans, 590 of different white nationalities, and 2 American
Indians. The neighborhoods studied were in 11 wards, distributed
through the sections of the city in which the colored population is
most concentrated.

For comparative purposes, especially in the matter of rentals, in each neigh
borhood sampled an endeavor was made to secure a sufficient number of homes
which were neither»negro nor Mexican, so that conclusions might be possible
relative to any special hardship in finding shelter to which either negroes or
Mexicans were being subjected.

Negroes and Mexicans in Chicago
'"THE negro population of Chicago has increased with abnormal
*
rapidity since the outbreak of the war, and it is estimated that
in September, 1925, it amounted to 147,599. The Mexicans are
2 Chicago. Department of Public Welfare. Living conditions for small-wage earners
in Chicago, by Elizabeth A. Hughes. Chicago, 1925,

188

HOUSING

even newer comers, and are less important numerically. In 1920,
according to the census, there were 1,141 Mexicans resident in the
city, but in 1925 it was estimated that the number had risen to
about 8,000. As the latest comers to Chicago, both negroes and
Mexicans have been obliged to find shelter in the oldest, most outworn
and derelict housing which the city still keeps. The localities in
which they are concentrated are also run down and unattractive.
“ In short, the‘ hborhood conditions are not such that they offset
poor housing c
tions and lack within the dwellings,”
Composition of Households
households visited showed some variations in composition,
according to race and nationality. In the homes of the negroes
children under 14 formed 20 per cent of the occupants, in the homes
of Mexicans they were 30 per cent, among the native-born whites
26 per cent, and among the foreign-born whites 42 per cent. Among
the newcomers it was not uncommon for two or more families to
combine and form one household. Thirty per cent of the negro
and 26 per cent of the Mexican households consisted of more than
one family, while among the native-born whites this was the case in
only 13 per cent. The size of the households likewise varied.
Among the native-white homes visited, 68 per cent had five or less persons
per household; among negroes 64 per cent; among foreign born other than
Mexican 54 per cent; and among Mexicans 44 per cent. The household of
median size among native whites numbered 4 ; among negroes and foreign
born, exclusive of Mexicans, 5 ; among Mexicans, 6.

Housing Conditions
study of the homes showed that they were very largely in
uuildings which fell far below the standards the community has
approved.
About 8 per cent of the 770 buildings in which the families included in this
study dwelt occupied the rear of the lots and had another building in front of
them. Almost 6 out of every 10 buildings (59 per cent) had not more than two
floors. Fifty-six per cent had only one or two dwellings in them. Fully half
were of frame construction, though within the fire limits.

Ninety per cent of the total number of buildings studied had no
vacancies and the percentage of vacancies in the whole group was
only 3.7. “ It has been estimated that 5 per cent represents the
minimum surplus of vacant apartments which will permit a sufficient
equality in bargaining power between landlord and tenant.” About
one-twelfth (8 per cent) of the homes were situated in basements.
For all races the apartment most frequently found was one of four
rooms. Rooms having no opening to the outer air were found to
the number of 177. Seventy-one of these were being used as bed
rooms. I f it is to be considered that an apartment is overcrowded
when there are two or more persons to each room, 6 per cent of the
negro and the native-white households, 28 per cent of the Mexican,
and 9 per cent of the other foreign-born households were over
crowded. Instances of extreme overcrowding were found.
In South Chicago one large basement room, the equivalent in size of three
rooms on the first floor of the house, was the home of 13 persons making up
three related families* Each family had children in it. One end of the room

LIVING CONDITIONS OF WAGE EARNERS IN CHICAGO

189

had been separated from the rest by a board partition extending only part
way to the ceiling. No windows were in this section of the room partitioned
off and used as a bedroom for one family. The larger portion of the room
served as kitchen for all and bedroom for the rest of the household.

Other examples were two Mexican families, consisting of 8 persons,
living in a two-room shack, a Mexican household of 15 living in six
rooms, and a negro household of 11 persons in three rooms and a
closet. Often other conditions were extremelv bad. “ In a rear
basement on Milton Avenue was a family oi six occupying two
rooms for $10 a month. The toilet was under the sidewalk; light at
night was from oil lamps; both rooms served as bedrooms.”
A number of the dwellings were badly off in regard to conveniences.
Many of the houses were old, and where such modern improvements
as running water, bathrooms, toilets, and the like were provided,
they were often of an objectionable type or their location was in
convenient and sometimes detrimental to the family health and de
cency. Of the 1,312 rented apartments, 85 per cent were “ coldwater flats,” with no means of heating other than stoves and no
provision for a hot-water supply. “ Many bathtubs were not used
because there was nothing but a cold-water taj) in them. Hall,
porch, and basement toilets outside apartments in these unheated
flats were sometimes useless for long periods in cold weather because
frozen.”
Tenure and Rentals
Q F THE 1,526 households studied, 214 owned or were purchasing
^
the homes in which they dwelt. No Mexicans were among
these. Of the native white families, 17 per cent, and of the negro
families 11 per cent, were home owners. The difficulty of finding a
place to rent at a figure which they could pay was instrumental in
making a number of these families buy. Unfortunately the same
causes which made it possible to raise rents to such a figure increased
the price of houses too, and in some cases buying meant a long
struggle ahead before the family would own their homes free of debt.
In the discussion of the rents, attention is again called to the “ age
of the majority of the buildings, their almost uniformly poor state of
repair, the frequent evils due to originally poor construction and plan
which have been aggravated by the years, and the wretchedly in
adequate plumbing.” The great majority of the rented homes (1,111)
had no heat furnished and were warmed by stoves at the tenants’
expense. This was the strongest factor affecting rent.
Among apartments with heat furnished rentals ranged from $22.50 for two
rooms to $120 for eight rooms, with a median monthly rental of $65 to $70.
Thirty-eight per cent of the heated apartments cost $70 or more per month.
Three per cent of the unheated apartments rented for less than $10 a month;
5 per cent cost $50 or more each month. The median rental in unheated flats
was $20 to $25 for native whites; $15 to $20 for foreign born; and $25 to $30 for
negroes. * * * As a group, negroes are paying much more for shelter than
other classes in the community.

The question of what rent a family may reasonably pay depends on
the family income. Budgetary studies are quoted as showing that
generally one-fifth of the income is looked upon as the proper pro
portion to spend for rent. From 886 of the households data were

190

HOUSING

secured as to both the total income during the month preceding the
visit of inquiry and the rent paid.
The report calls attention to the fact that over two-fifths of these
families are paying less for rent than they could reasonably afford.
The families paying out less than 20 per cent of their earnings in rent could
afford to live in better houses if any were available for them. The fact that
they could afford to pay more in rent alters not one whit this other fact that the
old and insanitary houses they occupy are too costly at any rental, however
small the sum. The significant thing for the community is that apparently it
is compelling a goodly proportion of its small-wage families to dwell in houses
less good than they can afford to rent. A rental market for better homes for
wage earners exists in Chicago to-day.

However, exclusive of the native whites, well over one-half of the
families and over three-fourths among the negroes were paying in
rent a larger proportion of their earnings than they should. In
addition, a study of the family earnings showed that a large number
of the families really could not afford to pay much.
Paying high rentals is clearly out of the question for the majority of these
families. Only one family in 10 should afford a rental of $40 or more for an
unheated apartment. One in three ought not to spend as much as $16 for rent
without heat. While it is a hazard to these families to have to live in the out
worn houses and tenements they occupy, it will nevertheless be a misfortune
for them to have the old buildings pass unless newer and better ones are made
available at rentals which are within their economic grasp.

Of the 1,244 families reporting the total income for a month, the
father was the sole breadwinner in 43 per cent, in 24 per cent he
earned nothing at all, and in 47 per cent mothers and wives were
gainfully employed.
Women’s earnings were not large as a rule. More than one-fourtli of the
woman earners (28 per cent) added less than $20 to the family income in the
month; 60 per cent made less than $50, while only one woman in five (20 per
cent) earned $80 or more. Yet in about one-fifth of the families on the basis of
the amount of their earnings, mothers were the chief breadwinners in the
month reported upon.

The month’s earnings were secured for 1,115 male breadwinners.
Of these, two-thirds of the Mexicans and a trifle over one-half of the
other foreign born and of the negroes had earned less than $100, and
91 per cent of the whole group had earned less than $150.
The pursuits in which the men of the families were engaged varied
widely.
Those in business for themselves varied from 15 per cent among other foreign
born to 2 per cent among Mexicans. Seven per cent of the negroes were work
ing on their own account, not for wages. Of the Mexican wage earners, 23
per cent were employed at the stockyards, 20 per cent were in the employ
of the railroads and 27 per cent labored at the steel mills. Among negroes
15 per cent were employed on the railroads, more of them as porters or
waiters than in any other occupations; 12 per cent worked in the stockyards; 8
per cent were in city or Government employ; 7 per cent in the building trades;
a like number in foundries; 6 per cent in the steel mills; 4 per cent worked on
automobiles; 3 per cent were waiters, cooks, etc.; 3 per cent were employed in
laundries; and 2 per cent in tanneries.
The three industries, stockyards, railroads, and steel mills, which together
employed 70 per cent of the Mexican men and 33 per cent of the negro, had 25
per cent of the rest of the men on their pay rolls. Industries and occupations
were most, diversified among the native or European born white, least varied
among the Mexicans, with the negroes occupying a mid-position between the
other two groups.

NEW YORK HOUSING LAW

191

As a result of the study, it is strongly urged that the city should
adopt some plan for housing small-wage earners. The demand is
great for homes at a rent of $40 or less a month, and private enter
prise is not meeting the need. The time is opportune for improving
the situation. Under the zoning plan the city is turning over to
industry and commerce some of the oldest tenement districts where
conditions are worst. With this movement there should be corre
lated some comprehensive plan for supplying suitable houses, at
rents which the small-wage earner can pay, in sufficient numbers to
meet the needs of the situation. With this should be worked out a
program for determining when houses are really too old, to dilapi
dated, alid too insanitary to be fit for habitation and for retiring
them when this stage has been reached. Particular attention should
be given to providing for the negroes and Mexicans who have come
in to meet the labor shortage due to the restriction of immigration.

New York Housing Law
HE 1926 session of the New York Legislature passed a bill
intended to facilitate the provision of low-rental housing,
which was signed by Governor Smith on May 10 of that year.
The law provides for a State board of housing and for the formation
of public limited-dividend corporations, the former to plan and super
vise and the latter to undertake actual building projects. The State
board is to consist of five members, appointed by the governor and
serving without salary though receiving actual expenses. They are
to study housing needs throughout the State, investigate alleged
monopolies of building materials, prepare plans for housing projects,
supervise the activities of limited-dividend corporations, appoint one
member of the.board of every such corporation, and exercise oth^r

supervisory and consultative functions.

The public limited-dividend corporations must consist of at least
three members. The rents for housing erected by them must not
exceed, in New York City, $12.50 a room per month, the bathroom
not being counted as a room. Outside of the city the maximum is
less, running down to as low a figure as $9 per room per month.
Their dividends are not to exceed 6 per cent per annum. Should
returns reach a figure which, after proper allowance for maintenance,
depreciation, etc., would justify a higher dividend, the rents are to
be lowered proportionately.
In order that these corporations may secure the land needed for the
large-scale operations necessary in order to reduce costs, they are
given the right of eminent domain. This power is not to be exercised
except upon the specific authorization of the State board, which is
not to give the authorization unless, after public hearings on the plan
proposed by the corporation, it is apparent that there is urgent need
tor the accommodations which the corporation intends to provide and
that the condemnation is in the public interest.
Public limited-dividend corporations are required to furnish,
through the actual sale of stock for cash, one-third of the total cost
of any project undertaken, the remainder being secured through

192

HOUSING

bonds bearing 5 per cent interest on first mortgage and 5 ^ per cent
on debenture bonds. No project may be undertaken without the
approval of the housing board.
The corporations are to be exempt from the payment “ of any and
all franchise, organization, income, mortgage, recording, and other
taxes to the State, and also from all fees to the State or its officers.”
The bonds and mortgages of such corporations, together with the
interest thereon and the dividends on the stock, are exempt from
State taxation. The State can not exempt the corporations from
local taxes on the buildings and improvements, but it empowers
municipalities to do so and provides that whenever a municipality
takes advantage of this permission the buildings and improvements
shall be to the same extent exempt from State taxation.
Provision is also made for the formation of private limited-dividend housing corporations, which are not to have the power of
eminent domain, but whose buildings and improvements are to be
tax free so long as they remain in the hands of the corporation.
Public limited-dividend corporations are not permitted to dispose
of property once acquired nor to make any real estate transfers.
Private corporations organized under this law will, however, have
this privilege.
Under date of December 15, 1926, the State board of housing pro
vided for in this act handed in a preliminary report containing the
results of a survey of land values in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and a
study of various types of buildings covering different proportions of
the ground sites. In the most congested parts of the city the board
found about 950 assessment blocks, or about 1,250 ordinary blocks
suitable for housing of the kind contemplated. Including all costs
of condemnation proceedings, compensation, and the like, the costs
of these blocks range from less than $6 up to $14 a square foot. With
land costing $6 a square foot it is estimated that the various types
of tenements could be erected to rent at from $9.25 to $12.29 per
room per month, the bathroom not being counted as a room in fixing
the rent. With land at $14 a square foot, the range of rentals would
be from $12.09 to $16.91. Considerable reductions from these rents
might be made possible by letting the ground floors for stores.

IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION

193

Immigration Movement in 1926
HE immigration laws of the United States are administered by
the Bureau of Immigration of the United States Department of
Labor. Data regarding the immigration movement are com
piled monthly by the Bureau of Immigration and published cur
rently in the Labor Review of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The
annual reports of the Commissioner General of Immigration give
similar data in more expanded form and for a period of years. The
figures and text in this section are summarized from the abovementioned sources.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926, 304,488 immigrant and
191,618 nonimmigrant aliens were admitted, a total of 496,106.
Aliens who departed this year numbered 76,992 emigrants and 150,763
nonemigrants, a total of 227,755. The increase of admissions over
departures for the past year was 268,351, as compared to 232,945
for the previous fiscal year.
About three-fourths of the present-day immigrant aliens are in
the prime of life—16 to 44 years old. In the fiscal year 1925-26 only
16 per cent were under 16 years of age and less than 10 per cent 45
years and over. While the immigrant aliens coming (luring this
period numbered 170,567 males and 133,921 females, the present out
ward movement of emigrant aliens is very largely one of males,
the men exceeding the women by nearly 2y2 to 1 (54,989, as com
pared with only 22,003 females). Of the 76,992 emigrants departed
this year, about 75 per cent were from 16 to 44 years of age and 20
per cent were 45 years and over, while less than 5 per cent were
children under 16 years old. These data show that the outward
movement is essentially one of individuals rather than families, and
that the individuals are for the most part of the working age.
That the alien emigration movement from the United States during
the year considered was composed for the most part of recent
immigrants is shown by the fact that of the 76,992 leaving, 66 per
cent, or 50,701, of the total reporting length of residence had been
here not over five years, and 77 per cent, or 59,046, had resided here
not over 10 years. Common laborers predominate among the out
going aliens. Fifty-eight per cent, or 33,107, of the total emigrants
leaving the country during the fiscal year 1926 and reporting occupa
tions, were of this class. Skilled workers, numbering 9,680, rank
second among those having an occupational status, and servants,
4,446, are third in number.
Less than one-third of the 496,106 aliens admitted during the
fiscal year 1926 were immigrants charged to the quota under the
immigration act of 1924. The number so charged was 157,432, or
about 95 per cent of the annual quota of 164,667, an increase over the
previous year when 145,971 quota immigrants, or 89 per cent of the
annual quota were admitted. With few exceptions most of the

195

196

im m ig r a t io n a n d e m ig r a t io n

European countries exhausted their quotas during the past year,
but those with the largest quotas did not reach their maximum
until the latter part of June.
Natives of nonquota countries, principally Canada and Mexico,
admitted during the fiscal year 1925-26 numbered 150,299; returning
residents of the United States, 83,754; visitors on business or pleasure,
56,614; and persons passing through the country, 25,574. Other
classes admitted this year included 5,666 Government officials, their
families, attendants, servants, and employees; 11,154 wives and
children of United States citizens; 1,920 students; 1,551 ministers
and professors and their wives and children; 1,155 wives and children
(born in quota countries) of natives of nonquota countries; and 904
aliens to carry on trade under existing treaty. There were also
admitted during the past fiscal year 83 veterans of the World War
and their wives and children, 67 of these being natives of Italy, 7 of
England, 3 of France, 2 of Russia, and 1 each of Canada, Poland,
Germany, and Syria.
Of the 496,106 aliens admitted in the fiscal year 1925-26, 289,589
were bom in European countries, Germany leading the list from
that continent with 62,980 and followed by England with 37,175,
Irish Free State with 32,737, Italy with 31,739, and Scotland with
23,100, the other countries in Europe sending less than 20,000 each.
Natives of Canada numbered 91,894; Mexico, 60,620; other America,
30,297; Asia, 18,284; Africa, 1,025; and Australia and the Pacific
islands, 4,397.
Mexican Immigration
'T'H E total Mexican immigration to the United States during the
**• fiscal year ending June 30, 1926, was 59,785, comprising 42,638
immigrant aliens, or newcomers for permanent residence in this
country, and 17,147 nonimmigrants, aliens of the temporary class,
either coming for a visit of less than a year or returning after a
short absence from the United States. During the same period, 5,337
Mexican aliens left the United States, practically all going to Mexico,
3,158 being of the emigrant class and 2,179 of the nonemigrant class.
The net increase contributed by Mexico to the alien population of
the United States in the year just ended was 54,448, This is 9,430
more than for the preceding fiscal year when the excess of the Mexi
can aliens admitted over departed was 45,018.
While the real immigration of Mexicans—immigrant aliens—dur
ing the last fiscal year exceeded that of the preceding fiscal year by
10,260, or nearly 32 per cent, it was less than one-half the number of
the same class admitted in the fiscal year 1924 and about two-thirds
of that for the year 1923. The number of Mexican immigrant aliens
admitted during these four years was 42,638 in 1926, 32,378 in 1925,
87,648 in 1924, and 62,709 in 1923.
The fundamental reason for the flow of Mexican immigrants to
the United States is the same one which for nearly a century has
attracted European aliens to our country—higher wages, better
living conditions, and greater opportunity. The immigration act of
1924 has curtailed the supply of common laborers, thereby increas
ing the demand, and the Mexican laborer, favored by the nonquota
provisions of the act, is profiting by the situation thus created. An

IMMIGRATION MOVEMENT IN 1926

197

other potent factor inducing Mexican immigration is the proximity
of the United States, a circumstance which makes for an especially
large movement from the border States of Mexico to the United
States.
The immigration statistics also show that approximately twothirds of the Mexican immigrants admitted during the past year
were over 21 years of age, and that more than four-fifths of these
were males. The ratio of all minors and adult females to adult
•males is approximately 4 to 5. Only one person out of every four
was going to join his immediate family or other relatives already
established in the United States, and in addition the male married
were over three times the number of female married. These facts
indicate that many of the Mexican wage earners are coming alone,
leaving their families in Mexico.
Of the 42,638 Mexican immigrant aliens admitted in the year
1925-26, the unskilled workers predominate; 26,199 being classed as
common laborers, 367 as farm laborers, and 564 as servants. The
professional class numbered only 408, while 2,785 were skilled, 840
miscellaneous; and 11,475 had no occupation, including women and
children. As to the sex, age, and conjugal condition of these Mexican
immigrants, 33,304 were male and 9,334 female; 4,856 were under 16
years of age; 9,694 were from 16 to 21 years old, and 28,088 were
adults. The male single numbered 17,974 and the female single
4,326; the male married, 14,828, and the female married, 3,948; the
male widowed, 497, and female 1,049. There were 5 male and 11
female divorced.
The 59,785 Mexicans recorded in the immigration statistics as
admitted during the past fiscal year do not by any means represent
the alien movement over the southern land border, as during the
year 6,300,000, in round numbers, or an average of over one-half
million aliens a month, went back and forth over the Mexican border.
The census repbrt shows that in 1890 the foreign-born population
of the United States included 77,853 persons born in Mexico. Based
on this figure, at 2 per cent the annual quota for Mexico would be
1,557, if Mexico were to be limited by quota as European countries
are under the present law.
During the fiscal year 1926 a total of 60,620 natives of Mexico was
admitted to the United States. Practically all (98 per cent) of these
were Mexicans. Approximately 96 per cent of this total were ad
mitted as nonquota immigrants under section 4(c) (natives of
Mexico).
A total of 1,480 (915 male and 565 female) aliens of the Mexican
race was debarred from entering the United States. The principal
causes for these rejections were: Without immigration visa (726),
likely to become a public charge (395), mentally or physically defec
tive (131), unable to read (86), and criminal and immoral classes
(63). In the same year, the number of Mexican aliens deported from
the United States after entering was 2,567.
According to the Fourteenth Census of the United States the
number of persons born in Mexico, who resided in the United States
in 1920, was 486,418. Since then the net increase of Mexicans through
immigration was 369,480, making a grand total of 855,898 Mexicans
38690°— 27------ 14

198

IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION

now in the United States. In view of the very considerable number
of Mexican aliens presumed to be illegally in this country, it is safe to
say that over a million Mexicans are in the United States at the
present time and, under present laws, this number may be added to
practically without limit.
Oriental Immigration
'“THE number of Japanese aliens admitted for the year 1926 was
* 5,778. While this figure is greater than the number of Japanese
entering the country in the year 1925, there were 84 fewer newcomers
for permanent residence, or immigrant aliens, than were admitted in
the previous year. The excess admissions of this race during the
past year over the preceding one were largely returning residents,
3,254 Japanese of this class having been admitted in 1926 compared
with 2,010 in 1925.
Aliens of the classes “ ineligible to citizenship ” admitted during
the fiscal year ended June 30, 1926, are shown by classes under the
immigration act of 1924, as follows:
T a b l e 1 .—A L IE N S IN E L IG IB L E T O C IT IZ E N S H IP A D M I T T E D U N D E R T H E IM M I G R A

T IO N A C T OF 1924, B Y CLASSES, Y E A R E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1926

Class

Chinese

East
Indian

Japanese

Korean

Pacific
Islander

Government officials, their families, attendants,
servants, and employees. ________________________
Tem porary visitors - ___ _________________________
In continuous passage through the United States----T o carry on trade under existing treaty_____________

120
393
5,583
424

16
142
8

516
952
656
221

Total nonim m igrants________________________

6,520

166

2,345

Residents of the United States returning from a visit
abroad______________________________________ ____
Ministers and professors and their wives and children.
Students______________________________________ ____

1,757
18
327

21
2
53

3,254
72
107

21
2
45

Total nonquota immigrants__________________

2,102

3,433

Grand total admitted__________________ ______

8,622

242

5,778

1
44
1

With special reference to Chinese cases the situation has some
what clarified during the past year. During the fiscal year 1925-26
there was admitted to the United States a total of 8,622 Chinese
aliens, as against a total of 9,551 admitted during the fiscal year
1924r-25. These figures include 5,583 persons passing through the
country, 393 temporary visitors, and 1,757 resident Chinese returning
from temporary visits abroad during the year 1926, as against 6,336
persons passing through, 422 temporary visitors, and 1,975 returning
resident Chinese, during the year 1925.
The largest class of Chinese admitted to this country consists of
citizens of the United States, 2,396 having been admitted in the
fiscal year 1925-26 as against 3,023 in 1925. This is a surprising con
dition, in view of the fact that Chinese can not be naturalized and
the number of Chinese women in this country is small, so that it is
physically impossible for any considerable number of Chinese to
have been born here.

199

IMMIGRATION MOVEMENT IN’ 1926

Although it is probable that many Chinese succeed in gaining ad
mission on fraudulent claims, the Chinese population of the United
States is decreasing and the number who secure admission is neg
ligible compared to the number who would undoubtedly arrive if
the present restrictions were removed. The smuggling of Chinese
over the land boundaries, which was a vexatious problem in the
past, has been greatly reduced through the vigorous and effective
campaign of the border patrol.
The problem now presented is the detection of the fraudulent
cases among the applicants for admission at the ports of entry. In
the cases of sons of citizens and the minor children of merchants,
the question of relationship may be determined only through long,
involved examinations covering family history, relationship, village
life, and other matters which should be of common knowledge to
the applicant and his witnesses.
Immigration and Emigration, by Months
TTABLE 2 shows the inward and outward passenger movement by
*
months for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926, and also for
the last six months of 1926.
In considering this and later tables it is important to note the
distinction between the terms “ immigrant ” and “ nonimmigrant ”
and similarly between “ emigrant ” and “ nonemigrant.” In general
the term immigrant refers to persons who come to the United States
with the declared intention of staying here a year or more. When
such persons later leave the United States without having become
naturalized citizens they are classed as “ emigrant” aliens departed.
The terms nonimmigrant and nonemigrant refer to persons who come
to the United States for business, education, or other purposes, but
who do not intend becoming permanent residents. Practically all
discussion of immigration as a “ problem 55 and of restrictive legisla
tion on the subject, is concerned with the “ immigrant ” alien.
T a b l e S .—-IN W A R D

AND

O U T W A R D PA S S E N G E R M O V E M E N T , J U L Y
D E C E M B E R 31, 1926

Inward

Period

1925
July....................
August..............
September........
October.............
N ovem ber........
Decem ber.........

1, 1925,

Outward

Aliens
Aliens
de
de
Aliens admitted
Aliens departed
United
United
barred
ported
States
States
from
after
citi
citi Total land
enter
zens Total in g 1
N on
zens
ing a
Em i N on
Immi immi Total
ar
emi Total
de
grant
grant grant
rived
parted
grant

18,590
22,421
26,721
28,685
26,642
21,089

14,177
17,052
23,081
19,427
14,860
11,216

32,767
39,473
49,802
48,112
41,502
32,305

26,326 59,093
49,922 89,395
68,500 118,302
35,413 83,525
23,118 64,620
18,027 50,332

2,000
1,774
1,429
1,965
1,951
1,932

8,784
7,539
7,200
7,674
6,555
8,840

17,715
12,978
12,485
13,264
11,915
12,663

26,499
20,517
19,685
20,938
18,470
21,503

66,136
37,185
24,369
24,227
18,039
19,274

§2,635
57,702
44,054
45,165
36,509
40,777

919
940
855
909
835
595

*These aliens are not included among arrivals, as they were not permitted to enter the United States.
*These aliens are included among aliens deported, they having entered the United States, legally or
illegally, and later being deported.

200
T

IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION
2 .—I N W A R D

able

AND

O U TW A RD PASSENGER M O VE M E N T,
D E C E M B E R 31, 1926— Continued

JU LY

1925,

Outward

Inward

Aliens
Aliens
de
! de
Aliens departed
Aliens admitted
United
United
barred
ported
States
States
from
after
citi
citi
enter
land
N on
zens Total
zens Total
N on
ing
ing
Emi emi
Im m i immi
ar
de
Total
Total
grant
grant grant
parted
grant
rived

Period

1926
January.......
February_____
M arch________
April__________
M a y ......... ........
June............... .

19,072
20,041
29,504
33,400
33,533
24,790

10,661
10,632
15,182
17,557
19,244
18,529

29,733
30,673
44,686
50,957
52, 777
43,319

19,695
23,687
29,987
28,931
22,719
24,432

49,428
54.360
74,673
79,888
75,496
67,751

1,662
1,453
1,404
1,470
1,731
1,779

5,286 9,795 15,081
3,232 8,451 11,683
3,457 8,982 12,439
4,989 10,780 15, 769
5,861 13,660 19, 521
7,575 18,075 25,650

25,987
29,108
25,215
26,312
28,'913
47,715

41,068
40,791
37,654
42,081
48,434
73,365

532
342
938
1,052
1,063
1,924

Total, fis
cal year
304,488 191,618 496,106 370, 757 866, 863 20, 550 76,992 150,763 227,755 372,480 600,235 10,904
1926.
1926
July...................
A ugu st.............
September........
O ctob er,...........
N ovem ber........
December.........

85,245
65,034
49,294
37,330
37,929
45,964

816
1,121
885
1,100
1,085
1,241

T otal___ 175,955 112,290 288,245 222,729 510,974 10,358 42,779 93,528 136,307 184,489 320,796

6,248

22,283
29,286
35,297
34,528
30,756
23,805

16,096
20,467
25,680
22,059
16,185
11,803

38,379
49,753
60,977
56,587
46,941
35,608

25,981 64, 360
52,683 102, 436
71,268 132,245
34,176 90,763
21,844 68, 785
16, 777 52,385

1,746
1,601
1,817
1,566
1,713
1,915

7,052
7.376
6,634
5.377
6,859
9,481

17,970
15,410
16,392
13,803
13,078
16,875

25,022
22,786
23,026
19,180
19,937
26,356

60,223
42,248
26,268
18,150
17,992
19,608

Country of Birth, Race, Sex, and Age of Immigrants and
Emigrants, 1926
TTABLE 3 gives the net increase or decrease of population by
A admission and departure of aliens, for the fiscal year 1925-26,
according to race or people, sex, and age periods. Table 4 gives
similar information, by country of last residence in the case of
immigrants and of future residence in the case of emigrants.
T

3 — N E T IN C R E A S E O R D E C R E A S E OF P O P U L A T IO N B Y A D M IS S IO N A N D D E
P A R T U R E OF A L IE N S , F IS C A L Y E A R E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1926, B Y R A C E O R P E O P L E .
S E X , A N D A G E P E R IO D

able

Admitted

Departed

Race or people
Immi
grant
African (black)..................................... .
Arm enian.......................... .............. ........
Bohemian and M oravian_______ ____
Bulgarian, Serbian, and Montenegrin.
Chinese______________________________
Croatian and Slovenian......... ............ .
Cuban___________ __________________
Dalmatian, Bosnian, and Herzegovinian—................. ...............................
D utch and Flemish_________________
East Indian_____ ___________________
English_____________ _____ _________ _
Finnish ............ .
French_______ __________________ ____
German...................... .............................
Greek.......... .......................................... .
H ebrew ......................................................

Nonim
migrant

Total

Em i
grant

Nonemi
grant

Total

Increase
(4-) or
decrease
(-)

894
741
2,494
532
1,375
692
1,476

2,491
293
1,636
837
7,247
995
7,511

3,385
1,034
4,130
1,369
8,622
1,687
8,987

865
90
1,468
1,681
2,873
592
1,287

1,871
159
1,598
1,069
6,142
180
7,980

2,736
249
3,066
2,750
9,015
772
9,267

+649
+785
+1,064
-1 ,3 8 1
-393
+915
-2 8 0

75
3,156
50
44,206
674
22,237
58,675
1,385
10,267
42,475

200
3,660
192
37,357
1,099
8,860
15,741
2,852
3,622
6,786

275
6,816
242
81,563
1,773
31,097
74,416
4,237
13,889
49,261

545
993
69
6,935
560
1,277
4,509
5,188
341
1,225

676
3,682
45
40,011
1,752
7,527
12,377
1,457
925
4,328

1,221
4,675
114
46,946
2,312
8,804
16,886
6,645
1,266
5,553

-9 4 6
+2,141
+128
+34,617
-5 39
+22,293
+57,530
-2 ,4 0 8
+12,623
+43,708

IMMIGRATION MOVEMENT IN 1926
T

201

3 . — N E T IN C R E A S E O R D E C R E A S E OF P O P U L A T IO N B Y A D M IS S IO N A N D D E
P A R T U R E OF A L IE N S , F IS C A L Y E A R E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1926, B Y R A C E O R P E O P L E *
S E X , A N D A G E P E R IO D — Continued

able

A dmitted
Race or people

Italian (north)____ ________ ____ ____
Italian (south)_______________________
Japanese
_____________________

Increase
( + ) or
decrease
(-)

Total

Emi
grant

4,355
20,351
5,180
30
369
1,345
17,147
48
2,109
2,781
520
1,411
283

5,841
28,239
5,778
82
762
2,421
59,785
50
5,284
3,574
839
2,349
788

3,036
16,968
1,201
27
439
1,063
3,158
1
2,823
2,989
1,302
581
65

3,344
10,361
9,190
55
479
891
2,179
35
2,268
1,761
857
950
178

6,380
27,329
10,391
82
918
1,954
5,337
36
5,091
4,750
2,159
1,531
243

-1 56
+467
+54,448
+14
+193
-1 ,1 7 6
-1 ,3 2 0
+818
+545

9,456
10,158
209
6,065
4,541
805
141
709
1,501
725

28,874
37,456
743
6,764
7,060
1,293
238
2,123
1,874
1,106

4,188
1,912
850
2,972
1,404
260
201
76
660
318

8,942
5,693
519
4,111
3,988
435
123
290
1,863
472

13,130
7,605
1,369
7,083
5,392
695
324
366
2,523
790

+15,744
+29,851
-6 26
-3 19
+1,668
+598
-8 6
+1,757
-649
+316

191, 618

496,106

76,992

150, 763

227,755

+268,351

170,567
133,921

122,249
69,369

292,816
203,290

54,989
22,003

93,430
57,333

148,419
79,336

+144,397
+123,954

47,347
228,527
28,614

10,651
137,139
43,828

57,998
365, 666
72,442

3,347
57,986
15,659

8,789
110,750
31,224

12,136
168,736
46,883

+45,862
+196,930
+25,559

Im m i Nonim
grant migrant
1,486
7,888
598
52
393
1,076
42,638
2
3,175
793
319
938
505

Lithuanian
. ____ _ _ _
M agyar_____________________________
Mexican .............. .....
Pacific Islander______________________
Polish_____ _____ ___________________
Portuguese__________________________
Rumanian
Russian_____________________________
Ruthenian (Russniak)_______________
Scandinavian (Norwegians, Danes,
and Swedes)_______________________ 19,418
27,298
Scotch____ ___________ ______________
534
Slovak............................................... .......
699
Spanish......................................... ............
2,519
Spanish American___________________
Syrian. ......................................................
488
97
Turkish.....................................................
1,414
W elsh............... ............ ...........................
373
West Indian (except Cuban)_________
Other peoples________________________.
381
Total.............................................. 304,488
Sex
M ale________________________________
Female______________________________

Departed
Nonemi
grant

Total

-5 39
+910
-4 ,6 1 3

Age
Under 16 years______________________
16 to 44 years_______ ________________
45 years and over____________________

able

4 .— NET

IN C R E A S E OR D E C R E A S E OF P O P U L A T IO N B Y A D M IS S IO N A N D D E
P A R T U R E OF A L IE N S , F IS C A L Y E A R E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1926, B Y C O U N T R Y

Aliens admitted
Country of last or intended future
permanent residence

A lbania. ...................................................
Austria...............................................>.......
Belgium....................................................
Bulgaria.....................................................
Czechoslovakia........................................
Danzig, Free City of..............................
Denmark...................................................
Estonia......................................................
Finland.....................................................
France, including Corsica......................
Germany...................................................
Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
England.............................................
Northern Ireland.............................
Scotland............................................
W a le s ...............................................
Greece........................................................
Hungary...................................................
Irish Free State..... ..................................
Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia—
Latvia........................................................
Lithuania..................................................
Luxemburg...............................................

Aliens departed

Total

10
559
537
34
344
23
605
26
148
3,850
5,096

168
1,661
1,255
209
3,297
233
3,154
158
639
8,031
55,517

314
487
491
88
2,301
1
691
15
519
•1,011
3,908

15
298
463
22
645
' 1
625
15
203
2,467
5,264

329
785
954
110
2,946
2
1,316
30
722
3,478
9,172

-161
+876
+301
+99
+351
+231
+1,838
+128
-8 3
+4,553
+46,345

13,342
132
1,921
298
183
234
822
2,451
32
87
33

23,941
551
15,582
1,566
1,304
1,140
25,300
10,704
330
723
160

4,921
208
1,332
37
5,164
871
851
19,980
58
408
7

12,929
160
1,255
91
317
217
658
3,042
32
89
31

17,850
368
2,587
128
5,481
1,088
1,509
23,022
90
497
38

+6,091
+183
+12,995
+1,438
-4,177
+52
+23,791
-12,318
+240
+226
+122

Im m i
grant

Nonim
migrant

158
1,102
718
175
2,953
210
2,549
132
491
4,181
50,421
10,599
419
13,661
1,268
1,121
906
24,478
8,253
298
636
127

Nonem i
grant

Increase
( + ) or
decrease
(-)

Emi
grant

Total

IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION

202

T a b l e 4 .—N E T IN C R E A S E O R D E C R E A S E O F P O P U L A T IO N B Y A D M IS S IO N A N D D E

P A R T U R E OF A L IE N S , F IS C A L Y E A R E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1926, B Y C O U N T R Y — Con.

Aliens admitted
C ountry of last or intended future
permanent residence

Aliens departed

Increase
( + ) or
decrease
(-)

Im m i
grant

N onim
migrant

1,753
5,756
7,126

1,014
1,283
366

2,767
7,039
7,492

379
2,087
2,881

851
1,006
433

1,230
3,093
3,314

+1,537
+3,946
+4,178

666
1,211
1,766

131
124
313

797
1,335
2,079

2,926
1,404
181

965
200
233

3,891
1,604
414

—3,094
-269
+1,665

326
8,513
1,994
210
1,059
326

790
896
831
42
286
47

1,116
9,409
2,825
252
1,345
373

2,465
1,150
486
30
2,342
46

844
871
601
9
240
24

3,309
2,021
1,087
39
2,582
70

-2,193
+7,388
+1,738
+213
-1,237
+303

Total Europe....................

155,562

36,890

192,452

60,040

35,116

95,156

+97,296

Armenia.......................................
China...........................................
India.............................................
J ap a n ...........................................
Palestine..................................... .
Persia.......................................... .
Syria............................................ .
Turkey in Asia.......................... .
Other Asia 2_...............................

16
1,751
93
654
250
56
429
21
143

5
4,281
351
1,911
103
18
104
8
180

21
6,032
444
2,565
353
74
533
29
323

43
2,989
113
1,208
173
27
208
126
44

9
3,488
196
1,733
111
26
62
48
79

52
6,477
309
2,941
284
53
270
174
123

-3 1
-4 45
+135
-3 76
+69
+21
+263
-1 45
+200

Netherlands................................
N orw ay.......................................
Poland..........................................
Portugal, including Azores, Cape
Verde, and Madeira Islands
Rumania......................................
Russia........................................................
Spain, including Canary and Balearic
Islands......................................
Sweden........................................
Switzerland-..............................
Turkey in Europe......................
Yugoslavia...................................
Other E urop el_.........................

Total

E m i
grant

N onem i
grant

T otal

Total Asia............. ...........

3,413

6,961

10,374

4,931

5,752

10,683

-3 0 9

Canada.........................................
Newfoundland- ........................ .
M exico.................... - ------- -------Cuba.............................................
Other West Indies.................... .
British Honduras.......................
Other Central America_______
Brazil............... ...........................
Other South America................
United States3_______________
Other A m erica4.........................

91,019
2,349
43,316
2,821
941
39
1,335
877
2,230

107,654
2,726
47,906
12,788
4,953
156
3,474
1,378
5,793
100,413
27

2,173
283
3,198
1,922
1,917
45
521
210
1,215

16,635
377
4,590
10,507
4,012
117
2,139
501
3,563
100,413
21

17,458
466
3,104
12,619
3,587
98
1,854
412
2,904
63,378
2

19,631
749
6,302
14,541
5,504
143
2,375
622
4,119
63,378
3

+88,023
+1,977
+41,604
-1 ,7 5 3
-551
+13
+1,099
+756
+1,674
+37,035
* +24

Total America..................

144,393

142,875

287,268

11,485

105,882

117,367

+169,901

314
315

107
501

321
816

38
88

41
183

79
271

+242
+545

376

2,936

3,312

257

2,069

2,866

+446

180
35

1,167
181

1,347
216

134
19

1,102
78

1,236
97

+111
+119

304,488

191,618

496,106

76,992

150,763

E gypt.......................................... .
Other Africa............................... .
Australia, including Papua, Tasmania, and appertaining islands___
N ew Zealand, including appertaining
islands.......................................
Other Pacific islands6...............
All countries.....................

227,755 "+268,351

* Comprises Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Diechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, and San Marino.
2 Includes Afghanistan, Arabia, Bhutan, Iraq (Mesopotamia), Muscat, Nepal, Siam, Siberia, and “ Asia,
not specified.”
3 “ United States” under nonimmigrants covers aliens returning to this country to resume residence
therein after a temporary stay abroad; and under nonemigrants covers aliens departing for a visit abroad
with the intention of returning within one year to renew permanent residence in this country.
« Comprises Greenland and the islands of St. Pierre and M iquelon.
* Comprises Nauru, N ew Guinea,*Samoa, Y ap, and “ Pacific islands, not specified,”

203

IMMIGRATION MOVEMENT IN 1920

Occupations of Immigrants and Emigrants, 1926
'ABLE 5 gives in detail the occupations of aliens admitted and
departed in the fiscal year 1925-26.
T

able

5 .—

O C C U P A T IO N S OF A L IE N S A D M I T T E D A N D D E P A R T E D , F IS C A L Y E A R
E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1926, B Y CLASS
Adm itted
Occupation

Im m i
grant

A ctors___________________________________
Architects_______________________________
Clergy_____ _____ __ ____ _______________
E d ito rs._______________ _________________
Electricians______________________________
Engineers (professional) ............. .... ....
Lawyers_________________________________
Literary find scientific parsons___________
Musicians
....................... .... . .
^.
Officials (Government)
Physicians_______________________________
Sculptors and artists_____________________
Teachers_________ _______________________
________________________
Other
Total professional__________________

N onim
migrant

1,666
150
497
378
2,170
976
102
55
428
1,442
3,723
2,166
741
157
321
1,171
888
560
3,073
385
1,132
487
581 »
151
1,994
2,373
1,639
1,930
professional
10,861

20,475

737
Bakers___________________________________
1,357
709
1,039
Barbers and hairdressers.... .........................
339
799
Blacksm iths__
109
25
Bookbinders_____________________________
34
17
Brewers
____________________________
429
1,002
Butchers_________________________________
84
191
Cabinetmakers_________ _________________
2,493
4,943
Carpenters and joiners_______ ___________
11
30
Cigarette makers_________________________
608
160
Cigar makers____________________________
44
18
Cigar packers. __________________________
6,481
17,272
Clerks and accountants__________________
631
1,836
_____________________________
Dressmakers
Engineers (locomotive, marine, and sta
1,068
530
tionary)________________________________
152
126
Furriers and fur workers_____________ ____
584
360
Gardeners
_ _______________ __________
73
43
Hat and cap makers ___________________
511
1,469
Iron and steel workers___________________
164
219
Jewelers
__ ___________________________
148
2,019
Locksmiths______________________________
984
2,038
M ach in ists______________________________
2,411
983
Mariners_________________________________
1,267
1,285
Masons
____________________________
3,514
1,315
Mechanics (not specified)________________
Metal workers (other than iron, steel, and
432
142
tin )____________ _____ _________________
198
47
Millers _ __ _____ _____________________
135
375
Milliners ______________________________
2,102
1,330
Miners
________________________
_____________________
Painters1,506
and glaziers729
35
100
Pattern makers__________________________
169
123
Photographers _________________________
131
255
Plasterers
________________________
194
624
Plumbers
_ ______________________
240
690
Printers
__
________________________
45
152
Saddlers and harness makers_____________
843
285
Seamstresses. ____________________________
981
837
Shoemakers
_
___________________
414
215
Stokers
______________________________
119
170
Stonecutters
_ _____________________
1,553
890
T a ilo rs____ _________ _______ ___________
53
36
Tanners and curriers ________________
272
100
Textile workers (not specified)___________
224
49
Tinners.
_______________
31
20
Tobacco workers
__ _____________
42
110
Upholsterers
_
. _________________
73
163
W atch and clock makers_________________
949
312
Weavers and spinners____________________
2
17
Wheelwrights
_ _____________________
27
140
Woodworkers (not specified)_____________
1,182
2,130
Other skilled____________ ________________
Total skilled.... ......................... ..........

56,827

27,827

Departed
Total

E m i
grant

Nonem i
grant

Total

1,816
875
3,146
157
1,870
5,889
898
1,492
1,448
3,458
1,619
732
4,367
3,569

190
86
286
’ 10
117
93
71
83
103
113
156
90
235
187

756
301
1,177
68
231
641
608
612
462
1,037
1,061
292
1,410
747

946
387
1,463
78
348
734
679
695
565
1,150
1,217
382
1,645
934

31,336

1,820

9,403

11,223

289
274
99
14

681
575
224
32
3
367
186
2,536
8
801
13
5,556
456

1,748
1,138
134
51
1,431
275
7,436
41
768
62
23,753
2,467

170
74
1,118
4
311
1
1,326
175

392
301
125
18
3
197
112
1,418
4
490
12
4,230
281

1,598
278
944
116
1,980
383
2,167
3,022
3,394
2,552
4,829

355
67
115
5
120
46
6
557
568
261
458

1,955
97
200
4
192
85
9
901
1,549
465
687

2,310
164
315
9
312
131
15
1,458
2,117
726
1,145

574
245
510
3,432
2,235
135
292
386
818
930
197
1,128
1,818
629
289
2,443
89
372
273
51
152
236
1,261
19
167
3,312

58
105
46
855
282
14
32
34
49
55
3
89
348
66
47
412
1
155
24
1
33
16
248
5
23
266

77
88
83
859
454
22
75
85
126
115
10
129
218
118
55
403
9
100
31
3
38
32
246
3
53
402

135
193
129
1,714
736
36
107
119
175
170
13
218
566
184
102
815
10
255
55
4
71
48
494
8
76
668

84,654

9,680

17,561

27,241

204

IMMIGRATION

a n d e m ig r a t io n

T a b l e 5 .—O C C U P A T IO N S O F A L IE N S A D M I T T E D A N D

D E P A R T E D , F IS C A L Y E A R
E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1926, B Y C LASS—Continued

Admitted

Departed

Occupation
Im mi
grant

Bankers...........................................................
Draymen, hackmen, and teamsters............
Farmers................. ........... .......... .......... ........
Farm laborers......... . ................. ....................
Fishermen........ ......... .....................................
Hotel keepers_____ . _____________________
Laborers_______ _________________________
Manufacturers___________ ___________ ___
Merchants and dealers................................
Servants........ ..................... . ...........................
Other miscellaneous.................. . ................. .

1,814
143
479
9,720
17,390
1,072
143
43,543
205
3,490
30,587
13,301

Total miscellaneous............................

121,893

Nonim
migrant

Total

24,174
1,436
17,554
12,007
14,127

4,954
1,240
619
14,482
21,851
1,451
626
67,717
1,641
21,050
42,594
27,428

83,760

3,140
1,097
140
4,762
4,461
379

4a3

E m i
grant

Nonem i
grant

Total

33,107
62
1,996
4,446
3,765

1,204
935
95
3,070
509
302
111
21,182
889
15,617
8,294
17,948

1,324
1,036
103
4,451
640
492
133
54,289
951
17,613
12, 740
21,713

205,653

45,329

70,156

115,485

120
101
8
1,381
131
190

N o occupation (including women and
children)____ . . ________ _____________ _

114,907

174,463

20,163

53,643

73,806

All occupations------- ----------------------

304,488

496,106

76,992

150,763

227, 755

Immigration Quotas of 1924 and Number of Aliens Admitted
Thereunder
T JNDER the immigration act of 1924, the total immigration of
^ aliens from quota countries is limited to 164,667. Tables 6 and 7
show the quota allotments by individual countries and also the num
ber admitted from each country in the fiscal years 1924-25 and 192526, respectively.
T a b l e 6 — I M M IG R A T IO N Q U O T AS A C C O R D IN G T O N A T IO N A L IT Y P R O C L A IM E D IN

P U R S U A N C E OF T H E IM M IG R A T IO N A C T OF 1924, A N D N U M B E R OF A L IE N S
A D M I T T E D A N D C H A R G E D A G A IN S T SUCH Q U O T AS, F IS C A L Y E A R S E N D IN G
JU N E 30, 1925 A N D 1926

N um ber admitted
Country or area

Albania.....................
Arabian Peninsula __
Arm enia___________
Australia, including
Papua, Tasmania,
and islands apper
taining to Aus
tralia.....................
A ustria. ........... ........
Belgium ___________
Bulgaiia___________
Cameroon (French).
China.........................
Czechoslovakia____
Danzig, Free City of
Denm ark........ ..........
E gy p t. ............. .........
Estonia____________
F i n l a n d - ...............
France........... ...........
Germ any. .............
Great Britain and
Northern Ireland..
Greece...... ............ . . .
Hungary........- ..........
Iceland. .....................
India...........................

Annual
quota

Fiscal
year
1925

Fiscal
year
1926

100
100
124

67
1
47

88
1
68

121
785
512
100
100
100
3,073
228
2,789
100
124
471
3,954
51,227

118
761
505
89
99
2,556
212
2,523
77
113
466
3,481
45,760

103
763
503
97
3
96
3,159
223
2,712
98
116
468
3,836
51,032

34,007
100
473
100
100

30,461
95
357
64
58

31,186
98
471
61
98

N um ber admitted
Country or area

Iraq (Mesopotamia)
Irish Free State........
I t a ly , in c lu d in g
Rhodes, Dodekanesia, and Castellorizzo.....................
Japan.........................
Latvia....................
Liberia....... ...............
Liechtenstein............
Lithuania..................
Luxemburg...............
M onaco......................
M orocco.....................
Netherlands..............
New Zealand (in
cluding appertain
ing isla n d ).............
Norway____________
P a le s tin e (w ith
Trans-Jordan)___
Persia______________
Poland.......................
Portugal............ ......
Rum ania__________
Russia, European
and Asiatic............

Annual
quota

Fiscal
year
1925

Fiscal
year
1926

21
27,112

41
27,590

3,845
100
142
100
100
344
100
100
100
1,648

2,662
5
127
12
332
98
3
15
1,500

3,808
20
137
6
20
341
95
6
17
1,640

100
6,453

94
6,118

99
6,291

100
100
5,982
503
603

61
76
4,873
474
595

93
97
6,386
493
601

2,248 !

2,141

2,158

100
28,567

205

IMMIGRATION INTO UNITED STATES
T

6 . — I M M I G R A T I O N Q U O T A S A C C O R D IN G T O N A T I O N A L I T Y P R O C L A I M E D IN
P U R S U A N C E O F T H E I M M I G R A T I O N A C T O F 1924, A N D N U M B E R O F A L IE N S
A D M I T T E D A N D C H A R G E D A G A IN S T S U C H Q U O T A S , F IS C A L Y E A R S E N D IN G
JU N E 30, 1925 A N D 1926—Continued

able

N um ber admitted
Annual
quota
»

Country or area

Samoa, western____
San M arino________
South Africa, Union
o f.... ................. .
Southwest Africa___
Sweden.................... .
Switzerland...............

Fiscal
year
1925

Fiscal
year
1926

100
100

4
18

100
100
131
9,561
2,081

94
1
127
8,961
1,869

83
2
126
9,233
1,910

N um ber admitted
Conntry or area

Annual
quota

Fiscal
year
1925

Fiscal
year
1926

Syria and the Leba
non ______ _______
T u r k e y ................ .
Yugoslavia....... ........
All others *................

100
100
671
1,500

83
96
489

96
86
589

T otal................

164,667

145,971

157,432

1 Includes Afghanistan, Andorra, Bhutan, Cameroon (British), Ethiopia (Abyssinia), Muscat (Oman),
Nauru (British), N epal, N ew Guinea, Ruanda and Urundi, Siam, Tanganyika (British), Togoland
(British), Togoland (French), and Y ap and other Pacific islands (under Japanese mandate), with an
annual quota of 100 each.
T

7 . — I M M IG R A T IO N Q U O T AS A L L O T T E D T O S P E C IF IE D A R E A S , A N D T H E N U M
B E R OF A L IE N S A D M I T T E D A N D C H A R G E D A G A IN S T SUCH Q U O T A A L L O T M E N T S ,
F IS C A L Y E A R S E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1925 A N D 1926

able

Aliens admitted

Annual quota

Per cent of allot
ment

Num ber

Area
Number
allotted

Per cent
of total

85.6
13.3

1925

1926

128,452
17,116

134,960
21,857

1925
91.1
78.3

1926
95.7
100.0

Northwestern Europe.....................................
Southern and eastern Europe and Asia___
Africa, Australia, and N ew Zealand and
other Pacific islands....................................

140,999
21,847
1,821

1.1

403

615

22.1

33.8

T otal................... ...................................

164, 667

100.0

145,971

157,432

88.8

95.6

Immigration into United States, 1820 to 1926
ECORDS of immigration into the United States began with the
year 1820. Table 1 shows the immigration, by periods, from 1820
to 1927, and by certain important geographical divisions and
countries. Over the whole period of 127 years the total immigra
tion was 36,598,204, of which approximately one-half came from
northern and western Europe. The great influx from southern and
eastern Europe came in the years 1901 and 1921, since which time the
immigration from southern and eastern Europe has been greatly
reduced.
Table 1, just referred to, deals solely with immigration. Cor
responding data for emigration and net increase of population is
not available for years earlier than 1908. Table 2 and the accom
panying chart gives this information, by years, from 1908 to 1926.

206
T

IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION

1 . — IM M I G R A T I O N T O T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S F R O M N O T H E R N A N D W E S T E R N
E U R O P E , S O U T H E R N A N D E A S T E R N E U R O P E , A SIA , C A N A D A , A N D N E W F O U N D
L A N D , M E X IC O , W E S T IN D IE S , A N D O T H E R C O U N T R IE S , B Y S P E C IF IE D P E R IO D S

able

N um ber from—

Period or year

Total
number
of immi
grants

Europe
Northern
and
western i

Southern
and
eastern 1

Asia
Total

Canada
and New »
found M exico
land 2

W est
Indies

4,818
6,599
3,271
3,078
2,191
5,162

Other
coun
tries 3

1820-1830
...
1831-1840
1841-1850______
1851-1860_____
1861-1870_____
1871-1880______

151,824
599,125
1,713,251
2,598,214
2,314,824
2,812,191

103,119
489,739
1,592,062
2,431,336
2,031,642
2,070,373

3,389
5,949
5,439
21,324
33,628
201,889

15
106,508
495,688
48
1,597,501
82
2,452,660 41,455
2,065,270 64,630
2,272, 262 123,823

2,486
13,624
41,723
59,309
153,878
383,640

3,998
12,301
13,528
10,660
9,046
13,957

33,999
70,865
57,146
31,052
19,809
13,347

1881-1890
1891-1900
1901-1910
1911-1915______
1916-1920-.,....

5,246,613
3,687,564
8,795,386
4,459,831
1,275,980

3,778,633
1,643,492
1,910,035
789,900
207,538

958,413
1,915,486
6,225,981
3,005,897
373,229

4,737,046 68,380
3,558,978 71,236
8,136,016 243,567
3, 795, 797 123,719
580,767 68,840

1,913 29,042
393,304
971 33,066
3,311
179,226 49,642 107,548
354,976 82,007 64,377
387,209 136,997 59,047

16,928
20,002
79,387
38,955
43,120

1921 ...................
1922..................
1 9 2 3 .................
1924_.................
1925_.................

805,228
309,556
522,919
706,896
294,314

138,551
79,437
156,429
203,346
125,248

513,813
136,948
151,491
160,993
23,118

652,364
216,385
307,920
364,339
148,366

25,034
14,263
13,705
22,065
3,578

72,317
46,810
117,011
200.690
102,753

30,758
19,551
63,768
89,336
32,964

13,774
7,449
13,181
17,559
2,106

10,981
5,098
7,334
12,907
4,547

Total___

2,638,913

703,011

986,363

1, 689,374

78,645

539,581 236,377

54,069

40,867

1926...................

304,488

126,437

29,125

155,562

3,413

3,222

5,607

G ran d
tota l... 36, 598,204 17,877,317 13,766,112 31, 643,429 887,853 2, 605,635 576,342 413,861

471,084

93,368

43,316

Per cent from—
Europe
Period or year
Northern Southern
and
and
western 1 eastern 1

Asia
Total

Canada
and N ew
found
land 2

Mexico

West
Indies

Other
coun
tries 3

1.6
2.8
4.4

1.6
2.2
2.4
2.3
6.6
13.6

3.2
1.1
.2
.1
.1
.2

2.6
2.1
.8
.4
.4
.5

22.4
11.8
3.3
1.2
.9
.5

90.3
96.5
92.5
85.1
45.6

1.3
1.9
2.8
2.8
5.4

7.5
.1
2.0
8.0
30.3

.6
1.8
10.7

.6
.9
1.2
1.4
4.6

.3
.6
.9
.9
3.4

63.8
44.2
29.0
22.8
7.9

81.0
69.9
58.9
51.6
50.5

3.1
4.6
2.6
3.1
1.2

9.0
15.1
22.4
28.4
34.9

3.8
6.3
12.2
12.6
11.2

1.7
2.4
2.5
2.5
.7

1.4
1.7
1.4
1.5
1.8

1820-1830............
1831-1840
1841-1850 ..........
1851-1860...........
1861-1870............
1871-1880............

68.0
81.8
93.0
93.6
87.8
73.6

2.2
1.0
.3
.8
1.4
7.2

70.2
82. 8
93.3
94.4
89.2
80.8

1881-1890............
1891-1900...........
1901-1910...........
1911-1915............
1916-1920............

72.0
44.6
21.7
17.7
16.3

18.3
51.9
70.8
67.4
29.3

1921.....................
1922.....................
1923.....................
1924.....................
1925.....................

17.2
25.7
29.9
28.8
42.6
26.6

37.4

64.0

3.0

20.5

8.9

2.1

1.5

1926.....................

41.5

9.6

51.1

1.1

30.7

14.2

1.1

1.8

G ran d
t o t a l ...

48.9

37.6

86.5

2.4

7.1

1.6

1.1

1.3

T ota l.

1 Northern and western Europe comprises Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxemburg in 1925
and 1926, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland,
Wales, and United Kingdom not specified). Southern and eastern Europe comprises the other countries
on that continent.
2 From 1820 to 1898 includes all British North American possessions,
3 Prior to 1925 includes countries not specified.

IMMIGRATION INTO UNITED STATES

207

NET INCREASE OF POPULATION
BY ADMISSION & DEPARTURE OF ALIENS.

208
T

IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION

able

2 .— N E T

IN C R E A S E OF P O P U L A T IO N , B Y A D M IS S IO N A N D D E P A R T U R E O P
A L IE N S , F IS C A L Y E A R S E N D IN G JU N E 30, 1908 T O 1926

Departed

Admitted
Period or year

Increase
Immigrant

Nonim
migrant

Total

Emigrant

Nonemi
grant

Total

______
..........................

782,870
751, 786
1,041,570

141,825
192,449
156,467

924,695
944,235
1,198,037

395.073
225,802
202,436

319,755
174, 590
177,982

714,828
400,392
380,418

209,867
543,843
817.619

191 1
.......................
1912_.................................
191 3
.......................
________
191 4
191 5
.....................
1916_ ..........................— .
191 7
________
191 8
191 9
192 0
_____

878,587
838,172
1,197,892
1,218,480
326,700
298,826
295,403
110,618
141,132
430,001

151, 713
178,983
229, 335
184,601
107,544
67,922
67, 474
101, 235
95, 889
191, 575

1,030,300
1,017,155
1,427,227
1,403,081
434,244
366,748
362,877
211, 853
237,021
621, 576

295,666
333,262
308,190
303,338
204.074
129,765
66,277
94,585
123,522
288,315

222,549
282,030
303, 734
330, 467
180,100
111, 042
80,102
98,683
92,709
139,747

518,215
615,292
611,924
633,805
384,174
240,807
146,379
193,268
216,231
428,062

512,085
401,863
815,303
769.276
50,070
125,941
216,498
18,585
20.790
193, 514

190 8
190 9
191 0

Total, 1911-1920.._

5, 735, 811

1, 376, 271

7,112,082

2,146, 994

1, 841,163

3,988,157

3,123,925

1921......... ........................
192 2
192 3
____ _____
192 4
_____ _______
1925 .
- .....................

805, 228
309,556
522,919
706,896
294, 314

172, 935
122,949
150,487
172,406
164,121

978,163
432, 505
673.406
879, 302
458, 435

247,718
198,712
81,450
76, 789
92,728

178,313
146,672
119,136
139,956
132,762

426,031
345, 384
200.586
216, 745
225,490

552,132
87,121
472,820
662, 557
232,945
2,007, 575

Total, 1921-1925...

2,638, 913

782, 898

3,421,811

697,397

716,839

1,414, 236

1926. ...............................

304,488

191,618

496,106

76,992

150,763

227, 755

268,351

Grand total..........

11,255,438

2, 841, 528

14,096, 966

3, 744,694

3,381,092

7,125,786

6,971,180

Quota Restriction Laws
HE quota laws restricting the number of immigrants entering
the United States from any designated locality are the most
recent stage of legislative control on the subject of immigra
tion. The development toward restriction has been a gradual one.
In the Colonial and early national period there was absolute freedom
of entry into the United States. Then followed State regulations
for some 50 years (1830-1882), during which, however, some Federal
laws affecting the transportation of immigrants were passed. Later
certain restraints were imposed, based on conditions of health, morals
(or at least criminal records), mental capacity, and economic con
dition. The act of 1917 adopted the literacy test, while the subject
of the importation of labor under contract had received attention
at a considerably earlier date.
In 1921 the system of a prescribed quota was adopted (act of May
19, 1921, 42 Stat. 5), fixing the rate for aliens of any nationality at
“ 3 per cent of the number of foreign-born persons of such nation
ality resident in the United States as determined by the United
States census of 1910.” By its terms this act was to continue in
force from 15 days after its enactment until June 30, 1922. On May
11, 1922, this act was extended to the end of the fiscal year, June 30,
1924 (42 Stat. 540). On May 26, 1924, the present law was enacted
(43 Stat. 153), reducing the ratio to 2 per cent and adopting the
census period of 1890 as the basis, but fixing a minimum of 100 for
any nationality.

QUOTA RESTRICTIONS LAWS

209

Beginning with July 1,1927,1 this basis may be still further modi
fied by a provision that the annual quota for any nationality for that
and each succeeding year “ shall be a number which bears the same
ratio to 150,000 as the number of inhabitants in continental United
States in 1920 having that national origin (ascertained as hereinafter
provided in this section) bears to the number of inhabitants in con
tinental United States in 1920, but the minimum quota of any na
tionality shall be 100.”
Provision was made for the immediate determination of the num
ber of inhabitants to which each nationality was entitled, the act
directing a determination by the Secretaries of State, Commerce, and
Labor, acting jointly, the result to be proclaimed by the President.
The committee acted with great promptness as regards the inaugura
tion of the law, beginning work through the designated committee
on May 31, 1924. The report of the committee thus constituted was
made to the respective Secretaries June 19,1924, and on June 30, the
Secretaries transmitted their report to the President, who on the same
day issued a proclamation establishing the determined quotas for the
various nationalities.
As regards the quotas to be admitted under the terms of the clause
effective July 1, 1927,1 the same officials are directed to make a joint
report announcing the quotas determined upon, the same to be pro
claimed by the President on or before April 1, 1927.
Various exemptions exist as to the application of the law, pro
vision being made for relatives, students, travelers, etc. Further
more, nearly all of the American hemisphere is not subject to the
quota law. The naturalization law applies only “ to aliens being
free white persons, and to aliens of African nationality and to per
sons of African descent.” Aliens of other races are not eligible to citi
zenship therefore, and are, with certain exceptions, debarred from
admission to the United States as immigrants. The normal quota
of 100 for certain countries consequently applies only to such per
sons as are eligible for naturalization.
1 Senate Joint Resolution No, 152, approved Mar, 4,1927, postpones these dates one year.

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

211

Present Status of Accident Statistics
HE United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has issued four bul
letins bringing together as- far as possible the important records
of industrial accidents on a national scale.1 Two of these were
prepared by Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman and were issued in 1908 and
1914. The third, prepared by the bureau staff, was published in
1923 and brought the data for the most part up to the year 1920.
The latest one was issued in January, 1927, and covers the period
up to 1925.
In the introduction to the second bulletin the following comment
was made: “ At the present time there are no entirely complete and
trustworthy industrial accident statistics for even a single important
industry in the United States. The most reliable data are for the
iron and steel industries, mining, and the railways.” As time has
gone on, the three Federal agencies concerning themselves with
accident statistics, namely, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the
Bureau o f Mines, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, have so
improved their methods of collecting and handling accident data
that what they offer may fairly claim to be “ trustworthy ” though
in the nature of the case it would be beyond reasonable expectation
that they should be “ entirely complete.”
As compensation legislation spread rapidly over the several States
there rose necessarily a new and insistent demand for accident
statistics which would shed light on the various problems of com
pensation administration. In response to this demand there has
been immense accumulation of the raw material of statistics. It
would appear to be a rather simple matter to combine the records
of the several States and so produce a national compilation of much
interest and utility. Unfortunately the States have adopted pro
cedures sufficiently different to make it difficult and in many cases
impossible to combine these records in a general exhibit. The
primary reason for this is that the State agencies have found them
selves so involved in the multiplied problems of compensation that
they have been quite unable to give adequate attention to the really
more important problems of accident prevention. Ultimately it will
be necessary for all States to do what some have already done,
namely, to grapple with the matter of accident prevention.
In addition to the above-mentioned public agencies, a number of
private agencies have also concerned themselves with the work of
accident prevention and accident reporting. Among these the
National Safety Council occupies an outstanding place, having been
active in fostering all kinds of safety work over a period of years
and assembling and publishing accident records of very great value.

1U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Buis. Nos. 78, 157, 339, and 425.

38690°—27-----15

2X3

214

INDUSTRIAL* ACCIDENTS

Importance of Accident Rates
HTHE purpose of accident statistics is the very practical one of finding out where and why accidents occur, and whether they are
increasing or decreasing. To do this, the statistics must show clearly
not only the number but also the rate of accidents. Present-day prac
tice is to show two kinds of rates—frequency rates, and severity
rates. The steps by which such rates are determined, as well as
certain other factors which it is essential to know about accidents in
order to make accident statistics of practical value, are briefly
described below :2
(1)
Exposure to hazard.—A very large part of the statistical effort
regarding accidents has been devoted to the mere sorting and record
ing of cases. That this gives little information which can be utilized
for the purpose now under consideration may be established by a
few illustrations. When the accidents for a six-year period in Penn
sylvania are grouped by industries it appears that coal mining has
300,524 accidents while metals and metal products have 343,163.
A hasty inference from this result would be that the production of
metals and metal products is more dangerous than coal mining. A
little reflection will show the inaccuracy of that conclusion. While
metals and metal products have more accident cases it may be that
there are many more people employed therein than in coal mining.
In other words, exposure to hazard in metals and metal products
may be much greater both because more people are employed and
because they work longer hours. Clearly, to understand the rela
tion of these two groups something more is necessary than merely
to know the number of accidents occurring in each.
This raises the question of an appropriate method of expressing
this element of exposure to hazard. The Germans were the first to
attack the problem. Their solution was to note the number of days
during which each workman was employed. The sum of the days
worked by all the workmen was then divided by 300 on the suppo
sition that the usual working year was one of 300 days of 10 hours
each. The quotient thus derived gave the number of 300-day or
full-year workers. The number of accidents was then divided by
this base and the quotient multiplied by 1,000 to avoid small decimals.
The use of this theoretical 300-day worker as a base for calculating
accident rates was adopted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics when
it began its accident studies.
There were, however, troublesome difficulties in the use of this
base and the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards
and Commissions finally determined, at the instance of its committee
on statistics and accident insurance cost, to cut loose from the idea
of the number of workers and use instead the hours of employment.
It was agreed that accident frequency rates should be expressed as
number of cases per 1,000,000 hours of exposure while accident
severity rates should be expressed as number of days lost per 1,000
ho'urs of exposure. The method of determining severity rates and
days lost is discussed in a succeeding paragraph.
2 For full account of standard method of computing frequency and severity rates, see
U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bui. No. 276, p. 68,

PRESENT STATUS OF ACCIDENT STATISTICS

215

The importance of exposure as an element in the study of industrial
accidents has become more and more recognized with the passage of
time. The Bureau of Labor Statistics was the first to utilize it
an extended scale. For some years now the Bureau of Mines and
the Interstate Commerce Commission have presented their facts on
this basis and many sections of the National Safety Council develop
their accident data in this way.
(2) Number of accidents.—Having secured information regarding
exposure to hazard the next step is to secure a record of the number
of cases of injury. A serious difficulty presents itself at once in the
fact that the definition of an accident varies in the different States.
The most widely used definition is that of a “ tabulatable accident.”
This definition is “ an accident causing death, permanent disability,
or temporary disability beyond the day or turn in which the accident
occurred.” The differences between the State definitions arise in
respect to temporary disabilities. Some States exclude cases of one
day’s duration, others of two days’ duration, still others of seven
days’ duration. This lack of uniformity impairs the value of the
record as an index of the changes taking place. It is not greatly
important what definition is used, but until a uniform definition is
established it will remain impossible to compile satisfactory national
statistics from the State records.
(3) Severity of accident.—When items 1 and 2 (exposure and
number of accidents) are known, it is possible to compute accurate
frequency rates; i. e., the number of accidents per 1,000,000 hours of
exposure. It is evident, however, that in frequency rates a death
influences the accident rate to the same extent as does temporary
disability for one day, and thus a true and complete picture of
conditions is not presented.
The first effort to meet this difficulty was the separation of the
accidents into three groups, according to their results; namely,
death, permanent disability, and temporary disability. This did
make possible a separate comparison of fatalities in different indus
tries but still did not afford comparability of the permanent and the
temporary disabilities with each other and with the fatalities. What
was needed was to translate the different casualties into common
terms. This was accomplished by means of a schedule of fixed time
allowances3 for death and for permanent disabilities, beginning with
6,000 days for death, the loss of an arm being given 4,000 days, the
loss of an eye 1,800 days, and so on through the list. The application
of these constants gives for each sort of casualty a value in terms of
days somewhat proportional to its economic importance. The tem
porary disabilities are evaluated by the actual days of recorded
disability.
The value of the severity rate is evident. In considering frequency
rates alone it is hardly possible to avoid the impression that the
numerically larger figure of temporary disability is important in
proportion to its size. As a corrective to this impression we need
the severity rates in which all injuries, including death, are weighted
according to their severity. The frequency rate fails to tell the whole
story, because in it units are combined which are not comparable.

011

3See

U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bui. No. 276, p. 77.

216

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

The severity rate corrects this condition through the use of a pro
cedure which reduces these units to approximately common terms.
(4) Classification by industries.—In order to have information use
ful for accident prevention the classification of the injuries must
extend to industries and if possible to departments and occupations.
Departmental and occupational rates, however, present a difficulty
in that such detailed analysis is likely to render the numbers in the
groups so small that they lose statistical significance.
(5) Causes of accident.—An industrial classification indicates
where remedial effort is called for but does not suggest what needs to
be done. This information must come, so far as statistical treatment
can give it, from a study of accident causes. Here, as in the case of
occupations, there is constant danger of subdividing the material
until the portions are too small to have any meaning. This, however,
is a risk well worth taking, since here, if anywhere, the statistician
can be of real service to the cause of saiety.
In addition to the five items listed above as essential, a certain
value attaches to information regarding nature of injury and location
of injury, though these items are of much less practical importance
than are accident causes.

State Accident Records
HE extent to which most of the existing accident statistics fall
short of meeting the requirements as to good reporting, set
forth in the preceding section, is indicated by Table 1, which
gives the nature of information as to accidents reported by all report
ing States in 1924. The table shows: Number of States recording
number of accidents, 39; number classifying by industries, 16; num
ber classifying by cause of injury, 14; number classifying by nature
of in-jury, 8; number classifying by location of injury, 7; and number
determining exposure, 1.

T a b l e 1.—N A T U R E OF IN F O R M A T IO N AS TO A C C ID E N T S IN 1924 S E C U R E D F R O M T H E

SEV E RA L STATES

States reporting accidents b y —

Num ber Industry
(39)

Cause of Nature of Location
of injury
injury
injury
(8)

(7)

Ariz___
Ariz.1
Calif___ Calif.2... Calif. K.
Colo
Conn
Del
Ga
Idaho__ Idaho
111...........
Ind
Iowa
Kans___ Kans___ Kans

Ariz . . .
Calif.2. . .

Calif.2

Me
Md

(16)

(14)

1Mines only.

Expo
sure

Source of information

(1)
Report of State M ine Inspector for 1924.
Response to special request.
Report of Industrial Commission for 1923-24.
Response to special request.
D o.
D o.
D o.
D o.
Report of Industrial Commission for 1924.
Response to special request.
Report of Court of Industrial Relations for
1924.
Report of W orkm en’s Compensation Board
for 1924.
Response to special request.
Report of State Industrial Accident Com
mission for 1924.

a Sis months.

217

STATE ACCIDENT ItECORDS

TABLE 1.—N A T U R E O F IN F O R M A T I O N AS T O A C C ID E N T S IN 1924 S E C U R E D F R O M T H E
S E V E R A L S T A T E S —Continued

States reporting accidents b y—
of Nature of Location
N um ber Industry Cause
injury
injury of injury
(39)

( 16)

(8)

(14)

Mass..
M ich .
M i n n ... M in n ... M in n .
M on t
N ebr.
N ev..

N ev..

N . H __
N.
N . Y ___
N . Dak.

N. H — . N. H..
N. J ..
N. J -

M in n ..

N. Dak

Ohio___
Okla.3...

Okla..

Oreg.
P a ...

Pa.

R . I .......
S. D ak..
Tenn___.
T ex____
U ta h ....

Tenn___ T en n .

V t ..........

Vt___.

V t.
W a sh ..

Tenn_.

U ta h .... Utah..

V a _____
W a sh ..

W a sh ..

W ash..

W . V a.

W . Va. W . V a .

W is— _

W is_—

W yo.

(7)

E xpo
sure

Source of information

(1)

Response to special request.
Do.
Report of Industrial Commission for 1923-24.
Report of Industrial Accident Board for 1924.
Report of Labor and Compensation Com
missioner for 1924.
N ev___ Report of Industrial Commission for 19221924.
State report of Bureau of Labor for 1924.
Report of Department of Labor for 1924.
Response to special request.
Report of W orkmen’s Compensation Bureau
for 1924-25.
Report of Department of Industrial Rela
tions for 1924.
Report of State Industrial Commission for
Okla..
1924.
Response to special request.
Report of Bureau of W orkmen’s Compensa
Pa.
tion for 1924.
Response to special request.
Report of Industrial Commissioner for 1924.
Report of Department of Labor for 1924.
Report of Industrial Board for 1924.
Bulletin N o. 3 of Industrial Commission for
1924.
Report of Commissioner of Industries for
1922-1924.
Response to special request.
Summary of Accidents, 1924, Department of
Labor and Industries (sheet).
Report of State Compensation Commis
W . V a ..
sioner for 1924.
Report of Industrial Commission of W iscon
sin, 1924; and Wisconsin Labor Statistics,
N ovem ber, 1925.
Report of W orkm en’s Compensation Depart
ment for 1924.
M in n .

3 Fatal and nonfatal combined.

Table 2 gives the available record of fatal and nonfatal accidents
in the respective States from 1921 to 1925. It is not complete, since
some industries are not covered by the compensation law and some
States do not record cases of less than seven days’ disability.
T a b l e 2 .-

-N U M B E R OF F A T A L A N D N O N F A T A L A C C ID E N T S AS R E P O R T E D B Y T H E
S T A T E S , 1921 T O 1925, B Y Y E A R S

1921

1923

1922

1924

1925

State
Fatal Nonfatal Fatal Nonfatal
A labam a1________
........... .
California...... .........
C o lora d o...............
Connecticut...........
Delaware...............
........ ..........
Idaho i....................
Illin ois1...... ............
Indiana...................
Io w a .......................
Kansas................ .

144
22
453
151
96
18
82
63
498
263
113
71

4,155
509
61,814
13,753
22,800
3,882
* 11,696
4,564
43,024
34,133
14,839
6,240

231
5,538
30
A rizon a2374
84,028
12,704
708
155
3 20,407
4,997
17,429
19
Georgia
2,232
92
44
46,238
534
38,406
198
11,410
77
2 M ines only.

Fatal

Nonfatal

Fatal

Nonfatal

54
716
168

717
92,744
15,194
3 37,000
6,611
22,319
3,237
61,135
54,582
13,834
9,999

40
645
140

887
101,633
17,373
3 35,350
4,827
26,770
3,523
53,000
48,730
13,610
10,890

12
109
57
675
268
112
72

a Estimated.

22
109
83
646
274
119
84

Fatal Nonfatal
235
40
307
50

6,453
724
104,361
18,093

15~ ’ “ ‘ 4,'637
125
28,655
59
7,019
328
69
87

* March to December.

45,648
13,266
11,027

218
T

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

able

2 .— N U M B E R

O F F A T A L A N D N O N F A T A L A C C ID E N T S AS R E P O R T E D B Y T H E
S T A T E S , 1921 T O 1925, B Y Y E A R S — Continued

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

Fatal Nonfatal

Fatal (Nonfatal

Fatal Nonfatal

State
Fatal Nonfatal Fatal Nonfatal
Kentucky............... 120
49
M aine.....................
M aryland___ _—
116
Massachusetts------ 296
M ichigan................ 266
M in n e so ta ............ 134
83
M ontana.................
Nebraska................
30
20
N evada...................
N ew Hampshire _ _ «10
N ew Jersey............ 282
N ew M exico_____
6 16
N ew Y o r k ............ 1,177
N orth Dakota.......
9
Ohio........................ 649
85
O kla h om a --..........
138
Oregon 1__.............
Pennsylvania........ 1,924
24
Rhode Island 1___
South Dakota........
23
96
Tennessee-.............
Texas____________
308
91
Utah........................
29
Verm ont_________
Virginia..................
133
287
Washington...........
West Virginia . , 429
Wisconsin............... 181
W yom ing...............
51
U. S. Compensa
tion Commission 362

16,789
12,778
36,896
53,017
100,176
34,447
3,421
11,326
1,247
* 1,523
27,754

18,549
14,731
33,493
50,799
130,831
31,571
3,317
13,900
1,377
1,835
33,483
« 369
292,423
1,192
108,824
25,636
21,721
144,365
3,482
3,282
18,557
95,109
8,388
6,564
6,498
18,453
21,855
20,750
1,198

108
64
126
330
326
204
81
30
31
13
290

23,892
16,311
40,913
64,560
i 29,953
40,245
5,048
16,162
1,113
1,434
49,002

97
38
139
336
1276
123
87
35
31
19
283

28,036
14,168
38,833
61,640
i 27,451
36,123
5,702
15,000
1,346
2,442
47,958

293,292
1,296
111,626
22,779
20,318
138,273
2,952
2,701
17,093
94,256
9,932
7,724
5,327
19,729
20,398
18,806
2,042

62
62
123
306
360
113
51
32
24
22
246
«11
1,421
7
676
(7)
124
1,890
26
25
67
214
• 69
24
144
227
443
191
33

1,665
11
803
(7)
178
2,412
31
18
90
253
84
35
145
398
501
168
82

345,180
1,654
176,427
34,908
30,013
198,023
4,098
3,455
25,008
86,482
13,137
9,356
6,518
31,081
28,269
22,099
1,719

1,927
13
933
(7)
142
2,209
31
17
142
299
281
43
180
385
751
134
88

369,781
1,809
180,677
46,517
25,811
175,330
3,758
4,518
21,222
92,613
13,919
10,507
7,899
39,270
30,608
25,062
1,669

18,042

353

17,905

279

17,713

278

20,260

193
59
160
309
280
150
79
36
36
16
525
21
1,828
10
931

26,490
13,844
39,069
58,771
28,015
45,181
5,739
16,964
1,494
2,249
44,976
400
414,702
2,100
199,271
52,000
150
27,596
174,370
2,011
38
28,357
4,394
22
161
25,408
91,065
357
112
14,203
32
9,497
7,606
198
384 • 42,003
31,045
586
20,891
246

314

20,374

T o t a l........... 9,392 1,327,369 9,434 1,294,220 10,947 1,641,145 11,479 1,666,522 10,537 1,687,957
i Compensable cases.

8 Covers 10 months only.

6 Coal mines only.

7 N ot reported.

Classification by Industries
IN TABLES 3 and 4 an effort has been made to compare the State
* accident data, by principal classification groups and by individual
States, for the years 1920 and 1924. In those cases where 1924 data
were lacking the latest available data have been used. As already
noted, some of the States make no accident reports, and very few
classify their data at all completely.
Table 3 gives for the years 1920 and 1924, respectively, the num
ber of accidents for the States which classify their accidents according
to industry. An attempt has been made, with a fair degree of suc
cess, to use a uniform classification.
The 1920 compilation records 602,053 accident cases and the 1924
compilation 696,369. The States covered, however, are not abso
lutely the same. The 1920 compilation relates to 21 States, while the
1924 compilation covers only 20 States and includes the important
State of New York which was not included in 1920. Therefore, no
inference can be drawn that the increase in accident cases represents
an increasing hazard. On the whole, indeed, this table gives no
definite answer to the question, “ Is accident hazard increasing?”
Nor can an answer be expected until the factor of employee exposure
is more exactly known than is at present the case.

219

STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS

TABLE 3 .—N U M BE R OF ACCIDEN TS IN SPECIFIED STATES IN 1920 AN D 1924,i BY
INDUSTRIES
California
Industry

Agriculture.
Clay, glass, and
stone.......................
Clothing....................
Construction.............

A la Arbama* kan1922 2
1920

1920

JanJune,
1924 3

4,286
2,018

2,300
1,058

52
7
340

735
233
8,327

8,313

5,274
477

2,443
229

4,977

3,549

F ood products (in
cluding beverages)
Leather and rubber.
Lumber and its remanufacture..........
Lumber: L ogging...
L u m b e r : Logging,
railways.................

1920

1923

1920

1921

120

143

281
1,324

1,104

189
156

148
91

916
581
3,713

1,457
746
5,251

1,614
135
2,731

1,253
196
3,056

3,190
506

4,637
696

2,452
454

2,112

2,636

3,355

2,274

2,166

1,176

1,272

13,881 12,807 17,101
13,249 14,599 4,222

9,683
4,851

1,057

4,721

Indiana

1924

713

1,724

3,579

965

7,181
65

Illin ois2

1920

491

118
Mercantile............. .
Metals and metal
products................. 1,040
Mines, coal............... 2,115
Mines (not coal)
and quarries..........
113
M unicipal.................

1,210

2,875

437
231

168
550

477
32

163

978
873

1,814
904

235

1,242

1,338

447
9,132
4,288

305
2,088
554

791

705
2,671

825
3,277

248
4,843

175
4,248 1,944

2
273
137
130 17,753 14,938

1,590

299
5,036

330
9,333

154
2,973

136
3,156

2,790

1,420 70,405 44,397 5,086 11,961 50,585 61,810 42,994 34,396

10,974

207
201

1920

Mercantile_________
Metals and metal
products_________
Mines, coal________
M ines (not coal)
and quarries_____
M unicipal..................

1,343

618

M aryland

Massa
chusetts

589

Minnesota 4

Industry

Food products (in
cluding beverages)
Leather and rubber.
Lum ber and its re
manufacture..........
Lumber: Logging
Lumber: Logging,
railways__________

192

K entucky

Agriculture________
Chemicals ________
Clay, glass, and
s to n e ____________
Clothing___________
Construction_______

103

1924

419
13

T otal.

1920

427

327

Oil and gas................
Paper and products.
Printing and pu b
lishing....................
Public service...........
Shipbuilding.............
Textiles..........
Unclassified..

Idaho 4

1924

19204

1924 *

1920

1923

1920

1922

M on
tana,
19151920

Neva
da,
1920

6
100

19
586

196
781

339
631

45
138

98
128

490
79
878

841
85
4,145

444
41
« 2,494

345
335
6 2,541

406
316
5,032

431
335
6,518

285
38
1,589

267
51
1,306

2,136

1,428
179

770
216

284
210

1,436
262

2,079
4,664

2,014
3,631

1,611
134

1,308
57

1,211
1

1,294

2,147

102

865

2,174

2,294

1,471

1,050

1,747

810

228

508

6,115

7,819

714

1,398

315

1,218

2,584
409

13,651

9,555

1,638

611

3,135
1,969

130

224

184

196

2,193
206

841

18,710
109

769
58

2,511
5,968

1,300
11,573

169

422

1 Where 1924 data were not available, the latest available data are given.
2 Compensable cases.
3 Tabulatable accidents.
4 Compensation claims allowed.
« Claims filed.
6 Includes shipbuilding;

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

220
T

able

3.—N U M BE R OF ACCIDEN TS IN SPECIFIED STATES IN 1920 A N D 1924, BY
INDUSTRIES—Continued

Kentucky

Massa
chusetts

M aryland

Minnesota

M on
tana,
19151920

Industry
1920
Oil and gas...............
Paper and products.
Printing and pub
lishing........ .......... .
Public service...........
Shipbuilding........... .

1924

1920

1924

576
34

1923

2,041

1920

1922

2,072

246

265

159
1,731

718
8,322

762
3,535

133

130
499

131
820

112

102

1920

Nevado,
1920

309

348

204
530

211
1,605

167
5,009

126
761

130
1,617

11,246
7,563

10,054
14,704

115
1,713

64
2,584

7
955

T otal.

16,155

28,133

6,694

13,919

65,488

64,890

12,738

10,657

31,314

1,176

New
N e
vada, Hamp
shire,
1924
1924

Pennsylvania

Industry

South
D a
kota,
1921

Textiles_____
Unclassified.

Agriculture...........
Chemicals........... .
Clay, glass, and stone.
Clothing................
Construction........

44
15
107

F ood products...........
Leather and rubber..
Lumber and its re
manufacture...........
Lumber: LoggingLumber: Logging,
railways..................
Mercantile.................
Metals and metal
products..............
Mines, coal................
Mines (not coal) and
quarries...................
M unicipal..................
Oil and gas................
Paper and p rod u cts.
Printing and pub
lishing.....................
Public service.......... .
Shipbuilding.............
Textiles.........
Unclassified-

26
91

N ew Jersey
1920

1924

353
1,755 1,982 1,081
420 1.019 1,003
95 1,324 1,970
5,996 11,559 10,230
397
598

Ore
gon,
1920

1924

617

3,029
1,679

613

995

2,699

1,095

135
28
64

959
18
5,039

I,”&20

1,823

22
1,798

772
29

1920

102
2,633 2,623
5,736 5,999
1,211 1,440
12,920 16,260
3,795
1,930

4,191
2,189

725

1924

501

4,375
1,452
4,216

297

41
940

1,356

9,307

9,110

1,852

1,112

2,103
1,216

1,069
24

446

618

3,934

6,3f0

237

22
311
65

1,027
10,973

113
746

1, 475
6,496

1,843

168
1,427

2,§17 ” ‘ 379
387

375
504
67
1,366

1,589
1,173

2,169
2,576

277 1,685
8,982 16,932

418
151
1,062
120
666

2,369 2,504
28,916 18,272

475

2,461 28,841 48,241 58,078 22,714 46,517 13,389 174,979 177,539

2,724

1921

1924

22
34
717

Wisconsin
West
Vir
ginia,
1924

1920

379
2,505
1,532

2,371

i, 714

1924

2,344
5,336

40
137

2,709
6,525

365

Ten
nessee,
1921

4,482

1,585

3,854

49,793 47,488
47,787 54,449

7,821 22,187

419

Washington

Agriculture................
C h em ica ls.-..............
Clay, glass, and stone.
Clothing_____ : .........
Construction.............

1920

4,750

Total................. 1,377

Industry

Oklahoma

N ew
York,
1923 2

W y o m in g *

1920

Total

1924

400
209
266

3,734

149

1920 8
com
pila
tion
5,354
9,390
12,443
2,818
54,337

1924«
com
pila
tion
4,100
10,034
17,696
6,522
84,175

2 Compensable cases.
4 Compensation claims allowed.
7 Compensable cases closed.
8 Includes also data for Montana for 1915 to 1920 and f or South Dakota, Tennessee, and Washington for
1921.
9 Includes also data for Indiana for 1921, for Alabama and Minnesota for 1922, for Illinois. Massachusetts,
and N ew York for 1923, and for California for first six m onths of 1924,

STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS

221

T a b le 3.—N U M BE R OF ACCIDEN TS IN SPECIFIED STATES IN 1920 A N D 1924, BY
INDUSTRIES—Continued
Washington
Industry

F ood products...........
Leather and rubber .
Lum ber and its re
manufacture..........
Lum ber: Logging
Lum ber: Logging,
______
railways
Mercantile_________
Metals and metal
products.................
Mines, coal................
Mines (not coal) and
quarries..................
M unicipal_________

Ten
nessee,
1921

1921

1,481
295

594

3,005

5,193
2,322

1,229

2,885
1,256

712
445

211

1924

Wisconsin
West
Vir
ginia,
1924

1924

1920

396
4,061
5,416

1,720

2,887

W yom ing

1920

Total

1924

1920
com
pila
tion

1924
com
pila
tion

1,450
596

26,881
9,477

27,827
9,624

4,584

39,979
4,511

38,602
5,416

1,526

17,245

26,938

2 129,629
675 77,372

120,578
104,203

297

7,143
12,745

4,559

2,447

8
467

107
440

472

334

515

6
1

36,360
2,272

20,947
3,157

153

491

306

128

316

1,026

1,183

9,216
5,794

24,919
7,685

183
442

59
181
349

1,475

2,049

3
15

5,944
59,682
8,516

6,256
54,024
933

641
2,943

75
459

7,715

343
1,471

7,921

258
3,549

281

15,754
68,782

18,218
104,515

T o t a l -............. 17,189

11,893

19,391

31,336

18,441

22,766

819

1,757 602,053

696,369

Oil and gas................
Paper and products.
Printing and pub
lishing___________
Public service...........
Shipbuilding_______
Textiles____________
...............
Unclassified

667

Cause of Injury
IN THE 1920 compilation there were 18 States whose accidents were
* recorded according to a cause classification. The number of the
accidents so classified was 714,023.
For 1924 such a classification could be made for 17 States and
four others were available for the years 1922 and 1923. The total
accident cases for 1924 so classified are 647,495 and for 1922 and
1923 are 190,547, making a grand total of 838,042 for the later period.
The handling of tools and objects gives rise to the greatest number
of accidents, shown in Table 4, there being a total of 472,805 cases
in the two periods. Machinery comes next, with a total of 294,951.
In this table hoisting apparatus is considered as a form of machinery.
Not giving cranes and other hoisting and carrying apparatus a sepa
rate classification tends to obscure the continued importance of
machinery as a cause of accident. I f it were possible to show these
cases on a severity basis the high importance of machinery as an
industrial hazard would be still more strikingly evident.

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

222

T a b l e 4 .—N U M B E R O F A C C ID E N T S IN T H E S P E C IF IE D S T A T E S , 1920 A N D 1924, B Y

C AU SE OF IN J U R Y

Accidents due to—
State

Hot
M a
sub
chinery stances

Han
Falling Falls of
dling
objects persons tools or
objects

Vehi
cles

Unclas
sified

6,867
222
4,683
1,772

70,405
4,957
50,585
34,396
16,155
6,694
65,488
12,738
28,036
1,331
182,970
13,389
174,979
17,189
8,080
9,571
16,248
812

Total

1920
California..........................................
Idaho i...............................................
Illin ois2........... - .................................
Indiana..............................................
K en tu ck y 3_____________________
M aryland i .......................................
Massachusetts---------------------------Minnesota i._............. ....................
N ew Jersey8...................... - ............
N orth Dakota................ .................
Ohio..................................................
Oregon...............................................
Pennsylvania...................................
Tennessee4......................................
Verm ont........................................ .
Washington
...............................W isconsin.......................................
W y o m in g 1........................................

8,410
495
7,240
1,101
1,232
1,036
15,307
2,475
2,986
173
79,043
2,979
21,935
675
971
1,615
3,986
91

4,283
116
2,928
1,856
842
395
3,029
603
1,014
74
12,442
431
8,721
1,302
200
278
986
53

5,688
1,471
8,204
6,187
3,820
1,150
2,412
1,088
6,446
114
6,404
1,335
22,378
2,877
2,057
1,865
1,063
273

9,465
752
5,799
5,384
625
1,087
9,176
1,769
2,424
148
8,417
1,888
20,187
3,009
669
1,588
1,826
95

24,445
1,313
12,276
9,304
5,733
1,284
23,931
4,282
7,652
498
58,551
4,755
65,398
2,666
2,613
2,824
5,245
156

588
4,149
1,351
2,905
147
4,391
769
18,369
465
26
558
577
74

11,247
588
9,455
8,792
3,903
1,154
7,484
1,170
4,609
177
13,722
1,232
17,991
6,195
1,544
843
2,565
70

T otal.......................................

151,750

39,553

74,832

74,308

232,926

47,913

92,741

714,023

792
52
3,170
3,652
650
671
647
2,926
649
55
1,393
2,646
94
8,794
1,852
7,720
1,066
1,001
339
1,985
1,018

894
355
3,259
11,940
1,568
13,068
1,215
3,651
1,184
92
11,413
3,881
137
9,838
6,762
22,613
5,317
2,753
3,001
6,564
1,628

909
1,452
427
154
77
86
15,057
5,098
5,896
3,791
7,568
14,486
3,272
727
893
7,631
1,567
1,274
2,614
1,551
1,191
24,304
4,548
9,219
5,774
1,324
2,778
404
72
260
12,263
2,750
3,096
18,785
4,653
9,217
630
213
215
8,221
54,141
6,626
2,577
6,198
2,395
17,614
53,969 34,480
3,070
3,099
963
1,396
4,353
1,856
3,258
799
1,433
3,994
2,975 '"§,"035' 1,690

531
115
4,701
14,775
2,572
3,790
4,554
8,936
2,057
974
8,595
7,610
322
16,680
25,393
18,992
5,772
1,331
1,731
10,655
3,082

5,769
927
44,397
61,810
10,974
28,133
13,919
64,890
15,681
2,461
48,218
58,078
1,809
162,044
46,517
177,539
21,364
14,200
10,507
26,039
22,766

41,172

111,133

143,168

838,042

1924
A labam a8....... .................................
Arizona6..........................................California7........................................
Illinois *.............................................
Kansas...............................................
Kentucky..........................................
M arylan d9.......................................
Massachusetts8.............................
Minnesota.........................................
N ew Hampshire..............- ..............
New Jersey--------------------------------N ew York 10.....................................
North D a k ota 11...........- .......... .......
12...... ..................................... .
Oklahoma....... ................. - ........ .
Pennsylvania................................. .
Tennessee..........................................
U ta h ..............................................
V erm on t13______________________
West Virginia i................................
Wisconsin u......................................
Total.......................................

764
88
7,216
5,598
1,292
132
2,147
11,306
1,915
604
8,708
11,286
198
Ohio
57,744
1,340
22,151
2,077
1,510
1,379
1,408
4,338
143,201

80,205

239,879

79,284

1 Compensation claims allowed.
2 Compensable cases only.
* Data for year ending June 30,1921.
* Data for 1921.
6 Data for 1922—compensable cases only.
6 Data for mines only.
7 Data for first six months of 1924.
s Data for 1923—compensable cases.
* Compensation claims filed—data does not include 13 fetal cases.
Data for 1923—compensable cases only.
u Compensation claims filed.
12 Data does not include self-insured.
13 Data does not include 43 fatal cases.
m Compensable cases closed.

Accident Rates from State Reports
'T ’ HE State records presented above deal solely with numbers of
1 accidents. Such records have an informative value but fail
entirely to afford any hint regarding relative hazard, and conse
quently give no suggestion regarding the place where accident j)revention methods may be profitably applied. For example, the fact

223

STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS

that Indiana had 506 casualties in the manufacture of agricultural
implements in the year 1925 while Ohio had 194 may mean simply
that the production of such implements is on a larger scale in
Indiana than in Ohio, or it may mean that danger of casualty is
much greater in Indiana. It is entirely impossible to determine the
significance of the facts without further investigation as to rates
based on actual man-hours of exposure.
In view of the fact that rates have been so little used in accident
studies, outside of railways, mines, and the iron and steel industry,
the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has sought to encourage
the development of accident rates and has published such as were
available from time to time. Recently the bureau has sought to
utilize the information contained in the State accident reports by
relating such data for selected establishments to data regarding the
number of man-hours worked by such establishments. The accident
data were obtained through the cooperation of the various State
agencies. The employment data were obtained directly from the
establishments.
The selection of the establishments was as follows: For some time
the bureau has obtained monthly reports of volume of employment
from some 10,000 concerns. This list had been carefully chosen to
cover adequately the various important industries and to include
plants of both large and small size. Fifty-two industrial groups are
covered by the employment studies. From these 24 were selected
as having the greatest significance from the standpoint of accident
study. A small amount of additional information from each con
cern made possible the determination of a close approximation to the
man-hours of exposure. The combination of these items—namely
exposure and accidents—gave the rates presented in Tables 5 and 6.
Table 5 records both the number of cases and the frequency and
severity rates, for the years 1924 and 1925, for the only States for
which the necessary data were available for the two years—Ohio,
Illinois, and Minnesota.
T

able

5 . — A C C ID E N T

F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S F O R S P E C IF IE D IN D U S
T R IE S IN O H IO , IL L IN O IS , A N D M IN N E S O T A , 1924 A N D 1925

N um ber of cases

Industry

Fullyear
work
ers

Per
ma
Death nent
dis
abil
ity

A c c i d e n t frequency
rates (per 1,000,000
hours’ exposure)

Tem
Per
ma
po
rary T o Death nent
dis
dis tal
abil
abil
ity
ity

Accident severity rates
(per 1,000 hours’ ex
posure)

Tem
Per
po
ma
rary T o Death nent
dis tal
dis
abil
abil
ity
ity

Tem
po
rary T o
dis tal
abil
ity

1924
A g r i c u l t u r a l im p le
ments_______________
Automobiles ..................
Automobile tires_______
Boots and shoes________
Brick™ __________ _______
Electrical machinery___
Flour................................
Foundry and machine
shops___________ ____
Furniture_____________
Glass___________ ______
Lumber—planing mills_

3,142
5,648
5,772
1,614
3,514
4,626
2,921
17,774
5,333
1,283
1,852

19
361 380
17
495 512
25 1,741 1,767
1
24
23
522 537
13
46
364 411
6
113 120

9
1
1
2

79 1,928 2,016
21
204 226
5
289 295
15
128 145

i
2

2.02
1.00
0.06 1.40
.21
.19 1.23
.07 3.31
.11 .68
.15
.06
.26
.36

1.32
1.31
1.30
2.70

38.32 40.34
29.21 30.21
97.18 98.64
4.75 4.96
49.52 50.94
26.23 29.61
12.89 13.68

1.62
1.00
0.33 1.60
.06
1.14 .68
.43 2.99
.68 .85

0.68
.55
1.18
.11
.97
.34
.18

2.30
1.55
3.11
.17
2.79
3,76
1.71

32.14 33.61
12.75 14.12
75.07 76.63
23.04 26.10

.90 1.08
.38 .91
1.56 1.36
2.16 5.17

.45
.26
.83
.71

2.43
1.55
2.75
8.04

224
T

able

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS
A C C I D E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R I T Y R A T E S F O R S P E C IF IE D IN D U S
T R I E S IN O H IO , IL L IN O IS , A N D M IN N E S O T A , 1924 A N D 1925— Continued

5 .—

A c c i d e n t frequency
rates (per 1,000,000
hours’ exposure)

N um ber of cases

Industry

Fullyear
work
ers

Per
ma
nent
Death dis
abil
ity

Per
Tem
po
ma
rary T o
nent
dis tal Death dis
abil
abil
ity
ity

T em
po
rary
dis
abil
ity

Accident severity rates
(per 1,000 hours’ ex
posure)
Per
ma
Death nent
dis
abil
ity

T em
p o
rary T o
dis
tal
abil
ity

1924—Continued
Machine tools...... ........ . 3,635
Paper and pulp__........... 1,171
953
P ottery ...........................
Slaughtering and meat
packing....................... . 19,911
Steam fittings, appara
tus, and supplies------- 1,424
3,278
Stoves.............................
Structural-iron work—
1,187

332
162

0.09 0.83 29.53 30.45
3.70 42.14 46.12
.70 21.00 21.70

98 1,311 1,420

.18 1.64 21.95 23.77

1.21

.70 3.01

275
331
310

.70 63.68 64.38
.31 33.05 33.67
85.06 87.02

.49
.24
.94

.79 1.28
.31 2.38
1.04 3.67

1.40 18.58 20.40
.77 11.68 12.58
1.16 66.32 67.55
12.39 12.39
.47 32. 75 33.38
.82 14.10 14.96
.58 18.49 19.46

2.51 1.18
.77 .79
.40 1,06

4.00
1.77

322
148
60

272
325
303

0.55 0.55
1.71 2.83
.84

1.10

0.31 1.41
.67 5.21
.47 1.31

1925
A g ricu ltu ra l im p le
ments....... ................... .
Automobiles...... ............ .
Automobile tires.......... .
Boots and shoes----------Brick.............................. .
Electrical machinery—
Flour............................
Foundry and machine

292
182 196
2,962 3,017
124 124
629 641
21
360 382
191 201

Furniture.... ...............
G lass.—......................
Lumber—planing mills.
M achine tools.................
Paper and p u lp .............

47 1,635
212
414
57
258
163
80

P o t t e r y ..................................

Slaughtering and meat
packing------------ -------- 19,648
Steam fittings, appara
tus, and supplies____
Stoves.................... ..........
Structural-iron work___

.07
416

263
172
81

.82
1.64
.43
1.
.56
1.55

28.38 29.27
13.37 15.01
88.93 1.36
12.15 14.07
29.05 29. 61
35.99 37.98

63 1,300 1,378

.25 1.07 22.06 23.38

124
277
477

.96 58.80 59.76
.38 52.30 52.68
2.26 73.94 76.84

122
275
459

.94 1.00
.23 .65
2.32 .52
.42
1.15
.77

3.84

2.20
.19
2.45
1.01
3.09
1.45
1.43
1.52
5.80

2.65 1.59
.50

.81

.90

2.86

.51
.48
3.87 2.38

1.32
.97
7.24

1 .5 3

According to this table the frequency rates range in 1924 from
4.96 for boots and shoes to 98.64 for automobile tires. In 1925 the
range is from 12.39 for boots and shoes to 89.36 for glass. In 12
industries there is a decline in the rate from 1924 to 1925 while 6
industries show a rising rate.
Two cautions are pertinent regarding conclusions to be drawn
from these figures:
1. In several of the industrial groups the exposure is not large
enough to be as authoritative as could be desired.
2. Percentages of increase and decrease are not comparable with
each other. Increases can be compared with increases and declines
with declines, but a per cent of increase is not comparable with a
per cent of decline.
In the case of the three States from which data have been secured
for the years 1924 and 1925 it was possible to compute severity rates
and these are also shown in the table. They are expressed in terms
of days lost per 1,000 man-hours of exposure; death and permanent
disabilities are given a fixed time allowance in terms of days.

225

STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS

When these severity rates are examined it appears that in 12 indus
tries there was a decline in severity and in 6 a rising severity rate.
The relation of the two rates to each other is indicated by the fol
lowing: In 8 industries both frequency and severity declined, in 2
industries both rose, in 4 industries frequency declined and severity
rose, and in 4 industries frequency rose and severity declined.
Table 6 summarizes the information for 1925 regarding 24 indus
tries located in the 11 States for which the necessary data were avail
able. It is interesting to note that the rates of the three States shown
in Table 5 are closely similar to those for the 11 States for 1925
in which the three are included.' It is not under present circum
stances possible to consider securing information regarding the
industries with the same completeness that has been done in iron
and steel, but it is hoped that a sufficiently large sample can be
secured so that it may be regarded as fairly typical. It is thought
that an exposure of 10,000 full-year workers for each industry will
afford such a sample.
T a b l e 6 .—A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S F O R S P E C IF IE D IN D U S

T R IE S IN 11 S T A T E S , 1925

N umber of cases

Industry and State

N um
ber

N um
ber of
estab
lish
ments

Fullyear
workers

Death

Per
ma
nent
disa
bility

T em
porary
disa
bility

Total

Industry
Agricultural implements.______ _______ ____
Automobiles.................................................... .
Automobile tires..... ............ ...............................
Boots and shoes....................................................
Brick.................. .......... ............ .................. ........
Carpets_______________________ _____ ____
Chemicals....................... ...................... ..........
Electrical machinery_______________________
Flour________ ___________________ __________
Foundry and machine shops___________ ____
Furniture________________________________
Glass.............................. .......... ............ ........... .
Leather____________ _____________________
Lumber—planing m ills___________ ____ ____
____
Lumber—sawmills______________
Machine tools..................................................... .
Paper and p ulp _____________________________
P o ttery..:...... ................... .......... .......... .............
Slaughtering and meat packing_____________
Stamped and enameled ware ______________
Steam fittings, apparatus, and supplies_____
Stoves_________________ __________ _________
Structural-iron work____ ___________________
W oolen goods____________ ______ __________
State
Illinois....................................................................
Indiana.________________ _________
. . .
............... ....................................................
Io w a ._
M aryland............................................................
Michigan............................................................
Minnesota.............. ..............................................
N ew Jersey............................... ..........................
New Y ork. _______________________________
O h i o . ....................................................................
Pennsylvania.......................................................
W isco n sin _________________________________
Total............................................................

States
8
8
3
5
9
3
4
8
3
11
10
4
5
10
4
7
S
2
3
3
6
4
10
2

55
73
25
31
94
19
31
71
27
256
165
40
26
64
22
48
34
13
13
7
44
29
60
25

16,295
189,385
20,097
11,200
15, 595
10,999
11,609
60, 653
3,616
75,404
24, 519 ,
12,138
9,301
9,852
10,223
6,033
11,142
3,148
23,900
1,473
6,212
3,988
6,524
12,682

9
56
4

Indus
tries
13
13
9
12
7
12
14
15
‘ 15
19
11

120
122
54
52
44
60
113
131
161
342
73

51,330
20,585
11,074
7,199
165,918
13,744
46,066
70,053
43,213
98,733
28,083

1,272

555,988

1
1
6
1

78
704
62
6
29
33
35
229
7
324
80
18
30
58
24
17
80
3
81
3
38
3
42
13

1,050
4,247
3,068
252
1,050
94
192
1,170
203
3,421
903
529
182
541
567
332
590
156
1,645
75
335
352
559
33

1,137
5,007
3,134
258
1,087
J32
230
1,412
214
3,763
983
548
215
602
600
355
670
161
1,748
74
374
356
607
47

21
1
2
1
48
14
7
26
13
26
12

134
51
40
12
580
55
223
511
120
226
95

1,737
2,219
880
478
3,624
1,141
1,010
1,733
7,043

1,892
2,271
922
491
4,252
1,210
1,240
2,270
7,176
252
1,738

8
5
3
13
4
18
1
2
6
11
1
5
1
15

1,631

226

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

T a b l e 6 .—A C C I D E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R I T Y R A T E S F O R S P E C IF IE D IN D U S

T R IE S IN 11 S T A T E S , 1925— Continued

Accident frequency rates (per
1,000,000 hours’ exposure)
Industry and State
Death

Per
ma
nent
disa
bility

Tem
porary
disa
bility

Total

Accident severity rates (per
1,000 hours’ exposure)

Death

Per
ma
nent
disa
bility

Tem
porary Total
disa
bility

Industry
Agricultural implements................................
Automobiles_____________________________
Automobile tires...... ....................... ................
Boots and shoes__________ __________ _____
Brick...................................................................
Carpets__________________ _______________
Chemicals_______________________________
Electrical machinery .......................... ............
F l o u r ...............................................................
Foundry and machine shops_____________
Furniture........ ............ ........... ............... ........
Glass_______: ______________________ _____
Leather___ _________ _____________________
Lumber—planing mills___________________
Lumber—sawmills_______________________
Machine tools____________________________
Paper and p ulp ____ _____________________
Pottery.............................................................
Slaughtering and meat packing___________
Stamped and enameled ware.......... ..............
Steam fittings, apparatus, and supplies___
Stoves ..............................................................
Structural-iron w ork......................................
W oolen goods____________________________

.05
.08
.31
.03

1.60
1.24
1.03
.18
.62
1.00
1.00
1.26
.65
1.43
1.09
.49
1.08
1.96
.78
.94
2.39
.32
1.13
.68
2.04
.25
2.15
•34

23.31
1 7.80
57.98
9.88
30.46
4.87
5.63
9.46
ia 71
23.62
14.96
24.37
11.17
19.78
18.49
21.09
20.47
16.52
22.94
16.97
31.52
43.08
48.49
1.59

.14
.02
.06
.05
.10
.34
.03
.12
.10
.26
.14

.87
.83
1.20
.56
1.17
1.33
1.03
2.43
.93
2.23
1.13

2 11.28
35.93
26.49
22.13
2 7.28
27.67
2 4.65
2 8.25
54.32
(3)
19.36

0.18
.10
.07
.17
.15
.09
.07
.37
.08
.03
.07
.20
.36
.06
.15
.11
.21

25.09
1.10
9.14
.59
59.08
.40
10.06
31.25
1.03
6.02
.91
6.72
.52
.43
10.79
19.73
2.21
25.13
.48
16.05
24.89
.16
12.32
.43
21.94
1.22
19.63
2.15
22.09
.33
.90
23.01
.64
16.95
24.28
1.26
17.65
33.61 " " “.‘ 32*
43.41
.50
50.95
1.84
1.96
.16

1.26
1.02
1.06
.13
.73
1.45
1.49
1.12
.57
1.24
.79
.65
.82
2.62
.66
.77
3.20
.87
.94
.54
1.89
.24
1.95
.24

0.42
.16
.84
.19
.55
.15
.18
.24
.27
.43
.25
.27
.29
.49
.48
.27
.75
.37
.42
.19
.74
.45
.75
.05

2.78
1.77
2.30
.32
2.31
2.51
2.19
1.79
3.05
2.15
1.04
1.08
1.54
4.33
3.29
1.37
4.85
1.88
2.62
.73
2.95
1.19
4.54
.45

12.29
36.78
27.75
22.74
8.55
29.34
5.71
10.80
55.35
2.48
20.63

.69
.46
1.01
.84
.90
1.46
1.57
2.79
.93
1.66
.55

.27
.50
.40
.45
.16
.49
.21
.37
.56
(3)
.41

1.78
1.06
1.77
1.57
1.64
3.99
2.09
3.90
2.09
3.20
1.81

State
Illinois_____ ____ ______________ _________
Tnriianq.__________________________________
Iow a_____________________________________
Maryland________________________________
Michigan________________________________
M innesota_______________________________
N ew Jersey__________ ____________________
N ew Y o r k .. _ . _____ _____ ______ _
O hio..........— ....................................................
Pennsylvania____________________________
Wisconsin.....................
™
-

.82
.10
.36
.28
.58
2.04
.30
.74
.60
1.54
.85

Total______________________________
1 This rate is too low, since the industry is located so largely in Michigan, which does not report tempo
rary disabilities terminating in the first week.
2 Does not include temporary disabilities terminating in the first week.
3 Data for temporary disabilities not available.

Accidents in the Federal Government Service
HE table below gives accident frequency rates in the various
departments of the Federal Government. The tabulation
was made by the United States Employees’ Compensation
Commission.

ACCIDENTS IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE

227

N U M B E R OF A C C ID E N T S A N D A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y R A T E S IN T H E G O V E R N
M E N T S E R V IC E , 1921 T O 1925, B Y D E P A R T M E N T S A N D Y E A R S
[Based on number of employees shown b y the Civil Service Commission’s yearly reports and on num
ber of accidents reported to the United States Employees’ Compensation Commission]

Frequency rates (per 1,000,000
hours’ exposure)

N um ber of accidents
Year

Num ber of
employees
Fatal

Nonfatal

ISi onfatal
Fatal
accidents accidents

Total

AU Government services
1921...................................
1922................................1923...................................
1924...................................
1925................................. .

560,673
535,185
535,781
546,981
538,290

362
353
279
278
314

18,042
17,905
17,713
20,260
20,374

18,404
18,258
17,992
20,538
20,688

0.25
.26
.20
.20
.23

12.88
13.38
13.22
14.82
15.14

13.13
13.64
13.43
15.02
15.37

Total......................

2,716,910

1,586

94,294

95,880

.23

13.88

14.11

Department of Agriculture
1921...................................
1922...................................
1923...................................
1924.......... .......................
1925............... ...................

18,722
19,773
20,078
20,385
20,098

10
11
17
25
26

638
919
971
1,287
1,291

648
930
988
1,312
1,317

0.22
.22
.34
.49
.52

13.63
18.59
19.34
25.25
25.69

13.85
18.82
19.68
25.74
26.21

Total......................

99,056

5,106

5,195

.36

20.62

20.98

Department of Commerce
1921...................................
1922...................................
1923.................................
1924............................ .
1925............................ .

11, 748
11,267
11,199
12,119
14,631

9
15
11
8
11

246
272
332
319
348

255
287
343
327
359

0.31
.53
.40
.26
.30

8.38
9.66
11.86
10.52
9.52

a 69
10.19
12.25
10.79
9.82

Total......................

60,964

1,517

1,571

.35

9.95

10.31

Government Printing Office ,
1921..................................
1922...............................
1923...................................
1924...................................
1925...................................

4,403
4,024
3,989
4,269
3,984

2
1

89
63
42
44
27

91
64
42
44
27

0.18
.10

8.09
6.26
4.21
4.13
2.71

8.27
6.36
4.21
4.13
2.71

Total......................

20,669

265

268

.06

5.12

5.18

Department of the Interior
1921...................................
1922...................................
1923...................................
1924...................................
1925...................................

19,735
17,834
17,092
16,679
13,125

14
18
16
19
11

957
1,041
1,415
1,676
1,019

971
1,059
1,431
1,695
1,030

0.29
.41
.37
.46
.34

19.39
23. 35
33.12
40.20
31.06

19.68
23.75
33.49
40.64
31.39

Total......................

84,465

6,108

6,186

.37

28.93

29.29

11.99
10.90
11.72
11.56
12.40
11.71

Department of Labor
1921....................................
1922...................................
1923..................... ...........
1924...................................
1925...................................

3,768
3,744
3,821
3,876
3,614

1
2

T otal......................

18,823

113
102
112
112
112

0.11
.22

1
5

112
100
112
111
107

.11
.55

11.89
10.68
11.72
11.46
11.84

542

551

.19

11.52

228

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

N U M B E R OF A C C ID E N T S A N D A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y R A T E S IN THE GOVERN
M E N T S E R V IC E , 1921 T O 1925, B Y D E P A R T M E N T S A N D Y E A R S — Continued

Frequency rates (per 1,000,000
hours’ exposure)

N umber of accidents
Year

N um ber of
employees
Fatal

Nonfatal

Total

Fatal
Nonfatal
accidents accidents

Total

!
Department of the Navy
1921...................................
1922........ ...........................
1923................................1924___ ;...... ........ ...........
1925...................................

60,653
42,515
40,557
42,686
42,842

36
27
30
28
24

2,918
1,516
1,423
1,882
1,662

2,954
1, 543
1,453
1,910
1,086

0.24
.25
.30
.26
.23

19.25
14.27
14.04
17.64
15.52

19.48
14.52
14.33
17.90
15.74

Total......................

229,253

145

9,401

9, 54G

.25

16.40

16.66

Post Office Department
1921...................................
1922................. .................
1923...................... ..........
1924________ __________
1925...................................

281,658
284,207
294,226
301,000
304,092

62
64
50
42
47

5,218
6,196
6,559
7,395
7,488

5,280
6,260
6,609
7,437
7,535

0.08
.10
.07
.06
.06

7.42
8.72
8.92
9.83
9.85

7.50
8.81
8.99
9.89
9.91

Total......................

1,465,183

265

32,856

33,121

.07

8.96

9.04

Department of the Treasury
1921...................................
1922.................................
1923...................................
1924........ ........ .................
1925...................................

68,648
56,392
53,604
53,121
52,607

30
44
17
16
22

1,157
1,203
938
1,013
1,037

1,187
1,247
955
1,029
1,059

0.18
.31
.13
.12
.17

6.74
8.53
7.00
7.63
7.88

6.91
8.84
7.13
7.75
8.05

Total......................

284,372

129

5,348

5,477

.18

7.52

7.70

Department of War
1921...................................
1922...................................
1923............ .......................
1924___________________
1925...................................

53,553
46,840
44,842
45,906
38,975

124
104
96
102
115

6,125
5,648
4,913
5,295
5,793

6,249
5,752
5,009
5, 397
5,908

0.92
.89
.85
.89
1.18

45.74
48.23
43.82
46.14
59.45

46.68
49.12
44.68
47.03
60.64

T otal......................

230,116

541

27, 774

28, 315

.94

48.28

49.22

All other Government services
1921...................................
1922............................ .
1 9 2 3 ................................
1924................. ........ .........
1925. ...................... ..........

37,785
48,589
46,373
46,940
44,322

74
67
42
37
53

582
947
1,008
1,238
1,602

656
1,014
1,050
1,275
1,655

0.78
.55
.36
.31
.48

6.16
7.80
8.70
10.55
14.46

6.95
8.34
9.06
10.86
14.94

T ota l.....................

224,009

273

5,377

5,650

.49

9.60

10.09

Accident Record by Industry
Building Construction
ABLE 1 presents several interesting phases of hazard in build
ing construction. The rates for Group A illustrate the effect
of accident-prevention effort directed primarily toward severe
accidents. In this group there was marked improvement in the sever-

229

ACCIDENT RECORD BY INDUSTRY

ity rates while frequency rates were practically at a standstill. The
rates for Group B show what can be accomplished by intensive effort
applied to the reduction of both frequency and severity of accidents.
Data for Groups Cl and C2 illustrate the fluctuating and very high
rates which thus far have appeared in every record of experience in
fabrication and erection.
T a b l e 1.—N U M B E R

OF F U L L -Y E A R W O R K E R S , N U M B E R OF A C C ID E N T S , A N D
A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S IN B U IL D IN G C O N S T R U C T IO N ,
1919 TO 1925, B Y Y E A R S

Hours of
exposure
(thou
sands)

Year

Group A (general contractors):
1919-............................. ..........................................
1920___............... .............. .........................................
1921............................ . . . .......... ... ............................
1922 i__............. ........................ .......................... . .
1923
.................................................................
1924 3...... .......... ........................................................
Group B (general contractors):4
1919.__.......................................................................
1920............................................................................
Group C l (fabricators and erectors):
1922 i ...........................................................................
1923 2 .......................................................................
Group C2 (fabricators and erectors): 6
1923— .....................................................................
1924............................................................................
1925..... ...................................................................

Fre
quency
rates (per
Full-year Number
of acci 1,000,000
workers
dents
hours’ ex
posure)

Severity
rates
(per 1.000
hours’ ex
posure)

4,140
7,635
3,695
17,527
22,633
19,009

1,380
2,545
1,232
5,842
7,544
6,337

216
300
184
1,268
1,226
1,118

52.2
39.3
49.8
72.4
54.2
58.8

6.1
10.1
3.4
5.8
4.8
4.6

14,788
11,362

4,929
3,787

247
177

16.7
15.6

3.1
1.2

3,949
533

1,316
178

564
122

142.8
228.9

5.4
65.6

2,043
2,546
2,592

681
849
864

213
251
196

104.0
97.0
76.0

8.3
22.6
10.0

1 National Safety News, July, 1923, p. 48.
2 Idem, July, 1924, p. 42.
* Idem, July, 1925, p. 40.

4 Idem, August, 1921, p. 23.
* Idem, M ay, 1926, p. 10.

Coal Mines
TTHE data presented below regarding accidents in coal mines are
A derived from the publications of the United States Bureau of
Mines.
Rates in these tables are given in terms of 1,000,000 hours’ ex
posure. This is an approximation, since it was impossible from the
data available to determine exactly the number of hours worked.
The relations of these rates among themselves are correct, but they
are not perfectly comparable with similar rates found in other
portions of this bulletin.
It will be noticed that in Table 2 there are two methods of pre
senting the facts; namely, the rate per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure
and the rate per 1,000,000 tons mined. It is desirable to consider
both of these rates. That based on hours of exposure gives a meas
ure of the hazard of fatal injury encountered by the men. The rate
by quantity mined measures the cost of coal in terms of fatal acci
dents. It may be regarded as a satisfactory condition when both
these rates are declining with reasonable rapidity.
From 1907 to 1924 fatalities per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure declined
23.6 per cent, while fatalities per 1,000,000 tons mined declined 38.5
per cent. This more rapid decline of cost as compared with hazard
is undoubtedly related to the introduction of machinery and im
proved methods. While a more rapid decline might fairly be
expected, it is gratifying that the movement is in the right direction.
38690°— 27------ 16

230

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

T a b le 2 .—M E N E M PL O Y E D , AVERAGE PRODUCTION PER M AN, M EN K ILLE D , AND
FA TA L IT Y RATES IN COAL MINES IN THE U NITED STATES, 1907 TO 1925, B Y YEARS
Average
production
per man
(tons)

M en employed
Tons mined
(short tons)

Year

Actual
number
1907.........................
1908.........................
1909-_ ...................
1910--................. .
1911_____________
1912-......................
1913 ........................
1914_____________
1915_____ ____ —
1916............ ............
1917.......... ..............
1918........................
1919_____ ____ _
1920-.....................
1921— .................1922_____________
1923-......................
1924__............... —
1925.......................

477,892,536
409,309,857
460,807,263
501,596,378
496,371,126
534,466,580
570,048,125
513,525,477
531,619,487
590,098,175
651,402,374
678,211,904
553,952,259
658,264,932
506,395,401
476,951,121
657,903,671
571,613,400
585,083,000

674,613
678,873
666,535
725,030
728,348
722,662
747,644
763,185
734,008
720,971
757,317
762,426
776,569
784,621
823,253
848,932
860,560
779,613

Full-year Per
workers year

Per
day

708
603
691
692
682
740
762
673
724
818
860
890
713
839
615
565
764
733

3.07
3.09

519,452
441,267
531,689
534,122
541,997
593,131
526,598
511,598
565,766
634,666
654,973
542,217
601,283
474,529
405,056
560,000
499,894

3.14
3.10
3.29
3.20
3.25
3.46
3.48
3.42
3.45
3.41
3.65
3.56
3.92
3.91
3.81

M en
killed

Fatality
rate per
1,000,000
hours*
exposure

Produc
tion per
death
(short
tons)

2.08
1.85

147,407
167,407
174,416
177,808
186,887
220,945
204,685
209,261
234,297
265,094
241,618
262,873
239,082
289,857
254,854
233,576
267,492
240,072

3,242
2.445
2,642
2,821
2,656
2,419
2,785
2,454
2,269
2,226
2,696
2,580
2,317
2,271
1,987
1,979
2,458
2,381
2,230

1.77
1.66
1.49
1.57
1.55
1.48
1.31
1.42
1.31
1.42
1.26
1.40
1.63
1.46
1.59

Fatali
ties per
1,000,000
tons
mined

6.78
5.97
5.73
5.62
5.35
4.53
4.89
4.78
4.27
3.77
4.14
3.80
4.18
3.45
3.92
415
3.74
41 7

Table 3 summarizes the facts regarding the place of occurence
and the cause of accidents in coal mines from 1916 to 1924. The
underground occupations have much the larger share of fatalities,
and nearly or quite half of the underground fatalities result from
falls of material from roof or face. Attention has perhaps been too
much directed to those startling “ major casualties ” in which by
explosion of gas or dust many hundreds of lives may be suddenly
brought to a close. Inspection of the rates in Table 2 will show
that such explosions stand third in order of importance.
It would be advantageous if the underground and surface exposure
could be separated. The underground rates would doubtless be
higher and surface rates lower than those of the table, which are
based upon the entire exposure, it not being possible from the data
at hand to make this separation.
T a b le 3.—F A T A L IT IE S IN C O A L M IN E S IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S , 1916 T O 1925, B Y
Y E A R , P L A C E OF O C C U R R E N C E , A N D CAU SE

Place and cause

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

Num ber of fatalities
Underground:
Falls o f roof or face_________________
Cars and locomotives______________
Explosions, gas or dust........................
Explosives .............................................
E lectricity.................. .........................
M iscellaneous______ ____ _________

962 1,218 1,294 1,100 1,132 1,024
381
341
390
482
506
408
129
191
164
170
362
116
135
111
146
206
128
152
79
88
69
90
76
80
269
127
129
130
112
118

905 1,162 1,062
415
341
350
311
372
536
92
114
100
74
75
81
77
117
100

1,078
360
345
102
84
100

Total underground........................... 2,027 2,379 2,281 2,077 2,020 1,831 1,800 2,255 2,229

2,069

Shaft...............................................................

Surface:
Haulage.................. .................—..........
Machinery_________________________
Miscellaneous______________________

75
26
49

114
51
100

118
47
82

93
28
66

78
29
88

45
17
58

54
23
61

59
26
72

70
8
60

40
9
78

Total surface........... ................. ........

150

265

247

187

195

120

138

157

138

127

Grand total............. .......................... 2,226 2,696 2.58ft 19.217 2,271 1,987 1,979 2,458 2,396

2,230

231

ACCIDENT RECORD BY INDUSTRY

T a b le 3.—FATALITIES IN COAL M INES IN THE U N ITED STATES, 1916 TO 1925, B Y
Y EAR, PLACE OF OCCU RREN CE, AN D CAUSE—Continued
Place and cause

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

Fatality rates (per 1,000,000 hours' exposure)
Underground:
Falls of roof or face...........
Cars and locomotives___
Explosions, gas or dust...
Explosives................. ........
Electricity................. ........
Miscellaneous........... ........

0.66

.09
.05
.16

0.64
.25
.19
.06
.04
.07

0.57
.23

.10

.26
.07
.07
.04
.06

0.72
.24
.08

0.74
.28

0.69
.25

.13
.04
.08

0.63
.23
.09
.07
.04
.06

.06
.08

.06
.06

.07
.04
.07

0.70
.23
.36
.07
.05
.07

1.34

1.48

0.68
.23

.12

.11

1.19

1.25

1.16

1.28

1.12

1.29

1.48

Shaft...........................................

.03

Surface:
Haulage..............................
Machinery.........................
Miscellaneous....................

..02

.05

.06
.03
.05

.06

.04

.03

.04

.02

.05
.02
.05

1.31

1.42

Total underground___

.14

Total surface..................
Grand total....................

.02

.01

.05

.04

.12 .11 .11

.08

1.31

1.42

1.26

.22

.02
.04

.05

.01 .01

.04

.12

.09

1.63

1.46

1.59

Coke Ovens
A CCIDENT rates in coke ovens, as compiled from data published
* * by the United States Bureau of Mines, are shown in Table 4.
A striking feature of the table is the very great falling off in the
number employed in the beehive ovens, the number employed in
1925 amounting to only about 40 per cent of the number of em
ployees in 1916. This, of course, means the discarding of a waste
ful and inefficient method, but apparently the increased use of
machinery gives accident rates rather higher in by-product ovens
than in beehive ovens. The rates in both the beehive ovens and the
by-product ovens show a reduction for both fatalities and injuries
in 1924 and 1925, although the average for the years 1921 to 1925 in
beehive ovens is higher than in the preceding five-year period.
T a b le 4.—N U M B E R OF M E N E M P L O Y E D A N D A C C ID E N T S A N D A C C ID E N T R A T E S
IN B E E H IV E A N D B Y -P R O D U C T C O K E O VEN S, 1916 T O 1924, B Y Y E A R S

M en employed
M en
killed

Year
Actual
number
Beehive ovens:

M en
injured

Frequency
rates
(p e r
1,000,000
hours’ exposure)
M en
killed

Full-year
workers

1916.........................................................
1917.........................................................
1918 ....................................................
1919.........................................................
1920.........................................................

18,570
18,820
16,442
13,333
10,955

18,591
19,295
16,436
10,829
10,094

24
25
19
10
11

1,866
1,822
2,155
1,364
1,035

0.43
.43
.39
.31
.36

M en
injured

33.46
31.48
43.70
41.99
34.18

Average, 5 years . ______________ _

15,624

15,049

1,649

.40

33.53

1921.........................................................
1922.........................................................
1923.........................................................
1924.......... .............................................
1925.......... .............................................

6,011
7,871
8,515
6,450
7,246

2,835
4,823
7,144
4,025
5,140

5
8
12
3
4

336
474
875
457
498

.59
.55
.56
.25
.26

39.51
32.76
40.83
37.85
32.30

Average, 5 years____________________

7,219

4,793

528

.49

36.70

232

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

T a b le 4 .—N U M BE R OF M EN E M PLO Y E D A N D ACCIDEN TS AN D A C C ID E N T RATES
IN BEEHIVE AN D B Y-PROD U CT COKE OVENS, 1916 TO 1924, B Y YEARS—Continued

M en employed
M en
killed

Year

M en
injured

Actual Full-year
number workers
B y-product ovens:

Frequency
rates
(per
1,000,000
hours’ exposure)
M en
killed

1916.........................................................
1917— ____ ________________________
1918 _____________________________
1919____ _____ _____ —- ......... ............
....... .............. - ...........
1920

13,033
13,597
15,947
15,408
17,184

15,528
16,300
19,040
16,845
19,827

21
51
54
43
38

3,371
4,891
5,637
2,667
2,380

Average, 5 years________________ _

15,034

17,508

3,789

.78

72.14

1921.........................................................
1922 ........................... - ........................
1923_______________________________
1924_____________ _______ - .................
1925.........................................................

10,193
11,407
15,214
14,001
16,008

11,033
13,413
18,483
16, 656
18,914

12
21
33
21
24

1,517
1,236
1,718
1,188
1,198

.36
.52
.60
.42
.42

45.83
30.72
30.98
23.78
21.11

Average, 5 years____________________

13,365

15,700

1,371

.47

29.11

1916..................................... - ..................
1917................. - .............. ......................
1918_________ ___________ ____ - ........
1919.................. .............. - .....................
1920........................... - .............. .............

31,603
32,417
32,389
28,741
28,139

34,119
35, 595
35, 476
27,674
29,921

45
76
73
53
49

5,237
6.713
7,792
4,031
3,415

.44
.71
.69
.64
.55

51.16
62.86
73,21
48.55
38.04

Average, 5 years____________________

30,658

32, 557

5,438

.60

55.68

1921 .....................................................
1922..............................— ...................
1923_________ ______ ______ ____ ____
................. - ........... — ...........
1924
1925.......................................... - ...........

16,204
19,278
23,729
20,451
23,254

13,868
18, 236
25, 627
20,681
24,054

17
29
45
24
28

1,853
1, 710
2,593
1,645
1,696

.41
.53
.59
.39
.39

44.54
31.26
33.73
26. 51
23.50

20,583

20,493

1,899

.47

30.89

A ll coke ovens:

Average, 5 years___________________

0.45
1.04
.95
.85
.64

M en
injured

72.36
100.02
98.69
52.78
40,01

Explosives, Dyes, and Chemicals Industry
'T H E first part of Table 5 records the experience to and including
the year 1920 of one large company engaged in the manufacture
of explosives, dyes, and chemicals. The second part covers the experi
ence of several companies which are members of the chemical section
of the National Safety Council. The table is not extended enough in
some particulars to warrant conclusions, but the general impression is
of a very decided declining tendency both in frequency and severity.
T

5 . — N U M B E R OF F U L L -Y E A R W O R K E R S , N U M B E R OF A C C ID E N T S , A N D
A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S IN T H E M A N U F A C T U R E OF
E X P L O S IV E S , D Y E S , A N D C H E M IC A L S , 1908 T O 1924, B Y Y E A R S i

able

Year

1908 . .
...... .......................- .....................
1909.......................... ........... ........ ..................
1910.......................- ........................ ................
1911................... .......................- ...................
1 91 2 ............................... ........ ......................
1913.......... ........... - .........................................
1914..................... ...............: ...........................
1915..................................................................
1916..................................... - ..........................
1917...........................................- .....................
1918................- ................................................
1919..................................................................
1920...............- ...............................................

Hours of
exposure

9,963,000
12.129.000
14.070.000
14,184, 000
13.719.000
12.873.000
12,399, 000
160.398.000
112.581.000
119.202.000
195.405.000
51.624.000
48.396.000

i National Safety News, Feb. 21,1921, p. 4.

Full-year
workers

3,321
4,043
4,690
4,728
4,573
4,291
4,133
53,466
37,527
39,734
65,135
17,208
16,132

Frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours'
exposure)
Fatal
accidents

Nonfatal
accidents

3.50
2.06
2.20
1.20
.80
1.71
.57
.59
1.07
.43
.46
.41
.50

25.87
36.05
35.33
25.69
18.22
16.30

Total

26.46
37.12
35.76
26.15
18.63
16.80

233

ACCIDENT RECORD BY INDUSTRY
T able 5.—N U M B E R

OF F U L L -Y E A R W O R K E R S , N U M B E R OF A C C ID E N T S , A N D
A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S IN T H E M A N U F A C T U R E OF
E X P L O S IV E S , D Y E S , A N D C H E M IC A L S , 1908 T O 1924, B Y Y E A R S — Continued

Hours of
exposure

Year

1910..................................................................
1920..................................................................

14,070,000
48,396,000

Full-year
workers

Num ber
of
accidents

Frequency
rates (per
1,000,000
hours'
exposure)

Severity
rates
(per 1,000]
hours’
exposure)

30.57
16.80

14.43
3.67

5.08

2.80

17.61

6.14

24.55
26.13

4.78
3.07

430
813

4,690
16,132

Explosives
1924 2................................................................

4,330,000

1,443

Dye manufacture
1924 a................................................................

5,450,000

1,817

96
Chemicals

1923 2................................................................
1924 2 ................................................................

18,044,000
48,450,000

6,015
16,150

422
1,187

* Idem, June, 1925, p. 31.

Iron and Steel Industry
T 'H E Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual study of accidents in the
*
iron and steel industry for the year 1925 showed a decline in
accident rates as compared with 1924. This decline has been almost
constant during the whole period of 16 years during which the bureau
has been compiling such statistics.
There is, however, a marked difference between the experience of
those plants in which energetic and continuous safety work has been
carried on and those in which safety work has not been given such
prominence. In the former group the reduction in accident fre
quency since 1913 has been approximately 86 per cent, while the
reduction in the case of those plants in which safety work has not
been so stressed has been only about 15 per cent.
The records of the Bureau of Labor Statistics now cover the
experience of the iron and steel industry for the period from 1910 to
1925. To illustrate what has happened in this interval, and also to
show the results obtained by intensive accident-prevention effort,
Tables 6 and 7 are presented.
Table 6 shows the accident experience of a group of plants in the
iron and steel industry which produce approximately 50 per cent of
the output, and which were not only among the first to undertake
accident prevention, but have continued a safety campaign with
great energy and persistence. Table 7 shows the accident experience
of all the plants covered by the study, including the plants of
Table 6 as well as another group in which safety work has been less
emphasized.
The two tables are not identical in form but in a general way they
are comparable. Table 6 is on an annual basis, while Table 7 is for
periods of five years.

234

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

I f the rates in the total column of Table 6 for the year ending with
December, 1913, be compared with the rates for all departments in
Table 7 for the 5-year period ending with 1913 it will be noted that
the frequency rates are 60.3 for Table 6 and 62.1 for Table 7. That
is to say, up to the time indicated the results in the section repre
sented by the selected plants in Table 6 were but slightly more
satisfactory than in the industry at large, including those special
plants. Computing the rate for that half of the industry not
included in Table 6 it is found to be 63.9. This compared with 60.3,
the rate for plants grouped in Table 6, gives an idea of the progress
made at that time by concerns most actively engaged in accident
prevention as compared with those which had more recently, and in
some cases not yet, undertaken an effort for safety.
I f the figures for the year ending December, 1925, and the 5-year
period ending with 1925 are compared it will be found that Table 6
shows a frequency of 8.2 while a computation for the portion not
included in Table 6 gives a frequency of 54.4. In other words, the
portion of the industry which has devoted most attention to accident
prevention has made an 86 per cent reduction while the portion of
the industry not included in Table 6 has made a 15 per cent reduction.
The fact that one table is on an annual and the other on a 5-year
basis makes this comparison somewhat unfair to the plants shown
only on the 5-year basis. It is safe to say, however, that in the
companies which have undertaken the task of accident prevention
most seriously the results have been the most striking. The impor
tant thing is that a similar result is possible to any plant which is
willing to make a corresponding effort.
T able 6 . —A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y R A T E S (P E R 1,000,000 H O U R S ’ E X P O S U R E ) F O R A
G R O U P OF IR O N A N D S T E E L P L A N T S IN W H IC H S A F E T Y W O R K H A S B E E N
S T R E S SE D , B Y P R O D U C T S A N D B Y Y E A R S , 1913 T O 1925

Year ending—

Fabrica
tion

Sheets

Wire

Tubes

Miscellaneous steel
products
Total
Group A Group B

December, 1913.. ..........................
June, 1914____ _______ ________
December, 1914.................. ..........
June, 1915.......................... ...........
December, 1915_______ ________
June, 1916......................................
December, 1916...................... .......
June, 1917.......................................
December, 1917.............................
June, 1918_________ ___________
December, 1918_____ __________
June, 1919......................................
December, 1919............... ..............
June, 1920_________ ___________
December, 1920.............................
June, 1921...................... ...............
December, 1921.............................
June, 1922.......................................
December, 1922.............................
June, 1923.......................................
December, 1923.............................
June, 1924.......................................
December, 1924.............................
June, 1925.......................................
December, 1925.............................

100.3
75.5
59.0
51.2
53.5
54.5
52.1
53.3
51.3
45.7
38.2
33.6
32.8
35.3
35.3
32.4
28.4
29.7
38.8
33.2
32.6
34.7
33.4
28.8
27.4

61.6
53.7
47.2
41.8
37.3
36.5
34.0
32.3
33.9
31.3
25.9
24.4
25.8
25.0
22.7
20.2
17.5
16.8
16.9
19.0
17.2
12.9
10.3
10.6
11.4

59.3
51.0
46.2
44.3
52.4
52.2
48.2
42.6
32.5
24.6
18.8
15.4
12.5
12.2
12.0
9.3
7.5
7.9
7.9
7.9
7.9
7.4
6.2
4.4
4.2

27.2
19.1
12.5
8.7
10.8
12.2
12.4
11.5
10.2
9.9
9.1
8.7
9.1
9.2
8.9
7.3
6.1
6.4
7.1
7.7
7.0
6.0
5.1
4.4
4.0

70.9
62.8
50.7
42.7
51.9
62.7
67.6
62.2
51.3
45.2
42.0
40.7
39.7
38.0
35.3
27.6
15.8
13.1
14.5
14.3
13.9
13.5
11.8
10.3
9.8

41.3
33.3
27.6
23.3
23.0
27.0
28.2
24.5
20.5
24.3
31.4
28.4
23.0
21.2
18.6
15.5
12.1
10.9
10.8
10.3
9.8
9.1
7.9
5.2

3.7

60.3
51.6
43.5
38.0
41.5
44.7
44.4
40.5
34.5
31.1
28.8
27.1
26.1
25.0
22.9
18.7
13.2
12.3
13.0
13.3
12.7
11.6
10.2
8. 7
8.2

235

ACCIDENT RECOBD BY INDUSTRY
Table 7,—A C C ID E N T

Period

R A T E S IN T H E IR O N A N D S T E E L IN D U S T R Y , B Y D E P A R T M E N T S
A N D B Y 5-Y E A R P E R IO D S

All
depart
ments

Blast
furnaces

Bessemer
convert
ers

Open
hearth

Foun
dries

Heavy
rolling
mills

Plate
mills

Sheet
mills

Frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure)
1907 to
1908 to
1909 to
1910 to
1911 to
1912 to
1913 to
1914 to
1915 to
1916 to
1917 to
1918 to
1919 to
1920 to
1921 to

1911..................
1912..................
1913..................
1914..................
1 9 1 5 ...............
1916..................
1917..................
1918..................
1919..................
1920..................
1921..................
1922..................
1923..................
1924..................
1925..................

69.2
65.1
62.1
59.2
53.3
51.3
48.2
43.6
41.6
41.1
39.5
36.5
34.9
33.6
31.3

101.5
79.5
92.3
89.8
65.0
76.1
68.3
60.7
57.7
53.1
47.0
39.9
30.5
24.9
17.0

76.1
67.7
62.4
62.3
50.3
47.8
41.4
40.5
39.0
38.0
36.3
34.0
32.9
30.7
29.0

. 84.2
79.5
78.6
75.0
67.6
64.8
58.4
53.5
50.5
50.2
44.8
41.3
33.0
32.9
29.9

60.1
61.5
65.1
63.6
59.3
57.8
60.4
57.0
61.0
61.0
63.1
60.4
61.7
62.7
63.1

61.0
57.0
51.7
46.1
39.4
37.3
32 1
31.1
32.4
31.4
29.9
27.6
23.8
21.2
18.1

69.4
60.8
55.9
49.9
44.7
41.5
36.6
39.8
39.2
38.4
37.6
36.7
31.4
29.4
26.8

44.1
47.9
49.1
51.1
48.1
47.4
41.3
35.8
32.7
33.7
33.4
35.2
37.2
35.1
33.2

5.1
4.1
3.8
3.9
3.1
2.8
2.6
2.6
2.5
2.6
2.5
2.5
2.4
2.4
2.6

3.1
2.8
3.0
2.6
2.2
2.3
2.1
1.8
1.5
1.8
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.1
1.9

Severity rates (per 1,000 hours’ exposure)
1907 to
1908 to
1909 to
1910 to
1911 to
1912 to
1913 to
1914 to
1915 to
1916 to
1917 to
1918 to
1919 to
1920 to
1921 to

1911..................
1912..................
1913..................
1914..................
1915..................
1916..................
1917..................
1918..................
1919..................
1920..................
192 1 ................
1922..................
1923..................
1924..................
1925..................

5.0
4.3
4.4
4.1
3.6
3.7
3.7
3.5
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.1
3.0
2.8
2.7

10.6
8.8
8.3
7.0
6.2
5.8
5.6
5.4
5.8
5.7
5.7
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.6

7.6
7.4
6.7
6.4
5.3
6.1
7.1
7.3
6.9
6.3
5.4
4.2
3.2
2.6
3.2

7.5
6.6
6.8
6.6
5.8
5.5
5.1
5.8
6.5
6.3
5.8
5.3
42
4.2
4.0

2.7
3.1
3.5
3.6
3.3
3.1
3.3
3.2
3.4
3.2
3.2
2.7
2.7
2.8
3.1

4.4
4.2
4.0
3.6
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.4
3.9
3.5
3.3
2.9
2.4
2.3
2.6

Table 8 is derived from information regarding the group of iron
and steel plants included in Table 6 and gives accident frequency
rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure), by causes, from 1913 to 1925.
There is not a single case in which the rate for 1925 is not lowerthan that for 1913, usually very much lower. The important role
still played by machinery in accident experience is indicated by the
first line of the table. In every such compilation the frequency of
accidents due to handling is in excess of that from any other cause.
The percentages of decrease from 1913 to 1925 for the main groups
of the cause classification are as follows: Machinery, 78 per cent;
vehicles, 87 per cent; hot substances, 89 per cent; falls or persons,
76 per cent; handling, 87 per cent; unclassified, 91 per cent.
Table 8.—ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES (PER 1,000,000 HOURS’ EXPOSURE) IN A
PORTION OF THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY, 1913 TO 1925, BY YEARS AND
CAUSES

Accident cause

Machinery...............................
Working machines..........
Caught in...................
Breakage....................
M oving material i n .

1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925

7.3
3.8
2.5
.1
1.2

5.0
2.7
1.8
.1
.8

i Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

4.9
2.6
1.7
.1
.8

5.4
2.6
1.7
.1
.8

4.5
2.0
1.2
.1
.7

4.0
1.8

1.1
.1
.6

3.3
1.4
.9

.1
A

3.4
1.5
1.0
.1
.4

1.8
.8
.6
.1

2.2
1.1

.1
.3

2.3
1.0
.7
0)
.2

2.0
.8
.6

1.6
.7
.5

1913
to
1925
3.7
1.7
1.2
.1
.4

236

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

T a b l e 8.—A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y RATES (PE R 1,000,000 HOURS' EXPOSU RE) IN A

PORTION OP TH E IRON AN D STEEL IN D U STRY , 1913 TO 1925, B Y Y E A R S AND
C AU SE S—C ontinued

A ccident cause

1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925

Machinery—C ontinued
Cranes, etc........................ 3.5 2.3 2.3 2.8 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.9
Overhead................... 2.8 1.9 2.0 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.6 1.5
Locom otive...............
.2
.2
.2
.2
.3
.2
.2
.2
Other hoisting appa
ratus........................ .4
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.2
.2
Vehicles.................................... 2.3 1.9 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.3 1.2
.1
H ot substances........................ 5.4 3.6 3.7 4.5 3.6 3.0 2.8 2.5
Electricity........................
.4
.3
.3
.4
.3
.5
.2
.2
H ot m etal......................... 3.6 2.1 2.3 3.0 2.5 2.1 2.0 1.8
Hot water, etc.................. 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.1
.8
.6
.4
.6
Falls of persons....................... 4.5 4.1 3.5 3.7 3.2 2.8 2.8 2.5
From ladders...................
.1
.1
.1
.2
.3
.1
.1
.1
From scaffolds................. .2
.3
.2
.2
.2
.2
.2
.2
Into openings................... .2
.1
.3
.1
.1
.2
.1
.1
Due to insecure footing.. 3.8 3.7 3.1 3.1 2.6 2.3 2.3 2.1
Falling material, not other
wise specified....................... 1.2
.3
.7
.4
.4
.7
.6
H andling.................................. 26.7 19.4 20.6 21.5 15.7 12.8 11.7 10.4
Dropped in handling___ 11.2 7.3 7.6 8.4 6.1 5.5 5.0 4.4
Caught between.............. 3.4 2.6 2.6 3.1 2.1 1.7 1.7 1.3
Trucks............................... 1.9 1.0 1.4 1.4 1.2
.9
.7
.6
Lifting................................ 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.0 1.4 1.4 1.1
Flying from tools............
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.2
.2
Sharp points and edges.. 3.8 3.4 3.8 3.1 2.2 1.5 1.3 1.5
T ools.................................. 3.7 2.6 2.6 2.9 2.0 1.7 1.4 1.4
Miscellaneous.......................... 12.9 8.8 6.5 7.0 5.4 4.6 4.1 3.1
Asphyxiating gas............. .3
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.2
.2
Flying, not striking eye. .8
.5
.5
.4
.3
.3
.6
.6
Flying, striking eye........ 2.9 2.1 1.7 1.9 1.6 1.6 1.3 1.1
.4
.4
Heat................................... .9
.8
.1
.2
.1
.1
Other................................. 8.0 5.1 3.7 4.1 3.2 2.2 2.2 1.5

1913
to
1925

1.0
.8
.2

1.2
1.0
.1

1.3
1.1
.1

1.2
.9
.1

0 .9
.7
.1

2.0
1.6
.2

.1
.5
1.2
.1
.8
.2
1.7
.1
.1
.1
1.4

.1
.4
1.1
.1
.7
.3
1.5
.1
.1
0)
1.3

.1
.6
1.2
0)
.9
.2
1.4
.1
.1
.1
1.1

.1
.5
.9
.1
.6
.2
1.4
.1
.1
0)
1.1

.1
.3
.6
(l)
.4
.1
1.1
0)
.1
0)
.9

.2
1.1
2.6
.2
1.8
.6
2.6
.1
.2
.1
2.2

.1
6.5
2.6
.7
.5
.8
.1
1.1
.8
1.3
.5
.2
.5
.1
.6

.1
5.8
2.6
.7
.4
.8
.1
.6
.7
1.9
0)
.1
.4
.1
1.3

.1
5.5
2.3
.7
.4
.5
.1
.6
.8
1.8
.1
.3
.2
(0
1.1

.1
3.9
1.9
.5
.2
.3
(l)
.3
.6
1.6
0)
.2
.3
.1
1.0

.1
3.4
1.5
.4
.2
.3
0)
.4
.5
1.1
0)
.1
.2
0)
.8

.4
12.5
5.1
1.6
.8
1.4
.1
1.8
1.6
4.3
.1
.4
1.2
.2
2.4

Grand total................... 60.3 43.5 41.5 44.4 34.5 28.8 26.3 22.0 13.3 13.0 12.8 10.2

8.2

27.2

*Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

The causes of accidents in the iron and steel industry for three
selected departments, by years, are shown in Table 9, on the basis of
both frequency rates and severity rates.
In both frequency and severity rates there are examples of remark
able declines over the period shown. The severity rates are rather
irregular, as should be expected, as the exposure is not large enough
to smooth out these irregularities.
T able 9.—A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S IN S E L E C T E D D E P A R T
M E N T S , 1910 T O 1914 A N D 1920 T O 1924, B Y Y E A R S A N D A C C ID E N T CAU SES

Blast furnaces
1910

1911

1912

1913

1914

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

Accident cause
Aceid ent frequency rates (per 10,000,000 hours’ exposure)
21.6
19.7
113.2
78.7
143.0
108.3
138.0

38.3
2.3
132.7
33.7
55.3
94.3
65.0

23.0
6.0
89.3
53.0
66.7
74.3
103.0

28.0
4.0
86.6
26.0
62.3
56.3
40.3

57.4
43.0
31.7
43.0
65.7

17.6
13.7
50.0
23.1
21.9
61.2
41.7

7.2
8.7
30.2
17.9
14.3
41.4
26.5

10.1
8.1
32.6
12.7
16.6
27.9
27.9

12.2
9.1
34.5
14.7
15.6
37.1
20.9

15.2
6.8
30.2
15.8
18.7
35.3
20.5

T otal.................................. 622.5

421.6

415.3

303.5

249.5

229.2

146.2

135.9

144.1

142.5

M achinery..................................
Vehicles.... ...................................
H ot substances----------------------Falls of persons. ........................
Falling o b je c ts ...................—
Handling..... ................................
Unclassified.................................

8.7

237

ACCIDENT RECORD BY INDUSTRY

T able 9.—A C C I D E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R I T Y R A T E S IN S E L E C T E D D E P A R T
M E N T S , 1910 T O 1914 A N D 1920 T O 1924, B Y Y E A R S A N D A C C I D E N T C A U S E S — Con.

Blast furnaces— Continued
1910

1911

1912

1913

1914

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

Accident cause
A ccident severity rates (per 10,000 hours’ exposure)
M achinery..................................
Vehicles.... ..................................
H ot substances_______________
Falls of persons______________
Falling objects............. ..............
Handling.............— ................
Unclassified.................................

1.3
5.3
2,0
34.3
1.7
3.3
20.3

0.6
16.0
20.3
1.0
.7
1.3
16.7

2.0

14.0

0.3

.6
.7
.7
1.3
14.3

4.3
14.0
.3
2.3
14.0

4.6
1.0
.7
2.3
39.0

3.31
2.12
11.87
.31
1.08
1.56
3.00

1.10
.11
18.08
13.38
.28
.88
5.68

7.11
4.55
9.41
2.80
.37
.83
2.81

7.60
7.14
4. 76
3.79
.43
1.14
7.01

8.04
2.05
19.73
2. 32
4.35
2.82
7.76

Total..................................

68.2

56.6

19.6

48.9

47.9

23.25

39.51

27.88

31.87

47.07

Open, hearth furnaces
Accident frequency rates (per 10,000,000 hours’ exposure)
M ach in ery.................................
86.0
Vehicles......... ............ ................. 28.0
H ot substances.... ....................... 122.0
Falls of persons..... ........ ...........
0)
Falling objects............. ........... .
0)
Handling.......... .......................... 111.0
Unclassified................................ 292.0

70.0
27.0
133.0
0)
0)
82.0
198.0

61.0
42.0
127.0
0)
0)
84.0
209.0

44.0
49.0
110.0
(0
0)
77.0
225.0

47.0
8.0
83.0
0)
0)
75.0
169.0

49.6
28.0
72.1
27.8
41.0
99.0
51.7

26.0
15.0
50.2
28.1
42.7
87.9
43.2

25.9
13.3
39.8
21.4
37.5
57.8
30.5

33.5
13.6
47.1
21.7
29.7
47.6
26.7

23.2
10.1
43.4
23.2
33.1
59.8
21.4

T o t a l ................................ 639.0

510.0

523.0

505.0

382.0

369.2

293.1

226.2

219.9

214.2

Accident severity rates (per 10,000 hours’ exposure)
M achinery. .................................
V ehicles.......................................
H ot substances...........................
Falls of persons..........................
Falling objects............................
H andling. ...................................
Unclassified....... .........................

19.3
11.0
3.0

10.0
10.0
3.0

2.0
12.0
9.0

1.0
17.0
18.0

3.0
13.7

1.0
3.0

1.0
10.0

1.0
44.0

T otal. ...............................

50.0

27.0

34.0

81.0

0)
0)

1.0
4.0
23.0

3.0

15.37
11.15
8.62
1.75
5.66
3.76
3. 55

3.40
2.90
5.62
.50
.73
5.43
5.11

6.62
2.41
7.56
.38
2.59
1.30
.90

13.28
11.08
9.49
5.03
4.07
2. 21
3.89

10.87
5.24
6.48
4.59
2.63
3.05
.26

33.0

49.86

23.69

21. 76

49.05

33.12

h2.0

Plate mills
Accident frequency rates (per 10,000,000 hours' exposure)
Machinery.........
Vehicles_______
H ot substances..
Falls of persons _
Falling objects..
Handling______
Unclassified.......
Total____

164.0
18.0
53.0
0)
0)
0)
491.0

120.0
12.0
47.0
0)
0)
0)
450.0

135.0
18.0
55.0
0)
0)
0)
552.0

93.0
17.0
55.0
0
0)
0)
434.0

49.0
2.0
24.0
0)
0)
0)
220.0

49.3
1.6
23.0
16.1
40.8
101.0
68.4

31.9
2.2
15.4
11.0
27.5
87.6
39.5

35.4
1.6
24.4
15.0
53.5
62.1
40.1

27.5
3.4
11.0
8.9
33.7
41.2
9.6

12.0
17.6
38.4
34.4
28.8

726.0

629.0

760.0

599.0

295.0

300.2

215.1

232.1

135.3

163.2

32.0

Accident severity rates (per 10,000 hours’ exposure)
M achinery-.......
Vehicles.............
H ot substances..
Falls of persons.
Falling objects..
Handling______
Unclassified.......

34.0
15.0
1.0
0)
0)
(*)
11.0

2.0
.3
1.0
0)
(*)
(9
10.7

8.0
.3
1.0
0)
0)
0)
21.7

17.0
14.0
1.0
0)
0)
0)
6.0

.3
(9
0)
0)
5.4

18.83
.01
3.77
.21
.56
1.12
3.76

1.52
.02
.19
.11
6.82
3.77
.70

1.66
.20
.54
.33
.82
2.36
.44

5.35
.16
.20
4.72
.64
3.58
.23

’ .39
.42
5.57
2.49
.68

T otal____

61.0

14.0

31.0

38.0

7.0

28.26

13.13

6.35

14.88

17.63

i Not separately shown; included in “Unclassified.”

1.3

8.08

238

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

Metal Mines
n r ABLE 10 shows the accident rates for all metal mines from 1911
1 to 1924, as published by the United States Bureau of Mines.
The rate for injuries tends to rise. This is due, in considerable
measure, to better reporting rather than to increased hazard. This
appears when the fatality rates are considered. These decline for
underground workers from 1.83 in 1911 to 1.62 in 1924 (12 per cent).
Since fatalities are always more completely reported than are minor
injuries, this change may fairly be taken as an index of the shift in
hazard during this period. Inspection of the items of the table
will convince that there has been a real, though not very great,
downward tendency in fatality frequency.
T able

1 0 . — N U M B E R OF F U L L -Y E A R W O R K E R S A N D A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y R A T E S
F O R M E T A L M IN E S IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S (P E R 1,000,000 H O U R S ' E X P O S U R E ), 1911
T O 1924, B Y Y E A R S

Accident frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’
exposure)
Full-year workers
M en killed

Year

1911.........................
1912.........................
1913........................
1914........... ...........
1915_____________
1916........................
1917_____________
1918_____________
1919_____________
1920_____________
1921_____________
1922.......... .............
1923_____________
1924_____________

Under
ground

Surface

98,389
105,153
121,293
91,659
89,821
125,601
126,815
113,441
85,769
80,215
45,199
59,454
73,669
72,631

57,700
56,509
62,300
50,960
52,176
66,854
65,270
67,565
50,513
54,325
29,311
37,684
48,197
46,482

Total

156,089
161,662
183,593
142,619
141,997
192,455
192,085
181,006
136,282
134,540
74,510
97,138
121,866
119,113

Under
ground

Surface

1.83
1.65
1.51
1.70
1.67
1.52
1.91
1.51
1.51
1.39
1.34
1.67
1.31
1.62

0.88
.82
.72
.61
.65
.61
.64
.66
.53
.56
.55
.41
.54
.46

M en injured

Total

1.48
1.36
1.24
1.31
1.30
1.21
1.48
1.19
1.14
1.05
1.03
1.18
1.00
1.17

Under
ground

Surface

72.43
78.81
70.15
87.27
106.62
102.04
96.61
96.87
96.39
103.66
104.28
116.24
120.85
122.27

30.03
34.65
39.84
40.68
41.95
48.80
48.67
49.08
44.25
46.73
50.76
47.30
47.40
46.43

Total

56.76
63.37
59.86
70.62
82.85
83.55
80.32
79.03
77.06
80.67
83.23
89.49
91.80
92.68

Metallurgical Works
’’"TABLE 11 records the accident experience from 1913 to 1924 in
* metallurgical plants, as compiled by the United States Bureau
of Mines. Neither fatal nor nonfatal rates show any regular trend.
T able

1 1 . — A C C ID E N T S

A N D A C C I D E N T R A T E S IN M E T A L L U R G IC A L P L A N T S IN
T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S , 1913 TO 1924, B Y Y E A R S

M en employed
M en
killed

Kind of plant and year
Actual
number
Ore-dressing plants:
1913_____________ _____________ _
1914.___________ _________________
1915.......................................................
1916 i ...................................................
1917 i_____________________________
1918 i........... .........................................

14,985
15,128
18,564
22,470
24, 111
21,809

Full-year
workers

16,154
15,225
19,107
23,470
24,372
22,517

i Not including auxiliary works such as shops, yards, etc.

M en
injured

Frequency
rates
(p e r
1,000,000
hours’ exposure)
M en
killed

16
23
30
33
47
35

1,977
1,434
2,095
3,184
2,952
3,142

0.33
.50
.52
.47
.64
.55

M en
injured

40.79
31.40
36.55
45.22
40.37
46.51

239

ACCIDENT RECORD. BY INDUSTRY

T able 11.—A C C ID E N TS A N D A C C ID E N T R ATES IN M E TA L L U R G IC A L PLA N TS IN
TH E U N IT E D STATES, 1913 TO 1924, B Y Y E A R S —Continued

M en employed
M en
killed

K ind of plant and year
Actual
number
Ore-dressing plants—Continued.
191
9
1920 i....... ...................................
1921i...........................................
1922 i......... ............................ —
1923 i_— ....................................
1924 i........... ...............................
Smelting plan ts:2
191 3
...................................
191 4
_____ ____________
191 5
..........................
1916 i________________________
1917 i ._____ ___________ _____
1918 i________________________
1919 i...................................... .
19201.— .............................. —
1921 i.................. ........................
19221..........................................
1923 i......... .................................
1924 i...........................................

M en
injured

Full-year
workers

Frequency
rates
(p e r
1,000,000
hours’ exposure)
M en
killed

M en
injured

17,
16,
10,
11,
14,
15,

16,862
16,813
8,037
11,052
14,782
16,093

2,057
2,624
1,214
1,984
2,549
2,511

0.49
.44
.17
.36
.54
.41

40.74
54. 75
50.35
59.84
57.48
52.01

20,

24,309
32,336
36,262
49,363
50,659
45,439
31,324
30,411
14,204
20,887
26,677
29,231

4,247
5,673
5,718
9,656
7,745
6,743
4,431
4,147
2,129
3,002
3,487
3,293

.64
.34
.35
.24
.35
.31
.36
.23
.33
.26
.21
.18

58.24
58.48
52.56
65.20
50.96
49.47
47.15
47,44
49.96
47.90
43.57
37.55

15,763
17,014
20, 111
16,172
18,363
8,308
14,069
18,040
17,624

2,240
2,881
2,808
1,638
2,092
1,151
1,692
2,388
2,422

.30
.31
.28

47.37
56.44
46.54
33.76
38.73
46.18
40.09
44.12
45.81

27,
31,
43,
44,
39,
28,
26,
14,
19,
22,
24,

Auxiliary works:

1913,1914,1915 s .......................
1916-........... ..............................
1917_ ................................ .........
191 8
- ............................
191 9
__________ _____
192 0
............ .......... :
1921............ ....................... ........
192 2
.....................................
1924_

.10
.37
.36
.40
.31

1N ot including auxiliary works, such as shops, yards, etc.
2 N ot including iron blast furnaces.
» Included under ore dressing and smelting plants.

Paper Mills
Hr HE figures in Table 12 show the experience of the firms that are
A members of the paper section of the National Safety Council.
In the interval from 1920 to 1924 frequency declines from 46.34 to
41.58, or 10 per cent, and severity from 2.60 to 2.07, or 20 per cent.
T able 1 3 .—N U M B E R OF F U L L -Y E A R W O R K E R S , N U M B E R OF A C C ID E N T S , A N D
A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S , IN P A P E R M IL L S , 1920 T O 1924, B Y
YEARS i

Hours of
exposure
(thousands)

Year

1920....................................................
1921..................................... .............
1922..................................................
1923..................... ..............................
1924....................... .......... ..................

79,574
81,196
106,830
115,902
100,300

Full-year
workers

26,525
27,065
35,610
38,634
33,433

Number of
accidents

3,684
3,380
5,106
5,042
4,171

Frequency
rates (per
1,000,000
hours’
exposure)
46.34
41.68
47.77
43.50
41.58

Severity
rates
(per 1,000
hours’
exposure)
2.60
2.83
2.36
2.73
2.07

i National Safety News, June, 1925, p. 30.

Portland Cement Industry
'T'ABLE 13 is drawn from the publications of the Portland Cement
A Association. This organization was among the first to compile
statistics on a satisfactory basis and their annual studies are models
of statistical presentation.

240

in d u s t r i a l a c c id e n t s

The table shows a very steady decline in both frequency and
severity.
T

1 3 . — N U M B E R OF F U L L -Y E A R W O R K E R S , N U M B E R OF A C C ID E N T S , A N D A C C I
D E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S IN T H E M A N U F A C T U R E OF P O R T L A N D
C E M E N T , 1918 T O 1925, B Y Y E A R S i

able

Year

1918___________________ ______
1919__________________________
1920_____________________ _____
1921_________________________
1922__________________________
1923__________________________
1924__________________________
1925__________________________

Hours of
exposure
(thousands)

Full-year
workers

55,215
48,743
59,586
62,247
63, 527
76,641
87,767
97,415

18,405
16,248
19,862
20,749
21,176
25,547
29,256
32,472

Number of Number of
accidents
deaths

2,401
2,225
2,750
2,727
2,597
3,190
3,098
2,541

Frequency
Severity
rates (per
rates (per
1,000,000
1,000
hours*
hours’ ex
exposure)
posure)

38
39
53
44
52
43
60
61

43.50
45.65
46.16
43.81
41.00
41.62
35.30
26.08

6.05
7.15
7.60
6.18
6.50
5.48
5.87
5.00

i Portland Cement Association: Study of accidents, 1918; Accident Prevention Bulletin, SeptemberOctober, 1920; July-August, 1921; May-June, 1922; May-June, 1923; M arch-April, 1924; July-August,
1925; and May-June, 1926.

Quarries
rT ,ABLE 14 records the facts regarding quarry accidents from
*
1911 to 1924, as published by the United States Bureau of
Mines. Fatality rates show a slight decline, especially noticeable
in the last four years. The nonfatal injuries have a rising rate.
T able 1 4 .— N U M B E R

OF M E N E M P L O Y E D , N U M B E R OF M E N K IL L E D A N D I N
JU R E D , A N D A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y R A T E S F O R Q U A R R IE S IN T H E U N IT E D
ST A T E S , 1911 T O 1920, B Y Y E A R S

Men employed
M en
killed

Year
Actual
number

M en
injured

Full-year
workers

F req u en cy rates
(p e r 1,000,000
hours’ exposure)
M en
killed

M en
injured

1911______________________ ___________
1912__________________________________
1913__________________________________
1914__________________________________
1915__________________________________

110,954
113,105
106,278
87,936
100,740

84,417
93,837
87,141
68,187
82,447

Average, 5 years________________

103,803

83,206

182

1916_______________________ __________
1917_________ ____ - .......... - ..................1918__________________________________
1919__________________________________
1920_____________________ ________

90,707
82,290
68,332
75,505
86,488

76,457
71.525
59,285
63,794
77,089

173
131
125
123
178

Average, 5 years.............................

80,682

69,630

146

11,161

.70

53.43

Average, 10 years...........................

92,243

76,418

164

9,299

.72

40.56

1921_______________________ __________
1922__________________________________
1923__________________________________
1924__________________________________

77,185
79,081
92.455
94,242

59,958
68,861
85,153
84,246

120
132
143
138

10,465
11,839
14,990
14,777

,67
.64
.56
.54

58.18
57.31
58.68
58.34

188
213
183
ISO148

5,390
6,552
7,739
7,836
9,671

0.74
.76
.70
.88
.60

21.28
23.67
29.60
38.31
39.10

7,437

.73

29.80

13,427
13,242
8,719
9,199
11,217

.75
.61
.70
.64
.77

58.54
61.71
49.02
48.07
48.50

Railways, Electric
HTHE American Electric Railway Association has published figures
A regarding accidents on electric railways for the years 1923 and
1924. There were 105 companies which reported fully on the items
included in the inquiry. Table 15 presents the results.

241

ACCIDENT RECORD BY INDUSTRY

It will be noted that in nearly every comparison possible to make,
the year 1924 was more satisfactory than 1923. This is particularly
true in cases of injury per 1,000,000 passengers carried, the figures
being 6.48 for 1923 and 5.53 for 1924.
T able 1 5 .—A C C ID E N T E X P E R IE N C E OF 105 A M E R IC A N E L E C T R IC R A IL W A Y S IN
1923 A N D 1924

1923

Item

1924

Item

Car-miles operated........ 448,489,978
445,200,730
Passengers carried......... 3,051,621,122 3,239,039,582

1923

1924

Accidents per 1,000,000
car-miles—Continued.
B y collision with cars.

9.65

8.08

T o employees.............
T o passengers............
T o other persons........

10.87
44.11
21.61

10.39
40.29
21.91

N um ber of accidents
to—
Employees...............
Passengers...............
Other persons..........

4,875
19,784
9,691

4,627
17,935
9,758

T otal.....................

34,350

32,320

Total.........................

76.59

72.59

Num ber of fatalities___

337

338

Accidents to passengers
per 1,000,000 passengers
carried.............................

6.48

5.53

Accidents per 1,000,000
car-miles:
B y collision with
m otor vehicles__

195.87

194.35

Railways, Steam
T H E available records for American railways cover a longer period
* and are more inclusive than those of any other industry. The
Interstate Commerce Commission publishes accident bulletins con
taining very detailed information. The data in the tables which
follow are derived from these bulletins.
Table 16 presents summary figures showing the number killed and
injured during the period from 1888 to 1925. The greatly lessened
hazard is shown very conclusively by the figures for passenger
casualty. The peak ot passenger fatality was in 1907 when 610 were
killed. The high year for passenger injuries was 1913 with 15,130
cases. From this point there has been an irregular decline until
1925 when 171 passengers were killed and 4,952 injured.
The data for employees show the peak of fatality (4,534) also in
1907, the peak of injury (176,923) being in 1916. By 1925 fatalities
had declined to 1,594 and injuries to 118,874.
T able 16.—N U M B E R OF P A S S E N G E R S , E M P L O Y E E S , A N D O T H E R PE R S O N S K IL L E D
O R IN JU R E D IN R E P O R T A B L E S T E A M R A IL W A Y A C C ID E N T S
T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S , 1888 TO 1924, B Y Y E A R S 1

Passengers

Employees

OF A L L K IN D S IN

Other persons

Total

Year ending—
Killed
June 30,1888........
June 30,1889
June 30,1890........
June 30,1891
June 30,1892 ...
June 30,1893........
June 30,1894
June 30,1895........
June 30,1896........

315
310
286
293
276
299
324
170
181

Injured
2,138
2,146
2,425
2,972
3,227
3,229
3,034
2,375
2,873

Killed
2,070
1,972
2,451
2,660
2,554
2,727
1,823
1,811
1,861

Injured
20,148
20,028
22,396
26,140
28,267
31,729
23,422
25,696
29,969

Killed
2,897
3,541
3,598
4,076
4,217
4,320
4,300
4,155
4,406

Injured
3,602
4,135
4,206
4,769
5,158
5,435
5,433
5,677
5,845

Killed
5,282
6,823
6,335
7,029
7,147
7,346
6,447
6,136
6,448

Injured
25,888
26,309
29,027
33,881
36,652
40,393
31,889
33,748
38,687

1 Figures for years 1911 to 1915 include industrial and other nontrain accidents to employees only; and
for years 1908 to 1910 do not cover switching and terminal roads; otherwise, the statement covers all reportable accidents.

242

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

T able 16.— N U M BE R OP PASSENGERS, EM PLOYEES, AND OTH ER PERSONS K ILLED

OR INJURED IN REPO RTA B LE STEAM R A ILW A Y A C CIDEN TS OP ALL KINDS IN
THE U N ITED STATES, 1888 TO 1924, B Y YEARS—Continued
Passengers

Employees

Other persons

T otal

Year ending—
Killed
June 30,1897........
June 30,1898........
June 30,1899........
June 30,1900
June 30,1901
June 30,1902.
June 30,1903
June 30,1904,
June 30,1905
June 30,1906........
June 30,1907...
June 30,1908..
June 30,1909.,
June 30,1910.
June 30,1911.. .
June 30,1912..
June 30,1913-.
June 30,1914.. ..
June 30,1915...
June 30,1916........
Dec. 31,1916...
Dec. 31,1917..
Dec. 31,1918
Dec. 31,1919
Dec. 31,1920
Dec. 31,1921.......
Dec. 31,1922........
Dec. 31,1923
Dec. 31,1924
..
Dec. 31, 1925
...

222
221
239
249
282
345
355
441
537
359
610
381
253
324
299
283
350
232
199
239
246
301
471
273
229
205
200
138
149
171

Injured
2,795
2,945
3,442
4,128
4,988
6,683
8,231
9,111
10,457
10,764
13,041
11,556
10,311
12,451
12,042
14,938
15,130
13,887
10,914
7,488
7,152
7,582
7,316
7,456
7,591
5,584
6,153
5,847
5,354
4,952

Killed
1,693
1,958
2,210
2,550
2,675
2,969
3,606
3,632
3,361
3,929
4,534
3,405
2,610
3,382
3,602
3,635
3,715
3,259
2,152
2,687
2,941
3,199
3,419
2,138
2,578
1,446
1,648
2,022
1,533
1,594

Injured
27,667
31,761
34,923
39,643
41,142
50,524
60,481
67,067
66,833
76,701
87,644
82,487
75,006
95,671
126,039
142,442
171,417
165,212
138,092
160,663
176,923
174,247
156,013
131,018
149,414
104,530
116,757
152,218
124,882
118,874

Killed
4,522
4,680
4,674
5,066
5,498
5,274
5,879
5,973
5,805
6,330
6,695
6,402
5,859
5,976
6,495
6,667
6,899
6,811
6,270
6,438
6,814
6,587
5,396
4,567
4,151
4,345
4,477
5,225
4,935
5,001

Injured
6,269
6,176
6,255
6,549
7,209
7,455
7,841
7,977
8,718
10,241
10,331
10,187
10,309
11,385
12,078
12,158
13,761
13,563
13,034
12,224
12,647
12,976
11,246
10,579
11,304
10,571
11,961
13,647
13,503
13,603

Killed
6,437
6,859
7,123
7,865
8,455
8,588
9,840
10,046
9,703
10,618
11,839
10,188
8,722
9,682
10,396
10,585
10,964
10,302
8,621
9,364
10,001
10,087
9,286
6,978
6,958
5,996
6,325
7,385
6,617
6,766

Injured
36,731
40,882
44,620
50,320
53,339
64,662
76,553
81,155
86,008
97,706
111,016
104,230
95,626
119,507
150,159
169,538
200,308
192,662
162,040
180,375
196,722
194,805
174,575
149,053
168,309
120,685
134,871
171,712
143,739
137,435

Table 17 is drawn from Accident Bulletin Nos. 93 and 94 of the
Interstate Commerce Commission (p. 114) and relates solely to
trainmen on class I roads (i. e., roads whose annual operating reve
nues are above $1,000,000). The figures in the table have been re
arranged to permit comparisons which are somewhat difficult to
make in the original form. The rates have also been recalculated
on the basis of 1,000,000 hours’ exposure rather than of 1,000 men
employed. This renders them fairly comparable with rates com
puted for other industries. It is an important step toward general
comparability that the Interstate Commerce Commission has in re
cent years required exposure to be reported in terms of man-hours.
The table is of particular interest in view of recent discussion of
the question, “Are accidents increasing ? ” In the course of such
discussion it has become quite evident that our accident statistics
are as yet neither sufficiently extended nor sufficiently precise to
make possible a general answer to this question. There is a strong
tendency to draw conclusions from current experiences, and if the
present year shows higher rates or greater cost than the preceding
year to suspect that this is an indication of a general tendency.
The showing of the railway accident statistics is accordingly im
portant because they have been kept long enough and are of such a
degree of accuracy as to justify regarding their indications as de
pendable. They afford an opportunity for testing the immediate
impression by the trend disclosed by a longer interval*

243

ACCIDENT RECORD BY INDUSTRY

In this case, as always, the really informative figures are those of
rates for fatality and for injury. I f the number of trainmen, of
fatalities, and of injuries be considered separately it will be difficult,
.if not impossible, to see clearly what the figures indicate. It is only
when it is possible to unite the exposure with the number of cases or
with the loss of time expressed in days and so to produce frequency
or severity rates that the significance becomes evident. In this
railway group it is not possible to determine severity rates.
The following observations regarding accident frequency on the
railroads are suggested by inspection of the tables:
1. There was a marked drop from 1916 to 1925, this downward
tendency being evident in each of the occupational groups. The
fatality frequency for all trainmen declined 49 per cent and the
injury frequency 40 per cent.
2. There are two years during the period—1920 and 1923—in
which there was a decided upward tendency as compared with the
preceding years. For all trainmen fatalities rose 19 per cent from
1919 to 1920 and 14 per cent from 1922 to 1923. Rates for injury
rose 23 per cent from 1919 to 1920 and 9 per cent from 1922 to 1923.
3. As a rule there was a drop from 1916 to 1920 and a further drop
from 1920 to 1923.
4. In fatalities the lowest rates are found in 1924, while the lowest
year in injuries is 1921.
These figures are quite conclusive that whatever may be true of
other industries, American railways have maintained a successful
fight against conditions which tend toward increased accident rates.
T able 1 7 .—F A T A L IT IE S A N D IN JU R IE S A N D F R E Q U E N C Y R A T E S T H E R E F O R A M O N G
R A IL R O A D T R A IN M E N , 1916 T O 1925, B Y Y E A R A N D O C C U P A T IO N

Number of trainmen
Occupation

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

Yard service:
Engineers.............
F irem en...............
Conductors..........
Brakemen............

15,878
16,190
15,362
40,175

18,933
19,516
18,703
48,451

21,310
21,979
20,823
53,790

19,625
20,031
19,325
49,303

21,363
21,549
20,236
50,799

16,929
17,343
16,745
42,721

18,703
19,249
18,639
46,953

22,142
22,664
22,002
55,301

20,593
21,106
20,545.
51,77£

21,349
21,804
21,170
52,952

T otal.................
Road freight service:
Engineers.............
Firem en................
Conductors..........
Brakemen.............

87,605 105,603 117,902 108,284 113,947
31,675
33,637
25,430
63,285

34,155
36,828
27,152
67,818

34,990
38,102
27,679
69,048

30,907
32,938
25,181
61,989

33,594
35,756
27,297
67,127

93,738 103,544 122,109 114,019 117,275
28.317
30.317
22,598
56,620

29,372
31,507
23,254
57,746

34,137
36,504
26,901
65,750

31,015
33,346
24,864
60,539

30,653
32,714
24,919
59,981

T otal................. 154,027 165,953 169,819 151,015 163,774 137,852 141,879 163,292 149,764 148,267
Road passenger serv
ice:
Engineers.............
Firem en................
Conductors..........
Brakemen.............
Baggagemen.........

13,429
13,131
10,633
14,800
5,618

13,297
13,105
10,655
14,854
5,524

12,709
12,419
10,444
14,423
5,371

12,442
12,112
10,382
14,904
5,442

12,930
12,630
10,788
15,849
5,661

12,924
12,768
10,546
15,315
5,751

12,710
12,491
11,380
14,350
5,729

13,042
12,754
11,756
14,558
5,871

12,977
12,674
11,730
14,369
5,846

12,930
12,561
11,726
14,218
5,801

T otal.................. 57,611

57,435

55,366

55,282

57,858

57,304

56,660

57,981

57,596

57,236

All train m en ... 299,243 328,991 343,087 314,581 335,579 288,894 302,083 343,382 321,379 322,778

244

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

T a b l e 1 7 . — FATALITIES

AND INJURIES AND FREQU ENCY RATES T H E R E FO R AM ONG
RA ILR O A D T R AIN M E N , 1916 TO 1925, B Y Y E A R AND OCCUPATION—Continued

Fatalities
Occupation

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

Number
Yard service:
Engineers.............
Firemen................
Conductors..........
Brakemen.............

11
22
71
341

16
23
78
401

11
27
73
397

15
14
50
235

9
18
67
363

11
7
39
169

12
5
43
202

12
17
59
263

7
5
45
195

12
9
44
238

T otal.................

445

518

508

314

457

226

262

351

252

303

R oad freight service:
Engineers.............
Firemen................
Conductors........ .
Brakemen.............

70
107
72
432

72
122
88
478

84
132
104
527

66
70
63
310

63
84
62
396

32
36
48
186

46
44
37
201

55
59
60
262

37
43
47
168

34
30
40
188

Total................ -

681

760

847

509

605

302

328

436

295

292

Road passenger serv
ice:
Engineers.............
Firemen................
C onductors.........
Brakemen.............
Baggagemen........

45
52
6
8
2

56
49
5
18
8

59
50
11
25
5

50
51
6
17
4

69
52
6
16
4

37
36
9
10
2

40
39
3
9
6

44
45
7
10
3

32
31
4
13
1

44
36
5
7
4

T otal.................

113

136

150

128

147

109

A ll trainmen. _.

1,239

1,414

1,505

951

1,209

622

687

896

628

691

Frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure)
Y ard service:
Engineers. ...........
Firemen................
Conductors_____
Brakemen............

0.23
.45
1.54
2.83

6.28
.39
1.39
2.76

0.17
.41
1.17
2.46

0.25
.23
.86
1.59

0.14
.28
1.10
2.38

0.22
.13
.78
1.32

0.21
.09
.77
1.43

0.18
.25
.89
1.59

0.11
.08
.73
1.26

0.19
.14
.69
1.50

T otal.................

1.69

1.64

1.44

.97

1.34

.80

.84

.96

.74

.86

R oad freight service:
Engineers.............
Firemen............. .
Conductors..........
Brakemen............

.74
1.06
.94
2.28

.70
1.10
1.08
2.35

.80
1.15
1.25
2.54

.71
.71
.83
1.67

.63
.78
.76
1.97

.38
.40
.71
1.09

.52
.47
.53
1.16

.54
.54
.74
1.33

.40
.43
.63
.93

.37
.31
.54
1.04

T otal.................

1.47

1.53

1.66

1.12

1.23

.73

.77

.89

.66

Road passenger serv
ice:
Engineers.............
Firemen................
Conductors..........
Brakemen............
Baggagem en...

1.12
1.32
.19
.18
.12

1.40
1.25
.16
.40
.48

1.55
1.34
.35
.58
.31

1.34
1.40
.19
.38
.25

1.78
1.37
.19
.34
.24

.95
.94
.28
.22
.12

1.05
1.04
.09
.21
.35

1.12
1.18
.20
.23
.17

.82
.82
.11
.30
.06

1.13
.96
.14
.16
.23

T otal.................

.65

.79

.90

.77

.85

.55

.57

.63

.47

.56

A ll trainm en...

1.38

1.43

1.46

1.01

1.20

.72

.76

.87

.65

.71

245

ACCIDENT RECORD BY INDUSTRY

T a b l e 1 7 .—F A T A L IT IE S A N D IN JU R IE S A N D F R E Q U E N C Y R A T E S T H E R E F O R A M O N G

R A IL R O A D T R A I N M E N , 1916 T O 1925, B Y Y E A R A N D O C C U P A T IO N — Continued

Injuries
Occupation

1916

1917

1918

1919

1921

1920

1922

1923

1924

1925

Num ber
Yard service:
■Rnginfiprs___
Firemen________
Conductors_____
Brakemen______

1,078
1,644
1,993
12,209

1,032
1,905
1,815
12,004

908
1,708
1,440
10,472

680
1,171
1,249
8,296

1,023
1,691
1,607
11,666

546
854
1,094
6,711

746
1,082
1,414
7,562

835
1,561
1,630
10,223

727
1,104
1,498
8,328

654
1,123
1,595
8,663

T otal_________

16,924

16,756

14,528

11,396

15,987

9,205

10,804

14,249

11,657

12,035

Read freight service:
Engineers.............
F irem en._______
Conductors_____
Brakemp.n...

2,360
5,145
3,051
13,115

2,578
6,232
3,099
13,094

2,547
5,706
2,832
11,938

1,888
3,945
2,253
8,829

2,130
5,085
2,593
11,439

1,404
2,791
1,921
7,012

1,649
3,274
2,227
7,613

1,832
4,036
2,501
9,409

1,370
2,747
2,209
7,629

1,271
2,584
2,223
7,632

T otal.................

23,671

25,003

23,023

16,915

21,347

13,128

14,763

17,778

13,955

13,710

R oad passenger servvice:
Engineers_______
F irem en._______
Conductors_____
Brakemen............
Baggagemen........

714
1,245
298
718
361

738
1,444
327
699
368

777
1,253
304
674
283

660
1,176
263
579
292

804
1,535
274
688
344

602
997
209
570
269

715
1,144
282
570
308

761
1,295
304
639
316

617
1,017
302
587
303

532
943
241
533
303

T otal_________

3,336

3,576

3,291

2,970

3,645

2,647

3,019

3,315

2,826

2,552

A ll trainm en... 43,921

45,335

40,842

31,281

40,979

24,980

28,586

35,342

28,438

28,297

Frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure)
Yard service:
Engineers_______
Firem en.. . . . . .
Conductors_____
Brakemen_______

22.63
33.85
43.25
101.90

18.17
32.54
32.35
82.59

14.20
25.90
23.05
64.89

11.55
19.49
21.54
56.09

15.96
26.16
26.47
76.55

10.75
13.41
21.78
52.36

13.30
18.74
25.29
53.68

12.57
22.97
24.69
61.62

11.77
17.44
24.30
53.61

10.21
17.17
25.11
54.53

Total..................

64.40

52.89

41.07

35.08

46.77

32.73

34.78

38.90

34.08

34.21

R oad freight service:
Engineers_______
Firemen________
Conductors_____
Brakemen_______

24.83
50.99
39.99
69.08

25.16
56.41
38.05
64.36

24.26
49.91
34.10
57.63

20.36
39.92
29.81
47.48

21.13
47.40
32.89
56.80

16.53
30.69
28.34
41.28

18.71
34.64
31.92
43.95

17.90
36.85
20.99
47.70

14.72
27.46
29.61
42.01

13.82
26.33
29.74
42.41

Total..................

51.23

50.22

45.19

37.34

43.45

31.74

34.68

36.29

31.06

27.49

R oa d passen ger
service:
Engineers_______
Firemen_________
Conductors..........
Brakemen..........
Baggagemen........

17.72
31.60
9.34
16.17
21.42

18.50
36.73
10.23
15.69
22.21

20.38
33.63
9.70
15.58
17.56

17.68
32.36
8.44
12.95
17.89

20.73
40.51
8.47
14.47
20.26

15.53
26.03
6.61
12.41
15.56

18.75
30.53
8.26
13.24
17.92

19.45
33.87
8.62
14.63
17.94

15.85
26.75
8.58
13.62
17.28

13.71
25.02
6.85
12.50
17.41

Total..................

19.30

20.75

19.81

17.91

21.00

15.40

17.43

19.06

16.36

14.86

A ll trainm en...

48.94

45.93

39.68

33.15

40.70

28.82

31.54

34.31

29.50

29.22

Rubber Industry
T 1HE rubber section of the National Safety Council has main* tained a very carefully worked out statistical presentation of
their experiences for the past five years. The rates are somewhat
irregular, with no definite trend.
38690°— 27------ 17

246

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

T a b l e 1 8 .— N U M BER OF FULL-YEAR W ORKERS, NUM BER OF ACCIDENTS, A N D A C C I

D E N T FREQUENCY AN D SEVERITY RATES IN RU BBER INDU STRY, 1921 TO 1925,i BY
YEARS

Year

1921____________ _________ ________ _
1922__________; ________ ____ ____ ____
1923__________________ _______________
1924_____________ ____ _________ _____
1925............ .......... ................. .....................

Hours of
exposure

83,101,000
123.152.000
134.272.000
125.594.000
173.438.000

Full-year
workers

Num ber of
accidents

27,700
41,051
44,757
41,865
57,813

2,196
4,431
4,182
3,449
6,241

Frequency
Severity
rates (per
rates (per
1,000,000 1,000
hours’
hours’ ex exposure)
posure)
26.42
35.97
31.15
27.46
35.98

0.94
.87
1.32
1.00
1.11

i National Safety News, March, 1923, p. 15; August, 1923, p. 39; Novem ber, 1923, p. 40; and February,
1925, p. 20.

Textile Industry
T H E records of the textile section of the National Safety Council
*
have not been maintained long enough to warrant any very
positive conclusion beyond the confirmation of the idea that the
textile industry is relatively of rather low hazard. When, however,
accident frequency in such mills is greater than that in some of the
best steel mills, it is obvious that there is opportunity for improve
ment. The intrinsic hazard of the steel and iron concerns is ob
viously much greater than that in textile establishments, and accident-prevention effort if undertaken with anything like the energy
shown in the steel mills should markedly influence the rates.
T a b l e 19.— N U M B E R

OF F U L L -Y E A R W O R K E R S , N U M B E R OF A C C ID E N T S , A N D
A C C ID E N T F R E Q U E N C Y A N D S E V E R IT Y R A T E S IN T E X T IL E S , 1923 A N D 1924

Year

1923 1.......................... .................................
1924 2 ___________ ____________________

Hours of
exposure

46.343.000
53.196.000

i National Safety News, October, 1924.

Full-year
workers

Num ber of
accidents

15,448
17,732

604
601

Frequency
Severity
rates (per
rates (per
1,000,000
hours’
hours’ ex 1,000
exposure
posure
13.03
11.29

0.67
.89

2 Idem, August, 1925, p. 39.

Dust-Explosion Hazards in Industrial Plants
HE widespread extent of the dust-explosion hazard together
with measures for preventing this type of accident were dis
cussed by David J. Price in an address at the Industrial Acci
dent Prevention Conference held at Washington, D. C., July 14-16,
1926, and by Hylton R. Brown in an article in the September, 1925,
issue of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. The following ac
count is based on these two sources.
At least 28,000 industrial establishments in the United States, it
is stated, are subject to the hazard of dust explosions and dust fires.
These plants employ approximately 1,324,300 persons and manu
facture products of an annual value in excess of $10,000,000,000. At

DUST-EXPLOSION HAZARDS IN INDUSTRIAL PLANTS

247

least 281 explosions of this character have been reported to the De
partment of Agriculture. In 70 of these explosions 459 persons have
been killed (an average of 8) and in 92 of them 760 have been
injured (an average of over 8). The property loss in 144 cases
amounted to more than $33,529,350, an average of nearly $240,000
for each explosion. These statistics of losses do not, of course, take
into consideration the interruption to production, loss of time, and
general disturbance of manufacturing operations as a result of
explosions and fires of this character.
Investigations by the United States Bureau of Chemistry have
shown that practically all combustible dusts and some dusts not gen
erally considered combustible will explode with violence under favor
able conditions, when mixed with the proper proportion of air and
ignited by a flame, spark, or other source of ignition. Although
there is much experimental work yet to be done to show the exact
conditions under which various dusts will or will not explode, it is
certain that dust from practically any material which will burn or be
readily oxidized when fine enough and dry enough to form a cloud
or be thrown into suspension in the air will explode if it conies in
contact with a flame or spark sufficiently hot to ignite it. A tem
perature as low as 540° C. (1,004° F.), which is considerably below
dull red heat, will ignite some dusts, while for some of the more
explosive dusts an explosive mixture is formed by 7 milligrams of
dust in a liter of air. There is no record of a spontaneous dust
explosion, but a spark, flame, or other cause is necessary to ignite
the dust.
The extent of the hazard of dust explosions it is said, is not yet
recognized by manufacturers, since there is often a false feeling of
safety caused by the fact that in their experience no dust explosions
have ever occurred in their particular industry.
During 1924 dust explosions and the resulting fires caused the
death of 45 persons, the injury of 28 others, and the destruction of
about $3,000,000 worth of property. These explosions occurred in
starch and woodworking plants, leather-grinding mills, feed-mixing
plants, and grain elevators, and in 1923 explosions were reported of
lignone, dye, aluminum bronze, dried wood pulp, spice dust, paper
dust, wood flour, powdered milk, cork dust, and hard-rubber dust.
A flame of any kind, including sparks from static electricity and
the breaking of lighted electric lamps, may start an explosion when
ever enough dust to form an explosive mixture is in the air. The
plants in which steps should be taken to eliminate the dust-explosion
hazard are classified in three groups: Plants handling dusty or pow
dered material in package form, those in which it is handled in loose
form, and plants manufacturing or producing explosive dust.
In all these classes of industries general cleanliness throughout
the plant is a requisite in the prevention of dust explosions, and dust
should not be allowed to accumulate overhead or where a jar or con
cussion would throw the dust into suspension. Cleanliness is the
principal precaution necessary in warehouses or shipping rooms where
the material is handled in packages or bulk lots, and the chief danger
of dust in sufficient amounts to propagate a flame is from the
accumulation of dust from packages which are accidentally broken

248

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

open. In plants handling dust in loose form, as in packing, mixing,
sifting, etc., there are more opportunities for dust clouds to be
formed, as the machinery creates drafts which stir up the dust and
tend to keep it in suspension. An electric spark or arc may occur
in many places about an industrial plant, causing an explosion if
there is sufficient dust present. In dusty places it is advisable to
install electrical apparatus—motors, switches, etc.—in a separate
dust-proof room. All electric lamps should be protected with heavy
dust-proof globes and strong guards, and drop cords and extension
lights should not be used. The danger from static electricity is
shown by the large number of explosions and fires on threshing
machines and in cotton gins. Charges of more than 50,000 volts of
static electricity have been measured on threshing machines and
on moving belts in industrial plants. Various methods of eliminat
ing static electricity are used, but they are not always effective.
I f the charge is present on the machinery, grounding the frame
may eliminate it, and if it is present on moving equipment, brushes,
combs, and wipers resting on the moving parts may be effective,
while maintaining a high humidity around the equipment may
remove the hazard.
Mechanical causes of dust explosions which may be largely elimi
nated by care in the maintenance and use of machinery are metallic
sparks, friction, fires, and hot bearings. While the open flame for
lighting industrial plants has been generally superseded by electric
lights, lanterns are often used when the power goes off or the plant
is shut down for repairs, and the use of blowtorches and metalcutting or welding name creates a hazard when used in making
repairs.
In plants in which the dust or powdered material is produced or
manufactured, plant cleanliness is of even more importance than in
those in which it is handled in loose form, and dust-collecting and
dust-removing equipment of the best type is an absolute necessity,
while every attempt must be made to remove the various sources of
ignition. The high-speed grinding equipment used in these plants
is a frequent source of fires and explosions through the production
of metallic sparks. The entrance of foreign material into the
grinding machine, which may strike sparks and ignite the dust
within the machine, is difficult to control. Screens and separators
will partially remove it, but in plants where grinding is the major
part of the process it may be necessary to introduce an inert gas into
the grinding machines to prevent the formation of an explosive
mixture of dust and air. It has been shown by tests that it is impos
sible to produce an explosion in most of the dust now considered
explosive if the oxygen in the air in which the dust is carried in
suspension has been reduced to 12 per cent. This requires replacing
21 per cent of the oxygen in the air with an inert gas such as nitrogen
or carbon dioxide. A greater reduction is necessary in a few cases,
as sulphur dust requires a reduction of the oxygen content to 8.5
per cent. A thorough study is, however, necessary in cases where
the use of inert gas is considered essential to determine the amount
of gas necessary to prevent explosions.

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

249

Eye Conservation in Industry
HE importance of the use of goggles in the prevention of
serious eye accidents is the subject of an article on 46Saving
eyes and eyesight,” by Joshua E. Hannum in Industrial Psy
chology, October, 1926. Such accidents are among the most serious
which can happen to industrial workers, as they entail not only suf
fering, loss of time, and expense, but also permanent disability and
decrease or loss of earning power.
In the prevention of eye accidents cooperation between the man
agement, the foreman, and the workman is necessary. It is gener
ally accepted that it’ is the duty of managers to furnish protection to
workmen, but in the matter of safeguarding the eyes the objection
of the workmen to wearing goggles frequently has to be overcome,
and this often requires great resourcefulness, patience, and perse
verance.
One of the most important reasons for the reluctance of workers
to wear goggles is defective vision, which is often unsuspected both
by the management and by the individual himself. Goggles must,
of course, be fitted so that they are comfortable to wear, but unless
they correct defects of vision their function is only partially ful
filled. After the proper corrective lenses have been provided and the
goggles properly fitted to the face the problem becomes primarily
educational and calls for persistent and painstaking education of
workman, gang boss, foreman, and executive. In order to carry on
an effective eye-safety campaign it must be planned both for per
manency and efficiency, as temporary drives are not so successful in
accomplishing lasting results as persistent and unremitting efforts.
Preventive measures include elimination of eye hazards at their
source through the use of various types of mechanical safeguards,
engineering revision (as, for example, changing a manufacturing
process, redesigning a machine or tool, rearranging the physical
equipment, changing the method of work, or replacing handoperated with automatic machines), and education.
In organizing an eye-protection program it is necessary first to
make a careful survey of operating conditions, noting the various
hazards, after which mechanical safeguards should be installed or
engineering changes made. Educating the worker in eye protection
should include meetings by departments and mass meetings in which
employees should be warned of the special hazards to which they
are exposed, and the policy of the company in regard to the care
of eyes should be stated. Intensive drives for a “ No eye-accident
week ” should be made frequently, and it is important in such a
campaign to see whether goggles are furnished for the various jobs
where they are necessary, to examine each employee’s goggles to see
if they fit properly and give adequate protection, and in cases where
employees object to wearing goggles to investigate each case
promptly and carefully. One man in each safety organization
should be instructed in the use and care of goggles and should be in
charge of their distribution, repair, adjustment, and sterilization.
The cooperation of the foreman in the effort to make the men wear
the goggles should be secured, and it should be their constant duty
to see that they are worn by the men.

250

In d u s t r ia l

a c c id e n t s

Each new employee, when employed on a job for which goggles
are needed, should be given an eyesight test, and if correction is
needed, the corrective lenses should be used in the goggles and the
goggles should be fitted to give as much comfort as possible. D if
ferent styles of approved types of goggles should be provided by the
company from which selections can be made. There are four dif
ferent methods which may be followed in supplying goggles to the
employees. They may be furnished to the men without charge; the
workmen may be required to pay for them, either partially or en
tirely on the assumption that they will then be better appreciated; a
deposit may be required when they are issued and returned when
they are turned in ; or a charge may be made if gfoggles are carelessly
lost or broken.
Adjustment of the goggles to the face should include proper fitting
of the nose piece, avoidance of tension in the adjustment of the
headband, which should not be worn around the middle of the head,
as it frequently causes headaches, and avoidance of pressure on the
temples. Metal cases for the goggles should be provided and should
be sterilized as well as the goggles before being given out. Employees
should not be allowed to exchange goggles unless they have been
sterilized, because of the danger of spreading infectious diseases.
Frequent inspection of goggles is necessary in order to make sure
that they are in good condition, in some plants a daily inspection
being desirable.
If, after all such measures have been taken employees still refuse
to be careful, the only alternative is discipline, the penalty for not
wearing goggles in hazardous occupations or places being immediate
discharge or a temporary lay-off without pay for a first offense.

Fatal Accidents in Various Countries
COMPILATION of fatal accident rates in various countries
including the United States, in 1911 and the latest years for
which data are available, is contained in a report of the com
mittee on public accident statistics of the National Safety Council,
issued in 1926.4
The following statements are taken from this report:

During the year 1925 there occurred in the United States, according to the
estimate of the committee, nearly 90,000 deaths from accidents of all kinds.
The significance of this heavy toll may be seen clearly when comparison is made
with the figures available for other countries of the world. The latest available
figures for the United States which can be compared with data for other countries
are those for 1924. In that year in the United States registration States there
occurred 76.2 fatal accidents per 100,000 of population. In England and Wales
during the same year the death rate for all accidents was only 34.1 per 100,000
of population. This means that fatal accidents in the United States occur
nearly two and one-quarter times as frequently as they do in England. For
Scotland the death rate for all accidents combined was 45.2 per 100,000 in 1924,
and for Australia the rate in that year was 48.
The latest available data for other countries relate to the years 1922 and 1923.
In New Zealand the rate for fatal accidents in 1923 was 46.1 per 100,000, and
for Canada 56.5 per 100,000. In 1922 Belgium showed a fatal accident rate of
* National Safety Council.

T he toll of public accidents.

Chicago, 1926.

251

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE

28.3 per 100,000, and Norway a rate of 39.6 per 100,000. These international
figures show the tremendous margin which exists between the accident death
rate in this country and the rates prevailing in other civilized countries of
the world. A comparative review of the latest available facts for the several
countries is shown in the accompanying table. W e show also similar data for
the year 1911.
An item of interest in this table is the substantial decline shown in the death
rates for accidental falls, burns, drowning, steam railroad accidents, and acci
dents arising out of the operation of street cars. Safety campaigns in industry,
for the protection of life on steam railways and in the operation of street cars,
have shown substantial results in lowered death rates in the principal countries
of the world. But for automobile accidents the death rate has risen, and this
item in the accident record now assumes first importance. In the United States
the death rate for automobile accidents and injuries in 1924 was more than
seven times that which prevailed in 1911; in England and Wales the automobile
accident death rate of 1924 was nearly four times that for 1911. While the
automobile accident death rates for the year 1911 in both the United States
and England and Wales were almost the same, there was a very wide divergence
in 1924; in the United States the rate was 15.6 deaths per 100,000 and in
England and Wales only 6.5 deaths per 100,000.
D E A T H R A T E S P E R 100,000 P O P U L A T IO N F O R S P E C IF IE D A C C ID E N T S IN C E R T A IN
C O U N T R IE S

Accidents caused b y Total
acci
dents

Country and year

United States registration States:
1924_____________________ _______________
1911__________ ______ — ..............................
England and Wales:
1924
1911— ..........- .........- .........................................
Scotland:
1924___________________ _________________
1911______ ____ - .............................................
Belgium:
1922______________ _____ - ............ - ..............
1911.............................. .....................................
N ew Zealand:
1923------------------- ---------- --------------------------1911 ..............— ...............................................
Australia:
1924_ ...........................- ------- ---------------------1911-........................................ — - .................
Canada:
1923-.................... - ................. .......... ............ 1911-.................................................................
N orway:
1922. _______ ________________ ___________
1911---------- ------------------------------ ---------------i Includes conflagration.

Falls

Steam
Burns Drownrail
ings
roads

Auto
m o
biles

Street
cars

76.2
84.6

13.1
15.0

6.9
7.7

6.6
9.4

6.5
13.0

15.6
2.2

1.6
3.2

34.1
45.5

7.1
7.8

4.0
6.8

4.0
7.3

1.5
2.3

6.5
1.8

.2
.1

45.2
55.2

4.5
5.2

16.8
2 8.5

6.3
10.6

1.7
3.1

4.9
.8

.4
.3

28.3
34.7

3.6
6.6

3.1
4.4

3.8
9.5

2.6
3.6

2.4
(3)

(3)
(3)

46.1
46.4

2.8
2.2

2 2.0
2 6.8

13.1
16.0

5.4
(3)

4.6
(3)

(3)

48.0
66.1

5.9
7.8

5.0
7.0

7.4
16.0

3.5
(3)

6.6
(3)

(3)

56.5
(3)

6.7
(3)

4.2
(3)

9.9
(3)

4.3
(3)

5.4
(3)

(3)

39.6
47.1

4.9
3.8

1.6
1.8

20.4
30.2

(3)
(3)

(3)
(3) .

(3)
(3)

includes scalds.

1.1
.9
.5

a Data not available.

Industrial Accident Experience of American Industry in
1925
HE National Safety Council in a report on industrial accident
experience for 1925 (Nationial Safety News, October, 1926)
has, for the first time, attempted to compute accident rates
for American industry as a whole. The computations are based on
the statistical tabulations compiled by the industrial sections of the
council, with the exception of the cement and the mining industries

252

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

for which statistics furnished by the Portland Cement Association
and the United States Bureau of Mines, respectively, have been used.
The reports, which cover 1,231 establishments or locations, show
an average frequency rate of 30.60 per 1,000,000 hours worked and
an average severity rate amounting to 2.02 days lost per 1,000 hours
worked. Since the majority of the companies for which data were
secured are more or less actively engaged in accident prevention, it
can be assumed, however, that the rates for the United States as a
whole are somewhat higher. It is impossible to make a fair com
parison between the various industrial groups, because of varying
occupational risks, but it is of interest to note that in the textile
section 35,251 employees worked 77,924,601 hours with only 1 acci
dental death.
The detailed record sheets of the council show that accident fre
quency and severity rates have been reduced through the organized
safety work in different industries. This reduction is considered to
be due to a considerable extent to the fact that employees have been
impressed with the importance of reporting minor injuries promptly,
the installation of adequate first-aid facilities, and the cooperation
of industrial physicians. The report stresses the importance of a
uniform method of keeping plant records and also of making yearly
reports in order that the statistics may more accurately represent
the accident experience of each industry.
The following table shows the accident experience of companies in
13 principal industries throughout the country for the year 1925:
I N D U S T R IA L A C C I D E N T E X P E R IE N C E IN A M E R IC A N IN D U S T R Y IN 1925

Num ber of cases of

Num ber
of estab
lish
ments
or loca
tions

Total
number
of em
ployees

Autom otive______________ _______
Cem ent----------------------------------------Chemical.................. .......... ................
Construction_______________ _____
M etals--------------------------- --------------M ining— -------. ---------- -----------------Packers and tanners________ _____
Paper and pulp___________________
Petroleum ............................ ..............
Q u a rry ..-------------------------------------R ubber__________________ ________
Textile___________________ ____
W oodw orking-------------- ----------------

196
120
65
36
280
210
17
99
18
36
22
32
100

304,639
0)
50,128
12,777
250,511
0)
14,642
41,813
0
5,598
85,730
35,251
26,939

762,565,341
97,414,794
124,148,274
25,462,441
661,189,970
68,518,787
35,485,110
104,623,437
214,054,563
15,322,643
173,438,000
77,924,601
69,836,087

22
61
38
24
86
68
1
21
49
13
10
1
11

560
77
86
18
545
62
41
57
206
23
70
31
128

T o t a l.........................................

1,231

828,028

2,429,984,048

405

1,904

Industry

Total hours
worked
Death

Perma Tem
nent porary
disa
disa
bility
bility

1 N ot available.
2 This total is reported to be correct; figures for details were not given in every case.
3 N ot including 3 industries.

Total

17,279
2,403
2,473*
1,736
18,915 2
6,721
1,383
3,943
5,600
708
4,974
1,029
2,948

17,861
2,541
2,597
1,778
21,492
6,851
1,425
4,021
5,855
744
5,054
1,061
3,087

70,112

74,367

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT PREVENTION CONFERENCE

253

I N D U S T R IA L A C C I D E N T E X P E R IE N C E IN A M E R I C A N IN D U S T R Y IN 1925—Continued

N um ber of days lost on account of—

Industry
Death

Perma
nent disa
bility

Tem po
rary disa
bility

Total

Fre
quency
rates
(per
1,000,000
hours’
expo
sure)

Severity
rates
(per
1,000
hours’
expo
sure)

A utom otive.............................
Cement..........................................
C h em ica l-....................................
Construction.................................
M etals............................................
M in in g .........................................
Packers and tanners....................
Paper and pulp............................
Petroleum ....................................
Quarry........................... ...............
R u b ber..........................................
Textile............................................
W oodworking...............................

132,000
366,000
228,000
144,000
516,000
408,000
6,000
126,000
294,000
78,000
60,000
6,000
66,000

245,262
(l)
70,632
20,491
398,773
72,675
23,139
39,862
112,401
27,317
63,700
16,420
67,374

405,730
0)
38,379
28,210
269,738
102,193
15,796
59,166
91,957
11,775
68,498
12,778
58,901

810,610
487,189
337,011
192,701
2 1,202,387
582,868
44,935
225,028
498,358
117,092
192,198
35,198
192,275

23.42
26.08
20.91
69.54
32.50
99.99
40.15
38.43
27.35
48.56
29.15
13.61
44.20

1.06
5.00
2.71
7.57
1.82
8.51
1.27
2.15
2.33
7.64
1.11
.45
2.75

T o t a l -- ...............................

2,430,000

1,158,046

1,163,121

2 4,917,850

30.60

2.02

1 N ot available.
* This total is reported to be correct; figures for details were not given in every case.

Industrial Accident Prevention Conference, Washington,
D. C.
HE industrial accident prevention conference held in Washing
ton, D. C., July 14-16, was called by the United States Secretary
of Labor for the purpose of developing more effective coopera
tion among different organizations interested in accident prevention.
Approximately 270 delegates were present from 33 States, the District
of Columbia, Canada, and Argentina, including State officials having
to do with accident prevention and reporting and representatives of
safety organizations, of the large casualty insurance companies, and
of industrial enterprises which have led in the development of the
safety movement. The general subject of the conference was the
value of statistics for accident prevention and its purpose was the
formulation of a program by which uniform and comparable acci
dent statistics could be collected and compiled on a national scale.
The imperative need in any accident-prevention program, which
was stressed by the Secretary of Labor in his address and by many of
the other speakers, is a knowledge of the full extent of the accident
problem. This he believes can be secured through the establishment
of a safety division in the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
which would cooperate with other agencies in bringing together com
plete accident statistics regarding industries not now covered and
which would provide for the prompt publication of accident data and
the transmission of these data to American industry. The value of
a national museum of safety to be located in Washington as an
adjunct of the Bureau of Labor Statistics was also pointed out by
the Secretary of Labor.
In summing up the purposes for which the conference was called,
Ethelbert Stewart, United States Commissioner of Labor Statistics,
stated that all the Bureau of Labor Statistics desires to do is to serve

254

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

as a clearing house for the information the States are gathering, the
most important consideration being the furnishing of these reports
so that the accident rates can be computed on a man-hour or day
basis.
Resolutions passed by the conference recommended a unified,
standard system of reporting and distributing information, and the
enactment by the different States of such legislation as shall be nec
essary to provide for reports by employers which will allow the
compilation of accident frequency and severity rates.

Rock Dust as a Preventive of Coal-Dust Explosions
HE use of rock dust in coal mines to prevent or limit coal-dust
explosions has been advocated by the United States Bureau of
Mines since its establishment in 1910, although at first it
was suggested only as an alternative to watering. Much experi
mental work has been necessary to determine the relative expansi
bility of different kinds of coal, the best kinds of rock to use for
dusting, the amount of rock dust necessary to extinguish an explo
sion, and the best methods of dusting. A recent study5 of the meth
ods and costs of rock dusting coal mines, published by the Carnegie
Institute of Technology, contains a summary of the principal facts
regarding coal-dust explosions established by this and earlier
investigations.
Prior to 1924, the report states, no companies had done any real
rock dusting and only a few roek-dust barriers had been erected.
The long series of tests conducted by the Bureau of Mines have deter
mined, however, the best methods of application of rock dust to
secure the greatest efficiency and considerable progress has been
made in the past two years in rock dusting. In September, 1925, it
was reported that 102 companies in 12 States had instituted rock
dusting in 211 mines,6 while the rock dusting of a number of mines
by other companies was contemplated. These companies produced
approximately 11 per cent of the tonnage reported by all bituminous
mines in the United States in 1924.
In July, 1924, the State Industrial Commission of Utah adopted
regulations making rock dusting compulsory, following the disas
trous explosion at the Castlegate mine in that State. The move
ment has also been accelerated by the fact that in many States addi
tional credit for rock dusting has been allowed by the compensationrating bureaus.
The Bureau of Mines tests have shown that it is necessary to
cover the ribs, roof, and floor with sufficient rock dust to render
the coal dust inert to explosibility. As proof of the efficacy of rock
dusting, one of the most recent cases in which an explosion was
stopped when it reached the rock-dust barriers is cited in the report.

5 C arn egie I n s titu te o f T e ch n o lo g y .
M ethod s and co sts o f r o c k d u s tin g b itu m in ou s
co a l m in es, by C. W . O w in gs a n d C. H . D odge. P ittsb u rg h , 1925.
6 T h e A m erica n A ss o cia tio n f o r L a b or L eg isla tion has kept a re c o rd d u rin g th e p a st
th ree a n d a , h a l f yea rs o f co a l com panies; u sin g rock d u st t o p re v e n t co a l-d u s t e x p lo
sion s. I t is rep orted in th e A m erica n L a b or L eg is la tion R eview , June, 1926 (p . 1 5 2 ), th a t
on M a y 1, 1926, 150 com p a n ies in 16 S tates a n d in C an ad a h a d equipped o n e o r m ore
o f th e ir m in es w it h th e rock -d u st sa feg u a rd o r h a d begun, t o in s ta ll it.

e o c k d u s t a s a p r e v e n t iv e o f coal - d u s t

EXPLOSIONS

255

This explosion occurred in a mine of the West Kentucky Coal Co.
in June, 1925. A miner drilled into a strong gas feeder in an entry
which had not yet been rock dusted. The gas was ignited by his
open-flame cap lamp and an explosion followed which killed the
17 men in the entry. The explosion was stopped, however, when it
reached the rock-dusted entries and the lives of about 130 men work
ing in other parts of the mine were saved. There have been numer
ous other instances both in this country and in Europe in which
explosions have been stopped or limited by rock dust, though this
is one of the most recent and the most definite.
Coal-dust explosions are caused by the rapid burning of coaldust particles suspended in air. The degree of explosibility is di
rectly affected by the size and quantity o f coal dust present and the
ease with which the coal dust is raised in a dense cloud. Dry pulver
ized dust is the most explosive, as it is easily raised to form a cloud
and contains a maximum amount of particles and surface. Tests
at the Pittsburgh Experiment Station have shown that 0.0312 ounce
of pure 200-mesh Pittsburgh coal dust per cubic foot of entry would
propagate flame if ignited. There is usually a large excess of coal
dust present in mines, but before an explosion can occur there must
be an advance wave sufficiently strong to produce a dust cloud and
the more thoroughly the dust and air are mixed the greater will be
the force of the explosion. This factor is frequently overlooked,
especially if an explosion originates in rooms or near an area where
the pressure is reduced by passing into wide spaces. An explosion
may die out, therefore, through failure of the dust to be thrown
into the air in a sufficiently dense cloud to propagate the explosion.
But this fact is often disregarded and credit given to the absence
of coal dust or to efficient sprinkling when the absence of a dust
cloud is the real cause of the explosion being stopped.
Limiting or preventing coal-dust explosions involves the preven
tion both of heat being carried from one particle of the combustible
material to another and of the formation of a dense cloud. The
most efficient means of preventing the first condition has been found
to be the use of rock dust. The fine rock-dust particles blown into
the air by the advance wave of an explosion surround the coal dust
and insulate it, and also by cooling the mixture of air and dust below
the ignition point of the coal extinguish the flame. This condition
obtains if the rock dust is dry, which is usually the case during the
winter months. During the summer, particularly in the shallow
mines, both the coal dust and rock dust may become damp and in
that case the dust will not rise into suspension so that an incipient
explosion will be stopped by the lack of material upon which to feed.
The use of water at the face where the most coal dust is made is
of great value as a measure supplementary to the use of rock dust
and the use of water on the cutter bar of mining machines, which
is being done by several companies, is advocated in the report. The
coal shot down by the miner should also be wet thoroughly before
loading and all loaded cars should be wet before leaving the work
ing face. An automatic sprinkler installed at the parting to wet
the top of loaded cars and another located near the tipple or shaft
to wet the empty cars before they are returned into the mine further
reduce the amount of coal dust usually carried through the mine.

256

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

These precautionary measures, the report states, have been used
successfully in Alabama and in several of the Western States.
In addition to the efficiency of rock dust in limiting explosions,
it has the advantage that it readily reflects light and increases the
illumination. As coal absorbs 90 per cent of the light, the re
flected light given by rock dust reduces the number of accidents
due to poor illumination and the number of haulage accidents will
be decreased, especially where the roof has fallen on the track as
the dark mass will show against the white background or where the
roof is weak and cracks the rock dust immediately directs attention
to the crack.
Rock dust, because of its incombustible character, may also be
utilized in fighting mine fires, and one case is reported in which a
fire was extinguished by it. In this fire, rock dust taken from the
V-trough barriers was thrown toward the fire, the dust cloud effec
tively cooling the air so that the men steadily advanced until the fire
was reached, when the rock dust was thrown on the burning
coal. This smothered the flame and cooled the burning mass so that
it could be loaded into mine cars and carried outside.

Development of National Safety Codes
NE of the most significant accident-prevention developments of
recent years has been the movement to formulate safety codes
for various industries of such authority that they might be
accepted as definitive by the various States as well as by the indus
tries themselves.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has contributed to this develop
ment in the following ways:
1. {a) The Commissioner of Labor Statistics has represented the
Department of Labor on the American Engineering Standards
Committee; and
(b) Has been a member of the safety code correlating committee
on behalf of the International Association of Industrial Accident
Boards and Commissions.
2. A member of the bureau staff has had a consulting relation to all
the codes and has participated in the formulation of 12 codes which
have been approved or are nearly ready for approval.
3. The bureau has printed and widely distributed the approved
codes.
Before outlining the steps by which the safety code program
reached its present status it is desirable to explain the origin and
purposes of the American Engineering Standards Committee.
Five national engineering societies—namely, the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers,
the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the American Institute
of Electrical Engineers, and the American Society for Testing Ma
terial—had each been doing a considerable amount of standardizing
in the interest of safety. A notable instance was the Boiler Code of
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. While most of this
work was done by single societies in their own particular field, there

DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL SAFETY CODES

257

were constant instances of overlapping and disagreement. To avoid
this and bring to bear on the problems needing solution the com
bined knowledge of the entire group of societies, these five engineer
ing societies agreed to form a body, the American Engineering
Standards Committee, composed of representatives of each of the
five societies, which should serve as a clearing house for standardiza
tion projects.
It was determined that this American Engineering Standards
Committee should not itself undertake the production of standards,
but should supervise the procedure and place the stamp of its ap
proval on the standards when satisfactorily completed. The later
modifications of the original plan made to accommodate the safety
code program are indicated below.
When the United States entered the World War there was an
immediate and intense speeding up of the manufacturing operations
carried on in the navy yards and arsenals. This was iaccompanied
by increased casualty. In view of the situation Mr. Lew R. Palmer,
then president of the National Safety Council, suggested a survey of
these establishments for the purpose of determining what could be
done to safeguard the workers. The survey was conducted by some
40 safety men under the general supervision of Mr. Arthur H. x oung.
As a result a considerable number of changes were suggested and
carried out. Safety directors were engaged for the several Govern
ment plants and a series of safety codes were prepared.
Much of the work of preparing these codes was done iat the Bureau
of Standards. Dr. E. B. Rosa, then chief physicist, became inter
ested and was instrumental in bringing together, on January 15,1919,
at the Bureau of Standards, a representative conference. After full
discussion it was decided to put the question of the plan to be fol
lowed to letter ballot. The plan apparently favored by the confer
ence was that the codes should be developed under the procedure of
the American Engineering Standards Committee,' provided that
committee would modify its constitution in such a way as to admit
to membership other national organizations besides the five engineer
ing societies which were the original members.
Later the constitution was amended and other organizations ad
mitted, making the present membership 35 national bodies.
At a second conference in December, 1919, three organizations,
namely, the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards
and Commissions, the National Safety Council, and the United States
Bureau of Standards, were empowered to designate the members of
what was at first called the national safety code committee and later
the safety code correlating committee.
This committee assembled immediately after the conference and
drew up a list of codes thought to be of immediate importance. This
list contained some 36 titles, but was subsequently enlarged to more
than 40.
The steps in developing a national safety code may be summarized
as follows:
1. A national conference or some national organization indorses
the proposition as desirable and suggests a sponsor or sponsors.
2. The scope of the code is determined.

3. The sponsor organizes a sectional committees

258

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

4. Sponsor reports personnel of sectional committee to American
Engineering Standards Committee.
5. American Engineering Standards Committee transmits report
to special committee which considers the representative character of
proposed sectional committee.
6. Special committee returns list of sectional committee with ap
proval or suggestions for modification.
7. American Engineering Standards Committee approves sectional
committee.
8. Sectional committee formulates code.
9. When completed the committee takes a letter ballot and reports
results to sponsor.
10. Sponsor transmits code to American Engineering Standards
Committee and asks approval as “ Recommended American Prac
tice ” or as “ American Standard.”
11. American Engineering Standards Committee approves code.
This is a rather tedious process but is necessary to insure that
all persons interested should have an opportunity to express them
selves.
Of the upward of 40 codes projected some 17 have reached the
point of approval. These codes, while not adopted unchanged in
many States, have had a large influence in determining the form and
content of the rules adopted by those States which have prepared
codes.
At the present time there is under way a project closely connected
with this program of safety codes. For a number of years the com
mittee on statistics and insurance cost of the International Associa
tion of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions devoted much
time and energy to the preparation of directions for the treatment of
statistical data regarding industrial accidents. The results of this
labor were published as Bulletin 276 of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
These standard methods have been employed by the bureau in its
accident studies and have also been used by the sections of the
National Safety Council. It now seems desirable to review the
standards to determine whether they need modification to adapt
them to present conditions and to fit them for more general use.
A sectional committee of American Engineering Standards Com
mittee is now in process of formation and will proceed to the con
sideration of the statistical standards as promptly as possible.

INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

259

Recent Studies of Industrial Diseases and Poisons
HE work of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the subject of
industrial health has included a number of studies of special
hazards connected with industrial processes and of the effects
of poisonous substances used in different industries. These have
been published as separate bulletins or in the Labor Review. During
recent months four such bulletins have been issued—Hygienic condi
tions in the printing trades (Bui. No. 392), Phosphorus necrosis
in the manufacture of fireworks and in the preparation of phos
phorus (Bui. No. 405), Deaths from lead poisoning (Bui. No. 426),
and Health survey oi the printing trades, 1922 to 1925 (Bui. No.
427). In addition to these original studies, developments in the
field of industrial health are followed in the Labor Review, in which
are published, from month to month, digests of investigations by
scientific organizations, such as the United States Public Health
Service, ana of articles appearing in the various medical and
scientific journals. So many requests are received by the bureau
for information on these subjects that summaries have been prepared
and are given below of what appear to be the more important
articles and bulletins thus published by the bureau of such recent
date that their contents have not yet been incorporated in standard
textbooks and publications.

Abrasive Industry: Dust Hazard in the Manufacture of Artificial
Abrasive Wheels1
T H E results of a study of the effect of the inhalation of dust from
A artificial abrasive wheels were given in the Journal of Industrial
Hygiene for August, 1925.
The use of artificial abrasives in industry has increased to such an
extent in the past 10 years that the natural sandstone wheel which
is known to cause silicosis is now used only in the manufacture of
cutlery and axes and even in these industries is being gradually
replaced by the artificial abrasive wheel. The extent oi the use of
artificial abrasives is shown by the fact that in an average year about
60,000,000 pounds of artificial grinding wheels are produced in this
country. The artificial abrasives most used are aluminium oxide and
silicon carbide, each having hard tough crystals which, when divided,
are wedge shaped in form and have a cutting power almost as
great as that of a diamond.
Reference is made by the writers to a study of the dust hazard in
the abrasive industry made in 1919 by Winslow, Greenburg, and
Greenburg, in which it was found that the inorganic dust in the
air of abrasive factories included coke, crude aluminium hydroxide,
1
J ou rn a l o f In d u s tria l H yg ien e, A u gu st, 1925,
** T h e d u st h a zard in th e abrasive
in d u s try ,” b y W . Irv in g C lark, M . D ., a n d E d w a rd B . Sim m ons, M. D.

38690°— 27------ 18

261

262

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

a fused aluminium compound (aloxite or alundum), and carbor
undum (silicon carbide). The last two materials are extremely hard
and both possess the property of fracturing in very irregular particles
and there is every reason to suspect that such dusts would be very
deleterious to health.
The present study, which is clinical in character, represents 14
years’ experience in the largest single abrasive and grinding wheel
factory in the world. The average number of employees during this
period has been 2,100, about one-fifth of whom have been exposed
to the inhalation of large quantities of dust.
The departments in which the processes are very dusty are the
abrasive department, where the lumps of abrasive are crushed into
grains and sized; the shaving department, where the dry wheels, still
in clay form, are shaped on a special type of potter’s wheel; the truing
department, where the vitrified wheels are cut to exact size on spe
cially constructed lathes; and the clay department, which is the
dustiest of all, where the clays which make up the bond in the wheels
are weighed and mixed. In all these departments very complete
dust-removal systems have been in operation for years, the amount
of dust so collected daily being at present 12,000 pounds.
Complete physical examinations are given all applicants for em
ployment, and employees working in dusty departments are re
examined as frequently as seems necessary. After 10 years’ exposure
to the inhalation of dust, employees are examined annually. In
addition the factory health department studies their working con
ditions and every effort is made to reduce the dust hazard. The
majority of the employees in the dusty departments are of Swedish
descent and the next largest group is Italian.
Physical examinations and X-ray pictures of the chests of 79 men
employed 10 years or more in the dusty departments showed that
there were signs of silicosis in only one case and this was in the
incipient stage. This worker was employed in the clay plant where
there was no artificial abrasive dust but where an analysis o f the
clay showed that it contained 9 per cent of pure silica in the form of
feldspar, so that this was probably a case of true early silicosis.
The pictures of the lungs of the workers exposed to artificial
abrasive dust did not show any typical signs of silicosis, although in
four cases there was evidence that the lungs were working hard to
keep themselves clear of dust. The specialist who examined the
pictures considered that if these were the lungs of granite workers,
they would represent a perfectly safe risk for an indefinite period,
and it was also his opinion that none of the men, with the exception
of the man exposed to clay dust, would develop active symptoms of
pneumoconiosis.
X-ray pictures of the chests of seven men at two plants of the
company where the crude artificial abrasive is made, who had been
exposed to the dust for periods of from 5y2 to 18 years, showed no
evidence of the presence of dust disease.
An analysis of the causes of all the deaths reported by the benefit
association since 1892 showed that 6% per cent were due to pul
monary tuberculosis; the rate for the city as a whole was 5 per cent.
As babies and very young children were included in the latter figure,
however, it seems that there is probably little difference in the

ARSENIC TRICHLORIDE

263

death rates for the two groups. During the past 10 years 31 cases
of pulmonary tuberculosis had occurred among the employees.
Twenty cases occurred in the nondusty departments, where there
was an average of 1,868 employees, and 11 in the dusty departments,
where the number of employees averaged 332. While the percentage
of cases was slightly higher in the dusty departments, the risk does
not seem to be great, as the percentage of the total force developing
tuberculosis each year during the 10-year period was only 0.014
per cent.
The following conclusions are reached by the writers as a result of
the 14 years’ observation and of the data presented in the paper:
1. In factories which provide proper methods of dust removal, the continuous
inhalation of artificial abrasive dust, extending over many years, does not pro
duce the symptoms or present the X-ray findings of pneumoconiosis.
2. The number of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis occurring in the artificial
abrasive industry does not greatly exceed the number normally present in the
community.
3. Workers who habitually use grinding wheels will run but slight risk of
developing pneumoconiosis if they use artificial abrasive rather than sand
stone wheels for all grinding operations, and if the machines upon which the
artificial abrasive wheels are mounted are properly hooded and excessive dust
removed by suction fans.

Anthrax: Cases in Various Industries
GTATISTICS on anthrax morbidity and mortality in the United
^ States, compiled by a committee appointed by the American
Public Health Association, were published in the American Journal
of Public Health (New York City), January, 1926. The study
shows that State reports in regard to the number of anthrax cases
are, in many instances, very incomplete and very few States are able
to give definite information as to source of infection.
More or less complete reports from 34 States show that during the
period from 1919 to September 1, 1925, there were 632 anthrax
cases with 177 deaths. Of these cases, 147 occurred in the leather
industry, 17 in the wool industry, 40 in the hair and brush industry,
68 came from animal contact, 49 from shaving brushes, and for 311
the cause was not stated.
The reports indicate that anthrax is indigenous in a number of
areas in the United States and that the time may come when we
shall be obliged to consider as suspicious and needing disinfection
all hides, skins, hair, and wool from certain districts in the United
States as we do now from many foreign countries. Tannery anthrax
appears to fluctuate with changes in industrial conditions but shows
no indication of decreasing. At present practically all industrial
anthrax is due to handling foreign raw materials.
Arsenic Trichloride: Effects of Exposure on Workers
'T'H E results of a study of the conditions under which arsenic
*
trichloride is manufactured and of the hazards to which the
workmen are exposed were published in the Journal of Industrial
Hygiene (Boston), December, 1922, and January, 1923. The study,
which involved extensive laboratory research and factory investiga
tion, dealt with the local caustic action of arsenic trichloride, the

264

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

absorption of the poison through the skin, the results of inhaling its
vapor, and measures for avoiding risks to the workers.
The particular circumstance leading to this study occurred in
England during the war, when a workman employed upon the com
mercial production of arsenic trichloride died following the acci
dental spilling of some of this fluid over his right leg. •
A post-mortal examination revealed a large amount of arsenic,
indicating that a soluble form of it had been freely distributed
through the body, probably by the blood and lymph. The presence
of a considerable amount m the lungs, which can not be explained
in the same way, indicates that shortly before death the patient had
inhaled air laden with arsenic. It was impossible to determine how
much was absorbed through the skin, although the patient’s death
was due to acute arsenicism. The general condition of the organs,
however, indicated that those engaged in the same work were exposed
to very material danger even in the absence of a similar accident.
Commercial arsenic trichloride, which is formed by distilling a
mixture of arsenic trioxide with sulphuric acid and sodium chloride,
is an oily, very mobile fluid, which emits fumes and evaporates very
rapidly when exposed to air. It is highly poisonous and has wellknown caustic properties.
Animal experiments proved that the arsenic is absorbed by the
tissues and is widely distributed throughout the body in a very
short time. When it is applied to the skin it kills the tissues very
rapidly, this action being somewhat retarded by washing the part
affected within one minute of the time of application, although the
final result is not affected. Within a few hours after such applica
tion arsenic can be recovered from most of the tissues or organs of
the body, there being a tendency to accumulation in such organs as
the brain, liver, and kidneys. Inhalation of 1 part of arsenic
trichloride to 40,000 parts of air killed mice in 5 minutes, while an
air stream which distributed the mixture unequally affected the
animals variously, some dying after a few hours while others ap
peared to recover completely. All the animals which died from
the effects of the inhalation gave marked evidence of respiratory
affection.
Experiments in regard to the evaporation of arsenic trichloride
showed that it is very diffusible and enters readily into various com
binations, forming visible particles where the air contains moisture.
There is also evidence that when the air is unsaturated with water
there are invisible vapors present.
The study of actual factory conditions was made in a plant in
which the retorts and condensers were housed in a shed open on all
sides. The openings through which the retorts were filled were
located on a long upper platform and slightly below this was an
other platform on which arsenic trioxide and chloride o f sodium
were mixed. The retorts and furnaces were located below the upper
platform, and a conduit leading from the bottom of each retort
carried the residue from the retort to trucks. A large tank was used
for storing the arsenic trichloride aad close to this tank there were
rows of iron drums filled witk theafsenie trichloride which were
ready for shipping.

BENZOL POISONING

265

The salt and the arsenic trioxide were mixed just before being
shoveled into the retorts, each of the men wearing a handkerchief
over the mouth and nose to protect himself from the dust. Irritating
fumes escaped in considerable amounts from various places about the
retorts. Test plates were placed in different positions and at various
distances from the retorts. The deposits on the plates showed that a
material amount of arsenic could be obtained from the air near any
of the retorts. Experiments as to protective measures showed that
“ special ventilating arrangements are needed to remove fumes which
arise when arsenic trichloride is necessarily exposed to the air in the
filling of drums or the sampling of their contents. Air containing
fumes so removed could be purified by a fine water spray before
being discharged in the atmosphere. All persons employed on this
work should wear some impervious general clothing, and only expe
rience can show whether they should not also wear suitable gas
masks.”
The persons conducting the experiments were subjected to acci
dental local and general exposure both in the laboratory and at the
factory, and the following effects, which confirmed the conclusions
arrived at from the experiments, were noted:
* * * On two occasions small necrotic lesions of the epidermis were expe
rienced, which resembled those obtained experimentally with animals. Expo
sure to fumes was followed by pharyngeal and laryngeal irritation, headache,
giddiness, nausea alternating with feelings of excessive hunger (gastric irri
tation), abdominal discomfort, pains in the thighs, legs, and feet, and edema
of the feet. At the same time the urine, which normally contained as a
maximum 5 mg. of arsenic trioxide per 100 c. c. was found to contain 20 mg.

Benzol Poisoning: .Final Report of National Safety Council
Committee 2
'T H E final report of the special committee appointed by the 1922
* National Safety Congress to study the benzol problem covers the
chemistry and industrial uses of benzol, acute and chronic benzol
poisoning, the physiological effect of benzol, the extent of the hazard
in American industry, a study of conditions in selected industries
with respect to the exposure to benzol, and the results of various tests
showing the toxicity of benzol.3
Benzol or benzene (C6H 6) is a colorless liquid obtained from the
distillation of coal tar and from the strippings of coke-oven gas.
Benzol was discovered in 1825, and in 1869 a process for recovering
it from illuminating gas was patented. It did not play a really im
portant part in industry, however, until it began to be produced from
coke-oven gas between 1884 and 1887. The commercial uses of benzol
grew steadily from 1890 to 1915, and the large production of benzol
during the war in connection with the manufacture of explosives led
to a rapid broadening of the field for the industrial uses of this
substance.
Benzol is highly insoluble in water and slightly soluble in alcohol,
but can be completely mixed with ether, acetic acid, carbon disul
2 N a tion a l S a fe ty C ou n cil.
C hem ical a n d R u b ber S ection s.
C om m ittee o n B enzol.
F in a l rep ort.
[C h ic a g o ], N a tion a l B ureau o f C asu a lty a n d S u re ty U n d erw riters, M ay,
1926.
* See L a b o r R ev iew , M a y, 1924, f o r th e firs t re p o rt o f th is com m ittee.

266

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

phide and a large number of organic substances. There are a num
ber of substances known commercially as benzol, some of which con
tain benzene, while others do not. All, of course, should be clearly
distinguished from benzine, which is a petroleum product.
There are two very distinct types of processes involved in the use
of benzol in industry. In the first (which includes such industries
as the production of benzol through the distillation of coal and coal
tar, the blending of motor fuels, and the chemical industries includ
ing oil extraction, dye and dye intermediates, and the manufacture
of paints, varnishes, and stains, and paint and varnish removers)
benzol is used in large quantities, but because of the amounts used
it is necessary that it be kept in a closed pipe-line system, since any
openings represent a loss of valuable vapors and a corresponding
financial loss. The second group of processes involves the use of
benzol as a solvent or vehicle, and as a part of the process it must be
removed so as to leave the originally dissolved substances in place.
The industries in which it is used in this manner are the rubber in
dustry, the artificial leather industry, manufacture of sanitary cans,
in dry cleaning, and in the handling of paints, varnishes, and stains.
The benzol is removed through evaporation, and in most cases this is
done in the cold, but the compound may be warmed, in which case
the benzol is naturally removed with greater rapidity.
Poisonous Effects of Benzol
D ENZOL is ordinarily introduced into the body through the inhalation of its fumes. It exerts three more or less distinct toxic
effects: It acts as an anesthetic or narcotic, leading to dizziness, faint
ness, and coma, or death; it acts as a nerve irritant, producing char
acteristic spasmodic movements, with actual damage to nerve tissue
which may result in coma and death; and it possesses a definite and
destructive power for the blood cells and the organs which produce
them.
Like many other toxic substances used in industry, benzol may
produce either acute or chronic poisoning, depending upon whether
the exposure is brief and intense or moderate and prolonged.
Acute Benzol Poisoning

Acute poisoning is usually caused either by the sudden discharge
of vapors through the failure to regulate a condensing apparatus or
through a leak in the piping, or by the entrance of workmen into
tanks or other confined places where benzol has been stored or used.
The symptoms of acute poisoning are dizziness, faintness, and drow
siness, culminating in unconsciousness and coma; pallor of the face
and blueness of the lips and finger tips; feeble and rapid pulse;
breathlessness and a feeling of constriction in the chest which may
end in immediate death from respiratory paralysis; visual disturb
ances, tremors, and convulsions and occasionally mania or delirium;
hemorrhages into the tissues, causing red spots on the skin and in
ternal surfaces, and if the substance has been swallowed, symptoms
of acute gastrointestinal irritation. Death may result within a few
minutes after the exposure or the patient may apparently recover

BENZOL POISONING

267

and then die several days later. There seems to be decided varia
tion in individual susceptibility and the effects of the fumes appear
to be increased by vigorous muscular exertion, as a man rendered
unconscious by benzol vapors may recover while those overcome
while rescuing him may die. The treatment of acute benzol poison
ing requires, first of all, prompt restoration of the respiratory func
tion through artificial respiration.
Chronic Benzol Poisoning

Chronic benzol poisoning is most liable to occur in the group of
industries in which benzol is used as a solvent and is evaporated
into the air of the workroom, resulting in continuous or repeated
exposure to the fumes.
As the fumes are in concentrations too low to produce marked nar
cotic effects, the condition is much more obscure and the cause is
more likely to be overlooked. The more common symptoms of
chronic poisoning are general systemic disturbance resulting in head
ache, dizziness, weakness, loss of appetite, and loss in weight; pallor
which is shown by blood examination to be true anemia; marked
reduction in white blood cells as shown by microscopical examina
tion; bleeding from mucous membranes with purpuric spots caused
by hemorrhages within the tissues; sore and spongy gums and burn
ing sensation in eyes and throat; and shortness of breath and tight
ness in the chest. There may be, also, abdominal pains, nausea and
vomiting, and sometimes slight tremors, visual disturbances, and
abnormal sensitiveness to touch. Rarely, there are rashes and skin
eruptions, or convulsions and delirium.
I f chronic benzol poisoning is detected in it.s early stages and the
person removed from exposure to the fumes, complete recovery
usually takes place, but in seve
P 1
’
soning part of
exposure has
these symptoms may persist
ceased; and about one in five of the cases reported in the literature
has ended fatally.
The most universal and the most characteristic effect of chronic
benzol poisoning is the destructive effect on the blood and the bloodforming centers, affecting first the white blood cells and later the red
cells, and producing a pronounced anemia. The decrease in the
number of white blood cells generally precedes any other symptoms,
and with a history of exposure to benzol the diagnosis of benzol
poisoning may be made on this basis with reasonable accuracy. The
seriousness of this condition is also shown by the observations of a
number of investigators that it greatly reduces the resistance to
pneumonia and other bacterial infections.
Extent of the Hazard and Conditions in Factories Using Benzol
rT ,HE industries using the largest amounts of benzol were found to
*
be the chemical industries, the can-seal industry, the rubber in
dustries, and the manufacture of artificial leather. In the chemical
industries, however, the number of employees exposed is small, as
the material is usually used in inclosed processes. During the time
the committee was carrying on the study, 22 fatalities and more than

268

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

100 nonfatal cases of poisoning were reported in various types of in
dustries, showing that the hazard is a serious one and forms one of
the major problems of industrial hygiene.
A field study was made in 12 plants to show the extent of the
benzol hazard under different working conditions. The majority
of these were rubber factories manufacturing different kinds ox arti
cles, but dry cleaning, sanitary-can manufacture, and artificial leather
factories were also included. The conditions under which the benzol
was used and the type of exhaust ventilation were studied in the
different plants visited and analyses made of the air 'under both sum
mer and winter conditions. When small amounts of benzol were
used without special ventilation the average concentrations were
found to vary from 100 to 1,860 parts of benzol per million parts of
air, while under similar conditions with large amounts of benzol in
use the averages ranged from 220 to 1,800 parts per million. Plants
using large amounts of benzol, but with inclosed systems or local
exhaust ventilation, had averages of only between 70 and 500 parts
per million, while the plant with the most efficient exhaust system
had an average of only 70 parts in summer and 90 parts in winter.
Some of the workrooms studied, however, had concentrations of
benzol approximating the amounts which have been found to cause
acute poisoning. In a compound mixing room the amount of benzol
present in the air was 2,640 parts and in a dry-cleaning establishment
4,140 parts. It has been shown that 4,700 parts may produce con
fusion in an individual in half an hour, while 550 parts have been
found to be associated with clinical poisoning. However, by the
use of efficient local exhaust ventilation and the safeguarding of all
the details of the processes, it has been shown to be possible to use
benzol in coating and mixing rooms and in sanitary-can manufacture
with a degree of air pollution of less than 100 parts of solvent vapors
per million parts of air.
Extent of Early Benzol Poisoning Under Different Working
Conditions
A N EXAMINATION was made of workers exposed to benzol
* * under different conditions, the white blood cell count being
taken as the index of early poisoning. Eighty-one workers were
examined, the test showing clear evidence of blood-cell destruction
in 26, or 32 per cent, as indicated by a white count of 5,500 or less.
In 10 cases the number of white cells was below 4,000 and in 3 cases
below 3,000. Examination of a control group of about 50 workers
not exposed to benzol failed to show any abnormal blood condition
among them. Complete medical examinations were obtained in only
9 instances, but of these, 5 gave a history suggestive of chronic
benzol poisoning, with two or more of the characteristic symptoms.
The results of these examinations were regarded as decidedly
disturbing, not only because about one-third gave evidence of chronic
poisoning but also because the evidence of poisoning was clear in a
number of cases where there was good exhaust ventilation and a
small amount of air contamination. The results of the tests and
examinations showed, therefore, that the control of the benzol

BENZOL POISONING

269

hazard, in all except completely closed systems, is extremely diffi
cult; that there were few systems of exhaust ventilation capable of
keeping the concentration of benzol in the air of the workroom
below 100 parts per million; and that even when this is done there
is a decreased but nevertheless a real hazard of benzol poisoning.
Protective Measures
ETROM the evidence obtained in the investigation it appears that
in the type of industries in which benzol is used in inclosed
systems with proper care in the construction, maintenance, and
operation of these systems, the use of benzol can be made sufficiently
safe to warrant its use. Serious accidents may occur, but the danger
may be controlled by proper attention to safeguarding these proc
esses. The principal methods of protection which should be enforced
in this type of industry are regular and systematic inspection of
apparatus to insure against breaks or leakage, thorough removal of
all traces of benzol from tanks or other receptacles which have
contained the substance before they are entered for cleaning or
repairing, and the protection of persons entering inclosed spaces
which may contain benzol fumes by the use of positive-pressure air
helmets or hose masks, all such work to be done by two or more
men who are familiar with the dangers involved.
The danger of chronic poisoning from benzol used as a solvent may
be minimized by the installation of proper safeguards and examina
tion of workers at regular intervals to detect incipient poisoning.
In these processes exposure may be diminished by using inclosed
systems wherever possible and effective local exhaust ventilation.
In most instances where benzol is evaporated at room temperature
local exhaust ventilation with down draft is recommended; but
where localized heat is applied in the evaporation of the benzol the
ventilation system should be provided with upward draft, which
should be of sufficient intensity and applied so closely to the point
of origin of the evaporation as to insure the complete removal of the
benzol fumes.
A thorough physical examination before employment and reex
amination, with systematic blood counts once a month thereafter, is
considered a necessary precaution for all workers engaged in proc
esses where there is exposure to benzol fumes. No worker should
be employed on such a process who shows signs of organic disease
of the heart, lungs, or kidneys, hemorrhagic tendencies, or anemia,
or any unusual blood picture. Any worker should be removed from
these processes who shows, upon reexamination, such symptoms of
benzol exposure as hemorrhages from mucous membranes, decrease
of more than 25 per cent in either white or red blood cells, or
hemoglobin below 70 per cent.
An experimental study of the comparative toxicity of benzol and
its higher homologues—toluol, xylol, and Hiflash naphtha—which
was carried out on animals showed that although the narcotic effects
of the latter group of solvents are greater than that of benzol they are
almost without effect on the central nervous system or on the bloodforming organs, both of which are seriously damaged by benzol.

270

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

As the boiling points of toluol and xylol are relatively high, they
would never be present in concentrations of over 1,000 parts except
as the result of some temporary accident, and in this case their irri
tant action would serve as an immediate and automatically effective
danger signal. The laboratory investigations show, therefore, that
the higher homologues of benzene are relatively harmless and the
committee urges that manufacturers give serious attention to the
possibility of substituting one of these substances in the place of
benzol wherever the conditions of the manufacturing process make
it possible to do so.
Brass Foundries: Health Hazards
A STUDY o f the health hazards of the brass foundry trade by
**
the United States Public Health Service included field investi
gations covering 22 foundries, both large and small establishments,
and laboratory experiments of the effects upon animals of the
inhalation and ingestion of zinc oxide.
The 22 plants visited in the course of the investigation employed
approximately 340 men. The foundries were of both modern and
old-fashioned construction and the working conditions were con
sidered typical of the trade generally at the present time. The
metals used in making brass castings are an alloy of copper and
zinc in varying proportions, with sometimes other metals, such as
phosphorus, copper, manganese, lead, tin, iron, aluminum, and anti
mony, depending upon the type of casting to be*produced.
The principal hazards present were found to be exposure to dust,
inadequate illumination and glare, poor ventilation, the presence of
fumes, gases, smoke, heat, cold, and dampness, and in some instances
unsatisfactory personal service facilities.
The dust hazard in the foundry rooms comes mainly from sand
during its preparation for molding and in knocking out the castings,
while a considerable quantity of dry sand accumulates on the floor
and is stirred up by the men’s feet. The metallic dusts present in
the foundry rooms consist usually of cadmium oxide, copper, man
ganese, iron, antimony, tin, and lead, and are formed during the
melting, casting, and cleaning processes. Zinc oxide, which is always
present in the air of foundries, but is present in enormous quanti
ties during the casting, is particularly important in its effect upon
the workmen. There are also the “ parting dusts,” which are trade
products and contain, either singly or in combination, such sub
stances as ground bone, lycopodium, flour, sand, fuller’s earth,
graphite, and lampblack. These dusts are sifted over the surfaces
of the molds and are inhaled to some extent by the workers during
the sifting. It was the general impression among th£ workers that
the parting dusts were harmful and it was claimed that they caused
an irritation of the nose and throat, resulting in a hacking cough.
An analysis of the dust in air samples obtained from several
foundries showed that, in the rooms in three foundries where there
was an appreciable amount of zinc dust, from 33 to 64 per cent of
4 United States Public Health Service. Public Health Bulletin No. 157: Health
hazards of brass founders, by Dr. John A. Turner and Dr. L. R. Thompson. Washington,

HEALTH HAZARDS IK BRASS FOUNDRIES

271

the men had been affected at various times by the zinc, while in
one case all the men examined gave histories of frequent attacks
of zinc intoxication.
During the melting and pouring of the alloy in the molding room
of a foundry dense white clouds, composed chiefly of zinc oxide,
escape from the crucibles and ladles. These fumes, which rise first
to the ceiling, spread through the room unless sufficient exit is pro
vided for them at the top of the room. In bad weather the increased
water saturation of the air also interferes to some extent with the
escape of the fumes from the room.
In the cleaning department, the dust to which the workers are
exposed is chiefly siliceous in character. Sand blasting is an ex
tremely dusty process and workers can not remain at this work for
more than a year or two without serious detriment to health unless
the work is done in an inclosed sand-blasting chamber. Chipping
the rough and uneven surfaces of castings exposes the worker to
injury from metallic particles which are too large to be classed as
dust but which may be injurious, especially to the eyes, while in
grinding, workers are exposed to both siliceous and metallic dust
as well as to particles from the grinding wheels.
In the foundries studied, physical examinations were made of
212 workers, of whom 102 were exposed to zinc oxide during the
melting and pouring of brass and had suffered from “ brass-foundry
men’s ague,” 68 had been exposed but were not affected, and 42 had
not been exposed. The workers who gave histories of zinc oxide
poisoning were shown to be in somewhat poorer physical condition
than those who were exposed to the fumes but not affected by them,
but on account of the small number of workers examined it was not
possible definitely to relate these conditions to their exposure to
zinc.
Of the 102 men giving a history of attacks of the ague, 26 per
cent had an average of one attack a week, 11 per cent had two a week,
and 2 per cent, three a week; while the frequency of the attacks
varied in the remainder from an average of one per month to one
or two a year. The majority stated that the attacks occurred only
during the winter months, and that in inclement weather an attack
was almost certain, while symptoms were generally said to be milder
during the summer than during the winter months. An appreciable
degree of toleration—that is, less severe symptoms—was said to have
been developed by 18 per cent of the men. O f 84 men reporting
on the length of employment before ill effects of the zinc oxide were
produced, 25 per cent reported that the first symptoms occurred
within periods varying from one day to less than one month; 25 per
cent, from one month to less than three months; 6 per cent, from
three months to less than six months; 5 per cent, from six months to
one year; 14 per cent, from one to two years; and the remainder
from two to five years. Those men who had been employed for years
without experiencing any ill effects considered that their escape was
due to the good ventilation in the shops in which they were employed,
as well as to acquired immunity. Premonitory symptoms of the
attacks were experienced by 75 per cent of the men, either in the
middle of the afternoon, upon leaving work and coming in contact

272

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

with the cold outside air, or later in the evening. In the majority
of cases no disabling effects were present the day following the attack.
The premonitory symptoms are a general feeling of illness, followed
by a chilly sensation, and sometimes accompanied by a stiffening of
the back and arms. Other symptoms frequently present are dull
headache, metallic taste, irritation of the throat, coughing, burning
of the eyes, and thirst. After the development of the premonitory
symptoms the chilly sensation may develop into a severe chill, after
which there is a fever with more or less profuse sweating, the other
symptoms gradually subsiding. Sixty-six of the men reported that
they felt no ill effects on the morning following the attack, while the
remaining 36 stated that the effects lasted part or all of the following
day.
Supplementing this study in brass foundries, 19 workers who were
exposed to zinc oxide dust in a zinc oxide plant were examined.
Twelve of these men gave a history of oxide chills, the similarity in
the symptoms and the severity of the attacks being so constant in
all stages that there seemed to be no question that the basic causative
factor was the same in both industries. The symptoms among brassfoundry men, however, were present only in acute attacks, while
among the oxide workers they were fairly constant, due to the fact
that the oxide workers work in an atmosphere heavily laden with the
oxide dust.
Carbon Monoxide: Physiological Effects of Low Concentrations
A CONTINUATION of the study by Dr. Yandell Henderson and
* * his coworkers on the effect of low concentrations of carbon
monoxide for short periods under normal air conditions, which
was carried out for the New York and New Jersey Tunnel Commis
sions, was made by officials of the Public Health Service and the
Bureau of Mines.5 The correctness of the findings of Doctor Hen
derson, which resulted in the recommendation that the Hudson
vehicular tunnel should be so ventilated that persons passing through
should not be exposed for a longer period than 45 minutes to more
than 4 parts of carbon monoxide in 10,000 parts of air, was confirmed
by the subsequent study. In these latest experiments, which were
carried out at the Pittsburgh Experiment Station in a specially con
structed gas-tight room, the effect of long exposure, the effect of
strenuous exercise, and the effect of high temperature and humidity
in low concentrations of carbon monoxide were studied.
The tests showed that with the subject at rest, exposure for 6
hours to 2 parts of carbon monoxide in 10,000 parts o f air caused
saturation of 16 to 20 per cent of the hemoglobin of the blood, with
very mild subjective symptoms and no noticeable aftereffects. Ex
posure to 3 parts of carbon monoxide caused saturation of 22 to 24
per cent in 4 hours and 26 to 27 per cent after 5 hours, while the
symptoms and aftereffects were moderate after 5 hours’ exposure.
The exposure to 4 parts of carbon monoxide caused a saturation of
15 to 19 per cent of the hemoglobin with carbon monoxide at the end
5 United States Public Health Service. Physiological effects of exposure to low con
centrations of carbon monoxide, by R. R. Sayers, F. V. Meriwether, and W. P. Yant.
Reprint No. 748 from Public Health Reports, May 12, 1922.

CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING

273

of 1 hour and 21 to 28 per cent at the end of 2 hours, with moderate
to marked aftereffects.
With the subject exercising strenuously for 1 hour, exposures with
from 2y2 to 4 parts of carbon monoxide showed mild to moderate
symptoms of poisoning and aftereffects, while, with the subject at
rest but with temperature and humidity high, exposure for one hour
to 3.1 parts of carbon monoxide gave a 16 per cent saturation of the
hemoglobin, mild symptoms of poisoning, and mild to moderate
aftereffects.
The conclusions drawn from the study are summarized as follows:
1. The combination of CO with hemoglobin takes place slowly when the sub
ject is exposed to low concentrations and remains at rest, many hours being
required before equilibrium is reached.
2. The rate of combination of CO with hemoglobin takes place much more
rapidly during the first hour of exposure than during any succeeding hour, with
the subject remaining at rest.
3. Strenuous exercise causes much more rapid combination of CO with hemo
globin than when the subject remains at rest. The symptoms of CO poisoning
are emphasized by exercise.
4. High temperature and humidity, with a given concentration of CO, cause
more rapid combination of CO with hemoglobin than do normal conditions of
temperature and humidity.
All symptoms and effects described in this paper are called acute in charac
ter. None of the subjects has shown any permanent deleterious effects from
the exposure to CO.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Diagnosis
REPORT of the Bureau of Mines (Serial No. 2476) , in addition
to reviewing the results of much of the investigative work re
lating to carbon monoxide poisoning,6 gives a list of symptoms
caused by various percentages of carbon monoxide in the blood and
announces the development by scientists of the bureau of a method
and an apparatus for testing the blood for carbon monoxide hemo
globin.
The general symptoms of poisoning from carbon monoxide, which
are divided into two stages, and the predominating symptoms which
accompany the various percentages of blood saturation are given as
follows:
S ta g e 1.— Tightness across forehead, dilatation of cutaneous vessels, headache
(frontal and basal), throbbing in temples, weariness, weakness, dizziness, nausea
and vomiting, loss of strength and muscular control, increased pulse and res
piration rates, collapse. All of these are greatly increased and accelerated
with exercise on account of the additional need of oxygen in the tissues. Men
at rest have often been exposed to carbon monoxide all day without noticing
any marked ill effects, but on walking home or exercising have experienced
severe symptoms, even to unconsciousness.
It is seldom that all of these symptoms are experienced by the same indi
vidual. Also in some cases the poisoning may proceed to the stage of syncope
without the victim feeling any of these symptoms, this frequently occurring if
the poisoning has been rapid.
S tage 2.— Increased pulse and respiration, fall of blood pressure, loss of
muscular control, especially sphincters, loss of reflexes, coma usually with
intermittent convulsions, Cheyne-Stokes’ respiration, slowing of pulse, respira
tion slow and shallow, cessation of respiration, death.
6 See Labor Review, August, 1917, pp. 76-78; February, 1919, pp. 219-221; Novem
ber, 1919, pp. 263, 264; February, 1922, pp. 116, 117; March, 1922, pp. 147, 148;
December, 1922, pp. 181-184.

274

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

SYM PTOM S CAUSED B Y VARIOUS PERCENTAGES OF CARBON MONOXIDE IN T H E BLOOD

Percentage of blood
saturation
0-10------------------ No symptoms.
0-20------------------ Tightness across forehead, possibly slight head
ache, dilatation of cutaneous blood vessels.
20-30------------------ Headache, throbbing temples.
30-40------------------ Severe headache, weakness, dizziness, dimness of
vision, nausea and vomiting, collapse.
40-50------------------ Same as previous item, with more possibility of
collapse and syncope, increased respiration
and pulse.
50-60------------------ Syncope, increased respiration and pulse, coma,
with intermittent convulsions, Cheyne-Stokes’
respiration.
60-70------------------ Coma, with intermittent convulsions, depressed
heart action and respiration, possibly death.
70-80------------------ Weak pulse and slowed respiration, respiratory
failure, and death.

The diagnosis of carbon monoxide poisoning is usually made
from the symptoms and because of the fact of possible exposure.
Since the symptoms produced are common to other causes, however,
and since carbon monoxide is sometimes present in unexpected places,
an accurate diagnosis on such a basis is not always possible. The
only reliable test is an examination of the blood for carbon monoxide
hemoglobin. An apparatus and method called the u Pyro-tannic
acid method for the quantitative determination of carbon monoxide
in blood and air ” has been developed. By the use of this apparatus,
which is pocket size and which permits even unskilled users to make
an accurate diagnosis, a small amount of blood, which can be ob
tained from a puncture wound in the finger, can be quantitatively
examined in a few minutes for carbon monoxide and an accurate
diagnosis made.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Treatment7
'T'H E serious nature of carbon monoxide asphyxia and the possi*
bility of poisoning from this gas in so many industries and
under so many conditions has resulted in much experimentation
among certain scientists for the purpose of determining the best treat
ment in these cases. The results of experiments made by Dr. Yandell
Henderson and Dr. Howard W. Haggard, who were appointed a
subcommittee of the Commission on Resuscitation from Carbon
Monoxide Asphyxia to conduct both field and laboratory investiga
tions in the treatment of carbon monoxide asphyxia, were given in
the Journal of the American Medical Association (Chicago) for
September 30, 1922.
It has been well established by this and previous investigations that
carbon monoxide has no direct toxic action on the brain, other
organs, or tissues of the body, but that it acts wholly through its com
bination with the hemoglobin or red coloring matter of the blood. By
this combination the hemoglobin is for the time deprived of the
power to carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body,
7 See Labor Review, August, 1917, pp. 76-78; February, 1919', pp. 219-221; Novem
ber, 1919, pp. 263, 264; February, 1922, pp. 116, 117; March, 1922, pp. 147, 148.

CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING

275

developing a condition of asphyxia or oxygen deprivation. The
investigation also confirmed previous findings that this combination
is reversible; that is, that the oxygen-transporting power of the blood
may be completely restored through displacing the carbon monoxide
by mass action of oxygen.
The principal treatments advocated for carbon monoxide poisoning
have been bleeding, transfusion, artificial respiration, and inhalation
of oxygen. Bleeding is considered by the writers to tend still further
to deplete the oxygen-carrying power of the blood, while transfusion
to be effective must take place within one hour, or two at the most,
and this is rarely possible. Artificial respiration, preferably by the
prone pressure method, is frequently necessary to start spontaneous
breathing, but plays a less important part than in resuscitation from
drowning or electric shock, where the victim is practically saved
when natural respiration has been restored.
While oxygen inhalation is theoretically the proper method for
displacing carbon monoxide from the blood, in practice it has been
found that it needs some auxiliary agent. The ineffectiveness of
oxygen alone has been found to be due to several causes. Among
them are the lack of efficient apparatus for administering oxygen and
the delay which usually takes j)lace before the application of treat
ment. Asphyxia does not terminate with the removal of the victim
from the presence of the gas, as the carbon monoxide comes off from
his blood so slowly in the first two or three hours that, although his
lungs may be filled with fresh air, the brain continues to be asphyxi
ated. If, however, the carbon monoxide is not eliminated within
four or five hours, it does very little good to administer oxygen after
that time, as the brain probably becomes edematous (swollen) and
degenerative processes set in. Continued coma, seen frequently in
hospitals, is probably due, therefore, to the brain edema and not to
the asphyxia. The third reason advanced for the relative ineffective
ness of oxygen inhalation, even when an efficient inhaler is used, is
that in partial accidental asphyxiations or in those performed experi
mentally on investigators by themselves they have largely retained
the ability of their circulation and respiration to eliminate the asphyx
iant unaided, while in more profound asphyxia oxygen inhalation
often fails, as it is not a respiratory stimulant.
Normal breathing is largely regulated by carbonic acid or carbon
dioxide produced in the muscles and organs and carried to the res
piratory center in the brain by the blood. Owing to the oxygen
deficiency an abnormal and excessive action is produced on this
center in asphyxia, so that the carbon dioxide is rapidly exhausted,
leading to subsequent subnormal breathing or even to respiratory
failure. Since an accessory factor seems to be necessary, it has
seemed logical to supply enough carbon dioxide to stimulate the
patient to vigorous breathing in order that he may draw the oxygen
in and thus wash out the carbon monoxide.
An experiment carried out upon animals, in which all were
asphyxiated almost to the point of death, showed by the blood tests
an approximately complete elimination of carbon monoxide from the
blood in from 20 to 25 minutes when oxygen containing 10 per cent of
carbon dioxide was used, while treatment with inhalation with oxygen
containing a small amount of carbon dioxide and with oxygen alone

276

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

showed progressive increases in the time necessary for less complete
elimination. Animals which were given no treatment showed a very
slow rate of elimination, especially in the first hour. A similar exper
iment performed by the writers and some of their associates on
themselves differed from the first in the use of higher concentra
tions of carbon monoxide but with shorter periods o f exposure.
The amount of carbon dioxide used in the treatment was reduced to
5 per cent, as this was found adequate to stimulate respiration and
was free from the disadvantages, such as headache and labored
breathing, which were felt with higher concentrations of the carbon
dioxide. By the use of oxygen plus this amount of carbon dioxide
breathing was increased from 300 to 500 per cent with a propor
tional acceleration in the removal of carbon monoxide, a blood satu
ration of from 40 to 50 per cent—a dangerous amount—being reduced
in half an hour to only 10 or 12 per cent, an amount which is quite
harmless.
Further* investigations of actual eases o f gas poisoning were
carried out in New York City in cooperation with the Consolidated
Gas Co. and the health department. The use of the inhalational
treatment showed that all the patients except one made uncomplicated
and complete recoveries within a few days, none of the patients
developing pneumonia as a result of the gassing. In fact, in regard
to pneumonia the results seem to indicate that the inhalational
treatment may have a distinctly prophylactic effect.
For some years work has been under way on an improved inhaler
and various improvements have been devised, including a siphon
bellows reducing valve, said to be the most perfect device of its kind,
which has been patented by the Government for general use. The
authors warn against the use of the common artificial respiration
devices such as the pulmotor in place of their special inhaler, as it is
considered that the pulmotor may do serious harm to the patient.
The article concludes with the following summary:
1. Manual artificial respiration by the prone pressure method should be em
ployed when respiration has stopped to start spontaneous breathing. This
object may be assisted by administering oxygen + C 02 simultaneously.
2. Inhalation of oxygen and 5 per cent carbon dioxide, by causing a very
full ventilation of the lungs, rapidly eliminates carbon monoxide from the
blood and thus terminates the condition of asphyxia. This treatment is highly
effective, inducing rapid and complete recovery if applied early enough. It
requires merely general medical supervision, and may be safely and efficiently
carried out by intelligent men of the type composing the emergency crews of a
city gas company.
3. Until more definite knowledge has been obtained regarding the conditions
in the lungs, brain, and elsewhere, subsequent to gassing, and until treatment
can be based on such knowledge and has been tested experimentally, it is
inadvisable to apply any specific treatment in postasphyxial gassing cases.
The evidence here reported indicates that oxygen + C 03 inhalation and rapid
elimination of carbon monoxide greatly decreases the liability to nervous and
pulmonary asphyxial sequelae.

Chemical Poisoning: Effects and Treatment
T^HE effects on workers of various poisonous chemicals were de* scribed in an article in the Boston Medical and Surgical Jour
nal, October 22,1925, by Dr. William F. Boos, the facts brought out
being based on his experience as a consultant in the diagnosis and

CHEMICAL POISONING

277

treatment of chemical and medical injuries sustained in a variety
of industrial occupations. The cases referred to him include many
in which the cause of the injury is not definitely known or in which
there are certain possible causes but the symptoms are not sufficiently
like those seen in the past to warrant a definite diagnosis, as well
as cases which have not responded properly to the treatment used
by the plant physician or the insurance-company doctor.
The lack of chemical training on the part of the physicians treat
ing these cases is the principal reason for the failure to obtain satis
factory results. That is, the recognition of a chemical injury and
the subsequent treatment of such an injury require a knowledge
of the chemical behavior of the substance producing the injury.
While it is probably impossible to secure for plant work physicians
who are well-rounded chemists, still it is possible for the physician
in charge in a given industrial plant to become familiar with the
chemical agents with which he has to contend, as usually they are
quite limited in scope. In a chemical manufacturing plant, how
ever, in which a variety of corrosive and poisonous products are
manufactured, it is important that the physician shall be really well
trained in chemistry, or if the physician is not so trained, intelligent
cooperation between the plant physician and the chemical expert of
the plant will bring about satisfactory results.
In order to emphasize the importance of cooperation between
doctor and chemist or engineer the writer gives his experience with
a number of industrial poisonings which were referred to him largely
as a result of the lack of such cooperation.
One example is that of repeated and serious chrome burns which
had occurred among the employees of a chrome-tanning plant,
where the plant doctor had, as is usual with practitioners in such
cases, applied boric ointment, bandaged the parts, and sent the men
home with instructions to report daily to have the dressings renewed.
When chrome acid is spattered on the skin it penetrates very slowly
and does not at first produce symptoms, but after about 24 hours
there is a sensation of itching and burning, which grows steadily
worse. When ointment is applied and the part bandaged, as was
done in the plant in question, the removal of the chromic acid is
effectually prevented, the latter continues to penetrate into the lower
layers of the skin, and at the end of a week the employee is suffering
agonies from multiple, deep chrome burns.
In a chrome-tanning plant the employees subject to these burns
are those who remove the skins from the chrome bath (a mixture of
dilute hydrochloric acid and bichromate of potash), placing them
first in the washing machine and later in the “ hypo ” (sodium thiosulphate) bath. Replying to a question as to whether men who
handled the skins after they had been thro'ugh the hypo bath ever
developed chrome burns, the superintendent of the plant answered
in such a way as to indicate that he knew that the hypo solution
immediately neutralizes the chromic acid, rendering 'it harmless.
It had not occurred to him, however, to tell the doctor about it, and
the hypo solution—the most efficient neutralizer known when the
burns are in the. early stages—was not used because chrome burns
were thought to be a medical injury. In the later stages, however,
36690°— 2 7 ------- 19

278

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

when the burn is deep, painful, and very tender, other treatment is
required.
Nitro’us-fume poisoning in munitions plants was frequently met
with during the war. The active principle of nitrous fumes is N 02,
an acid gas which when first inhaled causes coughing, choking, pain
in the chest, and the expectoration of yellow-tinged sputum. These
symptoms subside after the exposure stops, but after a short time
there are sudden violent symptoms of respiratory disease followed by
progressive edema of the lungs with a probable fatal outcome. In
some instances there is recovery from the initial edema, but pneu
monia develops within 24 to 36 hours. Many of the pneumonia
cases die, the outcome being a matter of individual resistance, as there
is practically nothing which can be done in the way of treatment
after the edema begins. However, it is said that if the condition is
recognized at the start and the person is made to inhale ammonia
gas, recovery will take place in almost every instance. The present
method of treatment with the inhalator and oxygen is said to be
useless, as it is necessary to provide an agent which will stop at once
the action of the nitric and nitrous acids which are formed in the
mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, and ammonia gas is the
only agent which will do this. This treatment should be used for
poisoning from most acid gases and vapors, such as chlorine, bromine,
iodine, and sulphur dioxide. It should not be used for poisoning
from hydrocyanic acid, the effects of which are not due to any irri
tant acid properties but to specific action on the respiratory center,
which causes paralysis of respiration. In case of poisoning from this
chemical, artificial respiration should be used as long as the victim
is still breathing. Eemoval to fresh air and artificial respiration
should also be 'used in cases of benzol poisoning.
Turpentine poisoning is said to be an important form of industrial
poisoning, because it is so frequently diagnosed as lead poisoning.
Two cases of poisoning occurred in a plant manufacturing automo
bile bodies, the symptoms being extreme pallor, nausea, vomiting,
abdominal cramps, and a form of neuritis. These men were em
ployed in spraying a black varnish or finish on the automobile bodies
and because of this fact their cases had been diagnosed as lead
poisoning, although the most typical signs of lead poisoning were not
present. Analysis of the materials used by the men in spraying
showed that there was no lead in the spraying material, and it de
veloped later that the superintendent knew that the spraying
material was lead-free and had been much puzzled to know how the
men came in contact with lead, although he had accepted the
diagnosis without question.
The lack of a knowledge of chemistry is particularly serious in
cases of acid and alkali burns as they grow steadily worse under the
usual treatment of carron oil or boric ointment. Either of these
preparations forms a coating which prevents the removal of corrosive
poisons, with the result that the destructive penetration of the skin
continues. In these cases questioning of the laborers is of little use,
as they frequently work with both acids and alkalies and do not even
know the names of the reagents. It is therefore necessary for the
doctor to find out for himself what caused the burn, and this can be
done by applying bits of moist litmus paper, both red and blue.* to

CHEMICAL POISONING

279

the wo'und. I f the paper turns red the injured part should be bathed
or soaked in a 5 per cent solution of bicarbonate of soda, and if it
turns blue a 3 per cent solution of acetic acid is used. When the
neutralizing wash has thoroughly penetrated the wound, the bandage
and ointment should be used.
Alkali wounds are more apt to give trouble than acid wounds, be
cause the natural alkilinity of the tissues tends to neutralize the
action of an acid agent; then, too, the acid albuminate which is
formed is soluble only with difficulty and, in time, checks the further
progress of the acid into the tissues, while alkalies form very
soluble alkali albuminates, which do not interfere with the con
tinued penetrating action of the alkali into the defenseless tissues.
For this reason alkali wounds must be bathed a very long time, and
preferably with occasional change of the dilute acetic acid. When
the latter is not available, equal parts of vinegar and water will do
just as well.
Dermatitis in a very persistent form which resembles eczema is fre
quently found among polishers and finishers of leather shoes. This
is due to alkaline agents which are present in the finish or dressing,
the one used for patent leather shoes being the worst. A dilute solu
tion of acetic acid should be used occasionally as a wash for the hands
of such workers. Oxalic acid, which is often present in dressings and
bleaching fluids? produces a dry, scaly dermatitis of a very persistent
character. As it is practically as injurious for canvas and leather
as for the human skin, the writer believes that its use should be
discontinued altogether.
Cyanide solutions used in the jewelry and watchmaking trade and
in silver plating cause localized burns, but more frequently an
eczema-like eruption of the skin of the hands, arms, and even of the
face. The involvement of the face is due to rubbing the face when
the hands have been in the solution and it is likely to produce a very
persistent dermatitis. This condition is usually diagnosed as eczema,
and the usual method of treating the lesions with an alkaline wash
tends to intensify the action of the cyanide. As in all cases of alkali
burns, dilute solution of acetic acid should be used to neutralize the
cyanide.
Phenol burns require prompt attention, but there is nothing which
will neutralize the action of the phenol. Washing the affected parts
with water has no effect on account of its slight solubility in water,
but as it is very soluble in alcohol this can be used to advantage in
removing the phenol. Phenol is absorbed readily by the skin, and if
a large area has been covered death may result from its action on
the central nervous system, though the local action on the skin in
euch cases may be very slight.
Trade anaphylaxis may develop in a variety of trades, the symp
toms being similar to those of hay fever. The cause of this condition
is the sensitiveness of certain workers to the proteids in the material
with which they work. Millers and bakers may be sensitive to the
dust from wheat or rye flour, leather workers to the dust from some
special kind of leather, carpenters and cabinetmakers to the dust of
various kinds of wood, mattress makers to the horse dandruff in the
horsehair, and wool sorters to the sheep’s dandruff in raw wool. In

280

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

cases where such symptoms develop among workers in a dusty
atmosphere, trade anaphylaxis should always be considered as a
possible cause.
Dusts
See Abrasive industry: Dust, hazard in the manufacture of arti
ficial abrasive wheels; Brass foundries: Health hazards; Fur cutting
and felt-hat manufacture: Occupational hazards; Lead poisoning:
Report of cases among motor-car painters in New South Wales; Mer
cury poisoning; Manganese poisoning: Report of six cases; Mining
industry; Tanning industry: Occupational disease hazards.
Eye Diseases: Symptomatology in Occupational Diseases8
■"THE eyes of a high percentage of industrial workers have proved
from extensive investigation to be defective. The proportion
thus involved has varied from 50 to 90 per cent as reported from
widely different types of industry. As a result of publicity subse
quent to these striking findings, a conception has become prevalent
that industry itself has caused these defects. To those better ac
quainted with the problem it is patent that many persons in industry
exhibiting poor eyes possessed the same defects, actual or potential,
prior to their entry into industry, and a large portion of the responsi
bility for the causation of poor eyes may thus be shifted from the
shoulders of industry.
But associated with industry there exist divers conditions of work
conducive both to the initiation and the aggravation of eye defects.
The types of work particularly linked with eyesight impairment or
eye injuries are those involving: (1) Dust, abrasives, and flying par
ticles; (2) splashing metals; (3) gases, fumes, and irritating chemi
cals; (4) glare; (5) radiant energy, chemical, and heat rays; (6) de
fective posture; (7) poor lighting. The items of this group are
commonly regarded only as “ eye injury hazards.” These same con
ditions, however, may be considered the sources of many “ eye occu
pational diseases,” and any attempt to demarcate eye injuries from
eye occupational diseases does nothing more than erect an artificial
barrier between two similar sets of affections. It may with propriety
be held that every eye impairment attributable to industry is in a
sense an occupational disease.
Nystagmus may be found among those workers who year in and
year out subject their eyes to abnormal and unaccustomed motions.
The miner develops a nystagmus, due to constant imperfect fixation
of his eyes on poorly illuminated objects; the chauffeur acquires
nystagmus by the constant wTatching of traffic without complete fixa
tion; the compositor by watching the type which he is setting; the
paper hanger and painter by following their brushes, the position
of the body often thrown out of a vertical position, thus causing
more strain on the visual apparatus. For like reasons locomotive
engineers, draftsmen, jewelers, typists, textile workers, and others
may acquire a nystagmus.
8
T h e N a tio n ’s H ea lth , C h ica go, O ctob er, 1922. “ E ye sy m p to m a to lo g y in o cc u p a tio n a l
d isea ses,” by D o n a ld J. L y le, M . D ., and C arey P . M cC ord , M. D .

EYE DISEASES

281

Occupational Nystagmus
T H E short, rapid, continuous involuntary movements of the eyeball
*
characteristic of nystagmus may develop in a coal miner af
fected with carbon monoxide poisoning, the eyes responding to irri
tation or disease in the central nervous system. When, however,
nystagmus in a coal miner is due to poor illumination or faulty visual
fixation of objects on the black coal face, the effect is produced by
direct action on the ocular apparatus.
A variety of occupations produce practically the same symptom
complex. Miner’s nystagmus, the best known and the most
thoroughly investigated example of occupational nystagmus, occurs
usually between the ages of 35 and 40 years among men who have
engaged in mining for many years.
Predisposing factors in miner’s nystagmus are: (1) Errors of
refraction (the percentage of affected persons presenting errors of
refraction is between 75 and 85; persons with astigmatic errors are
more seriously affected); (2) unbalanced extrinsic ocular muscula
ture; and (3) neurotic tendencies.
The factors which excite or produce the condition are: (1) Poor
lighting; (2) working where an upright position can not be main
tained; and (3) lowered physical state (including injuries).
The most severe and most common subjective symptoms are:
Headaches and dizziness; dancing and dazzling of objects, especially
lights; failure of sight, especially at night (if above ground); photo
phobia (intolerance of ligh t); general fatigue. The objective symp
toms include: (1) Rotatory, lateral indefinite, or mixed movements
of the eyeball, their frequency being in the order mentioned and
their severity and duration indicating the degree of lack of coordina
tion; (2) general condition of depression; (3) increased nervous
irritability; (4) blepharospasm (excessive winking); (5) spasms of
brow, head, neck, and sometimes shoulders.
Treatment involves a discontinuance of work at coal face, rest,
correction of refractive errors, general building up of patient both
physically and mentally. Preventive measures need to include (1)
correction of refractive errors and muscular instability; (2) adequate
illumination, without glare; (3) whitewashing of extensive portions
of mine (passageways, timbers, etc.); (4) arrangement of working
hours so that there may be opportunity tor recreation in daylight;
(5) thorough medical supervision, and the maintenance of high
physical standards among workers; (6) proper mine sanitation, par
ticularly with reference to humidity, cooling power of air, absence
of carbon monoxide, etc.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
/^A R B O N monoxide poisoning is found as acute, chronic, or de^
layed poisoning. It is to be recognized that serious and lasting
harm to various systems and organs of the body may follow exposure
to carbon monoxide. A small percentage of persons thus poisoned
present eye involvement. It is noteworthy that the eye changes
show little constancy. The list of eye manifestations definitely
associated with carbon monoxide poisoning includes the following:
Color blindness, contracted visual fields, diplopia (double vision),

282

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AtfD £OISOKS

scotoma (a dark spot on the visual field), hippus (spasmodic pupil
lary movement), impairment of pupillary light reflexes, irregular
pupils, unequal pupils, diminished vision, engorgement of retinal ves
sels, retinal exudate, sectional blanching of optic discs, edema of optic
discs, optic neuritis, optic nerve atrophy, and complete ophthalmo
plegia (paralysis of the ocular muscles), with marked protrusion of
the eyeballs.
Carbon bisulphide is commonly taken into the body through the
lungs, after exposure to its vapors. In chronic cases the vision is
gradually lessened beginning with a retino-bulbar neuritis and pro
gressing slowly to nerve atrophy. The prognosis is never good. In
advanced cases vision is seldom recovered.
Both soluble and insoluble arsenic preparations are capable of
producing external and internal injury of the eyes. More fre
quently the manifestations are late, due to slow absorption of a small
amount of arsenic which has entered the system through the alimen
tary and respiratory tracts. The chief complaints from the patient
center about (1) pain in the eye, with itching, burning, and irrita
tion; (2) painful vision, blepharospasm, lachrymation, and photo
phobia; and (3) loss of vision, as nerve becomes affected. Both
eyes are usually affected, often unequally. In animal experiments
a degeneration in the medullary sheaths of the optic nerve fibers
has been found. The action of arsenic on the external eye leads
to edema and pigmentation of the eyelids, chemosis (swelling of the
conjunctiva), and sometimes hemorrhage of the conjunctiva. The
conjunctivitis may arise either from direct or systemic poisoning.
Ocular Lead Poisoning
TTHE eyes are involved in about 1.2 per cent of all lead cases.
*
Although the eyes may be the only source of complaint, careful
examination will ordinarily lead to evidence of systemic lead poison
ing. Ocular manifestations of lead poisoning vary widely. Usually
the patient complains of headaches, vertigo, blurred vision, constric
tion of the visual field, central color scotoma, perverted color vision,
or diplopia. The physical findings include any or all of the follow
ing symptoms: Ptosis (drooping of the upper eyelid), conjuncti
vitis, paralysis of the extrinsic ocular muscle, especially those erfervated by the third nerve, retinal edema, neuro-retinitis, retinitissaturnine, optic neuritis, and optic atrophy. The damage from lead
may be transitory, due to an ischemia (local anemia), or permanent
through the action on the optic tract or to perivasculitis (inflamma
tion of the vessel walls). Since lead may induce a chronic nephritis,
some difficulty may arise in differentiating between ocular lead pois
oning and albuminuric retinitis.
No measures of prevention or treatment apply specifically to the
eyes. I f systemic lead poisoning is prevented no instance of ocular
lead poisoning will appear.
Methyl Alcohol
A LTHOUGH the greater number of cases of wood-alcohol blindness has in the last few years developed from the use of this
poison internally, a considerable number still arises as the result of

EYE DISEASES

283

intoxication following exposure to wood alcohol used for industrial
purposes.
Methyl alcohol may act as an acute or chronic poison, the chronic
form being most insidious and many times not easily diagnosed. In
either case the ocular symptoms arise as a part of the general sys
temic poisoning. The affected worker complains of decreased vision
and lessened visual fields. Upon examination there is found, in an
early case, a retrobulbar neuritis (inflammation in the orbital part
of the optic nerve), or pallor of the discs with constricted retinal
vessels. Atrophy of the optic nerve is a later development. Opinion
is that the chronic poisoning first destroys the axis-cylinders, later
attacking and destroying the ganglion cells. Blindness is reported
to develop in 6 per cent of all persons poisoned by methyl alcohol.
The chances for restoration of vision are very poor. Most of those
affected remain permanently blind.
To avoid wood alcohol poisoning, denatured ethyl alcohol should
be employed wherever possible; where the substitution is not possible,
wood alcohol should be utilized in “ closed circuit,” wherever compat
ible with the trade process. Adequate exhaust, together with good
factory ventilation, is essential. At all times workers should be
acquainted with the harmful properties of wood alcohol and the
conditions under which poisoning may arise.
Anilin
A NILIN and many of its related chemical compounds are capable
* * of inducing eye lesions. The eyes may be affected externally by
anilin vapors, especially hot vapors. For the most part, however,
the eyes are harmed by anilin which is absorbed through the skin
or taken into the body through the respiratory or alimentary tracts.
Acute anilin poisoning is likely to involve the eyes by external
irritation with a temporary blurring of vision. On examination of
workers long exposed to anilin, the external eye may be found to
be uniformly pigmented. The corneal epithelium is roughened and
pigmented. A conjunctivitis with ciliary injections is' frequently
encountered. In the more advanced case, scotoma and amblyopia
are to be found. Retinoneuritis has been observed.
Prognosis in such cases is good provided the source of intoxication
is removed.
Occupational Cataracts
CLOW-DEVELOPING cataracts frequently exist among workers
^ whose occupations involve continual exposure to intense light and
heat. These cataracts are especially associated with workers in
molten glass; but are known to arise in such other industries as chain
making, smelting, tin-plate making, welding, acetylene and oxyhydrogen cutting. Both heat and light are factors in causation of
occupational cataracts. Intense light without pronounced heat will
produce opacity of the lens in experimental animals. The period
of cataract formation is long. For many years a progressive opacity
of the lens, usually in both eyes, goes on without any knowledge of
the victim, In the glass industry the left side of the blower’s face

284

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

is held closer to the oven and often the left eye is involved before the
right.
Other than the gradual loss of vision, no subjective symptoms are
complained of by exposed workers. Often the vision is reduced to
one-tenth normal before medical advices are sought.
Provided no other lesions or complications interfere, the operative
risks in occupational cataract are good. This is contrary to the
usual posterior or cortical cataract. As a rule, on account of loss
of all accommodation, operated employees can not resume their
former work.
Protection against occupational cataract is to be found through
the continuous use, during the exposed period, of goggles that absorb
or disperse both the heat and chemical rays. Such goggles lend
themselves to use containing a plain glass or a glass correcting the
workman’s refractive error. Great difficulty in securing protection
from the development of occupational cataract arises from the dis
inclination of workers to wear these protective glasses continuously
through the long period in which cataracts are insidiously developing.
The participation of the eyes in chronic occupational disease is by
no means limited to the foregoing conditions. To this group may
with propriety be added many such lesions as immobile pupils,
nystagmus, corneal opacities, following long exposure to benzene;
paralysis of ocular muscles resulting from picric acid; keratitis
(inflammation of the cornea) found among harvesters; retinal and
papillary edema followed by fatty degeneration presented by workers
in phosphorus; divers chronic eye lesions arising among workers in
pharmacy; and amblyopia occurring among tea tasters and tobacco
wrorkers.
Fireworks Manufacture: Phosphorus Necrosis
DECAUSE of the intense suffering and often shocking deformity
resulting from chronic phosphorus poisoning, almost every civ
ilized country has taken measures to abolish the use of poisonous
phosphorus in the match industry where phosphorus necrosis was most
preval'ent. The present-day hazard of phosphorus poisoning occurs
among bone-black makers, brass founders, fertilizer makers, fireworks
makers, insecticide makers, phosphate-mill workers, phosphor-bronze
workers, phosphorus-compound makers, and phosphorus extractors.
An investigation has been made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
covering three industries which offer exposure to phosphorus poison
ing—the manufacture of phosphorus fireworks and of vermin exter
minator, and the phosphorus-extracting industry, the results of
which were published in Bulletin No. 405. In the manufacture of rat
paste, possibly because of the intermittent character of the industry,
no case of phosphorus necrosis was found to have occurred. Of the
two phosphorus extraction plants studied, one (which has been shut
down for five years) had, over a long period of years, four cases of
chronic phosphorus poisoning; the other plant had only one minor
case in 20 years, having given special attention to the teeth of em
ployees in* furnishing free dental care and inspecting the teeth of
all workers in phosphorus at frequent intervals.
The study demonstrates that there is a real industrial hazard from
phosphorus in the phosphorus-fireworks factories, even though th§

s k in

Dis e a s e s

am ong em plo yees in

c a n n e r ie s

285

number of workers exposed to the hazard is small. In the 3 plants
manufacturing phosphorus fireworks, 366 people were employed—181
men and 185 women. The workers engaged in the phosphorus
processes numbered 71, of whom 56 were women. Among the
employees of these three factories, there had occurred 14 definite
cases of phosphorus necrosis, 2 of which were fatal.
In addition to the paramount hazard of chronic poisoning, phos
phorus fireworks presents two collateral hazards—that of explosion
and that of acute poisoning. In the last 15 years, 18 fires or ex
plosions due to phosphorus fireworks have been reported. The
danger of acute phosphorus poisoning is not likely to be an industrial
hazard, since the cases are mostly those of children who sometimes
swallow the lozenges, thinking they are candy. Only passing atten
tion was paid to it in the investigation, and no effort was made to
secure the total number of such accidents. The American Museum
of Safety reported the deaths of 9 children, with ages ranging from
2y2 to 7 years, Fourth of July, 1925, as a result of eating phosphorus
fireworks. One State, Louisiana, has prohibited the sale of such
fireworks in the State, and a large distributer of fireworks has refused
to handle the phosphorus type and has so notified its customers.
The hazards inherent in the manufacture of phosphorus fireworks
are fully realized by the manufacturers themselves, and they have
been experimenting for some time to find a less dangerous substitute
for the poisonous phosphorus.
Since the investigation above was made, an agreement was reached
with the manufacturers by the Department of Labor whereby the
manufacture of all types of fireworks containing white (yellow)
phosphorus was to be eliminated on or before August 15, 1926.
Fruit Canneries: Skin Disease Among Employees
CM PLO YEES engaged in preparing the fruit for canning in the
fruit-packing plants of the Pacific Northwest have been subject
for several years to a dermatosis which has been referred to by those
affected as “ fruit poisoning.” A variety of remedies, chiefly anti
septics which are ordinarily used in treating bacterial infections, had
been used without much success, but an examination of some of these
cases showed that a yeastlike organism was the causative factor and
that this organism was destroyed by certain volatile oils.9
An employee in one of the packing plants, who had had a lesion
between the fingers which had persisted for several months in spite
of the use of various prescribed antiseptics, was examined and scrap
ings from the lesion showed budding spore forms which were believed
to be responsible for the inflammatory condition. Rapid improve
ment and healing followed the use of a 10 per cent alcoholic solution
of the oil of cinnamon, the cinnamon being tried because it has been
found efficacious against mold growth in certain medical preparations.
The canning plant in which the case of skin disease had originated
was visited during the next pear-canning season, cases of fruit
poisoning having been particularly severe at the time pears were
9
J ou rn a l o f th e A m erica n M ed ica l A ss o cia tio n , C h ica go, J une 27, 1925.
“ The
fu n g icid a l a c tiv ity o f ce r ta in v o la t ile o ils a n d stea rop ten s,” b y H a ro ld B. M yers, M. D.,
a n d C lin ton H . T hien es, M. D.

STUDIES O f INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

handled in previous years. Many similar cases of infection wer£
found which healed rapidly with the use of spirit of cinnamon and
the manager of the plant and the chemist reported that the use of
cinnamon water as a prophylactic measure was found to be useful in
preventing a greater number of infections.
The good results obtained by the use of the oil of cinnamon on these
lesions led to a study of the comparative fungicidal power of certain
volatile oils on the yeastlike organism which caused the so-called
fruit poisoning. It was found that there was considerable variation
in the effect of the various oils. Thymol destroyed the yeast in 60
seconds or less, while the most efficient volatile oils were found to be
cinnamon and cloves, which required approximately 30 and 90 min
utes, respectively, to kill the organism. The majority of the oils
tested did not prevent the growth of the yeast in 100 minutes. As a
result of the experiments, a mixed spirit of 5 per cent thymol and 2
per cent cinnamon was decided to be the best curative agent, and this
solution, painted on sites of infection found on employees in the
canning plant, resulted in the speedy relief of discomfort and the
promotion of healing.
Fur Cutting and Felt-Hat Manufacture: Occupational Hazards
T HE various hazards present in the manufacture of felt hats were
*
studied by several investigators and the results published in a
series of articles appearing in the August to December, 1922, issues
of the Journal of Industrial Hygiene.10
The principal hazards incidental to the trades of hatter’s furriers
or fur cutters and of hat makers and finishers, as summed up in the
first article of the series, are the use of mercuric nitrate in the
preparation of the fur for felting and the presence of organic and
inorganic dust.
The fine hairs of the skin of hares, muskrats, beavers, etc., used in
the making of felt, which are smooth, resilient, and straight, are made
rough and pliable for the felting process by the use of acid nitrate of
mercury. This chemical is now 'used for carrotting the fur in all
countries with the possible exception of Russia. In addition to the
danger of mercurialism in most of the processes, there is much animal
dust present. This dust, consisting of fine fur particles and harder
hair particles, is present in large quantities in the earlier processes,
and after the hat is formed and shaped, smaller quantities of fine
silicon dust are produced by rubbing the hat with emery paper to
smooth it.
In some of the processes there is direct contact with the mercury
and in others the mercury is volatilized by heat, while excessive heat
and moisture are present in most of the hat-making operations. In
the process of hat finishing the hazards include volatilized mercury,
naphtha fumes, silicon dust, and fine fur dust, with the minor hazard
of carbon monoxide from gas jets.
10J ou rn a l o f In d u s tria l H yg ien e, B o sto n , A u gu st, 1922, “ T h e in d u s tria l hygien e
o f f u r c u ttin g a n d fe lt-h a t m a n u fa c t u r e /’ b y D r. A lic e H a m ilt o n ; Septem ber, 1922,
“ In d u s tria l d isea ses o f fu r cu tte rs an d h a tte r s ” b y D r. A lic e H a m ilt o n ; O ctob er, 1922,
“ E stim a tion s o f m ercu ry in h a tte r s ’ fu r a n d in fe lt ,” b y A n n ie S to n e M i n o t ; N ovem ber,
1922, “ A clin ic a l stu d y o f fu r cu tters a n d fe lt h a tte r s,” by D r. W a d e W r i g h t ; D ecem
b er, 1922, “ T h e p re p a ra tio n o f h a tte rs ’ f u r : A ch em ica l stu d y o f th e c a r r o ttin g p ro ce s s ,”
b y J o h n H . J oh n son .

HEALTH HAZARDS IN FUR-DYEING INDUSTRY

287

Poisoning from mercury among hatters is slow in attack and in
development. There is little salivation, but inflammation of the
gums is common and there is blackening and erosion of the teeth,
especially among carrotters. Tremor is the most typical symptom.
Emery dust produced in finishing is a recognized occupational
hazard, but the question of the harmfulness of the animal dust is
still in dispute and can not be settled, it is stated, until there is a
much more thorough examination of men and women employed in
these processes.
Analyses of felt in different stages of hat manufacture to de
termine the processes in which the greatest amount of mercury
is lost by vaporization or by treatment with hot water show that
the greatest loss occurs in forming, blocking, shaping, and press
ing with hot irons and that these operations may be regarded,
therefore, as the most dangerous from the standpoint of mercurial
poisoning.
A clinical study of 100 hatter’s fur workers and felt hatters was
made in Danbury, Conn., in 1921. Of the 100 men examined 43
had undoubted signs of mercurialism. Salivation was present in
17 of these cases, dryness of the throat in 8, pyorrhea or gingivitis
in 21, a blue line on the gums in 2, tremor in 40, and psychic irrita
bility in 37. Various other symptoms, such as abnormally high
blood pressure, albuminuria, sore tongue, weakness of the muscles of
the forearms, dizziness, and insomnia, were also noted. Five of
these 43 men were considered to be severely affected, 14 moderately,
and 24 only slightly, while there were 10 others who presented cer
tain symptoms of poisoning, although their symptoms were not
considered to be sufficiently defined to warrant their inclusion as cases
of mercurialism.
The results of a chemical study of the carrotting process made in
an effort to find a nonpoisonous compound which could be substituted
for the acid nitrate of mercury forms the subject of the fifth paper
of the series. The felt obtained by the substitution of lead for
mercury, although of an inferior quality, was the best of the non
mercury carrotted specimens. The poisonous character of lead salts,
however, prevents any attempt to perfect a lead carrot. Of the other
solutions, copper dissolved in nitric acid and zinc oxide dissolved
in nitric acid gave the best results in yellow and white carrot, and
although these results were not equal to those obtained with ordinary
mercurial carrot it was considered that they were promising enough
to warrant further experimentation.
Fur-Dyeing Industry: Health Hazards in the Use of Intermediate
Dyes
T H E extent to which paraphenylene diamine11 is used as a dye
*
intermediate and the dangers attending its use are shown in an
article by Carroll M. Sails in the Industrial Hygiene Bulletin,
November, 1925, published by the New York State Department of
Labor.
Paraphenylene diamine is known in the trade under the German
name of “ ursol black,” the American-made product being sold as
31 S ee L a b o r R eview , F eb ru a ry , 1919, p. 2 1 5 ; M ay, 1924, pp, 194, 195,

288

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

“ universol black.” It is still widely used as a hair dye, although
for the past 10 years it has been reported as being displaced by less
poisonous substitutes. The total production of para per year in the
United States for all uses is 350,000 pounds, valued at $425,000. In
regard to the toxic properties of the substance the following is
quoted from a statement of the United States Public Health Service:
“ Paraphenylene diamine is an aniline derivative which by oxidation
becomes black or brown. The poisonous qualities of this chemical
are well known.”
The large number of cases of fur dermatitis which occurred in
London in 1922-23 paused much agitation and many cases of derma
titis in furriers have been reported to the New York State Depart
ment of Labor. The processes of dyeing, dressing, cutting, making
up into garments, and merchandising all bring the workers into con
tact with the dye or the dyed fur. According to one authority,
asthma and eczema are the diseases found most frequently among
fur and hide workers who come in contact with dyes containing
paraphenylene diamine and there is an occasional case of acute
dermatitis with swelling of the neck and head and loss of hair, fol
lowed in rare cases by death. After once having been poisoned there
is a tendency to become hypersensitive to the poison so that even the
finished products (dyed furs) can not be handled. The most hazard
ous working conditions occur during the drying of the dyed pelts
and when they are removed from the drums in which they have been
treated with sawdust or sand. In the latter case the operation is
accompanied by clouds of dust containing paraphenylene diamine
and its oxidation products.
Until satisfactory substitutes for paraphenylene diamine are
found, the writer recommends that in the dyeing process as weak
solutions as practicable should be used; that a mordant which helps
to develop and fix the dye should be used first when the dip process
is employed, and when the brush process is used the brushed skin
should be given from 12 to 24 hours to develop the dye. The dyed
skins should be washed thoroughly with running water, preferably
in a paddle, and the washed and dried skins should be thoroughly
drummed in a revolving drum containing sawdust or clean sand for
several hours.
Gases and Fumes
See Arsenic trichloride: effects of exposure on workers; Benzol
poisoning: final report of National Safety Council Committee;
Brass foundries: health hazards; Carbon monoxide poisoning;
Chemical poisoning: effect and treatment; Eye diseases: eye symp
tomatology in occupational diseases; Fireworks manufacture:' phos
phorus necrosis; Fur cutting and felt-hat manufacture: occupational
hazards; Hydrofluoric acid: effect of fumes; Hydrogen sulphide gas
poisoning; Irritant gases: action on respiratory tract; Mercury
poisoning; Photo-engraving industry: health survey; Tetraethyl
lead gasoline.
Heat and Humidity
See Steam laundries: effect of working conditions upon health of
workers.

EFFECT OF EXPOSURE TO HYDROFLUORIC ACID FUMES

289

Heart Disease: Industrial Aspects
'"THE importance of heart disease as a cause of death was emphasized in a paper on the statistical aspects of the problem of
organic heart disease, read by Dr. Louis I. Dublin at the 1925 meet
ing of the Medical Society ox the State of New York.
Heart disease in its various forms stands first in the order of causes
of death and probably first also in the amount of damage it does
through invalidity and invalidism. There are now nearly 200,000
deaths annually from this disease in this country, and if present
conditions continue it is estimated that one in every five of the
population living at the age of 10 will eventually die of organic
heart disease.
The problem is not only a general one but is also industrial, as
heart disease takes its toll from the ranks of the workers generally
and particularly from the colored people, whose mortality rates
from this disease during the main age period of life are twice that
for whites at the corresponding ages. The death rates per 100,000
for organic diseases of the heart among industrial policyholders of
the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. in 1923 were 113.6 for white
males, 122.1 for white females, 190.8 for colored males, and 217.4 for
colored females for all ages, 1 year and over, while between the ages
of 35 and 44 and 45 and 54 the rates were, respectively, for white
males 86.6 and 253.3, for white females 70.7 and 184.9, for colored
males 180.3 and 424.6, and for colored females 184.7 and 470.4 per
100,000 of the population.
That the situation is even more serious than this is shown by the
fact that as yet only the merest beginnings have been made in the
collection of information on the incidence of heart disease in the
community, and it is only recently that through the work of the
cardiac clinics there has been an effort to gather the information
needed on the morbidity of heart disease. Study of the findings of
the life insurance companies in their routine examinations of appli
cants for insurance shows that approximately 2 per cent of the total
population are suffering from definite organic heart disease.
The importance of more systematic and complete study of cases of
organic heart disease and a more general compilation and analysis
of the records were stressed by Doctor Dublin.
Hydrofluoric Acid: Effect of Fumes
T^HE hazard from exposure to hydrofluoric-acid fumes was dis* cussed in the Industrial Hygiene Bulletin, September, 1924,
published by the New York State Department of Labor.
Anhydrous hydrogen fluoride is a clear liquid, boiling at 67° F.,
which fumes strongly in the air. It is highly poisonous, forming an
ulcerated sore if a drop comes in contact with the skin, and accidental
breathing of the concentrated vapor of the acid has caused death.
Exposure to the fumes produces intense irritation of the eyelids and
conjunctiva, coryza, bronchial catarrh with spasmodic cough; ulcera
tion of the nostrils, gums, and oral mucous membrane; painful ulcers
of the cuticle, erosion and formation of vesicles, and suppuration
under the finger nails.

290

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

Hydrofluoric acid is used to produce opaque and transparent etch
ing on glass, and poisoning from it has occurred in chemical works
where it is prepared, in glass factories, in laboratories of the pottery
industry, in the extraction of fluorides of antimony (substitute for
tartar emetic in dye works), in fertilizer factories (extraction of
phosphorites for manufacture of phosphorus), in bleaching, and in
the extraction of silicates. To produce opaque etching, the glass is
dipped in a solution of hydrofluoric acid, an alkali fluoride, and
other salts.
A case is cited of a plant manufacturing opaque glassware where
such a high percentage of hydrofluoric acid was used in the solution
that a dangerous amount of fume was given off. It was obvious that
workers who stood constantly over the dipping bath must have been
seriously affected, as all the windows of the large room containing the
bath were deeply frosted, and the glass front of a large wall clock had
been broken out in order to see the hands of the clock. It was admit
ted by the manufacturer that conditions were bad, but he could see
no remedy. It was suggested that the desired degree of opacity
might be obtained by decreasing the concentration of hydrofluoric
acid in the solution and increasing the concentration of the neutral
components. After some experimentation a neutral, water-soluble,
viscous substance was discovered Avhich practically eliminated the
discharge of hydrofluoric-acid fumes into the room, and in addition to
the improved health conditions thereby secured an opaque etching
with a finer texture was produced.
Hydrogen Sulphide Gas: Poisoning
TT HE toxicity of hydrogen sulphide gas, the symptoms of poisonA ing, and the method of treatment in acute and subacute cases are
dealt with in a report of the United States Bureau of Mines (Serial
No. 2491). The gas, which is extremely poisonous, is sometimes
present in mines, railroad tunnels, sewers, and marshes. It is also
present at different stages of the manufacture of sulphuric acid and
in the distillation of petroleum, particularly the oils known as “ highsulphur crudes,” as well as about gas wells, gas plants, and smelters.
In mines it may be present in the coal or rock strata as occluded gas,
or it may be formed by decomposition of sulphides in the presence
of moisture.
Hydrogen sulphide is a colorless gas somewhat heavier than air,
and has the odor of rotten eggs. It burns with a bluish flame, and in
seven parts of air a mixture is formed which explodes with violence
when ignited.
The danger of poisoning is always present wherever hydrogen sul
phide exists and its toxicity is similar to that of hydrocyanic acid
gas (prussic acid). Cases of poisoning from the gas may be divided
into two distinct types—acute, or asphyxiation, and subacute. In
acute poisoning there is almost immediate unconsciousness and fre
quently death results before the victim can be rescued. In cases
where rescue can be accomplished the victim usually recovers almost
immediately with no permanent aftereffects, although headache and
nausea may persist for a few hours. In subacute cases irritation of

ACTION ON RESPIRATORY TRACT BY IRRITANT GASES

291

the eyes and respiratory tract occur, varying in degree according to
the concentration of the gas present and the length of exposure.
Experiments conducted at the Pittsburgh Experiment Station of
the Bureau of Mines on animals and in a few cases on men, using low
percentages of hydrogen sulphide, showed that in animals both acute
and subacute types of poisoning could be produced. Death in acute
cases was found to be due to respiratory failure, followed by cardiac
failure, and in subacute cases to irritation of the respiratory tract,
followed by edema of the lungs.
The approximate concentration of hydrogen sulphide which will
cause subacute symptoms in man was found to vary from 0.01 to
0.06 per cent, while in the production of acute symptoms it ranged
from 0.06 to 0.1 per cent, the latter amount producing immediately
fatal results. The aftereffects of severe subacute poisoning were
found to be worse than those from acute poisoning. In subacute
cases, when death did not occur, diabetes, nephritis, pneumonia, and
degeneration of the nervous system were among the effects recorded.
It was found that many acute cases could be saved even when the
respiration was completely paralyzed and there were signs of begin
ning cardiac failure. Removal to fresh air and the use of artificial
respiration usually resulted in recovery, while the use of oxygen
facilitated the return to consciousness and lessened the bad effects
of the poisoning. The treatment of subacute cases depends upon
the seat of irritation, and in most cases the patient should be under
the care of a physician. These cases include conjunctivitis, pharyn
gitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
A general knowledge of the extreme toxicity of the gas, the
report says, is necessary for the prevention of poisoning. Mechani
cal devices have been designed for care of these fumes in different
industries, and the use of canister masks, hose masks, and oxygenbreathing apparatus have proved of value. The results of the study
are summed up as follows:
1. Hydrogen sulphide is an industrial poison, the toxicity of which has not
been fully realized. Cases of poisoning have occurred in relatively large num
bers. Constant vigilance is required in order to prevent accidents.
2. The poisoning by hydrogen sulphide is of two types— namely, acute and
subacute— causing asphyxiation and irritation (conjunctivitis, bronchitis,
pharyngitis, and depression of the central nervous system), respectively.
Death from asphyxia is caused by paralysis of the respiratory center, while
death from subacute poisoning is associated with edema of the lungs. The
exact low limit of hydrogen-sulphide concentration at which it ceases to act as
a poison has not as yet been determined, but is evidently below 0.005 per cent.
3. Hydrogen sulphide in low concentrations produces symptoms of headache,
sleeplessness, dullness, dizziness, and weariness. Pain in the eyes, followed by
conjunctivitis, is fairly constant, while bronchitis and pains in the chest are
frequent. Further poisoning produces depression, stupor, unconsciousness, and
death. Spasms— clonic and tonic in character— are present, and death occurs
following paralysis of the respiratory center.

Irritant Gases: Action on Respiratory Tract
A MONG the gases and vapors found in industrial processes there
* * is a large group of the so-called “ irritants ” which produce
symptoms which are due not so much to the difference in their

292

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

chemical properties as to the difference in their physical properties.
An account of the effect of these gases on different sections o f the
respiratory tract was given by Dr. Howard W. Haggard in an
article in the Journal of Industrial Hygiene (Boston), February,
1924:.

. . .

An irritant gas or vapor is one which produces inflammation in
those tissues with which it comes in contact. This action is direct
upon surface tissues, notably the mucous membrane of the eye and
the respiratory membranes, and the effects are of the greatest severity
on those surfaces which are most easily penetrated. The irritant
gases act in such extreme dilution that gross chemical corrosion is
not usually involved. I f it is involved it causes almost instant
death.
The different gases affect different sections of the respiratory tract.
Ammonia produces intense congestion of the upper respiratory
passages and immediate death from spasm or edema of the larynx,
while phosgene and nitrogen peroxide have little effect on the upper
respiratory tract but induce pneumonia or edema of the lungs.
Chlorine is intermediary in its action between ammonia on the one
hand and phosgene and nitrogen peroxide on the other.
The fact that the selective action of the various irritants is due
to their physical rather than their chemical properties is especially
true of solubility. A gas which is very soluble in water and is readily
diffused in its solution is taken out of the inspired air by contact
with the first moist tissue it touches. The result is that the upper
respiratory passages are the parts most affected, the concentration
of the irritant reaching the lungs being greatly reduced. In the case
of a gas which has a very low solubility in water there is little of the
gas absorbed in the upper respiratory passages and the principal
damage is done deep in the lungs.
The degree of concentration of an irritant gas is of great impor
tance. In the case of the volatile irritants the severity of the action
does not vary according to the amount and duration of the applica
tion, but a high concentration, for even a short time, has an intense
effect.
The inhalation of an irritant gas exercises an immediate effect on
the nasal passages and the larynx, causing them to become acutely
painful, and a series of reflexes is set in motion, such as coughing,
constriction of the larynx and bronchi, closing of the glottis, and
inhibition of respiration, which tend to prevent the penetration of the
irritant to the deeper and more delicate parts of the respiratory tract.
Coughing is caused by even slight irritation, but this response to
an irritant in the air varies in different individuals. Persons whose
throats have been rendered sensitive by the use of tobacco or from
infection cough more readily than normal persons, while those with
chronic mild inflammatory or catarrhal conditions, because of de
creased susceptibility, cough less readily. While coughing is, of
course, no protection, it serves as a warning of the presence of these
substances in the atmosphere.
The physiological efforts of the different parts of the respiratory
tract for self-protection are of great importance, as the delicacy of

ACTION ON RESPIRATORY TRACT BY IRRITANT GASES

293

the respiratory membranes and their susceptibility to injury increase
in passing from the upper to the lower part of the tract. Although
the nose and pharynx may be stripped raw they may receive little
permanent damage, while the injury to the larynx and bronchi may
result in the general systemic effects which are present in cases of
acute laryngitis and bronchitis which develop from any cause. The
lungs when directly acted upon by an irritant receive serious injury
and edema or pneumonia may develop, with a possible fatal outcome.
I f death is not an immediate result of lung edema, the usual symp
toms of severe membranous bronchitis and tracheitis may last for
several days, after which regeneration of the mucous membrane be
gins to take place, although there is almost always infection of the
bronchi. In cases of severe inflammation of the upper respiratory
tract there may be an edematous swelling of the larynx sufficient to
close the opening of the trachea, in which case death may result from
acute asphyxia. This is the common cause of fatalities occurring
during or soon after severe exposure to the class of gases that affect
this part of the respiratory tract. I f death does not result at once
from swelling of the larynx or spasm of the glottis, lung edema may
develop, reaching the climax in from 12 to 24 hours, when if death
does not occur inflammation tends to subside in from two to three
days.
The effect o f the action of the gas on the lungs is to interfere with
the respiratory exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between
the air and the blood and to obstruct the flow of blood through the
lungs, thus placing a strain on the right side of the heart. Irritation
of the lungs does not cause severe pain as does irritation of the upper
air passages. The principal symptoms of lung edema are those of
asphyxia which is not, however, associated with air hunger in its
early stages. The patient may be an ashy gray color but with no
difficulty in breathing, although he may be in danger of death,
especially on making the least exertion. In the later stages the
skin may be of a blue color and there may be intense air hunger.
In nonfatal cases of pulmonary edema no medicinal measures are
effective in affording relief, with the exception of oxygen which,
however, has no markedly beneficial effect on the progress of the
disease. The mortality from the pneumonia following gassing is
high, death occurring in from four days to two weeks. An exposure
which is not sufficient to cause the acute symptoms of lung irrita
tion may cause pneumonia, and “ under industrial conditions the
infections thus induced constitute a greater cause of death than
primary pulmonary edema. Many observers feel that irritant gas
or vapor even in extreme dilution is to be regarded as predisposing
to the development of pneumonia. The only exception to this
statement is afforded by chlorine which, in low concentrations, seems
to exert a bactericidal action without appreciable irritation.”
Severe irritation of the lower respiratory tract may result in a
chronic inflammatory condition and cause a long period of ill health.
In some cases there is little evidence upon physical examination of
persistent changes in the lungs and the subject at rest may appear
normal although he is in reality capable of only very moderate
38690°— 27------ 20

294

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

exertion. In such cases an individual may be unjustly suspected
of malingering.
Prolonged exposure to gas in quantities insufficient to cause death
may result in chronic poisoning evidenced by a moderate inflamma
tion of the upper respiratory tract associated with a sharp cough.
I f the exposure is incidental to regular working conditions the
inflammation passes into a catarrhal state and the coughing becomes
less marked. While the worker appears then to have acquired a
degree of tolerance for the gas this is not the case, the protective
reflexes having simply become less active and the effect of the
catarrh is to leave the deeper respiratory tract more exposed to the
action of the gas. In addition, chronic poisoning affects the general
health, causing loss in weight and increased liability to acute infec
tion and to the development of tuberculosis.
Most of the irritant gases act in such a way upon the respiratory
tract that they are destroyed or neutralized and therefore are not
absorbed into the body in their original form. As a rule there is no
systemic poisoning following absorption of these products. Hydro
gen sulphide and nitrogen peroxide are exceptions to this rule, how
ever. Hydrogen sulphide is absorbed and neutralized in the respira
tory tract to sodium sulphide and the absorption of this alkaline
sulphide into the blood stream produces a profound systemic poison
ing. Nitrogen peroxide when inhaled forms sodium nitrite and may
cause nitrite poisoning, although the symptoms may be obscured by
the much more acute pulmonary irritation.
Organic substances such as alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, volatile
petroleum, and coal-tar products, which are generally classed as irri
tants, are absorbed from the respiratory tract without change. Their
systemic effects are in general more severe than their action as pul
monary irritants.
The local action of these substances differs from that of the more common
irritants in two respects: (1) The mucous secretion which results from their
action upon the respiratory passages does not serve to form a protective coating
against their action; the secretion neither neutralizes nor alters these sub
stances, but rapidly becomes saturated with the gas at the tension inhaled. (2)
The greater part of the irritant action occurs in the upper respiratory passages,
bronchi, and bronchiolea, while the lung alveoli and atria are relatively little
affected. Such amounts of the gas as reach the lungs themselves are absorbed
unchanged. This location of action is quite exceptional, for the solubility of
these substances is usually quite low. The sparing of the deeper portion of the
lungs is the result of the active absorption into the blood, which keeps the con
centration of the irritant in the alveoli constantly at a low level.

The following table summarizes the effects of the different irritant
gases, their solubility, and the concentrations which cause dangerous
symptoms after exposure of one hour:

LEAD EXCRETION BY NORMAL PERSONS

295

R E L A T IO N B E T W E E N T H E P H Y S IC A L P R O P E R T IE S OF I R R I T A N T S A N D T H E I R S IT E
OF A C T IO N IN T H E R E S P I R A T O R Y T R A C T A N D S U B S E Q U E N T S Y M P T O M A T O L O G Y

Approxi
mate
solubility
in water,
by
volume,
at 40° C.i

Site of main
action upon
respiratory
tract

Amm onia gas__ 444 (ex
trapo
lated).

Upper respir at or y
tract.

Irritant-

H y d r o c h lo r ic
acid gas.

385............

Form aldehyde.. Very sol ........d o...........
uble.
Sulphuric acid.. E ncoun- ........do...........
tered as
droplets
Sulphur dioxide. 18.7.......... Upper respi
ratory tract
and bron
chi.
Bromine............. 9. 4

Chlorine............. 1. 4

Nature of local
action

Alkaline ca u stic...

A cid action. Neu
tralizes alkali of
tissues and alters
the reaction.
Combines
with
proteins and al
ters them.
A cid action............

Concen
tration
dangerous
to breathe
for 1 hour
(parts per
million
of air) 2

Sym ptom atology

2,000 Elicits immediate and vio
lent respiratory reflexes;
coughing and arrest of
respiration.
1,500

Death from edema or spasm
, of larynx. Upper respira
tory tract inflamed.

A cid and oxidizing
action.

400

Elicits respiratory reflexes.
Rarely causes death from
edema of the larynx.
Trachea and bronchi in
flamed. Lung edema rare.

Both upper Oxidizing action__
and lower
respiratory
tract.
........d o .. ,___ ........do......................

Elicits respiratory reflexes.
Inflammation of entire res
piratory tract. Edema of
lungs after severe exposure.
Does not elicit marked respi
ratory reflexes. M a y be
fatal in
concentrations
which cause no reflexes at
a ll. U p p e r respiratory
’ tract inflamed only after
very
severe
exposure.
Usually no immediate
symptoms. Delayed death
from lung edema.

Lower respi Liberated HC1 has
Phosgene............ Decom
poses.
ratory tract.
acid action.
Nitrogen perox — do_____ ........ do........... Liberated HNOa
and
H N O j have
ide.
acid and oxidiz
ing action.

25
3 117

1 Landolt-Bornstein: Physikalisch-Chemische TabeUen. Berlin, Julius Springer, 1905, p. 599. 40°C.==
104°F.
2 Kobert, R .: Kom pendium der praktischen Toxikologie. Stuttgart. F. Enke, 1912, p. 45.
* The toxicity of phosgene is greater than that of nitrogen peroxide for the reason that a portion of the
peroxide is decomposed into the relatively weak nitrous acid.

Lead: Excretion by Normal Persons
'“TH E fact that the excretion of lead in the urine and feces of ap* parently healthy, normal men is a matter of almost uniform
occurrence has been established by a study by Dr. Robert A. Kehoe
and his associates, the results of which were published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association (Chicago), December 18, 1926.
This fact is of great importance as the excretion of lead was for
merly considered a reliable test in establishing a diagnosis of lead
poisoning.
The persons examined were workmen taken at random as they
appeared at an employment agency and included farmers, common
laborers, skilled workers, sailors, chauffeurs, and clerks, most of
whom were youths or in middle life, and all parts of the United
States were represented in their former homes. Each subject re
ceived a careful physical examination, including an analysis of urine
and a hemoglobin determination, and was given careful instructions
and maintained under supervision during the hours of employment
while the tests were being made. Sixty-five men were obtained for

296

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

the experiment and each man was questioned carefully as to his oc
cupation over at least the five preceding years. Part of these men
had been employed in occupations in which there was exposure to lead
occasionally or during some part of the five-year period, but 25 had
no history of lead exposure.
The tests, details of which are given in the article, were carried
out with every attention to accuracy and no other work than these
analyses was done in the laboratory during the time they were being
made. All subjects were found to be excreting lead either in the
urine or feces and in most instances in both, although careful con
sideration of the subjective symptoms and the results of the physical
examinations failed to show evidence of lead poisoning in any of the
subjects.
The fact of the presence of lead in all the persons examined when
coupled with the variation in occupation, mode of living, and the
places in which they had lived over a considerable period of time
suggests, the writer says, that there is an important source, or
sources, of lead absorption as yet unknown but which may be con
cluded to be fairly general.
The question is raised as to whether such a general exposure could
be the result of anything less widely distributed than food materials,
as the drinking water in the average American community does not
contain lead in sufficient quantity to produce this result and analysis
of the water in the community in which these subjects were studied
showed no lead was present.
In many of the cases studied there was no history of exposure to
the usually recognized sources of lead absorption, and furthermore,
the writer says, “ there is no constant relationship to be found be
tween quantity of exposure and rate of excretion. It is well to point
out that the diagnostic value of qualitative determinations of lead
excretion fails completely in face of the facts demonstrated herein.
Nor will quantitative determinations avail anything until a quanti
tative significance is experimentally and clinically established.”
Lead Poisoning: Deaths
r"THE results of a statistical study of deaths from lead poisoning
*
by Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman are published in Bulletin No. 426
of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figures presented cover re
ports of chronic lead poisoning secured from various sources, in
cluding data from the division of vital statistics of the United States
Bureau of the Census for the United States registration area, various
State and city reports, and statistics secured from certain of the
State industrial accident boards, as well as foreign reports.
The figures show that during the period 1910-1924 there was a
progressive decrease in the number of deaths from this cause for the
registration area, the death rate per million of the population being
2.5 in 1910 and 1.4 in 1924. These figures are confirmed by data
covering a large group of insured wage earners, which show a corre
sponding decrease during the same period, and by the other records.
As a part of the study the death certificates in the division of vital
statistics were examined in detail for the 11 years 1914^-1924. There
were 1,592 deaths from lead poisoning during this period and a

LEAD POISONING

297

classification of the cases by occupation brings out the startling fact
that a considerable proportion ox the deaths were nonindustrial or
not directly connected with lead-using industries. Among such
deaths were those of 48 women and 61 farmers, very few of whom
had had any industrial exposure to lead, but who, it was shown, had
been poisoned in a majority of the cases by drinking water which
had been contaminated by passing through lead pipes. Among
occupational groups painters led all others, with 841 deaths, or more
than half the total number, while there were 67 deaths among
printers, 85 among metal workers and lead workers, and 25 among
plumbers.
Lead Poisoning: Report of Cases Among Motor-Car Painters in
New South Wales12
A N INVESTIGATION of lead poisoning among employees in the
motor-car painting trade in Sydney, Australia, in 1924, covered
‘100 of the 120 members of the coachmakers’ union in that city.
Complete medical examinations were made of each man, including
a record of the blood pressure, hemoglobin estimation, examination
of the blood for punctate basophilia or stippling of the red cells, and
chemical or microscopical examination of the urine. As a result of
the examinations and the various tests, a positive diagnosis of lead
poisoning was made in 14 of the 100 men examined, while 12 were
considered to be slightly affected by lead poisoning and 17 had symp
toms which were suspicious but not sufficient to justify a positive
diagnosis of lead poisoning.
In the examination of these workers the lead line was found in 11
cases. Of these men a diagnosis of lead poisoning was made in 6, of
slight lead poisoning in 4, and of no disability in 1. The significance
to be attached to the blue line is the same as that of lead in tirine,
but it relates to the recent past while lead in the urine shows present
absorption. The blue line shows that active transportation of lead
has taken place in the body and that the tissues have been exposed
to its harmful effects. A blue line therefore is an indication for
examination for punctate basophilia to see if the blood-forming
tissues have been poisoned and for granular casts to determine
whether the kidneys have been affected. A blue line is a particularly
suspicious symptom in the otherwise healthy gum.
A fatal case of lead poisoning in which a blue line on the gum was
practically the only symptom came under the observation of the
writer of the report. The case was that of a man engaged in repair
ing wine casks which had been painted with kn exceedingly dangerous
mixture of white lead and turpentine. In handling the casks this
mixture came off as fine dust. The man, who was 33 years old, had
been engaged at this work for two years. His only complaint of
ill health was of muscular pains, but examination of the blood showed
marked basophilia and anemic changes and examination of urine and
feces showed a considerable elimination of lead. He was advised to
change his work and did so, but died in a few weeks of rupture of a
blood vessel in the brain.
^Australia (New South Wales). Director-General of Public Health.
1924, Section i-c , Industrial Bygiene, Sydney, 1926.

Annual report,

298

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

Only recently has the significance of finding lead in the urine of
workers exposed to any form of this element received a satisfactory
explanation. Recent researches have shown that the presence of
lead in the urine or in the majority of the body tissues indicates that
lead is being actively transported by the blood and therefore absorp
tion has recently taken place or else considerable amounts have just
been liberated from the bones. Therefore, if a person is engaged in a
process in which there is a known exposure to lead or its compounds
and lead is found in his urine, it is certain this is the result of recent
absorption. There is no definite knowledge, however, of the amount
of lead excreted daily by individuals either poisoned or not affected
by the lead taken in, but it is considered probable that a large amount
is more generally associated with severe cases of poisoning than a
small amount. I f through intensive study the amount excreted in
the urine could be correlated with the intake it might help to do
away with the term “ lead absorption ” which although it is used in
its legitimate sense to mean merely the presence of lead in the body,,
is often used to cover up or belittle signs or symptoms of poisoning.
The tests showed that lead was being excreted by 62 of the men
examined and lead in amounts of 0.05 milligram per liter or more was
found in the urine of 9 of the 14 men diagnosed as affected by lead
poisoning, in 6 of the 11 men diagnosed as having slight lead poison
ing, and in 21 of the remaining painters. Three of the men whose
cases were pronounced lead poisoning had been away from work for
some time.
Although punctate basophilia are present in practically all cases of
lead poisoning, they may be absent or present only intermittently.
They were found to be present in 18 of the men examined, 6 of these
were among those diagnosed as being affected by lead poisoning and
5 among those considered to be only slightly poisoned. Degenera
tive changes were indicated by granular casts in the urine and by
increased blood pressure in a considerable number of the men exam
ined. In summing up the study it is stated that the incidence of
lead poisoning was sufficiently grave in this industry to call for the
suppression of all processes creating lead dust, for periodical exami
nation of employees, and for better ventilation of the paint shops,
and that “ to forbid the use of lead compounds in any painting process
done indoors is an obvious remedy.”
Manganese Poisoning: Report of Six Cases
A STUDY of six cases of poisoning among workers in a manganese
**
grinding plant in Virginia was reported by R. Finley Gayle,
jr., M. D., in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Chi
cago), December 26, 1925.
The first case which came to the attention of the writer was that of
a man, who had been 'employed in the manganese plant, who was
suffering with a disease obviously of the central nervous system but
the symptoms of which did not fit any well-recognized symptom
complex. Because of his employment, the possibility of manganese
poisoning was considered, and the descriptions of the disease avail
able agreed so well with the symptoms of the patient that this
diagnosis was made.

M an gan eS e p & ls o N IN G

299

A review of the medical literature showed that remarkably few
cases of manganese poisoning had been recorded and comparatively
little had been written about the disease.13 The first cases were
reported in 1837, the poisoning having occurred among workmen who
handled manganese dioxide in the manufacture of chlorine for
bleaching powder. The symptoms in these cases and in those subse
quently described in medical journals and other works were similar,
and in all but nine of the cases reported at various times the cause
of the poisoning was inhalation of the manganese dust in grinding
plants or swallowing it with the saliva.
The six patients included in the present study had been employed
for periods varying from 3 to 10 months in an atmosphere heavily
laden with fine manganese dust. No attempt had been made to
protect the workers from the dust until several cases of suspected
poisoning had developed and then the workmen were provided with
masks, but as they were uncomfortable they were seldom worn.
The dust-collection system in the mill was entirely inadequate to
collect the dust produced in grinding the ore.
The symptoms of chronic manganese poisoning are said to be so
striking as to differentiate them from other diseases of the central
nervous system, and the symptoms present in these cases, which
are typical of the disease, are described by Doctor Gayle, as follows:
The initial symptom in 3 of my 6 patients was disturbance of gait and
in 2 of the remaining patients this was the second manifestation. In each of
the patients the following symptoms were invariably found: Nervousness; weak
ness and fatigue; disturbed gait with retropulsion on arising and propulsion on
walking, and causeless laughter with silly conduct and expression. Paresthe
sias14 were noted as an early complaint in 4 cases; intention tremor of the
hands, in 5 ; monotonous speech, in 5; awkward, clumsy movements of the ex
tremities with loss of the finer movements of the hands, in 4 ; masked expres
sion, in 4 ; a loose-hanging lower jaw, in 3 ; an infrequent, deep inspiratory
sigh, in 3 ; and lethargy, in 2. Abnormal mental symptoms were observed in
every patient, mostly of personality, and in only one case were intellectual
aberrations observed. Irritability, lack of sociability, tearfulness, and mild
exaltation were the outstanding changes. Two of the patients became sus
picious, without cause, of their families and friends. The organic neurologic
findings were almost uniform, the gait was altered in every case, the station
was unsteady and the deep tendon reflexes were increased over the normal
in the majority. Intention tremor of the hands and increased muscle tone
were found together with masked expression and monotonous speech. None
of the patients showed pathologic plantar reflexes, objective sensory changes,
atrophy, or edema. The pupils were not altered in size, shape, or reaction.
The fields of vision were normal as well as could be detected by a rough ex
amination. Intraocular examination showed definite pallor in one case and a
very reddened vascular retina in another. No involvement of the cranial
nerves was noted except suspicious weakness of the facial nerve in one patient
and the drooping lower jaw in 3.
Peripheral neuritis is a frequent symptom of poisoning from various metals,
and it is possible that there may be some neuritie involvement in these cases.
This may be suspected in view of the fact that 4 of the patients examined
complained of paresthesias of the extremities, and in 2 of them actual pain
was described. Against this belief is the activity of the tendon reflexes, the
absence of objective sensory changes and muscular atrophy, and the character
of the pain.

The ages of these workers varied from 17 to 47 and all but one had
been rather heavy drinkers. The operators of the plant and some
13 See Labor Review, October, 1919, pp. 238-240.
14 Morbid or perverted sensation such as numbness, crawling sensation, “ pins-andneedles.”

300

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL, DISEASES AND POISONS

others in the community were of the opinion that the symptoms
were caused by the drinking of corn whisky and fermenting cider,
but the symptoms of either acute or chronic alcoholism do not agree
with those in these cases; and also the one patient who was not a
drinker developed symptoms of poisoning in a shorter period of
time (about three months) after being in contact with the manganese
dust than any of the others.
There appears to be a gradual progression in the symptoms of
persons susceptible to manganese poisoning as long as they are sub
jected to absorption of the manganese dust, the symptoms remaining
at the maximum for varying lengths of time followed by improve
ment up to a certain point. Because of the well-grounded belief,
however, that there is a destruction of cerebral tissue, the writer
believes that in all but the mildest cases there will be permanent
disability.
Preventive measures consist of the provision of face masks, the
wearing of which should be rigidly enforced, and the installation of
an efficient dust-collecting system. It is also considered essential
that shower baths should be provided and that a bath and a change
of clothing should be compulsory at the end of the day’s work.
The treatment which has been suggested for the condition is
massage, corrective exercises, warm baths, and various types of
hydrotherapy, together with stimulation of the excretion o f the
poison by general elimination.
The results of the study are summarized as follows:
1. Manganese, more often than is recognized, causes symptoms in workmen
handling this ore.
2. That certain persons are not susceptible to the poisoning effects of man
ganese is demonstrated by the fact that many workmen in this plant have been
in contact with manganese dust for several years with no apparent ill effect.
3. Mental symptoms have been described by some investigators and denied
by others. Mental changes were found in each of the patients of this series.
4. No record could be found of other investigators having detected manganese
in the urine in clinical cases. Experimentally it has been found in minute
amounts. In this series it was present in three of the five specimens of urine
examined.

Mercury Poisoning
D OISONING from mercury is a common occurrence both in the
*
mining and the smelting of this metal, although by far the
greater number o f cases occur among the employees about the
reduction works, according to a study of mercury poisoning by Dr.
R. R. Sayers. (Bureau o f Mines, Reports of Investigations, May,
1922, Serial No. 2354.) Modern methods of mining and recovery
of the metal have greatly reduced the frequency and severity of cases,
but further reduction is possible, the report states, and much can be
done by both workmen and operators by taking proper precautions.
The cases of mercury poisoning occurring about mines and reduc
tion works are usually chronic, although there is occasional develop
ment of acute symptoms when workers are exposed to excessive
amounts of mercury vapors, dust, or soot. The chief symptoms of
the disease are stomatitis (inflammation of the mouth), frequently
with salivation, tremors, and a peculiar timidity. There are organic
degenerative changes in the digestive system, the circulatory system,
and the kidneys.

ASPECTS OF DUST ELIMINATION IN MINES

301

The principal causes of poisoning are poor ventilation and failure
to prevent the escape of mercury vapor from furnaces, condensers,
and retorts, and uncleanliness on the part of the workmen. In addi
tion to these causes there is a wide variation in the susceptibility of
different persons. The use of alcohol and tobacco seem to increase
both susceptibility and the severity of symptoms, while women and
children and tuberculous individuals are considered to be most
susceptible.
Mercury poisoning is caused by the absorption and retention of
small quantities of the metal or its compounds over an extended
period of time. It may enter the body through the skin, the gastro
intestinal tract, or the respiratory tract, and is more readily absorbed
by the skin if the person is perspiring or if the mercury is impure or
dirty. Metallic mercury vaporizes at low temperatures, being notice
able at 8.5° F., and the amount vaporized increases with the heat.
The vapors, fumes, and dusts enter the body, therefore, through the
skin, they are breathed into the lungs, or are swallowed with food or
other substances taken into the mouth. While the effects of the
mercury are cumulative, only a portion of the amount absorbed is
retained in the body, elimination taking place slowly through the
kidneys, large intestines, and the bile and saliva. Because there are
usually only small amounts absorbed in any one day by a worker in a
reduction plant, the development of symptoms is usually slow. The
usual course of symptoms is first loss of appetite, stomatitis, and
intestinal disturbances followed at varying lengths of time by the
development of tremors which progress until the whole body is more
or less involved. While this stage is not supposed to be dangerous
to life, if exposure to mercury continues the brain may become
affected, with death as the probable result.
Persons suffering from industrial mercurial poisoning usually re
cover, the report states, if they are removed from contact with the
poison during the early stages or even after tremors develop, though
recovery may take several months, but if paralysis, delirium, or in
sanity are present the recovery is doubtful.
Measures recommended in the report for the prevention of poison
ing include adequate general and exhaust ventilation; provision of
respirators; one shower bath for every 10 employees and one wash
basin for every 5 employees; individual lockers; lunch rooms;
physical examination of applicants for employment, excluding
drinkers, those having tuberculosis or those in poor physical
condition, and persons under 18 years of age; periodic physical ex
amination at least every six months; instruction of employees as to
the dangers of mercury poisoning and methods of avoiding it. The
necessity for strict personal cleanliness and for keeping in good
physical condition is einphasized.
Mining Industry: Engineering-Hygienic Aspects of Dust
Elimination in Mines
rT*HE conclusions reached from an intensive study of the effect of
* mine dusts on health and safety made through the United States
Bureau of Mines and the United States Public Health Service were
reported by Daniel Harrington in the Journal of Industrial Hygiene
(Boston), May, 1925,

302

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

The study was carried on in more than 100 coal and metal mines
and mining communities in 25 States, while a more limited amount
of underground observation was made in about as many more mines
and their camps. From this study and many other investigations it
appears that any mine dust—either in coal or metal mines—which is
insoluble or soluble with difficulty in the fluids and tissues of the
respiratory organs will in time affect the health of underground
workers if it is present in the air in minute form and in large
quantities and is breathed during a large part of the working time.
Some soluble dusts are also harmful. In general it appears that the
quantity of dust breathed more or less continuously, together with
its lack of solubility, determines the hygienic harmfulness much more
than the specific physical or chemical qualities of the dust itself,
although a large quantity of finely divided flint dust or similar hard,
sharp, insoluble material is more harmful than a similar quantity
of fine limestone, coal, or shale dust. The dust of free silica, which
is probably the most harmful, is not always equally so, as some ores,
such as siliceous schist, with a free silica content of 60 to 80 per cent,
have dust which is much less sharp and probably more soluble than
ores such as flint or chert, which have about the same percentage of
silica but in which the dust is very hard and sharp.
In metal mines the sources of air dustiness, in the order of their
importance, are: Dry drilling of holes for blasting, particularly
those from about 70° to vertical; blasting; shoveling or “ mucking”
very fine dry material at the working face, where the ventilation is
usually poor; loading cars from chutes; dumping loaded cars into
chutes; and timbering. In metal-mine mills, dry crushing and other
occupations are dangerously dusty.
The most dangerous occupation in coal mines from the point of
view of the dust hazard is cutting dry coal by mining machines, more
dust usually being produced by electric machines than by compressedair machines. Enormous quantities of very fine dust are thrown
into the air by both the u n d e rcu ttin g machines and the shearing,
center-cutting, or overcutting machines, this being particularly
harmful when the cutting is done largely in dry clay or shale. In
addition to the hazards of possible explosions and of poisonous
fumes from blasting coal while the shift is in the mine, this practice
has the very bad feature of throwing into the air large quantities of
very fine dust to be breathed by workers. Shoveling or loading dry
coal into cars is also a very dusty occupation, particularly when
pillars are being extracted. Certain methods of drilling also are
very dusty, resulting in very bad conditions, particularly if the air
circulation is sluggish.
Although the quantity of dust breathed by the miner is of great
importance, it is difficult to determine the sare limit in the air dusti
ness of working places. In South Africa a limit of 5 milligrams, or
300,000,000 particles per cubic meter of air, was set; but according
to recent reports from that country, the average air dustiness of
working places is only 1.3 milligrams per cubic meter of air. The
writer states that there is not one dry coal or metal mine in the United
States where the average air dustiness is as low as the South African
standard or even as low as 10 milligrams, the standard set by Higgins
and Lanza in their study of miner’s consumption in the Joplin, Mo.,

ASPECTS OF DUST ELIMINATION IN MIKES

303

district in 1915. The average amount of dust in dry metal mines in
this country is over 20 milligrams, while many are over 50 milligrams
per cubic meter of air. Dry drilling of the upper holes sometimes
results in as high as 7,000 milligrams of highly siliceous dust, or one
thousand four hundred times the maximum allowed in South Africa.
The average dust content of the air resulting from dry drilling the
upper holes (those above 60°) is from 150 to 200 milligrams per cubic
foot of air, those below 60° about 50 milligrams, while wet drilling
produces from 5 to 20 milligrams.
The weight of dust in the air is usually not so high in coal mines
owing to the lower specific gravity of coal, but in some cases the num
ber of particles reaches an enormous figure. In one case in which
coal was shoveled in a confined, poorly ventilated, very dry place
there were approximately 8,000,000,000 particles per cubic meter of
air, while in numerous other places in the same mine there were from
one to five billion particles in each cubic meter of air. Similar con
ditions were found in another coal mine where an undercutting
machine was being used without the use of water on the cutting
chain, the air breathed by the workers having nearly 5,000,000,000
particles per cubic meter of air. Physical examination of these
workers disclosed much miner’s consumption among them.
The harmfulness of insoluble dust present in large quantities and
in finely divided form in the air breathed by mine workers may be
increased by other factors tending to depress the workers’ vitality,
such as high temperature or humidity and air depleted of oxygen or
high in gases, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, etc. The
writer believes that the dusts most harmful to the lungs are from
0.25 micron15 (possibly as small as 0.1 micron) up to 10 microns in
size. Dust particles which result in bronchitis are probably larger
in size—up to 50 or even 100 microns. These larger particles, if
they get to the lungs, do not seem to remain there, but cause con
siderable irritation and clogging of the respiratory passages.
Although the dust of free silica is probably the most harmful of
the insoluble dusts, X-ray and other physical examinations of miners
who have worked in the dust from coal and shale, as well as in the
dust from ores such as iron oxide, limestone, and other essentially
nonsiliceous material, show definite amounts of lung involvement.
Examination of coal miners reveals the fallacy of the idea held by
m^ny that breathing of coal dust is harmless, as not only are throat
or bronchial troubles found frequently but also the usual symptoms
of miner’s consumption, including extreme shortness of breath and
hemorrhage. The harmful effects of the dust are intensified by
local conditions, such as a high carbon dioxide or low oxygen content
of the air, which cause more rapid respiration and therefore breathing
in a maximum amount of dust, and by high temperature and hu
midity, especially when the dusty air is stagnant. The very fine dust
(from 10 microns down) when once suspended in the air by any
mining operation remains in suspension for long periods of time,
and unless there are continuous currents of fresh air at all work
places the miner is forced to breathe this dust-laden air.
J5Micron==one-millionth of a meter.

304

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

The following statement by the writer gives an idea of the preva
lence of respiratory diseases due to dust among miners in the United
States:
In one metal-mining locality with siliceous ore formation an insurance com
pany reports mortality as over 500 per cent of the expected mortality, the excess
deaths being due chiefly to lung disease; in another metal-mining locality with
limestone formation death expectancy was exceeded by 50 per cent, and again
lung disease was held responsible for the excess. In another metal-mining dis
trict physical examination showed that at least 20 per cent of all mine workers
had silicosis, and of the men who were examined physically and had worked
only in that district less than 5 per cent were free from the effect of dust in the
respiratory organs. In a metal mine in hematite ore with a very low silica con
tent, about 60 per cent of those examined physically had dust involvement,
although only a small number were so severely affected as to be incapacitated.
In another hematite-ore region physical examination of miners was not per
mitted by the company, but a miner whose health broke down and who
threatened suit, alleging miner’s consumption, was given compensation in pref
erence to fighting the suit. In a metal-mining district with ore in calcite
(limestone) gangue, considerable miner’s consumption was found, although the
mining company alleged that it was brought in from other camps by those who
were afflicted.
Mortality statistics of the coal-mining counties of one State over a five-year
period showed deaths of coal miners from respiratory disease as 36 per cent of
the total deaths, if accidental deaths were excluded; farmers had 25 per cent
and “ all other males ” about 30 per cent of deaths due to respiratory diseases.
In another State the coal-mining mortality record (excluding accidental deaths)
showed that 36 per cent of coal miners died of respiratory disease, against 20
per cent for farmers and 26 per cent for “ all other males.” In a large coal
mining locality about 25 per cent of the old-time miners were given physical
examination; 25 per cent of those examined had definite lung trouble, and
nearly 37 per cent additional had slight lung involvement. In another coal
mine with totally different conditions and in a different part of the United
States, about 25 per cent of the underground employees were given physical
examination and about 40 per cent of these showed definite lung involvement.
In a number of instances, especially in the western coal-mining States, machine
runners have been so seriously affected by breathing coal dust that they had
to leave the mines, and in several cases death ensued within a few years (in
one case in less than one year after leaving the mine), the cause being lung and
throat trouble; this trouble, due to dust in the lungs of machine runners in coal
mines, has been known since about 1913 in Wyoming and Utah, and the remedy
then applied and now largely used is the spraying of water on the cutting chain
when the machines are working.

Exact figures as to the mortality and morbidity rates from respira
tory diseases among miners are not available, but the writer states
that there can be no doubt that dust diseases are directly responsible
for the death of several hundred coal and metal miners annually in
the United States and indirectly responsible for the death or disa
bility of several thousand others. The lack of information on the
subject is said to be due to incorrect diagnosis on the part of physi
cians, in some instances, but mainly to the fact that usually in the
regions most afflicted there is a concerted effort to minimize the dan
gerous conditions. Opposition to measures for improving condi
tions is found among the workers themselves, who object to physical
examinations and oppose the use of wet drills and ventilating sys
tems, and among reactionary mine bosses and operators. State laws
regulating working conditions in mines are either nonexistent, the
writer states, or, if there are such laws, they are not well enforced
and there is a general lack of knowledge of and interest in the situa
tion. Specific remedial measures recommended for metal mines are:
Adequate mechanical ventilation; use of water in drilling, and

h ea lth : hazards

m i n in g in d u s t r y

305

sprinkling of all places where dust collects; blasting to be done, when
possible, after a shift, and where this can not be done, enforcement
of strict regulations as to wetting the region of blasting before and
after firing the shots and removal of all explosive fumes by adequate
air current; and strict physical examination of mine workers before
employment and at intervals of not more than six months during
employment.
Mining Industry: Health Hazards
'"THE principal health hazards in the mining industry are listed by
•
R. R. Sayers, chief surgeon of the United States Bureau of
Mines, in a brochure published as serial No. 2660, as those due to
abnormal conditions o f the air, improper sewage disposal, bad drink
ing water, poor illumination, and local mechanical irritation. The
last two hazards while important in England and on the continent
are not of importance in this country. Miner’s nystagmus (spas
modic movement of the eyes) resulting from poor illumination has not
been reported in this country, due to the better illumination found
in American coal mines, and beat knee, beat hand, and beat elbow
caused by local mechanical irritation are of rare occurrence here
owing to the fact that the coal seams are thicker and usually not
inclined, and undercutting by machines instead of by hand is almost
universal.
The effects of high temperatures and humidities in metal mines in
this country have been studied recently by the Bureau of Mines. It
was found that in temperatures above 90° F. with almost saturated
air the ill effects are much less when the air is moving than when it is
still. At temperatures of saturated air from 98.6° to 100°, however,
moving the air even at high velocities had no good effect and there
was apparently some disadvantage. It was further found that the
exhaustion and weakness following exposure to a very high tempera
ture and humidity for a short period is not so severe as that follow
ing exposure to a moderately high temperature and humidity for a
longer period. There were changes in the blood pressure in high
temperatures and humidities, the systolic blood pressure rising and
thus increasing the pulse pressure. The pulse rate rather than the
rise in body temperature seemed to determine the extent of the dis
comfort experienced. Persons on whom the experiments were made
became very uncomfortable after the pulse rate exceeded 135 pulsa
tions per minute and showed very severe symptoms of distress when
the pulse exceeded 160 per minute.
The principal poisonous dusts met with in mining are those from
lead, mercury, zinc, and arsenic ores, and the more soluble the dust
the more dangerous it is. In mining carbonate or oxide ores of lead
men are often badly poisoned, while in mining galena (lead sul
phide) lead poisoning is of rare occurrence. In the mining and
smelting of mercury, especially when the ore contains free mercury
or the more soluble salts, there are some cases of poisoning, espe
cially in poorly ventilated underground workings, but the number
of cases is much greater among employees in reduction plants.
Poisonous dusts are seldom if ever present in coal mines.
The various irritating dusts produce different forms of pneumo
coniosis (fibrous inflammation of the lungs). When the disease is

306

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

caused by breathing rock dust, especially fine silica, it is called
44silicosis ” ; when it is caused by coal dust, 44anthracosis ” ; and when
caused by iron dust, 44siderosis.” Silicosis is present in most of the
hard-rock mining districts of the world. It is found among the
miners in the gold and lead-silver mines of Australia, the gold mines
of New Zealand and South Africa, the tin mines of Great Britain,
and in many of the mining districts of the United States.
Because of the growing use of rock dusting in coal mines to pre
vent explosions it is important to determine the suitability of different
kinds of dust for this purpose. Tests have been carried out by the
Bureau of Mines on the basic types of coal dust to which the men
will necessarily be exposed and on quartz dust, as well as on lime
stone dust, shale, and kaolin dust (practically a pure silicate). It
has been determined from these studies that limestone dust has no
more effect than coal dust in the production of fibrous tissue in the
lungs, but that the silicate dust has an effect similar to that of quartz
dust. Although some experiments seem to show that shale dust,
which contains from 50 to 55 per cent silica, may be inhaled in large
quantities, the reaction of live animal tissue to shale dusts varies with
different specimens of shale. As most of the specimens produce
marked fibrous-tissue formation, however, it is considered by the
bureau officials that they should be regarded as “ definitely harmful.”
Dr. J. S. Haldane, in a study of the effects of dust inhalation in
English mines, states that 44the material for stone dusting ought to
be most carefully selected in the light of existing knowledge, exclud
ing any sort of dust which, when inhaled by itself, has a doubtful
record or is likely to irritate the air passages or eyes by its grittiness.
It is fortunate that suitable material is abundant and is also, as a
rule, the easiest to disintegrate into dust.” Dr. E. L. Collis said
that if he were asked to name the dusts which are physiologically
safe to use in dusting coal mines he would at present only be pre
pared to name dusts composed of^calcium salts, such as limestones,
his opinion in regard to shales being as jet undecided. The Bureau
of Mines has listed in tentative specifications, as preferable for rock
dusting, pure limestone, dolomite, gypsum, and anhydrite.
The presence of gases is another hazard of air conditions in mines.
These gases include carbon dioxide, which causes deeper and more
rapid respiration. The rapidity of respiration varies from a very
slight increase when one-half of 1 f>er cent is present, up to 5 per
cent, with which amount breathing is laborious. Ten per cent can
be endured for only a very few minutes. Methane is ox importance
in coal mines, and it may also be present in metal mines. This gas
has no harmful effects when breathed, but it may accumulate in suffi
cient quantities to make an explosive mixture with the oxygen in the
air.
Hydrogen sulphide is usually found only in very small quantities
and has a very repulsive odor which may serve as a warning. It is
highly poisonous, 0.06 to 0.1 per cent being sufficient to cause serious
symptoms within a few minutes.
Sulphur dioxide is very irritating to the eyes and respiratory pas
sages and causes choking when breathed. It is occasionally present
in the mine atmosphere in sufficient concentration to be dangerous,
but it is easily recognized by its characteristic odor.

TREATMENT OF 61 NICKEL RASH ”

307

Carbon monoxide, which is responsible for a great many deaths
among miners and workers in the mineral industries, is without odor,
color, or taste, and its effects are often unnoticed by the victim until
it is too late. In regard to the hazard from the various gases the
report states that—
It can not be emphasized too strongly that efficiency, comfort, and good health
depend to a large extent on pure air, and that ill effects or symptoms arising
from variations in the composition of the air, either by lowering of the oxygen
or by addition of gases such as hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide, or carbon
dioxide are best treated by—
1. Getting the victim to pure fresh air in the quickest time possible;
2. Administering pure oxygen for at least 20 minutes;
3. Using the Schaefer method of artificial respiration when the victim has
ceased to breathe or is breathing slowly irregularly, and shallowly;
4. Keeping the victim warm and at rest.

Nickel Refining: Control and Treatment of

“

Nickel Rash” 16

'T'H E methods of control and treatment of nickel rash have been
studied in a nickel refinery in Canada. The refinery treats
matte consisting of approximately 55 per cent nickel, 25 per cent
copper, and 20 per cent sulphur, the matte being processed to fine
nickel and copper in five different buildings in which the men are
exposed to variable heat conditions and to varying quantities of
nickel and nickel salts.
The rash appeared generally on exposed surfaces of the body, as
the forearms, wrists, neck, forehead, and the upper part of the chest,
but was of two distinct types depending on the character of the
work. Among the men who worked around the furnaces, where it
was very hot and dusty, the rash started as small papules ‘ which
seemed to occur at the mouths of the pores and was accompanied by
severe burning and itching. The irritability was increased by ex
posure to heat, especially if sweating occurred. In the milder cases
the skin surrounding the eruption was apparently healthy, but in
the severe cases the skin became greatly inflamed and swollen. In
these cases the exudation was such that the condition resembled a
severe, acute weeping eczema. The other cases occurred in the
building in which the final refining took place by an electrolytic
process where the employees were exposed to a hot, moist atmosphere.
The rash started with the occurrence of reddened patches of skin
which were characterized by burning and itching. Unless such cases
received early treatment they developed the features of the first
type and there was a marked tendency among these patients toward
relapse after apparent cure.
Various animal experiments were carried out to determine the
effect of handling the nickel or nickel salts and of the ingestion of
the nickel; and the influence of various factors such as the diet, the
severity of the work, personal cleanliness, and the heat of the work
places were also studied.
It was determined that an insufficient cooling power.in the at
mosphere was the most important single factor in the incidence of
the disease and that increased skin temperature allied with an alkaline
sweat lowers the resistance of the exposed parts and increases their
10 The Journal of Industrial Hygiene, Boston, December, 1926. “ Studies in the control
and treatment of ‘ nickel rash,’ ” by Frederic M, R, Bulmer and E, A, Mackenzie,

308

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

susceptibility to irritation. Attention to ventilation and the main
tenance of a suitable cooling power in the air may be expected, there
fore, greatly to reduce the incidence of nickel rash, and its cure can
be hastened by large doses of calcium chloride which counteract
the tendency toward the elimination of the excess amount of alkali
in the sweat which excessive heat produces. The writers suggest
that other occupational skin diseases may be produced by conditions
similar to those which are of importance in the causation of nickel
rash.
Phosphorus Necrosis
See Fireworks manufacture: phosphorus necrosis.
Photo-Engraving Industry: Health Survey
TTHE variety of the hazards connected with the photo-engraving
*
industry is shown in an article in the American Federationist17
in which an accpunt is also given of the health and the working
conditions among the photo-engravers of New York City.
Practically one-third of all the photo-engravers in the United
States and Canada are said to be located in about 100 establishments
in New York, which is the center of the printing and publishing
business of the country. Photo-engraving is the process of making
the printing plates from which pictures and illustrations are printed
in one or more colors, all matter except straight type being printed
from these plates or engravings. A great many cliemicals and acids
for etching in various forms are used, and part of the photographic
development has to be done in rooms absolutely dark, with the
consequence that the provision of proper ventilation is a problem.
The special hazards, aside from poor ventilation, result from the use
of inflammable substances, high-speed machines, chemicals, acids, and
various gases.
The trade is highly organized, and many questions relating to the
welfare of the workers are dealt with by a joint industrial council
composed o f an equal number of representatives of the employers’
and the workers’ organizations. A sanitary survey of the industry
has recently been made18 and a sanitary code established by the
Board of Health of the City of New York at the request of the
council.
As a preliminary to the survey, a physical examination was given
to all workers in the industry who would volunteer, and a detailed
and uniform report was kept of all examinations. About two-thirds
of the workers volunteered for the examinations, which were given at
the various plants by the staff of four physicians assigned by the
board of health for the purpose. The findings were confidential,
but each individual was notified of any, condition disclosed by the
examination which needed attention and was urged to consult his
family physician. It is expected that the results of the examination
will be a guide in the future in the selection of applicants for appren
ticeship. For the past five years records have been kept of the
17American Federationist, Washington, D. C., July, 1926. “ Health in the photo
engraving industry,” by E. J. Volz.
18 A complete report of the survey was published in The American Photo-Engraver,
St. Louis, Mo., June, 1926.

HEALTH SURVEY OF PRINTING TRADES

309

physical examination of apprentices, as each applicant is examined
prior to being indentured, and these records it is considered will be
of increasing value in the future in determining whether any specific
disease is of an occupational origin.
Photo-engraving is divided into a number of distinct processes—
photography, etching, engraving, etc.—which are carried on under
varying conditions and which supposedly involve special hazards.
A classification of the results of the examinations by the occupation
or the department in which it was carried on seemed to show, how
ever, that the exposure to the various hazards was fairly general
throughout the establishment.
As the photo-engraving process has been in use only about 40
years and has developed rapidly in recent years, the men employed
are comparatively young. The average age of those examined was
34.5 years, although the range was from 16 to 74 years.
From the nature of the work it was expected that diseases of the
nose, throat, teeth, eyes, and skin would predominate, and the find
ings did show a high percentage of such diseases. Sixty-four per
cent of the workers were found to have throat affections, and a com
parison of the death rate in the industry from various causes with
the general death rates showed a higher rate from pulmonary diseases
among these workers than among the general population.
Among the chemicals and acids used in the industry which consti
tute a hazard to the workers are glacial acetic acid, wood alcohol,
ammonia, ammonium bromide, ammonium chloride, anilin, benzine,
benzol, ammonium bichromate, sodium bichromate, copper bro
mide, cadmium bromide, potassium carbonate, carbolic acid, chloro
form, potassium chloride, silver chloride, chrome alum, chromic acid,
caustic potash, potassium cyanide, sulphuric ether, sodium fluoride,
formalin, muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) ammonium iodide, potas
sium iodide, lye, bichloride of mercury, mercuric oxalic acid, pyrogallic acid, ammonium sulphide, sodium sulphide, sulphuric acid, and
verdigris collodion.
A sanitary survey of the plants showed that in addition to these
hazards the men were exposed to glare from unshielded lights and to
ultra-violet and infra-red rays from open arc lights; dust from grind
ing cylinders; carbon monoxide from gas stoves and gas driers,
ovens, etc.; dust from dragon’s-blood and other powders; excessive
heat irom rheostats; chips from filings and routings of metal on
machines operated at a high speed; and hazards from unguarded
machinery.
As a result of the survey about 40 general recommendations were
made providing for the mechanical ventilation of all plants and all
dark rooms; exhaust systems for all acid machines, etching tubs,
chemical sinks, gas stoves, boiling pots, sensitizing pads, dragon’sblood cabinets, etc.; and the use of indirect or semi-indirect lighting
and the inclosure of arc lights in glass to filter the dangerous light
rays.
Printing Trades: Health Survey, 1922 to 192$
A SURVEY of the health conditions in the printing industry
**
covering the years 1922 to 1925, made by Dr. Frederick L. Hoff386900—27-----21

310

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

man at the instance of the representative organizations of the em
ployers and the various printing-trades unions, and with the cooper
ation of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, has been pub
lished as Bulletin No. 427.
The purpose of the survey was to secure, as far as practicable, an
impartial, up-to-date scientific appraisal of health conditions in the
industry, with the object of correcting conditions which need to be
improved.
The printing industry, which employs some 300,000 workers and is
represented in practically every community, however small, is one in
which the great variety of processes and plant conditions defy stand
ardization. Such an industry, therefore, naturally presents many
difficulties as to thoroughness and completeness in matters of detail
in making a health survey. In general, the smaller printing plants
were found to be typical of the past rather than the present and the
labor conditions affecting the health and welfare. of the workers
differed greatly from those in the large and modern establishments.
In many of these plants the mechanical equipment was such as to
prevent satisfactory methods of lighting, ventilation, and use of floor
space, although this type of plant is rapidly passing.
In addition to personal inspection of many plants questionnaires
were sent to employers and to labor organizations. The returns
received from 2,096 employers, with approximately 100,000 employees
represented in their reports, showed a surprisingly low rate of
sickness in general, while only 34 cases of lead poisoning, 78 cases
of tuberculosis, and 67 cases of eye infections were reported. Inquiry
as to the number of plant inspections showed that, broadly speak
ing, the printing plants throughout the country are subject to a
reasonable measure of inspection by authorities more or less qualified
for the purpose.
The replies to the questionnaire sent to labor organizations con
firmed the reports by employers as to the low sickness rate in the
industry as well as to the low incidence of lead poisoning, although
they showed occasionally that sanitary conditions were in need of
improvement.
The conditions of health of aged workers was one of the subjects
of special inquiry and returns were secured concerning 728 men and
women between the ages of 60 and 86, part of whom had retired from
active work. The present health of these persons was reported to
be good in the great majority of cases, only 3.4 per cent being
reported to be in bad health, indicating, the report states, that the
occupational hazards in the industry are at the present time of rela
tively minor effect in producing serious consequences traceable in
prolonged sickness or incapacity in old age.
In summing up the results of the survey Doctor Hoffman states
that in general health conditions in the printing trades were decid
edly more satisfactory than had been anticipated, as shown by the
low rate of sickness incidence reported by both employers’ and labor
organizations and confirmed by the vital statistics of these trades,
and that, in a general way, the satisfactory state of health of the
workers is “ suggestive of very material progress in sanitary condi
tions in these trades and the control of conditions likely to give rise
to objectionable features bearing upon health and longevity.”

EFFECTS OF USE OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

311

Printing Trades: Hygienic Conditions
'“TH E results of an investigation by the United States Bureau of
*
Labor Statistics into the hygienic conditions in the printing
trades are embodied in Bulletin No. 392 of this bureau. Approxi
mately 1,000 plants in the printing industry in 21 cities of the
United States were personally inspected and detailed reports were
made on 536 establishments, having 81,314 workers.
There are 35,000 establishments in the printing industry and
600,000 workers. The six main subdivisions of this industry—com
position, photo-engraving, stereotyping, electrotyping, presswork, and
binding—cover altogether 50 skilled trades. Practically all of the
hazards in these various trades can be prevented by sensible pre
cautions and there need be no more menace to the health of workers
in the printing trades than in any other indoor employment.
One of the most important matters in the hygiene of the printing
industry is ventilation. The majority of the printing plants depend
mainly upon window ventilation, yet each process in the industry
has its own ventilation problems.
The larger and the very small establishments were usually kept
very clean. The medium-sized plants, however, “ presented the most
insanitary appearance.” Washing facilities were greatly neglected
in many cases, and lunch-room provisions called for considerable
improvement.
Filtering and cooling systems for drinking water and bubbling
fountains were usually installed in the large modern plants, but the
greater number of the other establishments had tank coolers, fre
quently with the ice placed in the water. The medical equipment
in a few cases included a dental clinic. In some establishments the
workers exposed to lead fumes were examined monthly.
The principal occupational diseases in the printing trades are
tuberculosis and lead poisoning. Only 29 cases of tuberculosis in
five years were reported for the 536 establishments covered, a sur
prisingly small number of cases, but doubtless due to the fact that
other cases “ were withheld or not known to the employers ” because
the disease did not result fatally. Of the 14 cases of lead poisoning
recorded for the same period 12 were reported by employers of the
536 establishments. Two additional cases were found which evi
dently originated in one of the newspaper establishments studied,
and these were therefore included in the summary. Fifteen other
occupational diseases were found, including 4 cases of carbon
monoxide poisoning, 9 cases of chromium poisoning, and 2 cases of
eczema.
Radium: Effects of Use of Radioactive Substances on Health of
Workers 19
'“TH E occurrence of an unusual number of cases of necrosis among
* young women who had been employed in a plant in New Jersey
engaged in the manufacture of luminous watch dials prompted the
investigation of these cases during 1924 and 1925 by a number of
19 See L a b or R eview , M a y, 1926, pp. 1 8 -3 1 .

312

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

different agencies. Early in 1925 a preliminary survey of radiumusing establishments was made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
It was intended at the time this survey was started to make a com
plete study of the plant conditions and of the effects of the use of the
radioactive substances on the health of the workers. It developed,
however, that properly to carry through such a study would require
greater technical resources than were at the disposal of this bureau,
and the study was therefore discontinued.
In the radium-using plant above referred to, six deaths from
necrosis of the jaw and aplastic anemia occurred during 1924
and 1925 among the young women engaged in painting numerals on
watch and clock dials, the latest death occurring December 26, 1925.
The chief chemist of the company also died in 1925, the doctor who
performed the autopsy giving the cause of death as aplastic anemia
of the pernicious type. In addition to these deaths at least seven
other cases of varying degrees of severity have been reported. The
period of employment of the women affected by the poison ranged
from one to seven years.
The luminous paint used in the New Jersey plant consisted of
zinc sulphide rendered luminous by activation with a minute quan
tity of radioactive substance consisting of about 20 per cent radium
and 80 per cent mesothorium. Although a number of dial-painting
plants use this or a nearly identical luminous composition, cases of
poisoning have been reported only from the New Jersey plant.
In addition to the survey by the bureau, studies of these cases
and of conditions in the plant have been made by Dr. Cecil K.
Drinker and his assistants of the Harvard School of Public Health,
and by Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, while the results of the observa
tions of Doctors Martland, Conlon, and Knef, who attended some
of these cases, and the results of various experiments conducted by
them have also been made public.
All of the investigators have ascribed the necrosis of the jaw with
which these young women were afflicted to the practice of pointing
the brushes in their mouths, by which minute quantities of the sub
stance were continually absorbed into the system. The physical
examination by Doctor Drinker of 22 individuals from various
parts of the plant, 13 of whom were employed in the painting room,
showed that in no case was the blood entirely normal, while in many
of the blood films examined the results characteristic of excessive
exposure to radium or X-rays were present.
The investigation by Doctor Hoffman included visits to the plant
and investigation of the facts connected with the sickness and death
of several of these patients and as a result of his study Doctor Hoff
man concluded that the radium necrosis occurred not from the fact
of general exposure to radioactive substances or nearness thereto,
but as the direct result of introducing such substances in minute
quantities into the mouth through the insanitary habit of penciling
the point of the brush with the lips.
From the experiments and the clinical studies of these cases by
Doctor Martland and his associates, it was concluded that for the
first time the anemias from which these patients suffered were
actually proved to be due to the ingestion of radioactive elements

SKIN DISEASES OF OCCUPATIONAL ORIGIN

313

and that the necrosis of the jaw, which forms an important lesion
in this disease, is due to local irritative radiation caused by clinging
particles of the radioactive substances on the gums, teeth, and roof
of the mouth.
Skin Diseases: Defects Caused by Various Substances
A PAPER on skin diseases of an occupational origin, by Dr.
* * R. Prosser White, which was read at the Fourth International
Congress of Industrial Accidents and Diseases, Amsterdam, Sep
tember, 1925, was published in the September, 1926, issue of the
Journal of Industrial Hygiene (Boston). It is an interesting fact,
the writer says, that the majority of industrial physicians do not
realize tHat occupational skin diseases present a greater variety of
lesions than those of syphilis and tuberculosis combined and that
some of these diseases also have a longer latent, or incubation, period
than those having a syphilitic origin.
In cases of occupational dermatosis it is said to be important to
determine whether or not the patient has a normal skin because in
the case of a hereditarily tender or weak skin the period of recovery
will be prolonged; secondary infections which are common com
plications must be prevented in the treatment of these diseases; and
consideration must be given to any tendency the irritant has to pro
duce sensitization. A dermatitis or eczema is idiopathic if it is
inborn in the individual or is acquired as a result of indiscretions in
diet, through a hereditary peculiarity of the blood or tissues, or from
numerous unknown reasons; while it is traumatic if it is a reaction
due entirely to the agent used in the industrial process. On the
other hand, there may be a biologic or chemical correlation between
the skin and the agent, which will result in an excessive cutaneous
reaction or other unusual features showing that the agent has caused
sensitization. As sensitization can change the type and features of
an eruption as well as alter the duration and severity of the disease,
it is evident that in such a case it is not advisable for a person to
follow work involving exposure to the sensitizing agent.
The symptoms of idiopathic and traumatic eczema are practically
identical, but the former often runs a tedious and prolonged course
while the latter, unless there are complications, has a definite limit.
In making a differential diagnosis, therefore, the history and dura
tion of the disease and the exact nature and kind of materials worked
among must be considered. Individual tendencies and weaknesses
often make it difficult to determine to what extent the condition is
due to the unhealthy condition of the skin and how much to the
material used. Many of these individual weaknesses or defects pro
long the period of convalescence and complicate recovery and for
this reason physical examination on entrance is important both for
the industry and for the individual in eliminating those suffering
from any skin complaint or physical disability which might dis
qualify them later. In a plant with which the writer is connected
where there is a constant risk of exposure to noxious dust, 10 per
cent of the applicants are rejected as a result of the physical ex
amination, the majority because of some cutaneous disability.

314

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

Substances Affecting the Skin
A LL materials which destroy the horny layer of the skin pro* * duce a prompt effect, examples of materials having an immedi
ate solvent action being the alkalies and alkaline earths—lime, soda,
and the sulphides. These substances produce sores which are super
ficial rather than deep and there is always risk in working with them
if they are handled in sufficient strength. Other harmful substances
such as chrome have little effect on the horny layer of the skin, but
as soon as this is broken, oxidation or other chemical action starts.
The time taken by a traumatic sore to heal depends upon the extent
and depth of the lesion. There is no danger of malignancy from
certain substances such as chrome, although the irritation from it
may be lifelong, while other substances such as tar and soot may
cause malignant growths. The malignancy can not be brought about
solely by the irritation of acute or chronic inflammation, but depends
upon specific peculiarities, one of which is special to the tissues and
the other depends on the specific activity of the agent. It is not
until recently that the latent effects of some of these cancerproducing substances have been realized, such materials as soot, tar,
and spinning oils producing cancerous growths in many cases only
after many years of exposure or long after the exposure has ceased.
Arsenic.—The fumes of arsenic were recognized as a cause of cancer
among copper smelters as early as 1820. Following that discovery,
malignant growths were found among workers in factories making
Paris green and in “ sheep dip ” factories, and in recent years cancer
has been produced experimentally from arsenic by external applica
tion alone. In industry the growths do not appear until after 20
to 30 years’ contact with the arsenic. Although arsenic is not known
to cause cancer in any of the tissues of the body except the skin, the
writer questions whether, in industries where fine arsenical dust is
diffused through the atmosphere and is absorbed by the lungs and
stomach, this absorption is not likely to have a greater effect in
causing cancer of the skin than the local irritative effects on the skin.
Petroleum and shale oils.—The danger to workers in the petroleum
industry depends, aside from the length of exposure, on the kind of
oils handled and the heat used in distilling them. Oils from certain
sections are not important as a cause of new growths, but, in general,
hazards connected with the use of bituminous coal and oil products
are increased according to the temperature at which the products
have been evolved, one investigator having turned a noncancerproducing oil into a cancer-producing one by submitting it to great
heat. More than 500 cases of cancer occurring in the cotton-spinning
industry have been reported by British investigators. These cancers
have been shown to have been caused by the lubricants used. The
spinning oils are supposed to consist ox the more refined products
and are carefully clarified, but the danger is probably due to adul
teration or mixture with some of the cruder distillates. The petro
leum oils are less likely than coal tars to produce cancer. The pros
pect of developing cancer among shale-oil workers has been found to
be 0.5 per cent; and although shale oil is obtained at a temperature of
700° C., there is less danger from it than from tar and soot.

SKIN DISEASES OF OCCUPATIONAL ORIGIN

315

Tar and fitch .—These substances are agents in the causation of
cancerous growths in industry, an examination of men in one tar dis
tillery showing that a serious proportion had evidences of some precancerous activity. Cancer has been produced experimentally in
white mice after a four-month interval following a single painting
with tar.

Primary Lesions
A LL of these substances have a practically identical action on the
* * skin, any modifications depending on the dose and the length
of contact. The earliest effect is a- redness of the skin, as any re
peated and continuous action of the irritant, whether arsenic, oil, or
tar, must eventually cause a permanent dilatation of the skin capil
laries so that in time the skin becomes dusky and congested. Another
primary lesion is the scaly papule, which is often itchy at first until
it is broken by scratching. The mouths of the hair follicles are
closed in the oil and coal series by the materials handled which form
black dots, while in arsenical dermatitis the follicles are blocked by
horny plugs. These three types of lesions apparently precede all
further troubles.
Cancerous skin growths, it is said, invariably follow exposure to
“ tar, arsenic, anilin (? ), and certain petroleum and tar products,”
and to radiations if the exposure is sufficiently protracted or repeated.
Experiments with sensitive animals have shown that exposure to
these agents need be neither long nor frequent in order to induce
cancer; and if this holds good for the human skin, it can reasonably
be assumed, the writer says, that even a casual or occasional contact
with these substances may have serious consequences.
Skin Diseases: Lime Dermatitis
LINICAL reports of several cases o f lime dermatitis (inflamma^
tion of the skin), four of which occurred among “ tunnel
miners,” were given in an article by Dr. W. J. O’Donovan in the
Lancet (London), March 21, 1925. These cases are cited as show
ing the influence of lime in causing serious dermatitis in various oc
cupations in which the cause of the trouble might not be suspected.
The men working as tunnel miners are employed in digging
tunnels with or without the aid of compressed-air shields. In one
case in which the worker had had recurrent attacks of lime dermati
tis over a period of 15 years, during which time he had been in a
hospital with it three times, the dermatitis had been diagnosed as
seborrhea (functional disease of the sebaceous glands) and the oc
cupational cause of the dermatitis had not been suspected. It was
discovered that in each case he had been employed at sealing the
space between the iron shields and the brickwork of the tunnels
with slaked “ blue lias ” lime—a lime containing so much silica that
it would be regarded as a hydraulic cement. This lime, which was
emptied from the sacks into receptacles by the worker and carried
by him with a hand scoop to a tank of water, was forced into the
place to be cemented under air pressure of from 12 to 27 pounds per
square inch, the high pressure increasing the amount of dust. The
three other tunnel workers, all of whom were suffering from lime

316

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

dermatitis, had had severe disabling attacks of it, all but one case,
however, having cleared up under treatment without the general
health being affected. Several cases of dermatitis among building
workers working in cement were also reported, and one case of
housewife’s lime dermatitis, caused by using chloride of lime in
washing clothes.
In the editorial notes in the same issue of the Lancet the fact
that new causes of dermatitis are constantly arising owing to the
invention of new chemical processes is pointed out and the following
comments on the difficulty of diagnosis are made:
That a dermatitis is one of occupation may be easily missed in diagnosis,
because many different agents produce a dermatitis superficially similar, or one
resembling some common skin condition not regarded as due to an external
irritant— witness the first case of lime dermatitis quoted in Doctor O’Donovan’s
article, where, in the original attack, the patient’s trouble was diagnosed as
seborrheic. Secondary infections with staphylococci or streptococci are fre
quently superimposed on a dermatitis originally due to occupation and still
further confuse the issue. Some types of trade dermatitis are, however, well
marked and easily recognizable when once known to the observer; such are
“ chrome sores,” “ lime holes,” “ pitch skin,” “ tar acne,” and “ mule-spinner's
cancer,” whose names suggest their origin. The agents causing trade or occu
pation dermatitis are numerous, and many attempts to classify them satis
factorily have been made by different authors. They may, for instance, be
divided into physical, chemical, and parasitic groups. The physical would in
clude such causes as mechanical injury, wind, light, X rays, extremes of heat
and cold, of dryness and moisture. The chemical group is by far the largest
and requires much subdivision; it includes both organic and inorganic chem
icals and the toxins of certain plants and trees. The parasitic group includes
infections due to bacteria and fungi, and the attacks of animal parasites, such
as mites. Causes coming under two or more of these headings may act to
gether. The points of attack of the chemical irritants are almost invariably,
in the first instance, the mouths of the hair follicles, the sebaceous glands, and
the sweat pores, with, in addition, the natural furrows on the skin and a n y
accidental abrasions. The maceration of the epidermis by the action of alkali
materially increases the danger of attack by chemicals.

Attention is also directed to the fact that certain workers seem
to be naturally immune to such risks while others acquire immunity,
although this immunity may break down under temporary ill-health
or excessive exposure to the irritant. Treatment consists essentially
of removal of patients from exposure to the irritant and protective
and antiseptic treatment of the lesions, the possibility of the develop
ment of malignant disease being always kept in mind.
Skin Diseases
See also Fruit canneries: skin diseases among employees; Tanning
industry: occupational disease hazards.
Steam Laundries: Effect of Working Conditions upon Health of
Workers
\V7 ORKING conditions in the steam-laundry industry and their
** effects upon the health of workers were investigated by the
division of industrial hygiene of the New York Department of
Labor.20 The study was carried on from October, 1923, to February,
20
N ew Y o rk .
D ep a rtm en t o f L a b or.
S p ecial b u lle tin N o. 1 3 0 : A stu d y o f h y g ie n ic
c o n d itio n s in. s tea m la u n d ries a n d th e ir e ffe c t u p on th e health, o f w ork ers. A lb a n y , 1924.

110 pp.

HEALTH OF WORKERS IN STEAM LAUNDRIES

317

1924, and included the 208 establishments in the boroughs of Man
hattan and the Bronx, excluding 73 laundries located in and operated
by hotels.
A large proportion of the workers in laundries are women, but
men are employed in the wash rooms, as drivers, and as operators
of the old-style gas-heated cylinder body-ironing machines, and
occasionally as sorters and checkers. A surprising number of older
women were found to be employed, and a large number of the women
were married. The work is especially attractive to married women
of the unskilled class who have home duties in addition to their
work, as, while the hours of work are long, the work frequently starts
as late as 11 o’clock on Monday morning, and there is often no work
on Saturday and Sunday. Although no special study was made of
wages, inquiries made in the course of the physical examinations
showed that wages of girls range from about $9 per week for shakers
to $24 per week for the more skilled type of work, although there is
great variation between the different establishments in the wages
paid. For piecework on various types of body-ironing machines
and presses, $40 or more per week is paid, and men in the wash rooms
are paid from $20 to $32 per week.
In the laundry industry the features which at once suggest prob
able harmful bodily effects are the high temperatures and humidities
which prevail throughout the industry. Temperatures which are
high under the best conditions tend to rise not only in the summer
months but also in the very cold weather when doors and windows
are kept tightly shut in order to keep out the drafts to which laundry
workers are peculiarly sensitive because of the dampness of the
rooms. The data secured by the study were considered to represent
the minimum harmfulness of the industry, however, as the winter
months included in the study were particularly mild and consequently
temperatures in the workrooms were at their best. The temperatures
in the workrooms were found to range from 65° F. and a relative
humidity of 52 per cent to 105° F. and a relative humidity of 32 per
cent. The average temperature in the wash rooms of 41 laundries
was found to be 79.2° F., and the highest was 95° F. The highest rela
tive humidity was 91 per cent. In the ironing rooms the average
temperature was 83.6° F. In general the wash-room temperatures
were not considered particularly high, but the prolonged strenuous
work in combination with the heat was found to show its effect in
evidence of cardiac overstrain.
The workers in the wash rooms are a “ washer ” who fills the
machines with the soiled clothes and attends to washing them, a
“ puller ” who goes from one machine to another all day transferring
the clothes from the washing machines to the trucks in which he
rolls them to the extracting machines, and an “ extractor ” who puts
the clothes into the machines and superintends the process of wring
ing. It has been estimated that in an ordinary working-day a puller
may tranfer 5 tons of clothes from the washing machines into the
trucks. Work in the wash rooms of many of the laundries lasts from
13 to 14 hours a day on Monday, 12 to 13 hours on Tuesday, 9 to 10
hours on Wednesday, and a few hours on Thursday; there is usually
no work for the rest of the week. In the better-class laundries the
work is more evenly distributed and the men work usually 6y2 instead

318

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

of Sy2 days. An examination of 110 men, working in the wash
rooms, who formed a partially selective group in that those having
certain diseases were excluded, showed that 52 had blood pressure
above the limit regarded as within the normal range for the age,
and 29 of these were more than 25 per cent above normal. The
nature of the work and the working conditions showed, the report
states, that “ the work as at present organized constitutes without
doubt a severe strain upon the hearts and cardio-vascular systems
of the workmen employed in the wash rooms.”
The public is said to be primarily to blame for these conditions,
since there is a general demand that the work, especially from wetwash laundries, shall be returned early in the week, but it is con
sidered that laundries should be compelled to start and stop work at
a reasonable hour, that washing machines which eliminate part of
the heavy work should be more generally used, and that lockers and
proper facilities for changing to street clothes should be provided.
The ironing department usually, though not always, occupies a
separate floor and contains the “ dry room ” in addition to the various
ironing machines. While more attention is usually given to working
conditions in this department than in the wash room, there were
few laundries visited in which the lighting could be regarded as in
any sense adequate. In some cases there were too many unshaded
lights, which produced a distinctly uncomfortable glare, but usually
the rooms were dingy and dark and there was also a conspicuous lack
of cleanliness.
The great problem in this department, however, is the ventila
tion. The large number and variety of heat-producing machines
collected in a single room, and the proximity of the dry room, from
which much heat escapes, make the question of proper ventilation a
difficult one. Heat and vapor are constantly given off in different
amounts by the different machines, so that numerous air currents
are produced. The installation of hoods over the mangles and
insulation of the dry room, while an improvement, do not solve the
problem, which is one for the ventilating engineer of experience.
It was found that a large percentage of the girls, even those at the
mangles where temperatures rarely fall below 80 to 85 degrees, wear
sweaters practically the year round to protect themselves from the
drafts to which they are peculiarly sensitive because of the high
temperatures and humidities.
The physical examination of 150 women in 23 laundries showed
various diseased conditions, but correlation between these conditions
and specific laundry processes was difficult to establish except in
connection with the general environmental conditions, such as high
temperature and humidity and long hours of standing. Seven opera
tors—six men and one woman—on gas-heated body-ironing machines
were specially examined for carbon monoxide poisoning, and in every
case carbon monoxide was found in the blood, the amounts ranging
from 10 to 25 per cent. While these amounts are theoretically suf
ficient to cause discomfort, no symptoms were found among the
men, but the woman complained of such symptoms of the poisoning
as indigestion, a metallic taste in the mouth, headache, and profuse
sweating which lasted through the night.

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE HAZARDS IN TANNING INDUSTRY

319

The general results of the complete examination of the 150 women
and partial examinations of 253 others show that atmospheric con
ditions in the ironing department seem to predispose the workers to
atrophic conditions of the nose and throat, conjunctivitis, due prob
ably to drops of sweat falling into the eyes, and dizziness and head
ache due to the heat. The latter two conditions appear only with
a temperature of 90° and over. The long hours of standing, working
of treadle machines, and carrying heavy stacks of folded linens seem
to be responsible to some extent for the number of cases of flatfoot
and varicose veins. A slight rise in body temperature was present in
many cases, which was not sufficient to indicate a pathological condi
tion, but which was of interest because it was apparently due to the
atmospheric conditions.
The industry as a whole was not found to present many accident
hazards, as most mangles and presses were adequately provided with
finger guards; collar-ironing machines and gas-heated body-ironing
machines presented the greatest source of danger from burns, and
the body-ironing machines presented the hazard of poisoning from
carbon monoxide, as it was shown to be absorbed in injurious
amounts. Fatigue so generally resulted from the different operations
that the investigators recommended that for the industry in general
hours of work should be reduced, the work should be better dis
tributed throughout the week, rest periods should be introduced, and
an adequate time allowed for lunch. It was also considered that
proper equipment, including satisfactory seating arrangements,
which were almost wholly lacking, rest rooms, drinking fountains,
and general installation of more up-to-date mechanical equipment
would result in greatly lessening the ill effects of the industry.
Tanning Industry: Occupational Disease Hazards
A LIST of the occupational disease hazards in the tanning in* * dustry, published in the Journal of Industrial Hygiene21 sug
gests the extent of the hazards in the industry and also serves to
demonstrate the probable presence of a similar number of hazards
in other industries. Because of the lack of standardization in the
industry no attempt was made to list the occupational disease
hazards process by process, although a division of processes into
stages of manufacture was made. While some of these hazards
are only potential, many of the substances used have caused definite
occupational disease.
The hazards met with in handling the hides include anthrax and
poisoning from sulphureted hydrogen, cyanide, arsenic, mercury,
and dermatitis or salt burns. %
The majority of cases of anthrax
occur in the early processes of the industry, such as unloading, stor
ing, and sorting; but cases from handling hides are less frequent
than formerly owing to the regulations as to killing, curing, and im
portation. The decomposition of organic matter on green hides
may form sulphureted hydrogen, and poisoning therefrom may
occur among men unloading such hides from box cars or working
21
T h e J ou rn al o f In d u s tria l H ygiene, B oston , J u ly , 1925.
“ F o rty -tw o o cc u p a tio n a l
d isease ha zard s in on e in d u stry — T h e ta n n in g in d u stry , a s an exa m p le o f th e m u ltip le
h a zard s in in d u s try ,” b y D o r o th y K . M in ster.

320

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

where they are stored. Imported goat skins are generally arseniccured, and arsenic poisoning may result from handling them, while
mercury dermatitis may follow the handling of hides soaked in
bichloride of mercury. The almost universal method of curing
hides now, however, is salt curing, and though the effects are not
so severe as from the poisons mentioned above, workers handling
salt-cured hides frequently develop either a dermatitis or salt burns.
The processes used in preparing the hides consist of soaking and
dehairing. Caustic soda and sulphurous acid are used in soaking,
but as they are in rather dilute form the hazard exists in the prepa
ration of the soak waters rather than in the handling of the hides.
After soaking, the hides are dehaired either by sweating the hairs
loose, so that they can be scraped off, or by soaking the hide in lime.
In the latter process burns are frequent and there is a definite der
matitis called “ rossignol ” among the workers who have to keep
their hands constantly in the caustic lime, which is characterized by
“ loss of substance and bright red, shining finger tips.” Sulphide of
soda, used either as a substitute or in addition to the lime, may cause
a dermatitis or burns, and arsenic sulphide, which is frequently
added to the lime to hasten the dehairing process, may cause a
dermatitis as well as present the usual arsenic hazard.
The sweating method of dehairing, which is not used so much as
formerly, depends largely upon bacterial action, and any slight
injury to a worker exposes him to the risk of virulent infection. In
this connection it is noted that there is an unusually large propor
tion of infections in the tanning industry. Parasitic fungi are also
a hazard in the sweating process, particularly in the handling of
sheepskins. Ammonium sulphide develops as a result of the high
temperature in the sweat-chamber process. In the process of delim
ing there is again danger of lime burns, and the use of lactic acid in
this process results in a mild dermatitis in some of the workers. Red
arsenic, which is often used in deliming soft leathers, and the
arsenious acid formed from it, present a very serious hazard.
Another process used in deliming is called “ drenching.” The
bacteria in the drenching mixture, which is an infusion of bran in
hot water, lead to the formation of lactic acid, sulphureted hydrogen,
methane, and carbon dioxide. A case is cited of a man engaged in
cleaning a vat who was found dead as a result of the excess of carbon
dioxide.
Various substances are used in tanning, the vegetable tannins
including parts of plants, such as sumac, oak bark, chestnut, que
bracho, myrobalan, etc. Myrobalan causes deep sores on the hands
of tanyard workers. Sumac used in tanning, in finishing sole
leather, etc., causes a definite dermatitis and the sulphites with which
quebracho is dissolved also cause a# skin eruption. In the chrome
tannage processes chromic acid, hydrochloric acid, and sulphuric
acid all present hazards, and chrome sores result from the chromic
acid liberated in this process or from direct contact with the chromates.
In the finishing processes the principal chemical substances used
are sulphuric acid and caustic soda. Fish and mineral oils used to
render the hides more pliable after bleaching, because of impurities
chiefly of a bacterial origin, are a cause of furunculosis (boils). In

TETRAETHYL LEAD GASOLINE

321

the process known as “ currying” workers are subjected to dust
from the leather, which irritates the mucous membranes and also
may cause a definite skin reaction, as certain workers become sensi
tized to proteins in the leather. Other dust hazards are those from
hair and from tanbark.
I f leather is dyed, japanned, or enameled, an entirely new set of
hazards is introduced, including exposure to poisoning from a “ lead
bleach ” and to anilin and mercury colors for which amyl acetate,
butyl acetate, benzol, naphtha, turpentine, butyl alcohol, and ethyl
alcohol are used as solvents. Potassium ferrocyanide is also used
in the dyeing process to form Prussian blue in the skins, introducing
the hazard attendant on all cyanides.
Tetraethyl Lead Gasoline: Report of Columbia University
Laboratory
A SERIES of experiments to determine the health hazard presented by the use of ethyl gasoline was made at the laboratory
of industrial hygiene of Columbia University at the request of the
Ethyl Gasoline Corporation and the results were published in the
Journal of Industrial Hygiene (Boston), February, 1926.
At the time the laboratory at Columbia University was asked to
make the study the ethyl gasoline mixture contained 1 part of lead
compound to 1,000 parts of gasoline. However, after the accident
at Bayway, N. J.,22 by which a number of men lost their lives, the
Ethyl Gasoline Corporation decided to lessen the risks to the general
public and to garage workers by delivering only a 1 to 1,300 mixture
to the filling stations.
Because of the fact that the United States Bureau of Mines had
been studying the possible hazard to the public from the lead in the
exhaust gases of engines for some time, it was decided that the
Columbia University study should be limited to the consideration of
the possible hazards to those cojning directly in contact with the
material. The possible hazards considered were those to the tank
or garage man or to anyone who might get a few drops of the concen
trated mixture on his clothes or person; the possible hazard from
splashing the ethyl gasoline (1 to 1,000 mixture) on the person, from
the use of the gasoline by the mechanic or housewife to clean hands or
clothing, or from contact with it while adjusting the automobile
carburetor or cleaning out the tank; and the possible danger from
inhaling the fumes when ethyl gasoline was spilled either in the
garage or other place where evaporation might take place.
The tetraethyl lead used in the Columbia University experiments
was furnished by the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation and the gasoline
mixture was made up by the investigators.
Various experiments were made on different animals to show the
extent of the absorption of lead through the skin, by ingestion, and
by inhalation of fume. These experiments showed without doubt
that animals exposed to skin application of ethyl gasoline will store
lead and that the rate of excretion does not equal the rate of absorp
tion, while absorption of lead was also proven in the experiments in
22 See Labor Review, May, 1925, pp. 174, 175,

322

STUDIES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

which the animals were dosed with the lead and those in which they
were exposed to the fumes. While it can not be concluded that all
the animals that died during the experiments did so because of the
lead, it was observed that if for any reason an animal which appeared
sick was not exposed for several days there was a marked improve
ment in its condition. This agrees with medical experience in cases
where patients have been exposed to lead. It is possible that this
accounts for the fact that so far no cases of lead poisoning have been
found at garages or filling stations, since the time between exposures
may be long enough to prevent the development of symptoms
although an individual may be storing lead in his system. In this
case it might take years before there would be a sufficient accumula
tion to cause symptoms of lead poisoning.
In summing up the results of the study the writer states thaf while
it is difficult to apply animal experiments to human beings owing to
the fact that it is not possible to make the conditions of exposure
exactly identical, the findings seem to indicate that there is a potential
hazard in the use of ethyl gasoline by the public without some educa
tional campaign.
Tetraethyl Lead Gasoline: Report of Committee Appointed by
United States Public Health Service23
HTHE occurrence of a number of casualties in connection with the
manufacture of tetraethyl lead for use in gasoline motor fuel led
to the appointment of a committee by Dr. H. S. Cumming, Surgeon
General of the United States Public Health Service, in May, 1925, to
study the question of the health hazards involved in the retail distri
bution and general use of tetraethyl lead gasoline motor fuel. This
committee, which consisted of seven members—scientists and physi
cians—reported the results of its investigation at a conference called
by the Surgeon General January 19, 1926, at which Government
officials, scientists, the manufacturing companies, and labor were
represented.
The occurrence of a number of casualties in 1924 in chemical fac
tories where tetraethyl lead was being manufactured24 led to the
calling of a conference by the Surgeon General May 20, 1925, at
which time it was decided that an investigation of the hazards con
nected with its use should be made. The sale of ethyl gasoline was
voluntarily discontinued May 5, 1925, and the corporation concerned
in its manufacture and distribution agreed at this conference not to
resume production and distribution until the further study of its
effects had been made. Prior to the holding of the first conference
experiments in regard to the substance had been made by the United
States Bureau of Mines, by investigators at Columbia University,
and by others, but it seemed that the crucial test of the situation
must be derived from actual experience in the use of ethyl gasoline
under practical conditions of operation.
The scope of the investigation was made as extensive as was pos
sible in the time allowed, and was carried out in Ohio, as ethyl gaso
23 [U n ited S ta tes P u b lic H ea lth S ervice.
R ep ort o f com m ittee o n use o f te tr a e th y l
lead g a s o lin e .]
W ash in g ton , J a n u a ry 17, 1926. 15 pp. (M im e o g ra p h e d .)
24 See L a b o r R eview , F eb ru a ry , 1925, pp. 173, 174, and M ay, 1925, pp. 174, 175.

TETRAETHYL LEAD GASOLINE

323

line had been in constant use as a motor fuel in certain parts of the
State for several years. In the region selected, a supply of ethyl
fluid was in the hands of certain customers at the time its manufac
ture was discontinued and its continued use therefore offered the
opportunity of studying a fairly large group of individuals who had
been using and handling ethyl gasoline. The actual work of the in
vestigation was carried out by a corps of workers under Dr. J. P.
Leake, surgeon, United States Public Health Service.
The investigation covered 252 individuals, all adult males, who
were divided into five groups. Group A, a control group, consisted
of 36 men, employees of the city of Dayton, who drove cars during
the working-day. The gasoline used in these cars contained no lead.
Group B, a test group, consisted of 77 men, employees of a publicservice corporation of the city, whose duties were similar to those of
Group A, but in whose cars ethyl gasoline had been in constant use
since July, 1923. Group C, a control group, consisted of 21 men,
employed either as garage workers or as gasoline fillers at service
stations or on trucks delivering gasoline where the gasoline used or
handled did not contain lead. Group D, a test group, consisted of
57 men employed on work similar to that of Group C, except that
ethyl gasoline was handled in the garages, stations, and trucks.
Group E, a control group, consisted of 61 men employed in two in
dustrial plants in which there was known to be a serious exposure
to lead dust.
The industrial history was taken and careful clinical examinations
were made of these men. The blood examinations were made by
skilled persons and in each case were checked by several workers.
The examination of the feces for lead was made by chemists who
had been specially trained in the technique of the method. A
number taken at random was assigned to each person at the first
examination and none of those making the subsequent examina
tions or the laboratory tests knew whether or not the individual
had been exposed to ethyl gasoline or to which group he belonged.
The clinical examinations failed to give any decisive indication of
lead poisoning among either the chauffeurs or workers in garages in
which ethyl gasoline was used as a motor fuel. The only injury
noted was a few cases of acute irritation of the eyes due to getting
gasoline in them. This occurred with ordinary gasoline and ethyl
gasoline but was more severe in one case caused by the ethyl gasoline.
The time of exposure of these men to the effects of the gasoline
approximated two years. The workers in Group E, on the other
hand, who were exposed to a serio'us lead hazard in an industrial
plant showed definite clinical symptoms of lead poisoning although
they had been exposed for a shorter period of time than the garage
workers.
The laboratory tests showed that in both groups of drivers the
excretion of lead was practically identical, showing that the exhaust
gas from motors in which ethyl gasoline was used had caused no
increased absorption of lead. The results of the examination for
stippled cells in the blood showed no noticeable increase in stippling
in Group B as compared with Group A.
Both the elimination of lead and stippling of cells was more marked
in the two groups of garage workers, the percentages of those show

324

STUDIES OP INDUSTRIAL DISEASES AND POISONS

ing definite stippling being slightly greater among the workers in
the garages in which ethyl gasoline was used. Over 90 per cent of
the workers in Group E showed distinct stippling and in most of
these cases it was relatively very abundant.
So far as the committee could discover, all the reported cases of
fatalities and serious injuries from tetraethyl lead have occurred
either during the manufacture or in the processes of blending and
ethylizing. It seemed desirable, therefore, to find out whether any
cases of poisoning had developed in this section of the country
where ethyl gasoline had been in use as a motor fuel for the longest
time. All the workers examined were questioned, as well as local
health officers, physicians, public-health workers, and labor leaders,
and the few clues obtained were investigated, but with negative
results.
Some investigation was made also in regard to the dust in the
air and in the garages and workrooms, and while this study was not
so extensive as desired, owing to the shortness of time allowed, it
showed that some lead was present both in the dust and in the air
irrespective of whether the gasoline used contained lead. The
amount of lead in the sweepings ranged from 0.82 mgs. to 22.31
mgs. per gram of dust. It seems probable, therefore, that in all
garages in which automobiles are being handled and repaired the
workers are constantly exposed to lead dust and the importance
of adequate ventilation in such rooms and of keeping both the
floors and benches as free as possible from the accumulation of dust
is pointed out.
In view of these results the committee concluded that at present
there are no good grounds for prohibiting the use of ethyl gasoline
of the composition specified, as a motor fuel, provided that its dis
tribution and use are controlled by proper regulations.
Although the conclusions reached were based on painstaking in
vestigations the committee felt that they are subject to the criticism
that the study covered a relatively small number of individuals who
had been exposed to the effects of ethyl gasoline for a time compara
tively short, considering the possibilities in connection with lead
poisoning. It is considered possible that if the use of leaded gasoline
becomes general, conditions very different from those studied may
arise which would render its use more of a hazard than appears now
to be the case.
The final report25 of the investigation, which contains detailed
accounts of the methods followed and of the results of the clinical
examinations of the different groups studied, also gives the final
recommendations of the committee which it is proposed should be
adopted by the several States in order to secure uniformity of control
of the hazard.
The proposed regulations provide that all workers shall be in
formed of the hazard and of the precautions to be taken to prevent
poisoning; for periodic examination of workers for possible lead
absorption; for separate ventilation systems for the manufacturing
apparatus and for the rooms in plants where the product is manu
factured, and daily inspection of such equipment; for labeling of all
25 U n ited S ta tes P u b lic H ea lth S ervice. B u lletin N o. 1 6 3 : T h e u se o f te tr a e th y l le a d
g a s o lin e in its re la tio n t o p u b lic h ea lth . W a sh in g ton , 1926. 123 pp.

TETRAETHYL LEAD GASOLINE

325

containers of ethyl fluid or tetraethyl lead as to the exact content and
danger, containers to be closed tight after emptying and sent back
to the plant without cleansing and all containers to be cleaned or
filled by means of a closed system with air vent from the container
to the outside air; and for the addition of a dye to ethyl fluid in
sufficient amount to deter individuals from using it for cleaning or
similar purposes. It is also recommended that monthly reports shall
be made to the proper State official, giving the number of workers
employed at the beginning and end of each month, the number of
new workers, the number of workers separated from tetraethyl-lead
work as a result of the physical examination, the number of definite
cases of poisoning, and the condition of cases of poisoning previously
reported, so far as known.
Watch and Clock Dial Painting Industry
See Radium: effects of use of radioactive substances on health of
workers.
38690°— 27------ 22

INSURANCE AND BENEFIT PLANS

327

Types of Insurance and Benefit Plans
N A number of foreign countries very comprehensive insurance
plans have been established or fostered by the Government for
the protection of the working people against various industrial
and physical hazards, such as sickness, accident, unemployment, old
age, and death. In the United States such matters have been made
a matter of State legislation in any important degree only in the
case of industrial accidents. The protection of the workers against
the other contingencies of life and employment, if taken care of at
all, is left entirely to voluntary action, either through actual insur
ance or through benefit plans of various kinds. The following is a
very brief summary of the present status of certain of the more im
portant phases of this subject in the United States.

State Systems
A S ALREAD Y noted, the only social insurance systems estab**
lished by State legislation in this country are those covering the
subject of industrial accident insurance, usually referred to as work
men’s compensation. Almost all of the States, as well as the Federal
Government, have established comprehensive plans for compensation
for injuries due to industrial accidents, including, in some cases,
occupational diseases. These are described in detail in the section
“ Workmen’s compensation,” page 679.
In a few States, old-age pensions have been provided for by State
legislation, this relief, however, being extended to the indigent aged
without reference to industrial employment. This subject is covered
in the section “ Old-age pensions and relief,” page 431.
Establishment Plans
A VE RY large number of industrial establishments now make
^
provision for their employees in case of death, sickness, or
other misfortune. Sometimes this provision is made on an insur
ance basis, sometimes through benefit associations, welfare organiza
tions, etc. The most interesting recent development along this line
has been the extension of the group-insurance idea. At first, group
insurance was limited to life insurance, but has since been extended
to other forms of insurance.
The subject of establishment insurance and benefit plans including
group insurance was included as part of the investigation of plant
personnel activities recently made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The material on this part of the investigation had not been as
sembled in form for publication at the time this bulletin went to
press, except the section on sick-leave practice, which is given on
page 330.
In a limited number of cases, industrial establishments have made
provision to assure a certain regularity of employment to their em

329

330

INSURANCE AND BENEFIT PLANS

ployees. A description of these systems is given in the section,
“ Unemployment insurance and stabilization of employment,”
page 601.

Trade-Union Benefit Plans
'W AEIOUS trade-unions make provision for the payment of fixed
*
benefits'to their members in case of death, sickness, etc. In ad
dition, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers two
years ago started the Union Cooperative Insurance Association, and
the American Federation of Labor has recently established a co
operative insurance company known as the Union Life Insurance
Co. Descriptions of the trade-union benefit plans and insurance
companies are given on page 334.

Collective Agreement Plans
IN A limited number of cases, collective agreements between emA ployers and trade-unions provide for certain insurance or benefit
features. In the clothing trades there are several instances in which
this method has been used to provide a form of unemployment in
surance. This practice is closely allied to the practice o f guaranteed
employment and is discussed in the section entitled “ Unemployment
insurance and stabilization of employment,” page 596.
It is also interesting to note that certain recent street-railway
agreements provide for the establishment o f a sick-insurance plan.
The practice is described in an article on page 341,

Sick Leave with Pay
STUDY by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the various per
sonnel activities carried on by industrial establishments, the
field work of which was finished in the summer of 1926, in
cluded the collection of information as to the extent to which sick
leave with pay is granted to factory workers or other workers on
hourly rates of pay by the companies visited in the course of the
investigation.
Factory Workers

YV7HILE sick leave with pay is quite generally granted to office
**
workers and often very generous provision is made in cases of
protracted illness, it is not usual to pay other workers during in
capacity because of sickness. In a large number of establishments
provision is made through the benefit association, or in connection
with the group-ins,urance plan, for payment for sickness and non
industrial accidents. In a number of cases, however, firms were
found to have a definite plan covering allowances for sickness which
was independent of the insurance or benefit plans.
Quite a number of employers report that cases are treated on their
merits and that liberal compensation is paid in certain cases, but
there were 14 companies which reported that a definite policy was fol
lowed in providing payment in case of sickness. These included seven

SICK LEAVE WITH PAY

331

manufacturing companies, five public utilities, one building operat
ing company, and a marble quarry. The last company grants sick
leave with pay to employees after three years’ service, the proportion
of the wages paid varying from 35 to 50 per cent according to length
of service, with a maximum of $15 per week. The length of time for
which payments are made was not reported.
A building operating company on the west coast allows six weeks’
wages during the year to all employees, to begin after the third day of
sickness. An establishment manufacturing pharmaceutical supplies
pays average earnings for 200 hours after five years’ service. A
company manufacturing electrical supplies grants sick leave to
piece or hourly workers in meritorious cases, but the payments may
not exceed $100 in any 12-month period, and a large meat-packing
plant gives employees with from 2 to 15 years’ service one-fourth
of their wages ior four weeks, during which period they are carried
on the plant pay roll; for the next 12 weeks the payments are made
by the social service division, and after that if the case is meritorious
it is referred to members of the company. After 15 years’ service,
sick employees of this company are kept on half pay, and in the
case of employees who have been with the company 20 years or
over full pay is given for an indefinite period.
A company manufacturing straw hats gives one-half pay for four
weeks after the first week’s sickness and one-third pay for four
weeks longer after 5 years’ employment, 10 weeks’ pay at the same
rate after 10 years’ service, and one-half pay for 10 months after
30 years’ service.
A canning company in the Middle West, which has a very pro
gressive policy of industrial relations and in which all regular em
ployees are on a salary basis, pays the salaries of all sick and injured
employees in full until the employees’ sickness committee or the
nurse reports them able to return to work. In the case of chronic
illness, full salary is paid for 8 weeks, half pay for 4 weeks, and
quarter pay for another 4 weeks.
One company with many properties in different sections of the
country has a general plan of annuities and benefits which is main
tained entirely by the company. The company pays for sickness
and accidents not incurred in the line of duty one-half wages vary
ing from 6 weeks after 1 year’s service to 52 weeks for employees
whose term of service has been 10 years and over.
A machine shop in the South with a large number of colored em
ployees pays for cases of sickness and injury of its employees which
are not covered by the workmen’s compensation law. Payments are
made upon recommendation of the plant physician or of a physician
approved by the company, amounting to half the wages with a
maximum of $1.35 per day. The payments begin after 6 days and
may not exceed 90 days for one illness nor more than 180 days in
any calendar year. It is required that employees receiving these
payments obtain proper medical and surgical attention.
A number of electric light and power companies in different
sections of the country pay their hourly employees during absence
from work because of sickness, the usual rate being half pay and
the period varying according to the length of service. One of these
companies pays 10 per cent of annual earnings to employees in the

332

INSURANCE AND BENEFIT PLANS

service of the company 1 year and less than 2 years, the amount
paid increasing to 65 per cent of yearly earnings after 12 years’
employment with the company. I f an employee has received from
the company during any 12-month period 65 per cent of his annual
salary while absent from work on account of illness, his case may
be referred to the pension committee for investigation and recom
mendation to the president of the company.
A general plan of sickness disability benefits covers the opera
tions of another public utility company in its different branches
throughout the country. According to the provisions of the plan,
payments are made alter two years’ employment. The payments
are based on the employee’s rate of pay, exclusive of overtime, at
the time the disability began and amount to full pay for 4 weeks
and half pay for 9 weeks if the term of employment has been 2 to 5
years; full pay for 13 weeks and half pay for 13 weeks for employ
ment of 5 to 10 years; and full pay for 13 weeks and half pay for
39 weeks if the term of employment has been 10 years and over.
New York Office Workers
A SURVEY of the practice in New York City in the treatment of
office employees absent because of illness was made in 1925 by
the Merchants’ Association of New York.1 Seventy-two representa
tive concerns replied to the questionnaire—IT large insurance com
panies, 20 banks, and 35 large wholesale, manufacturing, engineer
ing, advertising, and publishing offices.
In only 14 cases were there fixed rules as to the payment of salary
for absence due to sickness, while 22 firms reported that each case
is treated on its merits, 5 that the treatment depends on the length
of. service, 2 on the position held, and 11 on a combination of these
and other factors.
Fourteen establishments reported that all employees are treated
alike in cases of illness without regard to length of service, position,
etc., while four others stated that all but the very new employees
receive the same treatment, two of these firms stating that employees
having a long period of service to their credit are given special con
sideration. In general these establishments reported payment in full
for a “ reasonable length of time ” or except in cases of protracted
illness. One firm requires a doctor’s certificate after two days’
absence, and three firms are planning to establish some restrictions
as to the length of time for which full pay will be allowed, in one
case to eliminate malingering, in another because the office force
has become so large that some check on the amount of sick leave
has become necessary, and in the third case because the employees
insist on being paid xor all overtime.
Usually employees are given full pay during sickness, but 13 firms
reported that after full pay has been allowed for some time part
wages are paid. Among these a bank reported that clerks who
have given satisfactory service for a number of years are allowed
full pay for from six months to a year and thereafter half pay for a
reasonable time. Only a few firms make any deduction from the
regular vacation periocl because of time lost on account of illness.
1The Merchants’ Association of New York, “ Greater New York,” New York, June
22, 1925.

GROUP LIFE INSURANCE IN METAL TRADES

333

Only one of the 14 firms which have established rules governing
absence due to illness has made a rule of nonpayment of salary.
This was a shoe factory in which many of the office workers are on
a piecework basis. Even this company makes frequent exceptions
to this rule in cases of the protracted illness of old employees, allow
ing not only full pay, but in some cases paying the physician. The
plans of the other 13 firms in this group vary, but in general the
amount of sick leave granted depends upon the period of service.
One insurance company gives no salary for absence because of
illness during the first year of employment except in special cases,
but after 1 year’s service 1 month’s sick leave is allowed, in
creasing up to 6 months’ full pay and 6 months’ half pay after
15 years’ service. Another insurance company pays during the
first year, only when the sickness is of an acute nature, but thereafter
allows the full salary and, in cases where the illness lasts for more
than two weeks, an additional “ sickness allowance” not to exceed
50 per cent of the salary or a maximum of $25 per week; certain
allowances are also made for surgical operations. A cumulative plan
is in force in another company by which employees are credited with
accrued sick leave. Benefits previously allowed, therefore, are de
ducted from the total amount earned by reason of length of service.
I f an employee’s absence exceeds the time for which full salary
benefits are allowed, further payments are made at a “ pension rate.”
This amounts to 20 per cent of the salary if the employee has worked
for the company 5 years and increases 1 per cent annually until
15 years of service have been given and thereafter 2 per cent annually
until, after 25 years’ service, the maximum pension of 50 per cent of
the salary rate is paid.

Experience With Group Life Insurance in the Metal Trades
HE department of industrial relations of the National Metal
Trades Association in 1926 made a study of the extent to
which group insurance plans are in force among its members.2
The study was carried out by means of a series of questionnaires arid
by individual plant studies. From the returns received from the
first questionnaire it was found that 135 companies belonging to
this association had group insurance in force, while 17 companies
had tried it, but had given it up. The field study covered 64 plants
which had had experience with group insurance, 8 of these having
abandoned it.
It is estimated that the total amount of group insurance carried by
all companies in the United States in 1925 was in excess of
$3,500,000,000, this protection being provided for approximately
2,500,000 employees and their dependents.
Under the group-insurance plan a master policy is issued to the
employer, covering all the eligible employees, but the individual
policy may be either a fixed amount for each employee, an amount
based upon the annual wages of the employee, or an amount increas
ing with the employee’s length of service up to a fixed maximum.

3 National Metal Trades Association. Committee on industrial relations.
with group insurance. Chicago, 122 S. Michigan Avenue, 1926.

Experience

334

INSURANCE AND BENEFIT PLANS

This insurance may be paid for entirely by the employer or the
employees may contribute a part of the cost.
The reasons for taking out group insurance as reported by 75 of
the companies were either humanitarian motives or such economic
reasons as the reduction of labor turnover or the general promotion
of the employees’ good will. The results of the plan were said to be
satisfactory by 57 of the 82 companies reporting on this point, while
10 reported that it was only partially successful, and 15 declared that
it had not produced the results hoped for at the time it was started.
Only two of the companies which adopted group insurance for the
purpose of reducing turnover reported that it had had the desired
result, the general opinion seeming to be that there can be no very
decided effect upon the turnover since the class of workmen known
as “ floaters ” are usually not covered. In almost all cases employees
are not eligible for group insurance until they have been on the pay
roll for a stated period, usually six months, thus eliminating the
most unstable part of the force from participation in the plan. The
effects on production can not be measured with any exactness, but it
is believed in some instances to exert some effect, while it is con
sidered by some of the firms reporting to promote good will among
the employees.
The attitude of employees toward group insurance in 60 plants
having had it in force for five years was said at the end of that period
to be more favorable in 22 cases and favorable in 24, while in 7
plants the employees were less in favor of it, in 1 plant they were
indifferent, and 6 plants had given up the plan.
In general, it is said the cost of group life insurance may be esti
mated at slightly more than 1 per cent of the pay roll, varying, how
ever, with the scale of benefits and the average age of the employees
covered. The average net cost to 46 companies which had a non
contributory plan was $14.10 per year per employee covered, while
of 22 companies having a contributory plan the average net yearly
cost per employee was $7.36. In reply to the question as to the
advantages of group insurance to the company, several firms stated
that it helped to stabilize the working force and that it improved the
general morale, and a few considered that its value lay in the oppor
tunity it furnished to provide for the employees’ dependents in a
nonpaternalistic manner. The cost of the plan was mentioned most
frequently by those firms replying as to the disadvantages of the plan,
and a few companies stated that it led the men to neglect personal
insurance, that the men would rather have the money in the pay
envelope, and that the real effect was uncertain.

Trade-Union Benefits
HE report of an investigation of trade-union benefits, by George
W. Perkins and Matthew Woll, published in 1925 by the
American Federation of Labor, shows the varied services of
this nature maintained by the unions and the amount spent for the
protection of their members. The data cover only unions affiliated
to the American Federation of Labor, and do not include, there
fore, the independent unions, some of which, such as the railway
brotherhoods, have a very large membership.

335

TRADE-TJNION BENEFITS

Six classes of insurance are provided by the different unions in
cluded in the study—death, sickness, disability, old-age, strike and
lockout, and unemployment—and a number of unions provide for
assistance in various other contingencies, these special benefits in
cluding payment of insurance in case of the death of the wife of a
member, weekly benefits to widows of relief members, tool insurance,
and the payment of a definite sum to a member who has been
victimized.

Death Benefits
r\ E A T H benefits paid by 80 of the 107 national and international
^
unions affiliated to the American Federation of Labor are shown
in Table 1. In the majority of cases it appears that the funds are
administered by the national or international unions, but in eight
instances the payments are made from the funds of the locals.
T able 1.—T R A D E -U N IO N S P A Y IN G D E A T H B E N E F IT S A N D A M O U N T S OF B E N E F IT S
P A ID IN 1925

Organization

Bakerv workers...................................... .
BarbenP.................................................... .
Blacksmiths............................................. .
Boiler makers.......................................... .
Bookbinders............................................ .
Boot and shoe workers.......................... .
Bricklayers, masons, and plasterers___
Brick and d a y workers......................... .
Bridge and structural-iron workers___
Broom and whisk makers......................
Railway carmen......................................
Carpenters.................................................
Carvers, wood................ ........................ .
Cigar makers............................................ .
Clerks, post office2..................................
Clerks, railw ay........................................
Clerks, retail.............................................
Cloth hat, cap, and millinery workers.
Conductors, sleeping-car. .................... .
Coopers......................................................
Diam ond workers....................................
Electrical workers2................................ .
Engineers, steam and operating...........
Engravers, photo.....................................
Firemen and oilers................................. .
Foundry employees............................... .
Fur workers..............................................
Garment Workers, U nited............... .
Glass bottle blowers............................... .
Glass workers, flint................................ .
Glass workers, window...........................
Granite cutters........................................ .
Hatters..................................................... .
H od carriers.............................. ............. .
Hotel and restaurant employees______
Iron, steel, and tin workers...................
Jewelry workers.......................................
Lathers........................................ ............ .
Leather workers.................................. .
Letter carriers2........................................

Am ount of
benefit
$501007550100-

$350
500
300
300
500

100-

200

5015010075505050100-

300
200
400
200
250
300
150
500
500
100-1,500
25- 200

(3)

1,000
50- 125
400- 750
300-1,000

(<)

100- 200
100- 600
100
100
50- 300
500

(3)

300
50- 300
100- 300
50- 100
75
100- 500
75- 200
50- 400
6 50- 6 200
500-3,000

Organization

Am ount of
benefit

Lithographers..........................................
M achinists7............................................
Maintenance of w a y .......................... .
Meat cutters...........................................
Metal workers, sheet............. ................
M ine, mill, and smelter workers.........
M ine workers..........................................
M olders....................................................
Musicians......................... .............. .........
Oil field, gas well and refinery workers
Painters....................................................
Paper makers..........................................
Pattern makers.......................................
Paving cutters................................. .
Piano and organ workers......................
Plasterers................. ........................... .
Plumbers.................................................
Polishers, metal............. ........................
Potters, operative—...............................
Printers, p la te 8_________ ___________
Printing pressmen.......... ......................
Quarry workers.................................... .
Railway employees, street and electric.
Railway mail association 2................
Roofers.................................................
Seamen................................... .............
Signalmen, railroad............................
Stage employees...................... ..........
Stereotypers..................... ...................
Stonecutters................................. .......
Stove m ounters___ _________ _____
Switchm en2................. ......................
Tailors...................................................
Teamsters..................... .............. .........
Telegraphers, railroad2......................
Telegraphers, commercial.................
Textile workers...................................
Tobacco workers.................................
Typographical union..........................
Wall paper crafts................................

$100-$1,000
50300
50- 300
100- 200
100- 300
(3)
(3)
100- 200
(3)

1 Districts pay additional benefits ranging from $200 to $400.
2 Life-insurance plan,
a Local.
< N ot reported.
5 Apprentices and female members one-half.
« Voluntary group insurance $250-$500 also in operation.
7 Insurance for death and disability in sum of $500 provided.
* Assessment 50 cents per member.
9 Maximum.
^Funeral benefits of $300 to members over age limit or unable to pass physical examination.

50- 400
50- 300
50- 400
50150
50- 300
100- 400
150- 500
50- 200
50- 300
(*)
100- 600
50125
100- 800
1,000- 4,000
200
<3)
9 1,000
3 150- 1,200
200
100- 300
150
io 375- 2,250
20100
(3)
300- 1,000
50100
2550
50
75500
50- 300

336

INSURANCE AND BENEFIT PLANS

Sick Benefits
D ENEFITS in case of sickness are paid by 31 of the unions reporting in this study; in nearly half of the cases the local unions
pay their own benefits, so that the amounts vary among the different
branches. In addition to the unions which pay a definite benefit
in case of sickness, the locals of the Roofers’ Union pay benefits in
case of accident, the Operative Potters pay $18 weekly for treat
ment in' a sanitorium for tuberculosis, and members of the Paving
Cutters’ Union are exempt from dues during sickness. The bakery
workers limit the amount which any member may receive during
life to $600, and the tailors limit the amount to $200.
Table 2 shows for 1925 the unions reporting that sick benefits
are paid, the amount of the benefits, and the number of weeks for
which payments are made:
T a b l e 2 .—T R A D E -U N IO N S P A Y IN G S IC K B E N E F IT S , A M O U N T OF B E N E F IT , A N D

P E R IO D F O R W H IC H B E N E F IT IS P A ID , IN 1925

Organization

Num
ber of
weeks
Amount
for
of
which
benefit benefits
are
paid

$10
Bakery workers..............................
10
Barbers
_____________________
5
B oot and shoe w orkers_________
Carpenters_____________________
Cigarmakers____________________
0 )7
2 10
Clerks, post office______________
Cloth hat, cap, and millinery
.workers—
7
M ale_______________________
5
Female____ ________________
Engravers, photo............. ..............
0)
Garment Workers, U n it e d 4
M ale. ........... ............................
(3)
3
Female________ ______ _____
00
Glass bottle blowers............... .......
0)
Glass workers, flint__ __________
(0
Iron, steel, and tin workers..........
5
.............................
Leather workers
7
Letter carriers4.................... ..........
10
1 Local.
2 $5 first week.
3 N ot reported.

16
16
13
10
13
7
7

13
10
26

Organization

Lithographers. ................................
Machinists . .
___ __ _ _
Maintenance of w a y ________
Mine, mill, and smelter workers.
M ine workers__________________
Molders ®_______________________
Musicians______________________
Painters............................................
Pattern makers _. _________ _
Piano and organ workers _ ___
Plumbers.........................................
Railway employees, street and
electric__ ___________________ _
Seamen
___
Signalmen, ra ilroad ____________
Tailors
___ _
Teamsters______________________
Tobacco workers _ ___________

N um
ber of
weeks
Am ount
for
of
which
b en efit,
f>enefits
are
paid
6

•7

5
5

13
10
13

0)
8
0)
0)

(l)
0)
0)
C)

< Under life-insurance plan.
* $5.20 per week to honorary beneficial members.
6 Exempt from dues.

Disability Benefits
HTWENTY-THREE unions pay either a lump sum or make weekly
*
or monthly payments to disabled members, while one union
exempts such members from regular dues, another pays death-benefit
dues, and printing pressmen are taken care of in their home for the
aged. Postal clerks and other organized Federal employees are
provided for in case of disability under the Federal retirement law.
Table 3 shows for 1925 the unions reporting the payment of dis
ability benefits and the amount of the payments:

337

TRADE-UNION BENEFITS
T able 3 .—T R A D E -U N IO N S

P A Y IN G D IS A B IL IT Y B E N E F IT S A N D
B E N E F IT , 1925

Am ount of benefit
Organization
Lum p sum

Boiler makers________________
$200-$800
B oot and shoe workers________
100
Bricklayers, masons, and plas
terers ______________________
Bridge and structural-iron
workers....... .......... ...................
Carmen, railway_____________
50-250
Carpenters___________________
50-400
Cigar makers...............................
*100-400
Cloth hat, cap, and millinery
w orkers.,..................................
*75
Conductors, sleeping c a r _____
1,000
Engravers, photo_____________
Granite cutters__________

Full text of Handbook of Labor Statistics : Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1924-1926 : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 439

FRASER