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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES J. DAVIS, Secretary
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
ETHELBERT STEWART, Cornrniasioner
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES }
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
• • • • •
MISCELLANEOUS
N0. 389
SERIES
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL
CONVENTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF
GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS OF
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
HELD AT CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MAY 19-23, 1924
<""&NTQ.:
/·"y~
~~o~•~u~•t'
IJ i
JULY, 1925
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1925
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
ADDITIONAL COPIES
OJ' THIS PUBLICATION KAY BE PROCURED J'ROII
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFJ'ICJ:
WASHINGTON, D. C.
AT
20 CENTS PER COPY
CONTENTS
Page
Officers, 1923-24 _________ ______ ___ _________ ____ ________ ____ ______
vI
Constitution ________________________________ . _ _________________ VI-VIII
Development of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials.------- 1x, x
MONDAY. MAY 19-EVENING SESSION
President's address, by John Hopkins Hall, jr., commissioner Virginia
Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics_______________________
1-3
The
of men, __________
by Ethelbert
Stewart, United States Commissioner 3-10
Labor Statistics
~-__________________________________
of wastage
TUESDAY. MAY 20-MORNING SESSION
Appointment of committees ________________ _: ______________________ _
Roll R~!~dof:D~t!~~~:e~!~!~s~~:i~~: _____________________________ _
Report of Georgia ________ : __________________________________ _
Report of Illinois ____________________________________________ _
11
11
12
12-14
14
Report of
of Massachusetts
KentuckY-----------------------------------~-----Report
_____________________________________ _
14
Report of ~finnesota _________________________________________ _
15
Report of New York _________________________________________ _
15
Report of Pennsylvania ______________________________________ _
16
16
Report of Texas.---·----------------------------------------Report of Utah _________________________ -------------------16
Report of Virginia ___________________________________ .··--- ___ _
Report of West Virginia ______________________________________ _ 17, 17
18
Report of Ontario ___________________________________________ _
18
Report of secretary-treasurer _____________________________________ _ 18-20
Reports of special committees:
Committee to consider consolidation of Association of Governmental
Labor Officials of the United States and Canada and International
Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions _____ 20, 21
Committee to revise constitution _________ ---------------------21
Committee to consider advisabilfty of consolidation of Association of
Govemmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada
and International Association of Public Employment Services ____ 21, 22
Committee to consider uniform methods of reporting accidents and
compiling statistics _________________________ . _______________ 22-30
30
Committee to draft sugge~tions on uniform safety laws____ ____ ____
~=-
_e~_g!~~~~
ReSaf~;nc:~~tg'ilc~~~~~
~i-~~~~ ~ ~ ~~i~~~ ~~i~~
~ ~:i~~~ 30, 31
Current statistics of employment and earnings, by D. D. Lescohier,
associate professor of economics University of Wisconsin _____________ 31-33
National safety code for walkway surface!!' by H. W. Mowery, secretary
National Safe Walkway Surfaces Code Committee __________________ 34-36
Discussion:
Ethelbert Stewart, of Washington, D. c ____________________ 36, 37
l;,~cian W. Chaney, of Washington, D. c ________________ . -·· _ 37, 38
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Ill
IV
ASSOCIATION
O}'
GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
TUESDAY, MAY 20-AFTERNOON SESSION
Workmen's compensation laws and their relation to accident prevention,
by T. J. Duffy, chairman Ohio Industrial Commission .... ·········Occupational disease compensation, by John B. Andrews, secretary
American Association for Labor Legislation ___________ .······-----Discussion:
John B. Andrews, of New York.--··-···-····-······-········
F. M. Wilcox, of Wisconsin ....•... ··--··-·-·····-···--·····
John Roach, of New York ..... ·--······- .•.•... ·-··-··-·-·.
John Hopkins Hall, jr., of Virginia ...... _. __________ . ______ .
Industrial relations act of Colorado, by W. I. Reilly, chairman Colorado
Industrial Commission •. -·--·. _____________ .·--··--..••. ·--··---
Page
39-43
42--46
47,48
47,48
47,48
48
48-54
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21-MORN/NG SESSION
Statistics as related to law enforcement, by Royal Meeker, secretary Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry--·-···-·_ .. __ ---···--·Value of accurate statistics in accident work, by John Roach, deputy
commissioner New Jersey Department of Labor ••••.....• _.-·--····
Discussion:
Ethel M. Johnson, of Massachusetts _________ . ___ ·-···-----·Ethelbert Stewart, of Washingt-0n, D. C .. ---··- __ -·-- ·-·· --·Agnes Peterson, of Washington, D. C ···-·· •••• ··--·----- ·--·
Royal Meeker,of Pennsylvania ........ ·-----····-·· .... ···Methods of factory inspection in Utah, by G. R. Yearsley, chief factory
inspector Utah Industrial Commission ___ ·---·----- ____ -··· ...• ·--.
Relation between the work of governmental labor officials and the work
of the legal aid organizations, by John S. Bradway, secretary National
Association of Legal Aid Organizations·-·--····-··-···········-·-·
Discussion:
E. Leroy Sweetser, of Massachusetts·--·--····----·--··-·--·
John S. Bradway, of Pennsylvania .... ··-·-·-·-···-- ..... -··
Ethel!Jert Stewart, of Washington, D. C--·-·---··-··----··---
55-60
61-65
65,66
66-68
68,69
69
69-73
73-82
82
82
82,83
THURSDAY, MAY 22-MORNING SESSION
The International Federation of Working Women, by Mary Anderson,
director Women's Bureau, United States Department of Labor._. ____ 84-88
Discussion:
Alice McFarland, of Kansas·-·-·-·-·---·---------·------·- 89, 91
F. M. Wilcox, of Wisconsin.·-··-···············-··-·--·--· 89, 90
Agnes Peterson, of Washington, D. C ................. ···-··
90
Ethel M. Johnson, of Massachusetts ..... ··-· .... --·· ......
90
Ethelbert Stewart,of Washington, D. C-·-····--···------·· 90,91
Problems arising from the enforcement of the minimum wage and 48•hour
laws of Massachusetts, by Ethel M. Johnson, as~istant commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Labor and Industries ....•.... ··--·--- 91-97
Discussion:
Ethel M. Johnson, of Massachusetts--·---·- ...... __ ......... 97-99
John B. Andrews,of New York·--·-···-···-·-·-···-··-·-···
98
John S. B. Davie, of New Hampshire .......... _. _...... - . . . 98, 99
Problems arising from the enforcement of minimum wage laws, by Thomas
M. Molloy, commissioner Saskatchewan Bureau of Labor and Indus•
tries·--··-·········-·····-····-·-··-·············-····--·-··· 99-101
Discussion:
Alice McFarland, of Kansas·--······-·· ......... ···-·-·- 101, 107
John B. Andrews, of New York .... ·-····-················ 101,102
Thomas M. Molloy, of Saskatchewan ...•.................. 101-105
Ethel M. Johnson,of Massachusetts .................... -• 101,102
Dorothy Blanding,of North Dakota ..... ·-··-······ ..... 102~105
103
Agnes Peterson, of Waehington, D. C .. ·-····•·•····-···--··
Mrs. Delphine M. Johnson, of Washington __ ............ ·-· 103, 105
103
Louise E. Schutz, of Minnesota·-······-··-······-·.·--··--_
T. A. Wilson, of Arkansas •.... •--·····--··-··-·--·-··--·· 103-106
F. M. Wilcox, of Wisconsin ....•• ·-···---··············-··103
Agnes Hannigan, of Ka,Ji.sa,s_-,_·.-·---· .. ··-·--·· ····--··-· 104, 106
104
Owen R. Lovejoy, of New,-York .••. ·-·---····-··-··-·····-·
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
CONTENTS
V
Problems arising from the enforcement of minimum wage laws, by Thomas
M. Molloy, commissioner Saskatchewan Bureau of Labor and Industries-Continued.
Page
Discussion-Continued.
105
Mrs. Florence McRaven, of Arkansas _________ ---··__________
106
Mrs. Edith B. Evans, of Oklahoma_________________________
John S. B. Davie, of New Hampshire _____________________ 106, 107
The minimum wage, by Mrs. Delphine M. Johnson, supervisor of
women in industry, Washington Department of Labor and Industries_ 108, 109
Discussion:
109
Dorothy Blanding, of North Dakota________________________
Alice McFarland, of Kansas----------------------------- 109-:111
110
John Hopkins Hall, jr., of Virginia_________________________
Mrs. Delphine M. Johnson, of Washington ________________ 110,111
Ethel M. Johnson, of Massachusetts ______________________ 110-112
111
Mrs. Florence McRaven, of Arkansas------------------·___
111
JohnS. B. Davie, of New Hampshire----------------------THURSDAY, MAY 22-.AFTERN00N SESSION
The Federal child labor amendment, by Owen R. Lovejoy, secretary
National Child Labor Committee _______________________________ 113-121
Discussion:
121
John Hopkins Hall, jr., of Virginia ________________________ .
121
Owen R. Lovejoy, of New York____________________________
Accidents to children and increased liability, by Nelle Swartz, director
bureau of women in industry, New York Department of Labor. ____ 121-124
Discussion:
Taylor Frye, of Wisconsin _______________________________ 115-128
Children in street trades, by Jeanie V. Minor, secretary New York Child
Labor Committee ________ ------------------------------------ 128-137
·
Discussion:
Claude Connally,_ of Oklahoma ___________________________ 137, 138
137
Taylor Frye,of Wisconsin _________________ ··--- __________ .. _
Royal Meeker, of Pennsylvania-------------------------- 138-139
139
Jeanie V. Minor, of New York ____________________ . ______ - _
139
Elizabeth Johnston, of Indiana_____________________________
FRIDAY, MAY 23-MORNING SESSION
Business session.
Report of committee on reports of officers _______________ --- _ __ __
Report of auditing committee____________________________________
Report of committee on resolutions--------------------------- 140,
Election of officers, etc.________________________________________
140
140
141
141
APPENDIX
List of persons who attend the eleventh annual convention of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials ___________________________ 143-146
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICERS, 1923-24
President.-John Hopkins Hall, jr.• Richmond, Va.
First vice president.-John S. B. Davie, Concord, N. H.
Second vice president.-T. A. Wilson, Little Rock, Ark.
Third vice president.-H. C. Hudson, Toronto, Canada.
Fourth viee president.-C. H. Gram Salem, Oreg,_
Fifth vice president.-Maud Swett, Milwaukee, Wis .
.Secretary-treasurer.-Louise E. Schutz, St. Paul, Minn.
CONSTITUTION
Adopted at Chicago, Ill., May 20, 1924
ARTICLE
I
SECTION 1. Name.-This organization shall be known as the ABsoclatlon of
Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada.
ARTICLE
II
SECTION 1. Objects.-To act as a medium for the exchange of information for
and by the members of the organization; to secure better legislation for the welfare of women and children in industry and the workers in general; to promote
greater safety to life and property; to promote greater uniformity in labor-law
enforcement, establishing of safety standards, compiling and disseminating labor
and employment statistics; and to more closely correlate the activities of the
Federal, State, and Provincial departments of labor.
ARTICLE III
SECTION 1. M embership.-The active membership of this association shall consist of:
.
(a) Members of the United States Department of Labor and the Department
of Labor of the Dominion of Canada; such representatives of bureaus or departments of the United States or Canada being restricted by law from paying dues
into this association may be members with all privileges of voice and vote, but
are not eligible for election to office. They may serve on committees.
(b) Members of State and Provincial departments of labor.
(c) Members of Federal, State, or Provincial employment services.
SEc. 2. Honorary members.-Any person who has rendered service while connected with any Federal, State, and Provincial department of labor, may be
elected to honorary membership by a unanimous vote of the executive board.
ARTICLE IV
SECTION 1. Ojficers.-The officers of this association shall be a president, a first,
second, third, fourth, and fifth vice president and a secretary-treasurer.' These
officers shall constitute the executive board.
SEc. ·2. Election of ojficers.-Such officers shall be elected from the members
at the regular annual business meeting of the association by a majority ballot,
and shall hold office for one year, or until their successors are elected and
qualified.
SEC. 3. The officers shall be elected from representatives of the active membership of the association, except as otherwise stated in Article III.
VI
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE
VII
V
SECTION 1. Duties of the officers.-The president shall preside at all meetings
of the association and the executive board, preserve order during its deliberations,
appoint all committees and sign all records, vouchers, or other documents in connection with the work of the association.
SEC. 2. The vice presidents, in order named, shall perform the duties of the
president in his absence.
SEc. 3. The secretary-treasurer shall have charge of all books, papers, records,
and other documents of the association; shall receive and have charge of all dues
and other moneys; shall keep a full and complete record of all receipts and disbursements; shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the association and the
executive board; shall conduct all correspondence pertaining to the office; shall
compile statistics and other data as may be required for the use of the members
of the association; and shall perform such other duties as may be directed by the
convention or the executive board. The secretary-treasurer shall present a detailed written report of receipts and expenditures to the convention; shall pay
out no money until a voucher has been issued and signed by the president. The
secretary-treasurer shall publish the proceedings of the convention, within four
months after the close of the convention, the issue to consist of such numbers of
copies as the executive board may direct. The secretary-treasurer shall receive
such salary as the executive board may decide, but not less than $180 per year.
SEC. 4. In the event of a vacancy in any office, the executive board may elect
a successor: Provided, The president shall be succeeded by the ranking vice
president.
SEC. 5. The businees of the association between conventions shall be conducted
by the executive board, and all questions coming before the board shall be decided
by majority vote, except that of the election of honorary members, which shall
be by unanimous vote.
ARTICLE VI
SECTION 1. Finances.-The revenues of the association shall be derived from
annual dues determined on the following basis: (a) Federal, State, or Provincial
departments of labor, when the department staff consists of 1 to 5 persons, $10;
6 to 25 persons, $15; 26 to 75 persons, $25; more than 75 persons, $50.
The executive board may order an assessment levied upon affiliated departmente
not to exceed one year's dues.
ARTICLE VII
SECTION 1. Who entiUed to vote.-All active members shall be entitled to vote
on all questions coming before the meeting of the association, as hereinafter
provided.
SEc. 2. In electing officers of the association, State departments of labor represented by several delegates shall only be entitled fo one vote. The delegates
from such departments mus1; select one person from their representatives to cast
the vote of the group.
The various bureaus of the United States Department of Labor and the Department of Labor of Canada may each be entitled to one vote.
The rule for electing officers shall apply to the vote for selecting convention
city.
ARTICLE VIII
SECTION 1. M eetings.-The association shall meet at least once annually at
such time and place as the association in convention may select. The date of
the annual meeting shall be decided by the executive board unless otherwise
ordered by the convention.
ARTICLE IX
SECTION 1. Program.-The executive board shall act as committee on program
and shall prepare and publish the convention programs of the association.
SEc. 2. The committee on program shall set aside at least one Ression of the
convention as a business session, at which session the regular order of business,
election of officers, and selection of convention city shall be taken up, and no
other business shall be considered at that session until the "regular order" has
been completed.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
VIII
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
ARTICLE
X
SECTION 1. Rules of order.-The deliberations of the convention shall be
.governed by" Cushing's Manual."
ARTICLE XI
SECTION 1. Amendments.-Amendments to the constitution must be filed with
the secretary-treasurer in triplicate and referred to the committee on constitution and by-laws. A two-thirds vote of all delegates shall be required to adopt
any amendment.
ARTICLE XII
SECTION 1. Order of business1. Roll call of members by States and Provinces.
2. Appointment of committees.
(a) Committee of five on officers' reports.
(b) Committee of five on resolutions.
(cl Committee of three on constitution and by-laws.
(d) Special committees.
3. Reports of officers.
4. Reports of States and Provinces.
5. Reports of committees.
6. Unfinished business.
7. New business.
8. Selection of place of meeting.
9. Election of officers.
10. Adjournment.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR
OFFICIALS
ASSOCIATIOlf OF CHIBFS Al!ID OFFICIALS OF BUREAUS OF LABOR
No.
l
2
s
4
5
6
7
8
ti
10
11
Date
September, 1883.......
June, 188'•••••••••••.•
June, 1885.............
June, 1896. . ••• •••••••
June, 1887 .••••••••••••
May, 1888. .•••• .••••.
June, 1889 ..•••••••••••
1890... ·······-·······
May, 1891 •.•••• . ••••
May, 1892 .•••••••••••
1893...... .••••.•••••••
May, 1894 ...••••••••••
September, 1895...••••
Convention held at-
President
Columbust 9hlo •••••• H. A. Newman •••••••••
St. Louis, Mo •••••••••••... do ....••...•••••.•••
Boston, Mass......... Carroll D. Wright. ••••
Trenton, N .1••••••••• ••••. do ••••••••••••••.•••
Madison, Wis •••••••••••••. do ••••••••••••••••••
Indianapolis, Ind •••••••••. do •..••••••••••.••••
Hattlord, Co:an •....•••••••. do ..••.•.•••••••••••
Des Moines, Iowa •••• No meeting••.....•.••••
Philadelphia, Pa...... Carroll D. Wright ..••••
Denver, Colo ••••••••• Charles F. Peck ...••••••
Albany, N. Y •••••.•.••••..••....••••••••••••••
Washington, D. C •••• Carroll D. Wright ••••••
Minneapolis, Minn .••••••. do ••••••••••••••••••
1: June,
~;: 1898.............
li:::::::::::::: ~~v1n~lenii::::::
:::::~~ ::::::::::::::::::
Detroit, Mich ••••••••••••. do ...•••••••••••••••
14
15•
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
July, 1899•••••••••••••
July, 1900•••••••.••••.
Mayi 1901.............
Apr!, 1902 ••••••••••••
April, 1903 ••••••••••••
Jilly, 1904 •••••••••••••
September, 1005•••••••
July, 1906 •••••••••••••
July, 1907 •••.••• •••••.
August, 1908..........
June, 1909.............
Augusta, Me ••••••••••••••• do .•••••••••••••••••
Milwaukee, Wis ••••••••••• do ...•••••••••••••••
St. Louis, Mo •••••••••••••. do ••••••..••••••••••
New Orleans, La ..•_ •••••• do ..••••.•••••••••••
Washington, D. C ••••••••• do ..••••••••••••••••
Concord, N. H •.•••••••••••do.: ••••.••••••.•••.
San Francisoo, Calif ••.•••. do •••••.••••••••••••
Boston, Mass •••••••.• Charles P. Neill ••.•••••
Norfolk, Va .••••••••••••••. do •••••••••••••.••••
Detroit, Mich ••••••••••••. do ••••••••••••••••••
Rochester, N. Y ••••••••••• do·········-··-···
Secretary.treasurer
Henry Luskey.
Do.
John S. Lord.
E. R. Hutchins.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Frank H. Betton.
Do.
L. G. Powers.
Do.
Samuel B. Horne.
Do.
Do.
Do.
James M. mark,
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
\V.L. A. Johnson.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
1l!ITlll!IATIO1'AL ASSOCU.TION OF FACTORY INSPECTORS
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
June, 1887. .••••. ••• ..
Angust, 1888 ••••..••••
August. 1389 ••••••••••
August, 1890 ····-····
August, 18111 ••••••••••
September, 18112•.••••
September, 1893 ••••••
September, 189L •••••
September, 1895 •.•••••
September, 1896 .••••••
August and Septem•
ber,1897
September, 1898.......
1f:i::::::::::
l!15 t~=r.
September, 1901. ..••••
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Philadelphia, Pa__ Rufus R. Wade •••••.•••
Bosoon, Mas.~ •••••••••••••• do ..••••••••••••••••
Tre11ton. N. J •.•••••••.•••. do •••••.•••••••••••.
New York. N. Y ••••••..•.••.•••••••••••••••••••
Cleve.lend, Ohio ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Hartford, Conn ••.••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••
Chicago1 Ill••••••••••• John Franey ••••••••••••
Philadelphia, Pa ..••••••••• do ••••••••••••••••••
Provldenoe, R. I •.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Toronto, Canada •.•••••.•••.••••.•••••.•••••••••
Detroit, Mich •••.•••• Rufus R. Wade •..••••••
Henry Dorn."
Do.
Do.
Mary A. O'Reilly.
Evan H. Davis
Alzina P. Stevens.
Boston, Mass •••••••••••••. do ••••••.••••••••••• Joseph L. Cox.
t::::: ··::::::::::::::::::::::::
fli':i~';;p~~8fn1
Niagara Falls, N. Y •••••••••••••••••....••••••••
December, 1902 ···-·· Charleston, S. C •.•••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••
August, 1903 ..•••••• Montreal, Canada •••• James Mitchell •.••••••• David F. Spees.
September, 1904••••••• St. Louis, Mo ••••••••• Daniel H. McAbee.... ••
Do.
August, 1905 •••••••••• Detrott. Mich......... Edgar T. Davies........ C. V. Hartzell.
June, 1906. .• . ••••••••• Columbu')_Ohio •••••• Malcolm J. McLead ••••. Thos. Kelty
June, 1907 ..••••••••••• Hartford, 1.,onn .•••••• John H. Morgan •••••••• 'I
Do.
June, 1908 ••••••••••••• Toronto, Canada...... George L. McLean......
Do.
June.1909 · - - - - I Rochester,N. Y •.••••• JamesT. Burke.........
Do.
JOINT lllBETmGS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS AND OFFICIALS OF BUREAUS OF LABOR
Al!ID ll!ITBRNATIOl!IAL ASSOCIATION OF FACTORY ll!ISPBCTORS
24
25
26
:l1
Augru:t, 1910 ····-····
September, 1911. ..••••
September, 1912•••••••
May, 1913.••••• ·-·····
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Hendersonville, N. C.,
and Columbia, S. C.
Lincoln, Nebr.........
Washington, D. C •••••
Chicago, 111 •••••••••••
J. Ellery Hudson........ E. J. Watson,
Louis Guyon ••.•••••••• W.W. Williams.
Edgar T. Davies........
Do.
A. L. Garrett....... •••• W. L. Mitchell.
IX
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
X
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR
OFFICIALS-Continued
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
Resulfulg from the Amalgamation of the :Aasocialion of Chiefs and O:tll.ciala of
International Association of Factor:, Inspector■
No.
Date
1 June, 1914 _____________
June-July, 1915________
July, 1916 _____________
• September, 1917 _______
5 June, 1918 _____________
6 June, 1919 _____________
7 July, 1920 _____________
8 May, 1921. ____________
9 May, 1922 _____________
10 May, 1923 _____________
11 May, 1924------------2
3
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Convention held at-
Bureau■
President
Nashville, Tenn ______ Barney Cohen __________ _
Detroit, Mich _____________ do _________________ _
Buffalo,N. y _________ James V.Cunningbam ••
Asheville, N. C _______ Oscar Nelson _________ _
Des Moines, Iowa ____ Edwin Mulready ______ _
Madison, Wis ________ U. H. Younger _________ _
Seattle, Wash _________ Geo. P. Hambrecht ____ _
New Orleans, La ______ Frank E. Hoffman _____ _
Harrisburg, Pa _______ Frank E. Wood ________ _
Richmond, Va ________ C. B. Connelley _______ _
Chicago, Ill ___________ John Hopkins Hall,jr __ _
of Labor and the
Secretary-treasurer
W. L. Mitchell.
John T. Fitzpatrick.
Do.
Do.
Linna E. Bresette.
Do.
Do.
Do
Do.
Louise Schutz.
Do.
BULLETIN OF THE
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
N0.389
•
WASHINGTON
JULY, 1925
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF GOVEJlNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS OF THE UNITED
STATES AND CANADA, CHICAGO, ILL., MAY 19-23, 1924
MONDAY, MAY 19-EVENING SESSION
GEORGE B. ARNOLD, DIRECTOR ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OP LABOR, PRESIDING
The opening session of the convention, held jointly with the International Association of Public EmploP.Dent Services, was opened with
an invocation by Rev. Father Frederick Seidenberi, S. J., after which
addresses of welcome were made by Hon. Len .:;mall, Governor of
Illinois, and Francis X. Busch, corJ>oration counsel, representing the
mayor of Chicago. The president of the association then deliverea the
following address:
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS
BY JOHN HOPKINS HALL,
m.,
OO!IIIIISSIONER VIRGINIA BUREAU OF LABOR AND IN•
DUSTRIAL STATISTICS
The eleventh annual convention of the Association of Governmental
Labor Officials of the United States and Canada finds a great deal
accomplished and a great deal more to be done in labor legislation
and labor law enforcement-for legislation without law enforcement is
not onlyfutile but positively dangerous, as it ofttimes nullifies efforts to
improve existing law. So, it may sometimes seem that in our own
organization we meet annually, listen to carefully prepared addresses
by highly trained specialists, confer, and discuss questions affecting the
safety, sanitation, and security of industry and labor and adopt resolutions-and then adjourn and forget all about them until suddenly a
situation arises which forcibly reminds us of the needs of just such
action as our resolutions recommended. However, I am persuaded
that some progress is being made, and it behooves us, as labor officials,
not only because we are charged with the enforcement of law and safeguarding of the human element, but also because of our experience
and education in matters of safety, sanitation, and child conservation,
to bring these all-impor' ant questions to public notice and especially
to call them to the attention of legislators, whether they be State
or National.
.
The recommendations and resolutions of the last convention have
generally been carried out. Committees have been appointed to
recommend uniform methods of accident reporting and statistics,
to draft suggestions for uniform laws to permit adoption of safety
codes, to revise the constitution, to consider the advisability- of the
consolidation of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials
and the Association of Public Employment Services, and to consider.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1
2
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
the consolidation of the Association of Industrial Accident Boards
with our association; their reports to this convention will speak for
themselves.. Also representatives have been appointed on safet_y
code sectional committees of the American Engineering Sta.nda.rds
Committee, as follows: Building exits, drop forging, la.undjy machinery, elevators walkway surfaces, and electric coae review; and on
the safety code correlating committee. Several of these committees
have been at work, and much definite action has been ta.ken by the
representatives of our association, which will be reported by them.
· Tlie recommendations. of these committees. and representatives
should receive our earnest consideration and careful attention.
The officers and committees of the association have cheerfully
responded whenever called upon and _have been most cooperative
in all activities of the association. The s~etary, Miss Schutz, has
generously devoted a great deal of time and ta.lent to the affairs of
the association and merits our consideration ancl thanks.
The secretary sent to the Speaker of the House and to the President of the Senate copies of resolutions Nos. 3 and 4, favoring the
adoption of amendments to the Constitution for a 48-hour work
week for women in industry, a minimum wage for women, and a
child-labor ·enactment clause. A copy of resolution No. 4 regarding child labor has been sent to each Member of the House of Representatives. Your president has also written the Sena.tors and
Members of the House from his native State, Virginia, favoring the
child-labor amendment. While this amendment has passed the
House by a large majority, it has yet to _pass the Senate, after which
~e fight has to be carried into all the States, so that we have but
just begun our battle for the emancipation of American childhood and
the salvation of our future citizens.
Much of the argument used against Federal legislation affecting
industrial questions is based on the doctrine of State rights or the
usurpation of power by the central Government, but modem
industry is not and can not be confined within the borders of ~y
one State. The trouble with our law makers is that they are not
familiar with and do not understand the new and novel conditions
and problems brought about by modem machinery and methods.
Our program shows much fruitful effort on the part of the committee and assures this convention of comprehensive and constructive sessions, which should prove beneficial and productive of good
results. However, I am convinced that a program committee should
be a:,:>pointed immediatel:y following each convention for the next
year m order to have ample time and to obtain the best results, and
I would so recommend.
A notable omission in our conventions and on our program is the
subject of mining. While it may be too great a subject to be covered
in a single seseion, yet it is one so closely a.llied with our industrial
fabric that I feel we should devote some time to this all-important
question, which affects all industry and is really a part of the labor
department work of somb States. I therefore recommend that in
future programs at lee.st one address be made on· mine safety and
conservation.
Industrial accidents continue to show an alarming tendency to
increase, notwithstanding our boasted knowledge of the causes and
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
THE WASTAGE OF MEN
3
effects of and remedies for the same. This h1 our problem as well
a.s that of industry and we can not escape the responsibility of
solvinO' it.
Whfie our association is in character nonpolitical, yet it is in fact allpolitical, embracing as it does all labor officials of the United States
and of Canada, who come into contact with all its productive industrial human el~ments. It is therefore peculiarly fitted to express the
aspirations and desires of those most affectod by our modern industrial machine and such expression should stand out as a beacon on
tho rocky coast of industry, already strewn with countless, needless
human wreckage, and as A light by which to guide labor legislation.
Our executive board should be empowered and encouraged to give
full publicity to agreed-upon solutions of industrial, economic, safety,
and sanitary problems.
We all have our problems at home in the several States and Provinces· just as do the congr~ssmen and legislators, but here as an
association we are not bound by political expediency or traditions,
and should act accordingly. Certainly when we, with our manifold
experiences, a~ee on the solution of a problem of industrial betterment, we should not hesitate to broadcast it to the four winds and
to urge it upon our legislators, both State and National, until it
becomes a law. For thus and thus only can the Association of
Governmental Labor Officials measure up to the duty imposed and
become a living factor in industrial improvement.
We have great responsibilities and greater opportunities for service
to humanity.
[After an address by Charles J. Boyd, president of the International
Association of Public Employment Services, the following address
was delivered by Ethelbert Stewart, United States Commissioner of
Labor Statistics:]
THE WASTAGE OF MEN
BY ETHELBERT STEWART, UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF LABOR· STATISTICS
Several weeks after I had indicated to President Hall that the
subject of my address to-day would be "The Wastage of Men," I
came across an adverthmment in the April issue of The Nation's
Business which reads in part a.s follows:
In many a conc!)rn and many an industry, the loss of a nickel's worth of
material is a great offense, while the waste of men is suffered without the batting of an eye.
This is neither logical, humane, nor profitable. Wasting men by keeping them
at unproductive work when machinery would do it faHter, better, and cheaper is
indefensible.
The better way--;-the American way-is to concentrate men upon productive
work at better pay, and let iron and steel in the form of material handling
equipment attend to the moving of materials.
The results that have been accomplished in some industries and by some individual concerns should be an inspiration and a challenge to others.
Handling material by mechanical means benefits both worker and employer;
permits you to better place your own labor; the dollars invested in labor are
made to yield a higher dividend, and workers are benefited by being engaged at
more profitable tasks.
·
It would be difficult to find a better statement of the real industrial situation to-day.
·
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
4
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LA.BOR OFFICIALS
One element, and an important one, is Jeft out of t.he stQ.tement,
however, and that is that this wastage of men is a very appreciable
part of the r ause of the social restJessness of the workers or the world
everywhere. The discontent of the world's workers has its taproot
in the fact that workingmen wish to be considered as a part of and
not as an implement of society. The next great cause of russatisfaction is the fee~ that their power and energies are being frittered
away, that their life and energy are being exhausted in inconsequential and unnecessarily laborious toil.
One of America's early philosophers said that no man could be
hired at any wage to carry brick from one side of the road to the
other and then carry them back again and then back again and so
on for a week at a time. A brother b~osopher insisted that he
was wrong and that he would furnish · a ~erson who would accept that work at a very reasonable wage. The challenge wp,s accepted and a low-grade idiot was produced who agreed to do this
wasteful task. But the original g_uo•er of the idea replied, "I said
no man could be hired. This fell ow falls verr, far short of what
either you or I have in mind when we say man. '
·
Any of us, in the days when ditches were dug by hand, would have
been perfectly willing to take a shovel and go into the mud to dig a
ditch for draining a farm or a. road, if such a drain were necessary.
To-day, with the steam shovel, not one of us would go into such a
ditch at any wage, and particularly when for such work the lowest
imaginable wages are paid for the longest imaginable working-day.
The war and the wage rates that common labor was able to secure
during and since th~ war- have worked a radical change in our ideas
of what constitutes the wastage of men. Formerly employers were
anxious to secure labor-saving machinery only when it oisplaced or
lessened the amount of really skilled and high-priced labor.
When the printers' union secured a wage rate which for the day
and time created consternation and alarm in the minds of the employers, inventors went to work to produce a typesetting machine.
As a matter of fact, one was invented in 1840, but at that time the
wages of printers had not reaJhed a point where the machine was of
any particular interest to the employing class. By 1890 they felt
differently about it.
When the coal miners' union got the mining rate up to a point
where the miner could live and a little more, mining machmery
became of very great interest and was very generally adopted. As
the underground labor in the mine became a part of the organization
and the wage scale, the mule and his driver and the little bucket on
wheels in which he hauled the coal from the face of the working
to the mouth of the pit gave way to electrical haulir g devices in the
mine.
·
WASTE THROUGH UIPLOYllE1'T OJ!' CHEAP LABOR
By the same token, the common-labor ·wage rate of the past six
years has turned the attention of the inventor and the superintendent
of the factory to the discoverr. of ways and means for ~etting greater
results from the labor of tanSkilled men. Up to that time the drudgery of life had been left to co:nu;non laborers because such labor was
abundant and cheap, but we have come now to the time when we
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
THE WASTAGE OF MEN
5
must apply mecha.Ii.ical devices; we must invent machinery, where
it is not already invented, to do the kinds of work that no man
should be expected to do and that no man can do and develop his
cultural manhood at the same time.
A plant in New England employing some 6,000 men is to-day producing more than it did before the war and employing 600 fewer men.
Because those whom we are pleased 1io call "wops" and "hunkeys"
could be secured for 22H cents an hour for 12 hours a day, they
were employed carrying steel ingots from the ingot pile to the hopper
of the machine of the mitial manufacturing process. To-day a huge
crane magnet Jifts up a ton of these ingots by the mysterious&ower
of magnetism and SWfl!gs them to where they are needed.
ne of
these crane magnets will do the work of 60 of the men who formerly
carried these ingots on their backs. The "wops" and "hunkeys,"
now being paid $4 a day for 8 hours' work, are put to a task which
is worth that pay and which requires some intelligence, which enables them to have some respect for themselves and to develop some
semblance of manhood.
WASTE THROUGH UNB:MPLOYM:BNT AND LOST TDIB
Most of us are too far removed from the real workaday- world to
appreciate the everyday tragedy of human waste. Literally, as well
as figuratively, I fear we are coming more and more to listen to the
voices of the air rather than to the rumblings of the earth. Our ears
are no longer to the gi:ound; we are going crazy with our ear phones
and the rao.io. Nobody seems to care particularly that the 700,000
men in our coal mines, for instance, are idle more than half of the
time. We do not appreciate the human tragedy concealed in the
figures which show tliat if 25 per cent of our better type of coal mines
operated 306 days a year, employing 60 per cent of the men now
employed in the industry, they could produce all the coal we could
use or export. In other words, an average of 250,000 men in this
industry must be out of work all the time, which means that the entire number of 700,000 are being wasted qne-third of the time.
The attitude toward work, the industrial habits, the social conduct,
engendered by having only two or three days' work in the week are
a part of the social sio.e of our wastage of men.
A study of the pay-roll data in the manufacturing industries, which
employ 11,000,000 of our population, indicates that the fluctuation
in volume of employment alone spells an average total of 12 months'
unempioyinent for from 1,500,000 to 1,750,000 of that total number.
Of course, I do not mean that this number of individuals are out of
work for 12 months, but the average aggregate of idleness or the low
percentage of full employinent in various industries amounts to about
1,750,000 persons bemg idle all the time. This waste is spread, of
course, over the entire 11,000 000 employees.
Sad to say, this does not take account of such short periods of idleness as two or three days, nor does it include the individual loss of
time due to sickness, muQh of which is preventable, nor the enormous
loss of time due to industrial accidents, most of which are pieventable; nor does it take into account the turnover, a subject which in
itself would require an evening's discussion.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
WASTE THROUGH LABOR TURNOVER
I may simply say in passing that the labor turnover in industry is
very largely, though not entirely, concerned with the unskilled and
semiskilled workers. The turnover is the aggregate of individualistic
strikes, usually of unorganized men-strikes against wages which are
considered inadequate or labor conditions wliich a.re considered intolerable. Practically all of the labor turnover could be stopped by
huma.niz~ the labor conditions and ma.king some effort to get acquainted with the men.
A low estimate of average turnover for industry as a whole is 30
per cent, which means that probably 3,500,000 men change jobs an
average of once a year. The average loss.of time between JOb and
job is two weeks. Most of this 7,000,000 weeks of lost time is unnecessary and a pure wastage of men. Of course, a very large percentage of those who go to make the turnover change jobs 2, 3, 4, and
sometimes 10 times a year. This reduces the number of actual individuals involved but does not change the situation as to the industrial waste.
WASTE THROUGH PLAJIT Dl'DFIOIEJIOY
The difference between the efficient plant and the inefficient plant
represents another element of waste. If the cotton mills of Alabama
were as efficient as the cotton mills of New York, 10,514 fersons instead of 13,697 would have produced the textile output o Alabama
in 1914; 38,000 instead of 53,000 would have sufficed in North Carolina; and 25,000 instead of 31,000 in Georgia.
We have boot and shoe factories where the output per worker J?er
day is 2 pairs of shoes, and we have boot and shoe factories in which
the output per orie-man day is 12 pairs of shoes. We have sawmills
where the out}?ut per one-man hour is 15 board feet, and we have
sawmills in wliich the output per one-man hour is 323 board feet.
If all the sawmills of the United States were as efficient as the
average sawmills now in existence, it would require less than one-half
the present number of men- employed in the industry to produce the
total output;. while if the highest efficiency, 323 board feet per oneinan hour, obtained in all tlie plants, practically 45,000 men could
do the work now being done by 292,000 men. I do not mean to say
that this standard of efficiency is universally possible. I simply give
you these figures to indicate the extent to which we are wasting
men.
Here in Chicago a brick machine shoots out 49,000 brick per hour,
and if all the brick plants of the United States were as efficient as
the best brickyards in Chicago, the industry could release 80 per cent
of its employees to be utilized by other industries. Taking two brick
plants, for instance: Plant A consumed 13½ hours of on~ man's time
per thousand brick, as compared with 3.9 hours of one man's time in
another plant. One plant pays the men whose time they are wasting
an average of 17 cents an hour; the other _plant pays an aver~e of
79 cents an hour. Most of the brickmaking plants in the United
States to-day are using precisely the same method as that used in
!Dgy_pt with the Hebrew slave labor at the time Moses led the great
bnckyard strike, which I suppose the Egyptian brick manufacturers
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
THE WASTAGE OF MEN
7
considered a failure, since the strikers' places were taken by strikebreakers if they were taken at all.
Most of the successful attempts to stop the wastage of men have
been accomplished by a simple readjustment of machines, on the one
hand, or by means of either automatic conveyer devices or the installation of more efficient trucking and shop transportation methods, on
the other hand. One automobile concern which advertised that its
material from the time it entered the factory until it became the :finished product traveled an average of 3½ miles, has within the last
six months so readiusted its plant that its material travels but 50
feet. A plant in Louisiana which conveyed its product from the
factory to the boat by truck has installed a conveyer which carries
the material packed in crates across a marsh from the factory to the
dock and automatically discharges it into a spiral chute which carries
it into the hold of the vessel without its being touched by human
hands. By means of this one device 4 men are now doing in a few
hours each day the work formerly done by 100 men on a 12-hour-day
basis. It is admitted by those who have studied the subject without prejudice that this same device is applicable to every dock and
every factory in the United States.
In the manufacture of pig iron we have blast furnaces in which the
time cost is 1 hour and 12 minutes of one man's time per ton of pig
iron; we have other blast furnaces which require 11 hours of one man's
time to produce the same result. There can be no real labor shortage while some plants in an industry like this are consuming five
times the number of men which would be intelligently required. It
is far better to stop wasting men than to let down the immigration
bars and flood the country with more men to waste.
WASTE IN AGRICULTURE
In agriculture the situation is still worse. And right here I want
to call your attention to the slogan the new Minister of Agriculture
in Mexico has adopted as the motto of his department: "Death to
the wooden J?,low." If this official succeed~ in accomplishing that in
Mexico he will have achieved more to elevate Mexico socially, politically, and industrially than all its political institutions have ever uone.
I propose to give you some figures upon the wastage of men in
American agriculture which I think will convince you that while the
slogan of "Death to the wooden plow" is not applicable literally to
American agriculture, yet it is applicable in spint. Agriculture perha~ has suffered most from economic and industrial inertia.
We hear lamentations go up from Georgia that a score of thousands
of plows have been piled up and abandoned, never to be used again.
I wish you could see those plows. They are not wooden plows, it is
true, but Illinois abandoned that type of plow 55 years ago to my
certain knowledge, and not because of the boll weevil or the exodus
of the negro.
I have prepared a table based upon the number of acres of croJ>s
actually harvested in each of the States mentioned. Now, understana,
this does not include all farm lands or even all cultivated lands or even
all crops planted, but only the acre.q actually harvested. This acreage I liave divided by the agricultural population as shown by the
38735°-25-2
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
8
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR- OFFICIALS
census, the term "agricultural population" including all the men,
women, and children over 12 years old actually engaged in agricultural pursuits. The same set of figures has been used as a base for
each State. I have taken the State of Illinois as the standard or
base because I was born and reared in Illinois and know that the
agricultural methods of that State are none too good, or at least could
be vastly improved. Yet the acres of crops actually harvested per
person classed as belonging to tl>e agricultural population were 45.3
m Illinois.
NUMBER OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS AND ACRES HARVESTED (TOTAL AND
PER PERSON) IN SPECIFIED STA TES AND NUMBER OF PERSONS REQUIRED
AND SAVED IN AGRICULTURAL WORK IN BUCH STATES ON BASIS OF ACREAGE
HARVESTED PER PERSON lN ILLINOIS
Number
Stat.
of
egri•
cultural
workers
Acres
Total OOffll
Assuming as many
acres harve.~ted
per person as in
Illinois
(45.3
har•
acres)harvested vested
per
person 1----.---Persons
required
Alabama............................................
GM, 647
7,202, OfO
Delaware............................................ . 22, 742
Florida.................. . ••••.•••••••••••• . •••••• 131,449
438,296
Connecticut. •••••••••.••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••
46,015
533,516
10. 8
1, ~ 798
11.6
19. 3
9. 3
11,329,049
20,371,lM
67.6
1118, 1185
11,777
9, 675
26,949
~~a=====~==================:=~·:::::::::~::::::::
Indiana •••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••. .••• ••••.••••••
m:m ~=I34
~;::
:===========:====: ========::===============
M8888Cbusett.•...............................
•..•.•
i ra1 ii= iti 5e
Iowa •••••••••••••.•.••••••..••••••••••••..••••••
Michigan ••••••••••••..••••• -.. --·· -· ··-····-----····
Mississippi... __ •••••• ·- ... ····-····- ·········-····
New Hampshire ••• ·-·------····-···········-········
New 1ersey .••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
New York .. _. •••••.•••• ••••.••••••••••••••••••••
North Carolina .•••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••
Ohio •••••••• ··········-··· •••••• -···················
342,971
353,7:H
67,472
321,877
672,817
34,555
76,068
372,885
002,627
417,461
Pennsylvania................. •••••••••••••• •••••••• · 352, 593
Tennessee •••••••••••••••••••••••••• ······---·-·-····
Vermont .. ················-··- ••••••••••••••••••••••
464,410
48,701
M8, 926
9. 7
25. 5
9. 2
17. 2
14. 6
22.6
II.Ii
2'1. 4
22. l
6,360,928
13. 7
24. 7
12. 2
1::~Of 1~ t
1,203,735
saved
li05, 662
34,238
13,067
104,500
ll:~
~~~~ ...~~~~
33. 0 250,089
92, 8'2
662,0IM
8,194,842
6, 158, 147
592,976
1,111,300
8,376,072
5,736,176 ·
11.425,822
7,821, 702
t1!i°3ie ~3na:::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 6U: ~ s.
Persons
449,61M
195,970
1
3
14,395
180,902
135, 941
13,090
24,632
206,977
126,626
252,226
172,665
~
11k
140,418
26,573
93, 936
a;
63,077
140,975
536,876
21,466
51,636
165,~
476,901
165,235
179, 928
aJ:
ffl
323, 1192
22,128
;:c,~---······-··--··-·-····-·--····-··-···-1=:~
~::::= iX 1::= ~Ag~
----,---1------+----1--Virginia •••••••••••••••••• ·····- •••.•. •••••••••• •••••
4,255, 282
Total •••••••••••••••••••••••- •..•. ·------· 8, 13i 453 1118, 139,419
19. 4 3,513,081
254, 990
4,619,372
tMore required
As this table shows, the acreage per person in Alabama was 10.8,
in Florida 9.3, in Kentucky 13.4, in South Carolina 10.1, in North
Carolina 9.5. The average number of acres per person for the
United States as a whole was 19.4, as against 45.3 in lliinois and
57.6 in Iowa.
If the agricultural population of Alabama would do as well as
that in Illinois, not 664,647 persons, as at present, but only 158,985
would be required for the agricultural occupations in that State,
thus saving 505,662 ~persons in that State alone. On the same
basis, over half a million would be saved in Georgia, 319,000 in
Kentucky, 537,000 in Mississjppi, and 476,000 in North Carolina.
li agriculture throughout the United States was as efficient as it is
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
THE WASTAGE OF MEN
9
in Illinois, 4,619,372 persons could be released from this industry
alone. The table will reveal other details.
Admitting, as I do, every just argument that can be brought
against this table because of the difference in crops, difference in
soil, and so on, the fact remains that these figures show an enormous
waste of our agricultural labor in most of the States of the Union.
"Death to the wooden plow" has been proclaimed in Mexico.
Let us pile up all of the plows in these enlightened United States
that correspond most nearly to the wooden plow. When tractors
and gang plows have been substituted in the South for the negro
and the mule, it will be infinitely better for the South and better
for the negro.
CONCLUSION
The drudgeries in our industries which heretofore because of cheap
men have been left to cheapen men must be removed. We must
provide a condition of industry, including agriculture, in which men
will feel that their labor is valuable, that what they are doing is
worth doing. We can not escape the conclusion that industrial
wastage is moral we.stage; and I want to emphasize the moral wastage which all this implies. The habit of industry is a moral right.
The poet J. G. Holland has well saidOf all the dull dead weights men ever bore
None wears the soul with discontent
Like consciousness of power unused.
I do not care what kind of power you mean, whether it is the
forensic power of the ore.tor to sway the multitude or whether it is
the power of the coal miner to get out 10 tons of coal per day 6 days
in the week. Nothing so demoralizes a man as to feel that he is
being wasted. No man wants to be overworked; no man wants to
be driven; but every man, unless his whole moral fiber has been
weakened by our slip-shod industries, wants to feel that he is putting
forth the full measure of his ability, whether it is to think, to make
shoes or to saw lumber. This is a part of that self-respect which
belongs to a man and he should have the opportunity to retain it
through his own efforts. No standard of wages will justify a man's
loss of self-respect and no methods of industry will compensate
society for undermining the morale of men. We saw the moral
effect of the cost-plus plan upon the workers employed by the costplus contractors, and some of us realize that the workers of this
generation will not get over the moral effect of that system.
Now, just one word more. In the South as a result of generations
of negro slavery, work, particularly common and unskilled labor,
became socially connected with a despised and enslaved race, a race
with which no white man would have cared to work for physical
reasons, even though ,o do so would not have placed him on a social
level with the slave. White people would not ao the work which the
colored slave was supposed to do. Legal slave!¥ is no more. The
social, conv-entional, and industrial condition which it J?roduced did
not, however, pass away with the legal enactments which abolished
slavery, nor can these conditions be abolished by law. You see colored hodcarriers in the South; you see few white ones. You see very
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10
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
few colored bricklayers in the South, and these seldom working on
the same building with the white bricklayer.
Regret it, deplore it, deny it as we will, a social caste line has been
driven througli the industrial condition of the South. The opportunity for the white boy is correspondingly restricted. He can not
start at the bottom.
Let us see what the situation is along the same line in the North.
In 1870, when the radical expansion of our industries in the United
States began, we had a population of 38,000,000, the annual increase
of which did not supply sufficient labor for the industrial developments then under way. The enormous low-wage immigration that
came in during the next generation J?Ossibly had much to do with our
overdevelopment of industry and with our habit of wasting men.
Our captains of industry seem to be thoroughly convinced, on the
ex})erience of the past generation, that an immigrant with a shovel
· ana a wheelbarrow is cheaper than a steam shovel and a loading
crane, and while this is not and never was true, they resent any proposal to invest large sums of money in machinery fo do the work
connected in their minds with low-wage immigrants. As the result
of this policy common and semiskilled labor is associated in the minds
of the people of the North with what they are pleased to call the" wop"
and tlie "hunkey," precisely as the same class of labor. is associated
in the South with the negro. Regret it, deplore it, deny it as we
will, the fact that common labor has become associated with the idea
of the Mexican, the wop, and the hunkey shoots across our industrial
life a line of social caste which the American white boy can not, dare
not, and will not pass, no matter what your wage rate may he. All
this talk about the lure of the white collar and the fear of the calloused hands is bosh. We have created a social caste in common
labor in the North just as impas<iable as that in the South.
To-day over a million boys, to say nothing of the girls, are annually
entering the wage-earning age. ':Phey are our own boys, whom we
can not afford to waste and who above all things can not afford to
be wasted.
I submit that it is probably true that we will never stop wasting
men so long as we can reach out and get more men to waste. As
evidence of this I want to call your attention to the tactics now being
employed by certain interests to run in Mexicans, and to the threat
that if there are not enough Mexicans they will bring in the Chinese.
Let us not deceive ourselves. We have got into the habit of using
the labor of cheap men in the hard menial drudgery of industry. It
is my judgment that our only industrial, economic, political, social,
and moral salvation lies in being forced, if force is necessary, to
reform our manufacturing and industrial methods upon a basis of
human conservation and helpfulness rather than upon human deterioration and wastefulness.
[Meeting adjourned.]
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TUESDAY. MAY 20-MORNING SESSION
.JOHN H. HALL, .Jr., COMMISSIONER VmGINIA BUREAU OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL
STATISTICS, PRESIDING
The following committ~es were appointed:
Committee on credentials.-John S. B. Davie, of New Hampshire; Claude E.
Connally, of Oklahoma; H. M. Stanley, of Georgia; Nelle Swartz, of New York;
C.R. Yearsley, of Utah.
Committee on audit8.-Thomas M. Molloy, of Saskatchewan; F. M. Wilcox, of
Wisconsin; Henry McColl, of Minnesota; J. H. Crawford, of Kansas; Ethel M.
Johnson, of Massachusetts.
Committee on resolutions.-T. A. Wilson, of Arkansas; Thomas M. Molloy, of
Saskatchewan; Henry McColl, of Minnesota; J. H. Crawford, of Kansas; Ethel
M. Johnson, of Massachusetts.
Committee on re]J_orts of 01/icers.-Ethelbert Stewart, U. S. Commissioner of
Labof Statistics; William r: Reilly, of Colorado; A. L. Urick, of Iowa; R. T.
Kennard, of Kentucky; Joseph S. Myers, of Texas; Frank Clark, of Wyoming;
Mrs. Delphine M. Johnson, of Washington.
ROLL CALL AND REPORTS OF NEW LEGISLATION
At the roll call reports of new legislation in the various States and
Provinces were presented. The delegates from some States reported
that there had been no labor legislat10n in their States since the last
meeting, and others failed to make any report. (For labor legislation in the Uniled States during 1923 and 1924 see Bulletin No. 370
of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.) A list of the
persons attending the convention appears on pages 143 to 146.
REPORT OF DELA WARE
The Delaware Legislature has not met since the last annual convention, consequently there have been no legislative changes in our labor laws.
The State school laws provide that children between the ages of 14 and 16
years must complete the eighth-year work before they may leave sch ool and
engage in gainful occupations. There is a provision in the State school laws
that the public schools of the city of Wilmington may accept at any time the
provisions of this act by resolution adopted by a majority of its board of education and by filing a written copy of such resolution with the State board of education. In /anuary, 1923, the Wilmington board adopted a resolution changing
the grade to be completed by children leaving school to serve as wage earners,
at that time the fifth grade, to the sixth grade, effective February 1, 1923, this
provision to continue until September 1, 1923. The resolution provided that
beginning September 1, 1923, the work of the eighth grade must have been completed, thereby placing Delaware in the list of States requiring the completion
· of the work of the eighth grade before its children were free to leave school and
be employed.
The effect of the changes noted above will, we feel, be quite noticeable this
year. The number of certificates issued during the past eight months was 120,
as compared with 373 for a corresponding period of time in 1923.
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11
12
.A:SSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFiCIALS
A joint resolution providing for a commission to suggest a revision of the ·
existing laws of the State relating to minor children was passed by the last.
legislature. The commission is composed of one representative from the children's bureau, child welfare commission, Delaware Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children, Delaware Children's Home Society, juvenile court, State
board of education, Labor Commission of Delaware, one State senator, and a
member of the house of representatives of the legislature. One meeting of the
commission has been held and organization effected. At this meeting it was
decided to study the present laws concerning the welfare of minor children in
the State and to prepare and present to the next 13eBSion of the general assembly
suggestions relative to changes or amendments to such laws.
BBPOBT
or GBOBGU
Seven sections of the compensation act were amended by the general assembly
in 1923, viz., sections 23, 24, 32, 38, 40, 65, ~d 67.
Sections 23 and 24 deal with notice that must be given to employer by an
injured employee. The amendments practically eliminate the necessity of a
written report by an employee or his agent, and provide that a verbal or written
report may be given to the employer, his agent, representative, foreman, or
immediate superior of the injured employee.
•
Section 32 deals with the so-called specific injuries. The amendment provides
that, in addition to the compensation for a specific injury, the employee is entitled
to compensation, not to exceed 10 weeks, during temporary total disability.
Section 40 was amended so as to conform to a previous amendment raising
the total amount of compensation from $4,000 to $5,000.
In section 38, dealing with fatal eases, the amendment includes accidents in
which death immediately resulted. Wb.ile it was undoubtedly intended to
include these accidents in the section as originally written, the section was not
clear as to the exact intention, and this amendment was to clarify the section.
The amendment to section 65 provides that the commission may assess a fine
against an employer refusing or willfully neglecting to file with .the commission
proper reports of accidents. This fine was heretofore assessed through the
courts.
The amendment to section 67 provides that an employer who refuses or willfully neglects to comply with the inauranee provisions of the act shall" be guilty
of a misdemeanor, and, in addition, the industrial commission may add 10 per
cent to. the amount of compensation due, and an attomey's fee (for the injured
employee) shall be assessed against the employer. This section formerly provided that the employer should merely be liable for a fine in a stated amount
for not complying with the insurance provisions of the compensation act.
Under the present law there can be a fine of $1,000, imprisonment in jail for six
months, a chain-gang sentence for one year, or all three in the dia.eretion of the
judge trying ·the ease.
Several additional amendments will be asked for this year. Two amendments
to the labor law have received a favorable report from appropriate committees
of each house. One provides for a 55-hour week in textile mills, and the other ·
makes 14 years the age limit in all factories, workshops, or places of amusement,
and 16 years the age limit for night work.
BBPOBT
or
ILLINOIS
The legislative work of the last session of the Illinois General Assembly in the
field of labor is epitomized in a bright remark by the court fool who undertook
to shear a pig, "There was much squealing but little wool... The asselllhly, which
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•
REPORTS OF NEW J.EGT!=!L.ATION
adjourned June 30, 1923, considered many laws that affect labor. The principal
fights were on a bill to change the legal number of hours of work for women and
on a bill providing for a State insurance fund. Illinois has had a 10-hour law
for women since 1909. Organized labor made a determined effort in the last session to have the number of hours reduced to eight. Discussion on this bill took
up a great deal of time of the legislature but no change was made. The other
principal measure urged by organized labor provided for a State insurance fund.
This bill also failed of passage. Other labor legislation which received prolonged
consideration by the legislature related to the repeal of the 50-year old apprenticeship statute, one day's rest in seven, changes in the educational qualifications
of school children before employment, acceptance of the provisions of the Federal act providing aid in maternity. None of these bills were passed.
Several acts of consequence were passed. The occupational disease act of 1921
makes certain specified occupational diseases compensable under the workman's
compensation act in the same manner as accidents. The diseases_ covered are
chiefly various forms of lead poisoning which are set out in the occupational disease inspection act of 1911. The 1921 act had been held unconstitutional on account of errors made in the legislative process, and in 1923 it was passed with
the errors rectified. Another act passed exempted firemen in cities of over 200,000
from the provisions of the workmen's compensation act. Firemen in Chicago
were the only ones affected.
Several acts relating to mines passed. One requires an annual examination of
electrical hoisting engines by the mining board. Special rules are included regarding open lights, smoking, speed, engines, etc. Another requires fire-fighting
apparatus in mines. A third requires that at the transference of a mine two
maps be provided, one for public and one for private use.
An act relating to mechanics' liens permits a subcontractor to 6le notice of
claim in the office of the registrar of titles instead of personally on the owner.
The soldiers' rehabilitation act of 1919 was repealed in 1923, with the approval
of the department. This act required that all employers in the State having five
or more workers should render an annual report showing the number of individuals entering miH.tary service during the war and the number of such persons reemployed after the war. In addition the employers were asked to state the total
number of workers of each sex above and below 16 years of age and the number
of hours worked per day and per week. In compliance with the law the department issued questionnaires in 1920, 1921, and 1922. Statistics summarizing
returns have been published, but they do not appear to be of much service. This
is true, in the fir.st plaee, because to be of any value all such figures would have
to be all inclusive and there were no funds to compel all employers to furnish
them. In the second place, the figures eovered a period contemporaneous with
the last Federal eensus, from whieh comprehensive and complete statistics are
available. In the third place, some of the information was useless. No possible
good could come from having employers state each year how many of their
workers entered military service between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918.
The present adminstration is not disposed to ask that a law be passed requiring
employers to furnish statistical information. What facts we are now in a position to publish can be secured through the cooperation of employers. The
department is in fact getting monthly statements on the number of employees
• and the amount of compensation. We are opposed to the use of force when
force is not necessary and may in fact be quite harmful.
While not strictly legislation, the development of the Labor Bulletin should be
reported. Since September, 1921, this monthly publication has been issued by
this department. Down to July, 1923, the publication covered only employment
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14
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERN!-IENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
and summarized the employment statistics collected in this State and the operations of the free employment offices. Commencing with July of last year the
scope of the bulletin was extended to cover the work of the other divisions of
the department.
BEP0BT 01' DNTU0KY
At the last session of the Kentucky Legislature, held in January and February
of this year, a bill was introduced, known as Senate Bill No. 181, which included
what is known as "bad-air" cases under the wortmen's compensation law of
Kentucky, and also made it cover the employee while working in the employ of
threshing-machine companies. These two amendments were heartily approved
by workingmen, but there was also included in this bill a clause that where
an employee was injured while in the course of his employment compensation
for said injury should apply only to the limb or specific part of the body injured
and not to the body as a whole. If this joker had passed many a man would
have been paid only a small specific amount for his injury regardless of how long
he would be disabled. Two of the members of the workmen's compensation
board, however, discovered this clause and immediately began to investigate its
origin. It was found that the clause was being sponsored by a group of men
sometimes nicknamed "the employer's protective association," who, while pushing the amendments to include the" bad-air" and threshing-machine cases, were
·
also letting this other clause slide through.
These two members of the board immediately called on the governor and
after going over the bill with him the governor, perceiving the underlying danger in the clause, then and there wrote across the face of the bill " Disapproved."
After this those who were pushing the bill, realizing that they were caught at
their game and that the Governor of Kentucky has his ear to the ground at all
times in behalf of the laboring man, consented that the bill should be passed
without the obnoxious clause, which was done and the bill signed by the
governor within a short time.
There were several other labor bills introduced during this session of the legislature, but none of them were passed.
BEP0BT 01' JU.SSA0BUSBTTS
The following labor measures were enacted by the Massachusetts Legislature
in 1924 up to May, 1924:
Weekly payment of wages.-The law providing for the weekly payment of wages
in certain kinds of employment was amended to includtl musicians.
Workmen's compensation act.-This law has been amended to provide that
compensation shall be paid from the day of the injury if incapacity extends
beyond a period of four weeks; otherwise, it begins on the eighth day after the
injury.
Memorial,izing Congress to enact a uniform child-labor law.-On February 12,
1924, the general court adopted resolutions as follows:
Resolved, That because of the injustice and hardship to children in industry,
and the harm to industry itself resulting from lack of uniformity in State legislation regulating child labor, the General Court of Massachusetts respectfully
petitions Congress to propose an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States authorizing Congress to enact uniform legislation as to child labor
throughout the United States; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be sent by the 11ecretary of the Commonwealth to the presiding officers of both branches of Congress and to each
of the Se.nators and Representatives in Congress from Massachusetts.
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REPORTS OF NEW LEGISLATION
15
The following bills are still pending in the legislature:
An act to provide for special forecasts for extension of public works during
times of industrial depression.
·
An act authorizing the payment of wages to all scrub women in the employ
of the Commonwealth for all holidays during the year, based on the average
daily wage for the week preceding such holiday.
BBPOBT OJ' MINNESOTA
No meeting of the legislature has taken place. Mine inspection has been in a
rather crude condition, being handled under a very old statute. In one particular disaster 48 men were lost. Workmen's compensation covered all these, as far
as :financial compensation can cover loss of life. The governor appointed a commission to investigate this disaster and the general subject of mine inspection.
Minnesota hopes for a sane and modern mines law. Employers and manufacturers' associations have cooperated with the laws, and effected an improvement
of working conditions.
BIPOBT OJ' NEW YOU
The following amendments to the workmen's compensation law were passed at
the last session of the legislature and approud by the governor:
1. Chapter 499 amends section 29 of the workmen's compensation law in relation to subrogation to remedies of employees by correcting a typographical error
and changing the reference to subdivisions 9 and 10 of section 15 to read subdivisions 8 and 9--in effect immediately.
2. Chapter 658 amends the workmen's compensation law so as to provide for
coverage of all State employees--in effect May 8, 1924.
3. Chapter 317 increases the maximum compensation for the loss of an eye from
128 to 160 weeks-effective July 1, 1924.
4. Chapter 319 amends subdivision 5 of section 16 of the workmen's compensation law, increasing the maximum wages taken into consideration in commuting
compensation in death cases from $125 to $150 a month-effective July 1, 1924.
5. Chapter 320 increases the maximum compensation for the loss of a thumb
from 60 to 75 weeks-effective July 1, 1924.
6. Chapter 500 adds subdivision 4a to section 15 of the workmen's compensation law providing for compensation for protracted temporary total disability in
connection with permanent partial disability as follows:
4a. Protracted temporary total disability in connection with permanent partial
disability.-ln case of temporary total disability and permanent partial disability
both resulting from the same injury, if the temporary total disability continues
for a longer period than the number of weeks set forth in the following schedule,
the period of temporary total disability in excess of such number of weeks shall be
added to the compensation period provided in subdivision 3 of this '!lection: Arm,
32 weeks; leg, 40 weeks; hand, 32 weeks; foot, 32 weeks; eye, 20 weeks; thumb,
24 weeks; first finger, 18 weeks; great toe, 12 weeks; second finger, 12 weeks;
third finger, 8 weeks; fourth finger, 8 weeks; toe other than great toe, 8 weeks.
In any case resulting in loss or partial loss of use of a.rm, leg, hand, foot, eye
thumb, finger, or toe, where the temporary total disability does not extend beyond
the periods above mentioned for such injury, compensation shall be limited to
the schedule contained in subdivision 3-effective July 1, 1924.
7. Chapter 318 amends section 12 of the workmen's compensation law so asto
reduce the noncompensated waiting period from 14 days to 7 days; and also
amends section 20 so as to provide that at any time after the expiration of the
the first 7 days of disability a claim for compensation may be presented-effective January 1, 1925,
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
REPORT
or PEl!TNSYLVAWIA
An amendment to the workmen's compensation act was passed making loss
or loss of use ~f fingers liable for compensation. The boiler inspection act makes
it in~bent upon the department of labor and industry to inspect all boilers used
except agricultural or mine boilers, or to certify. insurance company inspectors.
Before the passage of this act "free-lance" inspectors worked on their own hook,
and there was dissatisfaction with their inspections. In some instances they
charged huge fees and it was impossible to supervise their inspections carefully.
This new law did away with "free-lance" inspectors and substituted inspectors
ofl;he department of labor or certified inspectors of insurance companies. Mine
inspections are now supervised by the mine department. Agricultural boilers,
unfortunately, are not inspected at all. Important revisions of the labor and
industrial laws were introduced but were killed. An amendment to the employ·ment act affecting private employment agencies was passed. Pennsylvania was
one of the first States which recognized the necessity of supervising private employment offices. Heretofore inspectors had no authority to make arrests summarily,
but under this revision they now have authority to make summary arrests and
thus have power over the "fly-by-night" employment agencies. It puts a great
deal of power into the hands of relatively subordinate officials.
The child:-labor law of Pennsylvania has a wide scope and thus includes homes
where industrial work is carried on. Prosecutions have been introduced, e. g.,
a prosecution for the employment of children in stripping tobacco in the home.
In this case the employer paid both his own fine and that imposed on the child's
parents. An investigation is being made in regard to industrial home work.
Children are employed to an alarming extent in and about Philadelphia. They
are employed at home for such long hours that when they go to school they
are too tired to absorb any knowledge and spend their time there sleeping.
Child labor in theaters is a most evil occupation. Prosecutions for theatrical
child labor have been instituted. Inspection work has been strengthened and
the enforcement of labor law has been made stronger throughout the department of labor. Enforcement, not enactment, ~f labor law is the important
thing. Pennsylvania has a difficult problem. More than 50 per cent of the
time and effort of the inspection force is taken up with matters -having no reference to labor. . For example, it is its duty to enforce the fire and panic act.
Public health and safety and sanitation measures take up a great deal of time
of the inspectors.
REPORT or TEXAS
The legislature passed amendments to the workmen's compensation act. The
private employment office act was changed to bring about more thorough regulation, and is now very drastic. Where the inspectors see the law violated, arrests
can be made immediately. Texas dug up the old women's-hours-of-service law
and enforced it. It also dug up an old law in regard to courts of inquiry which
have authori.ty to call before them woman employees without the knowledge of
their employers and question them separately to find out how many hours they
work.
REPORT or UTAH
The legislature has not been in session since the last meeting of the governmental labor officials; therefore there has been no new legislation, but the
Industrial Commission of Utah has just issued an order prohibiting the use of
open lights in coal mines where five or more are employed, and making it
optional with the commission where fewer than five are employed.
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REPORTS OF NEW LEGISLATION
17
This order was caused hy the careles11nel'R of a fire bol'R, who failf'rl t.o report
gaR, whereby 175 lives were destroyed without a moment'1:1 notice at Castle Gate,
Utah.
REPORT OF VIRGINIA
A public employment service under the department of labor and industry was
authorized, with an appropriation of $2,500.
Permission was given the commissioner of labor to accept an office under the
Federal Employment Service at $1 per year.
A law putting a $5,000 tax on emigrant employment agencies was passed.
The sanitary law was slightly improved, the word "factory" being changed
to "establishment."
The mine safety law was greatly improved and extended to include all underground mines as well as coal mines.
The workmen's compensation law was amended in several particulars-minimum increased $1; loss of hearing and facial disfigurement ·includedburial expenses increased; minors illegally employed given same status as adult
employees. in addition to right of parent to sue for loss of service; owners as
well as subcontractors made liable for compensation when the work is a part of
the trade, business, or occupation of the owner; insurance tax increased from
3 to 3½ per cent, and fund segregated for administration of compensation.
A committee was appointed to investigate old-age pensions.
A barbers' sanitary bill passed the senate but died on the calendar of the
house the last day.
Improved safety legislation authorizing adoption of safety codes passed the
house but was defeated by a large lobby of manufacturers in the senate
committee.
An attempt to obtain a better fire-escape law was killed in committee.
The law for women was not even reported out of committee.
An amendment to the child-labor law exempting children bringing farm,
poultry, and dairy produce from farm to city was killed in committee.
In the workmen's compensation bill, an occupational disease clause and an
increase in death benefits were defeated in committee, and an increase in maximum and decrease in waiting period passed the house and died on the calendar
in the senate the last day of the session.
REPORT OF WEST VIRGINIA
The Legislature of West Virginia meets biennially, and the next session will
not convene until January, 1925. This being the year in which no session is
held, and there being no occasion for an extraordinary session, there is no new
legislation to report. A great deal of the labor legislation enacted at the 1923
session was reported at the last annual convention held in the city of Richmond.
Since our last session and within the past year the State Bureau of Labor of
West Virginia, with an enlarged department, has experienced more thorough
factory inspection and we are glad to report the occurrence of fewer accidents.
We feel that in proportion to the increased activities of the inspection force the
number of accidnnts will be decreased.
Seven inspectors, one a woman, compose the field force of the department.
The one woman inspector has been assigned to look after women and children
in industry, while the six men have covered the factories and workshops most
thoroughly.
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18.
ASSOOIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFIOIALS
An important decision affecting the employment of children has been rendered
by our supreme court recently. This court held, and the· decision was con•
curred in by the whole court of five judges, that no work permit warranted the
employment of a child in a prohibited occupation. A boy was awarded damages
for the loss of an arm while employed in a coal mine, he being under 16 years of
age. The court further declared that the workmen's compensation act protects
neither employer nor employee where said minor is unlawfully employed.
A number of changes have been made in the workmen's compensation law of
the State, becoming effective July 1, 1923. The sum for medical and hospital
services was incre11,sed from $300 to $600. An increase of from $300 to $600
was made to enable each individual injured in industry to prepare himself for a
suitable vocation. This is known as the rehabilitation clause af the compensation
act. The maximum per week for injured workmen was increased from $12 to
$16. An increase from 50 to 66% per cent on the average earnings of employ•
ees was made. The compensation to widows was increased from $20 to $30 per
month, and all children under 16 years of age were made. beneficiaries. The
minimum premium is 15 cents on $100 and. this comes under the schedule for
clerical work. The schedule for coal mining runs from 80 cents, the minimum,
to $3, the maximum, on $100, based on the monthly pay roll.
B.EPOBT
or
ONTARIO
There was passed by the Ontario Legislature in 1924 an amendment to the
·workmen's compensation act, providing for the rehabilitation of workers ~njured
in industry who are unable to resume their previous occupations.
The customary benefits under the act are continued while the worker is being
trained, at the Government's expense, for some suitable form of employment
which his disability may permit him to follow.
The sum of $100,000 has already been set aside toward the cost of the plan,
but details as to the methods of carrying out the provisions of the amendment
have not yet been finally settled.
The foregoing statement covers the only labor legislation of general· interest
J)assed since the 1923 convention of this association.
REPORT OF SECRETARY•TREASURER, MAY 1, 1923, TO MAY 19,
1924
RECEIPTS
Fund on hand at making of last report .•••••••••.••••..•••.•..••••• $665.00
Interest on savings account......................................
· 7.45
Interest on loan certificates............................. •••..•••
14.75
Dues to July 1, 1923, as follows:
Ohio •.•.••.••••••.••••••.••••.••••••.•.•.••.•••.. $25. 00
North Carolina.....•.........•.••••.•.••.•.•.•.... 10. 00
Virginia, Bureau of Rehabilitation................... 10. 00
Georgia ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••·••••••••• 1(100
New Jersey.•••••••••••••••••••••.•..••••••••••••• 25.00
Oregon •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••....•••••••.•. lltOO
West Virginia..................................... 10. 00
Delaware ••••.•.•.•••••••••••••••••••••.......•... l(lOO
Ontario •••.••••••••••••••••••.••••.•.•.•.•••••••• 1(1 05
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
125. 05
19
REPORT OF SECRETARY-TREASURER
DuesMinnesota
to May 19,
1924, as follows:
_______________________________________
_
Arkansas ________________________________________ _
Kansas __________________________________________ _
Virginia _________________________________________ _
Virginia, Bureau of Rehabilitation __________________ _
Massachusetts ___________________________________ _
Ontario -------- ______________ . _ ---------- _______ _
Iowa ____________________________________________ _
Washington _____________ . ________________ ---·- ___ _
Oklahoma _______________________________________ _
New Hampshire _____ ---- ____ -------------- _______ _
Pennsylvania----------------------·--~----------Kentucky _______________________________________ _
Connecticut _____________________________________ _
New York ________________________ -------· _______ _
Wil!consin ____________________________ ---· _______ _
Georgia _________________________________________ _
Delaware _____________ ---- .• __________________ ----
$25.00
10.00
15. 00
15. 00
10. 00
50.00
10. 00
15. 00
25. 00
10. 00
10. 00
50.00
10.00
10.00
50. 00
50. 00
10.00
10. 00
$385. 00
Total _______________________________________________ _
DISBURSEMENTS
1923
May 2.
4.
10.
11.
11.
12.
12.
12.
17.
17.
16.
18.
June 1.
1.
12.
July 18.
26.
26.
Aug.14.
Exhibit 1naterial (Mr. Spicer) ___________________ _
Stenographic service (Mr. Wilson) _______________ _
Badges _______________________________________ _
Exhibit Women's Bureau _______________________ _
Louise Schutz-honorarium ____________________ _
Louise Schutz, expenses tenth annual convention __ _
B. Sedar, stenographic service ___________________ _
Minnesota Industrial Commission, telegrams ______ _
Telegram _____________________________________ _
Emma Ward, exhibit expenses ___________________ _
Burton Card system ___________________________ _
Emma Ward, exhibit expressage __ . ___ ~ _______ ~ __ _
Enterprise
Printing Co., letterheads and envelopes ___
Telegram _____________________________________
15. 50
1. 75
12.54
4. 00
50. 00
3. 00
6. 50
6.
1.
5.
1.
16
02
95
75
7. 13
21. 50
1. 26
B. Sedar, stenographic service ___________________ _ 11. 20
Minnesota Industrial Commission, telegrams ______ _ 2. 31
A. C. Williams, stenographic report of tenth convention------------------------------------- 271. 75
1. 82
Louise Schutz, registering report_________________
1. 49
Minnesota Industrial Commission, telegrams_______
1924
Jan. 7. Enterprise Printing Co., receipt book ____________ _ 6. 50
26. Louise Schutz, trip to Chicago __________________ _ 50.00
Mar.19. Enterprise Printing Co., 1,000 letterheads and
envelopes ___________________________________ _
14. 00
Apr.20. Minnesota Industrial Commission, telegrams ______ _ 3.69
14. Louise Schutz, trip to Chicago------------------- 45. 24
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1,197.25
20
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
May 9. B. Holstrom, stenographic service _______________ _ $2. 50
10. Enterprise
Printing Co., tentative programs and_
envelopes ___________________________________
33. 00
10. Telegram, T. Heiman __________________________ _ 1. 10
13. Western Badge & Novelty Co., 150 badges ________ _ 33. 00
13. Enterprise Printing Co., letterheads ______________ _ 9.00
Total------------------------------------------ 624 IJ6
Cash on hand and in bank, May 19, 1924 _________________ 572. 59
.
- - - $1, 197. 25
Respectfully submitted.
LOUISE E. SCHUTZ, Secretary-Trt1tUJurer.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER CONSOLIDATION OF THE
ASSOCIATION .OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS OF THE
UNITED STATES AND CANADA AND THE INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
Your committee appointed to report upon the advisability of the merging of
this association with the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards
and Commissions have given what we feel to be due and proper consideration
to the subject.
We find, first, the membership of the International Association of Industrial
Accident Boards and Commissions is composed solely of State and Provincial
organizations having to do primarily with the administration of the w01 kmen's
compensation laws. There is an associate membership composed partly of the
same class of State organizations and partly of entirely outside and nongovernmental organizations.
It is true that in a few States the compensation commissions or the industrial
commissions handling compensation matters also have gene.ral control of factory
inspection and general labor statistics. However, even in su·oh oases the delegates to the conventions of the International Association of Industrial Accident
Boards and Commissions are usually those having to do with and interested in
the administration of compensation l~ws primarily. The programs and published proceedings of this association indicate conclusively that it deals only
with the technical questions of administration of this single kind of legislation.
They also indicate that its programs are very fuJl, that it has all it can handle
along the lines it has chosen, and that the time of its conventions has reached
in at least orie instance a period of five days.
Your committee believes that it would be impracticable to extend this program
sufficiently to include a reasonable discuBBion of the many-sided topics that the
members of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United
States and Canada are interested in aside from the strictly workmen's compensation topics.
·
The International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions
is a strong organization numerically and financially. Any merger of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada with
this powerful organization would mean, in the opinion of your committee, a submerging f the ABSociation of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States
and Canada.
·
. The International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and CommiBBions
covers a single field, covers it thoroughly, and its membership is a group of men
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
21
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
intensely earnest and interested in their own work. Nothing but impatience on
their part could result from attempting to inject into their proceedings a discussion of the general work of bureaus of labor statistics, factory inspection, etc.
The Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and
Canada is composed of State bureaus and organizations having to do with labor
problems and labc.r statistics in a very much more general way. Its membership is equally interested and enthusiastic along the lines of the field it covers,
and nothing but impatience could result from a merger which would compel them
to listen to papers and discussions having to do only with the administration of
workmen's compensation laws.
As to the personnel of delegations to the conventions of the two associations
being identical, your committee believes that this is true in a very few instances
and that in such cases the delegates attend both conventions really under two
entirely distinct aspects of their work and would prefer to keep them separate.
Your committee is further of the opinion that the proposition to hold the conventions of the two associations in the same city at the same time is impracticable and unwise and would not result in real economy. No man can attend
both of the conventions at once, and no man can do the work outlined by these
conventions for both associations at once, and the tendency of holding the conventions at the same time and place would be to weaken the proceedings of both.
In other words, each of these associations has a full-time job, particularly
during conventions. Your committee therefore strongly urges that the subject
of merging these two associations be definitely dropped.
ETHELBERT STEW ART.
D. M. BLANKINSHIP.
F. E. Woo».
The report was unanimously adopted.
The report of the committee appointed to revise the constitution
was presented and adopted. The constitution proposed in the report
and adopted appears on pages VI to VIII.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER ADVISABILITY OF CONSOLIDATION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR
OFFICIALS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA AND THE
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
~ERVICES
We, the joint committee appointed from the Association of Governmental
Labor Officials of the United States and Canada and the International Association of Public Employment Services to consider the question of amalgamation
of the two associations, having met in executive session in the gold room of the
Congress Hotel on May 19, 1924, and in pursuance with instructions of the
above-named organizations, after due deliberation, beg to submit for your consideration and approval the following report:
We believe that the interests of the two organizations are so closely related
that in our judgment it seems unwise to maintain the dual associations. The
duties of same in many instances overlap. The amalgamation would make for
greater economy and for that reason would be looked upon with greater favor
by the Federal, State, and Provincial Governments.
The proposed amalgamation would tend to stimulate attendance, would result
in a larger membership and bring about a closer coordination of activity.
Therefore we unanimously recommend the amalgamation of the Association of
Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada, and the Inter-
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
22
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
national Association of Public Employment Services, and further recommend
that upon the adoption of this recommendation the titles be so changed that
neither organization will lose its identity.
Respectfully submitted.
H. C. HUDSON •
. R. A. RIGG.
H. R.
JOHN
WITTER.
s. B. DAVIE.
LOUISE E. SCHUTZ.
0. H. BRACH.
The report was adopted by the association. A motion was made
and passed that a committee be. appointed to confer with the International Association of Public Employment Services in regard to
mat~er of consolidation. The report was later not accepted by the
International Association of Public Employment Services.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CONSIDER UNIFORM
METHODS OF ACCIDENT REPORTING AND COMPILING
STATISTICS
BY ETHELBERT STEWART, UNITED STATES CO:U:UISSIONER 01!' LABOR STATISTICS
The death of Mr. Carl Hookstadt early in the year put an end to the plans
of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics so far as getting behind this.
committee and getting some real work done were concerned. Mr. Hookstadt,
as you know represented that bureau on this committee.
However, i have had prepared some material which, though it goes to illustrate
our problems rather than to solve them, I believe ought to be shown here to-day,
and so I will request the privilege of making what may be termed a progress
reJ>Ort,
Since the death of Mr. Hookstadt has left this committee with no Bureau of
Labor Statistics representative, I would like to request here that I be made the
nominal representative of the bureau on the committee with the understanding
that I can later name as my alternate some one who can give more time to the
· work, and to request further that the time of the committee be extended.
I need not call your attention to the fact that this committee has no· thought
of advocating the old idea that the States should agree upon certain investigations
and all be doing the same thing in the same way at the same time. That old
idea of uniform statistics has been exploded, and I have no idea of reviving it.
What we mean now by uniform methods of re).)Orting statistics is a very different
proposition. We simply propose that when a State elects to issue reports on tJie
volume ef employment, for instance, it shall use the same classification of industries and the same classification of occupations that all the other States use, so ·
that the figures from one State will be directly comparable with those of other
States along the same lines. This means, of course, that there must be one classification system and that the States will ultimately adopt it. As I said, my purpose in this report is more to present the difficulty than to solve it, and in doing
so I shall confine myself to the classifications used in reporting the volume of
employment, with the statement, however, that we are confronted with precisely
the same kind of difficulty when we attempt to compare accidents, either by cause
or any other phase, and when we attempt to compare wages.
In fact there is not a single subject in which _you can compare the reports of
one State labor bureau with another with any degree of satisfaction or assurance
of the correctness of your comparhlons. Even where some groups seem to be identical, the different phraseology used by the different bureaus shoots clouds of
doubt across them all.
It is exceedingly unfortunate that on such simple propositions as wages in an
industry, the cause and results of accidents, or the volume · of employment we
can not use the State reports in any attempt to compile general statistics. From
time to time individual statisticians and statistical committees have with more
or less vigor stressed the lack of uniformity in State labor statistics and bewailed
the impossibility of making exact comparisons. Some progress has been made
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
28
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
along the line of standardization, but what remains to be done is no job for the
faint-hearted.
For example, in the Monthly Labor Review of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
for August, 1924 (pp. 110, 111), an attempt was made to compare the average
weekly earnings in some industries in Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts for
the month of May, 1924. When the work was completed it was found necessary
to strike certain industries out of the table entirely, not because those industries
were not found in all three States but because of the striking difference in State
classifications. An outstanding illustration was that of the printing, pape!_, and
paper goods group under which there are 13 subclassifications for the three i:states
combined, no two of them being identical in terminology for the three States and
only one in which two States used identical language.
Again, in the Monthly Labor Review for December, 1924 (pp. 49-51), a comparison of average weekly earnings in nine industr:y groups in California, Illinois,
and New York was attempted; but here again we were compelled to emphasize
the fact that the composition of very similarly designated groups was so different
as to make conclusions based thereon quite dubious.
I have had prepared a statement showing in figures the variation in industrial
classifications carried by nine State labor bureaus and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in their statistics on the monthly volume of employment, and also the Census classification, thus showing the classifications of 11 reporting bodies. The
table constitutes what seems to me a powerful argument for greater uniformity
in State labor statistics.
NUMBE'.R OF INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATIONS USED BY VARIOUS STATE AND
FEDERAL AGENCIES AND NUMBER OF SUCH AGENCIES CARRYING SUCH
CLASSIFICATIONS, BY INDUSTRY GROUPS
Number of
Number of agencies
~iftcations
the classlff•
cations
~~1:,1
Industry group
Agriculture ------------------------------------···----------------------------Brooms,
etc.products___________________________________________________
------------·--·----------·------------·-··-------·------Chemicalbrushes,
and allied
Clothing,
laundering,
etc.--------------------------------------·--·-----------Construction
.•• __________________________________________________________
•• ____
Food, bever&ges, and tobacco-------------------------------------------------Furs, leather, and rubber goods------------------------------------------------
30
10
h'!i~~~~~.sr;1~!~ts:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:4
U
3
~~Wc°:t'kff~!1tlng:::::::::::::::::::::::::::-::::::::::::::::::_::::::::::::::
~;i;dln~d glass products ____________________ =----------:-·---------------
~
1~ •
Vehicles for land transportation-···--··--···-·-------·---------·-----·-·------Nonmanual --------------------------------···-··········-·---·-------------·-Miscellaneous__________________________________________________________________
21
Mining. __________________ • _____ • ______ .--·· ____________ --------------··________
t
T o al
3
203
29
6
61
j
17
5
3
3
10
112
11
1g
-n
53
1------1---381
11
This table reveals the fact that the 11 agencies use 381 classifications, 69 of
which are in the metals and metal products group alone. But the situation is
really worse than this table would indicate, because in many instances where
the general classification agrees fairly well with that of some other States the
phraseology used is just different enough to raise the question as to whether or
not it refers to the same thing. For example, does iron and steel in the Illinois
reports mean the same as iron, steel, and blast furnaces in the Pennsylvania reports? Can we compare with absolute assurance of accuracy the Illinois classification "electrical apparatus" with "electrical machinery and apparatus" in
the New York and Pennsylvania reports, or with" electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies" in the reports of Massachusetts and the United States Bureau
of Labor Statistics and in the Census tables? Does "foundry" in Maryland
mean the same thing as "foundry and machine shops" in Iowa, New York,
·
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin?
38735°-25-3
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
24
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
So you will see that it is not enough to get together on general classification
terms. We must go further and agree upon phraseology and terminology within
the groups.
I want to call your attention now to a chart which illustrates the wide variation in industrial classifications used in reporting the single subject of volume
of employment. When you multiply the difficulty shown in this chart by the
total number of subjects handled by any given State you will get a fair idea of
what lies before this committee, and I trust you will also get a fair idea of the
importance of cutting out this maze of terms in the interest of economy in printing and of extending the value of your statistical work beyond the confines of
your own States.
You will probably say that it is not always easy to tell into just which group
an occupation, for instance, or a subdivision of an industry, should be placed.
My reply is that the difficulty fo determining where to place certain classifications only accentuates the need for further Federal and interstate cooperation
in the matter of selection and terminology for the classification of industry
groups as well as of individual industries.
[The following table includes the material shown in chart form by Mr. Stewart.
The data were taken from the State and Federal reports of the latest available
issues in 1925:]
INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATIONS USED IN REPORTS OF SPECIFIED STATE AND
FEDERAL AGENCIES I
·oi-a
'g
-~
Industry
aS
,:i
1>-
! ! a§
~
;:ii
AND BRUSHES, ETC.·--··· .. --·--·-·------
O
1----1---T___l____l____l____.!:=:I:::
:::: '::::: :::::.X ·, :::: • X
X ____ .___
=~:~!and brushes__ • _________________ ,, ______________ .... '.. -- _x _, X ____ --.. '--.. __ ....
Mattresses::::::g :s::;~~-~:~::~------- ... -
---r. i--..
....
'"4
ai
-----
i:::w.:::r.,,,,,,.,,;::«,;;·==::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::C
~
·!1 ~ . .
iiS~ ~Sl
oo.8
~
i i ~~ ~",~j
I ----
i
~ .,. j ~ ~
8 •eds.. _____ ·-BROOKS
=i
.!3
o5o~o~o!
C
~
.:s
X ____
::1:::_ -;c
----1---- -..-i--....__
X
Chemicals ______________ ...... __________ .. _____ ........ __________ .. _ X __ .. ________ .... ____ X X
Chemicals and allied products.. --.. --.. -· .. -------.... - .... '.... '.... __ .. --.. _.. _I ____ X I.... X
Chemicals (including soap, irlue, explosives) .. _-·-- __ .......... ·.. __ ,____ !________ ,.. __ .. --1 X ____ .. -Chemicals, oils, paints, etc _____ .. __ .... ___ .. _.. ______ .. X I X ',-·-- ---- 1---- X ,.... I_. __ --.... __ ----
I
&~u!i:!iC::~~fcaii::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::1.~_ :::::::::!:::: ~ :::f::: ::::::::: ::::
Miscellaneous chemical products ................... ____ X I X 1--·-·-... '.. -" .... ----1----·----'---- ---Patent ;IIledicines .. _____ .. __ ......... _____________ .. ___ • ____ ---- X I X !-· .. ----:---- ----'--·-'---- ::::
J~l~:r:8:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::1_x_1::::,::::,-x -:::: ::::·:::: :::::::_::-x.. -;c
I;.;;;::;;;;;:;;::::::;:::;;:::;;~x;i~:!;;;: ;-~ i: ;I :; :I~~~~ :~: :~=
CJ.OTHINO, LAUNDERING, ETC
~miit:=~~~~~:;i~~i~i ================:===:=== :~: :~~: :~: =i= :~: -~- ==== :~= t= ~~~ ~~:
Clothing, millinery, laundering, etc--------·----------- X X ____ --.. --...... ____________ ·--- ___ _
women's-----·--- ..------·-----------·------- X X ____ 1____ X X ________ ·•-- X X
Clothing,
Clothing, women's, and woolen goods ____ .. __________ .. ____ ·--- X I________________________ .. -- ___ _
1 The heavy race "X" signifies that in the State specified the classification is that of a group, the
industries or which it is conmposed being shown thereunder.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
25
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATIONS USED IN REPOP.TS OF SPECIFIED STATE AND
FEDERAL AGENCIES-Continued
'S fl 'S
!!
Industry
~
~
al
0
1
a
~
CLOTHING, LAUNDERING, ETC,-continued
::,.:l
19
a...
= = ~i ~§!
!
~
:; a j ai.8 ai
~= iii: ;;;..:i;;;
- - - ,_ --
"'g -=~ I><~ "a
'& !" .,~
::.!" ::.! z 0-=
C,
;
.!!I
.
.
~a)
Clothing, women's outer garments _________________________ ·--- ____ X ___________________________ _
r:;7::~=::=:==:=::~:::: : : '·:· ==.=1~~~ :~ ~ ~ == =.= ~:= =.;= =~
Hats, straw ______________ ----------------------------- ____________________________________ ---- X
~~:::.:::~::::::::::::::::::~::::: :~: :~: :~:1::::
:::: ·:· -~-:::: :::: .:. ::=:
----1---- ---- ---- ---- ---Laundering, cleaning, and dyeing______________________ X
X
X ---- __ :_
!~f~~:ts::::::::::::-::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::i=::: :x JX: :::: =x: :::: :::: :::: :::: t
OONBTBUOTION
l:fil~I: :t'i:!~!~!:::::::::::::::::::::::::::~::: :::: ~ :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: ·;c :::: ::::
!5~~~t~~~!::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::\c ::::,:::: :::: :::: :::: :::: --~- :::: :::: ·
Road construction_________________________________________ X ____ ,________________________ ---- ___ _
roon, BEVEBAGES, AND TOBACCO
Bakeries----------------------------------------------- _______________________ X
X ____ ---- ___ _
J ________
\_:_____X !,_:_
---- ---· ·x. _:_ ---X ___
________________ ---- X
15-:d::ectlonery____________________________
Bread and other bakery products __________________ •• __ X
_I____
g~fil1:!l~:g aiici"fciicreaiii:::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -;c _: __:_i_:_ _:J;: _:_ -;c :::: -~- :
1
Flour, feed, Bild other cereal products _______ .. __________ '____ X ____ ____ ____ X ___________________ _
Other food products, coffee _________________________________
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
I____I X 1____________________________,___ _
26.
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
INDUSTRIAL OLASSIFICATIONS USED IN REPORTS OF SPECIFIED STATE AND
FEDERAL AGENOIES-Oontlnued
,s·.,
e.!l
::s.a
! l ~ in.8
I
i I .s I 1
I i ~ ~:s
i
..,.
IndustrJ
0
i:::i
C
!! .E!
Ii:
)l
)l
~
0
~
::s~ !§
IX!lll
~§1
m
~
l'OOD, BEVERAGES, AND TOBA~ntlnued
,i~::~~~~~::::::::~:::::·~~~:::::::: :~: :::: ·r :::: ~:: .~. ~=: ~~~~ :~: :::: :~:
Slaughtering and meat pacldnfc············ .•••••••••••••. a X •.•• X X •••• •••• X •••• X X
Slaughterinf:nd meat product on...................... X .•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
baooo •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• x.. x.....
x ...........•
Tobacco, chewing and smoking, and snuff••••••.••••••• ........ ·.;;;· ................ :::: .... X
~=:id ..
·x· ·x· ·x· ....
1
x·
!iel~:i:i.~~~~=========================::=== ==== =~= ==== :=== ==== ==== =~~~ ·x· .;. =~=
I
PUBS, LEATHER, AND RUBBER GOODS
Boots and shoes........................................ ••.• X •••• X X X •••• X X X
Boots and shoes (not lncludinifnrobber) .••••••••.•.•.••• ,.... .••• •••• •... .••• •••• •••• •
• ••••••• ·x·
~~~~~~i;~~i~i i!i i i;~ i~ .~ l•i:~ =~::~:~;; : ~:
Fur~ and tanning,
~;;= :~:i=:
o lentber gloves •••••.•.•••.••••• ····; X ••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••
Ii?;~~:;::=.::=.::=.=.:::;:=.:_;_ ~~: :~: :~: : : :~: ~(: ::= :lc:-r ===
Leather, tanned, curried, and fiolshod.................. •••• •••• •••• ••••
x· .•.. •••• •... •.•• •••. x
l:=~!~ther goods ..••.•••••••••••. •••••••••••••• ,· x • ••••.•••••••••••••••• X. ::::,:::: ::::
Other leather and canvas goods......................... •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• X .• •
• i
I}~;~:}~~~:~: : ;:=;,~~~~:=~=;;=~~;:~i:!J!~:'.
LUKBER AND ITS PRODUCTS
~£~~~~~~~~~~~~=~~ ~:: J~I:............
~: ~~ ~~: ~~= ~:: =~~ =~ :~: :~:
~~;.~;:;::;:;;~~=-:;::::::;: =. =;: :~; ~: -:-,;: =.: :~~ ::_ :~: :~:
Furniture and cabinetwork ••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••.••• X
X •••••••••••.••• , ••••
Pianos, orgsns, and other musical- instruments......... •••• X .••• •••• •••• X ••••• ••• •••••••• ••••
er::
~
~
:::L....::. :::: .~. :~: :~:
Its p~odu~s .••.•••••••••••••••••••••••• •• :.•..••••. ••....
Lumber and planmg•m11\ products.···················+··· .••• .••• X ••• .1 .... .... X ••••••••••••
h!*J;;;~frrs~fi\E:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::t:: :::: ):I:::: :::: :;: t: : :~ :::~/; ::::
1
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https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
27
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATIONS USED IN REPORTS OF SPECIFIED STATlt AND
FEDERAL AGENCIES-Continued
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sawmills •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• x x .••....•.••.••••
Sawmills and logging camps •••••••••••••••
1 X ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Sawmill and planing•mill products .•••••••••••••••••••••••• X •••• ••.• .••• X •••.•••• X ••••••••
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Woodworking .••.•••••.••••••••.•••••••••••••.•.••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• X ................
KBTALS
AND KETAL PRODUCTS
Cook.Ing, heating, and ventilating apparatus............ ..•. X •••• •••• •••• X ••••••••••••••••••••
t':a~::Sappliances and apparatus .•••••••••••••••••••• .l •••••••.• ~••••••.••.•••••••• ·x· .... 1: : : : •••• •
Steam fittings, and steam and hot-water heating
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apparatus •••••••••••••••••.•••.••••.•••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••.••• X
X X
Steam and hot•water heating apparatus •••••••••••••••• ' •.•. ' •••• ' ••••.••• .... X -··· •••• -··· •··· •···
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and ranges::::::::~::::::~:::::::::::::::::::::: :::::
X. :::: :::: • X .1 .x. x ··
Stoves and stove linings ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• .1 ••.••••• !•••• ; X ••••1••••••••••••••••••••
Aluminum and enamel ware .•...•••.•.••.•••••••••••• :.
.1 ••••••• .! .•.. ····I X
Stamped and enamel Wlll'll ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••.1 •••• X •••••••••••• X X
Stamped ware ••••.•••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••.•••••••.•.. ····'···· •••••••••••• 1• • • • • • • • X
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Found?)' and machine-shop products..•••..••••••.•••••
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····1···· ........I
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f!ec:!Y~gs ········•··············· ...................... j.... / ..... :::: x I····' ........
Iron and steel forgmgs, bolts, nuts,etc•.•••••••••••••••• X •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ' ••••••••
····1····1·
Mach!ne-shopproducts .•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•.
X •••••••••.••.••.••••••••
Macbme tools •••••.••••••.•••.•..••.•.••.•.••••••••.••....••••••...•.•• X •••••••••••• ····i X X
Other iron foundey and machine-shop products......... X ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
~:;!~~~:,1:iidcuileii::::::::::::::::::::::~::::: ::::-~·~:::I::::.~. ~ ::::.:::: :::: :::: ::::
f ~ t s and appliances ••••••••.••••••••.•••••••••••••• • X • •••• •••• •••• ~ :::••••••••••
Instrumentsi professional and sc1.lntitlc..•••••••••••••••••.•...•••••••••.•••••••••••••.....•.••• X
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Pig iron and rollin~•mill produc•ts •.•••••.••.•••••••••••.....•••••••..•••.••.•.•••.•.... X ••••••••
~~~:!~:]~!~t1~1~ti:i:::::::::::::::::::::::: T :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: t:: :::: :::: ::::
structural and architectural iron work ••••••.••••••••..•.•••••.••..•..•...•• X ••••••••••••••••••••
r::::t::~:ii:i:ir!ici·erection:::::::::::::::::::::::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: ·ic .~... ~... ~. ::::
Jewelry •• -·-········-···· ..........•.....•• ---·········· ••••••...••• ·-·· X •••••••••••••••••••• X
Watches, watch case~, j~welry (gold, sliver, nnd prerlous
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Agricultural imp ements......................... .••••• X X X ••••••. .I X .••. •••• •••• X X
Electrical apparatus . ._ ••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••.•••••••• X •••••••••••• ' •••••• 1••••••••••••••••
Electrical machineey and apparatus ••••••• ·-······-···· ••••••••••.••••• ····j X
X •••• ·-·.I .•••
Electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies ••••••••••••• .I .•• _.... •••• X .•••• •••• •••• •••• X j X
Engines, machines, and machine tools_··-··-···············'-··· ••••••••••• .11•••••••• ' X ••••••••••••
1•••••••••••• 1••••
Engines, pumpa, boilers, and tanks •••••••••••••••.••••• X
Machine?)'••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••• -··········· •••• X •••••••••••.1....
X ••• .1 ••
Machlnel')', including electrical apparatus ••••••••••••••.••. !..•..... -··· ...•, X :::: •• : •••••
Metals
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Metals, machinery, and conveyances_.................. X X ............ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
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https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
28
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATIONS USED IN REPORTS OF SPECIFIED STATE AND
FEDERAL AGENCIES-Continned
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Brass, bronze, aDd copper products.................... X ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Brass and bronze products, plumber's supplies ••••••••••••• , ••• j X •••••••••••••••••••• 1••••••••••••
Brass, copper, aluminum, etc •••••.••••.•.•.••••••••••.••••••••.•••••••••••• X •••••••• 1••••••••••••
Brass, coppe~c1 babbitt metal. •••.•.•.••••••••••••••••• X
~ft~i~urac:~on, etc.••.••••••.•.•••••••..••••••.•••••••• 1.•.••••.• X•..••..••
Metal products other than iron and steel.. •••••••••••••.•••..•• 1..• .1 •••••••••••••••••••••••• X ... .
!···· ................ ····'····
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Tin cans •••••••••...•••••••.•.•.•.•..•.•.•.••••••.•••• X ••••.•••..•.•.•••••.•.••..•.•.•...•.•.••
lllNINO
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mining:~:::::::::· ::::::::::::::::::· · · · :::: ::::'.::::,:::: :::: :::: •
Mining •••••••••• PAPER AND PRINTING •.•••••••••.••••••••• X
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Paper produets, printing and publishing •..••••.•••.•..•.••
X ....••..•••......••.••.. •··· ••••
Printing .•••• ······················-·················· X •••• •..• X •••••••.....••••••.•••••.•••
Printing, book and job••••.••..•••••••••.•••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••.••.• X •••••••.•••• X ••••
Printing and bookmaking.............................. ..•• ...• ••.. •••• ..•• X ..•.•••.......•.••••
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Printing and publishing, book and job•••••••..•••••••• ~... .••• •... ..•. X •... ..•• .... •••. •.•. X
Printing and publishing, newspapers.................................. X .....•••.•.•.••.•.•...••
Printing, newspapers and periodicals....................... X ••..•.••...•.....•.•.•....•......•.•
~~lfln~ew~p.apers •••••••••••••••••.••..••••••••.••.•
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P_UBLIC UTILITIES
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Water, light, and power................................ X
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Boat and ship building.................................
•••• •••• •••• •••• •••• X ••••••••••••••••..•••
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Ship and boat building and naval repairs,..
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1••••
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29
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATIONS USED IN REPORTS OF SPECIFIED STATE AND
FEDERAL AGENCIES-Continued
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Brick---------··---···--·····---·-·---···---············ .... ...• .... .... .... X ...................•
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blooks •••·-·····················:····
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Brick, tile, and pottery •••••••••••••••••••••••••
X/ X
1 X ••••••••••••••••1••••
Brlck1tile, and terracotta products •••••••••••••••••••• 1•••••••••••••••• ··-- 1•••• •••• X •••• X
Bulldmg materials·--··········-··············-········ ••• .1 ••• .1 •••• •··· •··· 1-··· •··· X ····
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Pottery •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ,••••••••••••1 X ····\ X •••• X X
Stone ·-·························-·-···················• 1•••• , - •• ···- •••••••••••• X •••• ·-·· ••••••••
Stone and clay products ••••••.••••••. ···-·············•1 ••••
X ........ 1•••• ··-· ••••••••••••1••••
Stone, clay ~d glllllS products •••••••••••••••••••• _•••• ~ X X ........
X X I···· .... X 1···•
Stone and alhed Industries··-·························· •••••••• -········ •••••••• ··-· •••• X •••• ·••••
Stone crushing and qUBlrying ___ ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1•• _•••• .1 •••• ····1···-'···_1···· X
Stone finishing·--······- ··-······-···· ······-········· ••• .I •••• ,••• .' •••• ·-······I····'···- X •••• 1••••
Marble and granite, crushed rock and stone •••••••••••••••• I•• _. X •••••••• ··-· ····'···- ••••••••••••
Mecellaneous stone
products.............. X X .... •··· •··· X •••• ···- ••••
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Df<eing and finishing •••••••••••••••••••••••• _•••••.••••••••••• .1 •••• 1.... X X •••• X •••• X ••••
O oves, hosiery and awnings, etc ••••••••••••••••••••••• ····J····1 X j···· •••••••••••••••• ···- •.••
,~ie~d knit goods __ •• _·-···-~···············-····- ·xT·· ... T ... X •••••••••• X .• X •• X.i-x·
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Knit goods, cotton and woolen hosiery········-········ •.•• X
-··-i-··· •··· ..•• .... ···· ···· ·-·······
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:g~orsted goods ••.••••••••••••.. _-····-····· •••• 1.-••••••••••• X••••••••• ·-·· ••••• X. ·;c
Woolen manufactures •• -••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • X •••• ···- ••••••••••••
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VEIIICLBS FOB LAND TRANSPORTATION
Cars and general shop construction and repairs, steam
railroads ••••.•••• _·······-················ •.••• ••.•• •••• •.•• •••• •••• X •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• X
Cars and locomotives._ ••• _.••••••.••••••••••••••••...••••• I X ••••••...•..••••••••••••••••••••••••
Car building and repairing-··········-················· •••• 1•••• •••• X ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Car building and repairing, electric railway ••.•••
····1····1···· •... •··· X ••••
Car building and repairing, steam railroad .•••••.•••.•••••• ••••• 1•••.•••••.•••••••••••.•••••• X ••••
1.•.• ····j X •··· •··· ••••
Car construct!on and repairs·····-····················· •••• '
Cars, locomotives, and railway repair shops............ X '···· ••.••••••••• •••..•••.•••••••• ·-·· ••••
······I····'............
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····1···· ........
;;;:pment ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ····;···· 1····
····1····:::: ·x··:···· ·~··,···· ··-·
ii·•·•···•····,....· ····I················
Railroad equipment ••••••••. _•••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••
X
and accossories .••-• ••••••••••••••••.•• _•••• ····l·x · .....•.. ,...• !•............ ... ......
Auto repairs, etc ••.••••....••••••••..•..•••••.•••••.•.••••••••••••• ···-1-···'···· X
· Automobiles and parts ..•••.•••••••••••••••• •-········· 1···-'···· •••••••• 1•••• ; X ····:····,···· •••.••••
Automobiles, bodies, and parts .••••.•••••• - ••••..•••. , X I•••••••• •··· •••• ·•••• ••••••••••••••••••••
Automobiles, carriages, and airPlanes •••••••••••••••••••••• .1 ••••••••••••1•••• X •••• 1 X
Automobiles, including bodies and parts •••••••••••.•.••••• ' •••• •··· •••• ' X •··· •••· 1•••• •••• .... ····
Automobiles, tractors, engines, etc .• _••••
X ····'···· •••••••••••• 1•• _. 1
Vvhicles for land transportation ••••••.._•••••••••••••••••••• ··;· ••••••••••••••••••••••••1•••• X ••n
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https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
~ ~
'····1····1···· ....
!-··· ........
··············l···-j-···I
····I····
30
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL. LABOR OFFICIALS
·INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATIONS USED IN REPORTS OF SPECIFIED.STATE AND
FEDERAL AGENCIES-Continued
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- Other
The report was adopted, and a motion was passed continuing tho
life of the present committee and· appoint!!}g Mr. Ethelbert Stewart
as a member thereof in the place of Carl Hookstadt, deceased.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE TO DRAF'.C SUGGESTIONS ON UNIFORM
SAFETY LAWS
Your committee is agreed and reports that the right and power to promulgate
rules, codes, and regulations affecting safety matters, factory inspection, etc.,
should in all cases be embodied in a board or commission, rather than written
into the statute. We recommend that this association put itself squarely behind
such change in the laws of any State as will accomplish this result.
Your committee further recommends that if the association favors the drafting of a definite bill to be introduced into legislatures to secure uniform action
that the committee be continued to draft and submit such bill.
(Signed) CLAUDE CONNALLY, Chairman
The report of the committee was accepted. As a result of this
re1>9rt resolution No. 7 was adopted later (see _p.141).
The report on safety codes was made by Sidney J. Williams, chief
engineer of the National Safety Council, as follows:
REPORT ON SAFETY CODES
Mr. Leveridge, of New Jersey, asked that I make a report on the Forging
Code. This is a part of the general plan for securing uniformity in the regulations of various authorities. Field inspectors are often told by employers that
they had been asked to guard machinery differently to suit some other inspector.
As A result of several ll!'tional coqferences it was finally decided that the people
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CURRENT STATISTICS-EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS
81
interested ought to get together and agree on uniform safety standards to be
used by the different States. Your association has been taking part in a good
many of these projects. For every code that is proposed a committee
is set up. Mr. Leveridge is a member of the Forging Code Committee. There
are representatives of insurance companies, of labor, and of employers on these
committees, also representatives of the Federal departments. That particular
code has gotten to the point where a semifinal draft has been agreed upon, to
be published in the magazine of the National Safety Council next month.
This association has been in on this work for some time One State can not
represent another but one State can represent the general point of view of the
State enforcing authorities so we feel that you have all taken part in this as far
as is practicable. When a State decides to adopt a code it will now have a
starting point. It can change the mcdel code to suit its own particular
conditions. Each of these national standards represents the best experience
and most honest thought that can be put on them.
Mr. Keown, who served on the Laundry Code Committee for Mr. Wilcox,
reported that the Laundry Code is completed.
Mr. Chaney is a member of nearly all these code committees. The Building
Exits Code deals with the matt.er of safe exits of schools, theaters, etc. The
part relating to schools is complete and the general engineering standards are
completed. As to the Code on Elevators, the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers has been working this out. A revision is now being made by a joint
committee. This code should b~ out in the next six months.
The Federal Bureau of Standards is the sponsor for the revision of the National Electric Code, which code is already recognized as the national standard.
Some of the other committees are as follows: Code on Ladders, Code on
Punch Presses, Code on Transmission-gears, etc., Code on Abrasive Wheels,
Code on Woodworking Machinery (nearly complete), Code on Logging (nearly
complete), and Code on Head and Eye Protection.
[Mr. John Spicer, of Pennsylvania, made a report of the work of the sectional
committee of the National Fire Protection Association for the revision of the
National Electrical Code.]
The following paper on the plan of the committee on governmental
employment statistics of the American Statistical Association as to
current statistics of employment and earnings was submitted by
Pro(. D. D. Lescohier of the University of Wisconsin:
CURRENT STATISTICS 0~ EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS
BY D, D, LESCOBIER 1 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
One of the most important facts which the President's Conference
on Unemployment found concerning unemployment was that it could
not find the facts. The investigators appointed by the conference
reported that there was no available body of statistics which would
make it possible to determine the number of workers idle in the
United States at any given time or the fluctuations in the numbers idle
from month to month. Statistics of employment _gathered monthly
by New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and the United States
•Bureau of Labor Statistics, with some scattered :figures gathered by
other States and private organizations, enabled them to estimate
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ASSOCIATION O'F GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
roughly the unemployment of 1921, but not to measure it. Following the President's Conference, Secretary Hoover appointed a committee on business cycles1,.~hich decided that the problem of discovering
means to provide the l'iation with reliable employment or unemployment statistics should be assigned to a subcommittee. It happened
that the American Statistical Association, at its preceding meeting
had provided for the creation of a committee on governmental employment statistics, with the duty of analyzing· the employment
statistics published by governmental agencies and of suggesting improvements. This committee was adopted by the committee on
business cycles as its technical subcommittee on employment statistics,
and funds were obtained to make possible vigorous prosecution of the
work of the committee. 1
This committee included in its membership both statisticians
actively engaged in the _publication of employment statistics, representatives of all of the Government departments directly concerned
with such statistics, and persons who use, rather than produce, such
statistics.
The committee, in a series of meetings in New York City, carefully analyzed all employment statistics being published, considered
desirable changes which should be made in the methods of collecting; and publishin~ such statistics, and unanimously decided upon
se'Veral recommenaations which it ·knew could be ·carried out. It
found that current monthly statistics of employment are of value to
keep the Nation informed upon the trends or employment and of
unemplo:yment which are affecting the social welfare, and to reveal
the· trends of production and busmess activity. They measure the
flux of the activity of business more accurately than any other single
index of business conditions.
The committee, therefore, recommended that effort be concentrated
upon the collection and publication of statistics of the number
employed, rather than upon efforts to compute the numbers of persons
unemployed.
The committee also found that the de.tat to serve these ends, must
be _published regularly at monthly intervals and as quickly as possibfe after tlie date of collection. It was clear to the committee
that the :fi~res should be gathered from all of the important industries and published separately for each of them; that they should be
available for all sections of t,he country; and that they should be
published in a standardized form that would make it possible for .the
figures of the different States to be combined into reliable district
and national indexes of employment.
1 The membership or the committee was (and Is) as follows: A. J.' Altmeyer, secretary Industrial
Commission of Wlsconslni Chas. E. Baldwin, assistant commissioner U.S. Bureau or Labor Statistics;
Jo~eph A. Beeker, statistician Bureau ol Agricultural Economics U. S. Department of Agriculture:
William A. Berridge, assistant professor of economics, Brown University; w. Ranrlolrh BU!Jess,
assistant Federal reserve agent, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; R. :0. Cahn chie statistician
general advisory board, Free Employment Offices, Illlnois Department of Labor; Fr;/eriek E. Croxton,
assistant professor of economics, Ohio State University; 1. Frederic Dewhurst, chief statistical division,
Federal Reserve Bank, Philadelphia; Don D. Lescohler, associate professor of economics University of
Wisconsin; Max 0. Lorenz, director bureau of statistics, Interstate Commerce Commission; Royal
Meeker, aecretar:v ol Labor and Industry or Pennsylvania; Eugene B. Patton, ehlef statistician New York
Department of Labor; Roswell F. Phelps, dlreetor division of statistics, Massachuseth Department or
Labor and Industries; Walter W. Stewart, dlreetor division of research and statistics, Federal Reserve
Board; Fred O. Tryon, statistician In eharge or coal and coke statistics, U. s. Geological Survey; Leo
Wolman, New School for Social Res,ureh, New York, N. Y.; Ralph G. Hurlln (aecretary), director ol
the department of statistics, Russell Sa11e Foundation.
,
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CURRENT STATISTICS-El\1PLOYl\'.lENT AND J<,ARNINGS
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The committee suggested that each State begin the development of
employment statistics by asking from 25 to 40 per cent of representative employers in each industry to report each month the number of
persons on the pay roll nearest the 15th of the month and the total
wages paid on that P.ay day. Several of the St.ates have requested
that these figures be given separately for males and females. Tlie committee further recommended that the statistics should first be obtained
from manufacturing in its main industrial divisions; then from mining
and quarrY.ing, communication, building construction, wholesale
.
trade, retail trade, logging, and agriculture.
The States which had been collecting monthly statistics of employment have all adopted the recommendations of the committee.
This is true also of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Every one of these States and the Federal bureau found it necessary
to change their prnctices in certain particulars in or<lcr to conform
to the recommendations of the committee, but all of them have completely conformed. Several States which ha<l not been collecting
!:'Uch figures have now adopted the standard plan and several more
are ser10usly considering the inauguration of current employment
statistics at an early date. At the present time there are six States
in which the complete plan of the committee is in force: New York,
Massachusetts, New ,Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Oklahoma has adopted the suggestions of the committee, but complete
cooperation between the State and the Federal Bureau of Labor
Statistics has not yet been affected. This will be accomplished, howe,-er, during the summer of 1924. In Pennsylvania, Oregon, California, and Idaho, the State labor bureau and Federal reserve banks
are cooperating in the publication of emplovment statistics, but the
States have not yet seen their way to complete cooperation with the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. In seven other Stat.f's the
Federal reserve banks are collecting employment statistics, but the
State governments are inactive. The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics is gathering employment statistics in 27 States.
Vcry distinct progress has been made, therefore, in the development of standardized and fairly adequate statistics measuring the
fluctuations of employment and earnings in the United States. These
are statistics of employment, not of unemployment. No practicable means has yet been devised for collecting current statistics of unemployment. Employment statistics, however, indicate the increase
and decrease in tlie number of workers employed and give a fairly
accurate measuremeri.t of unemployment. The State officials interested in the development of uniform employment statistics along
the line suggested by the committee and accepted as standard practice by the Federal Government and the several States listed above
may obtain detailed information concerning the course of collection of such statistics and the method of procedure by writing to the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics or to the industrial commissions or labor bureaus of the several States which have already adopted
the standard plan.
The CHAIRMAN. We have another paper, from H. A. Mowery,
secretary of the National Snfe Walkway Surf:wei;; CodP. Commit.tee.
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NATIONAL SAFETY CODE FOR WALKWAY SURFACES
BYB. W, MOWERY, SECRETARY NATIONAL SAJ'II WALKWAY SURFACES CODE COMMITTEB
~
Governmental labor officials for a long time have known the extreme seriousness of the hazards of unsafe walkway surfaces. Their
statistical records have shown that it is one of the most prolific sources
of casualty in industry and one of the most difficult to control. In
isolated instances, safety engineers and others. charged with the safeguarding of workmen, have made sporadic attempts to reduce their
casuafties from this source by various expedients. In J>Ublic· buildings, etc., some progress had been made in this direction by improvements in construction and maintenance, but the number of fatalities
from falls remained near the top of the list in both public and industrial activities.
·
Interest in the subject has become very acute. Approximately
15,000 people per year were and a.re being killed through falls, nearly
half of them occun:mg on stairs and floor level. There is no other hazara
so difficult to combat. It is subtle and silent. The slippery spot in
the floor makes no noise like a whirring belt or grinding gear. The
inconspicuous stair tread even though defective, aJ>pears to be not
nearly so dangero~ ~ the rapidly revolving :flywheel. The slippery
door saddle and, building entrance and countless other-places usually
constitute potential slipping hazards because no fore thought to make
them safe has been ta.Ken.
However, a very important step looking toward cooperative effort
in combating this hazard has been taken. The National Safe Walkway Surfaces Code Committee is now preparing a code which shall
become available as a model to State and mumcipal authorities in
the formulation of laws and regulations, and which is also intended
for use by architects, builders, owners, and others responsible for the
safe condition of walkways.
The formation of this committee was brought about by a petition
in 1922 from five interested parties addressed to the .American Enginelmilg Standards Committee, requesting that a general meeting be
called for the purpose of discussing the desirability and ·feasibility of
formulating such a code. Evidence was prel!lented at that time to
show the large number and great severity of accidents caused through
unsafe walkway surfaces. It was pointed out that in one of the five
boroughs of New York City (Manhattan) there had been an average
for the past eight years of 101 persons killed annually by falls on
stairs, whereas an average of only 11 per year were killed in elevators,
less than 50 per year killed in fires, etc.
As a result of the preliminary conference, a general conference was
held on February 14, 1923, in the Engineering Societies 2 ·Building.
There were 63 national organizations represented, including six Federal departments or bureaus, National Association of Manufacturers,
National Safety Council, Building Officials Conference, Association
of Governmental Labor Officials, National Bureau of ~sualty and
Surety Underwriters, American Institute of Architects, and other
influential organizations,
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NATIONAL SAFETY CODE FOR WALKWAY SURFACES
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At this meeting a member of the American Institute of Architects
declared that the architects had need for specifications along these
lines and, in fact, asked that their organization be designated as a
joint 'sponsor with the American Society of Safety Engineers in the
preparation of the proposed code. The latter also making a similar
request, it was suosequently determined to award the sponsorship
jointly to them. This meeting unanimously resolved that tliere should
be a national safety code for walkway surfaces and through a series
of motions dealing with specific details it was agreed thatA. The code should provide for: (a) Elevator floors; (b) elevator landings;
(c) corridor floors and door thresholds; (d) ramps; (e) runway floors; (/) stair
and fire-escape treads and landings; (g) sidewalks; (h) "accessories to buildings"
including coalhole covers, sidewalk doors, and gratings; (i) floors and platforms
around moving machinery and electrical apparatus.
B. The code should provide fori-(a) Apartment houses; (b) factories and other
work places; (c) office buildings; (d) hospitals; (e) hotels and restaurants; (/)
railway cars; (g) railway stations and train platforms; (h) schools; (i) theaters;
(~ ships.
C. Pertinent walkway surface characteristics to be specified should include:
(a) Resistance to slipping; (b) freedom from the tripping hazard; (c) durability;
(d) flammability; (e) insulation as well as nonslip characteristics of walkway surfaces around electrical apparatus.
D. General and maintenance requirements should be included in the code.
All of these decisions were made by unanimous vote except the
inclusion of sidewalks, which was by a majority vote.
Following the main conference, the various representatives of the
manufacturers of the different types of walkway surface materials
met and organized a subcommittee, to enable them the better to
cooperate with the main committee, as it appeared that the furnishing of data relating to the various availaole types of material
would be required.
Steps were immediately undertaken to form the code committee
in accordance with the authorization of the general conference, and
the first :meeting of the code committeefroper was held June 15, 1923.
Representatives of the manufacturers o walkway materials and about
18 different national interests were represented at this meeting. Dr.
Lucian W. Chaney, United States Department of Labor, was elected
chairman; F. Y. Johannes, American Institute of Architects, vice
chairman; H. W. Mowery, American Abrasive Metals Co., secretary.
Executive and plan and scope committees were appointed and other
organization work completea. The actual work of formulating the
code was placed in the hands of Dr. Lucian W. Chaney. The summer months were passed in gathering information and data and
completing the :tfrst draft of the code.
At the next meeting, December 4, J923, the first tentative draft
of the code was presented. Objection was raised to the code dealing with construction features rather than with the safety elements
of the surfaces. It seemed impossible to proceed any further until
there was specification or definition of what constituted safety
elements in walkway surfaces. It was finally determined to obtain
information as to the requisite value of frictional resistance to be
required, and, to determine this and other facts relative to the pertinent surface characteristics as required by the original conference,
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~ests b:y !he Bureau of St9:ndards at Washington, J?· C., wer<> authorized. Manufacturers havmg pledged and underwritten the expenses,
are now submitting their materials for preliminary study. The building of machines with which to make the tests is under way. It will
pl'obably take a year before all the data desired will become available.
:The extent of the code is broad. It is intended· to cover all those
walkway surfaces used by people who have had no voice in their
construction or maintenance. Not onl_y will there be certain definite
requirements for particular locations, but there will be an appendix
for informative purposes only.
In tbe mandatory portion of the code will be included requirements
as to :r.ertinent surface characteristics, such as frictional resistance,
durability, dielectric strength, etc., in connection with certain locations, such as elevator floor landings, entrance lobby floors, corridors
in certain types of buildings, such as apartment houses, hotels,
schools, etc., which the general conference ordered. Rulings as to
minimum frictional resistance allowable at certain locations will 6e
based on the data being obtained through the tests being conducted
by the Bureau of Standards at Washington.
The second section, for info~ativ~ purposes only, will cons~t of
chapters devoted to model specificat10Iis for the uses of the vanous
types of walkway surfp.ce materials, methods of installation, etc.
Tliese specifications for each type will have been prepared and passed
upon by the manufacturers of that type and in turn will be passed
upon by the committee before their inclusion. There- will be some
attention devoted to cleansing of floors. This is an important item.
Such work should not be permitted during the hours of use; and on
certain types of floors, such as marble, tile, etc., the right sort of
cleanser should be used.
.
·
There is much that the members of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials can do to further this work which is so important in the present concerted effort to reduce our casualty lists. It
is hoped that more attention will be devoted to the 1abulation of the
casualty records in such manner that they will clearly show actual
cases, with special reference to different types of falls.· If State
codes are alreidy in the process of formulation, it would be well to
communicate with· the walkway code committee and obtain such
information as it may have available. Upon completion of the walkway surfaces· code and its approval by the American Engineering
Standards Committee, the members of this association can be of immeasurable assistance in bringing about its general v,doption in their
respective States.
·
DISCUSSION
MR. STEWART. Mr. Mowerv has prepared a very excellent paper. I should like very much ·to look it over, and to make a mot10~
that he be requested to file that paper for publication. I believe we
have_ the chall'IIlan of the walkway code section here, and I would
like to hear from him. The speaker brought out one of the reasons
why the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor at
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NATIONAL SAFETY CODE FOR WALKWAY SURFACES
37
Washington is trying to get the States to cooperate in the matter of
giving accident rates by causes.
}figures for Massachusetts show that only about 30 per cent of the
accidents occur in any of the ways on which we have been passing
laws and spending money for years, such as guarding machinery and
that sort of thing. I do not believe that the money has been wasted,
though some people do. Until we get figures as to the rate of accidents from slips and falls we will not know just how serious the
mo.tter is, for to-day there are more accidents from slips and falls than
from all of the things we have been spending time and money on in
the past years in the way of guarding machinery. I do not know
whether or not this code committee on walkways is going to solve
the problem, but I think we ought to know what its viewpoint is.
Personally, I think there is just about as much danger in the sole of
the shoe as there is in the floor; you not only have to look after the
floor, the walkways, but you have to get hold of a factory shoe
somewhere that will stay put. I would like to hear from Doctor
Chaney on that.
Mr. CHANEY. I do not know that I can add very much to what
Mr. Mowery has already said. I would like to link it up with what
was said earlier by one of the speakers.
This _problem of walkways is more universal than any other problem which we have to deal with in the matter of safety codes. There
is no one of you who has not at some time or other been conscious of
the hazard in the matter of the walkway on which you were traveling. If the hazard was not in the walkway, it was, as Mr. Stewart
states, in the shoe which you were wearing. I might say on that
point that it ia the purpose of this committee to go into the question
with great thorougliness. We propose not simply to study walkway
surfaces, but also to study the things which rest upon the walkway,
and what their responsibility may be, a.nd what studies mi~ht prQ_perly be followed with reference to that phase of the question. We
are not going to stop with the walkways.
Upon tackling this matter, we are confronted with exactly the same
difficulty which has been emphasized here-that is, inadequate information. The most serious difficulty, as I look at it from nearly 20
years' experience with statistics on various forms of industrial accidents, is the lack of knowledge of the amount of exposure-how
many people were involved in this pro1;>osition and how many hours
they worked. That side of the question has been almost entirely
ignored.
·
You will notice that the fundamental thing in getting what we call
accident rates is the facts with regard to the amount of exposure and
the people involved, and the facts with regard to the c~ses-who.t
happened to them. We have to have knowledge on that before we
can begin to have any intelligent knowledge as to how to tackle the
problem of remedy. In connection with this cooperative effort between the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the industrial commissions
of the various States we hope to get information which will be useful in connection with our efforts to formulate proper safety codes.
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As Mr. Mowery stated to you, the manufacturers making walkway material have been sufficiently interested to accumulate a fund.
They propose to raise in the course of the next year $5,000, and to
go on and spend another $5,000 ia the next year, if necessary, to find
out what are the qualities and characteristics of the materials which
are being used, and what modification of those materials may be
required in order to make them safer. It is entirely possible that
these organizations in the States which you refer to can be of the
utmost service with reference to matters of this kind.
If you will give us the facts which we ask for-information with
regard to the amount of exposure, and the character and the number of the accidents which are occurring---:we will have something
to go upon. There will be no body of information coming from any
industry that will not have some bearing upon the problem of walkway surfaces, so we urge very strongly your utmost cooperation in
securing this fundamental information.
[Meeting adjourned.]
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TUESDAY, MAY 20-AFTERNOON SESSION
E. LEROY SWEETSER, COMMISSIONER MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
PRESIDING
The session was opened by an address on "Workmen's compensation laws and their relation to accident prevention," by T. J.
Duffy, chairman of the Ohio Industrial Commission.
WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LAWS AND THEIR RELATION TO
ACCIDENT PREVENTION
BY T. 1. DUFFY, CHAIRMAN OHIO INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION
Man can not find a nobler purpose upon which to expend his
thought and his energy than that which has for its object the conservation of the health, limb, and life of human beings. We advocate and urge the conservation of natural resources, such as minerals,
timber, fuel, water power, etc., because our success or failure to
conserve these things affects the welfare of human beings in such a
way as to increase or diminish their comfort and happiness.
In the interest of human welfare it is important to conserve our
natural resources, but it is more important to conserve health, limb,
and life, because no matter what progress we make in the conservation and the efficiency of the things that administer to the needs of
man, the individuals who have lost health can not enjoy the fruits
of such progress, and ·to the man who loses his life in an industrial
accident it means nothing.
By avoiding accidents we not only save life and limb, but we save
labor power, which is not only a natural resource in itself but is
also a vital element in most of the other agencies of conservation.
We also conserve the happiness of the home, because nothin~ can
be more detrimental t-0 domestic peace and happiness than an inJured
worker whose helpless condition requires the constant care and
attention of the familY. for a period of years, or whose death fills
their hearts with grief. Compensation is a blessing and a great
help to the victims of industrial accidents, but it does not replace
amputated limbs, restore human lives, or give back to widows and
children their loved 0nes.
By avoiding accidents we also contribute to the conservation of
the peace and stability of society by lessening the causes of discontent. In these days of big busmess it is almost impossible for the
average man to engage in a business of his own, and he must, therefore, depend for his means of livelihood upon those who control the
avenues of employment. If, in pursuing the only opportunity he
has to acquire subsistence for himself and far.1ily, man is needlessly
exposed to loss of health, limb, and life, he is going to feel that he
is the unfortunate victim of conditions beyond his control, which is
likely \o make him bitter, fill him with hatred of those who control
industry, and make him a fit subject for revolutionary propaganda.
38735°-25--4
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Hence we can sec that the work of pre.enting industrial accidents
and diseases involves not only the safety of those engaged in hazardous occu_pations but also the comfort and happiness of j;he Nation's
homes, the security of industry, and the I_>eace and stability of society.
The relation of workmen's compensation laws to accident prevention is self-evident. Prior to the era of workmen's comJ>ensation laws
the people at large had no conception of the large number of injuries
and .deaths which modem industry inflicts upon the laboring people.
In the old days an injured worker would occasionally attract public
attention by winning a verdict for a large amoµnt of money; but the
thousands who got nothing were never heard of, and the pain and
poverty they sufiered was unknown, except to intimate friends or
charitable agencies.
It is true that even in those days a few employers had adopted the
humane method of providing a fund to compensate injured workers
and the dependents of killed workers. But the common practice of
employers was to take out an employers' liability insurance policy,
and then in case of injury or death leave the injured workers or the
dependents of killed workers to the mercy of insurance companies,
wlio had guaranteed in their insurance policies to take care of the
legal liability of employers but had promised no benefits to the victims of industrial accidents.
In those days great indi:fference prevailed in regard to reporting to
the proper State aepartments injuries and deaths caused by industriaf accidents. There was no incentive to make such reports. The
experience in almost all States will show that the number of industrial injuries and deaths reported during the first year under the
workmen's compensation law was more than double the number re:.
ported for the preceding year. This was due to the fact that workmen's compensation laws gave an incentive to both workers and employers to report all accidents-on the one side for the _purpose of getting compensation, on the other to avoid law suits which could not
be brouglit after compensation had been paid.
Itcanreadilybeseen then, that in addition to providing compensation
for the victims of industrial accidents, workmen's compensation laws
concentrated attention upon the importance of the problem <Jf industrial accidents, because when State departments published re_ports
showing that thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands in- '
jured each year in the industries of the State, and that the compensation
paid to the victims of industrial accidents amounted to 10 or 20
million dollars a year, the people realized, as they never had before,
th& serious, sorrowful, and costly results of industrial accidents.
This caused greater interest to be taken in the work of accident
prevention and produced greater results in the· invention of devices
and means of safety. But past achievements in the work of accident prevention have been very meager compared with what I believe
to be the reasonable possibilities along this line. It is true that in
aliilost every State those in control of thd agencies for industrial
safety are-seriously handicapped through lack-of adequate means and
the want of a sufficient number of capable safety engineers.
In the State of Ohio a constitutional amendment was adopted
recently which authorizes the industrial commission to takl' from
the State insurance fund an amount, not to exceed 1 per cent of
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the premium paid into the fun,l ("In.ch year, to expend in the
work of accident prevention. Thi~ amendment can not be made
operative until next year, but under its provisions the Industrial
Commission of Ohio will have more tlian $100,000 a year to
expend in the work of industrial safety. This will make it possible
for Ohio to have an industrial safety department and a corps of expert safety en_gineers ca:(>able of doing practical and educational work
along safety Imes of a higher standard and to a much greater degree
thn.n has been possible heretofore. This service will not supplant the
present factory inspection service but will be supplementary to it.
If we had to depend upon legislative appropriations we would never
be able to establish such a safety department. It is made possible
only because the cost has been made available from the State insurance fund. At the present rates of compensation in Ohio, 15 death
claims in which there is full dependency will amount to $100,000.
So you can see that if this safety work f'-hould be the means of saving
15 lives it will reimburse the State insurance fund for the full amount
expended, to say nothing of the pain, sorrow, and misery from which
many individuals will be saved.
Of course, in order to have industrial safety we must have something more than mere mechanical safeguards; we must have workers
with sound bodies, clear brains, and good and wholesome habits of
life, and we must have employers who thoroughly understand and
fully appreciate the humanitarian and the economical aspect of industrial safety. It is important that machinery be safeguarded and that
all t.he unnecessary hazards be removed from the workshop, mill, or
mine. But it is far more important that the workers themselves
shall acquire the habit of tax:ing no unnecessary chances. The
human element is the biggest factor and the most important factor iu
the work of accident prevention. 1 want to cite a few examples to
support this statement:
In Ohio a 16-year-old high-school boy was.working in a bake shop
durin~ the vacation period. One day the electric dough-mixing
machine became conjested, and the mixing knives ceased to operate.
Instead of shutting off the electric power before attem_pting to relieve
the conjestion, that 16-year-old boy thought he would take a chance.
He attempted to remove some of the dough. Suddenly the mixing
knives began to revolve and in an instant's time he had lost both his
hands, and he is now in the unfortunate position of fightil_!g the battle
of life without the pair of hands which the Almighty Himself had
thought were essential to his welfare. Two grown-up men did the
same thing that this buy did with the same result
In a mine down in southern Ohio a miner wns in his room digging
coal. The mine inspector came in and caBed his attention to the
fact that much of the roof under which he was working was hanging
loose. The inspector instructed him to prop up that roof before diggina any more coal. The miner lau(J'he<l n.t the inspector's warning
anJ paid no attention to it. An hourlater they found his lifeless body
between the tons of material that had fallen from the roof.
A workman who was operating a machine upon which a safeguird
wa.s emploved ceased work when the safeguard broke and reported
the matter to the superintendent. The superintendent persuaded
the man to operate the machine without u. safeguard because the
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work he was doing was a rush order. To accommodate the superintendent 'the workman continued at his post without the safeguard.
Before the day was over he lost his arm.
This high-school boy, this miner, and this superintendent furnish
examples of the folly of taking unnecessary chances. Men perform
dangerous operations and subject themselves to unnecessary hazards
and esca_pe without injury perhaps nine thousand nine hundred and
ninety-rune times, but they forget that it takes only one accident to
put out an eye, amputate a limb, or crush out a human life; and the
object of all safety measures is to protect the worker in that ten
thousandth time when indifference, fatigue, or recklessness may cause
the worker to make a move that will result in serious injury and
perhaps death.
. [John B. Andrews, secretary of the American Association for Labor
Legislation, then addressed the convention on "Occupational disease
compensation," as follows:]
OCCUPATIONAL-DISEASE COMPENSATION
BY JOHN B, ANDREWS, SECRETARY AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR LABOR LEGISLATION
With the coming of workmen's compensation it was recognized
that disabilities due to occupational disease should be compensated
as well as accidental injuries.
Sickness alone among industrial workers in the United States
causes a money loss each year of nearly three-quarters of a billion
dollars, not to mention the waste of human well-being and efficiency.
Careful American authorities have estimated that one-fourth of this
annual economic loss, or about S200,000,000, can be prevented.
The most effective aid to prevention of industrial sickness in the
absence of workmen's health insurance laws, lies in the inclusion of
occupational diseases, along with work accidents, in our workmen's
.
compensation laws.
. It is everywhere accepted that accident compensation laws have
given a new and effective stimulus to accident prevention. But
without itdequate occupational disease compensation our State
safety and health inspectors are deprived of their greatest aid in
promoting industrial hygiene in the factories, mines, and workshops
of America.
Among the more familiar occupational diseases which should be
covered everywhere by compensation laws are compressed air workers' "bends," hatters' "shakes," painters' lead colic and "wrist
drop," and miners' asthma. But practically every occupation has
its own peculiar malady. There is, too, under modem proce:,ises, a
constantly growing list of industrial poisons.
l'IBST PLAN
In the United States, Massachusetts-one of the first Stat~ to
adopt the compensation principle-provided from the b~in~ for
compensation of "personal inJuries. " The word " accidental' was
carefully avoided and the highest State court interpreted ":personal
injuries" to cover occupational disease as well as accidental mjuries.
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California, after two years, amended her compensation law to
strike out the word "accident" and redefine "injury" and has thus
included occupational diseases. Seven States 1-and the Federal
Government in its law for civilian employees-have followed this
course. This system brings to the attention of the compensation
commissioners many cases of occupational disability that could not
be compensated as accidental injury; it uncovers a constantly
increasing number of disease danger points in modern industry, and
it leads to industrial inspections and orders to make these dangerous work places safe.
Because the coverage of this form of law is broad, cases due to
new industrial processes can be met promptly; the victims can be
compensated, and all the preventive value of workmen's compensation can be brought to bear immediately to assist the industrial
inspectors in their safety work.
SECOND PLAN
But even the broadest form of occupational disease compensation
coverage fails to reach a large portion of illness, due in whole or in
part to industrial life. Shortly before the World War public sentiment began to favor a comprehensive plan of workmen's health
insurance. To check this sentiment the opposition raised the cry
of "Made in Ge1many," since in that country health insurance was
first put into effect nearly 40 years ago and later adopted in other
leading industrial countries.
·
But sentiment favorable to health insurance was so strong-despite
the distractions of war-that its opponents realized they could not
merely oppose health insurance, they must have some positive issue
that would appear to place them in favor of the general purpose of
protecting tlie health of wage earners. Immediately the special
mterests that had formerly opposed occupational-disease compensation
became its enthusiastic advocates, but m a form wliich would greatly
limit its benefits.
In New York, where a health insurance bill had passed the senate,
these opponents rushed foward with an occupational disease compensation bill containing a limited list of sucli disabilities, only two
of which occur at all commonly in New York State. In reply to a
protest that this was likely to mislead the public they declared their
measure was "adequate." The secretary of the associated manufacturers in New York even wrote to his membership that it would
probably be necessary on account of the "most important change"
to create a special bureau in the department of labor to provide for
the occupat10nal-disease compensation. In actual experience the
results have been so meager tliat the New York Department of Labor
keeps no separate record of occupational-disease compensation cases
and can furnish no official information. It is rumored, however,
that not over a dozen occupational-disease awards were made under
this amendment during an entire year, although over 50,000 accidental injuries .were compensated.
1california, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Porto Rico, and Wisconsin.
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This year-after three years' experience under the amendment-a
well7known insurance statistician ap_peared at public hearings at
Albany earnestly but unsuccessfully pleading for the inclusion of one
additional occupational disease in wliich he personally. was especially
interested. A prominent woman specialist in industrial medicine
came from Boston pointing out that although the derivatives of
benzol were compensable under the New York law disabilities due
~o benzol itself, for some strange reason, were not. But the legisla.ture failed to make any of the suggested improvements in the
occupational-disease list.
Tliis is serious enough in New York. But it has not ended th~re.
Ji'ou.r other States 2 copied the discredited New York opposition plan.
These States were probably misled into thi,nking they were adopting
real occupational-disease compensation laws.
RESULTS OF OCCUPATIONAL-DISEASE COMPENSATION
Recently the American Association for Labor Legislation has
made an mquiry co~cerning_ the actual res~ltf'! of occupational-dii,iease compensation m America. It found, m ·brief, that there are
now five laws of the narrow misleading New York type, and eight
laws following the broader Massachusetts plan.
While statistical information of occupational-disease compensation-outside of Wisconsin and two or three other States-is still in
a deplorably bad condition, making accurate comparisons impossible,
nevertheless, in general, it may be said that the results obtained
under the broader type laws (following Massachusetts) are far
superior to those under the restricted-list; type as "put over" in
New York.
One possible exception which may be mentioned is in Ohio where
there are extensive lead manufactones, where dermatitis ·is included,
and where; too, the administration of workmen's compensation is
through an exclusive State fund with more liberal interpretation in
the absence of constant appeals on technicalities by insurance carriers.
It is evident also from the scattering_ data available that diseases
reported and compensated under even the most liberal occupationaldisease amendments have increased to only a very slight degree the
total compensation experience, whether measured by the total time ·
lost, the number of cases, or the cost.
·
Considering, first, laws of the general type, we find that in California in the calendar year 1921 the disease cases represented but
0.92 per cent of the total number of reported injuries, (576 out of
62,273) ; that the time loss due to diseases measured in days represented 0.2 per cent of the total time loss in all cases (13,699 days
out of a total of 6,829,294); and that compensation paid in occupational-disease cases was but 0.38 per cent of the total payment in
compensation cases ($22,920 out of $5,924,582). In Massachusetts,
for the year ending June 30, 1921, occupational-disease cases represented 1.1 per cent of all report;·ed cases (583 8 out of 53,313), and
their time loss amounted also to 1.1 per cent of the to_tal compensa1 Illlnols1 Minnesota. New 1ersey, Ohio. The Illinois law applies onlytotb~se poisons rovered In
tbe"ler.d mw."
• This figure includes injuries due to poisonous and corrosive substanres and orcupatiouul <I lsease. The
actual disease cases numbered only 564 but conesponding time-loss figures are not uvailable.
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tion-time loss (46,419 days out of 4,103,378). No cost figures are
available for this State. In Wisconsin during Hl21 the disease cases
compensated, 235 in number, were 1.5 per cent of all compensated
cases (15,898), the time lost (42,105 days) ·was 1.7 per cent of the
total time loss (2,518,539 days), and the occupational-di:;ease compensation, including medical care, was 1.4 per cent of the total cost
($41,664 out of $2,918,817).· In 1922 the Wisconsin disease cases
compensated were 1.6 per cent of the total compensated cases (281
cases out of 16,705), 1.9 per cent of the time loss (52,062 days out
of 2,642,442), and 1.9 per cent of the cost ($63,043 out of $3,156,958);
and in 1923 occupational disease comprised 1.6 per cent of the compensated cases (338 out of 20,941), 2 per cent of the time loss (58,558
days out of 2,842,765) and 1.9 per cent of the cost ($73,734 out of
$3,719,030). The United States Employees Compensation Commission, in its 1923 report, estimated that from September, 1916, to the
end of 1922 its occupational-disease cases represented about 1.5 per
cent of the total number of compensated cases, and that their cost
did not exceed 3 per cent of the total benefits paid. Similarly the
late Carl Hookstadt, in a study• of occupational-disease ~ompensation based on earlier experience in California, Massachusetts, and
the Federal law, found th.at in 1919 occupational diseases represented
1.5 per cent of the cases compensated and 1.6 per cent of time loss
due to temporary disability under the· Federal law, 0.8 per cent of
the cases under the California law for the same year, and 2.9 _per cent
of fatal cases but only 1.3 per cent of nonfatal cases under the Massachusetts law during the period 1915-16 to 1918-19. In 1918-19
for this State the disease cases equalled 0.8 per cent of all injuries
and accounted for 0.8 per cent of the time loss m temporary cases.
Even less complete data are available for limited schedule laws
but, as one would expect, the disease cases generally represent a stili
smaller percentage of the experience here. In Minnesota, for the
year ending June 30, 1922-the first full year of occupational disease
coverage--occupational disease awards numbered 5, or 0.05 per cent
of all awards, and cost $2,818, or 0.2 per cent of the total compensation payments. For the year previous, when the disease coverage
was effective for only about one month, there was but one occupational disease award, a fatal case, representing 0.3 per cent of the
total workmen's compensation cost. No time-loss figures are avail_.
able here. If one included cases due to poisonous and corrosive substances with those due to disease, as 1s usual in statistics of the
general laws, the figures would be higher, There were some 119
cases in this broader classification in Minnesota in 1921 and 128 in
1922. Comparable cost figures are not, however, given for this classification. For Ohio we have neither cost nor time-loss figures. For
the year ending June 30, 1923, there were ~14 occupational disease
claims in this State out of a total of 175,636 claims filed, or 0.5 per
cent. For the entire period of the law's operation (August 1, 1921,
to June 30, 1923) the percentage is even lower, O.OS. This difference
is probably explained, however, by the well-known rule that the first
year of any compensation law shows low experience because not all
workers have become familiar with their rights. Although no detailed figures are available on the relative cost of occupational disease
•see Monthly Labor Review February, 1921, pp. 154-lr.O.
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compensation in Ohio it is interesting to note that the commission
· reported in June, 1923, that a flat tax on all industries of 2½ per cent
per $100 payroll had netted some $480,000 for the occupational disease
fund, of which only $44,000, less than 10 per cent of the sum collected, had been spent to date.
_New York figures are extrt;,mely meager. We know that in the
year ending June 30, 1921, there were 66 hearings in occupational
disease cases out of a total of 140,278 hearings. Assuming that the
proportions are the same in hearings and cases, disease cases represented about 0.05 per cent of the total. It is unofficially re:ported
that there were about 12 awards in occupational disease cases m this
year out of a total of something over 50,000 compensation awards.
The per cent of award is therefore perhaps 0.02 to 0.03, though the
accuracy of this estimate is doubt1ul. No time-loss or cost :figures
could be obtained in New York.
No occupational disease figures are obtainable for Connecticut,
Illinois, New Jersey, or Porto Rico, although letters from Connecticut
indicate that probably only a few dozen cases are compensated
yearly. :rn Hawaii only three awards with a total time loss of 26
weeks, have been made in the history of the act.
Occupational disease, then, accounts for an almost negligible part
of all compensation experience. An interesting confirmation of this
conclusion is found in the fact that the actuarial committee of the
National Coup.cil on Workmen's Compensation Insurance in 1920
recommended that no special factor be allowed in compensation insurance rates to cover the cost of occupational disease inclusion.6
Previous to that insurance companies haa been allowing 2 per cent
loading for occupational disease coverage.
Space does not permit inclusion of further details. In a final
evaluation of facts revealed by this inquiry, however, certain conclusions stand out plainly:
(1) From the viewpoint of compensation, of safety inspection, and
of prevention, the ?eneral or inclusive type of law which covers all
"personal injuries' is preferable to the narrow specific-list law.
(2) Someone, by making exaggera.ted claims for occupational disease compensation as a so-called substitute for health insurance, has
misled the public-and especially employers and trade unionists-into b_elieving its benefits are much greater· and vastly more expensive
than thev really are. Actually tne increased compensation under
the most liberal laws does not amount to more than 2 to 3 per
cent.
(3) Occupational disease compensation, on the broadest possible
plan, should be encouraged in every State, and it may be made of
very considerable help to factory inspectors who are charged with
the important public duty of making sure that the work places are
made safe.
(4) Great imJ?rovement is needed in record keeping, in order that
the full preventive value of occupational disease compensation may
be capitalized.
• See Proceedings of CBBualty Actuarial and Statistical Society of America, 1919, 1920, Vol. VI, Part II,
p. 280, quoted by Mr. Hootstadt, ID Monthly Labor Review, February, 1921, p. 155.
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DISCUSSION
A DELEGATE. How many cases were there in New York during
the same period represented by these Wisconsin cases ?
Mr. ANDREWS. There is no information as to New York. They
stopped keeping records as soon as the_y knew they were being duped
on the subject of their law. Unofficial reports say that only -12 cases
were actually compensated.
Mr. WILCOX. There should be constant care that compensation
benefits keep pace measurably with growth and with the 'increased
cost of living. Build more and more to the end, as declarcM by the
courts, that mdustry should bear the burden of industrial accidents.
We are given to rating benefits under compensation according to
what benefits were at common law prior to tlie adoption of the compensation laws. Compensation then was never above $1,800. Recently $112,000 was recovered by a woman under the common law.
Industry ought to bear in mind that compensation benefits should
keep pace with that liability which they are escaping. They should
be measured by- to-day's damages under the common law. There
are many so-called compensation laws in this country which are a
disgrace. They ought not be on the statute books because they are
of no benefit to the workers. The benefits are too low. Only 13
States pay compensation for disease.
States should pay compensation for all diseases. Some think there
is danger in covering all diseases, but it is just as easy to handle
that feature of the law as any other. As soon as you write into the
law a provision covering diseases, just so soon wiU the employers see
to it that their employees do not contract those diseases. In Wisconsin employers are watching diseases with the same great care
they do any other safety work. Under this law medical-aid benefits
run a little higher; indemnity benefits run lower. Even under the old
laws, some diseases are compensated under accident provisions, as
they occur suddenly, e. g. 1 anthrax, carbon-monoxide poisoning, etc.
These schedules keep out _particular cases; for example, they always
omit tuberculosis. There should be complete coverage if the disease
is caused by the injury.
· Mr. RoAcn. Have you proved cases where industry has caused
tuberculosis?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes. For example, in Milwaukee, in one company
there were 7 cases, 5 of which were fatal. The medical proofs showeu
conclusively that tuberculosis was contracted by reason of sandblasting operations, being caused by the inhalation of metal dust.
Mr. RoACH. Is the germ in the mineral?
Mr. WILCOX. No. The disease is caused by irritation. Just as a
fracture can set up tuberculosis because of the blow, so injured surfaces, in this case irritated by the abrasion of the metal dust, are open
to infection.
Mr. RoACH. Are there other diseases similarly compensable?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes. Typhoid is compensated under the industrial
accident provision.
Mr. RoACll, What was the cause of such typhoid i
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Mr. WILcox. I heard of several cases in one year in one company.
The- pipes of the city drinking-water system and of its own pumping
system were brought together and seJ>arated by valves. The pressure on the city-system side was higher and the valve set back
· against the city-system side. The water crowded through to the
other side, from "the public to the private system side. In July
during a drought the pressure on the city-system side was low, and
water was pumped out of a flume right below the toilets where refuse
was. ·Fifteen or 20 men came down with typhoid fever. · ComJ>ensation as for occu.l!ational accidents was given. Why would the law
be more valuable 1f it covered this in a general way I Compensation
is for personal injury. What is the advantage of the other measure¥
Mr. RoACH. We do not include tuberculosis.
Mr. WILcox. They do not want to cover it.
Mr. ROACH. What other diseases have you noticed I
Mr. WILcox. Broad general coverage is better. Modem indµstry
is not static. We are creating new industrial poisons all the time.
One of the disadvantages of the schedule method is that very thing.
The New York schedule includes the derivatives from benzol. Why
cover derivatives merely and not benzol itself¥ Mr. Hoffman was
anxious to have one more occupational disease, one in which he had
a particular interest included. A general principle is better, in that
it brings certain sore spots to the attention of inspectors and employers, wlio will then take care immediately for the relief of the victim.
Mr. RoAcH. What are some of the new ones¥
Mr. WILcox. There is nogood reason for making a schedule if you
mean to take care of all. By a schedule we compensate some and
some fall by the wayside. There is no stopping to work out the
details of tlie law as to whether the particular disease is covered; if it
grew out of industry it is covered.
I hope that you will never allow your State to write into its law
such a schedule. We lose ground by taking part of the loaf. Il
necessary, wait a year and get the whole. .
·
Mr. HALL. "Personal injury" might be interpreted as not including
occupational disease.
·
.
Mr. WILCOX. The word "injury" is sufficient to take care of it.
We took care of occupational disease under our old law under the
term "injury."
Mr. HALL. Other States might not be so liberal.
Mr. ANDREWS. There might be d&!).ger in the use of the word
"injury" unless the courts had made decisions thereon.
[The next subject on the progi:a.m was "The industrial relations
act of Colorado,' a paper on which subject was read by W. I. Reilly,
chairman of the Industrial Commission of Colorado, as follows:]
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT OF COLORADO
BY W. I. REILLY, CHAIRMAN COLORADO INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION
Labor troubles commenced when Eve set Adam to work in J>rocuring the prime necessities and first luxuries of married life. Labor
troubles will continue as long as man exists, inasmuch as labor is and
will be necessary to his existence.
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49
Society feels that because of its present complex aspect, the relations between em_I>loyer and employee as now existing are entirely
new, and that with very little thought a drastic remedy can be
devised for their solution. Such is not the case.
U:pder the present highly developed SP.ecialized system of manufacture and distribution, and the aependence of the individual for
his common necessities upon the effort of persons far removed, a
cessation of work in any one line is an interference with the entire
industrial and commercial fabric.
Prior to the present industrial system, a very few industries were
"affected with a public interest." It was early recognized b:y- both
the legislatures and the courts that the means of transportation by
common carriers were so affected. Recently there has been a decision by at least one supreme court extending this rule to the coalmining industry. It lias also been decided that the question as to
whether or not an industry is affected with a P.ublic interest is not a
legislative but a judicial question, and that the courts will not be
bound b;v.: a declaration of the legislature upon such question.
The killing of a beef and the distribution of its meat to the neighbors is not an industry affected with a :{>Ublic interest. A few years
ago each butcher shop in the town ha<i its own slaughterhouse where
animals were gathered, slaughtered, and prepared for market each
day for the foUowing day's consumption. To-day the community is
indeed small and rather removed from the great arteries of trade
where such a condition exists. The local slaughterhouse has been
eliminated. The butcher shop, however, remains and depends upon
the great packing houses for everything in the meat line sold over
its counters.
The cessation of work by all the employees in any one slau~hterhouse, or in' a number of slaughterhouses, would not have detrimentally affected the public, but a cessation of work in one or two packing houses would be immediately noticed by a scarcity of supplies or
a prohibitive price. The tying up of all the packing houses of this
country would instantly deprive the people of their principal article
of food, and one feels that the courts are not keeping abreast of our
civilization when they declare in their solemn decision that the packing
industry is not affected with a public interest.
The strides,ms.de in the meat industry within the last few years
are but typical of the development of practically all industries which
manufacture and prepare the other necessities of life, and the general
tendency of industry to-day is toward concentration and specialization. As the industry of the employer expanded and the number of
his employees increased, the individual employee necessarily lost the
benefit of the _personal contact, acquaintance, and friendship of his
employer, and m order to bring before his employer the needs of the
employee and the conditions under which he lived and worked, the
necessity for organization on the part of em:ployees became imperative. As the dealings of the employer with his employee were
through manager, superintendent, or agent, it also became necessary
that the employees present their problems to the employer through
a r~presentative.
The employer enj<>_yed the profits of organization-the employees
learned its power. When the interest of the employer and employee
conflicted, a strike ensued. The strike has taught the employer the
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power of labor-that no labor meant no product, no profit. Tho
public has learned that it is the real party in interest in all dis_putes
between em]_)loyer and employee-tliat 1t suffers ~l the hardships
and pays all the bills-but has failed to appoint an authorized
re]_)resentative, a representative of public needs, of _public opinion.
Colorado is a comparatively new State. Its industrial history is
short. Even during this short history there have been four or five
industrial wars withm its boundaries that, because of their bitterness
and far-reaching effects, loss of property and of life, have· brought
to the attention of the entire N at1on a realization of the fact that the
underlying causes run deep into the foundations of civilizati'ln
itself.
.
Colorado stood horrified in 1914 when the lives of innocent women
and children were snuffed out in the conflict. Even if they were not
intentionally killed, this relieves but little the horror of the situation.
When the legislature convened in 1915 there was a determined effort
on the part of the public to supply an authorized agent to represent
definitely the public's interest m industrial disputes-an agency that
would use its good offices in attempting to prevent the recurrence of
another horrible industrial struggle such as had just ended. The
result ,was the passage of the izidustrial relations act of Colorado. I
will not attempt to give you the full details of this act, nor all of the
power conferred by 1t upon the industrial commission, but will mention only those sections that relate particularly to strikes and lockouts.
The Colorado law created a commission composed of three members, known as the Industrial Commission of Colorado. This law
~ves the commission jurisdiction over every dispute between employer and E!lllployee regarding wages, hours, or working conditions;
prohibits a lockout by the employer or a strike by the employee
pending an investigation of such dispute by the industrial commission,
and requires either party desiring a change in workini conditions to
give to the other and to the industrial comµiission 30 days' prior
notice of its demands. The commission's award is not binding u~n
either party unless both parties, prior to the rendition of the awards,
agree to be bound thereby.
·
One section of the act provides that a manda1;ory writ shall be
issued, upon the aJ>J>lication of the commission, by any district court
of any county in wliich tho place of employment, or part thereof, is
situated, ordering either or l:ioth parties to the dispute to continue the
condit_ioJ?-8 in statu quo until the entry of the award by the
comm1SS1on.
The· general terms of the act. give the commision full power to subpama witnesses, to require the production of books and papers by
either party, and to hold hearings .either by the commission or by a
board appointed by the commission.
The scoJ>e of the act covers the general relationship between employers and employees, and specifically directs the com.mission to do
all m its power to promote the voluntary arbitration, mediation, and
conciliation of disputes between employer and employee, to avoid
strikes, lockouts, boycotts, black lists, discriminations, and legal
proceedings in matters of employment.
The law does not take into consideration the question . as to
whether the eIDJ>loyees affected are union or nonunion-the commission has recogmzed the officers of the union as representatives of the
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union employees, the representatives of the employees organized
under any system or plan, and also the representatives of nonunion
and of unorganized employees.
The primary object of the law is conciliation. No question arises
:grior to a strike that is not capable of some just and equitable solut10n. After a strike has occurred, many entangling complications
arise and a settlement becomes more difficult each day.
In many of the controversies handled by the commission U1ere is
a contract between the employer and his employees, or between the
employer and a union, fixing the wages, hours, and conditions of
employment, which contract terminates at a definite time. Frequently the contract termination date arrives before an agreement
is reached, and the disposition of one side or the other is to make
the changes demanded. The parties are unable to make some definite arrangement pending further negotiations. Trouble starts.
Under the Colorado law all previous conditions automatically continue, pending action of the commission. This prevents tho injection
of now and irrelative difficulties before the complete analysis of the
real problems involved.
·
At the inception of a difficulty the commission uses every effort to
inform itself of all the questions involved, and attempts to obtain.
conferences between tho employer and employees, with a view to a
settlement by mutual agreement. If such efforts fail, the controversy
is set for hearing, in wliich at least two, and in the great majority of
the cases all three members of the commission particip1tte. There
are no formalities at these hearings; in fact, it is seldom that the
commission proceeds twice in the same manner. Each controversy,
because of the q_uestions involved or the personality of the contestants, requires a change in tactics. In the great majority of cases
the employers and employees appear in person, without attorneys,
and present their facts.
During a hearing tho commission often gets a suggestion or a line
on a settlement from the statements of parties or the testimony of
witnesses; a recess is taken, and the commission request.q the parties
to confer along the suggested lines, and through such efforts an
&g!'eement is reached voluntarily by the parties.
In the hearings, the commission is exceedingly liberal in the latitude given witnesses, in fact, it often seems that it is a safety valve
to one officially to unburden himself of the tremendous weight of
some insignificant chip he has been carrying on his shoulders. One
of the effects of a hearing is that personal grievances or grudges that
have arisen during the employment, that seem to the particular personality of the individual so large as to be unsurmountable, dwindle
into insignificance when he tries to impress the magnitude of them
upon a disinterested conciliator. Often employers and employees
become disgusted with some of the positions they have taken when
scrapping among themselves, and, out of shame, drop their grudges;
as a reaction, their more generous impulses assist in an ultimate
conciliation.
One of the employees at a certain hearing was particularly radical.
The only idea he had was ''strike," and in every sentence and statement he mentioned strike and its effect. nnd benl.'fit::;. He sl.'emed to
be attempting to stir up enthusiasm for ti Rtrike. His n,ttitmll' fina.11y
became obnoxious, and someone bluntly knl)Cke<l the chip from h1s
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shoulder by the terse remark: "Don't you know it doesn't take
brains to strike1 It takes brains to get a good job and to keep it.
Any fool can quit work; The careful thought of every employee is
needed· to prevent a strike. " This quieted the obstreperous individual. In a very_ short time the commission took a recess, asked
the parties to confer, and an agreement was reached.
'
On another occasion six men with set faces walked into the offices
of the commission, sepa• ating into two groups of three. It was
impossible to determine which were employees and which employers,
but upon inquiry we found that a demand had been made by the
employees for an increase in wages, and while having a conference
with their employers which resulted in a deadlock, some one suggested that the;y come to the commission with the matter. They
wished to obey the law, ·but each was determined to fight the other
to a finish
Mter a short talk, the two sides were separated and conferences
held by the commission, first with one side and then with' the other.
Neither side was at a loss for words to describe .the particular traits
of the other, and the language used could not he found in any Sunday School lesson we reviewed. The employers said that the employees had made up their minds what the -employers were going to
pay them, and that settled the matter except that the employers
were not going to pay it. The employees knew that their hardhearted employers would giTe them no advance at· all-and they
were going to st.rjke.
We found the employers willing to give the.employees as much as
the employees actualJy exJ>ected. Wc sparred back and forth
between them until both sicles were definitely pledged as to what
they would do. We then hrou_ght them togetlier and announced
that the matter was settled. Both sides were astonished. They
shook hands with each other, almost hugged each other; and wondered why they had come up to the commission to settle something
they should have settled between themselves. They signed an agreement, each entirely pleased with the other, and, possibly, disgusted
with the commission.
The industrial law became •effective August 1, 1915, and up to and
includin~ April 15, 1924, there had b~en 1,124 cases filed with the
commission; 73 strikes resulted-approximately 6½ per cent.
.
Dic:;putes of a national character, sueh as the bituminous coal strikes,
cause the greatest difficulties. The bitterest industrial strikes in the
State, before the enactment of this law, affected the mini.1gindustrv.
The law has been tested since its enactment by two great national
coal strikes-the strike of 1919 and the strike of 1921. Both of these
strikes are ~uch recent history that it is not necessary to repeat- the
details of either of them. You will probably be surprised to learn
that Colorado was the only State in tlie Union that produced practically a normal output from its mines during both controversies, and
this was accomplished without the loss of life and without bloodshed.
A great fight was made before the legislature in 1917 by some of
the labor leaders of the State, demanding the repeal of what is termed
"the 30-day clause" in the industrial law, the J>Osition taken by a
number of the labor leaders being that to suspend the right to strike
for 30 days was enslaving the workers of this State; that the 30-day
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clause was "involuntary servitude"; that during 30 days the men
were slaves under the State law, without conviction for crime and
contrary to the ·provisions of the constitution. It might be said that
the commission, in its years of experience and in the examination of
the constitution and by-laws of practically every international union
in the country, has found but one union that did not provide in its
by-laws or constitution for a notice from 30 to 90 days before the
change of any conditions.
In all my experience with labor I can not recall a case where employees as a body demanded an increase in wages that such change was
not under consideration in some form by the employees for more than
30 days.
I can recall a number of cases where the employer posted notice
that a reduction was then effective. I do not know how long the
employer had such change under consideration. The 30-day clause
undoubtedly affects the employer more than the employees. It
really is a decided protection to the employee-not a disadvantage.
I have carried a union card all my working life since ti,pprenticeship, being a member of the International Typographical Union, and
it is my intention to continue carrying this card as long as I live.
It is my honest opinion that the 3~day notice required by the industrial law is one of the greatest Erotections to organized labor
passed by- any legislature. I am familiar with the psychology of the
labor umon, from the inside as well as outside of the union hall. I
think the following simple illustration will be sufficient for the point:
The employees appear for work and find posted a notice of a 20 per
cent reduction in wages, effective on that date. They have no opportunity to discuss the situation, to form plans, or to ascertain the
wish of the .majority. A decision must be made. Some insist that
they continue work until a meeting of the union can be had, others
quit. They are divided into factions. The union finally meets.
i Wise deliberation is impossible. Bitter feelings develop toward each
) other. The union is weakened, perhaps ruined.
Under the Colorado law this condition can not happen. Any
employee can notify the industrial commission, and the employer 1s
immediately required to reinstate and continue former conditions
until the legal notice has been {riven. The above illustration is
particularly applicable to the weaker unions.
The working people are becoming more and more familiar with
this law, and wlien some grievance occurs, instead of quitting work,
they simply notify the commission. The commission tells the
employees to stay on the job and also immediately takes the matter
up with the management and explains the law, and almost without
exception the law has been obeyed. When an employer refuses to
obey, the matter is submitted to the attorney general for prosecution.
One employer notified the commission that an agreement had been
made with the representatives of its employees for a reduction in
wages. A number of employees protested to the commission. A
hearing was commenced to ascertain whether or not an agreement
had been made. A large number of empl<>yees refused to accept
the reduction. A real controversy existed. The employer attempted
to operate under the reduction. The commission immediately
ordered the employer to restore conditions and ordered the employees
to resume work pending the hearing. The employees immediately
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consented. The employer asked the commission as to its intentions
regardin~ the enforcement of the order and was informed that the
commission intended to discontinue the hearing and apply to the
courts for a mandatory writ to compel the reinstatement of conditions.
The employer at once accep_ted and obeyed the order. The commission resumed its hearing. The number of employees affected by this
order ran into the thousands and thE:' wages involved, pending the
hearing, amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Colorado law is not a compulsory arbitration law-it is a compulsory investigation law. Itismy:opinion that compulsory arbitration is absolutely impractical. It does not-and it can not-fit into
our social system nor our present theory of Government. Compul- ,
sory arbitration would be to wages what Government price fixing
would be to commodities. When Goverpment price fixing has been
ma.de successful by law and has absolutely supplanted the industrial
law of supply and demand, then only should compulsory arbitration
be timidly attempted. Price fixing deals with commodities, which
are property rights; compulsory arbitration would be dealing with
hum.an rights. Human rights are higher than property rights.
Strange to say, enthusiastic dreamers have attempted to try their
theories on the most sacred rights before demonstrating their practical adaptation to those of less importance.
The Colorado law, of course, like all laws, is not ferfect. It does,
however, contain some J>ra.ctical features that are o great assistance
in maintaining industrial peace. It was the outgrowth of a demand
from both labor and capital for some assistance in their problems.
Every regulatory law curtails some previous liberty; both employer
and employee immediately found that it interfered with their individual determination to do aa they pleased-at least, it dela_yed
the "do," and often eliminated the "unreasonable" from their
determination.
'
The law gives to the employees something they have ·never had (
before and which can be used to their great advantage. It gives \
labor official recognition, through which it can present to the public
its minutest grievance and whereby it can demand an-immediate
public investigation of the conditions of employment and the adequacy
of the wages received.
Arbitrary employers who have refused their employees the privilege of conference and who have refused to discuss their mutual
J>roblems a.re, by virtue of a compulsory investigation, forced to meet
their employees, to hear their grievances, and to give the employees
a. sttt.tement of the employer's problems and of the conditions of the
industry. The advantage of this one feature of the law for practical
good is a. complete answer to any disadvantages from a temporary
delay to open hostilities.
.
The aim of every court is justice. The aim of any commission
will be fairness. The commission has no power of its own to enforce
its awards. The only power back of the a.wards of the commission
is public opinion. Public opinion is the final · ury that settles industrial disputes. An impartial investigation, just a.ward, alone can
win its verdict.
[Meeting adjourned.]
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 21-MORNJNG SF.SSION
D. L. McLEAN, DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS OF MANITOBA, PRESIDING
The first subject on the program was "Statistics as related to law
enforcement," on which Royal Meeker, secretary of the Department
of Labor and Industry of Pennsylvania, addressed the convention.
STATISTICS AS RELATED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT
BY ROYAL MEEKER, SECRETARY
PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND
INDUSTRY
Labor administrators need a much simJ?ler kind of statistics than
those dealt with in the higher mathematical statistical analyses of
our colleges and universities. I do not think we need to go very
much into integral or differential calculus in the statistical compilations
needed for our guidance in enforcing labor laws that come under our
jurisdiction.
What kind of statistics must a labor administrator have at his
disposal for his guidancei .As I see myJ'ob, and I think my job is
nearly identical with the jobs of many · not most of us, it is concerned first and primarily with industrial relations, the relations
between employers and employees. We need to know what is implied
in the relation of employer and employee; first, whether there is any
relation at all-whether there is or is not a job; and then the conditions of employment-wages, hours of labor, health and safety conditions and the comfort and welf a.re of the employee in his job.
That, I take it, gives in brief the whole round of the circle. First of
all comes the job; that means statistics of employment and unemployment. We have, I think, fairly satisfactory statistics on emplo_yment, statistics which were compiled in the first instance by the
State of New York, and later by the United States Bureau of Labor
Statistics, which has greatly expanded them. Other States have been
induced to cooperate with the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in the gathering and compiling of such statistics, until there is
now a goodly number of States collecting satisfactory employment
statistics.
Some of our bolder American statisticians assert that they can
convert an employment curve into an unemployment curve by turning it upside down, but I am not quite convinced that that can be
done. I have listened to what these statisticians have to say, and to
the charts they have shown, and I will admit that the charts shown
indicate that an unemployment curve corresponds very closely
indeed with an employment curve turned upside down, but I am not
sure that this would work in every instance, in sea.son and out of
season, in good times and in bad times.
We all know that we have no unemployment statistics in the United
States that are worthy of the name, there have been certain unemplo¥filent surveys made by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics which have given a fairly accurate picture of unemployment
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFIC'.IAUI
conditions at the time the survey was made, but unemployment
survoys are not desiderata. They do not supply the information
needed by a labor administrator. What the labor administrator
needs is a picture of the labor market, of unemployment conditions,
month by month, if possible week by week, especially in times of
great :fluctuations in e~ployment.
.
.
- l ·am not fully convmced, that we can secure satisfactory typical
:une:QJ.ployment statistics through our public emeloyment agencies at
· the p;resent time. The statisti~s that are compiled and published as
to:.th!:' Qperations of our employment offices do not give us anything
like unemployment 1;1tatistics. The methods used and the degree of
accuracy vary. so from· State to State, from locali~ to locality, that
it is wholly impossible to attempt comparison. The best use that
can b'e made of these so-called stati::;tics, in Pennsylvania at least, is
in comparing the work of a particular office in the past and at pres.e.n~. , To c9;mpare -the work of one office with that of another office,
is. whoUy, impossible in the present state of imperfection of these
statiatics. .
. We: need to center our minds upon the problem of securing better
une;mplo,ym,ent statistics, and, frankly I despair of any satisfactory
unemployment statistics with(.tut unemployment insurance. In times
past .I Qave said. that it would be worth while to enact unemployment
msurance le~lation for the purpose of securing unemployment statistics. I have lived some _years since I made that utterance. I have1
I tru$t; kept an .open mind, and I am not afraid to change my min<1
. when new evidence, new statistical data, is presented which would
indicate that my .first conclusions were wrong. I have been a public
servant for m,any years-since 1913, because my sojourn in Europe for
more than two and a half years was merely a continuation of J>Ublic
.service, the Le&glle of Nations and the International Labor Office being
· just as much public institutions as the Department of Labor and Industries of Pennsylvania, or the Department of Labor of Illinois, or the
Department of Industrial Relations of Ohio. My service to the public has not destroyed my faith in democracy,in the principles of democrac_y in government, and that is the acid test of one's democracy.
It .is one thing to believe in the principles of political democracy,
and it is ·another thing to view political democracy rampant, as it
were. }Jow many of you, I wonder, have been able to pass thro!].gh
a s~sion of yow.: Stat~ legi_slature, viewing face to face and dealing
hand to hand with this thmg democracy, and come out with your
.faith unimpaired. I still mamtain my faith in democratic instituti9ns,.but I feel that perha_ps we have m the past emphasized a little
too strongly a particular kmd of democracy, a democracy which pnts
l!P()n the government bureau the carrying out of certam functions .
.Things wliich .the public can do better than private initiative can
and should be done b_y public agencies; there is no question about
_that; but I am not at~ convinced that a public bureau or department
·.can carry on, say, a railroad business better than it is now being
carried on by private agencies .
.Th~re a.re certain busmesses which it has been demonstrated can
be.,.ca.rtjed-.on much more efficiently by public than by private
agen~.i~, but I believe that we can make use of private agencies in
ways _that.we have not as yet tried. One of these ways is that just
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now being fried out in the men's clothing industry of Chicagounemployment insurance, so called. I prefer to call it workmen's
unemployment compensation. Certainly it is compensation for unemployment and you can get away with that term a good deal easier
m most States than you can with "unemployment insurance." I
believe that it would be better for us to encourage experimentation
~ith ~emploYElent b~nefits-:--workmen's unemployment compensat1on-m the different mdustries.
·
I am not quite convinced that we are ready for unemployment
insurance or oven workmen's unemployment compensation laws to
be put on the statute books and enforced by the departments
of labor of the different States, but I am convinced that we will
never get accurate unemployment statistics until there is an incentive to report unemployment, to keep tab on unemployment, which
will be provided when unemployment costs money, when it means
the payment of compensation benefits. We never had any accurate
accident statistics until the passage of workmen's compensation
laws.
In New York State, as in Ohio, after the enactment of the compensation law the accidents reported increased nearly 100 per cent.
The same thing was true in Connecticut, and that 1s the universal
experience. Accidents were not reported until there was a very
strong economio reason for reporting them. Have you thought carefully of just what unemployment means~ Unemployment is the only
truly industrial accident you can name. There is no physical impairment which you can not incur with a good deal more facility on the
streets of Chicago than you can in a rolling mill or other manufacturing plant. You can break your leg, or fall off a step ladder and break
your head in your own home; or you can break your arm cooking
dinner in your own kitchen; but the only way you can have unemplo~ent is to be out of work. That is the only truly industrial ·
accident there is, and yet it is the one accident which is not compensated. Certainly it is the most important in its economic results,
and the most disastrous in its effect, and provision should be made
for its compensation either by legislative enactment-an unemployment insurance law-or by encouraging industries to put unemployment compensation into operation.
All heads of labor departments will, I think, agree that the most
important subject coming under their jurisdiction is the subject of
industrial relations. This term comprises much more than the negotiation of settlements of strikes and lockouts. It includes the study
of the causes of all frictions and disputes between the management
and the men, with the object of eliminating as far as possible these
causes, establishing and maintaining mutual respect, tolerance, and.
cooperation. This is an ambitious undertaking and can not be carried
out in a day or a year. Many men of broad understanding, from
the days of Robert Owen down to the present, have labored unself-,
ishly and with consecration to establish these better relations in
industry. Unfortunately the results are not as yet amenable to•
statistical compilation, so we can not say whether we have made any
progress. In order to discuss intelligently with employers, managers,
and workers the problem of human relations in industry the labor
administrator must know about conditions in industry. Here is·
where statistics of the right sort.can be invaluable to him.
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Statistics of wages and hours of labor are absolutely essential for
the mediator when he deals with an employer in tryi!t_g to straighten
out snarls that have occurred in his establishment. Unless he .Imows
the wages and the hours he is at a disadvantage in trying to smooth
out industrial difficulties. These statistics now exist in onl;r. a few
of the Commonwealths of the United States and in the compilations
made by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. I want to
urge upon all officials here present the desirability, the necessity, of
cooperat~ in every way possible with the United States Bureau of
Laoor Sta.ttstics in the collection of statistics and in the improvement
of those statistics, that the whole country may have the statistical
data. needed in the administration of our offices.
There is a. great deal of difference between statistics on wage rates
and statistics on earnings. Almost every day I get letters or calls
from people who do not understand the difference between wage
rates and rates of earnings.
The distinction is perfectly clear, a.lthoug!J. it is not always clearly
differentiated in statistical publications. Each has its distinct purpose and value. The wage rate gives the market price of labor. It
mdica.tes what the employer of labor must pay, or at least the normal rate of wages which he must take into account, if he desires to
employ a. particular class of labor to which the rates apply. He
may be obli_ged to pay a little above or he may be able to get his
labor a little below the market price, but the market price is the
normal price, the usual price that is actually paid, and tliat is a useful statIStical quantity. Earnings are something totally different,
and very freq_uently not only trade-unionists but employers confuse
wage rates With earnings. They think that the wage rate ought to
indicate whether the wage is sufficient to afford a. reasonable standard
of living. Of course it does nothing of the sort. That can be shown
-only ~ statistics on earnings, and they are extremely difficult to
get. The only agency in the United States, so far as I am now
aware, which com.piles statistics of earnings is the United States
Bmeau of Labor Statistics. The State departments of labor have
not been able to tackle that problem as yet. If we are to determine
whether the wage rates do afford a reasonable standard of living, we
must get statistics on earnings. That is an axiom.
As a result of my experience as United States Commissioner of
Labor Statistics I had taken it for granted that hours of labor would
offer no great difficulties to the labor statisticians. I was somewhat
surprised, therefore, while Chief of Research in the International
Labor Office, to find, when I attempted to compile a study giving
the hours of labor in the different countries of the world, that the
9btaining of such hours was fraught with very great difficulties and
that the publication of comparisons was one of the extra.hazardous
industries. The Bel!rtans accuse the French of working more than
the scheduled hours, the French accuse the Germans in like manner,
the Ita.Jians object, the Austrians explain, the Dutch defend, and the
English rug,ress strong suspicions of the whole lot. I do not think
the difficulties so manifest m Europe obtain in America.
The need for more accurate and more informing industrial accident statistics can not be too often or too emphatically emphasized.
It is now some eight years since the International Association of
Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions at the Columbus meet-
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ing in 1915 adopted unanimously the first report of the committee
on statistics and compensation insurance cost. The adoption of the
report pledged every member to attempt the construction of accident
rates, ooth frequency and severity. Each year this association has
adopted the report of the committee on statistics and each year the
member States and Provinces have gone cheerfully along without
very seriously attempting to better their accident reporting, compilation, tabulation, and publication.
The statistics on acmdents that have been compiled thus far are
not very- illuminating. Until Mr. Burhop compiled his work analyzing accidents very minutely by causes there was scarcely a publication in this field m the United States, barring the publications of the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, that was worth the :eaper
it was printed upon. Since then other States besides Wisconsin have
attempted, and rather successfully, to analyze their accident statistics by causes and by industries, but not always has the goal of statistics been kept in view, not always have the statistical compilations
been made with the view of giving information which would enable
labor administrators or the employer making use of the report to
eliminate or diminish the hazards causing those accidents.
Now, I urge you, so far as your appropriations will permit, to analyze your accidents by causes, for the purpose of making these statistics economically worth while. If we can show to our legislators that
the compilation of accident statistics-and in that I want to include
health statistics-does result in diminishing .accidents and illnesses,
does save money to the employers, does increase thereby the welfare
of the worker, his comfort, his happiness, and the wealth of the community, I have the ~eatest confidence that we will be able to get
increased appropriations for the purpose of making our statistical
compilations more comprehensive and more worth while.
In Pennsylvania we have not as yet been able to comJ?ile any accident rates. However, few States have-I am not certam that any
State has. Mr. Stewart can tell you a good deal better than I can
about what is going on in that :field.
We can do accident prevention work and industrial occupationaldisease prevention work without statistics, just as you can embark
upon the cigar business or the dry goods business without keeping
books, but it is a mighty hazardous undertaking. Most farmers conduct their business in that manner. A farmer in Iowa bought pigs
at S5 each and sold them in the fall for $20 each. He expected to
get rich quick, but instead he became poorer and poorer each year.
A neighbor suggested the answer, pointing out that the corn and
other provender that he was feeding the pigs cost approximately $40
to $45.
Statistics is public bookkeeping, if you please public accountancy.
We can prevent accidents without accident statistics, but in doing
that we are :fighting as one who battleth the air. We do not know
what is the vital point of attack. We do not know which are the
most hazardous industries, which are the most fruitful causes of accidents:- If you analyze your accidents carefully by causes and by results, it will give you some guidance.
We :find in Pennsylvania, and this is the universal experience in
the United States and Canada, that in the _past year, 1923, accidents
increased in number and increased alarmmgly. The increase was
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very. largely due to the increase in industrial activities, of course,
but we do not know and can not know whether our accident records
~how a better or worse condition in 1923 than in 1922 because we
have nq accident rates1J·ust as Ohio and Wisconsin and the rest of
the States have no a.cm ent rates. ·
: This _is a matter of very great importance, indeed. It has been
estimated that more than $23,000,000 has been invested in safety
devices~ in the safe construction of industrial plants since 1912. I
do not .Kn.ow how nearly correct that is. I have heard that statement made, and I have also heard the question asked, incidentally,
Has ·this money been wasted-has this investment in safety construction and· safety devices brought results, or has it simply been
pouring :r;noney down a rat hole i I can not give you a satisfactory
answer; Of. course one can tell what splendid things have been accomplished in a particular plant, as there are a great many industrial
plants that keep accident statistics in a proper manner and compute
accident rates, and such plants know wlietlier they are moving forward or backward, or are just jumping up and down. AB for the
States in general, they do not and can not know this until they have
reduced their accident statistics to rates, until they have compiled
accident rates per 100,000 hours, or on some other definite basis.
The most important accident rates are accident severity rates. A
great-many people object to acciden severity rates, claiming that
they .do not teJl the truth, that the important thing is the extent of
the accident; that is whether the result of the accident is superficial
or a total permanent disability. There is some truth in that, but do
not forget that we are dealing with statistics, statistics with great
numbers, and when you are deal.im? with great numbers it all comes
out in the wash. A certain type o1 accidents, let us say accident.a to
laborers, occur by the thousands in the year. There IS a sufficient
number of such accidents to give a very clear index of the types of
accidents that occur eve1y__year. That IS true of every accident that
is a statistical quantity. If we have a sufficient number, it does indicate whether that particular type of accident involves severe consequences or is of minor consequence only.
Pennsylvania is _going to do its level best to compile industrial
accident rates, so that we may know whether 1924 is oetter or worse
than·-1923. We are going to start by do~ what we can. I believe
it is much better to liave a compilation of accident statistics in 100
plants in the State than to have none at all. I would rather do a
partial job than to say, "9h, well, we are D;Ot able to do the whole job,
and so we won't do anythmg." We ar~~g to see something accomplished on accident rates this year. While I think that frequency
and severity accident rates in 1923 were better than they were in
1922, I want to know positively whether all the efforts that the State
and any individual manufacturers are making as to safeguards are
resulting· in lessening the accident rates and not merely accident
occurrences.
Furthermore, the safety standards should be revised in the light
of the accident experience since these standards were adopted.
Some hazards have been neglected, while others have perhaps been
overstressed. We are going over the existing safety standards in
Pennsylvania in the light of our accident experience, and I think as
a. result of our labors some interesting inferences will be drawn.
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The CHAm.MAN. In opening the discussion I will call upon John
Roach, deputy commissioner of the Department of Labor of New
Jersey, who will speak on the "Value of accurate statistics in accident
work."
VALUE OF ACCURATE STATISTICS IN ACCIDENT WORK
BY JOHN.ROA.OB, DEPUTY OOIIMISSIONER NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
There is need for a more general recognition by departments of
labor officials of the fact that good bookkeeping in the statistical
division of industrial accident prevention work is as essential and
important a feature of administration as the expert tabulation of
business accounts is in a commercial house.
Industrial plant managers who attemv,t to plumb business activi- ·
ties by means of the "dead-reckoning ' system so popular with a
certain type of Yankee skipper in the early days of our country's
history are not sought after by the directors of big business enterprises in these days of careful business administration.
Modern business requirements demand correct and accurate listing
of debits and credits, for a successful industrial enterprise in our day
keeps in close and immediate touch with costs of production, and the
plant physician watching the risin~ temperature of a fever-stricken
patient exercises no greater care tnan does the costs department in
1ts constant and unremitting attention to the barometer that shows
the dividing line between profit and loss.
In many of our States industrial-accident statistics are kept in such
a loose and imperfect manner that the officials charged with the
responsibility of enforcing statutory requirements whose pur})ose is
to protect the working people in their employment are unable to
determine whether they are making progress in accident prevention
and health conservation work, because tbeir records do not present
conclusive proof of either a profit or a loss in the business account·
officially committed to them.
An important conference was held at the office of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor, Washington,
D. C., in December, 1923, by representatives from several important
industrial States and a number of United States Government oureaus,
for the _purpose of considering the reason for the large increase in
industrial accident frequency reported by a number of States and to
formulate standard methods for computing industrial-accident
rates. The underlying purpose of this conference was, by establish-.
ing definite standardized methods for the compilation of accident
statistics, to lay a substantial foundation on which might be erected
an effective industrial-accident prevention system..
The reports submitted at this conference showed that the statistical methods used in tabulation in the several States were of such
a variable character as to make the work of determining accident
frequency_ exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, of accurate
computation.
A determined effort was made to impress upon the delegates present the importance of estab1ishing better bookkeeping methods, so
that officials engaged in accident-prevention work would be able to
make comparisons which would show them whether or not tht:>y were
making progress in the work of preventing accidents in industry.
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Without this kind of accident tabulation it is exc~ly difficult
to determine the relative value of different classes of industrial acci-
dents. A large group of accidents may be ascribed to a lack of
safety education in the plant, while another group of accidents may
have been caused by an improper selection of lal>or for difficult ann
dangerous occupations that involve varieties of "point of contact"
operation accidents, while a third group may be ascribed to lack of
or i~proper mechanical safeguarding of dangerous moving equipment m the plant.
BBSTBIO~OB OP OOltPDSATIOi1:g=TS TO SPEOD'IED OOOUPATIONAL
The necessity for an improvement in statistical information on
industry was felt in New Jersey in May, 1923, when a commission
appointed to consider the question of compensation pavments to
vietims of occupational diseases requested the Department of Labor
to furnish it with information concerning the operation of this kind of
legislation in the several States where it had been enacted.
We were unable to obtain definite and officially convincing information on this subject, so that the commission, in considenng the
question, was obliged to refer to the records of an occupational
disease reporting act that had been in operation in New Jersey for a
number of years and which apparently showed that a certain group
of definite occupational causes was responsible in a general way for
such occupational diseases as were suffered in our industries and that
should come under the beneficent provisions of the workmen's compensation act~ This list of occupational diseases on which medical
reports had been gathered in the State of New Jersey is as follows:
.Anthrax, lead _poisoning, arsenic poisoning, mercury poisoning, phosphorus poisoning, benzene and its homologues and all denvatives
thereof, wood-alcohol poisoning, chrome poisoning, caisson disease.
It has been stated in this convention that restrictive legislation
limiting the operation of workmen's compensation payments to victims of specific occupational diseases has little, if any, practical value
and that it would be better for States contemplating occupationaldisease legislation to refrain until legislators are willing to enact a
measure broatl and generous enough in its provisions to embrace
every "personal injury" growing out of ann suffered during the
course of the employment.
While I am willing to concede that this broader type of legislation
has certain definite advantages by requiring the payment of workmen's compensation to victims of personal injuries that are excluded
under the New Jersey act~ I am not willing to subscribe to any theory
of legislative procedure that denies the benefits of legislation to a
relatively large gi:oup of workmen who are exposed to dangerous and
definitely established trade substances, vapors, and dusts, merely because at the time of the passage of the legislation it was deemed inexpedient by our legislators to extend the operation of the act to a
much smaller and less important group who might suffer personal
inju!'Y during the course of their employment.
The fear has been expressed that limited occupational-disease
legislation will exclude from its provisions victims of mysterious and
subtle compounds or vapors (now quite unknown) that at some future
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time may be evolved as a result of progress in chemical processing.
Our industrial chemical consultant, who is a trained man with a
backgFound of many years of practical chemical experience, feels no
apprehension on this subject. When new conditions arise necessitating changes in the law we will endeavor to produce official data showing the necessity for alterations or amendments, but until that time
we shall confine our activities to a determined effort to promote more
wholesome and satisfactory working conditions in the dangerous
trades in our State.
Furthermore, while New Jersey has more need for occupationaldisease legislation than most of her sister States, because her industries are using a larger variety as well as larger quantities of dangerous trade substances than are the industries of any of the other States
in the Union, I would strongly urge labor .department officials of every
State in the Union to work for the passage of occupational-disease
legislation of a kind that will meet the needs of their respective
Commonwealths.
In addition, although the group of trade substances comprehended
under the New Jersey act gives but a faint clue to the enormous
industrial activities in which the use of poisonous trade compounds
is required, I feel that the legislation will be most beneficial, for in
addition to the inspection service that is given these industries by
the State authorities, the insurance carriers writing workmen's compensation occupational-disease insurance will have a propertv interest in insisting that their risks maintain clean, wholesome physical
surroundings, and use every endeavor to prevent male and female
workers from absorbing dusts, vapors, or substances injurious to their
health.
VALUE OF STATISTICS IN ll[PROVING WORKING CONDITIONS
The previous speaker has proven the ancient lineage of statistical
observation and has demonstrated that its jurisdictional limits cover
every phase of human activities. From Biblical times statistics have
been used in husbandry, mechanics, and the professions; that "they
have been held in low esteem," as suggested oy a previous s_peaker, is
no reflection on the value of properly arranged statistics. That they
have fallen from their high estate is due m no small measure to a
disregard of certain fundamentals that underlie every form of human
endeavor.
Statistics that deal with life and limb, health and death, progress
or retrogression, bankruptcy or prosperity, must possess great value
to students of labor-law enforcement who believe in bookkeeping
methods in industry.
The passage of workmen's compensation laws provided us with
the first defiriite official records of the ravages of industrial accidents
and the enormous human toll in life, limb, and health ta.ken annually
by our industries.
If we were able to show to the industrialists of America the definite value of the safety-first movement, expressed in losses of life
and limb through a man-hour exposure method, we would demonstrate for the first time that we know something of the nature of
the business in which we are engaged.
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During the past decade the conviction has been growing on the
part of the directing heads of our larger and better managed corporations that there can be no real antagonism between sound, conservative, and forceful business tactics and th~ intelligent a~istration of labor laws that are bused on experience and meet with the
ap~roval and indorsement of sound engineering practice.
Furthermore, investigations of industrial discontent and friction,
supporting the theory that the migratory habits of labor, as well as
the enormous labor turnover in industry, are due in large measure to
unsatisfactory working surroundings affecting either safety", health, or
comfort, have demonstrated the weakness of a labor policy that is
not broad enough to comprehend the physical needs of the human
body and its dependence on warmth, cleanliness, and nourishment,
and the inevitable f allure that follows when the worker thinks that
his employment has not been surrounded with the largest measure
of safety to life and limb that its character will permit.
It is comforting to know that we have arrived at a period in
industrial history when the physical care of the worker in many
plants is not regarded as a proper subject for speculation or experiment, but is ranked as a matter of fundamental importance and is
placed in the same business column with the question of wages, hours
of labor, and plant production. Costly alterations in plant equipment are justified by sound engineering practice when they add either
to the comfort or safety of the worker, and they are successful investments when they stabi.lize the working force and add to the excellence
and quantity of production.
VALUE OF STATISTICS IN SAFETY WORK
In considering a question of this kind, it must be remembered that
the public interest is involved-a factor that is of first magnitude and
before which all other interests must yield-because the maimed
worker becomes an industrial handicap, a social liability, and an
economic loss to the community, whose compensation, though temporarily assumed by the insurance carrier, 1s in the final analysis
paid by th~ public as a whole.
The American Engineering Standards Committee, assisted by technical experts connected with State governments and the United States
Government, is engaged in the formulation of working codes affecting
various phases of industrial activities. After these codes have been
prepared and our industries have been provided with industrial safety
rules, a determined effort should be made to enlist our working people
in a great nation-wide movement to banish accidents from industry.
This campaign of education to popularize safety work will encourage statistical bureaus to compile their records more accurately
than ever before, for it will be necessary to present accidents in groups
showing cause, frequency, severity, and exposure for the educational
benefit of all persons who may become interested in the movement.
Constructive accident-prevention work involving safety-first education will require a vast expenditure of departmental effort, due to
complications that result from the indifference, apathy, and almost
fatalistic attitude that is assumed by large groups of workmen.
While it is true that formerly it was difficult to convince employers of labor that a definite moral. responsibility rested upon them to
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safeguard their workmen from the hazards involved in processing
methods, the workmen of to-day tardily acknowledge the existence
of a solemn reciprocal obligation to cooperate to the fullest extent in
the maintenance of high standards of safety in the plant, even though
the premises have been safeguarded in strict conformity with standardized procedure.
The following accidents will illustrate this point:
No. 1.-A workman was killed by falling down an elevator shaft, the gate of
which had been tied up. This elevator had been constructed, installed, and
maintained in accordance with elevator regulations established by a group of
expert elevator constructors. The gate had been tied up to expedite the removal
of material from a lower floor to an upper floor.
No. 2.-A workman was killed while attempting to put a belt on a rapidly
revolving pulley in violation of shop rules.
No. 3.-Three workmen employed in an iron mine entered an abandoned
"working," that had a bad roof, to eat their lunch. A sign forbade this practice. The roof fell and the men were killed.
No. 4.-A workman lost 75 per cent of the use of an arm from infection. A
plant hospital had been provided and the men were required to report and
receive treatment for even slight injuries. A slight wound which, with the
exception of home treatment, was neglected, caused the loss of 75 per cent of the
use of the arm.
The pioneers in the safety-first movement were of the opinion that
industrial accidents were nearly always the result of improperly
guarded transmission equipment or defective industrial plant premises. Modern students of accident-prevention work are quite unani• mous in their opinion that approximately 85 per cent of all industrial
accidents results from carelessness, negligence, or disobedience on the
part of the injured man or his fell ow workman.
Preventive measures should include the democratization of industry
so that the individual will understand and assume his full share of
responsibiJity in accident-prevention work. I hold no brief f9r
employers who neglect to provide safe structural premises, standardized illumination (natural and artificial), and basic sanitary equipment required by the needs of the human body, or to safeguard
transmission equipment in accordance with sound engineering procedure.
These features are basic and fundamental and a "safety-first" sign
exhorting the workmen to be careful is a ludicrous anomaly in a plant
-where the management has neglected these fundamentals of safe
processing. When these fundamentals have been given full consideration, we have merely laid the foundation of the safety structure.
The great edifice itself must be erected on this foundation, and its
construction will involve definite whole-hearted cooperation on the
part of every individual who toils.
DISCUSSION
The CHAIRMAN. We have a few minutes for any question any
person might like to ask Doctor Meeker or Doctor Roach.
Miss JOHNSO~. I am glad that Doctor Meeker emphasized so
clearly and forcefully the importance of statistics on earnings and
made clear the distinction between earnings and rates. The 'confusion between them is not confined to labor organizations and
employers. 1 think that one of the valuable but little recognized
services that minimum wage legislation in various States gives is the
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collecting and compiling of data on actual e ~ . Unfortunately,
there is a great deal of protest against having information of that
sort collected and made public. There are employers who do not
object to having data with reference to wage rates, provided they
are average rates, collected and _published, but who do object to
having data regarding actual earnings published.
In former years, when Massachusetts published data on earnings
of woman workers, employers were in the habit of coming to tlie
legislature to protest against having data of that sort-actual earnings-made known. UnfortunatelY., the public does not alw9:ys differentiate between wages and e ~ , and does not reco~ize the
significance and importance of having <la.ta on earnings. It does not
recognize that it is out of the earnings and not the rate that the
workers live; that the only definite information on a given wage
situation in a given place in a given group at a given time is that
made available through actual earnings and not through rates.
There is need, I think, for a great deal ol education on this subject,
to develop public interest ana understanding. One of the services
that an association like this can render is the eliminating o{ inaccurate, unscientific information on the subject, and the collection of
statistics which are scientific, dependable, and worth while.
Mr. STEWART. I would like to say a few words on the subject of
e11rnings. Doctor Meeker has just stated that the Bureau of Labor
Statistics is the best source of information on earnings as well as.
upon wage rates. I think we should be careful to make it very clear
what we mean by the term we use in this connection. Generally
speaking, when we talk of a man's earnings we mean the money actually received by him during a year or any given period. This, of
course, can be determined only from pay rolls, and the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, as a matter of fact, does not now attempt and has
not for a number of years attempted to show earnings in this sense.
What we do is this-we give the rates of wages per hour, not only
the minimum and the maximum rates and the average rate, but all
of the rates that occur in the occu~on within the industry as represented by the establishments wi · that industry which we cover.
In the case of pieceworkers the rate is, of course, tlie earJ!ings for the
pay-roll period divided by the number of hours worked within the
pay-roll period, but this is an hourly earning and must not be con-·
fused with the question of yearly earnings.
We secure by means of schedules the normal number of hours _per
week that the various plants operate within the schedule year. Then
we publish the rates and the full-time hours per week; that is to say,
the full operating time of the plant. We have a column in our table
called "Full-time earnings per week." Obviously, these are simply
the hours multiplied by the rate, and would be the true earnings of
the person who worked a full week. Obviously, also, you can multiply the weekly full-time earnings by 52 and get the yearly earnings
of the person who worked full time, or 52 weeks in the year.
Obviously, yearl,: earnings so arrived at are purely theoretical.
We have always said so. AB Doctor Meeker has well stated, the rate
is simply the price of the man's labor. His earnings would depend on
how much of that labor he sells, and this is something that nobody
knows 1 that nobody can know. Suppose you copy the pay rolls of an
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establishment for a year. You get the broken time of those who
worked more or less steadily in tne same establishment for the entire
year. You get the earnings of the few who worked steadily every hour
.the plant was in operation for the entire year. You get the earrungs of
the people who worked anywhere from 1 day to 11 months within
the pay-roll year, and these constitute from 50 to 60 per cent of the
whole. H a name is on the pay roll less than the entire 12 months
you know nothing whatever about the earnings of that person unless
you follow him from factory to factory and job to joo. As to the
few who worked full time, our theoretical earnings fit them as well as
the pay-roll earnings. They both amount to the same thing. As
to tlie short-time worker, it 1s impossible to get his earnings without
following him individuelly from one concern to another. He may
have had but the one job and been sick all the rest of the year; he
may have had two, three, or a dozen jobs in a year. It is simply
impossible with the funds any of us have to follow up this man's
work and get his earnings. It is something we all wish we could do,
es:pecially the newer bureaus and the newer men in the bureaus. I
thlnk the longer we live the less we think of it.
Suppose we take a dozen men in the boot and shoe industry, for
instance, to start with. Three of them stay on the pay roll of the
plant where we first find them for the entire period. ·Three of them
work two months. We follow them to another boot and shoe factory
where they work three months. We next find them in an iron and
steel plant, where they_last a month. Then we find them two months
in a coal mine, etc. How are you going to tabulate the earnings of
these men except as men~ You can not couple them up with an
industry and still hold on to their full earnings.
We talk about getting the yearly earnings of workers on any large
scale. It is like 11, child crying for the moon. You can not get such
earnings. We can work out the possible earningei of full-time workers
from our wage rates, and they will be practically as accurate as if
they were copied from the pay roll. And hera I want to say that
when the minimum wage commission people say they have the earnings for anybody except the full-time workers, if they mean what
they say, they must have followed these part-time girl workers from
job to job and learned what they earned each two weeks throughout
the year. They may have q_uite a number of these schedules worked
out in this way, but after all the number of such schedules which
they could possibly get would be a very small percentage of the whole
number of employees; and the study must resolve itself :finally into
the case method. Each girl must be the unit of the schedule, and
industry and occupation must be ignored. This leads me to suggest
that the whole purpose of the statistics of earnings compiled by the
minimum wage people is entirely different from that of industrial
wage statistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics undertakes to show
what the industry pays. We show industrial wage rates and possible industry earnings. The pur2ose of the minimum wage figures
is to show the earnings of an ina.ividual regardless of industr:y or
occupation-perhaps not entirely regardless of industry, but certainly
regardless of occupation.
So far as any general line upon earnings within the industry is
concerned, the only thing whicli I have found that helps even a little bit is where establishments keep the earnings of the men and re-
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port them to the Income Tax Bureau under the income tax law.
.A.nd even these statements apply only to the men who have worked
enough time in the year in one plant or for an employee to earn a
taxable amount.
·
•
Now I want to say just a word on another subject which has been
discussed here, and that is industrial tuberculosis. I have read all
the arguments for and against-at least I have read all I want to and
all I am going to read. In the present state of industrial accident
reporting-that is to say, in the absence of any possibility of computing an accident rate-it seems to me that the publications of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics are practically final upon this subject and
should be so construed without further discussion. We have given
the percentage of tuberculosis in the dusty trades and in several other
trades for which we have a record. We have shown the proportion
of tuberculosis in these trades as compared with that for the people
as a whole, and these figures should be fairly convincing that there
is such a thing as industrial tuberculosis. It does seem to me that
a fair, comprehensive, and intelligent use has not been made of the
statistics we have along these and a great many other lines. If the
figures of the Bureau of Labor Statistics do not convince a man that
there is such a thing as industrial tuberculosis as distinct from tuberculosis in general, then that man does not propose to be convinced.
While discussing this industrial-disease subject I want to call your
attention to some of the results that should be very apparent from
a study of such industrial accident statistics as we have. Take· the
coal mines, for instance. We were told here yesterday that 1,700
men had lost their lives by mine explosions. Unfortunately, we have
to have something spectacular lik:e a mine explosion before people
will pay any attention to what we say:. Our ~es show ihat there
are about ten times as many miners killed by f · roofs as there are
by explosions, and yet there is no reaction from t at at all. · So far
from getting excited about it nobody seems to care.
Another thing in ·the talk yesterday impressed me. Special emphasis was placed upon one explosion caused by a man who saw :fit to go
into the mine with an open lam:p. This brin~ up the whole question
of the causes of accident, a subJect upon which I have been exceedingly anxious to ~t some fair, unprejudiced information. I have
lost all patience with the stereotyped phrase of "carelessness" as a
cause of accident. I have still less patience with the claim that "We
can do nothing so long as human nature remains as it is." My God!
What will we ao when human nature is no longer available¥ It used
to be whisky, and as the suppl_y of that is running short or getting
too expensive to account for all the accidents we are b~ginning to
put human nature under a tremendous strain. We in Washington
saw the war dev~lop a new sort of religion, or a new theology I
might say. The principal doctrine of this new-creed was that heaven
is where there are plenty of people to blame and hell is where you
simply can not pass the buck. All of the accident reporting agencies
seem to have joined this new church, or at least to have applied for
membership. After all, passing the buck is simply trying to get
away from responsibility.
Miss PETERSON. May I say a word with reference to the question
of yearly earnings¥ I agree with Mr. Stewart that it is a tremendous
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job, and I agree with Miss Johnson that it is very necessary to pay
more attention to the question of yearly earnings. In the surveys
which the women's bureau has undertaken, in the wage studies we
have made, we have been able to secure yearl_y earnings for about
:lO per cent of those who have been em_p]oyed for a term of one
year. Sometimes we are able to get this mformation for only about
10 per cent, because there are too many other things to do. I think
it would be well if the States could make similar studies.
Mr. MEEKER. I do not think Mr. Stewart meant to imply that
full-time yearly earnings are deceptive and not worth while. If they
are not worth while the Bureau of Labor Statistics would not gather
the data and apyly the statistics. I think they are very much worth
while. I am willing to go on record as saying that the statistics compiled by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics regarding fulltime earnings are weH ni~h as accurate as th~ir statistics on union
wage rates, and they are Just as useful for their purpose. In normal
years they are a very accurate record of the earnings. It is only in
the abnormal years that we must supplement this statistical record
which is being published by the Umted States Bureau of Labor
Statistics with more accurate data; in other words, undertake to get
data on the shifts in the yearly earnings.
The CHAmMAN. I will now call upon G. R. Yearsley, chief facto_ry inspector of the Industrial Com.mission of Utah, for a paper on
"Methods of factory inspection in Utah."
METHODS OF FACTORY INSPECTION IN UTAH
BY G. R. YEARSLEY, omEJ!' FACTORY INSPECTOR UTAH INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION
The Industrial Commission of Utah is composed of three members,
one being appointed every two years by the ·presiding governor, to
serve for six years. No more than two can belong to one political
party. It is a nonpoJitical, nonpartisan body, and none of its members nor any employees thereof are allowed to take part in any
election or be members of any political committee or caucus while
thus employed. Discussion of politics is not allowed in or around
the offices, and a strict watch is ke_pt for any activity on the outside.
At present there are two Republicans and one Democrat on the
commission, and so far as is known the employees are about equally
divided between the two parties. This system has been in vogue
since 1917; through one Democratic and one Republican administration, and has proven satisfactory.
One commissioner has charge of the department of industrial insurance, another the· department of labor and the hearings, while the
third has charge of the safety inspections. We will deal with the
latter only. This department is divided into two sections-mines
(both metal and coal) and the industries. Each section is presided
over by a chief. The mining chief has two deputies-one for coal
and one for metal mines. The industries chief has only one, except
on boilers where the insurance companies furnish inspectors. These
inspectors are deputized by the commission and tlieir reports are
filed with the chief of this section. Leaving the mining section alone,
we will deal with the industries only.
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This section ins_pects 1,600 industries, besides the mercantile establisl:ments where three or more are employed; inspects 800 boilers and
500 elevators, settles labor dis~!T' and inspects and prosecutes all
violations in the sanitary bed · law. Tliese duties extend from
the tops of the hig!i mountains w ere few are employed to the large
factories of the valleys where hundreds are at work. Utah is about
265 miles in width and 345 miles in length, covering an area of 82,184
square miles, or about the combined area of Pennsylv~nia and Virginia, with unlimited _possibilities as to raw materials.
The position of chief factory inspector in the future will be no
child's :Qlay, and so what we want to do now is lay a strong foundation. To-day the chief factory inspector travels on an average of
1,200 miles per month and makes from 1,200 to 1,600 inspections per
year; to-morrow he will remain in the office and a dozen deputies will
take up the trail. But while young industries are springing up, they
must be nourished with a father's care, and employers and employees
must be made to understand their respective positions and places.
This can not be done with arbitrary or headstrong inspectors, but
will have to be done with those who will cooperate instead of dominate. "A firm hand and a steady head with persuasion before force,
but force if necessary," has been our motto.
In a general way our method of inspection is as follows: An itinerary is made out for each trip and a systematic method used in each
plant. For instance. when I go into a sugar factory, I start in at the
power plant, then go to the machine shop, lime kilns, Steffens plant
and trash picker, then follow the flow sheet thro1!gh the plant, and
finally the. beet dumps, both wagon and train. By using the same
method in each case you are not liable to overlook anything, and
while e.ll plants are not exactly alike, the differences are small in the
aggregate, and after the first survey, a sugar factory can be finished
in about two hours; e.hio, your ca.rd index and reports are uniform.
We really count our see.son as starting in June when we cover the
State for the pea-canning industry. Owing to the differences in altitude and climate, over thirty days ela_pse between the starting of factories in the valleys and those m the mountains. Each
cannery is interested in a number of viners scattered through the
country in. which they operate and these have to be ins:(>ected each
season. Some firms haul all the peas from the various vmers to one
factory, no matter how distant. This is profitable in .several ways
and avoids labor turnover. After the peas come string beans, tomatoes, catsup, fruits, and vegetables. Some plants handle all of these,
others only one or two. The plants require inspections at each
change, for the machinery is e.ll replaced and guards are often left off
during the rush. This applies to the 21 sugar factories also, for each
summer the plants are torn down completely and examined for repairs.
There is no stop during the sugar run, unless absolutely necessary,
after once started in the fall.
During August and September we make trips to the outlying districts for the small concerns such as sawmills, creameries, flour mills,
etc., in the mountains. Some of these are reached by auto, others by
au to and horse, and a few on foot for a few miles; but a brisk walk
beside a beautiful, cold, shady stream filled with fish does not mar
the pleasures of the trip.
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71
In October the s11gar factories in the southern part of the State
start and others follow in quick succession. This keeps us busy for
about 60 days, and during the winter and early spring months we
keep close to the large towns and inspect the elevators, factories,
garages, etc., but should an accident occur, of course we attend to it
no matter where it is located.
· I am not going to burden you with statistics regarding accidentswhich might be very interesting, and if any of you desire it, they
may be obtained through the proper channel-but in a general way
will give you the systems and methods used in guarding hazards. In
passing, I wish to state, however,. that we have found that at least
50 J>er cent of the so-called accidents are not accidents at all, but
carelessness or cussedness.
We have police power and may close immediately any plant or part
of a plant which we deem unsafe. Nothing has to be done except
place a padlock upon it or demand its disuse, but we generally ask
the commission for a resolution on the subject, giving it the files and
all information leading up to the cause, so that it may be fully
informed as to what is being done. Fortunately, we have made no
mistakes so far and have never had to back down on any decision
we have made. At first it was difficult to convince the owners that
we were not intruders and usuryers of private interests, but after a.
few months of careful and diplomatic talking, they finally saw the
light and we are now welcomed with open arms. It was a case of
persistency; we made it a point never to leave a plant until they
showed their appreciation by inviting us to come again. ThIS
accomplished, we thought the battle won, but when we encountered
the employees, we were mistaken. One of the most disheartening
things that ever happened to me has been to enter a. plant where the
owner had spent a considerable amount of money in placing guards
and to find them thrown aside by the workmen, who when questioned
as to their utter disregard of safety measures, just laughed and told
me that their eyes and hands belonged to themselves and we had no
. right to dictate to them how they should be used. The only thing
to do was to educate them regardless of their sneering remarks as
to "who paid us" and "how much." The commission passed a
ruling fining them 15 per cent of their compensation if they were
injured in an accident arising out of the removal of a guard, and in
turn had to fine the owner the same amount for noncompliance with
the act in not furnishing a guard.
In large factories sucli as sugar plants we adopted group guarding.
Take, for instance, the main drives of the "spinners." These are
cross belts about 30 feet long which travel at about 6,000 feet per
minute, and which are situated generally from 4 to 6 feet from the
floor, so you can readily see the hazard. We fenced these with strong
material 6 or 8 feet high and placed gates at each end, leaving plenty
of room behind and around the clutches for a man to work or oil and
be able to dodge out of the way should a belt break. Some of the
plants have lately installed the system of placing an upright plank or
metal guard, which is bolted to the floor and ceiling, directly behind the
belt pulley to stop 'the slap, but the group system seems to be in favor
with most mechanics. The wash and green pumps are railed off as a
38735°-25--6
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unit with the gears securely guarded, but the belts are not. Groups of
centrifugal pumps are railed ·and the drive belts left open. The railings are placed lar enou_g_h away so as to avoid any slap reaching a
~erson on the outside. No one 1s allowed within the railing except
the oiler and the mechanic. By this method we were able to convince many obstinate persons that we were working for their interest,
and, by leaving a belt or two open, were not reflecting upon their
manhood by making it impossible for them to "take a chance." In
plants which work only 8 or 10 hour shifts, we insist upon individual
gtl!l,rding and cover all moving parts.
We have found the workman the hardest part of the problem just
as you have in the East, and while safety organizations help some,
they do not solve the problem by any means. While the enthusiasm
is high and the leader is filled with "pep" things go along nicely,
bu.t with the least lagging .accidents pile up unmercifully. At least
this is our experience. I can show you one plant which is considered
one of the best giiarded and most carefully managed plants in the
State, with a good lively safety organization, which has"more accidents than some of our worst places. It does not follow that a good
safety organization is the Mecca of accident prevention, but from
what experience I have had-and I presume workmen are all alike
whether they live in New York or Salt Lake, except that possibly
they are a little more in<!ependent in the West-I believe the only
way to lessen the number of accidents is through individual contact
with the. workman, convincing him that it is his duty to himself and
his family and that it is not a matter of State paternalism. No one
likes to be considered childlike; hence fences built around belts and
pulleys antagonize some whose caliber of thinking is small. li such
a 17!-an could think pro_perly, he. wouJd not get hurt; therefore education, whether mental br practical, 18 what 18 most needed, not force.
I spent half a day in a machine shop which had a record of 53
eye accident,s in 90 aays, showing the use of goggles and demonstrat~ the defects of glass eyes and blindness by means of posters, etc.
Tlie outcome was that the accidents disappeared and they all use
goggles now. It was simply a case of a stubborn foreman, who ·
would not use them himself and a few "clever" fellows who could
"get by" safely; in other words, a case of pure cussedness only.
These cases must be handled gently and diplomatically in order to
avoid adverse criticism, and the inspector must temporarily place
himself upon the same plane as the workman, so that he can be a
chum rather than a teacher, thereby gaining the confidence of the
workman. Teaching the workman is no "white-collar job," and a
soft shirt and wrinkled trousers will command more real attention
in any foundry or mussy plant than a full-dress suit. Sitting upon
the w:ound in the shade and eating from a workman's dinner pail
and 'rolling your own" from his tobacco, telling a few clean stories,
and discussmg the topics of the day will gain more confidence than
a free b'anquet in any hotel. The main thing is to "get next" to
him if you want the imp_ression to last. It IS a slow process, but
the· .results are lasting. This may not work in the East, but it does
in our country.
·
.. Boiler"inspections are the same all over the country and we have
adopted the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' code. As
before stated, we depend a great deal upon the casualty insurance
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companies' inspectors for the major ~art of our inspections and only
in case of a dispute or noninsurance clo we enter into the discussion.
The boilers throughout the State are in good shape and the records
show no serious accidents since the commission has been in action.
The elevator situation in Utah was bad before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' code was ado ted in 1920, but since
that time we have been able to clean up al of the passenger and
most of the freight elevators. It caused some friction in certain cases,
but after condemning the car and placing a padlock thereon, a new installation was made immediately. To-day we are consulted before
contracts are let for new installations or even extensive repairs, and
in this manner we are able to keep in close touch with the situation.
The hand-power converted type lias been our greatest difficulty, but
with persistent efforts and close restrictions we have been able to eliminate many and will have the balance before long. They are used for
freight only. All installations of new equipment are tested at full
capacity and overspeed. New types of safety planks are dro_p tested
at full capacity before approval. Hoistway door locks are lllStalled
and fully te':<ted before approval.
The constructing elevator companies are in true accord with the
code and are assistmg us in keeping the proper standards, even going as far as to refuse to do the work where improper or undergrade
material or workmanship is requested.
A. three-way card-index system is kept of all inspections. One set
gives the firm name, location, business, when ins_pected, for what,
when reported and by whom. This is filed in .alphabetical order
by firm names. The second set gives the same information, but is
filed by industries-for instance, flour mills, sugar factories, etc.; and
the third set is filed by names of cities or locations. One can
easily see the benefit of this for quick reference.
The Cn.AmMAN. We will pass on to the next paper, "Relati<'n between the work of governmental labor officials and the work of legal
a.id organizations," by John S. Bradway, secretary National Association of Legal A.id Organizations.
1
RELATION BETWEEN THE WORK OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFJ•
. CIALS AND THE WORK OF LEGAL AID ORGANIZATIONS
BY JOHNS. BRADWAY, SECRETARY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LEGAL AID ORGANIZATIONS
Having been asked to address you on the "Relation between the
work of governmental labor officials and the work of legal aid organizations," the main point of relationship which comes to my mind is
that we are both engaged in the admmistration of justice. Consequently, I will talk to you about justice and its administration under
our Anglo-Saxon methods of procedure.
Justice has been defined as the greatest aim of man on earth. In
order to secure justice men have set up elaborate pieces of machinery
adapted to the purpose and called governments. In one sense the
test of efficiency of a government is its ability to procure justice for
the persons who are governed. If a ~overnment fails to secure justice to any considerable extent, it is liable to be called into question
by the people and perhaps be overthrown.
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVEB.NMEN'l'AL LABOR OFFICIALS
Our Anglo-Saxon governments a.re set up on a series of written
documents beginning with the Magna Cha.rte.in 1215 and continuing
down to our later Federal and State Constitutions.. There a.re certain
fundamental statements contained in these documents which set
forth, :first of all, the justice to be secured by that particular type of
government, and, secondly, the machinery which is devised to secure
it. Running through the whole range of Anglo-Saxon law we find
guaranties of justice. An instance of this is written in the constitution of Pennsylvania:
All courts shall be open and every man for an injury done him in his lands,
goods, person, or reputation shall have remedy by due course of law and right
and justice administered without sale, denial, or delay.
The Magna Cha.rte. (cha:eter 40) contains the statement: "To no
one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice."
These three things we may take as fundamental: First, that our
Anglo-Saxon government shall be a government of laws and not of
men-a guaranty that our laws shall be based UJ?On well thought out
clearly-defined rules rather than upon the wliim of the individual.
Second, we are guaranteed equality before the law. The Constitution of the United States, amendment 14, section 11 says: "No State
shall deny any pel"Son within its jurisdiction the equal protection
of the laws."
This is a guaranty that no _person in the community shall be a.hove
the law or below it. And third, there is a guaranty, as in the Constitution of the United States, amendment 51 that the protection of
our law shall be extended to a man's life, liberty, and property. H,
therefore, every citizen living under an Anglo-Saxon form of government secures a government of laws and not of men, an equal protection of that law, and a protection extended to his life, liberty,
and J?roperty, he will _receiye that justic~ to. whi?h he is ent!tle_d.
It 1S a matter of pnde with us that thIS situation does exist m the
great majority of instances, and that justice is done to the citizen of
both of the great countries represented at this convention. We
should recognize that credit for this is due to the administrative
officials, courts and bar of our countries whose duty it is primarily
to_ administer t~ law. The law itself is in the main absolutely just,
and is designed to operate with absolute equality upon all persons.
But new social and economic conditions may a.rise wliich will require
the erection of new legal machinery or the adaptation of existing legal
machinery in order that justice may be brought to certain groups in
the community fully and completely.
As long as our countries remained sparsely settled with small communities of individuals, it was unlikely that much injustice would
occur between different members of a particular locality. Every man
knew his neighbor, and in the event of a wrongful act the circumstances could, with comparatively little trouble, expense, or delay, be
passed upon by those in authority. But in the very growth of our
great urban communities we find a new condition of economic and
social life presented and new groups of people developing. One of
these groups is composed of poor persons who because of their poverty, are largtily inarticulate and whose cries of distress come faintly,
if at all, to the ears of those other citizens in the community who
have sufficient interest to remedy the injustices. A second group is
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composed of sly, dishonest persons who take advantage of the very
numbers of the people to defy the law and to laugh at those upon
whose shoulders is laid the duty of administering it.
Let me illustrate this situation for you by a case which came to
me a couple of years ago when I was chief counsel of the Philadelphia
Legal Aii:1 Bureau. r take the illustration because it is one with
which you are all familiar and which you could duplicate many times
over from your own experience.
An old man secured a position counting bricks. Certain buildings
were being demolished and the brick from the buildings was to be resold. The foreman hired the old man to count the bricks at the rate
of $2 a day. For four days the old man counted bricks from one pile
to another, and at the end of the fourth day the work was done. He
then applied to the foreman for his money. The foreman drew out
of his pocket a roll of bills and counted off $8. He then looked at the
old man and saw that he was feeble, and decided that here was a good
opportunity to keep the money for himself. Accordingly he put it
back in his pocket and told the old man to move on before a policeman was called. The old man protested, but the foreman, with imprecations and a few blows, drove the old man off the lot and sent
him walking down the street.
The old man sat down on the sidewalk and thou~ht about the situation. Under the laws of Pennsylvania he had a ri_~ht to his money,
but he did not know how to enforce that right, ana consequently he
was without funds.
This is a practical situation. You may change every detail of this
story with tbe exc~tion of the one factor-poverty-and the result
will be the same. In theory the law did guarantee" equal protection."
In practice the poor man in this case did not know how to obtain
equal protection.
The average poor man in this condition knows that he should go
to a la"7Yer to have his rights enforced. He hesitates to go to a law. yer's office because of the fee which he believes must always be paid.
if the particular man in our illustration had gone to a lawyer's office
he would have found out that it would cost him $3.50 to start suit
in a magistrate's court, and $6 to start suit in the municipal court,
and he had no money for either. He would further have learned
that the case would take several weeks orjerhaps even a couple of
months before it could be disposed of, an he could not afford to
wait this length of time because the money was needed at once for
food and clothing for him.self and his wife. In the third place, if he
had instructed the lawyer to proceed with the collection of the money
the lawyer would have done work which in all justice to himself
should be compensated for by a reasonable fee. 'fhis the old man
could not afford to _pay.
Our law books, all nicely bound and placed in rows on the bookshelves of our libraries, contain definite statements that the old man
had a right to his money. As a practical matter he sat on the sidewalk and did not receive his money.
The reason he did not assert his rights was because of three factors,
namely, court costs, delay of court procedure, and the need for and
expense of a lawyer.
Court costs are very necessary. They serve to keep from litigation
many cases where the matter has been purely one which should be
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
settled out of court. ThEiy serve to bear at least a portion of the
expenses of the court. We have no quarrel with court costs. But
where the principle which supports court, costs comes in conflict with
the greater principle that justice must be administered equally, the
lesser principle should give way to the greater.
Let nie mte you another case which shows what the existence of
court costs will do in denying a man justice. I refer you to the case
of Campbell v. Chicago Railroad Co., 23 Wis. 490. Campbell sued
the railroad and the railroa<l asked him to file a bond for costs.
Campbell was poor and could not do so, and the judge therefore
dismissed the case. Campbell appealed to the su_preme court of his
State, and the supreme court, in affirming the judgment of the lower
court, said in its decision, "It seems almost a hardship that a poor
man should not be allowed to litigate."
There is much to be said in favor of a reasonable amount of delay
in court procedure. Delay gives to the litigants time for reconsideration of their differences and aids in furthering amicable adjustments. A certain amount of delay also aids the court in giving
well-considered judgments on the cases rather than h11.sty snap
decisions. But when the principle of delay in court procedure comes
in conflict with that greater prmciple of equal protection of the law,
then, indeed, the lesser principle must give way to the greater.
There is much to be said in favor of lawyers. Speaking as one of
the members of this profession, I am profoundly convinced that lawyers are a necessary adjunct to our present-day system of administermg justice. Charles Warren, in liis History of the American Bar,
cites several instances of efforts made by the early legislatures in this
country to do away with the legal profession entirely. But the need
was sucl;t that the profession always sprang UJ> agam and continued.
I think we mu.<1t admit that unless our method of administering justice is completely revised the lawyer is an integral part of it. If, therefore, we admit that the lawy:cr is necessary, we must realize that justice
may not always be done 1f one party to litigation retains a lawyer·
and the other party, because of liis poverty, can not secure that aid.
The chances are that if a man can pay for a lawyer to do his legal
work for him, he will win the case as against a poor man who must prepare his own papers, file his own briefs, interview and cross-examine
his own witnesses, and contend unaided and alone with the intricacies of our legal procedure. It follows logically, therefore, that if a
poor man is to receive in all cases that justice to which he is entitled
under our fundamental documents of government, we must supply a
lawyer for him without cost to himself.
For these three specific difficulties in the administration of justice
there are equally specific remedies. The l?roblem of court cost is
being attacked by the committee on legal aid work of the American
Bar .Association, which is now engaged m p_reparing a model act providing for a procedure whereby in a proper case court costs may be
waived in the interests of a poor litigant. The problem of delay in
court procedure is being equally well met by such organizations as
small claims courts, conciliation courts, and governmental labor officials. Finally, the problem of the need for and the expense of a
lawyer i~ being met by the legal aid society. Briefly, legal aid work
is nothing more than this: supplying a lawyer to a poor man who can
not affQrd to pay for the service and who, if he did not receive it, might
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be denied justice. Legal aid work began in New York City in 1876,
the society in that year handling 212 cases and colJecting for its
clients a sum of $1,000. The work has advanced Eiatisfactorily, until in
the year 192-1 there are 100 legal aid groups and societies situated in
most of the larger cities of the United States and in some Canadian
cities engaged in this work and handling over 125,000 cases a year and
collecting for their clients, in amounts averaging less than $15 a case,
over half a million dollars a year. In the 40-odd years of legal aid
work in the United States, 1,762,873 cases have been handled and
the total collections during the same period for clients amount to over
$6,000,000.
Our purpose here is to consider not so much legal aid work by
itself a.s the relationship between legal aid work in the administration
of justice and your work in the administration of justice. A legal
aid organization approaches the problem from the point of view of
250 different kinds of legal cases involving innumerable questions
which it handles during "the course of the year. These cases include
matrimonial difficulties, wage claims, landlord and tenant difficulties,
collections, installment contracts, adoption, and many similar matters.
Those wit.h which we are chiefly interested at this meeting are the
collection of wage claims. Your organizations operate in an entirely
different field, which is concerned not so much with the administration of legal problems as it is with the equally interestin~ economic
and social field of the relation between the employer anct employee.
In the course of your work you come in contact with all sorts of conflicts, physical and otherwise, arising between the men who employ
labor and the men who work for capital. Among other things you
are interested in the collection of wages, because this is one of the
vital factors in the relation between tlie two parties.
Our joint field of activity is that of the collection of unpaid wage
claims. The whole problem of wage collections and a larger economic
and social problem of the relation between emJ?loyer and employee
have been the subject of spirited controversy dunng the past 50 years.
Our Government was based to a large extent upon the individualistic
theory that every man who was sui juris should as a matter of right
be left free to enter into any contract that he desired. Many of our
States set forth in their constitutions a statement that interference
with this freedom of contract would not be tolerated. So long as
there wo.s land to the westward, where dissatisfied laborers might go
to live their lives in their own way, this individualistic theory met
satisfactorily the conditions of our social and economic growth.
Shortly after the Civil War, however, conditions changed. Industries
became crystallized. Enormous metropolitan centers grew up. And
the very individualistic theory which had previously been an aid now
became a detriment to the laborer. In his social and economic field
he was, as a matter of fact, not free to contract with whomever he
wished. Because of the pressure of competition from his fellows he
was forced in many instances to accept such terms of employment as
were available or to starve.
In time this condition attracted the attention of the State legislatures and they began to pass Jaws which inadvertently affected the
freedom of contract. Our law as administered by the courts under
our State constitutions changes gradually. It was natural, therefore,
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR 0FF1CIALS
that these first legislative efforts should be declared unconstitutional. In later years, however, there is a very interesting line of
decisions which are beginning to recognize the constitutionality of
legislation of this kind. From the point of view of substantive law
there is less ground for complaint as to the problem of collection of
wages.
It is significant, however, that this legislation was concerned
primarily with social and economic problems. The result of it was
to assert as a matter of law certain social and economic rights. Illustrations of this sort will be found in the laws providing for a minimum
wage. These laws were based on the thought that competition
between laborers for a particular piece of employment should not be
permitted to extend below a certain level of compensation. Another
line of statutes in the same field required that wages be paid within
a week, two weeks, or a month from the time the work was done.
This was because it was no longer regarded as fair for capital to borrow
wages from the laborer for Ion~ periods of time when the laborer was
daily giving his services outrignt to the employer. Other examples
oflegislation had to Jo with the restriction in the employment contract,
hours of labor, and similar matters.
While the emphasis was being placed on these economic and social
safeguards there seems to have been less interest displayed in
the matter of the procedural side. The means by which these laws
are made effective is a matter separate and distinct from the right
which the law provides. Unless the machinery for enforcing such a
law is adequate there is no life to the law itself, and the rights given
by it are merely an empty gesture.
Dean Pound, of the Harvard Law School, has pointed out that in
much Anglo-Saxon law there is a Puritan element. This element
apparently comes from a racial belief that because a law is written
on the statute books therefore it will be obeyed. It is a matter of
pride with us that we obey the law because it is the law. But in
many circumstances we believe that the law is not obeyed merely
because it, has been enacted. We are continually finding more and
more persons who for their own advantage ignore the law. In such
case we must provide machinery to enforce the law, and the machinery
must be adequate for the needs desired.
It is a fundamental right of every person who has entered into a
contract to sue in a civil court for a breach of that contract by the
other _party and to recover damages therefor.. This procedu~e _is in
force m every State and represents the final right which the m1ured
party may have. We have already discussed the fact that delay in
court procedure, court costs, and the need for and expense of a lawyer render this right less definite for the J)Oor man.
Realizing the difficulties presented by this mode of procedure, we
have sought means of enforcing the law for the benefit of the workman.
One group of States, including Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, California, Idaho, South Carolina, Montana, Michigan, and Indiana have
endeavored to compel payment of wages by imposing a penalty for
nonpayment. The difficulty with this method of procedure, however,
lies in the fact that the unpaid wage earner must, of his own initiative, collect the penalty by an ordinary civil suit, which is again
subject to delay, court costs, and the expense of a lawyer. Other
States, realizing the cost of such a procedure because of the need of
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a lawyer, have allowed the lawyer for the laborer to collect his fee
from the defendant, J>rovided the laborer won. Thus Minnesota,
Montana, Iowa, and Oregon make additional provision.
Both of these lines of statutes are of doubtful constitutionality.
Reginald Heber Smith in his article "Administrative justice," appearing in the Illinois Bar Review for December, 1923 (page 211),
discusses the reason for this situation. H~ says:
Some cases have held that statutes allowing the attorney's fee to the plaintiff
but not to the defendant are unconstitutional. The argument is that it is
wrong to help one side unless a reciprocal and similar advantage is held out to
the other side * * * But here again, even if we assume the constitutionality of our statutes, we find that the fundamental difficulty has not been wiped
out. The plan of inducing attorneys to act in hopes of a counsel fee for success savors too much of the contingent system. Also, we repeat the mistake of
dropping the life preserver into the ocean 100 yards from the drowning man.
Another group of States have taken a step in advance by placing
the responsibility for enforcing these wage-payment laws in the hands
of an administrative official, generally _called a labor commissioner.
California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Massachusetts, and Washington are in this group. These administrative officials have not been
given any legal jurisdiction to hear and determine such cases. This
1s in contrast to the action of the legislature as to industrial accident
boards and workmen's compensation comrµissions. Undoubtedly
many of these administrative officials actually do collect large sums
of money for laborers, but again we are faced with the need m some
cases of taking a case into court, and here the old difficulty of the
expense of the lawyer becomes a serious obstacle.
This presents to us the problem, "How shall we efficiently enforce
laws for payment of wages!" B~fore we consider the remedies we
should say a word about the importance of the pI'oblem.
Is there any real widespread condition in the lJnited States which
makes it of value that we endeavor to collect wages, or are instances
of injustice to employees so occasional as to be something of a
curiosity¥ Franklv, we must admit we do not know all the facts.
We ought to know~all the facts. It ought to be possible for us at
least to approximate the number of persons in the United States
each year who are deprived of their earned wages because of lack of
machmery to enforce the laws. In our present condition the best
we can do is to estimate from such information as we do have. The
best information which I have been able to discover is contained in
the records in the National Association of Legal Aid Organizations,
which show that in the year 1922 there were more than 125,000
cases handled by legal aid organizations throughout the United
States. The information that has come in indicates that the largest
single type of case in the different organizations was that of wage
cla.J.ms. We are further informed that in the same year the legal a.J.d
organizations collected, in amounts averaging not more than $15 per
case, over $520,000. In the majority of mstances these collections
were of wages. It is not contended that these figures are at all adequate. In your own offices you probably have data which will
amplify this information extensively. But at least we can say that
we are now confronted with a situation in the United States where
employers are endeavoring to retain from employees nearly half a
million dollars a year in small amounts when the money 1s justly
due and payable to the employee. This is a huge evil. When figures
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are available showing the full extent we will probably be astounded
at its proportions. It is evident that if it be allowed to grow unchecked it will undermine to a large degree that respect for the law
and order on which we pride ourselves.
It is a satisfaction to know that there are practical methods of
approaching the problem. These are four in nuinbel': The first
line of attack is a proper law on nonpaYJ'.Jlent of wages. We must
ascertain what is the best ty:pe of law. The second line of attack is
the governinental labor official. If there is a proper law the unpaid
wage earner can go to such an official and collect his wages in perhaps 75 per cent of the eases. The third line of attack is the small
claims court. Here in small wage claims the employer can be
forced to pay. Finally comes the legal aid society, which supplies a
lawyer in the most complicated cases.
Taking these up in- detail it would appear that we do not as yet
have the best type of law on nonpayment of wages. It follows that
there is a responsibility 11_pon some one in the community to see that
such a. law is enacted. Your organizations and mine are primarily
interested and it seems natural that we should assume a definite
obligation in this connection. We should see that a law is prepared
which will deal adequately with the problem.
Assuming that we can devise such a law, the next step is the work
of your organizations. Quoting again from the article, "Administrative justice," previously referred to, we find:
These administrative officials have not been given any legal jurisdiction to
hear and determine cases as have the industrial accident boards, but in California and Washington the officials may arbitrate seasonal labor wage claims and
all of the officials have acquired a sort of de facto jurisdiction and conduct hearings which are__partly in the nature of arbitration and partly in the nature of
conciliation. Under this de facto jurisdiction the administrative officials have
accomplished results. In California from 1912 to 1920, 64,228 claims were filed
and 38,716, amoynting to $1,185,602, were collected.
This is a splendid record of achievement. No doubt the records of
your other offices will show an equally imposing set of figures. Your
mterest is attracted to the matter of collecting w~es -by conciliation
and adjustment. The experience and effort which you have brought
to bear u_pon these daily tasks have qualified you as experts in nevis!Jlg legislation.
B_y your conciliation you accomplish two things-a just settlement
of the claim in question and a better understanding between the parties. There is need for a more widespread understanding of the value
of conciliation as you make use of it. Conciliation, if rightly used,
has the advantage of being inexpensive1 speedy, and devoid of tangled
procedure. In your hands it is one or the greatest remedies for the
problem of wage collections. You will find few forms of activity
am.onfii1sour many duties which will be more definitely appreciated
than
.
Let us consiaer another phase of the problem. This has to do with
wage claims which will not yield to conciliation and where court action must be ta.ken. Ordinary court procedure is adopted_primarily
to ascertain truth and to administer Justice. It handles all t;ypes of
cases and is seldom adapted to specialize in any one. The colleotion
of a wage claim is a diatinct type of problem. The economic and
social conditions of tho wage earner make necessary a speedy trial,
inexpensive proceedings, ana as little complication as possible · in
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methods of procedure. Many persons have come to believe that
the small claims court fills this need. The American Bar .Association
committee on legal aid work .in its· 1923 report tells us that such organizations now exist in the States of California, Idaho, Kansas, and
Massachusetts, and in the cities of Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee,
Minneapolis, Portland, Spokane, and St. Paul.
These courts by specializing on small claim~ are able to care for a
large number of cases in a very short space of time, to give a decision,
and to compel payment of wages by compulsory means. Their work
deserves great approval because they have been conducted in such a
way as to accomplish just these results-an inexpensive, speedv, and
uncom_plicated trial and j~dgment which may be collected. They
have their place in the collection of wages and we should be ready to
acknowledge that place and to give our assistance in encouraging
their growth.
Lastly, let us consider the legal aid organization. It is the poor
man's law office. It supplies him with a lawyer without cost to himself. Its field of activity is just as vitf).l as those occupied by your
efficient bureaus and by tho small claims courts. Where there are no
small claims courts there is need for a lawyer to press cases in th(1
regular trial courts. Even where there are small claims courts there
are cases which must be followed up after the judgment of the court.
has been given. It is not entirely unusual for the employer to feign
insolvency, to put his property in his wife's name, to J)repare impro:mptu bills of sale, and in other ways endeavor to evade payment
of his just debts. If we are to provide a complete machinery to insure the payment of wages we must have, in addition to the law, at
kast three things-an agency which will endeavor to effect settlement
by conciliation; an agency which will have the power to adjudge the
ri&:hts of the parties; and an agency which will follow the most diffic111t wage claim through court procedure to hi_dgment, execution,
and beyond until final settlement is reached. The employee with a
just claim is entitled to his money no matter how difficult it may be
to g_et the money for him, and justice is not complete whm the
machinery set up to attain it gives him anything less than payment
iil full.
Where the wage claims which come to your organization and mine
involve these problems which are sometimes beyond the scope of the
powers intrusted to us, we are confronted with the question as to
how this complete service should be rendered. It is in this connection that I urge upon you cooperation with the legal aid societies of
the United States and Canada. Our work is no panacea, but in our
own particular field it is the efficient means of accomplishing certain
defimte results which can only be accomplished by a trained lawyer.
In the same way your offices are ihe efficient solution in the fiela. of
conciliation. We need to devise a good law on the subject and to
organize specialized courts which will do away with delay, expense,
and complicated procedure. .A committee of the .Association of
Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada cooperating with a committee of the National .Association of Legal Aid
Organizations will provide the immediate means of attack. I urge
upon you the appointment of such a committee.
There is more to our task than merely finding these remedies.
We must find out how to apply them. It seems to me important
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OF QOVElt.NMEN'rAL t.A130R Ol!'FtCtALS
that we should consider ways and means by which your or_ganizations and those which I represent may cooperate in this task. We
should COOJ>erate because we are engaged m the administration of
justice and because working separately we may gain personal glory
at the expense of our efficiency in the greater J>Ut>lic task. There is
no conflict between the kinds of work we are doing. But our duty
is not done when we have appointed such committees or when they
have given us a proper law on the payment of wages. We must see
that the law is administered. Our laws are printer's ink on white
paper shut up in books. When, in time of need, they remain shut
up in books, then the applicant for justice is shut outside the law,
and a man shut outside of the law is an outlaw. If you and I,
because of our particular position in· the community, fail to realize
to the fullest extent our opportunities to bring these laws out of the
books and home to the people, the work may never be done at all or
it may be most inadequate1y done. If we rise to our opportunities
we will accomplish not merely the particular task that has been set
us but also we will do our share to make good that ideal and fundamental principle upon which our countries, our Constitution, and our
civilization are builded-the equal protection of the law.
DISCUSSION
Mr. SWEETSER. While we are on· this question I would like to ask
the last speaker if he has looked into the Massachusetts law on
wage claims i
Mr. BRADWAY. I have heard of it; I have not looked into it
extensively.
Mr. SWEETSER. Do you know anything about it~
l\fr. BR~DWfY. I do not know enough a.bout it to talk intelligently
on it at this tnne.
Mr. SWEETSER. We have a law that if the employer fails to pay '·1
the man it is a criminal offense. We enforce that law through
attorneys.
Mr. BRADWAY. I do know that the Boston Legal Aid Society
reports to me that all wage claims which come to its attention are
referred to your organization and that they are always handled very
efficiently.
.
Mr. STEWART. Massachusetts is very fortunate in that nonpayment is a criminal offense. I am very sure that no other State in
the Union has introduced that feat'11'0 into its wage laws. It may
be that some have, but I think the real situation is this: A few of
the bureaus of labor d~ collect.-µnpaid wages.as a bluff; one or two
of them have laws which permit them to do it; a few of them do it
without any law. The president of this legal a.id society, Mr. Herbert Smith, of Boston, came to me some time ago, and suggested
getting in touch with the International Association of Industrial ·
Accident Boards and Commissions to have its members use the legal
aid organization more generally. I told him the chances were that
this association was far more closely in touch with the subject than
other associations, and that this was the place where we ought to
hear about that organization.
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I have in preparation a report upon the work of this organization.
It seems to me that here is a chance to use a really efficient, useful,
square organization for the collection of small wage debts. I am
thoroughly satisfied that it will be of great help to all of you, without any expense, and I move that it is the sense of this association
that the president appoint a committee to confer with the National
Le(J'al Aid Association to strengthen the collecting of wage debts,
and furthermore that each bureau affiliated with this association
will, when it has troubles of that sort, turn them over to the legal
aid organization, to the end that we may lessen the amount of pilfering of small wages. [Motion seconded.]
The CHAIRMAN. That motion would mean just bringing it to the
attention at the business meeting 1
Mr. STEWART. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. It has been moved and seconded that this association ap_point a committee to confer with the National Legal Aid
Association, and recommend the use of this organization by State
bureaus.
[Said motion so moved and seconded was carried. Meeting
adjourned.]
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THURSDAY, MAY 22-MORNING SESSION
ALICE McFARLAND, DIRECTOR WOMEN'S WORK, KANSAS COURT 01' INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS,PRESIDING
The CHAIRMAN. Miss .Anderson, of the Women's Bureau, is not
able to be with us this morning, but we have her p_aper on "The
International Federation of Working Women," and Miss Peterson
will read it.
THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF WORKING WOMEN
BY ¥ARY ANDERSON, DIRECTOR WOIIEN'S BUREAU, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT
OF LABOR
.
[Read by Agnes Peterson]
To many of those who have been following for several years the
development of the International Federation of Working Women,
the third congress, held in Vienna last August, was particularly
significant. So that we ma.y have the background of this first international gathering of working women before us, let us look back to
the time and the occasion of the original plan.
•
In the summer of 1917, when the convention of the National
Women's Trade-Union League of America met in Kansas City, Mo.,
the air was filled with war problems, and the women gathered there
assumed their full rcsronsi6ility in the handling of them-with, however, an unwavering forward look. For they felt that the work of
reconstruction and the safeguarding of the interests of the workers,
especially the woman workers, after the war should be over, was to
the full as essential as any of the questions of the hour. One resolve
that the convention made in this connection was to hold, or help to
call together, an international congress of working women.
Between th81t time and the convening of the next biennial gathering of the league, in June, 1919, plans for this international meeting
had been set going. Miss Rose Schneiderman and I went to Paris
early in 1919 to attend the Peace Conference, and while there talked
over with the French trade-unionists whom we met this idea of a
closer union of working women the world over. The French working women were enthusiastic over the thought 1 and tentative plans
were discussed for calling such a meeting in Washington just prior
to the International Labor Conference. already called for the following_autumn.
When we reached England and mentioned the plan, we found the
British trade-unionists equally eager for such a gathering.
· At the league's 1919 convention, therefore, after we had reported
on our encouraging conferences in EuroEe, it was voted that the
National Women's Trade-Union League should send invitations to
the trade-union women of all countries to meet in Washington, October 29, 1919. Three prominent British women-Mary Macarthur,
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Margaret Bondfield, and Eleanor Blll"ton-were visitors at the convention and gave every encouragement to the new endeavor in internationalism.
This first meeting, held in Washington as planned, was one of tremendous inspiration and enthusfo.sm. There were present delegates
from 12 nations with voting powers, and 7 other countries were represented without vote. Several of the foreign delegates also held
positions as technical advisers to the delegates of their respective
countries of the First International Labor Conference, called by the
International Labor Office of the League of Nations.
Mrs. Raymond Robins opened this first congress and was elected
its president. The session:3 of the congress were devoted to discussions on all those problems so vital to the well-being of the working
woman, and the conclusions reached are reflected in the resolutions
which dealt with direct representation of women at the next international labor congress; 8-nour day and 44-hour week for all workers;
child labor; maternity insurance; night work; unemplovment; hazardous occupations-protection of men and women; emigration; and
distribution of raw material.
Each day, as soon as the resolutions were passed, they were submitted to the labor conference, each with the same introductory
phrase: "The First International Congress of Working Women requests the First International Conference of Labor of the League of
Nations that an international convention establish," etc.
The two years follow~ this fu-st congress were used to good purpose in formin_g_ internat10nal connections from the heauquarters
maintained'in Washington, with an executive secretary in charge.
A cooperative relationship was established with the International
Labor Office in Washington, from whom our headquarters received
valuable advice.
· In 1921 the second congress convened in Geneva, Switzerland.
There were delegates from the United States, Great Britain, France,
Italy, Switzerland, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Poland, South
Africa, and Belgium. The program followed that of the International
Labor Committee of the League of Nations, and the subiects were:
Anthrax; lead poisoning; women and children in agtj.culture; and
the employment of young boys as stokers on board ship. Besides
these, there were resolutions on unemployment and disarmament.
This congress voted that the headquarters be removed to London
because of the great distance of America from the other countries,
and the organization became henceforth the International Federation
of Working Women. Then came 1923 with its Vienna con_gress, held
in beautiful Schoenbrun Castle, the former home of the Hapsburgs.
Perhaps in the present tragic state of Europe the most important
and at the same trme the most difficult thing that any international
organization can do is to exist at all. Surely it is true that for women
of the labor movements of Europe, crushed and torn and impo·verished
as these movements are, and women of the American labor movement, harassed by postwar problems on its part as well-for these
groups to be able, despite such conditions, to hold their third international congress is an achievement demonstrating strength both of
pun,ose and of faith.
It demanded strength of purpose to overcome the physical obstacles
to international understanding and cooperation by meeting to discuss
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their problems, and of faith in a common sisterhood despite the barrier of 3,000 miles of ocean; despite the difference in peoples evolved
from different ethnical, political, religious, and economic backgrounds;
despite the varying conditions, conceptions, and standards of life
imJ.><>sed by the different environment of the Old World and the New.
This congress disclosed, more unmistakably than ever, how different
are the philosophy and structure of America from the other countries;
how llard, how very hard it is to speak the same language.· But it
made more evident the need, more fixed the determination to achieve
that understanding.
The discussion on international labor legislation dealt with the
work of the International Labor Office. The two earlier conventions covered such subjects as child labor, the 8-hour day, labor laws
for women, agricultural labor problems, unemployment, home work,
and many other industrial issues. The Vienna congress of worki.Jlg
women dealt especially with the question of home work, f a.mily
allowances, and the methods of regulation of employment conditions.
On the issue of labor laws affe.}ting women, but not necessarily
applying alike to men, the congress upheld the American delegates'
·pomt of view, which is that of the American Federation of Labor and
the National Women's Trade-Union League; namely, that an:y industrial ~up, whether women or men, should be the judge of its own
methods of securin_g better industrial standards, whether by tradeunion agreement alone, by legislation, or by_ both methods. The
committee brought in the following report, which was.-adopted:
Nationally and internationally, there should. be minimum standards of work,
such as the 8-hour day, but the method by which such standards are to be obtained, whether by trade-union agreement or by law, or by both means, should
be determined by the organized workers of those countries according to the
economic and political conditions in each country:
Therefore, the International Federation of Working Women declares in favor
of labor legislation for women in countries where the organized working women
wish to use this method to improve the industrial conditions.
The discussion on home work brought out most striking differences between the nationalities in their attitude toward tlie thing
which in America is another name•for the worst form of sweat-shop
evil. Home work in the European countries is entrenched behind
the seH-interest of the employers on the one hand and to a considerable
extent the acquiescence of the workers on the other. It results in
underpayment and a consequent lack of independence among the
workers, the woman workers being the lowest paid group of all. As
to the remedl, according to a report pr~ared by the secretariat of the
Internationa Federation of Working Women:
There is a fundamental distinction between British and continental eolicy in
this matter. Generally speaking, continental legislation usually deals with home
workers and aims at keeping their wages level with those in the factory; British
legislation deals with certain trades, and lays down minimum wages for those
engaged in the industry, home work being thus treated as a part of a trade, and
not as a separate problem. Enforcement, too, appears to be more vigoroµs in
Great Britain than on the continent.
The report adopted by the congress called attention ~ain in this
instance to the different conditions in different countnes and the
consequent necessity for adaptation of regulatory methods to the conditions in each country. It was recommended that further info;rma-
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tion be sought through the International Labor Office, and that the
questioI?, be carried on the agenda of the next international congress
of working women.
·
To the American delegates the proposal for "family allowances"meaning an addition to the basic wage of a man according to the number of hls dependents-was by no means so familiar as to the Europeans. In America organized labor demands wage standards which
shall be sufficient for a family and shall bear a proper relation to the
of the worker. To some extent in various European countries
the family allowance is resorted to. Usually it is paid from a pool
of funds set aside by the employers for the purpose, under agreement
with the trade-unions. In Austria, however, the State is a party to
the arrangement. The system was started during the war, to meet
the problem of increased living costs, but has not satisfied the workers. They feel that it keeps wages down, and should be discouraged
in favor of continued effott for oetter wage standards. The committee on family allowances and the congress made recommendation to
that effect.
A conference on methods of organizing women into trade-unions
occupied one of the morning sessions of the congress. It brought
out reports on the conditions in different countries, and the common
need of intensive campaigns to organize woman workers, especially
the young ·girls and the least skilled women. The committee's
report, adopted by the congress, advocated (1) organization of men
and women into the same unions; (2) an intensive campaign through
the national labor bodies in each country; (3) special l~aflets and
literature to appeal to woman workers; (4) increased recreation
facilities through general and special subjects; and finally, in view
of the fact that so many women and girls are but transitory in
industry, the congress recommended special attention to the task of
awakening their social consciousness, for the sake of future moral
support of the labor movement.
The committee on constitution of the International Federation of
Working Women had a most dilficult problem to deal with; namely,
the status of the federation for the future, concerning which proposals had been made by the secretariat in London.
This proposal for the women's department of the International
Federation of Trade-Unions, as outlined to the Vienna congress,
provides for carrying out the plan by-
skill
1. Developing the present women's department at Amsterdam and appointing a woman secretary.
2. Establishing a women's committee representing the trade-union movement
in different countries to work with the department and the executive authorities
of the International Federation of Trade-Unions in the development of the
trade-union movement among women. This shall be called together at least
once a year, and more frequently if necessary.
3. Holding a congress of working women at least every two years, preferably
before the biennial congress of the International Federation of Trade-Unions,
After extended discussion in the committee, and with the American
delegates not voting, the proposal of the secretariat, of the International Federation of Working Women at London was accepted by
the Vienna congress, and as a result negotiations are in progress
38735°-25-7
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looki___!!g to the absorption of the International Federation of Worki!}g Women into a department of the International Federation of
Trade-Unions at Amsterdam. The conJ!ess of the International
Federation of Trade-Unions which will be held in 1924 wilJ act upon
the proposal and such action will be communicated by the International Federation of Working Women to its affiliated bodies for
ratification. In the meantime the International Federation of Working Wo~en continues technically under the Geneva constituti(?n
adopted ·m 1921.
Underlying the different points of view of the American and the
European working women on this proposal are their different conceptions of economic and social structure. American women have
recognized the necessity for a woman movement within the labor
movement; hence the existence of the National Women's TradeUnion League of America, an autonomous body working in cooperation with the American Federation of La.bor, but.specializing upon
the problems of working women, which are admittedly different in
many vital respects from the problems of working men, and need to
be emphasized by women from woman's point of view. On the
other liand European working women agree with European working
men in placing emphasis on class consciousness and deprecate a
•
woman movement within the class.
At Vienna the European delegations were unanimous in their belief
that if the lnternational Federation of Working Women is really to
serve .the best interests of the organized working women of Europe
it must become an integral part of the International Federation of
Trade-Unions, which is officered and controlled by men. The American delegation felt that a woman's department in such an organization, while it could undoubtedly serve a useful purpose, could not do
for the wor&g women what the American women hoJ>Eld it would
do when the International Federation ·of Working Women was
founded in Washington in 1919.
It was another mstance of the different philosophies of the Old
World and the New, another illustration of the need for better understanding by each continent of the conditions of life in the other,
and another impetus, therefore, to future conferences, future consultation, future assembling of the working women of all nations in
the cause of international fellowship, which was the goal ·of the
National Women's Trade-Union League of America when it called
the First International Congress of Working Women four years ago.,
Perhaps while the International Federation of Working Women,
because of various handicaps, has not in the four years of existence
accomplished all that we had hoped it could, we find, however, that
it can point to something that can easily be counted as a definite step
forward in international understanding and woman's progress. Perhaps I can tell this to you best by quoting the secretary of the federation, Dr. Marion Pnillips:
I might point out right here that it is a remarkable accomplishment for our
International Federation of Working Women to make the executive hoard of the
Amsterdam Federation want to create a secretariat or bureau to look after the
women's interests. This is largely due to the splendid initiative and enthusiastic
support of the American group in our federation, for without them we should
not be where we are to-day.
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DISCUSSION
The CHAmMAN. Miss Anderson has certainly given us a world
view, an international view, and it is especially mteresting as representing the expression of the working women themselves. This group
of women who are engaged in enforcing State laws, State legislation
for women, are very- often accused of trying to do something that
the working women themselves do not want-are not in favor of. I
think the report of the congress of the International Federation of
Working Women shows clearly that the working women of the
world, and the working women of America especially, are in favot. of
- the particular kind of legislation we a.re working for and enforcing wherever it has been obtained, especially that in regard to
the question of equal rights. This is a very definite, clear expression of the stand of the working women of America-that is,
the organized working women of America-on this question, and it
brings out very_ clearly the difference between American working
women and the European working women on this question of equal
rights. It might not be desirable to consider any resolution from this
group on this question, because we are so closely connected with the
enforcement of this law, that perhaps an expression from the outside,
from the working wome:q of America to the working women of the
world, would have more weight than an expression from us.
The question, though, is one which has been uppermost in the United
States. Because the equal rights amendment was introduced by a
Senator from my own State I feel privileged to say something concerning it. We feel that the question has subsided for the present
at least, that there is no immediate need for action so far as Congress is concerned, but if any woman or man here wishes to express
an opinion in ~ard to this action of the congress of the International
Federation of vv orking Women or any other matter brought out by
Miss Anderson's paper we will be glad to hear from her or him.
Mr. WILcox. I am just wondering whether or not this gathering
is fully acquainted with the existing situation regarding the so-called
Wisconsin blanket provision, and whether or not I ought to sa.y just
a word or two with respect to it, so that at least this group will have
an understanding of what we in Wisconsin have thought regarding
the matter.
The so-called blanket provision in Wisconsin declares that the
rights of males and of females shall be the same under the law, with
th.e one exception that it preserves the so-called welfare legislation,
like minimum wage and hours for labor for women, and those other
legislative provisions which have to do with the preservation of the
health and welfare of working women. I do not think that character
of legislation is very safe for States. I want to be perfectly frank
about it. I do not think, generally speaking, that that is a safe plan
to follow, if what we are concerned about is the preservation of the
so-called welfare laws. While the matter was pending before the
legislature, we had little doubt as to whether or not we could depend
upon our courts to construe that language properly. We did not
interest ourselves particularly in that phase of the legislation, as we
felt that it was perfectly safe in our State, that our courts had declared themselves a number of times in favor of this type of legislation,
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and that we might trust them to continue their interpretation and
to preserve. such laws as the legislative act intended should be preserved. The question was raised as to whether or not clause constructions b_y the courts might not break down some of this legislation. We thought that was not likely to occur and our conclusions in
regard to that liave been borne out, because our courts have passed
upon the law.and have distinctly declared that all that type of legislation is not affected by the equal rights provision. But, as has been
suggested,. there is the danger of courts putting close or strict constructions upon legislation like that, and perhaps beating out some
of the things actually intended to be preserved. You have to take
your chance. We took it in our State and our confidence in our
court was borne out.
I often wonder whether the women want all they claim they want.
I want them to have all they think they ought to have, but there
are a lot of things which are made law by the equal rights declaration which I do not think are good for women. I raise the question
whether or not a woman ought to be bound by her contract with
her husband, when about all she is asked is, "Just put your name
here." I think the husband is apt to overreach his wife, to prevail
upon her to sign away her l>roperty interest when she ought not to.
She ought to be protected. m those things. So I am not a convert
all along that line. I do not think you want some of these things,
but then that is for you to declare. I just wanted this group to
know what I thought with regard to blanket welfare legislation.
Miss PETERSON. Mr. Wilcox, is there not a difference between
the Wisconsin law and the amendment to the Constitution 9 That
is very important, too.
Mr. Wn.oox. I am out and out opposed to this constitutional
· amendment, to the provisions it contains.
Miss JOHNSON. I am going to ask Mr. Wilcox if the Wisconsin
law does not provide for such a proposed blanket amendment to the
constitution.
Mr. WILOox. That amendment does not provide for minimum
welfare legislation and the Wisconsin law does make that provision.
Mr. STEWART. So far as that conflict is :political, I do not think
this association h-ss any business to handle 1t at all. I can not but
wonder how much industrial cussedness there is behind it, the political side of it. After all, laws for the protection of women are a whole
lot deeper than our industrial questions. Of all the pieces of pettifogging that ever went into the reports of the Supreme Court, the
sta:tement by one of the judges of the Supreme Court that because
women had been given the vote this special class of legislation should
be declared unconstitutionali I think was about the most contemptible. One of the other memoers of the Supreme Court told what he
thought about that kind of rot better tlian I can. After all, the
reasons for legal protection for women is because they are women.
The women of to-day are going to be the mothers of the men of this
country, and such legislation is a blame sight more important for
society as a whole than it is for any industrial phase of tlie nation, or
for the women themselves. Legislation for women goes too deeply
into our very social existence to be kicked around as a football of
politics.
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I was in Boston when the question of voting on the licu1or question
came up. I heard there the speeches of a number of women who
were going around in automobiles which cost eight to ten thousand
dollars apiece; they were preaching human liberty-liberty to get
drunk, and so on and so forth. I doubt whether there was a woman
in the bunch whose clothes did not come from the dividends on
brewery stocks.
When you see these women who do not want any special legislation, any protection for women at all-"let us stand on our own
feet "-1t looks to me as though they had never done a day's work in
their lives. To my mind, the whole thing is simply the talk of the
employers' wives to break down protective legislation, so that their
husbands can get cheaper labor and longer hours and that sort of
thing.
It seems to me that that is all there is to it, and I do not believe
that society, which is far more interested in this legislation than you
women are individually, is going to stand for very much of that sort
of thing. To my mind, the question of protection of women is industrial legislation only on its surface. Way down deep it is social legislation that ought to and will stand regardless of what this association
does.
The CHAIRMAN. We will go on to our next general subject. We
are going to take up the laws themselves, how they are being administered, how they are working in the different sections represented
by the association-the general subject of J>roblems arising from
enforcement of minimum wage laws and hour laws. We have as the
main speakers on our program representatives from three general
sections, Massachusetts, Canada, and the Pacific Coast, and then we
want to hear from all other sections on the question of legislation
and administration.
We are ·going to start with Massachusetts, because Massachusetts
usually starts things. It started the minimum wage legislation, and
it seems to have tlie faculty for going so far and kee_ping its ground,
holding it very :firmJy. There are times when some of the rest of us
who are SJ>urtmg ahead have to sit back a little, and we may yet
have to take the Massachusetts stand.
We will hear from Miss Ethel Johnson, assistant labor commissioner of Massachusetts.
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PROBLEMS ARISING FROM THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE MINIMUM
WAGE AND 48-HOUR LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS
BY ETHEL M. JOHNSON, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT
OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES
HOURS OF LABOR
This discussion of the subject of enforcement of hour and wage
legislation will be confined to the problems arising in Massachusetts in the case of the minimum wage law. The scope will be extended
somewhat to touch on some of the results as well as some of the problems, since the two are closely related.
There are naturally more problems connected with the enforce~ent of recommendatory legislation like the Massachusetts minimum
wage law than with the enforcement of mandatory legislation like
the 48-hour law.
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At the present time there is strong interest in both measures.
Massachusetts is now the only State with a. recommendatory minimum wage law;- and until two weeks a.go was the only eastern State
with a 48-hour law. It will have a ne1ghbor in Rhode Island, however unless the courts should find some flaw in the action taken by
the iegislature of that State on May 9. The .attorney general for
Rhode Island has already ruled that the action is legal, and that the
measure signed by Governor Flynn is valid.
Massachusetts is fortunate in having few serious problems connected with the enforcement of the 48-hour law. This is partly due,
no doubt, to the fact that the law went into operation at a time that
was particularly favorable for its adoption, the period of business
expansion following_ the close-of the wari partlr also to the a.ct
that there was a well-developed system of mspect1on prior to its enactment; and partly to the somewhat elastic provisions of the law
itself. Although the weekly limit is 48 hours, a daily maximum of
9 hours is permitted in all of the occupations covered, and a daily
maximum of ten hours in the case of hotels, thus allowing alternate
long and short shifts. In the case of manufa_cturing industries declared seasonal by the department of labor and industries, the weekly
limit may be extended to 52 hours, provided the weekly average
worked for the year exclusive of Sundays and holidays does not exceed 48 hours.
Of the existing problems connected with the law, one is common to
every State havmg such legislation. This is how to secme evidence
regarding violations without requiring the testimony of the employees
affected and thereby endangeril}g' their positions. To a. certain extent, the law itself provides for this by requiring that every employer
in the occupations covered shall post a recora of the hours of his
female employees, giving the time of beginning and ending work, the
time allowed for meals, and the time the meal period begins and
ends, so that employment at times other than those posted is prim.a
f acie evidence of violation. By arranging the inspection of establishments where violations are suspected shortly before or shortly
after the scheduled hours, overtime can usually be detected without
involving the employees.
A special problem which is Eerhaps confined to Massachusetts has
resulted froin there being no aefinition of the term "week" as used
in the labor laws. In an opini'on recently given the attorney ~eneral
holds that, in the absence of such definitio.!!J the term "week ' must
be construed· to mean a calendar week. The result of this opinion
is that while it is illegal to require women to work more than 48 hours
in a week beginning on Sunday, it is apparently legal to rl'lquire them
to work 55 hours m a week beginning any other day. Fortunately
the law providing for one day's rest m seven practically precludes
the application of this ruling outside of hotels, restaurants, and drug
stores, and. even iri the establishments where it is applied, the long
week must be followed by a short week, so that not more than twice
48 hours are worked in a period of 14 consecutive days.
Perhaps the most important problem connected with the enforcement of the law is that arising from the practice in certain seasonal
industries of employing the same women m more than one establishment during the period of maximum production. The law specifi-
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cally states that in the ~ase of such employment, the total hours worked
in all of the establishments shall not exceed the legal limit.
In connection with the prosecution of violations resulting fro& this
-practice, the court has ruled that the last employer is responsible for
ascertaining whether the women he employs have already worked on
that day or week such number of hours as would make their employment by him illegal.
It is very difficult to detect violations of this nature. It requires
night inspections, questioning employees, and sometimes checking up
from one establishment to another. At the present time the practice
is confined to a few industries. It is not possible in the largest
woman-employing industry in the State-the manufacture of textiles
-since the existmg night-work law prohibits the employment of
women in such establisl:iments after six o'clock at night.
Among the serious results that would be likely to follow the repeal
of the mght-work law for textile mills and the introduction of the
two-shift system, a.re increased violations of the 48-hour law, and
greatly augmented difficulties of inspection. Some idea of the farreaching effects of such a change can be gained from the numbers
involvecl. Women and children make up the majority of the operatives in the mills. There are more than 80,000 women and girls in
the various branches of the industry, or approximately one-third of
all of the women industrially employed in the State.
The attempts to repeal the night-work law this year as in previous
years have failed, as have the attempts to repeal the 48-hour law.
To a certain extent the introduction of repeal bills, especially those
relating to the 48-hour law, ma:y be intended as a protest against
further reduction in hours by legislation. Many employers who do
not _personally object to the 48-hour limit fear that its acceptance is
pavmg the way for more and more radical restrictions upon working
hours, with no reasonable end in view.
It is possible that some who support such measures may do so in
the hope of defeating similar legislation pending in other States.
Such a policy is shortsighted and detrimental to the interests of those
who advance it. What is needed by industry as well as by wage
earners is greater uniformity in the labor laws of all the States. The
enactment of 48-hour legislation in States that compete with Massachusetts would be of distinct advantage to this Commonwealth.
Far more good would be accomplished through working to secure
such uniform regulations for industry than through efforts to remove
the existing regulations from the Massachusetts statutes.
JIINll[lJM: WAGE
Turning now to the minimum wage law, what are the problems connected with its administration and enforcement. Obviously,
one of the most serious problems •is how to secure compliance when
the law does not provide the customary sanctions for enforcement .
.Another and closely related problem is how to overcome the misconception and prejudice that still surround legislation of this nature.
Few laws have been more generally misunderstood than the minimum
wage law, and few laws are more dependent for their successful operation upon public interest and public understanru.D.f! than is the minimum wage-law. This is especially true of the :Massachusetts law
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which is recommendatory in so far as the wage decrees are concerned,
and which rests for its enforcement upon public opinion.
The Massachusetts law differs in two important respects from the
minimum wage laws of other States. In the first place, the wage
decrees are nonmandatocy; that is, they carry no pena.1,ty for noncompliance other than publication of the name of tlie firm that fails
to comply. In the second place the wage boards, bef~re ma~
their recommendations a.s to the minimum rate of wages, are reqti.irecl
to take into consideration the financial condition of the industry
as well as the needs of the woman workers, which means that they
may, and sometimes do, report determinations below their findings·
as to the minimum cost of living.
The law has sometimes been criticised as having no teeth. This,
however, is not the case. Through a series of amendments the
original law has been materially strengthened. Although the wage
decrees are still recommendatory, certain provisions of the law are
now mandatory and carry a penalty for noncompliance. These are
the provisions requiring the posting of the commission's notices relative to wage boards and wage decrees, the keeping of records regarding the wages of woman employees, and the o p ~ of these records
to the insJ:>ection of the commission and its authorized agents. · The
fact that these provisions are mandatory helps to secure compliance
with the wage decrees. The main factor, liowever, in the emorcement of the Iaw is the influence of public opinion. The commission
is_ much more than a fact-finding body. It enters decrees fixing
minimum rates of wages based on the recommendations of its wage
boards, thereby giving the sanction of the State to the principle of a
.
living wage.. ·
During the 11 years the law has been in operation, decrees fixing
minimum rates for woman workers have been entered for 17 occupations. These occupations employ something like 80,000 women- and
girls, representing approximately one-sixth of the women gainfully
employed in the State. The eXISting rates range from $10 to $15.40
a week. The majority of the decrees, however, provid"e minimum
·
rates of $13 to $14 a week.
The questions that naturally arise are: What has been the effect
of these decrees~ Has it been possible to secure com_pliance under
a recommendatory law 1 Have the decrees resulted in any real
imp:i-ovement in wage conditions 1
With regard to wages, here are a few."before and after" pictures.
In connection with these figures, it should be remembered that they
show merely changes in the level of wages and do Rot indicate compliance or noncompliance with the decrees. This is because the
minimum wage is usually for an adult experienced woman and the
wages quoted are for all women and girls m the occupatic;m irrespec. tive of age or ex_perience. Moreov~r, they are taken from· the inspection records and show the wage situation at the time of the ins_pection and not after all of the adjustments that it has been possible to
effect have been made.
With this explanation, let us look at the wages of laundry workers.
In 1919, in general a high-wage period, nearly nine-tenths of the
women working in laundries in Massachusetts had rates under $13 a
week. A decree establishing a minimum rate of $13.50 for experienced
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women became effective July 1, 1922. Inspection directly following
this showed that only one-third of the women, including the inexperienced workers, had rates below $13 a week.
Of the girls employed in retail stores, nearly four-fifths in 1919
had rates under $1-f a week. A decree establishing a $14 minimum
rate for adult experienced workers WBS entered. The following inspection showed that less than one-third of all the women and girls
employed, without regard to age or experience, were receiving under
$14 a week. Another interesting fact is that while before the decree
became operative less than 7 per cent of the women had rates of $15
and over, after the decree became operative, nearly 50 per cent had
rates of $15 and over.
Another group of women that in the past has received very low
wages is made up of the women who clean office buildings. In 1920,
before the present decree went into effect, more than four-fifths of
these women had rates under 36 cents an hour. The following year,
after the decree became operative, only one-fifth had rates below 36
cents an hour.
The figures for office cleaners are interesting for another reason
and that is because office cleaning is an unskilled occupation. Some
of those who oppose the minimum wage claim that the minimum
rate really keeps wages down and that the minimum becomes the
maximum. If this were true of any occupation, it would certainly
be true of the occupft.tion of scrub women, which makes no requirement for skill or experience. Yet this is not the case. On the contrary, one of the results following the entrance of the minimum wage
decree was the increase in the proportion of women receiving a rate
above the minimum. In 1920, for example, less than 14 per cent of
the cleaning women had rates of 38 cents an hour and over. The
present decree, it should be explained, provides a minimum rate of
37 cents an hour. In 1921, nearly 35 per cent of these women had
rates of 38 cents an hour and over.
Has there been compliance with the decrees 1 This question is of
importance because of the nature of the Massachusetts law. There
has been compliance to a very gratifying extent. The great majority of the employers in all of the occupations covered by decrees
have accepted the recommendations and are cooperating with the
commission in carrying out their provisions.
It is true that it requires more time and effort" to secure adjustment of noncompliances under a recommendatory law-inspection,
reinspection, follow-up letters, individual and group conferences
with employers and officers of employers' associations. The result
of such effort, however, in bringing about a better understanding of
the purpose of the law, and securing a spirit of cooperation among
employers is distinctly worth while.
Approximately 75 per cent of the employers in the occupations
under decrees make all necessary adjustments so that full compliance is_ shown at the time of the commission's first inspection following the entrance of the decree. A large part of the remaining cases
are adjusted in the manner previously described. This result is
accomplished because most of the employers are fair-minded and
wish to do the right thing when the right thing is brought to their
attention. It is accomplished also because the decrees are based to
a large extent upon the unanimous, or practically unanimous, recom-
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mendations of the wage boards, made up of employel'l3 and employees
in the occupations in question. Finally, there has been compliance
because the decrees rest for their enforcement upon what, after all,
is the most potent influence in th~ world wlien it is effectively
or~ed-tlie force of _public opinion.
The few employers who it has been necessary for the commission
to advertise as not complying with the wage decrees represent a very
small proportion of the employers in the occupations in question.
The :first time that the commission published noncompliances was in
1921. That year 11 pa_per-box :firms and one office-l>uilding establishment was advertised. The next publication of tliis nature was
in 1923." That year the commission advertised 1 women's clothing
factory, 1 muslin-underwear factory, 3 paper-box factories, 22 laundries, and 54 retail firms,- which with tlieir branches total 149 establishments. In the case of the laundries, they represent 6¾ per cent
of the inspected firms employing women; in the case of retail stores
9 per cent. And even here the proportion is much larger than would
probably have been the case had there not been a general impression
that injunction proceedings restraining the commISsion from advertising any firms were to be instituted. This yeQ.r the commission has
advertised one firm.under the minor lines of confectionery decree.
There is much interest in the Massachusetts law at the present time.
One reason for thi1:1 is that Massachusetts is the only State with a ,
recommendatory law. Since the supreme judicial court gave its
·ofinion declaring unconstitutional the mandatory law of the District
o Columbia, it lias been felt by many that the Massachusetts law is
perhaps the only form of minrmum wage legislation that the court
as now constituted would uphold.
Another reason for the interest is that President Coolidge, in his
message to Congress last December, recommended legislation for the
District of Columbia similar to the Massachusetts law. This recommendation is of especial significance, as the Massachusetts law was
enacted while President Coolidge was a member of the legislature, and
was in operation during his term as chief executive of the Commonwealth.
The results achieved under the Massachusetts law would be creditable under a mandatory law. Their accomplishment under a recommendatory law is the more si~ificant. They have been secured,
moreover, under very serious difficulties, which though not by any
means inherent in the law, have constituted the gravest problem·in
connection with the operation of the law.
Massachusetts was the pioneer in this country in minim.um wage
legislation, and it had to pay the penalty of all pioneers by bearing
the brunt of the opposition. ~ From the first, constant attacks upon
the law and its administration have impeded the work. Necessary
'appropriations were withheld. The commissioners served much of
tlie time without compensation, anJl valuable agents were lost because
the salaries for inspectors were and are pitifully low. The work of
the, wage boards was blocked. Attacks were made on the legal authority of the commissioners. Perfecting amendments needed to enable the commission to perform its duties were refused, and bills to
repeal the law or to hamper its administration were introduced. The
constitutionality of the law was tested in the courts. After the
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su_preme judicial court handed down its opinion upholding the constitutionality of the law in its essential provisions, the minimun wage
commission was abolished and its functions transferred to the board
of conciliation and arbitration of the department of labor and in·
dustries.
Attempts to repeal the law were renewed, and finally a special legislative commission was appointed to investigate the operation and
effect of the law and recommend whether it should be amended or
repealed. After a searching inquiry extending over a period of several months the commission ~ported, last year, recommending that
the law be continued in its ]?resent form and given a fair trial.
What constitutes a fair trial for a law like this? For any law, of
course, the first and foremost requirement is honest, intelligent, impartial administration and enforcement. That is axiomatic. Thon
as a correlary to this, there should be adequate appropriations to
provide for conducting a reasonable program of work, and a staff of
competent, responsible employees to perform the work. In the case
of a measure like the Massachusetts law, which depends for its effectiveness upon public opinion, most essential of all of the requirements
is public interest and public understanding, since it is only through
intelligent and effective public interest that the other necessary
conditions can be guaranteed.
DISCUSSION
The CHAIRMAN. Miss Johnson has, I think, opened up the whole
field of legislation for women for discussion. Since Massachusetts is
now alone in the nonmandatory class, I am not certain whether a full
discmsion of the subject of the minimum wage can be· carried on
until we take HJ? the other forms of minimum wage legislation. If
there is any quest10n you would like to raise in regard to the Massachusetts law I will be glad to have you do that now.
A VISITOR. There is one question I should ]ike to ask Miss Johnson. Has any ruling yet been made on the textile interests in Massachusetts 1
Miss JOHNSON. No wage decree has been entered. The commission
made an investigation with relation to wages in 1916 and 1917, but
no wage board has been established for that purpose. There was
another reason for failure to establish a wage board at that time.
That was the period of rising wages during the war, which affected
the textile industrie, very strikingly, so that a wage board was not
formed at that time and none has since been formed.
A VISITOR. Do you think that if the law had been mandatory there
would have been greater possibility of forming a wage board 1
Miss JOHNSON. I do not think that would have affected the situation to any extent.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there any question you would like to ask in
regard to the 48-hour law of Massachusetts~
A VISITOR. I would like to ask Miss Johnson under what condition
a wage board is established.
Miss JOHNSON. Where employees are receizi'lg wages inadequate
to meet the cost of living and protect he11,lth, tL~ commission makes
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a preliminary investigation, and from that investigation determines
tlie advisability of establishing a boa.rd.
A VISITOR. Do you :find the establishment of a·wage board for each
industry adds to the expense and difficulty of administration~
Miss JOHNSON. Having separate wage boards does increase the
expense and the administrative problems .of the commission. The
reason for requiring separate wage boards is to give adequate representation to the different occupations. The law requires that boards
shall be established for the separate occupations, although it gives a
certain leeway to the commission in -determining the scope of an
occupation. Under the recommendatory law it is certainly advisable
to have the present form continued, because it means greater interest on the part of the industries when each has its own representatives on tlie wage board. At the present time each occupation
considered for a wage board has a representative of the employer
named by the employer, a representative of the woman employees
named by the woman employees, and a representative of the public,
and it is upon the determmation of that wage board that the wage
decrees are entered. The commission has no authorit,y to change m
any way the findings of the board.
·Mr. ANDREWS. May I ask Miss Johnson whether under the
present Massachusetts law there has been at any time sentiment
expressed favorable to a mandatory law 1
Miss JOHNSON. There has been interest in securing mandatory
minimum wage legislation in Massachusetts. A bill to that effect
was introduced by the present department of labor and industries in
1922, the result of which was the introduction of a number of bills
attacking the law apd seekin_g its repeal. Instead of acting upon
any one of the measures the legislature appointed an investigating
commission. The majority of the commission reported, as I told
you, recommending that the law be continued in its present form.
The minority report recommended that the law be made mandatory,
and a strong effort was to have been made in the house to secure the
adoption of the minority report. The report, however, came out
just at the time when the Supreme Court of the United States
ueclared unconstitutional the mandatory law of the District of Columbia. So it was felt inadvisable to make further efforts to secure
a mandatory amendment.
Mr. ANDREWS. When the Massachusetts body administering the
law urged that the type of law be changed to the mandatory form,
what argument did it present in favor of the change i
Miss JOHNSON. The reason presented for a change was greater
ease in administering the law, because while a majority of the
employers do comply with the recommendatory law, there are still
some who might not be amenable to public opinion, and it is to
enforce the law in such cases that mandatory provisions are necessary.
Mr. DAVIE. Taking the textile and boot and shoe industries, has
any group in those mdustries ever come before your board to
establish rates, that is, any department like spinning or weaving, or
boots and shoes, and so forth 1
Miss JOHNSON. There has been no request, so far as I know, from
any representative of the boot and shoe industry. I do not think
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that is surprising, because the industry is lili!:hly organized. The
union rates are m effect, and th~y are doubtless higher than any
minimum rate which would be entered. In the case of the textile
industry soine individual members have spoken about the desirability
of having a wage board established.
Mr. DAVIE. That is just the thought I wanted to bring out. One of
the great troubles with the women, as I found it, is that they are unorganized. I expect that in Massachusetts, as in New Hhlshire,
the best organizea women get better rates than those estab · ed by
the minimum wage law.
Miss JOHNSON. That is perfectly true.' That is one of the reasons
for the existence of any form of protective legislation. A great majority of the women are not organized and can not be organized under present conditions. There are a few women who are organized,
but they are comparatively few in number, and until there is a larger
number, until the women are more effectuallv organized than at the
present time, there will be the necessity for continuing the minimum
wage law, and the 48-hour law, to establish through the protection
of the State what the women themselves are unable to establish.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there a_ny other questions in regard to this
particular form of legislation in Massachusetts~ Our next general section to be heard from is Canada. Canada is different, of course, in
some respects in its minimum wage situation. Perhaps I should not
have usea the word "situation." There are no SupJ"eme Court and
decisions of the Supr_eme Court there to consider. We would like to
hear from Thomss M. Molloy, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of Saskatchewan, as to what is being done in Canada in legislation for women.
·
PROBLEMS ARISING FROM THE ENFORCEMENT OF MINIMUM WAGE
LAWS
BY THOMAS 111. MOLLOY, COJIIJW:SBIONER SASKATCHEWAN BUREAU OF LABOR AND
INDUSTRIES
The administration of any labor law carries with it a number of
problems, but the problems in the administration of the minimum
wage law are, to my mind, somewhat different from the ordinary
problems of labor-law administration and at the same time present
situations with which it is difficult to co_pe.
Under our act the board is empowered to make regulations setting
forth the maximum hours, minimum wage, and general working
conditions of the persons affected by the act. In the hearing of
evidence upon which to base these regulations, we began to realize
that both employers and employees were reluctant to cooperate with
the board in as full measure as 'the board had a right to expect, and
that as a result the administration of the regulations would undoubtedly be difficult.
In the taking of evidence we found it almost impossible to have
female employees directly concerned in the regulations appear before
the board to give evidence. The employees were almost invariably
re_presented either by business agents of unions (freguently not
affected by the act) or by women representing charitable organizations or women's associations. The evidence given by such persons
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naturally was largely theoretical or, to say the 1( t, hearsay. On
the other hand, employers hesitatfd to give evidence, apparently
feeling that to appear before the board asliing for a reaso_na6le mimmum wage might be construed by the buying public as an effort on
the part of tlie individual employer to reduce the wages of his
employees, the result being that employers were largely represented
by the secretaries of employers' associations.
This attitude, both on the part of the employer and the employee,
which was evinced in the drafting of the regulations manifestea
itself in a more marked degree when it cRine to the administtation
or enforcement of the mimmum wage regulations.
In the smaller stores and restaurants cases are by no means rare
where the employee connives with the employer to accept a lower rate
of pay than tbat provided for by the regulations and to assist the employer in deceiving the inspector as to actual conditions. In a number
of such cases the employer, either by slipshod methods of keep~
accounts or by actually faking pay lists, supported by the falsehoods
of the girl to the inspector, succeeds in evading tlie law until the
employer and the employee have a disagreement, resulting in the employee losing her J.>Osit.ion. In such cases the employee immediately
complains to an mspector. If the case is taken to court and it IS
established that the violation was made with the connivance of the
employee and that the complaint was laid largely as a matter of
spite, the employee naturally does not receive much sympathy from
the magistrate who hears the case.
In shops, stores, and factories, where the institution is of any size,
the management of necessity has a modem set of records and a wellregulated system covering em_Eloyees' wages and hours of labor. In
th~ae P.laces Q!'actically no difficulty is met with in enforcing the
regulations. There are, however, hundreds of smaller places of business where the employer does not keep a complete record and where
the number of emplovees is small and continuously changing and
where the hours to be ~worked may be frequently altered. These are
the places that present the greatest prob~m to us in the enforcement
of our minimum wage regulations.
Another class ot employment which presents many problems is· the
hotel and restaurant trades. In the hotel trade espemally the chambermaids or upstairs girls apparently have no definite hours of employment. These girls are under the charge of a housekeeper, and the
number of hours during which the girls are employed each day seems
to be controlled by the whim of the housekeeper or the amount of
work necessitated by the condition of trade of each particular day.
The housekeeper is herself an almost unanswerable problem, simply
for the reason that she is an employee within the meanin~ of the act
and at the same time is an employer .in the sense that sne engages
the girls, determines their hours, and is largely responsible for the
amount of their wages. It would seem to me that nothing short of
a punch-clock system will ever secure for the minimum wage inspector any accurate idea of the actual hours worked by upstairs ·girls in
the average city hotel.
Another knotty problem is the setting of wage rates for apprentices
in the different trades, and determining the periods to be served by
such apprentices. It is recognized that an employee may work at
less than the minimum wage in order to learn a trade. If this rate
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is set too high it has a tendency to limit the opportunities to learn
a trade, since employers will not pay more in wages than business
will warrant; if too low it permits of exploitation. With regard to
the length of apprenticeship periods, this varies with every trade and
even varies with different operations within a trade. These matters
will take time and painstaking ex1_>erience to adjust.
Undoubtedly the great underlymg cause of n::.any of our problems
is the lack of information on the J>art of the general public as to the
true objects of minimum wage legislation. Too many persons have the
impression that the minimum wage is a "fair" wage and is the standard at wltich practically all females in the occupations concerned
are to be employed. If the public realized that the minimum wage
was exactly what its name implies, and that the greater percentage
of employees reeeive a much higher wage, tlien I think that
employers would be more willing to appear before the board and
assist m determining a reasonable minimum rate.
While I am supposed to deal only with the problems arisi~ out of
the administration of minimum wage laws, nevertheless, I do not
want to leave the impression that all of our administrative experience
is embodied in the foregoing recital of trials and perplexities. There
is always evident in our work of enforcing the law the improved
conditions that such laws have brought to the lot of the female
workers generally. The benefits of shorter hours, better sanitary
ll,Ild hygienic surroundings, and the prevention of near sweatshop
condit10ns so greatly outweigh the problems of administration that
one is forced to the conclusion that minimum wage laws are absolutely necessary for properly safeguarding the health and morals of
the large numoers of young girls and women who by reason of our
present ~~onomic system are forced into the commercial life of our
commumties.
DISCUSSION
The CHAmMAN. Is there any discussion on this matter of the
enforcement of legislation for women1 Mr. Molloy has _touched
especially upon the difficulties in enforcing the law.
Doctor ANDREWS. Does the Saskatchewan law provide that the
commission may regulate the hours as well as the wages¥ I understand the Ontario law provides for legislation on wages but does no,
give the power to regulate hours.
Mr. M01.LOY. Our law ~ves the board authority to regulate hours,
wages, and working conditions, and the board has interpreted the
term "working conditions" to mean sanitary conveniences and things
of that kind. We have three subjectsMiss JOHNSON. I would like to s.ay that the Massachusetts wage
• board is not limited to two representatives. The size of the board
is dependent upon the disoretion of th~ commission. The law
simply prescribes that there shall be an equal number of representatives 01-employees and of employers, and that the number of representatives of the public shall not exceed half of the representatives
on either side. I want to ask Mr. Molloy if the law requires that
the sessions of the board be public, or is it possible to have those
sessions in private W
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Mr. MoLLOY. That is at the discretion of the board. It generally
holds public meetings, but can have private hearings.
Miss JOHNSON. I wondered if it might not perhaps remove some
of the objections to testifying: before the board if the seesions were
private. · I also want to ask if you have the right to require employers to keep records of the wages paid their employees, so that you
can get from them the facts as to compliance and noncompliance, or
do you require testimony of the employees 1
Mr. MoLLOY. We require the k~epi,ng of records, but the difficulty
is in enforcing that provision, especially in restaurants run by Greelis
o · Chinamen or Germans or Frenchmen; frequently the •oruy book
is kept in the proprietor's hip pocket, yet it is a record.
Miss BLANDING. I would like to ask what 'the distmction is between the 48 and the 51 hour time for restaurants and hotels 'I
Mr. MOLLOY. Simply the basis of six and of seven days a week.
Some restaurants are open six days a week and some are open seven
days. Those that are open seven days a week have an allowance for
an extra three hours. It is a choice with them whether they open
six or seven days. H they are open six days they can not work more
than 48 hours. If they are_ open 7 days a week then they can not _
work more than 51 hours.
·
Doctor ANDREWS. In the case of the seven days a week, do those
·em_ployees have one day of rest in seven1 I understand that is provided for in some of the other Provinces.
. Mr. MOLLOY. I think so. In Manitoba they: have a provision
for half a day a week. We do not have that provision. We have no
·
provision for one day's rest in seven or anytliing of that sort.
Doctor ANDREWS. What suggestions a.re commonly made in Saskatchewan for the improvement of your minimum wage law1
Mr. MoLLOY. You mean from the public¥
. Poctor ANDREWS. I mean particularly with reference to protection by legislation or improvements in the administration of the
act.
Mr. MOLLOY. The principal recommendations are from trade-unions
and organized bodies of women, which endeavor to have the board
ssit a wa_ge which would be more like a fair wage than a minimum
wage. Their idea apparently is that the minimum wage as determined
by the_ board should cover not merely the <:ost of existence, but sufficient over and above that for what the girl may want to do extra
or to improve herself. There are those, however, who think the wage
is too hfuh. It is now $15 a week, while in Manitoba it is $12 a week
and in Alberta. it is $12.50. We have complaints from some people
that when a girl is paid-$15 that is the utmost she can get. If that
is true, that minimum is too high.
Doctor ANDREWS. Do any employers in Saskatchewan sugg_est
that if you had a national or uniform law they would be quite willing
to have minimum wage¥
Mr. MoLLOY. We have the condition, for instance, that some of
the larger houses are opera.ting branch houses at other places-one
house may be in Manitoba. and the other in Toronto. Tlie girl working in the Manitoba store is paid only $12, and here we pay $15. The
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result is that where employees are transferred from one place to another
there is often trouble and dis ·atisfaction. Make a uniform law and
we will get rid of that complaint.
Miss PETERSON. Does it cost any more to live in Saskatchewan1
Mr. MOLLOY. I do not think it costs any more.
The CHAlRMAN. Any more discussion1
Mr. MOLLOY. When our board was first constituted, the question
came up as to whether or not there should be a different mmimum
for girls under 18. The claim is advanced that a lot of trades have
apprentices, and therefore the girl under 18 is not entitled to the same
wage as the girl over 18. This same question, as to whether or not
there should be a different standard of wages for the girl under 18
than for the girl over 18, was asked at the last meeting of the board.
If there are any States where you have had experience of that sort,
I would like to hear from you.
Mrs. JOHNSON. We µave minor's wages, but our minor employees
are very few. Most of our employed minors are boys. Of tlie large
mail-order houses, Sears, Roebuck & Co.'s average IS $16.22; I have
just checked their pay roll. They have 600 people, and 4.3 of their
average are minors; thei have no apprentices.
Miss SCHUTZ. In Minnesota we have a difference in the period of
apprenticeship. For some we have 9 months; for others, those 18
years or over, 6 months' apprenticeship.
Mr. WILSON. I would like to hear from some of the States which
have put into effect in hotels and restaurants the straight six-day
law or rule, the one day of rest in seven for all employees as to how
it operates.
-The CHAmMAN. Are there any States which have1 ·
Mrs. JOHNSON, In my State the only- industry we have any trouble with is the public housekeeping. Some of them work the girls
seven da_ys a week. Our law makes no ·allowance; it has no flexibility at all-it is 8 hours a day, 48 hours a week, a 6-day week. Our
restaurants and hotels are the only ones we have trouble with now
on that 6-day week. We find that complianee in hotels which employ more than three people is a great deal better than in those where
they employ no more than three.
Miss BLANDING. It means when hiring an extra person for that
time, she must be employed for full time. In most of these towns
it is almost impossible to get women for one or two days' work a
week unless married womer who wish to earn a little extra money a.re
employ:ed. That is wher our trouble comes in, because as the law
is worded it means a drag on the smaller employers where the business does not warrant another worker, and when looked at in another
light it does not warrant the employee doing the extra work; still we
have no other possibilityMr. W1LOOX. Does the minimum wage law apply to hotel and restaurant employees 1
Miss BLANDING. Yes.
The CHAmMAN. Miss Hannigan, will you tell us something about
the Kansas order 1
38735°-25-8
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Miss HANNIGAN. On the 6-day-week order for hotels and restaurants we find a great many violations, and we have a great deal to
contend with in the smaller towns, the order covering them also.
Often the proprietor has just one cook in the restaurant, and we must
insist on giving her the one day of rest in seven, although the proprietor may have only the cook and two dining-room girls. We are
enforcing the order, 'and at this time we have filed cases. Our
law ·also says these women can not work after 12 midnight or
before 6 in the morning, which adds to our difficulty in enforcing
· the law in certain localities. The only thing we can do is to keep
issuing orders, and keep after them, because the law says these
women must have one day of rest in seven.
The CHAIRMAN. Our great trouble in Kansas has been that we
have no mini~um wage order with our restaurant order. A minimum wage was never set for the restaurant trade in Kansas, and for
several years we had an order which permitted a 7-day week, of 8
hours a day, or a 6-day week of 9 hours a day,.and we found almost
all places in Kansas using the 7-day week. Occasionally a hotel or
restaurant would give the girls one day off. In 1922 we· put into
effect a new order requiring one day of rest in seven. I thought
there was a demand for it from the girls in the trade. Everywhere
we heard that if the girls could have just one day off in a week they
would be satisfied. In putting our order into effect we were not able
to put the minimum-wage order into effect at the same time. One
reason for that was that the minimum wage in Kansas was, esf ecially at that time, lower than the minimum-wage rate in some o the
other minimum-wage States, and it was very difficult to set a minimum-wage rate for the restaurants which would be fair to the gj.rls.
We were afraid that we would have to set a very low standard 1f we
were to base it at all on the rates in other occupations which
allowed for board, and so the minimum-wage rate failed to go through.
When we came to enforcing .the law the employers wanted to take
out one day's pay when the girls had their one day's rest, and
we could not always prevent it. We did everything we could to
show the employers tliat there was no real necessity for doing that,
that it was unfair because the wage rates were low anyway, but we
did not succeed in every instance. We are finding in our operations
that the majority of the_girls want the one day of rest, even at the
e:xpense of the wage. They have said to us ever and over again
that they make up for that in other ways; that they are able to save
through having a little leisure time to take care of other things,
although a few of them have caused trouble by criticism of the law
and protest at its enforcement, because they claim that there is
injustice w:1:ien the wage is lowered.
•
Mr. LoVEJoY. I should like very much to have some of these officials
who are experiencing that particular kind of trouble recommend, if
they can, to this conference what change in the law, if any, is necessq.ry to meet the situation. The problem of the hotel and restaurant
is a most serious one, and it takes a great deal of time and attention
to enforce the law. Is it because the law is wrong, or is it because
~eople have the incurable habit of ea.ting a.way from home-what is
the trouble W If we could get some recommendation I think it would
be very helpful to us.
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Mrs. McRAVEN. In Arkansas we have a 6-day week for hotels and
restaurants, and, as in other States we have a great deal of difficulty
in enforcing this law. The industrial welfare commission has been
J>etitioned by the hotel men's associations to make a ruling allowing
them to spread the 54 hours a week over 7 days. This permission
was denied, however, because the commission felt that women working in hotels and restaurants and drug stores and refreshment stands
and any other eating houses were women just the same. For my
part I happen to be a working woman, and I can view this thing
through the working woman's eyes. I know that if I did not have
one day out of seven I should be greatly inconvenienced. For that
reason, as a member of this commission I am standing pat for a 6-day
week for wage-earning women. I do not know how it is going to come
out. We are having a great deal of trouble, but I know the law can
be enforced. Some of the largest hotels in Arkansas put on extra
help every six days and in that way relieve the girl. It is a matter
of educatmg the employer up to the necessity of it. One hotel man
told me that he himself would not work at an occupation which took
8 and 9 hours of his time seven days a week, nor would he permit
his colored chambermaid to do it. It is just a matter of the officials
standing up for the rights of the women, and as a member of that
commission I am standing up.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other questions or any discussion
on this question of the six-day week in restaurants 1
Miss BLANDING. The lady from Arkansas speaks only of hotels
which have seven or more woman employees. The most difficult
problems are those with relation to small institutions where there
are only one or two or three employees.
Mrs. McRAVEN. Usually in the small liotels employing one or
two employees the woman of the house can relieve for the necessary
time, or another woman can be hired.
Miss BLANDING. What about the woman who is the wife of the
proprietor who hires only two or three girls-she works perhaps 9 or
10 hours a day.
Mrs. McRAVEN. I think that is your problem. I am enforcing
the law.
Mr. MoLLOY. Our experience shows this situation: The girls go on
duty at a certain time and there are many days when they are
through at 1 o'clock in the day, while again they may be working
until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Each day is different. How do
they know whether these girls work 48 hours a week i
The CHAIRMAN. Mrs. Johnson, what do you do out in Washington~
Mrs. JoHNSON. The law has •given us the J)Ower to inspect the books
of all industries employing women. All industries employing women
have to keep a comJ>lete record of the names, addresses, payroll, time
books 1 and we are allowed-Mr. MoLLOY. Say the traffic is very heavy and the place is crowded~
Mrs. JOHNSON. We have a provision women can work for seven
days a week in places in small towns where the employers can show
absolutely that they can not get extra help. They have to give a
woman four days a month rest anyway.
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Mr. WILSON. In answer to Mr. Molloy's question., practically all the
upstairs girls are assigned so many rooms. They n.ave to take care
of that number of rooms whether the traffic is heavy or light. A certain number of girls may be on the pay roll all the time. The girls
have to take care of the rooms regardless of the traffic.
The CHAIRMAN. Mrs. Evans, I feel guite sure that you could say
something in regard to enforcement _m Oklahoma, especially as to
how you get information in regard to conditions.
Mrs. EvANS. In places where I stop I make friends with the
chambermaids. I alway_:s know the coni:lition of the girls working at
the hotel where I live. In many towns they have worked in other
places, and the reason they did not then work there was because of
the long hours, or because they did not like the conditions in the
other place. If you will visit a little with the women and make
friends with them, you will get a wonderful amount of information,
as to the place they are working, the places where they have worked,
and the places where their friends work. I learned early in the
game that that was one of the very best ways to find out about
conditions. As to the girls in Oklahoma who are chambermaids, we
do not often find violations in their work. They are given a certain
number of rooms, and if the rooms are used they may work a full day.
As a usual thing the hotel provides a housekeeper. I always make
friends with the housekeepers and have made some real, warm,
lasting friendships with them. They give the gir:ls a certain number
of rooms. I have found that many: times when traffic is not great
the girls have · the advantage. I do not believe that there is one
girl m the hotels in the city of Muskogee who worked full time,
and some days are always short days. In many places the housekeeper does what is necessary in the checking out at night, and so it
is not necessary for some girl to come back. In fact I do not believe
that we have as many problems among the hotel girls as you have
in other States.
Miss HANNIGAN. I would like to know how many include the
housekeeper in the hotel law. Is the housekeeper always excluded 1
Mr. WILSON. The hotel housekeeper is the very hardest problem
we have. Like all housewives, hotef housekeepers are hard to handle. The fact is that they seem to think the hotel can not run without them; possibly it can not run without a housekeeper, but no
particular housekeeper is indispensable. We insist, so far as possible
on observance of the law on the part of the housekeeper, but there
is this condition: The housekeeper is not required to be on duty, is
not required to take care of a certain number of roomsj she is more or
less of a free-la'hce. A strict observance of the 6-d.ay law on the
part of the housekeeper I suppose is not to be found in the United
States, because you could not get one of them to observe the law if
you put her in jail every other day, so we just kind of overlook the
housekeepers.
MR. DAVIE. I have been interested in this discussion, and would
like to leave this thought with you. In geing out under a labor law
I think that we sometimes play up too much to the enforcement.
It has always been my custom to try to administer the law first,
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and to talk about enforcement as the very last resort. We must
realize that all employers are human and all employees are human;
so in order to get the best results we must approach them in a kind,
human way. Speaking of hours of labor in restaurants, of course
we have tlie 48-hour law. Our custom as to restaurants where there
is a group of girls employed is to have posted in a conspicuous place
on the premises the hours of labor of each ~l, the time out for meals,
. and everything. I find that at times, the girls have woman inspectors
who are not always truthful. Human nature asserts itself, especially
in the restaurant and hotel work.
Another thing, nobody will find out about a law unless he is told
about it in some way; it takes words to tell him about it. One of the
worth-while thingEi we have done in New Hampshire has been making these laws well known to the employees and employers whom
they affect; that is, first of all we start some comprehensive campaign
of education showing the human side existing between the employer
and the employee. In so far as the restaurants are concerned, it
has been necessary to enforce the law only on infrequent occasions.
Wnen you go to a man and try to administer the law, there are
many times when, if you point out to him that you are there not to
create any hardship but to see that an absolutely sq_uare deal is
given to the employee and to .him, you can get a much better result
than you would by adopting another course. There are a few fellows,
of course, who will not be dictated to by any State official. There
is no use in talking to that person. You sliould take him right in
and let him tell it to the judge. Let us make an honest effort, an
earnest endeavor, to administer first and to resort to drastic methods
only in extreme cases.
·The CHAmMAN. I think it is pretty well acknowledged that in
women's work education comes before prosecution.
The chairman of the credential committee reported that the number of accredited delegates to the convention was 51, and that 48 had
attended some of the meetings of the convention. The following
States and Provinces were represented at the convention:
Arkansas.
Colorado.
Connecticut.
Delaware.
Geo~ia.
Illino1s.
Indiana.
Iowa.
Kansas.
Kentucky.
Louisiana.
Maryland.
Massachusetts.
Minnesota.
New Hampshire.
New Jersey.
New York.
North Dakota.
Ohio.
Oklahoma.
Pennsylvania,
Texas.
Utah.
Virginia.
Washington.
West Virginia.
Wisconsin.
United States Department of Labor.
Manitoba.
Ontario.
Saskatchewan.
Department of Labor of Canada.
The CHAIRMAN. We have not heard from the Pacific Coast., except
informally. We will be glad. now to hear from Mrs. Delphine M.
Johnson, sl!I)ervisor of women in industry of the Department of
Labor and Tndustries of Washington.
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THE MINIMUM WAGE
BY MRS. DELPHINE M. lOHNSON, SUPERVISOR OF WOMEN IN INDUSTRY, WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES
The general effect of the minimum wage is to stabilize wages in
industry and fix a base, and from that base the manufacturers in
the same lines diverge according to their volume of business and
management. Some mdustries pay higher wages than others, but as
higher wages do not mean higher unit production costs, the department .has never taken the time to follow that line to its logical
conclusion.
It is true that some industries, such as public housekeeping, tend
to make the minimum wage the maximum, but in others, such as
manufacturing and mercantile concerns, the 1!,bility of the girl governs
greatly, and m these industries the greatest diversity of wages is
found.
You all know of the decision of the Supreme Court of the District
of Columbia about a year and a half ago. After that decision ~e
employers of Washington, Oregon, and California held a conference
and aweed that they would stand back of their committee and
commissions to enforce the minimum wage.
It is said by many that where there is a minimum wage it becomes
the maximum. This is not so in the State of Washington. The minimum wage is $13.20 per week in all industries except public housekeeping, where it is $14.50 per week. My report to the director for
the past nine months shows the average wage in the State, taken
from 247 pay rolls including 5,040 women, was as follows:
Heads of departments and buyers ______________ _._______
Office employees______________________________________
All other employees (excluding minors and apprentices)___
$46. 36
21. 83
16. 89
The average wage without segregation was $18.06. In the past
nine months we have collected the sum of $4,766.09 in back minimum wages. This was done through the cooperation of the employers
rather than the strength of the law.
In one of the big mail-order houses in this State, where it is a
conceded fact that wages are very low, we found that the average
wage of 600 women employees was $16.22 per week. The 4.3 under
the minimum wage were minors, and none of them were under $10
per week. We also found n.n overall factory where there no apprentices or minors employed, and the average for their women employees
was $24.05 per week.
Personally, I do not believe in too high a minimum, as it has a
tendency to equalize the cost of production by bringing the maximum down to the minimum, and the inefficient employee has no
incentive to work up to efficiency, as he gets the same as the efficient ·
emfloyee. But I do believe in a danger-line minimum wage that
wil at least give a girl a living wage while she is making herself
efficient.
In one laundry in this State the employer is proving to the public
that he can increcse his output by saving the strength of his
employees. In the last year he ha3 mstalled presses that conserve
the girl's strength. The average wage in his plant last year was $16
per week, and now it is $20, with the same number of women
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.employed. . He is working along these lines and he will be heard
from in the future.
You will note that there has been very little reduction in wages
in this State in the past year, and those reduced were the highsalaried women; therefore you can see that our emplo7.ers realize
that the buying power and volume of sales will be greater 1f the wages
are kept up. They also realize that. reducing prices by reducmg
wages obviously gets us nowhere.
It is time that the industries all over the United States were
beginning to realize the value of the eight" and a half million woman
wage earners of the country, and what would happen if the_y should
all suddenly cease working. Thousands of industries would have to
shut down and thousands would undoubtedly go into bankruptcy,
for everywhere you go the products of women's activities are m
evidence. The employers of the country should realize, then, that
women must have a living wage. The young working woman is the
future mother of our coming generations. We have schools and enact
laws to protect the future mtizen, but nothing is said of the protection of the future mother. People forget that they are paying taxes
and enormous sums of money to safeguard the future citizens, but the
foundation of it all seems to have been forgotten. The future
mother should have enough to keep her physically and mentally
able to bring her children into the world as normal and healthy
children. All girls look forward to the time when they shall marry
and have a home and children of their own. The children in the
State of Washington are well protected by our laws and the
employers realize that they themselves were once children.
The average woman with a home and children need riot envy the
doctor or lawyer of her sex who is neither wife nor mother, but
should be satisfied that she is doing more for her country than they
are, for without her and others like her, there !'loon would be neither
man nor woman to carry on any occupation anywhere.
DISCUSSION
The CHAmMAN. There are a good many things we have not even
touched upon. We have not had any real discussion on the prohibition of night work, and in the face of the decision of the Supreme
Court of New York? we might have some questions and discussion
on that point. Is there anyone who would like to ask any questions
on the prohibition of night work i
Miss BLANDING. As far as the night-work order is concerned, we
have made it part of our minimum wage order that women should
be barred from working in ;hotels and restaurants between the hours
of 1 and 5 a. m. We have made a good many exceptions for railroad
stations, on account of train service, and as we have made exceptions
for railroad stations the private employers ask why we can not do
the same for other restaurants. We might have a little difficulty in
enforcing that. The CHAmMAN. Do I understand that the order does not apply
.
to railroad restaurants W
Miss liLANDING. No; it is supposed to apply to all. We have
made exceptions for those railroad restaurants.
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OF
GOVERNMEN1'AL LABOR
OFFICIAI.S
The CB:AmMAN. We have done so in Kansas also.· It creates
some questionsMr. HALL. My experience has been that when you make an
exception in any matter, no matter how meritorious it might seem,
it always tends to break down law enforcement.
The CHAIRMAN. One of the speakers mentioned a case in Kansas,
but there is one point, 1 think, in which it differs from the case in
New York. Theleading restaurant man in Manhattan, Kans., thinks
that he can still test ou:r law. When this case was filed the New
York decision was just ready to be handed down, and we waited for
it, and sent it on to the count;r attorney of Riley County at once.
We received word at first that the restaurant men had decided that
they would not try to test the law. Then a few days later we heard
that a case had been filed, that the county attorney had arrested the
proprietor at night, when a girl was on duty after 12 o'clock, and filed
a case; so the law is to be tested. This proprietor feels that there is
some discrimination in excepting railroad eating houses. That was
done by special order after a special hearing before the court, and the
railroad eating houses presented testimony to show that their situation differed from that of the regular commercial eating houses. We
find, too, that they think there is a difference between an order of a
commission or court like the courts we have in Kansas and the law
prohibit:ip.g night work. There may be some discussion on that
point. Tliat is another reason why they have decided on a test case
m Kansas, and that is because there the provision is just a provision
of the order on public housekeeping rather than a statute provision.
Mrs. JOHNSON. What objection is there to a woman working at
night if she is not a minorj What objection is there, if she gets the
next day W We have a law that women can not run .elevators in
hotels after 12 o'clock.
The CHAmMAN. Is there anyone who would like to discuss this
matter of the prohibition of night work1
Mrs. JOHNSON. In many cases the women really get higher wages
when working at night than they are paid for working in. the day.
Miss JOHNSON. Investigations that have been made in this and
other countries show that the effect of night work on women is very
injurious, and legislation for the protection of women so employed
is necessary not only for the women but for the protection of the
race. A large number of the women employed at night work in
manufacturing establishments are married women. The Massachusetts law prohibits the employment of women in manufacturing
establishments after 10 o'clock. There is a vigorous effort being
made at the present time to repeal night work in the textile mills,
and when you think of it, it is well to consider the number of married women and the number of minors in that occupation. The
Dlajority of the employees in the textile industries are women and
children. As I recall the figures, there are something over 80,000
women and_girls in the textile industries of the State, which is nearly
a third of all of the women industrially employed in the State, and
in some of the textile centers a very large proportion of the workers
are married wom~. In Fall River, Lowell, and New Bedford the
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prop_ortion of married women working ranges from 25 to 35 per cent
of all the married women in those cities. You can get some idea
from that what the result would be. It means working at night,
and doing their own work, making two shifts the women work.
Mrs. JoHNsoN. A married woman who works in the daytime,
doing her work at home, and then works at night-I think we should
have a law prohibiting a married woman from working who has a
strong, healthy husband who can work.
Miss JOHNSON. It is partly a matter of wages.
The CH:AmMAN. We found, especially in the restaurant trades
where there was so much night work, that the shifts were not arranged
so that the women could get home at a reasonable time. We found
that many of the women were compelled to go to their homes at 2 or
3 o'clock in the morning, and, of course, there were disadvantages in
such work. I think women are pretty well__11,gl"eed on the advisability
of prohibition of night work for women. We are-Mrs. JOHNSON. What do you do with the telephone girl i
The CHAIRMAN. I do not know whether any State has solved that
question of the telephone operator. I know that in Kansas the telephone operators are still permitted to be on at night, but their shifts
are taken care of in a different way than those in some of the other
industries, and we have a provision for a rest period. I do not know
whether in other States-Mrs. McRAVEN. May I speak of a case of a woman at night work
which is illustrative of the conditions under which such work is done 1
I happened to have occasion to call on an operator of a telephone
exchange. She was on night work; she was off duty at 7 o'clock in
the morning. I wanted to interview her about the working conditions of her work. I waited at her home and at 2 o'clock in the
afternoon she was up and doing housework. She was supposed to have
had her rest from 7 o'clock to 2 o'clock. Furthermore, while she
was trying to sleep her three children had cooked their breakfast
and gotten off to school. That is just one of things which will break
down the very things we are trying to preserve for the future race.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there any other discussion i
Mr. DAVIE. I think Miss Johnson touched just the fringe of the
subject. I want to ask this question: Suppose we have a family,
and an inadequate pay envelope coming into that home, which is
very true of the large textile centers, are we going to deprive that
family of the opportunity to support itself or make its members
public charges, by passing such drastic legislation 1 I wish Miss
Johnson would advise me on this. We have the same thing in New
am_pshire in a smaller way. I think you will find more difficulty
argwng wage schedules with textile employers than you will conditions of employment with the employees, who are greatly in need of
all the money which is coming mto their homes. There are two
sides to all these questions.
Miss JOHNSON. Experience in industry shows that the employment
of women tends to lower wages, while any legislation whicli restricts
the employment of women or minors tends to increase the standard
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of wages. One of the effects of the introdution of married women
and minors int'o industry under the two-shift system would be an
increase in the current available labor supply, and labor organizations feel that anything which would have an injurious effect upon
woman employees and minors would have an injurious effect upon
wages as a whole. It would tend to reduce wages; it would cut
. wages materially; if there were a labor surplus it would make it possible for employers to cut down wages. Labor organizations also fear
that it would tend to accentuate the conditions of seasonality instead
of making it possible to distribute the work more regularly over the
year.
[Meeting adjourned.]
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THURSDAY, MAY 22-AFTERNOON SESSION
CLAUDE CONNALLY, COMMISSIONER OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT 01' LABOR,
PRESIDING
The CllAmMAN. Mr. Lovejoy, secretary of the National Child
Labor Committee, is J>resent and will speak to us at this time on
"The Federal child labor amendment."
THE FEDERAL CHILD LABOR AMENDMENT
BY OWEN B. LOVE.JOY, SECRETARY NATION.AL CHILD LABOR CO:M:MITTElll
First of all I want to bring to the two organizations here and to
all their members the fraternal and kindly greetings of the National
Child Labor Committee. We have worked hand in hanrl with vou and
for you and your predecessors for the past 20 years. We ·are just now
celebrating t!ie end of the first 20 years of work of the. committee.
In all of its existence we have had the most friendly and understandi!ig cooperation of the labor officials and other officials who have to
do witli this problem of the regulation of child labor, and we appreciate it, because we have no official standing whatever, no nght
whatever, except the right all American citizens have to get together
and to organize. One of the chief difficulties has been to induce the
State legislatures to play fair. It is very easy to get peoJ>le in this
country to pass laws. In fact, we are very mformal m the matter
of law passmg. You can get people together to pass almost any
kind of a law, and so we have passed the child labor law, the woman
workers' law, the school attendance law, and laws of that sort.
Then the legislature, when it comes to a showdown, refuses to
make any kind of provision which will insure !adequate support to
the agencies intrusted with the enforcement of these laws.
It has been said we pass laws in America not for the pUl_l)ose of
. improving conditions, but for the _purpose of getting sometliing off
our conscience. That is too broad a statement. There are a great
many instances in which the situation can not justify that criticism,
and so we have to do what we do as a volunteer committee, a committee of private citizens-try to bi;.ing pressure UJ?On the State legislators tlirough their own constituents and officially through our
own agencies, and to induce them to make suitable appropriations
for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of laws which are supP.osed to represent the will of the people. I should like to say that
if at any time we can be of service to you, especially in the matter of
added appropriations for the strengthening of your own departments,
you can count on us.
Two years ago you held your conference in Harrisburg, Pa., just
following the decision handed down by the United States Supreme
Court annulling the second Federal child labor law, and I remember
quite distinctly that the question was raised there as to what steps
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should be taken next and as to whether the o.Peration of the Federal
law had been or was a hindrance to the administration of the State
laws. I z:ecall the disc~sion 9uite vividly be?ause it was the discussion at that conference m which I was most mterested. If I recall
correctly there was not a single voice raised by the representative of
any State which·would lead to the belief that the operation of this
law urider the Federal Government had in any instance been a detriment, or weakened the sense of local responsibility, or embarrassed
or interfered with the activity of State departments. On the other
hand, a large number of representatives of State departments and
the field workers of these departments said very positively, very
emphatically, that the operation of. the Federal law-both the first
law and the second law-had been an advantage; that it had been
an advantage in the way of advertising the subJect of child labor to
the general population; that it had been of great help because it had
brought the matter to the attention of tlie populace; that it had
helped because it had led to a uniform minimum standard; th.at it
had stimulated the State legislature to attempt to secure more constructivQ,J>~tter coordiJJ__3tea, childlaho.rJaws.in-its_Q.wn.State. If I
am wrong and have made tQo sweeping statements regariling·-tmr-.
attitude of these officials two years ago, I hope that I shall be corrected at this conference, because we do not want to go out with any
false notion.
I assume of course, that every one is familiar with the proposition
that is now before Congress in the proposed child labor constitutional
amendment bill. You have followoo. the story of its presentation,
the hearing before the Judiciary Comnµttees in both Houses, and the
discussion that took place on the floor of the House so I shall not go
into that. There are certain objections which have been raised, certain points of ·misunderstanding, which I believe we might profitably
discuss this afternoon.
It has been assumed by many of our friends that if anyone raises
any objection to .the proposed child labor law it is because he wants
to go on employing little children. I believe we have come to recQgnize at this date that there should be neither false nor optimistic
inferences drawn from the objections. There has been at least one
·of the child labor committees which has refused to indorse the pending constitutional amendment, not because the committee is opposed
to Federal supervision but because it is opposed to the particular
form of this bill. No one can accuse t:Liat committee of being
, opposed to the restriction and rigid regulation of child labor. There
have been certain groups of wonien and other agencies in the -country which have declined to indorse the bill in its present ,Orm. We
must face the fact that the proposition before Congress should have
the most careful, thoughtful, dIScriminating discussion, so that the
people, who probably in an overwhelming majority favor this kind
of l~ation, will know just what the fending proposition means.
Tlie bill provides that Congress shal have tlie power to prohibit,
limit, and regulate the employment of persons under the age of 18
rears. It provides further that the autonomy of the several States
IS not impaired by this legislation, nor by this article, except that
the operation of a State law may be suspended to the extent neces.sary to give effect to legislation enacted by Congress. That is all
there is to the bill, but there are several points in it which I feel
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need careful discussion. What are some of the objections? The
one which is perhaps most commonly presented is that of possible
interference with tlie autonomy of the State, the operation of State
laws. The next objection most commonly offered is that if this
child labor amendment goes through no girl or boy under 18 years
of age will be permitted to do any kind of work anywhere in the
United States; that a boy who is just under 18 will not be able even
to milk a cow on his father's farm, or to pick up eggs for his
widowed mother. These are samples of objections which are heard.
While of course the latter objection is ludicrous, there are earnest,
honest people who raise the question, Why 18? Why do you propose to give Con~ress the power to prohibit labor of all children
under 18 years ot age? And when we answer that we do not suppose Congress will pass such a law as to the labor of children under
18 years of age, they say, Why do you put it in the amendmentwhy write it in the Constitution-if you are not intending Congress
to utilize the power Congress is given under the constitutional provision? That is a question that faces us. I want to discuss that;
and if I do not make that clear from my point of view, I want to
answer all questions, and clear it up. The best way to answer that
is to say that your State-I do not care what State you come from,
New York, or Virginia, or Oklahoma, or Wisconsin-possesses the
endowed power to limit or regulate or prohibit the labor of persons
not only under the age of 18 but under the age of 80 or 90 or 100 if
it wants to do it-of course within the limits of reasonableness.
Your State already has that power. You do not have to pass a.
constitutional amendment in your State, because the State governments already have the power to regulate conditions in industries.
What do we propose to do in this constitutional amendment 1
We propose that the Federal Government shall be given precisely the
same kind of J>Ower that to-day exists in Iowa, New York, Virginia,
Oklahoma, ana Michigan and other States, with this exception, that
whereas the power of your State extends over the entire span of human life the power that is to be conferred upon the Federal Government extends only to the eighteenth birthday. When the eighteenth
birthday is reached the power of the Federal Government, under the
provisions of this amendment, ceases in this regard, so that each State
has a great deal more power than the Federal Government will be
~ven 1f this amendment goes through in its present form. The
objection then is, Why give the Federal Government this power up to
18 years if it is not going to use it? The answer is, Why give your
State that powed Why have powers vested in your State if it is
not going to exercise all of them? Of course the general answer is
that the American people are not the fools they are often accused of
be½~gthis matter of legislation affecting labor conditions I think the
history of this country shows that the people of the country are not
fools; that on the whole they do not pass laws unless there is a
rational basis for them. In some instances the laws may be poorly
constructed, but the purpose is of an intelligent nature.
What is the-specific reason for limiting this power to 18 years and
not to 16 years? All of the officials coming from States where laws
are well advanced will, I think, recognize the wisdom of conferring
upon the Federal Government the power to regulate conditions of
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child labor up to the age of 18 years. In those communities where
the demand. for labor is very strenuous, where the conditions of
industry are very close and business is run on a close margin, it is
difficult either to _pass or to maintain laws such as you have in Wisconsin, New York, and other States. During the pendency of this
law people all over the country discussed this matter; they discussed
it for several months, and after great deliberation, after thou~htful
analysis, they decided that to pass the 16-year-old provision m tlte
regulation of child labor was inadvisable. In other words, it would
be an example, a type of inferential influence, that would be farreaching in its effect.
We have never expected that Con~ess. would pa~ a law forbidding
all child labor under 18. What we ao think is th.at Congress will be
more likely to limit the hours between 14 and 16 years, to prohibit
night work by children under the age of 16, and to regulate tne matter of working conditions. If it were possible to revise this suggested
amendment when it goes through the Senate, I should like to add one
or two features. For instance, I should like to provide that as to any
occupation offering extra hazards to life or health the Federal Government should, tlirough its board, decide whether children under 18
or under 16 should be emplo_yed. I believe that no child under 18
is qualified by experience and maturity of judgment to operate a railroad locomotive, or an electric elevator, or to work in any factory
or establishment where poisonous acids or gases or explosives are
used. There ought to be a minimum of 18 years in occupations such
as those. So much for the 18 years.
The next objection commonly urged comes from the rural communities and centers about the extent of the power given. It has been
urged most forcibly, not in the cotton-growing sections of the South,
wliich are erroneously supposed by a great many people to represent
the total of the child labor abuses m America, but m the farming centers of the Mississippi Corn Belt-the more progressive, wide-awake,
up-to-date States-that if Congress be given the power to regt!.late
emplo~ent of children under the age of 18 years agriculture at least
should be excluded, and many have proposed that there should either
be written into this amendment the specific occu_pations from which
children should be excluded or that agriculture should be specifically
eliminated. What is the objection to that¥ Do we intend that
Congress shall have the power under this law to appoint inspectors to
visit every farm in the country to find out whether the farmer is
working or overworking his children under 18 years, or is it proposed
that Congress shall forbid the employment of any boy or girl under
the ~e ol 18 on the farm 9
Here we have to appeal to the common sense of the American
peo_ple. There is no State legislature that has dared to attempt any
such restriction. Is it to be supposed that Congress would do that
which would keep practically its entire membership at home the
next session¥ To put the question shows how ridiculous th&t situation would be. Furthermore, I belie~e that those who have the
most experience in rei?U}ating conditions of work have recognized
quite generally that tlie ordinary forms of agriculture can best be
improved not through prohibitive child labor laws but through better
health measures, through the establishment and administration of
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better schools, and through better sanitary appurtenances for the
homes of the people.
·
In many of the rural communities the juvenile agencies corresponding to the juvenile courts in the cities will take care of those rare
cases of abuse or neglect which sometimes occur among farm children. Then the question arises, Why not leave agriculture out¥
There is a reason for this. A new type of agriculture is growing up
in this country-industrialized agriculture.
·
About two years ago some of our agents from States where this
type of agriculture exISts described the whole area covered in their
investigation as being a factory '\tithout sides, walls, or a roof, because the conditions in those communities were almost identical with
the conditions we find in factories and manufacturing establishments.
Agriculture in this area was entirely industrialized. Great corporations employed the workers, both adults and infants from six years
of age up, to do this work under conditions which imposed very rigorous burdens upon them. The working hours. ranged from 8 hours
during the slack season to 12, 13, 14, and even 15 hours a day during
the rush season, and this 15-hours-a-day labor was actually __performed by many children 7, 8, 9, and 10 years of age. Now, I do
not know what is going to come in the next 10 or 15 or 50 years.
As long as it is proposed to amend the constitution, is it not wise to
have an amendment broad enough in its scope to cover such changing conditions as may arise¥
Why pass an amendment now that may have to be revised to
meet the cha.nged conditions of B@iculture ¥ Congress is not going
to pass a. child labor law which will affect the man whose boys and
girls work beside him on the farm.
If ever the Federal Government should be called into action, we
must all admit that the interest of the child is to be regarded as
paramount, and that we can not afford to havl\_any rigid limitations
which would make it forever impossible for the Federal Government
to give the child relief if his own community and own State refused
to _give it.
The next objection moat commonly urged is that we are tending
very rapidly toward centralization of power in this country, that we
are building up a great bureaucracy in Washington whicli will ultimately scrap our State mechanism, our State constitutions, and our
State autonomy.
The evidence brought forwa.rd to support this argument is to some
very impressive. We are told to looK at the Department of Agriculture; it started with a few thousand dollars for maintenance, and
see how it has grown; to look at the Department of Labor, the Department of Commerce-these departments were very small at the
beginning, but have grown tremendously. Then there is the children's work, which started out with an appropriation of about $26,000.
and now has an appropriation of a.bout one and a half million; we
a.re tolci-that over one and a quarter million is used for the administration of maternity and infants' work under the law passed a number of 1,ears a.go. This money simply passes througli the hands of
the Children's Bureau and is not used by it at all except that the
bureau has charge of its administration; 1t is not a part of the machinery of that bureau in an;y sense. Even at that, w~ are sorry
that it is only a million and a half.
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These opposers of the law can all talk about the eighteenth amendment and the administration of the Federal prohibition law-how
.many thousands of ins1>_ectors are required all over the country to
administer that law. There has not been a discussion of any le~h
- in connection with this child labor constitutional amendment which
I have taken part in where the eighteenth amendment has not been
brought in. · As to the child laoor law figures by the carload are
' cited to pile up evidence against it, on the ground 'that so i:nuch
machinery will be required to administer it that it will ruin the tax. payers in this country.
You would think, to hear people talk, that all the expense of the
Federal Government, from the time the first Federal bureau was
organized up to the present time, was to be charged up to the children who are to be benefited if this amendment passes. By the
way, when they talk of Federal expense in connection with. this
amendment they never mention the expense of the ·Army or the
-Navy-. I have not heard that brought· into the argument at all, but
the burden upon the American taxpayer in aiding these children is
always brought in.
·
. Now, I am against l)utting the burden on the Federal Government
for the administration of laws which can be better administered by
the various States. I am opposed to building up a great Federal
. machinery, as against the mamtenance and encouraO'ement of local
~itif!,tive? State ~tia~ive, a!'-d Stat!3 enterprise.. Th!3 people who
live m this ward m .Chicago, if there 1S any abuse m this ward, ought
to be ashamed to go to Springfield to get it cured without first gomg
to the city hall, and the people who C!)mplain of some evil in Chicago .
ought to be ashamed to go to Washmgton before they have gone to
Springfield. Those are progressive steps and none of them ought to
be omitted. We all look upon our local States as the first agency to
be called into actioI). when anything is to be improved or cured, but
here is a situation where experience has shown there is need of coordinated, unified, standardized le~ation.
How much is it going to cost if the amendment goes through~ I
am frank to say I do not know. It is not going to oost what it costs
to administer the Volstead Act. Why¥ A few years ago there was
. a fabulous fortune made out of the manufacture and marketing• of
intoxicants. There are no fabulous fortunes to be made out of the
exploitation of children. That is clear. We have tried to impress it
upon the public that child labor is one of the games in which everybody loses. People sometimes make money, but the profit out of it
is small, and in tbe long run it is a waste. The best manufacturers
and merchants all over the country who have had experience feel
that child labor is a loss and that the most expensive and extravagant labor is ~orant child labor.
That. beini the case, do you suppose any organization of people,
any association, any group, is going to get together and have child
labor stills down in the dark caves in the mountains or hi out-ofway places, or bring children in boatloads ·within the 3-mile limit
or the 12-mile limit and try to smuggle them into the country¥
That is preposterous.
'
What is needed is an agency which can regulate the minority,·say
the 1 @r 10 per cent, -of .the employers of minors who think they ~re
aiding tLemselves and their communities by the exploitatio:a of
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children. The majority, the overwhelming majority, of the employers
of this country want things done right. There is no parallel between
the two amendments. There is plenty of bootlegging in intoxicants,
but there need be no child-labor bootlegging:. It would not pay.
There is nothing in it to make it wortli while running the risk of
getting into our Federal courts for that kind of a crime. So you see
the machinery which is bound to follow the one is entirely incorrect
as an illustration of what might be needed under the other. When
arguing on that point we ought to insist there is no parallel; there is
no analogy; it is just not the fact.
The last objection I want to discuss is that it is irreverent and
unpatriotic to tamper with the Federal Constitution; that the greatest men in the world at that time wrote the Constitution; that they
knew what they were about when they wrote the Constitution. Who
are we, the posterity of those great fathers, that we should think we
know more than they and try to add to that sacred document. I say
to the person using that argument in the first place you have no
greater reverence for the Federal Constitution than myself and my
associates have; we think it is one of the greatest Sta~e papers ever
.written. Then I begin to ask questions. "What do you mean by
sacred W Do you mean that it is a sacred mummy; that it ought to
be put under glass in a museum, or do you believe it was intended by
those great father;; to be used 1" Of course the answer wi11 be that
it was mtended to be used-what the person really thinks is that it is a
mummy. Then I ask him, "Do you believe it is all sacred¥" He
answers, "Oh, yes; every bit of it 1s sacred; every bit." ThenJ say,
".All right. If you say 1t is all sacred, of course you will agree that
article 5 is sacred, won't you i" then he begins to break, and says,
"What is article 5 j" He reverences the Constitution, but he has not
read it for a good manyyears, so of course he does not know anything about article 5. I reply that article 5 is the article which provides that our Constitution may be amended, and it aL'IO provide3 the
machinery by which it may be amended without in any way interfering
with the local democratic prerogatives of the .American people.
That ie one of the wisest, shrewdest, most statesman-like provisions of the whole Constitution, but that is the one provision
which those who talk about the sacredness of the Constitution invariably repudiate. Why should they repudiate that and not repudiate
the rest j If it is sacred, article 5 is sacred, and I stand on article 5.
"Oh," they say, "do you mean to tell us that George Washington
and Jefferson and all those l?eople contemplated that under the provision for amendment in tliis Constitution people should sometime
come to Congress to pass a child labor lawi" Then I replr,, "No,
I do not think they ever contemplated anything of the kind. ' .As a
matter of fact, I think there are quite a few things that Washington
and Jefferson did not contemplate. They did not contemplate thmgs
they never heard of. Washington never rode in an automobile, nor
used a radio, nor heard of a telephone. He never even drove a Ford,
much less a Rolls-Royce; he never rode in an airplane. I imagine
he never thought that an ai1'J)lane could possibly go up in the air
thousands of feet and carry human beings for hundreds of miles.
He did not contemplate that. He did not contemplate Chicago.
38735°-25-9
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I think he did go out West once, as far west as Fort Du Quesne,
where Pittsburgli now smokes, and he was quite impressed with that
wild, wide, mountain wilderness. He did not contemplate the Mississippi River, the Great Lak~s, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, or
Omalia-he would not know what those names meant.
Washington, the Father of our Country, is a sacred memory, but
he did not contemplate any of those things. He did not contemplate
the establishment of the great manufacturing corporations in our
country to-day.
It was only a few years before the Constitution was written that
Benjamin Franklin, one of the wisest men of-that illustrious grouJ>,
wrote a very interesting letter to the Duke of Newcastle in England.
The Duke evidently h:ad become excited over the growth of the
American colonies in population and feared that we were going on to
greater development of industry in competition with England. Franklin wrote to tlie Duke of Newcastle that while the American colonies
were admirably adapted to agricultural pursuits, manufacturing
enterprises could never thrive here.
It was quite a few years after the Constitution was written that
one of our great statesmen rose on the floor of Congress and made one
of his characteristically eloquent appeals. It was on the occasion of
the visit of Dr. Marcus Whitman from the Pacific Coast, after the discovery of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. He came
to appeal to Congress to take steps to save that. Pacific slope from
being captured by England or France or Spain or any other foreign
power, and Daniel Webster made one his great speeches, in whichhe
a,ppealed to the people, saying that God in his infinite wisdom had
placed that great range of Rock;r. Mountains on our western border
to protect us forever from the wild savages of the great unknown on
the West, and to keep us from wandering over there and getting lost
in the great unknown. It was a sort of divine Chinese wall that God
had thrown up there to protect America.
The point I want to make is that our forefathers who wrote the
Constitution could not contemplate what would transpire in America.
140 years subsequent to their time, as you and I and the other people
in this country, with all of our wisdom, have no idea of what the
industrial, manufacturing, agricultural, and other pursuits in this
country are going to be 100 or even 50 or 25 years hence.
We do not know what the fate of this amendment will be. It
went through the House by a splendid majority, five to one or more.
It stuck in the Senate. Congress will probably adjourn the 7th of
June. It is holding evening sessions now trying to get through. It
may recess. If so there is a chance of this amendment coming up at
the adjourned session this summer. There is a faint possibility of it
cl):ming up now between now and the 7th of June. The calendar is
so full that unless it can come up out of order under the unanimousconsent rule there is no chance of it coming up now.
On three different occasions the promotors of this bill have tried
to bring it up under the unanimous-consent rule. First it was
objected to, I believe by Senator Dial, of South Carolina-I am not
qmte sure whether he was the one. The second time Senator Lodge
attempted to bring it up by agreement with Senator Robinson, the
minority leader in the Senate, and Senator James W. Wadsworth,
jr., of New York, objected to the unanimous-consent rule. Day
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before ~terday it was tried, and Senator King, I believe, objected
to it. Whenever it is brought up any Senator can stop its consideration. Il there is one man in the Senate who does not want it discussed, then there is no bureau under heaven, no women's club,
labor organization, or child labor committee, public official, or anybody . else who can get it up there. If the Senate can get the
calendar cleared so that this bill can come up next, then tliere is a
chance.
I would like to ask all who are for this measure to wire the Senators from your States, and urge them to regard this as one of the
important measures to be put through before Congress adjourns.
You can do that now, and when you go home urge your constituents
to do the same thing. Those are thin_gs you can all do. Some
people say th1.1.t it does not do any real good to wire or write your Sena tor, but I know your Senator 1s more impressed by letters from his
constituents than he is by letters from any other source, because when
his constituents take the trouble to sit oown and write or wire he
thinks that the people are really interested, and begins to notice.
Let me urge you to do this.
DISCUSSION
Mr. CHAIRMAN. Is there any discussion at the present time t Does
anyone wish to ask anything of Mr. Lovejoy1
Mr. HALL. I would like to ask Mr. Lovejoy if he thinks it would
be of any value for this meeting to pass a resolution relative to the
present status of the child labor enabling act and to forward it to
the Senate ¥ ·
Mr. LoVEJoY. I thank Mr. Hall for the suggestion. I find in making a speech I always leave out the thing I wanted to say. I wanted
to ask 1f you would pass a resolution here to be forwarded to the
sponsors of this bill in the Senate, urging its free discussion and its
enactment, because coming from this group it would put to sleep
quicker than anything else the objection that is most forceful against
it; that is, that State officials are opposed to it.
[A motion was made, seconded, and carried that a committee be
appointed to draw up a recommendation to be forwarded from this
bodv to Co)!gress, then in session. The following committee was
appointed: Royal Meeker, chairman; F. M. Wilcox, Ethel M. Johnson, and Alice McFarland.
The following paper on "Accidents to children and increased liability," by Nelle Swartz, director bureau of women in industry, New
York State Department of Labor, was read by Sara McPike, secretary of the New York Department of Labor:]
ACCIDENTS TO CHILDREN AND INCREASED LIABILITY
DY NELLE SWARTZ, DIRECTOR BUREAU 01' WOMEN IN INDUSTRY, NEW YORK
DEPARTMENT 01' LABOR
[Read by Sara McPlke, secretary New York Department of Labor]
One of the most serious indictments of child labor is the heavy
accident toll paid by young wage earners. Reco~tion of this fact
has been responsible for much of the legislation which limits their
employment at dangerous processes.
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New York has in the past been one of the States which has led
the way in prohibiting employment at certain dangerous machines
for children under 16 years of age. Circular or band saws, collander
rolls, cracker machinery, corner-staying machines, ~ ; r punches or
sheers, rolling-mill machinery, steam boilers, and was · , grindinl?, or
mixing machinery are among the machines include in this list.
Neither may any child be em_ployed in or assist in the adjustment
of belts to machinery, or cleaning, oiling, or wiping machinery when
in motion. ·
The continuous study of laws in relation. to every grou_p they affect
is necessary if we are to make it possible for them really to ~complish the purpose for which they were placed on the statute books.
For accident preve~tion it is.n.ecessary to know '!hY and how accidents
occur. For mtelligent rev1S1on of compensation laws the number
and character of accidents must be known. And so in an attempt
to determine the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the prohibited
trades act for children and in order more intelligently to carry on
accident prevention in New York State, the bureau of women in
industry analyzed all compensable accident cases of children under
18 years of age occurring i:luring the year July 1, 1919, to June 30,
1920.
The presentation of facts regarding work accidents to children was
somewhat limited by the statIStical data· available. Because of the
lack of certain much-to-be-desired information there are wide gaps
in the material. For example, it is impossible accurately to determine the accident risk in <lifferent inaustries for children or the
difference in accident risk between boys and girhi, for the reason that
no figlll"es are available as to the exact number of children exposed
to such risk. Without knowing the exposure, it is of course impossible to determine the proportion of the children injured.
As the study dealt with compensated cases only, it meant that
boys and girls employed in agriculture and domestic service were not
included, since those groups are not included in the co:Qipensation
law of New York State.
There are also children under 18 years of age in certain· employments, commercial in character, who are not now within the scope of
any of the occupations specified in the workme~'s compensation law;
for example, office boys and girls in certain industries, messenger and
errand boys and girls. It is ;unpossible to state the number of these~
Even though_ accurate statistical information is lacking as to the
exposure of children to industrial accidents, and even though a large
group of children under 18 yea.rs of age are in industries not covered
by the compensation law, it is significant that in New York State in
a single year 1,983 accidents occurred of serious enough nature to
disable the boy or girl two weeks or more.
DEATH OASBS
Twelve children under 18 lost their lives through industrial accidents during the year studied. Seven were in New York City and
five outside of New .York City; all were boys. Of the 10 deaths compensated for, 4 were due to elevator accidents; of the remaining 6,
~ were caused by falling ?I" slipp~, 1 boy was stru~k. bY. 11,n automobile, and the remamlilg 1 ~~ as a result of mJunes caused
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ACCIDENTS TO CHILDREN AND INCREASED LIABILITY
by moving belts on machinery.
accidents need have occurred.
123
With proper vigilance none of these
SEX
Four-fifths of all the compensated cases for children under 18 were
accidents to boys. It is probable that for the most part boys are
exposed to greater risks tlian girls, but :figures as to this are impossible to obtain because we have no basis on which to determine the
number of boys and girls hurt per each 100 exposed. Without such
figures, conclusions as to the difference in sex hazards cannot be
made.
I:NDUSTRY GROUP
Almost 80 per cent of the accidents to the year's account fell in
the field of manufacturing; trade ranked second and public utilities
third.
OCCUPATION GROUP
The outstanding feature of the :figures on accidents in manufacturing is the number occUITing on metal cutting and stamping machines. Thirty _per cent of the accidents are attributed to these machines-that is, between three and four times as great as the number
in any other single group; 22.3 _per cent of such accidents caused amputation of some kind. Second to metal products is the manufacture
of wood products, with 18.8 per cent of these accidents causing amputations. Third and fourtli come printing and clothing, and closely
following are textile, the manufacturing of food, and the manufacturing of paper :(>Ulp and its products.
While the mvestigation of the bureau of women in industry dealt
only with boys and girls under 18, more than 9 out of 10 accidents
were suffered by minors between 16 and 18 years of age; that is, 8.5
per cent of the accidents occurred to children under 16.
CHILDREN ILLEGALLY EMPLOYED
Nine children under 14 who were employed illegally had accident
cases and were compensated on the ground that although the child
was too young to be employed legally the fact of his employment gave
him a right to compen"lation. These children, under the decision of
the court in the case of Noreenv. Vogel & Bros., 231 N. Y. 317, were
obli_ged to take compensation and could not sue the employer for
negllgence at common law. The compensation which they received
was necessarily small because, even taking into consideration their
increased earning power or expectancy wage, their wage earnings
would be for the most part comparatively low.
Eight of these 9 children were boys and 1 was a 13-year-old girl.
Of tlie boys 4 were 13 years old, 3 were 12 years old, and 1 was 11
years old.
The New York State law prohibits a boy under 18 or a girl under
21 from cleaning machinery while it is in motion. Fifteen children
dui:ing the year studied had accidents because they were working in
violation of this section and were cleaning machinery while it was in
moti'ln. The New York State law also prohibits children from
adjusting machinery when it is in motion. Twenty-four children were
injured seriously enough through violation of this section of the law to
claim compensation for more than two weeks.
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ASSOOIAor:rON OF GOVERNMENT.At LABOR OJi'FlOIA.tS
In addition to the employnient of children under age or on the
cleaning or adjustin~ of machinery while in motion, tliere were 19
children under 18 inJured while working on machines.
In view of the number of children injured who were found to be
illegally employed, the bureau of women in industry recommended that
the workmen's compensation law be amended so that minors under
18 years of age who a.re injured while illegally employed receive three
times as much compensation e.s those who are injured while they are
legally employed. The bureau further recommended that the empl<>y~r be _prohibited from insuring against the additional liability:.
When the bill was finally introducea into the legislature it provided
for double the amount of compensation to minors who were injured
· while employed in violation of the provisions of the labor law. This
bill w.as passed without a dissenting vote by the New York State
Legislature, having had the indorsement of the New York Child Labor
Committee and tlie commission appointed to examine the laws relating to child welfare. The law went into effect September 1, 1923.
What was the first reaction of employers to this law¥ Just what
the proponents to this bill hoped it would be. Emp!oyers immediatel1, began to take stock and to examine very carefully the working
certificates of boys and girls in their employ and to _guard against the
em~loyment of children under 18 at prohibited trades.
Numerous large employers immediately instructed their employment
department thereafter to demand a working cert:i:ficate from each
applicant 18 years of age or under.
The Associated Industries carried on the front page of their monthly
magazine, the Monitor, in large type the woras "How many minors have you working illegally m your plant-have- you checked up
to find out¥" .And then called the attention of their members to the
provisions of the law.
·
There was, of course, the usual backwash from this law. For example, one Brookl:yn paper claimed that under the law employers
would be compelleo to dismiss apprentices. All this meant however,
was that the law was not understood. An effort was made through
publicity methods to make clear in the minds of the opposition the
fact that the law <!id not in any _wa_y add to the list of prohibited
employm.ents·of mmors, and attention was called to the fact that
minors between 16 and 18 have for many years been prohibited from
certain occup_ations in New York and from adjusting and cleaning
.
machinery while it is in motion.
· The directors .of the various employment bureaus for juveniles
throughout the State report that since the enactment of this law employers are much more insistent on proper evidence of age and proper
wor~ certificates then they were before its enactment. Iri other
words the law has furnished a strong incentive to comply with the
child labor law. While the law itself nas been in operation too short
a time to measure st.atistically whether or not it has actually reduced
the number of accidents, it is safe to say the.~ there has bee~ throughout the State a much more thorough checking up of working (}el't1ficates by employers and, most important of all, there has been .as 1,1,
result of this law a campaign~ of education on accident prevention,
particularly as it relates· to children.
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125
DISCUSSION
The CHAmMAN. The discussion will be led by Taylor F)ye, director
of the child labor department, Industrial Commission of Wisconsin.
Mr. FRYE. When the compensation bill in Wisconsin W&.l!_passed,
it was my misfortune to be a member of the legislature. The men
and the women to be affected by that bill were right there to put in
their word for or against it, but I did not see a child there. The
child had nothing to say; he had nothing more to say than the black
man in the Soutli 7jj_years ago had to say about his status. He took
what we adults in Wisconsin handed to him. I ask you, What are
we handing to our children to-day j What kind of a deal are we ·
giving them¥ Aft.er we had enacted that bill the supreme court of
our State practica.lly said that we had handed them a pretty rotten
deal.
In the Foth ca.se, Foth was set to work to clean and oil gears,
a thing _prohibited by law to a child under 18. He had both arms
stripped from the hand to the shoulder. There were at lea.st two
dozen la~rs, some of them as :fine lawyers as there are in the
State of Wisconsin, in that legislature, and everybody believed
that that kind of a case would not come under the com_pensation law
because of the child's right under the common law. This boy went
to the court with his case, a.s others before him have gone to the courts,
and got a verdict in the circuit court for $1,500 damages for that
serious injury. The case was carried to our supreme court, and it
decided that he wa.s entitled to work if he was over 16 but under 18,
and that just because he happened to get into an unlawful employment did not take him out from under compensation. In the next
session of the legislature a.11 children were brought under the compensation la.w at the suggestion of the employers' representatives.
Previous to 1917 when an injured child came into court, if he was in
the employment in violation of the law, few e~ployers had any
defense to offer. Our supreme court, quoting the Supreme Court of
the tate of Illinois, pointed out that we had in a measure borrowed
our law from that State. We took it with the interpretation put
u_pon it by the State of Illinois and its supreme court, that it made
the employment of a child in violation of the law a crime, and that
no excuse can be offered for a crime. That was the status of the
injured child in Wisconsin before 1\i 17. The only question to be settled when the ca.se came before the court was the measure of damages.
The employer and his attorney were stopped from offering any
excuses for that thing. Thinking of what liad happened during the
session of that legislature, of which I was a member, I waited to see
what our supreme court would do. We had taken that child's right
away from liim. Under the supreme court decision, he could not go
to court, but had to go to the labor department, where he received
$135 for his injuries, which the jury had said was a damage of $1,500.
There was a. time in Wisconsm when an employer could set up defenses in such a suit. In 1896 a boy 10 years of age was working on
a planer; he was so sma.11 that the employer had to put up a box for
him to stand on; in the operation of the planer he lost an arm, and
in the damage suit that followed his employer set up every defense
that he could set up against an adult worker, and he wa.s within the
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
law in doing it. That is what we were handing our children in Wisconsin at one time. That was changed a little later; probably three
or four years later it was made a cnme, a crime of low grade to be
sure but still a crime, and we took away the right of the employer
to set up those defenses. The defenses set up in the case of the little
IO-year-old boy, were that a fellow servant liad inflicted the injury;
contributory negligence (on the part of a little 10-year-old boy);
and that he assumed the risk (a 10-year-old boy assumed the risk).
Thank heaven, the jury did not look at it that way, and the emplc:>yer lost his suit and the child got a decent a.mount of damages.
Now as to treble comJ:>ensa.tion-three times what the child would
g_et if he had been lawfully employed-there may be some criticism.
1 There are two cases where, if lie IS injured, he is entitled to treble
compensation-when he . is employed witho:nt the nece;ssa.ry labor
permit and, whether or not he has the perm.it when he IS emJ:>loyed
at a prohibited employment. This is not to punish the employer,
not at all, it is to pay for the damage done to the child's body, JUSt
exactly as in 1910, 19131 and 1915, when the child sued in court, and
gc:>t damages, it was sunply to pay for the injury to his body.
This simply J:>ays for the bodily injury; it does not relieve the employer from the statutory penalty of $100 for every day he had that
child working in violation of the statute, which a.mount goes into the
State treasury. It simply takes the place, then, of the ordinary suit
for damages, and was asked for by representatives of the employees
and of the employers.
We sometimes get the idea that this law has solved or is going to
solve all of our child-labor troubles; that J:>eople are not go4ig to
violate the law any more. Of course, this law is not a cure-all for
child-labor troubles. I believe the manufacturers in Wisconsin would
prefer to have this law rather than to return to the laws we have had
m the past. If we were able to reverse the supreme court decision
and put the child back in the position he was in before 1917 they
woufd not want it. They_ are a great deal better off now than under
the law we had before. Why 1 Because in Wisconsin if a child loses
his arm while employed in violation of the law, and the employer
takes his case into court he can not offer any excuse; the court and
the jury set the damages, and if they do not set it higher than treble
compensation it will be unusual, because the amounts of verdicts
have doubled and trebled over what they were 10 years ago, which
was about the time the treble compensation law in Wisconsin was
enacted.
Furthermore, in Wisconsin the empl<>yer can insure his liability
for one-third of the compensation and all the medical bills, and all
he has to pay out of his pocket is two-thirds, or twice as much as
the insurance company pays. If the whole compensation a.mounts to
$3,000theinsurancecompanyhelpshimout$1,000a.ndhepaystheother
$2,000, but if he went into court under the old law, or under the law
of Illinois, he would pay the whole bill assessed against him by the
jury which is large nowadays. What he pays for is the damage to
the child's body, but otherwise he would pay for pain and suffering,
which is not included in the compensation bill. I am telling you
this, because I do not want you to get the idea that increased compensation is doing what it is not domg.
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That is the situation of the child in Wisconsin. I presume it was
the same thing or approximately the same thing in tlie State of New
York. When the compensation law was to be passed, it was thought
the child did not need to worry because his case was not to be compromised-the law was for the adult worker, while the child oould
still go into court with his case. If he was employed in violation of
the law there could be no finding against him. The court would
simply give him his damages, and that was the end of it.
Our compensation law has been in operation since 1917, and since
then several hundred children have been injured while employed in
violation of that law.
How many of them do you suppose have told about it 1 How
many of them do you suppose would ever have gotten one cent of
compensation if they had been left to their own devices as they were
before 1917-not 2 m 100, not 2 1,>er cent. In other words, we have
to go out and find the injured chlldren; we have to hunt them up;
to see that this money is given to them; to get it for them; to see
that it gets to them-that 1s some job. The report comes in that
the child is 18 years old, 19 years old, 20 years old, yet the fact is
that he is 16 or maybe 15. A great majority of the children who
are injured while employed in violation of the law and to whom
treble compensation accrues, are reported as over 17 and in most cases
the employer has not lied about it. It was the child who lied. He
tells the employer he i..'I 17 and the employer _puts down the age as
17 and drops the accident report in the mail box. Do you think
that child then comes in and tells us about it 1
Over 90 per cent of the children who _get hurt and are reported as
17 are, as a matter of fact, under 17. Not all of them lie in a bad
sense; some of them say they are 17 when they get to be 16, because
thev are in their seventeenth vear. We have to go out and tell
those children. We have to establish their ages and bring about a
situation under which they will get their money.
Does it help to back up the child-labor law and prevent violations 1
It helps tremendously. Does it work automatically to put an end
to all our troubles i Not at all. We have lots of them. One of
our troubles is to locate these children, to get their ages. Sometimes
we have to get birth records from Europe; we have written to South
America; we go everywhere we can to get those records. We have
our own permit offices in Wisconsin, and they liave been a good
deal of help in this respect. If the information is very hard to get,
it is all the more cert.am that we will get it, and when we get it we
go to the employer. If he has allowed himself to be deceived about
the age of tliat child no matter how-note that "no matter"-the
child gets that money. No matter if he has a birth record; no matter if 1t is a bai>tismal record that is changed, that is not correct;
no matter if he has an affidavit-we got one the other day showing
that the child was born in 1907, and the record showed she was born
in 1909-no matter what it is, if it is not correct, then the employer
is up against it; if the child is under 17 there is just one thing to do,
he must pay that money.
In one case the employer knew this law well. He was so sure of
what he was doing that he went ahead and employed the child without the necessary permit. It cost him $5,400 in extra compensation,
the total compensation being $8,500. A false baptismal record was
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOB OFFICIALS
made by a minister of the church, not intentionally at all, but the
child had lied to the minister about his ~, and the employer did
:qot go to the church records to see if the date stated by tlie child
was the correct date. That was another instance where the employer
did not find out what, in fa.ct, was the child's correct age.
If the treble compensation provision of the law·is enforced, people
who employ children are not going to take chances when employmg
them but insist on the necessary evidence that they are over 17.
The CB:AmMAN. We will now have a paper on "Children in street
trades," by Miss Jeanie V. Minor, secretary of the New York Child
Labor Committee.
CHll,DREN IN STREET TRADES
BY IJ!JANIE V. MINOR, SECRETARY NEW YORlt CHILD LABOR COM:M:ITTEJD
In 1902 the New York Child Labor Committee began its career of
service to workillg children of the State and started out to discover
under what conditions children were working and what, if anything,
needed to be done to remedy these conditions. One of the .first
studies made was of newsboys on the streets of New York City, and
the result of this stud:y convinced even the hard•hea.ded legislators of
the State of New York that at lea.st in the most noticeable of the
street trades, newspaper s ~ , a minimum age of 10 years and
a limitation of hours, forbidding such work after 10 p. m. were
imperative. This law, more honored in the breach than in the
observance, continued until 1913 when the present age and hour
limitations were enacted, i. e., 12 years for boys, 16 for girls, and
work forbidden before 6 a. m. and after 8 p. m. Several States
have now gone beyond New York in the matter of street-trade
regulation, for instance, Kentucky, where such work is forbidden to
boys under 14 and girls under 18-except that boys under 14 may
deliver papers. In Pennsylvania and in Maryland, in cities of over
20,000, though boys over 12 may engage in newspaper selling or
delive_!Y1 all other kinds of street trades are barred to children under
14. Wisconsin and Minnesota also permit boys over 12 to sell
papers, but forbid girls under 18 to engage in other street trades,
ancl boys under 14 in Wisconsin and unaer 16 in Minnesota. are
likewise prohibited.
The Federal Children's Bureau says:
Only 14 States and the District of Columbia have laws requiring children
selling papers or doing other work on the street to secure permits or badges.
OnJy 10 have State-wide laws affecting boys engaged in independent street work.
These laws have proved much more difficult to enforce than those regulating child
labor in factories, stores, and other establishments. Although child labor in
street trades may be controlled by local ordinances or police regulations and is so
controlled in some places, State law is necessary in order that minimum protection may be effective throughout the States.
Since our initial study: in 1903 street-trades surveys have been going
on in other States, and a. careful analysis of the findings of the
studies ma.de in Detroit, Boston, Milwauke~t Cincinnati1 Dallas, and
Springfield corroborate and strengthen -the conclusions of this
p_aper with reference to the two stuaies most recently made bL the
New York Child Labor Committee in Yonkers in 1920 and in Troy
in.1923.
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In 1920, the committee made a special study of the newsboy situation in Yonkers. The schools, ~blic and parochial, were .canvassed
apers, 50 per cent of them being
and 172 boys were found to be se ·
under the legal age for this work.
o newsboys' badges had been issued during· the previous three years, and few of the boys had any
know]edge of the street-trades law. For one reason or another many
of these were eliminated, leaving 100 boys actually studied.
The 100 newsboys studied were divided into two classes: (1) Boys
selling on street corners; (2) Boys delivering on routes. Thir_ty-eight
boys were mainly selling and 62 were mainly delivering. In Yonkers
the little boys tend toward selling and the big boys toward
delivering.
Taking the sellers first, the boys get their papers from the offices
of the news agents and carry them up to Getty Square, a distance of
about two blocks, and it is in the maelstom of the square that the
youngsters cong!-'egate to ply their trade. In the late afternoon boys
of 10 and 12 could be seen, lugging great piles of papers from the news
offices and wending their way through the traffic. One little fellow
was noticed hurrying across the patli of an automobile with a pile of
papers so high he could scarcely see over it. The strain of carrying
these huge packages of papers is by no means negligible. In the
study made by the Consumers' League in Toledo in 1921 it was found
that:
Twenty papers weigh over eight pounds, 50 papers over 31 pounds. The sellers carry the heaviest loads; 38 per cent carried from 50 to 100 papers; 10 per
cent carried from 100 to 200 papers; and 2 per cent carried 200 or more papers,
about 87 pounds.
Among the boys under 12 the greatest number earned about $2 a
week. In the group 12 an4 13 years of age the earnings increased,
the greatest number of boys receiving $6.50 a week, but many boys
admitted earning decidedly more than their parents knew of. This
tended to increase their independence of parental authority.
The general hours worked were between the close of school and
about 8 p. m., although a few worked in the early morning hours
and 18 of the boys had sold after 8 p. m., staying out anywhere from
8.30 to 11.30 p. m.
Twenty-six per cent of the sellers showed signs of ill health and in
18 per cent the health was only fair. The problem seemed to be one
of stunted development rather than of a.cute ill health.
Thirty-nine per cent of these boys were retarded in school; 58 per
cent were reported to be in their normal school _grade and 3 per cent
were advanced. .According to the individual school records, 21 boys
presented special school problems in truancy, delinquency, physical
exhaustion, no interest in home work, no interest in school generally.
Only 10 per cent were satisfactory in both work and conduct and m
their normal grade. The home visits disclosed that smoking, gambling, disobedience, even dishonesty and a general rough manner at
home were checked against 15 per cent of the boys.
In general the Yonkers study shows that those characteristics of
the newsboy seller's trade which would cause physical harm are (1) late
hours, (2) delayed and improper meals and the consequent indulgence
in sweets and sodas, (3) work· in hours intended for recreation, (4)
work where the chances of accidents a.re plentiful, and, (5) the caryying of too heavy loads of papers. Mental slowness as indicated m
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school standing may be due to (1) overfatigue physically, and (2)
the excitement of work in the rush and turmoil of street life which
leaves the boy's mind over stimulated but dulled for the school rooms.
Moral harm may be due also to street life, with all that it offers of
temptation and ~endence of pa.rental authority, especially in the
cases of fore~ f
ies.
Next, as to the ca.mer boys of Yonkers, these were found to work for
themselves or for small stationery stores or for older boys. Their earnings averaged from $1 to $1. 75 a week. The usual hours of carrier work
were between 3.30 and 7.30 p. m. and between 4.30 and 8 a. m. One
of the boys got up at 4 a. m., walked a mile and a half to the news
agent's office, and beginning at 4.30 delivered 150 papers in two trips
from the office. Then followed a long morning session in school and
in the afternoon doing the housework which his mother, employed in a
carpet factory and ill from overwork, was unable to do. The father
had deserted and an older brother was on the point of enlistiilg in
the Navy to escape the pressure of home conditions. No wonder the
small boy looked depressed and world weary.
Sixteen per· cent of the parents of the carrier boys objected to
their work. Among the reasons given were: (1) The heavy load of
papers carried made the boy one-sided; (2) Exposure to the weather
wlien improperly clad caused frequent colds; (3) Early morning
work overtirmg. Many of these parents looked upon street selling
as a disgrace and upon route boys as distinctly separate from sellers..
Fourteen per cent· of these boys showed poor physical conditions as
against 26 per cent of the sellers. The boys often carried from 75
to 100 papers and the results were la.me backs and uneven shoulders.
Twenty-five p~r cent of the carriers were retarded and 10 l?er cent
advanced, while 39 per cent of the sellers were retarded, a.nct..only 3
per cent advanced. Sixty-six per cent of the carriers were normally
satisfactory in every way at school, while of the sellers thi~ was true
of only 10 per cent. There were fewer problem cases among the
carriers than among the sellers, although the mother of one colored
boy said he lied, played truant, and ran the streets. For a few
months he had a paper route but had been di~charged. When cautioned against further work by the boy her reply was, "Mah Lawd I
They ain't nobody 'ud want him.I"
In general, pa.rents expressed a desire to know the law and to
respect it, altliough frequently a father was convinced of the need
for law enforcement in the case of ft:llY but "my boy."
The one outstanding need was that of greater recreational opportunity. The schools were doing good work in athletics, but this was
confined largely to school hours except for practising tea.ms. The
fun of many boys consisted of movies and unorganized play in the
city _streets. Despite the activities of the Boy Scouts, the Junior
Y. M. C. A., and the Boys' Club, many of these youngsters appeared
to have no place to play but the street, and it is perhaps natural
that a motlier should prefer a paper route or a eorner stand for a
boy to loafing on the corners or sitting about a dark, crowded home.
If it is agreed that paper selling in the midst of a oongested square
is not the best use a boy can make of his playtime, then it is the
obliga.ti9n of the community to provide some better way for him to
spend that time. If the law is enforced, what shall we give the boy
in the place of that work which we are taking away from him 9
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Because boys are working at the paper business they have no time
for recreation, and conversely often because they have no definite
form of recreation they have turned toward paper selling.
The Yonkers study contains a recommendation that the minimum
age for sellers befushed to 14 years. A P.olice sergeant of that city
said that if he ha his way he would prohibit any l:ioy under 18 from
selling; he knew too well the "rough stuff" the boys picked up.
Enforcement of the law is, however, the most imminent obligation
of the community. B<_>_ys will continue illegal selling just as long as
they do not believe officials mean business. It takes court procedure in the case of one or more offenders to convince the rest of the
boys that the law is to be obeyed. Since the parent is responsible
for the child, this action should be brought against the parent.
Once the campaign for law enforcement is liegun, if the boys selling
illegally are allowed to continue they will furnish an unfortunate
example to those others who are obeying. A slipshod enforcement is
worse than none at all.
In an editorial entitled "The Census and the Community," the
Yonkers News of March 9, 1920, stated: "Yonkers can afford to
drop off a cipher from its population figures if it can devise some
system of transforming a few of the ciphers in its community life
into people who really count." The "newsie on the street corners"
concludes the Yonkers report, "exposed to physical, mental, and
moral overstrain has a mighty good chance of being not only- a
cipher in the community out a figure on the minus side of the
ciI>_herl"
In New York City the problem has been halved within the last
seven y-ears as will be seen by the follow_ing table of newsboy badges
issued from 1917 to 1924 (badges expire June 30).
·
1916-17 _____________________
1917-18 _____________________
1918-19 _____________________
1919-20 _____________________
4,726
2,947
2,745
1,704
I1920-21
_____________________ 1,987
1921-22_____________________ 2,552
1922-23 _____________________ 2,771
1923 to date _________________ 2,054
The attendance officers assigned to this work claim that the passing of the saloon, the stronghold of young panhandlers, is mainly
responsible for this lessening of applicants. Another potent factor
checked up by our staff is the fact that the man who owns and operates a corner stand pays high for that privilege and does not intend
to have his profits cut down by itinerant boy sellers. "We chase
'em and they soon learn to keep away," said several.
We turn now to the Troy study, the latest and by far the most
intensive ever made in the State of New York. Troy- was selected
as the city in which to study the children in New York State because
it was believed to be far enough away from New York City to be free
from any of this large city's influence and still be large enough to
have city problems of its own.
Almost half of the chief breadwinners were in the manufacturing
industry, although practically every kind of industry in Troy was
,
re:()!'esented among the families.
The great majority of the street traders come from American-born
1>_arents and only 37 per cent from parents born in a fore!gn country.
This proportion is alinost identical with that of the total population
of Troy.
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The 282 street traders in Troy sell or carry newspapers, peddle on
vegetable· wagons, canvass articles from. house to house, and a small
w-oup distributes movie programs for the three movie houses in a
district which does little other advertising. · The majority of the
younger bo:y-s a.re employed as newspaper carriers.
The earners practically monopolize the small earnings, that is,
under 50 cents, and the sellers, together with boys who both carry
and sell papers, earn the large amounts.
Tipping occurs both for carriers and sellers but more frequently
with sellers and in much larger amounts. The reason for the excessive tip_ping _to news sellers is easy to understand but not easy to
stop. In this work the boy has to make chan_ge and if he is slow
the customer often does not wait. Then too, the boy on the street
corner is undoubtedly an appealing little creature, even in spite of
himself, and a customer has··.a feeling of righteous indulgence by
refusing the few cents change. In fa.ct som~ customers regularly
J!ay the bor,s more than the price of the ~aper. That a boy usually
'gets wise ' to this attitude can scarcely be questioned, and he soon
learns to emphasize his appeal so as to secure a ti_p. There is no
well-defined line between this attitude and that or begging. But
when the boy learns to pretend he has not the change and thus makes
extra money, the line -between accepting a gift and petty thieving is
.
distinctly drawn.
Without exception the earnings of boys who worked for themselves
fell into the higher earning groups and as a consequence the earnings
of sellers ran ahead of those of carriers.
Only 21 children, or 7 per cent, turned their earnings directly in to
the family, but a considera}>le number, 28, saved all their money•
.Although a good many boys helped directly to increase the family
earnings and some gave all for that purpose, the majority of the boys
in all occupations disposed of their money to suit themselves. This
tendency to be inde~endent in disposing of their money was true of
both _younger and olaer boys, and mdicates that as a whole the families did not need the earnings and that the boys were doing the work
on their own responsibility.
The largest number, 159, worked on school days and also Saturdays,
but not on Sundays. The majority of street traders worked less
than 8 hours per week, and the largest group worked between 4 and
8 hours. Oniy·20 children worked more than 16 hours a week, but
5 were working over 28 hours, 2 of whom were on the streets more
than 32 hours.
.
Thirteen boys were starting to work reg{!la.rly between 6 and 7.30
a. m., hours not usually considered early, but when the,.boy has to
arise and breakfast before going to work, which in wintertime means
before daylight, the entire proceeding means considerable exertion
for a young boy with a school day aliead of him later and perhaps,
as in many cases, additional work after school bouts.
Saturday is the newsboy's chance to make "big money" and even
if he works only this one day he can often make as much as some of
·
his comrades who work only on school days. .
Seventy-five boys, or 27 per cent, either missed one meal at home
every day, eating <>ne meal in a cheap restaurant, or ate a cold meal
at home a.lone. Most of the boys who have early morning work have
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a. hurried "bite" upon a.risi'.!)g and a. later breakfast, usually by themselves, before going to school, but a few of them wait until they finish
their work before eating breakfast. On Sunday morning it was usual
for boys to start at 6.30 or 7 and eat nothing until the late family
brea.kfast some time between 9 and 11.30
The afternoon work often keeps the boy out until after the family
sugper hour, and he either eats m a restaurant before going home or
a 'left-over" meal alone after reaching home. Boys who sold or
carried until 7.30 or 8 in the evening rarely had their evening meal
with the family.
Undoubtedly irregular :Q1.eals or long periods between meals do
constitute a real danger for the boy. The absence of an early morning meal is not so serious, as the boy brings a whetted appetite to a
hot breakfast before going to his work in school. But the boy who
rushes to the newspaper office after school has no regular meal
between breakfast and his late arrival at home. Furthermore, the
meal hour is, with many families, the one time when all of them are
together, and the fact that the street trader misses this regular family
gathering, in addition to his spending so little of his time with the
family, is a serious matter aside from any other injurious effects of
street trading which ~ay be traced directly to the work itself.
There seemed to be little doubt but what the 40 boys who claimed
they started to work because the money was needed to secure the
necessities of life for themselves or for the family were telling the
truth, although only two boys who had started in because their father
was unemployed were continuing because he still made insufficient
money to support his family. Most of them admittedly were keepinO'
up tlie work as a matter of habit after. the time of acute need h~
passed.
It is with the boys who were working for lack of anything better
to do that one :finds the most interestmg and amusing reasons for
doing street work. It was difficult to determine at times whether
the ooy's own desire was stronger than the example of other" orking
boys' for undoubtedly when boys repeatedly state" Everybody's doing
it, and I might as well," there was some potency- in the example.
Most of them just wanted to be busy; one boy didn't "~t any
pleasure doing nothing"; another felt tliat time "was heavy' on hIS
hands; and another tliat he might as well carry papers as '' run on the
streets." A carrier took an early morning route because he "didn't
want to stay in bed so much.'' One boy thought it was "for my benefit" to work and keep busy.
The 282 street-trailing children in Troy were working for obvious
and, for the most part, trifling reasons. As in many other forms of
child labor there is an absence of a powerful underlying cause for its
existence.
While at work many of the boys admitted they ~layed craps, rolled
marbles for agates, or tossed pennies, and a few liaa lost sucli sizeable
amounts that their parents had punished them. Some of these boys
stated they had stopped, whereas a few said they played more carefully or only for small sums so "my father wouldn't hit me when I got
home." A few boys .stated they formerly played craps but lie.d
stopped because they were afraid of the "cops."
A goodly number of the boys admitted smoking, although most of
them said they could :find few dealers who would sell them ciga-
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#
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
rettes. Usually they begged or bought them from men or older boys,
and a few admitted picking up butts.
Although excessive a.bsence is rare, the majority of the children
had been irregular in attendance at school the past year, and o. few
days missed occasionally often prove a greater handicap to a child's
J>rogress in school than a long period of absence. Over one-half of
the children between 8 and 16lears of age were from one to five
years below the grade considere normal for their years. ·
It appears that the greatest single factor in causing retardation
of the street trader is excessive weekly hours, although the child
who has worked for several years for _proportionately short hours is
also a.ffected in his school progress. For the child who is retarded
for other reasons than his work, the advisability of his assuming
street work which requires additional energy is to be seriously questioned. As in the matter of retardation and health. it is extremely
difficult to separate the factors which cause a child to become a
delinq~ent and to isolate the effect of any one factor. Several
effects apparently can be connected with street work. The boys do
seem to become restless and nervous, which affects their actions
under certain circumstances, and to show a tendency toward truancy:
in almost direct relationshi!!_ to their length of street service and
length of working hours. Further than that the field is open to
conjecture.
.
As already shown the boys gamble and smoke while e~aged in
their work. Other boys who are not working may do tlie same.
The chief menace to the street trader is that he has money constantly in his hands to use. No better statement of this situation
can be made than the fallowing from a newspaper man who began
his career as a newsboy:
,.
The ~ifer from gambling is worse for the boy who needs the money, or
whose f · y needs it, than for the one who is working for the extra change it
gives him or because he wishes to be on the streets with the other boys. The
boy whose earnings are needed feels called upon to take a certain amount home
and if he can not make this amount he feels he can gamble with the balance.
If he loses to such an extent that he can not take the required amount home he
falsifies to the family. If he gains he keeps it rather than tell his parents how
he earned it. The boy whose earnings are not needed m,ay gamble when with
the other boys, but the pressure to account for a certain amount of money is
absent and at least the boy does not have to falsify about what h,i does with
his money inasmuch /J.S no one calls him to account.
Although there was general knowledge regarding th~ necessity of
a badge, few, if any, were aware of any limitation on hours and many
believed the law did not apply to the boy with a route.
If the newsboys are to work legally a special officer must give his
entire attention to it. In addition to tn.e confusion and lack of
knowledge, an easy tolerance regarding such work exists among· the
officials and _public. Frequentl;r one Ii.ears, "Such work keeps boys
busy," "It don't hurt 'em any,' and "The fellow who made that law
had nothin' else to do." Only among newsdealers did one catch a
note of need for regulation regarding ages and hours. One newsdealer said: "It don't do little boys no good to be on the streets so
late at Ilight, and if I could always get enough older boys I wouldn't
let the little ones have any papers." Another, the largest in the city,
said: "Practically none of the boys who sell for us need the money,
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and I don't like to give papers to little boys because they are doing
this for something to do and squander the money."
As a fitting conclusion I shall quote from a letter written by the
editor of the paper having the largest circulation in that city:
I am a newspaper man and have had considerable experience with boys who
are selling papers. There are two classes of them. One class delivers papers
from a newsstand to a regular route. of subscribers. The other class consists
of the boys who buy papers at wholesale rates from the newspaper office and
sell them to the street customers.
.
There are but two reasons for permitting this type of bor, to sell papers before
he reaches a suitable age. One of these is to help his family. The second is to
give him an outlet for his natural desire to bargain and thus instill independent
business principles in his mind when he has the desire to gain such an insight.
My own experience is that a much smaller proportion of newsboys in cities like
Troy and Schenectady contribute their money to the family exchequer than has
been supposed. They all claim to do so, but such investigation as I make shows
that few of them turn it in at all, while many turn very little of it in. A large
number of them lie to their parents and keep most of their earnings for the
pleasure of shooting craps, pitching pennies, and gambling with cards, and going
surreptitiously to the movies. For example, Monday I saw nine newsboys on
the steps of the United Presbyterian Church of this city shooting craps. While
this class are apt to be foreigners or stunted in growth, my judgment is that
half of them were under 12 years of age. Even if some of their earnings go for
family support, it seems to me that it is poor_policy to let them help their families at the expense of their morals. Newsboy morals in Troy, at least, are nothing to be proud of. Recently it has been necessary to keep a policeman near
our back door because the newsboys were shouting foul names across the street
to little girls in a primary school.
As far as permitting boys to develoP. their business ability when they wish to
develop it, I might even say that there are many things a boy of 10 or 11 wishes
to develop that is not wise to permit. For example, my 9-year old boy is very
anxious to learn to drive my car. I do not believe his judgment is well enough
developed for such an experience even on a country road. Moreover his nervous system is still in an embryonic state and it is not suitable for such
unconscious strains. Medical science teaches us that in the average boy the
period of adolescence begins in the thirteenth year. The age of 12, therefore,
is the very earliest at which we properly can permit a boy to take upon
himself that independent unguided life which is involved in a street business.
There are many single extraordinary cases where this could be done
earlier. Adolescence begins in some boys where it does not in others. I had a
heavy beard before I was 14 and had to use a razor before my fifteenth birthday,
but this is no reason for making it a rule that boys must shave at 14. I personally believe it is the duty of adults to protect, guide, and restrain boy life until
adolescence begins, after which the method of approach must be changed and
one must counsel more as a superior. I have taken this up in two or three other
cities and find that the shooting of craps with earnings is everywhere the rule of
newsboys. I find the proportion that does this seems, to those who have observed
it, to be much more with newsboys than in other boys, presumably because other
boys have not the money with which to indulge their desire to match luck with
their fellows.
It is not, therefore, a question of capability in selling papers, or a case of good
standing in school altogether, although I have seen many cases of boys who
played hookey to make a little extra money when they were short. It is because
a boy who is still a child should not be permitted to take upon himself burdens
which limit his playtime and plunge him into certain excitements which become
passions with him. Ignatius Loyola said, " Give me a child until he is seven
and I care not what you do with him thereafter." He should have brought the
age to the time of adolescence. To cultivate an independence on the streets,
with the temptations, the long distance from home, the class of associations, the
presence in the pocket of the means wherewith to gamble or go to the movies
unhindered by parents or guardians, is to start trains of conduct and thought
which all the influence thereafter will be unable to eradicate. Personally I
believe that a child up to the age of adolescence has a right to all his playtime
for play, and that if men and communities were as interested in providing
38735°-25--10
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
places and leadership for that play as they often are in providing avenues
through which to break down his playtime and offer him something wor!lf.
because he likes it, they address the problem in the absolutely wrong direction.
There are some other points to this issue which, unfortunately, I can not put
on paper, but which you may guess and of which I should like to talk ta you
at any time.
Let us now check up on the findings of street-trades studies elsewhere. First as to the alleged need for the child's earnings. In
the falnous ·Cincinnati study made by Hroi:ter we read, "To the question why children sell papers on tli~ city streets casual ·observers
answer 'economic necessity.' The present study found that only
one newsboy in seven is the child of a widow. Only 4 per cent of
the newsboys come from families in which the income, exclusive of
that supplied by the newsboy is insufficient to prQvide that family
with a minimum normal standard of living. ·Economic necessity is
a very small factor in impelling boys to sell papers." ~d he conclud~, "American investigations are in accord on the fact that the
earnings of newsboys are p1tifull:y_small in comparison to the dangers
to which they are exposed, and European investigations corroborate
this."
On other causes lead~ boys into street trades the re_ports agree
that the ex-newsboy who has ·attained local prominence IS a marked
factor.
On the retardation of newsboys all the reports coincide. There is
some variance of percentages, due, probably, to the varying proportion
foreign bom in the di:fferent communities. But that street traders
are retarded in school far in excess of the general school population
they all agree. Cincinnati reports that "54 per cent of the newsboys
a.re retarded in school as compared with 40 per cent in the general
school membership, and this in spite of the fact that newsboys
have less mental deficiency than the average; newsboys have nearly
twice the g_enera.l proportion of abnormally advanced children. \
Among newsboys wlio attend school the street competes constantly
for attention with the school. An increase in attention upon one
or the other of these two competing forces brings a decrease in
the other.
The Dallas, Tex., study shows 79.9 per cent retarded. In Springfield, Mass., 21.5 per cent of the newsboys were retarded as comJ!ared with 14.2 per cent of the genera.I school enrollment. In
Toledo, Ohio,. 47.~J>er cent of the newsboys were retarded as ~a.inst
29.2 per cent of all Toledo school children. The onl:y exception to
the reports on retardation is ~hat of high-scho~~ boys m Seattle.
· On truancy the figul"!lS agam prove the cond1t1on to be more prevalent among street traders than among school children as a whole.
Dallas shows that 25 J>er cent of the newsboys are truant, and Spring:fiel4 that there are tliree and one-ha.If times as many truants among
newsboys as among school children as a whole. Hexter says that 16.4
per cent of the proportion of Cincinnati schoolboys are newsboys and
that of these 31.6 per cent were truants. In that city sellers are
truants twice &s much as are carriers. ·
·
On .deliquency, to quote again from the Cincinnati report:
Gambling is very common among boys waiting for their papers. • • •
The findinp of investigations here and abroad point to the conclusion that newsboys invariably present a disproportionate amount of truancy.
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The newsboys of Dallas contributed two and three-fourth times the
percentage to aelinquency as did the boy population as a whole. The
Springfield report says "an indication that newspaper selling leads to
delinquency is shown by the higher percentage of newsboys among delinquents than of newsboys in the total age group." Five and two-tenths
per cent had been delinquent during the past year as compared with
3. 7 per cent of the bo,: poJ?ulation.
Professor Britton, of Chica.go, says that it costs the State twice
what the average newsboy earns to take ca.re of him if he becomes
delinquent.
On the health of newsboys the Cincinnati report calls attention to
the fa.ct that in all but two types of defects-nervousness and pulmonary-newsboys present a. much larger proportion of physical
defects than other schoolboys and three times as much cardiac disease. There is also a disproportionate a.mount of illness and undernourishment not attributed to poverty. Fatigue is very marked and
is 50 per cent greater among boys working 30 hours a week than
among those working 20. And Ruth McIntyre follows with the
statement that: "It 1s not s0cia.l economy to permit _premature
work, night work, and before-and-after-school work on the pa.rt of ·
newsboys. The newsboys as a. group impose a. heavy tax upon the
State as public charges."
But perhafs the most sil?nificant statement is to be found in the
prospectus o the BostoD; Newsboys Club:
The newsboy is a business factor in the life of the community. To-morrow
he will be in business for himself and standards set for him to-day will be the
prevailing influence of the future.
DISCUSSION
The CilimMAN. I should like to hear some discussion concerning
the employment of children in theaters, and a brief discussion of the
effect of child labor on the unemJ>loyment problem. I should also
like to have someone tell us somethi.iu? about miscellaneous occupations. In Oklahoma. we have undertaken to enforce the child labor
law in theaters, and, considering the_problem and the a.mount we
have on hand, we have done it fairly well. In the miscellaneous occupations the commissioner of labor in Oklahoma has the responsibility of brin~g under the child labor law any occupation, not specifically mentioned in the law, which he may determine is injurious
to the health or morals or especially hazardous to life and limb,
and after such declaration tlie occupation comes under the law
applying to children up to the age of 16 years. We have brought
unaer this provision of the law messenger service, telegraph messenger service, and delivery service in drug stores and other establishments. While we have had some trouble, from the ~ stores
especially, we have been fairly successful in enforcing the law as to
miscellaneous occupations. Is there anyone present who would like
to discuss the problem of child labor in connection with the problem
of unemployment¥
Mr. FRYE. I remember periods when unemployment was so great
that our permit board, very sensibly I think, advised the commissioner that no permits would be issued as long as men were out of
work.
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ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFIOIALS
The CHAIRMAN. I should like to ask if Mr. Meeker has anything to
say on this subject W
Mr. MEEKER. When I was in charge of the department of labor
• and indust!r. during 1923 my attention was called rather early to the
fact.that children under age were employed on the stage, and to the
further fact that it was always regarded as an occupation· in which
the child labor law would not be enforced. There was a case pend~ before a iudge in Philadelphia at the time, the case having been
brou~ht by the Society for tlie Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
The Justice handed down a decision in which he interpreted the State
law JUst as I interpreted it. He said that the language of the law meant just exactly what it said, and it forbade all cnildren under 14
years of age being employed in any occupation in which compensation
JS paid.
·
Immediately after that decision was handed down. by the judge I took
up the enforcement of the child labor law in theaters. Short1y after
we had the decision of the judge a gentleman came into my office
with his two "meal tickets," the first aged 8 and the second aged
about 5. He had them perform before me and the chief of the
bureau of insyection and some of the ins1>_ectors who were there for a
conference with me. After he had gone,-i instructed the chief of the
bureau of inspection to call on the tlieater management in which these
children were billed to perform and tell them tliey were violating the
child labor act, and if they did/erform we would prosecute. They
did not perform. The man ha put on this act in other cities of the
State, and in order to make a test case, we brought prosecution against
him in the city of Lancaster and won the case. He threatened to
ap1>_eal, but he did not. He got out of the State.
The next day the manager of a troupe of children which had been
giving performances in another city came to Harrisburg to see me
and aslted me to make a special dispensation in his case. He said
that he had been put to great expense in advertizing; that if the show
did not go on he could not pay tlie expenses; that tlie populace would
be Vf:ry much d~appointed; and so on all;d so on. I told him I had
nothing to do with that, that my function was to enforce the law;
t}lat if lie gave another performance he would be ~=ecuted. He said
he was v~ sorry he had come down. I told · it was the most
sensible thing he had done in his life, because he most certainly
would have been hauled up before the court and :fined heavily. Hedid not give any performances in our city.
.
Another child labor employer of theatrical children left the State '
between dark and daylight. I have heard rumors since to the effect
that child performances have been given within the State, but either
the rumor has been false, or these-people have gotten away, perhaps
to the State of New Jersey, or some other community before we could
catch them. Our law forbids the em~loyment of children under the
age of 14. I think it is a very drastic law. However, that is none of
my business; I am not amending it. When children under the age of
14 are employed, if I get the information, and can get to the performances, they are going _to be prosecuted.
This question of children on the street is a pretty serious one. Our
law permits children of 12 and over to sell newspapers, I think up to
8 o'clock, but I have seen children 8 and 10 years old-they look~d.
that young, but you can never be sure of the age of a child on the
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CHILDREN IN STREET TRADES
139
street, because such children are stunted and dwarfed. I have seen
them work long after 8, but unfortunately the enforcement ·of that
part of our law falls upon the local police authorities, and our inspectors from the bureau of inspection of ten find that if it is called to the
attention of the big fat traffic policeman on the corner that this small
child is selling newspapers at 9 or 10 o'clock at ~ht, that the policeman answers, "He IS a :fine little fellow, isn't he~ ' That is tlie way_
that part of the law is being enforced. I do not know whether we will
be able to get any amendment through in the next session of the legislature. If we do get it through, we are going to have a difficult trme
enforcing the law, because we have not a sufficient number of inspectors to follow it up. So far as the employment of children in theaters
is concerned, thus far the better theater owners and managers are
ready to cooperate with us. They do not seem particularly bent
upon exploiting child labor. I presume, however, if we keep_on enforcing this child labor law as to theatrical child labor, we will have our .
difficulties just as the others have.
Miss MINOR. So far as theatrical children are concerned, if the
profit could be taken out, that sort of labor would expire very quickly.
It is the abnormal wage paid the children which stimulates adults to
put children on the stage.
Miss JOHNSTON. Indiana is enforcing the clause in its child labor
law which says no child under the age of 16 years may be permitted
to work in any capacity in any theater. We have successfullr prosecuted two Indianapolis theater managers and two in other cities and
have been receiving splendid cooperation from the men who were
prosecuted, because after we brought their cases they were very eager
to report other violators.
Mr. MEEKER. I move a rising vote of appreciation to the State
of Indiana. [So ordered.]
Mr. STEWART, In view of the fact that it is the first time that
Indiana has shown itself in any of these meetings, I think a rising
vote of thanks is very 1;>roper.
[The committee appointed to draw up a recommendation to be forwarded from this body to Congress then in session, reported its
recommendation, as follows:
The Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and
Canada meeting in annual convention in Chicago, May 22, 1924, declare the
belief that the enactment of Federal child labor legislation will aid the States in
the enactment and adm(nistration of child labor laws; and since the Supreme
Court of the United States has declared that Congress has no authority to enact
child labor legislation without amendment to the constitution;Therefore the members of the association representing 31 States unanimously
urge the passage at this session of Congress of the child labor Constitutional
amendment without modification in the form in which it passed the House of
Representatives on April 26.
This recommendation was adopted and copies were sent to all
United States Senators.
Meeting adjourned.]
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FRIDAY, MAY 23-MORNING SESSION
JORN HOPKINS RAU.. IB., PRESIDENT A. G. L. O.; PBBSIDINC
BUSINESS SESSION
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON REPORTS OF OFFICERS
After careful consideration of the presidential address, we, your committee,
wish to compliment President Hall and the association on the able document
and upon the achievements of the year.
We approve of the recommendation that in future programs at least one
speaker from a mining section shall present the problem of coal-mining accidents
and working conditions, and so recommend to the incoming executive.committee
We approve of the recommendation that the executive committee shall be authorized and requested to urge publicity and if possible compliance with all agr,,ed
solutions of all industrial, economic, safety, and sanitary subjects.
Your committee also examined the report of the secretary-treasurer, and not
only recommends its approval but wish to express our appreciation of the splendid
work of the secretary, and the clearness and completeness of her financial ·report.
·
Respectfully submitted.
ETHELBERT STEWART, Chairman.
w. I. REILLY.
R. T. KENNARD.
Mrs. DELPHINE JOHNSON.
A. L. URICK.
REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE
Your committee has made detailed examination of the accounts of these~
tary-treasurer, and find the receipts and expenditures as indicated on the attached
statement, and the cash balance, all in bank, as $572.59.
THos. M. Moi..LoY.
HENRY McCOLL.
F. M. WILCOX.
ETHEL M. JOHNSON.
J. H. CRAWFORD.
MAY 22, 1924.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS
. 1. Resolved, That the Association of Govemmental Labor Officials, in convention
assembled, ask Congress to submit a· constitutional amendment proyiding for a
Federal 48-hour law for minors under 16, in order that legislation of this nature
may be made uniform throughout the United States. [Adopted,.]
2. Reaolved, That the president of the association appoint commjttee on µniform safety laws, or continue the life of the present committee in order to permit the adoption of uniform safety codes in the States. [Adopted.]
3. Resolved, That in the untimely death of Carl Hookstadt, of the United
States Bureau of Labor Statistics, this association recognizes the loss of an able
a
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.BUSINESS SESSION
141
investigator, an enthusiastic worker, and an authority In the field of industrial research; be it further
ReaoZved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the mother of Mr. Hookstadt. [Adopted.]
4. ReaoZved, That for faithful and distinguished service as president, the name
of Ilon. John Hopkins Hall, jr., be placed on the roster of the aBBociation membership as a lifetime member. [Adopted.]
5. ReaoZ11ed, That the association extend Its appreciation and sincere thanks to
the members of the Department of Labor of Illinois, and to the members of other
organizations in Chicago, who through their untiring efforts have contributed to
the pleasure and well-being of the delegates in convention at Chicago; be it
further
ReaoZved, That the appreciation of the convention be given to the chairman
of the committee on publicity and to the press for the publicity given the proceedings of the association. [Adopted.]
6. Reaolved, That the Asso11iation of Governmental Labor Officials extend to
Ethelbert Stewart, Commissioner Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States
Department of Labor, its thanks for his courtesy in printing the tenth annual
report of the proceedings of the convention held at Richmond, Va.; be it further
ReaoZved, That he be requested to print the proceedings of the eleventh annual
convention held at Chicago, 111. [Adopted.]
7. ReaoZved, That the executive board of this aBBociation, through its secretary,
be instructed to communicate with the governors and legislators of those States
and Provinces having unsatisfactory safety laws, in order that the influence of
this organization may be directed to assisting such States and Provinces in this
humanitarian work; be it further
Reaolved, That a copy of this resolution, No. 7, be sent to the heads of the
departments of labor, etc., in the States and Provinces in order that proper
consideration may be given to the matter of cooperation with the administrative
authorities prior to such suggested correspondence with the governors, legislators, etc., in the States and Provinces. [Adopted.]
8. Whereas, since the last convention it has pleased an all wise Providence to
remove from our midst Hon. Lewis T. Bryant, ~ommiBBioner of the department
of labor of New Jersey; and
Whereas, with unselfish devotion he gave himself to the public service, and by
his wisdom and progressive spirit left an indelible imprint upon the field of labor
with which he was concerned, and a vacancy in the ranks of this association;
therefore be it
ReaoZved, That the members of the eleventh annual convention extend our
sympathy to his bereaved family; and be it further
Reao· oed, That this resolution be spread on the minutes of the convention and
a copy be sent to his bereaved family in New Jersey. [Adopted.]
A n totion was made and passed that it is the sense of the convention t: 1at in the future the association discontinue its present practice
of ele<:ting a president from the State in which the convention is held,
as thiB practice ties the hands of the association and is not to its
best interests.
A motion was also made and passed that a committee be appointed
from the association to confer with a committee from the Na.tional
Association of Legal Aid Bureaus for the purpose of fa.oilitating the
collection of wage debts.
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142
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:
President-George B. Arnold, director department of labor, Springfield, Ill.
First vice president-T. A. Wilson, commissioner bureau of labor, L.ittle
Rock, Ark.
Second vice president-H. C. Hudson, general superintendent Employment
Service of Canada, Toronto, Canada.
·
Third vice president-Maud Swett, director women's department, industrial
commission, Milwaukee, Wis.
Fourth vice president-Alice McFarland, director women's work, court of industrial relations, Topeka, Kans.
·
Fifth vice president-Herman Witter, director department of industrial relations, Columbus, Ohio.
Secretary-treasurer-Louise E. Schutz, superintendent division of women and
children, industrial commission, St. Paul, Minn.
The association voted.to hold its next convention in Salt Lake City,
Utah 1 preferably some time between the·lst and 15th of June, 1925,1
when summer rates have taken effect.
The convention adjourned to meet in Salt Lake City in 1925.
llt was later decided to hold the convention Aug. 13--15, 1925.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
APPENDIX
LIST OF PERSONS WHO ATTENDED THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR
OFFICALS
UNITED STATU
Arkamas
Mrs. Florence McRaven, secretary industrial welfare commission,._Little Rock.
T. A. Wilson, commissioner bureau of labor and statistics, Little J:(.ock.
Colorado
William I. Reilly, chairman industrial commission, Denver.
Connecticut
Sarah Apter, factory inspector, department of labor and factory inspection,
Hartford.
F. C. Braun, mercantile inspector, Danbury.
J. J. Burk, assistant commissioner, department of labor and factory inspection,
Windsor Locks.
Delaware
Charles A. Hagner, chief child labor division, labor commission, Wilmington.
Marguerite Postles, assistant women's labor division, labor commission,
Wilmington.
Georgia
L. J. Kilburn, industrial commission, Atlanta.
H. M. Stanley, commissioner department of commerce and labor, Atlanta.
IUinoia
Peter T. Anderson, superintendent Illinois free employment office, Rock Island
George B. Arnold, director department of labor, Springfield.
Dr. A. H. R. Atwood, Federal director U. S. Employment Service, Chicago.
H. D. Battles, supervisor of vocational education, Chicago.
Charles J. Boyd, general superintendent Chicago free employment office, Chicago.
Linna E. Brisette, National Catholic Welfare Council, Chicago.
0. L. Carlmark, Moline Plow Co., Moline.
R. D. Clark, field agent for educational rehabilitation, Springfield.
C. N. Clark, field agent for educational rehabilitatio~ Springfield.
Barne_r Cohen, director, U.S. Employment Service, uhicago.
Prof. F. S. Deibler, president advisory board, Illinois free employment offices,
Chicago.
Dan. Dineen, department of labor, Decatur.
Richard L. Dye, assistant director department of labor, Springfield.
H. C. Emerson, superintendent Illinois free employment office, Quincy.
A. L. Griggs, employment manager, Kewanee.
Emma M. Burdman, Women's Collegiate Bureau, Chicago.
L. C. Jones, superintendent, Illinois free employment office, Bloomington.
J. L. Kolb, State supervisor of industrial education, Springfield.
Claude Lacy, field agent educational rehabilitation, Metropolis.
James Lindsey, superintendent Illinois free employment office, Springfield.
C~ A. Livingston, Illinois Manufacturers' Association, Chicago.
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144
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
John McKenna, chief inspector private employment offices, Chicago.
Mary McDowell, commissioner of public welfare, Chicago.
Thomas Metts, superintendent Illinois free employment office, Peoria.
S. A. Moran, superintendent Illinois free employment office, Decatur.
P. G. Nix, field agent department of labor, Chicago.
Victor T. Noonan, Mayor's Safety Commission, Chicago.
J. O'Malley, Edison Co., Chicago.
W. J. Payn·e, superintendent Illinois free employmeDt office,· Danville.
Frank Raduenz, superintendent Illinois free employmeut office, Aurora.
Llewelyn Rogers, superintendent Illinois free employment office, Joliet.
Roy E. Sta9er, superintendent Illinois free employment office, East St. Louis.
J. E. Tults, assistant supervisor of industrial education, Springfield.
G. R. Voss, Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago.
W. D. Walker, field agent educational rehabilitation, La Salle.
Indiana
Freda Hershey, inspector department of women and children, industrial board,
Indianapolis.
.
Elizabeth Johnston, inspector department of women and children, industrial
board, Indianapolis.
Iowa
!,.., L. Urick, commissioner bureau of labor statistics, Des Moines.
Kansas
Judge J. H. Crawford, presiding judge, court of industrial relations, Topeka.
Agnes Hannigan, inspector, Topeka.
Alice K. McFarland, director women's work, court of industrial relations, Topeka.
Lucille Sterling, inspector, Topeka. ·
Judge Joseph Taggart, court of industrial relations, Kansas City.
Kentucky
R. T. Kennard, member workmen's compensation board, Frankfort.
Louisiana
Carmelite Janvier, office of factory inspector, New Orleans.
Frank E. Wood, commissioner, bureau of labor and industrial statistics, New
Orleans.
Maryland
Rowena 0. Harrison, director of claims, State industrial accident commission,
Baltimore.
Massachusetts
Ethel M. Johnson, assistant commissioner, department of labor and industries,
Boston.
E. Leroy Sweetser, commissioner department of labor and industries, Boston.
Minnesota
Henry McColl, chairman industrial commission, St. Paul.
Louise Schutz, superintendent division of women and children, industrial commission, St. Paul.
New Hampshire
John S. B. Davie, commissioner bureau of labor, Concord.
New Jersey
John Roach, deputy commissioner department of labor, Trenton.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
APPENDIX-LIST OF PERSONS IN ATTENDANCE
145
New York
John Andrews, secretary American Association for Labor Legislation, New York.
R. A. Flinn, assistant Federal director, U.S. Employment Service, New York.
E. Kowleski, U.S. Employment Service, Rochester.
Owen R. Lovejoy, general secretary National Child Labor Committee, New York.
Sara McPike, secretary department of labor, New York.
Jeanie Minor. secretary National Child Labor Committee, New York.
H. W. Mowery, secretary National Safe Walkway Surface Code Committee,
New York.
North Dakota
Dorothy Blanding, secretary minimum wage commission, Bismarck.
Ohio
0. W. Brach, chief division of labor statistics, department of industrial relations,
Columbus.
T. J. Duffy, chairman industrial commission, department of industrial relations,
Columbus.
George J. Henry, superintendent employment service, Warren.
B. C. Seiples. superintendent State cit7 employment service, Cleveland.
H. R. Witter, director department of mdustrial relations, Columbus.
Oklahoma
Claude E. Connally, commissioner department of labor, Oklahoma City.
Mrs. Edith B. Evans, inspector, department of labor, Oklahoma City.
Pennsylvania
Royal Meeker, secretary department of labor and industry, Harrisburg.
Tezaa
Joseph S. Myers, commissioner bureau of labor statistics, Austin.
Utah
G. R. Yearsley, chief factory inspector, Salt Lake City.
Virginia
John Hopkins Hall, Jr., commissioner bureau of labor and industrial statistics,
Richmond.
P. D. Stewart, director employment service, Richmond.
Emma F. Ward, director division of women and children, bureau of labor and
industrial statistics, Richmond.
Waahington
Mrs. Delphine M. Johnson, secretary industrial welfare committee, department
of labor and industries, Olympia.
W eat Virginia
Howard Jarrett, chief clerk bureau of labor, Charleston.
R. E. Mumaugh, State factory inspector, Parkersburg.
Wi&consin
A. J. Altmeyer, secretary industrial commission, Madison.
Mrs. E. Essman, women's department, industrial commission, Milwaukee.
W. F. Faulks, State supervisor of rehabilitation1 Madison.
Taylor Ff!e, director child labor department, mdustrial commission, Madison.
Catherine Hickey, industrial commission, Madison.
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146
ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
Prof. D. D. Lescohier, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Harry Lippert, men's employment division, Milwaukee.
R. G. Knutson, director employment department, Madison.
Evelyn Shaw, industrial commission, Milwaukee.
Alice B. Smith, industrial commission, Milwaukee.
Brice M. Stewart, employment manager, Milwaukee.
Maud Swett, director women's department, industrial commission, Milwaukee.
F. M. Wilcox, chairman industrial commission, Madison.
Federal Government
Charles E. Baldwin, Assistant Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
L. W. Chaney, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Francis I. Jones, Director General Employment Service.
Carl B. Nelson, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Agnes Peterson, Assistant Director Women's Bureau.
Ethelbert Stewart, Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
CANADA
Manitoba
D. L. McLean, deputy minister of public works, Winnipeg.
Ontario
H. C. Hudson, general superintendent employment service, Toronto.
Saskatchewan
Thomas M. Molloy, commissioner bureau of labor and industries, Regina.
Federal Government
R. A. Rigg, Director of Employment Service, Ottawa.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SERIES OF BULLETINS PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
The publication of the annual and epecial report• and of the bimonthly bulletin wae
diaeontinued in July, 191%, and since that time a bulletin hae been published at irre11ular
lnterr,ala. Each number contains matter deooted to one of a series of 11eneral subjects.
These bulletin• are numbered conaecutioely, be11innin11 with No. 101, and up to No. ZIii;
they alao carry conaecutloe number• under each series. Be11innin11 with No. Zn the serial
numberin11 hae been discontinued. A list of the series is 11ioen below. Under each is
11rouped all the bulletins which contaila material relatin11 to the subject matter ol that
aeries. A list of the report• and bulletin• of the bureau issued prior to July l, l91Z, will
be furnished on.application. Thfl bulletin• marked thus • are out of print.
Wholesale Prlcee.
*Bui. 114. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1912.
Bui. 149. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1913.
•Bui. 173. Index numbers of wholesale prices In the United States and foreign countries.
•Bui. 181. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1914.
•Bui. 200. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1915.
Bui. 226. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1916.
Bui. 269. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1919.
Bui. 284. Index numbers of wholesale prices In the United States and foreign countries. [Revision
of Bulletin No. 173.J
Bui. 296. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1920.
Bui. 320. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1921.
Bui. 335. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1922.
Bui. 367. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1923.
Retail Prices and Cost of Uvlna.
•Bui. 100. Retail prices, 1890 to 1911: Part I.
Ret.'\il prices, 1890 to 1911: Part II-General tables.
•Bui. 106. Retail prices, 1890 to June, 1912: Part I.
Retail prices, 1890 to June, 1912: Part II-General tables.
•Bui. 108. Retail prices, 181IO .to August, 1912.
•Bui. 110. Retail prices, 1890 to Ootober, 1912.
•Bui. 113. Retail prices, 1890 to December, 1912.
•Bui. 115. Retail prices, 1890 to February, 1913.
•Bui. 121. Sngar prices, from refiner to consumer.
Bui. 125. Retail prices, 1890 to April, 1913.
•Bui. 130. Wheat and flour prices, from farmer to consumer.
Bui. 132. Retail prices, 1890 to June, 11113.
Bui. 136. Retail prioos, 1890 to August, 1013.
*Bui. 138. Retail prices, 1890 to October, 1913,
•Bui. 140. Retail prices, 1890 to December, 1913.
Bui. 156. Retail prices, 1907 to December, 1914.
Bui. 164. Butter prices, from producer to consumer.
Bui. 170. Foreign food prices as affected by the war.
Bui. 184. Retail prices, 1907 to June, 1015.
Bui. 197. Retail prices, 1907 to December, 1915.
Bui. 228. Retail prices, 1907 to December, 1916.
Bui. 270. Retail prices, 1013 to December, 1919.
Bui. 300. Retail prices, 1913 to December, 1920.
Bui. 315. Retail prices, 1913 to December, 1921.
Bui. 334. Retail prices, 1013 to December, 1922.
Bui. 857. Cost ofllving In the United States.
Bui. 366. Retail prices, 11113 to December, 1928.
Bui. 369. The use of cost or living figures In wage adjustments. (In press.)
Wages and Hours of Labor.
Bui. 116. Hours, earnings, and duration of employment of wage.earning women in selected Industries
in the District of Columbia.
•Bui. 118. Ten-hour maxim.um working-day for women and young persons.
Bui. 119. Working hours of women In the pea canneries of Wisconsin.
*Bui. 128. Wages and hours of labor In the cotton, woolen, and silk Industries, 1890 to 1912.
•Bui. 129. Wages and hours of labor in the lumber, millwork, and furniture Industries, 1890 to 1912.
•Bui. 131. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, 1907 to 1912.
•Bui. 134. Wages and hours of labor In the boot and shoe and hosiery and knit goods Industries, 1890
to 1912.
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(1)
Wa,ea and BounofLabor--Oontlnued.
•Bui. 135. Wages and hours of labor in the cigar and clothing induatrles, 1911 and 1912.
Bul 137. Wages and hours of labor in the buildiDg and repairing of steam railroad cars, 1890 to 1912.
Bui. 143. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 16, 1913.
Bul.146. Wages and regularity of employment and standardization of piece rates in the dress and
waist industry of New York Olty.
•Bul.147. Wages and regularity of employment in the cloak, suit, .and skirt industry.
•Bui. 150. Wages and hours of labor In the cotton, woolen, and silk Industries, 1907 to 1913.
•Bui. m. Wages and hours of labor in the Iron and steel industry In the United States, 1907 to 19i2.
Bul. 153. Wages and hours of labor In the lumber, mlllwork, and furniture industries, 1907 to 1913.
•Bui. 154.. Wages and hours of labor In the boot and shoe and hosiery and underwear industries,
1907 to 1913.
·
· ·
Bul. 160. Hours, earnings, and oondltlons of labor of women in Indiana mercantile establlshments
and garment factories.
Bul.16L Wages and hours of labor in the clothing and cigar Industries, 1911 to 1913.
BnL 163. Wages and hours of labor in the building and repairing of steam railroad cars, 1907 to 1913.
Bui. 168. Wages and hours of labor In the Iron and steel Industry, 1907 to 1918.
•BuJ. 17L Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 1, 1914.
Bul 177. Wages and hours of labor In the hosiery and underwear industries, 1907 to 1914.
BnL 178. Wages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe Industry, 1907 to 1914.
Bul 187. Wages and hours of labor In the men's clothiDg industry, 1911 to 1914.
•BnL 190. Wages and hours of labor In the cotton, woolen, and sllk Industries, 19a7 to 1914.
•BuL 194. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 1, 19Ui. ·
Bul. 204. Street railway employment in the United States.
Bul 2H. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 16, 1916.
Dul 218. Wages and hours of labor in the Iron and steel industry, 1907 to 19Ui.
Bul 22L Hours, fatigue, and health In British munition factories.
Bul 225. Wages and hours of labor in the lumber, millwork, and furniture Industries, 19Ui.
BnL 232. Wages and hours of labor In the boot and shoe Industry, 1907 to 1916.
Bui. 238. Wages and hours of labor In woolen and worsted goods manufacturing, 1916.
Bui. 239. Wages and hours of labor In cotton goods manufacturing and 11nishlng, 1916.
Bui. 246. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 111, 1917.
Bui. 262. Wages and hours of labor In the slaughtering and meat-packing industry, 1917.
Bui. 269. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1918.
Bui. 260. Wages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe Industry, 1907 to 1918.
Bul. 261. Wages and hours of labor In woolen and worsted goods manufacturing, 1918.
Bui. 262. Wages and hours of labor in cctton goods manufacturing and finishing, 11118.
Bui. 265. Industrial survey .In selected Industries In the United States, 1919. Preliminary report.
Bui. 274. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1919.
Bui. 278. Wages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe Industry, 1907 to 1920.
Bui. 279. Hours and earnings In anthracit.e and bituminous coal mlnlug.
Bui. 286. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1920.
Bui. 288. Wages and hours of labor In cotton goods manufacturing, 1920.
Bui. 289. Wages and hours of labor In woolen and worst.ed goods manufacturlilc, 1920.
Bui. 294. Wages and hours of labor In the slaughtering and meat-pacldng packing Industry In 1921.
Bui. 'J/i¥1. Wages and hours of labor In the petroleum Industry.
Bui. 302. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1921.
Bui. 305. Wages and hours of labor In the iron and steel Industry, 1907 to 1920.
Bui. 316. Hours and earnings In anthracite and bituminous coal mlning-6ntbracfte, 1anuary, 1922;
· bituminous, winter of 1921-22.
Bui. 317. Wages and hours of labor in lumber manufacturing, 1921.
Bui. 324. Wages and hours of labor in the boot and shcie Industry, 1907 to 1922.
Bui 326. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 16, 1922.
.
Bul. 327. Wages and hours of labor In woolen and worsted goods manufacturing, 1922.
Bul. 328, Wages and hours of labor In hosiery and underwear Industry, 1922.
Bul. 329. Wages and hcim of labor In the men's clothing Industry, 1922.
Bul. 845. Wages and hours of labor In cotton goods manufacturing, 1922.
Bu). 348. Wages and hours of labor In the automobile Industry, 1922.
Bui. 353. Wages and hours of labor in the Iron and steel industry, 1907 to 1922.
Bul. 3M. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1923.
Bui. 856. Productivity cost in the common-brick lndustey-, 1922-1928.
Bul. 858. Wages and hours of labor in the automobile-tire Industry, 1923.
Bul. 360. Time and labor oosts in manufacturing 100 pairs of shoes.
Bui. 862. Wages and hours of labor In foundries and machine shops, 1923.
Bui. 363, Wages and hours of labor in lumber manufacturing, 1923.
Bui. 366. Wages and hours of labor In the paper and pulp induatey, 9128.
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Wa11ea and Rolll'II of Labor-Continued.
Bui. 371. Wages and hours of labor ID cotton goods manufacturing, 1924.
Bui. 373. Wages and hours of labor ID slaughtering and meat packing, 1923.
Bui. 374. Wages and hours of labor ID the boot and shoe Industry, um to 1924.
Bui. 376. Wages and hours of labor In hosiery and underwear Industry, 1907 to 1924.
Bui. 377. Wages and hours of labor ID the woolen and worsted goods manufacturing.
Bui. 381. Wages and hours of labor In the Iron and steel Industry, 1907 to lffl.
Bui. 387. Wages and hours of labor in tbe men's clothing Industry, 1911 to 1924.
Bui. 388. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1924. (In press.)
Emplo7D1ent and Unemplo:tment.
•Bui. 109. Statistics of unemployment and the work of employment offices.
Bui. 116. Hours, earnings, and duration of employment of wage-earning women ID selected lndmtries
ID the District of Columbia
Bul.172. Unemployment In New York City, N. Y.
•But. 182. Unemployment among women ID department and other retail stores of Boston, Mass.
*Bui. 183. Regularity of employment ID the women's ready-to-wear garment Industries.
Bui. 192. Proceedings of the American .Association of Public Employment Offices.
*Bui. 195. Unemployment ID the United States.
Bui. 196 Proceedings of the Employment Managers' Conference, held ID Minneapolis, Minn., 1anuary, 1916.
Bui. 202. Proceedings of the conference of Employment Managers' Association of Boston, Mass.,
held May 10, 1916.
Bui. 206. The British system of labor ~changes.
Bui. 220. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Public Employment Offices, Buffalo, N. Y., 1uly 20 and 21, 1916.
Bui. 223. Employment of women and Juveniles ID Great Britain during the war.
*Bui. 2'¥1. Proceedings of the Employment Managers' Conference, Philadelphia, Pa., April :I and 3,
1917.
Bui. 235. Employment system of the Lake Carriers' Association.
Bui. 241. Public employment offices In the United States.
Bui. 247. Proceedings of Employment Managers' Conference, Rochester, N. Y., May 9-11, 1918.
Bui. 310. Industrial unemployment: A statistical study of its extent and causes.
Bui. 311. Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the International Association of Public Employment Services, Buffalo, N. Y., September7-9, 1921.
Bui. 337. Proceedings of tbe Tenth Annual Meeting of the International Association of Public Employment Services, Washington, D. C., September 11-13, 1922.
Bui. 355. Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the International Association of Public
Employment Services, Toronto, Canada, September, 4-7, 1923.
Women In Industry.
Bui. 116. Hours, earnings, and duration of employment of wage-earning women In selected Industries
In the District of Columbia.
*Bui. 117. Prohibition of night work of young persons.
*Bui. 118. Ten-hour maximum working day for women and young persons.
Bui. 119. Working hours of women ID the pea canneries of WlscoDIID.
*Bui. 122. Employment of women In power laundries in Milwaukee.
Bui. 160. Hours, earnings, and conditions of labor of women ID Indiana mercantile eatal>l18Dments
and garment factories.
•Bui. 167. Minimum-wage legislation ID the United States and foreign COUDtrles.
•Bui. 175. Summary of the report on condition of woman and child wage earners In the United States.
•Bui. 176. Effect of minimum-wage determinations ID Oregon.
*Bui. 180. The boot and shoe Industry ID Massachusetts as a vocation for women.
•Bui. 182. Unemployment among women lu department and other retail stores of Boston, Mass.
Bui. 193. Dressmaking as a trade for women ID Massachusetts.
Bui. 215. Industrial experience of trade-school girls ID Massachusetts.
Bu! 'll7. Effect of workmen's compensation laws ID diminishing the necessity of Industrial employment of women and-children.
Bui. 223. Employment of women and Juvenlles ID Great Britain during the war.
Bui. 2113. Women ID the lead industries.
Workmen'• In■aranee and Compensation (lncludlq law• relatbtll thereto).
Bui. 101. Care of tuberculous wage earners ID Germany.
Bui. 102. British National Insurance Act, 11111.
Bui. 103. Sickness and accldent·msurance law of Switzerland.
Bul.107. Law relating to Insurance of salaried employees ID German7.
•Bui. 126. Workmen's compensation laws of the United States and foreign COUDtriee.
*Bui. 166. Compensation for aocldents to employees of the United States.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
(m)
Workmen'• ln811l'llllftl and c-pensatlon Law-Continued.
•BuJ. 185. Compensation legislation of 1914 and 1915.
Bul. 313. Workmen's compensstion laws of the United States and foreign countries.
Bui. 210. Proceedings of the Third Annual M eetlng of the Jntarnstional Association of Industrial
Accident Boards and Commissions, held at Columbus, Ohio, April 2&-28, 1916.
Bui. 212. Proceedings of the conference on social insurance called by the International Association
of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions, Washington, D. C., Decemberli-9, 1916.
Bui. 217. Effect of workmen's compensation laws In diminishing the necessity of industrial employment of women and children.
Bul. 240. COmparlson of workmen's compensation laws of the United States.
Bui. 243. Workmen's compensation legislation in the United States and foreign countries.
Bul. 248. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the International Association of Industrial
Accident Bl11rds and Commissions, held at Boston, Mass., August 21-25, 1917.
Bul. 264. Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Meeting of the International Association of Industrial
Accident Boards and Commissions, held at Madison, Wis., September U-27, 1918.
Bul. 272. Workmen's compensation leglslatlon of the United States and Canada, 1919.
•Bui. 273. Procceedlngs of the Sixth Annaal Meeting of the International Association of Industrial
Accident Boards and Commissions, held at Toronto, Canada, September 23-26, 1919.
Bul. 275. Comparisons of workmen's compensation laws of the United States and Canada.
Bul. 281. Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Meeting of the International Association of Industrial
Accident Boards and Commissions, held at San Francisco, Calif., September 20-24, 1920.
Bui. 301. Comparison of workmen's compensation insurance and administration.
Bui. 304. Proeedings of the E lghth Annual Meeting of the International Association of Industrial
Accident Boards and Commissions, held at Chicago, Ill., September 1&-23, 1921.
Bui. 312. National Health Insurance in Great Britain, 1911 to 1920.
Bui. 332. Workmen's compensation legislation of the United States and Canada, 1920 to lll'J2.
Bui. 333. Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the International Association of Industrial
Accident Boards and Commisslous, held at Baltimore, Md., October &-13, 1922.
Bui. 3119. Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the International Association of Industrial
Accl:lent Boards and Commissions, held at St. Paul, Minn., September U-28, 1923.
Bui. 379. Comparisl>D of workmen's compensation laws In the United States 88 of .January 1, 1925.
Bui. 385. Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the International Association of Industrial
Accident Bpards and Commissions, held at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Angust 26-28, 1924.
lndnstrlal Accidents and Bnlene.
Bui. l«K. Lead poisoning In potteries, tile works, and porcelain enameled sanitary ware factories.
Bul. 120. Hygiene of the painters' trade.
•Bui. 127. Dangers to workers from dust; and fumes, and methods of protection.
Bul. 141. Lead poisoning in the smelting and refining of lead.
•Bui. 167. Industrial accident statistics.
Bui. 166. Lead poisoning In the manufacture of storage batteries.
•Bui. 179. Industrial poisons used in the robber Industry.
Bui 188. Report of British departmental committee on the danger In the use of lead In the paintIng of buildings.
•Bui. 201. Report of committee on statistics and compeneation Insurance cost of the International
.Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions. [Limited edition.]
Bui. 205. Anthrax 88 an occupational disease.
Bui. 207. Causes of death by occupation.
Bui. 209. Hyglen11 of the printing trade.
•Bui. 218. Accidents and accident prevention In machine building.
Bui. 219. Industrial poisons used or produced In the manufacture or exploslva.
Bui. 221. Hours, fatigue, and health In British munition factories.
Bui. 230. Industrial efficiency and fatigue In British munition factories.
Bui. 231. Mortality from re11Piratory diseases In dusty trades.
•Bui. 234. Safety movement In the Iron and steel Industry, lll07 to 1917.
Bui. 236. Effect of the air hammer on the hands of stonecutters.
Bui. 251. Preventable deaths In the cotton-manufacturlni Industry.
Bui. 253. Women In the lead Industries.
Bui. 266. Accidents and accident prevention In machine building. Revision of Bui. 218.
Bui. 267. Anthrax 88 an occupational disease. [Revised.]
Bui. 276. Standardization of Industrial accident statistics.
Bui. 280. Industrial poisoning In meklng coal-tar dyes and dye Intermediates.
Bui. 291. Carbon monoxide poisoning.
Bui. 293. The problem of dust phthlsls In the granite stone Industry.
Bui. 298. CaDSell and prevention of accidents In the Iron and steel Industry, 1910 to 1919.
Bui. 306. Occupation hazards and diagnostic signs: A guide to impairment to be looked for In hazardous occupations.
Bui. 839. Statlstica of Industrial accidents In the United States.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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Conciliation and Arbitration (Including strikes and lockouts).
*Bui. 124. Conciliation and arbitration in the building trades of Greater New York.
*Bui. 133. Report of the industrial council of the British Board of Trade on its inquiry into industrial
agreements.
Bui. 139 Michigan copper district strike.
Bui. 144. Industrial court of the cloak, suit, and skirt industry of New York City
Bui. 145. Conciliation, arbitration, and sanitation in the dress and waist industry of New York City.
Bui. 191. Collective bargaining in the anthracite coal industry.
*Bui. 198. Collectiv~ agreements in the men's clothing industry.
Bui. 233. Operation of the industrial disputes investigation act of Canada.
Bui. 303. Use of Federal power in settlement of railway labor disputes.
Bui. 341. Trade agreement in the silk-ribbon industry of New York City.
Labor Laws of the United States (lncludJng decisions of courts relating to labor).
*Bui. lll.
*Bui. ll2.
*Bui. 148.
*Bui. 152.
•Bui. 166.
*Bui. 169.
*Bui. 186.
*Bui. 189.
Bui. 2ll.
*Bui. 213.
Bui. 224.
Bui. 2211.
*Bui. 244.
Bui. 246.
Bui. 257.
Bui. 258.
Bui. 277.
Bui. 285.
Bul. 290.
Bul. 292.
Bui. 308.
Bui. 309.
Bui. 321.
Bui. 322.
Bui. 330.
Bui 343.
Bui. 344
Bui. 370.
Labor legislation of 1912.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1912.
Labor laws of the United States, with decisions of courts relating thereto.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1913.
Labor legislation of 1914.
Decisions of courts affecting labor, 1914.
Labor legislation of 1915.
Decisions of courts affecting labor, 1915.
Labor laws and their administration in the Pacific States.
Labor legislation of 1916.
Decisions of courts affecting labor, 1916.
Wage-payment legislation in the United States,
Labor legislation of 1917.
Decisions of courts affecting labor, 1917
Labor legislation of 1918.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1918
Labor legislation of 1919.
Minimum-wage legislation in the United States.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1919-1920.
Labor legislation of 1920.
Labor legislation of 1921.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1921.
Labor laws that have been declared unconstitutional.
Kansas Court of Industrial Relations.
Labor legislation of 1922.
Laws providing for bureaus of labor statistics, etc.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1922.
Labor laws of the United States, with decisions of courts relating thereto.
Foreign Labor Laws,
Bui. 142. Administration of labor laws and factory inspection in certain European countries.
Vocational Education.
Bui. 145. Conciliation, arbitration, and sanitation in the dress and waist industry of New York
'
City.
•Bui. 147 Wages and regularity of employment in the cloak, suit, and skirt industry.
*Bui. 159. Short-unit courses for wage earners, and a factory school experiment.
*Bui. 162. Vocatioflal education survey of Richmond, Va.
Bui. 190. Vocational education survey of Minneapolis, Minn.
Bui. 271. Adult working-class education (Great Britain and the United States).
Labor as Affected by the War.
Bul. 170. Foreign food prices as affected by the war.
Bul. 219. Industrial poisons used or produced In the manufacture of explosives.
Bul. 221. Hours, fatigue, and health in British munition factories.
Bul. 222. Welfare work in British munition factories.
Bul. 223. Employment of women and juveniles in Great Britain during the war.
Bul. 230. Industrial efficiency and fatigue in British munition factories.
Bul. 237. Industrial unrest in Great Britain.
Bul. 249. Industrial health and efficiency. Final report of British Health of Munition Workers
Committe~.
Bul. 255. Joint industrial councils in Great Britain.
Bui. 283. History of the Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board, 1917 to 1919.
Bul. 287. National War Labor Board.
38735°-25-11
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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8afet7C...._
Dul. 831. Code of lighting factories, mills, and other work places,
Bui. 336. Safety code for the protection of Industrial workers In founchfel.
Bui. 338. Safety code for the 1188, care, and protection of abrasive wheels.
Bui. 360. Rules governing the approval of headlightlng devices for motor vebiolaL
Bui. 361. Safety code for the oonstroctfon, care, and use of ladders.
Bui. 364. Safety code for meclianlcal power-transmlBslon apparatus.
Bui. 375. Safety oode for laundry maohlnery and operations.
Bui. 378. Safety code for woodworking machinery.
Bui. 382. Code of IJ&htlng school buildings.
Mlllcell- 8-lea.
•Bui. 117. Prohibition of night work of young peraons.
•Bui. 118. Ten-hour maximum working-day for women and young peraons.
•Bui. 123. Employers' welfare wprk.
•Bui. 1158, Government aid to home owning and housing of working people In foreign oountdat.
•Bui. 159, Short-unlt courses for wage earners and a factor:, school experiment.
•Bui. 167. Minimum-wage legislation In the United States and foreign countrtes.
Bui. 170. Foreign food prices as affected by the war.
•Bui. 17f. Snbject Index of the pubHcatioua of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics up to
Ma:, 1, 1916.
Bui. 208. Proflt sharing In the United States.
Bul. 222. W eJfare work In British munition factoriel.
Bui. 242. Food situation In central Europe, 1917.
•Bui. 250. W eJfare work for employees In Industrial establishments In the United States.
Bui. 2M. International labor legislation and the society of natiou.
Bui. 2611. Housing by employers In the United States.
Bui. 266. Proceedings of Seventh Annual Convention of the Association of Governmental Labar
Officials of the United States and Canada, held at Seattle, Wash., 1uly U-115, 1931,
Bui. 268. Historical survey of International aotton affecting labor.
Bui. 271. Adult working-class education In Great Britain and the United States.
Bui. 282. Mutual relief associations among Government employees in Washington, D. O.
Bui. 296. Building operations In representative cities In 1920.
Bui. 299. Personnel research agencies. A guide to organized research In employment management
Industrial relatious, training, and working oondltiou.
Bui. 307 Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Convention of Governmental Labor Officials of the
United Stat.es and Canada, held at New Orleans, La., Me:, H, 1921.
Bui. 313. Consumers' cooperative societies In the United States in 1920.
Bui. SM. Cooperative credit socleties In America and foreign countries.
Bui. 818. Building permits In the principel cities of the United States, 1921.
Bui. 320. The Bureau of Labor Statistics. Its history, aottvlties, and organization.
Bul. 323. Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Convention of the Assoclatlon of Governmental Labor
Offlclals of the United States and Canada, held at HarrisbUl'g, Pa., May 22-211, 11122.
Bui. 826. Method8 of procurln& and computing statistical Information of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Bui. MO. Chinese migrations, with special reference to labor conditions.
Bui. 342. InternatfonBl Seamen's Union of .America: A study of its history and problems.
Bui. 346. Humanity in government.
Bui. M7. Building permits In the principal cities of the United States, 11122.
Bui. M9. IndustriBl relatioua In the West Coast; lumber Industry.
Bui. 352. Proceedlnga of the Tenth Annual Convention of the Association of Governmental Labor
Offlclals of the United States and Canada, held at Rlehmond, Va., May 1-4, 11128.
Bui. 361 Labor relations In the Fairmont (W. Va.) bituminous coal field.
Bui. 3tl8. Building permits In the principal cities of the United States ID 1928.
Bui. 372. Convict labor ID 1928.
Bui. 380, Post-war labor conditions ID Germany.
Bui. 383. Works council movement in Germany.
Bui, 384. Conditions ID the shoe lndmtry In 1924.
Bal, 386. The cost of American almshouses. (In prea)
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
(VI)
SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS ISSUED BY THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Description of occupations, prepared tor the United States Emplo:vment Service, 1918-19.
Boots and shoes, harness and saddlery, and tanning.
Cane-sugar refining and flour milling.
Coal and water gas, paint and varnish, paper, printing trades, and rubber goods.
Electrical manufacture, distribution, and maintenance.
Glass.
Hotels and restaurants.
Logging camps and sawmills.
Medicinal manufacturing. '
Metal working, building and general construction, railroad transportation, and shlpbulldinll.
Mines and mining.
Office employees.
Slaughtering and meat packing.
Street railways.
•Textiles and clothing.
•water transportation.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
0
(VII)
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