Answer to question 1. We deem that the sum required per week to maintain a selfsupporting woman in frugal but decent conditions of living as an absolute minimum is $8.25.

Answer to question 2. The maximum daily hours of work which are consistent with the health and efficiency of women employees should not exceed 54 a week.

Answer to question 3. It was the opinion of the conference that the answer to question 2 would of itself necessarily affect the answer to question 3.

Answer to question 4. The conference suggested that the maximum time of employment before an inexperienced woman worker should be entitled to receive the minimum wage should not exceed one year, and further suggests that in making the recommendation the conference does not mean to indicate that an inexperienced woman should necessarily work one year before receiving the minimum wage, but should be put upon the list of experienced workers just as soon as her efficiency becomes apparent; for such inexperienced workers the conference recommends a minimum wage of $6 a week.

Answer to Question 5. The conference does not believe that nightwork is consistent with the health and efficiency of female employees, but in view of the present industrial conditions throughout the State of Oregon it recommends the hour of 8.30 o'clock p. m. as the latest hour at which women should be employed in mercantile, manufacturing, and laundry industries, but that this hour of dismissal should not apply to telephone and telegraph companies, confectionery establishments, restaurants, and hotels.

A public hearing on these recommendations was called for December 9, 1913. The rulings which were issued after the hearings are as follows:

I. W. C. ORDER No. 5, DECEMBER 9, 1913.

(1) No person, firm, or corporation shall employ any experienced, adult woman in any industry in the State of Oregon, paid by time rate of payment, at a weekly wage rate of less than $8.25 a week, any lesser amount being hereby declared inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living to such women workers and to maintain them in health.

(2) Nor shall any such person, firm, or corporation employ women in any industry in the State of Oregon for more than 54 hours a week.

(3) Nor shall any such person, firm, or corporation pay inexperienced, adult women workers, employed by time rate of payment, at a rate of wages less than $6 a week. And the maximum length of time such workers may be considered inexperienced in any industry shall not exceed one year.1

(4) No person, firm, or corporation owning or conducting any mercantile, manufacturing, or laundry establishment in the State of Oregon shall employ women workers in such establishment later than the hour of 8.30 o'clock p. m. of any day. This hour of dismissal does not apply to telephone and telegraph companies, confectionery establishments, restaurants, and hotels.

Said order shall become effective from and after February 7, 1914.

Under date of August 31, 1914, the commission issued the following order (but not as a numbered order) authorizing employment for a preapprenticeship period at a special lower rate in the millinery and dressmaking trades.

PORTLAND, OREG., August 31, 1914.

TO THE MILLINERS AND DRESSMAKERS OF THE STATE of Oregon:

The industrial welfare commission on August 28 decided, in view of the circumstances surrounding the apprenticeship conditions in the millinery and dressmaking trades, to permit a preapprenticeship period of one month to women and girls who wish to learn either of these trades. As this month is given that the ability of the learners may be tested and their fitness for the trade discovered they may be engaged for a wage rate of less than $6 a week, but after the end of the 30 days' period the apprentice must be paid at least $6 a week. The regular apprenticeship period of 12 months as allowed by I. W. C. Order No. 5, will date from the end of the month's trial.

This preapprenticeship period of 30 days will be allowed only to those women and girls who have had no previous experience at dressmaking or millinery. Every learner who is taken on under this regulation must have a special permit from this office before she can begin work. A duplicate of this permit will be sent to the employer, which duplicate must be returned with the original when the preapprenticeship time

1 See order of Aug. 31, 1914.

is completed. Those women who have had slight experience at either of the trades, but who have not had a full year, must be employed as regular apprentices at $6 a week and will not receive a permit for a trial month.

INDUSTRIAL WELFARE COMMISSION,

Secretary.

Because of the seasonal character of the fruit and vegetable canning industry and the large number of women and children employed, a special conference on this industry was organized September 16, 1914. The representatives on this conference were:

Representing the public.-Mrs. A. M. Wilson, Mr. J. C. English, Mr. A. M. Churchill. Representing the employees.—Mrs. L. E. Daniels, Mrs. Wm. Addis, Miss Rose Harrington.

Representing the employers.-Mr. J. J. Stangel, Woodburn; Mr. W. G. Allen, Salem; Mr. J. O. Holt, Eugene.

The commission submitted the following subjects for consideration: (1) A system of standardizing or indicating box weights where employees work by the box.

(2) A standardization of the daily time and piece work checks.

(3) The adjustment of piece rates to the minimum-wage rate already established: (a) For the different grades of the same kind of fruit.

(b) For determining the percentage of workers who may be classified as learners. (4) The question of the status of minors in canneries.

(5) Proper height of tables and stools.

The recommendations of the conference were as follows:

(1) Except as herein below set forth under paragraph 2, no person, firm, corporation, or association shall employ any experienced adult woman in any cannery or other establishment for the canning, drying, or preserving of fruit, vegetables, fish, or other similar products in the State of Oregon, whether paid by time or piece rate of payment, at a weekly wage rate of less than $8.25 a week, nor in the city of Portland at a weekly wage rate of less than $8.64, any lesser amount being hereby declared inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living to such women workers, and to maintain them in health. Where piece rates of payment are employed they shall be so adjusted as to conform to this regulation.

(2) Not to exceed 25 per cent of the adult women employed in any such establishment (cannery, etc.) may be classed, if inexperienced, as "learners and apprentices," or if slow or infirm, as "physically defective or crippled by age or otherwise,” and may receive less than said minimum wage above named, but in no case shall "learners and apprentices' receive less than $6 a week.

(3) In case action for unpaid wages is brought in any court by any such adult woman employee, it shall be sufficient that the plaintiff shall establish the time during which she was employed, whereupon it shall be presumed that she is entitled to the minimum wage provided in paragraph 1 hereof for the period of such employment. And if an employer, in defense, under paragraph 2 hereof, shall seek to show that said worker was inexperienced, slow, or infirm, it shall be incumbent upon him to establish that not to exceed 25 per cent of his adult women employees were thus classed and paid during the period covered by such action.

(4) Where employment is for fractional portions of a week a minimum wage per hour shall be paid, to be arrived at by dividing the weekly minimum wage applicable by the maximum number of hours of employment permitted by law in the establishment in question, in no case more than 54 hours.

(5) No woman shall be employed in any such establishment (cannery, etc.) more than 54 hours a week; but for not more than four weeks each year adult women may be employed more than 10 hours a day, provided that for all time of employment exceeding 54 hours a week and less than said 60 hours a week wages shall be paid at a rate exceeding the regular minimum wage paid in such establishment, whether by piece or time rate, by not less than 50 per cent.

(6) Whenever, at the end of any day or other unit of working time, any employer in such industry shall take possession of the token, card, record, or receipt for piecework of any female employee, he shall in turn leave with or give to her either a duplicate or copy of same or some similar form of token, card, record, or receipt from which all sums to which she is entitled and hours during which she has been employed can be readily computed.

82843°-Bull. 167-15- -5

A public hearing on these recommendations was held in the Portland Public Library on December 17, 1914.

The question of the length and the wage of the apprenticeship period in the mercantile, factory, and laundry industries, which had been under investigation for some time, was submitted to a conference on October 21, 1914. Subcommittees of this conference are still engaged in investigating the question in all its bearings.

Besides minor investigations which the commission has carried on without interruption, through its secretary, two more extensive inquiries have been made during the year 1914. The first one was concerned with the conditions of work of female employees in the fruit and vegetable canneries in the State, and the second with the laundries of Portland. A report on the findings of the laundry inquiry has been published. During the 18 months which have elapsed since the commission was organized it has met 73 times; 40 of these meetings have been formal business sessions, 16 have been informal hearings, and the remainder have been at conferences and public hearings.

Enforcement of the Law.

All complaints of violations of the law which have been reported to the office of the commission have been referred to the State labor commissioner, who has the enforcement of the rulings. The industrial welfare commission has endeavored to cooperate in every way with the State labor commissioner and his deputies, so that complete harmony exists between the two officers.

Eight permits have been issued to slow, infirm, or crippled adult workers, as permitted by the law (ch. 62, sec. 10), to work for less than the minimum wage provided for experienced adult workers. The industries, the number in each, and the cause for which the permits were issued is given herewith:

On October 14, 1913, suit was brought by Mr. F. C. Stettler against the industrial welfare commission to restrain it from carrying out the provisions of the act on the ground that it was unconstitutional. The complaint was based on the provisions of I. W. C. Order No. 2, which governs the employment of women in factories in Portland, and provides for a nine-hour day or 54-hour week, a minimum wage of $8.64 a week for experienced adult workers, and a minimum of 45 minutes for the lunch period. Attorney General Crawford had charge of the defense for the commission, but was ably assisted by Mr. Dan J. Malarky, Mr. E. B. Seabrook, and Mr. J. N. Teal, who offered their services to the commission gratuitously. Mr. Teal drew up a brief defending the provision of the law which forbids

1 Report of the Industrial Welfare Commission of the State of Oregon on the Power Laundries in Portland, 1914.

appeal from decisions of the commission in matters of fact. Mr. Malarky also presented a brief and took part with the attorney general in the pleadings before both the circuit and State supreme courts.

On November 7, 1913, Judge Cleeton, of the circuit court, declared the law constitutional and refused to grant an injunction against the commission. An appeal was taken to the State supreme court, where the hearing was given on February 9, 1914. For the hearing before the State supreme court Mr. Louis D. Brandeis, of Boston, and Miss Josephine Goldmark, publication secretary of the National Consumers' League, submitted a brief showing the benefits of minimum-wage legislation. On March 17, the supreme court handed down a decision upholding the constitutionality of the law.

Thereupon Miss Elmira Simpson, an employee of Mr. F. C. Stettler, brought suit against the commission on the ground that its rulings would deprive her of the right to work. The law was again upheld, both in the circuit and the State supreme courts. Both cases were appealed to the United States Supreme Court, where the hearing was held on December 17, 1914. Attorney General Crawford and Mr. Louis Brandeis appeared for the commission. The decision of this court has not yet (March 17, 1914) been rendered.

UTAH.

The Utah minimum-wage law is peculiar in that it fixes directly the minimum rates to be paid for experienced adult females, for adult learners and apprentices, and for minors. The administration of the law is placed upon the commissioner of immigration, labor, and statistics. The law became effective May 13, 1913, and the following statement under date of January 20, 1914, from Commissioner Haines, is of particular interest:

Our office has investigated some two hundred or more cases of alleged violations of the minimum-wage law since May 13, 1913, which have had any merit and a number that had not. We knew that it was the prime object of the lawmakers to secure for the girls and women affected an increase of wages and in enforcing the law we have always endeavored to look after the interests of the employees first. For this reason, where we find violations, we first give the employers an opportunity to make good to their employees any shortage of wages between what they had been paying and what they were legally required to pay. In some cases, we have secured to a single employee as high as $57 in back wages. The employers preferred to pay this money rather than stand trial with the liability of paying a heavy fine and costs of prosecution, besides the ignominy of being cheap men. In the above manner, we have collected over $6,000 in back pay to employees and up to the present time we have had to bring four prosecutions, three of which we have won and one is still pending.1

Writing late in 1913, the same commissioner said:

The principal businesses affected by the law are the mercantile, candy, knitting, paper-box and overall factories, the woolen mills, laundries, millineries, hotels and telephone companies.

1 Irene Osgood Andrews, Minimum-wage legislation, Appendix III of the Third Report of the New York State Factory Investigating Commission, p. 208.

Of the employees under 18 years of age, constituting about 6 per cent of the 11,500, a majority were employed as cash girls and wrappers in the department stores and received about $4 per week, a few less. The minimum wage raised the wages of this class to $4.50 per week. A number of the department stores supplanted cash girls with cash boys whom they pay $4 a week or $18 per month. Many millinery stores that were paying girl apprentices from $2.50 to $5 per week also weeded out those who were the least proficient. In the knitting, candy, paper-box, and overall factories, and woolen mills where the piece system is in vogue, a few girls were discharged who could not reach the minimum wage in their respective classes named in our law. This number, however, was not over 3 per cent of the whole number employed therein.

In the inexperienced adult class, those women over 18 years of age with less than one year's experience as salesladies or as apprentices in millinery stores and factories, were affected to a considerable extent. The law requires that this class shall be paid not less than 90 cents per day. Many within this classification were drawing about the same wage as was paid inexperienced girls who were under 18 years of age. In some cases, the older girls in the 90 cents per day class were no better salesladies than their younger sisters. Of this class, constituting 10 per cent of the female employees in our State, as stated above, the wages of about 3 per cent were raised to meet the minimum wage.

While the law did not become effective until May 13, many of the employers who pay monthly or semimonthly voluntarily caused the law to become effective on May 1. In a number of businesses, the employees who were not considered as possessing the necessary efficiency were notified that it was up to them to "make good" in order to retain their employment and the probationary period was fixed at from two to four weeks.

As a whole, it seems to be the consensus of opinion of employers that the law has increased efficiency to an appreciable extent. Perhaps not more than 5 per cent of the whole number of female employees were discharged because of this law going into effect and many of those who lost their employment found employment in other like establishments or in other lines.

About the time the law became effective, our department was called upon by a number of business concerns to determine what generally would be considered a year's experience as expressed in our law. They were informed that any girl or woman who had worked for the period of one year or more, or who had worked as an apprentice in a millinery establishment or as a laundry girl, telephone girl or in a factory or mill for a like period, would be considered as "experienced" in their respective avocations.

Some of the department stores claim that they experienced considerable difficulty with employees coming to them from small country stores and the 5 and 10 cent city stores. This class of employees are 18 years old and over and have had a year's or more experience. Employers are required to pay this class of girls or women not less than the minimum wage of $1.25 per day and have found that others of their older employees who are working as minors and "inexperienced" are more efficient. This fact is soon manifested in a way that touches their pocketbooks, for the reason that the smaller-paid