RECENT REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR STATISTICS.

CONNECTICUT.

Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of Connecticut for the year ending November 30, 1895. Printed by order of the General Assembly. Samuel B. Horne, Commissioner.

280 pp.

This report treats of the following subjects: Poor relief, 101 pages; building and loan associations, 12 pages; condition of manufactures, 66 pages; strikes and lockouts, 14 pages; manual training, 46 pages; laws relating to labor and the first annual report of the State board of mediation and arbitration, 19 pages.

POOR RELIEF. The object of this inquiry was to ascertain the number of poor in the State and the cost of their maintenance. The statistics for 21 selected towns, covering the years from 1875 to 1894, inclusive, were collected by agents of the bureau. Schedules were also sent by mail to the selectmen of the 168 towns in the State asking for information concerning the number of poor assisted and the expense incurred for the same during the years 1892 and 1894. The amounts reported are only the expenditures by the State and the different towns. They do not include the charity dispensed by individuals or private boards. of relief of any character.

The lack of a uniform system of distributing aid and of recording the different transactions, and the paucity of data, especially for the earlier years, render the statistics somewhat incomplete. These and various other matters concerning the advisability of certain classes of relief, the increase or decrease in the numbers assisted and the amounts expended, and the methods prevailing in the different towns, are explained in the text. The two statements that follow present the totals given for the 21 selected towns, the 168 towns, and for the State.

1884-No. 3- -4

265

PERSONS AIDED AND EXPENSES

FOR POOR RELIEF IN 21 SELECTED TOWNS, 1875 TO 1894.

[The following are the 21 towns, the facts for which are shown in this table: Bridgeport, Colchester, Danbury, East Haddam, Fairfield, Glastonbury, Hartford, Litchfield, Meriden, Middletown, Milford, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Plainfield, Tolland, Torrington, Vernon, Waterbury, and Windham.]

a No division could be made of the expenses incurred by the city of Bridgeport prior to 1890; the amounts are included in the total, but no corresponding distribution given.

PERSONS AIDED AND EXPENSES FOR POOR RELIEF FOR THE STATE, 1892 AND 1894.

d Including expenses of State board of charities, the remainder being amount paid to towns for support of paupers chargeable to the State.

BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS.-In accordance with laws enacted during June, 1895, the building and loan associations of the State come under the supervision of the banking department, and statements as to their condition in the future will be found in the report of the bank commissioners. Comparative figures, however, are furnished

for each of the 16 associations, for which data were given in the fourth annual report. The totals are shown in the following statement:

ASSETS OF BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE FISCAL YEARS 1894 AND 1895.

CONDITION OF MANUFACTURES.-Under this title individual reports from 1,000 establishments, grouped by industries, are published and an extended analysis made of the returns for each industry. The totals of the summary for all industries are as follows:

There were many establishments reported in 1895 that were not in existence in 1892. These establishments reported 1,509 employees. Subtracting this number from the total for 1895, the actual decrease was 4,646 and the percentage of decrease 4.04.

The changes in rates of wages reported were only those that were general in character. There were 2,624 employees affected by advances in wages, the average of the percentages of increase being 8.52. The employees affected in establishments reducing wages numbered 1,287, the average of the percentages of decrease being 8.53. There were 20,190 employees affected by the restoration of wages to a former rate, the average of the percentages of increase being 8.5. The average weekly hours of labor in the 1,000 establishments for the year ending July 1, 1895, not considering the days closed, were 58.07; deducting hours lost by reason of days closed, the average was 54.46.

STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS.-An historical statement is made for each labor disturbance that occurred during the year.

MANUAL TRAINING.-The treatment of this subject is confined to a textual discussion which includes a description of various institutions for manual training in Connecticut and elsewhere.

LABOR LAWS AND MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION.-The laws relating to labor enacted at the January session of the legislature, 1895, are reproduced, and a short account given of the action of the board of mediation and arbitration in assisting in a compromise of a strike of the iron molders employed by the Russell & Erwin Company, of New Britain, Conn.

IOWA.

Sixth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the State of Iowa, 1894-95. W. E. O'Bleness, Commissioner. Printed by Order of the General Assembly. 199 pp.

The report presents individual tabulations of returns from 4,160 working men and women engaged in different industries throughout the State. The questions for which the answers were presented were designed to show the actual condition of the laboring classes. No totals for the State or conclusions are presented, the individual reports only being given as a fair and unbiased showing of actual conditions. In addition to the individual tabulations, quotations are given from answers made by workmen to questions concerning the desirability of labor organizations, foreign immigration, the character of work that is preferable (piece or time), and what action would be of the greatest benefit to the wage earners of the country.

ΜΟΝΤΑΝΑ.

Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry of Montana for the year ended November 30, 1894. James H. Mills, Commissioner; A. C. Schneider, Chief Clerk. v, 191 pp.

In the extended introductory, reference is made to various subjects, such as methods of work of the bureau, disturbed industrial conditions, free public employment offices, and protection of human life by means of fire escapes. The following subjects are treated in the report proper: Wages and cost of living, 32 pages; investment, wages, and production, 16 pages; precious and semiprecious metals, 8 pages; agriculture and stock growing, 40 pages; miscellaneous, 49 pages.

WAGES AND COST OF LIVING.-The schedule used in collecting the statistics from wage earners contained 48 questions, designed to cover all material facts of public interest relating to the economic and social condition of the workmen. All employees receiving $2,000 or more per annum were excluded, and the presentation limited to those coming clearly under the denomination of "wage earners." The results are summarized for 80 occupations and for the principal labor-employing counties. The tables show the percentage of the total number replying affirmatively or otherwise to the different questions, with the average and aggregate wages, expenses, etc.

The opinions and suggestions of wage earners given in reply to the query, "What legislation, if any, would, in your opinion, promote the general welfare, particularly of wage earners following your vocation?" are reproduced in full.

The mileage, number of employees, working time, and average pay of the different classes of employees are given for each railroad in the State.

The average daily wages of employees in and around mines, mills, and smelters, as computed from statements made by employees in nine counties of the State and covering the occupations of 2,085 men, are given as follows:

AVERAGE DAILY WAGES OF EMPLOYEES OF MINES, MILLS, AND SMELTERS.

The cost of living is indicated by a presentation of the average rates of board at hotels and boarding houses, average prices of articles of food, and details of receipts and expenses for representative families in different sections of the State.

A list of the labor organizations of the State is accompanied with statistics of the membership.

INVESTMENT, WAGES, AND PRODUCTION.-Reports from 146 manufacturers and 183 establishments engaged in various industries containing information concerning investment, product, employees, wages, hours of work, etc., are grouped and published in detail. As far as possible the average wages for the various classes of labor in the dif ferent industries for 1893 and 1894 are placed in comparison.

PRECIOUS AND SEMIPRECIOUS METALS.-The statistical presentation under this title consists of extended quotations from the reports of the United States assay office at Helena, Mont., and the Director of the Mint.

AGRICULTURE AND STOCK GROWING.-Comparative figures are given for 1893 and 1894 of the number and wages of employees of stock growers and farmers; also acreage of land owned and fenced, with character, quantity, and value of the different agricultural products. The number of the different classes of farm animals that perished during the winter and that were killed by wolves are shown, and details concerning the wool clip of 1893 and 1894.