CONTENTS. Page. Strikes and lockouts in the United States from January 1, 1881, to June 30, 1894. Strikes and lockouts in Great Britain and Ireland in recent years. Private and public debt in the United States, by George K. Holmes, formerly special agent in charge of division of farms, homes, and mortgages in Eleventh Employer and employee under the common law, by Victor H. Olmsted and 3 During the last session of the Fifty-third Congress Hon. Lawrence E. McGann, chairman of the Committee on Labor of the House of Representatives, introduced a bill (H. R. 8713) providing for the publication of the Bulletin of the Department of Labor. This bill was referred to the Committee on Labor January 29, 1895, and February 1 the committee made the following report, which was committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union: The Committee on Labor, to whom was referred House bill 8713, have had the same under consideration, and beg leave to report that the bill provides that the Commissioner of Labor shall publish a bulletin of the Department of Labor, at intervals not to exceed two months, containing current facts as to the condition of labor in this and other countries, condensations of state and foreign labor reports, facts as to the condition of employment, and such other facts as may be deemed of value to the industrial interests of the country. The following communication from the Commissioner of Labor, Hon. Carroll D. Wright, sets forth potent arguments in favor of the passage of the bill: DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Washington, D. C., February 1, 1895. MY DEAR SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday, inclosing a copy of bill (H. R. 8713) providing for the publication of the Bulletin of the Department of Labor, with suggestion that you would like my views thereon. In response I have to say that I have very carefully examined, not only the bill, which seems to me to be fully adequate for the purpose for which it is intended, but the plan for which it provides. The Department of Labor is authorized by its organic law to publish an annual report, and also such special reports as may be deemed best, either by the Commissioner of Labor or in response to resolutions of either branch of Congress or a request of the President, and it has in the past fully complied with these provisions, sending to Congress annually a report relating to some specific and extensive investigation, and also various special reports not requir ing so extensive work as the annual reports. I suppose the Department would have the right to make a special report at regular intervals, but in order to do so it would need a larger appropriation than that now made for its use. Your bill, therefore, supplies this lack, and further, it would enable the printing office to bring out a regular bulletin without the necessity of delay in sending it to Congress. After very careful consideration of the whole subject I therefore feel like indorsing fully the purpose of the bill, especially as foreign governments are now doing precisely what your bill aims to accomplish. The English department of labor, which was established only recently, is now publishing, very successfully and with great acceptance to the industrial interests of the country, a labor gazette. The French department of labor does the same thing, and so, too, does that of New Zealand, and now the Russian government, which has recently established a department of labor, is publishing a gazette. It would seem right, therefore, that the United States, which has been the pioneer of labor departments in the world should publish a bulletin. This would have been done before, I presume, had it not been for the suggestion that such bulletins should contain information relative to the lack of labor in different parts of the country. I believe that all now agree that such announcements from an official source would do more harm than good, and therefore the movement has never taken shape; but the publication contemplated by your bill avoids this particular, and to my mind objectionable, feature of a bulletin, and with this objection removed I think it would be greatly for the interest of the industries of this country that such a bulletin should be established. Should you look for precedents in our own government, you will find them in the Department of Agriculture, the Geological Survey, and the Bureau of Education. All of these offices, while not publishing bulletins at regular intervals, publish them quite frequently, and they are of very great use. I think our Department is now so constituted that it could bring out at least bimonthly the bulletin contemplated by your bill, and fill its pages with most useful facts relative to the condition of labor in this and other countries-facts which do not naturally and would not generally come within the scope of an annual report. Here would be the great use and great advantage of the bulletin. The annual reports must necessarily be the results of patient and laborious investigation. The bulletins would contain more fragmentary matter, but yet of vital importance. As I read your bill, it is not contemplated that a bulletin should contain theoretical matter or introduce discussions on debatable questions, nor should it become the organ of any propaganda, but its whole function is to be confined to the collection and publication of current but important facts. The increased expense would be so small that I should not suppose that would stand in the way of the passage of the bill. I am very glad to see that your committee has reported it favorably, and I hope it will secure the favorable action of Congress. I am, very respectfully, Hon. LAWRENCE E. MCGANN, M. C., CARROLL D. WRIGHT, Chairman Committee on Labor, House of Representatives. Commissioner. Your committee therefore recommend that the bill be passed. The bill which Mr. McGann introduced, and which the committee reported favorably, provided for a bulletin at intervals not to exceed two months and not to exceed 100 octavo pages; and to contain current facts as to the condition of labor in this and other countries, condensations of state and foreign labor reports, facts as to conditions of employment, and such other facts as may be deemed of value to the industrial interests of the country. This bill passed the House of Representatives February 26, 1895, and was favorably reported in the Senate, but instead of its passing the Senate as a bill, it was incorporated, in an abbreviated form, as a provision in the act making the appropriations for the Department of Labor, as follows: The Commissioner of Labor is hereby authorized to prepare and publish a bulletin of the Department of Labor, as to the condition of labor in this and other countries, condensations of state and foreign labor reports, facts as to conditions of employment, and such other facts as may be deemed of value to the industrial interests of the country, and there shall be printed one edition of not exceeding ten thousand copies of each issue of said bulletin for distribution by the Department of Labor. This amendment was accepted by the House and the bill containing it was approved March 2, 1895. It is under this provision of the legis |