hibe any BUREAU OF LABOR APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONER.-A commissioner of labor shall be appointed by the governor, and said commissioner of labor, by and with the consent of the governor, shall have power to appoint and employ such assistants as may be necessary to discharge the duties of said commissioner of labor; and said commissioner of labor, together with the inspector of coal mines, shall constitute a bureau of labor. On the first Monday in April, 1897, and every four years thereafter the governor shall appoint a suitable person to act as commissioner of labor, and as factory, mill and railroad inspector, who shall hold office until his successor is appointed and qualified. (L. '05, sec. 1, chap. 83). DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER.-It shall be the duty of such officer and employes of said bureau to cause to be enforced all laws regulating the employment of children, minors and women, all laws established for the protection of the health, lives, and limbs of operators in workshops, factories, mills and mines, on railroads and other places, and all laws enacted for the protection of the working classes, and declaim it a misdemeanor on the part of the employers to require as a condition of employment the surrender of any rights of citizenship, laws regulating and prescribing the qualifications of persons in trades and handicrafts, and similar laws now in force or hereafter to be enacted. It shall also be the duty of officers and employees of the bureau to collect, assort, arrange and present in biennial reports to the legislature, on or before the first Monday in January, statistical details relating to all departments of labor in the state; to the subjects of corporations, strikes or other labor difficulties; to trade unions and other labor organizations and their effect upon labor and capital; and to such other matters relating to the commercial, industrial, social, educational, moral, and sanitary conditions of the laboring classes, and the permanent prosperity of the respective industries of the state as the bureau may be able to gather. In its biennial report the bureau shall also give account of all proceedings of its officers and employes which have been taken in accordance with the provisions of this act, or of any other acts herein referred to, including a statement of all violations of law which have been observed, and the proceedings under the same, and shall join with such accounts and such remarks, suggestions and recommendations as the commissioner may deem necessary. (Sec. 2, p. 132, '01). LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL OFFICE OF BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS AND FACTORY INSPECTION. OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 1910. To His Excellency, M. E. Hay, Governor of the State of Washington: SIR-In accordance with chapter LXXIV, Laws of 1901, I have the honor to transmit herewith to you, and through you to the honorable legislature, this, the seventh biennial report of this bureau for the years 1909-1910. Respectfully yours, CHARLES F. HUBBARD, Commissioner. |