CONTENTS. WOMEN AND CHILDREN WAGE-WORKERS.. THE APPRENTICE SYSTEM IN CALIFORNIA. ✓ NUMBER AND CONDITION OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE. PAGE. REPORT OF BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. INTRODUCTION. There runs through the preceding reports of this Bureau a persistent cry that it is impossible properly to do the work laid down by law without a material increase in the appropriation, and this appeal seems to have been met, in most instances, by a reduction at the hands of the Legislature, so that the amount allowed for the maintenance of the Bureau by the organic law, namely, $4,500 per annum, has been reduced to $2,500 per annum, and the amount allowed for printing has been reduced from $1,750 to $1,250 at the present time. The most serious feature about this latter reduction is that it does not provide even sufficient means to print an ordinary report of the Bureau work. The following matter has been compiled practically within a little over sixty days and it will exhaust the printing allowance for two years, leaving nothing for supplying blanks, books, etc.-materials so essential either in gathering statistics or in calling attention to violations of existing laws. The reduction of the contingent fund leaves the Bureau without a margin sufficient to carry out its work throughout the State. It is impossible to make the occasional personal inspection of stores, factories, etc., which is essential in order to enforce the laws regarding child labor, protection to women, sanitation, etc., and as a consequence that part of the work has been almost entirely confined to the neighborhood of San Francisco Bay. In addition to the ordinary work of the Bureau, during the year 1905 the Federal Government has arranged to take an exhaustive manufacturing census and asks this department to make arrangements to work in conjunction with it. While the burden of the expense will fall upon the National department, naturally our expenses will materially increase, for while we shall have unprecedented opportunity to acquire matter of great value to the commercial and labor world, it will entail expense to put such matter in shape and place it before the people. The foregoing is offered as a plea for the restoration of the original contingent fund, $4,500 per annum, and for an appropriation for printing commensurate with the work of the Bureau. In any event there will be no cessation of effort through lack of funds, but an endeavor to show, what should be in evidence at all times, that the State can get returns for its investments and that work can be performed as well for governments as for private citizens, one essential for all good work being, however, sufficient means to purchase proper tools. The matter in the following pages does not come up to the standard aimed at, but is the best possible under the present conditions. When the change in the administration of the Bureau was made but little data were found that could be used for the purpose of this report, and prompt action being necessary, it was decided to take up such matters as could be handled immediately and that could be relied upon to give correct data for a foundation for future work. The article on female and child labor in San Francisco and Oakland is simply an outline of what is intended to be carried out through the entire State in accordance with the law. And it is a work that has its pleasant side, for, while we find many employers who will take every advantage possible and abuse their help, unless held in check by some higher power, we also find a growing tendency toward industrial betterments-an interest in the comfort and well-being of the workers on the part of many employers, regardless of the fact that sometimes the improvements entail considerable cost. The list of labor unions is perhaps not quite complete, but it is much nearer correct than any previous list, and it will be the aim of the Bureau to keep it as nearly correct as possible; and a request is here made that all those interested will give such aid as is consistent with their own laws and purposes, so that the Bureau may be the better equipped to impart information to those concerned. In the prosecution of these inquiries, a percentage of both employers and employed seemed to look upon this department of the State government with suspicion. On the one hand it could easily be imagined that we were thought to be anarchistic in tendency and organized for the purpose of embarrassing all who had vested rights; while, upon the other hand, we were received as State emissaries of the oppressor, to be given fiction for fact and figures incorrect and unsatisfactory. However, this type in either case is so small by comparison that it deserves but passing mention. While we hear much regarding the unsettled and restless condition of the labor world, inspection at close range gives the impression that the average employer is concerned in the welfare of his help and is on fairly good terms with them. At the same time we are forced to the conclusion that it may be said of the great mass of the workers that they possess, in a marked degree, interest and pride in work well done; and this characteristic seems to be more especially in evidence where the work calls for the maximum in ability and training. That part of the report bearing upon the relative standing of the people of California with that of the population of continental United States brings out results well worthy of study. It can be seen that just as our population increases, in the same ratio increases the proportion of women and children that become wage-earners, or, in other words, it would seem that only up to a given point of density of population can the head of the family produce the living for the entire family; and while the male adult, in his organized effort to maintain wages and conditions that shall make it possible for him to advance with his age and race, may seem at times to harass and burden some of the industries, a deeper study of the complex situation may demonstrate the knowledge that his strenuous endeavors to keep his family well provided for, counts as one of the greatest factors in our national advancement. The article on seafaring is exhaustive and gives a faithful account of long struggle in behalf of a hard-working, long-suffering class. Probably no man has done more for commerce and received less of its benefits than the deep-water sailor. The laws relating to labor have been reviewed and are here presented, together with the principal decisions affecting them, and all that have been declared unconstitutional by a court of last resort have been eliminated. All the matter in this report has been compiled with as much thoroughness as time and conditions would allow, and in each instance care has been exercised to insure as correct a statement of data and conclusions as though each subject had been treated exhaustively. We are especially indebted for the article on "Comparative Statistics in California and Continental United States" to Mr. George D. Leslie, of the Federal Census Bureau. The article on The article on "Maritime Labor Organizations" is the work of Mr. Walter Macarthur, of the Coast Seamen's Journal; and Miss Lucile Eaves, of the South Park Settlement, gathered the statistics and furnished the matter for the article on "Women and Children Wage-Workers," Miss Eaves and Mr. Macarthur both having been temporarily employed by this Bureau. To Mr. C. T. Deane of the California Petroleum Miners' Association, Mr. Arthur H. Briggs of the State Board of Trade, the Manufacturers and Producers' Association, Mr. R. I. Wisler, of the San Francisco Labor Council, Prof. Carl C. Plehn of the Department of Finance and Statistics of the State University, and Prof. George C. Merrill of the California School of Mechanical Arts, we are especially indebted for valuable and reliable information. Whatever merit appears in the detailed work of the following report is largely due to the persistent, careful, and competent assistance rendered by Deputy J. M. Eshleman and Special Agents L. L. Stevens and K. Zwicker of this office. LAW CREATING THE BUREAU. The statutes creating this Bureau, providing for its maintenance, fixing its responsibility, and delegating its powers, are as follows: Stats. of Cal., 1883, p. 27. An Act to establish and support a Bureau of Labor Statistics. [Approved March 3, 1883.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. As soon as possible after the passage of this Act, and every four years thereafter, the Governor of the State shall appoint a suitable person to act as Commissioner of a Bureau of Labor Statistics. The headquarters of said Bureau shall be located in the City and County of San Francisco; said Commissioner to serve for four (4) years, and until his successor is appointed and qualified. SEC. 2. The Commissioner of the Bureau, before entering upon the duties of his office, must execute an official bond in the sum of five thousand (5,000) dollars, and take the oath of office, all as prescribed by the Political Code for State officers in general. SEC. 3. The duties of the Commissioner shall be to collect, assort, systematize, and present, in biennial reports to the Legislature, statistical details, relating to all departments of labor in the State, such as the hours and wages of labor, cost of living, amount of labor required, estimated number of persons depending on daily labor for their support, the probable chances of all being employed, the operation of labor-saving machinery in its relation to hand labor, etc. Said statistics may be classified as follows: First-In agriculture. Second-In mechanical and manufacturing industries. Third-In mining. Fourth-In transportation on land and water. Fifth-In clerical and all other skilled and unskilled labor not above enumerated. Sixth-The amount of cash capital invested in lands, buildings, machinery, material, and means of production and distribution generally. Seventh-The number, age, sex, and condition of persons employed; the nature of their employment; the extent to which the apprenticeship system prevails in the various skilled industries; the number of hours of labor per day; the average length of time employed per annum, and the net wages received in each of the industries and employments enumerated. Eighth-The number and condition of the unemployed, their age, sex, and nationality, together with the cause of their idleness. Ninth-The sanitary condition of lands, workshops, dwellings, the number and size of rooms occupied by the poor, etc.; the cost of rent, fuel, food, clothing, and water in each locality of the State; also the extent to which labor-saving processes are employed to the displacement of hand labor. Tenth-The number and condition of the Chinese in the State; their social and sanitary habits; number of married and of single; the number employed, and the nature of their employment; the average wages per day at each employment, and the gross amount yearly; the amounts expended by them in rent, food, and clothing, and in what proportion such amounts are expended for foreign and home productions, respectively; to what extent their employment comes in competition with the white industrial classes of the State. |