PRISONERS BADLY TREATED. Baltimore, Md.-Declaring the House of Correction to be a penal institution exclusively, and not a corrective one, as is generally supposed, the board of city police magistrates has voiced a scathing criticism of the institution in the report it has made to the governor of the state. The board declares that it has had its eyes opened, and while it believed that the men sent to the House of Correction were put to work. on the farm, or on outside labor, it has found that the men are cooped up in contractors' shops and never allowed outside, and if they do not perform their allotted task, which is found in many instances to be rather severe, they are lashed as punishment. The board states that it appears that one of the chief ends of the institution was to make a favorable showing in financial matters, and that the interest of the contractors who conduct the shirt and mat factories in the institution and of the state, came before the interests of the prisoners. This fact was made clear by the superintendent, who complained that the magistrates were sending men to the institution for too short periods for them to be of any use to the contractors, or to the state, stating that the magistrates should not send men for thirty or sixty days, because unless they came for at least three months they would be of no use to the contractors. The magistrates further state that the institution is in a general unsanitary condition. As stated, prisoners are punished for slow work, the magistrates claiming this system has possibilities of great injustice. The governor of the state is much exercised over this report and measures are to be taken to inaugurate a thorough investigation.

RECOMMEND EIGHT HOURS. Washington-The report of the special commission appointed by the International Asociation for Labor Legislation to inquire into the subject of "hours of labor in continuous industries" has been made public only recently. In 1910, at a delegate meeting in Lugano, it was declared that the twelve-hour day customary in continuous

industries was injurious to health, and the appointment of the commission resulted. The commission has held meetings with nine European countries, and the United States represented. The general conference of the association will be held this month in Zurich, and the commission's report will be undoubtedly acted upon favorably. The commissioners express the opinion that the eight-hour shift in continuous industries (industries working night and day), is the best shift system for such work, and they strongly recommend it, both from the point of view of the physical and moral welfare of the workers, and in the social and economic interests of society generally. They consider that in iron and steel industries the eight

hour day is very necessary and is practicable, and they urge that the various governments should be asked to arrange a conference of the interested states, with a view to arriving at an international agreement as to the introduction of the eight-hour day in these industries. The commissioners also report that in the United Kingdom there has been of late years a marked tendency toward the eight-hour system in the iron and steel trade, in some important sections of which it has been successfully introduced. It is also asserted that experience of the working of the different processes, where the eight-hour day has been introduced, all goes to show that there are, as a rule, no serious technical difficulties to be encountered where it is necessary or very desirable for the same man to work continuously for a longer spell (as in some work in glass factories), the commission is of the opinion that a maximum week should be established.

NEW SYSTEM ADOPTED. Washington-Upon the adoption by Congress recently of the legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bill, many changes were ordered in the conduct of the various government departments. One provision requires that the work of addressing, wrapping, mailing and otherwise dispatching government publications for public distribution, except maps, order reports and order cards, and those circulars calling for the purchase of materials and supplies .for such work, shall be done at the government printing office. That prior to October 1 all machines, equipment and materials used for such work shall be turned over to the public printer and that all persons in the executive departments now engaged in such work, whose services can be dispensed with or devolved upon others, shall be dropped. Many of the executive departments and other government institutions have been distributing their own publications for years. The Department of Agriculture yearly averages between 30,000,000 and 40,000,000 pieces, and at least fifty persons have been exclusively engaged in preparing documents for the mail. The Department of Commerce and Labor is another large distributer of its own publications. The inauguration of this law will undoubtedly reduce the number of positions now held in doing this work in the various departments, but it may be that a large per cent of these employes may find positions in the government printing office when the transfer takes place.

LABOR MEN RENOMINATED. Washington-As a result of the recent primaries in Wisconsin William J. Cary and Victor L. Berger have both been renominated, the former being a member of the Commercial Telegraphers' Union and the latter of the Typographical Union.

is reported that many coal operators are in favor of the measure and will use their influence with other operators of the State. The bill will be broad enough in its scope to include all the coal burned by the penal, benevolent, and educational institutions of the State. The bill will be included in the list of questions to be submitted by the legislative committee of the United Mine Workers to every candidate on the legislative ticket. The bill, if passed, will mean that contracts now let to coal companies outside of the State employing nonunion. miners will be let to Indiana coal companies. It promises to be bitterly fought by outside corporations which have been underbidding Indiana coal companies. According to legal advice, the bill will, if enacted, pass muster before the courts.

NEW INSPECTION METHODS. Springfield, Ill.-Scientific methods are to replace the old system of factory inspection in Illinois. In a recent civil service examination for factory inspectors, men specialized for different classes of inspection passed. For mechanical appliances inspectors, mechanics alone qualified; for ventilation inspectors, experts on the subject secured the positions, and for structural iron work and all of the other classes, an expert in each trade was made an inspector. Physicians qualified for inspectors in factories which use or manufacture poisonous substances. The chief factory inspector said: "The whole system which is now being put into operation will be scientific. The old plan of merely sending a man to look over a factory and saying whether or not the cogs should be covered is to be abandoned."

NOLAN GETS NOMINATION.

San Franicsco-John I. Nolan, secretary of the San Francisco Labor Council and closely identified with the Iron Trades Council, has been nominated for Congress from the Fifth District. This Congressional district is a stronghold of the union labor voters, and under the recent reapportionment of the Fourth and Fifth Districts are wholly within the city limits of San Francisco. Nolan is popular among his fellows, and it is confidently expected that he will be elected in November by a tremendously large vote.

CANDIDATE FOR SENATOR. Washington-William Hughes, a member of the labor group in Congress for a number of years, of Paterson, N. J., has announced himself as a candidate for the United States Senate from that State. His

petition has been filed with the Secretary of State as a candidate for the Democratic primary nomination. Congressman Hughes is the author of the eight-hour bill which recently passed Congress, and has been active as a member of the labor group in all of the measures advocated by labor.

PARCELS POST PREPARATION. Washington-The officials of the Postoffice Department are getting in readiness to put into general operation the parcels post system on January 1 next, which is authorized in the postofice appropriation bill. The parcels post business will not only cover in its ramifications all systems of transportation now utilized by private express companies, but will be extended also to more than a million miles of rural delivery and star route service. Aside from the committtee comprising members of the Senate and House, the Postoffice Department has also appointed a member of chiefs of departments to assist the committee in working out the plans. The law admits to the mails practically all farm and garden as well as factory products, provided such articles do not weigh more than eleven pounds or exceed seventy-two inches in combined length and girth. The mode of packing will be carefully prescribed. The present equipment of the mail service, it is stated, is not adapted to the carriage of such merchandise, and therefore new equipment will be provided. The law also provides that postage on all parcels post be prepaid by fixing distinctive stamps. It is also provided by law that there shall be indemnification for lost or damaged articles. The question of adequate transportation and terminal facilities for the parcels post on railway and steamboat lines and the city wagon service is one that has to be worked out in order to insure the prompt movement of such mail and prevent clogging. It is believed that by the time the law is to be put into operation all preparations necessary and that slight friction will occur.

EMPLOYMENT FOR 60,000.

St. Paul, Minn.-The superintendent of the State free employment bureau of this State has issued a report covering the year August 1, 1911, to August 1, 1912. It shows that in three cities-St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth-the bureau has secured positions for 59.473 persons. The appropriation for the conduct of this character of work was only $10,000 yet the results shown are highly gratifying.

STEAMBOAT INSPECTORS. Washington-Federal steamboat inspectors from all over the country were in session in this city on the 6th and 7th, and considered the complaints of steamboats regarding navigation regulations. The question of lifeboats and other equipment were given special attention.

COAL PRICE INQUIRY ON. Washington-Sectretary Nagel of the Department of Commerce and Labor has designated Commisioner Neill of the Bureau of Labor to investigate and report how much the cost of coal has been increased to the general consumer in the anthracite fields, to which the resolution of inquiry was specifically directed. It was stated before the House Committee that had the resolution of inquiry under consideration that the anthracite operators advanced the price of coal 25 cents per ton at retail. It is expected that Commissioner Neill will ascertain for what reason and by what means the cost was raised. Another line of inquiry will be to determine how much and in what particulars the coal miners were benefited by the agreement. In support of the resolution of inquiry it was argued that the miner did not get nearly all the increase being paid by the general consumer. Commissioner Neill has already made a preliminary survey of the field, and it is apprehended that a corps of trained investigators of the bureau will begin work immediately to

gather the desired details.

OPENS CHILDREN'S BUREAU. Washington-Miss Julia Lathrop, appointed by President Taft as chief of the Children's Bureau, provision for which bureau was authorized by the present Congress, has opened a temporary office in the Department of Commerce and Labor annex. With the passage of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation bill in the closing hours of the second session of the Sixty-second Congress, the salaries for officers of the new bureau became available, and allows the work of organizing the Children's Bureau to proceed. This bureau is authorized to investigate and report upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life, and will especially investigate the questions of infant mortality, the birth rate, orphanage, juvenile courts, desertions, dangerous occupations, accidents, and diseases of children, employment, legislation affecting children in the several States and Territories, and such other facts as have a bearing on the welfare of children. Three appointments have already been made by Miss Lathrop, a private secretary, an assistant and a statistician.

IS AN ODIOUS COMPARISON. Washington-During the last several months the Weekly News Letter has noted the more disastrous wrecks and fatalities occurring on the various railway systems of this country, the total being appalling. Recently the English Board of Trade issued a report relative to the safety of travel on English trains. The comparison of the English record with that of the American presents a condition of affairs that is as.tounding. On an average only one passenger was killed in England for every 94,700,

000 journeys. This calculation takes no account of journeys made by season ticket holders, so that the risk is really less than the figures indicate. During the first three months of 1912 accidents on American railroads resulted in the death and injury of 5,052 persons, 267 being killed outright.

TELEGRAPHERS IN EARNEST. Washington-The Order of Railway Telegraphers on the Pennsylvania railroad system have been endeavoring for more than a year to secure a conference with the officials of that road for the purpose of submitting a new wage scale and other requests for improvements. The officials have sidestepped and evaded every effort of the committee having the matter in charge to get a conference. Finally, in answer to a recent letter sent by the committee representing the telegraphers, all correspondence was returned to the committee with an evasive reply, which amounted to a flat refusal to enter into any negotiations. The committee represents the employes on the Pennsylvania lines east of Pittsburg and Erie. President Perham has now been called into the situation, and ballots have been sent to all telegraphers in the territory mentioned for the purpose of determining whether the employes desire to back up their demands for a readjustment of the wage scale and other conditions.

MINERS IN NOVA SCOTIA.

Moncton, N. B.-The current issue of the Eastern Labor News, published in this city, carries an article in a recent issue relative to the miners in Nova Scotia, in which the following appears:

"It is not generally known, but is a fact capable of proof, that the average amount received by those dependent on the coal industry of Nova Scotia for a livelihood, is less than it takes to keep paupers in the poorhouse of this country, even less than living expenses of the inmates of semi-penal institutions, and not more than inmates of the forty-six jails in Ontario eke out their miserable existence while expiating the crimes of murder, arson, rape, seduction and burglary." It is figured out that each dependent receives $85 per year to live on, or something like 23 cents per day. In the governmental institutions, aside from penal and corrective institutions, the average cost per inmate per day ranges between 23 and 27 cents.

ADOPT COMMISSION FORM. New Orleans-A commission form of gov ernment, including the right of initiative and referendum, was adopted at a special election here August 28. At the general election in November a constitutional amendment will be voted upon, the carrying of which will mean that the right of recall will also be made a feature of the commission government.

OPPOSE INSURANCE PLAN. Philadelphia, Pa.-Organized labor and the employers of labor are divided on the question of a compulsory insurance law, and both sides will appear before the Industrial Accidents Commission, appointed by Gov. Tener, to draft a bill for a workmen's compensation act. To combat this proposed feature, steps have been taken to have the members of organized labor appear before the commission at its meetings to be held in this city, Pittsburg and other sections of the state during this month and enter its protest against this proposed insurance law. The manufacturers of the state are opposed to any workmen's compensation act along the lines that have been suggested and tentatively drafted by the Accidents Commission. The manufacturers propose to have adjusters appointed to be named by the manufacturers, and they propose to pay 60 per cent of the wages a man has been receiving when he becomes totally disabled, and to pay it for the balance of the employe's life. The fact that the manufacturers propose to appoint an adjuster is in itself a condemnation of the plan, for selfinterest would make it impossible for equitable decisions to be rendered. in that event.

FOR FIVE-DAY WEEK. Washington-At the recent session of the International Miners' Congress at Amsterdam the English delegates proposed a uniform policy of working five days per week, and the congress acted favorably upon the proposal. The date on which to inaugurate the shorter work week was left in abeyance until the next session of the congress. The congress also committed itself to the plan, as a safety measure, to the employment of mine inspectors elected by the miners and paid by the State, the mines to be inspected as often as the men demanded it.

FOR BROOKLYN NAVY YARD. Washington-A delegation of New Yorkers have been in this city endeavoring to persuade the Secretary of the Navy to construct the $15,000,000 battleship recently authorized by Congress in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This yard is the only government works on the Atlantic which has the necessary equipment to construct a ship of the dimensions of the prospective vessel, the Pennsylvania.

VICTORY FOR TRADE UNIONS. Columbus, Ohio-The new constitution of this state, which was submitted to the people for their approval or disapproval, has been adopted by a large majority, save one or two provisions. The campaign against the adoption of the new constitution was vigorously conducted by big business people, and nearly all of the big newspapers of the state. In this particular it is pleasing to note that the newspapers, to a very large extent opposing the constitution, did

not have sufficient influence to turn the tide of votes from the people in sufficient numbers to accomplish their object. Woman suffrage was defeated by a heavy vote, and one other provision is still in doubt.

Some of the features in the new constitution are the initiative and referendum, providing that three-fourths of a jury may render a verdict in civil cases, abolition of capital punishment, empowering the legislature to establish minimum wage laws and exercise a larger supervision over factories, the eight-hour day on public works, prohibiting the punishment of workers for violating injunctions issued in labor disputes, except after a jury trial, unless the offense has been committed in the actual presence of the court; providing for a state printing plant, abolishing convict labor, etc. This gives Ohio an up-to-date constitution and the State Federation of Labor exercised a powerful influence in securing the adoption of the new organic law.

QUESTIONABLE AMENDMENTS.

Portland, Ore.-At the coming election in November there are to be two measures voted on which have been proposed by the Employers' Association. The first is "A bill for an act prohibiting boycotting or picketing any industry, workshop, store, place of business or factory, or any lawful business or enterprise, and prohibiting, enticing, persuading or attempting to persuade or induce any person working therein from continuing such employment, and providing a penalty for violations of the act."

The minimum fine proposed is $100, and makes it a crime for two or more people to agree not to patronize a particular business and to persuade others not to. The title of the other bill is "A bill for an act prohibiting the use of public streets, parks and public grounds in any city or town of a population of 5,000 or over for holding meetings for public discussion or speechmaking purposes without a written permit from the mayor thereof."

The trade unionists of the state are aroused over these two propositions and an effective campaign is being waged in an effort to defeat both.

STRIKE IS AVERTED.

New York-What portended to be the biggest strike in the building industry that this city has ever encountered was recently averted by an agreement to refer to arbitration the demands of the Sand and Excavation Teamsters against the Contractors' Protective Association. As a matter of fact the strike was already in progress and work on the new subway and many buildings throughout the city had been stopped, placing in idleness between 30,000 and 40,000 building mechanics. The strike was for the renewal of an agreement which expired last November, including a slight increase in wages and changes in working conditions.