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 "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.

Eleventh-The number, condition, and nature of the employment of the inmates of the State Prisons, county jails, and reformatory institutions, and to what extent their employment comes in competition with the labor of mechanics, artisans, and laborers outside of these institutions.

Twelfth-All such other information in relation to labor as the Commissioner may deem essential to further the object sought to be obtained by this statute, together with such strictures on the condition of labor and the probable future of the same as he may deem good and salutary to insert in his biennial reports.

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of all officers of State departments, and the Assessors of the various counties of the State, to furnish, upon the written request of the Commissioner, all the information in their power necessary to assist in carrying out the objects of this Act; and all printing required by the Bureau in the discharge of its duty shall be performed by the State Printing Department, and at least three thousand (3,000) copies of the printed report shall be furnished the Commissioner for free distribution to the public.

SEC. 5. Any person who willfully impedes or prevents the Commissioner, or his deputy, in the full and free performance of his or their duty, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction of the same shall be fined not less than ten (10) nor more than fifty (50) dollars, or imprisoned not less than seven (7) nor more than thirty (30) days in the county jail, or both.

SEC. 6. The office of the Bureau shall be open for business from nine (9) o'clock A. M. until five (5) o'clock P. M. every day except non-judicial days, and the officers thereof shall give to all persons requesting it all needed information which they may possess. SEC. 7. (As amended, Stats. of Cal., 1889, p. 6.) The Commissioner shall have power to send for persons and papers whenever in his opinion it is necessary, and he may examine witnesses under oath, being hereby qualified to administer the same in the performance of his duty, and the testimony so taken must be filed and preserved in the office of said Commissioner. He shall have free access to all places and works of labor, and any principal, owner, operator, manager, or lessee of any mine, factory, workshop, warehouse, manufacturing or mercantile establishment, or any agent or employé of such principal, owner, operator, manager, or lessee who shall refuse to said Commissioner, or his duly authorized representative, admission therein, or who shall, when requested by him, willfully neglect or refuse to furnish to him any statistics or information pertaining to his lawful duties, which may be in the possession or under the control of said principal, owner, operator, lessee, manager, or agent thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars.

SEC. 8. (As amended, Stats. of Cal., 1889, p. 7.) No use shall be made in the reports of the Bureau of the names of individuals, firms, or corporations supplying the information called for by this Act, such information being deemed confidential, and not for the purpose of disclosing any person's affairs; and any agent or employé of said Bureau violating this provision shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months.

SEC. 9. (As amended, Stats. of Cal., 1889, p. 7.) The Commissioner shall appoint a deputy, who shall have the same powers as the said Commissioner, and such agents or assistants, not exceeding three, as he may from time to time require, at such a rate of wages as he may prescribe, but said rate must not exceed four dollars per day and actual traveling expenses for each person while employed; he shall procure rooms necessary for offices, at a rent not to exceed fifty dollars per month.

SEC. 10. (As amended, Stats. of Cal., 1889, p. 7.) The salary of the Commissioner shall be three thousand dollars per annum, and the salary of the Deputy Commissioner shall be eighteen hundred dollars per annum, to be audited by the Controller and paid by the State Treasurer, in the same manner as other State officers; there shall also be allowed a sum not to exceed forty-five hundred dollars per annum for the salaries of agents or assistants, for traveling expenses, and for other contingent expenses of the Bureau.

SEC. 12. (As amended, Stats. of Cal., 1901, p. 12.) Whenever complaint is made to the Commissioner that the scaffolding, or the slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, stays, braces, ladders, irons, or ropes of any swinging or stationary scaffolding used in the

construction, alteration, repairing, painting, cleaning, or painting of a building are unsafe or liable to prove dangerous to the life or limb of any person, such Commissioner shall immediately cause an inspection to be made of such scaffolding, or the slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, stays, braces, ladders, iron, or other parts connected therewith. If after examination such scaffolding or any such parts is found dangerous to life or limb, the Commissioner shall prohibit the use thereof, and require the same to be altered and reconstructed so as to avoid such danger. The Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, or agent or assistant making the examination shall attach a certificate to the scaffolding, or the slings, hangers, irons, ropes, or other parts thereof, examined by him, stating that he has made such examination and that he found it safe or unsafe as the case may be. If he declared it unsafe, he shall at once, in writing, notify the person responsible for its erection of the fact and warn him against the use thereof. Such notice may be served personally upon the person responsible for its erection or by conspicuously affixing it to the scaffolding or the part thereof declared to be unsafe. After such notice has been so served or affixed the person responsible therefor shall immediately remove such scaffolding or part thereof and alter or strengthen it in such a manner as to render it safe, in the discretion of the officer who has examined it or of his superiors. The Commissioner, his deputy, and any duly authorized representative whose duty it is to examine or test any scaffolding or part thereof as required by this section, shall have free access, at all reasonable hours, to any building or premises containing them or where they may be in use. All swinging and stationary scaffolding shall be so constructed as to bear four times the maximum weight required to be dependent therefrom and placed thereon, when in use, and not more than four men shall be allowed on any swinging scaffolding at one time.

This Act shall take effect immediately.

Stats. of Cal., 1889, p. 3.

An Act to provide for the proper sanitary condition of factories and workshops, and the preservation of the health of the employes.

[Approved February 6, 1889.]

The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Every factory, workshop, mercantile or other establishment, in which five or more persons are employed, shall be kept in a cleanly state and free from the effluvia arising from any drain, privy, or other nuisance, and shall be provided, within reasonable access, with a sufficient number of water-closets or privies for the use of the persons employed therein. Whenever the persons employed as aforesaid are of different sexes, a sufficient number of separate and distinct water-closets or privies shall be provided for the use of each sex, which shall be plainly so designated, and no person shall be allowed to use any water-closet or privy assigned to persons of the other sex. SEC. 2. Every factory or workshop in which five or more persons are employed shall be so ventilated while work is carried on therein that the air shall not become so exhausted as to be injurious to the health of the persons employed therein, and shall also be so ventilated as to render harmless, as far as practicable, all the gases, vapors, dust, or other impurities generated in the course of the manufacturing process or handicraft carried on therein, that may be injurious to health.

SEC. 3. No basement, cellar, underground apartment, or other place which the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics shall condemn as unhealthy and unsuitable, shall be used as a workshop, factory, or place of business in which any person or persons shall be employed.

SEC. 4. (As amended, Stats. of Cal., 1901, p. 571.) In any factory, workshop, or other establishment where a work or process is carried on by which dust, filaments, or injurious gases are generated or produced, that are liable to be inhaled by persons employed therein, the person, firm, or corporation by whose authority the said work or process is carried on shall cause to be provided and used in said factory, workshop, or establishment an exhaust fan or blower, with pipes and hoods extending therefrom to each wheel or other apparatus used to grind, polish, or buff metals. The said fan or blower, and the said pipes and hoods, all to be properly fitted and adjusted, and of power and dimensions sufficient to effectually prevent the dust and filaments produced by the