RECENT REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR STATISTICS.

CONNECTICUT.

Twenty-second Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the year ending November 30, 1906. William H. Scoville, Commissioner. 303 pp.; appendix, 91 pp.

The subjects of inquiry presented in this report are as follows: New factory construction, 43 pages; industrial opportunities, 81 pages; statistics of manufactures, 56 pages; free public employment bureaus, 12 pages; directory of labor organizations, 19 pages; tenement houses, 5 pages; strikes and lockouts, 45 pages; labor laws, 84 pages.

NEW FACTORY CONSTRUCTION.-A list of buildings and additions erected during the year ending July 1, 1906, to be used for manufacturing purposes, is given under this caption. Location, material, dimensions, and cost of construction are set forth for each new structure. In 53 towns of the State 200 manufacturing establishments reported having constructed 329 new buildings and additions to existing structures, with a floor space of 3,718,065 square feet, at a total cost of $3,742,813.

INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES.-This section of the report presents by towns such industrial opportunities in the State as are not yet utilized. The information was secured from clerks of the various towns of the State, from secretaries or other officials of boards of trade, and from officials and members of business men's associations. Population, area, resources, water supply, transportation facilities, available land for factory sites, etc., of the various towns are given. STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES.-This chapter, devoted to statistics of manufactures, consists of a comparison between like data for the fiscal years 1904 and 1906 for 936 identical representative establishments. The data show weekly hours of labor, for 1906; and for both 1904 and 1906, average number of persons employed, amount paid in wages, gross value of product manufactured, and the percentages of increase or decrease in the items in 1906 as compared with 1904. In an analytical summary of the data are given also, for the year 1906, average annual earnings per employee and value of product manufactured for each person employed. Of the more important comparable data for the 936 identical establishments, a summary of that given for the fiscal year 1906 is presented in the table following:

From the above table it is seen that the industry which paid the greatest average annual earnings per employee was that of carriages and carriage parts, it paying $727.91; while this is followed by machine shops paying $607.19 per employee and woodworking paying $564.60 per employee. The greatest production per employee was in the rubber goods industry, its value being $3,039, followed by $2,928 per employee for brass and brass goods and $2,562 per employee for leather goods.

Comparative statistics for 1904 and 1906 of the 936 identical establishments show in the latter year, as compared with the former, an increase of 8.5 per cent in total average persons employed, of 12.4 per cent in total amount paid in wages, and of 19.7 per cent in total gross value of product.

FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS.-The operations for the year ending November 30, 1906, of the five free public employment bureaus established on July 1, 1901, are set forth in this chapter. Detailed statements are likewise given showing by sex the number and kind of situations secured. A summary of the results for the year covered is given in the following table for the five cities in which the bureaus are located:

OPERATIONS OF FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS FOR THE YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 1906.

During the 65 months from the date of the establishment of the bureaus there were 69,451 applications for situations, 30,659 by males and 38,792 by females. Employers made application for 17,850 male and 38,345 female workers, a total of 56,195 persons. As a result of the operations of the bureaus, 44,925 positions were secured, 16,245 by males and 28,680 by females.

In 1906 there were 41 private employment agencies, located in 13 cities, which were lawfully authorized to transact business.

LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.-Including 10 State organizations, in 1906 there were 511 organizations known to have been in existence. During each of the prior seven years the number that reported to the State bureau was as follows: 214 in 1899, 270 in 1900, 340 in 1901, 510 in 1902, 591 in 1903, 524 in 1904, and 508 in 1905. Organizations were found in 43 towns in 1901, in 48 in 1902, in 49 in 1903, in 47 in 1904, in 52 in 1995, and in 52 in 1906. Following the statistical presentation is a list of the unions, grouped by towns, with the name and address of the secretary of each.

TENEMENT HOUSES.-In this chapter of the report the bureau presents a brief compilation made from returns filed by the building inspectors of the various cities in which the tenement house act is operative. During 1906, in the 6 cities in which the law is operative, permits were granted for the erection of 439 buildings of the class included within the provisions of the law as follows: Bridgeport 152, Waterbury 105, Hartford 99, New Haven 40, New Britain 39, and Meriden 4.

STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS.-Under this head are given brief accounts of the labor troubles of the State for the year ending October 31, 1906, and a tabulated statement showing the date, class of labor, name of employer, location, number of employees involved, duration, causes, and results of 62 disputes-60 strikes and 2 lockouts. The number of employees involved in these disputes was 6,604, with a reported loss of time of 160,344 working days and of wages to the estimated amount of $258,153. These disputes took place in 29 towns of the State, and 40 occupations were represented. The assigned cause or object in 26 instances related to increase of wages and in 5 instances to increase of wages combined with some other demand. Of the 62 disputes, the workmen were successful in 25, unsuccessful in 22, partly successful in 4, while 3 were amicably settled or arbitrated and 8 were unsettled at the time of the report.

LABOR LAWS.-In an appendix to the report are presented the labor laws of the State, comprising those contained in the General Statutes, revision of 1902, and amendments, January sessions, 1903 and 1905.

NEW JERSEY.

Twenty-ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries of New Jersey, for the year ending October 31, 1906. W. C. Garrison, Chief. x, 576 pp.

This report is made up of four parts, in which the subjects following are presented: Statistics of manufactures, 144 pages; steam railroads, 12 pages; cost of living, 21 pages; fruit and vegetable canning, 11 pages; health conditions of the leather tanning industry, 26 pages; apprentice regulations of trade unions, 19 pages; decisions of courts; 16 pages; industrial chronology, 304 pages.

STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES.-This presentation of the statistics of manufactures is based on returns for the year 1905, secured from 2,018 establishments, 1,942 representing 88 specified industries and 76 grouped as unclassified. None of the establishments considered employed fewer than 10 persons each or had an invested capital of less than $5,000. The facts are set out in eleven tables, which show by industries character of establishment management (whether corporate or private), amount of capital and the various forms in which it is invested, value of stock or materials used and of goods produced, number of wage-earners (men and women, and children under 16 years of age) and wages and earnings, days in operation during the year and hours worked per day and per week, percentage of business done of total productive capacity, and character and measure of power used. Two additional tables show for 35 selected industries the aggregate quantities of specified articles of stock used, with their aggregate cost value, and the aggregate quantities of specified articles of goods made, with their aggregate selling value.

The returns show, that of the 2,018 establishments reporting, 1,197 (in 1,194 of which were 68,471 stockholders) were under the corporate form of ownership and management and 821 (with 1,430 partners and proprietors) were owned and managed by partnerships and private individuals. Capital invested (by 2,007 establishments) showed an aggregate of $521,090,460, value of materials or stock used (by 2,014 establishments) an aggregate of $352,715,022, and value of products or goods made (by 2,010 establishments) an aggregate of $588,069,854. The total paid out in wages amounted to $116,805,243. During the year there was an average of 239,113 wage-earners employed, 173,859 males 16 years of age or over, 58,897 females 16 years of age or over, and 6,357 children under 16 years of age. Under normal conditions, the average number of hours worked per day in the 2,018 establishments was 9.62, and the average number of hours worked per week 55.36. The average number of days in operation during the year was 290.13, and the average proportion of business done of total productive capacity was 79.06 per cent.

The table following presents the number and per cent of males and females 16 years of age or over and of children under 16 years of age employed in 1905 in all industries (2,018 establishments) at each specified weekly rates of wages:

NUMBER AND PER CENT OF MALES AND FEMALES 16 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER AND OF CHILDREN UNDER 16 YEARS OF AGE IN ALL INDUSTRIES (2,018 ESTABLISHMENTS), BY CLASSIFIED WEEKLY RATES OF WAGES, 1905.

The following comparative table shows for selected industries, for the years 1904 and 1905, the average number of persons employed per industry and the average yearly earnings per employee:

AVERAGE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES PER INDUSTRY AND AVERAGE YEARLY EARNINGS PER EMPLOYEE, 1904 AND 1905, BY INDUSTRIES.