in the case of skilled laborers generally, many of these made inquiry concerning opportunities on the land, either as "share croppers or as prospective purchasers.

Of the number applying, 5,176 went direct to places where they were employed, an increase of 893 over the previous year. The applicants made their own selections and terms, the Division merely directing them in order that they might reach destination without delay or inconvenience. Only 5 failed to report to their prospective employers.

The carpenters, machinists, painters, pipe fitters, tailors, weavers, and other skilled workmen distributed went principally to villages and towns where they could follow other lines of activity and derive benefits accruing from the use of garden plats and low house rent. Particular care is exercised to direct no one where he might replace labor already employed.

One thousand one hundred and twenty-seven Germans and 1,044 Poles made use of the information given them, as compared with 939 Germans and 700 Poles in 1910. Of the 19 Germans going to Texas, 2 are now engaged in securing land for a German colony to be recruited from eastern cities.

New York State was selected by 2,545, New Jersey by 1,236, Connecticut by 252, Tennessee by 233, Alabama by 136, and Texas by 211. The balance were divided among other States, as shown in detailed tables in the report of the Commissioner General of Immigration.

The Assistant Chief visited the capitals of the States of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan to confer with the governors and other State officials, with a view to securing their cooperation in the work of promoting a beneficial distribution of admitted aliens and others. The State of Ohio has established a bureau of farm labor and with other States is actively cooperating with the Division.

The Southern Commercial Congress, representing 16 Southern States, at its meeting at Atlanta, Ga., on March 12, 1911, adopted resolutions setting forth the need for immigrants in the South and urging the various States to establish bureaus or boards of publicity and information, with a view to cooperating with the Division.

The National Board of Trade, meeting in Washington on January 17-19, 1911, adopted resolutions commending the work of the Division and recommended " the providing by Congress of a larger appropriation, to make possible the opening of branch offices at the various seaports of our country."

On May 16, 1911, a note was addressed to the governor of each State and Territory in the United States, requesting data with regard to opportunities offered settlers. The replies evidence a keen interest

in the subject, and the interest created resulted in a conference of immigration, land, and labor officials at Washington, D. C., in November, 1911.

The applications on file show that thousands could be directed to places as farm workers where, in addition to the monthly wage, house rent, garden plat, fuel, and, in most cases, milk are offered free. The wages for this class of work have risen with the increased demand for farm products. The Division again reports a growing tendency on the part of laboring men to seek farm work as a means of obtaining a livelihood, and, as heretofore, it has devoted its principal efforts to fostering the sentiment in favor of farm life and farm work, which must continue to expand and grow in importance.

DIVISION OF NATURALIZATION.

During the past fiscal year the work of the Division of Naturalization has shown a large increase in the number of naturalization papers received from the various courts, both State and Federal, exercising naturalization jurisdiction. There were 314,484 declarations, petitions, and certificates for naturalization received, as compared with 261,470 for 1910 and 222,727 for 1909. These figures represent an increase of 41 per cent, or 91,757 naturalization papers, in the annual volume of the work of this office since 1909. This has been chiefly true of declarations of intention, 186,157 declarations having been received, as against 143,212 in 1909 and 167,226 in 1910. Petitions reached 72,998, an increase over 1909 of 30,820. The number of certificates of naturalization was 55,329, being an increase of 16,123 over the 39,206 shown in the last annual report and 17,992 over the total of 37,337 in 1909. This increase in the filing of naturalization papers has been general throughout the United States, although it has been especially true in a few courts, due to the employment of assistants to clerks of courts for the purpose of relieving congestion in naturalization matters in those courts.

There are now 2,499 courts exercising naturalization jurisdiction, and during the period covered by this report 64,346 petitions for naturalization were heard and disposed of. The result of the judicial action upon these petitions was the admission of 55,329 aliens to citizenship and the denial of 9,017 applicants, for various causes, among the more important being immoral character, ignorance, both of a general nature and of the institutions of our Government, incompetency of witnesses, invalid declarations of intention, want of prosecution, and various failures to comply with the naturalization law.

In endeavoring to represent the Government at as many of the hearings upon these petitions for citizenship as possible, the natur

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alization examining force has spared neither time nor labor. The services of the 55 men who constitute the full force are inadequate to investigate effectively and to report upon this large number of cases to so many different courts. The force of examiners is not large enough to cope with the entire naturalization business of the country. It is impossible for them to make the preliminary examination of more than a fraction of the cases and to be prepared to satisfy the courts as to the admissibility of candidates.

To cope with the large volume of work thus thrown upon the Division and its field force a further increase in the appropriations should be made to admit of the employment of additional clerks and examiners.

The total expenditures on account of the Naturalization Service during the past year were $224,568.92. Of this there was expended for the administrative force in Washington $43,947.10, and for the field service $149,878.30, which includes $18,448.29 for the assistants to clerks of courts for naturalization purposes. In addition to this the service was supplied with stationery and office equipment worth $5,246.90, envelopes and special paper worth $5,929.22, and printing and binding valued at $19,567.40. The amount received on account of naturalization business during the year for deposit in the miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury was $290,551.52, so that the cost of the administration of the naturalization law was borne entirely by the alien applicants for citizenship, and was $65,982.60 less than the fees received.

It is again urged that provision be made for a review by appeal or writ of error of the decisions of the courts of original jurisdiction in naturalization matters so as to attain the end contemplated by the framers of the Constitution, viz, "a uniform rule of naturalization."

It is also urged that legislation be had to permit the amendment of naturalization papers which have been improperly executed by clerks of courts, so as to prevent the dismissal of petitions which fail in this particular.

BUREAU OF CORPORATIONS.

REPORTS PUBLISHED.

During the last fiscal year the Bureau of Corporations has continued its investigation of industrial corporations and related subjects.

In September, 1910, it published Part III of its Report on Transportation by Water in the United States. Parts I and II, previously issued, had dealt with the physical characteristics of waterways and their floating equipment, and with the domestic water-borne traffic. Part III treated of water terminals, and has perhaps been the part most widely cited and used.

In February, 1911, the Bureau published the Summary of Part I of a Report on the Lumber Industry. This part treats of the standing timber of the country, its amount, its geographical distribution, and especially the remarkable and growing concentration in its ownership. This report on standing timber is one of the first to deal with a great natural resource. It raised questions of national importance, not only with respect to problems directly connected with our timber supply but, by close and plain analogy, in regard to similar problems involved in our other natural resources, such as coal, iron ore, etc. The task of ascertaining the amount, location, and ownership of our standing timber, distributed as it is over the entire United States, was necessarily a difficult one, but the results and the broad conclusions reached are of great value, especially as applied to our past and present publicland policy.

PENDING INVESTIGATIONS.

The Bureau had on hand, also, as current work at the end of the fiscal year, investigations into the International Harvester Co. and the ownership of water powers, and is also preparing further reports on the lumber, steel, and tobacco industries, on transportation by water, and on State taxation of corporations.

The Bureau's reports, while embodied in full in somewhat large volumes, have also been digested in each case into very brief summaries, adapted for wide circulation. This method, presenting the important facts and tendencies of great industries directly to all citizens, is a vital point in the Bureau's publicity policy. The Bureau recognizes that to make its work of real value it must bring home the results of its investigations to the general public. To do this it must not only have broad and accurate information, but also must publish briefly and clearly the fundamental facts in the given industry. It

is believed that improvements in the conditions of corporate businesses have been and are steadily being brought about by the Bureau's work.

CORPORATE REGULATION.

The decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Standard Oil and American Tobacco Co. cases have brought forcibly to public attention a fact that has been repeatedly presented in the reports of the Department. That fact is the imperative need for the positive administrative regulation of great industrial corporations.

The Sherman antitrust act has been demonstrated to be a

thoroughly effective measure. But the mere breaking up of large combinations into a number of separate parts by no means meets the whole question. A certain degree of combination of capital is admittedly essential for the carrying on of our great business enterprises. To control properly such necessary combinations, we must have some administrative Federal office or commission which shall make this work its business. We must have a permanent authority which shall by steady and continuous supervision and publicity safeguard the public interests, and at the same time allow full scope for necessary and proper business efficiency and development.

The recent decisions and the reorganizations which followed have made it clear that another imperative step remains to be taken, and that this step is the establishment by appropriate legislation of a broad system of supervision and publicity for all those industrial and commercial organizations that are engaged in interstate and international business.

Whether this shall be done by means of Federal incorporation, or by a Federal office or commission exercising powers of supervision and regulation, may be a secondary question. The first consideration appears to be the establishment of permanent administrative publicity, supervision, and regulation. The time is peculiarly ripe for such action. Public opinion and the views of many corporate managers are at one.

The experience and information acquired by the Bureau of Corporations through eight years of work investigating such problems will necessarily be of great importance in the development of any system which would, in a sense, be the logical expansion of the Bureau's operations and policy. The Bureau's past work, relying solely on publicity, has demonstrated beyond question what such a system of permanent supervision can do, and presents one of the strongest arguments for the broadening of that system into some such form as is here suggested.