3. Located in city or town of. 4. Capital employed in business. 5. Total wages paid year ending September 1, 1879. 6. Total number of employes, skilled and unskilled, the average weekly wages paid, hours of labor and average employment, as follows: (Blanks for classification of employes, wages, etc.) 7. Number of weeks during the year that your establishment has run full time. 8. 9. Number of weeks it has run half time. Number of weeks it has run in 1872. 10. What has been the average per cent. of reduction in wages since 1872. 11. Has there been a strike among your employes during the year? If so, give date, -; duration, cause, and average loss to each striker, $ -; result, 12. How many were thrown out of employment who were not strikers? Their average loss in wages on account of strike, 13. Are any of your employes owners of shares or stock in your establishment? 14. Are any of your apprentices indentured? 15. Have you special teachers for apprentices? 16. Average wages per week for apprentices for first year, second year, $ 17. As a rule do your apprentices stay the required time to become journeymen? 18. As a rule, when apprentices serve their full time, do you give them employment as journeymen? 19. Are wages paid weekly or monthly? 20. Are wages paid in cash, or part cash, or in store orders? 21. Have you a general store connected with your establishment if so, do they pur at which employes are expected to trade? chase with cash, checks or book_account? 22. Have any of your employes been injured in your establishment during the year? 25. Do you continue the wages, or any part thereof, to an employe when so disabled? 26. Do you know of any of your employes who have acquired a competence by their individual labor and savings? 27. Are there any diseases specially incident to your business? If so, name them, and if possible, how can they be avoided? 28. What is the general health of your employes? 29. Have you a room or rooms specially set apart for employes to wash and change their clothing in, after their day's labor? 30. Are your employes migratory in habits, or are they settled and disposed to remain in your employment? 31. Height of workshop in stories, employed on first floor, fourth floor, ; fifth floor, 32. What means of escape in case of fire? Number of persons -; third floor, 33. What in your opinion would be the result of a permanent reduction of the hours of labor to eight per day? The following is the form of blank sent to employes: Length of time in present employment. 6. Do you work by the day or piece? 7. Average earnings per week, when steadily employed. 9. Are all payments for wages in cash? 10. Has your employer a store connected with his establishment in which employes are expected to trade? 11. If so, how will prices compare with prices charged in other stores? 12. Does your employer pay any portion of wages in orders on stores in your locality? 13. How much of your wages remain in your employers' hands at each pay? 14. Hours of labor per week when fully employed. 15. How much time have you lost during the year ending September 1, 1879? -; (1) sickness, -; (2) inability to obtain work, $ 16. Give your actual earnings for year ending September 1, 1879. 17. Give earnings per week in 1872. $. 18. The reduction in your wages per week since 1872. $ 19. Do you own your own working tools? If so, what is their value? $ sons, 20. Number in family: Adults,; young persons, 22. Wages for year of adults other than yourself. year, as follows: Rent, $- -; fuel, $- newspapers, year, $ -; -; young per estimated) expenses for groceries, $- ; recre-; education, including Total expenses for 26. Have your earnings for five years covered your expenses? respective ages, Give their 28. Do you occupy a whole house? If so, give number of rooms, and monthly rent, $ 29. If not occupying a whole house, give, (1) number of rooms you occupy, -; (2) the number of rooms in the house, (3) the number of families in the house, rooms, per month. ; (4) the rent of your 30. What is the sanitary condition of the workshop in which you. are employed? 31. How many stories high is the workshop? persons employed therein? of fire, ample? How many Are the means of escape, in case 32. Are there any diseases incident to your employment? If so, name them, and if possible how could they be avoided? 33. Has any new machinery been introduced in your trade within the past five years? 34. If so, has it caused less workmen to be employed? Has it caused a reduction of wages? 35. Has any employer in your trade, and in your town, failed in business within five years? If so, is he now in the same busi ness? 36. Has any new firm or company started business in your town, and in your trade, during the past five years? If so, state number of hands employed therein. 37. Has any establishment in your trade, within five years, permanently suspended operations? If so, how many employes were thrown out of employment. Did they leave the town, or become distributed among the other establishments? 38. Do you belong to a Trade Union or other Workingmen's Association? 39. Have you been engaged in a strike within five years? If so, give (1) cause, (4) result, -; (2) duration, -; (3) date, 40. Do you own any share or stock in the establishment in which you are employed? 41. Are there any young persons under fourteen years old employed in your establishment? If so, give number boys, girls, 42. As a rule have the wage laborers of your acquaintance kept clear of debt during the past five years? 43. Do you know of any wage laborers who acquired a competence from savings out of their individual earnings? 44. If possible give percentage of reduction in the following articles, since 1872: Rent, clothing, -; fuel, ; groceries, 45. What in your opinion would be the result of a permanent reduction of the hours of labor to eight per day? Note the year for which the above blank is to be filled is from September 1, 1878, to September 1, 1879. Any of the foregoing questions may be answered fully under "general remarks." "Young persons" referred to in the questions are those under 14 years. "Adults" are all over that age. On October 17, 1879, a second employers' blank was issued, as follows: 7. Total amount paid for materials. 8. Total number of employes in each branch, average weekly wages, hours of labor and average employment, as follows: (Blanks for classification of employes, wages, etc.) (Questions Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 exactly similar to Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 on "employers' general blank.) 14. What is your opinion of arbitration as a means of settling disputes with employes? (15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 same as 13, 15, 16, 18 and 19 on employers' general blank.") The balance of the questions correspond with those on "employers' general blank," commencing from No. 20. The above blank, while in many respects embracing the same questions as our first blank to employers, covers some new ground, and was designed to secure a better classification of employes and to obtain the cost and value of production. It was sent to only a few special industries. A special blank to steam railroad companies was prepared and sent out October 30, 1879. It is as follows: RAILROAD LABOR REPORT. 1. Name of company. 2. Capital represented. 3. Miles of road in operation. 4. Total earnings for year ending September 1, 1879. 6. Total wages of employes for the year. 7. Classify employes and give returns as follows: (Blanks for classification, of employes, embracing every grade of labor employed on railroads, and giving number of employes, average monthly wages, hours of labor, and average employment.) 8. What has been the average decrease of wages since 1872? 9. Has there been a strike among your employes during the last five years? State particulars in full. 10. What is your opinion of arbitration as a means to settle disputes with employes? 11. Do you pay wages in cash? If so, how often? 12. Have any of your employes been injured in your employ? If so, do you continue wages, or any part thereof, to an employe when so disabled? The time for which all these blanks were to be filled included the year from September 1, 1878, to September 1, 1879. Space was given at the bottom of each blank for "general remarks." While these blanks were out, a blank was prepared and sent to every county clerk in the State, asking for information in regard to agriculture, and the possibility of securing homes for the unemployed on the farm and government lands of our State. This blank will be found in Part Second of this report. THE OBSTACLES ENCOUNTERED. One of the very first difficulties we met was the need of a requisi tion on the State Treasury for means to begin the preparatory work of the Bureau. As the law stated that "the expenses of the Bureau shall be paid upon vouchers presented by the Commissioner," this implied that the money should first be spent before it could be obtained. This defect in the law and the small appropriation ($1,500 per annum,) were embarrassing at every step. Thus hampered, it was impossible to accomplish much more than we have. Without means to employ canvassers, compelled to depend upon voluntary answers to blanks, with no power to enforce the law upon reluctants, and stinted as we have been this year in time, is it not a wonder that so much has been accomplished? Next year the same difficulties will meet us, excepting that more time will be at our command. With society as at present constituted, there is an innate disinclination among men against revealing anything which uncovers their private interests or actual condition. And no matter how much the revelation may be shown a benefit to one and all, the same reticence and secrecy are manifest. This has been the experience in all countries and among all statisticians. Time and a higher education may do much to remove this habit, and even now, year after year, the citizens of our country are rapidly realizing the necessity of giving such information as is sought for by this Bureau. Our experience, in many respects, has been similar to that of every labor bureau. Employers and employes, for many reasons, have been reluctant to give answers to questions touching their so called private interests. Some possessed a very vague and shallow idea of the province and intention of the Bureau, and associated all our inquiries with the duties of county assessors; they apprehended that their replies in some manner or other would tend to swell the total of their tax bills. Consequently, they either made no answer at all or else gave such replies as left the Bureau unable to use them. This trouble can only be remedied by personal visitation, or by some effective means that will remove this false impression. Many were the letters of inquiry sent us to learn the exact nature and character of the Bureau. Some workingmen were apprehensive that the ultimate object of questioning them was to effect a reduction in wages, or something equally disagreeable; some, for various reasons, were totally unable to give any satisfactory information; some for want of education were unable to write (the answers were, of course, to be in |