LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF LABOR,

Washington, D. C., March 17, 1886.

SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith the first annual report relating to the information collected and collated by the Bureau of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor was established by act of Congress, approved June 27, 1884, which provided for the appointment of a Commissioner of Labor by the President, and a Chief Clerk, to be appointed by the honorable Secretary of the Interior, and such employés as might be necessary to conduct the work of the Bureau. No officers were appointed, however, until January, 1885, when, under a commission received from the President, I assumed the duties of Commissioner of Labor January 31, and February 3 Mr. Oren W. Weaver was appointed Chief Clerk. The policy under which it seemed to me best that the operations of the Bureau should be conducted was submitted February 4 in a communication to the Secretary of the Interior, the features of which policy need not be restated. March 11 I submitted for your approval an outline of the first year's work of the Bureau. This outline related to the collection of information relative to industrial depressions, the investigation comprehending a study of their character and alleged causes, whether contemporaneous in the great producing countries of the world, and whether, as to duration, severity, and periodicity, they have been similar in such countries. The outline also comprehended the collection of data relating to the variation of wages in different countries and in different parts of this country, in the cost of living in the same localities, and the cost of production, and, in fact, all such alleged causes of industrial depressions as might offer opportunity for illustration through classified facts. The suggested remedies for such depressions were also comprehended in the outline. March 17, a year ago to-day, you did me the honor to approve this outline of work, when I entered at once upon preparations for carrying it out. Unavoidable circumstances prevented the several

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agents of the Bureau getting to their respective fields of operations prior to June 1, as an average date of the commencement of our work. It will therefore be observed that the first year's work of the Bureau has been carried through in less than ten months.

The countries comprehended in the investigation other than our own were Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, and, to some extent, Switzerland and Italy. Five agents were employed in the foreign countries and fifteen in this, and to those who remained in the field and carried out their instructions I am under the greatest obligation for the faithfulness and the assiduity with which they performed the duties assigned to them. The results of the investigation relating to industrial depressions are not as complete as I could wish to have them, yet they are far more complete than I had any right to expect them to be. The difficulties attending an investigation of the magnitude of the one projected are great indeed. In fact, a line of work more difficult than that selected could hardly have been adopted. The statistical illustrations of the various features of industrial depressions as presented herein. unless otherwise stated, are the results of original inquiry, and these statistical illustrations, taken in connection with others, which are all from most trustworthy sources and from highest authorities, constitute a grouping of facts relative to conditions claiming the fullest attention, which, so far as I am aware, is novel not only in the grouping but in the extent of their influence. The agents of the Bureau have, as a rule, been met with courtesy and a desire to furnish the information sought; yet it should be distinctly understood that if the manufacturers of any locality miss comparative data in the construction of tables on cost of production, or other tables of great intrinsic value to them, the lack is due to their own failure or that of their associates to give the information required. If the tables on wages and cost of production do not present complete comparative data, the lack of completeness is due entirely to the apprehension of manufacturers that the information required would do them some harm, or to their positive refusal to furnish such information. As it is, these tables comprehend about forty industries, seven hundred and fifty-nine establishments, and about one hundred and fifty thousand employés. Of the seven hundred and fiftynine establishments, one hundred and eighty-nine reported wages only, one hundred and seventy-seven cost of production only, and three hundred and ninety-three both wages and cost of production. It is seen then that wages were reported for five hundred and eighty-two estab

lishments, and that the average number of employés for each establishment was two hundred and fifty-six.

The organic law of the Bureau provides that the Commissioner of Labor "shall collect information upon the subject of labor, its relation to capital, the hours of labor, and the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity," and he "shall annually make a report in writing to the Secretary of the Interior of the information collected and collated by him, and containing such recommendations as he may deem calculated to promote the efficiency of the Bureau." With this statutory instruction before me, and in accordance with my own inclination, the matter presented herewith is largely statistical, whether presented in the text of the work or in tabular form. Theoretical discussion has been avoided so far as possible. When speaking of certain influences resulting from the evolution of industrial forces, it is quite impossible to keep entirely outside of theoretical lines, nor is it always desirable, for the conclusions of one who has had the preparation of a report of this kind, and the opportunity to study closely the relations of all the facts presented, should, if impartially stated, have some value, even if they approach a theoretical basis.

Fifteen States in the Union have bureaus with similar duties to those assigned to this office. These State bureaus have been established as follows and in the following order: Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 1869; Pennsylvania Bureau of Industrial Statistics, 1872; Connecticut Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1873 (discontinued 1875, reestablished 1885); Ohio Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1877; New Jersey Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries, 1878; Missouri Bureau of Labor Statistics and Inspection, 1879; Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1879; Indiana Bureau of Statistics and Geology, 1879; New York Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1883; California Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1883; Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics, 1883; Wisconsin Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1883; Iowa Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1884; Maryland Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 1884; Kansas Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics, 1885. These bureaus are located at the capitals of the States named, and their publications are becoming widely known for the valuable contributions which they make to economic science and literature. They are bu reaus distinctly American in their character, although some of the European Governments are now contemplating the establishment of kindred offices.

The law establishing this Bureau, as quoted, calls for such recom.mendations as may be deemed calculated to promote the efficiency of the office. The comprehensiveness of the law precludes any recommendation as to the range of work which may be undertaken, but I would recommend that the Bureau be given authority to publish specific reports, independently of its annual reports, whenever, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior, such special reports might be of value to the public-as, for instance, it might be wise to investigate promptly some great industrial movement and make report thereon-but such a report, delayed until the publication of the annual report of the information collected by the Commissioner, would lose its value. It should follow the collection of the special facts, and at once, in order to possess public value.

I have been fortunate in having the services of Mr. Oren W. Weaver as Chief Clerk of the Bureau. Mr. Weaver brought to the service of the Bureau not only excellent native capacity and ability for its peculiar work, but ten years' practical experience in statistical duties, and my thanks are cordially extended to him.

With the keenest appreciation of your own generous coöperation in the work of the Bureau, and of the kindly confidence which you have always extended to me in the critical work of organizing and carrying out the delicate duties of an office constituted on the basis of the Bureau of Labor,

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. L. Q. C. LAMAR,

Secretary of the Interior.

CARROLL D. WRIGHT,

Commissioner.