Sixteenth Annual Report of the Secretary of Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1928

[Sixteenth Annual Report of the Secretary of Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1928]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

I I-1:
SAN DIEGO rUBHC ' IBRARY -----BUSINESS OrPAfiIrnt-NI
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF LABOR
FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30,1928

3 1336 05750 2610
OFFICIALS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, 1928
Hon. James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor.
Hon. Robe Carl White, Assistant Secretary of Labor.
Hon. W. W. Husband, Second Assistant Secretary of Labor.
Arthur E. Cook, Assistant to the Secretary.
W. N. Smelser, Assistant to the Secretary.
Theodore G. Risley, Solicitor for the Department Hugh L. Kerwin, Director of Conciliation.
Francis I. Jones, Director General of Employment.
Lewis E. Reed, Director, Industrial Housing and Transportation.
Samuel J. Gompers, Chief Clerk and Superintendent.
Ethelbert Stewart, Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
Harry E. Hull, Commissioner General of Immigration.
Raymond F. Crist, Commissioner of Naturalization.
Grace Abbott, Chief, Children’s Bureau.
Mary Anderson, Director, Women’s Bureau.
li

CONTENTS
Part I
Page
Administrative units of the department____________________________________ 1
Assistant Secretaries_________________________________________________ 1
Solicitor_____________________________________________________________ 1
Chief clerk___________________________________________________________ 2
Department quarters_____________________________________________ 2
Personnel_________________________________________________________ 3
Disbursing office_________________________________________________ 5
Publications and supplies_________________________________________ 9
The Conciliation Service_____________________________________________ 10
State and local agencies cooperate with department_______________ 11
United States Employment Service_____________________________________ 27
Junior division_________________________________________________ 27
Industrial employment information division_______________________ 28
Farm labor division---------------------------------------------- 28
United States Housing Corporation____________________________________ 30
Sales and conveyancing___________________________________________ 30
Requisitioned property___________________________________________ 31
Litigation_______________________________________________________ 32
Insurance-------------------------------------------------------- 34
Government hotels_____________________________________________l 35
Department library___________________________________________________ 35
Bureau of Labor Statistics_______________________________________________ 36
Employment in manufacturing industries_______________________________ 37
Measures to combat unemployment in Europe____________________________ 38
Wages and hours of labor, by industries______________________________ 38
Cotton gins, compresses, and oil mills___________________________ 39
Foundries and machine shops_^____________________________________ 40
Slaughtering and meat packing_____r______________________________ 41
Union scales of wages and hours of labor_____________________________ 42
Entrance wage rates for common labor_____________________________ 43
Index numbers of wages, 1840-1926________________________________ 43
International comparison of real wages___________________________ 44
Wage studies in progress________________________________________ 45
Industrial disputes__________________________________________________ 45
Collective agreements and arbitration awards_____________________ 46
Retail and wholesale prices_________________________________________ 46
Retail prices---------------------------------------------------- 46
Wholesale prices________________________________________________ 47
Cost of living------------------------------------------------------- 48
Industrial accident statistics--------------------------------------- 49
Safety codes___________________________________________________ 49
Standardization of accident statistics___________________________ 50
Industrial health---------------------------------------------------- 50
nr

IV CONTENTS
Bureau of Labor Statistics—Continued. Pace
Labor legislation and decisions of courts affecting labor----------- 51
Labor laws of Latin American countries____________________________ 52
Workmen’s compensation-------------------------------------------- 52
Building operations--------------------------------------------------- 53
Consumers’ cooperation________________________________________________ 54
Labor turnover-------------------------------------------------------- 54
Productivity of labor------------------------------------------------- 55
Productivity of labor in merchant blast furnaces------------------ 55
Productivity of labor in newspaper printing_______________________ 55
Labor productivity studies in progress---------------------------- 56
Settlements for accidents to American seamen__------------------------ 56
Beneficial activities of trade-unions_________________________________ 57
Health and recreational activities in industrial establishments_____ 58
State and municipal retirement systems-------------------------------- 58
Public-service retirement systems in foreign countries------------ 60
Apprenticeship in building construction------------------------------- 60
Park recreation areas_________________________________________________ 61
Foreign investigation and studies_____________________________________ 62
Publications__________________________________________________________ 62
Labor Review______________________________________________________ 62
Bulletins_________________________________________________________ 63
Bureau of Immigration_____________________________________________________ 64
Immigration statistics________________________________________________ 65
Deportation of aliens--------------------------------------------- 66
Visa petitions____________________________________________________ 67
Reentry permits___________________________________________________ 67
Chinese----------------------------------------------------------- 68
Border patrol--------------------------------------------------------- 69
Fines_________________________________________________________________ 70
Financial statement--------------------------------------------------- 71
Cases reviewed-------------------------------------------------------- 71
Miscellaneous immigration statistics---------------------------------- 73
Children’s Bureau--------------------------------------------------------- 78
Maternity and infancy------------------------------------------------- 79
Child hygiene--------------------------------------------------------- 86
Employment of children and mothers----------------------------.----- 90
Delinquency and child welfare-*--------------------------------------- 92
Dependent children---------------------------------------------------- 94
State and county child-welfare agencies------------------------------- 96
Recreation____________________________________________________________ 97
State child-welfare commissions--------------------------------------- 97
Child-welfare legislation------------------------------------------- 98
Cooperation with Pan American child-welfare organizations------------ 101
Exhibits_____________________________________________________________ 102
Publications--------------------------------------------------------- 103
Distribution_________________________________________________________ 103
Bureau of Naturalization------------------------------------------------- 104
Declarations and petitions for citizenship___________________________ 104
Fees received-------------------------------------------------------- 104
Appeals and cancellation proceedings_________________________________ 105
Visa archives________________________________________________________ 106
Citizenship textbooks------------------------------------------------ 106
Naturalization in New York City-------------------------------------- 106
CONTENTS
V
Page
Women’s Bureau-------------------------------------------------------- 107
Married women gainfully employed---------------------------------- 108
Standards for the employment of women----------------------------- 110
Hours_________________________________________________________ 111
Wages__________________________________________________________ Hl
Working conditions____________________________________________ 111
General_______________________________________________________ 111
Labor legislation during the past year---------------------------- 112
Special studies___________________________________________________ 112
The effects of labor legislation on the employment opportunities of women_____________________________________________________ 112
Foreign-born women in industry-------------------------------- 114
The employment of women at night------------------------------ 118
Negro women in industry_______________________________________ 118
Wages in 13 States-------------------------------------------- 119
Domestic service in Philadelphia------------------------------ 119
Conditions for women in laundries----------------------------- 119
Humidity and absence records in cotton mills------------------ 119
Women in the meat-packing industry---------------------------- 119
Library research-------------------------------------------------- 119
History of labor legislation in three States------------------ 120
Chronological development of labor legislation for women in the
United States____________________________________________ 121
State laws affecting working women---------------------------- 122
Public information________________________________________________ 122
Publications------------------------------------------------------ 123
Part II
Comments and recommendations------------------------------------------ 125
Employment problems----------------------------------------------- 125
Employment survey by Bureau of Labor Statistics----------- 127
Bureau of Labor Statistics---------------------------------------- 127
Industrial accidents in the United States--------------------i_ 128
Immigration_______________________________________________________ 130
Population and immigration____________________________________ 130
Immigrants for farms------------------------------------------ 133
Special industrial needs-------------------------------------- 135
Recommended changes in present immigration law------------------- 145
Wives of American citizens------------------------------------ 145
Fiances of American citizens__________________________________ 145
Husbands of American citizens--------------------------------- 146
Certain data unnecessary on immigration visas----------------- 146
Other changes_________________________________________________ 146
Examination of aliens----------------------------------------- 146
Border crossings__________________________________________________ 147
Conditions at certain ports of entry on the Canadian border_____ 148
Immigrant students------------------------------------------------ 151
Deportations______________t------------------------------------- 152
Alien gunmen__________________________________________________ 153
VI
CONTENTS
Comments and recommendations—Continued. Page
Children’s Bureau___________________________________________________ 154
Child welfare vital to the Nation’s welfare____________________ 154
Cooperation in promotion of child health________________________ 155
Research in the prevention of delinquency______________________ 155
National statistics regarding children____________________________ 156
The care of the Nation’s wards_________________________________ 156
Naturalization______________________________________________________ 157
Certificates of citizenship for all those naturalized__________ 158
Photographs on naturalization papers____________________________ 158
Use of depositions in proving residence_________________________ 159
Residence within the United States______________________________ 159
Declarations in cases of unlawful arrival after June 3, 1921, should be declared invalid______________________________________ 159
Issuance of copies of lost or destroyed naturalization papers__ 159
Survey of naturalization data___________________________________ 159
The enrollment plan_____________________________________________ 160
Women in industry___________________________________________________ 160
Occupational hazards____________________________________________ 161
The piecework system____________________________________________ 161
Married women in industry_______________________________________ 161
Posture at work________________________________________________ 162
• Other recommendations__________________________________________ 162
Cooperation of States___________________________________________ 163
Low wages a public responsibility_______________________________ 164
Conclusion__________________________________________________________ 166
Appendix—Act creating the Department of Labor_______________________ 179
SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF LABOR
LETTER OE TRANSMITTAL
Department of Labor,
Office of the Secretary, IN ashi/ngton, November 7, 1928.
To the Congress of the United States:
In accordance with section 9 of the act of Congress approved March 4, 1913, I have the honor to submit a, report of the business of the Department of Labor for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, and with it reports of investigations and conclusions.
I also submit for your consideration certain recommendations which to me seem important and necessary.
Respectfully submitted.
James J. Davis,
Secretary of Labor.
VII
SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SECRETARY OF LABOR
PART I
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS OF THE DEPARTMENT
The Department of Labor is divided into administrative units consisting of the Office of the Secretary, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Immigration, the Children’s Bureau, the Bureau of Naturalization, and the Women’s Bureau.
The Office of the Secretary is not only the. administrative division of the department but includes also the services directly under the supervision of the Secretary of Labor known as the Conciliation Service, the United States Employment Service, and the Bureau of Industrial Housing and Transportation. The administrative subdivisions of the Office of the Secretary include the Assistant Secretary, the Second Assistant Secretary, Assistants to the Secretary, the solicitor, the chief clerk, the disbursing clerk, the appointment clerk, the Division of Publications and Supplies, and the departmental library.
ASSISTANT SECRETARIES
The Assistant Secretary, the Second Assistant Secretary, and Assistants to the Secretary perform the duties assigned them by statute and such other duties as may be delegated to them by the Secretary.
SOLICITOR
The solicitor for the Department of Labor is an officer of the Department of Justice, and the members of his staff are also employees of that department; but the work of his office is devoted entirely to matters of law arising in the Department of Labor. Therefore, the work performed by his office should be included in this report. The details of that work for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, are as follows:
Legal opinions rendered, formal and informal (memorandum)_ 262
A great many oral opinions, of which no record is kept, were also rendered during the year.
1
2
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Contracts and leases examined, approved, or disapproved__________________ 289
Contracts, leases, forms of bonds, etc., drafted, redrafted, or modified_ 1
Bonds on contracts examined, approved, or disapproved____________________ 16
Bonds, alien immigrant, examined, approved, or disapproved_______________3, 937
Bills drafted and redrafted______________________________________________ 12
Power-of-attorney cards, authorizing agents to execute official and contract bonds for surety companies, examined--------------------------3, 838
Miscellaneous matters embracing everything submitted for advice or suggestion of the solicitor, or for the formulation of departmental action, not included in the foregoing--------------------------------- 983
Total_____________________________________________________________9,338
The above list covers office work only. In addition, the solicitor and his staff have appeared a considerable number of times in court in cases in which the department had an interest. The solicitor took part in the Florida courts in the trial of the border patrol case of Brownlee and others on a charge of murder, and members of the solicitor’s office have appeared in the United States district courts in this city, in Detroit, and in Buffalo, in defense of departmental orders in immigration cases.
CHIEF CLERK
Under the direction of the Secretary, the chief clerk has direct charge of the various divisions of the Office of the Secretary. He performs such duties as usually are performed by similar officers in all the executive departments.
Department quarters.
Since the last annual report the department has been constantly faced with the necessity for providing additional space for the Bureau of Immigration, the Bureau of Naturalization, and the department library; and the increasing activities of the Bureau of Labor Statistics also presents the problem of additional space for that bureau. The efficient limit in utilizing available space allotted has been reached. The files of the Bureau of Immigration have been built up to such a height as to be nearing the danger point; but as these are live files and must be kept in close proximity to the bureau, it is impossible to move them from the building, even though there were space available elsewhere. The necessity for the erection of the new Department of Labor building can not be overemphasized, as this condition can not be remedied otherwise. Request has been made upon the Public Buildings Commission for additional space for storing some of the files which are not so active, but the department is informed that the commission has no more space available for this purpose. The curtailment of efficiency caused by having branches of the department separated from headquarters needs no comment.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
3
The gross amount of floor space occupied by the department has not changed during the past year, although its activities have increased. Situated in the department building, located at 1712 G Street NW., are the administrative offices of the department, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Immigration, and the Bureau of Naturalization. This building contains 87,292 square feet of floor space with a net available office space of 63,994 square feet. The other activities of the department are located as follows: The Children’s Bureau occupies 18,646 square feet, the Women’s Bureau 7,790 square feet, and a part of the United States Employment Service (as storage and file space) 1,470 square feet in Tempo Building No. 4, a total of 27,906 square feet. The United States Employment Service occupies 2,235 square feet and the Bureau of Immigration (for file space) 1,125 square feet in Tempo Building No. 1, a total of 3,360 square feet. The Division of Publications and Supplies occupies 1,402 square feet in the Ordnance Annex Building directly back of the department headquarters, and the Naturalization Service occupies 864 square feet in the Walker Building, 462 Louisiana Avenue. The Bureau of Industrial Housing and Transportation occupies 4,634 square feet of space in the Maltby Building, 200 New Jersey Avenue NW. The total floor space occupied by the department in all its activities in'Washington is approximately 132,000 square feet gross, and this is not sufficient for its needs.
Personnel.
Officials and employees.—There was an increase of 173 employees in the department on June 30, 1928, as compared with the number of employees in 1927. This increase was mainly in the Immigration Service, occasioned by the enlargement of the patrol force of that service, 157 being added. There were small increases as follows: In the Naturalization Service, 16; Children’s Bureau, 14; Labor Statistics, 9; and Women’s Bureau, 3. The United States Employment Service shows a decrease of 21 and the Conciliation Service a reduction of 5.
Of the total number of employees in the department (4,167), 644 are employed in the District of Columbia and 3,523 in the field services. There are 213 employees (not included in the above figures) in the United States Housing Corporation, 71 less than the number on the rolls on June 30, 1927.
The total of 4,167 includes 427 who are employed at the nominal compensation of $1 per annum. Of this number, 239 are in the United States Employment Service, 98 in the Children’s Bureau, 55 in the Immigration Service, 28 in the Division of Conciliation, and 7 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
4
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Number of officials and employees of the Department of Labor, July 1, 1928, as compared with July 1, 1921
Bureau or office July 1, 1928 July 1, 1927 Increases (+) or decreases (-)
In District of Columbia Outside District of Columbia Total
Office of the Secretary 93 93 93
Conciliation Service.'- 4 i 64 68 2 73 -5'
Bureau of Labor Statistics .. . 125 8 7 132 4 123 +9
Children’s Bureau.. 129 8 110 239 6 225 +14
Immigration _ 154 7 2, 722 2, 876 8 2 719 +'157
Naturalization ._ _ _ 83 ' 280 ' 363 347 +16
United States Employment Service 13 9 340 353 io 374 -21
Women’s Bureau 43 43 40 +3
Total . 644 3, 523 4,167 3 994 +173
United States Housing Corporation 202 11 213 284 -71
1 Includes 28 at $1 per annum.
2 Includes 31 at $1 per annum.
8 All $1 per annum.
4 Includes 6 at $1 per annum.
5 Includes 98 at $1 per annum.
6 Includes 66 at $1 per annum.
7 Includes 55 at $1 per annum.
8 Includes 53 at $1 per annum.
9 Includes 239 at $1 per annum.
10 Includes 250 at $1 per annum.
Transfers.-—-There were 23 persons transferred from other departments to the Department of Labor and 42 from this department to other departments. The table below does not show, however, the number of employees appointed under the civil-service rules who were nominally reinstated in the Department of Labor for the purpose of immediate transfer.
The following table shows in detail the number of transfers from and to the department during the year:
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABCL.
5
There were 84 reinstatements in the department during the year.
The table showing a comparative statement as to number of employees in the department at the end of the fiscal year and at the beginning of the year 1929 has been omitted from this report since the number in each bureau or service is identical on both dates.
Retirement.—The following table shows the number of employees retired and those beyond the age of retirement who have been continued in the service under the provisions of the civil service retirement act; also the amount of deductions refunded to employees leaving the service each year since 1921.
There were 15 employees retired during the fiscal year and only 12 given extensions. There were 268 applications for refund of deductions, the total amount of refunds being $35,552.52. The total number of applications for refund for the period 1921 to 1928 was 2,178, to whom the sum of $162,822.54 was refunded.
Retirements, extensions, and refunds under the retirement act of May 22, 1920, for the period August 1, 1920, to June 30, 1928
Action 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925
Employees retired 26 13 17 12 13
Extensions 20 5 12 10 10
Applications for refund 168 219 241 235 341
Total 214 237 270 257 364
Amounts refunded $2,021.35 $8,464.43 $13,398.46 $16,579. 69 $21,663.33
Action
1926
1927 1928 Total
Employees retired____
Extensions___________
Applications for refund.
Total__________
Amounts refunded-----
Disbursing office.
Functions.—The disbursing clerk prepares requisitions for public funds from appropriations for the department. He also pays its obligations and does the general accounting of the department. Naturalization fees and moneys received by the Secretary of Labor from aliens in lieu of bonds are accounted for by him. Under the operation of the immigration permit fee system during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, approximately 137,893 remittances, aggregating $413,679.03, were received, as against 121,167 remittances, aggregating $363,501.12, handled during the preceding fiscal year.
Appropriations.—For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, the appropriations by Congress to the department and its services were as follows:
6 ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Salaries, Office of the Secretary______________________________ $186, 000. 00
Salaries and expenses, commissioners of conciliation____________ 210, 000. 00
Contingent expenses______________________________________________ 57, 200. OO
Rent------------------------------------------------------------- 68, 000. 00
Printing and binding-------------------------------------------- 205, 000. 00
Salaries, Bureau of Labor Statistics____________________________ 220, 000. 00
Miscellaneous expenses, Bureau of Labor Statistics_______________ 80, 000. 00
Salaries, Bureau of Immigration__________________________________ 91, 840. 00
Expenses of regulating immigration_____________________________ 1 6, 571, 500. 00
Immigration stations___________________________________________ 50, 000. 00
Salaries, Bureau of Naturalization_____________________________ 98, 000. 00
Miscellaneous expenses, Bureau of Naturalization_______________ 656, 000. 00
Salaries, Children’s Bureau____________________________________ 105, 000. 00
Investigation of child welfare, ■ Children’s Bureau____________ 135,000.00
General expenses, Children’s Bureau—:__________________________ 60, 000. 00
Promotion of welfare and hygiene of maternity and infancy______ 1, 040. 622. 00
Administrative expenses, welfare and hygiene of maternity and
Infancy------------------------------------------------------ 50, 354. 00
Salaries and expenses, Women’s Bureau__________________________ 100, 000. 00
Employment Service_____________________________________________ 200, 000. 00
Claims for damages, act December 28, 1922______________________ 35. 97
International exposition at Seville, Spain_____________________ 5,000.00
10,189, 551. 97
Under the provisions of the act approved May 22, 1920 (41 Stat. L. 614),the following amounts were paid from the appropriations for the Department of Labor and placed to the credit of the civil-service retirement and disability fund in the Treasury Department:
Salaries, Office of the Secretary______________________________ $5,110. 55
Salaries and expenses, commissioners of conciliation___________ 611. 66
Salaries, Bureau of Labor Statistics___________________________ 7, 644. 61
Miscellaneous expenses, Bureau of Labor Statistics_____________ 510. 96
Salaries, Bureau of Immigration________________________________ 2, 932.19
Expenses of regulating immigration_____________________________ 165, 408. 79
Salaries, Bureau of Naturalization_____________________________ 3,128.17
Miscellaneous expenses, Bureau of Naturalization_______________ 19, 214. 36
Salaries, Children’s Bureau____________________________________ 3, 383. 42
General expenses, Children’s Bureau____________________________ 197. 75
Investigation of child welfare, Children’s Bureau______________ 3, 773. 28
Administrative expenses, welfare and hygiene of maternity and
infancy------------------------------------------------------ 1, 080. 39
United States Employment Service_______________________________ 211. 64
Salaries and expenses, Women’s Bureau__________________________ 2, 595.10
215, 802. 87
Expenditures.—The expenditures (which do not include pending obligations), arranged according to items of appropriation, were as follows:
1 $13,500 deducted and transferred to contingent expenses.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR 7
Office of the Secretary:
Salaries, _____________________________________________________ $7,768. 67
Salaries, 1928---------------------------------------------- 477» 422121
Contingent expenses, 1926----------------------------------------- 8- 55
Contingent expenses, 1927----------------------------------- 8> 509. 23
Contingent expenses, 1928--------------------------------- 56,379. 64
Salaries and expenses, commissioners of conciliation, 1926---------- 3. 00
Salaries and expenses, commissioners of conciliation, 1927----- 13, 669. 26
Salaries and expenses, commissioners of conciliation, 1928---- 186, 347. 30
x Rent, 1927____________________________________-_____________ 2’ 00
Rent, 1928_____________________________________________________ 62> 333- 33
Printing and binding, 1927------------------------------------- 82> 8^5. 69
Printing and binding, 1928------------------------------------ 123, 705. 33
International exposition at Seville, Spain, 1928---------------- 1, 470.00
Claims for damages, act Dec. 28, 1922----------------------- 35. 97
722, 518.18
Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Salaries, 1927-------------------------------------------------- 8> 882-
Salaries, 1928----------------------------------------------- 293,924- 49
Miscellaneous expenses, 1927------------------------------------ 6, 362. 87
Miscellaneous expenses, 1928----------------------------------— 99, 894. 41
288,164. 65
Bureau of Immigration:
Salaries, 1927_____________________________________________ 3,700.22
Salaries, 1928--------------------------------------------- 84, 396.18
Expenses of regulating immigration, 1926------------------- 6, 237. 31
Expenses of regulating immigration, 1927------------------- 299, 055. 22
Expenses of regulating immigration, 1928------------------- 5, 840,165. 26
Immigration stations, 1927--------------------------------- 5,156. 79
Immigration stations, 1928--------------------------------- 23, 772.97
6, 262, 483. 95
Bureau of Naturalization:
Salaries, 1927________________________________________________ 3, 97°- 72
Salaries, 1928------------------------------------------------ 87»937, 29
Miscellaneous expenses, 1926---------------------------------- 3. 96
Miscellaneous expenses, 1927---------------------------------- 31, 647. 61
Miscellaneous expenses, 1928---------------------------------- 588,087.78
711,647.27
Children’s Bureau:
Salaries, 1927_________________________________________________ 4> 225- 88
Salaries, 1928------------------------------------------------- 9^, 806. 99
General expenses, 1926----------------------------------------- 5. 54
General expenses, 1927----------------------------------------- 4> "1- 44
General expenses, 1928----------------------------------------- 36,188. 73
Investigation of child welfare, 1927--------------------------- 9, 052. 08
Investigation of child welfare, 1928--------------------------- 115, 033. 80
Administrative expenses, welfare and hygiene of maternity and infancy--------------------------------------------------- 55,125.03
317, 339.16
8
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Women’s Bureau:
Salaries Salaries
and expenses, 1927. and expenses, 1928.
Service:
Employment
Employment Service, 1926.
Employment Service, 1927.
Employment Service, 1928.
$5, 331. 43
90, 998. 43
96, 329. 86
2. 50
12, 033. 01
182,170. 76
194, 206. 27
Grand total.
8, 592, 689. 34
In addition to the disbursements by the disbursing clerk, the following expenditures on behalf of the department were specifically made:
By special disbursing agents for the Immigration Service (esti-
mated)----------------------------------------------------$146,375.74
Claims settled by the Office of the Comptroller General______ 64, 097. 27
210,473. 01
Miscellaneous receipts.—The following receipts from miscellaneous sources have been recorded during the year: Bureau of Immigration. Head tax________________________________________________
Fines______________________________________________
Collections for permits to reenter the United States. Forfeiture of bonds________________________________
Coin box collections_______________________________
Sales of exclusive privileges______________________
Sales of Government property_______________________
Miscellaneous collections__________________________
$3, 231, 792. 70
203,171. 78
374,124. 00
148, 323. 90
319.07
1,166. 00
263. 78
248. 33
3, 959, 409. 56
960, 563.46
2, 063. 07
2, 021. 54
$454. 24
497.00
13.00
987.79
69. 51
Bureau of Naturalization.
Naturalization fees_________
Children’s Bureau.
Interest on public deposits.
Total receipts------------------------------------------- 4, 922, 036.09
Unexpended I)(fiances.—In accordance with the act of Congress of June 20, 1874 (18 Stat. L. 110, 111), the following unexpended balances of appropriations and repayments thereto were covered into the surplus fund of the Treasury Department June 30, 1928:
Contingent expenses, Department of Labor, 1926___________
Salaries and expenses, commissioners of conciliation, 1926. Employment Service, Department of Labor, 1926____________
Miscellaneous expenses, Bureau of Naturalization, 1926___
General expenses, Children’s Bureau, 1926________________
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR 9
PUBLICATIONS AND SUPPLIES
Printwig and binding.—Apportionment of the departments appropriation of $205,000 was as follows:
Office of the Secretary____________________________________________ $8, 500
Bureau of Labor Statistics----------------------------------------- 86, 500
Bureau of Immigration---------------------------------------------- 5, 000
Immigration Service--------------•_-------------------------------- 21, 500
Binding manifests______________________________________________ 2, 500
Children’s Bureau___________________________________________________ 44, 500
Bureau of Naturalization_____________________________________________ 2, 000
Naturalization Service and examiners_______________________________ 11,000
Women’s Bureau______________________________________________________ 12, 000
Employment Service___________________________________________________ 9, 500
Reserve______________________________________________________________ 2, 000
Total__________________________________________________________ 205, 000
Requisitions aggregating $204,549.81, drawn against the printing appropriation for 1928, were sent to the Government Printing Office. On June 30, 1928, bills had been submitted for $131,584.25, leaving an estimated cost for the completion of pending requisitions of $72,965.56. Requisitions were also sent to the Government Printing Office for the United States Housing Corporation covering $520.43.
During the year 1,404 requisitions were sent to the Government Printing Office, as compared with 1,438 in 1927, a decrease of 34.
Requisitions to the number of 467 were received for printed stationery during the year, of which 167 were for offices and bureaus-within the department and 300 for services outside the District of Columbia.
Envelopes.—During the fiscal year 1928, 532 orders calling for 5,262,917 envelopes were placed with the contractors at a cost of $8,237.12, as compared with 373 orders calling for 4,867,716 envelopes at a cost of $8,055.94 in 1927.
Work performed by the employees of the editorial and proofreading section consisted of 22,679 folios forwarded to the Government Printing Office; 2,317 galley proofs received, 2,234 returned; 8,380 page proofs received and 9,263 returned. Proofs of 102 forms were received and returned.
Books and blanks —There were received from the field services and bureaus during the year 5,265 requisitions for books and blanks, of which 3,776 were from clerks of courts; 249 from naturalization examiners; and 959 from the Immigration Service, Employment Service, and the Customs Service. The bureaus in Washington submitted 272 requisitions.
The Customs Service was sent 197 blank books and 13,400 blank forms; Immigration Service, 10,008 books and 4,090,467 blank forms \ other services, including clerks of courts, 6,230,290 blank forms.
16151—28----2
10
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Receipts and shipments.—Receipts consisted of 2,563 packages of supplies weighing 75,794 pounds and 20,817 packages of books and blanks weighing 187,578 pounds, an aggregate of 23,380 packages weighing 263,552 pounds.
Shipments of supplies by freight, express, and mail covered 3,696 parcels, weighing 343,668 pounds. Blank books and blanks weighing 210,688 pounds were shipped in 10,124 packages, while 40,825 letters, invoices, etc., weighed 2,042 pounds. Total shipments for the year aggregated 556,398 pounds.
Duplicating work.—In the duplicating section there were 1,459 mimeograph requisitions calling for 2,521 pages, on which there were used 2,428 stencils with an aggregate number of printed sheets of 1,906,190; 513,998 envelopes were addressed, 475,380 sheets were folded, and 665 photostat copies were made.
Distribution of publications.—On mail lists there were distributed 533,233 publications of the bureaus and offices; on franks 1,439,828, totaling 1,973,061. The total number of franks handled was 371,926.
Supplies.—During the fiscal year 1927 the stock on the shelves of the department carried for issue to bureaus, offices, and services on requisition had decreased from $16,988.62 to $14,569.34. It was possible in the fiscal year 1928 to recover this loss, there being on hand on June 30, 1928, $17,255.08. The activities of the supply section is reported as 2,683 requisitions received, against 2,168 in 1927; 3,825 supply orders were written as against 2,806, an increase of 1,019 orders, or more than 33 per cent. The number of items covered by the above orders was 5,858 as against 4,075 in 1927. The total expenditure for these orders was $135,013.33. The contingent fund of the department, increased by $13,500 for the use of the immigration field service, amounted to $57,200. Of this amount, $55,383.32 was expended, leaving a balance on hand of $1,816.68.
THE CONCILIATION SERVICE
Hugh L. Kerwin, Director
Representatives of the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor are continually striving to establish the principle of harmony and cooperation in American industry. The Nation’s social and industrial welfare depends in large measure on good will and amicable relations between the men and management engaged in the Nation’s productive enterprises.
Experience in handling trade disputes demonstrates that there is no industrial controversy which can not be peacefully settled if the contending interests meet in conference and dispassionately consider the existing differences. It is unfortunate that the public has to witness a situation where a mine, mill, or factory is closed by
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
11
strike or lockout while operatives and management bitterly contest the issues or differences which in most instances could have been satisfactorily adjusted through negotiation and conciliation while business continued.
The chief aim of industry is production, with satisfactory earnings for both employers and workers. Employer and employee both are benefited by cooperative effort, and the public also has a real and permanent stake in the unbroken operation of its industry. Disturbed relations in any business enterprise thus affect adversely all elements of society.
While the Conciliation Service is grateful that it is being called upon more and more to adjust in ending misunderstandings and conflicts between workers and employers, it is even more vitally interested in the work of preventing strikes and lockouts. In other words, while curative measures are important, prevention is even more so. The policy of this Federal service is directed toward the maintenance of peace in industry through negotiation and joint conference.
The intention of Congress in creating the Department of Labor was clearly to the end that such a mediatory policy should be the basis of the conciliation work. The language of that part of the organic act pertaining to this service simply provides that “The Secretary of Labor is authorized to act as mediator, or to appoint commissioners of conciliation in industrial disputes whenever in his judgment the interests of industrial peace may require it to be done.”
In carrying out the intention of Congress it has been the general policy to respond promptly to any calls for the good offices of the representatives of the Conciliation Service from either employers, employees, or from the public affected by any industrial dispute.
State and local agencies cooperate with department.
In the handling of trade disputes representatives of the service cooperate freely with State or local agencies or committees. In many cases Federal commissioners assigned to a trade dispute have found local committees or agencies using their good offices in an effort to terminate the controversy. In such instances the commissioners of conciliation have cooperated with the local agencies. No set method can be outlined to guide mediators in their work. They are constantly confronted with varying conditions and diverse views in practically every individual case. Each situation must be handled as a case peculiar to itself. It often happens that a conciliator must use different methods in handling trade disputes arising in the same industry and in the same locality in order to accomplish the desired result of bringing the disputants into conference and thereafter striving to bring about a meeting of minds that will result in a satisfactory agreement being reached.
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Giving advice, suggesting methods, and volunteering ideas by conciliators also have proved to be of benefit in plants and factories, in addition to their actual duties of acting as industrial peacemakers. Such services have been helpfully rendered whenever request has been made by the parties whose interests were in conflict. In this way full benefits accruing to the relationship between men and managers in American industry have been brought forth from the American spirit of cooperation, understanding, and good will, all of which are the aim and purpose of the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor.
During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, conciliators were assigned to 478 industrial disputes; of this number 307 were settled directly by the commissioners, 53 cases were pending at the end of the fiscal year, 57 cases were recorded as “unable to adjust ” and 61 cases are carried as “unclassified.” The latter designation implies that settlement was immediately effected by the parties directly interested; the commissioner arrived after agreement was reached; or the case referred for conciliation did not warrant services of representative. In some cases plants were permanently closed, or the workers had gone elsewhere, and so on. In addition to the cases arising during the time covered by this report, 13 cases coming over from previous years were also adjusted.
Cases reported from various States during the fiscal year 1928, by months
July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June Total
Arizona 1 1
California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia. 2 1 2 3 1 2 11
1 1 1 3
1 — 1 — 2 — 2 1 1 1 5 1 12 3
Illinois 3 6 2 4 1 2 2 2 2 5 29
ludiana 1 2 — 4 6 3 4 1 2 5 3 31
Iowa Kentucky Maine Maryland 1 — 1 3 3 1 1 3 2 15
— 2 1 2 4 4
1 1 4 6
Massachusetts ... 5 5 3 3 3 3 4 3 6 5 3 5 48
Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana 1 1 1 3
2 4 6
4 1 2 1 2 10

New Hampshire New Jersey 6 3 1 5 1 1 2 2 4 4 6 4 1 4 36
New York 6 8 6 10 6 9 5 9 6 9 9 8 91
North Carolina 1 1 2
Ohio 2 2 4 1 2 1 3 3 6 2 26
Oregon Pennsylvania 1 10 1 10 9 12 1 5 5 4 1 2 5 8 13 11 4 9 93
Rhode Island 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 9
Tennessee Texas Washington West Virginia Wisconsin.... 2 5 7
1 1 2
1 1 2 1 2 7
1 1 2
1 2 3
United States. 43 41 29 42 44 27 28 33 37 57 54 43 478
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Summary of workers affected, by months
Month Workers affected Month Workers affected

Directly Indirectly Directly Indirectly
1927 July 20,407 15,248 9,018 11,214 12,411 15,100 3,788 3,167 1,983 16,398 8,920 29,571 1928 January 9,846 15,444 19,064 42,987 23,026 11,386 7,855 3,929 3,803 49,441 5,518 12,504
August February
September March
October April
November May
December June
Total
205,151 146,877

Summary of cases, 1914-1928
Cases 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928
Number 33 42 227 378 1,217 1,789 802 457 370 534 544 559 551 545 478
Adjusted 28 26 178 248 865 1,223 596 338 266 428 346 392 377 395 307
Unable to adjust- 5 10 22 47 71 111 96 48 41 27 62 64 61 57 57
Fending 5 21 42 7 13 9 24 31 60 67 42 43 24 53
Unclassified 1 6 41 66 214 101 47 32 19 69 61 70 69 61
Cases pending at end of last fiscal year and now adjusted, 13.
Total number of adjustments, 320.
The following cases show some very interesting and typical situations and will present a general idea of the work of conciliation and mediation. These have been selected from the many industrial controversies on which the representatives of the Federal Conciliation Service were engaged during the fiscal year:
Carpenters, Scranton, Pa.—A strike of carpenters which directly affected many other crafts in the building trades occurred in April, 1928, in the city of Scranton, Pa. Commissioner Homer J. Brown was assigned to the case in cooperation with Mediator Louis G. Hines, of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
Contracts estimated to cost upward of $3,000,000, involving the erection of a Masonic temple and a parochial school, were affected. The refusal of the contractor to sign a union agreement was the cause of the strike. He welcomed the entrance of the conciliators into the case, however, and expressed a willingness to cooperate in a settlement of the dispute. It developed that while the general contractor was unwilling to sign an agreement, nevertheless he was ready to employ all union mechanics at the prevailing union scale of wages, hours, and working conditions.. In the circumstances it was suggested, in order to arrive at a settlement and to provide for harmony and cooperation between the building trades council and the employing firm, that letters from each of these parties be addressed to the representatives of both the Federal and State Labor Departments, which would serve in lieu of agreements, and in fact be fully and equally binding on both parties thereto.
This proposal was acceptable to the employer and to the various members of the building trades. The letters to the Federal and State Labor Departments were therefore drawn up, as a substitute for a written agreement, and were witnessed by representatives of the two governmental agencies and forwarded to Washington, D. C., and to Harrisburg, Pa., for record.
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Hudson Coal Co., Larksville, Pa.—A strike, of 3,000 anthracite miners employed by the Hudson Coal Co., at Larksville, near Plymouth, Pa., occurred on April 10, 1928. Commissioner Thomas Davis took up the case in an endeavor to bring about a settlement.
It developed that the strike was caused by an order of the company to rescind a regulation promulgated nine years previously which had added one hour per day to the working hours, of certain brakemen and which had had the effect of equalizing the pay of these workers with others doing work of similar importance. The workers directly affected declared a strike, and 3,000 miners went out in sympathy. A meeting of the representatives of the miners affected had been called when Commissioner Davis arrived at the scene of the trouble, and he participated in the deliberations. The meeting was a protracted one, interspersed with bitter debates, the object sought being to call out on strike all miners employed by the Hudson Coal Co., numbering 22,000. The strike was spontaneous in character and had been called without authority from the district officers of the United Mine Workers organization.
The commissioner pointed out that if the miners would live up to the rules of the contract under which they operated they could doubtless have the disputed hour replaced or some other satisfactory arrangement made. A further meeting was arranged for 7.30 the same evening, the commissioner being invited to participate. At this meeting he was successful in getting the miners to call off the strike and return to work the next day. The importance of the settlement lay in the fact that a threatened strike of some additional 19,000 miners was averted. Five days after the miners returned to work, at a conference between the colliery committee and the management, the hour per day in question was restored to the men.
Carpenters, Bridgeport, Conn.—June 1, 1928, ushered in a strike of 900 carpenters at Bridgeport, Conn. Demands for a wage increase from $10 to $11 per day and a shortening of the work week from 5% days to 5 days resulted in a strike, the demands having been rejected by the contractors. Commissioner R. A. Brown took up the case for the department.
The commissioner found, upon arrival, that no conferences between the contending parties had been held. He arranged a joint conference for June 9. After a long discussion the contractors proposed a plan of arbitration as the only solution. The carpenters’ committee finally agreed to submit this proposition to their five local unions for a referendum vote. Later, however, the committee stipulated that they must first receive the $1 per day increase and then to submit the question of the 5-day week to arbitration. The contractors declined to arbitrate on these terms. A proposition from the carpenters to return to work at a rate of $10.50 per day and a 5%-day week until April 1, 1929, and then $11 per day with a 5-day week was also rejected. Eventually a settlement was reached, effective July 5. The terms were as follows:
“ From the present time to April 1, 1929, an increase of 50 cents a day, or $10.50 for 5V2 days a week. From April 1, 1929, until April 1, 1930, $11 per day for 5j/2 days a week. The 5-day week to be held in abeyance until all trades receive same, which will be only by arbitration. An agreement for a two-year period with an arbitration clause to settle all differences in the future was signed.”
May Hosiery Mills, Nashville, Tenn.—A strike of knitters employed by the May Hosiery Mills, Nashville, 'Tenn., occurred on February 1, 1928. It grew out of an attempt on the part of the management to impose on the workers the duty of inspecting their own work which previously had been done by an independent inspector. The workers contended that to require them to inspect their own work would very seriously interfere with their earning power,
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owing to the period, of time that it would consume. They were being paid on a piecework basis, and they maintained that the time consumed by inspection of work could be more profitably employed in the production of stockings. The situation was hopelessly deadlocked when Commissioners Charles Bendheim and Hugh D. Friel proffered their services to the contending parties and induced the management to meet in conference with a committee representing the workers. At this conference the matter of difference was thoroughly discussed, and the conclusion finally reached that the management would continue in effect the system of inspection which existed prior to the strike, in consideration of which the workers agreed to accept a reduction in wages of 1 cent per dozen. There were involved directly and indirectly 226 employees, and the settlement terminated a situation which would have caused considerable economic loss had it developed into1 a prolonged struggle.
Miami, Fla., courthouse.—During the summer of 1925, when the Florida building boom was at its height, a request was made to the department for the assignment of a commissioner on a threatened building-trade strike in one of the larger cities in that State. Conferences were arranged in that city between the officials of the contractors’ association and the building trades council, and the threatened difficulty was averted and adjusted. Soon afterwards the recession of this boom took place and the relationship previously established between the two groups was such that with the use of the good offices of the department a satisfactory adjustment of wages and conditions due to the changed situation was speedily and satisfactorily brought about. This adjustment was made just prior to the October hurricane, and such a cordial relationship had been brought about that these workmen in this city rendered valuable services in the reconstruction of Miami’s homes and public utilities, all of which was deeply appreciated by the officials and residents of the city. However, following the readjustment of the hurricane conditions, cessation of work came about on one of the large county projects, due to the use of nonunion ironworkers. The good offices of the department were sought to effect adjustment, and Commissioner H. B. Dynes was assigned to the case. Visits were made to both groups in that city and to the offices of various contractors and labor officials in other cities of the country.
These visits, together with the quiet work of friends among the contractors and the craftsmen, resulted in a final adjustment of the matter in September, 1927, and in February, 1928, this magnificent towering structure was completed, a monument to the county and to the craftsmen and their friends. This case was an example of the quiet but effective cooperation of the department for the welfare of the craftsmen, contractors, and the community itself.
As was remarked by one of the officials of the contractors’ association in a conversation : “ Much has been accomplished by a few men of like minds, working among the friendly interests of both sides, using their good offices to bring about a settlement of a difficulty which has affected the welfare of a community and its interested citizenship.”
Telephone operators, Staunton, III.—A threatened strike of telephone operators of Staunton, Ill., was averted through the good offices of Commissioner B. M. Marshman in November, 1927. This community lies in a region where coal mining is the leading industry and where the miners are solidly unionized. This fact would have had a direct bearing on a telephone strike had it materialized, as the issue involved was the discharge of two telephone operators, one of whom was president of the local union, for alleged union activities.
Upon his arrival at Staunton Commissioner Marshman met with the president of the Staunton central labor body, who called in the two discharged telephone employees and got their side of the dispute. He found that feeling was
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
running high and that call for a strike was becoming insistent. The union agreed, however, to withhold any precipitate action pending effort to reach a settlement. The manager welcomed the commissioner’s entry into the case and intimated that he was anxious for an adjustment and would cooperate with him to that end. He agreed to meet the discharged employees, and a conference was arranged. At this meeting he agreed to reinstate the two operators, contingent upon the consummation of a working agreement between the union and the telephone company. The commissioner then suggested a conference to in-•clude all of the telephone operators, the president of the central labor body, and the telephone manager and his attorney, to be held that evening. This was agreed to and at this meeting the draft of an agreement was submitted. The sections •of the agreement were taken up and discussed seriatim. The conference continued until 3 o’clock in the morning, when everything but the wage question had been settled. The company had agreed with the union on nearly all of the working conditions proposed, so the commissioner suggested to the telephone operators that in view of this they might waive their demands for an increase in wages. After a few moments of consideration the suggestion was accepted, thereby completing the agreement. General satisfaction was expressed by all over the outcome of the controversy.
Suitcase and bag makers, Philadelphia, Pa.—A strike of 900 suitcase and hag makers involving a number of manufacturers of Philadelphia occurred on September 8, 1927. In accordance with the usual custom when a strike occurs in Pennsylvania, the department assigned a commissioner, Mr. L. R. Thomas, to cooperate with a mediator from that State. Mr. Janes A. Steese was selected as the State’s representative.
The conciliators conferred with all parties interested and received much assistance from Mr. Joseph Richie, representing the American Federation of Labor in Philadelphia, asi well as from the management of the plants. The manufacturers were induced to withdraw a contemplated injunction suit and to make a proposition that, the striking employees return to' work at the rate ■of pay existing previous to the strike, then both sides to meet in conference and formulate a wage scale to become effective January 1, 1928.
The union voted to accept the proposal and the men employed in 16 shops returned to work on October 17. Seven shops not controlled by the union continued the strike for a while longer but eventually returned to work, thus ■clearing up the whole situation.
Allen-A Knitting Co., Kenosha, Wis.—One of the outstanding labor disputes of the year was the strike of hosiery workers of the Allen-A Knitting Co., of Kenosha, Wis. About February 15 the department received a request from the president of the Wisconsin Federation of Labor for its good offices in settling a strike at this plant. Commissioner F. A. Canfield was directed to take up the matter.
The Allen-A Co.’s employees number about 1,200 in their plant at Kenosha, where ladies’ silk hosiery is produced. None of the departments in the plant were organized except the full-fashioned section, where about 300 knitters were employed, all of whom were members of the Full-Fashioned Knitters’ Union, which is a branch of the United Textile Workers of America. On February 15 the company instituted the “ two-machine system.” The knitters refused to operate the two machines, whereupon the full-fashioned department was shut down and the operatives advised that they could return to work if they would sever their connection with the union. The knitters declined the invitation, and in a short time the company opened up with nonunion knitters, some being brought in from other States. Picketing Was resorted to, and several nearriots occurred. An injunction was obtained by the company, and, following an
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR 17
alleged violation of same, some 200 strikers were brought into court. A jury-trial was demanded and granted to the prisoners, which resulted in an acquittal of all concerned. This court action had no effect on the strike and only added to the bitterness of feeling on both sides. The commissioner was courteously received by the manager of the plant, but he declined all his suggestions which might lead to a settlement and also refused to meet with-a union committee or to recognize them in any way. Efforts of the city manager, chief of police, and others to effect a settlement were futile. By March 1 the issue had become so. tightly drawn that Commissioner Canfield thought it advisable to abandon his efforts for the time being. Early in May he was recalled to the case by interested parties, who informed him that the company had changed from a “ nonunion ” policy to an “ open-shop ” plan, where union and nonunion knitters might work together without discrimination. However, upon the commissioner’s arrival on the case he found that the company’s plan was to retain nearly all the workers who had been employed since the strike began and thus only a few members of the union could secure employment should they decide to go back under “ open-shop ” conditions. These conditions were not acceptable to the union, and the issues were found to be as tightly drawn as ever. On June 29 a committee of Chicago civic and trade organizations arranged a conference at which representatives of both sides were present. At this meeting a resolution was adopted requesting both sides to the controversy to appoint committees to enter into a joint conference to discuss the issues involved. The union representatives agreed to the appointment of .such a committee and the company representatives! agreed to give the request serious consideration. The case was in status quo at the end of the fiscal year.
Standard Oil Co., Whiting, Ind.—In a joint industrial-relations plan in. effect at the Whiting, Ind., works of the Standard Oil Co. of Indiana, provision is made that when the machinery provided in the plan fails satisfactorily to adjust any question in controversy, it shall be appealed to the Secretary of Labor at Washington, D. C. The company and the employees’ representatives shall then furnish the Secretary of Labor with every facility for the determination of the facts, and, if any employee is found to have been unfairly dealt with, the company shall make such reparation as the Secretary of Labor may deem just.
A question involving change in starting time in the railroad switching department was appealed to the Secretary of Labor by the employees’ representative. Commissioner W. H. Rodgers was assigned to the case to make investigation and to render a decision in the matter. After making careful inquiry Commissioner Rodgers was able to bring about a satisfactory understanding between all parties interested in the case through mediation; hence the arbitration decision was not necessary.
Plumbers and steamfitters, Dayton, Ohio.—On May 1 the plumbers and steamfitters of Dayton, Ohio, went on strike for a wage of $1.50 per hour, this being an increase of 12% cents per hour over the rate in effect during the year previous. Upon being advised of the strike the department assigned. Commissioner Hugh D. Friel to compose the difficulties, if possible. The commissioner held conferences with the officials of the plumbers and steamfitters’ local union and with the labor committee of the master plumbers’ association, and a joint meeting was arranged between the wage committees of the above organizations for May 8. This meeting was held in the rooms of the general contractors’ association, and after an exhaustive discussion it became apparent that no settlement could be reached. The strikers were determined to gain some concessions while the employers seemed equally determined to grant nothing, in view of the fact that no other branch of the building trades had secured an.
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advance for the ensuing year. It became clear to the commissioner that the only hope of an adjustment lay in the strikers modifying their demands and he so advised them. As the local officers of the union showed no disposition to make concessions, the commissioner got in touch with the international officials of the union and induced them to send one of their representatives to Dayton to go into the matter. Upon the arrival of this official another joint conference was arranged and an agreement was reached that both sides should meet weekly to determine the feasibility of granting an increase in wages. Pending such determination the strikers returned to work.
Standard Plate Glass Co., Butler, Pa.—A strike of the 600 employees of the Standard Plate Glass Co., of Butler, Pa., occurred on November 15, 1927. When assigning conciliators to industrial disputes in the State of Pennsylvania a system of cooperation with the State bureau of industrial relations of the department of labor and industry has been worked out whereby joint assignments are made. Commissioner William Robinett was instructed to take up this case and Mediator Louis G. Hines was assigned by the State of Pennsylvania.
The mediators conferred with the officials of the company at Pittsburgh. The statement was made by the company officials that the window-glass industry was in the throes of industrial depression brought about by foreign competition and that if the company was to operate at all it must be at a reduced wage; hence it had made a reduction of 10 per cent to all receiving 40 cents per hour or less and a reduction of 15 per cent to all receiving over 40 cents per hour. The company also stated that it had filed complaint with the Tariff Commission at Washington, D. C., against the price established in this country by the importers of plate glass.
Later conferences were again held with the company officials at Pittsburgh and with the employees at Butler without result, the company maintaining that even at the reduced rate they might not be able to operate unless they received relief through an increase in the tariff on glass. It developed in conference with the strikers that they had already accepted two reductions of 10' per cent each and they protested bitterly against any further reductions.
The strike continued until February 17, at which time operations were resumed on a basis of a reduction of 5 per cent and 7% per cent instead of 10 per cent and 15 per cent as first proposed.
Plumbers, Madison, Wis.—Members of the Plumbers’ Local Union No. 167, Madison, Wis., declared a strike effective April 1, 1928, when their demand for a 40-hour week without a reduction in the weekly wage of $57.20 was rejected by the Madison Master Plumbers’ Association. Commissioner E. H. Dunnigan was assigned to the case on April 17. The plumbers based their demand on the theory that the 40-hour week would yield each journeyman plumber an additional 26 days’ work in a year, thereby reducing materially the period of enforced idleness which they were forced to accept each year. The master plumbers opposed the demand upon the ground that the increased cost would have to be passed along to the public, which already was protesting against the high cost of plumbing work in Madison. Moreover, they maintained that several large construction jobs had been awarded since the first of the year to out of town nonunion contractors, who paid a rate less than that received by the union plumbers, and that this fact was driving the Madison plumbing industry into an open-shop status. They also indicated that unless the pluml^rs’ union ceased its yearly demands for increased pay and shorter hours they would be forced to adopt the open-shop plan in order to do business in Madison.
On April 20 Commissioner Dunnigan succeeded in arranging a meeting of the contending parties. At this conference the association’s committee submitted the following proposition:
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•“The members of the Madison Plumbers’ Association agree to enter into a new contract for an indefinite period under the same provisions as embodied in the 1927 agreement; that commencing April 1, 1929, the pay shall be increased 5 cents per hour, and for each year thereafter an additional increase of 2 cents per hour will be granted: Provided, however, The contract may be canceled at any time after April 1, 1929, by either party thereto by giving the other party six months’ notice in writing of intention to cancel.”
After lengthy debate the association’s proposition was rejected by the union’s -committee. The conference having failed to come to any agreement, adjourned.
On April 21 the commissioner again succeeded in arranging a conference. At this meeting a basis of settlement was agreed to on the following terms:
“A 2,-year agreement to date from April 1, 1928, to April 1, 1930. That during the first year the work week shall be 44 hours, to be paid for at a wage rate of $1.30 an hour (same hours and wages as paid under the 1927 agreement) ; that during the second year the work week shall be 40 hours on all new construction work; and on job work and overhauling the 44-hour week shall be recognized, wages on all classes of work to be paid for at a rate of $1.37% an hour.”
United States Glove Co., Marion, Ind.—-On January, 26, 1928, 200 employees •of the United States Glove Co. at Marion, Ind., went on strike. The facts leading up to this action were substantially as follows:
Some time previously the glove company contracted with a Chicago agency to install an efficiency plan looking toward increased production at lower rates. After the plan had gone into effect it was found that the first five tables involving 60 workers had operated to reduce the pay of the operatives 22 per cent. It was proposed to make this up by what the workers termed “ excessive and killing speed.” After many meetings among the workers they decided to organize to resist the lowering of their wages. After organizing they applied for and obtained a charter from the Glove Workers of America. The operatives claimed, without contradiction by the management, that the latter had consented to the appointment of committees to meet with the management to talk over any inequalities which might arise. However, when this committee waited upon the company officials they were promptly discharged, the balance of the workers going out on strike in protest. The strikers were then advised that they would not be reemployed until or unless they dropped their membership in any affiliated labor organization.
Commissioner Robert M. Pilkington took up the case for the department in an effort to reach a settlement. After many conferences the management decided that they would not discriminate against union men and the strikers were invited to return to work at the same rates as obtained when they quit, with the privilege of retaining their union membership. They were also at liberty to appoint a committee of five or seven to confer with the management from time to time to correct any inequalities in rates, etc. Practically all the strikers returned to work under these terms, although the strike was not officially declared off. Commissioner Pilkington received the helpful cooperation of the State authorities in his efforts to reach an agreement.
Window-fflass workers.—A strike of 1,500 members of three organizations of window-glass cutters and flatteners became effective October 1, 1927, owing to the failure to agree upon wage contracts for the ensuing year. All window-glass cutters and flatteners in the United States were involved.
Commissioner A. L. Faulkner was assigned to the case on October 4, 1927, and was successful in bringing about a satisfactory settlement between the Window Glass Cutters and Flatteners’ Protective Association and the American Window Glass Co., at Pittsburgh, Pa., October 6, on the basis of the previous
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
year’s wage rate, minor changes in the working rules, and a new clause in the contract which provided for an increase in the wage rate contingent upon any increase in the selling price of the product for the ensuing year, based upon the quotations made by the American Window Glass Co. This adjustment was interesting in its important bearing upon the pending wage adjustments of the two other organizations of cutters and flatteners, also on strike, and which subsequently adopted the wage rate thus renewed for the ensuing year.
On October 8 the Cutters and Flatteners’ League of America reached a similar agreement with their employers, the Libby-Owens Sheet Glass Co., at Toledo, Ohio. On October 14 the Cutters and Flatteners’ Association of America, assisted by Commissioner Faulkner, entered into a similar agreement with its employers, the Independent Cylinder Manufacturers, at St. Louis, Mo.
Thus, within a period of 10 days, peaceful relations were resumed between employers and employees in the window-glass industry embracing a territory extending from Pennsylvania to California and employing a total of 10.000 skilled workmen. The various plants involved resumed full operations on October 15, 1927.
Deep Vein Coal Co., Princeton, Ind.—Officials of the Deep Vein Coal Co., of Princeton, Ind., and officers of the United Mine Workers’ Union jointly requested the good offices of Commissioner Edward Stewart to settle a dispute which had brought about a strike in the bituminous mines of that company. The trouble arose over the interpretation of the agreement, which provided that operators working a night shift for cutting coal with machine shall be paid 65 cents extra for each eight hours’ work. The company maintained that the purpose of this section of the contract had been eliminated, due to improved machines which had been installed. The union denied this contention. It was decided to submit the case to arbitration, and both sides agreed upon Mr. John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers, as arbitrator. Mr. Lewis took the case under consideration and rendered the following decision:
“ The umpire finds that section 6 of article 7 of the agreement between the Indiana Bituminous Coal Operators’ Association and the United Mine Workers of America, District No. 11, effective until April 1, 1928, reads as follows:
“ * Sec. 6. The operator shall have the privilege of working a night shift for cutting coal with machines. All men so employed shall be paid 65 cents extra for each eight hours work at night in addition to the scale per ton.’
“ In view of the precise provisions of the foregoing article of joint agreement, the umpire sustains the position of the mine workers and denies the claim of the company.”
Carpenters, Lexington, Ky.—Carpenters at Lexington, Ky., to the number of about 300 laid down their tools on July 20, 1927, when their demand for a closed union shop was rejected by the employing contractors. On July 29 all other building craftsmen went out in sympathy. Commissioner George H. Van Fleet was assigned to the case by the department.
The tie-up in the building trades lasted about a week, when the men who had struck in sympathy decided to return to work. This action appeared to have a demoralizing effect upon the carpenters and a few of them returned to work. In view of the situation the commissioner suggested the advisability of calling the strike off while all the jobs were still available. This advice was accepted and at a meeting of the strikers it was unanimously voted to call off the strike and return to work at the old terms.
Tidewater Oil Co., Bayonne, N. J.—On Wednesday, May 17, 1928, 2,000 employees of the Tidewater Oil Co. at the Constable Hook plant of the company, Bayonne, N. J., went on strike, alleging the failure of the local manage
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ment to fully comply with the rules and regulations of the “works council.” The council consisted of 12 officials of the company and 12 delegates from the employees of the different departments. The trouble arose over the discharge of a pump man and resulted in a walkout of the entire personnel of the plant. Commissioners William C. Liller and John A. Moffitt were assigned to the case and found the situation “ deadlocked ” and the plant shut down.
The strikers presented a series of grievances and demanded a settlement before they would return to work. The company insisted that the men return to work and then arbitrate the grievances through the works council. The strikers countered with the declaration that the general superintendent had created the conditions which brought about the strike and that conditions must be changed before they would return.
The commissioners conferred with the local officials on May 18 and 19 at Bayonne, and on Monday, May 21, called at the general offices of the company in New York and spent several hours in a discussion of the situation. At this conference several suggestions and recommendations were made by the commissioners. On the following day the president of the company proceeded to Bayonne and called a meeting of the workers. Several of the demands were granted, including the reinstatement of the discharged pump man, and with these concessions the strikers agreed to return to work, which they did on the morning of the 23d.
Plumbers, Pueblo, Colo.—Union plumbers of Pueblo, Colo., were locked out on March 18, 1928, when they declined to' work on jobs where certain nonunion workmen were employed. The union maintained that then* contract with the master plumbers was violated by the latter when union plumbers were ordered to work on building where nonunion carpenters, painters, and other buildingtrades men were at work. Every craft in the building trades council voted to support the journeymen plumbers and agreed not to work where nonunion workmen were employed. These conditions had obtained for upward of 30 days when the department took cognizance of the lockout and assigned Commissioner Thomas J. Williams to straighten out the situation if possible.
The commissioner found the building trades well organized in Pueblo, although a number of contractors did not employ union labor. This condition resulted in a number of sympathetic strikes, and the master plumbers claimed that they were losing much work and would have to go on an open-shop basis unless the situation could be remedied'. The plumbers’ lockout was found by Commissioner Williams to be but a phase of a general situation induced by the policy of the building trades council in demanding that all jobs be 100 per cent union or 100 per cent nonunion. He started in by endeavoring to bring about a change in method and system, viz, that by cooperation with the general contractors and subcontractors who were favorable to the employment of union men, all trades would agree to work on all jobs. This, as against the policy of taking union men off the job to be replaced with nonunion men.
In the commissioner’s efforts to adjust the dispute along different lines than formerly pursued, it was necessary for him to attend meetings of all the local unions. While there was considerable opposition to the new plan at first, all of the unions except the carpenters finally agreed to the suggestions. A meeting was then arranged between a representative committee of the Allied Builders’ Association and a committee of the building trades council, all sides being represented with the exception of the carpenters. The basis of a general understanding was reached which opened the way to a prompt settlement of the plumbers’ lockout, and at a meeting between the master plumbers and union representatives the lockout situation was adjusted and the journeymen returned to work.
22
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Shell Oil Co., California.—Commissioners Charles T. Connell and Ernest P. Marsh report continued peace between the Shell Oil Co. of California and its employees under the joint tripartite agreement known as the “ Memorandum of Terms,” This agreement enters upon its tenth year and in that period no dispute of major proportions has been experienced. The Memorandum of Terms is the detailed agreement covering wages and working conditions entered into-by the employer and employee in conjunction with the Federal oil board. It recognizes a United States commissioner of conciliation as the interpreter of its terms when any misunderstanding develops. The negotiations for the renewal of the agreement for the ensuing year yielded momentous concessions to the employees. The 6-day work week was conceded with increased daily pay to offset the lessened number of hours worked. An additional week’s vacation with pay was also granted. The agreement affects 5,500 men directly and an additional 3,000 indirectly.
Pure Oil Co., Newark, Ohio.—On August 10, 1927, a number of men employed in the well-drilling department of the Pure Oil Co., central Ohio field, were summarily discharged by their field superintendent for joining the oil-workers’ union. The Department of Labor was requested to assist in preventing what might develop into an extensive strike of well drillers, tool dressers, and others employed in the field production part of this company’s operations.
Commissioner Fred Keightly was assigned to the case, and, upon getting in touch with the field superintendent who had discharged the men, he was promptly and decisively informed that the men had been discharged for joining the union, that no one could work for that company and belong to a union, that conciliation was not needed, and that the entire matter was a closed incident. The individual contract between employer and employee, in which the employee agrees not to join any union, was also being used by this superintendent.
The commissioner, being of the opinion that the Pure Oil Co. did not indorse such an extreme labor policy as practiced by this man, and finding that active preparations were being made by other employees and their friends to oombat the apparent autocratic attitude of the company, took the matter up to the central field management at Columbus, Ohio, and later to the president of the company at Chicago, Ill.
The head officials of the company took a much broader view of the situation than their subordinate, and after two conferences agreed to reinstate all the discharged men immediately and without prejudice, stating, however, that their action must not be construed as meaning that they recognized the oil-workers’ union. This was explained to the men and understood, and thus, ■ through the methods employed by the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor, an amicable adjustment was reached.
The company and men alike were pleased with the outcome, the officials of the firm expressed appreciation of the fact that they had been saved the unpleasant effects of a great deal of undesirable publicity which undoubtedly would have resulted from the injection into their operations of a labor policy that they had no desire should be a part of their operating program, while the men were pleased to be restored to their jobs under the arrangement worked out.
Parker Mills, Warren, R. I.—In the early part of February, 1928, 500 textile workers, members of the United Textile Workers’ Union, employed by the Parker Mills at Warren, R. I., walked out on strike when a notice was posted announcing an increase from 48 to 54 hours per week. A month later, while the strikers were still out, a. general 10 per cent wage reduction took place in New Bedford and Fall River, and, since the Parker Mills operated three plants in Fall River, the cut was extended to the Parker Mills at Warren.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
23
The strike had been in progress three months when Commissioner Anna Weinstock entered the situation. A conference was arranged by her, at which time the 48-hour week and recognition of the union were agreed on, but the deadlock on the 10 per cent wage reduction still remained.
The situation was made difficult by the fact that the owners had put the reduction into their Fall River mills, where it was accepted quietly by their employees. On the other hand, the Warren strikers belonged to the union, which was then waging a fight against the 10 per cent reduction in New Bedford, and 35,000 members of the organization there were on strike; therefore the Warren local felt it could not consistently accept the cut
Another conference was arranged by the commissioner, at which she made the following suggestion, which was accepted by both the employer and the union: That the strikers return under the same conditions that existed prior to the strike, namely, the 48-hour week and the wage rate that existed before the reduction; that any readjustments necessary be made after the return of the strikers, with a committee of the workersi and the management working jointly. The word “ adjustments ” was interpreted to mean that a 10 per cent reduction in labor cost would be effected either through the elimination of waste, speeding up of production, or the labor-extension system. If none of these changes in any given department were possible, then the workers in such a department would accept a cut in wages to make up the difference.
At the request of the management and workers it was agreed that the commissioner of conciliation meet with the overseers and the workers for the purpose of helping to work out these changes. After the strike ended and before the commissioner and other groups could begin to make necessary suggestions or changes, it was necessary that the small group of employees ■who had worked during the strike and the body of strikers operate on more friendly terms with one another. Great friction had existed after the return of the strikers.
The commissioner held meetings with each group separately and secured their promise of cooperation. The next day, when it was evident that these promises were being carried out by both parties, meetings of the department committees and their overseers were held for the purpose of making such recommendations as would effect the stipulated 10 per cent savings in labor costs.
At the end of two weeks it was found that changes in almost all departments outside of the weave shop could be recommended which would make it possible to save 10 per cent in costs to the owners of the mill without affecting the pay envelopes of the workers. In that department the type of machinery in use made it impossible to make any cost-saving changes.
Seattle building trades controversy.—Following the Seattle building trades strike of 1921. there were no written agreements between the builders and the Seattle Building Trades Council until the spring of 1927. On the first Monday in May, 1927, a blanket agreement covering all crafts affiliated with the building trades council was signed with the Seattle Construction Council for a period of one year. This agreement contained the usual provisions for adjustment of disputes during the life of the pact; that is, joint action by adjustment committees from both signatories with a further proviso that in the event the machinery of the industry failed to adjust disputes, the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor should be given a chance to conciliate or mediate. Should such effort fail, a final arbitration board was to be chosen by the appointment of one member by each side, the third to be appointed by the Conciliation Service with the approval of both sides. This provision brought Commissioners E. P. Marsh and H. E. Gilham in close touch with the general situation constantly, although the relations between the parties at interest were so
24 ANNUAL, REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
friendly that the official services of the commissioners were not required throughout the year.
Early in 1928 the crafts began formulating their demands which they desired to be incorporated in a renewal of, the agreement. Practically all of them asked for a dollar per day increase. The carpenters asked for a 5-day week while the building laborers—not formally recognized in the 1927 pact-asked formal recognition. It soon became apparent that the fight was going to turn around the two latter demands. All wage requests were formally withdrawn by the building trades council conference committee, leaving the 5-day week and union recognition for the laborers the remaining issues. Upon these issues both sides deadlocked for a period exceeding three months, the commissioners keeping in close contact with every development of the controversy.
A citizens’ committee composed of representatives of the large financial and business interests, was again drawn into the negotiations, as -it had been in 1927. This committee held many meetings with both sides. This committee proposed that a fact-finding committee be created to study competitive building conditions in other Pacific Coast cities and to recommend whether or not the 5-day week and recognition of the laborers should be granted. This compromise proposal was submitted to a referendum vote of the affiliated unions and substantially defeated. It appeared that a break was imminent, and the seriousness of the situation depressed the business interests of the city. Seattle, after a period of depression following the death of the big war-time industry—shipbuilding—had entered a period of growth, and 1928 was expected to reach the peak of the city’s building construction.
At this juncture a final meeting of all parties was held and a further compromise proposed, namely, that the 5-day week for carpenters be gi anted immediately for the four summer months of June, July, August, and September, the fact-finding committee to determine whether further extension of the 5-day week was justified and whether the building laborers should be formally recognized. This proposal, also sent to referendum vote, was ratified by a heavier vote than the former proposal had been rejected.
Meanwhile the asbestos workers had become impatient and had gone out on a strike of their own, unauthorized by the building trades council. They were contending that they had not authorized the conference committee to withdraw their wage demands and had not been taken care of in previous years when other crafts were receiving wage increases. Their places were taken by nonunion men. Immediately upon the ratification and signing of the new blanket agreement, Commissioners Marsh and Gilham went into conference with union officials and contractors for heat and insular work in an endeavor to clean up the asbestos workers’ situation. This effort was successful, the union men returning to work to be followed by conferences to consider their particular conditions.
The new blanket agreement has been signed for a period of three years, or until the first Monday in May, 1931. All the old machinery of adjustment remains in force, including the services of the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor written into the agreement. The fact-finding committee has been appointed by the citizens’ adjustment committee and has begun its research work.
A feeling of profound satisfaction exists among all classes of Seattle’s citizens over the fact that the city is assured of enduring peace in this great basic industry for a period of at least three years.
Carpenters, Buffalo, N. Y —In May, 1928, carpenters in the city of Buffalo, N. Y., struck when their demands for an increase in wages of $1 per day were
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR 25
refused by the contractors affiliated with the Associated General Contractors of America.
For many months the building trades council of the city, which is composed of representatives of every craft engaged in the building trades, had been cooperating with the secretary of the Associated General Contractors of America, Mr. Richard O'Keefe, in an effort to perfect a policy under which no further strikes would occur in the building industry. It was sought to accomplish this without arbitration and solely by methods of mediation and conciliation. Each craft was asked to send delegates to meet with a committee of the general contractors’ association each year, and this, it was thought, would save much time which heretofore had been consumed by negotiating with each craft separately. All crafts agreed to this proposal except the carpenters, who desired to effect their own settlement. When it was explained to the carpenters that it was the intention to have them negotiate their own contract, but to do so at the general meeting, they read ly agreed to go along with the proposal.
The carpenters had gone along two years without a wage increase, their compensation being $1.12% per hour. Practically all the other crafts had received adjustments in their wages during this period, and the carpenters felt that to equalize the rates it would be just for them to receive $1.25 per hour. The contractors agreed to give them one-half of the increase after six months and the balance at the end of a year. This method of granting the increase was not satisfactory, however, and a strike of 3,000 carpenters followed.
Commissioner Thomas M. Finn was assigned to the case and within 48 hours after his arrival had arranged a joint conference and brought about a settlement. The carpenters received their increase in two installments and signed a 2-year contract. In a letter to the department the commissioner was commended for his activities in the case.
Shoe workers, Haverhill, Mass.—In the “ Slipper City ” of Haverhill, Mass., the Manufacturers Association and District Council of the Shoe Workers’ Protective Union are parties to a “ peace pact ” which was adopted in 1923 after dropping other forms of arbitration. An arbiter was selected and the expenses of his office were equally borne by the association and the union. The method appeared to give satisfaction until a general wage decision in December, 1926, aroused criticism in certain local unions. Strikes .and lockouts were prohibited by the peace pact, but a group of workers found it convenient to take “ time out? When these stoppages occurred the process of manufacture had to stop when it reached the operation performed by these groups.
Local unions affiliated with the district council held a referendum vote in an endeavor to recall the arbiter. The vote as recorded showed a majority of locals in favor of such a recall. The arbiter continued to hold his position, but he was naturally embarrassed by the opportunity afforded both parties to criticize his ruling and awards. On May 20, 1927, the arbiter announced that no hearings would be held until further notice. In a statement in support of his position he claimed that wages were too high and that the peace pact restricted the arbiter at almost every turn, and he criticized “ dominating groups ” in several unions. He urged that immediate negotiations be undertaken by the parties which would change or abrogate the peace pact.
The recommendations were not accepted by the parties to the dispute. Commissioner Charles G. Wood earnestly endeavored to secure an adjustment of the disputed issues without destroying the existing peace pact. The arbiter was finally cited before the superior court on the ground that the terms of the pact had been violated and therefore he would not be qualified to act as an impartial arbiter. The court supported these contentions and the arbiter retired. Another
16151—28----3
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
arbiter was selected, the final choice being made by a citizens’ committee to which the question was referred when the parties to the peace pact disagreed. The selection did not appear to harmonize the differences, and a general strike followed his decision on the general wage list.
At a subsequent conference in 1928 it was agreed that representatives of the manufacturers and of the district council, accompanied by Commissioner Wood of the department, should go to Washington and request the Secretary of Labor to authorize the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the department to make an examination of the manufacturing costs in the Haverhill shoe shops. The Secretary gave the matter immediate consideration and arrangements were speedily made to assist the parties to determine the questions at issue.
Bituminous coal situation.—At the close of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1927, the dispute over the wage scale in the bituminous coal fields was in effect, particularly in western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and the southwest districts.
The suspension started some months previously, and grew out of a dispute regarding the Jacksonville wage agreement which had been effective from: April 1, 1924, to March 31, 1927. The coal operators contended that they could not continue to pay the Jacksonville scale and compete in the markets. The union miners insisted that there could be no reduction in wages.
In the early part of October, 1927, a temporary agreement on the Jacksonville wage basis extending same to April 1, 1928, was reached in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and the southwest districts.
The strike in northern West Virginia, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and central Pennsylvania grew to serious proportions, and, at the request of the miners’ officials for a conference, the Secretary of Labor invited the coal operators and the miners’ representatives to meet him in his office December 13, 1927. The invitation stated that the meeting would be for frank discussion of all problems and issues affecting the mining industry, with the object of bringing about, if possible, a satisfactory and peaceful situation in the coal fields affected by the suspension.
Many of the coal companies invited did not accept the invitation and were not represented in the conference. Several of the companies in declining the invitation to attend stated that they were operating on the Jacksonville wage scale and had no desire to enter into negotiations with the miners’ representatives. However, the operators were represented from each of the fields when the conference convened in the office of the Secretary of Labor on December 13, 1927. The international and district officials of the miners all accepted the invitation to the conference. The lack of a larger and more representative attendance on the part of the operators prevented any constructive action looking to the development of any plan of settlement of the dispute, or the adoption of any proposal that might be used as a basis to begin joint negotiation to discuss and consider all the ills of the industry. The joint conference was adjourned on the afternoon of the first day’s session, but a committee of operators and miners was requested to remain and with the Secretary endeavor to reach an understanding. In view of the comparatively small annual tonnage represented at these conferences, it was evident that no real progress could be made; and finally, after two days spent in frank discussion, the committee adjourned subject to' call.
The temporary agreement in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and the southwestern districts expired on March 31, 1928. However, some individual agreements were entered into.
In July, 1928, International President John L. Lewis, of the United Mine Workers of America, called a meeting of the international policy committee to
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
27
convene at Indianapolis, Ind., on July 11. This meeting continued in session until July 18, during which time careful consideration was given to the situation existing in the bituminous coal fields. It was finally agreed that the respective district committees could work out their own agreements subject to ratification by the miners. Since that meeting some of the Ohio miners and operators, and a majority of the mines in the Southwest, the latter comprising Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri, have reached agreements on a new wage scale. Illinois signed an agreement with a $6.10 a day wage scale and a 17 cents per ton mining reduction. Iowa agreed upon a rate of $5.80 and a proportionate tonnage reduction. Wyoming settled upon a day-rate basis of $6.72 and a pick-mining rate of 85 cents per ton. Negotiations in some of the remaining fields are being conducted.
On October 18, 1928, the Indiana operators and miners entered into a Statewide agreement on a reported scale of $6.10 per day and 91 cents per ton mining rate.
Miners’ officials report several additional agreements have been reached with individual companies in many districts throughout the country.
UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
Francis I. Jones, Director General
During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, the United States Employment Service in cooperation with the several States placed in employment 1,412,645 men and women. The following table shows registrations, opportunities for employment, and placements made during the year:
July (5 weeks)...............
August (4 weeks)____________
September (5 weeks).........
October (4 weeks)___________
November (4 weeks)..........
December (5 weeks)__________
January (4 weeks)___________
February (4 weeks)__________
March (5 weeks)_____________
April (4 weeks)____________j.
May (5 weeks)_______________
June (4 weeks)_______________
Total___________________
Registrations Opportunities Placed
215,741 155,940 135,874
188,491 142,992 125,110
217, 664 182, 994 155, 954
198,356 162, 286 143, 394
170,719 122, 736 109,092
163,447 108,474 97, 265
162, 062 92,086 82,128
155,667 86,570 76, 627
193,830 118, 767 104, 968
178,906 128,200 111, 737
218,844 168,583 148,256
195,368 137, 716 122, 240
2,259,095 1,607,344 1,412, 645
The major portion of the expense of maintaining the public employment service is borne by the several States and municipalities. The Federal Government, however, makes a small financial contribution to assist the several States, as well as provides forms to conduct its work, and renders other valuable assistance. The United States Employment Service acts as a medium for the clearance of labor.
Junior division.
As no clearance of labor is involved in conducting junior placement offices, it is regarded as a local problem and responsibility.
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
56,116
36,741
26, 037
29,117
152, 875
However, it is a problem of sufficient importance to engage the consideration of the Federal and State Governments. The junior of to-day becomes the man of to-morrow. His future success may depend entirely upon intelligently directing him to the first job in which he engages. This phase of the work of the Employment Service should receive more earnest and thoughtful consideration, so that the future juniors may be better prepared to meet the exacting demands of the world of business and industry. Following is a summary of activities of the 29 junior cooperating offices during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928:
Registrations------------------------------------------------------
Referrals----------------------------------------------------------
Placements---------------------------------------------------------
Jobs registered (calls for help)-----------------------------------
Office interviews--------------------------------------------------
Industrial employment information division.
This division is charged with the collection of information concerning the industrial employment situation existing throughout the country from month to month. To facilitate this the country is divided into nine districts with a director in each. Contacts have been established by these directors in the leading industrial centers of their districts. The information is supplied by industrial leaders, business men, labor union officials, chambers of commerce, and other reliable sources. Through these contacts the district directors are able to keep in constant touch with the industrial and employment trends in their respective districts. The information supplied is compared and checked by the district directors before submitting their reports to the administrative office, where they are carefully reedited and published in the Industrial Employment Information Bulletin. A special edition is prepared for the press, so that the information contained therein may be released to the public as early as possible. The information contained in this bulletin is developed from reports each month on conditions in approximately 590 centers.
A growing demand for this publication by the leading industrialists. railroads, banking institutions, libraries, economists, and business men emphasizes its importance and value to the industrial world. It is furnished monthly to all cooperating public employment offices to enable them intelligently to direct labor to places where there is an apparent shortage.
Farm labor division.
1927 calendar year.—The farm labor division undertakes to recruit systematically and to distribute labor to harvest the seasonal crops. This activity of the United States Employment Service extends to more than one-half of the area of the United States, being confined
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
29
largely to the territory west of the Mississippi River. As most of the labor to harvest the seasonal crops is recruited from outside territory, it is important that careful surveys be made to ascertain the labor requirements in each territory in order that a surplus of harvest laborers in any particular section be obviated, and at the same time that the demand for laborers be fully met. These surveys are published from time to time in bulletin form and sent to all recruiting points.
A daily reporting system has been established by which the central office or field headquarters obtains a record of the daily activities, together with reports of shortages, surpluses, labor needs, wages, and all facts necessary to the intelligent handling of men in the harvesting of the crops. If the available supply of labor is not adequate to meet approaching needs, this information is developed sufficiently in advance to enable the Employment Service to recruit such additional labor as may be required.
The activities of this division are distributed over three districts: The southern or cotton area, comprising Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona; the central district, embracing northern Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana; and the northwestern section, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and extending into California and Utah.
Each year has added to the growth and development of this phase of the Employment Service, and it is considered one of the essential undertakings of the Federal Government to aid and assist the farmers. Prior to the time the Federal Government undertook to supply harvest hands to the farmers, a chaotic condition prevailed, resulting in labor shortages and serious losses to agriculture. In 1921 there was one permanent office located at Kansas City. To-day there are 11 permanent offices established at strategic points, and in the year under consideration more than 100 temporary offices Avere maintained for a period ranging from a feAv days to several Aveeks’ duration as the needs of the district required.
In the last few years revolutionary changes have taken place in the invention of labor-saving devices for the harvesting of seasonal crops, and in no branch of agriculture have the newer methods been more felt than in wheat harvesting, the new machine being able to harvest approximately 50 acres per day and reducing the number of men formerly required for wheat harvest. The wide introduction of this machine has at times complicated the placement work of the farm labor division. Seasonal conditions which occasionally afise render the use of this machine impracticable. At such times the division is pressed to the utmost to supply harvesters for the emergency.
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Following is a summary of the number of seasonal farm laborers and general farm hands directed to employment by the farm labor division during the calendar year ended December 31, 192/ :
Cotton picking------------------------------------------- 227,900
Cotton chopping-------------------------------------------
Land clearing (mesquite grubbing)------------------------- 9,650
Wheat and small grain harvesting-------------------------- 90,631
Berry picking--------------------------------------------- ®6,
Fruit picking------------------------------------------------ 734
Other seasonal labor-------------------------------------- 16, 822
-------- 415, 796
General farm workers---------------------------------------------- 058
Total.
433,854
$1,159, 386. 40
7, 556. 33
275,559. 31
UNITED STATES HOUSING CORPORATION
Lewis E. Reed, President
During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, the Housing Corporation collected from its real estate holdings $1,442,502.04, itemized as follows:
Disposal of properties------------------------------------
Operation of properties-----------------------------------
Interest on loans-----------------------------------------
Total______________________________________________- l>442,502.04
Appropriation disbursements on account of these collections totaled the sum of $71,671.23, representing 4.96 per cent of the amount collected. Attention is called to the fact that $283,115.64, i. e., operation and interest, was received without impairment of assets and exceeds the expenditures by $211,444.41.
Aside from and in addition to the above there was collected from the occupants of the Government Hotels at Washington, D. C., $358,096.74 during the fiscal year under consideration. The total expenses for the same period aggregated $335,617.81, an excess of receipts over disbursements of $23,678.93; though this amount is not profit, as neither interest nor amortization has been calculated.
A complete survey of the organization of the corporation was made during the past year and as a result a number of positions were abolished and others consolidated. Several field offices were closed and others reduced in size and there were eliminated from the pay rolls salaries aggregating annually $54,500. As the corporation’s holdings become liquidated the field offices will, so far as practicable, be closed and the remaining duties transferred to the Washington office.
Sales and conveyancing.
Total contract sales for the past year approximated $35,000, the bulk of which comprised vacant lots of comparatively low sales
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR-
31
prices. During the same period 305 deeds, 257 notes and mortgages, and 265 deeds of release have been prepared and transmitted to various projects for delivery.
A superficial consideration of the matter of the conveyancing might lead one to suspect that it largely is a matter of routine. But an intimate understanding of the nature of the actual work involved will convince that the fact is otherwise. Where numerous contracts of purchase have been in existence for a number of years, a great many changes must necessarily occur affecting the legal status of the parties, such as death, marriage, insanity, divorce, guardianship, administration, and the like. In fact, all problems applicable to the law and procedure of general conveyancing are presented. Obviously the corporation must require that such disabilities be remedied by appropriate action in each instance before it may accept purchase money notes and mortgages from parties thus incapacitated. The corporation has for several years been without legal representation in such matters at its various projects, and hence these questions and the procedure to be followed have devolved upon the Washington office. These obstacles will continue to be encountered.
Mention was made in last year’s report of the difficulty which theretofore had been experienced with municipal authorities at Hammond and which, up to that time, had made impossible the closing of the contracts there by deed, note, and mortgage. That impediment since has been removed and the deeds, notes, and mortgages covering these properties have, with three or four exceptions, been transmitted for delivery and the number has been included in the present report. Comment also was made on the case of the purchase by a man and his wife of properties in the Pacific coast project of Vallejo to the effect that controversy had arisen as to whether the purchasers had made the contract with notice of certain easements which had been imposed for the general benefit of the project, and that it was to be feared that the disagreement finally would result in litigation. An amicable adjustment recently was accomplished by the acceptance by the purchasers of a supplemental agreement and by the placing of a deed, satisfactory to the corporation and to them, in escrow for delivery upon compliance being made with the terms of the new contract.
Requisitioned property.
A large proportion of the property of the corporation was acquired by requisition proceedings by virtue of the act of the Congress of May 16, 1918, and subsequent acts and parts of acts amendatory thereof. Owing to the exigencies of the war, the act was found necessary in order to insure the immediate taking of title and possession of properties by the Government where purchase by contract was impossible, or where negotiations were likely to be indefinitely pro
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
longed on account of defects of title or inability of the parties to agree upon prices and terms of sale.
Title by requisition, therefore, was taken as against all owners and claimants under liens, whosoever they might be or wheresoever they might reside. Compensation based on appraisements thereafter was fixed by the Secretary of Labor and paid to claimants accordingly as their interests were proved and established. The proceduie promulgated for this purpose necessarily was somewhat involved, not to say complicated.
The bulk of the great number of cases considered has long since been disposed of, but for years there have remained some which have seemed to be impossible of adjustment. The reasons for this condition have been varied and scarcely any two cases have been similar. Almost every legal impediment affecting the title and ownership of lands has been encountered. On account of the fact that the claimants, with a few exceptions, have been widely scattered, it has been impossible to negotiate with them except through the slower and more unsatisfactory medium of the mails.
During the past year, however, constant and energetic effort has resulted in the adjustment and closing of six or more of these cases, and very decided progress still is being made with respect to numerous others of this class. One claimant, especially, may be cited as a typical example: He is a sailor who touches port but rarely. I he corporation attempted to purchase his property in one of the Pacific coast projects. He was not available to execute a deed, and there also were defects in his title. The property was requisitioned for immediate use and compensation thereafter was fixed by the Secretary of Labor in the amount of the sales price. After long delay he filed his claim for the full amount of the compensation, pending his efforts to clear the title. Later he decided to accept 75 per cent of the compensation and sue for a larger amount as permitted under the act. Meanwhile he had failed to have remedied the defects of titles. But although it is the individual duty of claimants to furnish, clear title before receiving compensation as would be required where purchases were made under contracts, the corporation nevertheless undertook to aid him, and after considerable effort, requiring much time, succeeded in obtaining the execution of instruments which cured the objectionable features. The corporation still is confronted with the adjustment of some twenty-odd cases, of which the foregoing is most characteristic.
Litigation.
During the past year the Supreme Court of the United States rendered its decision in a case involving the question of the assessment of local taxes against properties of the corporation, which previously had resulted in serious complications at several of its projects.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
33
The case involved the question as to whether properties sold by the corporation had become subject to State taxation prior to the vesting of title in the purchasers who had paid sufficient of the purchase money to entitle them to receive deeds subject to their executing mortgages for the balances of the various purchase prices.
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey previously had held that such lands were taxable, and were subject to sale for the enforcement of the collection of delinquent taxes. Thus, under the said decision, if the purchasers failed to pay the taxes the corporation would be called upon to pay the same in order to preserve the liens of the Government for the unpaid purchase prices.
The Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to which the decision of the district court was appealed, reversed the lower court and held that such lands were not subject to taxation prior to the dates when the corporation parted with its title.
The question presented to the Supreme Court was rather perplexing, as the opinions of the courts below presented the two views quite clearly and forcibly. The act of Congress approved July 19, 1919 (41 U. S. Stat. 163), in authorizing the corporation to dispose of its holdings, provided that no sales on credit should be made without reserving first liens for the balances of the unpaid purchase moneys, and the Supreme Court in reaching its conclusion gave a practical construction to the provisions of the said act and held that the liens of the Government for the unpaid purchase moneys could neither be waived nor made subordinate to the tax liens of the State.
The right of the State to assess taxes to the purchasers was not directly passed upon by the court, but it was clearly decided that the interest of the corporation, retained and held as security for the payment of the unpaid purchase moneys, could not be subjected to sale for taxes.
Guided by this decision the corporation is in position to negotiate rather than litigate the tax controversies which hitherto have cast a cloud upon the titles and impeded the conveyancing in the several communities where the complications have existed.
Litigation in the Court of Claims involving the corporation has been limited to suits instituted by owners of lands which were taken under requisition proceedings during the late war. Former owners, who were dissatisfied with the amounts fixed as fair and reasonable compensation for the land so acquired by the Government, have seen fit to avail themselves of the provisions of the act of Congress approved May 16, 1918 (40 U. S. Stat. 550). This act permits them to institute suit against the United States for such amounts as, when added to the amount of compensation fixed by the Secretary of Labor, will constitute fair and reasonable compensation for the taking of the land involved.
34 ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
With respect to such suits it may be stated that the judgments rendered by the court have been slightly in excess of the amounts fixed by the Secretary as compensation.
A situation which prevailed at the Quincy, Mass., project, growing out of the condemnation by the State of certain lands and the assessment of betterment taxes on remaining properties for the extension of an arterial highway through the project, not only aroused the protests of the corporation’s purchasers, but also threatened to impair the mortgage security held by the Government for the payment of the balances of the purchase moneys. However, as a result of representations made by the corporation and after a hearing by the State department of public works, the corporation was successful to the extent of releasing its security only upon payment to it of the damages awarded by the State as compensation for losses sustained by the purchasers, as well as in securing abatement of the betterment assessments levied against the unsold properties of the corporation.
Following the policy established by the corporation from the inception of its sales program, foreclosure suits against delinquent purchasers have been instituted only as a last resort to protect the interest of the Government. In cases where the purchasers have evinced an intention of carrying out their purchase agreements in the face of temporary adversity, partial monthly payments have been accepted without prejudice to the rights of the Government ; but in cases where purchasers have shown no inclination to carry out their obligations, foreclosure proceedings have been instituted and a representative of the corporation has attended the sales for the purpose of preventing the properties from being sacrificed to the prejudice of the interest of the Government.
In addition to the foregoing the corporation has participated in other litigation, such as the defending of suits relating to the collection of special assessments for municipal improvements, the defending of suits for damages for injuries alleged to have been sustained through its negligence at the various projects, appearing in partition suits concerning the real estate which it contracted to sell, as well as the answering of citations issued against it in probate and bankruptcy proceedings affecting properties in which it held a mortgagee’s interest.
It may be stated that this branch of the work has been on par with that encountered by any other corporation that engages in interstate realty business on a large scale.
Insurance.
Since the inception of the corporation’s sales program it has carried fire insurance for the joint protection of the Government and the purchaser, the premiums therefor being a part of the purchaser’s obligation. A card system for each project covering expirations,
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
35
renewals, and changes in ownership is necessary for this feature. At the close of the fiscal year 1928 the corporation had in its possession 1,764 fire policies with an aggregate coverage of over seven and one-half million dollars.
Government hotels.
The uncertain tenure of the hotels has resulted in a gradual reduction in patronage of those Government employees who desire a home of a more permanent nature.
In order that expenditures be kept well within a constantly reduced income, notable economies were inaugurated during the past year. Over 60 positions were eliminated from the pay rolls, producing a saving in this item alone of over $25,000. Outstanding contributions to this were the reorganization of the food service department with a reduction of over 50 per cent of its administrative and clerical force; and the mechanical department, where an amalgamation of heads and redistribution of work accounted for approximately 20 per cent of the saving mentioned above.
At the close of the year five dormitories, housing 619 guests, the mechanical plant, administration building, restaurant and kitchen, and infirmary comprise the hotels group. The remaining seven buildings are either occupied by, or ready for assignment to, other Government activities.
From its surplus plant and equipment the hotels have performed laundry service for practically the entire roster of Government departments and bureaus for several years past. During the fiscal year 1928 over 2,500,000 towels and some 60,000 miscellaneous articles were called for, laundered, and delivered, at an estimated saving of over 40 per cent from previous expenditures for these items.
DEPARTMENT LIBRARY
During the year 9,839 books and pamphlets were catalogued and added to the library collection, which now includes over 128,000 volumes besides much uncatalogued material for which no count has been made. About 24,000 index cards were filed in the main catalogue. Since the library is very strictly limited to the field of work of the department, the catalogue of approximately 325,000 cards is becoming a most valuable selected bibliography of the social and economic sciences.
Approximately 46,000 separate numbers of periodicals were received, recorded, and circulated to the bureaus. The list of periodicals currently received was carefully revised during the year, the entries reviewed, and full cross references prepared. The revised list now covers 1,843 journals in 28 languages. Of particular value among these are the official statistical, labor, and social-welfare journals received currently from 50 countries.
36
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Efforts to complete the files of publications of American trade-unions in the library have been continued during the past year. In addition, correspondence has been carried on with a large number of the national trade-union organizations in other countries and the international federations of labor in the effort to bring the foreign trade-union collection up to date. Also, many new exchange relations have been established with child-welfare and economic research organizations in foreign countries.
The pressure of other work made it impossible to complete for publication as many bibliographies as in previous years. Lists of references on Absenteeism in Industry, Union Management Cooperation, and Recent References on Convict Labor were contributed to the July, October, and May issues of the Monthly Labor Review. With the growing emphasis upon cooperation instead of strife in industry, the bibliography on Union Management Cooperation proved to be particularly timely, requests for the list coming from as far away as South Africa. Considerable work was done during the year on two longer bibliographies on the important subjects of Unemployment, and Injunctions in Labor Disputes. These will probably be completed during the summer.1
No statistics can be presented showing the steady day-by-day reference work of the library in aiding investigators within the department, readers from outside research bureaus, or individual students, or in answering inquiries by telephone or correspondence. The subjects cover a very wide range and often involve considerable research. During the past year the library has been made use of by a number of students of labor problems from foreign countries attracted to the library because of the unique character of the collection and the expert bibliographical assistance afforded them.
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Ethelbert Stewart, Commissioner
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal fact-finding agency of the Department of Labor. Its duty as set forth in the creative act is to “ collect information upon the subject of labor * * * and the means of promoting the material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity ” of the wage earners of the country.
During the fiscal year under review the bureau continued, as in previous years, to gather and publish statistical data on such subjects as wages and hours of labor in various industries, union scales of wages and hours of labor, strikes and lockouts and collective agreements, employment in selected industries, wholesale prices, retail
1 Bibliography on Injunctions in Labor Disputes, printed in Monthly Labor Review for September, 1928.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
37
prices, cost of living, productivity of labor in various industries, industrial accidents, industrial safety codes, labor legislation in the various States and decisions of courts affecting labor, building operations in principal cities of the United States, cooperation (other than agricultural), industrial hygiene, and workman’s compensation.
In addition to these more or less permanent lines of work, a large part of the bureau’s resources was devoted to special investigations, and studies dealing with subjects of outstanding current importance.
Of special interest, in this connection, is the effort of the bureau to expand the scope of its employment surveys. Continued expansion of this work has been made possible by an additional appropriation by Congress. This appropriation did not become available until July 1, 1928, but in anticipation thereof preliminary plans for the broad extension of the bureau’s employment studies had been made. The plans call for a very considerable increase in the number of industries and the number of estab ishments engaged in manufacturing, and, in addition, for the inclusion of other large industries, notably wholesale and retail trade, building construction, public utilities, mining and agriculture. Supplementing these data on volume of employment an attempt will be made to ascertain the actual amount of unemployment by a field survey of typical communities, following the general method used in the unemployment survey by Baltimore City in February, 1928. A study will be made, also, of the methods used in European countries in compiling statistics on unemployment and of the character and completness of such statistics.
In view of the great interest in the problem of unemployment, a very large part of the bureau’s energy has been devoted to this subject. The other fields of activity of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, have not been diminished in any way, but, on the contrary, have tended to expand. Only the more important activities are covered in the following review of the year’s work.
Employment in manufacturing industries.
During the year the monthly reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on employment in selected manufacturing industries have been continued and constantly enlarged until at present the number of establishments covered exceeds 11,000, in 54 leading manufacturing industries. These reports show the number of people employed and the total amount of their earnings in one week, and also changes in per capita earnings, changes in operating time, and the percentage of full-time and part-time operation for the plants as a whole.
About three-fourths of the establishments covered make reports directly to the bureau each month; the remaining establishments make reports to the department of labor of the State in which they are
38 ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
located, these departments in turn furnishing the Bureau of Labor Statistics with a copy of the data, thereby saving a duplication of reports on the part of the establishments. At present this cooperative arrangement is in force with seven States—California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin.
Index numbers, which show relatively the variations in number of persons employed and in pay-roll totals in each industry surveyed, as well as for all industries combined, are published by the bureau, together with charts which show the course of employment over a series of months. These graphic charts make easily possible a comparison of industrial activities in the current month with conditions in previous months, and especially with conditions in the same month of the preceding year, the last-named comparison being a most reliable measure of general industrial conditions.
In handling the monthly data on employment statistics every effort is made to secure prompt compilation and publication of the results. Under the system now employed a mimeographed summary statement of the data for each month is released on or about the 16th of the succeeding month and a printed pamphlet containing all details is issued about a week later.
Measures to combat unemployment in Europe.
Unemployment on a large scale is an old problem in many European countries. None of these countries has solved the problem, but many are trying vigorously to do so and with interesting results. For the information of Americans interested in this subject the bureau made a short study of the measures to combat unemployment in a few representative European countries—Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, and Estonia. This study, published in the Monthly Labor Review for April, 1928, was sufficiently comprehensive to offer interesting and valuable suggestions to American students of the problem.
WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOR, BY INDUSTRIES
Wages and hours of labor are matters of such intense interest and importance to both employers and employees that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has always devoted much attention to these subjects. Wage studies indeed are continually in progress. In several of the large industries such studies are made biennally, the bureau’s funds not permitting annual surveys. The smaller industries are covered less frequently, and many lesser ones can not be covered at all.
During the past fiscal year the bureau completed field surveys of wages and hours of labor in the following industries: Cotton gins, cotton compresses, cotton-oil mills, foundry and machine shops, and
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR 39
slaughtering and meat packing. These studies were in addition to the regular annual survey of union wages.
Cotton gins, compresses, and oil mills.
In the fall of 1927 the bureau made a study of wages, hours, and employment conditions in these three closely correlated industries, comparatively little information having heretofore been published concerning them. These industries are located in the South in or near the cotton-growing district, and all three are highly seasonal, being active in the cotton picking and marketing months of the year.
Cotton gins.—Technically the cotton gin is the machine which separates the cotton fiber from the seed. In a broader sense a cotton gin is a plant wherein cotton as it comes from the field is cleaned, ginned, and baled.
The extreme limit of operation for a gin may be as much as five months, starting in the late summer, the dates varying from year to year according to the early or late maturity of the cotton plant. At the beginning of the season the gins operate part time, according to the supply of cotton received. As the supply increases the operating time lengthens until the gins operate at full capacity and for long hours. Gins operate on Sundays only during the busiest part of the season. If the cotton is received in great quantity, the gin may operate late into the night, or may operate a night shift. After the busy season operation gradually declines, with shorter hours and fewer days’ work, until the season closes.
The study made by the bureau extended into 10 States, from North Carolina to Texas, data being obtained from 76 establishments. The average hours worked per week for all employees were found to be 64.5, and the average full-time earnings per week, $19.40.
Cotton compresses.—To save space and thus obtain lower freight rates on cotton for export or for shipment from the gins to distant localities the bales of cotton made in cotton gins are reduced by pressure in cotton compresses to about one-half the original size. Generally compresses are operated in conjunction with cotton warehouses.
Cotton compressing in establishments independent of other work is largely seasonal, following closely the season of picking and ginning of cotton. In warehouses, however, the work is done only on orders for export or for shipment.
The warehouses are generally open the entire year, but the presses are operated only intermittently. They may run steadily all day or for only an hour or two, and the employees who run the press part of the day may work in the warehouse the remainder of the day. In many plants the compress is seldom in operation a full day at a time, the work generally being done in small lots. It is the practice
40 ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
in most of the plants to keep a regular compress crew for use when needed. When not compressing cotton members of the crew work around the press and warehouses, carrying, straightening, and cutting bands, keeping the machinery in repair, and moving cotton from one place to another. Extra helpers are let go when the press is not in operation, but are usually ready to return when wanted.
It was found that the male employees worked an average of 49.6 hours per week and that their average full-time weekly earnings wrere $17.76. Very few females were employed.
C ottonseed-oil mills.—Until a comparatively few years ago cottonseed was considered of little or no value and in many localities was thrown away. It was then learned that the cottonseed meal and hulls were valuable as stock feed and fertilizer, and that the oil in the seed could be used for various purposes, resulting in the development and rapid growth of the cottonseecl-oil industry.
The industry, like cotton gins and cotton compresses, is seasonal, the mills operating full time or nearly so during the cotton picking and ginning season and closing down entirely part of each year. In 1927 the 67 mills covered in the study were in operation an average of 33 weeks, the operating time ranging from 20 to 52 weeks. While the mills are closed, employees, except a small number who are usually kept for repairs and cleaning, get work on farms or at odd jobs.
Average hours of labor of male employees per week were found to be 64.6 and average full-time weekly earnings were $17.02. There were almost no females employed in this industry.
Foundries and machine shops.
The wage survey of foundries and machine shops covered nearly 39,000 wage earners in 417 representative foundries and nearly 87,000 wage earners in 526 representative machine shops. As similar studies were made by the bureau in 1923 and 1925, a comparison with earlier years is possible.
Between 1923 and 1927 average full-time hours for foundries decreased 2.5 per cent, average earnings per hour in all occupations combined increased 11.8 per cent, and average full-time earnings per week increased to 9.1 per cent. The increase in full-time earnings per week was less than that in average earnings per hour because of the decrease in average full-time hours per week.
Full-time hours per week were a little lower in machine shops than in foundries. Earnings per hour in machine shops were almost the same each year as in foundries; the closeness is striking. In machine shops full-time hours per week decreased 1.4 per cent between 1923 and 1927, earnings per hour increased 11.8 per cent, and full-time earnings per week increased 10.2 per cent.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
41
The following table shows the data for the three years.
Average hours and earnings for all employees, 1923, 1925, and 1921
Year Average full-time hours per week Average earnings per hour Average full-time earnings per week
Foundries: 1923 52.4 51.5 51.1 50.8 50.4 50.1 $0. 558 .610 .624 .559 .602 .625 $29.24 31.42 31.89 28.40 30.34 31.31
1925
1927
Machine shops: 1923
1925
1927

Slaughtering and meat packing.
Data^for the slaughtering and meat-packing industry were obtained from 86 of the largest plants of the United States and covered more than 57,000 wage earners.
The study covers every operation in each of 13 departments. It begins with the driving of live cattle, hogs, and sheep from the local stockyards, covers all operations and processes necessary to convert the animals into the various meat products and by-products, and ends with the loading of the finished products into delivery trucks and refrigerator cars for distribution. The departments included are: Cattle killing, hog killing, sheep and calf killing, offal, hide, casing, cutting and trimming of fresh beef, cutting and trimming of fresh pork, lard and oleo oil, sausage, cured meat, canning, and maintenance and repair.
The average hourly earnings for the industry as a whole were higher in 1927 (50.1 cents) than in any of the preceding years covered by the bureau’s surveys. The hourly earnings of the male workers were higher in 1927 than in any other year, but those of the woman workers were slightly higher in 1921 than in 1927.
An approximate 8-hour day, or 48-hour week, was established in 1918. In July, 1922, many plants included in the 1921 study increased the hours to a 9-hour day, or 54-hour week, but since then a large number of them have returned to the 8-hour day and 48-hour week. The average full-time hours in the industry in 1927 were 49.3 per week, as compared with 50.1 in 1925.
Full-time weekly earnings in the industry in 1927 averaged $24.70, which was higher than in previous years except 1923, when it was $25.31.
Of the 86 plants covered in the 1927 study, the employees in all occupations in 45 plants and those in some of the occupations in 16 plants are guaranteed pay for a specified number of hours per day or week. To be entitled thereto the employee must report for duty 16151—28---------1
42
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
and work all the hours the plant or department operates on each day or in each week.
UNION SCALES OF WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOR
For a number of years the bureau has made an annual survey of union scales of wages and hours of labor for trades paid on a time basis. Data for 66 representative cities are collected as of May 15 each year by personal visits of special agents of the bureau in the case of 50 cities and by cooperation of the State bureaus of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Ohio for the other 16 cities located within those States.
The report for 1927 covered bakers, building trades, chauffeurs and teamsters and drivers, granite and stone cutters, laundry workers, linemen, longshoremen, book and job and newspaper printing trades, street-railway motormen and conductors, bus drivers, and barbers. Trades in the above groups are shown separately for each of the 66 cities and include a total of 862,308 trade-union members for whom minimum wages and maximum hours under agreements are shown.
The average hourly wage rate for 1927 of all time trades covered was $1.19 as compared with $1.15 in 1926, or an average increase of 4 cents per hour. This upward movement was very general among the various organizations, but the amount of increase was by no means uniform and some trades suffered slight losses. Thus, of the 74 time-work trades covered by the survey, 63 obtained increased wages in 1927 as compared with 1926, while the remaining 11 showed slightly lower average rates in 1927 than in 1926. The showing by principal trade groups is as follows:
Average hourly wage rates in specified trades in 1926 and 1927 and increase, 1927 over 1926
Trade groups
Bakers__________________________
Building-trade workers__________
Chauffeurs, teamsters, and drivers. Granite and stone cutters_______
Laundry workers_________________
Linemen_________________________
Longshoremen____________________
Printing and publishing:
Book and job_________________
Newspaper____________________
Motormen and conductors_________
Average for all trades 1 2_
Average hourly wage rate Increase 1927 over 1926
1926 1927
$0. 925 $0. 957 $0. 032
1. 278 1.323 .045
.663 .704 .041
1.330 1.321 1.009
.441 .432 1.009
.993 .991 1.002
.835 .817 1.018
.997 1.021 .024
1.155 1.190 .035 .020
.662 .682
1.148 1.190 .042
1 Decrease.
2 Not including pieceworkers or street-railway motormen and conductors.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
43
Coincident with the rise in wage rates was a further reduction in hours of labor, the average in 1927 being 45.2 hours per week. Excluding street-railway employees, for whom hours of labor were not obtained, the chauffeurs, teamsters, and drivers had the longest regular working week—namely, 54.7 hours—wdiile of the 73 time-work trades covered 58 averaged less than 45 hours per week. The plasterers, as a group, had the shortest regular full-time working period per week, 42.1 hours, many of their local unions being on a flat 5-day, 40-hour week.
Comparing conditions in 1927 with those in the pre-war year 1913, union wage rates per hour shdw an increase of 159.5 per cent and full-time hours a week a decrease of 7.6 per cent.
Entrance wage rates for common labor.
Beginning in January, 1926, the bureau has made periodical surveys of the entrance wage rate paid common labor in various industries employing a large amount of such labor. The survey for January, 1928, covered 13 industries with 120,840 common laborers on their pay rolls. The information is obtained by correspondence and largely from establishments which make monthly reports to the bureau on the subject of volume of employment.'
The weighted average entrance rates per hour for all industries covered, including general contracting, have been as follows: July 1, 1926, 42.8 cents; October 1, 1926, 43.4 cents; January 1, 1927, 43.2 cents; July 1, 1927, 42.6 cents; January 1, 1928, 43 cents.
Omitting the data for general contracting, which was first included in these compilations on July 1, 1926, average entrance rates per hour for the periods studied were: January 1, 1926, 40.2 cents; April 1, 1926, 40.5 cents; July 1, 1926, 40.9 cents; October 1, 1926, 40.9 cents; January 1, 1927, 41 cents; July 1, 1927, 40.4 cents; January 1, 1928, 41.1 cents.
Index numbers of wages, 1840-1926.
During the year under review the Bureau of Labor Statistics brought up to the end of 1926 its series of index numbers of general wage rates (other than agricultural) beginning with the year 1840. The compilation is not, and can not be, all inclusive; but it is based on such a volume of data as to make it at least fairly indicative of the trend of wage rates.
The compilation referred to is reproduced below and serves a valuable purpose in giving a broad picture of wage movements during a period of almost 90 years.
44
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Index numbers of wages per hour, 181f0 to 1926 (exclusive of agricultural) [Currency basis during Civil War period. 1913 = 100]
Year
Index
Year Index
Year
Index
Year
Index
1840____________
1841____________
1842____________
1843____________
1844____________
1845____________
1846____________
1847____________
1848____________
1849____________
1850____________
1851____________
1852____________
1853____________
1854____________
1855____________
1856____________
1857____________
1858____________
1859____________
1860____________
1861____________
33
34
33
33
32
33
34
34
35
36
35
34
35
35
37
38
39
40
39
39
39
40
1862..
1863-
1864..
1865-
1866-
1867-1868..
1869..
1870-
1871..
1872..
1873-1874.
1875..
1876..
1877-
1878-1879..
1880..
1881..
1882.
1883-
41
44
50
58
61
63
65
66
67
68
69
69
67
67
64
61
60
59
60
62
63
64
1884____________
1885____________
1886____________
1887____________
1888____________
1889____________
1890____________
1891____________
1892____________
1893____________
1894____________
1895____________
1896____________
1897____________
1898____________
1899____________
1900____________
1801____________
1902____________
1903____________
1904____________
1905____________
64
64
64
67
67
68
69
69
69
69
67
68
69
69
69
70
73
74
77
80
80
82
1906____________
1907____________
1908____________
1909____________
1910____________
1911____________
1912____________
1913____________
1914____________
1915____________
1916____________
1917____________
1918____________
1919____________
1920____________
1921____________
1922____________
1923____________
1924____________
1925____________
1926____________
85
89
89
90
93
95
97
100
102
103
162
184
234
218
208
217
223
226
229
The early part of 1920 was a period of great industrial activity, and in this period employment and hourly earnings reached then-highest point. A sharp downward trend of employment occurred in the latter part of the year. There was a great reduction in employment in the depressed year, 1921,' accompanied, as might be expected, by a reduction in wage rates. The slump continued in 1922. As business conditions improved in 1923 there was a gain in wage rates, which has been augmented each succeeding year.
International comparison of real wages.
The very great interest in international comparisons of wages led the international labor office some years ago to present such a comparison, an.important city in each of several countries being taken as representative. For the United States the city of Philadelphia is selected and the data used are derived from the wage and price studies of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The figures presented by the international labor office are in the form of index numbers of real wages; i. e., actual wages adjusted to the relative purchasing power of wages in the various cities covered. The table given below presents the index numbers as compiled by the international labor office for January, 1928, and indicate the character and interest of the comparisons as made. It should be noted that the wage data relate only to a few classes of workers, namely, those in the building, metal, furniture, and printing and publishing trades, and that the price data are limited to certain articles of food and to rent. Thus, the index numbers can be taken only as a very rough indication of the relative levels of real wages of adult male workers in certain occupations and cities. In many
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
45
instances, however, the figures shown indicate such wide differences between cities that they may be accepted as reflecting real differences in the level of well-being of the workers in different countries.
It will be seen that Philadelphia had the highest real wage level of any of the 17 cities included, its index number being 192, or 92 per cent higher than that of London. Ottawa had the next highest figure, with Copenhagen, the highest of the European cities, coming next, while the wage level in Rome was less than one-fourth that of Philadelphia, and in Lisbon less than one-sixth. However, the international labor office points out that the low levels of Rome and Lisbon may be accounted for in part by the differences in the items of food consumption in the southern European countries from those ordinarily consumed in most of the other countries included in the table.
Index numbers of comparative real wages in various cities, January, 1928
[London, January, 1928=100]
General average index numbers
General average index numbers
City
Based on food only
With allowance for rent
Based on food only
With allowance for rent
Philadelphia______________
Ottawa____________________
Copenhagen________________
Dublin____________________
London____________________
Stockholm i_______________
Amsterdam_________________
Berlin____________________
Paris_____________________
192
162
109
101
100
90
82
66
59
192
160
109
110
100
89
82
61
Madrid... Vienna... Lodz______
Brussels.. Rome______
Warsaw i 2. Tallinn... Lisbon...
55
47
17
46
45
44
40
30
53
48
49
47
46
i The figures are based on wages in the building, furniture-making, and printing industries only. For other cities the metal industry is also included.
2 Based on a weighted average wage. For other cities an unweighted average has been used.
Wage studies in progress.
At the close of the fiscal year the wage surveys were in progress for the following industries—the manufacture of electrical equipment and appliances in household and office use, cotton-goods manufacturing and woolen and worsted goods manufacturing. The survey of union wages for 1928 also was under way at this time.
INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES
During the year the division of industrial disputes continued its efforts to improve its methods for securing prompt and accurate reports of strikes and lockouts. The statistics compiled by the bureau are now published monthly in the Labor Review. In addition a summary for each calendar year is also prepared and published. The summary for the year 1927 shows that the number of disputes during the past several years has been at a low level. Thus in 1927
46 ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OE LABOR
the number of disputes in which the number of persons involved was reported was only 734, with 349,434 workers affected, or a smaller number than in any other year since the beginning of the bureau’s reports in 1916. ,
As during the previous year, the outstanding dispute during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, was that of the bituminous-coal miners in the union coal fields. This dispute began April 1, 1927, and is still unsettled.
Since January, 1927, the completeness of the statistical reports on industrial disputes has been increased by the addition of the following items: Number of disputes in effect at end of month, number of workers affected by disputes in effect at end of month, and the number of work days lost during month, by reason of industrial disputes.
Collective agreements and arbitration awards.
The bureau seeks to follow, in the pages of the Labor Review, the principal developments in the field of trade agreements and industrial arbitrations. In addition it compiles and issues each year a bulletin giving the principal features of representative agreements signed during the year, with particular reference to any new developments in the field of trade-union policy or practices. The bulletin for 1927 is now in press.
The bureau continues to find difficulty in obtaining copies of agreements and arbitration awards. It has no special equipment for the purpose and must rely largely on the labor organizations and employers to furnish copies of these documents. In the future it is planned more closely to coordinate this work with that of obtaining data for the union wage scales bulletin, so that the agents of the bureau engaged on the latter work can be used to obtain copies of collective agreements in all the principal trades in the cities visited.
During the fiscal year under review there do not seem to have been any very novel developments in trade agreements. The trend toward shorter hours and higher wages continued, as shown in detail in the bureau’s reports on union scales of wages. On the whole, however, it was a year in which old agreements were renewed with relatively few changes.
As during the previous year, arbitration awards under the railroad labor act have occupied a most important place. In practically all of these awards wage increases were granted.
RETAIL AND WHOLESALE PRICES
Retail prices.
Data relating to retail prices of food have been collected and published by the bureau for a number of years. Prices are now secured for 43 articles in 51 cities. The information is furnished by approxi
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mately 1,500 retail dealers, the number ranging from 10 to 15 in the smaller cities to as high as 30 in several of the larger cities. In addition, reports are being received from about 240 bakeries, 225 retail coal dealers, 80 gas companies, and 70 electric-light companies. Coal, gas, and electricity prices are now secured in each of the 51 cities for which food prices are collected.
Retail price data are published annually in a bulletin which also contains figures for each year back to 1890. In addition, comparative monthly and yearly prices are published in each issue of the Labor Review. The figures are published in the form both of averages and index numbers. The index numbers for all food articles combined are computed from weighted aggregates of actual money prices in order that each article may have an influence equal to its relative importance in consumption in the average family, the year 1913 being used as the price base or 100 per cent.
During the 12 months ended with June 30, 1928, retail prices of food have shown a downward trend, the index number for June being 152.6 compared with 158.5 for the corresponding month of 1927.
Wholesale prices.
Wholesale prices in representative markets of the country are now being collected each month by the bureau for more than 600 commodities. The information collected by the bureau is published annually in bulletin form, each bulletin containing monthly data for the last two years and yearly data back to 1913. Detailed information is also published monthly in pamphlet form and in the Labor Review. Press releases issued each month show the current trend of prices._
The bureau’s results show that wholesale prices appreciably advanced in the fiscal year covered by this report, the revised weighted index number computed on prices in 1926 as the base rising from 93.8 in June, 1927, to 97.6 in June, 1928, an increase of 4 per cent. Farm products increased 10% per cent, foods 6% per cent, and textile products 2 per cent in the year. Hides and leather products show the largest increase of all, with a net rise of 15% per cent in 12 months. On the other hand, fuel and lighting materials and building materials decreased somewhat within the fiscal year, while pronounced decreases took place in prices of crude rubber and automobile tires in the group of miscellaneous commodities. Little change in the general price level is shown for the groups of metals and metal products, chemicals and drugs, and house-furnishing goods.
During the fiscal year the revision of the bureau’s index numbers was completed back to 1913. This revision consisted of (1) a change in the price base from the pre-war year 1913 to the last completed year, 1926, and (2) the substitution of more recent data in place of the 1919 weighting data formerly used in the construction of the index numbers. In addition, a considerable number of articles of great
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importance, such as automobiles and tires, agricultural implements, prepared fertilizers, by-product coke, rayon, and box board, were introduced into the index, while several articles no longer important, as clay worsted and middlesex suiting, Bessemer steel billets, and Bessemer rails, were dropped.
COST OF LIVING
Index numbers of changes in the cost of living in the United States are now compiled by the bureau every six months, as of June and December. The following table gives the full series of index numbers for cost of living as a whole and for the country as a whole from 1913 to June, 1928.
Index numbers showing changes in cost of living in the United States, 1913 to June, 1928
Date Index Nos. Date Index Nos. Date Index Nos.
Average, 1913 100.0 September, 1921 177.3 June, 1924. 169.1
Decembef, 1914 103.0 December, 1921.. 174.3 September, 1924 170. 6
December, 1915 105.1 March, 1922 166.9 December, 1924 172.5
December, 1916 118.3 June, 1922 __ 166.4 June, 1925 173. 5
December, 1917 142.4 September, 1922 166.3 December, 1925 177.9
December, 1918.. 174.4 December, 1922 169.5 June, 1926 174.8
June, 1919 177.3 March, 1923 168.8 December, 1926 175. 6
December, 1919 199.3 June, 1923 169.7 June, 1927 173. 4
June, 1920 . 216. 5 September, 1923 172.1 December, 1927. 172.0
December, 1920 200.4 December, 1923 173.2 June, 1928 170.0
May, 1921 180.4 March, 1924 170.4
The figures in the above table are compiled from the 32 cities in which cost of living data are obtained.
In computing changes in the cost of living there are two essential steps. One is to find the differences at different times in the prices or cost of the various articles entering into the usual family expenditures; the other step is so to “weight” the prices of each article or group of articles that it will have its proper effect on the cost of living as a whole. For this latter purpose it is necessary to know the amounts spent by average families for the various items of food, clothing, rent, etc., and this information can be obtained only by a study of the budgets of a large number of families.
The need for a new budgetary survey has been frequently pointed out during the past few years. The value of the bureau’s cost of living figures depends very largely upon the accuracy of the measurement of the standard of living as derived from the family budget survey. The survey now being used for weighting purposes was made in 1918-19, and although the 12,096 families scheduled were w’idely scattered, shipbuilding centers were given rather undue prominence, as the survey was made primarily for use in wage adjustments in
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shipyards. Also, since the war there have undoubtedly been many changes in the consumption habits of the American people.
It can not be too strongly emphasized that cost of living index numbers are not merely of abstract or scientific interest. They have a very practical value. A study of the actual use of cost of living figures in wage adjustments was recently made by the bureau. This study showed that the bureau’s periodical indexes were being used in wage adjustments by large numbers of private companies, by State and municipal agencies, by arbitration boards, and by organized labor.
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT STATISTICS
The work of this division during the past year has been chiefly devoted to the following tasks: (1) Continuation of its studies of accidents in the iron and steel industry; (2) continuation of its general surveys of accident statistics in various States; (3) a special study of accidents to window cleaners; (4) an investigation to ascertain how far the safety codes sponsored by various scientific organizations, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are now being adopted by the various States.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was led to undertake the study of industrial accidents by a resolution of the United States Senate in 1910. This resolution directed the bureau to conduct an investigation covering hours, wages, and working conditions in the iron and steel industry. When the special investigation came to an end it was determined to continue the study of the iron and steel industry. From that time to the present an annual review of the industry has been carried out.
Lack of resources has prevented the bureau undertaking similarly comprehensive accident studies for other industries. In a more general way, however, a periodic general survey of accidents in various industries has been undertaken. In 1925 information was secured for 1,272 concerns located in 11 States and employing the equivalent of 555,988 full-year workers. In 1926 the coverage was 2,212 concerns located in 25 States and employing the equivalent of 989,294 full-year workers. It is anticipated that the number of concerns may exceed 3,000 in 1927.
Safety codes.
The bureau is represented on a considerable number of the sectional committees which are engaged in the formulation of national safety codes under the procedure of the American Standards Association. The Department of Labor delegates to the bureau the responsibility of providing representatives of the workers on the committees
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for the preparation of safety codes. The Commissioner of Labor Statistics is the authorized representative of the department on the standards council.
The safety codes thus far projected are some 40 in number. Of these 30 have been completed and approved. The bureau has published 14 of these codes for extended distribution to State industrial boards and industrial concerns.
Standardization of accident statistics.
Some years ago at the instance of the bureau the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions organized a statistical committee. This committee gave prolonged attention to the problem of standardizing accident statistics. The result of this effort was finally embodied in Bulletin 276. Since its issue this bulletin has had a steadily increasing use until it may fairly be said to have become the standard.
Since very considerable changes have occurred since the preparation of Bulletin 276, it was agreed between the international association, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the accident prevention conference of July, 1926, to undertake a revision according to the procedure of the American Standards Association. A regular sectional committee has been organized and revision is now in progress.
INDUSTRIAL HEALTH
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was one of the pioneer organizations in this country in the study of occupational hazards and diseases, and through its work it has been an active force in the movement toward reducing the casualties among workmen resulting from the use of hazardous processes and substances. The present work of the bureau in the field of industrial hygiene consists of the publication of occasional bulletins dealing with industrial poisons or diseases ; a review of articles on specific occupational hazards appearing in the current medical journals, which is published each month in the Labor Review; and replies to inquiries which come to the bureau from all parts of the country regarding the hazards from specific poisons used in industrial processes or from gases, dusts, and fumes.
The work of the bureau in this field—a work which it is particularly fitting should be done by this office—is hampered by lack of funds to maintain a properly trained and equipped personnel. Although some work is being done along this line in other departments of the Government it is to this department that both employers and workers look for information as to the hazard of the various poisonous substances used in industry and the processes in which such substances are employed.
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Perhaps the most recent example of the need for extension of this service is found in the fatal cases of radium poisoning which have occurred among women employed in painting watch and clock dials with luminous paint. This type of poisoning furnishes one of the horrible examples of the dangers of industrial employment. The action of the radium, once it is taken into the system, strikes at the very center of the,human body: that is, the organs in which the blood is formed. Unlike most poisons, practically none of the poison is eliminated from the system and the victim of such poisoning has before him the prospect of a lingering and extremely painful illness and death.
A special study made for the bureau during 1927 by Dr. Carey P. McCord deals with the effects of lead absorption and presents a new test by which the effects of exposure to lead may be detected before actual clinical lead poisoning takes place. The study was published during the year as Bulletin No. 460, A New Test for Industrial Lead Poisoning. The study involved the examination of more than a thousand persons, some of whom were exposed to lead while others were used as controls in checking the results of the examination. The diagnosis of lead absorption or poisoning as proposed in this bulletin depends upon the presence of immature red cells in the blood stream.
The bureau has now under way two very important studies in the field of industrial health, namely, the use of radium and radioactive substances in the manufacture of clock dials and other articles; and the use of the spray method in the painting of automobiles, furniture, and other objects.
LABOR LEGISLATION AND DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR
The principal duty devolving upon this division is the preparation annually of two bulletins, one containing digests and reprints of acts passed by Congress and by the several State legislatures affecting labor, and the other containing a summary of important selected decisions of courts, both Federal and State, of interest to labor.
In addition the law division gives special attention to the subject of workmen’s compensation laws. A separate series is published on this subject. The Canadian laws are considered with those of the American States. The latest volume (No. 423), Workmen’s Compensation Legislation of the United States and Canada, contains a history, analysis, comparison, and reprint of this legislation up to the beginning of 1927. A supplementary volume containing new laws and amendments will be published when the material warrants it.
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Besides these routine bulletins, special studies are made on subjects of current importance, such as minimum wage laws, labor laws declared unconstitutional, and wage payment laws.
A considerable amount of legal research is often necessary, particularly during the period Congress is in session. The opinion of the department is sought as to the constitutionality and effect of many of the bills affecting labor introduced in Congress.
The law division is interested in the movement to further the better administration of labor legislation. Laws of States which have attempted to solve a particular labor problem are made available to other States by the bureau. The experts of the division, through long and impartial study, are in a position to supply valuable information to those interested in drafting model or uniform legislation to meet a particular need.
Labor laws of Latin-American countries.
The bureau has been engaged for some time in the preparation of a complete compilation in English of the labor laws of all Latin-American countries. Through the cooperation of the Department of State, original copies of most of these laws have been secured, and the work of translating is now under way. It is planned to publish the Mexican laws first, and it is hoped that this can be done within a few months. Considerable delay, however, is inevitable owing to the difficulty of securing the original laws in some instances, as well as to the time required to make a careful translation of such a large volume of material.
Workmen’s compensation.
In less than 20 years all the States except five have passed legislation extending the protection of workmen’s compensation to workers within those States. Because of the rapidity of the acceptance of the theory of compensation it has been necessary to have some central, impartial organization to gather and publish the results of the experience of other States. Before workmen’s compensation acts were passed and after passage but before they were amended to cover more workers or more injuries, to improve the administration of the acts, to secure the award or better the act generally as a result of their experience, investigations were necessary and the experience of other States sought. In seeking new methods for improving the administration of an act the officials charged with these duties sought the advice and experience of others who were doing similar work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has, by general agreement, become the clearing house of information concerning compensation legislation, decisions of courts, and the activities of the various State boards and commissions administering the compensation laws of the various States and Territories.
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BUILDING OPERATIONS
The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects, annually, data concerning building permits issued in cities of the United States having a population of 25,000 or over. Reports Avere received for 1927 from 302 cities. The total amount spent for building operations in these cities was $3,593,839,405. Of this amount, $1,961,899,529 was for new residential buildings, $1,278,541,605 for new nonresiclential buildings, and $353,398,271 for repairs to old buildings.
These 302 cities had a population of 43,919,581 on July 1, 1927, according to an estimate of the Bureau of the Census. Accommodations were provided in new buildings in these cities for 418,878 families, or at the rate of 95.4 families to each 10,000 population. The per capita expenditure for all building operations was $81.83.
Reports of building permits issued have been received from 257 identical cities for each year from 1921 to 1927, inclusive. In 1921 dwelling places were provided in new buildings for 224,545 families. Of this number 58.3 per cent were housed in one-family dwellings compared with 24.4 per cent in apartment houses. The remaining 17.3 per cent were housed in two-family dwellings. During 1927, however, 48.3 per cent of the families domiciled in new buildings were provided for in new apartment houses and only 38.3 per cent in single-family dwellings.
While the expenditure for new buildings of all kinds in these 257 cities was 17.6 per cent lower than the amount spent during 1925, the peak year of building construction, it was 99.5 per cent more than the 1921 expenditure. The expenditure for residential building in these cities was 103.3 per cent more than in 1921 and for nonresidential building was 93.7 per cent greater than 1921. The population of these 257 cities had increased 15 per cent during the same period according to estimates of the Bureau of the Census.
In 1921 the average cost of the one-family dwellings for which permits were issued in these 257 cities was $3,972 while in 1927 it was $4,830, an increase of 21.6 per cent. The average cost per family unit of apartment houses had risen in the same period from $4,019 to $4,170, an increase of only 3.8 per cent. These cost figures apply to the building only. The cost of the land is not included. They do not purport to show the cost of building a house each year on identical plans and specifications. The figures show only what was spent on the buildings for which permits were issued in these cities. The 1927 wholesale prices of building materials was 1.7 per cent less than the 1921 prices, while the union wage rates in the building trades was 28.5 per cent more than the 1921 wage rates.
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CONSUMERS’ COOPERATION
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has for nearly a decade been following the development of the consumers’ cooperative movement not only in the United States but throughout the world. An attempt is made to sketch for the public all new developments by means of the Labor Review, in which a regular section on cooperation is carried month by month. The first comprehensive statistical study of the consumers’ societies made in this country was that of the bureau in 1920. In 1927 a second and more extensive study was completed and published, which covered all phases of the movement except the cooperative marketing of agricultural products.
In the main, the cooperative-store movement appears to have prospered in moderate degree during the year under review.
More and more stress is being laid upon correct business practice and upon training courses for employees of the cooperative movement. Work along this line is being carried on by the national educational body, the Cooperative League, and the three district leagues. Training courses have been given for a number of years in the northern district, first by the wholesale and later by the league. In 1927 the Eastern States Cooperative League gave its first course of this kind.
LABOR TURNOVER
The cooperative arrangement with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., noted in last year’s report, continues. The number of companies furnishing reports has now increased to more than 300. These companies furnish each month a statement of the number of employees taken on and the number leaving, the latter being divided into those leaving voluntarily, those laid off, and those who were discharged. From these a monthly rate is computed, the results being published quarterly in the Labor Review. It is planned eventually to work out a rate which will show, also, labor stability; that is, the proportion of the force which remained in the continuous employment of the company during the whole year.
Such figures as the above are valuable in locating danger spots in the plant, i. e., departments or occupations whose conditions require improvement as well as being of value as a measure of the success of any plans which may have been adopted to assist in stabilizing the force.
The table following shows the accession and quit rates, by months, from January, 1927, to May, 1928.
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Average turnover rates during 1927 and 1928 in selected American factories 1 [Monthly rates are stated on an equivalent annual basis]
Month Accession rate. Total separation rate2 Voluntary quit rate Lay-off rate Discharge rate
1927 1928 1927 1928 1927 1928 1927 1928 1297 1928
J anuary 36.3 33.4 40.8 27.8 23.1 15.9 12.3 8.3 5.4 3.6
February 41.7 32.0 36.9 28.2 21.8 14.7 9.6 7.9 5.5 4.7
March 43.2 36.5 42.5 31.8 29.8 19.5 6.4 8.1 6.3 4.2
April 47.5 41.3 48.3 37.9 32.4 25.4 9.7 7.5 6.2 5.0
May. 48.0 43.8 44.7 38.4 31.9 25.6 7.6 7.9 5.2 4.9
June.. 45.0 43.9 29.1 8.0 6.8
July 37.8 35.7 24.4 6.0 5.3
August 39.6 36.4 23.0 8.5 4.9
September - - 43. 6 46.2 33.8 6.4 6.0
October 40.8 39.6 25.3 8.5 5.8
November 31. 6 31.5 18.0 9.3 4.2
December 23.7 27.2 14.8 8.6 3.8

i The form of average used is the unweighted median of company rates, except for the total separation rate, which is the sum of the median rates for voluntary quits, lay-offs, and discharges.
2 Arithmetic sum of voluntary quit, lay-off, and discharge rates.
PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOR
Productivity of labor in merchant blast furnaces.
The study of productivity of labor in merchant blast furnaces, now in press, measures the increase in productivity in recent years in terms of output per man-hour and analyzes the causes of increased production with special reference to technical improvements and to reductions in the number of men required in the labor crews. The principal conclusions of the study are as follows:
Productivity of labor in the merchant blast-furnace industry was more than doubled in the 16-year period from 1911 to 1927. For those plants covered by the bureau survey the average output of pig iron per man-hour of labor in 1911 was 0.14 gross ton, while for the year 1926 the output per man-hour was 0.296 gross ton, and for the first six months of 1927, 0.3 gross ton. Or, to state it another way, it required approximately 7 hours and 7 minutes of labor time to produce a gross ton of pig iron in 1911 as against 3 hours and 23 minutes in 1926 or 3 hours and 20 minutes in the first half of 1927.
Productivity of labor in newspaper printing.
Data for this study were obtained by a field survey direct from the pay rolls and production records of representative establishments for 1926, and, in certain cases, for 1916. As data of a similar character were available for the year 1896 from the earlier study of cost of production in various industries made by this bureau while operating as an independent establishment known as the United States Department of Labor, comparison of productivity and labor costs could be made for a 30-year period.
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The analysis of the material obtained as above described shows that there has been a very considerable increase in the productivity of labor in newspaper printing during recent years, although the changes were by no means uniform for the several processes. Moreover, there has been constantly in operation a factor which tends to check the cheapening of time and labor costs, namely, the emphasis placed by modern newspapers upon rapidity of issuing the completed papers. Methods are utilized which mean the greatest possible saving in what is called “ clock time ” and these are not necessarily the most economical methods.
As an example of increased productivity in newspaper printing the experience of a representative paper, for which complete data were obtainable for 1916 and for 1926, may be cited. In making comparison between these two years, an arbitrary unit of measurement had to be used in order to allow for a change in the size of the page during the period covered. The unit adopted was an issue of 10,000 copies of a 4-page paper, each page containing the equivalent of 59,200 ems of 5y2-point type. In 1916 the production of a unit as just described required 215 man-hours, while in 1926 only 158 man-hours were required. In 1916 the money cost per unit was $135.77, while in 1926, owing to the increased output per man-hour the money cost had advanced to only $200, or barely 47 per cent, in spite of the fact that average hourly wage rates had risen approximately 85 per cent.
Labor productivity studies in progress.
The study of labor productivity in the loading and unloading of vessels has not yet been completed. This study necessitated a visit by a bureau agent to the principal ports of the United States and the obtaining of the data desired directly from the local companies.
The study of labor productivity in certain branches of the iron and steel industry is nearing completion. The section on merchant-blast furnaces is in press and its principal findings are noted above. The remaining sections will deal with blast furnaces operated in connection with steel works and with open-hearth and Bessemer furnaces.
SETTLEMENTS FOR ACCIDENTS TO AMERICAN SEAMEN
During the past year the Bureau of Labor Statistics completed a study of settlements for accidents to American seamen. The study compares the actual settlements with the probable amount payable had each accident case studied been adjudicated under the provisions of the longshoremen and harbor workers’ compensation act, the seamen at the same time retaining their right to wages to the end of the voyage and also to maintenance and cure. The study was of sufficient coverage to indicate whether the seamen would have benefited had
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR 57
they been covered by the provisions of the longshoremen’s act as contemplated in the original bill.
The study showed the following comparisons between the average amounts actually paid and the amounts which would be payable under the provisions of the longshoremen’s act. In 899 cases not involving-litigation the average actual settlement was $262.47, as compared with an average estimated settlement of $352.56 under the compensation act. In the 296 cases involving litigation the average “ gross ” settlement was $1,317.03 and the estimated average “ net ” settlement $790.22 as compared with an average estimated settlement of $821.07 under the compensation act.
Cases which were litigated were usually taken by the seaman’s attorney on a contingent basis. The fees paid by the seamen ranged from 25 to 60 per cent of the settlement in cases where such information was available, except in a very few cases handled by the legal staff of charitable organizations. The predominating charge wTas 50 per cent of the settlement or verdict.
BENEFICIAL ACTIVITIES OF TRADE-UNIONS
During the past year the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been gathering data relative to the various fields of activity of trade-unions, the results of which are incorporated in Bulletin No. 465, now in press.
The great majority of labor organizations make provision to assist their members in meeting the calamities of death, illness, or accident. This may be done through the medium of either insurance or what are generally known as trade-union benefits. The necessities arising from a strike and lockout are usually those for which provision is first made. After that the union may furnish relief in case of death of the member or his wife, or in case he becomes incapacitated for work because of injury or sickness. Of these, death is the emergency most often provided for, though sickness and disability also frequently receive assistance. A few unions have even assumed the responsibility of making some provision for the surviving family after a member’s death. Some unions pay cash benefits to members found to be suffering from tuberculosis or pay for their treatment in a sanatorium. Others which do not pay benefits for this disease make regular or occasional contributions to private sanatoriums with the understanding that their members shall be entitled to treatment if needed. Others pay for certain disablements peculiar or common to the trade. Even those labor organizations which have no regular benefits often have a benevolent or relief fund from which, in special cases, deserving members may receive assistance in times of financial stress. These benefits paid by the international organization are in a great many cases supplemented by similar benefits paid by the local.
16151—28—5
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The amounts paid in 1927 in benefits and insurance by 73 international organizations alone totaled nearly $25,000,000. If to this be added the more than $3,000,000 paid in old-age pensions, some half million dollars 1 for maintenance of union homes for the aged, the amounts (not known) paid in unemployment benefits, and the sums paid in benefits by local unions, it is seen that labor organizations are providing a tremendous amount of assistance to their less fortunate members.
Not only have labor organizations done their best to improve the economic condition of their members; they have also been active in trying to improve the physical welfare of trade-unionists, either through the raising of the sanitary standards in the workshops or by providing definite health services for their members; in providing recreational activities; in various extensive business enterprises, such as labor banks, and in undertaking house-building programs.
HEALTH AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
The nature and scope of the various personnel features contributing to the health and general welfare of employees which are found in various types of industries formed the subject of a survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics published during the year as Bulletin No. 458, Health and Recreation Activities in Industrial Establishments. The survey involved visits to establishments in different sections of the country, information being secured from 430 companies which were doing enough along personnel lines to warrant inclusion. As a similar study was made in 1916-17 covering practically the same number of companies, many of them identical, the present study affords a comparison of industrial personnel activities then and now. The most decided changes were found in the extent of the provisions for the care of health, the extension of the vacation movement, and the increase in the number of companies carrying group insurance.
STATE AND MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
This study, outlined in the last annual report, is based on a field survey covering the retirement plans of States and cities of a population of 400,000 and upward. By personal interviews schedules were obtained covering between 70 and 80 systems, including systems maintained by States for their employees, systems embracing practically all the employees of the cities supporting them, and the systems for the benefit of special groups, such as teachers or the members of police or fire departments.
1 Four homes only; 2 just started; 1, data not available.
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With few exceptions these plans are maintained by the joint contributions of employers and employees. The contributions vary widely, however, both as between the two parties and as between systems.
There is much diversity in regard to providing for disability and for dependents of deceased members. When a service involves recognized danger, as in the case of police and fire departments, it is practically universal to arrange for retirement on allowance for those disabled for duty and it is also the general rule to make some provision for the widow and minor children of members dying in the service; often there is provision for dependents of those dying after having been retired. Among the teachers’ systems such provisions are less usual, though retirement on allowance for disability after a specified term of service is not uncommon. State and municipal systems usually include allowances for disability and often give the retirant a choice of several options by which he may make a provision for his survivors at the cost of a lower allowance during his own lifetime.
Age and service qualifications for retirement are commonly established. Often retirement is permitted at one age and enforced at another, the optional age ranging from 50 up to 65, and the compulsory age being almost universally fixed at 70. Sometimes retirement at the optional age is permitted only if service has been rendered for a given term of years, ranging from 10 upward. Sometimes retirement is permitted at any age after the employee has served for a longer term, 35 years seeming to be the favored period for this purpose. In a number of the newer systems there is no age requirement, and either no service qualification or a light one. When an employee retires, the accumulated contributions standing to his credit are used to purchase his allowance. If he leaves early, it will be small, if he stays long, it will be large, and he is at liberty to choose for himself which alternative he prefers. In services like those of the fire and police departments, for obvious reasons an early age is apt to be set for retirement; or age may be ignored altogether, and retirement made a matter of incapacity. In such systems there is apt to be a service qualification, 20 or 25 years being the preferred periods, unless incapacity results from injuries received in the service, when retirement on allowance is permitted without regard either to age or length of service.
There is no uniform method of determining the retirement allowance. Sometimes it is a flat amount which seems to have been fixed arbitrarily, sometimes a fraction or percentage of the final salary, sometimes a specified amount for each year of service rendered. Usually it is given as a monthly or quarterly payment, continued through life. One system was found in which an attempt had been
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made to relate the allowance to the cost of living by fixing it at half the salary of the rank held at the time of retirement and providing that if this salary should be changed the allowance should change accordingly.
Public-service retirement systems in foreign countries.
The public interest which led to the study by the bureau of publicservice retirement systems in this country extended also to such systems in foreign countries, mainly as a measure of comparison, and therefore the bureau also undertook a study of the principal systems of Europe. The material was secured, through a special investigator, from original laws and reports, from unpublished material from the Department of State, and by personal inquiry from representatives of the countries concerned. The results of this study have been published in the Monthly Labor Review and will form part of a bulletin on such systems.
Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland all have public-service retirement systems. Those of Belgium, Great Britain, and the Netherlands (and in Germany for officials), provide pensions the entire cost of which is borne by the public treasury. In the other countries (and in Germany for employees), the employees contribute either the entire cost or a percentage thereof, usually 50, the system being in the nature of social insurance, even though often called a pension system.
The retirement age set ranges from 60 in Austria, Great Britain, and France to 10 in Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland, with variations within the same country in some instances. The length of service required also varies, ranging from 2 to 30 years, frequently longer service being required for maximum benefits. There is no age requirement in Italy after 40 years’ service and in Switzerland after 50 years’ service for males and 35 years’ service for females.
APPRENTICESHIP IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
The study of apprenticeship in building construction to which reference is made in the annual report of the Commissioner of Labor Statistics for the fiscal year 1928, was completed during the year and published as Bulletin 459 of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey covers 19 cities of the East, South, and Middle West.
The unsystematic and planless nature of present-day apprenticeship made the investigation a difficult one, which resolved itself substantially into determining what is not being done rather than in finding and reporting upon concrete achievements in apprentice training.
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Two popular theories explaining the collapse of formal apprenticeship are proved untenable by the investigation. These are the unwillingness of boys to take up manual work, and union restrictions on the number of apprentices permitted. On the first of these points the bureau report states that—
It is quite apparent that the dearth of apprentices in the building trades is not due to a dearth of boys interested in entering those trades. The unions everywhere reported long waiting lists of applicants for apprenticeships, and joint committees agree that the problem does not lie in finding material to train.
In the matter of union restriction the report finds that—
In practical application union regulations governing the ratio of apprentices to journeymen prove to be far less a deterring factor in apprentice training than is commonly assumed. Where the highly developed systems prevail union regulations are apt to be abrogated entirely and the whole question of quota is handled by the joint committee on the basis of the number of .apprentices the trade can support in continuous employment. Where the method is more desultory the union quota is not an issue, for the reason that relatively few contractors have any apprentices at all and certainly have no disposition to take on more than the union agreement permits.
PARK RECREATION AREAS
A report on park recreation areas in the United States published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as Bulletin No. 462 describes the recent developments in the park recreation movement and also sets forth the problems in regard to the provision of recreation facilities which has resulted from the industrial expansion of the past few decades. The study was made by the Playground and Recreation Association of America with the editorial assistance of the bureau.
The concentration of large populations in comparatively restricted localities has nearly always resulted in the absorption of areas which might otherwise have been available for recreation; and the very fact of this congestion of the population within narrow limits has made the provision of adequate breathing and recreation spaces more imperative. In order to meet the recreation needs of the people, therefore, a movement for the preservation and the development of park and recreation areas has been in progress for some time, the results of which are shown in this survey of the county and municipal park systems throughout the country.
The facts gathered in the present study, therefore, are of vital significance to the workers of the United States as well as to other community groups, since they show the extent to which our local governments are attempting to correct some of the mistakes made in their earlier history and to plan so that such mistakes will not be repeated.
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FOREIGN INVESTIGATION AND STUDIES
The Bureau of Labor Statistics seeks to follow important developments of labor interest in other countries, and thus to serve as a clearing house for such information, partly through the medium of the Labor Review and partly through replies to the numerous inquiries received by the bureau. These inquiries cover a wide range. Information in regard to wages in other countries is particularly demanded.
Occasionally the bureau has felt it necessary to send its own representatives to Europe to secure information of particular difficulty and importance. Thus in the fiscal year 1926-27 a bureau representative made a. personal survey of wage conditions in the iron and steel and pottery industries of Great Britain and Germany, the results being published in the Labor Review. And, during the year 1927-28 the assistant commissioner made a similar survey of wage conditions in the woolen manufacturing industry of Europe. The report of this investigation is now being prepared. Supplementing these special investigations by its own representatives, the bureau also obtains and publishes the results of studies made by foreign investigators of recognized standing.
In general, however, the bureau must depend for its foreign information on the cooperation of other agencies and upon published reports and studies. The cooperation of the State Department has been particularly helpful. Not only does that department furnish the bureau with copies of the reports from the consuls bearing on labor matters, but on several occasions, upon the request of the Department of Labor, has used its foreign representatives to obtain information desired by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Valuable information is also obtained from foreign publications, particularly the official journals aiid reports of the various labor departments of other countries. These are reviewed in the bureau, and important articles are translated and summarized for the Labor Review.
PUBLICATIONS
The combined publications of the Bureau of Labor Statistics during the past fiscal year amounted to a grand total of 6,462 printed pages, this number including 2,691 pages in the 12 issues of the Labor Review, and 3,771 pages in 23 bulletins.
labor Review.
The Labor Review was started in July, 1915. Its principal function is to offer a medium for the prompt publication of the bureau’s investigations and studies. In addition, it has now become a means by which the work of other agencies may be followed. Practically
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all publications, foreign as well as domestic, dealing with labor matters are reviewed by the editorial division, and the developments of interest are described and important contributions are digested for the benefit of the readers of the Review. The character of the principal articles published in the Review have been described in preceding sections.
Bulletins.
The more extended studies of the bureau are published in bulletin form, although a summary of each study is usually carried in the Labor Review, where publication is more rapid. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, the bureau published a total of 23 bulletins, as follows:
No. 438. Wages and hours of labor in the motor-vehicle industry, 1925.
No. 439. Handbook of labor statistics, 1924-1926.
No. 440. Wholesale prices, 1890-1926.
No. 441. Productivity of labor in the glass industry.
No. 442. Wages and hours of labor in the iron and steel industry, 1907-1926.
No. 443. Wages and hours of labor in woolen and worsted goods manufacturing, 1910-1926.
No. 444. Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1926.
No. 445. Retail prices, 1890-1926.
No. 446. Wages and hours of labor in cotton-goods manufacturing, 1910-1926.
No. 447. Safety code for rubber mills and calenders.
To. 448. Trade agreements, 1926.
No. 449. Building permits in the principal cities of the United States in 1926.
No. 450. Wages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe industry, 1907-1926.
No. 451. Safety code for forging and hot-metal stamping.
No. 452. Wages and hours of labor in the hosiery and underwear industries, 1907-1926.
No. 453. Revised index numbers of wholesale prices, 1923 to July, 1927.
No. 454. Hours and earnings in bituminous coal mining, 1922, 1924, and 1926.
No. 455. Proceedings of the fourteenth annual convention of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada, held at Paterson, N. J., May 31 to June 3, 1927.
No. 456. Proceedings of the fourteenth annual meeting of the International Association of Accident Boards and Commissions, held at Atlanta, Ga., September 27-29, 1927.
No. 457. Union scales of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1927.
No. 458. Health and recreation activities in industrial establishments, 1926.
No. 459. Apprenticeship in building construction.
No. 460. A new test for industrial lead poisoning. The presence of basophilic red cells in lead poisoning and lead absorption.
In addition, the following bulletins were in process of being printed on June 30, 1928:
No. 461. Labor organizations in Chile.
No. 462. Park recreation areas in the United States.
No. 463. Safety code for mechanical power-transmission apparatus. First revision.
No. 464. Retail prices, 1890 co 1927.
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No. 465. Beneficial activities of American trade-unions.
No. 466. Settlement for accidents to American seamen.
No. 467. Minimum wage legislation in various countries.
No. 468. Trade agreements, 1927.
No. 469. Building permits in the principal cities of the United States in 1927.
No. 470. Labor legislation of 1927.
No. 471. Wages and hours of labor in foundries and machine shops, 1927.
No. 472. Wages and hours of labor in slaughtering and meat packing, 1927.
No. 473. Wholesale prices, 1913 to 1927.
No. 474. Productivity of labor in merchant blast furnaces.
No. 475. Productivity of labor in newspaper printing.
No. 476. Union scales of wages and hours of labor, 1927. Supplement to Bulletin 457.
No. 477. Public service retirement systems: United States and Europe.
BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION
Harry E. Hull, Commissioner General
During the fiscal year 1927-28 three laws were passed having an important bearing on immigration, which laws, of course, are enforced in addition to all other immigration laws, principally the immigration act of February 5, 1917, frequently referred to as the general immigration law, and the immigration act of May 26, 1924, as amended, referred to as the quota or numerical restrictive act.
On March 31, 1928, an act was passed postponing the adoption of the national-origins quota plan until 1929 and keeping in effect the present quota plan which is based on 2 per cent of the number of foreign-born individuals of each nationality resident in continental United States as determined by the United States census of 1890, but placing a minimum quota of 100 for any nationality.
On April 2, 1928, an act was passed to the effect that the provision of law in the immigration act of May 26, 1924, excluding, with certain exceptions, aliens ineligible to citizenship, should have no application to the right of American Indians born in Canada to cross the borders of the United States. This act does not extend to persons whose membership in Indian tribes or families was created by adoption.
On May 29, 1928, an act was passed changing, to some degree, the nonquota classes and the preference class under the quota as specified in the act of 1924. The purpose of this act is to enable, as far as possible, foreign resident members of families of United States citizens to be reunited; also to shorten the time within which foreign resident members of families of aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence wTill have to wait before they may secure quota visas. In other words, the purpose of this legislation was to unite, with the least possible delay, families of citizens
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and aliens lawfully resident in the United States. As an example of the way in which this policy is to work out, the act of May 29, 1928, increased from 18 to 21 the age of unmarried children of citizens of the United States who may secure nonquota visas because of relationship; permitted the husband of a citizen of the United States by marriage occurring prior to June 1, 1928, to come as a nonquota immigrant; and made a nonquota immigrant of a woman who was a citizen of the United States and who prior to September 22, 1922, lost her citizenship by reason of her marriage to an alien, but who at the time of filing her application for an immigration visa, is unmarried. As to tile classes of aliens who are entitled to preference in securing immigration quota visas, the act provided that wives and unmarried children under 21 years of age of alien residents of the United States who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, may secure preference under the quota in applying for immigration visas. It likewise increased from 16 to 18 years the age of dependent children of skilled agriculturists who are entitled to preference.
IMMIGRATION STATISTICS
In the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, a total of 500,631 aliens were admitted to the United States, as compared with a total of 538,001 aliens for the previous year. During the fiscal year 274,356 aliens departed, as compared with 253,508 departures during 1927. Therefore, for the past fiscal year there was a net gain of 226,275 as compared with a net gain of 284,493 aliens for the year 1927. Of the 500,631 aliens admitted, 307,255 were immigrants or newcomers for permanent residence in this country and 193,376 were either returning from a temporary trip abroad or coming here for a visit. Of the 274,356 aliens who departed from the United States during the past year, 196,899 were aliens who had been here for a short stay or who intended to return to the United States after visiting a foreign country. The remaining 77,457 departed without expressing an intention to return. About three-fourths of the present-day immigrant aliens are in the prime of life, 16 to 44 years of age, which percentage runs about the same as in the previous fiscal year. Of the immigrants admitted during the year, 230,832 were from 16 to 44 years of age, 49,680 were under 16 years of age and the remaining 26,743 were 45 years of age or over. During the previous fiscal year the male immigrants outnumbered the female immigrants, 194,163 males and 141,012 females being admitted in that year. Again, during the fiscal year 1928 the males outnumbered the females, 165,977 males and 141,278 females being admitted. However, a number of countries sent more females than males. For instance, Greece sent 410 males and 1,918 females and Italy sent 6,075 males and 11,653 females. Statistics
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show that most of the countries sending an excess of females over males are located in southern Europe where the quotas are small. The excess of females over males is due largely to the fact that many of these females are wives of American citizens and as such are exempt from the quota provisions of the immigration act of 1924.
As in the previous fiscal year, countries in the Western Hemisphere furnished almost half the immigrants admitted, due to the fad that quota restrictions do not apply to most countries in this hemisphere. Immigrants to the number of 73,154 were admitted from Canada and 59,016 from Mexico. These two figures constitute 43 per cent of the total number of immigrants for the year. Europe sent 158,513 immigrants during this year, Germany leading with 45,778, being followed by the Irish Free State with 24,544 and Great Britain with 19,958. Italy sent 17,728 and the combined Scandinavian coun-trie (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) 16,184.
A study of the following figures will show what a tremendous effect the present restrictive immigration laws have. In a single year prior to the war, and of course prior to the first quota law, which was passed in 1921, immigration exceeded the million mark. A larger number of aliens arrived during individual years in that period from single countries in Europe than now come from the entire Continent of Europe. As an example, in the year 1913 the Russian Empire, as it was then known, contributed 291,040 immigrants to this country, Italy 265,542, and former Austria-Hungary 254,825, whereas in the fiscal year just passed only 158,513 alien immigrants were admitted from all European countries.
Deportation of aliens.
The expulsion of undesirable aliens from the country continues to be one of the most important functions of the Immigration Service. The classes of aliens subject to deportation include criminals, anarchists, insane and feeble-minded aliens, aliens who have become public charges, and the like. During the past fiscal year a total of 11,625 aliens were arrested and formally deported, as compared with 11,662 for the preceding year and 10,904 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926. Of the past year’s deportees, 11,625, 5,021 were deported to Europe, 2,511 to Canada, 2,934 to Mexico, 532 to other countries of the Western Hemisphere, 529 to Asia, and 98 to Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. The number of aliens deported for the past year was slightly less than the number deported for the previous year, during which year the number of deportations was the largest ever handled by the Immigration Service in a single year. However, it will be noted that the number deported during the past fiscal year greatly exceeded the total of 10,904 aliens deported for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926. In addition to the 11,625 aliens actually
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deported there were 19,946 subject to deportation who departed in order to avoid formal deportation, as compared with 15,012 such departures for the previous year. From this it will be seen that the total number of deportable aliens whose removal from the country was brought about during the past fiscal year exceeded by 4,897 the number of such departures during the previous fiscal year, which in effect means that in the fiscal year just passed the Immigration Service was responsible for the removal from the country of more deportable aliens than during any previous fiscal year.
Visa petitions.
In accordance with the provisions of the immigration act of 1924 citizens of the United States may, by petitioning in the manner prescribed by law, secure nonquota visas for their wives and unmarried children under 18 years of age (the law in this respect having been amended in the manner described in the beginning of this report). The law in effect during the past fiscal year also provided that citizens could secure preferences in the issuance of quota visas to certain relatives by petitioning in the proper manner. During the year 38,460 petitions were filed with the bureau for the issuance of immigration visas in behalf of wives and unmarried children under 21 years, husbands, and parents, as compared with 34,169 such petitions for the previous fiscal year, or an increase of 4,291 petitions, which total was an increase of approximately 14,600 over the 12-month period of two years ago. It will be noted that the amended act increasing the classes of nonquota aliens became effective at the end of the present fiscal year and some few cases under the new act were included in the past year. Of the petitions filed this year 33,675 were approved and 3,210 rejected, the remaining 1,575, for one reason or another not being completed, as compared with 27,623 approvals, 3,203 rejections, and 3,343 uncompleted petitions for the previous year.
Reentry permits. •
The immigration act of 1924 provides that alien immigrants lawfully. admitted to the United States for permanent residence may return to this country after a temporary visit abroad without being charged to the quota. In order to facilitate the reentry of such persons without the necessity of obtaining nonquota immigration visas from American consular officers, there is a provision in the act whereby such aliens may secure in advance of their departure a reentry permit which is issued by the Commissioner General of Immigration with the approval of the Secretary of Labor. During the fiscal year just passed the bureau received 117,794 applications for permits as compared with 112,254 for the previous year, an increase in applications of 5,540 over the preceding year. Of this number 113,977
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were granted and 2,103 denied, leaving a balance of 1,714 pending at the close of the fiscal year. Applications for extensions to permits were granted in 10,731 cases as compared with 9,110 for the previous year, making a total of 124,708 permits and extensions as compared with a total of 111,305 for the previous year, an increase of 13,403 over the previous year. Under the law a fee of $3 is charged for each permit and extension. Therefore, there was a total of $374,124 covered into the Treasury, as compared with $333,915 for the previous year, an increase in revenue of $40,209.
Chinese.
The number of Chinese admitted during the past fiscal year was 7,996, of which number 931 wTere immigrants and 7,065 were nonimmigrants. Of this latter number 4,653 were passing in transit through the United States and 398 were entering as temporary visitors. In the previous fiscal year 8,305 were admitted, 1,051 being immigrants and 7,254 being nonimmigrants. It will therefore be seen that there was a slightly less number of Chinese aliens who came to the United States during the past year than during the preceding year. Chinese numbering 9,357 departed during the past year as compared with 9,881 the previous year. During the past fiscal year the departures of Chinese exceeded the arrivals by 1,361, as compared with 1,576 more departures than arrivals for the fiscal year 1927. Statistics show that in recent years the number of Chinese coming to the United States is decreasing. During the past year 462 aliens of the Chinese race were refused admission as compared with 598 refusals for the year before.
The act of 1924 operates in such a manner that the coming of Chinese aliens, except for temporary stay or more extended but not permanent residence, is practically a thing of the past.
As has been pointed out in previous reports, the main problem in connection with Chinese immigration has to do, not with alien Chinese, but with Chinese who claim American citizenship. While a considerable number of alleged citizens claiming birth in the United States apply for readmission, for the most part citizen applicants are those who claim to be citizens by reason of the birth of their alleged fathers in this country. There applied for admission during the fiscal year 3,276 Chinese who claimed citizenship as against 3,176 of this class who applied for admission during the fiscal year 1927. In order to determine the truth of the claims of these applicants, the Immigration Service at the ports and the department in handling their cases on appeal is still confronted with the difficult task of determining the relationship of an applicant to his alleged father when birth is said to have occurred in China. It becomes necessary, in order to test the relationship, to examine the applicant and his
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witnesses minutely and at length in regard to the village and home from which he is said to have come, the members of the family in which he claims membership, and incidents of family and village life which would have been within the common knowledge of the applicant and his witnesses if the relationship exists. It has become increasingly difficult to combat successfully the fraudulent claims which are constantly presented by such applicants by reason of the attitude assumed by both the district and appellate courts in some jurisdictions when after rejection the applicants apply for writs of habeas corpus. On the theory that the disagreements in testimony are such on matters not in direct issue, that is, on home life and association rather than in direct statements of relationship, these courts have held there is no substantial reason for denying the claimed relationship, and have in a number of cases pronounced the hearing unfair and discharged the petitioners. The department feels that the best evidence of relationship in the common knowledge which the parties must have of matters growing out of or connected with the status claimed. The question of whether the courts have the right to assume their present attitude in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Chin Yow v. United States, 208 U. S. 8, has not been presented to the Supreme Court but no doubt in the near future a test case will be brought before that body.
Chinese immigration within the past few years has reached the stage in point of time when the grandchildren of Chinese who were born in the United States are applying for admission in considerable numbers. The department took the position that the son of the son of a person born in the United States was not a citizen thereof if at the time of the birth of such grandson of a native-born citizen his father had never resided in the United States. The matter was carried to the Supreme Court in the case of Chin Yow v. United States, and a few days before the beginning of the fiscal year 1928 the Supreme Court upheld the department’s position and held that such persons were not citizens. The effect of this decision is to prevent the immigration of a vast army of Chinese who otherwise would have been eligible for admission regardless of any law governing the admission of aliens.
BORDER PATROL
The fiscal year covered by this report is the fourth since the creation of the immigration border patrol. Beginning July 1, 1924, with an appropriation of a million dollars and a personnel of 472 employees, the organization has been expanded to a total of 747 members, and during the year last past operated on an appropriation of $1,600,000. Transportation equipment consists of 267 automobiles and 13 trucks. In addition to these, 15 saddle horses and 7 pack
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horses are provided under a system of allowances to individual patrolmen. The outstanding accomplishment of the immigration border patrol for the past year was the apprehension of 25,534 persons of all kinds found engaged in unlawful or questionable activities. Of this number 23,896 were turned over by patrol officers to examiners of the Immigration Service. Out of this total approximately 18,000 were smuggled aliens and 330 were found to be smugglers of aliens. There were turned over to the customs service 871 persons; to the Prohibition Unit, 105 persons; to State and municipal authorities, 538; and to other branches of the Government, 124 persons. Seizures were made of 671 automobiles at an estimated value of $291,919, and of 314 other conveyances at an estimated value of $69,802. Liquor aggregating 353,392 quarts estimated at a value of $386,692, and miscellaneous contraband goods valued at $25,451 were seized by patrolmen and delivered to the appropriate governmental agencies concerned.
In the preceding fiscal year, 12,098 smuggled aliens were apprehended. The fiscal year 1928 witnessed an increase of 50 per cent in the number of such aliens taken into custody.
While the total personnel of the organization underwent a contraction as compared with the previous year, the total number of actual patrolmen was increased and it was possible to add 35 additional automobiles.
In the first three years of the organization’s existence five fatalities among border patrolmen had occurred. Two additional patrolmen lost their lives in line of duty during the past fiscal year.
As stated in last year’s report, the border patrol is the greatest deterrent of alien smuggling that has ever been devised, and besides its activities devoted to immigration ends it has made a substantial contribution to the cause of law enforcement in other departments of the Government, notably the prohibition and customs units.
FINES
The immigration law provides fines against steamship companies for unlawfully bringing aliens to the United States. During the past fiscal year the amount of fines assessed against the various steamship companies for bringing aliens here in violation of law amounted to $314,960, as compared with $440,010 for the previous year and $644,540 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1926. As stated in last year’s report, the reduction in the amount of penalties imposed on steamship companies reflects increasing efficiency of inspection abroad, a system which was inaugurated within the past few years. It likewise reflects an increasing degree of cooperation on the part of the steamship companies with the Immigration Service.
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FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Appropriation for the conduct of the Immigration Service and the administration of the immigration laws
For the enforcement of laws regulating immigration into the
United States____________________________________________$4, 985, 000 00
For coast and land border patrol___________________________ 1, 600, 000. 00
For physical maintenance and upkeep of immigration stations— 50, 000. 00
For salaries, Bureau of Immigration________________________ 91, 840. 00
Total___________________________________________________ 6, 726, 840. 00
The net amount expended during the year for all purposes, after deducting refunds to the appropriation for expenditures not properly chargeable to the Government, was $6,690,100.82, leaving an unexpended balance of $36,739.18.
Balanced against the expenditures mentioned there was collected as hereinafter shown the sum of $3,959,409.56, making the actual net cost of operation $2,730,691.26.
Income and sources thereof
Head tax collected________________________________________________$3, 231, 792. 70
Administrative fines --------------------------------------------- 203,171. 78
Reentry permits and extensions____________________________________ 374,124. 00
Bonds forfeited and paid without suit_____________________________ 148, 323. 90
Sale of exclusive privileges (feeding, money exchanges, etc.)----- 1,166. 00
Sale of Government property_______________________________________ 263. 78
Miscellaneous collections------------------,----------------------• 248. 33
Coin-box collections, Ellis Island, Boston, Philadelphia---------- 319. 07
Total___________________________________________________ 3, 959, 409. 56
CASES REVIEWED
Within the past few years a system of review was devised for the purpose of checking and safeguarding the legal rights of aliens who are excluded at ports of entry and who, under the law, have a right to appeal to the Secretary of Labor, and of aliens for whom warrants of arrest were issued subsequent to their entry. In order to assist the Secretary of Labor in reviewing these cases a board of review was formed. During the past year this board of review prepared written opinions in 38,258 cases as compared with 32,970 cases for the previous fiscal year. The number of aliens involved in these cases totaled 71,698 as compared with 59,880 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1927. In other words, this board of review passed upon cases of approximately 5,975 aliens during each month of the past year, or approximately 250 every working day. The following table shows in some detail the character of the cases reviewed. It is to be understood, however, that the figures above include some cases that have been reheard and therefore the figures do not mean there were
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that many separate cases handled. As exemplified in last year’s annual report, in the case of an alien ordered deported because convicted of crime and sentenced to a year or more in the penitentiary, if, after the deportation is ordered by the Secretary of Labor and before execution, a complete pardon is received from the governor of the State under whose law he was convicted, the case would be reopened, thus appearing a second time in the record of cases reviewed. Likewise, cases may be considered or reconsidered on different occasions when evidence is presented justifying such action. The following table, however, shows just how much work was actually accomplished by the board of review:
Cases handled hy Secretary’s Board of Review
Number of cases reviewed and decisions written------------------------- 38, 258
Number of aliens involved----------------------------------------------71, 698
Number of oral bearings by the board----------------------------------- 1, 844
Accompanying aliens---------------------------------------------------- 404
Actors_________________________________________________________________ 980
Alien contract labor---------------------------------------------------25, 215
Anarchists, Communists, I. W. W., etc---------------------------------------- 89
Assisted aliens------------------------------------------------------------- 888
Barred zone_________________________________________________________________ 420
Children under 16, unaccompanied-------------------------------------------- 282
Crimes involving moral turpitude (burglary, felony, forgery, grand lar-
ceny, murder, perjury, robbery, smuggling, etc.)------------------------ 3,052
Domestic servants----------------------------------------------------------- 189
Entered within one year of deportation-------------------------------------- 540
Excess quota___________________________________________________________ 4> 865
Heart trouble---------------------------------------------------------- 498
Hernia--------------------------------------T--------------------------
Idiots, feeble-minded, imbeciles, mentally deficient, etc-------------- 131
Illiterates------------------------------------------------------------ 1> 770
Insane_________________________________________________________________ 1» 286
LPC (aliens arriving without funds)--------------------------------------- 2,249
Physically defective (deformed, epileptics, nervous affections, paralysis, and senility)-------------------------------------------------------------- 938
Prostitution, immorality, procurer, etc-------------------------------- 1, 557
Section 17 (23) (foreign contiguous territory)------------------------------ 428
Student and student laborers------------------------------------------------ 395
Surreptitious entry, stowaways, without inspection and without passport or visa_________________________________________________________________12, 268
TB, LCD, and DCD (Favus, leprosy, trachoma, venereal diseases, etc.)— 917
Visitors______________________________________________________________ 10, 515
Chinese------------------------------------------------------------------ 2, 794
Japanese_______________________________________________________________ 779
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MISCELLANEOUS IMMIGRATION STATISTICS
Table 1.—Last permanent residence of immigrant aliens admitted and intended future permanent residence of emigrant aliens departed during the fiscal years ended June 30, 1927 and 1928, by countries
[Note.—Residence for a year or more is regarded as permanent residence]
Countries Immigrant Emigrant
Fiscal year 1927 Fiscal year 1928 Fiscal year 1927 Fiscal year 1928
All countries. . 335,175 307,255 73, 366 77,457

Europe, total 168, 368 158, 513 55,402 57,185

Austria . . . . 1, 016 764 1, 277 698 468 580
Belgium ... . ... . . 482 485
Czechoslovakia 3,540 2, 505 3, 571 2,473 4, 438 45, 778 2,276 536 2,070 540
Denmark
France. . . _ _ . 4,405 48, 513 1, 637 2, 030 6, 645
Germany <748
Great Britain:
England 9,990 12,611 7,338 11,085 1,535 4,994 6,039 1,498 39
Scotland . .. 1,441
Wales . 1,068 2,089 44
Greece . 2,328 3,130 841 2,461 920
Hungary. . . . 813 '857
Irish Free State 28, 054 17, 297 770 24,544 17, 728 531 1,049 17, 759 314 1,115
Italy. . . .. 17, 324 319
Lithuania..
Netherlands .. .. . .. 1, 733 1,843 456 514
Norway 6,068 9,211 567 5, 660 8, 755 584 1,786 2, 650 2,347 1,248 239 1,686 3, 071 1, 358 1,002 426
Poland
Portugal . . .. . .
Rumania .. . . 1,270 1,183 429 1, 376
Russia 1, 254 455
Spain .. _. . 2,178 1,983
Sweden .. 8,287 2,121 1,190 2,874 8,051 1, 994 1,115 594 1,282 726
Switzerland
Yugoslavia . 1, 386 2,974 1,911 1,941
Other Europe . ... _ 1,159 1,131

Asia, total 3,669 3,380 6,007 6,073

China.. . 1,471 1,320 4,179 1,205 4,364 1,085 77
Japan 723 ' 550
Palestine . . 464 554 142
Syria 590 504 185 245
Other Asia- . 421 452 296 302

America, total .. - 161,872 144, 281 11, 303 13, 620

Canada.. ..... 81, 506 3,074 67, 721 4,019 73,154 2,127 59, 016 4, 058 1,953 487 2,529 532
Newfoundland .......
Mexico... _ 2, 957 3, 957
West Indies.. . .. . . 3,732 4,244
Central America _ ______ __ 1, 771 1, 751 4,166 721 758
South America . . .. .. . . ',777 - 4 1,453 1, 600
Other America. . 9

Others, total 1, 266 1,081 654 579

Africa.- _ 520 475 112 141
Australia and New Zealand 712 578 508 425
Pacific Islands (not specified) 34 28 34 13

16151—28----G
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Table 2.—Intended future permanent residence of immigrant aliens admitted and last permanent residence of emigrant aliens departed during the fiscal years ended June 30, 1921 and 1928, by States
[Note.—Residence for a year or more is regarded as permanent residence]
States Immigrant Emigrant
Fiscal year 1927 Fiscal year 1928 Fiscal year 1927 Fiscal year 1938
All States, total 335,175 307,255 73,366 77,457
North Atlantic, total — 166, 731 156, 658 49,042 52, 624
Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.. 9,483 9,208 367 332
Connecticut 6,321 5, 569 1,194 1,152
Massachusetts 25,907 20,461 5,900 3,490 2,603
New Jersey 17,059 15,967 3,454 39,966
New York . 87,864 87, 503 32, 363
Pennsylvania ; 20,097 17,950 5,728 5,117
South Atlantic, total 6,483 5,023 2,362 2,196
Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, 817
North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.. 3,593 3,298 911
Florida -- --- 2,512 1,413 1, 360 1,286
Virginia 378 312 91 93
North Central, total .... 74,432 67,741 11, 676 11,581
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Ne-
braska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. 16,479 20, 723 14,412 2,141 1,982
Illinois 19,165 3, 911 3,802
Michigan 28,104 25,872 3,128 3,071
Ohio 9,126 8, 292 2,496 2,726
South Central, total 45,196 38,697 2,006 2,744
Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, 492
Oklahoma, and Tennessee 2,057 1,999 539
Texas 43,139 36, 698 1,467 2,252
Western, total 41,862 38, 703 7,494 7,667
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, 1,050 909
Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming 5,520 5,244
Arizona 4,873 5,081 405 495
California 26,029 23, 344 5,034 4,954 5,121
Washington 5,440 1,085 1,142
Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Philippine Islands 471 1 433 786 645
Table 3.—Increase or decrease in population, by admission and departure of aliens, during the year ended June 30, 1928, by race or people, sex, and age
Race or people Aliens admitted Aliens departed Increase (+) or decrease (-)
Immigrant Nonimmigrant Total Emigrant Nonemigrant Total
Total 307,255 193,376 500, 631 77, 457 196, 899 274, 356 +226,275
African (black) 956 2,698 3,654 789 1,556 2,345 +1,309
Armenian 1,062 253 1,315 47 107 154 +1,161
Bohemian and Moravian (Czech) 1,248 1,109 2,357 1,327 1,884 3,211 -854
Bulgarian, Serbian, and Montenegrin 531 664 1,195 1,396 832 2,228 -1,033
Chinese 931 7,065 7,996 4,300 5,057 9,357 -1,361
Croatian and Slovenian. 938 909 1,847 534 441 975 +872
Cuban 2,058 6,533 8,591 1,282 7,006 8,288 +303
Dalmatian, Bosnian, and Herzegovinian 95 180 275 361 764 1,125 -850
Dutch and Flemish 2,880 3,723 6,603 1,084 3,896 4,980 213 +1,623
East Indian 38 155 193 106 107 -20
English 33,597 41,500 75,097 8,780 49,660 58,440 +16,657
Finnish 544 1,350 1,894 647 2.113 2,760 10,530 -866
French . 17,963 54,157 8,380 26,343 1,915 8,615 +15,813
German.. 22,188 76,345 8,086 20,272 28,358 +47,987
Greek 2,848 2,919 5,767 2,525 1,829 4,354 +1,413
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
75
Table 3.—Increase or decrease in population, etc.—Continued
I Race or people Aliens admitted Aliens departed Increase (+) or decrease (-)
Immigrant Nonimmigrant Total Emigrant Nonemigrant Total
Hebrew 11,639 3,737 15,376 253 1,698 1,951 +13,425
Irish 38^ 193 7,107 45' 300 1,649 7', 476 9; 125 +36; 175
Italian (north).. 2,653 5,160 7', 813 i; 626 3', 158 4; 784 +3; 029
Italian (south) 16^ 087 17^ 588 33^ 675 15; 834 14; 600 30; 434 +3; 241
Japanese '522 7,190 7,712 L055 9; 614 10;669 -2,957
Korean 22 48 70 39 64 ' 103 —33
Lithuanian 326 341 667 351 403 754 -87
Magyar 1,112 2,051 3,163 1.024 1,521 2,545 +618
Mexican 57,765 3,857 61,622 3,873 9,198 13; 071 +48,551
Pacific Islander 2 10 12 3 9 12
Polish 4,238 2,308 6,546 3,046 2,762 5,808 +738
Portuguese ' 844 2,398 3,242 L430 L977 3,407
Rumanian 443 562 L005 908 '928 i;836 -831
Russian _ 1,249 1,265 2' 514 642 1,121 L763 +751
Ruthenian (Russniak) 411 91 ' 502 59 90 ' 149 +353
Scandinavian (Norwegians,
Danes, and Swedes) 18,664 11,359 30,023 3,767 12,170 15,937 +14,086
Scotch 23,177 11,513 34^ 690 2,268 10,053 12; 321 +22', 369
Slovak 2,197 1,294 Si 491 '746 '711 L457 +2,034
Spanish . . _ 1,018 6,635 7', 653 2,578 6,385 8,963 -L310
Spanish American 3^490 4,691 8,181 1,720 4; 854 6,574 +i; 607
Syrian '613 '660 L273 232 '457 '689 +584
Turkish 143 186 '329 116 135 251 +78
Welsh.. . 1,723 942 2,665 85 518 603 +2,062
West Indian (except Cuban) 394 2,104 2; 498 785 2,132 2,917 -419
Other peoples ' 484 653 1,137 189 726 915 +222
SEX
Male - 165,977 115,973 281,950 54,786 118,678 173,464 +108,486
Female 141,278 77,403 218i 681 22; 671 78,221 100; 892 +117; 789
AGE
Under 16 years 49,680 10,172 59,852 3,500 10,201 13,701 +46,151
16 to 21 years 73^092 10; 508 83;600 3; 176 io; 835 14; 011 4-69; 589
22 to 29 years 95', 727 44;453 140;180 16; 977 45,308 62; 285 +77; 895
30 to 37 years . 42^ 642 47; 735 90;377 20; 841 48; 685 69, 526 +20; 851
38 to 44 years 19i 371 32i 301 51,672 15', 124 33,552 48; 676 +2, 996
45 years and over 26,743 48,207 74,950 17,839 48,318 66,157 +8,793
Table 4.—Aliens debarred from entering, and aliens deported after landing in, the United States during the years ended June 30, 1927 and 1928, by causes
Causes
Total_________________________________________
Insanity, epilepsy__________________________________
Other mental conditions_____________________________
Loathsome or dangerous contagious disease___________
Other physical conditions___________________________
Likely to become a public charge____________________
Professional beggars, vagrants, or paupers__________
Assisted aliens_______________________x_____________
Accompanying aliens_________________________________
Under 16 years of age (unaccompanied by parent)_____
Unable to read (over 16 years of age)_______________
Contract laborers___________________________________
Criminals___________________________________________
Violation of narcotic act___________________________
Immoral classes_____________________________________..
Had been deported within one year...................
Entered without inspection__________________________
Violation of Chinese exclusion act__________________
Violation of percentum limit act of 1921 (excess quota) .. Under sec. 17 of immigration act of 1924____________
Remained longer than permitted______________________
Failure to maintain student status__________________
Without proper visa under immigration act of 1924:
At land border ports____________________________
At seaports_____________________________________
All other causes____________________________________
Debarred Deported
Fiscal year 1927 Fiscal year 1928 Fiscal year 1927 Fiscal year 1928
19,755 18, 839 11,662 11,625
34 16 594 720
94 18 243 239
308 196 159 120
113 103 46 28
1,847 344 569 477
3 2 1
46 4 35 15
29 15 1 3
43 16 53 28
353 60 708 333
404 85 88 29
160 59 953 1,211
54 67
49 16 572 563
14 3 182 91
524 400
141 139
833 493
40 16 77 41
192 1,165
17 20
13,536 2,679 15,718 2,167 } 5,464 5,367
3 3 155 75
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Table 5.—Aliens admitted to the United States, fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, showing principal classes under the immigration act of 1924, country or area of birth, as specified
[Quota immigrant aliens are charged to the quota; nonimmigrant and nonquota aliens are not charged to the quota]
Country or area of birth Annual quota Admitted
Quota immigrant Nonimmigrant Nonquota immigrant Total
All countries x 164,667 1 153,231 99,632 247,768 500,631
Europe, total _ 161,422 150, 795 55,877 106,131 312,803

Albania 100 108 8 588 704
Andorra 100 4 11 15
Austria _ _ 785 849 672 1,113 2,634
Belgium 512 558 714 853 2,125 299
Bulgaria 100 88 55 156
Czechoslovakia 3,073 2,939 636 3,575 7,150
Danzig Free City of 228 211 25 22 258
Denmark • 2,789 2,557 1,041 1,295 4,893
Estonia 124 122 40 64 226
Finland 471 485 441 1,255 2,181
France 3,954 3.548 3,192 3,256 9,996
Germany _ 51,227 47, 576 7,129 10,697 65,402
Great Britain and Northern Ireland: 39, 310
England 12,102 18,012 9,196
Northern Ireland 34, 007 1,998 358 346 2,702 24,483
Scotland 14,622 4,117 710 .5,744
W ales 1,747 490 2,947
Greece 100 194 433 3,633 1,389 4,260
Hungary 473 507 971 2,867
Iceland 100 50 17 14 81
Irish Free State 28,567 27,093 1,405 3,657 4,157 31,696 32,655
Italy - 3,845 4,020 39,373
Latvia 142 148 110 147 405
Liechtenstein 100 15 2 17
Lithuania 344 386 165 531 1,082
Luxemburg 100 93 29 61 183
Monaco 100 9 8 9 26
Netherlands 1,648 6,453 1,543 1,353 1,808 997 3,893
Norway 5,944 2, ,42 10,194
Poland 5, 982 6,129 1,202 6,387 13,718
Portugal 503 498 212 2,244 2,954
Rumania 603 846 450 1,423 2,719
Russia. - - 2,248 2, 060 1,379 1,586 5,025
San Marino 100 61 6 9 69
Spain _ . - 131 167 2,840 2,990 5,997
Sweden _ 9,561 8,605 1,145 3,382 13,132
Switzerland 2,081 1,874 1,193 1,350 4,417
Turkey in Europe- - - 100 83 159 575 817
Yugoslavia ' 671 665 151 2, 331 3,147
Other Europe.. (i 2) 291 32 124 447
Asia, total 1,424 1,153 9,806 9,215 20,174

Afghanistan ________ 100 5 1 6
Arabia _ 100 35 5 6 46
Armenia _____________. ______ 124 91 26 87 204
100
China _ 100 148 5, 723 2,159 8,030
India 100 103 439 164 706
Iraq (Mesopotamia) 100 102 20 14 136
Japan 100 17 2,801 5,026 7,844
atuscat - - 100 1 1
100
Palestine 100 186 175 185 546
Persia 100 100 19 54 173
Siam... 100 1 12 3 16
Syria -- 100 131 366 474 971
Turkey in Asia (2) 71 129 969 1,169
Other Asia (2) 168 85 73 326
Africa, total - 1,200 341 605 191 1,137

Cameroon (British) 100 | 2 1 3
i Also includes aliens to whom visas were issued during the latter part of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1927, and charged to the quota for that year. Nationality for quota purposes does not always coincide with actual nationality. (See see. 12 of the immigration act of 1924.)
2 Annual quota for colonies, dependencies, or protectorates in other Europe, other Asia, other Africa, other Pacific, and in America, is included with the annual quota for the European country to which they belong. Quota for Turkey in Asia is included with that for Turkey in Europe.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
77
Table 5.—Aliens admitted to the United States, fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, showing principal classes under the immigration act of 1921f, by country or area of birth, as specified—Continued
Country or area of birth Annual quota Admitted
Quota immigrant Nonimmigrant Nonquota immigrant Total
Cameroon (French) . . 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 (2) 3 129 3 26 21 1 47 4 284 3 37 73
Egypt 108
Ethiopia _ _ _ _ ______________
Liberia _ - 9 40 2 12
Morocco __
Ruanda and Urundi
South Africa 116 349 5 1 85 2 550 7 1 1
South West Africa .
Tanganyika _ _
Togoland (British) __ ______________ 1
Togoland (French)
Other Africa. . . . 68 66 40 174
Pacific, total
621 281 4,285 457 5,023
Australia
121 100 100 100 100 100 (2) 154 3, 223 310 3, 687
Nauru _ _ _ _ _ __
New Zealand New Guinea 113 948 3 28 7 76 107 2 7 3 28 1,168 5 38 10 115
Samoa. 3
Yap _
Other Pacific _ 11
America, total _
661 29, 059 131, 774 161,494
Canada : <
9,542 573 3,500 5, 822 844 134 3,035 164 27 90 35 1,953 367 133 10 3 2,808 1 18 56, 236 3,539 59,149 3,928 400 125 2,287 32 37 17 94 1,735 1,061 80 14 65, 778 4,112 62, 649 9, 750 1,244 259 5,844 201 98 134 129 3,688 1,428 271 27 3 5,828 2 49
Newfoundland __ _
Mexico _ _______
Cuba _ _ _ _ _______ __________
Dominican Republic. .
Haiti _ _
British West Indies 2. _ _ _ . _ 522 5 34 27
Dutch West Indies 2
French West Indies 2 _.
British Honduras 2 ...
Canal Zone________ ___ __ _________
Other Central America
Brazil. ..
British Guiana 2 58 3
Dutch Guiana 2
French Guiana 2 __________
Other South America 3, 020
Greenland 2 1 11
Miquelon and St. Pierre 2 20

2 Annual quota for colonies, dependencies, or protectorates in other Europe, other Asia, other Africa, other Pacific, and in America, is included with the annual quota for the European country to which they belong. Quota for Turkey in Asia is included with that for Turkey in Europe.
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ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
Table 6.—Immigrant and nonimmigrant aliens admitted, fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, by classes, under the immigration act of 1924, as amended, with comparative percentages, as specified
Classes Aliens admitted Per cent distribution Per cent of each class
Total Immigrant 1 Nonimmigrant 1 2 Immigrant and nonimmigrant Immigrant 1 Nonimmigrant 2 Immigrant 1 Nonimmigrant 2
All classes, total 500, 631 307,255 193,376 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 61.37 38.63
Nonimmigrants, total.
99, 632 1,947 97,685 19. 90 .63 50. 52 1. 95 98.05
Government officials, their families, attendants, servants, and employees
6, 348 21, 570 43, 011 27, 257 1,446 1,008 5,340 21, 570 43, 011 27, 257 507 1.27 4.31 8.59 5. 44 .29 .33 2. 76 11.16 22. 24 14.10 .26 15.88 84.12 100. 00 100.00 100. 00 35.06
Temporary visitors for business
Temporary visitors for pleasure __ __
In continuous transit through the United States
To carry on trade under existing treaty 939 .30 64. 94
Nonquota immigrants, total... Wives of United States citizens 3 Husbands of United States citizens.. Children of United States citizens 3.. Returning residents
247, 768 152,116 95, 652 49. 49 49. 51 49. 46 61.39 38. 61
13, 625 61 12, 075 94, 502 123, 362 555 205 594 226 393 124 40 27 1,816 104 55 4 13, 558 61 12,059 134 122,774 ' 555 205 571 221 392 101 39 27 1, 299 104 12 4 67 2.72 .01 2.41 18.88 24. 64 .83 4. 41 .02 3. 93 .04 39. 96 1.15 .03 99. 51 100. 00 99.87 .14 99.52 flOO. 00 100. 00 96.13 97.79 99. 75 81.45 97.50 100. 00 71. 53 100. 00 21.82 100. 00 .49
16 94, 368 588 .01 48.80 .30 .32 .13 99. 86 .48
Natives of nonquota countries 4__ . .
Their wives 3
Their children 3.
Ministers of religious denominations. Wives of ministers 23 5 1 23 1 3. 87 2.21 .25 18.55 2.50
Children of ministers
Professors of colleges, academies, seminaries, or universities .
Wives of professors
Children of professors
Students 1 .. ... 517 28. 47
Veterans of the World War and their wives and children 5..
Spanish subjects admitted into Porto Rico 5 _ 43 78.18
American Indians born in Canada 6.. Quota immigrants, total

153, 231 153,192 39 30.61 49.86 .02 99. 97 .03

1 Aliens whose last permanent residence was in some foreign country, who come with the intention of residing in the United States permanently or for an indefinite period longer than 1 year.
2 Aliens coming for a short stay in the United States or returning from a visit abroad.
3 Wives and unmarried children born in quota countries.
4 Does not include aliens born in nonquota countries, who were admitted under the act of 1924 as Government officials, visitors, transits, returning residents, etc.
5 Admitted under the act approved May 26,1926.
6 Admitted under the act approved Apr. 2,1928.
CHILDREN’S BUREAU
Grace Abbott, Chief
The Children’s Bureau was created by act of Congress in 1912, the importance of a Federal research organization in the field of child welfare having been presented to Congress by both President Roosevelt and President Taft. In the 16 years that it has functioned as a fact-gathering bureau public and private agencies interested in the care of children and individual parentshave increasingly made use of the information that has been painstakingly and dispassionately assembled by the scientific staff of the bureau.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
79
As this and previous annual reports show, most of the local studies made by the bureau have been undertaken at the request of State departments, official and unofficial children’s code commissions, childhealth committees, associations for the prevention of crime and delinquency, and agencies caring for dependent children. Within the limits of its resources the bureau has sought to make the information assembled available in printed reports and popular bulletins, motion pictures and other exhibits, and news summaries, and to a limited extent by the loan of personnel for consultation and demonstration.
With the passage of the maternity and infancy act in 1921 the bureau was enabled to cooperate with the States in the development of an educational program for the promotion of the health of mothers and babies. That this program has resulted in the establishment of permanent educational centers and in a great saving of life and improvement in the general health of mothers and babies is a matter of great satisfaction to the department.
As at present organized the bureau has seven major divisions: Maternity and infant hygiene, child hygiene, industrial, social service, statistical, editorial, and general administrative. The maternity and infant-hygiene division administers the maternity and infancy act; the child-hygiene division is in charge of the bureau’s research in the field of child health and assists the other divisions in the preparation of reports in which child health is a factor; the social-service division has for. its field dependency, delinquency, and neglect of children; and the industrial division is responsible for studies relating to the employment of children, protective legislation for working children, and vocational guidance. The statistical, editorial, and general administrative divisions serve the other divisions of the bureau, the statistical division undertaking also some independent pieces of research. In the following pages the work of these several divisions is summarized.
Maternity and infancy.
Administration of the maternity and infancy act.—During the fiscal year 1928, 45 States and the Territory of Hawaii were cooperating with the Children’s Bureau in accordance with the terms of the maternity and infancy act to promote the welfare and hygiene of maternity and infancy. The legislatures of three States—Connecticut, Illinois, and Massachusetts—have never accepted the benefits offered by the Federal Government.
The following table gives the amounts available and the total amounts accepted by the States from the appropriations for the fiscal years 1922, 1923, 1924,. 1925, 1926, 1927, and for 1928 up to June 30. As the appropriations are available for a 2-year period
80 ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
a final report on the 1928 appropriation can not be made until June 30, 1929.
A full report of the work which this Federal fund has made possible is published each year by the Children’s Bureau. Only a very brief summary of the accomplishments of the past year can be given here. It is a pleasure to record that reports from the States for the fiscal year 1928 show continued expansion and improvement in the work being done. Its extent during the past year is indicated by the fact that the work was carried on in 2,070 counties. The child health and prenatal conferences have continued to be used in every State as a means of parental education in the hygiene and welfare of maternity and infancy. In the year under review 7,341 combined prenatal and child health conferences, 2,002 prenatal conferences, and 18,839 child-health conferences were conducted by the cooperating States. In addition to assisting with the conferences and class work, 390 county nurses who gave full or part time to maternity and infancy work and the nurses on the State staff made 686,964 home visits, helping the mothers to plan for better prenatal care for themselves and scientific care for their infant and preschool children. The number of expectant mothers reported reached during the year through conferences, instruction in classes, home visits, prenatal letters, and correspondence courses was over 150,000. A larger number of infants and preschool children were reached through conferences, instruction of parents, and home visits, over 1,013,000 being reported.
Each year some counties have assumed responsibility for maternity and infancy work initiated or assisted by the States, thus putting the work on a permanent basis. Since the beginning of the States’ cooperation under the maternity and infancy act 162 counties have assumed responsibility for maternity and infancy work that had been begun with State and Federal funds. In 1928, 103 combined prenatal and child health centers, 190 child-health centers, and 17 prenatal centers—a total of 310—were established.
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR 81
82
ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY OF LABOR
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