WAGES PAID IN MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS, BY INDUSTRIES, 1896 TO 1899.

The number of employees on the pay rolls of the 668 identical establishments on July 1, 1896, was 85,395, and on July 1, 1899, 97,322, an increase of 14.7 per cent. The increase in the number of employees from July 1, 1898, to July 1, 1899, was 9.2 per cent. The amount paid in wages by these establishments increased from $38,577,737 during the year ending July 1, 1896, to $41,132,593 during the year ending July 1, 1899, or 6.6 per cent. During the last-mentioned year the amount increased 4.9 per cent over the preceding.

FREE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.-An account is given of the operation and results of the free public employment offices in Illinois, Missouri, New York, and Ohio, and a suggestion is made for the establishment of similar offices in Connecticut.

LABOR ORGANIZATIONS. This chapter contains a list of labor organizations in the State, classified by towns and by trades, and the names and addresses of their officers.

NORTH CAROLINA.

Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Printing of the State of North Carolina, for the year 1899. B. R. Lacy, Commissioner. xvi, 392 pp.

This report treats of the following subjects: Agricultural statistics, 76 pages; trades, 117 pages; organized labor, 15 pages; cotton and woolen mills, 43 pages; miscellaneous factories, 33 pages; tobacco factories, 14 pages; mines and mining, 13 pages; water power, 15 pages; railway employees, 5 pages; newspapers, 28 pages; fisheries, 16 pages,

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.-Blanks were sent to representative farmers in every county of the State, making inquiries regarding the financial, social, educational, and moral condition of farmers, wages paid for farm labor, cost of production, and selling price of farm products, etc. Returns were received from 379 farmers and tabulated by counties. The average monthly wages paid for farm labor were: Men, $8.91; women, $5.27; children, $3.58. In addition to wages, rations to the value of $3.82, and house, pasture, garden, etc., to the value of $2.63 were provided, bringing the average monthly earnings of men to $15.36. The cost of production of the principal crops was as follows: Bale of cotton (500 pounds), $24.56; wheat, per bushel, $0.61; corn, per bushel, $0.41; oats, per bushel, $0.29; tobacco, per 100 pounds, $6.91. The selling prices were as follows: Cotton, per pound, $0.057; wheat, per bushel, $0.78; corn, per bushel, $0.54; oats, per bushel, $0.39; tobacco, per 100 pounds, $7.71. The returns upon which the above figures are based were received by the bureau from June 15 to September 15, 1899.

TRADES.-An inquiry similar to the one just mentioned was made among skilled workmen throughout the State. Returns were received. from 364 persons and tabulated in detail. They relate to the character of wage payments, the wage rate per day, course of wages during year, stability of employment, fines, effects of machinery upon labor, hours of labor, apprenticeship, cost of living, etc. No summary is given. Of the returns received, 22 per cent report an increase, 19 per cent a decrease, and 51 per cent no change in wages, the remaining 8 per cent not reporting.

ORGANIZED LABOR.-Returns from 20 labor unions in the State are published. They show the name and number of each organization, membership, wages, benefit features, hours of labor, etc. Following is a list of organizations reporting, together with their membership:

LABOR ORGANIZATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA, 1899.

Eighteen of the 20 local unions replied to the various inquiries in the schedules. Of these, 6 had sick benefit, 7 had death benefit, and 11 had insurance features; 4 reported increased wages and 14 reported no change in wages during the year. None of them were engaged in

strikes during the year. A list is also given of the national and international labor organizations in the United States, their membership, date of organization, etc.

COTTON AND WOOLEN MILLS.-This chapter contains a list of all the cotton and woolen mills in the State, their location, capital stock, number of looms and spindles, character of goods made and of motive power used, and a table giving, by counties, the total horsepower, average wages, number of employees, etc. On June 1, 1899, there were 215 mills in the State, of which 3 produced cotton and woolen goods, 2 cotton and knit goods, 178 cotton goods, 7 woolen goods, and 25 hosiery, knit goods, rope, net, twine, and silk goods. The aggregate capital stock of these mills was approximately $20,500,000. The mills gave employment to 33,764 persons, of whom 14,642 were men, 15,814 women, 1,694 boys, and 1,614 girls under 14 years of age. The average daily wages were as follows: Engineers, $1.43; firemen, $0.85; skilled men, $1.10; unskilled men, $0.65; skilled women, $0.67; unskilled women, $0.461; children, $0.32. Of the adults 82.8 per cent and of the children 69.4 per cent could read and write. The hours of labor ranged from 10 to 12 per day.

TOBACCO AND MISCELLANEOUS FACTORIES.-Returns regarding the condition of employees in factories, similar to the above-mentioned, were received for 64 tobacco factories and 176 miscellaneous factories. The returns are published in detail, no summaries or analyses being given.

MINES AND MINING.-This chapter consists of a contributed article on the mining industry in North Carolina, giving an account of the mining resources and mine products of the State.

RAILROAD EMPLOYEES.-A table is given showing for each road, by occupations, the number of employees and their wages. There were 10,987 railway employees in the State. Their occupations and wages were as follows:

FISHERIES. This chapter was compiled from statistics published by the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, and shows the extent of the fishing industry of the State, the number of persons employed, the value of product, etc.

PENNSYLVANIA.

Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Vol. XXVII, 1899. Part III, Industrial Statistics. James M. Clark, Chief of Bureau. 579 pp.

The present report deals with the following subjects: An article on the relation of the law to economics, 12 pages; articles on the cotton and woolen goods industries of Pennsylvania, 93 pages; statistics of manufactures, 399 pages; production of iron, steel, and tin plate, 20 pages; cotton and wool manufacture, 19 pages; analysis, 23 pages.

STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES.-Two series of tables are presented under this head, the one showing data for 8 and the other for 4 years. The first series consists of comparative statistics for 354 identical establishments, representing 44 industries, for the years 1892 to 1899. The data comprise average days in operation, persons employed, aggregate wages paid, average daily and yearly wages per employee, value of product, and value per employee of the average annual product. The following table gives a summary of the more important data:

PERSONS EMPLOYED, WAGES PAID, AND VALUE OF PRODUCT FOR 354 MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS, 1892 TO 1899.

The year 1899 greatly exceeded any other year of the period in manufacturing operations, the number of persons employed, the aggregate and average wages paid, and the total value of the manufactured products being much greater than at any other time. Compared with the year of greatest depression, 1894, the figures for 1899 show an increase of 41.2 per cent in the number of employees, 72.85 per cent in the aggregate wages paid, 22.4 per cent in the wages per employee, and 103.6 per cent in the value of the product.

The second series of tables comprises returns for the years 1896 to 1899 from 855 identical establishments representing 93 industries. The tables show the capital invested, value of basic material, average days in operation, persons employed, wages paid, market value of the product, and value of product per employee. As these returns cover

more ground than the preceding they enable a better comparison for the 4 years considered. Following is a summary of the returns from the 855 establishments:

1896.

1897.

1898. 1899.

STATISTICS OF 855 MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS, 1896 TO 1899.

1896

1897

1898

1899

€49.4

268

€49.9

276

€ 47.9

286

50.9

a By basic material is meant only the material out of which the product was made, and does not include any of the material used in its development.

b Figures for 852 establishments, 3 not reporting.

c Based on value of basic material for 852 and value of product for 855 establishments.

The amount of capital invested, value of basic material, value of product, number of persons employed, aggregate wages paid, and yearly earnings of employees were greater in 1899 than during any other year of the period, and in no case was the annual increase as great as from 1898 to 1899.

IRON, STEEL, AND TIN-PLATE PRODUCTION.-During the year 1899 the pig-iron production of the State amounted to 6,542,998 gross tons, valued at $98,203,803, or $15.01 per ton. The cost of basic materials, that is, iron-producing materials only such as ore and scrap or cinder, was $38,861,664. Employment was given to 15,347 persons, who received an aggregate of $7,599,533 in wages, or $495.18 per employee. A comparison of the figures for 1899 with those for 1898 shows an increase of 21.9 per cent in the gross production of pig iron, 84.1 per cent in the realized value of the product, 32.3 per cent in the gate cost of basic material, 51 per cent in the realized value per ton, 28.8 per cent in the number of persons employed, and 11.9 per cent in the average yearly earnings of employees.

aggre

The total steel production in 1899 amounted to 6,446,159 gross tons, an increase of 22.2 per cent over 1898. Of this, 3,971,835 tons were Bessemer, 2,398,210 tons were open hearth, and 75,356 tons were crucible steel, the remaining 758 tons being produced by other processes.

The production of iron and steel in finished form amounted to 6,929,046 net tons. This comprises bar, rods, strip steel, skelp,