nails and The total The value of

shapes, rolled axles, structural iron, plates, sheets, cut spikes, rails, etc., but does not include billets or muck bar. product was valued at $225,155,176, or $32.49 per ton. the basic material used in the production was $136,984,908. Employment was given to 69,982 persons, who received a total of $39,120,129 in wages, or $559 per employee. The establishments were in operation an average of 287 days. The above figures do not include the production of 164,439 tons of black plate which are separately considered. A comparison of the above figures with those for the preceding year shows an increase of 25.1 per cent in the net production, 64.6 per cent in the value of the product, 31.5 per cent in the average value per ton, 71.4 per cent in the value of the basic material used, 24.5 per cent in the average number of persons employed, and 12.7 per cent in the average yearly earnings of employees.

In 1899 black plate was produced in 21 establishments, 18 of which turned out a tinned production. The total production of black plate was 368,600,734 pounds, of which 292,164,734 pounds were tinned in the establishments. The value of the tinned product was $10,249,841, and of the untinned black plate $1,902,691, making a total value of $12,152,532. The establishments were in operation an average of 223 days, employed 7,682 persons, and paid an aggregate of $4,054,395 in wages, or $527.78 per employee. A comparison of the data for 1899 with those for 1898 shows an increase of 7.1 per cent in the production of black plate, 30.1 per cent in the value of the product, and 52.5 per cent in the average number of persons employed. In the aggregate amount of wages paid there was an increase of 37.7 per cent, and in the average daily wages an increase of 12.4 per cent, but there was a decrease of 9.7 per cent in the average yearly earnings of employees, and of 19.8 per cent in the average number of days worked during the year.

Seven tin-plate dipping works, which bought all their black plate, produced in 1899 38,918,000 pounds of tin and terne, valued at $1,916,038, a decrease in the production but an increase in the total value over the preceding year. The works were in operation an average of 257 days, employed an average of 326 persons, and paid $127,564 in wages. The total production of tin and terne plate by the 18 black plate and 7 dipping works was, therefore, 331,082,734 pounds, having a total value of $12,165,879. Compared with the year 1898 there was in 1899 an increase of 25.9 per cent in the total production, and of 44.1 per cent in the total value of the tin and terne plate.

COTTON AND WOOL MANUFACTURE.-This investigation was intended to include all cotton and woolen establishments in active operation in the State during the year 1899. Returns from 813 establishments showed an aggregate capital of $57,493,103, a total cotton production 10332-No. 33-01-11

of 180,441,351 pounds, and a total woolen production of 172,795,284 pounds. The aggregate value of the product was $116,850,782. The establishments employed 78,660 persons, whose aggregate wages during the year amounted to $25,266,144. Of the employees, 30,050 were men, 39,035 were women, and 9,575 were children between the ages of 13 and 16 years. The average yearly earnings of the men were $450.43; of the women, $263.01; and of the children, $152.91.

WEST VIRGINIA.

Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of West Virginia. 1899-1900. I. V. Barton, Commissioner. v, 291 pp.

The contents of the present report may be grouped as follows: Con-dition of manufactures, and increased avenues of employment, 69 pages; benefit features of American trade unions, 44 pages; the Chicago conference on trusts, 17 pages; strike of street-railway employees, 25 pages; arbitration and mediation in the United States, 51 pages; industrial conditions and labor legislation, 33 pages; recommendations, 5 pages.

CONDITION OF MANUFACTURES, ETC.-Returns from 500 establishments are tabulated, showing, by industries, the number of employees on January 1, 1897, 1899, and 1900, with the per cent of increase or decrease during the period; the changes in wage rates from January 1, 1897, to January 1, 1900, and the number of weeks the establishments were in operation during 1899. A directory of the principal manufactures in the State is also given.

The 500 establishments reported 28,334 employees on the pay rolls on January 1, 1897, 34,889 employees on January 1, 1899, and 40,221 employees on January 1, 1900-an increase of 42 per cent during the period. The establishments were in operation an average of 46 weeks. Of the 500 establishments, 305 reported an advance in wages affecting 22,553 employees, and 3 reported a decrease in wages affecting 24 employees, during the period from January 1, 1897, to January 1, 1900.

Under the head of increased avenues of employment are given the names and locations of 298 mercantile, mining, and manufacturing establishments in the State, together with the number of employees, capital invested, and amount of wages paid monthly in each; also a list of nearly 700 new establishments created during the period from March 1, 1897, to January 1, 1900.

BENEFIT FEATURES OF AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS.-This is a reproduction of an article published in Bulletin No. 22 of the United States Department of Labor.

CHICAGO CONFERENCE ON TRUSTS.-Extracts are given from the report of this conference.

STRIKE OF STREET-RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.-A detailed account is given of a strike of street-railway employees in Wheeling and suburban points in 1899.

ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION.-This chapter contains a brief review of legislation regarding arbitration and conciliation in the United States, and reproductions of laws relating thereto enacted by the various States.

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS AND LABOR LEGISLATION.-A statement is given of labor conditions in the State as found by a special investigation and embodied in the governor's message; also copies of labor laws passed in recent years.

STATE REPORTS ON BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS.

CALIFORNIA.

Seventh Annual Report on the Building and Loan Associations of the State of California. October 1, 1900. By the Board of Commissioners of the Building and Loan Associations. 184 pp.

This report contains compilations made from the annual reports of 148 associations in active operation on May 31, 1900, which had then been transacting business for more than 1 year. Each association reported for its own fiscal year, and as these dates occurred at various times during the year, a summary of operations for any one period could not be presented.

The following statement gives miscellaneous statistics for 148 associations whose fiscal years ended some time between May 31, 1899, and May 31, 1900:

In the following tables are shown the assets and liabilities and the receipts and expenditures of the 148 associations for the last fiscal year covered by the report:

ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF 148 ASSOCIATIONS.

Annual Report of the Superintendent of Banks Relative to Building and Loan and Cooperative Savings and Loan Associations, for the year ending December 31, 1899. Frederick D. Kilburn, Superintendent of Banks. 715 pp.

This report consists of a list of the building and loan and cooperative savings and loan associations that have been organized or authorized under the banking law from 1875 to 1900; a detailed statement of the condition of each association on January 1, 1900; a comparative statement of the assets, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, etc., of associations for the year 1899; a detailed statement of the condition of each building lot association, and copies of the principal laws governing the organization and supervision of building and loan and cooperative savings and loan associations.

The following table shows for the year 1899 miscellaneous statistics regarding shares, borrowers, female shareholders, mortgages, etc., for 347 national and local associations in the State:

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS OF 347 ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE YEAR 1899.

While there was a decrease in the number of associations in the State, and in most of the items shown in the above table, as compared with the preceding year, there was an apparent increase in the total assets and a larger number of shares held in the 347 associations at the