STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS.—Under this head are given brief accounts of the labor troubles of the State for the year ending October 31, 1903, and a tabulated statement showing the date, class of labor, name of employer, location, number of employees involved, duration, causes, and results of 99 disputes. The number of employees involved in these disputes was 9,217, with a reported loss of time of 270,449 days, and of wages to the amount of $405,674. They took place in 33 towns of the State, and 39 occupations were represented. Of the 99 controversies, the workmen were unsuccessful in 42 instances, 26 resulted successfully for the workmen, 8 were partly successful, 20 were amicably settled or arbitrated, and 3 were unsettled at the time of the report.

FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS.-The operations for the year ending November 30, 1903, of the five free public employment bureaus established on July 1, 1901, are set forth in this chapter. Detailed statements are given showing by sex the number and kind of situations secured, together with the nationality of the applicants. A summary of the results for the year covered is given in the following table for the five cities in which the bureaus are located:

OPERATIONS OF FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS FOR THE YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 1903.

During the 29 months from the date of the establishment of the bureaus there were 33,148 applications for situations, 15,746 by males and 17,402 by females. Employers made application for 7,811 male and 17,853 female workers, a total of 25,664 persons. As a result of the operations of the bureaus 19,000 positions were secured, 6,969 by males and 12,031 by females.

LABOR LAWS.-In an appendix to the report are presented the labor laws of the State, comprising those contained in the general statutes, revision of 1902, and amendments, January session, 1903.

MAINE.

Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics for the State of Maine. 1903. Samuel W. Matthews, Commissioner. 227 pp.

The subjects presented in this report are: The cotton industry, 4 pages; the woolen industry, 4 pages; factories, mills, and shops built during 1903, 4 pages; trade unions, 58 pages; mineral springs, 26 pages; mineral resources, 21 pages; the apple industry, 25 pages; the development of Millinocket, 25 pages; railroads, 4 pages; manufacturing industries, 26 pages; report of the inspector of factories, workshops, mines, and quarries, 18 pages.

THE COTTON AND WOOLEN INDUSTRIES.-For the year ending June 30, 1903, returns were received from 13 cotton mills and 26 woolen mills, showing for each the capital invested, cost of material, value of product, number of employees by sex and age, weeks in operation, and total annual and average weekly wages paid. In the 13 cotton mills there was a total investment of $13,282,081, a product of $13,553,240, and a wage payment of $4,365,930 to 12,255 employees, of whom 5,034 were men, 6,658 were women, and 563 were children under 16 years of age. The cost of material used amounted to $7,984,338, and the mills were in operation an average of 51.7 weeks during the year. In the 26 woolen mills there was a total investment of $1,349,013, a product of $7,297,722, and a wage payment of $1,609,270 to 3,851 employees, of whom 2,643 were men, 1,171 were women, and 37 were children under 16 years of age. The cost of material used amounted to $4,351,061, and the mills were in operation an average of 51.7 weeks during the year.

Eleven of the cotton and 20 of the woolen mills also reported in 1902, so that comparative statistics can be presented for identical establishments as follows:

STATISTICS OF 11 COTTON MILLS AND 20 WOOLEN MILLS, 1902 AND 1903.

The table following shows the proportion of the value of product applied to cost of material, to wages, and remaining for minor expenses and profits; also the average annual earnings per employee in these two industries for various years from 1880 to 1903:

PER CENT OF VALUE OF PRODUCT APPLIED TO COST OF MATERIAL, TO WAGES, AND TO MINOR EXPENSES AND PROFITS, AND AVERAGE ANNUAL EARNINGS PER EMPLOYEE IN THE COTTON AND WOOLEN INDUSTRIES, 1880 TO 1903.

Since 1897 in the cotton industry the proportion of value of product applied to wages shows a range, approximately, of from 33 to 35 per cent, and in the woolen industry of from 22 to 25 per cent. During the period embraced in the table the general tendency of average annual earnings has been upward.

FACTORIES, MILLS, AND SHOPS BUILT.-The returns show that in 96 towns 124 buildings were erected, or enlarged, remodeled, etc., during the year, at a total cost of $1,436,900. These improvements provided for 3,343 additional employees. The returns for the 13 years 1891 to 1903 are summarized below:

FACTORIES, MILLS, AND SHOPS BUILT OR ENLARGED, ETC., DURING THE YEARS 1891 TO 1903.

TRADE UNIONS.--A list of the labor unions, by cities and towns, is given, with membership, initiation fees, dues, benefit features, daily hours of labor, daily wages, and other essential facts. According to returns received by the bureau, there were, in 35 cities and towns of

the State, 174 unions, 164 of which reported an aggregate membership of 12,829.

There were 52 unions, with 4,041 members, which reported as to time and earnings. The results of these reports are summarized in the table which follows:

RAILROADS. For the year ending June 30, 1903, there were 8,111 employees in the service of the 20 steam railroads of the State. The amount paid in wages by these roads aggregated $4,325,379.58. The average daily wages, including general officers, increased from $1.81 in 1902 to $1.86 in 1903; and, not including general officers, from $1.76 in 1902 to $1.82 in 1903. The average number of days worked was 287. The average annual income of employees, including general officers, was $533; not including general officers, $522.

For the year ending June 30, 1903, there was employed upon the street railways of the State 1,125 persons, to whom were paid $553,500 in wages. The average number of days worked was 300, the average annual earnings $492, and the average daily wages $1.64.

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.-This consists of statistics of the manufacturing industries of the State, including lumber, pulp, and paper, compiled from the returns of the Twelfth Federal Census.

VIRGINIA.

Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics for the State of Virginia. 1903. James B. Doherty, Commissioner. V, 207 pp.

The subjects presented in this report may be grouped under the following heads: Industrial statistics, 57 pages; arbitration and conciliation, 24 pages; labor laws, 49 pages; decisions of courts relating to labor, 67 pages; Prison Association of Virginia, 4 pages; Negro Reformatory Association of Virginia, 3 pages.

INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS.-In 1902 returns were received from 118 general contractors in the building trades, reporting a volume of

business done aggregating $3,200,571. Hours of labor had been reduced without encroaching on the daily wage, and in almost every city of the State 9 hours had been adopted as a day's work. A general increase in wages also prevailed, in the majority of instances the increase being 10 per cent, though a number of increases of 12, 15, 20, and 25 per cent were reported. Fifteen subcontracting firms of bricklayers, 52 of painters and paperhangers, and 65 of plumbers, gas fitters, and tinners reported, respectively, value of work done. during 1902 at $235,111, $258,589, and $793,830. Where hours of labor were reported, they were, generally, 8 or 9 per day. Wages of skilled workmen were reported as being substantially advanced.

The value of product in 1902 of 13 firms manufacturing brick and tile, 9 manufacturing sash, doors, and blinds, and of 95 saw and planing mills amounted to $315,261, $708,884, and $4,319,610, respectively. Hours of labor per day ranged from 8 to 12, 10 hours, however, being the number in the majority of establishments. In the sash, door, and blind factories the wages paid aggregated $202,365, and in the saw and planing mills $1,072,828. During 1902, 5 firms manufacturing agricultural implements reported as value of product $407,031, aggregate wages paid $128,879, average days worked 294, and daily hours of labor 10; 21 canneries reported as value of product $217,509, aggregate wages paid $37,730, average days worked 67, and daily hours of labor 10; 20 tanneries reported as value of product $5,091,329, aggregate wages paid $308,244, average days worked 266, and daily hours of labor 10, as a rule.

Twenty-eight reports received from the railroads of the State show for 1902 a total of $10,949,384.56 paid in wages to 24,094 employees. The average daily wages were $1.49. The table following shows, by occupations, the number employed and the average daily wages for 1901 and 1902, and the total paid in wages during 1902: