The following statement shows, for selected occupations, the average weekly wages paid during 1901 in the textile industries of the State:

AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS IN TEXTILE INDUSTRIES, 1901.

STRIKES, LOCKOUTS, AND SHUT DOWNS.-This is a chronological record of the various labor troubles occurring within the State during 1902, derived chiefly from reports given in the newspapers. No statistics are presented which can be summarized.

FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.-Under this title are presented statistics of these employment agencies as now maintained by the States of Illinois, Ohio, and Connecticut. There is a demand that similar offices be established in the industrial centers of Rhode Island.

DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.-In this part of the report are reproduced the decisions published in the Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor during the year 1902.

LABOR LAWS.-A reprint of the labor laws of the State constitutes this section of the report.

TEXTILE SCHOOL.-Under this caption is presented the report of a joint special committee appointed in 1902 to inquire into the establishment of a school for textile industries. Doubting the wisdom of incurring at present the expense of establishing a separate school, and thus perhaps duplicating educational apparatus, the committee recommends that an increased annual appropriation be made to the Rhode Island School of Design, upon its furnishing adequate opportunities for instruction, both to students and operatives, in textile designing and textile work.

VIRGINIA.

Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics for the State of Virginia. 1902. James B. Doherty, Commissioner. 205 pp.

The subjects presented in this report may be grouped under the following heads: Manufacturing industries, 87 pages; railroad employees, 10 pages; waterworks and gas works, 12 pages; mine products, 7 pages; decisions of courts affecting labor, 32 pages; labor laws, 41 pages; trade unions, 13 pages.

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.-Returns were secured from 14 indus

tries of the State, giving, for each establishment reporting, capital invested, value of product, amount paid in wages, number of days worked, and number, daily wages, and hours of labor of each class of employees; also reports as to changes in wages. The table following summarizes the principal data.

In a majority of the cigar and tobacco factories eight to ten hours constituted a day's work, in iron and machine works nine to ten hours, and in cotton and woolen mills ten to eleven hours. A large proportion of all establishments canvassed reported full time worked during the year and trade conditions good, while a considerable number reported an increase in wages.

RAILROAD EMPLOYEES.-Tables are given showing, by occupations, the number of persons employed by the railroads of the State during the year 1901, together with the number of days worked and the total yearly and the average daily wages paid each class of employees. Accidents to employees, by causes, are also presented for the year. The table following shows, by occupations, the number employed and the average daily wages for the years 1899 and 1901, and the total amount paid in wages during 1901:

NUMBER AND WAGES OF RAILROAD EMPLOYEES.

a The sum of the items does not agree with this total; the figures, however, are reproduced as they appear in the original.

Accidents to employees from moving trains, locomotives, or cars resulted in 57 being killed and 538 being injured, and accidents from causes other than moving trains, etc., resulted in 2 being killed and 876 being injured.

MINE PRODUCTS. During 1901 the State produced 2,725,873 short tons of coal of a total spot value of $2,353,989. There was an average During the same year

of 4,152 persons employed for 279 working days. 907,130 short tons of coke were produced at a total value at ovens of $1,483,670. In 1900 the granite production of the State amounted to $211,080, slate to $190,211, gypsum to $18,111, limestone to $405,318, tale and soapstone to $116,930, clay products (brick, tile, and pottery) to $1,305,195, manganese ores to $69,924, and iron ores (Virginia and West Virginia combined) to $1,489,318.

COURT DECISIONS AND LABOR LAWS.-In this part of the report are reproduced from the Bulletins of the United States Bureau of Labor decisions of courts affecting labor, and laws of various States relating to labor enacted during 1901.

TRADE UNIONS.-Reports were received from 116 organizations, representing a membership of 10,062. During 1901 the amount paid out for assistance by 111 organizations aggregated $18,803.19. Wages and hours of labor of members of unions, and opinions on questions relating to labor are also given. The following table gives the trades unionized, with the number of organizations and members reported for each:

RECENT FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.

FRANCE.

Apprentissage. Enquête et Documents. Conseil Supérieur du Travail, Ministère du Commerce, de l'Industrie, des Postes et des Télégraphes. Session de 1902. xlviii, 489 pp.

The present volume contains the report and recommendations of the permanent commission of the superior council of labor on the subject of apprenticeship. The report is based upon an investigation covering portions of the years 1901 and 1902, and consists mainly of documents submitted by the commission, the most important of which are: Text of the law of February 22, 1851, concerning apprenticeship contracts and an account of the efforts made since 1848 to secure this legislation; apprenticeship laws of various foreign countries; specimens of regulations and forms of apprenticeship contracts in use in France, Denmark, and Switzerland; evidence given before the labor councils of Paris relative to the present investigation, and discussion thereon; and a general résumé and a résumé by trades of the answers to the questions sent out by the commission.

Two sets of questions were sent to the councils of prud'hommes, chambers of commerce, employers' associations, mixed associations of employers and employees, workingmen's unions, cooperative productive societies, etc. One set, hereafter referred to as schedule 1, was made to apply to all the trades and industries of a region. Its object was to ascertain in general the present condition of apprenticeship, the complement of trade instruction deemed necessary by the parties filling out the schedule, the difficulties arising in the execution of apprenticeship contracts under the present law, the reforms that should be introduced into the law because of changed industrial conditions, etc. Schedule 2 was made to apply only to those trades in which apprenticeship is regulated by contract, either written or oral. Fifty-six hundred copies of schedule 1 and 10,000 of schedule 2 were distributed, of which 557 and 1,364, respectively, were filled out and returned to the commission. Of the latter, only 1,283 were sufficiently complete to be used. The main facts brought out in these replies are summarized as follows:

In response to the inquiry in schedule 1 concerning the present condition of the apprenticeship system, the returns show that in 110 out of 219 trades the apprenticeship system is still in general use; in 92

trades it is customary in some sections and not in others, and in 17 trades it has entirely disappeared. In those occupations in which apprenticeship no longer exists workmen are recruited mostly from the helpers. The opinion is general that lack of properly trained workers has led to the decadence of certain industries, and that the disappearance of apprenticeship has caused a lowering of wages and has increased enforced idleness.

In response to an inquiry on schedule 2, one-fifth of the chambers of commerce, 36 per cent of the employers' associations, and nearly threefourths of the workingmen's unions and cooperative productive societies reported that usually the apprentice was not employed on useful work and was not given a complete instruction in the trade. In twothirds of the No. 1 schedules returned the opinion was expressed that there is a retrogression in the trade instruction of workmen.

The 1,283 returns of schedule 2 were made for trades in which apprentices are still employed, at least in some parts of France. These returns apply to 150 trades. In 23 schedules the period of apprenticeship shown was from 10 days to 6 months; in 105, from 1 to 2 years; in 504, from 2 to 3 years; in 558, from 3 to 4 years; in 45, from 4 to 5 years, and in 22 it was 5 years. In the remaining 26 schedules the time was not specified. In nine-tenths of these schedules the contract of apprenticeship is stated to be purely verbal. The ratio of apprentices to workmen was stated in 1,050 schedules. In 537 schedules it was placed at 1 apprentice to at least 10 workmen; in 284, at 2 to 10; in 114, at 3 to 10; in 88, at 4 or 5 to 10; and in 27, at from 6 to 12 apprentices to 10 workmen. In response to an inquiry whether the certificate of apprenticeship required by law to be given to apprentices is regarded by employers as a proof of capacity, 288 schedules show an affirmative and 745 a negative reply. In 193 returns it was stated that the certificate is not demanded or is not in use, while in 57 returns the question was not answered.

These, in brief, are the general facts in regard to the present situation of apprenticeship as brought out by the investigation.

The commission believes that the present apprenticeship law (") is defective and incomplete in several important respects and that under its operation the professional standard of French workmen is declining. This view is sustained by two-thirds of the trade and economic institutions that expressed an opinion on this point. The commission presents an analysis of provisions in the laws of certain foreign countries having reference to the practical control and supervision of the trade instruction of the apprentice, the deposition or registration of the apprenticeship contract, the attendance on trade schools and trade courses (which is obligatory in some countries), the supervision of

a For an analysis of this law see Bulletin of the Department of Labor, No. 25, pp. 839-842.