list of finishers is changing practically from day to day, and such contractors, in Greater New York, where this problem exists, have now been educated to a generous use of the telephone, hy which means they can be advised from day to day as to the character and departmental record of any given tenement house within the sections of the greater city where this class of work is done in the homes. It is our fixed purpose however, to develop our register records until they become a valuable auxiliary to the enforcement of the law relating to manufacture in tenement houses. This can be accomplished by making more frequent demand for list of outside employees.

TABLE 5 COMPLAINTS INVESTIGATED.

It will be observed that complaints received by the Bureau are divided into eleven groups. Seven of the eleven are reported blank. Groups I to V and IX contain an aggregate of 99 complaints the remainder, 1,205, related to alleged violations of the factory law.

Complaints of violations of the eight hour and alien labor laws fell from 430 in 1904 to 1 in 1905. This no doubt was due to the fact that the Court of Appeals declared that the application of the eight hour law to municipal contracts was unconstitutional, and to the doubtful constitutionality and force of section 13 of the law, relating to employment of aliens on public work.

*The total number of complaints received (1,306) is not very large when the extent of our field of operations is taken into consideration. The motives which lead to the filing of complaints vary quite materially. A considerable number is received from individuals and associations whose only motive is the well-being of those who toil. This class of complaints relates mostly to the employment of women and children. An examination of our table will show that of 315 such complaints received during the year only 150 were sustained on investigation. This showing does not impugn the good faith of the parties entering the complaints; it simply means that either their information was misleading or the conditions complained of were remedied and the violation removed before our representative reached the establishment against which complaint was entered. Complaints are frequently also sent in to us actuated simply by a desire on the part of the complainant to annoy the party against whom the complaint is made; a discharged employee seeking revenge frequently alleges the existence of conReprinted from the preliminary report, with necessary corrections.

ditions which are tolerated during the period of employment; but when he is dismissed he demands that the machinery of the law be set in motion to punish the employer for the conditions which were previously borne by him without complaint. The separation of the "wheat" from the "chaff" is quite clearly set forth in this table, only 53 per cent of all complaints being wholly sustained. It is desirable, as an evidence of good faith, in addition to many other reasons, that a person making a complaint furnish the information in writing, signing his name to the statement; the source of information not to be disclosed to anyone not entitled to know the same. If this course is adopted and rigidly followed the number of complaints will be greatly reduced. Henceforth the name of complainant will not be given to any person outside of those who handle such matters in the offices of the Bureau.

Division II of Group IX contains 36 per cent of all complaints. received and three-fifths of these were sustained upon investigation. It will be noted that in this Division the most prolific cause of complaint is uncleanliness or purely sanitary questions or conditions. It is not strange that more than one-third of the complaints alleging bad sanitary conditions are not sustained. Cleanliness is a comparative term and what may appear very bad to the inexperienced person who files the complaint is not so regarded by the official who investigates and who exercises discriminating judgment in passing upon the case. Alleged dangerous machinery contributes but a small per cent to our complaint statistics. This is very remarkable when we consider that there is over half a million persons engaged in industries employing machinery and that accidents occur very frequently which could be avoided if the machines were all properly guarded.

TABLE 6-PROSECUTIONS.

This table is correlative to table 2; prosecution is attendant upon failure to comply with orders issued.

*Under our judicial system the process is slow and to an already overburdened Bureau our experience in the courts has been discouraging and depressing.

Two hundred and two (202) cases were prosecuted during the year, divided as follows:

For violation of the provisions relating to sanitation and safety, 33.

*Reprinted from the preliminary report, with necessary corrections.

After due trial eighteen of these cases were acquitted, one was convicted and sentence suspended, and fourteen were convicted and paid fines aggregating $385.

For violation of the provisions relating to employment of children, 158.

In 54 instances cases were acquitted or discharged, 60 were convicted and sentence suspended, while 44 were convicted and paid fines, etc., aggregating $2,100. The Bureau convicted 66 per cent of the offenders against the child labor laws but the courts arbitrarily ruled that only 30 per cent should be punished. Why should the others escape their richly merited punishment?

Illegal employment of women and minors.-Two cases were brought to the attention of the court one of which was acquitted and the other convicted and sentence suspended.

Bakeries.-Nine cases, of which one was convicted, a fine of $25 being imposed on the offender. One defendant, involved in two cases, fled before warrant was served and the other six cases were dismissed or acquitted after trial.

To sum up, 60 per cent of all our cases were proven and convictions secured while punishment in the form of fines was only meted in one-half this number of cases.

Nevertheless, we do not believe that a multiplicity of prosecutions is an infallible test of efficiency. A comparatively small number, selected by localities, with a view to impress on the minds of manufacturers in that community that the Bureau will punish for continued violation of the law, giving to such cases the widest possible publicity, is just as effective, and in our case has the additional merit of not tying up our field force.

TABLE 7-ACCIDENTS.

This summary is peculiarly interesting for it deals with a phase of our industrial life which is of vital importance, not only to the unfortunates who personally suffer injuries, but also to the thousands indirectly affected as well as to the State.

This Bureau, by reason of the personal activity of Commissioner Sherman, and the valuable assistance of the Chief Statistician of the Bureau of Statistics, has succeeded in securing a large addition to the number of accidents reported during the year. Special instructions were also given to the deputy factory inspectors to point out to factory owners the importance of reporting all accidents occuring in their establishments. Since 1902 the nunber of accidents REPORTED has increased over 100 per cent. The

year 1905 shows an increase of almost 800 over 1904. For 1906 we will doubtless show a further and amazing increase. Our citizens may be assured that this Bureau is carefully scrutinizing the reports received, and special investigations are frequently ordered to determine whether or not precautions can be taken to prevent the recurrence of such accidents. Owing however to the limitations of our field force this cannot be undertaken very generally. If accidents are due to the culpable negligence of employers--i. e. if departmental orders have not been complied with, and accident is attributable to such failure, prosecution must inevitably follow. The number of such cases is small, however, because the average manufacturer promptly guards his machinery upon receipt of an official notice to do so.

The total number of accidents reported during the year was 7,563 of which over 93 per cent happened to male persons. These figures would indicate that in the economy of industrial establishments, where female labor is employed, females are put to work at points where the element of danger is comparatively small, and in the accidents that do occur to them, the majority are due to carelessness and indifference to the rules established for the guidance and safety of employees.

The largest number of accidents occurring in any one industry, (3,777) happened in that group classified under the general head of "Metals, hardware, machinery and shipbuilding." In this group there are eight divisions with about 42 subdivisions. It appears that the manufacture of iron and steel products is the most dangerous of all occupations included in this group, as measured by the number of accidents reported in that class (1,259). Next in this respect is the manufacture and repair of all kinds of vehicles, ranging from bicycles to railway cars and locomotives, with 1,104 accidents. These are followed by the manufacture of electrical machinery and supplies against which 606 had to be charged.

Next in importance from this standpoint is the textile industry with a total of 937 accidents recorded, and it is in this group that over 48 per cent of all accidents occurring to females took place. The percentage of persons injured to the whole number employed in each group of industries is as follows:

Group I, less than 1 per cent; group II, 3.7 per cent; group III, 1 per cent; group IV, 0.5 per cent; group V, a little more than 1 per cent; group VI, over 4 per cent; group VII, 0.25 per cent; group VIII, 1 per cent; group IX, .0057 per cent, or one

in about 1,750; group X, 0.25 per cent; group XI, 2 per cent; group XII, 0.5 per cent.

EMPLOYEES IN FACTORIES.

In the 32,912 estblishments inspected (making 34,409 inspections as stated in the first group in table 1) a total of 889,437 persons were employed. Of this number 42,179 or about 4.7 per cent were at work in the factory offices. A notable reduction in the Rumber of children employed is recorded this year, only 10,871 having been found at work by our inspectors; a reduction of 2.518 from the figures for 1904. An examination of tables II, III and IV of the Appendix will show the distribution of industrial forces and manufacturing enterprises in each county of the State. The establishments situated in Greater New York, 21,451, furnish employment for a little more than 54 per cent of the vast number mentioned above. Next in importance is Erie county with 1,440 factories, employing over 52,000 persons; then comes Monroe county with 1,200 factories, employing nearly 43,000. Those counties are followed by Albany, Rensselaer, Onondaga, Westchester, Oneida, Chautauqua, Schenectady, Montgomery and Orange counties; the figures for each of these counties ranging from 824 factories with 25,255 employees in Albany county, to 194 factories with 11,032 employees in Orange county. It is needless to say that the problem of inspection and enforcement of the law in the factories, shops, bakeries, etc., in Greater New York is infinitely greater than the relative proportions indicated by the figures herein mentioned. And, as a result of this condition, our entire force was detailed to work in the metropolitan district for a somewhat lengthy period during the year.

EMPLOYMENT of women, MINORS AND CHILDREN.

According to the Labor Law of this State the males who work in factories are divided into three groups-adults, minors and boys, while the females are divided into only two groups--girls between fourteen and sixteen years of age constitute one group and all over sixteen constitute the other. This statutory grouping, so far as males are concerned, operates very satisfactorily except perhaps in the case of youths who wish to learn the baking trade. Owing to the restriction contained in section 77 of the law, a minor cannot be employed as an apprentice in a bakery if the work be done therein (as in very many cases) during the night. But, when the grouping of females is considered, the situation changes; we have no intervening group between the child and the adult.