HISTORY
OF THE
BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR
OF MASSACHUSETTS,
AND OF
LABOR LEGISLATION IN THAT STATE
FROM 1833 TO 1876.
PREPARED FOR THE BUREAU, AS A CONTRIBUTION TO THE CENTENNIAL
EXHIBITION AT PHILADELPHIA IN 1876,
BY  CHAS.  F. PIDGIN.
BOSTON:
WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS.
1876.








eammoniuanl1  of fftassar4
OFFICE OF BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR,  I
33 PEMBERTON SQUARE, BOSTON, April 15, 1876.
SIR:-I have the honor to transmit, in accordance with a
request of a special committee of the governor's council,
dated July 27, 1875, a History of the Bureau of Statistics of
Labor of Massachusetts, as a contribution to the Centennial
Exhibition at Philadelphia. The matter herewith presented,
as was also suggested, forms part of the Seventh Annual
Report of this Bureau.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
CARROLL  D. WRIGHT, Chief.
To His Excellency ALEXANDER H. RICE, Governor of Massachusetts.








HISTORY
OF THE
BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR,
AND OF
LABOR LEGISLATION IN MASSACHUSETTS.
I.-INTRODUCTION.
The design of this volume is to give a compendious narrative of the work of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics
upon the subject of Labor, for the seven years commencing
with May, 1869, and closing with May of the present year,
1876.  The work has been undertaken for two reasons.  The
following letter supplies the principal one, and is in itself a
sufficient authorization for what has been done:COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, e
BOSTON, July 27, 1875. 
To the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor.
SIR:-The special committee of the executive council, to whom
was referred the matter of the representation of the State at the
Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, desire to call your attention
to the importance of preparing an elaborate, and in some degree
historical, report of the work of your department, which shall serve
for presentation at the Exhibition, as well as for your next annual
report.
Respectfully,
HORATIO G. KNIGHT,
SETH TURNER,
EDw. H. DUNN,
Committee.
The other reason for preparing a history of the bureau is
found in the fact that its reports are out of print, and have
been so generally called for, that it is impossible for the




6
bureau to supply a complete set of the volumes issued. The
reports having been supplied only to those desiring them, and
never having been placed on sale, there seemed to be no way
of satisfying the requests of those wishing a complete set of
the reports until the action of the above committee was taken.
Their suggestion opened the way for bringing the work of
this bureau to the attention of the whole country, and also
for presenting the results of its investigations in a concise
form for the use of individuals, libraries and governments.
Possessing the opportunity of satisfying the demands of all
interested in our work, we have aimed to merit the advantages
conferred by following implicitly the suggestions of the committee of the governor's council. We do not contemplate a
critical review of what has been done, nor do we intend to
say more should have been done, or better done.  Our aim
has been to codify the results of the seven years' investigations, and present their pith in a compact manner.  In fact,
as far as possible, to give an exact and full presentation of
seven reports in one.  In all cases where practicable, the
language of the reports themselves is given, rather than a
rewritten presentation of their meaning.
To properly judge of the work of this bureau, a knowledge
of the causes which led to its organization, its scope and
power as fixed by law, its manner of working is indispensable,
and much labor has been expended to look up and arrange
the information which follows concerning labor legislation in
Massachusetts and foreign countries previous to and since the
establishment of this bureau, the provisions of the organic
law creating it, as regards money and breadth of action, and
the subsidiary details explaining its manner of working and
the obstacles it has encountered.  If the information thus
supplied leads to a better comprehension of the bureau's work,
it will, for that reason, possess a value beyond its historic
worth.
The decennial census and industrial statistics for 1875 having formed a special branch of the bureau's work for eighteen months, a full description of the undertaking from its
inception to its practical fulfilment is hereinafter given.  By
the provisions of the law authorizing the bureau to take the
census and gather the industrial statistics, the resulting




7
volumes are practically reports of statistics of labor, and the
facts obtained really form part of the bureau work, and properly have a place in its history.
We have not deemed it inappropriate to present a few facts
in relation to the future work of the bureau; not by suggesting new plans of action, but by showing how much more can
be done with the facts already in possession of the department.
The gathering of facts is a comparatively easy business; but
their proper tabulation  and application  require time and
thought, and the statistician should use both fieely before
issuing reports upon which are based the arguments or assertions of workingmen, students, political economists or statesmen. With this brief explanation of our underlying purposes,
we begin the work before us.
II.-LABOR LEGISLATION FROM 1833 TO 1863.
The following summary of laws passed by the Massachusetts legislature includes those which relate to or affect labor.
This presentation of labor legislation for a period of thirty
years, 1833-1863, is taken  from  the first report of this
bureau:
"Nothing specific is found in the volumes which cover the period
prior to 1831.
" Governor Lincoln's address, January 8, 1833, appeals to the
legislature for an equal participation of creditors in the effects of
bankrupts, and for mitigation of imprisonment. He refers to having fully and repeatedly submitted his views to previous legislatures.
"The volume of state documents for 1831 contains the report of
a special commission appointed by Governor Lincoln; this report
was presented by him to the legislature June 1, 1831; it provides
for an equal distribution of assets, and by one of its sections proposes to abolish imprisonment for any debt of less than fifty dollars.
"March 12, 1833, an Act of incorporation was granted to the
South Reading Mechanic and Agricultural Institution,' for encouragement to agriculture and the mechanic arts, and for relieving the
distresses of unfortunate mechanics and their families.'
" March 19, 1833, an Act was approved by the governor, releasing civil officers from suit in case of the escape of a debtor from
prison.




8
"February 28, 1834.-Worcester County Manual Labor High
School incorporated.
" March 6, 1834.-Berkshire County Manual Labor High School
incorporated.
"March 31, 1834.-Act abolishing imprisonment for debt approved.
" Chap. 245, vol. 13, Laws of Massachusetts, 1834 to 1836.-An
Act to provide for the better instruction of youth employed in manufacturing establishments. This Act requires three months' schooling each year; employer fined fifty dollars for violating. App.
April 16, 1836.
"The address of Governor Davis to the legislature of 1835
(House Doc., No. 3), deplores the low repute of the state militia,
and states that it is probably the bitter fruit of unsatisfactory laws.
" Chap. 107, vol. 14, Laws of Massachusetts, 1837-38.-An Act
to provide for the better instruction of youth in manufacturing
establishments. This Act provides for the release of the employer
from the penalty, in case he is provided with a sworn certificate of
attendance at school.
" Chap. 58, Laws of 1839, incorporates the Charlestown Mechanics' Union Charitable Association, with the powers set forth in the
44th chapter of the Revised Statutes.
" Chap. 54, Laws of 1841.-Danvers Mechanic Institute incorporated.
"Chap. 49, Laws of 1843.-Boston Society for the Diffusion of
Information among Emigrants incorporated.
" Chap. 169, Acts of 1845.-Brook Farm  Phalanx incorporated,'for the purpose of promoting education, agricultural knowledge and
habits of manual and mechanical industry.' Powers and liabilities
set forth in the 38th and 44th chapters of the Revised Statutes.
" Chap. 171, Acts of 1845.-An Act to obtain statistical information in relation to certain branches of industry.
" Chap. 99, Acts of 1845.-Act granting one-half of a township
in Maine, six miles square, to the Worcester County Manual Labor
High School.
"Chap. 220, Acts of 1849.-An Act defining and repealing sections of previous Acts concerning the employment of children.
" Chap. 294, Acts of 1850.-Cities and towns authorized to make
all needful provisions concerning truants and children not attending
school.
" Chap. 66, Acts of 1850.-An Act incorporating the Worcester
County Mechanics' Association;'purpose to promote moral and
intellectual improvement, perfect the mechanic arts, and for charitable purposes.'




9
"Chap. 343, Acts of 1851.-An Act to secure to mechanics and
laborers their payment for labor by a lien on real estate.
" Chap. 240, Acts of 1852,'requires all persons having children
under their control to send them to school three months each year.'
" Chap. 307, Acts of 1852.-Extension of the principles of the
lien law.
" Chap. 313, Acts of 1852.-An Act to incorporate the Suffolk
Mutual Loan and Accumulating Fund Association;'-object of the
association to loan funds to those contributors who wish to purchase homesteads.'
"Chap. 238, Acts of 1852.-General truant law.
" Chap. 343, Acts of 1853.-City truant law.
"Chap. 392, Acts of 1854.-An Act to incorporate the Model
Lodging House Association.
" Chap. 309, Acts of 1855, requires school committees to report
violations of the law of May, 1852, to the treasurers of their towns
and cities.
"Chap. 379, Acts of 1855, amends the Act of May, 1849, concerning children.
"Chap. 18, Acts of 1855.-Act incorporating an industrial
school for girls. Lucretia O. Everett and others.
" Chap. 444, Acts of 1855.-An Act abolishing imprisonment for
debt, except in cases of fraud.
"Chap. 431, Acts of 1855.-Amendment to lien law.
" Chap. 231, Acts of 1855.-Extension of the lien law to ships
and vessels.
" Chap. 141, Acts of 1857, consolidates the Acts concerning imprisonment for debt and the punishment of fraudulent debtors.
" Chap. 50, Acts of 1857, requires the insurance commissioners
to report annually the conduct and condition of the loan fund
associations.
"Chap. 83, Acts of 1858, requires eighteen weeks' schooling.
"Chap. 55, Acts of 1858.-Amendment to lien law.
"Chap. 188, Acts of 1859.-School committees required to give
notice to treasurers of violations of the Act of 1852; treasurer
fined if he fails to comply.
"Chap. 166, Acts of 1863.-An Act to provide for the reception
of a grant of Congress, and to create a fund for the promotion of
education in agriculture and the mechanic arts."
The preceding summary shows secured legislation, but gives
no indication of the causes which led to the passage of the
various laws. It is difficult to trace the origin and course of
2




10
the various labor reform movements.  The attempts to secure
a reduction of the hours of labor are, however, quite fully
recorded.  The following information, indicating the opinions
and showing the actions of workingmen themselves, is gleaned
from official sources.
In September, 1832, a convention of delegates from  the
farmers, mechanics and workingmen of New  England was
held in the representatives' hall of the state house.  Grievances were discussed, and resolutions and an address adopted,
setting forth the burdens under which the laboring classes
suffered from  excessive hours, imprisonment for debt, the
lack of a lien law, onerous militia: service, and various other
causes.  (See preceding summary for legislation in 1833.)
January 21, 1834, a meeting to form a general trades' union
was called at the Boston common council room, and a committee appointed to carry the plan into effect.  In March, a
constitution was submitted and ratified by the trades.  The
union, on the Fourth of July, had a procession, with two
thousand men in line, an oration and dinner.  The oration
was delivered in the open air on Fort Hill by Frederick
Robinson, Esq. The dinner took place at Faneuil Hall. The
committee of arrangements apologized for the absence of a
clergyman at the banquet, and stated that application was
made to twenty-two religious associations for the use of a
church in which to deliver the oration, but their request was
in every case refused.  Consequently no clergyman was
invited to ask a blessing.
October 6, 1830, Edward Everett delivered a lecture on
labor before the Charlestown Lyceum.  Among other things,
he said: "If, as I have endeavored to show, man is by nature
a working being, it would follow that a workingmen's party
is founded in the very principles of our nature.... But
the workingmen's party, however organized, must subsist in
every civilized country to the end of time."
November 13, 1831, he spoke agatin before the Franklin
Institute of Boston, but did not take ground in favor of a
reduction of hours.
Between 1830 and 1840, Rev. William Ellery Channing
delivered many addresses and lectures on the elevation of the
laboring classes.  In one he said: "We do not find that civ



11
ilization has lightened men's toils: as yet it has increased
them; and in this I see the sign of a deep defect in what we
call the progress of society."
In September, 1834, a meeting of workingmen in Boston
chose ten delegates to a convention of farmers, mechanics and
others, to be holden at Northampton later in the same month.
In 1835, the authorities of the city of Boston refused the
use of a hall for an evening meeting to discuss the ten-hour
movement.
In 1833,'34 and'35, it is stated that a workingmen's party
existed, and chose candidates for governor, etc.
In 1836, the Hon. James G. Carter, chairman of the committee on education, in a report to the legislature, spoke of
the "constant inducement to manufacturers to employ female
labor and the labor of children, to the exclusion of men's
labor, because they can be had cheaper."
In 1837, the State instituted inquiries concerning the products of industry  of the population, somewhat similar to
those instituted by the United States in 1840, but the results
were exceedingly erroneous.  (See House Document, No.
124, 1849.)
April 10, 1840, President Van Buren issued the order
directing "that all public establishments will hereafter be
regulated, as to working hours, by the ten-hour system."
In his report for 1840, the Hon. Horace Mann wrote earnestly concerning the school laws of 1837-38, and of the
necessity of limiting the greed of heartless employers and
unnatural parents.  In 1842, the hours of labor of children
under twelve were limited to ten per day.
In 1844, the ten-hour plan was established in most of the
ship-building trades in the State.  In 1853, many trades were
working but ten hours.  The shipwrights and calkers increased their prices to three dollars per day, and worked but
a trifle over eight hours.
The preceding facts are necessarily given in a fragmentary
way.  The movement for the reduction of the hours of labor
did not step forward impressively, gaining strength from
year to year, but was fitful in its expression.  For this reason
the thread is wanting to make a history of labor legislation
harmonious.




12
In 1845 (House Document, No. 50) petitions were introduced to the legislature praying for the regulation of the
hours of labor in corporations, eleven hours being the fixed
time desired.  The petitioners numbered 2,138, of which
Lowell supplied 1,150; Andover, 500; and Fall River, then
a town, 488.  The matter was referred to a committee, who
reported against any legislation.  They gave as reasons, that
it was unjust to regulate hours for corporations, when private
individuals would be free from the operations of such a law.
They stated their belief, that factory labor was no more injurious than other kinds, that wages would necessarily have
to be reduced if such a law was passed, and that other States
would distance Massachusetts in the markets of the world.
To use their own words, such law would " close the gate of
every mill in the State." No action was taken by the legislature beyond accepting the report of the committee.
The question of hours remained dormant, as regarded the
legislature, until 1850 (House Document, No. 153). The
committee considering the subject, elicited the following information: The Lowell mills were running twelve hours (11 h.
58- m.) daily, or fourteen hours more per week than English
mills. It was also found that, of 2,611 young girls, averaging twenty-two years of age, who had entered the mills six
years before in good health, 878, or thirty-three per cent,
had deteriorated sadly, dyspepsia being the prevailing complaint.
The majority report considered legislation inexpedient; but
the minority reported a bill establishing eleven hours as the
legal day on and after September 1, 1850, and ten hours on
and after July 1, 1851.  Again was legislation postponed.
Two years elapsed before the subject came up again. In
1852 (House Document, No. 185), an attempt was made to
have ten hours made the legal day, in the absence of a special
contract, and providing that children under fifteen should not
work more than ten hours; but the bill failed.
Another rejected plan provided for twelve hours on and
after July 4, 1852, eleven hours October 1, 1852, and ten
hours July 4, 1853.  The usual exceptions were made in case
of repairs, etc.




13
III.-LABOR LEGISLATION FROM 1864 TO 1868.
Governor Bullock's address for 1866 contains the following
allusions to" The Questions of Labor.
" It will be my duty to communicate to the legislature, when
received, the report of the commissioners appointed under a Resolve
of the last general court, to consider the interests and the hours of
labor. In the absence of their report, I omit a general consideration of the subject.  The question of the hours of labor is not
merely one of sanitary connections, but it relates to the social condition of a State. Considered in this broad sense, it is at all times
entitled to careful and respectful investigation. There are volumes
of evidence exhibiting the degree of attention which the subject has
from time to time received from the parliament of Great Britain.
Having myself no hesitation as to the rightful authority of the
legislature over the subject, and believing that a concession to the
wishes of those who seek for a thorough inquiry will be productive
of a better understanding, not only of the specific question itself,
but of the intimate and mutually beneficial relations which all
classes sustain to each other, I submit the matter to your wisdom."
The succeeding abstract of secured labor legislation, from
1864 to 1868, is copied mainly from the First Bureau Report.
" Chap. 116, Acts of 1865.-Act to incorporate the Boston Labor
Reform Association, for the purpose of improving the condition of
the mechanic and laboring classes in their various occupations, etc.
" Chap. 62, Acts of 1865, appoints an unpaid commission of five
to collect information and statistics in regard to the hours of labor
and the condition and prospects of the industrial class.
"Chap. 206, Acts of 1865, exempts from attachment the tools of
a mechanic to the amount of not more than three hundred dollars.
"Chap. 270, Acts of 1865, amends the apprenticeship law, by
repealing imprisonment, and substituting a bond.
"Chap. 290, Acts of 1866.-Act authorizing the formation of
co-operative associations.
"Chap. 67, Acts of 1866.-The business hours of the departments of the state government to be determined by the governor
and council.
"Chap. 273, Acts of 1866.-An Act in relation to the employment of children in manufacturing establishments.




14
"SECT. 1. No child under the age of ten years shall be employed in any
manufacturing establishment within this Commonwealth, and no child
between the age of ten and fourteen years shall be so employed, unless he
has attended some public or private school under teachers approved by the
school committee of the place in which such school is kept, at least six
months during the year next preceding such employment; nor shall such
employment continue unless such child shall attend school at least six
months in each and every year.
"SECT. 2. The owner, agent or superintendent of any manufacturing
establishment, who knowingly employs a child in violation of the preceding
section, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty dollars for each offence.
"SECT. 3. No child under the age of fourteen years shall be employed in
any manufacturing establishment within this Commonwealth, more than
eight hours in any one day.
" SECT. 4. Any parent or guardian who allows or consents to the employment of a child, in violation of the first section of this act, shall forfeit a
sum not exceeding fifty dollars for each offence.
"SECT. 5. The governor, with the advice and consent of the council,
may, at his discretion, instruct the constable of the Commonwealth and his
deputies to enforce the provisions of chapter forty-two of the General Statutes, and all other laws regulating the employment of children in manufacturing establishments, and to prosecute all violations of the same.
" Chap. 92, Resolves of 1866.-Resolve authorizing the appointment by the governor of a commission of three persons to investigate the subject of the hours of labor in its relation to the social,
educational and sanitary condition of the working classes.
" Chap. 85, Resolves of 1866.-Resolve appropriates ten thousand
dollars for representation of industries of the State at the Universal
Exposition in 1867 at Paris.
" Chap. 285, Acts of 1867.-An Act in relation to the schooling
and hours of labor of children employed in manufacturing and
mechanical establishments.
"SECT. 1. No child under the age of ten years shall be employed in any
manufacturing or mechanical establishment within this Commonwealth, and
no child between the age of ten and fifteen years shall be so employed,
unless he has attended some public or private day school under teachers
approved by the school committee of the place in which such school is kept,
at least three months during the year next preceding such employment:
provided, said child shall have lived within the Commonwealth during the
preceding six months; nor shall such employment continue unless such child
shall attend school at least three months in each and every year; and provided, that tuition of three hours per day in a public or private day school
approved by the school committee of the place in which such school is
kept, during a term of six months, shall be deemed the equivalent of three
months' attendance at a school kept in accordance with the customary hours
of tuition; and no time less than sixty days of actual schooling shall be
accounted as three months, and no time less than one hundred and twenty
half-days of actual schooling shall be deemed an equivalent of three months.




15
"SECT. 2. No child under the age of fifteen years shall be employed in
any manufacturing or mechanical establishment more than sixty hours in
one week.
" SECT. 3. Any owner, agent, superintendent or overseer of any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, who shall knowingly employ or permit
to be employed, any child, in violation of the preceding sections, and any
parent or guardian who allows or consents to such employment, shall for
such offence forfeit the sum of fifty dollars.
" SECT. 4. It shall be the duty of the constable of the Commonwealth to
specially detail one of his deputies to see that the provisions of this act and
all other laws regulating the employment of children or minors in manufacturing or mechanical establishments, are complied with, and to prosecute
offences against the same; and he shall report annually to the governor all
proceedings under this act; and nothing in this section shall be so construed
as to prohibit any person from prosecuting such offences.
" SECT. 5. Chapter two hundred and seventy-three of the acts of the
year eighteen hundred and sixty-six is hereby repealed: provided, this act
shall not affect any proceedings now pending.
"SECT. 6. This act shall take effect sixty days from its passage.
" Chap. 174, Acts of 1867.-The Co-operative Mills incorporated.
" Chap. 264, Acts of 1867.-Shares in co-operative associations to
the value of twenty dollars exempted from attachment and execution.
" Chap. 95, Acts of 1868.-Wages of wife and minor children of
debtor exempted from attachment.
" Chap. 279, Acts of 1868.-Overseers of poor prohibited from
removing minors from the State."
A careful search makes manifest many of the causes which
led to the passage of the preceding laws. In 1865, eighteen
weeks' schooling was required for all working children under
twelve, and twelve weeks for those between  twelve and
fifteen.
March 8, 1865, Major John W. Mahan, a member of the
House of Representatives from Boston, offered, so far as is
known  entirely  on his own  responsibility, the  following
Order:" Ordered, That the Judiciary Committee consider the expediency
of regulating and limiting the number of hours constituting a day's
labor, and of making it a penal offence for any employer to require
an employ6 to labor beyond such number of hours as may be prescribed by law."
[The Order contained, also, a clause against combinations
by dealers to advance the price of the necessaries of life.]




16
The Order and petitions were referred to a joint special
committee, which reported by its chairman, on the part of the
House, Mr. Edward H. Rogers of Chelsea, a Resolve asking for
the appointment of an unpaid commission of five to investigate
the subject of the hours of labor. The Resolve was passed, and
approved by Governor Andrew.  He selected the following
gentlemen to constitute the commission: William P. Tilden,
Henry I. Bowditch, F. B. Sanborn, Elizur Wright and George
H. Snelling. Their report was made February 7, 1866 (House
Document, No. 98), and will be considered farther on.
In 1866, the legislature passed the following Resolve:" That a commission of three persons be appointed by the governor, with power to send for persons and papers, to investigate the
subject of the hours of labor, especially in its relation to the social,
educational and sanitary condition of the industrial classes, and to
the permanent prosperity of the productive interest of the State."
The commission was composed of Amasa Walker, William
Hyde and Edward H. Rogers.  The two first named made a
majority report, and the latter submitted a minority report.
The report was presented January 1, 1867 (House Document, No. 44), and will be examined in its important details
in the next section of this volume.
The factory agitation of 1867 resulted in the Act amending
that of 1866 (both are given on page 14), and General H. K.
Oliver was appointed a special state constable to enforce its
provisions.
June 24, 1868, the national eight-hourilaw was passed, and
went into operation at the Charlestown navy yard, July 6.
In the spring of 1869, the workmen were informed that their
pay would be reduced one-fifth. This led to complications
from which relief was found in the proclamation of President
Grant, dated May 21, which directed that no reduction in
wages should be made on account of reduction in hours.
IV.-REPORTS OF TWO COMMISSIONS ON HOURS OF LABOR1866 AND 1867.
In February, 1866, the commission appointed by Governor
Andrew, in accordance with a Resolve of the legislature of
1865 "to collect information and statistics in regard to the




17
hours of labor, and the conditions and prospects of the industrial classes," made their report, which was signed by the five
commissioners previously named.  We present a brief abstract of their report.
One thousand printed circulars were sent out, and eighty
replies received.  Thirty-nine out of 334 towns and cities
responded.  The education of children in manufacturing districts was first considered, and the commissioners said "a
saddening amount of testimony has been brought before the
commission concerning the frequent and gross violationl" of
the school law, which then required eleven weeks' schooling
yearly for children from  twelve to fifteen years of age, and
eighteen weeks for children under twelve.  The latter were
not allowed to work more than ten hours per day.  After expressing the fear that Massachusetts was in danger of "rushing into the same fearful condition in which England found
her manufacturing districts years ago," they continue:
"As our common-school system is so thoroughly established, and
as all our manufacturing villages have, more or less, a mixed population, the children of merchants, mechanics and factory operatives
attending the same school, it may be difficu lt (although the commission is not unanimous on that point) to adopt the half-time plan in
detail; but we may secure a part, at least, of its beneficial results,
by demanding the same amount of schooling, as now indicated in
the statutes, every six months, instead of every twelve months, as
now provided; thus doubling the amount of schooling, and lessening
correspondently the amount of labor.
But with the view of encouraging, as fast and as far as practicable, the'half-time system,' we would have it provided that, in
all cases where this system is adopted and carried out in good faith,
the laws in the sections referred to shall not be considered binding.
We suggest, also, that a suitable person or persons be appointed by the governor, and clothed with full power of inspection, whose
duty shall be to see that the laws concerning this subject be faithfully
obeyed, and to bring suits when they are violated. Such officers
should report annually t tthe legislature the condition and wants of
that class of children to which the law refers."
In considering the pecuniary value of healthy men, a man's
worth to the State (wages earned) is put at $27,000, alnd the
point made that the State cannot afford to allow children to
3




18
labor in a way to impair health arid shorten life. The pecuniary value of education is demonstrated, and the commissioners state their belief in the assertion that illiterate help  never
yields proprietors a profit!
After presenting some statistics concerning hours of labor,
the commissioners say:" From this brief summary it appears that what is known as the'ten-hour system' is generally adopted in mechanical employments,
and that eleven hours is the general rule in cotton factories. The
shortest time established by custom for a day's labor is that adopted
by the class of shipwrights engaged on'old work,' seven hours
forty minutes. The longest time is seventeen and one-half hours,
adopted in a few bakeries."
After considering testimony given relative to the evil results
of such long hours of labor as are required in bakeries, they
add:
"If these statements can be relied on, the commission are of
opinion that in no branch of industry that has been presented to
their consideration is there greater need of reform  than in this,
which furnishes us with the staff of life; and they would express
their hearty sympathy with the bakers in their efforts to lessen the
hours of labor, hoping the needed change may soon be accomplished."
The wages of women were next considered, but with  no
practical result, the  information  derived  upon the  subject
being very meagre.
The commission, after presenting  the arguments, pro and
con, for a reduction of the hours of labor (touchinog, in their
considerations, upon such points as province  of law, law  of
usury, overwork,* hasty meals, labor-saving machinery, eleva* Every man has a certain amount of constitutional force. This is his vital capital,
which must not be diminished. Out of this comes daily a certain and definite amount
of available force, which he may expend in labor of muscle or brain, without drawing on his vital capital. He may, and he should, work every day, and expend so
much force, and no more, that he shall awake the next morning, and every succeeding
morning, until he shall be threescore and ten, and find in himself the same amount
of available force, the same vital income, the same power to do his ordinary and
healthy day's work, and again lay down at night with his capital of life, his constitutional force, unimpaired.-Letter to Commission from Edward Jarvis.




19
tion of labor by the workingman himself), arrived at the following conclusion regarding an eight-hour law:
"The Commission, therefore, are opposed to the adoption of an
eight-hour law.
" 1. Because they deem it unsound in principle to apply one measure
of time to all kinds of labor.
"2. Because, if adopted as a general law, in the way proposed, it
would be rendered void by special contracts, and so add another to
the dead laws that cumber the statutes.
" 3. Because a very large proportion of the industrial interests of
the country could not observe it.
"4. Because, if restricted, as some propose, to the employes of
the State, it would be manifestly partial, and, therefore, unjust."
On the general subject of a reduction of hours, their opinion is given as follows:" The commission believe that the change desired can be better
brought about by workingmen outside the state house, than by
legislators inside."
The report thus concludes:
" It may be well for convenience of reference to bring together,
in closing, the three distinct recommendations which the commission have ventured to make to your honorable body,1. That a change be made in the statutes concerning the schooling and work of children in manufacturing districts, so as to give
them twice the amount of schooling now required, or by adopting in
full what is known as the' half-time system.'
" 2. That an inspector, or inspectors, be appointed to attend to
the enforcement of these laws, and also to look after the children
put to apprenticeship, or otherwise bound to service by the State,
to see that they are properly cared for according to the terms of
indentures.
"3. That provision be made for the annual collection of reliable
statistics, in regard to the condition, prospects and wants of the
industrial classes.
"Respectfully submitted by    " WILLIAM P. TILDEN,
" HENRY I. BOWDITCH,
"F. B. SANBORN,
" ELIZUR WRIGHT,
" GEO. H. SNELLING,
" Commissioners."




20
The commission on the hours of labor, appointed under
chap. 92 of the Resolves of 1866, reported to Gov. Bullock,
January 1, 1867.  We will consider the majority report
first. Some 450 circulars were sent out, but the statistics
obtained were not deemed of great value.  Speaking of the
Act of 1866, chap. 273, which provides that "no child under
ten years of age shall be employed in any manufacturing
establishment within this Commonwealth," the commissioners
say, "we know that there is a general, but, we are happy to
say, not universal disregard" of the law.  Eleven hours
was found to be the rule in factories, and the commissioners
remark thereon: "Eleven hours' toil each day for six days in
each week is more than women and children ought to be
required to perform."
The commissioners, after thoroughly weighing the testimony they had secured, presented the following recommendations to the governor:"1. That the Act of the last session, chapter 273, be so amended
as to insure the execution of those provisions which forbid the
employment of children between the ages of ten and fourteen, and
provides for their attendance at school.
" 2. That the employment of all persons under the age of eighteen
years in factories, for more than ten hours each day, or sixty hours
per week, be prohibited; and that one hour each day shall be
allowed for dinner.
" 3. That a special INSPECTOR OF LABOR be appointed, to see that
all laws relating to the interests of the laboring classes are faithfully
executed.
" 4. That a Bureau of Statistics be established for the purpose of
collecting and making available all facts relating to the industrial
and social interests of the Commonwealth."
Oil the general question of reduction of hours of labor, the
commissioners did not believe in law-making.  They thought
public sentiment should induce the employer to shorten the
hours in certain trades, especially in the winter season. They
argued strongly in favor of making the hour the unit of time
in relation to labor, and suggested it might be well to enact
that no contracts for labor not made upon the hour standard
should be recognized in law.




21
In conclusion, the commissioners said,"The undersigned would respectfully represent to your Excellency that they cannot recommend the enactment of any law restricting the hours of labor for the adult population of the Commonwealth.
A AIASA WALKER.
" WILLIAM HYDE."
Mr. Edward H. Rogers, in making his minority report,
states his belief in three "truths,"" First. Manual labor is the divine training to energize the character.
"Second. The more hours men work in any staple branch of
manufactures, the less they receive in the form of wages.
" Third. Labor is capital."
One of the principal conclusions arrived at by the commissioner, is,"Human labor is so connected with exalted mental and moral
capacities, that it of right ought to have higher consideration than
merchandise."
He closed his report as follows:" I recommend, as the result of my investigations, and in view of
the expressed wish of the interest of labor in the factories, and, so far
as ascertained, on the farms, the enactment of ten hours as a legal
standard for a day's labor-in the absence of contracts-for farm
and factory work; and a similar enactment of eight hours as a legal
standard-in the absence of contracts-for mechanical labor.
"Respectfully submitted, by
" EDWARD H. ROGERS,
"Commissioner on the Hours of Labor."
V.-LABOR LEGISLATION IN 1869.-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR.
Since 1866 no especial executive attention had been given
to labor reform in any of its phases.  The following Acts and
Resolves were, however, passed by the legislature of 1869:
"Chap. 302, Acts of 1869, provides for cancelling the indentures
of wards of the State in certain cases.




22
" Chap. 305, Acts of 1869, provides that towns and cities may
maintain evening schools for those over twelve years of age.
"Chaps. 57 and 72, Resolves of 1869, appropriate fifty thousand
dollars to the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science,
with a proviso for gratuitous instruction.
" Chap. 102, Resolve of 1869, provides for the establishment of a
Bureau of Statistics of Labor."
The full text of the Resolve establishing the bureau is given
below:"RESOLVE providing for the establishment of a Bureau of Statistics on the subject of
Labor.
" Resolved, That the governor, with the advice and consent of the
council, is hereby authorized to appoint, as soon after the passage of
this resolve as may be, and thereafter biennially in the month of
May, some suitable person to act as chief, who shall have power to
appoint a deputy, and said chief with his deputy shall constitute a
bureau of statistics, with headquarters in the state house.
" The duties of such bureau shall be to collect, assort, systematize
and present in annual reports to the legislature, on or before the
first day of March in each year, statistical details relating to all
departments of labor in the Commonwealth, especially in its relations
to the commercial, industrial, social, educational and sanitary condition of the laboring classes, and to the permanent prosperity of
the productive industry of the Commonwealth.
" That said bureau shall have power to send for persons and
papers, to examine witnesses under oath, and such witnesses shall
be summoned in the same manner, and paid the same fees as witnesses before the superior courts of the Commonwealth. The compensation of said bureau shall be twenty-five hundred dollars annual
salary for the chief, and two thousand dollars annual salary for the
deputy. And the governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant
for the payment of said sums, together with such office and travelling expenses of said bureau, as he with the council shall approve."
It is undoubtedly useless to try to explain the immediate
reasons which led to the establishment of the bureau. The
preceding commissions on the hours of labor had recommended
such a bureau, but the matter had laid dormant for two years.
The connection of the various labor elements with its passage
is not obvious. The legislature had shown but little intention
of legislating for labor.  The eight-hour men had put in no
petitions. The petitions (two in number) for a ten-hour law




23
had been referred to the next general court. The petitions
of the Crispins for an Act of incorporation were referred to the
committee on manufactures, and they granted leave to withdraw.  A substitute bill in place of the report was rejected
in the Senate by a vote of 5 to 22.
At this juncture, it has been stated, fears were entertained
that the labor vote would be lost, and it was suggested it
would be politic to grant some concession to labor. This
may be true; if so, the legislature of 1869 created the bureau,
and not the petitions and labors of the workingmen.
The petition of Wendell Phillips and others, relative to the
hours of labor, was introduced in the House, February 6, and
was referred to a joint special committee of seven from the
House and three from the Senate.  This committee did not
report until June 9, and in the meantime the petitions of the
Crispins and ten-hour men had been acted upon adversely.
June 12, in the Senate, the Resolve creating the bureau was
rejected on its passage to a third reading by a vote of 10 to
14. This vote was reconsidered on the 14th, the Resolve
passed to a third reading, and, under suspension of the rules,
to be engrossed.  After being amended in the House, and
again in the Senate, the Resolve finally passed and received
the governor's approval, June 22.
The idea that the creation of the bureau was a matter of
policy, may gain color from the legislative proceedings; but it
should be remembered that the idea of such a bureau had been
before the public for three years, and there could be no good
reasons given for not having such a department. Again, the
Resolve at first was loosely drawn, especially as regarded
expenditures, and the House committee on finance thought
it ought not to pass. That the financial objection was not a
trivial one, is established by the fact that extra legislation as
regarded expenses of the bureau became necessary in 1870.
We do not presume to settle the question, whether or not the
bureau was created from  motives of policy; but there are
many indications from the records of the time, that the public
sentiment, if not particularly in favor of systematic investigation, was not against it. The bureau was simply to be a standing committee of investigation, and in establishing it, those




24
who voted for it committed themselves to no particular plan
of labor reform.
Another argument that undoubtedly led in some measure
to the establishment of the bureau was found in the reports
of General H. K. Oliver, in relation to the education and
employment of children in factories.  The first report made
by him on the subject was dated January, 1868 (Senate Document, No. 21).  He reported no convictions under the socalled " school law," and pointed out nine points of feebleness
therein which rendered it practically inoperative. As he
said, one man could not be expected to visit every manufacturing establishment in the State, and only 19 per cent
answered circulars sent to them.  It could not be reasonably
supposed that manufacturers would so fill out circulars as to
criminate themselves.  If the law had been a strong one,
one man could have done much, for a conviction in one town
would have had a salutary effect throughout the State.  The
important points gathered from  circulars filled, showed that
151 out of 335 establishments employed children, 30 of which
required more than 60 hours of labor from them each week.
Thirty-eight evening schools for factory and other working
children were in operation.
The second report made by General Oliver (Senate Document, No. 44, 1869) was, in spirit, a reproduction of that of
1868.  The word " knowingly" in the statute was deemed
the weakest point, and convictions were impossible, appeals
and exceptions being necessarily allowed by the courts.
Although the parents and guardians were amenable to the
law as well as employers, and although the word "knowingly " did not apply to them, no attempts were made to
prosecute them.  The report closed with a recommendation
of the English half-time system, and a suggestion that matters relating to the education of working children be taken
from the charge of the state constabulary, a police institution, and placed in the hands of the State Board of Education.
VI.-LABOR LEGISLATION FROM 1870 TO 1876.
The following forms part of Governor Claflin's inaugural
address in 1870:




25
" The Labor Question.
"The condition of labor demands our earnest attention.  The
skill and energy which produce the material results which we witness
everywhere should not be overlooked or forgotten. Though favorably located for commerce and manufactures, our position would be
valueless but for the untiring industry which makes use of these
opportunities. Our future success in manufacturing depends upon
the intelligence and faithfulness of our laborers.
" Public policy, then, would justify special care of all their interests on the part of the legislature. Accordingly, commissioners
have examined the subject, and from their reports and suggestions
have resulted laws intended for their benefit. It is to be hoped that
whatever suggestions or requests may be made to you by this large
class of our fellow-citizens, coming within the legitimate scope of
legislation, may receive most careful and cordial consideration."
Legislation was secured as follows:
" Chap. 281, Acts of 1870.-Grand Lodge of the Knights of St.
Crispin incorporated.
"Chap. 48, Resolves of 1870.-State Board of Health directed
to ascertain rate of mortality among minors employed in the textile
industries.
" Chap. 74, Resolves of 1870.-Pay of assistants in Bureau of
Statistics of Labor defined."
The only legislation having particular reference to  the
bureau was the passage of the following Resolve; its object
was to fix the expenditures of the bureau by law, and thus
remove a responsibility and unnecessary detail work from the
governor and council.
" RESOLVE concerning the Bureau of Statistics of Labor.
"Resolved, That the chief of the bureau of statistics of labor be
and hereby is authorized to employ such assistants and incur such
expense, not exceeding the sum of five thousand dollars, as may be
necessary in the discharge of his official duties; said assistants to
be paid in full for their services such compensation as the chief may
deem just and equitable: provided, that no assistant be paid more
than four dollars per day, in addition to his necessary travelling
expenses."
4




26
The eight-hour and ten-hour men were early in the field,
and conducted the campaign of 1870 with earnestness. Fortyfive petitions for a ten-hour law for women and children were
presented in the House, and sixty-four in the Senate.  After
a hard and protracted parliamentary warfare, a bill was passed
to be engrossed in the House by a vote of 133 to 67. This
bill was refused a third reading in the Senate.  Fifteen petitions for an eight-hour law, to apply to employes of the State,
cities and towns, were presented in the House, and eight in
the Senate. Such a bill was passed to be engrossed by the
Senate, and rejected by the House on its passage to a third
reading.  Thus the two branches were quits, for each had
blocked the other's action in precisely the same manner.
Four petitions were introduced in favor of a Resolve to
establish "institutions for women," but no action was taken.
LABOR LEGISLATION IN 1871.
Governor Claflin incorporated the following remarks on the
labor question in his address for 1871, and the matter was
referred to the usual joint special committee of eleven, three
from the Senate, and eight from the House.
" The Labor Question.
"As the guardians of the public welfare, you are called upon to
do everything that legislation can properly effect to improve the
physical, mental and moral condition of your constituents, especially of those whose daily toil contributes so largely to the prosperity of our vast manufacturing interests. To promote this end the
Board of Health are actively pursuing their investigations into the
sanitary condition of manufactories and the dwellings connected
with them.
" The Bureau of Labor is also particularly charged to inquire into
and secure the enforcement of laws in regard to the schooling of
children, and to report on the general condition of the productive
industry of the Commonwealth. In the last twenty years, legislation has been wise and efficient in behalf of this important interest,
but there is still room for advance, and the time has now come to
inquire whether the hours of labor in manufactories, established by
law, may not be limited with great advantage to both employers and
the employed. Of course this does not directly affect the question
of wages, which cannot properly be determined by legislation. The




27
report of the Bureau of Labor, containing many interesting statistical statements, will soon be laid before you for your information."
Three Acts and one Resolve passed, as given below, had
special reference to labor and laborers.
"Chap. 280, Acts of 1871.-Tenement or lodging-house Act provides for ventilation, fire-escapes, sewerage, etc., therein.
"Chap. 323, Acts of 1871.-Women's Economical Garden Homestead League incorporated.
"Chap. 324, Acts of 1871.-Boston Co-operative Building Company incorporated.
"Chap. 82, Resolves of 1871.-Bureau of Statistics of Labor
directed to prepare a plan for a system of half-time schools."
The  ten-hour Jaw  again  received  legislative attention.
Twenty-two petitions for such a law were presented in the
Senate and twenty-six in the House.  A ten-hour bill was
passed to a third reading in the House by a vote of 131 to 46,
was amended and engrossed, 100 to 61.  The Senate refused
a third reading, 8 to 26.
The petitions for an eight-hour law, for employes of the
State, cities and towns, numbered eight in the Senate, and
eight in the House, but both branches referred them  to the
next general court.
Besides the above petitions, three were introduced in favor
of "Garden Homesteads"  for women, and one for a halftime school law for working children.
LABOR LEGISLATION IN 1872.
The newly elected Governor Washburn, in his address,
considered at length the growing and ever-recurring problem
of"The Labor Question.
"I commend to your candid and cordial consideration the varied
interests of those who are denominated the laboring portion of our
citizens. The question of practical concern is not so much whether
the condition of this class is better or worse here than in other sections
of the country, as whether that condition is satisfactory, whether it
is what it might be made by honest and resolute endeavor, what it
should be made by those who have the well-being of the Commonwealth deeply at heart. To this question I am sure no one will




28
venture an affirmative reply.  Neither is it of paramount importance
to determine whether the situation of this large body of persons is
better or worse than it was formerly. Our view should be forward,
and not backward.
"Many seem to hold the opinion that if the workingmen and
workingwomen, as they are commonly designated, receive constant
employment and are adequately remunerated; if they gain the
needful bread and meat in exchange for their labor; if they have
comfortable homes and enough for the decent support of themselves
and their families, it is their duty to be therewith content. But
this is a narrow judgment of the matter in issue. They ought not
only to perform their daily tasks faithfully, but be so circumstanced
that they will perform them cheerfully. In so far as lies within
our power, we ought to remove every just cause of complaint.
Every human being should have higher and nobler aspirations than
merely to provide food and clothing for the body. This should
never content him. The head of a family ought to have time for
study, thought, reading, recreation, innocent pleasure; he properly
desires to give his children a better education than he had, and
furnish them advantages superior to those he himself enjoyed.
"The fact that there is unrest and dissatisfaction when man is
confined to unremitting toil, is one of the brightest and most
healthy omens of the times. It is an indication that his better
nature is struggling for emancipation; it is a hopeful sign of finer
and nobler manhood in the future.  Such efforts for improvement
should never be discouraged, but always encouraged. That there
ever have been and ever will be grades of society, is true enough;
the statesman should seek to diminish the distance between the extremes by elevating the lower. It has been said that as soon as the
materials for the construction of society were brought together they
proceeded forthwith to arrange themselves in layers,-the stronger,
more nimble and more cunning of the living constituents climbing to
the higher places, and forcing upon those below the office of upholding them in their elevation. As the pyramid was originally built,
so it remains in its general design. Within the heaving mass of
multitudinous life, individual atoms are constantly changing places,
but without destroying, however much disturbing, the primitive distribution into layers. These are still disposed, one above the other,
in a gradually diminishing series. It is so natural to feel that what
always has been must always be, that we are too apt to content
ourselves with things as we find them. But this is the dictate
neither of wisdom  nor of prudence.  Standing still is not the
province of society; it must either advance or retrograde. Especially, under such a government as ours, is change almost a normal




29
condition and an inherent necessity. The pyramid continues to uplift itself as an entirety; but atoms in the bottom layer of to-day
may be in the top layer of to-morrow.  Hence one reason why it
becomes us to fairly and honestly examine the condition of the
laboring classes, upon whom the whole superstructure of the social
organism rests. Because they are a part of ourselves, it devolves
upon us to relieve them, as far as possible, from the grievances to
which they are subjected. Their existence is not separate from the
existence of the State; what tends to their welfare is calculated to
promote the general welfare; in the last analysis their interest is
identical with the interest of the upper classes; the least addition
to their comfort is a gain to the whole community, and if their case
is considered in the right spirit there is no good cause for antagonistic feeling. The question raised by them, and in their behalf, can
never be adjusted by the two extremes,-those anxious to secure
the greatest possible amount of pay for the least possible work, and
those anxious to obtain the greatest possible amount of work for
the least possible pay. Nor will relief come with the determination
how many hours shall constitute a legal day's work. For no period
can be fixed which should be applicable alike to all. The ingenious
skilled laborer, who uses mind as well as muscle, cannot apply
himself the same number of hours to his task as he who merely
handles the hoe or shovel, holds the plough or drives the oxen, uses
the trowel or weaves at the loom. The great desideratum  is to
determine what would be a fair division of profits between the employer and the employe.  Settle the question as to compensation
per hour, and there will be no serious difficulty about the number of
hours.
" Let us not expect to adjust the issue confronting us by lecturing
the laboring classes.  We must be willing to meet them on their
own ground, and discuss the matter at stake from  their point of
view. We must not only believe in the necessity, but have faith in
the practicability of cultivating the soil. Plough it thoroughly,
enrich it as may be necessary, prepare it to the utmost for an
abundant crop. However barren it may appear to superficial observation, it is capable of almost indefinite improvement.  I commend
to your earnest attention the results which may be wrought out by
the Bureau of Statistics of Labor. I doubt not you will welcome
any and every fact tending to throw light upon the solution of this
great labor problem.  A subject so vital to the Commonwealth as
the question whether the daily life of a majority of its citizens can
be enlarged and improved must not be ignored, and should receive
no secondary consideration at your hands."




30
The secured legislation is summarized below:
" Chap. 86, Acts of 1872.-An Act authorizing cities and towns
to establish industrial schools.
" Chap. 281, Acts of 1872.-An Act amending the statutes in relation to imprisonment of poor debtors.
" Chap. 318, Acts of 1872.-An Act extending the provisions of
the lien law.
" Chap. 348, Acts of 1872.-An Act to secure cheap morning and
evening trains on railways for the use of workingmen."
The bureau report in relation  to depositors in savings
banks provoked much discussion.  The matter was referred
to the committee on banks and banking, and they reported a
Resolve declaring the disbelief cf the legislature in the figures
given by the bureau.  The Resolve was defeated in the House,
69 to 72. A motion was also made in the House to abolish
the bureau on the first of September, 1872, but the bureau
was sustained, 103 to 71.
The petitions for a ten-hour law  were few.  A  bill was
introduced, passed by the House, and rejected by the Senate.
The eight-hour petitioners, again, were allowed to withdraw.
LABOR LEGISLATION IN 1873.
Governor Washburn, in his second address, manifested his
belief in the importance of the labor movement by a lengthy
consideration of the subject.
" Three annual reports by the Bureau of Statistics of Labor have
been laid before the public, and the fourth will be submitted to you
in due time. Those who were most instrumental in the creation of
this bureau generally admit that it has not fulfilled their expectations. Nearly every branch of the labor movement has openly and
decidedly expressed dissatisfaction with its methods and its results,
and I am not aware that capitalists and employers have expressed
any particular gratification therewith. What course shall be pursued in reference to this department is a question that challenges
your careful and thoughtful deliberation.
"While it may be confessed that the investigations of the bureau
have not been so thorough and complete as to commend its conclusions to universal assent, it must be borne in mind that its reports
contain our only official statements on the subjects of which they
treat, and have been printed and circulated by public authority.




31
They are referred to now, and will be referred to hereafter, by those
seeking information as to the social condition of Massachusetts.
They have been cited, and will again be cited, in the debates of
Congress upon measures proposed for the protection and enlargement of our industries, as showing how the benefits of such protection are distributed. If they give a false or partial picture of the
relations of labor to capital in our Commonwealth, the remedy for
complaint on this head must be sought, not in discontinuing the investigation upon which we have entered, but in lifting it to a higher
and broader level, making it more thorough, and conducting it with
larger aims.
" Whether a laborer can accomplish as much in one hour as he can
in two, whether the machinery in a well-managed factory can turn
out as many yards of cloth in eight hours as in ten,-these problems
the Massachusetts Yankee may safely be left to solve for himself
without official aid or prompting. But we ought approximately to
know, for instance, how many grown persons there are in the State,
not prevented from labor by vice, indolence or physical infirmity,
who cannot procure comfortable homes for themselves and their
dependents, fair education for their children, adequate provision for
sickness and old age, and sufficient leisure for the comprehension
and discharge of the duties of citizenship. The incapacity to procure this is poverty. We ought to know whether the proportion of
such persons is increasing or diminishing; whether our legislation
hastens or can be made to hasten the decrease or counteract the
increase. If there is carried on in the State any business so unremunerative that it will not permit the employers to pay those employed such wages as are necessary to keep them from poverty,
however desirable that business may be, it ought to cease. And
surely we ought to know, if it be possible to ascertain, whether
there are really among us employers who are laying up great riches
for themselves by keeping their employes in a condition of impoverished dependence.
"In order to secure statistical information on these and other
related issues, different instrumentalities from those now in use will
be required. A schedule should be carefully prepared by the legislature, with the aid of competent assistance, indicating the facts
desired from  every city and town in the Commonwealth. In the
small towns these facts might be gathered by the assessors; in the
larger towns, under the direction and superintendence of the selectmen; and in the cities, by wards, through appointees of the mayor
and aldermen.  Special returns should also be required from  all
savings banks and such other institutions as can throw light on the
general inquiry. Statistics from a few scattered points or isolated




32
establishments will not suffice; they must be comprehensive or the
conclusions founded on them  will be valueless and misleading.
There may be objections to the plan thus suggested for solving the
difficulty in which we now find ourselves.  If your honorable bodies
will present a better one, I shall be most happy to join you in its
adoption.  But in my judgment, neither the well-being of our people
nor the good name of our State will permit us to rest in non-action.
The relations of capital and labor, of employer and employes,these are issues that will not down at any man's bidding. The
questions are among the gravest and most vital of the time; they
cannot be thrust aside; they will be heard; they must be discussed;
they justly insist upon a practical answer."
The three matters of legislation following had special reference to the bureau:" Chap. 377, Acts of 1873.
" SECT. 5. The salary of the chief of the bureau of statistics on the subject of labor, shall be at the rate of three thousand dollars per annum."
" Chap. 63, Resolves of 1873.-Resolve in relation to the Bureau
of Statistics of Labor.
"Resolved, That so much of chapter one hundred and two of the resolves
of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, as requires the bureau of statistics on the subject of labor to have its headquarters in the state house, is
repealed."
" Chap. 66, Resolves of 1873.-Resolve relative to the Bureau of
Statistics of Labor.
" Resolved, That in addition to the sum of five thousand dollars heretofore
appropriated for the purposes of expenses and clerical services of the bureau
of statistics of labor, there be allowed and paid out of the treasury the
further sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated."
An order was also passed directing that the reports of the
bureau be numbered and classified among the public documents.
Other secured legislation is comprehended in the succeeding statement.
" Chaps. 262 and 279, Acts of 1873.-Acts to secure the attendance of children at school.  (Twenty weeks for children between
eight and twelve.)
"Chap. 306, Acts of 1873.-An Act authorizing towns to pay
such sums as they see fit towards maintaining public libraries.




33
"Chap. 6, Resolves of 1873.-A Resolve appropriating fifteen
thousand dollars to represent the industries and educational system
of the State at the Vienna Exposition."
Labor matters occupied much of the time of the legislature
of 1873.  A change in the officers of the bureau was called
for, and rumors of abolishment seemed likely to end in fact.
Thirty-three petitions against abolishment were put in, many
praying for increased powers and appropriations.  Two memorials against abolishment were received from Pennsylvania,
one from the American Statistical Society, and the Society of
Internationalists in Boston filed a remonstrance. The officers
for the next term of two years were new men, and the vexed
question was dropped.
A ten-hour bill for women and children was passed in the
House, and rejected by the Senate.  Both branches again gave
the eight-hour petitioners leave to withdraw.
LABOR LEGISLATION IN 1874.
Governor Washburn's state papers upon the question of
labor had attracted much attention during the past two years,
and his address for 1874 gave the subject more prominence
than ever.  He said, regarding"Labor Reform.
"The annual report to be presented for your consideration in due
season by the Labor Bureau, will indicate what has been done by
the present organization during the past six months. Of course
no very elaborate investigations can be undertaken and completed
in that space of time. But you will have a right to inquire whether
an honest endeavor has been made to obtain information that will aid
in determining what measures are necessary to elevate and improve
the condition of the great mlass of laboring men and women in this
Commonwealth. The bureau should not be continued, in order to
furnish a desired position or coveted salary to this or that individual.
When it ceases to collect facts and statistics calculated to assist
statesmen in working out the problem of industrial reform, its usefulness will be at an end, and it should be discontinued or radically
changed in management. Nor should it be run in order to further
some pet scheme of this theorist or that mere enthusiast. Its object should be to deal with statistics, to keep back nothing, to cover
up nothing, to present no one-sided picture, but as far as possible
5




34
to collect all the facts, and leave them to speak for themselves.
And when the investigation is made so broad and comprehensive,
that it will be impossible to gainsay the conclusion, I do not doubt
that every sensible man will see the necessity for steps to better the
situation of the laboring classes.
" A hasty glance at the condition of the children of these classes
in many of our large manufacturing communities, is sufficient to
convince the most sceptical that important changes are imperatively
demanded as soon as they can be brought about. The assumption
of our laws is, that the highest intelligence is the highest good of
the entire people. Ignorance is dwarfing to the individual, and
dangerous to society. It is wiser economy to sustain the common
school than the reform school, the normal school than the house
of correction, the college than the penitentiary. The State assumes
that the physical, mental and moral treasures embraced in what we
call childhood, are so much capital belonging to the community as
well as to the parents. And it has been well said that the State
undertakes to provide for, invest, develop and look after this childhood treasure, in such a way that it shall pay the highest dividends
to the Commonwealth. No distinction of outward condition, whether
it be of wealth or poverty, of birth or race, can be allowed to interfere with the purpose of the State. She claims the right and responsibility of providing a good common-school education for every
child within her borders, at the public expense. She starts them all
upon the highway toward useful and honorable manhood and womanhood. That she advances and maintains this theory is one of the
crowning honors of our good Commonwealth.
" In the first communication which I had the honor to make to
the legislature of the State, I presented figures showing that nearly
all our children were attending a school of some sort. But a closer
and more thorough investigation reveals a state of things that I did
not then suppose existed. I find many thousand children in our
crowded cities and manufacturing establishments, who never enter a
school-room, and are growing up without even the rudiments of what
we call education. The number of this class seems to be increasing
yearly, not because of a change for the worse in public sentiment,
but because the facts of the case have not been sufficiently well
understood in any quarter.
" The blame for the deplorable condition of things that really
exists in our manufacturing establishments, is often quite as much
with the employes as with the employers. Families frequently move
to manufacturing localities for the express purpose of obtaining
employment for children. The anxiety of parents to reap the fruits
of the constant labor of their children is so great, that they are




35
quite willing to neglect all provision for their mental or moral culture. I do not" doubt the wisdom  of the statute which requires
children between the ages of five and fifteen years to be kept in
school, and I know how indispensable pure air and out-door exercise are to their health and development, yet there is no inconsiderable number of parents whose necessities seem to compel them to
seek employment in mills and manufactories for every member of
their families who is able to work. The struggle for existence is
such that they cannot stop to inquire whether the impure air and
long confinement of these establishments are conducive to the health
and vigorous growth of boys and girls.
" Under these circumstances, I am inclined to think that the English system of half-time is worthy of imitation. If we could provide that no boy or girl under fifteen years of age should be employed in any mill or manufactory for more than half the time, and
then make provision that the other half should be spent in school,
and at out-door sports and exercise, we should institute a change
rich in promise of reform and deserving of fair and impartial trial.
"Though a statute provision fixing the number of hours that
operatives shall be required to work never has appeared to me of
such vital importance as some consider it, yet I freely admit that
there is one aspect of the matter which seems to entitle the question
of enacting such a statute to careful consideration.
While as a general proposition it may be desirable to leave employers and employes fiee to agree upon prices and hours of labor,
yet the State cannot afford to be utterly regardless of the health
and social well-being of a large class of its citizens for fear of interfering with some established custom  or some prevailing system.
That the strength of the operatives in knany of our mills is becoming exhausted, that they are growing prematurely old, and that they
are losing the vitality requisite to the healthy enjoyment of social
opportunity, are facts that no careful and candid observer will deny.
Ten hours is the standard of the longest day's work known to any
branch of mechanical industry in this Commonwealth outside a
portion of our large manufacturing corporations.  What would be
lost to employers, and what would not be gained to employes, by
adopting the ten-hour system in these establishments?
"Furthermore, the large majority of operatives in many of our
mills are of foreign birth. What is to be done with them? How
are we to protect ourselves from  the ignorance that is generally
their misfortune rather than their fault? How are we to educate
them into unity of aspiration and purpose with native-born citizens?
Shall we work them so many hours a day that they will have neither
strength, interest nor time for becoming acquainted with our insti



36
tutions and our aims as a people?  Or shall we, by shortening their
hours of labor, and the establishment of evening schools, if nieed
be, educate them, fit them  for the duties of citizenship, and make
them a part of ourselves?  Unless something of this sort is done,
while the census returns may show accumulation alnd enlargemlent,
there can be no increase of living power.  If we are to have in the
future a healthful growth of the body politic, all these different elements of population must be blended into one harmonious whole.
This will be a work of time and patience, I very well know, but we
cannot go on indefinitely without some broader and deeper consideration than we have yet given, as a community, to the well-being of
those among us from foreign parts.
" The limit of a day's work to three-fourths of the laboring class
in this Commonwealth being ten hours, I am  not able to see that
any great detriment would result if the same limit should be extended to the other fourth.  I have no hesitancy in recommending
that the experiment be tried, and you may anticipate executive approval if you enact a ten-hour law.  I know of no reason why it
should not apply as well to male as to female operatives. Much is
said about the importance of elevating labor; but it is difficult to
see how this can be done, except as we elevate the laboring man
and woman.  Make better provision for their instruction, assist
them in the development of the higher faculties of their natures,
encourage them to secure comfortable homes of their own, and you
awaken capabilities that have hitherto slumbered, and give them
enlarged hopes and brighter aspirations for the future.  Every new
homestead will inspire its occupant with new energy.  It will bring
him to a personal interest in the governmlln of which he is a member, and make of him  a stronger and worthier citizen in every
respect.  Indeed, there is very little worth in a man if the ownership of home does not stimulate him  in a thousand honorable and
ennobling ways.  He who has been actively instrumental in lifting
one deserving family into this new sphere, has done better service
to the laboring class than the noisy, frothy demagogue will do in a
lifetime.
"It is a requirement of the constitution that the census of the
State shall be taken in 1875.  This affords an opportunity that we
ought neither to neglect nor misuse.  Along with legislation for
giving effect to the census requirement, I hope provision will be
made for as searching an inquiry by the Labor Bureau as is practicable, into the social condition of our working classes.  An honest
and thorough investigation, conducted in a manner to command
confiaence, would enable us to see ourselves as we really are, much
more clearly than we now can, and furnish the. data on which to




37
base action for the future prosperity and progress of the old Commonwealth."
The following Resolve had particular relation to the bureau
work:
"Chap. 62, Resolves of 1874.-Resolve concerning the Education
of children employed in manufacturing establishments.
" RP',l,-ed, That the bureau of statistics on the subject of labor is directed
to plr(i')l'e a plan for the education of children eiilployed in manufacturing
establishllllm ts, and report the same to the next general court with the next
aniual rep;rt) of said blureau."
Additional labor legislation  is given below.   The  text of
the Act in relation to the census and  industrial statistics will
be found in its proper section in this volume.
"Chap. 221, Acts of 1874.-An Act establishing  the hours of
labor at sixty per week for women, and  children  under eighteen
years of age.
" SECT. 1. No minor ullder the age of eighteen years, and no 1woman over
that age, shall be elmployed in laboring by any person, firm or corporation
in any manufacturing establishment in this Commonwealth more than ten
hours in any one day, except when it is necessary to make repairs to prevent the stoppage or interruption of tle ordinary running of the machinery:
prol'ilcd, 7how'ever, that*a different apportionment of the hours of labor niay be
l!nade for the sole purpose of giving a shorter day's work for one day of the
week; but in no case shall the hours of labor exceed sixty per week.
" SECT. 2. Any such person, firm  or corporation which wilfully employs
any mlinor or woman, or which wilfilly lhas in its employment any minor or
\wolman contrary to the provisions of this act, and any superintendent, oversler or otler agent of any such person, firm  or corporation, who wilfully
elmploys any minor or wolmaln ill laboring for any such person, firm or corporation, and any parent or guardian of such Ininor who permits such nilnor
to work or be so employed contrary to the provisiols of this act, shall, for
each offence, be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars, to be recovered on complait in any court of competent jurisdiction, anld all prosentions for offences under this act shall be begun within one year from the
conllission thereof. No building or premises used solely for the pumrposes
of a dwelling shall be deemed a manufacturing establishment within the
meanilng of this act.
"SECT. 3. This act shall take effect upon the first day of October next.
"Chap. 279, Acts of 1874.-An Act preventing the appearance
of children under fifteen as acrobats, contortionists, etc.
"Chap. 386, Acts of 1874.-An Act to provide for taking the
industrial statistics and decennial census of the Commonwealth.




38
Chap. 393, Acts of 1874.-An Act regulating deposits in savings banks."
As has been indicated, a ten-hour law for women and children was passed, but only after determined and long-continued opposition.  The various drafts of the bill were in
turn referred to the judiciary committee, the attorney-general, and to a conference committee.  Several remonstrances
against a ten-hour law  were presented.  At one stage the
president of the Senate, by his casting vote, secured the enactment of the bill.  The vote, however, was reconsidered,
and but for a rule prohibiting amendments of engrossed bills,
would have been amended; as it was, it was recommitted.
The final vote in the Senate was 21 to 11.  The only yea and
nay vote of the House, in the early stages of the bill, was
111 to 19.  But for the election of Governor Washburn to the
United States Senate, his name would have appeared officially upon the law.
LABOR LEGISLATION OF 1875.
Governor Gaston, in his address, thus referred to labor
matters:
"I earnestly commend to your careful consideration this great
subject of skilled labor. It is of vital interest to a manufacturing
people, and I trust that your fostering care of it will be apparent in
such legislation as may promote the welfare and renown of our
Commonwealth and country. The Act of 1867, chapter 285, provides that no child under the age of ten years shall be employed in
any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, and no child between the ages of ten and fifteen years shall be so employed, unless
he has attended school for three months in the year next preceding
such employment, nor unless he shall attend school at least three
months in each year during the continuance of such emplqoment.
"Thle Act of 1874, chapter 221, provides that no minor under
the age of eighteen years, and no woman over that age, shall be
employed in any manufacturing establishment more than ten hours
in any one day, or sixty hours in any week.
"These two Acts affect deeply the welfare of the Commonwealth.
They both have my cordial approval. To carry out the spirit of
such legislation, the education of the operatives in Massachusetts
should receive the thoughtful consideration of the legislature. For
persons so employed, half-time schools, which have been introduced




39
with great success into both the manufacturing and agricultural
districts of Great Britain, seem  to me the best expedient. The
problem  has already been presented,-whether in a public school,
instruction in practical pursuits which may enable, or assist in enabling, the pupil to earn a livelihood in early years, should not be
joined with the customary tuition. In manufacturing communities,
this form of instruction cannot be properly or safely neglected.
The necessities of the pupil and the public interests alike demand
that those whose inheritance is that of labor, shall have both the
time and opportunity for instruction, and for a kind of instruction
which shall give to labor intelligence, and consequently increased
value and compensation.  Half-time schools have, in some cases,
divided the hours of the day between instruction and labor; others
have taken entire days for each; while others, again, preserving the
alternations, have taken entire periods, consisting of several weeks,
for each. The selection between these plans may be influenced by
the kind of industry in which persons are engaged.  As a general
rule, the evidence of experience is in favor of the division of each
day. It is shown by those engaged in instruction, that half-time
scholars, as a rule, are quite equal in average attainments to those
who have full school hours without the alternations of work.
"A  Resolve of 1874, chapter 62, directs the Labor Bureau to
prepare a plan for the education of the children employed in manufacturing establishments, and  report the same to this general
court.  I commend the whole subject to your thoughtful consideration.  That system which shall give to labor the time and opportunity for education and culture, will never injure the moral or material interests of a people, or withdraw from wealth or capital any of
its rightful possessions."
Other legislation relating to labor or the bureau work is
hereinafter summarized.  The text of the Act and Resolve
relating to the census and industrial statistics will be found in
the proper section of this volume.
" Chap. 93, Acts of 1875.-An Act respecting the taking of the
decennial census in Boston and other cities.
" Chap. 211, Acts of 1875.-An Act to regulate special contracts
for labor.
" SECT. 1. Any manufacturing establishment which shall require from an
employ6 a notice of intention to leave the employment of such establishment,
under penalty of forfeiture of any part of wages earned, shall be liable to
the payment of a like forfeiture if they shall discharge an employ6 without
notice, except for incapacity or misconduct: provided, howevre, that this act




40
shall not apply in case of a general suspension of labor in.said establishments.
" SECT. 2. Whoever shall, by intimidation or force, prevent, or seek to
prevent, any other person or persons from entering or continuing in the
employment of any corporation, company or individual, shall be punished
therefor by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.
"SECT. 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
"Chap. 37, Resolves of 1875.-Resolve providing compensation
for taking the census and industrial statistics.
"Chap. 71, Resolves of 1875.-Resolve appropriating fifty thousand dollars to represent the arts, institutions and industries of the
Commonwealth at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia."
The ten-hour agitation had not been quieted entirely by the
passage of the law of 1874.  Several petitions were presented
praying for a modification of the law.  Others remonstrated
against the repeal of any of its provisions.  Both branches
granted leave for petitioners to withdraw.
Although the bureau, acting under the law of 1874, had'
prepared the schedule of inquiries for the census and industrial statistics, had appointed enumerators, and had its special
work under full headway, a motion was made to abolish the
bureau, and turn its work over to the secretary of the Commonwealth.  This ill-advised proposition, if successful, would
have necessitated  a great waste of time and money, and
undoubtedly would have destroyed the comprehensiveness of
the work, for the secretary would have either been obliged
to follow blindly the plans of others, or arrange his own in a
very limited time.  The friends of the bureau rallied with
petitions and remonstrances; the uselessness of the change
was clearly shown at hearings and by the press; the House
vote sustaining the bureau was decisive, 134 to 36.
Reference has been made to the reports of General H. K.
Oliver, when special state constable, to enforce the school law
for children  in manufactories.   After his appointment to
another official position, another constable was detailed, in
August, 1869, but he made no report of progress.   The
police commission of 1871 gave general instructions to constables to enforce the law, but warned them against incurring
any expense unless possessing positive information, thus rendering the law a dead-letter, practically.  Upon the abolish



41
ment of the police commission, a chief constable was appointed, and he, August 8, 1874, detailed George E. McNeill,
Esq., of Cambridge, to carry into execution the laws relating
to working children.
His report was made to the governor, January 11, 1875
(Senate Document, No. 50). Like the reports of Gen. Oliver,
it was devoted to comments upon the weakness of the law, the
impossibility of one man performing the work, and personal
suggestions of needed legislation.  He recommended that the
school age be changed from five to fifteen to five to eighteen,
although he stated his belief that 60,000 children fiom five
to fifteen were growing up in ignorance, without any schooling
whatever.  Mr. McNeill also recommended registration of all
children of school age, the English factory system  in all its
minutire, the English half-time school system, and an inspector
with three deputies to enforce the above-named laws when
passed.  The bureau reported in March, as required by the
legislature of 1874, upon the subject of half-time schools, taking strong ground against their establishment in this State.
Speaking of the education and employment of young persons,
the report says:"Personally, we believe in the extremest legislation in this direction, and could we have the power given us, we would not allow a
girl under sixteen years of age to be employed in any kind of a factory or workshop. If she could be free until she reached the age of
twenty, mankind would be the gainer."
The argument against the establishment of half-time schools
thus concludes:
" In the statements which follow we have summarized our chief
points of belief in the whole matter, and our reasons therefor; and
the recommendations annexed we believe to be expedient as well as
wise; and that they will tend to lay a permanent foundation for our
future welfare.
"We believe that, generally speaking, the period of childhood
and youth should be a period of free and unrestricted physical
growth, that the bodily man and womanhood may be vigorous
and vital.  We believe that this is peculiarly essential in this
country, where life is so intense, and so many accomplishments are
crowded into every year of adult life.
6




42
" We believe, also, that the period of childhood and youth should
be a period of mental and moral discipline and education, that the
adult may not have to contend blindly and at great disadvantage
with the forces of nature, and be subject constantly to the depredations of his fellow-men.
"We believe, in short, that children should have no legal status
as workers, but only as pupils; and, above all, that the poverty of
parents should not be allowed to foster the one condition or frustrate
the other, inasmuch as it is unwise for the State to permit the future
usefulness of its citizens to be jeopardized by causes within its
control.
"We believe that the opportunities for education should be the
same for all the children in the State; and that a special and necessarily poorer class of schools should not be established for the
children of the poor. We believe this, because it would be a direct
blow at the democratic foundations on which our governmental
structure rests.
"And in answer to the Resolve of the legislature, we would
recommend that our laws be so revised as to provide compulsorily
for the attendance of all children between the ages of five and
fifteen (not in attendance upon any private school) in the public
schools for as long a time each year as they are kept in operation.
And for the general accomplishment of this, that the state or local
authorities be required to investigate and relieve, to such extent as
is necessary, all cases of absolute and  unavoidable individual
poverty, which would otherwise prevent compliance with this obligation."
The report continued," We present below the outline of a bill which we would offer as
our conception of the proper' plan' to be adopted.
" If any consider it impracticable, we have only to say that it
does not go as far as the laws of some European countries, and
seems to us absolutely necessary, if we expect to bring Massachusetts up to the same plane of nearly universal education which they
occupy.
"SECT. 1. On and after the first day of September next, no child under
the age of twelve years shall be employed in any factory, workshop or
establishment where the manufacture or sale of any species of goods whatsoever is carried on; and after the first day of September, eighteen hundred
and seventy-six, no child under the age of thirteen years shall be so employed; and after the first day of September, eighteen hundred and seventyseven, no child under the age of fourteen years shall be so employed; and




43
after the first day of September, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, no child
under the age of fifteen years shall be so employed: provided, that children
of the age of twelve years, and under the age of fifteen years, may be employed until the first day of September, eighteen hundred and seventyeight, during such times as the schools of their respective towns or cities
are not in operation, or for a certain portion of each year, until the aforesaid
first day of September, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, as permitted in
the following section.
"SECT. 2.. No child of the age of twelve years, or who has not reached
the age of fifteen years, shall be employed in any factory, workshop or
establishment where the manufacture or sale of any species of goods whatsoever is carried on, unless, within the twelve months immediately preceding
the beginning of such employment, and during each succeeding period of
twelve months of such employment, such child shall have attended the
public day schools of the town or city wherein his parents or guardians
reside, for at least twenty weeks of five days in a week, which time may be
divided into two terms, each of ten consecutive weeks, so far as the
arrangements of school terms will allow, or for forty weeks of five half-days
in a week so divided: provided, that attendance for the same number of days
or half-days, consecutively, upon any private school approved by the school
board, shall be considered an equivalent; and no manufacturer, merchant
or other employer shall employ any child unless such child shall have presented a certificate, signed by the superintendent of schools, or by the
school board, certifying that such child has complied with the requirements
of this act.
"This section shall be construed to render permissible the employment of
children of the ages named, only until September first, eighteen hundred
and seventy-eight, and shall be inull and void on and after that date.
"SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of the truant officers, in all cases where
poverty apparently prevents the attendance at school of any child, to report
the same, within ten days after the beginning of each term, to the overseers
of the poor, who shall, within ten days thereafter, if, on investigation, a
sufficient degree of poverty be clearly apparent, provide, at the expense of
the town or city, relief from such poverty to the extent necessary to secure
the attendance of such child at school.
All truant officers and boards of overseers of the poor who fail to comply
with this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than      dollars,
and not less than            dollars, in the case of each child; and every
manufacturer, merchant or employer, who employs any child contrary to
the provisions of this act, and every parent or guardian who permits such
employment, shall be subject to a fine of not more than        dollars, and
not less than         dollars, in the case of e:ch child. Justices of police
or district courts, trial justices, trial justices of juvenile offenders and judges
of probate shall have jurisdiction within their respective counties of the
offences described in this act.
" SECT. 4. All fines collected under this act shall accrue to the benefit of
the school fund of the town or city."
The bureau took ground, also, against the introduction of
the ponderous factory system  of England into Massachusetts,
but suggested the outline of aN ~V n U~




44
"Factory Act.
"The belting, exposed shafting, gearing and drums of all manufacturing establishments shall be securely guarded.
"No machinery, other than steam-engines, in any such establishment shall be cleaned while running.
" Elevators in all such establishments shall be supplied with wellprotected safety-catches and self-closing hatches.
" For every one hundred feet, ends and sides of such establishments, and to each story, there shall be on the outside a fenced
platform, each platform to be connected with the one above it by a
slanting ladder guarded by rails, and with the interior by windows
or doors.
"For every twenty persons employed there shall be one rope, or
portable fire-escape.  All outside doors shall open outwardly or slide.
" Each story shall be supplied with apparatus for extinguishing
fires,-water-buckets, flooding hose or pipes, hydrants, etc.
"All male operatives shall be organized into fire-parties, and
trained to the use of the fire apparatus of the establishment.
" No person shall be constantly employed in the attic rooms of
such establishments, unless such rooms are thoroughly protected
by suitable fire-escapes, as herein provided;'story' shall comprehend' attic.'
" It shall be the duty of employers to see that rooms are amply
ventilated and kept clean; that water-closets are thoroughly cared
for, and that noxious odors are deodorized.
No married woman shall be employed in any such establishment
for at least two months subsequent to the period of confinement;
and on returning to work shall, to this end, present a physician's
certificate to her employer.
" Any person violating any of the provisions of this act shall forfeit for every such offence not less than twenty nor more than one
hundred dollars.
"For the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this
act, the governor, by and with the consent of the council, shall,
on the passage of this act, and thereafter, biennially, in January,
appoint a suitable person having practical knowledge of sanitary
matters and of mechanics as chief inspector of factories; and such
chief inspector shall appoint not less than three nor more than
seven deputy inspectors.  The salary of the chief inspector shall
be $3,000, and that of his deputies $2,000.
"The duties of the chief inspector shall be to enforce the provisions of this act, and of any acts relating to the employment and




45
education of children; and he shall report to the governor annually, in January, all proceedings and doings under the same.
" No action at law shall be brought against any manufacturer until
after due notice to him of the breach of any of the provisions of
this or the employment and education acts; and all actions under
any of said acts shall be brought in the district courts, or before
trial justices who shall have plenary jurisdiction."
The legislature took no action upon the half-time or compulsory education questions, and indefinitely postponed the
subjects of a factory Act and the appointment of inspectors.
LABOR LEGISLATION OF 1876.
Gov. Rice, in his inaugural, thus referred to the" Bureau of Statistics.
" The sixth annual report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor
(1875) contains in its introduction the following suggestions and
recommendations:' If it is desirable to continue investigations
regarding labor, commerce, the industrial, social, sanitary and educational conditions of life in all respects, then the organic law under
which the bureau works should be broadened, and power adequate
to its desired usefulness be given to it.' The great utility of a
department of statistics is readily comprehended, and the success
of the decennial work of 1875 furnishes new evidence of the need
of a thoroughly organized department.
"The difficulty in our method in this State, at present, arises
from  the existence of so many offices, each seeking statistics of
various kinds, and each making investigations of subjects often
akin in nature and resulting in twofold work. I am led to believe
that if the kindred work of several of these bureaus were consolidated into one general bureau of statistics, and put under one head,
it would result in increased efficiency, and considerably diminish the
expense as compared with that of separate organization."
A  bill to increase the scope of the bureau's work in accordance with the governor's suggestions, was reported in
the House by the committee on the bureau, although they
had been previously ordered by a vote of the House to consider the expediency of abolishing the bureau, and transferring its work to the  Secretary  of State.  A  Resolve to
abolish was substituted in the House for the committee's bill,
and by three close votes (the last one 113 to 99) was passed




46
to be engrossed.  The Resolve for abolishment found little
favor in the Senate, it being rejected by a vote of 26 to 4.
The secured legislation, to date, is found below:[Chap. 52, Acts of 1876.]
"AN ACT relating to the Employment of Children, and regulations respecting them.
"SECT. 1. No child under the age of ten years shall be employed in any manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile establishment in this Commonwealth, and any parent or guardian who permits such employment, shall for such offence forfeit a sum of not
less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, for the use of the
public schools of the city or town.
" SECT. 2. No child under the age of fourteen years shall be
so employed, unless during the year next preceding such employment he has attended some public or private day school, under
teachers approved by the school committee of the place where such
school is kept, at least twenty weeks, which time may be divided
into two terms, each of ten consecutive weeks, so far as the arrangements of school terms will allow; nor shall such employment continue, unless such child shall attend school as herein provided, in
each and every year; and no child shall be so employed who does
not present a certificate, made by or under the direction of said
school committee, of his compliance with the requirements of this
act: provided, however, that a regular attendance during the continuance of such employment in any school known as a half-time
day school, or an attendance in any public or private day school,
twenty weeks, as above stated, may be accepted by said school
committee as a substitute for the attendance herein required.' SECT. 3.  Every owner, superintendent or overseer in any
establishment above named, who employs or permits to be employed,
any child in violation of the second section of this act, and every
parent or guardian who permits such employment, shall for such
offence forfeit a sum not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars for the use of the public schools of such city or town.
" SECT. 4.  The truant officers shall, at least once in every
school term, and as often as the school committee require, visit the
establishments described by this act in their several cities and towns,
and inquire into the situation of the children employed therein,
ascertain whether the provisions of this act are duly observed, and
report all violations to the school committee.
" SECT. 5. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed."




47
Chapter 142, Acts of 1876, incorporates the Massachusetts
Family Bank, upon insurance principles earnestly advocated
by Elizur Wright, Esq., and others.  Of the pending bills,
one regulates the rate of interest in savings banks, while a
second provides that the chief of the State detective force
shall detail one, but no more than three deputies, to exercise a
supervision over manufactories and buildings, and enforce
the provisions of the school laws for working children.  The
bill, however, provides that such duties shall cease January
1, 1877.
VII.-FOREIGN LABOR LEGISLATION.
We do not propose, under the above heading, to give a
minute history of labor and labor legislation in England and
other European countries; only to show the most salient
points of progress. Labor, in the abstract, has no country;
it is the life of all countries. Between the English speaking
peoples there is, however, more of a unity of interests; a
comparative humanity exists, even if not acknowledged.  If
Massachusetts or America had led in labor reform, England
would have watched our progress as intently as we watch
hers.  We cannot separate the countries upon the labor question any more than we can as regards literature, science or that
Saxon endurance which surpasses simple bravery.  In the
section of this volume which states the results of the seven
years' investigations of the bureau, much information concerning the labor legislation of foreign countries is given.
The following brief statement of the causes which led to the
English Factory Acts is copied from an article by Mr. C. L.
Brace in "Harper's Magazine" for August, 1873.
"At length a band of devoted reformers and philanthropists
arose, who were determined that this burning shame of their country
(uneducated and overworked child labor) should be wiped out;
who felt that the wealth and culture of England rested on a hideous
foundation, when the labor of oppressed children built up the structure. They began an incessant agitation against the over-labor of
factory children. They wrote for the press, printed documents,
held public meetings, petitioned parliament, and sought in every
way to rouse the public feeling and conscience..
" After incessant discussion, and a long contest, the English  Fac



48
tory Bills' were carried through parliament, were repeatedly amended,
improved and enlarged until they form now a ponderous blue-book.
These Acts have been rigorously executed, and their effect has
been that hundreds of thousands of little'white slaves' have been
redeemed from slavery, saved from premature death and sickness,
and that a new class of English laborers is growing up, better educated, healthier, happier, and of more value to their employers.
The reform was one of the most glorious and beneficent ever carried out in Great Britain."
Besides Great Britain, other European countries have laws
for the protection of children.  Prussia, France, Switzerland
and Italy provide for the education of working children;
Portugal, Russia and Austria are remodelling their school systems; compulsory education is the rule in Belgium, Norway,
Sweden and even Turkey.
From  1833 to 1868, a period of thirty-six years, two hundred and eighteen special reports upon subjects connected
with labor legislation were made by English parliamentary
committees, an average of six yearly. These reports, valuable as they are, are scattered, and there is no one department
of the English government to which application can be made
for statistics.  In Prussia, France, Saxony, Switzerland,
Holland, Belgium, Bavaria and Russia there are central statistical bureaus, under the charge of competent men, from
which official information is easily obtainable.  In the section
of this volume headed ".Opinions of the Public and the Press,"
the names of the directors of many of these foreign bureaus
are given with their addresses.  Mr. George Howell, late secretary to the English parliamentary committee on tradesunions, who h:as given long and valued service in that capacity,-and of whom it is said "his great industry, patience,
clear-headedness, and, above all, his moderation and most
conciliatory manners, have immensely contributed  to the
unravelling of many difficulties, and to the promotion of a
common understanding between parties opposed (or apparently opposed) to each other,"-makes the following suggestion in an English periodical called "The Beehive," of date
February 12, 1876, for the establishment of an



49
"ENGLISH BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR.
"The vast and daily increasing importance of all movements connected with, or having reference to, labor in this country, and
especially the legislative tendency of very many of these movements, point conclusively to the necessity of a bureau of statistics
of labor where the statesman, philanthropist, author, journalist or
citizen can at all times obtain authentic information and reliable
statistics, when attempting to deal with some of the many problems
connected therewith.
"Political economy is still a progressive science; many of the
teachings of its most able exponents have to be narrowly scanned
and tested by the light of facts drawn from every-day life. Whenever any subject of especial interest comes up for discussion, requiring broad and comprehensive treatment on the part of the political
economist or statesman who attempts to deal with it, he must create
the machinery necessary to get the information absolutely required
for its elucidation.
"Valuable sources of information and much useful and correct
data exist, but these have to be sought out and the facts brought
together, assorted and tabulated, before they can be ready for immediate use. This is often done at great cost both by private individuals and by government, but the misfortune is that the valuable
collections of facts so obtained by men of extensive experience and
general knowledge are often lost because there is no peimanent
record kept of them, and no office where they could be examined or
obtained for future use.
"Such a permanent record could be prepared and maintained at
much less expense than is now incurred for merely the special items
of passing interest which are sometimes needed by the government
or by private members of the House of Commons.
"It seems almost incredible that an old industrial country like
Great Britain should be without a bureau of statistics of labor.
In America, bureaus are established in Washington, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, etc., and judging by the valuable information annually issued, these departments give good satisfaction,
not only to employers and workmen, but also to the general public,
whose interest after all is of the first importance in all questions
affecting labor and the condition of workmen.
" There are very many subjects which would naturally come within
the scope of such a department, upon which reliable information
should be obtained. These inquiries and reports should altogether
avoid any controversial treatment of the several matters relegated
to the department, its object being to furnish correct data, which
7




50
would be valuable to all classes and all parties, and be tabulated for
ready and immediate use.
"Recent legislation seems to me to render such a department
absolutely essential. The special subjects for inquiry, amongst
others, are the following:"1. Divisions of labor, primary, secondary and otherwise; general effect of such division of labor upon the special trade, upon
prices and upon the open market.
"2. The price paid for labor, variations according to locality or
other circumstances, whether it includes partial cost of materials,
use of machinery, light, fuel, tools, implements or other matters.
"3. Hours of labor, variations according to locality, overtime
and other matters relating thereto.
"4. Terms of labor, whether day-work or piece-work, nature of
contracts, terms of engagement, whether by the day, week, month,
etc.
-" 5. General effect of such contracts, relative influence on employers and workmen, and on the labor market.
"6. Labor olrganizations, their nature and extent, number of
members in the several unions, their proportion to non-members,
the principles upon which they are conducted, their payments, funds,
benefits and management.
" 7. General state of the labor market, whether overstocked or a
scarcity of hands, cause in either case; whether local or general,
and whether there are openings for more workmen, and a necessity
for the migration of workers from one locality to another.
"8. Cost of living, proportionate cost compared with wages for
any given number of years. Have wages increased in the same
proportion as the cost of living? Variations in different localities.
"9. Habitations and rents. Description of houses and tenements,
rent paid, nature and extent of accommodation, condition of dwellings, sanitary and otherwise.
"10. Proportion of artisans and other industrial classes generally to other classes, nature of distinctions, relative distinctions
amongst the working classes.
" 11. Strikes, history of, cause of dispute and how settled. Number of persons engaged in the strike, and their families, cost of the
strike, how provided, and the general effects of the strike on the
locality.
"12. Arbitration or conciliation, how far accepted by employers
and workmen; whether any, and if any, what attempts were made
to settle the dispute, and by what means.
"13. Co-operation. What co-operative societies or stores exist in




51
the several localities, and the nature and number, if any, of co-operative productive societies. State number of members, summaries
of business done, and profits.
" 14. Benefit societies. Number and nature of, number of members, benefits, contribution, how conducted, whether annual or permanent.
"15. Building societies. Number of members, value of shares,
shares issued, interest paid on capital; number of advances made,
mode of repayment, amount of interest charged per ~100, how conducted.
" 16. Savings banks. Deposits therein, or in loan societies, or
other similar societies. Interest paid on capital, interest charged
on loans, nature of such societies and general management.
"17. General condition and position of the industrial classes in
the several counties, or in special districts.
"18. Abstracts of legislative measures affecting these classes,
either sought for or obtained, with special reference to statutes previously passed.
"These and similar subjects would come within the scope of such
a department, and we believe that a great variety of useful information would be obtained of permanent interest to all classes; carefully prepared tables should be given according to the importance of
the subject-matter, and where other government returns supply the
necessary information, the needful reference should be given to save
the time of the inquirer. It would also be useful to indicate other
special sources of information where they exist, or to give abstracts
of documents or books, if of sufficient importance.
"It might be objected that we already possess some of the information sought in the report of the board of trade, and of the registrar of friendly societies. This is, to some extent, true, but it is
insufficient and dispersed; we want it to be exact, full, complete
and compact. Workmen may object that it may furnish too much
information for their benefit. We reply, not so, for it is obtainable
now, and its inexactitude is a far greater evil than the fullest knowledge can possibly be. Moreover, it is very undesirable that there
should be any semblance of secrecy in any organization or movement, and all investigations regarding labor, commerce or trade, and
of the whole condition of industrial and social life, as well as its
educational, sanitary and political character, should be open to all,
and conducted in the light of day."
A reference to the section of this volume, which gives the
results of the bureau investigations, will show the reader that




52
the work of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor
has been nearly identical with that laid out above, and makes
manifest that in this one element of labor reform, at least,
Massachusetts has led England, and shown to the thinking
labor men of that country, that in the universal work of labor
reform this bureau is doing no inconsiderable service.  The
Bureau of Statistics at Berlin, Prussia, is closely allied to this
department in its manner of working, and the figures obtained
therefrom  have been of great comparative value.  Reliable
statistics must precede efficient legislation, and we trust before
many years that statistical bureaus in the various States of
the Union and foreign countries will interchange the fruits of
their researches, and aid in securing legislation for the good of
labor throughout the world.
VIII.-ORGANIZATION AND MANNER OF WORKING.
The Act establishing the Bureau of Statistics of Labor, as
has been previously stated, was passed June 22, 1869. The
next day it received the governor's approval, and became a
law.  On the 31st of July, Governor Claflin appointed Hon.
Henry K. Oliver of Salem, as chief, who, on the 4th of
August, selected George E. McNeill, Esq., of Cambridge, as
his deputy.  In Ml ay, 1871, Governor Claflin, being still in
office, re-appointed Mr. Oliver, and he again chose Mr.
McNeill as his deputy.
In May, 1873, Governor Washburn commissioned Hon.
Carroll D. Wright, of Reading, as chief.  Mr. Wright was
re-commissioned in May, 1875, for a second term  of two
years, by Governor Gaston. Upon his first appointment, Mr.
Wright selected Major George H. Long, of Charlestown, as
his deputy, and he retained the position until appointed
deputy insurance commissioner of the State in April, 1876.
In that month a bill was passed authorizing the chief to.appoint a chief clerk in place of a deputy, and under this bill
Mr. Charles F. Pidgin, of Boston, was selected for that position.
The assistants employed by the bureau have varied in number
each year; ranging from  the ordinary force of two or three
to as great a number as sixty-five, the latter being required
for the tabulation and preparing for press of the census and
industrial statistics returns.




53
The office of the bureau was originally located at the state
house, but in June, 1873, it was removed to a building
leased by the State at 33 Pemberton Square, where it now
remains.
The salary of the chief was first placed at $2,500 per
annum; it was increased to $3,000 in 1873, and reduced to
$2,500 again in 1876.  The reduction was made in accordance with a general system  of reduction of salaries of state
officials instituted by the legislature of 1876.  The salary of
the deputy has been, uniformly, $2,000 yearly.  The pay
of assistants, in whatever capacity, being limited by law to
$4 per day, the highest compensation for clerks and travelling
agents has been $1,200 per year.  The chief clerk will
receive a yearly salary of $1,500.  The average expense for
each year has been $10,500, one-half for salaries of officers,
and one-half for clerk hire, travelling expenses, printing of
schedules or blanks, and the usual contingent expenses of
such an office.  The rent of the rooms occupied is paid by
the State out of a general appropriation, and the printing and
binding of reports charged to the legislative printing account.
Having shown the personal organization of the bureau, we
will proceed to give a brief description of itsMANNER OF WORKING.
The officers appointed in 1869 found themselves in an untried field. To be sure, certain legislative committees and
two commissions on hours of labor had investigated somewhat into questions of labor; but here was a new department,
with the double duty imposed upon it of choosing its work
and then performing it.  It will be seen, one of two courses
became necessary; either to gather facts indiscriminately, and
upon them, if possible, base conclusions, or to start with
the belief that certain things were true, and obtain all the
corroborative testimony possible.
One of the first acts of the bureau was to send a letter to
Hon. J. Lothrop Motley, then United States minister to England, requesting a catalogue of English public documents relating to the general question of labor.  He complied with a list
comprehending some eighty-six different works, and aggregating about three hundred volumes.  Over one hundred




54
works upon subjects related to labor and the laboring classes
were found in the state library in 1869, and the number has
been increased yearly.  An annual appropriation is made for
the state library, and any book desired by a department is
secured, and its use allowed.
Besides these sources, the bureau has received since its
organization, the reports of the national and of other state
governments upon subjects related to its work. Friends have
contributed documents, foreign statistical societies have exchanged reports, and files of English labor papers have been
kept up.  On the other hand, the bureau reports have been
sent free to every citizen of Massachusetts requesting the
same, and information supplied to the press and general public in numberless instances.  The reports have also been sent
to all parts of the country, to Europe, and even to Australia;
in addition, inqu'ries by letter from  foreign countries have
been answered, and all possible information sent.  Englishmen and the English government have shown an especial
interest in the bureau work, and, as a rule, all pay for documents sent us has been refused. One labor paper, published
at London, Eng., has been received regularly for many years,
and the publisher insists upon sending it free.
After this statement of certain workings of the bureau, let
us return to the remarks of the officers relative to the preliminary investigations in 1869.
In the first report the officers say, referring to the Resolve
creating the bureau:
" The immediate impression derived from the mere words of the
Resolve was, that the leading duty of the bureau was the gathering
of statistics of labor, and of reporting them to the legislature,
together with what might be ascertained of their influence upon the
health, education, manners of life and industrial habits of those
whose daily labor earns their daily bread, but who, it is not to be
ignored, are, as a rule, very inconsiderable sharers in the wealth
they help to generate.
"This impression finally enlarged itself, however, into a more
comprehensive thought, that it was our duty to inquire into the very
important subjects of the hours of labor, the wages, the savings,
the manner of life at home and from home, the recreations, the culture, moral and mental, of the laborers, and the influence of the




55
several kinds of labor upon their health of body and brain, not
ignoring the subjects of co-operation, strikes, trades-unions, and the
general relations of capital and labor, with such matter relating to
the history of labor and labor legislation, here and abroad, as we
might be able to gather; so that the actual status, as far as the
researches of a few months would permit us to do, of the laboring
men, women and children of Massachusetts might be ascertained,
and be set forth to the legislature and people of the State."
Certain legal points required consultation with the attorneygeneral.  His replies to various letters of inquiry may be
summarized briefly.
1. The bureau has no power, as such, to administer an oath.
(This difficulty was overcome by commissioning the chief as justice
of the peace.)
2. The bureau has no authority to take depositions. It may send
for persons and papers, but has no power to compel attendance.
3. It may examine witness, under oath, but can pay only $1.25 per
day as fees, and four cents per mile to and from the office.
With its powers, or rather want of power, thus defined, the
bureau began its work, acknowledging its entire dependence
upon the voluntary written or verbal testimony of individuals, and upon the investigations of its agents who, in turn,
could not compel the unwilling to testify or supply statistics.
In the fourth report the officers remark:"We are pleased to say that in only one instance has our summons been refused, though in many cases we have been frankly told
that as there was no law compelling answers to our questions, they
(the respondents) respectfully decline to comply with our request."
The voluntary circular plan was first instituted. Out of
334 assessors, all but 10 replied to a circular sent them asking
for information concerning manufacturing establishments in
their respective towns.  The manufacturers themselves were
not so communicative.  Only 217 out of 1,248 replied at all,
and the answers were, the report says, "generally curt and
unsatisfactory."  The schedule contained eighty-one inquiries.
Neither did the workingmen themselves comply generally
with the request for information. Their schedule contained




56
one hundred and thirty-seven questions, and 114 out of 268
replied wholly or in part. The nature of the work for the
seven months ending March 1, 1869, is thus explained, and
the contents of the first report shown:"A much condensed summary of labor in England, and legislation
thereon, up to the emigration and settlement of America, supplied
by English authorities, occupied about 48 pages. Of the remaining
375, all but eight are occupied wholly by home matter, excluding all
foreign matter and statistics. Four of these eight relate to the sanitary influence of factory life abroad, and four to the homes and
home-life of French operatives; leaving 367 devoted to labor matters in Massachusetts."
As a preliminary to the work upon the report issued in
1871, correspondence was entered into with officials of other
state governments, and with the United States Department
of the Interior. The results of this system of preparation
were a series of ten blanks. Of these schedules of inquiry,
principally addressed to employers, 3,958 were sent out, and
2,447 returned, or 62 per cent.  Some of the workmen's
blanks used in 1869 being on hand, use was also made of them.
Two agents were despatched to the western part of the State
to gather workingmen's statistics, and a competent lady detailed to investigate woman's work and the condition of working women.  Eight "strikes" occurred in the State in 1870,at Fall River, Lynn, North Adams, Worcester, Marlborough,
Weymouth, Randolph and Needham; witnesses were summoned by the bureau, and their testimony phonographically
reported.  Letters were sent to prominent physicians, and
opinions asked concerning certain deleterious branches of
labor.  A tour of inspection was made of Boston tenementhouses; workingmen were requested to visit the bureau and
make statements of their experience; and a copious selection
was made from  foreign labor laws and English testimony
upon the half-time system of schooling.
The material for the report of 1872 was obtained in a similar manner to that of its predecessors.  Statistical information was requested by sending out blank circulars, and
depending upon the voluntary courtesy of correspondents.
Of 5,112 blanks mailed, 2,161 were returned with replies,




57
being 42+ per cent.  In addition, thirty manufacturing establishments were visited by the officers of the bureau. The
officers were aware of the "limited amount of completeness"
of the returns, ascribing their meagreness to the small amount
of money placed at the disposal of the bureau.
The investigations, though not securing completeness oil
any one point, were directed to a multitude of subjects, which
are thus summarized in the report itself:"The subjects to which, during the past year, we directed our
attention, were the condition of wage laborers, both men and women,
their wages, earnings, hours of labor, cost of living, savings, education, moral and physical status, their opportunities for improvement
through unions of any variety, co-operative experiments, libraries,
reading-rooms, or other intellectual associations, etc., the surroundings of congregated and out-of-door labor, the conveniences or
inconveniences of their working places and homes, and the employment and schooling of children in factories, stores, shops, or on the
street.
" Attention has also been given to the influence of different occupations upon health and morals; to strikes, their causes and results;
to the truck system; to factory life, here and in England; the story
of workingmen's lives by themselves, their arguments upon hours
of labor, poverty, etc., and to the experiment with Chinese laborers.
Upon this latter subject, the reticence of the employer circumscribes
the information within very narrow limits. To this has been added
a brief history of the purchasing power of wages in England from
the year 1300, and in Massachusetts from its settlement, with comments upon the same, recommendations, and an appendix containing a brief description of labor abroad, and the English truck
system.
" The following matters relating to the employments and condition of working-women were specially assigned to a female assistant for investigation; viz., the number of occupations in which they
are engaged; their hours of labor, home life, regularity of employment, number of weeks of work during a year, comparative intelligence, examination of their boarding-houses, amusements, health
of their special occupations, etc.; disabilities of each class of
women-workers as compared with men at the same occupation;
merit or demerit of institutions for women, such as homes or lodging-houses; free intelligence offices; advertisements for working
women; frauds of the same other than those practised upon men,
8




58
guerilla merchants, so called; Jews' shops, sewing-machine frauds,
etc.
"' From the United States census of 1870, the bureau has prepared a complete index of all the employments in Massachusetts,
and has so arranged the details as to give at a glance the number of
persons employed, the average wages, yearly earnings, amount of
capital invested, and the total product of each branch of industry in
the Commonwealth."
In the report for 1873, the officers made a brief allusion to
the opposition the bureau had encountered since its existence,
and attributed much of it to ignorance of facts.  To all
attacks, the officers say they never made public reply. Referring to the year's work, the report says:
" We entered upon the work of the fourth report with the purpose
of ascertaining and presenting the facts relating to the actual average
annual earnings of all persons employed in the mechanical and
manufacturing industries of the State, the wages and earnings and
condition of unskilled laborers, the cost of living, the distribution
of wealth as shown in the ownership of real and personal estates,
and in the deposits in our savings banks; also the effect upon
wages and production, of the reduction of the hours of labor from
twelve to eleven, the effect of special employments upon the health,
morals and prosperity of the people; co-operation, its successes,
failures and dangers; the condition of tenement-houses, the condition of labor in the early part of the century, etc."
The tables relating to wages, earnings and days employed,
were drawn from  the United States census.  The personal
visits made were chiefly to obtain information concerning the
non-enforcement of the school laws for working children.
The investigation into co-operative experiments, both by circulars and witnesses, was unproductive. The subject of savings banks received the principal attention of the bureau.
The report for 1874 was the work of the new  officers,
appointed in 1873, six months having been used in its preparation.
In the introduction the officers state that the following letter, received from a distinguished statistician of the United
States, formed a guide in conducting their investigations:
%.I                        zn~ —   VVI L~VV




59
"DEAR SIRS:-I have given much thought to the letter in which
you do me the honor to ask me my views as to the work of the
Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor; but as the result, I find
little to say beyond expressing my hearty sympathy with the purposes of your office, and my wishes for its success.  I feel the
strongest confidence that the Commonwealth is prepared for your
work, and that the work can be done to the satisfaction of all citizens; and that your office has only to prove itself superior alike to
partisan dictation and to the seductions of theory, in order to command the cordial support of the press and of the body of citizens.
If any mistake is more likely than others to be committed in such a
critical position, it is to undertake to recognize both parties as parties, and to award so much in due turn to each. This course almost
inevitably leads to jealousy and dissatisfaction. If an office is
strong enough simply to consider the body of citizens, and to refuse
to recognize or entertain consideration of parties, success is already
in the main assured. Public confidence once given, the choice of
agencies, the selection of inquiries to be propounded, are easy and
plain. The country is hungry for information; everything of a
statistical character, or even of a statistical appearance, is taken up
with an eagerness that is almost pathetic; the community have not
yet learned to be half skeptical and critical enough in respect to
such statements. All this is favorable to such laudable efforts as
you are engaged in, for the difficulty of collecting statistics in a new
country requires much indulgence; and I have strong hopes that
you will so distinctly and decisively disconnect the Massachusetts
Bureau of Statistics of Labor from politics,-from dependence on
organizations, whether of workingmen or of employers, and from
the support of economical theories, individual views or class interests,-as to command the moral support of the whole body of citizens, and receive the co-operation of all men of all occupations and
of all degrees, without reference, however, either to their degrees or
their occupations."
The voluntary schedule plan was deemed worthless in the
outset, and was sparingly used.  That little use, however,
demonstrated clearly the futility of trying to obtain full and
credible statistics by such a means. Of the 342 school boards
addressed, 206 replied, but of the answers very few were
definite in their statements.   A  schedule of simple, easily
answered inquiries was sent to 1,530 clergymen, who were
deemed for many reasons "better qualified to answer official
inquiries than men in almost any other position in life," and yet




60
only 544, or 35+ per cent, answered.  Some so far forgot
the courtesies of letter-writing as to anonymously assert that
the information desired was none of the bureau's business.
Nine cities and towns were visited, and the sanitary condition
of workingmen's homes looked into.  Agents of the bureau
visited 233 textile manufactories in the State, and made sworn
returns as regarded means of escape in case of fire, protection
of shafting, guarding of machinery, care of elevators, cleaning of machinery when running, ventilation and average airspace supplied for operatives.  From  information obtained
personally by Hon. Edward Young, chief of the United States
Bureau of Statistics, while in Europe, very full tables of rates
of wages, hours of labor, prices of provisions, clothing, rent,
etc., were prepared.  The figures for Massachusetts were
gathered by the bureau's agents. From the comparisons instituted, the relative purchase-power of money in Europe and
Massachusetts was deduced and illustrated by tables.  The
savings banks were called upon to keep special books for the
information of the bureau, and 115 out of 169 complied.
Considerable matter of minor importance was secured by
visits of agents, and a few extracts from foreign documents
were made for purposes of illustration or comparison.
The report for 1875 was mainly the result of personal investigation by the agents of the bureau.  They visited the
half-time schools, and reported their condition and prospects.
Certain branches of employment were personally inquired
into, and their special effects upon female health demonstrated.  Immediately after the disaster at Granite Mills, an
agent of the bureau visited Fall River, and elicited important
facts from nineteen individuals and families.  From the sworn
returns obtained in the year previous, tables were prepared
showing the means of egress, in more than two hundred mills,
from upper stories in case of fire or panic.  The statements
made were lately put on trial in a court of law, and several
mill agents and superintendents testified that, as far as their
knowledge extended, the descriptions given by the bureau
were entirely correct and trustworthy.
The condition  of 397 workingmen's families was ascertained by the investigations of agents.  The mode of procedure in this work is thus described in the report:




61
" The agent, upon arriving in a place selected for investigation,
and, knowing its prominent or peculiar industries, visited the mill,
workshop, wharf, public works or foundry, as the case might be.
Accosting the first workman at hand, a statement of what was
desired was made; in case of compliance, a time was fixed, convenient to the workingman, at which to supply the desired figures
and information; in case of inability or want of inclination, application was made to one and another of the workmen, and at other
establishments, until the desired number was secured. Visits by
day were made in order that the locality and the immediate surroundings of the houses could be examined, and visits in the evening were required, for then the workmen could refer to their accountbooks and bills, and find the items of expenditure of their cost of
living. As a matter of fact, our returns would have been materially
smaller in number, or wanting in completeness, but for these evening visits made after work was done.  The rooms were inspected,
and their pleasant or unpleasant features noted. The children were
at home, and the physical appearance and dress of the family were
observed."
Attempts to secure information concerning co-operation, by
circulars, proving, as usual, a comparative failure, the efforts
of agents supplemented the work, and secured all available
data.  The report contained much selected information, obtained by the personal investigations of Hon. Edward Young,
Hon. C. C. Andrews, United States minister to Sweden and
Norway, and from  documents secured by the chief of the
bureau while in Europe.
The manner of working, as regards the state census and
industrial statistics, will be fully explained in its appropriate
section.
The report for 1876 is wholly the result of personal investigation, the blanks used forming part of the census system.  They were left with individuals by the enumerators,
information given when necessary, and when collected were
examined to supply  deficiencies and correct errors.  The
number of available schedules received was 71,339, of which
55,515 were filled by males and 15,824 by females. The information gained is presented with regard to sex, to wage
and salary receivers, and by families, cities, towns, counties
and important occupations.  The points of inquiry were as
follows:




62
Persons dependent.
Hours employed daily.
Days employed yearly.
Daily wages.
Yearly wages.
Other earnings.
Wife's earnings.
Children's earnings.
Unable to work from sickness.
Persons owning houses.
Mortgages on houses.
Rate of interest on mortgages.
Rents.
Number of rooms hired.
Value of garden crops.
Cost of living.
Volumes in private library (over 100).
This report, being the seventh in the series, will be sent on
application, and prepayment of postage, until the number
provided for distribution is exhausted. By law of the State,
all public documents are furnished free of expense to parties
desiring them.
IX.-DISTRIBUTION OF REPORTS.-OPINIONS OF-THE PUBLIC
AND THE PRESS.
During the seven years of the bureau's existence, about fifty
thousand copies of its reports have been published by order
of the legislature. As is usual with public documents, the
members of the Senate and House have received liberal quotas
for distribution. among their constituents; but at least onehalf of the number published has been placed at the disposal
of the bureau.  No rigid rules have been applied in their
distribution, but any person desirous of reading a report has
been accommodated. The demands have come, of course,
primarily, from the citizens of Massachusetts; but persons in
every State of the Union, the newspaper press, public and
social libraries, other state governments, institutions of learning, and scientific and literary associations have been supplied.
The foreign circulation has also been large, and divided
among classes similar to those given above.




63
It would be useless to print a representative home list of
a hundred names from the alphabetical records of thousands
which are kept by the bureau; but any person desiring to
study statistics, or wishing to investigate labor subjects, can
obtain great aid from the correspondence-roll of the bureau,
which is freely placed at his disposal. In order to accommodate such parties, however, we present below a selected list
from our foreign records. It will serve a double purpose, by
giving an idea of the circulation of the bureau reports in
Europe, and by furnishing the names and addresses of the
prominent statisticians of Europe.
DISTRIBUTION OF BUREAU REPORTS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
Edinburgh Workingmen's Club, Robt. McLaren, Secretary,
Scotland.
Joseph White, Southgate Mills, Bradford, Eng.
Friedrich Krupp, Essen, Prussia.
Alexander Redgrave, Factory Inspector's Office, London, Eng.
Robert Baker, Factory Inspector's Office, London, Eng.
Samuel Stepney, Factory Inspector's Office, London, Eng.
Freiburg University, Baden.
Foreign Office, Imperial Government, Vienna, Austria.
Geo. Potter, London, Publisher of " The Bee-Hive."
Alsager Hay Hill, London, Publisher of " Labour News."
" Co-operative News," Manchester, Eng.
A. J. Mundella, M. P., Elvaston Sq., London, Eng.
Geo. B. Emerson, London (care Baring Bros.).
R. Applegarth, London, Eng.
Wm. Allan, London, Eng.
John Kane, Darlington, Eng.
A. A. Self, London, Eng.
W. H. Blatchley, London, Eng.
T. Dunning, London, Eng.
C. Bradlaugh, London, Eng.
Prof. Beesley, London, Eng., London University.
Sir Chas. Dilke, House of Commons, London.
J. Geo. Eccarius, London, Eng.
Thomas Hughes, London, Eng.
Geo. J. Holyoake, London, Eng.
John Leigh, Manchester, Eng.
Institute Technology, Manchester, Eng.
Miss Emily Faithfull, London, Eng., Victoria Press.
Geo. Howell, London, Eng.




64
Felix Heikel, Helsingfors, Finland.
Paul Liptay, Hungary.
London Statistical Society, London, Eng.
Hon. Geo. P. Marsh, Rome, Italy.
General Registry Office, London, Eng.
Dr. William Farr, British Museum, London, Eng.
Frederick Purdy, Poor Law Commission, London, Eng.
Henry Longley, Local Gov't Board, London, Eng.
G. W. Hastings, Social Science Association, London, Eng.
William Tallock, Howard Prison Association, London, Eng.
F. Cowell Stepney, London, Eng.
J. R. Whitehead, M. P., Leeds, Eng.
Mr. Foster, M. P., Leeds, Eng.
Edwin Hill, London, Eng.
M. D. Hill; Court of Bankruptcy, Bristol, Eng.
University Library, Cambridge, Eng.
" Westminster Review," London, Eng.
Mrs. Charlotte A. Joy, Isle of Wight, Eng.
Sir James Cox, Board of Lunacy, Edinburgh.
Registrar-General, Edinburgh.
" Edinburgh Review," Edinburgh.
Glasgow College, Glasgow.
Inspectors of Lunatic Asylums, Dublin.
Poor Law Commissioners, Dublin.
Registrar-General, Dublin.
Chief Secretary of Government, South Adelaide, Australia.
Dr. F. Norton Manning, Sydney, New South Wales.
Minister of Justice, Paris.
M. le Garde des Sceaux, Paris.
M. Bonneville de Marsagny, Paris.
M. Galzard, Statistical Society, Paris.
M. A. Legoyt, Gen. Statistical Bureau, Paris.
M. Roux, Statistical Society, Marseilles.
Dr. B. A. Morel, Rouen.
Government of Holland, The Hague. By U. S. Minister.
Dr. Von Baumhauer, Statistical Bureau, The Hague.
Government of Belgium, Brussels. By U. S. Minister.
Emile de Laveleye, Liege, Belgium.
Prof. Le Roy, Royal University, Liege, Belgium.
M. A. Visschers, Central Statistical Commission, Brussels, Belgium.
M. A. Quetelet, President Central Stat. Cor., Brussels, Belgium.
M. Stevens, Inspector Gen. of Prisons, Brussels, Belgium.
Sig. Beltram Scaliar, Inspector Gen. of Prisons, Rome, Italy,
Sig. Dr. Maestri, Royal Bureau of Statistics, Rome, Italy.




65
Dr. G. Neumann, Berlin, Prussia.
Dr. Ernst Engel, Bureau of Statistics, Berlin, Prussia.
Dr. F. Von Holtzendorf, Prison Commission, Berlin, Prussia.
Dr. Hach, Lubec.
Dr. Charles Dippe, Mecklenburg-Schwerein.
Dr. C. W. Ascher, Hamburg.
Dr. Von Holtz, Heidelberg, Baden.
Dr. Geo. Varrentrapp, Geographical and Statis. Society, Frankfort.
Dr. Von Sewelof, Statistical Bureau, Hanover.
Dr. F. B. Von Hermann, Statistical Bureau, Munich, Bavaria.
Dr. Weinlig, Statistical Bureau, Dresden, Saxony.
Prof. Ed. Wappaus, Gottingen University.
Joseph Bernal, Bureau of Statistics, Prague, Bohemia.
J. Ritter Von Engelhardt, Gov't Stat. Bureau, Vienna, Austria.
Baron de Goering, Vienna, Austria.
National Museum, Pesth, Hungary.
Dr. Goss, Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr. H. C. Lombard, Geneva, Switzerland.
Prof. E. Decor, Neufchtel, Switzerland.
M. Max Wirth, Central Bureau of Statistics, Berne, Switzerland.
Polish Historical Museum. Sent to Le Comte Le Plata, Zurich,
Switzerland.
Francisco G. Martini, Director of Education, Madrid, Spain.
Dr. Fred. Theodore Berg, Central Bureau of Statistics, Stockholm, Sweden.
Christiana University, Norway.
M. Pierre Semenou, Director Central Statistical Committee, St.
Petersburg, Russia.
H. Fawcett, M. P., London, Eng.
Lloyd Jones, London, Eng.
John Stuart Mill, London, Eng.
London Society for Suppression of Mendicity.
John Ruskin, London, Eng.
"London Times."
" London Telegraph."
Gen. Archibald, British Consulate, New York.
Harris Gastrell, British Legation, Washington, D. C.
G. A. Schmitt, Austrian Consul, Boston.
M. Marshall, Cambridge, England.
IX.  OPINIONS OF THE PUBLIC AND THE PRESS.
From the wide circle of readers of the reports, the letters
of commendation and of criticism  have been numerous.  It
9




66
is beyond the desired compass of this volume to give even
brief extracts from  the communications received, and a few
selections might seem  invidious or partial.  The manner in
which the fiiends of labor reform, whatever their particular
ideas on the subject might be, have rallied to the support of
the bureau when its continued existence has been in doubt,
shows plainly that the need of the bureau is felt, and a belief
in its usefulness is widely extended.
The officers said, in 1873, "We have continued assurances
from laboring men, from labor newspapers, from labor organizations, and from leading labor reformers, that they will
sustain the bureau in its investigations."  We have no doubt
that such is the general feeling at the present time.
It must not be supposed that the manufacturers of Massachusetts are leagued in opposition to the bureau and its work.
As a general rule, they have given every desired facility to
the bureau's agents, and have manifested, in many instances,
a deep interest in the bureau's work. Of course, there have
been many exceptions found.  Many consider the investigations inquisitorial, insulting, etc.; and many, knowing they
were violating the law, have shown great opposition to the
proximity of its officers.
The statisticians of the country have complimented the
bureau's work, and, in many cases, offered valuable suggestions, which have been followed.
The newspapers have shown a general desire to lay abstracts
of the reports before their readers, and many have devoted
editorial space to the serious consideration of facts presented.
Considering the impersonality of newspaper articles, we shall
venture to give a few extracts from editorial remarks.
The second report of the bureau is thus referred to by
"The Nation," of New York, dated June 1, 1871:"THE LABOR QUESTION IN MASSACHUSETTS.'It is difficult to exaggerate the value of such labor as is so
intelligently performed by the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics
of Labor, whose second annual report has been recently presented
to the legislature of that State.
" The report itself is a model for clearness, system and practical
arrangement, and especially for a thorough recognition of the nature
of the facts required by a body of legislators, though it is much to




67
be feared that they will be the last to be benefited thereby. It does
not need a very close scrutiny to recognize that General Oliver, the
chief of the bureau, is in warm sympathy with the workmen, and,
from conviction, inclined to their views. But, after a careful study
of the volume, we acquit the authors of every suspicion of partiality
in what was, after all, the main work, the collection of the facts
themselves; and these are of the utmost importance.
" That the reading of such reports as General Oliver's will convince many persons of the gravity of the evil, and reconcile them to
the freest and most exhaustive discussion of the remedies, is the
chief, as it will be the most immediate, result of the establishment
of the bureau itself.
" It is unfortunately true, that the prejudice against anything savoring of so-called labor reform, for the moment, almost bars its
intelligent discussion, and it is to be regretted that the extreme
bulk of this volume will prevent many from  examining it, who
might otherwise contribute to make its contents known. But the
mere existence of a permanent bureau, authorized to take testimony
on the subject, and capable of exercising that authority with fairness and intelligence, is a long step towards a correct understanding
of this great problem."
The "Springfield Republican," April 26, 1872, contains the
following concerning"THE LABOR BUREAU'S REPORT.
"Each successive year increases, perhaps we may say, doubles,
the value of the annual reports sent out from the Massachusetts
Bureau of Labor Statistics.  General Oliver, the chief, and Mr.
McNeill, the deputy of the bureau, who unite in writing the reports,
come every year somewhat nearer to comprehensive acquaintance
with the myriad facts that make up the industrial problem of Massachusetts; moreover, they acquire a better method of setting them
forth.
"But it will still be some years before the statistics thus presented will have the weight that belongs to carefully collected and
accurately analyzed results; for it is not yet possible, in any branch
of the inquiry, to allow for all the facts that ought to be known and
considered."
The " American Artisan," of May 29, 1872, says:"The institution and maintenance by the State of such a bureau,
cannot be too highly commended, and the gentlemen whose inde



68
fatigable and judicious labors have produced the work before us, are
entitled, not only to the thanks of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but of the country at large."
The Boston " Commonwealth"' spoke thus strongly of attempts to abolish the bureau in 1872:"So the effort now is to abolish the Bureau of Labor.  The
struggle between capital and labor is growing bitter,-bitter, now,
even on the side of capital.  It objects to investigation of its
methods.
" Let us find, rather, the true' state pride,' that shall dare seek
out its own evils for correction. There is no shame in any quotation of our difficulties made from our own investigation and confession in reports.
"Abolish the bureau in a scare, lest we find something wrong,
and in time somebody else will be trumpeting our difficulties and
also our degradation.  Then, indeed, may we blush and dread
exposure. Only in the continuance of the Labor Bureau is there
honor and integrity. Its abolition would be simply cowardice."
An issue of the New York "Weekly Tribune" (March 11,
1874) thus examines into"THE FACTS ABOUT THE WORKING CLASSES.
" A knowledge of the elements of the labor problem is essential
to all progress in dealing with it. The proverb, that one-half the
world does not know how the other half lives, is nowhere so true as
in respect to those who do and those who do not earn their living
by manual toil. More light is thrown upon this subject by the facts
gathered in such reports as that of the Massachusetts Labor Bureau,
which we present elsewhere, than all the fine-spun theories of doctrinaires or the rant of labor demagogues would furnish in a century.
"Previous to the organization of that bureau, it was generally
believed that Massachusetts was a model Commonwealth, far superior to the rest of the world in respect to the education of her
masses. The training of her common schools was her glory and
her pride; and however necessary compulsory education might be
under effete governments, here, at least, was a State where the
children of the poorest citizen were proficient in the three r's. Unhappily, the statistics of the Labor Bureau tell a very different tale.
The children of working people in Massachusetts are, in great part,
as sadly neglected in respect to education, as if they were born in.the middle of Africa. There are 25,000 of them, between the ages




69
of 5 and 15, thrust into the workshop instead of the school-room.
The report says that they do not receive the slightest education,
either in public or in private schools. What sort of citizens will
they make, when, under our equal laws, the ballot is placed in their
hands?  Of what avail will books or newspapers, or any other
means of enlightenment, be to this army of heathens who cannot
read?
" How do they live, these working people,-these people whom
we only hear of when they rise in a strike; or begging for work,
come to the soup-kitchens? The report photographs their life with
painful fidelity. While they have work, their hours are long,especially those of women and young girls.  They occupy vile
tenements as homes, where they are packed closely, without regard
to decency or health; where sight and smell are offended at every
step, and vice and drunkenness offer the only variety of their monotonous lives. Doubtless, this is not true of all; but of how terribly large a proportion it is true we are told in the report. They
save something against a rainy day?  Yes, more than was at one
time supposed; and of the depositors dependent upon day wages,
the savings banks hold an average to each name of $121. But a
large proportion save nothing; and there is a strange feature in this
matter of saving-those save most who earn least; the workmen
who can earn large wages are very rarely frugal.
"There are excellent recommendations at the close of the report,
to which the only objection is, that they are too general in their
character. The best of laws, the wisest management on the part
of the State, cannot wholly meet the exigency. Philanthropy and
capital must go hand in hand, and, having sought out these evils
and ascertained their origin, must find the true solution of the labor
problem in the elevation of the workingman."
The New York "Graphic," in a series of four articles, considered the bureau report for 1874. The issue for March 13,
1874, contained the following editorial upon the" HOMES OF THE POOR.
" Some of the facts brought to light by visitors among our poor
people are heart-harrowing enough. A  large number of young
women, moved by a spirit of commendable charity, have gone
among the homes of the poor of the city this winter, to carry relief
and comfort to their wretched inmates. The pictures of destitution, squalor, and nauseating filthiness they paint, are enough to
make the strongest soul sick. In some instances the visitors have




70
been so affected by the odors and infections of the stived tenements,
where scores of human beings are huddled together, as to be incapacitated for further work. It is doubtless true, that one-half of the
world does not know how the other half lives. But after listening
to and reading some of the accounts of these voluntary visitors
among the poor, it is a wonder that a large class of our fellowbeings live at all.
"The same state of things is exhibited, in an equally striking
way, by the report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of
Labor. The commissioners devote special attention to the dwellings of the poor in that State. They found a large proportion of
them dingy, unventilated, unwholesome, and thoroughly demoralizing in every respect. We give some of the facts in another column.
They tell their own story. And here is one of their instances:' In a single building, in the town of W., thirty-two feet long, twenty
feet wide, three stories high, with attics, there habitually exist thirtynine people of all ages. For their use there is one pump and one
privy, within twenty feet of each other, with the several sink-spouts
discharging upon the ground near by. The windows are without
weights, and the upper sashes are immovable. No other provision
is made for fresh air. Scores of similar overcrowded and uncleanly
tenements exist and could be cited.'
"The effect of such habitations on health and morals must be
incalculably bad. It is not surprising that people who are compelled to live in tenements unfit for horses, or even swine, resort to
the dramshop when the work of the day is over, and try to hide
their wretchedness from themselves in the convivialities of a welllighted saloon and the delirium of intoxication. Nor is it surprising that the inmates and progeny of such homes are sickly, thriftless, ignorant, often vile, and sometimes violent. These miserable
rookeries, rented at extortionate rates by rich capitalists, are the
prolific nests of crime. If anything is to be done to save society
from the depredations of criminals, to check pauperism, intemperance and vice, the work must begin at the beginning. It is the
springs that make the river. Edward Everett remarked that many
of the children in a dark and filthy court at the North End of Boston
were blind from their birth. Soup-kitchens and labor demonstrations may be well in their way; but before any permanent amelioration of the condition of the poorer classes can take place, they must
be better housed and conditioned. Health and morals require
something more than soup and sentiment. Relief must give way
to a reform  that goes back to the sources of the difficulty. Dr.
Holmes has said,' There are people who think that everything may
be done, if the doer, be he educator or physician, be only called " in




71
season."  No doubt; but in season would often be a hundred or two
years before the child was born, and people never send so early as
that.' We must prepare for a better state of things in the next
generation, by laying the foundations in this. A true civilization
thinks more of characters than commodities, and will not consent
to use up human beings for the sake of cheapening cloth a cent in
the yard. The test of a civilization is the estimate in which it
holds human beings. It is not how the rich ride, nor what they wear,
but how the people live and what sort of houses they live in, that
determine the character of a commonwealth."
The Brooklyn "Daily Argus," of March 17, 1875, devotes
much space to the consideration of the bureau's work. It
says:" Intelligence and system characterize many features of Massachusetts legislation, especially those that relate to labor and education. Our own Empire State ought to do for its imperial population what Massachusetts does for her children. Call it' Yankee
inquisitiveness,' or what you will, the old Bay State does inquire
and investigate and reform. Her officials penetrate below the surface of life, and question all the needs of her people. No State in
the Union has more complete returns to illustrate the sociology of
its population, to ameliorate their condition, and to protect interests-sanitary, educational and moral-which go to frame the
organization of a well-ordered commonwealth.
" Brooklyn is so largely made up of that New England element,
which has the Massachusetts character for its dominant type, that
her social condition is reflected in that of the ancient Puritan Commonwealth. The latest report of the Massachusetts'Bureau of
Statistics of Labor,' which has been made with most painstaking
care, furnishes a multitude of facts and suggestions which are of
application here, and which will interest a Brooklyn audience.' The most interesting and practical part of the report is that
which relates to the condition of the families of workingmen, such
as day laborers, tradesmen and others who are obliged to depend
for support on the work of their hands.
" One general fact appears,-that, while the wage system enables
a minority of the workingmen to maintain themselves and families
comfortably by their individual exertions, in a majority of cases they
must have aid from wife or children to accomplish this result. The
result shows that co-operation in the purchase of supplies is an
economy of earnings, and that such a system is of great value to the
laborer and the artisan.




72
"It would be interesting to have returns like these in Brooklyn;
but the Massachusetts statistics are of universal application, and
may be applied, with only slight variance, to the condition of
affairs here.
" The general conclusions of the report come home to every
laborer and artisan wherever he may live. They impress the necessity of steady employment, of economy, and of co-operation.
" They furnish little justification for' strikes.' We commend them
to all who are dependent upon manual labor or small salaries."
The "Chicago Tribune," of March 19, 1875, says, editorially:" The Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics has issued its
sixth annual report.  We regret to learn, from the abstract that
has reached us, that there is danger of the abolition of the bureau.
Its reports have been of the greatest value to the student of social
science. They are quoted from Maine to Oregon, and are in demand
throughout Europe. There is no other organization in the country
which does a like work, for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Labor has
as yet shown no reason for its existence. The six Massachusetts
reports contain a mass of information which is obtainable nowhere
else, and the subject is far from being exhausted. It is to be hoped
that the good work may go on. These statistics show a better state
of things, on the whole, than was expected. The decrease in wages,
due to the panic, has deprived the Massachusetts workingman of his
luxuries.  Otherwise, he seems to be getting along well enough, so
far as the present is concerned. He has slight chances for the
future, however.'In only a few cases,' says the report,'is there
evidence of the possibility of acquiring a competence.' As long as
this is true, so long is labor wronged,-but it is usually wronged by
itself. The husband and father'has given hostages to fortune.'
Where labor is too plenty, labor is too cheap, and a life of toil often
ends in a pauper's grave. The bureau hopes great things from cooperation in the way of bettering the condition of the working
classes, and in this it is right. In England and Germany, there are
millions of worlingmen living in comfort who, without co-operation,
would be in squalid misery."
X.-RESULTS OF SEVEN YEARS' INVESTIGATIONS.
It would be impossible to consolidate in a few pages the
arguments, testimony, narrative, statistical tables, conclusions
and recommendations contained in thefour thousand pages of




73
the seven reports already issued. With the design of giving,
as far as possible, the results of the seven years' investigations,
we first present a complete digest of the work of the bureau,
arranged by important subjects, and having the report, volume and page given, in order to aid those desirous of reading
up on any particular point, or in finding the details of each
subject considered.
DIGEST OF THE BUREAU'S WORK.
[The Roman numerals indicate the volume of the Report. Vol. I. was issued in 1870; vol.
VII. in 1876.]
Hours of Labor. I.-Medical opinions on English ten-hour bill,
pp. 127, 128; night work of females and children, 209; hours of
labor, 223-234, 287-298. II.-Hours of factory labor, 498-502;
facts bearing on ten-hour argument, 503-508; hours of labor in
Europe, 508-517; hours of labor, 557-567. III.-Hours of labor,
217-251. IV.-Hours of labor, 243-246; reduction of hours of
labor, 467, 468; essay on "Limitation of Time," 468-487; ten
hours, 487-501. V.-Comparative hours of labor in Massachusetts and foreign countries, 102-108. VII.-Hours of labor of
70,000 workingmen and women in Massachusetts, 18, 19.
Kind of Labor. I.-Cotton manufactures, pp.. 72-84; agricultural labor, 84-87; whale fishery, 256-262; work at home, 271;
old and new trades, 274; occupation statistics, 373-410. II.Agriculture, 154-171. III.-Classification of employments, 13-21;
agriculture, 21-47; commerce, 48-59; industrial and mechanical
returns, 118-217; testimony concerning farming, 544-548; labor
in Austria and Hungary, 565-568. IV.-Classification of employments from  United States census, 53-70; town statements concerning special occupations, 271-309. V.-Massachusetts statistics from  United States census of 1870, 252-255. VI.-Occupations of 397 workingmen, 206-214. VII.-Occupations of 70,000
workingmen and women, 4-14.
Condition of Working People in their Homes and Employments.
I.-Factory system, pp. 106-111; testimony of English factory
inspectors, and remarks thereon, 128-134; hopaes of low-paid
laborers in Boston, 164-185; homes of the middle classes, 185-187;
homes of the rich, 187-189; homes of French operatives, 189-193;
" strikes" and discharges, 206-209; improved machinery, 210-212,
272-274; heating, lighting, ventilation and protection from fire and
panic, 212, 213, 268; accidents, 213-215, 268-270; stoppage of
wages and pay, 215, 216; apprentices, 217, 218, 270, 271, 316;
change of employes, average life, 218-223, 314; health influences,
10




74
234, 235; place of dining, 236; distance from work, 265; cost of
tools, 271; discharges, 277-279; effect of factory life on women
and children, 312-314; condition and wages of working women,
360-365. II.-Work and home-life of factory operatives, 459-486;
Chinese labor, 461, 462; tenement-houses and homes of low-paid
laborers in Boston, 517-531. III.-Domestic labor and woman's
work, 59-118; condition of operatives in factory and manufacturing
towns, 362-401; Chinese labor, 401-409; accidents, 421-431;
homes of the working classes, 437-443. IV.-Tenement-houses in
Salem, 372-380; condition of labor, 397-410.  V.-Relative to
clergymen and teachers, 23-27; sanitary condition of working
people in their homes and employments, 31-48; condition of textile
fabric manufactories in Massachusetts, 111-155; dangerous work,
and its remedy, 155, 156; English laws relating to sanitary matters
and machinery, 156-159; homes for women, 263-265. VI.-Beginning of English factory system, 7-11; special effects of certain
forms of employment upon female health, 67-112; chronological
history of factory legislation in England, 115-142; the disaster at
Granite Mills, 142-151; means of escape in case of fire or panic
from upper stories of mills in Massachusetts, 152-177; system of
factory legislation required by Massachusetts, 177-187; condition
of 397 workingmen's families, 191-354; condition of workingmen's
homes, 389-410.
Wages, Earnings and Time Employed.  II.-Wages in the
fisheries, travel and transportation, pp. 171-197; domestic labor
and women's work in Boston, 197-230; industrial wages, 230-342;
mechanical wages, 342-416; tables of earnings, 417-422. III.Review of the subject of wages and earnings, 529-538. IV.-Wages
and earnings in manufacturing and mechanical employments, 71-90;
wages and earnings of unskilled laborers, 90-108; special showing
of wages, as to increase or decrease in, 108, 109; remarks on
wages, 440-468. V.-Comparative rates of wages in Massachusetts and foreign countries, 51-101; increase in wages, 256, 257.
VII.-Wage receivers, Part I. of the report, containing returns
from about 70,000 wage workingmen and women; salary receivers,
Part II., containing returns from about 10,000 salaried persons.
Cost of Living. I.-Stores and store accounts, pp. 204, 205;
time of payments, 206; employes as consumers, 206; methods of
purchase of provisions, fuel, etc., 265; comparative cost of living
and wages, 304.  II. —Cost of living, 423-440.  III.-Cost of
living, 251-257; truck system, 409-421; purchasing power of
wages in England and Massachusetts, 468-529; truck system in
England, 568-579. IV.-Cost of living, 109-128. V.-Prices of
provisions in Massachusetts and Europe, 163-185; purchase power




75
of money in Massachusetts and Europe, 186-200; increase in
living expenses, 256, 257; comparative table of prices in 1861 and
1873 for dry goods, provisions, clothing and groceries, 258, 259;
cost of living of families in Massachusetts and Europe, 260-263.
VI.-Cost of living (earnings, expenses and savings) of 397
families in Massachusetts, 354-385; rents, 385-389; fuel, 410412; food, 412-427; clothing, dry goods, boots and shoes, 428433; sundry expenses, 433-437. VII.-Cost of living of 70,000
wage and 10,000 salaried working people, occupying about 250
pages.
Savings, Debt, Savings Banks. I.-Competence, acquiring of,
by wage laborers, pp. 202-204, 314-316; debt of employes, 298304; savings banks, 307, 308.  II.-Savings banks, 458, 459;
poverty, 531-538. III.-Savings banks, 293-338; recapitulation
of earnings and savings, 338-344. IV.-Savings banks, 129-228;
essay on "Poverty," 411-439.  V.-Savings banks, 203-247.
VI.-Savings of 397 families of workingmen in Massachusetts,
374-383.
Results of Wage System. I.-The wage system and its results,
pp. 158-164. VI.-Results of the wage system, 445-450. VII.See comparative tables throughout the report.
Education and Kindred Topics. I.-Employment and schooling of children in factories, pp. 134-155; intemperance, 193-196;
relief societies, libraries, recreations, 216, 217, 265-268; temperance, 235; influence of fashion, 236; attendance on public worship,
304-307; children in manufacturing and mechanical establishments,
309-312. II.-Children in factories, 487-498; intemperance, and
the remedy, 538-557; theory and practice of English half-time
schools, 622-638.  III.-Schools for factory children, 443-446;
education, 446-455;  half-time schools, 455-466;  unschooled
children in Massachusetts, 466-468; schools and instruction in
Prussia, 558-565; cost of crime, 580. IV.-Half-time schools,
370, 371; education, 381-396. V.-Education and employment of
young persons and children, 3-9; digest of American and European
laws relative to education and employment of young persons and
children, 9-20. VI.-Education of working children, 3-6; English
legislation regarding the education and labor of the young, 11-24;
education in Prussia, 24-28; the half-time schools of Massachusetts, 28-37; duty of Massachusetts as regards the labor and education of the young, 37-63; attendance at church, 436. VII.Libraries of working people, 46, 47.
Labor Combinations. I.-Strikes, pp. 274-277; trades-unions,
279-287.  II.-Guilds and trades-unions, 12-39; strikes, 9-12,




76
39-149; friendly societies in England, 639. III.-Strikes, 431-437;
strike of agricultural laborers in England, 579, 580.
Co-operation and Kindred Subjects. I.-Operative shareholders, p. 202; participation in profits by employes, 209; ownership of homes, mortgages, etc., 264, 265; co-operative associations,
307; employes as owners of shares, 308, 309. II.-Co-operation,
452-458.  III. —Co-operative associations in Germany, 548-557.
IV.-Ownership of real and personal estate, 228, 242; industrial
copartnerships, 356-362; co-operation, 323-369, 461-467; co-operative societies, 344-348; remarks on co-operation, 348-356; criticism
of co-operative experiments, 363-369. VI.-Distributive co-operation in Massachusetts, 454-490. VII.-Houses owned, mortgages,
and rate of interest on mortgages,-for 80,000 working people,see complete report.
Testimony of Employers and Employes. I.-Verbal hearings
before the bureau, pp. 111-127; general remarks by employes,
237-255; written testimony sent in by wage laborers, 317-359.
II.-Statistics and experiences of workingmen, 440-452, 570-621.
III.-Workingmen's statistics, 258-269.  IV.-Communications
from laboring men, 313-322.
From  the testimony, narrative, statistics and arguments
comprehended by the preceding digest, the officers of the
bureau felt warranted in drawing certain conclusions, and
thereupon making various recommendations to the legislature
of Massachusetts.  These conclusions and recommendations
embody the practical results of the seven years' investigations.
The most important of these conclusions we give hereinafter,
accompanied, in some cases, by a statement showing the
weight of proof sustaining them, and secured legislation
relating thereto. The arrangement of subjects adopted in
the digest is retained, as far as practicable, in the following
presentation. It should be borne in mind, that the officers in
1870, 1871, 1872 and 1873 were Messrs. Oliver and McNeill;
in 1874, 1875 and 1876, Messrs. Wright and Long.
HOURS OF LABOR.
The report for 1870 contained the following conclusion and
recommendation:" That the hours of labor are too long, and that the preliminary
step to remedy the evil, is the enactment of a law restricting labor




77
in all manufacturing and mechanical establishments in the State to
ten hours per day, or to sixty hours per week."
The report of 1871 again recommended" The establishment of ten hours as the limit of a day's work in
all manufacturing and mechanical or other establishments in the
State wherein men or women, or both, are employed."
The report for 1872 more specifically repeats the recommendations of the two preceding years:
"We therefore recommend that the Commonwealth, in its employing capacity, adopt the example set by the United States, and
by some of the individual States, of abridging the labor day for all
manual laborers in her employ, either by contract or otherwise, so
that the experiment may be tried, at public expense, whether a
reduction of hours is, or is not, an increase of wages. We further
recommend that a law be enacted, similar to the Factory Law of
Great Britain, limiting the hours of labor in all manufacturing,
mechanical or other establishments in the State, to ten (10) hours in
any one day, or sixty hours in any week; and that no child, under
thirteen years of age, shall be employed in any such establishment;
nor at any age, unless such child has received the elements of a common school education, and shall be physically qualified for such labor,
-age, education and physical condition to be matters of due certificate provided for by law; and further, that all children between thirteen and fifteen years of age, so employed, shall not be employed
more than five hours in any one day,-said hours to be between six
o'clock in the forenoon and six o'clock in the afternoon,-and that
they shall attend school, vacations excepted, three hours on each and
every day; the same law to compel protection against accidents by
unguarded belting, machinery, elevators or hoist-ways; this law to
be enforced by specially appointed inspectors, who shall have power
to enter the premises of any establishment when in operation, to
make research and to enforce the law."
The report for 1873 repeated the above recommendation.
That for 1874 contained much statistical information bearing
upon the matter, which will be referred to again.  The
report for 1875 says upon the subject: —
"The legislature, by Act of 1874, has virtually established the
day's work at ten hours, and a further reduction should not be
attempted till other matters have been dealt with; and, in fact, we




78
believe, that, when the other matters have received the attention
they deserve, the hours of labor will take care of themselves.
"The law of last year was passed under similar circumstances
which attended and followed the passage of the English ten-hour
law. The latter went into effect almost immediately, not so much
from the desire of manufacturers, as from the effect of the financial
crisis which existed.
" Working-time was reduced on account of the times, by and for
the manufacturers themselves, and when the crisis had passed, it
was not found easy to return to the old hours, and so the ten-hour
law came into operation with facility. And it is or will be the same
in this State; and although a few mills have sought to evade its
provisions, we anticipate a general and easy acquiescence in its
provisions, and as time advances, the wisdom, or the want of wis.
dom, of the legislature will be proven. At present, the only serious
wrong which exists, so far as working-time is concerned, affects
married women and young children."
The text of the ten-hour law referred to above will be
found on page 37. The arguments used against its adoption
were the same as those relied upon in England, when the
passage of a similar law was under consideration.
The discussion of the hours of labor question brought out
many points of interest and value. The fact that going and
coming from work forms a material addition to the labor day
was demonstrated,-low  wages compelling a workman to
seek cheap tenements far from the centres of industry and
population.  The Fall River mills began running, voluntarily,
January 1, 1869, on the ten-hour plan, and continued for
twenty-one months, when they were obliged, by competition
and other causes, to return to eleven hours. The statistics
given in the report for 1874 bore directly upon the subject.
In twenty-seven leading occupations compared with England,
three required fewer hours in Massachusetts than in England;
eight required the same hours in both countries; sixteen
industries (including boots and shoes, cotton and woollen
goods) required more hours in this State than in England.
The following table, showing the time run by Massachusetts
mills prior to the passage of the ten-hour law, is from  the
report for 1874:



79
"In 233 textile manufactories in the State of Massachusetts, the
hours of labor per week are as follows:19 mills run......  60   hours per week.
48     "......  62              
5     "......   63         
36     "......  64             "     "
111......                   66    "        "
14     "......  66 to 70 "           "
"Estimating the average of the 14 last named as 68 hours, the
average of the 233 mills is very nearly 642 hours per week."
The figures gained by the State census of 1875, and used
in the preparation of the report for 1876, are well-nigh incontrovertible. Counting in all kinds of labor, 53,304 males
reported the time employed daily as 10-12 hours, and 13,507
females, 10 4 — hours.  The males worked 241T6%5- days in
the year, and the females, 258-9-.  If they could have been
employed regularly on the 308 working days of the year,
they could have obtained their yearly earnings by an average
day's labor of eight hours for males and eight hours fifty
minutes for females.
We have said the above figures are well-nigh incontrovertible.  The industrial statistics for 1875 obtained the
hours employed daily, the daily wage, and the days employed
yearly for 300,000 workingmen and women in this State;
when the final figures are arrived at, as far as statistics are
concerned, the questions of hours of labor and earnings will
be settled, for a decade at least. The industrial statistics of
Massachusetts, soon to be published, will contain the results
referred to, with special reference to sex, particular occupation, piece or day work and age.
KIND OF LABOR.
The United States census of 1870 has supplied the only
reliable information that the bureau has had as to the number
of persons engaged in the various industries of the State,
but the classification was not sufficiently minute to be of
great value. The State census for 1875, when published,
will give the occupation of every person in the State by its
exact name, and with a classification as to age. As a basis
for correct thought and  proper legislation, the resulting




80
figures will be invaluable.  The ratio of the producing and
non-producing classes will then be definitely established.
CONDITION OF WORKING PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES AND EMPLOYMENTS.
The report of 1870 recommended,"That the whole subject of tenement-houses, their evils, and the
remedies therefor, and the enforcement of all laws relating thereto,
be committed to the State Board of Health."
It also declared the belief of the officers," That there is peril to life and limb from unguarded machinery,
and peril to health from lack of ventilation, and'insufficiency of
means of escape in case of fire, in many establishments, and that
these evils can only be prevented by detailed enactments.
"That there will be great difficulty in carrying any remedies into
effective force, excepting by establishment under law of a system of
inspection, as in England."
The report for 1871 took the same ground as that of 1870,
in relation to tenement-houses and a system of factory inspection.
The report for 1872, thus refers to tenement-houses:"Our exposure of tenement-houses has excited a deep and effective
interest in the real condition of the homes of low-paid laborers, and
led the way to means of relief, and, perhaps, of remedy."
The report for 1874 considers that" To produce the better status of the working classes there should
be," 1. An effort in his own behalf on the part of the workingman to
remove from himself the evil influences, physical and moral, that too
greatly surround his home.
" 2. An organized effort on the part of philanthropy and capital
conjoined, to aid him in this work, by the creation of cheap, healthful
and comfortable homes.
" 3. A co-operative effort on the part of employer and employed
to secure for the benefit of both the most favorable hygienic conditions of employ.
"4. A care that certain requirements of existing law, statute and
physical, should receive full recognition in the employment of labor
as affecting females in particular.




81
" 5. A union of capital and labor to forward the vital interests of
both, in home and factory, in the securing of the supplies of life,
the care of the sick, and their kindred interests.' Not fearful lest
we do too much, but lest we do not enough.'"
The same volume says, concerning the homes of workingmen:" The great want of Fall River is better homes for the operatives.
There are hundreds of tenements that are really unfit to live in,
entirely without the comforts, and with very few of the absolute
necessary conveniences of a home. But a change is taking place;
and great credit is due the following corporations for their enterprise in building tenements for the use of their operatives: Mechanics, Davol, Sagamore, Weetamoe, Flint, Wampanoag, King Philip,
Border City, Chace and Slade. The tenements are commodious,
comfortable, well arranged, in healthy locations, and very far in
advance of anything of the kind in Fall River."
The report for 1875 arrives at the following conclusions, in
relation to the employment of women:
" We believe: That the employment at labor of any girl under
fifteen years of age should not be allowed.
"That the employment of girls of other ages-and women generally-at employments unsuited to their sex, should not be suffered
(such employments being determined by a council of salubrity, in
France, composed of those most eminently fit for their high commission).
" That in such employments as women should be admitted to,
they should be permitted a'periodical absence,' without pecuniary
loss for such time, as might be just and necessary.
"That in employments where women should be admitted, and
which require high degrees of mental concentration, with physical
energy, additional vacations of sufficient extent should be the right
of the employe.
"That in all employments it should be obligatory upon the
employer to conduct the processes of the occupation under the most
advantageous conditions to health, and to secure all improvements
in this regard that may become approved.
"That in all larger manufactories (of over certain numbers of
employes) there should be special sanitary supervision, at the
expense of the proprietors.
"That there should be a well-established examination and certifi11




82
cation of all employes, male and female, proposing to engage in any
deleterious or burdensome employ,-only those being certified who
are found in the possession of health not to be unduly impaired
thereby, and only such to be employed as are certified."
The same report says, in relation to the Granite Mills
disaster at Fall River:
" A repetition of this disaster should be made practically impossible. No love of gain should be allowed to put human life at risk.
The number of manufacturers who knowingly endanger the lives of
their operatives is probably very small in this State; but there are
undoubtedly some, and these should be restrained by law. There
are many more who take every means that they consider necessary
to insure the safety of their operatives.  These need law for
enlightenment. Here and there can be found manufacturers who
foresee and provide against every conceivable accident; but these
men are exceptional, and always will be. Other men, whose love of
gain may be no stronger, and whose hearts may be as tender, continue to endanger the health and lives of their employes through
sheer ignorance or thoughtlessness."
In a general consideration of the subject of the condition
of working people in their employments, the report for 1875
says:
" To remedy what we have referred to, requires, it seems to us, a
simple, comprehensive factory Act, which shall clearly define the
duties of mill-owners, as to the protection of machinery, ventilation,
etc., of rooms, fire-escapes and the employment of children, and, if
possible, of married women, and the regulation of their hours of
labor; and which should also clearly define the duties of parents;
the law should provide fines for both owners and parents for violation of its provisions; a suitable number of inspectors should be
provided, to see that all the provisions of the law are fully carried
out, and also to see that the laws relating to the education of
children of operatives are enforced."
A factory Act, of which an outline is given on page 44, was
suggested as a means of carrying out the above provisions.
As the results of an investigation into the manner of living
of about four hundred families of workingmen, the following
conclusions were arrived at:



83
" First. That, among the families visited, those containing the
greatest number of child workers occupy the most crowded rooms
and the inferior class of tenements.
" Second. That about three-quarters of the workingmen's homes
which we visited are in good condition as regards locality and
needful sanitary provisions; but," Third. That nearly one-half of the unskilled laborers live in
the inferior tenements.
"Fourth.  That the working classes of Massachusetts, judging
from our investigations, are well fed.
"Fifth.  That their food, in variety and quality, is above the
average of that consumed in foreign countries, and that, as regards
quantity of animal food used, their' higher level' is unquestionable.
" Sixth. That, as far as our investigations extended, our workingmen are, on the average, well and comfortably clothed.
" Seventh. That their manner of dress is, at least, capable of
most favorable comparison with that in foreign countries.
" Eighth. That a large proportion of the skilled workingmen
visited have sewing and other labor-saving machines in use in their
families.
" Ninth.  That, as evidences of material prosperity to a certain
extent, significant numbers of the families (the aid of child labor
being fully allowed) own pianos or cabinet-organs, have carpeted
rooms, and maintain pews in church."
WAGES, EARNINGS, COST OF LIVING, SAVINGS.
Previous to 1875 many investigations had been made by the
bureau into the wages, earnings, cost of living and savings
of workingmen, but the small number of cases examined into
invalidated, to a certain extent, the conclusions derived therefrom.  In 1875 the investigations covered about four hundred
families, and each family made complete returns on all points
considered.  The conclusions arrived  at were, as regards
earnings,
" First.  That, in the majority of cases, workingmen in this Commonwealth do not support their families by their individual earnings
alone.
"Second. That the amount of earnings contributed by wives,
generally speaking, is so small, that they would save more by staying at home than they gain by outside labor.
"Third. That fathers rely, or are forced to depend, upon their




84
children for from  one-quarter to one-third of the entire family
earnings.
" Fourth.  That children under fifteen years of age supply, by their
labor, from one-eighth to one-sixth of the total family earnings."
As regards expenses,"First.  That, judging from the proportionate outlay for dress, as
regards entire expenses, there is no evidence that the workingmen
we visited, in obedience to fashion, indulged in an excessive or disproportionate expenditure.
"Second. That, from our investigations, we find no evidence, or
indication, that workingmen spend large sums of money extravagantly or for bad habits.
" Third. That, as regards subsistence, rents and fuel, the workingmen's families which we visited paid therefor larger percentages
of their income than do workingmen's families, with like incomes, in
Prussia and other European countries.
"Fourth.  That, as regards clothing and sundry expenses, our
workingmen's families paid therefor smaller percentages of their
income than do workingmen's families, with like incomes, in the
countries mentioned above."
And, finally, as regards savings," First. That more than one-half of the families visited save
money; less than one-tenth are in debt, and the remainder make
both ends meet.
" Second. That, without children's assistance, other things remaining equal, the majority of these families would be in poverty or
debt.
" Third. That savings, by families and fathers alone, are made in
every branch of occupation investigated; but that in only a few
cases is there evidence of the possibility of acquiring a competence,
and, in those cases, it would be the result of assisted or family
labor.
"Fourth. That the higher the income, generally speaking, the
greater the saving, actually and proportionately.
"Fifth. That the average saving is about three per cent of the
earnings.
"Sixth.  That while the houses of the workingmen visited compare most favorably with those in foreign countries and other States
in the Union, yet, in certain of the United States, workingmen have
better opportunities for acquiring homes of their own."




85
The report of 1872 remarked, in relation to deposits in
savings banks,"That the increase of the deposits in savings banks is not an
evidence of the increased means of the working classes, but that, on
the contrary, the instances into which we have been able to examine,
prove that the greatest amount of deposits is not the deposits of
wage laborers."
From  returns three times as numerous as those obtained
the year previous, the report for 1873 draws these conclusions:
"First. That notwithstanding the commonly received opinion, the
fact is that all the money on deposit in our savings banks is not the
savings of wage labor, distinctively so called.
"Second. That from what is known to be the average annual
earnings of wage laborers, and the average annual cost of supporting the average sized family of such laborers, a wage laborer cannot
in any one single year, as a rule, save out of his earnings a sum of
money equal to the average deposit of $573.33, that being the
average for the year 1870, of parties depositing in sums of and
over $300 at one time.
"Third. That beyond.question, the depositors in our savings
banks are, in large excess, as we have said, members of the wageearning class; the deposits under $300, for the year 1870, being on
the average $55.20 at one time.
"Fourth. That equally true it is that the safety, regularity and
good management, financially, of these banks have allured deposits
from the great middling class of the community, and that this class
of depositors is increasing, although the theory of savings banks
declares that they were intended for the poorer classes, they being
believed to be less able to manage money affairs than the middle or
trading class, or than professional persons."
The report for 1874, with returns from 115 banks out of
169, showed the following results: Average deposit of daywagle laborers, $121.72; the average for all depositors was
$152.91.  The day-wage class deposited 44.8 per cent of the
whole amount placed in the savings banks; it represented
57.7 per cent of the whole numler of depositors.  Of the
deposits under $300 at one time, the wage laborers deposited
58 per cent of the amount; of those above $300 at one time,




86
36.4 per cent of the amount. The salaried, professional and
so-called capitalist classes made up the remaining percentages.
It will be seen that the conclusions of the bureau officers in
1872 and 1873 were substantially corroborated by the returns
of 1874.
The introduction of the bill in 1876, relating to deposits
and rate of interest in savings banks, was, undoubtedly, owing,
ill some extent, to the facts obtained by the bureau.
The report for 1876 contains returns from more than 70,000
workingmen and women, relating to wages, earnings, cost of
livilg, and savings.
About fifty thousand workingmen reported an average annual income derived from  usual daily wages, other earnings,
earnings of wife and children and garden crops, of $534.99.
The average annual cost of living was $488.96.  This leaves a
possible saving of $46.03 yearly, or 8+  per cent.  The
returns for 1875 were entirely from married men having families dependent upon them, while the returns of 1876 are, in
a great many instances, from  single men.  This fact may
account, in part, for the increase in percentage of possible
surplus or saving.
About fifteen thousand working women reported an average
annual income, derived fiom the sources above-named, excepting, of course, wife's earnings, of $203.59.  The average
annual cost of living was $182.86.  This indicates a possible
saving of $20.73 yearly, or 10 — per cent.  The averages
for both workingmen and women  combined, from  all the
sources given above, were,-earnings, $459.93; cost of living,
$439.09; possible saving, $20.82.  The possible avelrage saving, in 1875, was nearly the same, being $24.72.
RESULTS OF THE WAGE SYSTEM
The report for 1870 expressed the opinion,"That the wage system (though better than the villenage which
it succeeded), which has been to the present day the accepted
method of distribution of the proceeds of labor, has proved to be
adverse in its influence to the general good, and that it should yield
to the system of co-operation,-the vital question being, how to educate the people up to the adoption thereof."




87
The report for 1872 gave expression to the following conclusions:
"We think that the history of wage labor and wage laborers,
which we have presented, proves that the great body of working
people,-from  the date of the organization of wage labor,-has
only kept along on a general level with their earnings,-they, however, barely paying their way, and being oftener in debt than out of
debt;
" That those who perform the severest labor, and work the greatest number of hours, are the lowest paid,-always have been, and,
under existing systems, must so continue to be,-they embodying
that class which, from the necessity of inadequate wage, must commence labor at so early a period of life as to be deprived of a fair
degree of education, and must, therefore, be perpetuated as the
ignorant class, from which springs the'dangerous class' in every
nation, and which, spite of our educational advantages, already
exists here, especially in our large municipalities;
"That poverty-by which we mean inability to subsist for any
considerable period of time beyond the discontinuance, for any cause,
of regular wage labor-always has been, and is, the normal condition of wage laborers, and that, therefore, the historic method of
wage labor, or that system by which, in all time heretofore, the
most work has been obtained for the least wage-is radically erroneous, and should be changed for one more just and more equitable
in its distribution of the wealth produced by labor;
" That a reduction of wages has not followed a reduction of time,
but, on the contrary, wages have increased with reduced hours; nor
has a proportionate reduction of product followed a reduction of
time."
The report for 1875 made the assertion that"It seems natural and just that a man's labor should be worth,
and that his wages should be as much as, with economy and prudence, will comfortably maintain himself and family, enable him to
educate his children, and also to lay by enough for his decent support when his laboring powers have failed."
The report continues:"This is what the wage system should do. What does it do that
seems'natural and just'?  What does it fail to do? and What
does it do that is weak and criminal?




88
" 1st.  What does it do? It enables the workingman, in a minority of cases, to comfortably maintain himself and family by his individual earnings; again, it enables the workingman, in the majority
of cases, by the aid of the labor of his wife and children, to do the
same. In both instances given above, it enables the father or family
to keep some of the children at school.
" 2d.  What does it fail to do? It fails to pay the father so much
for his labor that he can in all cases support his family on his own
earnings, educate all his children up to a proper age, buy a suitable
home from his savings, or lay by enough for his decent support when
his laboring powers have failed.
"3d.  What does it do that is weak and criminal? It uses men
and women when they are strong, and leaves them to shift for themselves when they are sick, infirm or without employment. This it
does by paying no more for labor than the bare cost of existence of
the body. It usurps to its benefit the future productive power of the
state, by employing children who should be in school or at play,
setting at defiance the organic law of production by paying to 44
per cent of the individuals but 24 per cent in wage. It pays to 10
per cent of the workers such small wages that they are in debt and
poverty, and it holds out to such unfortunates no promise or
prospect of a bettering of condition, but allows them to become
objects of commiseration, and to attribute their sufferings to the
prevailing system of labor."
After considering the provisions of the National Bankrupt
Law and its workings, the report inquires:" Why, in justice, should the broken merchant receive the benefit
of the bankrupt law, when unable from loss or poor management to
pay his bills, and the broken laborer, no more criminal or lacking in
good intentions than the merchant, have only the poor debtor's oath
to relieve him (and then only from arrest, the debt remaining), with
its attendant stultification of his feelings of manhood?
" Why should not the insolvent laborer be discharged from  all
debts, under the provisions of a general insolvent law (in which the
legal fees established should not be so large as to be prohibitory in
his case), by the payment of fifty per cent, as well as the bankrupt
merchant?
"Firms and corporations, when threatened with loss, reduce
expenses, stop manufacturing, and, if necessary, pay half the amount
of their bills and begin afresh. The workingman suffers by the suspension of work, cannot reduce his expenses materially, gets in debt,




89
has no royal way of beginning again, but must keep on with his load
of debt still hanging to him. Either one thing or the other, it is
plain, should be done. Either every competent adult laborer should
receive enough as wages (the minimum sum, and as much more as
he can command) to enable him to get along without debt, or he
should have the same recourse to a relieving law that merchants,
corporations or other employers possess."
The consideration of the subject is thus concluded:" Much can be rightfully and truly said, as we have shown, against
the prevailing wage system, but the iconoclasm that strives to break
it down, unless at the same time it shows the superstructure of a
more equitable and easily managed one, will be devoid of fruitful
results or permanent benefit."
EDUCATION AND KINDRED TOPICS.
No subject has received more attention from the bureau
officers than that of education-with particular reference to
working children. Their cause was warmly espoused at the
outset, and each year has brought facts, figures and earnest
argument bearing upon the question of the schooling of such
children.  Messrs. Oliver and McNeill have each held the
position of special constable for the execution of the school
laws, and have done everything possible, by word and act,
under existing laws, to secure the right of education to the
child-workers of the Commonwealth.
The report for 1870 declared,"That the present law in relation to the employment of children
in manufacturing and mechanical establishments in the State is a
dead-letter, and that to remedy this evil an enactment should prohibit the employment of any child under thirteen years of age, nor
at that age, unless such child has received the elements of a common
school education,-age and education to be matters of due certificate
provided for by law,-and no children under fifteen years to be employed in such establishments more than eight hours a day, and
those to be between seven o'clock in the forenoon and five o'clock
in the afternoon, or within a period of five hours before, and of five
hours after mid-day."
12




90
The provisions recommended in the report of 1871 were
still more stringent, requiring" The prohibition by law, with appropriate means of enforcement,
that no child under thirteen years of age shall be employed in any
such establishment, nor at that age, unless such child has received
the elements of a common school education,-age and education to
be matters of due certificate provided for by law; and, further, that
all children between thirteen and fifteen years of age, so employed,
shall not be employed more than six hours any one day, said hours
to be between six o'clock in the forenoon and six o'clock in the afternoon, and shall attend school, vacations excepted, three hours on
each and every day."
To secure the carrying out of the above recommendations,
the same report advocated," The establishment of a system of half-time schools for children
between thirteen and fifteen years of age, employed in such establishments, and for other children whose avocations deprive them of
the benefits of the ordinary full-time schools."
The report for 1872, speaking of the education of working
children, says," Attention has been drawn to the fact that large numbers of
children in the State are unschooled, and a general demand has
arisen for an effective compulsory law and its enforcement. In
addition to this, half-time schools are becoming better understood
and appreciated."
The same report again advocated the establishment of halftime schools, as did the report issued in 1873. The report
for 1874 expresses its convictions as follows;" From what we have been able to learn, the law in relation to
the employment of children neither is, nor can be, enforced. Should
the managers of mills co-operate heartily with the officers of the
cities and towns, or of the State, the law could not well be enforced.
The testimony of the school boards in some of the manufacturing
places is, that often as much difficulty arises from parents as from
mill-owners and managers.




91
" The interest of parents, and, alas, too frequently the necessity
of the case, compels the father or mother, or both, to register a
falsehood, in order to keep the wolf from the door; but so long as
children of tender age, more fit for the hospital than the mill, are
allowed to have a place in our factories, their employment will be
tolerated, and the cheapness of their labor materially affects the
wages of older persons.
" With compulsory education, in fact, as well as in theory, will
come a remedy of this evil, and a positive benefit be received for
the operatives; but behind, and superior to all compulsion by law,
there should exist that most powerful of all incentives to action,strong, healthy and unmistakable public sentiment.
" There should be, and probably there is, some way to enforce
the principle which Massachusetts believes to be her system  of
education-schooling for all classes; but, as yet, so far as millchildren are concerned, not only our law but our system, in a large
degree, is a dead-letter."
After examining the statistics of the state board of education, the report continues,"It is safe, therefore, to say that, at least 25,000 children
between the ages of five and fifteen do not receive the slightest
education either in our public or private schools. From all we can
learn, a very large proportion of this number would come under the
provisions of the sole factory-law of the Commonwealth, if the law
was broad enough and provided sufficient means for enforcing it."
The succeeding signs of progress are from the same report:
"To educate the mill-children, and carry along the school with
their work, a few cities and towns have established half-time, or
evening schools. Four towns and cities,-viz., Pittsfield, Taunton,
Salem and Springfield,-have half-time schools, and thirteen towns
and cities,-viz., Chelsea, Fall River, Hinsdale, Lawrence, Marlborough, Medford, Pittsfield, Salem, Springfield, Taunton, Westfield,
Ware and Worcester,-have evening schools for such purpose.
"Generally these schools are in a flourishing condition, and are
accomplishing a good work.
" It is deserving special mention that the Merchants Mills of
Dedham have a school of their own, employing the teachers, etc.;
the average attendance is 120, three nights a week. That the




92
Hopewell Cotton Mills of Taunton support at their own expense a
day school during three months of the year. Also that the Whittenton Mills of Taunton sustain two churches, two Sabbath schools
and libraries for the benefit of their operatives. The Pacific Mills
at Lawrence have a large library for operatives, the expense of
which is sustained partially by the corporation.
"The whole number of towns and cities having evening schools
of all kinds is thirty-seven."
The summing up of evidence collected led to the following
conclusion and recommendation:" Upon this subject of the education of mill-children, there seems
to be but one opinion: that the matter is not attended to, either by
the state or local authorities; that legislation is desired to compel
attendance, to punish illegal employment of children, and to provide
proper schools for instruction of operatives, along with work."
The report for 1875, as will be seen by reference to page
41 et seq., took strong ground against the establishment of
half-time schools, and as strong ground in favor of compulsory education.  The number of unschooled children has
always been a matter of doubt, despite the returns of the
board of education.  The census for 1875 will show the
number of persons of the school age in the State.  The
number of children attending school, for at least three
months in the year, was also ascertained by an inquiry on
the family schedule, and those both at school and at work
are specially designated. It is hoped that the results when
presented will supply a solution of the question as to the
number of uneduoated children growing up among us, and
indicate where the remedy must be applied.  If the law
passed in 1876, and given on page 46, is properly enforced,
the evils of child labor will be thoroughly known, then
mitigated, and finally removed.
CO-OPERATION.
The consideration of the subject of co-operation has not
been carried to a great length in the reports. The English
successes and failures have been noted and commented on,
but the system has failed to take strong root in our laboring
NUV YV H UYVU\IV~VI-VVI~V ~~V   HL               0




93
communities, and there has been but little of home progress
to record.
The report for 1870, referring to associations of labor and
capital, remarks,"That legislation having hitherto favored capital, almost exclusively, the remedy for this partiality is the extension of its protection
to labor, so that associations of labor shall be as favorably recognized as associations of capital."
The report of 1873, in its consideration of the progress of
labor legislation, says:
"The time of legislatures, national and state, is occupied almost
exclusively with the consideration of questions how to increase the
facilities by which capital may be accumulated, while very little
time or thought is given to the question how the laborer can, by
lessened work-time and increased means, achieve that education
which shall elevate him to a truer manhood. With this added
leisure, and these increased means, and this better education, he
will be able to think out and to work out the methods by which
co-operation may safely take the place of wage-labor. For to this
he looks as the end of the solution of the absorbing questions at
issue between capital and labor."
The report for 1874 thus refers to co-operation in the city
of Fall River:
"There is one co-operative store, for the sale of groceries, provisions, meat, and boots and shoes, doing a cash business of $60,000
per year. They have paid to members as profits, during six years,
$29,760.84. They now own their stores and are in a very flourishing
condition. In addition to this, there are twenty-one dividing stores,
dividing $30,000 worth per month, at a cost of 3~ per cent, and a
profit of 20 per cent on purchases; a saving of $72,000 a year to
the families engaged in them.  Quite a large amount of stock of
corporations is owned by operatives, and several hundred thousand
dollars stand to their credit in savings banks, besides a larger
amount in real estate."
The report for 1875 devotes fifty pages to the subject of
distributive co-operation, and gives returns from nearly all
the distributive co-operative societies in the  State.   The
information contained in the article is exhaustive, and forms




94
the most complete presentation ever given, in this State, of
co-operative principles and their extension among the classes
likely to be benefited by their introduction.  The advantages
of co-operation are thus explained:
"Distributive co-operation will help that man and others who
avail themselves of it.  If one purchases a barrel of flour at a
co-operative store for a dollar less than one of the same quality can
be bought elsewhere, he has saved the earnings of a third or half a
day's work. If, as experience appears to indicate, about ten per
cent can be stated as an average return to the purchaser of money
paid in, on a trade of $250 per annum, $25 is saved. This is not
all, however: being a member with others, he knows that the
articles he is receiving came in unbroken packages from the producer or wholesale dealer, and that they are free from adulteration
by deleterious or other ingredients; hence they will go farther.
He knows, too, that he obtains full weight; consequently his purchase will last him longer, so that he receives a substantial gain
from three sources."
XI.-THE CENSUS AND INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS OF 1875.
The first officers of the bureau, Messrs. Oliver and McNeill,
saw at the outset of their work that the limited appropriation
allowed the bureau, and its want of power, would prevent
the investigations having that force that comes from numbers.
An average based upon fifty returns may be as true as one
founded on fifty thousand; but the argument to prove it can
never be made as effective as the fifty thousand returns themselves. The officers above named, in the report for 1871,
recommended"The authorization by law, with methods of carrying it into
effect, of a thorough and exhaustive system of statistics, to be
gathered by the parties employed in taking the next state census,
in 1875, covering the subjects of the wages, earnings and savings,
time employed and lost, of all classes of working people, the number
of persons (men, women, young persons and children) employed in
the several industrial occupations in the Commonwealth, and of
other matters connected with the subject of labor in the State."
The same officers repeated the recommendation in the report
for 1872, and reiterated it in that for 1873. In the latter
report they also said:



95
"We would recommend that the assessors of each city and town,
the agents or superintendents of all manufacturing and mechanical
establishments, the treasurers of all chartered corporations, manufacturing, mechanical, mercantile, transportation, and savings banks,
etc., be required to report to this bureau, on or before the first day
of September of each year, answers to such questions relating to
ownership of property, wages, earnings, hours of labor, savings,
etc., pertaining to the question of labor, as comprised in the Resolve
establishing the bureau."
A bill similar to the above in general import was introduced
in the House in 1876, with the idea of carrying into effect the
recommendations of Governor Rice. The disposal of the bill
is recorded on page 45.
Messrs. Wright and Long, in their report for 1874, sustained the recommendations of the former officers, and June
30, 1874, the following Act was approved:[Chap. 386, Acts of 1874.]
AN ACT to provide for taking the Industrial Statistics and Decennial Census of the
Commonwealth.
SECT. 1. The industrial statistics of the Commonwealth for the
year eighteen hundred and seventy-five shall be gathered under the
direction of the bureau of statistics of labor by such of the assessors
of the several cities and towns as said bureau shall appoint.
SECT. 2. The decennial census of the Commonwealth, required
by articles twenty-one and twenty-two of the amendments to the
constitution, shall be taken by the same persons as are appointed to
gather the industrial statistics as provided in the preceding section,
and the returns thereof shall be returned into the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth.
SECT. 3. The secretary of the board of education, the secretary
of the board of agriculture, and the insurance commissioner, shall
revise the schedule of heads of information set forth in chapter one
hundred and forty-six of eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and suggest to said bureau such alterations therein, and additions thereto
relating to the subjects within their several departments, as they
may respectively deem advisable; and the officers of said bureau
shall revise the schedule, with the alterations and suggestions thus
proposed, and lay the same, so revised, before the governor and
council for their approval, on or before the first day of December
next; and the said schedule, when approved by the governor and
council, shall take the place of and be substituted for the schedule




96
contained in said chapter one hundred and forty-six of eighteen
hundred and sixty-five.
SECT. 4. SO far as the returns of the industrial statistics from
the several cities and towns relate to the amount, description
and value of stock, and fuel consumed, and of articles manufactured; to the produce of land, quarries, kilns, coal-beds, ore-beds,
and fisheries; to wool, wood, bark, charcoal, farm products, live
stock, ice and products of like character; to vessels and boats built
and buildings erected,-they shall embrace the year ending on the
first day of May in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-five; and
in all other particulars shall state the facts as they shall exist in the
respective cities and towns on said first day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, agreeably to such general directions as may
be seasonably prescribed by the bureau of statistics of labor.
SECT. 5. The said bureau, after it shall have gathered the facts
as called for by this act, shall cause to be prepared and printed true
abstracts of the same for the use of the legislature.
SECT. 6. If any party authorized by said bureau to collect statistics under this act shall wilfully neglect to make true returns of
his doings, as may be called for, he shall forfeit and pay a fine not
exceeding two hundred dollars; and if any person shall refuse to
give information required by this act, to a person duly authorized
to receive the same, he shall forfeit and pay a fine not exceeding
one hundred dollars.
SECT. 7. All fines arising under this act may be recovered in
any court of competent jurisdiction, by information or complaint of
the attorney-general, and shall accrue wholly to the Commonwealth.
SECT. 8. SO much of section three of chapter sixty-nine of the
acts of the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five as is
inconsistent with the provisions of this act is hereby repealed.
SECT. 9. Chapter one hundred and forty-six of the acts of the
year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five is hereby amended
so as to conform to the provisions of this act.
SECT. 10. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Immediately upon the passage of the above Act, the bureau
began its preliminary work.  From  the Industrial Statistics
of the State for 1865, the United States Census of 1870, the
censuses of New York and the British Empire, from  documents supplied  by Dr. Edward Jarvis, Gen. Francis A.
Walker, and other statisticians, all possible information was
obtained.  Circulars were sent to the assessors of each town,
requesting the names of new industries, and subdivisions of




97
old ones, started within their towns during the preceding
ten years.  Every available work containing the names of
industries or their subdivisions was examined. Labor reformers were requested to submit forms of questions to elicit the
information desired on the subject of labor. Correspondence
was had with the board of education, board of agriculture, and
the insurance commissioner, in relation to the provisions of
section three.  December 12, 1874, the Industrial Statistics
Schedule was presented in manuscript to the governor and
council.  December 22, the committee of the council to whom
it was referred reported that they had "examined the same,
and take great pleasure in recommending its approval by the
governor and council."  The report was accepted the same
day, and the schedule became part of the law.
A brief description only of the Industrial Statistics Schedule can be given here. It has been printed, and, with copies
of all forms and schedules used in the carrying out of the law
of 1874, forms a volume entitled "THE CENSUS SYSTEM  OF
MASSACHUSETTS."  Copies will be sent to the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, heads of state departments, prominent statisticians in this country and Europe, and wherever
its circulation may be deemed of advantage.  We give a
synopsis of its contents:Div. I.-Manufactures.-This division contains fifty subdivisions,
mentioning by name, and denoting the specific questions applying,
ten hundred and seventy-six industries and subdivisions of industries. The general questions were from  six to eight in number;
the special inquiries numbered thirty-four.
DIv. II.-Occupations.-Three subdivisions, containing the names
of eighty-six occupations. Three to ten general questions, and
forty-two special.
Div. III.-Products.-Two subdivisions, containing the names of
one hundred and twenty-five products. From one to eight general
questions.
DIv. IV.-Property.-Three subdivisions, containing the names
or description of fifty kinds of property.
Div. V.-Special Inquiries.-Four subdivisions, containing twenty-six special inquiries relating to employers and their establishments,
twenty-four relating to individuals (workingmen, women and children), eighteen submitted by the secretary of the board of education, and three proposed by the insurance commissioner.
13




98
The Indexes cover the divisions above mentioned, sixtyfour subdivisions, and thirteen hundred and thirty-seven schedule heads upon which information was desired and provided
for.  The Appendix contains all laws pertaining to the subject, and copies of all schedules and forms used in the prosecution of the work.
Chap. 37, Resolves of 1875, provided compensation for
taking the Census and Industrial Statistics, fixing the hours
for enumerators at ten daily, and the pay at three dollars.
One enumerator was allowed for each 1,500 polls.
Chap. 93, Acts of 1875, provided that the enumerators in
the city of Boston should be appointed by the mayor and
aldermen, and that a special enumeration of the legal voters
residing in each street, avenue or square should be made.
The privileges of this special enumeration of legal voters was
also extended to the other cities of the Commonwealth.
The sum of $70,000 was appropriated on the 19th of April,
1874, to begin the work, and the work was commenced that
day.  Circular letters were sent to mayors and selectmen for
the nominations of enumerators.  Upon the receipt of names
an explanatory letter as to duties, etc., and a commission, were
sent to each; also a form of oath to perform duties as required
by law.  Upon receipt of the latter, schedules and instructions were forwarded, and on May 25th enumerators were
engaged in the work, every town being provided for.  Additional instructions were sent as necessity required, and a large
correspondence was carried on daily to meet special points of
inquiry. Each enumerator was required to keep a detailed
time account, and make oath to the same. The names of parties refusing to answer inquiries were sent to the office upon
"penalty notices."  Correspondence was then entered into
with the delinquent parties, and, in the whole State, less than
a score of manufacturers have failed to comply with the requirements of the law.  The enumerator made oath, also, as
to the number of schedules collected, and gave, upon a form
provided, his personal opinion of the accuracy of the work,
showing, especially, points of failure, and items in his experience as a collector of facts.  Census returns were soon received from the smaller towns, and the work of tabulation
began immediately.  Within a week after the arrival of the




99
last census returns a printed recapitulation of fourteen points
upon the family schedule was presented to the secretary of
state. The tabulation of the industrial statistics was commenced as soon as a suitable number of returns had been
received.
In 1876, the sum of $46,000 was appropriated to meet the
deficiency for 1875, and a further sum of $21,500 to complete
the tabulations and preparation for the press. The whole
cost, not including printing and binding, was $137,500.  The
number of men employed as enumerators was five hundred
and twenty-nine.  Average time of each man employed, fiftyone days.  The whole number of properly filled schedules
returned to the office was 506,702.  The answers on the same
are closely estimated at thirteen millions.
SCHEDULE FORMS AND MANNER OF TABULATION.
The schedule forms used were six in number, and designated
by the following names: Family, Individual, Manufactures,
Occupation, Products and Property, and Special.  A special
instruction sheet was sent out with the Family schedule; the
instructions were attached to the others.  Every inquiry
contained in the Industrial Statistics schedule found a place
on one or the other of the specified forms. The following
presentation will give an idea of the schedule arrangement as
regards subjects:Family Schedule.-Name, Relation to Head of Family, Sex and
Age, Color and Race, Conjugal Condition, Children, Place of Birth,
Profession, Trade or Occupation, School Attendance, Private
Libraries, Illiteracy, Diseased Conditions, Pauperism, Crime, Polls,
Voters and Aliens, and the general points, Number of Families, and
number of occupied and unoccupied dwelling houses.
Individual Schedule.-Occupation chiefly depended on for a living,
whether at work, number dependent, hours employed daily, days
employed yearly, daily wage, yearly earnings, other earnings, wife's
earnings, minor children's earnings, chronic sickness and disability,
number owning houses, mortgages, rate of interest on same, number
of rooms hired, yearly rent, value of garden crops, cost of living,
amount in savings bank and volumes in private library.
Manufactures Schedule.-General inquiries, Persons employed,
Time employed, Wages, Work furnished Women at Home, "Team"
work, Relief Funds and Libraries, Accidents, Motive Power, Size of




100
Establishment, Persons in each Story and Means of Escape in case of
Fire, Gas Companies, Paper, Grist, Flouring and Lumber Mills, Tanneries, Cheese Factories, Machinery in Cotton, Woollen and Worsted
Mills, Ship Yards, Book and Pamphlet Publishing, Newspapers and
other Periodicals.
Occupation Schedule.-Occupations related to Manufactures, Persons employed, Time employed, Wages, Work furnished Women at
Home, Relief Funds and Libraries, Motive Power, Accidents, Size of
Establishment, Persons in each Story and Means of Escape in case
of Fire, Cod and Mackerel Fishing, Wages, Profits and Investments
of Persons employed in Cod and Mackerel Fishing, Shell-fishing,
Whale Fishery, Fish taken for Oil or other Products, Fish taken for
Food, Coastwise and Ocean Commerce.
Products and Property Schedule.-Domestic Manufactures, Hay,
Agricultural Products, Number, Acreage and Value of Farms,
Number, Description and Value of Buildings on Farms, Persons
Employed in Agriculture, Wages in Agriculture, Value of Agricultural Implements in Use, Cultivated Land, Uncultivated Land, Fruit
Trees and Grape Vines, Mines, Quarries, Pits, Domestic Animals.
Special Schedule.-Libraries, Public Schools, Incorporated and
Unincorporated Private Schools, Reservoirs.
Of the half million schedules returned properly filled to the
office, 359,000  were  Family schedules, with  twenty-one
inquiries each; Individual schedule, 80,893, with twenty
inquiries; Manufactures schedule, 10,730, with one hundred
and five inquiries; Occupation schedule, 11,641, with eightynine inquiries; Products and Property schedule, 42,207, with
forty-three inquiries; Special schedule, 2,231, with twentyone inquiries,-a total of two hundred and ninety-nine distinct inquiries.
The tabulations were conducted on newly devised plans,
which demonstrated their efficiency by most satisfactory results.  Each tabulation was subjected to the test of proof,
and every omission or error brought to'knowledge, corrected
in detail.
The legislature of 1876 provided for the stereotyping of the
census and industrial statistics abstracts, and for the printing,
binding and distribution of six thousand copies of the same.




101
XII.-CONCLUSION.
Beyond the point we have reached, the work of the bureau
is not history, and the outline of future work is too ill-defined
to indulge in prophecy or promise.  The publishing of the
census and industrial statistics is the immediate work of
the bureau.  The three volumes contemplated are-I. The
Census, Schools and Libraries; II. Manufactures and Occupations; III. Agriculture.  They will aggregate from 1,200 to
1,500 pages in public document, octavo.
We do not think the history of the bureau can be effectively summarized in a concluding section, nor do we believe
it is needed. Whatever point is considered we think there
will be found the gratifying sign of progress. In labor legislation, in the broadening of the scope of the bureau's work,
in the results from the additional powers conferred, even if
not reaching its highest aims, the bureau has reason for satisfaction.  The officers can say "we have endeavored well,"
and the hope of the present historian is, that if, in the future,
a similar work is performed, and the results of other years of
bureau work are converted into history, that the facts presented will show an advanced belief in the dignity of labor,
an advanced condition in every respect in the status of workingmen and women, an increase in their happiness, a mitigation of their burdens, their fuller participation in the results
of their toil, —all tending to guarantee the perpetuity and
solid glory of our honored Commonwealth.








INDEX TO SUBJECTS.
I. INTRODUCTION,...........                            5-7
II. LABOR LEGISLATION FROM 1833 TO 1863,.....     7-12
III. LABOR LEGISLATION FROM 1864 TO 1868,.....    13-16
IV. REPORTS OF TWO COMMISSIONS ON HOURS OF LABOR. 1866, 1867,  16-21
V. LABOR LEGISLATION IN 1869.-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BUREAU,.  21-24
VI. LABOR LEGISLATION FROM 1870 TO 1876,......    24-47
VII. FOREIGN LABOR LEGISLATION,.......                   47-52
VIII. ORGANIZATION OF THE BUREAU AND MANNER OF WORKING,..  52-62
IX. DISTRIBUTION OF REPORTS.-OPINIONS OF THE PUBLIC AND THE
PRESS,.                                                   62-72
X. RESULTS OF SEVEN YEARS' INVESTIGATIONS,...  72-94
XI. THE CENSUS AND INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS OF 1875,...94-100
XII. CONCLUSION,..........        101