, 1879-02-24
THE PROBLEM OF LABOR.

interesting Iscsults oil n careful Inquiry In
AIasamc1lusctts-A Much sinn1Ior Number
Of tho Unemployed t',un 0cncrnlly Sup
r,sc'l-ri,o At'viti,co in 1yngcs Compared
with The 1ncrrnS1t Cost OF LlvIuE-The
Cnnrict-I.ni,or Question.
DosToN, Feb. 10.-The tenth nnnrln1 report
of the Bureau of Statistics OF Labor was prc-
scntcd to the Legislature OF Massachusetts this
afternoon, md Is signed BY Col. Carroll u.
Wright, Chief Of thc BurcAu. In tho ihtrodue-
t!un he Gala attention to the fact that those only
who owt rs mucl ns 500 and can pay the expenses
of insolvency lat least s10D morc) can avail
themselves Ut tic nsot;cuey laws, ah,l suggests
that, as t1s la ono of ile l,eavicstLurtlcus OF tho
wOrliingmen, some cheap ,ant expeditions
method be devised 10 enat,lo worl;Ingmeu to
aval themselves Of the law. No Specific rcco1n-
lnct,dation Is made, however. Tile ''trucI; eys-
tenn" Or The payment Of wages In goods, Is dep
recatct1.
'lllc first chapter Of t,lo report Is devoted to
"Thc Unemployed In Massachusetts" Ii, juno
last aspcrial Investigation was n.alo by ca,-
vass Of nil tlIo cities. and by sending crcnlar
of inquiry to The Asscsora ot every torn. An
swcrs were received fron all but 1lfty Lone towns.
.cprescntiny population Of only Y 7,45o, out Of
900, ,0W worth Of Eno1s out of d TOTAL Of $780,
;I3l,!ss3,, n,ul s5,Us9,0y worth Of agricultural
products olst OF total Of S4t,521 ,'gy. BY the
fS:s sdsS. TsssTsS + %oDssea q % t g5s 5 were
skiltctl, and 13259 unskli1cd.' Tie ninctce,,
eltics showed ,13i utemploycd. and me 8e5
tnwna OUT unemployed. Col. Wright ocnlcs
tl!c ot.rcpgAted rcnoSt that there tito from aOO
IO,U0o In boston, all R,090,000 In tho Uuited
States. clc.. u!,l claims tint this Is the first
organ!zcl attcnipt 10 get ut tho faets.
Taking lie vital Statistics Ut the State for
fftsr rtlnr4 r1naur With Tier 114. ,c1,
slow Lei, ,N9j births, t95l1 deaths, an natural
increase OF :, 4so, 1T l. argued tlat tho popula.
ton Of the State Is no iafgcr than three years
oEo bcsase G,ngr9ttp ~, lna exceeded tmmgra-
not tic proper t1Hle to gnthcr such statistics,
bccnuae SO many wero then engaged In agrlcu.-
trral turslita, AtHl tllat II canvass IN November
tsa SIa.xs d a s', rn ser hnMn1a nner ct Ct
ltcycsl lint th|s fact would be Offset by tic In
trcasc ot operatives III notwithstanding establisll-
molst. 1n: November hc Instituted a1,atl'er fp-
ectts ,had In juno 21,8l3 unemployed ablc-
bodied nlaEcs over IL years Of ngu, she Ind in
November not over tb,00o Of tho ea1no class.
! und, fttiutlEng womcn, about $1,000, against
y, 5O9 males md fcfnaigs iii June.
a tifce part Of the report is devoted to cot-
get labor, tho investigation being ordered By q
resolution Of the last Legislature, md occupy
luz much OF the ycar. The Legislatures Of yafi-
uus statcs llnre bccn agltated annually by claims
tsl4t convict labor was roSbll,g tho FREQ lnborers.
mil even nuw special committee fs engaged
daily in protrnttel hearings upoh propositions
locking to reform, Or at least to change in this
matter. Lnst winter starslana passed a law
lint the products Of the Stato Prison should not
/ be sold within Tho State. 1t has been ascer-
tntncl tlsat tile totnl number OF State conyiets In
tho un!ted Statos IN 1878 was 20, l07, u,ll Of
in mechanical industries. OF this New York Ind
the larcest humber, B,b;9, OF wticl, a,6lj wrr0
employed. PeMnsYlyanfn comes next with $50