The Labor enquirer., 1885-04-18
PRICE F44E- GlKaE4e
MRS SMITH, CREED
Capstic Review Of the
0per ations of ths Labor i 1isl
,st;i,, 2f.aIp sdi 5 aIii1 nhfear,safy + y,fiiii 6g iiii
she Sets Forth ! d Hsso v Grsands of
Grievance AGAINST Commis.
,aagss1 faa si0ners Wright. Iu5

- url6Y8uc6 AK8llek SOmMlb.
,n,ass1 faa si0nerss Wright. 5a5
SIT s91iBGiTtiio5 lo gaeiniqo 81 1oI eltils
-aIIssih ad4 g8i n9q----, ~ sQlB ag eaataiua
III Her VOL Nj ~ IiWgas workers Ia without Con.
pcnsation or oraiBarsan.ssHow Her
SOY IL Bsins Isnorel
= : WASHINGTON, March 30.-Your readers
know that a labor bureau was recently
established here and q commissioner ap7
pointed, An appropriation Of $4,000
was made BY congress to defrsy ex-
penses, salaries of officers, etc. 4 o.l ..s-s
aeI It was the general understanding
among the friends Of the bureau, sena-
tors and members especially, that q de-
partment, for women should be formed
as branch of the bureau, and 7 WAS in
dorsed for the head of that department.
byr more than hundred senators and
members of congress, President Arthur
promising to appoint me as such. 5,H
The friends of the wage-womsn of the
country were much elated at the passage
ofthe bill to establish the bureaal OF
labor. They very naturally concluded
that the working of the women's depart
ment of the bureau especially would
serve to throw additional light on the
subject of labor as regards the condition
the wrongs inhicted1upon labor,
the unjust exactions of capital upon
labor, and the best means to be devised
for the amelioration of the laboring
classes. H n ..-asss. .s4H.. Y.Qu...
II With the laudable intention Of being
fully advised as to the intentions of the
labor bureau, the class of work it in
tended mapping out, and the department
assigned woman, l called at the bureau
on the twenty-fourth instant to see the
commissioner. uOn stating the object Of
my visit he informed me shat there
was no department for woman in tho
formation of the bureau" and mo work
assigned her to perform, and that all his
plans were perfected for the year."
Considering I had been .promlsed BY
President Arthur the position of chief
of the woman's department., and my nu-
merous indorsations by our leading legis-
lators, and the fact that had been Ia
boring to obtain the data for the forma-
ton of this buroaut and its ostahliah-
ment that l had been engaged by the
senate and house committees on educa-
ton and labor to compile statistics for
them without any remuneration from
the house committee whatever), and
that it was generally accepted by everv-
body that there would be a woman's
department in the labor bureau, was
certainly amazed-not to say indignant
when told in language palmer than
words that no woman need apply.
The people of the United States will
very naturally inquire, "What this
bureau was formed for? What object is
to be accomplished by its establish
ment, if Commissioner Wright knows he
is Solomon on his own hook ?" One
of the grand objects for which this
bureau was formed, it I understand 1t,
was to inform the country on the sub
ject of labor, to benefit mankind, not
solitary individual, not for men, but for
men, women and children. have heard
the commissioner will view labor from
scientific standpoint, but we women
are after the practical issues of life. His
theories may be correct, but we are not
theorizing.
I claim that the bureau was established
to show some practical results. He, on
the other hand, maintains that it was
formed to enable him to indulge in theo-
ries. Governments, like individuals,
generally have some motive in view to
govern their actions, and will not in
suit the intelligence of congress by ad-
mitting that the act to establish bureau
Of labor was simply an idle whim, with
out motive and without a purpose.
Let us now consider the objects for
which the bureau was formed. 1t could
not have been to show the state of labor
in Europe, for we find one, of the most
comprehensive and able reports issued
from the department. of state, under the
head of United States consular reports,
together with a letter from the secretary
of state, reviewing reports from the con-
suls of the United States in relation, to
the state of labor in Europe. This re-
port embraces full information from
every United States consul in every
country in the world, and furnishes us
with all we desire to know on the subject.
Then we are satisfied as to labor in
Europe, IN every sense of the term,
manufacturing and mechanical, CONNER
cial, professional, personal, including
woman's employment in every branch
agriculture, mining, and all other Pur.
suits. Can the commissioner add any
thing to this fund of informationF To
whom will he apply? r. =
Then we have the reports from the
consuls of the United States in every
cline ~ -. r: 's.1 "a5 + n
From Greenland's icy mountains,
51sst From India's coral strand, :..|
lza.. Where Afric's sunny fountains ',.s<f