St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-27
HOW The POOR HIRE.
Labor Commissioner Lamb
DelveS to the Root Of
Many Questions,
And Comes Out With a Report
Containing Startling 4
Conclusions. +.
Child Labor Is Shown to Be
~Alarmingly on the In 4
crease.
Matters Which Deserve the
Immediate Attention of :
Lawmakers.

AA % H 3
The second biennial report of the
state bureau of LABOR statistics has just
been issued. 1t is a volume of 377 pages,
consisting of six chapters. viz: School
Attendance, Child Labor, Manual and
Technical Training, Workingmen's
Earnings and Expenses, Mine Inspec-
ton, and State Labor Laws. The chap
ter on School Attendance begins with a
comparison between Minnesota and
other states with reference to regularity
of attendance, and also a comparison
between the United States and other
countries with reference to attendance
and illiteraey. Very full testimony is
given on the subject of compulsory at
tendance, both in America and Europe.
AS this is a question upon which the
next legislature will, in all probability,
be required to pass, a perusal of this
testimony will place every member in
the possession of the very knowledge,
in Condensed form. which he needs in
order to act intelllgently on the SUBJ
ject. Then follows a table showing the
average number of days attendance for
children of each age in each county and
in each city of 5000 inhabitants and
over, with condensed tables for the
state. By these tables it appears that
the .
Average Days Attendance
during a, year in district and village
schools is Ills; in city schools, 125. GA,
and in both classes united, S2.S2. In
parOchial schools il is 141. go. In the
analysis of the tables it appears that
29;024 children, or l0:6 per cent, attend
| school II month or less; 81 $50, or 34.4
per cent, attend two months or less, and
liz, 81, or 41.2 per cent, attend three
months q. less. The chapter on child
labor begins with a review of factory
Legislation in England and presents a
synopsis of the English factory act of
1878 and the text of the Massachusetts
labor laws. A statement from the
United States census of 1880 is given
showing the alarming growth of child
labor during the decade preceding the
| papers of the American Economic asSO-
citation are given. which wildly portray
the conditions under which children
work in various parts of the country.
Theh follow the tables
On Child Labor
in the state, running through thirty
three pages. From these tables it APP.
pears that less than ID per cent are
under twelve years of age; that SO cents
per day is the average wages; that 10
per cent are fatherless, 81 per cent
motherless and 2.2F per cent have lost
both parents. tFhe average months
employment is Sc; the average months
of school attendance &c. The tables
show that 92.3 per cent can read, SS.4
can write, 1913 can add, I'll car sub
tract, AT can multiply. 57.5 can divide
"a percent can work in fractions.
The chapter on Manual and Technical.
Training begins with presentation of
arguments for and against the system,
and shows from the report of the En-
glish jurors andeXhibitorS at the worlds
eXpositl0ns of 1851, 1862 and 1867 the
paramount Importance of manual and
technical training as a factor in national
progress. A very full exposition of the
course of study in, various manual train
ing schools is there given, including a
Set of Practical s..
examples with accompanying plates in
wood working as given in the Minneap-
oils Manual Training school. This is
followed by papers from II. Y. Powder
~ and President Smart, of Purdroe uni
versity. Indiana data is given, show
ing the occupations into which manual
training pupils enter upon leaving
school, and their degrees of progress in
practi :al work. The chapter concludes
with short historical sketches of the
four manual training schools in Mime
sofa.
The fourth chapter is devoted to
wOrkingmen'S earnings and expenses.
The averages are deduced from the
number of months employed. annual
earnings and rate of wages per day,
both for the time employed, and for 3l2
days, for sixty occupations. The aver
age number of months employed is
1854: the average rate per day, while
employed, 81. 10. and the average income
per day for 312days. S1.85.
With reference to these rates the
that in an ordinary canvass, for the pur-
pose Of interviewing w~orkingmen as to
Their, Earnings,
a greater portion. of the better paid and
more steadily employed men would be.
met with, the floating workman would
be more likely to- escape the canvasser.
An undue proportion of indoor or shop
workers would naturally be found-men
who have positions all the year round.
From these causes the average number
IF months employed and the rate per
day is probably rather high than low.
There is al average idleness of 1.46
months per year. In other words the
men are idle 12.17 per cent of the time.
Flew items,o says the report, ''are
more often compared than the earnings
and expenses of ~worklngmen. The ratio
between income and necessary outlay
induces the prosperity or adversely of
the family. There is but little difficulty
in arriving at a close approximation to
the earnings, as most workers keep a
record of their time, but il is well nigh
impossible to determine the necessary
outlay. Both the
Standard of Living
and the number of ages of persons con-
shutting a family vary so much that no
proper basis of comparison can be
found. We have therefore given the
earnings in the different occupations,
and the prices: current, at retail, of
such articles Of consumption as eonsti-
tute the bulk of a workman's expenses.
In some lines, such as dry goods and
house furnishings. the variation in
prices and quality is so great that moth
ing definite could be had from a list"
Following the tables of earnings,
these prices current are given for gro
cerieS, meat and fish, boots and shoes,
rents and fuel.
The Fifth chapter is given to mine
inspection, and the commissioner
recommends a good mine inspection
law.
The Sixth chapter gives the text of
the present labor laws of the state.
The report concludes with an elabor-
ate index by which any subject noticed
in the report can be found at a glance.
A BELIEF REVERSED.