Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-18
The Method of Obtaining Them and
Their Extent Discussed.
PRESIDENT WRIGHFS REMARKS
Convention Of Labor Commission
ers Close Their Work.
"A LAND TAX RESOLUTION

euperintendentS OF labor OF the various
states began at the usual hour this morn
ing in the rooms OF the interstate commerce
commission in the Sun building on street.
The proceedings were more than usually in
teresting and the opening remarks of Presi-
dent Carroll d. Wright were received with
marked attention He made strong and
scholarly plea in favor Of better and more
comprehensive form of statistical reports,
and impressed upon his hearers the necessi-
~ OF not only publishing the summaries
and recapItulation of the tables they draw
up. but the tables themselves. The statis-
tics of today, he said were not only in
tended for the information Of the present
population. but would be needed fifty years
hence, when there might be a different sys-
TEN of industry and of wages, by the STU
dents who would desire to understand the
conditions now existing. He cited a report
made by the department of labor on the
cost OF living, In which the individual
ports of the condition of 1900 families was
published This mass of detail was not on
ly vastly interesting. but IL caused the lead
ing statistician of Germany to change his
views on the subject OF the cost of living to
SUCH an extent as to compel him to rewrite
his life work.
As to Child Labor.
Mr.. Wright commanded the report of the
New Jersey bureau of labor on the subject
OF child labor as a model to be followed, as
it contained the statistics Of factories. towns
and localities in detail, as we'll as a thor
ough recapitulation and summary, the
whole OF which was preceded by very
complete and Succinct text ANALYSIS
Mr.. Davis Of Rhode Island recited an in
stance OF how a detailed report, such as Mr.
Wright favored, had proven to be extreme
Iy efficacious In his own state. The ques-
tlon or child labor had been vigorously agi-
tated In Rhode Island, and some of those
taking part in 1t claimed that 10000 chill
dren were employed In the state factories
The labor bureau. upon investigating the
subject found only 5000 children so erl-
ployed- In order to satisfy both sides Of
the question the tabulated details of the
nndlngs were published, in order to allow
the summaries and recapitulation to be
proven, and the result was general satis-.
$acuon 10 all parties concerned.
IN response TO question by Mr.. Powers
OF minnesota, Mr.. Wright replied that the
details of statistics could not be too mi
nutely brought out. provided they were not
carried to the point Of attenuation. The
system OF publishing the recapitulation
and summaries of statistics now in vogue
In this country. he concluded had COM
PeIIed foreign statfsticians TO give up their
former habit OF publishing tables only
mo 10 recaa'itulate their reports.
An Interesting Discussion.
An interesting discussion then occurred
over the question as to whether the va
rious states should provide penalties for
dividuals to answer questions propounded
by state labor commissioners.
Mr.. Dowling of New York was called
upon to explain the workings of the law In
his state. which provides heavy penalty
for such a refusal He said that the marc
existence Of the law served the purpose
sought by its enactment. and that, with
Two or three exceptions, IL had never been
enforced. The law placed club in the
hands Of the commissioner but 1t was
never necessary to use II. He explained
that when questions were sent to any per-
son and no answer was returned, a circu>]
Lar was sent requiring the desired answers
TO be made within thirty days. under pain
OF the recalcitrant party being visited With
tne law, copy OF which was printed In
the circular. He had found this system
amply sufnc1ent for all purposes. He
thought 1t excellent to have such a law on
the books, but did not deem 1t wise to
enforce II. except In cases where the con-
tumacy OF individuals corporations pre-
vented highly important information from
being secured Besides, he did not believe
much credence could be placed upon infor-
Ination that was forced out of people
Ngainst their will.
MIR. WriSht's Opinion.
President Wright cited an instance of a
case that was brought to trial out west in
which an individual vas arraigned for re-
frsing to answer questions propounded by
the census officials. The Judge quashed the
!rdictment on the ground that census off,
Gals could not compel citizen to answer
any inquiries unless Congress itself had
specifically stated their character and di-
rected such officials to make them Mr.
Wright didn't believe the New York law
or any other similar state statute which
provides penalty fo- refusal to answer
qlesuons would stald the scrutiny Of a
supreme court for an instant because the
law could not recognize such delegation of
power 10 determine crime by legislation
10 any single individual Such law to
h.aN-s
Questions. he thought, and name some off
clal TO ask them. He agreed with Mr.
bowling that compulsory information was
not worth very much from a statistical
point Of view.
Continued discussion, participated in by
many of the delegates, showed that the laws
prCUolns penalties for factories which did
not carry out the instructions of state labor
bureaus regarding the safety of their en-
ployes worked to charm, but We're of
niue value In securing information worthy
OF being depended upon for statistical pur-
poses
Compulsory Information ValueIess,
MI. Powers of Minnesota emphasized the
latter point by stating that he had gotten
q large amount OF information by reason
of the penalty clause in the state law. but
wouldn't compile it. because he did not
thlnk 1t could be depended upon. year
ago he had secured the erasure of the
penalty clause from the law and the adop-
tlOn in its place of a provision declaring
that any empioye or the labor bureau who
diyulged any information given to him
oflcially should be given a years imprison-
ment- This departure had secured the con-
ndence OF the people in the inviolability of
the bureau. and the result has been most
gratifying. an instance of IL being that the
Hour mills. which had formerly refused to
make returns, now send them in willingly.
After further exchange of views the ques-
ton was left open for consideration. and
the question of the expediency of state
labor bureaus inquiring into the causes of
the facts that they investigate was taken
up
Commissioner Shilling Of Illinois said that
there was no doubt about the advisa bility
or such procedure II would be well to
inquire into the principles that minimize
wages and drive parents into sending their
children TO work in factories instead of
Keeping them at school. He believed IL to
be the duty of state labor bureaus to as
certain II there could not be a better system
OF land laws adopted. we'll as a more
equable and fairer system Of taxation.
Ihere was now an intense inquiry being
made into the various systems of taxation.
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