The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1894-09-08
CARROLL D. WRIGHT.

CARROLL D. WRIGHT.
duced. BY fully specified units Of proiuc
ton, and under classification showing
the different elements Of cost Of such arti-
:lcs Of production, including the wages
paid in such industries
Ii Is his duty to ascertain and report as
10 the effect OF the customs laws upon the
currency and on the agricultural indus
sry, especially as to their effect on the
mortgage Indebtedness Of farmers, what
articles are controlled by trusts ard what
effect such trusts or other com blnations OF
| capital, business operations or OF labor
have on production and prices.
He is also specially charged to investi.
gate the causes Of and the facts relating to
all controversies and disputes between
employers and employees as they may &C
cur, and which may happen to interfere
with tho welfare Of tho people Of the dit
ferent states, and he Is authorized to make
special reports on particular su jects when
ever required to do so by the president or
either house OF congress, or when he shall
think the subject In his charge requires 1t.
He has no judicial powers and Is only au.
thorized to investigate and report what he
has discovered
| Prior to June 13 1883, the department OF
labor was the bureau Of labor, and its chief
was Mr.. Wright, who received a salary OF
$4,000 and had under him q force OF
about GO men The bureau had then
been In operation three years and q half.
and Commissioner Wright had done such
good work In the Investigation of labor
and economic questions thas the scope Of
the bureau was enlarged, tho salary OF Its
chief increased to IS, 900 per annum and
its name changed to the department Of Ia
Il hs. fpr ofo al
and many Of the experts received increased
| salaries.
Commissioner Wright Is q snll, broad
shoulderod man. with kindly brown eyes
and brown mustache. He was born In
| Dunbarton. n. H., on July 25, 1870 He
was educated In tho public schools Of New
Hampshire and Vermont and was study
| Ing law when the war broke out Then he
| enlisted in tho Fourteenth New Hainp-
| shire regiment, OF which he became colonel
| in 1864. He served al ndjutant general
| under Phil Sheridan and was one Of that
| distinguished officers most trusted aids
| Poor health compelled him to resign In
| March, 1868, when he returned to the
study Of law and was admitted to tho bar
the following October. He practiced his
profession for several years and then
| moved to Massachusetts, where he was
| elected to the state senate In 1871 and
was serving In that body when appointed
| chief Of the state bureau OF statistics OF
| labor, an Office which he filled for Is years
| In 1850 he was appointed state supervisor
| OF the national census, and In 1885 he
was commissioned by the governor of
Massachusetts to investigate the public
records OF the towns, parishes, counties
and courts of the state
Tho national bureau Of labor was estab-
iished under law passed BY congress In
1884, and in 1885 Colonel Wright was &C.
lected as its first commissioner. For the
next three years he filled both tho state
and national NHccs, but finally gave I'D
the state office Hc lectured at Lowell In.
seitute, Boston, on Labor Questions Eth
tcally Considered" and at Harvard col.
ese on Factory Systems Of New Eng
land"
In addition to o vast number Of reports
and bulletins, which he bad Issued from
time TO time, ho published Strikes and
Lockouts, 1887; Ethics of Labor" 1886,
The Present Actual Condition Of the
Workingmen," 1887; Hand Labor In
Prisons, 1857; Historical Sketch of the
Knights Of Labor" 1887; Historical
Sketch of tho Amalgnmated Association
Of Iron and Steel Workers," 1893. These
monographs and others have been trans
lated into several languages.
All In all, Mr. Wright has devoted about
u years Of his life 70 the work Of collect
ing labor statistics One who knows him
well says thero II no dclnagogy about
him. and that he 10 . straight up and
down New England Yankee, =" with his
whole heart and soul In his work He has
not the slightest anxiety a. to whom the
results Of his investigations may please or
displeasc He looks for fncts, and when
be finds them no gives them 70 the coun
~ without fear or fsvue