Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-01-17
asPosr OF LABOR COMMISSIONER

REPORT OF LABOR COMMISSIONER
O0e of the State reports, full OF inter
esting and valuable material, Is that sent
out by Commissioner Matthews OF ths
labor department. The compilation l.
complete, and while the figures are some
times duplicate from other depart
meuts, the whole ia brought within one
compact volume. la reviewing the year
he SAYS:
The conditions OF labor have, during
the past year, been generally encour'
aging. la most lines Of industry, en-
plOyment At fair wages has been coniin-
uOus and abundant, and the relations
between employers and employed AMIGA
Ole snd undisturbed. The principal ex-
ception 10 this general rule has been In
the cotton mills where, In several cases,
extensive strikes occurred In the early
part OF the year, involving several thou
sand workmen and lasting for several
weeks. These strikes were the result OF
| reductions IN wages made necessary, as
was claimed by mill owners, by the small
margin OF profits In the manufacture OF
/ cotton goods. Estimates based on in
vestigation aud reliable Information,
7 plsce the losses in wages 20 the employees,
At about S2OO,OoO. The report from 10
ot the Is cotton mills is as follows Cap
/ itsl, 81, aSS 800; cost OF material used
-, eos, = -, value OF products, $. ,i55, ,39i ;
number Of weeks In operation, e. = aver
sge number Of hands employed 9,iSj,
~ which 1888 are men, 5,O2j women,
and 625 children; the average weekly
wages, men, s. ~; women, - 81; chill
iren under IL wears, 50 -, total wages
paid, :, $50, l3l."
What will be Of special interest 10 the
Farmer readers are the returns from our
( live stock interests complied from the
I [ nited States census and State Assess
Ors' reports
"ln lSaO there were l. SO horses,
| three years old aud upward In the State,
! .. 23i oxen. four wears old and upward,
I 95 Gal cows and steers three years old
/ aud upward, "a, ,CSt2 swine six months old
and upward.
In lS2O there were L. SO horses, 20
population OF 80, l69 Approximately
| the number OF horses TO each 100 OF pop
ulStion VAS six; Of oxen, l6; of cows
and three-yeAr-Old steers, 3 and OF
/ swine. -
I In l>I0, when the population had in
creased 70 sol, 195, there w-re -. Us
horses, 32s, 30 ueat cattle. 649, psi sheep,
and III iSG swine In $40. kenneoec
contained the largest number OF horses,
while York possessed the largest OF cat
/ tie. sheep and swine. IL Is somewhat re-
mSrkable that the number OF sheep aud
I sW inc In the State At that time was far in
Z - -kas ~, h., al al
and that the number Of cattle had nearly
reached its highest point. IL Is noted
/ that there Was al abundance OF forage
I for stock at that time and the inhabitants :
were largely dependent upon their
products. There WAS no Chicago fresh
/ beef In those days nor meat and fish
carts run through the country.
In lS9S, there were 1872 594 horses ,
400 colts, three years old. $500 colts,
two wears old, and 2,469 yesrliug colts ;
| ~ .Sl9 sheep and 39,9lj swine.
While there has been bat slight de-
| crease Ia the number of horses for several
wears. coils have fallen of regularly
l from -, ,7iG in l>93 tO . 43j in lS9S. \
/ diminution OF 20,CrSl In five wears. 4 like
I decrease for two wears would cut of en-
I slIFlN tuA utulf ~uRNAN VI hbA-fN' AAa''
our people decided thst IL is cheaper 10
/ import horses than to raise them: IL
would seen that the supply of horses
must De kept up at some rate, a. there i
no disposition 20 substitute oxen in their
stead. bat rather the reverse.
/ In sheep, there WAS a decrease of -, :
30. head from 1873, or nearly one-half.
\ la neat cattle, the enumeration for
/ ISsS shows Cows, 49, ~; Oxer, S,>9s
three wears old, " 6.6+2; TWO years old,
%. 0.69l; yearlings, i2,2ji Although
there has been some decrease In all
classes since lSS9, the most marked l. in
oxen. In that year there were ~, ii
\ head. The increase in young cattle
\ since 1895 has heen 34.O~1."
I Commissioner Matthews notes that IN
/ 1850 there were p. sos oxen In the State,
aud compares these With the present
small showing. IL il notable fact that
/ the increase in horses and the fall of In
oxen have so balanced each other that Al
no time since lSj0 has the number of
oxen and horses taken together been less
than 2l nor more than - per 100 inhAoit-
ants.
The totals Of work animals Increased
up 10 l>G0, reaching ! 40 ;a9 AZ that date :;
/ for the next 80 years the number was
somewhat less, but generally ranging
| from shout lb0, 600 10 l35. 900. dropping
% l22,l92 in 1879, but the number 10
| I SEQ had gone above lt0,V0, and with
small fluCtustion has since remained
/ above that figure. the loss in oxen being
generally Offset by the gain in horses.
Factory Inspector Atwood calls public
attention To subject OF grave Importance
20 the State. that of child labor. lie Says
that a significant fact strongly develop
ed during the past year, AS shown by
statistics accompanying this report, Is
the marked increase Of child labor In the
cotton mills. The prolonged strikes,
early in the year, are responsible, no
doubt, for this in part. Many adult
operatives, tired Of waiting for the strike
10 end, went elsewhere, leaving places
that somebody must fill when work was
resumed. In very many cases the chill
/ dreu OF resident operatives filled the va
cancies thus occasiOned, succeeding both
| adult male and female help. Added 20
| this il the strong tendency towards the
displacement OF male help by female
adult and child help in cotton mills, as
well as in nearly al other industrial pur'
suits.
Mr.. Atwood says that in our large
manufacturing center operatives are
parents of large families OF children
With large families and small incomes,
they see their opportunities, and while
admitting the importance Of schooling
and moral training, they plead the high
er law Of self preservation, and the
money consideration wins, the childreu
turning their backs upon the school room
and answering the call OF the mill bell
The causes lie mainly with the parents
and the mill authorities and they are en-
tirely natural and Legitimate.