The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-02-28
ITS PURPOSE and WORK
A Report to s6nngress Concerning
the Industrial Commission.
Secretary s"cketts Statement of the
Creation of the Body and Its La
bors Up to- the Beginning of the
Year-Scope and Extent of In~es-
LEGATIONS - The Plan in Detail.

The work done by the Industrial Com
mission up to December 81, 1899, is fully
| described in a report which has been sub
mitted to Congress by William E. Sackett,
the Secretary of the Commission. The re-
port, which is addressed to the Hon. James
H. Kyle. Chairman of the Commission.
gives in detail the history of that body
and the results of its investigations. be-
ginning with its creation by an act of
Congress approved June IS. 1898. The first
part of the document is devoted to re-
view of the purposes for which the Com
mission was created, its duties the scope
of the act by which it was authorized,
and its personnel. Reference is then made
to the scope, extent. and detail! of the in
vestigations that are being pur sued, and
a synopsis of the plans OF enquiry is given.
Plan of Enquiry.
In the plan of enquiry designed to
elicit Information as to the conditions of
labor and capital employed in agriculture,
Part 1 relates to the labor employed. the
actual. and comparative conditions of farm
workers, the effects of improved machin-
cry, transient labor, the tendency of agri-
cultural labor TO seek other employment,
wages and methods of payment, store or
ders, payment in kind tenant houses. crop
sharing, partnership, tenancy. liens on
growing and prospective crops, nationality
and character of foreign immigrants, per-
centage of illiteracy among them COM
pared with American agricultursts. tend
ency to coionize, the effect of immigration
upon agriculture, colored labor the adap-
ton of the public school curriculum to the
nf irrIt rial eIa
meal education. Part embraces an en-
quiry into the comparative earnings of cap
ital invested in agriculture-the compari-
son running both as to the earnings OF
forty years ago and today, anf as to the
earnings of the farmer and men in other
lines of business-the decline in prices of
agricultural products, the value of lands
and productiveness OF the soil. the increase
of acreage. bonanza farming agricult
ural associations, the annual production,
the cost of production and transportation,
combinations to control prices, and grain
and cotton gambling And under Part
the regulation of agricultural monopolies,
the effect of Interstate commerce laws.
oleomargarine laws, operation OF existing
pure-food laws, and of Federal and State
laws to prevent the spread OF diseases
among domestic, animals and plants, ETC..
aer indicated as points of enquiry.
Embraced in the plan OF enquiry pre-
pared by the stfb-cOmmission on manufac-
lures and general business are sixty-nine
topics, treated under three general heads
first. as to labor in the several indus
tries; second. as to capital in the several
Industries; and third, as to Industrial and
remedial legislation. Under the first gen.
eral division the topic of trades Unions and
other labor organizations; liberty of con-
tract; non union labor; contract labor;
convict labor: wages and methods of pay
ment; employment including that of wom-
en- and children and the work hours of the
different trades and industries: co-opera-
ton. premium payments. profit sharing.
etc. immigration, and education are
among those set out. Under the second
general division Information is invited as
to the earnings of capital invested in man
ufacturing. actual and comparative: the
taxation of manufacturing and mercantile
establishments; determinations in freight
rates: causes natural and artificial of the
migration of industries; the concentration
and consolidation of industrial concerns.
with the effect on prices and profits. on
wages and employment on smaller enter
prises, on competition. and on production:
the regulation of trusts and the producing
capacity Of modern machinery. Sugges-
tions as to remedial legislation are sought
along the line of employers liability laws
sanitary and personal-safety laws. factory
inspection regulating the employment OF
women and children, arbitration. mechan-
les liens etc.
Labor and Capital.
In the plan OF enquiry into the condi
lions of labor and capital employed in the
mining industry there are likewise three
heads, and seventy-two topics are treated
under it. Part J. generally as TO labor en-
Dor, and unskilled labor: liberty of con-
tract; strikes and lockouts; the importa-
ton of new or foreign labor; arbitration:
blacklisting; boycotting; the injunction in
strikes; wages and methods of payment,
with incidental reference to the sliding
wage scale, store orders. and mine tcne-
ments: the influence of organized labor on
wages: the comparative number employed;
labor of children; n-English- speaking
labor; the shorter work day; cooperation.
etc, and immigration: convict labor; edu-
cational facilities.
Under Part 9. treating as to capital
employed, there are comparative earnings
of capital invested in mining, both as be-
tween past and present and as between
mining and other Industrial enterprises. |
taxation: freight determinations: closing |
of mines: trusts and their effects; and |
then for q separate head. the producing ca
pacity of modern machinery. with its ef- |
feet on prices; on profits and labor: over |
production and under consumption. Part 3, |
embracing generally the topic relating to |
industrial and remedial legislation, |
touches upon employers liability laws;
mine inspection; check weighman laws; |
laws regulating the employment Of chill |
dren; payments; penalties; screens; COM |
pany stores; arbitration and convict labor. |
THE plan of the sub-commission on |
embraces seyenty-four topi- |
cal heads. Part I, upon transportation by |
land in its relation to the labor employed |
therein. touches upon the liability of the |
for injury sustained; safety |
appliances; organizations of employees; |
strikes and boycotts. arbitration; railway |
methods in respect OF rates. new bond is |
sues. capital stock increases, and merger |
of lines as affecting railway employment !
and wages. In Part 2. under the caption |
of Transportation by land in its relation |
To the public the syllabus invites infor- |
nation as to passenger rates and the pass |
system: ticket brokerage; Determinations |
and preferences by railroads and the repa- |
ration possible therefor pooling; railway |
statistics as to the cost per mile, amount |
of bonds. total OF capital gross earnings, |
net earnings, dividends. etc; charters; |
taxation of railroads: iniunctions which |
suspend the operation of State or Federal |
laws regulating railway charges: the pow
ers of the Interstate Commerce Comnss |
sion; Government ownership of land trans |
portation, and all the incidental informa-
tion concerning telegraph and telephone |
lines as we'll. Part relates 10 transporta |
ton by water, lake, and river; navigation |
laws; sailors boarding houses and for |
vessels engaged in foreign COM
merce; subsidies; passenger accommoda-