The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-01-14
NEW COMMISSIONER
Of LABOR IS PRAISED
Labor Commissioner Neil Is q
10. Young Man Of Much
Promise In Service.
Served With Credit as a Sec-
retary Of the Coal Strike
Commission.
washington Correspondence

I" dSHln8IOu Correspondence
WASHINGTON, D. c., Jan. 12.-very
little is to be done at this session In
the interest of labor legislation. Well,
why should we expect anything to be
done? No labor representatives are in
these congressional seats; the elec-
ton Is over of King Capital Is the
ruler OF our lives and destinies. What
can labor do but beg, petition and
fawn? I might write columns upon
what 1t could do,. but that would be
waste of valuable white space" and
loss of gray matter"
Hundreds Of inquiries come into our
hands asking "Who Is the new labor
commissioner that President Roose-
the reins Of Officer"
For the benefit OF these enquirers
we will say that the appointee is a
young man holding down the chair of
political economy in the Catholic uni
versity; he also served in a minor ca
pacity upon the Anthracite Coal Com
mission, and at present makes out the
rates Of wages for the coal barons and
mine workers, based upon the reports
made to him as to the selling prices
of coal at tide water at periodical in
tervals. have it from good authority
that his name was presented to Presi-
dent Roosevelt by some of the men,
bers of the late Anthracite Coal Com
mission and also by John Mitchell of
the Mineworkers Union Of America.
Prof. Wright will continue to draw
the salary of a commissioner of labor
until January 31st Wright is still at
Worcester, Mass, operating his var
sity of statistical knowledge upon the
unsuspecting freshmen" as he has
been for the past two years while os-
tensibly being the United States Com
missioner of Labor. Prof. Neills advent
will be "hailed with delight" from the
ranks of labor because it will enable
Wright to devote all of his talents to
Clark college and cease this national
scandal of his drawing good honest
money from Uncle Sans treasury.
HE sure was a salary CRATER in his
time," and his talents did not go unre-
warded in that direction.
It is confidently expected that Prof.
Neill will institute new methods to re-
place the colorless ideas of the Mas
sachusetts statistician, which has
PLACED the publicatt of this sinpar-
tant bureau at such discount With
the wage earners Of the country. Com
missioner Neill can have the support
Of this element If he proves his wor-
thiness, but he win have to prove it
first. In the mean time he will be CIV
en- a fair trial, and labor will await his
first report with much interest and ex-
pectation.
Wrights recent lecture at Clark col
lege, just before the holidays, upon
the statistics Of Nominal Wages"
would indicate that the old gentleman
was suffering from an acute attack of
paresis. He very grayely asserted that
the financial depression of so called
hard times are a psychological condi-
ton and not an actual state of af-
fairs" Which would be startling If
true. He gave the statistics of wage
rates for the past so years (the source
Is supposedly his own reports) and
various averages, showing that wages
had materially advanced since 1850;
and that the difference in the average
wage rate (althOugh none of his re-
ports have ever been published that
shows the piece price wage rates) be-
tween the extremely prosperous year
of 1892 and the depression of 1896 was
less than per cent Wright also
floundered around with the immigra-
ton problem, and made the statement
that 1.-The 22,000,Q00 Immigrants who
have been brought into this country
have not, in reality, decreased the
wage rate" claiming further along
that the only thing you can say is that
they had not come the wages would
have been higher" This was an admis-
sion that Wright probably unwittingly
made-and Commissioner General
Frank Sargent might gain some in
terestfng data from Prof. Wright about
those 22,0oo,o0o immigrants who have
been brought into this country" were
he to question the commissioner of la
~. - uyorooe<or Mass who iS still