The labor standard., 1919-05-15

 tics for the two years ended Novem- Der 30, 1918, is out and covers most interesting period in the history ot Connecticut's workers and industries The report covers but 89 pages which is quite reduction compared with the size of the volumes issued ten years ago or more when matter not strictly within the purview of the business transacted was inserted to the extent of from four to six hundred pages. These later reports are short enough to be read and should be read by those who care to familiarize themselves with industrial conditions in Connec- ticut.
 Payment of Wages
 Commissioner Hyde's foreword is a recommendation to the legislature in view of the 500 complaints, more or less, at his office by employees who could not secure their wages on leav- ing or being discharged from employ ment. A statute definitely fixing the time when the employee who sewers his connection shall receive his pay was suggested, so that the employee would know when he was entering upon his employment just what to ex- pect if he severed that employment. Such bill has been introduced in the legislature and has passed both bodies. Commissioner Hyde related cases of employees who left their en- ployment and were told they must wait until the regular pay day before receiving their wages and cases were cited where employees had to return A. -1n~. lsax 4< hn full wages. Where an employer de- sires to leave the city the hardship of requiring the employee to wait over, to collect his wages, was pointed out.
 New Factory Construction
 Due to war restrictions, the cost of building operations for the two years in the manufacturing line SIS, 1887, 1902 was $4,500,000 less than for the pre- ceding two years. Seventeen pages of the report are devoted to details of To- cation, names of owners, styles of buildings, dimensions and cost of the building operations for the period.
 Tenement Houses Hs
 War conditions and regulations were reflected by the great decrease from 1524 to 343 in tenement con- struction in the state during the two years.
 Occupational Diseases
 In view of the inclusion of Occupa- tional Diseases in the workmen's compensation law it is of interest to note that 255 cases were reported in 1917 and 1918 compared with 27 in 1913 and 1914. A nominal fee of 50 cents is given to doctors who report these cases but it is believed that many of them are overlooked. Bridge port furnished 238 of the cases, PIT of them being illuminate rash from the intuition factories. Hartford had none was reported from Waterbury. x Labor Conditions
 A new and valued feature of this report is the publication of the union wage scale in the building trades in twenty-three Connecticut towns as well as the maximum and minimum wages paid in May and November of each year in a large number of occu- pations for men and women. The sta tistics were gathered by the state free employment offices in Hartford, New Haven. Bridgeport, Waterbury and Norwich.
 Tn May, 1917, the Hartford office reported wages in 23 different occupa- tions, New Haven 15, Bridgeport 13, Waterbury and Norwich 12. With two exceptions (boys and clerks) wages were higher in Hartford for males than in the other four cities named. Laborers in Hartford were paid from 35 to 40 cents an hour, in New Haven $2 to $2.75 a day, Bridge port 30 to 35 cents, and Waterbury 25 to 30 cents, and Norwich $2 to $3.
 Women day workers in Hartford received from 20 to 25 cents an hour, the same in New Haven, 25 cents an hour in Bridgeport and Waterbury and $1.50 day in Norwich. There was little variation in the different cities in wages for women.
 Bridgeport reported figures for 12 occupations, New Haven II, Hartford 9 and Waterbury and Norwich each. In November, 1918, Hartford reported 20 occupations, New Haven Il, Bridgeport 15, Norwich 10, Water bury 6.
 This month Bridgeport took the lead in wages paid. Laborers received a maximum of 50 cents an hour in Bridgeport and Hartford, $4.50 day in New Haven and $3.60 day in Nor wich and 40 cents an hour in Water bury. Average wages for farmhands
 
 cities, ranging from $50 to $40 in Hartford in November, 1918.
 Women dayworkers during that month were paid 40 to 35 cents an hour in Bridgeport, 35 to 30 cents in Hartford, $2.25 day in Waterbury, 25 cents an hour in New Haven and $2.00 to $1.75 in Norwich. Female dishwashers were paid as high as $14 week in Bridgeport down to $7 a week in Norwich, a big variation in different parts of the state.
 Strikes and Lockouts
 During 1917-191S there were 1s3 strikes affecting about 33,4O0 en- ployees, the second largest number in the history of the State. Thirty-one strikes were won, 43 were compro- missed and 109 were unsuccessful. Wages lost were figured at $1,500,- GOO and days lost 5O9, ,432. The largest number of strikes in specified indus tries were 30 involving 1904 laborers, fnn L