Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-09-20
Humanity In
Government
BY JAMES j. DAVIS
Secretary of Labor
THE FACTS

ana IN detail. Inc department. OF
Labor in the pursuit of its law-im-
posed duty of fostering and promot-
ing the welfare of the wage-earner,
finds that its first and vital need Is
facts. 1t must know in full and COM
plete detail every circumstance sur
rounding the work. the play. The
home life and the civic activity OF
the wage Garner before it can IN
dertake to aid him in his struggle
toward better things.
1t is particularly fitting that the
f9ct-hnding organization OF the De-
partment of Labor should be the
bureau from which the department
itself grew. the bureau which had
been in existence and at work for
nearly thirty years before the de-
partment itself was created. This
Bureau of Labor Statistics WAS lor-
mally organized as the Bureau OF
Labor in the Department. If Interior
in 1885. In 1888 it became an in
dependent Bureau Of Labor and III
1908 1t was placed in the Department
OF Commerce and Labor. With the
creation OF the present Department
OF Labor it became the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, the fact gathering
organization of the department. Its
function Is described in the act which
created 1t in 1884 which provides
that 1t shall collect information
upon the subject of labor and it's re-
lation to capital. hours of labor and
the earnings of laboring men and
women, and the means Of promoting
their material, social, intellectual
and moral prosperity
In its nearly forty years of sev-
ice the Bureau of Labor Statistics
has perfected a reliable system for
collecting authoritative Information
and its long experience has made it
a smoothly running efficient organi-
zation. 1t gathers. collates and re-
Forts statistics of labor and generally
dissenlinates labor information. 1t
maintains a constant and close touch
with every ramification of the wide
field Of labor activity and the fruits
OF it's researches are made immedi-
ately available to the Secretary of
Labor and the other bureaus of the
department., as we'll as for general
publication. The department in it's
policy of service to the whole people,
makes the information gathered by
able to the public.
From the cost of beefsteak in
New York to the hours OF labor of It
harvest hand in Texas every detail
thai affects the W~age-earner in, the
Bureau OF Labor Statistics. An IN
dication of the breadth Of the stuIies
made by the bureau is given in a
partial list of its series of publlca-
tons which includes: Wholesale
prices OF commodities, retail price:
and cost of living, wages and hours
OF labor, employment and unempioy-
ment, workmen's insurance and
compensation, industrial accidents
and industrial hygiene, labor laws
o. the United States. and foreign
labor laws. Through it's field forces
the bureau collects monthly the
wholesale prices of commodities and
retail prices, covering the changes
in living costs of workingmen's
families in thirty-two cities In the
United States. Reports of wages
from time to time from representa-
tive establishments in the principal
industrial centers OF the country.
These statistics the bureau secures
directly from the payrolls OF che
various establishments studied.
Union scale of wages in sixty-sJX
cities of the United States are COL
lected annually, and these figures
cover the scales of wages of more
than a million employees in the Or
ganiZed trades. Employment statis-
tics are gathered monthly from rep
resentative establishments in thir-
teen of the country's important in
dustries.
The Bureau Of Labor Statistics is-
sues the Monthly Labor Review
which is fulfilling the purpose of an
authoritative medium OF all infor-
nation relating to labor. The broad
range of material published in the
review and the exact and up-to-date
statistics presented have made it in
dispensable to those who seek au-
thoritative information in all labor
lines. Many important short arti-
cles on labor subjects are printed
in the review and the results of in
vestigations made by the bureau ap-
PEAR in short reports on each phase
of the subject as it is completed.
Month by month developments IN
the whole field of labor are recorded
ard domestic and foreign labor in
formation is made promptly avail
atle. Reports of the various state
labor bureaus and other agencies
dealing with labor and digests and
reviews OF important new legisia-
ton. court decisions. and admins
trative orders affecting labor are
published promptly. Statistics of
immigration, and summaries of the
work of the various bureaus of the
Department of Labor are presented,
and important trade agreements aud
the proceedings of important labor
conferences in the United States and
abroad r summarized.
In addition to the Monthly Labor
Review the Bureau of Labor
Statistics publishes in individual bull
letins the results Of the special IN
vestigations undertaken by the bu-
reau.
The bureau has accomplished
much in the direction OF obtaining
cooperation among the labor hu-
reaus and similar agencies in the
various state governments II has like
wise made progress toward tee
| standardizing and harmonizing of
state laws and administrative prac-
tics which affect the wage Garner.
These widespread activities of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and the
painstaking performance of the
| duties of that bureau furnish the De-
partment of Labor with that funia-
mental basis of fact which is vital
to the carrying out of the purposes
OF humanity at which the depart
ment aims. The information in the
hands of the Bureau of Labor Stats
tics helps to provide the groundwork
for the administrative policies and
practice of the department.
Such statistics, however, can only
be of value when kept alive-and
when they "a be secured to meet
emergencies as they arise. Unfor-
tunately the funds available will not