STATE OF

EQUITABLE BUILDING, ST. LOUIS, January 11, 1881.

HON. THOS. T. Crittenden, Governor of Missouri:

SIR-I have the honor to herewith present to you the Second Annual Report of this Bureau for the year ending January 1, 1881.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. H. HILKENE, Commissioner.

INTRODUCTION.

The most valuable laws for the promotion of the welfare and prosperity of the people have been those which have sprung from their necessities as the results of their experience, and expressed in formal petitions for redress of grievances, or from improvements suggested by defects or omissions in previous legislation.

A deep and widely rooted conviction of the existence, somewhere in our social, industrial or political management of affairs, has culminated in an emphatic expression of dissatisfaction, accompanied by a demand for an impartial and searching investigation, with a view to discover, if possible, the cause of the general complaint. Why, with the rapid multiplication of the means and appliances for the production of wealth, the producers of wealth should find themselves periodically in a state of want, has been an impenetrable mystery to many, and as an aid to the solution of the problem a demand was made for the introduction of a new department into the government of the State, résulting in the establishment of a Bureau of Labor Statistics. If any doubts exist as to the necessity for such a department, they will be dispelled by a perusal of the second annual report of the Bureau.

SCOPE AND INTENT OF THE LAW.

The second section of the act establishing the Bureau defines its object. It is: "To collect, assort, systematize and present, in annual reports, statistical details relating to all departments of labor in the State, especially in its relation to the commercial, industrial, social, educational and sanitary condition of the laboring classes, and to the permanent prosperity of the productive industries of the State."

The intention of the law is too clear to admit of doubt; its scope is comprehensive enough to cover the social and industrial interests of a continent.

Regarding, then, "the permanent prosperity of the productive industries of the State" as the rule which should govern the Bureau in the prosecution of its work, the materials to be collected for its accom

plishment would be found in the "statistical details" and opinions of the laboring classes, employers and others, who had suggestions to offer upon the subject. It would then be plain, if evils had insidiously crept in and fastened themselves upon the industrial energies of the people, the assembled wisdom of the State would have some tangible ground for action, and, with the evils laid bare, be able to devise such measures as would secure their suppression.

A nation priding itself upon the principle of the right of the people to the unfettered use of their physical and mental powers for the improvement of their condition, cannot be too watchful, or guard with too jealous care the inroads of customs and practices which undermine their energies, rob them of the fruits of their labor, and slowly, but surely, pave the way for the destruction of their freedom and independence.

At no period in the history of the State should the warnings of true patriotism and American statesmanship command more serious attention than at the present time.

The following vivid picture of the degradation to which the laborer was reduced in one of the principal industries of England, in her efforts to maintain her manufacturing and commercial supremacy, and which will be found in the eloquent address delivered by the Hon. Henry T. Blow, before the School of Mines, at Rolla, February, 1873, should warn American statesmen of the tendency of American labor to a like condition:

"But it cost sacrifices that the world did not fully understand, to reach such a result, and it has been well said that this glory of England. was at the same time her shame. Let us examine into this matter. The basis of this pre-eminently distinguished manufacturing country has been for years its coal and iron. Its area was small, its agriculture not sufficient to sustain its own population, and the cost of living greater than in Belgium, which little kingdom was in 1870 really its most formidable competitor, in wrought iron, especially, for the simple reason that a Belgium workman could exist on a smaller sum than an English workman. Yet, while this immense demand for all the products existed, prices were comparatively low, and in this very article of iron, the ingenuity of English masters was unequal to the task of meeting the Belgium competition, except by the old resort of imposing still further upon labor. It is very important for us that this fact should be well established, and while in London it became a point of vital interest to me to understand the whole truth concerning it, whether, indeed, with cheap coal and iron, it became a necessity for the English proprietors to degrade still further the labor of their

countrymen. The fact stood out in bold relief, the papers of the day, the intelligence of the day, the iron men of 1870, all alike sustained the view that coal was inexhaustible, and likely to remain by the aid of machinery, and these greater facilities for transportation at the low price which was the then sustaining source of the iron interest, and the most economical element in the steamship navigation of the empire. That iron ores were becoming scarce, especially the better ores; proprietors had been compelled to concede; they, therefore, as I have said, rested on the low price of labor and the low price of coal.

"A basis so unsound as the degradation of labor, a basis that illustrated so fully man's inhumanity to man, was doomed to perish. The coal was suddenly found to be deeper and scarcer, requiring more labor, better labor and more skill to disembowel it; the last hope of the English laborer fled when with less food he was asked to perform more labor at a lower price, and his family,without regard to sex, were doomed to the greatest misfortune that this unfortunate class had ever been subjected to; they rebelled, and God has blessed that rebellion, and in my opinion, the glory of England and its curse will perish alike by this conflict."

THE PAYMENT OF WAGES.

Throughout the State, and especially in the mining districts where the "truck system" prevailed, received the special attention of the Bureau. In many cases it was found that employes were paid in store goods, the store being owned by the employer or company, or in orders on stores in which it was supposed, with good reason, the employers were interested. In either case the practice is objectionable in that it deprives the workman of his liberty to dispose of his wages to the best advantage.

Another evil, not less injurious to the welfare of the laboring classes, and which is carried out to a great extent, especially by large companies, is the retention at each pay-day of wages still due, of from fifteen days to two months; or, in other words, a forced loan is exacted from the labor to his employer. This iniquitous practice compels the laborer to resort to the detestable credit system to supply his daily household wants. The manifest injustice of the practice will no doubt commend it to the serious attention of the General Assembly as a proper subject for prompt remedial legislation.

A MINING LAW

For the protection and safety of the life and health of the miner is also greatly needed in the State. Many of the mines, and especially