No. 1.
"It will inspire the toiling man of the easuatiy with tha plafcsut eaa-
sciousness that the old Republican party, the party of Lincoln, of Grant, of
McKinley, of Hanna, is offering for the Presidency a man, a worthy successor
to them all and who stands invincible in his record of fealty to the best
interests of the laboring man of the United States. '
ANSWERS TO CRITICISMS OF REPUBLICAN POSITION

OF

OF OHIO

IN THE

NOOSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MOMD&Y, i¥lAI?GH 28, 1904

SPEECH OF
HON. CHARLES H. GROSVENOR
OF OHIO
Mr. Geosvenor said:
Mr. Chairman: Judging by the character of the speech delivered in the House
by my amiable friend from New York [Mr. Fitzgerald] some days ago, there is a
likelihood that there will be much stress laid upon the record of individual candidates
for the Presidency. For my own part I do not consider the record of a single indi
vidual, though holding the exalted position of President of the United States, as of
such vital importance as the record of the party itself and the trend of events neces
sarily incident to the history and purposes of the party itself.
The Republican party can not be otherwise than the friend of labor. It has fought
for free labor during its entire existence. It freed the slave ; it furnished employment
for labor; it lifted up the laboring man, and its last splendid achievement was when
it transplanted labor from starvation, as it found it in 1897, and made it possible that
it should attain the nourishing position it now occupies. But, catering to the taste
of people to examine personal records to ascertain the acts of individuals, I shall fur
nish here to-day the record of the gentleman who will be the Republican candidate for
President. It will furnish good reading for the campaign into which we are so rapidly
moving. It will give our Democratic friends food for thought, and it will inspire the
toiling man of the country with the pleasant consciousness that the old Republican
party, the party of Lincoln, of Grant, of McKinley, of Hanna, is offering for the
Presidency a man, a worthy successor to them all and who stands invincible in his
record of fealty to the best interests of the laboring man of the United States.
LABOR RECORD OP THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The most vital problem with which this country, and for that matter the whole
civilized world, has to deal —
Said President Roosevelt in his first message to Congress —
is the problem which has for one side the betterment of social conditions, moral and
physical, in large cities and for another side the effort to deal with that tangle of
far-reaching questions which we group together when we speak of "labor."
EPITOME OE THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S FAVORABLE ACTION ON
LABOR LEGISLATION.
As member of assembly in New York he voted for bills —
Abolishing tenement-house cigar making in New York City.
Restricting child labor in factories and workshops.
Regulating the labor hours of minors and women in manufacturing establishments.
Safeguarding the lives and limbs of factory operatives.
Regulating wage rates of laborers employed by municipalities.
Making employees preferred creditors.
Providing for building mechanics' liens.
Prescribing the lien rights of working women.
Protecting mechanics and laborers engaged in sinking oil or gas wells.
Abolishing contract child labor in reformatory institutions.
Creating a commission to examine into the operation of the contract system of
employing convicts.

¦i
Establishing the bureau of labor statistics.
To promote industrial peace.
For a five-cent fare on the New York City elevated railroad.
Incorporating the New York City Free Circulating Library.
For free public baths in New York City.
As governor of New York he approved these measures:
Creating a tenement-house commission.
Regulating sweat-shop labor.
Empowering the factory inspector to enforce the scaffolding law.
Directing the factory inspector to enforce the act regulating labor hours on ra
roads. Making the eight-hour and prevailing-rate-of-wages laws effective.
Amending the factory act —
(1) Protecting employees at work on buildings.
(2) Regulating the working time of female employees.
(3) Providing that stairways shall be properly lighted.
(4) Prohibiting the operation of dangerous machinery by children.
(5) Prohibiting women and minors working on polishing or buffing wheels.
(6) Providing for seats for waitresses in hotels and restaurants.
Shortening the working hours of drug clerks.
Increasing the salaries of New York City school-teachers.
Extending to other engineers the law licensing New York City engineers and
making it » misdemeanor for violating the same.
Licensing stationary engineers in Buffalo.
Providing for the examination and registration of horseshoers in cities.
Registration of laborers for municipal employment.
Relating to air brakes on freight trains.
Providing means for the issuance of quarterly bulletins by the bureau of labor
statistics. In addition to the foregoing, while governor of New York he recommended legis
lation (which the legislature failed to pass) in regard to —
Employers' liability.
State control of employment offices.
State ownership of printing plant.
Devising means whereby free mechanics shall not be brought into competition with
prison labor.
As President of the United States he has signed bills —
Renewing the Chinese-exclusion act and extending its provision to the island terri
tory of the United States.
Prohibiting the employment of Mongolian labor on irrigation works and providing
that eight hours shall constitute a day's labor on such projects.
Abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude in the Philippine Islands, violation
of the act being punishable by forfeiture of contracts and a fine of not less than
$10,000. Protecting the lives of employees in coal mines in Territories by regulating the
amount of ventilation and providing that entries, etc., shall be kept well dampened
with water to cause coal dust to settle.
Exempting from taxation in the District of Columbia household belongings to the
value of $1,000, wearing apparel, libraries, schoolbooks, family portraits, and heirlooms
Requiring proprietors of employment offices in the District of Columbia to pay a
license tax of $10 per year. * J

Creating the Department of Commerce and Labor and making its head a Cabinet
officer. Improving the act relating to safety appliances on railways.
Increasing the restrictions upon the immigration of cheap foreign labor and pro
hibiting the landing of alien anarchists.
WEAL OF THE PLAIN PEOPLE.
While the labor problem in a very broad sense is as old as the human race itself,
its modern form is a creation of steam and machinery, which have replaced local pro
duction within the home for family needs with factory production for a general market.
In the course of this evolution the ownership of the tools and other means of pro
duction passed from their actual uses to those who understood the needs of the market
and possessed the ability to assemble materials, organize the workers, and dispose of
the product where it was wanted. Formerly each worker was both capitalist and
laborer, and, therefore, himself controlled the conditions under which he worked. But
when the worker lost the ownership of his tools he could no longer control the conditions
of employment; and it is his struggle to regain such control and to gain a larger share
of the joint product of capital and labor that constitutes the modern labor problem.
This is the problem that President Roosevelt in his first message to Congress described
as the most vital problem with which the country has to deal. Few statesmen of this
or any other country have grasped that problem as firmly as has Mr. Roosevelt. His
contributions to its solution may be found not only in his addresses and writings, but
also in his actions as a public official.
Theodore Roosevelt ever will be remembered as an official whose interest in the
weal of the plain people never diminished from the day that he commenced his public
career as a member of assembly of the State of New York up to the present time. The
principles of justice that governed his course in advocating the enactment of labor
and reform legislation when he took part in the legislative proceedings at Albany in
1882, 1883, and 1884 were unswervingly maintained while he was governor of New
"York in 1899 and 1900, and have been conscientiously adhered to during his incumbency
as President of the United States. By comparing the first important event connected
with his life work with one of more recent date it will be readily observed how un
varying have been his views on matters of moment affecting the general community.
The initial event referred to occurred more than twenty years ago, when, in the
interest of the public health, as well as the wage-workers in the tobacco industry, he
vigorously opposed the continuance of the sweating system in the manufacture of cigars
in tenement houses. The courageous spirit that prompted his attitude in that affair
was demonstrated again in 1902, when, owing to his timely intervention in the cele
brated anthracite coal strike, peace was restored, a terrible calamity to the country
was averted, and an adjustment of the dispute finally resulted through the decision of
the commission appointed by him. Not a few problems have reached solution by reason
of the wisdom displayed by Theodore Roosevelt and other advanced thinkers whose
support he has had in his unremitting efforts to induce the State to pass laws look
ing to the melioration of social conditions, and by pursuing this evolutionary plan of
creating wise and sound regulations to obviate glaring inequalities in the industrial
system the State has checked a growing spirit of unrest.
Deeds speak for themselves, and the faces enumerated below respecting his posi
tion on questions involving the well-being of the great body of working- people are
matters of official record well worth close perusal and careful consideration by men of
thought and action who have at heart the stability of our repubUcan form of govern
ment*

AS MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK ASSEMBLT.
New York State has developed an extensive system of labor and reform legislation.
The movement that eventually brought about the enactment of these laws commenced
in the fore part of the eighties, and Theodore Roosevelt helped to lay its foundation,
being among the few eminent publicists who cooperated in that early effort to place
upon the statute books the numerous acts that have since proved to be of so much
benefit to the wage-workers.
In 1882 he entered public life as member of assembly, and he also served in that
capacity in 1883 and 1884. A student of economics, he had familiarized himself with
the various phases of the labor question, and he was firm in the belief that the abuses
which at that time existed in many employments could be eradicated by suitable enact
ments. With this end in view, he cast his influence on the side of public-spirited citi
zens and trade-unionists who during that period undertook to solve some of the social
problems through legislative measures calculated to correct prevalent evils. Sweat
shop labor was a subject that received considerable attention in those days, while the
restriction of child labor, the regulation of working hours of minors and women, the
protection of life and limb, prison labor under the contract system, the better security
of mechanics and laborers employed in the building industry, and the promotion of
industrial peace were topics that occasioned serious deliberation on the part of the men
who interested themselves in the welfare of the masses.
It was not altogether popular then to espouse a cause designed to bring about radi
cal changes in industrial conditions, and the spectacle of this young statesman, although
born and reared amid surroundings of affluence and luxury, actively identifying him
self with a movement in which the working people were vitally concerned won for him
the commendation of not only all labor advocates and social reformers, but likewise
of that large portion of the populace in whose behalf he so zealously labored. His
strong personality and energetic attitude imparted to the effort a needed impetus,
and the outcome surpassed the expectations of even the most sanguine of those who
were associated in that undertaking to uplift their fellows. The excellent labor record
of Assemblyman Roosevelt is quite fully presented in the succeeding paragraphs.
ABOLITION OF TENEMENT-HOUSE CIGAR FACTORIES.
The first important measure in whieh Assemblyman Roosevelt became interested
was introduced in the legislature of 1882. Its purpose was to improve the public health
in New York City by prohibiting the manufacture of cigars or the preparation of to
bacco in any form in rooms or apartments of tenement houses. The bill was presented
at the request of the cigar makers' unions in the State, and was also indorsed by the
State Workingmen's Assembly. It was contended by the labor organizations, "first,
that these tenement-house cigar factories are a public nuisance; second, that they are
detrimental to the educational interests of the State; third, that they are demoralizing
in their influence on the community; fourth, that they are an illegitimate interference
with a legitimate trade."
In the assembly the bill was referred to tlie committee on cities, which gave a hear
ing on the subject, and as a result a subcommittee consisting of five assemblymen
Mr. Roosevelt being among the number, was selected to investigate the tenement-house
cigar factories in New York City. Many of these house shops were found to be in a
filthy and unsanitary condition, and this inquiry so thoroughly convinced Theodo
Roosevelt that the system was a menace to the public health that he became an
thusiastic supporter of the measure to abolish it. It, however, was held up bv th
cities committee, and, on a motion that that committee be discharged from fn th
consideration of the bill, the same to be placed on general orders, he voted i

affirmative. While the motion was carried, the bill did not pass at the session of 1882,
but early in 1883 it was again considered and passed by both houses. Assemblyman
ttoosevelt spoke and voted in its favor. In his remarks advocating the abobtion of
the tenement-house shop he declared:
I have visited these pest holes personally, and I can assure you if smokers could
only see how these cigars are made we would not need any legislative action against
this system at all.
The Cigar Makers' Official Journal, published by the Cigar Makers' International
Union, in its issue for February, 1883, printed the following editorial comment under
the caption "Condemned by the legislature:"
The representatives of the people, both in the assembly and in the senate, have
decided by overwhelming majorities that tenement-house cigar factories are a public
nuisance, dangerous to the sanitary, moral, educational, and economic welfare of the
Commonwealth. So conclusive were the arguments and evidence brought forward by
Assemblymen George Francis Roesch and Theodore Roosevelt that the opposition was
completely routed and defeated. The working classes and cigar makers in particular
owe a debt of gratitude to those assemblymen and senators who have successfully
fought for a great sanitary, reform. Their names will go down to posterity as the
friends of labor, as the promoters of a great improvement in the sanitary condition
of the working classes.
So deeply interested in the matter was Mr. Roosevelt that he invoked the gov
ernor to approve the measure. Referring to the argument before that official, the
Cigar Makers' Official Journal for March, 1883, contained this statement:
Tuesday, March 8, was the day which the governor had assigned for hearing the
arguments of the opponents as well as of the friends of the bill, which aims at the
prohibition of the manufacture of cigars in tenement houses used for dwelling pur
poses. » * * Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, the representative of the brownstone dis
trict of New York, was the first speaker in favor of the bill. He said that his district
was not influenced by any trades unions; * * * but this bill was an exception to
the rule. During the last session of the legislature he was appointed on a committee
to investigate the tenement-house cigar factories.
At the start he was opposed to the bill, but the investigation convinced him that
it was a good one. The houses, with hardly a single exception, were in a most filthy
condition. Children were crawling on stripped tobacco. Old men and women were
crowded together in small, ill-ventilated rooms. He appealed to the governor to sign
the bill. The representatives of the labor organizations, after a short deliberation,
concluded not to speak on the subject, inasmuch as the whole ground had been ably
covered and it was unwise to detain the governor any longer.
The bill was signed, but certain parts of the act were declared unconstitutional,
and in 1884 a measure intended to meet the objections of the courts was introduced
in the legislature. This was also favored by Mr. Roosevelt.
ABOLITION OF CONTRACT CHILD LABOR IN REFORMATORY INSTI
TUTIONS
An important reform measure, which had the sanction of organized workers,
was introduced in the assembly of 1882. It made it unlawful for the trustees or man
agers of any house of refuge, reformatory, or other correctional institution to contract,
hire, or let the services or labor of children incarcerated in such institutions. Assem
blyman Roosevelt voted in favor of the bill, and it subsequently became a law.
REGULATING WAGE RATES OF LABORERS EMPLOYED BY MUNICI
PALITIES.
A bill was introduced in 1882 in the assembly to regulate the rate of wages in
all cities of the State of over 150,000 inhabitants for laborers employed by or under
municipal authorities. Mr. Roosevelt had always believed that the SUte and muni-

cipalities should be model employers by paying prevailing wage rates. He
favored this measure. A motion to recommit it to the committee on cities
structions to strike out the enacting clause, thus killing it, met with his oppo
his vote being enrolled with those of thirty-three other assemblymen against the mo ion,
which, nevertheless, was carried, fifty-six members voting in the affirmative.
SAFEGUARDING LIFE AND LIMB IN FACTORIES.
In 1882 there was a dearth of legislation relating to sanitation, safeguards against
fire, and the guarding of machinery, hoistways, and elevators in manufacturing estab
lishments. In that year the life-and-limb bill made its appearance in the legislature,
being entitled "An act for the protection of working people and employees in the work
shops- and factories in the cities of this State." Mr. Roosevelt promptly joined the
forces that sought the adoption of this salutary bill, which was also presented in 1883,
when it again received his vote, and while cogent reasons for its enactment into law
were advanced it did not then reach the statute books; but the thorough discussion
of its meritorious features made a marked impression upon public opinion, arousing
a sentiment that ultimately compelled the lawmaking powers to pass an act contain
ing requirements that amply protected the lives and limbs of factory operatives.
FREE PUBLIC BATHS IN NEW YORK CITY.
Bills were introduced in the legislature in 1882 and 1883 for the construction and
maintenance of free public baths in New York City. These conveniences were desired
by the laboring people of that city, and consequently on each occasion Mr. Roosevelt's
vote was recorded in favor of their erection.
ESTABLISHING THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
There was in 1883 a widespread agitation among workingmen for the establish
ment of a bureau of labor statistics in New York, and in that year a measure to create
that department was presented in the legislature. Mr. Roosevelt was an ardent sup
porter of the bill. In due season it passed both houses and was signed by the gov
ernor. This law provided for the appointment of a commissioner, who was empowered
to collect, assort, systematize, and present in annual reports to the legislature statistical
details relating to all departments of labor, especially in relation to the commercial,
industrial, and social condition of working people.
LIEN RIGHTS OF WORKING WOMEN.
For the further protection of female employees in New York City a bill was
introduced at the 1883 session of the assembly. It provided for the enforcement of
judgments obtained in any court by working women for work, labor, or services done,
and Mr. Roosevelt's vote was registered in its favor.
5-CENT FARE ON THE NEW YORK CITY ELEVATED RAILROAD.
The people of New York City in 1883 took active steps to have the fare on the
elevated railroad reduced from 10 cents to 5 cents. Commission trains were run at
certain hours in the morning and evening, it was declared, "for the accommodation of
the public and the laboring classes," upon which the fare was 6 cents, while during
fthC? portions of the day 10 cents was charged.
BC!t the public wanted the lower rate to predominate at all hours, so a bill pro
viding for the desirable reduction was drafted and introduced in the legislature. It
passed the assembly and senate, Mr. Roosevelt voting with the majority in the former
homse. The governor, however, vetoed the measure, claiming that it was a. violation
of a contract that was protected by the United States Constitution, which prohibited

9
the passage of a, law by any State Impairing the obligation of contracts; and the
executive also held that the State "must keep within the limits of law and good faith."
Apparently moved by the popular demonstration for the proposed change in the fare,
the elevated railroad management shortly afterwards voluntarily decreased it to 5
cents.
TO PROMOTE INDUSTRIAL PEACE.
A resolution that proved to be a prelude to the creation, a few years later, of
the State board of mediation and arbitration was offered in the assembly of 1883.
As it was the entering wedge to a plan to promote industrial peace, Mr. Roosevelt
voted for its adoption. It directed the judiciary committee —
To examine and report upon the possible enactment of a practical and beneficial
law, to be in the joint interests of capital and labor, and employees and employers,
whereby the latter shall be required to give reasonable and timely notice of dismissals
from service, except for moral or personal consequences, and of the reduction of wages,
and the former a like timely and reasonable notice of any advance in wages and time
for leaving work, the object and purpose of this inquiry being to prevent summary
strikes from work without proper notice, and summary dismissal from work with
out a like notice, and to secure, if possible, such conferences and compromises as will
establish friendly, just, and equitable relations to the advantage of both classes of
citizens and to the people at large.
PROTECTION OF MECHANICS AND LABORERS ENGAGED IN SINKING
OIL OR GAS WELLS.
During the legislative session of 1883 a bill was introduced in the assembly for
the protection of mechanics and laborers. It was a lien measure to secure the wages
of workmen employed in or about the sinking, drilling, or completing of any oil well,
or any well sunk or drilled for oil or gas, or in the erection of any tank or other
receptacle for oil, gas, or water. Mr. Roosevelt voted for its passage.
BUILDING MECHANICS' LIENS.
When the organized workers in the constructive industry succeeded in having sub
mitted to the legislature of 1884 a mechanics' hen bill, the purpose of which was to
prevent the loss of wages of men engaged in the construction or repair of buildings,
they discovered a sincere adherent of their cause in Assemblyman Roosevelt. While
they did not then succeed in carrying their project through, they were greatly en
couraged by the support they received, and this inspired them to make another attempt
in a subsequent year to secure legislation for the better security of mechanics and
laborers who perform labor for building and other improvements on lands in New
York State. Finally they attained their object.
INCORPORATING THE NEW YORK CITY FREE CIRCULATING LIBRARY.
With a view to giving the working people of New York City an opportunity to
fully enjoy the advantages of such an institution, Mr. Roosevelt, in the assembly of
1883, voted to incorporate the New York Free Circulating Library.
FOR THE RESTRICTION OF CHILD LABOR.
In 1883 and 1884 the subject of child labor evoked considerable discussion in New
York State. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to ChUdren had made futiie
attempts to induce legislative action to restrict it.
Humane physicians expressed the opinion that the strength for perfect physical
development of children of tender years employed in factories was diverted from its
legitimate ends, thereby producing in adult hfe, if these children were fortunate enough
to be spared to maturity, an impairment of the physical and mental organization;

10
that confinement in poorly ventilated workrooms in constrained positions
healthful, tended to make the system more susceptible to attacks ot is
lessened the chances to rally from ordinary disorders incident to childhoo ,
fatigue of labor was directly injurious by preventing free bodily exercise in
air, and indirectly affected the fanitary condition of the child by substituting unnatural
labor for natural exercise, and that these conditions caused the whole moral tone to
suffer. Educators were convinced that children thus employed were deprived of an oppor
tunity to acquire an elementary education, that the standard of intelligence among
them was astonishingly low, and that the pernicious system was fatal to the mental
growth of the rising generation. The bureau of labor statistics investigated the ques
tion and found that a large percentage of the children in the State "were compelled
either by their parents or the force of circumstances to spend a large portion of their
young lives in factories, miUs, or tenements, where but slight, if any, attention seems
to be paid to those safeguards which are conducive to good health. If the present
system of child labor is to be permitted to continue, it should be the first duty of the
State to provide precautionary and effective means to secure the enforcement of proper
sanitary regulations in factories, mills, or tenements where children are employed
or domicUed." Organized labor strenuously protested against the continuance of child labor, and
resolved to invoke the legislature to pass a law that would abolish it. The State Work-
ingmen's Assembly, in annual session at Albany in 1884, adopted a bUl which pro
vided that —
No child under 14 years of age shall be employed in any factory or workshop
where goods are manufactured from the raw material, that no child between the ages
of 14 or 16 shall be so employed unless such child shall have attended within twelve
months immediately preceding such employment some public day or night school or
some well-recognized private school, such attendance to be for five days or evenings
every week during a period of at least twenty consecutive weeks.
This measure also contained a section —
REGULATING THE LABOR HOURS OF MINORS AND FEMALES.
It provided that —
No minor or no female of whatever age shall be employed in any factory, workshop,
or mill for a longer period than ten hours a day, and in no case shall the hours of
labor exceed sixty in a week.
Provision was made for the appointment of a factory inspector to enforce the
law, each violation being a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment in jail.
This was introduced in the legislature of 1884, and Assemblyman Roosevelt ably
supported it through its various stages. In 1883 he voted for a bill constructed on
similar lines. Neither measure, however, was then incorporated in the State's code
of laws, but the agitation thus begun in favor of this remedial legislation resulted in
its passage in 1886.
MAKING EMPLOYEES PREFERRED CREDITORS.
Assemblyman Roosevelt voted for that beneficial act, passed in IS84, which made
working people preferred creditors in case of insolvency of their employers. This
law stipulated that in all assignments the wages or salaries actuaUy owing to the
employees of assignors at the time of the execution of the assignment shall be pre
ferred before any other debt. In the event of the assets being insufficient to pay in
full aU the claims preferred they shall be applied to payment at the same pro rata
to the amount of each such claim.

11
COMMISSION TO EXAMINE INTO THE OPERATION OF THE CONTRACT
SYSTEM OF EMPLOYING CONVICTS.
Mr. Roosevelt voted for the bill, which became law in February, 1884, empowering
the governor to appoint five persons to constitute a commission to examine into and
report upon the practical operation of the contract system for the employment of
convicts in State prisons, penitentiaries, and reformatories, as then required by law,
and particularly as to the effect of such employment upon the community at large,
upon prison management, and upon the discipline of prisoners, the commissioners to
report their conclusions, with such recommendations as they deemed proper as to
the best method of employing convict labor, to the legislature not later than March
1 of that year.
The commission was chosen on February 11, and as it had but sixteen days to
inquire into the subject and report thereon was unable to accomplish the object for
which it was created. An effort was made to continue its existence, and a bUl was
presented to amend the act so as to provide that the terms of the commissioners should
continue until their report was made, at the earliest practical date consistent with the
performance Of their duties. Mr. Roosevelt voted for this proposition, but the meas
ure was vetoed on the ground that it did not contemplate a report at that session
of the legislature.
i AS GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK.
While governor of New York, in 1899 and 1900, Theodore Roosevelt pursued the
same consistent course in regard to the enactment of suitable labor legislation that
he so persistently followed during his three years' career as member of assembly. Not
only did he recommend the passage of new laws in the interest of the mass of the
people, but he urged the necessity of amending existent labor statutes so as to make
them more efficacious, and suggested the adoption of improved methods in order to
insure their proper enforcement.
The development in extent and variety of industries has necessitated legislation
in the interest of labor-

He wrote in his annual message to the legislature of 1899.

This legislation is not necessarily against the interest of capital; on the contrary,
if wisely devised, it is for the benefit of both laborers and employers. We have very
wisely passed many laws for the benefit of labor, in themselves good and for the time
being sufficient, but experience has shown that the full benefit of these laws is not
obtained through the lack of proper means of enforcing them and the failure to make
any one department responsible for their enforcement. In order that the desire of^
the people, definitely expressed in this wholesome legislation, shall be made effective,
1 recommend that the enforcement of the entire body of legislation relating to labor
be placed under'the board of factory inspectors. This v/ould simplify the whole ques
tion of labOT legislation and place the responsibility for its enforcement where it
properly belongs and would also give the maximum efficiency of service with the
minimum cost to the State. With a slight increase in the general force of factory
inspectors this work can be done for the whole State and the object of the legislation
be satisfactorily secured to the people.
ADDITIONAL FACTORY INSPECTORS RECOMMENDED AND PROVIDED.
Governor Roosevelt thereupon recommended "that the legislature provide for
additional factory inspectors so as to bring the total number up to fifty." This sug
gestion was favorably considered by the legislature, and the number of deputy fac
tory inspectors was increased from thirty-six to fifty.

12
EMPOWERING THE FACTORY INSPECTORS TO ENFORCE THE PROVI
SIONS OF THE SCAFFOLDING LAW.
In the same message Governor Roosevelt said:
Another important statute of this character relates to providing secure scaffold
ing in the erection of new buildings. The law on this subject is aU that could be
desired, but its enforcement is left to the city police, and as a matter of fact prac
tically no provision is made for carrying it into effect. Iii New York City, where this
law is most needed, police officers are unacquainted with the character and require
ments of the law. Most of them, indeed, are not aware that the enforcement of this
law is any part of their duty.
This recommendation resulted in the passage of an amendment to section 19 of
the labor law, relating to the inspection of scaffolding, or slings, hangers, blocks,
pulleys, stays, braces, ladders, irons, or ropes of any swinging or stationary scaffolding
used in the construction, alteration, repairing, painting, cleaning, or pointing of build
ings within the limits of a city, transferring the power of enforcing its provisions
from the municipal police authorities to the factory inspector.
DIRECTING THE FACTORY INSPECTORS TO ENFORCE THE ACT REGU-
.LATING HOURS OF LABOR ON RAILROADS.
The message of Governor Roosevelt in 1899 also contained the following sugges
tion: The law regulating the hours of labor on surface railroads is also an excellent pro
vision against the tendency to work the men an almost unlimited number of hours. The
enforcement of this law is left to the railroad commissioners. As they have no active
force to use for such a purpose the law fails by default, except when individual citizens
undertake the prosecution. The employee himself will rarely or never complain for fear
of being discharged.
In accordance with this recommendation authority to enforce the sections of the
act relative to the hours of labor on steam, street, surface, and elevated railroads was
conferred upon the factory inspector.
AN EIGHT-HOUR DAY AT PREVAILING RATES OF WAGES.
The law requiring an eight-hour day and a prevailing rate of wages for State em-t
ployees —
Said Governor Roosevelt in his 1899 message to the legislature —
is not entrusted to any authority for enforcement. If this law is to remain on the
statute books it should be enforced, and therefore the legislature should make it the
particular business of somebody to enforce it.
Conformably with the wishes of the executive, the factory-inspection department
was vested with the power to enforce this act, which was further amended so as to
provide that —
Each contract to which the State or a municipal corporation is a party which
may involve the employment of laborers, workmen, or mechanics shall contain a stipu
lation that no laborer, workman, or mechanic in the employ of the contractor, sub
contractor, or other person doing or contracting to do the whole or a part of the work
contemplated by the contractor, shall be permitted or required to work more than eight
hours in any one calendar day, except in cases of extraordinary emergency caused
by fire, flood, or danger to life or property.
Each contract for such public work hereafter made shall contain a provision that
the same shaU be void and of no effect unless the person or corporation making or
performing the same shall comply with the provisions of this section, and no such
person or corporation shall be entitled to receive any sum, nor shall any officer agent
or employee of the State or municipal corporation pay the same or authorize ita pay-

13
ment from the funds under his charge or control to any such person or corporation
for work done upon any contract which in its form or manner of performance violates
the provision of this section.
UNECONOMIC, UNWHOLESOME, AND UNAMERICAN SWEAT-SHOP
SYSTEM.
Governor Roosevelt's opinion concerning the evils of sweat-shop labor, that he
formed while member of assembly as a result of his searching inquiry into the un-
healthful tenement-house system of manufacturing cigars, did not undergo a change
during the seventeen years that intervened between 1882, when the investigation was
made, and 1899. In truth his views on the subject in the latter year, when he urged
the legislature to adopt radical measures to suppress the harmful system, were even
more pronounced than those to which he gave utterance whUe serving as an assembly
man. These were his ideas in 1899, as expressed in his, annual message.
Another very important phase of this subject is the sweat-shop system, which is
practically the conversion of the poorest class of living apartments into unwholesome
pest-creating and crime-breeding workshops. Laws have been enacted by the legislature
to suppress this vile phase of industrial life in our large cities by prohibiting the
use of dwellings for the purposes of manufacture. Although the law is quite ex
plicit and the intention of the legislature obvious, great difficulty has been experienced
in its effective enforcement. It is everywhere agreed that this tenement-house or sweat
shop system is degrading to the unfortunate individuals engaged in it and to the social
and moral life of the community in which it exists. How to enforce the law on this
subject has perplexed the statesmen of other countries and States as well as our own.
The most effective and uninquisitive means yet devised for accomplishing this
end is that recently adopted by Massachusetts, viz., providing that buUdings used for
manufacturing purposes must have a permit or license, such license or permit to be
granted only on condition that the appointment of the building fulfill the requirements
of the law for manufacturing purposes. These permits or licenses ought to be granted
by the board of factory inspectors, who should be held responsible for the proper
inspection of the buildings and the enforcement of the law.
There are several reasons why this simple method would be effective. It would
at once classify buildings used for manufacturing purposes, as a building so used with
out a permit would be violating the law. It would prevent much friction, because aU
requirements of the law would have to be fulfilled before the building was used. This
would be a great advantage in the erection of new buildings, as proper conveniences,
including accessible fire escapes, guarded elevators, and other appointments would be
required and easily furnished when new buildings were being erected or when old ones
were being changed for manufacturing purposes.
Nor does this involve any radical innovation. It is simply applying the recognized
principle upon which boards of health now everywhere act in requiring that the plans
for erecting new buildings or alterations of old ones must be submitted to the build
ing and health department and a certificate of approval granted before the building
can be erected, alterations made, or the premises occupied. Legitimate manufacturers
will not object to this, because they are desirous of furnishing safe and wholesome
appointments for their employees. Only those who desire to evade the law and dis
regard the common demands of sanitation, domestic decency, and wholesome industrial
methods will object, and it is these the law desires to reach.
I submit this to the serious consideration of the legislature, and suggest that an
amendment to tile law embodying this idea be adopted, to the end that the uneconomic,
unwholesome, and un-American sweat-shop system shall disappear from our industrial
life. Though the governor's ideas were not embodied in their entirety in the law that
ensued, it contained the essential features recommended by him. Its provisions made
it unlawful to manufacture, alter, repair, or finish articles of clothing, feathers, arti
ficial flowers, cigarettes, cigars, or umbrellas in a room or apartment in any tenement
or dwelling house, or in a building situated in the rear of a tenement or dwelling house,
without a license from the factory-inspection department.

14
Before any such license is granted —
The act provided —
an inspection of the room, apartment, or building sought to be licensed must be made
by the factory inspector. If the factory inspector ascertain that such room, apart
ment, or building is in a clean and proper sanitary condition * * * he shall granJ
a license permitting the use of such room, apartment, or building for the purpose oi
manufacturing, altering, repairing, or finishing such articles.
Each license shall state the maximum number of persons who may be employed
in the room or rooms to which such license relates. The number of persons to be so
employed shaU be determined by the number of cubic feet of air space contained in each
room or apartment mentioned in such license, aUowing not less than 250 cubic teet lor
each person employed between the hours of 6 o'clock in the morning and 6 o clock in the
evening, and * * * not less than 400 cubic feet for each person employed therein
between the hours of 6 o'clock in the evening and 6 o'clock in the morning. Such
license must be framed and posted in a conspicuous place in each room or apartment
to which it relates. It may be revoked by the factory inspector if the health of the
community or of the employees requires it or if it appears that the rooms or apart
ments * * * are not in a healthy and proper sanitary condition.
Every room or apartment in which any of the articles named * * * are manu
factured, altered, repaired, or finished shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition
and shall be subject to inspection and examination by the factory inspector for the
purpose of ascertaining whether said garments or articles, or any part or parts thereof,
are clean and free from vermin and every matter of an infectious or contagious nature.
No person shaU hire, employ, or contract with * * * any person not holding a
license therefor to manufacture, alter, repair, or finish any of the articles named. * *
Persons contracting for the manufacturing, altering, repairing, or finishing of any
of the articles mentioned, * * * or giving out material for which they or any part
of are to be manufactured, altered, repaired, or finished, shall keep a register of _ the
names and addresses plainly written in English of the persons to whom such articles
or materials are given. * * * Such register shall be subject to inspection by the
factory inspector and a copy thereof furnished on his demand.
Articles prepared contrary to the provisions of this act "shall not be sold or ex
posed for sale by any person. The factory inspector shall conspicuously affix to any
such article found to be unlawfully manufactured, altered, repaired, or finished a label
containing the words tenement made.' * * * The factory inspector shall notify
the person owning or alleging to own such article that he has so labeled it. No person
except the factory inspector shall remove or deface any tag or label so affixed. If the
factory inspector finds evidence of disease present in a workshop or in a room or
apartment in a tenement or dwelling house, or in any room or apartment of a building
in the rear of a tenement or dwelling house in which any of the articles named * * »
are manufactured, altered, repaired, or finished, or in process thereof, he shall affix
to such articles the label prescribed * * * and immediately report to the local
board of health, who shall disinfect such article if necessary, and thereupon remove
such label. If the factory inspector finds that infectious or contagious diseases exist
in" tenement workshops, "or that goods used therein are unfit for use he shall report
to the local board of health, and such board shall issue such orders as the public
health may require. Such board may condemn and destroy all such infected article or
articles manufactured or in the process of manufacture under unclean or unhealthful
conditions." Owners, lessees, or agents of tenements "shall not permit the use thereof
for the manufacture, repair, alteration, or finishing of any of the articles mentioned in
this article contrary to its provisions. If a room or apartment * * * be so un-
lawfuUy used, the factory inspector shaU serve a notice thereof upon such owner, lessee,
or agent. Unless such owner, lessee, or agent shall cause such unlawful manufacture
to be discontinued within thirty days after the service of such notice, or within fifteen
days thereafter institutes and faithfully prosecutes proceedings for the dispossession
of the occupant * » * who unlawfully manufactures, repairs, alters, or finishes
such articles * * * he shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this article."
Ihe law has worked admirably. From the time that it went into effect — September
1, 1899— according to the records of the New York bureau of factory inspection, up
to September 30, 1903, the date ef the issuance of the last annual report of that bureau,
th« *«eieacsr of the act is interfering with sweat shops was fully illustrated ley the

15
fact that altogether 10,439 licenses were refused to applicants because of the in
sanitary condition of their living rooms or of other parts of the buildings, while 3,814
licenses were revoked for similar reasons. These latter house shops doubtless would
now be in operation were it not for this law and the strict manner of its execution. In
the time above mentioned there were 1,901 instances where goods were tagged in tene
ment workrooms wherein the law had been violated, and a large number of prosecutions
and convictions have resulted from its enforcement. At the close of last September
there were in New York State 30,890 licensed work places, which have undergone at
least one critical inspection each year.
AMENDMENTS TO THE FACTORY ACT.
The following amendments to the factory act were approved by Governor Roosevelt
in 1899: Prohibiting the operation of dangerous machinery by children. — Children under 16
a building in course of construction, contractors or owners shall cause the shafts or
openings in each floor to be inclosed by a barrier at least 8 feet in height; and if a
building be five stories or more in height, no lumber nor timber shall be hoisted on the
outside of such building.
Regulating working time of females. — No female shall be employed in a factory
k before 6 a. m. and after 9 p. m., nor be required to work more than sixty hours per
week. Stairways to be -properly lighted. — Stairways leading to workrooms shall be properly
lighted, such lights, to be independent of the motive power of a. factory.
Promoting the operation of dangerous machinery by children. — Children under 16
years of age shall not be permitted to operate or assist in operating dangerous machines
of any kind.
Women and male minors not permitted to work on polishing or buffing wheels. —
No male child under 18 years of age nor any female shall be employed in operating
polishing or buffing wheels.
Boiler Inspection. — Directing the factory inspector to inspect boilers in factories
in localities where no local laws prevail on the subject.
MECHANICS' LIENS.
During the legislative session of 1899 Governor Roosevelt affixed his signature
to two measures amending the lien law. One of these amendatory acts provided thai
a lien for labor done shall continue for three months, unless an order be made by a
court of record to continue it for a period not exceeding six months, upon the appli
cation of a lienor, and said court may grant a new order continuing the lien in each
succeeding six months if in its discretion it shall be deemed just and equitable. This
amendment was "declared to be a remedial statute, and is to be construed liberally
to secure the beneficial interests and purposes thereof."
The other amendments included the mining of cement stone and the quarrying or
cutting of limestone in the provision relating to liens for labor performed in quarrying,
dressing, and cutting stone.
QUARTERLY LABOR BULLETINS.
To enable the bureau of labor statistics to properly disseminate the results of
its investigations, Governor Roosevelt in 1899 approved a measure which provided', the
means for the compiling and publishing of quarterly bulletins by that bureau.
OTHER LABOR LEGISLATION APPROVED IN 1899.
Other labor legislation approved by Governor Roosevelt in 1899 was as follows i

16
KMiaraATCW •» LAB0B3BB1S FOK inTOICIPAL EMPLOY SCENT.
This was an amendment to the civil-service law, and stipulated that vacancies m
the labor class in cities, which embrace unskilled laborers and such skilled laborers
as are not included in the competitive or non-competitive class, shaU be filled by ap
pointment from lists of applicants registered by municipal commissions, preference
in employment from such lists to be given according to date of application.
LICENSING OF STATIONARY ENGINEERS IN BUFFALO.
Prohibiting any person not duly licensed under such regulations as the Buffalo
common council may prescribe from running any steam stationary engine. A marine
engineer holding a United States license, on presenting the same to an examiner ap
pointed for the purpose, shall be given a written examination, and if found qualified
shall be granted a stationary engineer's license, but such marine engineer must be a
resident of that city for three years before making such application, and is required
to be a citizen of the United States. m
EXAMINATION AND REGISTRATION OF HORSESHOERS.
Amending the law so as to apply its provisions to aU cities of the State instead
of to those of the first and second classes, as formerly. This article provides for a
board of examiners, consisting of a veterinarian, two master horseshoers, and two
journeymen horseshoers, who shall hold sessions in the several cities for the purpose
of examining applicants desiring to practice as master or journeymen horseshoers. A
person is not qualified to take such examination unless he has served an apprentice
ship at horseshoeing for at least three years. If he is shown to be qualified, the board
shaU issue to him a certificate stating his name and residence, the date of examination,
when and where his apprenticeship was served, and that he is qualified to practice his
trade.
TENEMENT HOUSE REFORM.
Tenement-house conditions in the congested districts of New York City had be
come so dreadful that Governor Roosevelt felt impelled in 1900 to appeal to the legis
lature to take action toward remedying the evil effects of the system and in the in
terest of the dwellers in the dark and poorly ventilated rooms of these houses, in
which the health of the occupants was also menaced by foul ceUars, airshafts, and
courts, arising from the accumulation of filth. He dwelt as foUows upon the subject
in his annual message:
I urge that the legislature give particular attention to the need of reform in
the laws governing the tenement houses. The tenement-house commission of 1894
declared that, in its opinion, the tenement-house laws needed to be revised as often
as once in five years, and I am confident that the improvements in building materials
and construction af tenements and the advaece in sanitary legislation all demand
further uaodiftcation af existing laws. Prehahiy the best caurse te fallow woald be to
appoiKt a csjtanaissisa t* present e, revised cede stf teaemcBt-hesse laws.
As a ceBse^seace el the feregoiag recoraatesdatieB a hill ts create a tenement-
house commission was introduced, aad ss necessary wea immediate legislature inter
ference (teems* by the governor that he sent ts the legislature the following emergency
message recommending the passage of the measures
There is before you a measure for the establishment of a tenement-house com
mission to look into the whole subject af the prope? construction of tessamest heuses
in the congested districts of our great cities of the first class. I earnestly hope that
this biU may be enacted into law. It is probable that there is not and has not been
before your body a measure of more real importance to the welfare of those who are
least able to protect themselves and whom we should especially guard from the effects
of their own helplessness and from the rapacity of those who would prey upon them.

IT
There was held this year in New York a tenement-house exhibition, showing by
maps and models dreadful conditions which we are now striving to remedy, and the
shape that the remedy shall take. One of the most striking features at this exhibit
was tlie series of charts which showed the way in which disease, crime, and pauperism
increased almost in geometrical proportion as the conditions of tenement-house life
became worse — that is, as to overcrowding are added the evils of want of air, of light,
of cleanliness, of comfort; in short, of all the decencies of life. These decencies are
of course, indispensable if good citizenship is to be made possible. The tenement
house, in its worst shape, is a festering sore in the civilization of our great cities.
We can not be excused if we fail to cut out this ulcer, and our failure will be terribly
avenged, for by its presence it inevitably poisons the whole body, politic and social.
At present in New York the conditions are in some respects worse, not better, than
they were a few years ago, because now the authorities permit the erection of huge
buildings, which, though less disreputable in appearance than the old tenement houses,
are, because of their immense mass and inferior light and air shafts, worse from a
hygienic standpoint.
Two classes of people are interested in perpetrating the present infamous con
ditions, viz., the class that owns the tenement houses and the class that builds them.
The best owners and the best builders do not desire to perpetuate these conditions,
but it is imperative to protect them from the competition of their less conscientious
rivals. Against this concrete and mercenary hostility to the needed reform we can mar
shal only the general sentiment for decent and cleanly living and for fair play to
all our citizens. Too often the sufferer himself is dumb either because he can not
express himself or because he does not know what remedy to advocate. In his in
terest, and in the interest of all our people, above all, in the interest of the State,
whose standard of citizenship in the future is partly dependent upon the housing of
children in the tenement-house districts of the present, we should see to the improve
ment of the conditions which now make the congested districts of our great cities a
blot on our civilization. Great good was accomplished by the tenement-house com
mission appointed under a similar bill a few years ago. This good is now in part being
nullified, and a new commission is urgently needed. •
The bill passed, and Governor Roosevelt appointed representative citizens on the
commission, which included sociologists, philanthropists, architects, builders, real estate
owners and agents, a prominent labor leader in the building trades, and men who had
been connected with the New York City health, building, and fire departments. The com
mission's report, which was submitted in 1901, accompanied by a bill proposing im
portant changes in the methods of tenement-house construction, was a valuable docu
ment covering all sides of the housing problem. It reported that the worst feature
of the New York tenement house was lack of air and light, which was directly re
sponsible for the undue prevalence of tuberculosis, medical experts having testified
that the number of deaths from that disease reached 8,000 annually and that one-third
of these lives might be saved by providing a type of tenement house with sufficient light
and ventilation. Another constant source of danger was the narrow air-shaft, which
acted as a flue in the spread of tenement-house fires and contagious diseases; and
as most of the bedroom windows opened upon these air shafts, it was impossible to
preserve privacy hi a family which occupied rooms opposite those of another family.
Professional vice was found to exist in many tenements, being largely due t© the
irresponsibility of landlords. The findings of the commission impressed practical legis
lators who succeeded in having the major part of their recommendations enacted into
law. This act provides for the establishment of s tenement-house department in New
York City, to which shaU be submitted all plans for tenement houses, and whose ap
proval must be obtained before such buUdings can be occupied after completion, and
also requires the appointment of a large corps of inspectors so that existing dwellings
may be kept under surveiUance.
2

IS

The law diminishes the proportion of ground to be built over, an Y^ reJM.hes
creasing the unoccupied space on lots enlarges the amount ot light and Ji ^^ ^^
dwellers, abolishes narrow air shafts, requires open courts, provides *na ^ ap_
open either upon an inner or outer court or upon the StreetyoHa yard ( ^ ^.^
plying to pubbc haUways) ; that in existing dweUiffgs wooden panels in ^ ^
be replaced with glass, or a suitable window stoU be placed <>*-tne en ¦ fiTgt
leading to the outer air; that Ught? shaU be kept burning aU night upon j
and second floors of public hallways', and from sunset to 10 p. m. upon , v^ ^
tbat there shaU be a separate water-closet for eachrf amily ; that courts, cell , .
stairways shaU be maintained free of rubbish and filth; p/escribes^hew fir* f*?*
be constructed and where they shaU be located; stipulates thai every disorderly
residing in a tenement is to be treated as a vagrant and upon conviction co mmro
to jail for a period of not more than six months; al>d any tenemenf house that ,s
such disorderly person is Uable to a penalty of $ 1,000, which Becomes a lien upon the
house and lot. ,
Beside structural changes in numerous old buildings, making tbem moras suitable
for human habitation,- hundreds of new style tenements have belen' qpnStructed under
the act, and from their occupants' view point thest new houses 'have proved entirely
satisfactory, insuring for the first time to many tenants '^sufficiency of air and- Ught
as well as sanitary conveniences. When it *s considered tbA iji a^ingle year the-iene-
ment-house department made 269,691 inspections .and recorded* 138^70 violations of
the statute, it is quite evident that the act Has? 'accomplished atl that its- promoters
claimed for it, for these, systematic inspections have produced decided improvements
in housing Conditions, resulting in the betterment of sanitary, jaxrangianents, thereby
lessening the amount of sickness, aVd causing a decrease In the city's death rate.
Another important outcome of the rigid enforcement of the Jtenement-house'law has
been the suppression of professional vice iivthese dwelling places.
SHORTENING THE WORKING HOURS ., OF DRtfG CLERKS.
Steadfast in his purpose to give some relief tof overworked d^£g clerk* Governor
Roosevelt in 1900 called the attention of the legislature-**) th^nutter in the words
foUowing: *
Owing to the defects in the drug clerks' bill presenjfcd'Ha^-yeaf^Vas, unable to
sign it. I am, however, in hearty sympathy with the object!' s°vy?^,»w the bill. I
trust that a satisfactory biU may~be presented this^year and. sh#l>; ^ glad to give
such a biU my approval.
Upon this recommendation the senate and assembly passed sahict fjrr tbe regu
lation of the working hours of pharmacists, and drug clerks in cities of 1,000,0.00 or
more inhabitants," and it received the governor's approval.
Under its provisions pharmacists or drug clerks shall not bCrequired nor permitted
to work more than seventy hours per week; that— ^ *"'¦
Nothing in this section shall prohibit them working: six hours o-vertime during any
week, jfor the purpose of making a shorter succeeding Week: ''Provided, however, That
the aggregate number of hours in any such two weeks shall^ not exceed: one hundred
and thirty-six hours. The working -hours per,, day shaU be^corfseeuHve, allowing one
hour for each meal. The hours shall be so arranged that an employee shall: be entitled
to and shall receive at least one full day off in two consecutive weeks. Ne proprietor of
any drug store shall require or 'permit any clerk .to' sleep la any room or •partmeat
I» «t connected with rath store which does not comply with the sasitary revalatlSM
of tVe local board of health. * • * ¦"
FaUure to comply with the provisions of the act to deemed a misdemeanor.

19
SEATS FOR WAITRESSES IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS.
Approval was given by Governor Roosevelt in 1900 to a measure which required
every person employing waitresses in a hotel or restaurant to "provide and maintain
suitable seats for the -use of such female employees, and permit the use thereof by
such employees'®) such an extent as may be reasonable for the preservation of their
health." To the factory bjspeetor was delegated the power to enforce the provisions
of this act. AIR BRAKES ON FREIGHT TRAINS.
An ¦amendatory aet, signed by Governor RooseWlt in 1900 made it unlawful on
and after January 1, 1901—
For any railroad or Other company to haul or permit to be hauled or used on
its line or linbs within this State any freight train that bas not a sufficient number of cars
in it so equipped with continuous power or air brakes that the engineer or the locomotive
drawing sucfa train can control its speed without requiring brakemen to use the com
mon hancl brake for that' purpose. * * * Any railroad or other company haubng
or permitting to be hauled on its. Une or lines any freight train in violation of the
provisions of this act shall be liable to a penalty of $100 for each and every violation,
to be recovered in an action to be brought by the attorney-general in the name of
the people, * * * and it shall be the duty of the board of railroad commissioners
of this State to notify the attorney-general of aU such violations coming to its notice.
EXTENDING TO OTHER ENGINEERS THE PROVISIONS OF THE LAW
LICENSING NEW YORK CITY STATIONARY ENGINEERS— A MIS
DEMEANOR FOR VIOLATING THE ACT.
In 1890 Governor Roosevelt gave his consent to*»two amendments to the act rela
tive to the 'inspection of steam boUer's and Ucenses of stationary engineers of New York
City. The first of these, which was ehapter 461, provided that "any person who has
served as a marine or locomotive engineer or fireman to a locomotive engineer for a
period of five years, and shall have been a resident of the State of New York for a
period of two years," shaU be eligible for examination for a license to act as a station
ary engineer. Chapter 709 was th£ other amendment, which made it a misdemeanor for "any
person or persons violating any provision of this section or of any of its subdivisions."
increasing the salaries of new york city public school
Teachers.
So deep was the interest manifested by the New York City pubbc school teachers
in tfte bUl to regulate aft'd increase their salaries that, on March 14, 1900, Governor
Roosevelt sent to the legislature a message certifying to the necessity of the immediate
passage of the measure. It met with the approval of both houses and was signed
by the governor, who filed with the act a memorandum pointing out that —
Its general puspose is admirable, <*nd the best educators — the men most interested
in seeing the pubbc schools of the" greater New York put upon a thoroughly efficient
basis — * ^ * most earnestly favor the measure.
The law gave the department of education power to adopt by-laws to estabUsh
a uniform schedule of salaries for the teaching staff throughout all the boroughs and
prescribed an equal amiual increment of salary, ft provided that a kindergartner or
female teacher of a girls' class other than those teaching grades of the last two
years in elementary schools shall, after sixteen years of service, receive not less
than $1,240 pe& annum, and that a female teacher of a girls' class of the Jgrades of
the last two years shall, after fifteen years of service, recjeive not Jess than $jy320 per
annum; that a female teacher of a girls' graduating class, female first assistant, or

20
female vice-principal shall, after ten years of service, receive not less than $1,440 per
annum; that a female teacher of boys' or mixed class shall receive not less than $60
per annum more than a female teacher of a girls' class of corresponding grade and
of years of service, and that a female teacher in elementary schools shall receive not
less than $500 per annum, nor shall her annual increment be less than $40; that a
male teacher of a class of the grades of the last two years shall, after twelve years
service, receive not less than $2,160 per annum; that a male teacher of a graduat
ing class, male first assistant, or male vice-principal shaU, after ten years service,
receive not less than $2,400 per year; that a male teacher shall receive not less than
$900 a year, nor shall his annual increment be less than $105.
AMENDMENTS TO THE LIEN LAW.
Two amendments to the lien law were approved by Governor Roosevelt in 1900.
The first related to building loan contracts, and provided that tlie same —
either with or without the sale of land, and any modification thereof must be in writing
and duly acknowledged, and within ten days after its execution be filed in the. office
of the clerk of the county in which any part of the land is situated, and the same
shaU not be filed in the register's office of any county.
The second amendment was in regard "to the sale of property retaken by the
vender imder a contract of conditional sale." This sentence was added to section 116:
Unless such articles are sold within thirty days after the expiration of such
period, the vender or his successor in interest may recover of the vender the amount
paid on such articles by such vendee or his successor in interest under the contract
for the conditional sale thereof.
MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP OF RAPID- TRANSIT RAILWAYS.
There is now before your body a measure looking toward the securing of rapid
transit for the city of New York. I deem it of very great importance that a scheme
providing for rapid transit in the city should be passed at the earUest practicable
moment. But it is even more important that this scheme should be one which wiU work
for the ultimate benefit of the city. It does not seem to me wise that a franchise of
this nature should be given in perpetuity. It would, of course, be best to have it
owned by the municipality, although I would point out to the advocates of municipal
ownership that it is doubly incumbent upon them to take the most efficient means of
rebuking municipal corruption, and of insisting upon a high standard of continuous
fldeUty to duty among municipal employees. Only if the government of the municipaUty
is honest wiU it be possible ever to justify fuUy the workings of municipal owner-
These sentiments were expressed by Governor Roosevelt in a special message to
the legislature, and in 1900 that body passed an amendatory measure, which received
the governor's signature, extending the system of municipal construction of rapid-transit
railways to any city of over 1,000,000 inhabitants formed by the consoUdation of one
or more cities arid other territory. This amended act also made it lawful for the
board of rapid transit raUroad commissioners to locate the route of a. railroad by
tunnel under any river or waters, thus making possible the present extension of the
rapid-transit system from the borough of Manhattan, New York City, under the East
River to and through a large part of the borough of Brooklyn. The project wiU
when completed, afford considerable reUef to people in the latter borough who hve
long distances from the centers of commerce and industry, carrying them to and from
their homes, far removed from the densely crowded portions of the city in comfort
and in much less time than under the existing inadequate method of conveyance, be
sides encouraging many, who now reside in the congested districts to seek dweUin,
places in less densely settled sections near the Brooklyn terminal of the new railway

21
THE PRESIDENT AND THE WORKING MAN— PERSONAL EFFORT THE
FIRST REQUISITE OF SUCCESS.
The most extended discussion of the condition and interests of workingmen that
Mr. Roosevelt has offered since he became President is contained in his address at
the New York State Fair on Labor Day, 1903, which is printed elsewhere in this pam
phlet. To appreciate his attitude one must read the entire address as well as the fol
lowing quotations from other addresses and public papers.
Personal effort and the homely old-fashioned virtues are the first requisites of
order and progress in every community. Thus in an address at Kansas City, Mo., May
1, 1903, the President said:
No device that the wit of man can produce, no form of law, no form of associa
tion or organization among ourselves, can supply the lack of fundamental virtues, the
presence of which has meant a great nation, the absence of which has meant the
downfall of any nation since the world began. No smartness, no mere cleverness
unaccompanied by the sense of moral responsibility, no governmental scheme will ever
supply the place of adherence to certain fundamental precepts put forth in the Bible
and embodied consciously or unconsciously in the code of morals of every great and
successful 'nation from antiquity to modern times. Always in any government, among
any people, there are certain forces for evil which take many shapes, but which are
rooted in the same base and evil characteristics of the human soul, in the evil of
arrogance, in the evil of jealousy, of envy, of hatred, and to some people the appeal
is made to yield' to one set of evil forces, to some it is made to yield to another set,
and the result is equally bad in such case
The vice of arrogance, the vice of hate, and brutal indifference on the part of those
with wealth to those who have none is a shameful and dreadful vice. It is not one
whit worse than the vice of rancorous envy, of hatred, and jealousy on the part of
those who are not well off for those who are better off. The man who by either practice
or precept seeks to give to any man or to withhold from any man any advantage in
war, or socially, or in the working of society, or in business because of his wealth or
because of his poverty is false to the traditions of this Republic. We do not have
to fac« the tremendous problems with which you of the years from '61 to '65 were
brought face to face, but we have problems of our own.
THE PRESIDENT AND TRADES-UNIONISM.
While intelligence and character still count as essential elements of success in
individuals, there remains room for associated action in large enterprises where the
individual is swallowed up in the multitude and personal contact of employer and
employee is no longer possible. One of 5,000 wage-workers employed in a factory
could never hope to induce the employers to reduce his hours of work from fourteen
or sixteen to ten a day, but if aU of the 5,000 workmen unite in such a request they
may accompUsh their object and effect a change so momentous in the lives of work
ingmen. The fact is that in a large-scale production the workman is at a hopeless
disadvantage in making an individual bargain with the employer. His only salvation lies
in joining liis feUow-workmen and making a collective bargain with the employer regard
ing wages and the conditions under which they shall work. In forming a union and
choosing their officers and representatives the workmen are simply following the ex
ample of capitalists, who form a corporation and delegate their powers to directors
or trustees.
THE NECESSITY OF TRADES UNIONS.
This fact is fuUy recognized by President Roosevelt in common with the political
economists and other leaders of thought at the present time. Thus in his address at
Sioux Falls, S. Dak., April 6, 1903, he declared that "much can be done by organization,
combination — union among the wage-workers," and went on to explain the change that
has come about in modern industry, as follows:

¦'¦2

The wage-workers in our cities* like the capitalists in our cities,. facf; ^ *.-
changed conditions. The development of machinery and the extraordinary ciun-e ji
business conditions have rendered the employment of capital and ofypersons i" i g •
aggregations not merely profitable but -often necessary for success, and have specialize™
the labor of the wage-worker at the same time that they have brought great aggrega
tions of wage-workers together. More and more iii oar great industrial ; eenters men
have come to realize that they can not Uve as independently c-f one another as Ui tne
old days was the case everywhere and as is now the case in the country districts. L»
course, fundamentaUy, each man will yet find that the chief factor, hf determining ms
success or faUure in Ufe is the sum of his own indMdual qualities. He can not al-
ford to lose his individual limitation— his individual will and power, bnt,fte can hest
use that power if for certain objects he unites with hi« fejlows.
MESSAGES.
Similarly, in his first message to Congress, in 1901, the President declared that
"very great good has been and wUl be accomplished by associations of wage-workers
when managed with forethought, and when they combine insistence upon their own
rights with law-abiding respect for toe rights of others. The display of these quaUties
in such bodies is a duty to the nation no less than to the associations themselves."
In his second message to Congress, in the year 1905, President Roosevelt .elaborated
this thought as follows:
This is an era of federation .and combination. Exactly afs business men find they
must often work through corporations, and as itTs a constant tendency of these cor
porations to grow larger, so it is often necessary for laboring men to work in federa
tions, and these have become important factors, of modern industrial Ufe. Both kinds
of federation, capitaUstic and labor, can do, much goad, and as a necessary coroUary
they can both do evil.
Opposition to each kind of organization should take the form of opposition to
whatever is bad in the conduct of any given corporation or union, not of attacks upon
corporations as such /nor upon unions as such, for some Of the most far-reaching benefi
cent work for our people has been accompbshed through both corporations and unioas.
Each must refrain from arbitrary or tyrannous interferencje with the rights of others.
Organized capital and organized labor alike should remember that in the long run the
interest of each must be brought into harmony with the interest of the general pub
lic, and the conduct of each must conform to the fundamental rules of obedience to
the law of individual freedom and of justice and fair Sealing toward all. Each should
remember that in addition to power it must strive after the realization of healthy, lofty,
and generous ideals. Every employer, every wage-worker must be guaranteed his liberty
and his right to do as he Ukes with his property or his labor so long as h\ does not
infringe upon .the rights of others.
It is of the highest importance that employer and employee Alike should endeavor
to appreciate each the view point of the other and the sure disaster that wiU come
upon both in the long run if either grows to take as habitual an attitude of sour hos
tility and distrust toward the other. Few people deserve better of the country than
those representatives both of capital and labor, and there are many sueh who work
continually to bring about a good understanding of this kind-, based upon wisdom
and upon broad and kindly sympathy between employers, and tm^loyed. Above aU,
we need to remember that any kind of class animosity in the political world is, if.
possible, even more wicked, even more destructive to national w'eit'ilre, than sectional,
race, or reUgious animosity. We can get good government onlfc on condition that
we keep true to the principles upon which this nation was foirndecfc, and judge each
man, not as a part of a class, but upon hisMndividual merits. AU th^t we have a right
to ask of any man, rich or poor, whatever his creed, his occupation* hts birthplace, or
his residence, is that he shall act well and honorably by his neighbor and by his coun
try. We are neither for the rich man as such nor for the poor n\ah as such- Ive are
for the upright man, rich or poor. So far as the constitutional powers «of the National
Government touch these matters of general and, vital moment to the nation, they should
be exercised in conformity with the principles above set forth.

23
Developing the same thought, President Roosevelt, in his address at Kansas City,
Mo., May 1,1903, said:
In our complex iselations of employer and employee, of one class with another
class, of one sectibn with another section, we cah work out a really successful result
only if those' brought together make an honest effort each to understand his neigh
bor's viewpoint, and then an honest effort wliije working for his own interest to avoid
working to the detriment of his. neighbor. That is so obvious a truth that it is trite,
but we* peed io taet on it just the same. We need to act upon it, above aU, in our in
dustrial relations,.. onc^yith another. You are not gonig to make any new command
ments at this stage whj£h wiU supply the place of the old ones; the truths that were
true at the foot of. Mount Sinai are true now; the truths that were true when the
Golden Rule w^s" promulgated areJtrue now.
Each mjfji must work for himself. If 'he does not, there is no use of anyone
working fo* hjjjjj Each man must work for himself, and each man must endeavor
to do his best »td>g«t ehead for his own sake, for his wife and children, for those
dependent upon*- hirti,f vbu?t each' man must work for himself with the full recognition
of his duty to hfs nSighbdr^or in the end he wUl bring disaster not merely to his neigh
bor, but to himself also, A wrong done is just as much a wrong if it is done by the
little man against the" big man as by the big man against the little man. It is just
as much wrong" If don{f"t>y the capiteUst to the laborer as by the laborer to the capitalist,
and the man is no real friend -of^his country, no real friend of any set of people in
the country, if he appeals to these people only from tiie standpoint of asking them
to, see tfiat they gel their fun share and omits to ask them to remember to do full
justice -to others also. - In file long run the wage- worker, and capitalist wiU go down
in common t-ota if each does not honestly try to- get on with and do justice to the
other. ELECTED JTQr HONDRARY.. MEMBERSHIP BY THE BROTHERHOOD OF
.-¦LOCOMOTIVE^ FIREMEN.
In Sep'tember, 1902; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, assembled in annual
convention at Chattan*io'ga,-TenrL, conferred upon President Roosevelt the degree of
grand honorary membership, as indicated in the following report of the proceedings:
John F. MeNorreU, of Columbus', Ohio, one of the grand officers, and a Democratic
member of the legislature, moved that the degree of grand honorary membership be
conferred upon President Roosevelt The motion was referred to the committee on
constitution and by-laws,' whose* recommendation , was unanimous that the motion be
adopted. The report of' the committee was adopted by a unanimous rising vote amid
great cheers. +, * ,.
The President thanked ther convention, for the compliment paid him, and Grand
Master Sargent then gave him a pass^whichr admits him- to aU meetings of the Brother
hood. % '
The President, in addressing- the convention, declared that "organization is one of
the laws of our social and economic development at this time. I beUeve emphatically in
organized labor."
UNION. LABOR IN GOVERNMENT WORK.
In hjs first message to Congress, in 1901, President Roosevelt recommended that
"provision be made to render the enforcement of the eight-hour law easy and cer
tain," and also that the Government should provide in its contracts that aU work for
it should be done under "fair" conditions.
By this expression it is understood that the President meant that no contract
should be given or no contractor employed by the Government who would not agree
to pay the union S^ale of wages; in other words, no contractor should, in any way,
be allowed to obtauva contract f rpm the Government by lessening the price paid the
employees for their labor to a -point less tiian the "fair" or union scale of wages or
by working more' than the usual, number of hours per day which had been fixed for
the trade.

24
THE CASE OF WILLIAM A. MILLER.
While thus favoring the union standard of wages and hours in Government work
the President recognizes the illegality of any discrimination for or against members
of a union. Thus in the case of WiUiam A. MiUer, who complained that he was re
moved from his position of assistant foreman in the Government Printing Office, in
violation of the civil-service law, because he had been expelled from Local Union No.
4, of the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, the President ordered Miller's
reinstatement and explained the rule governing public employment in the foUowing
communication to Secretary Cortelyou, in whose charge the President placed the in
vestigation: Qysteb b^ n y Ju%y 1$> lm_
My Dear Secretaby Cortelyou: In accordance with the letter of the Civil-Service
Commission of 'July 6, the Public Printer wUl reinstate Mr. W. A. Miller in his position.
Meanwhile I will withhold my final decision of the whole case until I have received
the report of the investigation on Miller's second communication, which you notify me
has been begun to-day, July 13.
On the face of the papers presented, Miller would appear to have been removed
in violation of law. There is no objection to the employees of the Government Print
ing Office constituting themselves into a union if they so desire, but no rules or reso
lutions of that union can be permitted to override the laws of the United States, which
it is my sworn duty to enforce.
Please communicate a copy of this letter to the PubUc Printer for his information
and that of his subordinates.
Very truly yours, Theodobe Roosevelt.
Hon. Geobqe B. Cortelyou,
Secretary of Commerce and Labor. Oystee Bay, N. Y., July U, 1903.
My Dear Mb. Cobtelyou: In connection with my letter of yesterday, I call atten
tion to this judgment and award by the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission to its
report to me of March 18 last:
"It is adjudged and awarded that no person shall be refused employment or in
any way discriminated against on account of membership or non-membership to any
labor organization, and that there shall be no discrimination against or interference
with any employee who is not a member of any labor organization by members of such
organization." I heartily approve of this award and judgment by the Commission appointed
by me, which itself included a member of a labor union. This Commission was deal
ing with labor organizations working for private employers. It is, of course, mere
elementary decency to require that ali the Government Departments shall be handled
in accordance with the principle thus clearly and fearlessly enunciated.
Please furnish a copy of this letter both to Mr. Palmer and to the Civil Service
Commission for their guidance.
Sincerely, yours, Theodobe Roosevelt.
Hon. Geobqe B. Cobtelyou,
Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
MR. MILLER REINSTATED.
Mr. Palmer, the Public Printer, on Wednesday, July 16, notified Mr. Miller that
he had been reinstated and might report for duty any day.
On September 29, 1903, the President gave a hearing to members of the executive
council of the American Federation of Labor on the subject of pending labor legis
lation, at which he announced his final decision in the Miller case and at the same
time explained his preference for the "union shop" in private employment. The presi
dent of the American Federation of Labor in an address, issued on the succeeding
day, to organized labor of America thus described President Roosevelt's attitude:

25
Replying to statements on the subject, President Roosevelt set forth that in his
decision he had nothing in mind but a strict compliance with Federal, including civil
service, law and that he recognized a difference between employment by the Govern
ment, circumscribed by those laws, and any other form of employment, and that his
decision in the Miller case should not be understood to have any other effect or in
fluence than affecting direct employment by the Government in accordance therewith.
He furthermore made plain that in any form of employment excepting that so cir
cumscribed he believed the full employment of union men was preferable either to
non-union or open shops.
OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE HEARING. Septembeb 29, 1903.
Pursuant to the request of Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federa
tion of Labor, the President granted an interview this evening to the foUowing mem
bers of the executive council of that body: Mr. Samuel Gompers, Mr. James Duncan,
Mr. Jolin Mitchell, Mr. James O'Connell, and Mr. Frank Morrison, at which various
subjects of legislation in the interests of labor, as well as Executive action, were dis
cussed. Concerning the case of WiUiam A. Miller, the President made the following
statement: "I thank you and your committee for your courtesy, and I appreciate the oppor
tunity to meet with you. It will always be a pleasure to see you or any representative
of your organizations or of your federation as a whole.
"As regards the Miller case, I have little to add to what I have already said. In
dealing with it I ask you to remember that I am dealing purely with the relation of
the Government to its employees. I must govern my action by the laws of the land,
which I am sworn to administer, and which differentiate any case in which the Gov
ernment of the United States is a party from all other cases whatsoever. These laws
are enacted for the benefit of the whole people, and can not and must not be con
strued as permitting discrimination against some of the people. I am President of
aU the people of the United States, without regard to creed, color, birthplace, occu
pation, or social condition. My aim is to do equal and exact justice as among them
aU. In the employment and dismissal of men in the Government service I can no more
recognize the fact that a man does or does not belong to a union, as being for or
against him, than I can recognize the fact that he is a Protestant or a Catholic, a Jew
or a Gentile, as being for or against him.
"In the communications sent me by various labor organizations protesting against
the retention of MiUer in the Government Printing Office the grounds aUeged are two
fold: First, that he is a non-union man; second", that he is not personally fit. The
question of his personal fitness is one to be settled in the routine of administrative
detail, and can not be allowed to conflict with or to complicate the larger question of
governmental discrimination for or against. him or any other man because he is or is
not a member of a union. This is the only question now before me for decision, and
as to this my decision is final." ,
In the foregoing statement of policy President Roosevelt merely reiterated his
well-known conviction that the law must be administered with absolutely no discrimina
tion. Thus, in his address at Butte, Mont., May 27, 1903, he declared that— •
The law is no respecter of persons. The law is to be administered neither for
the rich man nor for the poor man as such. It is to be administered for every man,
rich or poor, if he is an honest and law-abiding citizen, and it is to be invoked against
any man, rich or poor, who violates it, without regard to which end of the social scale
he may stand, without regard to whether his offense takes the form of greed" and
cunning or the form of physical violence. In either case, if he violates the law, the
law is to be invoked against him, and in so invoking it I have the right to challenge
the, support of all good citizens and to demand the acquiescence of every good man.
I hope I shall have it; but once for aU, I wish it understood that even if I did not
have it, I would enforce the law anyhow.
CUNNING AS WELL AS FORCE MUST BE SHACKLED.
In his recognition of unsocial and Ulegal action through cunning, President Roose
velt differs from those critics of workingmen who see crime in every act of intimida-

26
tion or physical violence that occurs in the course of a strike or lockout, but fail to
recognize the lawlessness of the men who obtain special privileges from legislatures
and municipal councils or evade the payment of their just taxes. Thus, m an address
at the Buffalo Independent Club, May 5, 1899, Governor Roosevelt declared that—
The rich man who gets a privilege through the legislature by bribery and cor
ruption for any corporation is committing an offense against the community which it
is possible may some day have to be condoned in blood and destruction, not by him,
not by his sons, but by you and your sons.
And while the lawlessness of greed and cunning may lead to anarchy as surely
as lawless physical violence, "it is far more difficult to deal with, but the effort to
deal with it must be steadily made," as the President said in his Sioux Falls address,
April 6, 1903.
But while fearlessly pointing out the lawless acts committed by a few' rich men and
by a few poor men, President Roosevelt does not join in the lamentations of those who
despair of government by the people. On the contrary, he deprecates the fostering
of hostility between classes. Speaking at Kansas City, Mo., May 1, 1903, of the won
derful industrial growth of the country under the leadership of able business men,
he said: Let us think carefully before by any act of folly on our part we destroy what
has thus so marvelously been built up. It is easy enough to pull down. It is not so
easy to rebuild or replace, and let us take serious thought from the history of the
repubUcs of old and avoid the rocks on which they foundered, and the chief rock,
the chief danger in the path of the older repubUcs, of the repubUcs of antiquity and
the repubUcs of the middle ages, the chief danger came from the growth and encour
agement of anything in the nature of fostered hostility. It will be an evil day for
us when we let ourselves be persuaded to try to make this a government especiaUy de
signed to help any one class save as that class includes its proportion of honest, thrifty,
hard-working, decent-behaving citizens.
And it will be only a less evil day wnen any considerable portion of our people
fail to remember that the objeot of this government is to do justice, not to favor
the rich man as such nor to discriminate against him as such; not to favor the poor
man as such nor to discriminate against him as such, but to favor every man, rich
or poor, if he is honest and behaves himself toward the State and his neighbors.
And further, at Butte, Mont., May 27, 1903, he said:
This is not and never shall be a Government of a plutocracy; it is not and never
shall be a Government by a mob. It is, as it has been and as it will be, a Government
in which every honest man, every decent man, be he employer or employed, wage-
worker, mechanic, banker, farmer, lawyer, be he who he may, if he acts squarely and
fairly, if he does his duty by his neighbor and the State, receives the full protection
of the law and is given the amplest chance to exercise the abiUty there is within hijp,
alone or irt combination with his feUows, as he desires.
THE POLICY OF STATE INTERVENTION.
While wage-workers have greatly improved their condition by uniting in fraternal
organizations Uke trade unions, experience shows that such cooperation is not ade
quate to remove all the faults inherent in modern industrial relations. To stop child
labor and regulate the work of women in the factories, for example, has always been
regarded as the duty of the entire community and not the pecuUar function of trade
unions. The fact is that the very existence of trade unions depends upon the pre
valence of a relatively high standard of life, which can only be secured by the action
of the people through their constituted, representatives.
Thus there is no cooperation among the garment makers of the sweat shops until
government regulation and inspection have aided them in rising out of the degradation
of their former homes in foreign countries and the slums of our cities. State inter-

27
vention is therefore caUed for on the principle of equalizing opportunities. It does
not abolish competition, which stiU remains tlie fundamental conditipn of social prog
ress, but it raises competition to a higher level. Employer may stiU freely compete
with employer in providing attractive commodities and in reducing their cost by in
venting or introducing improved machinery and methods of production, but no em
ployer may underseU his rival by using cheap child labor or otherwise exploiting the
weakness or ignorance of the poor. The law thus favors the humane employer by pro
tecting him from the competition of the inhumane employer. In President Roosevelt's
own words: PRINCIPLES OF STATE INTERFERENCE.
It is not possible empiricaUy to declare when the interference of the State should
be deemed legitimate and illegitimate. The line of demarcation between unhealthy over-
interference and unhealthy lack of regulation is not always well defined and shifts witii
the change in our industrial needs. Most certainly we should never invoke the inter
ference of the State or nation unless it is absolutely necessary, but it is equaUy true
that where confident of its necessity we should not on academic grounds refuse it.
Wise factory laws, laws to forbid the employment of child labor and to safeguard the
employees against the effects of culpable negUgence by the employer, are necessary
not merely in the interest of the wage-worker, but in the interest of the honest and
humane employer, who should not be penalized for his honesty and humanity by being
exposed to unchecked competition with an unscrupulous rival.
In considering any proposed legislation in favor of wage-workers or others, the
criterion should be the welfare of the entire community rather than the benefit of any
class, as the President said in his Labor Day address at Syracuse^
Legislation to be permanently good for any class must also be good for the nation
as a whole, and legislation which does injustice to any class is certain to work harm
to the nation.
And, further, at Butte, Mont, in May, 1903:
The most unsafe adviser to foUow is the man who would advise us to do wrong
in order that we may benefit by it. That man is never a safe man to follow, but is
always the most dangerous of guides. The man who seeks to persuade any of us that
our advantage comes in wronging or oppressing another can be depended upon, if
opportunity comes, to do wrong to us in his own interest just as he has endeavored
to make us in our supposed interest do wrong to others.
THE AMERICAN STANDARD OF LIVING.
Under the American form of government the bulk of the legislation for the pro
tection of wage-workers must be the work of the individual Commonwealths, and when
he was governor of New York State Mr. Roosevelt, as had been already indicated, took
an active part in promoting such legislation. But the Federal Government can accom-
phsh a great deal for the maintenance of the relatively high standard of comfort that
prevails in the United States by excluding the products of cheap foreign labor and
also shutting out workmen from lower civiUzations who are incapable of rising to
the American standard of Uving. Such competition may be prevented by wise tariff
and immigration laws, and on these questions the President expressed himself strongly
in his first message to the Fifty-seventh Congress, under the date of December 3, 1901,
in the foUowing language:
With the sole exception of the farming interest no one matter is of such vital
moment to our whole people as the welfare of the wage-workers. If the farmer and
the wage-worker are weU off it is absolutely certain that an others wiU be well off too.
It is therefore a matter for hearty congratulation that wages on the whole are higher
to-day-iin the United States than ever before in our history, and far higher than in
any other country. The standard of Uving is also higher than ever before. Every
effort of legislator and administrator should be to secure the permanency of this condi
tion of things and its improvement wherever possible. Not only must our labor be

28
protected by the tariff, but it should also be protected as far as possible from the
presence in this counuy of any laborers brought over by contract or of those who,
coming freely, yet reprcent a standard of living so depressed that they can undersell
our men in the labor market and drag them to a lower level. I regard it as necessary
with this end in view, to reenact immediately the law excluding Chinese laborers, and
to strengthen it wherever necessary in order to make its enforcement entirely effective.
Our present immigration laws are unsatisfactory. We need every honest. and effi
cient immigrant fitted to become an American citizen, every immigrant who comes
here to stay, who brings here a strong body, a stout heart, a good head, and a reso
lute purpose to do his duty well in every way and to bring up his children as law-
abiding and God-fearing members of the community. But there should be a compre
hensive law enacted, with the object of working a threefold improvement ovei our
present system. First, we should aim to exclude absolutely not only all persons who
are known to be believers in anarchistic principles or members of anarchistic societies,
but also all persons who are of a low moral tendency or of unsavory reputation. This
means that we should require a more thorough system of inspection abroad and a more
rigid system of examination at our immigration ports, the former being especially
necessary. The second object of a proper immigration law ought to be to secure by a careful
and not merely perfunctory educational test some intelligent capacity to appreciate
American institutions and act sanely as American citizens. This would not keep out
all anarchists, for many of them belong to the intelligent criminal class. But it would
do what is also in point — that is, tend to decrease the sum of ignorance, so potent
in producing the envy, suspicion, malignant passion, and hatred of order, out of which
anarchistic sentiment inevitably springs. Finally, all persons should be excluded who
are below a certain standard of economic fitness to enter our industrial field as com
petitors with American labor. There should be proper proof of personal capacity
to earn an American living, and enough money to insure a decent start under Ameri
can conditions. This would stop the influx of cheap labor and the resulting compe-
tion which gives rise to so much of bitterness in American industrial life, and it would
dry up the springs of the pestilential social conditions in our great cities, where anar
chistic organizations have their greatest possibility of growth.
Both the educational and economic tests in a wise immigration law should be
designed to protect and elevate the general body politic and social. A very close super
vision should be exercised over the steamship companies which mainly bring over the
immigrants, and they should be held to a strict accountability for any infraction of'
the law.
CHINESE EXCLUSION LAW RENEWED AND EXTENDED TO THE
ISLAND TRRITORY.
Acting upon these recommendations, Congress renewed the Chinese-exclusion law
and extended it to the island territory, where the system of contract labor had previously
existed. This act prohibits the immigration of Chinese laborers from such island terri
tory to the mainland of the United States, and from one portion of said island territory
to another portion, but permits their transit from one island to another island of the
same group.
A MORE STRINGENT IMMIGRATION LAW.
Congress also enacted, and President Roosevelt approved, a more stringent immi
gration law, the important amendments being as follows:
(1) Levying a duty of $2 (an increase of $1) for each and every passenger not a
citizen of the United States or of the Dominion of Canada, the RepubUc of Cuba or
of the Republic of Mexico who shaU come by vessel from any foreign country to any
port within the United States, or by any railway or any other mode of transportation
from foreign contiguous territory to the United States.
(2) Excluding from admission epileptics, and persons who have been insane within
five years previous, and persons who have had two or more attacks of insanity at anv
time previously; anarchists or persons who beUeve in or advocate the overthrow bv
force or violence of the Government of the -United States or of al) government o
of aU forms of law or the assassination of pubUc officials.

29
(3) Providing that skiUed labor may be imported if labor of like kind unemployed
can not be found in this country.
^4) Any person who shall bring into or land in the United States, or who shaU
attempt, by himself or through another, to bring into or land here any alien not duly
admitted by an immigrant inspector, or not lawfully entitled to enter, shall be liable to
punishment by a fine not exceeding $1,000 for each alien so landed or attempted to be
landed or by imprisonment for a term not less than three months nor more than two
years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(5) Each manifest shall be verified by the signature and the oath or affirmation
of the master or commanding officer of a vessel or the first or second below him in
command, taken before an immigration officer at the port of arrival, to the effect that
he has caused the surgeon of said vessel sailing therewith to make a physica'. and oral
examination of each alien.
(6) Any alien who shall come into the United States in violation oi law, or who
shall be found a public charge therein, from causes existing prior to landing, shall be
deported to the country whence he came at any time within two years after arrival
at the expense, including one-half of the cost of inland transportation to the port of
deportation, of the person bringing such alien into the United States, or, if that can
not be done, then at the expense of the immigrant fund. In case the Secretary of
Commerce and Labor shall be satisfied that an alien shall be found in the United
States in violation of law, he shaU cause such alien, within the period of three years
after landing, to be taken into custody and returned to the country whence he came,
at the expense, including one-half of the cost of inland transportation to the port of
deportation, of the person bringing such aben tu i iiis country, or, if that can not be
done, at the expense of the immigrant fund, and negiect or refusal on the part of
the masters, agents, owners, or- consignees of vessels to comply with the order of
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to take on board, guard safely, and return to
the country whence he came, shall be punished by the imposition of penalties pre
scribed by law.
(?) The Commissioner-General of Immigration, under the direction or with the
approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, shall prescribe rules for the entry
and inspection of aUens along the borders of Canada and Mexico, so as not to un
necessarily delay, impede, or annoy passengers in ordinary travel between the United
States and those two countries.
The President has caused the provisions of the act to be so carefuUy and vigor
ously enforced by improved methods of administration under Commissioner-General
of Immigration Frank P. Sargeant, the former grand master of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Firemen, that many hundreds of diseased and unfit foreigners seeking
entrance to the United States have been deported to their former places of residence.
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT.
The Government is itself a large employer of labor, and by the force of its ex
ample exerts a great influence upon other employers. President Roosevelt in his mes
sage to Congress has recommended legislation to estabUsh the eight-hour day and
"fair" wages on all pubUc work, whether done by the Government itself or by con
tractors for the Government. Thus his first message to Congress in 1901 contained
the foUowing recommendations:
The National Government should demand the highest quaUty of service from its
employees, and in return it should be a good employer. If possible, legislation should
be passed in connection with the interstate commerce law which wUl render effective
the efforts of different States to do away with the competition of convict contract labor
in the open labor market. So far as practicable under the conditions of Government

30
work provision should be made to render the enforcement of the eight-hour law _ easy
and certain. In aU industries carried on directly or indirectly for the United atai.es
Government women and children should be protected from excessive hours or laDor,
from night work, and from work under unsanitary conditions.
The Government should provide in its contracts that all work should be done, under
"fair" conditions, and, in addition to setting a high standard, should uptiold it Dy
proper inspection, extending, if necessary, to the sub-contractors. The Uovermnent
should forbid all night work for women and children, as well as excessive overtime.
For the District of Columbia a good factory law should be passed, and as a powerrui
indirect aid to such laws, provision should be made to turn the inhabited alleys, tne
existence of which is a reproach to our capital city, into minor streets, where tne
inhabitants can Uve under conditions favorable to health and morals.
PROHIBITING THE EMPLOYMENT OF MONGOLIANS ON IRRIGATION
WORKS AND APPLYING THE EIGHT-HOUR LAW TO SUCH PRO
JECTS. ,
On June 17, 1902, President Roosevelt approved a measure authorizing the Secre
tary of the Interior to cause to be let contracts for the construction, where practicable,
of irrigation works. The act provides that eight hours shaU be a day's labor on such
projects and prohibits the employment of Mongolians thereon.
ABOLISHING SLAVERY IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
President Roosevelt, on July 1, 1902, approved a biU which provided that "neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party
shaU have been duly convicted, shaU exist" in the PhiUppine Islands.
The government of the islands is empowered to "grant franchises, privUeges, and
concessions, including the authority to exercise the right of eminent domain for the
construction and operation of works of public utiUty ' and service." It Is "unlawful
for any corporation organized under this act, or for any person, company, or cor
poration receiving any grant, franchise, or concession from the government of said
islands to use, employ, or contract for the labor of persons claimed or aUeged to be
held in involuntary servitude and any person, company, or corporation so violating
the provisions of this act shall forfeit all charters, grants, franchises, and concessions
for doing business in said islands, and in addition shaU be deemed guilty of an offense
and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $10,000."
MINE REGULATIONS IN TERRITORIES.
Through an amendatory act of Congress, signed by President Roosevelt on July
1, 1902, mine regulations in Territories have been greatly improved. These changes
have bettered the sanitary condition of mines, thus insuring the preservation of the
health of miners and other employees, besides affording additional protection to Ufe
and Umb. The amended law requires that —
The owners or managers of every coal mine shaU provide an adequate amount
of ventilation of not less than 83.5 cubic feet of pure air per second, or 5,000 cubic
feet per minute, for every fifty men at work in said mine, and in like proportion for
a greater number, which air shaU, by proper appUances or machinery, be forced through
such mine to the face of each and every working place, so as to dilute and render
harmless and expel therefrom the noxious or poisonous gases. Whenever it is practic
able to do so, the entries, rooms, and aU openings being operated in coal mines shall
be kept weU dampened with water to cause the coal dust to settle, and that when
water is not obtainable at reasonable cost for this purpose, accumulations of dust shall
be taken out of the mine and shaU not be deposited in way places in the mine where
it would be again distributed in the atmosphere by the ventilating currents.
It is also provided that — ,
Owners, lessees, operators of, or any other person having the control orjaanace-
ment of any coal shaft, drift, slope, or pit in the Indian Territory, employin^Twenty

31
or more miners to work in the same, shall employ shot firers to fire the shots therein.
Said shots shall not be fired to exceed one per day; at 12 o'clock noon in cases where
the miners work but half a day, arid at 5 o'clock in the evening when the mine is
working three-quarters or full time, and they shall not be fired until after aU miners
and other employees working in said shafts, drifts, slopes, or pits shall be out of same.
The violation of this act shall constitute a misdemeanor, and any person convicted
of such violation shaU pay a fine of not exceeding $500.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.
President Roosevelt gave his approval on February 14, 1903, to the Congressional
biU creating the Department of Commerce and Labor and providing for the appoint
ment by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, of a Secretary of
Commerce and Labor, a Cabinet officer. The province and duty of the Department
is to foster, promote, and develop the labor interests, the foreign and domestic com
merce, the mining, manufacturing, shipping, and fishery industries, and the transpor
tation faculties of the United States; and to this end it is vested with jurisdiction
and control of several existing departments, bureaus, offices, and branches of the pub
lic service, specified in the statute.
A MODEL LABOR CODE FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
WhUe there are not many wage-workers in the District of Columbia to caU for legal
protection, President Roosevelt reaUzes that if Congress should enact a good labor code
for the District it would be a model for the States and Territories, and, accordingly,
in his second message to Congress he renewed his recommendations in favor of such
legislation in the following language:
The District of Columbia is the only part of our territory in which the National
Government exercises local or municipal functions, and where in consequence the Gov
ernment has a free hand in reference to certain types of social and economic legis
lation which must be essentiafiy local or municipal in character. The Government
should see to it, for instance, that the hygienic and sanitary legislation affecting Wash
ington is of a high character.
The evUs of shim dweUings, whether in the shape of crowded and congested tene
ment-house districts or of the back-alley type, should never be permitted to grow up
in Washington. The city should be a model in every respect for aU the cities of the
country. The charitable and correctional systems of the District should receive con
sideration at the hands of Congress to the end that they may embody the results of
the most advanced thought in these fields. Moreover, while Washington is_ not a great
industrial city, there is some industriaUsm here, and our labor legislation, while it
would not be important in itself, might be made a model for the rest of the nation.
We should pass, for instance, a wise employers' UabUity act for the District of Col
umbia, and we need such an act in our navy-yards. Railroad companies in the Dis
trict ought to be required by law to block their frogs.
LICENSING EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
When he was governor of New York, Mr. Roosevelt called the attention of the
legislature to the fact that "abuses have occurred in connection with the employment
offices in the larger cities, which are now allowed to violate the law with impunity,
the power of punishment lying with the local authorities." He therefore recommended
the enactment of legislation requiring the keeper of any employment office to procure
a Ucense on the payment of a substantial fee, thus restricting the business to responsi
ble parties and keeping it under the control of the State administration. As Presi
dent, to insure Government supervision of employment agencies in the District of Col-
mmbla, he, on July 1, 1»08, approved a measure which provides that "proprietors or
owners of intelligence offices, information bureaus, registries, or employment oflces,
ky whatsoever name called, shaU pay a license tax of $10 per annum."

S$
EXEMPTING FROM TAXATION IN THE DISTRICT 0* COLUMBIA
HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS TO THE VALUE OF $1,000, WEARING AP
PAREL, LIBRARIES, BOOKS, Etc.
According to a bill to which President Roosevelt affixed his signature on July 1,
1902, the following personal-property is exempt from taxation in the District of Col
umbia: Household and other belongings, not held for sale, to the value of $1,000,
owned by the occupant of any dwelling house or other place of abode in which such
household and other belongings may be located; also, libraries, schoolbooks, wearing
apparel, articles of personal adornment, all family portraits, and heirlooms.
EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY LAW.
President Roosevelt has always expressed himself in favor of employers' liability
laws under which workingmen suffering injury through the negligence of the employer
or his agents might recover compensation for his injuries. While governor of New
York he recommended the enactment of such a law, and in the preceding paragraph
he recommended similar legislation for the protection of workmen employed in the
Government navy-yards, as well as for the District of Columbia, and in fact wherever
the jurisdiction of the United States is supreme. Many accidents would never occur
if the employer had to compensate employees injured without fault of their own,
as is required in most European countries.
SAFETY-APPLIANCE LAWS.
Another way in which workingmen may be protected from accidents is by re
quiring the employer to safeguard machinery. Federal legislation along this line has
been restricted to transportation companies engaged in interstate commerce.
On March 2, 1893, the safety-appliance law, or the "car-coupler bill," as it is
sometimes called, was passed by Congress. The main purpose of this legislation was
protection for the lives and limbs of railway employees, and it has proved vastly bene
ficial to this class of wage-workers. The reports of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission show that in 1893, the year in which the law was passed, the casualties to
railway employees, due to coupling and uncoupling cars, numbered 11,710 (433 deaths
and 11,277 injuries), while in 1902, the first full year of the law's operation, the cas
ualties numbered but 2,256 (143 deaths and 2,113 injuries), a decrease of more than
9,000 in the annual number of casualties of this character, notwithstanding that in
1902 there were over 20,000 more men at risk than there were in 1893.
The adoption of these appliances has also been of much benefit to the railroads,
independently of their effect in adding to the safety of Ufe and Umb. Had it -not
been for the general adoption of automatic couplers and air brakes on freight trains
it would have been impossible for the railroads during recent years to have met the
wonderfuUy increased demands of traffic, as they have been met by the use of vastly
heavier and more powerful locomotives, more capacious cars, and longer and infinitely
heavier trains — trains that certainly could not have been safely handled with the ap-
pUances in general use when the law was enacted.
However, as has been the case with almost aU laws of this character, experience
disclosed certain defects in the law and showed that it was impossible to obtain the
full benefit contemplated by the framers of the law without the enactment of certain
amendments which were proposed. The President took a most active interest in this
matter, calling attention to it in his message to Congress under date of December
2, 1902, as follows:
The safety-appliance law for the better protection of the Uves and limbs of rail
way employees, which was passed in 1893, went into fuU effect on August 1, 1901.

It has resulted in averting thousands of casualties. Experience shows, however, the
necessity of additional legislation to perfect this law. A biU to provide for this
passed the Senate at the last session. It is to be hoped that some such measure may
now be enacted into law.
The President rendered invaluable assistance in furthering the passage of the
amended law, which finally passed both Houses of Congress and received the Presi
dent's approval on March 2, 1903.
The necessity for this legislation had become imperative owing to a decision of
the circuit court of appeals for the eighth circuit, which held:
(1) That the law did not require that locomotives or their tenders should be equipped
with automatic couplers.
(2) That a car, having completed an interstate journey and laying over at a local
point for the purpose of renewing or starting upon another interstate journey, was
not in use in interstate traffic while so laying over, and in any event an empty car
could not be considered as being used in interstate traffic.
(3) That if cars were equipped with automatic couplers which would couple auto
matically with other couplers of the same kind or type, the law had been complied
with, that it was not necessary that cars should be equippe'd with couplers that would
couple automaticaUy with another make of coupler which might be adopted by another
road. The decision defeated the main purpose of the law — the estabbshment of uni
formity and interchangeabiUty of couplers all over the country.
The amended law removes all ambiguity concerning the points covered by the
decision of the circuit court of appeals and cures the defects which Julge Sanborn
deduced from the wording of the original law, besides adding other important provisions
calculated to increase the safety of employees.
The original act applied to cars and trains used in moving interstate traffic, while
the amended act applies to any common carrier engaged in interstate commerce by
railroad in the Territories and the District of Columbia, its language being as follows:
And shall apply in all cases, whether or not the couplers brought together are
of the same kind, make, or type, and the provisions and requirements hereof and of
said acts relating to train brakes, automaLic couplers, grab irons, and the height of
drawbars, shall be held to apply to all trains, locomotives, tenders, cars, and similar
vehicles used on any railroad engaged in interstate commerce, and in the Territories
and the District of Columbia, and to all other locomotives, cars, and similar vehicles
used in connection therewith, excepting those trains, cars, and locomotives exempted
by the provisions of section 6 of said act of March 2, 1893, as amended by the act
of April 1, 1896, or which are used upon street railways.
It wiU thus be seen that under the amended law it is not necessary that a par
ticular car or train be used in interstate commerce to bring it under the provisions
of the law, but merely that the road itself be engaged in handling interstate traffic.
Locomotives, tenders, snowplows, caboose cars, and aU similar vehicles are also brought
under the operation of the law. The law also requires that all trains on roads engaged
in interstate commerce shaU have at least fifty per cent, of the cars in each train
equipped with power or train brakes, and such brakes shaU be used and operated
by the engineer of the locomotive hauling such train, and the Interstate Commerce
Commission may increase this minimum percentage on any road from time totime,
after fuU hearing, as the circumstances and conditions of traffic may seem to require,
the object being to do away with the necessity for men to traverse the tops of rapidly
moving trains in all sorts of weather for the purpose of controlling their speed by
means of the hand brakes.
3

34
THE PRESIDENT AND THE COAL STRIKE OF 1902.
The President has frequently emphasized the need of more sympathy between em
ployers and employees and deprecated the cultivation of class feeling with its re
sulting antagonisms.
Very much of our effort in reference to labor matters —
He said at Sioux Falls in April, 1903—
should be by every device and expedient to try to secure a constantly better under
standing between employer and employee. Everything possible should be done to
increase the smypathy and feUow-feeUng between them, and every chance taken to
allow each to look at aU questions, especiaUy at questions in dispute, somewhat through
the other's eyes.
If met with a sincere desire to act fairly by one another, and if there is, further
more, power by each to appreciate the other's standpoint, the chance for trouble^ is
minimized. I suppose every thinking man rejoices when by mediation or arbitration
it proves possible to settle troubles in time to avert the suffering and bitterness caused
by strikes. Moreover, a conciliation committee can do best work when the trouble
is in its beginning, or at least has not come to a head. When the break has actuaUy
occurred, damage has been done, and each side feels sore and angry, and it is dif
ficult to get them together, difficult to make either forget its own wrongs and remember
the rights of the other. If possible, the effort of concUiation or mediation or arbitra
tion should be made in the earUer stages, and should be marked by the wish on the
part of both sides to try to come to a common agreement, which each shall think in
the interest of the other as weU as of itself.
When we deal with such a subject we are fortunate in having before us an ad
mirable object lesson in the work that has just been closed by the Anthracite Coal
Strike Commission. This was the commission which was appointed last fall, at the
time when'the coal strike in the anthracite regions threatened our nation with a dis
aster second to none which has befaUen us since the days of the civil war. Their
report was made just before the Senate adjourned at the special session, and no Gov
ernment document of recent years marks a more important piece of work better
done, and there is none which teaches sounder social morality to our people. The
commission consisted of seven as good men as were to be found in the country, repre
senting the bench, the church, the Army, the professions, the employers, and the em
ployed. They acted as a unit and the report which they unanimously signed is a
masterpiece of sound common sense and of sound doctrine on the very questions with
which our people should most deeply concern themselves. The immediate effect of
this commission's appointment and action was of vast and incalculable benefit to the
nation, but the ultimate effect wiU be even better if capitaUst, wage-worker, and
lawmaker aUke wUl take to heart and act upon the lessons set forth in the report
they have made.
ULTIMATE EFFECT.
The appointment of this commission, which resulted in the termination of the
great coal strike of 1902, is perhaps President Roosevelt's most widely known and
generally appreciated contribution toward the improvement of industrial relations.
When the efforts of all other peacemakers had come to naught and the coal famine
remained unbroken at the near approach of winter, Mr. Roosevelt, as a representa
tive American citizen, pleaded with the operators and miners to terminate their dispute
and resume the mining of coaL PubUc opinion supported his action so strongly that
both sides to the dispute agreed to resume work and leave to a commission to be
appointed by the President the determination of the conditions of employment con
cerning which they had been unable to agree. The President's commission not only
adjusted the dispute in the coal regions, but in so doing formulated principles of very
general apphcation to the organisation of industry at the present time. The im
mediate effect of the commission's appointment was, as the President has himself
stated, "of vast and incalculable benefit to the nation, but the ultimate effect wffl be
even bette* If capitalist, wage-worker, and lawmaker alike wUl take to heart and

35
act upon the lessons set forth in the report" of the commission. The coal industry
is typical of aU the great industries of to-day that are organized on the principle
of large-scale production, and its treatment of the labor problem is therefore highly
lUuminative. ORIGIN OF THE STRIKE.
Under the influence of a vast stream of immigration of Poles, Hungarians, and
Slavs into the coal regions during the last two or three decades wages had steadily
declined. The American miners saw their own standard of living threatened by the
lower standards brought from central Europe unless thev could induce these newcomers
to unite with them in an effort to put an end to the incessant underbidding for employ
ment. In 1897 they brought their organization, the United Mine Workers, to such a.
state of perfection that it dominated the labor situation in the bituminous regions
and met the employers' associations on an equality in the annual settlement of the
terms of employment. In 1899 the organization spread to the anthracite regions and
the next year was able to secure a 10 per cent, advance in wages, after a comparatively
short strike that was supported as heartily by the miners outside the union as by
the minority at that time in the union.
As a consequence of this triumph a vast majority of the miners joined the or
ganization, which thereupon sought to represent the miners in making terms with the
employers' agents at annual conferences such as were held with the bituminous opera
tors. The denial of this request by the officers of the mining corporations nearly
brought on another strike in 1901, and when early in 1902 a similar request, accom
panied with a demand for an advance in wages, etc., was once more denied, industrial
peace could no longer be preserved. The operators even refused the union's offer
to submit its demands to the arbitration of the National Civic Federation or other
arbitrators, and a week later a delegate convention of the anthracite mine workers
voted to continue the strike ordered on May 12. In obedience to this decision, says
the commission, "nearly the entire body of mine workers, which numbers about 147,000,
abandoned their employment and remained idle until the strike was called off by
another convention," that is, until October 23, 1902.
ACTION OF THE PRESIDENT.
With the progress of summer and the failure of all mediatory efforts to adjust
the differences between the miners and the operators the scarcity of fuel made itself
felt Many factories that were dependent upon anthracite had to shut down, throw
ing large numbers of working people out of employment, and the famine prices at
which coal was sold almost prohibited its use for domestic purposes by the poorer
famUies. As cold weather approached the President felt himself virtuaUy compelled
to act in order to avert unexampled distress throughout all eastern communities that
depended upon anthracite coal for domestic heating purposes. In October 1 he tele
graphed an invitation to the presidents of the five coal railroad companies, a prominent
individual operator, and the president of the miners' organization to confer . with
him "in regard to the failure of the coal supply, which had become a matter of vital
concern to the whole nation." To these seven persons, who met the President
AT THE WHITE HOUSE ON OCTOBER 3,
Mr. Roosevelt said: "I wish to call your attention to the fact that there are three
parties affected by the situation in the anthracite trade — the operators, the miners,
and the general pubUc. I speak for neither the operators nor the miners, but for
the general public. The questions at issue which led to the situation affect immediately
the parties concerned— the operators and the miners — but. the situation itself vitally
affects the pubUc. As long as there seemed to be • reasonable hope that these mat-

36
ters could be adjusted between the parties, it did not seem proper to me to intervene
in any way. I disclaim any right or duty to intervene in this way upon legal grounds
or upon any official relation that I bear to the situation, but the urgency and the
terrible nature of the catastrophe impending over a large portion of our Pe<>Ple. in
the shape of a winter fuel famine impel me, after much anxious thought, to believe
that my duty requires me to use whatever influence I personaUy can to bring to an
end a situation which has become literally intolerable. I wish to emphasize the charac
ter of the situation and to say that its gravity is such that I am constrained urgently
to insist that each one of you realize the heavy burden of responsibility upon him.
"We are upon the threshold of winter, with an already existing coal famine,
the future terrors of which we can hardly yet appreciate. The evil possibUities are
so far-reaching, so appalling, that it seems to me that you are not only justified in
sinking, but required to sink for the time being, any tenacity as to your respective
claims in the matter at issue between you. In my judgment the situation imperatively
requires that you meet upon the common plane of the necessities of the pubUc. With
all the earnestness there is in me, I ask that there be an immediate resumption of opera
tions in the coal mines in some such way as will without a day's unnecessary delay meet
the crying needs of the people.
"I do not invite a discussion of your respective claims and positions. I appeal
to your patriotism, to the spirit that sinks personal considerations and makes indi
vidual sacrifices for the general good."
At the conclusion of the President's remarks,
MR. MITCHELL REPLIED AS FOLLOWS:
Mr. President, I am much impressed with what you say, I am impressed with the
gravity of the situation. We feel that we are not responsible for this terrible state
of affairs. We are willing to meet the gentlemen representing the coal operators to
try to adjust our differences among ourselves. If we can not adjust them that way,
Mr. President, we are willing that you shaU name a tribunal who shall determine the
issues that have resulted in this strike; and if the gentlemen representing the opera
tors will accept the award or decision of such a tribunal, the miners will wiUingly
accept it, even if it is against their claims.
The President. Before considering what ought to be done I think it only just to
both of you — both sides — and desirable from my standpoint, that you should have time
to consider what I have stated as to the reasons for my getting you together, and I
shall trespass so far upon your good nature as to ask that this interview cease now
and that you come back at 3 o'clock. I should like you to think over what I have
stated, not to decide now, but give it careful thought and return at 3 o'clock.
The conference then adjourned until 3 o'clock.
The President then put an end to the interview and asked both parties to think
over what he had stated and return in the afternoon. Upon reassembling the operators
made long statements of their side of the case; but in reply to the President's inquiry
whether they would accept Mr. Mitchell's proposition they answered "No." In response
to a further question from the President they stated that they would have no deaUngs
whatever with Mr. MitcheU looking toward a settlement of the question at issue and
that they had no other proposition to make, save what was contained in the statement
of Mr. Baer, which, in effect, was that if any man chose to resume work and had a diffi
culty with his employer, both should leave the settlement of the question to the judge of
the court of common pleas of the district in which the mine was located.
A COMMISSION OF FIVE TO BE APPOINTED BY THE PRESIDENT.
In view of the growing public demand for the resumption of coal mining, how
ever, the operators reconsidered their refusal to arbitrate their dispute with the miners
and a few days later proposed that it be settled by a commission of five, to be ap
pointed by the President, and to be composed of an officer of the Army or Navy, an
expert mining engineer, a. United States circuit court judge from Pennsylvania,
sociologist, and a man who had been in the coal business. As the last-mentioned mem-

37
ber would come from the ranks of the employers, the miners naturally demanded a
modification of the operators' proposition, which should allow them a representative on
the Commission. When the Commission was appointed on October 16 it therefore consisted of six
members, and by the subsequent addition of the United States Commissioner of Labor
its final composition was as foUows: Brig. Gen. John M. Wilson; Edward M. Parker,
of the United States Geological Survey; Judge George Gray, of the United States
circuit court of the eastern district of Pennsylvania; Bishop John L. Spalding, of the
Catholic Church; Thomas H. Watkins, a retired coal operator; Edgar E. Clark, chief
of the Order of Railway Conductors, and Hon. Carroll D. Wright. On October 21 a
convention of the miners voted to submit aU the questions at issue to this Commission
and to resume work on October 23. The presidents of the anthracite coal roads agreed
to abide by the decisionof the Commission, and in the course of its proceedings the
leading independent operators and non-union miners also became parties to the arbitral
tion agreement, so that the board's awards, when announced on March 18, 1903, covered
virtually the entire anthracite mining industry.
AU through their investigations and deUberations the conviction has grown upon the
commissioners that if they could evoke and confirm a more genuine spirit of good will,
a more conciliatory disposition in the operators and their employees in their relations
toward one another, they would do a better and more lasting work than any which mere
rulings, however wise or just, may accompUsh. Fairness, forbearance, and good will are
the prerequisites of peace and harmonious cooperation in all the social and economic
relation of men. The interests of employer and employees are reciprocal. The success
of industrial processes is the result of their cooperation, and their attitude toward one
another, therefore, should be that of friends, not that of foes; and since those who
depend for a livelihood on the labor of their hands bear the heavier burdens and have
less opportunity to upbuild their higher being, the men of position and education, for
whom they labor, should lead them not more in virtue of their greater abiUty and capital
than in virtue of their greater loving-kindness.
Where production is controlled despotically by capital there may be a seeming
prosperity, but the qualities which give sacredness and worth to life are enfeebled or
destroyed. In the absence of a trustful and conciliatory disposition the strife between
capital and labor can not be composed by laws and contrivances. The causes from
which it springs are as deep as man's nature, and nothing that is powerless to illumine
the mind and touch the heart can reach the fountain head of the evil. So long as
employers and employees continue to look on one another as opponents and antagonists
so long shall their relations be unsatisfactory and strained, requiring but a sUght
thing to provoke the open warfare which is caUed a strike.
It is in this spirit the commission has made its investigation and submits its report
and award, and it is in this spirit the award must be received by all the parties to the
submission if it is to have the effect desired by them and by aU good citizens.
THE INCREASE OF WAGES.
The four demands of the miners were for an increase of 20 per cent, in the piece
rates paid to contract miners, the rates to be based on weight of the coal instead of
the carload, a reduction of 20 per cent, (from ten to eight hours a day) in the hours
of labor of workmen employed by the day, and the recognition of the union hy the
establishment of a joint trade agreement between the representatives of employers
and employed. The commission compromised on the matter of wages by awarding an
increase of 10 per cent., with additional increases under a sliding-scale system when
the market price of coal rose above the existing level; a reduction in hours from ten
to nine; the establishment of a joint board of conciliation, representing employers and
employed, to decide disputed questions during the Ufe of the award (to March 31,
1906.)

38
THE ADVANCE IN WAGE RATES TOOK EFFECT NOVEMBER 1, 1002.
The commission found great difficulty in ascertaining the actual earnings of miners,
owing to their irregular employment. It estimated the average annual income of the
most highly paid class of employees — the contract miners or skilled hewers of coal
to be about $560. This was in 1901, "a year of unusual activity in the anthracite field,"
as the commission states. The average number of days throughout the region on which
the coUieries started was about 260, and the miners worked about 236 days, which is
much more ample employment than they had in other years. Even so, their daily
earnings (for 313 week days in the year) average only $1.80, which is not a large wage
when compared with other skiUed trades; and when the fearful hazards of their em
ployment, exceeding even those of railroad men, are considered, such earnings seem
quite modest. The miners also had little difficulty in proving that the 10 per cent.
increase won in 1900 had not improved their condition, since the cost of living had
correspondingly increased since 1900.
Several merchants testified that the price of necessaries of Ufe in the anthracite
region had increased more than 20 per cent, between 1900 and 1902, while the official
statistics of the United States Department of Labor revealed an increase of 10 per
cent, in the price of food consumed by the average workingman's family. In view
of all the circumstances, the commission awarded a 10 per cent, increase in piece rates,
to take effect November 1, 1902. Such rates are to be the minimum, and are to be
increased with every increase in the price of coal above $4.50 a ton at tide water, at
the rate of 1 per cent, for each 5 cents per ton. While the base price is seldom likely to
be exceeded, the sliding scale wiU give to the miners something like two-fifths of the ad
vantage of an increase should the operators attempt to gouge the public, and is thus
a protection to consumers as well as miners.
THE MINERS AND THEIR LABORERS.
The increase in rates granted to contract miners wiU be shared by them with the
laborers whom they hire to load their coal, paying therefor about 35 per cent, of their
gross receipts.
The laborers' earnings were estimated to be sUghtly more than 60 per cent of those
of the real miners, or $350, in 1901. The commission also decided that the laborers
should be paid directly by the company, instead of by the miners, the amount of their
earnings as reported by the miners.
The miners and their laborers constitute about two-fifths of the mine workers, the
remaining 60 per cent, being men and boys employed chiefly in and about the breakers
by the week, day, or hour, and commonly designated as "company men." In their case
also the commission found that rates of wages were of Utile significance owing to
irregular employment; thus, in 1901, the average number of days on which the breakers
started was 258, but the average number of hours per start was only 7.6.
As the men are paid for a ten-hour day, they averaged only 196 full days in the
year. The significance of the 10 per cent, reduction in hours now appears, it being
equivalent to an advance of 11 1-9 per cent, in wages. Thus the "company man" who
received $1.50 per day really worked for 15 cents an hour on the old basis of the ten-
hour day. On the new basis of the nine-hour day the wage of $1.50 a day means 16 2-3
cents an hour, and yearly earnings wiU increase proportionately. The justice of this
11 1-9 per cent increase will be appreciated when it is stated that the average earnings
of adult men were under $400 in 1901, a year of exceptionally ample employment. Thus
in 1901:the average number of ten-hour days of employment was 196, as compared with
149 in 1897 and 148 in 1898.
The commission found it impracticable to establish a system whereby miners should

39
be paid by the ton rather than by the car, but provided that the operators should per
mit miners to employ check weighmen to watch the weighing and docking of coal in
their interest.
The only average presented by the commission is one for 35,851 men and boys,
namely, $377.76, but the detailed statistics seem to justify the foregoing estimate.
RECOGNITION OF THE UNION.
Notwithstanding the importance of the wages question, the reaUy fundamental
point at issue was the recognition of the right of coUective bargaining— that is, the
right of the workingmen to combine and choose representatives to make an annual
bargain or contract with the company officials (the representatives of the stockholders
or employers) concerning the conditions of employment, as is the practice in the bitu
minous trade, on the great railway systems, and in large-scale manufacturing. While
denying in terms the miners' demand for "the incorporation in an agreement between
the United Mine Workers and the anthracite coal companies of the wages which shall
be paid and the conditions of employment which shall obtain, together with satisfac
tory methods for the adjustment of grievances," the commission in effect sustained
the miners by upholding the principle of coUective bargaining and by establishing a
joint board of arbitration, on which the representatives of the employees must inevi
tably be officers of the union.
THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE OF TRADE UNIONISM IS SUPPORTED
BY THE COMMISSION IN THE FOLLOWING WORDS:
In the days when the employer had but few employees, personal acquaintance and
direct contact of the employer and the employee resulted in mutual knowledge of the
surrounding conditions and the desires of each. The development of the employers
into large corporations has rendered such personal contact and acquaintance between
the responsible employer and the individual employee no longer possible in the old
sense. The tendency toward peace and good-feUowship which grows out of personal
acquaintance or direct contact should not, however, be lost through this evolution to
greater combinations. There seems to be no medium through which to preserve it so
natural and efficient as that of an organization of employees governed by rules which
represent the wiU of a properly constituted majority of its members and officered
by members selected for tbat purpose, and in whom authority to administer the rules
and affairs of the union and its members is vested.
The men employed in a certain Une of work or branch of industry have similar
feelings, aspirations, and convictions, the natural outgrowth of their common work and
common trend or appUcation of mind. The union, representing their community of in
terests, is the logical result of their community of thought. I ts encourages calm and in-
teUigent consideration of matters of common interest. In the absence of a union the
extremist gets a ready hearing for incendiary appeals to the prejudice or passion when
a grievance, real or fancied, of a general nature presents itself for consideration.
The claim of the worker that he has the same right to join with his feUows in
forming an organization through which to be represented that the stock-holder of the
corporation has to join others in forming the corporation and to be represented by
the directors and other officers seems to be thoroughly weU founded not only in ethics,
but under economic considerations. Some employers say to their employees: "We
do not object to your joining the union, but we will not recognize your union nor
deal with it as representing you." If the union is to be rendered impotent and its
usefulness is to be minified by refusing to permit it to perform the functions for
which it is created and for which alone it exists, permission to join it may well be
considered as a privilege of doubtful value.
Trades unionism is rapidly becoming a matter of business, and that employer who
fails ,to give the same careful attention to the question of his relation to his labor
or his employees which he gives to the other factors which enter into the conduct of
his business makes a mistake which sooner or later he wiU be obUged to^correct,
In this as in other things it is much better to start right than to make mistakes in
starting, which necessitote returmng to correct them. Experience thova that the more

40
full the recognition given to a trades union the more businesslike and responsible it be
comes.. Through dealing with business men in business matters its more intelligent, con
servative, and responsible members come to the front and gain general control and
direction of its affairs. If the energy of the employer is directed to discouragement
and repression of the union, he need not be surprised if the more radically inclined
members are the ones most frequently heard.
The commission agrees that a plan under which all questions of difference between
the employer and his employees shall first be considered in conference between the
employer or his official representative and a committee chosen by his employees from
their own ranks is most likely to produce satisfactory results and harmonious relations,
and at such conference the employees should have the right to call to their assistance
such representatives or agents as they may choose, and to have them recognized as such.
BUT THE COMMISSION ALSO POINTS OUT THE OBLIGATIONS OF
UNION MEN, THUS:
In order to be entitled to such recognition the labor organization or union must
give the same recognition to the rights of the employer and of others which it demands
for itself and for its members. The worker has the right to quit or to strike in conjunc
tion with his fellows, when by so doing he does not violate a contract made by or for
him. He has neither the right nor license to destroy or to damage the property of the
employer; neither has he any right or license to intimidate or to use violence against
the man who chooses to exercise his right to work, nor to interfere with those who
do not feel that the union offers tbe best method for adjusting grievances.
The union must not undertake to assume or to interfere with the management
of the business of the employer. It should strive to make membership in it so valu
able as to attract aU who are eUgible; but in its efforts to build itself up it must
not lose sight of the fact that those who may think differently have certain rights
guaranteed them by our free government. However irritating it may be to see a man
enjoy benefits to the securing of which he refuses to contribute, either morally or
physically or financially, the fact that he has a right to dispose of his personal ser
vices as he chooses can not be ignored. The non-union man assumes the whole re
sponsibility which results from his being such, but his right and privilege of being a
non-union man are sanctioned in law and morals.
THE COMMISSION DECLARES THAT THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES
OF NONUNION MEN ARE AS SACRED TO THEM AS THE RIGHTS
AND PRIVILEGES OF UNIONISTS.
The contention that a majority of the employees in an industry, by voluntarily
associating themselves in a union, acquire authority over those who do not so asso
ciate themselves is untenable. Those who voluntarily associate themselves believe that
in their efforts to improve conditions they are working as much in the interest of
the unorganized as in their own, and out of this grows the contention that when a
non-union man works during a strike he violates the rights and privileges of those
associated in efforts to better the general condition and in aspirations to a higher
standard of living.
The non-union man, who does not beheve that the union can accompUsh these
things, insists with equal sincerity that the union destroys his efforts to secure a better
standard of living, and interferes with his aspirations for improvement. The fallacy
of such argument lies in the use of the analogy of State government, under which the
minority acquiesces m the rule of the majority, but government is the result of organic
law, within the scope of which no other government can assume authority to control
the minority. In all acts of government the minority takes part, and when it is de
feated the government becomes the agency of all, not simply of the majority
It should be remembered that the trade union is a voluntary social organization
and, like any other organization, is subordinate to the laws of tne land and ran It
make rules or regulations in contravention thereof. Yet it at times WL t *
itself up as a separate and distinct governing agency and to control those who haw
refused to .join its ranks and to consent to its government, and to deny to Them the
personal liberties which are guaranteed to every citizen by the Constitution „V,Ti
of the land. The analogy, therefore, is unsound and does not apply d laWS

41
ABRAHAM LINCOLN SAID:
"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent."
This is as true in trade unions as elsewhere, and not until those who fail to recognize
this truth abandon their attitude toward non-union men and follow the suggestion
made above — that is, to make their work and their membership so valuable and at
tractive that all who are eligible to membership will come under their rule — wiU they
secure that firm and constant sympathy of the public which their general purposes
seem to demand.
The commission stated its belief that with certain changes in its constitution the
mine-workers' organization would merit recognition by the employers. At present
the boys in the union constitute about 20 per cent, of the membership, and the pres
ence of this immature element might readily lead to trouble by carrying a vote for
a strike when the more conservative and experienced members might be opposed to it.
The commission also believes that instead of a majority vote there should be required
at least a two-thirds vote of all the delegates in a convention in order to begin a strike.
FinaUy, the commission expresses a hope that —
When under the award the parties have faithfully obeyed its terms and thus learned
to deal with each other, a trade agreement between operators and an anthracite mine
workers' organization may commend itself to both sides. We believe this, especiaUy
when it is considered that in other directions and in other industries such agreements
have been made and adhered to for terms of years, completely avoiding strikes and labor
controversies generally. Of course, here and there in the bituminous regions these
agreements may not have worked with perfect satisfaction to both parties, and in some
districts they have been abandoned after a brief trial. But, on the whole, the experi
ence under them in this country and in England testifies to their great usefulness in
preserving peace and harmony.
Meanwhile during the life of the award, disputes arising between employers and
employees are to be adjusted by a permanent joint committee or board of concilia
tion composed of three representatives of the operators and the same number of repre
sentatives of the miners. When this committee is unable to decide any question sub
mitted, such question is to be referred to an umpire appointed by a judge of the
United States circuit court. As the miners' representatives in each of the three dis
tricts are to be selected by the union whenever its membership comprises a majority
of the mine workers in that district, the award is tantamount to the recognition of
the union during the three years of its Ufe.
THE RIGHT TO STRIKE AND THE RIGHT TO WORK.
Having thus vindicated the principles of unionism, the commission ruled that no
operator should discriminate against union men in the matter of employment. It
likewise ruled that union men should not discriminate against or interfere with non-
unionists, pointing out that such discrimination on the part of either employer or
employed constitutes a serious menace to the discipline of the miner, which, on account
of the hazardous nature of the work, should be as nearly perfect as possible.
The right to strike the commission firmly upholds, but this does not include the
right to persecute men who choose to work.
A strike set on foot with the view to the accompUshment of its purpose by intim
idation or violence exercised against those who choose to remain at work violates the
law from the beginning. Where, however, the strike itself is separable from the illegal
violence and intimidation which in many cases accompany it, the legal liability for such
violence and intimidation rests alone upon the individuals who commit the act, and those
who aid, encourage, and abet them. Though no illegality of purpose is imputable to
those inaugurating a strike, its existence, if it involve large numbers of men in a single
community, tends of itself to produce disorder and lawlessness.
As has been said, the idle and vicious, who are in no way connected with the pur-

42
pose or object of the strike, often unite with the less orderly of the strikers them
selves in creating the deplorable scenes of violence and terror which have aU too often
characterized the otherwise laudable efforts of organized labor to improve its conditions.
Surely this tendency to disorder and violation of law imposes upon the organization
which begins and conducts a movement of such importance a grave responsibility. It
has, by its voluntary act, created dangers, and should therefore be vigilant in avert
ing them. It has, by the concerted action of many, aroused passions which, uncon-
trolled,"threaten the pubUc peace. It therefore owes society the duty of exerting its
power to check and confine these passions within the bounds of reason and law. Such
organizations should be the powerful coadjutors of government in maintaining the
peace and upholding the law. Only so can they deserve and attain the respect due
to good, citizenship, and only so can they accompUsh the beneficent ends which for the
most part they are created to attain.
A LABOR OR OTHER ORGANIZATION WHOSE PURPOSE CAN ONLY BE
ACCOMPLISHED BY THE VIOLATION OF LAW AND ORDER OF SO
CIETY HAS NO RIGHT TO EXIST.
The right to remain at work where others have ceased to work, or to engage anew
in work which others have abandoned, is part of the personal Uberty of a citizen that
can never be surrendered, and every infringement thereof merits, and should receive,
the stern denouncement of the law. All government impUes restraint, and it is not
less, but more, necessary in self-governed communities than in others to compel re
straint of the passions of men which make for disorder and lawlessness. Our lan
guage is the language of a free people, and fails to furnish any form of speech by
which the right of a citizen to wprk when he pleases, for whom he pleases, and on what
terms he pleases can be successfuUy denied. The common sense of our people as weU
as the common law forbids that this right should be assailed with impunity. It is vain
to say that the man who remains at wbrk whUe others cease to work or takes the place
of one who has abandoned his work helps to defeat the aspirations of men who seek
to obtain better recompense for their labor and better conditions of Ufe. Approval
of the object of a strike or persuasion that its purpose is high and noble can not sanc
tion an attempt to destroy the right of others to a different opinion in this respect,
or to interfere with their conduct in choosing to work upon what terms and at what
time and for whom it may please them so to do.
The commission censured both operators and miners for the disorder, violence, and
lawlessness that accompanied the strike and culminated in three murders. It depre
cated the employment by the mining companies of coal and iron poUcemen as mili
tating against the very purpose for which they are employed — that of preserving peace
and protecting property — whUe as a body they were men of good character, the com
mission found that there was a sufficient number of bad characters to discredit the
efforts of the whole body. On the other hand, the strikers had permitted intimida
tion, riot, and bloodshed; men who chose to be employed or who remained at work
were assailed and threatened, and they and their families terrorized and intimidated.
WhUe '"'the leaders of the union, and notably its president, condemned aU violence
and exhorted their foUowers to sobriety and moderation * * * the subordinate lo
cal organizations and their leaders were not so amenable to such counsels as to prevent
the regrettable occurrences. It is in the power of a minority of the less responsible
men and boys, together with the idle and vicious, unless properly restrained, to destroy
the peaee and order of any community, and absence of protection and of active re
sistance on the part of the better element means encouragement and license to this
class." (g> BOYCOTTING AND BLACKLISTING.
The commission also condemned the practice of blackUsting and certain kinds of
boycotting. It distinguished between a "primary" and a "secondary" boycott. The
former "consists merely in the voluntary abstention of one or many persons from
social or business relations with one whom they dislike. This might amount to a

43
conspiracy at law if the ingredient of malicious purpose and concerted action to ac
complish it were present," although the law on this point is uncertain. But when there
is "a concerted purpose of a number of persons not only to abstain themselves from
such intercourse, but to render the life of the victim miserable by persuading and in
timidating others so to refrain, such purpose is a malicious one, and the concerted
attempt to accomplish it is a conspiracy at common law, and merits and should re
ceive the punishment due to such a crime.''
Examples of such secondary boycotts are not wanting in the record of the case
before the commission. A young schoolmistress of intelligence, character, and attain
ments was so boycotted and her dismissal from employment compelled for no other
reason than that a brother, not Uving in her immediate famUy, chose to work contrary
to the wishes and will of the striking miners. In several instances tradesmen "Were
threatened with a boycott; that is, that all connected with the strikers would with
hold from them their custom, and persuade others to do so, if they continued to fur
nish the necessaries of life to the families of certain workmen who had come under
the ban of the displeasure of the striking organizations.
This was carrying the boycott to an extent which was condemned by Mr. Mitchell,
president of the United Mine Workers of America, in his testimony befqre the com
mission, and which certainly deserves the reprobation of all thoughtful and- law-
abiding citizens:
Closely aUied to the boycott is the blacliUst, by which employers of labor sometimes
prevent the employment by others of men whom they have discharged. In other woTds,
it is a combination among employers not to employ workmen discharged by any of the
members of said combination. This system is as reprehensible and as cruel as the boy
cott, and should be frowned down by all humane men. Wherever it is practiced to
the extent of being founded upon an agreement or concerted action, it, too, comes within
the definition of the crime of conspiracy, and as such should be punished. There is
also a civU remedy open to one who suffers from having been blacklisted, in an action
against those who are a party to it, to recover damages compensatory of the injury
received. COMPULSORY INVESTIGATION.
The commission discussed various plans of adjusting great industrial disputes
and pronounced against compulsory arbitration. It does not —
beUeve that in the United States such a system would meet with general approval or
with success. Apart from the apparent lack of constitutional power to eaact laws pro
viding for compulsory arbitration, our industries are too vast and too -complicated
for the practical application of such a system.
We do believe, however, that the State and Federal Governments should provide
the machinery for what may be called the compulsory investigation of controversies
when they arise. The States can do this, whatever the nature of the controversy. The
Federal Government can resort to some such measure when difficulties arise by reason
of which the transportation of the United States mails, the operations, civil or mUi-
tary, of the ¦ Government of the United States, or the free and regular movement of
commerce among the several States and with foreign nations are interrupted or directly
affected or are threatened with being interrupted or affected.
The commission trusts that when the time during which its awards are to remain
in force shaU have elapsed, the relations of operator and employee will have" so
far improved as to make impossible such a condition as existed throughout the country
in consequence of the strike in the anthracite region. Nevertheless the public, has the
right, when controversies like that of last year cause it serious loss and suffering, to
know all the facts, and so be able to fix the responsibility. In order to do this power
must be^given the authorized representatives of the people to act fbr them by Con
ducting a thorough investigation into aU-the matters involved in the controversy. This,
of course, appUes only to those cases where great pubUc interests are at Stake. It
should not apply to petty difficulties or local strikes.
The chief benefit to be derived from the suggestion herein made Ues in placing

44
the real facts and the responsibility for such condition authoritatively before the people,
that public opinion may crystallize and make its power felt. Could such a commis
sion as that suggested have been brought to existence in June last, we believe that the
coal famine might have been averted; certainly the suffering and deprivation might
have been greatly mitigated.
THE PRESIDENT AND PROPERTY RIGHTS.
President Roosevelt's successful intervention in the coal strike met with the al
most unanimous approval of the people, irrespective of their political affiliations. It
was not until the commission's award had been made, and thought of the great dis
turbance nearly banished from the minds of the people, that criticism of his conduct,
arising out of the resentment of the coal mine presidents and the desire to make po
litical capital, began to appear, based on the allegation that his interference amounted
to a modification of property rights. But the criticism was hushed almost as soon
as it appeared by the declaration of Judge Gray, a member of the political party
opposed to the President, that "the President's action, so far from interfering with
or infringing upon property rights, tended to conserve them.''
JUDGE GRAY'S STATEMENT, WHICH APPEARED IN A NEW YORK
CITY NEW5PAPES SEPTEMBER 1, 1903, WAS AS FOLLOWS:
I have no hesitation in saying that the President of the United States was con
fronted in October, 1902, by the existence of a crisis more grave and threatening than
any that had occurred since the civil war. I mean that the cessation of mining in the
anthracite coal country, brought about by the dispute between the miners and
those who control the greatest natural monopoly in this country and perhaps
in the world, had brought upon more than one-half of the American people a
condition of deprivation of one of the necessaries of life, and the probable
continuance of the dispute threatened not only the comfort and health, but the safety
and good order of the nation. He was without legal or constitutional power to inter
fere, but his position as President of the United States gave him an influence, a lead
ership, as first citizen of the Republic, that enabled him to appeal to the patriotism
and good sense of the parties to the controversy and to place upon them the moral
coercion of public opinion to agree to an arbitrament of the strike then existing and
threatening consequences so direful to the whole country. He acted promptly and
courageously, and in so doing averted the dangers to which I have alluded.
So far from interfering or infringing upon property rights, the President's action
tended to conserve them. The peculiar situation as regards the anthracite coal in
terest was that they controlled a natural monopoly of a product necessary to the
comfort and to the very life of a large portion of the people. A prolonged depriva
tion of the enjoyment of this necessary of life would have tended to precipitate an
attack upon these property rights of which you speak, for, after all, it is vain to
deny that this property, so peculiar in its conditions, and which is properly spoken
of as a "natural monopoly," is affected with' public interest.
I do not think that any President ever acted more wisely, courageously, or promptly
in a national crisis. Mr. Roosevelt deserves unstinted praise for what he did.
EXTRACTS FROM THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S PUBLIC PAPERS AND
ADDRESSES.
Under this caption are included extracts from the messages of Theodore Roose
velt while governor of New York and as President of the United States, besides ex
cerpts from his most important addresses on the rostrum. These public papers and
speeches cover a wide range of industrial subjects, and are replete with valuable sug
gestions as well as progressive ideas, extending through the gamut of economic thought.
They stamp him as a man of broad views, one whose honesty, temerity, and activity
in human affairs for the good of aU make him worthy of the confidence and support
or every right-thinking citizen.

45
IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERESTIMATE THE AMOUNT OF GOOD ACCOM
PLISHED THROUGH ORGANIZED LABOR.
It must always be a peculiar privilege for any thoughtful public man to address
a body of men predominantly composed of wage-workers, for the foundation of our
whole social structure rests upon the material and moral well-being, the intelUgence,
the foresight, the sanity, the sense of duty, and the wholesome patriotism of the wage-
worker. This is doubly the case now, for in addition to each man's individual action
you have learned the great lesson of acting in combination. It would be impossible
to overestimate the far-reaching influences of and, on the whole, the amount of good
done through your associations. * * * In our cities, or where men congregate in
masses, it is often necessary to work in combination— that is, through associations—
and here it is that we can see the great good conferred by labor organizations, by trade
unions. (Speech on September 3, 1900, at the Chicago Labor Day picnic.)
NECESSITY FOR LABOR UNIONS.
The most vital problem with which this country, and for that matter the whole
civilized world, has to deal is the problem which has for one side the betterment of
social conditions, moral and physical, in large cities, and for another side the effort
to deal with that tangle of far-reaching questions which we group together when we
speak of "labor." The chief factor in the success of eacli man^-wage-worker, farmer,
and capitalist alike— must ever be the sum total of his own individual qualities and
abUities. Second only to this comes the power of acting in combination or association
with others. Very great good has been and wiU be accompUshed by associations or
unions of wage-workers, when managed with forethought and when they combine insist
ence upon their own rights with law-abiding respect for the rights of others. The dis
play of these qualities in such bodies is a duty to the nation no less than to the associa
tions themselves. Finally, there must also be, in many cases, action by the Government
in order to safeguard the rights and interests of aU. Under our Constitution there is
much more scope for such action by the State and municipality than by the nation. But
on points such as those touched on above the National Government can act. (Message
to the Fifty-seventh Congress, in 1901.)
MUCH CAN BE DONE BY TRADE UNIONS AND SIMILAR ORGANIZA
TIONS.
Before us loom industrial problems, vast in their importance and their complexity.
The last half century has been one of extraordinary social and industrial develop
ment. The cnanges have been far-reaching, some of them for good and some of them
for evil. It is not given to the wisest of us to see into the future with absolute clear
ness. No man can be certain that he has found the entire solution of this infinitely
great and intricate problem, and yet each man of us, if he would do his duty, must
strive manfully, so far as in him lies, to help bring about that solution.
It is not as yet possible to say what shall be the exact limit of influence aUowed
the State or what Umit shaU be set to that right of individual initiative so dear to the
hearts of the American people. All we can say is that the need has been shown on
the one hand for action by the people in their collective capacity through the State in
many matters; that in other matters much can be done by associations of different
groups of individuals, as in trade unions and similar organizations, and that in other
matters it remains now as true as ever that final success will be for the man who
trusts in the struggle only to his cool head, his brave heart, and his strong right arm.
These are spheres in which a comparatively free field must be given to individual initia
tive. (Chicago Labor Day Speech, September 3, 1900.)
VITAL IMPORTANCE OF ASSOCIATION.
The more a healthy American sees of one's fellow-Americans the greater grows his
conviction that our chief troubles come from mutual misunderstanding — from failure
to appreciate one another's point of view. In other words,- the great need is fellow-
feeUng — sympathy, brotherhood — and all this mutually comes by association. It is
therefore of vital importance that there should be such association. (At Chicago Labor
Day picnic, Sept. 3, 1900.)

46
MEN SHOULD STRIVE FOR THEIR BETTERMENT AND STAND FOR
THEIR RIGHTS.
Many quaUties are needed in order that we can contribute our mite toward the
upward movement of the world — the quality of self-abnegation, and yet combined with
it the quaUty which wiU refuse to submit to injustice. I want to preach the two quali
ties going hand in hand. I do not want a man to fail to try to strive for his own better
ment; I do not want him to be quick to yield to injustice, but I want him to stand for his
rights. (Address before the Railroad Branch of the Young Men's Christian Associa
tion at Topeka, Kans., May 1, 1903.)
ELEVATION OF LABOR.
Bins have come to me this winter that were not what I wanted them to be, but I
felt that they were steps in the right direction and I approved them. I found out,
and you must find out, that if you are going to accompUsh things you must yield some
thing of your own wishes to the wishes of others, else you will get nowhere. Take the
labor law for instance. That had much that was crude in it and many things that
were good. I believe we should, as fast as we can, elevate labor. Don't applaud what
is a -self-evident fact, gentlemen. Everybody believes that we should help our feUow-
men, and I have tried to find out since I have been in public life how our feUow-
countrymen could best be helped. I have found that there is a kind of help which is
no help at aU and some which offers a temporary benefit. But, because the labor law
contained some bad features along with its good ones, should I have vetoed it? That
biU in its" basis is aU right. (Address to the City Club, New York City, May 9, 1899.)
RAILROAD MEN MAKE GOOD SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS.
An kinds of honorable work entitle those foUowing them to honor. For. the last
few weeks and for the next few every minute and every hour my safety depends upon
how the railroad men do their work. NaturaUy, I take a pecuUar interest in
them. But we must take the same interest in aU men who do their work weU. If
a man does his duty he is a good citizen and we should be proud of him. Just let
me say one word especially to the railroad men. I recoUect the last time I ever met
General Sherman he told me that if he had to raise an army composed purely of one
class he would take railroad men, because they developed four or five quaUties that
counted more than anything else — quaUties of taking risks, of irregular hours (so that
to be up at night does not strike them with horror), of accepting responsibiUty, and
yet of obeying orders and of obeying them at once, not wondering whether to
turn the switch then or later, but turning it then, and in consequence the men have
had that training which will make good soldiers, and when you make a reaUy good
soldier you wiU make a good citizen. We Can not all be railroad men, but we can aU
be good citizens and show the same type of quaUty. (Address at Truckee, Cal., May
j. iff x y U'j . j
RAILROAD EMPLOYEES POSSESS CHARACTER AND QUALITIES OF
COURAGE AND HARDIHOOD.
In our present advanced civilization we have to pay certain penalties for what
we have obtained. Among tbe penalties is the fact that in very many occupations there
is so Uttle demand upon nerve, hardihood, and endurance that there is a tendency to
unhealthy softening of fiber and relaxation of fiber, and such being the case I think
it is a fortunate thing for our people as a whole that there should be certain occupa
tions, prominent among them railroading, in which the man has to show the very quaUties
of courage, of hardihood, of willingness to face danger, the cultivation of the power
of instantaneous decision under difficulties, and the other quaUties which go to make
up the virile side of a man's character. * * *
I greet this audience, this great body of delegates, with peculiar pleasure, be
cause .they -are men who embody, and embody by the very fact of their presence here,
the essential sets of quabties of which I have been speaking. They embody the capacity
for self-help with the desire mutuaUy to help one the' other. You have got several
qualities I like. You have got sound bodies. Your profession is not one that can be
carried -on, at least in some of its branches very favorably without the sound body
Yon have got sound minds, and that is better than sound bodies, and, finaUy, the fact
tbat you are here, the fact that you have done what you have done, shows that you

47
have that which counts for more than body, for more than mind — character. Character
— that is what tells in the long run, character — which is compounded of many different
quaUties; in the first place perseverance, resolution, refusal to be daunted. (Address;
before the railroad branch of the Young Men's Christian Association at Topeka, Kans.,
May 1, 1903.)
PROTECTION TO THE AMERICAN WORKINGMAN IN HIS STANDARD
OF WAGES AND LIVING.
The one consideration which never must be omitted in a tariff change is the im
perative need of preserving the American standard of living for the American work-
ingman. The tariff rate must never fall below that which will protect the American
workingman by aUowing for the difference between the general labor cost here and
abroad, so as to at least equalize the conditions arising from the difference in the
standard of labor here and abroad, a difference which it should be our aim to foster,
in so far as it represents the needs of better educated, better paid, better, fed, and
better clothed workingmen of a higher type than any to be found in a foreign country.
At aU hazards, and no matter what else is sought for or accompUshed by changes
of the tariff, the American workingman must be protected in his standard of wages — that
is, in his standard of living — and must be secured the fullest opportunity of employ
ment. Our laws should in no event afford advantage to foreign industries over Ameri
can industries. They should in no event do less than equaUze the differences in condi
tions at home and abroad. The general tariff poUcy to which, without regard to changes
in detaU, I beUeve this country to be irrevocably committed is fundamentally based
upon ample recognition of the difference in labor cost here and abroad; in other words,
the recognition of the need for fuU development of -the intelUgence, the comfort, the
high standard of civilized Uving, and the inventive genius of the American working-
man as compared to the workingman of any other country in the world. (Address at
Logansport, Ind., September 23, 1902.)
INCREASED PROSPERITY OF THE WORKINGMAN AND THE FARMER.
In speaking on Labor Day at the annual fair of the New York. State Agricultural
Association it is natural to keep especially in mind tbe two bodies who compose the
majority of our people and upon whose welfare depends the welfare of the entire
State. If circumstances are such that thrift, energy, industry, and forethought enable
the farmer— the tiUer of the soil— on the one hand and the -wage-worker on the other
to keep themselves, their wives, and their children in reasonable comfort, then the
State is weU off, and we can be assured that the other classes in the community will
Ukewise prosper. On the other hand, if there is in the long run a lack in prosperity
among the two classes named, then all other prosperity is sure to be more seeming
than real.
It has been our profound good fortune as a nation that hitherto, disregarding ex
ceptional periods of depression and the normal and inevitable fluctuations, there has
been on the whole from the beginning of our Government to the present day a pro
gressive betterment aUke in the condition of the tffler of the soil and in- the condition
of the man who by his manual skUl and labor supports himself and his family and
endeavors to bring up his chUdren so they may be at least as well off as and If pbssibte
better off than he himself has been. There are, of course, exceptions; but as a whole
the standard of Uving among the farmers of our country has risen from generation to
generation, and the wealth represented on the farms has steadily increased, while the
wages of labor have Ukewise risen, both as regards the actual money paid and as
regards the purchasing power which that money represents.
Side by side with this increase in the prosperity of the wage-worker and the tiller
of the soU has gone on a great increase in the prosperity among the business men and
among certain classes of professional men, and the prosperity of these men has been
partly the cause and partly the consequenee of the prosperity of farmer and wage-
worker. It can not be too often repeated that in this country, in the long run, we aU
of us tend to go up or go down together. If the average of weU-being is high, it
means that the average wage-worker, the average farmer, and the «*'«*« business
man are all alike well off. *If the average shrinks, there is not one of these classes
which wifi not feel the shrinkage.
Of amrse there are always some men who are not affected by good times, just as
therTare aome «en who are not affected by bad times; VUL speaking hraadly, It is

48
true that if prosperity comes aU of us tend to share more or less therein, a^d that
if adversity comes each of us, to a greater or less extent, feels the tension. Un
fortunately, in this world the innocent frequently find themselves obliged to pay some
of the penalty for the misdeeds of the guilty, and, so, if hard times come, whether they
be due to our own fault or to our misfortune, whether they be due to some burst of
speculative frenzy that has caused a portion of the business world to lose its head
— a loss which no legislation can possibly supply — or whether they be due to any lack
of wisdom in a portion of the world of labor, in each case the trouble, once started,
is felt more or less in every walk of Ufe. (Labor Day speech at Syracuse, N. Y., Sep
tember 7, 1903.)
CARRYING AMERICAN GOODS IN AMERICAN-BUILT SHIPS.
Shipping lines, if established to the principal countries with which we have deal
ings, would be of political as well as commercial benefit. From every standpoint it
is unwise" for the United States to continue to rely upon the ships of competing nations
for the distribution of our goods. It should be made advantageous to carry Ameri
can goods in American-built ships. (Message to Congress, December 3, 1901.)
AMERICAN WAGE-WORKERS TAKE KEEN PRIDE IN THEIR WORK
AND WISH TO TURN OUT A PERFECT JOB.
American wage-workers work with their heads as well as their hands. Moreover,
they take a keen pride in what they are doing, so that, independent of the reward,
they wish to turn out a perfect job. This is the great secret of our success in com
petition with the labor of foreign countries. (Message to Congress, December 3, 1901.)
MAKING THE EIGHT-HOUR LAW OPERATIVE.
This bill carries out the recommendation made in my message to the legislature
that the eight-hour law should be so amended as to make it effective. It will work on
the whole an undoubted improvement. * * * The need of the passage of this law
is evident. There is at present and has long been on the statute books an eight-hour
law, but it is so easy of evasion that it has been largely inoperative. It is always
detrimental to the best interests of the State to have a law on the statute books which
pretends to do something and does not do it, and this of course is especially the case
where it is highly important that the nominal end sought to be attained reaUy should
be attained. The general tendency toward an eight-hour working day has undoubtedly
been healthful. * * * The permission to work overtime for additional compensa
tion nas resulted in such widespread evasion and nullification of the purposes of the
law, especially among contractors, that it is wise to take it away in most cases. (Mem
orandum filed May 13, 1899, with approved assembly bill regulating labor hours on
pubHc work in New York State.)
"WISE LABOR LEGISLATION IS OF MORE REAL BENEFIT TO THE COM
MUNITY THAN ANY OTHER KIND OF LAW.
On no subject is it more important to have wise and sound legislation than where
the interests of labor are concerned. When such legislation is good it probably accom
plishes more real benefit to the community than can be accomplished by any other
kind of law, but crude and hasty labor legislation either wholly fails to accomplish
anything — being so drawn as to be ineffective — or else works harm instead of good to
the very people supposed to be benefited. (Message to New York assembly, April 3
1899.) l
LEGISLATION TO SHIELD THE INTEREST OF WAGE- WORKERS.
It is not only highly desirable, but necessary, tha^ there should be legislation
which shall carefully shield the interests of wage-workers and which shall discriminate
in favor of the honest and humane employer by removing the disadvantao-e under
which he stands when compared With unscrupulous competitors who have no conscience
and wiU do right only under fear of punishment. (Address on "National Duties" at
Minnesota State Fair, MinneapoUs, September 2, 1901.)

49
AS MUCH THE STATE'S DUTY TO PROTECT THE WEAKER WAGE-
WORKERS FROM OPPRESSION AS TO PROTECT HELPLESS INVEST
ORS FROM FRAUD.
During the past year very valuable labor measures have been enacted into laws,
and they are well enforced. * * * Additional legislation will undoubtedly from time
to time become necessary, but many vitally needed laws have already been put upon
the statute books. As experience shows their defects these will be remedied. A strin
gent eight-hour labor law has been enacted. This is working well as a whole. In
nothing do we need to exercise cooler judgment than in labor legislation. Such legis
lation is absolutely necessary, alike from the humanitarian and the industrial stand
points, and it is as much our duty to protect the weaker wage-workers from oppres
sion as to protect helpless investors from fraud. (Annual message to the New York
legislature January 3, 1900.)
LABOR LAWS HAVE WORKED WELL.
How far we shall go in regulating the hours of labor or the liabiUties of em
ployers is a matter of expediency, and each case must be determined on its own merits,
exactly as it is a matter of expediency to determine what so-called "public utilities"
the community shall itself own and what ones it shall leave to private or corporate
ownership, securing to itself merely the right to regulate. Sometimes one course is
expedient, sometimes the other. In my own State during the last half dozen years we
have made a number of notable strides in labor legislation, and with a very few excep
tions the laws have worked weU. (Chicago Labor Day address, September 3, 1900.)
EFFECTIVE LEGISLATION AGAINST SWEAT SHOPS.
The Costello bill does not go as far as I should like to see it go, but it does not
take an enormous stride in advance, representing the first really effective bit of legis
lation against the sweat shops which has been enacted in this State. It is in line with
and to a large extent carries out one of the suggestions in my message to the legis
lature upon which I dwelt with particular emphasis. (Message to the New York assem
bly, April 3, 1899.)
The factory-inspection department of New York deals chiefly, of course, with
conditions in great cities. One very important phase of its work during the last two
years has been the enforcement of the anti-sweat-shop law, which is primarily designed
'to do away with the tenement-house factory. The conditions of life -in some of the
congested tenement-house districts, notably in New York City, had become such as to
demand action by the State. As with other reforms, in order to make it stable and
permanent it had to be gradual. It proceeded by evolution, not revolution. But prog
ress has been steady, and wherever needed it has been radical. Much remains to be
done, but the condition of the dwellers in the congested districts has been markedly
improved, to the great benefit not only of themselves but of the whole community.
(Address at Chicago Labor Day picnic, September 31 1900.)
EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY.
The liability of employers to their employees is now recognized in the laws of
most of the great industrial communities of the world. While employers ought not
to be burdened to such an extent as to endanger ordinary business transactions, yet
the State should, so far as possible, protect those employees engaged in dangerous
occupations, and should see that every reasonable provision is taken to guard, their
rights. (Annual message to the New York legislature, January 3, 1900.)
CHEAPNESS SECURED UNDER THE PADRONE SYSTEM IS OBTAINED
AT THE SACRIFICE OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP.
It is even more important to reach contractors who do the State work than to
reach the public servants of the State proper. Cheapness secured by the employment
of gangs of men under the padrone system is cheapness for which the State pays
altoo-ether too dearlv, for it is obtained at the cost of the sacrifice of good citizenship.
It is5 therefore just" that the ordinary employee of the State and of contractors who
4

50
do State work should work for but eight hours and should receive a rate of wages not
less than that paid for other labor of the same Mnd where the structure is to be put
up, this not interfering with the purchase of a finished product. (Memorandum filed
May 12, 1899, with approved assembly bill regulating hours of labor on public work in
New York State.)
THE STATE'S LABOR DEPARTMENTS SHOULD RECEIVE PROMPT AND
CORDIAL COOPERATION IN EVERY ATTEMPT TO FULFILL THEIR
RESPECTIVE DUTIES.
The bureau of labor statistics, the board of mediation and arbitration, and the
factory inspectors' department must be brought to the highest standard of efficiency
and usefulness. The work of these departments — to report the actual conditions of
labor, to seek to establish harmonious relations between labor and capital, and to enforce
such labor legislation as have met with the approval of the people of the State — is of su
preme importance. The efficiency of their service concerns not only those immediately
affected, but also the entire public, and they should receive our prompt and cordial co
operation in every attempt to fulfill their respective duties. (Annual message to the New
York legislature, January 2, 1899.)
LABOR STATISTICS OF VITAL CONCERN TO ALL LEADING LABOR
INTERESTS.
The bureau of labor statistics in collecting the material for its reports has received
valuable aid from manufacturers and officers of labor organizations. The reports of
the department must be practical, strictly accurate in all statements of fact, and based
on investigations conducted in accordance with modern scientific methods. (Message
to the New York Legislature, January 2, 1899.)
The experiment of pubUshing a quarterly bulletin by the bureau of labor statistics
has worked excellently, and the bulletin should be continued and improved. (Message
to the New York legislature, January 3, 1900.)
The bureau of labor statistics (of New York) has done more than merely gather
the statistics, for by keeping in close touch with all the leading labor interests it has
kept them informed on countless matters that were really of vital concern to them.
Incidentally one pleasing feature of the work of this bureau has been the steady up
ward tendency shown during the last four years, both in amount of wages received and
in the quantity and steadiness of employment. (Chicago Labor Day speech, Septem
ber 3, 1900.) "
STATE CONTROL OE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.
Abuses have occurred in connection with the employment offices in the larger
cities, which are now allowed to violate the law with impunity i the power of punish
ment lying with the local authorities. It would be well to require the keeper of any
employment office to procure a Ucense from the State, as in Minnesota and other
States. This license should be granted on the payment of a substantial fee, and the
business would thus be restricted to responsible parties and kept under the control of
the State administration. (Annual message to the New York legislature, January 3
1900.) •
STATE OWNERSHIP OF PRINTING PLANT.
It may weU be considered by you whether by the passage of an act establishing
a State printing bureau, equipped with every modern device, the cost to the State of
its printing might not be reduced. This item has become a large one in the State
expenditure, and a trial of State ownership, if found to be economical, I would advise
(Message to the New York legislature, January 3, 1900.)
THE STATE SHOULD BE AN EXEMPLARY EMPLOYER.
It is wise for the State to set a good example as an employer of labor, both as
to the number of hours of labor exacted and as to paying a just and reasonable wage.
(Memorandum filed on May 12, 1899, with approved bill regulating workino- hours on
pubUc work in New York State.)
In new York * * * we determined that as an employer of labor the State
should set a good example to other employers. We do not permit the people's money

51
to be squandered or to tolerate any work that is not the best. But we think that while
rigidly insisting upon good work we should see that there is fair play in return.
Accordingly we have adopted an eight-hour law for the State employees and for all
contractors who do State work, and we have also adopted a law requiring that the
fair market rate of wages shaU be given. I am glad to say that both measures have
so far, on the whole, worked weU. * * * The practical experiment of working men
for eight hours has been advantageous to the State. Poor work is always dear,
whether poorly paid or not, and good work is always well worth having, and as a
mere question of expediency, aside, even, from the question of humanity, we find that
we can obtain the best work by paying fair wages and permitting the work to go only
for a reasonable time. (Address at the Chicago Labor Day picnic, September 3, 1900.)
FREE MECHANICS MUST NOT BE BROUGHT INTO COMPETITION WITH
PRISON LABOR.
A recent decision of the court of appeals has decided unconstitutional the law
which provides that there shall be a mark on prison-made goods indicating that they
are such. This matter should receive the attention of the legislature in order that
some means may be devised whereby the free mechanic shaU not be brought into com
petition with prison labor. (Annual message to the New York legislature, January
3, 1899.)
IN LABOR DISPUTES MEDIATION IS PREFERABLE TO ARBITRATION.
In various trades the relations between labor and capital have frequently been
adjusted to the advantage of both by conferences between intelligent employers and
reasonable workingmen. Such mutual understanding is in the highest degree desirable.
It promotes industrial peace and general prosperity. Where disturbance exists, and
before it has gone too far, the board of mediation and arbitration should seek to secure
a fair settlement of the difficulties and a reestablishment of harmonious relations. It
should also constantly endeavor to promote the extension of inteUigent methods of
settlement of labor disputes, so that, through the recognition by each party of the
just rights of the other, strikes and lockouts may yield to wiser and more peaceful
measures. (Message to the New York legislature, January 2, 1899.)
The work of mediation— that is, of settUng the dispute before it has reached an
acute stage — is even more important and successful than that of arbitration proper,
after the strike is once on. This being so, it would be weU to enact legislation which
would compel parties to labor disputes to notify the board [of mediation and arbitra
tion] of impending trouble or of strikes and lockouts. (Message to New York legis
lature, January 3, 1900.)
Where possible, it is always better to mediate before the strike begins than to
try to arbitrate when the fight is on and both sides have grown stubborn and bitter.
(Labor Day speech on September 3, 1900, at Chicago.)
ANTHRACITE COAL STRIKE COMMISSION ANXIOUS TO SEE RIGHT
AND JUSTICE PREVAIL.
Our complex industrial civilization has not only been productive of much benefit,
but has also brought us face to face with many puzzling problems-problems that are
puzzUng partly because there are men that are wicked, partly because there are good
men who are foolish or shortsighted. There are many such to-day-the P'oWems of
labor and capital, the problems which we group together rather vague^ when we speak
of the problems of the trusts, the problems affecting the farmers on the one hand,
the raUroads on the other. It would not be possible in any one place to deal with the
particular shapes which these problems take at that time and m i that : place And yet
there are certain general rules which can be laid down for dealing with aU of them,
and those rules art the immutable rules of justice, of sanity, of courage, of common
^^ix months ago it fell to my lot to appoint a commission to ^f^J^^
conclude about mltters connected with the great and menacing "tnke £ J*>ea »U. ra-
cite coal fields of Pennsylvania. On that Commission I appointed representatives of
toe church, of the bench/of the Army, representatives of the capitalists of the region
and a representative of organized labor' They published a report, which was not
only of the utmost moment because of dealing with the great and vital problem with

52
which they were appointed to deal, but also in its conclusion initiating certain general
rules in so clear and masterful a fashion that I wish most earnestly it could recene
the broadest circulation as a tract wherever there exists or threatens to exist trouble
in any way akin to that with which those commissioners dealt. All ot them unam
mously signed that report-all of them, as American citizens, anxious to see right and
justice prevail. (Address at Omaha, Nebr., April 27, 1903.)
A GET-TOGETHER POLICY WILL TEND TO SOLVE INDUSTRIAL AND
OTHER PROBLEMS.
Capital and wage-worker alike should honestly endeavor each to look at any mat
ter from the other's standpoint, with a freedom on the one hand from the contemptible
arrogance which looks upon the man of less means, and on the other from the no
less contemptible envy, jealousy, and rancor which hates another because he is better
off. Each quaUty is the complement of the other, the supplement of the other, and
in point of baseness there is not the weight of a finger to choose between them. Look
at the report signed by the Anthracite Coal Strike. Commission, look at it in the spirit
in which they wrote it, and if you can only make yourselves, make the community,
approach the problems of the day in the spirit that those men, your feUows, showed
in approaching the great problem of yesterday, any problem or problems will be solved.
(Address at Umaha, Nebr., April 27, 1903.)
I have a great deal of faith in the average American citizen. I think he is a
pretty good fellow, and I think he can generaUy get on with the other average Ameri
can citizen if he will only know it. If he does not know it, but makes him a monster
in his mind, then he will not get on with him. But if he will take the, trouble to know
him and realize that he is a being just Uke himself, with the same instincts, not all
of them good, the same desire to overcome those that are not good, the same purposes,
the same tendencies and shortcomings, the same desires for good, the same need of
striving against evU; if he will realize all that, and if you can get the two together,
with an honest desire each to try not only to help himself, but to help the other, most
all our problems will be solved. (Speech at Topeka, Kans., May 1, 1903.)
TO HAVE THE SAME INTERESTS, NEEDS, AND ASPIRATIONS EVERY
AMERICAN SHOULD UNDERSTAND AND WORK WITH HIS FEL
LOW-CITIZENS.
The first time I ever labored alongside of and got thrown into intimate com
panionship with men who were mighty men of their hand was in the cattle country
of the Northwest. I soon grew to have an immense Uking and respect for my asso
ciates, and as I knew them, and did not know similar workers in other parts of the
country, it seemed to me then the ranch owner was a great deal better than any east-
'ern business man, and that the cow puncher stood on a corresponding altitude com
pared to any of his brethren in the East.
Well, after a Uttle while I got thrown into close relations with the farmers, and
it did not take long before I had moved them up alongside of my beloved cowmen,
and made up my mind that they really formed the backbone of the land. Then, be
cause of certain circumstances, I was thrown into intimate contact with railroad men,
and I graduaUy came to the conclusion that these raUroad men were about the finest
citizens there were anywhere around. Then, in the course of some official work, I was
thrown into close contact with a number of the carpenters, blacksmiths, and men in
the building trades — that is, skilled mechanics of a high order — and it was not long
before I had them on the same pedestal with the others.
By that time it began to dawn on me that the difference was not in the men,
but in my own point of view, and that if any man is thrown into close contact with
any large body of our feUow-citizens it is apt to be the man's own fault if he does
not grow to feel for them a very hearty regard and, moreover, grow to understand
that on the great questions that lie at the root of human well-being he acd they feel
aUke. Our prime need as a nation is that every American should understand and work
with his fellow-citizens, getting into touch with them, so that by actual contact he
may learn that fundamentaUy he and they have the same interests, needs,, and aspira^
tions. (Labor Day address at Chicago, September 3, 1900.)

53
THE MASS OF AMERICANS DO NOT WANT CHARITY, BUT DESIRE TO
HOLD THEIR OWN IN THE WORLD.
It ought not to be necessary for me to warn you against mere sentimentality,
against the philanthropy and charity which are not merely insufficient, but harmful.
It is eminently desirable that we should none of us be hard-hearted, but it is no less
desirable that we should not be soft-headed. I really do not know which quality is
most productive of evil to mankind in the long run, hardness of heart or softness of
head. Naked charity is not what we permanently want. There are, of course, certain
classes, such as young children, widows with large families, or crippled or very aged
people, or even strong men temporarily crushed by stunning misfortune, on whose
behalf we may have to make a frank and direct appeal to charity, and who can be
the recipients of it without any loss of self-respect. But taking us as a whole, taking
the mass of Americans, we do not want charity, we do not want sentimentality, we
merely want to learn how to act both individually and together in such fashion as
to enable us to hold our own in the world, to do good to others according to the
measure of our opportunities, and to receive good from others in ways which will not
entail on our part any loss of self-respect. (Address before the Young Men's Christian
Association, Carnegie Hall, New York City, December 30, 1900.)
NO ROOM FOR THE WILLFULLY IDLE.
Throughout our history the success of the home-maker has been but another namo
for the upbuilding of the nation. The men who with ax in the forests and pick in
the mountains and plow on the prairies pushed to completion the dominion of our
people over the American wilderness have given the definite shape to our nation. They
have shown the quaUties of daring, endurance, and far-sightedness, of eager desire for
victory and stubborn refusal to accept defeat, which go to make upf the essentia)
manliness of the American character. Above all, they have recognized in practical
form the fundamental law of success in' American life,- the law of worthy work, the
law of high, resolute endeavor. We have but little room among our people for \the
timid, the irresolute, and the idle; and it -is no less true that there is scant room in
the world at large for the nation with mighty thews that dares not to be great.
Sometimes we hear those who do not work spoken of with envy. Surely the wilfully
idle need arouse in the breast of a healthy man no emotion stronger than that of
contempt, at the outside no emotion stronger than angry contempt. The feeling of
envy would have in it an admission of inferiority on our part, to which the men who
know not the sterner joys of life are not entitled. Poverty is a bitter thing, but it
is not as bitter as the existence of restless vacuity and physical, moral, and intellectual
flabbiness, to which those doom themselves who elect to spend all their years in that
vainest of all vain pursuits — the pursuit of mere pleasure as a sufficient end in itself.
The work may be done in a thousand different ways, with the brain or with the hands,
in the study, the field, or the workshop. If it is honest work, honestly done and well
worth doing, that is all we have a right to ask. (Address at Minneapolis, September
2, 1901.)
A POUND OF CONSTRUCTION IS WORTH A TON OF DESTRUCTION.
It ought to be no less unnecessary to say that any man who tries to solve the
great problems that confront us by an appeal to anger and passion, to ignorance and
folly, to malice and envy, is not, and never can be, aught but an enemy of the very
people he professes to befriend. In the words of Lowell, it is far safer to adopt "all
men up" than "some men down" for a motto. Speaking broadly, we can not, in the
long run, benefit one man by the downfall of another. Our energies can, as a rule, ,
be employed to more better advantage in uplifting some than in pulling down others.
Of course there must sometimes be pulling down, too. We have no business to blink
at evils, and where it is necessary that the knife should be used, let it be used unspar
ingly, but let it be used inteUigently. When there is need of a drastic remedy, apply
it, but do not apply it in the mere spirit of hate. Normally, a pound of construction
is worth a ton of destruction. (Address to the Young Men's Christian Association,
in New York City, December 30, 1900.)

54
SPURN THE LEADERSHIP OF THOSE WHO SEEK TO EXCITE CLASS
ANTAGONISM.
People show themselves just as unfit for liberty whether they submit to anarchy
or to tyranny, and class government whether it be the government of a plutocracy or
the government of a mob, is equaUy incompatible with the principles established in the
days of Washington and perpetuated in the days of Lincoln. * * *
The reason why our future is assured lies in the fact that our people are genuinely
skUled in and fitted for self-government, and therefore wUl spurn the leadership of
those who seek to excite this ferocious and foolish class antagonism. The average
American knows not only that he himself intends" to do about what is right, but that
his average feUow-countryman has the same intention and the same power to make his
intention effective. He knows, whether he be business man, professional man, farmer,
mechanic, employer, or wage-worker, that the welfare of each of these men is bound
up with the welfare of aU the others, that each neighbor to the other is actuated by
the same hopes and fears, has fundamentally the same ideals, and that all alike have
much the same virtues and the same faults.
OUR AVERAGE FELLOW-CITIZEN
is a sane and healthy man who beUeves in decency and has a wholesome mind. He
therefore feels an equal scorn alike for the man of wealth guilty of the mean and
base spirit of arrogance toward those who are less well off, and for the man of small
means who in his turn either feels or seeks to excite in others the feeUng of mean
and base envy for those who are better off. The two feeUngs, envy and arrogance,
are but opposite sides of the same shield, but different developments of the same spirit.
FundamentaUy, the unscrupulous rich man who seeks to exploit and oppress those who
are less weU off is in spirit not opposed to, but identical with, the unscrupulous poor
man who desires to plunder and oppress those who are better off. The courtier and
the demagogue are but developments of the same type under different conditions, each
manifesting the same servile spirit, the same desire to rise by pandering to base pas
sions, though one panders to power in the shape of a single man and the other to
power in the shape of a multitude. So Ukewise tlfe man who wishes to rise by wrong
ing others must by right be contrasted, not with the man who Ukewise wishes to do
wrong, though to a different set of people, but with the man who wishes to do justice
to all people and to wrong none.
The Kne of cleavage between good and bad citizenship Ues not between the man
of wealth who acts squarely by his feUows and the man who seeks each day's wage
by that day's work, wronging no one and doing his duty to his neighbor; nor yet does
this line of cleavage divide the unscrupulous wealthy man who exploits others in his
own interests from the demagogue or from the sullen and envious being who wishes
to attack aU men of property, whether they do weU or iU. On the contrary, the Une
of cleavage between good citizenship and bad citizenship separates the rich man who
does weU from the rich man who does ill, the poor man of good conduct from the
poor man of bad conduct. This line of cleavage Ues at right angles to any such
arbitrary Une of division as that separating one class from another, one locaUty from
another, or men with a certain degree of property from those of a less degree of
property. The good citizen is the man who, whatever his wealth or his poverty, strives man
fully to do his duty to himself, to his family, to his neighbor, to the State; who is
incapable of the baseness which manifests itself either in arrogance or in envy, but
who while demanding justice for himself is no less scrupulous to do justice to others.
It is because the average American citizen, rich or poor, is of just this type that we
have cause for our profound faith in the future of the Republic.
Ours is a government of liberty, by, through, and under the law. Lawlessness
and connivance at lawbreaking, whether the lawbreaking take the form of a crime
of greed and cunning or of a crime of violence, are destructive not only of order,
but ofrthe true liberties which can only come through order. If alive to their true
interests, rich and poor alike will set their /aces like flint against the spirit which seeks
personal advantage by overriding the laws, without regard to whether this spirit shows
itself in the form of bodily violence by one set of men or in the form of vulpine cun
ning by another set Of men. (Speech at New York State Fair, at Syracuse, on Labor
Day, September 7, 1903.)

55
ONE LAW ONLY, ALIKE FOR THE RICH AND THE POOR.
Let the watchwords of all our people be the old famiUar watchwords of honesty,
decency, fair deaUng, and common sense. The qualities denoted by these words are
essential to aU of us, as we deal with the complex industrial problems of to-day, the
problems affecting not merely the accumulation but even more, the wise distribution of
wealth. We ask no man's permission when we require him to obey the law, neither the
permission of the poor man nor yet of the rich man. Least of aU can the man of
great wealth afford to break the law, even for his own financial advantage, for the
law is his prop and support, and it is both foolish and profoundly unpatriotic for him
to fail in giving hearty support to those who show that there is in very fact one law
and one law only, alike for the rich and the poor, for the great and the smaU.
Men sincerely interested in the due protection of property and men sincerely inter
ested in seeing that the just rights of labor are guaranteed, should alike remember not
only that in the long run neither the capitalist nor the wage-worker can be helped in
healthy fashion save by helping the other, but also that to require either side to obey
the law and do its fuU duty toward the community is emphaticaUy to that side's real
interest. There is no worse enemy of the wage-worker than the man who condones mob
violence in any shape, or who preaches class hatred, and surely the slightest acquaint
ance with our industrial history should teach even the most short sighted that the times
of most suffering for our people as a whole, the times when business is stagnant and
capital suffers from shrinkage and gets no return from its investments are exactly
the times of hardship and want and grim disaster among the poor. If all the exist
ing instrumentaUties of wealth could be abolished, the first and severest suffering would
come among those of us who are least well off at present. The wage-worker is weU
off only fwhen the rest of the country is weU off, and he can best contribute to his gen
eral weU-being by showing sanity and a firm purpose to do justice to others.
In his turn the capitaUst, who is really a conservative, the man who has fore
thought as weU as patriotism, should heartily welcome every effort, legislative or other
wise, which has for its object to secure fair deaUng by capital, corporate or individual
toward the public and toward the employee. Such laws as the franchise-tax law in
this State, which the court of appeals recently unanimously decided constitutional —
such a law as that passed by Congress last year for the purpose of estabUshing a
Department of Commerce and Labor, under which there should be a bureau f o over
see and secure pubUcity from the great corporations which de an interstate business
— such a law as that passed at the same time for the regulation of the great high
ways of commerce, so as to keep these roads clear on fair terms to all producers in
getting their goods to market — these laws are in the interest not merely of the people
as a whole, but of the propertied classes. For in no way is the stabibty of property
better assured than by making it patent to our people that property bears its proper
share of the burdens of the State, that property is handled not only in the interest
of the owner, but in the interest of the whole community.
In other words, legislation to be permanently good for any class must also be good
for the nation as a whole, and legislation which does injustice to any class is certain
to work harm to the nation. (Labor Day address at New York State Fair, in Syracuse,
September 7, 1903.)
CORPORATIONS ARE BENEFITED WHEN REQUIRED TO OBEY THE
LAW.
Every man who has made wealth or used it in developing great legitimate busi
ness enterprises has been of benefit and not harm to the country at large. This city
has grown by leaps and bounds only when the railroads came to it, when the railroads
came to the State, and if the State were now cut off from its connection by rail and
by steamship with the rest of the world its position would, of course, diminish incalcu
lably. Great good has come from the development of our railroad system, great good
has been done by the individuals and corporations that have made that development
possible, and in return good has been done to them, and not harm, when they are re
quired to obey the law. (Address at Spokane, Wash., May 27, 1903.)

56
OPENS ARMORIES FOR THE RECEPTION OF HOMELESS PEOPLE IN
NEW YORK CITY DURING THE BLIZZARD OF 1899.
Before I make my formal speech I ask your permission to say one thing. Since
coming to New York this afternoon there has been very vividly brought home to mc,
what perhaps all of you have realized the last two or three days, the terrible distress
this unprecedented weather is causing, and, although I can not say I had exactly war
rant in law for what I have done, yet I trust that the senator will see that the legis
lature supports me. I have directed the commander of the State Guard, Major-General
Roe, to throw open five of the armories, those of the Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth, Sixty-
ninth, and Seventy-first Regiments, which were in the parts of the city where we
thought the greatest distress could with most celerity be relieved, to throw open those
five armories for the reception of destitute and houseless people. And the general has
notified police headquarters to instruct all the precinct commanders that the armories
were open, so that in case there is not elsewhere accommodation for those without
homes in this bitter weather they can find shelter there. (Response to the toast "The
State of New York," at the Lincoln Club dinner, in iSTew York City, February 13, 1899.)
FARMER AND WAGE EARNER.
In speaking on Labor Day at the annual fair of the New York State Agricultural
Association, it is natural to keep especiaUy in mind the two bodies who compose the
majority of our people and upon whose welfare depends the welfare of the entire
State. If circumstances are such that thrift, energy, industry, and forethought enable
the farmer, the tiller of the soil, on the one hand, and the wage-worker, on the other.
to keep themselves, their wive£, and their children in reasonable comfort, then the
State is well off, and we can be assured that the other classes in the community will
likewise prosper. On the other hand, if there is in the long run a lack of prosperity
among the two classes named, then all other prosperity is sure to be more seeming
than real. (Address of President Roosevelt at the State fair, Syracuse, N. Y., Septem
ber 7, 1903, Labor Day.)
INCREASE OF WEALTH AND COMFORT IN THE UNITED STATES.
It has been our profound good fortune as a nation that hitherto, disregarding ex
ceptional periods of depression and the normal and inevitable fluctuations, there has
been on the whole from the beginning of our Government to the present day a pro
gressive betterment, alike in the condition of the tiller of the soil and in the condition
of the man who, by his manual skill and labor, supports himself and his family, and
endeavors to bring up his children so that they may be at least as well off as, and if
possible better off than, he himself has been. There are, of course, exceptions, but
as a whole the standard of living among the farmers of our country has risen from
generation to generation, and the wealth represented on the farms has steadily in
creased, while the wages of labor have likewise risen, both as regards the actual money
paid and as regards the purchasing power which that money represents.
Side by side with this increase in the prosperity of the wage-worker and the tiller
of the soil has gone on a great increase in the prosperity among the business men and
among certain classes of professional men, and the prosperity of these men has been
partly the cause and partly the consequence of the prosperity of farmer and wage-
worker. It can not be too often repeated that in this country in the long run we
all of us tend to go up or go down together.
If the average of well-being is high, it means that the average wage-worker, the
average farmer, and the average business man are all alike well off. If the average
shrinks, there is not one of these classes whieh will not feel the shrinkage. Of course
there are always some men who are not affected by good times, just as there are some
men who are not affected by bad times.
But speaking broadly, it is true that if prosperity comes all of us tend to share more
or less therein, and that if adversity comes, each of us, to a greater or less extent,
feels the tension. Unfortunately, in 'this world the innocent frequently find themselves
obliged to pay some of the penalty for the misdeeds- of the guilty," and so if hard
times come, whether they be due to our own fault or to our misfortune, whether they
be due to some burst of speculative frenzy that has caused a portion of the business
world to lose its head— a loss which no legislation can possibly supply — or whether they
oe due to any lack of wisdom in a portion of the world of labor, in each case the
trouble once started is felt more or less in every walk of Ufe.

57
THE GOOD OF ONE IS THE GOOD OF ALL.
It is all-essential to the continuance of our healthy national life that we should
recognize this community of interest among our people. The welfare of each of us
is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us, and therefore in public
life that man is the best representative of each of us who seeks to do good to each by do
ing good to all; in other words, whose endeavor it is, not to represent any special class
and promote merely that class's selfish interests, but to represent all true and honest
men of all sections and all classes and to work for their interests by working for
our common country.
We can keep our Government on a sane and healthy basis, we can make and keep
our social system what it should be, only on condition of judging each man, not as
a member of a class, but on his worth as a man. It is an infamous thing In our
American life, and fundamentally treacherous to our institutions, to apply to any man
any test save that of his personal worth, or to draw between two sets of men any
distinction save the distinction of conduct, the distinction that marks off those who
do well and wisely from those who do ill and foolishly. There are good citizens and
bad citizens in every class as in every locality, and the attitude of decent people toward
great public and social questions should be determined, not by the accidental questions
of employment or locaUty, but by those deep-set principles which represent the inner
most souls of men.
The failure in public and in private Ufe thus to treat each man on his own merits,
the recognition of this Government as being either for the poor as such or for the
rich as such, would prove fatal to our Republic, as such failure and such recognition
have always proved fatal in the past to other repubUcs. A healthy republican govern
ment must rest upon individuals, not upon classes or sections. As soon as it be
comes government by a class or by a section it departs from the old American ideal.
DANGER OF CLASS GOVERNMENT.
It is, of course, the merest truism to say that free institutions are of avail only
to people who possess the high and pecuUar characteristics needed to take advantage
of such institutions. The century that has just closed has witnessed many and lament
able instances in which people have seized a government free in form, or have had
it bestowed upon them, and yet have permitted it under the forms of liberty to be
come some species of despotism or anarchy, because they did not have in them the
power to make this seeming Uberty one of deed instead of one merely of word.
Under such circumstances the seeming liberty may be supplanted by a tyranny
or despotism in the first place, or it may reach the road of despotism by the path of
license and anarchy. It matters but little which road is taken. In either case the
same goal is reached. People show themselves just as unfit for liberty whether they
submit to anarchy or to tyranny and class government, whether it be the government
of a plutocracy or the government of a mob, is equally incompatible with the principles
established in the days of Washington and perpetuated in the days of Lincoln.
Many qualities are needed by a people which would preserve the power of self-
government in fact as weil as in name. Among these qualities are forethought, shrewd
ness, self-restraint, the courage which refuses to abandon one's own rights, and the
disinterested and kindly good sense which enables one to do justice to the rights of
others. .Lack of strength and lack of courage unfit men for self-government on the
one band, and on the other brutal arrogance, envy, in short, any manifestation of the
spirit of selfish disregard, whether of one's own duties or of the rights of others, are
equally fatal.
In the history of mankind many republics have risen, have flourished for a less
or greater time, and then have fallen because their citizens lost the power of govern
ing themselves and thereby of governing their state; and in no way has this loss of
power been so often and so clearly shown as in the tendency to turn the government
into a government primarily for the benefit of one class instead of a government for
the benefit of the people as a whole.
Again and again in the republics of ancient Greece, in those of mediaeval Italy and
mediaeval Flanders, this tendency was shown, and wherever the tendency became a
habit it invariably and inevitably proved fatal to the state. In the final result it
mattered not one whit whether the movement was in favor of one class or of another.
The outcome was equally fatal, whether the country feU into the hands of a wealthy
oligarchy which exploited the poor or whether it feU under the domination of a tur
bulent mob which plundered the rich.

58
In both cases there resulted violent alternations between tyranny and disorder, and
a final complete loss of liberty to all citizens — destruction in the end overtaking the
class which had for the moment been victorious, as well as that which had momentarily
been defeated. The death kneU of the Repubhc had rung as soon as the active power
became lodged in the hands of those who sought, not to do justice to all citizens,
rich and poor alike, but to stand for one special class and for its interests as opposed
to the interests of others.
AMERICAN IDEALS OF JUSTICE.
The reason why our future is assured lies in the fact that our people are genuinely
skiUed in and fitted for self-government, and therefore will spurn the leadership of
those who seek to excite this ferocious and foolish class antagonism. The average
American knows not only that he himself intends to do about what is right, but that
his average feUow-countryman has the same intention and the same power to make
his intention effective. He knows, whether he be business man, professional man,
farmer, mechanic, employer, or wage-worker, that the welfare of each of these men is
bound up with the welfare of aU the others; that each is neighbor to the other, is
actuated by the same hopes and fears, has fundamentaUy the same ideals, and that all
alike have much the same virtues and the same faults.
Our average feUow-citizen is a sane and healthy man, who beUeves in decency and
has a wholesdme mind. He therefore feels an equal scorn alike for the man of wealth
guilty of the mean and base spirit of arrogance toward those who are less weU off and
for the man of smaU means who in his turn either feels or seeks to excite in others
the feeUng of mean and base envy for those who are better off. The two feeUngs —
envy and arrogance — are but opposite sides of the same shield, but different develop
ments of the same spirit. FundamentaUy, the unscrupulous rich man who seeks to
exploit and oppress those who are less weU off is in spirit not opposed to but identical
with the unscrupulous poor man who desires to plunder and oppress those who are
better off.
The courtier and the demagogue are but developments of the same type under
different conditions, each manifesting the same servUe spirit, the same desire to rise
by pandering to base passions, though one panders to power in the shape of a single
man and the other to power in the shape of a multitude. So Ukewise the man who
wishes to rise by wronging others must by right be contrasted, not with the man who
likewise wishes to do wrong, though to a different set of people, but with the man
who wishes to do justice to aU people and to wrong none.
GOOD AND BAD CITIZENS.
The Une of cleavage between good and bad citizenship Ues, not between the man of
wealth who acts squarely by his fellows and the man who seeks each day's wage by
that day's work, wronging no one and doing his duty by his neighbor; nor yet does
this line of cleavage divide the unscrupulous wealthy man, who exploits others in his
own interest, from the demagogue, or from the sullen and envious being who wishes
to attack aU men of property, whether they do well or iU. On the contrary, the line
of cleavage between good citizenship and bad citizenship separates the rich man who
does well from the rich man who does ill, the poor man of good conduct from the
poor man of bad conduct. This line of cleavage Ues at right angles to any such arbi
trary Une of division as that separating one class from another, one locaUty from an
other, or men with a certain degree of property from those of a less degree of property.
The good citizen is the man who, whatever his wealth or his poverty, strives man
fully to do his duty to himself, to his family, to his neighbor, to the State; who is
incapable of the baseness which manifests itself either in arrogance or in envy, but
who while demanding justice for himself is no less scrupulous to do justice to others.
It is because the average American citizen, rich or poor, is of just this type that
we have cause for our profound faith in the future of the Republic.
Ours is a government of liberty by, through, and under the law. Lawlessness and
connivance at lawbreaking — whether the lawbreaking take the form of a crime of greed
and cunning or of a crime of violence — are destructive net only of order, but of the
true Uberties which can only come through order. If alive to their true interests, rich and
poor alike will set their faces like flint against the spirit which seeks personal advantage
by overriding the laws, without regard to whether this spirit shows itself in the form
of bodily violence by one set of men or in the form of vulpine cunning by another set
of men.

59
Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty,
decency, fair deaUng, and common sense. The quaUties denoted by these words are
essential to all of us as we deal with the complex industrial problems of to-day, the
problems affecting not merely the accumulation but even more the wise distribution
of wealth. We ask no man's permission when we require him to obey the law, neither
the permission of the poor man nor yet of the rich man. Least of aU can the man
of great wealth afford to break the law, even for his own financial advantage, for the
law is his prop and support, and it is both fooUsh and profoundly unpatriotic for him
to fail in giving hearty support to those who show that there is in very fact one law,
and one law only alike for the rich and the poor, for the great and the small.
MUTUAL INTERESTS OF CAPITAL AHD LABOR.
Men sincerely interested in the due protection of property, and men sincerely
interested in seeing that the just rights of labor are guaranteed, should aUke remem
ber not only that in the long run neither the capitaUst nor the wage-worker can be
helped in healthy fashion save by helping the other; but also that to require either side
to obey the law and do its full duty toward the community is emphaticaUy to that
side's real interest.
There is no worse enemy of the wage-worker than the man who condones mob vio
lence in any shape or who preaches class hatred; and surely the slightest acquaint
ance with our industrial history should teach even the most short-sighted that the times
of most suffering for our people as a whole, the times when business is stagnant, and
capital suffers from shrinkage and gets no return from its investments, are exactly
the times of hardship, and want, and grim disaster among the poor. If an the existing
instrumentaUties of wealth could be aboUshed, the first and severest suffering would
come among those of us who are least weU off at present. The wage-worker is weU off
only when the rest of the country is well off and he can best contribute to this gen
eral well-being by showing sanity and a firm purpose to do justice to others.
In his turn the capitaUst .who is really a conservative, the man who has f oretnought
as well as patriotism, should heartily welcome every effort, legislative or otherwise,
which has for its object to secure fair dealing by capital, corporate or individual,
toward the pubUc and toward the employee. Such laws as the franchise-tax law in this
State, which the court of appeals recently unanimously decided constitutional— such a
law as that passed in Congress last year for the purpose of estabUshing a Department
of Commerce and Labor, under which there should be a bureau to oversee and secure
publicity from the great corporations which do an interstate business — such a law as
that passed at the same time for the regulation of the great highways of commerce
so as to keep these roads clear on fair terms to all producers in getting their goods
to market— these laws are in the interest not merely of the people as a whole, but of
the propertied classes. For in no way is the stabiUty of property better assured than
by making it patent to our people that property bears its proper share of the burdens
of the state; that property is handled not only in the interest of the owner, but in
the interest of the whole community.
WELFARE OF ALL THE CRITERION OF CLASS LEGISLATION.
In other words, legislation to be permanently good for any class must also be good
for the nation as a whole, and legislation which does injustice to any class is certain
to work harm to the nation. Take our currency system for example. This nation is
on a gold basis. The Treasury of the public is in exeeUent condition. Never before
has the per capita of circulation been as large as it is this day; and this circulation,
moreover, is of money every dollar of which is at par with gold. Now our haying
this sound currency system is of benefit to banks, of course, but it is of infinitely more
benefit to the people as a whole, because of the healthy effect on business condjfions
In the same way, whatever is advisable in the way of remedial or corrective cur
rency legislation-and nothing revolutionary is advisable under present conditions-
must be undertaken only from the standpoint of the business community as a whole;
that is of the American body poUtic as a whole. Whatever is done, we can not afford
to take any step backward or to cast any doubt upon the certain redemption in
standard coin of every circulating note. n«.3rt. ™> ore
Among ourselves we differ in many qualities, of body, head and heart we are
uneauaUy developed, mentally as well as physically. But each of us has the right to
LkThat he shall be protected from wrongdoing as he does his work and carries his
burden through Ufe. No man needs sympathy because he has to work, because he has

GO
a burden to carry. Far and away the best prize that Ufe offers is the chance to work
hard at work worth doing, and this is a prize open to every man, for there can be
no work better worth doing than that done to keep in health and comfort and with
reasonable advantages those immediately dependent upon the husband, the father, or
the son.
NO ROOM FOR THE IDLER.
There is no room in our healthy American life for the mere idler, for the man or
the woman whose object it is throughout Ufe to shirk the duties which life ought to bring.
Life can mean nothing worth meaning unless its prime aim is the doing of duty, the
achievement of results worth achieving. A recent writer has finely said: "After all,
the saddest thing that can happen to a man is to carry no burdens. To be bent under
too great a load is bad; to be crushed by it is lamentable; but even in that there are
possibUities that are glorious. But to carry no load at all — there is nothing in that.
No one seems to arrive at any goal really worth reaching in this world who does not
come to it heavy laden."
Surely from our own experience each one of us knows that this is true. From
the greatest to the smallest, happiness and usefulness are largely found in the same
soul, and the joy of life is won in its deepest and truest sense only by those who have
not shirked Ufe's burdens. The men whom we most dehght to honor in aU this land
are those who, in the iron years from 1861 to 1865, bore on their shoulders the burden
of saving the Union. They did not choose the easy task. They did not shirk the
difficult duty. DeUberately and of their own free will they strove for an ideal, up
ward and onward across the stony slopes of greatness. They did the hardest work that
was then to be done; they bore the heaviest burden that any generation of Americans
ever had to bear; and because they did this they have won such proud joy as it has
fallen to the lot of no other men to win, and have written their names forever more
on the golden honor roU of the nation.
As it is with the soldier, so it is with the civiUan. To win success in the business
world, to become a first-class mechanic, a successful farmer, an able lawyer or doctor
means that the man has devoted his best energy and power through long years to the
achievement of his ends. So it is in the Ufe of the family, upon which in the last
analysis the whole welfare of the nation rests. The man or woman who as bread
winner and home maker, or as wife and mother, has done all that he or she can do,
patiently and uncomplainingly, is to be honored and is to be envied by aU those who
have never had the good fortune to feel the need and duty of doing such work.
The woman who has borne, and who has reared as they should be reared, a family
of children has in the most emphatic manner deserved weU of the Republic. Her
burden has been heavy, and she has been able to bear it worthily only by the possession
of resolution, of good sense, of conscience, and of usefulness. But if she has borne
it weU, then to her shaU come the supreme blessing, for in the words of the oldest and
greatest of books, "Her children shaU rise up and caU her blessed;" and among the
benefactors of the land her place must be with those who" have done the best and the
hardest work, whether as lawgivers or as soldiers, whether in pubUc or in private life.
THE SECRET OF AMERICAN SUCCESS.
This is not a soft and easy creed to preach. It is a creed wiUingly learned only
by men and women who, together with the softer virtues, possess also the stronger;
who can do, and dare, and die at need, but who, while life lasts, wiU never flinch from
their aUotted task. You farmers and wage-workers and business men of this great
State, of this mighty and wonderful nation, are gathered together to-day, proud of
your State and still prouder of your nation, because your forefathers and predecessors
have lived up to just this creed.
You have received from their hands a great inheritance, and you will leave an even
greater inheritance to your children and your children's children, provided only that
you practice alike in your private and your public lives the strong virtues that have
given us as a people greatness in the past. It is not enough to be well-meaning and
kindly, but weak; neither is it enough to be strong, unless morality and decency go
hand in hand with strength.
We must possess the qualities which make us do our duty in our homes and among
our neighbors, and in addition we must possess the qualities which are indispensable
to the make-up of every great and masterful nation — the qualities of courage and
hardihood, of individual initiative and yet of power to combine for a common end

61
and above all, the resolute determination to permit no man and no set of men to sunder
us one from the other by lines of caste or creed or section. We must act upon the
motto of all for each and each for aU. There must be ever present in our minds the
fundamental truth that in a republic such as ours the only safety is to stand neither
for nor against any man because he is rich or because he is poor, because he is en
gaged in one occupation or another, because he works with his brains or because he
works with his hands.
We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. • We must see that
each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no
less. Finally we must keep ever in mind that a repubUc such as ours can exist only
in virtue of the orderly Uberty which comes through the equal domination of law over
aU men alike, and through its administration in such resolute and fearless fashion as
shaU teach all that no man is above it and no man below it.
CANDIDATES.
Mr. Chairman, the subject of the record of the forthcoming candidates, whoever
they may be, on the two great tickets of the country for President touching the labor
question will be very important and will attract great attention during the campaign.
I therefore have no hesitation in placing in the Record as a part of my speech and
with my entire approval the record of our candidate for the Presidency upon this most
important topic. There is no question in my mind but that above all others Theodore
Roosevelt wiU loom up as the special friend of labor and the laboring man. He
may not have fulminated from the bench the platitudes that have been placed in the
Record coming from one of the candidates, but he has done things, and the man who
does something these times is the most important of them all. I point with great
pleasure to the record of Theodore Roosevelt in this behalf. I challenge criticism. I
chaUenge disapproval. I call for approval by the American people. I also point to the
record of the RepubUcan party upon other questions.
SLAVERY.
The great revolution which exalted labor and freed the country from the curst
of slavery was accompUshed by the RepubUcan party, against the fiercest opposition
possible by the combined forces of the Democrats and their aUies. Still true to its
original ideals of freedom, the Republican party, after a lapse of forty years since
the emancipation proclamation of Lincoln, abolished slavery in the Philippine Islands.
(Act passed by a RepubUcan Senate and Republican House and signed by President
Roosevelt July 1, 1902.)
INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE OF FOREIGNERS.
In 1874 the Forty-third Congress, which was RepubUcan in both Houses, prohib
ited under heavy penalties the holding to involuntary services of any person forcibly
kidnaped in any other country.
PEONAGE.
The act abolishing this kind of forced labor was passed by the Thirty-ninth Con
gress, when both Houses were Republican by a large majority, March 2, 1867.
THE COOLIE TRADE.
The legislation prohibiting the cooUe trade is the work of the RepubUcans. The
original law was passed by the Thirty-seventh Congress and approved February 19,
1862, amended February 9, 1869, by the Fortieth Congress, and further amended March
3 1875, to provide for its enforcement, as recommended by President Grant in his
message of December 7, 1874. When Hawaii became a Territory of the United States
a RepubUcan Congress abolished the existing system of cooly contract labor. (Act
passed by the Fifty-sixth Congress and signed by President McKinley April 30, 1900.)

62
IMMIGRATION.
The Republican party has favored the American standard of living, not only by
abolishing compulsory labor, but also by excluding the products of the cheapest foreign
labor through protective tariffs and by restricting the immigration of unassimilable
elements from other races. The act of 1875 closed our doors to the paupers and crim
inals of Europe, and the exclusion act of 1882 stopped the immigration of the Chinese.
Upon the annexation of Hawaii in 1898 the immigration of Chinese thereto was pro
hibited by a Republican Congress, as was the migration of those already in Hawaii
from the islands to continental United States. In President Roosevelt's Administration
the Chinese-exclusion laws have been extended to the entire island territory of the
United States. (Act passed by the Fifty-seventh Congress and approved April 29,
1902.) The importation of foreign laborers under contract was first prohibited in 1885,
but, owing to defective provisions for enforcing the law, continued ahnost unchecked
until the amendments made in President Harrison's Administration (Acts of the
Fifty-first Congress, which was RepubUcan in both branches, and of the Fifty-second
Congress, signed March 3, 1891, and March 3, 1893, respectively.)
The RepubUcan party has increased the restrictions upon the immigration of cheap
foreign labor in the new law of 1903. (Act passed by the Fifty-seventh Congress,
both Houses being controlled by the Republicans, and signed by President Roosevelt
March 3, 1903.) CONVICT LABOR.
The law aboUshing the contract system of labor for United States convicts passed
the House March 9, 1886, and the Senate February 28, 1887. AU the votes against
the biU were Democratic.
The law providing for the construction of new United States prisons and tne em
ployment of convicts therein exclusively in the manufacture of such supplies for the
Government as can be made without the use of machinery was passed by the Fifty-
first Congress, which was Republican in both branches, and signed by President Har
rison. (Chapter 529 of tiie acts of 1890-91.)
The importation of goods made by convicts in foreign countries was prohibited in
the Fifty-third Congress, but it remained for a RepubUcan Congress to direct the
Secretary of the Treasury to make regulations for the law's enforcement. (Act passed
by the Fifty-fifth Congress and signed by President McKinley July 24, 1897.)
SAFETY OF WORKMEN.
PROTECTION OF SEAMEN.
This was accomplished by the Forty-second Congress, when both Houses were Re
pubUcan, and the Forty-third Congress, also RepubUcan.
INSPECTION OF STEAM VESSELS.
Accomplished by the Fortieth Congress, which was controlled by the RepubUcans.
INSPECTION OF COAL MINES IN THE TERRITORIES.
Provided for by the Fifty-first Congress, both houses being under the control of
the RepubUcans; approved by President Harrison.
SAFETY APPLIANCES ON RAILWAYS.
The original act providing for automatic couplers and power brakes on locomotives
and cars used in interstate traffic was passed by the Fifty-second Congress, and signed

63
by President Harrison March 2, 1893. Owing to decisions of the courts, new legislation
became necessary, and the Fifty-seventh Congress (Republican) passed a greatly im
proved law, which was signed by President Roosevelt March 2, 1903.
ACCIDENTS TO BE REPORTED.
The Fifty-sixth Congress (RepubUcan) passed a law requiring common carriers
to make monthly reports of accidents to the Interstate Commerce Commission. (Ap
proved by President McKinley March 3, 1901.)
TIE EIGHT-HOUR LAW.
The first eight-hour law in this country was enacted by the Fortieth Congress and
approved by President Grant in 1868. It appUed to aU artisans and laborers employed
by the Government.
In the Fiftieth Congress (1888) the eight-hour day was estabUshed for letter
carriers. The biU passed the Senate, which was RepubUcan, without division.
In President Harrison's Administration the eight-hour law was extended to include
persons employed by contractors on pubUc works. (Chap. 352 of the acts of 1892.)
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The act creating the United States Bureau of Labor was passed by the Forty-
eighth Congress (1884) and signed by President Arthur. In the Fiftieth Congress
(1888) the Bureau was removed from the Department of the Interior and made an
independent Department of Labor, aU the votes cast against the biU being Democratic.
In 1903 a. RepubUcan Congress established the Department of Commerce and Labor
and made its head a cabinet officer.
BOARDS OF ARBITRATION.
Act passed at the Fifty-fifth Congress (RepubUcan) and signed by President
McKinley June 1, 1898. .
INCORPORATION OF NATIONAL TRADES UNIONS.
Provided for by act of Congress in 1886, without division in either House.
LABOR LEGISLATION IN REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC STATES.
There is no better way of judging the merits of a poUtical party than by the laws
which are passed by the legislators who are elected to office from its ranks. With
regard to legislation for the protection of the workers, rauch remains to be done before
they receive their full measure of protection and justice; but, as can be shown by the
statistics of the different States, nearly aU protective labor legislation in the United
States was first enacted by RepubUcan States and then adopted by way of imitation
by the Democratic States. At the present time the proportion of RepubUcan States
having protective labor legislation is much greater than that of Democratic States. This
is plainly shown in the tables.
LABOR BUREAUS.
There are few agencies which have done more toward giving a clear insight into
the problems of labor and capital, that have brought employer and employee nearer
together, that have furnished the laboring people with facts for arguments in favor
of protective legislation, than bureaus of labor and labor statistics. The table shows
that at present there are SS State labar bureaus In th* United States. Of these, S3
arc in Republican States and It arc la Democratic States. Reducing these figures to
a proportionate basis, we find that SS ant af 98 RepubUcan States, er W per cent,
nave labor bureau; 16 ant af IT DanMcratle State*, sr 19 par cent, have labor 'bureaus.

64
FACTORY-INSPECTION SERVICE.
It is well known to all working people that protective labor laws are practically
a dead letter in any State unless there is a factory-inspection service organized for
the purpose of searching out and bringing to justice persons who violate such laws.
It is easy enough to enact protective legislation, but it is another thing to enforce it.
.If a State, therefore, enacts such laws and fails to organize a service for their en
forcement, it is betraying those whom it pretends to favor. Let us again observe the
tables: We find that twenty-one out of twenty-eight Republican States, or 75 per
cent., have established factory-inspection services. We also find that three out of
seventeen Democratic States, or 18 per cent., have factory-inspection services. In
examining the other subjects of labor legislation which follow we must not lose sight
of the fact that only three of the Democratic States have factory-inspection services
organized for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the labor laws which will
be under consideration. INSPECTION OF MINES.
Public inspection of mines is required on the same grounds as inspection of fac
tories. The tables show that fifteen o'f the twenty-eight Republican States and nine
of the seventeen Democratic States have established this service.
CHILD LABOR IN FACTORIES.
Ever since the introduction of the factory system, over a century ago, the greatest
sufferers from the greed of inconsiderate and cruel employers have been the helpless
children, who often at a tender age are placed in factories and are ruined physically,
morally, and mentally by their work, their surroundings, and their loss of oppor
tunity for education. It is a principle recognized in all civilized countries that children
tinder 12 years of age should not be employed in factories, and in nearly all
European countries laws have been passed placing a limit of 12 or 14 years upon such
child labor. In our country thirty-one out of the forty-five States prohibit the em
ployment of children under 12 years of age from working in factories. Of these
thirty-one States twenty-one are Republican and ten are Democratic. In other words,
68 per cent, of all the Republican States and only 3-2 per cent, of the Democratic States
have laws prohibiting children under \2 years of age from working in factories.
CHILD LABOR IN MINES.
Twenty-four States prohibit the employment of children under 12 years of age
in mines. Of these, sixteen are Republican and eight are Democratic States.
WOMAN LABOR.
Next to children, the greatest victims of abuse by greedy employers when un
restrained by law are women. Investigations have shown that their condition is some
times pitiful where employers are given free scope in their employment. Their pro
tection in the interest of humanity and morals has also been the subject of legislation
in nearly all civilized countries. In the United States, twenty-seven States have legis
lated upon this subject. Of these twenty-seven States, twenty-two are Republican and
five are Democratic! Reducing these figures to a proportionate basis, we find that 82
per cent, of the Republican States and only 19 per cent, of the Democratic States
have laws regulating woman labor.
SEATS FOR FEMALES IN SHOPS.
Legislation on this subject needs no comment. Any man who has a daughter or
sister employed in a shop or store, and every physician, knows what a hardship it is
to a woman to be compelled to stand all day at a bench or behind a counter. For
tunately, in thirty-one States legislation has been enacted requiring employers to pro-

65
vide seats for females. Of these thirty-one States, twenty-three are Republican and
eight are Democratic. SWEAT-SHOP LEGISLATION.
There is no greater menace to the health of the working people, and nothing which
tends more to lower and degrade human beings, than to crowd them together in smaU,
filthy workshops, where they are often compeUed to work, eat and sleep without regard
to health or morals, and where the hours of labor are often so long that the victims,
who are usuaUy foreigners unacquainted with our language, are shut out from aU
opportunities for education or betterment of any kind. The scenes observed in these
shops by official investigators have been revolting beyond description. Long ago efforts
were made to regulate these so-called "sweat shops," and twelve States have enacted
laws looking to this end. Of these twelve States, eleven are Republican and one is
Democratic. Nothing more need be said on this point.
TRUCK SYSTEM.
This legislation prohibits employers from paying their employees in scrip or orders
on their company stores and which are not redeemable in cash. At present twenty-three
States have such laws in force, of which fourteen are RepubUcan and nine are Dem
ocratic, or 61 per cent, of aU the Republican and 39 per cent, of aU the Democratic
States. MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION.
State boards of mediation and arbitration have been estabUshed in fifteen States
to aid in the adjustment of industrial disputes. Of the fifteen boards eleven are in
RepubUcan States and only four in Democratic States.
FREE EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS.
One of the great needs of wage-workers who are engaged for only a week or a
day at a time is some agency that will assist them in obtaining a situation when they
are out of work. Private agencies have so frequently exploited their poverty by ex
torting registration fees for situations that are never procured, that churches and
charitable societies now support free employment agencies in many leading cities. A
few years ago State and municipal governments also entered the field and now there
are pubUc employment bureaus (free) in fourteen States, of which twelve are Repub
Ucan and only two Democratic. EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY LAWS.
Since the introduction of steam and machinery workingmen are exposed to such
great risks of death and injury that enUghtened States have enacted legislation which
requires employers to furnish safe work places and appliances, and makes them re
sponsible, in damages, for any injury that may befaU an employee through their negli
gence. Twenty-seven States now have employers' UabiUty laws, most of them relating
to raUways. Of the twenty-seven States fifteen were RepubUcan and twelve Democratic
in the last National election.
EIGHT-HOUR LAW.
For many years labor organizations have been endeavoring to secure legislation
prohibiting labor on Government works or public contracts for over eight hours per
day. They have succeeded thus far in securing such legislation in twenty-one of
the forty-five States of the Union. Of these twenty-one States, sixteen are Re
pubUcan and five are Democratic. In other words, of the twenty-eight RepubUcan
States, 60 per cent, have enacted the eight-hour law, and of the seventeen Democratic
States only five, or 29 per cent., have yielded to the demands of the labor organizations
in this regard. 5

66

LABOR LEGISLATION IN REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC STATES
COMPARED.
In Republican States. 

States having
laws In force
January, 101)4.

California ...
Connecticut .
Delaware 
Illinois 
Indiana 
Iowa 
Kansas 
Maine 
Maryland 
Massachusetts. Michigan . .
Minnesota..Nebraska.. .
N. Hampshire.
New Jersey...
New York. .. .
North Dakota
Ohio 
Oregon 
Pennsylvania Rhode Island.
South Dakota
Utah 
Vermont 
Washington . . .
West Virginia.
Wisconsin 
Wyoming 
Total, 28States.

Yes.
Yes. No .
Yes. Yes.Yes.Yes,Yes.Yes. YesYes
YesYesYes Yes.Yes.
YesYesYes.
Yes.Yes. No .
Yes.
No .
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
No .

23

Yes.Yes.
Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes.No .
Yes. Yes.Yes.
Yes. No .
Yes.Yes.No .
Yes.Yes.Yes.
Yes.No .
No .
No .
Yes. Yes.
Yes.No .

21

o .
w a
n o
og
flu o>3
3 cs
-A

Yes
YesNo Yes
Yes
No ,
No .
NoYes Yes
YesYes,No NoYes
Yes, NoYes
NoNo ,
No .
NoYes.
No .
No ,
No .
Yes.No.

11

as

No .
Yes.No .
Yes. No
No .
Yes.
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.
Yes.No .
iNo .
Yes.No .
Yes.No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
Yes.
Yes.
Yes. No .

12

ai 0,
so H

No .
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.
Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes.
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
No .
Yes. Yes.
No .
Yes.
No .
Yes.
No .
Yes. Yes.
No .
Yes. Yes.
No .
Yes.

15

? £
fed
Si? S3
H

Yes.
Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.Yes.
No .
Yes.
Yes. No .
Yes.
No .
No .
No .
Yes. Yes.Yes.
Yes. No .
Yes.No .
Yes.
No .
No .
No .
Yes. No .

15

Yes.
Yes-Yes.
Yes.YesNo .
Yes.
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.
Yes. No .
No .
Yes.No .
Yes.No .
Yes.No .
No .
Yes.
No .
Yes. Yes.Yes.
Yes.

16

Child-labor age
limit In—

C8
fa

12 years
14 years

14 years
14 years

12 years
a 14y'rs.
14 years
14 years
14 years
10 years
12 years
14 years
14 years
12 years
14 years
14 years
18 years
12 years

10 years
14 years
12 years
14 years

21

3

14 years
14 years
12 years
12 years

12 years

14 years

14 years

12 years
15 years
14 years
16 years
14 years
14 years

14 years
12 years
14 years
14 years

16

o&T3

PS

YesYesYesNo .
YesNo No
YesYes
Yes
Yes Yes
YesYesYes Yes,
Yes
Yes. Yes.Yes,Yes,
Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes.

22

Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes. Yes.
Yes.No .
Yes.
Yes.Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes.
YesYes. No .
Yes.No .
Yes.Yes. No .
Yes. No .
Yes.Yes.Yes.
Yes.

rr/'d
£ CJJ
3fe

28

Yes.No .
No .
la)
Yes.Yes. Yes.No .
No'.Yes.
No .
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.
No .
No'.fi).No .
No .
Yes.Yes.
Yes. Yes.
Yes.

14

a

CO Q>
a ra
¦S 3
rt hi
o> m
X

No .
Yes.No .
Yes.
Yes.No .
No .
No. Yes.
Yes. No .
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.No .
Yes.No.
Yes.No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No. Yes.No .

11

a City of Baltimore.

b Held to be unconstitutional.
Democratic States.

States having
laws in force
January 1904

Alabama 
Arkanas 
Colorado 
Florida 
Georgia 
Idaho 
Kentucky . . .
Louisiana 
Mississippi . .
Missouri 
Montana 
Nevada 
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee 
Texas 
Virginia 
Total, 17 States.

No .
No .
Yes NoNo .
Yes.Yes.
Yes. No .
Yes.
Yes. No .
Yes.
No .
Yes.No .
Yes.

10

c

-o g

ao

a 53
pot

©2 « rt
M
m
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.
No .
Yes. Yes.No .
No .
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
No .
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.
No .
Yes.No .
Yes. Yes.
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
ao
fa
NoNo .
NoNo .
No .
No ,
No ,
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.
No .
No .
No .
No .
INo .
No ,
cloo <u
8 a
a, fl
n w
Yes.Yes.Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.
No .
Yes.
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
9
"»3 O >>
els
S3
fa
Yes Yes
Yes.Yes Yes
No .
NoNo .
Yes.Yes,YesNo ,
Yes,Yes,No .
Yes.Yes.
12
No .
No .
Yes.No .
No .
Yes.
[No .
No .
No .
Yes.Yes.Yes.
No .
No .
No ,
No .
No .
Child-labor age
limit In—
12 years
12 years
14 years
14 years
12 to 14
lyears.
14 years
12 years
ell years
14 years
12 years
10
a
i
12 years
14 years
14 years
14 years
14 years
12 years
14 years
13 years
11 years
14 years
16 years
12 years
e Alter M»y 1, 1804 ; 12 years, May 1, 1905
o
M
01
Pi
o
a
a
1* -a
*
+J
as°4
Q CO
*3
&
00
33»-i^H
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
No .
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.
Yes.
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
No .
No .
No .
No .
Yes.
Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
Yes.
No .
Yes.
Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.
No .
No .
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
i
8
9
a <s
3 3
ci bit
O) ©
£0
NoNo .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
Yes.No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
No .
67
WAGES IN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE.
Owing to the vastly superior resources of the United States and the wise legisla
tion which has protected American industries and thereby maintained the American
standard of Uving, wages in the United States are, on the average, about twice as high
as in Europe. The following table shows the average daily wage in certain cities of
Europe and America, according to statistics gathered by the United States Bureau of
Labor:

Year.

Great Brit
ain (27 quo
tations).

Paris,
Prance (21
quotations).

Year.

Liege, Bel-
glum (11
quotations).

United
States (255
quotations).

81.30 1.401.S91.491.45

81-06 1.121.281.S3 1.34

1870

£0.695 .63 .63.66 .65

$2.20 2.182.472.46 2.50

1876

The latest comparative statistics of wages are contained in an official report made
by the statistical office of the board of trade, and published by order of Parliament in
August, 1903. The data relate to years between 1895 and 1902 (mainly to years between
1898 and 1901) and pertain to fifteen skilled occupations in the chief city and other
cities in the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany, and the totals are as
follows (corrected to a standard year) :
The English report notes that a comparison of family earnings is less unfavorable
to Europe owing to the fact that more women and children become wage-earners there
than in America. On the basis of the investigation of the United States Department
of Labor in 1891, covering the textile, iron and steel, coal, and glass industries, the
Blue Book arrives at the following relative figures:
COMPARISON OE FAMILY INCOMES.
Ger
many.
France.
Great
Britain.
United States.
69
100
83
120
100145
123
178
AVERAGE WEEKLY RATES EOR EIETEEN SKILLED TRADES.
Country.
United States 
Great Britain and Ireland
France 
Germany 
Chief cities and
towns.
».
75— J18.00
42— 10.00
86— 8.65
24— 5.75
Other cities and
towns.
6!)
d. 4-416.66
0— 8.B5
10— &50
6— 6.40
It therefore appears that the average wage for the fifteen trades is nearly twice
as high in New York as in London and more than twice as high as in Paris and three
times as high as in Berlin. In the smaller cities the superiority of the United States
is equally marked, as may be seen in the following comparison:
Ger
many.
France.
Great
Britain.
United States.
100 100
- 161
109
175159
815
387
68

AVERAGE WEEKLY RATES OP WAGES CURRENT IN SOME RECENT
YEARS, ADJUSTED, WHERE NECESSARY, TO MAKE FIGURES RE
LATE TO THE SAME STANDARD YEAR.
The fact that wages in the United States range three times as high as in Ger
many in the skilled trades is accompanied by similar evidence for unskilled labor.
Thus the German Government reports on workingmen's insurance against sickness and
accident (a compulsory system conducted by the Government) showed that on January
1, 1902, the average daily wage of adult male laborers in the thirty-three large cities
was only 67 cents, in fifty-eight small cities (places with a population of from 10,000
to 20,000 each) 52 cents, while in the agricultural districts it was 49 cents in the west
and 33 cents in the east.
The figures for the fifteen skilled trades included in the official English report
are given below with the American equivalents:
[Reduced to United States currency.]

In leading cities.

In other cities.

Occupation.

New
York.

London.

Paris.

Berlin.

United States.

Great
Britain.

France.

Ger
many.

Building trades :

$19.82 28.8020.9425.7822*3815.00
18.0015.0016.94 iaoo
16.8017.8818.0019.00
25.00

$10.50 10.50 8.75
12.801034 9.12
8.64 9.12
9.12
10.08
10.25 10.0810.76 9.12 9.60

$9.80 8.208.80

$6.00

$17.60 20.3517.58
21.00 23.7018.0015.9012.6812.6816.50
13.9612.6218.26
18.5020.46

$9.15 9.378.89
9.899.15 8.61
8.618.878.878.858.49
8.618.617.718.18

$5.65 5.196.19523 5.195.78

$5.20

6.61

6^61
8.649.50
Metal trades:
5.026.365.885.745.02
5.38 5.546.78
6.866.46
5.11
4.79
Machinists (titters).. .
Machinists (turners).
Woodworking:
8.64
5.68
10.52 6.81
7.60
10.36 8.06
9.84
5.195.785.435.784.716.18
5.78 7.02
4.814.815.05
5.415.44
6.71
Printing:
5.61
6.67
The average family income was 33 per cent, larger than that in Great Britain,
48 per cent, larger than that in France, and 78 per cent, larger than that in Germany.
But since 1891 wages have risen more rapidly than in France or England.
In the foUowing series of tables wages in Europe and the United States are com
pared for each of the great branches of industry — agriculture, manufacturing, and
transportation. '
AGRICULTURE.
The following table shows that the wages of farm laborers in the Northern States
of this country are fully 50 per cent, higher than in England. The low rates in the
South bring down the average for the entire country considerably, thus:
England.
United States.
Average cash
wages.
o> a a
Average monthly wages, without board, in—
rear.
n. to
*a
"3 (Q
tu ai
002
8™
Sob
floco
m
fl .
U CO
© 01
SB
£3!
fl3 rt
fax
1875 
a. d.
18 6y„
13 3*1
13 V,
13 2?|
13 8}|
18 11
$14.08 18.8018.5218.5618.7614.2614.47
$17.88 17.0516.77
16.81 17.0117.51
17.72
$19.87 16.4217.97
18.33 17.6919.88
20.23
$29.00 21.86
25.80 26.64
29.00 27.8728.76
$27.00 20.24
23.19 2S.6223.80
28.15 28.91
$15.28 12.6514.2714.7712.71 18.49
18.80
$28.84 19.81
22.27
22.0121.8222.4423.75
$30.24 31.94
80.04
83.95 35.16
$49.98 40.1187.7884.8731.68 88.64
85.69
1879 
1885 
1890 
1899 
69

SOURCES.
Source*.— The Ninth Annual Abstract of Labor Statistics (p. 66), published by
the British labor department; Wages of Farm Labor in the United States, published
by the United States Department of Agriculture.
The monthly earnings of English agricultural laborers is stated only for the year
1898; for the other years it has been computed by making the same allowance as in
1898. Wages in the United States are in currency, which in 1875 was at a discount
($114.90 in currency— $100 gold).
BUILDING TRADES— UNITED STATES, ENGLAND AND FRANCE.
WAGES AND HOURS IN PRINCIPAL BUILDING TRADES OF NEW YORK (MANHATTAN BOROUGH),
LONDON, AND PARIS.

Occupation.

Brloklayers 
Carpenters 
Painters 
Plasterers 
Plumbers 
Stone masons 
Masons' and plasterers' laborers

Bate of wages per
hour In —

New
York, 1903.

Cents. 6556ii5062K58H50 40%

Lon don, 1908.

Cents. 21211822222114

Paris, 1900.

Cents. 191816
20 151610

Weekly hours of
labor in—

New
York, 1903.

Lon don, 1903.

Paris, 1901.

64 605460
6064

London rates from the Ninth Annual Abstract of Labor Statistics, published by the
British labor department; New York rates furnished by the New York State depart
ment of labor; Paris rates from Bordereaux de Salaires en 1900 et 1901, published by
the French bureau of labor.
In some of the trades the rate here given is a standard recognized by associations
of employers and workmen; in others it is only the prevalent rate.
MANUFACTURING.
Owing to fluctuations in employment and the varying proportion of women and
child workers, the calculation of the average annual earnings of factory employees
is always difficult. The following figures are mere estimates, but are derived from the
most trustworthy sources and may be accepted as a reasonably close approximation to
the actual relative compensation of factory operatives in the leading manufacturing
countries.
AVERAGE YEARLY INCOME OP MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING
INDUSTRIES.

Country.

United States 
Great Britain and Ireland.
France 
Germany 

Austria.

Inquiry.

Census 
Wage census —
Insurance statis
tics.
 do 

Date.

1900
1885-86

1901

Amount of em
ployment in
year.

Full time
....do....
290 days. .
800 days..

Average annual
earnings.

280210201 150

The method by which the American average wage is computed assumes that every
employee worked steadily throughout the year, and is therefore slightly higher than it
should be for comparative purposes, but in any event the average would remain near
$400 which is notably higher than that in any European country. The fact that the
proportion of women and children employed in American factories (about 23 per cent.)
is smaller than the proportion abroad also tends to exalt the American average, as it
properly should. In the Engbsh wage statistics about 40 per cent, of the employees
were women and children and in the French about 26 per cent.

70

The relative earnings of men, women, and children in American and British fac
tories are shown separately below:

Country.

Men.

Women.

Lads and
boys.

Girls.

$5.95
309.40 490.00

$3.10
161.20
273.08

$2.20
114.40 152.22

$1.5480.00

RATES OF WAGES IN NEW YORK AND LONDON IN CERTAIN TRADES
AT END OF 1902.
[Sources: London, Ninth Annual Abstract of Labor Statistics; New York, Twentieth Annual
Report of New York Bureau of Labor Statistics.]

New York.
London.
New York.
London.
Iron and steel
trades :
Boiler makers . .
Blacksmiths 
Iron molders 
f o$2.80
\ 683.00 to 4.00
S50 to 450
2.75 to 4.00
2.75 to 4.00
850350
2.75 to 8.00
2.50 to 2.75
} 5$1.12 to $1.92 1.56L601.561.721.681.44 1.44
Printing: Componitorn— Book and Job..
Weekly papers
Dally Papers-
Day 
iift 4.00450
3 78
250 to 850
L56
L66
Furniture :
Cabinetmakers..Upholsterers 
Metals: Brass molders.. .
Brass finishers. .
1.68
1.62 to 2.16
a Inside.
b Outside.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND— WEEKLY RATES OF WAGES, OCTO
BER, 1886.
[From general report on the wages of manual labor classes In the United Kingdom, Parlia
mentary Blue Book C— 6, 889, 1893, p. 476.]
Numbers.
Percentages.
Weekly rates.
Men.
Wo
men.
Lads and
boys.
Qlrls.
Men.
Wo
men.
Lads and
boys.
Girls.
9£81
89,86126,059 4,655 »7
13,288
80500 4,821 608 16
11.9
49.782£ 5.8 .1
Under 10s. (*2.48> 
498
8,456
76,392
118,402 86,18741,12115,120 8,712
39,23575,64627,969 8,215 198
ai2.4
21.5 S&624.21L6 4J
2.4
2650 185 5.4 d
625 8.9
1.4
10s. to 15s. ($2.43 to $3.65) 
15s. to 20s ($3.65 to $4.87) 
20s. to 25s. ($4.87 to $6.08) 
25a. to 80s. ($6.08 to $7.80) 
30s. to S5s. ($7.80 to $8.52) 
86s. to 40s. ($8.52 to $9.78) 
855,888
24s. 9d.
#5.95
161,263
128. lid.
|3J0
80,258
9s. 2d.
r2.20
48,772
6s. 6d.
»L64
100
100
100
100
AVERAGE ANNUAL EARNINGS OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN EM-
EMPLOYED IN FACTORIES IN 1885.
Yearly earnings.
Propor tion.
Of and above—
£70 ($840.66) 
£60 to ,£70 ($292 to $840.69) .. . .
250 to £80 ($243.88 to $292) ....
240 to £50 ($194.66 to J24&8S) .
Under £40 ($1»4J6) 
Total 
Average, £47 equals $228.78.
71

francs!
Wages, hours, etc., in Paris and suburbs in 1893.
[From Salalres et Dur6e du Travail dans l'Industrie B'ranjaise, Vol. IV.]

Industry.

Average daily-

HoarB* of
labor.

Wages.

Average
number of
working
dayslnthe year.

Percent age of
women
and chil
dren in
total
working force.

Food produets 
Chemical products 
Paper and rubber products 
Printing and publishing 
Hides and leather 
Textiles 
Clothing, millinery, etc 
Wood manufactures 
Furniture. 
Iron and steel 
Foundry and machine-shop products
Metal products, copper, etc 
Gold, silver, etc 
Stone working 
Excavation and construction 
Glass, brick, pottery 
Transportation, etc 
All Industries 
Outside of Paris 

11UP*10 p
10

$0.96 .91

.92.78.83
1.241.20 1.18
1.231.071.051.661.22 .82
im

$1.02

800821295298292
292280298295290277286289
298 253
297

290 290

2088
88 40
5466 4
15 55
24
38 15 1
8122

2626

BELGIUM.
Daily wage rates of adult workers employed in manufacturing and mechanical
industries (including transportation) according to the industrial census
of 1896.

Dally rates.

Less than 20
20 cents, but
SO cents, but
40 cents, but
60 cents, but
60 cents, but
70 cents, but
80 cents, but

cents
under
underunder under underunderunder

SO cents..
40 cents. .
50 cents. .
60 cents. .
70 cents. .
80 cents. .
90 cents. .

®io

20,88328,638 62,19587,011
100,867 65,78150,874

a1-

22,420 21,349 13,429 6,362 2,283 652241

Dally rates.

90 cents, but under $1.00
$1.00, but under $1.10.. . .
$1.10, but under $1.20. . . .
$1.20, but under $1.80....
$1.30, but under $1.40 ....
$1.40 or more 
Total 

gk

21,134 18,832 6,776
8,068 1,658 4,357

467,511

a a
oS

so43 10

74,661

GERMANY.
Average yearly earnings of workers employed in industrial establishments,
according to the returns of employers to the government bureau for the
insurance of workingmen.

Year.

Marks.

Dollars.

Year.

Marks.

Dollars.

642651686706

153155 163168

783 751
778 804

174179

191
72

RAILWAY LABOR.

The average yearly earnings of all railway employees in the United States, accord
ing to the Interstate Commerce Commission, have ranged between $565 and $570 in the
last six or eight years. Reports from twenty-seven companies, employing more than
90 per cent, of all the railway men in Great Britain and Ireland, showed that in the
first week of December, 1902, the average earnings were $6, which would make the
average yearly income not more than $312. On the state railways of Prussia the
average annual wages of the employees in the budget of 1898-99 were $335, exclusive
of shopmen and trackmen, whose earnings, being considerably smaller, would, if in
cluded, bring down this average. In France more than 80 per cent, 'of the railway
employees receive less than $1 per day, the average in fact being about 75 cents, which
would make the annual earnings lie between $230 and $270, according to the number
of working days.
In Prussia the locomotive engineers begin at $286 a year and may attain $523. In
the United States engineers average $3.78 a day and $1,200 a year. Firemen— Prussia,
from $938 to $357 a year; United States, $2.16 a day and $667 a year. Conductors-
Prussia, from $190 to $286 a. year; United States, $3.17 a day and $1,004 a year. In
Prussia the railway employees are entitled to pensions and other Government privileges,
but of course allowances therefor would not add more than 5 or 10 per cent, to their

earnings.

UNITED STATES.
Railway Labor.

[From Statistics of Railways of the United States, published by the Inter-state Commerce
Commission!]

Year ended June 30 —

Number of
employees
on J une 30.

Amount of sal-
rles and wages
(to 99 per cent of
all employees.)

Average yearly
earnings-a

1895 

785,034826,620
823,476874,558 928,924
1,017,653 1,071,1691,189,315

$445508,261 468^24,531465,601,581496,056,618
622,967,896677,264,841610,713,701 676,028,592

1896 

$531.80 66433

1897... 

1898 

583.10

1899 . 

579.95

1900 

693.16

1901 

584.76

1902 

598.25

aThe Interstate Commerce Commission does not publish average yearly earnings, and these
figures have been calculated by dividing total wages and salaries by the mean number of em
ployees at the beginning and at the end of each year.

RAILROAD TRANSPORTATION.
[From the bulletin of the New York department of labor for December, 1903.]
Average daily compensation of specified classes of employees, 1892 to 1902.

Classes of employees.

General officers.  1
Other officers  j
General office clerks 
Station agents 
Other station men 
Enginemen 
Firemen 
Conductors 
Other trainmen 
Machinists 
Carpenters 
Other shopmen 
Section foremen 
Other"trackmen 
Switchmen, flagmen, watchmen 
Telegraph operators and dispatchers 
Employees — account floating equipment 
All other employees and laborers 

1892.

$7.88 2.28 1.821.68
8.68 2.08
8.08 1.90
2.292.08 1.721.761.221.801.92
2.03 1.68

1893.

$8.10 2.25 1.831.65
3.682.068.101.922.31 2.101.78 1.75
1.22 1.82
1.961.96 1.70

1894.

$9.71 6.752.84 1.751.68
8.612.033.04 1.892.21
2.02 1.69 1.711.181.75
1.931.97 1.65

1895.

$9.01 6.85
2.19 1.741.62
8.652.05.8.04 1.90
2.222.08 1.701.701.171.751.98 1.911.65

$9.19 5.96231 1.731.628.65
2.068.05 1.90
2.26 2.03 1.691.701.171.74 1.931.941.65

1897.

$9.54 5.12 2.181.781.628.652.058.07 1.90
2.282.01 1.711.701.161.721.901.86 1.64

73

Classes of employees.

1898.

1899.

1900.

1901.

1902.

Number
of employ
ees, 1902.

General officers 

$9.73 5.21 2.251.731.61
8.722.098.18 1.95
2.28 2.021.701.69 1.161.741.92
1.891.67

$10.08 5.18 2.201.741.60
8.72 2.108.13'1.94
2.292.03 1.721.681.151.771.931.891.68

$10.45 5.222.19 1.751.60
8.752.143.17 1.96
2.302.04 1.781.681.22
1.80 1.96
1.921.71

$10.97 5.504.191.771.598.782.16
8.17
62.00 2.82 2.061.75 1.71
1.28
61.74 1.981.97
1.69

$11.17 5.60
2.18 1.801.61
8.842.208.212.042362.081.781.721.251.77
2.012.001.71

4316

6,039

Station agents 

Other station men 
48318
Carpenters 
51,698
Section foremen 
85,700
281,075 50,48928,244 7,426
147,201
Other trackmen 
Switchmen, flagmen, watchmen... .
Telegraph operators and dispatchers 
Employees— account floating equipment 
All other employees and laborers 
1,189315
a Based on the reports of the statistician of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
,??^ltohin^. traln crews transferred from "Switching," etc to "Other trainmen." Change
slightly affects enginemen, etc.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
Number and per cent, of men (adults) employed by principal railway com
panies, at specified weekly rates of wages, 1891.
[From Bulletin of United States Department of Labor, January, 1899.]
Weekly rate of Wages.
Number.
Per cent.
Weekly rate of wages.
Number.
Per cent.
Under 10s. ($2.48) 
210
8,186
123,962 90,47249,80720,782 8,953
0.1 2.6
S9.428.8 15.7 6.6
2.8
40s. to 45s. ($9.73 to tlOSb) ....
45s. to 50s. ($10.95 to $12.17).. .
50s. to 60s. ($12.17 to $14.50).. .
60s. ($14.50) or over. 
9,9741,897 891486
10s. to 16b. ($2.43 to $8.65)
15s. to 20s. ($3.65 to $4.87) , ,
20s. to 25s. ($437 to $6.08) 
0.4 08
0.1
25s. to 80s. ($6.08 to $730) 
80s. to 85s. ($730 to $8.52) 
Total 
814,520
100.0
35a. to 40s. ($&52 to $9.78) 
More than one-half of the employees receive under $6.08 a week, and the most
numerous class are those who earn from $3.65 to $4.87 weekly. The British board of
trade, on the basis of these reports, estimated the average annual earnings of adult
males to be $296.37 in England and Wales and $291.S0 in Great Britain and Ireland.
Average weekly earnings of British railway employees in the first week of
December.
[From Ninth Annual Abstract of Labor Statistics, by the British labor department.]
England and Wales.
Scotland 
Ireland 
1902, United Kingdom .
1901, United Kingdom.
1900, United Kingdom .
1899, United Kingdom.
1898, United Kingdom.
1897, United Kingdom.
Number
Number
of com
of em
panies.
ployees.
s. d.
15 5
388,883 45,240
25 6W=$6.10
23 1}!= 5.55
7
19306
19 SH- 4.65
27
448,429
24 11%= 6.00
25 o£f- 6.01
27
440,557
27
440,847
25 0%- 6.02
27
431,858
25 8 = 6.06
27
412,304
24 7%- 5j92
24 i%= 5.86
27
398,108
/*
\
74

FRANCE.
Daily Wages Compared.
[From Bulletin of the United States Department of Labor, January,

Railway employees in France,

Dally wages.

1.25 francs ($0,241) or under 
1.26 to 2.26 francs ($0,243 to $0.434) .
2.26 to 8 25 francs ($0,436 to $0 627) .
3.26 to 4 26 francs ($0,629 to $0.820) .
4.26 to 5.25 francs ($0,822 to $1.018) .
5.26 to 635 francs ($1,015 to $1.206) .
6.26 to 735 francs ($1308 to $1399).
736 to 835 francs ($1,401 to $1,592).
8.26 to 9.25 francs ($1,594 to $1.785) .
9.26 to 10.25 francs ($1,787 to $1,978)
10.26 to 15.25 francs ($1.98 to $2,943)
15.26 francs ($2,945) or over 
Total 
535 francs ($1,018) or under 
5.26 to 1035 franos ($1,016 to $1,978)

Per cent
of total.

0.S1 l.SS
28.4482.40 18.0610.04 4.02 1.961.16 .66
1.47 .15

100.00 80.54 17.84

Railway employees in the United
States, 1890.

Daily wages.

Under $0.21.. . .
$0.21 to .40...
.41 to .60.. . .
.61 to .80.. . .
.81 to 1.00....
1.01 to 1.20....
1.21 to 1.40....
1.41 to 1.60....
1.61 to 1.80....
1.81 to 2.00.. . .
2.01 to 8.00....
8.01 or over.. .
1.00 or under.
1.01 to 2.00 ... .

Per cent.
of total.

0.29 36
.88
1.49
4.25
21.6921.6915.0811.40 9.22
11.54 236

100.00 7.22
78J8

GERMANY.
Annual wages of employees of Prussian State Railways, 1896-97.
[From Bulletin of United States Department of Labor, January, 1899.]
Shopman, average $256.42.
Trackmen, average $182.31.
All other employees (1898-99 $335.10), $318.68.
Locomotive engineers begin at $285.60; maximum, $523.
Locomotive firemen begin at $238 ; maximum, $357.
Conductors begin at -$190.40 ; maximum, $285.60.
Night watchmen begin at $166.60; maximum, $214.20.
THE TREND OF WAGES IN RECENT YEARS.
The Bulletin of the New York State Department of Labor for December, 1903, has
the following editorial comment on the trend of wages in recent years:
The Bulletin contains a compilation of statistics published by the Federal and other
State bureaus of labor to show the tendency of wages in recent years. All the statis
tics reveal a decUne in wages after 1892, but the decline continued for a longer period
in some States than in others, depending on the predominating industries of each and
also in part upon fhe month of the year to which the statistics relate. As a general
rule the lowest point in the decUne was reached in 1895 or 1896, but whatever improve
ment began then remained unimportant until 1898. Since 1898 the rise in wages has
been both important and widespread, so that by 1902 wages had generally reached a
higher level than in 1892, the best year of the preceding decade.
In Massachusetts factories, for example, average yearly earnings rose from
in 1886 to $452 in 1892, declined to $413 in 1894 and $420 in 1898, and rose to $4"
1902. In Wisconsin, average annual earnings of factory employees rose from
in 1883 to $426 in 1892, declined to $376 in 1894, and rose again to $422 in 1901.
Pennsylvania the 1892 average was surpassed as early as 1899. In striking agreement
with the wage statistics of State bureaus are the statistics of unemployment furnished
by the Cigar Makers' International Union of America. In 1890 this organization paid
to its members out of work (but not on strike) the sum of $22,760.50 in benefits. In
1892 the amount declined to $17,461, but in 1893 it increased 400 per cent., and for
three years, 1894-1896, it stood at about $175,000 annually. In 1897 it fell to $117,471,
and thereafter steadily declined to only $21,071 in 1902, which, considering the increase
in membership (more than 33 per cent), compares favorably with 1892.
The statistical compilation considered in the foregoing analysis appears at pages
445-454 of the New York department of labor's December bulletin and is subjoined:

In

75
The recent report of the United States Census Office on wages of factory opera
tives in 1890 and 1900 alludes to the inevitable incompleteness of • statistics for such
widely separated periods, in view of which the following statistics of wages in the last
decade have been collated from the reports of State bureaus of labor statistics. To
supplement these figures two tables are also given containing statistics published by
Federal bureaus and covering agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation, a
aln olose agreement with these official statistics are the figures pubUshed by the Cigar
Makers' International Union of America on the amount annually expended for out-of-work
benefits to its members. This fund is distinct from the strike and sick benefits and therefore
registers the conditions of employment accurately.
WAGES IN THE UNITED STATES.

Year.

Manufac
turing and
nil ning. a

Agricul tural^

Year.

Manufac
turing and
mining.a

Agricul tural^

1890 

98.6
100.0

1896 

97.9398.96 98.79
10154103.48

1891 

100.01003 993298.06 97.88

1897 

1892 

1898...

104.2

102.6 95.4 95.1
1899 
108.7
1900 
1895 
a Eased on reports from 148 establishments In 26 industries, representing 192 occupations. 1891
taken as 100. U. s. Dept. of Labor Bulletin No. 80, September, 1900.
b Relative wages of farm labor per month without board. 1891 taken as 100. Based on statistic
in U. S. Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin No. 22, 1901.
CIGAR MAKERS'
INTERNATIONAL UNION EXPENDITURE FOR OUT-
OF-WORK BENEFITS.
1890  $22,760.50
1891  2132350
1892  17,460.75
1893  89,402.75
1804  174£1735
1895  166,377.25
1896  175,767.25
1897  117,471.40
1898  70,197.70
ILLINOIS.
1899  88,037.00
1900  28,897.00
1901  27,083.70
1902  21,071.00
[From the Eleventh Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (1900).]
Statistics compiled from reports of 627 identical manufacturing establishments.
Year.
Average number of-
wageworkers em
ployed.
Aggregate wages.
Average annual
earnings.
Increase (per
cent.)
Male.
Female.
Total.
1896 
20,05621,05925304
2,4102,5088362
22,46628,567
29,166
$9300,08310385,919
18,876359
$436.22 43858475.77
1897 
0.6
1899 
8.6
IOWA.
[From Tenth Biennial Report of Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1901-2, p. 449.]
Year.
18B6188819001902
Estab lish
ments.
1,7521,62513851,627
Average number of employees.
Men.
4035446,0064VS9347,857
Women.
7,7829,8009,281
11,812
Chil
dren.
(a) 2,630
Total.
49,278
55,429
51,175
662,298
Aggregate wages.
$17369,662 19,623,892
21,145,96126,654^04
Nominal annual
average.
$852.71 854.03413.20
cl3i.SU
a Not separately reported
6 No wage account reported for 996 of this number, hence 996 is to be deducted In calculating
"^Th^nominai annual average earnings of »dult male* la 1901 were $501.91 ; of adult females,
$241.40 ; of ohildxen under 16 years, $12236.
76

MASSACHUSETTS.
[From reports of Bureau of Statistics of Labor on Statistics of Manufacturers.]
Note. — In order to preserve an accurate basis for comparisons the Bureau each
year omits establishments that did not report in tbe preceding year. To illustrate:
In 1901 the Bureau reported the average earnings of all employees in factories that
made comparative returns in 1900 and 1901 to be $449.63, as stated in the first column.
But in the 1902 report the factories reporting were not precisely the same as those
included in the preceding year, and a new average income was computed for 1901 —
namely $449.69, as stated in the second column — which, compared with 1902 average,
revealed a gain of $10.29 in the last-mentioned year. As a general rule, little variation
is to be noticed in the two averages for any one year.

Average annual earn
ings as stated In
the report of the—

Increase or decrease in average
yearly earnings.

Average number of days

Year.

Current year.

Next suc
ceeding year.

Amount.

Percentage.

Gain.

Lose.

Gain.

Loss.

$395.89 894.79 418.19426.82487.93445.49 45059436.1841256
42539 426.66 422.26419.91
427.60441.61 449.69
$396.14 402.45419.17 4SS56441.90452.21484.17 421.8142159 425.16
421.69421.48427.71439.57449.63459.98
$0.25 7.66 5.986.748.976.72
0.66 1.941.45158 .91
151
296.78
297.14
$16.42 14.82
$8.64 8.28
27736
275.68
9.03
2.19
291.42
.28
4.97 .78
.05
1.16 .18
279.48
23333
286.28
1899. .
7.80
11.97 8.02
10.29
1.862.80 132
2.29
294.14
1030 . . .
290.43
1901 
292.78
1902 
296.09
Estimated average yearly earnings of
Year.
Adult
males.
Adult
females.
Minors
(under 21
years
of age).
1899 
$52334 530.82542.2355236
$824.72 884.70 842.68S5S36
$21934 22833
I960 
1901 
231.85
1902 
244.24
NEW YORK.
Explas-atobt Note. — The following table gives the results of two separate investi
gations which are not strictly comparable. The first investigation, made in 1896, shows
that after tlie middle of 1892 wages declined. The second investigation, covering 3,553
identical establishments, reveals a slight fall in wages between 1895-96 and 1896-97.
After tbe middle of 1897 employment and wages increased in a striking manner, and
this very increase renders it difficult to calculate an ayerage annual wage. The statis
tics indicate that the total amount paid OHt in wages by the 3,553 manufacturers
between July 1, 1897, and July 1, 1898, wag $151,279,010; but at tbe beginning of the
period they were paying wages to 304,376 workers and at the end to 326,090. It is
therefore obviously incorrect to call either $464 ($151,279,010 divided by 326,090) or
$497 (the same amount divided by 304,376) the average yearly earnings. The fact is
no satisfactory method has yet been discovered of computing the average income when
the number of employees fluctuate in this- way. The least objectionable method of
calculation on the basis of these figures is to divide the total wages by tbe mean number
of employees, 315,233 (one-half the sum of 3D4.876 and 326,090), which yields' an aver
age wage of $480. Similar calculations for 1897 and 1899 yield the averages $459, and
$477, as expressed in brackets.
77

Annual wages of persons employed in manufacturing industries.
[From Fourteenth and Seventeenth Annual Beports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
1896 and 1899.]

Date.

May 81, 1891.
May 31, 1892.
May 81, 1893.
May 81, 1894.
May 81, 1895.
June SO, 1896
June 80, 1897
June 80, 1898
June 80, 1899

Total

Firms

amount paid

con-

in wages.

i cerned.

$93,257541

1,721

100,616,011

1,824

109,073,849

1,986

99,052,129

2,154

110,427,159

2390

141,184,845

8,558

188,577,878

8558

151,279,010

3,558

162,645,649

3558

Persons
employed on June 1
(or June

200,383215,880 286,908
225,137 258,189299,957S04376 826,090
866378

Crude average
wage of per
sons em
ployed at end
of each annual
period.

4.55464

$466 466400440486471
[04591 [6480]

457 [c477J

o$188,577,878 divided by 302,166, the mean of 299,957 and 804376.
68151,279^)10 divided by 315333, the mean of 804,376 and 326,090.
C$162,645,649 divided by S41J.84, the mean of 826,090 and 856378.
Since 1897 the New York bureau has collected statistics of actual earnings of wage-
workers through the officers of workingmen's organizations, reaching in this way 150
wage-earners where one could have been reached by means of individual schedules. As
a large proportion of the members of trades unions are well-paid artisans and .me
chanics of the building trades, their earnings of course average much higher than those
of factory employees already given. The New York statistics are based on quarterly
reports collected twice a year and thus cover one-half of each year:
Average earnings of organized workingmen, 1897-1903.

Year.

January- March.

July-Sep tember.

Averagefor three
months.

ifistlmatod average, for one
year.

Estimatednumber of
days of
employ ment in
year.

$145 164172176183184
186

$174 175
197 182
194197 190

$168 169 187
179189191188

$650 678747716756765758

254

255

1899 

278

1900 

265

1901  

274

M02...7 

278

U03 

278

Experience has shown that earnings in the six months ApriLJune and October-
December run about the same as in the six months for which statistics are collected, so
that it is not erroneous to estimate the year's earnings on that basis. Between 1897
and 1903 the average yearly earnings of men increased $103 (from $650 to $753), or
16 per cent. As a matter of faet, the real increase was much larger, for the member
ship of trades unions more than doubled in the above-mentioned period and the new
members almost invariably belonged to trades or lived in localities where they worked
for lower rates of wages than the old members. As a consequence of these additions
the average daily wage appeared to be stationary after 1899, while as a matter of fact
it was almost universally advancing. In 1901, for example, 47,585 members of unions
obtained advances averaging $1.97 a week, while only 2,668 suffered reductions in weekly
wages — and these were principally due to the establishment of shorter hours of work.
In 1902, again, 93,225 trades-unionists secured increases in wages averaging $1.78 a
weekJL while only 3,329 sustained decreases.' Considering these facts, it seems quite
conservative to say that wage rates increased at least 10 per cent, between 1897 and
1903. In that period employment increased as follows:
78
Percentage of working time- in which organized working men and women were
employed and idle.

Year.

Employed.

Idle.

Per cent. 69.7
76.082.079.682.886.686.1

Per cent. 803

1898  

24.0

18.0

20.5
17.2
18.4
13.9
The duration of employment in 1903 was therefore 24 per cent, greater than in
1897. Assuming that rates of wages increased only 10 per cent, in the same interval,
their gain in earnings would be 36 per cent. This is doubtless larger than the increase
enjoyed by workers in manufacturing industries.
The following tables show the —
Prevailing daily rates of wages in the building industry of New York City
(Manhattan Borough) from 1883 to 1903.
«i
0G
X)
Laborers.
<S O
Eg
Jo a*
a .
« .
HIu
01
u01
laW
01a
01 p.ua
u
aIB
a> ca3O
W
00 ao
§
01 .
0<
oiu
am
a
DQ 01
t*m0j —
on
m M
•2 oo
5 £
IS
*» u
01 o
*> fe
a ?
to
sCO
01
¦-»
u
01
o3
1883...
$4.00 4.004.00
$3.50 8.50350
$2.76 2.752.75
$2.50 2502.50
$3.00 8.008.00
$2.50-4.00 2.50-4.008.00Ht.OO
$4.00 4.004.00
$3.00-350 3.50830
$3.00 8.50
8.50
$2.00-830 2.00-3.002.00-8.00
$3.00 830830
1884...
1885...
$3.50
1886...
4.00
8.50
2.75
250
8.00
8.12-4.00
4.00
830
3.50
2.50-850
S30
850
1887...
4.00
3.50
2.75
2.75
3.00
8.12-4.00
4.00
830
850
230-350
$30
8.50
1888...
4.00
350
2.75
2.25-2.76
8.50-4.00
430
350
8.50
8.00
830
830
1889...
4.00
850
2.75
2.25-2.75
8.50-4.00
4.00
850
330
8.25
850
330-4.00
1890...
4.50
350
2.75
2.25-2.75
850-4.00
4.00
830
3.50
8.25
8.50
8.50-4.00
1S91...
4.00-4.50
850
2.00-2.75
2.40-250
250
830-430
4.00
2.75-8.75
8.50
8.25
8.50
4.00
1892...
4.00
850
2.00-2.75
2.40-250
2.50
330-4.00
4.00
2.75-8.75
330
335
8.50
4.00
181)8...
4.00
8.50
2.00-2.75
2.40-250
2.75
8.50-4.00
4.00
2.76-8.75
8.50
8.25
350
4.00
1894.. .
4.00
8.50
2.00-2.75
2.40
2.76
8.50-4.00
4.00
2.75-8.75
830
8.25
850
4.00
1895.. .
4.00
850
2.00-2.75
2.40
2.75
8.50-4.00
4.00
2.75-3.75
850
8.25
850
4.00
1896...
4.00
350
2.00-2.75
2.40
2.75
8.50-4.00
4.00
2.75-3.75
8.50
8.25
8.50
4.00
1897...
4.00
850
250
2.40
2.76
8.00-4.00
4.00
8.76
3.50
S35-8.50
8.50
4.00
1898.. .
4.00
830
250-230
2.40
2.75
8.00-4.00
4.00
8.75
8.50
8.25-8.50
850
4.00
189.....
4.40
850-4.00
230-850
234
3.00
8.00-4.00
430
8.75
850
8.50
8.75
4.00
1900...
4.40
4.00
8.20-330
234
8.00
8.00-4.00
4.50
8.75
3.50
8.75
4.00
4.50
1901.. .
4.80
4.00
S.76
234
8.00
8.00-430
4.50
8.75
8.75
8.76
4.00
6.00
1902.. .
5.20
4^0
4.00
230
8.25
oS.50-430
5.00
4.25
4.00
4.00
4.00
5.O0
1903.. .
5.20
450
430
230
8.25
oS.50-4.50
650
4.25
4.00
4.00
4.00
5.00
o Amalgamated reports painters' wages $4 ; the Brotherhood, $3.50 and $4. Amalgamated
reports decorators' wage $4.50. Deoorators received the higher rate throughout the entire period.
Prevailing daily rates of wages for paving and stonecutting in New York City
(Manhattan Borough), 1883 to 1903.
Year.
1883 
$4.00
1884 
4.00
1885 
4.00
1886 
4.00
1S87 
5.00
1888 
5.00
1889 
1891 
4.50
1892 
4.50
4.60
Pay ing.
Freestone.
$4.50 450 4.50
4.504.504.504.504.504.504.50430
Gran ite.
Marble.
$850
$2.50
3.50
2.50
8.50
$2.50-8.00
350
250-8.00
8.50
2.50-3.00
a50
250-3.00
4.00
3.50
4.00
8.50
4.00
830
4.00
830
4.00
830
Year.
1894  
4.504.00
1895 
1896 
1897 
430 4.50
4.504.504.504.504.60
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
Pav Ing.
Freestone.
Gran ite.
4^0
4.00
450
4.00
4L60
4.00
$830 and 430
4.00
8.50 and 450
4.00
830 and 4.50
4.00
8.50 and 4.50
4.00
3.50 and 4.50
4.00
4.00-5.00
4.00
4.00-5.00
430
Marble.
S508.50
8.50 4.004.00
4.00 4.00
4.50 4.50
5.00
79

PENNSYLVANIA. Wages Compared.
[From the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Annual Reports of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics
1901 and 1902, pages 258 and 392, respectively.]

Keturns from 864 establish
ments.

Returns from 771 establishments.

Year.

Em
ployees.

Average yearly earn ings.

Yearly
galn(+) or loss

Em
ployees.

Average yearly earn ings.

Yearly
gain(+). or loss
(-)•

Per cent
of
Increase

1892 

136,882 122378
109,883 127361
118,092 121381137,986164,422 186314
166,424

$491.90 464.66 418.15445.78 441.29429.90
45452606.27 509.43644.80

1898 
—$27.24
— 51.51
+ 82.63
— 4.49
+ 11.89
+ 24.62
+ 51.75
+ 8.16
+ 35.87
1894 
1895 
1896 
129,240134,918 150,99017S,S02184,623191,153
203,927
$882 47
888.14 401.89487.87439.97 450.44
482.68
1897 
+S1.67+17.75+85.48+ 2.60
+10.47 +32.24
1898 
1899 
8.8
1900 
.6
1901 
2.4
1902 
7.2
RHODE ISLAND.
[From the annual reports of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics.]
Wages in the textile industries, 1893-1901.
Year.
Average annual
earnings as stated
in the report
of the—
Increase or decrease.
Number
of reports
Current year.
Follow
ing year.
Amount.
Percentage.
tabulated.
Gain.
Loss.
Gain.
Loss.
1898 ..
$364.62 824.41
8893781930
a886.18 829.75848.71
878.11
1894 
$82733 863.73813.6933732
a329.23 847.07876.57384.89
$37 29
10.23
121
1895 
$89.32
12.12
123
1896
26.28
7.73
135
1897
18.02
5.65
185
1898
a6.90
2.05
151
1899 
17.32
27.86 6.78
5.257.99 1.79
176
igoo 
186
1901 
188
a Corrected figures.
Note.— The average number of employees in the 188 factories considered in 1900-1901 was 47,600
in 1900 and 48,600 In 1901, and their aggregate wages were $17,998,136 and $18,707,183, respectively.
WISCONSIN.
TFrom Ninth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics, 1899-1900, pages
235-288.]
Average annual earnings in factories, 1883-1901.
Year.
887. 888..889.
.890..891.. .892.
<o >- 5
i- s.2
38,797
71318 8050480380 94,089
96540
o si
$14,268,218 18,710,41728,71036628,416,694 82,575,944 88,12531838,02834788,29.5378$7327,810
^
© t ta
>.+!.
st; a
t*' — ' w
Sga
C3 rt M
01 .rt o
•"! oi
$363.00
354.00
—$9.00
377.00
+23.00
399.00
+22.00
405.00
+ 6.00
410.00
+ 5.00
404.00
— 6.00
426.00
+22.00
381.00
—45.00
Year.
1891.1895.im.1897.1899.1900.1900. 1901.
01 t, 01
bfioi ?
C9J2 >>
rt dO
83,612
8576780,051 87,53479371 80,159
78,682 82,776
01 s^W
3 h Cl
ra «
£«>9
O s>
^ >>s
*%
"Si QJ
$31,409,244
$376.00
82,993,707
884.00
31,749,822
397.00
86,588,044
418.00
81,515,194
S94.58
32,983,769
411.48
82,378,688
412.00
84^68374
422.00
rt fl co
—$5.00 + 8.00
+13.00
+21.00 +16.90
+10.00
80
Percentage of factory employees whose daily wages were less than $1 and
$1.50 or over.

Year.

Less
than $1.

$1.50 or
over.

Year.

Less
than $1.

$1.50 or
over.

1888 

Per cent.
17.06
1632 16.0018.67

Per cent.
4935643662.67 4339

Per cent.
1833
1835
19.77

Per cent. 43.40

1891 

1896 

45.07

1893 

43.40

1894  '. 

Lower prices in the United States than in England.
The claim is often made that while wages are higher in the United States the cost
of living is correspondingly cheaper in Great Britain. That this statement is erro
neous can be proved by official statistics obtained simultaneously in both countries.
In 1892 the Senate Committee on Finance made an extensive report on "Retail prices
and wages" in leading cities of the United States and Europe at different periods from
June, 1889, to September, 1891. Among the cities considered in this report were St.
Louis, Mo., and Manchester, England, cities for which wage comparisons have just
been made.
A comparison of the prices of articles of identically the same description, obtained
at the same time, namely, June, 1889, and September, 1891, in both cities, shows that
instead of the necessary commodities of life being higher in the United States than
in England they are, on the contrary, as a rule much lower. This is shown in the table
which follows. A glance at this table shows that most of the necessary food products,
such as bread, eggs, lard, bacon, roast beef, hams, mutton, milk, starch, and canned
vegetables, were much lower in St. Louis than in Manchester, while the prices of the
few remaining food products averaged about the same in both countries.
With regard to clothing and cloth goods, we find that men's hosiery, cotton shirts,
sheetings, shirtings, and cotton and woolen dress goods of the same description and
quality were cheaper in St. Louis than in Manchester; that carpets, flannels, and cot
ton underwear averaged about the same, and that only in the case of men's hats was
there any decided difference in favor of the Manchester purchaser.
Household articles, such as earthenware, glassware, and cutlery, were nearly the
same in price in St. Louis as in Manchester, with a very slight difference in some cases
in favor of the latter city. On the other hand, furniture costs from about one-fifth to
one-half as much in the United States as in Great Britain, so that for the cost of one
bedroom set in Manchester one could buy from two to three Sets in St. Louis, and for
the cost of one dining table at Manchester a whole dining-room set could be bought
in St. Louis.
But the question may be asked, "If the American workingmen earn so much more
and pay so much less for what they consume, why are they not all wealthy and con
tented?" The answer may be found in the statement of the eminent French scientist,
Prof. Emile Levasseur, in his work on "L'Ouvrier Americain" (The American Work
ingman). After summing up the conditions of labor in America as compared with
Europe he says that wages in the United States are about double the wages in Europe;
that objects of ordinary consumption by working people (excepting dwelling houses)
cost less in the cities of the United States than in those of Europe; that the American
workingman lives better than the European; that he eats more substantially, dresses
better, is more comfortably housed and more often owns his dwelling, spends more for
Ufe insurance and various social and beneficial associations, and, in short, has a much
higher standard of life than the European workingman.
RETAIL PRICES OP COMMODITIES OP ORDINARY CONSUMPTION IN ST. LOUIS, MO., AND MANCHESTER,
ENGLAND, IN JUNE, 1889, AND SEPTEMBER, 1891.
[Compiled from the report of the Senate Committee on Finance on "Retail prices and wages.]

Food products :
Bread, best quality of baker's, per pound.
Butter, best creamery, per pound 
Eggs, not limed, and from vicinity 

Lard, pure leaf, per pound,
"- ' ad...

Meal, oat, per pounc
Meat, bacon, per pound.
Meat, beef,' canned corn, No. 2 size, per can 
Meat, beef, roasting, cuts of, per pound  , 
Meat, ham, per pound 
Meat, mutton, shoulder, per pound 
Milk, fresh, per quart 
Rice, Carolina prime, or similar grade, per pound 
Sugar, granulated, per pound 
Vegetable , canned, corn, standard No. 2 size, per can 
Vegetables, canned, peas, standard No. 2 size, per can 
Vegetables, canned, tomatoes, standard No. 3 size, per can 
Cloth and clothing :
Carpets, ingrain, standard, per yard 
Flannels, twilled scarlet, all wool, 3-4, per yard 
Hats, men's derby, medium grade, each 
Hosiery, men's cotton socks, mixed, per pair 
Linen goods, men's cotton shirts, linen bosoms, 8 by 15 inches 
Sheetings, brown standard, per yard 
Shirtings, bleached, 4-4, per yard 
Underwear, cotton shirts, Balbriggan, 34. gage 
Underwear, cotton drawers, Balbriggan, 34. gage, per pair 
Women's dress goods, cotton-warp cashmere, per yard 
"Women's dress goods, all-wool cashmere, per yard 
Miscellaneous :
Soap, best family, per pound 
Starch, ordinary laundry, per pound 
Quinine, per ounce 
Earthenware, teacups and saucers, white granite, with handles, per dozen 
Furniture, bed room set, ash or elm, 8 pieces (bedstead, bureau and washstand) .
Furniture, tables, dining, plain oak extension, each, 5-foot 
Furniture, tables, kitchen, plain wood, 4-foot 
Glassware, tumblers, common pressed, %-pint, per dozen 
Knives andforks> table, Iron handles, per dozen, each 
Lamp chimneys, A-Sun, each 

St. Louis, Mo.

June, 1889. September, 1891

$0,

.22 12
.09 .03%•10K .18.05¦08J*.05.05.08.07%.08 .10

.75.80
2.00 .10.50
!o8>: .85 '
St

.06 OS
.50.65
3.501151.50 .40 .50
.05

$0.04
to 30
to .12%
to JO
to .05
to .12^
to .25
to .08
to .18
to .10
to .06
to .10
to .10
to .10
to .15
to .10
to .90
to .50
to 8.00
to .15
totototo .65
to .65.25
1.00
to .06?!
to .05
to .75
to 1.25
to 80.00
to 7.50
to 2.00
to .60
to 1.10
to .10

.75
•08% .10

$035 .18

$0.04
to .30
to .20

.11 .20
.05.08%.05 .05
.07%.0434

to

.10

to

.05

to

.15

to

35

to .08
to .15
to .08
to .06
to .10
to .05
to .10
to .15
;to J.0

.85 to .90
.25 to .45
1.90 to 250
.10 to .15
.50 to .75
.07% to .08%
.0834 to .09
.35 to .75
.35 to .75
33 to .25
1.00
.06 to .06%
.04% to .05
.50 to .75
.65 to 135
18.50 to 26.00
3.15 to 8.00
1.50 to 1.75
.40 to .60
50 to 1.10
.05 to .10

1 Prices in Liverpool. Manchester prices not quoted.

Manchester, England,

June, 1899. September, 1891.

$0.04^ .22%
Mi
.leg.04%.20S
•20%
0.16% to .20%
-11J2 to .18%
.14% to .l&Z

.05 .181.
33-

.91%
31% to 37%
•24%
1.09% .09
.13% to .18%
.46%
.24% to .86%
131 J|
.07.07
1.46 ¦85%
a51.22
al8.25 a4.01% -42%
a.98% .05

$0.16% to
-13k to
.16}| to

.31% to
.13% to
.24% to

.06.07
35%35%
a51.22al8.25 a4.01% .42ff
a.98% .05

INDEX

NOTE : AH titles refer to the acts of President Roosevelt and are to be so applied.

A
Abolition of Child Contract Labor 7
Abolition of Cigar factories in Ten
ement Houses  6
Abolition of Tenement-House Ci
gar factories  6
Abolishing Slavery in the Philip
pine Islands  30
Accidents to be reported  63
Action of President Roosevelt on
Labor Legislation  3-4
Air-Brakes on Freight Trains  19
American Ideal of Justice  58
American Goods in American
Ships  48
American Standard of Living  27-28
American Success, Secret of  60
American Wage-Workers, Refer
ence to in Message  48
American Workingman, Standard
of Wages and Living  47
Americans, do not want Charity.. 53
Americans, to work Together for
Good  52
Arbitration, Compulsory not fa
vored by Commission  43
Arbitration and Mediation  51
Armories for Homeless Ones dur
ing Blizzard, 1899, in New York
City  56
Association, Vital Importance of . . 45
Average Man  54
B
Baths — Free Public, in New York
City  8
Belgium, Wages in, in 1896  71
Blacklisting and Boycotting  43

Blizzard of 1899— Armories opened
to Homeless during  sa
Boards of Arbitration, Act for  63
Boycotting and Blacklisting  42
Brotherhood Locomotive Firemen
Elect President to Honorary
Membership  23
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Estab
lishing  3
C
Candidates, for President  61
Capital and Labor, Mutual Inter
est of  59
Car Fare on Elevated R. R., New
York City, fixed at 5 cents  8
Charity, Not Wanted by Mass of
Americans  53
Cheapness under Padrone System,
a Sacrifice  49
Child Contract Labor, Abolition of
in Reformatory Institutions.... 7
Child Labor, Restricting  9
Child Labor in Factories, in tbe
States  64
Child Labor in tbe Mines, in the
States  64
Chinese Exclusion Extended to Is
land Territory  28
Cigar Factories i n Tenement-
Houses, Abolition of  6
Cigar Makers Union, Amount ex
pended for Out-of-work Benefits 75
Citizens, Good and Bad  58
Class Antagonism, to be avoided.. 54
Class Government, Danger of  57
Coal Commission for Right and
Justice  51

84

Coal Commission, Obligations of
Union and Non-Union Men de
fined by.  40
Coal Commission, on Trade Union
ism  39
Coal Strike — Action of President
at the White House  35
Coal Strike and President  34
Coal Strike — Commission to be
appointed  36-37
Coal Strike — Mitchell's Reply, at
White House  36
Coal Strike, Origin of  35
Coal Strike — Ultimate Effect  34
Commerce and Labor, Department
of  31
Commission on Coal Strike to be
appointed  36-37
Commission to Examine Contract-
System of Employing- Convicts. . 11
Compulsory Investigation discuss
ed by Commission  43
Construction better than Destruc
tion  53
Convict Labor Laws, Abolishing. . 62
Convicts, Contract System of Em
ploying — Commission to examine 11
Coolie Trade  61
Corporations Benefited by Obey
ing tbe Law  55
Cunning Must be Shackled  25
D
Danger of Class Government  57
Democratic State s — Legislation
for Labor (Table)  66
Department of Commerce and La
bor  31
Department of Labor, Act Creat
ing  63
Destruction vs. Construction  53
District of Columbia, Labor ,Code,
a model  31
District of Columbia, Liability
Law  32
District of Columbia, Tax Exemp
tion in  32
Doctrine of Trade Unionism Sup
ported .by Coal Commission  39
Drug Clerks, Shortening Working
Hours of  18

E
Earning, Average Annual of Men,
Women, Children, Compared  69
Economic Fitness to enter our In
dustrial Field, as Competitors of
American Labor  28
Eight-hour Day at Prevailing
Rates  12
Eight-hour Law Applied to Irri
gating Work  30
Eight-hour Law in the States  65
Eight-hour Law, Legislation on... 63
Eight-hour Law, Making the, Ef
fective  48
Elevation of Labor  46
Employed and Idle Workmen in
New York, 1897 to 1903  76
Employees, Preferred Creditors . . 10
Employers Liability recognized by
Law  '  49
Employers Liability Law — District
of Columbia  32
Employer's Liability Laws, in tbe
States  65
Employment of Mongolians pro
hibited on Irrigating Works .... 30
Employment Offices in tbe District
of Columbia  31
Employment Offices under State
Control  50
Employment, Public  30-31
Engineers, Licensing and Register
ing  19
Engineers, Stationary, Licensing
in Buffalo  16
Epitome of Roosevelt's Action on
Labor Legislation  3-4
Exemptions from Tax in District
of Columbia Effects to the Value
of $1,000  32
F
Factory Act, Amendments to  15
Factory Employees, Daily wages
less than $1.00 and more than
$1.50  80
Factory Inspection, in tbe States. . 64
Factory Inspectors Provided...... 11
Factory Inspectors, to enforce Act
reg-ulating hours of labor on
railroads  12

85

Factory Inspectors, to enforce
Scaffolding Law  12
f Factories — Safeguarding Life and
Limb in  8
Family Incomes, Europe and
America, compared  67
Farm Wages in States, compared. . 68
Farmer and Wage Earner  56
Farmer and Workingman, I n-
creased Prosperity of  47
Females — Regulating Hours of La
bor  10
Five Cent Fare, on Elevated Road
New York City  8
Force Must Be Shackled  25
Force versus Personal Liberty.... 42
France, Daily Wages Compared... 74
France, Wages in, in 1893  71
Free Employment Bureaus, in the
States  65
Free Public Baths in New York
City  8
G
Germany, Railway Wages  79
Germany, Wages in  74
Get-together Policy to Solve Prob
lem  52
Good and Bad Citizens  58
Good of One is the Good of All  57
Government Work and Union La
bor  23
Governor of New York, Work of . . 11
Gray, Judge, Statement of, Sept.
1, 1903  44
Great Britain and Ireland, Wages
(Tables)  73
H
Helpless Investors and Weak
Wage Workers, compared  49
Hours of Labor, of Minors and Fe
males  10
Hours of Drug Clerks, Shortening. 18
Hours of Labor, on railroads, reg
ulating-.  13
Horseshoers, examination and
registration of  16
Hostility between Classes Depre
cated  36

I
Ideal of Justice, American  58
Idler, No Room for  60
Idlers, Willfully, Have No Room
Here  53
Illinois, Wages in  75
Immigration, Laws Affecting  62
Immigration Laws, More Strin
gent, approved by President
Roosevelt  28-29
Immigration Laws Unsatisfactory 28
Income of Men, Women and Chil
dren, in Manufacturing Indus
tries  69
Incorporating New York City Free-
Circulating Library  9
Increase of Wealth and Comfort
in U. S  56
Industrial Peace, to Promote  9
Inspection of Mines, in tbe States. 64
Inspection of Steam Vessels  62
Involuntary Servitude of Foreign
ers  '.  61
Iowa  75
Ireland and Great Britain, Wages
in (Tables)  78
Island Possessions, Chinese Exclu-
sion extended to  28
J
Judge Gray's Statement, Sept 1,
1903  44
L
Labor and American Standard of
Living  27-28
Labor and Capital, Mutual Inter
est of  59
Labor and Commerce, Department
of  31
Labor Bulletins, Quarterly  15
Labor Bureaus in States  63
Labor Code for District of Colum
bia, a Model  31
Labor Departments in States
should Receive Support  50
Labor, Elevation of  46
Labor Laws have worked well.... 49
Labor Legislation, Real Benefit of 48
Labor Legislation in Republican
and Democratic States  63

86

Labor Legislation, Roosevelt's Fa
vorable Action on  3-4
Labor Organizations, sustained by
Violation of Law, bas no rights. 42
Labor Statistics, Bureau of  8
Labor Statistics, Vital Importance
of  50
Labor Union and Miller Case  24
Labor Unions  45
Labor Unions, Good accomplished
by  45
Labor Unions, Necessity for  45
Labor and Minors.  38
Laborers, for Municipal Employ
ment, to be registered  16
Lawless Acts of Rich and Poor
Men  ..26
Laws Restricting Immigrants Ap
proved by Pres. Roosevelt  28-29
Legislation against Sweat Shops.. 49
Legislation to Shield Wage-Work-
ers  48
Legislation by States".  66
Liability Law — District of Colum
bia  32
Library, Free Circulating, Incor
porating  9
Licensing Employment Offices in
the District of Columbia  31
Licensing of Stationary Engineers
in Buffalo  16
Lien Law, Amending  20
Lien Rights of Working Women.. 8
Liens, Mechanics, providing  9
Lincoln, President, Word on Labor 41
Living, American Standard of.. 27-28
London and New York, Wage Rate
compared  70
Lower Prices in U. rf. than in Eng
land  80
M
Making Employees Preferred
Creditors  10
Manchester, Eng., and St. Louis
Prices compared  81
Massachusetts, Wages in  76
Mechanics Liens, Amendments to. 15
Mechanics Liens, Providing  9
Mechanics must not be brought in
to competition witb prison labor 51

Mediation and Arbitration, in the
States  65
Mediation Better than Arbitration 51
Men should stand for tbeir rights 46
Message on Trades Unions  22
Messages to Congress — Annual to
57th Congress, 1901  46-43
Message ta New York Legislature
relating to Capital and Labor . . 11
Miller, William, Case of  24
Miller Case, Official Account of
hearing in  25
Miller Reinstated  24
Mine Inspection in tbe States  64
Mine Regulations in tbe Terri
tories  30
Miners and Laborers  38
Minors, regulating Hours of Labor 10
Mitchell, at White House, bis reply
to President  33
Mongolians, prohibiting Employ
ment of on Irrigating Works. . . . 30
Municipal Ownership of Rapid
Transit Railways  20
N
National Trades Unions, Incorpo
ration of  63
New York Assembly, Roosevelt a
Member of 
New York, Wages in  76,77,78
No Room for tbe Idler  60
Non-union Men, Rights of, Defend
ed by Coal Commission.  40
O
Obligation of Union Men, indicated
by Commission  40
Official Account of Hearing in Mil
ler Case  25
One Law for All — Rich or Poor. ... 55
P
Padrone System and Cheapness... 49
Pennsylvania, Wages in  79
Peonage  61
Personal Effort the first requisite
of success  21
Philippine Islands, Abolishing Sla
very in  30

S"

X

87 '

Plain People, $yeal of  5
Plutocracy and litnb . .26
Policy of State Intervention. .. .26-27
President and Appointment o f
Coal Strike Commission  36*
President and Coal Strike  34
President elected to Honorary
Membership, Locomotive Fire
men  23
President and Property Rights... 44
President and Trades Unionism.. 21
President and the Working Man.. 21
Prices, Lower in U. S. than in Eng
land  80
Prices (Table), Ordinary Consump
tion, St. Louis and Manchester
compared  81
Principles of State Interference.. 27
Printing, State, owned by State.. 50
Prison Labor and Free Mechanic 51
Property Rights and President  44
Protection to American Working-
man seen in Wages and Living. . 47
Protection of Laborers, in sinking
gas or oil wells  9
Protection of Seamen  62
Public Employment  30-31
R
Railroad Employees possess Cour
age and Hardihood  46
Railroad Men make Good Soldiers
and Citizens  46
Railway Compensation, 18 9 2 to
1902  72
Railway Labor, Wages and Earn
ing of  72
Railway Safety Appliance, Laws 32-33
Railways, Rapid Transit, Munici
pal Ownership of  20
Recognition of the Union  39
Registration of Horseshoers  16
Registration of Laborers for Mu
nicipal Employment  16
Regulating Hours of Minors and
Females  10
Regulating Wage Rates of Labor
ers employed by Municipalities. 7
Republican States, Legislation for
Labor (Table)  66
Restricting Child Labor  9

Rich or Poor, one law for all  55
Rights of Laboring Men  46
Rights of Labor-
To Strike  41
___^Tjo__Work  41
Rhode IslancfpWage'S'rn. .-; . . .'. . .-..."Q
Roosevelt as a Member of tbe New*-*'-.
York Assembly  g
S
Safeguarding Life and Limb in
Factories  8
Safety Appliances on Railways. ... 62
Safety- Appliance Laws  32-33
Safety in Mines for Laborers.... 30
Safety of Workmen  62
Scaffolding Law, to Enforce  12
School Teachers in New York City,
increasing Salary of  19
Seamen, Protection of  62
Seats for Females in Shops, in the
States  64
Seats for Waitresses in Hotels and
Restaurants  19
Secret of American Success  ; 60
Ships, American, carrying Ameri
can Goods  48
Slavery, in Philippine Islands  61
Slavery in tbe Philippine Islands,
abolishing  30
Spurn Leadership which Excite
Class Antagonism  54
State Control of Employment
Offices  50
State, an Exemplary Employer. . . 50
State Interference, Principles of. . 27
State Intervention, for Equalizing
Opportunities  26-27
State Ownership of Printing Plant 50
Statistics, Labor, of Vital Import
ance  50
State's Labor Departments should
receive Support  * . . . . 50
Steam Vessel Inspection #  62
Stone Cutters, Wages of, in New
York, 1893 to 1903  78
Sweat Shop Legislation in the
States  65
Sweat Shops, Legislation against. 49
Sweat-Sbop System, Opinion Con
cerning  13

Date
AU books are subject to

Tax Exemptio
trict of Col
Teachers, Sc!
_Cit*-r-**'"i,.-
"Tenement-Ho- Abolition o
Tenement H
To Promote
Trade Union:
Coal Com
Trade Unio:
by them
Trades Unioi
Trades Uni
dent . .
Trades Unioi
Truck Systei

Union Lab
Union Lab-
cated by
Union or
Strike o

Violations Rights o;

Wage Ear:
Wage, Ra
vance i
Wage, Ra
ain and
Wage Rat
Wage Ra
ers in
Wage Rat
Wage-Wo: With Hraprcotr-Tm cinrv^i o . . ^
Wage - Workers, Legislation t o
Shield ...*.  48
Wages, Annual, in Manufacturin'g
New York, 1896 to 1899  77
Wages, 15 Skilled Trades, com
pared Europe and America..... 67
Wages in Building Trades, New
York, London, and Paris  69
Wages, Increase of  37

- -

36  71
Dug compared 74
&  71
 71
recall after two weeks. State Rail-
 74
,n and Ire-
 73
 75
 75
ts  76
 76,77,78
jondon and
rades  69
a  79
id  79
 75
rope (Table) 67
 79
Workmen,
1903  77
Employees,
.50 per day. . 80
d Stone Cut-
1883 to 1903.. 78
mployees  72
n, in States,
 68
•ecent years. . 74
es Compared,
ica  68
;ople  5
t in tbe U. S.,
 56
; Criterion of
 59
>tection of La-
 9
oom for here. . 53
in  79
ition, Benefit of 48
tnd Restaurants
as Waitresses "to have Seats  19
Women Labor, in tbe States  64
Workingman and tbe Farmer, in
creased Prosperity of  47
Workingman and President.!  21
Working Men and Women Organ
ized, Time Idle and Employed,
in New York, 1897 to 1903  78
Working Women, Lien Rights of.. 8