THE NATIONALIST

Abstract

The Federal Census Act for 1880 provided for a report upon the condition of each person enumerated, and whether employed or unemployed, and if unemployed, during what portion of the year. In the Federal Census Act for 1890 this clause is conspicuous by its absence. Whether or not the omission is of significance, and if so, to what extent, a historic review of our recent census and labor statistics may help to determine. Honestly collated and judiciously applied, statistics may, due allowance being made for their serious and unavoidable defects, point approximately to the truth. Our labor organizations shrewdly surmised that were publicity given to the actual facts concerning child and woman labor, hours of work, wages, enforced idleness, and kindred matters, much of the optimism that blocked the way to social reforms would vanish. Accordingly, at an early day they demanded official investigations of the condition of the people. The demand was apparently granted. In a number of states bureaus of labor statistics were actually established. But the reports that issued from these bureaus were inane and confused; with regard to some of the subjects on which light was especially desired, they were mostly silent; and, despite criticism, this course was adhered to with suspicious tenacity. Foremost among these suspicious omissions was that of all information touching the average enforced idleness among the wage receivers. A notable exception herein was made by the Massachusetts decennial census for 1875, issued by the Massachusetts bureau of labor statistics, of which Mr. Carroll D. Wright then was, and till recently continued to be, the chief. In it was found a table exhibiting the average number of days in which the wage receivers were employed in 260 of the principal industries of the state;1 and although the report neglected to point out the important conclusions to which the table led, it enabled a careful computation to bring out the fact that the average idleness among those wage receivers amounted to almost exactly one fourth