and 1892. A comparison shows that in nearly every item there has been a material reduction in cost, especially in those of rent, coal, flour, and potatoes.

STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS.-This chapter is devoted to a review of the Tenth Annual Report of the United States Department of Labor on Strikes and Lockouts. No summary of strikes for 1895 and 1896 is given for Colorado. The report contains detailed accounts of the Louisville and Leadville mining strikes, and brief descriptions of eleven other strikes which occurred during the two-year period. All but two of these were mining strikes.

MISSOURI.

Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Missouri. 1896. Lee Meriwether, Commissioner. 460 pp.

This report consists of three parts: Part I relates to street-railway franchises, 82 pages, and taxation of real estate, 47 pages; Part II gives an account of the resources and advantages of Missouri, 234 pages; Part III treats of the fellow-servant question, 30 pages, farm mortgages, 57 pages, and factory inspection, 2 pages.

STREET-RAILWAY FRANCHISES.-This subject was taken up for investigation in order to show to what extent the holders of street-railway franchises in St. Louis, Kansas City, and St. Joseph have compensated the public for the use of these privileges. Among the topics covered were the assessed value of street-railway property, the capital stock and bonded debt of street-car lines, the actual value of real and personal property owned by the companies, street-railway mileage, number of cars in use, street-car licenses, franchise rents paid, trips made, and passengers carried, etc., and a comparison of conditions in St. Louis, Kansas City, and St. Joseph and cities in other States and abroad.

Following are some of the facts reported as a result of the bureau's investigation:

The capital stock of all the street-railway companies in St. Louis in 1895 was $22,837,000 and the bonded debt $15,600,000, making a total capitalization of $38,437,000. The estimated amount invested in building and equipping the street railways was $8,415,360. The total assessed value of all this property was but $4,246,190. During the same year the net earnings of all street railways in St. Louis were $1,962,468. This latter amount would represent a dividend of 5+ per cent on a capital of $37,987,000-the value of the system as stated by the railway officials themselves. The commissioner of the bureau considers that if from this amount the actual cost of construction, $8,415,360, be deducted, the remainder represents the value of the franchises which/ the city has granted to these corporations, namely, $29,571,640. Ini return for these grants the city receives but $47,500. By a similar method of calculation the value of street-railway franchises in Kansas 179--No. 10-10

City was reported to be $6,014,580. The city receives nothing in return for these privileges. According to the above estimate of the value of street-railway property in St. Louis, namely, $37,987,000, the assessed value is only 11.18 per cent of the real value. The average assessed value of private property in St. Louis is 50.40 per cent of the real value. In Kansas City the real value of street-railway property is estimated at $12,855,000, while the assessed value is only $729,830.

In 1895 the St. Louis street-railway companies paid a license of $25 per car on 714 cars. At the same time the assessor found and assessed 1,480 cars. During the year 1895 the gross receipts of the street-railway companies in St. Louis were $5,149,888.60. The cars made 5,795,309 trips, and carried 102,997,772 passengers. The number of miles of railway tracks as reported to the city assessor was 216.45.

The conditions in other cities, both at home and abroad, are discussed at considerable length to show that much greater compensation may be paid the municipality for franchises, rents, taxes, etc., and that the companies may still earn fair dividends.

TAXATION AND REAL ESTATE. This subject is presented in a manner similar to the preceding. The object is to point out the undervaluation of property for assessment purposes and the injustice resulting from unequal valuation. This is done by comparing the prices paid for property sold with the assessed value of the same immediately after. The report shows the proportion that assessed values bear to real values in each county, in the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Joseph, and Hannibal, and in the State as a whole apart from St. Louis and Kansas City. Individual illustrations showing unequally assessed values are also given.

The purchase price paid in 5,812 real estate sales was ascertained, of which 3,897 were sales of farms and 1,915 sales of town and city lots. By an examination of the records it was found that real estate in towns was assessed at 46.47 per cent of its true value, while farms were assessed at but 35.01 per cent. In St. Louis the assessed value averaged 50.40 per cent, while in Kansas City it was only 29.63 per cent of its true value. The proportion that assessed value bears to real value in each county varies from 21.85 per cent in Chariton County to 80.86 per cent in Reynolds County. As an illustration of the unequal assessment of property, the following instance is cited: In 11 cases of residence property sold in St. Louis, the assessed value varied from 66 to 88 per cent of its true value, but in 14 cases of business property the assessed value varied only from 24 to 42 per cent of its true value.

RESOURCES AND ADVANTAGES OF MISSOURI.-This part of the report is designed to answer inquiries received by the bureau from persons seeking information regarding business openings and social conditions in the State, and points out the principal industries, the leading farm products, the taxable wealth, population, public debt, and such other matters as tend to show the advantages of the State for home

seekers. The information is given for each county and for the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City.

THE FELLOW-SERVANT QUESTION.-This presentation consists of a discussion of the origin and present application of the fellow-servant doctrine. It is presented for the purpose of securing legislation defining the relations between railroad corporations and their employees and fixing the legal liability between such corporations and their employees for injuries suffered by one employee as a result of the culpable negligence of another employee while engaged in the service of the same corporation. The discussion consists of a letter by the governor of the State to the legislature, remarks by the commissioner of the labor bureau, illustrations of the injustice of the present application of the doctrine, and instances of remedial legislation in other States and countries.

FARM MORTGAGES.-This investigation was undertaken in order to ascertain whether there is an increasing or a decreasing tendency in the mortgaging of farms. The work was conducted by special agents of the labor bureau, who examined the records of each county in the State and noted the facts concerning mortgages placed upon farms in the four years ending December 31, 1895. The information is presented in text and tables showing the number of mortgages, amount borrowed on the same, number of acres mortgaged, etc. The facts are grouped in twoyear periods, the one covering 1892 and 1893, the other 1894 and 1895. A comparison is made with facts collected and presented in a previous report for 1890 and 1891.

The investigation shows that the total amount of money borrowed by Missouri farmers and secured by mortgages on their farms, and that remained unpaid at the end of the two-year periods, was $40,063,144 in 1890-1891, 846,776,621 in 1892-1893, and $46,860,446 in 1894-1895. The per capita farm mortgage indebtedness was greater in the last period. than in the first in 82 counties and less in 32 counties. The total number of acres mortgaged and not released before the close of the twoyear periods was 4,524,082 in 1890-1891, 5,135,882 in 1892-1893, and 5,515,162 in 1894-1895.

FACTORY INSPECTION.-The report concludes with an announcement. that the subject of factory inspection will be taken up in a special report to be made after the winter inspection has been completed.

NEBRASKA.

Fifth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Nebraska for the years 1895 and 1896. J. H. Powers, Deputy Commissioner. 352 pp.

The following subjects are treated in this report: Resources of Nebraska, 8 pages; description of counties, 232 pages; mortgage indebtedness, 6 pages; farm and industrial statistics, 40 pages; miscellaneous, 59 pages.

RESOURCES.-This chapter gives a brief account of the natural advantages of the State, its climate, etc., and suggestions as to how these advantages can be utilized.

DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES.-A description is given of the natural features of each county by townships, showing the quality of the soil, the water supply, etc.; also a map of each county with surface description of each township.

MORTGAGE INDEBTEDNESS.-This is a tabular presentation of the number and amount of farm, city, and chattel mortgages filed, the number released, and the number of deeds of foreclosure for each county in the State during the year ending May 31, 1895. It also contains a general statement of the increase or decrease, respectively, of these various items during the year.

FARM AND INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS.-In this chapter are treated the subjects of irrigation, the beet-sugar industry, the uses of alfalfa, creameries and cheese factories, and statistics of farms, occupations, wages, hours of labor, manufactures, live stock, and crops.

MISCELLANEOUS.-This chapter contains information, gathered from various sources, relating to industrial cooperation in the United States, condition of laborers in the United States, labor unions and kindred organizations, and relations of governments to the railroads of the world. It also contains proposed amendments to the law establishing the present bureau of labor.

RECENT FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.

Die Arbeitseinstellungen und Aussperrungen im Gewerbebetriebe in Österreich während des Jahres 1895. Herausgegeben vom Statistischen Departement im k. k. Handelsministerium. 300 pp.

This report on strikes and lockouts during the year 1895, published by the bureau of statistics of the board of trade of Austria, constitutes the fifth annual presentation of official strike statistics for that country. Those for the preceding years were reviewed in Bulletins Nos. 1 and 3. The facts are presented in a series of five tables containing (1) a description of each individual strike, (2) a presentation according to provinces, districts, and principal towns, (3) strikes according to branches of industry, (4) a general summary of strikes, and (5) comparative figures for 1894 and 1895. The report presents, for the first time, a chapter on lockouts.

STRIKES. A comparison of the strike statistics of this with the preceding year shows a considerable increase in the number of strikes. This is not necessarily indicative of an actual increase, but is due very largely to a more exhaustive investigation of the subject than was possible the year before. While there is an increased number of strikes reported, there is a decided decrease since 1894 in the number of estab lishments involved, the number of strikers, and the number of working days lost on account of strikes. This is shown in the following state. ment of the number of strikes, strikers, establishments, etc., for the years 1891 to 1895: