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النشر الإلكتروني

OF THE

Bureau of Labor, Industries
and Commerce

OF THE

STATE OF MINNESOTA

1907-1908

W. H. Williams, Commissioner
St. Paul, 1908.

1909

SYNDICATE PRINTING COMPANY

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

State of Minnesota.

Bureau of Labor, Industries and Commerce.

St. Paul, Dec. 31, 1908.

To the Honorable Senators and Representatives of the Legislature of the State of Minnesota.

Gentlemen: In accordance with the provisions of Chapter 356, General Laws of 1907, I have the honor to transmit herewith the eleventh biennial report of the Bureau of Labor, Industries and Commerce for the biennial period ending July 31, 1908.

Respectfully submitted,

W. H. WILLIAMS, Commissioner.

INTRODUCTORY.

The eleventh biennial report which is herewith presented concisely sets forth the most important work of the factory inspectors and the subsidiary branches of the department, viz: the free employment bureau, railroad inspector, report of the special woman inspector, mine inspector and report on labor organizations in the state.

Chapter 356, General Laws 1907, increased the working force of the department and enabled the inspectors to extend their investigations into localities that were necessarily neglected in previous years, owing to lack of time and funds for the purpose. During the past two years an effort was made to visit all establishments doing manufacturing or repairing of any kind and to investigate conditions of the wage earners therein employed in all cities of over 600 inhabitants in the state, and to visit the more important manufacturing centers at least twice a year.

The same chapter also gave to factory inspectors the power of truancy officers when requested to act as such by the proper authorities of any school district. A considerable number of requests were received by the department and the results obtained have been most gratifying. The department endeavored to supply demands for inspectors as they were received in their order and some delay was caused, resulting in some criticism of the department, but when matters are explained it is hoped to receive the hearty co-operation of all school boards in the state. The department received no complete reports from the inspectors of all cases investigated and the exact amount of work in this direction cannot be outlined in this report, but it is safe to assert that fully 1,000 cases were investigated by the department staff and a large percentage of them compelled to attend school regularly. The results obtained have been largely responsible for the material reduction in the number of children employed in gainful occupations.

Chapter 299, General Laws of 1907 regulating the employment of children, especially section 11 thereof, which prohibited their employment at dangerous vocations was also instrumental in reducing the number of children employed.

Chapter 456, General Laws of 1907 creating the office of special woman inspector, to examine into the conditions surrounding working women, has in its one year of operation, sufficiently demonstrated the necessity for such a departure and the immense volume of good results that can be obtained for that class of wage earners. A detailed report of the work is given in this volume.

The railroad inspection made during the two years was the most thorough. At a conference held in February, 1906, between representatives of all the roads operating in Minnesota and the members of the labor department, many suggestions were made looking to an improvement of the class of switch and frog blocking used by the railroads. Some of the roads have apdopted the suggestions and the inspection reports show a decided improvement on those lines.

The report of labor organizations, as in previous years, covers membership, dues paid, benefits paid, the apprentice regulations and the number

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