The amendment to the labor law relating to children working in streets and public places makes the restriction relative to newsboys applicable to cities of the second class as well as to the first class. (Chap. 519.)

Oregon. The amendment to the act regulating the employment of child labor makes school attendance compulsory for all children between eight and 14 years of age and for all children between 14 and 16 years who are not employed at some lawful work; forbids employment of children before 7 A.M. or after 6 P.M.; requires employers to keep on file, and accessible, age and schooling certificates required for employees under 16 years of age; designates persons by whom certificates may be issued; and the evidence required to prove the age of a child; prescribes the forms of age and schooling certificates and employment tickets; provides fines for employers or parents or guardians who violate this law; provides that at all times at least three members of the board of inspection of child labor shall be women. (Chap. 208.)

Pennsylvania. An Act regulating the employment of minor children in or about any anthracite coal mine or colliery; prohibiting the employment of any child under the age of 16 years inside of any anthracite coal mi ; prohibiting the employment of any child under 14 years of age in or about any anthracite coal-breaker or colliery, or the outside workings thereof; prohibiting the employment of any minor child, of any age, in or about either the inside workings of any anthracite coal mine or in or about any anthracite coal-breaker or colliery, or the outside workings thereof, unless the person, firm, co-partnership or corporation, employing said minor child, shall first obtain and file the employment certificate, as provided for by this act, and carry out the other duties provided by this act; fixing the duties of the common school superintendents, or other officials in relation to the issuance of employment certificates; and providing a penalty for the violation of the provisions of this act. (No. 222.)

An Act to regulate the employment, in all kinds of industrial establishments, of women and children employed at wages or salary, by regulating the age at which minors can be employed and the mode of certifying the same, and by fixing the hours of labor for women and minors; to provide for the safety of all employees in all industrial establishments, and of men, women, and children in all buildings in which proper fire-escapes, exits, and extinguishers are required; to provide for the health of all employees, and of men, women, and children in all such establishments and buildings, by proper sanitary appliances; to regulate employment in tenement-houses; and to provide for the appointment of inspectors, office clerks and others, who, with the Chief Factory Inspector, shall constitute the Department of Factory Inspection; to enforce the same, and providing penalties for violations of the provisions thereof; fixing the term and salaries of the Chief Factory Inspector and his appointees. (No. 226.)

Rhode Island. The amendment to the law relative to the employment of minors raises the minimum age of the employment of children to 13 years up to December 31, 1906, and 14 years thereafter; provides that children under 16 years of age shall not be employed after 8 P.M. nor before 6 A.M., except on Saturday, or the four days immediately preceding Christmas; requires that all employees under 16 years of age must have school certificates vouching for their age, schooling, etc.; that certificates must be kept by employer at place of employment and shown to factory inspectors on demand; provides form of certificates; provides that any person doing business within the State employing five or more persons or employing any child under 16 years of age comes under the provision of this act; imposes a fine of $500 maximum on any person, or corporation, who employs a child under 16 years of age without proper certificate, or who makes a false statement in regard to any part required by such certificate. (Chap. 1215.)

Tennessee. Requires that certain employers provide seats for female employees. Penalty prescribed for violation. (Chap. 171.)

West Virginia. The amendment to the act entitled " Employment of Children" adds mercantile establishments to the list of establishments in which the employment of children under 12 years of age is forbidden; forbids employment of children under 14 years of age during public school term, except in such employments as do not interfere with the regular attendance at school; makes it the duty of the Commissioner of Labor to report all violations of the act. (Chap. 75.)

Wisconsin. Deprives a parent, in certain cases, of the right to the earnings of his minor child. (Chap. 226.)

THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPULSORY EDUCATION LAW.

The amendment to the law relating to the employment and school attendance of minors, passed at the 1905 Session of the Legislature, as Chapter 267, went into effect on January 1, 1906.

The law (with the amendment in italics) is:

§ 28. No child under the age of 14 years and no child who is over 14 and under 16 years of age who does not have a certificate as required by the following four sections certifying to the child's ability to read at sight and to write legibly simple sentences in the English language shall be employed in any factory, workshop, or mercantile establishment. No child under the age of 14 years shall be employed at work performed for wages or other compensation, to whomsoever payable, during the hours when the public schools of the city or town in which he resides are in session, or be employed at work before six o'clock in the morning or after seven o'clock in the evening.

No certificate as provided for by §§ 29 to 32 inclusive of chapter 106 of the Revised Laws shall be approved by any person for a minor under the age of 16 years who intends to be employed in a factory, workshop, or mercantile establishment, unless such person is satisfied that such minor is able to read at sight and to write legibly simple sentences in the English language.

In view of the uncertainty as to the best methods for putting these laws into operation, the Secretary of the State Board of Education issued the following suggestions to the school superintendents throughout the State:

1. For children who have been at work under the earlier statute, use simple sentences in a Second Reader and require that the sentences shall be understood.

For writing, dictate the same or similar sentences and require that they be intelligible.

2. For such as are not able to meet these requirements, provide special instruction in small classes, under skilled teachers, and as soon as a child can meet the tests give him a certificate.

3. For children who have not been at work and in whose case no immediate exigency exists, I suggest that a higher standard be adopted to carry out the extent of the law.

By using the means suggested, whatever hardship may be caused by the enforcement of the law can be only of very short duration.

It has been estimated that a large number of children now employed will be forced to leave their employment to acquire the necessary proficiency in the English language. In those cities where the number of foreign-born operatives is considerable, there has been noted a marked increase in the attendance at night schools.

In Lawrence, where it is estimated that the law will affect some 250 children, it is reported that a special public school will be opened for the benefit of these working minors. Reports state that there will be affected in Chicopee about 100 children; in Fitchburg, 40; in New Bedford, 250; in Worcester, 75; and in Fall River, about 10 children in every mill.

THE NATIONAL CIVIC FEDERATION.

The headquarters of the National Civic Federation are at 281 Fourth Avenue, New York City. The officers of the Federation are as follows: August Belmont, President; Samuel Gompers, First Vice President; Oscar S. Straus, Second Vice President; Henry Phipps, Chairman, Ways and Means Committee; Cornelius N. Bliss, Treasurer; Samuel Donnelly, Secretary; C. A. Moore, Chairman, Conciliation Committee; H. H. Vreeland, Chairman, Welfare Department; Francis L. Robbins and John Mitchell, Chairmen, Trade Agreement Committee, and Ralph M. Easley, Chairman, Executive Council. Besides these, there is an Executive Committee composed of 14 members on the part of the people; 16 members on the part of the employers; and 16 members on the part of the wage

earners.

A National Conference on Immigration was held in New York City on December 6, 7, and 8, 1905. Requests had been previously sent by the National Civic Federation to the Governors of the different States to appoint delegates. His Excellency, Governor Douglas, made the following appointments for Massachusetts: Charles F. Pidgin, Chief of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, Joseph Lee, John Graham Brooks, Frank K. Foster, Henry Abrahams, Max Mitchell, Prescott F. Hall, Frank B. Hall, Rev. Frank W. Merrick, and Hon. Augustus P. Gardner, M.C.

A list of the questions discussed at the Conference is appended.

1. What is the character of the net increase in the population of the United States from immigration?

2. Should existing legislation looking to the elevation of its character through the exclusion of undesirable elements be extended and made more effective; and if so, how?

3. Should there be any change in the system of inspection, such as having it made at ports of departure, or at the home sources of emigration, or at both?

4. Are there external influences tending to stimulate the volume of immigration?

5. What are the nature, extent, and localities of the demands in the United States for more labor?

6. What domestic industries and what labor crafts are most affected by the influx of alien labor, and in what ways?

7. What percentage of European immigrants remains in the ports of arrival, such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore?

8. What practical method can be devised of distributing immigration, especially for agriculture, to points where it may be needed?

9. What would be the effect of the distribution of large numbers of immigrants in the South upon the problem of industrial education and social betterment of the negro race?

10. Should the exclusion of Chinese coolie labor be made more rigid, and should it be extended to Japanese and Corean labor?

11. How shall the admission of exempted classes of Asiatics, such as merchants, scholars, and tourists, be regulated?

At the conference many diverse views upon the subjects for consideration were expressed, many of which will be found in another part of this volume under the heading "Current Comment."

On December 14, 1905, a circular was issued stating that the Executive Council of the National Civic Federation had voted to organize a Department on Immigration. It was stated that this action was in response to the unanimous request of the National Immigration Conference. The Department on Immigration will be composed of men selected to represent every locality in the Union affected by the admission of aliens. The purpose of the department will be to investigate the important phases of the subjects suggested by the discussions at the recent Conference. The investigation will be made by a committee who will report their findings to the Department on Immigration. Regular meetings of the Department will be held.

The resolutions adopted on white immigration were, in brief:

(1) Indorsed President Roosevelt's suggestions regarding the enforcing of the present law and the value of securing international action.

(2) Favored amendments to the law, excluding the "feeble-minded and imbecile" where it now reads "idiots;" defining the term "likely to become public charges" so as to include "all persons of enfeebled vitality, whether such condition is due to defect, inheritance, disease, advanced age; " raising the minimum of cubic feet air space per person on the main deck of immigrant ships from 110 to 200 cubic feet and proportionately on other decks; and requiring that food on board ship be served on tables in rooms not used for sleeping.

(3) Favored extending the fine of $100, now imposed on transportation companies for each person suffering from a contagious disease, to all classes of the excluded.

(4) Asked in strong terms that the government provide means for the examination and certification of immigrants in foreign lands and at ports of departure.

(5) Advocated the dissemination of information regarding resources and conditions of life and labor in Southern and Western States which seek immigration, both at ports of entry and before arrival.

(6) Urged Congress to furnish improved facilities and to foster the landing of immigrants at south Atlantic or gulf ports in preference to New York.

(7) Advocated the requirement from each immigrant of a certified document containing a careful description of the person to whom it was issued, similar to a passport.

(8) Recommended that the President appoint a commission to investigate the subject in all its bearings, including violations and evasions of the present law.

(9) Commended the National Civic Federation for calling the conference, and asked it to appoint a standing committee on immigration.

CURRENT COMMENT ON LABOR QUESTIONS.

[The Bureau does not necessarily indorse any of the views or opinions printed under this heading, its object being rather to present diverse views on labor questions, leaving the reader to draw his individual conclusions from the testimony or information supplied. The comments, as a rule, are presented in a condensed form; the titles of books, magazines, and newspapers, from which extracts are made, follow the articles, the date of publication, when known, being also given.]

Current Comment - Immigration.

President Roosevelt. In dealing with this question it is unwise to depart from the old American tradition and to discriminate for or against any man who desires to come here and become a citizen, save on the ground of that man's fitness for citizenship. It is our right and duty to consider his moral and social quality. His standard of liv ing should be such that he will not, by pressure of competition, lower the standard of living of our own wage-workers, for it must ever be a prime object of our legislation to keep high their standard of living. If the man who seeks to come here is, from the moral and social standpoint, of such a character as to bid fair to add value to the community he should be welcomed. We cannot afford to pay heed to whether he is of one creed or another, of one nation or another. We cannot afford to consider whether he is Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Gentile; whether he is Englishman or Irishman, Frenchman or German, Japanese, Italian, Scandinavian, Slav or Magyar. What we should desire to find out is the individual quality of the individual man. In my judgment, with this end in view, we shall have to prepare through our own agents a far more rigid inspection in the countries

from which the immigrants come. Message to Congress, December, 1905.

Andrew Carnegie. — If I owned America and was running it as a business operation, I would admit here every man who has the ambition to enjoy the rights of American citizenship; not only would I admit him, but I would give to every such man a premium to come, and consider it the best bargain I ever made in my life. Taking the value of a man, woman, or child in this Republic as low as a slave, and that was an average of about $1,000 fifty years ago, and you are getting 400,000 persons a year, which means $400,000,000 cash value. Furthermore, every man who comes here is a consumer, and 90 per cent of all the earnings of even the most saving goes to employ other labor of some kind. It is not purity of blood you want; it is the mingling of different bloods that makes the American. - Speech at Immigration Conference.

President Gompers. —This question is vital to men who have to live by their labor. If the manufacturers are to be protected, so should the American workingmen. I have no objection to Chinamen as men, but I am altogether opposed to Chinamen coming here as workers. The Chinaman