(5) With the assistance of psychological experiments in coordination, every man should be placed in the position where he can produce his best in the interest of himself, the undertaking, and the community.

(6) Rest periods should be interpolated during the working-day, of such Jength and frequency as are shown to be desirable by investigations in industrial psychology.

(7) The organization of the undertaking (machinery, etc.) should be systematized on the basis of investigations in industrial psychology and physiology.

Earnings of Male and Female Workers in Massachusetts Manufacturing Establishments, April, 1924

T

HE department of labor and industries of Massachusetts reports as follows on the average weekly earnings of male and female employees in 410 establishments in that State for a week in April, 1924:

EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS OF MALE AND FEMALE WAGE EARNERS IN REPRESENTATIVE MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS IN

Average Weekly Earnings in New York State Factories, April, 1924

PAY

AY rolls in the manufacturing industries of New York State were smaller in April, 1924, than in any other month since February, 1923, according to a recent press release of the State department of labor. The following table gives the average weekly earnings in the principal industrial groups in the State in April, 1924, compared with

average weekly earnings in the same groups for April, 1923, and March, 1924:

AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS IN FACTORIES IN NEW YORK STATE, APRIL AND MARCH, 1924, AND APRIL, 1923

THE

Wages in the Building Industry of Marseilles, France

HE wages of building workers in Marseilles, France, were increased on March 25 approximately 2 francs per day to cover a 10 per cent increase in living costs, according to a consular report from that city dated April 25, 1924.

Wages, which have reached a new high level, are as follows for employees on public works and those working on private contracts: Public works (roads, quarries, parks, etc.).-Common labor, 17 francs; graders, 19 francs; quarrymen, 21 francs; masons, 23 francs; stone dressers, 25 francs; smiths and boiler makers, 24 francs; lathe men, 26 francs; carpenters, 26 francs; and enginemen, 24 francs.

Private contracts.-Masons, 25 francs; stone dressers, 26 francs; cement workers, 26 francs; reinforced-concrete workers, 28 francs; asphalt layers, 23 francs; pavers, 28 francs; plasterers, 28 francs; carpenters, 27 francs; sawyers, 26 francs; cabinetmakers, 28 francs; steam fitters, 30 francs; smiths, 26 francs; plumbers' and electricians' workmen, 24 francs; and painters, 22 francs.

TH

Wages in the French Sugar Industry, 1922-23

HE Bulletin du Ministère du Travail, January-February-March, 1924, gives the wages paid in French sugar factories (pp. 12, 13) during the season of 1922-23. The acreage devoted to the cultivation of sugar beets was increased by more than 54,000 acres over the amount under cultivation the preceding year, with a corresponding increase in the numbers employed and in the amount of production. Average wages of workers in the sugar factories increased for all classes of workers over those paid in 1921-22.

1 Frane at par- 19.3 cents; exchange rate varies.

The following table shows the number of establishments, the number of employees, and the average daily wages paid in French sugar factories in the different Departments in 1922-23:

NUMBER OF FACTORIES, NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, AND AVERAGE DAILY WAGES IN THE FRENCH SUGAR INDUSTRY, 1922-23

IN

Utilization of Leisure Resulting from Eight-Hour Day in Sweden 1

'N CONNECTION with an investigation made by the Swedish Social Board (Socialstyrelsen) as to the utilization of the workers' leisure time resulting from the introduction of the 8-hour day, the Swedish Workers' Educational Association (Arbetarnes bildningsförbund) has made an investigation covering 95 cities scattered throughout the country. The reports received showed that since the introduction of the 8-hour day, educational work had made. great progress, both the number of study courses and their membership having increased, the number of study courses in 1916-17 being 138; in 1920-21, 615; and in 1922-23, 845.

Many places reported that home building by the workers had made rapid progress. Since 1920 about 500 to 600 workers in Bofors have built their own houses, and in Hissimofors the workers in their leisure time have built an auditorium, with a library and reading rooms. The community garden movement has spread and interest in sports, art, and music has increased. Work outside regular working hours for compensation has occurred only in exceptional instances. According to the report, the 8-hour law has proved an important factor in the cultural life of wage earners.

1 De Samvirkende Fagforbund i Danmark. Arbejderen, Apr. 26, 1924, p. 278.

CHILD LABOR

Child Labor Amendment to the Constitution

WICE in recent the Congress of the United States has attempted by legislation to regulate the employment of chil

dren in industrial employment, but in each case the Supreme Court of the United States sustained attacks upon the constitutionality of these laws, holding that they encroached upon subjects reserved for State control, to which the Federal power did not extend. On June 2, 1924, the Senate of the United States passed a resolution of the House (H. J. Res. 184), which, if ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the States, will give to the Congress power which the Supreme Court found it does not now possess. The proposed amendment reads as follows:

SECTION 1. The Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of age.

SEC. 2. The power of the several States is unimpaired by this article except that the operation of State laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to legislation enacted by the Congress.

Various attempts were made to lower the age to which legislation might reach, to limit the term of years during which the legislatures might ratify the amendment, or otherwise to restrict or modify the effect of the proposal, but all such attempts were defeated and the resolution was passed by the Senate in the form in which it came from the House of Representatives.

Accidents to Unlawfully Employed Children in Indiana '

URING the year ending September 30, 1923, the Indiana Department of Women and Children investigated 1,221 cases of industrial accidents to minors under 18 years of age. Within that period a substantial decrease in the number of accidents occurring to minors was noted. It was found, however, that there was a corresponding increase in the number of accidents to persons 18 and 19 years of age. According to the law employers must obtain certificates for all their workers between 14 and 18 years of age, and school officials are required, at the request of an employer, to issue certificates to persons between 18 and 21 years of age.

An investigation of a 10-day period in July, 1923, showed that 25 per cent of those injured during these 10 days who claimed to be 18 years of age were actually less than 18 years old, one of the victims being only 14 years of age. The 25 per cent were not covered

or 19

Indiana. Legislative Reference Bureau. Yearbook of the State of Indiana for the year 1923. Indianapolis, 1924, p. 109.

by the compensation act as they were unlawfully employed. To remedy these conditions employers must require certificates for workers up to 21 years of age, or at least in cases where it is possible that the persons claiming to be 18 years of age or over may be under 18. If these certificates are not secured, the employer "assumes the liability that may result in cases of injury, as this liability is not and can not be covered by compensation insurance.'

Somewhat later in the fiscal year another investigation was made, covering 656 accidents to persons giving their age as 18 and 19, the result being that 122 cases were referred to the Industrial Board since the injured were under 18 years of age.

Employment and Welfare of Children in Cotton-Growing Areas of Texas

THE

1

HE Children's Bureau has recently published a report on this subject, which is the fourth in its series of studies concerning the welfare of rural children, with special reference to farm labor and school attendance. The investigation on which the report is based covered 13 school districts in Hill County and 12 in Rusk County, these two counties being considered typical of different social and agricultural conditions. Hill County, in the black-clay region of Texas, is given over to large plantations, largely devoted to cotton and cultivated by tenants, while in Rusk County the farms are smaller, crops are somewhat more diversified, and a larger proportion of the farms are operated by their owners. The study, which was begun in September, 1920, and concluded in January, 1921, covered a total of 1,121 families with 3,131 children. In both counties most of the families interviewed were native whites.

Among both whites and negroes it was common for the children to do field work at an early age. Of 2,026 white children under 16 years old, 64.2 per cent had worked in the fields during the year covered, while of 813 negro children 68.3 per cent had been so employed. The difference in the extent to which boys and girls worked in the fields was not striking. Among the white children, 69.2 per cent of the boys and 59.8 per cent of the girls had done field work, while for the colored children the corresponding proportions were 70.3 per cent and 66.2

per cent.

Nearly all of the children over 10 years of age included in the study had done field work. For most of them the working-day had been at least 8, and, in many cases, 12 to 14 hours long, and the work of about one-third of the children had interfered more or less with their school attendance. Most of the children begin doing field work when they are very young-42 per cent of all the white children in the districts studied under 10 years of age, and 26 per cent of those under 8, had worked in the fields. Negro children started to work on an average even younger than white children.

Practically all of the children had worked at cotton picking, and large numbers of them had been employed at heavier kinds of work. Hoeing and chopping, plowing, harrowing, and planting, and other

1 United States, Department of Labor. Children's Bureau. The welfare of children in cotton-growing areas of Texas. Washington, 1924. 83 pp. Bureau publication No. 134.