ve increased for men in
the labor organizations. But in so doing, he merely whistles to keep
up his courage, for he dare not investigate now, as he did in 1883 and
1884, the employment of women and children, lest he show how much
worse their condition has become during the intervening years, and
thereby forfeit forever his position of laureate to the powers that
be.

The omission of a State census in 1885 was a breach of the
Constitution for which no previous decade affords a precedent, and the
absence of a school census becomes, year by year, a graver sin of
omission as the pressure of economic conditions makes child labor more
widespread and more injurious.

In default of the State census and of adequate information from the
State Bureau of Labor Statistics, and of efficient factory inspection,
an eager welcome awaited the statement touching New York City,
published in Mr. Carroll D. Wright's report of the National Department
of Labor upon the working women in twenty cities, whereof the
following speaks for itself.

Mr. Carroll D. Wright's report for 1889:--

"As respects ventilation, a properly regulated workshop is
the exception. The average room is either stuffy and close,
or hot and close, and even where windows abound they are
seldom opened. Toilet facilities are generally scant and
inadequate, a hundred workers being dependent sometimes on a
single closet or sink, and that, too often, out of order."

"Actual ill-treatment by employers seems to be infrequent;
_kindness, justice, and cordial relations are the rule_."

It would be interesting to discover the idea entertained at the
department as to what constitutes ill-treatment.

"Out of 18,000 women investigated, the largest number, 2,647
earn $200 and under $250 per annum, 2,377 earn from $250 to
$300. The concentration, it will be seen by consulting the
tables, comes on earnings ranging from $150 per year to $350
per year."

"_It is quite clear from the various investigations that
have been made, that there is little, if any, improvement in
the amount of earnings which a woman can secure by working
in the industries open to her; her earnings are not only
ridiculously low, but dangerously so._"

"The summary by cities, tables xxx, pp. 530 to 531, would
seem to indicate that _the majority are now in receipt of
fair wages when the whole body of wor