The Executive Council recommends that all state federations and central bodies make every effort to secure the passage by their respective state legislatures of a law such as now exists in Massachusetts.

Advertisements for Persons to Take the Places of Strikers. (Chapter 347.) — This act strengthens previous legislation on this subject.

Investigation of Strikes and Lockouts by the State Board of Conciliation and Arbitration. (Chapter 681.) By this act the powers and duties of the board are more closely defined. In those cases where a settlement has not been agreed upon and the employers refuse to submit the matter in dispute to arbitration, the board is instructed to investigate the cause of the controversy and ascertain which of the parties thereto is mainly responsible or blameworthy for the existence or continuance of the same, and, unless a settlement to the controversy is reached, to make and publish a report finding such cause and assigning such responsibility or blame.

Wages of Mechanics Employed in the Construction of Public Works. (Chapter 474.) — Chapter 514 of the Acts of 1909 was amended by providing that the wages for a day's work paid to mechanics employed in the construction of public works shall not be less than the customary prevailing wages for a day's work in the same trade or occupation in the locality, city, or town where such public works are constructed.

Preference in Appointment and Employment. (Chapter 600.) Citizens of the Commonwealth are, by the provisions of this act, to have preference in all work of any branch of the service of the Commonwealth or any city or town therein, and the Civil Service Commission is forbidden to place upon its list any person not a citizen of the United States. Saturday Half-holiday to Certain Employees of the Commonwealth. (Chapter 688.) The matter of granting a half-holiday on every Saturday in the year, without loss of pay, to laborers, workmen, and mechanics permanently employed by or on behalf of the Commonwealth, was, by this act, submitted to the voters at the State election in 1914. (On referendum this act was adopted.)

Vacations to Employees of Cities and Towns. (Chapter 217.) — In accordance with this Act laborers regularly employed by cities or towns for more than one year must be granted a vacation of not less than two weeks during each year of their employment, without loss of pay, in those cities or towns accepting the act at the annual State election in 1914.

Workmen's Compensation. (Chapter 708.) (Chapter 708.) — By this act the following important changes were made in the Workmen's Compensation Law: An increase in the proportion of wages to be paid as benefits from 50 to

663 per cent; an increase from $3,000 to $4,000 in the amount that may be paid for partial or total incapacity; and an increase from 300 to 500 in the number of weeks during which compensation shall be paid.

Proof of Contributory Negligence. (Chapter 553.) — By the provision that persons injured or killed shall be presumed to have been in the exercise of due care, relief formerly denied to many workmen injured in the course of their employment, was made more readily obtainable.

Safety and Sanitation. - Three acts, amending, in some measure, previous legislation, are worthy of special mention: Chapter 328 provides for better sanitary conditions and the more thorough safeguarding of machinery; Chapter 557 further provides for medical and surgical chests in mechanical and mercantile establishments; and Chapter 566 makes more explicit the penalty for locking of certain doors in industrial establishments during working hours.

Minimum Wage Law. (Chapter 368.) This act makes more effective the previous legislation providing for the determination of minimum wages for women and minors.

Public Ownership of Street Railways. (Resolve 102.) By this resolve the Public Service Commission is authorized and directed to file a report relative to the cost to the Commonwealth of acquiring street railways situated within the Commonwealth. (The bill introduced by the State Branch provided that the question of public ownership of street railways be submitted to the voters.)

State University. (Resolve 105.) — By this resolve the Board of Education is requested to report to the next General Court a bill embodying a plan for the establishment of a State university with free tuition and free text books.

The passage of a constitutional amendment granting suffrage to women, and of another providing that the State may authorize the taking of land by the Commonwealth to relieve congestion of population and to provide homes for citizens was endorsed by the State Branch, and urged by its legislative committee.

The following measures also received the support of the committee: The abolition of party enrollment at primaries. (Chapter 790.) Reorganization of the State Board of Health as a Department of Health. (Chapter 792.)

The further regulation of the licensing of moving picture operators. (Chapter 791.)

The prohibiting of the conveyance of neglected children to courts and asylums in patrol wagons. (Chapter 272.)

The authorizing of co-operative banks to allow shares to remain after maturity. (Chapter 643.)

An act for the better prevention of fires throughout the metropolitan district. (Chapter 795.)

The more important of the bills supported by the committee which failed of passage had reference to the following subjects:

Initiative and referendum; Home rule for cities; Recall of judicial decisions; Popular election of judges; Reduction of hours of labor for children; Tax exemption of homesteads; Eight-hour day for paper mill workers; License law for barbers; Amendments of certain pension acts; Removal from the poor authorities of the administration of the law providing aid for mothers with dependent children; The prohibiting of construction or repair work on institution buildings by inmates thereof. The committee strenuously opposed legislation providing for compulsory arbitration of strikes and lockouts and for biennial elections, and legislation of this character was defeated.

The principal legislation endorsed by the convention in 1914 and which the committee was instructed to support, had reference to the following subjects:

Initiative and referendum; Woman suffrage; The homestead constitutional amendment; Home rule for cities; Reduction of the hours of labor for children; Eight-hour day for paper mill operators; License law for barbers; The removal from the poor authorities of the administration of the law providing aid for mothers with dependent children; The submission to the voters of the question of public ownership of street railways.

3. CONVENTION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BRANCH AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR.

The Massachusetts State Branch of the American Federation of Labor held its 29th annual convention in Boston, on September 1-26, inclusive. The number of delegates who presented credentials was 317, this being the largest number of delegates that had ever attended an annual convention of this organization, and was in distinct contrast with the representation at the Boston convention which was held 22 years before, when only 25 delegates were present. Addresses of welcome were delivered by the Mayor of Boston, the Lieutenant-Governor, the Treasurer of the Commonwealth, and by the President of the Boston Central Labor Union.

The reports of the executive officers showed marked progress of the

organization during the year. At the time of the convention 32 central labor unions and 391 local unions were affiliated with the State Branch. During the fiscal year ending in September, 1914, 62 unions with an aggregate membership of approximately 10,000 wage-earners became affiliated with the organization. The Executive Board reported that numerous charters for the organization of new unions in Massachusetts had been issued by the international organizations during the year and that these new organizations covered a wide representation both of localities and occupations.

The action of the previous convention in providing for permanent headquarters for the organization, and for the payment of an increased salary for full-time service of the Secretary-Treasurer, was found to have resulted in greatly increasing the efficiency of the organization. According to reports of the executive officers made at the convention, the organization had enjoyed the most successful year in its history, and attention was called to its improved financial standing, the important labor legislation obtained through its efforts, the increase in the number of its affiliated unions, and the highly satisfactory progress of the labor movement in this State.

Among the resolutions passed at this convention one urged the further support of the labor press and another provided for the appointment of a committee to prepare plans for a campaign for the purpose of increasing the sale of goods bearing the union label.

Considerable time was devoted at this convention to a consideration of the report of its Legislative Committee. Many items of legislation were endorsed and the committee was directed to introduce bills covering these matters at the legislative session of 1915, and to lend its support to other bills relating to these subjects which might be introduced independently of the committee.

III.

NUMBER AND MEMBERSHIP.

1. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.

Within the specific industries or trades over which they have jurisdiction the national and international unions1 assist in the organizing activities of their affiliated locals and in securing improved conditions for their members. The relationship between local unions and international unions is, therefore, so intimate that any adequate consideration of the locals in Massachusetts should include at least a brief statement relative to the number and aggregate membership of the locals in Massachusetts affiliated with the respective international unions.

A careful canvass 2 of the international unions having one or more affiilated locals in the United States showed that there were 145 organizations of this character, of which number 113, or 77.9 per cent, were represented by affiliated locals in Massachusetts, and that the aggregate number of local unions in the United States was approximately 31,000, of which number 1,392,3 or 4.5 per cent, were in Massachusetts. According to a report by the New York State Bureau of Labor the aggregate trade union membership in the United States in 1913 was 2,604,701,* and accepting this aggregate as approximately correct for 1914 (there having been only a slight change in trade union membership during the year), we find that Massachusetts, with 234,266 trade unionists at the close of the year, furnished approximately 9.0 per cent of the aggregate number in the United States.

A large majority of the international unions in the United States are affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It is therefore important that a statement be made with reference to the number and membership of the local organizations directly or indirectly affiliated with this Federation. Of the 145 internationals having affiliated locals in the United States, 109, or 75.2 per cent, were affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and of these 109 internationals, 84, or 77.1 per cent,

1 As used in this report the terms "international organization" and "international union" include, for purposes of brevity, both national and international unions. For definitions and use of terms in this and other sections of this report, see Appendix, pages 60 and 61.

2 For the statistics in detail by international unions, see Table 1 on pages 47 to 50.

Of this number 46 were directly affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and 31 were independent, i.e., were not affiliated with any international organization.

No effort was made by this Bureau to ascertain at first hand the aggregate membership of all unions affiliated with each international, as it was not deemed advisable to duplicate the work of the New York Bureau of Labor Statistics in compiling information of this character. See article on "International Trade Union Statistics”, in New York Labor Bulletin No. 67, November, 1914.