57th Congress, (HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, j Doc. No. 370, %d Session. [ { Part 4. DEPARTMENT OP COMMERCE AND LABOR. BULLETIN OF T H E BUREAU OF LABOR. No. 48—SEPTEMBER, 1903. ISSUED EVERY OTHER MONTH. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1903. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis EDITOR, CARROLL D. WRIGHT, COMMISSIONER. ASSOCIATE EDITORS, G. W. W. HANGER, CHAS. H. VERRILL, G. A. WEBER. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONTENTS. Page. Editorial note........................................................................................................... 983 Farm colonies of the Salvation Army, by Commander Booth Tucker........ 983-1005 T he Negroes of Xenia, Ohio: A social study, by Richard R. Wright, Jr., B .D ......................................................................................................................... 1006-1044 Agreements between employers and employees...... ........................................ 1045-1063 D igest of recent reports of State bureaus of labor statistics: M innesota......................................................................................................... 1064-1068 North Dakota................................................................................................... 1069 Statistics of manufactures in Massachusetts: sixteenth annual report........ 1070-1074 D igest of recent foreign statistical publications................................................. 1075-1099 Decisions of courts affecting labor...........................................................................1100-1125 Laws of various States relating to labor enacted since January 1, 1896___ 1126-1136 in Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR. No. 48. WASHINGTON. S e p t e m b e r , 1903. EDITORIAL NOTE. By act of Congress of February 14, 1903, the Department of Com­ merce and Labor was established and the existing Department of Labor was placed under its jurisdiction and made one of its bureaus. The title of this office has, therefore, by direction of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, been changed to the Bureau of Labor, and future Bulletins and reports will bear that name, but will be numbered in continuation of the series of the former Department of Labor. C. D. W. FARM COLONIES OF THE SALVATION ARMY. BY COMMANDER BOOTH TUCKER. The farm colonies of the Salvation Army in the United States were first organized in the spring of 1898 for the purpose of enabling stranded but worthy families to keep together and ultimately, by their own exertions and payments, to become home owners. Experience has shown that, while it is comparatively easy to take care of the unmarried poor in the cities, and to find sufficiently remunerative work for them there, the case is different with the family. In case of sickness or loss of work the position of the women and children is especially distressing. Rent has to be paid, hungry mouths have to be fed, clothing must be provided, and the numerous require­ ments o f a growing family must be met. It is stated that in London 3,000 families consisting o f 9 persons^ each, 7,000 of 8, and 23,000 of 6 or 7, live huddled together in dwellings of but one room. The furniture ordinarily consists of one bed, and as many as can do so get into it, while the others sleep under it, that being the next warmest place. While conditions are not at present so bad in American cities, they are rapidly trending in the same direction. Hence the colonies of the 983 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 984 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR. Salvation Army were specially organized for the purpose of relieving city congestion and of preventing families from being broken up, the theory of redemption being thus formulated: 46 Place the waste labor on the waste land by means of the waste capital and thereby convert the trinity of waste into a unity of production;” or, as it has been tersely put by one of our great writers and thinkers, 4 4 The landless man to the manless land.” In the United States the experiment now comprises the following three colonies: (1) Fort Amity, in Colorado, in the fertile valley of the River Arkansas; (2) FortRomie, in California, not far from the famous Hotel del Monte, near the Bay of Monterey; (3) Fort Herrick, in Ohio, about 20 miles from the city of Cleveland. FORT AMITY, COLO. Early in April, 1898, a section of land consisting of 640 acres (since increased to nearly 2,000) was purchased in the neighborhood of Holly, on the line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, 267 miles east of Denver, in the valley of the Arkansas River. An abundant supply of water from the Buffalo Canal is supplemented by a still more abundant subsurface underflow, while an immense system of inland reservoirs in course of construction will serve to irrigate a vast tract of land in the neighborhood. Hence this colony has an almost unlimited opportunity for expansion and is the most important under control of the Salvation Army. The soil is rich and the climate superb, the elevation being some 3,500 feet above the level of the sea, thus avoiding the extremes of heat and cold. The mining camps of Colorado afford an excellent market on the one hand, while on the other the colony is on the highway to the principal cattle markets of the midwestern States, being linked to both by the Santa Fe Railroad. The principal crops include the famous 44netted gem” cantaloupe, for which Colorado has gained a great reputation. The recent estab­ lishment of a beet-sugar factory in the valley of the Arkansas River,, within easy reach of the colony, has brought to its very doors a market for another valuable crop for which good prices can be obtained. For stock raising the valley is probably without its equal, being on the way to the Kansas City and Chicago stock yards. Here the alfalfa, or lucerne, on which cattle and hogs so quickly fatten, flourishes in rich profusion, requiring but little care beyond occasional watering and being cut several times year after year without replanting. Alfalfa also produces the best quality of butter and honey, for both of which products the valley is famous. A t the same time the bound­ less prairies which surround the colony furnish pasture for the greater part of the year. For berries, fruit, cabbages, onions, and other agricultural produce the soil is also admirably suited. It is intended in the near future to establish an extensive sanitarium for working men. The need for such an institution has been keenly Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FARM COLONIES OF THE SALVATION ARMY. 985 felt for many years. It would, moreover, provide a home market for the colonist’s produce. An orphanage has been erected, at a cost of $20,000, with the intention that as orphans grow up the}^ may marry and settle upon the land, forming ultimately the best colonists. An agricultural credit association has recently been established, modeled upon the plan of the Raiffeisen village loan associations of Germany. This is believed to be the first experiment of the kind in America, although the system has been highly recommended by the United States Government. (a) Two schoolhouses have been established in the colony by the county and will shortly be replaced by a much larger building. Their capac­ ity is already taxed to the utmost, the children of school age number­ ing 140. A post and money order office has also been established. The recent erection by the railroad company of a freight depot with siding has further enhanced the value of the colony and improved its prospects. Plans have lately been made for a passenger depot, the building of which will be begun at once. There are now about 300 colonists, including men, women, and children, in the Fort Amity colony. FORT ROMIE, CAL. Nestled in the beautiful valley of the Salinas River, near the bay of Monterey, is the California colony. A fine sweep of 519 acres of rich agricultural land has been purchased. The land has been divided into 10-acre tracts, cottages have been built, and an irrigation pumping plant has been erected to supply water from the river. The soil is admirably adapted to the growth of potatoes, sugar beets, and alfalfa, as well as almost every other variety of agricultural prod­ uce. The nearness o f the famous beet-sugar factories of Mr. Claus Spreckels at Watsonville and at Salinas renders the success of this colony doubly certain. The valley is famed for its potatoes, which command the highest market price. There are now about 70 colonists, including men, women, and chil­ dren, in this colony. One family has already paid for its holding. FORT HERRICK, OHIO. Within about 20 miles of the city of Cleveland and close to the child­ hood home of President Garfield, at Mentor, is a beautiful sweep of level land, fringed with a second growth of wood on its western bound­ ary and containing about 288 acres. The entire tract has been culti­ vated, several cottages erected, and 33 persons settled. « Cooperative Credit Associations in certain European Countries. Report No. 3, Miscellaneous Series, Division of Statistics, United States Department of Agriculture, 1892. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 986 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR. The owners of the land, Hon. Myron T. Herrick and Mr. James Parmelee, have deeded the land to the Salvation Arm y for colonization purposes, and the citizens of Cleveland, together with some other friends, have contributed $20,000 toward the enterprise. This extremely generous action will give a splendid start to the Ohio col­ ony, and the intention is to make it a model institution of the kind and an important training ground for the colonies in the West.