The activity displayed by the National employers' associations in "getting together" does not seem to have a counterpart in the activity of the employers' associations locally confined to Massachusetts or districts therein. According to our records, there was a decrease of 22 in the number of such State and local associations in 1907 as compared with 1906, the number of such associations being 76 in the later year. No doubt a number of these organizations are affiliated as a unit or through their members with the several National associations and with the new federation, although definite information on this subject is not readily obtainable. At any rate the activities of State and local associations seem to have been merged within recent years in the activities of the larger National associations, particularly in so far as their relations with organized labor are concerned.

2. Massachusetts Organizations and

Directory.

The Bureau presents herewith the third edition of the directory of employers' associations in Massachusetts. The two former editions appeared in Labor Bulletins No. 38, December, 1905, page 296, and No. 44, December, 1906, page 496. Only those employers' associations which are organized for the purpose of dealing with employees either directly or through labor organizations have been included in the directory.1

The information for the directory was obtained from various sources, including city and town directories, secretaries of known existing associations, secretaries of trade unions, and special agents of the Bureau.

membership both in 1906 and 1907 showed a slight decrease in membership from 2,837 in 1906 to 2,801 in 1907.

The decrease in the number of organizations from 98 in 1906 to 76 in 1907 is accounted for principally by a lack of interest. Eighteen associations gave no reasons for disbanding. One association, while not disbanded, has held no meeting for nearly a year; in another, members ceased to attend, having joined a rival association, causing the former one to become inactive; one association went out of existence as the result of a strike of employees in the Spring of 1907; and one became inactive through the failure of a union, with which members had dealings, to enter into working agreement.

The four largest associations contained 400, 275, 229, and 225 members respectively, while the smallest organization contained only four members.

The employers were organized to the greatest extent in the building trades, there being 35 associations, and 33 of these organizations reported a membership of 1,778.

No attempt was made to obtain the number of employers in Massachusetts who are members of the National Associations, the scope of this directory being confined strictly to Massachusetts organizations.

The following statement shows the number of organizations in each of the respective groups of trades:

Clothiers Association of Boston. Silas Peavy, Sec., 38 Summer St.

Electrical Contractors Association of Boston. H. D. Learnard, Sec., 185 Devonshire St.

Employers Association of Boston. Albion P. Pease, Sec., Room 702, 88 Broad St. Tel. Main 6632.

Furniture and Interior Decorators Association of Boston. Edwin B. Cobb, Sec., Second St., E. Cambridge.

Lumber Trade Club. J. E. F. Downes, Sec., 482 Harrison Av. Tel. Trem. 12.

Master Barbers Association. Carl Cassano, Sec., Tremont Bldg.

Master Builders Association of Boston. William H. Sayward, Sec., 166 Devonshire St. Tel. Main. 6749.

Master Carpenters Association. Fred W. Clarke, Sec., 166 Devonshire St.

Master House Painters and Decorators Association. Alexander Peters, Sec., 477

Tremont St.

Master Plumbers Association. John P. Drury, Sec., 99 Endicott St.

Master Sign Makers. Morrill F. Place, Sec., 31 Cornhill. Tel. Hay. 739-2.

Master Teamsters Association of Boston. George F. Stebbins, Sec., 12 Pearl St. Tel. Main 1923.

Society of Master House Painters and Decorators of South Boston. Frank E. Howard, Sec., 148 F St.

Steel and Copper Plate Engravers' League. J. H. Alwell, Sec., 30 Bromfield St.

Brockton.

Brockton Master Builders Association. A. H. Andrews, Sec., School St. and City Hall Sq.

Brockton Shoe Manufacturers Association. T. J. Evans, Sec., 307-8 Home Bank Bldg.

Master Horseshoers' National Protective Association. M. E. Wannamaker, Sec., 14 Ford St.

Master Painters Association of the City of Brockton. Henry A. Burgess, Sec., 35 Myrtle St.

Cambridge.

Master House Painters and Decorators Association. J. Leo McDonald, Sec., 22 Church St.

Fall River.

Cotton Manufacturers Association. Clarence M. Hathaway, Sec., P. O. Box 199.

Chase, Pres., 151 Liberty St.
Master Carpenters Association. John W.
Prevost, Sec., 963 Summer Av.

Master Horseshoers National Protective Association, Local No. 231. Robert Berry, Sec., 136 Allen St.

Master Masons Exchange of Springfield. W. T. Gregg, Sec., 30 Hawley St.

Master Painters and Decorators Associa tion. W. H. Strout, Sec., 66 Bridge St. Master Plumbers Association. R. Wilson, Sec., 341 Worthington St. Springfield Laundries Protective Association. Charles L. Brown, Sec., 870-878 State St.

Team Owners Association of Springfield. C. F. Margeson, Sec., 792 State St.

Worcester.

Master Barbers Association. H. W. Morrill, Sec., 185 Main St.

Worcester Branch of the National Metal Trades Association. Don Tulloch, Sec., 44 Front St.

Massachusetts State Association of Master Plumbers. John B. Drury, Sec., 99 Endicott St., Boston.

Master Bakers Association of Massachusetts. Edmund C. Campbell, Sec., 131 State St., Boston. Tel. Main 4505-2.

Master Builders Association of Waltham, Newton, Watertown, Weston, and Vicinity. W. B. McMullin, Sec., 60 Cook St., Newton Highlands.

Master Carpenters and Woodworkers Association of Greater Boston. William J. Brown, Sec., Somerville.

New England Association of Boiler Manufacturers. Henry H. Lynch, Sec., 99 Sumner St., E. Boston.

New England Foundrymen's Association. Fred F. Stockwell, Sec., 205 Broadway, Cambridgeport.

Society of Master House Painters and Decorators of Massachusetts. William E. Wall, Sec., 16 Union Sq., Somerville.

Trade Unions, 1906.1

Trade union organizations in Germany are, as a rule, affiliated to one of three groups, the Social Democratic Unions (Gewerkschaften), the Hirsch-Duncker Unions (Gewerkvereine), or the Christian Unions. In 1906 the aggregate mean membership of the Unions of the first group was 1,702,854, including 13,145 members in Social Democratic Unions not affiliated to the central body. The aggregate membership of the Hirsch-Duncker Unions was 118,508; that of Christian Unions 320,248, including 73,132 belonging to Unions not affiliated to the Central Federation; while all the other Unions had a total membership of 73,544. In 1906, therefore, the aggregate membership of German Trade Unions was nearly two and a quarter millions. This represents an increase of 22 per cent, as compared with the year 1905, or, in the case of the Federated Social Democratic Unions, an increase of 26 per cent. The total income of the Unions in 1906 was approximately $11,103,150, while their funds amounted to $7,507,630.

Labor Disputes, 1906.

The report of the Imperial Statistical Department states that the number of labor disputes which were begun during 1906 was 3,683, as compared with 2,711 in the previous year. Since 1901, when 1,109 disputes occurred, there has been a continuous increase each year in the number of disputes. Of the disputes in 1906, 3,378 were strikes and 305 lockouts.

With respect to the disputes which terminated during the year, though the number of these (3,626) was larger than that for the previous year, the number of workpeople affected was less by 30.6 per cent, falling from 542,564 in 1905 to 376,415 in 1906. The strike of miners in the Ruhr district, and the lockout of electrical workers in the Berlin district, both of

which took place in 1905, accounted to some extent for the larger number affected by disputes in that year. The number of workpeople above mentioned who were involved, either directly or indirectly, in disputes during 1906, represented 44.9 per cent of the total employed in the particular works affected. The greater number of disputes were of short duration, 37.5 per cent lasting five days or less; on the other hand, 24.3 per cent lasted more than 30 days.

The following table shows the number of workpeople affected directly and indirectly by strikes and lockouts in each group of trades in 1906, the corresponding total for 1905 being added for purposes of comparison: