40 cents an hour for a nine-hour day, on and after July 3, the members of the Master Plasterers' Association signed an agreement for their mutual protection and severally bound themselves "to pay into a fund, as liquidated damages, for the violation of any clause in the... agreement, the sum of $500." Among the master plasterers who signed this agreement and who gave the requisite note for $500 was the firm of Knott & Gardner, the defendants. In September, 1905, the journeymen plasterers went on strike, whereupon the defendants broke their agreement with their associates by paying the rate of wages demanded. When the case was carried to the Court they resisted the action, pleading principally that the plaintiffs besought the Court to enforce an agreement which was an illegal conspiracy to restrain the free exercise of the right to contract with employees for their services.

The judge, in his opinion, declared that "if the journeymen plasterers were not violating any law in forming a coalition or combine in order to secure advanced wages, their employers could not possibly be guilty of any wrong, either private or public, in clubbing together for the purpose of resisting their demand, and by the same means of protecting themselves against loss." He further pointed out that, whereas, formerly the combination of employees for the purpose of raising wages was held to be a conspiracy, punishable by law, now, in all civilized countries, the right of workingmen to unite for their mutual protection is sanctioned by law. It therefore appeared that the association of employers for their mutual protection was equally justifiable and lawful.

With reference to the defendants' obligation in the matter of their note given

the association as a pledge of their fidelity, the judge pointed out that they never withdrew from the association or gave notice of their change of mind or demanded the return of their promissory note, but simply yielded to the demands of the strikers. As the note was given to represent "liquidated damages," and as the evidence showed that the damages suffered by members of the association by reason of the defendants' defection were in excess of the amount of the penalty, the judge ruled that the full amount of the penalty ($500), with interest and costs, should be paid the association by the defendants. - The Labour Gazette, Canada, November, 1907.

Decision under the Canadian Alien
Labor Aet.

Complaint was recently brought in the Superior Court at Montreal by the PresiIdent of the Trades and Labour Council to the effect that the Dominion Car & Foundry Co., Ltd., defendants, had solicited the importation of alien laborers in violation of the Alien Labor Act. The company pleaded that the building of steel cars was a new industry in Canada; that, having been unable to secure skilled labor in Canada they had been obliged to import skilled steel car builders from the United States; and that, under cl. b., sec. 9 of the act, they were not liable for their action in so doing. The Court held that the application of the act could not be pressed so far as to cripple any new industry established in Canada requiring the employment of skilled labor, and that it was not shown that any Canadian workingman skilled in this work had been prevented by the company's action from obtaining employment.

Conciliation and Arbitration in Western

Australia.

A report of the Registrar of Friendly Societies (Great Britain), for the calendar year 1906, contains returns showing the number and membership of registered unions in Western Australia, together with other information relative to industrial disputes and agreements in that State. This information was prepared for presentation to Parliament in accordance with Subsection 4, Section 16, of "The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1902" (1 and 2 Edwd. VII., No. 21).

The total number of industrial unions, associations, and councils registered, December 31, 1906 (including 57 unions of employers), was 187, having an aggregate membership, including officers, of 16,549, and a total capital at date of last annual balance of £25,983 ($126,459.26).

During the year 1906 only eight industrial disputes were referred to the Court of Arbitration and none whatever to the District Boards of Conciliation, whereas, in 1903, as many as 75 cases were referred to the Court and 11 were referred to two District Boards. It therefore appears that "the Boards of Conciliation created by the Act have not met the requirements of parties interested." During the years

1901-1906 the total number of industrial agreements entered into by employers and unions of workers was 34, of which five were in 1906. These agreements, according to the report, "have the same effect as an award of the Court, except that they are binding only upon the parties on whose behalf they are entered into. During the last two years the industrial relations in several important industries of the State have been regulated by industrial agreements without recourse to the Court of Arbitration."

A list of 17 industrial unions, which had entered into agreements on or before April 30, 1907, is given in the report. Commenting on this list the Registrar says, "It will be observed that the Unions which have made use of Industrial Agreements

in lieu of awards of the Court for settlement of their disputes are among those which have the largest membership rolls.” Relief Work in England and Wales,

1906-07.

A report showing the work done during the year ending March 31, 1907, by the Distress Committees in England and Wales under the Unemployed Workmen Act has recently been issued by the local Government Board. The total number of Distress Committees engaged in this work was 118, of which 29 were in London, 10 in the districts immediately adjoining London, and 79 in provincial towns.

The total number of applications for relief received during the year was 87,001, as compared with 110,835 during the previous year. Of the 87,001 applicants, 60,416, or 69 per cent, were found worthy of assistance. The number of applications in London during the year was 28,181; in the 10 adjoining districts, 15,322; and in 66 provincial towns, 43,498 (13 provincial committees received no applications). The proportion of applicants found worthy of assistance was 47 per cent in London, while in the provincial towns the rates ranged from 100 per cent in several boroughs to 12 per cent at Bradford. The 60,416 applications which were entertained represented 152,801 dependents. About one-fourth of the qualified applicants would be included within each of the re

spective age groups, 20 to 30 years, 30 to 40 years, and 40 to 50 years. More than one-half of the qualified applicants were general or casual laborers.

Work was provided for 36,280, or 60.1 per cent, of the qualified applicants, the proportion in London being 41 per cent and in the provinces, 65 per cent. The work provided was largely road making, draining, laying sewers, grading, etc., undertaken by the various local authorities. The usual rate of pay was 5d (11 cents) an hour, and the time employed varied considerably, in many cases being for not more than seven or eight days, but in a fair proportion of districts being for sev

eral weeks. Persons assisted to emigrate (including dependents) numbered 4,532, of whom only 216 persons were aided in removing to other parts of England or Wales.

Twenty-five branch "labour exchanges and a central exchange were established in London by the Central (Unemployed) Body for London during the year. A total of 56,491 applications for work (including 8,129 women) were registered from August 20, 1906 (when the first local exchange was opened), to March 31, 1907. Work was found for 7,614 persons, including 1,706 women. The work of these labor exchanges is kept distinct from that of the local Distress Committees.

The total cost of the relief work above described was £227,745 ($1,109,118), not including two loan items for special purposes. Of the total amount, 70.2 per cent was expended in providing work directly for applicants, 13.8 per cent in assisting emigration or removal, 60 per cent in maintaining the labor bureaus, and 10 per cent was expended for other purposes. The Board of Trade Labour Gazette, London, November, 1907.

Population Statistics.

Argentine Republic. The Ministry of the Interior has issued a bulletin in which the total population for 1906 is given as 5,974,771 against 5,678,197 in 1905, an increase of 296,574 or 5.22 per cent. Of the total population of 5,974,771 there are 1,511,019 foreigners, classified as follows: Italian, 795,916; Spanish, 342,422; French, 99,740; English, 22,399; Austrian, 24,039; Swiss, 14,527; German, 21,215; Belgian, 5,634; Russian, 37,773; other nationalities, 147,354. The number of foreigners from neighboring Republics is estimated as follows: Bolivians, 10,000; Brazilians, 25,000; Chileans, 30,000; Uruguayans, 73,000; and Paraguayans, 20,000.

Statisties of Population and Manufactures of the New State of Oklahoma. On June 20, 1907, President Roosevelt directed that a special census be taken of the population of the new State of Oklahoma, comprising the former territories of Oklahoma and Indian Territory. As stated by the Director of the Census, "the directions were to undertake the work at once and complete it with all possible expedition. Plans were immediately made,

and the general order covering these plans was made public on June 24. The result has been the quickest piece of census work ever accomplished, and, in view of the many difficult conditions encountered, probably the most satisfactory." The general order with reference to the taking of this Census provided that the enumeration of the population should be as of the date of July 1, 1907, and should be completed, as far as practicable, within two weeks from that date.

The combined area of the two Territories was divided into 1,461 enumeration districts, and the enumerators selected were presumed to be thoroughly familiar with the districts assigned them, many of them having been substitute letter carriers, substitute free delivery agents of the Postoffice Department, and Census cotton ginning agents. Those who supervised this Census were "

thoroughly trained in census methods and familiar with all the details of the work." The schedule used called only for the relationship of each person to the head of the family, color or race, sex, and age. On October 1, 1907, the complete returns of this Census were submitted by the Director of the Census, and have since been published as Bulletin 89 of the Department of Commerce and Labor. brief summary of these returns follows.

A

The population of the new State of Oklahoma, comprising the two former Territories, is 1,414,177 as compared with 790,391 in 1900, showing an increase of 623,786 persons, or 78.9 per cent. The population of each of the former Territories in 1907 taken separately was: Oklahoma Territory, 733,062, and Indian Territory, 681,115, and the rates of increase during the seven years were, respectively, 84 per cent and 73.7 per cent. Oklahoma Territory, which was organized in May, 1890, from a part of Indian Territory, had in that year a population of only 78,475, but in 1900 the population had increased to 398,331, or more than five times that in 1890. The population of Indian Territory in 1890 was 180,182, which had increased in 1900 to 392,060 or more than twice that of 1890. The average annual increase in population of Oklahoma Territory was 40.8 per cent from 1890 to 1900 and 12 per cent from 1900 to 1907, while that of Indian Territory was 11.8 per cent during the former period and only 10.5 per cent during the latter period.

Of the 1,414,177 persons in the new State of Oklahoma in 1907, 752,402, or 53.2 per cent, were males and 661,775, These or 46.8 per cent, were females. rates of distribution by sex were actually the same for each of the Territories comprised within the new State and showed but slight variation from the rates for 1900. The classification of the total population of the State shows that 1,226,930 persons, or 86.8 per cent, were white; 112,160, or 7.9 per cent, negroes; 75,012, or 5.3 per cent, Indians, while 75 (a negligible percentage) were Mongolians. The percentage classifications by color show that in 1907, and also in 1900, there were proportionately and actually fewer white persons, more negroes, and decidedly more Indians in Indian Territory than in Oklahoma Territory. In the two Territories combined the Indians represented about one-fourth the population in 1890, while in 1907 they represented only a little over onetwentieth, this large difference being due to the increase in the number of white persons, there being but little change in the percentage of negroes and of Mongolians.

A

The total population of the State and of the constituent Territories is also classified by sex and age for 1907 and 1900. larger percentage of males, 21 years of age and over, than of females in the same age group is noticeable for the State as a whole as well as for the constituent Territories in both Censuses.

In connection with the above population returns it may be well to add that while Oklahoma is properly classed as an agricultural State its manufacturing industries are by no means unimportant. In the report of the United States Census of Manufactures, 1905, the returns for Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were separately presented, but by adding these returns the statistics of manufactures for the new State of Oklahoma may be derived. Thus the number of manufacturing establishments in the State was 1,123, and the capital invested therein was $16,124,417; there were 813 officials, clerks, etc., receiving salaries amounting to $718,420, and 5,456 wage-earners (average number) receiving wages amounting to $2,799,402; the miscellaneous expenses amounted to

$1,471,555; the value of materials used was $16,393,952; and the value of the manufactured product was $24,459,107.

For the State as a whole the six leading groups of manufacturing industries as indicated by the value of product were as follows: Food and kindred products, $13,260,063; chemicals and allied products, $3,268,451; paper and printing, $2,109,297; lumber and its re-manufactures, $1,485,901; vehicles for land transportation, $1,078,244; clay, glass, and stone products, $945,553.

New Labor Contract Law in Holland.!

The conditions under which labor con-. tracts are entered into and carried out in Holland are amended and supplemented by a law passed on July 13th last. A "laborer" within the meaning of the new act is any person who binds himself to perform work during a certain time in the service of another for wages. Persons employed in the civil service, mercantile marine, and railway service are excluded from the operation of this law.

The new act increases the liability of the employer as regards sickness and disablement. In the case of sickness or accident sustained by a laborer living in the employer's house, the latter is bound to provide proper nursing and medical treatment as long as the sickness lasts, up to a period of six weeks. He is entitled to recover the expenses from the laborer; but, as regards the first four weeks, only in so far as the sickness or accident was caused by the laborer's design or immorality, or was in consequence of a bodily infirmity about which he wilfully gave false information when entering into the

contract.

One of the articles of the new law authorizes the district magistrate to annul labor contracts between employers and workmen who are both bound by a collective labor agreement, if such labor contract be contrary to the stipulations of the collective agreement.

Provision is made for a summary method of settlement by the district magistrate, at a small cost, of disputes respecting labor contracts or collective labor agreements. Where a judicial decision is requested concerning a labor agreement it will be issued gratis and free of stamp duty.