"It was never much of a success in this state for the reason that there was not the interest displayed that the importance of the matter demanded. If the office had been established at Butte, where the demand for employment is greatest, the showing would have been better."

The Montana experiment can hardly be considered of value in considering the matter for Illinois, as the failure, so far as it was a failure, resulted from the absence of sufficient population to require the services of such bureau; and from an inadequate law.

THE NEBRASKA LAW.

A free employment department of the Nebraska Bureau of Labor Statistics was created by the legislature of that state April 13, 1897. The law is as follows:

"Sec. 2071. The commissioner of labor is hereby authorized and directed, within thirty days after the passage of this amendment, to establish and maintain in the office of the bureau of labor and industrial statistics, and in connection therewith, a free public employment office. The deputy commissioner shall receive all applications made to him for employment by any person or persons and record their names in a book kept for that purpose, designating the kind and character of help wanted or the kind and character of employment desired, and the postoffice address of the applicant. It shall be the duty of said deputy to send by mail to all applicants for help, the name and postoffice address of such applications for employment as in his judgment will meet their respective requirements and such other information as he may possess that will bring to their notice the names and post office addresses of such unemployed laborers, mechanics, artisans or teachers as they may require. No compensation or fee whatsoever shall directly or indirectly be charged or received from any person or persons applying for help, or any person or persons applying for employment through the bureau of labor. Said deputy or any clerk connected with the bureau, who shall accept any compensation or fee from any applicant for help or any applicant for employment, for services as provided in this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense, or imprisoned not to exceed thirty days. Any application for help or any application for employment made to said office shall be null and void after thirty days from its receipt by said deputy, unless renewed by the applicant. Every applicant for help shall notify said deputy commissioner by mail immediately after the required help designated in his or her application has been secured, and every applicant for employment shall notify said deputy immediately after securing the same. Such notice shall contain the name and last preceding post office address of each employer or employé secured through such employment office, and any failure or refusal to thus notify said deputy commissioner shall bar such applicant from all future rights and privileges of -8 L. S.

said employment office at the discretion of said deputy. Applicants for help shall be construed to mean employers wanting employés, and applicants for employment shall be construed to mean persons wanting work to do.

"Approved by the governor April 13, 1897.

No data is as yet available as to the work done by the office established by this law, nor the expense of maintaining it. It is, however, very apparent that the initial free public employment office in Nebraska should have been located in Omaha, instead of Lincoln, and even if established in the latter city, should not have been located in the state capitol. The vultures and harpies who wish to prey upon the unemployed open employment agencies near union depots, so that the emigrant shall see it first upon leaving his train. The private employment agency shark locates in the district populous with the poor; he rents a room next door to the "Beds-10-cents" hotel, and if the free public employment office is to checkmate his villainies, and do good to the unemployed poor, it must locate where they are; and not in state capitols nor on the boulevards. Again, while there is a bond of union between free public employment offices and bureaus of labor statistics, and this bond should be incorporated into the law, yet the functions of the latter are so entirely distinct from the former, that any attempt to unite them absolutely, as is contemplated by the Nebraska and Montana laws, is certain to impair the usefulness of, and likely to ultimately destroy, both.

THE NEW YORK LAW.

Free public employment offices were created in New York by a law approved May 25, 1896, which was, however, repealed and a substitute enacted May 13th, 1897, as follows:

ARTICLE III.-FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS.

SEC. 40. Free Public Employment Bureaus in Cities of the First Class.The commissioner of labor statistics shall organize and establish in all cities of the first class a free public employment bureau, for the purpose of receiving applications of persons seeking employment, and applications of persons seeking to employ labor. No compensation or fee shall be charged or received, directly or indirectly, from persons applying for employment or help through any such bureau. Such commissioner shall appoint for each bureau so organized, and may remove for good and sufficient cause, a superintendent and such clerical assistants as, in his judgment, may be necessary for the proper administration of the affairs thereof. The salaries of such superintendents and clerks shall be fixed by the commissioner. Such salaries and the expenses of such bureaus shall be paid in the same manner as other expenses of the bureau of labor statistics.

SEC. 41. Duties of Superintendent.-The superintendent of each free public employment bureau shall receive and record, in a book to be kept for that purpose, the names of all persons applying for employment or for help, designating opposite the name and address of each applicant the character of employment or help desired. Each such superintendent shall report, on Thursday of each week, to the commissioner of labor statistics, the names and addresses of all persons applying for employment or help during the preceding week, the character of the employment or help desired, and the names of the persons receiving employment through his bureau. Such superintendent shall also perform such other duties in the collection of labor statistics, and in the keeping of books and accounts of his bureaus, as the commissioner may require, and shall report semi-annually to the commissioner of labor statistics the expense of maintaining his bureau.

SEC. 42. Applications-List of Applicants.-Every application for employment or help made to a free public employment bureau shall be void after thirty days from its receipt, unless renewed by the applicant.

"The commissioner of labor statistics shall cause two copies of a list of all applicants for employment or help, and the character of the employment or help desired, received by him from each free public employment bureau, to be mailed on Monday of each week to the superintendent of each bureau, one of which copies shall be posted by the superintendent, immediately on receipt thereof, in a conspicuous place in his office, subject to the inspection of all persons desiring employment or help, and the other shall be filed in his office for reference.

SEC. 43. Applicants for Help-When to Notify Superintendent.-If an applicant for help has secured the same, he shall, within ten days thereafter, notify the superintendent of the bureau to which application therefor was made. Such notice shall contain the name and last preceding address of the employés received through such bureau. If any such applicant neglects to so notify such superintendent, he shall be barred from all future rights and privileges of such employment bureau, at the discretion of the commissioner of labor statistics, to whom the superintendent shall report such neglect."

The report of the New York Bureau of Labor Statistics for 1896 states that from the date of the establishment of the free employment bureau in New York City on July 20, 1896, to January 1, 1897, 8,040 applicants for labor were registered, of whom 6,458 were males, and 1,582 were females; and that 948 applications for help were received, of which 332 were for males and 616 for females; and that positions were secured for 218 males and 265 females.

For the year ending December 31, 1897, the report of the New York Bureau of Labor Statistics states that there were 7,315 applicants for employment, of whom 3,996 were males and 3,319 were

females; that there were 2,052 applications for help, of which 418 werefor males and 1,634 for females; and that situations were secured for 378 males and 1,127 females, a total of 1,505.

The Superintendent of the New York City office in his report for

1897 says:

"When the New York Free Employment Bureau was opened it was felt in certain circles that the public would not understand its functions, and the people would take it for granted that it was a bureau founded by the state to give employment, and, that all that was required to find such was to fill out one of our blanks and in due time the applicant would be given employment, No such impression is shared by our patrons. They understand just what this bureau is, namely, 'An office for the purpose of receiving all applications for labor on the part of those seeking employment, and all applications for help on the part of those desiring to employ labor.'"

During the year ending December 31, 1897, there were 7,315 persons who made application for employment. Of these, 3,996 were men, and 3,319 were women.

Upon each person filing his or her application, as the case might be, an inquiry was mailed to the last employer asking as to the character and ability of such person, and it gives us great pleasure to be able to assert that the answers received were such as to demonstrate beyond doubt the honesty and ability of the applicants.

"It has often been stated that none but the careless and indolent remain unemployed, and there is work enough for all to do. Such is not the case. Our table giving the ‘Duration of Idleness' in the various trades and callings clearly proves that the labor market is far from being in good condition. It is, however, pleasant to note that as the year advanced things began to brighten. up and conditions improved very much.

"In the month of April we moved from our original location to our present address, in order that with enlarged quarters we might be able to meet the increased demands made on the bureau through pressure of business.

"During the year we were enabled to place over 20 per cent of our applicants in permanent positions, and the reports from their employers have been to the effect that they rendered services acceptable to those who employed them.

"Our applicants for employment have covered 70 trades and callings, Every branch of human energy has found its way to the bureau, seeking an outlet.

"It has often been asserted that people who are habituated to city life, under no circumstances take employment in rural districts. Our experience has been to the contrary, as very many are willing to take and did take em

ployment outside of the city Men and women have obtained employment through this bureau in almost every section of the state, and many of them in the neighboring states.

"A comparison of the work of the free employment bureau during the five months of its operations in 1896 with the twelve months of 1897 shows that while in the former period 8,040 persons applied for situations, in the latter but 7,315 applications were made. The explanation of this decrease, noticeably large compared with the difference in time of the two periods, is, in large part, the exaggerated expectations aroused upon the opening of the bureau, which were noted above.

"The number of situations secured through the bureau in 1896 was 444, or 5.5 per cent of the total number of applications. During 1897, however, over 20 per cent of the applicants found positions, a notable increase. But, again, the increase, or rather the relatively small percentage for 1896, is doubtless partly due to the abnormally large number of applicants in that year.'

Of the men who registered for situations in 1897, 1,560 were native born, 2,436 were foreigners.

The following tables are of interest as showing the social condition of applicants for work.

Table Showing the Number of Applicants Who Have Children and Dependent