artisans, as blacksmiths and carpenters, are found among the applicants for labor, so that usually no employees are retained except a manager for each farm.

Registration at the employment bureaus has been maintained by the Government under practically the present system since 1900, and the following table shows the number of registrations, reregis trations, and total registrations for the year, for a period of eight

years:

REGISTRATION OF APPLICANTS FOR EMPLOYMENT AT THE STATE LABOR BUREAU.
NEW SOUTH WALES, BY YEARS, 1900 TO 1908.

A summary of the operations of the employment bureaus shows the registration of 2,565 applications for employment during the year 1906-7 at the central office, and 3,639 persons sent to work; but 24 persons were registered in the branch offices, all of whom were sent to work. Only 307 persons were sent to government work, as against 1,737 sent to private work. Of this latter group 1,647 were sent to the country as shed and station hands (277), laborers (243), rabbiters (169), miners (143), clearers (107), and for other employments, mainly agricultural and pastoral, in smaller numbers. There were 1,255 persons sent to the labor depot, mostly for but a few days each, and 298 to the casual labor farm.

In the year 1907-8 the number of persons registered was 3,026, to which were added 1,001 registrations from old lists, making a total on the books during the year of 4,027 registrations in the main office, of which number of persons registered 3,237 were sent to work; 37 persons were registered at the branch offices and 24 were put to work. Of the total number of persons sent to work 354 went to government work and 1,785 to private employment, while the labor depot near Sydney and the casual labor farm received 785 and 337 men, respectively. The city and suburbs reccived 185 men and the country, 1,573. The nature of the employments of the country laborers does not vary greatly from that for the previous year, except that the number of laborers is given at 422 as against 243 in 1907, and of rabbiters at 52 as against 169 in the earlier period.

NORWAY.

Arbeids- og Lønningsforhold for Syersker i Kristiania, tilligemed Oplysninger angaaende Lønninger i andre kvindelige Erhverv i Norge. Udgivet af det statistiske Centralbureau. 1906. 165 pp.

This volume is the fourth of a series of reports classed as social statistics produced by the Bureau of Statistics of Norway and presents data relative to the employment of women as seamstresses and in similar occupations in Christiania. There is first presented a brief account of the methods of the inquiry and of the development of female labor, especially as seamstresses. The extent and character of the investigation are next discussed, after which follow tables and text relative to the place of birth, occupations of parents, former employment, and apprenticeship of seamstresses; earnings of seamstresses, under the three heads of factory employees, seamstresses working in families, and those working in their own homes; conjugal condition, state of health, hours of labor, cost of living, and changes in rates of earnings within the past twenty or thirty years. A comparison is also made between the earnings of seamstresses in Norway and those in other countries, data concerning conditions in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Berlin being shown.

The second part of the volume presents the rates of earnings of working women in various industries in Norway, while in an appendix other subjects of especial interest in connection with female labor are discussed.

The census of 1900 showed that there were 31,435 working women in Norway employed in sewing and similar occupations, of whom approximately 14,500 were classed as urban. Of these 5,251 were in Christiania. The following table shows the number of working women employed in sewing, etc., in Christiania and in the entire Kingdom, by principal industries:

NUMBER OF WOMEN ENGAGED IN SEWING AND IN SIMILAR EMPLOYMENTS IN CHRISTIANIA AND IN NORWAY, BY INDUSTRIES, 1900.

The conjugal condition of the two largest groups (“seamstresses, independent, in petty industries" and "sewing women in petty industries working at sewing") shown in the above table for Christiania is given in the following table:

CONJUGAL CONDITION OF SEAMSTRESSES IN PETTY INDUSTRIES IN CHRISTIANIA CLASSIFIED BY AGE GROUPS, 1900.

a Including 19 women separated from their husbands.
Including 19 divorced women.

The age group 20 and under 25 years is the largest, containing 23.9 per cent of the total number of seamstresses in the groups presented. Within these age limits also are found 28 per cent of all unmarried seamstresses, the numbers decreasing rapidly in the succeeding five-year periods. The largest number of married women is found in the group 30 and under 35, while for widows the maximum is not reached until at the ages 45 and under 50.

The present report presents data relative to but 525 of the seamstresses of Christiania, of whom 419 were unmarried, 66 married, and 40 widowed. A comparison of the percentages found within the various age groups reported by the census of 1900 with those considered in this report is shown in the following table:

SEAMSTRESSES IN CHRISTIANIA IN VARIOUS AGE GROUPS, BY PER CENT IN EACH AGE GROUP, CENSUS OF 1900 AND REPORT OF 1906.

From this table it appears that the proportions of working women as shown by the two reports are practically the same in the two larger groups, the proportion of middle-aged women being larger in the

number investigated by the present inquiry, while the proportion of older women, as shown by the report of 1906, does not come up to the standard shown by the census.

As to the place of birth of the 525 seamstresses considered in this volume, 25 per cent were born in Christiania, 18 per cent in other towns or cities, 47 per cent in rural districts, and 10 per cent were of foreign birth. As to the occupation of parents, 58.6 per cent were reported as laborers, 20.2 per cent were farmers, 12.6 per cent tradespeople, and 8.6 per cent were servants and employed persons not classed as laborers.

The question as to apprenticeship was answered by 376 persons, a period of three months being reported by 141 seamstresses, or 37.5 per cent of the total number reporting; 44 served less than three months, and 88 reported no apprenticeship; 52 served from three to six months' apprenticeship; 36 from six months to one year, while 15 served more than one year. Of this last group 7 were employed on men's clothing, as were also 12 of the 36 whose terms of apprenticeship ranged from six months to one year.

The following table shows for 256 seamstresses in factories and workshops the number earning the designated classified weekly rates of wages:

NUMBER OF SEAMSTRESSES IN FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS, EMPLOYED IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES, CLASSIFIED BY GROUPS OF WEEKLY EARNINGS.

The average weekly earnings of seamstresses employed in the various industries were reported as follows: In the making of women's clothing, 8.12 kroner ($2.18); men's clothing, 8.78 kroner ($2.62); boys' clothing, 9.60 kroner ($2.57); cloaks, 8.35 kroner ($2.24); hats and caps, 8.34 kroner ($2.24); gloves, 8.75 kroner ($2.35), and military supplies, 14 kroner ($3.75); and in plain sewing, 8.72 kroner ($2.34), and shoe stitching, 10 kroner ($2.68). Total average weekly earnings, 8.80 kroner ($2.36).

The largest number of employees considered in the above table are employed in the manufacture of women's clothing, in which also the average weekly earnings are lowest. The manufacture of men's clothing ranks next in the number of employees, with an average weekly wage rate considerably above the general average. The largest wage group is that earning from 7.01 to 8 kroner ($1.879 to $2.144) per week, this and the two next higher groups, or the range from 7.01 to 10 kroner ($1.879 to $2.680), containing 56.3 per cent of the total number of employees considered.

The ages of 255 of the 256 working women whose earnings are shown in the above table are known, and the next table shows for this number their distribution by age groups and the per cent in each age group receiving each classified rate of wages:

NUMBER AND AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS OF SEAMSTRESSES, BY AGE GROUPS, AND PER CENT EARNING EACH CLASSIFIED WAGE.

The number of persons represented is too small to warrant very much weight being given to the showings of the above table. It appears, however, from the data given that nearly one-half the seamstresses of the youngest age group earn 6 kroner ($1.608) and under per week, while the maximum number for each following age group is to be found in the higher wage groups. The proportion of employees receiving 9.01 kroner ($2.415) and over weekly is 14 per cent for those under 20 years of age, 37.4 per cent for those from 20 to 29 years of age, 51.2 per cent for those from 30 to 39 years of age, and 56.2 per cent for those 40 to 59 years of age. Practically onehalf (49.6 per cent) of the total number of employees considered earn from 6.01 to 9.00 kroner ($1.611 to $2.412) per week.