TABLE N.-Actions pending which were handled under the direction of the attorney general-Continued. The People of Porto Rico v. The People of Porto Rico v. DISTRICT COURT OF MAYAGUEZ. Action to recover $14,000 Sept. 23, 1914 Pending on motion to conexcise taxes defrauded. tinue. Suc. Gervasio Delgado v. The The People of Porto Rico v. DISTRICT COURT OF ARECIBO. Action to recover real prop- June 15, 1909 Pending since Apr. 20, 1910. erty. MUNICIPAL COURT OF ARECIBO. Action to oppose proceed- Nov. 11, 1907 Pending since Nov. 21, 1907. ings to establish domin MUNICIPAL COURT OF SAN GERMAN. Action to recover taxes paid Aug. 9, 1913 Pending on appeal in district MUNICIPAL COURT OF MAYAGUEZ. S. Nadal y Freyre v. Treasurer Action to recover taxes er- July 17, 1914 Pending on motion to strike of Porto Rico. D. del Moral, now his widow Carmen Nadal, v. Treasurer of Porto Rico. roneously paid. filed by defendant Aug. 27, 1914. Do. APPENDIX VIII. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF LABOR, CHARITIES, AND CORRECTION. OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR, San Juan, P. R., July 31, 1915. SIR: I have the honor to submit the report of this department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915. BUREAU OF Labor. LABOR CONDITIONS IN THE ISLAND. It may be said that the laboring conditions of our island have not improved during the last two years. Wages increased 20 per cent during the active period of the sugar industry, but that time being over they went down to their former level. The wages prevailing in the tobacco, coffee, and fruit plantations remain the same as those published by the bureau of labor in 1914, while unemployment has increased to proportions which nobody can imagine. Rural conditions were improving, due to the spread of education, but unfortunately the reduction made this year in the appropriations for purposes of education will interrupt the gradual progress noticed during previous years. The cost of living is higher every day. The sanitary conditions of tenement and urban houses, factories where women and children are employed, and workshops have improved-tenement and urban houses especially. The employment of children has increased in spite of the law and in spite of the suggestions made to employers to minimize it, inasmuch as they know how important it is to reduce the alarming number of men who are without work, and that increases day by day, especially in agricultural and factory work. Further restrictions upon the employment of minors, especially in factories, are absolutely and urgently necessary for the improvement of the living conditions of future generations. STATISTICAL WORK AND PUBLICATIONS. It was impossible during the past year to publish any bulletin, with the exception of a new edition of the bulletin published in October, 1913, entitled "The Scaffold Law," in addition to the regular annual report to the legislature. The time that had to be devoted to the strike and to other labor disputes, as well as to the enforcement of the labor laws, increased the work of the bureau very greatly, it having been necessary to work overtime on many an occasion. About 5,000 letters were mailed in answer to requests for suggestions concerning labor laws, and more than 20,000 were mailed to employers, relative to labor problems. The third annual report to the legislative assembly of Porto Rico, under date of January 1, 1915, consists of 179 pages, containing a general survey of labor conditions in Porto Rico; a detailed description of all the information gathered by the bureau concerning workmen's compensation, an account of labor legislation, and various decisions of the courts on different cases. ENFORCEMENT OF LABOR LAWS. The legislative assembly of Porto Rico has enacted several laws affecting the laboring classes. The bureau of labor is especially empowered for the enforcement of the following: (1) The law regulating the work of women and children, and (2) the law regulating the construction of scaffolds. Both of these laws were approved in March, 1913, and are considered the most important. Other labor laws, particularly the law regulating the hours of labor in public works, approved August 19, 1913, have never been formally enforced, only because of the lack of sufficient power to obtain evidence of violations reported or investigated, and also because it is practically impossible for two inspectors, under small appropriations, to adequately attend to the whole island as many times as necessity might require. The women and children labor law and the scaffold law are practically complied with in all parts of the island. There may be, of course, in the rural zones places where, in spite of the efforts made by the inspectors of the bureau, these laws are not strictly complied with, due to the reasons briefly given in this same paragraph. APPENDIX VIII. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF LABOR, CHARITIES, AND CORRECTION. OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR, San Juan, P. R., July 31, 1915. SIR: I have the honor to submit the report of this department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915. BUREAU OF Labor. LABOR CONDITIONS IN THE ISLAND. It may be said that the laboring conditions of our island have not improved during the last two years. Wages increased 20 per cent during the active period of the sugar industry, but that time being over they went down to their former level. The wages prevailing in the tobacco, coffee, and fruit plantations remain the same as those published by the bureau of labor in 1914, while unemployment has increased to proportions which nobody can imagine. Rural conditions were improving, due to the spread of education, but unfortunately the reduction made this year in the appropriations for purposes of education will interrupt the gradual progress noticed during previous years. The cost of living is higher every day. The sanitary conditions of tenement and urban houses, factories where women and children are employed, and workshops have improved-tenement and urban houses especially. The employment of children has increased in spite of the law and in spite of the suggestions made to employers to minimize it, inasmuch as they know how important it is to reduce the alarming number of men who are without work, and that increases day by day, especially in agricultural and factory work. Further restrictions upon the employment of minors, especially in factories, are absolutely and urgently necessary for the improvement of the living conditions of future generations. STATISTICAL WORK AND PUBLICATIONS. It was impossible during the past year to publish any bulletin, with the exception of a new edition of the bulletin published in October, 1913, entitled "The Scaffold Law," in addition to the regular annual report to the legislature. The time that had to be devoted to the strike and to other labor disputes, as well as to the enforcement of the labor laws, increased the work of the bureau very greatly, it having been necessary to work overtime on many an occasion. About 5,000 letters were mailed in answer to requests for suggestions concerning labor laws, and more than 20,000 were mailed to employers, relative to labor problems. The third annual report to the legislative assembly of Porto Rico, under date of January 1, 1915, consists of 179 pages, containing a general survey of labor conditions in Porto Rico; a detailed description of all the information gathered by the bureau concerning workmen's compensation, an account of labor legislation, and various decisions of the courts on different cases. ENFORCEMENT OF LABOR LAWS. The legislative assembly of Porto Rico has enacted several laws affecting the laboring classes. The bureau of labor is especially empowered for the enforcement of the following: (1) The law regulating the work of women and children, and (2) the law regulating the construction of scaffolds. Both of these laws were approved in March, 1913, and are considered the most important. Other labor laws, particularly the law regulating the hours of labor in public works, approved August 19, 1913, have never been formally enforced, only because of the lack of sufficient power to obtain evidence of violations reported or investigated, and also because it is practically impossible for two inspectors, under small appropriations, to adequately attend to the whole island as many times as necessity might require. The women and children labor law and the scaffold law are practically complied with in all parts of the island. There may be, of course, in the rural zones places where, in spite of the efforts made by the inspectors of the bureau, these laws are not strictly complied with, due to the reasons briefly given in this same paragraph. |