H.—-11

IV

The men to whom the Labour Department has given assistance number as follows : —

Number of Men assisted by the Department since Institution to Date.

This table reveals the fact that in eighteen years the Department has been of material aid to 152,000 people, including the dependants of the workmen. It is encouraging to find that the number sent to private employment nearly equals those sent to Government works, a position differing materially from that occupied by the Department for some years after it was first instituted. Until the Main Trunk Railway is finished the number of men required annually for public works is necessarily very large. There has been a gratifying absence of complaint this year from men employed on the public works, thus showing that with time better methods of procedure prevail than formerly existed in the early days of the system. Of the men assisted by the Department during this last year 831 came from Great Britain, 421 from Australia, and ninety-nine from foreign countries. Seventy-seven wives, with their families, received passages and expenses (the value of which was afterwards refunded), in order to join their providers in the locality of their work. The single men helped to employment more than doubled the number of married men, a very encouraging sign, as it proves that the married men are at steadier and more continuous work. Factories. There has been an increase of 798 factories and of 3,315 workers therein since last year's returns were published. For the last fourteen years no alteration has been made in the number of persons whose collective employment renders the place in which they work a " factory," but there has been a remarkably steady increase during that period, and it has raised the number of factories from 4,109 to 11,586, and that of factory-workers from 29,879 to 78,625 . The following table exhibits the details of annual progress : — y ear Factories. Increase. Factory-workers. Increase. 1895 4,109 ... 29,879 1896 ••■ •■• 4.647 538 32,387 2,508 1897 ... ... 5,177 530 . 36,918 4,531 1898 • •• 5,601 424 39,672 2,754 1899 .. ... .. 6,286 685 45,305 5,633 1900 ... •■• 6,438 152 48,938 3,633 1901 ... ... ... 6,744 306 53,460 4,522 1902 ■■■ ••■ 7,203 459 55,395 1,935 1903 . . ... ... 7,675 472 59,047 3,652 1904 ... ... 8,373 698 63,968 4,921 1905 ... ... 9,123 750 67,713 3,745 1906 ... ... 9,881 758 70,403 2,6<J0 1907 ... ... 10,788 907 75,310 4,907 1908 . ... •■• 11,586 798 78,625 3,315 Total increase .. 7,477 ... 48,746 The total amount of wages paid in factories was £5,319,019, while that of the previous year was £4,831,037. The average wage for 1907-8 was £67 135., an increase over that of 1906-7, which was £C 4 3e.

Year. 1891-92 1892-93 1893-94 1894-95 1895-96 1896-97 1897-98 1898-99 1899-1900 ... 1900-1 1901-2 1902-3 1903-4 1904-5 1905-6 1906-7 1907-8 Total. ... 2,593 ... 3,874 ... 3,341 ... 3,030 ... 2,871 ... 1,718 ... 2,035 ... 2,115 ... 2,147 ... 3,121 ... 1,830 ... 3,704 ... 2,860 ... 3,130 ... 6,712 7,393 ... 6,305 Married. 1,054 1,808 1,836 2,007 1,880 1,084 1,163 1,178 1,115 •1,326 713 1,492 in 953 2,027 1,427 1,440 „. . ,, , Private Government Single. Dependants. Work Work .._ 1,539 4,729 1,730 863 2,066 7,802 2,518 1,356 1,505 7,942 1,019 2,322 ' 1,023 8,883 894 2,136 991 8,424 708 2,163 634 4,719 652 1,066 872 4,928 544 1,491 937 4,759 638 1,477 1,032 4,471 486 1,661 1,798 5,432 519 2,605 1,117 2,747 396 1,434 2,212 5,934 580 3,124 2,083 3,085 1,216 1,644 2,177 3,425 1,960 1,170 4,685 7,351 1,929 4,783 5,966 4,187 2,718 4,675 4,865 4,408 2,977 3,328 58,782 23,280 35,502 35,502 93,226 21,484 37,298