Never Heard of Him

The other day I was putting together material for you my adoring fans, so I could write a CUTTING COMMENT on how well the college graduates are doing in today’s economy. I went to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to find the statistics and when I got there I found other material that I think you should know about. We’ll let the college graduates wait.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is 125 years old. If I wasn’t on the website I would never know. There was no publicity, no mention, no big celebration. You would think that there would be something big to headline; but no, no attention to this. Unemployment today is big news; the economy is big news; the Stimulus Package is big news; but the bureau that puts together the information and records the statistics and releases the press releases is not given publicity.

Labor leaders, along with their legions in membership, the labor unions, had pressured the Federal Government to form a Bureau of Labor Statistics for decades before Chester A. Arthur, that well-known President, signed into law the bill that established the Bureau of Labor Statistics on June 27th, 1884. Labor was striving for better wages, better living conditions, more attention to their plight; keep in mind women and children were in the labor force without the laws that protect them today, here in the new millennium. An industrialized economy was developing after the Civil War. The transcontinental railroads epitomized this development. The unskilled, the skilled, the newly freed, the immigrants were seeking the jobs that only the corporate class could provide. Many seeking a limited number of jobs. Without the labor unions fighting for higher wages, the most profitable one to hire would be the one who would work for the lowest wage. Working conditions would not be improved unless the labor leaders campaigned for them. Any economic benefits accruing to the laborer needed to be fought for. Labor was needed to perform the work; if there were a labor-saving device, like a sewing machine, that device became a big seller. Labor costs, productivity and efficiencies have always been major matters. Not only do they produce profits, they are expenses. Today we are very aware of automation, computerization, and robotics – whatever can replace human labor.

Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)

First they put the Bureau of Labor Statistics into the Department of the Interior. Later on it would go into the Department of Commerce. The Department of Labor finally got it. A Department without a head. It came into being June 27th, 1884. It didn’t get a chief till January 1885. It took Chester A. Arthur time to figure out who it should be. Massachusetts had created the very first State bureau of labor statistics. A man named Carroll D. Wright headed up the Massachusetts bureau. President Arthur named him as Commissioner in January 1885. And he stayed in that job 20 years. The President appoints a Commissioner for a 4-year term; 20 years means several Presidents approved the re-appointment. Theodore Roosevelt was the President in 1905 when he retired from that federal bureau. That in itself is quite an accomplishment.

Carroll Davidson Wright. From the moment he stepped in, from its inception, he put into place the recording of the economic statistics so vital and meaningful in today’s economy: Inflation, Consumer Spending, Wages, Productivity, Demographic break-down of the labor force, Unemployment.

It was thought that the unions would be the major beneficiaries IF the Bureau of Labor Statistics was put in place. The workers were the ones who benefited. The political structure has changed. Union leaders involve themselves now in backing politicians at election time. Union dues are for contributions in political campaigns. The elected political figure is the important one; not the worker. The job that is the important one is the politician’s job, not the worker’s. Getting more members to pay more dues is the important dollar amount; not the worker’s dollar.

Back when Carroll D. Wright was the Commissioner, attention was focused on the worker. The statistics highlighted the conditions of the workers, the number of workers, the dollars involved and the conditions faced. The unions back then made tremendous progress. People wanted to join unions. It was a major step up. Unions no longer accomplish for the worker.

The Commissioner collects “information upon the subject of labor, its relation to capital, the hours of labor and the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual and moral prosperity.” Commissioner Wright stepped into controversy when he spoke of labor having the right to strike. His statistical analysis showed objectively the situations that labor faced and the necessity for government to correct and put in place laws benefiting labor. He was a pioneer. He presided over the statistics that provided the analysis ending disputes. President Grover Cleveland appointed him to investigate the Pullman strike of 1894. President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to help mediate the United Mine Workers’ coal strike of 1902. He collected the data, provided the statistics, objective analysis, and elevated the labor movement to a higher economic level.

Until I came across the name Carroll D. Wright, I never heard of him. It would have been appropriate to mention him on the 125th anniversary. It would have been appropriate considering the unemployment level in this economy. He put in place a program of statistics that render intelligent analysis.

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