22 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
[January, 1902.] 
LABOUR MARKET. 
UNITED KINGDOM. 
General Statistics. — The Labour Gazette reported that 
during November there was a decline in the engineering, ship- 
building and building trades. But, apart from this and the 
usual seasonal improvement in the printing trades, there were 
no marked changes in the state of employment compared with 
the previous month. On the whole, it is worse than during 
November, 1900, but considerably better than the average state 
of employment in November during the past ten years. In the 
142 Trade Unions, with an aggregate membership of 545,832, 
making returns, 20,614 ( or 3 '3 per cent.) were reported as un- 
employed at the end of November, as compared with 37 per 
cent, in October, and with 3 ‘2 per cent, in the 138 unions, with 
a membership of 539,175, from which returns were received for 
November, 1900. The average percentage of unemployed 
returned at the end of November, during the ten years 1891-1900, 
was 4 '6. Twenty-five fresh 
Trade Disputes 
began in November, 1901, involving 6,809 workpeople, of whom 
4,924 were directly and 1,885 indirectly affected. The corre- 
sponding number of disputes in October was 26, involving 10,501 
workpeople, and in November, 1900, 48, involving 18,099 work- 
people. Of the 25 disputes in November, 1901, 8 occurred in 
the mining and quarrying industries, 9 in the metal, engineering, 
and shipbuilding trades, 3 in the textile trades, and 5 in other 
industries. Of the 25 new and old disputes, involving 6,500 
workpeople, of which the definite result is reported, 7, involving 
1,556 persons, were decided in favour of the workpeople ; 11, 
involving 3,182 persons, in favour of the employers ; and 7, in- 
volving 1,762 persons, were compromised. The changes in 
Rates of Wages 
reported during November affected 257,961 workpeople, and 
the net effect of all the changes w r as a decrease averaging 7RI. 
weekly per head. Of the total number, 10,500 received advances, 
and 247,461 sustained decreases. The changes of the previous 
month affected 17,684 workpeople, the net result being a slight 
rise, and during November, 1900, the number affected was 
148,774, and the net u r eekly result was an advance of 4^d. per 
head. The principal decreases of the month were those sustained 
by 242,500 coal-miners in Durham and South Wales. Three 
changes affecting 109,032 workpeople were settled by Conciliation 
Boards, and three affecting 136,370 workpeople took effect under 
sliding scales. Changes affecting 1,133 workpeople only were 
preceded by disputes causing stoppage of work, and the re- 
mainder, affecting 11,458 workpeople, were arranged directly 
between employers and workpeople, or their representatives. 
During November the six Bureaux furnishing returns registered 
1,597 fresh applications for work, as compared with x,666 in 
November, 1900, a decrease of 69. Work was found by these 
bureaux for 813 persons, of wnorn 607 (454 males and 153 
females), were engaged by private employers, n by Local 
Authorities, and 195 by the Salvation Army. The number 
engaged by private employers in November, 1900, was 682. 
The total number of workpeople reported as killed by 
Accidents 
during November was 424, or 57 more than in October, and 
also 57 more than in November, 1900. 
COLONIES. 
The Emigrants’ Information Office reports as 
follows : — Canada. — The report of the Canadian Department of 
Labour for November states: “The labour market generally 
continues in a healthy condition, full employment being the 
rule, and in many cases employers finding difficulty in securing 
sufficient labour. Partial exceptions exist in some districts 
where outdoor work — both of a public and quasi-public 
character, and building operations generally — shows a disposi- 
tion to dulness, which, however, is quite usual at this season 
of the year. On the other hand, a good fall and winter trade 
has caused unusual activity in a number of trades which suffer 
from dulness during the summer.” There is, however, at the 
present time no demand for more labour. 
Australasia (New South. Wales). — Disputes have arisen 
at the large Broken Hill silver mines on the working of the 
contract system. Under this system experienced men can make 
up to 15s. or even 17s. 6d, per shift of eight hours, but others 
complain that they can only make 2s. to 4s. ; the average wages 
for a recent fortnight were 11s. id. per shift. There are also 
complaints of the inability to procure employment. In Sydney 
wages in many trades, especially the building trades, have risen, 
but wage-earners complain that the cost of living, owing to the 
proposed new tariff, has increased in greater proportion. Some 
of the branches of the boot trade, tailoi’esses, shearers, and 
glass bottle makers have been very unsettled, and are agitating 
for higher wages owing to the increased cost of living. The 
building trade is now less active, but all other trades continue 
to be fairly well employed, and there is some opening for general 
mechanics, plumbers, joiners, carpenters, and good labourers. 
(New Zealand). — There is no demand for more mechanics at 
Wellington. The building trades are busy in many places, but 
at Dunedin “ they are very quiet," and at Christchurch “ there 
are more unemployed carpenters just now than for years past.” 
The engineering trade is only fairly busy, and at Dunedin some 
men are out of work. The boot and clothing trades are good 
generally, except at Dunedin, but there is no special demand 
for more hands. In several districts there is a demand for men 
able to milk, but otherwise the supply of unskilled labour has 
been quite sufficient. (Queensland). — There is a demand for 
farm labourers and ploughmen, but the supply of mechanics is 
for the most part sufficient. (Victoria). — There is stated to 
be a good demand at Melbourne for skilled shipwrights ; the 
wages offered are 12s. a day and 2s. 3d. an hour overtime, but 
employment is not constant. In country districts farmers are 
suffering from the great difficulty of procuring competent farm 
hands and milkers, who prefer the higher minimum wage of 7s. 
a day and the shorter hours of work which the Government 
offers them in the towns. (Western Australia). — There is a 
demand for mechanics in one or two places only; there 
is no demand for miners anywhere ; there is a good demand 
for agricultural labourers and for female servants. 
South Africa. — In consequence of the establishment of 
Martial Law at all South African ports, it has been decided, 
with the concurrence of the Governments of the Cape Colony 
and Natal, that permits will be required by every person 
proceeding on and after the 1st January, 1902, to Cape Colony 
or Natal, to enable him (or her) to enter those colonies, and no 
person unprovided with such permit will be allowed by the 
authorities in South Africa to land in that country, except under 
special circumstances. Application must be made in person at 
the Permit Office, 39, Victoria-street, S.W. , between the hours of 
it a.m. and 5 p.m., and should be made at least three weeks 
before the date of sailing. Permits will be issued with as little 
delay as possible, but the office cannot guarantee their issue 
within a period of less than three weeks from the date of appli- 
cation. Each applicant will be required to produce a certificate, 
signed by the Agent-General for the Cape Colony or Natal, a 
member of Parliament, justice of peace, banker, parish priest 
or minister, or officer of II. M. Forces, to the effect that he is 
in possession of at least £100, or is in a position to maintain 
himself on arrival in South Africa, that the object of his journey 
is bond fide , and that he has not been deported or sent out of 
that country as indigent. Subjects of foreign Powers who may 
wish to proceed to South Africa from ports in the United 
Kingdom can obtain a permit on production of satisfactory 
evidence to the same effect from their respective embassies or 
legations in London. Passengers from ports not in the United 
Kingdom must supply themselves with permits from the Colonial 
Secretary or some officer appointed by the Colonial Government 
in the case of colonial ports, or from the British Consular Officer 
at a foreign port of embarkation, who will satisfy himself, as 
far as possible, that the applicants fulfil the above conditions. 
Members of a family proceeding to South Africa will be shown 
on the permit issued to its head, provided that a separate permit 
will be required for each son or daughter over 16 years of age. 
In view of the inconvenience and expense which a personal 
application for a permit to land in South Africa would entail in 
cases where applicants live at a considerable distance from 
London, persons living more than 50 miles from the metropolis 
may apply in writing to the South African Permit Office, 39, 
Victoria-street, when they will be informed of the conditions 
under which permits will be issued to them. .Such applicants 
are, however, recommended to apply in person, if possible, 
especially in cases where the permit is required at an early date. 
It should be clearly understood that these permits are available 
only to enable passengers to land in South Africa, and are no 
guarantee that they will be allowed to proceed inland. Those 
who wish to do so must apply for permits at the port of dis- 
embarkation, The latter are warned that there are still 
thousands of persons waiting at the coast ports for an opportunity 
to return to their homes, who will probably have precedence 
over later arrivals. 

EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION. 
The Imperial Institute acts in concert with the Emigrants' 
Information Office ( which is under the direction of the 
Colonial Office), of jr, Broadway , Westminster , S. W. ; 
and also with the British Women's Emigration Asso- 
ciation, now temporarily carrying on its work in 
rooms at the Institute. The Handbooks and Quarterly 
Circulars issued by the Emigrants' Information Office 
may be obtained at the Commercial Intelligence Office. 
Special information and practical advice respecting 
Canada and Cape Colony will also be furnished by the 
Curators of these Sections. 
UNITED KINGDOM. 
General Emigration. — The official parliamentary return 
of the numbers, nationalities and destinations of the passengers 
that left the United Kingdom for places out of Europe, during the 
month ended 30th November, 1901, shows that 20,675 emigrants 
sailed, as compared with 19,856 in November, 1900. Emigration 
to South Africa increased to 3,611 as against 2,889 in November, 
1900 ; but to Canada and Australasia there were decreases of 
about 300 and 400 respectively. During eleven months of 1901, 
290,325 emigrants sailed from our ports, or 3,168 more than in 
the first eleven months of the previous year. 
Alien Immigration. — From the monthly return it appears 
that the total number of aliens that arrived from the Continent 
during November was 10,094, against 10,053 i n *900. Of this 
total, 5,483 represented the number of aliens not stated to be 
en route to America or other places out of the United Kingdom, 
and 4,611 represented the numbei en route. Of the total 
arrivals, 2,107 came from Germany, 1,120 from Holland, and 
491 from Scandinavian ports. 
British Women’s Emigration Association. — The hon. 
secretary of the British Women's Emigration Association at 
the beginning of a new year reports the total number of 
applications received at the Emigration Office of this Association 
at the Imperial Institute in the twelve months, 3,851. From 
November 21 to December 21 there were 455 applicants, and 
the Association arranged for the passage of 34 persons, 31 
of whom went to relations or to situations in South Africa. 
The Home at Westminster, in which the emigrants have 
been able to lodge for the last six years, having been closed at 
the end of the year, it has become necessary for a Hostel 
to be established for the accommodation of the women who 
are obliged to sleep in London the night before they sail. 
It is most necessary to have a safe and comfortable place 
where the parties can assemble, and where those waiting to 
embark can lodge economically. Each colony has its Receiving 
House, and such a Home in London would be available for 
emigrants to every colony. The Association possesses the 
furniture and fittings for 50 beds, and, until a house can be 
rented, is having to pay for the storage of these goods, as well 
as for rooms temporarily in another Home kindly offered for a 
time, in which our travellers can be received. 
The very week the former Home was closed several young 
women from the country had to sleep the night in London 
before starting for Africa. 
The Association makes a particular point of the proper 
protection of its travellers from the time they leave their homes 
until they are safely handed over to their friends or employers 
in the colonies, and that protection is as necessary while they are 
in London as anywhere else. Many of them are very grateful 
for this kind welcome and the rest, the night before leaving old 
England, and the Committee of the Association, feeling the 
great importance of this part of the work, has decided to take a 
house for this purpose as soon as possible. 
The position and amount of room must depend upon the 
help given towards this special object, and the promise of future 
subscription towards its support. Respectable women can 
obtain temporary lodging in the Hostel at anytime the rooms 
are not needed for emigrants, and their payments will help to 
make it answer. There is undoubtedly a great need for more 
temporary homes for women in London. The existing homes 
for working girls and other places of the kind are quickly 
occupied by young women in business, so that those out of 
employment or without a home of their own are often in diffi- 
culties where to find a decent shelter at a moderate cost. A 
well-managed house, with 25 to 50 beds, with two rates of 
payment, according to the sleeping arrangements, ought to be a 
success. Why should not someone, ready to spend money if 
only sure of its benefiting the colonies and the Empire, start this 
hostel in London for the British Women's Emigration 
Association ? 
A hostel for working men in Bethnal Green was opened in 
December, to receive 76 men at 6d. a night, with living and 
recreation rooms, and to found this an anonymous donor gave 
^2,250. The two-fifty, without the thousands, would found an 
Imperial Hostel for women emigrating, and it would be a 
centre for most useful work, in testing the fitness of applicants, 
and training those who required some probation or previous 
supervision. The medical inspections, the outfitting, the final 
instructions, the introductions, the farewell words, and the last 
letters home, would all find place under its roof. 
Vol. VIII. No. 85. 
Another development to which at tentionmust be called is 
the monthly magazine, The Imperial Colonist, which is to be 
issued with the new year by the B. \Y. E. A. and the South 
African Expansion Committee, price 2d. a month, or 2s. 6d. a 
year, post free. It will be a means of communication between 
emigration workers, and their correspondents in all parts of 
the Empire, giving information about openings for the em- 
ployment of women, and the arrangements by which they can 
avail themselves of them. Copies of The imperial Colonist 
can be obtained at this office. 

CUSTOMS TARIFFS. 
UNITED KINGDOM. 
Import Duties on Articles containing Sugar.— With 
regard to the rates of duty leviable on articles containing sugar, 
the Board of Trade have received a further amended Schedule 
of the fixed rates of duty on such articles, which has been 
issued by the Commissioners of Customs for the guidance of 
Customs officers. It appears from -this document that the 
following additions require to be made to the Schedules already 
published : — 
Confectionery, licorice — if declared by the importer s. d. 
not to contain more than 30 per cent, of added 
sugar or other sweetening matter — subject to 
occasional sampling and test . . . cwt. 1 3 
Milk, condensed, slightly sweetened, whether whole, 
separated, or skimmed — if declared by the 
importer not to contain more than 18 per cent, 
of added sugar — subject to occasional sampling 
and test cwt. o 9 
COLONIES. 
British North Borneo. — New Customs Tariff. — The 
Board of Trade have received, through the Foreign Office, a 
copy of the British North Borneo Official Gazette, dated 
14th October last, containing a copy of a Notification (No. 188), 
providing for the imposition of new rates of Customs duties on 
articles imported into, and exported from, the State of North 
Borneo, as from 15th October, 1901. The new tariff, in which 
the rates of duty vary considerably from those hitherto in force, 
may be seen by persons interested on application to the Com- 
mercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade, 50, Parlia- 
ment-street, S.W., an v day between the hours of 10 a.m. and 
S p.m. 
Mauritius. — Prohibition of the Importation OS- 
Certain .Articles from the East Coast of Mada- 
gascar. — The Board of Trade have received a copy of a 
Proclamation (No. 56 of 1901), dated 17th October, 1901, 
revoking a previous Proclamation (No. 51 of 1901). The New 
Proclamation prohibits, in consequence of the existence of 
cattle plague, the importation from the East Coast of Mada- 
gascar, extending from Mahela to Fort Dauphin, of similar 
articles to those specified in the Proclamation published in the 
Board of Trade Journal for 26th September last, the chief of 
these articles being animals living or dead, also animals’ 
produce and manures, as well as plants and agricultural produce 
generally. 
FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
France. — Customs Decisions. — The Board of Trade 
have received copies of certain Circulars recently issued by the 
French Customs Department for the guidance of their officers, 
containing the following Decisions affecting the application of 
the French Customs Tariff : — 
Allowance to sugars of French Colonies during the season 
1901-1902, “for waste in manufacture." — Under the provisions 
of Article 2, Section x, of the Law of the 13th July, 1886, sugars 
of French Colonies shipped to France are entitled to an allow- 
ance for waste in manufacture equivalent to the average excess- 
yield obtained by the home sugar industry in the preceding 
season. This average excess-yield having been equal to 28 '97 
per cent, in the season 1900-1901, French Colonial sugars 
imported into France during the season from the xst September, 
1901, to the 31st August, 1902, will receive an allowance for 
waste of 28 '97 per cent. 
Aerated Water Syphons.— Vessels or syphons for 
aerated waters of glass or crystal, neither cut, engraved or 
ornamented, which have hitherto been classified as “bottles,” 
are in future to be dutiable as “ table-glass, plain and moulded," 
under No. 350 of the Tariff, at the rate of 4 francs per 
100 kilogs. gross (is. 7^d. per cwt. gross). 
France (Tunis). — Imports of Tunisian Olive Oil 
into France. — The French Journal Officiel, for the 30th 
November, contains the text of a Decree fixing at 20,000,000 
kilogs. the amount of olive oil of Tunisian production which 
may be imported into France free of duty during the 13 months 
ending the 30th November, 1902. 
Germany.— Customs Decisions. — The Board of Trade 
have received translations of certain Orders, recently issued by 
the Hamburg Customs Authorities, affecting the classification 
for Tariff purposes of certain articles imported into the German 
Customs Union. The following is the substance of these 
Orders : — 
Table-tops and oil trays for sewing machine stands, even 
when imported separately from the machines, are to be treated 
as parts of sewing-machines (if recognisable as such), and are 
to pay duty under No. 15# (2) of the Tariff, according to the 
material of which made. 
Bird-skins. — Skins of swans, herons, and divers (grebes), 
imported from the Argentine Republic under the designation of 
“raw skins of wild game,' 1 arc to be admitted free of duty, 
under No. 12b of the tariff, as “ birds-skins intended to be 
tanned,” even although they may he dried and prepared to 
protect them against putrefaction and moths. 
Cocobolo wood of the quality usually imported into Hamburg 
is to pay duty as “ round wood in blocks (hard), not specially 
enumerated,” under No. 131: (1) of the tariff, at the rate of 
20 pfennigs per 100 kilogs. (= 2s. o|d. per ton), or 1 mark 
20 pfennigs per cubic metre (= nd. per cubic yard). 
Advertising cards of about the same size as post-cards, 
having a coloured picture and a trade mark on tfie front anti 
advertising matter (with no space for written additions) on the 
back, are to pay duty as “ printed paper cards, ready for use," 
under No. 27 f (2) of the Tariff, at the rate of 12 marks per 
100 kilogs. (6s. id. per cwt. ). 
Changes in the Draft of Proposed Tariff. — 
With reference to the proposed new German Customs Tariff 
(Parti.) the Reicks Anzeiger of the 14th November publishes 
a list of articles in respect of which certain alterations in the 
rates of duty originally proposed by the draft Tariff Bill have 
now been made. The following schedule shows proposed new 
rates 
