CODEBOOK AND USER'S MANUAL: A SURVEY OF 514 MALE WAGE-EARNERS IN KANSAS, 1895 REPORTED IN THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE KANSAS BUREAU OF LABOR AND INDUSTRY Version 1.1 May 6, 1993 Susan B. Carter Roger L. Ransom Richard Sutch Hongcheng Zhao Historical Labor Statistics Project Institute of Business and Economic Research University of California Berkeley, California 94720 This codebook is a preliminary draft. The data described here and accompanying this version of the codebook is still in a preliminary format and may contain errors. Those wishing to use this data for research purposes should check with the authors for an update. Neither the collectors of the data or those sponsoring the data collection wish to bear responsibility for the use to which others may make of this data. The financial support of the National Science Foundation, the All-UC Group in Economic History, and of the Institute of Business and Economic Research and the Laboratory for Historical Research, both of the University of California, is appreciated. For further description of the Historical Labor Statistics Project, discussion of the social, economic, and political context in which the data were collected, and an assessment of data quality, see Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, and Richard Sutch, "The Historical Labor Statistics Project at the University of California," Historical Methods 24 (2) (Spring 1991): 52-65 and Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, and Richard Sutch, "Doing the Wright Thing: Carroll Wright and the State Labor Statistics Movement." Paper Presented at the Conference on Historical Labor Statistics, Lawrence, Kansas, June 1991. Suggested Citation: Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, Richard Sutch, and Hongcheng Zhao. Codebook and User's Manual: A Survey of 514 Male Wage- Earners in Kansas, 1895; Reported in the Eleventh Annual Report of the Kansas Bureau of Labor and Industry. Berkeley: Institute of Business and Economic Research, 1993. A SURVEY OF 514 MALE WAGE-EARNERS IN KANSAS, 1895 This survey of 514 male wage-earners in Kansas was conducted by the State's Bureau of Labor and Industry in 1895 and published in its Eleventh Annual Report. [1] Nothing was said about the specific motivation for the survey except that the questionnaire was "many times revised" until only questions "that bear vitally on important information relative to Kansas labor" were displayed. [2] The forms were accompanied by a stamped envelope, addressed to the Bureau office and "scattered over the entire state,...placed only in the hands of those who would insure reasonably prompt attention and intelligent answers." [3] The Bureau was anxious to assure the public that the result was a representative survey, however. It asserted: The department was also careful that no particular branch of labor should receive especial notice in distribution of the forms, but that every class of working men, except employees in railway train service, should be given the opportunity of replying, setting forth their condition, and expressing their views on current questions affecting their own welfare. In compiling these returns and placing these views and opinions before the public, a rigid adherence to the law of impartiality and disinterested personal opinion has been steadfastly followed, and no pet theory allowed to bear on the conscientious efforts to report exactly the language and figures given; so, if partizan views or delicately shaded political theories are found in a few instances, it may readily be seen, by a little investigation, that no one side is allowed space to the total exclusion of the other, but, on the contrary, they are all given just as found. In this connection we would say, that the very innate quality of statistical science is absolute truth, unbiased and unhampered by external pressure of the statistician's personal opinion or doctrines, and we deem it no function of the Bureau of Labor to sort out only such information as will please any one sect, party, or faction, but, rather, to conscientiously set forth, verbatim, the facts as given by its correspondents. [4] These comments were followed by a few summary statistics and then the responses of individual workers to the questions asked. The Historical Labor Statistics Project has transformed these data into machine-readable form using the procedures and codes outlined in this Codebook. Table 1 lists the questions asked in the survey and the variable names assigned to each response. Tables 2 through 34 present descriptive statistics on the values and distributions of responses to the questions asked including, where necessary, the numeric codes used in entering the data into the computer. Since version 1.0, some of the variable codes and the variable names have been changed. Users are reminded to be aware of these changes. The data from this sample of 514 male wage-earners in Kansas in 1895 has been archived at the Laboratory for Historical Research at the University of California, Riverside. For additional information regarding the availability of these data please contact: Professor Roger Ransom Department of History University of California Riverside, CA 92521 FAX [909] 787-5299 NOTES [1] Kansas Bureau of Labor and Industry, Eleventh Annual Report 1895. Topeka: The Kansas State Printing Company: J. K. Hudson, State Printer, 1896. [2] Ibid., p. 96. [3] Ibid. [4] Ibid. Table 1 Questions Asked of Respondents, A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 PAGE Page on Which Worker's Survey Results Begin ID Office Number OCC Present Occupation POB Place of Birth FPOB Father's Place of Birth MPOB Mother's Place of Birth AGE Age TRADE Have you Trade or Profession? NTRADE Name of Trade or Profession YRSOCC Years Employed in Present Occupation HOURS Number of Hours Per Day's Work EARDAY Earnings Per Day EARWK Earnings Per Week EARMO Earnings Per Month EARYR Earnings Per Year OTHINC Income from all Other Sources Per Year DLOSTSIC Days Lost from Sickness NOWORK Days Lost from Inability to Get Work DLOSTOTH Days Lost from Other Causes OWNHM Home Ownership HMVALUE Value of Home INCUMB Incumbrance on Home RENT Rent FAMSIZE Number in Family TOTEAR Earnings of All Members of the Family FAMWK Number in Family Working for Wages MALWK Number of Males Working for Wages FEMWK Number of Females Working for Wages KIDSWK Number of Children under 14 Working for Wages SCH Number of Children Attending Public School UNION Member of Labor Organization? What Craft? BENESOC Member Beneficiary Association INSLIFE Insurance, Life INSACC Insurance, Accident INSFIRE Insurance, Fire WGINC Wages Increased? Give Percent. WGDEC Wages Decreased? Give Percent. COLMO Cost of Living Per Month COLYR Cost of Living Per Year COLINC Cost of Living Increased? Percent. COLDEC Cost of Living Decreased? Percent. SAVINGS Savings for the Past Year DEBT Run in Debt? Give Amount WORKCOND Condition of Work RESIMM Favor Restricting or Suppressing Immigration? FAVORARB Favor Compulsory Arbitration? Table 2 Present Occupation of Respondents [OCC] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 1 1 Barber 36 2 Blacksmith 1 3 Boiler maker 4 4 Bookkeeper 1 5 Box maker 12 6 Butcher (pork) 4 7 Butcher (sheep) 6 8 Butcher 6 9 Can maker 1 10 Car repairer 1 11 Carpenter & joiner 1 12 Carpenter 20 13 Cigar maker 31 14 Cigar packer 1 15 City jailor 1 16 City marshall 1 17 Clerk 3 18 Coachman 1 19 Coal miner 7 20 Coal weigher 1 21 Compositor 41 22 Contractor 1 23 Cooper 23 24 Druggist 1 25 Educator 1 26 Engineer 8 27 Engraver 1 28 Factory laborer 1 29 Fire chief 2 30 Fire dept. 32 31 Fireman 2 32 Fireman (salt works) 1 33 Gripman 4 34 Harness 4 35 Hog scraper 2 36 Hostler 1 37 Hotel waiter 1 38 Iceman 1 39 Janitor 1 40 Laborer 40 41 Laborer (salt) 9 42 Machinist 14 43 Market gardener 1 44 Miller 4 45 Mine fire boss 1 46 Mine foreman 1 47 Miner 49 48 Miner (salt) 13 49 Molder 1 50 Motor man 1 51 Motorneer 9 52 Night watchman 2 53 Painter 1 54 Patrol driver 1 55 Patrolman 1 56 Plumber 1 57 Policeman 20 58 Prison guard 1 59 Railroad 8 60 Reporter 3 61 Saddler 1 62 Salesman 1 63 Salt worker 2 64 Smelter 2 65 Stereotyper 2 66 Stone mason 2 67 Street commissioner 1 68 Street railway conductor 11 69 Street railway employee 1 70 Table maker 1 71 Table waiter 16 72 Tailor 11 73 Teamster 1 74 Tinner 1 75 Watchman (fd) 1 76 Watchman 1 77 Wire drawer 1 78 Wire mill laborer 7 79 Wood worker 2 Total 514 Table 3 Place of Birth of Respondents and Their Parents A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Frequency Code Response Respondent Father Mother [POB] [FPOB] [MPOB] -9 No response 10 19 19 1 Alabama 2 0 0 2 America 6 259 271 3 Arkansas 2 0 0 4 Austria 3 3 3 5 Belgium 2 1 1 6 Bohemia 1 1 1 7 Canada 3 2 1 8 England 23 44 46 9 Europe 2 0 0 10 France 1 8 4 11 Georgia 3 0 0 12 Germany 29 77 69 13 Illinois 57 0 0 14 Indian 0 0 1 15 Indiana 36 0 0 16 Iowa 19 0 0 17 Ireland 13 37 46 18 Kansas 48 0 0 19 Kentucky 16 0 0 20 Louisiana 1 0 0 21 Maine 1 0 0 22 Maryland 3 0 0 23 Massachusetts 2 0 0 24 Michigan 12 0 0 25 Minnesota 3 0 0 26 Missouri 34 0 0 27 Negro 0 1 0 28 New Jersey 2 0 0 29 New York 15 0 0 30 North Carolina 2 0 0 31 Norway 1 4 3 32 Ohio 41 0 0 33 Ontario 1 0 0 34 Pennsylvania 31 0 0 35 Poland 0 1 1 36 Prussia 1 1 0 37 Russia 2 0 1 38 Scotland 16 31 22 39 South Carolina 2 0 0 40 Sweden 19 21 22 41 Tennessee 12 0 0 42 Texas 3 0 0 43 Vermont 1 0 0 44 Virginia 10 0 0 45 Wales 2 4 3 46 Washington DC 2 0 0 47 West Virginia 7 0 0 48 Wisconsin 12 0 0 Total 514 514 514 Table 4 Age [AGE] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Age or code Frequency -9(No response) 2 15 - 20 years old 21 21 - 30 194 31 - 40 160 41 - 50 84 51 - 60 39 61 - 68 14 Total 514 Table 5 Have You Trade or Professional? [TRADE] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 131 1 No 14 2 Yes 369 Total 514 Table 6 Name of Trade or Profession [NTRADE] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 147 1 Baker 1 2 Barber 39 3 Blacksmith 5 4 Boiler maker 5 5 Box maker 13 6 Brick burner 1 7 Brick maker 1 8 Brick mason 1 9 Brick molder 1 10 Brick setter 1 11 Butcher 13 12 Cabinet 1 13 Can maker 2 14 Carpenter 27 15 Carriage maker 2 16 Cigar maker 31 17 Cigar packer 1 18 Coal miner 3 19 Collar maker 1 20 Compositor 45 21 Cook 1 22 Cooper 24 23 Druggist 1 24 Electrician 1 25 Engineer 14 26 Fireman 2 27 Furniture maker 1 28 Harness maker 5 29 Locomotive 3 30 Machinist 19 31 Mason 1 32 Mason, miner 1 33 Miller 5 34 Miner 44 35 Molder 2 36 Motorneer 1 37 Painter 7 38 Paper-hanger 1 39 Plasterer 3 40 Plumber 2 41 Pressman 1 42 Printer 2 43 Railroad conductor 1 44 Reporter 1 45 Railroad fireman 1 46 Saddler 1 47 Smelter 2 48 Stationary engineer 1 49 Stereotyper 1 50 Stone mason 4 51 Tailor 11 52 Teacher 2 53 Tinner 3 54 Wire drawer 2 55 Wire worker 1 56 Wood worker 1 Total 514 Table 7 Years Employed in Present Occupation [YRSOCC] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Years or code Frequency -9(No response) 43 0.01 - 1.00 year 84 1.01 - 5.00 139 5.01 - 10.00 89 10.01 - 15.00 65 15.01 - 20.00 29 20.01 - 25.00 27 25.01 - 30.00 13 30.01 - 50.00 25 Total 514 Table 8 Number of Hours Per Day's Work [HOURS] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Hours or code Frequency -9(No response) 20 5.00 - 6.00 hours 8 6.01 - 8.00 79 8.01 - 10.00 240 10.01 - 12.00 96 12.01 - 14.00 28 14.01 - 16.00 8 16.01 - 24.00 35 Total 514 Table 9 Earnings Per Day [EARDAY] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 282 $0.65 - 1.00 19 1.01 - 1.50 79 1.51 - 2.00 58 2.01 - 2.50 49 2.51 - 3.00 19 3.01 - 75.00 8 Total 514 Table 10 Earnings Per Week [EARWK] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 401 $3.00 - 5.00 14 5.01 - 10.00 42 10.01 - 15.00 49 15.01 - 20.00 5 20.01 - 50.00 3 Total 514 Table 11 Earnings Per Month [EARMO] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 414 $10.00 - 20.00 15 20.01 - 30.00 11 30.01 - 40.00 13 40.01 - 50.00 30 50.01 - 60.00 10 60.01 - 70.00 12 70.01 - 80.00 6 80.01 - 90.00 3 Total 514 Table 12 Earnings Per Year [EARYR] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 458 $72.00 - 150.00 2 150.01 - 300.00 16 300.01 - 450.00 9 450.01 - 600.00 10 600.01 - 750.00 7 750.01 - 900.00 7 900.01 - 2,000.00 5 Total 514 Table 13 Income from all Other Sources Per Year [OTHINC] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 456 -8("0") 13 -7("40 months") 1 $2.00 - 50.00 10 50.01 - 100.00 16 100.01 - 150.00 7 150.01 - 200.00 4 200.01 - 250.00 3 250.01 - 800.00 4 Total 514 Table 14 Days Lost from Sickness and Other Causes A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Days Frequency or code Sickness Other Causes [DLOSTSIC] [DLOSTOTH] -9(No response) 445 457 1.00 - 10.00 days 25 17 10.01 - 20.00 8 10 20.01 - 30.00 12 8 30.01 - 40.00 4 2 40.01 - 50.00 2 4 50.01 - 60.00 8 3 60.01 - 70.00 2 0 70.01 - 182.50 8 13 Total 514 514 Table 15 Days Lost from Inability to Get Work [NOWORK] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Days or code Frequency -9(No response) 426 3.00 - 50.00 days 18 50.01 - 100.00 41 100.01 - 150.00 16 150.01 - 200.00 12 200.01 - 208.00 1 Total 514 Table 16 Home Ownership [OWNHM] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 234 -8 "0" 1 1 No 135 2 Yes 144 Total 514 Table 17 Value of Home [HMVALUE] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 378 $100.00 - 200.00 8 200.01 - 400.00 20 400.01 - 600.00 18 600.01 - 800.00 24 800.01 - 1,000.00 17 1,000.01 - 1,200.00 13 1,200.01 - 1,400.00 2 1,400.01 - 1,600.00 11 1,600.01 - 1,800.00 4 1,800.01 - 2,000.00 10 2,000.01 - 4,000.00 9 Total 514 Table 18 Incumbrance on Home [INCUMB] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 450 -8("No") 4 $30.00 - 100.00 9 100.01 - 200.00 7 200.01 - 300.00 13 300.01 - 400.00 6 400.01 - 500.00 8 500.01 - 600.00 6 600.01 - 700.00 3 700.01 - 1,500.00 8 Total 514 Table 19 Rent [RENT] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 256 $1.50 - 2.00 10 2.01 - 4.00 58 4.01 - 6.00 69 6.01 - 8.00 62 8.01 - 10.00 40 10.01 - 12.00 6 12.01 - 250.00 13 Total 514 Table 20 Number in Family [FAMSIZE] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Number or code Frequency -9(No response) 99 1 person 21 2 67 3 91 4 71 5 58 6 40 7 24 8 25 9 6 10 4 11 3 12 4 14 1 Total 514 Table 21 Earnings of All Members of the Family [TOTEAR] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 471 $2.88 - 25.00 13 25.01 - 50.00 4 50.01 - 100.00 4 100.01 - 150.00 0 150.01 - 200.00 2 200.01 - 250.00 5 250.01 - 500.00 6 500.01 - 1,200.00 9 Total 514 Table 22 Number in Family Working for Wages A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Frequency Number Total Males Females Children or code [FAMWK] [MALWK] [FEMWK] [KIDSWK] -9(No response) 105 125 419 444 -8("None") 0 3 62 64 1 person 335 330 28 4 2 44 41 5 0 3 18 8 0 1 4 10 6 0 1 5 2 1 0 0 Total 514 514 514 514 Table 23 Number of Children Attending Public School [SCH] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Number or code Frequency -9(No response) 288 -8("None") 38 1 person 64 2 56 3 38 4 20 5 9 6 1 Total 514 Table 24 Member of Labor Organization? What Craft? [UNION] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 271 1 A.A.L.B.A. 2 2 A.F.A.S. 1 3 A.F.U. 1 4 A.F.of L. 8 5 B.L.E. 2 6 B.M.& S.U. 8 7 B.M.U. 1 8 B.P.& D.of A. 2 9 B.U. 13 10 B.of B.M. 1 11 B.of C.& J. 4 12 B.of L.E. 1 13 B.of L.F. 1 14 C.& J.U. 5 15 C.I.U. 1 16 C.M.N.U. 4 17 C.M.U. 29 18 C.U. 20 19 C.U.N. 1 20 E.A.A. 1 21 F.of L. 1 22 G.C.N.U. 1 23 I.A.M. 1 24 I.A.of M. 9 25 I.T.U. 31 26 I.T.U.Y. 1 27 J.B.I.U. 13 28 J.O.A.M. 1 29 J.T.U.of A. 5 30 J.Y.U.of A. 1 31 Jour.P.A. 1 32 K.of L. 10 33 N.M.W. 1 34 N.M.W.A. 1 35 "No" 40 36 P.B.U. 7 37 R.C.N.P.A. 1 38 U.A.M. 1 39 U.B.C.& J. 3 40 U.M.W. 4 41 W.W.U. 1 42 "Yes" 3 Total 514 Table 25 Member Beneficiary Association [BENESOC] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 244 1 No 40 2 Yes 230 Total 514 Table 26 Insurance A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Frequency Code Response Life Accident Fire [INSLIFE] [INSACC] [INSFIRE] -9 No response 368 474 427 -8 "0" 0 1 1 1 No 2 0 0 2 Yes 144 39 86 Total 514 514 514 Table 27 Wages Increased or Decreased? Give Percent A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Frequency Changes Increase Decrease or code [WGINC] [WGDEC] -9(No response) 470 388 -8("Same") 22 22 -7("Yes") 10 5 1.00 - 10.00% 6 24 10.01 - 20.00 2 25 20.01 - 30.00 2 33 30.01 - 40.00 1 9 40.01 - 50.00 1 8 Total 514 514 Table 28 Cost of Living Per Month [COLMO] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 147 $5.00 - 10.00 9 10.01 - 15.00 36 15.01 - 20.00 99 20.01 - 25.00 56 25.01 - 30.00 51 30.01 - 35.00 31 35.01 - 40.00 33 40.01 - 45.00 13 45.01 - 50.00 23 50.01 - 85.00 16 Total 514 Table 29 Cost of Living Per Year [COLYR] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 480 $125.00 - 150.00 2 150.01 - 200.00 4 200.01 - 250.00 5 250.01 - 300.00 4 300.01 - 350.00 3 350.01 - 400.00 5 400.01 - 450.00 3 450.01 - 500.00 3 500.01 - 900.00 5 Total 514 Table 30 Cost of Living Increased or Decreased? Percent A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Frequency Changes Increase Decrease or code [COLINC] [COLDEC] -9(No response) 462 446 -8("Same") 19 19 -7("Yes") 5 6 1.00 - 5.00% 6 6 5.01 - 10.00 12 14 10.01 - 15.00 3 3 15.01 - 20.00 2 6 20.01 - 25.00 3 7 25.01 - 30.00 1 4 30.01 - 75.00 1 3 Total 514 514 Table 31 Savings and Debt A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Frequency Value Savings Debt or code [SAVINGS] [DEBT] -9(No response) 410 349 -8("No") 23 21 $2.00 - 25.00 8 36 25.01 - 50.00 6 52 50.01 - 75.00 2 19 75.01 - 100.00 17 24 100.01 - 125.00 5 1 125.01 - 150.00 6 3 150.01 - 175.00 2 2 175.01 - 200.00 12 4 200.01 - 225.00 1 0 225.01 - 250.00 6 2 250.01 - 1,000.00 16 1 Total 514 514 Table 32 Condition of Work [WORKCOND] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 94 1 Bad 3 2 Poor 249 3 Fair 114 4 Good 54 Total 514 Table 33 Favor Restricting or Suppressing Immigration? [RESIMM] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 76 1 No 15 2 Promote 1 3 Restrict 275 4 Suppress 147 Total 514 Table 34 Favor Compulsory Arbitration? [FAVORARB] A Survey of 514 Male Wage-Earners in Kansas, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 122 1 No 108 2 Yes 284 Total 514