CODEBOOK AND USER'S MANUAL: A SURVEY OF 1,200 EMPLOYEES OF STREET RAILWAYS IN MICHIGAN, 1895 REPORTED IN THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MICHIGAN BUREAU OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS Version 2.1 July 5, 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 1,200 Employees of Street Railways in Michigan, 1895; Reported in the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. Berkeley: Institute of Business and Economic Research, 1993. A SURVEY OF 1,200 EMPLOYEES OF STREET RAILWAYS IN MICHIGAN, 1895 In 1895 the Michigan Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics conducted three major surveys pertaining to "street railways and their employees" in that State. The results were published in three comprehensive tables in the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau in 1896. [1] This codebook and user's manual pertains to the first survey in the volume, a canvass of 1,865 employees of street railways. The Bureau had hoped for "very complete statistics" on street railway employees. The act under which street railways incorporated required them to file annual reports containing information on employment, operating costs, and other matters. From these annual reports, the Bureau compiled and published a list of all street railway companies in operation in the State. This tally indicated that there were 25 such firms as of January 1, 1896. The Bureau noted that it, fully intended to canvass the employes of every street railway in the State, but through the failure of the canvasser appointed at Marquette to do his work; and an oversight in omitting Wyandotte, these two roads do not appear. [2] Table 7 of this Codebook lists each of the surveyed firms by name and city, together with the total number of employees in each, as indicated in the 1896 annual report which each road was required to submit to the state. Also shown is the number of employees sampled and the number of individual employee responses from that company published in the Bureau's report. The Bureau reported that "No difficulty was encountered in securing statistics of street railway employes." It felt that the tabulated results of the survey "give a fair idea of the condition of these people." [3] It added that, In making the canvass, care was taken in selecting canvassers, to employ those from whom, by their general intelligence and standing with employers and employes, satisfactory service might be expected. [4] The individual responses of only 1,200 of the 1,865 street railway workers canvassed were actually published. The Bureau justified its decision to publish approximately two-thirds of the responses with the remark that the 1,200 responses it published were "...deemed sufficient to verify the work of the Bureau." [5] It did, however, publish selected summary statistics based on the responses of all 1,865 canvassed workers. [6] In the table below we present some of these summary statistics together with comparable summary statistics calculated from the 1,200 published responses. The table provides strong support for the Bureau's conclusion. The average age, the proportion native born, married, home owners and the fraction who reported savings were virtually identical in the total canvass and in the fraction of the canvass published in the form of individual worker responses. The average daily wage for the two groups was identical as well. Table 7 of this Codebook suggests that the Bureau's selection rule was to publish all responses of surveyed workers on the small lines and to concentrate its omissions among workers in the large companies. It is less obvious how the Bureau selected individual worker responses for publication from among those collected at large firms. But its method certainly resulted in a close match between average values for all sampled workers and for those whose individual responses were published. Table A Responses All Workers Whose Question Canvassed Responses Were Workers Reported Age 32.0 31.8 American 57.4% 62.6% Married 68.9% 68.0% Own Home 24.7% 24.8% Saved Money in Past Year 42.7% 40.3% Average Daily Wage $1.69 $1.69 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 27 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 2.0, some of the variable names and most of variable codes have been changed. Some data errors in several variables have been corrected. PCTCH1 has been split into WGDEC1 and WGINC1. PCTCH2 has been split into WGDEC2 and WGINC2. Users are reminded to be aware of these changes. The data from this sample of 1,200 employees of street railways in Michigan 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] Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics, Thirteenth Annual Report for the year Ending February 1, 1896. Lansing: Robert Smith & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1896. [2] Ibid., p. 55. [3] Ibid., p. 1 [4] Ibid. [5] Ibid., p. 52. [6] Ibid., pp. 53-63. Table 1 Questions Asked of Respondents Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Name Description PAGE Page Number ID Case Number SUB_ID Case Number Assigned by the Michigan Bureau RES Residence, City, or Village AGE Age POB Nationality MS Marital Status ADULTS Number of Adults in Family KIDS Number of Children in Family WHEMP By What Corporation, Firm, or Individual are You Employed? OCC Nature of Work WAGEDAY Wages Per Day PERIOD How often are You Paid? WGCHG1 Have Wages Increased or Decreased over the Past Year? WGDEC1 What Percent have Wages been Reduced in the Past Year? WGINC1 What Percent have Wages been Increased in the Past Year? WGCHG5 Have Wages Increased or Decreased over the Past Five Years? WGDEC5 What Percent have Wages been Reduced in the Past Five Year? WGINC5 What Percent have Wages been Increased in the Past Five Year? DLOST Number of Days Lost in the Past Year? WHY Cause for Lost Time? TOTEAR Amount Earned in the Past Year? SAVINGS Amount Saved in the Past Year? OWNHM Do You Own a Home? INCUMB Is It Clear from Incumbrance? HMDEBT If not Clear, Is Debt on Contract or Mortgage? DEBT Amount of Debt MORTINTR Rate of Interest on Debt PAYDUE Do You Meet the Payments? INSFIRE Is It Insured against Fire? RENT If Renting, How Much is Rent Per Month? COLCHG1 Has the Cost of Living Increased or Decreased in the Past Year? COLCHG5 Has the Cost of Living Increased or Decreased in the Past Five Years? MORE Can You Earn more than Enough To Support your Family? INSLIFE Do You Have Life Insurance? INSACC Do You Have Accidental Insurance? Table 2 Residence, City, or Village [RES] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency 1 Adrian 11 7 Ann Arbor 14 9 Battlecreek 12 10 Bay City 75 11 Benton Harbor 21 23 Detroit 600 33 Grand Haven 3 34 Grand Rapids 200 48 Ishpeming 6 50 Jackson 21 51 Lansing 20 56 Manistee 35 60 Menominee 19 68 Muskegon 24 69 Negaunee 9 74 Owosso 11 82 Port Huron 19 85 Richmond 1 87 Saginaw 75 92 St. Joseph 5 93 Au Sable 2 94 Frankenlust 17 Total 1,200 Table 3 Age of Respondents [AGE] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Age Frequency 16 - 20 years old 40 21 - 25 210 26 - 30 356 31 - 35 257 36 - 40 189 41 - 45 88 46 - 50 33 51 - 55 14 56 - 60 12 61 - 62 1 Total 1,200 Table 4 Nationality of Respondents [POB] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency 1 America 751 8 Denmark 3 16 Norway 3 17 Poland 4 20 Sweden 26 50 Canada 118 70 England 44 71 Scotland 31 73 Ireland 100 76 France 10 79 German 104 78 Holland 5 80 Africa 1 Total 1,200 Table 5 Marital Status of Respondents [MS] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency 1 Single 376 2 Married 816 3 Widowed 8 Total 1,200 Table 6 Number of Adults and Children in Family Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Frequency Number Adults Children or code [ADULTS] [KIDS] -9(No response) 377 530 1 person 12 230 2 787 202 3 16 129 4 8 69 5 0 22 6 0 13 7 0 2 8 0 3 Total 1,200 1,200 Table 7 By What Corporation, Firm, or Individual Are You Employed? [WHEMP] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Number of Workers Code City, Corporation Empl.* Surveyed** Report DETROIT 1 Detroit Citizen's Street Railway Co. 828 845 300 2 The Detroit Railway 500 225 200 3 Fort Wayne & Belle Isle Railway Co. na 112 100 GRAND RAPIDS 4 Consolidated Street Railway Co. 313 274 200 SAGINAW 5 Union Street Railway Co. 118 80 75 BAY CITY 6 Bay Cities' Consolidated Railway Co. 67 77 75 MANISTEE 7 Manistee, Filer City & East Lake R'y Co. 56 37 37 ST. JOSEPH 8 St. Joseph & Benton Harbor Street R'y 25 26 26 MUSKEGON 9 Muskegon Railway Co. 40 24 24 JACKSON 10 Jackson Street Railway Co. na 21 21 PORT HURON 11 City Electric Railway Co. 32 20 20 LANSING 12 Lansing City Electric Railway Co. 32 20 20 MENOMINEE 13 Menominee Elec. Light and R'y Power Co. na 19 19 NEGAUNEE 14 Negaunee and Ishpeming Street R'y and Elec. na 15 15 ANN ARBOR 15 Ann Arbor Street Railway na 13 13 BATTLE CREEK 16 Citizen's Street Railway Co. 15 13 13 OWOSSO 17 Owosso and Corunna Traction Co. 17 11 11 ADRIAN 18 Adrian City Electric Belt Railway 10 11 11 GRAND HAVEN 19 Grand Haven Street Railway Co. na 3 3 KALAMAZOO 20 Citizen's Street Railway Co. 15 19 17 Total 1,865 1,200 Notes: "na" indicates that the employment total was omitted from the published report. Sources: *Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics, Thirteenth Annual Report for the year Ending February 1, 1896. Lansing: Robert Smith & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1896: xiv-xv. **Ibid.: 55. Table 8 Nature of Work [OCC] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 1 1 Baggagemen 2 2 Barnmen 18 3 Blacksmiths 16 4 Bookkeepers 9 5 Carpenters 10 6 Changers 5 7 Conductors 392 8 Conductors and Motormen 22 9 Drivers 36 10 Electricians 28 11 Engineers 24 12 Feeders 2 13 Firemen 15 14 Flagmen 2 15 Foremen 11 16 Helpers 4 17 Inspectors 7 18 Laborers 18 19 Linemen 27 20 Machinists 14 21 Master Mechanics 2 22 Motormen 403 23 Night Clerks 1 24 Office Employees 1 25 Oilers 3 26 Painters 14 27 Registers 1 28 Repairers 15 29 Superintendents 6 30 Switchmen 3 31 Teamsters 3 32 Time Keepers 1 33 Trackmen 44 34 Watchmen 1 35 Wipers 4 36 Division Foreman 1 37 Sec. Foreman 1 38 Barn Foreman 5 39 Motor Repairman 1 40 Car Repairman 18 41 Nightwatch 6 42 Ass't Engineer 1 43 General Hand 1 44 Mot'r, Tr'k'n 1 Total 1,200 Table 9 Wages Per Day [WAGEDAY] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Wages Frequency $0.46 - 1.00 68 1.01 - 2.00 1,014 2.01 - 3.00 110 3.01 - 4.00 7 4.01 - 4.47 1 Total 1,200 Table 10 How Often Are You Paid? [PERIOD] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 8 3 Weekly 517 5 One month 223 11 End of time 1 12 Semi-monthly 312 13 10-days 139 Total 1,200 Table 11 Changes of Wages in The Past One and Five Years? Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Frequency Code Response Past Year Past Five Years [WGCHG1] [WGCHG5] -9 No response 183 370 1 Decreased 28 235 2 Increased 461 405 3 No / no change 528 190 Total 1,200 1,200 Table 12 What Percent have Wages been Reduced in the Past One and Five Years? Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Frequency Percent In past year In past five years or code [WGDEC1] [WGDEC5] -9(No response) 183 370 -8(Decrease, no amount given) 6 62 -6(No change or same) 528 190 -5(Increased) 461 405 5 % 6 32 6 - 10 11 58 11 - 15 3 12 16 - 20 2 30 21 - 25 0 25 26 - 60 0 16 Total 1,200 1,200 Table 13 What Percent have Wages been Increased in the Past One and Five Years? Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Frequency Percent In past year In past five years or code [WGINC1] [WGINC5] -9(No response) 183 370 -7(Increase, no amount given) 11 34 -6(No change or same) 528 190 -5(Reduced) 28 235 2 - 5 % 304 21 6 - 10 97 13 11 - 15 20 12 16 - 20 16 295 21 - 25 8 25 26 - 60 5 5 Total 1,200 1,200 Table 14 Number of Days Lost in The Past Year [DLOST] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Days or code Frequency -9(No response) 3 -8("None") 221 1 - 20 days 336 21 - 40 285 41 - 60 181 61 - 80 16 81 - 100 81 101 - 120 25 121 - 140 1 141 - 160 15 161 - 180 14 181 - 200 8 201 - 305 14 Total 1,200 Table 15 Cause for Lost Time [WHY] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 19 -8 No time lost 221 2 Accident 10 8 Laid off 1 13 School 4 61 Bad weather 8 62 Other business 16 69 Resting/rest 12 77 Pleasure and sickness 19 81 Lack of work and sickness 21 85 Resting and sickness 1 93 Lack of work and pleasure 1 95 Business and sickness 1 101 Funeral 2 128 Sickness 268 129 Other work 3 130 Pleasure 276 131 Vacation 16 133 Lack of work 290 135 Business 6 137 Other business & sickness 1 150 Pleasure and other business 4 Total 1,200 Table 16 Amount Earned in The Past Year [TOTEAR] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Value Frequency $30.00 - 250.00 38 250.01 - 500.00 324 500.01 - 750.00 786 750.01 - 1,000.00 40 1,000.01 - 1,250.00 9 1,250.01 - 1,500.00 2 1,500.01 - 1,620.00 1 Total 1,200 Table 17 Amount Saved in The Past Year [SAVINGS] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 64 -8("None") 652 $2.00 - 50.00 109 50.01 - 100.00 192 100.01 - 150.00 67 150.01 - 200.00 66 200.01 - 250.00 11 250.01 - 300.00 26 300.01 - 1,000.00 13 Total 1,200 Table 18 Do You Own a Home? Is It Clear From Incumbrance? Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Frequency Code Response Own home No Incumbrance [OWNHM] [INCUMB] -9 No Response 12 905 1 No 890 126 2 Yes 298 169 Total 1,200 1,200 Table 19 If Not Clear, Is Debt On Contract Or Mortgage? [HMDEBT] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 1,078 1 Contract 62 2 Mortgage 60 Total 1,250 Table 20 Amount of Debt [DEBT] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 1,079 $40.00 - 100.00 8 100.01 - 200.00 12 200.01 - 300.00 22 300.01 - 400.00 15 400.01 - 500.00 19 500.01 - 600.00 6 600.01 - 700.00 11 700.01 - 800.00 7 800.01 - 900.00 4 900.01 - 1,000.00 8 1,000.01 - 1,400.00 9 Total 1,200 Table 21 Rate of Interest on Debt [MORTINTR] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Rate or code Frequency -9(No response) 4 -8(No debt) 1,079 5.00 % 2 6.00 28 7.00 73 8.00 14 Total 1,200 Table 22 Do You Meet the Payments? [PAYDUE] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 1,077 1 No 6 2 Yes 117 Total 1,200 Table 23 Is It Insured Against Fire? [INSFIRE] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 917 1 No 27 2 Yes 256 Total 1,200 Table 24 How Much Is Rent Per Month? [RENT] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Rent or code Frequency -9(No response) 355 -8(Home owner) 298 $1.00 - 2.00 4 2.01 - 3.00 4 3.01 - 4.00 12 4.01 - 5.00 39 5.01 - 6.00 59 6.01 - 7.00 73 7.01 - 8.00 115 8.01 - 9.00 49 9.01 - 10.00 142 10.01 - 11.00 10 11.01 - 12.00 30 12.01 - 13.00 5 13.01 - 14.00 2 14.01 - 15.00 1 15.01 - 16.00 2 Total 1,200 Table 25 Changes of The Cost of Living in the Past One and Five Years Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Frequency Code Response In past year In past five years [COLCHG1] [COLCHG5] -9 No response 156 215 1 Decreased 49 160 2 Increased 474 489 3 No Change/Same 521 336 Total 1,200 1,200 Table 26 Can You Earn Enough to Support Your Family? [MORE] Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 172 1 No 548 2 Yes 480 Total 1,200 Table 27 Questions About Insurance Survey of 1,200 Street Railway Employees In Michigan, 1895 Frequency Code Response Life Accidental [INSLIFE] [INSACC] -9 No response 25 85 1 No 600 931 2 Yes 575 183 Total 1,200 1,200