LABOR, Department of. A government department of the United States established by Act of Congress, approved 4 March 1913, "to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable Be fore the passage of this act the affairs of this department were administered by the Bureau of Labor, a subdepartment of the Department of Commerce and Labor. Originally the Bureau of Labor was a part of the Department of the Interior, but at the creation of the new de partment by the Congress, 11 Feb. 1903, the bureau was transferred. It was organized in 1885, and Carroll D. Wright, who had been very successful as chief of the Bureau of Statis tics in Massachusetts, was appointed Commis sioner of Labor. At the end of three years Commissioner Wright had made such signal success in the new department that the bureau was changed to the Department of Labor, with independent functions. Under the Act of 1913 the bureaus of labor, immigration and natural ization and the children's bureau were included in the new department. The Bureau of Labor is now the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the heads of the divisions are known as commis sioners, with the exception of the heads of the children's bureau and the bureau of informa tion, who are entitled chiefs. The head of the
department is a secretary, with last •rank among the members of the Cabinet. There is also an assistant secretary of the department. The Bureau of Labor Statistics conduots investiga tions in all disputes between capital and labor and issues a bimonthly bulletin reviewing the condition of labor in the United States and abroad. The Bureau of Immigation maintains local offices at the several ports of entry, and through these it administers the immigration laws and kindred The Bureau of Naturalization has charge of the returns from the clerks of the United States courts through out the land who issue declarations of inten tion certificates and final naturalization certifi cates to applicants for naturalization. The Children's Buseau deals with all matters affect ing child-life, infant mortality, birth rate, orphanage, juvenile delinquents, dangerous oc cupations for children, children's diseases and child labor, especially the State laws in regard to the latter evil. Consult Reports' of the Secretary of Labor, See COMMERCE, DE PARTMENT OF.