Governor appoints one Commissioner. The first appointment is for
a term from January 1 1923, to the first Monday in May, 1924. There-
after a successor is appointed for a term of two years from the first
Monday in May. (Ch. 29, 1922.)

The Commissioner is authorized and empowered to appoint and em-
ploy such deputies, inspectors, assistants and employees as may be neces-
sary for the performances of the duties imposed upon it, provided such
appointments and employments and compensation to be allowed shall be
subject to the approval of the Governor.

It shall be the duty of said Commission (1st) to collect statistics
concerning and examine into the condition of labor in the State, with
especial reference to wages, and the causes of strikes and disagree-
ments between employees and employers.

(2) To collect information in regard to the agricultural conditions
and products of the State, the acreage under cultivation and planted
in the various crops, the character and price of land, the live stock,
etc., and all other matters pertaining to agricultural pursuits, which
may be of general interest and calculated to attract immigration to
the State..

(3) To collect information in regard to the mineral products of the
State, the output of mines, quarries and so forth, and the manufactur-
ing industries.

(4) To collect information in regard to railroads and other trans-
portation companies, shipping and commerce.

(6) To keep a bureau of general information arid to this end all
offices and institutions of the State, including offices of the General
Assembly, are directed to transmit to the Commissioner of Labor and
Statistics, all reports as soon as possible.

(6) To classify and arrange the information and data so obtained,
and as soon as practicable after entering upon the duties of its office,
publish the same in substantial book form and annually thereafter re-
vise and republish same.

It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to organic, establish and
conduct free employment agencies in such parts of the State as the said
Commissioner may deem advisable for the free use of citizens of the
State for the purpose of securing employment for the unemployed and
for the purpose of securing help or labor for persons applying for such.

To arbitrate all disputes between employer and. employee. To en-
force the hours of labor for females; to enforce the Factory Inspection
and Child Labor Laws; the Steam Boiler Inspection and the State Mine
Inspection Laws.

The Child Labor Law applies to all children between the ages of
fourteen and sixteen years, who must pass an educational test and also
a physical examination made by the physicians connected with the
Bureau, before receiving employment certificates.

Under the Child Labor Law, Acts 1912, Chapter 731, the total num-
ber of applications made at the Baltimore office for all classes of per-
mits was 11,828 in 1922, compared with 10,210 in 1921. The number of
inspections made under this act in 1922 was 718, compared with 573 in
1921, and the number found employed was 2,589 in 1922, compared with
3,082 in 1921. The average wage which children between 14 and 16 years
received in 1922 was $6.69, compared with $7.20 in 1921.

Under the Hours of Employment for Females, Acts 1916, Chap. 147,
the number of establishments inspected in the City of Baltimore was
2,536 in 1922, compared with 2.374 in 1921, and the number found em-
ployed ill 1922 was 41,653 compared with 39,615 in 1921.