Charles P. Neill
Encyclopedia
Charles Patrick Neill was an American
civil servant who raised in Austin, Texas
after his family emigrated from Ireland in 1850. Neill graduated from Johns Hopkins University
in 1897 with a doctorate
in economics
and politics
. He was appointed the United States
Commissioner of Labor in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt
. As Commissioner of Labor he helped inspect the Meat Packing industries, and reported women and child labor
injustices. He also mediated labor disputes between workers and employers in the coal, railroad, and steel corporations.
. His parents James and Julia Neill had emigrated from Ireland
in 1850. The family moved to Austin, Texas in 1871, where Charles' father, James, practiced law. Charles was employed as a bank messenger from 1876 to 1885. He attended the University of Notre Dame
from 1885 to 1888 where he enjoyed his youth playing with snowballs. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin from 1888 to 1889 and finally graduated from Georgetown University
in Washington, D.C.
in 1891. He later taught at Notre Dame from 1891 to 1894. He studied at Johns Hopkins University from 1894 to 1897 and earned a doctorate in economics and politics. He then decided to continue teaching at the Catholic University of America, where he taught as an economics professor from 1896 to 1905 along with his peer Carroll D. Wright
. He married Esther Waggaman of Washington, D.C., in 1901.
In 1902, Charles was appointed by President Roosevelt to serve as assistant recorder of the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission and his work received recognition. In 1904 the board of arbitration
was appointed to defuse a threatened coal strike in Alabama and one of the members, Judge George Gray of Delaware
, made his participation dependent upon Charles serving as the recorder, which allowed for Charles to become better known in his field. Shortly after, in 1905, Roosevelt selected Neill to succeed Carroll D. Wright
, who had also taught economics at Catholic University, as United States Commissioner of Labor from 1905 to 1913.
reappointed Charles in 1909. Woodrow Wilson
appointed him Commissioner of Labor Statistics in 1913 when the Department of Commerce and Labor was divided and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
was established in the new Department of Labor. Neill provided federal mediation services in railroad labor disputes and he drafted the Newlands Labor Act in 1913. When Upton Sinclair
wrote his book The Jungle
, Roosevelt sent Neill to Chicago
investigate the meat packing industry, when Neill returned he described the packing industries as being "revolting". This caused much controversy in society as the terrible unsanitary conditions were of meat products were being publicized. The Neill-Reynolds Report (which is what the investigation report was named) led to the Meat Inspection Act
of 1906. The Pure Food and Drug Act
, enacted on the same day in 1906, also gave the government broad jurisdiction over food in interstate commerce. In addition, his detailed report on child labor
provided a basis for congressional legislation. his child labor report showed the injustices of the working condition for children as well as women. Many employers believed that getting women and children out of the farm and working in mills was actually better for them. However, this was proved untrue as reports were publicized about the bad ventilation in these factories and the unsanitary conditions in which they were put to work. Also, it was noted that they did not receive the same benefits as men and were often used as cheap labor. As a result, Charles helped pass an 8-hour hour maximum work day. Charles P. Neill also exposed the shocking working hours and conditions in the Bethlehem Steel Works company, as well as writing a report on the strike of textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts
in 1912.
What Roosevelt has said about his work with Charles P. Neill:
. He was honored by Notre Dame with the Laetare Medal
in 1922. Charles Patrick Neill died in Washington, D.C., on 3 October 1942.
Neill's professional papers contain correspondence (1904–1942) written while performing one of his various positions as professor, arbitrator, labor commissioner and so on.
Included with these papers are:
However, Richard G. Balfe, notes that Neill destroyed most of his personal papers during the last year of his life; little remains apart from some press clippings and letters of congratulations from friends.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
civil servant who raised in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
after his family emigrated from Ireland in 1850. Neill graduated from Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in 1897 with a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. He was appointed the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Commissioner of Labor in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
. As Commissioner of Labor he helped inspect the Meat Packing industries, and reported women and child labor
Child labor
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...
injustices. He also mediated labor disputes between workers and employers in the coal, railroad, and steel corporations.
Early years
Charles P. Neill was born on December 12, 1865 at Rock Island, IllinoisRock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
. His parents James and Julia Neill had emigrated from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1850. The family moved to Austin, Texas in 1871, where Charles' father, James, practiced law. Charles was employed as a bank messenger from 1876 to 1885. He attended the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
from 1885 to 1888 where he enjoyed his youth playing with snowballs. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin from 1888 to 1889 and finally graduated from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 1891. He later taught at Notre Dame from 1891 to 1894. He studied at Johns Hopkins University from 1894 to 1897 and earned a doctorate in economics and politics. He then decided to continue teaching at the Catholic University of America, where he taught as an economics professor from 1896 to 1905 along with his peer Carroll D. Wright
Carroll D. Wright
Carroll Davidson Wright was an American statistician.Wright was born at Dunbarton, New Hampshire. He began to study law in 1860, but in 1862 enlisted as a private in the 14th New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment to fight the American Civil War...
. He married Esther Waggaman of Washington, D.C., in 1901.
In 1902, Charles was appointed by President Roosevelt to serve as assistant recorder of the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission and his work received recognition. In 1904 the board of arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
was appointed to defuse a threatened coal strike in Alabama and one of the members, Judge George Gray of Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, made his participation dependent upon Charles serving as the recorder, which allowed for Charles to become better known in his field. Shortly after, in 1905, Roosevelt selected Neill to succeed Carroll D. Wright
Carroll D. Wright
Carroll Davidson Wright was an American statistician.Wright was born at Dunbarton, New Hampshire. He began to study law in 1860, but in 1862 enlisted as a private in the 14th New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment to fight the American Civil War...
, who had also taught economics at Catholic University, as United States Commissioner of Labor from 1905 to 1913.
Work
President William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
reappointed Charles in 1909. Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
appointed him Commissioner of Labor Statistics in 1913 when the Department of Commerce and Labor was divided and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and...
was established in the new Department of Labor. Neill provided federal mediation services in railroad labor disputes and he drafted the Newlands Labor Act in 1913. When Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
wrote his book The Jungle
The Jungle
The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the novel with the intention of portraying the life of the immigrant in the United States, but readers were more concerned with the large portion of the book pertaining to the corruption of the American meatpacking...
, Roosevelt sent Neill to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
investigate the meat packing industry, when Neill returned he described the packing industries as being "revolting". This caused much controversy in society as the terrible unsanitary conditions were of meat products were being publicized. The Neill-Reynolds Report (which is what the investigation report was named) led to the Meat Inspection Act
Meat Inspection Act
The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was a United States Congress Act that worked to prevent adulterated or misbranded meat and meat products from being sold as food and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. These requirements also apply...
of 1906. The Pure Food and Drug Act
Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906, is a United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines...
, enacted on the same day in 1906, also gave the government broad jurisdiction over food in interstate commerce. In addition, his detailed report on child labor
Child labor
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...
provided a basis for congressional legislation. his child labor report showed the injustices of the working condition for children as well as women. Many employers believed that getting women and children out of the farm and working in mills was actually better for them. However, this was proved untrue as reports were publicized about the bad ventilation in these factories and the unsanitary conditions in which they were put to work. Also, it was noted that they did not receive the same benefits as men and were often used as cheap labor. As a result, Charles helped pass an 8-hour hour maximum work day. Charles P. Neill also exposed the shocking working hours and conditions in the Bethlehem Steel Works company, as well as writing a report on the strike of textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
in 1912.
What Roosevelt has said about his work with Charles P. Neill:
Unfortunately, thoroughly efficient government servants often proved to be the prime offenders so far as the enforcement of the eight-hour law was concerned, because in their zeal to get good work done for the Government they became harsh taskmasters, and declined to consider the needs of their fellow-employees who served under them. The more I had studied the subject the more strongly I had become convinced that an eight-hour day under the conditions of labor in the United States was all that could, with wisdom and propriety, be required either by the Government or by private employers; that more than this meant, on the average, a decrease in the qualities that tell for good citizenship. I finally solved the problem, as far as Government employees were concerned, by calling in Charles P. Neill, the head of the Labor Bureau; and, acting on his advice, I speedily made the eight-hour law really effective. Any man who shirked his work, who dawdled and idled, received no mercy; slackness is even worse than harshness; for exactly as in battle mercy to the coward is cruelty to the brave man, so in civil life slackness towards the vicious and idle is harshness towards the honest and hard-working.
We passed a good law protecting the lives and health of miners in the Territories, and other laws providing for the supervision of employment agencies in the District of Columbia, and protecting the health of motormen and conductors on street railways in the District. We practically started the Bureau of Mines. We provided for safeguarding factory employees in the District against accidents, and for the restriction of child labor therein. We passed a workmen's compensation law for the protection of Government employees; a law which did not go as far as I wished, but which was the best I could get, and which committed the Government to the right policy. We provided for an investigation of woman and child labor in the United States. We incorporated the National Child Labor Committee. Where we had most difficulty was with the railway companies engaged in inter-State business. We passed an act improving safety appliances on railway trains without much opposition, but we had more trouble with acts regulating the hours of labor of railway employees and making those railways that were engaged in inter-State commerce liable for injuries to or the death of their employees while on duty.
Later years
After his departure from the Department of Labor later in 1913, the skilled arbitrator was employed by Southeastern Railways from 1915 to 1939 to handle labor issues. He also served on the United States Railroad Board of Adjustments from 1919 to 1921. He was interested in industrial safety and workmen's compensation laws. Some of his charitable work included the Girls' Reform School, and the Board of Charities of the District of Columbia. He had numerous memberships and positions of leadership in several professional societies, including the American Statistical AssociationAmerican Statistical Association
The American Statistical Association , is the main professional US organization for statisticians and related professions. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest, continuously operating professional society in the United States...
. He was honored by Notre Dame with the Laetare Medal
Laetare Medal
The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Roman Catholic church and society...
in 1922. Charles Patrick Neill died in Washington, D.C., on 3 October 1942.
Charles P. Neill papers
The Charles Patrick Neill Papers consist of seven manuscript boxes and one reel of microfilm from the years 1893–1956. His personal papers include correspondence, tax information (1940–1946), clippings and a scrapbook (1893–1903).Neill's professional papers contain correspondence (1904–1942) written while performing one of his various positions as professor, arbitrator, labor commissioner and so on.
Included with these papers are:
- Class notes and publications from his teaching career at the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic University of America
- Legal papers regarding various grievances brought by workmen against their bosses and the charges brought against Neill when he became Commissioner of Labor Statistics
- News clippings and other printed material dealing with his work for the Department of LaborUnited States Department of LaborThe United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
- Scrapbooks on microfilm concerning his Labor Department activities and his membership on the Railway Commission
However, Richard G. Balfe, notes that Neill destroyed most of his personal papers during the last year of his life; little remains apart from some press clippings and letters of congratulations from friends.
Books
- The beginnings of child labor legislation in certain states: a comparative study (1910)
- Some ethical aspects of the labor movement (1908)