SJ4 State Papers and Addresses

duty of the Commission to assess foreign corporations doing business in this
State.

A system has been installed whereby appeals from the City of Baltimore
and the counties are heard regularly on a stated day each week, and special1
attention has been given to comparison, in the case of foreign corporations, to
the assessments previously made by Baltimore City and the counties.

Maryland State Board of Motion Picture Censors—An important addition
to the staff of the Board is an official reviewer, who operates under the super-
vision of the Board in the screening of pictures to be censored. The need of such
a reviewer has been long recognized, in view of the fact that all dialogue script,
both of domestic and foreign films, must be checked carefully by the Boa:; l.
For a more comprehensive review of the foreign language films, the voluntary
service and cooperation of leading foreign language experts of Baltimore City
and State have been secured. These experts constitute a Foreign Language
Committee of approximately twenty persons, whose assistance the Board finds
invaluable. Consistent efforts have been made to secure better cooperation
among the Exhibitors, the Projectionists, and the Board, thus creating better
understanding and operating in the best interests of the public welfare.

In addition to the regular censorship of 35 mm. films, the Board in all
probability will be called upon to censor 16 mm. films for the proposed "Nickle-
in-the-Slot" or "Soundies", a new device now being placed on the market. This
is an innovation which may have immediate possibilities of large proportions
if it receives public acceptance.

Commissioner of Labor and Statistics—This department has been influential
in the adjustment of differences in connection with several important strikes
in industry during the past eighteen months, and in this phase of work and
otherwise, Mr. John M. Pohlhaus, Commissioner of Labor and Statistics, has
been most efficient in conducting the affairs of his office. The agency is de-
partmentalized, with the Division of Inspection having the responsibility of
enforcing the Labor Laws of Maryland. Its duties include the inspection of ail
types of industrial establishments for sanitation, safety, working conditions,
hours of women, child labor and rules and regulations for compliance with
Federal Laws.

The inspection division inspected all fee-charging employment agencies, to
the number of 59 in 1940, and made 24, 249 industrial inspections. The office
likewise has furnished information to employers and employees relative to the
Federal Fair Trade Labor Standards Act.

The Children's Division is charged with the responsibility of the issuance
of working papers to minors under 18 years of age and necessarily works in
close cooperation with the inspection division and the City and State Depart-
ments of Education. In 1940, 13, 424 cases were handled. This division also
renders assistance to handicapped children of working age who naturally have
difficulty in making satisfactory social and industrial adjustments.

The Division of Street Trades, a separate division from the Children's
Division, is charged with the supervision and issuance of licenses to newsboys
and street traders.

The Commissioner of Labor and Statistics also enforces the new Boiler
Inspection Act passed by the 1939 Legislature, under which 2, 814 boiler inspec-
tion certificates have been issued, covering small as well as large boilers. A