Believing that one of the most satisfactory sources of information in regard to labor conditions is the word of the workers themselves, the Consumers’ League decided to base its study mainly upon interviews with restaurant employees. One thousand and seventeen (1,017) women were interviewed in New York City and in six of the larger cities of the State. They were seen in their homes, at their places of employment and through employment agencies. In New York City all the interviews were held at the Occupational Clinic of the Board of Health, where, through the courtesy of Dr. Harris, Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Hygiene, a room was set aside for the use of the League investigator. In response to a requirement of the Health Department, all food-handlers in the city come to the Clinic for a physical examination and certificate testifying that they are free from communicable disease. The investigator could in this way meet the women on neutral ground when there was no temptation to conceal or distort facts, and talk confidentially with them. The interviews taken at the Clinic in five months would have required at least a year to get in any other way. The New York State Consumers’ League and the branch leagues in Buffalo, Syracuse and Mr. Vernon co-operated in interviewing women in localities outside of New York City, and the same undesirable conditions were found to prevail throughout the State. Supplementary information was also obtained from all other available sources, such as employers, employment agencies, girls’ clubs and published reports. The workers came from every kind of restaurant, including hotels, tea-rooms, buffet and dairy lunches, cafeterias and clubs. In this way it was possible to get in touch with a thoroughly representative group of workers, including the best paid as well as the most underpaid. In undertaking the investigation, the League sought to answer three questions: first, what are the actual conditions of labor prevailing in the restaurants of New York State; second, are these conditions such that the worker may lead a wholesome, normal life; and third, how do these conditions react through the individual worker upon society as a whole. The Consumers’ League acknowledges its deep indebtedness to Dr. Harris for the helpful interest that he has taken in its work, and for his courtesy in allowing the League investigator to take interviews at the Occupational Clinic. [Illustration: The Normal Working Day—Eight Hours. A Common Occurrence—Fifteen Hours.]