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SUMMARY OF DATA COLLECTED IN EACH COUNTRY.

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

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1 The report also covered towns in Scotland and Ireland, but in the international comparisons only data for England and Wales were used.

2 Not reported.

3 Dwellings occupied by colored tenants are excluded.

Counting, for statistical purposes, the "Twin Cities," Minneapolis and St. Paul, as one town.

The cities chosen for the investigation in each of the countries differed greatly in size, ranging in England from London, with four million and a half inhabitants, to Normanton, with only 12,000; in Germany from Berlin, with over two million, to Oschersleben, with 13,000; in France from Paris, with two and three-quarter million, to Fougeres, with 23,500; in Belgium from Brussels, with 630,000 (in the Metropolitan area), to Paturages, with 12,000; in the United. States New York, with nearly three and a half million was, of course, the greatest, and Muncie, Ind., with 24,000, was the smallest city included in the investigation.

In the consideration of all of the tables which follow, the varying dates of the investigations should be kept in mind.

RATES OF WAGES.

The predominant range of weekly wages at the dates of the several investigations in the various countries for selected occupations in the building, engineering, and printing trades is shown in the following table. It should be noted that the figures for England and Wales are exclusive of London and those of Germany are exclusive of Berlin:

PREDOMINANT RANGE OF WEEKLY WAGES IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS IN SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES, BY COUNTRIES

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

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When the wages in the various countries are compared a wide range is found in every occupation. In the several reports issued by the Board of Trade not only are actual wages presented, but relative figures are also given, wages for England and Wales (exclusive of London) being taken as the basis of comparison or 100. In the following table these figures, expressive of relative weekly wages, are given:

RELATIVE LEVEL OF WEEKLY WAGES IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS IN SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES, BY COUNTRIES.

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

Ratio of mean predominant weekly wage to that in England and Wales

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An examination of the above table shows that for all occupations without exception wages are highest in the United States, the other countries arranging themselves in order, England and Wales, Germany, France, and Belgium. Taking the arithmetical mean of the ratios for all occupations, the weekly rate of wages in the United States was, according to the reports, approximately two and onethird times the wages in England and Wales, two and five-sixths times the wages in Germany, three and one-eighth times the wages in France, and three and three-fourths times the wages in Belgium. With regard to the effect of the differences in the dates of the investigations upon the wages as shown in the table, the statements of the reports of the Board of Trade may be summed up as follows: Germany. If the data for all the trades be taken together, an estimate of a rise of 8 or 9 per cent in the general level of weekly wages and earnings between October, 1905, and March, 1908 (that is, in a period marked until near its close by great industrial activity), may be regarded as approximately accurate.

France. Between October, 1905, and October, 1907, on the average, wages in the building trades increased about 5 per cent. In the engineering trades changes were less marked. Taking all the towns together the average rise was about 3 per cent. Earnings

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in the printing trades do not appear to have increased to any appreciable extent.

Belgium. It does not appear that the result of the investigation would have been appreciably different if all the data could have been brought down to the autumn of 1908.

England and Wales.-The level of wages in the building trades was the same in England and Wales in 1909 as in 1905, but the level in the engineering trades had been raised by about 14 per cent between October, 1905, and February, 1909, and those of compositors by about 2 per cent. The effect of these changes would be to lower the mean ratio for the trades represented in the above table from 232 to 100 to 230 to 100.

When the rates of wages reported in the individual cities of each country are compared a wide range is found. Each report contains figures showing the relative rates of wages in each city as compared with those in the chief city of the country as a basis or 100, and in order to compare the ranges in the various countries these figures have been brought together in the following table:

RANGE OF WEEKLY WAGES IN THE CITIES OF EACH COUNTRY AS COMPARED WITHI WAGES IN THE CHIEF CITY.

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

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Comparing the various countries in regard to the extent of the range in wages, it will be seen that within every country and within every occupation the rates of wages differ widely. This range is found to be generally the widest in the cities of France. Taking the five groups of occupations together, the differences between the cities of the United States are, according to these reports, less than the differences between the cities of any of the other countries, although the territory covered by the investigation in the United States was greater than that covered in any of the other countries.1 Although the fact is not brought out in the table, it may be stated that in no case was the minimum wage reported found in the smallest city of the country. On the other hand, it will be seen that in many cases the highest wage was paid in some city other than the largest city of the country. In France, however, the highest wage was reported for Paris for every occupation.

HOURS OF LABOR.

The average usual hours of labor per week for the same group of occupations for which rates of wages have been shown are presented in the following table:

AVERAGE USUAL HOURS OF LABOR IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS IN SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES, BY COUNTRIES.

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents. Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

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1 According to the Board of Trade report "The inquiry embraced towns scattered over an area nine times as great as the United Kingdom and equal to nearly twice the combined areas of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Belgium, the four countries previously investigated."

Whether London is included, not reported.

Whether Paris is included, not reported.

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