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 IENTS 
 
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 GIFT 
 JUN 10 19U 
 
 
 REPORT OF THE 
 
 INDUSTRIAL WELFARE 
 COMMISSION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STATE OF WASHINGTON 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Wages, Conditions of Work and Cost and 
 Standards of Living of Women Wage- 
 Earners in Washington 
 
 PREPARED BY 
 
 GAROLINE J. GLEASON 
 
 Olympia, Washington, March 1914 
 
 Olympja: 
 frank m. lambobn <a^^b pltblic printer. 
 
 1914 
 

 
REPORT OF THE 
 
 INDUSTRIAL WELFARE 
 COMMISSION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STATE OF WASHINGTON 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Wages, Conditions of Work and Cost and 
 Standards of Living of Women Wage- 
 Earners in Washington 
 
 PREPARED BY 
 
 CAROLINE J. GLEASON 
 
 Olympia, Washington, March 1914 
 
 :ltm?:a 
 

 INDUSTRIAL WELFARE COMMISSION. 
 
 EDWARD W. OLSON, Chairman. 
 
 MRS. JACKSON SILBAUGH. 
 MRS. FLORENCE H. SWANSON. 
 
 MRS. W. H. UDALL. 
 ; ; M, H. MARVIN. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Names of Commissioners 2 
 
 Table of Contents 3 
 
 Statistical Tables 4 
 
 Summary of Work of Industrial Welfare Commission 5 
 
 Letter of Special Investigator submitting Report 10 
 
 Section I. Introduction to Report 11 
 
 Section II. Wages 18 
 
 Mercantile Stores 18 
 
 5, 10 and 15 Cent Stores ' 21 
 
 Factories 23 
 
 Fish Canneries (Hours) 29 
 
 Laundries 30 
 
 Section III. Conditions of Labor 34 
 
 Laundries 34 
 
 Factories 37 
 
 Mercantile Stores 42 
 
 Section IV. Cost and Standards of Living 47 
 
 Board and Room 48 
 
 Rooms Investigated 52 
 
 Clothing and Laundry 55 
 
 Church and Association Dues 58 
 
 Magazines and Stationery 60 
 
 Vacation and Amusement 61 
 
 Medicine and Dentistry 63 
 
 Summary 64 
 
 Section V. Personal Comment : 
 
 By Employers 66 
 
 By Employes 73 
 
 Section VI. Practical Problems : 
 
 Nominal and Real Wages 77 
 
 Seasonal Work and Unempiojjasent 78 
 
 Time and Piece Rates of Payment 80 
 
 Wages Determined by Efficiency 82 
 
 Minimum not the Maximum 82 
 
 Conjugal Conditions 84 
 
 Residence at Home and "Adrift" 85 
 
 Pin Money Theory 87 
 
 Effect of Underpayment on Health : 
 
 (a) Of Worker 87 
 
 (b) Of Next Generation 89 
 
 Effect of Low Wages on Morals 90 
 
 Minors and Adults 90 
 
 Learners and Experienced Workers 92 
 
 Misfits 93 
 
 Summary 95 
 
 Effect of Hypothetical Legal Minimum Wage 96 
 
 Regulations of Commission Governing Procedure of Conferences 97 
 
 Law Establishing Industrial Welfare Commission 101 
 
 Opinions of the Attorney General 108 
 
 £85683 
 
LIST OF TABLES. 
 
 Page 
 
 Form III 12 
 
 Form IV 13 
 
 Form V ,. . 14 
 
 Table I. Summary of Wage Schedules Received, Classified by In- 
 dustries 16 
 
 Table II. Cumulative Per Cent, of Workers in Three Largest 
 
 Cities of the State in Various Wage Groups 17 
 
 Table III. Wage Schedule of 5,155 Female Employes in Mercantile 
 
 Establishments in Washington 18 
 
 Table IV. Cumulative Wage Schedule of 168 Female Employes in 
 
 5 and 10 Cent Stores 21 
 
 Table V. Wage Schedule of 1.753 Female Employes in Factories. 23 
 
 Table VI. Cumulative Per Cent, of Wages of 1,753 Female Em- 
 ployes in Factories 24 
 
 Table VII. Relative Number of 1,753 Female Employes in Factories 
 
 (Time and Piece Rates and Minors and Adults) 24 
 
 Table VIII to XVI. Weekly Wage Schedules of 3,009 Female Employes in 
 
 Factories in Washington, Classified by Industry 25 
 
 Table XVII. Showing Hours Worked by 1,420 Fish Cannery Employes. 29 
 
 Table XVIII. Weekly Wage Schedule of 2,304 Female Employes in 
 
 Laundries in Washington 30 
 
 Table XIX. Cumulative Wage Schedule of Female Employes in Laun- 
 dries 30 
 
 Table XX. Showing Weekly Hours of 2,185 Laundry Workers 32 
 
 Table XXI. Room and Board Offered in Response to Advertisers 48 
 
 Table XXII. Average Annual Cost of Room and Board of 341 Women. . 51 
 
 Table XXIII. Estimated Annual Cost of Clothing and Laundry 57 
 
 Table XXIV. Average Annual Amount Estimated as Necessary for 
 
 Church and Association Dues 59 
 
 Table XXV. Average Annual Amount Estimated as Reasonable for 
 
 Magazines and Stationery 60 
 
 Table XXVI. Average Annual Amount Estimated for Vacation and 
 
 Amusements 61 
 
 Table XXVII. Average Annual Amount Estimated for Medicine and 
 
 Dentistry 63 
 
 Table XXVIII. Actual Cost of Living of 27 Employes in Mercantile Stores 64 
 
 Table XXIX. Estimated Total Annual Cost of Living Expenses 65 
 
 Table XXX. Showing Relative Number of Female Employes in Fac- 
 
 tories and Laundries Working by Time and Piece Rates SO 
 
 Table XXXI. Conjugal Condition of 2,688 Female Employes in Washing- 
 ton, Classed by Industries S4 
 
 Table XXXII. Conjugal Condition of 2,688 Female Employes in Five 
 
 Cities, Arranged According to Population 85 
 
 Table XXXIII. Residence of 2,728 Girls in Five Cities According to Pop- 
 ulation and Classified as at Home and "Adrift" 85 
 
 Table XXXIV. Residence of 2,705 Girls, Classified by Industries, and the 
 
 Per Cent, at Home and "Adrift." 86 
 
 Table XXXV. Weekly Wages of 3.058 Girls, Classified as at Home and 
 
 "Adrift." S7 
 
 Table XXXVI. Women Workers, Classified by Industries, and as Minors 
 
 and Adults 90 
 
 Table XXXVII. Wages of 5,336 Adult Women Workers, Classified by 
 
 Length of Service in Present Employment 95 
 
 Table XXXVIII. Effect of a Legal Minimum Wage on Wages of Experi- 
 enced Women Workers 96 
 
SUMMARY OF WORK OF INDUSTRIAL 
 
 WELFARE COMMISSION SINCE ITS 
 
 ORGANIZATION, JULY 12, 1913. 
 
 The Act making it unlawful to employ women or minors in 
 the State of Washington for "wages which are not adequate to 
 their maintenance," and establishing the Industrial Welfare 
 Commission to carry out the provisions of that act, went into 
 effect on June twelfth, 1913. On July twelfth the following per- 
 sons were appointed by Governor Lister as members of this 
 Commission. The names are given in the order in which the 
 terms of the appointees were to expire : 
 
 Dr. Theresa S. McMahon, Seattle, for term ending Jan. 1, 
 1914; Mrs. Florence H. Swanson, Raymond, for term ending 
 Jan. 1, 1915 ; Mrs. Jackson Silbaugh, Seattle, for term ending 
 Jan. 1, 1916; Mrs. N. J. Laumer, Spokane, for term ending 
 Jan. 1, 1917. Mr. Edward W. Olson, State Labor Commis- 
 sioner, is ex-officio member of the Commission. 
 
 Mrs. Laumer, because she is an honorary member of the In- 
 ternational Typographical Union, was thereby prevented by the 
 provisions of the law from qualifying, and her place was filled 
 by Rev. M. H. Marvin, of Sunnyside, for the term ending Jan- 
 uary 1, 1917. 
 
 Upon the expiration of Mrs. McMahon's term on January 
 1, 1914, Mrs. W. H. Udall, of Tacoma, was appointed to succeed 
 her for the term expiring January 1, 1918. 
 
 On July 12th, 1913, Governor Lister sent a communication 
 to the State Labor Commissioner, urging him to convene the 
 newly appointed members of the Commission at as early a date 
 as possible. This request was complied with, the meeting being 
 held in Olympia on July 23rd, at which time a temporary organi- 
 zation was created, Mr. E. W. Olson being elected temporary 
 Chairman. It was deemed inadvisable at that time to elect a 
 Secretary, partly from a desire to conserve as much as possible 
 the appropriation allowed by the Legislature to carry on the 
 
6 State of Washington 
 
 work, and partly from the fact that it required time to consider 
 the numerous applicants for that position. Mr. Olson therefore 
 volunteered to care for the work until a Secretary could be 
 elected. At this meeting plans were devised for conducting an 
 investigation into the wages, cost of living and conditions of 
 labor of women and minor workers in the different industries in 
 the state, which, complying with the provisions of the law, was 
 necessary before formal conferences could be called together to 
 recommend an adequate minimum wage for the women workers 
 in these industries. 
 
 Three methods of procedure were outlined : 
 
 (1) Five different blank forms were drawn up for the pur- 
 pose of securing statistical information bearing on the question 
 of wages paid and conditions of employment of women and min- 
 ors, and the cost of living in all the details incident thereto. 
 These forms are described in detail in the introduction to the re- 
 port. Over thirty thousand of these blanks were distributed, 
 either by mail or through personal canvas. Wage blanks to the 
 number of about 5,000 were mailed to the different employers in 
 the state and little difficulty was encountered in obtaining 
 prompt response, a remarkably large percentage of returns 
 being obtained. 
 
 For the purpose of obtaining an expression from the em- 
 ployers on the cost of living, about 400 personal letters were ad- 
 dressed to employers of women in different parts of the state, en- 
 closing therewith blank forms for estimates. One hundred and 
 thirty-eight employers responded with carefully prepared esti- 
 mates, showing that considerable thought had been given to the 
 question. 
 
 The work of getting blanks in the hands of the employes 
 proved more difficult, owing to the fact that a mailing list of 
 such names was not available. It was therefore decided to ask 
 the different trade organizations, label leagues and women's clubs 
 to aid in the distribution of these blanks and, accordingly, a 
 personal letter was addressed to the secretary of each organiza- 
 tion and a number of blanks forwarded in each case for distri- 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 bution. This plan, after a fair trial, did not bring satisfactory 
 results, and on October third, at a meeting of the Commission 
 it was decided to employ investigators in the five largest cities of 
 the state to obtain the desired information. The survey was not 
 fully completed until the first of the year. In addition to mak- 
 ing a personal survey, advertisements were inserted in the 
 classified columns of thirty newspapers in different cities of the 
 state to secure information as to the cost of board and room for 
 a working girl. A total of 344 replies were received and tabu- 
 lated. Only those that were personally investigated have been 
 included in this report. 
 
 (2) Certain divisions of work were allotted to each Com- 
 missioner as follows: Mrs. Jackson Silbaugh was instructed 
 to make a personal investigation of department stores, and 
 being scheduled for a lecture tour through the East at a later 
 date, which arrangement had been made prior to her appoint- 
 ment on the Commission, she was -delegated to visit the Indus- 
 trial Commission of Wisconsin and the Minimum Wage Com- 
 mission of Massachusetts and become acquainted with their 
 plans and methods of work. On her return trip to Washing- 
 ton, Mrs. Silbaugh consulted also with the Oregon Industrial 
 Welfare Commission to learn its method of procedure. During 
 the middle of August Mrs. McMahon and Mr. Olson undertook 
 an investigation of the fish canneries in the northern part of 
 the state. One week was spent on this work, during which 
 sixteen canneries were visited. Mrs. McMahon also directed 
 an investigation of the wages and length of service of women 
 employes in laundry, factory and mercantile establishments in 
 Seattle. This was undertaken for the purpose of learning 
 facts concerning the apprenticeship situation, which had been 
 referred to Mrs. McMahon and Mr. Olson. In this she was 
 assisted by four paid investigators, young women students of 
 the University of Washington. 
 
 An investigation of sanitary conditions in the establish- 
 ments of the state was placed under the direction of Mrs. Swan- 
 
8 State of Washington 
 
 son, who was also delegated, with Mr. Olson, to attend a public 
 conference of the Oregon Welfare Commission in the city of Port- 
 land, on September twenty-third. 
 
 (3) On October third, the Commission decided to hold in- 
 formal conferences with employers and employes in the mercan- 
 tile, factory and laundry industries in the five largest cities of 
 the state to discuss the wages, cost of living and conditions of 
 labor in those industries as they are affected by the particular 
 locality. 
 
 The first informal conference was held on October twenty- 
 first, in Bellingham. Sixteen conferences in all were called, 
 four each being in Bellingham, Everett, Tacoma and Spokane. 
 Conferences were planned for Seattle but were not called at 
 that time as two of the Commissioners were living in that city 
 and felt that they had some comprehension of the problems 
 there. As a result of these conferences the Commission decided 
 to call formal conferences in the mercantile, factory and laun- 
 dry industries in the state to recommend minimum wages for 
 the women workers in those industries. These conferences 
 were to be assembled as soon as a written report showing the 
 conditions in the industries could be prepared. 
 
 On September eighth, a permanent organization was ef- 
 fected, Mr. Edward W. Olson being elected permanent Chairman. 
 The work at this time having attained such proportion as to de- 
 mand the services of a secretary, Mr. Stuart A. Rice was elected 
 to that position. 
 
 As soon as the statistical forms were returned, the secre- 
 tary began the compilation of tables to show detailed facts on 
 the labor conditions of wage-earning women, these facts to be 
 presented to the formal conferences which are to recommend 
 minimum wages. The secretary resigned on January fourth, 
 before the tables were complete. 
 
 At this time the Commission found that it was in need of 
 expert assistance in the work of assembling into practical form 
 the great mass of facts that had been gathered and in preparing 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 9 
 
 and writing the report, therefore a resolution was adopted ask- 
 ing the Industrial Welfare Commission of Oregon to grant us 
 the services of Miss Caroline J. Gleason, its secretary, long 
 enough to perform this work. This request, though involving 
 considerable sacrifice, was promptly and generously granted 
 the Commission. 
 
 Miss Gleason, who is a graduate of the University of Minne- 
 sota, has had wide experience in this field of work. In connec- 
 tion with a course at the Chicago School of Civics and Philan- 
 thropy and in residence at Chicago Commons, she came closely 
 in touch with industrial situations in that city. Through a three 
 months' trip of investigation of establishments employing women 
 in all of the large cities on the eastern coast, and of housing op- 
 portunities for women "adrift," she gained an insight into wage- 
 earning women's problems as they exist in the east. When the 
 Consumers' League of Oregon decided to make a survey of wom- 
 ens' wages, hours, conditions of labor and cost of living in that 
 state, Miss Gleason was asked to take charge of the investiga- 
 tion. The report of this survey resulted in minimum wage legis- 
 lation on this coast. 
 
 In summing up our work, we have only touched upon the 
 salient points which have a direct bearing upon the questions 
 that will be submitted to the conferences for their consideration. 
 Many features of our investigations, those that are deemed not 
 germane to the particular matters that concern the conferences, 
 have therefore been omitted from this report, in order to make 
 it as concise and simple as possible. All tables and explanations 
 have been reduced to the simplest degree practicable, without 
 impairing the value of the information gathered ; this is in 
 order to facilitate the work of the conferences. 
 
 In conclusion, the Commission wishes to express its appre- 
 ciation of the co-operation of employers and employes, and the 
 various organizations and interested persons throughout the 
 state who have assisted us in making our survey, and especially 
 
10 State of Washington 
 
 do we acknowledge our gratitude to the Industrial Welfare Com- 
 mission of Oregon which generously permitted Miss Caroline 
 J. Gleason, its secretary, to prepare our report. 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Industrial Welfare Commission, 
 
 Edward W. Olson, Chairman. 
 
 Mrs. Jackson Silbaugh. 
 
 Mrs. Florence H. Swanson. 
 
 Mrs. W. H. Udall. 
 
 M. H. Marvin. 
 Dated at Olympia, Wash., March 10, 1914. 
 
 Olympia, Wash., March 2, 1914. 
 
 To the Industrial Welfare Commission: 
 
 I herewith submit a report on the Wages, Cost of Living 
 and Conditions of Labor of Women and Minor employes in 
 Mercantile, Manufacturing and Laundering Industries in the 
 State of Washington. When I took up the work on January 
 19, I found that a great deal of tabulating had been done. 
 Much more was necessary, however, before the tables here pre- 
 sented assumed their final form. Your Commission has per- 
 mitted me to visit the largest cities in the state and to obtain 
 first hand information on all topics under consideration. I wish 
 to thank the employes and employers who have cooperated in 
 making the work a pleasant task. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 Caroline J. Gleason, 
 
 Special Investigator. 
 
Section I. 
 INTRODUCTION TO REPORT. 
 
 Preparatory to making this investigation into the wages, 
 conditions of labor and cost of living in the mercantile, factory 
 • and laundry industries in the state, the Commission mailed five 
 blanks to various persons and agencies in the state for the pur- 
 pose of gathering information on the question of what a mini- 
 mum wage should be. The forms sent out were as follows : 
 
 Form I was sent to employers only. This form requested 
 the number of female workers under 18 years of age and over 
 18, with the following information concerning each worker in 
 both groups : 
 
 (1) The average wage per week; (2) Whether the worker 
 was employed at day rates or at piece work; (3) The average 
 number of hours worked weekly by day and by piece work- 
 ers. The wages were to be given by stating how many in 
 each group were receiving under $1, $1 to $1.95, $5 to $5.95, 
 etc., to $10 and over. The blank called for a certificate of 
 correctness, to be signed by an official of the firm. 
 
 Form II was similar to Form I except that the information 
 desired concerned the wages, hours, nature of work and system 
 (time or piece) of boys under 18 years of age. 
 
 Form III was entitled "Female Wage Earner's Expense Re- 
 port." This was supposed to be a correct statement made out 
 at the end of each week for six months of the actual expenses 
 incurred by the compiler for her maintenance. Each form had 
 the following list of items and questions : board, luncheons, 
 lodging, clothing, repair of clothing, laundry, medicine and 
 dentistry, street car fare, newspapers and magazines, station- 
 ery and postage, association dues, insurance, vacation expenses, 
 amusements, church or other contributions and gifts. 
 
 Kind of employment? Is this your first report on this kind 
 of blank? Do you live alone? Do you cook your own meals? 
 Do you live with parents or other relatives? Do you receive 
 assistance from relatives? Do you contribute to support of 
 relatives? What wages do you receive per week? 
 
12 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 Form III. 
 
 Female Wage Earner's Expense Report 
 
 INDUSTRIAL WELFARE COMMISSION, 
 
 Olympia, Washington. No 
 
 I, the undersigned, do hereby submit a correct statement of the actual expenses in- 
 
 curred by me for my maintenance during the four weeks ending . 
 
 
 , 191. ... 
 
 ITEMS 
 
 1st 
 
 Week 
 
 2nd 
 Week 
 
 Srd 
 
 Week 
 
 4th 
 Week 
 
 Total 
 
 Board 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Luncheons 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Repair of Clothing 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stationery and Postage 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Association Dues 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Insurance 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vacation Expenses 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Amusements 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Church or other contributions .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gifts 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Grand Total 
 
 
 
 Kind of employment 
 
 Is this your first report on this kind of blank? 
 
 Do you live alone? 
 
 Do you cook your own meals? 
 
 Do you live with parents or otHer relatives? 
 
 Do you receive assistance from relatives? 
 
 Do ycu contribute to support of relatives? 
 
 What wages do you receive per week? 
 
 Remarks: 
 
 (Signed). 
 
 Address.. 
 
 No.. 
 
 City.. 
 
 Note: The above information will be of no value unless It is continued for a period 
 of at least six months. The information you give will be known to the public by number 
 only, as your name will be detached by the Commission and filed away for their refer- 
 ence only. ^np^ 
 Form 3. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 13 
 
 Space was given for four week's tabulation. At the end 
 of each four weeks the employe was to turn in the schedule filled 
 out and receive a new one. The Commission intended to file 
 this information and at the end of six months to tabulate it, 
 hoping thereby to arrive at a nearly perfect estimate of the 
 cost of living of self-supporting women in the state. The plan 
 has not been entirely successful as it is most difficult to persuade 
 the young women to keep the weekly account and send it in. 
 
 Form IV. 
 
 191 — 
 
 INDUSTRIAL WELFARE COMMISSION, 
 
 Olympia, Washington. 
 
 Below is given a statement which I believe to be a fair estimate of the amount required yearly by a prudent, 
 self-supporting woman employed in a mercantile, mechanical or other industrial establishment, in order to maintain 
 herself in reasonable comfort. 
 
 DESIGNATE ANNUAL COST OF EACH ITEM. 
 
 Meals 
 
 Room 
 
 Shoes and Rubbers. . 
 Repairing Shoes 
 
 Stockings 
 
 Underwear 
 
 Petticoats 
 
 Suit 
 
 Coat 
 
 Dresses and Aprons . 
 
 Shirtwaists 
 
 Handkerchiefs 
 
 Corsets 
 
 Corsetwaists 
 
 Gloves 
 
 Neckwear 
 
 Hats 
 
 Umbrella 
 
 Repair of Clothing 
 
 Laundry 
 
 Medicine and Dentistry 
 
 Street Car Fare 
 
 Newspapers and Magazines 
 
 Stationery and Postage 
 
 Association Dues 
 
 Insurance 
 
 Vacation Expenses 
 
 Amusements 
 
 Church and Other Contributions. 
 Incidentals 
 
 Total for Year . 
 
 WRITE REMARKS ON OTHER SIDE OF THIS SHEET. 
 
 Are you employer or employee 
 
 -Nature of business. _ 
 Name 
 
 Address.. 
 
 Note: The above estimate Is desired by the Industrial Welfare Commission for the express purpose of determining the 
 average of opinion and as a guidance for the Conferences composed of representatives of the Employers, Employee* and the 
 Public, who will recommend to the Commission an estimate of a minimum wage, as provided by the law. It Is not Intended 
 as a direct means of establishing a minimum wage. Your name in connection tcith this matter Kill be held in strict confidence 
 by the Commission. 
 
 If. after Investigation, the commission shall find that in any occupa 
 to supply them neeessary cost of living and (o maintain the workers in he 
 of the workers, the commission is empowered to call a conference eompo 
 the occupation or industry in question, together irlth one or more disin 
 public shall not exceed the number of representatives of either of the oth 
 conference and chairman thereof. The commission shall make rules and 
 procedure of said conference, and shall exercise exclusive jurisdiction or 
 recommendations of said conference. On request of the commission, it sh 
 estimate of the minimum wage adequate In the occupation or industry in 
 in health, and to recommend standards of conditions or labor demanded 
 tions of the conference shall be made a matter of record for the use of 
 
 lion, trade or industry, the wages paid to female employes are inadequate 
 1th, or that the conditions of labor are prejudicial to the health or morals 
 ed of an equal number of representatives of employers and employes in 
 terested persons representing the public; but the representatives of the 
 er parties; and a member of the commission shall be a member of such 
 regulations governing the selection of representatixes and the mode of 
 r alt questions arising a« to the validity of the procedure and of the 
 jll be the duty of the conference to recommend to the commission an 
 question to supply the necessary cost of living, and maintain the workers 
 for the health and morals of the employes. The findings and recommenda. 
 the commission. {Bee. 10, Chap, 174, Lows 1313] 
 
14 State of Washington 
 
 Form V. 
 Occupation (be specific) 
 
 Name Married? 
 
 Address 
 
 Do you line at home, if not, where? (i. e., in rooming house, private 
 family, etc.) 
 
 Number of other working girls or women in same house? 
 
 Have you any roommate or roommates? 
 
 Do you cook any of your meals? 
 
 Amount paid per week for room $ For board 
 
 $. For room and board $ 
 
 How long have you worked in this establishment? 
 
 INFORMATION ON APPRENTICESHIP SERVED IN 
 
 PRESENT OCCUPATION. 
 
 How long did you 
 Wages per week work at that wage 
 
 At start $ months 
 
 First increase $ months 
 
 Second increase... $ months 
 
 Third increase. . . . $ months 
 
 Now $ months 
 
 Remarks 
 
 City Date 
 
 Name of establishment 
 
 Kind of establishment 
 
 Investigator 
 
 Industrial Welfare Commission of Washington. Form 5. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 15 
 
 Form IV was sent out to employers and women employes. 
 This contained a detailed list of items which might make up a 
 self-supporting woman's cost of living. The recipient was re- 
 quested to give a "fair est'vmate" of the amount required yearly 
 by a prudent, self-supporting woman employed in a mercantile, 
 mechanical or other industrial establishment, in order to main- 
 tain herself in reasonable comfort. The estimator was requested 
 also to state whether he or she was an employer or employe, was 
 assured that the name would be held in strict confidence and was 
 directed to write any remarks on reverse side of sheet. 
 
 Form V furnished figures for the tables on the Conjugal 
 Condition of the women employes, their residence and wage ex- 
 perience. This blank was sent to women employes only. 
 
 Besides basing the report on the answers to these ques- 
 tionaries, the present investigator visited sixty of the 
 largest establishments employing women, to learn by personal 
 inquiry what the conditions of labor for women in the state are, 
 to interview women while at work as to wages, cost of living, 
 experience and character of work, to interview employers and 
 to establish a relation between estimates and actual facts. At 
 the same time a number of supplementary cost of living blanks 
 (Form IV) was handed to the workers personally, with an ex- 
 planation of the care to be used in filling them out. Not a suf- 
 ficient number were returned by factory and laundry workers 
 to permit of new compilations. 
 
 Of the total number of forms issued by the Commission in- 
 formation was returned concerning 11,059 employes. 138 were 
 returned by employers. Of the 11,059 employes, 5,323 were 
 from mercantile stores, 3,011 were from factories, 2,304* were 
 from laundries and 421 were from office employes in the above 
 named industries or in wholesale jobbing houses. A few blanks 
 were returned by waitresses, telephone operators and housewives, 
 but these were eliminated from the cost of living estimates as 
 it was felt that they were too few in number to give an accurate 
 picture of the situation. 
 
16 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 Table I. 
 
 SUMMARY OF WAGE SCHEDULES RECEIVED— CLASSIFIED 
 
 BY INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Mercantile 5,323 
 
 Factory 3,01 1 
 
 Laundry 2,304 
 
 Office 421 
 
 Total 11,059 
 
 A number of tables had been computed when the present in- 
 vestigator took up the work, showing the wages paid in all 
 lines of work in each of the five largest cities in the state, in 
 cities of over 20,000 inhabitants in one group and in towns 
 under 5,000 in another group. As the law is construed to mean 
 that every ruling made must apply to the entire state, the wage 
 tables by cities have been almost entirely disregarded. The one 
 below, table II, has been drawn up to show the standard of wages 
 paid in the three largest cities in the state. 
 
 Table II. 
 
 SHOWING CUMULATIVE PER CENT. OF WORKERS IN THREE 
 
 LARGEST CITIES OF THE STATE IN VARIOUS WAGE 
 
 GROUPS, CLASSIFIED BY INDUSTRIES. 
 
 INDUSTRY 
 
 Per Cent. Receiving 
 Under $8 
 
 Per Cent. Receiving 
 Under $10 
 
 Seat- 
 tle 
 
 Ta- 
 coma 
 
 Spo- 
 kane 
 
 Seat- 
 tle 
 
 Ta- 
 coma 
 
 Spo- 
 kane 
 
 Mercantile Stores 
 
 23.1 
 42.6 
 23.3 
 
 40.1 
 32.4 
 39.7 
 
 33.5 
 48.1 
 34.3 
 
 54.1 
 70.2 
 59.3 
 
 61. 
 
 69.4 
 
 87.4 
 
 58.6 
 76.9 
 
 
 63.3 
 
 
 
 INDUSTRY 
 
 Per Cent. Receiving 
 $10 and Over 
 
 Wage Rating of Cities 
 
 Seat- 
 tle 
 
 Ta- 
 coma 
 
 Spo- 
 kane 
 
 Highest 
 
 Second 
 
 Lowest 
 
 Mercantile Stores. 
 Factories 
 
 45.9 
 29.8 
 40.7 
 
 39.0 
 30.6 
 12.6 
 
 41.4 
 23.1 
 36.7 
 
 Seattle 
 
 Tacoma 
 
 Seattle 
 
 Spokane 
 
 Seattle 
 
 Spokane 
 
 Tacoma 
 Spokane 
 Tacoma 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 17 
 
 WAGES. 
 
 The lowest wage recorded was $3 a week, but this does not 
 include wholesale millinery houses and retail millinery shops some 
 of whom employ apprentices at $1.50 a week. The wage rate most 
 generally received is approximately $8 a week. 55.6% of mer- 
 cantile store employes, 71.2% of factory employes, and 72.4% 
 of laundry employes earn less than $10.00 a week. 
 
 CONDITIONS OF LABOR. 
 
 Conditions of labor in the State of Washington are very 
 fair. A detailed account of conditions as they were seen in 
 sixty (60) establishments in the state where women are working 
 is found in Section III. 
 
 COST OF LIVING. 
 
 Two averages obtained from entirely different sets of figures 
 estimated the minimum annual cost of living for an employe in 
 a mercantile store to be $523.27 and $568.28. 
 
 Factory employes estimated the necessary cost of their liv- 
 ing at $489.2-1 a year and laundry employes at $499.27 a year. 
 
 PERSONAL COMMENTS. 
 
 Much light on individual struggles of employes and the 
 attitude of employers toward minimum wage legislation was 
 given by means of personal observations written on the reverse 
 side of the Cost of Living blanks. A number of those are given 
 in Section V. 
 
 A number of practical questions present themselves in view 
 of the proposed re-adjustment of wage rates. Several of these 
 subjects are discussed in Section VI. 
 
18 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 Section II. 
 WAGES. 
 
 MERCANTILE STORES. 
 
 Wage schedules of 5,323 employes in mercantile stores 
 throughout the state are tabulated. Of these, 168 came from 
 clerks in 5, 10 and 15c stores and will be discussed under a sep- 
 arate heading. Table III below gives information concerning 
 5,155 employes, both minors and adults, who were employed in 
 retail stores, exclusive of the 5, 10 & 15c stores. In the classi- 
 fication of minors and adults, a minor is any girl under the age 
 of 18 years. 
 
 Table III. 
 
 WAGE SCHEDULE OF 5,155 FEMALE EMPLOYES IN MERCANTILE 
 ESTABLISHMENTS IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 
 Un- 
 
 $4.00 
 
 $5.00 
 
 $6.00 
 
 $7.00 
 
 $8.00 
 
 $9.00 
 
 Total 
 
 
 der 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 under 
 
 
 $4.00 
 
 $4.95 
 
 $5.95 
 
 $6.95 
 
 $7.95 
 
 $8.95 
 
 $9.95 
 
 $10 
 
 Under 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18 yrs.. 
 
 25 
 
 97 
 
 121 
 
 200 
 
 94 
 
 48 
 
 14 
 
 599 
 
 Over 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18 yrs.. 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 140 
 
 99 
 
 332 
 
 488 
 
 660 
 
 620 
 
 2,267 
 
 Total. 
 
 220 
 
 532 
 
 582 
 
 708 
 
 634 
 
 2,866 
 
 Total 
 $10 or 
 over 
 
 12 
 2,277 
 2,289 
 
 Three dollars a week is the beginning wage in some depart- 
 ment stores in Washington. Out of the total, 5,155 workers, 25 
 minors and 25 adults were receiving $3 a week. These are 
 wrappers or errand girls whose positions occasionally require 
 only swiftness of foot or of hand. In some establishments 
 though, ( the girl who wraps the articles must inspect them, meas- 
 ure each yard which passes through her fingers and see that 
 the check-has been added correctly. This removes her from the 
 position of a mere automaton to that of a responsible overseer. 
 In the offices too, we find girls Avho begin at less than $20.00 a 
 month tabulating checks on machines. Advancement here is 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 19 
 
 slow, much to the disappointment of some girls who think that 
 if they can start in the office they have an excellent chance to 
 work up to a better position. Until we come to the group earn- 
 ing $9.00 a week, we find the girls who are less poorly paid in- 
 creasing steadily in number. This report shows that there are 
 over 400 girls earning less than $6 a week and over 900 earning 
 less than $7.00 a week. When the $9.00 a week wage has been 
 reached the number in each group begins to decline. $8.00 a 
 week is the highest wage to which a great many of the girls 
 attain. This does not permit them to obtain the necessaries of 
 decent subsistence. Out of the total 5,155, we find over half, or 
 55.6 per cent., receiving less than $10.00 a week, a conservative 
 estimate, as we shall see, of a living wage, and 44.1 per cent, re- 
 ceiving over $10.00 a week. 
 
 EFFICIENCY NOT ALWAYS THE STANDARD. 
 
 A frequent claim made by managers of department stores 
 is that close watch is kept on the sales of every clerk. Each one 
 is expected to sell a sufficient amount so that her salary will not 
 average above a certain per cent, of her sales. The lower she 
 can bring her per cent., the better saleswoman she is. Managers 
 state further that, whenever a clerk's sales improve noticeably, 
 she is called to the office and voluntarily given a proportionate 
 raise. In a very few instances this is found to be true. In the 
 majority of cases the young woman clerk has to ask for each 
 increase of salary that she receives. Some timid ones work on 
 from year to year rather than run the risk of refusal. The girl 
 who succeeds in securing the raise may not be a more proficient 
 saleswoman but she realizes her worth and prefers to look for 
 another position rather than to stay at one level. When convinced 
 of her ability to find other work, her employers sometimes grant 
 her request rather than lose her. Instances are known where old 
 and trusted employes, who had been given a vacation in the dull 
 winter season, were advanced $20.00 a month without question 
 when rival firms offered that inducement. 
 
 One of the real forces in determining the wages is the buyer 
 or head of the department. Naturally he sees the woman at 
 
20 State of Washington 
 
 work and learns her qualifications. It is to his advantage, how- 
 ever, to have his department make an excellent showing and, if 
 the wages can be kept down, the returns will figure higher. 
 Some realize that the more efficient the clerk, the greater the 
 output of the department will be. Further, that efficiency, phy- 
 sical, mental and moral, is encouraged by an increase in wages. 
 Personal dislike on the part of the head of the department for 
 an individual too frequently forces capable girls out of their 
 positions. 
 
 Amount of sales is not always a fair basis on which to estab- 
 lish a wage. The stock in certain departments requires much 
 careful cleaning and arranging and a good stock girl is abso- 
 lutely necessary. An illustration of this is the jewelry depart- 
 ment, which is one of the most seasonal in a store. Summer 
 sales are very small but the stock must be attentively looked 
 after all of the time. In the cloak and suit department how- 
 ever, where sales are large and the season much longer, stock 
 boys or girls are employed whose sole business is to come after 
 the clerk and hang up garments as soon as a customer is served. 
 The notion department is another place where much work on 
 the part of the girls, brings small results. Here sales fall as 
 low as one penny and the average probably does not go much 
 higher than twenty-five cents. Moreover, a deal of patience 
 and tact is sometimes required to please a customer with a 
 match in a spool of silk or the width of a strip of elastic. 
 
 Another fact which would seem to disprove the statement 
 that women are advanced as fast as their efficiency permits is 
 the rule, written or understood, that wage rates are to be ab- 
 solutely confidential between employer and employe. The fol- 
 lowing is quoted from an application blank: "Salary and 
 other matters pertaining to your employment are absolutely 
 confidential." One can understand from the employe's view 
 point that her salary is a personal affair which she may divulge 
 if she sees fit. Employers claim that if they permitted women 
 workers to discuss salaries there would be constant turmoil. 
 This might be expected were the standard of compensation any- 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 21 
 
 thing but that of efficiency. But if a woman could be shown a 
 reason for her lower wage, such as lower sales, indifference to- 
 wards customers, or untidy appearance, we believe that she 
 would shortly bring herself up to the better standard. 
 
 WAGES IN 5-, 10- AND 15-CENT STORES. 
 
 Wages in 5, 10 and 15c stores have always been shockingly 
 low. Managers justify this condition with the statement that 
 their stores are training schools for girls who wish to fit them- 
 selves to be first-class saleswomen, who, when they leave their 
 establishments can demand a much higher wage from "regular" 
 department stores because they are "experienced." 
 
 Table IV. 
 
 CUMULATIVE WAGE SCHEDULE OF 168 FEMALE EMPLOYES 
 
 IN 5- AND 10-CENT STORES. 
 
 
 Under $5 
 a week 
 
 Under $6 
 a week 
 
 Under $7 
 a week 
 
 Under $8 
 a week 
 
 $8 or 
 over 
 
 Under 18 years. . . . 
 Over 18 years 
 
 37 
 21 
 
 56 
 
 47 
 
 63 
 81 
 
 64 
 94 
 
 None 
 10 
 
 Table IV shows the wages received by 168 girls in 5, 10 
 and 15c stores in Washington. Of these 168, 90 per cent, of the 
 adults and all of the minors receive less than $8.00 a week, 
 and 144, or 85.5 per cent, receive less than $1.00 a day. That 
 dishonesty frequently results from the employment of irre- 
 sponsible and under paid girls is admitted by those in charge. 
 The cash register in each department makes it possible for the 
 clerk to ring up a false amount and conceal the change in 
 shoes, hair or low necked blouse. Discrimination in the size of 
 orders to friends is another source of loss to the firm. Some 
 managers are wise enough to admit that to pay higher wages 
 and insist upon better standards of salesmanship and honesty 
 would be money in their pockets. 
 
22 State of Washington 
 
 A glance around any 5, 10 and 15c store will show that the 
 vast majority of employes are drawn from the last class that 
 slipped from the schoolroom, more often from the eighth than 
 from the twelfth grade. Naturally too, the great majority of 
 them live at home. When the more ambitious ones, who give the 
 best they have to the firm, realize that a long period may be 
 spent here with no appreciable gain in salesmanship or financial 
 income, they leave, and start practically afresh with a strange 
 concern. 
 
 HOURS IN MERCANTILE STORES. 
 
 There need be little discussion of the question of hours 
 since the eight-hour day is in force in this state and the Com- 
 mission has no power to make different arrangements. Over- 
 time is still found in the rush seasons such as the Christmas holi- 
 days and again after the January sales when yearly stock tak- 
 ing begins. This is an abuse which it is difficult to overcome. 
 It is practically impossible to induce an employe to testify 
 against her firm. If summoned into court she will often lie 
 rather than lose her position. The women workers protest 
 against overtime but dare do no more than write anonymous 
 letters to the authorities about it. 
 
 With three exceptions, Saturday night work had been gen- 
 eral in all stores until the beginning of the current year. Jan- 
 uary 1st saw a move forward to the custom of dismissing clerks 
 at 6 p. m. in Seattle and Spokane. The stores in small towns 
 throughout the state close at half past nine and ten o'clock. 
 No movement "forward" to close Saturday evenings has been 
 started in the towns. The clerks who work at night, work in 
 shifts of eight hours. The eight-hour day in Washington does 
 not mean a forty-eight hour week ; seven days of eight hours 
 each are permissible under the law. Telephone companies, res- 
 taurants and hotels are the only industries at present taking 
 advantage of this. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 23 
 
 FACTORIES. 
 
 Information concerning the wages paid in manufacturing 
 establishments was gained in three ways: (1) By requesting 
 employers to fill blanks calling for the number of femal em- 
 ployes, the wage paid, and whether each was employed by piece 
 rate or by time rate. (2) By blanks sent to employes asking 
 for the present wage and the first wage earned. (3) By per- 
 sonal interviews ascertaining not only the wage but the condi- 
 tions of work, home surroundings and individual efficiency. 
 Wage schedules discussed in Table V are from industries enum- 
 erated in detail in Tables VIII to XV, inclusive. 
 
 Table V. 
 
 WEEKLY WAGE SCHEDULE OF 1,753 FEMALE EMPLOYES IN 
 FACTORIES SHOWING NUMBER RECEIVING: 
 
 Under 
 
 $5 
 
 $5 to 
 $5.95 
 
 $6 to 
 $6.95 
 
 $7 to 
 $7.95 
 
 $8 to 
 $8.95 
 
 $9 to 
 $9.95 
 
 $10.00 
 or over 
 
 69 
 
 121 
 
 226 
 
 256 
 
 410 
 
 166 
 
 505 
 
 Table V shows that something under $5.00 is the beginning 
 wage for 69 out of 1,753 factory workers. The factory blanks 
 returned revealed the fact that in several instances this wage is 
 $3.00 a week — 50c for 8 hours work or 6V2 C an hour! There, 
 are few persons in every-day life who would think of asking a 
 child to spend an hour on an errand and pay him not more than 
 5 cents. What is to be thought of the conditions in which girls 
 of 16 years and over are employed day after day at steady, and 
 often difficult work, for little more than that sum? $4.00 is the 
 lowest wage offered in other factories, but $5.00 is the more 
 common beginning wage. Out of the 69 receiving less than 
 $5.00 a week, 25 showed a wage of less than $4.00. Thirty-six 
 were piece workers, which fact accounts somewhat for the num- 
 ber receiving this low wage. Moreover, among these 69, 25 were 
 under 18 years of age and 44 over 18 years. Employers whose 
 first wage for time workers is $6.00 a week say that piece work- 
 
24 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 ers who cannot make $6.00 a week after the first month are not 
 worth keeping. Table VI gives the wages and cumulative per 
 cent, of employes receiving each wage. 
 
 Table VI. 
 
 CUMULATIVE PER CENT. OF 1,753 FEMALE EMPLOYES IN 
 
 FACTORIES RECEIVING: 
 
 Under 
 
 $5.00 
 
 Under 
 $6.00 
 
 Under 
 
 $7.00 
 
 Under 
 $8.00 
 
 Under 
 $9.00 
 
 Under 
 $10.00 
 
 3.9 
 
 10.8 
 
 23.7 
 
 38.3 
 
 61.7 
 
 71.2 
 
 Under $10.00 
 
 $10.00. or more. 
 
 Number 1,248 505 
 
 Per Cent 71.2 28.8 
 
 Table VII is interesting in that it shows the relative number 
 of women employed at time and piece work. We find over twice 
 as many who are paid by time rate as by piece rate. By com- 
 putations made from Tables VIII to XVI, inclusive, we learn 
 further that two-fifths of the time workers and one-third of the 
 piece workers receive $9.00 or more a week, an approach to a 
 living wage. This means that three-fifths of the adult time 
 workers get less than $9.00 a week. 
 
 Table VII. 
 
 TABLE SHOWING RELATIVE NUMBER OF 1,753 FEMALE EM- 
 PLOYES IN FACTORIES WORKING BY TIME AND PIECE 
 RATE AND CLASSIFIED AS MINORS AND ADULTS. 
 
 Piece. Time. 
 
 Minors (under 18) 88 177 
 
 Adults (over 18) 445 1,043 
 
 Totals 533 1,220 
 
 Tables VIII to XVI, inclusive, give the wages of 3,011 fe- 
 male workers in factories, classified according to the nature of 
 the industry, the rate of pay and whether the worker is a minor 
 or adult. These tables are arranged as far as possible in the 
 order in which the largest per cent, under $6.00 and the smallest 
 per cent, earning $10.00 and over a week appear. Tables XV 
 and XVI are put at the end of the list because they are indus- 
 tries which operate not more than six months in the year and 
 which, because of the perishable nature of the material, are 
 exempt from the eight-hour law for women. 
 
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26 State of Washington 
 
 a 
 
 Paper and paper box factories have the greatest number of 
 workers receiving less than $6.00 a week. (Table VIII) The 
 largest group of workers is that receiving between $6.00 to 
 $8.00 a week. Out of the 116 workers, one-fourth (25.3 per 
 cent.), receive less than $6.00 per week, while 23 per cent, re- 
 ceive $10.00 or over. 
 
 Candy and cracker factories have nearly one-fifth, 17 per 
 cent., earning less than $6.00 a week and a slightly larger pro- 
 portion, 19 per cent., earning $10.00 or over, which means 
 that the very large majority of candy and cracker shop em- 
 ployes, 63 per cent., are earning between $6.00 and $10.00 a 
 week. The largest number of workers in any one wage group 
 here are those earning btween $6.00 and $7.00 a week. These 
 numbered 112 girls. 
 
 The Food Stuffs schedule includes tea, coffee, spices, extracts 
 and peanut butter. The wages here do not seem to vary 
 greatly and are generally low. But a small per cent., 3.3, are 
 earning under $6.00 a week, while a correspondingly small 
 number are earning over $10.00. $25.00 a month is a fre- 
 quent beginning wage. The work is simple, requires no skill 
 and is all done "by time." One girl was interviewed who 
 started with one firm three years ago at $25.00 a month and 
 is at present earning $35.00. Some firms raise girls at the 
 rate of $2.50 a month every six months. 
 
 Milk condensing plants in the state returned 87 blanks. Out 
 of this number 2.5 per cent, earned under $6.00 a week. One 
 firm starts no woman on a wage of less than 15 cents an hour. 
 All beginners are kept on this for a month. If they "make 
 good" they are raised to 16 cents an hour. Certain classes of 
 work never receive more than 17 cents an hour which for a 48 
 hour week amounts to $8.40. This is in the can making room 
 where two girls have merely to sit back and watch the cans pass 
 through the machine. If anything goes wrong it is the duty of 
 the girls to stop the machine. So little is required here that the 
 investigator was told that they bring their fancy work and sew 
 while on duty. While this responsibility involves absolutely no 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 27 
 
 work, the noise from the rattling tin, the rolling cans, tops 
 and bottoms in several stages of manufacture, would be too 
 much for the nerves of many a strong person. One-fifth of the 
 workers in this trade (Table XI) receives $10.00 or more a week. 
 
 $5.00 a week is the beginning wage in Shoe and Glove manu- 
 facturing plants. The former industry is more complicated and 
 offers a greater variety of departments for women's work than 
 the latter. The shoe industry, like that of coffee, tea and spice 
 packing, has a narrow range of wages. Only one girl and that 
 a minor was earning under $6.00 a week and but 21 per cent, of 
 the total earned $10.00 or over. One-half of those reporting, 
 or 21, earned between $8.00 and $10.00 a week which is a fair 
 record. 
 
 Garment and Textile factory schedules were tabulated to- 
 gether. Though the nature of the work is entirely different, an 
 advanced degree of skill is required in all first class employes. 
 Garment and textile factories in Washington may be classed 
 as industries which recognize that efficiency depends upon a 
 decent subsistence. Only 3 per cent, in garment and textile 
 factories start for less than $6.00 a week. This would seem 
 bad enough but it must be remembered that some of these are 
 minors. 
 
 Nearly one-half of the garment and textile workers, 48.5 
 per cent., earn $10.00 a week or over. A characteristic of the 
 garment making trade is that the work is highly specialized 
 and furthermore is done on highly speeded machines. A result 
 of this is that women of much experience on one class of work 
 develop a speed which brings them from $20.00 to $25.00 
 weekly. The same thing is true of weavers in woolen mills 
 where processes which women handle are not so many nor as 
 a whole so complicated as in the garment factories. On the 
 contrary one or two of the processes here are extremely simple, 
 but others demand sufficient skill to bring in high wages. 
 
 In the book binding trade 2.5 per cent, start for less than 
 $6.00 a week but none of those are adults. Some firms were 
 found whose beginning wage was $7.00 and one whose first wage 
 
28 State of Washington 
 
 was $8.00 a week. 69 per cent, of the total number of women 
 employed at book binding earn $10.00 a week or over, (Table 
 XIV) while one-half of those reporting earned $11 or over. 
 One further fact in connection with this trade is that $11.00 
 a week may well be named as a maximum wage for women em- 
 ployes. This excludes linotype operators who are really 
 printers and who advance to professional skill and a wage of 
 $5.00 a day. Women who have spent ten and twelve years at 
 book binding say that except for the opportunity furnished 
 by a forelady's position, much difficulty is experienced in rising 
 above $11.00 a week wage. Investigation proved that firms 
 doing very high class work have $14.00 as a stated maximum 
 for binders on machines. These are so few, however, that the 
 statement of $11.00 as a general maximum is not disturbed. 
 
 Fruit and fish canneries have been grouped together because 
 of the seasonal character of the work. Both industries, while in 
 operation, employ a large number of workers. Fruit canneries 
 reported 334 and fish canneries reported 1526. Fruit canning 
 (Table XV) calls for less skilled work from women than fish 
 canning. This accounts partly for the fact that 11 per cent, 
 of those in the industry work for less than $6.00 a week and 
 that only 11 per cent, receive $10.00 or more a week. We find 
 that a large per cent of those earning less than $6.00 a week 
 are adults, — 29 adults to 9 minors. It is well known that a 
 certain per cent of women who work in fruit canneries are merely 
 "summer workers", — women in families who wish to help out the 
 income by this extra work. It is claimed by cannery men that 
 a large per cent of the workers are women who are not adept 
 at picking fruit, who are too old or too young to be good 
 workers. Most of the work is done at piece rates. (79 out of 
 334 were time workers.) The amounts that some of the 
 "poorer" workers do in a day would indicate that the rate of 
 wages was more at fault than the speed of the workers. 
 
 The fish canneries have a much greater per cent, 68.5, who 
 earn $10.00 or over a week. This may be due to the fact that 
 salmon canneries find the same workers returning year after 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 29 
 
 year, and to the fact also that the industry is not covered by 
 the eight hour law. As many of the canneries operate at least 
 part of the force on Sunday during the busy season, some 
 women work over 10 hours a day for seven days a week at work 
 which is described as revolting to the average human being. 
 The earnings tabulated here therefore are the results not of 
 a normal but of a forced day's work. 
 
 Table XVII. 
 
 TABLE SHOWING HOURS WORKED BY 1,420 FISH CANNERY 
 EMPLOYES IN ONE WEEK. 
 
 48 hours and under 345 
 
 49 to 56 hours 399 
 
 57 to 64 hours 457 
 
 65 to 69 hours 41 
 
 70 hours 119 
 
 75 hours 59 
 
 Total 1.420 
 
 Statistics collected concerning the hours of 1420 fish cannery 
 employes showed that of that number only 345 worked the 
 normal or less than the normal week of 48 hours. The remain- 
 ing 1075 varied from 49 to 75 hours a week, an average for 
 some of twelve and one-half hours a day on the basis of a six- 
 day week. 
 
 No statistics were returned from tobacco factories, but 
 managers in this industry state that they do not employ girls 
 who are not living at home as the wages will not sustain a self- 
 supporting girl. The conditions of the work are anything but 
 conducive to the health of those who strip and sort the tobacco 
 leaves. 
 
 LAUNDRIES. 
 
 WAGES. 
 
 The similarity of the standard of wages in factories and 
 laundries is remarkable. We found that (Table VI) 71.2 per 
 cent, of factory employes earn less than $10.00 a week. From 
 Table XIX we see that 72.4 per cent, of laundry workers earn 
 less than $10.00 a week, while 27.6 per cent, are above that 
 standard. 
 
30 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 Table XVIII. 
 
 WEEKLY WAGE SCHEDULE OF 2,304 FEMALE EMPLOYES IN 
 
 LAUNDRIES IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 NUMBER RECEIVING: 
 
 Under 
 
 $5 
 
 $5 to 
 $5.95 
 
 $6 to 
 $6.95 
 
 $7 to 
 $7.95 
 
 $8 to 
 $8.95 
 
 $9 to 
 $9.95 
 
 $10.00 
 or over 
 
 31 
 
 89 
 
 224 
 
 560 
 
 514 
 
 250 
 
 636 
 
 Number. 
 
 Total under $10 1,668 
 
 Total $10 or over 636 
 
 Totals 2,304 
 
 Per Cent. 
 72.4 
 27.6 
 
 100 
 
 Eleven workers in the laundries reported receiving less than 
 $4J.OO a week — three of these were minors and eight were adults. 
 Table XVIII gives the wage groups and the number in each of 
 2,304 workers. Thirty-one earned less than $5.00 a week. These 
 may have been short hour workers but in view of the fact that 
 12 cents an hour has been the wage for unskilled workers, $5.76 
 a week would be the most that these girls could earn if they 
 put in a full week, which is not usual. Table XIX shows that 
 61.5 per cent, are earning less than $8.95 a week or less than 
 $1.50 a day. 
 
 Table XIX. 
 
 WEEKLY WAGE SCHEDULE OF 2,304 FEMALE EMPLOYES IN 
 
 LAUNDRIES IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 CUMULATIVE TABLE SHOWING PER CENT. RECEIVING: 
 
 $4.95 
 or less 
 
 $5.95 
 or less 
 
 $6.95 
 or less 
 
 $7.95 
 or less 
 
 $8.95 
 or less 
 
 $9.95 
 or less 
 
 $10.00 
 or over 
 
 1.3 
 
 5.2 
 
 14.9 
 
 39.2 
 
 61.5 
 
 72.4 
 
 27.6 
 
 
 
 
 HOURS. 
 
 
 
 
 The quest ion of hours and irregularity of work are so closely 
 connected with that of wages in the laundering industry that it 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 31 
 
 is impossible to discuss the latter without giving some account 
 of the former. 
 
 Three systems of remuneration are in vogue. The first 
 and oldest is a combination of the piece and time work system ; 
 the second places everything on the piece-work basis, while the 
 third disregards piece-work altogether and puts every employe 
 on a straight time salary by the week. 
 
 The third system is the one which laundrymen have been 
 contending would ruin their business if it were adopted. Their 
 reason is that the volume of business varies much from week 
 to week ; they cannot be expected to pay for slack seasons which 
 affect them as well as the girls. Another reason is that the piece- 
 work system increases the efficiency of the workers whose earn- 
 ings then depend upon how hard they work. 
 
 Not much need be said in explanation of those laundries 
 whose work is arranged entirely by piece-work. Computation 
 of wages has been simple in departments such as hand and 
 body ironing where each woman handles as many garments as 
 she is able, or as may be furnished her when work is slack. But 
 in the mangle room where shakers, feeders and folders in team 
 work, handle large and small pieces, where the individual skill 
 required is reduced to a minimum, the problem of paying by the 
 number of pieces handled is somewhat more complicated. This 
 has been taken care of in some laundries by reducing all articles 
 to the towel basis and by establishing a rate of 80 cents for 
 1,000 towels. One sheet equals 5 towels, a bedspread 20, 1 pillow 
 case 2, etc. Six girls form a crew at each mangle : Two shakers, 
 two feeders, two folders, and they keep account of the day's 
 work. At the end of the day, the amount made by the crew is 
 divided equally among the six girls. 
 
 On the other hand one manager who recently placed all of 
 his employes on a weekly basis said that he felt certain that the 
 system would be a success. He did not fear a decrease in 
 efficiency of his employes as he thought that a guaranteed wage 
 would make them more interested in their work. It is encourag- 
 ing to see the weekly system of pay adopted by laundrymen 
 
32 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 with years of experience who would not adopt it if they could not 
 
 make it pay. 
 
 Table XX. 
 
 TABLE SHOWING WEEKLY HOURS OF WORK REPORTED BY 
 2,185 LAUNDRY WORKERS— CLASSIFIED BY OCCUPATIONS. 
 
 
 
 I 
 Number of Employes and Per Cent. Working 
 
 
 No. of 
 em- 
 
 
 
 
 
 Occupa- 
 
 Less than 
 
 33 to 40 
 
 41 to 44 
 
 45 to 48 
 
 tion 
 
 ployes 
 
 32 hours a 
 week 
 
 hours 
 
 hours 
 
 hours 
 
 
 No. 
 
 % 
 
 No. 
 
 % 
 1.07 
 
 No. 
 
 % 
 
 No 
 
 7c 
 
 Mangle 
 
 534 
 
 7 
 
 1.3 
 
 67 
 
 53 
 
 9.9 
 
 407 
 
 76.2 
 
 Starchers 
 
 95 
 
 
 
 0.0 
 
 12 
 
 12.6 
 
 33 
 
 34.7 
 
 50 
 
 52.6 
 
 Markers 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 & Sorters 
 
 173 
 
 5 
 
 2.9 
 
 18 
 
 10.4 
 
 12 
 
 6.9 
 
 138 
 
 79.7 
 
 Folders . 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 0.0 
 
 6 
 
 25. 
 
 12 
 
 50. 
 
 6 
 
 25. 
 
 Ironers .. 
 
 571 
 
 21 
 
 3.7 
 
 122 
 
 21.4 
 
 174 
 
 30.5 
 
 254 
 
 44.5 
 
 Sewing & 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mending. 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 0.0 
 
 5 
 
 26.3 
 
 3 
 
 15.8 
 
 11 
 
 59.9 
 
 Fore- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ladies. . 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 0.0 
 
 4 
 
 22.2 
 
 3 
 
 16.6 
 
 11 
 
 61.1 
 
 Office . . . 
 
 69 
 
 
 
 0.0 
 
 5 
 
 7.3 
 
 1 
 
 1.4 
 
 63 
 
 91.3 
 
 Pressers 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 and Dye 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Work ... 
 
 109 
 
 
 
 0.0 
 
 5 
 
 4.6 
 
 33 
 
 30.3 
 
 71 
 
 65.1 
 
 Miscel. .. 
 
 573 
 
 22 
 
 55 
 
 3.8 
 2.5 
 
 124 
 
 21.6 
 17.0 
 
 141 
 
 24.6 
 
 286 
 1,297 
 
 49.9 
 
 Totals. . 
 
 2,185 
 
 368 
 
 465 
 
 21.0 
 
 59.0 
 
 The number of hours a week a laundry worker may put in 
 is the final gauge of the amount in the pay envelope. Table XX 
 shows the number of weekly hours of work reported by 2,185 
 laundry workers classified by occupation. A glance at the 
 table shows us that 2.5 per cent, of the workers put in less 
 than 4 days a week. Of those working less than four days a 
 week the ironers as a single group are greatest in numbers. The 
 last column of Table XX shows that the office employes are the 
 only ones who approximate a full week. Next to them are 
 the markers and sorters, 80 per cent, of whom work between 
 45 and 48 hours. At present 14 cents is the lowest rate per 
 hour paid in some laundries. On a 48-hour week at 14 cents an 
 hour this should mean that no laundry employe receives less than 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 33 
 
 $6.50 a week. Yet (Table XVIII) we find 31 receiving less than 
 $5.00 and 89 receiving less than $6.00 ; 224 are receiving be- 
 tween $6.00 and $7.00 a week, making a total of 444 who are re- 
 ceiving less than $1.00 a day. Hourly rates range as high as 
 25 cents an hour for skilled hand ironers, one-third of whom, 
 however, work between four and one-half and five days a week 
 and over one-half of whom work less than five and one-half days 
 a week. 
 
 Out of the entire 2,304 reporting wages, 149 were minors. 
 Of these 2 were working by the piece. Of the remaining 2,155 
 adults, 131 were piece workers. The rest were paid on the 
 hourly basis. 
 
 Looking at Table XIX we find that out of over 2,300 work- 
 ers, 72 per cent, or nearly three-fourths are receiving less than 
 $10.00 a week. Thus it is that laundry workers complain with 
 reason when they say that they never know what the pay 
 envelope at the end of the week will bring and would not 
 quarrel with the rate per hour so much if they could be certain 
 of a regular income and be able to plan somewhat on the future. 
 
34 State of Washington 
 
 Section III. 
 
 CONDITIONS OF LABOR. 
 
 Parallel with the evils resulting from underpaid work, are 
 the evils attendant upon insanitary work rooms. Conditions 
 in Washington cannot be described as a whole either as "very 
 good'' or "very bad." There are some establishments in which 
 many devices have been adopted to lessen the difficulties of the 
 work and to make the surroundings pleasant and healthful. 
 Others are indescribably poor and in these comfort and con- 
 venience receive small consideration. There are certain kinds of 
 work which at the best are extremely wearing. Laundry work 
 is one of these. 
 
 LAUNDRIES. 
 
 Laundrymen say that the conditions surrounding the work 
 are greatly improved today over those of twenty years ago, 
 but in the majority of the establishments, much may be done to 
 make the work lighter. Some of the evils that are still a part 
 of the work are the excessive heat, clouds of steam, damp at- 
 mosphere, strong odors from disinfectants, lack of good cir- 
 culation, extreme physical exertion needed to run some of 
 the machines, standing on concrete floors and on wet wooden 
 floors and handling clothes in all stages of filth. 
 
 In this state some laundry buildings have two sides built al- 
 most entirely of windows with exhaust fans so arranged on the 
 opposite side that excellent circulation of air could be estab- 
 lished. In others there were no exhaust fans at all ; in some in- 
 stances ceilings were high, and wall and ceilings were white- 
 washed. Other buildings with low unfinished ceilings were not 
 much better than old shacks. In several cases, the floors of the 
 washroom were concrete, but the remaining sections where the 
 women stood were of wood which is much easier on the feet. 
 In others, the mangle was so near the washing machines, 
 that though the mangle itself and the mangle girls stood on the 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Com/mission -'}"> 
 
 wood floor, the girls shaking out the articles stood in water on 
 the concrete floor. In some instances where the manager 
 proudly showed the size of his windows and the ease with which 
 they swung up, he had not one asbestos shield on a body ironer, 
 nor one exhaust pipe for steam over the mangle. In other 
 places where the window surface was smaller and the general 
 appearance of the plants shabbier, both asbestos shields with 
 pipes leading from them were on the body ironers, and exhaust 
 shields and pipes gathered the steam from the mangle. The 
 shield mentioned is a concave piece of asbestos bound with 
 zinc or tin and raised slightly above the large gas heated roll 
 used for ironing the body of the shirt. A padded roll is con- 
 nected below the heated roll over which the ironer bends when at 
 work. A lever worked by foot brings the two rolls together 
 and releases them. Besides having to bear the heat pouring into 
 her face, the working of this lever is a difficult task for a woman. 
 Some managers have adopted the asbestos shield but have not 
 added the extra pipe which leads the heat out above the girls' 
 head. A number of women working on shielded machines were 
 asked whether they had ever worked, on body ironers which had 
 no asbestos shields and whether they noticed the difference in 
 heat. In every case the women said that there was a very great 
 difference. Several laundrymen were asked about the price of 
 these shields; in no instance was the estimate higher than $2.50 
 each. Shaking, though it has no accompaniments of heat or 
 steam is one of the hardest though most unskilled departments 
 of laundry work. It seemed to the investigator in several in- 
 stances that but little thought was given by some managements 
 to the arrangement of machinery so that, the warmest work 
 might be nearest the light and air. In discussing this question 
 with laundrymen, the fact came out that machinery is usually 
 arranged so that the least amount of time can be lost in the 
 transit of goods from one stage of laundering to another. 
 
 Toilet, conditions in some establishments were very good 
 while in others they were very bad. Some firms have only one 
 toilet on a floor for both men and women employes. One of 
 
36 State of Washington 
 
 these was so placed that the women had to pass the men to 
 reach it. Sanitary drinking fountains in the center of the room 
 within easy reach of all employes was a very commendable 
 feature in one plant. In another, on one floor the employes had 
 to draw the water from a spoutless pipe that hung over a 
 barrel in the engine room. This plant uses peanut shells for 
 fuel, and the water pipe was well decorated with them. Here, 
 as in several other plants, the manager stated that he was 
 putting in improvements. One does not wish to express doubt 
 of the good intentions of these men, but very little excuse can 
 be made for the presence of intolerable sanitary conditions. In 
 some cases, much care was shown in the provision of dressing 
 and cloak rooms. In others shoes had to be changed in the 
 little box of a toilet, and left there. Hats and coats were in 
 heaps in other parts of the room. Some firms with 40 or 50 em- 
 ployes on two floors, had provided only one dressing room for 
 both groups. Invariably the employes on the floor which had no 
 dressing room, had made other, poorer arrangements for dis- 
 posal of clothes. Dressing in the one room, a floor removed from 
 their work, meant loss of time, confusion and dela} r and not 
 without reason did they refuse to do it. Very few laundries 
 furnished accommodation for eating lunches. In some cases 
 dressing rooms had stools and occasionally a gas stove for mak- 
 ing coffee. 
 
 Undoubtedly the Japanese laundries are a source of much 
 trouble to white laundry men. In nearly every case the Japs 
 employ women of their own race who can "no savvy" as much 
 as the men when they wish. A plan common to the Japanese laun- 
 drymen is that of community dining room and sleeping quarters 
 over the laundry. One long room with oil cloth covered tables, 
 sufficiently long to accommodate all of the Jap help, serves 
 as both kitchen and dining room. An hour, they say, is taken 
 for lunch. On the same floor are the sleeping quarters. In 
 several instances, these consisted of separate rooms on two sides 
 of a long hall. In one instance the hall opened into a curtain- 
 less dormitorv with accommodations for seven men. Off the hall 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 37 
 
 were four or five bedrooms for the women and married members 
 of the crew. One toilet served all. In one laundry visited where 
 5 white women were employed, the only toilet in the building was 
 the one upstairs in the Japs' quarters. Some of the women said 
 they never went up there. 
 
 The interesting part of the interviews with the white women 
 employed in these places was the unanimous statement that they 
 preferred to work for the Japanese. All were being paid 
 straight time by the week ; in one place, one woman said 
 that sometimes they had only 2 hours work a day, yet they 
 were paid just the same. Every morning and afternoon a 
 lunch is served them at the Japs' expense. Furthermore, women 
 here and in another laundry said, they never received an insult 
 from these men and were not afraid to be alone with them as they 
 had had occasion to be when working with white men. The 
 complaint is often made by girls in "white" laundries that they 
 must put up with much that is coarse in language and familiar 
 handling from the men employes if they are to hold their posi- 
 tions. This is not the fact in every case, but so frequently is 
 the complaint made that one cannot disregard it altogether. 
 
 FACTORIES. 
 
 Factories and laundries in the three largest cities of Wash- 
 ington are found in the heart of the business district and in 
 the outskirts. In Seattle, a custom exists, common on the east- 
 ern coast, of placing factories in "lofts," the upper stories of 
 business buildings. Tacoma has a group of different industries 
 situated near together in one end of the city. Spokane manu- 
 facturers seem to prefer the separate roof. In the last named 
 city many of the factories are within ten minutes' walk of the 
 business section. 
 
 The housing and location of the plants with reference to 
 center or suburb of the city is mentioned because on these two 
 characteristics depend much that pertains to the welfare of 
 the workers. A loft factory is much more likely, unless it is 
 in a corner building to be dark and poorly ventilated than is a 
 
38 State of Washington 
 
 detached building. Two loft buildings which were visited were 
 corner buildings and were well lighted and airy. 
 
 Pleasures and hardships of work vary with the industry. 
 Some kinds of work which require but little physical exertion, 
 drain heavily on the nerves. Others which are neither physically 
 nor nervously severe are monotonous to a wearisome degree. 
 Some work which is clean, permits clean surroundings ; other 
 lines which are dirty, degrade a worker visibly. Shoe and glove 
 sewing, garment making and textile weaving are lines of work 
 which are clean in themselves and which require an accurate eye, 
 quick hand and ability to concentrate. In the sewing trades, 
 nervous diseases follow long years of alert attention to the 
 high speeded machines. The noise of the weaving machines in 
 the textile factories has the same result. Sometimes this does 
 not appear until the worker is suddenly forced to leave the 
 trade, for the high tension under which she works serves as a 
 stimulant. Sanitary conditions in needle trades in the state with 
 the exception of one or two plants are excellent. In one of these 
 establishments was seen the only couch found in the entire in- 
 vestigation of factories and laundries. This same establish- 
 ment was immaculately clean, had two clean toilets, well screened 
 off from the work room, an excellent, orderly dressing room, 
 well provided with books, six wash bowls and six linen towels 
 which are changed every day, and a neatly arranged gas plate 
 for making tea and coffee. The dressing room had been a read- 
 ing room formerly but with increase of workers had to be used 
 for the other purpose. The forelady said, however, that a new 
 reading room would be the next improvement. 
 
 Contrasted with this was a second plant where the depart- 
 ments were scattered over two large floor spaces, with the light 
 coming from the front of the building only. In the rear, a large 
 air-tight stove without any fire served apparently to heat the 
 place. It seemed too far from the power machines to do the 
 workers any good even if the fire were burning. A good sized 
 dressing room was in the rear also, but the place was not tidy; 
 there were two toilets; one needed repair badly. A freight 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 39 
 
 elevator did some service as a passenger lift. Around this a 
 stairway wound from the first to the second floor, which would 
 be a greater menace than it would be assistance, in case of fire. 
 The stair passage was so narrow that not more than one 
 person could thread it at a time and the steps were so narrow 
 that one unaccustomed to them, walked cautiously. 
 
 Candy factories in Washington offer extremes of convenience 
 and comfort. Cracker and cooky packers have the hardest work 
 of women employes for the reason that their work is all done 
 standing and in close connection with the ovens. Several plants 
 had the cracker packing departments on the floor above 
 the ovens with good air space surrounding the workers. The 
 trolley conveying the crackers from the ovens to the girls leaves 
 an open space in the floor which serves as an escape for much 
 of the heat from the ovens below. Girls at the farther end of 
 the trolley feel very little of the hot waves, but those near 
 it have much to endure, especially in the summer time. Some 
 plants have a system of changing the girls' positions, not to 
 avoid the heat, but to give all an equal chance at packing. 
 Others have a system of promotion whereby the latest comer 
 stands at the foot of the conveyor farthest from the heat ; this 
 gives the older employe the best chance to get the crackers as 
 the full trays come up but keeps her always near the heat. The 
 girl at the foot has a promotion toward more crackers, hence 
 more wages and also more heat as the girls above leave the plant. 
 One plant, installed in an old building has its packing depart- 
 ment on the first floor, and in the same, close room with the 
 ovens. Windows on one side were very close to the adjoining 
 building. The remaining two sides were solid wall. There 
 was no chance at all for a draft unless the narrow door leading 
 into an outer hall behind the offices, were left open. Even then, 
 the draw would be so indirect that but little relief could come 
 from it. Exhaust shields and fans extended beyond the ovens, 
 so that gases and heat could be carried off, but nevertheless the 
 room was uncomfortably warm. The upper floors had good 
 light at the front and one side of the building; but the whole 
 
40 State of Washington 
 
 effect was gloomy. The manager appeared to be doing his 
 best to keep the place comfortable and clean. He said that 
 numberless efforts had been made to whitewash or paint the 
 walls and ceiljng white but that the grease soaked beams would 
 not hold a coating of any kind. The building is an old one, had 
 been designed for a store, and never should have been used for 
 its present purpose. Separate toilets are maintained for 
 women on alternate floors. 
 
 Candy factories are hard to keep clean but one may expect 
 that they will not be models of neatness when the girls are re- 
 quired to do the scrubbing toward the end of a day's work. In 
 most establishments this duty falls to the men who are more 
 able to handle the heavy brooms and mojps and to apply needed 
 masculine energy to the sugar covered floors. It appears, how- 
 ever, that where a large number of men are not employed, the 
 saving in janitor cost through the labor of the girls compen- 
 sates for a reputation of uncleanliness. 
 
 Some factories also continue to furnish only one toilet for 
 both sexes. In one plant, where women are working in the 
 basement, the toilet opens into the work room. Neither is 
 there any heat here. The one toilet on the floor above was 
 dirty. A little wood stove is supposed to do the work of a 
 heating plant. On the day the visit was made in midwinter, 
 the visitor could place her hand flat on it without injury. Coats 
 and hats were piled in heaps on a window sill in lieu of other 
 arrangement. It is worth remarking that employers who con- 
 duct their business with the poorest of equipment, in uncleanly 
 fashion and with least consideration for their employes are 
 the ones who protest loudest against minimum wages, short 
 hours or any other sort of regulation which is forced upon the 
 well intentioned by just such types of men as they are. One 
 plant visited was undergoing many improvements, such as new 
 equipment in the way of tin covered tables (more easily cleaned 
 than wooden ones), fresh white paint throughout on shelves and 
 walls, exhaust shields and pipes over cooking kettles, etc. Here, 
 too, were found large dressing rooms for employes and cold 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 41 
 
 storage pipes running through the chocolate dipping room 
 for summer use. In one other factory one girl reported that 
 last summer she dipped chocolates at night from 10 P. M. to 
 6:30 A. M. Another plant furnishes uniform caps and aprons 
 for all of its employes. A clean garment is given out every 
 week. The effect is most attractive. 
 
 As the smell of sugar in candy factories is sickening to 
 many employes until they become accustomed to it, so in a 
 different way is the odor of glue in paper box factories nauseat- 
 ing. Improvements are being made constantly, both in equip- 
 ment and materials, which it is hoped will eventually lessen the 
 disagreeable features. One plant with its women workers con- 
 fined to one large floor had windows on two sides of the build- 
 ing, one side of which faced the bay. Here, by means of a grate 
 like arrangement, the glue pots were raised so that the worker's 
 face was not as directly over the pot as when the latter is sunk 
 into the work table. The work tables were arranged around 
 the outside walls of the room where the girls obtained full 
 benefit of the light and air. The toilet arrangements were good 
 and located in an inconspicuous corner of the room. 
 
 A second establishment visited has the advantage of being 
 a new building built for factory purposes. Such being the case, 
 one expects to find good space arrangement, light and air. 
 One cannot commend, however, the placing of the toilet in the 
 center of the wall in full view of an entire work room. During; 
 a quiet season, when only a few girls are employed, conditions 
 are not so bad. During the busy season when both sexes work 
 on one floor, some girls would run the risk of injuring their 
 health rather than make use of such facilities. This is true 
 not only of those in this industry but of many others thrust 
 through thoughtlessness into a similar condition. 
 
 In every establishment visited, special care was taken to note 
 how many and what kind of stools were provided. In some 
 cases where stools could very rarely be used at work, none at all 
 were in sight. In others one. stood near each girl. If the in- 
 dustry was such that a number of empty boxes was on hand, no 
 
12 State of Washington 
 
 stools at all were provided. In laundries, the folders at the 
 mangles are the only employes, besides seamstresses, who sit 
 at their work. In summing up conditions of labor it is but fair 
 to say that as all of the factories and laundries in the state were 
 not visited, pictures presented above may have omitted some of 
 the fairest working conditions, but also they may have missed 
 some of the worst. The investigator "heard" of other unfavor- 
 able conditions but described only those which she had had an 
 opportunity to see. Of these, the most crying needs are for 
 separate toilets, adequate dressing and lunch rooms, decent 
 drinking water facilities, warm work rooms, stools wherever 
 possible with permission to use them, and janitor service when 
 the establishment lacks male employes to do this heavy work. 
 
 MERCANTL1E STORES. 
 
 The general public which can see nearly every nook and 
 corner of a department store may think that is has a thorough 
 knowledge of the conditions of labor of the saleswomen. A 
 number of conditions which the shopping population does see, 
 however, probably never arouse a second thought as to whether 
 that particular state of affairs makes life easier or more difficult 
 for the smiling young lady behind the counter. 
 
 The reputed colder climate in winter of the eastern section 
 of the state brings forth a provision which is omitted in the mild, 
 damper, but equally uncomfortable western section. This is 
 the provision of a vestibule permanent, or temporary through 
 storm doors, and of heat in the vestibule. Shoppers in a store 
 all afternoon become heated and tired and on leaving the store, 
 exclaim over the lovely fresh air as it comes rushing in 
 through the swinging doors, wholly unmindful meanwhile of the 
 clerks who receive the full force of the cold blast all day long. 
 Some of the stores in the western section of the state have vesti- 
 bules, but a number of others have not. 
 
 Arrangement of counters has much to do toward increasing 
 or lightening the work of the clerk. Time did not permit inves- 
 tigation to learn how many stores had spaces behind counters 
 uncomfortablv narrow, or stock shelves so narrow that bolts pro- 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 43 
 
 jected in the way of the clerk, nor of systems of cashiering and 
 wrapping which expedited sales to the benefit of both customer 
 and clerk. Nor could time be given to an inquiry into the differ- 
 ent systems of ventilation to determine how often the air in base- 
 ments, usually the most poorly ventilated section, was changed, 
 nor to what extent balconies infringed on the air space of the 
 first floor. 
 
 Two conditions easily noted were taken into account. One 
 was the arrangement of aisle counters generally used for 
 bargains, the other the provision of stools. Many stores have 
 simply the straight counter for the display of special attrac- 
 tions. If a big sale is on, the clerks have not only the work of 
 serving the extra crowd of shoppers, each eager to be first and 
 get the best bargain, but in addition she must stand the annoy- 
 ance of being pushed, shoved and knocked this way and that 
 because the only way in which she can tend to her counter is to 
 stand at it in the thick of the crowd. Clerks despise the straight 
 aisle counters and once removed from them will do anything 
 even to giving up their positions rather than go back to them. 
 An arrangement which serves equally well for display, gives 
 greater comfort to the saleswomen and should permit her to 
 make sales faster, is the hollow square counter, from the hollow 
 of which she can survey all buyers by a turn of her head. 
 Stores in Washington have both types with the straight aisle 
 counter in use in the majority of cases. 
 
 In one store only was the visitor unable to find stools behind 
 the counters. But in all of the others once only did she see 
 one clerk making use of a stool when she was not busy. In the 
 others she saw clerks not busy but standing at attention. Com- 
 pliance with the letter of the law has not meant compliance 
 with the spirit always ; some of the employes report that though 
 the stools are there, they would not risk the displeasure of their 
 superiors and the loss of their positions by sitting down during 
 dull business hours. 
 
 It is unfortunate that well meaning managers do not always 
 realize fully the character of some of the men employed as 
 
44 State of Washington 
 
 floormen or heads of departments. A commendable rule which 
 exists in all stores is that all clerks must ask permission when 
 they wish to leave the floor. The hardship comes when a coarse 
 man who is in charge of a department must be asked for all 
 permissions. Reliable accounts of veiled insults are heard from 
 time to time but during this investigation one such story well 
 authenticated came to the investigator's ears which surpasses 
 any other for plain brutality and indecency of feeling. It would 
 be printed here if it were not too indelicate. It will be a happy 
 change when the responsibility for a clerk's presence in a depart- 
 ment can be placed on another woman clerk's shoulders, but 
 meanwhile it is a shame that clean minded, refined girls should be 
 subjected to such humiliations. 
 
 WELFARE WORK. 
 
 An activity becoming more prominent year by year in 
 mercantile stores is that known as welfare work. It usually 
 covers all efforts, over and above the absolutely necessary pro- 
 visions for the conduct of its business, which the firm makes 
 for the promotion of the comfort of its women employes. Wel- 
 fare work frequently means that a woman secretary is employed 
 who devotes all of her time to becoming acquainted with the 
 women employes, their home surroundings and personal strug- 
 gles, their characters, good and poor points as saleswomen, 
 and who is prepared to advise or assist them in any way that 
 may be required. An employes' lunch room and rest room or 
 hospital for emergency illness is considered part of the welfare 
 work and of these, the secretary has charge. 
 
 Occasionally the duty of instructing the new clerks in the 
 
 rules of the house and of reminding the older ones falls to her 
 
 lot. 
 
 All of the large department stores employ a matron for the 
 
 women's lunch and rest room. In three stores a welfare secre- 
 tary also is employed. A space to eat lunch is provided in 
 every instance but in addition to this some stores furnish warm 
 drinks free of cost or at reduced rates and others maintain a 
 cafeteria for the use of the women employes only. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 4<5 
 
 VACATION WITH PAY AND NIGHT WORK. 
 
 One week's vacation with pay is given in one instance after 
 six months' service and two weeks vacation after one year's serv- 
 ice. This arrangement is the most generous one known. Other 
 stores give no vacations at all except at the employes' expense ; 
 others, one week after one year's and still others one week after 
 two years' service. Two stores allow one week's wages for ill- 
 ness during the year. This would be paid in a single sum if the 
 employe were ill a week at a time. It is made up in another way 
 if necessary by not docking an employe for a day's absence at 
 different times on account of ill health. A strong movement is 
 on foot in the three largest cities to close all of the department 
 stores Saturday evenings after 6 P. M. by voluntary agree- 
 ment. Seattle is ahead of both Tacoma and Spokane in this 
 respect. In that city two stores have been closed at 6 P. M. 
 for a number of years, Christmas holidays not excepted. Two 
 others have followed suit since the first of the year. In Spokane 
 several stores have agreed to close Saturday evening if all will. 
 To date no concerted action has been taken. All 5, 10 and 
 15 cent stores are open Saturday evenings. In the small towns 
 closing Saturday evenings before ten o'clock is practically 
 unheard of. 
 
 The almost universal requirement of a black waist in winter 
 and black or white in summer with a dark skirt at all times is 
 to be commended for several reasons. It gives the employes a 
 standard to follow, it assists them to be economical in cost in 
 dress and to save on laundry. It diverts the mind of the clerk 
 from the question of dress at the same time that it assures her 
 a neat and attractive appearance. 
 
 5, 10 AND 15 CENT STORES. 
 
 The chief condition calling for remark here is the miserable 
 sanitary accommodations provided for employes in some of the 
 5, 10 and 15 cent stores. Patrons are advisedlv warned to 
 "Keep Out." Could they see the location and condition of 
 toilets, we think that even the most indifferent would protest. 
 
46 State of Washington 
 
 Toilets in stores visited were in the basement, dark and chilly ; 
 one small corner had been partitioned off with ceiling board 
 in one instance to form a dressing room and toilet. In an- 
 other instance just the toilet and no dressing room was at the 
 foot of the two-flight staircase. Whitewashed walls relieved the 
 gloom slightly but gave no suggestion of regard for employes 
 comfort. The outside surroundings were not even clean. Not 
 much respect or loyalty can be engendered in the hearts of em- 
 ployes when they see their firm showing such utter indifference 
 to their welfare as does this case. In no instance either was more 
 than one toilet for the entire force of girls seen. One 5, 10 and 
 15 cent store in the state is an exception to this description, but 
 this was an independent store, and not one of a chain of stores. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 47 
 
 Section IV. 
 COST AND STANDARDS OF LIVING. 
 
 In discussing the cost and the standards of living several 
 facts must be borne in mind. One is that standards of living 
 vary with climate, nationality and customs peculiar to localities, 
 and also with individual tastes and dispositions. The standards 
 of living will vary directly as do the wages. Despite the variety 
 in the standards of living of persons in one locality there are 
 certain requirements which can be described, without which we 
 can safely assert that a woman is not maintaining herself in 
 decent and healthful subsistence. These requirements are three 
 full meals a day, comfortable and respectable lodging, clean 
 and sufficient clothing, some provision for recreation and amuse- 
 ment, and a little surplus to put aside against future needs. 
 For all of these requirements there is a minimum cost. For. 
 example, cotton handkerchiefs ordinarily cost five cents each. 
 Once or twice a year they may be on sale at six or eight for 
 a quarter, but the average girl employed all day rarely has time 
 to follow the sales, so five cents is a safe minimum for this article 
 of clothing. Yet by an unwritten rule, linen is a mark of refine- 
 ment, and we can scarcely call ten cents for a handkerchief an 
 extravagant outlay on the part of a self-supporting woman. 
 To define a "square" meal may be more difficult than to fix the 
 cost of clothes ; but one can say what diet is not a full meal ; 
 moreover girls who have a slice of bread and a cup of tea for 
 rations twice a day with a dinner that must be confined to twenty 
 cents are not maintaining themselves "in health." 
 
 Out of the blanks forwarded by women employes, only those 
 were tabulated which showed care and common sense in the 
 estimates. This selection eliminated those which exceeded $700 
 a year and which fell below $300 a year. In order that the 
 claim might not be made that these were unreliable because sub- 
 mitted from a distance and without investigation of the sender, 
 27 self-supporting women employed in mercantile work were 
 
48 State of Washington 
 
 visited personally and the object of filling the blanks out ex- 
 plained to them. The average of these 27 is presented in Table 
 XXVIII as picturing the situation accurately. 
 
 BOARD AND ROOM. 
 
 Three methods were followed in determining the cost of 
 room and board. (1) From answers to advertisements inserted 
 in daily papers asking for room and board for a self supporting 
 woman. (2) From estimates of women wage earners. (3) By 
 personal inspection of rooms, housekeeping and "single" and of 
 homes offering room and board. 
 
 Table XXI. 
 
 ROOM AND BOARD OFFERED IN RESPONSE TO ADVERTISERS 
 BY PERSONS IN VARIOUS CITIES IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 No. Average Au- 
 Offered. nual Cost. 
 
 Within walking distance. . . 40 $273.87 
 
 Outside walking distance.. 46 267.78 
 
 Totals 86 $270.82 
 
 Table XXI gives the cost of room and board as offered in 
 86 answers to advertisements. 40 were within walking distance, 
 46 outside of walking distance. The average annual cost of 
 those within walking distance was $273.87 or $22.82 a month. 
 Outside of walking distance we expect to find accommodations 
 somewhat cheaper due to the added cost of carfare. We find 
 the 46 averaging $267.78 a year or $22.18 a month, a difference 
 of 64 cents a month, but not great enough to supply the carfare. 
 This gives no support to the theory that if a girl will go far 
 enough out she can find a comfortable, home-like room at a 
 reduced rate which will compensate her for the added carfare 
 cost. Sometimes this is true. While comfortable, clean, at- 
 tractive rooms within walking distance are expensive, equally 
 comfortable rooms are likewise expensive outside of walking 
 distance. One pays for accommodations wherever one finds 
 them. The householder in the suburbs realizes the advantages 
 of her rooms over the city and often charges accordingly. Cheap 
 rooms were seen within ten minutes" walking; distance of the 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 49 
 
 heart of the business district in large cities but they were such 
 rooms as would drive a girl to the sidewalk and the stars, the 
 chance acquaintance and the cheap moving picture show. 
 
 Cheap rooms in the suburbs were seen also, but with them 
 often goes the request for companionship, assistance with work 
 or some similar service which should be added to the cost. An 
 item which is sometimes lost sight of in determining cost of room 
 is that of heat. A room is offered with many attractions : sun- 
 light, cleanliness, attractive furnishings, well kept locality, low 
 rent ; but when the visitor has finished sounding the praises of 
 the offer she discovers that the room is heated by gas with a 
 quarter meter or an air tight stove will be put up — if she needs 
 it. She must furnish her wood, or if a coal oil stove is installed, 
 she must furnish the oil (and if the stove is an old one, must bear 
 with the fumes). 
 
 An example from the investigator's experiences will illus- 
 trate: One landlord before showing any rooms scrutinized the 
 visitor closely, inquired after her trade and very plainly asked 
 her morals. On being reassured that she could furnish references 
 and desired no less than he to live in a respectable house he 
 showed her his rooms. All were clean but bare and unattractive. 
 One at $1.75 a week had a gas stove in it but the tenant must 
 furnish her own gas. One at $1.50 a week had no heat in it. 
 To the visitor's suggestion that this might be a little chilly, 
 the respectable housekeeper replied that one did not need heat 
 especially if one were in her room only night and morning. The 
 investigator urged that if one were to sit in her room evenings, 
 especially during the damp, rainy weather, one would find it 
 rather chilly. The landlord said, " Perhaps so, but then most 
 people are out in the evenings." He was typical of some others, 
 admirable for their morals but ready to censure a girl if she 
 were not willing to freeze to keep respectable. 
 
 None of the cheap rooms visited were picked out with malice 
 prepense. The visitor was delighted to find well heated, light 
 rooms in private homes as well as the cheap, dingy ones, but 
 the conclusion was forced upon her that to obtain decent, clean 
 
50 State of Washington 
 
 rooms in the larger cities, $10.00 a month at the very least is 
 required; to obtain comfortable, attractive ones $12.00 and more 
 a month is necessary. 
 
 It has been said that a girl may save if she rents a house- 
 keeping room at a slightly higher cost but cooks her own meals, 
 the saving to be made on the grocery bill. This suggestion 
 has been adopted by many girls at the expense of their physical 
 energy. For with a housekeeping room a girl may eat just 
 enough "to keep her going" and no one be the wiser, this because 
 she cannot afford two full meals at home and a lunch away 
 every day. Or another reason which enables her to save is that 
 at the end of the day she may find herself too tired to cook her 
 own meals. As a consequence she nibbles at cold food until 
 the feeling of hunger is satisfied; then she goes out for some 
 amusement or to her sleep half fed. During the investigation 
 two girls were found who had not had a warm meal for a week. 
 
 Another solution of the room rent question adopted by many 
 girls is that of rooming together. This is a plan which cannot 
 be universally condemned. Like many another plan, it can be 
 worked out under pleasant, healthful conditions, but frequently 
 it means that to save expenses a room with a bed large enough 
 for one girl will be adapted to two or even three. Disorder of 
 room, of sleep and distemper of mind and body result. Such a 
 condition was found where one room with one bed was oc- 
 cupied by four girls, two of whom took turns sleeping on the 
 floor at night while the other two occupied the bed. 
 
 During the investigation statistics were collected to see 
 whether the low wages bore any relation to the number of room- 
 rates. The returns showed very little. If there was a difference 
 it tended to show that the more poorly paid girls took in room- 
 mates more frequently but the better paid girl roomed with 
 another in so many instances that it was almost impossible to 
 draw any useful inference. 
 
 A fact worth noting is that standards of decent subsistence 
 vary with the occupation. We find that mercantile store and 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 51 
 
 office employes pay more per year than do factory and laundry 
 
 employes. 
 
 Table XXII. 
 
 AVERAGE AMOUNT SPENT ANNUALLY ON ROOM AND BOARD 
 
 BY 341 WAGE EARNING WOMEN IN WASHINGTON LIVING 
 
 ADRIFT AND CLASSIFIED BY INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Industry 
 
 Mercantile 
 Factory . . 
 Laundry . 
 
 Employers 
 
 Number 
 Report- 
 ing on 
 Room 
 
 162 
 
 49 
 
 130 
 
 138 
 
 Annual 
 
 Room 
 
 Rent 
 
 $119.60 
 113.36 
 109.20 
 
 $86.77 
 
 Number 
 Report- 
 ing on 
 Board 
 
 105 
 35 
 89 
 
 138 
 
 Annual 
 Cost of 
 Board 
 
 $192.40 
 169.00 
 171.60 
 
 $191.61 
 
 Total 
 
 $312.00 
 282.36 
 280.80 
 
 $278.38 
 
 Table XXII gives the average annual cost of room and 
 board for wage earning women adrift in Washington. 162 mer- 
 cantile employes average $119.60 a year for room rent. Board 
 costs 105, $192.40 a year. The total of the average for a year 
 is $312.00. 
 
 Factory employes live in cheaper rooms than the department 
 store girls — 49 of the former average $113.36 a year for room 
 and 35 average $169.00 for board. $14.09 is the cost of board 
 per month or 46 cents per day, an average of 15 cents for each 
 meal. If the woman takes her meals in a restaurant this means 
 scanty provision. If she were so placed that she could plan her 
 own meals, buy quantities of staple foods ahead and cook her own 
 meals, she might be able to exist on this allowance. In any case 
 it scarcely furnishes sufficient nourishment on which to perform 
 a hard day's work. 
 
 Laundry employes require less than factor}^ employes for 
 room, $109.20 a year, but slightly more a year for board, 
 $171.60. The total $280.80 falls a little below the total of the 
 factory employes which is $282.36. The annual cost of room 
 and board as estimated by 138 employers averaged $278.38. 
 
 Although not so stated, these estimates probablv cover the 
 cost of two meals only as but few private boarding houses serve 
 
52 State of Washington 
 
 the noonday lunch. If we allow 15 cents a working day for 
 lunch the cost of room and board is raised $3.90 a month and 
 $45.00 a year. 
 
 ROOMS INVESTIGATED. 
 
 (Answers were received to advertisements but only those which were 
 investigated are described here.) 
 
 SEATTLE. 
 
 1. Ten minutes walk from town, 2 rooms, one upstairs, 1 
 down, each $2,25 a week, both housekeeping; old house; down- 
 stairs room dingy, one strip of carpet, one strip of matting, 
 sanitary couch ; room heated by coal oil stove ; pay for own oil 
 for heating and furnish gas for cooking. Room upstairs heated 
 by tiny coal stove; three-quarter bed, supposed to be rented 
 for two. With two in room would cost $2.50 a week. The walls 
 were cracked. . The furniture was old, the room ragged in as- 
 pect, stove rusty ; furnish own coal. Upstairs water for cook- 
 ing, etc., obtained from faucet in hall but downstairs from bath 
 tub faucet. 
 
 2. Walking distance, no bath ; visitor was informed that 
 toilet was in yard but was not given opportunity to see it ; 
 housekeeping rooms $1.75, $2 a week and up. 
 
 3. Attractive flat exteriorly ; 1 front room upstairs, small 
 and dirty ; bath room and toilet formed part of hallway opening 
 between kitchen and bed room ; bath screened merely by por- 
 tiere which did not extend clear across ; woman not particular 
 about tenants ; room $2.50 a week, heated by gas, electric lights ; 
 place generally of untidy appearance. 
 
 4. Room in same neighborhood as 1, 2 and 3; steam 
 heated, upstairs very clean, clean bath, electric lights, no clothes 
 closet in room, $3.50 a week ; 1 front room same house, well- 
 kept and attractive room. At time of visit about to be vacated 
 by young man; atmosphere of room reeking with tobacco; 
 $3.00 a week. 
 
 5. One room, upstairs, front, $1.50 per week; no heat, 
 stove in room; must furnish own fuel; out quite a distance. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 53 
 
 6. One room in frame house, $10 per month; no board; 
 heat, stove in room ; will allow one bath a week ; landlady sick ; 
 within walking distance. 
 
 7. One room, $1.50 per week; no heat; beyond walking dis- 
 tance. 
 
 8. Two rooms, $2.50 and $4.00 per week ; no board ; heated 
 by furnace ; bath ; larger room big enough for two ; within walk- 
 ing distance. 
 
 9. One room, modern house, $12.50 per month; would give 
 breakfast at 25 cents per meal ; beyond walking distance. 
 
 10. One large front room, $10 per month; double windows, 
 small stove, but uncertain whether fuel included ; good location, 
 beyond walking distance. 
 
 . 11. One room, nice home, $10.00 per month; widow and 
 sister living alone ; would be treated as one of family ; on three 
 car lines ; 30 minutes walk from town. 
 
 12. One room, $10.00 per month; heated from stove in ad- 
 joining room; beyond walking distance, 15 minutes car ride 
 from business center. 
 
 BELLINGHAM— (Rooms Only). 
 
 13. One front room "very cheap;" $8.00 or $9.00 per 
 month ; use of parlor. 
 
 14. One room, has always rented for $15.00 per month, but 
 will take $10.00 per month for permanent roomer ; board obtain- 
 able next door at $4.50 per week for two meals ; wood heater in 
 room; bath; 10 minutes walking distance from business center. 
 
 15. One small upstairs room, $3.00 per week; steam heat, 
 bath ; use of piano ; within walking distance. 
 
 16. Three or four rooms, $10.00 per month each; room 
 and board, $5.00 per week; same rate if two in a room; steam 
 heat, bath; use of piano, parlor and laundry facilities; 10 min- 
 utes walking distance from business center. 
 
 17. One room, $10.00 per month, extra charge for wood ; 
 no use of parlor or piano ; 20 minutes walk from business center. 
 
 18. One room, $10.00 per month; steam heat; may use 
 parlor occasionally ; 5 minutes walk from business center. 
 
54 State of Washington 
 
 19. Three rooms, $2.00 per week each; small, no heat; 
 bath ; use of parlor and piano ; 20 minutes walk from business 
 center. 
 
 20. Two small housekeeping rooms, upstairs, $4.50 per 
 week for both ; small heater and gas stove ; wood and gas fur- 
 nished ; care for own rooms ; no bath or toilet ; parlor and piano 
 may be used at any time ; "homelike" ; 5 minutes walk from busi- 
 ness center. 
 
 21. Two rooms, $9.00 and $8.00 per month; well furnished 
 and convenient ; gas, bath ; use of parlor, no piano ; board in 
 next block at $4.50 per week. 
 
 22. One room, $10.00 per month; well furnished; furnace 
 heat, bath; board two doors away at $4.50 per week for two 
 meals ; 10 minutes walk from business center. 
 
 23. One room, $10.00 per month for one, $9.00 per month 
 each for two ; furnace heat ; "use of bath if careful" ; "cannot 
 use parlor or piano" ; 15 minutes walk from business center. 
 
 24. One room, $8.00 per month; with two meals, $18.00 
 
 per month, room unheated ; bath ; use of living room, parlor, 
 
 piano, etc. ; on good car line, 35 minutes walk from business 
 
 center. 
 
 SPOKANE. 
 
 25. $25.00 per month ; bath ; beyond walking distance. 
 
 26. $6.50 per week ; small room ; heat ; bath ; use of piano, 
 etc. 
 
 27. Wants someone for company; $12.00 per month; 
 roomer must sleep on couch when husband of landlady is at 
 home. 
 
 28. If not a hearty eater, room and breakfast for $3.00 
 per week ; will allow one bath per week ; room poorly furnished ; 
 beyond walking distance. 
 
 29. "Lone woman" wishes to share room and expenses. 
 
 30. Two meals, $20.00 per month ; walking distance. 
 
 BELLINGHAM— (Board and Room). 
 
 31. Two meals, $3.50 per week; room poorly furnished 
 with one small window; kerosene lamps; no bath or toilet; room 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 55 
 
 heated by chimney from down stairs ; no carpet in room ; rather 
 noisy ; no piano ; 20 minutes walk from business center. 
 
 32. Two meals, $5.00 per week; with two sharing room, 
 $4.00 per week each; stove in room, bath; use of parlor, no 
 piano ; "very dark stairway leading to room" ; 10 minutes walk 
 to business center. 
 
 TACOMA— (All Walking Distance). 
 
 1. One front room for one or two, $4.00 a week, first floor, 
 very clean. One rear room, $2.50 per week, third floor, wall 
 paper torn. Hot water heat in this building. No toilet on the 
 third floor. 
 
 2. One front room, $3.00 per week, pleasant and clean ; 
 separate toilets for men and women. 
 
 3. One room, $1.75 per week, heated with gas stove. Ten- 
 ant furnishes gas. Room arranged for housekeeping. One 
 rooni, $1.50 per week, no heat of any kind provided. Landlady 
 here very particular about the character of tenants. 
 
 1. Two housekeeping rooms, very clean, $2.75 per week. 
 Furnish own gas for cooking and wood for stove. This lady 
 had two floors and arranged it so that all of the men tenants 
 were on one floor. 
 
 5. One housekeeping room, $3.50 per week, ragged carpet, 
 dirty walls, toilet clean. 
 
 6. One single room, third floor, sanitary couch, one gas 
 plate, cheap furnishings, $3.00 per week. 
 
 CLOTHING AND LAUNDRY. 
 
 Two conditions exist which influence the cost of clothing; of 
 the woman in the business world. One is her occupation, the 
 other is the amount she has on hand to spend. The nature of 
 her work affects the cost in three ways: (a) what the position 
 demands from her in appearances, (b) the measure of its wear 
 and tear on her clothes, (c) the degree of physical wear that 
 it requires of the worker. 
 
56 State of Washington 
 
 (a) Undoubtedly, mercantile or any other work which 
 places a woman before the public requires that she dress pleas- 
 ingly in up-to-date clothes. In manufacturing and laundering 
 establishments, where workers do not meet the patrons at all, 
 hand-me-down, soiled and worn garments are possible. 
 
 (b) The nature of the work will affect in great measure the 
 length of wear which a woman may get from her clothes. Fac- 
 tory employes who use only their hands, stenographers, mani- 
 curists, telephone operators, will not have the shoe bill of laun- 
 dry women who must stand and work at foot pedal machines 
 and who, in some cases, stand on wet floors ; of employes in manu- 
 facturing plants whose shoes are exposed to spattering dirt, or 
 of clerks and errand girls in department stores, who are on 
 their feet all day. The heat and perspiration unavoidably con- 
 nected with some lines of work hastens the end of the usefulness 
 of clothes. 
 
 (c) The physical wear of an employe's work lessens her 
 ability to plan her clothes, make them herself and keep them 
 mended. Several employers submitting cost of living blanks, 
 remarked that girls should do their own laundry and make their 
 own clothes, "since they have the eight hour day." The fact 
 that a girl -has the times does not necessarily mean that after a 
 hard day's confining labor, she has the energy, however much 
 she desired it, to start a second eight hours of domestic work. 
 
 The final cost of clothing depends a great deal on how much 
 a girl has to spend for an article at the time she needs it. So- 
 called "sample" houses and installment-plan clothing houses 
 probably could not exist at all if self-supporting women were 
 earning a living wage. For lack of funds the girl adrift espe- 
 cially buys the lowest priced article she can find. The flimsy, 
 lace-trimmed, waists for which they are so often condemned 
 are worn less from choice than because they can afford noth- 
 ing better. Cheap suits are another expensive necessity. Pass- 
 ing for wool, but composed largely of cotton, they have not 
 the warmth nor the weather-resisting qualities which a better 
 suit has. Moreover, they are poorly made, with weak thread, 
 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 57 
 
 crooked seams, but with attractive coat linings, which are soon 
 worn to shreds. What is true of suits and waists is true of 
 every other article of wear. Underwear for 30 cents a suit, 
 stockings for 10 cents a pair, shoes $1, underskirt 59 cents, 
 corset 79 cents, suit $6.98, waist 69 cents, hat $1.50, gloves 
 25 cents, handkerchiefs 5 cents — $11.25 for the outfit! but the 
 woman who can thus dress herself and feel entirely content with 
 her condition is not the woman whom employers care to place on 
 their payroll. Cheap clothes in the true sense of the word are 
 expensive, but for lack of money at the proper time this is an 
 expense which many a wage-earner must unwillingly assume. 
 The proposition is the same when it is worked out with a credit- 
 clothing house. The cost of the article in the end is much higher 
 but the quality no better. "It's awful," one girl said, who was 
 attempting to get started by this means. "You never get 
 through paying and you haven't anything when you're done." 
 
 Table XXIII. 
 
 AVERAGE ANNUAL AMOUNT ESTIMATED AS REASONABLE 
 
 MINIMUM EXPENDITURE FOR CLOTHING BY 112 GIRLS 
 
 CLASSIFIED BY OCCUPATION. 
 
 Occupation 
 
 Mercantile 
 
 Factory 
 
 Laundry 
 
 Miscellaneous Office, Telephone, etc 
 
 Employers 
 
 No. 
 
 51 
 
 15 
 14 
 32 
 
 138 
 
 Estimated Annual 
 Expenditure 
 
 Clothing 
 
 $139.16 
 126.48 
 144.08 
 150.35 
 
 $118.17 
 
 Laundry 
 
 $21.29 
 19.14 
 20.18 
 16.62 
 
 $21.60 
 
 Table XXIII represents the annual cost of clothing for self- 
 supporting women in Washington as estimated by 112 girls, 
 classified by occupation. 
 
 Girls in mercantile stores have the advantage over women in 
 all other occupations. They usually receive a discount on pur- 
 chases made in the store and some firms even offer discounts to 
 
58 State of Washington 
 
 clerks coming from other stores. A woman in a store is given 
 some time off for "house shopping ;" then too, they are on the 
 ground when reductions in price are made and are able to buy 
 good things at a saving; whereas women in other occupations, 
 with their limited time for shopping, are not able to be on hand 
 for bargains, nor are they always able to investigate shops until 
 they have found where they may make their purchases at the 
 greatest saving. Even with these advantages we find the mer- 
 cantile store girl's clothing averages $139.16 a year. If we 
 allow the 10 per cent, discount this sum is increased to $154.60 
 a year. Factory employes, on the other hand, spend on an 
 average of only $126.48 a year, while laundry employes total 
 $144.08. This increase above the factory employes may be due 
 to the greater wear and tear on the laundry employes' clothing 
 which their work entails. 
 
 The average annual amount allowed by one hundred and 
 thirty-eight employers, who reviewed the clothing question, was 
 $118.17. 
 
 Annual laundry costs are put on the clothing schedule as 
 the former item must always be taken into consideration when 
 buying clothing. Table XXIII shows that mercantile store em- 
 ployes spend on an average of $21.29 a year. This exceeds the 
 cost of both laundry and factory employes as do other expenses 
 of saleswomen which have a direct bearing on their work. 
 
 CHURCH AND ASSOCIATION DUES. 
 
 Table No. XXIV shows the annual amount estimated as 
 necessary for church and association dues by 112 girls, classified 
 by industry. Mercantile store employes expend the least, fac- 
 tory workers the most, for lodge, clubs and church affiliations. 
 The least amount is slightly less than $1 a month for mercan- 
 tile women, the largest about $1.35 a month for factory em- 
 ployes. No record is made here of the amounts estimated for in- 
 surance for the reason that too few were given to be of much 
 value. Out of the 27 reports from mercantile clerks of actual 
 expenditures, 12 who reported on insurance, average $12.79 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 59 
 
 for the year. The highest individual estimates here for the year 
 were $27.50, the lowest, $5.20. 
 
 We are not surprised at the lack of records on insurance 
 premiums. The vast majority of self-supporting girls today 
 find it too difficult to make ends meet to be able to put away 
 enough for a decent burial. They are glad to be able to keep life 
 together and to this end spend what money they do save as in- 
 surance on hospital and sick benefit associations. And our fig- 
 ures show that less than half are able to do even that. 
 
 Table XXIV. 
 
 AVERAGE ANNUAL AMOUNT ESTIMATED AS REASONABLE 
 
 MINIMUM EXPENDITURE FOR CHURCH AND ASSOCIATION 
 
 DUES BY 112 GIRLS CLASSIFIED BY OCCUPATION. 
 
 Occupation. No. Amount. 
 
 Mercantile 51 $11.58 
 
 Factory 15 16.40 
 
 Laundry 14 13.69 
 
 Miscellaneous (Office and 
 
 Telephone, etc.) 32 10.78 
 
 Employers 138 $12.79 
 
 One employer who submitted an estimate on the cost of 
 living, gave no amount for church dues, stating as his reason 
 that he did not believe "in taking church money from a working 
 girl." The question is to be looked at not so much from the 
 point of view of the "church taking" as from the ability of the 
 girl to give. If a young woman is a church member she takes 
 pleasure in her church affiliation and receives more mental and 
 moral courage from this association than from any other 
 she forms. Possibly she realizes that there is a physical rest 
 also to be had from relaxation of spirit. Granting that 
 she actually feels that she is deriving benefits from her affilia- 
 tion, she should not be denied the right w T ith others better placed 
 financially, to assist in the support of the organization. It is 
 a right which the self-respecting church-goer does not wish 
 taken away from her any more than the right to employ her 
 own physician rather than the charity doctor. 
 
60 State of W ashington 
 
 MAGAZINES AND STATIONERY. 
 Table XXV. 
 
 AVERAGE ANNUAL AMOUNT ESTIMATED AS REASONABLE MIN- 
 IMUM EXPENDITURE FOR MAGAZINES AND STATIONERY 
 BY 112 GIRLS CLASSIFIED BY OCCUPATION. 
 
 Occupation. No. Amount. 
 
 Mercantile . 51 $7.48 
 
 Factory 15 7.09 
 
 Laundry 14 8.43 
 
 Miscellaneous (Office and 
 
 Telephone, etc.) 32 7.78 
 
 Employers 138 $8.41 
 
 Table XXV gives the amount estimated by 112 girls as neces- 
 sary for newspapers and magazines, stationery and postage. 
 In personal and written correspondence with young women con- 
 cerning all of the items in the "Cost of Living," the same state- 
 ment was frequently made concerning this and other items (va- 
 cation, recreation, etc.) "I can't afford to buy magazines." The 
 amounts spent by employes differ but little- — nothing over 70 
 cents a month, "60 cents a month for magazines" — and sta- 
 tionery. The "and stationery" changes the complexion of the 
 figures. A girl away from home writing at least one letter a 
 week to her people would have to spend about 25 cents a month. 
 If she has a sister or a friend her outlay for stamps is double. 
 Few of the better magazines are less than 15 cents apiece. It 
 is not long before her 60 or 70 cents for magazines and station- 
 ery is exhausted and she has the rest of an empty month to face. 
 The suggestion is made "Let her use the public library." 'Tis 
 a good one and many of the girls do so, though some are pre- 
 vented by distance and lack of carfare from going to the li- 
 brary. But the fact to be absorbed here is not, that because a 
 girl has not one dollar or two a month for magazines and sta- 
 tionery she must have it, but that the cramped attitude she 
 must hold toward every innocent desire, the constant restric- 
 tion she must place not only on her craving for amusement and 
 relaxation, on her ambition to read and grow, but even on her 
 vital, insistent longing for sufficient food, a clean room to sleep 
 in and warm attractive clothes to wear, is what ultimately 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 61 
 
 breaks her spirit, drags her down, not always in morals neces- 
 sarily, but in efficiency, in desire for personal progress, in the 
 general sense of being of some value to a community as one of 
 its precious human citizens. 
 
 VACATION AND AMUSEMENT. 
 
 Table XXVI. 
 
 AVERAGE ANNUAL AMOUNT ESTIMATED AS REASONABLE MIN- 
 IMUM EXPENDITURE FOR VACATION AND AMUSEMENTS 
 BY 112 GIRLS CLASSIFIED BY OCCUPATION. 
 
 Occupation. No. Amount. 
 
 Mercantile 51 $24.78 
 
 Factory 15 27.50 
 
 Laundry 14 27.23 
 
 Miscellaneous (Office and 
 
 Telephone, etc.) 32 32.03 
 
 Employers 138 $29.23 
 
 Table XXVI with its estimated account of amounts neces- 
 sary for vacation and amusements shows the same pitiful tale 
 of economy which does not economize. Suppose, before examin- 
 ing the table, we list our amusements and vacations. We place 
 here diversions which the ordinary man and woman may per- 
 mit themselves occasionally and not be considered extravagant. 
 
 1. A dish of ice cream once a month, 10 cents each time. 
 
 2. A street car ride to the outskirts on Sunday, $5.20 a 
 year. 
 
 3. A moving picture show once a week, first class, 10 cents. 
 40 cents a month ; second, third, fourth class, 5 cents, 20 cents a 
 month. 
 
 4. A vaudeville entertainment once a month, first class, 25 
 cents ; second class, 15 cents ; a good concert, 50 cents, or a first 
 class play, rear seat, third balcony ; 10 cents worth of candy 
 once a month. A week's vacation once a year at the beach 
 or in the mountains — to go 100 miles excursion rates $5 round 
 trip, room and board one week $5 or $6. Summing up with first 
 class entertainments, our total is $29.80 a year. Looking at our 
 table we find that among the three trades $27.50 a year is the 
 maximum amount spent. Review the list of expenditures and 
 
62 State of Washington 
 
 suppose the table for a man. As no amount has been stated for 
 tobacco expenditure we substitute smoking supplies for candy, 
 ten cents a month for cigars ! We do not eliminate the ice cream 
 because during the busy hours the stools at the soda water 
 fountain rarely lack a patron. It is interesting to note that 
 the average of the employers' estimate, $29.23, very nearly 
 covers the cost of the suggested program. 
 
 One thing further must be noted — this allowance for amuse- 
 ment has been made out for one. Exceeding as it does the actual 
 expenses of the girls (Table XXVI), it denies a girl 
 the privilege of ever asking another girl to share her street car 
 ride or moving picture show — to share anything except her ten 
 cents worth of candy once a month. This is not a plea for the 
 treating habit; it simply recognizes the fact that part of the 
 pleasure of human existence comes from our ability to give and 
 take. With the opportunity for giving gone, a girl with self 
 respect refuses the pleasure of taking, which without ability to 
 make return soon becomes the habit of "sponging.'' Only in 
 her friendship with men does she feel that her company is re- 
 turn sufficient for his outlay of money. Here, however, the girl 
 away from home is at a great disadvantage. She does not care 
 to become friendly with any casual acquaintance as she might 
 with safety in a home circle; her opportunities for meeting re- 
 liable young men are few and far between. Not only must she 
 be careful with the young man of apparently good intentions 
 but she must be on the lookout, especially if she is at all at- 
 tractive, for actual traps to ensnare her and rob her of her 
 virtue. Such statements will not receive credit even with some 
 of the girls themselves who have not happened to "run into any- 
 thing," or who are naturally so aggressive that the ordinary 
 trapper of humans would flee them. But to those who mingle 
 with the girls day after day, the question, as it affects the girl 
 away from home, of ability to find and pay for her own decent 
 amusement becomes steadily more serious. 
 
 The question of the yearly vacation of a week has been pro- 
 vided for with meager allowance in our estimate. Managers of 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 63 
 
 mercantile stores sometimes give a week's vacation with pay. 
 Factory and laundry employes, however, must take theirs at 
 their own expense. Employers who have opportunities occa- 
 sionally to take a run South, or East or just across the ocean, 
 are heard to say that they have not had a vacation in ten years, 
 etc. Yet to few does this statement mean that they have had 
 their noses to the grindstone day following day for ten years. 
 A Sunday spent hunting or fishing or as a "week end in the 
 country" is a taste of a vacation. The subject scarcely needs 
 further discussion. Physicians, alienists and nerve specialists 
 are agreed that every person should have a change from his 
 surroundings at least once a year for the gathering together of 
 his forces, and for the relief to his mind and body that new faces 
 and scenes give. 
 
 MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY. 
 
 Table XXVII. 
 
 AVERAGE ANNUAL AMOUNT ESTIMATED AS REASONABLE MIN- 
 IMUM EXPENDITURE FOR MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY 
 BY 112 GIRLS CLASSIFIED BY OCCUPATION. 
 
 Occupation. No. Amount. 
 
 Mercantile 51 $15.67 
 
 Factory 15 16.70 
 
 Laundry 14 22.16 
 
 Miscellaneous (Office and 
 
 Telephone, etc.) 32 13.27 
 
 Employers 138 $13.23 
 
 Table XXYII has a story which throws light on several 
 facts. For medicine and dentistry laundry women spend the 
 largest amount, $22.16 a year, or nearly $2 a month; factory 
 girls are next in order and mercantile clerks spend least. The 
 class whose general standard of living is lowest spends most 
 for medicine and dentistry. Is there not room for an argument 
 here proving that it pays a community to see that its wage earn- 
 ers receive enough wages to enable them to maintain themselves 
 "decently and in health." Coupled with the facts that laundry 
 workers live under the meanest conditions and spend more in 
 maintenance of health than do the employes of other trades re- 
 
64 State of Washington 
 
 corded, is the third fact that as a trade, laundry work is prob- 
 ably the most physically exhausting of any that women engage 
 in. We speak advisedly when we say "physically exhaust- 
 ing." Telephone operating and certain kinds of high speed 
 power machine work is "nervously exhausting." Clerks on their 
 feet all day grow physically weary from standing, but of all 
 the other occupations, none has with it the weakness and weari- 
 ness that comes from standing on concrete floors (sometimes 
 wood), working with arms or feet, or both, in an over heated 
 atmosphere and until recent days, often in foul, heavy air. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Table XXVIII, which give's the actual expenses of 27 
 young women, would seem to indicate that in making out esti- 
 mates the 112 girls did not allow a sufficient amount for phy- 
 sicians' and dentists' care. Of these 27, 25 reported a total 
 outla}' of $515.50 or $20.62, as an average for the year. Two 
 girls gave $5 as their expenditure. None of the others fell 
 below $10 and one, who had spent nothing for laundry, news- 
 papers or magazines, stationery, postage, association dues or 
 insurance, but $5 for vacation and $6 for amusements, had spent 
 $80 for medicine and dentistry. 
 
 Table XXVIII. 
 
 ACTUAL COST OF LIVING OF 27 EMPLOYES FROM MERCANTILE 
 
 STORES FOR ONE YEAR. 
 
 Room and Board $287.56 
 
 Clothing 131.80 
 
 Laundry and Medicine 22.92 
 
 Car Fare 20. 62 
 
 Newspapers 29.17 
 
 Magazines 4.15 
 
 Stationery and Postage 3. 98 
 
 Association Dues 3.45 
 
 Insurance 12.79 
 
 Vacation Expenses 13.81 
 
 Amusements 11 .47 
 
 Church 7.05 
 
 Incidentals 9.51 
 
 Total $568.28 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 65 
 
 Table XXIX. 
 
 ESTIMATED TOTAL ANNUAL EXPENDITURE BY 112 GIRLS 
 CLASSIFIED BY OCCUPATION. 
 
 Occupation. No. Amount. 
 
 Mercantile 51 $523.27 
 
 Factory 15 489.24 
 
 Laundry 14 499.27 
 
 Miscellaneous (Office and 
 
 Telephone, etc.) 32 518.96 
 
 Employers 138 $535.10 
 
 —3 
 
QQ State of Washington 
 
 Section V. 
 PERSONAL COMMENTS. 
 
 (A) EMPLOYERS' COMMENTS. 
 
 Schedules were sent to a large number of employers request- 
 ing that they estimate the cost of items necessary for a wage- 
 earning woman's decent subsistence. 138 were returned accom- 
 panied by explanatory letters or with comments. The following 
 are presented to give an idea of the attitude of employers to- 
 ward the establishment of a minimum wage. 
 
 1. This estimate for the cost of living for one year 
 amounted to $441.00. The sender says: "I am very much op- 
 posed to girls working in public places, under 18 years of age, 
 and a great believer in paying all employes all they are worth, 
 making them feel that their efforts are appreciated, which by 
 experience I have found very profitable, thereby receiving all 
 and full value of their ability." 
 
 2. A man who allows $544 a year suggests a graduated 
 wage scale. He says : "Girls without experience should have 
 at least $5 a week ; girls having from one to two years' exper- 
 ience, should have at least $7 a week ; girls having from two 
 to five years' experience should have at least $10 a week." Pro- 
 gress in this case would be discouragingly slow. 
 
 ' 3. $519 is the estimate of this employer. "I consider $10 
 per week salary about as low as a woman can get along with 
 and be what is required of her in the average Seattle store. If 
 a young lady lives at home with her folks, the amount can, of 
 course, be somewhat less. A saleswoman worthy of the name 
 should earn from $12 to $15 per week. My estimate applies 
 only to saleswomen in dry goods and in other city stores. I have 
 often taken young girls that have homes and started them with 
 $7 a week. In two or three years their salary was always $10 
 or more, or they did not stay with me." 
 
 4. A man who gives $623 for a year's maintenance says 
 that these figures are for the woman "untrained to do or make 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 67 
 
 anything for herself, who would be, of course, an exceptional 
 character. The list is prepared for only such people. Multi- 
 tudes of men support and educate considerable families with 
 such an amount of money." 
 
 5. "In reply to your request, the writer has made an es- 
 timate based on the theory that the girl or woman employed was 
 not living at home, or with friends, but was compelled to pay 
 her way the same as a man would among strangers. There is 
 one important item of expense not enumerated in the schedule, 
 viz., lost time on account of sickness or the want of a job. 
 Therefore, the writer believes his estimate of $633.70 is a con- 
 servative one." 
 
 6. A man who allowed $611, excluding repair of clothing, 
 says : "These figures ought not to apply to girls working in 
 factories so far as clothing is concerned. A girl in a factory 
 can dress respectably for much less than a girl in an office or a 
 store. The big department stores today in the cities do not 
 pay their help, in proportion to expenses, as much salary as 
 the merchants in small country towns. I sincerely hope the In- 
 dustrial Welfare Commission will be a means of bringing about 
 better salaries for those who have been underpaid and over- 
 worked." 
 
 7. An employer whose total is $529.96 allows 50 cents a 
 day for meals. 
 
 8. The total here is $370.30. "(1) The foregoing schedule 
 is based upon the assumption that the person under consider- 
 ation is all the term prudent implies, and based upon the annual 
 cost of maintenance under normal conditions. This is a fixed 
 quantity. (2) Being prudent has the person the mental and 
 physical strength to earn her own living? Right here is the 
 problem. Has she had the training necessary to qualify her for 
 the battle of life? True, she has the right to live. But she 
 must be a producer of the means necessary for her maintenance, 
 otherwise she is an incubus and a victim of her own inability. 
 This brings us face to face with conditions. A woman under 
 normal conditions qualified to perform the duties of every day life 
 
68 State of Washington 
 
 should not receive less than $2 per day of eight hours, or a total 
 of $576 per year, to be increased according to ability to earn 
 the same. Further comment is unnecessary." 
 
 9. "Estimates in this schedule are taken and given under 
 conditions that two or more girls live together in one apartment 
 of rooms, do part of their own cooking, do their own mending 
 of clothes and make part of their dresses, as alterations, etc., 
 which kind of work they have plenty of time to do when employed 
 only 8 hours a day. Street car fare is eliminated in my estimate 
 because in smaller cities we do not have this facility and in 
 larger cities, room rent would be cheaper in a suburb and 
 affect the street car fare." The total of this estimate (allowing 
 only half rates for room) is $406. 
 
 10. "It is almost impossible to itemize accurately as the ex- 
 pense depends largely upon locality, etc. The average sales 
 girl lives at home and wages are used principally as spending 
 money. Also the expenditures of some, manv of them, are 
 largely in excess of necessity. The figures itemized are suffi- 
 cient to dress a sales girl as the up-to-date girl of today demands 
 and undoubtedly better than the average married lady of the 
 working class today. Personal opinion is not requested on this 
 sheet but my idea of justice is to see wages of men increased 
 sufficiently to enable them to support a family comfortably. This 
 would bring about more marriages, less divorces and happier 
 homes amongst the married class." The estimate is for $443.50 
 with $5 a week allowed for room and board. 
 
 11. A man giving an estimate of $450 for one year says: 
 "The estimate given on the other side of this sheet, to my way 
 of thinking, is liberal. I know of cases where girls can get along 
 with 50 per cent, less than the figures given herewith ; however, 
 those are in the minority." 
 
 12. "I have given this matter my earnest attention and 
 beg leave to submit a statement which is the best that I can 
 arrive at. In doing so I understand that the items are more or 
 less arbitrary but I have reduced them to as low an amount as 
 I think it is possible to do. This would make a minimum wage 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 69 
 
 of $13.93 per week, possibly a little higher than has been fixed 
 in other states. I notice, for instance, that the minimum wage 
 in Oregon is $9.25 per week, but this to my judgment is too 
 low." 
 
 13. A laundryman giving an estimate of $400 for a } r ear 
 says : "The ordinary working girl wears a suit, dresses, under- 
 wear, etc., two or three years." ( !) 
 
 14. The man who submitted this estimate allowed $572 a 
 year : "To the Spartan mind this might seem an exhorbitant sum 
 for the support and maintenance of any woman, but taking into 
 
 consideration the 'meals and room' in all our large cities like , 
 
 a woman cannot procure a room in a respectable hotel or room- 
 ing house for less than $3 or $4 a week and is compelled to take 
 her meals at a restaurant, at, in most restaurants, a minimum of 
 25 cents per meal. The other items shown, I believe, are entirely 
 within reach." This gentleman at first allowed $375 a > T ear for 
 room and board but reduced it $100, which left his total the 
 figure given above. 
 
 15. A member of a large mercantile firm who allows $482.45 
 a year says : "Estimates are for girls dependent on them- 
 selves and away from home. Girls living at home, as nearly all 
 of our girls do, would require much less than $480." 
 
 16. No sum was stated on this blank, a manufacturer's, 
 but the following comment is offered : "I am in no position to 
 know how much it requires for a woman to maintain herself, still 
 I do not believe that it can be done for less than from $10 to 
 $12 per week when relying entirely on herself." 
 
 "I find, however, that in a great number of cases where girls 
 are living with their parents, even when receiving from $6 to $8 
 it adds to the family income. The same is also the case with 
 married women who have no families and whose husband as well 
 as the wife is working out. A number of women employed by 
 us are married, but have no children and, although they would 
 not need to work their husbands being well able to support 
 them, all being steadily employed, still they prefer to work rather 
 than sit around at home. The average wage paid by us to 
 
70 State of Washington 
 
 women is over $12 per week. I do believe that the minimum 
 wage per week for a woman should be not less than $10; there 
 should however be provision for apprentices who are learning a 
 trade." 
 
 17. A man giving $523 a year as a minimum cost of living 
 says : "A woman to live on this amount must be of good health 
 and can't, as I see it, save anything for sickness or old age, just 
 live as I think anyone willing to work should live." 
 
 18. "In submitting these figures, I have allowed on most 
 items sufficient lee-way to save from $2 to $3 per week, as I 
 consider that also a necessity and that there is no comfortable 
 living without saving a little each week regularly." The esti- 
 mate is for $790.50. 
 
 18. "This estimate ($455.70) is a reproduction of the ac- 
 tual expenditures of a clerk of mine who receives a salary of 
 $15 a week and I believe a very good estimate of what can be 
 done if a woman so desires." 
 
 "I also have another clerk who works in the same department 
 and receives the same salary but cannot show such results. The 
 first lady can show a bank account and the other cannot. She 
 tells me she will show a still larger bank account the coining year. 
 These two ladies have no home and must figure to make ends 
 meet. I have another lady who is receiving $15 a week and sup- 
 ports a mother and saves money each week. I have three other 
 young ladies who receive $9, $10 and $12.50 and buy their mer- 
 chandise of all descriptions at 10 per cent, above actual cost and 
 still cannot save a cent and also live with their parents. These 
 three ladies are just fair clerks and are getting all, if not more, 
 than they are worth, still they think they are underpaid and are 
 never satisfied. Why? Because they have no purpose in life 
 and even if they were receiving $15 a week their ideas would re- 
 main the same. Give me the homeless woman and I will pay 
 her a good salary. I will then have the best type of American 
 womanhood. But what are you going to do with the last three 
 I have mentioned? Shorten their hours for work and raise their 
 salary and by doing so lessen their ability?" 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 1 
 
 19. "As per your request of October 10 I have used my best 
 judgment in this matter and have answered the questions for 
 a girl either employed in an office or store. A girl of domestic 
 work should not need as much. I also think that there is some 
 difference in a town and in a city. 
 
 Meals — If the girl does not live at home she will need $208. 
 
 Room — Two girls would have to pay here $7.50 but in 
 city $10. 
 
 Shoes and rubbers — She needs 3 pairs of shoes at $3 each, a 
 pair of dancing pumps and a pair of oxfords. 
 
 Underwear $11.50 — In this I have included her muslins. 
 
 Petticoats $10.50 — This includes 3 silk petticoats at $2.50 
 each. 
 
 Stockings $7.50 — This includes 3 pair of silk stockings and 
 6 pair of lisle. 
 
 Suits $35.00—2 suits a year at $17.50 each. This is as 
 much as she needs to pay if she has good judgment and buys 
 right. Some ready-made-to-wear stores should be compelled to 
 make a report of what profit they charge. It's a bad game. 
 
 Coats $17.50 — Two coats in three years at an average cost 
 of $17.50 is all she should pay. Good summer coat need not 
 cost her more than $10.00. 
 
 Dresses $27.50— Two good dresses at $10.00 each. This 
 again depends on her qualities as a buyer. $7.50 for house 
 dress and kimonas should be enough. 
 
 Shirtwaist — $4.00 worth properly bought should last a year. 
 
 Corsets $4.50 — Two corsets $2.00 each, should be plenty. 
 
 Handkerchiefs $3.00 — They lose a lot of them and need 
 about 2 dozen. 
 
 Corsetwaist $1.50 — Depends on style of dress, $1.50 may 
 be a little short. 
 
 Gloves $6.50 — 3 pair kid gloves at $1.50 each, balance for 
 silk and lisle. 
 
 Neckwear $1.50- — $1.50 properly bought is good. 
 
 Hats $12.50 — She has to have at least two a year at $5 each, 
 balance for auto caps and veils. 
 
72 State of Washington 
 
 Umbrella $1.50 — One every two years at $3 is enough if 
 bought right. For this price she can buy a silk one. 
 
 Repair on clothing she must do herself so long as she only 
 works eight hours. 
 
 Laundry $39.00 — This depends on the people she rents her 
 room from. Many people do not want to rent rooms to girls 
 because they do some laundry work ; for this reason I have al- 
 lowed $39.00 which can be shaded. Since she works only eight 
 hours, she could do most of it herself, but she is not allowed to 
 do so by landlord. 
 
 Medicine and Dentistry — She should not spend more than 
 $5 by visiting the dentist frequently. She should learn not to 
 use medicines. The $5.00 is short when toilet preparations are 
 figured in. She needs under this head soaps and creams and 
 tooth powder. 
 
 Street car fare $36.50 — If she lives in place where there is 
 none she needs the same amount for pleasure boating and auto- 
 mobiles. $36.50 is little high unless she has to go to work every 
 day in some conveyance. 
 
 Newspaper and magazines — $4.50 is as little as it ought to 
 be. 
 
 Stationery and postage — $3.00 ; when she writes more than 
 what that will pay for she is wasting her time, it would be bet- 
 ter to do some fancy work. 
 
 Association dues $3.00 — I am allowing her to belong to one 
 or two clubs on an average of $1.50 per club dues; she should 
 belong to one music club and something else that might strike 
 her fancy. 
 
 Insurance — Unless she has a mother depending on her for 
 her living, she has no business with any insurance and the first 
 fellow or agent that makes her believe that she should, ought 
 to lose his license. 
 
 Vacation— $30.00 is not too much for this. She ought to 
 have $3.00 a day for ten days. Our wives can not take theirs on 
 that amount. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 73 
 
 Amusements — $31.00 should be spent while she is working; 
 she has to see and do something to laugh at. 
 
 Church — No girl should be asked to contribute more than 
 $5.00 to any church ; $2.50 for little church amusements. 
 
 Incidentals — Wedding, birthday and Christmas gifts should 
 come under this head ; also some fancy work material and a few 
 music lessons." Total $628.50. 
 
 (B) EMPLOYES' COMMENTS. 
 
 No. 1. This woman gives her estimate as $445 a year. She 
 says that she does not attend church and she doesn't have any 
 vacation. 
 
 No. 2, who gives an estimate of $710.75, states that girls who 
 have no home and must depend entirely on themselves could not 
 live on less than this amount. "If a girl could do her own laun- 
 dry and sewing, of course it would be a little less, but after a girl 
 has worked all day she needs recreation instead of sitting up 
 half of the night to sew her clothes. As for washing her clothes, 
 I do not think there are many places, if any, where it is con- 
 venient for a girl to launder her clothes." 
 
 No. 3. A waitress places her estimate at $530. She says : 
 "I have no insurance, I repair my own clothing, I have no chance 
 for vacation and work others for my amusements." 
 
 No. 4, with an estimate of $541.50, states that she figures on 
 doing the greater part of her laundry and all of her plain sew- 
 ing. 
 
 No. 5 says : "I live at home with my brother and mother. 
 My brother and I support my mother. Mother and I make all 
 our own clothes and do our repairing of clothes. Mother does 
 my laundry. There are no street cars. I do not belong to any 
 association or carry any life insurance. I have not taken any 
 vacation. The first of September I had an operation for appen- 
 dicitis which was very expensive. I had to stay at home for a 
 month which meant a loss of wages for that time." 
 
 No. 6. "My income is $365 a year and I am living at home, 
 which accounts for my being able to live within my income.'' 
 
74 State of Washington 
 
 No. 7. "There are a number of girls working in this town 
 for $5 a week. I earn $10 per week and couldn't begin to make 
 ends meet with the high cost of living if I didn't live at home." 
 What the home supplies to this girl is shown by the fact that her 
 income is $520 and her cost of living $823.25. 
 
 No. 8. A bookkeeper in a 5, 10 and 15c store started at $4 
 a week five years ago. At present she is receiving $8. She lives 
 at home and contributes $1 a week to the family income. Her 
 cost of living including this contribution is $413.75. She has 
 no laundry bill and no bill for repair of clothing, no association 
 dues nor insurance. 
 
 No. 9. A woman giving $600.25 as her estimate for a year, 
 a stenographer, states that items such as vacation expenses, 
 amusements, incidentals vary to such an extent that it is almost 
 impossible to estimate them with any degree of accuracy. "Inci- 
 dentals as a rule amount to a good deal more than I have stated 
 ($10) while the other items are governed almost entirely by the 
 state of one's pocket book at the time." 
 
 No. 10. A stenographer, cost of living $610.00 a year. 
 "As I live at home general expenses are not as high as though I 
 lived in rented rooms. Also I carry life insurance with practi- 
 cally $50 as a yearly premium. My church contributions are 
 $12 a year, but I have suggested $5 for the ordinary person. 
 The insurance item I consider necessary although it might not 
 be considered so by many people." 
 
 No. 11. A waitress, states $470.25 as her cost of living 
 which includes $7 a month for meals. She says : "I am a wait- 
 ress and get nearly all my meals where I am employed. If I 
 had to pay for all of my meals I could not make ends meet." 
 
 No. 12. A woman with an income of $15 a week for 50 
 weeks who saves something each year says : "$75 a year saved 
 for future needs is the least any woman should be expected to 
 bank." 
 
 No. 13. "I wish to ask you if you ever thought that lots 
 of the immorality and low wages do not come because married 
 women working take the places of the girl and woman that has 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 75 
 
 to work, and let their children run on the street. I have no- 
 ticed that it is the single girl who has to fight for better wages 
 while the married woman will take what is given her or what 
 the girl fights and gets for her. Now if there was some kind 
 of a law that a married woman had to go before a court and 
 swear to an affidavit that her husband could not support her, 
 or that she could not live within his means I think the wages 
 would be better for the girls and the children would have home 
 influences that are lacking now, for many women would not go 
 to work nor would their husbands let them (if they had to 
 make such affidavit.) Now, if you really wish to help the girls, 
 do try to get some law that will rid stores, factories, schools 
 and offices of so many married women, and then girls will look 
 out and get someone who can support them instead of getting 
 married Saturday night and coming to work Monday morning 
 as is so often the case. I believe that there will not only be 
 better wages for the girls, but also for the men, less immorality, 
 fewer divorces, better homes and lots more happiness. Think 
 this over." 
 
 No. 14. One girl giving her cost of living as $634.75, 
 says : "I do my laundry in the evening or on Sunday and also 
 my mending. I have not had a vacation since earning my own 
 living. I cannot afford amusements." 
 
 No. 15. "I have filled this out to the best of my ability. 
 As I am a widow and have a child to support, my wages are 
 $6 a week. But I have my own home and do my own washing, 
 sewing and everything like that at night. My boy is big enough 
 to go to school and stay home till I get there, but I for one 
 will be very glad if they will only do something to make it 
 better for the women." 
 
 No. 16. This comment came from a woman earning $65 
 a month. She spends $10 a year on vacations, $2 on amuse- 
 ments. Her room and board cost her $31 a month, her clothes 
 $137 a year. Her total estimate was $631 for the year. She 
 says "I have no money to spend for newspapers and maga- 
 
 zines. 
 
 55 
 
76 State of Washington 
 
 No. 17. "I think that all waitresses should get two dollars 
 per day. We cannot live comfortably on less. Our work com- 
 pels us to wear good, neat and clean clothes." 
 
 No. 18. "In this estimate, $561.35, I figure on doing all 
 my own sewing except the making of my suit and coat which 
 will be worn for two years. I trim my hats, repair my clothing. 
 Also do some of my laundry. For reading matter I expect to 
 take advantage of the public library." 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 77 
 
 Section VI, 
 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS. 
 
 The preceding sections have set forth the present low rate 
 of wages in the mercantile, factory and laundry industries in the 
 state, and have given detailed computations of the costs of liv- 
 ing which indicate what is the minimum cost of subsistence 
 for self-supporting women workers who are attempting to 
 maintain a decent standard of living. The figures show that 
 $10.00 a week is approximately the minimum for decent sub- 
 sistence and that 67 per cent get less than that amount. 
 
 This investigation has been made with a view to the admin- 
 istration of the law enacted by the state legislature which de- 
 clares that "it shall be unlawful to employ women in any in- 
 dustry or occupation in the state of Washington under condi- 
 tions of labor detrimental to their health and morals and * * * 
 at wages which are not adequate for their maintenance." (Sec- 
 tion II). 
 
 It is clear from the facts presented that considerable re- 
 adjustment of the wage scale will be required. 
 
 The study would not be complete without a discussion of 
 some of the questions involved in the payment of wages at pres- 
 ent and of some of the results of under-payment. The latter 
 topic leads not only to a consideration of physical and moral 
 aspects of the problem, but also of the industrial education 
 phase. 
 
 NOMINAL AND REAL WAGES. 
 
 When we speak of a minimum cost of living and a minimum 
 wage to take care of it, we base the cost of living on the ex- 
 penses for one year. We speak of ten dollars a week as neces- 
 sary and feel that all is well if provision is made for that 
 amount. A point to be remembered, however, is that nominal 
 wages are not real wages, and that a girl who is earning at 
 the rate of ten dollars a week, in the end may not have more 
 than seven dollars to spend. 
 
78 State of Washington 
 
 SEASONAL WORK AND UNEMPLOYMENT. 
 
 The distressing, complicated questions of seasonal work 
 and of unemployment are the most vexing of the day. 
 Every industry has its rush and dull periods. Manufacturers' 
 busy seasons vary from three to six months. Laundries are 
 open the year around, but in the months from October to 
 April work slackens. The three summer months are the busi- 
 est of the year. Then the week is a "full week" of hours, but 
 during the other nine months the wages received fall considerably 
 below the amount anticipated from the rate of pay. Table XX 
 showed the weekly hours of work reported by 2185 laundry 
 workers classified by occupations. The ironers as one of the 
 most skilled classes, are taken for an example. Ironers re- 
 ceive from twenty-five to thirty cents an hour. In the table, 
 30.5 per cent of the workers reported a week averaging be- 
 tween forty-one and forty-four hours a week. Let us take forty- 
 two and one-half hours at twenty-five cents an hour as an 
 average week. A woman at this schedule would earn $10.62. 
 But a woman who works a full week of 48 hours at the same 
 rate would earn $12.00. The problem is more worrisome to 
 the mangle crew, 76 per cent of whom work less than a full 
 week, and in some laundries at a rate of 121/2 cents an hour. 
 If the maximum amount that a girl is promised be $6.00 a week, 
 she has reason to be alarmed if she is hindered by short weeks 
 or dull seasons, from earning the smallest fraction of it. 
 
 Fruit and vegetable canneries are open in full force from 
 June to October ; then the work grows lighter and in December 
 they close for another six months. Candy and cigar factories 
 are busy in the fall and up to the Christinas time. A dull 
 month follows, but February finds the candy makers busy again 
 with the eggs and other fancies for Easter. 
 
 Seasons for retail stores vary somewhat with the class of 
 wares carried. Confectionery stores which are usually oper- 
 ated in connection with ice-cream parlors are busiest in the 
 summer months, but they, too, arc rushed for a month before 
 the winter holidays. The large department stores have ja 
 steadier flow of trade than do factories and laundries. Besides 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 79 
 
 the seasonal "openings" which may last for two months at a 
 time, there are spasmodic rushes centering around specially 
 arranged sales. For the former, extra clerks are engaged, but 
 during the latter, the shoppers are served by transferring sales- 
 women from one department to the "specials" counter. During 
 the Christmas holiday rush some firms double the regular 
 number of women employes. For some of the girls, employ- 
 ment lasts through six weeks, but for others only three. But 
 even the permanently employed force feels the weight of the 
 slack winter season, because of the custom of giving unpaid 
 "vacations" two weeks to a month in length. 
 
 The dull seasons are a problem to many girls. For it means 
 that even during their periods of employment they have unpro- 
 ductive weeks ahead staring them in the face, and if possible 
 they must save for these days when they will probably be out 
 of work. Some girls take advantage of the busy seasons in 
 various industries, which come at different times of the year, 
 and find employment at several lines of work for the greater 
 part of the twelve months. 
 
 How the seasonal character of work may affect a wage- 
 earner is apparent if we take 10 months a year as her maxi- 
 mum length of employment. Ten months approximate 43 weeks 
 of employment, which at $10 a week would mean $430 as her 
 annual income. Yet if the bare cost of living for her is $10 
 a week for 52 weeks, she is $90 short for the year. $430 a 
 year averages $8.25 a week. And at that, steady employment 
 for ten months would be unheard of good fortune for many a 
 girl. 
 
80 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 TIME AND PIECE RATES OF PAYMENT. 
 Table XXX. 
 
 TABLE SHOWING RELATIVE NUMBER OF FEMALE EMPLOYES 
 
 IN FACTORIES AND LAUNDRIES WORKING BY TIME AND 
 
 PIECE RATE AND CLASSIFIED AS MINORS AND ADULTS. 
 
 AGE 
 
 PIECE 
 
 TIME 
 
 Factories 
 
 Laundries 
 
 Factories 
 
 Laundries 
 
 Minors (under 18) 
 
 Adults (over 18) 
 
 88 
 
 445 
 
 2 
 131 
 
 177 
 1,043 
 
 147 
 2,024 
 
 Totals 
 
 533 
 
 133 
 
 1,220 
 
 2,171 
 
 
 Two-fifths of adult time workers in factories get $9.00 or more a 
 week. 
 
 One-third of adult piece workers in factories get $9.00 or more a 
 week. 
 
 Table XXX gives the relative number of 1753 women in 
 factories and of 2,304 in laundries who are working by time 
 and piece rates. In factories out of 533 working by piece 
 rates, 88 were minors and 455 were adults. Among 1,220 
 working by time rates, 177 were minors and 1,013 were 
 adults. In laundries, out of 119 minors, two only were 
 employed by piece rates, but 131 adults from among 2,155 
 worked under this system. Payment of wages according to 
 the amount of work accomplished is a custom so well estab- 
 lished that employes as well as employers would not like to see 
 it abolished. Yet there are several dangers attached to the 
 use of it. Some of these are a developing greed on the part of 
 the employers which impels them to cut the workers' rates, and 
 a driving attitude which sometimes loses sight of the fact that 
 the employes are human beings. On the part of the worker, 
 piece work, because of a necessity induced by the low rates, or 
 because of a desire to increase her wage and because of a mis- 
 taken ambition to make a record by overtime forces a worker 
 to speed up to a degree which eventually causes a breakdown. 
 These several dangers have been so clearly illustrated by Miss 
 Josephine Goldmark, Publication Secretary of the National 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 81 
 
 Consumers' League, in her book, "Fatigue and Efficiency," 
 that her description is quoted below: 
 
 "Briefly, piece-work presupposes a naturally varying rate 
 of work and output among individuals, according to which each 
 worker is paid. Obviously, this should be the most just way 
 to allow the play of natural talents. Increased effort or skill 
 brings its immediate reward, and the best worker is the best 
 paid." * * * "In criticising the piece-rates, therefore, 
 we are dealing with an entrenched practice, and criticism 
 must attack not the system, but its flagrant abuses. These, 
 unfortunately are common and widespread, especially among 
 workingwomen in poorly organized trades, where no collective 
 bargaining protects individuals from pressure. In such occupa- 
 tions, of which the ramified needle and clothing trades are the 
 best examples, piece-work devolops chiefly into a system of 
 'speeding up' the workers in both machine and hand work. 
 The workers are spurred to a feverish intensity. They apply 
 themselves hectically. It is almost inevitable that the most 
 rapid workers should be so called 'pace-makers' and set the 
 rhythym for all the other workers. For pay is usually ad- 
 justed to the rate of the quickest workers, and in order to earn 
 a fair wage, all the others must keep up as near to them as pos- 
 sible." 
 
 "Many employers contend that unless workers have such 
 incentives, or a personal stake in working steadily, they tend to 
 slacken and are indifferent to the amount of their output so. 
 long as wages are assured. The workers, on the other hand 
 return, that in piece-work, even the utmost speed does not 
 assure them of their wages, since the piece-work price is often 
 cut when the rapid workers are thought to be earning too much 
 in one day. The rate per piece is lowered. Then the same 
 speed is required to earn the lower wages."' 
 
 "Another hardship in piece-work of which the workers justly 
 complain and which adds greatly to the nervous tax of any oc- 
 cupation is due to the extraordinarily rapid changes of fashion." 
 
 "Thus, though the piece-work system is sound in theory 
 and works admirably in highly organized trades where collect- 
 ive agreements assure the workers fair, fixed rates, it fails 
 among the most helpless workers who most need to be protected 
 from over-pressure and the inroads of fatigue. With them it 
 almost inevitably breeds a spirit of permanent 'rush' in work, 
 and to that extent, it is physiologically dangerous : 'the most 
 
82 State of Washington 
 
 pernicious thing that could be described as the dynamic effici- 
 ency of the nervous system,' writes a physician familiar with the 
 effects of unregulated piece-rates among garment workers." 
 —Chap. Ill, pp. 82-83. 
 
 WAGES DETERMINED BY EFFICI ENCY— MINI MU M NOT THE 
 
 MAXIMUM. 
 
 It has been suggested that if a minimum wage is established 
 it will tend to become the maximum and that the present high 
 salaried workers will suffer an injustice to the benefit of the 
 poorer workers. The establishment of a minimum wage will 
 mean the setting of a new and better standard for the least 
 efficient, which standard will automatically raise the value of each 
 more competent group. Highly skilled workers are always in 
 demand in any well conducted trade. When wages are deter- 
 mined by efficiency, competition will arise for the most efficient 
 workers, and thus the minimum will be prevented from becoming 
 the maximum. 
 
 Another reason which will prevent the payment of the low- 
 est wages by saving on the highest will be the increase in the 
 efficiency of the employers. Keen employes who attend to the 
 business end of establishments say that often much money is 
 spent in expensive, unnecessary office equipment, by dishonest 
 traveling-men whose expenses are not checked up, in useless ad- 
 vertising and in many other ways. If these leaks were stopped 
 and the money applied to wages, both the employes and the firm 
 would be much better off. 
 
 As a matter of fact the problem has so worked itself out 
 and the minimum wage has not become the maximum in other 
 countries which have had minimum wage boards for a number of 
 years. We quote here from the annual report of the New Zea- 
 land labor department, 1902: 
 
 "It was asserted that when the court fixed a minimum wage 
 in a trade, that wage tended to become an average wage or even 
 a maximum. Such a system would scarcely be possible in a 
 large business, or even in a go-ahead small one, for a capable 
 workman knows his own value too well to work under such con- 
 ditions, and if an employer wants to keep up with or to surpass 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 83 
 
 his competitors he must get the most efficient hands he can 
 find or pay for. It is true, however, that when a workman 
 leaves his old employer and gets new work, he often has to start 
 on a minimum wage, but if he is a valuable man he does not long 
 remain at that rate. In practice, however, it is found that the 
 best men leave the minimum wage far behind, and there has 
 been no proof presented that during the last two or three years 
 — during which most of the awards have been made — any suffer- 
 ing has been caused by the institution of a minimum wage, 
 while the benefit to the majority of workers is indisputable." 
 (Page 5.) 
 
 Victor S. Clarke says in U. S. Labor Bulletin No. 56 on the 
 Labor Conditions in Australia : "The manager of a boot fac- 
 tory in the same state said : 'We don't hold our men down to 
 the minimum wage. Our cheapest men are those to whom I 
 give the most money. I make the foreman of each room judge 
 of his employees, and he must make his room pay — and pay 
 wages that will produce that result.' : ' (Pages 122-123.) 
 
 Later in the same bulletin Mr. Clarke quotes a proprietor 
 who has worked under the minimum wage laws, to the effect 
 that the enforcement of the law has been a benefit to compet- 
 ing employers. 
 
 "The proprietor of probably the largest boot factory in 
 Melbourne, a new and model establishment, expressed the fol- 
 lowing opinion of the Factories Act in an interview : 'We have 
 invested largely in our business since the act has been in force. 
 Under it, our conditions are more settled, and this gives us an 
 advantage over New South Wales. Before the act went into 
 operation sweating was rampant, and for that reason the fair 
 employer has benefited by the change. We pay many of our 
 employes more than the minimum wage. There are incompe- 
 tent employers as well as incompetent employes, and it is the 
 employer who never ought to be in his position who is forced 
 to sweat men. The act eliminates that sort of an employer.' 
 (Page 73.) 
 
 CONJUGAL CONDITIONS. 
 
 Another fact which has some influence on the standard of 
 wages is the number of married women whose husbands are 
 
81 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 supporting them, who themselves are wage-earners. Table 
 XXXI, showing the per cent of women workers by industries 
 and classified as to whether they are married or unmarried in- 
 dicates that in manufacturing industries twelve per cent of the 
 workers are married, thirteen per cent in mercantile stores, 
 while in office and telephone work this per cent is almost 
 negligible. In laundry work, however, married women figure 
 largely; thirty-three per cent here fall into this class. This 
 greater number in laundry work is undoubtedly due to the fact 
 that certain departments have half-week or short-hour work 
 which permits a woman to keep up her house and earn outside 
 at the same time. As married women with husbands do not, in 
 the majority of cases, have to be the wage-earners, we find them 
 willing to work for less than the woman who is entirely depend- 
 ent upon herself. The small per cent of "married" in tele- 
 phone work may be ascribed to the fact that young girls are 
 required for the success of the service and that twenty-five 
 years is the age limit at which girls are taken on to be taught 
 
 the work. 
 
 Table XXXI. 
 
 SCHEDULE SHOWING CONJUGAL CONDITION OF 2,688 FEMALE 
 EMPLOYES IN WASHINGTON CLASSIFIED BY INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Occupation 
 
 No. of 
 employes 
 
 Unmar- 
 ried * 
 
 No. 
 Married 
 
 Per Cent. 
 Married 
 
 Laundry 
 
 591 
 524 
 1,246 
 115 
 190 
 
 515 
 350 
 1,078 
 111 
 189 
 
 76 
 
 174 
 
 168 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 12.9 
 33.2 
 
 Mercantile 
 
 13.5 
 
 Office 
 
 3.5 
 
 Telephone 
 
 0.5 
 
 
 
 
 2,666 
 
 2,243 
 
 423 
 
 16.1 
 
 * "Unmarried" includes widows and divorcees. 
 
 The term "married" here includes only those women who are 
 living with their husbands. If widows, deserted wives and di- 
 vorcees had been classed here instead of with "single women" 
 the per cent of "married" women wage-earners would have been 
 much larger. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 85 
 
 Table XXXII. 
 
 SHOWING CONJUGAL CONDITION OF 2,688 FEMALE EMPLOYES 
 IN FIVE CITIES ARRANGED ACCORDING TO POPULATION. 
 
 Per Cent. 
 City. Married. 
 
 Everett 9.6 
 
 Bellingham 11.9 
 
 Tacoma 11.9 
 
 Spokane 18.2 
 
 Seattle 26.1 
 
 Total 16.1 
 
 Table XXXII shows the conjugal condition of women em- 
 ployes in the five largest cities of the state. We note that as 
 the population increases the per cent of those married and 
 earning increases also. 
 
 RESIDENCE AT HOME AND ADRIFT. 
 
 Among several causes that tend to keep the single and 
 younger woman's wages below a standard of decent living, one 
 stands out prominently. This is is the idea, prevalent with em- 
 ployers, that the majority of young women live at home and 
 work for pleasure or merely for pin-money. Tables XXXIII 
 to XXXV inclusive throw light on the questions of the number 
 of girls who are supporting themselves away from home and at 
 home and on what wages they are doing it. For the purpose 
 of conciseness all girls who reported that they were rooming in 
 single rooms, rooming and boarding, or doing their own house- 
 keeping are classified as "Adrift." 
 
 Table XXXIII. 
 
 SHOWING RESIDENCE OF 2.728 FEMALE EMPLOYES IN FIVE 
 
 CITIES ARRANGED ACCORDING TO POPULATION AND 
 
 CLASSIFIED AS AT HOME AND ADRIFT. 
 
 Per Cent. Per Cent. 
 
 City. At Home. Adrift. 
 
 Everett 80.3 19.7 
 
 Bellingham 68.4 31.6 
 
 Tacoma 69.2 30.8 
 
 Spokane 56.1 43.9 
 
 Seattle 54.4 45.6 
 
 Totals 63.3 36.7 
 
86 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 Table XXXIII shows the distribution of 2,728 women 
 wage-earners in the five largest cities of the state who reported 
 on their residence at home or away from home. In Seattle, 
 nearly one half of the wage earning women, 45.6 per cent are 
 adrift. Spokane next in size has 43.9 per cent. Everett, the 
 smallest of the five has less than one-fifth living away from home. 
 As table XXXII showed that the number of married women in- 
 crease in the cities as the cities increase in size, so do we find 
 the number of girls adrift increasing in large cities. 
 
 Table XXXIV. 
 
 SHOWING RESIDENCE OF 2,705 FEMALE EMPLOYES CLASSIFIED 
 BY INDUSTRIES, SHOWING NUMBER AND PER CENT. 
 AT HOME AND ADRIFT. 
 
 INDUSTRY 
 
 AT HOME 
 
 ADRIFT 
 
 Totals 
 
 No. 
 
 % 
 
 No. 
 
 % 
 
 Factory 
 
 Laundry 
 
 Mercantile 
 
 436 
 204 
 831 
 85 
 162 
 
 74. 
 
 38.3 
 
 65.4 
 
 70.2 
 
 83.9 
 
 153 
 
 328 
 
 439 
 
 36 
 
 31 
 
 26. 
 
 61.7 
 
 34.6 
 
 29.8 
 
 16.1 
 
 589 
 
 532 
 
 1,270 
 
 121 
 
 Office 
 
 Telephone 
 
 193 
 
 
 
 Totals 
 
 1,718 
 
 63. 
 
 987 
 
 36.5 
 
 2,705 
 
 
 
 Table XXXIV shows the ratios of girls at home and adrift 
 by industries. Laundry work has the largest per cent of women 
 away from home; 61.7 per cent. Mercantile stores stand sec- 
 ond, but with a much lower number. Factories rank third in 
 the three industries under consideration, with slightly more than 
 one-fourth of their women workers adrift. In no one of the 
 five lines of work described is the per cent, small. Telephone 
 work, which has the fewest numbers still has one-sixth of its 
 girls adrift. The significant fact is that laundry work is the 
 one division here in which a large number of workers may not 
 be classed as "girls." 
 
 Eighteen is the age at which girlhood or minority ends, in 
 this report, but a girl of eighteen in spite of her majority, is 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 87 
 
 young to be thrown on her own resources, alone in a large city. 
 Twenty-five years is nearer an age at which she may be expected 
 to "fight her own battles" wisely and without loss of heart. 
 
 PIN MONEY THEORY. 
 
 Table XXXV. 
 
 SHOWING WEEKLY WAGES OF 3,058 GIRLS CLASSIFIED AS AT 
 
 HOME AND ADRIFT. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 Totals 
 
 % of Totals 
 
 
 Un- 
 
 $6 
 
 $8 
 
 $10 
 
 Total 
 
 
 
 
 der 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 or 
 
 un- 
 
 
 
 Un- 
 
 $10 
 
 
 $6 
 
 $7.95 
 
 $9.95 
 
 over 
 
 der 
 $10 
 
 No. 
 
 % 
 56.1 
 
 der 
 
 $10 
 
 or 
 over 
 
 At Home. 
 
 264 
 
 551 
 
 439 
 
 462 
 
 1,254 
 
 1,716 
 
 67.9 
 
 38. 
 
 Adrift 
 
 78 
 
 206 
 
 305 
 
 753 
 
 589 
 
 1,342 
 
 43.8 
 
 31.9 
 
 61.9 
 
 Totals. 
 
 
 
 
 1,215 
 
 1,843 
 
 3,058 
 
 
 
 
 Table XXXV has a volume of interest within it. This 
 table gives the wages of 3,058 girls, classified as At Home 
 and Adrift. Of these fifty-six per cent are living at home and 
 4<2.8 per cent are adrift. 1,843 of the girls are receiving under 
 $10 a week and 1,215 are receiving over. $10. Of the 1,813 
 under $10, over two-thirds, 68 per cent., are living at home and 
 nearly one-third, 32 per cent, are adrift. Of the 1,215 earning 
 $10 or over, one-third, 38 per cent., live at, home, and less than 
 two-thirds, 62 per cent, are adrift. Of the 1,716 employes liv- 
 ing at home, 1,112, or 66A per cent, reported that they con- 
 tribute a definite amount of their earnings to the family income. 
 These figures would seem to disprove the "pin-money" theory. 
 
 EFFECT OF UNDER PAYMENT ON HEALTH OF WORKER. 
 
 The application of the minimum wage law to the problem of 
 the girl adrift is one of the most fundamental goods which the 
 law will accomplish. Some mention of the effect on the wages of 
 the girl adrift, by the presence of the girl living at home was 
 made in the section on the cost of living. It is an undisputed 
 fact that most employers openly prefer the girl who is living at 
 
88 State of Washington 
 
 home. Their theory is that they are not required to pay a 
 girl with a home as large a wage as they might feel obliged to 
 give to a self-supporting girl. "Parasitic industries," the de- 
 scription that has been applied to them before, is the one still 
 most applicable. The belief that a woman who is giving her 
 entire time, energy and experience to upbuilding the success of 
 an establishment, may be reimbursed with merely enough to pay 
 for her clothes and carfare and then fall back upon her male 
 relatives for cost of room and board is illogical and unjust. But 
 the expectation of the firm to profit by this arrangement often 
 forces on the girl adrift the same wage which the girl at home 
 accepts. As the girl adrift must produce hard cash for her 
 room and board and clothes, yet cannot obtain the comforts for 
 the sum at her disposal which the girl at home enjoys, she must 
 retrench some place. Each week finds her half fed and the week 
 in which new clothes must be bought finds her half starving. 
 The eyes of one girl popped at the mention of the price of her 
 dinner. "I scarcely know what it is to have a full meal," she 
 said. "Once in a while a girl that lives at home invites me to her 
 house and occasionally some boys rooming near here agree to get 
 the provisions if my room mate and I will cook them. Then we 
 do have a feed." 
 
 Present efficiency depends most surely upon a supply of food 
 sufficient to keep up the workers' strength. Future efficiency 
 as a mother depends upon keeping her health sound now; — 
 efficiency not only to bear children, but to raise them. We can- 
 not expect a race of healthy nor of well governed children if the 
 mothers-to-be are permitted to grow aenemic in their young 
 womanhood. 
 
 On this subject we quote below from Elizabeth B. Butler's 
 "Women and the Trades," a thorough report on the condition of 
 women's work in Pittsburg. (Page 34-9.) 
 
 "For social strength it would seem that the question ought to 
 be: What wage must a girl have in order to live decently, 
 maintain sound health, and have reasonable recreation? For 
 decency's sake, a community cannot afford to permit five girls 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 89 
 
 from an iron mill to diminish expenses by sharing one room with 
 five men from the same work place ; neither can it afford to 
 permit a girl to hire board and a couch in the kitchen of a crowd- 
 ed tenement flat for $3.00 a week. I question whether it can 
 even afford the dimming of bright thoughts, the effacing of 
 individuality, that tend to follow occupancy of one bed in the 
 dormitory row of a working girl's home." 
 
 "For health's sake, the community cannot afford to permit 
 its girl members to receive a wage too low for nutrition, or for 
 the refreshment of exhausted strength. It reacts ultimately to 
 the harm of society when a garment worker has weak coffee for 
 breakfast, goes without lunch altogether, and eats two or three 
 sandwiches for dinner, as her habitual diet. She may keep up 
 through her working life, but in her domestic relations she 
 leaves a heritage of weakness and inefficiency. We are all the 
 sufferers when a shop girl continues at her work after vitality 
 has ebbed because her wages are too low to permit treatment or 
 rest." (Page 349.) 
 
 EFFECT OF UNDER PAYMENT ON THE NEXT GENERATION. 
 
 B. S. Rowntree in "Poverty— A Study of Town Life" 
 (Pages 135-136) graphically portrays the effect of under- 
 nourishment of the mothers-to-be in our day on the coming 
 generation. 
 
 "Low wages mean insufficient food, insufficient food unfit- 
 ness for labor, so that the vicious circle is complete. The chil- 
 dren of such parents have to share their privations, and even if 
 healthy when born, the lack of sufficient food soon tells upon 
 them. Thus they often grow up weak and diseased, and so tend 
 to perpetuate the race of the 'unfit.' " (Page 16.) 
 
 "These unseen consequences of poverty have, however, to be 
 reckoned with — the high death-rate among the poor, the ter- 
 ribly high infant mortality, the stunted stature and dulled in- 
 telligence — all these and others are not seen unless we look be- 
 neath the surface; and yet all are having their effect upon the 
 poor, and consequently upon the whole country." (Pages 135- 
 136.) 
 
90 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 EFFECT OF LOW WAGES ON MORALS OF WOMEN WORKERS. 
 
 Another phase of the wage question which must not be 
 omitted is the effect of the application of the law on the morals 
 of women workers. No well-informed person will urge that the 
 morals of a self-supporting woman depend directly upon her 
 wage. There are too many proofs to the contrary. This is true 
 however, that slow starvation will gradually break down a 
 woman's power of resistence and her fall results not because at 
 the particular moment she wants a square meal. It is more 
 likely to be due to the fact that constant cravings of hunger 
 have weakened her physical condition, her mental poise and her 
 outlook on life. If the state of hunger were not accompanied 
 with chill of body and cheerless surroundings, her defeat might 
 not be so complete. But this is an equally important fact, that 
 once having entered upon a life of degradation and having en- 
 joyed again the comfort of pleasant shelter and plenty of 
 nourishing food, the inadequate wage she has left and the im- 
 possibility of receiving a higher one is the effectual bar which 
 keeps her from returning to a moral life. 
 
 MINORS AND ADULTS. 
 
 Table XXXVI. 
 11,059 WOMEN WORKERS CLASSIFIED AS MINORS AND ADULTS. 
 
 
 Minors 
 
 Adults 
 
 Total 
 
 Per Cent. 
 Minors 
 
 Mercantile 
 
 611 
 64 
 
 149 
 19 
 
 576 
 
 4,544 
 104 
 
 2,155 
 402 
 
 2,435 
 
 5.155 
 168 
 
 2,304 
 421 
 
 3,011 
 
 11 .7 
 
 5 and 10c. Store 
 
 Laundry 
 
 38.0 
 6.4 
 
 Office 
 
 4.5 
 
 Factory 
 
 19.1 
 
 Totals 
 
 1,419 
 
 9,640 
 
 11,059 
 
 12.8 
 
 Section 14 of the law which gives power to the Commission 
 at any time to "inquire into wages and conditions of labor of 
 minors, employed in any occupation and to determine wages and 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 91 
 
 conditions of labor suitable for such minors," is based on the 
 theory that a minor is one who is still under the care of her 
 parents and as such should not be expected to be self-support- 
 ing. The Child Labor law, however, authorizes the employ- 
 ment of children over sixteen years of age without special per- 
 mit. Children between sixteen and eighteen years then may as- 
 sist in the support of the family, but by very reason of the fact 
 that they are not experienced, they are not expected to have 
 knowledge requisite to demand a subsisting wage, nor are they 
 expected because of their physical immaturity to have the 
 strength required for the day's work of an adult person. Yet 
 we do find (Table XXXVI), a large number of minors working 
 side by side with adults in similar occupations and accomplish- 
 ing frequently as heavy a day's work. Out of 11,059 workers, 
 1,419, or 12.8 per cent, were minors. On account of their 
 youth and inability to bargain, they are frequently paid wages 
 which far from compensate them for the hours and labor spent 
 on their work. 
 
 Table XXXVI classifies 11,059 female employes in four in- 
 dustries as to whether they are minors or adults and the per 
 cent of minors in each industry. Though the 5, 10 and 15 
 cent stores are not an industry separate from mercantile stores, 
 they are registered separately because of the big per cent, of 
 minors employed, which is thirty-eight per cent here. Nearly 
 one-fifth of the employes in factories are minors, and slightly 
 more than one-tenth of the remaining mercantile store em- 
 ployes. 
 
 There are other reasons for urging a reasonable minimum 
 wage for minors. One is that in the very beginning of their 
 industrial life a certain standard of efficiency will be set for them. 
 The minimum wage may result in keeping some of the less alert 
 or duller ones in school longer, but if this means better prepar- 
 ation for later work it cannot be counted a disaster. Much of 
 the work to which minors are put is unskilled. As fresh re- 
 cruits swell the ranks constantly, their labor may be had for the 
 
92 State of Washington 
 
 price of a song. With the price of young labor so low and the 
 supply large, the price of adult labor tends to decrease also, 
 so that in states where child labor laws are wanting; we find 
 parents shoved out of industry and the burden of the support 
 of the family falling on baby shoulders that are unable to bear 
 it. If the minimum wage for minors restricts the supply of 
 child labor, the natural supporters of the family, the adult-*, 
 will resume their work at better and more liberal wages. 
 
 LEARNERS AND EXPERIENCED WORKERS. 
 
 The question of how to arrange for the inexperienced work- 
 er is one to which a variety of solutions has been offered. The 
 law (section 13) permits the Commission to issue to an ap- 
 prentice in such class of employment or occupation as usually 
 requires to be learned by apprentices, a special license author- 
 izing the employment of such licensee at less than the legal mini- 
 mum wage; and the Commission shall fix the minimum wage for 
 said person * * * and such license for apprentices shall 
 be in force for such length of time as the said Commission shall 
 decide and determine is proper." 
 
 Undoubtedly there are a number of lines of work which re- 
 quire very little teaching and an equally small amount of apt- 
 itude on the part of the worker. Packing chocolates in a 
 candy factory for the wholesale trade, wrapping carmels, "all 
 day suckers" and other cheap hard candies, requires no con- 
 centration whatever to learn. A worker knows how after the 
 first day, and the ■"■apprentice'' period might be said to end 
 there; but one essential for success as a candy wrapper or 
 packer is the attainment of a certain degree of speed which 
 may only be acquired with practice. Shaking clothes in a 
 laundry is absolutely unskilled. Lidding boxes in a paper box 
 factory, stripping tobacco in cigar factories, pulling basting 
 stitches in a dressmaking shop, picking over fruit in canneries, 
 combing out old hair combings for switches are all classes of 
 work which require in some cases care, in others speed, but in 
 none special knowledge of any kind. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 93 
 
 In the same industries in which the above lines of work are 
 found are other departments in which much care, judgment, ex- 
 perience, personal adaptability and professional skill are re- 
 quired to make a worker competent. A first class hand ironer 
 in a laundry can command twenty-five cents an hour or in the 
 better class hand laundry a still higher wage. To roll a cigar 
 properly is an accomplishment several degrees removed from 
 stripping tobacco. Designing, cutting and fitting gowns may 
 be the work of an artist to whose position the little basting- 
 thread puller may aspire but will never attain. So an artistic 
 hairdresser requires much keener judgment, greater deftness 
 and daintiness, and appreciation of the fine points of facial 
 contour than the learner who might handle greasy combings 
 all her life, but yet never be able to handle a strand of hair 
 becomingly. The statement frequently made that anyone can 
 sell goods is not true. The principle on which the mercantile 
 business is conducted today is not that of furnishing people 
 what they want, but of persuading them to buy what they 
 don't want. The clerk who can do this is the one whose sales 
 will average high. And to do it, one must have powers of 
 salesmanship that involve something more than merely the 
 ability to pass a parcel across the counter. Not only must all 
 of the good points of the article exhibited be known, but the 
 good and bad points of rival articles, and more important still, 
 in a few short moments the customer must be "sized up," and 
 the best method of winning her decided upon. Genuine psycho- 
 logical insight is required in a first-class saleswoman. One 
 year is required in certain departments before an inexper- 
 ienced woman is expected to know her goods thoroughly and 
 develop the art which we have described : yet some depart- 
 ments there are to which shoppers come because they need the 
 articles and do not have to be pleased; the notion department 
 is one of these and one year as the learner here is unnecessary. 
 
 MISFITS. 
 
 Under the present lack of arrangements for learners' wages 
 the employers statement that a beginner is not worth $3 a week 
 
94 State of Washington 
 
 may sometimes be true. With no particular degree of efficiency 
 demanded of her at the low wage, a girl or woman may start to 
 learn a trade for which she has no particular taste, and to which 
 she is not adapted. She stays on because it is the easiest thing 
 to do or in the case of the younger girl because her mother has 
 put her there. Her employer keeps her because he has to have 
 unskilled help to do the unskilled work, and if the beginner 
 never makes much headway it is easy to place the responsibility 
 upon the beginner's stupidity. But the beginner may be the 
 square peg in the round hole who would do excellent work in 
 another place. 
 
 This brings us to the question of trade schools. American 
 citizens realize more and more keenly that the inefficiency of the 
 unskilled laborer, the problem of unemployment and poverty is 
 due to the lack of preparation of workers, to their inability to 
 carry on one trade well. If the establishing of a minimum wage 
 will force back into the home the thousands of youths and girls 
 who start out to earn with no thought of at what they will 
 earn, it will have given the movement for more vocational 
 schools, an impetus which will result speedily in establish- 
 ing them. For it will mean that the young wage earners to 
 be will actually be taught something, which is contrary to the 
 real situation in many of the large shops employing them. 
 
 For not all employers, but many, deceive themselves, the 
 workers and the public, when they say that a beginner is taught. 
 In the first place, the employers admit that they are too busy 
 to teach "green" help. In the second place all don't know 
 how to teach and in the third place when they find that a learner 
 is an adept at the routine work, they keep her at that for their 
 own interests for months at a time. This is the case in millinery 
 and dressmaking shops. A girl with some liking for the sew- 
 ing trade learns how to make linings well, how to sew on hooks 
 and eyes quickly. What the girl learns then about the trade 
 depends upon how much she can pick up by herself. "Three 
 years," some dressmakers say, "are necessary before a girl can 
 earn eight dollars a week.*" The same is true of the wholesale 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 
 
 95 
 
 and larger retail millinery shops where an apprentice may 
 spend one season making bandeaus and another season doing a 
 similar kind of work; at the end of four seasons or a year she 
 is declared through her apprenticeship but not worth one dollar 
 a day. The complaint is made by the manager that trade 
 schools are not practical in their instructions, do not teach 
 pupils to be swift, but instead to be so careful that they are 
 slow. The latter characteristic it would seem might be con- 
 sidered a point in favor of the vocational schools as against a 
 possible reputation for speediness which could develop into 
 shiftlessness. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Table XXXVII. 
 
 WAGE SCHEDULE OF 5,336 ADULT WOMEN WORKERS CLASSI- 
 FIED BY LENGTH OF SERVICE IN PRESENT EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 Time Employed 
 
 Receiving Less Than 
 
 Receiving More Than 
 
 $9 a week 
 
 • 
 $10 a week 
 
 $9 a week 
 
 $10 a week 
 
 Less than 1 year 
 
 More than 1 year 
 
 1,044 
 475 
 
 1,140 
 681 
 
 342 
 827 
 
 246 
 581 
 
 Table XXXVII shows the present proportion of 5,336 
 workers who have worked less or more than one year and the 
 wage each group is receiving. Out of 2,772 working less than 
 one year, only 34-2 were receiving between $9 and $10 a week. 
 1,04-4 were receiving less than $9 a week. Of 2,564 working- 
 more than one year, 475 were receiving less than $9 and 681 
 less than $10 a week. For purposes of illustration, one year is 
 mentioned here as the period necessary before a girl adopting a 
 line of work of which she is ignorant, may be called "experienced" 
 in it. 
 
96 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 Table XXXVIII. 
 
 EFFECT OF A HYPOTHETICAL LEGAL MINIMUM ON WAGES OF 
 "EXPERIENCED" WOMEN WORKERS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Average 
 
 Legal 
 
 Number 
 
 Present 
 
 Total 
 
 Total 
 
 increase 
 
 minimum 
 
 directly 
 
 total 
 
 required 
 
 increase 
 
 of weekly 
 
 wage 
 
 affected 
 
 weekly 
 
 by legal 
 
 in weekly 
 
 wage of 
 
 
 
 payroll 
 
 minimum 
 
 payroll 
 
 individual 
 employe 
 
 $9.00 a week 
 
 475 
 
 $3,632.00 
 
 $4,275.00 
 
 $643.00 
 
 $1.35 
 
 $10.00 a week 
 
 681 
 
 5,589.00 
 
 6,810.00 
 
 1,221.00 
 
 1.81 
 
 Table XXXVIII shows the result of establishing $9 a 
 week as a minimum wage for girls with one year's experience. 
 The present weekly payroll for the 475 girls is $3,632.00. If 
 these 475 were raised to $9 a week, the total payroll would be 
 $4,275 or an increase of $643 a week, an increase on an average 
 of $1.35 for each employe. The total number in this table re- 
 ceiving under $10 is 681 with a weekly payroll of $5,589. If 
 these 681 were raised to $10 a week it would mean an increase 
 in the payroll to $6,810 a week or an additional cost of $1,221 
 or an average of $1.81 per employe. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 97 
 
 REGULATIONS OF COMMISSION GOVERN- 
 ING PROCEDURE OF CONFERENCES. 
 
 The Industrial Welfare Commission for the State of Wash- 
 ington, duly appointed and qualified as provided by Chapter 
 174 of the Session Laws of 1913 of the said State of Wash- 
 ington, having heretofore made investigation as provided by 
 law, concerning the employment of women and minors in the 
 mercantile industry, the wages paid said women and minors, 
 and the conditions surrounding their work and employment in 
 said industry, and being fully advised in the premises, finds as 
 follows : 
 
 That in the said mercantile industry, within the State of 
 Washington the wages paid to female employees in said in- 
 dustry are inadequate to supply them necessary cost of living 
 and to maintain the workers therein in health, and that the 
 conditions of labor therein are prejudicial to the health and 
 morals of the workers : 
 
 Therefore, by virtue of the authority conferred upon this 
 commission by law and in pursuance thereof, it is hereby ordered 
 that a conference be called for the consideration of wages paid 
 and conditions of labor in said mercantile industry, said con- 
 ference to be composed of an equal number of representatives of 
 employers and employees in said industry, together with an 
 equal number of disinterested persons representing the public 
 as hereinafter provided, the date of the first convention of said 
 conference to be fixed by this commission after the representa- 
 tives of said conference have been duly selected as hereinafter 
 provided. 
 
 The term "commission" shall mean the Industrial Welfare 
 Commission of the State of Washington. 
 
 It is hereby further ordered that the following rules and 
 regulations be and the same are hereby adopted as the rules 
 and regulations governing the selection of representatives and 
 the mode of procedure of said conference. 
 
98 State of Washington 
 
 1. A conference shall consist of nine persons and a member 
 of the commission who shall be chairman of said conference, 
 three to represent the employers, three to represent the em- 
 ployees, and three to represent the public. One of the members 
 representing the public shall be appointed by the chairman as 
 chief interrogator. A member of the commission shall act as 
 chairman of the conference. 
 
 2. The method of selecting members of the conference shall 
 be as follows: 
 
 Each member of the commission shall nominate and send 
 nine names to the secretary thereof: Three of these shall be 
 employers in the industry for winch the conference is being 
 called ; three shall be employees in said industry, and three shall 
 be disinterested persons to represent the public. The secretary in 
 turn shall then send a complete list to each member of the com- 
 mission for his or her investigation, a period of at least one week 
 being allowed for that purpose, after which the commission, 
 sitting in regular session or any special session of the commis- 
 sion called for said purpose, shall select from among these 
 names nine persons who shall constitute the conference, of 
 whom at least one employer and one employee shall be from that 
 portion of the state east of the summit of the Cascade moun- 
 tains. 
 
 3. After the selection of the members of the conference in 
 each industry as provided in the foregoing section, the com- 
 mission shall, from the names remaining, select nine alternates 
 who shall have the same qualifications for membership on the 
 conference as the regularly selected members ; these alternates 
 to fill any vacancies that may occur, according to a definite 
 priority to be determined by the commission at the time of their 
 selection. 
 
 4. A conference thus selected may upon request by the 
 commission be called together at any time and place that the 
 commission may designate, provided, that each member of said 
 conference shall be given at least ten days' notice of such 
 meeting and at the time of serving such notice shall be pro- 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 99 
 
 vided with a copy of the report of the findings of the commis- 
 sion in its investigation of the wages and conditions of labor 
 of women and minors in the trade or industry for which the 
 conference is called, and shall serve until discharged by the 
 commission. 
 
 5. When the conference is called to order by the chairman, 
 it shall deliberate under parliamentary law and no question 
 shall be discussed that is not germane to the conditions of labor 
 or cost of living of working women or minors as applied to that 
 particular trade or industry. Roberts' Rules of Order shall 
 govern. 
 
 6. The Commission may at its discretion fill any vacancies 
 that may occur in its conferences. 
 
 7. The conference in its deliberations shall proceed on the 
 principle established by the commission that a minimum wage 
 or condition of labor of women and minors shall be general 
 throughout the state as to the particular trade or industry 
 affected wherever same shall be established. 
 
 8. The chair shall not permit the discussion of the ques- 
 tion as a whole until after each item of the cost of living has 
 been taken up in the order given in the estimate blanks prepared 
 by the commission, unless otherwise directed by a majority 
 vote of the conference. After proper deliberation and discus- 
 sion of questions that have been presented to the conference by 
 the commission, the conference shall then, upon request of the 
 commission, proceed to make recommendations upon such ques- 
 tions as the commission may designate. 
 
 9. The members of the conference so selected shall be paid 
 their actual traveling and hotel expenses while attending said 
 conference (out of the regular appropriation set aside by the 
 legislature) provided that evidence of such expense be filed 
 with the commission and sworn to in the manner provided by 
 law, and it is further provided that before being allowed, said 
 expenses are to be approved by the commission. 
 
 10. The secretary of the commission or a shorthand re- 
 porter shall be present at each conference and shall record the 
 
100 
 
 State of Washington 
 
 minutes of the meetings, and shall be ex-ofpcio secretary of said 
 conference. 
 
 11. No member of the conference shall be entitled to speak 
 more than twice on any subject, or more than five minutes at a 
 time, except by unanimous consent of the conference. 
 
 12. The Commission may amend, modify or suspend, by a 
 two-thirds vote, any of the foregoing rules or regulations. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL WELFARE COMMISSION 
 
 OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Dated at Olympia, Washington, this 10th day of March, A. D. 1914. 
 
 EDWARD W. OLSON, Chairman. 
 MRS. W. H. UDALL. 
 MRS. FLORENCE H. SWANSON. 
 MRS. JACKSON SILBAUGH. 
 M. H. MARVIN. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission l(5l 
 
 MINIMUM WAGES FOR WOMEN. 
 
 CHAPTER 174. 
 
 An Act to protect the lives, health, morals of women and minor 
 workers, establishing an industrial welfare commission for women 
 and minors, prescribing its powers and duties, and providing for 
 the fixing of minimum wages and the standard condition of labor 
 for such workers and providing penalties for violation of the same, 
 and making an appropriation therefor. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Washington : 
 
 The welfare of the State of Washington demands that women 
 and minors be protected from conditions of labor which have a 
 pernicious effect on their health and morals. The State of 
 Washington, therefore, exercising herein its police and sovereign 
 power declares that inadequate wages and unsanitary conditions 
 of labor exert such pernicious effect. 
 
 Sec. 2. Prohibiting Employment Under Certain Conditions. 
 
 It shall be unlawful to employ women or minors in any indus- 
 try or occupation within the State of Washington under condi- 
 tions of labor detrimental to their health or morals ; and it shall 
 be unlawful to employ women workers in any industry within the 
 State of Washington at wages which are not adequate for their 
 maintenance. 
 
 Sec. 3. Establish Standards of Wages. 
 
 There is hereby created a commission to be known as the 
 "Industrial Welfare Commission" for the State of Washington, 
 to establish such standards of wages and conditions of labor for 
 women and minors employed within the State of Washington, as 
 shall be held hereunder to be reasonable and not detrimental to 
 health and morals, and which shall be sufficient for the decent 
 maintenance of women. 
 
 Sec. 4. Appointment of Commission — Commissioner of Labor to Be 
 Ex-Officio Member. 
 
 Said commission shall be composed of five persons, four of 
 whom shall be appointed by the governor, as follows : The first 
 
102 State of Washington 
 
 appointments shall be made within thirty (30) days after this 
 act takes effect; one for the term ending January 1st, 1914; 
 one for the term ending January 1st, 1915; one for the term 
 ending January 1st, 1916; and one for the term ending Janu- 
 ary 1st, 1917 : Provided, however, That at the expiration of 
 their respective terms, their successors shall be appointed by the 
 governor to serve a full term of four years. No person shall be 
 eligible to appointment as commissioner hereunder who is, or 
 shall have been at any time within five years prior to the date of 
 such appointment- a member of any manufacturers' or employers' 
 association or of any labor union. The governor shall have the 
 power of removal for cause. Any vacancies shall be filled by the 
 governor for the unexpired portion of the term in which the 
 vacancy shall occur. The Commissioner of Labor of the State 
 of Washington shall be ex-officio member of the commission. 
 Three members of the commission shall constitute a quorum at all 
 regular meetings and public hearings. 
 
 Sec. 5. Commission to Serve Without Compensation — Secretary Al- 
 lowed Salary. 
 
 The members of said commission shall draw no salaries. The 
 commission may employ a secretary, whose salary shall be 
 paid out of the moneys hereinafter appropriated. All claims for 
 expenses incurred by the commission shall, after approval by 
 the commission, be passed to the state auditor for audit and 
 payment. 
 
 Sec. 6. Duties of Commission. 
 
 It shall be the duty of the commission to ascertain the wages 
 and conditions of labor of women and minors in the various 
 occupations, trades and industries in which said women and 
 minors are employed in the State of Washington. To this end, 
 said commission shall have full power and authority to call for 
 statements and to examine, either through its members or other 
 authorized representatives, all books, pay rolls or other records 
 of all persons, firms and corporations employing females or 
 minors as to any matters that would have a bearing upon the 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 103 
 
 question of wages of labor or conditions of labor of said em- 
 ployes. 
 
 Sec. 7. Employers to Keep Records. 
 
 Every employer of women and minors shall keep a record of 
 the names of all women and minors employed by him, and shall 
 on request permit the commission or any of its members or 
 authorized representatives to inspect such record. 
 
 Sec. 8. Minor Defined. 
 
 For the purposes of this act a minor is defined to be a person 
 of either sex under the age of eighteen (18) years. 
 
 Sec. 9. Public Hearings — Power to Subpoena Witnesses. 
 
 The commission shall specify times to hold public hearings, 
 at which times employers, employes or other interested persons 
 may appear and give testimony as to the matter under con- 
 sideration. The commission shall have power to subpoena wit- 
 nesses and to administer oaths. All witnesses subpoenaed by the 
 commission shall be paid the same mileage and per diem allowed 
 by law for witnesses before the superior court in civil cases. 
 
 Sec. 10. Commission Empowered to Call Conference and Determine 
 Mode of Procedure. 
 
 If, after investigation, the commission shall find that in any 
 occupation, trade or industry, the wages paid to female employes 
 are inadequate to supply them necessary cost of living and to 
 maintain the workers in health, or that the conditions of labor 
 are prejudical to the health or morals of the workers, the com- 
 mission is empowered to call a conference composed of an equal 
 number of representatives of employers and employes in the 
 occupation or industry in question, together with one or more 
 disinterested persons representing the public ; but the represent- 
 atives of the public shall not exceed the number of representa- 
 tives of either of the other parties ; and a member of the com- 
 mission shall be a member of such conference and chairman 
 thereof. The commission shall make rules and regulations gov- 
 erning the selection of representatives and the mode of proced- 
 ure of said conference, and shall exercise exclusive jurisdiction 
 
104 State of Washington 
 
 over all questions arising as to the validity of the procedure 
 and of the recommendations of said conference. On request of 
 the commission, it shall be the duty of the conference to recom- 
 mend to the commission an estimate of the minimum wage ade- 
 quate in the occupation or industry in question to supply the 
 necessary cost of living, and maintain the workers in health, 
 and to recommend standards of conditions or labor demanded 
 for the health and morals of the employes. The findings and 
 recommendations of the conference shall be made a matter of 
 record for the use of the commission. 
 
 Sec. 11. Minimum Wage to Be Established. 
 
 Upon the receipt of such recommendations from a conference, 
 the commission shall review the same and may approve any or 
 all of such recommendations, or it may disapprove any or all of 
 them and recommit the subject or the recommendations disap- 
 proved of, to the same or a new conference. After such approval 
 of the recommendations of a conference the commission shall 
 issue an obligatory order to be. effective in sixty (60) days from 
 the date of said order, or if the commission shall find that unusual 
 conditions necessitate a longer period, then it shall fix a later 
 date, specifying the minimum wage for women in the occupation 
 affected, and the standard conditions of labor for said women; 
 and after such order is effective, it shall be unlawful for any em- 
 ployer in said occupation to employ women over eighteen (18) 
 years of age for less than the rate of wages, or under conditions 
 of labor prohibited for women in the said occupation. The com- 
 mission shall send by mail so far as practicable to each employer 
 in the occupation in question a copy of the order, and each em- 
 ployer shall be required to post a copy of said order in each 
 room in which women affected by the order are employed. When 
 such commission shall specify a minimum wage hereunder the 
 same shall not be changed for one year from the date when such 
 minimum wage is so fixed. 
 Sec. 12. Conference May Be Re-opened by Petition. 
 
 Whenever wages or standard conditions of labor have been 
 made mandatory in any occupation, upon petition (if either em- 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 105 
 
 ployers or employes the commission may at its discretion re-open 
 the question and re-convene the former conference or call a new 
 one, and any recommendations made by such conference shall be 
 dealt with in the same manner as the original recommendations 
 of a conference. 
 
 Sec. 13. Special License for Physical Disability. 
 
 For any occupation in which a minimum rate has been estab- 
 lished, the commission through its secretary may issue to a 
 woman physically defective or crippled by age or otherwise, or 
 to an apprentice in such class of employment or occupation as 
 usually requires to be learned by apprentices, a special license 
 authorizing the employment of such licensee for a wage less 
 than the legal minimum wage ; and the commission shall fix the 
 minimum wage for said person, such special license to be issued 
 only in such cases as the commission may decide the same is 
 applied for in good faith and that such license for apprentices 
 shall be in force for such length of time as the said commission 
 shall decide and determine is proper. 
 
 Sec. 14. Extraordinary Power of Commission. 
 
 The commission may at any time inquire into wages, and 
 conditions of labor of minors, employed in any occupation in 
 the state and may determine wages and conditions of labor 
 suitable for such minors. When the commission has made such 
 determination in the cases of minors it may proceed to issue 
 an obligatory order in the manner provided for in section 11 
 of this act, and after such order is effective it shall be unlawful 
 for any employer in said occupation to employ a minor for less 
 wages than are specified for minors in said occupation, or under 
 conditions of labor prohibited by the commission for said minors 
 in its order. 
 
 Sec. 15. Statistics — How Obtained. 
 
 Upon the request of the commission the Commissioner of 
 Labor of the State of Washington shall furnish to the com- 
 mission such statistics as the commission may require. 
 
106 State of Washington 
 
 Sec. 16. Employer Subject to Penalty if Employe Is Discharged for 
 Testifying. 
 
 Any employer who discharges, or in any other manner dis- 
 criminates against any employe because such employe has testi- 
 fied or is about to testify, or because such employer believes 
 that said employe may testify in any investigation or proceed- 
 ings relative to the enforcement of this act, shall be deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be 
 punished by a fine of from twenty -five dollars ($25.00) to one 
 hundred dollars ($100.00) for each such misdemeanor. 
 
 Sec. 17. Penalty for Violation of Act. 
 
 Any person employing a woman or minor for whom a mini- 
 mum wage or standard conditions of labor have been specified, 
 at less than said minimum wage, or under conditions of labor 
 prohibited by the order of the commission ; or violating any 
 other of the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a 
 misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished 
 by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more 
 than one hundred dollars ($100.00). 
 
 Sec. 17[/2- Commission May Be Requested to Investigate. 
 
 Any worker or the parent or guardian of any minor to whom 
 this act applies may complain to the commission that the wages 
 paid to the workers are less than the minimum rate and the 
 commission shall investigate the same and proceed under this 
 act in behalf of the worker. 
 
 Sec. 18. Employe Entitled to Recover in Civil Action. 
 
 If any employe shall receive less than the legal minimum 
 wage, except as hereinbefore provided in section 13, said employe 
 shall be entitled to recover in a civil action the full amount of the 
 legal minimum wage as herein provided for, together with costs 
 and attorney's fees to be fixed by the court, notwithstanding 
 any agreement to work for such lesser wage. In such action, 
 however, the employer shall be credited with any wages which 
 have been paid upon account. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 107 
 
 Sec. 19. Appeals. 
 
 All questions of fact arising under this act shall be deter- 
 mined by the commission and there shall be no appeal from its 
 decision upon said question of fact. Either employer or em- 
 ploye shall have the right of appeal to the superior court on 
 questions of law. 
 
 Sec. 20. Report to Governor. 
 
 The commission shall bienially make a report to the governor 
 and state legislature of its investigations and proceedings. 
 
 Sec. 21. Appropriation. 
 
 There is hereby appropriated annually out of any moneys 
 of the state treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of 
 five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) or as much thereof as may be 
 necessary to meet the expenses of the commission. (Chap. 174, 
 Laws 1913.) 
 
 Passed the Senate February 21, 1913. 
 
 Passed the House March 12, 1913. 
 
 Approved by the Governor March 24, 1913. 
 
108 State of Washington 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY 
 GENERAL. 
 
 Olympia, Wn, October 24, 1913. 
 
 Hon. E. W. Olson, Chairman of Industrial Welfare Commission, 
 Olympia, Washington. 
 
 Dear. Sir : I am in receipt of your letter as follows : 
 "I desire to obtain your opinion upon the following points, 
 relative to the powers of the Industrial Welfare Commission 
 for the State of Washington, as established by Chapter 174, 
 
 Laws 1913, State of Washington : 
 
 "(1) In the event that any conference called by the com- 
 mission shall find the health or morals of women or minors to 
 be perniciously affected by the employment of said women or 
 minors in any industry (a) for a number of hours per day or 
 week not specifically prohibited by the Eight Hour Law, or (b) 
 during a period of each twenty-four hours not at present 
 specifically prohibited by law ; and in the event that such con- 
 ference shall recommend to this commission that such number 
 or arrangement of hours be changed, does the power reside in 
 this commission to issue an obligatory order embodying such 
 recommendation ? 
 
 "(2) In the event that the cost of maintenance for women 
 workers shall be found to vary in different parts of the state, 
 does the power reside in this commission, upon the recommenda- 
 tion of any conference, to issue an obligatory order which shall 
 specify different wage minimums in different parts of the state 
 for women workers in the same industry or occupation?" 
 
 First. In my opinion chap. 174 of the Laws of 1913 does 
 not repeal chap. 37 of the Laws of 1911, commonly known as 
 the "eight hour law for women." It would seem, therefore, that 
 the commission has no power to issue an obligatory order em- 
 bodying a recommendation of a conference as to the number 
 of hours per day or week, or the number of hours within any 
 twenty-four hours, women may be employed, where such women 
 are within the terms of the eight hour law. 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 109 
 
 Second. From a careful reading of chap. 174, supra, it is 
 my opinion that any order fixing a minimum wage for women 
 must be general throughout the state as to the particular trade 
 or industry affected. 
 
 These questions, however, are by no means free from doubt, 
 
 and if it is deemed advisable to enter orders in conflict with the 
 
 conclusions above stated, I would suggest that such orders be 
 
 entered, and the matter of the determination of their validity 
 
 be left to the courts. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 W. V. Tanner, 
 
 Attorney General. 
 
 Olympia, Wn., January 13, 1914. 
 
 Hon. E. W. Olson, Chairman Industrial Welfare Commission, 
 Olympia, Washington. 
 Dear Sir : You have requested the opinion of this office upon 
 the following question : 
 
 "Does the power reside in this commission, in pursuance of 
 the duties imposed upon it in section 10 of chapter 174, Laws 
 of 1913, to determine and define what shall constitute an occupa- 
 tion, trade or industry?" 
 
 Section 10, chapter 174, Laws of 1913, provides in part as 
 follows : 
 
 "If, after investigation, the commission shall find that in 
 any occupation, trade or industry, the wages paid to female 
 employes are inadequate to supply them necessary cost of living 
 and to maintain the workers in health, or that the conditions of 
 labor are prejudicial to the health or morals of the workers, the 
 commission is empowered to call a conference composed of an 
 equal number of representatives of employers and employes in 
 the occupation or industry in question, together with one or 
 more disinterested persons representing the public; but the 
 representatives of the public shall not exceed the number of 
 representatives of either of the other parties ; and a member 
 of the commission shall be a member of such conference and 
 chairman thereof. * * *" 
 
 No particular classification being directed by statute, it 
 follows that the commission is authorized to exercise a reasonable 
 
110 State of Washington 
 
 discretion in making proper classifications for the purposes of 
 investigations and conferences. 
 
 You are advised that the commission has authority to make 
 investigations and to determine and define, within reasonable 
 bounds, what shall constitute an occupation, trade or industry 
 for the purpose of investigations and conferences. We must not 
 be understood as advising that the commission is authorized to 
 make, or is justified in making, arbitrary classifications or dis- 
 tinctions, so as to include within such classifications or defini- 
 tions, occupations, trades or industries having obviously no 
 reasonable relation one to the other. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 Scott Z. Henderson, 
 
 Assistant Attorney General. 
 
 Olympia, Wn., January 13, 1914. 
 
 Hon. E. W. Olson, Chairman Industrial Welfare Commission, 
 Olympia, Washington. 
 
 Dear Sir : We are in receipt of your request, which is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "I desire to request from you whether or not under the pro- 
 visions of section 13, chapter 174, Laws of 1913, it shall be 
 necessary for this commission to submit to a conference for its 
 recommendations the question of the adoption of rules to be fol- 
 lowed in issuing through the secretary of the commission to a 
 woman physically defective or crippled by age or otherwise, or 
 to an apprentice in such class of employment or occupation as 
 usually requires to be learned by apprentices, a special license au- 
 thorizing the employment of such licensee for a wage less than 
 the legal minimum wage." 
 
 Section 13, chapter 174, Laws of 1913, provides : 
 
 "For any occupation in which a minimum rate has been 
 established the commission through its secretary may issue to 
 a woman physically defective or crippled by age or otherwise, 
 or to an apprentice in such class of employment or occupation 
 as usually requires to be learned by apprentices, a special 
 license authorizing the employment of such licensee for a wage 
 less than the legal minimum wage; and the commission shall fix 
 
Report of Industrial Welfare Commission 111 
 
 the minimum wage for said person, such special license to be 
 issued only in such cases as the commission may decide the 
 same is applied for in good faith and that such license for ap- 
 prentices shall be in force for such length of time as the said 
 commission shall decide and determine is proper." 
 
 No reference is made in said section to a conference, and no- 
 where in the act is there provision made for submitting to the 
 conference for its recommendation the question of the adoption 
 of rules to be followed with reference to the provisions of sec- 
 tion 13, supra. 
 
 You are, therefore, advised that the matter of the license 
 referred to in said section is within the discretion of the com- 
 mission, subject to no condition with reference to recommenda- 
 tions of a conference, except that a minimum rate must have 
 been established for such occupation. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 Scott Z. Henderson, 
 
 Assistant Attorney General. 
 
I 
 
 
 
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