UC-NRLF ^B '^b ?~^i District of Columbia Minimum Wage Cases Court of Appeals of tine District of Columbia October Term, 1920 No. 3438 AND No. 3467. 1 HE Children's HosPTT . n- the ' ' - \ IM-,, MBIA. V. Jesse C. Adkins, Eth; i th, Jom ;::rich, Con- :'*ITUTING THE Ail\'t V'aGE BuAU! District OF ' OLUMBIA. Willie A. Lyons, Appellant, vs. Jesse C. Adkixs. F.thel W. ; vfiTH, Josep'^ iiRicH. Con- stitutinl. tti!-: Mt^ v'age Bci' District of Columbia. BRIEF FOR APPELLEES Felix Frankfurter, Of Counsel for "Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia, M-'^RY W. Dew SON, Research Secretary, National Consumers' Leag-ue. Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.archive.org/details/districtofcolumbOOchilrich District of Columbia Minimum Wage Cases Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia October Term, 1920. No. 3438 AND No. 3467. The Children's Hospital of the District of Columbia. A Corporation, Appellant. vs. Jesse C. Adkins, Ethel M. Smith, Joseph A. Berberich, Con- stituting THE Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia. Willie A. Lyons. Appellant, vs. Jesse C. Adkins, Ethel M. Smith, Joseph A. Berberich, Con- stituting THE Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia. ; ; j^ j ; \ > J , » o »^ BRIEF FOR APPELLEES With the Compliments o '/ MARY W. DEWSON, Research Secretary, National Consumers' League, 44 East 23rd street, New York City CHA8. P. YOUN6 CO., PRtNTCRS 190 WILLIAM STREET, N. Y. ^^»*« /mij GE': • * C^ftt. • TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE ARGUMENT _ i Statement of Cases i Facts ii Outline of Plaintiffs' Claim v Congress was prohibited from enacting the legislation by the due process clause v Marshall's Canon v The Issue vii Outline of Argument ix I. The presumption to be accorded an Act of Congress, which demands that it be respected unless transgres- sion of the Constitution is shown "beyond a rational doubt," amply sustains the District of Columbia Mini- mum Wage Law, particularly in view of the circum- stances of its enactment ix II. Congress by this legislation aimed at "ends" that are "legitimate and within the scope of the Constitution" x III. The "means" selected by Congress are "appropriate and plainly adapted" to accomplish these "ends" x IV. No right of the plaintiff's secured under the Constitution "prohibits" the use of these appropriate means so adopted by Congress to accomplish these legitimate ends x POINT I. The presumption to be accorded an Act of Congress, which demands that it be respected unless transgression of the Constitu- tion is shown "beyond a rational doubt" amply sustains the Dis- trict of Columbia Minimum Wage Law, particularly in view of the circumstances of its enactment x POINT II. Congress by this legislation aimed at "ends" that are "legiti- mate and within the scope of the Constitution" xiii First. — Charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the welfare of the District of Columbia, Congress was confronted with facts which made it its duty "to protect the women and minors of the District from conditions detrimental to their health and morals, resulting from wages which are inadequate to maintain decent standards of living" xiii i/ /' A Q A K \ TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Second. — The purpose of the Act was to provide for this deficit between the cost of women's labor — i. e., the means necessary to keep labor going — and any rate of women's pay below the minimum level for living, and thereby to eliminate all the evils attendant upon such deficits on a large scale xx POINT III. The means selected by Congress "are appropriate" and "plainly adapted" to accomplish the legitimate end xxi First. — From among the alternative means which Congress might have adopted for accomplishing these public ends, the particular one adopted was reasonable and appropriate xxiii Second. — Therefore, even though this Court might think that some other means would have greater chance of effective- ness, it was open to Congress to try this method unless it was affirmatively prohibited by the Constitution xxv POINT IV. No rights of plaintiffs secured under the Constitution of the United States prohibit the use of the means so adopted by Con- gress to accomplish these legitimate public ends xxv First. — The so-called "liberties" of which the plaintiffs claim to have been deprived were merely nominal and theo- retical and not asserted bona fide. Therefore it was not "arbi- trary," "wanton" or a "spoliation" for Congress to allow great public interests to prevail over them xxvii Second. — The alleged deprivations of property are either merely nominal and not bona fide like the so-called "liberties," or hypothetical and unsubstantiated; and therefore, were not dealt with arbitrarily or wantonly or as a spoliation xxxiii Third. — It is not arbitrary, wanton, or spoliative for Con- gress to require employers to pay the cost of human labor xxxviii Fourth. — The action of Congress was not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative because the direct interest of the District in these particular wage contracts gave it a special justification for controlling them xl fifth. — It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for Con- gress to require the employer to obtain a license from the Board before he can buy labor at less than cost, because that is a ' TABI^E OF CONTENTS. Ill PAGE reasonable means of preventing cut-throat and unfair competi- tion, between manufacturers xliii Sixth. — It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for Con- — gress to require the consent of the Board before allowing an employee to sell labor below cost, because that is a reasonable means for preventing unfair competition between employees xlvii Seventh. — It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for Con- gress to require the consent of the Board before allowing a wage contract at below cost, because of the actual inherent inequality of bargaining power between the parties xlviii Eighth. — It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for Con- gress to require the consent of the Board before allowing wage contracts at below cost, because that is a reasonable exercise of the "police power" to minimize danger of unfair and op- pressive contracts liii Ninth. — It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for the state to require the consent of the Board before allowing wage contracts at below cost, because that is a reasonable exercise of power to foster the productivity of industry liv PART FIRST.— THE SUCCESSFUL WORKING OF MINIMUM WAGE LEGISLATION 1 1. The Low End of the Wage Scale Is Lifted to the Level of the Cost of Living 1 District of Columbia (1) Minimum Wage Orders 1 (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Decreed 2 (3) Reinvestigations for Compliance with Minimum Decreed 15 Arkansas (1) Minimum Wage Order 18 California (1) Minimum Wage Orders 19 (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Decreed 22 (3) Reinvestigations for Compliance with Minimum Decreed 25 Kansas (1) Minimum Wage Orders 30 (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Decreed 31 Massachusetts (1) Minimum Wage Orders 33 (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Decreed 35 (3) Reinvestigations for Compliance with Minimum Decreed :>r iv tabi,e of contents. Page Minnesota (1) Minimum Wage Orders 44 (2) Wage Investigations 44 (3) Explanatory Statements 45 North Dakota (1) Minimum Wage Orders 48 Oregon (1) Minimum Wage Orders 50 (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Decreed 52 Texas (1) Minimum Wage Orders 53 Washington (1) Minimum Wage Orders 53 (2) Reinvestigations for Compliance with Minimum Decreed 54 Wisconsin (1) Minimum Wage Orders 58 (2) Investigations for Compliance with Minimum Decreed 64 British Columbia 68 Manitoba 71 2. Industrial Efficiency of Both Employers and Employees Is Stimu- lated 72 3. Competing Employers Are Benefited 91 (1) General Statements 91 (2) Statistics 98 4. An Influence toward Industrial Peace Is Created 108 5. General Statements in Favor of the Legislation 114 (1) In America 114 (2) In Great Britain 144 (3) In Australia 153 (4) In Canada 156 6. The Minimum Does Not Become the Maximum 160 7. The Displacement of Workers Is Inconsiderable 169 PART SECOND.— THE EXTENSION OF MINIMUM WAGE LEGISLATION 179 1. In America 179 (1) The Minimum Wage Laws 179 District of Columbia 179 Arizona 188 Arkansas 189 California 194 table ok contents. v Page Colorado 204 Kansas 214 Massachusetts ~..-~222 Minnesota 232 North Dakota 238 Oregon 246 Texas 257 Utah 265 Washington 267 Wisconsin 274 Porto Rico 278 (2) Constitutional Provisions Validating Minimum Wage Statutes 279 2. In the British Empire 280 (1) The New Legislation " 281 (a) Great Britain 281 (b) Canada 291 Alberta 291 British Columbia 293 Manitoba 295 Nova Scotia 297 Ontario 299 Quebec 301 Saskatchewan 303 Addenda to extracts from the laws 304 (2) Increasing Scope of the Acts 305 (a) Great Britain 305 (b) Australia 309 (c) Canada 310 3. Tn Other Foreign Countries 312 (1) The Argentine 312 (2) France 313 (3) Norway 314 (i) Germany and Austria 315 PART THIRD.— THE NEED FOR MINIMUM WAGE LEGIS- LATION IN THE UNITED STATES 317 1. Wages of Women 317 (1) In Certain Industries and Occupations the Level of Wages Is Below the Cost of Living 317 (2) In Many Industries and Occupations the Increase of Wages During the War Period Did Not Create a Living Wage 368 vi table of contents. Page (3) Nominal Rates Are Greater than Actual Earnings 377 (»a) Due to Lack of Steady Employment or Irregular At- tendance 377 (b) Due to Seasonal Fluctuation of Employment 384 (4) The Bulk of Wage-earning Women Must Support Them- selves 392 2. Cost of Living 401 (1) The Standard by which a Living Wage Should Be Deter- mined 401 (2) The Living Wage for a Single Woman 409 CASES CITED. Armour &■ Co. vs. North Dakota, 240 U. S., 510 liv Bacon vs. Walker, 204 U. S., 311 „ Ivii Booth vs. Illinois, 184 U. S., 425, 429 xxii Bosley vs. McLaughlin, 236 U. S., 385 Hi Brazee vs. Michigan, 241 U. S., 340 li Butler vs. Perry, 240 U. S., 328, 333 liii Central Lumber Co. vs. South Dakota, 226 U. S., 157, 160-1 xxii, xlvi Chicago & Alton Railroad vs. Tranbarger, 238 U. S., 67, 77 xxii Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Co. vs.McGuire, 219 U. S., 549 xxii Chicago Railway vs. IVellman, 143 U. S., 339, 344-6. xxviii, xxxiv, xxxv, xxxvi Des Moines Gas Co. vs. Des Moines, 238 U. S., 153 xxxiv Gompers vs. United States, 233 U. S., 604, 610 xxviii Grenada Lumber Co. vs. Mississippi, 217 U. S., 433, 441-2 xxii Gundling vs. Chicago, 177 U. S., 183, 186 xxix, xxxiii, xxxvii Halter vs. Nebraska, 205 U. S., 34, 40 xi Hammond Co. vs. Montana, 233 U. S., 331 liv Hatch vs. Reardon, 204 U. S., 152 xxviii Hawley vs. Walker, 232 U. S., 718 Hi Hirsch vs. Block, 48 Wash. Law Rep. 376 viii Holcombe vs. Creamer, 231 Mass. 99 xii Holden vs. Hardy, 169 U. S., 366, 397-8 xxxi, Hi, Hx Hudson Water Co. vs. McCarter, 209 U. S., 349 Ivi Hurtado vs. California, 110 U. S., 516, 530-1 Hx Interstate Ry. Co. vs. Mass., 207 U. S., 79, 86-7 xxviii Jacobson vs. Mass., 197 U. S., 11, 31, 34, 35 .-. xxiv Jeffrey vs. Blagg, 235 U. S., 571, 576 xxviii Jones vs. Brim, 165 U. S., 180, 182 xxn Larsen vs. Rice, 100 Wash., 642 ^ xii Lehon vs. Atlanta, 242 U. S., 53 xxviii, xxix, xxxiii TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Lemieux vs. Young, 211 U. S., 489, 496 xxii, liv Lottery Cases, 188 U. S., 321 liv McCulloch vs. Maryland, 4 Wheat, 316, 421 ^ vi McLean vs. Arkansas, 211 U. S., 539, 548, 549 xxii, xxiv Miller vs. Wilson, 236 U. S., 373, 380-1 Hi Mount Vernon Cotton Co. vs. Alabama, etc. Co., 240 U. S., 30 Ivi Muller vs. Oregon, 208 U. S., 412, 420 xxiv, lif Mutual Film Corp. vs. Ohio Industrial Com., 236 U. S., 230....xxix, xxxvii Noble State Bank vs. Haskell, 219 U. S., 104, 110-11 xx, xxii, xxviii Northern Pacific Ry. Co. vs. North Dakota, 216 U. S., 579... xxxiv, XXXV, xxxvi Otis vs. Parker, 187 U. S., 606, 608, 609 vii, liv Pacific, etc., Co. vs. Oregon Water Board, 241 U. S., 440 Ivi Parsons vs. District of Columbia, 170 U. S., 45, 52 xi Perley vs. North Carolina, 249 U. S., 510, 513, 515 vi, xii Plymouth Coal Co. vs. Pennsylvania, 232 U. S., 531, 545 xxviii Poye vs. State, Tex. Decided Oct. 15, 1920 xii Rast vs. Van Deman, 240 U. S., 342, 366 vii, liv Riley vs. Mass., 232 U. S., 671 Hi Schmidinger vs. Chicago, 226 U. S., 578, 579, 588 xxii, liv Shoemaker vs. United States, 147 U. S., 282 x Simpson vs. O'Hara, 70 Ore., 261 xii Sinking Fund Cases, 99 U. S., 700, 718 vi Slaughter-house Cases, 16 Wall,, 36 xxvii Spokane Hotel vs. Younger, 13 Wash. Dec. 322. Decided Dec. 11, 1920 xii Standard Oil Co. vs. U. S., 221 U. S., 1 xlv State vs. Crow, 130 Ark., 272 xii Stettler vs. O'Hara, 69 Ore., 519, 537 .™__^ciij_li Tanner vs. Little, 240 U. S., 369, 385-6 xxii, xxiv Vernon vs. Bethell, 2 Eden., 110, 113 Hii Walls vs. Midland Carbon Co., 254 U. S., Dec. 13, 1920 viii, Ivi Willcox vs. Consolidated Gas Co., 212 U. S., 19 xxxiv Williams vs. Evans, 139 Minn., 32, 40-1 xn, Hi Wilson vs. McDonald, 265 Fed. Rep., 432 vni COURT OF APPEALS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, October Term, 1920. Nos. 3438 and 3467. The Children's Hospital of the Dis- trict of Columbia, a Corporation, Appellant, vs, Jesse C. Adkins, Ethel M. Smith, Joseph A. Berberich, Constituting the Minimum Wage Board of the Dis- trict of Columbia. Willie A. Lyons, Appellant^ vs. Jesse C. Adkins, Ethel M. Smith, Joseph A. Berberich, Constituting the Minimum Wage Board of the Dis- trict of Columbia. BRIEF FOR APPELLEES. ARGUMENT. Statement of Cases. These are appeals to review the final orders of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, dismissing suits by The Children's Hospital and Willie A. Lyons, u respectively, (hereinafter called plaintiffs), to vacate an order of the Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia and to enjoin its enforcement. This order pro- vided that, subject to certain qualifications, **no person .... or corporation shall employ a woman .... in any hotel .... or in any hospital at a rate of wages of less than 341/2 cents per hour, $16.50 per week, or $71.50 per month. ' ' Facts. The facts, briefly, are these: After thorough hearings by Committees of both Houses of Congress, followed by full debate in both Houses, Congress passed the Act of September 19, 1918 (40 Stat. 960). *^The purposes of the Act,'' as defined by Congress are: **To protect the women and minors of the Dis- trict froipQ conditions detrimental to their health and morals, resulting from wages which are inadequate to maintain decent standards of living .... *' (Sec. 23). The Act establishes a ** Minimum Wage Board'' as the machinery for determining ** Standards of minimum wages for women in any occupation within the District of Columbia, and what wages are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living to any such women workers to main- tain them in good health and to protect their morals" (Sec. 9), and for enforcing such ^* standards of minimum wages a-" Ill promulgated by order of the Board (Sees. 9-12). By Sec. 13 the Act provides, ^'That for any occupation in which only a mini- mum time-rate wage has been established, the Board may issue to a woman whose earning capacity has been impaired by age or otherwise, a special license authorizing her employment at such wage less than such minimum time-rate wage as shall be fixed by the Board and stated in the license.'' Pursuant to the requirements of the Minimum Wage Law, including the report of a Conference on the Hotel, Kestaurant and Hospital Industries, the Conference com- posed of an equal number of representatives of the em- ployers and employees affected, and after public hearing, the Minimum Wage Board made the following order: ''1. No person, firm, association, or corporation shall employ a woman or minor girl in any hotel, lodi2:ing house, apartment house, club, restaurant, cafeteria, or other place where food is sold to be consumed on the premises or in any hospital, at a rate of wages of less than 341/2 cents per hour, $16.50 per week, or $71.50 per month. This shall not be construed to include nurses in training. 2. When bona fide meals are furnished by the employer to any woman or minor girl employed in the establishments named in Section 1 of this order as part payment of the wages of such employee, not more than 30 cents per meal may be deducted by such employer from the weekly wage of such em- ployee. A record shall be kept of the number of meals furnished each woman and minor girl per week and of the deductions made from the weekly wage for the same ; otherwise the full minimum wage rate shall be paid in cash. 3. When lodging is furnished by the employer to any woman or minor girl employed in the estab- lishments named in Section 1 of this order as part payment of the wages of such employee not more than $2 per week shall be deducted by such employer from the weekly wage of such employee. 4. Tips and gratuities shall not be construed as part of the legal minimum wage.'' Children's Hos- pital, R., 3; Lyons, R., 3. The plaintiff, The Children's Hospital, is engaged in maintaining a hospital for children in the District of Columbia (Children's Hospital, R., fol. 1). The plaintiff, Lyons, is a woman employee of the Congress Hall Hotel Company, a corporation engaged in the business of conducting a hotel in the District of Co- lumbia, working as an elevator operator, at a wage of $35 a month and two meals a day (Lyons, R., fol. 2). The plaintiffs did not challenge the facts, as found by the Board, upon which the order was based; nor did either plaintiff seek to review the findings of the Board as arbitrary or wholly unfounded in fact, and therefore without basis in law, which right of review is provided by Sec. 17 of the Act. Specifically, there was and is no claim that the minimum fixed by the Board, to wit, 34i/^ cents per hour, or less than $16.50 per week, or less than $71.50 per month, is more than **the necessary cost of living to any such women workers [in the District of Co- lumbia] to maintain them in good health and to protect their morals." Nor did either plaintiff invoke the pro- vision of Sec. 13 of the Act for a ** special license" au- thorizing employment at less than the rate fixed by the Board. On the contrary, without challenging the cor- rectness of the facts found by the Board, nor claiming the rate fixed by the Board to be confiscatory, nor attempting to avail themselves of the provision for exemption from the Board's order by *^ license, '* the plaintiffs brought separate suits (though in fact one suit, with the same pleadings, filed by the same counsel and supported by the same brief) to enjoin the enforce- ment of the order of the Board (Children's Hospital, R., 7; Lyons, R., 6). The complaints were answered, and, after hearing, decrees dismissing the suits were entered by the Supreme Court (Children's Hospital, R., 12; Lyons, R., 9). Plaintiffs' Claim. The cases are here solely upon a claim under the Fifth Amendment, to wit, that in passing the *^ District of Co- lumbia Minimum Wage Law" Congress deprived the plaintiffs of *^ liberty" or *' property" ** without due process of law." Marshall's Canon. The controversy, we submit, reduces itself, simply enough, to an application of Marshall's canon of constitu- tional construction to the complicated and extensive facts of modern industrial life and, more particularly, to those in the District. '^Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional" (M'Culloch V. Maryland, 4 Wheat, 316, 421). The Supreme Court has sought to give efficacy to Mar- shall's canon of constitutional construction by insisting upon the respect to be accorded to the judgment of Con- gress that a given exercise of power by it is Constitu- tional. ** Every possible presumption is in favor of the validity of a statute and this continues until the contrary is shown beyond a rational doubt. One branch of the government cannot encroach on the domain of another without danger. The safety of our institutions depends in no small degree on a strict observance of this salutary rule {Sinkinq- Fund Cases, 99 U. S., 700, 718). '' This rule demands scrupulous observance in cases where the authority of Congress is challenged not by reason of any of the specific limitations of the Constitu- tion but upon a theoretic conception as to what consti- tutes ** liberty" or ** property", or because of a difference of opinion as to the justification for regulating ^* liberty" or ** property." It is essential to keep in mind that such abstract notions have no place in reviewing the action of Congress. For the plaintiffs' '* rights" are necessarily ** subject to some exertions of government" {Perley v. North Carolina, 249 U. S., 510, 513). Where the line must be drawn between the so-called ** police power" and the limitation imposed by **due process" is a practical ques- tion, to be solved not by abstract pre-possession but by regard for the facts of life. The duty of drawing the line, of weighing the facts, rests primarily with~Cbn- gress. Because there may be differences of opinio^ as to where the line is to be drawn, ** every possible pre- sumption'' that Congress was justified in drawing the line where it did must prevail, unless and until it is *' shown beyond a rational doubf that there is no jus- tification for the determination of Congress. But it may be said that judicial opinion cannot be controlled by legislative opinion of what are fun- damental rights. This is freely conceded; it is the very essence of constitutional law, but its recogni- tion does not determine supremacy in any given instance. ** While the courts must exercise a judg- ment of their own, it by no means is true that every law is void which may seem to the judges who pass upon it excessive, unsuited to its o-stensible end, or based upon conceptions of morality with which they disagree. Considerable latitude must be allowed for differences of view as well as for possible peculiar conditions which this court can know but imper- fectly, if at all. Otherwise a constitution, instead of embodying only relatively fundamental rules of right, as generally understood by all English-speak- ing communities, would become the partisan of a particular set of ethical or economical opinions which by no means are held semper ubiquei et ah omnibus.'' Otis v. Parker, 187 U. S., 606, 608, 609. (Bast V. Van Demian & Leims, 240 U. S., 342, ^66.) The Issue. There is a specific state of facts, depending upon a specific scheme of legislation, before this Court in this case, and not a general, undefined theory of wage-fixing Vlll by legislation.^ Througliout the argument, discussion will be focussed on this specific controversy. The follow- ing, we believe, accurately formulates the precise issue: An Act having been passed by Congress ^Ho pro- tect the women and minors of the District from con- ditions detrimental to their health and morals, resulting from ivages ivhich are inadequate to main- tain decent standards of living'^ which seeks to attain these objects through the requirement of standards of minimimn wages for wom,en, adequate to supply the necessary cost of living to women workers in respective occupations and to maintain them in health and to protect their m.orals, to be ascertained by a Minimum Wage Board; and such minimum 7vage for hotel, restaurant and allied industries having been ascertained and fixed by the Board at thirty- four and one-half cents per hour or $16.50 per week, or $71.50 per months an amount concededly not in excess of said living necessities, and so fixed in ac- cordance with the findings of a Conference of the particidar industry in which both the employers and employees were represented and had full oppor- tunity for hearing; and said Act having a provision that even" these minimum requirements should not be required if the Board issues ^*to a woman whose earning capacity has been impaired by age or other- wise, a special license authorizing her employment at such wage less than such minimum time-rate wage as shall be fixed by the Board and stated in the license' \' and said Act having a provision that ^^ there shall be a right of appeal from the Board »The futility of abstract considerations in so-called "police power" cases and the necessity of adjudicating them on the facts and circumstances of each case find striking application in the recent decision of Wnlls v. Midland Car- bon Co., 254 TJ. S. Dec, 13, 1920. We shall, therefore, not follow the red-her- iug trail of the plaintiffs in their discussion of the Rent Law Cases. It will be time enough to consider Wilson v. McDonald, 265 Fed. Rep. 432, and Hirsch V. Block, 48 Wash. Law Rep. 376, when the Court will have before it an Act of Congress which compels an employer to keep In his employ workers beyond a stipulated period, and that, too, under circumstnnces found by the Court to operate discriminatingly as to workers of the same kind. to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia from any ruling or holding on a question of law in- cluded or embodied in any decision or order -of -the Board; and on the same question of law, from such court to the Court of Appeals of the District of Co- lumbia'' ; and the plaintiff, The Children's Hospital, having continued to employ women workers not al- leged or shown to be women ''whose earning capacity has been impaired by age or otherwise" at wages less than the minimum fixed by the Board, with- out having applied for or been denied such special license from the Board; and the plaintiff, Lyons, having continued to accept from her employer wages less than the said minimum without hav- ing applied for or been denied such special license and without now alleging or showing that she is ^'impaired by age or otherwise"; are they, or either of them, entitled to a reversal of th& decrees of the Supreme Court, dismissing their complaints to enjoin the enforcement of the order of the Board and refusing to declare the Congressional Act arbi- trary^ wanton or spoliative, and therefore, not in ex- cess of the legislative power of Congress over the District, as limited by the due process clause, par- ticularly where such Act was passed by Congress after hearings as to the practical necessity for such legislation and after Congress specifically considered the constitutional questions involved and decided that in passing the Act, it was within its constitur- tional authority? Outline of Argrament. We shall contend: I. — The presumption to be accorded an Act of Con- gress, which demands that it be respected unless trans- gression of the Constitution is shown ^^ beyond a rational doubf , amply sustains the District of Columbia Mini- mum Wage Law, particularly in view of the circum- stances of its enactment. II. — Congress by this legislation aimed at **ends*' that are ** legitimate and within the scope of the Consti- tution.'' III. — The ** means'' selected by Congress are ** appro- priate and plainly adapted" to accomplish these **ends." IV. — No right of the plaintiffs secured under the Con- stitution ** prohibits" the use of these appropriate means so adopted by Congress to accomplish these legitimate ends. POINT I. Tlie presumption to be accorded an Act of Congress, which deniands that it he respected unless transgression of the Constitution is shoTrn '^beyond a rational doiibt'% aniply sus- tains the District of Colnnibia Minininm Wage !Law, particularly in view of the cir- cumstances of its enactment. In considering this legislation, Congress was dealing with a practical problem which was pressing insistently upon the attention of legislators all over the country. Congress was acting upon an experience which had justified itself throughout the country. Possessed of the same power and charged with the same duty, for legis- lating within the District as that which States exercise within their respective boundaries (Shoemaker v. United XI States, 147 U. S., 282; Parsons v. District of Columbia, 170 U. S. 45, 52), Congress followed the example of a number of States in passing the Act in question. The legislation had not only justified itself in practice, but it had been uniformly sustained by the courts against attacks of unconstitutionality. Thirteen states — Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colo- rado, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin — have laws similar to the Congressional legislation.* Three states — Ohio, California and Nebraska — have authorized minimum wage legislation by specific consti- tutional provisions. Here is a body of legislation coming from states in different parts of the country, states as varied in their conditions as Massachusetts and Wash- ington, Texas and Wisconsin. Despite all other differ- ences, they have adopted this common type of legislation, indicating that it deals with needs common to every va- riety of State, and with problems which concern all in- dustry wherever women arid children are employed. If the Federal legislation is bad under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, then, of course, the leg- islative and constitutional provisions of sixteen states are bad under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The extensive enactment of a statute is a fact '*of vast significance" {Halter v. Nebraska, •Arizona and Utah (as well as Porto Rico) hare a flat rate of minimum wages fixed for all industries by statute. In all the other states there is ad- ministrative machinery for determining, after hearing, the minimum wage appropriate for each separate industry. Congress followed the latter type of legislation. M;issachusetts, unlike all other states, relies upon the coercive power of public opinion for enforcement of the orders of its Minimum Wage Commission. 205 U. S., 34, 40). And a court will naturally pause, and pause long, before deciding that in passing such legisla- tion a large number of States have violated the Constitu- tion of the United States. '^The deference due to the judgment of the Legislature on the matter has been em- phasized again and again'' by the Supreme Court (Per- ley V. North Carolina, 249 U. S., 510, 515, and cases cited). But Congress had even more confirmation for its ac- tion than this volume of state legislation. It acted upon uniform validation of such legislation by the state courts. The Act has been sustained whenever challenged. {Sfettler v. O'llara^ 69 Or., 519; Simpson v. O'Eara, 70 Or., 261 ; Williams v. Evans, 139 Minn., 32 ; State v. Crow, 130 Ark., 272; Larsen v. Rice, 100 Wash., 642, reaffirmed in Spokane Eotel Co. v. Younger, 13 Wash. Dec, 322, decided Dec. 11, 1920, sustaining a minimum time wage- rate of $18 per week; Eolcomhe v. Creamer, 231 Mass., 99; Poye v. /S'^a^e,— Tex.,— decided Oct. 15, 1920). Congress was not even content to rest upon this weighty experience of the States and its approval by their courts. The Senate and House Committees on the District of Columbia held extensive hearings on the needs of this legislation, in view of the conditions prevailing in the District. More than that, there was discussed at length the constitutional questions raised by the pro- posal. With full consciousness of the issue, after full con- sideration of the objections now urged, Congress, without opposition in the House and with few negative votes in the Senate, decided that the legislation here assailed is within its constitutional competence. XIU In the light of these circumstances, there never was a clearer case for applying the obligation of respect to be accorded to the judgment of Congress. In the light of these circumstances to urge that there was ** wanton- ness'* in the legislative will or an ** arbitrary'* exercise of power is to display not respect but contempt for Con- arress. POINT II. Congress by this legislation ainied at ^'ends^^ that are ^ ^legitimate and within the scope of the Constitution/' The first requisite of Marshall's canon is that the end sought by legislation must be ** legitimate and within the scope of the Constitution." That this primary re- quirement is met in this case cannot be, and practically is not denied. But we proceed briefly to explain the pur- poses sought by Congress in enacting the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Law. First. — Charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the welfare of the District of Columbia, Congress was con- fronted with facts which made it its duty "to protect the women and minors of the District from conditions detrimental to their health and morals, resulting from wages which are inadequate to maintain decent standards of living." This Congressional statement of the purposes of the Act is based upon indisputable facts. In summary of XIV the overwhelmiiig array of details set forth in Part Third of this Brief, it is only necessary to say here that the minimum cost in the District, for the rudi- mentary needs of a woman worker, as disclosed by investigations preceding this legislation and corroborated by many authoritative findings from all over the United States, was : XV Cost op Living of Working Women in the District of CoLiUMBiA in December, 1916.* Yearly Cost Weekly Cost Items 1916 1916 Board and Room ,,„ $312.00 $6.00 Clothing — 125.00 2.40 Sundries : Laundry 30.00 ~-. ... Sickness 1400 — iii... Dentistry 6.55 ...« Oculist 1.99 ,.M.. *m^ Amusements 7.14 1 1 . Vacation 13.16 ...,., Ill Fruit and Candy 5.70 -— . Insurance 9.65 ..... m..^ Other incidentals 18.45 ...... 1, Charity 1.79 —M Religion 4.54 •.^ Labor organization .30 ...^ ..i. Other organizations .49 ...^ •^ School tuition 1.70 .,.,.. III! Carfare (to and from work) 10.85 I... Carfare (other) 7.84 „..„ . Books and magazines 2.81 ^~ «... Gifts 14.96 , 1., Total Sundries 152.22 2.93 Total $589.22 $11.33 ♦This budget appears on page 416 of Part Third of this BrIef,--only the weekly cost is here worked out. XVI This being tlie bare living cost for women workers in the District, it appeared before Congress, as dis- closed in the Eeport of the House Committee which pro- posed the legislation (Rep. No. 571, H. R., 65th Con. 2nd Sess.) that 46% of 600 women workers interviewed earned less than $8 per week and 64% less than $10 per week. This low wage was not owing to their youth and inexperience, for 72% were twenty-one years of age, or older, and one-half of those earning less than $9 per week had been at work for five years and more.* Congress, dealing with the situation it found in the summer of 1918, had, of course, to consider the enormous increase in the cost of living. The actual amount of such increase had been studied and determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The findings of comparative cost increases between 1916 and 1918, made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and acted upon by the Minimum Wage Board preceding its order follow: •See page 129 of Part First of this Brief. xvu Comparison of Cost of Living of Working Women in THE District of Columbia in December, 1916, AND in December, 1918.* Yearly Cost % Increase Yearly Cost Items 1916 1916 to 1918 1918 Board and Room $312 50% $468 Clothin- 125 59.4 199.25 Sundries Laundry _ 30.00 30.00 Sickness „ 14.00 30 18.20 Dentistry 6.55 11 7.25 Oculist 1.99 76 3.50 Amusements „ 7.44 58 9.60 Vacation 13.16 13.16 Fruit and Candy ...... 5.70 5.70 Insurance 9.65 9.65 Charity 1.79 1.79 Religion ...._ 4.54 4.54 Labor Org-anizations .30 .30 Other Organizations .49 .49 School Tuition 1.70 1.70 Carfare (to and from work) 10.85 20 13.00 Carfare (other) 7.84 20 9.40 Rooks & Magazines 2.81 46 3.45 Gifts _... 14.96 14.96 Other Incidentals 18.45 18.45 Total Sundries 152.22 8.5 165.14 Total 589.22 41.3 832.39 ♦This table will be found on page 416, Part Third of this Brief. Weekly Cost 1918 $9 3.83 .58 .35 .14 .07 .18 .25 .11 .19 .03 .09 .005 .01 .03 .25 .18 .07 .29 .35 3.175 16.005 XVIU These findings as to the cost of the barest necessaries are to be compared with the Eeport made by the Mini- mum Wage Board into the wages of women in hotels, restaurants and allied industries (including hospitals).* The Board found that ''1300, or 58 per cent, of the 2209 women for whom wage data were obtained were receiving less than $16 or its equivalent per week. A general average in this instance tends to conceal the real wage situa- tion. A classification according to type of estab- lishment gives a much clearer picture of the facts. Of the women employed in the industry, 72.2 per cent in hotels, 42.6 per cent in restaurants, 82.3 per cent in hospitals and 100 per cent in apartment houses were receiving less than $16 a week or its equivalent. In the general average the higher rates prevailing in restaurants offset the lower rates in hotels and hospitals. The apartment house employ- ees included in this study were too few in number to affect the general figures.'*** On this basis it appears that Congress was obliged to consider ways and means for meeting the deficit between the minimum cost necessary for women workers to live without detriment **to their health and morals,'' and the wages which were actually being paid helow this mmimum to a considerable percentage of the women workers of the District. The matter was thus put in the testimony of Dr. W. C. Woodward, the Health Conamis- sioner of the District : **That there is a very definite relation between wages and health, and between wages and morals, •Bulletin No. 3 of District of Columbia Minimum Wage Board, October 10, 1919. ♦♦Bulletin No. 3, supra, quoted on pages 7-8 of Part First of the Brief. XIX I think will be conceded by every one who at any time has had to earn his own living, and who has even the slightest knowledge of hygiene or Jiealth. We know that in any organized commnnity we can not get ordinary shelter without paying for it; that to clothe the body costs money; that food costs money; that provision for ordinary protection against illness requires money; and that protection of life — if you will, provision for recreation facili- ties — requires the expenditure of money; and we know that the wage earner depends on her wage to get that money. It stands to reason, therefore, that inadequacy of wage means either of two things: On the one hand it may mean inadequacy of shelter, inadequacy of clothing, inadequacy of food, inade- quacy of recreational facilities on the one hand it may mean any one of those conditions, or it may mean all — ^with resultant impoverishment of health — or, on the other hand, it means that from some source or other the wage must be supplemented, with possible resort to wrongdoing to accomplish that end. I am very loath, however, to connect up minimum wages with moral questions. The most I care to say there is that when one is tempted the lack of physical stamina and the necessity for main- taining life increase the weight of the induce- ment certainly make yielding easier.''* Congress, as its reports disclose, found that alarming public evils had resulted, and threatened in increasing measure, from the widespread existence of the deficit be- tween the essential needs for a decent life and the actual ^ earnings of large numbers of women workers of the Dis- trict. The health of large sections of the present genera- tion was thereby suffering from undernourishment, de- *See Henrings before Sub-Committee of the Committee on the District of Columbia, House of Representatives 65th Con. 2nd Sess. on H. R. 10,367, p. 29, quoted in Rep. No, 571 H. R. 65th Con. 2nd Sess. and printed on page 124 of Part First of this Brief. moralizing shelter and insufficient medical care. Inevit- ably, the coming generation was thereby threatened. Standards of morals were endangered by increasing the strain necessary to resistance. Economic efficiency and productiveness were wastefuUy limited; the fruitful use of economic resources was needlessly restricted. In its immediate effects, financial burdens were imposed upon the District, involving excessive and unremunerative taxation, for the support of charitable and quasi-char- itable institutions engaged in impotent amelioration rather than prevention. In a word, here, if ever, was presented a community problem of a most compelling kind, calling for legisla- tion * 'greatly and immediately necessary to the public welfare '» {Nohle State Bank v. Haskell, 219 U. S., 104, 111). Second. — The purpose of the Act was to provide for this deficit between the cost of women's labor — i. e., the means necessary to keep labor going — and any rate of women's pay below the minimum level for living, and thereby to eliminate all the evils attendant upon such deficits on a large scale. No one claims, surely not the plaintiffs, that Con- gress, in this legislation, was actuated by a desire to gratify any venom or mob spirit against individuals in order to injure them. There is no dispute that Congress was honest, was acting in good faith, in avowing the purposes which it did in the enactment of the Minimum Wage Law, to wit : XXI **to protect the women and minors of tlie District from conditions detrimental to their health and morals, resulting from wages which are inadequate to maintain decent standards of living/' ~ ~ In a word, the ends toward which this legislation was directed were the ends of the very life of a nation, namely, the health and civilized maintenance of this generation, and a healthy and civilized continuance of generations to follow. The only complaint is the want of adaptation of the means chosen by Congress for the attainment of ends which it indisputably could pur- sue. We shall at once consider the justification of the choice of means exercised by Congress. But in order to appraise with insight the means chosen by Congress it is important to realize with conviction not merely the abstract legitimacy of the ends at which Congress was aiming, but also the details of the situation that actually confronted Congress in discharging its constitutional duty to legislate. POINT III. The means selected by Congress ^^are appro- priate^' and ^'plainly adapted'' to accomplish the legitimate end. The second part of Marshall's canon reads as follows : *^A11 means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to the end * * */» This states the broad scope of the question. Later cases, without changing Marshall 's central point of view, xxu have phrased it in a slightly different form. ** Plainly adapted, ' ' they indicate, means * ^ not plainly unadapted. ^ ^ This has been the spirit of the later formulas. The recur- ring adjectives used by the Supreme Court are ** arbi- trary,*' '^ wanton *' and * * spoliative, ' ' and this is the thought that underlies the decisions (e. g,, Jones v. Brim, 165 U. S., 180, 182; Booth v. Illinois, 184 U. S., 425, 429; Lemieux v. Young, 211 U. S., 489, 496; McLean V. Arkansas, 211 U. S., 539, 548; Grenada Lumber Co. v. Mississippi, 217 U. S., 433, 411-2; Noble State Bank V. Haskell, 219 U. S., 104, 110-11; Chicago, Burling- ton S Quincy Co, v. McGuire, 219 U. S., 549, 567-8; Cen- tral Lumber Co, v. South Dakota, 226 U. S., 157, 160-1; Schmidinger v. Chicago, 226 U. S., 578, 588; Erie R. R, Co. V. Williams, 233 U. S., 685, 699, 704; Chicago S Alton R. R, V. Tranbarger, 238 U. S., 67, 77 ; Tanner v. Little, 240 U. S., 369, 386). This case, however, does not raise any issue as to the possible differences resulting from the difference in emphasis between ** plainly adapted'* and **not plainly unadapted.*' The statute fulfills Marshall's require- ment of appropriate correlation of means to end, judged from the angle of sincere respect for the exercise of leg- islative discretion, and the corresponding restraint that keeps the Supreme Court from exercising its great powers of negation in the field of politics and policies, as dis- tinguished from the narrow ground of immutable prin- ciples which alone the due process clause protects. XXIU First. — From among the alternative means which Con- gress might have adopted for accomplishing these public ends the particular one adopted was reasonable and appropriate. The object of Congress was, as we have shown, to provide for a disastrous deficit between women's labor cost and their labor pay, so as to eliminate grave public evils and also to promote decent standards of life. The possible alternative courses of action which were open to Congress in this situation may be summarized as follows : (1) It could have refrained from action, and sub- mit to the evils as inevitable human misfortunes, subject to no prevention, but only to alleviation through public and private charity. (2) It could have provided a direct subsidy out of the public treasury to pay a wage equal to the necessary cost of living, just as for other reasons of policy govern- ments have granted subsidies to manufacture. (3) It could have adopted the Massachusetts method, which seeks to compel the necessary wage increase through intelligent self-interest and the pressure of pub- lic opinion ; or (4) It could have taken the method it did take, which involved a prohibition of the use of women's labor for less than its cost, except by special license from the Board. There was cumulative testimony, both in the belief of those entitled to express an opinion and in the actual XXIV record of experience, that these evils are not inevitable human misfortunes. Congress was entitled to disprove that lazy gospel of fatalism, as other English-speaking countries, equally jealous of safeguarding ^'liberty" and " property '* and many American States had disproved it. EVom the point of view of effectiveness in accomplish- ing its purposes (which alone is here relevant), the choice of Congress, among the three remedial methods, surely was not ^ * arbitrary ' ' or * * unreasonable. ' * It had the sup- port of a great body of public opinion {Jacohson v. Mass., 197 U. S., 11, 31, 34-5; Muller v. Oregon, 208 U. S., 412, ^20; McLean v. Arkansas, 211 U. S., 539, 548, 549 ; Tanner V. Little, 240 U. S., 369, 385-6), crystallized not only in the expression of thinkers, but in the extensive and success- ful experience of other countries with such legislation (Part Second, pp. 280 et seq.), in the fact of such legis- lation in other States (pp. 179 et seq,)y in the successful working of such legislation {infra, pp. 1 et seq.), and in the voluntary and successful establishment of similar standards by manufacturers {infra, pp. 91 et seq.). In other words Congress rested on the appeal ^*from judg- ment by speculation to judgment by experience" {Tarmer Y. Little, 24.0 U. S., 369, 386). There is now before this Court not only the per- suasive volume of accredited opinion and the experience of other States and countries (not unlike our own either in industrial conditions or legal traditions) vindicating the reasonableness, not to speak of the absence of un- reasonableness, of the Congressional legislation, but also the proved effectiveness of the experience of the District XXV under this Act {infra, pp. 1 et seq.). This is now sought to be upset as beyond the power of Congress in coping with evils which are yielding under the enforcement of this Act. Second. — Therefore, even though this Court might think that some other means would have greater chance of effective- ness, it was open to Congress to try this method unless it was affirmatively prohibited by the Constitution. POINT IV. No rights of plaintifPs secured under the Constitution of the United States prohibit the use of the means so adopted by Congress to accomplish these legitimate public ends. '^The end*' then is ''legitimate" and '* within the scope of the Constitution'' and ''the means" are "ap- propriate and plainly adapted " (and a fortiori not plain- ly unadapted) to that end. The only remaining question is: are these means "prohibited" and do they "consist with the letter and the spirit of the Constitution?" It is not the burden of Congress to demonstrate af- firmatively that the Constitution explicitly authorizes the use of these appropriate means for accomplishing its public ends; rather it is for the plaintiffs to show some explicit withdrawal of that power from it. We have seen that the only alleged obstruction to the power exercised by Congress which calls for discussion is the Due Process Clause in its substantive application: does Congress "de- XXVI prive'' The Children's Hospital or Lyons of '^life, liberty or property without due process of lawf There are two questions to every issue under the Due Process Clause and it will make for clarity if they are kept distinct. (1) Has there been deprivation of ^4ife, liberty or property f (2) If so, what is the justification, i. e., the *'due process '* of the deprivation? On the deprivation question, we assume, for the pur- pose of this discussion, that even the slightest interfer- ence with even the most capricious wish of an individual is a deprivation of ** liberty'' (using the word in an un- qualified sense and not restricting its meaning so as to limit it to a ^ liberty" regulated by '^due process"). In that expansive sense we concede there has been depriva- tion here. So long as there is a deprivation of ^'liberty," it is immaterial whether there is also a deprivation of ** property"; but in so far as unrestrained liberty of business action is to be regarded as also a property right, we likewise as^me even a nominal deprivation of *' prop- erty." The only point, then, for consideration here is whether the deprivation, such as it was, is ^'without due process of law. ' ' The Supreme Court has consistently recognized the futility of attempting an inclusive definition of **due process." But during forty years and more of judicial unfolding, the central ideas that inhere in this constitu- tional safeguard have become manifest. A careful study of the long line of cases involving an interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, (that Amendment rather xxvu than the Fifth has given most material for determination of what is involved in Due Process) beginning with the Slaughter-house Cases (16 Wall., 36), shows two dom- inant ideas conceived to be fundamental principles: (1)1 freedom from arbitrary or wanton interference, and (2)/ protection against spoliation of property. ** Arbitrary,*' '' wanton '^ and *^ spoliation'' are the words which are the motif of the decisions under the Due Process Clause. That is as close as we can get to it; it is close enough, when dealing with the great questions of government. What it means, what all the cases illustrate, is that the Fourteenth Amendment intended to leave the States the free play necessary for effective dealing with the con- stant shift of governmental problems, and not to hamper the States except where it would be obvious to disinter- ested men that the action was arbitrary and wanton and therefore spoliative and unjustified. Of course, exactly the same freedom of action, the same scope for legisla- tion, belongs to Congress when dealing with the Dis- trict.* First.— The so-called "liberties" of which the plaintiffs claim to have been deprived were merely nominal and theo- retical and not asserted bona fide. Therefore it was not "arbi- trary," "wanton" or a "spoliation" for Congress to allow great public interest to prevail over them. To be sure, the ''liberty" protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments leaves a man, within limits, •Wherever the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment, limiting the States to Due Process, is discussed in this Brief, it will be assumed that the same considerations apply as to Congress under the Fifth Amendment. XXVUl to do what he likes and be sole judge of his wishes and interests. But before these rights can be entitled to constitutional protection they must be susceptible of translation into terms of substance and human satisfac- tion and not merely theoretical caprices, unrelated to real action in a finite world. In balancing individual rights against the power of Congress or a State the Constitution is not ** formal rather than vital," and its limitations are not mere ^'mathematical formulas having their essence in their form'' rather than *' organic living institutions trans- planted from English soiP' (Gompers v. United States, 233 U. S., 604, 610). The Supreme Court has avoided the scholasticism which seeks to ** press the broad words of the Fourteenth Amendment to a drily logical extreme'' (Noble State Bank v. Haskell, 219 U. S., 104, 110; see also Interstate Railway Co, v. Massachusetts , 207 U. S., 79, 86-7). Examination of the present records shows that no hona fide claim of any really desired liberty of action is asserted, and it is only the claims that are both asserted and actually involved which can be considered {Chicago B.tf. V. Wellman, 143 U. S., 339, 344; Hatch v. Reardon, 204 U. S., 152 ; Plymouth Coal Co. v. Pennsylvania, 232 U. S., 531, 545; Jeffrey Co. v. Blagg, 235 U. S., 571, 576; Lehon v. Atlanta, 242 U. S., 53). For what is the *' liberty" which these plaintiffs as- sert and show to be really curtailed? It is nothing but the ** liberty" of not being required to get leave of the Board before making contracts below a living wage. XXIX It is true that counsel claims they have been deprived of the actual liberty of making the contract itself, but this is to assume, without any basis whatever in either Eecord, that the Board would have rejected any applica- tions that might have been made. Neither of the plain- tiffs asserts that his case is not within the scope of the license clause (Sec. 13), or that application has been made and refused. {Children's Hospital, R., fol. 14; Lyons, R., fol. 10.) Children's Hospital alleges that **said women em- ployed in said hospital for children, who receive less than $16.50 are incompetent by reason of age, inability or otherwise to earn more" (Children's Hospital, E., fol. 7). Similarly, Lyons makes no allegation that she is not within the class to whom licenses are available under Sec. 13, i. e., those ^^ whose earning capacity has been impaired by age or otherwise.'' In the absence of proof to the contrary, the Court will, of course, assume that the Board will grant an appropriate request (Gundling v. Chicago, 177 U. S., 183, 186; Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission, 336 U. S., 230, 245-6; Lehon v. Atlanta, 242 U. S., 53). Without any showing that applications for licenses would have been fruitless, or were made and denied, plaintiffs are in no position to assert a loss of the right to do what, for all that appears, they might have been permitted to do. But their claim is still more fragile. Children's Hos- pital complains that the Act will necessarily restrict it *^to the employment only of women who are capable of performing labor sufficient to earn said sum of XXX $16.50 per week or more'' {Children's Hospital, R., fol. 8). In other words, the so-called "liberty'' which Children's Hospital claims is merely a "liberty" to employ less- than-$16.50-women for less than $16.50 instead of $16.50- women for $16.50. It may well be that it is to the advan- tage of Children's Hospital to employ the more efficient because that may make for greater stability, less labor turn-over and increased effectiveness, and thereby economy, in the management of the Hospital. Nor must it be lost sight of that Congress necessarily is dealing with the generality of instances ; with business in general, and not with the isolated case of a charitable institution. And the evidence is overwhelming that the minimum wage laws have made for greater stability for business and increased profits. (See Part First, pp. 72-168.) Similarly, the "liberty" which Lyons asserts is ficti- tious, unreal, and against her own interest. She makes the remarkable allegation that $35 a month and two meals a day are "the best wages and compensations for her labor that she is able to receive for any employment of labor that she is capable of performing," (Lyons E. fol. 5.). This carefully framed language avoids any allega- tion that her labor is not worth at least $16.50 or costs her less to produce. Moreover, it is perfectly plain that Lyons presents an "inspired" case, filed not in her own interest but in support of that of The Children's Hos- XXXI pital. The Court will take note of identity of pleadings, identity of counsel in the two suits and the submission of the Lyons case upon the brief submitted in behalf of TCEe Children's Hospital. Palpably, the Court has before it **a friendly suif to overturn an act of Congress. ^'The theory upon which, apparently, this suit was brought is that parties have an appeal from the legislation to the courts; and that the latter are given an immediate and general supervision of the constitutionality of the acts of the former. Such is not true. Whenever, in pursuance of an honest and actual antagonistic assertion of rights by one indi- vidual against another, there is presented a ques- tion involving the validity of any act of any legis- lature, State or Federal, and the decision neces- sarily rests on the competency of the legislature to so enact, the court must, in the exercise of its solemn duties, determine whether the act be constitutional or not ; but such an exercise of power is the ultimate and supreme function of courts. It is legitimate only in the last resort, and as a necessity in the determination of real, earnest and vital controversy between individuals. It never was the thought that, by means of a friendly suit, a party beaten in the legislature could transfer to the courts an inquiry as to the constitutionality of the legislative acf * Of course, in determining whether the *' liberty" as- serted is real, the Court considers the bona fides of the •Apropos of the allegation by Children's Hospital that "less competent employees will be prevented from laboring for this plaintiff" (Children's Hos- pital R. fol. 8) the following observation of the Supreme Court in Holden v. Hardy, 169 U. S. 366, 397, is pertinent: "It may not be improper to suggest in this connection that although the prosecution in this case was against the employer of labor his defence was not so much that his right to contract has been infringed upon, but that the Act works a peculiar hardship to his employees, whose right to labor as long as they please is alleged to be thereby violated. The argument would certainly come with better grace and greater cogency, from the latter class." XXXll claim of which it is advanced. In this particular situa- tion, the Court will not be blind to the fact that the only possible financial advantage, which would accrue from the invalidation of the Act, depends upon the hypothesis that it prevents the employer not merely from getting the labor of one particular woman rather than of an- other, but of getting labor at less than the true value of its products. For it is preposterous to suppose that an employer would really exercise or value, in his actual business operation, the ^ liberty'' which he here claims, namely, a /liberty" to employ an inefficient woman in place of an efficient one, if he proposed to pay in either case what the output is really worth. In short, as a practical proposition it is impossible to escape the conclusion that the *^ liberty" which an employer opposing this Act (and its enactment was urged by the Merchants and Manufacturers ' Association of the District, Part Five, pp. 126-7) really is seeking is a **lib- / erty'' to pay an unfair wage. Nor can it be that Lyons' claim is any more bona fide — for the evident purpose of her case is to support the object of her employer against her own interest. Clearly, therefore, the claims of ** liberty'' urged by the plaintiif s are purely theoretical and fictitious claims ; the * liberties" asserted do not reach the level of those protected by the Constitution. The possible conduct which the Act restrains is conduct which — though they pretend to desire it — would be contrary to their own real interest and one that does not correspond to the real, as opposed to the alleged facts of the situation. XXXlll Second. — The alleged deprivations of property are either merely nominal and not boncn fide like the so-called "liberties," or hypothetical and unsubstantiated; and therefore, were not dealt with arbitrarily or wantonly or as a spoliation. As to "property'' Lyons shows no deprivation what- ever that can be distinguished from her claim in regard to "liberty.'' Therefore, no further special considera- tion of her case is necessary on this point. The Children's Hospital claim is that "to be com- pelled to pay said wage fixed by said Board to all of its said employees would so increase its cost of operation that it could not attempt to conduct its said Hospital within its income." {Children's Hospital E. fol. 9.) Before considering other decisive answers to this claim, let us point out one which disposes of it at the threshold, namely, that the statute itself provides plain- tiff the means of avoiding any property loss by the pro- vision of Section 13 already discussed, in respect to special licenses (Children's Hospital R. fol. 14.) What- ever claim may be urged that this requirement of appli- cation for licenses amounts to a deprivation of "liberty" however fantastically conceived, it certainly cannot be said that it amounts to any deprivation of property." The plaintiff cannot possibly suffer a loss if he applies for and obtains a license. The Act itself safeguards the right for which plaintiff asked this Court gratuitously to strike it down. {Gundling v. Chicago, 111 U. S., 183; Lehon v. Atlanta, 242 U. S., 53). Even if, however, we should, contrary to the facts, XXXIV assume the most generous hypothesis, namely, that a license had been sought and refused, Children's Hospital does not show any deprivation of ** property.'* It does not even attempt to assert that any present loss has occurred. At most, it predicts that it may occur. The claim is purely a guess. Non constat that the operation of the Act may not work to plaintiff's profit. In actual operation, it may make money rather than take money. Only experience can determine. Until an adverse expe- rience is shown, plaintiff is without grievance to nullify the legislation of Congress or state. This Court will not ^ overturn the judgment of Congress on a mere guess, when, in fact, experience may disprove the guess. {Will- cox V. Consolidated Gas Co,, 212 U. S., 19 ; Bes Moines Gas Co, V. Bes Moines , 238 U. S., 153 ; cf . Chicago Rail- way V. Wellman, 143 U. S., 339, 344-6). In the Eighty-cent Gas Case {Willcox v. Consolidated Gas Co., su^ra) for example, the Supreme Court explic- itly made its dismissal of the bill without prejudice to the right of the complainant to return to the Court if ^^the practical experience of the effect of the Acts, by ^ actual operation under them," should *^ prevent the com- plainant from obtaining a fair return." (212 U. S., 19, 54-55). The precedent in the Gas Case was followed in Northern Pacific Railway Co, v. North Bakota, (216 U. S., 579, 580-1). Later, the complainant in that case returned to the Court and laid before it experience which demonstrated in terms of dollars and cents that XXXV the Statute did work a deprivation of property. Then, and not till then, was the State's action nullified. (Same V. Same, 236 U. S., 585.) A great variety of industries in the District, — the printing, publishing and allied industries, the mercantile industry, hotel, restaurant and allied industries, — ^have for some time been carrying on under the operation of the Act. There has thus been an opportunity to test by ex- perience the claim of arbitrariness, of spoliation, which is what a claim of unconstitutionality really means — and it means nothing short of that. Adverse experience has not been and is not disclosed. Mere prophecies of dis- aster will not prevail. The plaintiff's fears can not out- weigh the judgment of Congress. This is the more so, inasmuch as similar prophecies of disaster have been uniformly falsified by the event, wherever the legislation has been tried. (Part First, pp. 136-7.) It cannot be insisted upon too strongly or too often that the plaintiff cannot have **an appeal from the legislature to the courts ; ' ' and that the latter, as Mr. Justice Brewer put it, are not given **an immediate and general supervision of the constitutionality of the Acts of the former." (Chi- cago Railway Co. v. Wellman,14z3 U. S., 339, 345.) Affirm- ative proof must disclose that the operation of the Act assailed puts the plaintiff to loss, i, e., measurable diminu- tion of his wealth. Of course, the Court is not required to sustain an Act, if without waiting for experience, it is patent that the result must certainly spell property loss to the plain- y XXXTl tiff. That follows from the Court's equity powers to prevent irreparable injury. To make such a case, how- ever, the imminence of the injury must be something more than a mere guess, something more than a mere partisan claim of a litigant in a situation which involves so **many elements of uncertainty in the calculation.'' (Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. North Dakota, 216 IJ. S., 579, 580-1, supra). The imminence of the injur}' must be demonstrable as an unavoidable result of the operation of the Act. The attitude to be observed towards a hypothetical claim of harm towards a speculative assertion of uncon- stitutionality has thus been indicated by the Supreme Court {Chicago Railway v. Wellman, 143 U. S., 339, supra) : ^*The silence of the record gives us no informa- tion, and we have no knowledge outside thereof, and no suspicion of wrong. Our suggestion only indicates how easily courts may be misled into doing grievous wrong to the public and hoiv careful they should be not to declare legislative acts uncontitu- tional upon agreed and general statements, and without the fullest disclosure of all material facts.** (p. 346.) (Italics Ours.) The present record wholly fails to show any actual existing loss. The plaintiff merely dolefully predicts loss, and the prediction is based upon a construction of the Act which it does not bear, or upon a gloomy theory of industrial economics which all available experience disproves. The claim of Children's Hospital, quoted above XXXVll alleges, its inability to conduct the Hospital within its in- come ^^ along the lines the same as now conducted'^ {Chil- dren's Hospital, R. fols. 7, 8) if it **be compelled to pay the said wage fixed by said Board to all of its said em- ployees.'' But the Act imposes no such compulsion; it does not require the Hospital to increase the wages of these particular women. As we have seen, it only forbids continued employment at less than the fixed minimum without leave of the Board, the granting of which, upon appropriate request, this Court will presume in absence of a showing to the contrary. {Gundling v. Chicago, 111 U. S., 183, 186, supra; Mutual Film Corporation v. In- dustrial Commission, 236 U. S., 230, 245-6 supra.) If the terms of the Act had prevented employers from getting employees on a self-supporting basis, or if the complaint had alleged that it is impossible to find such a supply, we might then have had a case at least of certain deprivation of property in the future, the loss of which equity could forestall in a proper case. There are two short answers to such a claim. In the first place, the Act in no wise imposes such a restriction, and in the second place, Children's Hospital in no wise alleges that its property will be so affected. The reason it makes no such allegation is that it would thereby call into question the basic assumption of the social structure. For, in effect, it would be tantamount to saying that labor cannot earn its cost, — which means that society can- not be self-supporting, even if human energy is ade- quately employed and properly directed to productive ends. / XXXVlll Third. — It is not arbitrary, wanton, or spoliative for Con- gress to require employers to pay the cost of human labor. Plaintiff's theory is something like this: For the sake of conserving the health and morals of women workers, and thereby the next generation, Con- gress wishes them to have more money. In order to pro- vide this, Congress forbids an employer to employ a woman worker unless he gives her this additional money. Inasmuch as (according to his theory) there is no rela- tion between himself and her need of this additional money, his ** liberty *' is being limited by purely arbitrary conditions, just as if Congress should require this, say, of John D. Rockefeller, who is not her employer, nor con- cerned with her in any way. This line of thought per- vades the entire argument of the plaintiffs. T}ie short answer to this central claim of plaintiffs is that her employer employs the woman and no other per- son does. He alone has the use of working energy, to produce which a cost of not less than $16,50 per iveek is essential. From this vital difference of relationship, inherent in his peculiar status as her employer, follow the vital con- sequences which differentiate him from any other citizen, and furnish the justification for the impositions of her minimum living cost upon him, as distinguished from any other person. It is the employer, and the employer alone, who re- ceives the benefit of the woman's working energy, which cannot be produced or maintained by less than $16.50 per week. That is the minimum cost of her labor. It pro- XXXIX vides only for such quantity of food as will preserve her working energy and for such shelter and clothing and^ maintenance as will save it from destruction or impair- ment. This fact is not disputed by the plaintiffs and has been authoritatively and conclusively determined by overwhelming evidence (See Part Two of Stettler Brief, pp. 356-383, submitted herewith). If the status were that of slave owner and slave, in- stead of employer and employee, the owner would have to expend at least this much to keep the slave in fit condition - for her work; or if we look upon a human worker in a factory as a mere piece of physical machinery, this weekly sum would represent the minimum actual cost- of the coal and repairs it would require for its operation. The significance of this is that the expenditure by some- one of every penny of this whole sum of $16.50 upon an employee goes to the operation of the industry and mere-' ly provides for the cost of that operation. It goes to the maintenance of the energy purchased by the employer and devoted to the industry. Suppose this minimum wage even allows a pitiably small balance for civilized demands of the human person- ality over and above the absolute necessities of preserv- ing the working energy in its mere animal aspect. The' human being is not mere animal. How is it possible to say, as the employer says, that there is no relation between his industry, which uses all the working energy of the worker's life, and the necessary cost of keeping that life at work? How is it possible to say, as the employer says, that it is *^ arbitrary," ** wanton*' or ^ ^^spoliative" for Congress to require him to pay the cost of any articles (above all of human beings who in the aggregate make up the State itself) if he chooses to use it? Congress does not compel him to use it ; all that it says to him is that if he chooses to take its benefit he must pay at least its cost. Even thus limited in its re- quirement Congress is not rigid. It has made provisions for variations from the normal, it allows for the diver- sities among women, and so it grants the employer the right to use labor even at less than its cost, if he can show to the Board a reasonable justification for the issue of a special license. To legislatures faced with such problems as have confronted Congress and the legislatures of more than a dozen States the claim that they cannot constitutionally compel a man to pay at least the bare cost of what he uses must seem a long departure from the practical com- mon-sense by which alone human relations can be efii- ciently adjusted. Fourth. — The action of Congress was not arbitrary, wan- ton or spoliative because the direct interest of the District in these particular wage contracts gave it a special justifica- tion for controlling them. A contract in which a mere living wage for women workers is at stake is not merely the private concern of the employer and the employee, but a tripartite affair involving (1) employer, (2) employees and (3) the pub- lic. If the employer and the employee were completely isolated from all reliance upon the outside public no bar- xli gain for emploj^ment at less than a living wage would be possible, because the deficit between the propused payment for the labor and the cost of its production and maintenance could not be supplied. Without assistance -^ from the public in some form or other no employer could obtain labor below cost nor could any employee give it. In other words, a contract for labor below its cost must — inevitably rely upon a subsidy from outside. To the ex- tent of this subsidy the public is necessarily concerned ; thereby the public is drawn into the situation; it is not an intermeddler. This may become still clearer if we frame the implicit terms of the negotiation which the employer demands the unconditional right to make with employees. Employer : I am to pay to you and you are to receive from me $35.00 a month (and board). You are to give to me and I am to receive from you all your working energy. Employee : But, sir, this working energy, of which you are to receive the total, costs at the ver>' least $16.50 a week. How are we to get the balance ? Employer : We can get it in either of three ways : (1) members of your family engaged in other industries will supply / it rather than see you starve, or (2) you can get it from a ''friend,^' or (3) you can get it from public or private charity. This is a plain case of relying upon a public subsidy for a private interest, and a State or Congress, acting for the District, has, therefore, a special right to impose y conditions upon which the industry or the employee may xlii enjoy the subsidy or even to refuse it absolutely. Con- gress does not refuse it, but merely imposes conditions upon the grant. It demands to be shown that the subsidy is just and necessary to the satisfaction of a Board acting for the people of the District. Employer has no more Constitutional right to insist upon this grant in aid of his business than a man who undertook to raise bananas in Connecticut would have to demand, as of right, a pub- lic subsidy by way of a tariff. Nor has the employee any absolute **righf to give her energies to the employer if she cannot keep her side of the bargain without public subsidy, or her physical or moral impairment. If her output really is worth the cost of her labor, then surely she can have no claim for public assistance. If her output is not worth its cost because of her ineffi- ciency, such inefficiency usually means that she has not been trained to the best use of her capacities. Surely a State or Congress may induce such training, stimulate efficiency on the part both of employer and employee, and thereby add to the wealth of the community. Experience demonstrates that in fact such efficiency is powerfully stimulated and productivity enhanced by establishing a minimum wage. (Part First, pp. 72-90.) If the worker cannot be trained to yield an output that does pay the cost of her labor, then she can either avail herself of the license conditions imposed by the statute for such cases, or accept the status of a defective to be segregated for special treatment as a dependent. The State or Congress may determine how defectives shall be supported, and not be compelled to grant an indirect xliii subsidy. One of the most baffling problems of the mod- ern State is the treatment of those who are incapable of carrying their own weight. The first step in the solulidn is to know who is self-supporting and who is dependent. Congress, therefore, may use means, like the present Act, of sorting the normal self-supporting workers from the unemployable s and then deal with the latter appropriate- ly as a special class, instead of permitting an indiscrim- inate, unscientific lumping of all workers, with a resulting unscientific confusion of standards. Fifth. — It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for Con- gress to require the employer to obtain a license from the Board before he can buy labor at less than cost, because that is a reasonable means of preventing cut-throat and unfair competition between manufacturers. If Congress could have been assured that wage con- tracts involving purchase and sale of labor will not be made in any substantial number of cases for less than cost, then Congress could feel that its requirement of prior scrutiny by the Board is unnecessary, because if all wage contracts were for the fair value of the produce they would not affect competitive conditions. Expe- rience, however, proved that Congress could not safely rely on such a hypothesis, and that legislation, there- fore, may fill the gaps caused by the ignorance or helplessness of laborers and the ignorance or avarice of employers. As against competing employers who ac- cept the dominant standard of dealing towards their employees, and who have a more enlightened view of the ^ xliv far-reaching consequences of wages below the human minimum upon industry, public health, living standards, etc., the unscrupulous and narrow-minded employer may obtain at least a temporary advantage by getting labor at less than its cost. Such an employer takes advantage of a situation so as to draw upon a public subsidy as a fund which enables him to undersell competitors. In reply to all this, plaintiff asserts an unrestricted '* freedom of contract,'* based on a theoretic equality of all who enter into contracts, whatever the actual condi- tions of life may be and however much the facts may disprove such equality and deny real freedom. Women to him are men; and to the indisputable testimony of the actual conditions that confront women workers, and to the proved handicaps under which they are needlessly suffering, Congress must turn a deaf ear because these facts falsify a theory — the theory of abstract equality and of a non-existent ** freedom" of choice to work or not to work iinder the tenns imposed by the minority of exploiting or ignorant employers. The plaintiff would avert what Huxley called the tragedy of a fact killing a theory, by putting Constitutional sanction behind a cherished dogma. For plaintiff's position %s nothing more than insist- ence upon a discredited doctrine. In effect, he asserts not merely hiy individual belief in the doctrine of philo- sophic anarchy, L e., that action cannct he compelled by legislation, but he is asking this court to say that such a doctrine of philosophic anarchy is incorporated in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. xlv Surely it is much too late to yield to such a doctrine. From the very beginning of the subjection of anarchy to law, step by step, legislation has restricted the field -of unregulated competition by prohibitions enforced tlirough a great variety of remedies. It has not left right standards to prevail solely through their inherent rea- sonableness or through enlightened self-interest. The Chief Justice broadly stated the course of this evolution in Standard Oil Co, v. United States, 221 U. S., 1. *^It will be found that as modem conditions arose the trend of legislation and judicial decision came more and more to adapt the reco.gnized restrictions to new manifestations of conduct or of dealing which it was thought justified the inference of intent to do the wrongs which it had been the purpose to prevent from the beginning.'* (p. 57.) ^^It is equally true to say that the survey of the legislation in this country on this subject from the beginning will show, depending as it did upon the economic conceptions which obtained at the time when the legislation was adopted or judicial decision was rendered, that contracts or acts were at one time deemed to be of such a character as to justify the inference of wrongful intent which were at another period thought not to be of that character. But this again, as we have seen, simply followed the line of development of the law of England." (p. 58.) Throughout this whole course the State has been put- ting its power more and more on the side of what the prevailing opinion of the time conceives to be right deal- ing. In the very fact of the prevalence of opinion is found its reasonableness. The assertion by the State of this power is the history xlvi of legislation since the time of Edward I. It is impossi- ble for the State to remain neutral in a contest between men who desire to deal fairly and those who desire to deal unfairly; the State must choose between encourag- ing unfair conduct by keeping hands off or discouraging it by insisting upon fair play. There is a substantial mass of legislative recognition both of the illegality of unfair competition in general and of selling below cost, in particular, e. g., The Federal Trade Commission Act; The Clayton Act (Sees. 2 and 3) ; The Interstate Commerce Act (Sec. 29) ; State stat- utes prohibiting price cutting and selling below cost or fair market value collected in the report issued by the Bureau of Corporations in March, 1915, entitled '* Trust Laws and Unfair Competition," showing that the following States have adopted such laws: Idaho, Nebraska, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Ten- nessee, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina; and general laws covering Oklahoma and Wisconsin, (pp. 192 et seq.) The same report shows that this legislation accords with the opinion of economists (pp. 306 et seq.) and foreign legislation (pp. 528 et seq.). That such legislation is constitutionally founded, was held in ^Central Lumber Company v. South Dakota, 226 U.S., 157: **It might have been argued to the legislature with more force than it can be to us that recoupment in one place of losses in another is merely an instance of financial ability to compete. If the legislature thought that that particular manifestation of ability usually came from great corporations, whose power xlvii it deemed excessive and for the reason did more harm than good in their State, and that there was no other case of frequent occurrence where the same could be said, we cannot review their economies or their facts.'' (p. 161.) Sixth.— It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for Con- gress to require the consent of the Board before allowing an employee to sell labor below cost, because that is a reasonable means for preventing unfair competition between employees. Similar considerations apply to competition between employees, because an employee who sells her labor for less than its cost, availing herself of outside subsidies, is- unfairly competing against other seekers for similar em- ployment. Congress might even have prohibited such contracts altogether even in cases where the product was not really worth the cost, because of the effect that such bargains have in dragging down the general standard^ and encouraging wider and unnecessary dependence upon the subsidies. Congress, however, did not go to that extreme. It only required that contracts which endangered general standards in this manner must first be approved by the Board. The underlying principle is the same as that which eliminates prison labor from competition against free labor, and prevents the output of State and charita- ble institutions to compete without control against self- supporting business. The essential purpose of the Act is to compel employ- ers to pay the living cost to all their employees whose product is worth it, and thereby correspondingly protect the efficient against a ruinous competition. xlviii Seventh. — It is net arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for Congress to require the consent of the Board before allowing a wage contract at below cost, because of the actual inherent inequality of bargaining power between the parties. The analysis of the present industrial structure has thus been authoritatively set forth in the report of the Secretary of Labor for 1916: **The experience of the department in mediation service during the three years of its existence is so far confirmatory of the suggestions with reference to collective bargaining that were made in my first annual report and reiterated in the second as to call for their requotation here. *^ Premising in those reports that the Department of Labor, as an executive department devoted to the just interests of wage earners, had been established as one of the results of general industrial progress, I continued: 'Owing to well-known developments in production, the relation of employer and wage earner is no longer personal or individual. Theirs is now usually a relationship between groups of em- ployers (5n one side (such as corporation stockhold- ers) and groups of their respective workmen on the other. Employers act collectively through their own chosen agents — corporation managers, factory or mine superintendents or foremen, labor brokers, or the like — who in hiring laborers represent collective financial interests. It is obvious that this method of employment, generally necessary for success in modem industiy, may give to employers great con- tractual advantages over wage earners. Unless wage earners also act collectively through their own agents in hiring, wage earners are often averse to dealing with the agents of wage earners who collec- tively offer their services. They desire to contract with wage earners individually.* ** Those observations have now been tested and xlix found true by the efficient body of commissioners of conciliation who have represented the department in its mediation service. '^ Large employers are usually incorporated com- panies, with many stockholders of diversified indus- trial connections and with boards of directors having intercorporate affiliations. Often they are fortified with public franchises or other special privileges, and their superintendents and foremen — with whom alone wage earners have personal relations — are naturally sensitive to the industrial powers back of them. An individual wage worker is weak indeed as a bargainer with such employers. He must take what they offer or go without employment; and go- ing long without employment means to the wage- worker what hopeless bankruptcy means to the busi- ness man, except that it is immeasurably worse. *^We have but to visualize familiar facts in order to see what individual bargaining by wageworkers for employment really is; we may thus see it as wageworkers not only see it, but as they so often harshly feel it. Consider the picture. A solitary wageworker faces a foreman whom he asks for work to do. Back of him a shadowy mass of individual bargainers eager for the job. Fronting him the foreman upon whose word his livelihood depends. Over the foreman a superintendent whom the fore- man must satisfy. Eising above both, rank upon rank, managers, directors, stockholders, all to be satisfied by superintendents and foreman, and each rank subservient to the rank above it. The inter- ests of all but the solitary bargainer for a job are knitted together into collective self-interest which instinctively dictates for wages the least that the labor market will allow — a market trnse with com- petition for work but slack in competition for work- ers. Even this is not all. For that collective int'^rest is permeated with similar ones through in- terlocked directorates and interlaced stockholding, vitalized it may be with gentlemen's agreements and 1 by business coercion or fear of it. At tlie outer edge of all a lone wageworker bargains for work; bar- gains in a glutted labor market; bargains individ- ually ! "Before those gigantic collectivities of employ- ing interests a wageworker bargaining individually for work is as impotent and negligible as a medieval peasant kneeling before the council of a king. Only if employment opportunities were unlimited could wage earners bargain individually with employment interests so unified. But, in reality, employment op- portunities are limited — very narrowly, limited. The fact may be abnormal, but fact it is, that although the need for labor products is constantly in excess of their supply, yet opportunities for producing them are somehow so few that work is seldom plen- tiful. Never, one may fairly say, is opportunity for work so far in excess of persons needing work as to give them more than a very slight and very temporary advantage in bargaining, or even to place them for long on an even footing. While this unbal- anced condition lasts the interests of wholesome social life demand that wage earners be freely con- ceded the right, in bargaining for employment, to do so collectively.'' (pp. 47-49.) This analysis has the support practically of every competent student of economics and industry. It is applic- able to women workers with intensified force. It is idle to cite authorities. Quotation could be piled on quotation. It is all based on the application of the conviction that / liberty of action implies choice, and, therefore, substan- tial freedom of contract presupposes equality of bargain- ing power. It is recognized in the great existing organ- izations of employers and employees, in the whole move- ment of collective bargaining, and in various aspects and to various degrees it is the starting point of the great li volume of modern legislation all the way from the usury statutes to Brazee v. Michigan, 241 U. S., 340, upholding a statute designed to prevent employment agencies Trdin exploiting unemployed (see e. g.. Labor Legislation of 1915, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 186). This was one of the principal grounds of the State Courts in sustaining this legislation. *'The legislature has evidently concluded that these conditions [excessive hours and excessively low wages and the necessity of protecting some classes in some employments ^from the same condi- tions for which royal proclamation was found neces- sary' in older times] prevail even in Oregon; that there are many women employed at inadequate wages ; the employment not secured hy the agreement of the worker at satisfactory compensation, hut at wages dictated hy the employer. The worker in such a case has no voice in fixing the hours or wages, hut must accept it or fare worse/' (Stettler v. O'Hara, 67 Or., 519, 537, italics ours.) *' There is a notion, quite general, that women in the trades are underpaid, that they are not paid so well as men are paid for the same service, and that in fact in many cases the pay they receive for work- ing during all the working hours of the day is not enough to meet the cost of reasonable living. Public investigations by publicly appointed commissions have resulted in findings to the above effect. Start- ing with such facts, there is opinion, more or less widespread, that these conditions are dangerous to the morals of the workers and to the health of the workers and of future generations as well. It is a strife for employer and employee to secure proper economic adjustment of their relations so that each shall receive a just share of the profits of \A lii their joint effort. In this economic strife, women as a class, are not on an equality with men. Investi- gating bodies, both of men and of women, taking all these facts into account, have urged legislation de- signed to assure to women an adequate working wage. The legislatures of 11 states have passed laws having the same purpose as the one here as- sailed. It is not a question of what we may ourselves think of the policy or the justification of such legis- lation. The question is, is there any reasonable basis for legislative belief that the conditions mentioned exist, that legislation is necessary to remedy them, and that laws looking to that end promote the health, peace, morals, education or good order of the people and are ^greatly and immediately necessary to the public welfare?^ If there is reasonable basis for such legislative belief, then the determination of the propriety of such legislation is a legislative problem to be solved by the exercise of legislative judgment and discretion. Holden v. Hardy, 169 U. S., 366, 398, 18 Sup. Ct., 383, 42 L. ed., 780. ' ' ( Williams v. Evams, 139 Minn., 32, 40-1, italics ours.) The line of cases upholding State statutes which limit freedom of contract with women in various ways, rest, in part, upon realization of the fact that the mass of women employees cannot be expected to bargain on an equality with employers {Midler v. Oregon, 208 U. S., 412; Riley v. Massachusetts, 232 U. S., 671; Uawley v. Walker, 232 U. S., 718; Miller v. Wilson, 236 U. S., 373, 380-1; Bosley v. McLaughlin, 236 U. S., 385). The largest opportunity for the fullest development of human faculties has undoubtedly been one of the basic considerations of Anglo-American institutions. To the extent that such development touches fundamentals, this 1111 political principle is incorporated in the protection of due process (see Butler v. Perry, 240 U. S., 328, 333). But just because the largest opportunities for development of men 's faculties imply choice and freedom, the common law in both phases of its legal functions, namely, through^ adjudication and legislation, has thrown its weight in favor of the necessitous. The principle has been briefly and comprehensively expressed by Lord Chancel- lor Nothington when he said that *^ necessitous men are not, truly speaking, free men/' (Vernon v. Bethell, 2 Eden, 110, 113). The ''liberty of contract" which the present legisla- tion would destroy is only the ''liberty" of an employer to abuse and the "liberty" of an employee to be abused. True freedom of contract is established, rather than im- paired, by such restrictions. Their very purpose is to assure the parties an equal basis for bargaining, so that they may be free to bargain on the merits, and not under the compulsion of a crippling necessity. With no margin or the margin of but a single meal between starvation there can be no true "liberty" of contract. Eighth. — It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for Congress to require the consent of the Board before allowing wage contracts at below cost, because that is a reasonable exercise of the "police power" to minimize danger of unfair and oppressive contracts. We have seen above that the only satisfactory ex- planation of the employer's interest is on the hypothesis that he wishes to get labor at less than the cost of the Uv hmnan energy which produces the product. It also ap- pears that 58 per cent of women workers examined out of 2209, are receiving less than their cost even though they are experienced adult workers. Is not the likelihood of unfair contracts thus shown (and inherent in the very proposition that such human labor cannot produce its cost) sufficient to justify Con- gress in requiring prior consent of the Board before they may be made ? There are many cases, of course, in which the legisla- tive power to prevent unfair or oppressive contracts is upheld. For example: it is constitutional to protect people from exploitation by lotteries {Lottery Cases, 188 U. S., 321), bulk sales (Lemieux v. Young, 211 U. S., 489), mar- ginal dealing in stocks (Otis v. Parker, 187 U. S., 606), trading stamps (Rast v. Van Deman, 240 U. S., 342), imi- tation of butter (Hammond Co. v. Montana, 233 U. S., 331), small "bread loaves (Schmidinger v. Chicago, 226 U. S., 579), sales of lard in bulk (Armour v. N, Dale, 240 U. S., 510). All of these are instances in which unrestricted *' de- mand and supply'' has been validly limited by legislation in the interest of fair and ethical dealing. Ninth. — It is not arbitrary, wanton or spoliative for the state to require the consent of the Board before allowing wage contracts at below cost, because that is a reasonable exercise of power to foster the productivity of industry. The very preservation of the State and its citizens Iv depends upon tlie efficiency of its industries to carry the cost of living. That is the primary function of industry. No industry which fails to supply even the bare minimum living requirements of its own workers can possibly be sound. Such an industry instead of aiding in the work of supporting life can be only a burden upon it by pre- cisely the amount of subsidy which it drains from other industries. The fundamental policy represented by this Act is the prevention of taxation upon sound industries for the artificial support of unsound ones, and the correlative direction of the energies of the State into lines which can be truly productive. The aim it encourages is to make industries self-supporting. The Great War, and the consequent legislation in all the Allied countries, as well as of our own, emphasize, but were not required to reveal, that the strength and the safety of the Nation rests on man-power. For this the development and the directed organization of the working forces of the community are indispensable. From this aspect this Act is merely a necessary effort in requiring industry to provide, as a very minimum, the living necessities of the workers that either are the younger workers of this generation or the mothers of the next. In truth this is a measure of conservation and preser- vation of the human resources of the State, which is of even deeper and more primary importance to human self- . preservation than the conservation of the natural re- sources. And so its constitutionality follows, a fortiori, Ivi from the line of cases which support statutes passed for the preservation and effective utilization of the natural resources. Hudson Water Co. v. MoCarter, 209 U. S., 349 (sus- taining New Jersey statute preventing diversion of State waters). Mount Vernon Cotton Co. v. Alabama Power Co., 240 U. S., 30 (sustaining Alabama statute conferring the power of eminent domain to private users of water power). ^ ' To gather the streams from waste and to draw from them energy, labor without brains, and so to save mankind from toil that it can be spared, is to supply what, next to intellect, is the very founda- tion of all our achievements and all our welfare. If that purpose is not public we should be at a loss to say what is" (p. 32). Pacific Live Stock Co. v. Oregon Water Boards 241' U. S., 440 (sustaining Oregon statute regulating rela- tive rights of claimants to water, and imposing the expense.^f the administrative ascertainment on the parties). Walls V. Midland Carbon Co., 254 U. S. (sustaining Wyoming statute restricting wasteful use of natural gas.) That industrial preparedness lies at the very root of national preparedness has been seared, one hopes, into the consciousness of the Nation, by the experience and the sacrifices of the war. Industrial resources mean, of course, men and money: the physical resources, which are the industrial plants of the country, and the human Ivii resources constituting the managers and the millions of workers. To discharge the responsibility which each State has for the competence of its quota of workers^the various States have laid down minimum standards, which Congress has followed in this Act. Even if the Act had gone beyond the mere protective necessity into the realm of affirmative public welfare, it would still have been constitutional within the principle broadly laid down in Bacon v. Walker, 204 TJ. S., 311 : **That power [the police power] is not confined, as we have said, to the suppression of what is offen- sive, disorderly or unsanitary. It extends to so deal- ing with the conditions which exist in the State as to bring out of them the greatest welfare of its people *' (p. 318). Industry under modem conditions has come to be one of the most important fields in which the interrelation of human beings requires supervision and control by the State. To-day the center of gravity of the State is in- dustry, just as in feudal days it was land. The common law met the demands of the feudal period by working out the incidence of feudal tenure as a body of reciprocal rights and duties between lord and man flowing from the relationship of tenure. In fact, the conception of rights and liabilities as dependent on relationship rather than assumed by contracts {i. e., the unregulated desire of in- dividuals) is at the very center of the whole common law system. All that is necessary is to recognize these true common law principles, to recognize the common law Iviii concept of relation, and to make the detailed application in the change from an agricultural to an industrial so- ciety. This harmonizes modern decisions and legislation, and makes them consistent with a true conception of our inherited common law. (See Dean Pound's ^^The End of Law as Developed in Juristic Thought,'' in 30 Harv. L. Rev., 201, 212 ff.; Edward A. Adler, ^^ Business Juris- prudence," 28 Harv. L. Rev., 135; Capital, Labor and Business at Common Law, 29 Harv. L. Rev., 241.) The adjustment of relations under the feudal system required a most elaborate regulation of real property tenure and transfer. The law was flexible enough to meet that requirement and express it in a great body of rules (ease-made and statute made) which constitutes the law of real property. This ability of the community to modify the legal rules which represented prior community standards must still remain for the purpose of making similar changes, pari passu, with further evolution of such standards. No one could have thought that such changes were arbitrary, wanton or spoliative, that is, other than due process of law. It is of the very essence of the common law sys- tem — including the minor judicial and the major legisla- tive modifications — to regard the law-making energies of the State as progressive activities to meet needed changes. **It is more consonant to the true philosophy of our historical legal institutions to say that the spirit of personal liberty and individual right which they embodied was preserved and developed by progres- lix sive growth and wise adaptation to new circum- stances and situations of the forms and processes found fit to give, from time to time, new expression and greater effect to modem ideas of self-govern- ment. ^^This flexibility and capacity for growth and adaptation is the peculiar boast and excellence of the common law ''The Constitution of the United States was or- dained it is true by descendants of Englishmen, who inherited the traditions of English law and history; but it was made for an undefined and expanding fu- ture, and for a people gathered and to be gathered from many nations and of many tongues ' ' There is nothing in Magna Charta, rightly con- strued as a broad charter of public right and law, which ought to exclude the best ideas of all systems and of every age; and as it was the characteristic principle of the common law to draw its inspiration from every fountain of justice, we are not to assume that the sources of its supply have been exhausted. On the contrary, we should expect that the new and various experiences of our own situation and system will mold and shape it into new and not less useful form.*' {Hurtado v. California, 110 U. S., 516, 530- 1; see also Holden v. Hardy, 169 U. S., 366, 385-387.) We are here dealing with an exercise of the same public power as that of the common law regarding land tenure. With its exercise in the past we are familiar ; its unsettled application to the needs of a changing present gives an illusion of novelty to the new exercise of an old power. This novelty must not be allowed to deceive ; the unfamiliar must not now, any more than in the past, be denied as ** unconstitutional. " New circumstances call for new effort, and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amend- ments have left unimpeded the power of conscientions statesmanship to grapple with new difficulties. Respectfully submitted, Felix Fkankfurter, Of Counsel for the Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia. February, 1921. PART FIRST. THE SUCCESSFUL WOEKING OF MINIMUM WAGE LEGISLATION. 1. The Low End of the Wage Scale is Lifted to the Level of the Cost of Living. Minimum wage legislation has raised the wages of the workers at the bottom of the wage scale. The level attained varies from state to state according to the deter- mination of each wage board or commission upon the facts and after hearing as to the necessary cost of living sufficient to maintain the worker in health. The evidence is presented by states under the follow- ing headings: (1) Minimum Wage Orders. (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Decreed. (3) Reinvestigations for Compliance with Minimum Decreed. District of Columbia. (1) Minimum Wage Orders.* [Summarized.] No. 2. Printing, Publishing and Allied Industries. Effective August 13, 1919. Experienced females, $15.50. Learners : 3 months at $8, 3 months at $9, 3 months at $11, 3 months at $12. No. 3. Mercantile Industry. Effective October 28, 1919. Experienced adults, $16.50. Learners: 3 months at $12.50, 4 months at $14.50. Minors (under 18) : 4 months at $10, 4 months at $11.50, 4 months at $13, 6 months at $14.50, thereafter $16. No. 4. Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries. Effective May 26, 1920. Any female, 341/2 cents per hour, $16.50 per week, or $71.50 per month. Deductions permitted : for bona fide meals, 30 cents, for lodging $2 per week. (Tips are not legal wages.) (Nurses in train- ing are not included.) ♦The Laundry Conference recommended, Dec. 9, 1920, $15. Learners, 2 mos. at $9, 2 mos. at $11, 2 mos. at $13. (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Wages Decreed. Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia. A Study of the Work and Wages of Women in Print- ing ^ Publishing and Allied Trades in the District of Coluwibia. January, 1919. There were approximately 45 commercial and 5 non- commercial printing, publishing, bookbinding, engraving, lithographing, multigraphing and duplicating firms in the District of Columbia employing women during the month of January, 1919. (Page 1.) Wages of 318 Women Employed in 36 Job Printing and Publishing Plants in the District of Columbia Official Rate (Cumulative) Earnings (Cumulative) Minimum Wage Based on the Cost of No. Percent. No. Percent. Liying* L«B8than $ 6 24 96 195 218 282 36 7.6 30.2 61.3 68.6 88.7 11.3 42 89 150 219 247 281 37 13.2 28 47.2 69 77.7 88.4 11.6 Le68 than $ 9 Less than $11 Less than $13 $15.50 I^ess than $15 Aug. 13, 1919 Less than $16 $16 and over j". Total 318 318 This disparity between rates and earnings was due in some cases to bad time-keeping on the part of the workers, in other cases to sickness, and in still others to irregularity of employment. (Page 2.) Ordinarily the printing trade is seasonal in character, but during the past year almost all plants were running at more than full capacity. There was work for all who were willing to take the wages offered. The difference between rates and earnings, therefore, was largely due to illness or bad time-keeping. In either case it is worthy of study. In so far as illness is due to lack of nourishment or proper cloth ins: and shelter, an ♦See Ordei' No. 2, June 13, 1919, for additional rntes for learners. adequate living wage would reduce this factor of irregu- larity in attendance and make for greater efficiency. Bad time-keeping has often been traced to inefficiency in man- agement and to low wages. The wage data in possession of the Board are insufficient to draw conclusions there- from as to the correlation between low wages and irregu- larity of employment. (Page 3.) Wages of Women and Minors in the Mercantile Industry in the District of Columbia. Monthly Labor Re- view of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. June, 1919. Number and Cumulative Per Cent of 4609 Women Em- ployees in 109 Mercantile Establishments Eeceiv- ing Each Classified Weekly Bate or Under, by Kind of Establishment. No. Inves- tigated Percent, of Women with Rates of— Official Minimum Kind of Establishment $8 and under and under $10 and under $11 and under $12 and under and under $14 and under $15 and under $16 and over Wage Based on the Cost of Living* Department stores 5, 10 and 15 cent stores. Millinery stores Dry goods stores Ladies' specialty stores . 3,190 254 67 24 631 73 370 12.2 7.9 7.5 ■ 3.5 17.0 21.7 7.5 ' "s.V 31.7 50.4 14.9 29.2 13.8 1.4 14.3 33.9 58.3 16.4 45.8 15.5 2.7 15.4 58.2 81.1 23.9 62.5 28.8 5.5 27.0 61.1 82.7 23.9 62.5 32.2 5.5 28.6 67.8 85.8 26.9 66.7 36.9 8.2 34.6 79.6 94.1 49.3 87.5 59.9 31.5 20.4 5.9 50.7 12.5 40.1 68.5 $16.50 Oct. 28, 1919 Miscellaneous stores. . . 4.1 7.0 51.6 48.4 Total 4,609 9.8 14.7 28.2 30.6 51.6 54.3 60.4 74.3 "i^l A comparison of the wage rates (compiled from Ta- bles 2 and 3) (Pages 193-4) brings out some interesting facts. In 5, 10, and 15 cent stores 81.1 per cent of the women employed had a weekly rate of $12 and under and only 5.9 per cent a rate of $16 or over. In department stores 58.2 per cent had rates of $12 and under and 20.4 per cent rates of $16 or over. In contrast 40.1 per cent of the women employed by the ladies' specialty stores *See Order No, 3, August 29, 1919, and Supplement to Order No. 3, October 14, 1919. for additional rates set for apprentices and minors. were receiving $16 or over per week and 63.1 per cent were receiving $15 or over. In the millinery establish- ments one-half of the woman employees received $16 and over per week and almost 75 per cent $15 and over. The seasonal character of the millinery trade must, however, be considered in connection with these wage figures. No woman employed in fruit and grocery stores received less than $10 per week and 68.5 per cent received $16 and over. In miscellaneous establishments almost 50 per cent of the women had rates of $16 or over. These rates in fruit and grocery and miscellaneous stores were due in large measure to the preponderance of office employees, a more highly paid group of workers. (Page 194.) Number and Cumulative Per Cent of Woman Employees in 109 Mercantile Establishments Receiving Each Classified Weekly Rate or Under, by Occupation. No. Inves- tigated Percent, of Women with Rates of Ofiicial Minimum Occupation $8 and under $9 and under $10 and under and under $12 and under and under $14 and under $15 and under $16 and over Wages Based on the Cost of Living* Saleswomen Office employees Alteration workroom employees Millinery workroom employees Miscellaneous employ- ees — white Miscellaneous employ- ees—colored 2,471 ■ 810 346 85 481 416 2,3 1.5 9.4 31.2 53.8 6.6 2.2 1.4 10.6 38.3 71.6 22.9 9.4 8.1 15.3 57.0 82.2 25.3 10.6 9.0 18.8 61.1 85.8 52.2 26.8 29.8 29.4 72.6 95.0 54.6 30.7 33.5 30.6 74.0 97.6 61.0 38.6 42.5 31.8 78.4 99.0 74.6 54.3 73.1 58.8 87.5 99.8 25.4 45.7 26.9 41.2 12.5 .2 $16.50 Oct. 28, 1919 Total 4,609 9.8 14.7 28.2 30.6 51.6 54.3 60.4 74.3 25.7 (Compiled) (Pages 195-196) From the data it is evident that approximately 50 per cent of all saleswomen, as contrasted with 26.8 per cent of the office employees, received $12 or under per week. In the group $16 and over the percentages were 25.4 per cent for saleswomen and 45.7 per cent for office em- ployees. The weekly rates for millinery workroom em- ►See footnote, p. 3. ployees fell a little below those for office employees, 29.4 per cent receiving $12 and under and 41.2 per cent~$H) and over. The comparatively large proportion of em- ployees in millinery workrooms receiving $8 or under per week may be explained by the low rates paid to appren- tices or learners. None of the alteration workroom em- ployees had rates of less than $9 per week; one-fourth received $16 or over; and a majority of the remainder re- ceived either $12 or $15 per week. Rates received by mis- cellaneous employees fell considerably below the rates received in the specified occupations, 57 per cent of the whites and 82.2 per cent of the colored receiving $10 or under per week. (Page 195.) This survey of the wages paid in the mercantile in- dustry may be summarized as follows : One-half of all women employed in this industry were receiving $12 or less per week. This large proportion of low-paid workers was not made up of unskilled employees alone, for 54 per cent of them were saleswomen. It is obvious that a wage of $12 is far below that required by a self-supporting woman to meet the necessary cost of living and to main- tain herself in health tand comfort.* (Page 205.) District of Columbia Minirmmv Wage Board. Bulletin No. 3. Wages of Women in Hotels and Restau-^ rants in the District of Columbia. October 10, 1919. Before proceeding to an analysis of the wage situation three^ important characteristics of the hotel and restau- rant industry should be noted : the excessive labor turn- over ; the practice of tipping ; and the prevalence of forms of compensation other than money wages. (Page 4.) It was found that the only group who received an ap- preciable amount in tips — the waitresses in restaurants — received much higher wages than did the groups who were not in a position to augment their earnings by this method. In general, it may be said that the fow wages of women prevailing in hotels and restaurants in the District are not offset by tips. (Page 5.) ♦See p. 409, et seq. In order to ascertain the wages actually received by these women, some estimate must be made of the value of this additional compensation. The minimum cost of room and board for a self-supporting woman in the Dis- trict of Columbia was estimated by the Conference on the Printing and Publishing Industries as $9 per week, by the Mercantile Conference as $9.30 per week.* Computing the cost of board as two-thirds of the total for room and board, $6 is arrived at as the approximate minimum expenditure for this item. (Page 6.) We have attempted to show in the foregoing analysis that the value to the employee of the room or board or both tendered by the employer in lieu of wages is not so great as that placed upon these necessities by the confer- ences, namely $9 and $9.30 a week. We have also shown that the cost of these items to the employer measured by the charge made employees for the same was consider- ably less than $9 a week. The question arises which is to determine the allowance made for these accommodations, the value to the employee or the cost to the employer. (Pages 7-8.) Therefore, although in this case the facts show these figures to be too high, to avoid all question of having minimized the cost to the employer or the value to the employee of the extra compensation received by the women concerned we have allowed the full weekly amounts of $9 for room and board and $6 for three meals per working day and a proportionate amount where less than three meals per day were received. Thus in this report a weekly wage of $7 in addition to room and board, of $10 in addition to three meals per working day, of $12 in addition to two meals per working day, of $14 in addition to one meal per working day is considered equivalent to a $16 straight money wage. (Page 8.) *See pp. 417, 418. Table III. Number and per cent of women employees in hotels and restaurants receiving each classilied weekly rate, by compensation received per work- ing day in addition to wages. Number. Women Employees with Rates of Official Compnsation in Addition to Wages Un- der 17 and under $8 $8 and under $9 $9 and under $10 $10 and under $11 and under $12 $12 and under $13 and under $14 and under $15 and under $16 and Over To- tal Minimum Wage Based on the Cosl of Living* Room and three meals 86 213 42 26 20 4 11 10 5 219 3 60 1 238 23 7 44 5 70 5 1 49 2 1 10 68 9 7 56 138 1439 196 56 380 Three meals 55 26 5 8 195 44 11 59 228 14 2 172 Two meals 10 1 25 16 2 11 One meals Nothing 4 17 8 Total 387 98 320 426 260 92 266 73 76 61 150 2209 Percent. (Cumulative) $16.50 May 26, 1929 Room and three meals 62.3 14.8 21.4 46.4 5.3 65.2 73.2 80.5 84.1 "63.2 86.3 67.4 87.0 83.9 89.2 92.1 87.0 91.8 92.1 91.9 94.4 85.7 92.8 95.3 95.4 87.5 7.2 4.7 4.6 12.5 14.7 100 100 100 100 100 Three meals 18.6 34.7 55.3 7.4 32.2 57.1 74.9 22.9 48.0 64.2 78.5 68.1 Two meals 69.3 80.3 74.7 77.5 83.9 77.6 One meal 83.9 78.7 83.9 83.2 Nothing 83.2 85.3 Total 17.5 21.9 36.4 55.7 67.5 71.7 83.7 87.0 90.4 93.2 6.8 100 (Computed) (Page 9) Using the estimates of the value of room and board which we have accepted as a working basis, we find from these figures that 1300, or 58 per cent, of the 2209 women for whom wage data were obtained were receiving less than $16 or its equivalent per week. A general average in this instance tends to conceal the real wage situation. A classification according to type of establishment gives a much clearer picture of the facts. Of the women employed in the industry, 72.2 per cent in hotels, 42.6 per cent in restaurants, 82.3 per cent in hospitals and 100 per cent [fourteen employees] in apartment houses were receiving less than $16 a week or its equivalent. ♦See Order No. 4, March 26, 1920, for value of other compensation than wages. 8 In the general average the higher rates prevailing in restaurants offset the lower rates in hotels and hospi- tals. The apartment house employees included in this study were too few in number to affect the general figures. A further analysis of Tahle III reveals striking dif- ferences between the wages of those receiving a straight money wage and of those receiving a money wage sup- plemented by other forms of compensation. Consider- ing the 2209 women as a whole, we find that those who received only a money wage were the poorest paid, 85.3 per cent of them receiving less than $16 per week. On the other hand, the best paid women were those in the three-meal group, only 48 per cent of them receiving less than the $10 which, when board is provided, we have considered as equivalent to $16 per week. The women receiving both room and board were about half- way between these two groups, 62.3 per cent being paid less than $7 per week, the figure estimated as the equiva- lent of a $16 money wage. This difference between the real wages of the group receiving only a money wage and of the group receiving additional compensation in the form of xneals cannot be accounted for on an occupa- tional basis, for it applies within each occupation as well as to the whole industry. The explanation seems to be that allowances made for additional compensation in this study were greater than those made by employers in their own calculations. (Pages 9-10.) Using as a base the assumption that a wage of less than $7 a week in addition to room and board, of less than $10 a week in addition to three meals a day, and of less than $16 a week with no other compensation is insufficient to secure the necessities of life to a self-sup- porting woman in the District of Columbia, an analysis by occupation shows that approximately 5 per cent of the housekeepers, 40 per cent of the linen room girls, 90 per cent of the maids, 91 per cent of the cleaners, 96 per cent of the dishwashers and general pantry girls, 94 per cent of the kitchen girls, 31 per cent of the pantry servers, 72 per cent of the waitresses, 3 per cent of the office employees, 35 per cent of the telephone operators, 96 per cent of the elevator operators, and 59 per-f^ent of the miscellaneous employees were receiving less than a living wage. (Pages 16-17.) An analysis by occupation shows that in the restau- rant business approximately 21 per cent of the wait- resses, 46 per cent of the counter girls, 78 per cent of the bus girls, 14 per cent of the cashiers and checkers, 56 per cent of the pantry girls, 75 per cent of the dish- washers, 11 per cent of the cooks, 76 per cent of the kit- chen girls, and 46 per cent of the miscellaneous em- ployees were receiving less than a living wage. As was stated at the beginning of this report, hos- pitals have been classed with hotels and restaurants, because the women employed in hospitals, exclusive of the nurses, perform work very similar to that performed by women employed in hotels. This may readily be seen from the following occupational grouping of the 130 women employed in three hospitals. (Page 21.) The wage situation in these hospitals, as shown in Table XII, is even worse than that found in hotels. Over half, 54.1 per cent, of the women receivingr room and board were paid less than $7 a week, and of those receiving board alone 96.7 per cent were paid less than $10 a week. (Pages 21-22.) 10 Table XII. Number and per cent of women employees in hospitals receiving each classified weekly rate, by compensation received per working day in ad- dition to wages. Number, Women with Rates of Official Compensation in Addition to Wages Un- der $7 $7 and under $8 $8 and under $9 and under $10 $10 and under $11 $11 and under $12 ^^5 and under $13 $13 and under $14 "3 and under $15 ^^5 and under $16 $16 and Over To- tal Minimum Wage Based on the Cost of Living* Room and three meals 20 68 2 5 3 2 2 1 1 4 37 90 3 130 Three meals 11 7 1 1 One meal . 3 7 Total 88 11 9 6 5 2 2 Percent. (Cumulative) $16.50 May 26, 1920 Room and three meals 54.1 75.6 54.1 69.5 73.0 81.1 86.5 86.5 98.9 89.2 100 89.2 100 89.2 100 10.8 100 100 100 100 100 Three meals "WT 95.6 96.7 98.9 98.9 Total 67.7 76.2 83.1 87.7 91.6 93.1 93.1 94.6 94.6 94.6 5.4 100 (Computed) (Page 22) *Se€ footnote, p. 7. Minimum Wage Board. District of Columbia. Wages of Women in Laundries and Dyeing and Cleaning Establishments in the District of Columbia. Jan- uary and Fehrwary, 1920. Per cent of women with rate of (Cumulative) Official Type of No. Under Under Under Under Under Under Under Under $16 Minimum Wages Establishment Inves- tigated $9 $10 $11 $12 $13 $14 $15 $16 and Over Based on the Cost of Living Steam Laundries. 1116 28.8 53.4 71.1 75.5 81.7 83.0 85.2 89.1 10.9 $15 Hand Laundries.. 15 33.4 53.4 53.4 66.7 80.0 80.0 80.0 93.3 6.7 Dyeing and Clean- ing Estab 59 1.7 5.1 8.5 8.5 22.1 22.1 32.3 40.7 59.3 Nov. 20 1920 (Computed) (Pages 1, 2.) 11 Of the 1190 women 328 or 27.6% were rated at less than $9 a week, 608 or 51.2% at less than $10 a week, 808 or 68% at less than $11 a week, and 1032 or 86.7% at less than $16 a week. Since 94% of the women in these industries were employed in steam laundries special emphasis will be placed upon this branch of the industry. (Page 2.) Minirmmi Wage Board. District of Columbia. A Study of the Wages of Women Employed as Cleaners, Maids and Elevator Operators in Office BuMdings, Banks and Theatres and as Car Cleaners in the District of Colmnhia. April and May 1920. Pay roll data were collected for a total of 604 women. Of these, 247 were employed as car cleaners by the rail transportation companies. Only two of these car clean- ers received less than $18 a week; the majority, 83%, were rated at $21.60 a week. Taking as a standard the wages set by previous conferences these women were receiving more than a living wage. Hence for the pur- poses of this study they need not be considered further. The body of this report is therefore limited to an analysis of the wages of 357 women, 310 of whom were employed in office buildings, banks and similar build- ings, 261 as cleaners, 30 as elevator operators, 10 as forewomen or head cleaners and 9 as day-time maids or attendants, and 47 of whom were employed in theatres, 9 as maids and 38 as cleaners. (Page 1.) Summary. Pay roll data showed that of these 357 women, over one-fourth were paid less than $7 per week, one-half less than $9 per week and nine-tenths less than $12 per week. In connection with these wage rates it should however be noted at the outset that the great majority of these women did not work the full number of hours common to women in other occupations. Approximately one- third of them worked less than 24 hours per week, one- 12 half less than 36 hours per week and only one-fifth 42 hours or over. Obviously the short workday accounts in a measure for the low wages paid. But even when calculated on an hourly basis the rates are still low. Over one-fourth of the women concerned received less than 25^ per hour — some being paid as little as 17^ — and two-thirds received less than 35^ per hour. (Pages 1, 2.) Table III. Number and Per Cent of Women Employed in Buildings and Theatres Receiving each Classi- fied Hourly Rate, by Occupation. Per cent of women with hourly rate of (cumulative) Occupation No. Inves- tigated Under 20c. Under 25c. Under 30c. Under 35c. Under 40c. Under 45c. Under 50c. 50c. and Over Official Minimum Wages Based on the Cost of Living Building Cleaners 261 10 9 30 38 9 16.1 28.7 38.3 69.3 97.3 30.0 100 100 73.7 100 97.3 40.0 100 100 76.3 100 97.3 40.0 100 100 86.8 100 2.7 60.0 13.2" Building Maids 66.7 16.7 100 46.7 100 50.0 100 76.7 31.6 77.8 (Wages board Building Elev. Operators Theatre Cleaners about to be Theatre Maids 22.2 22.2 Total 357 14.8 28.0 35.3 65.0 93.3 93.9 95.0 5.0 (Computed) (Page 7.) Conclusion. From the foregoing analysis of the wages of the 357 women employed as cleaners, maids and elevator oper- ators in office buildings, banks, theatres, art galleries and similar institutions, certain conclusions may be drawn. If we start with the premise that every ordi- nary position should bring to the employee who holds it a wage at least sufficient to supply the necessities of life, and, if we take as that minimum wage even the least sum arrived at by cost of living studies and by previous conferences held under the minimum wage law, then it must be concluded from a study of the pay roll records that practically all of the women included in this study, 13 irrespective of occupation, were receiving less tlaan a living wage. On tlie other hand, however, it may be contended that an essentially part-time position which normally offers less than a full eight hours of work per day need yield as a minimum merely a wage which bears the same relation to a living wage as the number of hours worked bears to a full working week. On this basis the pay roll records and the estimates of the number of hours worked would show that only two-thirds of these women were receiving less than a living wage. (Page 10.) Neither of these contentions is entirely sound. It would be more logical to take a position somewhere between these two extremes. For instance, if a woman works only four hours a day she has sufficient time left to make her own clothes, do her own laundry and even her own housekeeping. All this tends to decrease the expenditures necessary to maintain the proper standard of living. In this case, it may reasonably be argued that it actually costs a woman who works four or five hours a day less to live than it does one who works the full 48 hours a week. But this decrease in the cost of living of a woman working part time does not vary directly with the number of hours worked. The point is soon reached when no further reduction in cost can be made without undermining the standard of living. (Pages 10, 11.) Back of the second contention, namely, that the wage paid should bear the same relation to the living wage as the number of hours worked bears to the full work- ing week, lies the belief that a part time worker oan secure other part time work sufficient to make up her full working week. It is no easy task to fit various part- time jobs in one with the other so as to make a consecu- tive working day of eight hours. Either the working day is too short to yield the required minimum weekly wage, or too long to make for efficiency. Furthermore, it is rare that a worker can go directly from one job to another. Usually more or less time intervenes between the time of leaving one task and of beginning another. If 14 only a few hours elapse, this time is practically wasted. A long period between tasks usually means broken hours of sleep and disorganized home life. Particularly is this true where one of the tasks is performed in the middle of the night. Even if the two or more jobs fitted in one with the other as to time, there would still be the loss of energy, money and time consumed in going from one place of work to the other. These difficulties attend- ing the performance of more than one part-time job a day should be compensated for by a higher hourly rate where the employment offered is for less than the normal number of working hours. (Page 11.) It should be remembered that two-thirds of the women included in this study would receive less than a living wage even if they secured additional employment sufficient to make up a full working day at similar rates of pay. If, bearing in mind that four-fifths of these w^omen worked less than 42 hours per week, we accept the theory that part-time employment should be paid for at a higher hourly rate, then it must be conceded that considerably more than two-thirds of the women con- cerned received less than a living wage, the exact pro- portion depending upon the weight given the various factors considered above — too long or too short a work- ing day, broken shifts, broken hours of rest, disorgan- ized home life. (Pages 11, 12.) But whether this theory is accepted or not, there can be no question but that a substantial number of the women employed as cleaners, maids, elevator operators in office buildings, banks, theatres and similar institu- tions in the District of Columbia were receiving less than a living wage. (Page 12.) 15 (3) Reinvestigation for Compliance with Minimum Decreed. Second Annual Report of the Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia. December 31, 1919. The two wage orders promulgated by the Board have been in effect such a short time that it is not possible to give a comprehensive statement as to the results of min- imum wage legislation in the District. Some immediate effects are of course apparent and even at this early date it may be permissible to draw certain tentative conclu- sions as to results. (Page 25.) In the first place pay roll data prove conclusively that there has been a marked increase in the wages paid women and minors in the industries in which wage orders have been established. In the printing, publishing, and allied industries in January, 1919, 62.3 per cent of the women employed received less than $15.50 a week. Fig- ures for these same establishments for the first week in which the order was effective showed that 11.2 per cent were rated at less than $15.50. Similar data for the mer- cantile industry show that at the time of the original wage investigation, February to March, 1919, 74.3 per cent of the women and minors employed were rated at less than $16 a week. For the first week in November, 1919, the percentage receiving less than $16.50 a week was 24.4 per cent. A comparison of the rates prevailing in particular groups of establishments under the old and new con- ditions shows in more detail the actual effects of the wage order. In 36 commercial printing and publishing estab- lishments in January, 1919, 83.3 per cent of the women employed were receiving less than $15.50 as compared with 23.5 per cent after the minimum rate was set for these industries. Out of a total of 3,190 women and minors employed in 7 leading department stores in Felbruary and March, 1919, 2,538, or 79.6 per cent, were rated at less than $16 a week, and 652, or 20.4 per cent, at $16 and over. In 16 these stores on October 28, 1919, the date when the order became effective, 3,260 women and minors were em- ployed, 1,021, or 31.3 per cent, at rates above $16.50, 1397, or 42.9 per cent at the rate of $16.50 and 842, or 25.8 per cent at rates less than $16.50. The effect of the order was thus to reverse completely the percentage above and below $16. In the 5 and 10 cent stores the percentage of women and minors employed at less than $16 a week decreased as a result of the order from 93.8 per cent to 45 per cent. Although these figures show a substantial increase in wages, nevertheless the proportion of workers receiving less than the minimum rate is abnormally high. The Board is giving this matter consideration at the present time, and it may be found necessary to limit the propor- tion of learners allowed in any one establishment, as was done in the printing, publishing, and allied industries. In these industries a large number of the women em- ployed do unskilled work, requiring not more than a week or two to learn. Fearing that these jobs would all be filled by inexperienced workers who would be discharged after the year^s learning period thus in effect nullifying the minimum wage order, the Board limited the propor- tion of learners to be allowed in any one establishment to one-fifth of the total number of women employed. This has prevented any widespread abuse of the privilege of employing learners at a lower rate. Events have proved that the Board was justified in its action in these industries. In the mercantile industry the Board considered plac- ing a similar limitation on the employment of learners. It feared that the 5 and 10 cent and other cheap stores would tend to utilize a very large proportion of these workers who could be obtained at less than the minimum wage. The merchants objected strenuously to any such lim- itation. They declared that in a store experienced work- ers were always preferred to inexperienced and were always employed when obtainable. They affirmed that any limitation would work a great hardship and would 17 necessitate an added expense in bookkeeping. The pres- sure of public opinion would be sufficient they stated to keep recalcitrant employers in line. After considerable discussion the Board agreed that no limitation would be set at that time but that if future events justified such action it would not hesitate to amend the mercantile order so as to limit the proportion of learners allowed in a given establishment. (Pages 25-26.) All indirect effect of the minimum rates so far estab- lished has been to raise the wages of women in other in- dustries. It is particularly interesting to note that new firms just beginning in other lines of business have recog- nized the minimum wage set for the mercantile industry. They have found that if they are to attract competent workers they can not pay less that $16.50, the rate es- tablished as the minimum for approximately half of the women in private employ in the district. (Page 27.) 18 Arkansas. (1) Minimum Wage Order. Arkansas Minimum Wage and Maximum Hour Com- mission. Order No. 2, Mercantile Establishments, City of Fort Smith, August 4, 1920. The commission issued an order on August 4tli, ef- fective from and after September 1, 1920, establishing $13.25 as the minimum wage to be paid experienced fe- males, and $11.00 as the minimum wage to be paid in- experienced females employed in mercantile establish- ments in the city of Fort Smith. Due to unusual economic conditions, the making up of a budget of the cost of living of a self-supporting woman of ordinary ability was exceptionally difficult. The following budget, however, was adopted by the commission : Items Amount per week Board and room $8.00 Clothing 3.00 Laundry 45 Street car fare .72 Church ^ 10 Recreation 30 Insurance 15 Savings account 20 Incidentals 33 $18.25 Attention is directed to the fact that only the neces- sities of life are included in the budget. Nothing is al- lowed for vacation, doctor or dentist, oculist, news papers and magazines, self-improvement, or benefit as- sociations, all of which are included in budgets estimated by commissions in other States in making wage awards. But the commission directs attention to the fact that the award made by the commission is a substantial in- crease over the wage paid in the mercantile industry in the city of Fort Smith. * * * 19 California. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [ Summarized. j^—^ Experienced Adult Women. Nos. 3 to 14. Any occupation, trade and industry (exclusive of telephone or telegraph, domestic labor, skilled trades, or harvesting, curing or drying of any variety of fruit or vegetables). Effective at various dates between June 26-September 25, 1920. Minimum wage of $16 or 33%ff an hour. Emergency Work in Fruit and Vegetable Canning, Fish Canning, Fruit and Vegetable Packing, and Agricul- tural Occupations,* i. e., work performed in excess of 8 hours a day or 6 days in one week. In excess of 8 hours and up to 12 hours at 1% the time or piece rates provided ; in excess of 12 hours, at double the rates ; on Sunday or the day of rest, for the first 8 hours at 1% the rates, and thereafter at 2% the rates.** (Also applies to learners and minors.) Work on the Day of Rest in General and Professional Offices and Hotels and Restaurants, at 1%. the rates (ex- cluding hotel and restaurant workers who are employed for 6 hours a day or less). (Also applies to learners and minors.) Less than a Full Week^s Employment in Fish Can- ning, Laundry and Dry Cleaning, Unclassified Occupa- tions and Manufacturing, at 38^ an hour. Part Time Work in Mercantile, Laundry and Dry Cleaning, Unclassified Occupations, and Manufacturing, i. e.y work on an hourly basis for less than 8 hours in one day, at 40^ per hour. In Hotels and Restaurants, i. e.y when employed 3 hours a day or less, at 40^ per hour; more than 3 hours a day, at 38^ per hour or $16 a week. Continuous Process Work in Manufacturing after 11 P. M. and before 6 A. M. at 1% the rates. *In fish canning all night work, after 10 P. M. and before 6 A. M., is paid for at emergency rates. , **In dried fruit, raisins, all Sunday work is paid for at 1^4 the rates. 20 Deductions Permitted in Hotels and Eestaurants, for bona fide meals; breakfast 25^, lunch 30^, dinner 45^; for room $3 a week. Piece Eates. Preparation of Fruit and Vegetables for Canning. Minimum or least piece rate per 100 pounds. Asparagus $0.22; String beans $1.50 Cherries 75 Pears 62 Apricots 50 Plums 18 Peaches, cling 38 Thompson Seedless Peaches, free 22 Grapes 1.00 Peaches, hand peeling .50 Muscat Grrapes 75 Tomatoes (finished product) — 12 qts. 05%. Cutting and Pitting of Fruit for Drying. Minimum or least piece rate per 100 pounds. Free peaches, $0.22 Pears, $0.22 Apricots, for fruit running less than 12 to a pound, .40 Apricots, for fruit running more than 12 to a pound, .50 Learners and Minors. No. 3. Fridt and Vegetable Vanning. Learners: 1 week at $12 or 25^ per hour. Overtime rate, 31^ per hour, double^ time rate, 50^ per hour. Minors (16 to 18) : 1 week at 25^ per hour, thereafter at 33%^ per hour or $16. No. 5. Mercantile. Learners: 6 months at $12, 6 months at $14. Minors (under 18) : 6 months at $10, 6 months at $12, 6 months at $14, thereafter $16. Experi- enced minor part time workers at 40^ per hour, inexpe- rienced at 30^ per hour. Learners and minors in sea- sonal millinery work rooms : first season, 4 weeks at $8, 4 weeks at $9, 4 weeks at $10 ; second season, 4 weeks at $12, 4 weeks at $13, 4 weeks at $14. Learners and minors in the office of mercantile establishments who have been employed in the selling force shall be granted one-third of their selling experience and vice versa. No. 6. Fish Canning. Learners and minors : 1 week at $12 or 25^ per hour,' 1 week at $13 or 27^ per hour, 1 21 week at $14 or 29^ per hour, 1 week at $15 or 31^ per hour. Provided, however, if full week's employinentj.s not provided hourly rates shall be increased 5 cents. No. 7. Laundry and Dry Cleaning, Learners and minors : 3 months at $12, 3 months at $14. Provided if full week's work is not provided, hourly rates shall be during first 3 months at 30^ per hour, second 3 months at 35^ per hour. No. 8. Fruit and Vegetable Packing. In citrus, dried fig, layer raisin packing: Learners, 4 weeks at $12 or 25^ per hour; minors, 4 weeks at $10.56 or 22^ per hour, thereafter $16. In other branches: learners, 2 weeks at $12 or 25^ per hour; minors, 2 weeks at $10.56 or 22^ per hour, thereafter $16. No. 9. General and Professional Offices. Learners: 3 months at $12, 3 months at $14. Minors (under 18) : 3 months at $10, 3 months at $11, 3 months at $12, 3 months at $14, thereafter $16. Minor or part time work- ers at 30^ an hour. No. 10. Unclassified Occupations. Learners : 3 weeks at $12 or 25^ per hour; for less than a full week of em- ployment at 30^ per hour or $12. Minors: 3 weeks at $10.56 or 22^ per hour, thereafter $12 or 25^ per hour; for less than a full week's employment, if inexperienced, 25^ per hour or $10.56, if experienced, 30^ per hour or $12 ; part time workers at 30ff per hour. No. 11. Manufacturing. Learners : 3 months at $12, 3 months at $14 ; for less than a full week of employment, during first 3 months at 30^ per hour, during second 3 months at 35f^ per hour. Minors: 3 months at $10, 3 months at $12, 3 months at $14; thereafter $16; for less than a full week of employment, during first 3 months at 25^ per hour, during second 3 months at 30^ per hour, during third 3 months at 35^ per hour ; thereafter at 38^ per hour ; part time workers at 30^ per hour. No. 12. Hotels and Restaurants. No special rates for learners or minors. No. 14. Agricultural Occupations. No special rates for learners or minors. 22 (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Decreed. Report on the Regulation of Wages, Hours and Working Conditions of Women and Minors in the Fruit and Vegetable Canning Industry of California. May, 1917. The Wage Board unanimously accepted the following minimnm rates of pay for cutting and canning of fruits and vegetables: Cutting. Per IQO lbs. Box 40 lbs. Apricots $.225 $.09 Pears 375 .15 Peaches, cling 225 .09 Peaches, free .125 .05 Tomatoes — per dozen quarts $.03 Canning. Per dozen cans Fruit, No. 2y2 $.015 Fruit, No. -10 036 Tomatoes, No. 2i/> 01 Tomatoes, No. lO" 024 I would like to call your attention to the effect of these recommended rates upon the industry, and the gain to the women working in the industry, if the commission accept them.* (Page 45.) In the season of 1915, 43 per cent of the canneries packing apricots paid a lower rate than $.225 per hun- dred pounds, or $.09 per 40-pound box. It will mean a gain to the women working in these canneries of from 1 to 4 cents per box of 40 pounds. Sixteen per cent of the canneries packing apricots paid $.225 per hundred pounds and 41 per cent were paying above that rate. •Rates accepted by Order No. 1, Feb. 14, 1916. 23 Apricots are 19.1 per cent of the entire fruit pack of the state. Occupation. Minimum Piece Rate. Cutting Apricots, $0,225 per 100 lbs. (or $0.09 per 40 lbs.) Cutting Pears, 0.375 per 100 lbs. (or 0.15 per 40 lbs.) Cutting Cling Peaches, 0.225 per 100 lbs. (or 0.09 per 40 lbs.) Cutting Free Peaches 0.125 per 100 lbs. (or 0.05 per 40 lbs.) Cutting Tomatoes, 0.03 per 12 quarts. Occupation. Minimum Size of Can. Piece Rate. Canning All Varieties of fruit No. 2i/^ $0,015 per doz. Canning All Varieties of fruit No. 10 0.036 per doz. Canning Tomatoes No. 2^4 0.01 per doz. Canning Tomatoes No. 10 0.024 per doz. (Page 51.) Of the canneries packing free peaches, 19 per cent paid less than $.125 per hundred pounds, or 5 cents per box of 40 pounds of fruit. It means a gain in these can- neries of 1 cent per box of 40 pounds of fruit. Thirty- eight per cent of the canneries were paying $.125 per hundred pounds, and 43 per cent paid above this rate. Free peaches are 14.9 per cent of the entire fruit pack of the state. Of the canneries packing pears, 36 per cent paid less than $.375 per hundred pounds, or 15 cents per box of 40 pounds for peeling. It means a gain to the women in these canneries of from 1 to 3 cents per box of 40 pounds. Thirty per cent of the canneries paid this rate, and 34 per cent paid above this rate. Pears are 13.5 per cent of the entire fruit pack of the state. Of the canneries packing cling peaches, 58 per cent paid less than $.225 per hundred pounds, or 9 cents a box of 40 pounds. It will mean a gain to the women in these canneries of from 1 to 4 cents per box of 40 pounds. Twenty per cent of the canneries paid this rate, and 22 24 per cent above this rate. Cling peaches are 43.9 per cent of the total fruit pack of the state. Therefore, the recommended rates of the Wage Board would materially raise the earnings of the women who prepare these four products, which are 91.4 per cent of the total fruit pack of the state. Of the canneries which reported canning tomatoes, 18 per cent paid less than 3 cents per 12-quart bucket. The tomato pack is 21 per cent of the entire fruit and vegetable pack of the state. When you consider that these gains have been made by the unanimous recommendation of the Wage Board, and that the canneries affected by one or more rates em- ploy throughout the season over 20,000 women, I think we may feel that this first Wage Board has been highly successful. (Pages 45-46.) 25 (3) Reinvestigations for Compliance with Minimum Decreed. — Third Biennial Report of the California Industrial Wel- fare Commission. 1917-1918. Approximately 85,000 women, or 85 per cent of all women working in industrial life in California, are now under the protection of the Industrial Welfare Commis- sion. Pay roll returns show an addition by the com- mission rulings of over one million dollars to the wages of women in the mercantile, laundry, and canning indus- tries, to say nothing of the gains to the office workers, fish canning, fruit packing and unskilled occupations of which comparative pay rolls were not available. That this increase in wages is to be credited wholly to the rulings of the Industrial Welfare Commission, the following table indicates : Cumulative Per Cent of Women Receiving Under $10. Mercantile industry — 1914 52.5 per cent April, 1917 40.8 per cent September, 1917 20.2 per cent Laundry industry — 1914 59.2 per cent October, 1917 56.3 per cent January, 1918 22.1 per cent In the mercantile industry, for the three years from 1914 to 1917, there was only a decrease of 11.3 per cent in the number of women earning less than $10. In the frvQ months from April, before the order went into effect, to September, when the order went into effect, the drop was 20.6 per cent. There was a gain to the workers of not less than $660,000 per annum by the increase of rates paid in September over those paid in April. In the laundry industry, the period of comparison is even shorter — three months; the gains are that much 26 more definitely to be credited to the commission. For the three years from 1914 to 1917, the decrease in the number receiving less than $10 was 2.9 per cent, whereas the decrease for the three months from October, before the order became effective, to January when it became effective, was 34.2 per cent. The increase in wages ^mounted to $236,000 per annum. (Page 12.) The first orders of 1916 in the canning industry in- creased rates paid in 50 per cent of the canneries pack- ing cling peaches ; in 19 per cent of those packing free- stone peaches; in 36 per cent of the canneries packing pears ; in 43 per cent of the canneries packing apricots. The amended orders of 1917 further increased rates. In 1918, the minimum piece rates were increased from 10 to 50 per cent and the time rate from sixteen cents to twenty cents. (Page 13.) Effects of the Mercantile Order. WEEKLY RATE OF WAGES-IDENTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS No. Inves- tigated Per cent, of Women Receiving (Cumulative)— Official Minimum Wage Based on the Cost of Living** City Un- der $4 Un- der $5 $6 Un- der $7 Un- der $8 Un- der $9 Un- der Un- der $11 Un- der $12 $12 and Over San Francisco (29 es- tablishments) — 1914 3,556 3,621 3,984 3,842 4.059 4,309 1,038 937 1.036 404 434 443 785 730 889 .6 .1 .4 .2 2.7 1.2 3.9 1.8 10.7 3.1 7.3 4.4 20.4 5.2 3.6 13.1 8.7 5.1 30.4 19.3 6.3 21.0 16.3 7.2 46.5 10.7 7.6 24.0 13.3 5.6 19.9 15.1 7.4 39.2 32.5 9.6 34.8 31.3 10.6 48.1 27.2 12.4 35.6 22.9 13.5 34.4 27.1 15.9 50.0 41.7 21.2 45.4 40.3 19.4 60.1 54.0 24.4 48.5 37.1 21.0 47.7 43.9 21.3 59.4 52.3 *25.9 55.1 50.8 23.9 70.1 66.0 *27.8 56.2 45.4 46.3 61.7 62.0 60.1 69.8 62.3 61.9 64.0 61.6 62.3 76.1 72.4 72.2 65.0 58.2 69.1 65.9 67.3 66.1 75.1 70.0 69.6 67.2 65.3 66.4 81.3 76.7 77.4 35.0 41.8 40.9 34.1 32.7 33.9 24.9 30.0 30.4 32.8 34.7 33.6 18.7 23.3 22.6 April, 1917 September, 1917... Los Angeles (17 estab- lishments)— 1914 April, 1917 September, 1917... $10.00 Oakland (10 estab- lishments)— 1914 .7 .9 8.1 3.7 12.4 10.1 Sept., 1917 April, 1917 September, 1917. . . San Diego (8 estab- lishments)— 1914 .2 .5 2.4 2.3 5.4 3.5 April, 1917 September, 1917. . . Sacramento (9 estab- lishments)— 1914 1.5 .1 3.4 1.0 27.9 5.2 April, 1917 September, 1917... ^Corrected within the month, the firm at fault reducing the number of apprentices to less than 25 per cent. (Pages 36, 37). ** See Order No. 5, July 6, 1917, for additional rates set for learners and minors. 27 Five and Ten Cent Stores. The general results observed in the mercantile estaB- lishments were reproduced in a greater degree in the 5 and 10 cent stores. The adjustment necessary for full compliance with the Minimum Wage rulings was very much greater than in any other store. In 1914, 95 per cent received under $10 ; in April, 1917, 91 per cent, while in September they dropped to the required 25 per cent. In 1914, 70 per cent received less than $6. In April, 43 per cent received under $6, and 73 per cent under $7. In September none received less than $6, and only 8 per cent between $6 and $7; whereas 75 per cent received $10 or over. (Page 46.) Five, Ten and Fifteen Cent Stores. Full Time Workers. 1914 April, 1917 Sept., 1917 Cumulative Percent. Official Minimam Wages Num- ber Per cent. Num- ber Per cent. Num- ber Per cent. 1914 April, 1917 Sept., 1917 Based on the Cost of Living* Under $4 00 5 161 191 79 23 15 8 10 5 12 1.0 31.5 37.5 15.5 4.5 2.9 1.6 1.9 1.0 2.6 1.0 32.5 70.0 85.5 90.0 92.9 94.5 96.4 97.4 2.6 $4.00 to $4.99 62 160 154 58 19 15 15 5 25 12.1 31.2 30.0 11.3 3.7 2.9 2.9 1.0 4.9 12.1 43.3 73.3 84.6 88.3 91.2 94.1 95.1 4.9 "s.i 10.7 24.6 25.0 89.7 92.1 7.9 $5.00 to $5.99 $6.00 to $6.99 43 14 74 2 345 13 42 8.1 2.6 13.9 2.4 7.9 $7.00 to $7.99 $8.00 to $8.99 $10.00 $9.00 to $9.99 Sept., 1917 $10.00 to $10.99 $11.00 to $11.99 $12.00 and over Totals 509 100.0 513 100.0 533 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 t (Paj 56 47.) Before the commission passed the mercantile order, these stores took advantage of the peculiar character of their business. The range of goods was not great com- pared to large department stores; the system of display common to variety stores made the goods practically self-selling, so there was no call for trained saleswomen. The savings through low wages, however, were partly *See Order No. 5, July 6, 1917, for additional rates set for learners and minors. 28 redistributed because of losses through employees, the re- sult of the type of employee who would work for the low wage, combined with the temptation that always accom- panies low wages, to make up for the wage if the op- portunity arises. Higher wages raise the self-respect of the employees who are retained and makes them more dependable, besides attracting a better class of employee. Though recognizing the need for a change and the benefits to be gained, business, especially in the matter of wages, chooses always to w^ait until some movement forces the change on all concerns in the same line. The mercantile order became the impelling force that brought up the 5 and 10 cent stores from their widely criticized position of paying low wages to that of paying a living wage. The changes required were more than in other establishments, yet were produced with no more friction, the management displaying a spirit of ready and willing co-operation. (Pages 47-48.) Effects of the Laundry Order. Almost 600 establishments in 92 cities of the state reported as employing women to a total of over 6,300. The period _of three months [between investio-ations] is so short that contributory factors that might influence the rate are largely discounted, and any changes are to be credited almost entirely to the orders of the com- mission. (Pages 58-59.) As a check on these results, and to ascertain whether all required adjustments had been made, another pay roll was called for in November, 1918, and the rate of pay analyzed. (Page 59.) 29 WEEKLY KATES OF TIME WORKERS FOR IDENTICAL ESTABLISH- MENTS, 1914 AND 1916, 1916 AND 1917, 1917 AND 1918. Per Cent of Women receiving (Cumulative) City No. Inves- tigated Un- der $6 Under $7 Under $8 Under $9 Under $10 Under 111 Under $12 $12 and Over Official Minimum Wage Based on the Cost of Living* San Francisco — 1914 (18 establishments) 1916 (18 establishments) 1916 (21 establishments) 1,070 1,086 1,181 1,281 1,384 1,428 446 421 403 410 504 514 1,158 1,307 1,307 1,357 1,704 1,762 .5 .1 .1 .7 .5 .1 16.6 14.7 15.1 1.2 1.8 31.9 32.8 34.9 1.1 .9 1.0 52.9 51.3 15.3 17.3 19.1 7.4 63.3 62.8 62.8 56.5 55.2 23.1 53.2 53.8 54.8 38.6 39.3 16.2 68.2 69.8 70.4 48.8 47.9 16.9 80.0 80.7 80.7 75.3 74.7 30.8 70.2 71.8 72.7 60.5 61.4 5.7 80.1 80.5 80.1 68.5 68.1 64.6 86.7 87.4 87.4 84.6 84.1 82.8 80.6 80.8 81.6 75.6 75.6 72.9 82.1 83.6 83.4 76.3 76.2 74.1 88.2 88.5 88.5 87.1 86.4 86.8 19.4 19.2 18.4 24.4 24.4 27.1 17.9 16.4 16.6 23.7 23.8 25.9 11.8 11.5 11.5 12.9 13.6 13.2 1917 (21 establishments) 1917 (26 establishments) 1918 (26 estabKshments) Oakland— 1914 (12 establishments) .5 .4 1916 (12 establishments) 1916 (11 establishments) 1917 (11 establishments) .2 .2 $10 Jan., 1918 1917 (18 establishments) 1918 (18 establishments) Los Angeles — 1914 (19 establishments) 1916 (19 establishments) 1916 (19 establishments) 1917 (19 establishments) 1917 (31 establishments) 1918 (31 establishments) ■l4' 1.4 6.7 5.3 11.1 10.0 10.0 12.8 11.2 .2 45.9 43.5 43.5 33.1 33.1 9.0 (Pages 75, 76) * See Order No. 7, Nov. 14, 1917, for additional rates set for learners. WEEKLY RATE OF WAGES— Oct. 1917, Jan. 1918, Nov. 1918 (270 Establishments) Date of Investigation October, 1917... January, 1918. . November, 1918 No. Inves- tigated 6,394 6,327 6,259 Per cent, of Women Receiving (Cumulative)— Under $5 0.0 .0 Under $6 1.5 .1 Under $7 4 5 .2 .1 Under $8 16.1 1.6 .7 Under $9 29.4 12.4 5.7 Under $10 56.3 22.4 10.9 Under $11 71.2 69.2 35.9 Under $12 77.0 76.2 52.2 Under $13 70.9 ABOVE TABLE— continued No. Inves- tigated Per cent, of Women Receiving (Cumulative)— Date of Investigation Under $14 Under $15 Under $16 Under $17 Under $18 Under $20 Under $22.50 Under $25 $25 to $35 October, 1917 6,394 6,327 6,259 92.4 90.7 78.9 93.5 92.1 83.8 96.6 95.9 90.5 97.6 97.2 92.9 97.9 97.5 94.0 99.2 99.1 97.1 99.6 99.5 99.2 99.7 99.7 99.6 3 January, 1918 .3 November, 1918. .4 (Condensed) (Pages 60-65) 30 Kansas. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [Summarized.] No. 6. Mercantile, Effective March 18, 1918. Ex- perienced females, $8.50. Learners: 6 months at $6, 6 months at $7. Minors employed as bundle wrappers or as cash boys or cash girls, 6 months at $5, 6 months at $5.50, thereafter $6. No. 7. Laundries. Effective May 14, 1918. Exper- ienced females, $8.50. Learners : 6 months at $6.50. No. 9. Telephone Operators. Effective September 5, 1918. In exchanges serving communities of less than 1000 population: experienced females $7; learners, 6 months at $6, 6 months at $6.50. Exchanges serving 1000 to 5000 : experienced females $7.50 ; learners, 6 months at $6, 6 months at $7. Exchanges serving 5,000 to 20,000 : experienced females, $8; learners, 6 months at $6, 6 months at $7. Exchanges serving 20,000 and over: ex- perienced females, $9; learners, 1 month at $6.50, 5 months at $7, 6 months at $8. Time in excess of 8 hours at 1% the rates. No. 10. Manufacturing. Effective February 21, 1919. Experienced females, $11. Learners: 3 months at $7, 3 months at $9. Time in excess of 8 hours at IV2 the rates. 31 (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Decreed. First Biennial Report of the Kansas Industrial Welfare' Commission. 1915-1917. This investigation proved to the Commission that a substantial number of women workers in laundries were working for inadequate wages, that they were not re- ceiving a sufficient amount to enable them to have proper food and clothing, to make any provision for health or recreation, or to allow them to properly house them- selves. (Page 24.) [Analysis] shows that 64 per cent of all the full-time workers [770] in laundries work fifty-four hours per week or longer, while 25 per cent work sixty to seventy- two hours per week. Notwithstanding the long hours, the wages in many of the laundries are very low. A fraction over 29 per cent receive less than $6 per week. More than 52 per cent receive between $6 and $8, which means that about 82 per cent of all the laundry workers receive $8 or less per week, the majority of them ranging from $5 to $7. (Page 18.) In the mercantile establishments listed in Table No. 8, wages and hours of 1625 women employees are given; 26 per cent receive under $6 a week ; 28 per cent receive $6 a week and over, but under $8 ; 28 per cent are shown to receive $8 and over, but under $12 ; and but 18 per cent are shown to receive $12 and over. More than 40 per cent receive less than $7 per week. Out of 1625 girls, 1003 receive under $9 a week. (Page 29.) The inspector visited almost every five and ten cent store in the state and accurate investigation on 303 employees was secured. The tables show that of the number investigated, 87 per cent receive less than $6 a week ; that 51 per cent receive less than $5 ; more of them receive $4 or $4.50 per week. (Page 32.) 32 WAGES FOR WOMEN Number of "Women with Rate of— No. Official Minimum Inves- $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9 $10 $12 $15 $20 Wage Industries tigated Un- and and and and and and and and and and and Based on der un- un- un- un- un- un- un- un- un- un- over the Cost $3 der der der der der der der der der der of Living $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9 $10 24 $12 24 $15 8 $20 4 1 Laundries,*lst class cities. 565 2 11 38 106 176 120 51 $8.50* Laundries, 2d class cities. 205 1 10 16 42 66 43 13 2 6 3 3 May, 14, 1918 Mercantile, 1st class cities 1,023 3 20 46 108 179 128 133 71 116 85 93 41 Mercantile, 2d class cities 529 1 9 12 39 70 68 71 37 75 69 54 24 $8.50** Mch. 18, 5 and 10 cent stores, 1st class cities 225 3 10 111 71 13 8 3 3 2 1 5 and 10 cent stores, 2d 1918 class cities 69 3 36 22 5 3 (Compiled) (Pages 19, 30, 31, 33.) * See Order No. 7, March 14, 1918, for additional rates for learners. ** See Order No. 6, January 16, 1918, for additional rates for learners and minors. Minimmn Wage Study. Ohio Council on Women and Children in Industry. 1920. Linna Bresette, Secretary Kansas Industrial Welfare Commission : Our latest wage decree was a factory order, establish- ing an 8 hour basic day and an $11 minimum wage. It is being fought by one of the employers in the State, with the backing of the Associated Industries. We have tem- porarily been injoined from enforcing this order, and therefore can do very little with that order until such time as the Court renders a decision. The working women have been very appreciative of this legislation. While the minimum wage set in Kansas is very low, it is surprising the amount of good which has been accomplished among the women workers. (Pages 26-27.) 33 Massachusetts. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [Summarized.] ^ No. 6. Men's Furnishings. Eftective February 1, 1918. Experienced females, $9. Learners: from 6tli- 26th week at $7, 26th-52nd week at $8. [Eeconvened board to revise rates now in session.] No. 7. Muslin Underwear, Petticoat, Apron, Kimono, Women's Neckwear and iChildren's Clothing. Effective August 1, 1918. Experienced adult females, $9. Learn- ers, 13 weeks at $6, 13 weeks at $7, 26 weeks at $8. Min- ors, $6. No. 8. Retail Millinery. Effective August 1, 1918. Experienced workers (over 19) $10. Learners less than 1 season (12 weeks) at $3, after 1 season at $4.50, after 2 seasons at $6, after 3 seasons at $7.50. Minors, less than 1 season $3, after 1 season $4.50. No. 9. Wholesale Millinery. Effective January 1, 1919. Experienced females (over 18), $11. Learners and minors less than 21 weeks' experience at $6, after 21 weeks at $7, after 42 weeks at $8, after 63rd week until 84th week at $9. No. 10. Office and Buildi/ng Cleaners. Effective April 1, 1919. All females: 30^ per hour, between 7 P. M. and 8 A. M. ; 26^ per hour between 8 A. M. and 7 P. M. [Eeconvened board recommended to the Minimum Wage Division on December 11, 1920, $15.40 for a full time week of from 42 to 48 hours, or 37^ an hour.] No. 11. Candy. Effective January 1, 1920. Expe- rienced females, $12.50. Learners, 67 weeks within a period of 78 weeks, at $8. No. 12. Cmming and Preserving. Effective Sep- tember 1, 1919. Experienced females (over 18), $11. Learners, 40 weeks at $8.50. Minors, $8.50. 34 No. 13. Corsets. Effective March 1, 1920. Expe- rienced females (over 17), $13. Learners, 1 year at $10. Minors (under 17), $8. No. 14. Men's Clothing and Raincoat. Effective February 1, 1920. Experienced females, $15. Learners, 3 months at $7, 9 months at $10. No. 15. Knit Goods (except staple lines of hosiery and underwear). Effective July 1, 1920. Experienced females, $13.75. Learners, 40 weeks at $8.50. No. 16. Women's Clothing. Effective July 1, 1920. Experienced females (over 18), $15.25. Adult learners, 1% years (a year to be not less than 35 weeks), at $12. Minors at $10. No. 17. Paper Box. Effective July 1, 1920. Expe- rienced females, $15.50. Learners, over 16 years, 9 months at $11; under 16 years, 9 months at $9. 35 (2) Wage Investigations and Minimum Wages Decreed. Bulletins of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commis- sion, Dec, 1916, to May, 1918. WFFK! Y EARNINGS OF WOMEN No. Investi- gated Per cent, of Women Earning (Cumulative)— Official Minimum Wages Based on Minimum Industries Under $4 Under $5 Under $6 Under $7 Under $8 Under $9 $9 and Over Cost of Living and Financial Condition of the Industry* Men's Clothing. 1,132 626 2,658 2,481 859 9.7 8.1 11.2 15.0 3.7 23.1 18.8 23.9 29.1 19.7 42.8 36.6 37.7 48.2 20.6 62.1 52.4 56.1 65.6 27.9 78.1 65.0 71.9 80.2 78.1 86.3 79.9 84.2 89.1 94.4 13.7 20.1 15.8 .10.9 6.6 |$9.00 Jan., 1918 Raincoat Men's furnishing goods — Muslin underwear, etc Office and other building $9.00 Feb., 1918 $9.00 Aug., 1918 30c.an hour at night 26c. an hour by day, Apr., 1919 (Compiled) (Bulletins No. 13, pp. 28, 29, 51 and 52; No. 14, p. 22; No. 15, p. 33; No. 16, p. 13) * See Decrees. No. 5, Aug. 31, 1917; No. 6, Oct. 26, 1917; No. 7, July 1, 1918, for additional rates for earners and minors. Massachn.'-'etts Minimum Wage Commission. Bulletin No. 20. Report on the Wages of Women in the Millinery Industry. May, 1919. WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WOMEN Official No. Inves- tigated Per cent, of Women Earning (Cumulative)— Minimum Wages Based on Industries Un- der $3 Un- der $4 Un- der $5 Un- der $6 Un- der $7 Un- der $8 Un- der $9 Un- der $10 Un- der $11 Un- der $12 Un- der $13 Un- der $14 Un- der $15 $15 and over Cost of Living and Financial Condition of the Industry* Retail Milli- nery 351 6.8 11.7 20.2 24.8 03.5 39.0 55.8 67.8 78.1 84.0 86.3 88.0 89.5 10.5 $10.00 Aug. 1918 Straw Hats . Flowers and feathers. . . Wholesale Millinery . 938 182 393 .5 8.8 1.0 2.1 26.4 4.8 5.3 47.3 10.2 11.8 62.1 23.4 20.4 77.5 34.4 28.9 84.1 46.8 36.7 89.0 61.1 45.9 95.1 72.0 56.2 97.3 78.1 61.6 99.5 34.5 72.7 99.5 90.1 80.6 100.0 94.6 8G.7 100.0 96.7 13.3 3.3 $11.00 Jan. 1919 (Compiled) (Pages 35, 36, 37) * See Decrees No. 8, July 1, 1918; and No. 9, Nov. 30, 1918., for additional rates for learners and minors. 36 Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Bulletin No. 19. Wages of Women Em'ployed in Canning and Preserving Establishments in Massachusetts, March, 1919. Bulletin No. 18. Supplementary Report on the Wages of Women in Candy Fac- tories in Massachusetts, JanAiary, 1919. WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WOMEN No. Inves- tigated Percent, of Women Earning (Cumulative)— Official Minimum Wages Based on Industries Un- der $4 Un- der $5 Un- der $6 Un- der $7 Un- der $8 Un- der $9 Un- der $10 Un- der $11 Un- der $12 $12 and over Minimum Cosl of Living and Finan' cial Condition of the Industry* Canning and Pre- serving 660 1,071 8.8 2.1 16.1 6.6 28.5 17.6 47.6 31.1 69.7 45.1 89.2 62.8 96.8 76.7 3.2** $11.00 Sept.1,1919 Candy 85.1 91.3 8.7 $12.50 Jan. 1,1920 (Compiled) (Bulletin 18, p. 25; Bulletin 19, p. 25) ' See Decrees No. 11, July 19, 1919; and No 12, July 21, 1919, for additional rates for learners and minora '* Earned $10 and over. Massachu\setts Minimum Wage Commission, January, 1920. Seventh Annual Report, 1919. WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WOMEN No Inves- tigated Per cent, of Women Earning (Cumulative)— Official Minimum Wage Based on Industries Un- der Un- der $5 Un- der $7 Un- der $8 Un- der $9 Un- der $10 Un der $11 -Un- der $12 Un- der $13 Un der $14 Un- der $15 $15 and over Miiiimasn Cost of Living and Condition of the Industry* Corsets 1,361 1,054 344 525 5.4 5.3 3.8 3.7 10.4 8.5 8.1 9.2 16.9 15.7 15.7 16.0 27.6 26.9 25.0 25.6 36.8 39.0 35.8 40.4 47.6 48.5 45.3 50.1 57.5 59.4 57.6 62.6 67.1 68.2 67.2 72.9 76.0 83 3 89.6 89.3 90.1 92.7 10.4 10.7 9.9 7.3 $13.00 Mar.1,1920 Paper box Knit goods Minor Confection- ery products and food preparations 77.2183.3 76.7185.8 82.5 90.3 $15.50 July 1,1920 $13.75 July 1,1920 (Wags Board in session) (Computed from pages 17, 21, 24, and 30) * See Decrees No. 13, No 15, March 13, 1920; No. 17, May 26, 1920, for additional rates for learners and minors. 37 (2) Reinvestigations for Compliance with Minimum Decreed. — Fifth Annual Report of the Minimum Wage Commis- sion of Massachusetts. December 31, 1917. Women's Clothing Industry. On Feb. 1, 1917, a decree went into effect establishing a minimum stand- ard of wages for women and girls [$8.75 for experienced workers] employed in the manufacture of women's cloaks, suits, skirts, dresses and waists. Shortly after the decree went into effect the Commission commenced an inspection of the pay rolls of all concerns in the State known to be engaged in the manufacture of the articles of women's clothing specified in the decree, both for the wholesale and the custom trade. The results of this investigation showed that the great majority of the establishments investigated in which women were found to be employed were paying their workers in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission. Com- plete compliance was found in almost all of the clothing factories and custom tailoring shops, but in only about half of the custom dressmaking establishments. The following table, presenting information for 27 clothing factories for which comparative data were available, shows that since the time of the Commission's first in- vestigation in 1915, the proportion of women in this industry receiving $9 or over has increased from 42.5 per cent, to 73.2 per cent, in Boston, and from 10.9 per cent, to 57.0 per cent, in out of town concerns. (Pages 36-37.) 38 Rates of Payment for Week Workers in Twenty-seven Women's 1915 and 1917. Clothing Factories, Number and Per cent of Women with Rates of— Locality and Year Under $4 $4 and under $5 $5 and under $6 $6 and under $7 $7 and under $8 $8 and under $9 $9 and under $10 $10 and over Total No. Per cent. No. Per cent No. Per cent No. Per cent. No. Per cent. No. Per cent. No. Per cent. No. Per cent. No. Per cent Establish- ments in Bos- ton:— 1915 1917 1 .3 6 2.1 22 1 30 5 7.5 .3 21.8 5.8 35 13 24 6 12.0 3.8 17.4 7.0 55 29 13 12 18.8 8.5 9.4 13.9 49 48 10 11 16.8 14.1 7.3 12.8 54 72 9 22 18.5 21.2 6.5 25.6 70 177 6 27 24.0 52.1 4.3 31.4 292 340 138 86 100 100 Establish- ments outside of Boston:— 1915 1917 . 17 12.3 29 3 21.0 3.5 100 100 1 (Page 38) Sixth Annual Report of the Mininmm Wage Commis- sion of Massachusetts. November 30 ^ 1918. Women^s Clothing Industry. The wage decree for women and girls employed in women *s clothing factories in Massachusetts went into effect Feb. 1, 1917, and pro- vided a minimum rate of $8.75 a week for experienced employees, and rates of $6 and $7 weekly for learners and apprentices. An inspection of the pay rolls of estab- lishments covered by the decree was conducted by the Commission in the spring of 1917. A second inspection was started in November, 1917, and completed in 1918. Visits were made in 1918 to 3'2 establishments, mostly dressmaking and women's custom tailoring shops. Full compliance with the decree was found in 30 of these establishments employing 99 women and girls. In only 2 establishments was there failure to comply with the recommendations of the Commission. Out of the entire number of women for whom a week's wage record was secured, only 15, or 8.4 per cent., were receiving less than the minimum wage fixed for the occupation. Wage ad- justments were made for 5 employees who at the time of the inspection were receiying less than the minimum 39 required, and one special license was granted in accord- ance with the provision of section 9 of the Acts of 1912^ as amended. Men's Clothing and Men's Furnishings Industry, Two wage decrees went into effect in the winter of 1918. These were the Men's Clothing and Raincoat Decree, which became operative Jan. 1, 1918, and the Men's Furnishings Decree, so called, which became oper- ative Feb. 1, 1918. The first-mentioned decree fixes a minimum wage rate of $9 a week for experienced female employees over eighteen years of age, and a rate of $7 weekly for learners and apprentices. The second decree provides a $9 weekly minimum for experienced women, and rates of $7 and $8 for less experienced workers. Inspection of the pay rolls of establishments manu- facturing men's outer garments to determine compli- ance with the recommendations of the Commission was started shortly after the decree went into effect. Agents of the Commission visited 99 establishments, and a tran- script was made of a week's pay-roll record for 1,693 female employees in these factories. Full compliance with the provisions of the decree was found in 88 firms employing 946 women and girls. Only 19 cases of vio- lation of the decrees were found. These were in 11 firms and represent 1.1 per cent, of the total number of women for whom wage data were secured. In two of these cases adjustments were made to bring the wage up to the required minimum. In 13 cases special licenses were granted. (Pages 28-29.) Inspection of the pay rolls in factories and shops engaged in manufacturing workingmen's garments, men's furnishings and other articles specified in the Men's Furnishings Decree, was started in February, 1918. A transcript of a week's pay roll was made in 39 establishments. Full compliance with the recommenda- tions of the Commission was found in 22 of these. In 17 firms there were 39 cases of violations. Of these, 11 were adjusted by raising the wage of the employees in question to the minimum. In 2 cases special licenses were granted, authorizing the employment of women 40 physically defective at a wage less than the minimum fixed for the occu.pation. (Page 30.) MuMin Underwear Industry. One hundred per cent. compliance was found in 54 of the muslin underwear firms. In 15 establishments there were 31 cases where the rates fell below the minimum. Of these, 17 were adjusted by raising the wages. Of the millinery shops visited, 58 were complying with the decree. (Page 33.) Comparison of wage rates at the time of reinspec- tions with the rates for the same firms at the time of the original investigation has generally shown a material advance. While other factors have contributed to wage increases, the evidence at hand indicates that compli- ance with the Commission's decrees has had a definite influence. (Page 35.) Seventh Annual Report of the Minimum Wage Commis- sion of Massachusetts. November 30, 1919. Increase in Earnings. Practically the only way of estimating wage increases in an occupation resulting from a decree is through a comparison of wage conditions prior to the establish- ment of a wage board with that found by the inspection following the date the determinations become effective. In drawing such comparison, however, allowance must be made for other factors that may have entered into the wage increase. This is particularly true when con- siderable time has elapsed between the two investiga- tions, and where there have been abnormal fluctuations in wage rates. For this reason, such comparisons dur- ing the period of the war are unsatisfactory. From the evidence at hand, however, it would ap- pear that the decrees have resulted in advanced rates for a considerable number of women and girls in the occupations affected. (Page 55.) So far as determining compliance with wage recom- 41 mendations, inspections under the early decrees are of little value. In the case of decrees recently entered, the- inspections have a definite relation to enforcement. (Page 54.) Retail Millmery Industry, A comparison of the rates in effect at the time of the inspection with those of 1916, the date of the investigation preceding the establish- ment of the wage board, is shown in the table following. This gives 82.0 per cent of women and girls with weekly rates of $10 and over in 1918-19, as compared with 45.6 per cent in 1916. (Page 47.) Wholesale Millinery Industry, Weekly rates for women employed in wholesale millinery establishments and on those processes in straw hat factories coming within the scope of the decree are shown in the follow- ing table. This compares the wage situation found in 1916, the period covered by the first investigation, with that in effect in 1919. As the supplementary investiga- tion made by the Commission in the summer of 1918 showed little improvement in w^es, a considerable part of the increase indicated by the figures presented may be ascribed to the effect of the decree. (Page 49.) At the time of the first investigation, only one-twen- tieth of the 859 women for whom wage records were available had rates of $9 a week or more. The inspec- tion showed that nearly three-fourths of the 1,274 women for whom information was secured had rates of $9 or over. On the average, rates have advanced about $2 a week since the previous investigation. Although part of this increase was due to a rather general raise in rates in the spring of 1918, a considerable part is unquestion- ably due to the minimum wage decree. (Page 52.) Canning and Preserving Industry, A comparison of the rates in the same group of establishments* included in the original investigation (1917-18) and in the inspec- tion in the fall of 1919 shows a striking change in the *The figures are strictly comparable, as only those firms have been Included which were investigated and had time-rate workers in each year. (Page 63.) 42 wage situation. The increase is particularly noticeable in the fish-canning firms. In 1917-18 only 5.9 per cent of the women in the two branches had rates of $10 or over. In 1919 this percentage had increased to 84 per cent. A considerable part of this increase was unquestionably due to the decree. PERCENT OF WOMEN EARNING THE MINIMUM WAGE DBCREEB SHOWN BY INSPECTIONS BEFORE AND AFTER THE DECREE BECAME EFFECTIVE AND THE RELATION OF THE MINI- MUM WAGE TO THE COST OF LIVING ON JANU- ARY 1, 1920. Dat« Decree Effective Wage Decreed Per cent. Receiving Before and After the Decree, the Wage Decreed and Over Cost of Living Kind of Work Adopted by Wage Board Estimated Increase Covered Year Percent. Year Per cent. from Date of Decrees to Jan. 1,1920 Retail Millinery Workrooms Wholesale milli- nery establish'ts Straw hat estab- lishments Office and other building cleaners occupation Aug. 1, 1918 Jan. 1,1919 Jan. 1, 1919 Apr. 1, 1919 $10 $11 $11 30c an hour by night 20c by day 1916 1916 1916 46 11 29 1919 1919 1919 82 81 71 $11.64 $12.50 $12.50 25 11 11 1916-17 5* 1919 76* $11.54 8 Fish canning occu- pation Sept" 1,1919 $11 1917-18 6** 1919 84** $11 8 Received $9.00 or over. *♦ Received $10 or over. (Compiled from Pages 48, 50, 52, 53, 77, 78, 81, 82.) Compliance with Decrees. Very few cases of non-compliance were found in any of the inspections, and all of these have been adjusted. (Page 12.) Inspections to ascertain compliance with the decrees have been made in every occupation in which wage determinations are in effect. Results of these inspec- tions show substantially full compliance with the recom- mendations of the Commission. They also indicate that a considerable proportion of the women and girls in the occupations covered have received increased wages in consequence of the decrees. (Page 12.) 43 TABULAR SUMMARY OF REINSPECTIONS FOR 1919. Men's Can- Laun- Retail Wo- Cloth- Men's Muslin Retail Whole- Office ning Brush dries Stores men's ingand Furn- Under- Milli- sale Build- and Total Cloth- rain- ishings wear nery Milli- ings Pre- ing coat nery serving Number of records secured 689 2.441 12,618 464 1.195 2,307 1,695 562 841 1,353 650 24,815 Number of firms visited 24 120 216 22 79 48 77 174 28 207 35 1,030 Number with full compliance 23 109 200 20 78 34 59 161 22 200 31 937 Number of cases of apparent non- compliance 2 16 29 8 1 25 39 14 10 42 10 196 Number of these of special license type .... 6 6 16 11 2 1 42 Cases remaining for settlement.. 2 10 29 2 1 9 28 14 8 42 9 154 Settled by employ- ers' adjustment' 1 9 27 2 1 7 18 8 6 42 9 130 Left employ of firm* 1 1 "2 2 10 6 2 22 Cases dropped*. . 2 1 In 2 cases adjustment was made by changing the basis of payment, and in 3 cases the minimum was being paid at the time of the second inspection. In one case wages were raised, and two weeks later the employee was discharged. In all of the other cases wages were raised by the employer to meet the provisions of the decree. 2 Includes 3 cases where the employee was discharged. ^ The reason for dropping these cases was because the firm in which they occurred was apparently on the verge of bankruptcy. (Page 64) 44 Minnesota. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [Summarized.] No. 12. Ant/ Occupation. Effective January 1, 1921. Experienced females. In places with a population of 5000 or more, $12 per week or from 36 to 48 hours and 25^ per hour in excess of 48 hours. In other places, $10.25 per week and 21%^ per hour in excess of 48 hours. Learners (over 18) : in places with a population of 5000 or more, 3 months at $9.12 per week of from 36 to 48 hours and 19^ per hour in excess of 48 hours, 3 months at $10.56 and 22^ per additional hour; in other places, 3 months at $7.68 and 16^ per additional hour, 3 months at $9.12 and 19^ per additional hour. Learners (under 18) : in places with a population of 5000 or more, 3 months at $7.68 and 16^ per additional hour, 3 months at $9.12 and 19^, 3 months at $10.56 and 22^; in other places, 3 months at $6.48 and 13%^ per additional hour, 3 months at $7.68 and 16^, 3 months at $9.12 and 19^. Telephone Operators customarily on duty between 6 P. M. and 8 A. M., and permitted to sleep while on duty, shall be con^strued to have worked the equivalent of 8 hours. Deductions permitted in places with a population of 5000 or more, for room and board furnished, $7, for meals, 22%^ each; in other places, for room and board, $6.25, for meals 21ff each. (2) Wage Investigations. [No reports of investigations have been printed. 45 (3) Explanatory Statements. U. 8. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics.' Monthly Labor Review. Volume IX. No. 3. ^p- t ember, 1919. The Minnesota minimum wage commission issued six orders in 1914, establishing the minimum wage for women in any mercantile, office, waitress, or hairdressing occu- pation at $9 a week in cities of the first class, $8.50 in cities of the second, third, and fourth classes, and $8 elsewhere, while for women employed in * ' any manufac- turing, mechanical, telephone, telegraph, laundry, dry- cleaning, lunch-room, restaurant, or hotel occupation,'' the minimum wage should be $8.75, $8.25, and $8 a week, according to the class of the city in which the occupation was carried on. While these orders are rather inclusive in their scope, they still recognize a difference in the nec- essary cost of living for women in different occupations, taking it for granted, for instance, that a saleswoman in a retail store may have to meet expenses which are not necessary for a laundry employee. Before these orders could be carried into effect the constitutionality of the law was attacked, and the com- mission suspended its activities until the legal question should be settled. The decision of the supreme court, upholding the law, was not given until December 21, 1917, so that there was an interregnum of about three and a half years in the work of the commission, and the orders issued since that period have been based on the idea of a minimum varying according to the size of the commun- ity in which a worker lives, but not according to her occn- pation. Two orders were issued in June, 1918, dealing with the rates to be paid apprentices and learners, which applied to all occupations without distinction. (Pages 251-252.) U. 8. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review. Volume XI, No. 1. July, 1920. On July 5, 1919, the Minimum Wage Commission of 46 Minnesota issued two orders, Nos. 10 and 11. These relate to ^ ' women and minors of ordinary ability in any occupation, ' ' No. 11 governing the employment of learn- ers and apprentices. In the rates fixed a basis was adopted of a weekly amount payable for work not to exceed 48 hours per week, different rates being fixed for cities having a pop- ulation of 5,000 or more, and for places of smaller popu- lation. The higher rate named was $11 per week, work in excess of 8 hours to be paid for at the rate of 23 cents for each additional hour worked. The lower rate was $10.25 per week, plus 211/2 cents for each hour above 48. A State law established a 10-hour maximum workday and 58-hour week for women in mercantile establish- ments, etc., and a 9-hour workday and a 54-hour week for women employed in mechanical or manufacturing establishments, or in telephone or telegraph establish- ments in cities of the first and second classes. The law creating the minimum wage commission gave it no author- ity to hx the hours of labor, but the commission found ^'that the number of hours per week which a person is customarily employed in the performance of work for her or his employer has a direct and substantial bearing on the minimum amount which said person needs and re- quires as a living wage, in that a person whose time and energy are not substantially consumed in the doing of the work for which she or he is employed may and can do for herself or himself many things which would and do reduce the money cost of living of such persons.'' The contention was made by certain employers that the commission had exceeded its powers in fixing the hours of labor, as well as in other provisions of the order, and a temporary injunction was granted against the commis- sion to restrain it from enforcing the orders. The com- mission thereupon appealed and secured a reversal of the injunctive order, leaving the commission free to carry out its orders as made (G. O. Miller Telephone Co. v. ]\Iinimum Wage Commission, 177 N. W. 341). The court admitted that the commission has no power to ^x the hours of labor and held that it did not attempt 47 to do so. What it did was to take ^^48 hours a week as the basic period of labor upon which to compute a mini- mum wage. ^ ' The point that there was a relation between the hours of daily work and the cost of living was upheld as g> finding of the commission which could not be re- garded as ^'fanciful.'' The distinction between localities of larger and smaller sizes was contemplated by the act, and the line drawn by the commission could not be condemned as arbitrary classification; neither does the fact that the same rate is fixed for women as for minors invalidate the order unless it appears that the minimum for one or the other class is too high. Every contention of the opponents of the orders was decided adversely to them, the constitutionality of the act having been previously upheld (Williams v, Evans, 139 Minn. 32, 165 N. W. 495, 166 N. W. 504). The present opinion establishes the power and status of the commis- sion, and would seem to remove all doubt as to the valid- ity of method and legal status. (Pages 132-133.) Minimum Wage Study. Ohio Council on Women and Children in Industry. 1920. Eliza P. Evans, Secretarj^, State of Minnesota Minimum Wage Commission: Our $11 minimum is not a living wage but because of the opposition of employers and because of court action we have been unable to take the situation as it should be taken and we expect to take up the cost of living at once, and alter our wage rate to correspond with the increased cost of living. The majority of women workers are thoroughly in sjTupathy with Minimum Wage legislation, and they ap- preciate the fact that their wages are higher than they would be without such legislation. (Page 27.) 48 North Dakota. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [Summarized.] All orders effective August 16, 1920. No. 5. Public Househeeping. Experienced females : waitresses and counter girls, $17.50 ; chamber maids and kitchen help, $16.70. Learners : waitresses and counter girls, 2 months at $14, 2 months ar $16; chambermaids and waitresses, 2 months at $13.20, 2 months at $15.20. Deductions permitted for room and board $9.50 a week, for room only, $2.50, for board only, $7.00, and for less than 21 meals, 40^ allowed each employee for each meal not furnished. No. 6. Personal Service, Experienced females, $17.50. Learners: 3 months at $13, 3 months at $14, 3 months at $15, 3 months at $16. No. 7. Offices. Experienced females, $20. Learn- ers : 3 months at $14, 3 months at $16, 3 months at $18. No. 8. Mcmufacturing, Experienced females, $16.50. Learners : in candy and biscuit manufacturing, 6 weeks at $12, 6 weeks at $15; in binding or job press feeding, 3 months at $12, 3 months at* $13, 3 months at $14, 3 months at $15. No. 9. Laundry. Experienced females, $16.50 or $16, if laundry privileges are allowed. Learners: 2 months at $12, 2 months at $14. No. 10. Student Nurses. For first year at $4 a month, second year at $6 a month, third year at $8 a month, exclusive of full maintenance, uniforms, equip- ment for work (except breakage) and necessary laundry work. No. 11. Mercantile. Experienced females, $17.50. Learners: 3 months at $12, 3 months at $13, 3 months at $14, 3 months at $15. 49 No. 12. Telephone. Experienced females, $16.50. Learners: 3 months at $12, 3 months at $14, 3 months at $15. No. 3. General Regulations. 3. — Whenever a woman or minor is employed by the week or day regularly and is available for work, 36 to 48 hours shall constitute a full week's work and an employe is eiititled to a full week's wages for same. 4. — ^When business conditions render it impracticable for an employer to furnish an employe full time employ- ment, 30 to 35 hours regular employment shall be paid at the rate of not less than one thirty-sixth of the weekly minimum wage established per hour ; provided, that such employer shall so arrange consecutive hours of contin- uous employment that such employe may have a fair op- portunity for securing such employment as will enable her to earn a full week's wage. 5. — When business conditions render it impracticable for an employer to furnish an employe full time employ- ment, employment under thirty hours per week shall be paid at the rate of not less than one forty-eighth of the weekly minimum wage established per hour. No. 4. Minors. No experienced minor in any occu- pation shall be paid a wage lower than the minimum wage for experienced workers in such occupation. 50 Oregon. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [Summarized.] No. 36. Special Regulations. Effective June 12, 1918. 3. — When business conditions render it impracticable for an employer to furnish to any employe full time em- ployment, the employer shall not be required to pay such employe any greater sum than the hourly wage for the number of hours of actual employment, provided such employer shall so arrange consecutive hours of continu- ous employment that each employe may have a fair op- portunity for securing such employment as will enable her to earn a full week^s wage. Effective October 14, 1919. Nos. 37-43, 45. Mercantile, Manufacturing, Personal Service, Laundry, Telephone and Telegraph, and Public Housekeeping. Experienced females, $13.20. Learners (except in Mercantile and Telephone) : 4 months at $9, 4 months at $10.50, 4 months at $12. Learners in Mer- cantile, 1 m5nth at $9, 3 months at $10.50, 4 months at $12. Learners in Telephone : 3 months at $9, 3 months at $10, 3 months at $11, 3 months at $12. Deductions permitted for room furnished, $2 a week, for board, $4.50 a week and a proportionate amount for less than a week. No. 44. Offices. Experienced females, $60 a month. Learners : 4 months at $9, 4 months at $10.50, 4 months at $12. No. 46. Mimors. 14 to 16 years, $6; 15 to 16 years, $7.20; 16 to 18 years, for 6 months at $8.50 and for each six months thereafter at an increase of $1 a week. 51 No. 47. Packing, Drying, etc. For Packing, Drying, Preserving, or Canning any Variety of Perishable Fruit or Vegetables. Piece Rates. Minimum Piece Rates Occupation and Variety. Per 100 lbs. Per 40 lbs. Cutting Apricots 38-i4^ 15-3/10^ Cutting Pears 67-%^ 2b-UJ Cutting Cling Peaches 38-14^ 15-3/10^ Cutting Free Peaches 21^ S-i/sf Cutting Tomatoes 5-1/10^ per 12 quarts Peeling Apples 4-i4^ per 40 lb. box Quartering Apples 15-3/10^ per 40 lb. box Hulling Strawberries 1-7/lOf^ per pound Stemming Cherries 2/5f^ per pound Sorting and Stemming Cherries i/^^ per pound Sorting and Stemming String Beans 1-1/5^ per pound Minimum Occupation and Variety Size of Can Piece Rates per dozen cans Canning Apricots, Pears and Peaches No. 2-1/2 2-1/2^ Canning Apricots, Pears and Peaches No. 10 6-1/10^ Canning Apples No. 10 3^ Canning Strawberries, Loganber- ries, Blackberries, Raspber- ries, and Cherries No. 2 1-7/10^ Canning Strawberries, Loganber- ries, Blackberries, Raspber- ries and Cherries No. 2-i/> 2-1/8^ Canning Tomatoes No. 2-yo 1-7/lOf^ Canning Tomatoes No. 10 4f^ A uniform basis for facing Prunes in 25-lb. boxes, double faced, of 5-1/10^ per box 52 Time Rates. Class Minimum Time Rate Experienced workers 27-1/2 cents per hour Inexperienced workers 22 cents per hour These rates apply to adults and minors alike. Period for inexperienced shall be limited to three weeks. In reference to females employed in canneries or driers or packing plants, see following extract from Chapter 163, Session Laws of 1917, Section 5037 : <<* * * females employed in harvesting, pack- ing, curing, canning or drying any variety of perish- able fruit, vegetable or fish ; provided, further, that they be paid time and a half for time over ten hours per day when employed in canneries or driers or packing plants. Provided, also, that piece workers shall be paid one and a half the regular prices for all work done during the time they are employed over ten hours per day.'' Notice: According to a ruling of the attorney general, the term ** regular prices'' in above statute shall be construed to mean the rate being paid to any individual worker for a day's work of ten hours ; if a piece worker, it shall mean the rate per piece or number of pieces, paid to any individual worker during any period of ten hours. (2) Wage Investigations. [No reports of investigations have been printed.] 53 Texas. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [Summarized.] No. 1. Telephone, Telegraph, Mercantile, Laundries, Factories. Effective February 7, 1921. Experienced females, $12 and 25^ per hour in excess of 48 hours per week. Learners : 6 months at 15^ per hour, 6 months at 20^ per hour. Deductions Permitted 20^ per meal furnished. Commissions, Bonuses and Tips not counted as wa^es. Washington. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [Summarized.] Nos. 18-19. Any Occupation, Trade or Industry. Ef- fective November 10, 1918, for the period of the war. All females (over 18), $13.20 or 271/2 cents per hour. Minors : $9 a week and an increase of $1 per week after every 6 months of service until $13.20 is paid. Nos. 21-22. Public Housekeeping. Effective June 2, 1920. All females (over 18), $18 per week, dr $3 per day or 371/2 cents per hour. Minors : 4 months at $12 a week and an increase of $1 a week after every 4 months until $18 is paid. Deductions permitted, for a sanitary and properly heated room, $2 per week, for board $1 per day or 25 cents for breakfast, 35 cents for lunch and 40 cents for dinner. Nos. 14-15. Telephone Exchanges having 150 to 300 suhscrihers or 300 to 500 subscribers. All females, $35 per month ; night operator $25 ; relief duty for less than 6 hours 'at 16 cents an hour. No. 20. Telephone Exchanges having less tJmn 150 subscribers. Wage contracts are to be made subject to the approval of the Industrial Welfare Commission. The minimum rate for substitute operators, 16 cents per hour. 54 (2) Reinvestigation for Compliance with Minimum Decreed. Second Biennial Report, Washington Industrial Welfare 'Commission, 1915-1916. For the purpose of obtaining actual facts concerning the effects of the minimum wage law, after two and one- half years of its operation the commission arranged a survey. (Page 100.) This survey includes the most important mercantile establishments throughout the state. Each place of busi- ness was visited and the women employed by the firm interviewed. (Pages 129-130.) The following summary shows (mercantile industry) the wages of all females, including minors, apprentices and adults : No. receiving $6.00 and less per week 292 No. receiving over $6.00 to $7.50 per week 115 No. receiving over $7.50 and less than $10 19 No. receiving the minimum wage, ($10) per week 1,392 No. receiving $10.50 to $11.50 per week 128 No. receiving $12.00 to $13.00 per week 453 No. receiving $13.50 to $17.00 per week 349 No. receiving $17.50 to $19.50 per week 95 No. receiving $20.00 to $24.50 per week 105 No. receiving $25.00 and more 51 (Condensed.) (Page 135.) No. benefited by minimum wage law 812 No. raised $1.00 and less per week 159 No. raised $1.25 to $2.00 inclusive 168 No. raised $2.25 to $3.00 14a No. raised $3.25 to $4.00 101 No. raised $4.25 and over 27 No. raised but not giving amount 217 No. claiming law has held their wage down 27 No. stating law made no difference in wage or work 1,243 (Page 132.) During the three years of the existence of the Indus- trial Welfare Commission, a large amount of money for 55 wages due through under payments in violation of the minimum wage law, has been collected and paid over to^ women and minors so defrauded. The amount collected without court aid was (214 cases) $6,263.61 The amount collected through aid of court was (10 cases) 423.18 $6,686.79 Amount due pending settlement (11 cases) $1,274.98 (Combined) (Page 96.) There is little reason to doubt that if it were not for such provision through law and the means provided for its enforcement, the process of extortion that would be practiced would be widespread. (Pages 96-97.) Washington Industrial Welfare Commission. Bulletin No. 1. Survey of Puhlic Housekeeping Industry, February 13, 1920, Tables 1-2 — Weekly Wage Keceived by Women. Under $13^0 $13.20 $13.29 to $15 $15 to $18 Over $18 Totals Received Addi- tional Compen- sation* Official Minimum Wages Based on Cost of Living Waitresses, Counter Serv- ers, etc 153 10 28 6 7 44 5 6 8 2 60 7 4 15 56 5 92 8 16 34 15 9 71 3 45 1 18 19 8 11 >0 4 2 ■'6 4 22 16 298 24 227 22 51 116 50 42 265 5 37 3 38 92 48 29 $13.20 Nov, 10, 1918** Janitresses, Cleaners, etc. . Chambermaids, LinenGirls, Parlor Maids $18.00 June 2, 1920*** Elevator Operators Cashiers. Checkers, etc. . . . Pantry Helpers, Kitchen Helpers Plain Cooks, Special Cooks, Housekeepers, Matrons.. . . Totals 259 96 235 176 64 830 517 (Combined) (Page 2.) • Either room or room and Tjoard or mcala. **0rder No. 18, Sept. 10, 1918, and for additional rates for minors SM Order No. 19, Sept. 19, 1918. ***See Order No. 21, April 3, 1920, for value of other compensation than wages. 56 The survey was a personal one made by investigators who interviewed each woman and noted facts. Of those receiving under $13.20 per week 195 received room or meals, 44 worked only a few hours per day in tea rooms or cafeterias. Some of this group were being charged as much for their meals as the customers were paying. There were no technical violations of the law, although the margin was veiy small in most cases. Of those receiving $13.20 per week only four received board and room. (Page 3.) A large number in the next group, $13.20 to $15.00 per week, were receiving $13.85 per week or $60.00 per month without board or room, especially in the chamber- maid occupation. (Page 3.) Those reporting on tips were almost all from the waitress group, numbering 226. (Page 4.) Washington Industrial Welfare Commission. Bulletin No. 2, Survey of Manufacturing Industry, April 10, 1920. Number and per cent of women receiving wages of — No. Inves- tigated Under $1320 $13 20 $1320 to $15 $15 to $18 $18 to $20 $20 to $25 Over $25 Official Minimum Wage Based on the Cost of Living* Over 18 years of age Apprentices over 18 years of age Minors under 18 years of age 823 32 136 32 23 147 42 235 35 233 30 83 5 95 1 30 $1320 Nov. 10, 1918 (Board reconvened) Total Number.... Per cent. (Cumulative) 991 100 55 189 24.6 270 50.8 263 78.4 88 87.2 96 97.0 30 3.0 (Compiled.) *See Order No. 18, September 10, 1918, and for additional rates for minors see Order No. 19, September 19, 1918. This sui-vey covers 87 manufacturing establishments (including canneries) throughout the State. It is not a complete survey, but a representative one. Washington Bureau of Labor. Twelfth Biennial Report. 1919-1920, November 1920. ^ — Report of Miss Marie Pidgeon, Assistant Labor Com- missioner. It has been nearly two years since I assmned the du- ties of Assistant Labor Commissioner. In many cases of minimum wage violations I have been able to collect the wages due the working women without having to resort to court action. In this way I have avoided the delay and vexation that necessarily would result from such action. Of such cases my records show that in my tenure of office I have collected $2,536.83. In addition to these col- lections, where failure to pay the minimum wage was involved, I have succeeded in securing approximately $3,000 in claims by women where the complaints were the result of confusion as to time employed or amount of wages promised or other causes. (Page 12.) 58 Wisconsin. (1) Minimum Wage Orders. [Summarized.] No. 1. All Industries. Effective August 1, 1919. Experienced females or minors (over 17) 22^ per hour. Learners: 3 months at 18^ per hour, 3 months at 20^ per hour. Minors: between 14 and 16, 18^ per hour, between 16 land 17, 3 months at 18^, thereafter at 20^ an hour; except that minors producing the same output as experienced females shall not be paid less than 22^ per hour. In seasonal industries no learning period is recognized. Deductions permitted: for rooms, $2 ; for board $4.50. Piece rates, effective March 24, 1920. Snipping round beans, 2 cents per pound Snipping flat beans, iy2 cents per pound No. 2. Telephone Exchanges. 1. Day Period. For the 16 hour period, 6 A. M. to 10 P. M. of the same day, telephone exchanges shall pay their operators as a mini- mum for the number of hours indicated in the following schedule: Size of Exchange Basis of Pay Under 200 telephones, 11/16 of the time on duty. 200-219 telephones, 12/16 of the time on duty. 220-239 telephones, 13/16 of the time on duty. 240-259 telephones, 14/16 of the time on duty. 260-274 telephones, 15/16 of the time on duty. 275 telephones and more, time on duty. 2. Night Rest Period. For the 8 hour period 10 P. M. of one day to 6 A. M. of the following day tele- phone exchanges shall pay their operators for all of the time they are subject to call which is not included within the longest period of uninterrupted rest which the oper- ators get on at least two-thirds of the nights they are on duty, but no exchange having night service shall pay its 59 operators for a lesser number of hours than is indicated in the following schedule : Size of Exchange Bmis of Pay Under 300 telephones, 2/8 of the time subject to call. 300-499 telephones, 3/8 of the time subject to call. 500-624 telephones, 4/8 of the time subject to call. 625-749 telephones, 5/8 of the time subject to call. 750-874 telephones, 6/8 of the time subject to call. 875-999 telephones, 7/8 of the time subject to call. 1000 telephones or more, time subject to call. Exchanges in private residences, wages at the rate of 50 cents per month per phone. No. 3. Hospitals and Sanitariums. That attendants in sanitariums who are employed for more than fifty-five (55) hours per week as a minimum shall be paid for fifty-five (55) hours per week. No. 4. Home Work. ^'Home Workers'' as a mini- mum must be paid such piece rates which yield the women and minor employes of the same employer who are of average ability and are employed in the factory, the rates prescribed in Order No. 1. No. 5. Intermittent Workers. Women and minor employes who work intermittently shall be regarded as having completed the first three months of the learning period which is provided for in Order No. 1 after 600 hours of work in trade or industry, and the entire learn- ing period of six months after 1,200 hours of work. No. 6. Tobacco Stemming Warehouses. Effective March 30, 1920. Piece rate for stripping tobacco, 3i/2^ per pound. Special licenses granted to handicapped workers, if at least 75 per cent of the women and minors, other than learners earn at least 25^^ per hour.* No. 7. Beauti/ Parlors. Effective May 20, 1920. Learners for the first two months of employment do not ♦Industrial Commission's circular letter to employers. April 6, 1920. 60 come under Order No. 1, following 3 months, minimum, 18^ per hour, next 3 months 20^ per hour. Minimu/m Wage Act. Industrie Commission of Wis- consin, Concerning Order No. 1. The recommendation of the Advisory Wage Board that the minimum wage rate should be upon an hourly basis is supported by testimony that many items in the cost of living of female and minor employes vary directly with the number of hours they are required to work. Employes who have short hours of labor can without injury do much work for themselves which female and minor employes who work longer hours must hire others to do for them. This has reference especially to laundry, the repair and up-keep of cloth- ing, and the making of some articles of clothing. Longer hours of labor, moreover, unquestionably mean increased fatigue, and it is now well established that fatigue is an important cause of sickness. Female and minor employes who work longer hours on the average will lose more time from work because of sickness. The shorter hour workers on the average work more days during the -year because the morbidity rate is lower. For these reasons the Commission agrees with the Ad- visory Wage Board that the living wage should be estab- lished upon an hourly basis rather than at a definite figure per week which disregards the hours of labor. The Commission also accepts the recommendations of the Advisory Wage Board that classification should be made and that the following classes should be recog- nized as female and minor employes unable to earn the living wage and should consequently be licensed as a class to receive a somewhat lower wage rate : Learners over 17 years of age; minors between 16 and 17 years of age; minors under 16 years of age. (Page 12.) Female and minor employes who are above 17 years of age upon first entering an industry are unable to pro- duce the same output as experienced employes. They are unacquainted with the industry and its operations. 61 They cannot work with the same speed and efficiency as experienced employes, waste more product, and require^ more supervision. Their services are distinctly less valuable than those of experienced employes. If em- ployers are not permitted to employ such learners at a lower wage rate, it is probable that beginners will not be able to secure the training which is essential to an opportunity for steady and remunerative employment in the future. Learners, consequently, should be placed in a class by themselves during a short learning period; such learners should be licensed as a class to receive a lower wage rate. As soon as such learners have acquired reasonable efficiency, however, they should be paid a living wage. The Commission accepts the recommenda- tion of the Advisory Wage Board that the learning period, during which less than a living wage may be paid, shall not exceed six months and that this period should be divided into two parts, each of three months' duration. After three months of experience an employe clearly is more efficient than during the first tliree months of his employment, and consequently should be paid a higher wage. (Page 12, 13.) Permit children under 17 years of age are as a class clearly distinguishable from both learners and experi- enced employes. The cost of living of minor employes under 17 years of age we believe is somewhat less than the cost of living of adult female employes and older minor employes, although we are unable to estimate the exact difference. We believe also that the older the permit child the more nearly does his or her cost of living approximate that of the adult female employe and the minor employe over 17 years of age. The value of the service rendered by permit children also places them in a distinct class. Permit children lack the sense of responsibility of adults and older minors, and for most employments are distinctly less efficient. The fur- ther factor enters that all permit children are by law required to attend a vocational school for 8 hours per week during the day time in the months while these 62 schools are in session, in all cities in which such schools are maintained. (Page 13.) In recognizing as distinct classes learners over 17 years of age, minors between 16 and 17 years of age, and minors under 16 years of age, our purpose is to afford an opporunity to beginners to secure employment and training in industries which offer them a prospect of steady and remunerative employment. No employer should be permitted to make these classifications an excuse for getting his work done at less than the mini- mum wage. We accept as reasonable that there must clearly be a limitation upon the percentage of the em- ployes in an establishment who may be paid less than the minimum living wage, and consider the recommen- dation of the Advisory Wage Board reasonable, that this limit should be placed at 25%. This limitation should apply to all normal times. When there is an unusual situation which requires a great increase in the working force, the 25% limitation may be unreason- able and impracticable and is not intended to apply. When such unusual conditions prevail, the employers affected may take the matter up with this Commission, which is by law expressly authorized to make special as well as general orders to carry out the intent of the legislature. The Advisory Wage Board has not considered and has made no recommendation upon the learning period in seasonal industries which operate for only a few months during the year. We believe, however, that the reasons which impelled the Advisory Wage Board to recommend that the number of employes in any estab- lishment to whom less than the minimum living wage may be paid shall not exceed 25% of the total number of the female and minor employes normally employed, also led to the conclusion that no learning period should be recognized in seasonal industries which operate for only a few months during the year. Such industries fur- nish no prospect of steady employment. Employes in such industries either cannot work throughout the whole 63 of the year, or must undergo a learning period in an- other industry. (Page 14.) — Concerning Order No, 2, Telephone companies are clearly employers within the meaning of the minimum wage act. (Page 16.) The minimum wage act provides that all women and minor employes shall he paid a living wage. It certainly costs a woman just as much to live whether she answers few or many calls. The commission can take cognizance only of such periods of no work for the operators which they can employ to advantage in doing work for them- selves or for sleep. (Page 18.) Interpretations and Rulinqs Relative to the Minimum Wage Law and the Orders Pursuant Thereto as Revised January 5, 1920. Industrial Commission of Wisconsin. 3. Tips received from patrons cannot be counted as a part of the wage in computing the amount due under the minimum wage orders. 4. In computing the minimum wage no deduction can be made for instruction in the trade or industry. 7. The minimum wage law does not apply to women and minor employes who are bona fide apprentices for a profession in which registration is required by state law. 12. No request for a special license to work for less than the living wage will be entertained by the commis- sion unless the employe who is alleged to be handicapped is paid the same piece rates which other employes in the establishment are being paid for the same or similar work; nor if the piece rates prevailing in the establish- ment yield less than 25 cents per hour to more than 25 per cent of the women and minor employes other than learners. 64 (2) Investigation for Compliance with Minimum Decreed. Biennial Report. Wisconsin Industrial Commission, July 1, 1918, to June 30, 1920. The enforcement of this (telephone) order has been the most difficult problem which has been met with in the administration of the minimum wage law. This has been due to the fact that wages in this industry heretofore probably have been lower than in any other industry, and that the margin of profit of the employing companies has been small, and in many instances they have not been conducted for profit at all. (Page 8.) The results have been gratifying. Complete com- pliance has not yet been secured from all companies, but adjustments already completed have given 206 women or minor telephone operators a total of $22,439.23 as back pay. The increase in wages has, in many instances, been more than 100%, and for the industry as a whole probably exceeded 33%%. (Pages 8-9.) Another special problem was presented by home work, that is, work which is let out by factories to be done in homes. There is no practical way for determining the hours put in by home workers, and it is universal that these employes are paid on a piece-rate basis. But there is probably no other class of employes who have been more seriously underpaid. The commission, conse- quently, has been anxious to arrive at a practical method of applying the minimum wage law to home work. With this end in view, it adopted an order providing that home workers shall be paid such piece rates as will yield women and minor employes of the same employer in the factory, who are of average ability, the minimum time rate of 22 cents per hour. Investigations are now being made to check up compliance with this order by the man- ufacturers giving out home work. (Pages 9-10.) A problem of a different kind and altogether more complex was presented by the tobacco stemming ware- houses. Within a short time after the adoption of mini- mum wage order No. 1, the commission was flooded with 65 requests for special licenses to work for less than the living wage, from women employes in the tobacco ware.- houses. These employes were all piece-workers, and it was found that many of them were unable to make 22 cents an hour at the prevailing piece rates. Because it realized that this might mean that the piece rates were too low, the commission refused to be hurried into the issuance of a large number of special licenses in this in- dustry, prior to a careful investigation of this problem. Such an investigation, however, was undertaken imme- diately, and practically every tobacco stemming ware- house in the state was visited by the women deputies of the commission. (Pages 10-11.) It was found that this industry gives employment to an unusually large number of elderly women, many of whom are not efficient. On the other hand, it was also found that the piece-rates which were paid in most of the warehouses were so low that many other employes in additions to the elderly women were unable to make the living wage. After a conference with the officers of the company which controls most of the tobacco warehouses in Wisconsin, an agreement was reached that the com- mission would permit all tobacco stemming warehouses to pay their women and minor employes either the time rates prescribed in minimum wage order No. 1, or a piece rate of 3% cents per pound, which was % cent per pound more than the rate paid at most of the warehouses. After this agreement was formally adopted as minimum wage order No. 6, reports were required from all the tobacco warehouses to make certain that back pay to August 1, 1919, was given to all women and minor employes who were paid less than the time rates of minimum wage or- der No. 1. No less than 1442 women were given back pay under this order, totaling $5564.76. (Page 11.) No complete record has been kept of the collections of back pay thus made for women employes other than in the telephone and tobacco industries. A partial list of such cases, prepared by the minimum wage deputy, shows payments of back pay through the active efforts of the 66 commission to 68 women employes, totaling- $1284.63. (Page 13.) While one year is too short a period to accurately gauge the effect of the enforcement of the minimum wage law, it is very apparent that most employers do not re- gard the law as a serious hardship. There are no reliable statistics upon wages in Wisconsin, either before or after the enforcement of the minimum wage law. It is proba- ble, however, that before the adoption of minimum wage order No. 1, one-fourth to one-third of the women em- ployes of the state, not including learners, were paid less than 22 cents an hour. The effect of the order, however, was not conjfined to those employes who had previously been paid less than 22 cents per hour. In fact, at the hearing on AugTist 4, 1919, upon the application of em- ployers for a postponement of the date of enforcement of the order, their claim of great losses was based not upon increases in wages rendered necessary to bring their women employes up to 22 cents an hour, but upon ' ^ sym- pathetic" increases which they felt obliged to make to women employes who had been paid more than 22 cents an hour. There can be no question, also, that the mini- mum wage has not become the maximum. In practically all industries the great majority of the women employes are being paid more than 22 cents an hour. There has also been no reduction of opportunities for employment of women ; in fact, there never has been a time when the number of calls for women help at the employment offices so greatly exceeded the number of women applicants for positions. (Pages 13-14.) Industrial Commission of Wisconsin. Release to the Newspapers Oct. 29, 1920. While the Wisconsin minimum wage rate of 22^ an hour is less than the rate in most other states having minimum wage laws, there is no question but that the establishment of this rate by order of the Industrial Com- mission on August 1, 1919, has had the effect of mate- 67 rially increasing women's wages throughout Wisconsin. This has been true especially of women employed in mer- cantile establishments, telephone exchanges, and tobacco" warehouses. Comparatively few women employed in fac- tories or offices were paid less than 22^ an hour even before the Commission's order became effective, but many of these employes also secured wage increases, because less efficient employes had to be increased to 22^. 68 British Columbia. Annual Report of Department of Labour of British Columbia for Year Ending December, 1919, Comparative Statement Based on Returns from Employ- ers in the Mercantile and Laundry, Cleaning and Dyeing Industries Showing Weekly Wages of Women Employees. Mercantile Industry Laundry, Cleaning and Dyeing Industry Wages 1918— Before order Became Effective 1919— After Order Became Effective* 1918— Before Order Became Effective 1919-After Order Became Effective** Number 18 Years and Over Number Under 18 Years Number 18 Years and Over Number Under 18 Years Number 18 Years and Over Number Under 18 Years Number 18 Years and Over Number Under 18 Years Under 16 3 9 28 113 111 205 . 94. 42 48 27 37 26 16 2 7 1 "i 32 38 25 533 183 97 209 78 53 58 122 ■76 58 56 59 35 35 4 2 3 1 "2 10 32 37 53 34 50 32 26 19 10 3 2 2 "4 11 28 11 20 2 12 5 ■■4 1 19 174 55 65 12 9 12 10 $6 to $6.99 7 to 7.99 . 8 to 8.99 6 9 to 9.99 15 10 to 10.99 15 11 to 11.99 15 12 to 12.99 173 74 36 90 41 30 44 --78 13 13 to 13.99 9 14 to 14.99 15 to 15.99 1 16 to 16.99 1 17 to 17.99 18 to 18.99 . . Totals 1,129 207 1,428 323 312 93 361 75 (Compiled) (Pages 97-98) * Wage order, $12.75 for a week of 48 hours and 26 9-16 cents per hour for additional work. Effective, February 24, 1919. ** Wage order, $13.50 for a week of 48 hours, effective March 31, 1919. 69 Annual Report of Department of Labour of British Co- lumbia for Year ending December, 1919, ^__ General Comparative Summary of Mercantile and Laun- dry, Cleaning, and Dyeing Industries in British Columbia. Mercantile Laundry, Cleaning, Dyeing 1918 1919 1918 1919 91 112.75 7.80 15.49 49.6 121 $14.67 9.73 18.45 46.1 24 $11.80 9.69 23.00 47.2 23 Average weekly wage — $14.48 Under 18 years 11.19 17.00 Average hours worked per week 45.1 (Pages 97, 98) A scrutiny of the returns reveals the pleasing fact that coupled with a general rise of wages there is a per- ceptible decrease in the hours of labour. (Page 85.) In the Public Housekeeping Occupation the pre- liminary investigation showed the minimum wage to be $5 ; the average was $14.23 and the hours worked 50.6 per week. The legal minimum wage was set at $14 and be- came effective on August 16th, 1919. After that date the average wage rose to $16.20 and 48.95 hours were worked, or $1.97 per week higher than the previous average and the hours 1.65 less weekly. Before the Minimum Wage Order came into force no less than 55 per cent of the women eighteen years of age or over engaged in this oc- cupation were receiving less than $14 a week. The pro- portion of those receiving $20 per week and over has risen from 4% per cent, to nearly 13 per cent. Girls un- der eighteen years of age have also participated in the general rise of wages. In the Office Occupation the minimum wage was $4 per week before any Order had been made. Investigation showed that previous to the Conference in 1919 the aver- age wage was $17 a week and 43.7 hours were worked. The legal minimum wage was set at $15 and became ef- fective on August 16th, 1919. Prom that date the average 70 weekly wage rose to $18.24 and the hours worked fell to 43.6. There was a slight decrease in the number of em- ployees and an increase of 0.52 per cent, of girls under eighteen years of age. Here again an increase is shown in the number receiving more than the minimum wage, and also in the number receiving more than $20 per week. In the Manufacturing Industry the weekly minimum wage before the Conference in 1919 was as low as $1.50 in some occupations, and the average was $12.55 for 46.6 hours worked. The weekly minimum was set by the Or- der at $14 and became effective on September 1st, 1919. The average wage increased after that date to $15.13 and the hours worked were reduced to 45.9. The last investi- gation shows a decrease in the employment of girls under eighteen years of age and an increase in the whole number of females employed. Here again the number of women in the better-paid positions — i. e., those receiving more than the minimum wage — shows a large increase. An- alysis of the returns in this occupation is incomplete, as the Board has not yet fully established the rates of pay for apprentices or for inexperienced workers, nor the period that may be allowed workers in these classes to become proficient. At the time of compiling this report these matters are still under advisement. The remaining Orders issued by the Board during the year 1919 have not been in operation long enough to warrant comparisons being made. (Pages 98-99.) 71 Manitoba. The Minimum Wage for Women and Girls in Manitoba, Manitoba Mvnimmn Wage Board, Winnipeg, Oct., 1920. During the last Spring and early Summer of 1919, the figures agreed upon in May, 1918, as necessary for a living wage came up for revision, and the members of the Board were convinced that the minimums set for workers in laundries, food stuffs, soap, paper-box, drug and cigar factories, would have to be increased if the minimum wage was to be a living wage. Consequently, after being advertised, a public hearing was held, and it was agreed by representatives present that a minimum of eleven dollars should be established. (Page 4.) 72 2. Industrial Efficiency of Both Employers and Employ- ees is Stimulated. Evidence accumulates that the necessity of paying higher wages stimulates the employers to better manage- ment and organization, more emphasis on personnel work, the training of employees and the consequent cutting down of the labor turnover. The most striking statement of the value of a living wage in increasing efficiency of the workers is by a manager of a five and ten cent store.* In the past such stores paid notoriously low wages. South Australian Industrial Reports. Vol. 1. 1916-18. President of the Industrial Court, Mr. Jethro Brown : The Salt Case. The President is bound by law to award not less than a living wage. If that wage is higher than has been pre- viously fixed, the excess may come out of the profits of the employer. But if it should so happen that the excess cannot be paid out of profits, there are other sources to be drawn on. There is the possibility of increased economy or increased efficiency in the conduct of the business concerned. There is the possibility that an in- creased output on the part of employers may enable the employers to avoid shutting down. A great deal of evi- dence might be adduced to show that in Australia the sources to which I have referred as available for paying higher wages — increased economy or efficiency of busi- ness organization, and an increased output on the part of the worker — are sources from which, under the stimu- lus of necessity, much more might be drawn than at present. I do not speak of all industries, but my remark is fairly applicable to a large number I dwell upon these things, because I wish to show that if this Court, in declaring a living wage, declares a wage which ♦See p. 83. 73 apparently cannot be paid by the industry concerned, the Court is not necessarily shutting down the industry. In a number of cases which have come before Australian industrial tribunals, the argument has been brought for- ward that a particular business or industry would have to be closed down if the wages were raised, and yet the industry or business has continued despite increased wages, and is to-day paying reasonable dividends. Whether the result be due to the potential economy of high wages, or to the fact that employers have discov- ered that necessity is the mother of invention, or to other circumstances, I need not pause to consider. That fact is indisputable. (Pages 3-4.) The Living Wage — Tinsmith's Case. Nor is it sound business to underpay the worker. It is true that particular employers may make profits by the award of a wage lower than the true living wage. But the interests of the employers as a whole are not to be promoted by sweating wages, or even by a bare sub- sistence wage I cannot too strongly emphasize the fact that it is for the interests of the employers them- selves, as well as for the employees, that the living wage awarded by this Court should be such as to ensure to every workman a wage sufficient to maintain him in a high state of industrial efficiency, and to provide his family for the necessaries for health and well being. When economists sipeak of the potential economy of high ivages they are not talking in the air. They are talking of something which has been demonstrated in the indus- trial development of modern communities The mistake that is often made by private employers is the mistake so commonly, and I fear justly, attributed to Governments — the mistake of seeking efficiency through economies rather than economy through effi- ciency. (Pages 80-81.) 74 South Australicm Industrial Reports. Vol. 2. 1918-19. President of the Industrial Court, Mr. Jethro Brown : The Printing Trades Case. Sound national economy embraces the recognition of the need for securing such a return for work, whether mental or physical, as will maintain the worker in health and efficiency, and stimulate his or her ambition. The realisation of the fact, in its bearing upon maximum pro- duction at lowest cost of production, leads to the conclu- sion that lowest cost of production should be sought for, less in low rates of wages, than in increased skill in the management, and in increased efficiency of the worker. (Pages 45-6.) The Furniture Trades Case. It may be conceded that an increase in the price of a commodity produced has sometimes been inevitable where wages have been increased. But I do not hesitate to express the opinion that, in a majority of oases, the increase of prices, aside from fluctuations in the world's markets, and omitting for the moment the possibility of some diversion of profits to wages, might have been avoided by a greater efficiency on the part of employers and employees by eliminating, as far as possible, the waste of disorganized industry, by the installation of up-to-date plants, and the adoption of the most effective methods of business organization. (Page 235.) Second Biennial Report. California Industrial Welfare Commission. 1915-1916. From the business point of view labor cost and not the rate of wages is the most important item to be con- sidered in the matter of the payment of labor. This is particularly the case in the laundry industry where labor is the heaviest item of cost. Power laundries are classed 75 as manufacturing establishments, but they differ from ordinary manufacturing establishments in that they do not convert raw material into finished products, conse- quently labor is a much larger item than in the ordinary factory. (Page 220.) The following comparison of labor cost with the aver- age weekly earnings of men and women by cities demon- strates that the higher wages are accompanied by higher labor cost, but not nearly in proportion: Table XII. Value of Work Done in Selected Establish- ments, Percentage of Total Number of Employees represented by Reporting Establishments, with Average Weekly Earnings of Men and Women, and Productive Labor Cost.* City Number of Establish- ments Reporting Per cent, of Total Number of Laundry Workers in Each City Value of Work Done Women's Average Weekly Earn- ings Men's Average Weekly Earn- ings Productive Labor Cost (Per cent.) San Francisco 12 12 8 9 2 4 56.4 70.2 60.9 68.5 57.6 se,3 $124,312.01 145,814.81 51,695.73 28,049.69 17,794.51 12,362.77 $9.89 7.78 8.38 8.94 8.47 7.05 $16.36 12.65 15.75 18.20 12.68 15.00 37.99 33.55 Oakland Fresno, Stockton and San Jose. . . Pasadena 35.30 38.95 31.15 Colton, Riverside and San Bernar- dino 29.02 (Cut down and conbined with Table XIIL) (Pages 220-221) Minimum. Wage Laws are Good Business. Extracts from Letters hy Employers Operatiny under a Legal Minimimi Wage. National Consumers' League, New York. October^ 1920. Cost of Operation not Increased. Edward A. Filene, President, Wm. Filene's Sons Co., (retail specialty store) Boston, Mass. Oct. 5, 1920. ''We have had the minimum wage in our concern since March 1, 1912, and the important thing about it is 76 that, relatively the cost of wages as compared with other costs of nmning the business has not increased, but on the contrary has decreased. ' ' C. C. Carpenter, Pres., The MacDougall & Southwick Co., (retail dry goods) Seattle, Wash. Dec. 31, 1919. ** Quite contrary to the belief of many merchants, a fair minimum wage will not increase the per cent cost of operation.^* Fifth Annual Report of the Minimum Wage Commission of Massachusetts. December 31, 1917. In November and December, 1917, the Commission made its third reinspection since the operation of the de- cree of Aug. 15, 1914, of the pay-roll records of women employed in brush factories. It was found that women were employed in 23 such establishments as compared with 17 reported at the time of the last inspection in June and July, 1915. The total number of women em- ployed in the industry in the State was 871, an increase of 79.6 per i> 11 2 9 12.0 3.4 19!6 46 4 11 34 50.0 6.8 24.5 73.9 81 5 43 45 88.0 8.5 95.6 97.8 88 48 44 46 95.7 81.4 97.8 100.0 4 11 1 4 3 No. 13..... 18.6 No. 14 2 2 No. 15 Total 1 3 .4 .5 23 82 8.6 14.2 100 222 37.6 38.4 190 375 71.4 64.9 244 544 91.7 94.1 22 34 8 3 Total of all Es- tablishments. 5.9 Notr: — Of the 660 persons whose records were studied, data concerning rates were not available for workers. (Page 29) 105 MassacTiM^etts Minimum Wage Commission. Bulletin No. 20. May, 1919. Report on the Wages of Women in the MilVmery Industry in Massachu^ setts. _ Table 2 (a). — Average Weekly Earnings: hy Establish- ments (Cumulative). Straw Hats. Per cent, of Women Earning — Establishments Un- der $3 Un- der $4 Un- der $5 Un- der $6 Un- der 17 Un- der $8 Un- der Un- der $10 Un- der $11 Un- der $12 Un- der $13 Un- der $14 Un- der $15 and Over No. 1 .'".' .8 1.7 2.3 1.5 6.8 ... 1.5 9.1 7.0 3.0 10.6 4.9 21.7 15.8 4.5 18.9 3.2 6.7 10.9 42.9 23.4 8.2 23.5 9.7 13.3 17.0 54.9 31.6 16.4 36.4 12.9 13.3 24.2 64.0 39.2 19.4 48.5 19.4 20.0 13.3 31.7 75.4 47.4 26.1 60.6 29.0 40.0 26.7 44.5 79.4 56.1 34.3 77.3 32.3 53.3 53.3 55.1 84.0 64.3 42.5 85.6 48.4 60.0 60.0 64.9 90.3 71.9 49.3 93.2 54.8 80.0 73.3 73.6 97.7 80.7 59.0 96.2 71.0 86.7 73.3 82.6 98.9 86.5 70.9 97.7 77.4 86.7 80.0 17.4 No.2 No.3 No.4 No 5 1.1 13.5 29.1 2.3 No. 6 No. 7 No.8 22.6 13.3 20.0 Total .5 2.1 5.3 11.8 20.4 28.9 36.7 45.9 56.2 64.6 72.7 80.6 86.7 13.3 (Page 35) Bulletin No. 4. United States Women in Industry Ser- vice. Wages of Ca/ndy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. Jume, 1919. Wages in the candy industry are not standardized. The workers are unorganized and there is no definite and universally accepted method of determining rates. This lack of standardization is shown in the great diver- gence in the pay rolls of the factories investigated. (Page 19.) 106 Table 8. — median weekly earInings of women workers (not including forewomen) employed during one weekly pay-roll period in 1919, BY ESTABLISH- MENT. Establishment No. I Number of woman workers. 483 Median weekly- earnings. $10.32 n 91 9.90 Ill IV 124 84 12.86 12.03 V ... 99 9.81 VI 74 9.25 VII 51 7.41 IX .; 41 9.73 X-. 37 9.03 XI 27 8.90 XII 27 8.90 XIII XIV XV 23 24 18 10.18 12.70 10.85 XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX 9 8 7 7 3 11.50 10.50 9.50 12.25 15.50 Total 1,237 $9.76 The median earnings varied from $7.41 to $15.50. It is natural that in a small plant like No. XX, where there is less specialization and, therefore, less opportunity for mere repetitive processes the lower paid groups should not be represented. If, for example, only three workers are employed and two are dippers at $16 each, the median earnings will be much higher than in another establishment so large as to justify a separate group of packers earning approximately $9 a week. Firms Nos. II, VII, and X had no dippers on their pay rolls. In establishment No. VI at the time of the investigation 107 the workers were on part time. But it is significant to note that in the larger plants, employing 50 or more, the median earnings vary from $7.41 to $12.86. It is doubtful whether there is enough variation in the scale of processes in these different plants to warrant such- diversity in earnings. Greater standardization would undoubtedly be advantageous both for workers and employers. (Page 20.) 108 4. An Influence Toward Industrial Peace is Created. It is not possible to measure quantitatively the value of such legislation in better relations between employers and employees. But spontaneous expressions of the bet- ter feeling engendered by wage board conferences and the payment of a living wage persuasively demonstrate that at least an influence has been created toward indus- trial peace. Third Biennial Report of the California Industrial Wel- fare Commission. 1917-1918, Wage boards have been held in the canning, mercan- tile, and laundry industries, and their recommendations proved valuable aids in the subsequent issuance of the commission's rulings. It is not required of the commission to hold wage boards before issuing its orders; but it is the policy of the commission to avail itself of the expert counsel of those experienced in an industry whenever feasible. The wage board may be defined as a joint conference of employers, employees and a representative of the com- mission. It provides a common meeting ground to em- ployer and employee for the discussion of their inter- ests. Since both are serving the state while serving the board the Weight of personal demands is counterbal- anced by a sense of responsibility to the public. By thus implanting mutual understanding, the wage boards ad- vance industrial peace. (Page 17.) Sixth Annual Report of the Minimu^m Wage Commission of Massachusetts. November 30, 1918. There is a growing appreciation among employers of the beneficial results in the industrial situation of this State of the work of the Commission when it receives due co-operation. (Page 40.) 109 Seventh Annual Report of the Minirrmfm Wage Commis- sion of Massachusetts. November 30, 1919. The results of wage board activities during the year just ended are of interest for several reasons. With the single exception of the Corset Wage Board, alL the boards have submitted unanimous reports; and in this particular instance only one vote was lacking to secure the same result. In distinction from the prec- edent set by a majority of the former boards, all of those reporting this year have recommended a minimum rate which would meet the cost of living as they deter- mined it.* The rates recommended are higher than those fixed the previous year, and considerably above any in effect in 1918. The average of the four sets of deter- minations reported in 1919 is approximately $13. The determinations of the Men's Clothing and Eaincoat Wage Board, fixing a $15 minimum, represent the highest rate provided by any minimum wage decree in this State. (Pages 34-35.) The conduct of wage boards, it is true, presents ex- tremely difficult problems. The standards of the various boards differ greatly, and the action of individual boards is sometimes disappointing. Notwithstanding these lim- itations, the work is of distinct educational and social value. In addition to their concrete purpose of improv- ing wage conditions for women and girls and in removing unfair competition within an industry, the wage boards contribute, although on a small scale, towards a solution of some of the serious industrial problems of to-day. In so far as they succeed in bringing together groups with conflicting views, and inducing them to recognize the community of their interest and their mutual obligation to the Commonwealth, in so far as they succeed in re- placing prejudice with understanding, suspicion with confidence and respect, they are helping to remove some of the underlying causes of industrial unrest. It is ♦ [Minimum wage law ch. 706, Sec. 5, 1912. Each wage board shall take into consideration the needs of the employees, the financial condition of the occupation, and the probable effect thereon of any increase in the minimum wages paid, etc.] 110 through the recognition and conscious development of this service that the fullest possibilities of the wage boards can be realized. (Page 60.) House of Representatives. Sixty-Fifth Congress, Sec- ond Session. Hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee on the District of Columbia on H. R. 10367. Providing for the Establishment of a Minimum Wage Scale in the District of Colum- bia for Women and Children. April 16, 1918. Statement of Miss Julia O'Connor, President Massa- chusetts Telephone Operators' Union, Member of the Women's Trade-Union League and of the Brush Makers' Wage Board and the Retail Store Wage Board of Massa- chusetts. [In answer to the question: Did you find as a result of these conferences between the representatives of the employees and the employers that the two sides came into more harmonious relations?] Miss O'Connor: Absolutely, sir. (Pages 38-39.) Minimum Wage Laws Are Good Business. Extracts from Letter s'by Employers Operating Under a Legal Minimum^ Wage. National Conswmers' League, New York, October, 1920. Labor Conditions Stabilized. David J. Groldberg, Executive Director, Boston Dress and Waist Manufacturers Association, Boston, Mass. May 15, 1920. ^ ^ It is my belief that a minimum wage properly arrived at and duly enforced works to the benefit not only of the employe but of the employer and the State as well. A proper minimum standard insures to a self-supporting woman at least such a wage as shall enable her to main- Ill tain herself in respectability and good health. It places on industry the just obligation of supporting its own workers and affords to the liberal and broad-minded em- ployer protection against unjust competition on the part of those who would underpay their labor regardless ^f any standards." *^An adequate minimum wage makes for a more con- tented labor body, for there is nothing more conducive to unrest or agitation than an inability to earn a decent liv- ing without sacrifice of principle, character or health. The State by providing such minimum wage fulfills one of the functions of government which is to give to its people every means and opportunity for right living and growth. ^ ' Luther C. White, Employment Manager, Clothing Manu- facturers ' Association of Boston, Mass. Feb. 1, 1920. **In short, I believe that a reasonable minimum makes for stability in labour conditions — ^the main thing we need today.'' E. L. Thompson, Treas., Portland Woolen Mills, Port- land, Ore. Dec. 3, 1919. * * The fact is it has had a settling effect in business. ' ' A. N. McDole, McCusick-Towle & Co., Manufacturing Confectioners, Minneapolis, Minn. Feb. 6, 1920. ** Better wages have had a tendency to cut down labor turn-over and that statement alone, would justify this sort of legislation to a very large extent ' ' The Minimum Wage for Women and Girls in Manitoba. Winnipeg. October, 1920. The Minimum Wage Act of Manitoba, while resem- bling in a general way similar legislation throughout the 112 world, is different in the one particular, that it makes no provision for Trades-Boards being called for each in- dustry. The Board accordingly adopted the plan of call- ing representatives of both employers and employees in each industry into conference with itself. The result has been singularly happy. Since the first meeting of the Board on the 26th of April, 1918, it has held 36 such conferences with the in- dustries of Winnipeg, Brandon, St. Boniface and St. James which employ women. It has carefully studied the distinctive features of each trade, in joint session with some who knew it intimately, and in every case, with ex- ceptions too trifling to signify, has succeeded in framing regulations which have been approved and agreed upon as fair and reasonable by the members of the conferences. The expectation of the Board in regard to the good effects arising from these conferences has been realized in many respects. The Board believes that these confer- ences will have the effect not only of protecting and ad- vancing the interests of the women workers of the prov- ince, but also of promoting good feeling between them and their employers, and of stimulating the productive ef- ficiency of the industries as a whole. In the era of indus- trial re-adjustment, upon which the world is now enter- ing, when labor conditions may become less favorable to women, these regulations may give them greater security in their work and wages. (Page 3.) The Board cannot express too cordially its apprecia- tion of the assistance given it by the representatives of both employers and employees, who have met with it in the conferences. They have frankly and sincerely ac- cepted the basic implication of the Minimum Wage Act ; that an employment which utilizes a woman's productive power owes her at least a decent livelihood. They have contributed their intimate knowledge of the special in- dustrial and living conditions in each case; and their reasonableness and good-will have been such that the regulations ultimately adopted were always first framed as an agreement within the industry before they became a law imposed by the Board. (Page 6.) 113 Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, Volume 96. Jvly 19, 1917. Mr. Prothero (Rt. Hon. Lord Emle), President of the Board of Agriculture : The Wages Boards will, I believe, when a certain amount of prejudice against the innovation has been overcome, prove to be valuable institutions in our rural life. I am not an advocate for their being called into being on any other ground than that I believe they will help to bring employers and employes together, as they have never been hitherto. I believe as time goes on that will be the effect of having these Wages Boards. See what they mean. They mean that two equal bodies of employers and employed meet and talk over wages. One of these two sections no doubt represents the interests of the trades concerned, and the other will represent the interest of what is the cost of living. They will discuss matters and gradually come to the point of agreement. In that process there is no doubt they will get to know one another very much better than before. Wages Boards will be a boon in this county if they are properly worked without political or social bias. They will impart into the hard economic laws of this county something of morality and something of conscience, and that is what we expect them to do. (Page 622.) 114 5. General Statements in Favor of the Legislation. Besides the statistical proof of the success of mini- mum wage legislation there is increasing public opinion in favor of the measure and of the standard of a living wage. It has been endorsed by public commissions inves- tigating industrial problems, by committees and boards, by eminent statesmen, government officials, employers, employees and the churches. (1) In America. Third Biennial Report of Arkansas Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 1917-1918. The Minimum Wage Law is one of the best protective measures for labor upon the statute books of Arkansas, for those who are protected by its provisions are in- variably unorganized and have no way of compelling employers to give them a shorter work day and a living wage, hence the law steps in and protects the weak. (Pages 14-15.) Third Bieimial Report of the California Industrial Wel- fare Vommission, 1917-1918, Summing up the accomplishments of the mercantile order, the effects were found to be: 1. That no establishment was forced out of existence by the order. 2. That the number of employees was not decreased, but increased 10 per cent. 3. That the minimum wage does not become the stand- ard. In California it did raise the wage representing the largest number of employees from the $9 to the $10 group. 115 4. That the minimum wage does not become the maxi- mmn for the number in the high-pay groups increased. Other conditions that are entirely separate from the minimum wage very definitely limit the size of the higher- pay groups. 5. That the minimum wage is a real remedial meas^ ure. The lowest-pay groups were eliminated entirely. The percentage in the other low groups was restricted to 25 per cent of the number of employees. The changes were not brought about by general industrial conditions. There was no noticeable movement toward an advance in wages of women at any time in the three years from 1914 to 1917. There were no new factors introduced in the few months from April to September, 1917, that would cause such an advance. The low-wage groups have no surplus. All they earn must be spent for necessaries. They will not risk even one day's unemployment of their own choice. They do not have the funds to provide the nourishment that would give them the courage to demand better working conditions. Competitive conditions in industry do not permit a voluntary increase in wages that would not be common to all firms. A living wage is not granted until the public demands it for its own preservation. Not until the Industrial Welfare Commission passed the mercantile order did a noticeable increase in wages and improvement in working conditions take place. (Page 48.) A summary of the effects of the order of the Indus- trial Welfare Commission in the laundry industry leads to the same conclusions as in the mercantile industry: 1. No establishment was forced out of existence by the order. 2. Employees did not lose their positions because of the order. 3. The minimum wage does not become the standard. It is true that in October 56 per cent of the laundry 116 workers received a rate less than $10. This decreased in January to 22 per cent, or by 34 per cent. In Octo- ber, there were only 15 per cent in the $10 groups. This increased in January to 47 per cent or by 32 per cent. It is equally true that 27 per cent received $9 in October and this was the standard wage then, with 56 per cent receiving $9 and under. The minimum does not become the standard but does better the standard wage. 4. As to the effect of the minimum wage upon the highest paid groups, the same comment already made in regard to the minimum wage becoming the maximum may be repeated. Those receiving the highest wages are those employed on the few highly skilled operations. The need for this group does not increase in direct pro- portion with the business, but at a slower ratio. Better pay promotes general efficiency of the management as well as the worker, and the need of supervisory em- ployees is decreased rather than increased. This is off- set to a certain extent in the total of wages paid by the fact that the minimum pushes up the wages along the whole line. The minimum may not increase the num- ber of the highest paid positions. It is certain that the minimum does not become the maximum. 5. The minimum wage is a beneficial measure. The lowest pay groups have been eliminated. The number in the other low pay groups have been restricted. This has been accomplished without adversely affecting the number of employees, or the wages of the higher paid groups. (Page 87.) Second Report of The Colorado Industrial Cojnmission. December 1, 1917, to December 1, 1918. The Commission from a careful study of the (mini- mum wage and labor law for women and children) is con- vinced that it is right in principle, and that it is practic- able and workable. When the Legislature passed this Act in 1917, it appropriated only enough money to pay 117 the salary of the Secretary, authorized to be appointed by the Act. (Page 127.) There have been no formal adjudications by the Com- mission, nor formal investigations since this Act was enacted. At the time it became effective this country had already become an actor in the Great World War, and as a consequence thereof, there was a rapid change in the situation of women and minors. With the voluntary enlistment and drafting of thousands of able-bodied males of this country, the demand for women and minors in the industries grew apace. The position of women as being limited to but a few certain callings, changed, and the employers of the country, through necessity, were compelled to employ women in industries, filling the positions formerly occupied by skilled men. The demand thus created enabled women and minors to demand and receive what was for them unheard of wages. In most cases the women demanded and often received the same wages formerly paid to men, and as a result, the demand exceeded the supply; this being the case, and employers being compelled to go out into the open market and com- pete for this class of labor, there was no cause for com- plaint from the classes affected by the Act, and conse- quently this Commission had had very little practical work to do thereunder. No formal demands or requests for investigations authorized by the Act were filed. A few isolated individual complaints were received and adjusted without the necessity of any formal proceed- ings, and a few anonymous complaints were received which could not be verified. (Pages 127-128.) The Commission believes that the Act, as it is now upon the books, is not only practical and workable, but contains many beneficent features, but the incoming Leg- islature should either appropriate a sufficient amount of money to enable the Commission to properly perform the duties imposed upon it by the Act, or repeal it. We believe that repeal is unwise, because in the reconstruc- tion days following the war, industrial changes of vast importance will undoubtedly ensue, so as to again place women and minors in the position where they may have to seek the protection of the law. (Page 128.) 118 First Biennial Report of the Kansas Industrial Welfare Commission. 1915-1917, The inability of women workers to protect themselves, the effect upon them of the strain of industry and the harmful results to future generations when the mothers of the race are caused to work under such conditions as undermine their health, have caused public opinion to demand special protection for these women. Society begins to feel the necessity for helping these women to find their places in industry and for making these places suitable to work in. Much of this protection has been offered in the way of regulating hours and establishing standards of wages such as will offer women a comfort- able and normal living. The number of females of ten years and over engaged in gainful occupations the [1910] census shows to be 80,694, or 13 per cent of the entire female p^opulation. (Page 5.) The very low wages often received by women work- ers make such a minimum rate of especial importance. Long after the police power of the state had been in- voked to limit women's hours of labor the question of wages was left to be settled by the individual or by collective bargaining. Eealization of the poverty in which many working women exist, however, was gradu- ally brought to our legislators through numerous com- prehensive reports by federal and state bureaus. (Page 9.) Hon. Edward W. Olson, former chairman, Washington Industrial Welfare Commission. Tenth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor, Statistics and Factory Inspection. 1915-1916. Three short years ago, more than half the women workers of the state of Washington, exclusive of the women employed in the lonely life of household domes- tics, were receiving lower wages than the minimum re- quired to support them in lives of virtue and decency. 119 Today, the 42,225 women employed in the state's indus- tries, notwithstanding the past three years have been years of industrial depression, receive enough pay for their services to enable them to live in decency and com- fort. They secure approximately $21,957,000. ^ The startling change in condition is due to the enact- ment of the minimum wage law, one of the reform legis- lations in which the far western states lead. The law, passed in spite of strenuous opposition from employers though with the strong approbation of the club women, now gives general satisfaction. Though it means a larger sum in pay checks for the miajority of employers of female labor, few of them would willingly see the law repealed. They, as well as the women directly benefited by it, are more and more convinced the law is a wise and profitable legislation for both employer and employe. (Page 265.) The minimum wage regulations have been in con- struction for the last three years, during which standard minimum rates of pay for women have been established in five leading industries and in various occupations. The work has been accomplished through the Industrial Welfare Commission, which is empowered with legisla- tive and administrative authority. The Commission, which undertook its work when serious business depression existed, was confronted with many seemingly unsurmountable obstacles. The over- loaded labor market had forced wages to a very low standard. In its preliminary survey the Commission found the average wage but little in excess of wages for like industries in the East, though the cost of living is greater in the West. In mercantile establishments 50 per cent of the females were receiving less than a living wage, while a large group of workers receiving less than $7.00 weekly and some as little as $3.00 consisted of women entirely on their own resources. In factories the wage standard was still lower, with more than 60 per cent receiving less than a living wage. Less than 40 per cent of the laundry workers earned enough for self-main- tenance. The majority of the women employed in hotels 120 received less than a living wage though waitresses were almost invariably receiving adequate pay. In telephone exchanges about 40 per cent were paid less than enough for decent maintenance. In each case, the wage rate determinations of the Commission are based on the estimated cost of living of a self-supporting women. No other basis could be just. To arrive at a proper conclusion in this matter it was found necessary to conduct an extensive investi- gation into this question. (Page 267.) The conferences decided women employed in stores or general office work have an annual expense of $520; women in factory occupations, $462.80; women in laun- dries, telephone exchanges and general hotel occupations, $468 ; waitresses in hotels and restaurants, $572. Allow- ances were made in the budgets for two weeks' vacation expense, dues, insurance, amusements and church. These averaged $36.74 per year or 70 cents weekly. No allow- ance was made for time loss during sickness or unem- ployment, in which cases the unfortunate women must apparently rely on the dispensation of Providence alone. (Pages 267-268). The weekly minimum wage rates for women over 18 years, in accordance with the living expense budgets, are : Mercantile occupations, $10; factory work, $8.90; laun- dry work, $9 ; telephone exchange occupations, $9 ; hotel occupations "other than waitress, $9, and office occupa- tions, $10. It is estimated that 75 per cent of the regularly em- ployed women in the state have been brought under the minimum wage law. The estimate is based on census reports, investigations, surveys and reports relating to the employment of women. There are 12,750 salesladies in the mercantile establishments ; 4,500 stenographers and typists; 2,725 bookkeepers, cashiers and accountants; 1,800 milliners; 2,200 dressmakers and seamstresses; 6,500 hotel maids, cooks and waitresses; 2,800 laun- dresses; 3,200 telephone operators; 450 hairdressers and manicurists, and 5,300 in various manufacturing occupa- tions. (Page 268.) 121 House of Representatives. 65th Congress, 2nd Session, Hearing before the Sttbcommittee of the Commit- tee on the District of Columbia on H. R, 10367. Providing for the Establishment of a Mvnvmum Wage Scale in the District of Columbia for Women and Children. April 16, 1918, Statement of Mr. Arthur N. Holcombe, of Massachusetts : I have been a member of the commission since it was first established six years ago. (Page 19.) In conclusion, there are two general inferences which I have drawn from my six years' experience with the minimum wage in Massachusetts. First, and it is a posi- tive conclusion, that, in general, high wages mean low labor costs. In comparing the pay rolls of competing establishments (and we were never able to make this in- formation public in the most convincing way because we never felt free to make public actual conditions in in- dividual firms), we found when comparing the pay rolls of different establishments competing in the same indus- try, selling in the same market, drawing their labor from the same sources, that as a general rule in those estab- lishments where higher wages were paid for the same class of labor, the labor costs were lower, measured as a percentage of the goods sold. In other words, high wages and low labor costs tend to go together. (Pages 22-23.) Secondly, we found that low wages were not always caused by low efficiency on the part of the wage earner. You frequently hear it said, *^We cannot afford to pay a girl more than she is worth,'* and there is something in that. Then further you hear it said that what she is worth is indicated by what she is now receiving. There is often very little in that statement. The fact that a girl is receiving a low wage does not demonstrate that her worth is low. On the contrary, one of the factors upon which the efficiency of the girl, and hence the worth of the girl in that particular establishment depends, is the effi- ciency of the management. In other words, low wages may not indicate low worth on the part of the wage earn- er, but they may indicate low managerial ability on the part of the employer. (Page 23.) 122 Statement of Mr. Edward A. Filene, of the William Filene Sons* Co., of Boston, now Director of the United States Chamber of Commerce and Chair- man of the Shipping Committee : I have been rather surprised that so little has been said to you of our case. We employers need this legisla- tion really, not figuratively; we need this legislation just as much as the employees do. Cheap wages make cheap standards, and the danger is that with all the details of the supervision necessary with cheap wages we will be satisfied with those cheap standards. Our business, the retail distribution, is about the most lawless business in the world, I think. (Pages 25-26.) We are dealing in a business where the average thing doubles in price from the producer to the consumer, and this is disgraceful. Now, the reason that we have not dealt better with it before I think is largely because we have not had intelli- gent enough emloyees. I think it will appeal to you gen- tlemen as business men that an underpaid employee will not have strength or desire to study very much to put more intelligence into the distribution, into the selling. You say, of course, that the management ought to fur- nish the intelligence ; they are paid a lot of money to do so. But, as a rule, we do not; we are hard pressed with small details of competition, and we usually go ahead as fast as we are pushed ahead; and the greatest incentive, the greatest power, the underlying power for improve- ment within the business, lies in correcting the weak- nesses of our employees, and in intelligent study by the employees. The $7 a week girl is pretty hard pressed with her own problems, and she does not have very much time to do much more than just do her day's work and then worry for the rest of the time about how she is going to get along with what she has made that day. That is not good for the employer. A decent wage is based on intelligent work, which means intelligent management in the final analysis. Most of us business men see this. A minority of short-sighted men force the others to do really what they do not approve of; and after all, this 123 minimum wage legislation merely provides the maoMn- ery. That is one of the real reasons for approving it — the ftiinimum wage legislation merely provides the ma- chinery by which joint action is secured by that part of the industry that really is far-sighted enough to advance it. That makes the slacker employer in the shops, in the industry, who does not want to think hard enough to see what is really the profitable thing in business, stop and think; it really takes the blinders off of him by making him give wages good enough so that he will have some time to think of these problems. (Page 26.) If you are in doubt about the situation, I think you will find in stores over the country where the minimum wage is placed pretty high, higher than was contem- plated in Massachusetts — ^you will find the owners are content. In Detroit, Hudson & Co., the biggest store in Detroit, pay $12 as a minimum wage, and the owners are very well satisfied and see that it does really pay to do that. I nm not going to deal with the theory that no trade or occupation is justifiable which does not pay a decent wage. I think you have accepted that. The only thing that would take the place of this sort of a minimum wage, and which might properly take the place of it, would be to make the employers pay as much attention to their employees and be as responsible to them as they are to their cows and horses. We treat our cows and horses well because we have got to pay out the money directly if we maltreat them and they become sick or die. If we were directly responsible for our employees, there would not be any need for the minimum-wage proposition; but because we can drop an employee who becomes sick from lack of proper wages, because society takes up that bur- den for us, we blindly go ahead — short-sightedly go ahead — and let this system keep on. It ought not to go on, and especially it ought not to go on now. It has in it the poisoning of the very strength we need in this critical time if we are really going to win this war. (Page 28.) 124 Statement of Br. W. C. Woodward. Health Commis- sioner of the District of Columbia; I feel very much like apologizing for my presence here to-day. I presume I have been invited to speak merely for the purpose of getting into the record the fact that the health interests of the District and, I be- lieve, the health interests of the Nation are concerned in the matter of the legislation intended to establish min- imum wages for women and for children. The facts that I have to present are so patent, so well known, that it would seem like a waste of time if my appearance were for any other purpose. That there is a very definite relation between wages and health, and between wages and morals, I think will be conceded by every one who at any time has had to earn his own living, and who has even the slightest knowl- edge of hygiene or health. We know that in any organ- ized community we can not get ordinary shelter without paying for it ; that to clothe the body costs money ; that food costs money ; that provision for ordinary protection against illness requires money; and that protection of life — if you will, provision for recreational facilities — re- quires the expenditure of money; and we know that the wage earner depends on her wage to get that money. It stands to reason, therefore, that inadequacy of wage means eitherof two things ; on the one hand it may mean inadequacy of shelter, inadequacy of clothing, inadequacy of food, inadequacy of recreational facilities, on the one hand it may mean any one of those conditions, or it may mean all — ^with resultant impoverishment of health — or, on the other hand, it means that from some source or other the wage must be supplemented with possible resort to wrongdoing to accomplish that end. I am very loath, however, to connect up minimum wages with moral questions. The most I care to say there is that when one is tempted the lack of physical stamina and the necessity for maintaining life increase the weight of the induce- ment and certainly make yielding easier. (Page 29.) From the postulate that adequate wages are neces- 125 sary for the protection of health, we come to the ques- tion as to why working women particularly need the as- sistance of the proposed legislation. I am not going to undertake any analysis of the situation, such as was pre- sented this morning, with respect to the ability of women to protect themselves in the matter of legislation and wage control, hut I would like to point out a few essen- tial facts. One is that so many of the girls who are compelled to go out to earn their living must go at a period of adolescence, at a time when it is essential that they be well nourished and not undernourished. It is essential for the full development of young girls that their life be not too narrowed by hardship. There is something more than bread and butter and clothing and a roof over our heads, 'and adequate development calls for it. A girl who is lacking in any of these particulars is not a girl who is going to develop into the best woman, to serve the State; she is not the girl who is going to have, we will say, the best possible instincts toward matrimony, and she is not the girl who will have the greatest possible insistence on the wisest choice of a husband. Those things ought to be considered, because after all it is on marriage and the bearing of offspring that the race relies for its continuance in a proper form. So even without reference to a woman's own condition, and the maintainence of her own physical, mental, and emotional health, we must bear in mind the fact that when she marries and when she bears and rears children for the coming generation, if she has been properly trained and has adequate opportunities to care for her- self we shall be able to maintain the integrity of the race, we shall be able as a Nation to meet the perils that con- front us in the future as we are meeting the perils that confront us at the present time; and otherwise we shall fail. We have heard a great deal to-day with re- spect to the need of the individual woman ; but we must go beyond that need and must face the fact that we are acting for the race, we are acting for the Nation, and the Nation needs all these women to be kept in the best possible condition. (Pages 29-30.) 126 United States Senate, 65th Congress, 2nd S^sion^^ Hearing before the Subcommittee of the Com- mittee on the District of Columbia on S. 3993 A Bill to Protect the Lives amd Health and Morals of Women and Minor Workers in the District of Columbia, and to Establish a Minirrmm Wage Board and Define its Powers and Duties, and to Provide for the Fixing of Minimum Wages for Such Workers, and to Provide Penalities for Vio- lation of this Act. Wednesday, April 17, 1918, Statement of Senator Park Trammell, of Florida. I have been very much gratified to note throughout the past decade the wonderful change in the trend of public sentiment toward providing a more suitable and adequate wage for the wage earners of this country. Our people, the people of America, have come to realize that a sufficient wage is not only in the interest of the person who is to enjoy the same but it is in the interest of society, it is promotive of better citizenship, and the entire trend is to build up and to strengthen the social fabric of our country. (Page 7.) Statement of Mr. Charles J. Columbus, Secretary of the Merchants and Manufacturers ' Association of the District of Columbia. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee : I ap- pear to-day representing the Merchants and Manufac- turers' Association of Washington, formerly the Retail Merchants' Association. Our association, as I explained at the House hearing yesterday, is made up of 33 organized lines of trade, and included among those units, which are known as trade sections, such as our department-store section, which em- ploys about 5,000 people, are the section for laundries and our sections for specialty houses, for ladies' tailors, merchant tailors, and so on. Each section has a chairman, and each chairman is automatically a member of our board of governors. I 127 was sent here by the board of governors, which unan- imously voted to support this bill. (Page 8.) Mr. Louis Levy, who represents the laundry interests in the association, said: ^*Why surely there is no use in opposing a measure of that kind.'' Others that I have talked to, including personal friends, say that they see- no objection to it. In the meeting which we had on this, of the board of governors of the association, they re- garded it as a good bill. We like the commission plan; we like this form of arbitration, so to speak ; we like this method whereby, as conditions change, either side can go to this commission and seek a rearrangement of the wage scale — that is, a minimum. (Page 9.) Those that were not there were seen in person by myself, and the cigar trade was represented there — Mr. Henry Oifterdinger and other large employers of female help ; and this bill had his full approval. We figured that inasmuch as the department stores and the laundries were the largest employers of female help, they were the real ones in interest in this matter. Every member of our board of governors had full notice that this matter was to be taken up. Yesterday afternoon and last night I had quite a number of men tell me how pleased they were that we had taken this stand on the minimum wage bill. (Page 10.) Statement of Mrs. Frances Axtell, Formerly a Member of the Retail Store Wage Board of the State of Washington, Now a Member of the United States Employees' Compensation Conmaission. However, the point you want to know, of course, is how this law has worked in our State, and whether both parties to the agreement are satisfied with it. I have had the pleasure of talking with many of the merchants in our State since 1913, to find out how this law operated, and whether they were pleased with it, and I have yet to find a merchant who would go back to the old method. They are all of them not only pleased with it, but they say that it pays them in dollars and cents to pay their 128 employees more wages ; and, of course, it is undebatable whether the girls are pleased or not. It has had a very marked effect on the women of our State who work in these stores. (Page ^.) Mmimuon Wage Board for the District of Columbia. Report No. 571 submitted hy Mr. Hilliard, from the Committee on the District of Columbia. House of Representatives. 65th Congress. 2nd Session. May, 1918. The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. E. 12098) to protect the lives and health and morals of women and minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a minimum wage board, and define its powers and duties, and to pro- vide for the fixing of minimum wages for such workers, and for other purposes, herewith favorably reports the same with the recommendation that it pass. (Page 1.) No one appeared in opposition to the bill. A remark- able circumstance which has probably never occurred in any previous legislative hearings on a measure affecting wage legislation in this country, was the appearance of the official organized body of employers — the Merchants and Manufacturers ' Association of the District, who sent their representative to make a statement indorsing the bill and urging its passage. This association has a mem- bership representing 33 different businesses in Wash- ington — ^department stores are the largest employers, having in their establishments probably 5,000 persons. The enlightened and progressive position taken by the employers of the District who are directly affected by the measure has properly impressed the committee. Their approval means that such legislation is recognized as being based on sound business principles, because it makes for a more efficient and more contended labor force. It also protects the fair and enlightened employer from underbidding competitors. Besides the indorsement of employers, approval of 129 minimum-wage legislation comes to ns from the workers through their organizations, and also through three rep- resentatives who appeared in person. Mr. Keating, in- troducer of the bill, read into the record a resolution adopted by the thirty-third annual convention of the American Federation of Labor. It discussed the prin^ ciple of minimum-wage legislation for unprotected work- ers, especially women and children, and recommended that provision be made for the proper representation of wage earners on minimum-wage boards and that they be administered ^ ' so as to afford the largest measure of pro- tection for women and minor workers.'' The president of the Federal Employees' Union ap- peared to urge the passage of the bill. Two women work- ers of the national and local Women's Trade Union Leagues told of the need of this legislation from their own experiences as wage earners, and the manifold hard- ships of attempting to live on wages too low for proper subsistence. This bill, H. R. 12098, has also the strong indorsement of the authorities of the District — that is, the Board of Commissioners — who will be empowered to administer the provisions of the law, as well as the health officer, who speaks authoritatively on the health aspects of the proposed legislation. (Page 2.) The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has recently published the results of an investigation into the cost of living in the District. Almost one-half (46 per cent) of the 600 women workers interviewed and questioned as to their income and expenditures earned less than $8 per week. Over two-thirds (64 per cent) earned less than $10 per week. (Page 2.) This low wage was not owing to their youth and inex- perience, for 72 per cent were 21 years of age or older, and one-half of those earning less than $9 per week had been at work for five years and more. In connection with these figures, we must consider the actual cost of board and lodging in the District to-day. Owing to the abnormal conditions of war times, these costs have risen greatly, even during the past few months. 130 In 1917, the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that $6 a week was the '^bare minimum'' upon which the average woman could obtain board and lodging in Wash- ington. A year later, information presented at the hear- ing on this bill showed that according to the room regis- tration office of the local Council of National Defense the minimum expense at which a woman can now find board and lodging is $35 per month, that is over $8 per week. That means accommodation for two in a room, and very few rooms can be found at that rate. The difficulties of obtaining adequate clothing even with the strictest economy upon the present wages re- ceived was brought out by the investigation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 1915, a State commission in New York estimated the ^'barest minimum for decent cloth- ing, ' ' for a woman, to be $88 per year. Two years later, nearly half (42 per cent) of the 600 women wage earners interviewed in Washington spent less than that minimum on clothing, in spite of the increased cost of materials. In 1917, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics a working woman in Washington to be ^^well but not ex- travagantly dressed,'' must spend approximately $125 per year. More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of the women interviewed spent less than that amount. In the lowest income groups, ^'the average expenditure for every item of clothing is below that which would permit of physical comfort and decency." The committee concurs heartily in the opinion of this health expert [Dr. Woodward] that inadequacy of wages means either of two things, that is, inadequacy of all the essentials — shelter, clothing, food, etc., ^'with resultant impoverishment of health"; or, on the other hand, ^4t means that from some source the wage must be supple- mented with possible resort to wrongdoing." And the committee further agrees with Dr. Woodward when he says: ^^I am very loath, however, to connect up minimum wages with moral questions. The most I care to say there is that when one is tempted the lack of physical stamina and the necessity for maintaining life increase 131 the weight of the inducement and certainly make yield- ing easier/^ (Page 3.) The investigation in the District showed that as in many other communities about a third (in Washington 31 per cent) of the women at work were living away from home. This answers the frequent assertion that working girls do not need to be paid a living wage be- cause they are supported by their families and are merely supplementing the family income. The wages paid must take into account this substantial proportion of wage earners who are not living with families. Moreover, 21 per cent of the 600 women interviewed had dependents. That is, one-fifth were under the necessity of contribut- ing to the support of others, besides supporting them- selves. On the other hand, 45 per cent needed to receive outside assistance in order to make both ends meet. (Page 4.) The remedy which is proposed in this bill has already been tried and found successful in various States of the Union and in other parts of the English-speaking world. It is known as the minimum wage system because it pro- vides a method for setting wages which are not too low for subsistence and below which wages may not fall. It lays down the general principle that a competent worker must have enough food, clothing, and shelter and the other essentials to keep life going. Without these essen- tials, the workers' efficiency as well as their personal welfare must inevitably suffer and decline with resulting injury also to the community of which they form so large a part. It has proved practicable. (Page 4.) Mmimum Wage Board for the District of Columbia. Report No. 562. Submitted by Senator Kenyon, September 6, 1918. Senate. 65th Congress. 2nd Session. T]io Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. E. 12098) to protect the lives 132 and health and morals of women and minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a Minimum Wage Board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of minimum wages for such work- ers, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. Congressional Record. Vol. 56. Pt. 9. Speeches before the House on the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Board Bill. July 8, 1918. 65th Congress, 2nd Session, William E. Green of Iowa : The old doctrine of laissez-faire has, I am glad to say, become almost obsolete. Even in England, where it originated, it has been repudiated. England has seen the effect of this theory in the deterioration of the phys- ical and moral well being of its workers. They found when they got into war that the physical condition of the average English working man was far below what it ought to be, far below what the public had the right to expect, and far below what it might have been had proper care been taken of them in the way of general law. By her old age pension law and other remedial measures England had shown that she no longer intends that the welfare of her workingmen shall be permitted, like the price of commodities, to be governed solely by the law of supply and demand. A wage upon which the employee cannot live in decency and in some degree of comfort inevitably tends to lower not only the physical standard, but the moral standard. (Page 8875.) William J. Carey of Wisconsin : ^ When the hearings were being held before the com- mittee on this bill it was significant that no one offered in opposition to the bill. A remarkable circumstance which has probably never occurred in any previous leg- islative hearings on a measure affecting wage legislation 133 in the country, was the appearance of the official organ- ized body of employers — the Merchants & Manufactur- ers' Association of the District — who sent their repre- sentative to make a statement indorsing the bill and urging its passage. This association has a membership representing 33 different businesses in Washington — department stores are the largest employers, having in their establishments probably 5,000 persons, their ap- proval means that such legislation is recognized as being based on sound business principles, because it makes for a more efficient and more contented labor force. It also protects the fair and enlightened employer from under- bidding competitors. (Page 8882.) Stuart F. Reed of West Virginia : The provisions of this bill, properly enforced, will not only benefit those who have their labor to sell, but will protect those who buy labor by placing each employer on an equal footing with all others who employ labor for similar commercial activities. (Pages 8881-2.) Joseph Walsh of Massachusetts : But I want to say that I think that the State of Massa- chusetts was the first state to adopt a minimum wage law. It was, of course, looked at with suspicion at first, and thought to be somewhat of a fad, and that it would not work out in operation. But it has, and we have a board, I think, made up of five or seven members that has authority somewhat similar to that granted by this act. (Page 8885.) Congressional Record. Vol. 56. Pt. 12. Speech of Hon. Augustine Lonergan of ■Connecticut before the House on the District of Columbia Minimum, Wage Board Bill. August 26, 1918. 65th Congress, 2nd Session. In itself the bill corrects a condition which might otherwise be the forerunner of serious economic and 134 moral harm, and points the way to a clear solution of one of the most vexing problems of our national life. Here we have united on a program — the employers, the employed, the large labor union organizations of the country, and those who devote their lives to economic questions as a vocation. The war has brought home to every nation in it the importance of conserving its man power. Man power means national strength. But national strength will dis- appear if the health and moral welfare of the women of our land is not safe guarded, and one of the surest ways to safe guard them is to provide for wages for women that will guarantee good living conditions. (Page 604.) Congressional Record. Vol. 56. Pt. 10. Senate. Speech of William S. Kenyon of Iowa before the Senate on the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Board hill. September 13, 1918. 65th Congress. 2nd Session. It [the bill] has been twice unanimously reported by the Committee on the District of Columbia; it has passed the House without a dissenting vote. (Page 10278.) [Senate, September 13, 1918. Yeas 36. Nays 12.] (Pa^e 10285.) U. S. Department of Labor. Bulletin of the Woman in Industry Service No. 4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. The subject of wages had taken on a new significance during the war. The policy which should underlie wage determination was officially defined by several Federal agencies. The most authoritative statement was con- tained in the report of the National War Labor Confer- ence Board, which, as affirmed by the President, became 135 the guiding principle for the National War Labor Board in the settlement of industrial disputes during the war. The paragraphs relating to wages are as follows : 1. The right of all workers, including common labor- ers, to a living wage is hereby declared. 2. In fixing wages, minimum rates of pay shalhbe established which will insure the subsistence of the worker and his family in health and reasonable comfort. (Page 7.) Speech of Senator Harding. Marion, Ohio. October 1, 1920. The New^ York Times. Saturday, October 2, 1920. Justice and American standards demand that women who are employed should be paid a living wage, and it is entirely unfair to the State which fulfils its obligations to humanity in any piece of humanitarian legislation affecting industry that other States, by failing to per- form their obligation, gain a temporary advantage in costs of production. Mimw/um Wage Study. Ohio Council on Women and Children in Industry. 1920. Mary Anderson, Director, U. S. Woman's Bureau, De- partment of Labor: The conference of governmental officials in Seattle [in 1920] discussed the minimum wage legislation very thoroughly. They were all of the opinion that legislation creating a commission was the best legislation. They all felt that it was necessary at this stage of development of the country's industries and because of women's entering into industries in large numbers without standards as to hours, wages, and working conditions that such legis- lation was necessary against exploitation. 136 The A. F. of L. Convention in St. Paul, 1918, endorsed the minimum wage law, and also that in Atlantic City, 1919. (Page 7.) William M. Leiserson, Chairman, Labor Adjustment Board, Eochester Clothing Industry: My feeling is that there can be no question as to the desirability of a minimum wage law for women and chil- dren. Some questions might be raised as to the desira- bility of such a law for men, but even in the case of men I should be inclined to favor a law establishing a mini- mum wage where they have not been able to maintain labor organizations which assure them living wages. (Page 34.) *^ Women and minors, all experience shows, are not able to maintain permanent Labor Unions and it is a wild theory to say that trade unions will get them higher wages. The facts are that ordinarily they do not get liv- ing wages and the only way they can get protection is through the machinery of the State. (Page 35.) Minimum Wage Laws Are Good Business. Extracts from Letters hy Employers Operating under a Legal Minimum Wage, National Consumers' League, New York. October, 1920. Employers Endorse Minimum Wage Laws. Morris B. Anderson, Pres., Eaincoat Makers & Manu- facturers* Assn., Boston, Mass. Feb. 2, 1920. ** Permit me to express my hearty approval of this legislation." [minimum wage for women] F. E. Day, ShuU-Day Co., (manufacturers of trousers and overalls) Tacoma, Wash. Jaa. 19, 1920. ** Before the minimum wage law was enforced in this state and while it was yet being discussed, I was of the 137 opinion that it would be very hurtful to us, but after ob- serving its good, I entirely changed my viewpoint.'' Luther C. White, Employment Manager, Clothing Manu- facturers ' Association of Boston, Mass. Feb. 1, 1920. ''We believe in it— and think that now, while the or- dinary wage for labour is far above any minimum which would be fixed by any Commission, is a good time to get a fairly high minimum established. As a result, the [wage] Board on which I served in a readjustment of the mini- mum, fixed $15 per week for the trained worker. ^ This figure was based, primarily, on the present cost of living, and is, of course, subject to revision later if that cost should decrease materially." E. L. Thompson, Treas., Portland Woolen Mills, Port- land, Ore. Dec. 3, 1919. ''For the past several years, Oregon has been oper- ating under tiie minimum wage law, and greatly to the surprise of some of our employers, it has not brought 'harm to their business,' as they had feared. We feel that this law has been of actual lasting benefit to our in- dustry in this state, and thoroughly believe in its provi- W. A. Hawkins, Director, Jordan-Marsh Co., (retail dry goods) Boston, Mass. Jan. 31, 1920. "I beg to state that I do endorse a minimum wage law for women provided that law be so framed, and so constantly followed up by efficient inspectors and so backed up by sufficient penalty, that all, both large and small employers shall be forced to obey it. ' ' A. J. Schroeder, recent president of the Wisconsin Retail Dry Goods Association, Racine, Wis. Jan. 31, 1920. "Personally I am in favor of the minimum wage leg- islation because I think it will better the conditions under which everyone works, both employee and employer." 138 B. F. Schlesinger, general manager, Emporium (retail dry goods), San Francisco, Calif. Jan. 18, 1919. **We have operated under minimum wage law for women for over a year and find it is not only beneficial for our employees but also for ourselves. Feel the mer- cantile community in the East when its operation is bet- ter understood will agree with majority of merchants here that it is wise and progressive legislation.'^ Geo. S. De Neale, Supt. S. Kann Sons Co., (retail dry goods) Washington, D. C. October 6, 1920. *^ After operating under the minimum wage law for a period of twelve months, we are thoroughly convinced, that if it is rigidly enforced, it is a good thing for both employer and employee." C. B. Heinrich, (retail dry goods) Burrton, Kansas. Feb. 18, 1920. * * The minimum wage law for women employees is all right and I think it has helped the women and us wonder- fully. '' C. M. Lessenden, Manager and Owner, C. M. Lessenden & Co., (retail dry goods) Downs, Kansas. Feb. 1920. **A few months ago word came to me that an effort was being made to do away with our minimum wage and maximum hour laws for working women. Personally, I think an employer is lacking in his better judgment when he tries to do away with anything as sound as this law. ^'It is a splendid thing for Kansas and only marks Kansas again in a pioneer movement for the betterment of society.'' George S. Danforth, Pres., Danforth-Scott, (retail dry goods) Wichita, Kansas. Mar. 16, 1920. **We wish to add our indorsement to the minimum wage law for women employed in the state." 139 Earl C. Williams, Manager, The Crosby Bros. Co., (re- tail dry goods) Topeka, Kansas. Feb. 21, 1920. ^*We most heartily approve of this law as it stands at present and would never think of going back to the old way of doing business. " - -^ Frank R. Jelleff, (women's and misses' apparel) Wash- ington, D. C. October 6, 1920. ^^We are very pleased to say that we find the opera- tion of the minimum wage law to be of no detriment what- ever to us, and we believe that for the community as a whole it is a forward step. We heartily endorse it." Committee of Industtial Relations of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the United States. 1918. Recommendation. ^^Recognition of the right of every worker to at least the living wage ; such minimum to ensure the subsistence of the worker and his family in health and reasonable comfort, with the collective maintenance of standards.'' Quoted in report by Hon. G. S. Beeby, Minister of Labour, New South Wales, on Industrial Conditions in Great Britain and the U. S. A. Sydney— 1919. (Page 28.) United States Department of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review. January, 1919. The Associated Merchants and Manufacturers of New York State, at a meeting held at Syracuse on Nov. 30, 1918, resolved: (1) We are in favor of the principle of an adequate wage for women and minors. (2) We favor the creation of a state minimum wage commission which, however, shall be competent and prop- erly representative of industry, labor, and the public. 140 (3) That we especially favor the enactment of a fed- eral minimum wage commission law which, upon its en- actment, shall supersede existing state law. (Page 214.) The World Problem, Capital, Labor, and the Church, Rev, Joseph Husslein, S, J. New York, 1918. *'Wage legislation is a tradition in the church.'' — The special wage legislation required for our own day- is clear. The principle of a living wage has been laid down by the Holy See. It can be made practical only when enforced by law. In the question of wages the na- ture of this application seems now beyond dispute. Past experience enables us to proceed without hesitation. There is apparently but one course open, as a logical be- ginning, and that is to unite solidly upon a minimum wage legislation. It was a Catholic priest — ^be it said to the glory of the Church — ^the Eev. John A. Ryan, D. D., who first effectively championed the minimum wage leg- islation in the United States, and it is another Catholic priest, the Rev. Edwin V. O'Hara, whose name, as Dr. Ryan himself remarks, *4s written in the annals of the United States Supreme Court as the official upholder of the first minimum wage law. ' ' The objections to the minimum wage need not be dis- cussed at present. Experience has sufficiently disproved them. The accidental hardships that fall on some are far outweighed by the good results. (Pages 90-94.) Democratic Industry, Joseph Husslein, 8, J,, Ph, D. P, J. Kennedy & Sons, 1919, {Book bearing official approval of the Catholic Church.) A Catholic Social Platform. 27. Until a larger social justice reigns, minimum wage laws must enable every male worker to support a family in christian decency. Every adult woman worker must be enabled to live respectably by her earnings alone. Enough should gradually be paid to make it possible for 141 every worker to provide for the future out of Ms or her own wages, without need of State insurance. In this way only can industry be said to be properly supporting those engaged in it. (W. P. IX.) Recommendations of the \Commission of Inquiry, Inter- church World Movement on the Steel Strike of 1919, New York, 1920. 7. That minimum wage commissions be established and laws enacted providing for an American standard of living through the labor of the natural bread-winner permitting the mother to keep up a good home and the children to obtain at least a high school education. (Page 250.) The \ChM\rch and Industrial Reconstruction. The Com- mittee on the War and the Religious Outlook. The Association Press. 1920. The Church's chief concern is not to determine the amount of living wage, but to insist upon the principle that the payment of such a wage, as determined by social experts, must be regarded as a first charge against the industry, a condition of its existence, a necessary busi- ness liability. The assumption that a living wage can be secured presupposes, of course, the fallacy of the so-called *4ron law of wages,'' in accordance with which labor as a mere commodity is bought and sold at prices inevitably determined by supply and demand. The point of view of this report assumes what experience has now clearly confirmed, that wages can be socially regulated and con- trolled. (Pages 139-140.) Resolutions Adopted by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ vn America at Cleveland, May 6-6, 1919. 3. That the first charge upon industry should be a wage sufficient to support an American standard of liv- 142 ing. To that end we advocate the guarantee of a min- imum wage. . . . Resolution Adopted by the Board of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Buffalo, May 10^ 1919. We favor an equitable wage for laborers, wMch shall have the right of way over rent, interests and profits. The Legal Minimum Wage. Essay vn The Church a>nd Socialism. John A. Kyan, D.D. LLD. Professor of Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America. 1919. Although the idea of a living wage goes back at least to the early Middle Ages, it received its first systematic and authoritative expression in the Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, ^^On the Condition of Labor' ^ * * * i^ that document the great pontiff flatly rejected the pre- vailing doctrine that wages fixed by free consent were al- ways fair and just. This theory, he said, leaves out of account certain important considerations. It ignores the fundamental^ fact that the laborer is morally bound to preserve his' life, and that his only means of fulfilling this duty is to be found in his wages. Therefore," con- cluded Pope Leo, "a workman's wages ought to be suf- ficient to maintain him in reasonable and frugal com- fort. '^ This proposition, he declared, is a dictate of natural justice. (Page 58.) iSuch are the requisites of reasonable comfort as de- termined by man's nature and needs, and as interpreted by all competent authorities on the subject. * * * The man who would assert that the worker and his family may reasonably be deprived of these things must logical- ly contend that the worker may be killed or deprived of his liberty for the benefit of others. For the right of life, liberty, marriage and all the other fundamental 143 goods rest on precisely the same basis as the claim to reasonable comfort. That basis is the inherent sacred- ness of personality. This sacredness is outraged, not only when the person is killed, crippled, or imprisoned, but also when he is prevented from exercising and- de- veloping his faculties to a reasonable degree. (Pages 62-63.) Therefore, it is probable that the majority of wage- earners are still getting less than a decent livelihood. This situation is at once a grave repro'ach to our Christian civilization and a grave menace to the national welfare. It is a grave reproach to Christian civilization because every one of those persons who is forced to live below the normal standard is a human being possessed of intrinsic worth and sacredness, having an absolute and imperishable value. (Page 76.) There seems to be but one measure that gives any promise of anything like general efficacy, namely, the establishment by law of minimum rates of wages that will equal or approximate the normal standards of living for the different groups of workers. (Page 82.) 144 (2) In Great Britain. Ministry of Labour, Labour Gazette, August, 1918. The eight years' experience of the satisfactory re- sults achieved by the trade boards, whose activities have proved of benefit, not merely to the workers, but to all section of the trades which worked under them, pointed to an extension of the Trade Boards Act, 1909, as the best means of meeting the situation. (Page 308.) September, 1919. Since the publication of an article in the August issue of last year dealing with the various amending provisions contained in the Trade Boards Act 1918, considerable progress has been made under the enlarged powers con- ferred by that Act. The results achieved by the Trade Boards Act, 1909, had shown that it was possible to raise substantially the wages in poorly paid industries without injuring their prosperity. (Page 369.) Ministry of Labour, Trade Boards and the Fixing of Minimum Rates of Wages. London. January, 1920. Effect of Trade Boards. (1) On Wages. The experience of the existing Boards during the past eight years shows that they have raised substantially the wages of the lowest paid sections of their trades. It has been argued that the minimum rates tend to become the maximum rates, but experience has not borne out this view. On the contrary, all the evi- dence available goes to show that the relative number of workers in the various grades has remained about the same, and that the increase in the wages of the lowest paid sections has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the wages of the better paid workers. (2) On Trade. It is difficult to say what has been the precise effect on trade of the increased rates of wages 145 fixed by the Trade Boards ; but there is certainly no evi- dence that they have reduced the prosperity of their industries. On the contrary, there is good reason to think that higher wages have stimulated better organiza- tion and better production on the part of the workers^ Badly paid work is seldom or never good work; and the experience of the Trade Boards certainly suggests that the higher rates fixed have proved in the long run bene- ficial to the employer las well as to the worker. (3) On Organization. As regards employers there is no doubt that the formation of a Trade Board has strengthened organization, both in the direction of in- creased membership of associations and of their fusion into strong federations. On the workers' side the effect on organization has been less marked, but there is no reason to think that the Trade Boards have retarded voluntary organization. In some trades, e. g,, the Tailor- ing trade, trade unionism has advanced rapidly since the Boards were set up. The policy of the workers ' side is usually determined by the trade union representatives, so that by joining a union, the workers get better repre- sentation on the Boiard and more control over its actions. (4) On Employment. The fear that the fixing of minimum rates would lead to the dismissal of the least efficient workers has not been realized in practice. The Board's power to give permits of exemption is a suf- ficient safeguard. There is 'also no evidence that the raising of rates has reduced the volume of employment or has led to the substitution of juveniles for adult labour. Both these points are naturally watched very closely by the Board, and in fixing learners' rates they ensure that there will be no temptation to replace adults by ju- veniles. (Page 4.) 146 Evidence Before the Agricultural Policy Suhcormnittee of the Reconstruction Committee, Great Britain., \CD 9080. 1918. Sir William Beveridge (now Director of the London School of Economics) : 98. As regards the results of the Trade Boards Act, Mr. Beveridge made the following general observations : (1) That in some of the worse-paid trades (in par- ticular, lace finishing and chain-making) a substantial general 'advance of wages has been brought about. In others, where the original level of wages was higher, the advance has been less general. But in these also the Trade Boards have leveled up the rates paid by the worst employers 'and in the lower paid districts. There is no reason to doubt that the minimum rates fiaed by the Boards are, in fact, generally observed. (2) This has been accomplished without involving harmful effects upon any trade as a whole or hardship to any appreciable number of individuals. The power of putting inferior workers on piece-rates, together with the provision for permits of exemption for time-workers, have substantially met any difficulty of this kind. (3) It has proved possible, even in trades which were wholly or largely unorganized, to set up fairly rep- resentative Trade Boards, and the setting up of the Trade Board has in itself largely increased the amount of organization both of the employers and of the work people. This has been particularly marked amongst employers. (4) There is a fair amount of evidence of improve- ment of factory organization with a view to securing greater efficiency of production, and the higher wages have to a large extent come from this source. (Pages 15, 16.) 147 Report of Provisional Joint Committee Presented to Meeting of the Industrial Conference. Central EM, Westminster. April 4, 1919. Cmd. 135. 1919. The Committee have agreed that minimum time-rates of wages should be established by legal enactment, and that they ought to be of universal applicability. The com- mittee took full cognizance both of the difficulties of determining on particular rates and of dealing with ex- ceptional cases. (Pages 8, 9.) Report of the European Commission of the National In- dustrial Conference Board. Chap. X, Sec. 1. Minimunfn Wage in Great Britain. Nov. 1919. In general it may be concluded that the Trade Boards have raised wages considerably, especially among the less skilled workers. There is no general tendency for the minimum wage to become the maximum; on the contrary, it is the wage of the poorest paid that seems to have been raised, whHe that of the more efficient workers was less affected. The fixing of minimum rates in these unrepresentative trades is held to have resulted also in *^ better organization among the employers and in improvements in the equip- ment and organization of their factories.* Though prior to their extension, in 1918, they covered 375,000 workers, they cannot, because of the circum- stances characterizing the industries included, be consid- erable factors in the industrial situation. Their chief value must always lie in the protection they afford to women and young persons in the less organized trades. (Page 174.) ♦See the ofl3cial view of the Board of Trade, London, in Third Report, New York State Factory Investigating Commission. Appendix III — 19. Pages 243-44. 148 Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. Vol. 92. April 25, 1917. London. Sir Arthur Black, M. P. : I intend to vote for the Second Reading of this Bill, and I do so because of the Clause which deals with mini- mum wages. — The wages boards also set out in the Bill for providing means for paying the minimum wage were also subject to some criticism. I happen to be connected with one of the trades already scheduled under a wages board, and I know that under the regulations framed by those boards hundreds of thousands of workers in this county have secured to them a fair and reasonable wage which in many cases they would never have had apart from the operations of the wages board. Therefore if we get nothing else but this Clause under the Bill, I should think that the President of the Board of Agriculture had done a great day's work for the county, and I wish him all success. (Page 2507.) Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. (Lords) Vol. 26. August 10, 1917. London. Et. Hon. Viscount Milner: As to the principle of fixing minimum wages at all by a Wages Board, I know that theoretically any number of arguments may be adduced against it. They were ad- duced — ^^the same arguments as we have heard to-day — over and over again when the first experiment of a mini- mum wage was made in this county by the Trades Boards Act of 1909. We have now had seven or eight years' expe- rience of that Act. I think there are few people in this country who would deny that it has done a very great deal of good, and I am sure that nobody would ask for it to be repealed. (Page 330.) 149 HoAisard's Parliamentary Debates. Vol. 107, Jime 17, 1918. London. Right Honorable W. Runciman, Member from Dewsbury : I had the privilege of working at the Board of Trade during, it is true, a very busy time, when it was impos- sible for me to give adequate attention to the operation of the trade boards, but I saw enough during the experi- ence I had there to feel that all the anticipation of those who introduced the original Act in 1909 had been fully justified. There was not a single trade to which the Trade Boards Act was applied where its influence had not been that of unmixed benefit, an unmixed benefit not only to those employed in the trade, but to the em- ployers themselves. I know something by personal knowledge of one or two of these trades. In the part of the county which I represent in this House we have had some experience of the work of the Trade Boards Act, and in these trades the employers as well as the employed would never think of going back to the old laissez-faire condition by which their relations were conducted in the past. (Page 85.) Mr. W. C. Anderson, M. P. : These trade boards have rescued whole industries from abject squalor, and in quite a number of trades the worst forms of sweating have been abolished by agree- ment between the representatives of the employers and the workpeople. I could give instance after instance of what has actually been done. I am safe in saying that quite apart from the work- people altogether, there is not one employer who has had real experience of these boards who would wish to go back to the old chaos of industry. The boards can create the conditions which render such boards unnecessary; that is to say, the creation of these boards promotes hope, organization and self-respect in place of squalor and abject despair. (Pages 102-3-4.) 150 Report of a Conference of Employers Chiefly Members of the Society of Friends Held at Woodhroohe, Birmingham, April 11-14, 1918. [The minimum or basic wage] should be determined primarily by human needs ; [wages above the minimum] by the value of the service rendered. The basic wage for adult women of average industry and capacity should be the sum necessary to maintain her in a decent dwelling and in a state of full physical efficiency, and to allow a reasonable margin for contin- gencies and recreation. (Page 132.) We believe that the payment of such wages should be regarded by employers as a necessary business liability. Till that is discharged they should very strictly limit the remuneration for their own services, nor should they pay larger dividends upon borrowed capital than is essential to ensure an adequate supply. (Page 132.) Conference of Bishops of the Anglican Commumon, Report of the Committee Appointed to Consider the Opportunity and Duty of the Church in Regard to Industrial and Social Problems, London, 1920. We reaffirm the principles commended in an index to the 1908 Report. The Christian Church, which holds that individual life is sacred, must teach that it is intolerable to it that any part of our industry should be organized upon the foundation of the misery and want of the laborer. The fundamental Christian principle of the remuneration of labor is that the first charge upon any industry must be the proper maintenance of the laborer — an idea which it has been sought to express in popular knowledge by the phrase, ^Hhe living wage.^' This must not be interpreted as a bare subsistence wage. There must be sufficient to live a decent and com- plete, a cleanly and noble life. (Pages 70-71.) 151 Christianity and Industrial Problems. Being the Report of the Archbishops' Fifth Committee of Inquiry, London. 1918. We think that it is the duty of the nation to take without delay such steps as may be necessary in order to secure a full living wage and reasonable hours of labour to all workers in industry, and that it is the duty of Christian men and women to press for the establish- ment of such conditions by all means in their power. — We hold that the payment of such a wage in return for such hours of work ought to be the first charge upon every industry. At the same time, it is necessary that steps should be taken to raise the wages of the more poorly paid workers. To indicate upon what lines such steps should proceed, we would refer our readers to the experience derived from the administration of the Trades Boards Act of 1909. — Such Trade Boards have now been estab- lished in eight industries in England, and five in Ireland, and their number is likely, we understand, to be consid- erably increased in the near future. They have played an important part in stimulating and giving practical effect to the public opinion of the trades in which they are established, and have enabled the higher standards of certain districts to raise the lower standards of others. They have largely increased the earnings of a large num- ber of poorly paid workers, with the approval both of those employed and of the majority of employers. By establishing a minimum below which wages cannot be driven, they have enabled workers who previously were too poor or too helpless to organize to protect themselves by combination, and to obtain by trade unionism rates considerably above the minimum fixed by the Boards. (Pages 75-77.) 152 Christian Social Reconstruction, A Statement of Prvn^ ci/ples and Proposals put forward hy the Inter-: denominational Conference of Social Service Unions [of the Baptist, Catholic, Christian, Con- gregational, Friends, Unitariam, Presbyterian, Primitive Methodist, United Methodist and Wes- leyan Methodist Churches']. London. 1918. [The] more flagrant abuses [of the wage system] may to some extent be remedied by a gradual and pru- dent extension of the Trades Board system and by the giving of a legal sanction to a minimum standard in the manner of the Coal Mine Act. (Pages 5-6.) U. S. Bepurtm.ent of Labor. Bureau^ of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review. Minimwn Rates of Wages of Agricultural Laborers in Enaland omd Wales, Vol. XI, No. 2. August, 1920. It is stated that no really satisfactory comparison with figures for 1914 can be made, but a comparison of the minimum wage for 1920 with the average wage for 1914 shows an increase of 140 per cent, the mutter of hours not being taken into consideration. It is believed, however, that the actual increase was substantially greater. (Page 85.) 153 (3) In Australia. The Australian System of Dealing with Labor Disputes, GrEOKGE Beeby, Minister of Labor for New South Wales. The Survey. June 7, 1919. To understand the Australian system it is necessary to realize that the county i^enerally has accepted three definite industrial claims as now beyond dispute. 3. The recognition of the principle of a living wage in all industries — that is, the drawing of a line below which competition in the labor market is illegal, but above which ordinary economic forces come into play. (Page 399.) American Federationist. January, 1919. Industrial Ar- bitration in Australia, by Geoege S. Beeby, Minis- ter of Labor and Industry and Associate Corm- missioner of the Board of Trade, New South Wales, The reproach of sweated industries has been removed from Australasia. With slight exception, women and children who work in occupations which lend themselves to oppression and misery are, compared with those in *^free'* countries, guaranteed decent factory conditions, reasonable hours of labor, and minimum wages. Parties may differ as to the extent of such regulation and the nature of the machinery for effecting it, but no serious voice is ever heard against the wisdom of inter- fering with freedom of contract in maintaining a reason- able standard of comfort for wage earners by law. All classes 'and all political parties in Australia have finally accepted the principle that it is the duty of the state to prescribe a national minimum wage for an eight hour day, and to allow no competition in the labor market below the living margin. (Pages 142-143.) 154 Employers' Federation of New South Wales. Report of Annual Meeting. 13th November, 1919. Eeport of Employers' Conference on Industrial Eelation- ships. After full consideration this Conference is of the opinion that the following principles applied to our in- dustrial activities might prove of value as a means of promoting that harmony in our industrial life which is so essential to the progress and prosperity of the Common- wealth. 1. The continuation of the present system of Arbi- tration Tribunals for fixing the Living Wage, and for settling the Standard Wage and working conditions in each industry. (Page 22.) The Church and Socialism. Rev. John A. Ryan. Washington, 1919. Essoa/ entitled ''The Legal Mvnimufm Wage.'' The compulsory arbitration laws of New Zealand and of some of the Australian states embody the principle of a legal minimum wage, inasmuch las the rates fixed by the arbitration courts are the lowest that any employer is permitted to pay throughout the trade involved in the dispute and the award. Despite their limitations, these laws have been successful not only in securing industrial peace, but in maintaining decent wages in all trades af- fected. This is the verdict of all impartial observers. (Pages 94-95.) Minimum Wage Study. Ohio Council on Women and Children in Industry. 1920. Most students of the Victorian system of wages boards, who have investigated conditions at first hand, have agreed in regard to certain important results of the system, while perhaps not in full accord in regard to other consequences. There may be said to be general agreement in regard to the following results: 155 1. The prevention of * ^ sweating ^ ' which was the orig- inal purpose of the legislation has been accomplished, al- though some writers are inclined to argue that general business prosperity, rather than the wages boards, is mainly responsible for the elimination of this evil. In- asmuch, however, as ^* sweating'* did continue in certain occupations until the Victorian Anti-Sweating League called Parliament's attention to the matter and secured the appointment of wages boards in these occupations, it must be presumed, in the absence of specific evidence to the contrary, that the wages boards were responsible for the disappearance of sweating. 2. That wages have increased in those trades in which the wages boards exist is always admitted. The further fact that the wages have increased more rapidly in the trades with wage boards than in those without them creates a strong presumption that the wages boards are partly responsible for the increase. The increase of wages has, of course, been mainly in the class of the low- paid workers. 3. Strikes are much less frequent in the trades gov- erned by wages boards, the Government statistics show. This is not because the law forbids strikes, for it does not do so, although it does provide the Court of Indus- trial Appeals may suspend the operation of a wages board's determination while a strike is in progress in that trade. The reason why strikes are relatively infre- quent is that since wages and hours have been fixed by the boards, the motives to strike have been largely elim- inated. 4. The more recent investigators of the industrial situation in Victoria all agree that the industrial prog- ress of the State has not been adversely affected by the work of the wages boards and that employers' objections to the law have largely disappeared. Many of them give their warm approval to the plan, for it puts all employees in a given trade on terms of equal footing in the matter of wages and thus raises competition to a higher plane. [Written by M. B. Hammond, Ph. D.] (Pages 3-4.) 156 (4) In Canada. The Labour Gazette. The Department of Labour, Canada. Volume XX. Number 5. May, 1920. Uni- formity of Labour Laws. Report of the Dominion- Provincial Commission Appointed to Consider the Subject. IV. Minimuni Wages for Women and Girls. We approve the principle of a minimum wage for women and girls, and recommend that a competent au- thority be created in each Province in the Dominion to establish a minimum wage adequate to maintain self- support for women and girls, and such authority shall be empowered to fi^ the hours of employment for such women and girls not already provided for by legislation, and further recommend that such hours of employment should not exceed 48 per week except of employees en- gaged in domestic or agricultural employment. (Page 546.) Canadian National Industrial Conference of Dominion and Provincial Governments tvith Representative Employers and Labour Men, on the subjects of In- dustrial Relations and Labour Laws, and for the consideration of the Labour Features of the Treaty of Peace. Ottawa, September 15-20, 1919. E. Pamell (Winnipeg), representing manufacturing in- terest in general: In the caucus held at the hotel the gentlemen repre- senting the manufacturers agreed by unanimous consent, without any hesitation at all, to the arrangement that women and children should have a minimum wage. There was practically no discussion about it, and I want to give those gentlemen credit for their decision. (Page 109.) I propose to discuss the relation of the minimum wage to labour conditions. The view which has long pre- vailed that labour is but a part of the finished product, 157 and must of necessity be treated on the same basis as the materials which go to make the finished article, with- out any regard as to whether the labourer is enabled to get from the wage paid the necessaries of life, is one that in my opinion must be discarded ; in other words, labour should no longer be treated merely as a commodity. I am well aware that I will be confronted with the statement that in this age of competition it is impossible to run a business successfully along these lines, and that industry can only pay according to the ability of the em- ployee to produce ; that, if you adopt a minimum wage, what will become of those unable to earn it ; that it would generally retard employment for the reason that greater cost affects competition, and that employers are unable to stand the abnormal wage. My answer is that the mini- mum wage is now in force in this country in many fac- tories ; it is given voluntarily to the men, by statute to the women, and it has not been found to work to the detri- ment of either employer or employee. On the contrary, the employee has had a wage which has enabled him to get a better standard of living, he has had more strength to attend to the duties he has to perform, and has had a contentment in his heart that has led to greater efficiency which has fully compensated the employer for any loss he may have seemed to sustain. The commission's report* makes a recommendation that a minimum wage should apply to women, girls and unskilled labour. With reference to the latter class, while I have stated that it is now worked out voluntarily in some industries as it relates to males, still it is to a large extent in the experimental stage as far as they are concerned; but with regard to females it is now past the experimental and is found to be working quite satisfac- torily, as is evidenced in the province of Manitoba, from which province I come. (Page 110.) ♦Report of a committee of the Conference. (Page 186.) 158 Minimfum Wage Board. Annual Report. Mamitoha Pub- lic Service Bulletin. Winnipeg, March, 1920. As liad been anticipated, the minimum wage regula- tions are having a stimulating effect upon wages in gen- eral. The board feels now that practically all women in industry come under the scope of the Act — ^that the con- dition of the woman wage-earner in this province is sec- ond to none in the Dominion. (Page 13.) The Manitoba Minimum Wage Board. J. W. Macmillan. Manitoba Public Service Bulletin. Winnipeg, De- cember, 1919. The very fact that the board had been constituted from two classes generally in conflict made it apparent to its members that harmonious action was highly de- sirable. And the simple and convincing principle upon which the law rested, that any industry taking the pro- ductive efficiency of a woman should at least work and pay her up to the level of wholesome living, made it pos- sible for us, who might have differed radically about more contentious matters, to work in concord on this. In the thirty-five conferences which we held, besides many other meetings, I remember only two occasions in which I settled a difference of opinion by a casting vote between the representatives of the employers and em- ployees. Employers Were Sympathetic. Having seen the desirability, not to say necessity, of harmony within the board, we next perceived the desira- bility of securing the approval of those who were to be controlled by the regulations we made. So we adopted the plan of summoning representatives from either side in each industry and discussing every point with them. We found, to our astonishment and delight, that they were ready to help us to the extent of their power and that they approved of regulations designed to support 159 the well-being of the employees. In the thirty-five con- ferences only once or twice did an employer refuse to approve of a regulation which the board was disposed to insist on, and in those cases it was some minor affair. I should like to pay my respects to the employers of Man- itoba, and especially of Winnipeg, where most of tlie~ industries we dealt with are located, for their willingness to accept the principle of minimum standards and for their honorable carrying out of the regulations pre- scribed. It might seem that the explanation of this ready con- sent lay in the extenuated nature of the regulations. But it was not so. In some of the establishments where large numbers of women were employed, practically every wage was increased. (Page 4.) 160 6. The Minimum Wage Does Not Become the Maximum. One of the earliest arguments against minimum wage legislation was that the minimum would become the max- imum wage and thus operate unfairly against the work- ers. This false prophesy is disproved by several commis- sions. Conclusive disproof is found in the wage tables printed after reinvestigations as to compliance with the wage decrees.* Second Annual Report of the Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia, December 31, 1919, The figures showing the wage situation before and after the minimum wage orders became effective are of interest not only in relation to the problem of learners but also as disproving the contention that the minimum tends to become the maximum. Minimum wage legisla- tion is often opposed on the ground that it will keep all workers at la dead level, that efficiency and skill will be discouraged because they will bring no additional re- ward. It is maintained that if an employer has to pay all his employes at least la certain wage he will refuse to pay any of them more. The large percentage of workers in both the printing and the mercantile indus- tries now receiving rates above the minimum effectually dispose of this argument. In the printing trades when the original investiga- tion was made 37.7 per cent of the women workers were rated at $16 and over. Immediately after the $15.50 minimum wage went into effect this increased to 58.2 per cent. (Page 26.) In the mercantile industry the situation is much the same. Here lan exact comparison is impossible since the original figures show the percentage receiving $16 and over and the later figures the percentage receiving above the minimum, i. e., above $16.50. In February and ♦See previous pages 26, 27, 29, 38, 54, 55, 56, 68. 161 March, 1919, the proportion of women and minors rated at $16 and over was 25.7 per cent; in November, 1919, the proportion receiving over $16.50 was 38.7 per cent. The figures for the department stores alone are 20.4 per cent at $16 and over in February and March and 31.3 per cent at over $16.50 in November. (Pages 26-27.) In our study of *^ Wages of Women and Minors in the Mercantile Industry in the District of Columbia, ' ' atten- tion was called to the variation in wage rates among the seven department stores. At that time, February and March, 1919, the percentage of women and minors in these stores rated at $16 and over ranged from 6.7 per cent to 26.2 per cent. A similar but less marked range was found in these same stores after the wage order became effective, the percentage receiving more than $16.50 and less than $16.50 ranging from 25.4 per cent to 42 per cent and 21.3 per cent to 33.6 per cent, respec- tively. It is evident that the character of these stores has not been changed by the minimum wage. Those which depended on cheap labor are still depending on cheap labor — learners — to keep down their expenses. The stores which had earlier realized that organization, management, and scientific handling of the labor force are prime factors in the cost of carrying on a business do not find it necessary to keep the bulk of wages down to the minimum rates fixed by law. As time goes on the force of competition will in all probability tend to increase the percentage of employees in both the printing and mercantile industries receiving above the minimum. Without awaiting further devel- opments, however, it may safely be deduced from these figures 'that under a minimum wage skill and experience do count and that workers of more than average ability do secure recognition of their superior value. (Page 27.) Third Biennial Report of the California Industrial Wel- fare Commission. 1917-1918. Every one per cent decrease in the low paid group means a one per cent increase in the higher paid groups, 162 with increased standard of living for the worker. This promotion into the better paid groups both in the case of the laundry and of the mercantile was without detri- ment to the higher paid group. The minimum has not become the maximum. A limitation of apprentices to 25 per cent of women employed, protects the experienced workers in the enjoyment of the minimum wage. (Page This decrease in the percentage in the low wage groups meant a promotion to better wages and not unem- ployment for the persons involved. The same estab- lishments are covered in September as in April, and no others. The total number of employees increased from 14,335 in April to 15,794 in September, or ten per cent. The most noticeable relative increase in numbers was in the $10 group which rose from 13 per cent to 32 per cent, or an increase of 19 per cent. In April 39.7 per cent received under $10, in September, 20.1 per cent; a de- crease of 19.6 per cent. From this, the generalization must not be made that the minimum becomes the standard wage. There is al- ways one wage group that is representative of a larger per cent of workers than any other. In April, it was the $9 group. The minimum wage order pushed this up to $10 and greatly augmented the number who received the standard wage. The minimum wage does not become the standard wage in the sense of creating a standard. A standard wage already exists, the minimum wage merely raises this, and also increases the number coming under it. (Page 39.) For similar reasons, it is not correct to say that the minimum becomes the maximum wage. The highest wages lare paid to a few possessing special qualifications of skill or executive ability. In the stores, the $25 and over group is composed almost entirely of buyers or assistants, department heads, and forewomen. As in the case of the overhead charges, the percentage for this group does not grow proportionately with the business. This is more certain to be the case if wages are raised, for better pay improves the general tone of employees, 163 besides attracting a more intelligent and dependable type. This improved type of employe*? does not require as much supervision as the underpaid clerk. The minimum wage and better working conditions might be expected to decrease the number of supervisory positions, certainly it would not add to them. But better pay in the lower groups operates all along the line to push wages up. In the $10 and over grou^ there was an increase for the state of 19.6 per cent in September over April. In the higher groups of $12 and. over, the per cent in 1914 was 32 ; in April, 1917, 40; and in September, 40. The tactual number in the $12 and over group rose from 5,729 to 6,195, or 8 per cent. This is proof that the minimum wage did not become the maximum. (Page 44.) Report on the Regulation of Wages, Hours amd Working ^Conditions of Women and Minors in the Fruit and Vegetable Canning Industry of California. Cali- fornia^ Industrial Welfare Commission. May, 1917. The effect which the rulings had in raising the piece rates is shown in detail in the following report. It is commonly charged by the opponents of minimum wage legislation that the ^^ minimum will become the maxi- mum. ^ ' It would be much more likely that the minimum piece rate would become the standard nate than that a minimum time rate should become the standard, since under the operation of minimum piece rates the average earnings in efficient plants will be higher than the piece rates were estimated to yield. That the minimum did not become the maximum is shown by the fact that in 1916, 43 per cent of the apricot pack was put up at piece rates higher than the minimum; 17 per cent of the cling peach pack; 27 per cent of the free peach pack; and 11 per cent of the pear pack. (Page 67.) It is also commonly stated that if a minimum rate were established concerns which had previously paid higher rates would reduce to meet this minimum rate. 164 In 50 instances on the five products rates higher than the minimum rate were paid in 1915. When the mini- mum rates went into effect these higher rates were con- tinued in every 'case excepting one. In that instance the establishme^At reduced its piece rate on free peaches when it was req^aired to raise its rate on pears and apri- cots. The netuncrease in earnings in that one plant, however, was ^700. (Pages 67-68.) The total increase in the earnings of women on the preparation o^ peaches, pears, apricots and tomatoes was nearly $30,000. The increases on itime work and on piece rate canning were very considerable, but could not be computed owing to lack of comparative data from 1915. (Page 68.) Minimfum Wage Commissions Current Facts. January, 1920, National Consumers' League. New York. California decreed $10.00 minimum wage for experi- enced adults in laundries, effective January, 1918. Comparison of payrolls in October, 1917, January, 1918, land November, 1918, shows After decree? (In January, 1918) 33.9% decrease of those earning less than $10. 3% increase of those earning $11 or more. (In November, 1918) 45.4% decrease of those earning less than $10. 35.3% increase of those earning $11 or more. 24.8% increase of those earning $12 or more. At first the number getting a wage above the decreed minimum was only slightly increased, but after eleven months it was increased one-third. (Page 15.) 165 Mini/mum Wage Laws Are Good Business, Extracts from Letters by Employers Operating under a Le- gal Minirrvwm Wage, National Consumers' League, New York, October, 1920. Minimuin Wage Does Not Become the Maximum. Luther C. White, Employment Manager, Clothing Manu- facturers ' Association of Boston, Mass. Feb. 1, 1920. *^Our attitude is not altruistic in the matter, for we think we know that skilled labor at a fair wage is the cheapest for the manufacturer who wishes to turn out a properly made product. All the clothing manufacturers do not see this, and in the press of competition are in- clined, perhaps, to disregard the quality of product and use *cheap' (i. e. low-priced) labor to the detriment of trade conditions as a whole. With a minimum fairly set, no manufacturer will do this — ^he will prefer to pay a wage higher than the minimum and secure competent workwomen, rather than pay a high (?) minimum to in- efficient workers. '* A. J. Schroeder, recent president Wisconsin Retail Dry Goods Association, — Schroeder Dry Goods Co., Racine, Wis. Jan. 31, 1920. ^*The raising of their salaries'' [i. e. employees who had received less than the minimum wage] ^* entailed a sympathetic raising of the salaries of a great many other employees so that the proposition of pay would be fair. ' ' Thomas Roberts, Roberts Bros., (dry goods, shoes, men's furnishings) Portland, Oregon. January 6, 1920. **Not only has it" [the minimum wage] ^ improved the ones on the lower scale, but it has been the means of raising wages all along the line. ' ' 166 James McCormack, President, McCormack Bros., (retail dry goods) Tacoma, Wash. Dec. 30, 1919. **The average wage is fully 25% more'' [than the minimum wage] ** brought about, of course, by competi- tion for the efficient help on the part of department stores, energy and ability on the part of the employees. ' ' Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. Vol. 107. 1918. Sir R. Barran, M. P. : It has been said that these minimum rates of wages are likely to be the maximum rates of wages. That is not the experience of trades that have been working under the Act. In practically every trade, not the better rate of wages, but the average rate of wages has been con- siderably above the trade board rate. (Page 115.) Province of British [Columbia — Annual Report of The Department of Labour for the year ending Decem- ber 31, 1919. The veiled threat, voiced as an economic principle by some employers to their higher-salaried employees, and the belief of the latter, that if a minimum wage was estab- lished in their occupation it would necessarily tend to a levelling-down of the higher salaries is not borne out in reality, since a distinct increase is exhibited in the num- ber of employees receiving the higher salaries. Prom the Orders which have been in effect long enough to make comparison the returns show that the fear expressed lest the minimum wage become the max- imum has proved groundless, since more than an average of $2 a week per employee is being paid over and above the legal minimum. (Page 85.) The investigations made by the Board preliminary to the first Conference held in 1918, which dealt with the Mercantile Industry, showed that the minimum wage I 167 paid in this occupation was $4 a week ; the average week- ly wage was $12.77 and the average number of hours worked per week 49.6. The legal minimum wage of $12.75 became effective on February 24th, 1919. Despite^ the fears expressed at the time it was set, that not only would the working hours be longer, but the minimum would become the maximum, the tabulation of the pay- rolls made December, 1919, shows that the present aver- age weekly wage is $14.67 and the average hours 46.1 per week, or about $1.92 more than the legal wage for 3.5 hours less. The returns in this occupation were taken during the Christmas season, and show for these weeks a very slight increase in the number of girl employees under eighteen years of age. This is explained by the entry into this occupation of many high school and uni- versity girls, who act as sales clerks in the various shops during the holiday season for the purpose of making a little money for the Christmas spending. That this ap- parent increase is probably a negligible factor is borne out by the fact that other occupations plainly show a decrease. There is also an increase in the number of girls and women employed in this occupation. A glance at the tabulated figures leads irresistibly to the conclu- sion that very many women Avorkers in the Mercantile section have moved up to a higher rate of pay as com- pared with the previous year. This is most accentuated, of course, in the case of women workers eighteen years of age or over. Of these, almost exactly one-half were receiving in 1918 less than $12 per week. The 1919 re- turns show only one in fifteen receiving less than $12, these consisting entirely of learners. There is a substan- tial increase — ^from 72 to 119 — in the number receiving $20 weekly and over, and a still larger increase in those receiving from $15 to $20 per week, so that the tendency feared by some critics that there would be a levelling- down in the higher salaries is so far non-existent. In the Laundry Industry the preliminary investiga- tion showed the weekly minimum wage for experienced women over eighteen years of age to be $6 in 1918. The average weekly wage was $11.80 and the average hours 168 47.2 per week. The legal minimum wage of $13.50 be- came effeotive on March 31st, 1919. The average wage rose to $14.48 and the hours fell to 45.1, showing an average of $2.68 more than that of the previous year for 2.1 hours less. An increased number of female em- ployees is recorded, but there is a decrease in the num- ber of girls under eighteen years of age. In this industry also the average wage is well above the minimum. 169 7. The Displacement of Workers Is Inconsiderable. In all minimum wage legislation a special provision is made to license sub-standard workers to work at reduced rates. Surprisingly few licenses have been applied for. Yet only a slight displacement of workers has been re- ported, usually in the nature of a readjustment favorable to the worker. Second Annual Report of the Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia. December 31, 1919, Under the law [special licenses] may be issued to a person *^ whose earning capacity has been impaired by age or otherwise. '^ Of the 51 licenses issued, 45 were to women whose earning capacity was impaired by age; 3 of the remainder were to subnormal girls, and 3 were to women whose physical condition did not permit them to do heavy or continuous work. The latter 3 were issued for short periods only, at the end of which it is expected that the licensee will have regained her health. The rates at which licenses were granted ranged from $10 to $15, the great majority being at $12 or $14. (Page 24.) No piece of constructive legislation can be put into effect without causing some destruction; so it is with the minimum wage law. The putting into effect of the minimum wage orders revealed the existence of a con- siderable number of able-bodied persons who because of lack of initiative, education, and opportunity were un- able to compete on an equal footing with the other work- ers in a particular class of work. For example, some women who had been employed as saleswomen were dis- missed when the order became operative on the ground that they were incapable of earning the minimum rate. Many of these women were not qualified to serve custom- ers, although in another occupation having different re- quirements they might easily earn a living wage. This shifting into new lines of work for which the woman is 170 better suited makes for the ultimate good of the indi- vidual as well as of the community. One drawback, however, to a perfect adjustment of the worker to the job is found in the limited number of industries in the District. There are comparatively few factories to which the woman unfitted for salesmanship can turn. Hotels, restaurants, laundries, telephone and telegraph offices are the only establishments which offer employment on a comparatively large scale. These industries may not offer the kind of work for which the applicant is best suited. There are other groups of women for whom no occu- pation can possibly be found in which they can compete successfully with workers of ordinary ability. Those whose earning capacity has been impaired by age or physical or mental disability are permitted under the law to secure special licenses authorizing their employment at a rate less than the minimum. This provision has made it possible for certain women to retain their jobs when otherwise they would have been dismissed. It is in effect, however, a mere begging of the question. If these women are unable to earn a living wage some other provision should be made for them. They ought not to be allowed to drag out their existence on the pittance which they are able to earn. Furthermore there are other substandard workers whose disabilities are of too indefinite a nature to permit their coming under this provision of the law. The attention of the community cannot be called too soon to the existence of these groups in industry who appear to suffer from rather than benefit by the minimum wage law. The children, the widows, the aged and in- firm, the mentally defective, the substandard workers cannot be adequately protected by wage legislation. They must be cared for in some other way. When other provision is made for these groups the work of the Mini- mum Wage Board can be rendered more constructive and effective. (Pages 28-29.) 171 Second Annual Report of the Minimum Wage Board of the District of {Columbia. December 31, 1919, One effect of the high minimum wage rates predicted by some business men was the wholesale displacement of women by men. In the printing, publishing, and allied industries no case of displacement has been called to our attention. Neither has there been a falling off in the total number of women employed in these industries. In the mercantile industry men have replaced women in certain occupations where their superior strength en- ables them to do heavier work in addition to their regular task, but such replacement has been comparatively slight. There has been a decrease in the number of women em- ployed as maids and cleaners in the ladies ' specialty shops, a smaller number of better paid employees taking the place of a larger number of poorly paid workers. A distinct advantage to the community results from such raising of the efficiency standards. Whether such a re- duction in the labor force will take place in the larger stores is problematical. Since the order became effective these establishments have taken on a large number of workers to take care of the holiday trade. If there is a cut in the normal working force it will come during Feb- ruary. But this is a period when the labor force ordi- narily reaches its lowest level, so it will be difficult to determine how much the reduction is due to trade condi- tions and how much to the minimum wage. All the indi- cations are that the employee of ordinary ability will not be affected adversely by this legislation. (Pages 27-28.) The Mimmwm Wage, Ida M. Thrasher, of Lanshurgh S Bro.j Washington^ D. 1(7. Prince Al/wmnae News. The Prince School of Education for Store Service, February/, 1920. In the Spring of 1919, Congress passed a law making a minimum wage for the District of Columbia to take 172 effect sixty days after the settlement of a wage sdale. This went into effect October 28, 1919. This scale set a minimum wage of $16.50 for all women over eighteen years of age who had had at least seven months^ experience in the mercantile world. Ac- cording to that law, the beginner was to receive a salary of $12.50 for the first three months of her probation period, and $14.50 for the next four. Perhaps it is too early in the game to form any con- clusion worthy of consideration, as the law has been in effect for a period of only a little over three months. 'V\^ether it is a good law or a bad law, time alone can prove, but at present the results strike me as being almost wholly on the side of the good. As one of the workers in the firm of Lansburgh & Bro., I shall, of course, speak largely of the effects of the law as they seem to be working out in our own store. The most interesting and far reaching results of the passing of the Minimum Wage Law seem to be that of a general increased efficiency, and a decreased labor turn over. During the weeks previous to the passing of the law, there had to be a gradual process of weeding out of those who were failing to earn what the store was at that time paying them, and who gave little or no promise of measuring up to a higher standard ; it simply meant the survival of the fittest and every girl was conscious of that fact. That knowledge resulted in a spirit of in- creased earnestness throughout the entire store, a spirit which I believe is with us still and will remain. If the girls had it in them, they did measure up, and consider- ing the number on our pay roll, a surprisingly small pro- portion were among those found wanting and conse- quently dropped. There can be little doubt but what the Minimum Wage Law has had a wholesome effect upon more than the salespeople. Applicants for positions are not taken into the organization unless they are promising from the start; they are carefully watched during the early part of their term of employment, and dropped if they fail to give good returns for the salary paid. Those who 173 come to us as beginners have every opportunity of know- ing what is expected of them, as classes in salesmanship are being formed of all who are serving the probation period. If they do not make good, it will be either their own fault or misfortune, not because the store is failing in its efforts to help. The girls realize that the store is in a position io demand adequate returns and that if they do not give those returns, they will be asked to join the unfortunate number whom no store can afford to keep in its employ, because of their physical or mental unfitness for the job. (Page 9.) That the law has worked a hardship on some least able to bear it, cannot for one minute be denied. There are some whom no firm can afford to pay what the law demands, who are capable of barely earning a lesser wage but no more. The Minimum Wage Board has the power to issue permits to cover just such cases, but it is not their policy to issue many; the reason for such an attitude needs no explanation. Any good law may be detrimental to a small number, but that this law is work- ing out for the best good of the greater number, I have no doubt. (Page 10.) Third Biennial Report of the California Industrial Wel- fare Commission. 1917-1918. Summing up the accomplishments of the mercantile order, ithe effects were found to be : 2. That the number of employees was not decreiased, but increased 10 per cent. (Page 48.) A summary of the effects of the order of the Indus- trial Welfare Commission in the laundry industry leads to the same conclusions as in the mercantile industry : 2. Employees did not lose their positions because of the order. (Page 87.) Section 8 (as amended, Stats. 1915, Chap. 571) : (a) * ^ For any occupation in which a minimum wage has been 174 established, the commission may issue to a woman phys- ically defective by age or otherwise, a special license authorizing the employment of such license, for a period of six months, for a wage less than such legal minimum wage; and the commission shall ^ a s-pecial minimum wage for such person. Any sucb license may be renewed for like periods of six months/' The commission exer- cised its power to issue infirm workers ' licenses, author- izing employment for a wage less than the legtal min- imum. It was recognized that there are persons in- capable of attaining even the minimum standards, who would become hopeless charges on the community, if denied all opportunity to work. If industry were com- pelled to give the same terms to the incapacitated as to the competent workers, the former could not hope for employment. This special license, however, must be se- cured from the commission for each worker. This is issued only upon joint application of employer and em- ployee. The employee must state the length of employ- ment in the industry, the reason for the application, and her age. The employer agrees to give the applicant em- ployment lat specified work and at a specified rate. An investigation is made that takes into account the pre- vious earnings of the worker and the earnings of other workers as one measure of comparative skill, the physical conditions, age, training, the other facts that might cause a smaller output. If the worker proves incapable of regular promotion, or of earning the minimum, the spe- cial license is granted, renewable every six months. This may specify a weekly time rate less than the legal min- imum, or may permit the employer to pay whatever the employee is able to earn at the current piece rates. (Page 66.) No license has been granted to any woman except upon the signed statement of la licensed physician that the applicant was not able to work to normal capacity at ordinary tasks, either because of age or physical dis- ability. A wage of $8 to women who (are incapacitated is a very real aid. The commission safeguards wage standards of the normal worker by careful restrictions 175 on the permits. The commission has been very con- servative in granting the privilege, less' than 3 per cent of the. total employees in November, 1918, holding such permits. (Page 70.) Minimu/m Wage Commissions. Current Facts, January 1920. National Consumers^ League, New York, Before the Massachusetts retail store decree went in- to effect, in January, 1916, the 26 neighborhood houses of Boston oifered to help readjust girls and women dis- charged las *Hoo unskilled, ignorant or incompetent to be worth the minimum wage. ' ' No considerable number of them was found, except from one store, which had 49. Seventy were listed from 12 stores. One-third of these found work right away, the rest more slowly, except 5 ^^unemployables,'' who could find no work in nine months. Nine months after the decree those who were re- employed earned an average of $7.71 a week, in contrast with their former earnings of $5.44. The public, which pays the costs of industry, is en- titled not to be served in stores and restaurants, over the telephone and on trolley cars and elevators by the mentally defective. In laundries, factories and in public kitchens, where they may be a menace to the safety of their fellow em- ployees, their presence should be discouraged. (Page 14.) Minimum Wage Study, Ohio Council on Women and Children in Industry. 1920, Eliza P. Evans, Secretary, State of Minnesota Minimum Wage Commission : In so far as I know, not one woman or minor in the State of Minnesota has been thrown out of work perman- 176 ently by the Minimum Wage Law. Yomig girls especially have lost their jobs, but in most instances the loss of the job was a good thing, because prior to the promulgation of the Minimum Wage Law, employers had been in the habit of keeping girls who were little or no good, because they could get them for a low wage and, of course, this was a great injustice to the girl. The result has been that the girls have been forced to find the kind of work for which they were fitted. (Page 26.) Washington. Tenth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor, Statistics and Factory Inspection. 19l6- 1916. After the minimum wage for mercantile establish- ments had been in effect about sixteen months, the Bureau of Labor was asked to collect statistics on its effect and in October, 1915, we began a survey for that purpose. (Page 270.) We personally interviewed each girl and asked the questions on the blank. Almost three thousand girls re- sponded and the result of the information gained was more than gratifying. Eegarding the question, **Do you know of any girl who has lost her position on account of the minimum wageT' we were able to get the names and addresses *of many, and on interviewing them |>er- sonally we found there were other reasons, but most of them had secured positions elsewhere and were getting the wage while some of the younger girls had returned to school, hence the cry that so many had lost their posi- tions was groundless. (Pages 270-271.) American Minimum Wage Laws at Work, Dorothy W. Douglas. American Economic Review, Vol, IX, No, 4. December, 1919, So far the total number of licenses issued [to defec- tives] by the active minimum wage states has been sur- ]77 prisingly small. Washington reports only fifty in five years of commission activity. The California commis- sion states in respect to the laundry industry, where infirm workers are more easily accommodated than else- where: ^^No license has been granted to any woman- except upon the signed statement of a licensed physician that the applicant was not able to work to normal capac- ity at ordinary tasks, either because of age or physical disability. ' * Even then no license is granted for less than $8. * * * In November, 1918, less than 3 per cent of the total employees * * * [held] such permits.''* None of these states report any difficulty because of applications from the mentally defective. In many cases of course the mentally defective would also be physically handicapped, and thus receive their classification without question. Of the six licenses thus far issued by the Min- nesota commission, three were for women thus doubly handicapped. Our informant states that no case of pure- ly mental defect has as yet arisen. The Washington commission reports similarly: **We have had no applica- tion from a mentally subnormal person.'' In view of the large number of mental defectives known to be at large in our population, this state of affairs is certainly surprising. Perhaps the majority of them find their way into simple piece work operations where their reduced output can affect no one but them- selves.** Others doubtless drift about from job to job, never making themselves valuable enough to an employer to cause him even to try for a license for them. But a large remainder appear to be still unaccounted for. Oan it be that much of our industry is so simplified and routinized that even a moron is good enough to support herself at it? Nay, possibly that she may in some re- spects be preferable to her normal and therefore more restless sister? (Pages 726-7.) ♦Third Biennial Report I. W. C. of California, p. 70. ♦♦However, in a state like California they would probably be discovered even there, if large numbers congregated in any one branch of piece work, for California has the provision in her ruling on manufactures that 66^ per cent of all piece workers employed by any one establishment must earn over the weekly rate. (I. W. C. Order No. 11, amended 1919, sec. 8(d).) 178 Province of British Columbia, Annual Report of The Department of Labour for the Year Endmg December 31, 1919. The constantly reitemted assertion that a greater number of girls under eighteen years of age were being employed since the introduction of the minimum wage appears also to be disproved by a comparison of the re- turns, which indicate practically no change. (Page 85.) The statement is constantly made that under minimum wage legislation only the competent can hope to earn a livelihood, and that the incompetent will be deprived of opportunity to obtain even the little they now receive. Convincing reply to this has been made by Bertha Bradley Warbasse in *^The Survey.^' She remtarks: ^^But obviously the places made vacant must and will be filled by workers competent to earn the minimum wage who were out of employment. That is, one class will be thrown out of work and two will benefit — the com- petent unemployed and the competent who are employed, but not receiving la living wage. * * * The unem- ployed in America are unemployed men. Is it not be- cause a man demands a living wage? Because he per- sonally tries to exact a minimum wage from an employer who finds it cheaper to get several girls at a less total cost and a larger total output?*' (Page 86.) The Board, finding that statements are continually made that sifice the introduction of the minimum wage women over eighteen years of fage are being discharged in order to be replaced by younger girls, for whom a lower wage has been set, caused a survey to be made in one industry of which this allegation had been very definitely and persistently put forth. The actual figures revealed not only that the statement was unfounded, but that in reality there had been a very perceptible decline in the number of girls under eighteen years of age en- gaged in that particular class of work. (Page 87.) 179 PART SECOND. THE EXTENSION OF MINIMUM WAGE LEGISLA- TION. I. In America. Since 1916 minimum wage legislation has been enacted in the District of Columbia, North Dakota and Texas. In Arizona and Porto Rico a flat rate of mini- mum wages has been established by statute. The Colo- rado act has been replaced by one applying to all women employees and providing for the creation of wage boards. The Arkansas statute has been extended to apply to all women employees with certain few exceptions.- The Cali- fornia and Massachusetts laws have been amplified in detail. Nebraska, in 1920, joined California and Ohio in val- idating minimum wage legislation by specific constitu- tional authorization. (1) The Minimum Wage Laws. District of Columbia. Enacted in 1918. {65th Congress, Second Session, No. 215.) An Act to protect the lives and health and morals of women and minor workers in the District of Co- lumbia, and to establish a Minimum Wage Board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of minimum wages for such workers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America in Oongress as- sembled : Section 1. — That where used in this Act — the term 180 ** Board'' means the Minimum Wage Board created by section two; The term *^ Commissioners'' means the Commission- ers of the District of Columbia; The term *^ woman" includes only a woman of eigh- teen years of age or over; The term *^ minor" means a person of either sex under the age of eighteen years; The term ^ ^ occupation " includes a business, industry, trade, or branch thereof, but shall not include domestic service. Sec. 2. — That there is hereby created a Board to be known as the *^ Minimum Wage Board," to be composed of three members to be appointed by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. As far as practicable, the members shall be so chosen that one will be represen- tative of employees, one representative of employers, and one representing the public. The Commissioners shall make their first appoint- ments hereunder within thirty days after this Act takes effect, and shall designate one of the three members first appointed to hold office until January first, nineteen hun- dred and nineteen; one to hold office until January first, nineteen hundred and twenty; and one to hold office until January first, nineteen hundred and twenty-one. On or before the first day of January of each year, beginning with the year^nineteen hundred and nineteen, the Com- missioners shall appoint a member to succeed the mem- ber whose term expires on such first day of January, and such new appointee shall hold office for the term of three years from such first day of January. Each mem- ber shall hold office until his successor is appointed and has qualified; and any vacancy that may occur in the membership of the Board shall be filled by appointment by the Commissioners for the unexpired portion of the term. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum to transact business, and the act or decision of such a majority shall be deemed the act or decision of the 181 Board ; and no vacancy shall impair the right of the re- maining members to exercise all the powers of the Board. "Sec. 3. — That the first members appointed shall with- in twentv^days after their appointment, meet and organ- ize the Soard by electing one of their number as chair- man and by choosing a secretary, who shall not be a member of the Board; and on or before the tenth day of January of each year thereafter the Board shall elect a chairman and choose a secretary for the ensuing year. The chairman and secretary shall each hold office until his successor is elected or chosen ; but the Board may at any time remove the secretary. The secretary shall per- form such duties as may be prescribed and receive such salary, not in excess of $2,500 per annum, as may be fixed by the Board. None of the members shall receive any salary as such. The Board shall have power to employ agents and such other assistants as may be necessary for the proper performance of its duties: Provided, That until further authorization by Congress, the sum which it may expend, including the salary of the secretary, shall not exceed the sum of $5,000. Sec. 4. — That at any public hearing held by the Board any person interested in the matter bein^ investigated may appear and testify. Any member of the Board shall have power to administer oaths and the Board may re- quire by subpoena the attendance and testimony of wit- nesses, the production of all books, registers and other evidence relative to any matters under investigation, at any such public hearing or at any session of any confer- ence held as hereinafter provided. In case of disobedi- ence to a subpoena the Board may invoke the aid of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the pro- Auction of documentary evidence. In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena the court may issue an order requiring appearance before the Board, the production of documentary evidence, and the giving of evidence touching the matter in question, and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof. 182 Sec. 5. — That the Board is hereby authorized and em- powered to make rules and regulations for the carrying into effect of this Act, including rules and regulations for the selection of members of the conferences herein- after provided for and the mode of procedure thereof. Sec. 6. — That the Board shall, on or before the first day of January of the year nineteen hundred and nine- teen, and of each year thereafter, make a report to the Commissioners of its work and the proceedings under this Act. Sec. 7. — That there is hereby authorized to be ap- propriated, out of the revenues of the District of Colum- bia, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and nineteen, the sum of $5,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry into effect the pro- visions of this Act. Sec. 8. — That the Board shall have full power and authority: (1), To investigate and ascertain the wages of women and minors in the different occupations in which they are employed in the District of Columbia; (2), to examine, through any member or authorized rep- resentative, any book, pay roll or other record of any employer of women or minors that in any way appertains to or has a bearing upon the question of wages of any such women orjninors; and (3), to require from such em- ployer full and true statements of the wages paid to all women and minors in his employment. Every employer shall keep a register of the names of the women and minors employed by him in any occupa- tion in the District of Columbia, of the hours worked by each, and of all payments made to each, whether paid by the time or by the piece; and shall, on request, permit any member or authorized representative of the Board to examine such register. To assist the Board in carrying out this Act the Com- missioners shall at all times give it any information or statistics in their possession under the Act of Congress approved February twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and 183 fourteen, entitled '^An Act to regulate the hours of em- ployment and safeguard the health of females employed in the District of Columbia.'' (Public, numbered sixty. Sixty-third Congress.) Sec. 9. — That the Board is hereby authorized and em- powered to ascertain and declare, in the manner herein- after provided, the following things: (a). Standards of minimum wages for women in any occupation within the District of Columbia, and what wages are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living to any such women workers to maintain them in good health and to protect their morals; and (b), standards of minimum wages for minors in any occupation within the District of Columbia, and what wages are unreasonably low for any such minor workers. Sec. 10. — That if, after investigation, the Board is of opinion that any substantial number of women workers in any occupation are receiving wages inadequate to sup- ply them with the necessary cost of living and maintain them in health and protect their morals, it may call and convene a conference for the purpose and with the powers of considering and inquiring into and reporting on the subject investigated by the Board and submitted by it to such conference. The conference shall be composed of not more than three representatives of the employers in such occupation, of an equal number of representatives of the employees in such occupation, of not more than three disinterested persons representing the public, and of one or more members of the Board. The Board shall name and appoint all the members of the conference and designate the chairman thereof. Two-thirds of the members of the conference shall constitute a quorum, and the decision or recommendation or report of the conference on any subject submitted shall require a vote of not less than a majority of all its members. The Board shall present to the conference all the in- formation and evidence in its possession or control re- lating to the subject of the inquiry by the conference, and 184 shall cause to be brought before the conference any wit- nesses whose testimony the Board deems material. Sec. 11. — That after completing its consideration of and inquiry into the subject submitted to it by the Board, the conference shall make and transmit to the Board a report containing its findings and recommendations on such subject, including recommendations as to standards of minimum wages for women workers in the occupation under inquiry and as to what wages are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living to women workers in such occupation and to maintain them in health and to protect their morals. In its recommendations on a question of wages the conference (1) shall, where it appears that any substan- tial number of women workers in the occupation under inquiry are being paid by piece rates as distinguished from time rate, recommend minimum piece rates as well as minimum time rate and recommend such minimum piece rates as will, in its judgment, be adequate to supply the necessary cost of living to women workers in such occupation of average ordinary ability and to maintain them in health and protect their morals; and (2) shall, when it appears proper or necessary, recommend suit- able minimum wages for learners and apprentices in such occupation and the maximum length of time any woman worker may be kept at such wages as a learner or apprentice, which wages shall be less than the regular minimum wages reconomended for the regular women workers in such occupation. Sec. 12. — That, upon receipt of any report from any conference, the Board shall consider and review the recommendations, and may approve or disapprove any or all of such recommendations, and may resubmit to the same conference, or a new conference, any subject cov- ered by any recommendations so disapproved. If the Board approves any recommendations con- tained in any report from any conference, it shall publish a notice, once a week, for four successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation printed in the District 185 of Columbia, that it will, on a date and at a place named in the notice, hold a public hearing at which all persons in favor of or opposed to such recommendations will be heard. After such hearing the Board may, in its discretion, make and render such an order as may be proper or necessary to adopt such recommendations and carry them into effect, requiring all employers in the occupation af- fected thereby to observe and comply with such order. Such order shall become effective sixty days after it is made. After such order becomes effective, and while it is effective, it shall be unlawful for any employer to violate or disregard any of its terms or provisions, or to employ any woman worker in any occupation covered by such order at lower wages than are authorized or permitted therein. The Board shall, as far as is practicable, mail a copy of such order to every employer affected thereby; and every employer affected by any such order shall keep a copy thereof posted in a conspicuous place in each room in his establishment in which women workers are em- ployed. Sec. 13. — That for any occupation in which only a minimum time-rate wage has been established, the Board may issue to a woman whose earning capacity has been impaired by age or otherwise, a special license authoriz- ing her employment at such wage less than such minimum time-rate wage as shall be fixed by the Board and stated in the license. Sec. 14. — That the Board may at any time inquire into wages of minors employed in any occupation in the Dis- trict of Columbia, and determine suitable wages for them. When the Board has made such determination it may make such an order as may be proper or necessary to carry such determination into effect. Such order shall become effective sixty days after it is made; and after such order becomes effective and while it is effective it shall be unlawful for any employer in such occupation to 186 employ a minor at less wages than are specified or re- quired in or by such order. Sec. 15. — That any conference may make a separate inquiry into and report on any branch of any occupation, and the Board may make a separate order affecting any branch of any occupation. Sec. 16. — That the Board shall from time to time in- vestigate and ascertain whether or not employers in the District of Columbia are observing and complying with its orders, and shall report to the corporation counsel of the District of Columbia all violations of this Act. Sec. 17. — That all questions of fact arising under the foregoing provisions of this Act shall, except as other- wise herein provided, be determined by the Board, and there shall be no appeal from the decision of the Board on any such question of fact ; but there shall be a right of appeal from the Board to the Supreme Court of the Dis- trict of Columbia from any ruling or holding on a ques- tion of law included or embodied in any decision or order of the Board ; and, on the same question of law, from such court to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. In all such appeals the corporation counsel shall appear for and represent the Board. Sec. 18. — That whoever violates this Act, whether an employer or his agent, or the director, officer, or agent of any corporation, shall be deemed guilty of a misde- meanor; and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100, or by imprisonment not less than ten days nor more than three months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Sec. 19. — That any employer and his agent, or the director, officer, or agent of any corporation, who dis- charges or in any other manner discriminates against any employee because such employee has served or is about to serve on any conference, or has testified or is about to testify, or because such employer believes that said em- ployee may serve on any conference or may testify in any 187 investigation or proceedings under or relative to this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor ; and, upon con- viction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100. Sec. 20. — That any act which, if done or omitted to ^ye done by any agent or officer or director acting for such employer, would constitute a violation of this Act, shall also be held to be a violation by the employer and subject such employer to the liability provided for by this Act. Sec. 21. — That prosecutions for violations of this Act shall be on information filed in the police court of the District of Columbia by the corporation counsel. Sec. 22. — That if any woman worker is paid by her employer less than the minimum wage to which she is entitled under or by virtue of an order of the Board, she may recover in a civil action the full amount of such minimum wage, less any amount actually paid to her by the employer, together with such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court ; and any agreement for her to work for less than such minimum wage shall be no defense to such action. Sec. 23. — That this Act shall be known as the ** Dis- trict of Columbia minimum- wage law.'' The purposes of the Act are to protect the women and minors of the Dis- trict from conditions detrimental to their health and morals, resulting from wages which are inadequate to maintain decent standards of living ; and the Act in each of its provisions and in its entirety shall be interpreted to effectuate these purposes. [Approved, September 19, 1918.] 188 Arizona. Enacted in 1917. (jChapter 38.) An Act to provide for a minimum wage for women and fixing penalty for violation thereof. Be it enacted hy the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. — No person, persons, firm or corporation, transacting business within the State of Arizona, shall employ any female in any store, office, shop, restaurant, dining room, hotel, rooming house, laundry or manufac- turing establishment, at a weekly wage of less than Ten Dollars per week ; a lesser amount being hereby declared inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living to any such female to maintain her health, and to provide her with the common necessaries of life. Sec. 2. — ^Any person, persons, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty Dollars, nor more than Three Hundred Dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than ten days, nor more than sixty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, for each separate offense. Sec. 3. — ^All acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. [Approved March 8, 1917.] 189 Arkansas. Enacted in 1915. (Chapter 191.) Amended in 1919. (Chapter 275.) Ac5T to regulate the hours of labor, safeguard the health and establish a minimum wage for females in the State of Arkansas. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas: Be it enacted by the People of the State of Arkansas: Section 1. — That no females shall be employed in any manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile establishment, laundry, or by an express or transportation company, in this State, for more than nine hours in any one day, or more than six days, or more than fifty-four hours in any one week; provided, however, that the present law gov- erning the employment of children under sixteen years of age shall not be repealed by this act. Sec. 2. — That no female under eighteen years of age shall be employed or permitted to work in, or in connec- tion with, any of the establishments or occupations named in section 1 of this Act before the hour of 7 o 'clock in the morning, or after the hour of 9 o 'clock in the evening of any one day. Sec. 3. — That no female shall be employed or per- mitted to work for more than six hours continuously at one time in any establishment or occupation named in section 1 of this Act, in which three or more females are employed, without any interval of at least three-quarters of an hour, except that such female may be so employed for not more than six and one-half hours continuously at one time if such employment ends not later than half past 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and if she is then dis- missed for the remainder of the day. The time allowed for noon luncheon shall not be less than three-quarters of an hour. 190 Sec. 4. — That every employer shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous place in every room in any estab- lishment or occupation named in section 1 of this Act in which females are employed, a printed notice stating the number of hours such females are required or permitted to work on each day of the week, the hours of beginning and ending, the recess allowed for meals. The printed form of such notice shall be furnished upon application, by the Commissioner of Labor and Statistics. The em- ployment of any such female for longer time in any one day than that stated in a printed notice shall be deemed a violation of the provisions of this section. Where the nature of the business makes it impracticable to fix the recess allowed for meals at the same time for all females employed, the Commissioner of Labor and Statistics may issue a permit dispensing with the posting of the hours when the recess for meals begins and ends, and requiring the posting of only the total number of hours that females are required or permitted to work on each day of the week, and the hours of beginning and stopping such work. Such permit shall be kept by such employer upon such premises and exhibited to all inspectors authorized to enforce this Act. Sec. 5. — That every employer shall keep a time book or record of every female employed in any establish- ment or occupation named in section 1 of this Act stating the wages paid", the number of hours worked by her on each day of the week, the hours of beginning and ending such work and the hours of beginning and ending the recess allowed for meals. Such time book or record shall be open at all reasonable hours to the inspection of the officials authorized to enforce this Act. Any employer who fails to keep such record as required by this section, or makes any false statements therein, or refuse to ex- hibit such time book or record, or makes a false statement to any official authorized to enforce this Act in reply to any question put in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be liable for violation thereof. Sec. 6. — The Commissioner of Labor and Statistics, 191 or any person duly authorized by him, may, in the dis- charge of their duties, enter any establishment or occupa- tion where females are employed mentioned in section 1 of this Act as often as practicable during reasonable hours and shall cause the provisions of this Act to be enforced therein, and shall have full police power in en- forcing compliance therewith. Sec. 7. — That it shall be unlawful for any employer of labor mentioned in section 1 of this Act to pay any female worker in any establishment or occupation less than the wage specified in this section, towit, except as herein provided: All female workers who have had six months' practicable experience in any line of industry or labor shall be paid not less than $1.25 per day. The minimum wage for inexperienced female workers who have not had six months' experience in any line of industry or labor shall be paid not less than $1.00 per day, provided, that any inexperienced female worker or apprentices shall be given a certificate by their employers showing the amount of experience they have had and all time served as inex- perienced workers, or apprentices shall be cumulative. All female workers working less than nine hours per day shall receive the same wages per hour as those working nine hours per day. iSec. 8. — That whenever it can be shown beyond question of doubt that it would work irreparable injury to any industry engaged in handling products, such as canning factories and candy factories, to comply with the provisions of this Act, regarding hours, a commis- sion, consisting of the Commissioner of Labor and Statis- tics and two competent women, to be appointed, one by the Grovernor, and the other by the State Commissioner of Labor and Statistics, may by majority vote, after hearing duly held in which all interested parties may have been duly heard, permit such industry to operate more than nine hours per day, provided that women em- ployed are paid at the rate of time and one-half for hours worked in excess of nine hours in any one day; provided, 192 however, that said period in which overtime may be worked shall not exceed 90 days in any one year. Sec. 9. — ^All females employed in any industry in this State, who are paid upon a piece-work basis, bonus sys- tem, or any other manner than by the day, shall be paid not less than the rate per day herein specified for female employees who are working on the day rate system, and a commission, consisting of the Commissioner of Labor and Statistics, and two competent women, one to be ap- pointed by the Governor, and one by the Commissioner of Labor and Statistics, shall investigate, upon complaint, any line of industry wherein females are employed and if in their judgment said system of piece-work is working an injury to the general health of the employees, they may, after hearing, duly held, issue an order compelling said firm to abolish piece-work or any other injurious system, and establish a daily rate of wages for all female employees, said rate not to be less than the rate specified in section 7 of this Act. Sec. 10. — Provided, however, that if said commission should find, after an investigation that a lower minimum rate of wages is adequate to supply a woman, or minor female worker engaged in any occupation, trade or in- dustry, the necessary cost of proper living, and to main- tain the health and welfare of such woman, or minor female worker^ may, after a public hearing, duly held, at which time all interested employers and employees are given a reasonable opportunity to present their argu- ments, issue an order establishing a minimum wage rate that in their judgment is reasonable, and said rate so established shall be the legal minimum wage in the indus- try or occupation affected, and should such said commis- sion find after said investigation that the minimum wage specified in section 7 in this Act is insufficient to ade- quately supply a woman or minor female worker engaged in any occupation, trade or industry, the necessary cost of proper living and to maintain the health and welfare of such woman or female worker, may, after public hear- ing duly held, at which time all interested parties are 193 given a reasonable opportunity to present their argu- ment, issue an order establishing a higher minimum wage for female workers that, in the judgment of the commis- sion, is reasonable, and said minimum wage rate so estab- lished by said commission shall be the legal minimum wage in the industry or occupation affected. Sec. 11.— [As amended, Acts 1919, Ch. 275.]— Said Commission, after a public hearing duly held, at which all interested persons are given an opportunity to pre- sent arguments, may establish regulations governing the employment of females in hotels and restaurants; pro- vided, said rules and regulations shall not permit female workers to be employed in excess of nine hours in any one day, nor at a lower rate of wages than will supply said female employees the cost of proper living, and safe- guard their health and welfare. The rate of wages estab- lished by the Commission shall not be greater than the rate of wages specified in Section 7. Sec. 12. — That any female person, or persons, com- pany or corporation, who violates the provisions of this Act, or does not comply with the provisions of this Act, shall, upon conviction in any court of competent jurisdic- tion, be punished by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100 and each day of noncompliance shall constitute a separate offense. Sec. 13.— [As amended, Acts 1919, Ch. 275.]— Should any section or sections of this Act be held invalid by the courts, it shall not thereby be understood as affecting, and shall not affect, the other provisions of this Act; provided this Act shall not apply to cotton factories, or to the gathering of fruits or farm products in Arkansas. Sec. 14. — All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this law are hereby repealed, and this law being neces- sary for the immediate public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its pas- sage. [Approved IMarch 20, 1915.] 194 California. Enacted in 1913. (Chcopter 324) Amended in 1915 (Chapter 571) and in 1919 (Chapter 204). An Act regulating the employment of women and minors and establishing an industrial welfare commission to investigate and deal with such employment, in- cluding a minimum wage ; providing for an appro- priation therefor and fixing a penalty for violations of this act. The Peiople of the State of California do enact as fol- lows: Section 1. — There is hereby established a commission to be known as the industrial welfare commission, here- inafter called the commission. Said commission shall be composed of five persons, at least one of whom shall be a woman, and all of which shall be appointed by the governor as follows: two for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, one for the term of three years, and one for the term of four years; provided, however, that at the expiration of their respective terms their suc- cessors shall be appointed to serve a full term of four years. Any vacancies shall be similarly filled for the un- expired portion of the term in which the vacancy shall occur. Thre:e members of the commission shall constitute a quorum. A vacancy on the commission shall not impair the right of the remaining members to perform all the duties and exercise all the powers and authority of the commission. Sec. 2. — The members of said commission shall draw no salaries, but all of said members shall be allowed ten dollars per diem while engaged in the performance of their ofiicial duties. The commission may employ a secre- tary, and such expert, clerical and other assistants as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this act, and shall fix the compensation of such employees, and may, also, to carry out such purposes, incur reasonable and necessary office and other expenses, including the 195 necessary traveling expenses of the members of the com- mission, of its secretary, of its experts, and of its clerks and other assistants and employees. All employees of the commission shall hold office at the pleasure of the commission. ^^^ Sec. 3. — (a) It shall be the duty of the commission to ascertain the wages paid, the hours and conditions of labor and employment in the various occupations, trades, and industries in which women and minors are employed in the State of California, and to make investigations into the comfort, health, safety and welfare of such women and minors. (h) It shall be the duty of every person, firm or cor- poration employing labor in this state: 1. To furnish to the commission, at its request, any and all reports or information which the commission may require to carry out the purposes of this act, such reports and information to be verified by the oath of the person, or a member of the firm, or the president, secre- tary, or manager of the corporation furnishing the same, if and when so requested by the commission or any mem- ber thereof. 2. To allow any member of the commission, or its secretary, or any of its duly authorized experts or em- ployees, free access to the place of business or employ- ment of such person, firm, or corporation, for the purpose of making any investigation authorized by this act, or to make inspection of, or excerpts from, all books, reports, contracts, pay rolls, documents, or papers, of such per- son, firm or corporation relating to the employment of labor and payment therefor by such person, firm or cor- poration. 3. To keep a register of the names, ages, and resi- dence addresses of all women and minors employed. (c) For the purposes of this act, a minor is defined to be a person of either sex under the age of eighteen years. 196 Sec. 3y2.— [Amendment, Acts 1919, Ch. 204.] Any member of the commission or deputies duly authorized by it in writing, shall have the power and authority to issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses or parties and the production of books, papers, pay rolls or records, and to administer oaths and to examine wit- nesses under oaths and to take the verification or proof of instruments of writing, and to take depositions and affidavits for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act, or any of its orders, rules or regulations; provided, that no witness shall be compelled to attend on said commission outside of the county in which said witness resides or at a distance greater than fifty miles from his place of residence. Obedience to subpoenas issued by the commission or its duly authorized representatives shall be enforced in the superior courts of the county or city and county in which the subpoenas were issued. Sec. 4. — The commission may specify times to hold public hearings, at which times, employers, employees, or other interested persons, may appear and give testi- mony as to the matter under consideration. The com- mission or any member thereof shall have power to sub- poena witnesses and to administer oaths. All witnesses subpoenaed by the commission shall be paid the fees and mileage fixeuted average Average earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days No. of Bs- No. of Em- per week per hour were Occupation tablishments ployees day worked worked Rubber, mechanical goods and hose Laborers 10 499 7.3 .289 12.66 SUk D o u b 1 e r s, silk throwing 9 146 7.8 .225 10.53 Quillers 26 441 7.8 .237 11.09 Eeelers 12 116 7.5 .259 11.66 Winders 29 1,059 7.7 .265 12.24 Spinners 9 375 7.5 .275 12.38 Pickers, cloth 24 335 7.5 .298 13.41 Typewriters, Add- ing Machines and Cash Registers Inspectors (parts) 22 572 7.8 .275 12,87 Assemblers and welders (parts)... 22 718 8.0 .282 13.54 Drill press hands and operators 22 547 7.7 .296 13.68 (Computed.) (Pages 76-82, 115, 120, 124, 125, 140, 158, 163, 187-191, 208, 211, 237-239, 257, 259, 266-269, 271- 273, 337, 343, 422, 440-442, 450, 457, 467, 482, 483, 485, 503, 504, 506.) 324 c. Showing the marked difference between wa^ge scales in different localities. (a) In the lowest paid occupations. No. of Es- No. of Em- Occupation tablishments ployees Boxes, paper Closers S Irmpectors Illinois 5 30 Massachusetts 4 38 Missouri 3 13 New Jersey 3 12 New York 6 187 Ohio 4 17 Pennsylvania 4 9 Wisconsin 3 13 Gluers-off Connecticut 2 5 Illinois 3 29 Massachusetts 5 57 Michigan 2 6 Missouri 2 6 New Jersey 3 14 New York 7 57 Ohio 5 24 Pennsylvania 3 4 Wisconsin 3 23 Laborers (set-up and folding) Illinois 4 17 Massiachusetts 2 18 New Jersey 3 30 New York 5 118 Ohio 3 14 Pennsylvania 2 11 Computed average Arerage earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days per week per hour were (lay worked worked 8.0 $0.218 . $10.46 7.6 .267 12.18 8.1 .201 9.77 7.4 .176 9.81 7.2 .209 9.03 6.4 .219 8.41 5.8 .176 6.12 7.1 .155 6.06 7.2 .215 9.29 8.0 .217 10.41 7.5 .211 9.50 7.1 .167 7.11 7.4 .169 7.50 9.2 .192 10.60 8.0 .236 11.33 7.0 .237 9.95 8.3 .189 9.41 8.1 .185 8.99 7.6 .251 11.45 6.5 .192 7.49 6.9 .233 9.64 7.1 .222 9.46 6.3 .177 6.69 5.9 .176 6.23 325 { [Computed average Average earnings hours Average per week worked earning*- if-6 days No . of Bs- No. of Em- per week per hour were Occupation tablishments ployees day worked worked Turner s-in (set-up) Connecticut 4 25 7.5 .194 8.73 Illinois 4 19 8.1 .173 8.41 Massachusetts 4 37 7.1 .190 8.09 New Jersey 3 28 7.6 .179 8.16 New York 10 6 125 40 7.4 7.2 .202 .196 8.97 Ohio 8.47 Pennsylvania 3 13 7.1 .153 6.52 Cigars Stemmers or Strip- pers, hand Allentown 2 81 7.9 .215 10.19 Baltimore 5 38 7.4 .192 8.52 Binghamton 4 184 7.1 .216 9.20 Boston 2 94 6.5 .294 11.47 Chicago 5 98 7.4 .257 11.41 Cincinnati 3 45 6.3 .169 6.39 Cleveland 4 92 6.6 .244 9.66 Dayton 4 61 7.8 .194 9.08 Detroit 5 153 6.9 .256 10.60 Evansville 2 284 7.6 .151 6.89 Key West 4 157 7.2 .183 7.91 Lancaster 3 12 8.0 .199 9.55 New York 11 348 7.9 .233 11.04 Philadelphia 6 354 7.1 .188 8.01 Reading 4 78 7.1 .246 10.48 Tampa 6 258 8.2 .196 9.64 Other cities 1 5 9.0 .167 9.02 Confectionery ^ Dippers, macJivne California 2 13 7.6 .206 9.39 Georgia 2 14 7.9 .196 9.29 Illinois 5 71 8.1 .211 10.25 326 No. of Es- No. of Em- Occupatlon tablisbments ployees Indiana 3 19 Iowa 2 7 Kentucky 2 37 Maryland 3 43 Massachusetts 6 473 Michigan 2 9 Minnesota 4 18 Missouri 7 117 New York 8 230 Ohio 8 75 Pennsylvania 4 75 Wisconsin 5 52 Laborers California 3 9 Illinois 4 134 Indiana 2 10 Kentucky 2 20 Maryland 2 4 Massachusetts 6 244 Minnesota * 2 3 Missouri 5 71 New York 5 112 Ohio 3 17 Oregon 2 13 Pennsylvania 4 51 Washington 2 11 Wisconsin 5 122 Packers California 9 189 Georgia 2 55 Illinois 8 681 Indiana 3 45 iDwa 2 21 Computed average Arerage earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days per week per hour were day worked worked 7.0 .163 6.85 8.0 .278 13.34 7.8 .127 5.94 7.6 .171 7.80 6.7 .257 10.33 5.2 .191 5.96 7.5 .181 8.15 7.9 .193 9.15 7.2 .212 9.16 6.6 .206 8.16 7.7 .210 9.70 8.1 .193 9.38 7.2 .202 8.73 8.0 .236 11.33 7.4 .159 7.06 8.4 .134 6.75 7.8 .171 8.00 7.1 .209 8.90 5.0 .179 5.37 7.9 .214 10.14 7.8 .201 9.41 6.7 .227 9.13 7.1 .239 10.18 7.4 .215 9.55 7.7 .257 11.37 7.6 .161 7.34 7.0 .215 9.03 8.0 .180 8.64 7.9 .249 11.80 7.5 .163 7.34 6.8 .203 8.28 327 Arerage Computed average earnings No. of Es- No. of Em- Occupation tablishments ployees Kentucky 2 104 Maryland 3 227 Massachusetts 6 904 Michigan 2 54 Minnesota 4 128 Missouri 7 434 New Jersey 2 108 New York 8 775 Ohio 8 302 Oregon 2 38 Pennsylvania 12 560 Tennessee 2 65 Washington 4 56 Wisconsin 7 213 Wrappers California 6 142 Georgia 2 22 niinois 3 64 Indiana 3 37 Iowa 2 15 Massachusetts 4 267 Michigan. 2 8 Minnesota 3 26 Missouri 6 69 New York 5 183 Ohio 4 16 Pennsylvania 8 - 230 Tennessee 2 15 Wisconsin 6 79 Furniture Laborers Illinois 4 9 Indiana 3 24 Massachusetts 2 8 hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days per week per hour^ were day worked worked 7.5 7.8 7.0 7.6 6.5 7.3 7.0 6.9 6.7 7.6 7.4 8.4 7.3 8.2 7.3 8.3 7.6 7.9 8.2 7.3 8.1 7.6 7.7 7.3 7.0 7.2 8.5 8.5 8.1 9.1 7.9 .138 .182 .258 .211 .178 .200 .207 .221 .217 .283 .222 .163 .296 .204 .212 .195 .231 .158 .193 .258 .189 .207 .222 .212 .209 .241 .187 .193 .245 .183 .198 6.21 8.52 10.84 9.62 6.94 8.76 8.69 9.15 8.72 12.90 9.86 8.22 12.96 10.04 9.29 9.71 10.53 7.49 9.50 11.30 9.19 9.44 10.26 12.79 8.78 10.41 9.54 9.84 11.91 9.99 9.39 328 Computed average Average earnings hours Average per veeek worked earnings if 6 days No. of Bs- No. of Em- per week per hour were Occupation tablishments ployees day worked worked Michigan 4 46 8.1 .226 11.47 Missouri 2 10 7.5 .195 8.78 New York 2 12 8.6 .223 11.51 Pennsylvania 6 47 8.1 .213 10.35 Tennessee 2 11 8.2 .166 8.17 Wisconsin 3 33 7.8 .155 7.25 Sanders, hand Illinois 3 9 8.1 .266 12.93 Indiana 3 30 8.3 158 7.87 Massachusetts 2 5 8.9 .218 11.64 Michigan 4 22 8.5 .245 12.50 New York 4 20 7.3 .210 9.20 Ohio 3 12 7.5 .230 10.35 Pennsylvania 6 63 7.8 .223 10.44 Tennessee 2 29 7.2 .157 6.78 Wisconsin 2 17 8.4 .176 8.87 Glass Labor, hoy and factory Indiana 7 257 7.9 .207 9.81 New Jersey 2 50 7.0 .277 11.63 New York 2 15 8.7 .231 12.06 Ohio 4 205 6.9 .204 8.45 Pennsylvania 4 216 8.1 .199 9.67 West Virginia 3 73 6.5 .206 8.03 Silk D uhl er s, silk throwing Massachusetts 2 7 6.6 .248 9.82 New Jersey 4 33 9.0 .284 15.34 Pennsylvania 3 106 7.5 .205 9.23 (Computed.) (Pages 76, 78, 79, 82, 124, 189, 191, 238, 239, 258, 482.) 329 (b) In occupations in which the average hourly earn- ings were between $0,280-299. No. of Bs- No. of Em- Occupation tablishments ployees Boxes, paper Gluing Machine Connecticut 2 15 Illinois _ 2 24 Massachusetts 2 14 Missouri 3 5 New Jersey 3 19 New York 2 74 Ohio 7 60 Clothing, men^s Hand Sewers, pants Baltimore 3 41 Boston 6 19 Buffalo 3 17 Chicago 4 111 Cincinnati 7 45 Indianapolis 2 44 New York 7 35 Philadelphia 2 20 Rochester 5 70 St. Louis 2 35 Electrical machin- ery, apparatus a/nd supplies Assemblers Connecticut 4 157 Indiana 2 38 Massachusetts 3 88 New York 5 133 Ohio 2 21 ^Computed average Average earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days per week ; per hour were day worked worked 7.2 $0,278 $12.01 8.1 .303 14.73 6.2 .348 12.95 8.2 .232 11.41 7.2 .224 9.68 7.9 .341 16.16 7.4 .214 9.50 6.4 .405 15.55 7.2 .288 12.44 7.4 .229 10.17 7.2 .286 12.36 7.5 .228 10.26 6.6 .240 9.50 7.5 .316 14.22 7.0 .225 9.45 7.8 .317 14.84 6.6 .194 7.23 8.2 .283 13.92 7.4 .256 11.37 7.6 .416 18.97 7.8 .270 12.64 7.6 .378 14.36 330 No. of Es- No. of Em- Occupation tabJishments ployees Hosiery and Under- wear Finishers (under- wear) Connecticut 3 88 Massachusetts 2 515 New Hampshire... 2 109 New York 3 164 North Carolinia. 2 146 Ohio 2 101 Tennessee 3 237 Virginia 2 113 Wisconsin 2 124 Knitters, weh or tube {underwear) Connecticut 3 27 Massachusetts 2 41 New Hampshire... 2 10 New York 2 6 Ohio .:. 2 10 Wisconsin 2 24 hoopers Connecticut 3 68 Indiana 2 121 Massachusetts 2 369 New Hampshire... 2 100 North Carolina 2 39 Ohio 2 15 Pennsylvania 3 237 Tennessee ._ 2 104 Virginia 2 56 Wisconsin 2 108 Pressers Connecticut 2 2 Massachusetts 2 71 Computed average Average earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days per week per hour were day worked worked 8.3 .248 12.35 7.6 .348 15.87 7.9 .283 13.41 8.0 .280 13.44 9.1 .316 17.25 7.4 .267 11.85 8.5 .218 11.11 8.2 .233 11.46 7.3 .264 11.56 8.2 .244 12.00 7.6 .350 15.96 8.8 .270 14.26 8.6 .333 17.18 8.3 .239 11.90 8.8 .316 16.68 6.4 .294 11.29 7.7 .228 10.99 5.9 .361 12.78 7.7 .344 16.58 5.9 .241 8.53 6.9 .255 10.56 8.1 .301 14.63 7.5 .231 10.40 8.9 .310 16.55 8.1 .289 14.05 8.3 .217 10.81 7.3 .342 14.98 331 No. of Es- No. of Em- Occupation tablishments ployees Seamers Connecticut 3 30 Indiana 2 71 Massachusetts 2 287 Michigan 2 71 New Hampshire... 3 54 New York 3 135 North Carolina 2 23 Ohio 2 47 Pennsylvania 2 97 Tennessee 2 81 Virginia 2 29 Wisconsin 4 77 Welters Massachusetts 2 154 Illinois 2 32 Pennsylvania 2 47 Leather; light upper Laborers, all de- partments Delaware 2 12 New Jersey 3 55 Pennsylvania 3 31 Seasoners Delaware 2 104 New Jersey 2 94 Pennsylvania 2 24 Overalls Examiners California 4 24 Georgia 4 12 Illinois 6 22 Computed average Arerage earnings hours Average per week worked earnings If 6 days per week per hour were day worked worked 7.8 .253 11.84 7.5 .288 12.96 7.7 .319 14.74 8.5 .242 12.34 6.9 .272 11.26 8.2 .276 13.58 5.8 .220 7.66 6.1 .269 9.85 8.3 .305 15.19 8.1 .206 10.01 7.8 .244 11.42 7.3 .298 13.05 7.1 .330 14.06 7.6 .270 12.31 8.1 .243 11.81 6.6 6.7 8.4 .333 .269 .297 13.19 10.81 14.97 5.5 7.1 7.6 .267 .319 .302 8.81 13.59 13.77 7.8 7.4 6.8 .304 .232 .280 14.23 10.76 11.42 332 ConiputeU average Average earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days No. of Es- No. of Em- per week per hour were Occupation tablishmeuts ployees day worked worked Indiana 9 31 7.3 .259 11.34 Iowa 8 16 7.7 .290 13.98 Maryland 3 24 6.3 .227 8.58 Massachusetts 4 4 7.2 .312 13.48 Michigan 3 27 6.2 .334 12.42 Minnesota 5 8 7.8 .248 11.61 Missouri 6 16 6,6 .306 12.12 New Jersey 5 19 5.9 .309 10.94 New York 7 15 6.7 .324 13.02 Ohio 8 26 6.9 .268 11.10 Pennsylvania 2 7 6.9 .244 10.10 Tennessee 5 11 7.5 .272 12.24 Texas 6 11 7.2 .268 11.58 Wisconsin 5 5 6.5 .266 10.37 Paper and pwlp Counters (paper) Maine 3 17 8.3 .304 15.14 Massachusetts 7 16 8.1 .335 16.28 Michigan 2 13 8.1 .258 12.54 New Jersey 2 8 9.0 .259 13.99 New Hampshire... 2 7 8.5 .291 14.84 Ohio 2 13 8.2 .249 12.25 Pennsylvania 5 65 7.8 .324 15.81 Wisconsin 4 15 8.7 .268 13.99 Plater Girls (paper) Massachusetts 7 204 7.8 .288 13.48 Pennsylvania 2 39 8.0 .234 11.23 Pottery Laborers New York 2 162 7.1 .252 10.74 New Jersey 4 78 7.0 .298 12.52 West Virginia 4 189 6.4 .313 12.02 Ohio 5 252 6.1 .313 11.46 333 Computed average Average earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if-6days No. of Es- No. of Em- per week per hour were Occupation tablishments ployees day worked worked 8ilh Pickers, cloth Coniiecticiit 2 30 Q.^ .302 11.96 Massachusetts 2 74 7.5 .431 19.40 New Jersey 5 87 7.6 .279 12.72 New York 3 19 8.0 .261 12.53 Pennsylvania 4 57 7.2 .247 10.67 Rhode Island 3 29 7.6 .215 9.80 Typewriters, add- ing machines and cash registers A ssemh lers ( part ) and welders Connecticut 3 205 8.1 .311 15.11 Indiana 2 36 7.9 .290 13.75 Michigan 2 64 7.4 .293 13.01 New York 3 85 8.4 .328 16.53 Ohio 2 52 7.7 .323 14.92 Illinois 3 97 8.9 .249 13.30 Pennsylvania 2 65 6.0 .186 6.70 Brill-Press hands and operators Connecticut 2 57 7.8 .328 15.35 Indiana 2 14 7.2 .301 14.09 New York 3 116 7.9 .307 13.26 Ohio 2 103 7.8 .329 15.40 Illinois 3 53 8.9 .277 14.79 Pennsylvania 3 67 6.3 .218 8.24 (Computed.) (Pages 79, 140, 208, 267, 269, 271-273, 342, 343, 421, 440, 441, 450, 482, 503, 504.) 334 d. Showing that the level of wages in occupations with the highest average earnings is very low in certain localities. Computed average Average earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days No. of Bs- No. of Em- per week per hour were Occupation tablishments ployees day worked worked Cigars Bunch makers, hand (aU) 43 1,670 7.8 $0,388 $18.16 Evansville 2 323 8.5 .270 13.77 Key West 2 24 8.0 .217 10.42 Rollers, hand (all) 44 2,964 7.5 .352 15.84 Evansville „ 2 659 8.4 .233 11.74 Unnamed city 1 64 7.7 .282 13.03 Roller s,SMction {all) 21 1,658 7.7 .357 16.49 Dayton 2 151 7.1 .309 13.16 ClothvYiff, men^s Rasters (hand), coats (all) 56 913 7.3 .356 15.59 Cincinnati 9 51 7.4 .269 11.94 Philadelphia 6 65 7.2 .297 12.83 Hand sewers, coats (all) 7 2,907 7.3 .334 14.63 Buffalo 5 70 7.5 .283 12.74 Cincinnati ._ 10 214 7.4 .244 10.83 Indianapolis 2 116 7.6 .243 11.08 Philadelphia 10 187 7.5 .281 12.65 8t. Louis 3 13 7.9 .256 12.13 Operators, co ats (all) 60 2,086 7.3 .361 15.81 Cincinnati 10 208 7.4 .255 11.32 St. Louis 3 124 7.7 .264 12.20 Operators, pants (all) 52 1,432 7.3 .341 14.94 335 No. of Es- No. of Em- Occupation tablishments ployees Buffalo 4 49 Cincinnati 11 159 St. Louis 5 171 Operators, vests (all) 37 544 Buffalo 4 14 Cincinnati 7 63 Clothing, Women^s: Dresses and Wadsts Drapers (all) 28 188 St. Louis 3 15 Finishers (all) 50 412 Cleveland 6 61 Philadelphia 8 30 St. Louis 4 43 Operators, general (all) 54 1,354 St. Louis 2 43 Operators, special machine (all) 38 306 Chicago 5 35 Cleveland 5 113 St. Louis 5 43 Pressers (all) 26 128 Chicago 3 9 Cleveland 2 42 St. Louis 2 10 Electrical Ma- chinery Coil winders (all) 22 232 Connecticut 2 17 Arerage hours worked per week day Computed average earnings Average pet week earnings if 6 days per hour were worked worked 7.2 7.1 7.1 .253 .247 .291 10.93 10.52 12.40 7.3 7.8 7.9 .350 .233 .210 15.33 10.90 9.95 7.7 8.4 .470 .247 21.71 12.45 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.3 .345 .294 .275 .199 14.90 12.70 11.88 8.72 7.2 7.6 .473 .269 20.43 12.27 7.3 7.5 7.2 8.3 .312 .284 .257 .214 13.67 12.78 11.10 10.66 7.2 8.1 6.7 7.8 .372 .288 .272 .205 16.07 14.00 10.93 9.59 7.5 8.8 .337 .274 15.17 14.47 336 No. of Es- No. of Em- Occupation tablishmeuts ployees Indiana 3 15 Ohio 2 8 Connectors and In- snlators (all) 17 157 Connecticut 2 10 New Jersey 2 24 Hosiery and Under- wear Buttonhole makers (wnderwear) (aU) 24 203 Connecticut 3 7 New Hampshire... 2 11 Ohio 2 12 Tennessee 2 15 Cutters, hand (un- derwear) (all) 22 586 Connecticut 3 10 Ohio 2 15 Tennessee 2 30 Virginia 2 5 Overalls Operators (all) 128 6,060 Indiana 9 545 North Carolina 2 171 Ohio 2 62 Tennessee 2 55 Pottery Transferers (all) 14 372 New York 2 109 SUk Twisters in {all) 9 53 Pennsylvania 3 22 Computed average Ayerage earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days per week per hour were day worked worked 7.7 .285 13.17 7.4 .274 12.17 7.6 .335 15.28 8.2 .274 13.48 7.3 .206 9.02 7.7 .317 14.65 8.3 .256 12.75 8.6 .275 14.19 7.5 .264 11.88 7.6 .208 9.48 7.3 .313 13.71 8.6 .239 12.33 6.8 .256 10.44 8.0 .220 10.56 7.0 .235 9.87 6.6 .306 12.12 6.7 .258 10.37 6.8 .262 10.69 8.5 .214 10,91 7.0 .214 8.99 7.2 .342 14.77 7.7 .30 13.86 7.6 .366 16.69 7.3 .277 12.13 337 Compated average Average earnings hours Average per week worked earnings if 6 days No. of Es- No. of Em- per week per hour were Occupation tablishments ployees day worked worked Warpers (all) 22 530 8.1 .362 17.59 New York 3 20 8.8 .278 14.68 Pennsylvania 4 110 8.1 .301 14.63 Weavers, Broad silk (all) 24 2,189 8.0 .398 19.10 Pennsylvania 4 464 8.2 .278 13.68 Virginia 2 54 7.8 .307 14.37 Typewriters, add- ing machines and cash registers Assemblers, final and sectional (all) 21 337 7.9 .317 15.03 Illinois 3 49 8.9 .264 14.10 Pennsylvania 3 41 6.1 .230 8.42 Milling m^achine (aU) 19 196 7.9 .338 16.02 Indiana .J 2 19 7.6 .271 12.03 niinois 3 25 8.8 .288 15.21 Pennsylvania 2 15 6.8 .239 12.62 Punch-press (all)... 13 274 8.0 .308 14.78 lUinois 2 38 9.1 .261 14.25 Pennsylvania 2 12 7.2 .266 11.49 (Computed.) (Pages 121, 123, 136, 139, 141, 159, 160, 161, 209, 265, 423, 451, 484, 485, 503, 508.) 338 Women in Industry in Minnesota in 1918, Field Investi- gation Carried on by Women in Industry Commit- tee, Council of National Defence and Minnesota Bureau of Women and Children, 1920, A careful analysis of the data presented in the pres- ent report warrants the following conclusions : 1. Seventeen thousand four hundred and fifty-nine women workers out of a total of 51,361 or 34.05 per cent received less than a minimum subsistence wage and 19,244 or 37.49 per cent of these 51,361 wage earners re- ceived a ** minimum subsistence '^ wage. 6. While we cannot draw any positive conclusions as to the rate of increase in wages that had taken place dur- ing the war, it is clear that a disproportionate number of women were receiving a wage below the minimum of sub- sistence and that these low wages were frequently needed to assist in the support of the family of the wage earner. (Page 35.) As there has been no recent census of women in in- dustry, it is impossible to estimate with any degree of accuracy the proportion of the women wage earners rep- resented in this inquiry out of the total number of women wage earners in the state of Minnesota at the time of the investigation. (Page 6.) 339 Table II. Showing occupational classes according to weekly wages of women workers. Number Earning Specified Wages by Industry. INDUSTRY Weekly Waares Total Number Manu- Mercantile Tele- Service Atl otber Earned of Women facturing irraph and Telephom i In- dustries Under $3 109 15 31 1 51 11 3.._.. 169 28 45 14 54 28 4...... 414 33 102 19 217 43 5._... 1,309 112 258 48 748 143 6...... 2,016 472 567 84 712 181 7...... 2,211 755 556 139 610 151 8..._. 4,640 2,013 1,089 322 859 357 9._.. 6,591 2,790 2,166 632 670 333 10...... 6,437 2,511 1,944 620 550 812 11..... 3,271 1,371 727 539 181 453 12...... 4,253 1,775 1,369 146 243 720 13...... 2,758 973 712 206 172 695 14_._. 2,525 962 641 75 314 533 15...... 3,553 1,085 1,027 86 223 1,132 16._ 1,574 597 346 61 48 522 17...... 1,135 433 260 25 32 385 18...... 1,884 579 447 29 70 759 19..-.. 954 199 171 30 47 507 20...... 1,193 271 320 21 39 542 21...... 626 110 74 14 25 403 22...... 429 70 56 5 6 292 23...... 496 87 90 6 15 298 24...... 148 26 24 2 7 89 25 783 84 167 2 109 421 Over 25 698 109 107 5 56 421 No wage given 1,185 51,361 350 312 36 190 297 17,810 13,608 3,167 6,248 10,528 If we may venture a classification of the wage groups represented in the present investigation as indicated by the above table, we would suggest the following group- 340 ing as indicative of the relation between the wage and the standard of living possible within these wage groups : Wagfe Group Economic Class Below $10.00 per week. Below subsistence line. $10.00-$14.00 per week. Minimum subsistence. $15.00-$19.00 per week. Normal subsistence. $20.00 and over. Normal standard. (Page 7.) Analysis shows that out of a total of 17,459 wage earners receiving less than $10 a week, the largest pro- portion are found in the manufacturing industries, with the mercantile employes next in importance. The re- markable fact, however, shown by this table, is that 34.05 per cent of all the women wage earners considered in this investigation received less than a minimum sub- sistence wage. With over a third of the wage earners studied receiving less than a subsistence wage, the effects of the war upon wages are not nearly as obvious as it has been claimed. When we consider the minimum subsistence group of wage earners, we find that they include 19,244 or 37.49 per cent of the total number of women wage earners con- sidered. In other words, 71.54 per cent, or very close to three-fifths of 51,361 wage earners considered, received sufficient wages for only a bare existence or less. The largest proportion of the wage earners receiving wages for a minimum subsistence is found in manufacturing industries. The workers included in the wage group designated as of normal standard include 4,373 or 8.53 per cent of the workers included in this study. This con- stitutes only one-twelfth of the half hundred thousand wage earners considered, most of whom were employed in industries outside of manufacturing or mercantile es- tablishments. The classification we have attempted is perhaps out of proportion with the ordinary wages of pre-war times. It must be recognized that living costs have increased from 50 per cent to 55 per cent during the period preceding the war in 1914 and June, 1918. This reduces the purchasing value of a $9.00 weekly wage 341 to $6.00, and of a $14.00 weekly wage to $9.33, if we ad- mit the increase in the necessities of life to have been only 50 per cent, and not 55 per cent. It should be re- membered also that the lower the wage the greater the_ proportion spent for food; and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics found upon investigation that be- tween the midsummer, of 1914, and June, 1918, the cost of 16 essential articles of food increased 62 per cent. (Pages 8-9.) Unskilled Labor. [Analysis] shows a distribution of wage groups with 202 or 55.2 per cent of the 366 women wage earners re- ceiving less than the subsistence wage, and 122 or 33.3 per cent with a minimum subsistence wage. In other words, 88.5 per cent of the women in the unskilled indus- tries were receiving less than a wage sufficient for normal subsistence ; and of this number, 240 or 74.1 per cent of the wage earners considered were over 26 years of age, while 99 or 30.5 per cent were between 26 and 35 years of age, or the age of highest productivity. (Page 14.) Machine Operators. As in the case of most women workers studied, there seems to be a disproportionate number of wage earners receiving less than $10.00 per week, as there were 689 women workers at this wage out of la total of 2,540 or 27.1 per cent. When we consider those receiving a sub- sistence wage of between $10.00 and $14.00 per week, we find that they constitute 1,156 or 45.5 per cent of the total miachine operators studied. In other words, almost three-fourths of the total operators considered in this study received only a minimum subsistence wage or less, while only 103 or 3.9 per cent, received a living wage or more. Of these workers only 752 or 29.9 per cent were less than 22 years of age. This would seem to indicate that among the operators as among many of the other workers, those who might be presumed to be only par- tially dependent upon their own earnings because of their 342 age, were not nearly as numerous as might be presumed. The figures of dependency discussed elsewhere only strengthen the accuracy of this contention, and verify the general conclusion regarding the unwarranted belief that much of the industrial wage of women workers is merely used to piece out incomes, but is not depended upon for full individual maintenance. (Page 17.) Seamstresses and sewing. Of the total of 521 women wage earners engaged in this class of work, 128 or 24.6 per cent received less than a subsistence wage, while 319 or 61.2 per cent received a mere subsistence wage of between $10.00 and $14.00 a week. In all, more than 85 per cent of this class of wage earners received a mere subsistence wage or less. In the case of this group of workers, as in all others con- sidered, there is no evidence of la large proportion of young girls working for pin money. (Pages 17-18.) Printers and Pressers. While it is evident that only a comparatively small number of this class of wage earners (85 or 25.6 per cent) receive less than a living wage, the vast majority of them (223 or 67.1 per cent) receive a subsistence wage only. Considering the extent of the organization of this trade, and the skill and experience required, it seems that little advance has been made in the wages when 92.7 per cent of the workers receive a mere subsistence wage or less. (Page 18.) Packers. [Analysis] shows a very unusual number of young wage earners, as 278 or 65.6 per cent were less than 22 years of age, while the wages were commensurately low with 170 or 40.4 per cent receiving less than a subsistence wage and 187 or 44.1 per cent receiving only a mere sub- sistence wage. It is interesting to compare in this con- nection the wages of printers and pressers with wages of 343 packers which represent a comparatively unskilled occu- pation. In the case of the former we find a larger pro- portion of workers receiving a subsistence wage, but in the case of the packers the proportion of those receivings above the subsistence wage is 15.5 per cent as compared with the printers and pressers with only 7.3 per cent re- ceiving more than a mere subsistence wage. When to this fact we add the greater maturity of the printers and pressers, we notice that skill has not been a very potent factor in determining wages, and that some means of standardizing is essential. (Pages 18-19.) Saleswomen. When we consider the distribution of wages in the above table, we find that 479 or 39.0 per cent of the wage earners in this occupation receive less than la subsistence wage, while 523 or 43.4 per cent of this group of wage earners received a mere living wage. We find, however, in this group of workers a reasonable proportion of workers receiving above a living wage to the extent of 56 or 4.5 per cent. It is also evident from the above table that age counts as a factor in the increase of wages. Office Assistants. It is clear from [analysis] that the wages of these workers lare considerably above the average so far dis- covered, as only 243 or 12.7 per cent received less than a subsistence wage, while 347 or 18.1 per cent received $20.00 a week or more, which is a normal living wage under war conditions of prices. Even in this group, however, there were 1,050 wage earners or more than half of the total studied receiving 'a minimum subsistence wage or less. (Page 20.) Stenographers. [Analysis] shows several rather striking facts. The age distribution shows a constantly increasing number 344 of workers with adviancing age up to 35, while the number of those under 18 is negligible. The proportion of those receiving less than a subsistence wage was only 157 or 4.7 per cent, which is less than in any group of wage earners so far considered, while the proportion of those receiving over and above a mere subsistence wage was 2,155 or 65.5 per cent, the largest proportion so far found in any group of workers considered. The fact that only 32 out of the 157 stenographers receiving less than $10.00 a week were over 22 years of age, would seem to indicate that skill and experience play a rather important part in determining the wage in this class of work which, like the office assistants, represents 'a semi-professional group. (Pages 20-21.) Bookkeepers. [Analysis] shows that among the bookkeepers there were practically no workers receiving less than a sub- sistence wage, although there were 317 or 26.6 per cent of the bookkeepers receiving between $10.00 and $14.00 a week or la mere subsistence wage. It is interesting to note that 880 or 64 per cent of the workers considered were of the ages of highest productivity, as they range between 22 and 45 years of age. In point of wages, 517 or 43.5 per cent of these workers received a minimum living wage as compared with 1,392 or 42.3 per cent of the stenographers classed in the same group. When, however, we consider the bookkeepers receiving $25.00 a week or more, we find that they constitute 103 or 8.7 per cent of the total as compared with 157 or 4.8 per cent of the stenographers classed in the same group. While in the case of the bookkeepers, the proportion of those receiving less than a minimum subsistence wage was less than half the proportion of those receiving $25.00 a week or more, in the case of the stenographers the pro- portion of these two wage groups was equal. (Page 21.) Telephone Operators. It is evident from [analysis] that out of a total of 534 telephone operators 98 or 18.3 per cent received less 345 than la minimum subsistence wage, while 321 or 60.1 per cent received merely a subsistence wage. In other words, four-fifths of the telephone operators considered in this investigation were receiving wages which would cover the cost of mere subsistence or less. Of those receiving at the time of the investigation more than $14.00 a week, 82 out of a total of 115 were 22 years of age or more. The number of those receiving less than a minimum sub- sistence wage was four times greater than the number of those receiving a living wage. General Office Help. The wages received by the office helpers show a wide range of distribution. Those receiving less than a min- imum subsistence wage numbered 342 or 19.0 per cent of the total, while those receiving a living wage or more numbered 200 or 11.1 per cent. The largest proportion was found, however, among those receiving a minimum subsistence wage. This group consisted of 901 wage earners or 50.2 per cent of the total. With seven-tenths of the wage earners in this group receiving a mere sub- sistence wage or less, the standard of remuneration can hardly be considered high, although it must be admitted that a large proportion of those employed in this field were comparatively young women. (Page 22.) Cashiers. While in the case of office helpers 71 per cent were under 26 years of age, the cashiers showed 216 or 58.4 per cent of the same age groups. On the other hand, the office helpers received less than a minimum sub- sistence wage in only 19 per cent of the cases, while the cashiers received such a low wage in 92 or 24.9 per cent of the cases. On the other Imnd, those receiving a living wage or more numbered 71 or 19.1 per cent as compared with 11.1 per cent in this wage group among the office helpers. On the whole, the majority of these workers still remain in the wage groups which permit of only minimum subsistence or less. 346 Foreladies. It is surprising to find that despite the experience required in the performance of the duties of forelady (forewoman) 304 or 54.6 per cent were under 26 years of age. The wages of this group of workers vary only slightly from the other group, as 77 or 13.8 per cent received less than a minimum subsistence wage, and 212 or 38 per cent received a mere subsistence wage. In other words, more than half of this group of supposed experienced and skilled workers received a bare sub- sistence wage or less. Just what the duties of these workers are we were unable to 'ascertain from the data gathered. It is evident, however, that in a considerable number of instances the work is of such character as to command a fair wage, since 117 or 21 per cent of these wage earners received a living wage or more. (Page 23.) Factory Workers. [Analysis] shows that 1,387 or 58.9 per cent of this type of workers were less than 22 years of age, while there was a comparatively small number of these workers above 35 years of age. The wage distribution, however, is indicaiive of a very serious condition, with 1,108 or 43.8 per cent of the workers receiving less than a sub- sistence wage, and 1,122 or 40.4 per cent receiving a mere subsistence wage. Only 28 or 1.1 per cent received a normal wage which allows of a proper standard. The discussion of the wage and age distribution among workers in specific occupations would seem to show that wages have remained during the war so low as to permit of little improvement in the standard of living; and that the majority of the workers are com- pelled to struggle with the problems of mere subsistence ; and that only in comparatively few instances, and par- ticularly in the semi-professional occupations, have wages reached a point where a normal living can be se- cured on the wage received. (Pages 23-24.) 347 Minimum Wage Study. Ohio Council on Women and €Jiildren in Industry, 1920. A report recently issued by the Department of Sta- tistics of the Ohio Industrial Commission gives a survey of wages paid to all employees in 20 industrial counties of the state. From this report we have selected the group classified as ^'females, 18 years of age or over*' for the basis of our study. The survey shows first of all that wages have not advanced proportionately to the cost of living. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that from December, 1917 to December, 1919 the increase in the cost of living was 35.24% in Cincinnati, 52.12% in Cleveland, 36.53% in Indianapolis, 58.02% in Detroit, 51.52% in Buffalo and 58.83% in Chicago. In no one of the 20 counties has the percentage of increase in wages equalled these figures. (Page 1.) Table No. 2 shows the numbers and percentages of workers receiving less than $15 weekly in 1917 and 1919. Totaling the 20 counties and finding the average receiv- ing less than $15 shows : 1917 1919 Decrease Wage earners 90.8% 61.9%. 28.9%' Saleswomen 92.0 %o 72.0%? 20.0%; Bookkeepers A Stenographers V 71.8%o 33.9% 37.9%? Office clerks J There is of course a decrease in the figures, but the fact remains that up until December, 1919, over half of our wage-earners and nearly three-fourths of our sales- women were receiving less than $15 a week. (Page 2.) Tenth Biennial Report of the Department of Commis- sioner of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Louisiana. 1919-1920. The places inspected included offices of attorneys, dentists, doctors, insurance agents, shipping boards and 348 similar places of employment. Department, dry goods, drug, shoe, grocery and other stores were visited. Box, candy, cigar, coffee, cotton and other factories were in- spected. Cafes, hotels and restaurants were also in- cluded; hence it can be seen the inspection was of a general nature. In the places visited, 10,877 women workers were employed. Of the entire number, only 637, or scarcely six per cent of the whole, were receiv- ing in excess of $17.00 per week, and by taking the earnings of all being paid more than this amount, we found the general average to be $21.97 per week. However, in our efforts to arrive at a general weekly average of the entire 10,877, the 637 receiving in ex- cess of $17.00 per week, were not included for two reasons. First, ordinarily all such workers were either at the head of some department, or expert workers, or of the official or clerical force, and not commonly termed ** workers,'' nor recognized as such among the em- ployees. Second, to include this class of employees, would establish a general average out of just propor- tion, and not only be misleading, but absurdly untrue. To arrive at what we deemed a fair general average, we included all earnings from $4.00 to and including $17.00 per week, and we find it to be $8.01. These figures are based on statistics, some of which were gathered twelve months ago, while others were secured as late as the last month of 1919. The contentions are now set forth that wages have been increased since that time until now the general average is practically $9.10 per week, but this office does not vouch for the correctness of same. Of the 10,877 inspected, as before stated. 637 were being paid in excess of $17.00 per week; 2,930 received from $7.50 to $17.00 per week; 4,469 received from $6.50 and not to exceed $6.95 per week, while 2,841 were re- ceiving less than $6.50 per week, in a few instances as low as $3.50, but in arriving at a general average, none were included at a less wage than $4.00 per week. (Pages 21-22.) To establish a contention doubting the authenticity of certain statements that had been made, the Commis- 349 sioner took the statistics fumislied by seven large em- ploying interests in one of the busy commercial centers, and in whose places work was given 1,318 women, which showed their wages to be as follows : - - 4 receiving less than $4.00 per week. 60 receiving $4.00 to $4.50 per week. 212 receiving $5.00 to $5.50 per week. 298 receiving $6.00 to $6.50 per week. 285 receiving $7.00 to $7.50 per week. 315 receiving $8.00 to $8.50 per week. 144 receiving $9.00 to $9.50 per week. The general average of the above is $7.23 per week, and it is only fair to assume this is a fair average and generally in accord with the prevailing wage thronghont the state, in similar occupations, and among those being paid the rates included above, that is, from $4.00 to $9.50 per week. (Page 22.) Where wages are so low as to deny the worker the actual necessities of life, such a condition is not only a menace to health, but a sad reflection on the employers and the state as well. The Commissioner, for the sake of argument, is willing to admit that the present average is $9.10, as claimed. How far will this paltry sum go to- ward providing a home, paying rent, supplying gro- ceries and other necessities for the household? And statistics show the majority of women workers are the main support of the family. The reply is so easy any school child can answer. Other than to say, where wages are so low the workers are underfed, and denied reason- able comforts and deprived of every recreation, and whose work becomes a monotonous grind for lack of peace of mind, all such are simply eking out an exist- ence, a dissatisfied employee, and often a poor invest- ment, even though ofttimes reluctantly so admitted, this v€ry serious condition is agreeably left to the thoughtful consideration of the law making bodies for some solution. (Pages 22-23.) 350 U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review. Volume X, No. 2. Feb- ruary, 1920, Virginia. — Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. Twenty-second annual report, 1919. Richmond, 1919. The investigation covered department stores (includ- ing 5-and-lO-cent stores, 25-cent stores, etc.), and dry- goods and millinery establishments, and was conjBned to four cities, viz, Richmond, Norfolk, Lynchburg and Roanoke. The figures are for December 31, 1918, but will probably hold good for the year 1919, as there has been no material change in wages in these establishments during that year. Out of a total of 2,468 persons employed in 138 estab- lishments, covered by the investigation, 1,257, or more than 50 per cent, receive less than $12 per week ; 718, or nearly 30 per cent, receive less than $10 per week; 223 receive less than $8 per week, and 19 receive under $3 per week. (Page 270.) U. S. Department of Labor. Bulletin of the Wom\en*s^ Bureau, No. 10. Hours and Conditions of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia. March, 1920. The median wage for the entire group of women [weavers in a silk mill] was $15.07, and the wage earned by the largest number of women (nine) was $12 or less than $13. Although, except for these interviews, the question of wages was not included in the survey, these figures indicate that the women of Virginia have more to contend with, in these days of the high cost of living, than poor working conditions and long hours. (Page 29.) 351 State of New York. Department of Labor. Special Bul- letin. Weekly Earnings of Women in Five Indus- tries (Paper Boxes, Shirts a/nd Collars, Confec- tionery^ Cigars and Tobacco, cmd Mercantile JEs- tablishments,), 1919, The tabulated returns cover 623 establishments and 61,160 women, including 417 factories with 32,881 women and 206 mercantile establishments with 28,279 women. As nearly as can be estimated about 60 per cent of the women in those four industries are here represented, in- cluding about the same percentage for paper boxes and for shirt and collars, with about 67 per cent for confec- tionery and 57 per cent for cigars, etc. (Page 3.) Up-state the reports were all for the week ended No- vember 23, 1918, or for the payroll nearest thereto. In New York City the reports were for different weeks in the period from December 11, 1918, to January 10, 1919. (Pages 1-2.) Girls under sixteen, as being likely to be learners or beginners, were left out of all the tables. (Page 2.) Percentage of Women who Received the Speci- Paper Earnings boxes Less than $ 6 8 ^^ $ 8 18 '' $10 36 '' $12 59 " $14 77 $14 or over 23 $20 '^ " 2 (Page 3.) The New York Factory Investigating Commission made an investigation of the wages of women in 1913 and 1914, the results of which were reported in Volumes 2 and 3 of its Fourth Report. In that investigation, among other data, earnings for a single week were secured for four of the five industries covered in the present investi- fled Earnings hirts, Confec- Clga: )llars tlonery etc. 11 17 5 23 28 9 38 51 17 58 72 32 72 85 46 28 15 54 5 2 21 352 gation and for weeks in November or December, 1913, or January, 1914, in the case of New York City firms, and in May or June, 1914, for up-state firms. This makes very nearly a five-year period between the returns of the two investigations, thus affording evidence as to the in- crease in earnings in that time. (Page 5.) There is no means of knowing to what extent the returns represent the same firms for both dates, but to the extent that the returns in each investigation are typical for their respective periods, and there is every reason to believe that they are, they are fairly comparable. Using here the median* earnings for comparative purposes the very considerable rise in women's earnings during the five years may be seen in the following comparison : Grade Containing Median Earnings Factory Industries: 1913-1914 1918-19 Paper boxes $6.50-$6.99 $11.00-$11.49 Shirts and collars 6.50- 6.99 11.00- 11.49 Confectionery 5.50- 5.99 9.50- 9.99 Mercantile establishments 7.00- 7.49 11.50- 11.99 In the present instance the exact median earnings are not known, but only the grade in which they fall. However, the grade is narrow enough so that the median is apparent to within less than 50 cents of the actual. Under these conditions it is permissible for the purpose of a rough measure of the rise in the median to take the middle point of the grade as representing the median earnings. That would be to take in the case of paper boxes, for example, $6.75 as the median for 1913-14 and $11.25 for 1918-19. On that basis it would appear that the median earnings of women has increased during the last five years 67 per cent in paper box factories and in shirt and collar factories, 70 per cent in candy factories and 62 per cent in mercantile establishments. *The median earnings are those at that point in the scale of different earn- ings received such that 50 per cent of the workers receive those earnings or less, or, vice versa,- 50 per cent receive those earnings or more. (Page 6.) 353 Report 'Submitted Relative to the Telephone Industry m New York State to His Excellency, The Governor of the State of New York. Prepared by The Bureau of Women in Industry. 1920. In conference between officials of the Telephone Company and the Chief of the Bureau of Women in Industry, the week ending December 13, 1919, was decided upon as a typical period of time in which to study the pay-roll land the hours of the operating force. The hour and wage discussions which are considered in this report cover only this week. The labor turnover, however, is taken on a yearly basis for the year 1919, and in other parts of the report, wherever possible, records for the entire year are used. (Page 10.) In the table showing the 'actual earnings of the oper- ators, which include overtime earnings, it will be seen that the highest group was in the Manhattan Division, where 538 operators* earnings were from $18.00 to $19.00. In the Manhattan Division (Schedule I), beginning at $9.00, the schedule shows a gradual increase up to the 538 group and a decrease after the 538 group is reached. For Brooklyn and lower Bronx (Schedule II), the highest earning peak was reached by the $16.00 to $17.00 group, 329 operators receiving this amount. In Schedule III, including lower Bronx, part of Westchester and Long Island, the highest earning peak was reached by the $16.00 to $17.00 group, where 105 operators received this amount. Under Schedule IV, including the larger up- state cities, the highest earning peak was reached by 289 operators who came under the $15.00 to $16.00 group. Under Schedule V, including such places as Binghamton, Dunkirk and Elmira, the highest earning group is reached also in the $15.00 to $16.00, 95 operators receiving this amount. Under Schedule VI, including the smaller cities, 56 received $16.00 to $17.00, which was the highest earn- ing peak. Based on a grand total of 10,731 operators — which figure excluded 188 operators whose earnings were un- known and 1,407 operators whose earnings could not be 354 considered typical as absence made their earnings below the basic wage — the earnings fell like this : 336 received under $12.00. 1,983 received between $12.00 and $15.00. 2,997 received between $15.00 and $18.00. 2,485 received between $18.00 and $21.00. 1,976 received between $21.00 and $25.00. After the $25.00 miark is reached, there is a gradual decline, only 110 persons on the operating force earning as high as $30.00 per week. The Telephone Company by the increase in wages removed the weakest spot in its employment policy. There is no doubt in the mind of the Bureau of Women in Industry that the low wage rates and consequent low earning capacity of the operators had much to do during the year 1919 with the Company *s high labor turnover resulting in inefficient service. (Page 37.) The Bureau of Women in Industry, however, believes that the Telephone Company has not gone so far as it should on wage increase and other increases will be neces- sary if it hopes to retain a permanent, well-organized, well-disciplined force. (Page 38.) 355 ^ CO I "+i> ^ O CQ CO ^ a; ^«i I— H ^ g .§ s >^ O t o o 03 op 03 cd 03 CO rt cd CO o CO o O <1> ^^ ^ 2 P. i=l O CO o3 age Boards' poraneous urn Cost g Budgets 1 „ loth- 17 Fur- 1917 ■5 c in ^2." . J ^ i.l3l Mass. W Contemi Minim of LiTin; 1 • "•S'S CO o § " o • ^|i tc S- : T3 S 5r eo »C »fl 03 O) CO 2o •* •^ •♦ ^2 s** OS i^ tn - so 2-^ § ^ g T!^ S** •>* 05 -^ CO sl -§ §■ s g •o2 eo 00 W5 00 ^ c4 ki (N §■ 5 s 1 ■oS s*^ eo «o o CO ^ ,> § fc c« 00 eq S cd 1 S'S r-T =^ i 3 3 -OOO o §fe S «o :^ "=. 1 ^1 § § lO O J -OU 1 II S --M .•~ a 1 III ||i ill !z;c :z;o^ •o »>. .-1 o» S 1 T>4 ■2 g •2 t^ tl 356 U, 8. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review. Wages aoid Hours of Hotel and Restaurant Employees. Volume IX. Number 3. September, 1919. The survey includes 153 hotels and 258 restaurants. (Page 190.) In the hotel and restaurant industry the daily rate of wages bears la fairly close relation to the actual earn- ings for each day worked, because of the comparatively small amount of overtime paid for in addition to the regular wage, and because of the prevalence of full-time work. In order to present all data in one table the weekly and monthly rates have been reduced to daily rates cal- culated as follows : Monthly rates of wages were divided by 30 and weekly rates by 6 or 7, according as the em- ployee was paid on a 6 or 7 day basis. (Pages 194-195.) The most striking feature of the tables is the low average money wage received in the majority of occupa- tions. This indicates the need for a scientific study of the advisability of paying a straight money wage in this industry, and of the value to the employee of meals and lodging tendered in lieu of wages. Such a study would aiford a basis for comparing the earnings of these em- ployees with their cost of living, and with the wages paid persons engaged in occupations in other industries which require a similar degree of skill. (Page 196.) 357 Eate of wages per day for hotel and restaurant employees by occupation, room and meals. Checkers Cleaners Cooks Dishwashers Helps^ Hall Waiter Compensation Other Than Wages No. Average Rate of Wages Per Day No. Average Rate of Wages Per Day No. Average Rate of Wages Per Day No. Average Rate of Wages Per Day No. Average Rate of Wages Per Day Room and 3 meals . . 28 336 57 3 3 $1.54 1.87 1.88 1.27 2.58 258 180 161 114 439 $ .89 1.18 .92 1.25 1.39 10 278 61 $1.52 2.16 2.37 109 1,311 243 49 12 $1.00 1.28 1.34 .87 1.46 39 201 $1.00 1.25 2 meals Imeal .... NnfliinE Kitchen Help Linen Room Employees Maids Pantry and Counter Helpers Waitresses Room and 3 meals.. . 3 meals. 110 875 116 3 $1.11 1.56 1.34 1.50 242 138 9 25 128 $1.06 1.33 1.47 1.57 1.60 1,722 448 65 202 1,611 $0.84 1.10 1.11 1.45 1.34 153 1.180 331 12 1 $1.14 1.55 1.59 1.22 .25 48 2,263 824 174 34 $1.09 1 46 2meal3 1.40 1 meal 87 Nothing 1.30 (Compiled from pages 198-203) Massachusetts Minimum Wage ''Commission. Bulletin No, 17. September J 1918. Wages of Women vn Hotels and Restaurants. From 65 restaurants a complete transcript of the pay- roll record was taken for each woman employed during the fifty-two-week period preceding the beginning of the investigation. These wage data concern 2,816 women. In addition, wage information for one week in the year was taken from 19 restaurants open all the year round, and from 3 open only in summer. (Pages 13-14.) Rates of Payment. The wage situation in hotels and restaurants is complicated by the fact that payment in other forms of compensation, such as meals and lodging, is made in addition to a money wage. 1,453, or almost two-thirds (60.3 per cent.) of the 2,411 women employed in hotels open all the year round, were furnished with 358 lodging and three meals a day. The second largest group, consisting of 824 women, or one-third (34.2 per cent.) of the total number employed, received three meals but no lodging. As might be expected, the proportion of those receiving lodging in addition to wages is largest in the housekeeping department, that is, among the house- keepers, linen-room girls, chambermaids, and cleaners. Over three-fourths (78.7 per cent.) of the women em- ployed in the housekeeping department were found to *'room in,'' while only about one-third (35.8 per cent.) of the dining-room employees had lodgings furnished. Very few dishwashers, cashiers, checkers, or waitresses received lodging in addition to pay. Hotel employees who are provided with room and board are also relieved of the expense of car fares to and from their work, yet there remain necessary expendi- tures for clothing (including aprons and uniforms), laundry, doctor, and dentist, church, recreation, vacation, and other incidentals. According to the estimates of the various wage boards established by the Commission, these expenses would average about $3.50 a week.* This estimate, however, makes no allowances for time lost through illness, unpaid vacations, unemployment, and shifting from job to job, all of which tend to cut down actual earnings. iSince, as shown by the tables relating to annual earnings and fluctuation of employment, work in hotels is markedly unsteady, an additional amount of at least 50 cents a week would be required to cover the expenses of the probable average period of involuntary unemployment. This amount would, of course, not cover the expenses of any serious illness or abnormal period of unemployment, but would merely insure workers of a sum sufficient to cover their living costs during two or three weeks of vacation, illness, or lack of work. Work- ers who were given both board and lodging should there- fore have received in addition a money wage of not less than $4 a week. It was found, however, that 29.0 per ♦The average of the minimum cost of living budgets of the various wage boards, exclusive of the allowance for room and board, and for car fare In excess of 10 cents a week, amounts to exactly $3.51. 359 cent, of this group received less than this amount. This number included three-fifths (60.3 per cent.) of the waitresses, nearly two-fifths (38.9 per cent.) of the chamberm'aids and kitchen girls, about one-third -(31.7 per cent. ) of the cleaners, and 33.3 per cent, of the parlor maids. (Pages 16-17.) For girls who were given three meals a day but no lodging, a money wage of at least $7 a week would have been required to cover the minimum cost of decent living, since the cost of a heated room and car fare to and from work would have meant an additional expense of about $3 a week. Yet it was found that 85.4 per cent, of the workers in this group received less than that amount. This number included all of the parlor maids and clean- ers, over 95 per cent, of the waitresses, kitchen girls, and chambermaids, and a considerable proportion of the workers in other occupations. In general, it was found, as might be expected, that wages were highest in the most skilled land responsible occupations, such as those of head waitress, cashier, cook, and housekeeper. The lowest wages, on the other hand, prevailed chiefly in occupations in which wages were customarily augmented by tips, as in the case of waitress- es and chambermaids. An exception, however, is found in the case of kitchen girls, cleaners, and waitresses in help's hall, who, although also among the lowest paid of hotel employees, seldom receive 'any tips. (Pages 17-18.) Money wages were considerably lower in the summer hotels, where two-thirds (67.7 per cent.) of the employees were paid less than $4 a week as compared with only one- fifth (19.3 per cent.) of the total number in the all-year hotels. A possible reason for the larger proportion of low-paid employees in summer hotels is that they are more generally expected to augment their wages by tips. But this explanation does not account for the low wages of many workers, such as dishwashers and kitchen girls, who are not in a position to receive any tips. (Page 19.) As shown by the following table, which summarizes the facts regarding rates of wages paid in hotels and in restaurants, workers in restaurants not only received a 360 considerably higher money wage, as would be expected from the fact that in hotels living is more generally pro- vided in addition to wages, but also a higher actual wage. This fact is brought out by a comparison between the wages paid to workers who received three meals but no lodging in restaurants and in hotels open all through the year. ^ (Pages 20-21.) It is difficult to estimate accurately the value of meals received. In some restaurants workers were furnished with twenty-one meals a week, while in others, run on a six-day basis, they received only eighteen meals. The estimates given by employers of the value of meals ranged from $3 to $5.25 per week for three meals a day. Many employers were unable to place a cash value upon meals, and several explained that their figures were low because they had not been revised since food prices had increased. The frequent change in shifts 'also makes the money value of meals a variable figure. The situation is further complicated by the amount and quality of the food received. The State Board of Labor and In- dustries* received muny complaints from hotel employees about the inadequacy and poor quality of the food served to them, and several of the restaurant workers inter- viewed by agents of the Commission reported that they found it necessary to supplement the meals furnished them by purchases of food outside the restaurant. (Pages 23-24) The Question of Tips. — In the effort to ascertain to what extent and how adequately money wages were aug- mented by tips, agents of the Commission secured per- sonal interviews with 219 representative restaurant work- ers living in land around Boston. It is important to note in any consideration of this question, that only a part of the women employed in restaurants, namely, those who wait upon the patrons, forming approximately 50 per cent, of the total number, have any opportunity of receiving tips. Furthermore, •Fourth annual report of the State Board of Labor and Industries, pp. 30, 31. 361 in la number of Boston restaurants patrons do not give tip>s, either because they are requested not to do so or because the patronage of the establishment is of-_such a type that the practice is not usual. Out of the 128 waitresses and counter girls visited in this investigation, 37 girls did not receive anything at all in tips, for one or the other of the 'above reasons. Eighty-five reported that they received fees averaging from 25 cents to $15 a week. Eleven of this number, however, stated that the tips which the^y received did not amount to as much as $1 a week, and only one-half of those reporting fees re- ceived over $3 a week from this source. In general, workers receiving tips stated that they would not like to have the custom abolished, yet those working in restaurants where patrons are requested not to tip seemed to appreciate the rule, as giving them a feeling of self-respect and a definite knowledge of what they could depend upon each week. In most cases women prefer an adequate money wage to the uncertainty of fees. Waitresses were emphatic in declaring that their returns from this source had diminished markedly since the beginning of the war. This is probably because of a tendency on the part of patrons to reduce the increased cost of food by cutting down on tips. The common sup- position that waitresses can afford to accept low wages because they receive large tips is disproved by the results of this inquiry. (Page 28.) Expense of Uniforms and Laundry. — The expense of aprons and uniforms is also a question that deserves especial consideration in the study of the wage situation among hotel and restaurant employees. A special style of aprons is required of waitresses in the majority of establishments. A few restaurants supply their workers with these. For those who must buy them, the expense depends upon the style. If tea aprons are worn the out- lay may be less than $1 a year; if large white aprons are required the cost is nearer $3 or $4. White waists and black skirts usually figure also in a waitress's clothing budget. At least one restaurant included in the inves- tigation required a complete uniform, the yearly cost of which was reported as ranging from $7.20 to $11.25. 362 Waitresses in most cases find rubber heels also an es- sential, and require from three to six pairs a year. The laundering of aprons or uniforms is an expense which must be met weekly by the restaurant worker. A few restaurants pay for the laundering of aprons for dining-room employees ; of the girls visited 78, or about one-third, reported some laundry done for them by the establishment. Many girls who wash their own clothes send out their aprons in order that they may be done well enough to suit the management. Those who reported this expense separately gave figures ranging from 16 cents to $1 a week, depending upon the style of uniforms or aprons worn. (Pages 28-29.) Bates of payment for women employed in hotels and restaurants.* Type of Establishment and Cfompensation Received in Addition to Wages Percent, of Workers with Weekly Rates oi - Under $3 Under $4 Under $s Under $6 Under $7 Under $8 Under $9 $9 and over Hotels Open All Year Round Lodging provided- Three meals 1.6 29.0 5.3 72.1 58.9 100.0 87.1 18.2 71.8 100.0 45^ 30.8 90.5 18.2 85.4 100.0 33.3 47.9 73.1 92.1 18.2 88.6 100.0 100.0 58.3 80.8 93.9 100.0 91.1 100.0 100.0 81.3 90.4 6 1 Number of meals variable or not specified 100 No lodging provided — Three meals 8.9 One meal '. . . . 18.7 Number of meals variable or not specified 9.6 Total .5 .3 19.3 68.3 52.0 64.4 82.6 68.0 79.5 90.2 96.0 87.2 92.5 100.0 89.7 94.7 100.0 92.7 95.8 100.0 7 3 Summer Hotels Lodging provided — 4 2 No lodging provided — Three meals Total .2 4.0 .3 67.7 .4 1.8 44.0 13.6 9.5 82.2 2.9 6.0 65.3 17.2 9.5 90.4 18.8 23.1 84.3 22.6 28.6 92.8 52.7 50.3 90.6 27.2 66.7 94.9 86.8 68.9 95.1 27.6 81.0 95.9 91.2 78.7 98.1 29.7 81.0 4 1 Restaurants Three meals 8 8 Two meals 21 3 1 9 No meals 70 3 Number of meals variable or 19 Total .8 9.6 15.9 31.6 56.1 77.5 82.8 17.2 (Page 22) * OflScial Massachusetts Retail Millinery Wage Board contemporaneous minimum cost of living budget , 111.64. 363 TJ. 8. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. Bulletin of the Women's Bureau^ No. 9. Home Work in Bridgeport, Connecticut. December, 1919. Weekly earnings from home work, by class of work per- formed, Bridgeport, Conn., 1919. Number of families receiving specified Weekly Earnings Weekly earnings Less than $1 „ 2 $1 and less than $2 1 $2 and less than $3 10 $3 and less than $4 21 $4 and less than $5 22 $5 and less than $6 13 $6 and less than $7 8 $7 and less than $8 5 $8 and less than $9 4 $9 and less than $10 2 $10 and less than $11 6 $11 and less than $12 $12 and less than $13 5 $13 and more 1 Total 100 (Page 12.) As the table shows, the median earnings were between $4 and $5 for a week's work with only 31 of the group of 100 reporting earnings of $6 or more. (Page 13.) Summary of Facts. {d) The earnings from home work are very low, how- ever, and constitute merely a supplementary income in spite of the fact that several members of the household often take part in the work. This seems to be due to two main causes, (1) low rates of pay and (2) the small output of an unsupervised process and the general in- efficiency of the entire home-work system, requiring, as it does, that the workers shall take time to call for the 364 goods at the factory and deliver them after they are com- pleted, while also the worker is constantly interrupted by home duties and lacks the stimulus of a well-organized factory department to make possible effective produc- tion. (Page 9.) Widespread recognition of the close connection be- tween low wages and home work has led to many recom- mendations for minimum wage laws, both to reduce the amount of home work and to raise the rate of pay for that which still continues. In 1908 a special committee was appointed in England to report to the House of Commons on means of remedy- ing existing abuses in trades in which home work was prevalent. In its report* this committee stated: No proposals which fail to increase the income of these people can have any appreciable effect in amelio- rating their condition. Improved sanitary conditions are important, and necessary; greater personal and domestic cleanliness in many cases is desirable; but the poverty, the miserably inadequate income of so many of the home workers is the great difficulty of the situation. With an increase in their earnings many of the other undesirable conditions which intensify and in turn are aggravated by the ever-present burden of grinding poverty would be very appreciably modified and improved. * * * Your committee are of the opinion that, unless Parliament steps in and gives them the protection and support which legislation alone can supply, the prospects of any real and substantial improvement in their position and con- dition being brought about are very small and remote. * * * Upon the question of the general policy of Par- liament fixing or providing for the fixing of a minimum rate of payment for work, below which it should be ille- gal to employ people, your committee are of the opinion that it is quite as legitimate to establish by legislation a minimum standard of remuneration as it is to establish such a standard of sanitation, cleanliness, ventilation, air space, and hours of work. * * * It is doubtful •Great Britain, House of Commons, Report from the Select Committee on Home Worl£, 1908. (Pages 23-24.) 365 whether there is any more important condition of indi- vidual and general well-being than the possibility of ob- taining an income sufficient to enable those who earn it to secure, at any rate, the necessaries of life. If a trade will not yield such an income to average industrious workers engaged in it, it is a parasite industry, and it is contrary to the general well-being that it should con- tinue. Experience, however, teaches that the usual result of legislation of the nature referred to is not to kill the industry but to reform it.** During the same year the British Government ap- pointed a commission to investigate the workings of the wages boards and industrial conciliation and arbitration acts in Australia and New Zealand. The wage rates es- tablished in those countries applied to home as well as factory workers, so the report on this subject is signi- ficant. In speaking of conditions in Victoria after the establishment of the wages boards, Mr. Aves, the com- missioner, said: There is also a very widely spread belief that the boards have been instrumental, some say in abolishing,, and others in modifying the evils of ** sweating, '' and, from the complex motives, there is in Victoria a great preponderance of opinion amongst all classes in favour of the retention of the boards.** Where High Prices Hurt Most. Edwabd T. Devine. The Survey. September 15, 1920. The Survey has been making some inquiries as to how the poor — those known to the organized charities — have been faring in this five-year period of rising prices, more slowly rising wages, high and irregular profits and in- terest, wasteful war expenditures, enforced savings, and prohibition. Our information comes from one hundred cities and towns, including all of the larger, and from more than a hundred societies. Catholic and Jewish, as **See foot note, p. 364. 366 well as the general unsectarian agencies, have been con- sulted. The executive secretaries of the charity organization societies and other agencies engaged in social work for families from whom our reports come, and their visitors, have the best of opportunities for observation ; they are trained in accuracy of statement; and they have no pos- sible reason for exaggeration or misrepresentation. The large outstanding, although not at all surprising feature of the correspondence is that it testifies with one accord that the cost of living among these marginal families has doubled or more than doubled in the past five years, and that their earned incomes have increased very much less than their expenses. The societies are of course acquainted with many families in which the wages of particular members have increased as much as the general increase in the cost of living. (Page 710.) The increased cost of food has affected them earliest and most seriously. How has it been met? Chiefly, un- fortunately, by doing without. They have had to do with- out milk for children ; without meat, butter, eggs, fruits, and vegetables for both adults and children. They have not starved. They have eaten more bread and mac- aroni. They have drunk more tea and coffee. Their diet has therefore been unbalanced. They have suffered from under-nourishment. Medical officials in an eastern city are referring cases more frequently with a definite diagnosis of malnutrition, and we may confidently ex- pect that the higher death-rates will come. (Pages 710- 711.) What has all the health propaganda of the past gen- eration amounted to other than to emphasize the im- portance of an abundance of plain but nourishing food? Milk for babies, suitable and adequate diet for expectant and nursing mothers, fruit and fresh vegetables and but- ter fats for all except infants, have been insisted upon in season and out of season. It appears that there are other means of meeting deficits in family incomes besides doing without or ap- 367 plying for relief. They are for the most part the old familiar devices. Mothers who should be at home look- ing after their children go out to work. Children work illegally or at the earliest possible moment, sacrificing their education. Lodgers or boarders are taken into homes already crowded. One result of this is an increase in immorality of girls in the families into which lodgers are taken. At least this is the way it is reported — the immorality of the lodgers apparently being taken for granted. (Page 711.) Overcrowding has increased in other ways than by taking in lodgers. Frequently two families move to- gether, taking the rooms formerly occupied by one. Again, the family will move into a janitor *s apartments, the man or the wife doing janitor's work in addition, it may be, to some other regular occupation. Or a direct exchange will be made to a smaller apartment, at the same or perhaps even a higher rental than had pre- viously been paid for the larger one. (Pages 711-712.) Enforced employment of mothers, under the condi- tions existing in these families, must not be thought of as a part of the general movement of girls and women into industry. It is an abnormal and unwelcome neces- sity. Women who have never worked, even before mar- riage, and who have no desire to prove their emancipa- tion by any such means, are compelled to put their chil- dren in day nurseries and go to work in order to supple- ment the earnings of husband and grown children. They are working, not from choice, but because of the high cost of living. They may borrow, if there is any one to give them credit; and so doing, they may fall into the hands of loan sharks. The few references on this sub- ject in our letters indicate that the alleged buying of luxuries — pianos, victrolas, and fur coats — on the install- ment plan is mythical, but that many families are re- duced to buying necessities for household use by this ex- travagant method. (Page 712.) 368 (2) In Many Industries and Occupations the Increase of Wages During the War Period Did Not Create a Living Wage. The loose statement is constantly made that wages rose during the war period equally with the cost of living and in some industries higher. It has also been claimed that during this period minimum wage legislation was unnecessary and ineffective where in force. Repetition is no proof of truth. The careful statistics of the Massa- chusetts minimum wage commission show that the war increase of wages did not affect many of the lower paid industries, employing chiefly women, sufiiciently to keep pace with the rise in prices, much less bring wages, low before the war, up to the cost of living. Z7. 8. Department of Labor. Bulletin of the Woman in Industry Service No. 4. Wages of Co/ndy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. In view of the generally prevailing opinion that be- cause of T^ar conditions high wages had become the universal practice in industry, it was thought that facts were needed to show the actual conditions after the war in the trades in which before the war instances of a low wage scale had been numerous. Such an industry was candy making, as facts obtained in official investigations had demonstrated. The wages of oandy makers were in- cluded in investigations made, for example, by the Com- missioner of Labor of the United States in 1907-8, as authorized by act of Congress, and by the New York State Factory Investigating Commission in 1914. In both of these important inquiries 'an alarmingly large proportion of the women employed in candy making were receiving less than the minimum accepted as essential for subsistence. (Pages 8-9.) 369 It was found [in 1907-8]* that 91.1 per cent of the women workers aged 18 years and over earned less than $8 la week in Pennsylvania candy factories. (Page 16.) Although nominal wages have unquestionably risen since the earlier investigations referred to, the greater part of this increase having taken place since the begin- ning of the war, the improvement in actual earnings in relation to the cost of living is not marked. In order to find just what the change has been, the Bureau of Labor Statistics was asked to furnish figures showing the in- crease in cost of living since 1908, the date of the Federal investigation which included confectionery workers in Pennsylvania. The average price of food in 1918 was 100 per cent higher than for the year 1908, while in December, 1918, it was 123 per cent higher than for the year 1908. If the above relation between cost of food and total cost of living may be assumed to be fairly steady, this means that in the year 1918 the cost of living had risen by 90 per cent, and by December, 1918, by 111 per cent over the price for the year 1908. * * * The mean of the increase for the year and for December of 1918 was taken, which gives a rise in the cost of living, as com- pared with 1908, of 100 per cent. On this basis, $10 in January, 1919, had a purchasing power equal to $5 in 1908, $12 at the later date equaled $6 at the earlier, and so on. (Pages 27-28.) •S. Doc. 645, 61st Cong,, 2d sess., Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage Earners in the United States, Vol. XVIII, Employment of Women and Children in Selected Industries, p. 136. (Page 17.) 370 Distribution of female confectionery workers aged 18 or over in 1908 and 1919 receiving wages of equiva- lent purchasing power, by wage group. 19081 1919» Employees Receiving Each Amount Wage Group. Employees Receiving Each Amount Wage Group Number Percent. Amount Received Purchasing Power in Terms of 1908 Wages Equiva- lent to— Number Percent. Under $5 103 153 226 246 2 41.5 61.7 91.1 99.2 .8 Under $10 . Under $5 Under $6 Under $8 Under $10.... $10 and over. . 190 312 483 558 41 31 7 Under $6 Under $12 52 1 Under $8 Under $16 80 6 Under $10 Under $20 93 1 $10 and over . $20 and over 7 Total Total 248 100.0 599 100 1 Figures compiled from S. Doc. 645, 6l3t Cong., 2d sess., Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage Earners in the United States, Vol. XVIII, p. 136. s Figures from present report. Table 11, p. 23. This shows an appreciable increase in the wage level of those aged 18 or over in the ten years or more which intervened between the two investigations, but even so, the improvement is far from satisfactory. Even in this group, which includes the higher-paid workers, and shuts out the youirg girls who swell the numbers in the lower earnings groups, there are still four-fifths who, accord- ing to the standards of 1908, do not earn a living wage. (Page 29.) Fifth Anwwal Report of the Minimum Wage €ommissian of Massachusetts. December 31, 1917. In this country as in the countries of Europe the war has caused a widening disparity between the price of essential commodities and the purchasing power of the wages paid in a large number of the traditional woman- employing occupations. The Commission has estimated that the cost of living of a wage-earning woman in 371 Massachusetts, based upon retail prices weighed accord- ing to the proportion which each item of expenditure forms of the total weekly budget, increased at least 35 per cent, in the period between October, 1915, and Octo- ber, 1917. On the other hand inquiry has shown that except in a relatively smiall number of industries there has been no general increase in wages at all comparable with this rise in living costs. (Pages 39-40.) Sixth Annual Report of the Minimum Wage Commdssion of Massachusetts, November 30, 1918, The war has served to emphasize the need for pro- tecting the wages of unskilled women workers. One of the strange anomalies of the war-time employment of women has been the existence side by side of industries paying exceptionally high wages, and others where the wage level was only slightly above that in the pre-war period. Outside of the distinct war industries the wages of the majority of women workers have lagged far behind the cost of living. According to data collected by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the increase in retail food prices alone, from September 15, 1913, to September 15, 1918, has been 72 per cent.* For the masses of women workers no corresponding wage in- creases have been made during this period. Some indication of the increased cost of living for self-supporting women in this State is given by the series of minimum budgets approved by the Commission's wage boards from 1913 (the year the Commission began its work) to the present year. These budgets range from $8.71 a. week, voted by the first wage board,! to $12.50, voted by the latest wage board. t (Pages 35-36.) During the summer and fall of 1918 wage records available for tabulation were secured from 11 fish-canning ♦United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Review, November, 1918, p. 77. tBrush Makers Wage Board. {Wholesale Millinery Wage Board. 372 factories, and from 11 establishments engaged in canning pickles, preserves, sauces, and other products. In both types of factories rates for the majority of workers were below the standard of living : 59.3 per cent, of the women employed in fish-handling establishments and 71.4 per cent, of those in the other establishments, were scheduled to receive less than $9 a week. Only 51 had total annual earnings of as much as $450, or the equivalent of $9 a week throughout the year. [Contemporaneous cost of living budgets: retail millinery board. May 7, 1918, $11.64; and wholesale millinery board, November 13, 1918, $12.50.] In connection with these rates and earnings it should be remembered that the period covered was one of ex- ceptionally high wages. The prominence given to ^^war wages,'' however, has caused many to overlook the fact that in some of the non-war industries, especially those employing unskilled labor, wage advances have been very slight, and have entirely failed to keep pace with the in- crease in the cost of living. (Pages 18-19.) In [seven candy establishments] a transcript of the pay-roll for the four months, June to September, 1918, was taken. (Page 22.) From this it appears that nearly two-thirds of the women and girls in the candy factories visited were re- ceiving less'than $9 a week. [Contemporaneous cost of living budget voted by the office and other building clean- ers wage board, June 19, 1918, $11.54.] The low level both of rates and earnings is the more surprising, in view of the labor shortage and the competition with mu- nition factories that existed at the time the invesigation was made. It serves, however, to show the persistence of low wages in occupations which depend mainly upon the labor of unskilled women and girls. (Page 23.) Following the investigation made in 1916-17 into the wages paid in the millinery trades, a supplementary in- vestigation of wages in the wholesale millinery occupa- tion was made by the Commission in the summer of 1918. This showed but slight improvement in wage conditions, and indicated that a substantial number of the women 373 employed were receiving wages inadequate to meet the necessary cost of living and to maintain them in health. (Page 27.) Seventh Annual Report of the Minimum Wage XJommis- sion of Massachusetts, November 30, 1919. An inquiry into the wages of women employed in paper box factories was made by the Commission in the early part of 1915. A second investigation of the paper box industry was undertaken by the Commission [in 1919.] This investigation is based on pay-roll records from 16 of the 24 establishments included in the former study, and covers the four-month period, October, 1918, through January, 1919. Wage records were secured for 1,301 women and girls. Of these records 1,054 were avail- able for tabulation. Average weekly earnings for this group show nine-tenths (89.3 per cent) and seven-tenths (68.2 per cent), respectively, earning under $15 and under $12 a week. * * * The results of both* investi- gations indicate little actual improvement in the wage situation since 1914. (Page 19.) A reinspection under the Men^s Clothing and Eain- coat Decreet [$9.00] which became effective January 1, 1918, was made during March and April [1919]. "Wage rates in this occupation show more striking increases than in any other investigation made by the Commission. These increases are, however, mainly due to changes in economic conditions, and to trade agreements within the industry. In 1915, the period covered by the original investigation, over three-fourths of the women (77.8 per cent) had rates under $9. The present inspection [1919] showed only one-twentieth (5.3 per cent) with ♦The other Investigation here referred to was that of the New England division of National Paper Box Manufacturers' Association. tStatement and Decree concerning the Wages of Women in Men's Clothing and Raincoat Factories in Massachusetts, August 31, 1917. 374 rates as low as that. Nearly one-half, however, had rates less than $13 a week. The first inspection under the Men's Furnishings Decree,* which went into operation February 1, 1918 [$9.00], was made in the early part of that year. A second inspection was started in December, 1918. (Page 44.) Although approximately only one-tenth of the women had rates below $9, one-half had rates below $12 a week. Very few were found receiving rates of $15 a week or over. The inspection under the Muslin Underwear Decree [$9.00], effective August 1, 1918, was started last No- vember, and completed the following December. Although the inspection shows a considerable advance in earnings since 1915-16, the period covered by the original investigation, this advance is not comparable with the increase in the cost of living within the same period. (Page 45.) Massachusetts Minimum Wage Corn-mission. Bulletin No. 18. January^ 1919. Supplementary Report on the Wages of Women in Candy Factories in Massachusetts. A comparison of average weekly earnings between 1913 and 1918 shows for these two establishments, which were included in both studies, a considerable increase in wage payments over those recorded in the pre-war period. In 1913 only .7 per cent, of the employees in establishment No. 3 and 1.8 per cent, of those in No. 6 were earning ^9 a week or more. In 1917-18 the per- centages had risen to 24.1 and 6.2 per cent., respectively. (Page 16.) The average advance, however, has not equalled the ♦statement and Decree concerning the Wages of Women employed in the manufacture of Men's and Boys' Shirts, Qyeralls and Other Workingmen's Garments, Men's Neckwear and Other Furnishings, and Men's, Women's and Children's Garters and Suspenders in Massachusetts, October 26, 1917. 375 increase in living cost during the same period. No gen- eral increase in real wages is shown, (Page 23.) In connection with the increase in money wages, the decrease in the purchasing power of the dollar during" this period should he taken into consideration. Eetail prices of food in the United States increased 72 per cent, from September 15, 1913 to September 15, 1918, according to figures compiled by the United States Bureau of Statistics.* (Page 16.) In spite of these increases, rates of wages, so far as records for them could be secured, run surprisingly low. Of 259 women and girls receiving specified weekly rates, 64.1 per cent, had rates under $9, and 45.9 per cent, had rates under $8 a week. While these data do not warrant conclusions as to the prevailing rates in the largest fac- tories included in the survey, it shows that a consider- able proportion of the individual employees for whom such records were available were paid wage rates which under present conditions are less than the minimum cost of living. (Page 18.) Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Bulletin No. 19. March, 1919. Wages of Women Employed in Canning and Preserving Establishments in Massachusetts. The average [wage rate] based on the total for both branches [fish canning and preserving and preserve, pickle, vegetable, sauce and meat canning] is surprisingly low. IMore than three-fifths are paid at rates under $9 a week, and nearly two-fifths, at rates under $8. [Cost of living budget of the wage board for the canning and pre- serving industries, $11.] It should be remembered that these rates are for full- time employment, and that in the majority of canneries the working hours are the maximum permitted by law. ♦United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Review, November, 1918, p. 77. 376 It should also be remembered in this connection that the period covered (1917-18) was one of business expansion, when *^war wages'' had nearly reached the high- water mark. (Page 15.) In connection with these rates and earnings it should be remembered that the period covered was one of ex- ceptionally high wages. The prominence given to **war wages,'' however, has caused many to overlook the fact that in some of the non-war industries, especially those employing unskilled labor, wage advances were very slight, and entirely failed to keep pace with the increase in the cost of living. (Pages 20-21.) Massachusetts Minimumfi Wage Commission. Bulletin No. 21. November, 1919. Second Report on the Wages of Women in Corset Factories in Massa- chusetts. Compared with the previous investigation, that of 1913, the wage situation as shown by average weekly earnings appears less favorable than six years ago. As- suming the approximate equivalence* in purchasing power of $5, $7, and $9 in 1913 with $9, $12, and $15, re- spectively, ~in 1919, the corresponding percentages of women receiving less than these amounts in each period are : in 1913, 20.0 per cent, 53.5 per cent and 83.6 per cent, respectively ; and in 1919, 36.8 per cent, 67.1 per cent, and 89.6 per cent, respectively. In connection with these figures it should be remem- bered that the corset industry was seriously affected by war conditions ; that the period covered by the study was one of transition ; and that, owing to temporary adjust- ments in piece rates and bonus systems, a particularly unfavorable picture of the wage situation is presented. ♦The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics gives the Increase In retail food prices in May, 1919, as 91.0 per cent over the same month in 1913, and an increase in all items of family expenditures in Boston from July, 1914, to July, 1919, of 75 per cent. (Page 19.) 377 (3) Nominal Rates Are Greater Than Actual Earnings. It is a truism that nominal rates, i. e., the rates of pay, are greater than actual earnings, i. e., the real income.- Earnings are decreased by factors over which the worker has no control; inefficient organization and consequent waiting for work, factories running short time, and sea- sonal irregularity. Earnings are also decreased by sick- ness, necessary vacations, and by voluntary absenteeism. Minimum wage legislation does not pretend to eradi- cate the factors making for irregularity of employment, though in part it tends to curb them, but the uncertainty of steady work only emphasizes the need of a living wage, at least while working. (a) Due to Lack of Steady Employment or Irregular Attendance. Wages of Women and Minors in the Mercantile Industry in The District of Columbia, Monthly Labor Re- view, United States Bureau of Labor, June, 1919, It will be noticed that the classification in the tables of this article shows the rates as even dollars. The in- vestigation revealed that almost without exception the weekly rates paid in mercantile establishments of the District are in round numbers. Only 53 women, or a little over 1 per cent of the 4,609 women, received rates involving fractions of a dollar. (Page 191.) At the outset the fact should be emphasized that these rates of pay did not measure actual earnings. Earnings averaged well below full-time rates. Some indication of this disparity may be found in the data, shown in Table 1, secured from four department stores employing* 1,483 women. Figures of actual earnings (exclusive of bo- 378 nuses) were secured for the week for which pay rolls were obtained. While figures of earnings for one week are manifestly of less value than those extending over a longer period, they may be taken as indicative of a gen- eral trend. In the weeks for which pay rolls were se- cured health conditions in the District were normal, and since the figures for the four stores were totaled any in- dividual abnormalities would not greatly affect the gen- eral results. (Pages 191-192.) Table 1. — Cumulative Number and Per Cent of Woman Employees in Pour Department Stores Having Each Rate and Actually Earning Each Amount or Under Per Week Daring One Week of February or March, 1919. Women employees Women employees having each actually earning each weekly rate weekly amount Cumulative Cumulative Weekly rate of wages Number Per cent. Number Per cent. $8 and under 191 12.9 342 23.1 $9 and under 283 19.1 428 28.9 $10 and under 527 35.5 640 43.2 $11 and under 569 38.4 697 47.0 $12 and under 925 62.4 996 67.2 $13 and under 959 64.7 1,037 69.9 $14 and under 1,040 70.1 1,108 74.7 $15 and under 1,212 81.7 1,243 83.8 $16 and over 271 18.3 240 16.2 It may be seen from this table that the disparity be- tween rates and earnings was greatest in the lower wage groups. That is to say, the difference between the num- bers of workers whose weekly rates and whose actual earnings were $8 and under was greater than the differ- ence between those with weekly rates and those actually earning $12 and under or $15 and under. About 13 per cent had rates of $8 and under, while a little over 23 per cent actually earned that amount; 62.4 per cent had rates of, while 67.2 per cent earned, $12 and under; 81.7 per cent had rates of, while 83.8 per cent actually earned, $15 379 and under. The number of women who earned $8 and under in excess of those so rated was 151. While the low earnings of some of these women was due to the fact that they were regularly employed as part-time workers, the greater number earned less than their wage rate because of absenteeism. Insufficient records as to reasons for ab- sence made it impossible to come to any conclusions con- cerning the causes of this irregular attendance. How- ever, in so far as it was due to illness and incapacity caused by malnutrition and inadequate shelter and cloth- ing, an adequate living wage would tend toward greater regularity and efficiency. (Page 192.) Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Bulletin No. 21. November, 1919. Second Report on the Wages of Women i/n Corset Factories in Massa- chusetts. Pay-roU records for women employees were secured from ten factories, [which] employ approximately nine- tenths of the women engaged in the industry in this State. The time covered by the wage records is the four- month period from January through April, 1919. These are, under ordinary conditions, months of normal pro- duction in the industry. (Pages 5-6.) 380 Average weekly hours of labor of 1,078 women employed in 7 corset factories in Massachusetts: by estab- lishments (cumulative) (Based on pay-roll records for the period January through April, 1919) Establishments Less than 30 Hours Less than 34 Hours Less than 38 Hours Less than 42 Hours Less than 46 Hours Less than 50 Hours Less than 54 Hours 54 Hours and Over Xo. 1— Number 11 1.6 9 5.4 5 3.7 2 13.3 3 3.7 1 50.0 25 3.7 39 23.4 8 6.0 3 20.0 7 8.5 .... 1 50.0 79 11.8 64 38.3 19 14.2 3 20.0 15 18.3 1 50.0 158 23.2 104 62.3 35 26.1 3 20.0 29 35.4 2 33.3 1 50.0 326 48.5 156 93.4 61 45.5 6 40.0 63 76.8 2 33.3 1 50.0 540 80.4 166 99.4 97 72.4 6 40.0 82 100.0 6 100.0 1 50.0 670 99.7 167 100.0 134 100.0 15 100.0 82 100.0 6 100.0 50.0 2 Percent 3 No.2— Number.. . Percent No. 8— Number Percent No.e- Number Percent No.7- Number Percent No.»- Numb« Percent No. 10— Number 1 Percent 50 Total- Number «^ Percent T 31 2.9 83 7.7 181 16.8 330 30.6 615 57.1 898 83.3 T, 3 3 (Page 32) During the past year, 1919, there has been practically no dull season in the manufacture of corsets. Judging from present conditions, the prospect for the future is greater regularity of employment. (Pages 7-8.) A situation which still exists, however, and which ex- ists in practically every industry where the piece rate sys- tem^ prevails, a situation in its effect on the workers similar to the slack season, is that due to periods when the operatives are kept waiting for work, not from lack of orders, but from various conditions in the individual establishments, such as the method of routing work, the 381 repairing of machines, or delay in securing supplies. The result in the course of the year frequently means a considerable loss in earnings to the workers employed by the piece, and is one of the principal causes of dissatis- faction with the piece rate system. (Page 8.) For the majority of the women and girls employed in the industry, the investigation indicates a low level of earnings. Of the entire number for whom wage data were available, 1,361 (67.0 per cent) have actual earnings that average less than $12 a week. Of the adult workers, those 18 years of age and over, 62.1 per cent earn less than $12 a week; while of those with one or more years' experience in the industry, 57.5 per cent earn less than this amount. Nearly one-half (48.2 per cent) of the women averaging 46 hours or more a week, approximate- ly full-time workers, receive less than $12; and 39.9 per cent, even under the most favorable conditions of regular employment and freedom from interruption, would earn less than $12 a week for full-time employment. (Page 19.) Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Bulletin No. 15. December, 1917. Wages of Women in Shirt, Workingmen's Garment and Furnishing Goods Factories. Difference between nominal rates and actual earnings (men's neckwear) Per cent, of Workers Receiving (Cumulative) Under $4 Under $5 Under $6 Under $7 Under $8 Under $9 $9 and over Average weekly earnings . 7.2 21.4 2.8 35.9 15.5 52.5 36.6 66.3 53.5 75.4 69.0 24 6 Weekly rates 31 (Compiled) (Page 54) 382 Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Bulletin No, 13. December, 1916. Wages of Women in Men's Clothing and Raincoat Factories in Mas- sachusetts. Table 1. — ^Weekly Earnings — By Occupations Per Cent, of Women Earning Occupations Under $3 $3 and Under $4 $4 and Under $5 $5 and Under $6 $6 and Under $7 $7 and Under $8 $8 and Under $9 $9 and over 4.7 9.6 .7 1.6 1.1 7.2 11.5 3.4 3.3 '2A 8.2 16.8 20.1 6.9 15.4 3.2 4.4 11.9 10.5 26.4 17.7 19.9 15.4 3.2 18.8 9.5 25.6 21.8 16.7 20.5 16.3 9.6 20.3 31.0 20.9 15.4 12.9 21.2 17.1 11.7 20.3 23.8 12.8 4.9 5.3 11.6 8.1 15.9 14.5 11.9 8.1 2.8 Pants and vest finishing 6.2 15.8 Machine operating 22.8 55.3 21.7 Button sewing 9.5 11.6 Total number 43 3.8 67 9.7 152 23.1 223 42.8 218 62.1 181 78.1 93 86.3 155 Cumulative per cent 13.7 (Page 28) Table 2. — ^Weekly Rates — By Occupations Per cent, of Women with Weekly Rates of - Occupations Under $3 $3 and Under $4 $4 and Under $5 $5 and Under $6 $6 and Under $7 $7 and Under $8 $8 and Under $9 $9 and over 4.8 1.9 'i;6 9.6 5.7 2.1 2.1 11.0 20.7 5.1 9.3 5.9 12:5 9.7 24.9 11.3 16.5 16.5 11.8 23.3 6.2 16.1 22.0 18.9 32.0 21.6 11.7 11.7 18.8 24.2 19.1 22.6 23.7 23.7 5.9 20.0 21.9 19.4 8.6 Pants and vest finishing Basting 18.9 20.6 Machine operating 25.8 64.7 Busheling 45.0 40.6 Miscellaneous 24.2 Total number 12 1.9 31 6.9 59 16.3 118 35.1 138 67.1 130 77.8 139 Cumulative per cent 22.2 NOTE — Of the 1,132 workers whose records were studied, data concerning rates were not available for 885, a majority of whom were pieceworkers. (Compiled) (Page 30) 383 U. S. Department of Labor. Women's Bureau. Bulletin of the Women's BureoM, No. 10. Hours and Con- ditions of Work for Women in Industry in Vir- ginia. March, 1920. Several women who worked as weavers in a silk mill reported a situation with regard to wages which was particularly difficult for them. It is usually the custom in mills to pay the weaver a weekly wage, based on the average amount of her earnings, when because of poor warp, stoppage of machinery, or other causes she has not been able to complete a ^'cut,'' for which she is usually paid by the yard. This system guarantees a regular in- come, a very important matter when a w^oman has not only her own expenses to meet but often those of her children or younger brothers and sisters. Three women reported that they were paid for only the completed cut. Thus sometimes, when they had had bad luck with their machine or when the warp had been particularly poor, they got no wage at lall, and often received as little as $2.50 or $3.50 a week. As the causes for not getting out the work were entirely beyond the control of the weaver herself, it would seem to be a great injustice to penalize her in this manner. (Page 28.) 384 (b) Due to Seasonal Fluctuations of Employment. U. S. Department of Labor. Bulletin of Women in In- dustry Service No. 4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. Earnings in dull season. — It should be emphasized, moreover, that the entire discussion so far has centered about the earnings in a normal week. It is characteristic of the candy industry that the same level of employment is not maintained throughout the year. In slack seasons, workers may be dismissed or employed on part time. This prospect of no employment or work at greatly re- duced pay is constantly hanging over the workers. (Page 29.) Table 15. — Median earnings of woman workers employed in 10 identical candy factories for one weekly pay- roll period in 1918 (dull season) and in 1919 (nor- mal season). Establishment No. 1918 (dull season) 1919 (normal season) V - $4.06 $9.81 VIL 5.55 7.41 TX 10.38 9.73 X 1.78 9.07 XL. _ „ „„ 5.10 8.90 XII . 4.13 8.90 XIII :-.. 8.41 10.18 XVII „ 8.75 10.50 XVIII 10.25 9.50 XX „ 17.50 15.50 Total ^ $5.62 $9.60 The median earnings for a week in July or August, 1918, were $5.62, as compared with $9.60 for the same factories in January. The proportion of women receiv- ing $13 and more is 17 per cent in the normal season in January and but 4 per cent in the dull season. Irregularity of Employment. — Not only are the earn- ings almost split in half in the dull season but little more 385 than half as many women are employed as in the busy season. If we compare a woman's chance of steady employ- ment in the candy trade with a man's, we find that in 11 plants nearly 1 of every two women, or 45.5 per cent, lose their positions in the summer, while only 3.3 per cent or one out of 30 of the men are turned off. The woman workers who are kept show a drop in earnings of 41.5 per cent and the men 40.2 per cent. In spite of this prac^ tically equal decrease in earnings, wages of the men in the dull season have a median of $10.96, contrasted with $5.62 for the girls. (Page 30.) Table 17. — Maximum, minimum and average of number of wage earners employed and of amount of wages paid during one weekly pay-roll period in 1918. Maximum for 1 Week Minimum for 1 Week Average for 1 Week Per cent. Maximum is of Average Per cent. Minimum is of Average Number of wage earners $38,368.63 1,503 $14,286.46 2,031 124,606.70 127.6 155.9 76 4 Amount of wages paid 58.1 (Page 31) If the laverage number on the pay-roll and the average amount paid in wages be regarded as 100 per cent, it is found that the maximum pay-roll is 156 and the minimum 58, while the number of employees fluctuates from 128 to 75. It is impossible with any degree of accuracy to trans- late this variation in employment into terms of actual income of the workers, but it is obvious that their earn- ings are affected seriously by this irregularity in the in- dustry. Those who are laid off in dull season may lose three or four months in the course of a year, thereby reducing their yearly income by a fourth or a third. Or, as already indicated, if they are not out of work they are employed only for part time with earnings reduced ac- cordingly. Although the median earnings in a busy season are a little more than $10 a week, it is certain that the median yearly income is not as much