expressed. In the cases of long-term contracts, however, the greatest evil of this maladjustment was manifest.

2. As was to be expected the claim was paramount that wages were not high enough to meet those necessary costs needed for a fair standard of living. By applying the standard income for an individual and then closely examining the above income chart, one can judge the truth of the contentions of these workers regarding low wages.

3. In a few unions covering over 600 workers, successful strikes were an admitted failure. This economic paradox is quickly understood upon citing the most pronounced case-that of the Clothing Makers Union. The union had returned to work after a four weeks' successful strike in which a one dollar per week increase was realized. During this four weeks' interim food prices for an average family had gone up approximately $1.75 per week. In short, the strike although increasing the money income, resulted in the falling of the real wages.

II ACTUAL PAYROLL STUDIES

More important than these figures, however, are those obtained from an actual study of payrolls. In order that this study might be as accurate as possible proportional representation was used. That is the plants investigated and the individual wage cards obtained were selected in proportion to the importance of the different industries and the different trades within the industry in the city's enterprises. For instance, almost one-fourth of the city's workers are in the textile industries, consequently one-fourth of the wage cards should come from textile mills. Similarly, within the textile industries are several different trades, and the cards from individual workers should be proportioned to the number of men employed in each occupation. By following this method the wage cards taken from the records were made fairly representative of the trend in wages throughout the city.

In all, 1,600 wage studies were made, covering by proportional representation about 44,200 workers. The average weekly incomes of these 44,200 represented workers for the sixty-two weeks covered by the investigation are as follows:

AVERAGE WEEKLY INCOMES OF 44,200 WAGE-EARNERS IN PHILADELPHIA

The increase in wages for the last month of the investigation over the first month is 22.8 per cent.

The weekly fluctuations can be well seen in the chart.

These wage statistics afford a basis for comparison with the food price figures given in the preceding article. Taking the average wages for the year 1916 as 100, relative wages by months can be computed comparable with the relative food prices there quoted. These relative wages are shown in graphic form side by side with

1917.

Jan. Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar

Weekly
Income

17.00

1916

the movement of relative food prices in Chart I, page 238. The significance of these two curves will be discussed in the conclusion.

III SALARIED MEN

As was stated under the study of union wages, union men and salaried men have felt the pressure of the rise in prices more than other workers, due to the fact that their incomes have had practically no change over the period investigated.

The committee had the records of 112 male employes, representing on a proportional basis 3,050 workers working on a salary basis. These three thousand men are employed as superintendents, assistant superintendents, shop foremen, timekeepers, bookkeepers and office clerks. Seventy-six per cent of these salaried men received no increase whatever from January 1, 1916 to March 10, 1917, while the remaining 24 per cent received increases ranging from 5 per cent to 25 per cent. The average weekly income for this complete salaried group on January 1, 1916 was $22.75. Sixtytwo weeks later, March 10, 1917, the average income was $23.20 per week, an increase of 2 per cent during the period. During the same period the increase in food prices was 26.6 per cent! This tendency is driving salaried men into the shops. In many firms it was reported that salaried men were discarding white collars and were donning overalls, and much to their financial advantage.

IV THE IRREGULARITY OF WAGES

In several of the industries a characteristic condition was the irregularity of the incomes paid. When both future wages and future prices can in no way be discounted, the worker of necessity is thrown into a serious dilemma. Not knowing the future and living from hand to mouth, any change in income, be it up or down, plays havoc. He simply trusts to luck. Even the shadow of a budget is missing.

Two of the larger firms were taken in order to portray this unevenness in wages, lack of time and investigators making a complete study impossible. The cigar and textile industries alone were considered.

The following table and chart give the average weekly wages prevailing by the month of 324 cigar hands, both male and female, for 1916. The fluctuation of prices is also charted so that the discrepancy between wages and prices may be seen.