however, wage rates in the leading occupations have increased more than prices, and not only have the wage rates increased, but those employed have had much more constant employment in 1903 than in 1896. In the Bureau of Labor report the average price of each commodity as a whole could not be stated in dollars and cents because the articles for which retail prices were shown vary more or less as to kind and quality in different localities. The averages have, therefore, been computed on a percentage represented as 100, or the base, and the prices from year to year being indicated by relative figures. These relative figures consist of a series of percentages showing the per cent the price in each year was of the average price for the ten-year period from 1890 to 1899. This average price for the ten-year period was selected as the base because it represented the average conditions more nearly than the price in any one year which might be selected as a base for all articles. The following table shows the relative price of the 30 principal articles of food considered in the Bureau of Labor Bulletin. In order to make clear the manner of using the relative figures we take, for example, the column showing the figures for "Beef, fresh roasts and stews"; it is seen that the price in 1890 was 99.5 per cent of the average price for the period from 1890 to 1899. In 1891 the price was exactly the average price for the ten-year period-that is, 100.0. The lowest point reached was in 1894, when the price was 98.3 per cent of the average price for the ten-year period. The highest point reached was in 1902, when it stood at 118.6, or 18.6 per cent higher than the average price for the base period, 1890 to 1899. In 1903 a considerable decline from the price in 1902 is seen, the relative price being 113.1, or 13.1 per cent higher than the price for the base period. The table follows: Relative retail prices of the principal articles of food, 1890 to 1903. [Average 1890-1899-100.0.] 1890.... 109.0 103.3 1891.. 110.3 106.2 1892.. 1893.. 1894.. 99.5 98.8 97.5 99.3 1895.. 97.4 100.5 98.6 99.1 1896.. 88.6 92.7 99.1 1897.. 87.8 91.5 100.3 100.3 99.2 98.8 101.3 105.4 100.3 106.4 100.3 104.0 105.2 100.3 106.8 101.5 103.8 100.1 109.9 101.8 104.2 98.3 98.2 98.9 99.9 101.7 101.6 98.6 99.6 99.7 97.0 99.2 98.4 99.5 99.8 99.9 92.7 97.9 97.1 100.2 100.9 100.0 93.1 99.0 94.0 95.9 101.7 102.0 102.1 99.8 95.1 97.5 96.8 99.7 103.7 103.9 103.2 99.6 97.7 102.4 101.8 110.0 106.5 106.4 103.7 99.7 101.4 103.9 100.8 96.8 113.9 110.7 111.0 106.1 99.4 1902.. 104.4 116.8 118.6 118.5 116.0 99.4 1903.. 100.8 118.1 113.1 112.9 108.8 100.2 98.3 99.5 103.8 100.3 1890... 100.0 100.6 99.3 100.7 109.7 98.2 100.5 104.7 100.7 97.0 1891.. 109.7 106.9 99.6 101.7 112.5 99.8 100.5 101.7 100.6 98.7 105.2 106.8 100.1 102.2 105.1 103.6 100.6 101.2 101.0 100.5 103.1 108.1 100.1 103.4 96.1 117.9 100.4 100.6 99.9 107.0 102.2 96.3 100.4 101.5 88.7 106.9 100.2 100.3 97.8 101.8 100.8 99.3 99.8 98.9 89.0 100.1 100.0 99.0 98.7 95.0 92.8 100.2 97.5 92.7 92.5 99.9 98.7 93.7 91.4 99.8 95.2 104.3 95.0 96.2 100.5 98.8 100.2 100.2 99.9 100.4 99.1 94.3 104.4 99.9 105.7 101.4 100.9 94.4 118.1 101.1 118.8 119.1 105.0 102.8 94.9 134.3 103.3 120.7 125.3 107.3 108.4 101.2 126.7 105.8 99.7 98.7 97.4 89.8 99.7 97.7 99.6 97.6 107.4 93.9 99.4 97.9 100.4 98.6 94.6 97.1 98.9 98.2 102.6 101.7 102.2 105.6 107.7 101.3 109.0 117.9 102.1 114.7 128.3 1890.... 1891... 1892.. 95.7 1893.. 109.3 112.3 115.6 95.8 95.3 98.7 109.3 116.8 101.3 118.6 100.0 98.8 102.9 96.2 100.2 100.0 102.7 98.4 101.5 100.1 100.0 99.5 The following table shows the relative prices of food, considered as a whole, for each year. The prices are "weighted" according to the importance of each article in family consumption, the degree of importance having been determined by a special inquiry covering over 2,500 families. In the computation of a "simple average" for all food the same importance is given to each article, flour, for example, being given the same weight as cheese. To overcome the unfairness of such an average, the exact quantity of each commodity of food used was ascertained and each commodity was then given its proper importance as an article of consumption. The result is the "weighted" average given. It should be stated in this connection, however, that the weighted average as shown does not differ materially from the simple average. The last line of the table shows the per cent of increase or decrease (indicated by or) in 1903 as com pared with each of the preceding years. Relative retail prices of all food each year from 1890 to 1903 and per cent of increase or decrease in 1900 as compared with previous years. The method of using both the relative figures and the percentages has already been explained. The important facts disclosed in this table are that food was lower in 1903 than in 1902, and that food was only 15.5 per cent higher in 1903 than in 1896-the year of lowest prices. The changes in the cost of living, as shown by the Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, relate to food alone, representing 42.54 per cent of all family expenditures in the 2,567 families furnishing information. With respect to the remaining expenditures of the average family the Bulletin states as follows: Of the remaining articles, constituting 57.46 per cent of the family expenditure, certain ones are, from their nature, affected only indirectly and in very slight degree by any rise or fall in prices. Such are payments on account of principal and interest of mortgage, taxes, property and life insurance, labor and other organization fees, religion, charity, books and newspapers, amuse ments and vacations, intoxicating liquors, and sickness and death. These together constituted 14.51 per cent of the family expenditure in 1901 of the 2,567 families investigated. Miscellaneous purposes, not reported, for which, from their very character, no prices are obtainable, made up 5.87 per cent, and rent, for which also no prices for the several years are available, made up 12.95 per cent. The remaining classes of family expenditure, 24.13 per cent of all, consist of clothing 14.04 per cent, fuel and lighting 5.25 per cent, furniture and utensils 3.42 per cent, and tobacco 1.42 per cent. For these no retail prices covering a series of years are available, but it is probable that the advance of the retail prices was considerably less than the advance in wholesale prices, as the advance in the wholesale prices of 25 articles of food in 1903, as compared with 1896, was 27.9 per cent, while the advance in the retail prices of 25 similar articles or groups of articles, as shown by the results of this investigation, was but 15.3 per cent. An examination of the relative wholesale prices of these classes of articles in Bulletin No. 51, giving them their proper weight according to family consumption, leads to the conclusion that the retail prices of these articles as a whole in 1903 could have been but little, if at all, above the level indicated by food. If all classes of family expenditures as above be taken into consideration, it is apparently a safe and conservative conclusion, therefore, that the increase in the cost of living, as a whole, in 1903, when compared with the year of lowest prices, was less than 15.5 per cent, the figure given above as the increase in the cost of food as shown by this investigation. It is shown on the succeeding pages that the increase in wages in 1903 over the year of lowest wages, as shown by the same bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, was greater than the increase in cost of living, being 18.8 per cent. A comparison of the table showing prices with that on page 204 entitled "Per cent of increase or decrease in the average wages per hour in 13 leading occupations in 1903 compared with each preceding year discloses the following interesting facts: Bricklayers' wages advanced 26.1 per cent from 1896 to 1903; carpenters' wages, 31.2 per cent; hod carriers' wages, 22.6 per cent; iron molders' wages, 21.1 per cent; laborers' wages, 18.4 per cent; stone masons' wages, 26.5 per cent; painters' wages, 25.8 per cent; plumbers' wages, 24.7 per cent; stone cutters' wages, 17.7 per cent, etc.-while during the same period the retail prices of fresh beef roasts increased 14.1 per cent; beef steaks, 13.5 per cent; salt beef, 9 per cent; bread, 0.03 per cent; butter, 19.5 per cent; cheese, 11.7 per cent; fresh fish, 7.1 per cent; salt fish, 11.2 per cent; wheat flour 9.2 per cent; fresh milk, 5.9 per cent; molasses, 5.2 per cent; mutton and lamb, 14.1 per cent; rice, 7.4 per cent; tea, 7.3 per cent; veal, 15.5 per cent; and coffee has decreased 10.3 per cent and sugar 0.5 per cent. All food of ordinary consumption has increased an average of 15.5 per cent. Pork products, which are included in this general average, advanced from 24.3 to 44.6 per cent, owing to the high price of hogs, the wholesale price of which advanced 75.22 per cent from 1896 to 1903, as is shown in the chapter on the exchange value of farm products beginning page 216. By measuring the purchasing power of a day's wages of these various articles of food in 1896 and in 1903 a very interesting result is obtained. In the case of a bricklayer it shows that for a day's wages in 1903, as compared with a day's wages in 1896, he could buy 10.4 per cent more beef roasts or stews; 11.1 per cent more beef steak; 15.6 per cent more salt beef; 25.7 per cent more wheat bread; 5.5 per cent more butter; 12.8 per cent more cheese; 40.6 per cent more coffee; 17.7 per cent more fresh fish; 13.4 per cent more salt fish; 15.5 per cent more wheat flour; 19.1 per cent more fresh milk; 19.9 per cent more molasses; 10.5 per cent more lamb and mutton; 17.3 per cent more rice; 26.7 per cent more sugar; 17.5 per cent more tea; 9.1 per cent more veal, and 8.9 per cent more of the 30 food commodities taken collectively. A carpenter could buy for a day's wages in 1903, as compared with 1896, 14.9 per cent more beef roasts or stews; 15.6 per cent more beef steak; 20.3 per cent more salt beef; 30.7 per cent more wheat bread; 9.7 per cent more butter; 17.3 per cent more cheese; 46.2 per cent more coffee; 22.4 per cent more fresh fish; 17.9 per cent more salt fish; 20.1 per cent more wheat flour; 23.8 per cent more fresh milk; 24.6 per cent more molasses; 149 per cent more lamb and mutton; 22.0 per cent more rice; 31.8 per cent more sugar; 22.3 per cent more tea; 13.5 per cent more veal, and 13.3 per cent more of the 30 food commodities taken collectively. A day laborer could buy for a day's wages in 1903, as compared with 1896, 3.7 per cent more beef roasts or stews; 4.3 per cent more beef steak; 8.5 per cent more salt beef; 18.0 per cent more wheat bread; 5.9 per cent more cheese; 32.4 per cent more coffee; 10.5 per cent more fresh fish; 6.4 per cent more salt fish; 8.3 per cent more wheat flour; 11.7 per cent more fresh milk; 12.6 per cent more molasses; 3.8 per cent more lamb and mutton; 10.1 per cent more rice; 19.0 per cent more sugar; 10.3 per cent more tea; 2.5 per cent more veal, and 2.2 per cent more of all the 30 articles of food taken collectively. com A painter could buy for a day's wages in 1903, as pared with 1896, 10.3 per cent more beef roasts or stews; 11.0 per cent more beef steak; 15.4 per cent more salt beef; 25.5 per cent more wheat bread; 5.3 per cent more butter; 12.7 per cent more cheese; 40.3 per cent more coffee; 17.6 per cent more fresh fish ; 13.2 per cent more salt fish; 15.3 per cent more wheat flour; 18.9 per cent more fresh milk; 19.7 per cent more molasses; 10.4 per cent more lamb and mutton; 17.2 per cent more rice; 26.6 per cent more sugar; 17.3 per cent more tea; 9.0 per cent more veal, and 8.7 per cent more of all the 30 articles of food taken as a whole. An iron molder could buy for a day's wages in 1903, as compared with 1896, 6.2 per cent more beef roasts or stews; 6.8 per cent more beef steak; 11.1 per cent more salt beef; 20.8 per cent more wheat bread; 1.4 per cent more butter; 8.4 per cent more cheese; 35.1 per cent more coffee; 13.1 per cent more fresh fish; 9.0 per cent more salt fish; 11.0 per cent more wheat flour; 14.4 per cent more fresh milk; 15.2 per cent more molasses; 6.2 per cent more lamb and mutton; 12.8 per cent more rice; 21.8 per cent more sugar; 12.9 per cent more tea; 4.9 per cent more veal, and 4.7 per cent more of all the 30 articles of food taken as a whole. A plumber could buy for a day's wages in 1903, as compared with 1896, 9.3 per cent more beef roasts and stews; 9.9 per cent more beef steaks; 14.4 per cent more salt beef; 24.2 per cent more wheat bread; 4.4 per cent more butter; 11.6 per cent more cheese; 39.1 per cent more coffee; 16.5 per cent more fresh fish; 12.2 per cent more salt fish; 14.6 per cent more wheat flour; 17.6 per cent more fresh milk; 18.6 per cent more molasses; 9.3 per cent more lamb and mutton; 16.1 per cent more rice; 25.4 per cent more sugar; 16.2 per cent more tea; 8.0 per cent more veal; 7.6 per cent more of all the 30 articles of food taken collectively. A stone cutter could buy for a day's wages in 1903, as compared with 1896, 3.1 per cent more beef roasts and stews; 3.7 per cent more beef steaks; 7.9 per cent more salt beef; 17.3 per cent more wheat bread; 5.3 per cent more cheese; 31.2 per cent more coffee; 9.9 per cent more fresh fish; 5.8 per cent more salt fish; 7.8 per cent more wheat flour; 11.1 per cent more fresh milk; 11.9 per cent more molasses; 3.2 per cent more lamb and mutton; 9.5 per cent more rice; 18.3 per cent more sugar; 9.7 per cent more tea; 1.9 per cent more veal; 1.7 per cent more of all the 30 articles of food taken collectively. A stone mason could buy for a day's wages in 1903, as compared with 1896, 10.7 per cent more beef roasts and stews; 11.4 per cent more beef steaks; 15.9 per cent more salt beef; 26 per cent more wheat bread; 5.8 per cent more butter; 13.1 per cent more cheese; 40.9 per cent more coffee; 18.0 per cent more fresh fish; 13.6 per cent more salt fish; 15.5 per cent more wheat flour; 19.3 per cent more fresh milk; 20.2 per cent more molasses; 10.8 per cent more lamb and mutton; 17.6 per cent more rice; 27.1 per cent more sugar; 17.8 per cent more tea; 9.5 per cent more veal, and 9.2 per cent more of all the 30 articles of food taken collectively. Similar comparisons could be made with many more occupations, but it is believed that the above, which all relate to leading and well defined occupations, are sufficient to prove the fallacy of the assertion that wages have not kept up with prices since the great industrial depression during the last Democratic administration. SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS. As a summary of the results of the investigations relative to wages and cost of living the two following tables are given in the Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor. The first shows relative figures while the second shows the increase or decrease in the year 1903 as compared with each preceding year of the period considered: Relative employees, hours per week, wages per hour, weekly earnings per employee and for all employees, retail prices of food, and purchasing power of hourly wages and of weekly earnings per employee measured by retail prices of food, 1890-1903. [Average for 1890-1899--100.] Note. In explanation of relative figures it should be. stated that each figure in the above table represents the per cent which the actual figures were of the average figures for the ten-year period from 1890 to 1899, the latter being presumed to represent normal conditions more accurately than the figures for any one year. In the first column, for example, the number of employees in 1890 is shown to have been 94.9 per cent of the average number for the ten-year period; the number in 1894 was 94.1 per cent of the average for the ten-year period; the number in 1903 was 126.4 per cent of the average, or 26.4 per cent. greater than the average for the ten-year period, etc., etc. The following table, which presents the facts in the convenient form of percentages, discloses most important information with reference to conditions in 1903 as compared with the period of industrial depression which reached its lowest depths during the years 1894, 1895, and 1896. First. Employment afforded.-As regards the number of employees engaged in the 519 occupations, covering 67 important industries and 3,429 establishments engaged in the manufacturing and mechanical industries, it is seen that over one-third more workmen (34.3 per cent) were employed in 1903 than in 1894, and that during the administrations of President McKinley and President Roosevelt the number given employment has steadily and rapidly increased even up to and including the last year of the period, 1903. And even the wonderful increase in 1903 over 1894 as shown above does not mark the extreme limit of the betterment of industrial conditions as regards employment afforded; for it must be remembered that the 3,429 establishments covered in the investigation of the Bureau of Labor were practically all in operation each year during the entire period and the figures secured therefrom do not reflect conditions in hundreds of important establishments which were closed entirely during the period of depression nor in still other hundreds of new establishments which went into operation after the depression had been relieved and confidence reestablished. Were figures |