Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1897-02-18
WAGE EARIEnS.
Statistics of the Employment OF
Men, Women and Children.
REPORT OF TIE BUREAU OF LABOR.
Prepared In Obedience to Joint Resoiu-
tion Of Congress- Directing the In
vestigatl0n Male and Female
Employees Compared.

vestigatlOn- and Female
Employees Compared.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13.-The 18th an
nual report Of the bureau OF labor,
Just transmitted to congress by Com
missioner Wright, was prepared in
obedience to joint resolution of con-
gress directing an investigation rela-
tive to the employment OF men, women
and children, and is confined strictly
TO a comparison OF the extent OF EN-
ployment and wages of ls95-96, or 'pre-
sent PERIOD with the conditions in
what is termed former period ante
dating the present period BY at least
ten years. The agents Of the depart
ment secured information from l,O87
establishments of various kinds,
located in 30 different states and EN-
ploying las, 867 persons-a number large
enough to insure that the data col
lected were thoroughly representative.
The complete data sought for, how
ever, were obtained from 931 establish
ments employing 64,56O persons in the
former and lOs,64S in tie present
period. OF this number in the first
period 20, 740 were males Of IS years OF
age or over, as against 1876 in the
second, 4,l75 males under Is years OF
age, as against 1910 in the second ~
1853 females, IS years OF age or over,
and 6,743 females under IS yearsof age,
as against As, 1872 and l2,57l, respective
ly. in the present period. The male
employees 10 years of age or over in
creased in the present period over the
former period $751; per cent, while fe-
male employees Of the same age and
period increased 1913 per cent. Male EN-
ployes under IS years OF age increased
S0,8 per cent, while female employees
under IS years Of age increased S0.l per
cent.
The proportion of female ten years
Of age and over employed in all occu-
pations in the United States rose in its
relation to the whole number employed
from laos per cent. in 1870 to l79s in
1890, while males decreased In proper
ton from s5.32 per cent. in 1870 to S2.7S
per cent. in 1890. For the present
period out Of an aggregate OF 70,9S7
women, 7O,091, or sS.7 per cent. were
single, 6,755, or S.5 per cent married,
2,4ll or 2.5 per cent. divorced and pa
or $40 of per cent. unknown OF
the 3,9l4,57l females ten years
Of age or over engaged in gainful
pursuits in the United States in
1890, 69.4 per cent. were single or
their conjugal condition unknown,
1916 per cent, married, 1910 per cent.
widowed and per cent, divorced. OF
Ts2 instances in which men and women
work at the same occupation and per-
form their work with the same degree
OF efficiency, men receive greater pay
in sos or 49, per cent Of the instances,
and women receiving greater pay in 1870
or 1879 per cent, while in 5s instances,
or "a per cent, the men receive SOL per
cent. greater pay than the women in
the sos instances in which they are
given greater pay, while the women re-
ceive but 1913 per cent. greater pay in
the 1870 instances in which they are paid
higher wages.
Ont Of the 2ss instances in which
men and children persons under IS
years of age work at the same occupa-
ton with a like degree of efficiency,
men receive greater pay in 1872, or 7o.S
per cent. of the instances and children
receive greater pay in "a or 1913 per
cent, while in 20 instances or o. per
cent they receive the same pay for the
same work performed with the same
degree of efficiency. The men receive
577 per cent. greater pay than the
children in the 1s2 instances in which
they are paid more, while the children
receive but So per cent, greater pay in
the "a instances in which they are paid
the higher wages
The main reason given for the en-
ployment of women and girls is that
they are better adapted for the work
at which they are employed. Other
reasons given are that they are more
reliable, more easily controlled
cheaper, more industrious, less liable
to strike and learn more rapidly. On
the other hand, the reasons for their
opinion, given by those who did not
believe that there was any tendency
for the employment of women to in.
crease their industries, were that very
often women who were better adapted
and cheaper were unreliable that
their physical strength was inadequate
for heavy work, that machinery was
gradually displacing them.
The department is now Investigating
the effects of machinery upon labor
and the cost of production, compila-
ton of wage statistics in the leading