The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1906-08-17
The Speakers Statistics.


Speaker Cannon's address to the
convention which nominated him
yesterday for another term In Con-
gress is the keynote of Republican
argument for the fall campaign.
We find in it this remarkable para
graph:
There has been much discussion and
no little confusion over the effort TO
compare the relative increase ia wages
and cost OF living In the last few years.
4 ne Labor Bureau OF the United States
in its last bulletin on this question made
a very careful analysis for the fourteen
years from 1880 90 1894. In that com
parison and analysis it was shown that
the weekly earnings of all employees had
increased 65-4 per cent from 1894 10 1884,
and that The retail prices of food prod
uctS had increased n the same time
only j. per cent. This, l believe is the
only careful and scientific Investigation
thar has been made of the subject
Go through that paragraph again.
gentle reader, and see if you can
find the hole in the skinner. It's
there; and it's SO big that it con
victs the Speaker of the cheapest
pettifogging.
1T was shown" says the Speaker,
shat the weekly earnings of all
employees had increased 53.4 per
cent from 1s94 to 1904, and that the
retail prices of food products had
increased in the same time only 10
per cent"
The Speaker invites the reader to
infer. and unless he chances to have
special information he viii infer,
that the average weekly wage in
creased 53.4 per cent in ten years,
while the cost Of food increased
only u per cent. The man who can
accept that will naturally realize at
once that he is getting rich at
tremendous rate, the evidence of
his balance sheet and cash account
to the contrary notwithstanding.
Now, on page 10, of Bulletin No.
SO, of the Department of Labor. is
sued in July, 1895, is this statement:
I'm 1904 the aggregate weekly
earnings of all employees were 53.4
per cent more than in 1894"
The Speaker so stated the con-
illusions of the 1905 report as to give
the impression that il showed an
average increase in wages of 534
per cent. Nothing of the sort. It
simply showed that the total wages
,afT ,7Y+ II, q, ,,,-+.g., H. %. g % -1a =.
dustrial establishments was 53.4 per
cent larger in 1904 than in 1894. But
the number of employees was vastly
greater in 1904 than in 1894; and
when the increased number of en-
ployes is taken into consideration it
is shown Up. l6. same report that
the weekly earnings per employe in
1904 were AS per cent higher than
in 1894"
The Speaker admits an increase of
u per cent in the cost of food. This
practically wiped OUT the increase
in the average wage, and so the
Speaker made his comparison. not
with the average, but with the ag-
gregate, wage increase. not taking
the trouble to point out that the
larger wage fund of 1904 had to be
divided among a vastly greater num-
Der of workers.
1t could hardly have been an over
sight. The Speaker is too wise a
man to make such a mistake. On
the very same page from which he
misquoted so that il appeared that
wages had increased 53.4 per cent
while food prices had increased only
10 per cent, was the correct state
ment. He could just as well have
used the correct figures; but he /
didn't The correct figures would |
not have served his purpose. They |
would not have evoked the thunder /
GUS applause for Republican pros
perity which was no doubt called /
forth by the misquotadon.
The Times has heretofore urged |
that the Republicans must deal with /
this question of advancing cost of /
living. 1t had not expected how /
ever, that their foremost political /
agent would go TO the length of
misquoting and misconstruing Off /
cial statistics. 1t is a species of /
political chicane with which, even
though INDUCED by so distinguished
man as the Speaker, it is difficult
10 have patience.
4 General RpDrOach