Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-08
INCREASE IN AVERAGE PAY
Purchasing Power of Weekly Com
pensation Greater.
HOURS OF WORK LESSENED
Lard, Pork, Bacon, Ham and Evap-
grated Apples Show Greatest
Rise in Price.

labor into wages and the retail prices Of
food, the report on which has Just been
placed in the hands Of the printer. shows
that in the principal manufacturing and
mechanical industries of the country aver
age wages per hour in 1908 was As per
cent higher than in 1905, the regular hours
of labor per week were 0.5 per cent lower,
and the number Of employees in the estab-
lishments investigated was Z per cent
greater. The average full-time weekly
earnings per employe in 1905 were SO per
cent greater than in 1905.
General Increase Of Wages.
During 1906 wages were increased gener-
ally in nearly all Industries. forty Of the
forty-one industries covered by the in
vestigation showing some increase. The
greatest increase was in the manufacture
of cotton goods. where the average wages
per hour in 1905 were 11.2 per cent higher
than in 1905. In the manufacture of cleo
trical apparatus and supplies the increase
was 1O1 per cent. In street and sewer
work done by contract the increase was
81 per cent; in iron a"A steel. Bessemer
converting, So per cent, and IN the manu-
facture Of cigars. S.4 per cent In the manu-
facture of bar iron the increase in wages
per hour was SO per cent and in the build
Ing trades 81 per cent. Briefly stated, two
industries showed an increase in hourly
wages of more than 10 per cent, industries
an Increase Of per cent but less than 10
per cent and 81 industries an increase Of
less than per cent In one industry
paper and wood pulp-there was q decrease
Of II per cent. In the industries as a whole
weighted according to importance, the in
crease in hourly wages was As per cent
The fact should be borne in mind that
these figures apply only to wage-wOrkers
in manufacturing and mechanical industries
and do not show conditions so far as sal
aired employees are concerned.
Prices of Food Higher.
The retail prices of food, weighted ac-
cording to consumption in representative
workingmen's families, were 90 per cent
higher in 1906 than in 1905. AS the adj
vance in wages per hour from 1905 to 1906
was greater than the advance in the retail
prices of food. the purchasing power of an
hours wages, as measured by food, was
greater In 1906 than in the preceding year.
In 1906 the purchasing power o! an hours
wages as expended for food was Ia per
cent greater than in 1905 and the purchas-
ing power of q full weeks wages was l
per cent greater in 1905 than 1905. or. in
other words. an hours wages in 1905 in the
manufacturing and mechanical industries
of the United States would purchase Ia
per cent more food than an hours wages in
1905 and a full weeks wages in 1906 would
purchase l per cent more food than full
weeks wages in 1905. .
month Of 1905 than in the corresponding
month of 1905. The increase over the
corresponding month Of the preceding
year. which in February 1906. was only
GA per cent. grew steadily greater
throughout the year, the price in Deem
Der, 1906. being 81 per cent above that
Of the preceding December. The price in
December. 1906. was 4.s per cent higher
= ha ar. 90 For ho yvh IN
year showed a higher average than any
other year during the seventeen years.
1890 to 1905, covered by the investiga-
ton Of the bureau of labor.
Foods That Were Higher.
The increase in prices in 1905 over
1905 applied, in unequal degree, to
twenty-five Of the thirty articles included
in the investigation. The articles which
showed the greatest advance in prices are
lard, 9.S per cent; evaporated apples, 81
per cent; fresh pork. S.S per cent; dry or
picked pork. S.7 per cent; bacon, ga per
cent; ham, 73 per cent; while the ad-
vance in fresh fish and mutton exceeded
5 per cent. The only articles which
showed any material decrease ars flour
and sugar.
marked advance in prices In December.
1906, over December, 1905. are butter. Is
per cent; lard 1909 per cent; fresh pork,
1872 percent; dry Or picked pork, 1l9 per
cent; bacon, Ill per cent, and ham, 90 per
cent. The only articles which showed any
marked decline in price in December. 1906,
from the price IN December. 1905. are
potatoes, So per cent and flour. AS per
cent.
Comparison With Ten-Year Average.
AS compared with the average for the
ten-year period. 1890 to 1899, the average
wages per hour in 1906 were 24.2 per cent
higher, the number of employees in the
establishments Investigated were 42.9 per
cent greater, and the average hours of
labor per week were 40 per cent lower.
The average earnings per employe per
full week in 1906 were 1876 per cent higher
that the average earnings per full week
during the ten years. 1890 to 1899.
The retail price of the principal articles
. of food, weighted according to family con-
sumption of the various articles, was 1871
per cent higher in 1908 than the average
price for the ten years 1880 to 1882 Com
pared with the average for the same ten
year period. the purchasing power of an
hours wages in 1906. as measured by food,
was 7.3 per cent greater and of a full
weeks wages "a per cent greater. the in
crease in the purchasing power of the full
weeks wages being less than the increase
in the purchasing mower of hourly wages