New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-14
A SURVEY OF
THE PAYROLL
In PITTSBURGH
Only the Foreigners APP
pear To Be Saving Out
of High Wages
Pittsburgh. October IS.

Pittsburgh, October IS.
J Industrial payrolls in the Pittsburgh
district are maintained at the maximum
Of record. At the time of the last pre-
vious boom in the steel trade careful
canvass was made, and it was estimated
that payroll requirements Of the terri
tory, of which Pittsburgh is the fnan'
cial centre, exceeded 100000 for each
working day. At the present time. with
q larger number Of men employed, and
when average per diem wages Is the
highest ever paid, the sum required
must be much larger.
What They Save.
What proportion of increased earn
ings is being laid aside for the proven
bal rainy day is an interesting ques-
ton. There is but one large institution
here which can be classified as strictly
a savings bank. having no capital stock,
and being conducted exclusively in the
interest Of depositors. In its last off,
cial statement It reported total deposits
Of s3l,s73,ooO as Of August 81. This
VA, an increase Of only $4,000 In sixty
days elapsed between official reports
That was an average increase OF little
more than 81 for each depositor, or at
the average rate of less than $40 year.
This particular bank has larger num-
Der Of women depositors, especially OF
the house servant class, than any three
savings banks combined.
The next largest savings bank, with
q little less than S15,000,O00 deposits,
reported an increase of s90S,00O in the
sixty days between statements. This
institution, however, conducts general
banking business, and has been active
in attracting household checking &C
counts. Two of the oldest savings
banks reported a combined loss of
s135,OOO in deposits between June 81
and August 81. Five leading savings
banks, with aggregate deposits Of $751;
800 900. reported net gain OF less than
5000 900, or about 1.2 per cent.
/, may be that the summer vacation
occurring within the period of these of
fetal statements accounts for the COM
paratiyely insignificant increase in de-
posts, although it remains fact that
the output otthe industries OF the dis
tr;ct reacheHa maximum within the
same period, with correspondingly in
creased income for employees.
The Aliens Harvest
BY contrast with this showing of the
chartered savings banks, which pay 4
per cent per snnum on savings &C
counts, is the showing made by the
postal savings department OF the PITTS
burgh Office, which pays only 2 per cent
per snnum on deposits. On October
the amount OF postal deposits in the
local Office was s1,729,S16, an increase
OF no less than % per cent as com
pared with the amount reported three
months ago on July |. Foreigners
largely predominant as depositors oil
postal savings. Common labor has been
receiving anywhere from 81 to "a a
day. with a probable average Of s2.iS
to 50.
Comparison between the two classes
of savings strongly indicates that the
foreigner is more frugal and farsighted
than the American worker.
The subject, however, is so complex
that il is not safe TO dogmatize. For
instance, while II is true that payroll
requirements are larger than ever be-
fore, IL is also true that large body
Of employees has received virtually no
increase in salaries, and yet the cost oil
living, according to the index number
has increased more than rs per cent
within the last two years. The lions
/ share of current prosperity has fallen
to the common day laborer and to the
/ skilled mechanic, or TO the workingmsn
who most readily adapted himself to
/ the use of machinery used IN making
munitions.
Again, plausible explanation for the
/ increase in the amount Of postal saw
/ ings to the credit of foreigners may be
due TO the inability of the latter safely
/ to transfer funds to relatives and de-
/ pendents in Europe, who may be
somewhere in France" or under the
sod OF innumerable battlefclds
Apropos Of the subject discussed, the
treasurer of one large local savings III
stitution is authority for the statement
that deposits invariably increase at q
/ larger ratio when times are normally
prosperous than in boom times like the
/ present.