Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-03-03

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corning to careful studies by cXpcrt
economists. the cost OF living has In
creased from 20 to % or cent in the
period since 1900. Such an Increase
hccessttates an ovcrhauling of the
WACO scale to balance it. In 8: good
many lines. the increase in expenses
has been more than offset by an in
crease IN wages. In other lines the
increase has not kept abreast OF the
rise in prices, and the low salaricd
workers arc seeing their margin of
financial safety dwindlc until some
times ii Is 4 little worse than non
existent.
The situation is being met ali over
tho country In new way. Instead
OF waiting for protests or strikes
from the workers. capital and society
arc investigating the wages and cX-
penscs of all classes Of low-salaricd
iaborers and trying to solve tho rues-
ton by acting on the informal ion they
gather. An employer who investigates
has simply TO raise wages. il he nnds
that his employees cannot live dccently
on their earnings. II city. or a
state, or the nation comes to such :.
conclusion II has TO lcsislate and such
legislation is so new that In many
cases ii must be tested cXhaustivcly in
the courts 10 determine whether it
Will hold not.
Oregon Inv BEFORE Supreme Court.
ton is being deferred pending a SUI
preme Court decision on the Oregon
law. Almost three years ago. "A bill
providing minimum wage OF nine
dollars "a week for women workers in
Oregon was made a law An en-
ployer brought test case into the
Oregon courts and lost il in the lower
and Supreme courts of the State The
fight was carried up TO the Federal
Supreme Court. The hearings were
concluded some time ago. but the SUI
prcmc Court far has not handed
down its decision. When 1t does come,
that decision will be of the most far
reaching Importance because il viii
determine the fate OF much other leg
islation along the same lines.
The first step in minimum wage
legislation Is an investigation TO deter
mine what that minimum wage shall
lie. This investigation takes the aver
age enthusiastically five members-and
determines the lowest income upon
which il can decently live Several
such Investigations have already been
made The United States government
is about to make one in the District
Of Columbia. a bill appropriating
$4,000 for the purpose is pending in
Congress.
The results OF this Investigation will
be Of nationwide interest because they
viii bear an Official stamp that previous
HEu idNh ne l1ntneulHje cause or
the step is the case OF the Washington
street cleaners. The streets Of the
capital are noted for their immaculate
condition. but the men who keep them
that way only get $3.50 a day for actual
working time. If il rains and they
cannot WORK, they do not get paid. II
they work only half day they get
40 cents These facts. and some other
statistics. connected with the making
or garments in the District, were
brought out by citizens organizations
and the proposed investigation Is the
result.
Under Department of Labor.
II VIII he undertaken by the De-
partmcnt Of Labor. under the immedi-
ate direction OF Dr.. Meeker, Commits
sioner Of Labor Statistics. The name,
of $500 typical families including all
the industries. will be selected from the
census. and the department will make
an exhaustive study OF the cost OF
INing as it applies TO these families
Budgets Will be made out, tabulating
all the various items OF expense and
setting the necessary minimum for
each. These budgets will serve as the
basis for minimum- wage legislation i'm
the District of Columbia, and will be
very valuable to the whole country for
purposes OF comparison.
Significant work along the same lines
has recently been completed in other
Dig clticS-ChlcagO. New YORK, Balti-
more, Buffalo and Pittsburgh New
York had two Investigations, one into
the condition of the strcct-clcaning
squad. which fixed the minimum income
OF family Of five at $40 year. and
another by the Factory Investigating
Commission, putting the minimum at
sS76.
The Amalsamated Association OF
. street and Electric Railways made a
survey of the condition Of the men
employed by the Chicago lines, and
came to the conclusion that yearly
wage of sl.2O? is essential To proper
living conditions for Il family OF nvc
OF this SI,20?. sum of $5oa is to go
for food, S2i0 for rent and 1856 for
clothing. The clothing estimate is over
four times as large as the one made
by the Investigators OF the New York
Factory Commission. This difference
indicates q considerable difference i'm
the living standards OF tho two classes
OF workers.
The Chicago budget only provides $50
Il year for car fare, because the men
are traction employees, and most of
them can get to and from work with
out cost. The New York budgets list
daily car fare as necessity Such
an Item mounts UP in n family Of any
size, for in bad weather tho children