I BS5 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
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 aao Nia laiHdwvd 
 
BDREAU Of tmmiJ GCONOHICS 
 
 Estatmished by Bailways of the United ^les ' 
 ii>r tb^ Sdei^iifiiE ftudy of traoitfio^^ 
 
 LOOAti Q. MePH'tRCidft PHANK HAIfiH OtXON 
 
 of l^wair Ifas^ a^ 
 
 lie Itiited^S^ 
 
 BuUettA No. 34 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 1912 
 
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 You may use and print this copy in limited quantity 
 
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'C?,uucu. c/ /c^CuC K." / rCc ,-,or/t<c:. .. tOctoV!^,<-/av ,/!^C. 
 
 ('■ 
 
 A Comparalive Study 
 
 of Railvay Wases and the Cost of Living in 
 
 The United States 
 
 The United Kinsdom 
 
 and the Principal Countries of Continental Europe 
 
 WASHINGTON. D. C. 
 
 JUNE. 1912 
 
 tT 
 
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CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Summary . . 5 
 
 I. Railway Wages. 7 
 
 United States 8 
 
 United Kingdom lO 
 
 Board of Trade Annual Report — 1900 to 1910. ..... 10 
 
 Board of Trade Special Report for 1907 11 
 
 Wages under Conciliation Scheme, 1909 and 1910... . 14 
 Report of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Ser- 
 vants — 1907 15 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and United Kingdom 
 
 compared 17 
 
 Compensation of Enginemen and Firemen for Specific 
 
 Runs — 1912 19 
 
 Note to the Study of Railway Wages on the Continent of Europe. 23 
 
 France 24 
 
 French State Railways 24 
 
 Paris-Orleans Railway 26 
 
 Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean Railway 29 
 
 Southern Railway 30 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and France compared 32 
 
 Germany 34 
 
 Prussian State Railways 35 
 
 Saxori State Railways 37 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and Germany com- 
 pared 39 
 
 Austria-Hungary 43 
 
 Austrian State Railways 44 
 
 Siidbahn of 'Austria 46 
 
 Hungarian State Railways 47 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and Austria-Hun- 
 gary compared 49 
 
 Belgium 5^ 
 
 Belgian State Railways 5° 
 
 ■ 3 
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4 
 
 Pai 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and Belgium com- 
 pared 5 
 
 Italy 5 
 
 Italian State Railways 5 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and Italy compared. . 5 
 
 II. Cost of Living 5! 
 
 Rents 6 
 
 Retail Prices 6: 
 
 Budgets 6; 
 
 The United States and England and Wales 6! 
 
 Appendix 71 
 
 Reports of the British Board of Trade 7( 
 
 Rents 7] 
 
 Retail Prices 72 
 
 Budgets 7( 
 
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SUMMARY. 
 
 I. 
 
 Information is not obtainable upon which (ran be based a com- 
 prehensive statement of railway wages being: paid at this time in 
 the different countries. Therefore it is necessary to make compari- 
 sons for the latest year for which comparable data are availa.ble. 
 
 The average daily compensation of railway employees of aE classes 
 for the year 1910 was in the United States, $2.23; in the United 
 Kingdom, $1.05; excliding supplementary allowances negligibly 
 affecting the average, it was in Prussia-Hesse 81 cents, and in 
 Austria 89 cents. The lowest paid raUway employee in the United 
 States, the ordinary trackman, receives a greater compensation than 
 many of the railway employees of France, even those of higher 
 grades and with responsible duties. The compensation of railway 
 employees is from two to three times as high in the United States 
 as in Italy. 
 
 A recent report of the Board of Trade on railway wages shows 
 that the average weekly pay of enginemen in the United Kingdom 
 in 1907 was $11.17; of firemen, $6.67. In the same year enginemen 
 on American railways received an average weekly compensation of 
 $25.80, counting six days to the week, and firemen $15.24. Recent 
 returns make it clear that in 1912 enginemen and firemen in the 
 United States are compensated at rates of pay for specific ruiis 
 that are two, three and four times as high as the corresponding 
 rates on representative English railways. The annual compensation 
 of enginemen in the United States, as reported by two representa- 
 tive railway companies, now ranges from $1,100 in switching service 
 to over $2,800 in passenger service, and of firemen from $700 in 
 switching service to over $1,700 in passenger service. 
 
 For Continental Europe official returns in requisite detail are not 
 available for a later year than 1908. The salaries and allowances 
 of the typical engineman in Germany amounted for that year to 
 $646.88, in Austria to $870.80; of a fireman in Germany to $424.59, 
 in Austria to $532.03. The annual compensation of enginemen on 
 
 5 
 
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two of the principal railways of France ranged in 1908 from 
 $505.66 to $906.91, and of firemen from $324.24 to $595.98. In Italy 
 enginemen received in 1908, salary and allowances mchided, from 
 $581.10 to $812.70 a year; firemen, from $330.30 to $475.05 a year. 
 In these Continental countries the maximum compensation is re- 
 ceived only after many years of service.. 
 
 The average annual compensation of enginemen m the United 
 States in 1908, on an estimated basis of 300 days' service, was 
 $1,335; of firemen, $792. In this country the rate of compensation 
 to these employees does not depend on length of service. 
 
 In Belgium enginemen received in 1907 from $23.16 to $38.60 
 a month; firemen, from $17.37 to $23.16 a month; conductors and 
 station employees, from 46 cents to 96 cents a day. In the United 
 States, in the same year 1907, enginemen averaged, on the basis of 
 25 days' service, $107.50 a month; firemen, $63.50 a month; con- 
 ductors, $3.69 a day; station employees, from $1.78 to $2.05 a day. 
 
 II. 
 
 An accurate wage comparison must take into account relative 
 cost of living, and this has been done, so far as ascertainable data 
 permits. 
 
 The rental of a three or four room house or flat is almost as high 
 in Berlin, Paris, or London as throughout the United States, but in 
 England and on the Continent it generally runs from thirty dollars 
 to ninety dollars a year less. The quantity of food and fuel esti- 
 mated by the Board of Trade of England as the standard consump- 
 tion of a typical workingman's family costs in the United States 
 17.8 per cent more than in France or in Germany; 35.3 per cent 
 more than in Belgium, and 38 per cent more than in the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 III. 
 
 It is well within the truth to estimate in a broad and general way 
 that while the cost of living of a railway employee in the United 
 States is less than fifty per cent higher than that of a corresponding 
 employee in the United Kingdom or on the Continent, his compensa- 
 tion averages over twice as great. 
 
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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RAILWAY WAGES AND THE 
 
 COST OF LIVING 
 
 I. Railway Wages. 
 
 United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, 
 
 Belgium, and Italy. 
 
 The following comparison of wages received by railway employees 
 in the United States and various foreign countries does not attempt 
 to analyze the wages or the conditions surrounding their payment 
 so minutely that the results can be regarded as strictly comparable at 
 every point. Such an analysis would be impracticable, owing to the 
 lack of data which would enable the taking account of all the condi- 
 tions that directly or indirectly influence the real value of wages — that 
 is, their value to the recipient. A few of these conditions are regular- 
 ity of payment, permanence of position, social status, opportunities for 
 advancement or promotion, amount and value of incidental additions 
 to wages in the shape of bonuses and allowances, and most important 
 of all, the purchasing power of money, which to the wage-earner is 
 expressed by the retail prices of commodities that he buys. The 
 mere enumeration of these factors which enter into the ascertainment 
 of real wages, as contrasted with nominal or money wages, sufficiently 
 indicates the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of a strictly accurate 
 wage comparison. The effort here is by bringing together aver- 
 age or typical wages paid to railway workers in the several coun- 
 tries, with such qualifications and explanations as available data per- 
 mit, to indicate along broad and general lines the relative wage levels 
 in these countries. The comparison is more or less comprehensive as 
 the extent of the available data has been greater or less. The rela- 
 tively greater amount of specific information obtainable as to condi- 
 tions in England gives especial significance to the English and Amer- 
 ican comparisons. ^. ... ,, .,. „^ 
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 7 
 
UNITED STATES. 
 The average daily compensation received by the railway employees 
 of the United States during each year of the decade ending 1910 was 
 as follows: ^^^^^g^ 
 
 daily corn- 
 Year, peiisatiod . a 
 
 $1.90 
 
 190O: %.9I 
 
 1902 I.^ 
 
 1904 207 
 
 ;^::;:::;:;:::;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -^ 
 
 1908 2-^5 
 
 1909 • 2.24 
 
 1910 2.29 
 
 It will be seen that there has been an almost steady increase for ten 
 years, the wage in 1910 being higher than in 1900 by more than one- 
 fifth. The average daily earnings of the several groups or classes of 
 employees, according to the report of the Interstate Commerce Com- 
 mission, were as follows in 1910: 
 
 a. These figures are derived from the returns made by carriers in their annual 
 reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission. In their annual reports to the 
 Commission railways are required to give, relative to each one of eighteen classes 
 of employees, the following information: 
 
 1. Number of employees on June 30. 
 
 2. Aggregate number of days worked during the year. 
 
 3. Aggregate compensation paid during the year. 
 
 4. Average daily compensation. This is to be determined by dividing the total 
 yearly compensation by the total number of days worked. 
 
 The problem of determining average daily compensation rests upon the deter- 
 mination of the number of days worked, and here a variety of methods are em- 
 ployed by the railways. In some cases the determination of what constitutes a 
 dajPs work rests with the officer employing the specific class of labor. In classes 
 of labor remunerated on a mileage basis it is possible, and frequently is the case, 
 that individuals receive compensation for more constructive days than there are 
 actual days in the period. In such cases the average daily compensation, as 
 reported, is less than it really is for the calendar day. For example, trainmen are 
 commonly paid on a mileage basis, the usual practice being to consider one hun- 
 dred miles as a day's work. Frequently, however, trainmen make more than one 
 hundred miles per day, so that when the total miles run during the month are 
 reduced to the basis mentioned, the number of constructive days exceeds the 
 actual number of days in the month. Some roads add together the total days 
 worked each month to get the total for the year ; others compute the annual total 
 from the total of typical months, and there are still other methods employed. The 
 conclusion^ is obvious that while comparisons can be made only in a general way 
 between different railways, comparisons from year to year for all roads will be 
 valid, since it may be assumed that the method used by each railway is approxi- 
 mately the same from year to year. 
 
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9 
 
 Average 
 daily compen- 
 sation, 1910. 
 
 Station agents $2 . 12 
 
 Other station men i .84 
 
 Enginemen 4^55 
 
 Firemen 2.74 
 
 Conductors 3.91 
 
 Other trainmen 2.69 
 
 Machinists 3.08 
 
 Carpenters 2.51 
 
 Other shopmen 2 . 18 
 
 Section foremen *. 1.99 
 
 Other trackmen ; , i .47 
 
 Switch tenders, crossing tenders, and watchmen. i .69 
 
 Telegraph operators and dispatchers 2 . 33 
 
 Employees — account floating equipment 2 . 22 
 
 All other employees and laborers — 2.01 
 
 General officers '. 13-27 
 
 Other officers 6.22 
 
 General office clerks 2.40 
 
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10 
 
 UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 Board of Trade Annual Report— 1900 to 1910. 
 
 The British Board of Trade, which is a department of the English 
 Government correspondifig roughly to the Department of Commerce 
 and Labor in the United States, has for a number of years ascertamed 
 the average, earnings of the employees of -the larger railways of the 
 United Kingdom for a selected week in December. These returns 
 cover 2; railway companies, employing over 90 per cent of the railway 
 employees of the United Kingdom. They apply to all classes of em- 
 ployees except officers and clerks and persons employed casually for 
 less than three days. The earnings ascertained are actual cash earn- 
 ings during the week, no allowance being made for uniforms or other 
 perquisites. The results are as follows for the decade 1900 to 1910: 
 
 Average Weekly Earnings of Railway Emtloyees. 
 
 v,„r „F"'i'^ ^J??,',""!^. Scotland. Ireland. 
 
 Y*""^' KiiiKdom. and Wales. 
 
 ,900 $6.10 $6.22 IS.SS $4-74 
 
 1901...; 6.09 6.21 S-63 472 
 
 1902 6.07 6.19 562 4.69 
 
 1903,. 6.05 6.17 559 4-72 
 
 1904 6.09 6.23 5,62 4.6s 
 
 England 
 and Wales. 
 
 Scotland 
 
 $6.22 
 
 $5 .-58 
 
 6.21 
 
 S.63 
 
 6.19 
 
 5.62 
 
 6.17 
 
 559 
 
 6.23 
 
 5.62 
 
 6.29 
 
 5-67 
 
 6.32 
 
 5.68 
 
 6.42 
 
 5-71 
 
 6.21 
 
 5-53 
 
 6.30 
 
 5.67 
 
 6.40 
 
 5.66 
 
 190S 6. IS 6.29 5.67 4-68 
 
 1906 6.19 6.32 5.68 4.82 
 
 1907 6.29 6.42 5.71 4.79 
 
 1908 6.08 6.21 5.53 4-79 
 
 1909 6.17 6.30 5.67 4.85 
 
 ipio - ..• 6.27 6.40 5.66 5. 01 
 
 If each of these weekly averages be divided by six," the respective 
 
 results will be the daily average wage, which may be compared with 
 corresponding returns for the United States as follows : 
 
 » According to the Board of Trade report on railway earnings, nearly 96 per 
 cent of the men employed regularly on the railways of the United Kingdom in 
 1907 were "six-day workers," that is, employees who were paid overtime for Sun- 
 day work, or were allowed equivalent time off. Hence a division of the weekly 
 earnings of British^ railway employees by six gives a very close approximation to 
 their average earnings per day. 
 
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II 
 
 Average Dahy Earnings of Railway Employees. 
 
 ■w-o. United United Eufilandand c^„(io«j i»i„_^ 
 
 ^''"- - States(fl) Kingdom. Wales. Scotland. Jreland. 
 
 1900 $1.84 $1,017 $1-037 $0.93 $0.79 
 
 1901 1.84 1. 015 1.03s 0.938 0.787 
 
 1902 1.86 1. 0X2 1.032 0.937 D.782 
 
 1903 1.93 1.008 1.028 0.932 0.787 
 
 1904 200 i.ois 1.038 0.937 0.775 
 
 1905 2.01 1. 02s I. '048 0.945 0.78 
 
 1906 2.02 1.032 1.053 0.947 0.803 
 
 1907 2.14 1.048 1.07 0.952 0.7^ 
 
 1908 2.19 1. 013 1.03s 0.922 0.798 
 
 1909 2.17 1.028 1.05 0.945 0.808 
 
 1910 2.23 1.045 1-067 0.943 0.835 
 
 Not only have the daily wages been higher in the United States 
 throughout the whole decade than in the United Kingdom as a whole 
 and in its constituent parts, but the rate of increase since 1900 has 
 been faster in the United States. Thus the per cent of increase of the 
 wages in 1910 over those of 1900 was as follows : 
 
 United States 21 .2 per cent. 
 
 United Kingdom 2.8 per cent. 
 
 England and Wales 2.9 per cent. 
 
 Scotland 1.4 per cent. 
 
 Ireland 5-7 per cent. 
 
 Board of TrXde Special Report for 1907. 
 
 An important report on the earnings of English railway employees 
 was issued in February, 1912, by the British Board of Trade. This is 
 one of a series of reports relating to the earnings and hours of labor 
 of workpeople in the United Kingdom. The returns contained in this 
 report are for the year 1907, and cover virtually all the railways of the 
 United Kingdom. These returns were furnished voluntarily by the 
 railway companies, the preliminary classification and tabulation of the 
 figures being made by the Railway Clearing House, an organization 
 maintained by the railways. 
 
 While the data contained in the report was in course of preparation 
 the condition of railway workmen improved, in regard both to wages 
 and to hours. What this improvement amounts to it is impossible to 
 ascertain statistically, but it has been, according to the report, "in the 
 direction of increases of wages and reductions of hours, the more 
 
 (<')To make the table comparable throughout, the averages for the United 
 States given in this column exclude compensation to general and other officers 
 and general office clerks£);g;f;zecf by Microsoft® 
 
12 
 
 recent changes especiatly sKectiug the lower grades of labor." Mr. 
 W. M. Acwortfi, of LoscIot, estimates that from 1907 to 1912, the 
 period in question,, there oGctirred am atlround increase of from three to 
 four per cent in wages and a decrease of from one and one half to two 
 per cent in the hours constitittii^. a week's work. 
 
 The number of steam raaway employees included in the report was 
 407,802. Of these, 401 AS7, were male time workers in regular em- 
 ployment. This number was; im tram made up of 365,901 men and 
 35,536 lads and boys. These figures cover all workers employed in 
 railway operation receiAring regular weekly wages. Thus there are 
 excluded officers, clerks,, aaid statiom masters, who are on annual salary, 
 employees engaged in construetioii of equipment, who receive wages 
 by the day, and workers casraalliy employed. The report further ex- 
 cludes employees engaged, im oiiitside operations, such as canals, 
 harbors, docks, steamships andi hotels. A statement including all 
 these groups would cover 62T,34;r railway employees, which was the 
 total number in the United Kli^dom in 1907,' according to an enum- 
 eration made in that year by the Board of Trade. 
 
 The number of employees in: 1:907 was. ascertained from the pay- 
 rolls of the last pay-week of Janmry, April, July, and October, 1907! 
 For the last pay-week in OctobeT there were also ascertained the rate 
 of wages, or nominal earnings,, of each regular time worker and the 
 actual earnings of each employee, whether time or piece worker. The 
 report is confined chiefly to a study of the wages of the 365,901 adult 
 male workers employed on a regular time basis. 
 
 The average annual cash earnings of all the employees covered by 
 the investigation amounted to nearly £65, or about $316. This is an 
 average of $6.08 per week. Lads and boys averaged 11 shillings 11 
 pence a week, or $290, while the 365,901 adult male time workers re- 
 ceived an average of 26 shillings 8 pence per week, or $6.49. These 
 earnmgs mclude all cash bonuses, i. e., extra payments made to pro- 
 mote the zeal and efficiency of men in certain positions (principally 
 goods checkers, goods porters, one-horse carmen and draymen signal- 
 men, engme drivers, firemen, passenger guards, and foremen). These 
 
 orillT'"*' ^^'■^,'"^^^ *° ^bout one-tenth of the men; averaged 
 over all the men employed, they amounted to four cents per week per 
 
 Tut do!n.'.'r'"^' '° 'f '"^' '" '^''"^ P^y"^«"t^ f^'- °^"time work, 
 but do not take account of allowances made to employees in 'the shape 
 of uniforms or other clothing, houses rent-free or at I reduced renS' 
 
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13 
 
 etc. Allowances for uniforms " were gianted to over one-half of the 
 men, principally conductors, brakemen, signalmen, engine drivers, fire- 
 men, switchmen, porters, and foremen. These men received allow- 
 ances for uniforms averaging about 14 cents a week, or nearly 8 cents 
 per man per week for all the men employed. Housing allowances were 
 granted to about four per cent of the men, averaging 44.6 cents a week 
 per recipient, or about 2 cents per man for all the men. Smaller allow- 
 ances were those granted in the shaf>e of food to dining-car attendants, 
 garden ground to trackmen, and travel free or at reduced rates. Add- 
 ing these various supplementary allowances, so far as their cash value 
 can be ascertained, to the weekly earnings of the men employed on a 
 time basis, the average compensation per man is found to be increased 
 from 26 shillings 8 pence a week to 27 shillings 1 penny, or from $6.49 
 to $6.59. 
 
 Hours of duty, exclusive of meal times, averaged 58, hours a week 
 for the men and 58.9 hours for the lads and boys. Over two-thirds 
 of the regular employees had the privilege of annual leave, usually of 
 from 3 to 6 days, on full pay. 
 
 Average rates of wages, and as a corollary average earnings, were 
 affected by the places of residence of the different grades of em- 
 ployees. Thus 69 per cent of the checkers, 65 per cent of the one- 
 horse carmen, 63 per cent of the goods porters, 56 per cent of the 
 passenger guards, and 42 per cent of the mechanics were found in the 
 large cities, but only 14 per cent of the platelayers and packers and 
 only 20 per cent of the signalmen were city dwellers. The wages for 
 the same grades of labor are commonly higher in the large than in the 
 small cities. 
 
 The average actual weekly earnings for the principal classes of 
 employees, based on the pay-roll for the last pay-week in October, 
 1907, were as follows: 
 
 o In general, it may be stated that in the United States railway employees are 
 not furnished uniforms at the expense of the companies. 
 
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14 
 
 AvmcE WEEKtv Earnings and Hours or Labor o. the Railway Empi,ov«s 
 OF THE United Kingdom, by Classes : 1907. ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ 
 
 weekly duty 
 
 occupation. Number. „„. ^ p^.^ 
 
 .... 14,208 $8.70 58.8 
 
 Foremen.. T'-'V 10,772 6.3.I 55-0 
 
 Gangers (permanent way) "'/ ' 
 
 Porters (coaching and traffic) : , o gg - 
 
 "Six-day" workers '8.^46 4.»I 
 
 Other workers ■ .a'cnfi ^11 60.4 
 
 Porters (goods) 8'S«6 S-SI 4 
 
 Checkers (goods) O-^S 6.5' 3 
 
 Shunters '*"?^ -87 61.7 
 
 Porter shunters ,^ ^ 61.4 
 
 Passenger guards 0'S»° ^ g^ g 
 
 Porter guards 'J^ %' .i 5, „ 
 
 Goods guards and brakesmen .• IS.043 7- 5° "J; 
 
 Porter brakesmen ,444 O.12 0^.5 
 
 Ticket collectors and exammers 3.300 b.oo D0.7 
 
 Signalmen. 26,849 6.69 S7S 
 
 Porter signalmen.' 2.287 4-87 03.3 
 
 ?=„^™;v.v.:.v..-.v.:,v.v.v.v..v.v.:.v.v.-.SS 'S | 
 
 Engine cleaners 9,930 4-91 S8.6 
 
 Carriage and wagon examiners and greasers 4.173 0-47 59-^ 
 
 Carriage cleaners 4.478 4-93 50-9 
 
 Mechanics 27,095 7-71 54-3 
 
 Platelayers and packers 44.355 5-iS 55-1 
 
 Carmen and draymen— one horse 15,078 o-M 1 gj ^ 
 
 Carmen and draymen— two or more horses 2,017 0.08 I 
 
 Cartage staff "• 2,570 6.29 59-3 
 
 Laborers (locomotive, carriage, and wagon dept.) .-. 8,518 S-29 SS-5 
 
 Laborers (permanent way) 27,197 S--27 55-0 
 
 Other men 16,098 5-94 58-3 
 
 Wages under Conciliation Scheme, 1909 and 1910. 
 
 Later data regarding English railway wages than that embodied in 
 the foregoing table are contained in the reports of settlements of wages 
 on individual railways under the conciliation scheme. The conciliation 
 scheme was put into effect by an agreement of November 6, 1907, and 
 all the revisions reported under the scheme relate to wages that are 
 more nearly current than those covered by the Board of Trade report 
 from which the foregoing table was taken. Certain of these revisions 
 
 (") Unless otherwise specified these employees are "six-day" workers. "Other 
 workers" are those who work Sundays in turn without extra pay or equivalent 
 time off. "Other workers" are shown in the table only where their number is 
 considerable. 
 
 "Gangers" correspond in general to gang foremen on American railways, 
 "shunters" to switchmen, "guards" to conductors, "platelayers and packer's" to 
 ordinary trackmen. "Goods" refers to freight. 
 
 (*) Exclusive of mealtimes and overtime. 
 
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15 
 
 are cited below. It should be noted that the amounts given in this 
 connection are rates of pay, and not average amounts actually earned. 
 On the Brecon & Merthyr Railway, a Welsh railway operating about 
 60 miles of line, the following minimum and maximum rates of pay 
 were instituted during 1909 and 1910: 
 
 Brecon & Merthyr Railway. 
 
 Weekly rate of pay 
 
 Goods and mineral guards $5. 60' to $6.81 
 
 Brakesmen 4.87 " 5. 35 
 
 Passenger engine drivers 7.30 " 10.58 
 
 Goods and mineral engine drivers 7.30 " 10.22 
 
 Passenger firemen 4-38 " 6.08 
 
 Goods and mineral firemen 4.38 " 5.84 
 
 Foremen (per day) 1.05 " 1.22 
 
 Gangers 5.84 " 6.45 
 
 Second hands 5. 11 " S-6o 
 
 Platelayers 487 " 5-35 
 
 On the North Eastern Railway, an English railway operating about 
 1,700 miles of line, an arbitrator's award of November 4, 1909, estab- 
 lished maximum and minimum rates of pay under the conciliation 
 scheme as follows: 
 
 North Eastern Railway. 
 
 Weekly rate of pay. 
 * 
 
 Cleaners $2.43 to $4.87 
 
 Goods and mineral guards 7-54 " 7-79 
 
 Firemen (per day) 85 " 1. 22 
 
 Passenger guards (class 3) 6. 57 
 
 Lengthmen 4-38 to 6.33 
 
 Point oilers 4-38 " 6.33 
 
 On the Great North of Scotland Railway, operating something over 
 300 miles of line, the following rates of pay were instituted late in 
 
 1909: 
 
 Great North of Scotland Raiiway. 
 
 Weekly rate of pay. 
 
 I * V 
 
 Guards : • $6.08 to $6.81 
 
 First relief signalmen ,. • • • 6.57 
 
 Foremen • • • • 5 • 1 1 
 
 Laborers 4-38 
 
 Report of the Amalgamated Society oE Railway Servants — 1907. 
 
 An investigation into wages and hours of labor of railway employee's 
 was carried on during the months of August, September, and October, 
 1907, by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servaats. the leading 
 
 . "Point" is the EnglisIf)^;j.g^rj^^yj^J^050^@ 
 
i6 
 
 railway labor union of the United Kingdom. The report of the invesii- 
 gation appeared in 1908. As the date of this investigation closely 
 approximates that of the Board of Trade report already discussed, an 
 interesting comparison is offered. The Board of Trade report, it will 
 be recalled, was based on returns furnished by the railways as em- 
 ployers; the report of the Amalgamated Society was based on returns 
 furnished by the branch secretaries of the union— that is, by the rep- 
 resentatives of the employees." 
 
 The report of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants covers 
 all railway employees except high officials, station masters, clerks, ma- 
 chine-shop workers, casual and miscellaneous workers. The total 
 number included for the United Kijigdom is 259,284. Of this number 
 15,921 were estimated to be boys. The report presents in tabular 
 form the standard weekly wage ascertained for the various grades of 
 employees on the several railways. The average weekly wage of all 
 grades combined, exclusive of additions for overtime or Sunday pay, 
 bonuses, and allowances, was found to be as follows : 
 
 standard weekly rate 
 of pay. 
 
 , — *— > 
 
 Men. Boys 
 
 United Kingdom $5-82 $2.86 
 
 England and Wales. 5-90 2.86 
 
 Scotland S-56 3-00 
 
 Ireland 462 2.39 
 
 Additional payments and allowances mentioned by the report are as 
 follows : Bonuses, which are given chiefly to engine drivers and signal- 
 men ; lodging allowances, made to employees who find it necessary to 
 lodge away from home ; uniform allowances in the shape of overcoats, 
 caps, and jackets, or full uniforms. No attempt is made by the report 
 to estimate the average weekly cash value of these various allowances. 
 
 It is possible to compare the average weekly rates of pay returned 
 in this report for the United Kingdom with the corresponding returns 
 of the Board of Trade report of 1907, exclusive of overtime pay, 
 bonuses, ?ind other allowances. The comparison is made in the fol- 
 lowing table for all occupations combined, and for those occupations 
 which are classified with sufficient definiteness to be identified as the 
 same in both reports. 
 
 " Although the report of the Amalgamated Society has been subjected to 
 criticism, its results closely approximate those of the Board of Trade, and it is 
 of interest to bring the two reports into comparison. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
17 
 
 Standard Weekly Rate of Pay: United Kingdom, 19070 
 
 Occupation . 
 
 All occupations 
 
 Engine drivers 
 
 Firemen 
 
 Passenger guards and conductors. 
 
 Goods guards and brakesmen 
 
 Shunters , 
 
 Examiners 
 
 Signalmen 
 
 Carriage cleaners 
 
 Passenger porters 
 
 Ticket collectors , 
 
 Checkers 
 
 Goods porters , 
 
 Gangers 
 
 Platelayers 
 
 Board of Trade Report. 
 
 Number. 
 
 365.901 
 26430 
 26,029 
 
 6,586 
 15.643 
 14,097 
 
 4.173 
 26,849 
 
 4478 
 18,146 
 
 3,360 
 
 10,005 
 18,506 
 10,772 
 44,355 
 
 Weekly rate 
 of pay. 
 
 $5-92 
 9-73 
 5.78 
 6.73 
 6.85 
 5.78 
 5.86 
 6.00 
 4.66 
 
 4-54 
 5.60 
 
 584 
 4.87 
 
 5-74 
 4.72 
 
 Report of Aiiial $:a mated 
 .Society of Ry. Servants. 
 
 Number. 
 
 243,363 
 25,991 
 25,518 
 
 6,873 
 15,576 
 11,006 
 
 2,801 
 26,072 
 
 4,383 
 20,571 
 
 3,058 
 
 4.346 
 14,581 
 
 7,914 
 37,870 
 
 Weekly rale 
 of I ay. 
 
 $5.82 
 9-45 
 584 
 6.35 
 6.53 
 5.88 
 5.88 
 5-74 
 4.48 
 4.24 
 5-23 
 5-70 
 4-74 
 5.86 
 4.70 
 
 It will be seen that for the most part the weekly rates of pay re- 
 turned in the two reports very nearly coincide. The average for all 
 occupations combined is $5.92 per week in the Board of Trade report 
 and $5.82 in the report of the Amalgamated Society. 
 
 Railway Wages in United States and United Kingdom 
 
 Compared. 
 
 Below are shown the. earnings of employees of the several classes for 
 the United Kingdom and for the United States, the American returns 
 for the fiscal year 1908 (July i, 1907, to June 30, 1908) being selected 
 as most nearly comparable with the returns of the Board of Trade for 
 the last pay week of October, 1907. The returns in each case are 
 given as actual earnings, except that uniform, housing, and minor 
 allowances, which averaged about ten cents per man per week in the 
 United Kingdom, are not included. The British returns have been 
 reduced to a per diem basis by dividing the weekly earnings by six. 
 
 " This table relates to adult males only. Inasmuch as the returns received by 
 the Amalgamated Society in some instances neglected to distinguish men and 
 boys, only those occupations are here shown from which, by the nature of the 
 work, boys are almost wholly excluded. 
 
 -34 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
i8 
 
 Average Daily Earnings. 
 
 Occupation. 
 
 All occupations " 
 
 Station agents 
 
 Other station men 
 
 Enginemen 
 
 Firemen 
 
 Conductors 
 
 Other trainmen 
 
 Machinists 
 
 Carpenters 
 
 Other shopmen 
 
 Trackmen (other than section foremen) 
 
 Switch tenders, crossing tenders and watchmen . . 
 "All other employees and laborers" 
 
 United Kingdom, 
 October, 1907. 
 
 $1,048 {*) 
 c 
 0.90 (rf) 
 
 1.85 
 I. II 
 
 1-23 (') 
 1.25 (/■) 
 i.285(^) 
 i.285(^) 
 o 88 (*) 
 0.89 ('■) 
 1.07 (*) 
 0.99 (') 
 
 The average daily earnings of railway employees in 1907 amounted 
 to $2.19 in the United States and $1,048 in the United Kingdom, 
 the earnings for the United States being 109 per cent greater 
 than for the United Kingdom. If the value of all extra allowances 
 for uniform, housing, etc, be added to the English earnings, the Amer- 
 ican compensation is still the greater by about 100 per cent. Roughly 
 the American railway employee was paid in 1907-8 twice as much per 
 day. as the English railway employee. 
 
 For the separate occupation classes, the pay received in the United 
 States is higher than the pay of the corresponding classes in the 
 United Kingdom by the following percentages : 
 
 («) Except officers and clerks, 
 (fr) First week in December, 1907. 
 YX 2°' ^°v^''«<^ ^y investigation of Board of Trade 
 examiners"'"^^'' ^"*^ g°°ds porters, goods checkers, and ticket collectors and 
 
 ^r^Z^'^^St'^r.T&^^^ ^-^^ -^ ^-'^"-n. It is 
 
 sep^a?at!°Sdst"Sesrn.^ ^^^'^ ^"'^ ''^^'^^^'"^"- ^' '^ -P-^^le to 
 (e) Mechanics. 
 
 (*) Engine and carriage cleaners carriage and wagon examiners and greasers 
 (•) Gangers, platelayers and packers, and permanent way laborers greasers. 
 
 S,< xT^'J."*^''* ^ „ P°''*^'' shunters, signalmen and porter signalmen 
 (.') Other men. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
19 
 
 Conductors 209.8 per cent. 
 
 Enginemen 139.2 
 
 Firemen 137.8 
 
 Machinists 129.6 
 
 "Other trainmen" 108.0 
 
 "Other station men" 102.2 
 
 "All other employees" 99.0 
 
 Switch tenders, crossing tenders, and watchmen 66.4 
 
 Trackmen (other than section foremen) 62.9 
 
 Compensation of Enginemen and Firemen for Specific Runs — 
 
 1912. 
 
 Statements have been obtained from several English railways re- 
 garding the amounts paid to enginemen and firemen for specific runs. 
 The amounts are given in the next table. In comparison with the data 
 for England, there are shown mileage payments made by the Balti- 
 more & Ohio Railroad to its enginemen and firemen, which are typical 
 of their wages in that part of the United States east of the Mississippi 
 and north of the Ohio River. These are rates of pay in effect during 
 January, 1912. 
 
 Enginemen. 
 
 London & South Western 
 
 Total 
 Miles. 
 
 Passenger. 
 
 Goods. 
 
 Railway. 
 
 Express. 
 
 slow. 
 
 Express. 
 
 Slow. 
 
 London to Southampton and back . 
 
 London to Salisbury and back 
 
 London to Portsmouth and back. . . 
 
 London to Dorset and back 
 
 London to Bournemouth and back . . 
 
 London to Yeovil and back 
 
 London to Exeter and back 
 
 158 
 168 
 
 150 
 272 
 222 
 250 
 
 344 
 
 fi-9S 
 I 95 
 1-95 
 3-89 
 2.92 
 
 $1 82^ 
 1.82 
 1.82 
 
 J2.31 
 2.31 
 2.31 
 
 $2.92 
 2 92 
 2.92 
 
 4.74 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4.25 
 
 3-89 
 
 
 
 5. II 
 
 
 
 
 Great Western Railway. 
 
 Total 
 miles. 
 
 Time on duty. 
 
 Time allowed. 
 
 Maxi- 
 
 Hrs. 
 
 Min. 
 
 Hrs. 
 
 Mln. 
 
 rate. 
 
 London to Plymouth (limited) . . . 
 
 Ivondon to Bristol and back 
 
 London to Bristol and back 
 
 225?^ 
 236 J4 
 2i6'A 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 ri 
 
 3 
 14 
 44 
 
 II 
 •13 
 
 14 
 
 3 
 15 
 
 J2.I5 
 
 - 2.53 
 
 2.77 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
20 
 
 Bawimore & Ohio Railroad. 
 
 Passenger service. 
 
 f main line 
 
 t branch lines. 
 
 -., ,<■.,.,. / tnain line.. . 
 
 Through freight service. | ^^^.^^^.j^ y^^^^ 
 
 . , . f main line. . . . 
 Local and mixed service. | ,j^3jjp1j ji^gg 
 
 Payment permile, 
 cents. a 
 
 4.0 —4.25 
 
 3.9 
 4-45—5.0 
 4.1—445 
 4.7 —5-0 
 4.2 —4.45 
 
 Firemen. 
 
 London & South Western 
 
 Total 
 miles. 
 
 Passenger. 
 
 Goods. 
 
 Railway. 
 
 Express. 
 
 Slow. 
 
 Express. 
 
 Slow. 
 
 London to Southampton and back . . 
 
 London to Salisbury and back 
 
 London to Portsmouth and back. . . . 
 
 158 
 168 
 150 
 272 
 ' 222 
 250 
 
 344 
 
 I1.16 
 1. 16 
 1 16 
 2.31 
 1.74 
 
 J1.C95 
 1.095 
 1.095 
 
 $1.46 
 1.46 
 1.46 
 
 I1.82 
 1.82 
 1.82 
 2.72 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2.74 
 3.28 
 
 London to Bxeter and back 
 
 2 3f 
 
 
 
 
 
 Great Western Railway. 
 
 Total 
 milts. 
 
 Time on duty. 
 
 Time allowed. 
 
 Maxi- 
 
 Hrs. 
 
 Min.. 
 
 Hrs. 
 
 Min. 
 
 mum 
 rate. 
 
 London to Plymouth (limited) . . . 
 
 London to Bristol and back 
 
 London to Bristol and back 
 
 225^ 
 236^ 
 236>i 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 11 
 
 3 
 14 
 
 44 
 
 II 
 
 13 
 14 
 
 3 
 ■15 
 
 $1.34 
 1.58 
 1.73 
 
 a In passenger service, 100 miles or less constitute a day. Overtime is computed 
 on a speed basis of 20 miles per hour at 45 cents per hour. In through freight 
 and local and mixed service 100 miles or 10 hours, or less, constitute a day All 
 overioo miles or 10 hours are compensated pro rata. The variations in rates are 
 due to differences in weight and style of engine. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
21 
 
 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. 
 
 Payment per mile, 
 cents, a 
 
 Passenger service { Ta^^ch Hnes.:.: ! 
 
 Through freight service.. | ^^^^ ; ; ; ; 
 
 Localfreightandpick-upservice. j Tr^'^'^.^'^f-. ; ; ; ; ' 
 
 2-3 -2-5 
 
 2.25 
 
 2-75-3-1 
 2-75—2 9 
 2.95-3.1 
 2.75-2.9 
 
 The foregoing tables may 
 follows : 
 
 Encinemen. 
 
 be summarized on a per mile basis, as 
 
 Passenger : 
 
 Express 
 
 Local 
 
 Freight : 
 
 Fast or through 
 
 Slow or local . .' . 
 
 Rate of pay per mile— cents. 
 
 B. & O. 
 
 3.9—4.25 
 3-9—4 25 
 
 4.1— 5-0 
 4.2—5 o 
 
 Great Western. London & S. W 
 
 0.95 
 1.07 — 1. 17 
 
 1. 13— 1.43 
 1.08— 1.21 
 
 •375-1.54 
 1.49— 1.95 
 
 Firemen. 
 
 
 Rate of pay per mile— cents. 
 
 
 B. &0. 
 
 Great Western. 
 
 London &S.W. 
 
 Passenger : 
 
 2.25—2.5 
 2.25—2.5 
 
 2-75-3-1 
 2-75—3-1 
 
 0.59 
 0.67—0.735 
 
 0.67—0.85 
 
 Local • 
 
 0.65—0 73 
 
 Freight : 
 
 0.87—0.97 
 
 
 
 0.95— I. 21 
 
 
 
 a In passenger service, 100 miles or less constitute a day. Overtime is computed 
 on a speed basis of 20 miles per hour at a pro rata rate per hour. In through 
 freight and local and pick-up service, 100 miles or 10 hours, or less, constitute a 
 day Overtime is compensated pro rata. The variations in rates are due to 
 differences in weight and style of engines. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
22 
 
 These tables make it clear that enginemen and firemen on a typical 
 Eastern road in the United States are compensated at rates of pay 
 that are two, three, and four times as high as the rates of compensation 
 of engineers and firemen on , representative English roads. This is 
 strikingly brought out by placing by the side of the amounts paid by 
 the railways of England for representative runs of those listed on 
 pages 19 and 20 the amounts which would be paid at the minimum rate 
 of wage prevailing on the eastern railways of the United States for 
 corresponding service. If the maximum American wage were used in 
 this comparison the disparity would be still greater. , 
 
 character oi run. 
 
 Distance- 
 Miles. 
 
 Wage received 
 
 at English rate of 
 
 pay. 
 
 what wage would 
 
 be at American rate 
 
 of pay. 
 
 Passenger — Express 
 do. do. 
 
 do. Slow . . . 
 
 Freight — Fast 
 
 do. Slow 
 
 Passenger — Express 
 do. do. 
 
 do. Slow . . . 
 
 Freight— Fast 
 
 do. Slow 
 
 158 
 168 
 
 150 
 272 
 
 158 
 168 
 
 150 
 272 
 
 Enginemen. 
 
 |i-95 
 2.53 
 1.82 
 
 2.31 
 d.74 
 
 |i.i6 
 1.58 
 1-095 
 
 1.46 
 2.72 
 
 Firemen. 
 
 $6.32 
 9.46 
 6.72 
 
 6.67 
 12.78 
 
 I3.63 
 5.44 
 3.86 
 
 4.12 
 8.02 
 
 While it has been shown that English railway wages are much lower 
 than in the United States, it must also be borne in mind (i) that the 
 level of commodity prices is much lower in England, and (2) that the 
 standard of comfort demanded by the English workman is lower and 
 his manner of living simpler than that of his American colleague. An 
 attempt is made in the second part of this study to ascertain the cost 
 of living and the level of prices in the United States and foreign coun- 
 tries. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
23 
 
 Note to the Study oe Railway Wages on the Continent of 
 
 Europe. 
 
 In the countries of Continental Europe there are scales of annual 
 salaries for railway employees which, however, do not apply to the 
 lower classes who are usually paid at a daily rate of wage. Each scale 
 provides for- a gradation in the salaries of the class of employees to 
 which it applies, progression from the minimuri to the maximum re- 
 quiring service throughout an extended series of years. 
 
 Such gradations do not exist in the United States. Here, in some 
 departments of the railway service advance in salary depends to an 
 extent upon experience, but in the case of trainmen there are virtually 
 no distinctions in rates of pay based on seniority, variations in the com- 
 pensation to enginemen, firemen, conductors, and other trainmen de- 
 pending mainly upon the length and character of their run. The range 
 of such variations in the United States is roughly indicated by the 
 following table, based upon statements furnished by two representative 
 railways, one operating in the East and one in the West, showing the 
 minimum and maximum of annual earnings of enginemen and firemen 
 during 1911-1912. 
 
 ENGINEMEN. 
 
 Minimum. 
 
 Maximum. 
 
 
 |l, 606.00 
 
 1,293.60 
 1,372.80 
 1,102.00 
 
 |r,97i.oo 
 
 2,855. 16 
 2,442.00 
 1,830.00 
 
 Railway B. 
 
 Freiffht service 
 
 
 
 FIREMEN. 
 
 Minimum. 
 
 Maximum. 
 
 - 
 
 Jl,022 00 
 
 806.40 
 842.40 
 
 7.^500 
 
 jjti,204,50 
 
 Railway B. 
 
 1,799.84 
 
 ■prpitrVit Service 
 
 1,630.80 
 
 
 1,217.00 
 
 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
24 
 
 FRANCE." 
 
 Railway employees in France are classified either as officials who 
 receive an annual salary or as workmen who are paid a daily wage. 
 
 Salaries and fixed wages on the French railways are so arranged 
 that there is for every class of employee a minimum rate of pay, 
 effective at the beginning of the employee's term of service, and a 
 maximum rate, reached after passing, during a number of years, 
 through several intermediate stages of gradually advancing compen- 
 sation. Thus on the state railway system every class is subdivided 
 into from four to seven subclasses, each representing a certain number 
 of years of service. From this it is clear that the maximum rates 
 paid on French railways are reached only after an extended service 
 and by comparatively few employees, and that the predominant range 
 of salaries and wages must in all cases lie considerably below the 
 maximum. 
 
 Employees of French railways at the close of the year 1909 num- 
 bered 330,000 persons, of whom a fifth were employed on the state 
 railway system (reseau de I'fitat). 
 
 French State Railways. 
 
 Annual salaries on the state railways, as fixed by decrees of 1899 
 and 1901, are as follows: 
 
 Annual salary. 
 
 r " - ^ 
 
 -- , , . Minimum. Maximum. 
 
 Heads Of departments tr t-q n^^ *,</;.,„- 
 
 Assistant heads of departments .' ! i ! ^\\t%Z ^\fr^Z 
 
 Assistant secretaries :;;: \\f^'^ jgS-SO 
 
 Chief engineers and assistants 2 cnn nn ., fiA, ^ 
 
 Assistant chief engineers, principal engineeVs,' " and 3,007.00 
 
 engineers , ,, 
 
 Assistant engineers W:: -^Si-oo 2.^.00 
 
 Principal mechanics '^^.^ "-H^-f 
 
 Mechanics.... °94.8o 1,080.80 
 
 Examiners, mechanical department.'.".';.;. ^ti 'fin ^n="^ 
 
 Electricians 231.00 40S.30 
 
 ___ 231.60 405.30 
 
 from the reo!!'rtT/?h.'''Rr-f'^'«''' data contained in this discussion are drawn 
 ^nTlt^tT;: t'Z^^^^^^:^^^^^^^, - Be..ium, France. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
25 
 
 Annual salary. 
 
 Minimum. Maximum. 
 
 Traffic manager $2,509.00 $3,667.00 
 
 Assistant traffic manager 1,351 .00 2,509.00 
 
 Principal commercial staff 1,158.00 i.ii33SO 
 
 Chief and assistant medical officers 386.00 965.00 
 
 Inspector general and chief inspector 1,351 .00 2,509,00 
 
 Assistant chief inspector ' 1,158.00 1,833.50 
 
 Inspectors and chief station inspectors 772.00 1,351.00 
 
 Assistant inspectors 521 . 10 810.60 
 
 Principal clerks 521 . 10 1,833. 50 
 
 Chief clerks and rate clerks 772.00 1,351.00 
 
 Assistant chief clerks 694.80 1,080.80 
 
 Chief clerks for grande vitesse and petite vitesse 347-40 636.90 
 
 Clerks 289.50 810.60 
 
 Dispatchers' clerks 289.50 636.90 
 
 Principal clerks for grande vitesse and petite vitesse. .. 289.50 521.10 
 
 Booking office clerks 260. 55 434.25 
 
 Telegraph clerks 231.60 405.30 
 
 Principal accountants and clerks accountants 521 . 10 810. 60 
 
 Accountants : 289.50 810! 60 
 
 Cashiers .' 289.50 521.10 
 
 Chief draughtsmen 521.10 810.60 
 
 Draughtsmen i 289.50 636.90 
 
 Storekeepers 231 .60 810.60 
 
 Distributors of stores 231.60 405.30 
 
 Store laborers 202.65 270.20 
 
 Works managers 772.00 1,351.00 
 
 Foremen 260.55 810.60 
 
 Assistant foremen 231.60 636.90 
 
 Station masters and assistant station masters 347- 40 694.80 
 
 Controllers 521. 10 8ro.6o 
 
 Controllers of trains.. 347-40 636.90 
 
 First-class engine drivers , S2i-io 810.60 
 
 Engine drivers • • 347-40 636.90 
 
 Conductors • 347-40 694-80 
 
 Firemen and firemen stationary engines ; . . 260. 55 434-25 
 
 Guards 260.55 434-25 
 
 Brakesmen 231.60 405-30 
 
 District chiefs • 347-40 694.80 
 
 Timekeepers 289.50 694.80 
 
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26 
 
 Annual salary. 
 
 , ' ^ 
 
 Minimum. Maxiiuum. 
 
 Principal messengers $260.55 $434.2S 
 
 Messengers 231.60 405-30 
 
 LeadingVters ■ 289.50 S^i-io 
 
 Registering porters 200.55 434-2S 
 
 Office and door porters 23i-6o 347-40 
 
 Representatives at joint stations 1 289.50 521.10 
 
 Chief shunters 260.5S 434-25 
 
 Pointsmen ■• 231.60 405-30 
 
 Chief rail-layers - 260.55 434-25 
 
 Rail-layers 173-70 241 .25 
 
 Watchmen 231-60 405-30 
 
 Bridge watchmen 202.65 270.20 
 
 Signalmen 231.60 405.30 
 
 Semaphore and lamp keepers 202.65 270.20 
 
 Gatekeepers 173-7° 241.25 
 
 Cranesmen 260.55 434-25 
 
 Weighing-machine attendants 231.60 405.30 
 
 Coopers.. 231.60 405-30 
 
 Laborers 202.65 270. 20 
 
 In addition to wages or salaries paid by the state railways, a certain 
 amount of money, not to exceed 2 per cent of the gross earnings of 
 the year, is distributed to selected employees each year in the form of 
 premiums for thrift and good management. Employees with large 
 families are specially assisted, and grants are made in individual cases 
 for funeral expense^ for assistance to orphans, and for various other 
 purposes. All employees who are on permanent salary or fixed wages 
 share in a pension fund, which is supplied partially by state subsidy 
 and partially by annual deductions from the employees' salaries. The- 
 minimum pension is about $70 a year. 
 
 Paris-OrIvSans Railway. 
 
 On the Paris-Orleans Railway, a private railway employing about 
 one-seventh of the railway workers of France, the following scale of 
 salaries is in effect: 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
^7 
 
 Annual salary. 
 , « , 
 
 Minimum. Maximum. 
 
 Chief clerks (head office) $579.00 $1,737.00 
 
 Assistant chief clerks (head office) 463.20 1,043.20 
 
 Principal assistant chief clerks 463.20 1,158.00 
 
 Central administrative principal clerks 405.30 694.80 
 
 Booking office clerks. 347.40 579-00 
 
 Chief clerks, assistant chief clerks, and principal clerks, 
 
 grande vitesse and petite vitesse 347-40 579-00. 
 
 Clerks, grande vitessee and petite vitesse 289.50 521 . 10' 
 
 Central administration staii' 289.50 579-00 
 
 Ticket clerks 231 .60 376. 35 
 
 Principal station masters 694.80 1,389.60 
 
 Station masters 521.10 1,158.00 
 
 Secondary station masters 405 . 30 810.60 
 
 Station masters, small stations 347.40 521 . 10 
 
 Assistant principal station masters 347-40 694.80 
 
 Relieving principal station masters 260 .55 318 .■45 
 
 Platform superintendents 347-40 521 . 10 
 
 Assistant station foremen 231.60 376.35 
 
 Checkers 231 .60 318.45 
 
 Inspectors 521 • 10 1,158.00 
 
 Traffic and assistant traffic inspectors 405 . 30 810. 60 
 
 Inspecting collectors 289.50 347-40 
 
 Overseers 231.60 3i8.45 
 
 Principal accountants .' 347-40 579 00 
 
 Accountants 40530 694.80 
 
 Cashiers.. 463.20 810.60 
 
 Lighting overseers 405.30 810.60 
 
 Foremen lampmen 260.55 40S-30 
 
 Lampmen and lamp cleaners (per month) 14-72 29.38 
 
 Leading under porters 289.50 46320 
 
 Registering porters 289.50 405-30 
 
 Porters • • 231.60 318.45 
 
 Section foremen 289.50 405-30 
 
 Gangers 231 -60 318.45 
 
 Guards 3i8.45 376 . 35 
 
 Brakesmen 260.55 3i8-45 
 
 Telegraph staflF - •--• 231.60 376-35 
 
 Semaphore staff 231.60 3i8.45 
 
 Signal workmen 231.60 289.50 
 
 Pointsmen 231.60 376.35 
 
 Storemen 231.60 347-40 
 
 Office keepers 231-60 289.50 
 
 Workmen (per month) 14-72 29.38 
 
 Watchmen .^'R^.^^.^X /W|?C?.SOfi^® . . . 231 .60 289.50 
 
28 
 
 Dwelling allowances are granted by the railway to employees living 
 in Paris or Bordeaux whose salary is less than $463.20, and to employ- 
 ees living elsewhere whose salary is less than $405.30. The dwelling al- 
 lowance varies in amount according to the size of the city of residence, 
 running from $38.60 a year in Paris down to ^6.95. 
 
 In addition, the Paris-Orleans Railway grants subsidies to heads of 
 families on the following basis : Employees with a salary not exceed- 
 ing $289.50 a year, who have dependent on them more than two chil- 
 dren under 15, or sick children of any age, or orphan relatives under 
 15, or father, mother, father-in-law or mother-in-law, are granted 
 monthly subsidies of $0,965 for the third dependent person of any of 
 the classes named, and from $0,965 to $1.93 for the fourth and each 
 additional person. Employees with a salary exceeding $289.50 but not 
 over $405.30 do not receive the monthly subsidy for the third depend- 
 ent of any of the classes named, but are granted $0,965 for the fourth 
 and from $0,965 to $1.93 for the fifth and each additional member. 
 The variation in the subsidy for the fourth (or fifth) person is deter- 
 mined by the size of the city of residence, the largest subsidy being 
 paid to employees living in Paris and Bordeaux. 
 
 Engine drivers and firemen receive additional allowances in the 
 shape of "kilometric" premiums ; that is, premiums varying with the 
 kilometers traveled. Thus to engine drivers on passenger" trains a 
 premium of $1.20 is paid for each 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) up to 
 4,000 kilometers a month; $1.39 for the fifth thousand, $1.97 for the 
 sixth, $2.45 for the seventh, $2.93 for the eighth, and $3.90 for the 
 ninth and each additional thousand. To engine drivers on freight or 
 mixed trains, the payment per 1,000 kilometers is two-fifths greater 
 than on passenger trains, and to engine drivers on switching locomo- 
 tives three-fifths greater than on passenger trains, switching mileage 
 bemg counted at the rate of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) per hour To 
 firemen on passenger trains the monthly premium is 60 cents for each 
 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) up to 4,000, 74 cents for the fifth thou- 
 sand 98 cents for the sixth, $1.23 for the seventh, $1.47 for the eighth, 
 and $1.95 for the ninth and each additional thousand. These payments 
 o firemen are increased in the case of freight trains and switching 
 locomotives, respectively, in the same ratio as the payment to engine- 
 men. A further premium is paid to firemen on compound engines, 
 amounting to 29 cents per 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). Premiums 
 are also granted for the economical use of fuel at the rate of $1 C4 for 
 every unused ton of fuel under a specified maximum. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
29 
 
 Premiums are given to engine drivers and firemen for maintaining 
 the regular time schedule. In case a train is late, the engine driver 
 receives for every minute of time made up a premium of from 1.2 cents 
 to 14.5 cents, according to the class of train handled, while the fireman 
 receives from 0.4 cent to 6.8 cents. The engine driver and the fire- 
 man may also be fined corresponding amounts for each minute of 
 time lost 
 
 Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean Railway. 
 
 The salary list of the Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean Railway, a private 
 railway employing about one-fourth of the railway workers of France, 
 is as follows: 
 
 Annual salary. 
 
 , • , 
 
 Minimum. Maximum. 
 
 Inspectors, and assistant and commercial inspectors. .. . $579.00 $1,254.50 
 
 Telegraph and weighing-machine inspectors 231.60 772.00 
 
 Auditors 405-30 i,254-50 
 
 Cashiers , 405.30 694.80 
 
 Principal clerks 405.30 i,2i;4.5d 
 
 Clerks 405 . 30 694.80 
 
 Booking office clerks 231.60 772.00 
 
 Station masters (ist and 2d class) . . : 260. 55 1,254. 50 
 
 Chief goods porters and checkers 318.45 579-00 
 
 Assistant goods porters 196.86 405.30 
 
 Chief guards and guards 196.86 463.20 
 
 Chief gangers. 231.60 463.20 
 
 Gangers 196.86 405.30 
 
 Telegraphists 231.60 463-20 
 
 Signalmen 231,60 405. 30 
 
 Watchmen and messengers 231.60 405.30 
 
 Monthly lodging allowances of from $1.16 to $3.47 are paid to 
 employees with an annual salary of less than $347^0 who live in par- 
 ticularly expensive localities. The amount varies witli die locality, the 
 maximum being granted to employees assigned for drtty at stations on 
 the Riviera during the months of the winter-resort season. To em- 
 ployees receiving a monthly salary no lodging allowance is paid, as thi.'s 
 is included in the salary. 
 
 An indemnity of from one to six per cent of their salary is paid to 
 
 employees who are required by the company to change their residence, 
 
 providing the change is not made as a punishment. 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
30 
 
 The company grants monthly premiums for the economical use of 
 coal and lubricants. For every ton of coal which is economized under 
 a certain standard allowance the engine driver and fireman receive 
 $1.93, divided between them proportionately to the distance they have 
 respectively covered during the month; for every kilogram of lubri- 
 cant economized they receive 5.8 cents. Conversely, the same amounts 
 are charged against engine drivers and firemen as fines for the extrava- 
 gant use of coal and lubricants above the standard amounts; these 
 fines are not charged against the employee's salary, but against the 
 premiums he may have earned. 
 
 Distance or kilometric premiums are paid to engine drivers and to 
 firemen. The company also grants premiums to engine drivers for 
 making up time, and fines them for loss of time. These premiums 
 to enginemen and firemen are of a similar nature to those described 
 above for the Paris-Orleans Railway. 
 
 Southern Railway. 
 
 On the Southern Railway (Sud de la France), a small private rail- 
 way, the salaried staff receives compensation as follows; 
 
 Annual salary. 
 
 ' — * ^ N 
 
 Minimum. Maximum. 
 
 Chief clerks and head office clerks $289 .50 $1,061 . 50 
 
 Clerks (chief office) 254 76 
 
 District clerks '. ;. .' 254.76 g go 
 
 fe^d^rks:::::::::::::::: |fg lif. 
 
 Booking clerks i" ! i! ! ! i! ! ! ! ! i! ! ^ ! ! ''1% l^t 
 
 ^"^P^-^*"" • 289.50 S2I.I0 
 
 fS'"^"::::::::- i^il 597.00 
 
 Guards f??f 312-66 
 
 Train crews .V.'. l^'t 46320 
 
 202.6s 254.76 
 
 Station masters oir Rn 
 
 Assistant station masters trafifi 
 
 Relieving chief station staff .' ifCi'tn 
 
 Reheving station staff ,,,6 
 
 Platform superintendents ,a« m ^^i ■ 00 
 
 Checkers ^^' 5" 
 
 Telegraphists V.' ■ ^^i-So 347.40 
 
 Cashiers , \\ 289.60 
 
 Accountants ;........ <- 312.66 
 
 Accountant porters..; " 254-76 
 
 231.60 463.20 
 
 Porters . 
 
 231.60 405.30 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
31 
 
 Annual salary. 
 
 , — ' > 
 
 Minimum, Maximum. 
 
 Foremen shunters. $231 . 60 $463 . 20 
 
 Pointsmen 231.60 312.66 
 
 Yard staff 202.65 254-76 
 
 Day laborers (per day) .483 .676 
 
 Allowances are granted to employees as follows: Chief office clerks 
 receive, in addition to their regular salary, an annual iallowance 
 amounting to about one month's pay. A number of classes are given 
 liberal traveling allowances, amounting in some cases to more than 
 100 per cent of their regular salaries. These classes are inspectors, 
 guards, train crews, relieving station staff, assistant station masters, 
 platform superintendents, telegraphists, foremen shunters, checkers, 
 and pointsmen. 
 
 To engine drivers and firemen premiums are given for distance 
 covered, for economy of fuel and lubricants, and for keeping to sched- 
 ule .time, aggregating from $193 to $231.60 a year for engine drivers 
 and $115.80 to $144.75 ^ y^'^'^ for firemen. In addition, when they are 
 obliged to sleep away from home, engine drivers are entitled to 48 
 cents per night and firemen to 39 cents. 
 
 Dwelling allowances varying from $32.81 to $38.60 a year are made 
 to employees entitled to lodging, when such lodging is not provided 
 by the company. 
 
 To every employee of limited salary, a subsidy is granted for each 
 member of his family over four. A similar subsidy has already been 
 described in connection with the Paris-Orleans Railway. 
 
 The Southern Railway also grants subsidies, or indemnities, to cer- 
 tain grades of employees, because of the high cost of living in certain 
 regions or because of residence in unhealthful localities. These vary 
 from $13.90 to $44.00 per annum, according to the locality and to the 
 rank of the employee. 
 
 Certain perquisites in the way of free transportation for his family 
 and indemnities for rents still due are allowed when an employee is 
 shifted by order of the conlpany. When an employee is necessarily 
 absent from his residence by day or night on exceptional temporary 
 duty, he is entitled to sustenance allowance of from 68 cents to $1.25 
 
 per day. 
 
 Finally, bonuses are awarded each year to such employees as have 
 shown zeal and attention to work. These bonuses are never less than 
 $3.86 and may run as^^^fegg g^^9o^^eptional cases. 
 
32 
 
 All the railway companies of France carry luggage porters on their 
 rolls, but as a general rule pay them little or no wage, reliance being 
 placed wholly or in part upon gratuities from the public. Two rail- 
 ways pay small salaries to their porters, who are not entitled to de- 
 mand gratuities. All the railways, also, use female labor to some de- 
 gree. Women act as gatekeepers at crossings, as typists in offices, as 
 ticket agents in stations, and on the state railways as petty station 
 masters. 
 
 Hours of labor are regulated by the Minister of Public Works, 
 whose decrees define and prescribe in detail the time schedules which 
 shall apply on the railways. Hours of duty and periods of rest are 
 allotted to all groups of employees under careful regulations. 
 
 As a general rule the railways of France do not supply their em- 
 ployees with uniforms, although in some cases the company assists in 
 obtaining uniforms at a reduced price. 
 
 Certain privileges as to free passes and reduced rates of travel are 
 granted by all the French railways to their employees.. In addition, 
 all the railway companies maintain pension funds, which are supplied 
 in part by deductions from the salaries of employees and in part by 
 subventions from the companies. 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and France Compared. 
 
 It is difficult to secure, from the foregoing data, a statement of 
 French railway wages comparable with American wage statistics 
 because the United States reports show actual earnings, while the 
 French statistics are merely of maximum and minimum rates of pay 
 From the statistics presented the following rough comparisons may, 
 however, be drawn : 
 
 On the Southern railway of France, day laborers receive from 48.3 
 to 67.6 cents per day. Whether this wage is compared with the daily 
 compensation of "other trackmen" in the United States in 1908, which 
 
 aS: of •''';- 1 "'" ^^^'^ ^"^P'^>^^^^ ^"^ '^'^--^'" which aver- 
 sSn tha^ r A "'^''°" "''"'" ^^^"^' ""^^^^^d $^-8^' it will be 
 
 French "''" "'^' " '"° ""' *^^^ ^'-"^^ -« high as the 
 
 r2ly7pFr'^:7 '"' T^'T' °' ^"^'"^ ^"^^ - the Southern . 
 
 tion, including premiums. ofUinVdrS^/s^on ^^l^!^ ^^^^ 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
33 
 
 France runs from $649.06 to $906.91, and the compensation of firemen 
 from $458.38 to $595.98. 
 
 Taking for purposes of approximate comparison an annual rate of 
 pay about halfway between the minimum and maximum in each of 
 these cases, and for the United States multiplying by 300 (the work- 
 ing days per year), the average daily compensation of enginemen 
 ($445) and firemen ($2.64) in 1908, the following results are reached: 
 
 Estimated Yearly Compensation: igo8. 
 
 United States , France , 
 
 »ii™ii«,. Eastern Southern 
 
 All railways. Railway. Railway. 
 
 Enginemen $1,335 $777-98 $667.13 
 
 Firemen 792 527- 18 390.82 
 
 On several of the French railways, even the lowest grades of em- 
 ployees are dignified by the receipt of salaries on a stated annual basis. 
 While the range of salaries is in general low, it is difficult to compare 
 them with American railway wages, as the latter are calculated on a 
 daily earnings basis. It may be pointed out that the daily wage of the 
 lowest paid class of American railway employees in 1908, "other track- 
 men," multiplied by 300 working days per year, amounts to about 
 $435, and that this minimum American wage is higher than the great 
 majority of the wage minima on French railways, and higher also than 
 many of the maxima, even among the upper grades of employment. 
 Even when the different bonuses and allowances granted by the French 
 railways to employees are added to their salaries and made a part of 
 their annual compensation — and it must be remembered that the allow- 
 ances are limited to the lower paid employees— the range of American 
 railway wages is clearly very much higher than in France. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
34 
 GERMANY." 
 
 Railway employees in Germany are divided into two classes— the 
 official staff (Beamte) and the workmen (Arbeiter). The official staff 
 comprises all permanent officials from president down to office messen- 
 gers, while the workmen include assistants to the official staff and all 
 ordinary laborers and temporary employees. Thus a foreman shunter 
 is classed as an official, while his assistant, the ordinary shunter, is 
 classed as a workman. 
 
 Officials (Beamte) are paid every three months in advance. In 
 Prussia they receive a dwelling allowance in addition to salary, while 
 train crews and other persons whose duties necessitate constant travel 
 are granted "journey money" on a mileage scale. In Bavaria still 
 another allowance is made to certain officials, constituting a bonus 
 because of the important character of particular duties performed. 
 Further allowances are made to the officials of the Bavarian and Saxon 
 railways whose duties necessitate their permanent residence in some 
 other state or country. No overtime pay is allowed to officials, but 
 every provision possible is made in order that they may not have. to 
 work overtime. 
 
 Uniforms are not supplied to the employees on the German state 
 railways. In Prussia and Saxony, however, the state railway manage- 
 ments contribute toward uniforms for the men. On the private rail- 
 ways uniforms are supplied by the company. 
 
 Workmen (Arbeiter) are paid at the end of each month, and are 
 subject to dismissal on short notice. . They do not wear distinctive 
 uniforms, except caps provided by the railways. 
 
 Wages and salaries on the German railways in the aggregate were 
 as follows for the years 1904 to rgog. 
 
 Compensation to Railway Employees, Germany : 1904-1909.'' 
 
 Average Average _ , , Average 
 
 Year. miles number of Total annual 
 
 operated. employees compensation. compen- 
 
 sation. 
 
 •904 33,290 .■182,370 $186,956,879 $321.03 
 
 '?^ 33,916 606,612 197.338,165 325.31 
 
 2^ 34422 648,437 217,562,675 335-52 
 
 2^ 34,898 695.558 243,344,944 349-86 
 
 ^ 35.391 699,156 257,443,345 368.22 
 
 '9°9 36,045 691,087 261,847,535 378.89 
 
 fro,I/"thf R°"'^7'f .u"'^'^^'!.' ^^c^J^^^ contained in this discussion is drawn 
 trh^r:,alT°to thVyL?TJ^.°' "^"'^ ^^''-^^ ^°"^^-"«' '909. PP. 135-.SX, 
 6 Official statistics of the railways of Germany (Statistik der im Betriebe 
 befindhchen Eisenbahnen Dentschlands), 1909, Table 25. The repor™d fompen' 
 sation includes supplementary allowances m part reportea compen 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
35 
 
 In 1908 the average compensation of employees on the railways 
 included in the Association of German Railway Administrations was as 
 follows :" 
 
 Average annual 
 compensation: igog. 
 
 Germany $367.67 
 
 Prussia-Hesse 366.93 
 
 Saxony 369-75 
 
 Bavaria 378. 11 
 
 Austria-Hungary (including Bosnia-Herzegovina) 269.23 
 
 Austria 255 . 54 
 
 Hungary 284.96 
 
 Luxemburg, Holland, etc. , 274. 73 
 
 These data relate to yearly compensation. For daily compensation, 
 it will be necessary to turn to the annual report of the Prussian-Hessian 
 railway system. The average daily wage of all the employees of that' 
 system for the years 1900 to 1910 was as follows : 
 
 Average daily earnings.^ 
 
 1900 $0,647 
 
 I901 0.652 
 
 1902 , o. 657 
 
 1903 0.662 
 
 1904 0'67I 
 
 1905 0.688 
 
 1906 0.726 
 
 1907 0.757 
 
 1908 o.77t 
 
 1909 0.783 
 
 1910 0.807 
 
 The increase from 1900 to 1910, it will be noted, was 16 cents per 
 day/ or 25 per cent. 
 
 Prussian State Railways. 
 
 The scale of annual salaries on the Prussian state railways is given 
 in the following table, which shows the minimum and maximum sala- 
 ries, the value of the various allowances, and the years required to 
 reach the maximum salary. 
 
 a Statistische Nachrichten von den Eis^nbahnen des Vereins Deiitscher Eisen- 
 
 •'^'oS'sUtlsScs' Sp?SssMe'ssian railways (Bericht iiber die Ergebnisse 
 des Betriebes der vereinigten preussischen und . heshischen Staatse.senbahnn), 
 des '^""^^^%'?"/" ,' ° do not include overtime payments or premiums for 
 il'r.'p1idS7rtifcrews.%h°eVdo not. in all probability, include dwelling 
 allowances. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
36 
 
 Class of employee. 
 
 Auditors 
 
 Technical office assistants . . . 
 
 First class clerks 
 
 Draughtsmen and second 
 class clerks 
 
 Foremen 
 
 Foremen in workshops 
 
 First class station masters . . 
 
 Second class station masters. 
 
 Station porters and platform 
 collectors 
 
 Engine drivers 
 
 Locomotive firemen 
 
 Chief guards 
 
 Baggage guards 
 
 Goods guards and brakesmen. 
 
 Traveling carriageand wagon 
 examiners 
 
 Foremen shunters, telegraph- 
 ists and first class signalmen 
 
 Signalmen 
 
 Pointsmen and gangers a. . . . 
 
 Messengers 
 
 Railway and night watchmen. 
 
 Annual salary. 
 
 Mini- 
 raum. 
 
 I428.40 
 357-00 
 357 00 
 
 357-00 
 333 -20 
 499.80 
 571.20 
 428.40 
 
 214.20 
 333 -20 
 238.00 
 333 • 20 
 285 60 
 2:4.20 
 
 214.20 
 
 333 -20 
 285 . 60 
 214.20 
 238.00 
 190.40 
 
 Maxi- 
 mum. 
 
 I999.60 
 714.00 
 642 . 60 
 
 523-60 
 428.40 
 999.60 
 999 . 60 
 856.80 
 
 285.60 
 523'- 60 
 357 00 
 452.20 
 380.80 
 285.60 
 
 333 -20 
 
 438.40 
 380.80 
 333 -20 
 357- 00 
 238 00 
 
 Dwelling allow- 
 ance. 
 
 $51.41 to 128.52 
 
 25.70 
 51-41 
 
 25-70 
 51-41 
 25.70 
 
 51-41 
 25-70 
 
 85.68 
 128.52 
 
 85.68 
 128.52 
 
 85.68 
 128 52 
 
 85.68 
 
 Kilomet- 
 ric allow- 
 ance. 
 
 $128.52 
 71.40 
 71.40 
 71.40 
 47.60 
 
 47 60 
 
 Years re- 
 quired 
 
 to reach 
 maxi- 
 iHum 
 salary. 
 
 21 
 21 
 18 
 
 18 
 12 
 18 
 12 
 18 
 
 15 
 15 
 18 
 
 18 
 
 JS 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 18 
 18 
 21 
 18 
 
 A few officials receive extra payment for onerous duty, varying 
 from $47.60 to $95.20 per annum. "Kilometric" allowances varying 
 from one cent to 1.4 cents per 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) are paid to 
 passenger-train crews and from 1.4 cents to 2.1 cents per 10 kilometers 
 to crews of goods, military and mixed trains. To crews of coal, min- 
 eral and similar trains, also for shunting service performed at other 
 than home stations, an hourly allowance of from 1.4 cents to 2.4 cents 
 is paid instead of journey money. In cases where train crews are away 
 from their home station over night, an allowance of from 15.9 cents 
 to 35.7 cents is granted per night of absence. 
 
 In Prussia cooperative clothing supply clubs exist, to which the 
 state makes contributions at the rate of $7.30 per man per annum. ■ 
 
 In addition to other allowances, a special service bonus is granted ■: 
 to workmen who have been in the continuous service qf the Prussian ' 
 state railways for 20 years or more and have conducted themselves J 
 m a sa tisfactory manner. Time served in the army, or in the employ \ 
 
 ""Pointsmen" correspond to switchtenders. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
37 
 
 of private railways which have been acquired by the state, is counted 
 as part of the term of service. This bonus amounts to about $5 a year 
 after 20 years of service, $7.50 after 25 years, $10 after 30 years, $15 
 after 35 years, $20 after 40 years, $25 after 45 years, and $37.50 for 
 each year of service greater than 50. In 1906 workmen on the state 
 railways to the number of 7,363 were receiving service bonuses, 
 amounting in the aggregate to $63,630. Of this number, 39 had served 
 50 years or more, 441 had served from 40 to 50 years, 2,329 had served 
 from 30 to 40 years, and 4,554 had served from 20 to 30 years. 
 
 Rewards are also granted to workmen in special circumstances, 
 when they have distinguished themselves in some calamity or crisis. 
 Absence on enforced civil duty is compensated in full, while military 
 duty up to 14 days a year is compensated at two-thirds the regular 
 rate of pay. 
 
 Saxon State Railways. 
 
 On the Saxon state railways the scale of salaries is as follows : 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
38 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
39 
 
 Dwelling allowances vary according to the cost of living in the 
 various cities. If a rented house is furnished to a railway official, his 
 dwelling allowance is fixed at the rental figure. 
 
 Station masters who have supervision of "halts," or way stations, 
 receive as a rule a supplementary ^lowance of $8.57 per "halt" per 
 year. 
 
 Engine drivers receive while on duty, in addition to subsidies for 
 dwellings and uniforms, 3.6 cents per hour plus 1.7 cents per kilometer 
 traveled. Chief guards receive 3.6 cents per hour while on duty, in 
 addition to salary and other allowances; guards receive 2.6 cents per 
 hour, and firemen 1.4 cents per hour. 
 
 The foregoing statistics apply to ofHcials, or Beamte. Arbeiter, or 
 workmen, are paid in general the standard wages obtaining for that 
 grade of labor in each district. Practically all workmen receive the 
 same rates of pay, whatever the duties performed. Thus in Hamburg 
 a shunter, or switchman, receives from 76.2 to 83.3 cents a day, with 
 a supplementary payment in consideration of the arduous nature of his 
 work amounting to from 4.8 cents to 7.1 cents a day, or a total of 
 from 81 cents to 90.4 cents. Goods porters are paid on a piece-work 
 basis with a guarantee of 83.3 cents per day. 
 
 Luggage porters, or "gepacktrager," receive no wages, except at 
 small stations where traffic is light. In the latter case they receive a 
 small amount for lamp and room cleaning and sundry small services. 
 Otherwise, in lieu of wages they depend upon the public for gratuities. 
 
 As in France, hours of labor on the German railways are governed 
 by detailed regulations. These are agreed upon by all the German 
 confederated states. 
 
 Privileges of travel free or at reduced rates are granted to employees 
 and their families under certain provisions, which vary from state to 
 state. The age limit for entering the employ of German railways is 
 40 years. Lower railway officials are allowed from one to three weeks 
 of annual leave. -Workmen are allowed from three to eight days 
 annually, after seven years of satisfactory service. Higher officials 
 may obtain leave up to five or six weeks. 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and Germany Compared. 
 
 From the railway wage data presented in the foregoing pages for 
 Germany, it is possible to draw certain comparisons with American 
 
 railway wages. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
40 
 
 The average daily earnings of all employees on the Prussian-Hes- 
 sian railways for the years 1900 to 1910 may be compared with the 
 average daily compensation of all employees on American railways for 
 the same years. It should be recalled that the Prussian-Hessian aver- 
 ages omit certain special allowances such as premiums and dwelling 
 allowances. 
 
 Average daily compensation. 
 
 United States. 
 
 Prussia-Hesse. 
 
 Percentage by 
 
 which American 
 
 compensation 
 
 is greater than 
 
 Prussian-Hessian, 
 
 1900. 
 rgoi. 
 1902. 
 1903. 
 1904. 
 
 1905- 
 1906. 
 1907. 
 1908. 
 1909. 
 1910. 
 
 Ir.90 
 1. 91 
 1.92 
 1.99 
 2.05 
 2.07 
 2.08 
 2.20 
 2.25 
 2.24 
 2.29 
 
 I0.647 
 0.652 
 0.657 
 0.662 
 0.671 
 0.688 
 o 726 
 0.757 
 0.771 
 0.783 
 0.807 
 
 193.6 
 192.9 
 192.2 
 200.6 
 
 205.5 
 200.9 
 186.5 
 190.6 
 191. 8 
 186. 1 
 183.8 
 
 The average daily earnings of the several classes of employees on 
 the Prussian-Hessian railways in 1910 are given below. The daily 
 earnings for 1909-1910 of the most nearly corresponding classes of 
 American railway employees are included in the table for comparison : 
 
 Average Daii,y Earnings of Railway Employees. By Classes— for 1910. 
 Prussla-Hesse and United States. 
 
 Class of employees in Average daily earnings- Kquivalent class in 
 Prussia- Hesse. Prussia-Hesse. United States. United States. 
 Technical office employees, drafts- 
 men, etc. $1 . 76 1 
 
 Employees in inside work 86 I $2.40 General office clerks. 
 
 Station employees, freight hand- 
 
 rlZt ^'^iu :;■••• u •• :i ?7 iM "other station men." 
 
 Track walkers, section hands, etc. .62 1.47 "Other tradcmen." 
 
 Engineers, conductors, etc 74 \ tf, ISr ' 
 
 Other train service men 68 1 ^"^' Conductors. 
 
 Workmen in train operation 80 f ^-^ "Other trainmen." 
 
 Workmen in inside work 80 2 01 •[ "^" other employees 
 
 Maintenance of way employees. . . .67 ,.,, ^ "0?hertacWn " 
 
 Shopworkers <to f l^ Machinists. 
 
 -99 -j 2.51 Carpenters. 
 
 L 2.18 "Other shopmen." 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
41 
 
 Class of employees in Average daily earnings— Equivalent class in 
 
 Prussia-Hesse. Prussia-Hesse. United States. United S ales. 
 
 Artisans and mechanics, time ] 
 
 Artisans" and "mechanics,' "piece ^ ' '^ \ $3 08 Machinists. 
 
 rates 1. 17 J 
 
 Skilled shopworkers, time rates .. . .92 1 3.08 Machinists. 
 
 Skilled shopworkers, piece rates. . 1.08 | 2.51 Carpenters. 
 
 Other shopmen, time rates 80 "I „ ..^n 1 1 „ 
 
 Other shopmen, piece rates 96 f ^-^^ 0*her shopmen. 
 
 Shop apprentices .27 No such group. 
 
 The classification is rough, but the variation from accuracy is prob- 
 ably slight. A glance over the table shows that the American earnings 
 in nearly every case are higher than the German by one hundred per 
 cent or more. 
 
 From the table of salaries and allowances on Prussian state railways, 
 the following statement of aggregate annual payments to the several 
 classes of trainmen may be drawn : 
 
 Annual salary. 
 
 Dwelling allowance. 
 
 Kilonietric 
 allowance. 
 
 Engine drivers 
 
 Locomotive firemen 
 
 Chief guards 
 
 Baggage guards 
 
 Goods guards and brakesmen . . 
 
 |333.2o-$523.6o 
 238.00— 357.00 
 333.20— 452.20 
 285.60— 380.80 
 214.20 — 285.60 
 
 I51.41— 1128.52 
 25-70— 85.68 
 51.41— 128.52 
 25-70— 85.68 
 25-70— 85.68 
 
 I128.52 
 71-40 
 71.40 
 71-40 
 47.60 
 
 Taking for purposes of further comparison an amount halfway be- 
 tween the minimum and maximum salary and dwelhng allowance, 
 this table may be summarized as follows : 
 
 Engine drivers 
 
 Locomotive firemen 
 
 Chief guards 
 
 Baggage guards 
 
 Gewds guards and brakesmen. 
 
 Average 
 annual 
 salary. 
 
 $428.40 
 
 297-50 
 392.70 
 33320 
 249.90 
 
 Average 
 dwelling 
 allowance. 
 
 I89.96 
 
 55-69 
 8996 
 
 55-69 
 55-69 
 
 Kilometric 
 allowance. 
 
 1128.52 
 71.40 
 7140 
 7140 
 47-60 
 
 Total 
 
 annual 
 
 allowance. 
 
 $646 88 
 
 42459 
 554-06 
 460.29 
 353-19 
 
 These statistics of trainmen's compensation in Prussia, which may 
 be taken as representative, are compared with the compensation of 
 trainmen in the United States in 1908 in the following table. The 
 yearly compensation of each class of trainmen in the United States 
 
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42 
 
 has been reached by multiplying the average daily compensation by 
 300 working days per year. 
 
 Estimated 
 annual coiiipt ligation ; 1908. 
 
 Prussia. United Statei-. 
 
 Engine drivers. $646.88 $'.335 
 
 Locomotive firemen 4^4 59 79* 
 
 Chief guards 554-o6 I i 14^ a 
 
 Baggage guards. 460.29 / 
 
 Goods guards and brakesmen 353- '9 7^0 b 
 
 This table is presented not so much for an exact comparison of 
 trainmen's compensation in the United' States and Prussia as for an 
 approximate indication of the level of salaries in the two countries. 
 
 It has been stated that switchmen in Hamburg receive from 8i cents 
 to 90.4 cents a day, and goods porters a minimum of 83.3 cents per 
 day, These typical instances of wages in a large German city may be 
 compared in passing with the average daily earnings of railway switch- 
 men and laborers in the United States during 1910, amounting to 
 $1.69 and $2.01 respectively. 
 
 a Conductors, b "Other trainmen." 
 
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43 
 
 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY." 
 
 As in Germany, railway «mpl6yees in Austria-Hungary are divided 
 into two broad classes— Beamte, or permanent-salaried officials, and 
 Arbeiter, or workmen employed by the day. 
 
 Rates of pay vary as between the state and the private railways in 
 Austria and Hungary, the higher officials being better paid and the 
 lower grades of employees not so well paid on the private lines. Day 
 by day, however, the disparity between the pay on private and on 
 public lines becomes less marked, as the private railways recognize the 
 expediency of paying approximately as much as the state railways. 
 The prospect of the nationalization of the private lines has also a 
 tendency toward unification of pay. 
 
 The fixed pay of higher and lower officials on all the railways is in 
 the form of a yearly salary, plus a fixed dwelling allowance. These 
 two items are taken into consideration in calculating pensions. In ad- 
 dition, certain supplementary payments will be noted. 
 
 According to official returns, the average pay of the two main classes 
 of employees on the Austrian railways in 1910, not including supple- 
 mentary allowances, was as follows : 
 
 Austria — All Railways: 1910.'' 
 
 (Operated Mileage, 14,212 Miles.) 
 
 Number. 
 
 Total 
 compensation 
 
 Average 
 
 annual 
 
 compensation. 
 
 Officials (Beatnte, Unterbeamte, D^ener). 
 Workmen (Arbeiter) 
 
 134,690 
 142,929 
 
 $57.362- 1 15 
 24,239.503 
 
 I42588 
 169.59 
 
 Total. 
 
 277.619 
 
 $81,601,618 
 
 $29393 
 
 Inasmuch as the compensation of officials is computed on the basis 
 of 365 days a year, and the compensation of workmen on the basis of 
 300 days, the foregoing annual results may be reduced to a per diem 
 
 "Unless otherwise stated, the data in this discussion of railway wages in 
 Austria-Hungary are taken from the report of the British Board of Trade on 
 Austro-Hungarian railways, issued in 1909 as one of its series of reports on 
 Continental Railways, pp. 84-104. The rates of pay described in this report were 
 those in effect in 1907. .,.,„.., 
 
 * Official statistics of Austrian railways (Osterreichische Eisenbahnstatistik) , 
 1910, Vol. I, pp. 551-553. _. ... .. ... „- 
 
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44 
 
 basis by dividing 365 and 300, respectively, into the annual compen- 
 sation of the officials and the workmen. The results are $1.17 per 
 day for the officials, $0,565 for the workmen, and $0.89 for all em- 
 ployees combined. 
 
 The report of the Board of Trade on the railways of Austria- 
 Flungary states that railway Arbeiter are paid in the city of Vienna at 
 the following rates per day: 
 
 Daily wage. 
 
 Ordinary workmen 50.7 cents 
 
 Skilled laborers 77 . 1 " 
 
 Foremen 81.2 " 
 
 Austrian State Raii<ways. 
 
 On the Austrian state railways, employing about four-fifths of all 
 the railway workers of Austria, the annual salaries are as follows : 
 
 Annual salary. Years required to 
 
 Minimum. Maximum. reach maximum. 
 
 Engine drivers (ist class) $243.60 $527.80 24 
 
 Engme drivers (2d class) 182.70 365.40 32 
 
 Chief guards 243.60 446.60 18 
 
 Guards 162.40 324.80 24 
 
 F"'eraen 162.40 324.80 24 
 
 Works foremen 263.90 609.00 27 
 
 Carnage and wagon foremen 182.70 365.40 32 
 
 Carriage and wagon cleaners 162.40 284.20 16 
 
 Lampmen 162.40 284.20 16 
 
 Station masters (ist class) 243.60 527.80 24 
 
 Station masters (2d class) 182.70 365.40 ^ 
 
 Ticket inspectors 243.60 527.80 24 
 
 Ticket examiners 162.40 324.80 21 
 
 Station foremen 162.40 324.80 21 
 
 Stabon attendants 162. ^ IstTo fe 
 
 ^°"^" ••• 162.40 324.80 24 
 
 Stores foremen 182.70 365.40 32 
 
 ^^"^^" •■•• 182.70 365.40 32 
 
 Foremen shunters iRd -rn -.fir ^„ 
 
 Shunters ■• 2^-7° 365.40 32 
 
 «^^^-- ::::::::::::::::: \ttl if.^ t 
 
 feaT.::::: jf-^? 334.80 
 
 152.25 203.00 15 
 
 A glance through this table will show that the length of time re- 
 quired to reach the maximum salary is in some cases so great that but 
 a small proportion of the employees would at any one time be receiv- 
 ing the maximum rate. Advances from the minimum to the maxi- 
 mum salary is not by regular annual progression, but through grades 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
45 
 
 For example, each employee who is obliged to wait 32 years before 
 attaining the maximum salary is obliged to pass through nine grades. 
 The first grade is made up of employees of less than two years' serv- 
 ice ; the second grade includes employees of two to five years' service ; 
 the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades each represent three addi- 
 tional years of service; while the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades 
 each represent five years of service. 
 
 There is a dwelling allowance which for all classes is highest in 
 Vienna, and is a given percentage of the Vienna allowance for other 
 cities. Thus the allowance for any individual employee is computed 
 according to his rank as an employee and according to the size of his 
 city of residence. The dwelling allowances range from $60.90 to 
 $203.00 in Vienna, and are 80 per cent, 70 per cent, 60 per cent, and 50 
 per cent of the Vienna allowance, respectively, in the various grades of 
 the other Austrian cities. 
 
 Additional allowances on the Austrian state railways are as follows : 
 Engine crews receive so-called "kilometric money," which is a bonus 
 based on kilometers traveled, while the train crews receive hourly 
 money, or a bonus based on hours of duty. Engine drivers receive a 
 kilometric allowance of 3.2 cents for each io_ kilometers (6.2 miles) 
 of passenger train mileage. Freight train drivers receive i^ times 
 as large an allowance. For all mileage over 5,000 kilometers (3,107 
 miles) a month the rates are increased 50 per cent. Firemen receive 
 1.6 cents per 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) for passenger train duty, and 
 their bon^is also is increased by one-half for freight train mileage. 
 
 Premiums are paid to the locomotive staff for economical use of 
 fuel and lubricants. For every unused ton of standard coal under a 
 certain maximum, the engine driver receives 24.4 cents and the fireman 
 8 I cents, but the premium cannot in any one quarter year exceed 
 $36 54 for the engine driver or $12.18 for the fireman. Similarly, for 
 every kilogram of unused lubricating oil, a premium of 1.4 cents is 
 
 allowed. . .1 
 
 The train crew also receive bonuses, which are paid on an hourly 
 basis Chief guards and baggage and goods guards receive from 3.7 
 to 4.9 cents per hour. For "traveling time ofif duty," i e., Ume rep- 
 resented by intervals of waiting between trains, periods during which 
 the men hold themselves in readiness for duty, they receive 1.6 cents 
 an hour Guards and other trainmen receive from 2.6 to 3.7 cents an 
 hour for train duty, and 1.2 cents for "traveling time off duty. 
 
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46 
 
 Lodging allowances are paid to employees who are absent from 
 home more than 72 hours, and are not within reach of official barracks. 
 
 To officials who travel constantly over fixed portions of the line, 
 such as members of the engineering staff, a yearly traveling allow- 
 ance, or journey money, is granted, ranging from $97.44 to $487.20, 
 according to their rank. To officials who are called upon to make 
 considerable journeys on foot, walking allowances are made for dis- 
 tances greater than 7 kilometers (4.3 miles), ranging from 5.3 cents 
 per kilometer (8.5 cents per mile) to 18.7 cents per kilometer (30 
 cents per mile). 
 
 Other forms of payment for traveling expenses are made to the 
 official class in the shape of per diem allowances, intended to cover the 
 expenses incurred by them when on service journeys, or when em- 
 ployed at other than their home stations. These per diem allowances 
 range in amount from 61 cents per day to $1.22 per day. Workmen 
 sent on journeys receive for traveling expenses an amount equal to 
 their daily wage for each day's absence up to 20 days. 
 
 SuDBAHN 0^ Austria. 
 
 On the Siidbahn, or Southern railway of Austria, a private line 
 employing one-ninth of the railway workers of Austria, the following 
 is the scale of salaries : 
 
 Years requir- 
 Annual salary. Dwelling allowance ed to reach 
 
 Minlmnm. Maximum (Vienna). maxiiunm 
 
 salary. 
 Chief foreman in workshops. $284.20 $609.00 $I33.98-$203.00 20 
 
 Foremen in workshops 243.60 568.40 113.68-203.00 
 
 Station masters 243.60 527.80 113.68-174.58 
 
 Cjerks (1st class) 243.60 527.80 113.68- 174.58 
 
 23 
 
 22 
 
 Clerks (2d class) 182.70 345.10 73-o8- I33;98 26 
 
 Engine drivers (ist class) 263 
 
 Engine drivers (2d class) 203 
 
 Firemen 162 
 
 Engine drivers (1st class).... 263.90 609.00 113.68-203.00 23 
 
 Engine drivers (2d class).... 203.00 243.60 73.08-113.68 6 
 
 riremen 162.40 345.10 60.90- 133-98 29 
 
 Chief guards 243.60 487.20 113.68- 174.58 2i 
 
 r ^ 'j '5^-4° 345.10 60.90-133.98 27 
 
 Goods guards 162.40 324.80 60.90-133.98 26 
 
 Ticket inspectors 243.60 527.80 113.68- 174.58 21 
 
 Foremen shunters 162 . 40 345 . 10 60 . 90- 133 . 98 20 
 
 S^""tf" 162.40 324.80 60.60I 133.68 26 
 
 Signalmen 162.40 324.80 60.60^133.68 31 
 
 L^™P"^" 162.40 324.80 60.60I 133.98 26 
 
 Fi""'^""^ 182.70 345.10 73.08-133.98 26 
 
 YZ'^^'^r^ 'f"-4° 345.10 65.90-133.98 29 
 
 Line watchmen .... 162.40 243.60 60.90^113.68 19 
 
 Day and night watchmen 152.25 203.00 60.60I7j.08 iz 
 
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47 
 
 As on the state railways, the dwelling allowance for cities other than 
 Vienna is computed as a percentage of the Vienna allowance. 
 
 On the Siidbahn, as on the State railway system, engine drivers 
 and firemen receive kilometric bonuses. The remainder of the train 
 crew receives "travel money," or bonuses, for each hour of tra.el 
 while on duty, and also while "traveling oflf duty" — i. e., while stopping 
 at other than the home station or while experiencing minor delays. 
 
 The following tabulation shows the average yearly bonuses and al- 
 lowances of various kinds paid to the locomotive crews on the 
 Sudbahn : 
 
 Kngiiie drivers. Firemen. 
 
 Kilometric money $206.05 $149.21 
 
 Daily and overnight allowances 6.50 4.87 
 
 Economical use of stores 131.95 44.05 
 
 Other allowances 20.30 10.15 
 
 Total $364.80 $208.28 
 
 If to these allowances be added the yearly salary of the median, or 
 half-way, grade of engine drivers and firemen, and estimated average 
 dwelHng allowances of $100 and $70 respectively, the result will show 
 the total annual earnings of representative grades of these two classes 
 of employees. These are as follows : 
 
 Typical 
 annual salary. Allowances. Total. 
 
 First-class engine drivers $406.00 $464.80 $870.80 
 
 Firemen 253.75 278.28 53203 
 
 Hungarian State Railways. 
 
 On the Hungarian state railways, the scheme of salaries is as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Years required 
 Annual salary. to reach 
 
 Minimum. Maximum. maximum. 
 
 Chief foremen in workshops $S07-50 $730-8o 12 
 
 Foremen in workshops 284.20 568.40 21 
 
 Chief engine drivers 365-40 568.40 14 
 
 Engine drivers 243.60 406.00 13 
 
 Ticket inspectors 487-20 649.60 12 
 
 Chief guards 365-40 527-80 14 
 
 Guards 243-60 406.00 13 
 
 Goods guards 162.40 284.20 23 
 
 Firemen (ist class) 243.60 324-80 5 
 
 Firemen (2d class).. 162.40 263.90 12 
 
 Station masters (ist class) 36S-40 649,60 25 
 
 Station masters (2d class) 243-6o 406.00 15 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
48 
 
 Years required 
 Annual salary. to reach 
 
 Minimum. Maximum. maximum. 
 
 Inspectors $365-40 $649.60 25 
 
 Chief telegraphists 365-40 649.60 25 
 
 Telegraphists 243.60 406.00 IS 
 
 Clerks (ist class) 365-40 649.60 25 
 
 Clerks (2d class) 243.60 406.00 15 
 
 Foremen 243.60 406.00 15 
 
 Foremen shunters 243.60 324.«o lO 
 
 Shunters 162.40 263.90 17 
 
 Signalmen (ist class) •. 243.60 324.80 19 
 
 Signalmen (2d class) 162.40 263.90 20 
 
 Lampmen (ist class) 243.60 324-80 19 
 
 Lampmen (2d class) 162.40 263.90 20, 
 
 Messengers (ist class) 243.60 324.80 19 
 
 Messengers (2d class) 162.40 263.90 20 
 
 Porters 203.00 406.00 20 
 
 Watchmen (ist class) 162.40 223.20 15 
 
 Watchmen (2d class).... 121.80 182.70 15 
 
 Dwelling allowances are granted to all salaried employees, ranging 
 from $30.45 to $162.40 a year, afeccrding to amount of salary and the 
 size of city of residence. In addition, engine and train crews receive 
 mileage or hourly allowances. As in Austria, these allowances add 
 considerably to their income. 
 
 In general, the scale of lodging allowances, premiums for economy 
 of stores, travehng allowances and traveling expenses, is similar on all 
 the Austro-Hungarian railways. The scale has been described in some 
 detail for the state lines in Austria, and is for the most part applicable 
 to the Siidbahn and other private lines. 
 
 Only in the case of the Arbeiter, or daily workmen, and piece- 
 workers do railway employees in Austria-Hungary receive extra pay 
 for overtime or Sunday duty ; employees receiving a fixed salary work 
 seven days a week, when called upon, without extra remuneration. 
 All salaried employees coming into contact with the public are required 
 to wear uniforms. Only to the lower grades are these uniforms sup- 
 plied free of charge; to the higher grades they are usually furnished 
 by the company in the case of the first outfit, but not afterward. A 
 regular system of fines exists for breaches of discipline, carelessness, 
 and inefficiency. Other disciplinary measures consist in reductions of 
 grade, transfers, and the like. 
 
 Hours of duty are regulated under a series of detailed and fixed 
 rules. The age limits for entering the service of the railways of 
 Austria-Hungary are 18 to 35 years. Holidays are granted to offi- 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
49 
 
 cials, varying from 8 days to 4 weeks annually, according to rank and 
 length of service. The staff receives in addition certain well-defined 
 privileges as to travel free or at reduced rates. 
 
 Pensions on the various lines are on the contributory basis, but the 
 scale varies from railway to railway. 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and Austria-Hungary 
 
 Compared. 
 
 On the Austrian railways as a whole, it has been shown that rail- 
 way employees received in 1910 an average daily compensation of 89 
 cents, not including supplementary allowances. Employees on the 
 railways of the United States in 1910 averaged $2.29 in daily earn- 
 ings, which was 157 per cent higher than in Austria. 
 
 Wages in Vienna are probably as high as in any city of Austria- 
 Hungary and higher than throughout the country generally. There- 
 fore it is conservative to compare the rates of wages of workmen, 
 skilled laborers, and firemen in that city with the daily earnings of 
 corresponding classes of American railway employees. Ordinary em- 
 ployees and laborers on American railways received in 1907, for ex- 
 ample, an average daily wage of $1.92, which may be compared with 
 the 50.7 cents and the 77.1 cents of the ordinary and skilled workmen 
 in Vienna; while section foremen on American railways received 
 $1.90, compared with 81.2 cents received by foremen in Vienna. 
 
 The estimated annual earnings of engine drivers and firemen on 
 the Siidbahn of Austria have been shown for 1907. If the average 
 daily earnings. of American enginemen in 1907 ($4.30) and of fire- 
 men ($2.54) be multiplied by 300 working days per year, the result 
 is an estimated annual earning of $1,290 for enginemen, which may 
 be compared with $870.80 for first-class engine drivers on the Siid- 
 bahn ; and for American firemen an estimated annual earning of $762, 
 as compared with $532.03 for firemen on the Siidbahn. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
50 
 BELGIUM." 
 Over nine-tenths of the total railway mileage of the kingdom of Bel- 
 gium is operated by the state. The employees of the Belgian state 
 
 railway system in 1909 numbered 67,475. ^ , , , ^ •,• 
 
 The salary scale which applies to the official staff of the state rail- 
 
 ways is as follows: 
 
 BELGIAN STATS RAILWAYS. ^.„.^„^-"«' ^"^'S^^™. 
 
 „. , -. . , $i,737.oo $2,S47-6o 
 
 Higher officials f >'j' 
 
 Director of technical department... y'rcRm 17^700 
 
 Inspector of control and director of service 'Ir'Vo i «l 00 
 
 Inspector (2 classes) .^ '^ S^ '3S '^ 
 
 Head of division (2 classes) 1,061.50 i,3Si-oo 
 
 Principal chief clerk ••• ^g;- J;^?- 
 
 K^?1^iercieVkV.-.v;.-:::::::::::::::::::::: 772.00 868.50 
 
 Principal clerk . 675-50 772-00 
 
 Clerks (3 classes) 231.60 590-30 
 
 Chief draughtsman 868.50 1,061.50 
 
 Assistant chief draughtsman 772.0O 868.50 
 
 Principal draughtsman 67S-SO 7^-00 
 
 Draughtsman (2 classes) 328.10 598-30 
 
 Principal controller IISS-OO 1,158.00 
 
 Controller (3 classes) 675-50 1,061.50 
 
 Head of main depot 868.50 965.00 
 
 Head of depot (2 classes) S2I-I0 772-00 
 
 Principal station master. .• i 061.50 1,001.50 
 
 Station master (4 classes) 328.10 ^5-00 
 
 Principal head station porter 501.80 617. 00 
 
 Head station porter 42460 403-20 
 
 Porters at principal stations 386.00 424. Oo 
 
 Porters 231.60 386.00 
 
 Principal policeman 386.00 424.60 
 
 Policeman and interpreter 231.60 386.00 
 
 Chief accountant (2 classes) 772.00 1,061.50 
 
 Accountant 521.10 772.00 
 
 Chief engineer (2 classes) 1,061.50 i,3Si-00 
 
 Engineer (2 classes) 598-30 1,061.50 
 
 Head of principal technical section (3 classes) 772 ' 158.00 
 
 Section head (3 classes) 386.00 772.00 
 
 Principal architect (2 classes) 772.00 1,158.00 
 
 Architect (3 classes) 386.00 772.00 
 
 Chief chemist (2 classes) 1,061 .50 1,351 .00 
 
 Chemist 386.00 1,061.50 
 
 Chief guard •. . . 386.00 463.2a 
 
 Guard 231.60 386.00 
 
 Unless otherwise specified, the data contained in this discussion are drawn 
 from the report of the British Board of Trade on Railways in Belgium, France, 
 and Italy, 1910, pp. 67-82. 
 
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51 
 
 Employees of the state railways who are not of the official staff 
 receive compensation on a monthly, daily, or hourly basis. The salary 
 scale for workmen who are paid by the month is applied to workmen 
 m the permanent way and mechanical departments, and is as follows : 
 
 Belgian State Railways. 
 
 Monthly salary, 
 ,,. , . Minimum. Maximum. 
 
 Works foreman ^ g ^ 
 
 Leading machinist ^^{. / %^ 
 
 Leading brake, heating, and lighting overseer .' ^4 74 ?! q! 
 
 Foreman of lamps or gashouse 27 02 ?8 60 
 
 Foreman inspector of stock 2702 ^860 
 
 Foreman electrician [\[ ^T 02 sS.'eo 
 
 Electrician 21.23 28.95 
 
 Timekeeper 25.09 6^^ 
 
 Storekeeper 17.37 27.02 
 
 Gas stoker 17.37 23.16 
 
 Engine driver 23. 16 38.60 
 
 Fireman • 17.37 23.16 
 
 Leading cleaner 19.30 27.02 
 
 Carriage inspector 34.74 54-04 
 
 Leading shunter 21.23 27.02 
 
 Ganger 28.95 SO. 18 
 
 Checker 17-37 27.02 
 
 Employees paid by the day are connected with the traffic department. 
 These employees are divided within each class into three grades, for 
 each of which there is a minimum and maximum wage. In the fol- 
 lowing table there is presented for each class of employees only one 
 minimum and one maximum, the minimum of the lowest grade and 
 the maximum of the highest grade. Thus there is shown the whole 
 range of wages within which each class of employees is compensated : 
 
 Belgian State Railways. 
 
 Daily wage. 
 Minimum. Maximum. 
 
 Chief loader $-579 $-96s 
 
 Loader -463 -618 
 
 Packer 463 -618 
 
 Weigher 540 -772 
 
 Overseer 96S i iS8 
 
 Leading shunter -579 -905 
 
 Shunter 463 -095 
 
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52 
 
 Daily Wage. 
 
 f 
 
 Miniinum. Maximum. 
 
 „ , .. -540 -9^5 
 
 Brakesman g, _656 
 
 Conductor Tg, .579 
 
 Ticket sorter '^^^ ^'^ 
 
 „, ^ . 463 -579 
 
 Watchman -^ .579 
 
 Cleaner \ .4^5 
 
 Messenger ^^ 
 
 Officials on the Belgian state railways are entitled to increases in 
 salary at least as often as once every six years. Other employees 
 are promoted according to seniority, merit, attention to duty, and 
 good conduct. 
 
 Premiums for the running of trains are granted to such station men 
 as are directly concerned with the train service, and to head guards, 
 guards, enginemen, and train crews. Each year a certain sum is ap- 
 propriated by the management for these premiums, and this is then 
 apportioned among the classes named according to a ratio which de- 
 pends partly on length of service. and partly on rank and number of 
 days of duty. For specially important service or for special attention 
 to duty additional or supplementary premiums may also be granted. 
 
 Quarterly premiums for economy of fuel and stores are paid to 
 the employees concerned. If the amount consumed is considerably 
 greater than the standard amount allowed per unit of work, the em- 
 ployees responsible for the extravagance are subject to penalties. 
 Engine drivers and firemen are allowed premiums for punctuality, and 
 conversely are fined for delays due to their own negligence. Other 
 premiums are granted to various classes of employees ; such, for ex- 
 ample, are the premiums to. employees who discover irregularities in 
 the shipment of goods. 
 
 Traveling allowances are granted to all employees traveling on serv- 
 ice, and in addition lodging allowances to certain grades of officials 
 and to clerks for each night which they are required to spend away 
 from their residence. 
 
 Station masters are entitled to heated and lighted lodgings. When 
 lodgings are not furnished by the state, station masters may receive 
 annual dwelling allowances. Cottages built along the railway line are 
 reserved for married employees living with their families ; a nominal 
 rental for this is deducted from the salary of the occupier, amounting 
 to 1.93 cents per day, or about 58 cents a month. 
 
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53 
 
 Uniforms are obtained by employees through a benefit club, which 
 is supported by monthly deductions from their salaries, and which dis- 
 tributes uniforms to employees at or below cost price, according to the 
 state of its reserve fund. 
 
 As in other countries, employees are entitled to certain privileges in 
 the way of travel free or at reduced rates. All employees may receive 
 12 free coupons a year for stated journeys, and this number may be 
 increased in the case of those who live at some distance from parents 
 or relatives and wish to visit them frequently. 
 
 Workmen on the state railways must be Belgian citizens not over 
 32 to 35 years of age at the time of appointment, must have met all 
 military requirements, must be of good moral character and free from 
 physical defects. 
 
 Hours of duty and rest are carefully regulated. Pensions are paid 
 to retired staff employees by the state, the pension being wholly non- 
 contributory. In addition there is maintained a fund for the payment 
 of pensions to the widows and orphans of employees. To this fund 
 employees are required to contribute, and to the fund are allotted all 
 fines, confiscations, or other deductions from salaries. There exists 
 also a workmen's fund, designed to afford pensions or temporary relief 
 to workmen and their families. This fund is maintained in part by 
 enforced contributions and deductions from the wages of workmen, 
 in part by government subsidies, and in part by private donations. 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and Belgium Compared. 
 
 It will be noted that .the daily wages cited above for certain classes 
 of Belgian railway employees are rates of wages per day actually em-, 
 ployed. As such, they, are comparable with the average compensation 
 received per day by railway workmen in the United States. Compari- 
 son of these wages per day with the average compensation per day of 
 corresponding grades of workmen in the United States is given in the 
 following table. Against each class of Belgian employees is set the 
 class of American employees most nearly corresponding to it. The 
 data relate to the year 1907 in the case of both countries : 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
54 
 
 Average Daily Wage : 1907. 
 
 Kelgium. 
 
 
 United States. 
 
 
 Cla&s of employee. 
 
 Daily wage. 
 
 Class of employee. 
 
 Daily wage. 
 
 Chief loader.'. 
 
 f579--965 
 .463— .618 
 •540— .772 
 
 •463— .579 
 .540— .965 
 .463— .656 
 .463— .695 I 
 •463— 579 J 
 
 ^ "Other station men" 
 
 "Other trainmen" 
 
 
 Ivoader and packer 
 
 Weigher 
 
 fl.78 
 
 Ticket sorter. . .' 
 
 
 Brakesman . . 
 
 Conductor 
 
 2.54 
 3-69 
 
 Shunter 
 
 Switch tenders, crossing 
 tenders and watchmen . . 
 
 Watchman 
 
 1.87 
 
 
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55 
 
 ITALY." 
 
 Of the railway mileage of Italy over eight-tenths is owned by the 
 state. The number of employees on the Italian state i-ailway system 
 is about 150,000. 
 
 The average compensation of state railway employees in Italy dur- 
 ing the year 1909 amounted to $289.19. This was made up of an 
 average salary or wage of $211.57 and an average supplementary 
 allowance of $77.62. In addition, the administration expended for 
 pensions and various forms of assistance to employees an amount 
 equivalent to $18.72 for each employee on its rolls.* 
 
 The salary scale of the principal classes of employees on the state 
 railways is as follows : 
 
 Italian State Railways. 
 
 Annual salary. "^^^""^"^""^ 
 
 Minimum. Maximum. „'°Ji^Sm. 
 
 Chief station masters $694.80 $1,042.20 19 
 
 Station masters and inspectors (3 grades) . 347.40 810.60 12-17 
 
 Yard inspectors 2{^.44 405.30 _ 25 
 
 Chief station clerks 636.90 926.40 ' 18 
 
 Assistant station clerks 463.20 675.50 14 
 
 Engine drivers 289.50 521.10 18 
 
 Chief guards 208.44 405.30 25 
 
 Goods guards.. 1S0.54 231.60 15 
 
 Firemen i73-70 318.45 23 
 
 Draughtsmen 231.60 868.50 16-23 
 
 Workshop foremen 289.50 S790o 25 
 
 Messengers, Class 1 208.44 347-40 19 
 
 A number of classes of employees attached to the staff are paid at a 
 daily rate, as follows : 
 
 Italian State Railways. 
 
 Daily wape, YeaTS required to 
 
 Minimum, Maximum, reach maximum. 
 
 Brakesmen $.405 $618 23 
 
 Signalmen 405 .618 18 
 
 Station porters 386 .733 3° 
 
 Messengers, Class II 482 ,772 21 
 
 » Unless otherwise specified, the data contained in this discussion are drawn 
 from the report of the British Board of Trade on Railways in Belgium, France, 
 and Italy, 1910, pp, 271-282. 
 
 b Official statistics of the Italian state railways (Ferrovie dellostato-statistica 
 generale dell' esercizio),- 1909, pp. 314-317- 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
56 
 The average amount of supplementary allowances received annually 
 by various classes of train employees is as follows : 
 
 Engine ctrivers $291.60 
 
 Chief guards 192-24 
 
 Goods guards 152.40 
 
 Firemen 150.60 
 
 Brakesmen 118.20 
 
 These supplementary allowances received by trainmen are made up 
 of hourly and kilometric allowances, allowances for unusual absence 
 from the home station and for traveling expenses under certain condi- 
 tions of work, and premiums for the economical use of fuel and oil 
 and for time made up by trains within authorized speed limits. On 
 certain sections of the line, where tunnels abound, special daily tunnel 
 allowances are granted. 
 
 In addition to the fixed rates of pay and supplementary allowances 
 to trainmen, various forms of extra pay are given, the most important 
 of which is the "locality allowance," granted to employees in propor- 
 tion to the importance of their home station. Locality allowances are 
 allotted at a normal percentage of the daily or monthly salary, the 
 percentage .ranging as high as 15 per cent in some cases. Certain 
 classes of employees, in addition, are expected to live on premises pro- 
 vided by the administration; in default of accommodations a dwelling 
 allowance is granted them. This allowance is never over $9.65 a 
 month. 
 
 Members of the staff residing in malarial districts receive a special 
 daily allowance proportioned to their rank, the season of the year, and 
 the district. 
 
 Further subsidiary payments are made, in the shape of premiums 
 for satisfactory performance of duty, to s^yitching employees, the sig- 
 naling staff, station masters, inspectors, and to the higher grades of 
 station clerks. 
 
 In general, the hours of duty must not ordinarily exceed 12 hours, 
 day or night, nor in any case can they run over 17 hours. Overtime 
 is commonly compensated by time off at another period or by overtime 
 payments. The rate of such pay is usually one-eighth of the daily 
 wage per hour of overtime. Permanent employees and also temporary 
 employees with a minimum service record of 12 months are entitled 
 to annual leave on full pay, ranging from 7 to 10 days for the lower 
 grades, and from 10 to 20 days for the middle and higher grades. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
57 
 
 Privileges of travel free or at reduced rates are granted to employ- 
 ees under well-defined regulations. Uniforms are not provided by the 
 admmistration, but it contributes toward their cost and supplies the 
 various articles at fixed prices. 
 
 Applicants for positions must be Italian citizens, and not over 30 
 to 35 years of age. Special preference is given to men who have com- 
 pleted a term of first-class military service. 
 
 The pension fund is maintained partly by enforced contributions 
 from employees and partly by state subventions. 
 
 In general, the rates of pay on state and private lines are on approxi- 
 mately the same scale. 
 
 Railway Wages in the United States and Italy Compared. ■ 
 
 The yearly salaries and supplementary allowances of trainmen in 
 Italy have been shown above. These may be summarized as follows : 
 
 ■ Annual salary. Supplementary 
 
 ' allowances. 
 
 Engine drivers $289.50— $521.10 $291.60 
 
 Chief guards 208.44 — 405-3o 192.24 
 
 Goods guards 150.54 — 231.60 152.40 
 
 Firemen i73-7o — 318.45 156.60 
 
 Brakesmena 121.50 — 185.40 118.20 
 
 For purposes of comparison a salary halfway between the max- 
 imum and minimum may be taken. To this may be added the 
 annual supplementary allowance and the result, which represents the 
 total estimated annual compensation, may be roughly compared with 
 trainmen's compensation in the United States. This is done in the 
 following table, the American statistics having been secured by multi- 
 plying the average daily compensation of the several classes of train- 
 men in 1908 by 300 working days per year. 
 
 Estimated Average Annual Compensation of Trainmen : 1908. 
 
 Italy. United States. 
 
 Engine drivers $696.90 $1,335 
 
 Chief guards 499. 11 "I 
 
 - - - r/ 
 
 1,143 
 
 Goods guards 343-47 . 
 
 Firemen 402.67 792 
 
 Brakesmen 271.65 780 4 
 
 a Annual salary estimated by multiplying daily wage by 300 working days per year. 
 b "Other trainmen.*' 
 
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58 
 
 The daily wage of signalmen, station porters, and second class mes- 
 sengers, statistics of which have been presented, may be compared 
 with the daily compensation of closely corresponding classes of Amer- 
 ican railway employees in 1908 as follows : 
 
 Average Daily Wage : 1908. 
 
 United 
 class of employee Italy. States. Equivalent class— United States. 
 
 Signalmen $.405 — jS.618 I $2.30 Telegraph operators and dispatchers. 
 
 Station porters 386— .733 1.82 "Other station men." 
 
 Messengers, Class 11. .482 — .7721 1.97 "All other employees and laborers. " 
 
 Even when these Italian wages are increased by the "locality allow- 
 ance," which is never greater than 15 per cent of the daily wage, and 
 by any premiums that may be granted for satisfactory service, it is 
 clear that they run far below the level of compensation paid to similar 
 classes of railway labor in the United States. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
59 
 
 A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RAILWAY WAGES AND THE 
 
 COST OF LIVING. 
 
 II. Cost of Living. 
 
 United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Belgium. 
 
 No comparative study of wages is complete without a correlative 
 study of the cost of living. Only when measured by the price standard 
 can wages be accurately compared, and there can be no satisfactory 
 study of wages in different countries unless it applies to real wages, 
 t. e., wages in their relation to the level of commodity prices. 
 
 It is proposed to bring together here, so far as possible, what mate- 
 rial is available regarding retail prices of commodities and cost of liv- 
 ing in the principal European countries, so as to throw light on the 
 relation which the purchasing power of the higher wage of the Ameri- 
 can workman, and especially the American railway employee, bears to 
 the purchasing power of the lower wage of the English or Continental 
 railway employee. 
 
 The subject of the cost of living has been much discussed in recent 
 years both in this and other countries. The United States Bureau of 
 Labor has made a number of budgetary studies, i. e., studies of the 
 expenditures of typical workingmeh's families, and a number of un- 
 ofificial bodies and private individuals have done the same. The com- 
 mission on' the cost of living recently appointed in Massachusetts re- 
 ported to the legislature of that State in May, 1910. More recently, a 
 committee of the United States Senate on Wages and Prices of Com- 
 modities has issued a report consisting of several volumes of hearings, 
 statistical compilations, and findings. Most important of all, the Labor 
 Department of the British Board of Trade completed in 191 1 a series 
 of five reports on the wages, housing, and living conditions in selected 
 industrial towns and cities of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, 
 Belgium, and the United States. These reports were issued between 
 1908 and 1911. 
 
 The present survey of the comparative cost of living in various 
 countries will comprise three divisions : first, a discussion of rents ; 
 second, a presentation of retail prices; third, a discussion of family 
 budgets, with especial reference to the United States as compared with 
 England and Wales. The text will be followed by an appendix, pre- 
 senting in detail the material on which the summaries and conclusions 
 are based. Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
6o 
 
 Rents. 
 
 The material regarding rents gathered by the British Board of 
 Trade in its investigations into cost of living may be summarized in 
 the following tabular statement. The statistics relate to the housing 
 accommodations of the kind and grade usually occupied by working- 
 men's families in the different countries. 
 
 Rental Per Year, a 
 
 Country. 
 
 United States 
 
 England and Wales b . 
 
 London 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Ireland 
 
 France 
 
 Paris 
 
 Germany 
 
 Berlin 
 
 Belgium 
 
 Two Rooms. 
 
 J38— 44 
 57-95 
 48—54 
 32—44 
 30—36 
 39—78 
 34—44 
 ^3-76 
 22 — 29 
 
 Three Rooms. 
 
 $85—121 
 47- 57 
 76-114 
 66— 8£ 
 50— 63 
 37— 53 
 58- 94 
 44 — 60 
 88—117 
 28- 36 
 
 Pour rooms. 
 
 flio— 152 
 57— 70 
 95—133 
 
 70- 85 
 
 44 - 55 
 78-97 
 
 54- 76 
 
 34— 44 
 
 Five rooms. 
 
 $146—189 
 
 70— 82 
 
 1 14—164 
 
 The Board of Trade found that the predominant type of dwelling 
 in the United States and in England and Wales was the four or five- 
 room house. The English house usually possesses, in addition, a scul- 
 lery, or back kitchen. In the other European countries the houses, or 
 in some instances flats, contained a smaller number of rooms, usually 
 from two to three or from three to four. That is, the standard of 
 housing was higher, on the average, in the United States and England, 
 than elsewhere. With this fact in mind, it becomes clear that a com- 
 parison of rental expenditures, for example, of the United States and 
 France, would involve setting the rental value of a four-room house in 
 the United States over against that of a three-room house or flat in 
 France. Such a comparison 'would undoubtedly be proper and fair, 
 but in the interest of caution rental values of the same grade of accom- 
 modation are here compared, regardless of standards of housing in the 
 several countries. 
 
 b Exclusive of London. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
6i 
 
 Reference to. the table shows that the rental value of a three-room 
 house or flat in the United States is higher than in any other country. 
 In fact, with the exception of London, Paris and Berlin, the minimum 
 value of such accommodation in the United States is higher than the 
 maximum value of the same accommodation elsewhere. The same is 
 true of four-room houses or flats, again excepting London. While 
 data are not available for two-room accommodations, it is safe to as- 
 sume that the rentals for these, as in the case of larger accommoda- 
 tions, are higher in the United States than elsewhere. 
 
 The range of rents secured by the Board of Trade may be standard- 
 ized by taking the median or halfway point as the type in each 
 case. This is made possible because of the fact that, as is stated in 
 the reports, the rental most often encountered is always close to a point 
 half way between the maximum and the minimum points of a given 
 range of values. The foregoing table may therefore be summed up 
 as follows : 
 
 Typical Annual Rentals. 
 
 Country. 
 
 United States 
 
 England and Wales". 
 
 London 
 
 Scotland 
 
 .Ireland 
 
 France ■. 
 
 Paris 
 
 Germany 
 
 Berlin 
 
 Belgium 
 
 Three rooms. 
 
 Four rooms. 
 
 Five rooms. 
 
 $102 
 
 $131 
 
 $167 
 
 52 
 
 63 
 
 76 
 
 95 
 
 114 
 
 139 
 
 73 
 
 .... 
 
 
 56 
 
 77 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 49 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 87 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 65 
 
 
 
 102 
 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 This table, while only approximate, shows clearly that rental values 
 in the United States range considerably higher than in the several 
 European countries under consideration. 
 
 Retail Prices. 
 
 Statistics of retail prices are available in abundance, yet only a 
 few of them can be utilized in an international comparison, because of 
 differences of measurements, grading, and naming of articles. Thus 
 tea comes in many brands, varieties, and mixtures, and the quotation 
 
 a Exclusive of London. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
62 
 
 of the price of tea in one place means nothing as a standard with which 
 to compare the price of tea anywhere else. Meats vary widely as to 
 age and quality of animal and cut of steak or roast. The prices of 
 none of the commonest staples can be quoted in comparison, country 
 with country, with full confidence as to their comparability. Thus a 
 degree of uncertainty attaches to all international cost comparisons. 
 
 With these qualifications borne constantly in mind, current retail 
 prices of the most easily standardized articles of general consumption 
 in the United States and other countries may be compared as in the 
 following table. The detailed table from which it has been sum- 
 marized, together with a statement of the sources from which the 
 statistics were taken, will be found in the appendix. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
63 
 
 
 
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64 
 
 Naval vessels are obliged to purchase stores in ports throughout 
 the whole world, and figures are available showing the prices paid by 
 them. Inasmuch as these stores are bought in large quantities, and 
 therefore at the most favorable rates, the data do no more than 
 throw interesting light on the problem. Thus the Massachusetts train- 
 ing ship "Ranger" bought bread in 1909 for 4 cents a pound in Boston, 
 6.5 cents in England, 3.8 cents in Nice, 4 cents in Amsterdam, 3.5 cents 
 in Antwerp, and 5 cents in Gibraltar. Secretary of the Navy Meyer re- 
 ported in 1909 that bread cost the navy 3.1 cents a pound in Boston, 
 4 cents in Nice, 5 cents in Naples, and 5.7 cents in Gibraltar." 
 
 By far the best available data as to the comparative cost of living is 
 that contained in the reports of the British Board of Trade already 
 described. The predominant range of retail prices of the various 
 articles of food included in its investigation by the Board of Trade is 
 given in the following table for the several countries covered by its 
 study. 
 
 " These instances are from the report ct the Massachusetts Commission on the 
 Cost of Living, p. 369, and from Sen. Doc. 488, 6ist Cong., 2d sess. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
65 
 
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66 
 
 It should be borne in mind that these prices are not necessarily the 
 minimum prices at which the commodities could be obtained, but repre- 
 sent the prices most commonly paid by the working classes. Even 
 where a range of prices is quoted, the lowest price of the range is not 
 necessarily the minimum. The range simply represents a group of 
 prices which relate to the commonly purchased grades or qualities of 
 foods. As was true of rents, where a range of prices is given, the 
 commonest or typical price found is about the median point, half way 
 between the lowest and the highest prices quoted. 
 
 The comparison made by the Board of Trade of the cost of living 
 in England and Wales with that in France shows that an English 
 workingman transported to France would pay for the same standard 
 of comfort about i8 per cent more than he does in England. If coal 
 be excluded, he would pay ii per cent more. Conversely, a French 
 workingman would pay in England about 5.7 per cent less for the 
 same standard of comfort than he is paying in France. 
 
 The comparison of the cost of living in England and Wales with 
 that in Germany indicates that the English workingman, transported 
 to Germany and living at his own standard of comfort, would pay 18 
 per cent more than he is paying in England. This excludes a com- 
 parison of tea and coffee. Conversely, a German workingman trans- 
 ported to England, and living at his old standard of comfort, would 
 find that his English price level was about 7.4 per cent lower than it 
 was in Germany. 
 
 The comparison of the cost of living in England and Wales and in 
 Belgiiun shows that, excluding commodities for which comparative 
 prices could not be secured, the English workingman who moved to 
 Belgium would find his budget increased by 2 per cent, or if coal were 
 excluded, slightly decreased. Conversely, a Belgian workingman mov- 
 ing to England would find his cost of living increased by about 2 per 
 cent, or if coal were excluded, increased by slightly over 5 per cent. 
 
 The comparison of the cost of living in England and Wales and in 
 the United States shows that an English family moving to the United 
 States and maintaining its regular standard of living, would find its 
 budgetary expenses increased by 38 per cent. Conversely, an Ameri- 
 can family would' pay 20 per cent less for its accustomed dietary if it 
 moved to England than it is now paying in the United States. These 
 comparisons between the cost of living in England and the United 
 States relate to the year 1909, a special investigation being made into 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
67 
 
 English prices in February, 1909, to provide a budgetary basis com- 
 parable with that of the United States. 
 
 Combining these various comparisons, and bringing them to a com- 
 mon basis, the following are the results. An English family which 
 was transferred in turn to the respective countries named below and 
 maintained its normal standard of living, would find its expenditures 
 for food and fuel to stand in the following relations to its expenditures 
 in England, the latter being taken as par, or lop per cent : 
 
 In England and Wales 100 per cent. 
 
 In Belgium 102 " " 
 
 In France 118 " " 
 
 In Germany ug " " 
 
 In the United States .........[. 138 " 
 
 From this it will be seen that the cost of liying in the United States, 
 compared with that of France, is in the ratio of 138 to 118, or 117.8 
 per cent — that is, it is 17.8 per cent higher than in France. Similarly, 
 the cost of living in the United States is 
 
 17.8 per cent higher than in Germany, 
 
 35-3 per cent higher than in Belgium, and 
 
 38.0 per cent higher than in the United Kingdom. 
 
 This is not a complete statement of the situation, inasmuch as it 
 takes into account only those articles, and in only those proportions, 
 used by the British workingman in his dietary. His standard would 
 doubtless rise in moving to the United States ; but for the same stand- 
 ard of living, the foregoing comparisons hold. 
 
 Budgets. 
 
 The Board of Trade, in its investigations, made a study of budgets 
 of workingmen's families in the five countries studied. The results are 
 given in some detail in the appendix. Below will be found a brief 
 resume, presented on a per capita basis : 
 
 Expenditures for Food Per Capita. 
 
 Per week. Per year. 
 
 United States $i-78 $92-33 
 
 France i-20 62.40 
 
 Germany 98 50.96 
 
 United Kingdom , 98 SOoS 
 
 Belgium 94 49- 12 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
68 
 
 Thus the actual expenditure of the average American workingman 
 for food in the northern part of the United States is seen to be greater 
 than that of the average workingman in France by 48.0 per cent, 
 greater than that of the workingman in Germany by 81.2 per cent; 
 greater than that of the workingman in England and Wales by 81.6 
 per cent; and greater than the amount spent by the workingman of 
 Belgium by 88.0 per cent. 
 
 The United States and England and Wales. 
 
 The English-American comparison of the cost of living, as ascer- 
 tained by the British Board of Trade in 1909, is here presented in 
 somewhat greater detail. While this comparison rests on returns 
 secured from but three trades— the building, the engineering, and the 
 printing trades — yet a comparison of the conditions of these trades in 
 one country with that of the same trades in another country sheds sig- 
 nificant light on the relative position of other classes of workmen, 
 such, for example, as railway employees. 
 
 In the three trades indicated, the Board of Trade investigators 
 found that on the average the wages of the American workman were 
 higher than those of the Enghsh by 130 per cent; that his hours of 
 work per week were fewer by 4 per cent; that his payments for rent 
 for the same kind and amount of house accommodation were higher 
 by 107 per cent ; that the retail prices of his food, weighted according 
 to the consumption shown in the British budgets, were, as has earlier 
 been shown, higher by 38 per cent. Put more briefly, it is found that 
 while the wages of the American workman are the higher by 130 per 
 cent, his expenditures for food and rent combined, on the British stand- 
 ard of living, are the higher by only 52 per cent. A much greater 
 margin over the expenditures for food and rent is, therefore, available 
 in the United States than in England and Wales. This margin, says 
 the report of the Board of Trade, "makes possible a command of the 
 necessaries and conveniences of life that is both nominally and really 
 greater than that enjoyed by the corresponding class in this country 
 (England)." 
 
 A thoughtful American reviewer of this comparison of English 
 and American conditions has said :" "While these precise figures 
 must be taken with broad qualifications, the conclusion that the 
 
 "W. C. Mitchell, in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1911. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
69 
 
 economic condition of the classes studied is better in America than in 
 England is abundantly confirmed by other evidence. The American 
 dietary is found to be more liberal and more varied than the English, 
 and the proportion of income left after paying rent and food bills 
 is larger in America. Indeed, even the lowest income class of Ameri- 
 can families spend relatively less of their income upon food and rent 
 than the highest income class of British families. Thus the American 
 family has a wider margin of income for buying non-necessaries, 
 enjoys a higher standard of living, and can save more money if so 
 disposed." 
 
 For the detailed discussion of the data summarized in Part II, refer- 
 ence is made to the appendix. 
 
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APPENDIX. 
 
 Reports of the British Board of Trade. 
 
 The first of the five reports of the Labor Department of the British 
 Board of Trade on Cost of Living related to the United Kingdom and 
 was based on data collected as of October, 1905, in ^7 cities in England 
 and Wales, 11 in Scotland, and 6 in Ii^nd. For the international 
 comparisons, o^ly the returns from the English and Welsh cities were 
 utilized. These cities aggregated in 1901 a population of 13,500,000. 
 The second report covered 33 cities of the German Empire, with an 
 aggregate population of 9,000,000, and was based on data collected 
 mainly in October, 1905, and partly also in March and April, 1908. 
 The third report related to France, and was also based on data col- 
 lected mainly as of October, 1905, and partly as of August-October, 
 
 1907. The French report covered 30 cities aggregating 6,000,000 popu- 
 lation. The fourth report covered 15 cities in Belgium with an aggre- 
 gate population of 1,680,000, and the data were obtained as of June, 
 
 1908. The final report included 28 cities in the northern and southern 
 parts of the United States east of the Mississippi, the data being se- 
 cured as of the month of February, 1909. The population of these 
 cities aggregated 15,488,000 according to the United States census of 
 1910. 
 
 With reference to the extent to which the statistics presented in 
 these reports are modified by the changes in prices between October, 
 1905, the date of the investigation in England and Wales, and the 
 dates of the several investigations in the other countries, it may be 
 stated that in Germany, so far as it was possible to judge from the 
 few returns obtained in March, 1908, prices appear to have undergone 
 little change. In France the average increase in food prices between 
 October, 1905, and October, 1907, was estimated at slightly under 5 
 per cent. In Belgium no appreciable change appears to have occurred 
 down to the autumn of 1908. Allowance has already been made in 
 this study for the increase of 4 Per cent which took place in the prices 
 of English commodities between October, 1905, and February, 1909. 
 
 The material contained in these reports relates to rates of wages, 
 rents, retail prices, and budgets. The wage data brought together by 
 the Board of Trade in these reports deal with the building, engineer- 
 ing, printing, and furnishing trades. 
 
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71 
 
 Rents. 
 
 The predominant type of housing accommodation in England and 
 Wales was found by the Board of Trade to be the tenement of four 
 or five rooms ; that is, the self-contained two-story dwelling, in which 
 are four or five rooms and a scullery, or back kitchen. For such ac- 
 commodations as these the principal range of weekly rents in 1905, 
 including all rates or taxes, was $1.09 to $1.34 for the four-room, and 
 $1.34 to $1.58 for the five-room dwellings. This would be a yearly 
 rental of $57 to $70 for the four-room type, and $70 to $82 for the 
 five-room type. Corresponding rents in London for the four-room 
 dwelling ranged from $1.83 to $2.55 per week, or $95 to $133 per 
 year, and for the five-room dwelling from $2.19 to $3.16 per week, or 
 $114 to $164 per year. 
 
 In Scotland the Board of Trade found the typical residence of the 
 workingman to be the flat of one, two, or three rooms of considerable 
 size. The predominant range of rents (including rates, or taxes) for 
 such flats in Scotland was in 1905 as follows : for one-room flats, $25 
 to $32 per year; for two-room flats, $48 to $54 per year; and for 
 three-room flats, $66 to $81 per year. 
 
 Irish residential conditions were found to be similar to those of 
 England an^ Wales. Outside of Dublin, the predominant type is the 
 two to five-room dwelling; in Dublin, the tenement house. Rents 
 ranged as follows: one room and scullery, $19 to $32 per year; two 
 rooms and scullery, $32 to $44 per year ; three rooms and scullery, $50 
 to $63 per year ; four rooms and scullery, $70 to $85 per year. 
 
 In Germany, the British Board of Trade found the predominant 
 type to be the flat of two or three rooms, with appurtenances, in a large 
 tenement house. "Appurtenances" in this connection refer to a share 
 of the cellar for the storage of fuel or for laundry tise, the use of a 
 loft on certain, days for drying purposes, and the like. Gerjnan rents 
 do not include local taxes, which must be paid separately by the occu- 
 piers. Rents paid for two-room flats, outside of Berlin; ranged in 1905 
 from $.65 to $.85 per week, or $34 to $44 per year, and for three- 
 room flats from $.85 to $1.16 per week, or $44 to $60 per year. In 
 Berlin, two-room flats cost $1.22 to $1.46 per week, or $63 to $76 per 
 year, while three-room flats rented for $1.70 to $2.25 per week, or $88 
 to $117 per year. 
 
 The French type of housing, according to the British Board of 
 
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72 
 
 Trade, is largely of the tenement-house flat type, but partly also of 
 the small-house type. French rents, like the German, do not include 
 local taxes, nor as a rule any charge for water. Rent for two rooms 
 in Paris in 1905 ranged from $.75 to $1.50 per week, or $39 to $78 per 
 year; in other French towns from $.57 to $.69 per week, or $30 to 
 $36 per year. Three rooms rented for $1.12 to $i;8o per week, or 
 $58 to $94 per year, in Paris; in other French towns $.71 to $1.01 per 
 week, or $37 to $53 per year. Four rooms cost $1.50 to $1.86 per 
 week, or $78 to $97 per year, in Paris ; in other French towns, $.85 to 
 $1.05 per week, or $44 to $55 per year. 
 
 Belgian rent data were collected by the British Board of Trade in 
 1908. The predominant housing type in Belgium is the small self- 
 contained house or cottage, with fewer but larger rooms than in Eng- 
 land. Local rates or taxes are not included in the Belgian rental. 
 Rents in Belgium were reported as follows : two-room dwellings, $.43 
 to $.55 per week, or $22 to $29 per year; three-room dwellings, $.53 
 to $.69 per week, or $28 to $36 per year; four-room dwellings, $.65 
 to $.85, per week, dr $34 to $44 per year. 
 
 The Board of Trade pursued its rent investigations in the United 
 States in February, 1909. The predominant type of dwelling was 
 found to be the one-family house, although exceptions to this type were 
 numerous. Four and five rooms were most commonly found, the 
 houses containing them being more often built of frame or timber 
 than of brick. Rentals for four-room dwellings or tenements, which 
 were the prevailing type, were from $2.11 to $2.92 per week, or $110 
 to $152 per year. For five-room dwellings, which also formed a pre- 
 dominant type, rents per week ranged from $2.80 to $3.63, represent- 
 ing yearly rentals of $146 to $189. 
 
 Retaii, Prices. 
 
 The complete table from which the summary table of retail prices 
 on page 63 was taken is shown on pages 74 and 75. The bibliography 
 of the table appears on page 73. 
 
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73 
 
 Bibliography to Table on Pages 74 and 75. 
 
 Massachusetts.— Average of prices in 7 cities and 2 towns in Massachusetts, 
 March, 1910. Report Massachusetts Commission on Cost of 
 Livmg, pp. 64, 70, 163. The price of bread represents the 
 average of prices in five Massachusetts cities in 1909, taken 
 from the report of the Board of Trade on the Cost of Living 
 in the United States. 
 
 London (A).— Prices in three laboring districts in London, secured late in 1909 
 or early in 1910. Report on Wages and Prices of Commodi- 
 ties, pp. 1406-7. 
 
 London (B).— Prices in London, 1910. Wages and Prices Abroad, Part I. pp. 
 II, 12, 19. 
 
 Sheffield.— Prices in Sheffield, England, 1910. Wages and Prices Abroad, Part I, 
 pp. 26-27. 
 
 Manchester.— Prices in Manchester, England, loio. Wages and Prices Abroad, 
 Part IL p. 8. 
 
 Bradford.- Prices in Bradford, England, 1910. Wages and Prices Abroad, Part 
 in, pp. 58-71. 
 
 Dublin.- Prices in Dublin, Ireland, 1910. Wages and Prices Abroad, Part I, p. 60. 
 
 Germany. — Prices in 51 German cities in September, 191 1. Cooperation and Cost 
 of Living in certain Foreign Countries, 62d Cong., 2d Sess., 
 H. R. Doc. 617, pp. 6-7. 
 
 Berlin. — Prices in Berlin, Germany, 1910. Wages and Prices Abroad, Part I, 
 p. 82. 
 
 Frankfort. — Prices in Frankfort, Germany, February, 1910. Wages and Prices 
 Abroad, Part IV, p. 16. 
 
 Chemnitz. — Prices in Chemnitz, Germany, 1910. Wages and Prices Abroad, Part 
 I, pp. 4-S- 
 
 Paris. — Prices in Paris, France, March 10, 1910. French pound reduced on the 
 basis of I.I English pounds each; liter reduced on the basis 
 of i.os quarts each. yfa.gts and Prices Abroad, Part I, p. 69. 
 
 Havre. — Prices in Havre, France, November, 1911. Cooperation and Cost of 
 Living in certain Foreign Countries, p. 6. 
 
 Marseilles. — Prices in Marseilles, France, January-February, 1910. Wages and 
 Prices Abroad, Part I, pp. 76-77. 
 
 Lyons. — Prices in Lyons, France, February, 1910. Wages and Prices Abroad, 
 Part IV, pp. 12-13. 
 
 Bordeaux. — Prices in Bordeaux, France, 1910. Wages and Prices Abroad, Part 
 IV, p. 7. 
 
 Milan. — Prices in Milan, Italy, 1908. Digest of recent statistical publications, 
 issued by Committee on Wages and Prices of Commodities, 
 6ist Cong., 2d Session, Sen. Doc. 631, p. 77. 
 
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74 
 
 RETAII, PRICES OF COMMODITIES. 
 (The bibliography of this table is given on page 73.) 
 
 
 Basis- 
 cents 
 per 
 
 Place iand Year. 
 
 
 U.S. 
 
 United Kingdom. 
 
 
 Article. 
 
 Il 
 
 a 
 a a<< 
 
 a 
 
 la- 
 
 "0 
 
 Is 
 
 u 
 
 « 
 V 
 
 = " 
 
 s 
 
 •E 
 
 M- 
 
 n 
 
 a 
 — 
 
 a 
 
 Beef 
 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 
 cents 
 30 
 
 cents 
 16-20 
 
 cents 
 
 cents 
 12 
 
 cents 
 17-20 
 
 cents 
 
 16 
 
 14-20 
 18-20 rf 
 16-20 
 
 cents 
 20 
 
 Veal 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14-5^ 
 15-16 
 22-24 
 
 20-21 
 
 21 
 
 18-24 
 
 20 
 
 Pork 
 
 17-9 
 
 12-16 
 i6-i4 
 
 "iS-'is" 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ham. 
 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 
 20.5 
 
 
 
 20-28 
 16 
 
 2.2* 
 3-5 
 3 
 
 24-26 
 
 17 
 17 
 
 
 28 
 
 Lard 
 
 Wlieat 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 2.4-2.5 
 3 
 
 '■7 
 
 2.1 
 
 Flour 
 
 n 
 
 2.6-2.9 
 3 
 
 3-2 
 
 3-5- 
 
 
 
 
 
 Milk 
 
 it: 
 
 lb. 
 dox. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 
 7-7 ' 
 35-5 
 
 8 
 
 24-32 
 
 14-16 
 
 18-24 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 29 
 
 17t20 
 
 24 
 
 4-5 
 4 
 
 
 
 6-7 
 26-32 
 17-20 
 
 
 Butter 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 32 
 
 5 
 
 28-32 
 
 14-20 
 
 30 
 24 
 30 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 5-5 
 
 Sugar, eran. „.. 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 bu. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 
 67-5 
 ""6 a" 
 
 38.6-5I.4 
 4 
 
 70 
 
 s-s 
 
 3 
 5-5 
 
 
 
 68.6 
 
 3-6 
 
 58.4 
 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oatmeal.. 
 
 4-6 
 
 4 
 
 
 3.5 
 
 Salt _ . ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oranges. 
 
 doz. 
 doz. 
 gal. 
 
 ton 
 
 ton 
 
 
 8-12 
 
 
 
 
 24-30 
 
 20 
 
 16-28 
 
 $391- 
 4-56 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oil 
 
 12 
 $7,814 
 
 
 12-15 
 
 »5-83 
 $6.32- 
 7-05 
 
 16-20 c 
 l$4.0I 
 
 
 
 Aiithractie coal.. 
 
 
 J $4.29- 
 1 4.64 
 
 
 
 
 } I6.08 
 
 
 
 
 a Quart = 2 lbs. ^Bu. = 6olb5. c Petroleum 28-30 cents. d N. Z. frozen =9-11 cents. 
 
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75 
 
 RETAII, PRICES OF COMMODITIES. 
 (The bibliography of this table is given on page 73.) 
 
 Place and Year. 
 
 Ba- 
 sis- 
 cents 
 
 per 
 
 
 Germany. 1 
 
 France. 
 
 Italy. 
 
 
 a 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 •So 
 
 n 
 
 .0 
 
 c J. 
 
 2 
 
 H. 
 
 "H 
 41 - 
 
 -So 
 
 V 
 
 a 
 
 V 
 
 II 
 
 n 
 
 tfl 
 
 §1 
 
 M 
 
 3 
 
 Ss 
 
 
 n 
 
 .It 
 
 Arlicle. 
 
 ceiits 
 
 18.4 
 
 cents 
 
 15-19 
 17-20 
 16-19 
 
 17-21 
 19 
 
 cents ■ 
 
 18.7 
 18.4 
 18 2 
 
 cents 
 
 168 
 184 
 184 
 19.4 
 19.4 
 
 cents 
 
 21.8-32.7 
 25.4-29I 
 
 cents 
 
 39 
 48 
 
 € 
 
 40 
 
 cents 
 
 19.1-26-4 
 23-'6-30-5 
 19.1-23.6 
 17.320.9 
 20.9 
 
 cents 
 
 20.9 
 20.9 
 20.9 
 17.7 
 
 cents 
 
 cents 
 
 14.4 
 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 
 Beef 
 
 18-25 
 
 14-16 
 16 
 
 Veal 
 
 20.1 
 
 
 Mutton 
 
 
 20.6 
 
 Pork. 
 
 18.5 
 
 26 
 
 Bacon . 
 
 
 28 
 17 
 
 4S 
 5-8 
 
 19-5 
 
 2-4 
 4.8 
 
 30.2 
 16.8 
 
 "4-3 
 
 36.4-60.9 
 
 18.2 
 
 9.:-Ta9 
 3.6-4 -5 
 
 
 
 ■■—■■"- ■•• 
 
 2.6 
 
 5-7 
 3-5-3 9 
 
 4-5-5 
 3-7 
 
 - 4 
 
 4 5 
 
 4 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb.- 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb. 
 
 Ham. 
 
 
 "2.6A 
 3-9 
 
 I ard 
 
 
 .4 
 
 6 
 
 -44 
 
 „..„.. 
 
 10 
 
 Wheat. 
 Flour. 
 
 
 Bread. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 6 
 
 .5-5 
 
 23.8 
 
 22.8 
 
 6.2 
 
 --•7-9-5 
 30.9-45.5 
 21.8-26,4 
 
 73 , 
 30-5 
 
 7-3 
 
 5-7 
 7-7 
 
 6 
 18-30 
 
 12 
 
 "27.1 
 
 qt. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 doz. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 
 Milk. 
 
 
 Butter. 
 
 
 
 Cheese. 
 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 Eggs. 
 
 
 Sugar, gran. 
 Sugar, brown 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 45-6 
 
 42.6 
 
 ,5-3 
 
 $1.64-2.73 
 6.4-8.2 
 
 6-4-7-3 
 
 $1-50 
 
 10 
 
 78.7 
 
 . t3-=7 
 23 
 
 ■■7-8 ' 
 3 
 2 
 
 ...„„.. 
 
 bu. 
 lb. 
 lb. 
 Jb. 
 lb. 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 
 Rice. 
 
 
 4..1 
 
 i1 
 
 Beans. 
 
 
 Oatmeal. . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Salt. 
 
 
 
 9.6-J3-2 
 
 20 
 20 
 21-9 
 
 ?6.05 
 
 
 
 
 26.5 
 
 $11,681 
 -13.61 ) 
 
 
 
 
 doz, 
 doz. 
 gal. 
 
 Ion 
 
 ton 
 
 Oranges. 
 
 
 
 12.52 i- 
 
 $12 00 
 
 '£2 
 5" 55 
 $7-35 
 
 Lemons. 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 $7-33 
 
 
 
 Oil. 
 
 
 
 
 Anthracile coal 
 Bituminous coal 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 e Lamb =14-22 cents. /LutdTj— 14-22 cents. 
 
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76 
 
 Budgets. 
 
 In the United Kingdom budgets were procured by the Board of 
 Trade in 1903-4 from 1,944 families, averaging 3.6 children living at 
 home, or about 5.6 persons per family, tt was found that these fami- 
 lies spent for food, not including liquors, an average of $5.47 per 
 week, or $285 per year. This is an individual average of $.98 weekly, 
 or $50.85 annually. 
 
 In Germany budgets were obtained in 1906-7 from 5,046 families, 
 which averaged 2.7 children living at home, or about 4.7 persons per 
 family. Expenditures for food, excluding beer, averaged $4.60 per 
 week, or $239 a year, for each family. This is an individual average 
 of $.98 weekly, or $50.96 annually. Expenditures for beer amounted 
 to 20 cents per family per week, or $10.40 per year. 
 
 In France budgets were secured in 1907-8 from 5,605 families, 
 which averaged 2.2 children living at home, or about 4.2 persons per 
 family. Expenditures for food, excluding wine and beer, amounted 
 to $5.11 per week, or $266 per year, for each family; and for each 
 person $1.20 weekly and $62.40 annually. The amounts spent for 
 wine and beer increased the expenditures of the average family by 
 $.67 a week, or $35 a year. 
 
 In Belgium budgets were collected in 1908-9 from 1,859 families, 
 which averaged 2.7 children at home, or about 4.7 persons per family. 
 Expenditures for food, exclusive of wine and beer, were $4.44 per 
 week per family, or $231 par year. This amounts to $.94 per person 
 per week, or $49.12 per person per year. Wine ana beer expenditures 
 added $.14 a week, or $7 a year, to the average family budget. 
 
 In the United States budgets were secured in 1909 from 3,215 
 British-American (t. e., American, Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, and 
 Canadian) families living in the north. These families averaged 4.9 
 persons each, and expended for their food $8.70 per week, or $452 per 
 year. For each member of the family this amounts to $1.78 per week, 
 or $92.33 per year. 
 
 A London workingman's family, consisting of man and wife and 
 possibly two small children, may subsist on $3.66 a week, or $190 a 
 year, according to the report of the Senate Committee on Wages and 
 Prices. This estimate is based on a study of 75 poor families in Lon- 
 don, and may be regarded as a bare minimum. Compare this with the 
 estimate of the Bureau of Labor in 1907 as to the average cost of food 
 
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77 
 
 of the American workingniJin's family in that year — $374.7S — or the 
 Massachusetts commission estimate for 1910 of $478.10 per year. 
 These estimates may be called standard or typical, rather than mini- 
 mum, budgets. The Bureau of Labor estimate rests on a study of 
 2,567 families, while the Massachusetts commission's estimate was 
 reached by adjusting to the year 1910 a Bureau of Labor study of 
 prices in 1903. 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 HD4966.R12 B95 
 
 A comparative study of railway wages and 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 030 077 360 
 
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