RECENT FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.

AUSTRIA.

Systematisches Verzeichnis der Gewerbe und anderer gewerbemässig ausgeübter Beschäftigungen für statistische Zwecke der Handels- und Gewerbekammern in den im Reichsrathe vertretenen Königreichen und Ländern. Zweite revidierte Auflage. 1900. 147 pp.

The present volume, which is intended as a reference book for the use of the chambers of commerce and industry, is a revised edition of a publication issued in 1896. It contains a classified list not only of all occupations in the countries represented in the Austrian Parliament which come within the scope of the industrial code (Gewerbeordnung), as in the case of the first edition, but also of all other enterprises and branches of industry which are subject to the provisions of the income-tax law. The present report contains 10,267 quotations of occupations and industries. These are classified into two general divisions, the first covering 6,571 quotations relating to the production of raw materials and manufacturing, and the second containing 3,696 quotations relating to commerce, transportation, and other industries. The industries in the first division are subdivided into 19 and those in the second division into 6 principal groups. These principal groups are again subdivided into minor groups. a second list the individual quotations of occupations and industries are arranged alphabetically.

GREAT BRITAIN.

In

Eighth Annual Report on Changes in Rates of Wages and Hours of Labor in the United Kingdom. 1900. xciv, 273 pp. (Published by the Labor Department of the British Board of Trade.)

This is the eighth of a series of annual reports dealing with the changes in the market rates of wages and recognized hours of labor of working people in the United Kingdom for a full week's work, exclusive of overtime. The changes of this character are shown in detailed tables and in summaries showing the facts with regard to each trade and group of trades classified in various ways. The report also contains piece-price statements and sliding-wage scales agreed upon in 1900 and the principal amendments to similar statements which were

in operation before the beginning of that year. The changes recorded in the present report are based upon returns from employees' and employers' associations, trade unions, local correspondents of the department, and official sources. These returns show that at the end of the year 1900 the general level of wages in the United Kingdom stood higher than in any other year for which statistics exist and that the rate of increase during the year 1900 was unprecedentedly high. The year as a whole was characterized by good trade, steady employment, and freedom from disputes of any considerable magnitude, although some signs of decline in the labor market were observable toward the end of the year.

The tables following summarize the principal data contained in the returns for the years 1893 to 1900:

CHANGES IN RATES OF WAGES, AND EMPLOYEES AFFECTED, 1893 TO 1900.

1893.

1894.

1895.

1896.

1897.

148.

1899.

1900.

a Decrease.

CHANGES IN HOURS OF LABOR AND EMPLOYEES AFFECTED, 1893 TO 1900.

The data shown in the above tables, as well as in the detailed tables, do not include returns regarding agricultural laborers, seamen, and railroad employees, which are separately treated in the report.

CHANGES IN RATES OF WAGES.-The unit adopted for comparison is the rate of wages for a full week's work, exclusive of overtime, at the end of 1900, compared with a similar week at the end of 1899.

During the year 1900 1,135,786 persons were affected by wage changes, of whom 1,112,684, or 97.97 per cent, had their wages 1110 No. 38-02-10

increased; 23,010, or 2.02 per cent, suffered a reduction, and 92, or 0.01 per cent, were affected by changes leaving the wages the same at the end as at the beginning of the year. The net result of these changes was an aggregate rise of £209,373 ($1,018,914) per week, compared with a rise of £90,905 ($442,389) in 1899, and a rise of £80,815 ($393,286) in 1898. The net increase per week per employee affected by changes in wages was 3s. 84d. ($0.897) in 1900, compared with 1s. 64d. (80.375) in 1899 and 1s. 7d. ($0.385) in 1898.

The following table shows, by industries, the number of changes in the rates of wages in 1900, and the number of employees affected:

CHANGES IN RATES OF WAGES AND EMPLOYEES AFFECTED, BY INDUSTRIES, 1900.

As in previous years the most prominent feature of the changes in rates of wages in 1900 was the rise of miners' wages, the group of mining and quarrying showing a total of 701,419 individual employees whose wages were increased, and but 4,018 whose wages were reduced. In the textile industry 125,089 employees had their wages increased, and none suffered a reduction.

The net results of these changes in rates of wages during a period of eight years are shown by industries in the following table:

AVERAGE INCREASE IN RATES OF WAGES, BY INDUSTRIES, 1893 to 1900.

The net increase in 1900 was more than twice as great as the increase in any other year of the eight-year period. The industry group of mining and quarrying shows the greatest increase per employee, namely, 4s. 94d. ($1.161). The slightest net increase per employee occurred

in the group of textiles, namely, 11 d. ($0.233). The groups of building trades, clothing, and employees of public authorities show an unbroken succession of net increases in rates of wages for each vear of the period.

The groups of agricultural laborers, railway employees, and seamen have been separately considered in the report, owing to the difficulty in obtaining returns of the precise number of persons affected by changes in wage rates in these industries.

Information regarding the wages of agricultural laborers in England and Wales was obtained mainly from the chairmen of rural district councils. In the report the current rates of weekly cash wages in January and June, 1900, are compared with those returned for corresponding dates in 1899. The returns received were exclusive of piecework earnings and extra payments and allowances of any kind. Figures presented for a series of years show that the improvement in the rates of wages of agricultural laborers has continued steadily since 1896. The districts in which an increase in wages was reported for 1900 contained 281,262 laborers, or 86,071 more than the corresponding number for 1899. No decreases were reported in 1900, the number affected by decreases in wages having fallen off year by year since 1895. The total effect of these changes was an increase of £9,939 ($48,368.14) per week, or 84d. ($0.172) per employee of those affected, or d. ($0.01) more than in 1899. Calculated on the total number of agricultural laborers in England and Wales, the rise per employee in 1900 amounted to 31d. ($0.066) per week. The returns for Scotland were based on information obtained from hiring fairs, and also from a number of representative employers. At the yearly and half-yearly hiring fairs held in the spring or early summer of 1900, the wages of men frequently rose at the rate of about 20s. ($4.87) to 50s. ($12.17) and sometimes as much as 60s. ($14.60) per annum. The wages of women and boys also generally increased. At the hiring fairs held between August and December the old rates were maintained in most cases, and where changes took place increases were more numerous than decreases. Reports from Ireland show a slight upward tendency in the wages of farm laborers.

The rates of wages of seamen are based upon returns furnished by superintendents of the mercantile marine in the various ports of the Kingdom. The monthly wages on steamships show the following changes: Able seamen, from 82s. 8d. ($20.11) in 1899 to 82s. 5d. ($20.05) in 1900, a decrease of 3d. ($0.061); firemen and trimmers, from 87s. 2d. ($21.21) in 1899 to 87s. 1d. ($21.19) in 1900, a decrease of 1d. ($0.02). The monthly wages of able seamen on sailing vessels increased from 59s. 10d. ($14.56) in 1899 to 60s. 7d. ($14.74) in 1900, or 9d. ($0.183). The rates of wages given are in addition to food.

In determining the wages of railway servants a different method has been followed than that adopted for other groups of trades, the actual earnings being considered instead of the wage rates, because in the

British railway service the remuneration is usually regulated by graduated scales of pay rather than by fixed wage rates. It is intended to indicate the total effect of all changes in the earnings of railway employees, whether arising out of real changes in the scale of pay, ordinary advances under existing scales, or overtime or short time. Returns are published from 29 companies, employing together over 90 per cent of the railway employees in the United Kingdom. The returns summarized in the following table cover the number of employees and the average wages for the first week in December of each year from 1896 to 1900 in the passenger, freight, locomotive, and machinery construction departments:

AVERAGE WAGES PAID RAILWAY EMPLOYEES IN 29 COMPANIES, FIRST WEEK IN DECEMBER, 1896 TO 1900.

These figures show that while there was a gradual rise in average earnings during the four-year period from 1896 to 1899, the average earnings of railway servants during the first week of December, 1900, included in the returns, were 24d. ($0.046) less than in the first week of December, 1899. This does not necessarily show a decline in actual wage rates, as earnings may be affected by other causes, such as amount of overtime, etc.

CHANGES IN HOURS OF LABOR.-During the year 1900 a net reduc tion, averaging 4.12 hours, took place in the weekly hours of labor of 57,726 employees, of whom 869 had their hours increased an average of 1.64 per week, and 56,857 had their hours decreased by 4.21 per week.

The following table shows for the years 1893 to 1900 the number of employees affected by changes in hours of labor, classified according to the extent per week of such changes:

EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY CHANGES IN HOURS OF LABOR, BY EXTENT OF CHANGE PER WEEK, 1893 TO 1900.