PRODUCTION OF ILLUMINATING GAS, COKE, AND TAR IN CERTAIN DEPARTMENTS OF FRANCE.a [NOTE. In this table 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds) are considered a ton.] a Two hundred and seven establishments are covered by this table, about 28 per cent. of the whole number. PRODUCTION OF ROLLED IRON IN WESTPHALIA, GERMANY, 1878. a a It is asserted by prominent manufacturers and others in position to know that the wages in 1885 were substantially the same as in 1878. COST OF PRODUCTION OF 1,000 KILOGRAMS (2,205 POUNDS) OF BAR IRON IN WESTPHALIA IN 1878.a Hamm. Nachrodt. Lippstadt. Private firm. company. Amount. a It is asserted by prominent manufacturers and others in a position to know that the cost of production in 1885 was not very much different from what it was in 1878. SHARE OF LABOR AND CAPITAL IN COAL MINING-PROVINCE OF HAINAULT, BEL Per cent. Amount. Per cent. The following exhibit, drawn from official sources, is given as the average cost of production of a ton (2,205 pounds) of coal in Belgium. These figures represent the average cost for the whole country: One of the most important elements in the cost of production, after the actual wages paid, lies in the efficiency of labor; but the difficulties in the way of ascertaining the efficiency of labor are greater than those in the way of ascertaining the general cost of production, and is a task involving such wide and such scientific work that it could not be taken up by the Bureau during its first year. The true element of wages, also, can only be ascertained by the most careful analysis of the efficiency of labor in all directions. The attempt will be made, when opportunity offers, to make such an analysis. It will be seen from the foregoing tables that there is no American standard of the cost of producing a given unit of production, nor, in fact, can any absolute standard be obtained for other countries. On the other hand, it is true that an approximate standard can be obtained, not only to a large extent from the data presented, but with ample information a standard could be reached by which the cost of production could be very carefully and very satisfactorily graded. Many corroborating statements have been examined to test the validity of the figures given in the great industries like iron and textiles, and while in some cases there has been found some deviation from statements made in trades journals and in the facts and figures published by associations, no deviation sufficient to invalidate the statements made in the foregoing tables has been observed. The Variation in the Rates of Wages.-If the reader will refer to Appendix A, he will find a table covering 582 manufacturing establishments, showing the number of persons engaged in each specific occupation in each establishment, with their daily rates of wages. The wages in nearly all cases were taken direct from the payrolls. The table is referred to in this connection since it forms the basis of the summaries which follow, they having been directly derived from it. These summaries bring out the chief points of value contained in the long detailed table. The first shows the number of adult employés and the average rates of daily wages of leading occupations in the industries named in the various states and countries covered by the investigation. The second table shows the average rates of daily wages for children and youth in the same industries and in the same states and countries. The third table shows the number of employés in each occupation of an industry for each state, and the percentage of employés in each occupation considered of the whole number of employés in each state and country, so far as the establishments investigated by the Bureau are concerned. The fourth summary brings out the number of employés in each industry, for each state and country involved, with the average rates of daily wages and the average running time, both daily and yearly, during the past year. In this summary the states where conditions are more nearly alike are placed together, forming geographical groups, each separated from the other by a white line. The fifth summary shows the total number of employés, average daily wages, and average daily and yearly working time for the industries involved for all the states covered. A casual examination of these summaries will show that any attempt to prove an American rate of wages must necessarily result in failure. There is no such thing as an American rate of wages. |