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The preliminary work necessary to fixing minimum-wage rates is considerable and only a few of the States have yet reached this point in the administration of their minimum-wage laws. In Utah, where the rate was fixed in the law, it came into effect with the law without formality. In Minnesota wage orders were issued in October, 1914, fixing wages, but an injunction issued the day before the orders were to become effective suspended their enforcement, and the matter is still awaiting the decision of the State supreme court. In some of the other States action has been delayed pending the decision of the United States Supreme Court upon the constitutionality of the Oregon act. The wage determinations thus far available and the dates when effective, are as follows. It will be observed that the variations for age and experience in the rates fixed in these determinations are much less numerous than in those of the British and Australian wages boards:

OREGON.

October 4, 1913, in manufacturing or mercantile establishments, millinery, dressmaking or hairdressing shops, laundries, hotels, restaurants, telephone or telegraph establishments or offices in the State, for girls between 16 and 18 years, a minimum wage of $1 a day.

November 10, 1913, in manufacturing establishments in Portland, for experienced adult women, a minimum weekly rate of $8.64.

November 23, 1913, in mercantile establishments in Portland, for experienced adult women, a minimum weekly rate of $9.25.

February 2, 1914, in offices in Portland, for experienced adult women, a minimum rate of $40 per month.

February 7, 1914, in any industry in the State, experienced adult women, a minimum weekly rate of $8.25.

February 7, 1914, for inexperienced adult women, a minimum weekly rate of $6. Such workers shall be considered inexperienced not more than one year.

August 31, 1914, in millinery and dressmaking trades, for women and girls with no previous experience, a preapprenticeship period of 30 days' employment to test fitness for the trade will be allowed at a weekly rate of less than $6.

WASHINGTON.

June 27, 1914, in mercantile establishments, for any female over 18, a minimum weekly rate of $10.

June 27, 1914, in mercantile establishments, for any person under 18, a minimum weekly rate of $6.

August 1, 1914, in factories, for any female over 18, a minimum weekly rate of $8.90. August 1, 1914, in factories, for any person under 18, a minimum weekly rate of $6. August 24, 1914, in laundries and dye works, for any female over 18, a minimum weekly rate of $9.

August 24, 1914, in laundries and dye works, for any person under 18, a minimum weekly rate of $6.

September 7, 1914, in any establishment in connection with the operation of a telephone or telegraph line, for any female over 18, a minimum weekly rate of $9. October 7, 1914, in any establishment in connection with the operation of a telephone or telegraph line, for any person under 18, a minimum weekly rate of $6 (this order does not apply to messengers in third-class cities or towns who are not continuously employed and who are paid by the piece).

1 See page 66.

February 20, 1915, as stenographer, bookkeeper, typist, billing clerk, filing clerk, cashier, checker, invoice clerk, comptometer operator, or any clerical work of any kind, for any female over 18, a minimum weekly rate of $10.

February 20, 1915, as stenographer, bookkeeper, typist, billing clerk, filing clerk, cashier, checker, invoice clerk, comptometer operator, or any clerical work of any kind, for any person between 16 and 18, a minimum weekly rate of $7.50; for any person under 16, a minimum weekly rate of $6.

Also the following rules in regard to apprentices:

June 27, 1914, in mercantile establishments, for apprentices

First 6 months, a minimum weekly rate of $6.

Second 6 months, a minimum weekly rate of $7.50.

And not more than 17 per cent of the total number of adult female employees shall be apprentices, and not more than 50 per cent of apprentices shall receive a weekly wage of less than $7.50.

Millinery and dressmaking, one year's apprenticeship

17 weeks at $3 a week.

17 weeks at $5 a week.

18 weeks at $7.50 a week.

Manicuring and hairdressing, one year's apprenticeship, in 4 periods of 3 months each

First period, $1.50 a week.
Second period, $4 a week.
Third period, $6 a week.
Fourth period, $8 a week.
Telephone, 9 months' apprenticeship-
3 months at $6 a week.

2 months at $6.60 a week. 2 months at $7.20 a week. 2 months at $7.80 a week. In the smaller exchanges— 4 months at $6 a week.

5 months at $7.50 a week.

Laundry, 6 months' apprenticeship3 months at $6 a week.

3 months at $7.50 a week.

Factories, 6 months to one year's apprenticeship, with two or more periods, beginning at $6 a week.

Office employment, 6 months' apprenticeship, at $7.50 a week.

Brush industry, August 15, 1914:

MASSACHUSETTS.

For experienced female employees, a minimum wage of 15 cents an hour.
For learners and apprentices, 65 per cent of the above minimum.
Period of apprenticeship shall not be more than 1 year.

These findings shall apply also to all minors.

The material available for arriving at a judgment of the effect of the minimum-wage laws in the various States is as yet very limited. Such laws must be regarded as still in the experimental stage so far as the United States is concerned. A study of their operations over a considerable period of time and under a variety of conditions will be necessary before any definite conclusion as to their ultimate effect can be reached. In Utah, as the wage scale came into force with the law itself on March 13, 1913, there is a considerable period

of experience to indicate the effect of the law. In the other States where wage rates have come into force, the longest experience is found in Oregon, where the first determination was October 4, 1913. In Washington the first determination dates back only to June 27, 1914, and in Massachusetts only to August 15, 1914. In the lastnamed State the wage scale is applicable to only one industry, and that one employing only a small number of persons.

In Utah an informal report by the official charged with the administration of the act, after an experience of slightly over a year, stated that (1) the law had been instrumental in raising the wages of a number of women and girls; (2) it had not increased the pay roll, in establishments employing any considerable number of women, over 5 per cent; (3) it had not caused the minimum to become very nearly the maximum wage. A much larger number of employees are drawing a wage in excess of the highest minimum than are paid the legal wage itself. (4) Most employers admit that they have obtained increased efficiency since the law came into effect. (5) The law has tended to equalize the cost of production or of selling among the various manufacturers and merchants.1

In Oregon the only official report available furnishes no information in regard to the effect of the wage rates which have been put into force. With the purpose of securing full and accurate information in regard to the effect upon the employees and the industry of a typical minimum-wage law, an intensive study of the Oregon act, as the minimum act longest in operation, was undertaken by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in cooperation with the Commission on Industrial Relations. The results of this study will be published as a bulletin of this Bureau within a few months.

In Washington a survey by the State commission of the three leading industries in which the minimum wage was first established, mercantile establishments, laundries, and telephone exchanges, showed that while 60 per cent (50 per cent in the stores) of the women employed were receiving less than the minimum wage prior to the application of the law, the wages of practically all of these workers had been raised to the minimum without serious opposition and without injury to the industries. No leveling down of wages was found, but, on the contrary, a larger number than formerly were receiving in excess of the wage fixed as the established minimum. The women workers have been neither dismissed nor displaced by cheaper employees, and the number replaced by apprentices or minors is reported to be so small as to be a negligible factor.2

In Massachusetts no determination has been in effect for longer than six months and no official information is available to show the effect of the new scale of pay upon either the workers or the industry.

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MINIMUM-WAGE LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

REASONS WHICH HAVE BROUGHT ABOUT MINIMUM-WAGE LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

In studying minimum-wage legislation in the United States it may be proper to consider the reasons which have usually been put forward in the States where minimum-wage legislation has been enacted for the passage of the existing laws. These may be summarized briefly

as

1. In many industries a large proportion of the wage earners are women who are dependent upon their own earnings and in many cases are also the principal support of others.

2. A considerable proportion of these women, and, in fact, of all women wage earners, are paid wages inadequate to supply a reasonable standard of living.

3. In a considerable number of these industries, however low the wages paid in some establishments may be, other establishments are to be found in the same localities paying a living wage and successfully competing with those of the lower-wage standard.

While there have been within a few years many local investigations of the wages and conditions of women wage earners, the Bureau of Labor Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage Earners in the United States has been most often cited as showing conditions throughout a wide area. Thus this report showed1 that in a group of 1,698 women employed in department and other retail stores in seven of the principal cities, 26.1 per cent were without homes and entirely dependent upon their own earnings, and that of those living at home 68.5 per cent turned in all of their earnings toward the family support. In a similar group of 5,014 women employed in mills and factories in the same cities, 17.5 per cent were found to be without homes and dependent upon their own earnings, and among those living at home 77.2 per cent turned in all their earnings to the family. In another part of the woman and child labor investigation it was found that in a group of some 4,800 families with girls 16 years of age and over at work in the cotton, men's ready-made clothing, glass, and silk industries, these girls contributed nearly all their earnings to the family support, the average per cent of total

82843°-Bull, 167-15

1 Vol. V., pp. 15 and 19 to 21.

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earnings contributed ranging from 86 per cent in the glass industry to 96 per cent in the silk industry and 97 in the cotton industry in New England; or, measured in another way, their contributions constituted of the total family income 27 per cent in the glass industry, 40 per cent in the clothing industry, 35 per cent in the silk industry, and 43 per cent in the New England cotton industry.1

In the group of women employed in department and other retail stores already referred to, the average weekly earnings of 30.8 per cent were under $6 and of 66.2 per cent under $8. A study of the pay rolls of department and other retail stores in New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, including 36,000 female employees, showed that the weekly rates of pay of 26.4 per cent fell below $6 and of 57.7 per cent below $8. In the group of women employed in mills and factories already referred to, the average weekly earnings of 40.1 per cent fell below $6 and of 74.3 per cent below $8.2

Similar figures are available from the same report covering the four great industries, cotton, men's clothing, glass, and silk. The percentages of women 16 years of age and over whose wages in a representative week fell below $6 and $8 were found to be as follows:

PER CENT OF WOMEN 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER EARNING UNDER $6 AND UNDER $8 IN A REPRESENTATIVE WEEK.

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In another section of the woman and child labor investigation, where the wages of over 38,000 women 18 years of age and over were secured, the following percentages were found to be receiving less than $6 and less than $8 in a representative week.

1 Vol. I, pp. 433, 436; Vol. II, pp. 365, 368; Vol. III, pp. 525, 527; Vol. IV, pp. 259, 261.
2 Vol. V, pp. 41, 45, and 46.

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