Women in the Printing Trades: A Sociological Study.

by Unknown

I.—STATISTICAL VIEW OF THE VARIOUS FIRMS.

FIRM A.—Information obtained.—Wages of thirty-six hands tabulated week by week through 1899.

Total amount paid in wages and total number employed each week, 1885-1899.

The whole wages sheet for one week in July and one week in November for each of these fifteen years.

A. is a firm employing from fifty to one hundred and ten women and girls as folders, stitchers and sewers. The number employed has changed gradually; in 1885-7 there were about a hundred: from 1888 to 1894 the number continually diminished to sixty, and after a brief spurt in the autumn of 1894 to one hundred and fifteen and a rapid fall, has from 1895 to 1899 gradually risen from fifty to ninety.

Through the fifteen years which the statistics cover, 1885-1899, the annual average (roughly calculated) has fluctuated within the narrow limits of 8s. 9d. and 10s. 6d.; it was above 10s. in 1888, 1889, 1897, 1898, 1899; below 9s. in 1886 and 1894. This average includes the learners. But when examined more minutely it is seen that the fluctuations week by week and month by month are very rapid. Briefly, there is a change of about 4s. in four-weekly cycles. Thus in November, 1899, the averages for the five weeks were 10s., 11s. 2d., 13s. 9d., 13s. 10d., 12s.

In November the wages are much higher than in July, and evidently more regular in character; the number earning near the average is also greater. Thus the "dispersion" in November is generally about ·2 (the quartiles and median being, for example, 12s., 15s., 18s.); while in July it is generally about ·4 (e.g., 3s. 9d., 6s. 3d., 8s. 9d.). Again, it seems quite doubtful each year whether there will be any July wages worth the name; the median in four weeks selected each year in July changes from 2s. 11d. to 8s. 2d.; while that for selected weeks in November is from 10s. 8d. to 17s. 11d., a smaller proportionate variation.

The majority are piece workers.

The following table shows the wages in two weeks (slack and busy) in 1899. The figures are probably typical of similar weeks in previous years.

						July 14th, 1899.	Nov. 29th, 1899.
	s.	d.		s.	d.	Numbers earning.	Numbers earning.
From	24	0	to	26	0	1	2
"	22	0	"	24	0	0	5
"	20	0	"	22	0	1	12
"	18	0	"	20	0	0	9
"	16	0	"	18	0	2	5
"	14	0	"	16	0	4	14
"	12	0	"	14	0	5	10
"	10	0	"	12	0	4	11
"	8	0	"	10	0	11	1
"	6	0	"	8	0	17	2
"	4	0	"	6	0	11	2
"	2	0	"	4	0	6	2
"	—	—	"	2	0	1	1
July 14th, 1899: Median, 7s.; Quartiles, 5s. 8d., 9s. 11d.; Dispersion, ·27. Nov. 29th, 1899: Median, 14s. 6d.; Quartiles, 11s. 10d., 19s.; Dispersion,·23.

	AVERAGE WAGE.						MEDIAN WAGE.
	1st Six Months.		2nd Six Months.		Year.		Week in July.		Week in Nov.
	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.
1885	8	11	9	2	9	1	8	2	15	2
1886	8	4	9	5	8	10	4	5	17	0
1887	8	8	9	5	9	0	5	5	14	7
1888	8	0	10	7	9	4	8	9	14	6
1889	9	5	10	11	10	1	9	3	17	2
1890	10	4	10	10	10	6	6	7	17	11
1891	9	0	10	1	9	6	6	6	16	10
1892	8	4	9	8	9	0	7	0	15	4
1893	9	4	8	8	9	0	6	2	10	8
1894	8	2	9	8	8	11	3	0	13	11
1895	8	5	10	4	9	4	5	4	14	4
1896	9	5	10	0	9	8	5	7	11	8
1897	9	10	10	11	10	4	6	7	15	0
1898	10	6	10	1	10	4	4	7	11	4
1899	9	11	10	4	10	1	7	0	13	3

For the 15 years: 1st six months, 9s.; 2nd six months, 10s.; year, 9s. 6d.

FIRM B.—Information obtained.—Wages of five hands tabulated week by week, for years 1886-99, 1887-99, 1896-99, 1898-99, 1899, respectively.

Monthly earnings and half-yearly bonus for all regular hands, 1888-99.

Weekly wages of all hands throughout eighteen months in the years 1886-96 and 1899, three weeks in 1877 and two in 1898.

This firm employs folders, stitchers, and sewers.—The number of permanent hands employed increased with slight variations from two in 1886 to twelve in 1899. Jobbers are occasionally employed, sometimes as many as there are permanent hands.

Considering the regular hands and choosing each year a wage earner near the median for that year, we have the following table.

	Total Wages in Year.		Bonus.		Average Earnings per week, including bonus.
	£	s.	s.	d.	s.	d.
1887	18	0[x]	10	6	14	3
1888	39	6	21	8	15	6
1889	38	16	20	4	15	4
1890	36	6	16	6	14	4
1891	39	0	18	9	15	4
1892	39	12	20	0	15	7
1893	38	8	24	0	15	2
1894	40	3	15	0	15	9
1895	37	10	19	0	14	10
1896	40	7	20	0	15	9
1897	37	11	19	6	14	10
1898	40	7	20	0	15	11
1899	29	11[y]	14	9	15	6

[x] (half-year)

[y] (9 months)

In a typical week, January 5th-12th, 1899, the wages were:

Full workers, average, 16s. 2d.

1 at 21s.

5 between 16s. and 17s.

4 at 15s. and 16s.

1 at 14s. 10d.

1 at 12s. 9d.

Learners in their third year, 2 at 10s. 6d.

Learners in their second year, 1 at 5s.

9 jobbers, average 5s. 5d.

1 at 7s. 2d.

4 between 5s. and 7s.

4 less than 5s.

Average, for all except learners, 11s. 7d.

FIRM C.—Information obtained.—Complete list of wages for first week in every month, from January, 1897, to February, 1900.

Full lists in five weeks described as "slack," "busy," or "typical."

The wages of fifteen hands tabulated, most of them throughout 1897-99.

The work is divided into four departments:—

Binders, from twenty-nine to thirty-eight hands. The median wage fluctuated in the three years between 11s. and 17s., excluding holiday weeks; 13s. is the general average. About six are on time wages.

In the warehouse, where Government folding is done, five hands are employed. The median wage of this group fluctuated in 1897 between 16s. and 27s., being low at the end of 1897. In 1898 and 1899 it was a little steadier, averaging about 21s. (piece rates).

In the envelope room, where folding and relief stamping is done, seven to thirteen hands are employed. The median wage is very variable, fluctuating from 9s. to 16s., and averaging about 12s., chiefly time wages.

Machine ruling is done by from four to eleven girls. Their median wage was nearly steady at 6s. in 1897 and 1898, and rose regularly to 8s. in 1899. Nominally these were time wages.

The following table shows detailed wages in five selected weeks (learners excluded).

	Typical Weeks.			Busy Week.	Slack Week.
	Nov., 1898.	Feb., 1899.	Nov., 1899.	Dec., 1899.	March, 1899.
Binders—	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
Above 20s.	0	0	2	2	0
18s. to 20s.	0	0	1	5	0
16s. " 18s.	5	3	9	13	1
14s. " 16s.	7	10	4	3	0
12s. " 14s.	7	4	7	6	2
10s. " 12s.	8	4	4	1	14
8s. " 10s.	3	3	1	0	9
6s. " 8s.	1	2	0	0	3
4s. " 6s.	2	5	0	0	1
Envelope Room—
20s. to 22s.	2	0	0	0	0
18s. " 20s.	2	2	2	2	0
16s. " 18s.	2	3	1	2	1
14s. " 16s.	0	1	2	0	1
12s. " 14s.	1	1	0	1	1
10s. " 12s.	1	1	2	2	1
8s. " 10s.	2	2	1	1	1
6s. " 8s.	1	0	0	1	3
4s. " 6s.	0	1	1	0	1
2s. " 4s.	0	0	0	0	1
Machine Ruling—
8s. to 9s.	2	0	2	4	0
7s. " 8s.	3	3	0	0	0
6s. " 7s.	1	3	0	1	0
5s. " 6s.	2	2	0	0	7
4s. " 5s.	0	2	0	0	4
3s. " 4s.	0	1	0	0	1
2s. " 3s.	0	0	0	0	0
Warehouse Earnings.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
	22 4	24 1	27 9	28 0	21 6
	22 1	24 1	26 10	26 10	20 8
	22 1	23 3	26 4	26 3	20 8
	20 5	22 1	24 6	24 9	19 3
	12 7	20 10	11 3	24 0	15 6

FIRM D.—Information obtained.—Complete lists of wages in all weeks in 1899. Wages of thirty-one hands tabulated week by week through 1899.

The lists are made up in five divisions.

1. Sixty-five to seventy-eight employed in sewing, folding and collating (of whom eleven to seventeen are learners). Excluding Bank Holiday weeks and learners, the average wage fluctuates only between 10s. and 13s. 9d. Average for 1st half, 12s.; 2nd half, 11s. 6d.; year, 11s. 9d.

2. Eighty to ninety (including sixteen to twenty-three learners), collating and sewing. Average from 10s. 7d. to 16s. 3d. Average for 1st half, 13s. 5d.; 2nd half, 13s. 2d.; year, 13s. 3d.

3. Eighty-three to ninety-two (including thirteen to thirty learners), folding. Average from 10s. 6d. to 16s. 5d. Average for 1st half, 13s.; 2nd half, 13s.; year, 13s.

4. Layers-on, about six. Average fluctuates from 12s. to 24s. 8d.; 1st half, 15s. 7d.; 2nd half, 16s. 11d.; year, 16s. 3d.

5. Lookers-over, four or six. Fluctuates from 11s. 8d. to 15s. 10d. Average for year, 13s. 8d.

The following table shows detailed wages in five selected weeks.

	Slack Weeks.		Typical Weeks.		Busy.
	Feb. 24th, 1899	Feb. 23rd, 1900	June 30th, 1899	Oct. 13th, 1899	Dec. 8th, 1899
Above 24s.	0	0	1	1	2
22s. to 24s.	0	0	1	3	5
20s. " 22s.	2	1	3	3	16
18s. " 20s.	6	3	11	10	33
16s. " 18s.	23	20	26	40	36
14s. " 16s.	45	58	51	52	59
12s. " 14s.	40	44	45	38	17
10s. " 12s.	35	32	26	24	19
8s. " 10s.	24	19	15	24	17
6s. " 8s.	15	15	6	18	7
4s. " 6s.	9	9	4	5	0
2s. " 4s.	1	1	2	0	0
	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Median	12 9	13 4	14 0	13 8	14 10
Quartiles	15 0	14 9	15 6	16 0	18 0
	10 0	10 4	11 4	10 6	13 4
Dispersion	·20	·17	·18	·20	·15

FIRM E.— Information obtained.—Complete wage list for one week each month from August, 1894, to December, 1899.

Wages of eight hands tabulated, five through the whole period.

Folding, stitching and sewing are done. Number employed was nearly regular, but increased from forty to sixty, and fell back to fifty.

The median fluctuates rapidly and greatly, but shows a gradual rise from 13s. (with fluctuations down to 8s. and up to 16s.) to 16s. (with fluctuations down to 10s. and up to 19s.). The "dispersion" has changed little, and was about ·15.

The following weeks (table p. 121) show the general run of wages.

	Feb. 1895.	July, 1895.	Nov. 1895.	Feb. 1899.	July, 1899.	Nov. 1899.	Dec. 1899.	A Slack Week, 1900.
Above 24s.	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	0
22s. to 24s.	1	0	0	0	2	1	0	0
20s. " 22s.	1	0	3	1	5	9	4	1
18s. " 20s.	1	1	0	1	9	9	13	2
16s. " 18s.	1	5	3	0	12	8	7	0
14s. " 16s.	4	10	10	3	7	10	9	3
12s. " 14s.	8	17	18	4	9	6	7	9
10s. " 12s.	13	8	14	12	3	0	4	12
8s. " 10s.	9	7	7	19	0	1	3	13
6s. " 8s.	4	5	2	10	1	0	0	10
4s. " 6s.	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1
s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Meridian	11 4	12 7	12 5	9 10	16 5	17 8	16 3	10 3
Quartiles	12 11	14 7	14 4	10 11	18 7	20 1	18 10	12 0
	9 8	10 8	10 7	8 4	13 5	15 5	13 9	8 4
Dispersion	·14	·16	·14	·13	·16	·13	·16	·17

FIRM F.—Information obtained.—Wages for all hands each week in 1896, and until March, 1900. So few are employed that no average can be given, and the wages are treated later under individual hands.

Also a small bookbinding firm.

1. A quick folder; wages generally from 12s. to 16s., but fluctuations down to 5s. and up to 20s.

2. A quick sewer; very fluctuating, about 10s.

3. A collator at 3¼d. per hour; 12s., with fluctuations.

---

FIRM G.—Information obtained.—List of wages paid in 2nd week in each month, 1896, February, 1900, and four other weeks.

Wages of fourteen hands; six throughout the period.

Machine Ruling.—Four to nine hands, generally seven to nine. Time wages. Median moves slowly and steadily from 6s. to 7s. during 1896-99.

ALL DEPARTMENTS.

Weeks Selected at Beginning and End of Data.

	1896.						1899.
	Feb. 8th.		July 11th.		Nov. 14th.		July 8th.		Nov. 11th.		Dec. 9th.
	—	Machine Rulers	—	Machine Rulers	—	Machine Rulers	—	Machine Rulers	—	Machine Rulers	—	Machine Rulers
Above 24s.	0	0	4	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	5	0
22s. to 24s.	1	0	3	0	4	0	5	0	2	0	3	0
20s. to 22s.	1	0	1	0	5	0	10	0	13	0	12	0
18s. to 20s.	4	0	6	0	7	0	6	0	12	0	11	0
16s. to 18s.	5	0	5	0	9	0	0	0	5	0	3	0
14s. to 16s.	7	0	4	0	9	0	2	0	6	0	8	0
12s. to 14s.	3	0	6	0	6	0	9	0	10	0	8	0
10s. to 12s.	10	0	6	0	2	0	13	0	3	0	2	0
8s. to 10s.	1	0	7	0	4	0	3	2	8	2	7	3
6s. to 8s.	0	4	1	5	0	2	1	3	2	6	1	7
4s. to 6s.	0	1	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
2s. to 4s.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	(Apprentices excluded.)
Median (without rulers).	14s. 8d.	—	15s.	—	16s. 6d.	—	14s.	—	16s. 6d.	—	18s. 2d.	—

Stamping.—Four, increasing to twelve hands, sometimes sixteen. The low wages are time (presumably learners); the rest piece. Time hands are excluded in the medians here, and in binding and despatch. Median is sometimes fluctuating, but not far from 12s. or 13s. for long.

		s.d.		s.d.
1896	1st half-year	14 3	2nd half-year	11 0
1897	1st half-year	13 0	2nd half-year	13 0
1898	1st half-year	12 4	2nd half-year	11 11
1899	1st half-year	12 6	2nd half-year	11 11
1900	1st half-year	14 2	(two months)

Binding room, including despatch, till middle of 1897, when numbers fell from forty to twenty. The despatch room, beginning with twenty, increased to thirty hands.

Binding—median varies from 11s. to 17s.

		s.d.		s.d.
1896	1st half-year	14 1	2nd half-year	16 1
1897	1st half-year	14 8	2nd half-year	15 4
1898	1st half-year	15 0	2nd half-year	14 4
1899	1st half-year	14 2	2nd half-year	13 11
1900	1st half-year	14 2	(two months)

Despatch—median steadier and rising.

		s.d.		s.d.
1897	1st half-year	— —	2nd half-year	15 0
1898	1st half-year	17 6	2nd half-year	18 11
1899	1st half-year	19 4	2nd half-year	20 9
1900	1st half-year	16 3	(two months)

FIRM H. —Information obtained.—Wage list, 3rd week in every month, 1895-98. Every week in 1899, and eight special weeks. Wages of three hands tabulated throughout period.

Work done.—Printers' folding, sewing, magazines. No bookbinding. Twenty-four to thirty-eight hands. Median very variable; e.g., July, 1899, 14s. 2d., 16s. 6d., 13s. 7d., 15s. 10d.

		s.d.		s.d.
1895	1st half-year	11 5	2nd half-year	13 3
1896	1st half-year	13 10	2nd half-year	12 4
1897	1st half-year	12 11	2nd half-year	10 2
1898	1st half-year	11 5	2nd half-year	16 0
1899	1st half-year	13 1	2nd half-year	14 1

General trend to 13s.

	Feb. 15th, 1895.	Aug. 16th, 1895.	Jan. 24th, 1898.	March 9th, 1898.	Oct. 7th, 1898.	Aug. 25th, 1899.	Sept. 15th, 1899.	April 6th, 1900.
			Slack.	Typical.	Busy.	Slack.	Busy.	Typical.
23s.	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
22s.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20s.	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
21s.	0	0	0	0	2	1	2	2
—
19s.	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	6
18s.	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	4
17s.	3	1	1	2	4	0	5	4
16s.	0	0	0	6	4	0	0	2
15s.	0	0	0	6	2	1	1	2
—
14s.	1	0	0	1	6	0	5	1
13s.	2	0	1	1	1	0	0	3
12s.	4	2	3	4	0	1	5	1
11s.	6	0	3	0	0	0	2	0
10s.	4	4	8	0	0	3	1	0
—
9s.	4	9	7	1	0	6	1	0
8s.	1	3	3	0	0	3	1	0
7s.	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	0
6s.	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	0
5s.	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0
				(3 learners)
4s.	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
3s.	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Median	11s.	9s.4d.	10s. 3d.	15s. 6d.	17s.	9s. 3d.	14s. 7d.	17s. 2d.

FIRM I. —Publishers and bookbinders. No printers' folding. Information obtained.—Wage lists: 2nd week in each month, October, 1898, to March, 1900. Total wages every week to March, 1900. Wages of nine hands tabulated throughout.

	Median varies from	Quarterly Averages (excluding Bank Holiday).
		1898.	1899.	1899.	1899.	1899.	1900.
	s. d. s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Collators (18 to 23)	11 0 to 21 4	20 2	19 3	16 9	13 4	20 8	17 3
Sewers (27 to 40)	7 0 to 15 6	14 0	12 8	9 10	8 6	13 6	13 0
Folders (53 to 91)	8 3 to 14 2	13 2	13 0	8 11	10 0	12 2	10 5
Time workers putting in plates (17 to 22)	13 0 to 16 4	15 8	15 11	13 6	13 4	15 0	14 0

48 hours: no record of overtime.

	Nov. 11th, 1898.	March 10th, 1899.	July 14th, 1899.	Nov. 10th, 1899.	Feb. 9th, 1900.
32s. to 34s.	1	3	1	2	1
30s. " 32s.	1	3	0	1	0
28s. " 30s.	4	2	0	2	1
26s. " 28s.	1	3	0	2	0
24s. " 26s.	5	1	0	8	1
22s. " 24s.	2	4	0	4	2
20s. " 22s.	11	9	1	10	3
18s. " 20s.	14	16	0	11	3
16s. " 18s.	20	16	2	14	14
14s. " 16s.	25	22	10	13	15
12s. " 14s.	22	28	18	30	32
10s. " 12s.	24	32	20	25	24
8s. " 10s.	14	17	27	6	15
6s. " 8s.	7	5	30	4	11
4s. " 6s.	3	3	18	1	5
2s. " 4s.	4	3	3	0	0
0s. " 2s.	2	1	0	0	0

The total wage bill was:—

1898.	£	1899.	£	1899.	£	1900.	£
Oct.	462	Jan.	428	July	245	Jan.	330
Nov.	483	Feb.	471	Aug.	263	Feb.	346
Dec.	430	March	569[x]	Sept.	502[x]	March	408[x]
—	nix	April	305	Oct.	417	—	nix
—	nix	May	302	Nov.	403	—	nix
—	nix	June	383[x]	Dec.	420[x]	—	nix

[x] Five weeks.

	£
Total in 4th quarter, 1898	1375
Total in 1st quarter, 1899	1468
Total in 2nd quarter, 1899	990
Total in 3rd quarter, 1899	1010
Total in 4th quarter, 1899	1240
Total in 1st quarter, 1900	1084

FIRM J. —A firm undertaking magazine work. Information obtained.—General statement of ordinary wages. Wages in three selected weeks.

Bookfolding, stitching, wrapping, etc. (magazine work). Work is regular for three weeks; none in the fourth.

WAGES OF ALL EMPLOYED.

	Slack Week, Feb. 8th, 1901.	Typical Week, Feb. 15th, 1901.	—	Busy Week, March 1st, 1901.
22s. to 24s.	0	1	34s. to 36s.	2
20s. " 22s.	0	0	32s. " 34s.	0
18s. " 20s.	0	2	30s. " 32s.	3
16s. " 18s.	0	4	28s. " 30s.	0
14s. " 16s.	0	4	26s. " 28s.	3
12s. " 14s.	0	1	24s. " 26s.	1
10s. " 12s.	3	1	22s. " 24s.	0
8s. " 10s.	4	1	20s. " 22s.	3
6s. " 8s.	6	0	18s. " 20s.	1
	s. d.	s. d.		s. d.
Median	8 0	15 9	—	26 4
Average	8 4	15 7	—	25 11

FIRM K. —A publisher's bookbinder. Information obtained.—Wage sheet for three selected weeks in 1898-9.

A week as slack as the slack week here given, was only experienced two or three times.

	Typical.		Busy.		Slack.
	No.	Av. s. d.	No.	Av. s. d.	No.	Av. s. d.
Folders (piece)	46	13 1	55	15 8	43	8 7
Sewing machinists(piece)	8	22 2	8	31 1	8	11 7
Collators (time)	3	26 10	3	27 2	5	14 5
Layers-on (piece)	4	14 0	4	19 7	3	16 11
Learners	2	4 1½	2	8 7	2	3 7

	Typical.	Busy.	Slack.
36s. to 38s.	1	0	0
34s. " 36s.	0	1	0
32s. " 34s.	0	0	0
30s. " 32s.	0	7	1
28s. " 30s.	1	1	0
26s. " 28s.	1	1	0
24s. " 26s.	0	1	1
22s. " 24s.	1	2	0
20s. " 22s.	9	4	0
--
18s. to 20s.	3	13	2
16s. " 18s.	6	8	3
14s. " 16s.	7	14	4
12s. " 14s.	11	10	2
10s. " 12s.	13	7	15
--
8s. to 10s.	3	1	16
6s. " 8s.	3	0	9
4s. " 6s.	1	0	4
2s. " 4s.	1	0	2
	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Median	13 3	16 10	9 6
Quartiles	19 1	19 10½	11 1
	11 1	13 10½	7 10

FIRM L. —Compositors.—Information obtained: Complete wages of the six hands employed through 1900.

No. 1 has been in the trade two and a half years. In 1900 she was away seven weeks (three, slack trade; two, holidays; two, ill); in the remaining forty-five weeks her wages fluctuated between 5s. and 18s. 3d., reached a total of £28 15s. 9d., making an average of 11s. 1d. weekly through the year, or 12s. 7d. per week employed.

No. 2 lost four weeks in 1900 through slack trade. In the remaining forty-eight weeks her wages fluctuated between 5s. 6d. and 23s.; reached a total of £40 4s. 11d., making an average of 15s. 6d. weekly through the year.

No. 3 made £52 9s., working fifty-one weeks at £1 per week, making 29s. overtime, and taking one week's holiday; average, 20s. 2d. weekly for the year.

No. 4 made £37 16s. in forty-four weeks, lost five weeks through slack trade, and took three weeks' holiday; average, 14s. 6d. weekly for the year.

No. 5 made £39 1s. 9d. in forty-six weeks, lost four weeks through slack trade, was ill one week and took one week's holiday; average, 15s. weekly for the year.

No. 6 made £22 1s. 6d. in forty-eight weeks, lost three weeks through slack trade, was ill for one week. She was unsuccessful in her work, and only averaged 8s. 4d. a week through the year.

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FIRM M.—A press warehouse. Information obtained.—Wage list in three selected weeks.

	Week Ending Feb. 9th, 1900. Average wage.		Week Ending Nov. 24th, 1899. Average wage.		Week Ending July 21st, 1899. Average wage.
	No.	Av. s. d.	No.	Av. s. d.	No.	Av. s. d.
Time workers	36	15 0	37	15 6	31	13 5
Folders (piece)	41	13 3	50	14 5	31	11 10
Sewers (piece)	7	14 7	7	13 6	12	9 1
Apprentices	11	4 1	11	4 2	5	4 4

	Feb. 9th, 1900.	Nov. 24th, 1899.	July 21st, 1899.
Above 26s.	1	1	0
24s. to 26s.	0	0	1
22s. " 24s.	0	1	0
20s. " 22s.	1	5	2
18s. " 20s.	3	6	1
16s. " 18s.	14	19	1
14s. " 16s.	25	22	19
12s. " 14s.	16	18	20
10s. " 12s.	12	15	15
8s. " 10s.	8	4	3
6s. " 8s.	3	3	3
4s. " 6s.	0	0	5
2s. " 4s.	1	0 4	4
	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Median	14 3	14 9	12 9
Quartiles	15 9	17 0	14 9
	10 9	12 2	11 1
Dispersion	·19	·16	·14
	(Excluding Apprentices.)

FIRM N. —Bookbinders. Information obtained.—Complete wage sheets for three selected weeks. Folders, piece; collators, time.

	Dec. 15th, 1899. Busy Week. Average wage.		Oct. 6th, 1899. Typical Week. Average wage.		Aug. 18th, 1899. Slack Week. Average wage.
	No.	Av. s. d.	No.	Av. s. d.	No.	Av. s. d.
Collators	18	15 7	17	11 3	18	11 0
Folders	20	13 9	12	11 10	9	9 0
Learners	16	4 6	5	4 1	7	2 9
1 Sewing Machinist, 23 9

	Dec. 15th, 1899. Busy Week.	Oct. 6th, 1899. Typical Week.	Aug. 18th, 1899. Slack Week.
20s. to 22s.	4	1	0
18s. " 20s.	3	1	1
16s. " 18s.	10	1	0
14s. " 16s.	10	6	3
12s. " 14s.	1	10	5
10s. " 12s.	4	6	10
8s. " 10s.	2	3	1
6s. " 8s.	2	1	3
4s. " 6s.	0	1	3
2s. " 4s.	2	0	1
	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Median	15 8	12 9	11 3
Quartiles	16 6	14 6	12 9
	11 10	11 0	8 0
Dispersion	·16	·16	·21
	(Excluding Learners.)

FIRM O. Information obtained.—Wage lists in three selected weeks, probably in first half of 1900. Five hands.

	Typical Week.	Busy.	Slack.
	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Folder	17 6	20 0	12 6
Stitcher	21 0	26 0	15 0
Sewer	12 0	15 0	8 6
Laying-on	12 0	15 0	11 0
Learner	5 0	5 0	5 0

FIRM P. Information obtained.—Wage lists in three selected weeks. Wages of twelve selected workers in these weeks.

	Aug. 11th, 1899.	Dec. 15th, 1899.	Dec. 22nd, 1899.
	1 at 27s.4d.	1 at 28s.2d.	1 at 30s.8d.
Above 24s.	0	2	0
22s. to 24s.	0	0	2
20s. " 22s.	0	1	12
18s. " 20s.	0	13	24
16s. " 18s.	8	23	21
14s. " 16s.	17	30	21
12s. " 14s.	26	20	13
10s. " 12s.	24	9	9
8s. " 10s.	10	7	1
6s. " 8s.	3	0	1
4s. " 6s.	1	0	0
	—	—	—
	90	106	105
	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Median	15 0	15 3	16 8
Quartiles	14 0	17 2	19 2
	10 8	13 0	14 3
Dispersion	·11	·14	·15

FIRM Q. Information obtained.—Wage lists in eleven selected weeks. Work done—machine ruling in its higher branches, usually done by men; also paging and numbering (see table, p. 131).

FIRM Q.

	1890.	1891.	1897.		1898.		1899.
	Nov. 8th.	May 9th.	May 14th.	Nov. 12th.	May 13th.	Nov. 11th.	Feb. 10th.	May 12th.	Aug. 11th.	Nov. 10th.	Dec. 8th.
20s. to 22s.	3	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1
18s. " 20s.	2	2	3	2	4	2	4	3	2	2	2
16s. " 18s.	9	6	4	6	5	7	6	8	1	10	9
14s. " 16s.	9	8	11	10	8	10	10	6	4	9	10
12s. " 14s.	15	14	12	12	13	12	11	9	6	7	10
10s. " 12s.	5	7	6	6	4	5	6	10	10	5	7
8s. " 10s.	6	9	6	7	8	8	3	5	8	7	4
6s. " 8s.	6	8	10	7	4	4	4	5	6	5	6
4s. " 6s.	8	8	6	3	2	4	7	9	4	6	14
2s. " 4s.	5	6	1	3	5	6	7	2	8	8	1
0s. " 2s.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
--	68	71	59	56	56	58	58	57	50	59	64
	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Median	12 6	11 3	12 2	12 4	12 10	12 4	12 0	11 4	9 6	10 0	12 0
Quartiles	15 4	14 3	14 6	14 9	15 6	15 0	15 0	15 0	13 0	15 4	15 2
	7 4	7 0	7 7	8 2	8 9	8 0	6 0	7 3	6 0	6 4	6 4
Dispersion	·3	·3	·3	·3	·28	·3	·4	·35	·37	·41	·35

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Additional information from other firms, 1900-1901:—

FIRM R.—Bookbinders. Folders and sewers, 14s., 15s.; head banders, 15s.; forty-eight hours weekly all the year.

FIRM S.—Eleven numberers; median, 17s. 8d.

FIRM T.—Printing works. Piece workers make 5d. an hour; time workers, 5½d. Four compositors: average, busy week, 23s. 2d.; typical, 19s. 11d.; slack, 18s. 9d.

FIRM U.—Vellum sewers, 12s. to 13s. all the year round; numerical printers, average week, 15s. to 16s.; slack week, 10s.

FIRM V.—

	No.	Median.	Quartiles.
Folders (piece work):		s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Slack week	38	12s. 1d.	9s. 6d.	16s. 0d.
Typical week	44	15s. 6d.	15s. 6d.	20s. 9d.
Typical week	44	15s. 6d.	15s. 6d.	20s. 9d.
Busy week	38	20s. 1d.	17s. 10d.	20s. 0d.
	Counters (time workers).		Stitchers.		.1 Packer.
	No.	Median.	No.	Median.	No.
	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Slack Week	16	10 0	9	9 9	19 1
Typical Week	14	11 6	9	11 7	20 0
Busy Week	14	11 7	9	11 2	20 0

In this case there is very little to choose between the weeks entered as "typical" and "busy" by the employer.

FIRM W. —Two compositors make, at 5½d. an hour, 22s. or 23s. nearly every week in the year.

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The inclusion of the eighty-four workers, of whom we have sufficient details in firms R. to W., would affect the figures on p. 133 below very slightly, raising the median and upper quartile 2d., and increasing the proportion between 18s. and 22s. to 13½ per cent. of the whole instead of 12¼ per cent.