These 25,000 families had the necessaries of existence, we know, simply because they managed to live, survive, and reproduce. Their average income was $749.50; their average expenditure, $699.24, thus representing a saving of $50 a year. But many of these families had boarders, many had grown-up children or wife at work, many had lodgers, so that the income was artificially increased or diminished by these factors. There were, however, 11,156 families among these which the report designates as "normal"; these were distinguished by the following characteristics: a husband at work; a wife at home; not more than five children—none over 14 years of age; no dependents, boarders, lodgers, or servants (p. 18). Good units, you see, from a statistical standpoint. Now, the average income of these normal families was $650.98; the average expenditure $617.80.[150]
Here, then, we have over 10,000 families, of five persons each, who manage to live on $617.80 a year, without resorting to crime or charity. That they live in straitened conditions is undoubtedly true, but they are by no means submerged, for in their coöperation with the agents of the Bureau of Labor they all displayed qualities of intelligence which are not to be found among the submerged. In short, they were average self-respecting American workingmen's families.
But let us assume that $617.80 is inadequate; let us provide a margin of safety by allowing $800 as the minimum for procuring the necessaries of existence.[151] Below is a table showing time cost per unit (bushels or pounds) of ten principal crops and of bituminous coal. This is derived from the tables on pages 24-25 of the 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor, which are assumed to be accurate.
| Commodity. | Quantity. | Time Cost. | Unit. | Time Cost in Minutes. | |
| Hrs. | Min. | ||||
| Barley | 30 bush. | 2 | 42.8 | 1 bush. | 5.427 |
| Wheat | 40 " | 6 | 17.4 | 1 " | 9.435 |
| Hay | 2 tons | 15 | 30.5 | 1 ton | 465.25 |
| Oats | 40 bush. | 7 | 5.8 | 1 bush. | 10.645 |
| Rice | 60 " | 17 | 2.5 | 1 " | 17.042 |
| Rye | 25 " | 25 | 10 | 1 " | 60.40 |
| Corn | 80 " | 42 | 38.1 | 1 " | 31.97 |
| Potatoes | 220 " | 38 | — | 1 " | 10.364 |
| Tobacco | 2,750 lbs. | 606 | 5.1 | 1 lb. | 13.22 |
| Cotton | 1,000 " | 78 | 42 | 1 " | 4.72 |
| Bit. Coal | 200 tons | 379 | 36 | 1 ton | 113.88 |
Having the time cost per unit of each of these commodities, let us now ascertain the time cost of the total crops of these produced in the United States. This is exhibited in the table on the next page, which is derived from the figures given in the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 1907, p. 668. These, too, are assumed to be accurate.
We see from this table that the total time cost of these principal crops, if produced with modern machinery on a large scale, would be 185,759,513,000 minutes, and that the money value of these commodities, sold at farm or mine, is $3,214,510,707.
If, then, it would require 185,759,513,000 minutes' labor to produce $3,214,510,707 worth of commodities, how much labor would be required to produce $800 worth of these commodities? This is a problem in simple proportion:
$800: $3,214,510,707:: x minutes: 185,759,513,000 minutes. Working this out we find that x equals 46,230 minutes or 770 hours and 30 minutes. Estimating 300 working days to the year, this would seem to indicate that a social work-day of 2-½ hours should be sufficient to procure the necessaries of existence, valuing these at $800.
| Commodity. | Average Annual Production 1898-1907. | Average Total Value on Farm Dec. 1, 1898-1907. | Time Cost in Minutes. | Unit. | Total Time Cost in Thousand Minutes. |
| Millions | |||||
| Barley | 117 bush. | $53,872,896 | 5.427 | 1 bush. | 633,959 |
| Wheat | 642 | 444,206,221 | 9.435 | 1 " | 6,057,270 |
| Hay | 59 tons | 524,124,456 | 465.25 | 1 ton | 27,449,750 |
| Oats | 841 bush. | 265,595,639 | 10.645 | 1 bush. | 8,952,445 |
| Rice | 18 " | 14,594,913 | 17.042 | 1 " | 305,756 |
| Rye | 29 " | 16,527,099 | 60.40 | 1 " | 1,751,600 |
| Corn | 2,309 " | 953,158,114 | 31.977 | 1 " | 73,834,893 |
| Potatoes | 255 " | 134,236,563 | 10.364 | 1 " | 2,642,820 |
| Tobacco | 743 lbs. | 59,548,881 | 13.22 | 1 lb. | 9,822,460 |
| Cotton | 5,233 " | 457,787,442 | 4.72 | 1 " | 24,699,760 |
| Bit. Coal | 260 tons | 290,858,483 | 113.88 | 1 ton | 29,608,800 |
| $3,214,510,707 | 185,759,513 |
Before accepting the above conclusion, however, it will be necessary to make proper allowances for some important factors. First, the figures quoted from the Report do not include time spent on bookkeeping, upkeep, and repair of machinery, the time cost of the raw material, of the machinery, etc. All these items are certainly important, but we may safely assume that, taken together, they would probably not increase the total by fifty per cent. If, then, we allow an additional 1-¼ hours for these items, thus making the work-day 3-¾ hours, we shall be well within reason.