| Northumberland | Durham. | Sth. Staffs. and East Worcestershire. | West Scotland. | |
| s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | |
| 1894 | 5 9 | 5 5 | 4 8 | 6 0 |
| 1897 | 5 0 | 4 11 | 4 4 | 4 6 |
| 1900 | 6 0 | 5 10 | 4 8 | 6 3 |
| 1901 | 7 9 | 7 5 | 5 0 | 8 0 |
| 1903 | 6 0 | 5 10 | 5 0 | 5 9 |
"In the ten years there has been a considerable variation, but the high rates of 1901 were brief in duration. Coal-hewers' wages have now gone back almost to the level of 1894.
"Engine fitters in London earned 38s. in 1894 and 39s. in 1903. In Birmingham and Manchester the rates rose from 34s. in 1894 to 36s. in 1903. In Newcastle there was a greater rise in the same period, from 31s. 6d. to 36s.
"Ironfounders in London obtained 38s. in 1894, 40s. to 42s. in 1900 and 40s. in 1903. In Manchester the rates were much the same. In Birmingham 36s. was paid in 1894 and 38s. in 1903.
"Compositors in London were paid 38s. in 1894 and 39s. in 1903. In Manchester the rate remained constant at 35s. In Glasgow the rate remained constant at 34s.
"Agricultural labourers in the Eastern Counties obtained 11s. 1d. per week in 1894 and a gradual increase to 13s. 1d. in 1903. In the North near coal there was a rise from 17s. 5d. to 18s. 4d. In the Midlands 13s. 5d. was paid in 1894 and 14s. 6d. in 1903.
"Textile wages are best expressed by an index number. Taking the rate of 1903 as 100 the rate paid in 1894 was nearly 95 per cent. of that of 1903. This increase refers to cotton spinners and weavers and linen and jute operatives taken together.
"A mere recital of the foregoing facts is sufficient to show that the rise in wages in 1894-1903 was at a much lower rate than the growth of profits in the same period."
Revising this work for 1910, I regret to say that the changes in the above-quoted rates have been so few that it is not worth while to rewrite what I set down five years ago. Wage rates have been almost stationary in the interim, and the changes that have been made in the above figures are too insignificant to be worth recording.
The matter is best dealt with by setting out the Board of Trade wages index numbers. In the important table on page 112 I have contrasted the representative wage index numbers prepared by the Board of Trade with index numbers representing the gross assessments to income tax. In a similar table in "Riches and Poverty," 1905 edition, I did not take into consideration the growth of the number of income tax payers. In the present calculation I have assumed a growth of income tax payers of 10,000 a year throughout the period, which must be very near the truth.