The difference indicated apparently conforms to the general variation in wages in different sections indicated by the Fourth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor,[207] and by examination of a considerable number of reports of various state bureaus of labor. The slight exception in the case of the wages of men on the Pacific coast is accidental, owing to the small number of returns.

(2) Skilled labor commands higher wages than unskilled labor.

This will be evident from Table VIII on the following page based on the schedules received from employers and employees and the returns from a Boston employment bureau.

In every instance it is seen that it is the skilled laborer—the cook—who commands the highest wages. The general servant who is expected to unite in herself all the functions of all the other employees named in the list becomes, on account of this fact, an unskilled worker, and, therefore, receives the lowest wages. The same principle holds true in the case of the seamstress and the laundress, the gardener and the choreman. It is difficult to make a deduction in the case of men employed in household service, since no universal custom prevails, as with women employees, in regard to adding to the wages paid in money, board, lodging, and other personal expenses.

TABLE VIII
Average Weekly and Daily Wages by Occupations

Occupation Weekly Wages
General schedule of Boston
employment
bureau
Employer Employee
Women
Cooks $3.80 $3.64 $4.45
Parlor maids 3.94
Cooks and laundresses 3.50 3.27
Chambermaids 3.31 3.47 3.86
Waitresses 3.23 3.15 3.76
Second girls 3.04 3.27 3.34
Chambermaids and waitresses 2.99 3.21
General servants 2.94 2.88 3.16
Men
Coachmen 7.84
Coachmen and gardeners 6.54
Butlers 6.11
Cooks 6.08
Daily Wages
Women
Seamstresses $1.01
Laundresses .82
Men
Gardeners 1.33
Choremen .87

A corollary to the proposition may be added. The skilled laborer is a better workman than the unskilled laborer. The question was asked of employers, “What is the nature of the service rendered? Is it ‘excellent,’ ‘good,’ ‘fair,’ or ‘poor’?” The replies show that in proportion to the number of answers the largest percentage of service characterized as “excellent” is rendered by cooks, while the largest percentage characterized as “poor” is given by the general servants. These are, it is true, matters of opinion; and without a fixed standard, which it is impossible to secure, such judgments can have no absolute value. But the fact is of interest as showing the opinion of a large number of housekeepers. The following table will show the results in regard to these two classes of employees:

TABLE IX
Nature of Service rendered

Occupation Total number of replies Not answered Kind of Service rendered
Excellent Good Fair Poor
Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent
Cooks 262 30 83 32 113 43 58 22 8 3
General servants 585 53 151 26 221 38 177 30 36 6