WAGES AND SALARIES 489 



earned during that week less than $5, $5 but less than $6, $6 but less 

 than $7, $7 but less than $8, and so on through the category ? If the 

 system of payment by months is so prevalent as to make the weekly 

 statement impossible, a statement for an entire month would be even 

 more satisfactory than a statement for a week only. The time would 

 be longer and the results more representative. 



At this point it must suffice to say that the average figures for 

 wages on American railroads seem, for the most part, typical of the 

 average wages reported in the manufacturing and other like industries. 

 With the exception of enginemen, conductors and machinists (who 

 constitute 9 per cent, of the total number of employees, and whose 

 wages average in the first two cases over $4, and in the last over $3), 

 no group of employees reports an average wage of more than $3. For 

 three groups the average is less than $2 ; for three groups it is between 

 $2 and $2.49, and for three other groups it falls between $2.50 and 

 $2.99. An analysis of average wages in those manufacturing industries 

 which are similar in character to the work done on the railroad, shows 

 that the averages are approximately similar.^^ With the exception of 

 the three high-paid occupations mentioned above, railroad wages are, to 

 all appearances, on a level with other wages in the community. 



The telephone and telegraph industry offers some excellent wage 

 data. The Oklahoma Department of Labor publishes some figures on 

 wages in the telephone industry. Of 660 male wage-earners, 27 per 

 cent, received less than $500 ; 78 per cent., less than $750, and 95 per 

 cent, less than $1,000. The wage rates for females are much lower. 

 There were 1,143 employed. The wage rates of 17 per cent, were under 

 $250, 96 per cent, under $500, and 99 per cent, under $750.-* 



The wage figures published by the Bureau of Labor-^ are taken 

 from the pay rolls of the company, and represent, as accurately as wage 

 figures may, the situation on the company's books in 1908. In general, 

 the wage scale in the telephone industry is much higher than the scale 

 in most other industries.^" The wages in nine typical occupations 

 (cable splicers, chauffeurs, drivers and stablemen, installers, inspectors, 

 laborers, repairmen, switchboard men, testers and trouble men) show a 

 considerable uniformity.^'^ Only 10 men (they were all in one class, 

 "inspectors") were receiving wages of more than $125 per month 

 ($1,500 per year) ; two fifths received less than $750 ; four fifths re- 

 ceived less than $1,000. If the laborers are eliminated, the range for 

 the other occupations is greatly advanced. The great bulk of installers, 



23 "Wages in the United States," op. cit., Chapter 7 and Chapter 9, Sec- 

 tion II. 



24 Annual Eeport of the Department of Labor of Oklahoma, 1911-12, p. 232. 



25 Investigation of Telephone Companies, 1910, op. cit. 



26 "Wages in the United States," op. cit., pp. 96-108. 



27 Investigation of Telephone Companies, op. cit., pp. 273-289. 



