500 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



paid occupations of the country. The following summary shows the 



available figures: 



Table VIII 



Compensation Eate foe Male Wage-eaeners in Public Utilities 



X. The Wage Rates for Mines and Quarries 



The volume of the Thirteenth Census devoted to mines and quarries 

 omitted any statement of classified wages. The only general data on 

 the subject appear in the special Census report on mines and quarries 

 issued in 1902.^" The data contained in this volume are now so thor- 

 oughly out of date that only a brief reference to them will be made. 



There were in 1903 581,728 wage-earners engaged in the pro- 

 duction of all forms of minerals. The wage rates per day of these men 

 are given by industries, by occupations, and by geographical divisions. 



The tables showing the classified earnings of all wage-earners in the 

 mining industry report 16 per cent, of the men as receiving less than 

 $1.74 per day ($500 a year) ; 62 per cent, received less than $2.49 per 

 day ($750 per year) ; and 93 per cent, received less than $3.49 per day 

 ($1,050 per year). This showing, on its face, makes the wage scale in 

 the mining industry correspond rather closely with that in the manu- 

 facturing and mercantile industries. 



One further fact of the greatest significance must be borne in mind, 

 — the ratio of unemployment in the mining industry, particularly in 

 the coal-mining industry, is comparatively high.^^ The federal report 

 on the production of coal in 1910^^ shows an average number of days 

 worked in the bituminous coal mines of 217 out of a possible 306, and 

 in the anthracite coal mines of 229 out of a possible 306 days. Under 

 the circumstances it is not fair to make a direct comparison between 

 the wage rates in manufacturing and in mining, derived by multiplying 

 the day rate by 306. The proportion of unemployment, particularly in 

 the coal mining industries, is very much higher. 



Almost one half of the total number of persons employed in mining 

 in 1902 were in the bituminous coal mines. Of the bituminous coal 



50 Washington, Government Printing Office, 1905, pp. 90-101. 



51 "Unemployment in the United States," Scott Nearing, Quarterly Publi- 

 cations of American Statistical Association, Volume II., September, 1909, p. 534. 



52 ' ' Mineral Resources of the United States, ' ' Washington, Government 

 Printing Office, 1911, p. 41. 



