124 



TWELFTH REPORT. 



of wages aud hours of labor from 1890-1907.^ From the table on page 

 10. I eonchide that of those rises in wages whicli are above the average 

 rise there are more in case of weakly organized trades than in case of a 

 strongly organized one. Furthermore, the average of relative Avages in 

 1907. though it seems somewhat lower for weakly organized industries 

 than for strong, shows no such ditfereuce as to indicate any etfeet of 

 unions on ]Karticular i)rices. The average index nund)er for 15 weakly 

 organized trades was 125; for 8 relatively strong trades it was 130, 



Weak. 



Agricultural Implements.. . . 130.9 



Boots and Shoes 124.3 



Carpets 117 . 1 



Cars 124.4 



Cotton Goods 157.5 



Electrical Apparatus and 



Supplies 122.6 



Foundrv and Machine Shop. 121.4 



Gas ..." 129.4 



Glass 123.5 



Hosierv and Knit Goods. . . . 133.4 



T ' A ^ ^ f Bessemer 119.8 



Iron and steel | ^j^^^ _^32 ^ 



leather 111.8 



Silk Goods 110.9 



Slaughter and Meat Packing 110.0 



Woolen 131.9 



Strong. 



Bread 128.9 



Blacksnnthing nnd Horse 



Shoeing 126.4 



Building 144.6 



Harness 123.5 



Brewery 132.9 



Stone and Marble 125,7 



Printing 126.8 



Cigars 132.4 



130.1 



125.8 



Can we not infer, then, that // other tJnn(/s were equal the tendency 

 of labor organization would be through effecting relative productivity 

 to cause higher jtrices in the organized part of the industrial tteld than 

 in the unorganized, and also in the strongly organized as compared 

 with the weakly organized part; and (2) that the scanty statistics as 

 to hours and wage rates show that on the average this is the case, 

 though (3) no such marked differences as might be sui)i)Osed appear. 



Inasmuch as positive conclusions from this examination of the pos- 

 sibilities and actualities of the more immediate means of affecting 

 prices are so meagre we must seek results elsewhere. We have con- 

 cluded that the only way in which laborers can effect a rise in ])rices 

 is to decrease relative productivity in a particular industry or group 

 of industries through one or more of the factors just briefly discussed. 

 But the ability to make such a decrease dejiends upon the strength of 

 organization — of the union : just as. in so far as ]trices are concerned, 

 a union can- work only through a change in relative productivity, so the 

 capacity to affect relative productivity and i>rices depends upon the 

 strength of the union. 



To be sure we can not measure changes in relative productivity. 

 Merely a few deductions have been . suggested. Therefore, when a 



'Bulletin, Bureau of Labor, Xo. 77. 



