14 STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND 
Ames, in a letter in answer to some queries made, has further 
explained that the last sentence refers only to families with an 
annual income of $1000 or less. “ My experience, he adds, has 
gone to prove that rental consumes from one-fifth to one-third of 
the income of the very poor. Then the proportion grows gradu- 
ally less as we reach the classes where the family income runs 
from $8.00 to $12.00 per week. Those families receiving from 
$12.00 to $15.00 seem to pay a smaller proportion of income as 
rent, but classes receiving from $15.00 to $20.00 seem to grow 
ambitious and desire to move into larger quarters. I am of the 
opinion, although I have no facts to substantiate it, that if we 
were to take classes receiving annually $1000 a year and over, 
we would find the rental proportionately diminishing the higher 
we go” Thus, Mr. Ames’s results hardly bear out Engel’s law, 
that the percentage expended on rent is invarirbly the same 
whatever the income; and it appears necessary to modify the 
law, at least, if we admit subdivisions of the working classes. 
The proportion is highest for the very poor, varying from 25 to 
30 per cent.; for the ‘real industrial’ classes it falls to 16 per 
cent. ; and then rises to 25 per cent. for highly skilled mechanies, 
and then gradually falis for families whose income exceeds one 
thousand dollars. 
Before we go on to enquire what sort of accommodation is 
obtained for this expenditure of income. it is necessary to verify 
the assumption made in last paragraph that there is compara- 
tively little distinetion of classes in Canada. In a sense this is 
an obvious fact, a matter of ordinary remark by every observer. 
While there are few in Canada who are very wealthy, there are 
probably as few who are in actual distress. The Census Report, 
1891, enabies us to verify to a certain extent this common obser- 
vation. For each census district we have given, in a series of 
tables, the number of houses and the number of rooms in each 
house. It would be obviously impossible, having regard to the 
limits of time and space, to analyze the returns for the whole 
Dominion ; and since in the country districts there is little differ- 
ence of class, it is necessary only to examine the returns for the 
