6 
pleteness of the work may be inferred from the number of returns, mostly rep- 
resenting counties, though occasionally subdivisions of counties; and each one 
of these returns compiled m accordance with the combined judgment of several 
local correspondents, or other individuals. Ohio, for instance, is represented by 
114 returns; Indiana by 110; [llinois by 103; Iowa by 104; New York by 
109; Pennsylvania by 75; smaller States by a less number; in all, 1,510-for- 
mal statements, each made up of several others, usually representing a defined 
territory or district. 
As an example of uniformity in a populous, central, prosperous belt, interlaced 
with railroads and traversed or skirted with navigable water, let the reader note 
the figures for the States on the fortieth parallel. The monthly rate of wages, 
without board, is placed at $29 91 in Pennsylvania, $28 46 in Ohio, $27 71 in 
Indiana, $28 54 in Mlinois, $28 34 in Iowa. The eatt is subject to a somewhat 
higher cost of living, while in the west the scarcity of labor has the same tend- 
ency to advance prices. This scarcity in Nebraska pushes the rate to $38 37. 
The rate of wages, with board, is still more uniform: Pennsylvania, $18 84; 
Ohio, $18 96; Indiana, $18 72; Illinois, $18 72; Iowa, $18 87; showing an 
entire range of variation in the net price of labor of only twenty-four cents! 
Very general returns were received from the southern States, yet fewer than 
from the northern. These States rest under the disadvantage of a disturbed 
condition of labor relations, resulting from the war and the manumission of 
slaves. Assuming as a trith the proposition of Mr. Amasa Walker, that invol- 
untary servitude is not labor, it might be declared that labor in the south has 
searcely progressed beyond the period of helpless infancy. Low rates of wages 
are, therefore, returned from this section. The multiplicity of modes of con- 
tracting for service of freedmen, involving, in some cases, semi-partnerships or 
shares in the products of labor, and in others total or partial supplies of food or 
implements of labor, renders it difficult to report with accuracy its actual market 
value. Yet, the result of the inquiry has been, upon the whole, quite satisfac- 
tory. 
The average rate of wages, viz., $28 for labor of whites, and $16 per month 
for that of freedmen, was obtained by careful and laborious calculation. First, 
the average monthly wages in a State was multiplied by the number of farm 
laborers in such State, and so with each member of the Union. ‘Then the sum 
ef the aggregate monthly wages was divided by the aggregate number of labor- 
ers, giving as a quotient the proper average monthly pay of the farm laborer. 
An average of the several State averages, it will readily be seen, would by no 
means answer the purpose of approximate accuracy, as such a mode of muscal- 
culation would give to a State with’ few laborers as much influence as one with 
many. : 
Causes and results of high rates—In those States in whichegular labgy is 
most general among the inhabitants, and where it is prosecuted in greatest va- 
riety, there will wealth abound and prosperity be most generally enjoyed. And 
another fact relative to such States will also be noted—their laborers receive the 
highest rate ef wages. ; 
Massachusetts has a poor soil, and cannot be considered a farming State. In 
1860 the United States census returned 45,204 farmers, and 17,430 farm labor- 
ers, while the total return of all occupations was 454,632. ‘The State census 
of 1865 makes the number engaged in agricultural pursuits 68,636, and those 
employed in manufacturing 271,241. The employment of all this labor in com- 
merce, in fisheries, in manufactures, in the mechanic arts, and in trade, requires 
a consumption of farm products far greater than the home supply. ‘This enables 
farmers to select those branches of their business most profitable under the cir- 
cumstances, and least affected by foreign competition, as the milk trade, the fruit 
supply, and production of perishable vegetables. The facility of obtaining em- 
ployment in other occupations gives the farm laborer a material advantage, and 
