mY 
oi WAGES: OF F FARM LABOR!) ©". 
The ats of the May investigation of wages | of Bath m labor is ie 
st identical with that of three years ago. The chauges are very nn a 
slight, though local differences occur, the : averages of the geograph- « 
oe ‘sections or groups of States being changed very little. “Phe aver- °— 
ver ate per month, where the laborer boards himself, is a few cents 
lower in the Middle and Western States and in Califor: nia, anda very is 
1 ittle higher in the South and in New England. 
a _ The highest rates obtained im 1866 in the Northern and Western _ 
‘States. Tn California and in the South there was a positive advance 
between that date and 1869. The investigation of 187 ‘5, a year or two. 
‘after the monetary crisis appeared, showed decline in each section, 
W vhich continued for several years, culminating in 1879, the date of 
lowest prices of all American farm products. The decline from 1866 _ 
to 1879 amounted to 39 per cent. in the Eastern States, 35 in the Mid- | 
“dle, 30 in the Western States, and 17 in the Southern States. In 
California the rate of averages was well sustained, rising at first but 
standing in 1879 higher than in 1866. 
- The following st: atement presents the sectional averages for each 
“period: 
Tae 
- 
Sections. 1888. | 1885 rs 1882. 1875. | 1869. | 1866. 
Ea erat States: 0.3. c. ON Aa ean ae $26.03 | | $25. 30 Peay 61 | $20.21 21 | $28, 96 | $32.08 | $33.30_ 
_ OATES ET tee Sea mere 23.11 | | 23. 19 | "22/24 | "19.69 | 26.02 | 28.02 | 30.07 
MSMR BEALES 2 ee oii cuca Ebene tek 14.54 | 14.27 | 15.30! 13:31 | 16.221 17.21] 16.00 
MMU LOE 508. CE co ys reine ss Os 22.22 | 22. 26 | 23:63 20.38 | 23.60] 27.01} 28.92 
al pee ee 3 SES Bee 88.08 | 38.75 | 88.25] 41:00] 44.50] 46.38 | . 35.75 > 
) iciiah a3 Mccann Wire that! Pies eal 
1.07 | 18.94] 16.42! 19.87 | 20.98] 21.71 
! | ; 
ee ee eee 
me S 
Ag Average United States.......... ..... 
ao. 
je “The accompanying diagram (K) illustrates the course of prices for 
‘more than twenty years, and forcibly shows into what a gulf wages © 
* _fell during the five or six years of panic, from which a slow recovery 
| ‘commenced i in 1879.. The s! harp decline from 1886, ele in Cal- 
2 ornia—where the highest point after the war 
fall from an era of inflation, in which speculative values were all 
the higher from | being stated in a depreciatedcurrency. The present 
.. values’ appear to be on a more natural and stable basis. 
BA. It will be seen that the rise was coincident with the return to 
“Specie payments, reaching the natural level by a leap as soon as the 
‘pressure whieh depressed. was removed. It is curious to note, fur- 
t her, that at the lowest ebb of wages rates were higher in the West — 
than in the Middle States, and slightly: above the lowest point reached — 
in the Eastern States, because the soil was still cultivated and crops 
were grown in their usual quantity, while much of the manufactur- 
ng industry was suspended. This Westernline of wages wouldnot =~ a 
per dipped so low but for the immigration to the West of Eastern 
eratives and artisans out of work seeking employment and future > 
homes. i cues 
a saa as 
