468 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G. 



These figures, showing this marvellous growth of steam-power 

 in the United Kingdom since the year 1840, though only to be 

 regarded as rough approximates, are of the greatest importance. 



They show that while the natural increase of population has 

 contributed 7,928,000 additional bread-v/inners to the stock of 

 physical agencies engaged in the work of production, steam-power, 

 in the same time, as an auxiliary force, has added 16,852,000 

 horse-power, which is estimated to be equivalent to the total 

 physical energy of as much as 202,224,000 powerful men. 



The Standard of Living. 



The chief difiiculty of any attempt to determine what may be 

 acceptable as a fair and reasonable " minmum living wage " is 

 that it altogether depends upon what is the customary or socially 

 accepted " standard of living " of the class of workers immediately 

 concerned. This difficulty is further increased because of the ex- 

 treme range of variability of "the standard of living," per se 

 This standard varies extremely with the following conditions 

 thus : — 



The Standard of Living. 



(1) Varies with the degree of civilization, whether of differ- 



ent countries or of different periods within the same 

 region. 



(2) Varies with the age and sex of the industrial bread- 



winner. 



(3) Varies with each one of the innumerable specific sub- 



divisions of occupations into which the highly 

 organized divisions of Labour are now broken up. 

 But under a state of freedom of contract, between employer and 

 employe, the reward for a day's labour, whether of money or its 

 equivalent, cannot permanently fall below the minimum purchas- 

 ing power of a day's supply of the wants and comforts essential to 

 maintain the life and that particular " socially accepted Standard 

 of Living " to which the particular clas of worker happens to be 

 related. As the breadwinner of a family must also provide for 

 their wants as well as his own, it is obvious that the unit of the 

 " socially accepted standard of living " must, in all cases be based 

 upon the necessary wants of the families of each class whose bread- 

 winner, so handicajiped, is working at the greatest disadvantage. 

 This view of the " Standard of Living " and of the " Law of 

 Wages " is admirably defined and illustrated by Gunton (Principles 

 of Social Economics, p. 204) as follows: — 



The Law of Wages. 

 " The law of wages, then, may be correctly stated thus: — 



" The rate of wages in any country, class, or industry 

 constantly tends towards the cost of living of the most ex- 



