42 American Economic Association [840 



As to those workmen who suffer only relative dis- 

 placement there is, ordinarily, no need for any compen- 

 sating advantages. The greatest hardship which the 

 use of machinery lays upon them is that of avoiding 

 those occupations in which the demand for workmen is 

 becoming weak. It will be noticed too, that for every 

 relative decrease in the number of persons engaged in 

 one industry, there is a corresponding increase in some 

 other industry. 1 As a matter of fact the persons engag- 

 ed in gainful occupations constitute a greater proportion 

 of the total population now than formerly. 2 



1 See pp. 37-38. 



2 MALES AND FEMALES TEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN THE 



UNITED STATES. 



Year Total mlm t,er - Percent 



Ranged on the common basis of 100, for the purpose of comparison, 

 the two columns of absolute numbers in the above table show as 

 follows : 



MALES AND FEMALES TEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



Year Total number Engaged in gain- 



ful occupation 

 1900 ........ 205.2 . ..... 232.5 



1890 ........ 168.0 ........ 181.8 



1880 ........ 130.2 ...... ' . . 139.1 



1870 ........ loo.o . . ...... loo.o 



These figures show an unmistakable increase in the proportion of 

 those engaged in clearly defined occupations. There are, however, 

 two points which should be borne in mind in any comparative study 

 of the census returns of occupations. 



First : the more elementary the industrial organization, the less 

 differentiated are the industrial functions, and hence the proportion 

 of those who can report themselves as having definite occupations 

 is much less than in a highly developed industrial organization in 

 which the workmen are much given to following special lines of 

 work. (Tenth Census, Population I, page 710.) 



Second : The number of different occupations reported upon has 



