﻿92 INDIANA UNIVEESITY 



Bedford District. Bloomington District. A initial 

 CJctss. No. Bate per Rr. No. Bate per Er. Earnings 



Scabblers . . 4 171 455 



30 IS 11 18 468 



Laborers So 35 74 15 390 



Boys==^ 1 75 2 75 195 



19 85 .. .... 221 



1 3 00 1 1 00 260 



4 1 25 325 



5=^ 1 50 390 



Total 508 448 



448 



Grand total 956 



Variations in the rates of pay for the same kinds of Vork 

 are more noticeable in the Bloomington district than in the Bod- 

 ford district, where organization both of employers and work- 

 men has tended to obscnre the operation of causes making for 

 variation. In the Bloomington district, for example, the wage 

 rate has normally been higher in the Clear Creek region than in 

 the Hunter Valley region, owing to the necessity many of the 

 workmen in the former region are under of going to and from 

 their work on the railway. A similar condition may be observed 

 in the Bedford district, where those quarries Avhich are located 

 in the town or on its outskirts, usually pay slightly less than do 

 those located farther out. In a few cases the use of improved 

 machinery or power, as. for example, of compressed air in the 

 channeling machines, results in lower wages. Personal reasons 

 often operate to produce variations, as Avhere long employment by 

 one com.pany, custom, or preference for a particular quarry or em- 

 ployer, induce workmen to accept slightly less than the competi- 

 tive wage. Some of the most successful quarries are in this 

 position. On the other hand, some employers are accustomed to 

 attempt to remedy a shortage in their labor supply by offering 

 slightly higher wages, or even by tempting individual workmen 

 av^ay from their employers. Such methods are quite naturally 

 condemned by employers who have thereby lost workmen or 

 been compelled to raise wages in order to retain their men. 

 While this practice has thus contributed to advance wages, it 

 does not appear to have permanently increased the supply of 

 labor in the industry, perhaps in part because of the seasonal 



The wages of boys are given by the day. 

 29 These boys are employed in running the "dinky" boilers for steam drills. 



