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 302 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

not seemed to be interested. The proprietors of such factories sustain constant intense pressure of competition of others who have a lower standard; and they need and welcome the offered support of an organized body of purchasers. One practical demonstration of this may be found in the offer of several such employers to use the label of the Consumers' League, bearing the expense of printing the labels and attaching them to the product; another is the help given by a manufacturer of wide experience in drafting the form of contract to be used, and many various designs for the label, from among which the one now in use was selected. As the league grows in numbers and in influence, this moral and financial support to the humane employer may be expected to stimulate the spirit of emulation in others who have hitherto been guided by the desire for cheapness rather than for goodness in the arrangement of their factories. This has been noticeably the effect in New York city, the most enlightened employers having been the first to comply with the requirements of the local league, and others hesitating, some of them for years, but finally coming to the point of making the required concessions.

Recognizing that its work must be one of education and organization, the Consumers' League has sought the cooperation of the great educational institutions. The departments of economics of Harvard, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, and Wellesley College have been actively interested in the work of the leagues of their several states. The department of sociology of the University of Chicago has made valuable contributions, both faculty and students helping with tongue and pen the discussion of the power and the duty of the consumer. The American Academy of Political and Social Science has published in its Annals the proceedings covering its discussion of the theoretical foundation of the work of the league. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Social Science Association, at their recent sessions, have discussed the subject;' and it will form the subject of one session of the meeting of the American Economic Association at its

'The substance of this paper was read at the latter meeting.