Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 86.djvu/494

490 inspectors, repairman, switchboard men, testers and trouble men earn from $750 to $1,000.

The figures for transportation and commerce permit of no further generalization than this—so far as the data at hand may be relied upon, those occupations which have counterparts in manufacturing industries apparently pay about the same rate of wages. At the same time, there are in this field a number of highly skilled occupations which pay wages far above the usual run of wage rates. Even in these high-paid occupations, however, only a small proportion of male employees receive over $1,000; about an equal proportion of female employees receive over $750. Here and there a male employee is paid over $1,500 per year, and a female employee over $1,000 per year. These cases are so rare as to be unique.

The wage figures for the mercantile industry are even less conclusive than those for transportation and commerce. Their inconclusiveness has far more excuse for existence, however. Until recently the mercantile industry has been conducted on a small scale. The individual proprietor is still the dominating force in many fields. In no sense have the mercantile trades been organized as the railroads and the steel industry are organized. At the same time, organization is becoming the rule of the road, and the mercantile industry is rapidly shaping itself into a highly developed business. Meanwhile, the meager data on wages in the mercantile houses are indicative, though not in any sense conclusive.

The last report from California gives in elaborate detail the facts regarding the wholesale and retail mercantile establishments. Although the figures are scattering, a summary for San Francisco and Los Angeles (the two chief mercantile centers) gives the following results for male employees.

The contrast between the wages of males and of females is sharp indeed. While only a tenth of the males receive less than $500 per year, and only a third less than $750, a tenth of the females in retail establishments receive less than $250; from a fifth to two fifths receive less than $500; and from three fifths to four fifths fall under $750.

The wage rates for both sexes are higher in wholesale than they are in retail establishments. This is more true in the case of males than of females, although it is striking in both instances. It is also interesting to observe that the wage rates in San Francisco do not differ materially from those of Los Angeles.