Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/426

 4O4 THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL development as actually in all cases to keep exact account of days lost in the year, no reliance can be placed on the tables of time lost; their very exactitude except under such an hypothesis makes them the more untrustworthy. For a somewhat different reason the tables of health do not carry much weight. The words'good,' 'quite good,' 'fair,' 'poor,' mean different things with different speakers, and at different times. After the inquiries as to health reported in 1875, it is somewhat surprising to find that only 6'1 per cent. of these girls have poor or- bad health, and that 76'8 have 'good' or 'quite good ' health. In the section dealing with the economic condition of these girls is a paragraph which is somewhat misleading. On page 85, and again on page 88, we are told that 881 of these girls received no assistance what- ever; that 120 had received money or assistance, the money value of which was given; and 31 had received assistance in some material way. A table is given on page 37 showing the average wage of the ' assisted ' to have been $6 41c., and of the ' unassisted' $5 94c., and the writer goes on to say: ' From this a curious fact appears that in the average of all occupations it seems that those who have received assistance also received the highest actual wage for the actual time employed.' But turning to the table of amounts paid weekly for board and room on page 103, we find that 34 paid absolutely nothing, that 460 also living at home paid something towards household expenses, but not a stated sum, and that several only paid a small fixed sum. To call these girls ' not assisted ' gives a very false impression of the facts, which really indicate that those living at home earn less than those who do not, and that the latter are nevertheless often obliged to get help. The general remarks, in fact the whole report, will prove well worth reading to all interested in the history of women's labour. I know of no similar inquiry which has been carried out with such thoroughness. The annual report for 1889, after considering the nmnerical re- lation of women to nen as partners and stockholders in manufacturing industries in Massachusetts, passes on to a comparison of the censuses of 1865, 1875, and 1885, in'order to estimate the absolute and relative increase of numbers of women employed in gainful pursuits. Omitting from the tables all occupations in which less than 5,000 women were employed, the following table gives the rate of increase since 1875. Occupations Education ......... Boarding and lodging ..... Domestic service (private families). Personal service ....... Accountants, book-keepers, clerks, &c. Boots and shoes ....... Clothing ......... Cotton goods Woolien goods ........ Number. Percentage 1875 1885 of increase. 8,136 10,094 24'07 1,038 7,328 60597 79,207 142,643 80'09 4,564 9,788 114'46 1,089 5,784 431'13 6,097 14,390 136'09 24,345 27,564 13'22 16,554 31,521 90.41 4,001 9,150 128-69