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Rh point out. Not only is there a lack of material in the past, but, so far as could be learned, there is little disposition to collect wage statistics in the immediate future. Upon inquiry I learned that the United States Bureau of Labor had published no material on wages since 1907, and had none in immediate contemplation, while the Director of the Census, in reply to a letter, stated that no special wage study would be made in connection with the Census of 1910. Hence, a successful study of the cost of living, the standard of living, or of any other social problem in which wages are directly involved, must be preceded by some unofficial study of wages.

It is the aim of this study to set down, as perfectly and as briefly as may be, an answer to the question, "What wages are now being paid in the United States?" Should the answer be measurably accurate, a basis, at present non-existent, will be provided for advanced studies. The field is a virgin one, and like all pioneers in a virgin field, this study will doubtless prove in many respects inadequate and incomplete, yet, could it mark the beginning of a series of investigations which will ultimately furnish a complete