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erate as circumstances will permit. It is commonly supposed that the pawn broker lends as little as possible on articles pawned. Careful inquiry and investigation reveal the fact that the high rate of interest disposes the pawn broker to lend as much as possible. As the pawn broker takes advantage of the improvidence of the borrower and derives his profit from the interest charge, he determines the amount to be advanced by his estimate of the likelihood of the redemption of the article pawned. If a lower rate of interest were charged, a smaller sum would be loaned, but a lighter burden would be imposed on the borrower. The experience of the Provident Loan Society of New York city, which has rendered most important service to the community, is suggestive. Regular New York pawn shops charging 3 per cent a month for the first six months and 2 per cent thereafter report that from 70 to 80 per cent of the articles pawned are redeemed. The Provident Loan Society, charging but 1 per cent a month, reports that from 98 to 99 per cent of articles pawned are redeemed. It is probable that the loans made by the Provident Loan Society on given articles are frequently less than corresponding loans made by the pawn shops. The policy of the Provident Loan Society, however, encourages redemption of valuable articles, while that of the average pawn shop encourages improvidence with ultimate heavy loss. Such features in the conduct of pawn shops merit the careful attention of public authorities quite as much as do the discovery and return of stolen articles, now the main concern of the police.

3. LOAN COMPANIES. There are no official statistics regarding loan companies in the District. Their number is variously estimated to be from fifty to eighty. They are wholly without public supervision, though Commissioner West states that "the question of licensing, regulating and inspecting these loan companies is, in my judgment, one of the most important matters to be accomplished." During the last session of the Congress a measure was drafted at the request of Commissioner West by the corporation counsel of the District and introduced in both Houses. Investigations made by Commissioner West showed that these companies sent out circulars to school teachers, department clerks and others, urging them to borrow money. The natural result of this solicitation was to stimulate the borrowing habit. It was also reported to this Commission by various chiefs of the National Government that their subordinates. were frequently led, through the plausible representations of the companies, to reckless borrowing, leading to subsequent embarrassment. It is beyond question that such companies render a necessary service, but they should be so supervised and controlled by public authority that their transactions would be beneficial instead of debauching.

The borrowing of money for repayment on the instalment plan, found in the investigation of this Commission to be confined mostly to colored people, is a device of certain loan companies which merits the most careful scrutiny. It was not possible in all the cases investigated to ascertain the terms of repayment upon which loans were made, but a sufficient number was secured to show that exorbitant rates were charged.

4. INSURANCE. When the Department of Insurance was created January 1, 1902, the Superintendent found eleven companies undertaking industrial or sickness, accident and death insurance. Seven of these were District of Columbia corporations. They had 19,661 policies in force, representing $656,917 worth of insurance. The four foreign corporations had 4,978 policies in force, representing $179,587 worth of in

surance.

The Superintendent at first refused to re-license them, but subsequently, recognizing that it would be a hardship to thousands of innocent policyholders to deprive them of their insurance, consented to grant licenses. At the present time nearly all of the companies refuse to pay the tax on their premium receipts, and consequently they are not licensed or examined pending the final decision by the court of their obligation to be taxed.

There is, however, supervision over the Metropolitan, Prudential and other large insurance corporations which obey the law as construed by the Department. The lack of law governing the industrial assessment companies is fully appreciated by the Commissioners, and various bills to remedy existing deficiencies have been introduced at the request of the Commissioners and of the Insurance Department. As insurance is one of the most notable agencies for the encouragement and practice of saving and thrift, its thorough supervision is highly in the public interest.

We also believe that the Friendly or Mutual Benefit Societies which are under public supervision in most European countries should be under government inspection in the District. Such inspection would undoubtedly be in the interest and to the advantage of the members of such societies, but as many organizations prefer their independence without interference, rather than the protection afforded by government supervision, it might be sufficient to provide that the Superintendent of Insurance should have power to inspect and report the condition and solvency of such organizations upon the request of the officers or of a certain number of members paying dues and eligible to benefits.

5. INSTALLMENT PAYMENTS. The purchase of articles on the installment plan offers undeniable advantages to people with limited means, and especially to those beginning housekeeping with small capital and

no reserve. It must, therefore, be regarded as an established and valuable feature of the business relations of the wage-earning class. Abuses under the system are, however, not infrequent and impositions are often practiced. Some measure of public supervision should be exercised over such transactions, at least to the extent of requiring that concerns doing business on this plan should be registered and their transactions subject to the scrutiny of the Department of Housing and Labor.

THE SCALE OF WAGES AND THE COST OF LIVING.

By GEO. M. KOBER, M. D.

The Bureau of Labor has conducted an investigation on the subject. of wages based on a large number of establishments in the chief manufacturing and mechanical industries in the United States. The results are set forth in Bulletin 77, July, 1908.

The retail prices of food are shown in a succeeding article of the Bulletin. From these investigations we learn that, with the single exception of the year 1907, the scale of wages per hour has increased with the increased cost of living. In brief, wages in 1907 were 28.8 per cent higher than the average for the entire period from 1890-99, or 31.6 higher than in 1894, the year of lowest wages. The variation in the purchasing power of wages may be measured by using the retail prices of food, the expenditures for which constitute nearly half of the expenditures for all purposes in a workingman's family. From this study we learn that the retail price of the principal article of food weighted, according to family consumption of the various articles, was 20.6 per cent higher in 1907 than the average price paid for the 10 years period 18901899, or 26.3 per cent higher than in 1896, the year of the lowest prices during the same period. Compared with the average for the same year period the purchasing power of an hour's wages in 1907, as measured in the purchase of food, was 6.8 per cent greater than in the decade 1890-99.

The differences between 1906 and 1907 are set forth as follows: In the year 1907 the average wages per hour in the principal manufacturing and mechanical industries of the country were 3.7 per cent higher than in 1906, and the retail prices of food were 4.2 per cent higher in 1907 than in 1906, indicating that the purchasing power of an hour's wages, as measured by cost of food, was one-half of one per cent less in 1907 than in 1906.

Unfortunately all of these valuable data are based upon a study of industries in which skilled, and presumably organized, wage-earners are employed, who, it may be presumed, have insisted upon an equitable basis of wages. The writer fears that the great army of the working classes earning $10.00 or less a week have not participated to the same extent in the general advance of wages, and yet have had to carry the burden of increased cost of living.

The following table shows the articles for which the price in 1907 was higher than the average price for the decade of 1890-99, and also the articles for which the price in 1907 was lower during the same period:

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It is especially deplorable that there should have been such a marked advance in the necessaries of life, such as meats, beans, potatoes, corn meal, and pork or bacon, which with bread constitute the foundations of a substantial diet for wage-earners.

The Bulletin does not take into consideration the items of clothing and dry goods. The cost of clothing, according to a recent report of the Chamber of Commerce, since 1900 has advanced 30 per cent, gingham 30 per cent, bleached cotton goods 60 per cent.

The tables on pages 197-200 are also of extreme interest; for instance, the table on page 197, based on the average food cost of 2,567 families, distributed over five geographical divisions in the United States, shows that the average cost of food for each family in 1890 was $318.20. In 1896, the year of lowest prices, it fell to $296.76, since which time it has gradually risen to $374.75 in 1907.

The tables on pages 199 and 200 show the purchasing power of a dollar from 1890 to 1907 of various articles of food of the grade used

by the 2,567 workingmen's families. Some of the principal items are here reproduced in a condensed form:

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The following table shows the average expenditures of 2,567 workingmen's families for each of the principal items entering into the cost of living, and per cent of average total expenditure in 1901:

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†Not including interest paid by 13 families, included in principal.

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