CONSULATE. 342 CONSUMPTION. moirs of the time, and general histories. See France; Xapoleon I. CONSULATE OF THE SEA. See Coxsolato UEL Make. CONSUMERS' LEAGUE. An "association of persons wiio desire, so far as possible, to do their buying in such a way as to further the wel- fare of those who make or distribute the things bought." It recognizes that eveiy one is a eon- snnier; that the individual purchaser is indi- rectly a maker of goods and an employer of labor, and that as an individual he often has no test for goods. In harmony with the new politi- cal economy represented by Professor Patten, Professor JIarshall, and others, which puts the empliasis upon consumption, the League offers a means of organizing and educating consumers to a Icnowledge of their responsibilities. The move- ment started in England in 1890. About the same time the Working Women's Society of New York was investigating the condition of women and cash-girls in the stores of that city. They called a public meeting in Hay, 1S90, to ask the help of consumers in bettering these conditions, and as a result the Consumers' League of New York was formed in January, 1891. Similar leagues have since been organized in Pennsyl- vania, Massachusetts, Illinois, ^linnesota. New Jersey, Ohio, Wisconsin, and ^Michigan. The work of the leagues has been principally: (I) to trj' to reform the conditions of workers in retail stores; and (2) to educate buyers, especially women. The leagues, according to the needs of their respective cities, drew up lists of conditions which a store must maintain in order to be called a 'fair house.' Some or all of the following points are considered : ( I ) wages ( fines, time of payment, or minimum wage) ; (2) hours ( length of working day and compensation for overtime) : (3) vacations (week with pay, half- holiday during two summer months, legal holi- days) ; (4) physical conditions (seats, sanitary ^vork, liuich and retiring rooms) ; (5) humane treatment, appreciation of fidelity and length of service, and the employment of children. The stores that fulfill these conditions are placed on the 'white list.' Members of the League are urged to do their buying at these stores, and to show consideration for employees by courteous treatment and in the choice of purchasing hours. The promoters of the League soon found that its work must be extended to reach the makers of goods, both to improve their conditions, and to protect the purchaser, who had no way to dis- tinguish between factory-made goods and those made or finished in sweat-shops. Accordingly the National Consumers' League was organized in 1899 with 'Mrs Florence Kelly, who had been a successful factory inspector in Illinois, as secre- tary. In order to identify the factory-made article a 'consumers' label' was adopted, which can be placed on goods made in factories main- taining the following conditions : ( I ) compli- ance with State factory law; (2) the manufac- ture of the goods on the premises; (3) no child under sixteen employed; (4) a ten-hour day; (5) permission given for inspection by a repre- sentative of the League. During its first year's work the National League, by means of the vis- its of its secretary, investigated factories making white goods. A list of fifteen factories was pre- pared whose conditions were satisfactory and whose owners were willing to use the label. The National League has provided for the education of purchasers through lectures, the distribution of literature, and organization. The State leagues use similar methods, and, also, arrange parlor, church, and school talks. Although the member- ship of the League is still small, it is likely to prove an important educational factor in" the community. BiBLiOGRAPHT. Brooks, T/ig Consumers' Lea que ReiJorts (New York, 189G, et seq.) ; Lowell, Consumers' Leufjue (New York, I89G) ; Xorth American Recieic, 166 (New York, 1898) ; Ameri- can Journal of Hociologi), vol. v. (Chicago, 1901) ; Annals of American Academy Bulletin, N. S. No. 5 (Philadelphia. 1898); Eeiiorts of National, Jlassachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania leagues. Literature may be obtained at the office of the National Consumers' League, 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York. See Factory Inspection; Sweat-Shops; Union Label. CONSUMPTION (Lat. consumptio, a con- suming, from consumere, to consume, from com-, together -f- sumere, from suh, under + emere, to buy). One of the divisions — with production, exchange, and distribution — into which the sub- ject of political economy is commonly divided. In the greater part of the works upon the sub- ject, consumption follows the divisions above noted, and the subject has generally been treated in a stepmotherly fashion. It seems to have been assumed that the consvimption of goods, the goal of all economic eflort, sufficiently explains itself. Such treatment as is found deals with a few well-defined aspects. One of these has been the discussion of luxury, and the respective eff'ects upon the economic order of wasteful and careful personal expenditure. In further examination of this subjec-t attention has been called to the objects of personal expenditure. An examina- tion of household budgets, especially those of the laboring classes, has given rise to an extensive and interesting literature. Attention was first directed to this line of investigation hy the French economist Le Play and the German stat- istician Engel (q.v.). iluch consideration has also been given under the head of consumption to the effects upon the economic order of the various forms of taxation. It is obvious that consumption cannot be con- fined to the consiideration of personal expendi- ture — that it is an integral part of the processes of production: and in this sense consumption has been defined as the 'withdrawal of goods from the market,' and would thus include not only direct consumption of goods for the satisfaction of immediate wants, but also the indirect con- sumption of goods in the production of other goods. It is this view of the subject which has in later years led to the attempt to correlate the phenomena of consumption more closely with the other economic processes. The stimulus seems to have been given by German economists, who have directed attention to the fact that the ultimate goal of all economic effort is the satis- faction of human wants. From this it was a natural step to a closer analysis of the human wants themselves, and this analysis has led up to the newer economic doctrine of which in Eng- land ^Marshall (q.v.) . on the Continent of Europe the Austrian writers and in the United States Clark (q.v.) and Patten are the leading expo- nents. Their view is well stated in Marshall's
