wages?", for neither discussion can proceed satisfactorily without some reply to that fundamental proposition.
III. The Available Wage Data
For years I have been constantly baffled in my investigation of these, as well as other social and economic problems, by the lack of knowledge on this subject. At every turn, the need arose for an accurate, concise statement of the wages being paid in the various parts of the United States, yet to date no study has been made which supplies the need. Ryan's Estimate[1] is old, and at best incomplete; Mrs. More's statement[2], like the statement in the 1903 Report of the Commissioner of Labor,[3] is of standards of living primarily, and only incidentally of wages. In neither case is the ground covered sufficiently to warrant valuable wage deductions. The Wage Study accompanying the Census of 1900[4] is old, and
rather inadequate, as the compilers themselves
[9]
