The comparison of weekly hours of labor can be made much more readily by the use of the relative figures contained in the reports, which are in the case of each occupation computed upon the basis of the average weekly hours in England and Wales as 100.

RELATIVE LEVEL OF AVERAGE USUAL HOURS OF LABOR IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS IN SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES, BY COUNTRIES.

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

Ratio of average weekly hours of labor to those in England and Wales

An examination of the foregoing table shows that for the building trades and for compositors the hours of labor in the United States are uniformly fewer than those in any of the other countries, being approximately 10 per cent below the hours in those occupations in England and Wales. The next above England and Wales is Germany, with hours from 10 to 12 per cent longer; France, with hours approximately 20 per cent longer in the building trades, and 13 per cent for compositors, and 14 per cent in the engineering trades; and Belgium, with hours in the building trades nearly 30 per cent higher and in the engineering and printing trades 14 per cent higher. Considering the arithmetical mean of the ratios for all trades, hours in the United States are 5 per cent below those in England and Wales, and those in Germany, France, and Belgium are, respectively, 11, 17, and 21 per cent higher than England and Wales.

Since the date of the investigation a slight tendency toward a reduction of hours has been noted in all of the countries save Belgium, but it does not appear that these changes would affect in any marked degree the comparisons of the foregoing table.

RENTS.

In the following table are presented the actual and relative weekly rents charged in the various countries for dwellings of two, three, four, five, and six rooms. Only dwellings of three and four rooms were found as prevailing types in all of the countries, and dwellings of five and six rooms were found common types only in England and the United States.

PREDOMINANT RANGE OF WEEKLY RENTS IN EACH COUNTRY, BY SIZE OF DWELLING.

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

1 Dwellings occupied by colored tenants are excluded.

RELATIVE LEVEL OF WEEKLY RENTS IN EACH COUNTRY, BY SIZE OF DWELLING. [Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

1 Dwellings occupied by colored tenants are excluded.

For the type of dwelling most generally found in the United States weekly rentals were more than double the rates paid in England and Wales and in Germany. As compared with the other countries the rate is about 24 times that of France and over 3 times that of Belgium. It can not, of course, be said in regard to housing that these comparisons are for approximately the same accommodation. They are in each case for the type of dwelling occupied by families of wage earn

ers, with all of the differences as to conveniences and comforts characteristic of the several countries. For an accurate understanding of these differences the reports relating to the several countries should be consulted.

When the rents reported in the individual cities of each country are compared, the range is found to be much greater than that noted in the case of wages. Each report contains figures showing the relative rents in each city as compared with those in the chief city of the country as a basis or 100, and in order to compare the ranges these figures have been brought together in the following table:

RANGE OF RENTS IN THE CITIES OF EACH COUNTRY AS COMPARED WITH RENTS IN THE CHIEF CITY.

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

In the case of rents the maximum cost was found in the largest city in each country except the United States, and in nearly all cases the lowest rent was found in the smallest or one of the smallest cities. The widest range in the cost of rents was found in Germany, where in one city rents were only 28 per cent of those in Berlin. In both Germany and Great Britain the range was found to be slightly wider than in the United States; in France and Belgium it was somewhat narrower, Belgium showing the least range from lowest to highest.

RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES.

Comparisons of the retail prices of commodities are limited to those articles found in general use in several countries and which are of approximately the same grade or character. The actual prices of the 11 articles of food and of coal and of paraffin oil are shown in the following table:

PREDOMINANT RANGE OF RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES IN EACH COUNTRY. [Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908, Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

The relative prices of this same list of commodities (prices in England and Wales in each case being taken as 100) are shown in the following table:

RELATIVE LEVEL OF RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES IN EACH COUNTRY. [Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

The table shows that for all the articles included in the comparison, save pork, prices in the United States were higher than in England. On this one article prices were lower in the United States than in any of the other countries. Without exception the highest prices for meat were found in Germany. For two varieties of meat, beef and bacon, Belgium showed the lowest prices, while for mutton the lowest price was found in England. England also showed the lowest price for flour, the price in the United States being 39 per cent higher, while in Germany and France it was 40 and 53 per cent higher, respectively. For bread the highest price was found in the United. States, being almost two and one-fourth times the price in England. In France the price was 15 per cent higher than in England, and in Belgium 5 per cent lower.

Each report contains figures showing the relative retail prices of commodities in each city as compared with those in the chief city of the country as a basis or 100, and in order to compare the range between the various cities in the several countries these figures have been brought together in the following table:

RANGE OF RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES IN THE CITIES OF EACH COUNTRY AS COMPARED WITH PRICES IN THE CHIEF CITY.

[Compiled from reports of an Inquiry by the Board of Trade into Working Class Rents, Housing and Retail Prices, together with Rates of Wages in certain occupations in the Principal Industrial Towns of the United Kingdom, 1908; Germany, 1908; France, 1909; Belgium, 1910; United States, 1911.]

The differences between the various cities of the several countries are much smaller in the case of prices than was found in the case of wages or rents. In Belgium, for example, a range of only 11 per cent was found between Brussels, the city of highest prices in that country, and Bruges, the city of lowest prices. Both in the United States and in England and Wales the range from lowest to highest was only 18 points; in Germany 24 points; and in France, where the maximum difference was found, 34 points. In all of the countries except Belgium the highest prices were reported from some city other than the largest city. Thus in England the highest prices were reported for Dover; in Germany for Barmen; in France for Marseille; in the United States for Atlanta. It is worthy of note that notwithstanding the great extent of territory covered by the investigation