The Board of Trade also investigated the rates of wages in other occupations, and the following table compares the £64 of the adult males in general industries with the rates of wages paid to adult males in (1) railway service, (2) building, (3) mercantile marine, (4) Royal Navy, (5) Army, (6) domestic service, (7) asylums, (8) hospitals (in 1886 unless another date is given):—
AVERAGE RATES OF WAGES (NOT ACTUAL EARNINGS) FOR MEN IN 1886
Per Annum Average of Wage Census (38 Industrial occupations) £64 Railways (for 1891) 60 Building Trades (for 1891) 73 Seamen: Mercantile Marine, including estimated } value of food and berths } 65 Royal Navy, including value of food, etc. 65 Army (Non-Coms, and men). Including value } of food, etc. } 48 Domestic Servants (large households). Including } value of food, etc. } 68 Employees in Lunatic Asylums. Including value } of food, etc. } 60 Employees in Hospitals and Infirmaries. Including } value of food, etc. } 61 --- Unweighted Average £62 ---
In his report already referred to, Sir Robert Giffen, after detailing the average rates of the above table, says (p. xxxiii): "Thus in nearly all these trades the average rates are about the same as the average rate in the Census of Wages Summary." But the table does not include the badly paid agricultural labourer, the largest group of all, and the figures for seamen, etc., are, it should be observed, swollen by estimates of the value of board and lodging.
Finally, Sir Robert Giffen arrived at the general conclusion that "the broad results shown by the census summary would not be sensibly modified by including the great mass of other employments not comprised in that summary."
In January 1893 Sir Robert Giffen gave evidence before the Labour Commission and submitted the facts I have detailed. He prepared a general estimate of the proportion of the national income then taken by the wage-earning classes, and his evidence on this point (questions 6909 to 6914) is summarized in the following table:—
EARNINGS OF MANUAL LABOURERS IN 1886 (Sir Robert Giffen's estimate for the Labour Commission)
Number. Annual Average Aggregate Earnings. per Wage-Earner. Men 7,300,000 £60 0 0 £439,000,000 Women 2,900,000 40 0 0 118,000,000 Boys 1,700,000 23 8 0 46,000,000 Girls 1,260,000 23 0 0 29,000,000 ---------- --------- ------------ 13,200,000 £48 0 0 £633,000,000 ---------- --------- ------------