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ANALYSIS OF TABLES.

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Three groups of detailed tables conclude this report, relating, respectively, (1) to the cost of living of workmen's families in Honolulu, (2) the retail prices of commodities, and (3) the occupations, wages, hours of labor, and nationality of employees.

COST OF LIVING IN HONOLULU.

These detailed tables are to be read in connection with the summary tables in the text of the report; but provide material for new combinations of data, such as is sometimes desirable where figures are to be used for purposes of comparison with similar data elsewhere or for detailed study of special conditions.

Table I shows the membership and income of families and the occupation of the head of each family, by race groups.

Table II shows home conditions by races.

Table III gives in detail the amount of income of each family studied, classified as to source.

Table IV presents with equal detail the items of expenditure of the families reporting.

RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES.

Table V. This table shows the retail prices of the principal articles of food and a few other staple commodities from 1910 back to 1890, or as near thereto as a record of prices could be secured for the same articles from the same establishments. Owing to difference in price for the same article at different stores it was not deemed proper to secure prices for part of the period from one firm and for the remainder of the period from another firm, and some commodities change so materially in their character in a few years that prices for identical articles can not be followed back for many years.

When two or more quotations were secured for the same article an effort was made to get prices as nearly as possible for the same grade and quality in each instance. An effort was also made to have the figures fairly represent the prevailing prices throughout the Territory-some of the quotations being from plantation stores, some from oriental stores, and others from the largest establishments

in Honolulu. The prices shown in this table are the average prices for the year. Footnotes have been appended to show the seasonal variation in prices of a few articles that fluctuate materially during the year. The absolute relative worth of these figures as data from which to estimate the cost of living is affected by trade customs referred to in another part of this report. A study of the table in detail shows that there was a marked rise in the price of nearly all commodities during the boom that followed annexation.

Quotations of retail prices were secured for the preceding three reports on Hawaii that have been made by this Bureau, and a number of the same firms have been continued in this report.

In the second report of this Bureau, published in Bulletin No. 47, a series of index numbers was presented showing the trend of prices of food from 1890 to 1902. The index numbers consist of percentages showing the per cent that the average price for each year was of the average price for the 10-year period, 1890 to 1899. The index numbers shown in the following text table from 1890 to 1900 are the same as given in Bulletin No. 47; those for 1901, 1902, and 1905 have been revised. The series of index numbers has been continued to include 1910, the numbers from 1901 to 1910 being based on detail figures of Table V presented in this report.

RELATIVE RETAIL PRICES OF FOOD, 1890 TO 1910.

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This above table shows that retail prices of food reached their lowest point in 1898, when the average was 98.3 per cent of the average price for the 10 years from 1890 to 1899. The highest price was reached in 1910, when it was 21 per cent above this average price.

OCCUPATIONS, WAGES, HOURS OF LABOR, AND NATIONALITY OR RACE OF EMPLOYEES.

These tables follow the same form as those presented in previous reports and are throughout comparable with them.

Table VI. Data for this table were secured from 255 establishments, representing 50 industries and 52,925 employees, as shown in the following text table:

100781°-Bull. 94-11-7

NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS AND EMPLOYEES FOR WHICH WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOR ARE GIVEN, BY INDUSTRIES.

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No attempt was made to cover all establishments in the Territory, except in case of sugar, but in certain industries nearly all establishments of any importance are included in the table.

For the other industries the figures presented are only representative. It is believed, however, that sufficient data were secured to fairly and correctly represent industrial conditions in the Territory as to wages, hours of labor, and the different nationalities employed in the several industries. In this table the number of establishments from which data were secured is stated in connection with the name of the industry. All occupations found in the establishments investigated are given for each industry, and the number and sex of the employees of each nationality are given under each occupation. Following each nationality appear the days of work per week and the

lowest, highest, and average hours of work per week. On the opposite page the employees of each nationality in each occupation are classified according to their daily wages, the table showing the number of employees earning under 50 cents per day, the number earning over 50 cents and under 75 cents per day, etc. This classification affords an opportunity to see the range of wages for each nationality of each occupation and the predominant wage groups. The classification is followed by the average wages per day for each nationality in each occupation. At the close of the occupation a total and average are given for the occupation, in which data for the employees of all nationalities are combined. A few general occupations are found under several industries; for example, carpenters are found employed in the building industry, which represents firms engaged in general building, and by steam railroads, by sugar plantations, etc.

The occupation representing a far greater number of employees than any other is that of field hands, which covers 14,645 persons. Twelve nationalities are represented in this occupation, but 60.6 per cent of all the employees of the occupation are Japanese. A total of 874 employees in this occupation receive under 50 cents per day, 151 receive $1 and under $1.50 per day, while 13,543, or 92.5 per cent of the total number employed in the occupation, receive 50 cents and under $1 per day. The average wages of all employees of this occupation are 70 cents per day.

With this short explanation it is believed the table will be readily understood. A careful and extensive study of this table is recommended for a broad knowledge concerning the nationality and the wages and hours of labor of the employees in the several industries of the Territory.

Table VII. This table has been prepared so that a comparison may be made between the wages and hours of labor in 1910 and the preceding years, 1900-1901, 1902, and 1905. The data for 1900-1901, 1902, and 1905 were secured in former investigations by the Bureau. The occupations, nationalities, average hours per week, and the average wages per day for 1910, given in Table VII, are the same as shown in Table VI. A prefatory note given in connection with the name of each industry in this table shows the number of establishments from which data were secured for each of the four periods. It will be seen that in some of the industries no data were secured for one or more of the preceding periods, and it will be further observed that although data may be presented for all four periods in an industry, certain occupations may appear in but one or two of the periods owing to the change in the occupations employed in the different periods, and to some extent, possibly, to a change in the names of the occupations. Comparisons should not be made between the number of employees in the several periods, as the number of establishments for which information was

secured varies, and even when the number is the same they are not always the same identical establishments. The number of employees is given, however, to show the basis on which rests the average hours and wages shown. In the building industry, for example, it is seen that the data for 1900-1901 are from 8 establishments; for 1902 from 9 establishments; for 1905 from 15 establishments; and for 1910 from 25 establishments. With so many establishments included it may be presumed that the wages and hours of labor shown for each occupation are fairly representative. For example, the wages of carpenters in the building industry in 1900-1901 were $3.59 per day; in 1902, $3.72 per day; in 1905, $2.82 per day; and in 1910, $2.28 per day. An inspection of the nationalities shows that the employees of this occupation were largely American in the first two periods, while in 1905 there were a greater number of Japanese, and in 1910 a greater number of Chinese, than of any other race. The reduction of the general average of wages in this occupation is largely due to the increasing number of Japanese employed.

An inspection of the occupations of this table will show that considerable change has been taking place within the last few years in the nationalities employed.

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