than his wages, and that they begin to diminish after 13 weeks. believes that few insure themselves up to the full amount of their wages. But opinions on this question differ somewhat. Another trustworthy informant shows that of the men in his shop (compositors in this instance also) half receive more when away through illness than when at work. But this appears to be unusual.

The raisons d'être of this multitude of overlapping and sometimes competing Societies seem to be two-fold (in addition, of course, to the fact of their providing insurance against sickness and death in such a manner that by making use of them a man avoids putting all his eggs in one basket, and that a large part of the contributions paid come back at the end of a certain period). These two causes appear to be, first, the fact that the subscriptions to the greater Friendly Societies are for some badly paid classes of workmen-e.g., for many labourers too heavy; while on the other hand, among many classes of workers having a high standard of comfort, the highest scale of payment and benefits offered by the Friendly Societies are not large enough, and require to be supplemented by membership of several other thrift Societies; secondly, the varieties of benefit given by the greater Friendly Societies are not sufficiently numerous, and need to be supplemented by subscriptions to convalescent homes, pensions, &c. The question therefore suggests itself whether the independent Friendly Societies might not advantageously so add to their scales of contributions and benefits as to provide for both classes of requirements by adding both lower and higher scales than they have at present; and whether something might not be done to meet the requirements in response to which many of the minor thrift Societies have arisen, and so add to the varieties of benefits offered as to make membership of several Societies unnecessary. Something has lately been done in this direction by some of the larger Societies, e.g., the Hearts of Oak, in adding convalescent benefit; and we may expect some solution of the Old Age Pensions problem will before long be contrived by the united efforts of the great Societies, either with or without the co-operation of the State. It is noteworthy that the Hon. Sydney Holland, in his evidence before the Shop Clubs Committee, stated that the reason of the Dock Companies for starting a society of their own was the Report by the actuary of the "Hearts of Oak" of the unsatisfactory position. of that Society, and the wish to compel the workmen to secure to themselves Old Age Pensions.

There is also the question whether it might not be desirable to introduce some simpler and cheaper method of registration for the small Societies, with much simpler rules than at present required. The result of this would probably be to make registration much more. general among the small clubs, and thus indirectly to encourage the better clubs, by increasing the security and confidence of their contributors, which would, of course, tend to crush out those which were too much mismanaged or too financially unstable to bear the test

of the simpler form of registration. A possible amendment of the Truck Acts, even one which should make illegal all contracts respecting payments to Benefit Societies of any description, would hardly affect the necessity of some such measures as these.

EDITH M. DEVERELL, London School of Economics.

CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH SHOP ASSISTANTS WORK.

THE Conditions under which shop assistants work are so varied that it is impossible to exhaust the subject in a paper of this length. I have therefore chosen six shops which I will designate A. B. C. D. E. and F., and which fairly represent the conditions under which the majority of London Shop Assistants work. To make these facts generally intelligible, a few explanatory notes are necessary. Before one can estimate the price of the Shop Assistants' Labour it is necessary to take into account the premiums or commission; and the cost to the employer of board and lodging, if any, provided by him for his assistants. Premiums are considered as part of wage-i.e., when an assistant is contracting for a stated wage it is assumed that a certain sum can be added to it by the system of premiums, but there is no guarantee given that such will be the case. Sometimes the amount actually made in premiums exceeds the amount estimated by the employer, but it more frequently happens that the estimate exceeds the actual amount possible to be made by the assistants.

In the six shops under consideration the assistants "live in," i.e., the employers provide board and lodging for assistants as part of wage.

The conditions of "living in vary so much that it is difficult to convey a fair idea of the system even by describing in detail the conditions obtaining in these shops. The disposition of the housekeeper, the ability of the cook, the house rules, all help to make the system good, or bad, from the assistants' point of view; they frequently overlook conditions detrimental to health for the sake of other conditions that are convenient to them individually.

Many people are under the impression that the "living in" system provides both home and guardians for the boys and girls who come up from the country. I have no hesitation in saying that, in the majority of cases, this impression is entirely erroneous. The atmosphere of shop" is always with them; the food is frequently inadequate for their needs; the lack of fresh air and outdoor exercise seriously undermines their health, while their moral calibre is weakened by the absence of proper social or home life. The women are restricted to an extremely limited social life and the prospect of marriage is vague. For the men, marriage is, in most instances, a bar to getting employment,

and therefore they cannot afford to marry. That the "living in "system is not necessary for the welfare of the assistants or for the proper conduct of business is proved in Glasgow and other large commercial centres of Scotland where the system is practically unknown.

The following House Rules are typical of the rules to be found in the majority of business houses, and will convey some idea of the reason why so many assistants-adult men and women-dislike the "living in " system.

COPY OF HOUSE RULES.

I. The House door is closed at 11 p.m. Saturdays at 12 p.m. The gas will be turned out 15 minutes later. Any one having a light after that time will be discharged.

II.-Assistants sleeping out without permission will be cautioned twice, and discharged at the third offence.

III. All bedrooms to be cleared at 8 a.m.

IV. On Sundays the bedrooms to be cleared at 10.30 a.m. and not entered again till 12.30 p.m.

V.-Sitting Rooms to be cleared at 11 p.m. Saturdays at 12 p.m.

VI.-Assistants are requested to see that their looking glasses, drawers, and washstands are in good condition when they first use them, as they will be held responsible for any damage afterwards.

Bedrooms

VII. Any article cracked or broken must be paid for at once. must be left tidy. No pictures, photos, &c., allowed to disfigure the walls. Any one so doing will be charged with the repairs.

IX.-Brushes, bottles, &c., must not be left about the room, but put away in the drawers. Anything so left will be considered as done with.

X.-Assistants must not lean out of windows, or do anything to attract the attention of persons outside.

XI.-Any assistant making unnecessary noise or disturbance will be discharged.

XII. No assistant to enter any bedroom but her own.

XIII.-Young ladies leaving the establishment must remove their boxes the same day.

XIV.-Any young lady being unwell must give her name and department to the housekeeper before 9 a.m., and must in all cases see the house doctor, who will be paid from the medical fund. Any objecting to this must leave the premises until recovered; no other doctor will be allowed to enter the house. XV. No article of diet to be supplied unless by doctor's orders. XVI.-All apprentices and assistants are expected to subscribe 6d. per month to the medical fund, payable in advance.

XVII.—The washing will be sent out on Mondays and given back on Fridays; washing not having name and address of laundress attached will not be sent.

XVIII.-Any assistant leaving tradespeople or washerwomen in debt will have the same mentioned in their reference.

XIX.-Assistants must not loiter in the passages, or doorsteps, or pavements near the house, or in . . . . Terrace, and are on no account to bring strangers into the Terrace.

XX. Strangers are not allowed to enter the house.

XXI-Hot water can only be had on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings.

XXII.-Any one found in the servants' kitchen will be discharged.
XXIII.-No flowers to be put in water glasses or bottles.
XXIV.-All complaints to be made to the housekeeper.

It is extremely difficult to persuade assistants to state the exact amount of wage they contract for. This reserve on the question of wages makes it possible for the wages of assistants doing precisely the same kind of work to vary considerably in amount. To find the payment per hour, I have taken the amount of weekly wage contracted for and divided it by the number of hours per week worked in each case. The estimated amount of premiums and the estimated cost of "living in" must therefore be added to the wage per hour in order to find the price of labour to the employer; to find the value of the labour to the assistants, the amounts of fines and deductions and the money necessarily spent in food must be deducted.

Shop A. is a high-class drapery and outfitting business, situated in the South-West of London. The number of assistants employed varies with the slack or busy season. The minimum number is 216, viz., 73 men, 124 women, 7 boys, 12 girls. The nominal hours of business are 58 per week; the actual hours worked by assistants average 621 per week. The time to be deducted for meals is one hour and fifty minutes per day. The dining-room is situated in the basement of the business premises, and is lit with gas; the walls are whitewashed, and the only furniture plain deal chairs, tables, a clock, and a framed copy of the House Rules. The menu for a day is as follows:

Breakfast-bread and butter, tea or coffee. Dinner-a choice of meats, one or two vegetables and cheese (pudding three times each week). Tea-bread and butter, tea or hot milk. Supper-bread, butter and cheese, ale or milk. Special diet-as beef-tea, toast, fish, or eggs is supplied to assistants who are indisposed. Meals are provided for assistants on Sundays. Although the food at "A" is good in quality it is so monotonous (with the exception of dinner) that assistants necessarily spend from 6d. to 1s. 6d. per week in "extras" for breakfasts and suppers.

A small, but cosy sitting-room is provided for the use of the young ladies; the men have the use of the dining-room as sitting-room after business hours. The sleeping apartments are scattered around the vicinity of the business premises. Many of the rooms are large and well ventilated, and are made pretty and homelike by the assistants who occupy them. Others are dingy and overcrowded. One room, measuring 533 cubic feet for each person, contains three single beds, two windows 31 ft. square, a small closed fireplace, two single washstands, two chests of drawers, four chairs, and narrow strips of carpet at the bedside. This room is extremely dingy; it is, however, the worst of the rooms provided by this firm. Assistants have the unrestricted use of their bedrooms on Sundays.

I am unable to give the amount of fines paid by the assistants

whose wages are given; the following is a complete list of fines for one. month at A:

Seven assistants gave the amount of wage contracted for as follows:

Judging from their position in the business, it is fair to assume that the majority of assistants at A. contract for a wage of from 11d. to 2d. per hour. This wage is supplemented by a system of premiums by which it is possible to make from 3s. to 8s. per week. The estimated cost of "living in " to the employer is 6s. per head per week.

Shop B. is a wholesale and retail business in the West End, and includes nearly every branch of the distributive trade. There are 956 assistants employed, viz., 517 men, 370 women, 32 boys, 37 girls. The season trade does not greatly affect the total number of the staff, as assistants are moved from departments where trade is slack to the busy departments. The nominal hours of business are 61 per week; the actual number of hours worked by assistants is from an average of 63 in some departments to 69 in others. The time to be deducted for meals is one hour per day.

We have at B. a good illustration of the irregular overtime worked in different departments of the same business. The shop doors are always closed to customers promptly at the advertised closing hour.

In departments such as drugs, stationery, hairdressing, and foreign and fancy, the overtime worked for the whole year does. not exceed an average of two hours per week. In the dresses, prints, ribbons, laces, costumes, grocery, and confectionery departments, the overtime worked is excessive during certain weeks of the year, and the average is from four to five hours per week. The greater portion of the overtime worked in any department is the result of neglect on the part of the workers to guard their own interests, and the consequent lack of organisation of their labour on the part of the employers or the

managers.

The dining-rooms are situated in the basement of the business premises, and are lit with electric light. The walls are covered with