Arrangements have been made for providing compensation to bakers and other retailers holding stocks of flour or having stocks in transit invoiced at the old prices, and also for compensating factors and importers for the stocks they hold.

CONVICTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FOOD REGULATIONS.

An interesting feature of the National Food Journal is a section devoted to an account of prosecutions for violations of the food regulations and orders. In one case a farmer was fined £5,750 ($27,982.38) for selling "ware" and seed potatoes at prices exceeding the maximum rates fixed by the Potatoes 1916 Main Crop (Prices) Order (No. 2), 1917. There were 55 charges, and in each case the fine was the maximum of £100 ($486.65) with an additional £250 ($1,216.63) for costs. Another man was fined £100 ($486.65) on six summonses, one being that he had sold potatoes to a retailer at £22 ($107.06) per ton instead of £11 10s. ($55.96) and 10s. ($2.43) carriage. A farmer was fined £5 ($24.33) for having in his possession 2 hundredweight (224 pounds) of sugar, and in another case a fine of £1 ($4.87) was assessed against a man for having in his possession 45 pounds of sugar, 3 pounds of tea, and 6 half sacks of flour. A certain baker was fined £25 ($121.66) for selling new bread, and another baker was fined £25 for exposing and £25 for selling such bread. It appears that more than 60 persons of all classes have been fined sums ranging from £15 ($73) to £1 ($4.87) for having obtained preserving sugar by false declarations.

WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOR.

NEW WAGE SCALE FOR ANACONDA COPPER MINING CO. EMPLOYEES.1

On September 17, following a strike by the employees of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. at its mines at Butte and its reduction works at Anaconda and Great Falls, Mont., work was resumed, the new wage scale offered by the company in June having been accepted by the employees. The new wages are based on the price per pound of electrolytic copper, and the following table shows the old and the new wage rate of the principal occupations at the mines and reduction works. It should be explained that the schedule does not stop at 31 cents, as indicated in the table; the wages continue to advance at the rate of 25 cents for each 2 cents' increase in the price of copper. The column "25 and under 27 cents" represents the wage scale at the present time.

COMPARATIVE WAGE RATES OF THE PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS AT THE MINES AND REDUCTION WORKS OF THE ANACONDA COPPER MINING CO.

Boiler cleaners' helpers:

New scale..

Old scale..

3.00 3.25 3.25 3.50 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.00 4.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.25 4.50 4.75 5.00 5.25 5.50

1 Data taken from Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering, 239 West 39th Street, New York. 1, 1917, p. 370.

Oct.

COMPARATIVE WAGE RATES OF THE PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS AT THE MINES AND REDUCTION WORKS OF THE ANACONDA COPPER MINING CO.-Concluded.

An agreement, announced on September 20,1 has been effected between the War Industries Board and the copper producers by which the latter will furnish copper to the Government at the rate of 231 cents per pound, f. o. b. New York, subject to revision after four months, the establishment of this price being based upon the cost of production as determined by the Federal Trade Commission. In effecting this agreement the War Industries Board stipulated (1) that the producers shall not reduce the wages now paid; (2) that the operators shall sell to the allies and to the public at the same price paid by the Government, and take the necessary measures, under the direction of the War Industries Board, for the distribution of the copper to prevent it from falling into the hands of speculators who would increase the price to the public; and (3) that the operators shall pledge themselves to exert every effort necessary to keep the production of copper up to the maximum of the past so long as the war lasts. The official announcement of the fixing of the price mentioned contains the following statement:

"The War Industries Board felt that the maintenance of the largest production should be assured and that a reduction in wages should be avoided. The stipulation that present wages shall not be reduced

1 Official Bulletin for Sept. 21, 1917.

compels the maintenance of the highest wages ever paid in the industry, which without such stipulation would, with the reduction made in the price of copper, be reduced under the sliding scale so long in effect in the copper mines. Within this year copper has sold as high as 36 cents per pound, and the market price would now be higher than it is had it not been well known for some weeks that the Government would fix the price."

NEW FAIR WAGE SCHEDULE IN MANITOBA.

The Fair Wage Board of the Province of Manitoba, Canada, recently formulated a schedule of hourly wage rates and hours per week applicable in the city of Winnipeg and in the province itself (other than Winnipeg and a radius of 30 miles therefrom) from August 15, 1917, to August 14, 1918. This schedule has received the approval of the minister of public works, under the provisions of the Fair Wage Act, 1916, being section 10 of chapter 121 of the Statutes of Manitoba, 1916.

SCHEDULE OF WAGE RATES PER HOUR AND HOURS PER WEEK FIXED BY THE FAIR WAGE BOARD OF MANITOBA, APPLICABLE TO THE CITY OF WINNIPEG AND A RADIUS OF 30 MILES THEREFROM.

Occupation.

Common laborers..

Builders' laborers (being those directly engaged in assisting tradesmen not otherwise classified)

Steam fitters.

Hoist engineers:

Engineers in charge of double-drum machines used for hoisting materials, operating boom and guy derricks, locomotive cranes, cableways, traveling derricks, steam shovels, clam shells, orange peels, pile drivers, irrespective of the motive power...

Engineers in charge of single-drum machines used for hoisting materials or operating tractors, concrete mixers, pumps, syphons, pulsometers, stone crushers, air compressors, dinky locomotives, irrespective of the motive power, or operating portable or stationary boilers used on the building during construction for any of the before-mentioned purposes..

Sheet-metal workers..

SCHEDULE OF WAGE RATES PER HOUR AND HOURS PER WEEK FIXED BY THE FAIR WAGE BOARD OF MANITOBA, APPLICABLE TO THE CITY OF WINNIPEG AND A RADIUS OF 30 MILES THEREFROM-Concluded.

Carpenters:

Journeymen.

(Except during the months of June, July, and August, when the hours
shall be)..

Form carpenter or carpenter's helper..

(Men considered by employers to be qualified for a higher rate per hour
than 35 cents on account of the class of work being performed, to be paid
not less than 55 cents per hour.)

1 50 cents outside of Winnipeg and a radius of 30 miles therefrom.

$0.50

44

.40

44

.35

44

.25

44

40

.35

.55

54

60

54

.35

50

60

In the Province, outside of Winnipeg and a radius of 30 miles therefrom, the rate provided for each occupation is the same except that it is 5 cents less per hour in the case of common laborers, builders' laborers, teamsters, journeymen carpenters, and painters, decorators, paper hangers, and glaziers. Also, the hours per week are the same for each occupation, except in the case of painters, decorators, paper hangers, and glaziers, who work 50 hours in the Winnipeg district and 54 hours in other parts of the Province.

COURSE OF INDUSTRIAL WAGES IN GERMANY DURING THE WAR.1

In order to arrive at some general conclusion as to the rise in the level of wages of adult workers during the war period in various trade groups, the Imperial Statistical Office recently sent out forms of inquiry to all the firms from which it receives monthly reports on the state of employment. The particulars asked for included data concerning the total number of days worked by men and women employed and the aggregate wages paid in the last two full weeks of March and September of 1914, 1915, and 1916. The number of returns secured and capable of being utilized was 369, which have been classified under 13 groups of industries. A preliminary summary of the chief results appears in the Deutscher Reichsanzeiger of August 27, from which the following particulars have been extracted: In September, 1914, nearly all trades experienced a fall in wages as compared with March of that year, but from September onward a constant increase was recorded. In the case of men the average earnings for a day's work in all the trades combined fell by about

1 Reprinted from The Labour Gazette, London, September, 1917, p. 316.