NUMBER AND PER CENT OF ESTABLISHMENTS AND EMPLOYEES IN EACH CLASSIFIED GROUP OF ESTABLISHMENTS, BY INDUSTRIES, 1901-Concluded. Practically 75 per cent of all textile employees are found in the cotton, linen, and wool industries. The next most important group is that of "ropes and special fabrics," which includes knit goods and lace making as two of the more important industries composing it. Considering the three more important industries, the largest number of small establishments is found in that of wool spinning and weaving, 59.60 per cent of the establishments shown in this industry having 10 or under 50 employees; 41.23 per cent of the employees, however, are found in those establishments having 200 or more employees. On the other hand, the greatest proportion of large establishments and of employees in large establishments are found in the linen industry. Such establishments form 28.72 per cent of the total number in this industry and employ 76.96 per cent of the work people engaged therein. The following tables show the distribution of employees in each industry by age and sex: NUMBER AND PER CENT OF EMPLOYEES OF EACH SEX AND OF EACH AGE Group, BY INDUSTRIES, 1901. NUMBER AND PER CENT OF MALE AND FEMALE EMPLOYEES IN EACH AGE GROUP, Aside from the unimportant industry of hair spinning and weaving, in which only males are employed, males are found in the greatest proportion in the work of finishing, bleaching, printing, dyeing, etc. They also predominate in the working of wool and cotton. It is noticeable that in linen and in hemp and jute working, and in the making of ropes and special fabrics, in all of which females predominate, are also to be found the largest proportion (except for the hairworking industry) of employees under 16 years of age. In the silk industry, on the other hand, while female employees are considerably in the majority there is only a small proportion of children employed. Other industries employing small percentages of children are the finishing, bleaching, etc., works, and the manufacture of woolen goods. Females constitute somewhat less than one-half and children under 16 years of age a little less than one-sixth of the total number of textile employees in Belgium. Females under 16 form a slightly larger proportion of textile workers than do the males under 16, while the proportion of females over 16 years of age falls considerably below that of males of the same age group. In the following table is given the number of employees, classified by sex and age, who receive specified daily wages, taking all textile industries together: NUMBER AND PER CENT OF EMPLOYEES RECEIVING SPECIFIED WAGES, BY SEX AND AGE GROUPS, 1901. Less than 0.50 franc ($0.097).. 1 Total. The largest wage classes for minors under 16 years of age are those which receive from 1.00 to 1.24 francs (19.3 to 23.9 cents) for males and from 0.75 to 0.99 franc (14.5 to 19.1 cents) for females. No employees of this age group receive more than 2.99 francs (57.7 cents) per day. The largest wage class of adult female employees is that which receives from 1.50 to 1.74 francs (29.0 to 33.6 cents) daily. Less than per cent of the adult females receive more than 3.99 francs (77 cents) per day. A strict comparison with adult males is not feasible, owing to the adoption of a range of 50 centimes (9.7 cents) after reaching the rate of 3 francs (57.9 cents) per day. It would appear, however, that the most common rate of daily wages for adult males was approximately 50 cents. Of adult females, 44.35 per cent receive less than 1.75 francs (33.8 cents) per day, while the number of adult males receiving less than this sum is but 8.72 per cent of the total. The median rate for males, or the rate above and below which an equal number of employees are found, lies between 2.50 and 2.99 francs (48.3 and 57.7 cents). The number of adult males receiving in excess of 5.49 francs ($1.06) per day is only 1.95 per cent of the total number, while the number of all employees receiving more than this amount is but 0.89 per cent of the grand total. The most common daily earnings, considering all classes of employees together, lies between. 2.50 and 2.99 francs (48.3 and 57.7 cents). The following table shows the distribution of the employees 16 years of age or over in the four principal textile industries, according to sex and wage groups. PER CENT OF MALE AND FEMALE EMPLOYEES 16 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER RECEIVING SPECIFIED WAGES IN FOUR PRINCIPAL TEXTILE INDUSTRIES, 1901. Daily wages. Less than 1 franc ($0.193). Total.. Less than 0.75 franc ($0.145). Total.. From this table it is apparent that the industries may be graded on the basis of rates of wages paid in the following ascending order, viz, hemp and jute, linen, cotton, and wool. This fact further appears in the following table, in which there is a presentation of the same industries making a further subdivision of occupations under the two general heads of spinning and weaving. Employees not properly belonging to one or the other of these two branches of manufacture are omitted, as are also employees under 16 years of age, as in the last preceding table. The industries are arranged in the order of increasing rates of daily wages, and the employees in each industry are distributed into median and quartile groups. The median group includes the middle half of the employees, grouped on the basis of wages. The low quartile includes that 25 per cent of the employees who receive less than the members of the median group, and the high quartile that 25 per cent whose wages exceed those of the median group. In the following table the median and quartile limits are only approximately observed, inasmuch as to do otherwise would necessi tate the breaking up of the wage classifications heretofore followed. The actual percentages embraced in the approximate groups are given in connection with the rates of wages indicated. DAILY WAGES RECEIVED BY THE ONE-Fourth of EMPLOYEES 16 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER RECEIVING LOWEST WAGES, THE ONE-FOURTH RECEIVING THE HIGHEST WAGES, AND THE MEDIAN HALF, IN SPINNING AND WEAVING IN PRINCIPAL TEXTILE INDUSTRIES, 1901. [In this table the attempt has been made to divide the employees into groups containing the one-fourth receiving the lowest daily wages, the one-fourth receiving the highest daily wages, and the remaining (median) half, but the grouping is only approximate, inasmuch as the daily wages were classified by rates 0.25 franc (5 cents) apart. The exact percentage of the employees contained in each group is shown.] The regularity of the series as arranged above is quite apparent. Among males the low quartiles in linen and cotton do not show the higher wage rank of the latter, but it is fully brought out by the showing of the median group, from which it appears that the wage limit of the middle half of the employees engaged in spinning cotton is nearly 15 cents per day higher than for linen. The increase of rates is unbroken in weaving. Among females the proof of the better wage |