INDEX NUMBERS OF RETAIL PRICES OF VARIOUS ARTICLES OF DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION IN SHANGHAI, 1875 TO 1923

The advance in price is noted in all domestic articles of consumption. Pork increased 32 per cent from 1913 to 1923; oranges, 100 per cent; bran, 78.9 per cent; and flour, 44.3 per cent. Since 1916 rents have more than doubled, clothing is much more costly, and taxes are higher.

The introduction of foreign goods and foreign ideas into Shanghai has brought about a slow, almost unnoticeable increase in the Chinese standard of living.

WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOR

IN

Salaries in the Police and Fire Departments of Specified Cities

N APRIL, 1924, the Bureau of Labor Statistics sent questionnaires to the police and fire departments of all cities in the United States having a population of 100,000 or over according to the census of 1920, asking for the salary scale of their employees, with the number of persons receiving each specified salary. Nearly all the cities replied promptly to this request for information, and the few cities to which a second request was sent soon returned the questionnaires with the desired data.

The results of this study are shown in the accompanying tables. Considerable difficulty has been experienced in making a satisfactory classification of employees on account of the different terms used and of the different uses of the same terms in different cities, and because of the differences in the organization of the depart

ments.

No effort has been made to cover all employees in either the police or the fire departments. The object has been to give the salaries of the directing force, of the rank and file of the employees, and of such clerical and other employees as are most commonly found in these departments. In some cities the departments are much more elaborately organized than in others. This is often shown not so much in the active uniformed force as in the clerical and mechanical divisions. For example, as will be seen from the tabulation, some police departments have quite a large force of clerks and stenographers, other departments have a very few such employees, while still others report none at all, the patrolmen or lieutenants being detailed to this work. All such cases are noted in the tables. When no clerks are shown and no statement as to detail is given, it may probably be assumed that details to this work are made although no statement to that effect is given.

In classifying the members of the police departments, in the column headed "Salary of superintendent or chief," data are shown for the active head of the department. Some cities have a "police commission" or a "police commissioner" whose duties may, or may not, be the same as those of the person usually termed "chief" or "superintendent" in other cities. In such cases the salaries of these persons have been given and noted.

"Assistant or deputy chiefs" include the persons who have been so designated in the reports, also "chief inspectors" and "chief of detectives" which have been noted as such. In a few instances other officers have been included, but always with a note stating just what position the person holds. Inspectors, captains, lieutenants, and sergeants of detectives have been included with the regular police officials of the same rank. Policewomen have been included with patrolmen and properly noted.

In some cities we find chauffeurs carried as such on the rolls, while in other cities patrolmen or others are detailed to drive the chief's car, patrol wagons, and other vehicles in the service. Here also in a good many cases no report was made of chauffeurs or of others detailed to this work. In such cases, although presumptively there was such detail, no mention has been made of such fact.

In the fire departments of the various cities the classification is rather uniform in so far as chiefs and assistant or deputy chiefs are concerned, although in a few of the smaller cities none of the latter are found. The subdivisions of the departments are variously reported as departments, districts, or battalions. Some cities have no "fire marshal," but have "fire wardens," "inspector of combustibles," "fire-prevention officers," "chiefs of fire-prevention bureaus," etc., whose duties are more or less similar to those of a fire marshal. These persons have been grouped with fire marshals in the tables. In some cases the fire marshal's duties are performed by the chief of the department. Superintendents of machinery include "master mechanics," "chief machinists," "superintendents of repairs, "chief mechanicians," "supervising engineers," and others who have general charge of the apparatus and machinery.

"Privates (firemen)" include the rank and file of the fire fighters: by whatever name known, as hose men, ladder men, etc.

The data for "engineers (pumpers)" are not satisfactory. With the old-fashioned horse-drawn steam pumps an engineer was necessary, whose duties were to keep his engine in working order and pump water on a fire. With the advent of the motor-driven gasoline engine the engineer has been replaced, usually by the chauffeur or by privates detailed to operate the pumps. In many cases a very small number of engineers have been reported, with the explanation that a few of the old-style engines are still in use or that former engineers have been retained in the service under the old designation, although their duties had been changed. In a number of cases no engineers are reported, the statement sometimes being made that "chauffeurs act," or that "privates are detailed." This is presumably the case in other instances where no note is made.

A similar condition obtains with reference to chauffeurs. In a few cases the statement is made that privates are detailed; in other cases, however, nothing is said, but the presumption is that the positions are filled by detail.

Because of these differences with reference to engineers and chauffeurs it is difficult to make satisfactory comparisons. A comparison between cities can best be made by combining privates, engineers, and chauffeurs in one group. This will give the total number of "fire fighters" working under the captains and lieutenants.

In a number of cities increases in salaries have been made since the figures shown in these tables were reported, but it was thought best to show the data as of a uniform date. The salaries given are those in effect in April, 1924.