ACCEPTANCE OF NEW THEORY 109 
establish a minimum rate below which no worker will be 
paid. And this minimum must be set on a flexible scale in 
the light of a thoroly contemporary knowledge of a whole- 
some standard of living in the locality—a standard that in- 
cludes all the elements that make for a progressive citizen- 
ship. 
PROFESSOR IRVING FISHER, YALE UNIVERSITY! 
I might read something that is pertinent on this subject, 
an article called “Social Standards for Industry in the 
National Conference, of Charities and Corrections at their 
Cleveland Meeting in 1912,” giving the following definition 
of a living wage: 
“A living wage for all who devote their time and energy 
to industrial occupations. The monetary qualification of a 
living wage varies according to local conditions, but must 
include enough to secure the elements of a normal standard 
of living, to provide for education and recreation; to care for 
immature members of the family; to maintain the family 
during the period of sickness, and to permit a reasonable 
saving for old age.” 
HENRY R. SEAGER, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY? 
To sum up my conclusions: The economic interest of 
society requires the payment of living wages to all workers, 
except, possibly, children learning trades and defectives, who 
must be treated as wards of the state. 
CHARLES A. ELLWOOD, PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, 
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI? 
A normal family life evidently requires not only proper 
physical conditions, sufficient income to maintain a decent 
1 Testimony in Boston Elevated Railroad Arbitration (1914), in giving his 
views as to what constituted a living wage. 
2 “Theory of the Minimum Wage,” American Labor Legislation Review, 
February, 1913, pp. 90-91. 
8 “Sociology and Modern Social Problems.” New edition, 1919, American 
Book Company, p. 176.