NORMS AND TRENDS IN EXPENSES 107
formity by districts between the rates of change in the ratios for
all member banks, for national, and for state bank members; and
(2) the rates of change in the ratios for the different districts
are much the same. Both these and other similarities, previously
pointed out, indicate the presence of distinctive norms and trends
for the years 1919 to 1925.
2. INDIVIDUAL EXPENSES
As indicated above, the total expenses of all member banks are
segregated by the Federal Reserve Board into five classes.!* The
norms and trends characterizing each of the items, when expressed
in terms of earning assets, for the banks in each and all of the
districts for the years 1919 to 1925, separately and combined are
summarized immediately below. Limited space makes it impossible
to accord to each of them the same attention that is
given to the total. Accordingly, tables showing for each item
percentage differences calculated from the seven-year district
levels, and from the yearly and seven-year country levels, and also
those showing percentage changes from year to year, are omitted.
Those who are interested in such amounts may secure them with
approximate accuracy by using the respective ratio charts and
the corresponding scales of percentage increase and decrease.
(1) Ratios of Salaries and Wages to Earning Assets
Based on the entire period 1919 to 1925, and on the experience
of all member banks in the entire Federal Reserve system, the
average amount of salaries and wages for each $1,000 of earning
assets was $11.82. From this amount, however, yearly and district
ratios differ considerably. While $11.82 is the average, the
least amount for the combined years, $9.77, occurred in District
3 (Philadelphia), and the largest, $18.06, in District 11 (Dallas).
Moreover, for the combined districts the smallest amount, $9.08,
occurred in 1919; the largest, $12.94, in 1924. If the 84 amounts
for the individual districts and years, given in Table 76, are
distributed in frequency form, as in Chart 22, uniform groupings
being used, and the lengths of the bars are drawn proportional
to the number of cases encountered in each group, it is found
that (1) the most common or modal amounts fall in the class $10
TM gee page 81.
