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 wholesome
 standard of living in the locality—a standard that includes
 all the elements that make for a progressive citizenship.


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.