settlement will, in itself,
suffice to protect the standard of life of the lowest industrial classes
during critical industrial times; whether such a time be one of rapidly
rising prices of foodstuffs due to poor harvests, or to war, or whether
it be a period of industrial panic and precipitate price decline. Much
can be done to protect the standard of life of these classes by measures
outside of the scope of any policy of wage settlement. The suggestion
made by Professor Taussig that it may be possible to regularize the
supplies of the principal agricultural products from year to year
deserves careful consideration.[135] The best policy, undoubtedly, is
one which would enable and encourage the lowest paid industrial classes
to accumulate something for hard times.

12.--The design of the living wage policy is to procure for all members
of the industrial community the economic essentials of a hopeful and
active life. Ultimate success in the maintenance of any conceived
standard of life, will, in the long run, depend upon those general
relationships which were examined in the earlier chapters. The more
productive the industrial organization as a whole is, the better are the
chances for the least favored industrial groups to improve their
economic condition. The less the economic waste, due to maldistribution
and to other causes, the greater the product of industry will be. The
greater the economic capacity of the lowest grades of wage earners, the
more general their intelligence and the steadier their spirit, the more
determined their organization, the better will be their chances of
increasing their share of the total product. And lastly, the smaller in
numbers these are compared with the need of the economic system for
them, the stronger their economic position will be.

This is but to restate some of the important influences governing the
wages of the lowest groups of industrial workers. But to restate them is
to emphasize the fact that the living wage policy must be looked upon
merely as one agency among many, directed to the same end. In economic
affairs, as in political affairs, to bring about a change in one place
it is necessary to bring about a change in many places.

FOOTNOTES:

[113] The best short summaries of the pre-war wage situation
are--"The Standard of Living among the Industrial People of
America" (1911), by F. H. Streightoff, and an article by C.
E. Persons in the February, 1915, issue of _The