[62] In a canvass of business establishments 12 manufacturers, 1 architect, 3 plumbers and steam-fitters, 2 printing firms, 10 contractors and builders and 3 miscellaneous--37 total--12 were decidedly against employing Negroes, 9 giving as a reason the objections of their white workmen; 13 were non-committal, and 12, 10 of whom were builders and contractors, offered or gave employment to Negroes above the average competency; _cf._ Ovington, _op. cit._, pp. 91-98. CHAPTER V WAGES AND EFFICIENCY OF WAGE-EARNERS The question of wages and working efficiency are so closely related that they can be better treated together than separately. The material for this part of the monograph has been gathered from three sources, namely: a personal canvass, the records of employment agencies for personal and domestic help, and the statement of union rates published by the New York Bureau of Labor Statistics. It has not been possible to calculate the time loss by the worker, and therefore any estimate of annual income based upon the figures given must be made on the assumption of a full year of work. This, of course, is not the actual case, especially with many wage-earners in domestic and personal service. I. WAGES IN DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE The Employment Agencies' Law of New York City requires that each agency keep a careful and accurate record of the wages of those for whom they secure situations, as well as written references from former employers of each applicant. Since inspectors from the Bureau of Licenses have access to these records at any time, they are probably carefully kept. The material on wages which has been taken largely from these sources has been arranged to show the number of individuals who receive a specified wage, beginning at less than $4.00 and running by $1.00 groups up to $9.00 and over. There follows (p. 80) a table covering 682 males in twenty-four occupations and 2,138 females in twenty-five occupations from 1906 to 1909. It will be noted that in some cases two occupations are given under one heading such as elevator and switchboard, or cook and laundress. In these cases, the individual is paid the same for the two branches of work; so far as the wage is concerned it is one occupation. It is significant that out of a total of 682 males, 513, or 75.2 per cent, received wages under $6.00 per week and that 141, or 20.7 per cent, received between $6.00 and $8.99 per week, while only 4.1 per cent received $9.00 or more per week. With the females, the showing is even more unfavorable. Out of a total of 2,138 females, 1,971, or 92.2 per cent, received less than $6.00 per week, and of these 1,137, or 53.2 per cent, received less than $5.00 per week. Of those receiving $6.00 or more per week, only 8 out of 2,138, or .04 per cent, received as much as $9.00 or more per week.