The silk trade is carried on mostly at Macclesfield and Leek. The wages earned by women vary according to the districts and employers. They are for the most part very low; and as employment in the silk trade is more intermittent than in any other textile industry, the average wages per week for the year are miserably low. In the silk-throwing trade of Macclesfield they amount to about 6_s._ a week if calculated throughout the year. Women working power looms can command about 12_s._ a week during the good season. Taking the various departments together, the average wages in Leek are 11_s._ 6_d._, Derby 10_s._, and Congleton 7_s._ In Coventry, which is the principal centre of ribbon weaving, much of the work is done by outdoor weavers; their looms are driven by an engine which supplies the power to each block of houses. The weaver owns the loom and pays rent for house and power together at the rate of about 10_s._ per week; home workers are able to command better prices than the factory workers. In the carpet manufacture, of which Kidderminster is the centre, a large number of women are employed, the wages ranging from 6_s._ a week for the simplest work to 14_s._ 6_d._ for the more difficult. Men are employed in the heaviest work and in the most skilled departments, and they have been able to resist the introduction of women’s labour Fourteen years ago an attempt was made to introduce women at the same wages as those paid in Yorkshire, about 15_s._ a week, but the men held their ground, and still retain the old standard of 35_s._ The hosiery and lace trades, which are carried on in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, give employment to several thousand women. There is no standard rate of wages in Nottingham; the small firms pay lower wages than the large ones, whilst in the adjoining country districts the rates are considerably lower than in Nottingham. A great deal of finishing work is given out by middlemen to people in these districts, and is paid for at a very low rate. The lace trade is characterised by extreme irregularity of employment. Wages range from 4_s._ a week for “dressing” lace to 24_s._ for making it up. A quantity of work which was formerly done inside the factories is now given out, with the result that prices have dropped heavily. As in the hosiery trade, the sanitation and ventilation of the factories vary very greatly. No standard appears to be recognized or enforced, and as is the case in so many other industries, a few employers have spared no trouble or expense to ensure the health and comfort of their workpeople, whilst the majority have done little or nothing.