Trends in the New York Printing Industry 9780231898775

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T R E N D S IN T H E N E W YORK P R I N T I N G INDUSTRY

TRENDS IN THE NEW YORK PRINTING INDUSTRY By L E O N A R D A. D R A K E

NEW YORK

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 1940

PRESS

COPYRIGHT COLUMBIA

Foreign

Agents:

House,

London, Bombay,

UNIVERSITY

1940 PRESS,

NEW

YORK

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Humphrey

E.C. 4, England, India;

MARUZEN COMPANY, LTD., 6

Tori-Nichome, Manufactured

Milford,

AND B. I. Building, Tokyo,

in the United «ÜL|S» 1 2

Nicol

Xihonbashi,

Japan

States of

America

Amen

Road,

FOREWORD H I S monograph sets forth the results of a special study conducted under the auspices of the School of Business of Columbia University. T h e study was undertaken as the result of an inquiry received in the spring of 1939 from Don H. Taylor, executive vice president of the New York Employing Printers Association, Inc. Taylor pointed out the need for an impartial collection and analysis of the facts regarding trends in the printing industry of New York City and inquired whether Columbia University would undertake such a study in case his organization should supply funds to the amount of $7,000 with which to meet the expenses. Thereupon the University appointed the undersigned as a committee to supervise the study and arranged to provide office space for a small staff. T h e committee selected Leonard A. Drake to make the investigation. Drake, a graduate of the School of Business in 1928 and an instructor in courses in business in University Extension, had had extensive experience as a statistician and analyst for financial houses in New York City. He conferred with the members of the committee regarding the methods of approach and reported to them from time to time during the twelve months he devoted exclusively to the undertaking. T h e final results, incorporated in a draft of this monograph, were carefully reviewed by each member of the committee and, with the assistance of Professor Mabel Newcomer of Vassar College, were revised and put into form for publication. At this stage the monograph was submitted to Taylor, to Elmer Brown, president of New York Typographical Union No. 6, and to William Wilson, president of New York Printing Pressmen's Union No. 5 1 , with the request that they submit for publication in the monograph any comments or criticisms they might care to make. Most of the suggestions made by these individuals in response to our invitation referred to

vi

FOREWORD

specific statements appearing in the text and have been dealt with in the body of the manuscript where the statements occur. Comments of a general character from Taylor and Brown are presented as Appendix A. In the opinion of the committee, not only those directly in the printing industry but also all those interested in the economic future of New York will find the data presented by Drake to be informing and meaningful. ROBERT MURRAY HAIG, ROSWELL C .

MCCREA

ARCHIBALD H . STOCKDER LEO WOLMAN

Columbia University October i, 1940

Chairman

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

G

R A T E F U L acknowledgment is made to the following for granting interviews most helpful to the completion of the task: Harold Lewis, Regional Plan Association, Inc.; F. Dodd McHugh, City Planning Commission; W. J . McGauley, United States Bureau of the Census; A. F. Hinrichs, Lewis E. Talbert, Frank S. McElroy, and Florence Peterson of the Bureau of Labor Statistics; Don H. Taylor, George A. Vogl, and Joseph P. Smith of the New York Employing Printers Association; Gerald A. Walsh, secretary, Printers National Association, Washington, D. C.; Harry G. Cantrell, secretary, T h e Franklin Association, Chicago; F. E. Street, secretary, Graphic Arts Federation, Baltimore; S. F. Beattie, secretary, Graphic Arts Federation, Chicago; J o h n Kelly, secretary, Edition Book Binders of New York, Inc.; J . Raymond Tiffany, general counsel, Book Manufacturers' Institute, Inc., New York; Elmer J . Koch and F. W. Fillmore of the United Typothetae of America, Washington, D. C.; Philip A. Bennett, manager, A. B. Dick Company, New York; Christian F.. Burckel, director, School of Varitypography, New York; F.. B. Gage, Western Electric Company, New York; D. R . Day, Teletypesetter Corporation, New York; Frank M. Knox, president, Frank M. Knox, Inc., New York; J . Henry Holloway, principal, New York School of Printing; Mark Ellingson, president, Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute; Charles G. Proffitt, associate director, Columbia University Press; Emily Brown, professor of economics, Vassar College; Elizabeth Baker, associate professor of economics, Barnard College; Elmer Brown, president, New York Typographical Union No. 6; Edward Neway, secretarytreasurer, New York Printing Pressmen's Union No. 5 1 ; L. C. Kaye, former president, New York Printing Press Assistants' Union No. 23; S. P. Marks, vice president, International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union; Claude M. Baker, president

viii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

International Typographical Union; Woodruff Randolph, secretary-treasurer, International Typographical Union; Fred Jenkins, treasurer, Ferris Printing Company, New York; Frank E. Fennessey, vice president, Gardiner Binding and Mailing Company, New York; Bertram W. Wolff, president, H. Wolff Book Manufacturing Company, New York; E. Mortimer Barnes, treasurer, Braunworth and Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut; George B. Moore, president, Moore and Company, Baltimore; Harold C. Smith, president, Colonial Press, Inc., Clinton, Massachusetts; Max Rosett, Condé Nast Publications, Inc., Greenwich, Connecticut; R. P. Weston, president, Rumford Press, Concord, New Hampshire; C. G. Littell, president, R. R . Donnelley and Sons Company, Chicago; E. J . Mordaunt, president, C. J . O'Brien, Inc., New York; Edward Hanson, public relations, Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, New York; Marvin Pierce, assistant to the president, McCall Corporation, New York; F. C. Pape, Pandick Press, New York; William M. Passano, treasurer, Waverly Press, Inc., Baltimore; George K. Horn, Maryland Color Printing Company, Baltimore; Roy Atwood, vice president, J . B. Lyon Company, Albany; Ira Payne, secretary-treasurer, Hamilton Printing Company, Albany; Frank J . Smith, president, John P. Smith Company, Rochester; Sam B. Anson, general manager, Cleveland Shopping News, Cleveland, Ohio. Credit for much of the tedious statistical compilation and library research is due to Miss Winifred Dickey, secretary-assistant.

CONTENTS Foreword, by Robert Murray Haig, Roswell C. McCrea, Archibald H. Stockder, and Leo Wolman I. The Problem II. Trends in National Printing III.

v 3 6

Measures of New York Printing

13

IV. Where Has New York Printing Gone?

31

V. Why Has Printing Left New York?

37

VI. Printing Unionism

45

VII. Wage Differentials

51

VIII. Other Factors in Labor Cost IX. Nonlabor Cost Factors X. Growth of Competition XI. Case Histories X I I . Summary and Conclusions

62 72 77 87 97

Appendix A

103

Appendix B

106

Index

127

CHARTS I.

Index Number of New York's Share in the National Industrial Wage Total for the Printing Industry and All Manufacture Other T h a n Printing

14

Percent of the United States Printing Industry in New York, Measured by Wages Paid

18

Percent of the United States Printing Industry in New York, Measured by Value of Product

ig

Percent of the United States Printing Industry in New York, Measured by Value of Product

20

V. Comparison of Mechanical Wages with Other Selected Costs in the J o b Printing Sales Dollar

42

II. III. IV.

VI. VII. VIII. IX.

Mechanical Wages in the Printing Sales Dollar in New York

43

Comparison of Union Wage Scales and Cost of Living in New York with Other Cities, J u n e , 1938

55

T r e n d of Union Compositors' Wage Scales Away from New York

58

Book and J o b Union Members in the United States by Hourly Wage-Percent Distribution

69

TABLES ì. 2.

Value of Product in the Divisions of the Publishing Industry, United States Total

8

Relation of Wages to Value of Product for Publishers with Own Printing, 1937

8

3. Value of Product and Contracts for Publishers with Own Printing and Publishers with Contract Printing, 1925 and 1937

9

Average Size of Establishment for Publishers with Own Printing and Publishers with Contract Printing, 1937

10

New York's Share in National Printing, Measured by Wages

15

Percent of the United States Printing Industry in New York

ifi

Percent Change in New York's Share of National Printing

21

New York and National Printing, Measured by Wage Earners

22

Membership of New York Typographical Union No. 6

24

Official Votes Cast by Members of New York Typographical Union No. 6 Pay

Rolls of T w e l v e

25 Largest Commercial

Printing

Firms in New York at Any T i m e from 1922 to 1940

26

Votes of New York Typographical Union No. 6, Compared with Number of Firms Percent of Total Wages in National Book and

28 Job

Printing for New York City and Selected States

31

Percent of New York Printing by Boroughs

35

Relative Position of the Five Leading Cities of 1899 in Book and Job Printing and Publishing

36

TABLES

xii

i (5. Distribution of O p e r a t i n g Costs for Members of U n i t e d T y p o t h e t a e of America, 1938

39

17. National P r i n t i n g Craft Membership in the A. F. of L .

47

18. Percent of P r i n t i n g Employees in Unions, 1935

48

19. Proportion of New York Presses O p e r a t e d by U n i o n a n d N o n u n i o n Labor, 1931

50

20. Distribution of P r i n t i n g Firms According to N u m b e r of Presses Used

50

21.

U n i o n Wage Rates for Book and J o b Compositors i n New York and O t h e r Cities, J u n e 30, 1938

53

22.

U n i o n Wage Rates for All Book and J o b Crafts i n New York and O t h e r Cities, J u n e 1, 1939

54

23. Base P r i n t i n g Wage Rates, New York C o m p a r e d with an Average of T w e l v e Cities

56

24. Wage Comparisons for I m p o r t a n t Book Centers, U n i o n Scales, J u n e 30, 1938

60

25. Wage Comparisons for I m p o r t a n t Magazine Centers, U n i o n Scales, J u n e 30, 1938

61

2(i. Comparison of Commercial Unions, January 1, 1940

63

Contracts

of

Printing

27. Percent of the Sales Dollar for Factory R e n t , Taxes, Insurance, and Stock Storage and H a n d l i n g

73

28. T a x e s and Miscellaneous Expenses in the U. T . A. Sales Dollar

76

29. Ratio of Sales to Cross Value of Machinery, F u r n i t u r e , a n d Fixtures

76

30. Aggregate Value of Selected P r i n t i n g Products, U n i t e d States

77

31.

Development of R a d i o and P r i n t e d Advertising

83

32.

Hourly Wage Rates

90

33. Development of the P r i n t i n g Industry in the United States

106

34. Development of the P r i n t i n g Industry in New York

no

TABLES 35. New York's Share in the National Industrial Wage Total 36. Contract Printing in the United States Printing Industry 37. U. T . A. Balance Sheet Ratios, United States and New York City, 1938 38. Percent Distribution of Sales Dollar for New York Printing Firms 3g. Wage Rates and Hours per Week in Various Cities, Book and Job Hand Compositors 40. Wage Rates for 1938, Compared New York 41. Wage Rates for 1938, Compared Chicago

xiii

113 114 116 120 120

Book and J o b Compositors, June 30, with Size of City and Distance from 123 Book and J o b Compositors, June 30, with Size of City and Distance from

42. Proportion of Book and Job Printing and Publishing Industry in Chicago, Measured by Percent of Wages 43. Percent Distribution of Union Members in the Book and J o b Printing Industry of the United States, 1939

124 125 125

T R E N D S IN T H E NEW YORK P R I N T I N G INDUSTRY

CHAPTER THE

I

I

PROBLEM

N approaching a study of trends in the printing industry in

New York city, it is well to recall at the outset that printing is a type of economic activity which since early times has found the urban environment a highly favorable one. Historically, printing has been distinctly an urban industry—an industry whose activities tended to be heavily concentrated in the larger centers of population. If, in the course of years, the pattern of population distribution in the country changes, if new centers arise or the various centers are altered with respect to their aggregate size or their relative importance as compared with other centers, it follows that changes may reasonably be expected in the distribution of the printing industry, particularly as viewed from the standpoint of one particular city or center of population. Recent decades have witnessed important changes in the urban pattern of the United States. What are the implications of these changes for the printing industry and particularly for the printing industry of New York city? Moreover, if the affinity of the printing industry for the urban center rests fundamentally upon certain factors of convenience of access and if, through improvements in means of transportation and communication, the necessary degree of accessibility can be preserved even though the physical plant be moved to cheap sites far away from the urban center, it follows that the printing industry may be expected to become less predominantly urban in character. In recent years technical improvements of significance to the printing industry from this point of view have been numerous. What are the implications of these improvements for New York printing?

4

THE

PROBLEM

In 1904 New York city, with just 4.8 percent of the national population, had s 1.4 percent of the printing business of the country, as measured by wage payments. New York was then preeminent in all branches of printing, although complaint had been heard as early as 1865 of "competition from outside cities with lower costs" and note had been taken in 1896 of reprint novels being taken out of town. Total printing in New York remained close to one fifth of the national total until after the World WarThen there came a sharp decline in periodical printing in the twenties, followed by a similar decline in job printing in the thirties. This falling-away in the proportion of commercial printing handled by New York was counterbalanced at first by a rise in newspaper volume; but by 1937 the combined newspaper and commercial printing pay roll had dropped to 17.8 percent of the national total. Nevertheless, it was still half again as large as that for the nearest competitor, Chicago. T h e printing industry comprises thousands of firms, dozens of skilled trades, and a score of methods for reproducing picture and word, and shifts within the different parts of the industry must be taken into account in any analysis of the industry's migration and its causes. New York is far and away the outstanding producer of newspapers today. Chicago has, however, overtaken New York in the production of job, book, and periodical printing. Considering the relative size of the two cities, this is indeed a feather in the cap of the Midwestern metropolis. But this battle of cities is a minor episode in the story of changing trends in printing. Printing long stayed close to the origin of the copy; but with improved facilities for communication and transportation, the outlying areas, with lower rents and wage costs, became formidable competitors of the large cities. Both New York and Chicago have suffered relative losses in the past decade, and smaller cities have made corresponding gains. This study is concerned with New York city, and it proposes to answer these questions: (1) How much printing has New York lost? (2) What types of printing have been lost?

THE

PROBLEM

5

(3) When was this printing lost? (4) Where did it go? (5) Why has this out-of-town competition arisen? (6) How has printing been affected by the radio, new office devices, and improved methods? The most comprehensive earlier study of this problem is the monograph, " T h e Printing Industry in New York and Its Environs — Present Trends and Probable Future Developments," by A. F. Hinrichs. This was published in 1924 as one of a series of industrial studies for the Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs. A major part of Hinrich's report was devoted to the shift of the printing industry within the city. He noted that the concentration of the industry south of 14th Street, Manhattan, which had prevailed at the end of the century, had given ground to a second center in the mid-town area; and that, of the immediately outlying areas, New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Queens had the largest percentage of the business, and New Jersey and Queens were growing most rapidly. 1 T h e report pointed out that New York printing wage earners comprised 18.4 percent of the United States total in 1921, a negligible change from the 18.6 percent found in 1899.* However, the first major exodus of printing from the city was just getting well under way when the 1924 survey was published, and statistics of this loss, which at the time was confined largely to periodical printing, were not yet available. 1 For an analysis of the changing location of printing within the city, brought u p to date, see pp. 34-35. ' See Table 8 for changes in the proportion of wage earners since i g s i .

CHAPTER

II

T R E N D S IN N A T I O N A L

T

PRINTING

H E only detailed statistics available over a long period of years for both the national and the New York printing industries are those found in the United States Biennial Census of Manufactures. The census classification of the industry has two main groups: ^1) printing and publishing and (a) allied industries. Printing and publishing is subdivided into (a) book and job and (b) newspaper and periodical. Allied industries are subdivided into (a) bookbinding and blankbook making, (b) lithographing, (c) stereotyping and electrotyping, (d) photoengraving, and (e) steel, copper, wood, and plate engraving. These statistics have serious limitations for the problem under consideration. The published figures appear from eighteen months to two years after collection, so that the latest available data are for 1937. Further, they do not segregate newspaper and periodical printing. More serious, because it leads to double counting in some of the figures (notably in the value of product figures), is the grouping together of printing and publishing. Logically, publishing should be excluded entirely from any census of manufactures, but custom has linked publishing with the printing of the published word since early times. Duplication also arises from the fact that the allied industries, excepting lithography, represent, for the most part, trade shops that service the three major printing groups. The importance of this particular duplication is indicated by the accompanying 1937 census figures for the value of product and receipts of the printing industry. The major part of the $242,100,000 for the other allied industries is included in the $2,343,500,000 for printing and publishing and lithography.

TRENDS

IN NATIONAL

PRINTING

Printing and publishing Book and job Newspaper and periodical Lithography

7

$ 809,800,000 1,396,000,000 Total

Other allied industries

12,343,500,000 242,100,000

As an illustration of the duplication to be found in printing and publishing, a book publisher in New York, with a best seller wholesaling at $ 1,000,000, may contract the $300,000 of printing on this job in Philadelphia. T h e Philadelphia printing firm will report $300,000 in the book and job category to the census taker, and the New York publisher will report the full $1,000,000. T h i s creates an inflation in the item "printing and publishing, book and job" of $300,000. Statistics show that the separation of publishing from printing is increasing in both the book and periodical fields.1 This has caused the duplication error to become steadily more serious. T o meet these difficulties in some measure, the Bureau of the Census has provided a breakdown of figures over a period of years that separates "publishing with contract printing" from "publishing with own printing". T h e Bureau has also provided separate figures for book and j o b printing and for newspaper and periodical printing. This breakdown is available only for the United States as a whole, but it is a valuable aid in the selection of the best measures of trends for the New York industry. T h e census breakdown of publishing into the three basic categories of book, periodical, and newspaper, is given in T a b l e 1. Newspapers account for 60 percent of the total value of publishers' product, periodicals account for approximately 30 percent, and books for approximately 10 percent. T h e newspaper output declined less during the steep depression year of 1933 than either the book or the periodical output. T a k i n g as a whole the twelveyear period 1925-37, the proportion of value represented by newspapers has declined moderately and the proportions represented by books and by periodicals have slightly increased. There is a marked trend toward an increase in contract printing of books and periodicals. 1

See Tables 1 and 3 and Appendix B, Table 36.

8

TRENDS

IN NATIONAL TABLE

PRINTING

I

V A L U E O F PRODUCT IN T H E DIVISIONS OF T H E PUBLISHING INDUSTRY U N I T E D STATES T O T A L

(Million BOOK

Year »925 >929

»93» »933 1935 »937

Own Printing

84-3

273.0 297.0

48.6

81.3 56.0 80.5 103.2

2329

40.8

NEWSPAPER

Contract Own Contract Own Contract Printing Printing Printing Printing Printing

44-9 »5-7 3«-5

Dollars)

PERIODICAL

203.4 291.4 227.7

154-4

149.2 189.9 214.7

189.8 2590

953-5

1,139.6

939-6. 696.6 805.6

17.7 10.3 8.1 4.8

7-4

Total

1.576-8 1.538-2 1,086.7

1.305-7

9»»-9

10.5

1,540.1

1.1

100

(Percent)

»9*5 »9*9 »93» »933 »935 »937

»•9

5-3

17-3

12.9

60.5

3»

5-3 5-2

15.1

14.8 14.2

61.1 64.1 61.7

2.4 2.7

13-7 14-5 13-9

6.2 6.7

»4-5

16.8

59-2

•5 •4 .6

•7

100 100 100 100

Since wages are to be used in this study as the principal measure of trends in the New York industry, it is of interest to note the wage-to-value ratios for publishers doing their own printing. These are given in Table 2. TABLE

2

R E L A T I O N O F W A G E S TO V A L U E OF PRODUCT FOR PUBLISHERS W I T H O W N PRINTING,

(Million Value of Product NEWSPAPER PERIODICAL BOOK

911.9 314-7 40.8

1937

Dollars) Wages 185.6 35-1 8.4

Percent of Value Represented by Wages 21.4 »6-3 20.1

The figures in Tables 1 and 3 show that contract printing is negligible in the newspaper field. For periodicals, however, the trend toward contracting has resulted in a rise in the value of

TRENDS

IN NATIONAL

PRINTING

9

contract printing between 1925 and 1937 and a decline in the value of the publishers' own printing, until, in the later years of this period, the value of contract printing exceeds the value of the publishers' own printing. For book printing, the value of contract printing has exceeded the value of the publishers' own printing through the entire period, but the difference between the two has widened steadily until the value of contract printing has become nearly three fourths of the whole. The value of product for publishers with contract printing is not, of course, all duplication, since the wholesale price is materially above that paid to the printer. T h e duplication is represented by contracts. The 1925 and 1937 figures for value of product and contracts for the printing and publishing groups are given in Table 3. TABLE 3 VALUE OF PRODUCT AND CONTRACTS FOR PUBLISHERS WITH OWN PRINTING AND PUBLISHERS WITH CONTRACT PRINTING, 1925 AND 1937

(Million Dollars) VALUE OF PRODUCT 7925 '937

AMOUNT OF CONTRACT

*925

PERCENT OF VALUE REPRESENTED BY CONTRACT

'937

19*5

'937

2.0 30.2 22.7

•5

4-7 34O SO •7

4-9 29-3 3-5

5°-5

55-4

6.3

6.8

911.8 10.5

8.5 8.8

11.4

3-9

•9 49-7

371

214.7 2590

7.6 61.0

5.0 76.4

2.8 30.0

2-3 29-5

Total newspaper and periodical

1 ,447.6 1,396.0

85-7

96-7

5-9

6.9

Grand total

2 ,254.4 2,205.8

136.2

152.1

6.0

6.9

Book publishing: Own printing 44-9 Contract printing »4-3 Job printing 663.2 14.4 Trade typesetting

40.8 103.2 641.7 24.1

2.1 28.7 19.6

Total book and job

809.8

806.8

Newspaper publishing: Own printing 953-5 Contract printing 17.7 Periodical publishing: Own printing 273.0 Contract printing 203.4

.1

2.1

1.2

ÎO

TRENDS

IN NATIONAL

PRINTING

It is apparent from Table 3 that the heavy doubling-up of values, resulting from contracts, occurs in book and periodical printing and publishing. In these fields it is particularly important to use another measure, namely, factory wages, which eliminates duplication of values. Use of factory wages also eliminates the element of publishing as distinguished from printing. The new and detailed census separation of printing, including data for contracts, is given in Appendix B, Table 36, for 1925-37. Unfortunately, this breakdown is not available for New York or other cities and states for past years. It will, however, probably be available for the 1939 census, compiled in the summer of 1940. T h e new census questionnaire for printing is much more detailed than the previous ones. It is not possible to separate publishing from printing in all fields, but in the book field, at least, a close approximation is possible. Contracts represent, for the most part, actual printing. Where the publisher does not attempt his own printing there is little or no manufacturing, and the wages paid are not factory wages. Contracts for book publishers not doing their own printing amounted to $30,200,00 in 1937. Nearly all of this undoubtedly TABLE

4

A V E R A G E S I Z E OF E S T A B L I S H M E N T FOR PUBLISHERS WITH O W N P R I N T I N C AND PUBLISHERS WITH C O N T R A C T PRINTING,

Number of Establishments Book: Own printing Contract printing Periodical: Own printing Contract printing Newspaper: Own printing Contract printing

1937

Value of Product per Establishment (Dollars)

4°9

337.400 252,400

502 1,762

427,600 14.700

6,637 343

137.400 30,500

181

TRENDS

IN NATIONAL

PRINTING

11

represents printing. This contract total is 29.3 percent of the value of book products for these same publishers.' Thus it is apparent that less than one third of the value of product in this division of the publishing and printing industry, at least, can be assigned to printing. Using 29.3 percent as representative for book firms doing their own printing, it is estimated that the latter had printing costs in the neighborhood of $11,900,000 in 1937. The total estimated value of product attributable to book publishing (as distinguished from book printing) for 1937 is $101,900,000' as compared with a printing cost of $42,100,000. This method of estimating cannot be extended to periodicals and newspapers because those periodical and newspaper establishments which do their own printing are much larger, on the average, than those sending it out on contract. Moreover, for newspapers the contract group is too small a proportion of the total to be used for sampling. These facts are shown in Table 4. Long-run periodicals with national distribution and the big metropolitan dailies have much greater paper and distribution costs relative to labor than is true for smaller magazines and news* A test of the accuracy of this percentage is to be found in an article in Fortune, X X (July, 1939), too. This estimates that the price of the average $2.50 novel is divided roughly: $.50 for manufacture, $1.00 for other publication costs and profit, and $1.00 for the bookseller. According to this estimate, the printing cost amounts to one third of the wholesale or publisher's price. s This figure was reached in the following way (figures are in million dollars): Value of product for total book and job printing and publishing 809.8 Duplication from contracts for books in book and job printing —30.2 Total 779.6 Estimated printing cost for publishers printing own books 11.9 Job printing: Book 30.2 Periodical 764 Newspaper 3.9 Miscellaneous 531.8 Trade typesetting 24.1 Total — 677.7 Book publishing 101.9 The total figure for trade typesetting^ has been included here. Probably only 90 percent of linotype work is duplicated in job printing value, but, since the remainder is duplicated elsewhere, no attempt has been made to divide the figure. The newspaper and periodical job printing contracts arc factors of duplication in the newspaper and periodical printing and publishing figures.

IS

TRENDS

IN NATIONAL

PRINTING

papers. This factor also makes it unwise to assume that the percentage of wholesale price represented by printing costs is the same for the two groups. The problems of duplication of printing items, where these are contracted for, and of inclusion of publishing without printing in the value of product is more serious for the New York figures than for the national figures. This is discussed in the following chapter.

CHAPTER

III

MEASURES OF NEW Y O R K

PRINTING

T

H E New York printing industry has declined in recent years, whether trends are measured in absolute figures or as percentages of the national total. It is, however, difficult to obtain a reliable measure of the extent of this decline. As has been noted, the breakdown that makes it possible to eliminate duplication of items and to separate publishing from printing in national data is not available for New York. Nearly all of New York's former printer-publishers have either moved their printing plants out of the city or have given up their own plants entirely; but the publishing offices have remained in the metropolis, and as a result the reporting of printing and publishing by the census has become highly involved. T h e census reports value of product as follows, assuming in each case that the final value of product is $100,000 and the printing cost $30,000: VALUE OF PRODUCT REPORTED IN EACH PLACE

Place and Method of Doing Business Publishing and printing by same New York firm Publishing in New York; printing in out-of-town plant Publishing in New York; printing contracted in New York Publishing in New York; printing contracted out of town

New York

Out of Town

$100,000 $100,000 130,000 100,000

30,000

It is apparent from this illustration that New York is credited with more printing than actually takes place in the city when the printing is contracted for, regardless of whether the printing is done out of town or by another New York firm. Also, New York is not credited with values attributable to publishing when the firm uses

»4

MEASURES

OF NEW

YORK

PRINTING

CHART I INDEX N U M B E R OF N E W

Y O R K ' S SHARE IN THE N A T I O N A L

INDUSTRIAL

W A G E T O T A L FOR THE PRINTING INDUSTRY AND A L L MANUFACTURE OTHER T H A N

PRINTING*

( 1 9 0 4 = 100)

its own out-of-town printing plant. In this case the entire value is reported where the actual printing takes place. T h i s method of reporting results in a serious and growing source of error for a city that remains an important publishing center. Consequently, wages have been used in the following discussion in preference to value of product, except in those divisions of the industry for which the value of product figures are free from duplication. Wages are also an imperfect measure in so far as wage differentials between N e w York and the rest of the

MEASURES

OF NEW

YORK

15

PRINTING

country have changed during the period under discussion. These wage differentials are discussed in a later chapter. It is sufficient to note here that this is a relatively small source of error. Table 5 gives the wages for printing and publishing and allied industries as a whole, for the United States and for New York. It shows that New York's share of all printing amounted to 21.4 percent of the national total in 1904 but only 17.8 percent in 1937. Yet this is a period in which the city's population was growing faster than that of the nation as a whole. Table 6 gives the percentage of each division of the industry in New York, as measured by value of product, and, where duplication in the value figures is large, by wages. The figures from which these ratios have been computed are given in Appendix B, Tables 33 and 34. Charts I-IV make the trends clearer. Wages have been used in these for the total, for the two printing and publishing groups and for stereotyping and electrotyping. For the other allied industries, value of product has been used as the better measure of trends. TABLE

5

N E W Y O R K ' S S H A R E IN N A T I O N A L P R I N T I N G , M E A S U R E D B Y

(Million Year

1904

i9»9 1921 1923 1925 1927 »9*9 1931 »933 1935 1937

United States

132.80 206.40 347.20 430.00 487.10 535-7° 581.40 630.50 535-10 353-30 443-90 530-25

WAGES*

Dollars) New York

28.45 41.00 74-30 91.90» 102.70c 105.50 117.30 127.60 107.10 67.50" 84-35 94-3°

Percent of Wages in New York

21.4 19-9 21.4 21.4 21.1 1

97

20.2 20.2 20.0 19.1 19.0 17.8

* Figures, derived from United States Census of Manufacturers, are the total wages for bookbinding; steel, copper, wood, and plate engraving; lithographing; photoengraving; book and job printing; newspaper and periodical printing; and stereotyping and electrotyping. k Photoengraving and stereotyping are& estimated. c Engraving is estimated. Photoengraving is estimated.

16

MEASURES

OF NEW

YORK

TABLE

PRINTING

6

P E R C E N T OF T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S PRINTING INDUSTRY IN N E W YORK

(United States Census of Manufactures) PRINTING AND PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER AND BOOK AND JOB

Value of Product 1904 »909 »914 »9»9 1921 1923 »925 1927 »929 »93» »933 »935 »937

PERIODICAL

24.2

Wages 22.0

21.5 21.2 213 Î0.5 21.8 24.1 230 22.7 22.3 20.9

Value of Product 22.9

Wages 14.4

20.1 20.5 213

22.9 21.7 22.4

14.6 16.2 16.0

»9» 20.6 20.6 20.0 19.1 18.7 16.6

21.0 21.0 21.2 21.6 22.1 21.4 21.8

14.6 137 »4-4 158 »4-5 14.6 »3-4

A L L I E D INDUSTRIES STEREOTYPING AND ELECTROTYPING*

1904 »909 »9»4 »9»9 1921 »923 »925 »927 »929 »93» »933 »935 »937

Value of Product 28.0 30.6 305 26.4 26.7 25-4 23-9 21.9 22.7 37° 38.8 29-3

* Not done in printing establishments.

Wages 30.0 33-5 32.6 26.0 26.5 27.2 252 23.2 23.8 23.1 23.2 23-7

PHOTOENGRAVING

Value of Product 24.6 «•5 24.6 3»-9 28.4 «6.9 «5-9 »3-9 »5-5 *9-8 »9-2 »7-7

MEASURES

OF NEW TABLE 6

YORK

PRINTING

17

(Continued)

PERCENT OF THE UNITED STATES PRINTING INDUSTRY IN N E W YORK

(United States Census of

Manufactures)

A L L I E D INDUSTRIES STEEL, COPPER, BOOKBINDING AND

WOOD, AND

BLANKBOOK MAKING

PLATE ENGRAVING

LITHOGRAPHING

Value of Product

Value of Product

Value of Product

1904

36.1

1909 1914 »9*9 1921

i923 >925 1927

1929 »931 1933 »935 1937

48.5

37- 6

30.2

33-8

34-8

33-4 33-6 33-8 32-3 33»

35o 34-4

32.1 28.2

25-3

35-3 34-5 34-1 31 Monthly Labor Review (March, 1939), p. 535.

WAGE

DIFFERENTIALS

53

cities reviewed was just 5.5 percent under N e w York and there were actually six cities (San Francisco, Minneapolis, Washington, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago in the order named) with a higher living cost than N e w York. T h e relationship between the differentials for union compositors and the cost of living for the same areas is shown in Chart V I I . In those small cities where printing wages drop more than one fourth below New York and Chicago, the cost of living differential is only in the neighborhood of 10 percent lower. T h i s particular living-cost index is not that of the workers in question, for the printer normally enjoys a higher standard of living than the average manual worker; but it is probably indicative of relative variations. TABLE

21

U N I O N W A G E R A T E S FOR B O O K A N D J O B C O M P O S I T O R S IN N E W Y O R K A N D O T H E R C I T I E S , J UNE 3 0 ,

Population of 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over: New York Chicago Detroit Los Angeles Philadelphia Population of 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 to 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 : San Francisco Cleveland Pittsburgh St. Louis Buffalo Boston Milwaukee Baltimore Median for cities with population: 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over

1938»

Dollars per Hour

Percent öf New York Wage

1.362

100.0

1

35

1.25

99-» 91.8

1.145

84.1

1.13

83.0

1.30

95-5

1.20 1.17

88.1

1.102

80.9

1.10

80.8

1035

76.0

1.012

1.00

74-3 73-5

1.25

91-8

83.0

500,000 to 1,000,000

1.101

80.8

100,000 to

500,000

1.045

76.8

50,000 t o

100,000

1.00

73-5

• Wage rates are from Minimum Wage Scales of Typographical Unions, published annually by the International Typographical Union of North America.

54

WAGE

DIFFERENTIALS TABLE 22

UNION WAGE RATES FOR ALL BOOK AND JOB CRAFTS IN NEW YORK AND OTHER CITIES, JUNE I, 1939*

Dollars per Hour

Population of 1,000,000 and over: New York Chicago Detroit Los Angeles Philadelphia Population of 500,000 to 1,000,000: San Francisco Cleveland Pittsburgh St. Louis Buffalo Boston Milwaukee Baltimore Median for cities with population: 1,000,000 and over 500,000 to 1,000,000 100,000 t o 500,000 40,000 t o 100,000

Percent of New York Wage

1.285 1.264

100.0

>134

88.3

98-4

1.052 1.047

81.9 81.5

1.146 1.142

89.2 88.9 90.0 78.8 82.6 76.4 78.4

»•>57 1.012 1.062 .982 1.007 1.004

78.1

1134

1.052 .984

88.3 80.0 76.6

•941

73-3

* Wage rates are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

T h e comparison is valid only if the regularity of employment is the same in small and large communities. Actually, there is some evidence that employment is less regular in the large cities than in the small towns. In so far as this is true, the higher wage scale in proportion to cost of living in large cities may not afford a more adequate living standard than the comparatively low wage scales in the smaller places. Where a large printery is located in a small town the management feels the necessity of keeping labor satisfied and will frequently find ways of making employment rather than risk the work force leaving town. In New York and Chicago a union employer has only to telephone local headquar-

WAGE

DIFFERENTIALS CHART

55

VII

C O M P A R I S O N OF U N I O N W A G E SCALES AND C O S T O F L I V I N G IN N E W Y O R K WITH O T H E R C I T I E S , J U N E ,

1938*

(New York = 100)

H

NEW YORK

CHICAGO

COST

OF LIVING

PHILADELPHIA

CITIES OF 500,0001,000,000

n^GE

CITIESOF 00,000500,000

CITIES OF 50,000100,000

SCALE

• Based in part on T a b l e s i ; wages for book a n d j o b compositors.

ters to receive an adequate labor supply on an hour's notice. H e thus feels free to discharge men the moment that work becomes slack. In turn, of course, the big city union worker usually has little feeling of esprit de corps toward managements which take no personal interest in his welfare. His brother worker in a country plant, on the other hand, feels virtually a partner in his employer's business. According to employers interviewed in the small-town factories, the town workers will frequently vote against

WAGE

56

DIFFERENTIALS

seeking wage increases in order that their plant may continue to make inroads on printing originating in the big cities. In return for this they may obtain steadier employment. The international officers seldom interfere with the decision of locals as to wages. Hardened to a "care tor yourself" system, which both unions and employers have fostered, the big-city worker has taken advantage of every opportunity to gain higher wages and to strengthen union rules. In New York he has made the employer pay dearly; the latter would not, or could not, fight. The individual worker seems unwilling to consider the possible effects of successive wage increases and stiffer work rules; he seems unwilling to visualize business drifting out of town, receiverships, and unemployment. Usually the city's union leaders will fully realize this cause-andeffect relationship, but they are eager to make a good record while in office. T o show that the current relationship of New York wages to competitive areas is not of recent occurrence, Table 23 has been prepared from data appearing in Appendix B, Table 39. Table 39 covers commercial compositor wage rates and hours per week in seven key years for twenty eastern and Midwestern cities of varying size. Of these, the record is complete in the case of twelve cities, which are compared to New York in Table 23 on the basis of hourly wage rates. TABLE

23

B A S E PRINTING W A G E R A T E S , N E W

YORK COMPARED WITH

A V E R A G E OF T W E L V E HOURLY R A T E

New York (Dollars) 1907 1

914

I9»9

•44 .50

1925

•75 1.81

!929 •933 1938

I.36

AN

CITIES'

Twelve Cities (Dollars)

Percent of New York Wage Rate

•36

82.5

•42 .56

84.6

.98

7 5 ° 81.2

L.JO

1.02

78.5

I.25

•99 1.09

79-2 80.2

» Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, New H a v e n , Providence, Manchester, Scranton. See Appendix B, Table 39.

Newark,

WAGE

DIFFERENTIALS

57

In 1938 these twelve cities, all competing with New York, had a printing wage rate 19.8 percent below that in New York, as compared with 17.5 percent in 1907. There is no definite tendency for the differential to widen or to narrow over the whole thirty-one year period. It is of particular interest to note the sharp increase in the differential in 1919, when the full effect of the World War inflation was most apparent. During such boom times the demand for printers in the biggest centers leads to competitive bidding for trained men. This was particularly the case before the inauguration of priority rules. Today a man will think twice before leaving his job for another, when in the second plant he must place his name at the bottom of the priority list and be subject to layoff at the first slackening of the firm's activity. New York showed a less marked wage leadership in the boom year of 1929, and since then the wage differential has tended to recede slowly. The important point to note is that the current differential is still as large as at the beginning of the period, when New York had a greater advantage over the smaller cities than it now has because of poorer communication and transportation facilities in the earlier period. The influence of a big city, particularly of New York and Chicago, is felt in direct proportion to the distance of surrounding localities from the metropolis. Thus the rule that printing wages decline with the size of the city is here modified, and we find the printing wage in Yonkers well above that of the much larger city of Philadelphia. T h e strong influence of New York is shown in Chart VIII. All towns or cities within a few miles are strongly influenced by the "Big Six" and other New York unions; the union wage scale just across the river in New Jersey will be found within a few cents of the hourly rate for New York wherever there is any important volume of printing. T h e hold of the big city unions diminishes with the increase in mileage until at about 125 miles the trend begins to flatten out at a level between $0.95 and $1.00 per hour. Major differentials are not reached until some one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred miles distance, but, for average closed-shop competition, one hundred and twenty-five miles away seems about right from the point of view of combined delivery

58

WAGE

DIFFERENTIALS CHART V I I I

T R E N D OF UNION COMPOSITORS' W A G E SCALES A W A Y FROM N E W YORK*

(June 30, 1938)

and wage costs. T o escape frequent missionary work on the part of the big city unions an open shop would probably find an ideal location some two hundred miles away. Successful drives have been made at the instigation of New York against even more distant competitors, but practically without exception these have entailed many years of difficult organization work and there have been numerous such campaigns not crowned with success. Statistical data covering the hourly union rates in competitive printing centers according to their respective distances from New York and Chicago are shown in Appendix B, Tables 40 and 4 1 . Chicago Typographical Union No. 16 recently succeeded in estab-

WAGE

DIFFERENTIALS

59

lishing "zoning" agreements whereby St. Charles and Waukegan, forty and fifty miles away, agreed to pay the full Chicago scale on circular printing for Chicago business concerns. Aside from these special cases, the step down in wage rates follows much the same pattern as for New York. Union wage scales, for the most representative book printing centers, have been tabulated in T a b l e 24 for June, 1938. A similar tabulation for magazine centers is given in T a b l e 25. These outof-town areas are shown in relationship to New York for both compositor and cylinder pressmen scales. Average competitive rates for both union groups fall between 15 and 20 percent below New York; only in Chicago is there close approximation to the New York base. Newspaper union rates tend to be higher than in the book and job field. T h i s is due to the strength of newspaper union organizations. A newspaper is tied to its clientele and can not afford the luxury of undermining a strike by moving out of town. Furthermore, the wage cost on a large newspaper is only about one tenth of total costs. Book and job compositor rates for New York were roughly 70 percent of the newspaper scale in 1905; 80 percent in 1915; and 90 percent in 1925, which was maintained until 1940, when the news men gained not only an increase in wages but also two weeks' vacation with pay. T h e net effect is to drop the job-tonewspaper ratio back to the neighborhood of 80 percent, as at this writing there has been no agreement reached on changing the job contract, which had an expiration date as of February 28, 1938. Within New York there is certainly a wide, but not easily measured, difference between the wage rates in the few large nonunion shops and the multitude of small "bedroom" printeries. A study by the New York Employing Printers Association in the code days of N.R.A. indicated that, as a group, the smallest printers gave wages which were very nearly the lowest in the country. Frequently these shops are run by one man or by one family. Many "bedroom" shops have been started by craftsmen thrown out of work by the depression. Little capital is required. In such cases secondhand machinery is usually purchased on a long-term installment basis. New York is thus a city of extremes in printing

6o

WAGE

DIFFERENTIALS

wages, b u t the type of work handled by the " b e d r o o m " shops is n o t the same as that which has been leaving the city in recent years. TABLE

24

W A G E C O M P A R I S O N S FOR I M P O R T A N T B O O K C E N T E R S U N I O N SCALES, J U N E 3 0 , COMPOSITORS

Wage (Dollars) New York, N. Y. 54-5° 54.00 Chicago, 111. Detroit, Mich. (Burk50.00 hardt Co.) Bridgeport, Conn. 48.00 (Braunworth Co.) 47.00 Albany, N. Y. Indianapolis, Ind. (Bookwalter, Ball, 47.00 and Greathouse) Philadelphia, Pa. (John C. Winston) (Haddon Craftsmen, Camden, 45.80 N- J.) Scranton, Pa. (International Textbook 44.20 Press) St. Louis, Mo. (Becktold Co.) 44.08 Cambridge, Mass. (Houghton Mifflin Co.; Ginn and Co.) 41.40 Kingsport, T e n n . (Kingsport Press) 38.00 Average (excluding New York) Average (excluding New York and Chicago)

Percent of New York Wage 100.0

1938 CYLINDER PRESSMEN

Wage (Dollars)

Percent of New York Wage

54-5°

100.0

99«

54.00

99-1

91-7

50.00

91-7

88.1

48.00

88.1

86.2

47.00

86.2

86.2

46.00

84.5

82.9

45.20

82.9

81.1

42.30

77.6

80.9

45-37

83.2

76.0

41.40

76.0

697

41.00

75-z

84.2

84.4

82.5

82.8

WAGE

61

DIFFERENTIALS TABLE 25

WAGE COMPARISONS FOR IMPORTANT MAGAZINE CENTERS UNION SCALES, JUNE 30, 1938 COMPOSITORS

Wage (Dollars) New York, N. Y. Chicago, III. Dayton, Ohio (McCall) Albany, N. Y. (J- B. Lyon) Springfield, Ohio (Crowell) Greenwich, Conn. (Condé Nast) Mt. Morris, 111. (Kable) Philadelphia, Pa. (Cuneo) East Stroudsburg, Pa. (Hughes Printing Co.) Boston, Mass. Baltimore, Md.

54-5° 54.00 50.00

CYLINDER PRESSMEN

Percent of New York Wage

Wage (Dollars)

Percent of New York Wage

100.0

54-5°

100.0

99» 91-7

54.00 43.00

99-» 78-9

47.00

86.2

47.00

86.2

47.00

86.2

44.00

80.7

46.00 46.00

84.4 84.4

41.60 46.00

84.4

45.20

82.9

45.20

82.9

41.60 41.40 40.00

76-3

43.00 41.40 40.00

78-9

Average (excluding New York) Average (excluding New York and Chicago)

84.1

81.7

82.4

79-7

76.0

73-4

76-3

76.0

73-4

CHAPTER

OTHER

VIII

F A C T O R S IN L A B O R

COST

I

T IS customary practice for every important union local to seek written contracts with the representatives of the closedshop firms in its jurisdiction. These contracts state the basic wage scales in detail and scales for second and third shifts. They also define and provide for early call and holidays and set forth many miscellaneous rules. T a b l e 26 compares a number of the more important wage and rule provisions in the contracts for New York, Philadelphia, and Albany. Philadelphia and Albany have both taken a large volume of business from New York in the past twenty years and are believed to be representative competitors. Albany, although a much smaller city, is strongly organized, while Philadelphia has long been a difficult city for the printing unions to control. T h e base rate for Philadelphia compositors was increased 31/2 cents an hour on April 25, 1940. First and second shift scales then equaled the pay of Philadelphia cylinder pressmen. As T a b l e 26 shows, the second or night shift increases the differential of these New York competitors by approximately 10 percent. Third-shift rates for both compositors and pressmen present a considerably more serious increase in the differential; the margin between New York and Albany pressmen rates reaching 24.2 percent. Under these conditions, New York firms find it next to impossible to operate normally on a three-shift basis. A t periods of seasonal peaks, or in emergencies, the drain of the thirdshift rates may be serious. Elsewhere in the country, particularly in magazine printing, the operation of the plants at seasonal peaks on three shifts was found in many cases to be normal practice. New York has higher union requirments for overtime and Saturday work than either Philadelphia or Albany; higher also than is generally to be found elsewhere. Vacation with pay was obtained by New York newspaper compositors early in 1940, and a number of other newspaper contracts now have this provision. However,

OTHER

FACTORS

IN LABOR

COST

6S

inclusion of a vacation of one week with pay in the Albany commercial contract in 1939 was an innovation for commercial printing in large cities. On the basis of a full year's work, with one week's vacation with pay in Albany, and one week without pay in New York, the base differential between the two cities is reduced to 10.2 percent as against 11.9 percent on an hourly measurement. That New York should declare ten days in the year to be legal holidays, whereas other cities in the country stop at six or seven, seems most astonishing; even Chicago has only six. New York periodical firms, having to meet rigid schedules, found themselves confronted with a string of three extra-pay days of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, on February 10-12, 1940; whereas Chicago, in the home state of Abraham Lincoln, did not observe his birthday as a printing holiday. Holidays cost the New York printer just double the normal wage on these days, if worked, or a loss on overhead in shutdowns. In New York and Albany, pressmen contracts provide that any work on the holiday requires a full day's pay at the double rate; in Philadelphia, holiday pay is only for the hours worked. T h e call-back provision in the No. 6 contract states: "When a member of the union is called back after leaving the building to work at hours other than his regular working period, he shall receive $3.00 in addition to a full day's or night's pay at regular overtime rates for the shift worked." A few other centers have a call-back charge, usually limited to $1.00. TABLE

26

C O M P A R I S O N OF C O M M E R C I A L C O N T R A C T S OF P R I N T I N G JANUARY NEW Y O R K

Contract Provision Compositors: Base wage (per hour) $1,362 Night shift (per hour) 1.50 Third shift (per hour) 1.685

1,

UNIONS

1940 PHILADELPHIA

ALBANY

Con- Percent tract under Provi- New sion York

Con- Percent tract under Provi- New sion York

$1,165 1.265 1 -3 1 5

$1.20 1.30 1.40

14-5 15-7 22.0

11.9 13-3 16.9

64

OTHER

FACTORS TABLE

COMPARISON

IN LABOR (Continued)

26

OF C O M M E R C I A L

C O N T R A C T S OF

JANUARY NEW YORK

Overtime

Vacation with pay

Call-back penalty Apprenticeship ratio

COST

1,

PRINTING

PHILADELPHIA

Con- Percent tract under Provi- New Contract sion York Provision 11/2 first 4 11/2 first 5 hours; a hours; 2 thereafter thereafter None None $3.00 1-10

Cylinder pressmen: Base wage (per hour) $1.362 1.50 Night shift (per hour) T h i r d shift (per hour]I 1.846 11/2 first 4 Overtime hours; 2 next 4 hours; 3 thereafter Saturdays 11/2 first 4 hours; 2 next 4 hours; 3 thereafter A11 printing crafts: Number of holidays 10

UNIONS

1940

None 1-5

ALBANY

Con- Percent tract under Provi- New sion York H/2 first 5 hours; 2 thereafter 1 week for over 1 year employment None 1-5

11.9 $1.20 $1.20 11.9 1.30 1.30 13.3 »3-3 21.8 1.40 24.2 1.444 11/2 first 4 hours; 11/2 first 5 2 thereafter hours; 2 thereafter

1I/2 u p to 7 p.m.; 2 thereafter

6

11/2 regular rate

6

I n addition, there are other extras n o t shown in the table. New York contracts provide p a y m e n t at overtime rates for overtime l u n c h periods, while Albany a n d Philadelphia do not. T h e same is t r u e for extra compensation for Saturday night work. T h e n there is an added expense item in the No. 6 contract stating that m e m b e r s are entitled to fifty cents extra per day w h e n working

OTHER

FACTORS

IN LABOR

COST

65

less than four days a week. This provision is found in the contracts of only one or two other cities. New York Typographical Union No. 6 requires that ten hours intervene between quitting and starting time, except in cases of unusual emergency. If the foreman orders a return to work at regular starting time but before expiration of the ten hours, the pay rate is at time and one half. New York Printing Pressmen's Union No. 51 reduces the time required between quitting and starting work to eight hours. These time rules with penalties are seldom found in union contracts outside of New York. In New York the pay of the machinist or machine tender rises as the number of type-casting machines under his charge increases. If he handles thirteen or more machines, he gets $5.60 more per week than for handling one to four machines. (If he handles one to four machines, his pay is the same as for operators.) Albany and Chicago contracts fail to provide for additional compensation to the machinist when responsible for a large number of machines. Even the relatively unskilled printing workers are strongly organized in New York. By contract, those who handle paper within a commercial shop receive weekly pay as follows: paper handlers, $35.34; roll handlers, $36.22; sheet straighteners, $38.94. In Commercial Minimum Wage Scales, published January 1, 1940, by the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, only ten cities other than New York are listed with union scales for paper handlers. Whereas the New York base scale for such workers is $35.34 per week, the other cities show a range of $18.00 to $33.00, and an average of $25.70. Thus, even the small group of paper handlers successful in obtaining a skilled union classification outside of New York receive on the average 27.3 percent less pay than the New York handler. The apprenticeship ratio shown in Table 26 means that for each ten journeymen a New York employer may take on one apprentice. By their contracts, large union firms in Albany and Philadelphia can have twice as many apprentices as in New York. Chicago and Boston, however, also have the ten-to-one ratio. A high ratio means that an expanding firm instead of being able to train its own men must go to the open market in large part.

66

OTHER

FACTORS

IN LABOR

COST

Unions in the large metropolises have insisted on these high ratios since the depression in order to help the unemployed. Employers contend that many of the unemployed are incompetent or too old and that it is cheaper in any case to pay the lower apprenticeship scales for six years to a portion of the work force. Tying in to this controversy is the rather continuous squabble over priority. Priority rules are written into most typographical local contracts and are binding as well under I. T . U. law, in which the key phrase is: "Persons considered capable as substitutes by foremen shall be deemed competent to fill regular situations and the substitute oldest in continuous service shall have prior right in filling the first vacancy." A less strict interpretation, directed in favor of those already employed, is given in the International Pressmen's laws as: "In the event of a decrease in the force of any pressroom, such decrease shall be effected by first discharging the person or persons last employed; should there be an increase in the force in ninety days, the person or persons displaced through such cause shall be reinstated in the order in which they were discharged before other help may be employed." Apparently this law is not now generally enforced. Incidentally, I. T . U. law holds that a man loses his priority if he performs work in another union shop. This has acted to keep New York men from accepting out-of-town work of short or uncertain duration, in order not to lose priority standing built up, painfully perhaps, over a period of years. As between union and nonunion shops, priority presents a difficult psychological problem. It tends to give a closed-shop worker a feeling of permanency in his job. It seems likely that such a man is more prone to slacken his pace than is the openshop worker over whom the possibility of discharge hangs constantly. Bringing a closed-shop worker up on charges of incompetence is a slow and difficult task; if the whole shop slumps moderately in performance, there is little that the management of a closed shop can do about it. A dispute over priority was a factor in the flight of Moody's financial printing from New York in 1939 1 1

A loss of $350,000 a year to New York.

OTHER

FACTORS

IN LABOR

COST

67

As against the employer's complaint of rigid enforcement of priority, union officials claim that before priority was enacted the average employer was constantly bidding for his competitor's workmen. Priority has put an end to this practice and to the constant shifting of workmen on their own hook. T h e day of the itinerant printer is apparently over. A complaint often heard among New York printers, and also by employers in a few other strongly unionized centers, is that priority rules and complement-of-men provisions are not lived up to in competitive areas. T h i s is denied by union leaders, and the truth does not lend itself to easy statistical analysis. It is surely an obvious weakness of the Pressmen's International that so simple an item as the number of men to be employed on a standard press remains for the locals to decide. Such being the case, we find a press in one city being operated by three men, whereas under the local rule in a neighboring city only two are required. Generally the strongly organized centers such as New York and Washington bear the brunt of highest complements, thus adding to their relative wage costs. Costs to the New York printer are further increased by exceptionally high rates charged in the service industries. T h e printing industry is peculiar in that the distribution curve for number of workmen by wage-scale intervals has two peaks. T h e more usual wage distribution for any industry's workers rises in a fairly smooth curve to a single peak at a given wage and then declines equally smoothly. T h e peculiar concentration of high wages in Chicago and New York, as compared with the rest of the country, gives rise to the two-peak curves shown in Chart IX. Here the peaks for hand compositors and cylinder pressmen are 20 cents and 30 cents apart, respectively. For both electrotypers and photoengravers these wage peaks are 40 cents apart. New York and Chicago union electrotypers and photoengravers enjoy a marked differential indeed over the average for the rest of the country. Much greater than this basic day differential are the night-rate differentials for New York union electrotyping. After 11:00 P.M. on periodicals, and 9:00 P.M. on other printing, the current night scales are $3.30 an hour as compared with $1.65 day rate, or just

68

OTHER

FACTORS

IN LABOR

COST

double. T o avoid this cost, some New York commercial printera are reported to be sending necessary night work in electrotyping out oi New York and having it shipped back in time for normal morning delivery. T h e exceptional difficulties experienced by the largest firms in New York are traceable in part to nonunion competition. Within New York the nonunion firms are without exception of medium or small size, but elsewhere they include some of the nation's largest printing plants. According to nonunion foremen, the key disadvantage of a closed shop is in the stiff work rules. In an open shop the foreman may shift men around with an eye to production economies and with no fear of increased wage cost. By contrast, the union shop rules in New York require that a shifted workman receive at least his regular pay, and if placed on a job normally requiring higher pay his wage shall increase accordingly. T h e use of manpower in the open shop is flexible; in the closed shop it is relatively inflexible. Not faced with fixed complements of men on the machines, the nonunion foreman freely interchanges his pressmen, assistants, and boys as the flow of work may dictate. A given press may require the services of an expert pressman to get a job under way but once in operation this same press may require no more than the attention of an assistant, while the pressman may be employed elsewhere. In a well-organized open shop there are few idle hands, but this can hardly be said of the average union shop, where the rules may result in excessive manpower on the easier jobs. In one nonunion New York job printing shop of medium size there is a top wage of $50 for a forty-hour week. This compares with $54.50 minimum for New York union compositors or cylinder pressmen. Younger journeymen workers in this open shop receive as low as $40 a week. T h e top wage for second shift, or night work, is $50, the same as for the day shift. There are boy helpers and apprentices with wages descending to $18 a week. All labor is trained on the premises but night-school study is encouraged for the newly employed. T h e nonunion firm under review employs a machinist just one

CHART

IX

BOOK AND J O B UNION M E M B E R S IN THE U N I T E D STATES BY H O U R L Y W A G E - P E R C E N T DISTRIBUTION*

• Based on T a b l e 43, Appendix B .

7°

OTHER

FACTORS

IN LABOR

COST

day each week to service the five linotypes; if unionized, this shop would have to hire a full-time machinist. The same holidays are recognized as for union firms, but overtime is strictly time and one half, whereas it rises to double and triple time for Sunday and holiday work in union shops. The foreman in this same nonunion shop placed two faults of unionism at the door of priority. Priority, he felt, allowed the management no choice when layoffs became necessary; if the best worker in the shop happened to be the last man employed he would, perforce, be the first to be laid off. Priority was also blamed for throwing some union shops into turmoil through the development of cliques. An individual in a union plant may be fired much more easily than a united group, although the group may be rife with incompetence or neglectful of duty. A clique of union workers can engage in a moderate slowdown with relative impunity. All these many adverse items indicate that what a New York union printer saves on efficient use of a large and ready labor supply he may lose through by far the stiffest rules and "extras" to be found in the country. Local union officials today readily recognize that the city has been on the losing end in the printing competition for many years past. The solution offered is to raise labor costs in competitive areas. As a matter of fact, No. 6 was responsible for the organization of an Eastern "Regional Scale Conference" in 1937, where the establishment of regional wage differences was discussed. At this conference a resolution was passed to establish a 10 percent maximum differential in the base wage for all cities within one hundred miles of Manhattan. This move came to nothing in the annual I. T . U. convention. Regional differentials were seriously discussed at the time of the N. R. A. codes, in 1934, but the demise of the N. R. A. the following year ended this. New York unions with international aid have generally been able to bring so-called "sore spots" into the fold after many years of effort. How ineffectual such organizational work is in solving the problem of departed business may be seen in the time needed to reorganize some of the big firms which were closed shop before leaving the city. The McCall Corporation, P. F. Collier and Son,

OTHER

FACTORS

IN LABOR

COST

71

Crowell, and Condé Nast Publications were all reunionized in "1937^ T h e y left New York in the years from 1923 to 1927. T h u s they remained nonunion for a period of from ten to fourteen years. Printing trade internationals had a banner year for organizational work in 1937, because of the fear on the part of many employers that the radical C. I. O. might gain a foothold and the fear, also, of tangling with the National Labor Relations Board. A handful of vigorously managed nonunion firms, typified by R. R. Donnelley and Sons of Chicago and the Waverly Press of Baltimore, have enjoyed outstanding success in fighting union drives by the simple formula of paying a higher hourly rate than neighboring printers. After years of effort the unions usually succeed in organizing a given plant, but in the meantime new nonunion firms will have sprung up and may be out of control for years to come. Active nonunion centers are to be found in New England and to the south in Baltimore and Richmond. Even when the workers in a strongly competing firm are organized, the firm normally continues to extract New York business because its workers realize that their livelihood may depend on close cooperation with the management. Under local autonomy these union workers are free to set their local wage scales and deride on many of the work rules.

CHAPTER NONLABOR COST

IX FACTORS

^ T H O U G H labor costs have been shown to be of primary importance, the picture is not complete without a review of trends in numerous minor costs. As noted in U. T . A. ratios, the rent factor in New York is largely counterbalanced by factory ownership costs out of town. In the Hinrichs survey of 1924, a sampling of New Jersey printing plants indicated that rentals per square foot averaged 50 to 60 percent below those in New York. Few who have visited plants both in New York and in smaller competitive areas have, however, failed to note the profligate use of space where the rental cost of land is cheap. Frequently, a "country" plant will be just one story high but spread over acres of ground. Admittedly, such a factory can make considerable savings on the physical handling of the product as well as in electric light bills. There is, therefore, a clear gain for the country plant even when the total factory ownership costs equal city rentals. Out-of-town plants often own unproductive neighboring plots of ground on which future expansion is contemplated. These are, of course, of some current tax expense. Since the cost of floor space is considered a minor item by most out-of-town establishments, a free hand is used in storing materials and finished product. T h e storage problem is indeed serious for plants located in Manhattan, but is solved in part by scientific use of the space available and hand-to-mouth buying of inventory. A bookbindery, being required by custom to stock the finished product until called for by the customer, may make use of separate warehouse facilities and not be at a disadvantage on this point as compared with New Jersey or Connecticut bookbinders. This is because normally these neighboring competitors likewise have to maintain warehouse facilities within the city in order to supply the immediate

NONLABOR

COST

FACTORS

73

demands of the New York publishers who are their main customers. T h e proportion of the sales dollar chargeable to factory rent, taxes, insurance, and stock storage and handling declined between 1930 and 1938, according to the U. T . A. ratios; but the decline was more for the United States as a whole than for New York. This is shown in Table 27. TABLE

27

P E R C E N T OF T H E S A L E S D O L L A R FOR F A C T O R Y R E N T , T A X E S , I N S U R A N C E , AND S T O C K S T O R A G E AND H A N D L I N G

United States, Excluding ipjo New York Factory rent, property taxes, and insurance 3.61 Stock storage and handling .43 Total 4.04 1938* Factory rent, property taxes, and insurance 2.93 Stock storage and handling .39 Total 3.32 • See Table 16.

New York 3.82

•51 4-33 346 •39 3-85

Transportation is a distinctly minor cost, except for national periodicals and nationally distributed advertising or contest broadsides. Home magazines, such as Collier's or McCall's, may have a distribution charge reaching 70 percent or more of factory labor costs. For other types of commercial printing, the problem of distance for delivery is much more a matter of speed than of cost. For New York competition, the primary measure of delivery distance is the ability to make overnight shipments. Baltimore comes within this competitive circle — the one hundred and ninety miles to New York may be covered by truck in five or six hours. Post-office regulations have played an important role in the history of magazine printing. By the law of 1918, a zonal system was established, charging successively increased rates according to the number of zones through which second-class matter passed. With the New York area but one of eight zones, certain magazine publishers here felt at a disadvantage on national distribution, particularly as part of the New York zone seemed to extend into

74

NONLABOR

COST

FACTORS

the Atlantic Ocean. An interesting factor in the zonal charges is that books, and similar reading matter without advertising, are carried at one and one-half cents a pound to any part of the country. T h e zonal charge on a magazine is established solely against the advertising material therein. Were the Reader's Digest to accept advertising, it might not afford to continue printing in New Hampshire. Another post-office ruling, directly injurious to the magazine printing of both New York and Chicago, placed printed matter produced locally for local consumption in a different and higher cost bracket than for similar printing produced and mailed from out of town. This curious ruling was aimed primarily at newspapers, which were dumping their circulation problem in the lap of the post office. A considerable number of publications formerly printed in Chicago moved to Kable Brothers in Mt. Morris, Illinois, as a result of this post-office ruling. A supplementary ruling states that, to escape the higher bracket, the publication office as well as the printing plant must be located out of town. This has caused a number of publications to set up dummy publication offices out of town, usually at the printing plant, while retaining "editorial" or "editorial and general" offices in the big city. Not unknown in the printing trade is the virtual connivance in small towns between the postmaster and the local printing plant. This is due to the fact that a postmaster's pay rises or falls roughly in accordance with the volume of mail handled. A postmaster may aid a local printery by establishing a sub post office next to or within the printing plant and using government employees for a considerable handling of shipments. Should the postmaster in New York or Chicago attempt a similar system, there would be an excessive demand for post-office units, not only from big printers but also from many other business organizations. Form and manifold printing have tended to leave the city in line with the development of scientific handling. For example, a department store's many forms, sales books, and receipt slips are analyzed with minute care. Forms are reduced to a few standard sizes and a system is installed for keeping an ever-normal supply. T h e printer, say one hundred miles from New York, stocks the

NONLABOR

COST

FACTORS

75

forms and sales books free of charge and trucks them to the store as needed. On a contract of this nature, the printer has one most important advantage: he may fill in his season of lowest activity by stocking up on these forms. Sales taxes and high workmen's compensation insurance premiums add their bit to the burden of the New York printer. The Connecticut manufacturer pays roughly 50 percent of the workmen's compensation premium charged in New York. Furthermore, a Connecticut plant will pay no sales tax while a New York printer is being charged 2 percent on any new machinery which he may install and 2 percent on plates purchased locally or out of town. The proportion of the sales dollar for minor expenses has increased for both New York and out-of-town firms since 1930, with New York showing the larger increase. T h e minor expenses include sales and office social security taxes, financial, and similar "other than factory" expenses. In Table 28 are listed these miscellaneous nonfactory expenses for 1938 compared with 1930. Total net expense was quite minor in 1930 because of credits shown for certain items. One of these, financial expense, represents discounts given and taken and interest paid and received. In 1938 there were no net credits and New York firms averaged one cent more for these minor costs than out-of-town firms, whereas eight years before New York firms had a smaller cost. T h e final item in Table 28 indicates that New York printers permitted sales returns or allowances in both years of slightly more than one half of one percent. Firms elsewhere were able to show an improvement over the period, attaining a ratio in 1938 of only slightly in excess of one quarter of one percent. It is not easy to find a ready measure of sales volume for firms which differ widely in character of output and property ownership. With this proviso, we present the analysis, also drawn from U. T . A. figures, given in Table 29. These ratios bear out other statistical data to the effect that printing machinery available was not employed to the same extent in 1938 as in 1930. They also indicate that the ratio of use has declined more for New York than for out-of-town areas.

76

NONLABOR

COST TABLE

T A X E S AND MISCELLANEOUS

FACTORS

28

E X P E N S E S IN T H E U . T .

A.

SALES

DOLLAR

(Cents) UNITED STATES, EXCLUDING NEW YORK

NEW YORK

447 Firms 315 Firms in 1930 in 1938 Factory social security taxes Office social security taxes Sales social security taxes Office fixed expense (rent, insurance, taxes, depreciation) .37 Sales fixed expense (rent, insurance, taxes, depreciation) .10 Financial expense .19 Other expense (+-82)

18 Firms 24 Firms in 1930 in 1938

I.IG .26 .09

1.28 •36

.09

.43 .13 .30 15

.69

1.04

•17

.04

(+•46)

•23

(+•15)

•52

Net expense

.44

2.55

•«5

356

Sales allowances

.39

.26

•57

.56

TABLE

29

R A T I O OF SALES TO GROSS V A L U E OF M A C H I N E R Y , F U R N I T U R E , AND FIXTURES*

Number of Companies

Gross Value of Amount of Machinery Furniture, and Fixtures (Dollars)

New York 1930 19 1938 26 United States, excluding New York 1930 507 1938 347

Ratio of Sales to Value of Amount of Machinery, Sales Furniture, and (Dollars) Fixtures

2,516,000 3,023,000

5,633,000 5,344,000

224 177

36,128,000 41,584,000

73,920,000 74,622,000

205 180

* Sales are annual totals of printing delivered, while gross value of machinery, furniture, and fixtures represents the balance sheet figure for factory equipment before depreciation and as of the end of the year.

CHAPTER

G R O W T H OF

X

COMPETITION

N

A T I O N A L and local printers are confronted with new forms of both internal and external competition. Internally there have been revolutionary advances in production methods for the three basic types of printing: letterpress, lithography, and rotogravure. For many years letterpress, or relief printing, handled the lion's share of the work with little fear of competition. In this period, lithography had its place, particularly in poster work and label printing. With the introduction of the photographed picture, first in black and white and later in color, inventors sought means for cheapening the cost of reproduction. Lithographic and rotogravure processes have been gradually improved to the point where they now provide strong competition for letterpress. Perfection of these competing processes was attained in the early thirties, but their use first showed up sharply in the census figures for 1937. Table 30 gives a record of commercial letterpress printing as compared to lithography and rotogravure for the three census years 1933, 1935, and 1937. T A B L E 30 AGGREGATE V A L U E OF SELECTED PRINTING PRODUCTS UNITED STATES

Year

Commercial Letterpress Biennial Printing Increase (Dollars) (Percent)

1933

446,337,000

'935

603,797,000

35.4

99,647,000

35.5

8,822,000

35.4

1937

702,527,000

16.4

149,542,000

50.2

23,584,000

168.0

Lithography (Dollars)

Biennial RotqBiennial Increase gravure Increase (Percent)(Dollars) (Percent)

72,671,000

6,525,000

It is of interest that all categories showed a 35 percent increase in 1935 from the depression year of 1933. In 1937, after two relatively prosperous years in which to replace old machinery, a sub-

7«

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

stantial volume increase was noted for lithography and a very heavy percentage rise for rotogravure. These were undoubtedly partly at the expense of commercial letterpress printing, which, it should be noted, does not include such printing as is handled by newspaper, book, and periodical publishers. Actually, as measured by wages, lithography in 1937 reached a level equal only to about 10 percent of all combined letterpress printing. Of the $149,542,000 of lithographic work in 1937, three quarters was encompassed within the following three categories: (1) colored posters and calendars, etc., $43,400,000, or 29.0 percent; (2) checks, stationery, etc., $46,000,000, or 30.8 percent; and (3) labels, $22,900,000, or 15.3 percent. T h e total of $112,300,000 amounts to 75.1 percent. Of the total label printing business in 1937, lithography accounted for only 35.8 percent and letterpress for the remainder. Of colored posters and calendars, etc., lithography was responsible for 68.9 percent. It seems likely that both lithography and rotogravure will show a further important relative advance in the census for 1939, but may enjoy little, if any, further increase relative to letterpress in the subsequent census, that of 1941. Formerly, gravure, which is intaglio printing, was used largely for special soft or mellow effects in pictures and only when cost could be largely ignored. With the development of the gravure web press, long runs became possible and were first used on Sunday supplement brown-picture pages. T h e heavy jump in employment of this process from 1935 to 1937 was due to increased newspaper usage and, particularly, to the switch to this method by a few national magazines, such as Look and Woman's Home Companion. Collier's employs gravure in a considerable portion of each issue, feeling that the contrast between processes is pleasing to the reader. Rotogravure is cheap for long runs, expensive for short. A disadvantage is that although pictures are increased in mellowness, they tend to lose in detail; in addition any type included has to be screened. T h e adding of offset to lithography is an invention dating back to 1905. In rotary press equipment this means the transfer of image from the curved metal plate to a rubber cylinder and from

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

79

the rubber cylinder in turn to paper on a third cylinder. Improvements in the presswork that have made offset a competitive process to letterpress include high speed operation as well as a sharp reduction in make-ready time. Offset eliminates the need for electrotypes. It permits the use of fine screen illustrations on rough paper stock. Formerly, the quality of most offset work failed to equal the best in letterpress, but in recent years special lithographic inks have been developed which give a brilliance and sharpness to offset printing. Early in 1940 the first offset newspaper, a Connecticut tabloid, was initiated with considerable fanfare, but it was discontinued after a few weeks. Quite recently letterpress machinery has been developed to match the speed and some of the savings of offset and gravure. A Claybourn model using thin, curved, copper precision plates holds great promise. The important saving here is in pre-make-ready. When electrotypes are not used, letterpress printing has the advantage of permitting last minute corrections and press changes. Flash-dry ink and spray-gun developments have added greatly to the speed of letterpress output. Linotype operation has been speeded up by automatic line centering and other improvements. While this battle continues between the three key processes, there is constant nibbling away on the cheaper types of printing by so-called office equipment. Various types of cheap reproduction have been available since the turn of the century, but the impetus needed to popularize office machinery came with the printing strikes of 1919 and 1921. The multigraph and mimeograph companies were then swamped with orders by offices unable to get necessary forms and letterheads from the regular print shops. There are now literally a score of duplicating processes, only a few of which can be mentioned here. In the stencil field the mimeograph undoubtedly is paramount; the Mimeograph Company believes that it represents from 50 to 60 percent of the stencil duplicating business. From the latest serial numbers on its stencil machines, it is estimated that some 240,000 mimeograph duplicators have been sold since 1912. Of these, between 180,000 and 200,000 are probably still in use. Machines are estimated to last at least twelve or fifteen years. T h e

8o

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

stencil duplicators are in direct competition with miniature letterpress machinery. Here the multigraph is best known and enjoys considerable usage for circular letters and office forms. A mimeograph ranges from $37 to $700 in price, a multigraph from $ 1 3 0 to $2,170. T h e most recent invasion of the office equipment field is the simplified or miniature offset, such as multilith and rotoprint. These range in price from about $300 to $4,000. Attempts to introduce multilith into public service have already caused stiff campaigns by the printing industry directed at the legislatures of a number of states and at Congress. Generally, such campaigns have been successful in blocking extension of the use of the multilith in public printing. Obviously annoyed by this latest competition, the printing trades have gone so far as to nickname this type of offset machine a "toy". Such equipment seems to be on the border line between suitable, easily handled office machinery and machinery which belongs rather in the specialized print shop. Within the more specialized fields are the Elliott and Addressograph machines for mechanically addressing letters, statements, and envelopes. Over the years such specialized equipment has gradually taken on work formerly handled by printing plants. This includes the printing of letterheads and repetitious material in bills mailed in large quantities. For the major part, office equipment seems more of an annoyance to the printing industry than any real threat. Of "real threats" there are, however, some very interesting current developments as well as future possibilities. The threat of revolution in composing room methods is more real than at any time since Mergenthaler's invention of the linotype quadrupled a man's output. There are two right-hand-aligned typewriters on the market that aim to replace the highly paid compositor and his typesetting machine with a girl typist preparing copy for lithographic reproduction. These machines are the Vari-Typer, a development of the old Hammond typewriter,- and a low cost attachment for the regular Underwood. Both have a limited number of type faces and definitely lack the finish of linotype work. Nevertheless, they are a competitive factor in that the cost of various cheap lines of

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

81

printing may be cut as much as 50 percent. One such field, that of student publications, has already been successfully invaded. An average typist on the Vari-Typer can compose from 6,000 to 8,000 words in an eight-hour stretch. This is no task on a linotype machine, but typist labor is roughly 50 percent cheaper than linotype labor. Current accomplishments fade in importance in the face of the almost certain perfection in such right-hand-aligned machines that lies ahead. It is understood that International Business Machines has a greatly improved typewriter of this description nearly ready to market, and this machine apparently would allow not only for right-margin alignment but also for variety in type faces (including a clean-cut book face) and variation in letter widths. Final perfection of any such machine as this would most certainly cause at least temporary panic in the ranks of trained compositors. There probably would be a boom in the sale of lithographic presses. There is considerable difference of opinion as to whether such a development would result in a lowering of compositor wage rates in order to meet the new competition. Another device, which has been on the market for some ten years but only recently has shown signs of wide acceptance, is the teletypesetter, now owned by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. This device adds mechanical operation to the usual linotype machine. A separate unit, operated by a typist on a standard typewriter keyboard, punches a tape, which in turn is run through the linotype machine automatically. This process is currently used for book composition in an important New England plant where savings are claimed on the employment ot linotypes at a steady, rapid pace. T h e machine, run automatically, averages 350 lines per hour as compared with some 200 under manual linotype operation. T h e difficulties include need for careful watch over mats and need of frequent proofs. As operated on the Newburgh-Beacon News, five or six girls run the tape punch machine on a piece-work basis at considerably lower wages than union linotypists would be getting, while one union compositor and one machinist care for the four linotype machines in automatic operation.

8s

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

T h e original idea behind the teletypesetter was transmission of copy automatically by wire over long distance. In the newspaper field, union opposition was successful in blocking the introduction of such a labor saving device, but early in 1940 Time introduced teletypesetter transmission between New York and Philadelphia in order to facilitate quick delivery of copy for the Eastern edition. Speed setup on the Time job is established at 325 lines per hour as against actual linotyper average of 188 lines on this magazine work. By agreement with the International Typographical Union, sending apparatus is handled by the editorial office of Time in New York outside of union jurisdiction, but the linotype machines must be fully manned in Philadelphia at the Cuneo Press. In this case the chief aim by the publishers is economy in time rather than in labor. A teletypesetter in the newspaper field sells for roughly $3,000 complete and for the more exacting book and job trade at about $3,600. An indirect but nevertheless serious competitor to the printing industry is radio. Millions of dollars now poured into radio advertising represent in considerable part money that otherwise would have been devoted to printed matter. A vivid picture of the amount of business lost to the printing world is shown in T a b l e 31, in which the McCann-Erickson indices of print-producing advertising are compared to the growth in radio-time sales and in turn to the national income since 1929. Whereas national income in 1939 stood at 86.8 percent of 1929, not one of the older advertising vehicles was able to attain a dollar volume equal to as much as 70 percent of 1929. T h e counterbalance is obviously radio-time sales, which multiplied four times over the interim, reaching $170,000,000 out of $1,600,000,000 total estimated advertising in 1939. T h e worst hit publications were farm papers, with less than half the advertising enjoyed ten years ago. T h e link to the slogan that the radio is the farmer's best friend is all too obvious. T h e strong growth trend in radio advertising sales does not yet show signs of slackening. T h e radio cuts in seriously on newspaper news sales as well as on advertising. Need for extra editions is reduced by home reception of spot news, and many people are combining daily radio

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

»3

news periods with the reading of Time, Newsweek, or the Sunday supplements of papers that summarize affairs of the past week. As a result of this loss in advertising and an increase in operating costs, hundreds of newspapers over the country have closed down in recent years. Many cities formerly boasting two or three newspa pers are served today with just one daily. In New York the newspapers continue to be widely read, and the city consumes a larger percentage of the nation's newsprint today than ever before. Here, apparently, the pace of living is such that the habit of daily radio news listening is less easily formed than elsewhere. Radio broadcasting has created a not inconsiderable volume of follow-up direct mail advertising, but this does not appear to offset the inroads of radio on other types of printing. TABLE DEVELOPMENT

General advertising Magazine Outdoor Farm paper Newspaper Radio National income

31

OF R A D I O A N D PRINTED

(Base, 1929 — 100) 1929 *933 100 53-9 100 46.8 100 38.8 100 3»-8 100 56.1 100 160.4 100

56-7

ADVERTISING*

*937 77-9 78.6 64.4 59-9 74-4 342.0 88.0

^939 68.9 68.8 64.0 49-5 65.6 423 3 86.8

» McCann-Erickson indices of advertising dollar volume and Department of Commerce figures for national income paid out.

T h e future seems to hold a wealth of further competition for the already highly competitive and rapidly changing printing world. There is the eventual possibility of photo-composition, and there have been experiments in delivery of newsprint and picture by radio wave and television. In large scale magazine printing a trend has already set in for decentralization with the aid of the newest transmission and transportation facilities. In time it seems likely that the publications of wide national consumption will be separated into Eastern, Midwestern, and Western printing editions. A similar decentralization tendency is already noted in the printing of national broadsides.

84

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

Whereas it is a common practice for business firms to adopt office or duplicating equipment, a few large institutions go one step further and establish their own printing plants. Thus the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has a big printing plant in New York privately owned and operated. The same is true for the New York Life Insurance Company and the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. On the surface it would appear to be an uneconomic move for one business to enter an entirely different field. Where the parent firm has the attributes of a publisher or otherwise is closely allied to its printing, the inauguration of private printing facilities certainly appears legitimate. Thus the Standard Statistics Company, with a daily corporation news service for Wall Street, figures the printing thereof as a major and integral cost. Rand McNally and Company seems logically well fitted, to operate its private plant for map making. In other businesses, such as insurance or grocery chains, there seems to be more doubt as to the desirability of the private printing plant. There is danger of incentive loss on the part of managements, as such plants lack the stimulus of competition. Frequently after a private plant is acquired it is found difficult properly to fill in overhead during slack seasons. The job plant can usually schedule its work better, bidding sharply for contracts when needed. Similar unsound economics militates against profitable operation of municipal and state print shops. T h e private plants constructed in New York ten to twenty years ago have proven more permanent than commercial printeries. In the depression the private plants generally continued if the parent companies survived. Whereas commercial plants lost many contracts to out-of-town competitors, the private plants were immune to such competition. Were private plant printing in New York suddenly opened to competitive bidding, a considerable part would surely leave the city. A study by the New York Employing Printers Association placed the number of private plants in New York at 165 as of May, 1939. Of these, Manhattan housed 114; Brooklyn, 35; Queens, 13; and Richmond, 3. Over a period of three years there had been little change in the list, some 14 having been added since January, 1936, and 10 discontinued. It is be-

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

85

lieved that this relative inertia in the private printing plant movement in recent years is fairly typical for the rest of the country. In May, 1939, the United Typothetae of America published figures which showed a gain in sales volume of private plants from $7,000,000 in 1929 to more than $31,000,000 in 1937. These figures and this apparent fast growth unfortunately have been widely quoted in the trade. They are entirely erroneous. The fault lies in misinterpretation of United States Census figures. The data quoted by the U. T . A. are from the sub-heading "printing reported as a secondary activity by establishments engaged primarily in activities other than printing and publishing." This wording is misleading; it refers particularly to such letterpress printing as is handled by companies primarily engaged in lithographing, photoengraving, etc. Rapid growth in these allied graphic arts, particularly in lithography, accounts for the sharp rise since 1929 in this "secondary" category within the letterpress schedules of "printing and publishing." Some firms formerly letterpress were switched to lithographic listing in the 1937 census because their lithographic output had risen to more than 50 percent of annual volume. Actually, the census attempts no separation of private plants; they are treated like all other job printing firms. The competitive clamor for the available New York printing business has grown enormously since the depression. The city classified telephone directories listed 2,700 printers in 1939, or 700 more than shown in the authoritative Printing Trades Blue Book. The explanation is that these 700 were printing brokers or middlemen and salesmen with no plants of their own. Most such broker names give a false impression of handling the actual printing. A few are the New York sales offices of important out-of-town factories, such as Cuneo Press, Inc., with plants in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Milwaukee; United States Printing and Lithograph Co., with its head plant in Cincinnati; and Kable Brothers Co., with a plant in Mt. Morris, Illinois. A compilation for Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx showed 680 printing brokers of all types listed as printers in the telephone red books in 1939. The long depression caused many

86

GROWTH

OF

COMPETITION

bankrupt printers and others employed in the trade to set up as brokers. Trade associations have attempted without success to have classified directories list such names separately from the legitimate local printers, for it is felt that much printing is going to brokers without customer realization of their true status. The average broker will shop out his printing to the lowest bidder, which means that much of it goes out of town where bargain rates are most frequently obtainable. It is of interest to note that when misrepresentation occurs in advertising, the police power of the Federal Trade Commission is quickly brought to bear. Thus the Nahm Photogravure Company of New York was recently ordered to cease representing in advertising that they manufactured or "produced" letterheads so long as they neither owned, operated, nor controlled the plant in which the printing was done. Despite this effective power over advertising, the Federal Trade Commission apparently can not stop the listing of brokers as "printers" in telephone red books. New York seems uniquely afflicted with this scourge, owing to the large number of floating salesmen and ex-operatives and likewise to the fact that the city is a ripe field for contract competition and for commission arrangements with out-

CHAPTER CASE

XI

HISTORIES

S A M P L I N G of interesting cases, drawn both from former New York concerns and from highly successful out-of-town competitors, has been made to throw light on the problem of the New York printer. T w o firms (which will be designated as Company A and Company B) retaining a profitable business within the city and an analysis of the printing experience of the Columbia University Press are also given for comparison. Conde Nast.—Before 1920 Condi Nast Publications, Inc., had turned its printing over to the Carey Printing Company. As a result of the New York "vacation" strike of 1919, Condi Nast purchased a small plant in Greenwich, Connecticut. Gaining experience in printing its product, Condi Nast enlarged this plant and withdrew work increasingly from Carey, finally taking it all over when Carey moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1922. Loss of this important Condi Nast contract probably hastened the demise of Carey's Pennsylvania organization. The Greenwich plant first drew its workmen from nearby Connecticut cities and then proceeded to train apprentices rather than hire journeymen for its future labor needs. New York unions, with their internationals aiding, attempted to force a closed shop in 1923 but failed of this objective. The plant continued open until 1937 when, under a National Labor Relations Board election, the composing room went union, and it was considered best that all departments be organized. Unionization raised labor costs, particularly because of the higher scales for those in crafts requiring minor skill. It is also expected that the establishment of apprenticeship ratios will cause the hiring of outside journeymen for the first time in many years. Today Condi Nast has some six hundred and fifty plant employees. It handles publications, catalogues, and books. The best known of its own publications are Vogue and House and Garden, while of outside

88

CASE

HISTORIES

work the most outstanding periodical is the New Yorker. A Treasury of Art Masterpieces was its most interesting recent example of fine book printing. McCall Corporation.—Removal of this printing plant to Dayton, Ohio, in 1923-24 was considered attractive from nearly all angles. One factor was the slowness of New York unions to permit lower complements of men on new automatic machinery. T h e company had been spending $60,000 a year in trucking and therefore welcomed its Dayton railroad siding. A $12,000 to $15,000 annual storage bill in New York could be greatly reduced in Dayton. From a narrow ten-story building on 37th Street, Manhattan, with 110,000 square feet, the one-story plant today spreads over 450,000 square feet of Ohio soil. T h e McCall mechanical pay roll has increased 143 percent since the removal of the plant from New York. Upon moving, the company offered to take one hundred New York pressmen on new, nonunion terms. There was nearly complete refusal on the part of these men, and so McCall turned to such nearby cities as Springfield and Cleveland to obtain key journeymen and proceeded to train its remaining force from untrained Dayton labor. As against the forty-four-hour week in New York, the new plant started at forty-eight hours. It remained "open" until 1937, when it was organized along with Crowell by a drive of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America. In both cases contracts were signed with the internationals rather than with the locals. Dayton was chosen by McCall because its location close to the national population center allowed for important savings in delivery costs on its long-run national magazines. There was, however, an offsetting loss, owing to the fact that certain distribution centers formerly could be reached from New York by low-rate water transport. Currently, the magazine McCall's is shipped by freight to some fourteen or fifteen break-up points and redistributed largely by mail. Location in the Midwest is a marked advantage for the distribution of two weeklies for which the McCall Corporation has the printing contracts, namely, Newsweek and the United States News. These two are printed on Friday and

CASE

HISTORIES

89

Saturday and shipped over the week end for Monday morning distribution throughout the country. Were the plant located on the Atlantic Coast, delivery on time to the Pacific Coast would not be possible. On a run of 3,300,000, with an average weight per copy of one pound, the cost of distribution at approximately 2 cents a copy is roughly $66,000 per month. This distribution cost is nearly the same as factory wage costs on the same issue. McCall's wage and distribution costs combined normally would not quite equal the cost of paper. The McCall Corporation has a photoengraving department of about sixty-five men located in the far distant town of Stamford, Connecticut. This division causes some labor friction as it is not affiliated with the Photo Engravers International. Braunworth and Company.—Removal of this book manufacturing and binding firm to Bridgeport, Connecticut, took place between December, 1935, and April, 1936. New York's No. 51, getting wind of the shift, obtained permission of the International Pressmen and Assistants' Union to negotiate a new wage scale for the Bridgeport plant before the move was made. The base rate was established at 13.5 percent under the metropolitan scale and less severe apprenticeship ratios were allowed. Costs of removal were considerably higher than anticipated, and it took the firm some six months to again attain normal production. Nevertheless, removal is considered to have been a favorable step. Close to one hundred workers from New York stayed with the company and made a strong nucleus for an organization which currently employs some three hundred and fifty persons. In rush periods New York unions are normally called upon to supply extra men. In Connecticut there is a high property tax but a lower corporation income tax. This means that a company may be better off than in New York if making a considerable profit, but is probably worse off, from the tax point of view, if operating at little or no profit. Despite removal Braunworth remains closely allied to New York. Kingsport Press.—Members of the Little family, of the well known J . J . Little and Ives book firm of New York, became interested in the printing prospects of a location in the Tennessee hill country shortly after the World War. The large plant of the

CASE

9O

HISTORIES

Kingsport Press, some five hundred miles from New York, in the town of Kingsport at the end of a railroad, was finished in 1923-24. It took over the book printing for Grosset and Dunlap, Inc., of New York and bid successfully for many miscellaneous contracts. T h e pressroom of the Kingsport Press has been under union control for some time, but the firm's wage scales continue to undercut New York wage scales by at least one quarter. In the book trade, the firm is considered a hard competitor not only on the Atlantic Coast but everywhere east of the Mississippi River. Hughes Printing Company.—This plant is perhaps better known by the name of the small town where it is located, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Built in the middle of the twenties, it grew rapidly, mostly at the expense of New York magazine printers. East Stroudsburg is reported to have taken fully one hundred magazines out of New York — most of them acquired during the early thirties. This company's major growth was during a period when it was nonunion and thus favored by extremely low wage costs. It has had the advantage of close cooperation of the town post office with the plant. In the trade this firm is considered the "Kingsport Press" of the periodical field. Union organization of the Hughes Printing Company resulted in the narrowing of the gap between New York and Stroudsburg wage scales. Table 32 shows the contrast in hourly rates, in 1930, when East Stroudsburg was open shop and the work week fortyeight hours as compared with forty-four in New York, and the smaller differential in 1940, when both areas were union with a forty-hour week. T A B L E 32 HOURLY WAGE RATES

1930 Cylinder pressmen Cylinder assistants 1940 Cylinder pressmen Cylinder assistants

East Stroudsburg (Dollars) •835

.418 1.10 .825

Ratio of East Stroudsburg New York to New York (Dollars) (Percent) 6 1.32 3-3 1.057 39-0 1.362 1.075

80.8 76,6

CASE

HISTORIES

9»

T h e most marked narrowing of differentials is in the wage scale for assistants. It is a frequent observation that the lesser skills gain most by union organization. Waverly Press.—This Baltimore plant, run by a family trained in engineering, is one of the most interesting print shops in the country. It embodies complete air conditioning, sound conditioning, and "assembly line" precision operation of machinery. There is innovation here in human as well as in material control; witness the six-hour, four-shift day and the six-day week. Speed and quality production are rewarded with bonuses, and the plant averages $1.06 an hour for journeymen as compared with $.90 to $1.00 elsewhere in Baltimore. T h e management claims that all these variations from normal practice would be quite impossible under union organization. While retaining full control over the services of labor, the Waverly Press stays one step ahead of union progress in the pay envelope and in weekly hours. Whereas organized printing labor is just now initiating a drive for vacations with pay, this Baltimore printer has been granting two weeks with pay for some years. Sales are currently 50 percent higher than in 1929. Many new customers are from New York; the management feels that other out-of-town printers would have obtained this business if Waverly had not. Rumford Press.—Known best as printer of the Reader's Digest, Rumford would still be a large publication printer without this fabulous monthly. Rumford gained the contract for Reader's Digest about 1925, after the short run of the Reader's Digest in Pleasantville, New York, where the editorial offices still remain. Fifteen years ago this job entailed a monthly run of 100,000 copies; today the circulation is believed to exceed 3,000,000. Rumford Press originated in Concord, New Hampshire, one hundred years ago, but grew to real size in two steps in 1907-9 and again around 1921. Both were the result of labor troubles in the large printing centers and lack of strife at Concord. When the Carey Printing Company failed in 1922, some of its publications were obtained. A post-office unit within the plant handles the delivery problem on nearly all small jobs and part of the long runs.

92

CASE

HISTORIES

Formerly, Rumford did its own photoengraving, but it now sends this work in large part to New York, the local unit having failed to cover overhead. In the periods of plant expansion it was difficult to get trained men from the big cities and difficult to keep those who did try small-town life. Today most of the work force is native in origin. Workers are largely organized but not to the point of permitting the union label. International officers seldom appear in contract negotiations, and the plant is largely able to determine its own complement of men. Publications have been drawn from New York continuously since 1921, but competition from within the city has been much more severe recently than in the twenties when Rumford could easily underbid on metropolitan jobs by at least 20 percent. Severe outside competition has been noted from Baltimore. Colonial Press.—Here we have a depression-born printing plant taking unto itself all the bargain advantages of the moment. T h e nucleus for the business was found in the acquisition of two small Boston firms engaged in book printing and binding. A huge bankrupt textile factory in Clinton, Massachusetts, was purchased at far below construction costs and printing machinery was moved in on the ten acres of strongly reenforced factory flooring, all on one level. T h e plant is able to operate through the daylight hours with little use of electricity. Further inducement for establishing in Clinton, in 1931, was five years of reduced taxes. Out of Boston came one hundred and ten trained workmen, but the large majority of some four hundred and fifty in the factory personnel today is locally trained. Factors of priority, unemployment insurance, and union opposition have made it difficult to get Boston men of recent years. Running an open shop, Colonial pays a minimum of $ 1.05 an hour to journeymen but an average of about $1.10 under incentive plans. T h e management believes that generally in country plants the efficiency of labor is below that in New York, and that when labor is relatively cheap there is a tendency to waste it. A small town plant must be careful to make conditions favorable for maintenance of its .labor force during slack times.

CASE

HISTORIES

93

Colonial-owned trucks handle a considerable volume of shipments to New York, one hundred and ninety miles away, at a cost of roughly 50 cents per one hundred pounds (for hired trucks the rate would rise to about 57 cents), which compares with $1.50 by mail. T h e mails are favored for long-distance shipping. A tendency of Boston publication firms to move their head offices to New York has been noted, and New York today is the origin of 85 percent of Colonial printing. A specialty is the printing of 25 cent paper-bound, pocket-size books. Printing cost thereon is about 10 cents, divided approximately into 41^ cents for composition and presswork, 3 cents for binding, and n]/2 cents for paper. T h e plant is anticipating an eventual business in these miniatures of 5,000,000 copies yearly. Colonial has had a unique experience in adapting the teletypesetter to book composition. Experimentation over a number of years has resulted in patented improvements in the device. Today most straightaway composition is by teletypesetter. As yet it does not lend itself to technical works or to composition where foreign accented words are used. It is claimed that expert girl typists on the teletypesetter are setting cleaner proof than the trained linotype and monotype operators. Cleveland Shopping News.—Shopping papers composed nearly or entirely of advertising have sprung to life in the United States since 1921. They are issued once or twice weekly and distributed free of charge on the doorsteps of housewives. They have contributed to the "hard times" of daily newspapers. T h e Cleveland Shopping News was a leader in this new field. It is now issued twice weekly to some 400,000 doorsteps by 1,800 delivery boys. Using newspaper-type web presses this plant has successfully filled in its low production days with long-run broadside printing. In recent years most of this has been in Color. T o handle such contest and advertising broadsides in national campaigns, the Cleveland Shopping News has linked itself to similar firms in Chicago and San Francisco under the title, "Associated Color Printers of America." There are broker-connected plants in Los Angeles, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, and Boston, which permit rapid performance and lower distribution costs on

94

CASE

HISTORIES

the nation-wide jobs. T h i s combination printed 20,000,000 sixpage "tabs" for the O l d G o l d contest and had them distributed to d r u g and cigar stores, all w i t h i n eleven days. Such distribution is largely by truck. Most national broadsides originate in N e w York, but competition for the printing is almost entirely a m o n g out-oftown firms. Broadside printing, once a fill-in, is now the tail that wags the Cleveland Shopping News. In printing circles this plant is considered a hybrid w i t h emphasis on the newspaper side. It signs separate union contracts. Compositors receive $1.00 a week more than those on C l e v e l a n d newspapers, and in the return the plant obtains freedom f r o m the seven-day operation rule. R. R. Donnelley and Sons— O n e of the three largest printing firms in the country, this Chicago establishment (with the Crawfordsville, Indiana, book plant subsidiary) is noted for independence, inventiveness, and secretiveness. It handles a great variety of printing, ranging from railroad tariffs to superb color work. Mail-order catalogues, telephone directories, the Chicago Shopping News, and such national magazines as Time and Life are included in its prolific output. It handled the paper-bound movie edition of Gone with the Wind in a run that exceeded 1,000,000 copies. T h e original book had been printed in N e w Y o r k . Employment is normally near four thousand; all skilled h e l p is Donnelley-trained. In 1900 Donnelley was a union firm, b u t it became open shop at the time of the forty-eight-hour strike a n d has remained so ever since. U n d e r incentive premium plans the topgrade compositor wage is in the neighborhood of $1.60 an hour. T h i s compares with the base union rate in Chicago of $1,425, which is scheduled for 1941, and which will probably be the highest union commercial pay in the country. Donnelley guarantees a m i n i m u m work or pay equivalent of three days a week. In slack periods this becomes a heavy charge. U n i o n officials in Chicago have made effective use of Donnelley pay figures in seeking scale increases in new contracts. In turn, closed shops point out Donnelley freedom from rules on complement of m e n and operating speeds and the plant's ability to adopt labor saving devices without interference.

CASE

HISTORIES

95

The present Donnelley plant was erected in i g i s and added to in 1927; a further large addition has been in abeyance since 1937. In its busy season the current plant operates three shifts. There is constant replacement of machinery by faster models producing better quality work. The rate of such replacement has exceeded three quarters of a million dollars yearly for the past five years. Company A of New York. — This is one of the largest book binders in New York and one of the largest independents in the country. Most case binding is on books scheduled for local or limited consumption, although a few novels develop into nationwide best sellers. Rent is estimated at 5 percent of sales as compared with the 3 percent figure for New York job firms in the United Typothetae ratios. This is due to exceptionally high storage costs resulting from the custom of the bindery to stock books free of charge until the publisher orders removal. Trucking runs at 1.5 percent of sales. Company A enjoys a preference by certain publishers who insist on local production. These publishers wish to keep a constant eye on their products and insist on the quickest possible output and delivery. Union organization of this bindery in 1938 caused a jump in costs for the least skilled categories of mechanical work. Despite this, Company A apparently remains a profitable unit in one of New York's sickest printing fields. Company B of New York. — Here is another example of profitable New York printing. Specialization is in law briefs and in financial work, with financial work now the most important. Located in the Wall Street district, Company B has cornered part of the meticulous printing of S. E. C. registration statements. The work handled often goes through six or eight proofreadings and may travel many times to and from nearby law offices. Compositors trained in such highly accurate composition are highly valued, and many will be carried on the staff through slack seasons. In active operation Company B will employ sixty compositors, ten proofreaders, and eight pressmen. Because of the unique character of the printing, the management has little fear of out-of-town competition. Columbia University Press. — Harvard and Columbia have the

g6

CASE

HISTORIES

two largest university presses in the East. At Columbia, where there is no printing equipment, the 1939 production cost of the volumes published was about $164,000. A nonprofit-making corporation, the Columbia University Press is controlled by a board of trustees, elected from the faculty and officers of the University. T h e president of the University is president of the Press. Organized in 1893, the major growth of the Press has been since 1926. Currently, the Press handles the publishing of about one hundred books annually, as well as seventeen periodicals and the periodicals of the University. Bids are asked of at least two printers on every job. No distinction is generally made between union and nonunion work or between city and out-of-town plants. In the four years from 1936 to 1939 the proportion of straight printing taken by out-of-town firms has fluctuated between 32 percent and 43 percent. For lithographing, the out-of-town work has ranged from 18 percent to 30 percent. Purchases of paper and engraving have been almost entirely from New York firms. Each year some fifteen books are considered for reprint; of these, eight or nine actually go to press. Since 1931 this reprint work has been almost entirely by offset lithography. In earlier days, plates costing approximately $ 1.00 a page were made for all books which were thought to be candidates for eventual reprinting. Savings in the use of offset today are so considerable that there seems to be no prospect of ever returning to letterpress on reprint work.

CHAPTER SUMMARY AND

XII CONCLUSIONS

L T H O U G H the census figures for 1939 will not be available for another year, there is considerable evidence that New York has continued to lose printing since 1937. While there has long been a loose claim that New York produced one quarter of the nation's printing, the facts indicate that the city merely approached this ratio early in the century. After 1925 the true ratio was one fifth, and today is it nearer one sixth of the national volume. In 1939 the official membership of No. 6 stood at its lowest point since 1924. T h e printing of Moody's financial service recently has gone to Connecticut, a loss of $350,000 yearly to New York. T h e contract for a widely consulted annual, the Lawyers' List, was taken by the Quinn and Boden Company in Rahway, New Jersey, after having been a New York feature for many years. Trade magazines have continued to depart. In the field of commercial printing, there is no New York firm today that can boast of even close to $5,000,000 sales annually. In contrast, there are a number of Chicago firms of outstanding size. Three — Cuneo, Hall, and Donnelley — now account together for $50,000,000 sales annually. T h e average Chicago book and job firm, in 1937, according to the census, employed twenty-seven mechanical workers; the average for the United States was thirteen, for New York just twelve. Corroborative evidence of the city's continued regression is to be found in close-downs and bankruptcies. After rapid expansion to a sizable institution, the Burland Printing Company failed early in 1940, following charges of fraud in connection with its extensive city and state contracts. DeVinne-Brown, long recipient of Tammany Hall favor, lost the contract for printing the City Record in 1940 and then disposed of the major part of its plant at a small fraction of the $750,000 book valuation. In one field, that of national home magazines, the city loss has

9»

SUMMARY

AND

CONCLUSIONS

come to an end because there is no more such printing left to lose. The drastic departure of such long-run magazine printing is well illustrated by Printers League estimates of the number of commercial web rotary presses operating in New York: in 1920, 177; in 1929, 60; in 1940, under 15. For other general commercial printing it would be folly to predict future trends. Suffice it to say that those factors that have seemed most responsible in the past for causing business to depart are little changed and are likely to shift but slowly in the future. Certain types of printing are firmly rooted to New York, with newspaper work the outstanding example. As long as Manhattan remains the advertising mecca, the local specialists in advertising composition should have a trade. Other specialties seem equally well fixed. T h e highest grade financial printing may likewise remain close to Wall Street. Formerly, the union locals were inclined to minimize the volume of printing leaving the city. Failure to take the threat of departure seriously was reflected in union writings as recently as 1933. In February of that year, the Amalgamation Party of No. 6, in its bulletin, The Printing Worker, stated, "It has been officially reported that three shops, McGraw-Hill, Schweinler, and C. J . O'Brien, have threatened to either move from New York or scrap their equipment unless they are offered more than their own 'yellow dog' contracts call for. This is obviously propaganda to put us in a mood for yielding to their demands." That this threat involved more than mere propaganda was borne out by the collapse of the Schweinler Press in 1936 and the departure of McGraw-Hill printing to Albany. C. J . O'Brien retains its city plant, but it recently announced the completion of a new shop in Norwalk, Connecticut. 1 Union officials now readily admit that New York commercial printing has been a sick industry for a number of years. Some also admit that steep wage differentials between New York and cities within two hundred miles have played an important part in New 1 11 is the contention of President Elmer Brown o£ New York Typographical Union No. 6 that factors other than union wage scales caused these concerns to scrap equipment or set up out-of-town plants.

SUMMARY

AND

CONCLUSIONS

99

York's decline. It is generally agreed that a solution might be the raising of the wage scales and equalization of work rules in all competitive centers. Equally unanimous is labor's opinion that there is no early prospect of out-of-town locals giving up the large measure of autonomy over contracts that they now enjoy. George L. Berry, president of the International Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, as guest speaker before the International Typographical Union convention in August, 1939, suggested that uniform expiration dates be written into new local contracts. He would like to see uniformity established on complement of men, priority, and overtime, but basic scales to remain in local hands. Berry's suggestion was cheered, but no action followed. In summary it is well to review briefly what has happened to New York printing during the past forty years. By the turn of the century the city was fully established as the outstanding producer of commercial printing in the country. The value of product was close to, if not fully, one quarter of all the book, magazine, and job work in the United States. New York held its high percentage of the national printing industry fairly well from 1900 to 1921, and the dollar volume increased greatly during a period of rapid growth in national wealth and population. Many inventions, including that of cheap color printing, aided in filling the growing demand for printed advertising and general reading matter. The city has suffered its major printing loss since 1929, but even in the twenties its relative share of the printing industry was declining. The first heavy volume of printing to leave New York was in national magazines. Many of these were printed by the publisher. The usual practice was to leave the publishing office in New York, even when the printing was done outside. Periodical printing left the city in largest volume in the early twenties, and today there is not a single national home magazine remaining. Book and job printing did not decline, according to either absolute or relative measures, until the thirties; and in 1937 New York still retained one sixth of the national total — the same proportion as Chicago. There is, however, evidence that commercial printing has continued to depart since 1937.

SUMMARY

AND

CONCLUSIONS

Newspaper printing has apparently increased relative to the national volume, particularly since the advent of the tabloids. Various types of fine specialty printing have also increased. Large commercial printing plants have disappeared almost completely from New York. Of the twelve largest plants found in the entire period from 1922 to 1940, not one remains in New York today. T e n of these twelve firms were predominantly publication or periodical houses. T h e city proper is so denuded of its largest commercial plants that the smallest of the "big three" of the Chicago printing firms handles fully five times as much work as the largest New York firm today. On the other hand, New York retains scores of plants of what one might term "moderate size." T h e printing that has left New York has gone to widely scattered areas. Long-run periodical printing with national distribution has gone largely to the Midwest. Shorter-run publications, such as trade journals, and book and job work have scattered widely to New England, the Midwest, and as far south as Richmond. Analysis of state figures show that Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York state (excluding New York city) have gained the most. T h e gains have been in small places rather than large cities. T h e five leading printing cities have all lost relatively in the last decade. T h e initial factor in the departure of printing from New York was the improvement of transportation and communication facilities. In a "time" sense a print shop two hundred miles from New York is merely an hour away by airplane, a few hours by rail or truck, and no distance at all by teletype. T h e printing that was once tied to the apron strings of the copy desk is now a free agent in terms of hundreds of miles. T h e wide cost differential between New York and out-of-town printing invited the removal. This differential was of long standing but only with the improvement of transportation and communication was it feasible to take advantage of the lower out-of-town costs. Labor cost has been the most important factor. It ranges from 30 to 60 percent of printing costs in different fields. Rent, taxes, and storage are lower, but still important costs that put New York at a disadvantage. T h e establishment of postal zones for

SUMMARY

AND CONCLUSIONS

101

second-class mail in 1918 has militated against New York for national magazine printing. T h e labor cost differential is caused partly by higher wage rates and partly by rigid union regulations that add materially to labor costs. On J u n e 30, 1938, New York had the highest commercial (as well as newspaper) union rates in the country. Chicago was not far behind, but the compositor scale in Baltimore was 26 percent below New York. The high degree of local autonomy in printing unions is heavily responsible for the wide variation in wage scales and union work rules. Rapid changes in methods of printing and in the forms of competition both within and without the industry make the future of printing very uncertain, both in New York and elsewhere. Indications are, however, that newspaper work will remain within the city. So also, presumably, will specialty printilig- Large-scale commercial printing will probably continue to move out if present conditions hold; and long-run national periodical printing, already gone completely, will probably not return. New York shares with Chicago a very real advantage in certain kinds of specialized printing which demand workers of unusual skill. In these biggest cities the printer also has the advantage of a relatively elastic supply of labor. T h e fact remains, however, that nearly all large cities have been losing general commercial printing to smaller centers. A number of highly important printing plants have taken root in places of no more than five thousand population. A reduction in the cost differentials, particularly labor costs, might well result in a reversal of this decentralization of commercial printing. Most New York printing union leaders and a number of international officers today recognize this key problem. It remains to be seen whether or not it is unsolvable.

APPENDIX A October 7, 1940 Professor Robert M. Haig Faculty of Political Science Columbia University New York, New York Dear Sir: In response to your request, we are glad to submit herewith our comments on your study of the trends in the New York city printing industry. T h e disclosure by the study of duplication in the census figures on printing and publishing is a notable contribution. If, as a result of the study, the United States Department of Commerce revises its method of collecting and publishing data on printing and publishing to provide for a separation of publishing from printing manufacture and to avoid the duplication which now exists, a truly significant and permanent contribution will have been made. Also, while the trend of printing away from the city has been obvious for many years, never before have the statistical facts of the situation been compiled in the complete and understandable fashion as in the report of your investigation. It is, however, to be regretted that the study, covering in the main the period up to 1937, was not able to emphasize some of the more recent developments. T h e study in its present manner of presentation, although it makes no claim to be predicting the future, nonetheless gives an impression of the belief that the future of the industry is very dark. We recognize that the latest census data available for the study were for the year 1937. However, since conclusions on the future of the industry are implied in the study, we think some significant developments of the past two years could have been included as pointing to the brighter aspects of the industry's future. There are, for example, some recent indications that both the employers of the city and the printing trades unions have awakened to the seriousness of their situation. In November, 1939, the Printers League and the Pressmen's Union concluded a contract continuing for two years existing wage and hour conditions. In January, 1940, similar action was taken by the Printers League and the Bindery Union. While the facts of your study indicate this to be a very self-evident procedure, it is, nevertheless, the first time, outside of sudden and

APPENDIX

A

disastrous drops in employment, where the New York city unions voluntarily have accepted the continuance of a contract and where the leadership of the unions have recognized it was to their advantage not to insist on conditions that would result in increases in cost. T h i s year, also, Mayor LaGuardia called together representatives of the employers and the unions and told them that it lay in their own hands whether or not work was returned to the city. He pointed out that New York costs had been higher than in other competing areas and unless cooperative efforts were made the trend of work out of the city would continue. As a result of his efforts, a joint committee of union and employer representatives has been established, which has been, and is, meeting regularly to study the competitive problems of the industry and to make suggestions for their correction. As your study itself indicates, too, the narrowing of the gap in labor costs between New York and surrounding areas has put New York in a better competitive position. T h e New York employers, recognizing that only through top efficiency of production could they hope to compete with the lower out-of-town labor costs, have in the past five years gone the limit in modernizing their plants. Your study points out that whereas in the twenties New York had most of the magazine web presses, less than fifteen are employed on commercial work in New York today. However, in this connection another indication of the changing tide may be found in the fact that for the first time since 1929 two plants in New York city in 1940 installed large web presses not heretofore in the city. Notable, also, has been the introduction of a large number of highspeed automatic two-color presses (a printing machinery development of this decade) in this city, and in this field of new equipment it is estimated that New York has introduced more presses than all the rest of the country together. T h e competitive disadvantages of New York because of its high labor costs, too, have forced firms in all branches of the graphic arts in the city to a high degree of specialization. This has resulted in such a wide range of facilities that during the past year there are notable examples of out-of-town buyers coming to New York to have their work produced. It is, of course, impossible, to predict accurately how significant these trends may be, but we believe that a study of trends in the New York printing industry should comment on the bright as well as the dark side of the picture. T h a t the industry itself believes the future to be brighter than is painted is indicated by the fact that this fall the industry has embarked upon a campaign to call to the attention of buyers of printing the changes that have taken place in New York's competitive position, to point out the improved facilities, personnel, and competitive costs to meet customer requirements.

APPENDIX

A

We have gone into this detail in this letter because we believe that a statistical account, careful and painstaking as your study is, which implies a continuation of the declining trend in the printing industry of New York city gives an erroneous impression of the actual situation for many types of printing at the present time. Sincerely yours, DON H . T A Y L O R

Executive Vice President New York Employing Printers Association,

Inc.

I think it is a fine piece of research, full of valuable information. ELMER

BROWN

President New York Typographical Union No. 6.

APPENDIX B TABLE

33

D E V E L O P M E N T OF T H E PRINTING INDUSTRY IN T H E U N I T E D STATES

(United

States Census Data)

PRINTING AND PUBLISHING — N E W S P A P E R AND PERIODICAL

Year 1904 '909 »9»4 19»9 1921 »9«3 »925 1927 »929 »933 »935 »937

Number of Establishments »8,033 18,871 »9>3»7 >7-3 6 » »0.453 10,267 10,625 »0-973 »1,524 10,211

Wage Earners (Thousands) 96-9 108.7 114.4 iao.4 107.5 115.6 117.0 119.4 129.7

7.633 8,879

»»9-5 109.1 118.7

9.244

»35-2

Wages (Million Dollars) 59-8 74-4 88.6 144.4 174.4 196.8 8

»7-5 231.2 253-4 225.7 »63.5

»92-9 221.9

Cost of Materials (Million Dollars)

Value of Product (Million Dollars)

70.4 97-4 129.1 300.4 37»» 3635 379-5 409.8 39 »-7 299-3 184.7 234.6 295.8-393.0 •

309-3 406.1 495-9 924.2 »,»23.7 1,268.5 »•447-7 1,585.1 ».738-3 1,408.3 1,005.0 1,192.8 1,396.0

PRINTING AND PUBLISHING — BOOK AND J O B

1904 »909 »914 »9»9 1921 »923 »925 1927 »929 »93» »933 »935 »937

8,4 »5 »0,913 12,320 13.268 9.883 10,204 10,447 11,585 12,836 11,767 9.224 10,961 10,587

89.4 110.3 115.1 »23-9 121.9 130.8 »34-3 »43-3 »5»-5 136.0 104.7 126.7 141.4

• The larger figure include« contracts.

49-5 67.4 79-6 142.4 182.3 202.6 221.2 243-5 252-9 212.9 129.0 168.8 »95»

53-5 79-3 98.1 213.2 218.2 222-3 2305 254-7 268.3 2 »3-9 141.2 194.2 228.1-283.6'

189.0 259 » 3 »7-6 612.3 704.1 752-9 822.0 936 » 1,021.9 804.0 520.0 698.8 809.8

APPENDIX TABLE 33

B

107

(Continued)

D E V E L O P M E N T OF THE PRINTING INDUSTRY IN THE U N I T E D STATES

(United States Census Data) A L L I E D INDUSTRIES — BOOKBINDING AND B L A N K B O O K M A K I N G

Year

Number of Establishments

»904

908

»9°9

1.054

»9»4

»,124

»919 19*1

1.113 869

>9*3

965

»9*5 19*7

Wage Earners (Thousands) 17.7

Wages (Million Dollars)

Cost of Materials (Million Dollars)

Value of Product (Million Dollars)

79

9.1

25.2

9-7 11.8

11.6

20.4

18.7

*3*

3»-7 38.1 66.0

»7-5 20.7

20.3 25.2

»9-9 23.1

63-9 77.0

970 1,063

20.8

26.0

24.1

81.6

21.9

28.3

»9*9

1,108

24.8

3»-8

»5-9 30.8

87-3 102.8

>93»

1,050

21.2

863

16.9

«5-4 16.1

21.4

»933

79-8 56.0

»935

1,022

20.5

21.8

»5-7 21.1

»937

997

*5-3

28.7

3°-7K

»9-9 21.7

>3-3

73-3 94.8

A L L I E D INDUSTRIES — LITHOGRAPHING 1904

248

12.6

8.2

»909

3»8

15.1

10.2

»9»4

336

15.2

»9»9 1921

33» 296

»5-6 14.0

»»9 18.2

»9*3

3*8

»6.3 17.0

25.1 27.1

3**

98-7

*7-5 32.0

3*-7

97» 121.0

»9*5

33»

»9*7

309

21.1

8-3 11.9

39»

27.7

73*

305 31.0

9»-7

»9*9

376

»93»

364

16.2

»933

346

14.6

*5-7 18.1

»935

387

17.7

24.2

30.0

»937

55*

24.1

35-9

45-5*54-3"

Includes contracts. « The larger figure includes contracts.

34»

14.0

»6.3 19.0

b

*5*

39-0 26.6 21.4

79-5

87.4 68.2 92.1 »37-7

APPENDIX

io8

T A B U ; 33

B

(Continued)

D E V E L O P M E N T OF THE PRINTING INDUSTRY IN THE U N I T E D STATES

(United States Census Data) A L L I E D INDUSTRIES — STEEL, C O P P E R , W O O D , AND P L A T E ENGRAVING

Year 1904

Number of Establishments

Wage Earners (Thousands)

Wages (Million Dollars)

Cost of Materials (Million Dollars)

Value of Product (Million Dollars)

*-5 3-6 4.8

1.6

6.6

*-3 4.0

10. I »4-5

8.1

7.2

*5-4

9-8 10.4

7-7 8.0

>9°9

398

3-9 5-6

914

47» 476

7* 7.2

>9*3

39» 401

7-7

»9*5 1927

39° 416

7-4 8.7

10.4 12.2

7-7 10.3

.»9*9

483

10.3

14.8

11.9

»93»

43*

7.0

9-5

6.4

5-3 6.5

3.6

16.2

»935

343 388

5.0

4.6

20.1

»937

435

9-9

8.1

29-4

I

I9»9 1921

»933

3*9

7-3

5-3 7.8

29-4 33» JA.6 39-7 47-9 27.4

A L L I E D INDUSTRIES — PHOTOENGRAVING" 1904

223

3-9

»909

3»3

»914

376 422

5-3 6.2

»919 1921

2-9 4.8

»•3 2.1

6.7

2.8

6.8

10.4

»5-4

5.0

29-4 36.2

421

7.0

15.0

»9*3

45°

8.5

18.7

5-9 6.6

»9*5

577 611

9-9 11.0

24-3 28.4

8-3 10.8

654 617

12.4

3»-8 25.0

11.0

»933

600

7-9

14.8

7-4 5.6

»935

662

21.3

7-9

»937

641

9-4 12.4

»927 »929 »93»

10.1

Not done in printing establishments. * The larger figure include« contracta.

4

7-3 11.6

29.1

»3-5-15-3*

43-6 58.6 69.2 77-4 56.0 37-6 53-3 78.0

APPENDIX TABLE 33

B

(Continued)

D E V E L O P M E N T OF THE PRINTING INDUSTRY IN THE U N I T E D STATES

(United States Census Data) A L L I E D INDUSTRIES — STEREOTYPING AND E L E C T R O T Y P I N G '

Year

Number of Establishments

Wage Earners (Thousands)

Wages (Million Dollars)

Cost of Materials (Million Dollars)

Value of Product (Million Dollars)

1904

146

2.7

2.0

1.0

5.0

«909

»74 189

s-9

2-3

1.8

6.4

3-5

3° 5.0

2-3 4-2

8.2

7»

3-7

»5-9 17.4

8-3 9-2 10.3

3-8

20.6

4-3

22.4

4-7 6.5

25-5 35-6 24.6

»9»4 i9»9 1921

171

3-7

»57

>923

»79

3-6 4.1

1925 1927

»93

4-3

1929

»97 230

4-5 6.5

193»

223

4-9

»3-8 10.9

»933

207

20.0

206

6.5 8.4

3-6 2.6

»935

3-7 4.4

3-7

26.9

1937

218

4.8

9-7

5-2

JI.O

' Not done in printing establishment*.

no

APPENDIX

B

TABLE 34 D E V E L O P M E N T OF THE PRINTING INDUSTRY IN N E W Y O R K

(United

States Census

Data)

PRINTING AND PUBLISHING — NEWSPAPER AND PERIODICAL

Year 1904

»909 »914

>9>9 1921 1923* »925

1927

»9«9 »93» »933 >935 »937

Number of Wage EstablishEarners (Thousands) ments

Wages (Million Dollars)

661

9.8

874 841

12.5

8.6 10.8* 12.9

>5-9 >4-5

23-4 27.8

»3-9 11.9 13.0 14.1 11.9 129 13.6

3>-8 32.0

758 717 775 763 729

505 600 655

36-4 35-6 23.8 28.1 29-7

Cost of Materials (Million Dollars)

Value of Product (Million Dollars)

15.0

70-9

28.4 69.6

>>3-7 216.7

77-9

2525

7°-9 75-7 77-7 59-4 35° 48.2 110.5'

303-8 333-3 366.9 3038 220.9 A 55> 304.6

PRINTING AND PUBLISHING — B O O K AND J O B

1.272

17.4

1,705 1,866 1,528

21.0 21.1 21.7

»925 1927 1929

1,405 1,868 2,062

»931

2.043 >.475 1,886

21.0 24.2 25.8 23.0 16.7 20.6 20.7

1904 !9°9 1914 »919

1921

,923B

»933 >935 »937

>•734

10.9

10.6

46.0

>4-4' 16.0

17.4

68.3

29-3 389

38-4 37-8

>29-3 149.2

38.4

169.0 204.1 247.2 185.0

42.2 50.2 52.2 42.6 24.7 3>-5 32-3

45-2 52-3 39-3 24.8 34.8 58.8«

>7 3 >55-5 169.1 1

* Estimated. b For 1923 the combined data for book and job and newspaper and periodical was as follows: number of establishments, 2,294; wage earners (thousands), 37.1; wages (million dollars), 72.5; and value of product (million dollars), 437,9, e Includes contracts.

APPENDIX T A B L E 34

B

IN

(Continued)

D E V E L O P M E N T OF T H E PRINTING INDUSTRY IN N E W Y O R K

(United States Census Data) ALLIED

Year

INDUSTRIES—BOOKBINDING

Number of Wage EstablishEarners (Thousands) ments

1904

242

6.8

AND B L A N K B O O K

Wages (Million Dollars) 3-2

MAKING

Cost of Materials (Million Dollars) 3»

Value of Product (Million Dollars) 9 >

3-5*

!9°9 i9>4

324

7-1

3-8

3-9

11.5

•919 1921

339 278

7 » 6.4

7.0

7-7 6.2

22.1

1923

339

7-7

9-9

1925 1927

3»3

7-4 7.8

9-8

7.2

26.4

364

10.8

8.2

28.9

388 360

8.5

11.8

10.0

7.0

8.5

6.1

33-1 23.6

1933

271

5-2

5-2

4-2

'935

33»

6-3

4-5

»5-7 18.5

>937

3»4

5-9 6.7

7-4

5-8'

20.7

1929 193«

7.8

21.4 26.0

A L L I E D INDUSTRIES — L I T H O G R A P H I N G 1904

85

4

.6

3-2

i9°9

2-9

9-5

4-5 8.1

13.6

9,4

121

5-1

3-7* 4.1

»919 1921

ll6

5-2

6.7

92

4.4

8.2

1923

98

4-9

7-3 8.4

»925 1927

92

4-7 4.8

8.2

8.1

26.7

88

«9-7

>929

106

4-9

9-4

9-3 10.8

>93»

99

3-9

7-3

6.6

1933

3-9 4.4

5-5 6.7

6-3

23-5 20.0

1935

89 106

1937

161

5-9

10.2

,

i

Estimated.

9

1

* Includes contracts.

7-i 14.0*

«4-5 25-5 26.9

33-2

24.7 367

APPENDIX

11*

T A B L E 34

B

(Continued)

D E V E L O P M E N T OF T H E PRINTING INDUSTRY IN N E W

(United

States Census

YORK

Data)

A L L I E D INDUSTRIES — S T E E L , C O P P E R , W O O D , AND P L A T E E N C R A V I N C

Year

Number of Establishments

»904

102

Wage Earners (Thousands) 1.8

Wages (Million Dollars) 1.2

Cost of Materials (Million Dollars)

Value of Product (Million Dollars)

•9

3-2

»99 !9>4

109

2-3

1.6

1.4

9'9 1921

105

2-4

3-i

2.6

4-9 8.9

83

2.4

3-4

2.2

10.1

3-9 4.4

2-3 2.8

11.5

5-9

3-7 1.6

,

3-8'

i9*S 77

2.4 2.6

>9*9

79 108

'931

98

•9*5 1927

3-2 2.2

3-5 2.0

•935

69 88

1.6 i-7

2.6

»937

98

*-3

3-4

»955

ALLIED

>904

•3-7 16.3 8.6

1.0

5-5

»•5 2.3«

7-7 9.4

INDUSTRIES — P H O T O E N G R A V I N G '

>909

36 46

•9 1.2

>9»4

65

•9>9

75

»•5 2.2

1921

.8

•4

1.8

1.2 1.6

•5 .8

2-5 3.8

3-5

1-5

9-4

4-9'

>923

7>

2.7

5-9

»925

2-5 2.8

7-i

2.6

15.8

'927

79 86

8.2

2-9

»7-9

>929

84

2.8

8.7

2-5

18.5

»93»

80

7.0

>933

80

2-3 2.0

>•9 1.8

11.2

4.8

12.4

143

»935

78

2-5

7.2

2-5

15.6

»937

72

3-2

9.0

4-5'

21.6

' Estimated. h Not done in printing establishments.

( Includes contracts.

APPENDIX T A B L E 34

B

" 3

(Continued)

D E V E L O P M E N T O F T H E P R I N T I N G I N D U S T R Y IN N E W

YORK

(United States Census Data) A L L I E D INDUSTRIES — S T E R E O T Y P I N G A N D E L E C T R O T Y P I N G 1

Year 1904 • 9 ° 9

> 9 1 9

Number of Wage EstablishEarners ments (Thousands) 28

.6

• 7

3 4

.8

3 7

1.0

3 0

1.0

28

1.0

• 9 2 5

1927

! - 3

• 7

2 - 5

1.2

4.2

1.8«

3

2.2

2 9

1.2

5 - 7

1.0

2.6

1.2

6 . 1

1.4

7.8

3 7

> • 3

3 - 2

1

3 7

1.0

2.6

1

9 3 3

3 7

.8

1

9 3 5

40

5 - 5

2 - 5

1.1

1

1 9 2 9

1

1.4

2.0

• 5

1 . 0

• 9 3

1 9 3 7

Value of Product (Million Dollars)

• 3

.8

1921 » 9 2 3

Cost of Materials (Million Dollars)

Wages (Million Dollars)

1 - 5

1.0

1.2 Not done in printing establisfiments. 4 1

5.6

• 9 • 9

7 - 4

2.0

1.4

10.4

2 - 3

1.6

9

J Estimated.

TABLE

1

35

N E W Y O R K ' S S H A R E IN T H E N A T I O N A L I N D U S T R I A L W A G E

TOTAL

(United States Census Data) A L L MANUFACTURE OTHER T H A N

PRINTING

T O T A L WAGES

Year

United States (Million Dollars)

New York (Million Dollars)

Percent of Total in New York

1904

2,477.6

219.6

8.9

3 1 6 . 5

8.2

i 9 « 4

3,856.6

! 9 » 9

10,186.2

1921

7,763.0

1 9 2 3

10,511.9

* 9 2 5

10,194.3

1927

10,254.6

! 9 2 9

10,976.8

» 9 3

1

6,637.9

1 9 3 3

4,908.7

• 9 3 5

6,867.4

> 9 3 7

9,582.6

7 3 ! - 5

7.2

670.7

8.6

7 4 8 - 5

7 - 1

7 3 9 - 1

7 - 3

7 8 7 - 3

7 - 7

782.9

7 - 1

5 4 9 °

8 - 3

3 7 1 - 3

7 - 5

481.2

7.0

5 3 5 - 5

5 - 6

APPENDIX

" 4

B

T A B L E 36 CONTRACT PRINTING IN THE UNITED STATES PRINTING INDUSTRY

(United States Census Data Not Previously

Published)

NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING WITH CONTRACT PRINTING

Year 1925

Number of Wage EstablishEarners merits (Thousands) 277

Other Value of Wages Contracts Materials Product (Million (Million (Million (Million Dollars) Dollars/ Dollars) Dollars) 17.7 8.8 .6

1929

359

1

-3

193»

296

.1

.3

1933

197

1

»935

287

.1

3-4 I-7 2.6

'937

343

2

3-9

•3 .2 .1

10.3

.2

7-4 10.5

•4

8.1 4.8

NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING WITH O W N PRINTING 1925 1929

7,700 8,240

1931

7.230

97-8

»933 »935

5.434 6,441

9°-3 98-9 109.7

»937

6.637

94-3 105.5

180.0

8-3

270.8 288.0

953-5 1,139.6

7.0 9-2

217.7 131.0

939-6 696.6

9-3 11.4

»69-3 205.4

805.6

211.1 189.5 138.8 164.3 185.6

9»»-9

PERIODICAL PUBLISHING WITH CONTRACT PRINTING »925

8,032

»929 »93»

2.235 8,064

»933

».459

»935

».597 1,762

»937

•3 .8

•4 1.8

•5

•7

•7 •4

•9 .6

•7

•9

61.0 7»-9 47.8

34.0

203.4

320 19.6

227.7

12.0

291.4

54.6

20.0

»54-4 189.8

76.4

32-9

2590

PERIODICAL PUBLISHING WITH O W N PRINTING 1925

616

*929 1931

690

>933

543 554 5°2 GIVEN FOR 1929.

1935 '937

621

22-4 23.2 21.0 18.O »9-3 24.6

37-0 40.8

7.6

68.2

35-2

3-4 4.0

7»-5 5»-4 28.4

23-7 37.8 35»

2.7 5.0

45-2 57-6

2730 297.0 2329 149.2 189.9 214.7

APPENDIX TABLE 36

B

115

(Continued)

C O N T R A C T PRINTING IN THE UNITED STATES PRINTING INDUSTRY

(United States Census Data Not Previously

Published)

B O O K PUBLISHING WITH CONTRACT PRINTING

Year

Number of Wage Establish- Earners ments (Thousands)

Wages (Million Dollars)

Other Contracts Materials (Million (Million Dollars) Dollars)

Value of Product (Million Dollars)

392

28.7

4.6

84-3

>93>

429

254

2.8

>933

337

>7-3

81.3 56.0

»935

4>3

'937

409

24-5 30.2

2-3 3-2 6.1

103.2

1925 »929

80.5

B O O R PUBLISHING WITH O W N PRINTING 112

7.6

11.0

2.1

8.9

44-9

1931

106

>•5

8.8

48.6

73 92 121

7-7 4.4

11.6

1933

5-3 6.4

>•5 2.4 2.0

3-6 6.2

25-7

9-7

32-5 40.8

»925 1929

>935 >937

4-7 6.1

8.4 J O B PRINTING

>925

9-477

122.4

201.8

19.6

192.1

663.2

10,648

121.7 96.6

189.1

20.0

>75-9

118.0

14.8

6373 425.2

>929 >93> >933 >935 >937

8.399 9 . 9 >2 9.520

116.7

>53-7

12.6

>32-9 182.7

128.8

>75-9

22.7

210.2

641.6

566.1

T R A D E TYPESETTING 34 >

3-3

7.0

.1

>•3

14.4

>93>

473

4-9

10. I

.2

4>5

3-7 5-2 6.4

5.6

.2

>•7 1.1

20.6

>933

8.7

•3

2.0

10.7

•5

2.2

>9-7 24.1

>925 >929

>935

544

>937

537

13.1

n6

APPENDIX

B

T A B L E 37 U. T. A.

B A L A N C E SHEET R A T I O S , UNITED STATES AND N E W Y O R K C I T Y ,

1938*

ASSETS, INCLUDING R E A L ESTATE

Current assets: Cash Notes receivable Accounts receivable T o t a l notes and accounts receivable Allowance for bad debts

United States, Excluding New York City

New York City

6-99

12.63

1.09

.65

16.46

27-73

17-55

28.38

Net receivables Materials on hand Printing supplies on hand Finished goods Work in process T o t a l inventory

2-75

1.08 16.47

25-63 2.82

5-52 1.01

.50

4.18

.96 5.28

4.81

Other quick assets T o t a l quick assets Marketable securities T o t a l current assets

!5-52

956

2.67

2.63

41.65

5°-45

3-74 45-39

52-54

2.09

Fixed assets: Real estate Machinery, furniture, and fixtures T o t a l real estate, machinery, furniture and fixtures Allowance for depreciation on buildings Allowance for depreciation on machinery, furniture, and fixtures T o t a l depreciation Net real estate

24.78

2.29

77-79

105.92 102.57

6.65

108.21

•44

69.32

47-44 54-09

• Reports for 26 New York firms and 347 firms outside of New York.

69.76

APPENDIX T A B L E 37

B

117

(Continued)

U . T . A . BALANCE S H E E T R A T I O S , U N I T E D STATES AND N E W YORK C I T Y ,

1938

ASSETS, INCLUDING R E A L ESTATE

United States, Excluding New York City

New York City

48.48

38.45

1.48 4g.96

.35 38.80

1.20 3.45 100.00

1.15 7.51 100.00

Fixed assets (Continued): Machinery, furniture, and fixtures

Other fixed assets T o t a l fixed assets Prepaid expenses (insurance, interest, taxes, etc.) Other noncurrent assets T o t a l assets

LIABILITIES

Current liabilities: Notes payable for materials purchased Notes payable for money borrowed Notes payable for machinery and equipment maturing within one year Accounts payable Accrued liabilities (wages, interest, taxes, etc.) Bonds or mortgages maturing within one year Other current liabilities T o t a l current liabilities Fixed liabilities: Notes payable for machinery and equipment maturing beyond one year

.46

.46

3.49

2.09

.90 5.91

2.23 12.98

2.77

3.67

.26 1.51

.40 1.62 2

J5-30

.89

3.09

3-45

ii8

APPENDIX TABLE U. T .

A.

37

B

(Continued)

BALANCE SHEET RATIOS, UNITED AND N E W Y O R K C I T Y ,

STATES

1938

LIABILITIES

Fixed liabilities (Continued): Mortgages maturing beyond one year Bonds maturing beyond one year Other fixed liabilities Total fixed liabilities Total debt

United States, Excluding New York City

1.81

4-32

3.80

••75

4.00

Reserves not already deducted Net worth (excess of assets): Corporation capital stock (issued and outstanding) Proprietary capital (individual or partnership) Surplus and undivided profits Net worth Total liabilities worth

and

New York City

10.50 25.80

3.26 12.42 35-87 •23

1.60

42-37

42-43

309 27.14

.98 20.49

net

Net sales

72.60

63-9°

100.00

100.00

139-59

187.22

ASSETS, EXCLUDING R E A L E S T A T E

Current assets: Cash Notes receivable Accounts receivable Total notes and accounts receivable Allowance for bad debts Net receivables Materials on hand Printing supplies on hand

8.54

12.87

1.33 20.10

28.25

21.43 1.32

28.91 2.80

.66

20.11 6.74 1.23

2.87 •51

26.11

APPENDIX TABLE 37

B

"9

(Continued)

U . T . A . BALANCE SHEET RATIOS, UNITED STATES AND NEW YORK CITY, 1 9 3 8 ASSETS, EXCLUDING R E A L ESTATE

United States, Excluding New York City Current assets

New York City

(Continued):

Finished goods

5.10

Work in process Total inventory

5.88

.98 18.95

5.38 9-74

Other quick assets Total quick assets

3.27

2.68

50.87

51.40

Marketable securities Total current assets

4.57 55-44

2.13 53-53

Fixed assets: Real estate (land and buildings) Machinery, furniture, and fixtures Total real estate, machinery, furniture, and fixtures Allowance for depredation on buildings

9502

107.92

57.95

70.64

Allowance for depreciation on machinery, furniture, and fixtures

Total depreciation Net machinery, furniture and fixtures Other fixed assets Total fixed assets

1.81

37-28 .37

38.88

37.65

Prepaid expenses (insurance, interest, taxes, etc.)

1.47

1.17

Other noncurrent assets Total assets

37.07

4.21

7.65

100.00

100.00

APPENDIX

ISO

TABLE

B 38

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION OF SALES D O L L A R FOR N E W

YORK

PRINTING FIRMS»

Wagesb

Firms

3 2 3 4 5 2 4 4

Pamphlet binding Publication' Job (materials supplied)« Book manufacturing Specialty Lithography Edition binding Job

52-4

51.1 47.8 42.1 38.6

37-2 34-7 33-5

Salaries, Etc.c 17.0

>4-3

12.2 12.8 21.2 22.6 16.8

»5-4

Outside Purchases*

Materialsi

5-2

18.6 12.2 23.8 16.3 36.8 25.6 22.7

Other Expense and Profits

25-4 10.5 21.8 21.3 19.6

5-5 6.0

4-3

3-4

22.9 12.5

159

* Data obtained from special questionnaire. b

S a l a r i e s a r e not i n c l u d e d .

c Other labor costs, such as clerical, selling, executive salaries, security taxes also are included. a Ink, paper, bindery material, etc. * Composition, electrotypes, art work, etc. Outside purchases are rials in pamphlet binding, book manufacturing, lithography, and edition ' A third publication firm for which only the mechanical wage average for wages to 55 percent. « Most of the materials are supplied by the customers.

TABLE

and commissions.

Social

incorporated under matebinding. was obtained raises the

39

W A G E R A T E S AND H O U R S P E R W E E K IN V A R I O U S C I T I E S * B O O K AND J O B H A N D C O M P O S I T O R S N E W YORK

CHICAGO

Wage per Hour (Dollars) Hours 1907

19*4 1919 1925 1929 1933 »938

.438 .500

•750

1.205

1295

1.250 1.362

48 48 48

44 44

40 40

* Data from United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Wage per Hour Hours (Dollars) .406 .500

•75° 1.227 1.225

1350

48 48 48

44 44

40 40

APPENDIX T A B L E 39 WAGE

B

121

(Continued)

R A T E S AND H O U R S P E R W E E K B O O K AND J O B H A N D

Wage per Hour (Dollars) Hours

IN V A R I O U S C I T I E S

COMPOSITORS

Wage per Hour (Dollars)

Hours

>907

-375

48

-375

1914

.417

48

.417

48 48

1919

.604

48

.625

48 44

1925

.900

44

1.045

1929

.900

44

1.114

44

1933

-867

44

I-OOO

44

1938

1.130

40

1.204

3714

1907

.375

48

.321

1914

.438

48

.375

48

1919

.552

48

.542

48

BOSTON

BALTIMORE 48

1925

.920

44

.909

44

1929

.960

44

.909

44

1933

.864

44

L.OOO

44

1938

1-035

40

1.000

40

CINCINNATI

INDIANAPOLIS

»907

-375

48

-375

48

>9 »4

438

48

438

48

1919

.511

48

.542

48

1925

1.091

44

.980

44

1929

1.159

44

»068

44

1933

1.068

44

1.000

44

1938

1.175

40

1-175

40

ROCHESTER 1907 1914

.396

48

NEWARK .396

48

.479

48 48

1919

.583

48

.729

1925

1.000

44

1.159

44

1929

1.023

44

1-250

44

1933

1.045

44

1-205

44

1938

1.100

40

1-313

4°

APPENDIX

188

B

(Continued)

TABLE 39

W A G E R A T E S AND H O U R S P E R W E E K B O O K AND J O B H A N D NEW H A V E N

Wage per Hour Hours (Dollars) 1907

IN V A R I O U S

CITIES

COMPOSITORS PROVIDENCE

Wage per Hour (Dollars) Hours •333

48

•375 .500

48

48

»925

.864

44

•909

44

1929

.864

44

•909

44

»933

.864 1.000

•909 .909

44

1938

44 40

9'4

•344 .406

48 48

»919

.458

!

DAYTON

48

44

GRAND RAPIDS

1907 .365

48

!9»9

.625

48

.5OO

48

»925

•977 1.045

44

•795

44

44

•955 1.200

44 40

•795 .900

44 40

»9»4

»929 1933 1938

PEORIA

WORCESTER

1907 »9M

.400

48

.500

48

•344 .469

48

19»9 »925

1.000

44

.898

44

»9«9

1.000

44

.898

44

1933

1.000

.898

44

1938

1.100

44 40

.898

44

MANCHESTER

48

SCRANTON

1907

.281

48

.375

48

1914

.354

48

.438

48

1919

.417

48

.521

48

1925

.795

44

I.OOO

44

1929

-795

44

»-°45

44

1

933

-795

44

-966

44

1938

.820

40

1105

40

APPENDIX TABLE 39

B

123

(Continued)

WAGE RATES AND HOURS PER WEEK IN VARIOUS CITIES BOOK AND JOB HAND COMPOSITORS READING

YORK

Wage per Hour (Dollars) Hours

Wage per Hour (Dollars) Hours

1907

1914 1919 »9*5 »929

-9°9 -955

44 44

-6*5 -685

44 44

1933 1938

.878 .975

44 40

.6*5 .880

44 40

TABLE 40 WAGE RATES FOR BOOK AND JOB COMPOSITORS, JUNE 30, 1938 COMPARED WITH SIZE OF CITY AND DISTANCE FROM NEW YORK

I9ßO

City New York, N. Y. Jersey City, N. J. Newark, N. J. Yonkers, N. Y. Elizabeth, N. J. Paterson, N. J. Trenton, N. J. Bridgeport, Conn. New Haven, Conn. Camden, N. J. Philadelphia, Pa. Hartford, Conn. Wilmington, Del. Springfield, Mass. Reading, Pa.

Population 6,930,000 317,000 442,000 134,000 114,000 138,000 123,000 147,000 163,000 118,000 1,951,000 164,000 106,000 150,000 111,000

Distance from Union Rate New York per Hour (Miles) (Dollars) 1.362

5 9 15 »5

20

58 60

75 85 92 115 ll 9 120

»25

»•337

1.312 1.25 1.10 1.05 1.025 1.20 1.00 1.13 1.13

•875 •975

1.00

•975

APPENDIX TABLE 40

B

(Continued)

WAGE RATES FOR BOOK AND JOB COMPOSITORS, JUNE 30, 1 9 3 8 COMPARED WITH SIZE OF CITY AND DISTANCE FROM NEW YORK

City Scran ton, Pa. Schenectady, N. Y. Albany, N. Y. Binghamton, N. Y. Troy, N. Y. Worcester, Mass. Baltimore, Md. Fall River, Mass. York, Pa.

'93° Population 143,000 95,000 127,000 76,000 72,000 195,000 805,000 115,000 55,000

Distance from Union Rate New York per Hour (Miles) (Dollars) •25

142 .58 160 160 185 187 198 200

1.105 1

»75

1.15

1.10 1.06 .90 1.00 .82 .88

T A B L E 41 WAGE RATES FOR BOOK AND JOB COMPOSITORS, JUNE 3°- «938 COMPARED WITH SIZE OF CITY AND DISTANCE FROM CHICAGO

City

i93o Population

Chicago, 111. Gary, Ind. Racine, Wis. Milwaukee, Wis. South Bend, Ind. Rockford, 111. Kalamazoo, Mich. Peoria, 111. Madison, Wis. Fort Wayne, Ind. Tri-Citv, 111. Decatur, 111. Grand Rapids, Mich.

3,376,000 100,000 67,000 578,000 104,000 85,000 54,000 105,000 57,000 115,000 129,000 57,000 168,000

Distance from Chicago (Miles)

Union Rate per Hour (Dollars) 1

35 70

85 85

100 1

45 155 160 165 170

«75 178

35

1.125 1.04 1.013 1.00

•91

1.00 1.00 1.075

•93

1.10 1.00 .90

APPENDIX

B

TABLE 4 2 PROPORTION OF BOOK AND J O B PRINTING AND PUBLISHING INDUSTRY IN CHICAGO, MEASURED BY PERCENT OF WAGES

(United States Census Data)

Year 1904 >9»4 I9'9 1921 1927 '929 '933 •935 1937

United States (Million Dollars)

Chicago (Million Dollars)

Percent of Total in Chicago

6.8 13.0

13-7 16.4

243-5 252-9 129.0 168.8

25-5 3°-4 44.1 42.7 .8.7 24.1

17-9 16.7 18.1 16.9

195»

32-4

49-5 79-6 142.4 182.3

14-5 14-3 16.6

TABLE 4 3 PERCENT DISTRIBUTION OF UNION MEMBERS IN THE BOOK AND JOB PRINTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES, 1939*

Wages per Hour (Dollars) . 8 0 - .90 .90-1.00 1.00-1.10 1.10-1.20 1.20-1.30 1.30-1.40 1.40-1.50 1.50-1.60 1.60-1.70 1.70-1.80 1.80-1.90

Hand Compositors >•5 3-O 17.6 28.2 10.3 39-2 .2

Cylinder Pressmen

Photoengravers

Electro typers

1.0 3-7 20.2 17.0 11.9 30.1 11.5 I-9 2.6 .1

•5

2-5 2.1

4-5 16.5

9-4 25.1 4.2

31-3 10.8 .6

3> 8.9 44-7

4-3 3»-5

* Data from United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, " U n i o n Scales of Wages and Hours in the Printing Trades, J u n e 1, 1 9 3 9 , " No. R 1 0 4 6 , p. 14.

INDEX Addressograph machine, 80 Albany (N. Y.), 32-33, 34, 62, 63, 65; wages (table), 60, 61, 123-24; contracts (table), 63-64 Allied industries, classification by U. S. Census, 6; percent of national printing industry in New York (table), 16-17; development in the U. S. (table), 106-9; see also Blankbook making; Bookbinding; Electrotyping; Engraving, steel, copper, wood, and plate; Lithographing; Photoengraving; Stereotyping All wood (N. J.), 34 American Colortype Company moves to All wood, 34 American Federation of l a b o r , 45 ff.; membership, 46, 47 (table) American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 81 Art Color Printing Company, moves to Dunellen, 34 Associated Color Printers of America, 93 Audit Bureau of Circulations, 27 Ayer and Sons, N. W., Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals, vjn. Baltimore (Md.), 7 1 , 73, 91, 92, 101; unionism weakened after 1921, 23; label printing, 32; periodical printing, 32; unionism in, 38; wages, book and job compositors (table), 53; wages, book and j o b crafts (table), 54; wages (table), 61, 123-24; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23 Becktold Company, wages (table), 60 "Bedroom shops," 50, 59; no decrease in New York, 27-28 Berry, George L., cited, 99 Bethlehem (Pa.), 32, 87 Binghamton (N. Y.), wages (table), 123-24

Blankbook making, 6; percent of national printing industry in New York. 16-17 (table), 20 (chart); development in the U. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 1 1 0 - 1 3 Bookbinders, membership in A. F. of L . (table), 47 Bookbinding, 6, 72; percent of national printing industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 20 (chart); percent change, 1919-37 (table), 2 1 ; mechanical wages, New York (chart), 43; development in the U. S. (table), 106-g; development in New York (table), 1 1 0 - 1 3 Book printing, 6, 32, 99; separate figures provided by U. S. Census, 7 ff.; percent of national printing industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 18 (chart); percent change, 1919-37 (table), 21; New York firms in 1937, 28; wages (table), 31; five leading cities in (table), 36; mechanical wages, New York (chart), 43; percent of employees in unions (table), 48; compositors' wages (table), 53; wages, all crafts (table), 54; wage-percent distribution (chart), 69; development in the U. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 110-13; wages and hours (table), 120-23; comparison of wages (table), 123-24, 124; Chicago (table), 125; union workers (table), 125; see also Book publishing Book publishing, l i n . ; value of product in the U. S. (table), 8; value of product and contracts, 1925 and 1937 (table), 9; contracts in 1937, 1 0 - 1 1 ; value of product in 1937, 1 0 - 1 1 ; average size of establishment, 1937 (table), 10; contract printing (table), 114-15; own printing (table), 114-15; see also Book printing; see also Publishing Bookwalter, Ball, and Greathouse: wages (table), 60

128

INDEX

Boston (Mass.), 93; relative position (table), 36; value of product from union shops, 49; wages, book a n d job compositors (table), 5 3 ; wages, book and job crafts (table), 54; wages (table), 6 1 ; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 1 2 0 - 2 3 B r a u n w o r t h and Company, moves to Connecticut, 3 5 ; wages (table), 60; case history, 89 Bridgeport (Conn.), 89; book printing, 3 2 ; compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 60, 1 2 3 - 2 4 B r o n x (N. Y.), 85; percent of New York printing in (table), 35 Brooklyn (N. Y.), 84, 85; printing in, 5, 3 5 ; percent of New York printing in (table), 3 5 Brooklyn Eagle J o b Press, loses commercial printing, 3 5 Brown, Elmer, cited, 2 i n . , 2 5 n . , g8n.; Huotcd, 50; note from, 105 Brown, M. B. (firm), 26; mechanical pay roll (table), 26; amalgamates with DeVinne Press, 3 3 ; suspends operations, 34 BulTalo (N. Y.), wages, book a n d job compositors (table), 5 3 ; wages, book and job crafts (table), 54 Bureau of L a b o r Statistics, survey, 48, 5«-53 Bureau of the Census, United States, see Census of Manufacturers, U . S. Biennial Burkhardt Company, wages (table), 60 Burland Printing Company, fails, 97 Butterick Publishing Company, 2 7 ; mechanical pay roll (table), 26; plant taken over by Cuneo, 33 Cambridge (Mass.), wages (table), 60 Camden (N. J.), 34; wages (table), 60, 1 2 3 24 Carey Printing Company, 87, 9 1 ; mechanical pay roll (table), 26; fails, 3 2 Case histories, 87-96 Caxton, William, 45 Census of Manufactures, U. S. Biennial: classification of printing industry, 6; breaks down figures, 7; m i n i m u m sales volume, 28, 29 Chapel, secretary's, see Secretary's chapel

Chicago (111.), 33, 36. 5 3 . 63, 65. 67, 7 1 , 74- 8 5> 93- 94. 97> 1 0 1 ; printing industry increase, 4; unionism weakened after 1 9 2 1 , 2 3 ; book and job wages (table), 3 1 ; color printing, 3 2 ; gains and losses, 3 2 , 35; relative position (table), 36; unionism in, 38; value of product from union shops, 49; sets commercial wage scales, 5 2 ; wages, book and job compositors (table), 5 3 ; wages, book and job crafts (table), 54; wages compared with cost of living (chart), 5 5 ; wages (table), 60, 6 1 , 124; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 1 2 0 - 2 3 ; book a n d job printing (table), 1 2 5 Chicago Shopping News, 94 Chicago Typographical Union No. 16 45. 5 8 " 5 9 Chilton Company, 27, 3 3 Cincinnati (Ohio), 85; wages and hours compared with other cities (table). 120-23 Circulation, figures show New York remains publishing center, 27 City Planning Commission (New York). revises industrial survey, 29 City Record, 33, 34, 97 Cleveland (Ohio), 53; wages, book and job compositors (table), 5 3 ; wages, book and j o b crafts (table), 54; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 1 2 0 - 2 3 Cleveland Shopping News, case history. 9394 Clinton (Mass.), 92; hook printing, 3 2 Collier and Son, P. F. (firm), 33, 70; mechanical pay roll (table), 26 Collier's Weekly, 33, 73, 78 Colonial Press, case history, 9 2 - 9 3 Columbia University Press, case history. 9596 Commercial Minimum fVage Scales (Interna tionnl Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America), 65 Committee for Industrial Organization, 38n., 45 ff.. 71 Committee on City Planning (New York). surveys industry, 29 Communication, 100; major factor in exodus of printing, 37-38 Competition, 77-86

INDEX Compositors, 52, 62, 67, 68; tneml>ership in A. F. of L. (table), 47; unionization. 49; book and j o b wages (table), 53; wages, 58 (chart), 60 (table), 61 (table); contracts (table), 63-64; wage-percent distribution (chart), 69; wages and hours (table), 120-23; comparison of wages (table), 123-24, 124; union members (table), 125 Conclusions, 97-101 Concord (N. H.), 3 1 , 9 1 ; periodical printing. 32 Conde Nast Publications, Inc., 7 1 ; builds plant, 32; wages (table), 61; case his tory, 87-88 Connecticut, 35, 72, 75, 89; book and j o b wages (table), 3 1 ; gains, 32 Contracts, 1925 and 1937 (table), 9; book publishing in 1937, 1 0 - 1 1 ; duplication in book and job printing, n n . ; union (tabic), 63-64 Controlled Circulation Audit, 27 Copper engraving, see Engraving, steel, copper, wood, and plate Crowell-Collier, 27, 33, 71, 88; wages (table), 61 Cuneo Eastern Press, 34, 82, 85, 97; mechanical pay roll (table), 26; moves to Philadelphia, 33, 35; wages (table), 61 Daily News (New York), 28 Dayton (Ohio), 33, 88; wages (table), 6 1 ; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23 Heath benefits, 48 Decatur (III.), wages (table), 124 Delineator, 33 Department of Commerce, United States, 103 Detroit (Mich.), 53; wages, book and j o b compositors (table), 53; wages, book and j o b crafts (table), 54; wages (table), 60 DeVinne-Brown (firm), 97; closes, 33, 34 DeVinne Press, amalgamates with M. B. Brown, 33 Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals (X. W. Aver and Son's), 27n. Dobbs Ferry (X. Y.), 34 Donnelley and Sons, R. R . (firm), 34, 71, 97; case history, 94-95 Dunellen (X. J.), 33, 34

»«9

East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 90-91; periodical printing, 32; low-wage area, 38; wages (table), 61 Ebb and Flow in Trade Unionism, The (Leo Wolman), cited, 49 Electrotypers, 45, 67; membership in A. F. of L. (table), 47; wage-percent distribution (chart), 69; union members (table), 125 Electrotyping, 6; percent of national printing industry in Xew York, 1 6 - 1 7 (table), 18 (chart); development in the I/'. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 110-13 Elizabeth (X. J.), compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 123-24 Elliott machine, 80 Engraving, steel, copper, wood, and plate: 6; percent of national printing industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 19 (chart); percent change, 1919-37 (table), 2 1 ; development in the U. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 110-13 Fall River (Mass.), wages (table), 123-24 Federal Printing Company, mechanical pay roll (table), 26; becomes subsidiary of Chilton, 33 Federal Trade Commission, 86 Form and manifold printing, 74-75 Fortune, nn. Fort Wayne (Ind.), wages (table), 124 Gary (Ind.), wages (table), 124 Giles Printing Company, fails, 34 Ginn and Company, wages (table), 60 Gone With the Wind, 94 Grand Rapids (Mich.), wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23; wages (table), 124 Great Atlantic and Pacific T e a Company, 84 Greenwich (Conn.), 32, 87; wages (table), 61 Grosset and Dunlap, Inc., 90 Haddon Craftsmen, wages (table), 60 Haig, Robert M., 103 Hall Printing Company, W. F., 34, 97; controls Edward Langer Printing Company. 33

INDEX Harper and Brothers (printing firm), moves to Camden, 3 4 Hartford (Conn.), compositors' wages (chart), 5 8 ; wages (table), 1 x 3 - 2 4 Harvard University Press, 9 5 Hinrichs, A. F„ " T h e Printing Industry in New York and Its Environs—Present Trends and Probable Future Developments," 5 ; quoted, 22; cited, 3 5 , 7 2 Holidays, 6 3 ; contracts (table), 6 3 - 6 4 Houghton Mifflin Company, wages (table), 6 0 Hours, 4 7 ; compared (table), 1 2 0 - 2 3 House and Garden, 8 7 Howard, C. P., 4 5 - 4 6 Hughes Printing Company, wages (table), 6 1 ; case history, go-gi Illinois, 1 0 0 ; gains, 3 1 , 3 2 ; book and j o b wages (table), 3 1 Indianapolis (Ind.), wages (table), 6 0 ; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 1 2 0 - 2 3 Individual and Collective Bargaining under the N. I. R. A. (National Industrial Conference Board), cited, 4 9 Insurance, see Death benefits; Pensions, old age International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, 4 5 , 8 8 , 8 9 ; Commercial Minimum Wage Scales, 6 5 International Textbook Press, w a g e s (table), 6 0 International Typographical Union, 4 5 ff., 6 6 , 7 0 , 8 2 ; New York membership declines, 2 4 ; percent of membership change in New York, 1 9 2 3 - 3 9 (table), 2 4 ; rules regarding secretary's chapel, 4 5 ; maintains leadership, 4 6 Jersey City (N. J.), compositors' wages (chart), 5 8 ; wages (table), 1 2 3 - 2 4 Job Printing, 6 , 9 9 ; separate figures provided by U. S. Census, 7 ff.; value of product and contracts, 1 9 2 5 and 1 9 3 7 (table), 9 ; book, periodical, newspaper, and miscellaneous, n n . ; percent of national printing industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 1 8 (chart); percent change, 1 9 1 9 - 3 7 (table), 2 1 ; New York firms in 1 9 3 7 , 2 8 ; wages (table), 3 1 ; five

leading cities in (table), 3 6 ; mechanical wages, New York (chart), 4 3 ; percent of employees in unions (table), 4 8 ; compositors' wages (table), 5 3 ; wages, all crafts (table), 5 4 ; wage-percent distribution (chart), 6 9 ; development in the U. S. (table), 1 0 6 - 9 ; development in New York (table), 1 1 0 - 1 3 ; national industry (table), 1 1 4 - 1 5 ; wages and hours (table), 1 2 0 - 2 3 ; comparison of wages (table), 1 2 3 - 2 4 , 1 2 4 ; Chicago (table), 1 2 5 ; union workers (table), 1 2 5 Kable Brothers Company, 7 4 , 8 5 ; wages (table), 6 1 Kalamazoo (Mich.), wages (table), 1 2 4 Kansas City (Mo.), 9 3 Kingsport (Tenn.), 9 0 ; book printing, 3 2 ; low-wage area, 3 8 ; wages (table), 6 0 Kingsport Press, wages (table), 6 0 ; case history, 8 9 - 9 0 Label printing, 7 8 ; Baltimore, 3 2 Labor, 1 0 0 ; factor in exodus of printing, 3 8 ; key factor in cost analysis, 3 9 ; factors in cost of, 6 2 - 7 1 Labor, organized: 4 5 - 5 0 LaCuardia, Fiorello H., 1 0 4 Langer Printing Company, Edward, mechanical pay roll (table), 2 6 ; moves in part 10 Dunellen, 3 3 Lawyers' List, 9 7 Life, 9 4 Literary Digest, 2 6 Lithographers, 4 5 ; membership in A. F. of L. (table), 4 7 3.1 Jm\ Lithographing, 6, 77-78; percent of na-' tional printing industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 1 9 (chart); percent change, 1 9 1 9 - 3 7 (table), 2 1 ; mechanical wages, New York (chart), 4 3 ; development in the U. S. (table), 1 0 6 - 9 ; development in New York (table), 1 1 0 - 1 3 Little and Ives, J. J., 8 9 - 9 0 Living, cost of: compared with wages (chart), 55 Long-run periodical printing, decline in New York, 2 6 ; Illinois, 3 1 ; Ohio, 3 1 Look, 7 8 Los Angeles (Calif.), 9 3 ; wages, book and job compositors (table), 5 3 ; wages, book and job crafts (table), 5 4

INDEX Lyon, J . B. (firm), amalgamates with Williams Printing Company, 31-33; takes over McGraw-Hill printing, 34; wages (table), 61 McCall Corporation, 26, 27, 70; mechanical pay roll (table), 26; moves to Dayton, 33; wages (table), 61; case history. 88-89 McCall's, 73, 88 McCann-Erickson, indices, 82 McGraw-Hill, 27, 98; mechanical pay roll (table), 26; p r i n t i n g taken over by Schweinler, 34 Madison (Wis.), wages (table), 124 Manchester (N. H.), wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23 M a n h a t t a n (N. Y.), 5, 84, 85, 98; printing '"» 34-35; percent of New York printing in (table), 35 Manifold printing, see Form and manifold printing Massachusetts, book and job wages (table), 31 Methodist Book Concern, 27; moves to Dobbs Ferry, 34 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 84 Milwaukee (Wis.), 33, 85; wages, book and j o b compositors (table), 53; wages, book and job crafts (table), 54; wages (table), 124 Mimeograph Company, 79 Mimeographing, 79 ff. Minneapolis (Minn.), 53, 93 Monthly Bulletin (New York Typographical Union No. 6), quoted, 30 Mt. Morris (111.), 74, 85; periodical printing, 32; wages (table), 61 Multigraphing, 79 ff. Munsey, Frank A. (firm), 27 Nahm Photogravure Company, 86 National Industrial Conference Board, Individual and Collective Bargaining under the N.I.RA., cited, 49 National Labor Relations Act, 46 National Labor Relations Board, 71, 87

Newark (N. J.), compositors" wages (chart), 58; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23; wages (table), 123-24 New Haven (Conn.), compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23; wages (table), 123-24 New Jersey, 57, 72, 100; p r i n t i n g industry in, 5; book and j o b wages (table), 31; color printing, 32; gains, 32 News (Newburgh-Beacon), 81 Newspaper printing, 6, 100; separate figures provided by U. S. Census, 7 ff.; percent of national p r i n t i n g industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 18 (chart); percent change, 1919-37 (table), 21; New York firms in 1937, 28; percent of employees in unions (table), 48; union wages, 59; development in the U. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 110-13; s e e a l s ° Newspaper publishing Newspaper publishing, value of product in U. S. industry (table), 8; value of products and contracts, 1925 and 1937 (table), 9; average size of establishment, 1937 (table), 10; contract printing (table), 114-15; own p r i n t i n g (table), 114-15; see also Newspaper printing; Publishing Newsweek, 33, 83, 88 New York (city), remains publishing center, 27; share in national industrial wages (table), 113; see also Printing industry. New York (city) New York (state), 100; book and job wages (table), 31; gains, 32 New York Employing Printers Association, Inc., 25-26, 27; survey, 49-50; study, 59, 84 New Yorker, 88 New York Life Insurance Company, 84 New York Printing Press Assistants' Union No. 23, 45 New York Printing Pressmen's Union No. 51, 45, 65, 103 New York Typographical Union No. 6, 26, 28, 45, 65, 70, 97; membership used as measure, 23 ff.; membership change,

INDEX New York T y p o . Union No. 6 (Cont'd) 19x3-39 (table), 24; votes as measure (table), 25; votes compared with number of firms (table), 28; Monthly Bulletin, quoted, 3»; lists bankrupt printing firms, 32 Norwalk (Conn.), 98

book and j o b compositors (table), 53; wages, book and j o b crafts (table), 54; wages compared with cost of living (chart), 55; compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 60, 61, 123-24; contracts (table), 63-64; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23

O'Brien, C. J . (firm), 27, 98 Ohio, 100; book and job wages (table), 3 1 ; gains, 3 1 , 32 Oklahoma City (Okla.), 93 Operating costs, United Typothetae of America (table), 39-41 Overtime, 47; contracts (table), 63-64

Photoengravers, 45, 67; membership in A. F. of L. (table), 47; wage-percent distribution (chart), 69; union members (table), 125 Photoengraving, 6; percent of national printing industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 20 (chart); percent change, 1919-37 (table), 2 1 ; development in the U. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 1 1 0 - 1 3 Pictorial Review, 27, 33; mechanical pay

Paterson (N. J.), compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 123-24 Pennsylvania, book and j o b wages (table), 3' Pensions, old age, 48 Peoria (111.), wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23; wages (table), 124 Periodical printing, 6, 32; separate figures provided by U. S. Census, 7 IF.; percent of national printing industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 18 (chart); percent change, 1919-37 (table), 21; lost to New York, 27; New York firms in 1937, 28; leaves New York, 37-38; mechanical wages. New York (chart), 43; percent of employees in unions (table), 48; New York, 97-98; New York, 99; development in the U. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 1 1 0 - 1 3 ; see also Long-run periodical printing; Periodical publishing Periodical publishing, value of product in U. S. industry (table), 8; value of product and contracts, 1925 and 1937 (table), 9; average size of establishment, 1937 (table), 10; contract printing (table), 114-15; own printing (table), 1 1 4 - 1 5 ; see also Periodical printing; Publishing Philadelphia (Pa.), 33, 35, 62, 63, 82, 85; unionism weakened after 1921, 23; relative position (table), 36; value of product from union shops, 49; compositors' wage differential, 52; wages,

roll (table), 26 Pittsburgh (Pa.), wages, book and job compositors (table), 53; wages, book and j o b crafts (table), 54 Plate engraving, see Engraving, steel, copper, wood, and plate Plate printers, membership in A. F. of L. (table), 47 Pleasantville (N. Y.), 3 1 , 91 Popular Science, 33 Postal zoning, 73-74, 100-101; factor in exodus of printing, 38 Pressmen, 52, 62, 67, 68; membership, with assistants, in A. F. of L. (table), 47; wages (table), 60, 6 1 ; contracts (table), 63-64; wage-percent distribution (chart), 69; union members (table), '25 Printers League, 98, 103 Printing, quoted, 46 Printing and publishing, classification by U. S. Census, 6; disadvantage of grouping, 6 ir.; separation increasing, 7; percent of national printing industry in New York (table), 16-17; percent of unionism, 49; development in the U. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 1 1 0 - 1 3 ; s e e a ' i 0 Book printing; Book publishing; Form and manifold printing; J o b printing; Label printing; Newspaper printing; Newspaper publishing; Periodical printing; Periodical publishing; Publishing

INDEX Printing industry, national: classification by V . S. Census, 6; trends, 6-12; New York's share in wage total (chart), 14; wages (table), 15, 60, 61; percent in New York, 16-17 (table), 18-20 (chart); measured by wage earners (table), 22; book and job, 1899 and 1937 (table), 36; operating costs (table), 39-41; mechanical wages compared with selected costs (chart), 42; unionism in, 45-50; wages, book and job compositors (table), 53; wages, book and job crafts (table), 54; wages compared with cost of living (chart), 55; factors in labor cost, 62-71; wage-percent distribution (chart), 69; nonlabor cost factors, 7276; summary and conclusions, 97-101; development (table), 106-9; contracts and own printing (table), 114-15; union workers (table), 125 Printing industry, New York (city): in 1904, 4; wage earners in 1921, 5; decline in recent years, 13; measures of, 13-30; share in national wage total, 14 (chart), 15 (table); percent of national printing industry, 16-17 (table), 18-20 (chart); decline, 1919-37, measured by wages, 21; percent change, 1919-37 (table), 21; measured by wage earners (table), 22; decline, measured by wage earners, 22-23; unionism in, 23 if., 45-50; measured by I.T.U. membership, 24; no decrease in "bedroom shops," 27-28; book and job wages (table), 31; where printing has gone, 31-36; percent by boroughs (table), 35; relative position (table), 36; why printing has left, 37-44; operating costs (table), 39-41; mechanical wages compared with selected costs (chart), 42; mechanical wages (chart), 43; value of product from union shops, 49; set base wage scales, 52; wages, book and job compositors (table), 53; wages, book and job crafts (table), 54; wages compared with cost of living (chart), 55; wages, compared with other cities (table), 56; compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 60, 61, 123-24; factors in labor cost, 62-71; contracts (table), 63-64; nonlabor cost factors, 72-76; summary and conclusions, 97-101; de-

velopment (table), 110-13; distribution of sales dollar (table), 120; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23 "Printing Industry in New York and Its Environs—Present Trends and Probable Future Developments" (A. F. Hinrichs), 5; quoted, 22; cited, 35, 72 Printing Trades Blue Book, 85 Printing Worker, The, 98 Priority, 57, 66 if. Product, value of: relation to wages (table), 8; U. S. publishing industry (table), 8; 1925 and 1937 (table), g; book publishing in 1937, 10-11; book publishing, 1937 (table), 10; newspaper publishing, 1937 (table), 10; periodical publishing, 1937 (table), 10; book and job printing and publishing, n n . ; percent of national printing industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 19-20 (chart); lxx>k and job (table), 36; from union shops, 4g Providence (R. I.), wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23 Publishing, value of product in U. S. industry (table), 8; New York remains center of, 27; see also Book publishing; Newspaper publishing; Periodical publishing; Printing and publishing Queens (N. Y.), 84; printing industry in, 5, 34-35; percent of New York printing in (table), 35 Quinn and Boden Company, 97 Racine (Wis.), wages (table), 124 Radio, 82-83 Rah way (New Jersey), 97 Rand McNally Company, 84 Reader's Digest, 31, 74, 91 Reading (Pa.), compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23; wages (table), 123-24 Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs, 5, 22 Richmond (N. Y.), 84; percent of New York printing in (table), 35 Richmond (Va.), 71; book printing, 32 Rochester (N. Y.), wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23

»34

INDEX

Rockford (111.), wages (table), 1x4 Rutnford Press, 31; case history, 91-9« St. Charles (111.), 59 St. Louis (Mo.), relative position (table), 36; value of product from union shops, 49; wages, book and job compositors (table), 53; wages, book and job crafts (table), 54; wages (table), 60 San Francisco (Calif.), 53, 93; wages, book and job compositors (table), 53; wages, book and job crafts (table), 54 Schenectady (N. Y.), wages (table), 123-24 Schweinler Press, 98; mechanical pay roll (table), 26; collapses, 34; takes over McGraw-Hill printing, 34 Scranton (Pa.), c o m p o s i t o r s ' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 60, 123-24; wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23 Secretary's chapel, 25 (table), 28; origin of name, 45; rules regarding, 45 South Bend (Ind.), wages Jlable), 124 Springfield (Mass.), compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 123-24 Springfield (Ohio), 33; wages (table), 61 Stamford (Conn.), 89 Standard R a t e a n d Data Service, 27 Standard Statistics Company, 26, 84 Steel engraving, see Engraving, steel, copper, wood, a n d plate Stereotypers, 45; membership in A. F. of L. (table), 47 Stereotyping, 6; percent of national p r i n t i n g industry in New York, 16-17 (table), 18 (chart); percent change, 1919-37 (table), 21; developments in the U. S. (table), 106-9; development in New York (table), 110-13 Summary and conclusions, 97-101 Taylor, Don H., letter from, 103-5 Technical Press, mechanical pay roll (table), 26; becomes bankrupt, 34 Teletypesetter, 81-82 Time, 82, 83, 94 T r a d e typesetting, l i n . ; national industry (table), 114-15 Transportation, 73, 100; major factor in exodus of printing, 37-38

Treasury of Art Masterpieces, A, 88 Trenton (N. J.), compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 123-24 Tri-City (111.), wages (table), 124 1 row Directory Printing and Bookbinding Company, becomes b a n k r u p t , 34 Troy (N. Y.), wages (table), 123-24 Unionism, 23 (T., 38, 45-50; influence of, 15; hastened by conflict of C. I. O. and A. F. of L., 46; percent of p r i n t i n g employees in unions (table), 48; of compositors, 49; percent in all industries, 49; percent in printing and publishing, 49; comparison of contracts (table), 63-64; members (table), 125 Union Printers Home, 48 United States Biennial Census of Manufactures, see Census of Manufactures, U. S. Biennial United States Bureau of the Census, see Census of Manufactures, U. S. Biennial United States Department of Commerce, 103 United States News, 33, 88 United States Printing and Lithograph Company, 85 United Typothetae of America, 38, 51, 85; operating costs (table), 39-41 Vacations, 62; contracts (table), 63-64 Vari-Typer, 80-81 Vogue, 87 Wage differentials, 47-48, 51-61, 101 Wage earners. New York printing industry in 1921, 5; used as measure by Hinrichs, 22; as measure of New York and national printing (table), 22; New York, 1929-37, 2gn.; book and job (table), 36 Wages, 51-61; relation to value of product (table), 8; New York's share in national total (chart), 14; used as measure, 14-15; New York's share in national printing (table), 15; percent of national printing in New York, 16-17, 2 4 (table), 18 (chart); as measure of New York printing industry decline, 21; in largest New York firms, 1922-40

INDEX (table), >6; book and job (table), 31, 36; as measure. New York printing, 35; as measure, five leading cities, 35-36; book and job compositors (table), 53; liook and job crafts (table), 54; compared with cost of living (chart), 55; New York compared with other cities (table), 56; book centers (table), 60; periodical centers (table), 61; percent distribution (chart), 69; New York's share in national industrial total (table), 113; compared (table), 1x0-23, 123-24, 124; as measure of Chicago printing (table), 125 Wages, factory: as a measure of values, 10 Wages, mechanical: compared with selected costs (chart), 42; in New York (chart), 43 Washington (D. C.), 53, 67; unionism in, 38 Waukegan (111.), 59 Waverly Press, 71; case history, 91

!S5

Williams Printing Company, mechanical pay roll (table), 26; amalgamates with J. B. Lyon, 32-33 Wilmington (Del.), compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 123-24 Winston, John C. (firm), wages (table), 60 Wolman, Leo, The Ebb and Flow in Trade Unionism, cited, 49 Woman's Home Companion, 78 Wood engraving, see Engraving, steel, copper, wood, and plate Worcester (Mass.), wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23; wages (table), 123-24 Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford: 26, 33, 34; mechanical pay roll (table), 26 Yonkers (N. Y.), 57; compositors' wages (chart), 58; wages (table), 123-24 York (Pa.), wages and hours compared with other cities (table), 120-23; wages (table), 123-24