average wage earner's family for the city of New York, which has been taken as 100 percent.

I would like at this point to file the following sheet as exhibit 1 to my statement:

(By research staff of the Industrial Club of St. Louis)

Calculation enables us to bring up to June 1933 the cost-of-living statistics for the average wage earner's family in the 31 cities for which the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics supplies semiannual cost-of-living-change figures. These June 1933 cost-of-living figures are listed below in table B, showing the cost of living, population, and relationship, in terms of index numbers, and dollars, to the cost of living of the average wage earner's family in the city of New York, which has been taken as 100 percent.

Mr. ZIMMERMAN. Taking that as a basis, worked out in the same. manner, 16 towns in the States of Missouri and Illinois were worked out, showing population of the town, the percent, and average annual cost of living. Beginning with Hannibal, Mo., there are Belleville, Ill.; Decatur, Ill.; Springfield, Ill.; Danville, Ill.; Poplar Bluff, Mo., in my district; and Lebanon, Mo., a small town; and Vandalia, Mo., also a small town.

The average annual cost of living per family in these towns was $799, as compared with the average cost based on living expenses in New York, which was $1,166.

I cite these figures to show you the justice in the wage differential which should exist in favor of these towns. It is because of that wage differential that they can pay the difference in freight rate, shipping the raw material in and the manufactured product out; and the additional cost of manufacturing in these small towns, because these country boys and girls produce slowly. They cannot produce like the highly skilled city laborer, and the additional labor increases the cost.

Now, let us take as an illustration, Lebanon, Mo. That is a little town of 3,562 people. The cost of living was 60 percent, as compared with New York, and the annual average cost of the worker in that small town was $701, as compared with the cost in the larger cities. Now I desire to offer the following sheet as exhibit 2 to my remarks:

From table B it will be seen that St. Louis' own living cost is but 90 percent of that for the city of New York. We have taken the 16 towns and cities surveyed by the Industrial Bureau and placed them likewise in comparison with the New York cost of living. The tabulation below shows that the average for the 16 small cities and towns is but $799 per family per year, or 69 percent of the cost in New York.

As illustrative of the fact that the amount of living costs bears a broad relationship to the size of the population, the following averages summarized below will be interesting:

Mr. ZIMMERMAN. Now, gentlemen, in order to show you how carefully and scientifically they went into the cost of living in the little town of Lebanon, Mo., I would like to present to you a photostatic copy of one of the original work sheets which was used to get the information upon which to reach these results. I haven't time to go into that in detail, but I would like to offer this sheet. This deals with the cost of housing and of rentals, and I would like to file this sheet as exhibit 3 to my statement, as follows:

Costs of housing and rents in Lebanon, Mo., as of June 15, 1933

Costs of housing and rents in Lebanon, Mo., as of June 15, 1933

Mr. ZIMMERMAN. Then the price of clothes is taken into consideration, what they pay for clothing down there in that little town, and after careful investigation they calculated the retail prices of clothing for females on the following sheet, which gives you the cost of apparel for women workers, which I desire to offer as exhibit 5 to my statement, as follows:

Retail prices of clothing for females as of June 15, 1933

Mr. ZIMMERMAN. Then in order to get a proper understanding of the cost of living they made an investigation of the price of men's clothing and wearing apparel in that little city, and that was tabulated, and I offer exhibit 6 as illustrative of the cost of men's wearing apparel in that town, as follows:

Retail prices of clothing for males as of June 15, 1933

.50

1.50

.25

59

.85

Mr. ZIMMERMAN. Then food prices were taken into consideration. So they have tabulated the prices of foods consumed by these employees. Here is one of the original work sheets which I desire to file as exhibit 7 to my statement, as follows:

Retail prices of food in Lebanon, Mo., as of June 15, 1933

Enter under "Remarks" the cause of any change in weight or of any advance or decline in the price since the middle of last month. Continue remarks on the back of this sheet if necessary.

Mr. ZIMMERMAN. Now, gentlemen of the committee, what I am trying to get over to you is this: Gentlemen, these figures show conclusively that the cost of living in the town of Lebanon, Mo., taking it as an example, reflects the wide difference between the cost of living in the average large city as compared to the average country town. For that reason, this wage differential should be maintained and must be maintained if these factories are to operate.

In conclusion-I would like 1 minute to conclude.

The CHAIRMAN. You have had 20. Go ahead, 1 more minute. Mr. ZIMMERMAN. All right. In conclusion, gentlemen, under this bill the same authorities that administered the N. I. R. A., selected from the large centers in New England and from other large cities in the North and East, will administer this bill; and, gentlemen, in my humble opinion and judgment, if this bill is enacted into law, with no provision for a wage differential, the little shoe factory, the little garment and glove factory in Missouri, Illinois, and other