H.—35.

The next table shows the distribution of both proprietors and wage-earners amongst the chief industrial groups. Unclassified groups are omitted, and the totals arc therefore a little less than in the preceding tables :—

Industrial Groups.

This table shows the same average proportion of one proprietor to three wage-earners, but there are wide differences in the industrial groups from which the average is taken. In primary production the number of proprietors almost equals the number of wage-earners. More than half the proprietors and one-fifth of the wage-earners are found in this group, and together they constitute the most numerous and important single group of producers in the Dominion. Obviously, the dominant type of organization in this group is the one-man farm. In other groups the number of wageearners per proprietor varies from ten in transport and communication to less than four in commerce ana finance. But the whole table, with its average of only three wage-earners to each proprietor, furnishes convincing evidence that the commonest type of business in New Zealand is verv small, and that the great majority of businesses are under the control of working proprietors whose incomes and standards of life probably differ but little from those of the wage-earners they employ. 2. Wage-earners, Trade-unions, and Arbitration. To compare the foregoing figures (from the 1921 census report) with figures for 1925 and 1926 they require to be brought up to date. They are the latest available, but the proportions of wage-earners and proprietors have changed little over the fifteen years ended 1921, and it is fair to assume they have changed little in 1921-26. Between 1921 and 1925 the population increased 8J per cent. A similar increase brings the total of proprietors up to 134,000 and the total of wage-earners up to 402,000. It is commonly assumed that the Arbitration Court settles wage disputes between wage-earners and their employers ; but wage-earners approach the Arbitration Court only through their registered trade-unions. Out of the 402,000 wage-earners, only 100,500, or 25 per cent., were financial members of trade-unions in 1925. In addition, there is a varying number of unfinancial members not included in the union returns, but estimated by a labour authority at about 20 per cent. These unionists are not fully representative of the whole of industry, but rather represent special industrial groups. The range and extent of representation are shown in the following tables. Estimates have been made for the 1925 numbers in industrial groups by adding 8£ per cent, (the population increase) to the 1921 census numbers for each group, and these are compared with the trade returns for each group in 1925 : —

Wage-earners and Trade-unionists—Numbers.

In the next table these figures have been reduced to percentages :—

Wage-earners and Trade-unionists—Percentages.

It is not certain that the industrial and unionist groups are exactly comparable in the above tables, but they are certainly comparable in sufficient measure to justify the general conclusions of the table, which brings out clearly the comparatively narrow range of trade-unionism amongst the wage-earners. In the industrial group, mainly manufacturers, building, printing, &c., about half of the wage-earners are unionists. This proportion would be greater if apprentices and other embryo unionists were included. A similar proportion holds for the transport group, including shipping, wharves, railways, &c. Domestic and personal service has 20 per cent, of its wage-earners in trade-unions, and these are mainly hotel and restaurant workers. In primary production less than 8 per cent, of the wage-earners are unionists, and of these unionists more than half are miners. There are 8,600 " miscellaneous " unionists, who may be spread over the other groups ; but it appears that, though there are some guilds and other associations, unionism is negligible in the agricultural and pastoral, commerce and finance, and public administration and professional groups, who together constitute, roughly, half of the total wage-earners.

156

Proprietors. Wage-earners. Number. Per Cent. Number. Per Cent. ! | I Primary production .. .. .. 69,600 56-8 71,900 20-0 Industrial .. .. .. .. 19,700 16-1 98,700 27-5 Transport and communication .. .. 4,900 4-0 50,300 14-0 Commerce and finance .. .. .. 16,000 13-1 59,700 16-7 Public administration and professional .. 7,600 6-2 42,500 11-8 Domestic and personal service .. .. 4,700 3-8 36,000 10-0 Totals .. .. .. | 122,500 100-0 359,100 100-0

Total T , nnirmifltq Estimated Wage-earners. irade-unlonlsts. Noil . un i on i stis * industrial .. .. .. .. 107,000 51,000 56,000 Transport and communication .. . . 54,500 26,900 27,600 Domestic and personal service .. .. 39,000 7,800 31,200 Primary production .. .. .. 78,000 6,100 71,900 Commerce and finance, public administration, 123,500 8,600 114,900 professional, and unclassified , . —— Totals .. .. .. 402,000 j 100,400 301,600 * Including uiillnancial unionists, totalling perhaps 20,000.

I Per Cent, of Per Cent of Per Cent, of Total Wage- j Total Groups who are earners. j Unionists. Unionists.* I Industrial .. .. .. .. 26-6 50-8 47-7 Transport and communication .. .. 13-5 26-7 49-3 Domestic and personal service .. .. 9-7 7-8 20-0 Primary production .. .. .. ] 9-4 6-1 7-8 Commerce and finance, public administration 30-8 8-6 7-0 and professional, miscellaneous 100-0 100-0 25-0 * Financial unionists only.