Note 1514 — XII SOME MODERN PROBLEMS
Reading edition
The average income per head in 1914 is given by Stamp as follows (J. R. S. S., vol. lxxxii, p. 491):
£
United States 72
United Kingdom 50
Germany 30
France 38
Italy 23
Austria-Hungary 21
Spain 11
Australia 54
Canada 40
Japan 6
The figures are only approximate. The most accurate—those for the United Kingdom and for Australia—are not likely to be inaccurate to a greater extent than 10 per cent., while the least accurate—those for Japan—may be inaccurate to a greater extent than 40 per cent. Rowntree, commenting upon the low wages in Belgium as compared with England, attributes them, not to over-population, but to a low standard of education, low degree of efficiency and productivity, to the fact that only a small proportion of workers are engaged in the production of high-class goods, and to the feebleness of the trade unions (Land and Labour, pp. 75 ff.).