COLLAR, CUFF, AND SHIRT MANUFACTURING. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Growth of the industry-Increase in the number of employees-Territory studied— Households studied-Members of households for whom detailed information was secured-Employees for whom information was secured-[Text Tables 1 to 7 and General Tables 1 to 3]. GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY. More than one-half of the capital engaged in the collar and cuff manufacturing industry at the present time is invested in the State of New York. This fact, together with the growth of the industry in that State and the country as a whole during the period 1880-1905, is set forth in the table below: TABLE 1.-Growth of the collar, cuff, and shirt manufacturing industry in the State of New York and in the United States, 1880-1905. [Compiled from United States Census Reports, Manufactures, 1880-1905.] The expansion in the collar and cuff industry, as shown in the preceding table, has been attended by a large demand for labor, which has been met principally by the employment of immigrants of recent and past years. The increase in the operating forces of the industry 48296°-VOL 11-11-43 667 during the period 1880-1905 in the State of New York and in the United States is shown in the table which immediately follows: TABLE 2.-Increase in the number of employees in the collar, cuff, and shirt manufacturing industry in the State of New York and the United States, 1880–1905. [Compiled from United States Census Reports, Manufactures, 1880-1905.] a Data for collars and cuffs and for shirts given separately in Manufacturing Industries of 1905. b Data for shirts only in Census of Manufactures of 1900. c Data for shirts only in Statistics of Manufactures of 1880. TERRITORY STUDIED. The investigation of the industry under study was limited to the State of New York and the intensive study was confined to Troy, the principal center of the manufacture in the State and in the United States. HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED. A total of 264 households, the heads of which were engaged in the manufacture of collars, cuffs, or shirts, were studied in detail. The following table shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the number and percentage of households studied. TABLE 3.-Households studied, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) Of the total number of households studied in the preceding table 53 per cent were foreign-born, 31.8 per cent were native-born of native father, and 15.2 per cent were native-born of foreign-father. Among the native-born of foreign father the Irish show a considerably higher percentage than do the Germans, while of foreign-born, Armenians, Irish, and Germans show little difference in their percentage, followed by English and Danish in somewhat smaller proportions. MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR WHOM DETAILED INFORMATION WAS SECURED. The table next presented shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the persons in the households studied and the persons for whom detailed information was secured. TABLE 4.—Persons in households studied and persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household. The above table shows that foreign-born persons report 55.7 per cent of the total number of persons in households, native-born of native father show 28 per cent, and native-born of foreign father 16.3 Of native-born of foreign father, the Irish show considerably larger proportions than Germans in households, while of the foreign-born, Armenians show the highest percentage and the Danes the lowest. The table below sets forth, by general nativity and race of head of household, the sex of persons in the households studied for whom detailed information was secured: TABLE 5.-Sex of persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) The preceding table shows that of the total number of persons for whom information was secured, 43.4 per cent were males and 56.6 were females. Native-born of native father show the highest percentage of males, followed by foreign-born and native-born of foreign father in the order mentioned. Native-born of foreign father report the highest percentage of females, closely followed by the foreign-born, while the native-born of native father report a somewhat lower percentage than do the foreign-born. Of the nativeborn of foreign father, Germans report the highest percentage of males and Irish the highest percentage of females. Danish show the highest percentage of males of the foreign races, while Germans show the highest percentage of females. The following table shows, by sex and general nativity and race of individual, the persons in the households studied, for whom detailed information was secured: TABLE 6.-Persons for whom detailed information was secured, by sex and general nativity and race of individual. The preceding table shows detailed information secured from 1,017 persons in the collar and cuff industry, 441 of whom were males and 576 females. Persons native-born of native father show the highest percentage of the total from whom information was secured, followed by native-born of foreign father and foreign-born in the order named. Native-born of native father show a higher percentage of both males and females than do persons native-born of foreign father, and foreign-born report a higher percentage of males than do native-born of foreign father, the latter showing the higher percentage of females than the former. |