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(2) In all skilled occupations the preferences are stated to be for native labor first, and English, Welsh, Scotch, Swedes, Germans, and Irish in the order named. No preferences as to other races were stated, since the number in skilled work was too small to admit of comparison.

(3) In unskilled work the native Americans, English, Irish, Welsh, Scotch, Germans, and Swedes are employed at present to such a slight extent that relative preference could not be stated. In all instances, except in one plant employing about 1,000 men, these races were the preferences over all others in unskilled labor. In the case of the excep tion the southern European immigrant was regarded as more satisfactory. With regard to the southern European races themselves, the preferences of the employers having charge of 95 per cent of unskilled immigrants were given in the following order: (1) Slovaks, (2) Poles, (3) Magyars, (4) Croatians, (5) Italians. The first three races named were regarded as nearly equal from the standpoint of preference; the Croatians as unsatisfactory; and the Italians as the very last resort for any kind of labor except railroad construction. The same order was given by two small employers not included above, with the exception of a preference of Magyars over Slovaks.

EMPLOYERS' STATEMENTS AS TO THE EFFICIENCY OF IMMIGRANT INDUSTRIAL WORKERS.

The statements of employers regarding the efficiency of the second generation, including immigrants who had come to the United States during childhood, was that it was invariably greater than that of the first generation except when the latter had been experienced workers in their occupations before immigration, as in the case of Welsh miners. These statements related to all races mentioned except Croatians and Italians, of which the second generation was rarely employed. The second generation of Irish, German, Welsh, English, and Scotch were considered by some employers to be preferable in any occupation to even persons native-born of native father, while that of other races was generally considered to be practically equal to those of native birth and native father in efficiency. Chief among the reasons assigned for this opinion was the belief that the second generation is more ambitious and alert and, with the high degree of assimilation attained, a greater capacity for progress and efficiency is shown. In every case the second generation was regarded by employers with high approbation, and it was stated that there would gradually be afforded as the new generation grew up a supply of labor for the semiskilled and skilled occupations which would greatly aid in solving the conditions of scarcity experienced in such periods of industrial activity as occurred in 1906 and the early part of 1907.

CHAPTER VI.

HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

General housing and living conditions-Housing conditions as affected by assimilation-Obedience to municipal regulations relative to housing-Rent in its relation to standard of living-Boarders and lodgers-Size of apartments and householdsCongestion [Text Tables 293 to 304 and General Tables 133 to 144].

GENERAL HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

The reason for the tendency to congregate by race is chiefly found in racial and religious differences. Racial differences, of course, include differences in language, habits, customs, etc. The most striking example of this is seen in the complete segregation of the Italians from every other immigrant race. On the other hand, the fact that the tendency toward racial segregation among Slovaks, Magyars, Poles, and Germans is much less evident is a no less striking example of the strength of national enmities formed before emigration from Europe.

The houses of Welsh, German, Irish, and English immigrants are generally on an equality with those of natives in the same grade of employment, and are in practically the same state of repair. The housing conditions of southern and eastern European immigrants, on the other hand, are generally quite different. The prevailing type is a block of from two to six two-story frame houses, each home having two rooms on a floor. The rooms are generally about 12 by 12 feet, each having one or two windows of double sashes of medium size. In none of these houses is there a water-closet, dry closets from 10 to 13 feet away being universally used. In most instances running water is furnished in the room used as a kitchen, but hydrants, used by several groups in close proximity, are the source of supply for many. In a few instances wells have been found which contain impurities of all kinds.

One of the rooms on the first floor is generally used as a kitchen, dining and living room combined, and the other as a sleeping room for the use of the family. The second-floor rooms are usually occupied by boarders. When over 6 boarders occupy a single room, part use the beds during the day and part during the night, to correspond with the work on night and day shifts. The greatest congestion exists, the number of laborers more than taxing the housing capacity. Congested conditions are more prevalent among the Croatians, Servians, and Macedonians. The Slovaks live under less crowded conditions than any of the other southern European races.

Congestion exists to the greatest degree in another type of house, which is seen at its worst in the Croatian quarter. Some six blocks of three-story (including basements) houses surround almost completely a courtyard, in the center of which stands, about 30 feet from the houses, a low four-room closet directly over an exposed cesspool,

which is kept in an unspeakably filthy condition. Whole families cook, eat, sleep, and live in one room, some of them in very damp basements. In all, during even the period of the depression of 1907-8, over 50 groups lived in this colony, some of them having as many as 20 boarders. Many of the rooms were dark, badly ventilated, and kept in a very dirty condition, and nearly all the houses were in bad repair. The whole quarter or colony is regarded as the worst spot morally in the foreign sections of the city.

While a few examples of the above type are found, only one example of the large tenement house exists. This is a large four-story brick structure having concrete floors and iron stairways throughout. On the top is a flat roof provided with clothes lines. The whole building has about 30 suites of two and three rooms, and has two water-closets on each floor. In every suite is one room furnished with a kitchen sink and running water. The windows are large and the ventilation, even during a very hot, calm day in summer, is excellent. In winter the rooms are heated by coal and wood stoves. In many instances the single or small block houses have gardens, averaging 25 by 75 feet and usually kept in good condition. All kinds of vegetables are grown. The best examples of well-kept gardens and cleanly houses are the single houses of the Slovaks, Magyars, and Poles.

HOUSING CONDITIONS AS AFFECTED BY ASSIMILATION.

The effect of assimilation is very evident upon housing conditions. As a general rule, the longer the period of residence the better are the conditions. The same is also true where close association with natives has taken place. For example, an immigrant woman who has acted as a servant in native households shows a tendency to imitate natives in cleanliness, methods of cooking, kind of furniture, house decoration, etc., that is strikingly noticeable. Of the southern European races, the Slovak houses are the best kept, with Magyars and Poles a close second. The Italians, Croatians, Servians, and Macedonians, in the order given, follow. In the best homes of the first-named races conditions fully comparable, from every point of view, to those in average American houses of the same class of laborers are found.

The children of German, Irish, Slovak, and Polish immigrants show a decided tendency to move into better localities. The second generation of the Irish, who originally settled in the section now occupied by southern and eastern Europeans, have to a large extent moved to American sections. The same is true of Slovaks and Poles, who have moved to a section populated chiefly by American laborers. Not only is this true of the second generation, but it is also true of well-assimilated immigrants of the races named above, especially the

Irish.

OBEDIENCE TO MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS RELATIVE TO HOUSING.

The only regulation relative to housing (other than those regulations discussed under the section of this report relating to health) contained in the city laws is section 1 of the Pennsylvania state law

* *

(act of May 23, 1889; P. L., 280), entitled "A city of the third class, etc.," reading as follows: "* Whatever building, erection, or part of cellar thereof is overcrowded, or not provided with adequate means of ingress or egress, or is not sufficiently supported, ventilated, sewered, drained, cleaned, or lighted, is declared to be a nuisance, and illegal * This regulation is habitually and continually disregarded in every respect in the foreign sections, except where conditions become a nuisance or a peril to the native population, as the facts given in other sections of this report will show.

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING.

The following table shows average rent paid each month per apartment, room, and person, by general nativity and race of head of household:

TABLE 293.-Average rent per month, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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In the preceding table it is not possible to compare the average rent payments of the native households with the foreign because of the small number of the former furnishing information. The significant fact in connection with the foreign households is the small average rent per month per person, as contrasted with the monthly rent payments per room and per apartment, due to the tendency among all races to crowd a large number of persons into their apartments and rooms in order to make the per capita outlay for rent as small as possible. The largest average rent per month per person is paid by the South Italian households, followed by the Magyar, Slovak, Polish, Croatian, and Irish households, in the order mentioned.

The series of tables next presented exhibits the range in rent payments by showing the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per apartment, per room, and per person. The first

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