The foregoing detailed exhibit is summarized according to principal departments in the table which follows:

TABLE 439.-Number of employees in the steel company plant in Community C, by principal department and race.

CHAPTER V.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND EFFICIENCY.

Industrial progress-Industrial efficiency-The use of intoxicants in its relation to efficiency-Preference of the employers for the different races-Changes in industrial methods and organization-[Text Table 440].

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS.

The following table presents the number and percentage of skilled and unskilled laborers in the steel plant of the community for all races including members of the second generation who receive a regular time wage. Data for pieceworkers and tonnage men are not available. Any classification of skilled and unskilled laborers on the basis of wages earned is open to criticism. Since, however, the present purpose is not to offer a definition of skilled labor but rather to present such a grouping of employees as will show their relative progress in the industrial scale, it is believed that the division of the working force into two groups of those earning $1.50 a day or more and those earning less than $1.50 a day will be found satisfactory.

TABLE 440.-Number and per cent of skilled and unskilled laborers in steel plant of Community C, by nativity.

In this table the various races are arranged according to their percentage of skilled laborers; if we subdivide the list into three groups consisting of the first six races, the five which follow, and the last four, several interesting facts become apparent. The only races which have over 50 per cent of skilled laborers are the races which have been in the employ of the company longest-namely, the Welsh, American, English, Irish, Germans, and negroes-and, with the exception of the Germans, they have a natural command

of the English language. It is noteworthy that the negro stands well above the highest of the more recent immigrant races, having nearly 60 per cent af skilled laborers as against 47.4 per cent for the Slovenians. The second subdivision in the list includes the Slovenians, Italians, Croatians, Poles, and Slovaks, none of whom have been here as long as the races which precede them in the list; but, on the other hand, all have been longer established in this country and at the steel company than have the third group of races-the Magyars, Servians, Roumanians, and Macedonians, which show the lowest percentage of laborers who earn $1.50 a day or over. Of these last four races the Magyar is the only one having more than 15 per cent of skilled laborers. The Roumanians and Macedonians have come within the last five years, while the Servians and Magyars have practically all arrived within the past ten years.

One fact should be noted regarding the Germans; a recent stream of immigration from German settlements in Hungary has lowered employees of German race, which, except for the presence of these Hungarian Germans, would no doubt show a percentage similar to the English and the Irish.

The extent to which foremen, subforemen, assistant foremen, and bosses are found among the different races is indicated by the following list of foremen employed by the local steel company:

It may be stated as a general principle that none of the recent immigrant races compare with the American in those traits which make for general effectiveness as workmen. In industry, endurance, adaptability, or ingenuity are they equal to the native laborer. So far as the steel company is concerned, they are found in their employ, not because they are preferred to Americans, even in the unskilled occupations, but because they have come to supply an imperative demand for labor which it would be difficult if not impossible to fill in any other way.

Among themselves the recent immigrants are found to vary widely as laborers. The Croatians, the most numerous of the recent immigrants, have established a fairly good reputation for industriousness and effectiveness. They are progressive, acquiring English quickly and conforming to American dress and customs. They endure the high temperature of the open-hearth furnaces much better than either Servians, negroes, or Italians, none of whom are found useful for those occupations which involve exposure to great heat. This may be due to disinclination rather than physical difference between the races. The Servians in general resemble the Croatians,

with whom they are ethnologically identical. They are recent comers, and have not as yet demonstrated any very great effectiveness as laborers. They are steady workers when employed at outside labor. The Magyars although recent arrivals in Community C, and somewhat backward in learning the English language, have already achieved an excellent reputation as sturdy and intelligent laborers, being ranked next to Americans or Americanized Germans and Irish. They are regarded as the most effective laborers on the general labor force. They drink more alcoholic liquor than the Macedonians, but less than the Slavs, and are considered more trustworthy than the latter. They have not as yet shown any mechanical ingenuity. The recent immigrants of German race from the southern parts of Hungary seem to be slightly superior as laborers to the true Hungarians or Magyars from the same region. The South Italians employed by the steel company are of a superior grade. In the department where they are most largely represented they have demonstrated considerable mechanical skill. They are active, but less industrious than Croatians, and less able to endure high temperature. They are not regarded as desirable members of the general labor gang, and have a poor reputation for trustworthiness. The Macedonians are the most recent of all the immigrants employed and seem to be regarded with the least favor. They are described as conscientious plodders, willing to do the work required of them, but ineffective through awkwardness, and a lack of bodily vigor attributable in part to their scanty and illchosen diet. They are as yet ignorant of the English language, which adds to their handicap.

This completes the list of races constituting significant parts of the working force. The Roumanians, of whom a few are found, are very recent comers, and belong one grade above the Macedonians. The Poles and Slovenians, on the other hand, although a few in number, are very superior laborers. The negro is no longer a factor in the general labor gang, but as a contractor, choosing his own hours and working in his own way, he is highly spoken of and often earns very good wages. Strange to say, he is unable to endure the intense and steady heat of the open hearth, although as an ordinary fireman he succeeds very well. Some of the unskilled work is done by "contract" or piece rate, and in this class of work the experience has been that the negro would work very hard for several days and earn an unusually high rate of pay and would then stop work for several days. So far as the second generation of English, Irish, and Germans is concerned, they are practically indistinguishable from other natives. The second generation of southern European races have as yet hardly made their appearance. Their numbers are so small that they have hardly attracted the attention of employers. They are beginning to find employment beside American boys in various occupations suitable to their age. They differ chiefly from their foreign-born relatives in their use of the English language, and in a more complete adoption of American ways.

THE USE OF INTOXICANTS IN ITS RELATION TO EFFICIENCY.

It is the custom of most of the immigrants to use beer and sometimes other liquors in moderation at their meals. This is characteristic, for example, of the Macedonians, but in the case of the Slavic