times as many as either the Japanese or the Mexicans. Of the total number of contract growers, on the other hand, 754 were GermanRussians, 158 Japanese, and 32 Mexicans. Here the German-Russians number 5 times as many as the Japanese and 25 times as many as the Mexicans.

The difference in this respect between the German-Russians and the Japanese is largely due to the fact that the German-Russians usually come with their families and ultimately become permanent settlers, while the Japanese have almost always been single men who are attracted temporarily to the beet fields by the high earnings possible there. The Mexicans in Colorado, as elsewhere, are not a landacquiring people. What little land they hold is held as a rule by Mexicans who are natives or long-time residents of the State.

In comparing further the relative progress of the German-Russians and the Japanese as landholders another striking difference between the two races appears. The German-Russian beet grower in the majority of cases owns the land he farms, while the Japanese grower is almost invariably a tenant. The Japanese, it is true, have made some progress in land ownership, but it is both slight and slow when compared with the progress made in this respect by the German-Russians. For illustration, statistics may be taken for a certain northern Colorado district in which the hand work is about evenly divided between the two races. Beet growing in this district began in 1902. German-Russians were imported in that year for the hand work. In 1904 they began buying land, and in 1909 they were said to own fully 5,000 acres, and, in addition, at least 90 per cent of the homes in which they lived in the principal town of the district. The Japanese came into this district in 1903, but, in consequence of an attempt to introduce a tonnage basis contract price among them, their numbers decreased from 200 in 1903 to 50 in 1905. In 1906, however, after the attempted change was abandoned the Japanese began to return in larger numbers, and in 1909 there were 600 of them in the district. During this time they had been leasing more and more land each year until in 1909 their holdings were as follows:

In cash rents..

In share rents_

Total

_acres__ 2, 128 _do___ 1, 452

_do____ 3, 580

Only one Japanese landowner-a half breed with a white wifewas reported.

Thus it appears that in this district, where the two races share equally in the hand work done, the German-Russians had acquired the ownership of 5,000 acres of land, while the Japanese, after a somewhat shorter stay in the community, had leased in all 3,580

acres.

It seldom happens, however, that the two races may be fairly compared in the same district. More often where one race is very successful in acquiring lands it happens that the other race is an unimportant element in the labor supply or has been so lately introduced into the community as not to have had time to acquire lands. The progress of the German-Russians in the accumulation of property is remarkably fast. Almost invariably they begin making purchases of land within two or three years after entering a beet

growing community, and cases of earlier purchases are reported. At first they turn to leasing as a substitute for working for hire, but as soon as they can accumulate a few horses, wagons, tools, etc., and a little money they begin to buy land. In 1909, for example, in a certain district which they entered in 1907 they leased 2,020 acres,a and at the time of the visit of the special agent had just bought their first farm, one of 40 acres. There were about 85 German-Russian families in this district during the season of 1909. What may be expected of them in the acquisition of land in the future may be indicated by the experience of other districts. In a district where beet growing began in 1901 it is said that fully 25 per cent of the growers are German-Russians, who till their own lands. In another district, opened in 1902, 15 families were reported in 1909 as owning an aggregate of at least 1,500 acres. This district is one in which the Japanese are the most numerous element in the labor supply, with the German-Russian as second, and the Mexicans as third.

In still another district, where the sugar company was at first the sole owner of the contributory acreage and is said to have desired to remain so, the eagerness of the German-Russians to acquire land became so great that the company was forced to divide its holdings into tracts to lease or to sell to them to prevent them from moving to other communities where land could be secured. In 1909 at least onefourth of the original holdings of the company in this community were said to be owned by German-Russians.

Although the German-Russians have made the greatest progress, even in proportion to their numbers, in the acquisition of land, the Japanese have also made much progress, but this, as has been noted, has extended for the most part only to the leasing of farms.

The extent and rapidity of the progress of the Japanese in this direction may best be shown by a few typical examples. Mention has been made above of a northern Colorado district in which in 1909 a Japanese population of 600 held among its members 3,570 acres of leased land. As only 50 Japanese were working in the community in 1905, the greater part of the immigration and the consequent leasing of land had taken place between 1905 and 1909. The eagerness of the Japanese in this district to secure land is indeed so keen that the local Japanese association fixed a maximum rate of $18 per acre as the limit of the cash rent which any of its members might pay for beet lands.

In another district which began beet growing in 1906 and imported 400 Japanese to do the handwork, the progress of the race in leasing land has been as follows, while their members have decreased from 400 in 1906 to 165 in 1909:

It is interesting to note that in this district in 1909 the Japanese cared for only 600 acres as contract laborers.

a Part of this was used for other purposes than beet growing.
See p. 125.

In still another district, where the first Japanese appeared in 1905, similar progress has been made, though on a smaller scale. The history of this district, so far as the Japanese are concerned, may be summarized as follows:

In 1909 the Japanese also contracted for the hand work on 1,200 acres. Figures for the acreage contracted for in earlier years were not obtainable.

To summarize the progress of immigrant hand workers in Colorado in the acquisition of lands by lease and purchase, it may be said (1) that the German-Russians have made the greatest progress in proportion to their numbers, and that the Japanese have made the next greatest progress. The Mexicans, on the other hand, have made little progress. (2) That the progress of the German-Russians has evidenced itself largely in the outright purchase of land, while that of the Japanese has been displayed almost entirely in the leasing of land. (3) That the differences between the German-Russians and the Japanese in the above respects are largely due to the fact that the former usually come with their families as permanent residents, while the latter are migratory laborers, either unmarried or with the wife living abroad.

JAPANESE ORGANIZATIONS IN NORTHERN COLORADO.

Three organizations were found among Japanese in the beet fields of northern Colorado. These were all in the Greeley district.

(1) The Japanese Association of Brighton, Lupton, and Plattsville was organized in January, 1908. Its constitution provides for a meeting twice a year with dues of 25 cents a month. The membership in 1909 was 125.

(2) The Brighton Japanese Agricultural Association was organized in May, 1909. Its dues are 20 cents a month. The present membership is 80.

The purposes of these organizations is to promote the welfare and protect the rights of the Japanese farmers in the community.

Interesting light is thrown on the activity of these organizations by a ruling recently made by the Japanese Association of Lupton to the effect that no Japanese should pay a cash rent of more than $18 per acre for beet land. This rule was deemed necessary in view of the strenuous competition for land existing among Japanese beet workers.

(3) In addition to these associations there is a third organization called the Northern Colorado Contractors' Union. It was estab

lished February 2, 1908, with 11 charter members. The present membership is 20. Its purpose is to check underbidding and to make prices uniform. As a result of its activities fewer contractors have failed and fewer employees have been cheated out of their wages. Among its officers the secretary of the Japanese Association of Northern Colorado is included as an honorary member. Its dues are $10 per year and it has one regular annual meeting. The union recognized the printed contract of the sugar company and fixed the standard rate for "boys" at $18. It also tried to force the company to bear the expenses of its secretary, but failed. The Fort Lupton Japanese Association refused to recognize it unless it fixed the "boys wages at $18.50 and $19. The union refused and the loss of the support of the Lupton association caused its practical dissolution.

FACTORY LABOR IN CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO.

The number of factories in each State, their location, dates of first production, and daily slicing capacities, are shown in the following tables: TABLE 40.-Beet-sugar factories in California, 1909.

This factory succeeded one which operated in Watsonville 1888-1897.
Not in operation in 1908 and 1909.

To be completed for the production of 1909.

d Capacity not known.

The nonclerical occupations in a sugar factory during the " campaign" include the work of supervision, the technical work of the chemists, the mechanical trades of the engineer, machinist, boiler maker, plumber, steam fitter, carpenter and the like, machine tending, and common labor.

Common labor is employed to shovel beets, handle lime at the lime kilns and in the factory, attend machinery where such attendance does not require special skill or training, and store and ship the finished product. Much of this work is heavy and extremely disagreeable, a fact which is emphasized by the twelve-hour work day and seven-day week universal in the beet-sugar factories of the West. Part of the factory force is retained throughout the year. This includes such foremen, clerks, mechanics, and laborers as are necessary to ship sugar ordered by dealers and keep the plant in good condition. Another and larger part of the force is employed, in addition to the foregoing, during irregular periods in the intervals between campaigns to make the necessary repairs and improvements. During the campaign the factories run continuously night and day every day in the week. All employees, with the exception of some of the supervisory and clerical force, the chemists, mechanics, and now and then a sack sewer who works on a contract basis, work in twelve-hour shifts, eating lunch, so far as possible, while on duty. Except at the opening and close of the season, a fairly constant force of factory hands is employed throughout the campaign. Their work, therefore, is seasonal, but, unlike the hand work in the beet fields, regular during the season. In California and Colorado the campaign lasts between three and four months, beginning in the former State between the first of June and the middle of August, and in the latter about the 1st of October.

To summarize, it may be said that occupations in a beet-sugar factory show, (1) a wide range as to the amount of skill and experience required, and (2) a variation as to the length of the period of employment, the more efficient and faithful employees being given the work to be done in the intervals between campaigns. Laborers are hired either as they apply for work or through the medium of employment agencies in the larger cities. Often enough applicants come in from the vicinity of the factory. Many laborers, too, come to the factory year after year from more distant places, and there are also many transient laborers. Moreover, applicants are secured in reply to advertisements in the newspapers of the near-by cities.

Except in a few instances of laborers who take contracts to sew sacks or shovel beets and coal, all factory workmen are paid on a time basis. Pay days are monthly or biweekly.

FACTORY LABOR IN CALIFORNIA.

I. Men employed.

During the season of 1909 some 2,500 men were employed in the beet-sugar factories of California. Of this number about one-fifth were Mexicans, while practically all the remainder were white men of various races. Only one Japanese was reported, although there were doubtless a few more here and there.

The Mexicans were found almost entirely in factories in southern California, in the districts where they were most prominent in the field work. Within these districts, however, their relative importance in the factories varies inversely with their prominence in the fields. Thus, in one district where the Mexicans (with about 200 men) constitute three-fourths of the force of hand workers in the