In studying the table further it will be noted that none of the countries of southern or eastern Europe were included in the classifications of the censuses of 1880 and 1890, any employees born in the countries referred to being classified under the caption "Other countries." The figures of the tables show that the States of the South leading in the manufacture of iron and steel are, at the present time, Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia. In the composition of the working force according to color and nativity, Alabama and Maryland are seen to be representative of conditions in the section, and for this reason, as already pointed out, have been selected for detailed study.

In 1880 the development of the iron and steel industry in Alabama had hardly begun. The total number of employees reported for the State was 352 as against 1,800, the returns for Maryland. All but a very few of the Alabama employees were native-born, while over 15 per cent of the Maryland employees were of foreign birth. Of the foreign-born employees reported for Maryland the largest number were of German and the second largest number of Irish birth. Only 12 individuals were reported under the caption "Other countries." The classification of this census supplies no information as to color. Undoubtedly, however, a few of the native-born employees in Maryland and a very large proportion of those in Alabama were

negroes.

In the decade from 1880 to 1890, while the number of employees in Alabama increased tenfold as against an increase of only about one-third in Maryland, there seems to have been but little change in the composition of the working force in either State. The figures of Table 634 show that in 1890 considerably more than one-half of the employees in Alabama were negroes and that only about 10 per cent were foreign-born. Among the foreign-born, natives of Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany had, in the order mentioned, the largest representation. Of the Maryland employees, slightly over one-sixth were foreign-born persons from Germany, Ireland, and Great Britain, while between 2 and 3 per cent were negroes. Neither in Alabama nor in Maryland were there more than a very few individuals of southern or eastern European nativity.

Between 1890 and 1900 the number of employees in Maryland increased about 50 per cent and the number in Alabama increased more than 100 per cent. At the same time the composition of the working force changed to a certain degree in Maryland, but hardly at all in Alabama. The proportion of negroes increased very materially. Among the foreign-born the proportion of individuals of southern and eastern European nativity was still very small. In Alabama almost two-thirds of all the employees were negroes and only a little over 5 per cent were of foreign birth, a percentage considerably lower than the corresponding percentage for 1890. The proportion of persons of southern and eastern European parentage was even smaller than in Maryland.

The figures of the tables presented show that up to 1900 the South had not received any considerable proportion of the tide of recent immigration which has become so material a factor in the iron and steel industry in other sections of the country. Since 1900, however, the number of southern and eastern Europeans employed has mate

rially increased, the operating forces of the furnaces and mills in Alabama and Maryland being largely recruited from the labor supply from this source.

PERIOD OF RESIDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES OF FOREIGN-BORN EMPLOYEES.

The period of residence in this country of foreign-born iron and steel workers does not afford as satisfactory an insight into racial movements to the South as in the case in other localities, for the reason that direct immigration to the South is comparatively small, the incoming immigrant usually living for a short time at least in other sections before migrating to the southern States.

The following tables, however, are of value in showing by race the percentage of foreign-born male employees for whom information was received who had been in the United States each specified number of years. The columns showing proportions in the United States under five years in the first table are grouped in one column in the second table.

TABLE 637.-Per cent of foreign-born male employees in the United States under 1 year, year, 2 years, etc., by race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. No deduction is made for time spent abroad. This table includes only races with 40 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

TABLE 638.-Per cent of foreign-born male employees in the United States each specified number of years, by race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. No deduction is made for time spent abroad. This table includes only races with 40 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

Per cent in United States each specified number of

As regards the 1,788 foreign-born male employees, concerning whom information was obtained in this locality, 60 per cent have been in the United States under five years. Only 8.7 per cent have been in the United States under one year, while 18.2, 17.7, 10.3, and 5.1 per cent have been in the United States one, two, three, and four years, respectively. Of those who have been in the United States for a longer period, 12.5 have a residence of from five to nine, 4.4 a residence of from ten to fourteen, 5.5 from fifteen to nineteen, and 17.6 per cent a residence of twenty years or over. No Swedes or Germans and only 1 per cent of the English and 1.2 per cent of the Irish, as compared with 20.3 per cent of the Greeks and slightly smaller proportions of the Russians and South Italians, have been in the United States under one year. The Bulgarians, 68.3 per cent of whom have been in the United States one year, show a considerably larger proportion with this period of residence than do the Greeks and a very much larger proportion than do the Russians, South Italians, or North Italians, the last named reporting 22.1 per cent. No Irish, Lithuanians, or Scotch, and only 1.5 per cent of the Germans and 2 per cent of the English, report a residence of one year. The proportions of English, Irish, and German with a residence of two and three years, as contrasted with the proportions of the other races, are very low. No Bulgarians, and only 1.2 per cent of the compared with 15.2 per cent of the Slovaks and 12.5 per cent Irish, The proportions the races with this period of residence range from 7.8 per of the the North Italians to 2.1 per cent of the Russians.

cene

nine

Lithuanians, report in the four-year group.

Greeks, Russians, and Irish again show very small proportions, mpared with the other races, with a residence of from five to years, while the Slovaks, with 27.8 per cent, closely followed by the Lithuanians, show comparatively large proportions. No Greeks have

been in the United States longer than nine and no Russians longer than fourteen years. The Russians report the smallest proportion with a residence of fourteen years, while the Lithuanians, with 10.4 per cent, report the largest. As regards those who have been in 'he United States from fifteen to nineteen years, the Germans, with 15.7 per cent, show a slightly larger proportion than the Swedes, Poles, English, or Irish, and a considerably larger proportion than any of the other races. Only 1 per cent of the South Italians and only very small proportions of the other races of recent immigration have been in the United States twenty years or over. The proportions of the Irish, English, Germans, and Scotch with this period of residence range from 71.8 to 48.5 per cent.

RACIAL CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES AT THE PRESENT TIME.

The racial composition of the operating forces of the industry in the South at the present time is set forth in the following table, which shows the number and percentage of male employees of each race for whom information was secured:

TABLE 639.-Male employees for whom information was secured, by general nativity and

In comparing the totals of the preceding table, the significant feature disclosed is the large proportion of native-born employees as compared with the foreign-born and the native-born of foreign father. The white employees, native-born of native father, form 32.6 per cent of the total number furnishing information, and the negroes of the same nativity group, 39.1 per cent. On the other hand, the employees of native birth but of foreign father constitute only 6.9 per cent and the foreign-born 21.5 per cent of the total. The principal races of foreign birth employed in the South and furnishing information for the preceding table are the South Italians, Greeks, Slovaks, Russians, and Germans, and the second generation is made up principally of Germans and Irish.