CHAPTER V. INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND EFFICIENCY. Industrial progress of the several races-General efficiency, by races-Order of preference, by races. INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS OF THE SEVERAL RACES. Employers in the Birmingham district agree that the Englishspeaking immigrant races, especially the Scotch and the Welsh, are advancing faster in the scale of occupations than any others. Very few North Italians are found in this district, but these few are stated to have shown more industrial advancement than other non-Englishspeaking races. But slight progress has been noted, according to the statements of employers, on the part of Slovaks, South Italians, Poles, Lithuanians, Bulgarians, and other southern European races. So far as advancement in the scale of occupations is concerned, these latter races are classed below the negroes. It is fair to note two points with reference to this generalization. One is that the division between English-speaking and non-Englishspeaking races does not necessarily mean that the knowledge of English has enabled the former to achieve the progress that they have attained. In one instance the Swedes were said to have made the greatest progress and to have shown the greatest capability for advancement among all immigrant races. These Swedes had learned to speak English, it is true, but their progress did not depend entirely on that fact by any means. As a general rule the employers who expressed an opinion stated that the basis of advancement was efficiency alone, although the value of a knowledge of English to the employee was of course admitted as a factor. A second qualification is that a very few employers were able to express an intelligent opinion on the relative progress of immigrants by races, because the southern European races had not been in residence long enough or continuously enough to have proven or disproven their ability to advance in any given occupation in the mines or in the steel and iron plants. The Scotch, Welsh, English, and Irish, on the other hand, are the oldest immigrants in the district. Not only are they the first immigrants, but a considerable number of them were experienced in their particular occupations before they emigrated from their native lands or before they came to the Birmingham district. This is particularly true of the earlier immigrant coal miners, who had been engaged in that occupation either before they left their home countries or had had experience in mining in other sections of the United States. Slovak, Bulgarian, Italian, and other southern European immigrants not only have not been in the district very long, but they were inexperienced before they came. While noting these two considerations, however, the employers who had a basis for an opinion stated that with very few exceptions the southern European races had exhibited no ability to rise in the scale of occupations. The same tendency was evident with regard to the attainment of executive positions by the various races. Only English-speaking races among the immigrants exhibited any tendency toward becoming foremen. This is especially true of the Scotch and Welsh, particularly the Scotch. In only one mining company was there a southern European foreman-an Italian who had charge of a gang of Italians on a coal tipple. This same company employed two negro foremen over negro gangs, which was an unusual condition in the district. For the most part, all of the executive positions, even the lowest, are occupied by native whites and Scotch. The only reason given for this condition by the employer is that the native white or the Scotch or Welsh is preferred on account of his aptitude as well as his sense of responsibility, which may be translated into confidence on the part of the employers. The school attendance of immigrant children as an indication of their industrial progress would appear to show a different result than that stated above, for the children of all immigrants attend school. But the second generation has not yet appeared in the Birmingham district, except the children of the older and English-speaking immigrants, so that while the percentage of attendance of immigrant children at school is perhaps high on account of the fact that the employees are assessed by the companies for school expenses, as described in another section of this report, the effect of this attendance has not yet had time to appear except in rare instances. In these instances, however, where the second generation has appeared, regardless of the races, it has been the experience of all employers who had a basis for an opinion that the second generation is far superior to the first in every way. None of the southern European races of the first generation exhibit any great ability to learn English beyond a certain limit, which is to carry on a simple conversation on restricted subjects; but their children, largely through their attendance upon school and their association with the children of natiye Americans, exhibit a great progress in this direction. To sum up, therefore, the consensus of the opinions of the employers regarding the progress of the immigrants by races it appears that very slow progress has been shown by any of the southern European races, and that they do not believe that length of residence would have any effect upon their position. The first generation of these races as a whole is regarded as incapable of progress in industry and is fit for the unskilled occupations only. On the other hand, the older immigrants, such as the Scotch, Welsh, and English, show nearly if not quite the same degree of progress in the industrial scale as the native whites, while the negroes as a general rule are classed as a little better than the southern European races. The question of comparative racial efficiency and preference by race on the part of the employers is given in greater detail in the two following sections. GENERAL EFFICIENCY, BY RACES. As a general conclusion from the statement of employers, the native whites, Scotch, Welsh, English, and, in fact, all the northern European races are considered much more efficient than the negroes or the races of southern Europe. Very little if any difference in the various northern European races or among the native whites could be ascertained. The American whites, English, Welsh, Scotch, Irish, Germans, Swedes, etc., are generally thought to be equally capable and equally good workmen. Only individual distinctions, rather than racial distinctions, were expressed. With the exception of the South Italians, the races of recent immigration were not represented in sufficient numbers for comparison with the native employees. An important fact is the practically universal opinion among employers that South Italians are extremely inefficient and the most inefficient of all races, whether immigrant or native. The only exception to this opinion was that of the officials of one large steel company, who expressed the belief that under conditions of "mixing" races, or making negroes and Italians work together in the same occupations, as described in another section of this report, the Italians could be developed into efficient workers. This company stated that they had attained good results from this system. As a general rule, however, South Italians, who in the Birmingham district are chiefly Sicilians, were classed with Macedonians, Lithuanians, and Bulgarians as inefficient and to be used only when the supply of native or other immigrant labor was inadequate to the demand. In the opinion of the employers whose experience with all races affords a sufficient basis for comparison, the negro, as compared with both of the classes of employees already described, occupies a position of an intermediate nature. This applies, of course, to unskilled and semiskilled labor, as only native whites and the best class of northern European races are employed in the skilled occupations. In spite of the shiftlessness which is attributed generally by employers to the negroes, they are regarded as distinctly superior in all unskilled work in the steel plants to southern European immigrants. ORDER OF PREFERENCE, BY RACES. The preference, according to race, for employees as expressed by the employers in the Birmingham district follows very closely their estimates of the relative racial efficiency of the different races whom they have engaged in their mines and plants. To a very small extent is their preference tempered by racial prejudices, other than the extent to which prejudice influenced their estimates of efficiency. A compilation of the preferences of all employers, particularly the larger ones who have had most experience with immigrants, shows that English, Scotch, Welsh, French, and Irish are classed with native whites as the first choice. No distinctions were made among the above-named races, except where a preference for native whites in skilled occupations was expressed. Germans were preferred first after these races in the one or two cases where they were employed. Negroes were the second choice of practically all employers, only one instance of another race not already included in the above being preferred, the race in question being Italians. Slovaks were preferred by more employers than any other race as third choice, although many grouped all southern European races together. Those having the largest number of immigrants in their employ, however, put Slovaks in a higher class than Italians, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Poles, or Greeks. The last-named races, especially the Italians, were only accepted in any occupation or capacity as a last resort. Secti ers northe ne ce in could |