Immigration and Labor

Congestion in the settlements of past generations of immi-

grants in New York City

65

Aversion of the early Irish immigrants to employment in

'

Difference between the old and the new immigration quantitative,

not qualitative.

Immigration and emigration regulated by demand for labor

The myth of imported immigrants.

Unemployment the result of industrial maladjustment

Unemployment varies inversely with immigration

Limited demand for immigrant labor in agriculture

Effect of immigration not racial displacement, but evolution of

an English-speaking aristocracy of labor

Causes of the decrease of emigration from Northern and Western

Europe.

Race suicide unrelated to immigration

Economic reason for the predominance of unskilled laborers among

the immigrants

The standard of living of the recent immigrant not inferior to that

of his predecessors

Higher standard of living of the American workman maintained

with the aid of his children's wages

Native workmen and older immigrants not underbid by recent

Immigration not the cause of the labor problem

Restriction of immigration no relief for unemployment

Effects of slow industrial expansion

Futility of the literacy test

STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION.

Objections to immigration

Old and new immigration

What is "undesirable" immigration

The problem of assimilation

Restriction of competition demanded by organized labor
Cosmopolitanism and the theory of "seclusion and isolation"

CHAPTER II.

THE REPORT OF THE IMMIGRATION COMMISSION.

Conclusions of the Commission: Immigration-an economic

problem

Defects of the Report:

Absence of a historical view

Lack of statistical evidence to support its conclusions

Race distinction the dominant idea of the investigation

Deceptive statistical generalizations.

CHAPTER III.

OLD AND NEW IMMIGRATION.

The immigrant of bygone days as popularly pictured

The bulk of immigrants a century ago indentured servants

Destitution of the free immigrants before the era of the "new

immigration"

Congestion in the settlements of past generations of immi-

grants in New York City

65

Aversion of the early Irish immigrants to employment in

farming

67

Native Americans left the woolen mills before 1880,-not forced

out by recent immigrants.

Americans of native stock coming back to the mills since the

arrival of the new immigrants.

Recent expansion of the woolen industry.

Wages stationary prior to the new immigration, increasing since.

Wages of unskilled laborers increased at a higher rate than

those of skilled operatives

Tales of induced immigration unconfirmed

Strike record of English-speaking operatives exceeded by recent

THE IRON AND STEEL WORKERS.

The "princes of labor" and the "white coolies."

394

No "crowding out" of English-speaking workmen by immigrants. 395

Highly paid men a small fraction of the force in the past, as in

the present.

Wages of unskilled laborers rising

Technical revolution in the iron and steel industry

Retention of skilled men conditioned upon the employment of in-

creasing numbers of unskilled laborers

397

398

New immigrants not working for less pay than natives or older

immigrants

Wages in the iron and steel industry vary directly as the ratio of

recent immigrants

401

Sunday work and long hours the general rule long before the period

of the "new immigration." Demand of employers for an

eight-hour day in the 80's resisted by organized skilled iron

and steel workers. Piece-workers firm for a twelve-hour day. 409

The Amalgamated Association a union of skilled workers only.

Common laborers barred from membership

Decline of the organization due to substitution of machinery for

skill

.

412

Attempt of recent immigrants to organize along industrial lines. 413

CHAPTER XXI.

THE COAL MINERS.

The "racial displacement" theory of the Immigration Com-

mission .

Opening of new mining fields the real cause of the westward move-

Other avenues opened by the general expansion of industry
Caste prejudice against the immigrant the outgrowth of occupa-
tional stratification.

Displacement of the pick-miner by the mining machine: employ-
ment of unskilled immigrants the effect, not the cause, of the
introduction of mining machines

Fluctuations in the demand for coal

Part-time employment in lieu of unemployment

The migratory worker the product, not the cause, of irregularity

Average number of days per man has increased with recent immi-

gration

Rise in wages

436

438

The company house and the company store as old as the coal-
mining industry

History of the miners' unions in the bituminous coal fields.

Biennial conferences between the mine operators and the United

Competition of unorganized Americans of native stock

Southern and Eastern European immigrants affiliated with miners'

organizations since the early 80's; have joined in every strike. 449

Violence in strikes not a special characteristic of the recent immi-
grants

447

450

Failure of the organization in West Virginia and the Southern

fields not due to immigration .

Miners' unions in the anthracite fields short-lived prior to 1897. 454

Capacity of Slavs for compact organization

The strike of 1902: significance of the award of the Anthracite

Coal Strike Commission .

Work accidents attributed to recent immigration. An adaptation

of the common-law theory of liability for accidents

Competition among coal operators the primary cause of waste of

458

Misleading comparisons between English-speaking and non-

English-speaking employees

Majority of accidents preventable by mining legislation and

efficient inspection of coal mines

462

468

471

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