United States and the labor supply abroad is ordinarily the oral or written accounts of immigrants who have worked in the worsted and cotton mills." The native resident of Lawrence, who may never have been as far away from home as New York, cannot imagine how these thousands of strangers could have found their way to his town without 'some organized effort." "Everywhere one goes in the city tales are told of the efforts made by one woolen company to procure laborers in Europe." The Commission has made an effort to investigate these tales with the following results:

I

One informant had a cousin in Glasgow who had written concerning pictures of the new mill which he had seen, and concerning an agent of the woolen company. Nothing more definite could be learned. Another informant who was much exercised over reports of this sort had written to the Secretary of the Wool Sorters' Union of Bradford, England, a district said to have been well covered with advertising matter, asking for information. The English trade-union official had, however, seen no advertisements of this sort. A clergyman in close touch with the industrial situation expressed himself as "convinced that agents are sent to Europe to get labor." The priest of the Italian congregation, one of the largest of the foreign churches—the greater part of whose membership has come from abroad within the past few years-states that accounis of the mills and assertions that “wages of $10 a week" are paid have appeared in Italian and other European newspapers.2

It is evident that in this age of the daily press news of the American labor market travels fast all over the globe. It is not at all impossible that the Table on page 774 of the Report of the Immigration Commission on Cotton Goods Manufacturing, showing that some classes of the operatives in the Lawrence mills earned as much as $14, $15, and even $16 a week, may yet be republished in some Old World newspaper and have the effect of stimulating the immigration of a fresh supply of Italian or Syrian laborers for the Lawrence woolen mills.

In view of the general conclusion of the Immigration 1 Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. 10., p. 770.

a Ibid.

Commission that the recent immigrants are willing to work "indefinitely without protest" for low wages, it is interesting to note the characterization of the recent immigrants by a number of superintendents and foremen of the two largest Lawrence mills. "While opinions differ somewhat, there appears to be a considerable uniformity of judgment as to their characteristics." The Italians are quick to leave their positions if they see any apparent advantage elsewhere. One mill superintendent stated that "they no sooner get a job than they want something better; they work in droves; discharge one and they all go.

That such characteristics are favorable to concerted action for economic improvement, has been demonstrated by the recent strike of the polyglot working force at the Lawrence mills. An observer whose sympathies were with old-line trade-unionism, noted with surprise that "the capacity of this great host of recent immigrants, representing a number of supposedly alienated nationalities, for continuous, effective solidarity is one of the revelations of the present strike."3

The measure of success achieved by these alien strikers can be realized by comparison with the statistics of strikes for the twenty-year period 1881-1900, when the operatives in the woolen and worsted mills of Massachusetts were practically all of the English-speaking races. During that period there were in all 81 strikes, of which only 9 were declared by labor organizations, while 72 were unorganized movements, like the recent strike at Lawrence. The aggregate number of strikers in the State of Massachusetts for the twenty years was only 5618, i. e., about one third of the number engaged in the one recent strike at Lawrence. The aggregate number thrown out of employment by the strikes was 10,144 for the whole period, but 16,117 opera

1 Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. I, p. 541. a Ibid., vol. 10, p. 771.

3 The Survey, March 16, 1912, p. 1930: "The Clod Stirs.' A. Woods, head worker of South End House of Boston.

By Robert

tives remained at work while the strikes were on. Of the 83 mills involved only 31 were forced to close while 52 were able to run with the majority that remained at work.'

Thus with all odds against them, the recent immigrants speaking in sixteen different languages, have given proof of far greater cohesion than the English-speaking operatives of former years.

1 Sixteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, Table iv., pp. 332-355.

I

Commission that the recent immigrants are willing to work "indefinitely without protest" for low wages, it is interesting to note the characterization of the recent immigrants by a number of superintendents and foremen of the two largest Lawrence mills. "While opinions differ somewhat, there appears to be a considerable uniformity of judgment as to their characteristics." The Italians are quick to leave their positions if they see any apparent advantage elsewhere. One mill superintendent stated that "they no sooner get a job than they want something better; they work in droves; discharge one and they all go."2

That such characteristics are favorable to concerted action for economic improvement, has been demonstrated by the recent strike of the polyglot working force at the Lawrence mills. An observer whose sympathies were with old-line trade-unionism, noted with surprise that "the capacity of this great host of recent immigrants, representing a number of supposedly alienated nationalities, for continuous, effective solidarity is one of the revelations of the present strike."3

The measure of success achieved by these alien strikers can be realized by comparison with the statistics of strikes for the twenty-year period 1881-1900, when the operatives in the woolen and worsted mills of Massachusetts were practically all of the English-speaking races. During that period there were in all 81 strikes, of which only 9 were declared by labor organizations, while 72 were unorganized movements, like the recent strike at Lawrence. The aggregate number of strikers in the State of Massachusetts for the twenty years was only 5618, i. e., about one third of the number engaged in the one recent strike at Lawrence. The aggregate number thrown out of employment by the strikes was 10,144 for the whole period, but 16,117 opera

of the Immigration Commission, vol. 1, p. 541.

10, p. 771.

March 16, 1912, p. 1930: "The Clod Stirs." By Robert 1 worker of South End House of Boston.

Of the

tives remained at work while the strikes were on. 83 mills involved only 31 were forced to close while 52 were able to run with the majority that remained at work.'

Thus with all odds against them, the recent immigrants speaking in sixteen different languages, have given proof of far greater cohesion than the English-speaking operatives of former years.

1 Sixteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, Table iv., pp. 332-355.