TABLE 21. Average number of boarders or lodgers per household, by general nativity and race of head of household.. Page. 749,750 22. Number and per cent of foreign households keeping boarders or lodg- 23. Number and per cent of apartments in which gainful occupation is 24. Number and per cent of apartments in which gainful occupation is 26. Per cent of households where toilet is used by each specified number 751 751 752 753 754 755 29. Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per 28. Number and per cent of families owning home, by general nativity 756 757 30. Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per 32. Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per per- 34. Per cent of males 16 years of age or over in each specified industry 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 38. Yearly earnings (approximate) of females 18 years of age or over, by 765 39. Per cent of families having an income within the year from husband, 40. Earnings per year of male heads of families, by general nativity and 766 767 41. Number and per cent of male heads of households who speak English, 768 42. Number and per cent of foreign-born male heads of households who 769 43. Number and per cent of foreign-born male heads of households who 44. Number and per cent of male heads of households who read and 46. Present political condition of foreign-born male heads of households 769 770 771 772 IMMIGRANTS IN CITIES. INTRODUCTORY. Congestion of immigrants in large cities has long been considered one of the most unfavorable features of the modern problem of immigration. The Commission, convinced of the importance of this phase of the problem, inaugurated an investigation of living conditions among the residents of some of the most crowded quarters of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Milwaukee. The purpose of the inquiry was to determine to what extent congestion actually prevails among immigrants in cities and the conditions peculiar to particular cities and races, and also to find generally the economic and social status of the city-dwelling immigrant. All information was secured through personal visits by agents of the Commission. The investigation covers 10,206 households, comprising 51,006 individuals. Emphasis must be placed upon the fact that this is a study of congested or poor localities, and comparison of races should be made with this limitation in mind. Many social workers and tenement-house reformers have made studies of individual families in congested districts, most of which represent extreme cases of poverty. The present investigation includes a great many households that live in poverty and amid more or less insanitary surroundings; a study of the individual schedules reveals the presence of highly objectionable conditions in many families. The Commission's agents, however, did not confine themselves to records of the poorest families, but obtained schedules from all the households within a neighborhood selected for study. Thus the report tends to modify impressions based on studies of extreme cases, and brings out the fact that a large majority of the immigrants in cities lead a decent, hard-working life, in homes that are clean, though in many cases poor, and that the undesirable conditions prevailing in congested quarters often are not brought about by the residents, but largely in spite of them. RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION. The most important results of the investigation are summarized in the pages following. In view of the fact that this study is limited to congested and poor districts of the cities investigated, it is important to keep in mind that the report does not represent conditions outside of such districts, and that comparisons by race apply only to those representatives of each race who live in the poorer sections of the cities. 1. The search for immigrant races in congested districts revealed the fact that the population of such districts consists predominantly a For schedule forms see Vol. II, pp. 653-662 and 668-673. of races of recent immigration. Races of the older immigration and their descendants are represented for the most part only by the remnants of an earlier population, whose economic progress has not kept pace with that of their fellows who have moved to better surroundings. In all seven of the cities studied the Russian Hebrews and South Italians are among the principal races in congested districts. In the cities on the Great Lakes the Poles, Bohemians, and other Slavic races are relatively much more numerous than in the Atlantic coast cities. In the districts studied the most important races numerically are the South Italian, Hebrew, Polish, Slovak, Syrian, and Lithuanian among the more recent immigrant races, and the Irish, Bohemian, and German among the races which have been coming to this country for a longer period of time. Comparatively few households whose heads are native-born of native father were found in the districts canvassed. 2. Forty-eight of every 100 foreign-born male heads of households studied have come to the United States within the past ten years, and 21 of every 100 have come within five years. Of the races represented by 100 or more male heads of households the Magyars have the largest per cent of arrivals within the past ten years, 84 in 100 having come within that time. The negroes (foreign-born) have the next largest proportion. These are followed in order by the Syrians, Slovenians, Lithuanians, Slovaks, Russian Hebrews, Poles, Hebrews other than Russian, South Italians, Bohemians and Moravians, Germans, Irish, and Swedish, only 10 Swedes in 100 having come within the last ten years. 3. Immigration to the United States has been, on the part of male heads of households in the districts studied, largely a migration from country to city of people unfamiliar with urban conditions. Thirty-nine of every 100 who were 16 years of age or over at the time of coming to the United States were engaged in farming in the country of their former residence. Of the races represented by 100 or more persons the Irish show the highest proportion who were farmers abroad-69 in every 100. Then follow the Lithuanians, with 67 in 100, the Poles with 64 in 100, the Slovaks with 61, the Slovenians with 57, the Magyars with 45, and the South Italians with 44. Bohemians, Germans, and Syrians were farmers in less than one-fourth of all cases. Few Hebrews, Russian and other, were on farms in Europe. 4. Nearly one-tenth of all the families investigated own their homes. The proportion varies from 1 family in 200 in New York to 1 family in 5 in Milwaukee. In general much larger proportions of the older immigrant races than of those of recent immigration are home owners. Among recent immigrant races represented by 100 or more families, the Slavic races have high proportions of home owners; among races of older immigration the Germans have the highest proportion, approximately 1 in 4. 5. Twenty-six households in every 100 studied keep boarders or lodgers. The proportion is smallest in Milwaukee and largest in Chicago. In New York, the largest city, the proportion among households studied is 25 in 100. The proportion is smaller in nativeborn white households than in foreign households. Considering all immigrants regardless of race, it will be found that the proportion of households with boarders or lodgers is only about half as great among immigrants who have lived in the United States ten years or more as among the more recent immigrants. 6. Forty-five in every 100 of the homes studied are kept in good condition, and 84 in every 100 are kept in either good or fair condition. The proportion of clean homes is higher among the nativeborn whites than among the immigrants, and much higher among the white race as a whole than among the negro. As a rule the races of the older immigration have a higher proportion of well-kept apartments than have the recent immigrant races, but in general the proportion of well-kept homes is high. The neglected appearance of a great many of the streets is a result of indifference on the part of the city authorities about keeping out-of-the-way districts clean rather than of carelessness on the part of the residents. In frequent cases the streets are dirty while the homes are clean. 7. Sanitary equipment depends primarily on the city. The districts investigated in Philadelphia and Cleveland make the least satisfactory showing in this respect. Some of the races, however, such as the South Italians and Syrians among recent and the Irish among older immigrants, are not so well provided with sanitary equipment as are other races. 8. In the households investigated the average number of persons per 100 rooms is 134, and per 100 sleeping rooms 232. The cities may be arranged in regard to crowding in the following order: Boston, 144 persons per 100 rooms; Philadelphia, 141; Cleveland, 140; New York, 139; Buffalo, 133; Chicago, 126; Milwaukee, 114. Density of population, or congestion per acre, is not the only factor in determining the degree of crowding per room. Well-regulated tenement houses are better adapted to the needs of a crowded city than are private houses converted for the use of several families. Enlightened tenement-house laws, effectively enforced, minimize the unavoidable evils which arise from the crowding together of large numbers of families. Congestion per room is considerably greater in foreign than in native households, whether white or negro. Considering only immigrant races represented by 100 or more households, it is found that the degree of congestion is greatest among the Slovenians, with whom the average number of persons per 100 rooms reaches 172; with the South Italians the average is 166; with the Slovaks, 161; with the Poles, 155; with the Magyars, 153; with the Lithuanians, 151, and with the Russian Hebrews, 147. The low averages are found among the Swedes, with whom the average number of persons per 100 rooms is 93, and among the Germans, with whom the average is 99. 9. Rent among households studied is considerably higher in the Atlantic coast cities than in the cities on the Great Lakes. Rents are highest in New York, where the average per room is $3.89 per month, and lowest in Cleveland, where the average per room is $2.03. It is of interest in this connection that the average number of persons per 100 rooms is about the same in the two cities, 139 in New York and 140 in Cleveland. 72289°-VOL 1-11-47 The races which pay very high rents per room are the Greek, Syrian, Hebrew (Russian and other), foreign-born negro, and South Italian, none of which averages as low as $3.25 per month per room. The races which pay especially low rents are the Polish, Slovenian, and Slovak, none of which pays, on an average, as high as $2.25 per room. It will be recalled that relatively large numbers of the Slavic races studied are in the cities on the Great Lakes, where rents are comparatively low; these races, however, will generally be found to pay relatively low rents per room in all the cities where they have been studied. Households of immigrants as compared with native-born white households pay, on the whole, higher rents per room but considerably lower rents per person. The lower rents per person among immigrants are, of course, due to the greater number of persons per room. The larger size of the households is due in considerable degree to the greater number of boarders and lodgers among immigrants, there being on an average 62 boarders or lodgers to 100 immigrant households as compared with 19 to 100 native white households. 10. A great majority of foreign-born male heads of households who came to the United States before reaching 14 years of age are now able to speak English and to read and write. Practically all persons native-born of foreign father among those studied speak the English language and are able to read and write. Among the male heads of households studied who have been in the United States 5 years or over and who were at least 21 years of age at arrival in this country, 38 in every 100 have become citizens, 16 in every 100 have taken out first papers only, and 46 in every 100 have taken no action whatever in regard to becoming naturalized. Many factors have a tendency to retard or to encourage naturalization, and wide differences exist among the several races in this respect. 11. The great majority of immigrants in the districts studied have come to join relatives or friends. This statement is based on the answers to an inquiry made in this study relative to the reasons for coming to the United States, to the city, and to the neighborhood investigated. The original selection of a district as a center of settlement by members of a given race is largely a matter of chance. A study of the displacement of one race by another may be of interest in the history of a city, but as a problem of immigration the important fact is that certain races have formed colonies in American cities, and that the colonies grow as a direct result of continued immigration of members of the same races. Of the immigrant races represented in this study by 100 or more households, the Bohemians and Moravians, South Italians, Poles, and Slovenians report more than three-fourths of their households as having spent the entire period of residence since the establishing of the family in the United States in the neighborhood where they now reside, usually a colony of their race. All immigrant races except the Irish and Magyars report more than one-half of their households as having had no residence outside of the neighborhood where they now live. The groups of forces which keep the foreign colonies together may be divided into two important classes: (1) Economic difficulty of change, and (2) racial cohesion. The difficulty and expense of moving, the risk connected with change in employment, and the necessity |