The foregoing table shows that 49.6 per cent of the total number of persons reporting had been working abroad for wages, 28.1 per cent had been working without wages, and 21.5 per cent had been working for profit. Only 0.7 per cent of the total number were without any occupation before they came to this country. The North Italians had the largest proportion working for wages and the smallest proportion working for profit. The South Italians, on the other hand, had a larger percentage working for profit than any other race for which information is shown. It should also be noted that 41.3 per cent of the Lithuanian males had been working abroad without wages. Continuing the analysis a step further, the table next submitted exhibits the principal occupations followed by the persons in the general industrial groups:

TABLE 325.-Occupation before coming to the United States of foreign-born males who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

The most interesting showing made by the above table is that the occupations of the present immigrant mine workers when abroad were, in practically all cases, not of a kind to afford any experience or training for industrial life in this country. Only 1.5 per cent of the 135 males reporting had been engaged in mining before coming to the United States. Of the several races, the South Italian has the largest proportion of males who had worked as miners abroad. Farming appears to have been the chief occupation in which the male immigrants were engaged. Of the total number, 19.3 per cent had worked as farm laborers for wages and 28.1 per cent as farm laborers without wages, while 21.5 per cent were farmers for profit. Of the races specified, the Lithuanians had the largest relative proportion of farm laborers, both in the class working for wages and in the class working without wages. The South Italians, however, show a relatively higher proportion of males who had been engaged abroad in farming for profit.

PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION OF IMMIGRANT EMPLOYEES BEFORE COMING TO THE UNITED STATES.

Of more value than the results of the household study for this particular inquiry is the information obtained from 7,676 miners as a result of the individual investigation. These data are put forward in the following table:

TABLE 326.—Per cent of foreign-born male employees in each specified occupation before coming to the United States, by race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[This table includes only races with 80 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

The preceding table shows that only 30.5 per cent of the total number reporting were miners abroad, the greater part, 53.2 per cent, having been farmers or farm laborers. By a separation of the older from the more recent immigrants it appears that the races of southern and eastern Europe, which constitute the principal source of mining labor at present, report only 13.8 per cent as having had any experience or training in mining abroad.

Five per cent of the total number reporting were employed prior to their arrival in the United States as common laborers; 6.1 per cent were in hand trades; 2 per cent were in manufacturing industries; and 3.2 per cent had occupations not specified. The two principal groups, farming and mining, comprise upward of three-fourths of each of the leading races. In the case of the Russians, 94.2 per cent were engaged in farming or mining. The five races showing the highest percentages of farmers are the five reporting the smallest proportion of miners, and vice versa.

The Russians were most largely engaged in farming, 86.9 per cent of them being thus reported. The Croatians follow with 81.3 per cent, the Lithuanians with 79.7 per cent, and the Slovaks with 75.3 per cent. Other races with considerably more than one-half of their number reported in this class are the Poles, Magyars, and South Italians. The Welsh, Scotch, and English had the fewest farmers, the number in each case being less than 2 per cent of the whole. The Bohemians

and Moravians show 10.7 per cent, and the Germans 17.6 per cent, as farmers or farm laborers.

The highest percentage, or 9.7, of laborers in industries other than farming is reported by the Lithuanians, followed by 6.6 per cent of the South Italians, 5.9 per cent of the North Italians, 5.6 per cent of the Bohemians and Moravians, and 5.4 per cent of the Germans. Less than 1 per cent of the Russians were laborers in other industries than farming, and the English, Slovak, Scotch, and Magyar races report but 2 or 3 per cent.

Of the total of 7,676, the 153 males who were connected with manufacturing industries abroad comprise the smallest group and are but 2 per cent of the whole number furnishing data. The North Italians show the greatest number engaged in manufacturing, their percentage being 4.1; the Croatians, with 3.2 per cent, rank second, and the Poles, with 2 per cent, third. No South Italians and no Scotch are reported, and only one of all the Russians appears in this classification.

On the other hand, the hand trades gave employment abroad to more than three times as many males as did manufacturing. The Germans stand first, with 9.9 per cent, the North Italians second, with 9 per cent, and the Bohemians and Moravians third, with 8.7 per cent. The Magyars and Poles report 6.4 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively, working at hand trades. All other races fall below the general average of 6.1 per cent, the Scotch showing the smallest proportion, with one man only out of 237, or 0.4 per cent.

As regards the proportions of the different races engaged in mining abroad, the Scotch exhibit 92.4 per cent, the Welsh 91.3 per cent, the English 87.8 per cent, the Bohemian and Moravian 72.4 per cent, and the German 59.7 per cent, engaged in the mining industry before coming to this country. Only 22.8 per cent of the North Italians, 23.3 per cent of the South Italians, 17.7 per cent of the Magyars, 15.1 per cent of the Slovaks, and 14.2 per cent of the Poles were miners prior to their immigration to the United States. The Lithuanians with 3.6 per cent, Croatians with 7.1 per cent, and Russians with 7.3 per cent, show the smallest percentages of persons with previous experience in the work in which they are now engaged in this country.

GENERAL OCCUPATION OF WOMEN AT THE PRESENT TIME, IN THE HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

With the above showing in mind as to the industrial condition of the different races of the old and new immigration in their native lands, a question naturally arises as to the industrial condition of immigrant women in this country, as well as the extent to which the males enter the mining industry, the kind of work within the industry which they first secure, and the positions to which they have attained up to the present time. The table immediately following shows the general occupation of females 16 years or over for whom information was received in studying the households in mining localities in the Middle West.

TABLE 327.-General occupation of females 16 years of age or over, by general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more females reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

The above table discloses the significant fact that all the women of foreign birth are at home. On the other hand, 91.7 per cent of the native-born females are at home, while the remaining 8.3 per cent are at school, indicating a greater tendency on the part of the nativeborn women 16 years of age or over than of the foreign-born to attend school.

GENERAL OCCUPATION OF MALES AT THE PRESENT TIME, IN THE HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

As regards the general occupation of males 16 years of age or over in the households studied in the Middle West, the following table gives the data obtained, by general nativity and race of individual: TABLE 328.-General occupation of males 16 years of age or over, by general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more males reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

Upon referring to the preceding table, it is seen that 92 per cent of the native whites born of native father, 83.3 per cent of the total native-born, and 98.1 per cent of the total foreign-born, are at work in the mines. Eight per cent of the native whites of native father, 16.7 per cent of the total native-born, and only six-tenths of 1 per cent of the total foreign-born are at school. The fact of greatest import in the present connection is that almost all of the foreign-born males are at work in or around the mines, as contrasted with a much smaller proportion of native-born. The striking conclusion, therefore, to be drawn from the series of tables showing industrial condition of the foreign-born workers both in this country and abroad is that without any training or experience in mining abroad the recent immigrants enter the mines of this country."

Practically all of the foreign-born employees in the mines of the Middle West who come to the mining regions directly from abroad enter the mines as loaders after the machines, or in some other unskilled occupation. The immediate employment of the untrained immigrant within the mines is made possible by the use of machine methods. A considerable number of employees of foreign birth who are found in the mines of the Middle West have had experience in mining in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, or other mining localities. These persons are able to secure positions as hand or pick miners, or to enter some day or shift occupations, such as cagers, timbermen, and track layers. The great majority of immigrants from Great Britain have had a knowledge of mining before coming to this country or to the Middle West, and are, consequently, able to take up occupations requiring experience and training and calling for the exercise of intelligent judgment.

As regards the occupations originally entered and at present held in the mining industry, it may be said in general that partly because the work in these occupations can be made to yield a larger income than the average return to be had from other mining occupations, and partly because their lack of knowledge of English and their unfamiliarity with American customs and institutions render the immigrants less adaptable to the mining occupations in general than natives and English-speaking peoples, races of recent immigration are still in a large measure restricted to the occupations of diggers and loaders, in which they began work. This general tendency, however, is by no means without exception. The Slovaks, North Italians, French Belgians, Tyrolese, and Lithuanians are manifesting a disposition to distribute themselves throughout all but the more responsible of the mining occupations and are not uncommonly found at such work as caging, timbering, track laying, and machine mining. Natives and Englishspeaking peoples have control in a large measure of the more responsible positions in the mines, as those of superintendents, and are also found generally distributed throughout all the mining occupations. The table which is next presented shows the present occupation of male employees under 18 years of age, by age, general nativity, and

race.

a The short period of residence in the United States of the present mine workers shows that the immigrant comes practically direct from the port of entry to the mines.

See p. 587.

b See p. 650.