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CHAPTER V.

INDUSTRIAL EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION.

Immigrant employers-Effects of immigration upon local industries-Industries established to supply demands of immigrant consumers-Industries established or promoted by immigrants.

IMMIGRANT EMPLOYERS.

The instances found in Community B where immigrants have become employers are furnished by a North Italian building contractor, a small German iron foundry employing about 16 men, and a small braid mill operated by French Canadians. The industries of the community are old and well established and require a large amount of capital to operate them. These facts have barred immigrants from becoming employers. The Italain contractor and the managers of the German iron foundry employ men of their respective races in their activities. The braid mill operated by French Canadians employs only women and girls, and the preference is given to French Canadians. It is the practice of the immigrant employers to discriminate in favor of their own people, but the amount of work done by them is so small as to be negligible when compared with the importance of the industries conducted by the Americans.

EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION UPON LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

The several industries located in Community B are peculiar in that they demand a high type of worker. In most cases it is necessary that the person who applies for employment should possess a trade. In the plated silverware works, the cut-glass factories, the lamp, gas, and electric-fixture shops, the automatic piano and other industrial establishments, highly skilled workmen are required, and the immigrants who secure employment have thoroughly mastered their occupations and are most often capable of easily adapting themselves to American methods. For example, in the silverware industry a man who applies for work, applies for employment in a certain occupation, as buffer, polisher, and engraver. If he has not completed his apprenticeship, he is seldom given employment. The same conditions are found in the majority of the industries in the community, and the men who are unable to do skilled work experience difficulty in securing work and often go elsewhere for employment.

The English-speaking immigrants, the Germans, French Canadians, and Swedes have had the effect of advancing local industries. in the community, for among them are found the skilled workers.

The races from southern and eastern Europe, which began to come to the community in large numbers after 1885, such as the Italians, Poles, Lithuanians, and in a few cases, Greeks, have affected local industries but little as they have been employed only in the lower occupations. In some industries, however, as in the lamp and chan

delier business, the employment of Polish women has had the tendency to displace American women. The Poles are credited with being hard, consistent workers, and as they are willing to take less wages, in some cases as low as 70 cents a day, their labor was chosen in preference to that of the American women. With this one exception, no bad effects are to be noted upon local industries through the employment of immigrants. In general, it may be said that the immigrants from the north of Europe have assisted materially in developing local industries in Community B, while the races from the south and east of Europe have done little to advance the industry, although they have played an important part in supplying the demand for unskilled labor in certain establishments.

INDUSTRIES ESTABLISHED TO SUPPLY DEMANDS OF IMMIGRANT CONSUMERS.

No industries are carried on in the community because of the demand of the immigrant consumers. The demand of the immigrants are practically the same as those of the natives, and where they have an income equal to that of the native Americans their purchases are the same. This is the case with the immigrants who intend to become citizens, while those who intend to return to their native lands constantly keep before them the idea of saving and govern their expenditures accordingly. Their demands differ from those who intend to remain in this country in quality rather than kind, for they always purchase the cheaper articles.

INDUSTRIES ESTABLISHED OR PROMOTED BY IMMIGRANTS.

The large industries of Community B are almost wholly in the hands of native Americans, and with the exception of two or three small concerns no industries have been established by immigrants. In the development of the industries the immigrants have contributed their knowledge and skill. The development of the silverware and automatic piano industries has been chiefly because of the ability to employ skilled immigrant labor. The Germans have proved to be the most fruitful in ideas, and to them are accredited many designs and inventions.

In the minor trades, such as grocer, baker, barber, butcher, tailor, cobbler, and others requiring comparatively little capital and no large degree of skill, each of the foreign-born races prominent in the community have representatives. People of one race generally patronize the places conducted by members of their race. This, however, is not carried out to any marked degree, and is as much question of convenience as of racial favoritism. The Italians deal at Italian grocery stores, for instance, because they are located in the Italian quarter and keep the articles called for by the Italian population. On the other hand, the Italian and Greek fruit stores are patronized by all races and are located on the business streets of the city. In trade the barriers of race have been removed, while socially they are still upheld.

CHAPTER VI.

HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

Rent in its relation to standard of living-Boarders and lodgers-Size of apartments occupied-Size of households-Congestion-Housing and segregation-[Text Tables 125 to 136 and General Tables 108 to 119].

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING.

The monthly rent payments of the households whose heads are employed in Community B are chiefly significant in their bearing upon standards of living because of congestion within the households arising from the practice of crowding the apartments in order to reduce the per capita rent outlay. The first table presented in this connection, which immediately follows, shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the average rent per month paid per apartment, per room, and per person:

TABLE 125.-Average rent per month, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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Of the 336 households included in the above table, the average rent per month per apartment is $9.48; per room, $2.12; and per person, $1.92. The households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father pay a much higher rent per apartment and per person than do the households the heads of which are foreign-born, and while the difference in the rent paid per room indicates the same tendency, it is not so marked as in the other two items. The native whites born of native father pay an average rent per apartment per

month that is larger than that paid by any other race, either nativeborn or foreign-born, and also pay a higher rent per room than do any of the foreign-born races. In households whose heads are foreign-born the Swedes pay the highest rent per apartment, it being $11.05, as compared with $7.14 paid by the Poles and $7.89 paid by the South Italians. The average rent per room paid by the Germans is $1.90, and for the Swedes it is $2.23. The South Italians and Poles average paying $2.10 per room and the French Canadians $2.07. The Swedish is the only race that averages over $2 per person, each of the other foreign-born races averaging below that amount. The Poles, who pay an average rent of $1.40 per month per person, show the smallest average, although that shown by the South Italians is not much in excess of that amount.

The range in monthly rents for apartments is set forth in the following table, which shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per apartment:

TABLE 126.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per apartment, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

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The average rent paid per month per apartment by the 336 families included in the foregoing table is $9.48. Slightly more than 6 per cent pay over $15 per month per apartment, and only 3 per cent pay under $5. In each specified rent group the households whose heads are foreign-born are seen to appear in larger proportions than do the households whose heads are native-born of foreign father. Considering the foreign-born races, it appears that none of the French Canadian, German, or Swedish households pay under $5, while the proportion of South Italian households that pay under that amount is 11.1 per cent and of the Poles 6.5 per cent. The Poles show the largest proportion paying under $7.50 per month per apartment. It is 53.2 per cent. The French Canadians show the smallest proportion, paying under $7.50. None of the Poles pay over $12.50 per month, while 21.8 per cent of the Swedes and 18.5 per cent of the

French Canadians pay over that amount. The Swedish is the only race that shows a proportion of less than 90 per cent paying under $15. The Germans and South Italians each show a proportion in excess of 95 per cent who pay under that amount.

In the table next presented the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per room is shown by general nativity and race of head of household:

TABLE 127.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per room, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

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Less than 1 per cent of all households included in the above table average over $4 per month per room. The average monthly rent per room in all households is $2.12. Nearly 30 per cent pay under $2 and slightly more than 90 per cent pay under $3. Compared with households whose heads are native-born of foreign father, the households whose heads are foreign-born show the largest proportion paying under $3 per room per month and the smallest proportion paying over that amount. Of the households whose heads are foreign-born none pay under $1. Fifty-three and one-tenth per cent of the foreign-born Germans pay under $2, the next largest proportion being that shown by the Poles, 33.8 per cent. The smallest proportion paying under $2 is shown by the Swedes and is 18.2 per cent. All foreign-born races, except the South Italian, show over 90 per cent paying under $3. The proportion of that race who pay under $3 is 86.1 per cent. Of the Poles, 2.6 per cent pay over $4. None of the households of any other race pay over that amount.

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