CHAPTER VI.

SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS.

Literacy-Conjugal condition-Visits abroad-Age classification of foreign-born employees and members of their households-[Text Tables 303 to 314 and General Tables 194 to 203].

LITERACY.

The immigrant employees of the slaughtering and meat-packing establishment possess a number of salient qualities which are of significance from an industrial standpoint, but which are of chief importance in their bearing upon the effects of immigration upon American life and institutions.

The literacy of the immigrant employee is a matter of importance both from the standpoint of industrial efficiency and is necessary to an intelligent life and activity in an American community. In this connection the following table shows, by general nativity and race, the per cent of male employees studied in the packing houses who read and the per cent who read and write:

TABLE 303.-Per cent of male employees who read and per cent who read and write, by general nativity and race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[This table includes only races with 40 or more males reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

Of the 4,566 male employees in this locality, 94.2 per cent can read and 93.4 per cent can both read and write, the foreign-born reporting a slightly smaller proportion, with ability to read and to both read and write, while the native-born of foreign father and native-born of native father, white, each show a larger proportion, with ability to read and to read and write, than is shown by the total for all male employees.

Among the foreign-born the Danes and Swedes alone report their entire number as literate. Of the other foreign-born races, the Bohemians and Moravians, Germans, Japanese, Irish, and Russians each show a proportion, with ability to read and write, above that shown for the total foreign-born. On the other hand, of those races reporting a proportion below that shown for all foreign-born, the Magyars, with 89.7 per cent who can read and both read and write, show a slightly larger proportion than do any of the other races, while the lowest proportion is shown by the Servians, 76.1 per cent of whom can read and both read and write. As regards the native-born of foreign father, it will be noted that those whose fathers were born in Austria-Hungary, Germany, or Ireland, each report 100 per cent who can read and, with the exception of 0.5 per cent of those whose fathers were born in Germany, can both read and write. As between the whites and negroes, native-born of native father, it will be noted that the proportion of the latter who can read and who can read and write is smaller than the proportion of the former.

The following table shows by general nativity and race of individual the literacy of persons, 10 years of age or over, in the households studied:

TABLE 304.-Per cent of persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by sex and general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

The foregoing table shows 1,190 persons reporting complete data, 655 of whom are males and 535 females. Of the total number, 95.1 per cent can read and 94.2 per cent can both read and write. In each instance the percentage of males who can read and write is slightly higher than that of females. The percentage of native-born who can read and write is very little higher than that of native-born of foreign father. Of the former the proportion of females who can read and write is larger than males. The foreign-born show a smaller per cent who can read and write than either native-born or native-born of foreign father. Of native-born of foreign father, Bohemians and Moravians show the highest per cent who can read and write, followed by Irish and Germans in the order named. It is noticeable that of the Germans a higher per cent of females can read and write than males. The table further shows that of foreign-born races, Japanese have the highest percentage who can read and write, Germans, Bohemians and Moravians, Poles, and Lithuanians following in the order named, only 70.3 per cent of the Lithuanians reporting being able to read and write, as compared with 100 per cent of Japanese. The Bohemians and Moravians and the Germans show only a slight difference in literacy between males and females, while Poles and Lithuanians show a much larger proportion of males who can read and write than females.

The relation between the degree of literacy prevailing among the immigrant population after designated periods of residence in this country is considered in the following table, which shows, by years in the United States and race of individual, the per cent of foreign-born persons in the households studied 10 years of age or over wh who read and per cent who read and write:

TABLE 305.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by years in the United States and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

From the totals of the above table it will be seen that a slightly increased proportion of those who read, as well as those who read and write, is shown in each specified period of residence in the United States. A smaller proportion who read and write than who read is shown in each specified period of residence.

Of the five races studied, only one, the Japanese, shows that the entire number both read and read and write, regardless of periods of residence. The Lithuanians and Poles, with a period of residence

of from five to nine years, each shows a smaller proportion who both read and read and write than those with a period of residence under five years or ten years or over, while the Bohemian or Moravian shows a larger. The Bohemian or Moravian, with a period of residence under five years, who read and the Polish, with a period of residence under five years, who read and write, each shows a larger proportion than that shown by those with a period of residence of ten years or over. The Germans, with a period of residence of ten years or over, show identical proportions for those who read and those who read and write. The next table shows, by age at time of coming to the United States and race of individual, the per cent of the foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and

write.

TABLE 306.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by age at time of coming to the United States and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

As regards the literacy of the 742 persons, for whom information was secured, it will be noted that a slightly larger per cent of those under than over 14 years of age at time of coming to the United States can read, and both read and write-96.8 per cent of those under 14 being able to read, and to both read and write, while, of those over 14, 91.5 per cent can read, and 89.6 per cent can both read and write.

Of those under 14 years of age at time of coming to the United States, it will be seen that, with the exception of the Lithuanians, all of whom can both read and write, each race reports, as unable to read, and unable to both read and write, a very small proportion; while of those 14 years of age or over, at time of coming to this country, there is, with the exception of the Japanese, all of whom are literate, quite a contrast in the proportions of the Bohemians and Moravians and Germans on the one hand and of the Lithuanians and Poles on the other. While a small proportion of both Bohemians and Moravians and German are illiterate, each race shows a larger per cent than the Poles under 14 or 14 years of age or over, and a very much larger per cent than the Lithuanians, 14 years of age or over, who can read, and who can both read and write. It will also be noted from the above table that, with the exception of the Japanese, each race reports a smaller proportion of those 14 years of age or over at time of coming to the United States, who can both read and write, than read.

The extent to which the foreign-born and other employees are married is exhibited by the following table, which shows, by general nativity and race, the per cent of male employees, 20 years of age or over, in each conjugal condition.

TABLE 307.-Per cent of male employees 20 years of age or over in each conjugal condition, by general nativity and race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[This table includes only races with 40 or more males reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

Of the male employees, 20 years of age or over, for whom information was secured, 57.9 per cent are married and only 4 per cent are widowed. It will be noted that the proportion of married individuals is largest for the foreign-born, second largest for the native-born of native father, white, and slightly larger for the native-born of native father, negro, than for the native-born of foreign father, while the proportion of widowed employees is considerably larger for the nativeborn of native father, both white and negro, than for either the nativeborn of foreign father or for the foreign-born. Of the foreign-born, the Bohemians and Moravians, Germans, Magyars, and Swedes have the largest and the Japanese, Lithuanians, and Roumanians the smallest proportion of married individuals, and the Danes, Irish, and Germans have, in the order mentioned, the largest proportion of widowed individuals.

The table next presented subdivides the total number of employees studied into age groups, and makes a comparison of conjugal condition upon that basis.