few in numbers as to be a negligible factor. As previously stated, these unions have been so weakened since the strike of 1904 that the entire membership is only a very small per cent of the actual number engaged in the occupations which they cover. It is not necessary for the immigrant to take out first naturalization papers prior to becoming a member of any of these unions. With the exception of the Bohemians and Poles, especially the Bohemians, there is said to exist a very decided indifference on the part of the other races toward connecting themselves with the unions. This indifference is more noticeable among the Lithuanian employees than among employees of other races. Some employers contend that the immigrants have been forced to join the unions, but this is strongly denied by representatives of labor organizations. The active membership in the unions is composed principally of those immigrants who speak the English language. When the more recent immigrants first entered the Chicago slaughtering and meat-packing industry, the feeling against them on the part of labor unionists was very strong. This spirit of animosity has undergone a remarkable change, with the result that, instead of condemning all immigrants, as formerly, they classify them by races as good or bad, and are accordingly favorable or hostile as the individual race in their opinion warrants. Labor organizations at present are very favorable to the Bohemian race and to many individual Poles, but unfavorable to the Lithuanians, Greeks, and Italians. The labor unionists deny strongly that immigrants have ever been coerced in any way. As a matter of selfpreservation, the labor unionist is anxious that the immigrants affillate with the unions. Labor organizations claim that they have made an effort wherever possible to interest the immigrant in acquiring a knowledge of the English language and in raising his standard of living, believing that if this can be done the unions have a much better chance to secure higher wages.

CHAPTER V.

HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

Rent in its relation to standard of living-Boarders and lodgers-Size of apartments occupied-Size of households studied-Congestion-[Text Tables 64 to 90 and General Tables 27 to 38].

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING.

The monthly rent payments of the households of the employees of the slaughtering and meat-packing industry are chiefly significant in their bearing upon prevailing standards of living and living arrangements. This fact is disclosed by the following series of tables exhibiting the average and range of monthly rent payments for apartments, rooms, and persons. The first table, which immediately follows, shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the average monthly rent payments, per apartment, per room, and per capita. TABLE 64.--Average rent per month, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

a Not computed, owing to small number involved.

In the foregoing table the total foreign-born exhibit a lower rent payment per apartment and per person and a higher payment per room than the total native-born or the native-born whites of native father, while the second generation, or native-born of foreign father, show a lower average rent per apartment and per room than the

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foreign-born, but a higher rent per person. If rent per person, therefore, be accepted as a criterion as to the relative standard of living, it is obvious that the households whose heads were born abroad have a lower standard than the households whose heads were native-born either of native or foreign father. Of the foreign-born, the Swedish, English, Roumanian, North Italian, South Italian, Irish, and German households pay a higher average rent per month per apartment than the households whose heads are native-born whites of native father. On the other hand, the Bohemians and Moravians, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Poles, and Croatians show a lower average rent per apartment than is exhibited by the average for the total foreignborn. As regards rent payments per room per month, the Russian households show the highest average, followed by the Swedish, North Italian, Roumanian, English, Croatian, Slovak, German, Polish, South Italian, Irish, Lithuanian, and Bohemian and Moravian households in the order named. The Russian households also show the highest average rent per month per person, closely followed by the Swedes and English. These three races, together with the North and South Italians, also have a higher average rent per month per person than is exhibited by the households whose heads were native-born whites of native father. The Croatian households show the smallest average rent per month per person, the households of this race, together with those of the Poles, Roumanians, Slovaks, and Bohemians and Moravians, being below the average for the total for the foreign-born. The following table shows, by locality and by race of head of household, the average rent paid per month per apartment:

TABLE 65.-Average rent per month per apartment, by locality and by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 10 or more households reporting in each of two or more localities. The totals, however, are for all races.]

The above table shows that the households whose heads are nativeborn pay a higher average rent per apartment monthly in all localities than the households whose heads are of foreign-birth, the differences being small in Kansas City and Chicago, but amounting to 99 cents per apartment per month in favor of the native-born households in South Omaha. The households of each race pay lower average monthly apartment rents in South Omaha than in Chicago.

The Poles whose households are represented in the three cities show a higher average rent per apartment each month in Kansas City than in either Chicago or South Omaha. The highest average rent payment per month is shown for the German households in Chicago and the lowest for the Bohemians and Moravians in South Omaha. Although the Germans pay a smaller average amount than the households in South Omaha whose heads are native-born of native father, the households of this race in both Chicago and South Omaha pay a higher average rent per apartment than the households of any other race whose heads are of foreign-birth.

The following table shows, by locality and by general nativity and race of head of household, the average rent per month per room:

TABLE 66.-Average rent per month per room, by locality and by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 10 or more households reporting in each of two or more localities. The totals, however, are for all races.]

The foreign-born in the foregoing table show a higher average rent payment per room in all localities than the native-born. As regards the several races, the Germans and Poles pay a higher and the Bohemians and Moravians a lower average rent in Chicago than in South Omaha. The Poles, the only race represented in Kansas City, exhibits a slightly higher average rent payment per room in that locality than in Chicago.